I haven't had more than a couple of drinks in one night since college, and I really never drink at home alone, except for really rare occasions (election night last year) when I broke out the beer for the evening. After I have my surgery, even that little bit of booze is going to go bye-bye, but I don't think I'll be missing it.

IcompletelyON, I took a half-day PTO this afternoon and turned the tv on when I got home. The only thing on was the UK version of Antiques Roadshow on BBCA, so I was having fun listening to the stoic Scots reacting to the antiques' worth (it was filmed at Dumphries House). The final item of the hour was a small glass vase. The low-key woman said that she had been cleaning out her loft and stumbled across it. She was "gonna bin it," but remember that the Roadshow was coming to town and decided to keep it to bring in. She had paid a pound for it when she bought it out a guy's car boot a few years before, and she really bought it for the plant that came inside the vase.

The appraiser said that there was a name on it, which she had never noticed--it was "Lalique." (A name she was not familiar with, but the people standing behind her were gasping in surprise.) Also, it was made from the lost wax process, which meant that it was unique (the process destroys the mold to get to the finished piece), and dated from 1920-1935. He then said that one of the most frequently asked questions he's asked is "What is the most expensive item you've ever appraised on the show?" and said that the item he usually mentions was going to have to change after that day. That 1-pound piece of glass the woman was going to throw away and had bought for the plant? It was worth 25,000 pounds!!! The woman was in shock and stood there with her mouth hanging open, her even-quieter husband was beaming and hugging her, and the people standing around were all applauding her good fortune.

That's quite a return on her unwitting investment!

ION, I just found the most hilarious poll graphic at Time.com. Suffice to say the question is "Who was most responsible for bringing down the Berlin Wall?", and the three names listed are Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and David Hasselhoff.

[link]

As I recall it was the people of Berlin.

But I could vote for Hasselhoff.

Reagan fans may be shocked at where their hero comes out in the poll.

As I recall it was the people of Berlin.

Or, arguably, those slacker snipers.

(I've always loved that the guards refused to shoot a bunch of unarmed people.)

I remember being in Germany and seeing a poster for a David Hasselhoff concert. We took a photo, of course.

When I lived in London, he got clowned on the radio when they said that the concert was cancelled because only 13 tickets had been sold, all to German exchange students! (well, the german exchange student part may or may not have been true, but it is true that only 13 tickets were sold.)

But I could vote for Hasselhoff.

All 6 people in South Dakota did.

Was this some sort of joke? What does David Hasselhoff have to do with anything? All I know is that according to Norm Macdonald, Germans love David Hasselhoff.

Another interesting poll --

Cinema's Sexiest Vampire

Another interesting poll --

Cinema's Sexiest Vampire

Oh thank goodness, Catherine Deneuve is winning. But clearly the poll is still wrong, because it doesn't list David Bowie.