The Ubiquitous Grammar Cop

I give full credit to Thom Hartmann who at times asks this question: Have you ever seen a pigeon chick (or eggs for that matter)?

I have a question regarding the buzz-worthy human interest story from the Los Angeles area: "Why would a woman with six young children need fertility treatments?"

Now that Rod Blagojevich is no longer the governor of Illinois (cheers and applause), I wonder how long it will take crews to replace his name over all of the Open Road Tolling booths that pepper the many miles of Illinois tollways? On a related note, I am glad that the capital of Illinois will move back to Springfield, rather than Chicago's 33rd Ward (where Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Alderman Richard Mell, presently reside). I still cannot believe that taxpayer money went to the upkeep of the Governor's Mansion that sat empty for six years; Blagojevich never moved to Springfield because his wife did not want to leave Chicago.

A friend of mine inspired this question. As a consequence, she is ineligible to answer today's trivia question. Which three actors did Amy Heckerling direct in her classic 1982 ensemble film Fast Times at Ridgemont High go on to win Oscars? I will award bonus points (no cash value) if you can name the films that earned them their Oscars. Double-plus-good bonus points if you can name their characters in Fast Times at Ridgemont High .

I've been reading and listening with interest the news reports regarding the passage of the $819 billion stimulus package passed in the U.S. House. The bill will be packed with vast amounts of individual programs, projects and the like. In short, many news organizations summed up the basic premise of the bill passed today: it will shore up existing, crumbling infrastructure, provide some tax relief to working class individuals and small businesses, refitting American schools, and so forth. President Obama , true to his inauguration address last week, extended an olive branch to Republicans in Congress to get this passed in a bipartisan manner. The passage of the House version of the bill came with no GOP votes for it. In fairness to GOP House members, they did offer amendments to the bill that would've suited them and their constituencies (you know who I mean) that failed, also along party lines. Bipartisanship is a two-edged sword. This time, with President Obama ready to s...

The last President of the United States who publicly wore facial hair took the oath of office one hundred years ago (on 04 March 1909). He also was the only person to take the Presidential oath of office and administer it as Chief Justice. Who was he?

I enjoy certain game shows. Some games challenge me intellectually and feed my love for trivia. Others simply allow me to comment (sometimes with helpings of schadenfreude) on how people react when placed in pressure situations, especially when they have the chance to win cash and/or prizes. Still others get on my nerves because of the pure silliness they ooze from everyone's unblinking eye. Here is my assessment of game shows, past and present. (N.B. The shows from the past aired in my lifetime, so no references to Monty Hall's Let's Make A Deal or Twenty-One . Jeopardy! This is a favorite of many people (including me) who never thought that nerds and geeks could be telegenic. I am privileged to have recently adorned the Jeopardy! stage and pressed the buzzer very recently. Speaking as someone who has appeared on the show, I can say that being an armchair contestant is much easier than being on the show. Placing wagers, even if you know all about sculpture materials, the...

Both Milwaukee, Wisconsin and South Bend, Indiana are the same distance from downtown Chicago (about 90 miles). Why do the Chicago media give University of Notre Dame (located in South Bend) athletic teams the same treatment as an area school, like De Paul, University of Illinois-Chicago, and Loyola?

Being an armchair quarterback is easy. When you finally get the opportunity to do what seems easy, you have a deeper appreciation how difficult it really is (whatever it is).

Remember the apocryphal story circulating the news and internet about Clinton staffers performing all sorts of pranks as they left the White House? While people still argue the veracity of that incident, I doubt it reaches the level of pettiness exhibited by President Bush towards President Elect Obama.

A customer approached me today and asked what would be the best way to get help to change a flat tire. She said she had roadside assistance with her insurance company but had no way to contact them. She could not use her cell phone since she lent it to her daughter (this contradicted her later claim, come to think of it, that she could not get an answer from her family members at home in Chicago to lend help). I suggested she speak with the folks in Safety and Loss Prevention, but she claimed that they gave her "attitude", especially since she asked to use their phone. In the end, I did get the non-emergency number for the Bolingbrook Police Department and contacted them for her using our courtesy phone. Afterward, I bade her good luck. Skepticism worked against my sense of empathy once she told her tale. When I shared this experience with my coworkers during lunch, one of them suggested that this woman attempted to prey on my empathy to change her tire for her. This of cours...