By now you've heard this

Filming is about to begin on "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." They've announced casting for Dolores Umbridge, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bellatrix Lestrange, Nymphadora Tonks (photo), Mrs. Figg and Luna Lovegood.

I think I'll write a children's book

Ted Kennedy pens children's book
The book explains how a bill becomes a law, the roles of Congress and the Senate and other details of the U.S. system of government. It also has biographies of Splash and Kennedy.

50 Cent To Write Children's Books
“The stories will have a positive message, something that kids can learn from.”

Victoria Beckham to write children's book
The sexy 31-year-old star has revealed she is working on a story collection to tie in with a range of clothes she's designing.

J.K. Rowling confirms new children's book
J.K. Rowling has confirmed in an interview that she has written a new, non-Harry Potter based children's book.

Sarah The Duchess of York Ferguson
Budgie the Little Helicopter has a broad grin and freckles, wears the brim of his hat turned up and works very hard.

Spike Lee
Filmmaker Spike Lee and wife Tonya Lewis Lee join the ranks of other celebrity kids' book writers with their sweet, rhythmic read-along about the endless energy of a toddler blasting through a busy day.

Jerry Seinfeld
The trick-or-treating mindset involves two words: "Get candy."

Cussler turns to kids' books
"The kids book took me three months before I could even write the first sentence. I had to get into a whole new style. I just had no idea how difficult it was to write a children's book."

A double hit of Buffy debris

'Buffy' Fight May Have Slain Two Networks on the Edge - Los Angeles Times
When the obituary is written of the WB network, the cause of death should probably read: complications resulting from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Last week, when the money-losing WB and UPN networks announced that they were pulling the plug to form a single new broadcast network, many television veterans traced the roots of the decision back five years, when a fight over the fate of "Buffy" drove what would prove to be a fatal stake through the WB's heart.

Too bad it didn't do "Firefly" any good.

'Buffy' star channeling Elton John in ABC comedy - Yahoo! News
British actor Anthony Stewart Head, formerly of WB series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has landed the lead in "Him & Us," ABC's comedy pilot inspired by the life of Elton John.

I'm having trouble picturing this.

Will AT&T become just AT?

LiveScience.com - Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams
After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending telegrams. On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible: "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."

Heck, a lot of people have no idea why we old farts still speak of "dialing" a telephone. Or why we don't just call it a phone.

I can vouch for this one

BusinessWeek: The Top Ten Hybrid Myths
1. You need to plug in a hybrid car.

Whenever I'm driving John's Insight, and another driver works up the nerve to ask me about it, it's their first question: Where do you plug it in? You don't. It runs on gasoline and charges itself, just like any other car.

Can't stop the signal

Having accomplished the impossible once, those pesky fans are at it again.

Joss Whedon's Firefly Season 2
It's possible that subscribers may choose one of three playback options; monthly DVD deliveries, TV On-Demand using your cable or satellite provider, or computer viewing via Streaming Download.

And if there is a gap on your Christmas tree:

Serenity Ornament
Fans of the cult-hit TV series and the major motion picture, now available on DVD, will love this ornament featuring the rogue ship Serenity.

Redefine "fake photo"

The American Thinker | Photo fakery at the New York Times
It appears that the Times, once-upon-a-time regarded as the last word in reliability when it comes to checking before publishing (which makes them so much better than blogs, of course), has run a fake photo on the home page of its website. The photo has since been removed from the home page, but still can be seen here.

It further appears that "fake photo" now means "undoctored photograph of a staged event", which is not what I think when I hear the phrase. The photo is genuine: What makes it "fake" is that the scene it depicts is incorrectly described.

Where's this Eskimo I'm supposed to wrestle?

CNN.com - Study: Waking up like being drunk - Jan 11, 2006

"For a short period, at least, the effects of sleep inertia may be as bad as or worse than being legally drunk."

Hm. So that's what being drunk is like. It's that terror-striken moment after you realize you haven't been to class in ages and you're going to flunk out for sure, and before you remember that you haven't attended school since the Carter administration. Sounds like fun. Set up another one, bartender!

Daily Planet 12-31

• British academics to tackle fashion's bottom line - Yahoo! News

  It is one of the most fundamental -- and, for men, potentially hazardous -- questions of modern life, for which academics now hope to provide the definitive answer: "Does my bum look big in this?"

• Distorted Tunes Test (Warning: Slow download.)

  Ever wondered if you are tone-deaf? The Distorted Tune Test page can help. You listen to 25 simple tunes and judge whether they are played correctly or not (it takes about five or six minutes).
  

• Kids Caught on Tape: Durant Middle School Vandalized

  Have you ever had the dream where you're at school....naked? Three 10-year-old boys in Bryan County did go to a school naked and it was all caught on tape.

• Official Google Blog: I'm feeling silly

  Naturally, we were all curious to see what 250 pounds of Silly Putty would look like.

• Sunbelt Software Silly Putty Task Force

  What happens when you drop a 50 pound beach ball made of Silly Putty off the roof of a building?

Daily Planet 12-23

• california patriot blog » Berkeley Streakers

  As is tradition during finals week, a bunch of Berkeley students go streaking through the library.

• Cañon City Daily Record Newspaper

  Dad, home from Middle East on leave, killed - by wife and boyfriend. No, that's not the odd part. The odd part is that the newspaper reporter tells us about his, and his daughter's, blogs.
  

• Entertainment Weekly's EW.com | Feature: Joss Whedon lets ''Firefly'' go

  ''In the end, it was what it was: a tough sell,'' says Whedon, adding that it appears the Firefly saga has reached its conclusion.

• How did the tradition of decorating a tree for Christmas get started?

  Legend has it that Martin Luther first introduced the concept in 1510.

Roadblocks

There are 22 levels . (Ask me how I know. Go on. Ask.)

Daily Planet 12-20

• Santarchy! (Santacon)

  Every December, for the last 12 years, Cacophonous Santas have been visiting cities around the world and generating a bit of naughty Christmas fun.

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Phantom

  The Ghost Who... Walks?

• TheKansasCityChannel.com - Local News - 3 Quit Gym Over Fetus Christmas Tree

  A Christmas tree that a pregnancy counseling organization provided to a women's fitness center prompted three people to cancel their memberships because the tree is decorated with plastic figures meant to represent fetuses.

Daily Planet 12-19

• The Sun Online | Time's up for bank clocks

  Insiders say the timepieces are being taken down so the public cannot complain about how long they have had to queue.

• Washington Times | Books | Why they think of aliens

  Ms. Clancy, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at Harvard, states quite clearly early on that it is not her aim to prove that these people were abducted -- to the contrary, she does not believe these abductions ever took place -- but that we can learn why these people believe that they have been.

• TBO.com (AP) | Santas Go on Rampage in New Zealand City

  Alex Dyer, a spokesman for the group, said Santarchy was a worldwide movement designed to protest the commercialization of Christmas.

Daily Planet 12-18

• BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Space cadets taken in by TV hoax

  "Aw man," said Paul. "We're not astronauts. We're just asses."

• Forsman & Bodenfors Girlpower demo

  The media world is becoming increasingly fixated on appearances. And the number of tricks used to achieve the increasingly exaggerated ideals is growing.

• RateMyCow.com - the greatest cow rating site in the developed world

  For obvious reasons "naked" photography is allowed, as cows don't often wear clothes. However no cattle-sex pictures are allowed, nor are gratuitous udder shots. This is a family cattle site!

• REAL OR FAKE? / Choosing a Christmas tree can be an ethical quagmire for environmentalists

  "Some people wanted to call it a 'peace tree' or a 'holiday tree,' " said Mark Westlund, a spokesman for the Department of the Environment. "But we figured that only people who would be celebrating Christmas would want one for the most part."

Happy birthday

To my wife.

Daily Planet 12-17

• Company Names

  Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

• First Coast News | Navy Wife Carries Mannequin in Place of Husband

  It's the newlywed's first separation, and Walker was looking for a way to get through the alone time.

• Regret The Error | Crunks '05: The Year in Media Errors and Corrections

  What jumps out is that this was a year during which we witnessed the astounding consequences of media errors.

• YesButNoButYes | Outrageous Firsts in Television History

  It was Leave it to Beaver that managed to cut a ground-breaking deal with the FCC, showing the first toilet on October 4, 1957.

Daily Planet 12-15

• 'Sex rage' couple facing $3.8 million bill - Jamaica Gleaner News

  The pair had attacked cabin crew who stopped them having sex.

• 2GB Credit Card Shaped Storage - TrustedReviews

  Much praise and adulation must go to Walletex for being the first manufacturer on the market to produce a product that truly lives up to this name.

• Blog bullies busted

  "It's none of their business. Why are they monitoring online student journals in the first place?"

• Coke to launch coffee-infused Coke Blak - Yahoo! News

  A Coke spokesperson said Coca-Cola Blak will be a mid-calorie drink, similar to Coca-Cola C2.

• Ersatz Santa charged after dropping pants - Union Leader

  Mullen told police that he was just joking around, saying something to the effect of he was "just having some fun with the kids."

• Miniature Guide Horses for the Blind - Damn Interesting

  While a miniature guide horse requires roughly the same amount of time to train, it has a typical life expectancy of 30-40 years.

• Nude teacher prank turns into whodunnit - Yahoo! News

  A raunchy picture of a Cypriot teacher in a state of undress was surreptitiously downloaded from her mobile telephone and sent to hundreds of pupils.

• Skateboard move creator sues for $20M - Florida Today

  The creator of an aerial skateboarding move known as ollie is suing several companies, including Disney and Sega, over the use of the word.

• Space Cadets - channel4.com

  Four "thrillseekers" think they're in earth orbit, but it's really "Big Brother in Space".

• TV Writers Must Sell, Sell, Sell - Wired News

  In a recent episode of the NBC series Medium, writers had to work the movie Memoirs of a Geisha into the dialogue three times because of a deal the network made with Sony earlier in the season.

• University Sells 'Big Brains On Campus' Calendars - Click2Houston.com

  There are plenty of calendars that show off certain parts of the human anatomy. But a new pin-up calendar at the University of Illinois celebrates the brain.

Personal Appearances

You're invited to join us at Stone Mountain Park this weekend for ARTC's production of "An Atlanta Christmas", featuring myself as the Host. That's Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11, from 2pm to 5pm both days, at Memorial Hall. There is no additional cost past the parking fee Stone Mountain Park charges at the park gate.

My daughter is appearing with the William Baker Festival Singers and the Youth Festival Singers for Christmas Atlanta 2005, this Friday (8pm) and Sunday (3pm and 7pm) at Sandy Springs United Methodist Church. Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for seniors and students.

My daughter can also be heard at the Grady High School Chorus Winter Concert, at 7 pm on Tuesday, December 13 at the Grady H.S. Theater.

And even more ARTC Christmas goodness can be had at Barnes & Noble Perimeter on Saturday, December 17, as we read some of our favorite holiday stories. You'll find us at the back of the store, in the children's storytelling area.

Evil Has Reigned For 100 Years...

Much is being made of a letter by C. S. Lewis in which he offered the opinion that no live-action film of "The Chronicles of Narnia" should ever be attempted. It should be remembered, however, that Lewis died in 1963. He probably expected Aslan to look like Bert Lahr. He had no way to anticipate the state of the digital moviemaker's art as of 2005. But then, who did?

Last night, thanks to the generosity of my friend Jerry Page, my family and I saw an advance screening of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I wouldn't presume to say whether Lewis would be satisfied, although I certainly hope so. The capacity crowd who saw this screening at Phipps Plaza certainly were.

Nor can I speak to the movie's fidelity to its source: I've read the book, but it's been decades, and I remember only the broad outlines of it. But it certainly felt right.

The transition from the wardrobe interior to the snowy forest and the lonely lamp-post was exactly as I've always envisioned it. The children were a little younger than I'd pictured them, but I can't fault their letter-perfect performances. The White Queen was as icy as a human actress can be. Aslan was... well, Aslan.

"Narnia" seems ready to step into the "epic fantasy series" niche recently vacated by "Lord of the Rings." The producers have optioned all seven books, which should take care of our Christmases through 2011.

A real page-turner

The Shape of Days | Thoughts on the ‘National Strategy’
So I’m reading the “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.” It’s a real page-turner. Apparently this little boy named Harry is secretly a wizard, and he gets sent to this wizard school where he has wonderful adventures with his new friends, Id and Superego.

...The subtext is pretty clear, and infinitely amusing to your humble narrator: ”We did tell you our strategy three years ago; 48 percent of y’all were just too stupid to wrap your ‘American Idol’-softened noodles around it. So we’re gonna tell you all again, and again, and if necessary again until you get what we’ve been saying all along.“