All Commercials should be Local Commercials

Everyone has their favorite local commercials from when they were growing up and watching too much TV. (Gallery Furniture, for all of y'all growing up in Houston) These guys make me wish that I was growing up right now in High Point, NC.

Royal Mail Fail

We got this awhile back from a friend who was traveling in Morrocco, and I was just re-amused by it the other day.

Hint to Royal Mail: the delay is not what bothered me when I finally received this.

I would say something like "I pity the fool.." but that's a little too obvious

I don't think I ever had any Mr. T toys growing up, but I think I had a hot wheels A-Team van.

And I gave the 'Pocket Mr. T' to my roommate for Hannukah last year.

But let's not forget one of Mr. T's important contributions the bolstering of adolescent self-esteem (and the post-disco music scene- "reach out!")


Be Somebody, or Be Somebody's Fool:


A collection of "pitiful" Mr. T toys.

The Premature Arrival of the Future (Future Shock!)

Holy Crap! There's a Future Shock Movie! And its on YouTube! I can't handle it!

It also has a really freaky opening sequence and synthesizer-score clearly meant to demonstrate to 1972 audiences how disorienting modern film and musical styles could be to those who had previously only seen films made in the ancient, pre-1971 past.

In all seriousness, Future Shock is an important idea, as proven by the fact that Orson Welles himself is the host and narrator of this film (I see Future Shock-ism as the next decade's Scientology).




You can see the rest over at Smashing Telly.

Jose Canseco told you so (but I guess nobody wants to hear that)

Let's just get all of the sporting news out of the way. Manny Ramirez failed a drug test last week, and Jose Canseco called a press conference. And only one guy showed up:

"Don't you know you're hittin' Ron Artest?"

I've been away for a while, and I'll blame the Rockets. I have to say that I love this team, and they seem to get tougher and tougher as they lose their stars to injuries. I was a little surprised that they pasted the Lakers the way they did this afternoon; I still don't have the unwavering confidence in them that I had in those old Olajuwon-led teams of the '90s, but I am starting to develop it (to everyone out there who knows me- especially Judd- I'll leave my Olajuwon-is-the-greatest/Clutch-City comments aside for now).

And Ron Artest could be my favorite (though for a second during game 2 I thought that he had become completely unhinged and was threatening to cut Kobe Bryant's throat) not as a player, but as an all-around personality. I see why the free Darko guys like him so much.


He's probably in my top-5 favorite Rockets of all time, mostly because of this interview and his haircut.

Part 2 of the interview (and apparently this story is true):

Cassini and Saturn

[Cassini peers through the fine, smoke-sized ice particles of Saturn's F ring toward the cratered face of Mimas]

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox. The craft has been taking and sending some of the most amazing space photographs I have ever seen.

The Boston Globe has a nice collection (as always) of large photos from the mission:

[Saturn's high north is a seething cauldron of activity filled with roiling cloud bands and swirling vortices. A corner of the north polar hexagon is seen at upper left.]

Miss Missy-Bait

From Boing Boing this afternoon:

I picked this tip up from Stan Fischler's books. So the original City Hall station has been closed since the 1940s. There are some good pictures online that will give you an idea of what an amazing piece of architecture this station was. We're talking chandeliers, beautiful arched ceilings, intricate tile work...the whole nine yards.
Most of the time, this is closed to the public. But there is supposedly a way you can sneak a peek. Following Fischler's instructions, you take the Lexington Ave. #6 local southbound to the end of the line and (if the conductor will let you) stay on the train as it does a loop past the old City Hall station to turn itself around. During the loop, you can see the City Hall station out the train windows.
I should note that I never managed to successfully pull this off. I was in New York in the summer of 2002, and (unsurprisingly) convincing subway workers to let you have a little leeway wasn't so easy at the time. But there seem to be people who've done it recently, so you should try it. And, if it works, let me know. I would love to be jealous of you.

"Salad go Nice with Riunite on Ice"

For some reason, last night, the '80s product, Riunite, popped into my head without warning. Apparently, its 'America's all-time favorite wine':

Those Were The Days

I think this picture may be the best argument ever for the revival of drive-ins.

Colbert and Gay Marriage

So of all the parodies of the NOM "Gathering Storm" ads, I think Colbert takes the top prize (though the original ad itself came in a close second):

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

White Civil Rights

This reminds me of how a co-worker and I used to joke about the 'white civil rights' movement. Its still a funny concept, though I am curious about the people who believe in the these sorts of things. Maybe everybody just likes to play the victim sometimes.

Anyway, now that its all over, I'm going to have to create a collection of the best signs/posters, etc. from yesterday's Tea Parties.

Bacon for MacGyver

I'm still trying to sort the implications of this out in my head. So you can apparently take bacon (proscuitto, actually, though I am sure tests are being done as we speak on assorted pork products) and a tube hooked up to an oxygen tank and create what is called a 'thermal lance'. A thermal lance is what is used to cut scrap metal (and traditionally uses iron and magnesuim instead of pork). It also works with a cucumber and slim jims, apparently. This guy is my hero (via Boing Boing):

Chairman MaoBama

Since he's already been compared to the last century's other great mass murderers [Stalin, Hitler], why not just go all the way and throw some clever graphic design in while you're at it (on that last part, I'll have to say that the Tea Party movement, up to this point, has been pretty aesthetically unpleasing).

Also, Newt Gingrich himself will be spouting nonsense at this evening's New York City Tea Party. Should be fun to wtch his head expand in person (insert teabagging joke here.)

This is What Government Does because of You.

So, you either paid your taxes today, or filed for an extension (like me). But where is all of that cold hard cash gonna go? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a nice chart for the rest of us who prefer circles and pie pieces to reading numbers:

There is Teabagging and Then there is eTeabagging

The GOP just made my life so much easier; they appear to be poised to ride internet technology to landslide electoral victories for the forseeable future. I'm just glad that I can finally teabag someone without having to leave my desk:

McCoys 10, Hatfields 1

And note the possible explanation as to the origins of the Halfield-McCoy feud (from AP via Microkhan):

Bo McCoy, right, one of the organizers of the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion, accepts a trophy on behalf of the McCoy team after defeating the Hatfields 10-1 in a softball game on June 10, 2000, in Pikeville, Ky. Man on left is unidentified. The most infamous feud in American folklore, the long-running battle between the Hatfields and McCoys, may be partly explained by a rare, disease inherited by the McCoy clan that can lead to hair-trigger rage and violent outbursts.

[McCoys]

[Hatfields]

Not Today, Motherfucker!

Isn't there a short film category for the Academy Awards? I hope somebody lost their job for not nominating this masterwork. A genre-bending mix of action, sci-fi, comedy, thriller, and drama:

Damn, and I thought my Business Card was Kinda Nifty

'Looks Like Crap? It is Crap'.
Who is this guy? He's golden:

And Now for Something Really Special

Just watch it:

Susan Boyle sings 'I Dreamed a Dream' from
Les Miserables on Britain's Got Talent.