Christmas Eve. The little kid in me is excited. Here is a little snow and controls to change the wind and stop it. After hitting stop the only way to start again is to refresh the page.

Change Wind | Stop Snowing

Needless to say I’ve been listening to the Bing Crosby Christmas Greatest Hits and I’m in the mood for the holidays. Simple question though. Why is Christmas pronounced Chris Miss? Why is it not pronounced Christ Mass? Anyone got an answer for that?

Nine years ago today I was fired from the worst hotel ever for the first time. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 are all the past entries in which I’ve done this look back on the past year. Last year was a new beginning of sorts for me.

It is so refreshing to work at a real hotel. It is also nice to have owners that take care of both the employees and the hotel itself. These people give raises and they do not let their building get run into the ground. It’s also nice to be at a hotel whose clientele is not made up of pimps, whores, and drug dealers. I for once am happy about my job. I enjoy doing it.

I am also happy to report that the worst hotel ever has not changed. I still wait for its closing. One only has to read the recent insider chat to see things have only got worse since TT wrote her unfinished memoirs. In fact the worst hotel ever actually was closed for about a week. It was a nice preview of what the inevitable final death will be like. Hopefully in a years time when I do this again it will be dead.

Got a new poll going. One year later exactly since the last poll. The new poll is game related. I’m interested in how many people fell for the hype machine that is Halo 3.

Did you buy Halo 3?

• Yes
• No
• Don't care at all

View Results

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Incidentally this is my one year anniversary working at the new hotel.

Finishing Crooked Little Vein left me in the mood for hard boiled detectives. Raymond Chandler‘s Philip Marlowe is my favorite. Now I dig the Bogart Big Sleep movie. But Bogie just isn’t Marlowe to me. The perfect Marlowe is the 80’s HBO show staring Powers Boothe. A show which I vaguely recall as being this perfect translation of Chandler’s stories.

I found it on Amazon, Phillip Marlowe, Private Investigator. A New York Times article from back then seems to back up what I think I remember.

Although he should perhaps look a bit more lean and hungry, Mr. Boothe creates an emotionally convincing Marlowe. His private eye prefers to be an objective observer rather than a soiled participant but, when pushed, he leaves no doubt about who is in charge. Dark, dour, almost sullen but not quite sour, this Marlowe would have had Raymond Chandler’s approval.

It’s also set in the right period. I hate when they try to set it in the present. Marlowe’s time and place was the 1940’s Los Angeles. I really hope the show is as good as I remember.

Here is a mp3 of me, my niece, and my nephew watching the South Park Episode Red Hot Catholic Love when Cartman poops out his mouth:

ian-elaine-me-south-park (677.7 KiB, 45 hits)

As a bonus here is my nephew making what we call the nintendo face:

Look out worst hotel ever “Best Western to open in a few weeks” which can only be bad news for that shithole. This new hotel will have 67 rooms and one meeting room. The Daily News article says the amenities will be:

…an indoor swimming pool and a whirlpool, a fitness center, free breakfast daily, six whirlpool suites, wired and wireless Internet, a guest laundry facility, iron and ironing boards, hair dryers, coffee makers, in-room guest safes and more.

The article also mentions that the place is hiring:

The hotel will hire 20 full- and part-time employees. Those interested in a job at Best Western can apply at the site of the hotel in the front vestibule. On average, the wages will be $7 to $9 an hour

I’ll throw my resume in there just for shits and giggles. It would be great to be able to only drive five minutes to work.

I like the mayors comments:

“We welcome them with open arms,” Mayor Randy Kirichkow said. “We’re looking forward to having their name near the interstate.”

It’s like the city mayor acknowledges they only have bad hotels in the city. The city certainly went out of the way to get the Best Western here:

The City of South Beloit offered Best Western a property tax abatement that will last two to three years, depending on the assessed value of the property. The hotel was also constructed in South Beloit’s Enterprise Zone, which means that there was no sales tax on the building materials for the new structure. The city also reduced the sewer connection fee from $85,000 to $20,000 for Best Western and allowed for a variance in the height of the hotel and its sign.

It shouldn’t be no surprise why the city went out of it’s way to attract this new hotel:

South Beloit has a 4 percent hotel room tax, which means Best Western will bring in about $50,000 to $60,000 each year for the city, Kirichkow said. The 1 cent sales tax will generate an estimated $10,000 to $20,000 a year from the hotel, Kirichkow said.

I’m sure the city will profit more off of this brand new hotel than the dying worst hotel ever. With any luck this will be the last nail in the coffin for the worst hotel ever.

Firefox is the winner. At least according to Google Analytics. I think it’s cool that Firefox is beating IE. At least on my site. Click the picture below for a little more details.