I wanted to start off the new year right just like those Texans like to do: get a large caliber handgun and fire it in celebration of the new year, but that idea was nixed as I live in the oppressive fiefdom of California. As I was going to try and take my trumpet outside and blare out a few minutes of celebratory notes, I was informed that I could not play the trumpet past 10 PM due to sound pollution regulations. Read more »

I have in front of me a brightly-burning Yule log.  I am watching a fireplace fire on TV-36 here in the San Francisco Bay area in California.

Do you think virtual fireplaces are a strange invention?  I mean, they give out no heat and the snaps and crackles of water vapor exploding from the logs seem artificial. Read more »