Bunco boosts acid reflux drug sales

On January, 30, The Wall Street Journal ran a story beginning on the front page regarding Procter and Gamble's increased sales of Prilosec OTC. This sales spike is due in part, according to P & G officials, to women recommending the drug to each other at their bunco parties. Looks like P & G rolled the dice and came up a winner.

Super Sweet 16

Some of you may remember your 16th birthday. You may have been allowed to have some friends come over, have supper and do stupid stuff until your parents told you knock it off for the night.

I think for my 16th birthday my parents took me to my favorite restaurant on the Seattle Waterfront, Ivar's Acres of Clams, and reminded me to put gas in the car every so often. I dont't think they spent over $100 on that meal. I was happy with that.

Last week, I came across a show on MTV called My Super Sweet 16. This show smacks of teen angst mixed with overweening hubris. (Go to www.m-w.com for definitions.)Honestly,what sane parent would allow their 16 year-old to throw a budgetless birthday bash at a five-star hotel while parading around as a princess with an $8,000 Versace tiara, circa 17th century Venetian style dress and a "court" consisting of her "friends"? Or what levelheaded mother and father rent a city's civic center for her to invite 500 kids from her school and the girl makes her grand appearance via a magician's magic trick? Not this parent.

I love my kids dearly, but they do NOT need to have a $300,000 party to celebrate their birthday. Yes, one of those parties cost in the neighborhood of $300,000. I can think of far more constructive ways to spend that kind of money on, say, a house, save for my kids' college education etc... I don't think I would spend $300 on my children's birthday parties. The only time I will for sure spend over $1,000 on a party for my kids is for when they get married.

Am I a cheapskate? No, I love my kids enough so they don't develop an overweening hubris about them.

Dieting ideas you can sink your teeth into

Click on the link to read my latest witty take on life.

Email comments to me at tim.gray.matter@gmail.com

SOTU

Last night, President Bush gave his sixth State of the Union (SOTU) address. It was kind of a "ho-hummer". The good parts were watching the faces of Hillary Clinton, Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy (who may have been sleeping and dreaming of a secular-progressive nation), Vice-President Cheny, and especially Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Hillary glared at President Bush nearly the entire time. Leahy looked like he was plotting a calculated ploy for Vermont to secede to Canada. Mr. Cheney sported a coy smile when the Commander-in-Chief spoke about alternate energy sources for our nation to use other than oil. "What will happen to Halliburton?" was the look that came across on the veep's face. So much for stock-options. Mrs. Pelosi had the look of the night. When Bush proclaimed he would take the burden off the American people and not raise taxes, the darling of San Francisco furrowed her brow, rolled her eyes and mouthed, "Oh, sure."

That was the most interesting part of the SOTU. They say a picture is worth a thousand words...well, so is a look on someone's face.

New Orleans

It's great to see the city of New Orleans regain its vivacity after Hurricane Katrina. Some of that can be attributed to Mr. Bush. He has boosted the morale of the hurricane ravaged city. He may have exhibited times of coming up short for the people in New Orleans, but they were quick to forgive him and move on. Yes, Mr. Bush is an icon to the fine folks of New Orleans.

"What's with all the praise for the president?", you ask. The Bush of whom I speak isn't old enough to be president. Not to mention this Bush probably has a higher job approval rating. I'm talking about Reggie Bush, star runningback for the New Orleans Saints.

With that said, I'm sure you can agree with my first paragraph above.

Bill and Hillary Part 2?

Remember back in the 90s when the media sometimes joked about Hillary being the real president instead of Bill? This time it could be reality. She could very well circumvent constitutional term limits for the presidency.

Today, Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for the White House. Could it be that she chose January 20, 2007 to announce her presidential intentions 10 years after her hubby took the oath of office for the second time, or 2 years before she could? Was that a calculated move, or what?

If she does win, she'd better keep the First-Gentleman (???) away from the interns. We know what happened the last time they had their mail sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Would a 33-hour work week bug you?

Click on the link below to read my January 18, 2007 column found in Coulee News, Onalaska Community Life and Holmen Courier.

http://www.couleenews.com/articles/2007/01/21/opinion/00graymatter.txt

Please e-mail comments to tim.gray.matter@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Hagel vs. Rice

January 11, 2007 - Secretary of State Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to bolster President Bush's case for increasing the number of troops in Iraq. A visibly irritated Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) challenged Ms. Rice about the president calling for, what Mr. Hagel called, an "escalation" of the war in Iraq. Secretary Rice responded, "I don't know if we would call it an escalation...[but] an augmentation."

Escalation. Augmentation. You say tomato. I say to-mah-to. What would Bill O'Reilly say?

Blizzard brews up brouhaha over the bean juice

You can view my January 11, 2007 column by clicking on the link below:

http://www.couleenews.com/articles/2007/01/17/opinion/02coffee.txt

Please e-mail comments to tim.gray.matter@gmail.com to let me know what you think.

Welcome!!!

Hi folks, welcome to Gray Matter.

Gray Matter is the title of my column that appears in the Coulee News, Onalaska Community Life and Holmen Courier. Look for more publications to be added soon.

Each week, witty observations of the world at-large will appear in these publications and on my blog. Politics, sports, entertainment and business are just a few of the topics Gray Matter will cover.

Thanks for viewing my blog.

Tim