Belmo

What do Santa Claus and Bill Cosby have in common? They both come while you're asleep! Merry Christmas!

No, but I gave up on LPs a long time ago. I understand that they have superior sound quality, but I just can't deal with having to amass a lot more stuff. It would be different if I already had a lot of records, but I don't -- I came of age when vinyl was on its way out (my first records were actually cassette tapes, which I still have), and I never really bought vinyl.

I did the same thing -- I plugged in the end of a 3.5 mm cord into the Dot, and plugged the other end (RCA inputs) into the Aux connection on the receiver. And after that, I never thought about it -- just like I never thought about CD sound quality: you hook it up, put in a CD, hit play, and that's it, right? But then, after I read something here, I played something I had on CD, and played it on the Dot at the same time. The difference in sound quality was an eye-opener -- it was almost as big a difference as between AM and FM. That experiment did two thing for me: I could never listen to the Dot the same way, and I started reading about this crap -- and that ended up with me ordering an Echo Link. You can very easily try the same thing, with any kind of music you fancy. I would not have gotten another piece of gear if all I listened to on the Dot was spoken stuff, podcasts and the like -- the difference in sound quality doesn't really matter if you're listening to people talk. But for music, there is a big enough difference that it justified (IMHO) upgrading. Your mileage may vary.

You mean like how drugs were legal in this country until 1919?

Lack of enforcement of some laws creates a culture in which people who would otherwise be law-abiding are comfortable breaking the law. The same thing happened in a big way during our equally insane prohibition of alcohol. And where do you think people in drug-infested neighborhoods get the money to buy guns? Guns are expensive, man.

They do it in Philly all the time. The cops don't seem particularly interested in stopping them, and considering how widespread anti-cop sentiment is right now, I can't say that I blame them. This is the wonderful world created by our insane war on drugs. What a ****ing joke.

You's win over Carson Hollow in the 2002 Test Stakes was one of the best races you'll ever see. What a race.

Nobody's mentioned Wally Pleasant? You humps our slipping.

My dad died five years ago, and I recall it was something like $750. Don't get me started about the funeral industry. Jessica Mitford would be turning over in her grave if she hadn't paid $39 to get cremated.

True fact: there is an independent agency that oversees the production of games shows, that makes sure the games are on the level, that there are no shenanigans. It was created after the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, and one of their representatives is at the taping of every episode of every game show. Their job is to make sure the game isn't crooked. I know this because I saw them at work in person: in 2000, I was a contestant on Win Ben Stein's Money, and after I'd creamed the other two contestants -- -- and was trying to beat Ben on the 10-questions-at-the-end deal, Nancy Pimental () asked the first question -- and then the producers realized the clock was broken. They had to stop the tape, the Game Show Honesty guy came out, and it took them 20 minutes to reset everything, to make sure the game was fair. The good news is that they did that, but the bad news is I had to stew during the delay. And Ben kicked my ass.

Who has shït his pants more since January 20, Joe Biden or Red?

Mid-60s down there on Thursday. It will be nice. Enjoy!

The bookmaking window is open! Morning line on this important question: Yes: 1/20 No: 15-1 Place your bets!

This is superior. Enjoy.

Back in September, I posted a picture on stupid FB of one of my stupid dogs -- it was from a flea market, something I only went to to get out of the house. It was just a few days, evidently, before he passed. Right after I got home that day, Frank sent me a message asking if we'd went through a metal detector, if he would have any problem getting in there with his concealed carry permit. At first I thought he was pulling my leg -- this was a hipster freak scene in a hipster neighborhood in Philly, filled with pasty hipsters who made Ringer look like Lou Ferrigno; it didn't seem to me like, uh, the kind of event that necessitated packing heat -- but then I realized he was entirely serious. That was Frank -- he was plenty weird, but once you got past the weirdness, you realized he was a good guy. Requiescat in pace, Frank.