An eclectic mix today...MLK deserves his own piece removed from the frivolous items, but it’s not in the cards today.

1. Contest. I have received six entries, and if there are any procrastinators, I am giving an extension until tomorrow morning at 11:00 am pacific. Sorry for all the rule changes, but one thing has remained constant: there is a very easy way to play, which is to just send me who you think will win each nomination, and I will do the rest. I will post each person’s picks tomorrow with their initials.

2. Pink Berry. Several months ago in The LA Times, I read about a hot new frozen yogurt shop called Pink Berry. People were double parking and waiting in line for 20 minutes just to get some...it was supposed to be that good. Pink Berry now has several locations, including one in Westwood, a five minute walk from my office. It’s good but not worth waiting fore than one minute for. And the line is at least five to ten minutes. Fads like this are fascinating to me...is it the next big thing, or is it a flash in the pan? Also close to my office, we have a Famina!! location. Who ever thought of putting two exclamation points, let alone one, in the name of a food store? How about shopping at ‘Safeway!’ instead of ‘Safeway.’ ? Famina!! has some good grub, but I would not say it’s worth both exclamation points.

3. Happy Birthday, MLK. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King changed history, with a speech that will surely reverberate in our nation’s consciousness as long as we are a nation. As some of you may recall, there was huge debate during the Reagan Administration about making MLK's birthday a national holiday. My friend and former colleague Steve Rhodes, also former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, was VP Bush’s chief domestic policy advisor at the time and Steve was a leading proponent of creating the new national holiday. Reagan himself was on the fence. One night at the apex of the debate, President Reagan’s secretary called Steve unexpectedly, and said, "The President would like to see you immediately." So Steve rushes down to the oval office, and Reagan says, "Steve, you have 20 minutes to convince me that MLK's birthday should be a national holiday. Go."

The decision was announced shortly thereafter, and that’s (in part) why tomorrow is a Federal Holiday. I love to bring Steve to the middle school we adopted, where he speaks to students. He tells the foregoing story and reminds students that success is all about preparation. Steve had prepared relentlessly in hopes that he would get a chance to convince the President, and so when the call came, he was ready.

At the end of the story, Steve pulls out the picture of Reagan signing the bill into law. Behind Reagan is George Bush Sr., Steve, and Coretta Scott King. The first time Steve did this presentation for me, he asked the class of eighth graders, "Recognize anyone in this picture besides me?" Silence. Five seconds pass. Finally a girl raises her hand. "Corretta Scott King?" she asks. This was such an eye opener to me. I don’t think any of the kids recognized Reagan or Bush—-if they did, they kept it to themselves.

4. Inscriptions. Dobe asked who the Kalethea book was inscribed to. It was to Richard Lindsey, who lent Etta his bible at a hotel in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on November 8, 1948 (according to the inscription). It is signed:
Mrs. Etta Venen Hartman
Bly, Oregon.

5. Russian Cocaine. I meant to post this before the holidays, but better late than never. An old friend of mine (and occasional reader of this thread) has a great family tradition for late December. They do “Russian Cocaine,” according the following steps:

a. Exhale completely.
b. Shoot a shot of high quality vodka (put vodka in freezer for at least a few hours first).
c. Inhale.
d. Quickly eat a little cornichon pickle (NOT a sweet Gherkin). This sort of acts as a cork.

If you have to ask “why?” then you clearly aren’t cut out for this type of activity.

6. Videos. Jed recently posted a bunch of links videos on his blog. Here is a link to the entry that conatins all the links. My favorite two in the entry are Solid Potato Sald and The Helsinki Complaints Choir. And try this one, which Jed has posted separately: Crow Video.

7. Ugy Plane. Boeing recently came out with one of the ugliest planes ever built (but it’s beautiful for a logistics person, and it’s ugly a for reason). It’s already famous for being ugly. Dobe, did you have anything to do with this monstrosity? ;)

8. Tribute. In a tribute to 60 Minutes Correspondent Ed Bradley, who died last year, Wynton Marsalis said, "Soul is when you have the ability to make other people feel better about being alive, regardless of their condition, and he possessed that in such abundance. He loved to have a good time, which we all like to have, but loved to bring a good time." What a great tribute to one of my favorite journalists.