From the Jeff Foxworthy performance at Hogwarts

1) If you think Quidditch is somewhere you left your truck...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
2) If you bought your wand at Walmart...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
3) If your wand is held together with duct tape...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
4) If you think Hogwarts is a new event at the county fair...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
5) If you store your potions in a mason jar...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
6) If your car is smarter than you are...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
7) If you think the Ministry of Magic is the new local church...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
8) If your animagus form is a coon dog...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
9) If you think Voldemort is a new foreign car...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
10) If you think Madame Hooch charges by the hour...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
11) If you use your crystal ball to find out the results of the next NASCAR race...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
12) If your favorite flavor of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean is Budweiser...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
13) If you bring a stadium seat to a Quidditch match...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
14) If you think your school colors are plaid...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
15) If one of your spells involves the incantation of "Git-R-Done"...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
16) If one of your potion's main ingredients is Kool-Aid...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
17) If your wand is freshly whittled...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
18) If your broom is the John Deere 2000...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
19) If you have a confederate flag on the back of your broom...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
20) If your Quidditch match is sponsored by Budweiser...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
21) If your familiar is a basset hound named Trigger...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard
22) If your favorite spell is transfiguring a 12 pack to a 24 pack...You Might Be a Redneck Wizard

King Kong: No spoilers

Quite liked it. Jack Black: in my opinion, so-so. I think he played the character well. Russ thought he was well-cast. The casting was quite good, the effects were great. The dinosaurs and other things on/re: the island were excellent. I've never been enamoured with dinosaurs, I was bored by Jurassic Park, but these were cool!

Peter Jackson put some very nice humor into the film and it had some touching scenes. Even though the film was three hours long, and even though I was conscious of the length (I survived without an intermission or having to run off to the restroom without problem or incident) it was sufficiently well-paced that, at least to me, it didn't lag. Russet thought it a bit long and that the island sequence could have been trimmed a bit, I didn't have a problem with it.

Anyway, well done, Mr. Jackson. I don't think it will get a nomination for Film of the Year, and honestly, the film doesn't really deserve that. Still, well done and recommended. I would like to see the original again to compare them a bit more realistically, a friend who saw the sneak in Phoenix prefers the original.

WOOHOO! GO, SENATE!

The United States Senate voted NOT TO EXTEND THE PATRIOT ACT! Now, that doesn't mean the whole thing is going to go away, it does mean that many provisions that would have been renewed and/or made permanent are at least, for now, set to expire after 12/31.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051216/ap_on_go_co/patriot_act

Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday refused to reauthorize major portions of the USA Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.

In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.

President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent.

They also supported new safeguards and expiration dates to the act's two most controversial parts: authorization for roving wiretaps, which allow investigators to monitor multiple devices to keep a target from evading detection by switching phones or computers; and secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries.

Feingold, Craig and other critics said those efforts weren't enough, and have called for the law to be extended in its present form so they can continue to try and add more civil liberties safeguards. But Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have said they won't accept a short-term extension of the law.

If a compromise is not reached, the 16 Patriot Act provisions expire on Dec. 31, but the expirations have enormous exceptions. Investigators will still be able to use those powers to complete any investigation that began before the expiration date and to initiate new investigations of any alleged crime that began before Dec. 31, according to a provision in the original law. There are ongoing investigations of every known terrorist group, including al-Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad and the Zarqawi group in Iraq, and all the Patriot Act tools could continue to be used in those investigations.

Five Republicans voted against the reauthorization: Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Craig and Frist. Two Democrats voted to extend the provisions: Sens. Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Frist, R-Tenn., changed his vote at the last moment after seeing the critics would win. He decided to vote with the prevailing side so he could call for a new vote at any time. He immediately objected to an offer of a short term extension from Democrats, saying the House won't approve it and the president won't sign it.

"We have more to fear from terrorism than we do from this Patriot Act," Frist warned.

If the Patriot Act provisions expire, Republicans say they will place the blame on Democrats in next year's midterm elections. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The time for Democrats to stop standing in the way has come."

But the Patriot Act's critics got a boost from a New York Times report saying Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States. Previously, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations.

"I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give it with restraint and care," said Feingold, the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.

"It is time to have some checks and balances in this country," shouted Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "We are more American for doing that."

Most of the Patriot Act — which expanded the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers — was made permanent when Congress overwhelmingly passed it after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. Making the rest of it permanent was a priority for both the Bush administration and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourns for the year.

The House on Wednesday passed a House-Senate compromise bill to renew the expiring portions of the Patriot Act that supporters say added significant safeguards to the law. Its Senate supporters say that compromise is the only thing that has a chance to pass Congress before 2006.

"This is a defining moment. There are no more compromises to be made, no more extensions of time. The bill is what it is," said Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz.

The bill's opponents say the original act was rushed into law, and Congress should take more time now to make sure the rights of innocent Americans are safeguarded before making the expiring provisions permanent.

"Those that would give up essential liberties in pursuit in a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security," said Sen. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record), R-N.H. They suggested a short extension so negotiations could continue, but the Senate scrapped a Democratic-led effort to renew the USA Patriot Act for just three months before the vote began.

"Today, fair-minded senators stood firm in their commitment to the Constitution and rejected the White House's call to pass a faulty law," said Caroline Fredrickson, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington legislative office. "This was a victory for the privacy and liberty of all Americans."

I'm dreaming of a White Birthday....

Just like the ones I've never had.


Yup, today I turned Dirty Harry's favorite caliber and it snowed about an inch or so last night. Very nice, very pretty, and not too cold. We had a Christmas party last night with Russet's boss and wife, who is Russet's veterinarian, then went down the mountain and saw King Kong. Coming up we got some VERY light snow. Apparently it persisted and continued all night. Russ gave me a copy of Harold & Maude on DVD, we'll probably watch it later, she's asleep right now.

Didn't get out today (yet). Lots of sleep, had to do some problem wrangling for work that might turn into a royal bitch next week, hard to say. But for now, I'm going to play City of Heroes!

If you're really bored....

Here's what my laptop is loaded up with for music that I'll be listening to on the way to Phoenix tomorrow. 1100 songs, 3.1 days, 5.44GB of moozik. LOTS of Celtic and a lot of other cool stuff. Maybe I'll be sufficiently bored later to post the songs.

"Weird Al" Yankovic, 10,000 Maniacs, Afro Celt Sound System, Alasdair Fraser, Alice Cooper, Alison Kinnaird & Christine Primose, Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, Blues Brothers, 'Bok, Muir and Tricket', Carlos Nuñez, Ceoltóirí, Chantmania, Chumbawamba, Cranberries, 'Crosby, Stills & Nash', David Bowie, Dead Can Dance, Dead Milkmen, Devo, Dire Straits, Dread Zeppelin, Eddie Bauer Collection, Electric Light Orchestra, Ensemble Galilei, Eurobeat, Eurythmics, Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Gary Numan, 'Gordon Bok, Ann Mayo Muir & Ed Trickett', Grateful Dead, Groucho Mark, Heads, Jackson Browne, John Roberts And Tony Barrand, Just Say Yes, Last Temptation of Elvis, Libana, Lilith Fair, Lisa Loeb, Loreena McKennitt, Mamma Mia Broadway Cast, Men Without Hats, Mojo Nixon, Oingo Boingo, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Queen, Radio Free Vestibule, Randy Newman, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rush, Santana, Sarah McLachlan, Sinéad Lohan, Sixpence None The Richer, Spaz Kitty, Spin Doctors, Stan Rogers, Supertramp, Talking Heads, Texas, 'The Border Collies With Zac Leger, Julian Lambertson, Kelly Stewart & Lisa Edwards', The Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Cowards, The Frantics, They Might Be Giants, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys, Wall of Voodoo, Was (Not Was), Whistlebinkies, Who