The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Indiana

This is a test blog. If I were giving a speech, I would step up to the mic, tap it, and say "Is this thing on?" My wife suggested that I post a recipe for pumpkin fudge that was in today's Indy Star. Here we go.

1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
5 oz. can of evaporated milk
7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream

Okay. I can't go on. My gag reflex has imposed it's will on my fingers.

If this thing is on... I will post something of great interest tomorrow.

As a Democrat and a supporter of Barack Obama, it is especially difficult for me to say this, but Sarah Palin rocked "Saturday Night Live" last night.

Good-natured, self-deprecating, she even joined in (as far as she felt comfortable, being a vice presidential candidate and all) on a rap song about her. (The immensely pregnant and darling Amy Poehler ended up singing it.) Just a tremendously funny and entertaining appearance.

We’re adjusting – What about ‘Them’?

Times as they are have caused us to make a lot of decisions about our everyday life. And some of those decisions have been difficult. We have cut back on our driving habits and we are watching a lot more closely what we buy at the grocery as well as everywhere else. Dining out has become a luxury rather than casual entertainment.

What would you think if I told you to stop
And not send me your keepsakes to sign?
Log on the Web and I'll act like a jerk
And I'll tell you I'm still feeling fine.

Oh, I get lots of little notes from my fans
Oh, I'm gonna shun the little notes from my fans.
Yes, I'm gonna shun the little notes from my fans
The little notes from my faaaaaaaaaans.

As an alumnus of Ball State University -- twice, until I got it right -- I am beside myself with giddy glee that the Fighting Cardinals are ranked in three polls this week after they degraded and humiliated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Saturday. Next week: the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Rotisserie style.

GO CARDS!

Later this month, live on WBST-FM 92.1, a cast will present a production of Orson Welles' original 1938 radio classic "The War of the Worlds," based on the novel by H.G. Wells.

This was, you might know, the broadcast that panicked listeners all over the country. There were few notices included to assure those at home that this was just a Halloween prank, and so some thought the Martian invasion of Earth was real.

Bailout...
Well, there’s a grand plan. Can you call it a plan if it’s this
confusing?

$700 billion: Not sure exactly how much money that is in real people dollars but I’m pretty sure it spends just about as quickly as the billions that Wall Street has already lost and who’s to say it won’t happen again.
My prediction for ten years from now... $1400 billion bailout.
Bottomless purse: Where the hell are we getting $700 billion? With the cost of the war and the regular expenses of running a damn country, I just assumed we didn’t have $700 billion laying around.

It's Tuesday morning, the day after the bailout was voted down and the stock market stepped out of a perfectly good plane without a parachute.

And I'm as angry as I've ever been in my life.

In this next election, vote no on every incumbent on the ticket. (Well, maybe not Richard Lugar. We like him.) But everyone else? Kick them out. Or at least kick out enough of them so that the others get the message:

Stop the whining and pettiness and playground childishness.

Get over yourselves.

Stop fretting about your re-election.

This is a test blog to determine what readers can do.

As a lover and student of film, I am experiencing the saddest day I've known for a long, long time. Paul Newman has died. He was 83, and he was more than an actor. He was an American icon, every bit as much as John Wayne or James Dean. You need only watch "Cool Hand Luke" or "The Hustler" to see it. And after all that, he became a philanthropist of epic proportions, with his Newsman's Own line of products. It's just sad, sad, sad.