little blog on the prairie

It’s that time of year, so time to kvetch.

My turn: Why do people leave their Christmas lights on all night? Not only is it a waste of money and energy, but the neighbors need to get some rest.

Your turn …

Back in August on these very pages, I posed the question of how long it would take for Cold Stone Creamery, the venerable ice cream parlor much beloved in the lbotp family, to land in C-U.

It seems we have our answer.

In case you missed it, Deb Pressey reported in Sunday’s News-Gazette that the Arizona-based franchise will make its Champaign debut sometime in the spring with a Campustown location.

Is anyone else as baffled as I am as to the location they selected? First of all, I don’t know many college students that can afford to spend $4 on ice cream. And presumably, most of their business will come in the summer months. Well, Campustown is a veritable ghost town in the summer. Perhaps they figure there will be plenty of parking (albeit parking that is a bit of a walk) since no one will be around, so those people who want to shell out the $4 can drive into campus.

One person I know who will be thrilled: Mateman.

Save Our Sidewalks!

If you do one nice thing for all of peoplekind this holiday season, let it be this:

Please shovel your sidewalks.

Do it for all the children walking to the bus stop.

Do it for all the pregnant women in the neighborhood who still like to walk their dogs.

Just do it.

Save our Sidewalks.

If you haven’t checked out Willard Airport’s newest attempt to plead its case to local air travellers, it’s a must-see, if only for a cheap laugh (pun intended).

The CMI tripster is a rough “tool” that aims to help consumers which airport is the most economical choice for them. It compares the cost (of course you have to do the work and actually find the fares) of flying out of Willard versus airports including Bloomington, the Chicago majors, Indianapolis, Decatur, Peoria and Springfield. It includes the cost of gas and parking.

I guess the powers-that-be think that we are dumb enough not to be able to figure this out by ourselves. Amazing.

Some other thoughts for the night:
– Why is it that the UI Library is always making news for losing things? By the time the News-Gazette story about the unfortunate disappearance appeared in the paper today, the AP had already reported that the lost item — arare copy of a sports newspaper that covered the 1919 Black Sox scandal in depth — was mysteriously found Tuesday evening.
– Got scared the other day when I went to C-U’s best Thai restaurant and found it closed. Luckily, there was a note on the door saying that Thara Thai would reopen sometime this week. If I recall correctly, they should be open on Dec. 8. Thank goodness.
– Evidently I have sleeping on the job. Check out the local vs. chain debate over at Foleyma.

For those of you under a rock, Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber broke his ankle earlier this week doing “yard work” at his Champaign home. (As an aside, wonder what that lawn looks like now with all the snow covering it.)

Now I know I wasn’t the only person wondering why one of the most wealthy men in town was doing his own yard work. New York blogger Dead Spin, a purported Illini fan, poses the same question.

The truth came out the other day that it wasn’t an out-of-place twig that tripped up the coach. No, he slipped while trying to drain the water from his pool cover after the recent rains. So that just brings up another question …

Doesn’t he have a pool guy for that?

Of course, Weber ain’t no Ron Zook. He makes at least 300gs less than the fabulous football coach.