Thursday, November 30, 2006

Rollertoaster

"Much like the natural evolution of bulky televisions to flat screens, toast now takes a similar journey down the path of refinement. This popular breakfast treat has popped out of the same colossal box, also known as a toaster, since the early 1900's! Singapore-based industrial designer Jaren Goh has changed all that—and then some. His 2006 Red Dot Award-winning design not only toasts bread, but it also allows the user to watch the slice magically transform before their eyes—from cold and squishy to hot 'n crispy! Rollertoaster's compact footprint is exceptionally smaller than conventional toasters and its form (a lot like the classic power strip!) is modern, clean-lined, and adaptable to any environment."

The best thing since sliced bread.

More at core77.com

His Sister In Danger, 4-Year-Old Plays Hero

"DURHAM - The robber was holding a gun to 5-year-old Mary Long's head when a 3-foot-tall Mighty Morphin Power Ranger leapt into the room.
"Get away from my family," 4-year-old Stevie Long shouted, punctuating his screams with swipes of his plastic sword and hearty "yah, yahs."
The robber and his accomplice, who was waiting outside the apartment Friday night, fled with credit cards, jewelry, cash and other items that Stevie's mother, Jennifer Long, dumped from her purse.
"I scared the bad guys away," Stevie said Tuesday evening at the apartment at 901 Chalk Level Road in north Durham."

More of the story at newsobserver.com

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

No, You May Not Check My Receipt

"Here’s a scenario that is familiar to anyone who has ever set foot in Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite-Aid, or any of a dozen other major retailers. After you have made a purchase, collected your bags, or packed everything into a shopping cart, you head for the exit. Just as you approach freedom an alarm sounds (usually a sequence of ugly, electronic grunts) and a robotic voice (always female) announces: “Please return to the checkout.” Other customers immediately look in your direction, and an employee begins to approach you. What’s your next move?

If you possess an ounce of personal pride or perhaps two ounces of fortitude, then the 100 percent correct move is to proceed immediately out the door. Why? There are many reasons, chief among them being that rational adults should not instantly obey mechanical voices (unless that voice instructs us to exit a burning aircraft). Also, if you haven’t stolen anything and therefore do not require interrogation, there is absolutely nothing that should compel you to linger post-transaction."

More of the story at bwcitypaper.com

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Dyn-O-Mite! TV Land Lists Catchphrases

"NEW YORK - Sometimes it takes only a word, or just a few, to become immortalized in television history. The TV Land cable network has compiled a list of the 100 greatest catchphrases in TV, from the serious — Walter Cronkite's nightly signoff "And that's the way it is" — to the silly: "We are two wild and crazy guys!"

The network will air a countdown special, "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days starting Dec. 11.

"We have found that television is such a huge part of baby boomers' DNA that it makes sense that so much of America's pop culture jargon has come from TV," said Larry Jones, TV Land president."

The rest of the story and list at Yahoo.com

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Your Bi-Lingual Kitty

"Adult cats, living apart from humans, have very clear communication with one another. It is spoken mostly through scent, then through facial expression, complex body language, and touch.

Vocal communication involves caterwauls for mating, chattering upon spotting prey, hissing to ward off an intruder, or shrieking when hurt or terrified. Meowing is not part of this language. Meow-ese, it would seem, is a language developed exclusively for humans.

The only meowing in the cat world is done between mom cat and her young kittens. A kitten’s tiny “mew” is a cute, endearing sound, used to solicit attention and care from mom cat."

It's just part of their plan to enslave the human race.

The rest of the article at petcentric.com

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Most Dangerous Toys 2006

"These "Fear Factor" pouches containing "spine-chilling spiders", "mystery meat", and a "buzzard buffet", pose a "candy challenge" to children, asking: "[I]s fear a factor for you?" The grotesque buffet, available in the toy aisle, is based upon the television series which sometimes features contestants competing to eat as much as possible in the shortest time. Toy aisles should not be used to encourage food-eating competitions, which invite potential choking and ingestion injuries, particularly for young children."

More dangerous toys at CBS4Boston.com

Belmont Considers Nation's Toughest Smoking Ban

"(BCN) BELMONT The city of Belmont will set a new standard for anti-smoking legislation in the United States if it approves an ordinance that will be drawn up in the coming weeks, according to the American Lung Association.

After an evening of discussion and testimony from local citizens and anti-smoking advocates, the Belmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with the drafting of an ordinance that revises the city's current smoking ban in workplaces and most public areas, to now include any residence except single-family detached homes.

According to Belmont Mayor Philip Mathewson, who said today he fully supports the new proposal, the major thrust of the revision was to include multi-unit apartment buildings in the ban."

More at CBS5.com

Friday, November 17, 2006

The 13 Most Embarassing Web Moments

"The Internet is the most efficient information distribution system ever known. But if you're not careful, it's also the perfect way to embarrass yourself in front of the entire world. "

13. He'll Huff and He'll Huff and...
"The Smoking Gun pretty much dedicates itself to showing people during their most humiliating moments, but the celebrity mugshots of James Brown, Nick Nolte, and Yasmine Bleeth have nothing on poor Patrick Tribett, who was nabbed for "abusing harmful intoxicants," namely huffing gold spray paint. "


4. The Force Is With Him
"In 2002 a 14-year-old Canadian boy named Ghyslain Raza innocently swung a golf-ball retriever around in a quiet corner of his high school, pretending he was The Phantom Menace's Darth Maul. But he videotaped it. And he left the tape at school, where it was found several months later. Raza immediately became an Internet sensation, known today as the "Star Wars kid," with fans adding light-saber effects and music, and creating video revisions that number over a hundred. The embarrassing footage has since become one of the Internet's most popular memes."

More embarassing moments at PC World.com

Sony's Playstation 3 is Not Worth the Hype

"People who have been camping out for days finally get their PS3s today. Sadly, both their time and money has been wasted.

Sony released the Playstation 3 in Japan on November 11. That was last Saturday. By Thursday Japanese import units had already made their way halfway around the world to New York City's Chinatown, where they were available for a 100% markup — and they were selling. That's how high the demand is for Sony's new video game machine: people would actually pay double the price to get it one day early.

The Playstation 3 goes on sale in the U.S. today, but I wouldn't recommend buying one, not even for the regular price, which is plenty expensive without the import markup. Sure, the Playstation 2 was the bestselling machine from the previous generation, and sure, the Playstation3 is powered by a stupendously powerful chip, the "Cell processor."

The rest of the story at Time.com

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It's Official: VHS Is Dead

"After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old.
No services are planned.
The format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline.
"It's pretty much over," concurred Buena Vista Home Entertainment general manager North America Lori MacPherson on Tuesday.
VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by Tivo, VOD and DirecTV. It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs.
Although it had been ailing, the format's death became official in this, the video biz's all-important fourth quarter. Retailers decided to pull the plug, saying there was no longer shelf space."

The rest of the story at Variety.com

Dennis The Menace Meets Fight Club

See the rest of the gallery at sirspamdalot.livejournal.com

The next gallery is going to be Family Circus meets Se7en.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

KFC Becomes World's First Brand Visible From Space

"LONDON, November 13 /PRNewswire/ --

- KFC Launches Global Re-Image as it Unveils Astronomical 87,500 Square-Foot New Colonel Sanders Logo in Area 51

- Global Re-Image Campaign Contemporises Entire Look of KFC - From Logo to Restaurant Design, Advertising, Packaging, Point-Of-Sale, Uniforms and More

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) today became the world's first brand visible from outer space after unveiling a giant image of founder Colonel Sanders in the Nevada desert.
The Colonel Sanders 'astrovertisement' was built in Rachel, Nevada, the 'UFO Capital of the World', just off the world's only extraterrestrial Highway, in the infamous Area 51. "


The rest of the story at prnewswire.co.uk

I'm highly suspicious of this. It's in area 51. Is this really the image we want to present to potential visitors?

"Take me to your leader."

Crispy or regular?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

If I Had A Band I'd Name It...

"If I had a band, I’d name it Slew Magoo, Tomi-Tomi, Radish Fetish, Blue Fear, Lobster Mole, Art Con Carne, Call Me Shirley, Muhammad’s Nipple, Toy Thief, Short Monsters, Deuteronomy Pi, the Sharpsburg Cadets, Awesome’s Razor, Carts & Horses, Saddam’s Sister Eileen, Flog the Cow, Playful Peasants, Torch Thongs, Guileless Bertoni, Lucky Toe, Underage Miners, $5 Movie, Mr. Meister’s Memory, Kiss the Lizard, Big Noisy Smelly Truck, Flaque Jacquette, Sacred Chow, Bin Laden Snow Tires, Ped-X, Honeychopper, the Botanicals, Big Blue Glasses, Brazen Nuns, Buffy Loves Jody, Broken Cookies, Curls In My Soup, Deaf Chef, Oink-Oink There, Me On a Camel, Slithery Joan, Mustard Breath, Slithery Joan Mustard Breath, Fat Mrs. Zelinka, Be Mitchell’s Savior, Third-Grade Terror, 756JPG, Stolen Toys, Misery’s Company Picnic, My Wife’s Brother Bob, Black Fang & Scorpio, Squanto Basher, Braid the Opossum..."

See many, many more of the names at ThePhoenix.com

Miles Away, 'I'll Have A Burger'

"NASHUA -- When Jairo Moncada pulled up to the drive-through at Wendy's in Burbank, Calif., for his usual cheeseburger, fries, and soda, he knew things looked different. There was an extra lane.

But the 25-year-old could not see the biggest change: The woman taking his lunch order was sitting 3,000 miles away at a computer terminal in Nashua, and fielding calls from Wendy's customers at drive-throughs as far away as Florida and Washington, D.C."


How long until they outsource that to India?

Read the rest of the story on Boston.com

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Exclusive: Christopher Walken to Play Ozzy Osbourne

"LAS VEGAS, Nov. 6, 2006 — Hide the Bats! Christopher Walken has agreed to play the ultimate bad-boy rocker — Ozzy Osbourne..

Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil told ABC News Radio in an exclusive interview that the 63-year-old Oscar-winning actor will make a cameo appearance as Osbourne in "The Dirt," a movie based on the band's controversial 2001 autobiography.

"How funny is that going to be," Neil told ABC's Al Mancini at the Opening of Vince Neil Ink, the singer's new tattoo parlor in Las Vegas.
"

The only thing I can think of, it's gonna need more cowbell.

Ok, really, though, how is a 63 year-old Walken gonna play a 40 year-old Ozzy?


The rest of the story on abcnews.com

Related: The Dirt on Amazon.com It's a Rock N Roll Bible.

When Being a Fake Rock Star Is Better Than Reality

"On tour with his multiplatinum hard-rock band Korn last summer, Jonathan Davis regularly whipped crowds into a frenzy with classic-rock staples such as "Iron Man," "Smoke on the Water" and "More Than a Feeling." And that was before he even got off the tour bus.
Mr. Davis, Korn's lead singer, is part of an unlikely but growing fraternity: Rock stars who are also avid players of Guitar Hero, an electronic game that lets gamers pretend to be, well, rock stars.
From superstars like Korn to up-and-comers, Guitar Hero has quickly become a fixture on tour buses and in recording studios. Intended for air guitarists who might not be able to play the real instrument, the $70 PlayStation title has also won a following in the music world. "

Read the rest at WSJ.com

Related: I went to Best Buy tonight to buy Gears Of War, but they were all sold out. So, instead I embarrassed myself by playing Guitar Hero II in front of a crowd.

Mrs. ZombieCreep encouraged me to pick up the plastic axe and jam as we passed a Guitar Hero II display in the store. I told her that I had never played this game before and played "real guitar, badly." She said to give it a shot. So, plastic axe in hand and feeling real confident, I picked War Pigs by Black Sabbath on the easy level.

It started off badly. Missed notes all over the place. More people lined up behind me to see the mad axe-man slay the video game. As I got the feel for the game it got a little easier, and i was jamming, hitting most of the notes by the middle of the song.

Then it got ugly. The solo.

The crowd on the game started booing me. My Rockstar level on the game went into the red. I told the wife I was struggling. She told me to suck it up and jam. The real crowd behind me dispersed, as they watched a pretend guitar hero melt into a Black Sabbath solo.

Yeah, I got Boo'ed off the stage.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp

"Rock n' Roll Fantasy Camp is the ultimate music experience. For the novice and the expert, the amateur and the aficionado, we make rock n' roll dreams come true. Simply stated, our mission is to bring people's musical fantasies to life!

Rock n' Roll Fantasy Camp is a one-of-a-kind event that brings music lovers of all levels together with professional rock 'n roll stars - and that brings those music lovers the unforgettable opportunity to move from the spectator stands to the stage, sharing the limelight with living legends.

As a participant in a Rock n' Roll Fantasy Camp, you'll be treated like a rock star for five days and nights. You'll live the rock n' roll lifestyle day in and day out, learning or perfecting your knowledge of an instrument, practicing and jamming with your band mates and learning the ins and outs of the music business - all in the company of some of music's brightest stars."

The best part is the $9,499 price tag, and for only $500 more you can add-a-spouse. Mrs. ZombieCreep knows how badly I play guitar and love 80's metal, but thinks we could spend 10k on a better vacation than 5 days in L.A. jamming with has-beens.

Practicality sucks.

But really, how cool would that experience be?

Read more about rockandrollfantasycamp.com

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Will It Blend?

Don't Try This At Home

"Welcome to WillItBlend.com, the official home of the "Will It Blend?" video series. Extreme blending depends on the capabilities of the machine being used. Tasks that may be extreme for some machines are, quite frankly, simple tasks for Blendtec blenders. "

"Below you will find a collection of videos that are NOT safe to try at home. Click any of the videos to see what the Total Blender can do in our test lab, as we ask the question, Will It Blend?"


50 Marbles

Rake Handle
Coke And A chicken
Check out the videos at willitblend.com

Theater Review: 'Evil Dead: The Musical'

“Evil Dead: The Musical” wants to be the next “Rocky Horror Show,” and it just may succeed.

Some people might think that you’d need to have seen at least one of Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” movies to appreciate this show. But not necessarily. Horror comedy is, to say the least, a highly accessible genre, even for those who don’t recognize and cheer the signature lines taken from the movies.

Sure, the show is idiotic, but that’s the point."

Read the rest of the review at nytimes.com

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Pac Man Chart

Found at themot.org

[via stumbleupon.com] Get FireFox

I couldn't think of a witty title, so you're on your own. I've provided the official Pac Man joke book. It'll just write itself.

(Don't) click here for the review of the book.

Colorado Town Awakes To Pumpkins Aplenty

"BOONE, Colorado (AP) -- Nobody knows who, but someone with a lot of Halloween spirit decorated this small southern Colorado town with hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins.
Residents woke up Tuesday to find virtually every surface covered with the orange holiday icons.
There were pumpkins left on front porches and at front gates, on the front and back steps of a church and all along the boundary of the city park.
Larry Taylor said there weren't any pumpkins when he walked his dogs at about 10 p.m. on Monday in the town of about 330 residents, 110 miles southeast of Denver.
But by the time Postmaster Nancy Pennington drove to work at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, they were everywhere."
Link to CNN.com