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Leading off, Green Day. Batting second, Snoop Dogg. Batting third, Tim McGraw. And the cleanup hitter, Britney Spears.

If you think this is a weird baseball lineup, you're right. On the other hand, if I were playing in the Fantasy Music League, I'd probably be in the World Series.

This is not a joke. The object of the FML, according to the website, is to create a label that generates the most revenue, based on the world music charts. Apparently the winners share in $25,000 cash and prizes.

Building a playhouse/fort out of a cardboard box used to be a chore enough. Now, Australian researchers and architects have created something that goes beyond that: a fully sized and usable cardboard house that can be completed in six hours by just two people.

It's difficult for me sometimes to understand why spammers do what they do. Do they really expect that the millions and millions of emails sent will provide income from the products they are selling? Do they enjoy intentionally slowing down the Internet to a relative crawl for email users? Do they have any idea why even non-watchers of Country Music Television have noticed that Shania Twain seems to be on an endless loop infomercial on that station?

Google has set up a simple page to allow Internet users the ability to get involved with the cleanup and rebuilding of the areas affected by the recent tsunami. There are also links to information resources, including the Tsunami help blog.

Even though it might be after Dec. 25 by the time you read this, it is still not too late to make that last shopping run. This year, especially if you live in the Midwest, your excuse will work even better:

"I ordered your present online, and it hasn't arrived yet."

That simple sentence should give you at least an additional week to make purchases. And with the 236 inches of snow some areas have received, there's no telling when a present, even ordered after Lincoln's birthday, will appear.