As 2006 comes to a close, I wanted to make mention of some of the notables we lost during the past twelve months. Each entertained us, informed us, or somehow made us think about things in new ways. This is not a complete list, but I think it gives a good sample of the legendary talents that took a final bow. They shouldn’t be forgotten.
Lou Rawls: 72, Singer with a velvet voice who donated a great deal of his time and money to the United Negro …

Some people make new year’s resolutions every January 1st, and others swear them off. But whether you made serious resolutions or not, there may still be some things left unchecked on your 2006 “To Do” list. That’s the topic of this week’s Sunday Seven, posted just minutes before the start of the new year so that you had the most time possible to check off any last-minute accomplishments!
But first, Wil, of “The Daily Snooze” was first to play last week . Congratulations, Wil!
On to this week’s question!
THIS …

As the clock ticks away toward the start of 2007, I thought I’d take a quick trip down memory lane with a look at the best post of each month of 2006. In a few of the months, the competition was stiff when it came to deciding which might have been my “best” offering.
(Not because I thought they were all so good, but because there were months in which singling any post as deserving of a second visit was a tough search.)
My best post of the year, I think, …

On this date in 1956, popular emcee and producer Ralph Edwards turned over the hosting duties of his hit television show Truth or Consequences to a relatively-unknown talent he’d heard on a regional west coast radio show. That young host, just 33 at the time, was Bob Barker.
Truth or Consquences was mostly a stunt show in which contestants were asked a trivia question they had to answer before a buzzer, nicknamed Beulah, would sound. Everyone knew that the buzzer always sounded just a second or so after Bob …

Found on Shelly‘s Cyber Chocolate:
My Cereal Personality Is…
Stars CerealNobody remembers you as a cereal, but man you were styling in that hat! A billygoat never look so good as on your cereal box! Your choice of caramel flavoring is an interesting one, but then again kids eat glue!
Find Out Your Cereal! Question 1: What type of cereal did you eat as a kid?
Healthy Cereals
Sugar Cereals
Question 2: Which item best describes your cereal?
Honey, Corn, Wheat, or Oat
Chocolate
Not sure or something else
…

I was visiting someone else’s site on a different service just before Christmas when I noticed an unusual web banner ad. It featured a handsome guy in a white bathrobe. He was holding two red Christmas tree ball ornaments just below waist level.
The ad eventually ended on this frame:

As if the product’s name wasn’t clear enough, the pair of red balls would seem to make it quite clear what this product is all about. But then one might ask, is this a clever way to sell a …

Last week, I asked the writers out there whether or not you’ve ever dreamed that you were a character in a story you were writing at the time.
The majority of people, 86%, say they haven’t. Of them, two-thirds admit that they would like to. Only 14% say they have, but add that their dream didn’t change anything about what they were writing.
I guess that means that the alternate reality was a nice place to visit, but that they didn’t their writing to live there.

Much of the country is under an arctic chill. So rather than go outside, why not stay indoors with some comfort food and a new list of questions!
But first, Jude of “My Way” was first to play last week. Congratulations, Jude!
Here are this week’s “Saturday Six” questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal…but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as “first to play,” …

Over at The Blue Voice, Dave asks an interesting question about people who call others “Conspiracy Theorists:”
“So why is it the minute someone suggests that the people who own and control EVERYTHING–the land, the labor, the resources–might pursue their best interests at our expense they are labeled a “[Conspiracy Theorist]?” Instantly we are lumped in with the crop circle and black helicopter crowd.”
I’m not referring specifically to Dave in this definition, nor do I recall ever singling him out as one. But since he used the collective pronoun …

Some political bloggers on the left have been working overtime, scouring through declassified transcripts from thirty-year-old government documents and old photo archives of President Gerald Ford posing with notables from the time of his presidency, trying to do anything they can to find fault with him, as if they believe that he will return from the dead long enough to apologize for any transgression they identify.
It’s not as if one couldn’t find fault with Ford; but then one could easily find fault with every president who has ever served, if …

The only American president ever to reach the White House without being elected to the office, Gerald Ford, has died at age 93.
The news came late tonight from his family.
Ford wasn’t a great president, but I think he was a good president, and more importantly, a good man. He was sworn in on the heels of the unprecedented resignation of his predecessor, Richard Nixon because of the Watergate crisis. Upon taking office as the 38th Commander-in-Chief, he told a national audience, “Our long national nightmare is over.”
His most …

The first recorded Christmas celebration on December 25th took place in Rome in the year 336, which means that today would mark the 1,670th Christmas Day.
I hope yours was a merry one, whether you celebrated the day or not.