Sorry.

Okay, I do make my kids wear seat belts. And we don't smoke a ton or anything. Actually, it killed mom when I was nineteen, so I have some (*ahem*) issues. But once in a while ain't gonna kill ME.

But we get together with the crew every weekend like clockwork. We grill steaks, drink like fish, smoke some weed and make FRENCH FRIES (yes, the deep-fried kind). All the while letting the kids run around like little wild animals.

And they love it.

And we love it.

On one hand, I'm compelled to defend the luxury brands, because they do taste better. And also, as a wine salesman, I'm often annoyed by people who pooh-pooh the things they don't understand.

But I really hate rank snobbery. In wine, I hate people who insist that "big Cabs", for example, are the only way to appreciate good wine. It always seems like a bunch of rich guys who use their cellar's average Parker score to compensate for (cough) their deficiencies in other areas. It has nothing to do with wine, or taste, and everything to do with perception.

"But, Charlie! Star Kist doesn't want tuna with good taste! ..."

So yeah, kudos for busting the chops of the snobs, but shame on you for failing to acknowledge the third way: putting in the effort usually yields better results. Sometime you should try one of those expensive chocolates alongside a couple of M&Ms and see if you can't tell the difference. When you get right down to it, the price is almost irrelevant. If you spend upwards of a few dollars per week on chocolate, it doesn't matter if it's from the Scharfen Berger company or M&M Mars. It's over-indulgence.

So spend a few extra pennies and taste with your tongue, not with your belly.

An American is STILL gonna win this puppy? I mean, it's not quite locked up, anything can happen, etc, but Floyd Landis did put on yellow at the top of l'Alpe d'Huez today.

(Which leads to another problem with the race for Americans: how the heck do you pronounce 'd'Huez'?)

Maybe I'm alone in watching live updates on VeloNews.com from my computer, but I kinda don't think I'm completely alone.

One thing is for sure: we still can't have an American Tour winner that isn't a medical miracle. Floyd's next stop after the podium in Paris is going to be at the hospital for hip-replacement surgery. So our cycling heroes are now the guy that got shot, the cancer guy and the broken-hip guy. Geez.

I had pretty much already made up my mind about this film based on a) the crucial casting mistake and b) not finding much to write home about in "In the Bedroom."

But Mr O'Hehir, to be able to string together a sequence like "bills-Brad-bar-boffs-Botticelli-babe," shows some real chops. Thanks for a thoughtful review, and thanks especially for giving my morning a delightfully random chuckle.

Cheers.

You've gone all soft on us!

*snif*

It's nothing. Just allergies.

At the risk of sounding like I'm defending the "racist teabagger" line (I'm not), there is some evidence to back up the brain differences claim, as evidenced by this article. Self-described liberals and conservatives have shown distinctly different levels of brain activity in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex--which is part of the limbic system, as near as I can tell. Neurologists?

we'll do this the old fashioned way:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12614