50% off at the dollar store

Like many stores, the store that my wife and I went into a few days ago was trying to sell off its surplus Christmas merchandise, so they reduced everything 50%. The problem was that the name of the store is "Everything's A Dollar!" But then again, my wife and I also went to Michael's Craft Supply where they were selling Christmas craft supplies, as well as decorations for St. Patrick's Day(!) I've come to grudgingly accept that Christmas items go on sale in September, but St. Patrick's Day decorations before the New Year?

I rung in the New Year with my Russian in-laws. And my nieces. Every year, they have a big party (my in-laws, not my nieces), and they invite a bunch of Russians over. There were two people who came to the party and afterwards no one had any idea who they were. I almost tried caviar.


This week's theme:
The Neverending Story

This is the first movie I ever remember seeing. Scary that it's now 20+ years old. I was actually noting that to my wife the other day. There are now portions of my life that I can look back on and say, "Yeah, but that was 20 years ago..."

But for you 20-somethings out there who remember the movie and love it, you'll be singing this one all day. I hadn't known this, but apparently, Limahl is the same guy from Kajagoogoo. Amazing that the same artist was an 80s one-hit wonder twice! (Don't ponder that sentence too long or blood will shoot out your nose.)


On to the news:

French hold anti-New Year protest!
(Apparently, even the French occasionally have a sense of humor!)

Dog massages!
(What are "gourmet dog biscuits?")

Trivial Pursuit, the drinking game
(Apparently, one woman didn't do so well...)


Bright, shiny objects:

Happy New Year from Engrish.com
(First resolution, quit my job here)

Old NES games, now playable on your desk top
(Time wasting factor: off the scale!)


Today's random "next blog":

The Pain Dealer
(If you're from Cleveland, you know why this is hilarious. I normally don't link politically oriented blogs, but this guy gets points for being from the most beautiful place in the world, Cleveland.)


Today's strange anniversary:

January 3, 1825 -- Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community. Indiana?

Also, on a more serious note (I occasionally have those), today marks the anniversary of the founding of March of Dimes (1938). This is an organization dedicated to understanding and eventually preventing birth defects and pre-mature birth and treating those infants born in these circumstances. I encourage you to support them.


Fun fact of the day:

The two longest one-syllable words in the English language are "screeched" and "strengths."


And finally:

More oddities from my exile in Russia-lite: My in-laws subscribe to Dish Network and all of the Russian-language channels that they provide. (It's amazing how many TV channels are out there...) They favored one in particular, which showed strange and trippy cartoons from the 70s that scared me (I suppose the Smurfs would have the same effect on them... Ever wanted to know how to say "Smurf" in Arabic or Icelandic?) During the commercial breaks, they advertised this rather interesting piece of history as well as a product that was called "Royal Placenta... Best for Hair."