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You Can Help: Yellowstone Buffalo Headed to the Slaughterhouse

If you're looking for something to spend a few minutes of your online advocacy time on, this seems to be a pretty good cause . Give them a hand by sending 3 simple emails. MontanaĆ¢€™s Department of Livestock is planning on trapping and slaughtering 300 wild buffalo Ć¢€“ including calves as young as a few weeks, and their mothers. The agency plans to begin the roundup on Thursday, May 31. For extra credit, make sure that you tell Governor Schweitzer that he "could" be the Vice Presidential Nominee in 2008, but this won't help him. Seems that the emails have already helped stall this terrible thing. They've put off the vote until next week. With your help, they'll reconsider.

Friday Finds: A Punchup at a Wedding

Did you come just to start a fight? A Punchup at a Wedding Radiohead Hail to the Thief

Wedding Buttons: “I’m just here for the Booze”

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Over on our wedding blog , we're trying to gauge people's honest opinions on these "buttons" for our rehearsal dinner. I think they're cute and a good way to get folks talking to each other. We'll probably have a pretty big sized rehearsal dinner, so we don't want people to not socialize. It's one of many posts that Natalie and I have collaborated on. Natalie is clearly the more clever, quick one of us. She wrote the punchline, which I think is pretty funny: Buttons that have been rejected from the list include: "I slept with the grooms's mom," "I used to be the bride's sister, but now I'm her brother," "I'm just here for the booze," "I got a pity invite" and "I love lamp." Go on. Head over to the wedding blog and give us your vote. I'm hoping that we'll get these done. We probably won't do buttons as much as we'll probably just do nametags run through a printer.

XRT Widgets….

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Here's a few XRT widgets that I fooled around with to show the XRT guys what they can be doing to help get their content disributed: Get great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Get this widget! ↑ Grab this Headline Animator

The Widgetized Wedding

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We've been having a lot of fun over on our wedding blog . Natalie and I have been posting a lot. It's not the most compelling stuff for general consumption, but it's a nice way for us to keep in touch with our families, friends, and members of the Wedding Party. We're able to connect with the folks who will make our Big Day special, but it also allows us to share our experiences with everyone involved. We're trying to do things like polling the audience on how much they'd pay for a hotel as well as sharing our notes from our experience with our vendors . Natalie has been good about giving me a lot of latitude on what I post and what I do with the blog. As we come closer, I'm sure the design/content will come under closer scrutiny. ( Some folks were wondering how I slipped the Major League quote by her. Other's were just puzzled as to why I would slip it in there in the first place! ) Most importantly for me is that the wedding blog provides me

“Lucky Us” - New Bob Dylan

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This morning on the drive into the city, Natalie and I were tuned into WXRT (as usual) and we listened to the movie review by the "Regular Guy". This week, he covered the movie Lucky You , which he said had a stellar cast, but was a below average film. They don't have it posted here on the XRT site yet, but it'll get up there eventually, I bet. His review was fun, as usual, but one thing stuck out for me: he said that there's a new Bob Dylan song in the movie. Turns out Lucky You is directed by Curtis Hanson, the same guy who directed Wonder boys . Hanson must have the "magic touch" because just like he did with the great song Things have Changed , he somehow coaxed Dylan to put out a new track for Lucky You . The new song, Huck's Tune is a great number and a nice addition to the "latest" Dylan work. From what the Regular Guy said this morning, the song only plays over the ending credits in the movie, so I'm sure it's

Spending the Sacagawea

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Somehow this week (stamp machine, I think), I came into a few of the sacagawea dollar coins . They've been jangling around my pockets for a few days and today, I decided to spend them. At the sammich shop down the block from my office, I ordered my meal, stepped over to the cashier, and gingerly handed the coins over to the young lady. She didn't even flinch. Gave me a few coins in change and I went on my way. I couldn't help but feel like I just had gotten away with something - like I got a big discount. Anyone use these things regularly? Did they stop minting them? Should I not be spending them, instead keeping them or something?

Letter From Senator Lauzen Re: SB600 and Doug Ibendahl

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Last night when I arrived back from work, I had, waiting for me, a letter from State Senator Chris Lauzen. He apparently, is a reader of this blog. Hello, Senator! Thanks for your cordial letter. I appreciate your interest in my blog. In his correspondence, Senator Lauzen takes issue with my position on Senate Bill 600 and this post . It was nice of him to take time out of his legislative duties to correspond with me and I thank him for that. I won't go blow-by-blog through his letter, but I'll point out a few things. Senator Lauzen states: "I was surprised at the intensity of your sarcasm in pointing out how inaccurate your claim Doug Ibendahl's account was regarding the history of this legislation." Surprised at my sarcasm? I guess you're not a subscriber, eh Senator?!? I hope that you subscribe to my feed via your reader or email. It's over there on the right. You'll get all my posts delivered to you! Next, he includes roll call votes

Friday YouTube Finds: Mavis Staples Skipping Chicago (for now)

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Sad news via Greg Kots blog : Mavis Staples is performing to support her new record with folks including guitarist-producer Ry Cooder, drummer Jim Keltner and a few others, but she won't be making a stop in her hometown of Chicago. Too bad for us, eh? For a primer on Mavis, check her out with Pop in this cut from The Last Waltz . She's a gem and her voice is tops. (For you Band fans out there, you gotta love Rick Danko's gyrations, right? Or...check out the great dance moves on SoulTrain in the classic "I'll Take you There": Boy...I wish life was this easy. Wearing great threads. Shimmy-ing down the SoulTrain. Great tunes. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Confirmed: Michale Jordan’s Son to Play for the Fighting Illini

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Congrats to Coach Bruce Weber and the entire staff. After this very challenging year - with the multiple arrests, injuries, and the Eric Gordon to IU saga - the Illini Nation could use the very good news. Jeffrey Jordan, the son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, said Friday that he plans to attend the University of Illinois next year and play basketball as a walk-on. The younger Jordan, a 6-2 guard at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., where he is a senior, said in a news release that he chose Illinois over Valparaiso University. "After I worked out at Illinois, (met) with the coaching staff and the players, and toured the campus with my mom, I just felt more comfortable with U of I," Jordan said in the release. The insiders are saying that this plays well for the future. Jeffrey's younger brother, who many consider to be a much better hoops player, will be heading off to play college ball in a few years. The recruitment and signing of his older brother will give th