Yet Another Friday Cornucopia

It's been another busy week. Here are some stories I haven't been able to post yet:

• This is not a good sign: Nordstrom department stores will be replacing its live in-store pianists with canned music...because research seems to indicate that their customers prefer Memorex to live, such as it were.


• The recent winner of a $1 million scratch ticket will likely come to regret his good fortune, as he's a convicted bank robber who's not supposed to gamble. (Does anyone else think that's an unusual punishment for that crime?)


• Multiculturalism run amok, or a silly oversight? The school district calendar in the Spokane, Washington public schools included "important dates" such as Human Rights Day and the first day of winter but forgot to include Christmas.


• Want to lose weight? It may help if you stand up more during the day.


• A japanese university now offers a course that can be taken by cellphone.


• A kid in Minnesota lost his ID bracelet at the age of four or five while playing at his grandfather's farm. Now, around 25 years later, that bracelet has been found inside a chicken at a local processing plant.


• And finally, an Indianapolis teenager pulled off a string of holdups at local businesses while still keeping his curfew and attending church with his mother every Sunday.

More tomorrow, and maybe some substance as well.