"Shut Up" he explained

The President's press secretary treats Newt with the contempt he deserves:

Gibbs Dismisses Gingrich Comments As "Blog Of A Former Lawmaker"

Me, I'm glad Newt piped up, because I've been waiting for a chance to use this:

Now batting, Judge Sotomayor

Further evidence that the universe may revolve around baseball.

This was pointed out on, all places, WFMT. It will no doubt become a talking point during her confirmation (and she will be confirmed):

"On March 30, 1995, she issued the preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball, preventing MLB from unilaterally implementing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and using replacement players, thus ending the 1994 baseball strike."

Shocking news

This has 'trainwreck' written all over it:

Michael Jackson's London Shows Already Delayed

It remains unclear if the delays are due to new plastic surgery catastrophes.

We had a barrel of fun; plus, Beer of the Day

Behold the rain barrel. Net cost of materials was about $50, including the new flexible downspout, and labor time was about two hours, spread over yesterday evening and this morning.

No injuries were sustained in the making of this rain barrel.

After finishing the barrel and mowing the lawn, I relaxed with a tasty Leinenkugel Berry Weiss. As its name indicates, it tastes of berries. A lot of berries. Not that I mind, as I have a weakness for fruity beers, but this makes it none too popular among the beer cognoscenti. Never mind what they say, though - this is a good summer beer.

Lunch thoughts

It would be ungracious of me to complain about free pizza for lunch. But, one would think that in a city with a legendary pizza tradition, the choice would not be Sbarro.

Barrel Roll

Motivated in small part by my green-ness, and in greater part by me being cheap, one of this coming weekend's projects will be building a rain barrel. Rather than seeing my water bill double during the summer months in an attempt to keep the gardens verdant, a rain barrel offers the chance to both save money and use rainwater for watering, which gardening gurus recommend.

The actual building of the barrel seems simple enough. Acquire a barrel or drum, cut a hole the top and install a screen, put a spigot in the bottom and an overflow hose near the top, place it under a downspout, and get that warm fuzzy Al Gore-like feeling of self-satisfaction.

Via Craigslist, I found a food distributor not far from my house that sells 55-gallon drums for $25. When adding the cost of the remaining parts, it means the entire operation will cost me around $50 in all. Assuming no self-inflicted injuries occur.

Beer of the Day

SKA Pinstripe Red Ale

Aroma is okay, appearance is okay, taste is okay. Spectacularly average in every possible way. The very definition of an ordinary beer.