Odd Vending Machines

I remember a few years ago seeing the vending machines that sold iPods and PSP's in the airport and thinking it was odd. It doesn't seem logical to drop $150+ on an impulse buy from a vending machine, but I guess it happens. Anyway, vending machines get much weirder. Here is an article featuring 10 of the weirdest vending machines you'll ever see. Some really cool, others really creepy. I'd love to watch the dog wash, and wouldn't mind having vending pizza (sure beats the wheel of death).

School Lunches of The World

When you move from school to school, you'll notices subtle differences in the cafeteria food based on the local culture. It by far does not represent the finest of cuisines, but it's what we eat/ate. Here is a blog entry from someone who received different emails from people and what they had in their school lunches. I like to think that on Fridays all schools have pizza and corn... it's an odd combination, but it seems like every school I went to had it on Friday.

Slang of the 1920's

Once you invent your time machine (or hop on board with the Doctor), you'll go some places where you'll need to know some different types of culture. Here is a guide to the "Slang of the 1920's" if you ever decide to enjoy the roaring 20's. It may also be something swell to try out on your friends or co-workers, or just entertaining to browse through.

The Sinking of the Bismark

Wired Magazine usually runs a "this day in history" article daily. Today's was particularly interesting to me. It was about the "Sinking of the Bismark". I grew up listening to Johnny Horton songs like the one embedded here, and this was always one of my favorites of his. The whole story of the Bismark is really amazing, especially if you're a history fan.

Giving Paper Money the Boot

The other day I got my new issue of Wired magazine and came across this article about "Why Paper Money Hurts our Economy". I read this and immediately imagined a world without paper money. Personally, I rarely carry cash on me; I just don't like it. I found the digital form of the article and started reading the comments and apparently I'm the only one that likes the idea. I know it can't happen any time soon, but it seems like a fairly good idea.

Top 10 States for Football Fans

Here is an article I found interesting, but have never really given much thought to it. It is the Top 10 States for Football Fans. Nothing really intriguing about the list, but a good study nonetheless. It's strange how sports vary from one state to another. When growing up in TX, football was the major sport, but when I came to KY, it's all about basketball. In fact, KY would surely make the list if this was a basketball fans list.
One big surprise in this list was that Ohio was not on the list. During the fall my wife did some work in Columbus, OH and was there at the start of football season. It seemed like the entire city shutdown when The OSU played a game.... perhaps the rest of the state isn't as fanatical about football (especially considering the Bengels).

Zombie Ants from Texas

I was looking through some of the Slashdot articles that came through while I was on vacation and saw this one about Zombie Ants. I've seen some shows on the Discovery Channel featuring these types of flies. They're really neat stuff, and this seems to be a very clever solution.

Turn a Robot Evil in 9 Easy Steps

You don't have to look very hard in your movie collection to find something about annihilation of the human race by evil robots. Here is an article showing you "How to Turn a Robot Evil in 9 Steps". After watching some of these movies you realize maybe robots aren't so smart after all, however, it is just a matter of time until we make robots that turn on us.

Signs on The Big Island

While I was in Hawaii, I noticed there were a lot of signs that I found humorous, or just enjoyed. Here are some of the top ones I found that I liked. Here are some of the ones I've picked to share:
	Not sure what this one is about, but it was odd
	I thought this was a very Hawaiian sign
	Nene Geese may only go 25 MPH, if they exceed this they go immediately to jail?
	If English was not my primary language, I may think this said. If you see giant waves, run toward them and jump off the cliff.
	Not a sign you'd expect to see in Hawaii
	There were several signs like this that, by the time you're close enough to read them, the warning is moot.
	This seemed much funnier at the time. It'd probably be much better if the guy had been missing an arm.
	Once again, this one seemed funnier at the time.... but it does warn "Fear the donkey!"
	I really enjoyed this card I received with the key to my room. Once again I like to imagine how to interpret some of these if I didn't know English... Especially the jellyfish one. To fully enjoy this one, you may need to click on the image to see a bigger view.
Maybe I enjoy signs too much, but some of these I got good laughs from and thought I'd share.... Plus I thought "This would probably make a good blog post.

Makana (Slack-Key Guitar)

While we were in Hawaii, my wife planned for us to go to "The Big Island Film Festival". For two hours we were thoroughly entertained by a Grammy-Nominated slack-key guitarist named Makana (he opened the show). Here is a video of one of his concerts, it starts out a little slow, but if you're not convinced after 90 seconds, feel free to stop it. As a fan of guitar music, I was really impressed. It sounds as though more than one guitar player is playing, but it's just him.

"I Can Has Cheezburger Night" at Safeco Field

Apparently now MLB has gotten into the whole LOL Catz thing. The Mariners are having a "Cheezburger Night" in July. They don't mention anything about bringing your cats, but that should be part of it. If I remember, I'll check it out on MLB.tv the night they have it just to see what all they are doing. I just thought this was weird.

Three Wolf T-Shirt

Over the years I've seen many "joke reviews" on Amazon.com. Most of the time they're quite enjoyable, if not entertaining.... occasionally, they're just trolls trying to get a response. Here is a story about a joke review that has boosted sales for a T-Shirt. I often find the way the Internet works quite intriguing. In this case it's pretty funny... ya gotta love the Interwebs. If you want a shirt of your own, here is the Amazon link. Apparently supplies are running out.

*on a side note. Personally I wouldn't wear the shirt because I'm not much into wolves, but the artwork is really good.

The Psychology of Incompetence

The other day I read an article about how taller and heavier people tend to earn larger salaries than average people. I can't seem to find that article now, but this guy goes through the statistics. I found this quite entertaining.

42 Things about Hitchhikers Guide

One of my favorite movies/books is "The Hitchhiker's to the Galaxy". I read the book a few years before the movie came out. Didn't like the movie that much when I first saw it, but now the more I see it, the more I love it. Here are 42 facts about the movie that you should know.

Back

Just to let you know, I'm back from my trip to Hawaii after a week off. I must admit, it's one of the best vacations I've had. I barely got on the Internet, watched 0 TV and really enjoyed myself. I am still catching up on a lot of stuff and jet lagged, so blogging will be a little slow for the rest of the week. I've been checking my traffic and I appreciate all those who are still coming to the site. I used my blackberry to twitter/plurk pretty much all the high points of our vacation. Anyway, I had a great vacation, and you can expect normalish blog entries coming up soon. One thing I have planned on doing is sharing a few things I've learned/saw/did on my trip just so I can have some original content. So you can be looking forward to that. Great big mahalo again for still coming to the site although I was on vacation.

Vacation Time-- FYI

Thought I'd give you guys a heads up. For the next 8 days I will be vacationing on The Big Island of Hawaii. I may post some things on here if I have some time, but I don't anticipate posting much at all until next Wednesday or Thursday. I'm going to try to make this a true vacation and not be on the computer too much. I will be updating stuff via twitter and plurk, so feel free to stop by and check that out. Until then, Aloha.

Konami Code as an Easter Egg

The other day while listening to one of my favorite podcasts when they brought up that Facebook is using the Konami Code as an Easter Egg. If you're not familiar with it, it's most popular for being the control pad combination that gives you 30 lives in Contra. Facebook isn't the first site to ever use the Konami code as an easter egg, but it's the first I've heard of it. Very clever, perhaps I should try something like that on here. In the meantime, go to Facebook and check it out for yourself.

Hamster + Motorcycle

The other day one of the readers of this blog sent me a link to his page featuring a Hamster on a Motorcycle. The video is pretty good.... what a courageous rodent that was. I love the game face before the jump.

Death Star vs. Enterprise

Friday night I watched the Star Trek movie. It's probably the best movie I've seen all year. I went into it thinking it was good, I came out amazed. This video doesn't have too much to do with the movie (other than having the Enterprise in it), but since I was on the subject I thought I'd plug the movie.

Mark Twain Motivational Posters

One of my favorite authors of all times is Mark Twain. His writings are works of art. I got pulled into them when I was a kid and really enjoy them. Here are some motivational posters featuring some of his most popular quotes.

Mr. Doctor Green

I try to avoid blogging about my personal life, but on occasion I feel the need to. Tonight was a VERY special night in the Green family. My wife graduated from Medical School. It's been an adventurous (for lack of a better word) four years, and we still have a few more left for residency. I probably don't have to tell you how big of an achievement this is and how proud I am of her. Thanks for those of you who have provided encouragement and prayer for her over the past four years and we ask for further prayers for the next three years of residency.

Little Know Facts About Deodorant

I find this a strange article coming from CNN (via Mental Floss), but they posted some Deodorant Trivia earlier today. It's strangely more interesting than you might think. Makes you say "Hmph, who knew".

NES Purse

I'm a fan of "Make" magazine and have often thought about a subscription. You're always guaranteed to find some kind of neat gadget. This time they've really outdone themselves with this functional NES purse. I was gonna say "This would be great for waiting in line for something", but then I can't think of a situation where it wouldn't be good.

More Evidence Nerds are Cool

I've given up being cool years ago. Over the past few years, being a nerd has gained popularity. I guess it's official now, CNN has this article describing how being a nerd on TV is marketable. I'm still waiting for "The IT Crowd" to be brought to American TV (although I have caught a few episodes on IFC lately).

Subway Superman

I know I've had a few stories about superheros on here of late, but this one is really extraordinary. Just check out the video and you'll see. The video re-enactment is really great.

Ferris Bueller + Fight Club

Last week sometime I came across this very clever theory on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It combines that movie with Fight club to make one fine analysis of the movie. I'll grant you, maybe he put a little too much thought into this, but it's a fine theory nonetheless.

Cartoon Characters in Art

You probably already know that I like these Photoshopping contests. Here is one putting cartoon characters in classic art. Looks like osme people put a lot of time into these.

Sugar Stacks

I have quite the sweet tooth. I try to cut back on a lot of sweet things, but some are too tempting. Ever wonder how much actual sugar is in that thing you're eating or drinking. Here is a site called "Sugar Stacks" that shows a collection of common foods/beverages and how much sugar is in them. There isn't a huge collection on their site, but there's enough to get a good clue about some of your sugar consumption.

When Did You Join Twitter

Recently Twitter has gained a lot of popularity. People that I never thought I'd see using have started. Since I have this blog, I tend to keep up on online happenings so I'm an early adopter of a lot of online trends. Earlier today I came across this site called "When Did You Join Twitter" and was kind of surprised that I joined over two years ago. I don't "tweet" too much, just use it to keep my facebook status updated and to let my blog readers know what I'm doing (although it's usually not that interesting), but feel free to follow me.