Now, this is better!

Flirting with 60º today and promising up to 70 by Wednesday! Nearly all the little piles of snow are gone from our place, although the mountains in the parking lots are still hanging in there. Guess I need to clean out the back of the convertible in case the urge to put the top down becomes too tempting.

And in other news...

Add my voice the chorus - either add to the field or get rid of the automatic berths in the big dance. Drexel and Syracuse are better than at least a third of the teams in the draw. Hard as it is to agree with Dick Vitale, he nailed it.

And add my sentiments to those who mourn the loss of John Vukovich. He is what makes baseball different from the other sports. He was a reliable, if not spectacular player who knew the game and how to deal with the people who played it. He was tough on the guys, but they respected, nay, loved him for it. And when he coached third base, I didn't cringe like I did last year. He was a throw-back and he'll be missed.

And to chime in with my son - how does television support reality crap and not give Studio 60 a chance to cultivate an audience. There is a veritable honor roll of wonderful shows that in today's market wouldn't make it. I miss shows with an edge that doesn't involve profanity. I love that Gilmore Girls makes references to Oscar Levant as well as contemporary bands. I loved Sports Night and still miss the early days of West Wing. Maybe Sorkin wasn't on top of his game (yet) with Studio 60, but, to paraphrase some lame bumper sticker "A bad day of Sorkin is better than a good day of "Deal or No Deal"

Anybody see "The Lives of Others"? This won the Oscar for best foreign language film and, while I still think Pan's Labyrinth probably should have won, it was GREAT! I heard an interview with the filmmaker who said that the muted colors were on purpose because during the Cold War, East Germany couldn't get the bright blue and red dyes for clothes.

And I did adore "The Queen" but I just love Helen Mirren in anything. I need to go back and rent stuff she was in as a young actress. Prime Suspect was THE BOMB!!!

Side note: I'm having severe Lea withdrawal - just in case anyone was wondering!