Behold the remnants of the Ham Grenade. The other half was blown, with great velocity, into my belly (and a bit hit Mrs Cleek, too). Only a bottle of Clicquot and a generous padding of potato gratin saved us from delicious salty doom.

I got three right, out of 180.

Someone I know is going to have a very Yo La Tengo Christmas. How lucky for them.

Here's to hoping you have the Christmas/Early Winter Festival that you desire!

Male fish bear eggs in Potomac

Nine male smallmouth bass taken from the Potomac near Sharpsburg, about 60 miles upstream from Washington, were found to have developed eggs inside their sex organs, said Vicki S. Blazer, a scientist overseeing the research for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Note that it says "upstream".

The Potomac River is the main source of drinking water for the Washington metropolitan area and many upstream communities. It provides about 75 percent of the water supply to the 3.6 million residents of Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Scared of Santa ?

... to buy some one-of-a-kind hand-made jewelry for that special someone.

"Now, I know what your thinking: 'I purchased a Homo superus skull before and it radiated no residual energy field!' I ask you, did you purchase an 'AUTHENTIC' Steinitz Homo superus skull from Steinitz Skulls, OR was it a cheap, fabricated imitation sold by some johnny come lately hominid skull dealer?"

Get 'em before they run out of residual Thought-Energy, only at SteinitzSkulls.com.

On CNET's quick guide to satellite radio, they list the pros and cons of XM and Sirius. Here's one of the "downsides" for XM:

Sometimes not enough DJ chatter