Top Albums of 2006

I am not saying these were the best CDs of 2006. I am just saying they were my favorite to listen to.

1. Modern Times - Bob Dylan

2. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol

3. Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black

4. Foo Fighters - Skin And Bones

5. John Mayer - Continium

6. Tool - 10000 Days

7. David Gilmour - On An Island

8. Corine Bailey Rae - Corine Bailey Rae

9. Josh Ritter - Animal Years

10. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam

11. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

12. Nelly Furtado - Loose

Merry Christmas from Washington

Twelve Malls of Christmas

Every year I spend a lot of time and money Christmas shopping. I love Christmas and I love giving that "special gift". I live in Northern Virginia, so there are a lot of shopping malls within a short driving distance. I call them the "Twelve Malls of Christmas".

1. Fashion Center at Pentagon City - one of the nicest and my favorite

2. Ballston Common Mall - use to work close by but don't go there much anynore

3. Crystal City Shops - unique speciality stores

4. Tyson's Corner Center - big and every store you can think of, great for "power shopping"

5. Fair Oaks Mall - has great Christmas displays of zoo animals

6. Springfield Mall - has gone down hill over the years

7. Potomac Mills Mall - lots of discount "designer" stores but still has good merchandise

8. Old Town Alexandria - outside shopping in quaint specialty stores like days of old

9. Georgetown Park - beautifully decorated at Christmas in red and green

10. Landmark Mall - not as nice as it used to be, use to have a 60 foot Christmas tree

11. Union Station - unique and has the neatest electric train layput

12. Tyson's Galleria - window shopping only with expensive stores

Arenas Has 60 in Wiz Win

Gilbert Arenas got on quite a roll, putting up the most points in franchise history and more than anybody, except Wilt Chamberlain, has scored against the Lakers.

In a Kobe-like performance, Arenas had 60 points and outscored Los Angeles' Bryant by 15 Sunday night in the Washington Wizards' 147-141 overtime victory.

Arenas had 16 points in the 5-minute extra period, including 14 in a row for the Wizards during one stretch. His scoring total was the most against the Lakers in 40 years.

Asked how the Wizards' guard scored so many, Bryant said, "First of all, he shot 27 free throws. We as a team shot 30. Think about that." Bryant added, "Some of the shots he took tonight, you miss those, they're just terrible shots, just awful. You make them and they're unbelievable shots." Little sour grapes there Kobe?

Goodbye Tower Records

Tower Records is (and has been) "going out of business". I have been going to Tower Records for the past twenty years. It was a great place to go and "listen" to new releases on their "listening station". This was way before Napster, file-sharing and "streaming audio" on the internet. I can remember bying records(later CDs) having heard just one track of the album and then was so disappointed int he album I never listened to it again. But Tower Records allowed me to "preview" the CD before buyin it. I could(and would) spent hours in the store listening to new releases.

But, the internet(mainly) has brought Tower Records to an end. I wanted to make it to the store one last time to just say "good-bye" to an old friend. So, today I made the trip(I no longer pass right near the store as I did for most of those twenty years) to the nearest Tower Records. It was so sad to see all the bins so bare. I did not think I would find any bargains, since the store has been "selling everything" for the past two months, but I was plesantly surprised. Cds were selling at 85% off, so you can't expect much to be left at $2-4 a CD, but I found the following CDs:(And I got change back from my $20)

1. The Long Winters - Putting The Days To Bed 2006

2. Daniel Powter -Daniel Powter 2006

3. The Stills - Without Feathers 2006

4. Ray Lamontagne - Trouble 2004

5. As Tall As Lions - As Tall As Lions 2006

6. Augustana - All The Stars and Boulevards 2006

Getting Good Grades

Getting good grades in college these days is supposed to be easier than ever. But there are signs of grade deflation in the future. Princeton announced in spring 2005 that it planned to limit the number of A's awarded in any course to 35 percent of all grades, down from the old 50 percent rate in some courses. Other schools are talking tough about grades. Even in grade-inflated times, many students find that success in this part of the learning process is a mystery.

What is the secret? Experts say good time management, careful selection of courses, avoiding wasted effort and inquiring into what the professor really wants. Here are 10 ways to get college A's, as suggested by professors and former students who consider grade-grubbing an unfortunate label for the honorable effort to master the material. They say many of these methods will also work in a growing number of high school classes offered in the Washington region that aim for college-level rigor.

1. Go to class and take notes yourself.

2. Don't major in engineering.

3. Make a big event out of your most-feared academic tasks.

4. Speak to your professors frequently.

5. Don't shy from courses with lots of papers.

6. Study in an isolated place as early in the day as you can, and do a five- to 10-minute break every hour.

7. Use section meetings for more than getting to know attractive classmates.

8. Don't do all of your reading. This is the most shocking piece of advice. There are not enough hours in the day to cover all the reading that professors assign. Instead, focus on the reading that appears to be most important -- material written by sources the professor mentions often, material that makes an argument (crucial for exams) and material that can clear up points you find confusing in the lectures.

9. Before you start work on a paper, do the analysis in your head.

10. Let experts look at drafts of a major paper.

Suitland Is Maryland Football Champ

Suitland High School, Maryland trailed by three touchdowns one play into the second quarter. With less than seven minutes left, it was a two-touchdown margin and every time the Rams crept closer, it seemed a special teams miscue derailed them.

Somehow, though, Suitland found its way, completing the biggest comeback in Maryland championship game history. Quarterback Carlos Fields scored a game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation and linebacker Travis McCain burst through the line of scrimmage to snuff out Sherwood's potential game-winning two-point conversion run in overtime as Suitland defeated Sherwood, 39-38, in the Maryland 4A title game Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium. in Baltimore.

"It's unbelievable," Rams Coach Nick Lynch said. "It's a miracle."

It was the second title in three years for Suitland (13-1), which lost its season opener before winning its final 13 games.

The Rams had watched the football-themed movie "Friday Night Lights" on the bus ride to the game, as Lynch tried to motivate his team. "You can make your own 'Friday Night Lights,' " he told them.

Katherine McPhee's Album

'American Idol' runner-up Katharine McPhee is eyeing a January 30 release for her RCA debut, tentatively titled 'Never Saw It Comin'. "It's rhythm pop," McPhee told Billboard. "It's not like really R&B or really poppy, but there are a couple of tracks that are really good for the 'American Idol' fans who voted for me and knew me as the 'Over the Rainbow' girl."

As for the significance of the tentative album title, she said, "I never saw this coming into my life as big as it did, and you never saw this kind of a record coming. You thought I was going to make a Streisand record."

Oops - Britney Spears

Her necklines have plunged, she's plying the all-night party circuit with new best pal, Paris Hilton, and she has even ditched her panties.

As if to prove, as she once sang, that she really is "not that innocent," newly separated pop star and mother of two, Britney Spears, is letting it all hang out - shocking her fans, causing concern among friends and making herself the butt of jokes on late-night TV.

"Girls Gone Wild!" Us Weekly magazine blared in its cover story this week, charting a manic two weeks in which Spears was seen gambling all night in Las Vegas, spent time nightclubbing and shopping with "celebutante" Hilton, and was photographed on several occasions climbing in and out of cars without panties.

The latest media frenzy over Spears comes two years after she put her recording career on hold for motherhood and three weeks after filing for divorce from husband Kevin Federline.

"Lately, I hear things and see things, and I'm just wondering, 'girl, what is up?' Please stop acting like someone you're not. Wear Underware!!" pleaded one longtime fan on Spears' Web site on Thursday.

Talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell, who has jokingly offered to adopt Spears and her two baby sons, on Thursday offered her a gift - a pair of red panties inscribed "No Peeking."