Today's my last day in the office here at work, and I'm pretty much just trying to pack up as much as I can manage to smuggle out of here without getting caught and then vanishing without a trace. But there's a new small mammal on the block to alert you to before I go! Well, maybe not new exactly:

The extinct species appears to have been an amalgam of animals. It had a broad, scaly tail, flat like a beaver's. Its sharp teeth seemed ideal for eating fish, like an otter's. Its likely lifestyle — burrowing in tunnels on shore and dog-paddling in water — reminds scientists of the modern platypus. Its skeleton suggests that it was about 20 inches long, from snout to the tip of its tail, about the length of a small house cat.

I may come up with something better when I have some time to spend more than 10 seconds thinking about it, but for the time being we will be calling this exciting new (well, again, old... though who knows? Sasquatch gotta eat, after all...) friend of ours the otterbeavpus, or Lloyd for short.

As much as I love the Olympics, and the Winter Olympics the very best of all, it would be plum crazy for me not to offer at least one review of the thrilling competition I've been watching every night for the past week. So here is my review: SNOWBOARDCROSS IS AWESOME! The men's competition was shown last night, and I think that the women's will be televised tonight. In short: highly recommended!

I think I have by this point established the fact that posts here will continue to be fairly sparse and sporadic for the time being as I am moving to Portland in only two weeks from now! But I have just come across the website for a new book which contains information of such critical importance that it cannot wait until I am comfortably settled in my new Oregon home to share. Go, prepare yourselves now, before it is too late.

I may be a bit distracted and consumed by my moving chores at the moment, but not so distracted that I can't take a moment to offer a few thoughts on Sunday's football game. Being a Steelers fan, I'm somewhat disappointed that they had to win their fifth title that way, in a poorly played game with bad officiating and all. Still, that Randle-El pass to Ward was something to see, and that Parker run wasn't so bad either. Now, having dealt with the actual game, let's just get right down to what everyone has really been talking about for the past two days:

Some had expected Gillette to bring out a four-bladed razor, perhaps a self-lubricating one. Instead, it jumped to five blades, or six including the trimmer, and will sell Fusion-branded shaving gels and after shave balm.

"There was never a plan to go to four," he said. said Peter Hoffman, president of Gillette's blades and razors business, who said Fusion was in the development pipeline for several years.

Gillette, which also makes Duracell batteries, said in a meeting with analysts and reporters in New York that Fusion's battery-powered version has a microchip that makes an indicator light turn on to warn users when the battery is running down.

 

If you've looked at Gawker today, you have perhaps already read about the new partnership between Harlequin Romance Novels and NASCAR, but I can offer three (3) significant "value-adds" to their coverage:

1. They do not have a link to the full press release. I do.
2. They do not tell you that there is also a line of NASCAR meat products. I do.
3. They choose to ignore Dick Trickle's love of jewelry armoire. I do not.

I hope you've taken the time to check out Chuck Klosterman's Super Bowl writing that I directed you towards yesterday, I am continuing to enjoy it greatly myself. But sometimes words just aren't enough... so today I've found some awesome pictures to help get you fired up for the big game on Sunday. Big Ben, The Bus, The Crescent Wrench, all your favorite Steelers have been drawn by a Mr. Paul McRae and posted to his Flickr account for you to enjoy - also, though he's not a Steeler, I would like to honorably mention this striking rendering of Reggie White. And even though I will be rooting for Pittsburgh in this contest there are going to be two teams playing, so I've found this photo of a Seahawks fan for any readers who may prefer Seattle... oh wait, and to make things even more fair and balanced I've found another one, too.