PENN-sieve

Top Ten Signs You're Watching Too Much College Football

10. During breakfast, you ask your son to pass the Nokia Sugar Bowl

9. Canceled family trip to Mexico, going to Boise State instead

8. Mailed nude photos of yourself to Brent Musburger

7. Insist on being called "Coach" even though you're a dentist

6. Told your daughter, "I'd love to go to your wedding, but the Northern Illinois-TCU is on"

5. Every time you walk ten yards, three of your friends have to move the chains

4. Instead of a shower, you dump a bucket of Gatorade on yourself

3. Always asking, "What would Joe Paterno do?"

2. Your solution to Iraq-- "I dunno, a playoff system?"

1. In bed, your wife says, "Get a Trojan" -- you come back with USC Kicker Mario Danelo

You don't have to be a genius to figure out that I loved going to Italy last year during winter break. It seems fitting that I discovered this article from the BBC on the day I returned to the States just 365 days ago.

Colosseum lit over death penalty

Rome has lit up the arches of the Colosseum to highlight Italy's support for a global ban on the death penalty.

Italy launched its campaign in the wake of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's execution, which sparked widespread protest among Italians. Rome's mayor said the Colosseum, once a place of gladiatorial combat, was now a "symbol of peace and reconciliation".

Saddam Hussein was taunted at the gallows and mobile phone video of his last moments appeared on the internet.

Diplomatic drive

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Rome says since 1999 the Colosseum has been bathed in light every time a death sentence is commuted in the world or a country abolishes its death penalty.
However, this weekend it is lit in opposition to Saddam Hussein's death penalty and to the pending execution of his intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad al-Bandar.

Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni said: "The Colosseum originally was a place of persecution and unspeakable violence. But now it is a symbol of peace and reconciliation." He said the lighting of the Colosseum would be a sign of encouragement for Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government, which this week began a diplomatic push to have the issue taken up by the UN General Assembly.

Mr Prodi has said no crime can justify one person killing another. Italy presented proposals for a moratorium on the death penalty at the UN assembly in 1994 and again in 1995. Last July the Italian parliament approved a cross-party motion urging the government to table yet another moratorium proposal but this came to nothing because of disagreement among Italy's EU partners.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6238131.stm

Published: 2007/01/06 21:52:25 GMT

Tonight, I went and saw "Night at the Museum". Normally, I am not a Ben Stiller fan nor do I rave over Owen Wilson but the selections at the theater downtown were pretty limited. The movie was actually pretty good. I thought it was original, funny but not slapstick, and had a good underlying message about the importance of history and museums. Overall, I recommend it (even for my peeps in Cali that have to pay $10 for a movie).

I was hesitant to make this post since I have yet to file Pennsylvania taxes and am unaware of any headache that lies before me when I file my income taxes but PA sales tax rules!

Today, I went to buy my textbooks for my Higher Education course. Three small books = $113. There is no tax on textbooks in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is a big deal because in my undergrad studies in California, I would pay so much in taxes that I could almost buy another book!

On top of the no textbook sales text, PA does not collect sales tax on clothing. So when you come to visit, bring money, we can go shopping :)

I went out to dinner with a guy that also works at Penn State. We went walking downtown and then got dinner at one of the Indian restaurants (his idea). When the bill came, I offered to pay my portion because that is what girls are supposed to do but boys are not supposed to let us pay. He did. I have never gone dutch on a date and was a little surprised.

I wonder if the Dutch are happy that they have this dating practice named after them?
(From: http://www.word-detective.com/back-l2.html)

Dear Evan: I am curious about the history of the phrase "going dutch." -- Gary Zimmerman, via the Internet.

I'm going to hazard a guess that what you're asking about is the phrase "Dutch treat," meaning "no treat at all because each person pays his or her own check." "Dutch treat" is a linguistic relic of a low point in relations between England and The Netherlands. Back in the 17th century, when both countries were building their global empires, their intense rivalry found an outlet in a wide range of popular sayings invented by each country to insult the other. Since we are primarily an English-speaking culture, the few phrases that have survived are, inevitably, those disparaging the Dutch, but even those are rarely heard today.

According to Hugh Rawson, who explores such topics at length in his wonderful book "Wicked Words" (Crown Publishers), many of the English anti-Dutch terms became popular in the U.S. because of confusion with the word "Deutsch," or German, and were often applied to German immigrants. For the connoisseurs of insults among us, Mr. Rawson lists more than two pages of anti-Dutch slurs once popular.

Along with "Dutch treat," which originally implied "cheap," other insults once popular included "Dutch courage" (liquor), "Dutch defense" (a retreat), "Dutch headache" (a hangover), "Do a Dutch" (commit suicide), "Dutch concert" (a drunken uproar), and "Dutch nightingale" (a frog, which seems an especially low blow).

"Dutch treat" has long since lost its original sting, and today "pay your own way" seems to be standard practice among those who date.

My resolutions for the new year:

1. Never leave the house with wet hair
2. Make my bed every morning