A phone-free zone

MADISON, Wis. — Walters' Swim 'N Sun isn't the only Madison establishment that dislikes cell phones. The above policy, posted at True Food, clearly states that cell phones are not welcome.

I appreciate that True Food, a new Madison restaurant owned by the La Brioche Bakery folks, explains its reasoning, while Walters leaves it to the customers to guess why phones are banned.

Despite widespread agreement that listening to other people talk on cell phones is annoying, Jason said it well:

It is taken as a given that overheard cell phone conversations are a public nuisance. But I don't understand what makes them any worse than conversations between two live people. How come nobody is railing against people talking to each other in public, airing their fancy-pants conversations? Is it because the one-sided nature of the conversation forces us to imagine what the person on the other line is saying? In which case, maybe eavesdropping is the real problem.

Meet Dick Vitale

MADISON, Wis. — There's no Hilldale Theatre anymore, now that the new Sundance Theater has moved into the neighborhood. But the sign lives on, telling passersby when they can hang out with Dick Vitale and ask him to sign his new book.

Of course people who missed Vitale's apperance at Hilldale had another chance later that night when he stood around shaking hands with fans before the start of the Wisconsin-Texas game. (I choose not to participate.)

The only Waunakee in the world

WAUNAKEE, Wis. — Many towns have a motto. You know, like, "Webster, N.Y. — where life is worth living." This Wisconsin town has decided to tell the world that it is most proud of its unique name.

I mean, your hometown is pretty cool. But chances are there's another town out there with the same name. Unless you're from Waunakee.

It's time for gifts

Chanukah, as everyone knows, isn't the "Jewish version of Christmas." It's just a holiday that happens to fall (often) at the same time as Christmas.

Of course, when you remove the religious aspects of the holidays and concentrate on the shopping and gift giving, it can be hard to tell the two holidays apart.

The tradition of Christmas presents has been around longer than Chanukah presents.

But not as long as you think, according to historian SAL.

SAL says it was the late Victorians who first embraced Christmas presents (going along with the availability of manufactured toys) in the 1880s.¹

And American Jews started getting into gift-giving on Chanukah in a big way in the 1920s, and had been doing so for decades on a smaller scale.²

Okay, then. Who else got me a ShamWow! this year?


¹SAL cites Karal Ann Marling's book "Merry Christmas: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday" for this fact.

²Jenna Joselit's "The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture" provides this information, SAL says.

Flight delays due to snow

As everyone knows, snowy weather has shut down many airports across the country this holiday season.

But... why?

Airplanes can fly in the snow. Can't they? It's a slippery or inaccessible runway that grounds flights.¹

It seems to me that we have the technology to solve the problem of runways buried by snow. After all, the grounds crew at Lambeau Field has installed an electrical coil and hot water radiant underground heating system to keep the field from freezing.

If we can keep the tundra at Lambeau Field from freezing, why can't we keep airport runways from freezing?

I asked this question to Jason, who replied thus: "When airports and other public works are as well funded as athletic stadiums, it will be a fine world indeed. Maybe we need corporate airport sponsorship. For post offices and schools too."

Indeed.


¹ At least that was my problem when I flew through Chicago's O'Hare Airport last week.

Maybe all middle-age men look the same to me

(Photo by Michelle Stocker for the Cap Times.)

Earlier this month, I decided that LAL looks like Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.).

Today, I discovered that he also looks like Sun Prairie Mayor Joe Chase, pictured above.

Walters doesn't like cell phones

MADISON, Wis. -- The front door of Walters' Swim 'N Sun on Monroe St. has a warning for cell phone users:

NO CELL PHONES IN STORE

As a courtesy to our patrons and staff, please refrain

from cell phone use while shopping in our store.

The Camera and Internet ability of some use (sic)

phones forces us to prohibit all cell phone use.

Please use your phone outside the store.

Walters' Swim 'N Sun clearly feels as though shoppers can hurt its business by using cell phones.

How?

What sorts of things could people do with cell phones that would be a detriment to business at Walters' Swim 'N Sun?

I'll bet they'll have Dutch-processed chocolate

MADISON, Wis. -- At the corner of Regent St. and Monroe St. here in Madison, developers are building an "all suite Euro-style hotel." 

I know what suites are, but what is "Euro-style" when it comes to hotels?

Bathrooms with bidets? Sophisticated food? Wine bar? Mini bars with crudités instead of Diet Cokes?

Ever wonder how Dick Vitale 'writes' his columns?

Dick Vitale has a regular column in USA Today during the college basketball season. He also writes for ESPN.com and for his own site, dickvitaleonline.com.

When I've seen his byline, I'm always curious whether he's actually writing his own columns. Not that they are journalistic masterpieces, but I find it hard to believe that he's much of a writer. I just can't picture him sitting down and putting these columns together.

On Tuesday's "Mike & Mike In The Morning" radio show, Vitale settled this debate:

I'm no Mike Lupica. I'm no John Feinstein. I can't bang out the words like they can. But I can talk. And when I talk to my guys, they convert it. And they put it to a column.

So there we go. He talks to "his guys," and they convert it into a written article. Mystery solved.

D.C., the nation's technology mavens

The other day, I skimmed a report from Nielsen Media Research and noted that the District of Columbia has the highest HDTV penetration: 31.1 percent.

We're the highest in HIV and HDTVs, I joked. Ha ha. I'm a funny guy.

But then I looked closer at the latest year-end numbers from Nielsen.

The District is also the top market for adults who spent more than $500 online this year (39 percent).

And we're the top market for adults who have an MP3 player (40 percent).

After looking at this report from Nielsen, I wonder why the District doesn't have a reputation of being technology geeks. We're clearly leading the curve with this stuff.

Microsoft demands that I have friends with longer names

Sorry, Leo.

Microsoft says you can't be my best childhood friend because your name is too short.

I need to choose a different best friend who has a name that is at least five characters long. I suppose I could go with Ben (Benjamin) or Chris (Christopher) instead.

Best of Christmas

While waiting in line at Borders last night, something caught my eye.

Why look, it's a magazine called "Best of Christmas."

And, wouldn't you know it, the issue on sale at Borders was the "special Christmas issue."

To recap: this is the special Christmas issue of Best of Christmas magazine.

I really hope that it's not a weekly publication.

Highest in HIV and HDTVs

Nielsen Media Research came out yesterday with the latest data on high-definition TV ownership. It seems 23.3 percent of Americans own HDTVs, up from 12.8 percent a year ago.

Of large cities, the District of Columbia has the highest HDTV penetration: 31.1 percent.

Pay to play

If I were playing in a college football bowl game, I'd rather be compensated in cash than in gifts from the bowl's sponsors. (Yes, I said that last year too.)

Still, I'm always interested to see the gifts each year.

For the 2009 BCS championship game, players on Florida and Oklahoma will get Crocs. And some other stuff too.

Some of the lesser bowls have great gifts, such as Wii Systems given to players in the Las Vegas Bowl and iPod Touches at the Poinsettia Bowl.

Technology evolution and deteriorating crazydar

Akin to Marnie's pregdar skills, I have, or at least I used to have, an advanced detection system for crazy men on the street. Let's call it crazydar.

Okay, fine — it's a rudimentary skill usually activated when a lone man on the street is babbling incoherently to himself.

Then came hands-free devices for mobile phones. This meant that people walking down the street who appeared at first glance to be talking to themselves.... were really just talking into mini headsets sitting in their ear.

For awhile, it caused an "Ohhhhh, he's on the phone!" double-take.

But that was a decade ago. Now everyone has those things.

In fact, it's gotten to the point where I assume a lone man talking to himself is actually on the phone. Even if he's lying on the ground wearing rags for clothes. In those scenarios, my first reaction is to be surprised that a guy like that has a Bluetooth headset.

Then I think, "Ohhhhh, he's not on the phone!"

A fight over colored uniforms at the Rose Bowl

USC is considering the idea of wearing its home jerseys while playing a road game at UCLA on Saturday.

NCAA's punishment for wearing illegal uniforms is to take away one timeout in each half.

That's it? That's the punishment?

That's nothing.

If I were a 32-point underdog, as UCLA is in this game, my strategy would be to wear uniforms identical to my opponent. Sure, it'd confuse both teams, especially on passing plays. But that'd be a big advantage to UCLA.

Look alikes

Rep. George Miller (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, looks a lot like Lewis Leavitt, outgoing medical director of the Waisman Center on Human Development.

(Filed under look-alikes)