I know ... I know ... I haven't been around lately. But while I am taking a second away from the hustle and bustle, just wanted to wish everyone out there a very Happy Holiday (whatever you may celebrate this time of year!)

Now ... sit back, relax, open up your presents, enjoy some hot chocolate, and be very, very glad this only happens once a year :) Peace, love, and joy.
~~Kitty

Tonight an early Christmas miracle happened ... my beloved Dallas Mavericks ended the 13-year jinx against the Los Angeles Lakers opening a can of 110-93 whoopass. The last time the Mavs beat the Lakers on their home court was on this very date exactly 13 years ago.

Who the hell says 13 is unlucky ... here's your moment of zen.

Big props to the rookie Josh Howard who earned his first NBA double-double (not affiliated with the burger) with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Way to grow a mustache rook! (not literally ...) And congratulations are in order to Coach Don Nelson who earned his 1,110th career victory, tying him with recently retired Miami Heat coach Pat Riley for second on the all-time list.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go ...

p.s. Good Luck to Jason White vying for the Heisman Saturday!

Yet another example of "Hmmm ... you really can get a grant to study just about anything!"

Iowa State University has been awarded a $480,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study odor from hog farms.

"We will have an 'odor footprint' tool that will predict where and for how long odors from a swine confinement facility will occur," Hoff said.

Does it really require a half-million dollar study to determine that a hog farm emits foul odors?

Frithjof Schwesig ... Dirty Vicar of Lampoldshausen ... had ordered 300 copies of a video film portraying the life of Christ as told by the gospel according to Luke.

Apparently, the gospel consisted of hard-core porn. I'm wondering how many new parishioners showed at the next sermon? :-)

I cannot wait to see what movie this turns out someday ...

A Cannibal and A Gentleman

Armin Meiwes, 42, described by his lawyer as a "gentleman of the old school," has confessed to killing a Berlin man who answered an advertisement he had posted on the Internet seeking a fit man "for slaughter." They met in Meiwes's elegant half-timbered home in the town of Rotenburg, central Germany, in March 2001. Meiwes killed the man, named only as Bernd-Juergen B., with a kitchen knife and filmed the deed on video tape which may be shown at the trial.

You must read the whole story ... seriously.

In other news of the bizzaro -- IT'S BACK!!!!!!

The first Greek "flash mob" was held Saturday in a busy shopping street in downtown Athens, when around 30 people staged a mock religious ceremony around an electric food mixer, Greek daily To Ethnos reported. "Between 1:27 and 01:32 pm you will see a 'priest' wearing a black cloak to extol his sacred idol, an electric food mixer. Become converts, and follow him," read the internet message giving instructions for the gathering. Some 30 people followed the call and danced around the mixer alongside the arch-priest, causing bewilderment and laughter among bypassers, Ethnos said. "I think it went very well. There weren't many people, but we had a good laugh," one of the participants told Ethnos.