Sorority "Sisters"

I find this picture of Carrie Underwood and her sorority sisters, which appears in the October 6 issue of Us Weekly, a bit unsettling. They look like clones of each other.

More pictures of the kids...

My brother has two sites where he posts pictures of his kids... Ben's is here and Mia's is here.

Museum Day

Tomorrow is Museum Day, sponsored by Smithsonian magazine. Museums across the country are taking part and providing free admission. It's always nice to save some money! If I were back home in Cleveland, I might take advantage of the free admission to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What a deal! Unfortunately, most of the museums on the list in the Washington, DC, area are already free. Also, I was going to go to the National Book Festival tomorrow. But I guess if it rains, I might be heading to a museum.

Religulous screening

I was excited to go to a free advanced screening of Bill Maher's documentary Religulous last night. I enjoy Bill Maher and I enjoy seeing people try to explain their beliefs. It was definitely interesting and I enjoyed it, although I have to say if people want to spend their lives blindly devoted to God, why does Bill Maher care? Well, he does bring up some points and explains why he cares a bit but for the most part, I think he should let people do what they want to do just as I'm going to let him date models and porn stars half his age and hang out nonstop at the Playboy Mansion.

However, the truly interesting part of the evening was that the movie theater apparently installed the third reel incorrectly and so when it started, it was upside down and backwards. And instead of just stopping the reel and trying to correct it, apparently it had to play all the way through. So we had to sit there for like 25 minutes with nonsensical noise and upside down images. They talked about trying to fix it but then decided to just finish the movie and give us all coupons for another movie. So I missed about a half hour in the middle. But considering it was a documentary and Bill's point of view is pretty clear from the outset, I'll just wait to watch the rest of it on DVD. And go see another movie for free with my coupon!

Umbrella Today keeps it simple

Umbrella Today is probably the simplest weather site ever. You type in your zip code and it comes up with a big "YES" or "NO", answering the question whether you will need an umbrella today. Huh. Kinda cool, kinda simple. You also can sign up to get text alerts on the days when you will need your umbrella, no Internet required. I'm intrigued, although honestly I carry an umbrella with me every day. I have a small one that I keep in my bag. (via)

Pictures of Mia

Here are the first pictures of my niece Mia! One by herself first and one of her seemingly already trying to get out of the grasp of her big brother:

Man charged with smuggling beetles from Japan

Umm, eww! Here's the article, but nowhere does it say what the police did with the beetles. That guy lives close to me too!

I'm an aunt again!

My brother and sister-in-law now have a bouncing baby girl - two weeks early! She was born today at 6:02 pm and I guess although Melissa had been having contractions a little bit in the afternoon, the baby was almost born in the car and came really quickly. Good for her, couldn't wait to come into the world! Brian said she's 7 lbs, 10 ounces and has a full head of hair. And she snorts like a pig when she's sleeping, as I heard firsthand over the phone. If (when) I get a pic, I'll post it.

NFL Game Map

Kinda cool, this map shows which NFL football games will be carried in your area each weekend. On the left are buttons for CBS & Fox and the game that is shown is color coded. This was how I found out that this Sunday, the Browns vs. Cowboys game will be on TV here in DC, as well as most of the rest of the country. Sweet! (via)