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Taken at the Town Grill, Cowpens, SC. Looks like someone has a dental appointment.

Holiday cheer can hide a multitude of sins.

Little Richard was on my flight this early morning from Nashville to Atlanta.

That is all. You may return to your lives now.

Another edition of separated at birth: Mel Gibson and Saddam Hussein.

Actually I think I’m being too harsh with this one. I give them both style points, Mel for his conquistador beard and Saddam for his new found love of the Men’s Wearhouse. (I bet he loves the way he looks.)

A few weeks ago I was struck by the fact that I don’t own any Christmas decorations. I saw this last month at BoingBoing, so I decided I had to take the plunge. Tonight on ABC they aired the 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas Special that features the tree that I purchased.

While watching the show, I realized that I had the tools to quantify a question that has puzzled me for ages. Just how big a blockhead is Charlie Brown?

So, I measured the tree:

I took a screenshot from tonight’s airing, and established that the tree measured 2.375″ on the screen, while Charlie Brown’s head measured 1.417″ on the screen. With the knowledge that the the tree is 20″ tall, setting up a ratio I was able to determine that Charlie Brown’s head has a diameter of 11.93″ across.

Then we can determine the radius, 5.966″, then using the basic formula for finding the area of a sphere, I determined that Charlie Brown’s head has a volume of 889 cubic inches, assuming that his head is a perfect sphere.

Using similar calculations, I have estimated that my own head (not a perfect sphere) is roughly 296 cubic inches.

In conclusion, I have mathematically determined that I’m only a third the blockhead that Charlie Brown is. Of course, we are both a sucker for redheads.

I present to you a letter from home. Conclusion? My father needs a blog, too:

Tim,

I really liked your “Egg McMuffin” toaster. I wanted you to to know I have new toaster also. Yes, that toaster that your mother and I bought a C.B. Poole’s Catalog Showroom in 1970 something for $10.95 finally quit working. Actually it still works, but it only toasts 1 and 1 1/2 slices of bread. The heating element on the left side of the left slot burned out. Of course, I used it like that for 6 months. Then one day on a visit to Goodwill, I discovered a new toaster still in the box and it was only priced at $3.45. (Yes, I know you can buy one at Walmart for $5.00, but I still felt like it was a steal.) It is all white, which seems to be the trend now. The days of black and chrome kitchen appliances appears to be over. Anyway, My new toaster is multi-functional. Not only will it toast sliced bread, it cooks “Pop-Tarts” to perfection. So the toaster that you grew up with has been retired… Now if I could just bring myself to throw it away. No, better just put it in the garage. Just might need a part off of it someday…..

Love,

Dad

I’m on a pretty tight deadline right now, but Sid Meier has thrown a wrench into that schedule. I lost many an hour of my collegiate experience to this game and its subsequent sequals. Now there’s a new version, and they couldn’t have released it at a more inopportune time.

I need willpower now more than ever.

Very rarely in the course of history do we realize the significance of events as they occur. I think that one happened last Wednesday.

Of course, it happened once before.