"The Massacre of the Innocents" by Peter Paul Rubens was sold for just under $77 million in auction on Wednesday at Sotheby's of London, which is odd only in that appraisers had put its worth at $6-7 million.

A spokeswoman for Sotheby's said the price tag constitutes the highest sum ever paid at a painting auction. Only two paintings have ever claimed higher sums in dollars, which were Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million in 1990, while Pierre Auguste Renoir's "Le Moulin de La Galette" went for $78.1 million that same year.

Check out the Gorilla Suit.

Hmm. Apparently a follow-up to the blind German psychic story from a few days ago.

Today at lunch we talked about how spaying or neutering your dog is a microcosm for living in the suburbs. Think about it.

See you all next Tuesday. Pray that I don't fall over in the middle of the retreat. Oh, and that the kids get a lot out of it.

All-Star tie generates more anger at baseball
Apparently it's going to be one of those situations where the right thing ends up being done, albeit for the wrong reasons. (Does that even make sense?)

The managers ran out of players, ran out of pitchers. The decision was pretty cut and dried as to what they should do, which is to call the game. The Commissioner could have been a little less snively reaching the decision, but he ultimately did the right thing. Of course I can understand the frustration of the fans present at the game, but heck, they saw 11 innings of baseball, not like they didn't get their money's worth. I think all the furor over the game ending in a tie has more to do with general angst at the state of baseball's labor relations and Bud Selig's lack of popularity. A lot of people think that getting rid of Selig from the commissioner's office and a quick resolution to the labor situation would solve what ails the game. And the public furor just might make it happen, because of an All-Star game which was actually handled correctly, given the circumstances.

How is Tim McCarver the Fox's top baseball analyst? "Shawn Green hit 8 home runs in a period of about 55 hours (over six games). That's about one every 8 hours." Thanks Tim. What's really sad is there are worse.

You know that John Mayer song, "No Such Thing"? It STINKS. The only reason people like it is because of that one line "I want to run through the halls of my high school / I want to scream at the top of my lungs." Does anybody else realize this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Write like an Egyptian.

Critters in your garden? We've got the solution! 100% Predator Urines
100%? So there's no sheep pee in there, or something. Which isn't even the craziest way to try and make money, not when the Time Travel Fund exists.

Blind Psychic Gropes Buttocks to See Future
This is nothing compared to the other services he provides, I'm sure. "Oh yeah, I'm totally blind. Can't see a thing."

Nothing works out your frustrations better than Etch-a-Sketch. Yeah right. I remember I was just happy to draw a square with the lines actually meeting at the corners. Actually drawing something was out of the question.

Is there no respect for the dead? John Henry Williams has evidently tried to milk the cash cow of his father's legacy more than once in the past, with his marketing firm, Grand Slam, Hitter.net (went belly-up), and the Ted Williams Card Co., which is now in bankruptcy court. John Henry Williams will say that he's doing what his father allegedly told him to do, but his track record would point to the fact that he's more in love with his own interests than anyone else's. Baseball just cannot catch a break.

I never had imaginary friends when I was little, having only first encountered the idea on Sesame Street when Big Bird saw Snuffy and nobody else could. Apparently, the responsibilities of the imaginary friend have broadened to that of marriage counselor as well.

I have a pounding headache because I was up too late playing around with the Usual Suspects DVD. And it was totally worth it. Still no news on the job front. I'll be away starting Thursday to help with a retreat that goes til Monday afternoon.

Why men's tennis STINKS.

Some friends of mine got married over the weekend, and after the usual catchup routines, talk turned to honeymoon destinations, and then just good vacation spots in general. New Zealand was mentioned, as was Tahiti, France, and Italy (Rome is my first choice). Spain would be my second choice, so I could see the annual Running of the Drunken Idiots.

I'll be honest and say I have no fricking idea what this is.

Sites like this prove that there does exist a no man's land between the Realm of Cool and the Land of Loserdom.

At the wedding, I also found out a few friends of mine are expecting their first baby. Maybe this will come in handy.

Sometimes the tangents from an event could be just as intriguing as the event itself, much like the story of Jack Beers Jr.