Like Sands in an Hourglass...

Greetings, gentle readers.
And welcome to the bright and brave new world of Anno Domini 2005. Following a horrific holiday season which has left me in a seriously perilous sleep-deficit condition, I am finally back in circulation, and able to begin further dissemination of my twisted ideas, ill-advised schemes, and inappropriate observations.
First of all, I'm trying to elevate my pool game to the lofty height it once occupied. If anyone is game to be a metaphorical punching bag on the green felt, I can often be found here: http://www.metrobilliards.com/
And I'm looking to move into a loft apartment two blocks away, so if anyone wants to donate money to the "Get Markus out of the West End" fund, just try clicking on the adverts on the right margin. I get paid for every link clicked, so you don't actually need to buy anything - just go and look at some pretty pictures for a while, and try and swell my coffers so that I can qualify for a hugely debilitating mortgage. Here is the link to a walkthrough of the apartment:
http://www.worthington.ca/residential_the_ten.php
And if you want to know where these places are, and how they relate to my work at TELUS (10035-102 Avenue) and at Align Com (10665 Jasper Avenue), you can check out this map of downtown Edmonton:
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/about/edmonton/downtownmap/
or this one:
http://www.discoveredmonton.com/Maps/CityMaps-Flash/EdmontonMap.html
Basically, if I can get into my new digs, I'll be within a four-block radius of everything important. Except my local in London:
http://dukeofkendal.tripod.com/
So click on the adverts and help me raise enough money to move to the hub of activity in Edmonton. Please?
In other news, Liverpool are storming up the table, and, though they've had their third round FA Cup tie against Burnley delayed due to a soggy pitch, they are still a going concern in all four competitions. Shame that Oldham Pathetic knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup, but they didn't play Robbie Fowler, so they obviously deserve to be ridden out of the competition on a rail. Aston Villa also went out to lower-league opposition in the form of Sheffield United, so there's room for fans of both teams to commiserate.
And thanks to everyone for helping me revise and update the Top 20 List of Wonderfully Attractive Women, and it looks as though there will be a shake-up of that list in the close-season. Hillary Clinton, Ali Landry and Natalie Portman are veering toward relegation, and look for Nina Elizabet Persson, Kelley Law, Jody Vance and Rosamund Pike to push for promotion to the top-flight. Portman might still be able to salvage something from the season if she does a phenomenal job playing Evey Hammond in the still-in-the-planning-stages film version of Alan Moore's classic graphic novel "V for Vendetta." Heather Godberson is another dark horse that could upset the promotion playoff picture. Jennifer Love Hewitt looks anything but safe near the bottom of the table, but she also comprises almost all of the "fluffy bit o' crumpet" niche, and thus prevents the entry of vacuous, bland bits of totty like Avril Lavigne, the Duff and Simpson sisters, various tennis players, the respective casts of "Sex in the City" and "Desperate Housewives", and former actresses from "Baywatch". In other words, she's the best of a bad lot, and her inclusion preserves the dignity of the other 95% of the list.
Right-o. I'm done work here at TELUS in ten minutes, and I'm scheduled to do an appointment at the proposed new digs tomorrow at noon, so I'll just sign off here, and bid everyone a happy and prosperous new year. Remember, not clicking on the ads to the right makes Baby Jesus cry. Cheers,

-mARKUS
^+Justice for the 96+^