A Lap Crow

As you probably know, the crow is my least favorite bird. They're just a plane nuisance to my life. Here is a crow I may be able to get along with though... it's Jack the dogish crow. He may be somewhat tame, but he's still bothersome to the mailman.

Free Pizza if Rays Win the Series

Being a fan of both pizza and baseball, I was drawn to this story of Free Pizza if the Rays Win the World Series. The rays were the underdog team coming in to the season, but now they're cruising at first place and are looking really good. Even if the pizza wasn't just at this place in Colorado, I don't think I'd be pulling for the Rays to win. I'm hoping for a Cubs victory this year (although they're in first and look really good, something will mess them up). If I'm not mistaken, weren't free tacos given to us last year?

Tie w/Insructions

It may not be very stylish, but who says that learning has to look cool. Here is a tie that teaches you how to tie a tie. Now you have no excuse for those clip-ons. You can now proudly display that you can follow instructions.

Wii Boat

I'm always amazed at what people manage to come up with as uses for the Wii-Mote. Here is a story of a man who uses a Wii-Mote to control a boat. Actually, it's just the nunchuck part of the Wii-Mote that is being used, but it's still very creative. That's what you get when you mix an electronics geek, gaming geek, and a boating geek.

Ice Stairs

I mentioned yesterday that I was in Chicago for the week. In my hotel is the this sign about ice stairs. I haven't tried my luck on the treacherous "ice stairs" yet, but it sounds like a lot of fun,,, especially down 18 flights. For now I think I'll leave my neck intact.

Some Happenings this Week

Just to let my regular readers know this week of blogging is gonna be kind of slow. I'm in Chicago this week for a work training class and not surfing the Internet to look for stuff. I still plan on blogging some, just not as much as normal. Of the day I'm in class and of the evening my wife usually has an event planned. I think tomorrow night is actually the Blues Brother's movie in the park and Wednesday night a firework boat ride. I'll be updating my plurk and twitter when possible if you wanna keep track of what I'm doing. Next week I should be back to normal for a while. Just thought I'd let you know I'm not abandoning the blog, just that it's gonna slow down a little this week.

Lady Loses Her Toe in Tragic Air Guitar Incident

I blogged about the Air Guitar Championships when I first heard of them a year or so ago, but I didn't really think it could be dangerous. Here is a story of a lady who lost her toe while air guitar'n. When I heard about this, I thought "How exactly does this happen?" but the article explains it fairly well. The best part is, the lady keeps rock'n like a hurricane even while blood is spurting from her toe.... that's hardcore.

Is Vista all that Bad?

When Vista first came out we heard horror stories. Rumors quickly began to spread about how Vista would eat your harddrive and eject the remnants out the DVD Drive. Maybe not that exactly, but they were pretty bad. When I personally asked people about it I got the answer of "Oh, I've heard there's a lot of problems with it..." or "They've changed too many things around..." followed by "I hate it". When I first installed it, a lot of my drivers and applications didn't work, so I didn't give it much of a chance before I fell in the group of "I hate it". Now I've installed it again on my desktop PC, have had no Vista related problems, and like it pretty well.
With that really long intro, I found this article linked from Wired about how Vista hating XPers were given a blind taste test of Vista and liked it. I don't love it, but it's not as bad as you think it's gonna be.

My Night

I could find some videos online and blog about them like usual, but describing my night may be a bit more entertaining.


I'll start with some background...
This week I'm in Chicago for a work related training class. I made a hotel reservation at the Hampton Inn in downtown which is next to my class for Sunday through Saturday (my class starts early Monday and goes to 5pm on Friday). After talking to my wife about it and looking at prices of airfare, we decided to come down a day early and pay for Saturday night's hotel on our own and go to the Cubs game on Sunday. Being a member of the Hilton Honor's club (Hilton owns Hampton Inn) , I actually had enough stays, that I had enough for a free night. Usually I will go online and make the reservations myself, but I decided to call them and make special note to just continue our stay in the same room. I got verbal confirmation (actually twice) that it was for Saturday night, and then received email confirmations later.

.... My secret plan --
My wife has been study'n for Osteopathic boards for the past month and a half and just took them yesterday. Today is the first day we'll have together in a while where she is not studying. I planned on taking her to Venetian night in downtown Chicago. They decorate boats and play music and have fireworks. She saw it and wanted to go and I acted like I didn't want to go so she'd be surprised when I said "Hey let's go do this" and we'd have a great night together unexpectedly. Yea, not much of a plan, considering it was her idea, but I still wanted it to be kind of a surprise.

Now earlier today (Saturday)
Now it's time to leave. I leave the house around 1:00 PM and have a 7:05 PM flight out of Louisville, KY, which is about 3.5 hours away. I stop for dinner and make it to the airport around 5:45. It took me about 5 minutes to get my boarding passes and get through security (no hassle at all). There were only about 25 people on a pretty big plane (which happened to be brand new) so the flight was really great. We actually made it to Chicago early with no delays at all. I get to the airport, pick up my bags and catch a cab to the hotel....

Tonight, Saturday Night (Madness ensues)
I get to the hotel and go to check in like I've done several times before, anxious to get to the room and head back out to the lake, revealing my master secret plan. When I tell them my name, they say "Could it be under another name" and of course I say no. They have lost my reservation, but that's no big deal, I have my trusty confirmation # that says "Hey I made reservations". I give that to the guy at the desk, he says this reservation come up as yesterday, and we're all booked for tonight and asks me to call the Hilton number. The lady from there tells me she can't find anything, but will transfer me to customer service, which is closed and I get hung up on. I eventually call around, but every hotel in town that I could think to call is booked. Just to make sure I checked my email and sure enough, the person who booked it had the checkout date as July 26 and not the check in date, although I did get verbal confirmation on this and had her had it to the one the night after. OK, lesson learned, from now on double check the email confirmations. I did glance at it, and saw the 26th, but next time I'll read it more thoroughly. Now that I've been schooled in my stupidity, I'm stuck in Chicago w/o a place to stay. What's next???

A little resolution
My wife calls the hotel across the street which is also a Hilton chain, and their front desk person ended up being helpful telling her that there was a hotel at Midway airport (Keep in mind I had just came from Midway airport which is about 15 miles outside the city ... or a $30 cab ride away) with two rooms available. I had already been in the hotel for at least an hour, so I got the guy at the front desk to make the reservation. I didn't feel comfortable taking the subway that late at night, so I got another cab and headed back toward the airport. The cab driver this time was a very nice guy and we had a good conversation about the taxi business. I am currently in a Hampton Inn hotel beside the airport with double twin beds and roaring planes overhead. My secret plan did not go through due to the time wasted and the distance from the city. I'm hoping the Hilton chain can reimburse me somehow for this experience, but I'll find out Monday when I call their customer service.

**Update**
I contacted Hilton support and they said they are going to send me a check for the amount of Saturdy night's stay in Midway and are going to credit me back the original points I was going to use for that night.

Thief or Public Servant

Here is an interesting story a man who stole buses (or used them, however you look at it), ran them on their route and then returned them and the money he made. The link doesn't have too many details about why he did it, but it could be that he was just trying to do the "right thing". Seems like a case of a guy doing free labor to me, although it'd be nice to know more about this.

A Lot of Chairs in the Ring

I've not watched wrestling in years, but I used to be a big Hulkamaniac as a kid. I know a lot of it is is fake, but it's still entertaining sometimes. This is a pretty funny video of guys calling for a chair in the ring, but get quite a few more than expected.

Britain for Americans

When you're traveling to different lands, it's always nice to know a little bit about their cultures before you get there. My wife sent me this page the other day called "Britain for Americans" that guides the average American through the British culture. It's pretty funny stuff, but you may want to check for a second opinion before you commit to this guide.

28

Today makes 28 years I've been in this world. It don't feel like I'll be 3o in 2 years, I feel closer to 20 still, but I guess life sneaks up on you that way. I guess I could get depressed about it, but I'll save that til 30 :). I got sent this happy Birthday dirge video earlier today through plurk and thought I'd embed it.

Fresh Prince of Gotham

Earlier today I came across this "Fresh Prince of Gotham" video on Digg. The posting on Digg came with a spoiler warning, but if you've read a Batman comic or heard of the Joker in anyway, there's not really any time of spoiler to it, that I could find. If so, you can say you were pseudo-warned :).

Drunken Animals

Here is a pretty funny video that was sent to me of animals getting drunk. They're not drinking beer, but eating fermented fruit, but still the effect is the same. One thing we do learn here is that with the exception of the ostrich, birds can hold their liquor.... er fruit.

The Old Man and the Piano

The other day my wife sent me this neat video of a guy playing piano. The music, the video, and the animation are just really well done. I really enjoyed it. It's actually kinda sad. The video is much deeper than it first appears, but I'll let you see for yourself.

MLB's Blunder

I'll be the first to admit, I love baseball, but it does have one (at least) huge flaw. It has the tendency to go a bit far with the intellectual property laws. Here is a well written techdirt article about a guy who wrote an iPhone app for MLB fans and got threatened by MLB. The writer points out that even though it has the legal right to threaten and enforce these privacy laws, it doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do. If you've watched a baseball game on TV, I'm sure you've heard this "Any account and descriptions of this game may not be disseminated without the expressed written consent of Major League Baseball." which always bothers me. Does this mean I can't describe to my friends how the guy steals second base, stands up, then tries to steal third? That's taking it a bit far, but it is in the statement.

Cat Cam

About a year ago we saw lifecasting with people like Justin and Justine who strapped a camera to their head. What happens when you strap a camera to your cat?? All kinds of cool stuff. This shows a cat's journey while he thinks no one is watching. Pretty entertaining stuff, almost makes me want to get a cat and attache a camera to him.

Star Wars Mistakes

One of my favorite movies of all times is Star Wars episode IV A New Hope. When I watch it, I don't often look for mistakes, but this video points out several that I had not noticed before. Stay around for the last one, I had to actually watch it a few times to realize what was going on.

Graffiti Snails

There's not too much to say about these graffiti snails other than just sharing the story, but they're pretty neat. I kinda feel bad for them, but at least they're different.

Fancy Footwork

I've tried to pick rocks up with my toes and throw them before, but nothing as magnificent as what this lady does every day. She does everything from sewing, to catching crabs just with her feet. It is a long video, but well worth watching.

Helping the Bees

By now you've probably heard of the problems with the vanishing bees. The company Häagen-Dazs (an ice cream/yogurt company) is aware of the problem and has launched a helpthehoneybees site. I'm a fan of bees because we share a common nemesis (crows) and because I like honey (plus the billion other benefits they provide), so I'm all about keeping them around. One of the reasons I liked this site is that they provide a bee designer. I have attached my own bee that I made, go there and check it out, the site is very informative.

Plastic Bag Bans

I don't mean to get all environmentalist on you, but I saw this interesting slide show on banning plastic bags that I thought I'd share. For the past month or so my wife and I have been using the reusable cloth bags and they're better anyway (lots more room and less garbage). When I was using plastic bags, I was recycling them, but according to this slide show, that's not a good thing either. One of the most convincing things said in this was how China was going to save 37 million barrels of oil each year by banning them. Very informative slide show, I wouldn't mind them being banned from our city, perhaps I'll talk to my friend who is running for city council (vote 4 Calvin Sidle).

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

I'd been hearing about this new webseries coming out called "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" directed by Joss Wheadon and now it's out and temporarily free to watch. You may want to check it out pretty quickly because it will be unavailable after this weekend. It stars NPH (aka Doogie Howser) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly's Malcom Reynolds) and is highly entertaining. If you miss it this weekend, don't worry, it's available for $3.99 on iTunes and I recommend purchasing, it's very entertaining.

Muppet Look Alikes

Some people have "one of those faces" where you know you've seen them before.... perhaps it's because they look like muppets. My wife sent me this article about celebrities that look like muppets. I got a good laugh out of this.

Scary ATM Fail

Here is a story I came across the other day about a truck that brought down a bank awning. The truck was crushed, but fortunately everyone walked away w/o being harmed. The video is pretty scary stuff. I love the comment from the end of this guy's blog "On a positive note, he was able to get a great interest rate on the loan for a new truck"

The Platypus

The platypus in all it's splendor is a magnificent creature. My wife sent me this cool platypus picture I thought I would share.

Crow Problem Fought With Bees

I enjoy birds, except for the crow. The cackling scavengers perch by my window and wake me when I decide to sleep in on the weekends. Not only that, but if I take my trash out more than an hour early, they dive in to see what I've brought them, only to throw stuff across the driveway. It's a constant battle with the crows. Tokyo has a little worse problem with crows than a little annoyance, so they're enlisting some bees to help out. I didn't think this sounded like it would work, but according to the articles bees don't like things that are black too well. Perhaps I should enlist one of these sweet armies myself... but bees may be worse.

One of the Coolest Cakes Ever

I've probably said this a few times before on this blog, but this R2-D2 cake has to be one of the coolest cakes ever. A week from tomorrow will be my Bday, but it looks like too much work to attempt something this extravagant. One of the first things I thought of was, "Did you see the cake waste", which could make for a cake eating fest of it's own. It's not in the colors of R2-D2 (more like R5-D4), but it makes up for it in that it is red velvet. May the force be with you, w/o the calories.

Time for Campaign'n

Just like most other people, I'm starting to get tired of all this political talk. I've come to the conclusion that I'm really not smart enough for politics. Is what I think is right for the country, right... probably not, but I still participate. Anyway, I enjoy these JibJab political cartoons. This one was featured on MSN's front page earlier, but I thought it was worth checking out also.

What It's like in Japan

It's one of my goals to travel to as many places as possible. One co-worker I asked "Where could you go, if you could go anywhere in the world" said Japan. After watching this video, I may agree.

T-Rex Dating

If you think you've had some bad dates, here's a site that reminds you none have been as bad as dating a T-Rex. It actually lists 9 reasons a relationship with a T-Rex just won't work... Point taken.

First Egg, then Chickent

When you eat breakfast, it's not often that you stop and think that the egg you're about to eat could have been a chicken. I'm not getting all animal rights on you or anything, it's just that we take a lot for granted. In a sermon given by a guest pastor on Sunday, he mentioned "The circle of life" and how things have to die to keep us alive (that wasn't the main part of the sermon, just something mentioned). Perhaps I gave too much introduction, but here is a picture of an egg, going from something you may see on your frying pan, to a cute chick.

Tips From the Waiter

Yesterday this article called "13 Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You" was shared with me. A lot of these things are common sense or common courtesy. If you've worked in the food industry you definitely know them. Some of the stuff in movies involving restaurants is over exaggerated, but then again, some of it happens. I like the advice of "getting to know your waiter", I've done this at a few different restaurants in the area, and it really does come in handy.

Movie Etch-A-Sketches

I don't mean to go overboard with the Etch-A-Sketch stuff, but as a follow up to last week's Etch-A-Sketch history drawings, I was sent this movie scene Etch-A-Sketch site. I linked the Jabba the Hutt picture, but I think the Wall-E one may be the best out of the bunch. I thought about buying one and trying my hand at being an Etch-A-Sketch artist, but I'd probably get frustrated with it and never pick it up again.

Wall-E GameCube Mod

I still haven't made it out to see the Wall-E movie, but I really want to. The other day I came across this article featuring a GameCube modded out to look like Wall-E. They did a really great job on it, and other than the painting, it doesn't look like it'd be that complicated. This article came out a long time before the movie did, but since the movie is popular and I just found it the other day, I thought I'd put it up.

About a year ago, I posted a video of a bunch of students blocking up a crosswalk similar to this one. In that video the people seemed to get more frustrated, at least here, they're smiling. Kinda makes you wonder what you'd do if you came across something like this. The Doors music goes right with it.

Best Spore Creatures

A few weeks ago I really got addicted to the Spore Creature Creator game. I don't create that many anymore, but it's still fun. I got an email earlier from the author of a really cool site called "Best Spore Creature". At this site, you can click and vote for different spore creatures to see which you like best and which you don't like so well. I found it to be a lot of fun. After I clicked through a bunch I enjoyed scrolling through the best and the worst of them. This kind of makes me want to buy the full version of creature creator, but I'm still holding out for the full game. One of my favorites was this Tauntaun.... I hear he smells worse on the inside than he does on the outside.

Incarcerated Goat

Here's a story that's bound to get your goat. The whole thing is strange. A goat and his dog friend are playing on the highway, the goat jumps onto a car, then gets arrested. As the goat is being processed, the dog wants to come along for the ride. I wonder how they get the cuffs on the goat. The story has a sad ending of the play friends getting separated. I found it interesting that the cop took the goat to another deputy. Everyone needs a goat... they're nature's lawnmower. In the goat's defense, there was no horseplay or fowlplay involved.

Mr. PicassoHead

From time to time I enjoy art, but I'm not too good at it. Once I drew the city of Pikeville for my college art class and did alright, but I doubt I could ever paint anything and make it turn out. Perhaps I could try abstract, but you have to actually be good before you can be bad. My wife sent me this Mr. PicassoHead site where you too can do your own Picassoish paintings. She actually sent me a link to her picture she made of me, which I have added to this blog entry. I thought this was something neat to play around with.

iPhone Music Video

As you probably know, today is iPhone day. As a tribute, I thought it only fitting to play the iPhone music video from last year. I actually only saw this yesterday when someone from plurk shared it, so it's still new to me. I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

Summer 2k8 On the Internet

Yesterday on Digg, one of the top articles was this "State of the Web -- Summer 2008" link. Being a blogger, I keep up with all the latest happenings on the Interwebs. This is a really well done summary of what has been going on as of late. That's one of the major advantages of blogging... it keeps me up on current tech events.

Quick Chocolate Cake

What's better than Chocolate Cake? Chocolate Cake really quick and easy. My wife and I did not get to eat supper together as normal this evening, so she decided to do an experiment and try this. It seems fairly straight forward.... I'm pretty sure it's a recipe that I couldn't even mess up (I dunno, perhaps I'll give it a try sometime). How'd it turn out for my wife's cake you ask?? She said it was obviously not as good as a baked cake, and a little bit rubbery but overall, it wasn't bad.

How to Celebrate Videos

Earlier today this video was shared with me and I wonder why people don't celebrate the small victories in life like this as often. Perhaps this would make life a little more dramatic, maybe we should start.

Great Tech Rivalries

Earlier today my wife sent me this article on 14 Classic Tech Rivalries. If you've been around, you most likely know about these. They may have been able to narrow this list down to 10 rivalries, but it's still a pretty good article. My favorite of course was the Nintendo vs. Sega... I always sided with the NES. Some of these you can't hardly bring up without a fight.

Random Evil Clown Generator

If you've seen "IT" chances are you've been scarred on evil creepy clowns. If you haven't, that doesn't make clowns any less creepy. If you just can't get enough of creepy clowns for some strange reason, here is an Evil Clown Face Generator. Try it out and see what you get, it's a good 5 minutes of fun.

What is that Large Glowing Orb in the Night Sky??

I haven't been using Plurk a week yet, but I'm already loving it. This blog entry came straight from a fellow plurker, and is pretty good stuff. In South Wales, UK there was a strange reporting of a "bright stationary object" to the local police. After further investigation, authorities found the sneaky object was the moon. The article has the transcript of the conversation with the police. Wonder how many times this caller has been abducted?

Muppet Independence Video

So, this is a little late, but technically it's still the Independence day weekend, so I think I'm clear. I really enjoyed this muppet 4th Independence Day video, it makes me swell with Patriotism.

Super Chuck Norris Bros.

So, what do get when you combine 8-bit gaming with kicking butt?? Obviously Super Chuck Norris Bros. I haven't found a download for the game yet, but I imagine once you start playing you only need one life, what's gonna kill Chuck? Alright Mr. Toad, try telling Chuck the Princess is in another castle. For some reason, it wouldn't let me embed this video, but here is the link.

"American" Foods

Last night my wife surfed upon this really well written article titled "The Top 10 Foods Only America Could Have Invented". It's so funny because it's true. The author does a really great job of showing us American's how unhealthy we are when it comes to food. Anyway, with each one of these I found myself saying "Oh yea, that's right" and then thinking "I'm hungry".

Laser Body Mods

Wired magazine did an article the other day about Laser Body Mods. Tattoos aren't really my thing (mostly because of pain and permanence), but I appreciate the art. These laser tattoos, especially don't look like a very pleasant experience. One pain flinch could possibly result in some really messed up tats. Interested in how popular this has become I Googled it and found a how to guide on doing this (actually based on the same video). I like the quote from this how to page "
I am leaving a disclaimer out of this, because any person with access to a laser cutter who is dumb enough to try this, deserves what they get."

Plurk

A few months ago I heard about a social networking site/tool named Plurk. It's kind of like twitter, except for more interactive. I've been really frustrated with the lack of dependability of Twitter lately, so late Thursday night I was kind of bored and decided to check it out. I'm now kind of addicted to it. I've added my plurk feed to the right under my twitter feed. I'm going to try out both of them and see what I think. Right now I don't have too many twitter followers, so it wouldn't hurt too much to switch over. I recommend trying out plurk, but if you do, add me as a friend, my profile is here. One of the people I found interesting to follow was Buzz Out Loud's Tom Merritt, who's username is acedtect. Anyway, I've had a lot of fun out of it, so I thought I'd share it.

Star Trek Trike

This is old news that has resurfaced, but as I was looking at some stuff yesterday I came across this link to a Star Trek Tricycle (or maybe a bike) from the 1982 San Diego Comic Con. As a fan of Star Trek, I thought it was pretty nerdtastic. I would say, "I want one", but I'd say one would get some awkward looks while riding down the road on one of these.

232 Years Now

One of my favorite holidays is the 4th of July. We celebrate the formation of this nation with barbecues, fireworks, and parades, but do we really remember what happened this day 232 years ago. Earlier today I decided to read the US Declaration of Independence. It's not that I was bored, I was curious. It's actually the first time since 8th grade that I remember reading it (despite having US history in both High School and College). I was going to copy and paste it here for you to read it, but it's kind of a large document. Happy fourth of July... God Bless America.

Picture of the Day -- Bobble Head Brian

Earlier today I got an email that I could make my own bobble head of my self at xmbaseball.com, so I did. Here it is ... bobbley bobbley bobbley.... I love July!

Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle

A few months back I came across an interesting site (and blogged about it) called Hillary is Mom Jeans. While listening to a podcast on my way home from work today a site was mentioned called "Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle" that was very similar. The difference between the two is, where the Hillary site was negative, the Barack site is quite positive. Anyway, I found this one equally as funny, and thought I'd share it. The author of this site actually has a book for sale on amazon if you're really a fan.

Good Things About Expensive Gas

Last night as I was surfing, I found this really well written article from Time Magazine called "Ten Things You can Like About $4 Gas". When I read the headline I thought "they can't be good enough for $4 gas", but the writer makes excellent points. Some of these I had considered before, but a lot of them are kind of surprising.

Note: I don't mean to tease by putting the picture up of gas being $1.27, but I thought this would take you back to a few years ago.

Etching out History

Being a fan of history and quirky gadgets, I find this "Greatest Moments in History" blog quite interesting. What makes it special is the great moments in history are captured on the Etch-A-Sketch. I guess they say it best on their site description "Documenting what really matters -- on the Etch a Sketch". I've mentioned this before, but I'm always amazed at how skilled one can get on these things.

Ultimate 80's GPS

I may have mistitled this entry, but I can't help but to think how cool it would have been to have this Knight Rider GPS in the 80's. Of course now the kids of the 80's who grew up watching Knight Rider will have the opportunity to turn their car into Kitt. My car is black (although a Sentra is far from a Trans AM), perhaps I should get one of these, have T-Tops installed and put a cylon eye in the front.

Beach Invasion Fail

Last night I came across this video of a Failed Beach Invasion that I found pretty funny. Good thing the troops at Normandy had more solid ground than this to land on or the world would be a much different place. Looks like they came in on a failboat.

July Quesiton of the Month

Last month, based on the story of our the new alien video, I asked "Which is your Favorite Alien?". I had a great turnout of 52 people putting me one above what I had last month, so thanks to all who voted, let's go for another record this month. Here is how the aliens faired.
Yoda did not try, he just did and came away with the popular vote, with a tie for 2nd place.

This month's question is...
How have Gas Prices Effected you?
None at all
Drive Less
Pench Pennies to buy Gas
Trading in my gas guzzler
I Just Complain Alot

Gas hit another record high today, so if you drive it seems like you must be experiencing some changes in your day to day life from it. Personally I do several of these, but the main thing I'm looking for, is which has effected you most. For me, I drive differently and less. Thanks again for such a great turn out last month, and thanks in advance for voting this month.