"These babies are equipped with GPS and Night Vision"

This FedEx Super Bowl commercial about the carrier pigeons is a classic.

I especially love what the giant pigeons are doing in the street.

Best lines heard on a TV show this month.

From Big Bang Theory:

[In university cafeteria(?)]
Sheldon: You know how I know we're not in the Matrix?
Leonard: [silent shrug]
Sheldon: If we were, the food would be better.

That show cracks me up.

Great atypical uses for your digital camera

I found this to be a very useful article - Using the hell out of your digital camera.

It mentions uses for your camera besides plain old taking pictures of people and landscapes.

"You probably think this song is about you..."

Meet the people who inspired various songs.

From Julian Lennon (Hey Jude) to Suzanne Verdal (Suzanne) and Pattie Boyd (Layla).

Olivia at 7 months

Here's a recent picture of our grand-daughter Olivia.

She's so cute. We'll be getting to see a whole lot more of her in the next few weeks - they're moving here.

My favourite words of 2008

Not that they were particularly 2008-ish, but they held some meaning to me this year for a variety of reasons.

Monkey: Use it combination with other words to create even better phrases, like the always utilitarian bad monkey; grease monkey; Wall Street monkey; love monkey; and cubicle monkey.
Mac: Because I'm just so fond of Apple products at the moment.
Bailout: See handout or cop out.
Neener neener: The perfect retort when you can't think of anything smart to say.
Coalition: Never has a single word freaked out Conservatives in Canada as much as this one.
Green: It still amazes me that there are people who see this as a bad thing. How can the greening of our planet be bad?

"Nyquil on the rocks.. for when you're feeling sick but sociable"

Punchline Magazine presents the 10 best comedy albums of 2008. What I like about this article is that they even give you a sample of the comedian's work.

Great stuff.

I have a few rules that need to be followed...

There's no way of knowing if this 'roommate wanted' ad was for real because it supposedly was yanked from craigslist soon after it was posted.

But even if it's a hoax, it still makes for a fun read.

Amazon has the economy figured out

Who says there's a slump in the economy? Not Amazon, that's for sure. This year, on their peak sales day (Dec 15th), Amazon online shoppers ordered a record 6.3 million items.

That beats last year's peak day by almost a million items.

Karl's going postal

Get ready, Karl's going to crap on the postal system in Canada today.

You know, we pay a lot for our postal system. Our stamps cost $0.52 for basic lettermail. Our parcel shipping prices are among the highest in the world. It actually (based on experience) costs less to mail a parcel to the US than it does to mail a parcel across Canada. Canada Post has introduced several initiatives to improve the efficiency of their delivery service (but not the effectiveness) by rolling out such measures as community mail boxes. That forces you to go to a central collection of mailboxes in your neighbourhood to get your mail. This is absolutely awesome for seniors and disabled folks.

Now, I understand that Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation. But I still expect that by paying a higher price than other countries, we could get as good or better service. Yeah, who am I kidding, eh? I guess the biggest issue I have with Canada Post is their delivery standards. We do a lot of business by mail and have seen or heard the Canada Post mail truck (which delivers parcels only) pull up, come to the door, put a 'you weren't home so bring this notice card to the nearest postal outlet to get your parcel' thing on the door knob, then drive away without even ringing the doorbell. Meanwhile we were here the entire time and realize that it will be up to a full day before we can access the parcel at the outlet, because they don't take your parcel right to the outlet in the next few hours - oh no. Other times, we've heard the doorbell ring, but by the time we get to the door (12 seconds, give or take), the Postie's already back in the truck and sped off. Would it hurt you to wait another 5 seconds? Would it hurt you to cast one last cursory glance at our door to notice that - SURPRISE! - we're actually here?

Then we get to the postal outlet. That's an adventure all by itself. Postal outlets typically are set up in drug stores and the like. They are not run by postal workers, they're run by retail store-folk, who have received training in postal methods. As a result, the outlets operate (how can I put this mildly)..... as best as the employee was trained and service is as best as can be expected from someone who probably makes just above minimum wage and whose first language may or may not be English. But it goes beyond that. The outlets are open 8am to 8pm, which is great if you don't have a daytime job. But like clockwork, at 5pm, all the people with daytime jobs show up to get their mailing done and that's exactly when the number of people working the postal outlet counter drops from two or three to one person. Perfect timing. Now you'll be waiting in line for 20+ minutes while grandmom argues with the poor person behind the counter that they're insane if they expect her to pay $35 to get little Johnny's package to him within 48 hours. Where's she supposed to get that kind of money to mail a parcel? She's not made of money dammit!

The logo doesn't match the name though

It seems that Google Chrome (the browser) has fixed many of its flaws. Now that it's out of beta, I figured it probably would be better behaved. So I'm using it again - without issue so far.

One issue I do have with this new software - it's called Chrome, right? Look at the logo. Do you see any freaking chrome in there? I'm still analyzing the GUI of the browser - not seeing any chrome on there either......

Zoom zoom! (Sorry, that's trademarked) Vroom vroom!

P.S.: I know where the name comes from, in case you felt like enlightening me.....

Movies made from albums... many in this case

Another movie was waiting to be watched at our house. This time it was Across the Universe. This is a musical based on songs from the Beatles catalogue. I think this movie is the perfect sample of evidence in the age old question of whether style can trump substance. No matter what side of the argument you fall on. 

The first thing that will challenge people about this movie is that the performers' singing in this movie is... well... perfect. Although the screenplay writers did a decent job finding a way to fit the songs into the story, I found that at times it seemed forced - there were a couple of songs that just didn't seem to fit - they didn't make sense where they were placed. 

Once you found out the character's names, you had this premonition that sooner or later you'd be hearing the song about that character. Jude (Hey Jude), Prudence (Dear Prudence), Lucy (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds)... so that lended a unique dimension to the movie. There are a few cameos of note (I won't spoil them for you), some of them recognizable by their voices before their faces.

I'm not a fan of musicals in the first place, but I did find the movie entertaining. It didn't win me over completely, but the story was interesting enough to keep me engaged.

Learning new stuff all the time

Here is a list of 50 things we know now that we didn't know a year ago.

One joke per state

50 jokes, one for every state. Some of them are not politically correct. OK - very few of them are politically correct.

I like the Texan joke:

Kinky Friedman, entertainer and former Texas gubernatorial candidate, explains how to speak Texanese:

"Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'all's is plural possessive."

Another super hero device

I found a new super hero designer site.

Don't get too hung up on the colours of the outfits, you get the chance to change the various colour schemes later in the process.

I tried to keep my design subtle. I only wear the cape to formal gatherings. My character is still The Wriggler. I have the ability to wriggle myself out of pretty much any situation and my wriggling is quite powerful.

Spiderman: Who are you?
Me: I'm the Wriggler.
Spiderman: [silence]
Me: Don't get me started....

I love a great short

Sometimes the best films are the shortest ones. Like Black Hole.

Brilliant.

"I thought you might be worried... about the security... of your shit. "

Just watched the movie Burn After Reading. I had run into a few people that didn't really like the movie, but I was well aware that not everybody gets the Coen brothers' stuff, so I remained optimistic.

My fears were unfounded - the movie was a blast. Malcovich, Pitt and Clooney were outstanding dorks. I've never seen Brad play such a goofy character before - it was refreshing.

GPS to the rescue - again

Thursday Darlene and I drove out to a dear friend's place out in the country - I'm talking 'middle of nowhere'. They don't have a street address, so the best we could program into the GPS was a set of coordinates. Google Maps to the rescue! Once I found the place we were going to on the map (with a little help from satellite view), I just centre the place on the map and click link. The field below 'Paste link in email or IM' contains the coordinates you need.

All I had to do was plug those coordinates into the GPS and it navigated us there sans problem. Very nice.

My thoughts on the economy

In almost every case when I gather with people this holiday season, the talk eventually turns to the economy. So I guess I'll wade in now.

We have the power to manifest whatever kind of economy we want. How is that possible? Our economic system is now very much based on speculation. And who does the speculating? We do. While market forces do affect the prices of the things we consume, there's much more influence by the media and public perception. Just look at the price of gas for example. There are no fewer cars filling up at the pumps, no additional refineries built to produce gasoline, yet the overall price of gasoline has dropped to its lowest level in over 4 years. Why? Because the demand for gasoline is perceived to be on the decline, due to fewer people buying vehicles etc. But you'll likely find that actual consumption of gas year over year has not declined at all. I wish I had figures to back that up, but I digress.

It's not much different with the housing market. Many would-be sellers are currently sitting on their properties, waiting for the right time to sell. This is because most would-be buyers are convinced that house prices will continue their downward trend before they start rising again, so there's no point buying for an inflated price. A home that might have been worth $150,000 ten years ago in Calgary is valued at $425,000, but we know its true value is probably much less - closer to $300,000. So banks are even hesitating to lend you the money to buy a house. Because the last thing people need is to buy a home at an artificially inflated price and then owe more on the home than it is actually worth once prices stabilize. Unfortunately, things will not turn around until.... you guessed it.... the demand for homes rises again. This will not happen until.... right again... people start buying. The point here is that we are very much in control of what direction our economy will go from here. If we continue to stand around like a deer caught in the headlights, the economy will indeed continue to slide. It's a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I watch on TV as retailers moan that their bottom line is suffering so badly, while behind the moaners we see views of lineups of customers at the cash register with big screen TVs and Blue-Ray DVD players and Wiis on Boxing Day. Yeah, but - their revenues and profits are down a little. They should never be going down! Give me a break. The fact that big screen TVs are selling at all should be telling us something. The economy is just fine thank you very much. A little bruised in the ego, but chugging along nonetheless.

So what does it all mean? It means that we owe it to ourselves to plan the journey ahead carefully. I say no to bailouts. This will only prolong the agony. If an industry is destined to fall, it will fall and the market will pick up the pieces. I do not buy into the argument that the survival of the domestic auto industry is vital to the survival of the economy. If it's suddenly impossible to buy (and more importantly - to service) Ford and Dodge and Buick, people will instead buy Honda and Toyota and Volkswagen. This will create new demand for foreign cars and will force these automakers to set up more shops in North America, to get the product to market sooner - which recoups many of those lost jobs. Foreign car companies can... oh I know... use the same factories that were being used to build domestic cars, just re-tooled to make different vehicles! And hire some of that workforce back too. I admit - some of those jobs are lost forever, because the domestic car cartel wasn't operating at maximum efficiency in the first place. That's the price we pay for propping them up in the first place. You can pay now or you can pay later, but either way, you're gonna pay.

We should not fall into the trap of lowering lending standards so that more people can afford a home - it's a game of smoke and mirrors. We should not be tempted to abandon the stock market now that the bottom has fallen out, because eventually, the stock market will increase again - it always does. I do believe that the one lesson we should all be taking away from the stock market fiasco is that nobody should be blindly buying investments without doing a little bit of research into what they're buying. Crap wrapped in gold aluminum foil is still crap. Also, always remember what your investment strategist said - you're in it for the long haul.

If the government is to bail anyone out at all, it should be to assist those most affected by the current pause - the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, the pensioners. Now is the time to operate budget deficits for the right reasons - to develop new jobs in the industries that need them most and will never lose market value over the long term: health care, renewable energy, and manufacturing for domestic use.

The last thing we need right now, is panic. Those are just my thoughts.

Vatican now praises Galileo as a hero

Just in time for the 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope and the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, Pope Benedict paid tribute to the Italian astronomer and physicist, saying he had helped the faithful better understand and "contemplate with gratitude the Lord's works."

It's quite a reversal of fortune for Galileo (1564-1642), who made the first complete astronomical telescope and used it to gather evidence that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the centre of the universe. The church denounced Galileo's theory as dangerous to the faith, but Galileo defied its warnings. Tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, later changed to house arrest.

Gee, it's only taken the church 400 years to change their position. Not bad.

It's like a game of Where's Waldo

Where did all the bailout money go?

"I just would prefer if you wouldn't say that we're not going to discuss those details."

[silence]

I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now

Think red light cameras are the answer?

You might have a change of heart after you read the prank some enterprising young students in Maryland did to exact revenge on certain people.

2008 had it all

I don't think you can tell the story of 2008 any better than through photographs.

So here are 3 pages of The Year 2008 in photographs part one, part two and part three.

Tis the season for giving, no? No. Not in my vestibule

Barry Goldberg purchased 130 $10 gift cards from Wal-Mart. He was giving them away in front of the store. Dressed as Santa. No gimmick or stunt. He just wanted to do something nice to make the holiday brighter. But Wal-Mart wasn't buying it.

“They asked me, ‘Well, where did you get these cards?’” he said. “’I bought them from your store 20 minutes ago.’ ‘Well, what are you doing?’ (they asked). I said, “I’m giving out gift cards. It’s the holidays. The right thing to do is to give, isn’t it?’”

Wal-Mart was afraid he was interrupting the flow of foot traffic in the store’s vestibule.

Goldberg said he was contacted by Target and told he could bring the cards to a Target store and swap them for Target gift cards and pass them out. Barry is unemployed by the way.

I think Wal-Mart was just worried they'd have another trampling riot of consumers on their hands like the one a few weeks back.

Frosty's vow can no longer be guaranteed

Funniest Christmas post found on the intertubes (so far).

Courtesy of defective yeti.

Make sure to read the comments, which continue the hilarity.

I'm dreaming of a white noise Christmas...

To all of my family, friends and colleagues and anyone else who doesn't fit into any one of those categories, I wish you all a happy, safe holiday. Remember, it's not what you got for Christmas that matters.

It's what everyone else got and whether you get to partake or not.

Smile.

I would have posted this sooner, but I fell asleep

Darlene asked me the other day how long I thought it would take before I needed a daily nap like the typical old man. I laughed. But the reality is, after we enjoyed a nice turkey dinner on Monday, the tryptophan made me quite sleepy and it was all I could do to stay awake. Too bad the whole turkey-feast induced drowsiness is but a myth.


So I guess the answer is... ummmm... I'm ready for the nap now. Maybe she's slipping me some kind of drug.....

Turning over a new leaf

I hereby acknowledge that sharing music with other people is bad. It robs artists of their due and assists in putting a vibrant industry in jeopardy of losing billions of dollars. From now on, I will endeavour to help the impoverished music industry as follows:

1) I will not download any more albums of popular, copyrighted music, even if I possess the music in my CD collection. Internet bandwidth should not be wasted on the sharing of copyrighted music. The reason will become clear soon enough.

2) I will buy a separate copy of a music CD for each purpose - one for my stereo, one for my car, one for my portable music player and one for my Macbook. Because spending $80 on an album makes much more sense than buying it once and copying it to the various devices I'd like to listen to it on.

3) I will try to sell my CD-ROM burner on eBay. Hopefully I get a good price for it, because only pirates would be interested in buying a CD-ROM burner drive and they are notorious for not wanting to pay for what they get. I have no need for a CD-ROM burner anymore now that I intend to buy all of my music legally, because there are no other legal uses for a CD-ROM burner drive other than to copy music illegally.

4) I will be taking my music play list down from my blog in short order, since allowing my blog readers to listen to music for free is a violation of copyright. I'm sorry if that doesn't allow you to audition anything new in the hopes of discovering new music, but promoting new music is the job of the labels and I leave it to them to continue this task, as they have done so marvellously in the past. Bring on the next Britney Spears!

5) I will be giving lectures to the youth of this country to stop stealing music from the internets. The internets are an unorganized, very inefficient method of distributing music. If it was such a great idea to allow music distribution on the internet, the music industry would be doing it themselves and other industries would be distributing valuable things like information.

6) All music pirates can have my mp3 collection if they want it, before I delete it some time between now and some time in the future. Just contact me and we can arrange for you to come over and copy what I have.

7) From now on, I will be obtaining all of my movies through the illegal downloading of ripped DVDs from the internet, because dude - that's where the action is now. Free movies. Worth much more than free music. Like duh! Music is so last century.

Laws are fun..... damentally flawed sometimes

Brighton MI has passed an ordinance that prohibits "insulting another person or committing physical violence in public places, or harassing another person by telephone, e-mail or other forms of communication."

One of the paragraphs of the ordinance reads: "It shall be unlawful for a person to engage in a course of conduct or repeatedly commit acts that alarm or seriously annoy another person and that serve no legitimate purpose.

That's pretty vague if you ask me. Did I mention that I think it's vague? And legally obscure. And quite vague. Hello? [tapping the microphone] Is this thing on?

Ernest found this story.

What tastes better than turkey? Free turkey!

The company I work for continues a tradition that most would have thought went the way of the dinosaur - they give all of the employees a turkey for Christmas. Seriously. Isn't that grand? My apologies to those who spare the beasts from their menus... If you don't want the turkey, you can choose to give it to charity.

I pose this question to my readers: What does your employer do at Christmas that you appreciate?

Gimme a 'bee', gimme an ''eh', gimme a 'see'...

My good friend Carla threw me this bone umm bacon:

If you put your web site / blog URL after this URL: http://bacolicio.us/, you'll have a permanent slice of bacon to admire riding on top of the page. So to put it on my blog, the new URL would look like this.

As scrumptious as the bacon looked, having it there always in my face got old real fast. But if your need for bacon outweighs your tolerance for bacon-ference, give it a try.

Where is it edition 55

I'd be lying to you if I said this place is somewhere I would never go. In fact, I think I would enjoy being there right now, where it's currently 23C (73F). Wandering the beaches..... Yeah. I'd be a big fat liar.

You know the drill, guess the city... err actually, this time I want the name of the island - bonus points for the name of the resort that occupies most of the island. Don't bother using Google Maps this time though, the view is too cloudy. For this shot, I chose Microsoft Virtual Earth.

Click the image for a bigger view.

This is posturing. "No it's not!" Shut up. "Make me!"

In what could be best described as the world's biggest game of "Oh yeah!" "Yeah!" and "Neener neener!", Universal (the music giant) and YouTube continue to pace around each other in a effort to come to an agreement about advertising revenue. If you believe one source close to the action, more than $3-billion is at stake. The truth will eventually come out about this story, but if what is being said is true, chalk another one up for greed - the music industry, who couldn't tech their way out of a paper bag is pretending to walk away from a the biggest monetary gift since the invention of advertising on the internet. YouTube is playing tough, pulling a lot of Universal content off of their site. What will the next move be? Does anyone even care?

"Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough."

Another Ernest contribution.

Mind the mess

I'm not sure this is how you should take a picture of a bedroom of a place you're trying to rent.

Even though it's the tenant who is living like this, it doesn't paint a picture of..... awww who am I kidding. The only thing missing is a passed out reveller from last night's party.

Wheeee!!

Looks like Air Canada needed some free publicity.

I bet they weren't hoping for this kind though....

Mimi est incroyable!

Loose Moose is certainly proud to bring back a one-woman powerhouse of a performance in January 2009, Blind Date. I mentioned this performance the last time it came through. Mimi will be looking to sweep even more male audience members off of their feet when she visits the Loose Moose stage for 6 shows on January 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17. Don't miss it.

Genius improviser Rebecca Northan (a Moose alumni currently based in Toronto) plays Mimi, a Parisian girl on a blind date. Except that her date doesn't show up. Would you like to take their place? You could. Mimi will take you on an intimate journey through your life together. It's brilliant! And man, did she deliver. I was blown away. I'm aching to reveal more details, but it would spoil the magnificent and uproarious surprises that await you.

Please enjoy this teaser trailer.

"Isn't it ironic?"

A.J. Demers takes on the topic of the credit card company bail-outs in this episode of The Spin.

The Alanis Morissette parody was a little rough though.

"Touch my lobe"

I apologize in advance. Although I ushered and got to attend the final performance of A Chrismoose Carol last night, I also discovered that my littlest camera doesn't do so well in low light, action shots without flash (duh!). But I did manage to salvage one picture from near the end of the performance.

Anyway, I've blogged about this yearly holiday spectacle before. Each year brings a new twist on the show as they always have a new theme - this year was the 'dirty thirties' (as in the era, not the age). So there were plenty of references to that time period, including nods to the Godfather and more. But there were even elements thrown in for good measure (?) that caught me by surprise, such as an appearance by Tommy Douglas (the founder of the Canadian health care system) and Mao Tse-Tung, who complained that there were no ping pong tables, uttering such lines as 'the Mao the merrier'. They managed to sneak in a couple of Mexican wrestlers (luchadores) for comic relief.

Seriously, if you didn't get a chance to see them yet, mark December off on the 2009 calendar to make a date with Ebeneezer Scrooge and the gang, because they sell out most nights and it's no wonder why.

The post title is another reference to the dialogue in the play.

Neener neener

In yet another useless move by the music industry, deals are forming with certain internet service providers (ISPs). The RIAA figures to send notice to an ISP when it believes one their customers is downloading music illegally, who would then receive warnings, or a reduction in their connection speed and finally a cancellation of their internet access if they didn't cease and desist.

This will do nothing except drive those who share music to find (easily contrived) methods of disguising the act of sharing. Message to the RIAA and their ilk: Even if you found a way to completely eliminate file sharing on the internet (and that is not very likely), people would find an alternate way to share their collections. In fact, paranoid children, whom are convinced that lawsuits from the music industry are as inevitable as puberty, have already moved off the net and into the bedrooms, classrooms and family rooms of their friends, where they all show up with their portable hard drives and what not. What ya gonna do? Outlaw portable digital storage? Get real. In fact, I'm sure right now someone's working on an iPhone app that automatically trades music over the phone lines with other friends who own iPhones. If they weren't - they are now.....

Here's the CBC story on the trend. Be sure to read the comments too.

I couldn't see a thing officer

This in-store security camera isn't going to catch much action unless the crooks do their thing right in front of the hanging sign.

I'd like to see that security tape footage make it onto CSI.

Those internets are clever

You never knew how easy it is to make music until now.

Presenting 'dmf'. You see those rows of bricks pushing up slightly? Those are the rows getting played in real time. Click a brick and it will play a note when it's time for the row to play. You can alternatively click on the grid above the bricks to enable notes as well.

You can plan out something in advance or just play, because nothing is permanent in this little musical toy. Press R to randomly select notes. C to clear the grid and start over.

You only get six notes per row, but they can be enabled in any combination. Try the scales first to see what notes you have at your disposal.

If the speed isn't quite what you're looking for, you can adjust it, by dragging the bpm slider (bottom left) left and right.

Bike storage - Japanese style

Check out this Japanese magic bike storage robot - machine - thingy.

Bike goes in, watched over by robots with lasers. You come back, bike comes out. Everybody happy.

What isn't shown is the bike rental stall on the other side........

Video courtesy Dannychoo.com

Best Spike TV Ad ever...

"No... no... no way. I'm not paying you. This is ridiculous! Every hole it's the same crap... [choke] [gag]"

Slip slidin' away

Time lapse video (complete with goofy soundtrack) of drivers trying to make it up an icy hill in Portland Oregon.

I especially laughed at the vehicles that kept trying to take the hill with a little more momentum each time, thinking, "All I need is to go faster!".

This is Canada, but come on - arctic air go home!

Karl wants to officially go on record as saying "Enough already!" I know it's winter and all but I've had enough with the cold weather. Don't even get Darlene started - this weather makes her life very painful.

Over the last week or so, it's been varying degrees of stupid cold, as low as -18C to -25C (0 to -15F). The roads are sheets of ice. The city of Calgary is getting tons of complaints about the lack of proper road care. In Ontario, where the Army has been called out in the past to deal with bad winter weather (that went over really well in the rest of the country let me tell you), the snow has hit the fan.

Hey, at least it will be a white Christmas, but I could do with slightly milder temperatures. According to the official 5 day forecast, there doesn't appear to be any relief in sight.

Of course, we don't have it as bad as this place.......

That's some lifestyle

I was just doing some budget paperwork (yes, we have a budget that really helps figure out where all the money goes) and discovered that our monthly expenses total around $2200, not including car payment (which is about to disappear), food and pocket money or vacation savings. $1000 of that is mortgage.

Then I come across this financial affidavit of a woman in New York City - I'm guessing she's divorcing and needed to file a document with the court that shows what she requires to support her lifestyle.

$53,826 a week*.

* While recognizing that many of these expenses may seem high, most are lower than prior to the commencement of this case in August 2007.

Shit - I'll be her personal assistant for US$2209 per week......

Microwave organ

Jingle Bells played using 49 microwave ovens.

Check yer Facebook wall often if you live in Oz

An Australian court has ruled that a posting on someone's Facebook page can serve as legal notice. This is a bad idea for countless reasons.

Read the whole story here.

Economy in Dire Straits

Now in the US - money for nothing - 0% interest. All that's missing - chicks for free.

The always witty Matthew Baldwin over at defective yeti found a parallel between the current economic situation and an old Dire Straits song.

Chillin' in Vegas

Imagine departing your cold, snowy environs for Vegas. You arrive to this.

3.6 inches of snow on Wednesday. Schools closed, airport closed, people stranded and cold. And the snow removal equipment in Clark County, consisted of “two snowplows, two snow blowers and two graders” and Wednesday night they were all “on the outskirts of Southern Nevada.”

An Ernest contribution.

Uses of the phrase 'up in this bitch'

Ranked from appropriate to inappropriate.

Do not check out this comic unless you have a warped sense of humour....

Seriously.

This line reminds me of an old parody video

Obama said:

"My administration will value science. We will make decisions based on facts."

This line reminded me of a line from a Will Ferrel video of Bush on the global warmings. The magic moment happens around 1:40.