I know, I know. "Why Louis XIV's mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, and not Louis XV's more famous mistress, Madame de Pompadour?"

Well, Frederick actually knew Madame de Pompadour and absolutely HATED her. He was beside himself with joy when she finally died in 1764. He called his dogs 'the marquises de pompadour.' So, that didn't seem like a good choice, and the next on the list of internationally famous hussies, Anne Boleyn, has a mission all her own to complete. So, Frederick gets the hardly less slutty Marquise de Montespan, who gave Louis XIV seven children in her run as Chief Mistress To The King.

And now your Donnie Murphy Update:

The Oakland A's did not play Murphy either on Sunday or Monday. Whether this is because he must return every so often to his Power Sphere to replete his supply of Divine Essence or because Dark Forces are colluding against him, we can't say. We can only look to the sky, and hope...

- Count Dolby von Luckner

Hey everybody!

I'm back from visiting Japan.

One of the things that seemed to be central to the trip was this commerical that I call, "Beer: The Musical."

(I don't speak Japanese, so I don't really know what it is called.)

It greeted me when I first arrived in Japan as silent 30-second clips on the subways, eventually I toured the Yebisu Beer Museum located in the basement of the Sapporo building and saw it in its full glory.

Mind you, this was after I had eaten lunch at the Lion Beer Hall in Ginza and realized that the Lion is the restaurant featured at the end of the commercial.

Also, I drank plenty of beer.

--Geoff