I was going to write a post about how I thought the headline “orange juice futures looking promising” from the Wall Street Journal was funny … but the paper has since gone out for recycling; and when I think about it (like many posts), it really was not the greatest idea. That said, there were a couple of other things that made me laugh the past couple of days. If I could only remember one …

I mostly escaped into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was stupendous. As is the case with most of the Harry Potter books, it is entertaining and engaging in the beginning, building to “my hand is stuck to the book with peanut butter and bubble gum” level at the end. I thoroughly enjoy an escape into the world of Harry Potter, though I’m not an “ohmygoshI’mincollegebutlovethisbook” sort of fan. Like many things, it ignites an intense interest in me which I generally choose to keep to myself. Not that I won’t debate my theories about the ending with you, if you ask. Oh no, I’ll talk if prompted.

Now for my next trick: a couple of my occasional tips on popular music for you all. Prince’s “3121” is supposed to be phenomenal (I need to listen to it). Also, judging from the songs I have heard on Drive 105, these two albums could be quite good:

• “Foiled” by Blue October (Track: “Hate Me”)
• “Junkie Faithful” by Ike Reilly Assassination (Track: “God And Money”)

That said, track 12 from 3121 just started playing my stereo … this is pure funk genius. My music critiquing experience is severely limited, so I apologize for failing to say anything meaningful about these albums. Try ‘em out on iTunes (though, you can’t find Blue October on iTunes) and go from there; I think you won’t be disappointed.

And now (cue the jazz piano), time for some Jamie Cullum lyrics … because this has become one of those random, form-be-darned journal entries:

Just one local call and you’ll see
A happy path through life not for free
A little bit fat you can’t get a girl
Short on cash I’ll change your world
The only way now is straight up
Your deepest despair I’ll make it stop
Just 19.95 all major credit cards
And you’ll stay alive and you’ll go far

In just seven short days
You’ll change your life
All of your innocence found
You’ll even lose a few pounds
See yourself making a mint
Quality time with your kids
Send me your money and I’ll change your life

Thing is, that song sounds exactly like a jazz love ballad … yet the critique of late-night infomercials is spot on. Typical Jamie Cullum: a synthesis of the modern and classic resulting in something compeltely new.

And beacuse I feel guilty for a failure to write this very well … here is a quote from a recent article I read, which I enjoyed: “Well, anyway, I didn’t go to Mix 06, so I have lost untold thousands of pundit karma points. But this morning I read Hippos Go Berserk! to my kid. And even though we have read that book together at least 562 times, she found it fresh and exciting and new. And so did I.” Read more here.

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Project Gotham 3 - It’s not some virtual-morality thing, but I don’t like to shoot people as a part of my games. So, that explains why Project Gotham racing, with “some of the most beautiful visuals ever to grace a console game” appeals to me. Dan? XBox 360, then this game? I’ll wait.

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A Book about Gatorade? - It’s unbelievable to me that someone can write a book about Gatorade … nevertheless, I find the topic rather interesting. How do you leverage a sweetened beverage into a multibillion dollar industry? The thing is: Gatorade doesn’t seem to include any potassium anymore, which would explain why the sodium in it makes me so thirsty.)

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If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.

— Albert Einstein

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When you think ‘aerogel,’ think unbelievable - The most expensive chemical substance known to man, more than safron, etc. For example: “Silica aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records for material properties …” and “it is very strong structurally, able to hold over 2000 times its own weight” oh … it’s “90-99.8%” air, so it’s also almost transparent. Unreal.

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Big 10 Trickery - Another great college prank: one school starts a romantic fling via AIM with the PG at another school. At the game, the first school starts shouting the made up girl’s name … “Pruitt was in total shock.”

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The best way out is always through.

— Robert Frost

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Fast-Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water

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Barefoot Dad Busts Teens After Chase - This restores my faith in humanity. And vigilante justice.

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You will never have the camera with you when you want it most. When you have it, you will not have its tripod. When you have both camera and tripod, you’ll be out of batteries. This is something like Murphy’s Law of photography, I think. Stay with me here as we are dropped somewhere in the middle of the tracks on which the train of logical progression rides; we shall then round the arc of the story and things will slowly make sense (note to self: stop mixing metaphors).

You see, the second snow here in the cities was absolutely beautiful. I walked along the city streets admiring what I didn’t hear: the snow muffled harsh sounds in the same way it coated the unsightly and softened sharp angles. The first snowstorm was insistent, as if Winter needed to let us know that she was still a force to be reckoned with. This second snow was much more gentle, fluffy, and (were it not crystallized ice falling from the sky) warm. This was a It’s a Wonderful Life snow of big flakes and movie set powder. It sparkled.

I stopped at an intersection and looked up at the stoplight. At the end of its arm, one semaphore signal hung in a black sea, with waves of snow washing around it. I was startled by the unexpected beauty and actually stood and stared as cars passed underneath my distracted gaze. “That would make a great picture,” I thought. It isn’t uncommon for me to carry my camera with me, too. No camera this time. I will not, however, underestimate the power of words, and I hope that the picture I have attempted to paint in your mind will do the scene justice.

And I’m going to carry my camera more often.

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