mac is completely going to bed by himself now. Such a joy. Grandparents visit in April and the surgery resulted in steps back in the nightly rituals, but we are back on. Next up, complete bath time by himself (we are about 50% there). WHEE!

Interestingly, no. There are Chinese alligators too. But not African ones.

And then there's the Antarctic alligators, which are rarely seen as they hibernate 12 months out of the year....

Hippy, playboy Jesus ad riles Belgian bishops

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Catholic bishops in Belgium have protested a TV ad depicting a pot-bellied, hippy Jesus performing miracles and picking up scantily-clad girls up in a nightclub, a church spokesman said Friday.

"We have expressed our disapproval to the president of RTL's administrative council" Jacques Santer and the ethical advertising body, demanding the withdrawal of this publicity campaign, Father Eric de Beukelaer told AFP.

RTL, one of the biggest media groups in Europe, is running the ad on its main Belgian channel to promote Plug youth television, portrayed in the offending item as the coolest thing that even Jesus, with all his powers, could hope for.

Oh come on - that's funny!

eta: Video of the offending commercial: [link]

eta²: OK, maybe more funny in concept....

He'll let you bask, won't he, Hec? But not borrow. That's how he looks. I mean, you can play with her, but you can't borrow her.

I'm not sure if I can explain it but his ownership of Matilda does not exist on the same plane as a parent's ownership. He understands the parent-child relationship, but that is completely moot to his particular (clearly superior in his mind) Emmett-Matilda thing.

He is very certain that he loves her more than any other person could possibly love her, but we are free to change her diapers.

He does get excited at each little accomplishment. He's very proud of her.

I think I don't like the ad because Jesus is a dork.

that is completely moot to his particular (clearly superior in his mind) Emmett-Matilda thing.

That's totally charming. My relationship to my sister was that her brain was my playground (I think her birth bumped my reading levels up a few grades because I needed to read the child development books to properly work with her), but I don't know if I liked her. She just wasn't anyone else's playground but mine, and I was willing to beat the shit out of people to make that clear.

Is anyone watching the Family Guy Star Wars thing? It's totally cracking me up.

I got to hold baby alligators in Louisiana when I visited NO with my brother. So freaking cool! Also got to feed some adults marshmallows. I still wonder how that farm faired. I can't recall what it was called, but it was a very simple operation with a crusty old guy who clearly loved them to pieces.

Watching The War. Was talking to my mom. She's gonna watch it to, to see what family names, if not actual people, she knows. One of the towns they draw from is Luverne, MN. It's a small farm town not far from the family farm. She was born in '44, just about everyone knew everyone within 100 miles, and everyone knew which families lost someone, or someone who came back broken.

Also, they've got a couple subjects from Mobile. And woman's accent is exactly like that of my childhood neighbor, Mrs. Miller. She was a retired, widowed schoolteacher from Alabama who had integrated her one room schoolhouse before it was "acceptable." I loved listening to her talk and just visiting with her. I only wish I'd known, in my childhood naivete, to ask her more about her life. And now, it's far too late.

It's funny, I remember visiting her, and Jo next door. They were much older than I am now, but they welcomed this curious neighbor girl, told her stories, just spent time with her. It wasn't as if I didn't have plenty of playmates in the neighborhood, I did. But I also had them. Grownups who welcomed me into their homes.

I don't know if there's a direct line from their welcoming to T spending on average 5 hours a week in my house. But I'd like to think there is, and that they taught me how to do this.

Speaking of which, my insistance that T go introduce herself to my friend at the astronomy night at work yielded results. She got the 25 cent tour, got to see my desk, and L gave her a couple of posters the other kids didn't get! She was thrilled. And so interested that she and her dad bought a small telescope last night. wipes a tear or three.

Also, I love to hear about the Emmett & Matilda relationship. My friend's teenage stepson has a similar relationship with his toddler sister. He sometimes gives his parents total hell, but when it comes to his sister, he's just phenomenal.

Brenda I just switched over! This is hysterical! And there was Doctor Who! Tom Baker! Not to mention all the little nitpick things, like the parsec.

I've seen this video pop up all over the place: [link]

It's a short video of a hungry and very impatient kitten.