You have until Friday to name the new mascot at Vulcan Park (though we’re not quite sure why he isn’t named … Vulcan).

From the park’s site:

Vulcan Park and Museum’s new mascot needs a name!

All entries must include the following:

• Contact name, phone, address and e-mail (if applicable)
• Name suggestion
• Meaning of the name (if applicable)

The winner will receive a Family Membership to Vulcan Park and Museum ($50 value), a behind-the-scenes tour for four individuals, a Vulcan BobbleBun Doll and will be recognized at Vulcan’s Annual Birthday Bash in June!

Send your submission to info@visitvulcan.com or Vulcan Park and Museum, Attn: Vulcan Naming Contest, 1701 Valley View Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209. The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. The winner will be announced on the Vulcan Park and Museum Web site on Feb. 4.

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You can also volunteer to wear the costume(!), but you must be 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-0 and weigh 180 to 200 pounds, a BMI of 27.1 or “overweight.” Great, fat mascot. Look, a new nickname already.

Our suggested monikers after the jump …

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Looks like us. Walks and
talks like us. But plots revenge
on all that is good.

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The cowboy strolled in,
plunked down his hat and whistled
for diet whiskey.

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Thompson ends presidential run

Fred Thompson, actor and Republican contender, dropped his bid for the presidency today. The Sheffield native had been in the race barely five months and a handful of primaries/caucuses before bowing out.

He previously served as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for eight years before taking a role on the NBC drama, “Law and Order.” (Insert chung-chung sound effect.) His fund-raising and campaign stops included a $1,000-per-couple shindig in Mountain Brook in July, before he even announced his run.

Alabama, which holds its presidential primary in two weeks, has never had a native serve as President or Vice President. Two American Idols, but no Commanders-in-Chief.

Were you a Fredhead? Who will you support now?

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Complete Vote 2008 coverage.

Note the hem of my
pants and the starch in my shirt.
Ready for runway.

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Bob Henriques/Magnum Photos

“A riot is the language of the unheard.”
— Address given in Birmingham, Dec. 31, 1963

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Check and recheck yields
same wrong results. I cannot
get it to add up.

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‘The Biggest Loser: Couples’ recap, episode 3

biggestloser.wadeonbirmingham.com
By Ginny

After last week’s tiny weight loss, can Roger Shultz of Enterprise and Trent Patterson drop enough to keep the Bama Slammers in the running on “The Biggest Loser”?

And what’s gum got to do with it?

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To find meaning, look
around and deep within. To
have meaning, be good.

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This verse goes out to
all the little people, since
dwarfs are our future.

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Looking for something to do on your day off Monday? Check out the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, volunteering with Hands on Birmingham. Sign up at the site, and choose from a wide variety of projects, including cleaning up the Cahaba River, painting offices at First Light and fixing up Hill Elementary School.

It’s really easy. Just ask these volunteers …

Either I owe the
government, or it owes me.
Form 1040 waits.

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Alabama’s presidential primary is less than three weeks away. But which candidate do you support? Do you even know his or her agenda?

On Feb. 5 (the sadly named Super Duper Tuesday), voters in this state will have a fresh opportunity to pick Democratic and Republican nominees, rather than let earlier states winnow down the field arbitrarily.

In our Vote 2008 coverage, we’ll bring you the issues that matter most to Alabamians, and how candidates stack up in key positions. Start by checking out the official Web sites for their platforms.

Then, try out Select a Candidate below, by filling out your choices on top issues and finding out which presidential hopeful matches up best. Tell us in the comments about your match, your actual vote-getter and why.

(You can also try glassbooth or the MyFox Candidate Matchmaker for alternate matches.)

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Complete Vote 2008 coverage.

The future is vids
in 3-D and prosthetic
souls and gummy meds.

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Read more haiku.