Mk, let's try this again... I bounced around the idea of a Monkey Secret Santa for Chrismukkah a few months ago, but the entire thing sort of died following the Great Purge of 2004. I'm still up for it if you are. more inside

Despite higher political aspirations by its poster boy, Vermont seems to harbor many with slightly different ideas concerning their state's place in the Union. Is talk of this Second Vermont Republic truly beneficial to the people of Vermont? Is it dangerous, genius, or just hot air?

A friend told me about freeipods.com the other day, a site which could make you the next lucky owner of a free iPod or $250 gift certificate to iTunes. All it (supposedly) requires: you and five friends must each complete one of ten or so bearable commercial offers or free trials. For those of us (like me) who are both poor and iPodless, this is a miracle. Is it too good to be true? more inside

Musical George: There's this song I keep hearing - it's about avoiding people who come knocking on your door. I think it's from the 70's; its chorus is currently being used in a commercial. The chorus is a one line thing that keeps getting repeated, like, five times, but might not directly relate to the theme of the song. Does anyone have any clue what I'm talking about? more inside

NY Times endorses Kerry. I'm not sure if this is a big deal or not, but the New York Times has endorsed Kerry in a a very well-written editorial (login required). It certainly caught my eye.

Curious George: hair dye... I want to dye my hair for a short period of time (probably up to 48 hours max) but all of the one-wash temporary dyes I've been seeing rub off very easily or run out whenever you sweat (which I can say, having firsthand experience, is disgusting). My friend says I should just use a semipermanent dye and then go at it with bar soap and heavy-duty shampoo for a while to get it out; is that even possible, especially with darker colors? Is there a way, whether it be a specific brand or general method, to avoid all this?

Curious George: Back to the 80's. Our homecoming is coming up soon, and the theme is the 1980's. My date and my date and I need costume ideas! I know the monkeys can help us. more inside

Curious George: December fun? In light of the doubly successful MoFi CD Swap, I've been thinking about other fun forms of monkey interaction via snail mail. So I'm throwing this out there - would anyone be interested in a secret santa? more inside

Introducing the Paris Hilton Collection exclusively at amazon.com. more inside

It's still about Flordia, stupid. By doing away with the witness requirement, Hood, Gov. Bush, and the Florida Legislature have removed the only existing brake on absentee-voter fraud. It's now open season in the Sunshine State. I know we've talked about this several times already, but apparently the truth still isn't obvious: Florida's voting system is so blatantly corrupt, it's outrageous. Whatever. Read for yourself, and wonder why this isn't all over the news.

Curious "Beekeepers"? All over North America today, hundreds, maybe even thousands of strangers gathered. They didn't just gather anywhere - they gathered around pay phones, lots of 'em. Guided only by a hijacked website, an expatriate's weblog, their own speculation, and a string of unexplained PDT times and GPS coordinates, they had learned enough to know that the phones were going to ring today, and that many of the unanswered ones will be ringing tomorrow, and the day after that as well. Why they're ringing - and why these people are picking up across the country - are questions that even they might have difficulty answering. For some, it's a game; for others, it's a way of life. What the hell is this all about? more inside

Curious George: free CDs? I keep seeing deals from CD clubs like Columbia House and BMG offering 12 CDs for the price of one. Is this a scam, or the easiest way to get (nearly) free music? How does it work, and how do these companies not lose money? Have you had any positive/negative experiences with these kinds of "deals"?

Bj "I think to a certain extent maybe moving to New York influenced me, and then the 9/11 episode and the crisis that is going on in the world today. And to a certain extent all this made me very interested in primitive elements. In something that was before all this happened." Our old friend Bj more inside

Curious George: I have less than 72 hours to take a drug test that I may not pass - and let's just say the consequences will be dire if I don't. Help me, monkeys, in my time of need. more inside

Curious George: Does anyone know anything about how long typical multivitamins would last after their sell-by date / best-potency-by date has expired? more inside

The handover of power in Iraq is happening sooner than we thought. Instead of the planned June 30 date, it seems that the handover was brought forward for security concerns. Details (and informative links) are scarce right, but it seems that Baghdad has already been handed over, with the rest of the country changing hands right now. We've got history in the making here, folks. What will this mean for Iraq and the US?

Nothing like confusing propaganda! Bush's latest ad against the left features Moore, Dean, and Gore spliced with footage of Hitler, most likely to ridicule the left's supposed comparisons of Bush to him. Which side is really taking this a step too far? [ad under heading "Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed" in MPEG or Real]

South Korean hostage killed in Iraq (via NY Times.) Response from Bush: "The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal action of these barbaric people." Too late.

Curious, George: nagging question... What is the song "Happiness is a Warm Gun" actually about?

Curious George: a stupid webhosting question I need a cheap web hosting service with < 500MB of storage, PHP/CGI support, a few mailboxes, and MySQL - not much to ask for. My current host is charging $15 bucks extra a month for MySQL and I'm sure there must be something cheaper. I know nothing about this, but I figure some of you will. Thanks.