TGIF

* There they go again, claiming the market is falling today as crude hits new highs. Didn't seem to bother the market during the spring-summer rally. I think people have adjusted to higher oil by cutting back on other expenditures. It's not as if you're going to stop driving to work or taking the kids to soccer practice. It may mean one less night out to dinner, or one less pair of shoes a month. But driving seems to be the American way of life.

* Classic! Movie Theaters and Obesity. Excerpt:

Why the heck don't these people who sue McDonald's and other fast food places for selling food portions that are too big -- why haven't they gone after the theatre industry? Have you they not seen the size of the cokes, the popcorn, and the candy in there? I mean, we're talking popcorn that's sold in buckets! Literally -- buckets.

Read the whole thing!

* The WSJ has an article on how the SARS epidemic in China has them issuing second sets of chopsticks at dinner, so folks don't use the same ones to eat and select food off of "family style" dinners. Yeah, that always kind of bothered me to see folks do that.

* I think we could blame the selloff on August. It's just not a good month historically. Throw in a downgrade of Intel after the big rally, and a Dell earnings call that displeased investors. People are more concerned about the last trip for summer vacation than investing right now.

* The crazies are out in Sacramento, protesting the county-wide spraying of mosquitos to help fight the West Nile Virus epidemic. They fear the pesticide. Meanwhile, county spraying has wiped out 70% of the mosquitos. As the epidemic spreads, Sacramento had the first death associated with the virus yesterday. I'd prefer the bug spray over West Nile.

* When was the last time you had Red Vines? (Uh, today!) I like them fresh and soft, not stale and chewy.

* My MP3 player keeps landing on Ted Nugent songs. I can't have that more than 6 or 7 in my collection of 3000+ files. It's gotta be a statistical anomaly. I should go to the casino tonight. Put a "stranglehold" on those slot machines, baby.

* Red Vines or Twizzlers? (Either.)

* The knuckleheads in support are doing maintenance on the development machine, and we're all stuck running in circles here dealing with bizarre errors.

* Italian archeologists on trail of ancient warships. This kind of stuff fascinates me.
* TGIF!!!