The Gideon Bible hotel monopoly is over

I think we all have grown accustomed to seeing that ubiquitous Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer at every hotel we've stayed at over the course of our lives, along with the local Yellow Pages. It's just one of those things I've never questioned, just accepted as a normal practice.

Well, a boutique hotel in Tennessee is changing things up a bit. The Hotel Preston near the Nashville airport, owned by Oregon-based Provenance Hotels, will now offer a "spiritual menu" through room service:

A team of Provenance managers came up with the spiritual menu's lineup, Nishioka said, which will feature the King James Version of the Bible and the New American Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the Tao Te Ching, The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, the Book of Mormon, books on Scientology and Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text.

I have to admit it's a novel approach, and one that I really can't complain about. It's not being PC, but rather acknowledging that not everyone is Christian, and offering spiritual reading for all travelers. It's a heap better than travelers spending their time downloading porn or watching Skinamax, don't you think?

I loolered at some of the other offerings provided by the hotel:

visitors to the 200-room hotel are offered complimentary pet fish, rubber duckies and lava lamps for their rooms, as well as a pillow menu. Most recently, as part of a living art display, Hotel Preston began hiring young women to take turns wearing pink lingerie and living in a glass-plated mock hotel room in a corner of the hotel's cocktail lounge.

Okay, so maybe lingerie models are stretching good taste just a bit...

It's a craxy tournament weekend!

First, the ACC tournament - pretty normal, except for Clemson beating dook and reaching the finals of the tourney for the first time since 1962...when they lost to a Final-Four-bound Wake Forest. I dearly hope Clem (and his son) can topple the Tarholes today - Virginia Tech came close to knocking the Evil Empire out yesterday, so they are definitely beatable. GO TIGGERS!

Then the SEC tournament - multiple OT games, the rest all with less than a 6 point differential, and don't forget the tornado! Yes, an F2 tornado whooshed through downtown ATL Friday night during the OT of the Alabama/Mississippi State game. While watching the game over at Laurie's house, we were amazed to see the catwalks near the ceiling sway, pieces of insulation powder the court, and the roof of the GA Dome rippling as the storm passed over it. The game was delayed for 64 minutes, then they finished that game (MSU pulling out the victory, much to Laurie's joy). The decision was made to postpone the GA/KY game which was to follow, due to the damage to the Dome as well as the rest of downtown.

The rest of the SEC games were moved to Georgia Tech's ThrillerDome (talk about irony) where more craxiness ensued. Given the late night & such on Friday, you'd think that the favorites would win on Saturday - and you'd be dead wrong. Georgia played Kentucky at noon & pulled out yet another OT win (they'd beaten Ole Miss in OT on Thursday). Then the first game of the Semi-finals pitted Arkansas against conference favorite (and #4 ranked) Tennessee. In a barnburner, Arkansas hit a jumper with 5.3 seconds left to clinch a 92-91 victory over the Vols. Then came Georgia's second game of the day, going up against a rested MSU team. Unfortunately MSU was not playing on all cylinders, falling behind big early in the game, but scrapping back to take the lead. The second half was much closer, with both teams playing killer defense and not generating a lot of offense. But in the end it was Georgia with the 64-60 victory. So Georgia & Arkansas face off today in the finals...I'll bet WTF is going through the heads of many SEC fans!

Now we await the conclusion of the conference tourneys, Selection Sunday (complete with frantic completion of numerous bracket pools), and then NIT Selection. Will Wake make it in? Stay tuned...

What a great way to improve date night!

Do not allow minors under the age of 18 to enter theatres after 6 pm on Friday and Saturday without being accompanied by a guardian.

I wholeheartedly agree with the folks at the Carson City, NV Galaxy Theatre at Casino Fandango on this one! The incessant talking & cellphones ringing during weekend evening movies only gets worse every year, making me a great fan of Netflix and a very infrequent theatre-goer as a result. But there are times when it would be nice to take in a movie when it first comes out (like I'm planning to do in May when "Iron Man" and "Prince Caspian" both come out) and not have to deal with distracting teenagers. Perhaps other theatres across the US will follow suit if the Galaxy's move proves not to be a loss on the books.

I do have to take issue with this comment from a teacher who encouraged her students to write a joint letter of protest (I like that she encouraged them to make the move, but not this part of her reasoning):

My opinion is that I'd like to see (the theater) hire people who can look after the children rather than keeping them out.

WTF??? Why should the theatre hire de facto babysitters for parents who are too cheap to pay a sitter to watch the kids at home or are too lazy to properly discipline their children as they grow up and teach them how to behave in public?

The MSB sez on 3/1/08

Let's see if the MSB can rebound from the deplorable results of 2/24/08...

Q. Will Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech?
A. Focus and ask again.

Q. Will dook beat NC State?
A. The stars say no.

Q. Will Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech?
A. Don't bet on it.