I wondered about that...

Reality TV winners get tax reality check

"You can ruin someone's life by giving them everything they want," one Hollywood producer told the trade paper. "If you take a log cabin and replace it with a mansion, there are tax consequences to that."

The tax pain isn't limited to the initial renovation costs. Property taxes, insurance rates and utility bills all could rise too.

The producers of "Extreme Makeover" try to lower contestants' tax bills by leasing their property during the two-week renovation and filming. Those renovations are then usually tax-exempt.

I admit it: I love Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It makes me cry like a pubescent girl. I'm glad they actually think about the consequences of the rennovation and try to alleviate them, but I always wonder how these (usually) poor families can afford the upkeep on their new homes.

Spiritual Youth

Surveys: Young adults searching spiritually

They are often tarnished with labels like "self-absorbed" and "materialistic." But young adults are actively engaged with spiritual questions, two new surveys suggest, even if they are not necessarily exploring them through traditional religious practice.

One of the lessons in A Whole New Mind (which I have finished and highly recommend, btw) is that material abundance in Western cultures is leading to a sort of spiritual awakening. Since the average suburbanites no longer needs to focus all of their energy on feeding the family, they have more time and money to devote to philosophical introspection and therefore are on the lookout for people/things/services aimed at their spiritual side.

While these surveys seem to confirm that notion, I don't really see anything surprising here. You're supposed to explore the ether when you go to college. It goes hand in hand with leaving the nest. There's nothing new about college freshmen experiencing (or striving for) an "awakening" when they first start reading Kerouac, Nietzsche, Castaneda, or whatever.

It's the way things always worked, I thought.

GOSH!

This is amazing. The Idaho House has passed a bill commending the creators of "Napoleon Dynamite".

12 WHEREAS, the Preston High School administration and staff, particularly 13 the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention; and 14 WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's 15 most famous export; and 16 WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered 17 multiethnic relationships; and 18 WHEREAS, Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics; 19 and 20 WHEREAS, Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard promote better air qual- 21 ity and carpooling as alternatives to fuel-dependent methods of transporta- 22 tion;

And then the capper:

2 WHEREAS, any members of the House of Representatives or the Senate of the 3 Legislature of the State of Idaho who choose to vote "Nay" on this concurrent 4 resolution are "FREAKIN' IDIOTS!" and run the risk of having the "Worst Day of 5 Their Lives!"

Yessssssssss!

Trick of the Trade

Tricks of the Trade is a great idea.

A tip for listeners: when having a call-in contest, radio hosts prefer winners who sound excited. So if you call a station and sound fun, there's a better chance of not only winning but getting on air as well. The whole "caller 9" thing is mostly a filtering trick, allowing the host to tell boring-sounding people "you're caller number 7, sorry."

It's run by everyone's favorite defective yeti.

Weather or Not

We had us a little bit of snow yesterday:

CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen says Colorado is experiencing a week of weather extremes: On Saturday, the temperature in downtown Denver was 65 degrees, while overnight there was a foot of snow on the ground there. However, he predicts temperatures rising to about 40 later Monday and in the 50s on Tuesday.

And that would be why Spring storms rule in Colorado. One day you're stuck at home, the next everything is gone.

It's nothing like New England.

The most interesting thing I noticed this morning was the trail of paw prints in the snow in front of our house. I think it may have been a fox sniffing around our milk box.

The Ultimate Fighter Finale

First let me say I was never a big fan of mixed martial arts fighting. I've loved boxing since I was tiny, watching Sugar Ray and Marvelous Marvin pound each other with Howard Cossell going nuts down by the apron. I've also been a long-time martial arts fan – I got a black belt in Karate when I was a kid in Tennessee. Even taking all that into account, when MMA and Ultimate Fighting first came on the scene, it seemed like little more than barroom cage fights, and I carried that opinion with me until very recently. The change was precipitated by The Ultimate Fighter on Spike. Don't get me wrong, this isn't great television. In fact, I usually describe it as "The Real World, except people settle their drama by punching each other in the face." Nevertheless, I got sucked into the show and developed affinity for some fighters and dislike for others. At that point it's a lot like professional wrestling: it's a lot easier to get into when there's a baby face fighting a heel.

Tonight was the big climax of the series' first season. Two finalists from each of the two weight classes on the show would fight for "six-figure contracts" with the UFC. After that, a UFC legend would take on a young rising star to cap off a triple-header for the first live UFC broadcast on cable television. The Spike production did a great job of building excitement for the show, I have to admit.

The first bout featured New Mexico's Diego Sanchez taking on Boston's Kenny Florian in a middleweight bout. Kenny belongs in a lower weight class and it showed. The fight started with the two men circling the octagon, very tentative. This went on long enough for the crowd to start booing. Once they eventually met, though Diego was too big, too powerful, and too mean for Kenny to handle. Diego effectively illustrated the technique referred to as "Ground & Pound" as he mounted Florian and pounded his head until they stopped the fight. Best moment of this fight: Sanchez's girlfriend in the crowd yelling "Fuck him up!" as Diego went to town on Kenny's face.

The second fight, a light-heavyweight contest between Georgian funny guy Forrest Griffin and Chicago's "American Psycho" Stephan Bonnar was a completely different story. These fellows came out swinging for the fences and never stopped. Both fighters got their bells rung several times, but they just kept swinging. I gave teh first round to Forrest based on his solid jab and right hook landing several times each, though Bonnar came on strong later in the round. The second round went to Stephan on my card. He had the advantage in the striking while Griffin had a slight edge in the grappling. My first note for the third round: "HOLY SHIT!" Both men took a pounding, with Griffin scoring more points early until Bonnar got his rythm and started countering well. Throughout the fight, Forrest faired better when they were in the Muy Thai clench. He scored a lot with his knees then. I gave the third to Forrest, but just barely. The judges gave the win to Griffin, too, but the UFC made an incredibly classy move by giving both fighters contracts. This was one of the most exciting fights of any kind I've seen in a long, long time.

The "real" fight was a bit of an anti-climax, with relative newcomer Rich Franklin taking out legend Ken Shamrock in short order after Shamrock slipped trying to kick Franklin in the head. Both fighters were very classy afterwards, though.

So, I guess I'm a fan of the UFC now. (I refuse to buy fights on PPV, though, so I doubt I'll become much of a follower. Oh, well.) I certainly look forward to the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

I enjoyed this stuff so much, I've renamed my "Boxeo" category to a more general "Fight! Fight!"

Getting Lost at 10,000 Feet

Actually, it would be way higher than that, but whatever... Factor in the zoom. So, I mentioned the new satellite images incorporated into Google Maps. The new trend is to find cool stuff, demonstrate human impact on the world, or most fun of all, map out your childhood neighborhood.

I can't do it.

When I look at my old hometown in Tennessee, I get completely lost. I blame the fact that they don't have the resolution to support a close zoom. It sure is pretty with all that green, though.

But then, they do have fairly good resolution on the places I lived in Massachusetts. I recognize the area immediately surrounding the first house we had there. At first view, I could find any good landmarks, but on further review, I have since located the Quincy Quarries where Hanh and I (and others) used to go climbing (pretty sure that's them... they look strange, though) and the Barnes & Noble where we could go afterwards for mochas and backgammon. The B&N is also notable for being the place where I stalked wooed my wife. (Her house is in this shot.)

I was also able to locate my apartment in Framingham, MA, but there wasn't really much noteworthy in that area to look for... You can (and I did) follow Route 9 to anohter climbing spot, Hammond Pond. It was there that Miracle Ed "caught" Hanh in his arms (after effectively plucking him off the rock).

Good times.

I just wish there were better shots of Rogersville.

Bonus: The Wife's brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Kate just got a house right around here. We're dying to go see it.

Did they mean it?

Yesterday morning, as I drove to pick up my morning latte, I passed the new LED sign that was recently erected by one of our neighborhood churches and it had an interesting slogan on it:

Tired of Religion?

God is too.

I thought to myself, "Well, that's an interesting angle." I couldn't really wrap my head around what they were trying to say with that.

This morning the sign had something more normal on it, so now I wonder if it was some vanaldous scalawag who hacked the sign. It does seem that some folks are using that message legitimately, however, so perhaps not.

Laughing Dog

Animal laughs no joke says expert

Professor Jaak Panksepp says that animals other than humans exhibit play sounds that resemble human laughs.

These include the panting sounds made by chimps and dogs when they play and chirping sounds observed in rats.

Totally. Mingus is very vocal when we play. Not only does he "play pant", he also "monkey talks" and throws head-fakes like a running back. Then he smiles.

He also sighs at me when he's bored or frustrated. I think I saw him roll his eyes at me once, too.

My dog freaks me out sometimes...

Taste the Music

A musician who tastes each chord - literally

When you listen to music, what does it taste like? That's not a silly question. Swiss researchers are studying a young musician who consistently identifies musical intervals by the flavors they induce on her tongue.

For example, a minor second is sour. A major second is bitter. A perfect fourth is mown grass. A minor sixth is cream. An octave has no taste at all. Neuroscientists call such mixed perception synaesthesia. It's a nagging reminder that what we perceive is not just a simple processing of stimuli from one or another of our senses.

Ever since I read The Man Who Tasted Shapes, I've been fascinated with synaesthesia. I'm almost jealous, in fact.

Well, Phooey!

Bourque is leaving Terriers

Citing academic difficulty as his reason, Bourque told coach Jack Parker Friday that he was withdrawing from the university. Bourque, a forward who was taken in the second round of the 2004 NHL draft by the Washington Capitals, said he will play for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Moncton Wildcats in the 2005-06 season.

Boo!

I mean ferchristsake, it's not like there's even professional hockey to look forward to right now. You'd think the kid might could use a friggin' education.

Can't say I blame him

Monkey makes escape and hates dental care

Raised at the Chengdu Zoo, the monkey was recently moved to a medical school for lab experiments on oral cavities.

Dissatisfied with the dental work and known for his hot temper, the monkey escaped from the lab around 1 pm on Saturday. After arriving at a nearby community, he bit an old woman in an attempt to take away some biscuits. He also stopped for some tea.

OK. Jesus.

All my monkey paranoia aside, I'm on this little trooper's side. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig for new dental procedures.