I'm usually late to the party on cool new things, and so it is with Picasa. It's one of Google's latest toys, and it's a good one.

Picasa, at its heart, is just a joyfully good Windows photo management program. How good? It's nearly a twin to Apple's iPhoto, with a few tricks of its own. Good deal.

I have other dormant projects rolling around, too: there's the crab apple wine, still stewing away in a big glass vessel, waiting for its big day. Sometime in the next 3 weeks, it will be time for the next racking, and a little sampling to figure out where we'll be in six months, wine-wise. I'll keep you posted.

I saw an oddly satisfying movie on TV tonight: The Pentagon Wars. I'm not one to take many chances on off-brand comedies (this was apparently an HBO TV-movie effort), but decided to trust the judgment of Kelsey Grammer and Carey Elwes, the main actors.

Trust rewarded. A black comedy about military procurement, using the real example of the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, an 11-man battle taxi that became a 6-man mini-tank.

The movie is apparently based on a book by the main character of this film, James Burton. Fun stuff with a chewy cautionary tale at the centre.