I wasn't surprised by much of W's speech yesterday on energy "policy," outside of one thing - the call for more nuclear energy. What I'd have liked to hear were the answers to four questions:

1. How will nuclear energy be cost-effective: given the great cost of building these things, and even if the feds foot the bill for "risk insurance," won't consumers just get stuck with more expensive electricity?

2. How will anyone be convinced to put on of these things in their neck of the woods?

3. Who's going to hold on to the waste the plant generates for the however many thousand years it'll take to decay?

4. Will the NRC actually regulate, or are they just going to play ball with the industry? Again.

It'd have been nice to hear W push other solutions, such as this one by Climate Energy. Actually, it also would have been nice to hear any suggestion that we could use greater efficiency to save oil. God forbid.

Of course, all of this got pushed to the side of my brain when news came across that Tom Cruise is dating Katie Holmes. Wha?

For the third weekend in a row we got to travel out of state, though this past weekend's trip was merely a jaunt into New Hampshire to my youngest nephew's first communion service. It was not particularly impressive. I got the sense that there wasn't a whole lot of planning involved, or perhaps I should say a lot of useful planning. Still, my nephew came through about as well as can be expected of anything that leads you to wear a white suit.

Got to watch bits of the NFL draft afterwards, which wasn't much to talk about other than watching Aaron Rodgers free-fall his way through the first round (though landing in Green Bay isn't so bad). The Pats' draft was even less noteworthy, though they did get to pick Mr. Irrelevant, William Penn TE Andy Stokes. The Pats got pretty good mileage out of their last Mr. Irrelevant, Marty Moore, which hopefully gives the new guy some hope.

Not much else of consequence to mention from the weekend. Got to spend way too much time at the mall yesterday, which prefaced an irritating pair of visits to Cingulair stores where we learned that we'd have to pay a migration fee and upgrade both our phones just to replace the wife's phone, which took an inadvertant bath last month. That being said, if anyone has an old Motorola V60 lying around, or knows someone who is looking to part with one for cheap, let me know. We're combing eBay as well.

Oh, of passing interest to the trivia nerds among us: we wound up playing NTN on Friday and Saturday, and I managed to land in the top 10 for a couple of games of Countdown (4th and 8th, respectively). These were interrupted by a long foray into NTN's NASCAR game, where we got to make a bunch of predictions on yesterday's race, none of which I remember or actually care about. In any event, it'd been some time since I'd done that well, so perhaps I'll have to goad the wife into playing more often (though, oddly, we played both nights at her behest).

What does it mean that if you were looking for signs of the Apocalypse this week you'd have found them not on Revelations but on American Idol?

On Idol this week we had BOTH a contestant sing the Donna Summer version of "Macarthur Park" and a "rocker" now fully marked as a poser come out and perform in eye makeup. Which would have been fine if he were in full Ziggy Stardust mode. But he wasn't.

The sign, though, is that both of them made it through to next week. In a fair and just society looked after by a loving God, things would have gone much differently. Then again, in such a society I don't think we ever would have been subjected to "Macarthur Park" in the first place.

Revelations, FWIW, did have its own sign of the Apocalypse: Fred Durst in a credited role. The story of the actual and supposedly looming Apocalype? Surprisingly turgid and expositional.

Oh, and I'd be remiss not to mention that Paula Abdul has finally gone public to explain that her bizarre behavior on Idol isn't due to drugs, but rather the joy that comes at the end of a long and too boring to explain series of mishaps where either pain or drugs put her in a mood where she didn't want to dance or talk all over Simon Cowell. Inasmuch as it's good to celebrate feeling good, she doesn't have to be a tool about it. Just saying.

Well, that was quick.

I'll admit to some surprise that Ratzinger was chosen as Pope. I didn't think we'd have a non-European, but I was expecting someone less obvious. You hear about how people go into the conclave as Pope and go out a cardinal, and it makes the most obvious choice seem less so.

It's been interesting listening to the analysis about his election, especially as they try to peg where Ratzinger is going to fall in terms of orthodoxy. Most everyone says he'll be in line with John Paul II, though there's been some talk about him as a moderate, especially in his choice of Benedict as a name, given the moderate role of some of the more recent Benedicts. The name also suggests the understanding of a shorter papcy, as Benedict XV served for under a decade.

Speaking of the name, I am kicking myself a bit with regards to the Tournament of Popery, as I made a last-minute change from Benedict to Leo. Not sure why I did this; in retrospect Benedict is the perfect name for someone serving as Pope at this juncture.

This did leave the door open for Chris Rosenberg, who wins the Tournament of Popery with a score of 20 points based on his selection of the election happening tomorrow. Craig Barker and I tie for second with 15 points (we both had Thursday). Our last two entrants - Anthony De Jesus and ML Kingston - scored no points, as they both went for a longer conclave. Chris will pad his win by 5 or 10 points depending on whether or not it was the fourth or fifth ballot.

As you might have picked up from the discussion above, none of us got the cardinal or name correct.

Funnily enough, I learned about the election today not through the usual 21st century means, but from the bells of my church. Go figure.

Probably won't get much of a chance to post this weekend, so I just wanted to remind folks that there is still time to enter my Tournament of Popery. Instructions are in the April 12 post.

(Quick note on an irritation with Blogger: the link for each post doesn't take you to the post, but to the comments for the post. What's the point of that?)

The savior of otherwise postless days: television recaps.

Reality bites: On American Idol we're in an interesting situation where there's no real stand-outs. The annual competition between talent and image is a push at best. Even more confusing is the run of Scott Savol, who combines a pretty good voice with (what appears to the layperson) as a borderline sociopathic aspect. The sex appeal of Constantine Maroulis - he of the greasy shoulder-length hair and Chiclet-style yellowish teeth - is also hard to get a grip on, other than noting that he looks more dangerous than he actually is.

Over on America's Next Top Model Tyra Banks took a full-on nutty on a contestant last night, the capper to a double elimination. The judges hope this'll get the remaining contestant going, but it may just shake them more. The contestants have also shown an amazing lack of fashion knowledge (not knowing what haute couture is and being unable to pronounce designer names) and general knowledge (similar problems pronouncing 'magenta' and 'chartreuse.'). It's ugly.

Missed The Apprentice last week, though I've gotten the gist of things elsewhere. Big news is of course the arrest of hot-head Chris, which will only be a concern if he makes the finals. I don't see that happening. No real stand-outs here, either. Many more people who seem to be coasting, which will prove interesting now that the small teams should prevent such things.

Missing last week also apparently allowed me to miss an ugly product placement for Domino's new cheeseburger pizza. So much the better.

A modicum of praise be for Revelations, the short-run NBC series about the looming end of the world. The pilot was a little confusing, as it took some time to develop the background. Atmospherically it was all sorts of dramatic, although not so stupidly heavy-handed as Point Pleasant.

Anyway, Bill Pullman (a UMass grad according to a new ad running here; who knew?) plays a Harvard prof whose daughter was killed by a Satanist. He goes to Chile, captures the Satanist, and is now engaging in some sort of Starling-and-Lechter dialog with him (I'm calling pre-emptive shenanigans if they run off together to sacrifice more kids).

Meanwhile, Natasha McElhone plays a British nun with an Italian name who is investigating religious phenomena trying to prove that the end of days is nigh. She, of course, crosses paths with Pullman's character, which has the usual rational scepticism versus higher power face-off. The something happens to rattle the prof's beliefs, and we're off.

There's also a baby who was the only survivor of a ferry sinking. The baby may be the second coming. Or he's been sent to lead us astray. We'll be finding out later.

Smartly, this is only a six-episode run. So if it tanks, NBC can cut and run. If it doesn't, we can expect more eschatalogical wackiness next season. Either way, Aaron Barnhart pretty much nails the show in his review.

And finally I've been enjoying the USification of The Office, possibly because I've not seen the original yet. Tuesdays at 9:30 on your local NBC station.

Thing #7 6 That I've Done That You Likely Haven't

Organize a prediction game for an upcoming Papal election.

To play, you just need to email me with your responses to the following four questions:

1. Who will be elected Pope? While it's possible that the new Pope will come from outside this group, it's most likely that he'll be selected from the voting membership of the College of Cardinals. For those of you looking for more guidance, you could peruse this list of favorites. Or this one. There's also this article that details some dark horse candidates.

2. What day will the new Pope be elected? Note that the conclave will start on Monday, April 18.

3. On what ballot will the new Pope be elected? If what I've read is correct, there will be one vote on the first day of the conclave, with four votes per day after that.

4. What name will the new Pope take? For a look at the past 264 names, check this list here.

Scoring: each question is worth 25 points. For questions 2 and 3, you will lose 5 points for each day or ballot off you are. For example, if you said the new Pope would get elected on the 100th ballot, and he actually got elected on the 98th ballot, you'd get 15 points.

For question four, you'll get 10 points if you get the name or the number, but not both. You'll also get mocked if you pick the name but have the wrong number; I did post a link to that list, after all.

Entries are due by 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 17. No money, of course; this is already borderline on speeding my way on the Hell Express.

First, to tie up loose ends, congrat to Brian Hight for winning this year's Frozen Four pool. He correctly tabbed Denver University (or is it the University of Denver - none of the announcers seem to agree, even with themselves, on the name of the place) as the latest repeat champ. You final tally:

Hight - 50 points
Bruce - 42
Boggie - 30
Coen, Harper-Nixon - 26
Sorenson - 20
Barker - 16

Moving on to today's festivities, I got to hear when both the radio and TV guys got their rings at today's Red Sox opener. The TV guys took it pretty well, while Troop and Joe were in various states of awe, glee, and speechlessness. I suppose it's hard to call a game with that much bling on. It was actually pretty funny to listen to, as I think in that moment what those guys were covering on the radio became much more real, if that makes any sense. That and, for the homers they are, getting rings must have put things into overdrive.

It didn't hurt that the Sox won, either.

Watching news coverage tonight we saw a woman that the wife used to work with. It was hard to tell at first as she was wearing a hat and had sunglasses on, but it was cool to see her being interviewed about Opening Day.

Not much else to report on currently. I'm beginning to peel after getting burnt on Friday during a riverboat cruise, but it's pretty minor.

Greetings from New Orleans, where I'm helping out with the NAQT ICT. We got down here a little early to sightsee, fuller recap to follow. Suffice it to say that if you've not been here you should visit.

Keeping up with the meme:

Thing #5 That I've Done That You Probably Haven't

Read a baseball book a week from spring training through the end of the regular season.

This was, I think 1996. I'd fallen out with baseball before the 1994 strike, which caused me to fall out even more. Cal Ripken's streak brought me back a bit, and I decided to give it a chance by reading up on things. It worked; I now enjoy baseball quite a bit. Not as much as football. Or hockey, I suppose. Still, it's back in my good graces, which I'm sure is a load off of Bud Selig's mind.

Thing #4 That I've Done That You Likely Have Not

Blogged about my honeymoon while still on my honeymoon.

I doubt that I'm alone on this one generally, but as far as people I know go most of my friends who are married wed in pre-blog times.

Had we not been trying to follow the ALCS I don't know if I'd have blogged. Then again, public internet locations in Killarney are cheap and plentiful. So perhaps I would have just blogged less.

Thing #3 That I've Done That You Probably Haven't

Sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" duing a blackout at Fenway Park.

OK, there is one person who reads this semi-regularly who did this (hi Paul!).

I think I've mentioned this, but if not here's the skinny: it was a 1991 game against the White Sox, transformer blew in Kenmore Square. While we were waiting for the lights to come back on, Sox PA guy Sherm Feller leads us in song. Or sings the first verse with us, leaving the rest of us to finish while he gets another Scotch.

The Sox would lose in extra innings, but it was a great game all 'round.

I wrote a post about John Paul II, but it wound up getting eaten. Which probably isn't a bad thing, as I don't think it was very good. Suffice it to say I'm pretty conflicted, as for every positive you can point at something that doesn't sit so well.

So I'm not even going to bother to recreate the post. Were I a better Catholic (or a better person, for that matter), I'd make some commitment to being more involved in my faith. Knowing who I am, though, I'll just continue to feed that typical (or stereotypical) divide American Catholics have of appreciating the Pope while not caring as much for all of those faith and morals issues where he says things that clash with our secular American values.

So after all that typing, I'm vaguely dissatisfied with the results. That's probably a metaphor for something.

Thing #2 That I've Done That You Likely Have Not

Waited bascially a lifetime between taking the driver's test to get a driver's license.

Took it the first time when I was 17, and the second time when I was 34. I won't rehash the details here; interested parties can check the archives for the summer and early fall of 2004 for more.

I will say that I have found, in the six months or so that I've been driving, that I do enjoy it. I still don't understand the impulse that leads people to drive to work if they have a useful public transit option. Though the vagaries of the T (especially the Green Line) can lead to very similar irritation as rush hour traffic.