The Bestofme Symphony is a half year old now. Imagine that! This little meme has made it to its 27th edition, been hosted by a score of blogs and continues chugging along under its own power. The only thing it hasn't had yet is an Instalanche, but we'll keep hoping... (Hello? Mr.Reynolds, sir? Over here!)

[update] I mistakenly dropped Simon's submission. I'm adding it now but since it's Thursday most folks have probably already read this and we'll have it in next week's edition too. Simon's entry was 2004 Annual Family Report. It's an "annual report" with a difference - this one is about important things. [/update]

Today's reading begins with Zero Intelligence and an article called Pink - The color of the beast. It seem that schools have been having a problem with the color pink. It's a little Queer Eye for the Gangbanger Guy.

The Smarter Cop gives us Followed to a "T". Pietro doesn't know why John F*** Kerry's making such a big deal of President Bush's Iraq policy. After all, based on Kerry's editorialized suggestions for Iraq in 2002, the President easily gets 100%.

Andrew from Dodgeblogium asks if there is Hope for British music? This is the post (but one) that started the whole band thing going. G.o.D. may not be where they want to be just yet, but they sure have come a long bloody way, that is for sure.

The Owners Manual arrives with White Talking. Bill Cosby said it better (well, that's arguable) but Gary said it before he did.

The Slap comes to us from Book of Life. In it the author recalls a childhood encounter with old-school discipline, and the momentous consequences.

The Cycling Dude has some comments About CNN. For anyone familiar with the description of itself that CNN cable News Network has, online, some of this post will be an obvious parody of it. The post is a serious one, though, as Kiril encourages bicylists to let him know their thoughts, and even let him know of stories in their communities.

Kiril gives us a second gift from his other blog, Sneakeasy's Joint. This somber item is called Deputy David Powell, RIP. In Nov. 2002 a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy was killed in the line of Duty. He was a co-worker of Kiril's Sister. Included in the this essay are words written by her, as well as by him. The 1st link in the piece, to Mr. Powells LASD PAGE, may not be working again by the time of publication of this Symphony. The LA TIMES link is not working any longer has been replaced with a working link. The VIRTUAL TRIBUTE link is still going strong, however, and folks are STILL leaving comments into this year.

Helen doubles up on the presents too. I was recently informed that I'd be out of a job in the near future and she was worried that the item she was going to submit might distress me so she sent a backup post just in case. Quite the opposite, of course - Helen's excellent writing always inspires. In typical greedy guy fashion I've taken both of her submissions. The job loss related post is called (appropriately enough) Job Hunting. The second one is The Little Things and deals with the best ways to show somebody that you love them.

At Interested-Participant we learn about a Law Proposed for Animal Restraints in Vehicles. A while back, he predicted that some politician with too much time would try to put pets in seat belts. Accordingly, Santa Fe City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer proposed just such a law.

My own contribution to the party is The Peacock Find The Lie Challenge, my still standing challenge to the "Bush Lied, People Died" crowd to put up some facts instead of rhetoric.

Suzie of Practical Penumbra gets the MVP (Most Valuable Postsubmitter) with seven excellent submissions. Suzie's mini trip through the Blogoshere starts with her own Moment of Silence, a tribute to the poor souls lost in an industrial accident at her workplace.

The next stop is a story/essay at VRWC, Inc (A favorite of Suzie's from a "retired" blogger) called Packing Heat.

A turn towards the humorous gives us I Am One Super-tolerant MoFo from Harvey's old site Bad Money. You can catch up to him now at Bad Example.

Suzie also let's us know that Mr.Green is Dead Sexy. Hope Harvey doesn't get too jealous there.

LeeAnn from The Cheese Stands Alone is so full of cheesy goodness that almost any random post can be considered a great one, even when Batteries are Not Included.

Suzie finds a "typical Bill" post in Comparative Government - No. 1 In A Series. That one's typical for Bloviating Inanities but typical there is pretty damn good.

Our last stop on the Suzie train is one she really loves at Ramblings of Silver Blue called Final Thought. A fitting post for the end of a Symphony.

Hosting: Would you like to host the Symphony? Send me a note and I'll get you on the schedule.

Submit to the Symphony: Want to be a part of next week's edition? Check out this post for submission help. Entries should always be sent to bestofme@jpeacock.net regardless of who the Symphony host is.

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