I finally finished the kids' main presents: built, wrapped, deposited. Break for pizza-movie night with the kids. All calm here.

I am gratified to hear from a friend of mine in Canada that his son is out of the hospital, at least for the holiday. I first met this kid 14 years ago and it boggles my mind that he is taller than me now.

It was long when we passed about an hour ago. But we figured that was just for open. Just got into the Byrd for It’s a Wonderful Life. Line was long for that, too, but went fast enough.

Settling in to watch Glass Onion and enjoying some brandy-fied eggnog. Grateful to have power and heat this fine evening.

Somehow, deep down, I think I knew. If you suffer from substance abuse problems, please get help.

Under a blanket with a glass of wine and a movie (not sure which yet). Plugged in my oil-filled radiator because I know my heat pumps won’t keep up very well. Not exciting but I’m content.

Edit: I’ve decided to watch It’s A Wonderful Life.

Anyone got eyeballs on Carytown? Wondering about the line for miracle on Cary in this cold.

My friend refers to this place as The Wild Animal Jail and they're not wrong.

Thank you. Access isn't the problem. I can listen to full episodes of Brian Lehrer on wnyc.org.

I'm wondering if there is an analogous show down here and if so what is it called?

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to take my kids to see it in the spring

Ah. That makes more sense.

I'm currently tumbling along the tracks in a very warm Amtrak quiet car on the way to DC for the weekend. Feeling very cozy indeed.

My cat is mad that I won't let him on to the screen porch. He would hate it and immediately come inside, but I can't convince him of that.

The overnight shelters aren’t usually open during the day so this fills that need

At the exit looking at the fence?

If you download the NPR One app, you can listen to all of their stuff, as well as 25 minute excerpts of the Brian Lehrer show. Also, 88.9 VPN is the local npr channel here on the radio.

Raising wild animals from birth in captivity is barbaric, at least for more intelligent species. We destroy their habitat then breed and torture the future generations to alleviate our guilt.

Zoos don’t do nearly as much good for the planet as they claim, and id argue in many (but not all) cases they’re a net negative. There are better ways to raise money/awareness in 2023.

/rant

Phish song lyrics

Statistics that show which areas have a higher rate of a certain type of crime.

As many others here have said, you can get most of the local channels with a cheap antenna. I went a little overkill, and installed a 7-foot antenna in my attic with a rotator. I can punch in the degree of a transmitter for the station I'm interested in and it'll move the antenna so that it points to it, and with a booster I can pick up channels from NoVA, Charlottsville, Virginia Beach, and parts of North Carolina, but these are the outliers and if the atmospheric conditions aren't right, it comes in and out, which can be quite annoying...

...but yes, a cheap antenna should do you well for the local channels.

Ahhhhhhh

Gang gang

Giving up that much city land for a privileged few to be able to do sport is a terrible land use. VCU have far too much pull and are wasting city land. That should be generating fat taxes to pay for services.

I’m going to Native Plate for dinner. Give ‘em a cal

They can also be used on insurance claims for people trying to do shady stuff with their cars

Lot of great stuff in there.

John Baliles has a substack?!
https://rva5x5.substack.com/