Lincolnite

To continue the comment experiments going on around here, now comments you haven't seen before will have a yellow (or yellowish) background. Yeah, it's kind of ugly. But these experiments are all just temporary. If I decide to keep the new comment system, I'll come up with some more attractive permanent styling.

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time coming up with much sympathy for a guy who gets plastered, ignores road blocks, walks off a cliff, and falls to the ground below. I don't wish anybody harm, but I'm not going to waste much energy feeling sorry for a drunk who does something stupid. That applies to all drunks, by the way, not just the homeless variety. I'm very unsympathetic toward those who can't handle the crap they put in their body. Nevertheless, now is as good a time as any to reevaluate the safety concerns surrounding the problem of two sides of the city being separated by uncrossable territory. Drunks aren't the only people who are walking from one side to the other, after all. Should there be more shuttles between the two sides? Should the city subsidize taxi service to get across the tracks? Should we set up a zipline from the top of the Capitol to West O? (I don't know how they'll get back.)

No, not Santa Claus. President Bush will be in Omaha tomorrow to campaign for soon-to-be-Senator Mike Johanns. I love the irony of the man Chuck Hagel considers to be among the worst presidents in history campaigning on behalf of the man who would replace Hagel in the Senate.

All you Star City Holiday Parade fans can rejoice: the parade is on for this weekend. Let's hope most of the participants are able to show up, and that the weather cooperates this time.

For all you south side Lincoln fans of Indian food - seems like The Peacock has yet to open, but is coming soon. The hoped for opening date is December 15, but it may be later. In the meantime, the neon light with The Peacock's name is still on, and the place looks almost ready for business.

Y'all are guinea pigs. I hope you don't mind. You might have already noticed a new "Reply to this comment" link accompanying each of the comments on this site. I went ahead and enabled threaded commenting (as I hinted I might). I don't know if I'll keep it around or not. If I do keep it around, you can count on some formatting and usability changes. What I would like from you, if you're so inclined, is to give it a test drive. If you happen to notice any glitches or see any error messages, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you can grab a screenshot of the glitch, even better. Happy commenting!

Lincoln Racquet Club has been a Lincoln institution for a couple decades, but I'm beginning to wonder if it will be able to make it much longer. Old ideas pushed by an aging owner aren't helping the club keep in step with the rest of Lincoln's competitive fitness market. Most people will point to the fact that LRC isn't open on Saturdays (more specifically, the Seventh Day Adventist sabbath) as the most obvious reason for LRC's troubles. I think that's only part of the story. After all, Racquet Club survived this long being open only 6 days a week. The problem is more likely not compensating for that shortcoming with sufficient excellence and innovation in other areas. What is your impression of Lincoln Racquet Club? Are there any Racquet Club members out there? What's your sense of LRC's present and future?

I have a little mini-poll for you folks: I am currently wrapping up a little add-on for ExpressionEngine (the software that runs this site) that enables "threaded" (aka "nested") comments. That is, it allows you to reply to comments. Thus, rather than a simple date-ordered display of comments, you get something like this:

Comment   Retort #1     Counter-retort   Retort #2     Insinuation that retorter smells funny       Denial of malodor ... and so on

I would like to know if you folks think we should give that a try here on Lincolnite. I'm not going to state a preference one way or the other because I don't have a preference one way or the other. Besides, I'm not the one doing all of the commenting around here, you are. If there are feelings for or against the idea, I'd love to hear them. And if you just don't give a darn, I'd like to hear that, too.

Ice! Sounds like a good weekend to stay inside and do some scouting.

I'm disappointed to hear that Back to the Bible's Edge64 has closed. Actually, it apparently closed a couple months ago. The concept -- a concert facility and coffee house for teens -- sounded neat to me. The location definitely could have been better, though.

Ahh, nothing like a little sleet and rain in the forecast to remind us all that it's Star City Holiday Parade time. Who plans to go tomorrow? I would love to take Robbie, but we won't go if it's going to be wet. We can manage the cold, but cold and wet just isn't going to happen. I marched in several SCHPs, back in the day. I remember when I used to think the parade was long. Ha! Then I went to the Fiesta Bowl Parade, and I thought that was long. Ha! Then I went to the Rose Bowl Parade. That is a long parade.

Lincoln City Libraries is auctioning off old magazines. You can inspect the offerings today and tomorrow from 1:00 to 4:00pm. Bids are due tomorrow. Right now, only titles in the A-H range are up for grabs. Too bad. I guess I won't be picking up old issues Ranger Rick to bring back some elementary school memories.

Nebraska basketball player Shang Ping has found the best Chinese restaurant around. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say where it is. Speculate away, but I suspect we can cross Egg Roll King right off the list. Hat tip: Foxspit

City Councilwoman Robin Eschliman sure comes across as cranky in today's Deena Winter column. Or maybe it's just me. In any event, Ms. Eschliman's suggestion that the city's union employees be forced to give to United Way is hardly rational. The best way to encourage charity and goodwill is certainly not to mandate it.