TIME.com's special report on Saddam's vile and despicable sons, Uday and Qusay.

A two-headed turtle. It's kinda cute, actually. Or should I say, they're kinda cute?

Now, some of these stories are admittedly funny, and most of the people involved have a good sense of humor about the whole thing, but why in the world would they use a real phone number in a movie? Didn't they do something similar in Ghostbusters? I think my little brother racked up a huge phone bill when that came out.

I just opened a bag of Milky Way Pop'ables. Damn, they're good.

One Yank and They're Off.

A Pickel, a pug and a...you pick a word. Hehe.

On this day in 1934, Bonnie and Clyde are shot dead and make the front page of the NYTimes.

I want some of what they're smoking.

(thanks, popculturejunkmail.com)

lordoftherings.net

Run, don't walk to the official Lord of the Rings movie site to see a gallery of high-quality images from Return of the King. (I suppose they're slightly spoilerish, but nothing major is revealed).

Click on Denethor's face.

Becoming a Cookie

At the end, Buffy left 2 holes behind her - a massive crater that was once the beleaguered town of Sunnydale, California; and a gaping hole in the television landscape. There has never been a show like Buffy and there will likely never be another one like it. Its fan base was a cross-section of humanity, rendering the demographics of age, race, gender, education and social status irrelevant. Although I have been on the receiving end of many a cocked eyebrow after revealing that I was ardent fan of the show, I am and always have been proud to be a part of that fanbase. I feel sorry for those individuals who dismissed the show based only on its admittedly silly title. My advice to them - do your best to catch the show in syndication, or better yet, buy the DVDs. Buffy is a classic, a television show whose underlying themes will remain relevant long after we have forgotten most of what passes for good TV today.

As evidence of the power and relevance of Buffy, I point you to the numerous tribute articles and reviews that have been posted at slayage.com in the past 2 days. For your reading enjoyment, here are 3 of my favorites:

Buffy Rides Off Into the Sunset (NYTimes)
A Hole in Our Hearts (Salon)
Analysis: Bye-Bye Buffy (UPI)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the best television shows ever made. And I'm going to miss it. If you can narrow them down, I'd like to hear what some of your favorite moments or episodes were - and I'll respond with some of mine.

I've got butterflies in my stomach. I'm actually nervous about tonight's Buffy finale. I can't wait to see what they're going to do, but I don't want it to end. I'll be taping while I watch; I know this is definitely one episode I will want to watch again. After I watch the season finale of 24 at 9, that is.

Enjoy the show, everyone. Get into your comfy PJs, make sure you have your food and beverage of choise easily at hand, turn off all the lights and take the phone off the hook. This is it.

Holy Popeye, Batman! Now that's someone who really doesn't want to go to jail. Or someone having a psychotic episode.

Buffy ends tonight. More tomorrow.

Woohoo!

I've become so un-enamored (word?) of award shows these past few years that I thought there could never be anything that could entice me to watch one again. Well, I was wrong. One of my fantasy boyfriends, Hugh Jackman, will host the Tony awards on June 8. Combine that with the fact that Eddie Izzard has been nominated for his role in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and I have no choice but to watch.

Norman the beagle goes for a walk in March and shows up on Friday, 800 miles away.

Flash Me

So, I'm driving home from Massachusetts this afternoon, cruising along in the passing lane when I see someone waving from the window of a mini-bus just about 3 car-lengths up in the travel lane to my right. I check the writing on the side of the bus so that I won't be waving to a load of juvenile delinquents, see that it's just a local school, and wave back. Responding to my come-hither style of waving, the now obviously juvenile delinquent holds a hand-written sign out the window which says, "FLASH ME. (please!)" LOL, at least he was polite.

My neglect of this place is now bordering on the criminal. I can't say that I've been all that much busier than I normally am; it's more a case of lack of concentration, I think. My mind's been a jumble for at least a week now, mostly due to the adjustment at work. Nothing I can't handle (I hope!), but it's a new place, new people (for the most part), and I'm handed at least one new project each day for which I have no experience. By the time I get home, I'm brain-dead. Which is a perfect state to be in for TV watching. Which I've been doing a lot of.

That, and going to the movies, where I saw, you got it, X2: X-Men United. I thought it was a great movie, equal to the first film in many ways and a fitting sequel. Wolverine is still my favorite mutant. My reasons are shallow, yes, but they are my reasons, so there. Sir Ian McKellen doesn't play as prominent a role in the movie as I would have liked, but you can't have everything, I suppose, especailly with such a large ensemble cast. I was so happy not to be spoiled for the ending, which I'm pretty sure isn't really an "ending". I need to see this again in the theater, but before then I have to see Matrix Reloaded. Have you seen it yet?

Happy 17th of May!

It was pointed out to me this weekend that I may have been less than charitable in the sorts of stories about Norway that I have chosen to link to in recent weeks. Well, I've like to remedy that by asking all of you to wish our fellow Norwegians a Happy Independence Day!

Pretty Girl

You know, we don't compliment each other often enough. I'm not talking about you and me; I mean strangers. A sincere compliment from a stranger can really brighten your day. It happened to me today. I was waiting outside of our office for one of the attorneys (we were going to the closing in his car) when an old gentleman walked out of the building. He turned to look at me, gasped slightly and said, "Oh my goodness." He then asked, "Do you mind if I sing a little song for you?" I was a little uncomfortable, but I said, "Sure." At that he lifted his chin and (very loudly) started to sing an old song, one I don't know, about a pretty girl. He told me that I had beautiful blue eyes and that the song was about me (immediately followed by a conspiratorial, "don't worry, I'm harmless" as he walked away). Whether I agreed with him or not didn't matter. I thanked him for making my day.

At Last

Sorry to have abandoned you for so long, but work placed some extreme demands on me this week. I am happy to report, however, that the worst is over. The shredders shredded their last piece of paper, the junk haulers removed the final piece of junk and the cleaners gave the place a good once over yesterday. The closing took place today and went very smoothly. Closing down and cleaning out a 12,500-square-foot office space filled with the accumulated and never discarded junk of 18 years of business is a big job, and not one I am ready to repeat any time soon. But I'm proud of having done it.

God strike me dead, but this woman has a gut-bustingly funny name. Oo, maybe "gut-bustingly" is a bad choice of words.

Regardless, it's an awfully funny name.

A tidbit in honor of this weekend's premiere of X2.

Being a Grownup Still Sucks, BTW

Sorry for the lack of updates. We're getting down to the nitty-gritty with the office move, so my free time is pretty much non-existent. All of that will change after this weekend, and certainly after the sale is official a week from today. In the meantime, I'll do my best to post here and there.