Al Nye The Lawyer Guy

Edgar Awards: Down River by John Hart

The Mystery Writers of America give these awards to honor the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction produced the previous year. The awards began in 1954 and are named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe.

I reviewed Down River here.  I’m not surprised that it won an Edgar Award: it’s a terrific novel.

Buy it here.

How Does Big Oil Respond to Outrage Over Prices?

By reducing prices?

Don’t be so ridiculous.

By engaging in a huge advertising campaign — of course.

Small Town Ice Cream Truck News

When an article appears on the front page of the local paper wondering if something should be done about the constantly repeating tune played by roaming ice cream trucks in Portland, you know that you’re living in a small town.  A City Counselor even sent out an email to residents asking for their opinion about the issue.

Seems to me that a lot of folks have too much free time on their hands….

Read My Lips: Clinton Isn't Quitting

I’m weary of the constant calls for Sen. Clinton to quit the presidential campaign.  After each one of the most recent state elections, there were calls for her to concede.  Each time, she said “no.”

How many times does she need to tell people that she’s in this until the end?  She’s just not going to throw in the towel.

Read my lips: Hillary Clinton is not quitting the race.

Enough already.

Charles Barkley Explains The Secret To His Basketball Success: Big Butt

According to Charles Barkley, his success as a player was due in large part to his big butt.  When Barkley talks about bing in “physics class” you know it’s worth a listen.

 

Is it any wonder he’s a favorite with fans because of his outrageous comments?

Who'll Show Tonight For The Celtics

Since the NBA changed the first round of playoffs to a best of seven format 5 years ago, no team needing to go all seven games in the opener has gone to the finals.  Since Boston couldn’t find a way to stop the Hawks, the question is can they handle Cleveland and King James?

Who will show up tonight for the C’s?  Will they play tough at home?  If so, can they slow down LeBron James and keep focused enough to play tough defense on the rest of the Cavs?

My prediction is that if they lose tonight, they’re in serious trouble.

 

Washington Post: Things are tough out there

The Washington Post has an interesting story about how folks are coping with the tough economic times.  It sites Bureau of Labor statistics showing: the price of eggs has jumped 35 percent; a gallon of milk is up 23 percent; a loaf of white bread is 16 percent higher, and a pound of ground chuck is up 8 percent.

Ouch. 

What are you doing to make ends meet?

Looking For A Good Deal -- Try Craigslist

The Boston Globe reports that listings are way, way up on Criagslist and other on-line auction sites.  Seems like these tough financial times are causing more and more folks to list items for sale.

Unfortunately, some folks are being forced to sell heirlooms and other valuable items just to get by.  So think about buying some used items on some of these auction sites — it’ll be a good bargain for you and may help the seller buy some necessities. 

 

Free Dunkin Donuts Coffee

Parting With Wright Is The Right Thing

Barack Obama has finally done what he should have done months — some say even years — ago.  He’s parted with Rev. Wright after Wright’s outrageous comments on Monday. 

If you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that Rev. Wright praised Louis Farrakhan, said that our own government was behind the AIDS virus and it was made to kill African Americans, and several other intolerable rantings.

Obama finally renounced the crazy beliefs of Rev. Wright and said, in essence, enough is enough.

But is it enough?

Part of your reputation is based upon the company you keep.  Obama was in Wright’s church for 20 years, and he’s described their relationship as close.  It’s tough to believe that he wasn’t aware of Wright’s controversial opinions.

And why did it take so long?

Just a month ago, Obama said of Wright, “As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. … I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.”

Well, things can change a lot in a month, can’t they Mr. Obama? 

 

Entire Fenway Game in 1 and 1/2 minutes

If you’ve never been to Fenway (or it’s been a long time), here’s a video of an entire Red Sox game shot with time lapse photography that lasts just a little less than a minute and a half.  It was shot by Tom Guilmette.

Enjoy the game!

Entire Fenway Game in 1 and 1/2 minutes

If you’ve never been to Fenway (or it’s been a long time), here’s a video of an entire Red Sox game shot with time lapse photography that lasts just a little less than a minute and a half.  It was shot by Tom Guilmette.

Enjoy the game!

What's Wrong With The Green Team?

All right.  The Celtics losing one to the Hawks (who won a grand total of 37 games this season) could be considered a fluke.  But losing two?

That’s a cause for concern.

And losing to Atlanta going into the 4^th quarter with a 10 point lead?

I don’t care what Doc says, that’s reason to worry.

As Ortiz goes, so goes the Nation....

The Red Sox are in a slump (to say the least).  When the Devil Rays beat you three in a row, you’ve got some work to do.  Beckett was great with — count ‘em — thirteen strike outs.  Too bad the team couldn’t get a hit.

Sure, David Ortiz was out (Mike Lowell too) — but still, the Sox have now lost five in a row.

Ouch. 

Gas Buddy is your friend

The front page of today’s Portland Press Herald has a story about folks driving to N.H. to get cheaper gas.  Some folks were claiming the difference in price was as much as .25 cents per gallon.  One man estimates that he’ll save $500 – $600 a year with the savings.

All that’s well and good for those living close to a state that offers cheaper gas — but what about the rest of us?  Time to go on-line again.

You probably think you know which local station is offering the cheapest gas prices — but are you sure?  Let Gas Buddy help.

Penny Pinching

In this tight economy, folks are pinching pennies wherever they can.  The Boston Globe has a story about Beantown penny pinchers — and the folks they profile are proud of their savings.

The article even has a quote from Maine’s Queen of Frugality: Amy Dacyczyn.

"I went years without calls, and all of a sudden I am getting calls again," said Amy Dacyczyn, 52, a mother from Maine who launched a monthly newsletter, The Tightwad Gazette, during the 1990 recession. Full of penny-pinching essays and quirky tips - how to create hammocks and volleyball nets from plastic six-pack rings was a favorite - the publication attracted legions of followers. Six years, three books, and more than 60,000 subscribers later, Dacyczyn decided she'd said everything she wanted to, and retired to spend more time with her children.

Still, she is still frugal. So, too, are some of her kids.

What are you doing to make ends meet in this economy?

Buy the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn here.

What food would you choose if stranded on a desert island?

In his book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan cites a study by Paul Rozin, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, where a group of Americans were presented with the following scenario:

 

"Assume you are alone on a desert island for one year and you can have water and one other food.  Pick the food that you think would be best for your health."

 

The choices were corn, alfalfa sprouts, hot dogs, spinach, peaches, bananas, and milk chocolate.

 

Here are the choices arranged by popularity of how they were chosen:

 

 

1. bananas (42%)
2. spinach (27%)
3. corn (12%)
4. alfalfa sprouts (7%)
5. peaches (5%)
6. hot dogs (4%)
7. milk chocolate (3%)

 

It turns out that the two foods that would best support survival are the ones chosen least – the hot dogs and milk chocolate.  Did you guess right?

 

 

This book challenges the prevailing way we look at food and proposes alternatives that will allow us to become healthier.

 

Buy the book here.

Stop The Junk Mail

Get Rich Slowly has an excellent post today about getting rid of junk mail.  Wouldn’t you just love to have all those credit offers stop?  Sure you would — so click on the link and follow the advice.  I did.

Clinton is in it for the long haul....

I’m so sick of these silly newspaper articles.  Before the last several primaries (from Super Tuesday, Ohio, Texas and all the way up to yesterday in Pennsylvania), the papers were gushing that this is Hillary Clinton’s last gasp — that she was finished unless she won “decisevely” — but that a huge win or a big “margin” would somehow change things. 

Yesterday, they were saying a small marginal win (3%) just wouldn’t be enough.  But a big win (10%) would make all the difference. 

Well, guess what?  She won by 10% and nothing has changed.  Nada.  Zilch.

Now the Washington Post has headlings reading:

Decisive Win Can't Forestall A Daunting Task

'Margin': On the Border Of Being Over the Edge

and

Just When You Think They Might Be Out, They Get Pulled Back In

But I don’t think that Clinton is out of this race at all.  And I don’t think that she’ll be dropping out.  I don’t even want her to drop out.  She’s hung tough and everyone might as well face the fact that this thing is going to go the distance.

Will she ultimately succeed?  Who knows, but she’s close enough to Obama to see this race to the end and let those elusive Super Delegates weigh in. 

So when the newpapers or the tv commentators write about Clinton needing to win in North Carolina or Indiana — don’t believe them.  You know better.

Ethanol's Failed Promise

There is an excellent column in today’s Washington Post that argues we should abandon our policy of using ethanol in gasoline since this food-to-fuel policy is clearly not working.

Read the full article here.