I always knew it.

(UPDATE: A word of caution concerning the Blog Readability Test site.)

Home Again, Home Again

Exhausted. It was a good trip, though all too short.

Inspiration from Beyond

Check out the Chicago Sun-Times review of the Chicago Chamber Choir's Sing Me to Heaven. Now don't you wish you'd gone?

On the Road

About 48 hours after starting out, we have arrived at our destination, some 1,300 miles west of where we began. Driving all night FTW!

Fox News Shows All

Now I understand why there are so many Fox News fans. (Warning: that link is probably NSFW, despite being safe for cable news. Open with caution.)

Found at Wacky Neighbor.

Judgment Day

Monday night, PBS aired a fantastic documentary, Judgment Day, about the Dover School Board's controversial attempt to add intelligent design to the science curriculum, and the resulting federal court case.

For those of you who don't recall, the school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, attempted to add the book Of Pandas and People, an intelligent design "textbook," to the biology curriculum as a companion textbook and required biology teachers to read a one-minute statement about how evolution is "just a theory." (All quotation marks are intended to convey my derision.) Parents of Dover students objected: Teaching intelligent design is the same as teaching religion in the classroom, and calling evolution "just a theory" shows a real lack of understanding about how much scientific evidence there is for evolution and also what scientists mean when they use the word "theory." (Gravity is also "just a theory," after all.)

Judgment Day gives an excellent explanation of these issues, and I thought it was very fair and even-handed, giving all parties an opportunity to tell their side of the tale. I was riveted to this documentary, all two hours of it. If you haven't yet seen it, watch it. My understanding is that it will be available in full on the PBS site starting tomorrow.

Update: Here's a link to a clip of what was my laugh-out-loud favorite portion of the documentary. Ha!

Last Chance to Be Sung to Heaven

Don't miss the Chicago Chamber Choir's final performance of Sing Me to Heaven, this Friday at 7:30 pm at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church. Sunday's concert was a rousing success, if I do say so myself. It's surprising how much fun a concert about death can be.

A note to Colorado bloggers (and those in nearby western states): Immediately after the concert Friday night, the whole family will pack up and start driving to spend Thanksgiving hard by the Rocky Mountains. We'll be in the Boulder area briefly, probably not long enough to meet up with anyone other than Airan's family. However, if you're near Grand Junction, drop me a line and we'll try to do lunch.

Photo shamelessly stolen from the lovely Julie. Look, it's me!

Building a Temple Doesn't Make It True

Check out John Scalzi's enlightening and highly entertaining (and a little bit terrifying) report from his recent visit to the Creation Museum. Don't skip the photo tour, with its striking images and priceless commentary. Warning: Be prepared for much snarkiness and sacreligiosity. If you take creationism seriously, Mr. Scalzi's post will most likely not be up your alley.

In the Eye of the Beholder

From the makers of Dove, with its Campaign for Real Beauty, comes an altogether different message for our young girls.





For more information, go here.

CBN 2007

Tonight, we celebrated the 15th-annual CBN* (always observed the first Monday after Halloween) with Andrea, Matthew, Simon, Mike, Jenny, and David. Much eggnog was consumed. Nathan, Jemmie, Christine, and Jamie were missed.

Having the kids around really changes the dynamic of CBN -- it isn't exactly the raucous party it was in years past. But we had a great time hanging out, clogging our arteries, and watching old jury tapes. (Matthew had some fine taste in clothing in his college years, I can tell you that right now. And the glasses! And David's hair -- I like to think I remember just how manelike it was, but wow. I mean, wow. Of course, none of this compares to the, ahem, view seen in some of Mike's jury tapes.Yikes.)

Recipe for one CB (the traditional beverage with which to open eggnog season):
eggnog (lots)
vanilla ice cream (plenty)
chocolate sauce (don't skimp)

Combine all ingredients in the largest plastic cup you can find. Super Gulps are great for this.

Eat with a spoon or drink it up, your choice.

*I can no longer use the full name of CBN because I'm too grossed out by the search engine hits I get as a result. If you already know what I'm talking about, you don't need me to write it out. If you don't know, I'm happy to fill you in via email.