Happy July 4th (belated)! Of course, a special thank-you to our armed forces overseas, defending our way of life. I was off July 4th, but spent most of it in bed, having worked the previous three nights. Nothing too terribly exciting happened at work. We spent some time looking out our 4th floor windows at the brush fire burning a few miles north of us. While the risk of fire is pretty low in the city, we are far enough north that, just a few more miles is land with a lot of dry brush, and with our recent thunderstorms, our wildfire season has begun.

The only risk to me personally would be if the electricity (and, thus, the air conditioning) shut off, due to the city shutting down power lines. I'm wondering if it would be possible to sleep in a tub of water. Doubt it.

Everyone knows I just love Paula Dean. Her method of checking whether her deep-fry oil is hot enough is interesting. She takes her wet hands and flings water into the hot oil, and if the water pops, it's hot enough. Not exactly the safest method I can think of, but I must consider her an authority, since at least one dish in every show is deep fried.

Sadly, I just heard that the FBI show, The Inside, has been cancelled due to low ratings. I still think it's a great show. The last episode was unsettling -- the murder of a young child. But, thank goodness, it turns out he was murdered by another young child. Whew! That was a close one...

We're seeing War of the Worlds tomorrow morning. I thnk Tom Cruise has just gotten too much of the wrong kind of publicity, with all of his silly rantings and immaturity. I so much more respect stars like Toby McGuire of Spiderman, or Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter. Few appearances on television to alienate fans.