That bird expressed perfectly my feeling toward all idio-tainment reporters. Actually, toward most everyone on tv.

///Holed-up in sympathetic neighbor's attic to avoid capture by grammar Nazis....

No war here - nothing to see. Please move along.

Those ads remind me - I sure could use a drink right now!

Now people are defending ants? I have now seen (or read) it all.

Jeez, people, it's not like the mom is gonna reach for a moist towelette. When you grow up you can join us here in the real world.

"Precedent".

As in, "I would pay all our employees what they are really worth, but that would set a dangerous precedent."

What's with all these "Check out my cool artisan house/car/ship/treehouse" sites with postage stamp-sized pics on them?

I think the "made in 4 days" tag is probably a little disingenuous. Does this mean they shot the live action elements in 4 days? Or that they shot, created fx and other comp elements, comped them and color corrected all those shots in 4 days? I have a hard time believing that's even possible - and I use these same tools.

Everyone seems to think this would be some kind of miraculous achievement, and it is, if it's true, but it really hurts the fx industry more than helps it. When producers see this kind of stuff, they think that everyone in the fx biz should have the same talent and computing horsepower to do the same thing on an insanely short schedule. FX houses, even garage ones, are already stretched to the breaking point where profit margins are concerned. This just raises more unrealistic expectations and degrades the business for everyone.

I wonder what kind of drink dad had at the bar....

#4 - Q. F. freakin' A.

#5 - HAR!

The beer! Won't somebody think of the beer!!!

I think we found a good balance for our son between yuppie smart-ass names (like Brayer) and ultra-common names (David). Around the 5th month of pregnancy we were struggling to agree on one, and while watching the History Channel one night, saw a show about 3 Mile Island. It had that (in)famous footage of Jimmy Carter walking through the nuclear plant and I just casually said, "What about 'Carter'"? Bam! Done. Far from being the best president ever, but a great man of peace and wisdom and reason. We could have done so much worse.

Oh, and we totally did the "read the name aloud in different situations", too! Ours were, 1. a prison sentencing, 2. Nobel Prize winner announcement, & 3. baseball player over a P.A.

Final proof that humans have run their course on this world.

Congrats! Here's just what you need - more advice!
(With full knowledge that not everything works for all babies):

Swaddling worked wonders for our boy. Blankets are a pain - get the Miracle Blanket. Absolutely the best $30 we spent on our newborn.

The DVD of "Happiest Baby on the Block" had tips that worked well for us, and just made a lot of sense to us.

Enough with the products. Best advice I got regarding a newborn? He is not crying to piss you off. He is incapable of using emotion as a tool (yet!). Infinite patience and a stout heart are required.

Don't use baby talk with them. Use normal words, though you can certainly spice them up with silly voices and general goofiness. Our 27 month old has the vocabulary of many 4 or 5 year olds, can form accurately assembled sentences and carry on complex conversations.

I second what all have said before: Structure and discipline will do more good than "letting them find their own way". Yes, it actually takes effort. Yes, you will all be happier on down the road.

Finally, two words: Sleep training. Likely to be one of the hardest things you can experience with a 6 to 12 month old, but it's better than money in the bank. After a couple of weeks, we could set our clocks by his internal naptime and bedtime clock, and he sleeps wonderfully.

Best wishes and good luck!

Ha! If your Holy Leg can't save itself, how's it going to save anyone else?