Some random thoughts running through my head this day:

* Has anyone else noticed the striking similarities between this week’s Mideast peace conference in Annapolis and the one that played out at Camp David during the sixth season of NBC’s “The West Wing”? A lame-duck president tries to accomplish the seemingly impossible -- peace between Israel and its Arab and Palestinian enemies -- in the waning days of his administration. Life, indeed, imitates art.

* Sorry to learn that Alice in Videoland, a staple store in the town of Ulster for the last quarter-century, is closing its doors. It existed long before the invasion of Blockbuster and NetFlix, but I guess it was foolish to believe it would survive the competition in the long run.

* I spent Monday evening watching the Sabres-Capitals hockey game on Versus, occasionally switching over to ESPN to watch the soggy Monday Night Football game between the Dolphins and Steelers. Total goals in the hockey game: 4. Total points in the football game: 3. You don’t see that happen too often.

* Regular readers of my blog know that I’ve slapped around hurricane forecasters a couple of times -- first for having the audacity to predict how many storms will occur over a period of several months and then for changing their predictions midseason because Mother Nature wasn’t delivering the expected mayhem. This story from Monday’s Miami Herald www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/320606.html wraps up the 2007 hurricane season, and the silliness of long-range prognosticating, quite nicely. I couldn’t have said it better myself.