Yours truly made Orange Alert Press‘s “The Watch List” last month with a short story. Check it out.

At TheRoughWriters.com, of course.

Here are ten of Michelle’s suggestions:
1. Gourmet coffees with a personal coffee cup
2. Pound of pistachios
3. Child’s artwork, framed
4. Journal with special inscription inside
5. Teacup with box of herbal tea
6. Deck of cards and book of card game rules
7. Homemade cocoa mix in a pretty jar
8. Collage of special photos
9. Gel pens and pretty stationary
10. Bottle of sparkling cider

Singer, mandolin player, and ethnic Tibetan, Tashi Dondrup was arrested by Chinese authorities for his “subversive” songs.

The questionable songs, whose lyrics include musings on exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and last year’s riots and subsequent crackdowns in Tibetan capital Lhasa, were released this year on 30-year-old Dondrup’s newest album.

No word on when Dondrup will be released.

Curious as to what “subversive music” sounds like in China? Here’s one of Tashi Dondrup’s music videos.

“Have you watched The Office lately? The NBC series has become a microcosm of how depressing this recession can get—and not just because The Dunder Mifflin Paper company may fold in the next few episodes. That, after all, seems a fitting end for a company based on a business model that stopped being relevant in 1992. Instead, the show has taken the story of a man with a promising future and given him an interminable present.”

It’s so 2009 to have to pop a Xanax before watching your favorite sitcom…

Rolling Stone– 3 of 5 stars
“The songs sound great but feel strangely stuffy — Entertainment seems like a disc that was overthought.”

The New York Times
“This is an overwrought, clunky, only sparingly entertaining record, constantly in argument with itself.”

The Huffington Post– 4.5 of 5 stars
“From its iconic cover, to its unique retro-contemporary fusion, to its memorable hooks, Lambert’s appropriately labeled album contains all the elements of a massively successful–and influential–pop-rock classic.”

Last week, south Texas police confiscated a batch of Ecstasy pills stamped with an image of the president’s face. Ecstasy pills have been traditionally stamped with images of popular children’s cartoon characters. Many have criticized the manufacturers of this illegal drug for using the fun images to appeal to younger users.

The White House has not commented on the issue.

This holiday season, consider this delicious Sesame-Street-approved, low-cholesterol banana bread recipe, which first appeared with illustrations in Volume 14 of the Sesame Street Library. For a tasty twist, mix chocolate chips into the batter immediately before baking.

Ingredients:
3 peeled ripe bananas
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:
This you need a grownup to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pan (or a microwave).

This you can do yourself
1. Put the peeled bananas in a bowl.
2. Mash up the bananas with the back of a fork.
3. Add the melted butter.
4. Add the baking soda, flour, and honey.
6. Stir everything in the bowl with a big spoon until everything is mixed together.
6. Pour the mixture into an oiled bread pan.
7. Bake for one hour.
8. Use the toothpick test to see if the bread is done.
9. Take the bread out of the oven and put it in a wire rack to cool.
10. Cut up the bread and share it with your neighbors.

The world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai tower is set to open next month in Dubai. The building’s opening will be the last of its kind for at least the foreseeable future, as Dubai announced last week that its state-owned Dubai World will temporarily halt its debt payments.

The Burj tower stands 2,700 feet tall and serves as the centerpiece of Downtown Burj Dubai, a 20 billion dollar shopping district that is also the world’s largest indoor shopping mall.

Emaar, the tower’s developer, announced that the Burj tower will open to the public on January 4, 2010. This date is the fourth anniversary of Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum’s accession to power.

This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air on Tuesday, December 8 at 7 p.m. Central Time.

To tide you over until then, here’s a classic scene set to one of Vince Guaraldi’s timeless compositions.