Take the money from your tax cut... and make a charitable contribution (or five)

So you caught a break when Congress passed legislation that extended the Bush tax cuts -- and lucky dog that you are, you can keep more of the $205K that you earn each year.

With more money in your pocket, you have fewer excuses to make your end-of-the-year charitable contributions. There are dozens of local animal-welfare groups that can use the dough more than you need a new Motorola Debut.

If you use any of the Seattle-area, off-leash dog parks, you should feel compelled to toss a few bucks to the Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA), an organization that supports dog parks in town:

http://www.coladog.org/

Or, you can support any number of animal welfare groups in the Greater Seattle area:

http://www.seattlehumane.org/

http://www.paws.org/

http://www.thehumanesociety.org/

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/

http://www.saveourdogs.com/

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/

Baby, it's cold outside... but there's no snow

The media made much of a potential snowfall this week -- so much so that Metro transit issued a "snow watch alert" this week. So, was anybody surprised when nary a flake of snow touched the Lovely Rainer Valley.

O'Doul the Weather Collie would have told you not to launch into a snow-driven hysteria. If you only listened to him... and not the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the hysterical television meteorologists.

Mount Baker resident Tony -- O'Doul's official spokesman -- reports that the collie's shedding of his winter coat is of an "average" amount and not indicative of the harsh winter that NOAA forecast. Tony estimates that the collie shed enough of his summer coat to fill a 20-ounce, micro-can garbage container.

By comparison, O'Doul shed enough hair in 2008 -- the winter of the Seattle's record snowstorm -- to fill a recycling container issued by the Seattle utilities department. While NOAA forecasted La Niña winter -- defined by NOAA as characterized by "unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equitorial Pacific" -- the collie's hair fall suggested something less than a Little House on the Prairie climate.

How does Tony reconcile the difference between O'Doul and NOAA's prognostications? "Maybe they consulted the Farmers Almanac," Tony said of the federal agency.

While the streets of the Lovely Rainier Valley may be dry, the mercury could dip below 30 degrees. You need a heated beverage to keep you warm... like an Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee

• 6 oz. fresh brewed coffee
• tsp. brown sugar
• 1½ oz. Irish whiskey
• heavy cream

Whip heavy cream and refrigerate to chill.

Combine hot coffee, brown sugar and whiskey in a Irish Coffee glass.

Stir mixture until sugar dissolves.

Top the cocktail with a dollop of heavy cream.

Christmas-time is here... time for a vanilla Zinger and your favorite holiday DVD

Merry Christmas from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

We could regale you with the "story of the first Christmas" or provide an egg nog recipe to celebrate the yuletide. Or we could celebrate what some consider the best holiday program ever produced: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Hard to believe now, but television executives in 1965 harboredqualms about the Peanuts-inspired Christmas special. Cartoonist Charles M. Schultz, producer Lee Mendelson and director Bill Melendez had to convince the network suits that the national audience would watch an animated Christmas program in which:

• Child actors provide the voices for child protagonists;
• A laugh track doesn't accompany one-liners;
• Characters cynically comment on the commercialism of Christmas;
• Linus quotes "the true meaning of Christmas"... verses from The Gospel According to Luke in the King James Bible;
• An original jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi -- known for the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus and the hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" -- was used instead of more traditional holiday tunes used in the Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer ("We Are Santa's Elves", "We're A Couple of Misfits", "Holly Jolly Christmas").

Credit Schulz, Mendelson and Melendez for sticking to their convictions and producing what is arguably considered -- with apologies to fans of Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the Boris Karloff animated program, and not the Jim Carrey movie) -- the best made-for-television Christmas special. People today -- 45 years after the program premiered -- immediately understand the reference to "a Charlie Brown tree." You don't have to read Downbeat magazine or listen to KPLU -- both good practices -- to recognize the opening bars of Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy."

No, the only complaint -- really, more of an observation -- one might have with A Charlie Brown Christmas is that Schulz, Mendelson and Melendez set the bar so high that any subsequent Peanuts television special seemed pedestrian by comparison. For every It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966), He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968), or A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), you have two other programs along the lines of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975), Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977), Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985), or You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown! (1994).

As Linus once said in print version, "There's no heavier burden than great potential."

The gridiron in San Diego beats Shoreline in December

Congratulations to the University of Washington (UW) football team, which was selected to play in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 30.

After enduring a God-awful spell of losing seasons from 2004 to 2009 (17-54, 24 percent winning percentage) -- including a winless 2008 campaign -- the Huskies became "bowl eligible" with a 6-6 record in an inconsistent season that three weeks ago seemed bleak. But the Huskies won three-straight contests and will spend December in Southern California -- albeit, San Diego. Credit UW Coach Steve "Sark" Sarkisian for keeping his eye on the prize -- the first Husky bowl game since the 2002 Sun Bowl.

While Former Heisman Trophy Candidate (FHC) Jake Locker saw his campaign for college football's top honor sink like a brick after a beat down by the University of Nebraska -- ironically, the same team that the Huskies will face in three weeks -- the Husky quarterback will enjoy a perk that predecessors Carl Bonnell, Johnny Durocher, Ronnie Fouch, Casey Paus, Isiah Stanback never experienced: the privilege of playing college football after Pearl Harbor Day. Seriously, it's nice to see Locker enjoy playing in a bowl game during his collegiate career.

What better way to celebrate a much-needed bright spot in the UW football program than with an appropriate cocktail? How about the Dog Sled, a crazy concoction of whiskey and citrus?

Dog Sled

• 1½ oz. Canadian whiskey
• 1½ oz. orange juice
• t tsp. Grenadine
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a shaker. Pour into an old fashioned glass.

Chuck-a-wow, chuck-a-bow.

Here's one interesting note about Bridgepoint Education. A self-described "innovator in higher education," Bridgepoint is "dedicated to those seeking flexible, high-quality choices in higher education" by tackling issues of "affordability, transferability of credits and online convenience" by providing associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees at Ashford University and University of the Rockies. Yeah, we hadn't heard of them either until now.

Since you didn't ask... DDGP's 10 choices for the 2011 Baseball HOF

The Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF) announced this week its candidates from which the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) will select for the 2011 Cooperstown class. Other mouthpieces with slightly more credibility than the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) pop off and offer their unsolicited opinions. Here are our choices:

• Roberto Alomar
• Bert Blyleven
• Jeff Bagwell
• John "Generalissimo" Franco
• Juan Gonzalez
• Barry Larkin
• Edgar Martinez
• Tim "Rock" Raines
• Lee Smith
• Larry Walker

The DDGP made its case for Marinez' selection. This year's HOF is packed with so many worthy candidates that a BBWAA voter would find it challenging to give one "favorite son" first timer -- Charles Johnson (Florida and Colorado), Al Leiter (Florida and New York), Tino Martinez (New York and Seattle before the latter foolishly traded Tino to the Yankees for a handful of beans), John Olerud (Toronto and Seattle), B.J. Surhoff (Milwaukee and Baltimore) -- their moment and consideration.

This year's ballot is chockful of first-time nominees who could find themselves enshrined in Cooperstown. The 1991 Rookie of the Year (ROY) and 1994 Most Valuable Player (MVP), Bagwell (.297 career average, 2,214 hits, 449 HR, 1,529 RBI, .408 SlG .547 OBP) represented one half Houston's "Killer Bs" that brought the World Series to the Astrodome. Four-time All-Star Franco proved to one of the consistent relief pitchers during the 1980s and 1990s (90-87, 2.89 ERA, 424 saves). Two-time MVP Juan Gonzalez made three All-Star appearances and won six silver slugger awards (.295, 388 doubles, 434 HR, 1,404 RBI, .561 SLG). 1997 MVP Larry Walker (.313, 383 HR, 1,311 RBI, .400 OBP, .565 SLG, .986 fielding percentage) made five All-Star rosters and snagged seven Gold Glove awards.

Two ballot sophomore -- Alomar (2.724 hits, .300, .984 fielding percentage) and 1995 National League MVP Larkin (.295, 2,340 hits, 379 stolen bases, eight Silver Slugger Awards, .975 fielding percentage) -- were, respectively, one of the standout second basemen and shortstops in 1990s. Seven-time All-Star Raines (.294, 2,605 hits, 1,571 runs scored, 808 stolen bases) is overdue. Blyleven (287-250, 3.31 ERA, 3.701 strikeouts, 1.198 WHIP) and Smith (478 saves, 3.03 ERA, three-time league Rolaids Relief Man of the Year) are long overdue.

The observant reader noted that we did not include Rafael Palmeiro in our list. Our omission was not inadvertent. The three-time All-Star boasted incredible, HOF-worthy credentials during his two-decade career: .288, .371 OBP, .515 SLG, 3,020 hits, 585 doubles, 1,835 RBIs. Admission to the select circle of Major League Baseball (MLB) sluggers -- Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray -- who hit 3,000-hit, 500-home club should guarantee HOF admission. (Incidentally and more important, thankfully, Barry Bonds came up short with 2,935 hits.) But, alas, MLB suspended Palmeiro for 10 days after the first baseman tested positive for steroids in 2005. Palmeiro had spent the prior off-season testifying before Congress that he had never used steroids - and admonished those who used performance-enhancing drugs. When a positive drug test said otherwise in 2005, Palmeiro maintained that he inadvertently ingested a supplement that contained steroids.

As Palmeiro hasn't expanded upon his answer in 2005, we don't know if the player's positive test was an aberration in an otherwise stellar career. Pitcher Andy Pettite admitted using human growth hormones (HGH) to recover from an elbow injury during the 2002 season. Alex Rodriguez confessed to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 -- a span that includes 569 hits, 208 homers and 305 RBIs if you take A-Rod at his word. Mark McGwire apologized for ingesting steroids "off and on" for a decade during his 17-year career.

Until Palmeiro comes clean, we can't assess his career stats -- and whether he is HOF worthy.

Are we howling in the woods? Probably. It's park privilege.

Happy Hanukkah!

"Chag Urim Sameach" from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park!

Hanukkah commences tonight at sundown and commemorates the holiday miracle that occurred after the Macabees (Can you hear Ross on Friends tell his son, "There were these people called the Macabees?) discovered that what they calculated as a day's worth of oil lasted for eight days sufficient to purify a Temple that the Greco-Roman persecutors defiled during their jihad against Judaism.

The Goyim population seems fascinated -- if not fixated -- upon the prospect of their Jewish friends receiving presents during each of the eight nights of Hanukkah. Kind of a child's idealized version of Oprah's "favorite things". An iTunes gift card... Old Navy Performance fleece quilted jacket... North Face Surge backpack... Seattle Sounders "third jersey"... Droid X...

In the real world, most Jewish children receive one large gift -- the magnitude and expenditure similar to a Christmas gift during the first or last night of Hanukkah -- or small gifts (socks, belt, Chone Figgins Seattle Mariners jersey) allocated over eight nights.

Regardless of your religious practice (or lack thereof), people, do remember your dogs during this gift-giving season. Blue Dog Bakery peanut butter and molasses flavored snacks... liver-flavored Chewgar gourmet dog treats... Penn State dog T-shirt...