CNN also has posted the video of a story on two art galleries in New York displaying artistic nude photos of women over 90. While it seems many attendees have been repelled by the photos, I found them to be well worth seeing. The story compares the wrinkled skin to wrinkles in the earth’s crust and other forms from nature. The video is presented in Quicktime, RealVideo, and Windows Media formats.

CNN has posted a full story on the fatal crash of Charlotte Hornets player Bobby Phills. It seems he and fellow player David Wesley were out racing their Porsches on a public road in traffic when the accident occured. They were travelling at least 30 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. Phills sent passengers in two other vehicles to the hospital. The article quotes team officials as saying "[Bobby was a] role model that everyone respected and admired. He was someone that you would want your children to be like." and “He had extreme high character. A family man. If there’s a person you would want to your children to be, a role model, it’s Bobby Phills.” I’m sorry, but I don’t want my children to risk the lives of strangers in the pursuit of some selfish thrill. And a family man wouldn’t thoughtlessly make his children grow up without a father. Cars are not toys, not even shiny new Porsches. They can hurt and kill.

The ban on gays in the military has been lifted in the UK.

Want to listen to music from great Athens bands? Visit the RockAthens jukebox, courtesy of our local commercial newspaper.

The AIA’s Center for Livable Communities describes just what makes a “safe, attractive, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable community.” It’s encouraging to live in a town with many people who think like this. Maybe someday we’ll be in power and will be able to do more than just lobby for change. Found via More Like This.

More evidence that I’m some sort of pinko commie anti-comsumerism guy: Here is the latest Tom the Dancing Bug, where ruben bolling makes a sharp attack on Sport Utility Vehicles. “The Cantelope: By whimsically classifying this vehicle as amelon , our only restriction is on pesticide use.”

Walmart Update : As mentioned last week, Walmart has been trying to open a second supercenter here in Athens. They want to close a current regular Walmart (and thus kill a shopping center that’s barely hanging on) and build a brand new shopping center anchored by the supercenter just down the road on land now zoned for residential use. The planning committee was to meet last week on the issue and vote on what to recommend to the full commission. Less than 24 hours before the meeting, Walmart withdrew the proposal. They say that they suspected it was going to be voted down, so they’d like to have more time to address the committee’s concerns. Had it been voted upon and rejected, they couldn’t resubmit the proposal for a full year. The meeting was held in one of the city’s largest auditoriums to hold the many people expected to attend (most all of the anti-Walmart). I hope that the Walmart people have to reimburse the government for the cost of renting the hall for no reason, but I’m sure they can’t be held responsible. I’ve been asked if I’m anti-Walmart. No, not really. I shop there from time to time when I need a laundry basket or a cheap bookcase or something like that. But I am against this specific proposal. I’m fairly sure Athens doesn’t need another Walmart supercenter, but if they want to open one anyway, they’ve got a shopping center already that they could put it in.

The funniest thing on TV right now is a promo for The Simpsons running on Atlanta’s WB affiliate: a black-and-white old-style test pattern of circles, crosshairs, and the like with Homer’s head in the middle. Then, for 15 seconds straight, there’s a continuous “D’ooooooooooooooh!”, like the old emergency system tests. I laugh out loud every time that comes on. I was hoping they’d have it on-line, but alas.

Officially, I’m still waiting for word on Waiting for Godot. Unofficially, I’ve been approved to direct the play April 14-16 on the Town & Gown Second Stage. The T&G; board is still hashing out one of the three slots, and so that’s why it’s not official. Nevertheless, I’m moving ahead as if everything were a go. You can see how things are going by visiting Weblog For Godot, a weblog I’ve created to be an on-line resource for me, my actors and crew, and you. You’ll find a permanent link on the sidebar to the left, right under “I went to the Gobbler”. It’s a bit sparse right now, but as things jump into high gear there’ll be plenty to see.

The Post Office wants to raise rates another penny, making first class stamps cost 34 cents each. I just figured out last week that stamps are now 33 cents. A few weeks ago, I bought two flats of stamps at the post office. All of them were 32 cent stamps. A good clerk concerned with customer service would have warned me, but she let me spend 10 dollars on old stamps without saying a word. I proceeded to use them all, still not knowing that they were wrong. One day, I received a letter with a 33 cent stamp on it, and that caught my attention. All of my letters had been delivered; not one was returned for insufficient postage. I looked through all the letters I had recently received, and some had 32 cent stamps, some had 33. It seemed the post offce didn’t care, so long as there was a stamp on there of one sort or another. Anyone else notice this? Has automation gotten sloppy over there at the USPS? Or do they just not care about that extra cent? A bonus: I used the last eleven stamps to mail an express mail envelope to Beth in New Mexico and they were delivered uncancelled, ready to reuse.