This, from today's Thorns and Flowers:

A FLOWER to the reader who, at Wednesday's Star meeting for nonprofits to learn how to get their news in the paper, suggested giving a thorn to those who fail to use or misuse their car's blinkers. 

Um ... how unoriginal can you get? Just to see, I Googled three words together: car, blinker and idiot. I got 36,100 results.

Strangely enough, I Googled "Arizona Daily Star" and idiot together. I got 33,600 results.

I was unfamiliar with Altar Boyz before attending the show last night at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall. My only knowledge of it came from the previews in This Fine Newspaper and the Star. I knew that it starred five hot guys who play members of a Christian boy band, that one of the dudes was kinda gay, that one of them was kinda Jewish, and that it was a semi-parody, but supposedly a lighthearted, nonoffensive one.

*Gulp.* A lighthearted, nonoffensive semi-parody?

Well, thank goodness, my fears were unfounded. Yes, it is a lighthearted parody; I can't exactly say it was completely nonoffensive, however. (The older couple sitting next to me tensed up a bit during the second song, "Rhythm in Me," when Mark—the obviously gay Altar Boy—kept singing "PUT IT IN ME!" with no subtlety whatsoever. I could hardly contain my laughter.)

Heavy theater, this ain't. It's a fun, simple, airy, quick (90 minutes with no intermission!) show that breezes by. There are no set or costume changes of note; the entire show is the five Boyz singing their silly pop songs (including, God help us all, a rap), telling their stories and busting their moves, all in an effort to save the souls of the audience.

I enjoyed the show immensely. Will it make my Top 10 Theatrical Experiences list? Goodness, no. But it's fun, a nice escape that's worth the ticket price.

And, yes, the boys are hot. Especially the Jewish one, Abraham (Nick Blaemire).

For tickets, call Ticketmaster at 321-1000, go here or stop by the TCC box office.

From a news release ...

Adoption Group Offering Reward for Return of Missing Dog

White Ticked Male

Phoenix/ Tucson

A white male greyhound that was headed for adoption in California was taken from a greyhound hauling vehicle in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 20.

After loading 30 retired greyhounds from Tucson Greyhound Park, the hauler proceeded north on I-10. He stopped at gas stations in Marana and Casa Grande and believes that the dog was taken out of the hauling vehicle at one of those locations.

The dog was discovered missing when he made a stop in Glendale to drop off three dogs with a Phoenix-based greyhound adoption organization. Arizona greyhound advocates have scoured the area from Tucson to Phoenix hoping to catch sight of the missing greyhound. The State Highway Patrol and animal control agencies in three counties have  been alerted. As yet, there has been no sign of the dog anywhere along the route.

It is believed that someone either stole the dog out of the vehicle or opened the door and inadvertently let the dog loose.

Greyhound Friends for Life (GFFL), the San Francisco-based organization that was supposed to  receive the missing dog along with 14 others is offering a reward no questions asked for the safe return of the greyhound. The group is asking that anyone with information call the following phone number/numbers immediately: 602.573.0940; 956-454-2645

The missing greyhound  is a young 2-year-old, white male. He was wearing a racing collar and a muzzle when he was taken out of the vehicle.

After a week of weird weather, broken blogs and school cancellations because OHMIGOD THERE'S A QUARTER INCH OF SNOW!!!!, things seem so ... calm today.

Is it naptime yet?

Are you as flabbergasted about your gas bill as I am?

My neighbor called me to complain about her $99 gas bill, and then I opened my Southwest Gas bill and SCREAMED, as mine was $178. Last month, it was a temperate $44. Ouch.

Then I started asking around, and one of my neighbors had a $250 gas bill.

I live in a double-brick house that could be a few years younger than me. I have no insulation. The other day, I had two pairs of socks on (one wool), shoes, sweat pants, jeans over the sweat pants, a tank top, a flannel shirt, a sweat shirt and another warmer sweatshirt on—and I was cold. And my thermostat said it was 69 degrees.

This house is like the big chill. As I type this, my fingers are frostbitten.

I have been trying to call the gas company for days, but I get a perpetual busy signal. I guess I'm not the only person in town with a gas problem.

And if I don't run the heat, sometimes it's warmer outside than in my house ... brrrrr.

Drop the snow and pay attention. There's news, courtesy of a news release we just received at Weekly World Headquarters:

Christian Living Magazine is honored to have featured Sylvester Stallone on the cover of the January 2007 issue. Sly has recently come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and chose to share his testimony with our publication. We in return would like to share it with you. Please click on the link below and allow 50 seconds for it to upload. For more information about this article or Christian Living Magazine please feel free to email us or give us a call.

Thank you and God bless.

There. Don't you feel informed?

Parents and kids took advantage of today's snow day to break out sleds and winter clothes from storage.

Just chillin'

Ann-Eve Pederson took her kids for an impromptu family morning at Himmel Park.

Break Out the Sleds

After the snow began to melt on the larger Hippie Hill, resourceful youth trudged across the park for more sledding.

A Tucson Snowman!

Uh, yeah...maybe we need a little more practice.

Now That's a Snowman!

You're not from around here, are you?

We THINK the blog is pretty much fully fixed now. If we're right, this means that everyone—not just me under the name "sean.fitzpatrick"—can contribute again. So, keep your fingers crossed for more postings on greyhounds, Battlestar and fish tacos.

Thanks for your patience, and keep your fingers crossed that the blog keeps running smoothly, and that nothing else falls off.

Because who doesn't love pictures of snow in the desert? These come from Veronica Bonfiglio.

This would be the Jeep belonging to our art director, Hugh Dougherty.