With apologies to Steph, who I stole this from, this is about the most hilarious equal-opportunity-bashing political humor video I’ve seen this year:

The Red State Update guys are hilarious - check out their other videos on their site.

We have been looking at rhododendrons (rhododendri?) for a new garden bed we’re building. (The basis of the bed? The displaced dirt from Zach’s pond project.

There are zillions of different rhododendron varieties. The blooms - called trusses - come in various colors – white, yellow, pink, red, purple, and combinations thereof. (Rhodie shows used to be called truss shows - for obvious reasons, that has changed.) The bloom period varies in season from early (April) to late (July/August), and in size, from tiny bells to huge, hibiscus-like blooms. The plants come in different sizes, from 2′ compact to 12′ giant plants.

Our local nursery must have had 100 different kinds; the variety was almost overwhelming.

We decided that we really consider a nice looking plant more important than exotic blooms, since just the plant is we’ll see 10 out of 12 months of the year. We also want disease resistance and shade tolerance. Most rhodies are somewhat shade tolerant, but our new planter is in a full shade spot, on the north side of our house, between the porch and a stand of cedar trees on the other side of the fence.

I’ve always preferred lighter-colored or white flowers for shady spots, so after deciding which plant shape & foliage is prettiest, we’ve been looking at primary white, yellow or yellow-peach blooms.

We haven’t yet gotten the plants we need, but these are some of the ones we’re considering.

Alert alpha geek Zach spotted this great Penn & Teller video where a campaigner convinces hundreds to sign her petition to ban a chemical substance.

The chemical substance in question? Dihydrogen monoxide. That’s… H₂O. Water.

Pretty hilarious.

Zach, my mad scientist son, has a new product idea.

The iPhone is cool. The packaging, the features, the gee-whiz graphics all shout “I am an alpha-geek gadget hound”.

But, it’s a little big and clunky, and it’s way expensive. (And it’s locked to freaking AT&T, but that’s a different subject.)

For those that want something smaller, less expensive, but equally as cool: the iPhone Shuffle^TM.

• Want to look at a photo? Your Shuffle will display a random image from the pictures you’ve uploaded… even has a slideshow functionality.
• Listening to music? It will use the same music shuffle technology you know and love from your Shuffle.
• Browsing the web? Don’t worry about typing in those pesky URLs. The Shuffle uses Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” search randomizer to provide you with new, cool content.
• Want to read email? The Shuffle will display any of your recent emails for you; for more Shuffle fun, try sending a message!
• And, last but far from least, be adventurous! Your Shuffle has two dialing modes: randomized contact list, and global random number generator. Making calls on your shuffle is more fun than a party line!

Zach’s concept drawing is here. He and I disagree as to whether the Shuffle requires a touch screen.

The new iPhone Shuffle^TM will be sold in random AT&T wireless locations. If you see one, snap it up! I’m sure Shawn will review one when they become available for retail purchase.

Don’t eat chunky tuna salad over your computer keyboard. Mayo and tuna are really hard to get out from between the keys.

I, of course, would never do something so silly.