Cliffs are the great garbage cans of the movies. If you want some character to disappear, just have him fall off a cliff. It's quick, clean, gets the character out of the way, and the movie can continue on untroubled by a character clamoring for screen time.

I've discovered something odd about myself. I'm really not that much of a tech geek, even given as much of a geek as I am. I don't have a Palm Pilot, and don't really want one. I don't have a Blackberry, and don't have a need for one. I could have a network of Linux or FreeBSD machines behind a firewall in my house if I wanted, but there's no point. I'll never have TiVO, I just don't see the need. The little I do watch I can just tape on ye olde VCR. I keep track of stuff on paper, if at all. I make my living as a sofware developer, I have degrees in physics, astronomy, computer science, so I am not adverse to technical things. Maybe that's why, I am more of an analog person just to get away from the tech stuff for awhile.

Finally, there was this in today's Star Tribune, talking about our bizarre winter...

"Call it the season of no-show snow. Despite storms to the north and south, a measly 2.8 inches has fallen in the Twin Cities, a whopping 20.2 inches below normal. That's the least measured here at this time in 114 years.

This is also one of the longest waits on record for a metro snowfall of 1 inch or more. If none falls before Sunday -- the forecast says some clouds, maybe flurries -- that 60-year-old record is toast, too."