At Home with the Braithwaites

I just remembered one of my favorite shows from the recent past. Series 1 & 2 are the only ones available on DVD so someday I may yet see Series 3 & 4. Since I don't know how to make an internal link, here's a condensed Wikipedia blurb:
"At Home with the Braithwaites is a British television programme about a typical dysfunctional suburban family from Leeds. It was first broadcast on January 20, 2000. The show begins when the mother of the family, Alison Braithwaite (played by Amanda Redman), unexpectedly wins 38 million pounds on the lottery on her 40th birthday, from a lottery ticket bought for her by her youngest daughter, Charlotte.
Each of the Braithwaite family — David (Peter Davison), Alison, Virginia, Sarah and Charlotte — have their own issues and flaws. At the start of the first series, David is a weak-willed philanderer, but overall a nice enough guy. Alison is frustrated in her position as a housewife and during the first season attempts to keep the money and the charity trust that she has set up for it a secret from her family, who she believes will waste it all on themselves. Virginia is a lesbian and in love with their next door neighbour, the self-absorbed manipulative Megan. Sarah has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte is having problems at school.
As events unfold, the story takes many convoluted turns, many related to the fortune that they have unexpectedly gained, and many related to misunderstandings.
The show ran for four series. It is unlikely that it will ever return."

Our Next President

Thought for the Day - 7

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thought for the Day - 6

One's real life is often the life that one does not lead.
  - Oscar Wilde

Prez Prediction

Here are my current future predictions:

Romney..McCain..Clinton..Obama..Edwards*
Romney..Clinton..Obama
Romney..Clinton
Romney

*Unless Edwards somehow miraculously wins then...
Romney..Edwards
Edwards

This post will automatically self-destruct if proven wrong.

TechnoLust

The MacBook Air is sexy. But it's:
-not the longest lasting (battery-wise)
-not the fastest
-not the biggest (memory-wise)
-not port-ly (has only 1!)
-not for me.
I'm sticking with my fat little PowerBook.

A New National Portrait

So what’s the brouhaha outside the Men’s Room at the National Portrait Gallery? Did they run out of room in the Presidential Gallery? After all, Dubya’s picture is not there yet. Nope. This temporary exhibit is getting a bigger crowd than the 42 permanent portraits in the gallery combined.

Thought for the Day - 5

If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day. - John A. Wheeler

John Wheeler (1911-?) was a physics professor at Princeton who coined the term "black hole." On his 60th birthday he was honored with a "festschrift" which, if you do not already know, is a book honoring a respected academic (a celebration publication). It contains original contributions by the academic's close colleagues, often including his or her former doctoral students and can be anything from a slim volume to a work in several volumes. Nowadays, a "festschrift" is probably just a series of long e-mails but it's still nice, don't you think? Wheeler's was entitled "Magic Without Magic." This was the only strange new thing I found out today.