Basically, Our Man in LA finds himself a day behind on his posts. No Tuesday Top Five on Tuesday, though I swear there'll be one later in the week. Swear it. Really. Seriously.

Truth is, Our Man in LA is on the road, back in his former hometown of Chicago. I blame the switch to Central Standard Time on my lateness. It has screwed with my head. I mean, I missed the first part of tonight's HOUSE two-fer, in part because it never occurred to me that people in the flyover zone are watching two hours of medical fun (and TV methadone) starting at 7 p.m. Seven in the evening! I mean, how can a left coast guy even begin to deal?

So I have to comfort myself with the little things, back here in the place I called home for more than a decade. It's been a travel day of nice little surprises - a decent experience on my Southwest Flight from LAX, a truly incredible view from my hotel room. Honestly didn't expect much from the hotel. It's part of a chain that's a little bit less than top of the pops. But my room's been all right, and the windows look out on the bend in the Chicago River, affording me a look at the Sears Tower, Boeing's HQ, and a good deal of what doubled for Gotham City in BATMAN BEGINS.

Won't tell you the name of the hotel. You wouldn't believe it if I told you. You probably have your own opinions about this chain. Our Man in LA's own father used to refer to it as his "idea of camping." So I don't want to be indiscreet by mentioning its name here in the blog.

All right. For the sake of the post, I'll make up a name for it. I'll call it, ahem, the Moliday Pinn.

Ah, Wieland, so subtle. So very, very subtle and clever. Right now, in Ohio, my mother is sitting there, celebrating the excellence that my expensive undergraduate college education has wrought.

So anyway, there's more to come this week. There will be a belated Tuesday Top Five. There will be a Wednesday Bottom One. Swear to it.

Might talk some politics while I'm at it - after all, our nation's Congress proved it wasn't a total hokey mess today by voting down a ridiculous bill against flag-burning (this again?). Of course, they were enough of a farce as a legislative body to let it get this far (and to have it lose by only one vote). But sadly, in red state America, we have to take what we can get.

Oh year, and there's been a bunch of stuff going on in Our Man in LA's new fave vacation spot in the Middle East. Might get to that, too.

And just to balance the serious, I might wax poetic (or what passes for poetic in this blog) about a certain Man of Steel returning to theaters this week.

So hold on tight, folks, it's going to be a . . . well, not exactly bumpy . . . but it'll definitely be a ride.