the dish

the dish
save a snowball
Although snow and wintry weather haven't hit the area until this week, there's a good reason to be happy about the snowfall, according to Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. If you make a snowball this winter and save it in your freezer, you can get free general admission to the Science Center on the Summer Solstice, June 21, the first day of summer. One person will be admitted free per snowball.
Since the Carnegie Science Center is all about science, here are some snow facts:
Snow forms from tiny ice crystals in clouds. Snow is not frozen rain; that's called sleet.
When tiny frozen ice crystals collide and stick together, they form snowflakes.
When snowflakes fall to Earth in below-freezing weather, they collect to form snow. Most snowflakes melt before they ever hit the ground.
Because of the molecular structure of water, snowflakes are always hexagonal.
No two snowflakes are identical.
Carnegie Science Center is located at One Allegheny Avenue on Pittsburgh's North Shore next to Heinz Field. Visit www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org or call (412) 237-3400 for more information.

console sales
Gaming industry analysts have delivered some hard numbers on the next-generation console war. Let's look at the sales figures for December, the first full month in which all the new consoles were available:
Microsoft's Xbox 360 led with 1.1 million sold, followed by Nintendo's Wii (600,000 sold) and Sony's PlayStation 3 (490,000).
Of course, plenty more Wiis and PS3s could have been sold if the companies could have made more. All three consoles were outsold by Nintendo's portable DS (1.6 million) and the six-year-old PlayStation 2 (1.4 million). And Sony sold 950,000 PlayStation Portables.
next week's cds
Due in stores Tuesday:
Grateful Dead, "Live at the Cow Palace, New Year's Eve, 1976" (Rhino).
John Mellencamp, "Freedom's Road" (Universal Republic).
Of Montreal, "Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer" (Polyvinyl).
Pretty Ricky, "Late Night Special" (Atlantic).
The Shins, "Wincing the Night Away" (Sub Pop).
Various, "2007 Grammy Nominees" (Strategic Marketing).
singing with justin
LOS ANGELES -- Hot on the heels of Fox's "American Idol," five finalists have been named to compete for the chance to perform with "SexyBack" singer Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards.
Fans voting online at Yahoo! Music narrowed the field from 12 finalists in the "My Grammy Moment" contest for unsigned artists.
The five finalists, all women, are Africa Miranda, 30, of Montgomery, Ala.; Jillian Gaudious, 25, of Long Branch, N.J.; Brenda Radney, 22, of Staten Island, N.Y.; Robyn Troup, 18, of Houston, Texas; and Jessica James, 18, of Warner Robins, Ga.
"We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response we have received for our 'My Grammy Moment' opportunity, and the top five finalists reflect a diverse group of extremely talented singers," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said in a statement Wednesday.
Fans will continue to vote online at Yahoo! Music.
The top three finalists will be announced during Super Bowl weekend, then head for Los Angeles to rehearse with Timberlake.
Online and text message votes during the 49th annual Grammy Awards, which will be telecast Feb. 11 by CBS Corp.'s CBS network from the Staples Center, will determine the contest's winner.
The winner will be announced live on the show.