- A DVD of Pixar shorts
- A Bender paperweight/action figure (right)
- A gift card to Pepe’s Pizza in New Haven, the best pizza ever.
- Some very comfy L.L. Bean slippers. Key, since my current ones are literally falling apart.

Hope you all had a great Christmas as well.

Elf Yourself!

..dedicated to finding common ground between the housed and the homeless. In over 900 relief missions per year, Midnight Run volunteers from churches, synagogues, schools and other civic groups distribute food, clothing, blankets and personal care items to the homeless poor on the streets of New York City. The late-night relief efforts create a forum for trust, sharing, understanding and affection. That human exchange, rather than the exchange of goods, is the essence of the Midnight Run mission.
[Midnight Run]

Everyone I know who’s gone on one says it’s an amazing experience. This is the fifth time she’s lead a run – one of these years, maybe I’ll get to go. I’ve got a few pictures up on flickr that I took helping sort and pack some clothes before the trip in. Hopefully, there will be more coming in from other participants. You can read about her experience on her blog here.

In Brooklyn’s warehouse-turned-artist district of Williamsburg, young hipsters flock to Barcade to sample its roster of microbrews and mingle with the likes of Pac-Man, the Mario brothers and Frogger.

I remember back in high school, arcades were all the rage. Games like Pac Man, Donkey Kong, etc. filled dimly lit rooms and the sound of cheesy synthesized game music was drowned out only by the sound of tokens spilling out of change machines. Well now it’s all come full circle, except now your arcade experience can be augmented by microbrews.

This just seems like a lot of fun, as well as a trip down memory lane. Next time we’re in the city, we should try to go. Of course, now it will end up being impossibly crowded. If it isn’t already.

They also have a Flickr stream and a MySpace page.

UPDATE: I wanted to mention my favorite video game at the time, but couldn’t remember it. It came to me: Tempest.

Originally uploaded by rich_bruchal.

This morning we went on a dog walk to benifit STARS, the Stratford Animal Rescue Society, which is the local animal adoption place. The weather was perfect and it was for a good cause.

There were of course lots of other dogs for Sasha to meet, including some kind of sheepdog who had been given dreadlocks by his owners. I guess that’s one way to keep the grooming effort to a minimum. (There’s a picture of him on the flickr site.) A great time was had by all, except for possibly the drivers who were held up by the traffic cops while a long parade of dogs and their owners marched by. (We had to cross a semi-major intersection at the halfway point in order to turn around and come back.)

Had lunch at Cafe Atlantique in Milford today. Freaky Dog “Roofbeer”. Good stuff.

Seen en eoute to the beach on Hilton Head. I don’t understand this. If you’re not going to wear your helmet, why bother taking it with you?

(Via Waxy.org Links.)

- MacGyver destroys a laser array using binoculars and cigarettes
- MacGyver plugs a sulfuric acid leak with chocolate.
- MacGyver builds a telescope using a newspaper, a magnifying lens, and a watch crystal

(via Wikipedia)