Jun 29, 2012

Somehow appropriate

www.npr.org/2012/06/29/155241074/gross-out-gags-and-life-lessons-in-wimpy-kid
Kinney's books are read around the world, from Japan to Israel to Germany, though in Germany they have a slightly different title: Greg's Journal: I'm Surrounded by Idiots. 
"I said, 'Why can't we just call it Diary of a Wimpy Kid like we call it in the U.S.?' 
And they said, 'Well, that's because there is no word for 'wimp' in Germany.'


Well, no one saw this coming

In an unexpected turn of events, Katie Holmes has filed for a divorce after five years of marriage to Tom Cruise.

According to ABC News, the filing came as a "complete surprise" to him.

The rest of the planet is just as surprised.

On Ballmer

Following Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer, a commenter explains how he feels about Steve Ballmer:
It is THIS kind of shit, this right here, which is why he deserves worst CEO. Instead of actually hiring good people and more importantly giving them the freedom to innovate Ballmer simply blows through money like Charlie Sheen at a porn convention on a coke binge, which will take years to pay off as you point out but I would point out instead the likelihood it'll never pay off at all, ala Kin. This is the yahoo deal all over again on the WTF scale. 
Seriously is there NO hope of getting rid of this clown? Frankly the longer he is CEO the more the Pepsi guy at Apple just looks misunderstood. [...] Gates may have been an evil bastard but at least he was an evil bastard that knew WTF he was doing, Ballmer is just a buffoon.


Jun 27, 2012

Macs and travel

According to Wall Street Journal, Orbitz has found that Mac users spend up to 30% more on hotel reservations than PC users. Consequently, Orbitz is showing them more expensive options.


Here's the question: are any of you surprised that Mac users spend more and the companies are using that information to their advantage?


To me, the answer seem like an obvious "I can see that" and "no shit, Sherlock, that's what they are supposed to be doing," respectively.  


As a reminder, you can easily find many, many articles about Orbitz's shady practices, bad customer service and unwillingness to admit mistakes that are clearly theirs.

Madonna's DNA

MADONNA reportedly has a "sterilisation team" tasked with wiping away traces of the Material Girl so fans can't steal her DNA.
The music legend apparently orders workers to complete an extreme clean of all her dressing rooms on tour so that any hair, skin or saliva belonging to the 53-year-old cannot be captured.
How much fluid is she leaving at the scene? More here. 


Hat tip: kottke.org 

Jun 20, 2012

Jun 19, 2012

Grandmas on 50 Shades of Grey

50 Shades of Grey is teen romantic fiction that, according to Wikipedia, is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of BDSM. You can read some stellar reviews on Amazon.


This is what three grandmas think about it.


Jun 18, 2012

Jun 13, 2012

Baked goods and politics

According to political analysts, Romney's biggest challenge is to appear like a regular guy who is touch with average folks and not like a multimillionaire that he is. 

Not being able to identify a donut probably doesn't help his cause.


Full analysis at Slate.

Disclaimer: this is not picking on Romney, just having fun with his brain fart.

Jun 12, 2012

Coca-Cola

Coke's brand is happiness.

When you see a Coke ad, you're supposed to associate it with happiness. 

... or a 1950s diner...
Every time you see 
... a polar bear...






... or Santa...
... you think "happy."
And it works. Their new one:




Jun 11, 2012

Neal Stephenson is the man

Here he is promoting his new project, a realistic sword fighting video game. 


Check it out.


Jun 8, 2012

Feel good Friday

I love The Roots. I am mildly indifferent to Fallon. I find the covers of "Call Me Maybe" lame.

But their classroom instruments version made me happy. 



I look forward to seeing Carly Rae Jepsen on VH1's Top 100 One Hit Wonders of 2010s.

Edit: I love how Black Thought can't keep it together at 2:35.
Edit 2: At 1:40, she looks like she is having a genuinely good time.

It's her body

I saw a woman yesterday with a "just breathe" tattoo on her foot. I don't want to sound cranky but that sounds like a major regression for humanity. We now need to have permanent reminders to do what llamas have no trouble doing.




Her next one will say "remember to wipe."

Jun 6, 2012

Standing in line is good

I really like this quote from Gladwell:
Standing in line in airports and other everyday rituals of modern life are the kinds of things that civilize us: As annoying as they are, they remind us that we are all equal and they teach us patience
And this is the full build up:
I was in the Orlando airport not long ago, waiting in one of those endless security queues, when I looked up and saw that the ticket agent was escorting someone to the head of the line. She takes him past at least a hundred people and inserts him right in front of the conveyer belt. He wasn't in a hurry. In fact, the guy turned out to be on the same flight I was, which didn't leave for another hour. Who was it? Ray Lewis. Two things. One — there is no way she does that for anyone but a sports star. She would have stopped Albert Einstein if his driver's license looked a little fishy. Second — no one said anything. We all just kind of nodded and looked at each other and said, "Cool! Ray Lewis." Here's a man who makes millions of dollars for hitting people really hard and it somehow makes complete sense to the rest of us that he should be able to cut in ahead of teachers, salesmen, nurses, working moms, and hack writers. If you are someone like Ray Lewis and that kind of thing happens to you every single day of the year, how do you stay normal? Standing in line in airports and other everyday rituals of modern life are the kinds of things that civilize us: As annoying as they are, they remind us that we are all equal and they teach us patience, and they grant us a kind of ultimately useful anonymity. Ray Lewis and celebrities of his ilk never have the privilege of those moments.
More here

Lock them in

The fun starts at 1:07





Jun 5, 2012

Just a light pole


Reduce, reuse and recycle

This guy's cat died so he turned it into a helicopter.



Jun 1, 2012

Batman

(I work in a Coffee Shop. I was on break in the lobby when a couple walks in. Directly behind them is a cute little boy in Batman costume.)
Me: “Oh my God! It’s BATMAN!”
(The boy stops, strikes a pose and starts looking around menacingly. After a few seconds, he approaches the counter.)
Mother: “Jeff, would you like a chocolate milk?”
Boy: “I am not Jeff. I am The Batman.”
Mother: “The Batman, would you like a chocolate milk?”
Boy: “Yes. Yes, The Batman would.”
(The couple pays while the boy sits down with his chocolate milk. He keeps a stern look on his face as he sips the drink.)
Boy: *sips* “Gotham is safe.”

40oz. to Freedom

June marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Sublime's first album, 40oz. to Freedom. At that point, the band members were just three guys from Long Beach. No record deal, no tour, no nothing. They sold records at shows and out of the back of their car.

Everyone I know used to listen to this album in high school.

Bassist Eric Wilson:
"It's about a forty-ouncer and the walk to the liquor store -- that was our freedom. "
Badfish tends to be one of the more popular songs. I'd love to hear what's yours.



Wilson:
""Ebin" is cool because it is one of the first recordings that we did. My dad took us to this studio in Hollywood and when he came to pick us up he came in and recorded. He was a classically trained jazz drummer. Played in the big band era. He tracked the bongos in one take. We sounded like school kids compared to him."
More about Sublime and 40oz. here.