In the lobby, gambler Ray Capozucca, 67, of Pittston, Pennsylvania, stood beside his packed bags. He had been playing video poker on a slot machine at 7:30 a.m. when a slot attendant told him to leave.

Okay. I just got home from a 3-day backpacking expedition in New Hampshire, so I'm just catching up on this whole "New Jersey is closed until further notice" thing.

Do you suppose this guy was getting an early start, or do you think he's been up since the night before? Do you think he's playing the maximum on the nickel video poker, or do you think he's just playing regular 25 cent poker?

Most importantly.... Who's holding the cup for him? :)

New Jersey casinos close doors

Why, yes, I think every man, woman, child, and pet should have a knitty ski mask-- it's an inalienable right, is it not?

For Kathy. Now you know what to make everyone for Christmas.

--:--:--| hodgepodge |--:--:--

Of -course- the hurricane is headed for Key West. It will be there by Saturday. SO WILL I.
Note how it's making a nearly 90 degree turn towards the Keys, just as I fly in there.
Sigh.

Update: I'm flying out of Newark at 5:45 this evening. I should get into Fort Lauderdale at 8:48 tonight. Just in time to get evacuated and sent to a shelter, where I will spend the first 3 or 4 days of my vacation/business trip on the finest cot the Red Cross can provide. I can't believe they still haven't cancelled the conferences in Key West.

Hurricane WILMA

] I am sorry to report that much of Elena's story is not
] true. She did not travel around the zone by herself on a
] motorcycle. Motorcycles are banned in the zone, as is
] wandering around alone, without an escort from the zone
] administration. She made one trip there with her husband
] and a friend. They traveled in a Chornobyl car that
] picked them up in Kyiv.
]
] She did, however, bring a motorcycle helmet. They
] organized their trip through a Kyiv travel agency and the
] administration of the Chornobyl zone (and not her
] father). They were given the same standard excursion that
] most Chernobyl tourists receive. When the Web site
] appeared, Zone Administration personnel were in an uproar
] over who approved a motorcycle trip in the zone. When it
] turned out that the motorcycle story was an invention,
] they were even less pleased about this fantasy Web site.
]
] Because of those problems, Elena and her husband have
] changed the Web site and the story considerably in the
] last few days. Earlier versions of the narrative lied
] more blatantly about Elena taking lone motorcycle trips
] in the zone. That has been changed to merely suggest that
] she does so, which is still misleading.

The photos were very cool. However, everything else you know is a lie force fed to you by the KGB.

Boing Boing: 'Girl Photoblogs Chernobyl on Motorcycle' thing a fraud

] WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Spanky, a clown with the renowned
] Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, has been
] arrested on charges stemming from a child pornography
] investigation, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

See? Clowns are just plain evil. Especially ones named SPANKY.

Spanky the clown arrested on porn charges

] In 1995, only 56 R2 models were produced, and only 18
] were black, making this car fairly hard to come by.

Awwwwwwwwwwww YES!
We finally bought an RX-7.
It's black. It's shiny. It's rare. :)
I will post pictures when we pick it up.

Our new baby

] A teenage boy posing as a banker duped an Ohio car dealership into delivering
] a $123,000 BMW to him at his high school, police said Thursday.
] The boy was 16 in early January when he ordered the 12-cylinder 2004 BMW
[ 760Li with "black sapphire metallic" paint and a heated steering wheel and seats.
] He told Midwestern Auto Group that his bank would confirm the wire transfer,
] authorities said.
] After completing and returning paperwork that was mailed to his home, the teen
] called the dealership pretending to be a banker confirming the transfer, police
] said.

My dad used to be a corrections officer at the detention center this kid's headed for. I wish he still worked there, maybe he could have gotten an autograph...

CNN.com - Teen accused of BMW scam - Feb. 12, 2004

] This year, we're pleased to present the ''Love Triangle''
] flock of turkey decoys, which consists of three decoys,
] named (we swear) ''Aggressive Jake,'' ''Passive Jake''
] and ''Three-Position Hen.''

yes, yes, i know... it's a little late for mr. barry's holiday gift guide, but i just got back to work today and i wanted to make ABSOLUTELY SURE that none of you missed this.

'LOVE TRIANGLE' TURKEY DECOY SET

] NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eye injuries from the "war
] game" paintball have been increasing among U.S. children
] in recent years, according to a study released Monday.
]
] In both 1999 and 2000, U.S. emergency rooms saw more than
] 1,200 paintball-related eye injuries, compared with 545
] in 1998. Children younger than 15 are estimated to
] account for more than 40 percent of these injuries,
] according to findings published in the January issue of
] the journal Pediatrics.
]
] Paintball is a war game in which opponents try to
] splatter each other with small, paint-filled capsules
] shot out of guns powered by compressed gas.

It's all fun and games, etc...

] Do artists need narcotics even more than ordinary people?
] Richard Davenport-Hines examines authors' habits

Sorted for ease of scribbling