I must have a Gnome-be-Gone. Must. [Via Uncrate.]

Why is it I'm learning about Pete's Famous from Brent, rather than my parents, who have lived in the Birmingham metroplex for a decade? (I can actually answer this one; my parents bring their lunch to work, and don't go out.) I wonder how far Gus's place is from their respective offices?

Eric Blair:

Of course, I could see this eating into the PowerMate’s market. I mean, who needs a flashing knob to notify you of email when you can have a flashing keyboard? One reason I turned off that particular functionality of my PowerMate was the distraction of the blinking light...

Presenting the iCarta. iDon't think so. [Via Firewheel Design.]

So, fellow dads, how's your day going? A pretty quiet one for us here at the Phisch Bowl. It was nice to sleep in a little, then off to church, and Mi Cocina for lunch (Sunset Fajitas!). Both the little phisch and the missus crashed for a nap, and in addition to doing some online reading, I've enjoyed one of my Father's Day gifts: the fifth season DVD set of Seinfeld. Season five is notable because it includes my favorite Seinfeld episode, "The Marine Biologist", which I watched, along with the episode's extras, a few minutes ago. A pair of homemade gifts from the little phisch: a framed handprint he made at school, and a pocket-protector card he colored in Sunday School this morning. As usual, these will take prominent spots on the refrigerator and study whiteboard. I'm usually the one who gets our little guy down for his naps, and today was no exception. As he drifted off, and I looked at his peaceful face, it was one of those Hallmark moments where your heart feels like it's about to burst. Since becoming a father, I have learned more about how much my own dad loves me than I ever thought I knew. Likewise, having had those thoughts parents have, since becoming a dad my relationship with God has deepened, as I understand more how wrenching it was for Him to give up His only Son for the world. My fellow dads, I hope you all have a great day. Dad, I love you. Thanks for always being there, and setting the example you did.

My Ping Pong Vader shirt arrived today. Me so happy.

You know, I find it quite amusing, given Al Gore's connection to Steve Jobs (Gore serves on Apple's board of directors, in case you didn't know), that at the same time An Inconvenient Truth is released, so is Cars.

Since Textpander has become TextExpander, and now comes with a thirty-dollar price tag, all of its little quirks may send me back to TypeIt4Me, of which I am a registered user already. The biggest quirk? If I misstype an abbreviation with Textpander, but backspace and fix the abbreviation's spelling, it won't trigger the full text. TypeIt4Me does. With Textpander, I have to delete whatever part of the abbreviation I've typed, and start over.

I really like the FIFA World Cup smiley-faced logo. It's just so cheery. When you see "Fédération Internationale de Football Association", does Monty Python and the "Department of Redundancy Department" come to mind, or is it just me?

If you ever see me wearing the Beer Holster, you have permission to slap me silly.

Headline of the Day: "Jon Lovitz Says Income From Subway Commercials Allows Him A Certain Creative Freedom"

Ratatouille looks hysterical. "You know, if you can sort of muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kind of food possibilities open up." Now I can't wait until next year, and it's just now opening weekend for this year's Pixar release...

I so want a t-shirt of Vader playing ping pong, but the only guy size they have is small, and I'm a 2X. If you want a different size, be sure to clink on the link to ask for a reprint. (An e-mail reply from Brian at Oddica says to expect them in the next week or so; he's a 2X, too.) [Via Uncrate.]

An interesting factoid I learned today: a grouping of owls is called a "parliament".

I realize you want to get your DVD to market pretty quick, since DVD sales have skyrocketed, but when you have a built-in marketing date--"Remember, remember, the 5th of November"--why in Spielberg are you releasing on August 1st?

Leave it to a bunch of Brits to play football with automobiles. In this case, a small fleet of Toyota's Aygos. There was plenty of rubbin' going on, and as we all know, "Rubbin's racin'." [Via Autoblog, video requires Windows Media Player.]

When you go to see X3, sit through the credits.

It is amazingly quiet in my study when my wife's Windows PC is powered off. My iMac Core Duo, PowerBook, external hard drive, and HP OfficeJet AIO (when it's not actually printing) are all near-silent. When I walked in a moment ago, and registered the quiet, being so used to the fans of the PC, I had a momentary thought of "What's wrong?"

My bride and I have noticed a quirk of psychology regarding the consumption of milk in our abode. Based on the recommendation of friends a couple of years ago, we prefer Horizon Organic milk, and originally bought it in half-gallon cartons, since this seemed to be the largest size the stores that carried the brand would stock. At some point, gallon sizes appeared, and we began purchasing the larger size. This is when the quirk began: We drank less milk when we had the gallon container than when we had two half-gallon containers. I'm still trying to figure out why this is so. As a result of our not drinking as much milk, we found ourselves reaching and going beyond the expiration dates on the gallon-sized milk, something we'd never done with the half-gallon containers. (It should be noted that milk in cartons often have farther-out expiration dates than milk in semi-transparent jugs.) Switching back to half-gallon containers, we're back to drinking more milk than when we purchased the gallon sizes. I'm somewhat baffled. Amateur shrinks, have at it.

Good tip, courtesy of TUAW, on pairing your Apple Remote with its intended system. Very useful in a mutliple Apple-Remote-Mac home. I went ahead and paired my iMac with its remote, even though it's the only such capable Mac we have. You never know what might be around the corner.

42 Climbers Reach Summit of Mount Everest. Note to self: "May is considered the best month to climb Everest. Climbers in Nepal have to complete their mission by May 31 before the weather deteriorates during monsoon season."

"Elvis impersonators can relax: No one's coming after their bespangled jumpsuits." Damn.

This story is encouraging me to let the little phisch have a cheap point-and-shoot digital in a few months. He loved using a Fujifilm disposable camera a couple of months back, and even framed a shot or two pretty well.

A new auction record was set yesterday when a 300 year-old Stradivarius violin was sold for $3.54 million. The former owner loaned the instrument out to violinists, and it sounds as if the new owner will continue to do the same. Someone sign me up for those concerts.

Lee's a bit hot under the collar over Skype's new, supposedly free, SkypeOut plan, and understandably so. I'm not sure I get Skype's argument; I thought the whole point of their service was to be location free, to the extent of remaining within the borders of the U.S.

Something tells me my sister would really dig these lamps. [Wave of the phin to Firewheel Design.]

Congratulations to Aram Kudurshian, developer of High Priority, who has accepted a developer position with Apple.

As is so often the case with video or film, the music totally makes the FedEx pilots drive around thunderstorm short film.

I sincerely hope JPMorgan Chase & Co. realize they just flushed $150 million.

This may have been posited elsewhere, but I think when the Power Mac G5 replacement ships, it will simply be called "Mac Pro". You have the Pro designation separating the portable models, and they're not going to call a tower/desktop without a built-in monitor "iMac Pro". Apple will still want to differentiate the line from the consumer series, so it will just be Mac Pro.

Johnny Cash's Johnny Cash's American V: A Hundred Highways is scheduled for release in July. This album comprises the absolute last recordings Cash made before his death, part of his collaboration with Rick Rubin. [Wave of the phin to Prosthesis.]

Now all of my fellow Star Wars fans can decorate their walls with their favorite images from the movies. [Wave of the phin to Firewheel Design.]

Professional baseball is coming to Israel, with plans to apply to be in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The history of baseball in the land of the Bible is astounding. [Via Newsvine.]

"Spain Raids Stamp-Collecting Firms" Pursuing terrorists who murder our citizens, not that high a priority. But those stamp collectors have got to be stopped. "Asian Currencies Soar on U.S. Criticism" Just think of what they could do with some positive reinforcement! "Zombie master sentenced to 5 years in prison" It's only five years, though, so stock up on shotgun shells, and remember to always aim for the head. "Will Film Spell Success for Starbucks?" Is this what education has come to in America? Listen up, Starbucks, it's "S, u, c, c..."

"Exxon Profit Is Shy of New Record" Sounds like Exxon Profit needs to be more assertive, and not such a wallflower. "IBM to Offer Smaller Mainframe" Now only taking up half of the typical family home! "Fuji Film Sinks Into Losses" Remind me to never travel to Losses. "Does France really need its own search engine?" Does the world really need France? Better wine in California, better cheese in Wisconsin...

"Microsoft Dings Stocks" Ballmer's insurance expired, has to get cash for repairs from Bill. "YMCA office under attack by Muslims in West Bank" No word on the status of the construction worker or the biker. "Chad Pressured to Postpone Election" Meanwhile, Jacob and Britney can hold elections as planned. "AT&T Shareholders Reject Resolutions" AT&T shareholders are idiots. "Government Takes Over Aloha Air Pension" Aloha Air pensioners see money flushed down toilet. U.S. taxpayers now responsible for the bailout, likewise.

"Prosecutors Get First Shot at Lay" Too easy. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy... "Microsoft to Buy Chinese Hardware" This is news? Isn't it all Chinese hardware? "Songbirds May Be Able to Learn Grammar" We can't teach grammar to kids graduating from high school, so we're going to try birds? Those teacher unions can get away with anything. "NYC Firefighter Begins Sentence in Brawl" Is that a regional dialect of braille? "Dog burns down owner's kitchen" "Since when does a medium-rare steak come in a bag marked 'Purina'?!?!?!?!?" "Police Arrest Nude Man Stuck in Chimney" It's a real shame the lengths some guys will go in some misguided quest for hot sex. "'Deep Throat' Saw Himself As 'Lone Ranger'" So who's Tonto, Woodward or Bernstein?

"30,000 Elvis impersonators may be out of work" Please, God, please, God, please, God... "Rise in Revenue Helps Cingular Wireless to a Profit" In other news, rain makes things wet, and the sun gives off light. "Colombian Police Train Rats to Find Mines" Because apparently finding cocaine is just too easy. "Ohio Restaurant Wins Best Restroom Award" With floors so clean you could...no, we won't go there. "Indonesians Evacuate As Volcano Rumbles" I wonder if Volcano fights fair, or does he use brass knuckles, chains, and knives?

"Astros Replace Miller With Borkowski" Borkowski? Is that a Polish beer? "Biffle: Girlfriend's Spat No Big Deal" "Heck, you should see it when she sneezes!" "Teen Gets Boot Camp for Angering Judge" Does this judge dislike Mac users or something? "Hamas Government Strapped for Funds" In the bomb department, however, they're running a surplus. "Will Smith Crashes Bar Mitzvah" I wonder if he has to take a class to get that off his record. "Scientists Observe the Brain 'Shutting Off'" Was Al Gore speaking?

Dan Benjamin's cats have the best expressions. I need to take more photos of our pride.

Because white guys lip syncing rap is funny. [Via the aforementioned Mr. Benjamin.]

Thank God the NHL playoffs are here. I've enjoyed the new rules this season, but has anyone else felt like this first, post-lockout season has taken forever?

Why do celebrities feel compelled to give their children names said children will be complaining about to their therapists decades from now?

Dan Wade has too much time on his hands.

Gavin Shearer:

If I were Sony, or Toshiba, or HP, I'd be freaking out right now.

I cannot begin to express how broken up I am over the fact that Michael Jackson has to restructure his debt. Oh, look, something shiny...

It's about time. Pooh is certainly more deserving than most of the blithering glitterati that populate the Walk. [With a wave of the phin to the Firewheel boys and John.]

It's too bad I have no design experience nor web programming skills. The guys at Firewheel Design sound fun to work with, and they're about fifteen minutes away in Southlake.

Dan needs some of this furniture in his pad.

Cableyoyo's new Pop is a good idea, but most folks I know with iPods keep them in some sort of case.

What happens when you shove an iPod Shuffle in to a NES controller?

[With waves of the phin to the Firewheel Design blog, and Macsimum News.]

You know, if it weren’t Lee, and it wasn’t about history, I’d ignore this meme. For one, I don’t utilize Wikipedia, and two, I don’t usually go in for Internet memes. However, since it did come from Lee, and it is about history, on December 3d: Events - 1805 - Lewis and Clark Expedition mark their explorations from the Missouri River overland to the Columbia River on a pine tree.
- 1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
- 1973 - Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter. Births - 1368 - King Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
- 1826 - George McClellan, U.S. Civil War general (d. 1885)
- 1970 - Christian Karembeu, French international footballer and World Cup winner (had to include someone born the same year as I) Deaths - 1888 - Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (b. 1816)
- 1894 - Robert Louis Stevenson, British writer (b. 1850)
- 1919 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (b. 1841) Due to the facts that (1) as previously mentioned, I don't like Internet memes, and perhaps more importantly, (2) Lee and Lawson have already tagged pretty much anyone I would, I'm going to be a nice guy and let this die here.

To get back at phishers (as opposed to a phisch), use PhishFighting. It's certainly a much better use of CPU cycles than looking for aliens that don't exist. [Via IM from Lawson.]

Lee has no sense of adventure.

Memo to Skip Bertman, Director of Athletics, Louisiana State University: in the future, Final Four-bound teams are not allowed to come back to Baton Rouge prior to the semi-final game. Apparently, there's something in the water that results in "chucking", better known as "the shooting of bricks". It was painful enough watching the men's team lose the game last night due to their inability to put the ball in the basket (as opposed to UCLA's winning by making it difficult for the Tigers to do so), but the ladies seemed to have the same problem tonight against Duke, a team which was making it difficult for the Tigers to put the ball in the basket. Two shots at a championship, two shots blown. Kudos to UCLA and Duke. There's always next year. And it's baseball season.

For the seventh time in the history of the two tournaments, one school will have a team in both the Men's and Women's NCAA Final Four: LSU. GEAUX TIGERS!!!