Lee was not familiar with the term, so I pointed him to Webster's, which defines it as a noun, Yiddish in entymology etymology, and means "trinket" or "knickknack." As I told Lee, the word saw a jump into the mainstream during the dot-com glory days, when those companies would give out all kinds of logo-emblazoned crap at trade shows, conventions, expos, and to anyone the marketing people ever came into contact with. Maybe too many tchotchkes is yet another reason why so many of them dot-bombed. That said, I do appreciate a quality tchotchke, like the metal Apple luggage tag I received from them last year at MWNY.

Brian informed me that Rush's stand-in nailed the French today:

Q: What did the leader of France say when Germany invaded? A: Table for 100,000? Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees? A: The Germans prefer to march in the shade.

Michael has me gear-lusting after this. I've always felt more like a rice rocket kind of guy than one who'd straddle a hog. I'd like it in Liquid Silver, please. Of course, my wife thinks I'm crazy...

I just saw the motorcross commercial on Fox Sports (Southwest) for their show "54321." The motorcross biker clapping at the end, after the doofus crashes the gate--just seems like something Dan would do. :)

Mark Newhouse's daughter Jordan donated a 14-inch ponytail to Locks for Love on Valentine's Day, and Mark has documented the event in the form of a QuickTime movie:

"Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the U.S. under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss. "It takes ten to 15 donated ponytails to make one hairpiece because Locks of Love only uses lengths of 10 inches and longer. 80% of donors are children."

A little over two weeks ago, I joined the ranks of the bespeckled:

Eyemasters wanted $90 for the non-polarized clip-on sunglasses for them! Thanks to a tip from my dad, I picked up slip-on polarized lenses at Sam's for 13 bucks. They don't conform exactly to my lenses (they overlap slightly), but you can't beat the performance for the price: I have an astigmatism; according to my optometrist, I could have foregone getting glasses for another year, maybe more, but I decided to go for it now, while I have vision insurance! Sitting in front of computer screens 10+ hours a day, for both work and fun, as well as lots of reading for pleasure, helped spur the decision to get them now. I wasn't really surprised; my dad's worn glasses since I was a small child, and my mom has to wear them to read and drive, so it was inevitable. The style is Chaps 51 by Ralph Lauren, just in case you're so dazzled by them you want to rush out to get your own pair.

I'd just like to take a moment to wish my wonderful wife of ten and a half years a Happy Valentine's Day. I love you, sweetheart.

A Pekingese from Kenner won the toy dog category at the Westminster dog show this week, though she lost out in the Best in Show finale. Why do I care? I called Kenner home for three years, and my wife's parents live there. She moved there when she was 7, grew up there. Her father was a city councilman for 12 years. I worked for the Pontchartrain Center. For the uninitiated, Kenner is actually where the New Orleans International Airport is located. Leaving from the airport, you drive through Kenner, then Metairie, before entering Orleans Parish and New Orleans proper. Kenner is the 5th largest city in Louisiana. We watched the Best in Show judging, and Yakee was simply adorable, waddling along with her fur all poofed out. Cute as a button. It would not surprise me to learn that my father-in-law knows the owners...

Speaking of the Stars, I think Marty Turco is well on his way to ridding us of the ghost of Ed Belfour. Taking his team to the Finals and winning a Cup will definitely do it. Turco has just been monster in goal this year, and with the team's win over the Kings yesterday, he extended his personal unbeaten streak to 14 games, tying the franchise record. This is something Mr. Belfour was unable to do during his tenure here. Turco anchored the West's defense in the 3d period of the 2003 All-Star Game, and performed brilliantly. Belfour's days at said contest are well behind him. This is not to say that Ed Belfour was not appreciated by Stars fans, nor that he didn't deserve to lead Dallas to a Stanley Cup win. Simply, time has caught up with the Eagle, and as he has moved on, the Stars have shown that their minor league system can produce the same kind of high-caliber goaltending Stars fans are used to. Perhaps best of all, Marty doesn't come with the off-the-ice, emotional baggage Eddie was infamous for. So thanks for your performance, Eddie, during your stay in Big D, but Marty's the future, and the future's bright.

Daryl Reaugh sums up a lot of my feelings on why the Stars are in the wrong division.

You know that annoying Nike Shox ad with the guy running across the soccer field wearing only his Shox shoes and a scarf? Reebok, with the help of Terry Tate, has effectively nuked it, and good riddance. Kudos, Reebokkers!! (registration and QuickTime or WMP required — click on "Streak This, Baby!")

"Triumphant in their kill of the elephant chew toy, feline and canine shared bedding in front of a warm fire, and there was peace throughout the land..."

In a possible Stanley Cup Finals preview, the current best team in the West took on the current best team in the East (and the league). The Stars trailed most of the game, scored 2 goals in 41 seconds to tie in the 2d, then watched the Sens' Martin Havlat notch a hat trick with his 3d of the evening just moments later.

The Stars didn’t knuckle under, however, coming back to tie it at 3 all, and Bill Guerin put Dallas up with 5:24 left in the 3d. With 30-something seconds left, Modano added an empty netter to seal the deal. Dallas is now 11-1-3 in their last 15 as the race for playoff position slowly begins to heat up. The Stars are now within one point of Ottawa in the President’s Trophy race.

Horrendous officiating, especially by the linesmen, on both sides of the puck. What else is new in today’s Mr. Magoo NHL?

Great game, and if both teams survive through the playoffs, what a Stanley Cup series this is going to be.

If you’re having a bad day and need a little pick-me-up, click here. (JavaScript needs to be enabled in your browser.)

(Thanks, Jim!)

It’s nice to see that Craig MacTavish, who came up during the NHL’s bruiser days, hasn’t lost the hockey-player mentality as a coach.

(Thanks, Brian!)

Isn't he adorable? Clancy loves tennis balls. . .

From back at the end of October, when Vindigo added Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and more coverage for Chicago and Washington, DC:

• During the 1850s and '60s many inventors tried to produce a workable typewriter, but none succeeded until 1867, when Milwaukee's Christopher Latham Sholes and inventors Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soul patented a writing machine. The machine held a sheet of paper between a rubber platen and smaller rubber cylinder, with a carriage that moved from left to right as the keys, each with a separate mark, number or letter, were struck. Their invention didn't take off until 1873, when the trio contracted with E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York, which until then just made rifles and sewing machines, to produce it.
• Baseball's First World Series Game occured in Pittsburgh: A 1903 showdown between the Pirates and the Boston Red Sox. The Pirates eventually lost the series in nine games.
• Chicago-style, or deep dish, pizza was created in 1943 by Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo of Pizzeria Uno.
• Prince George's County is the home to the world's oldest continuously operating airport, College Park Airport. The Wright Brothers taught flying lessons there in 1909.
• The name for Reston, in Northern Virginia, comes from the initials of Robert E. Simon, who developed the new "town" in the 1960s.

Fido's info, that is. The stamped metal dog tags you buy from a vending machine at the pet store are so 20th century. The Dog-e-Tag is a US $40 battery-operated dog tag that stores up to 40 lines of text, viewable on a scrolling LCD. A standard watch battery will power the tag for about 2 years.

Longhorn Chris Simms lived down to his reputation and didn’t choke at a big game, closing out his collegiate career with a win. I can’t wait to see Simms and Major Applewhite in the NFL. UT had a solid game, but not what I would call a great or spectacular game. It seemed that to beat LSU, they had to resort to the big play time and time again to get the scores, while the Tigers put together drive after drive after drive. What can you say? The strategy worked for the Longhorns and failed for the Tigers. To me, the Tigers gave the game to UT, which wasn’t really playing, especially in the first half, like they truly wanted the win. Turnovers and the secondary on both sides were the major factors in this game. UT’s only score of the first quarter was on a recovered fumble run back for a touchdown; their offense contributed nothing. That would change by halftime, when the Tigers were down 21-17, from which they’d never recover. The Texas secondary was fantastic in its coverage, able to fall back against the run very quickly when needed. LSU’s secondary pretty much sucked at covering Roy Williams, who scored one touchdown for the Longhorns. To be honest, with such a high-powered Texas offense, I’m amazed the final score wasn’t more along the lines of 42-20, 49-20, or 56-20.

Neither team really capitalized well on turnovers and penalties on the opposition. Speaking of penalties, what conference did these lame officials come from? We had a couple of pretty nice Texas fans sitting behind us, and we all agreed that there was some major holding and blocking from the back going on on both sides of the ball that wasn’t getting called. And can someone please explain to me why LSU’s Marcus Randall was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct while Texas escaped with no penalties on the play? The play in question was this: LSU hikes the ball, but the play is whistled dead for a false start. Yet the Longhorns continue the attack, Randall getting hit three separate times. Randall is just trying to back away, knowing the play is dead, but keeps getting hit. He throws down the ball in frustration, and takes the penalty. Why didn’t UT get hit with unsportsmanlike conduct or personal fouls? Randall obviously heard the whistle; why couldn’t they? LSU did answer with a 44-yard run by Domanick Davis for a first down. :)

All in all, the Tigers have no one but themselves to blame for the snapping of their five-game bowl-winning streak (an NCAA record, tied with Miami and North Carolina). Hopefully, coach Nick Saban will stick around to shape the Tigers up for another run at the SEC championship and a shot at a national title (rumors of NFL courtship abound). The weather was fantastic, and we had great seats on the LSU 40 (thanks Terry and Wells Fargo!). The Texas fans weren’t overly obnoxious, and the ones around us were pleasant to talk football with. The Tiger band kicked the Longhorn band’s collective butt both in the stands and on the field at halftime. It was the first time we had been to a college bowl of any kind, and it was made all the sweeter by watching our alma mater play, even if they did lose. Photos are forthcoming. We had a great time.

Yeah, I know the blog’s been quiet the past few days. Since I was unable to get any time off on the days before or after Christmas Day, we had to do the Christmas thing with our families this weekend. Once again, I’m reminded how much dial-up sucks and how thankful I am to have broadband. Dial-up browsers are one of the reasons I try to keep this site on the low-bandwidth side.

As stated previously, we’re going to the Cotton Bowl tomorrow morning (11 am EST/8 am PST on Fox). I think the Longhorns are primed for an upset, as no one seems to be taking LSU seriously, especially Longhorn fans. LSU sold out of its allotment of tickets the day they were put on sale. The Cotton Bowl sold a considerable amount of its tix allotment to Tiger fans even before LSU was confirmed as one of the teams playing! The Cotton Bowl even took some of the Texas allotment back, because the Longhorn faithful just weren’t buying, and gave them to LSU to sell, which they did, all on the day they went on sale. There’s going to be a hell of a lot of purple and gold in Dallas tomorrow. Geaux Tigers!

Blog Entry of the Day has to go to Panic's Steven Frank. Steven's commentary is just as funny as the item being commented on.

Thanks to a generous neighbor, Kelly & I, along with our friends and fellow alumni, Drew & Melanie, got to go to the last LSU home game of 2002. The Tigers played the Ole Miss Rebels, and had something of a tough time until about midway through the second half, when the defense finally figured out Eli Manning and the Rebel offense. Of course, I took some pictures. We have tickets to the Cotton Bowl on January 1 to see the Tigers upset the Texas Longhorns! Geaux Tigers!!

Dan turned 30 yesterday. Welcome to the ranks of the thirtysomethings, amigo. :)

"Watch for falling meteorites."

For your enjoyment, the iRobot Intelligent FloorVac from Roomba. (Flash required.)