Pardon me if I smell a bit like a hamburger today. A friend of the show lives just outside Chicago and stopped at White Castle this morning for a sack of Whitey-One-Bites before driving down to Champaign. At approximately 9:34 a.m. Central Daylight Time I enjoyed two room temperature Belly Bombers – my first in over a year. I did not swallow the Sliders whole, however. Rather, in a sort of slow-motion sequence right out of The Matrix, I pulled the Gut Bombs from their sack, slid them from their cardboard homes and allowed them to dance in my fingertips before nibbling, slowly, through their spongy, oniony, barely-meaty goodness.

All in all, a fine way to start the work week.

I’ve written a couple of times about Craig Johnson, one of my favorite authors. It’s great to see the Los Angeles Times do a story on him.

If only for Heath Ledger’s brilliant performance as The Joker, go see this film. The story becomes a bit tough to follow, but this is the kind of flick you’ll gladly see a second time. One tip: The Dark Knight is just over 2-1/2 hours long. Throw in a bunch of trailers before and you’ll be wishing you’d skipped the large drink.

The Primetime Emmy nominations have been announced.

Outstanding drama series:

• Boston Legal — ABC
• Damages — FX
• Dexter — Showtime
• House — FOX
• Lost — ABC
• Mad Men — AMC

Outstanding comedy series:

• 30 Rock — NBC
• Curb Your Enthusiasm — HBO
• Entourage — HBO
• The Office — NBC
• Two And A Half Men — CBS

Two And A Half Men? It’s a hit show, I know, but it’s the least funniest program on TV. Give me a break.

Stressed? Pissed? Over-caffeinated? Settle down and cheer up with a warm and fuzzy story about a Spokane, Washington, office worker saving a family of ducks from duckicide.

The next time my day begins with a lost button or no hot water, I’ll try to remember this poor guy:

John O’Brien began his day yesterday with his pants around his ankles, scrambling for cover as a fountain of sewer water and waste erupted into his bathroom. “I was doing my business, sitting on my toilet, and the toilet blew sewer water into my butt,” he said.

The reason behind the bathroom blast? During a routine sewer cleaning, pressure built up in the line and exited through O’Brien’s toilet because the house has no vent pipe, which prevents pressure build-up.

The State College resident started his day the way he always does. He woke up, drank a cup of coffee, grabbed a book and relaxed on his porcelain throne — “The toilet is where a man does his best thinking,” O’Brien said.

He was shocked by the fountain of water and sewage erupting from his toilet.

More…

The economic downturn is having an unusual side affect: because we’re eating out less and brown-bagging it more, your break room fridge is getting more crowded (and probably more smelly), according to the Chicago Tribune:

Brown-bagging is on the rise, according to a recent study by the NPD Group, a consumer and retail market research company that has an office in Rosemont. “It was trending up even prior to the economic downturn,” said Kim McLynn, senior public-relations manager. “Economic concerns are joined by health and nutrition issues,” she said. “You can control what you put in your lunch bag.” What about the office fridge at NPD? “There’s only a certain amount of refrigerator real estate,” McLynn said. “I come in early, so I get a choice of the territory.”

Olive Riley has died. I’m not sure if there’s a Guinness World Record for oldest blogger, but it’s been assumed by many that she owned it. Olive, who blogged from her nursing home in Australia, was 108. She started late but Riley had posted over 70 entries to her blog, or as she jokingly referred to it, her “blob.”

Meet the late Olive Riley.

Take a break from work and the email inbox and enjoy the puzzle/game Totem Destroyer.

A St. Louis TV station tried to do the right thing by giving both tennis and baseball fans what they wanted, and now they’re getting complaints…

The rain Sunday at Wimbledon put a damper on the mood of many St. Louis television viewers. KSDK officials had thought the Wimbledon men’s tennis championship match would be over well before the Cardinals-Cubs game was scheduled to begin more than six hours later. But when rain delays at Wimbledon totaled nearly 2-1/2 hours, plus a full five-set match ensued, tennis overlapped baseball by more than an hour. That led to Channel 5 splitting the screen to carry both.

To the sports fans in my home town: Stop your griping! Read the rest and see a screen cap here.