...to TCD contributor and perpetual beardo, Ben "Crash" Harris. Ben is getting married this weekend with a handful of TCD field reporters in attendance.
Good times to be had by all.
We wish Ben and Molly the best and thank them in advance for a righteous time.
Friday, August 13, 2010
You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?
Like everyone else, I am feeling the Irish slide Flight Attendant Slater-son busted out on the Jet Blue flight last week. I also like the NY Post. And the interwebz. This week, world's collided and I read an article on Slater in the Post's online edition. One thing in particular I like about the online version of the Post is the comment section. Amazing people with an amazing amount of time on their hands write amazing things. But reading comments from those claiming to be current or former flight attendants put me over the edge.
I am sure the job is tough. So is mine. Customers can be rude. Sometimes mine are, too. I am sure flight attendants get fed up. I do, too. But the online-commenting-airline-personnel types who have chosen this as their moment to lash out at airline passengers the world over are failing to realize how much flying these days sucks....really, really, really sucks...for the passengers, too.
And while I do respect Slater for really sticking it to the man and grabbing 1/3 of a sixer for the road, I am sure the chain of events that led him to the Pittsburgh - JFK flight did not include getting ripped off on the price of a ticket, a ridiculous line at the ticket counter/electronic check-in machine/bag check where the dude with the wand makes you hope that bag wasn't the one you packed when you went to Bonarroo two years ago, another line at security where you get the twice-over on your drivers license and person, shoe removal, laptop removal, a full body scan that some creepy judge has on file forever, a solid wanding, and for good measure bad/no food.
Why are airline passengers generally in a foul mood? Because the airline industry is hell bent on putting them there. Could passengers be a little nicer? Yes. Could the airlines make travelers lives a little better? Definitely.
I am sure the job is tough. So is mine. Customers can be rude. Sometimes mine are, too. I am sure flight attendants get fed up. I do, too. But the online-commenting-airline-personnel types who have chosen this as their moment to lash out at airline passengers the world over are failing to realize how much flying these days sucks....really, really, really sucks...for the passengers, too.
And while I do respect Slater for really sticking it to the man and grabbing 1/3 of a sixer for the road, I am sure the chain of events that led him to the Pittsburgh - JFK flight did not include getting ripped off on the price of a ticket, a ridiculous line at the ticket counter/electronic check-in machine/bag check where the dude with the wand makes you hope that bag wasn't the one you packed when you went to Bonarroo two years ago, another line at security where you get the twice-over on your drivers license and person, shoe removal, laptop removal, a full body scan that some creepy judge has on file forever, a solid wanding, and for good measure bad/no food.
Why are airline passengers generally in a foul mood? Because the airline industry is hell bent on putting them there. Could passengers be a little nicer? Yes. Could the airlines make travelers lives a little better? Definitely.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Funny Picture of the Day
Yeah, we have juvenile humor here.
Thanks to CT via the Manatee for sending along.
Thanks to CT via the Manatee for sending along.
Quote of the day
"No one has ever worn a B.U.M. Equipment t-shirt that was the correct fit."
- Damien Fahey
- Damien Fahey
Power Trio
FDR? Albert Einstein? A Bomb?
Summer of '39. Nassau Point, Peconic, Long Island, NY. Got that?
Albert Einstein writes a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt detailing developments in the study of Uranium that the good scientist believes the Prez should be aware of ASAP. Especially since the bloody Germans were apparently hot on the trail of the ability "to set up nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which bast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated."
The letter is actually a pretty interesting read. Check it out here.
It's a shame nobody writes like that anymore.
Summer of '39. Nassau Point, Peconic, Long Island, NY. Got that?
Albert Einstein writes a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt detailing developments in the study of Uranium that the good scientist believes the Prez should be aware of ASAP. Especially since the bloody Germans were apparently hot on the trail of the ability "to set up nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which bast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated."
The letter is actually a pretty interesting read. Check it out here.
It's a shame nobody writes like that anymore.
Current communication levels
As I was posting this I realized how few of these I actually enjoy doing.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Animated Version of Steven Slater Flipout
Just when you thought this story couldn't get any more humorous, some news station, not in the United States, created a wonderful reenactment of the Steven Slater flipout. All of this is funny but my favorite part is his enthusiastic head nod upon reaching the beverage container. Forgive me if I don't know what language this is. My Wayne's World experience tells me it could be Cantonese.
Gamble on your grades: Online gambling for students
Not a joke, a new site, Ultrinsic, allows students to gamble on their grades.
From Fast Company:
Ultrinsic, currently in beta form, allows students at 37 colleges to gamble on their grades in each of the classes they take. The student hands over money to Ultrinsic--as well as access to his or her official school records--as a wager that they will attain a certain grade. If they get it, Ultrinsic pays out on a sliding scale.
From Fast Company:
Ultrinsic, currently in beta form, allows students at 37 colleges to gamble on their grades in each of the classes they take. The student hands over money to Ultrinsic--as well as access to his or her official school records--as a wager that they will attain a certain grade. If they get it, Ultrinsic pays out on a sliding scale.
A pilot scheme in place at both Penn and NYU over the last academic year had some takers, including one guy who won $150, although the serious money is to be made by high schoolers as they head off to university. Then, if you bet $20 on getting a 4.0 GPA, then you'll walk away with $2,000 should you succeed. That, apparently, is what motivation looks like.
Check out the new Arcade Fire...very good stuff.
Here's the announcement from the band on their site:
There are a couple of tracks for download at indierockcafe.com
There are a couple of tracks for download at indierockcafe.com
Explanation of the recent crime wave in Baltimore
Here's what one citizen had to say (from the NYTimes' Freakonomics blog):
An East Baltimore citizen suggests a freaky explanation for recent violence in the city: “Check the date they cut off free cable, and watch the next day the murder rates go crazy. The moment they stopped it the kids were on the street 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. No stories, no cartoon network, nothing to do. That’s the real problem,” says Eric Brockton, the founder of a group called No More Guns
An East Baltimore citizen suggests a freaky explanation for recent violence in the city: “Check the date they cut off free cable, and watch the next day the murder rates go crazy. The moment they stopped it the kids were on the street 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. No stories, no cartoon network, nothing to do. That’s the real problem,” says Eric Brockton, the founder of a group called No More Guns
That Smell, Greg, is Our Sh!T
The knock on electric vehicles is that they are about as stylish and attractive as the people most likely to drive them. So I guess not all that good looking. But here to put a sexy name to next generation vehicle technology are two German companies.
VW is poised to introduce a car powered by human exrement. Poop. Doo doo. You get it. Now read about it here and look at pics below.
More surprisingly, Porsche is stepping into the game with a Hybrid Cayenne. Apparently, the car suffers from some ugly step child syndrome, but at least anyone who drives a Prius won't be able to make fun of you. It doesn't look all that different from the standard issue Cayenne, but I never found that car particularly attractive either.
But what makes a Porsche a Porsche is exactly what makes it a gas guzzler in the first place. Is anyone really going to want to drive a slower, worse version of an already slow-by-Porsche standards Porsche? Not one that costs $120k plus. Still, the electrification (or poop-i-fication) of transport is a positive step and one that I fully support.
VW is poised to introduce a car powered by human exrement. Poop. Doo doo. You get it. Now read about it here and look at pics below.
More surprisingly, Porsche is stepping into the game with a Hybrid Cayenne. Apparently, the car suffers from some ugly step child syndrome, but at least anyone who drives a Prius won't be able to make fun of you. It doesn't look all that different from the standard issue Cayenne, but I never found that car particularly attractive either.
But what makes a Porsche a Porsche is exactly what makes it a gas guzzler in the first place. Is anyone really going to want to drive a slower, worse version of an already slow-by-Porsche standards Porsche? Not one that costs $120k plus. Still, the electrification (or poop-i-fication) of transport is a positive step and one that I fully support.
Updates on the Big Summer Memes
The Coughing Dog has been keeping up with most of the Memes this summer:
Double Rainbow guy (can't find our original post, Phil can you edit if it's there?)
The JetBlue flight attendant
Hilarious wikipedia song entries.
Here are updates on each of those stories.
Double Rainbow Guy on Jimmy Kimmel and autotuned, or embedded video below.
A rival for best job quitting performance*
Baby Got Back Wikipedia page
Yeah, I could have stretched these into 3 posts, but I wanted to tie together some of the ridiculous Memes we've been enjoying this summer.
*Quite possibly a fake. Too bad.
Double Rainbow guy (can't find our original post, Phil can you edit if it's there?)
The JetBlue flight attendant
Hilarious wikipedia song entries.
Here are updates on each of those stories.
Double Rainbow Guy on Jimmy Kimmel and autotuned, or embedded video below.
A rival for best job quitting performance*
Baby Got Back Wikipedia page
Yeah, I could have stretched these into 3 posts, but I wanted to tie together some of the ridiculous Memes we've been enjoying this summer.
*Quite possibly a fake. Too bad.
“Burt Reynolds Hotline: The Letters I Get…and Write!” by Burt Reynods, copyright 1972.
THIS IS FOR REAL. I won't print any of the letters here and all of the other pictures are too racy for the blog, but you can check out more by clicking here.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
NBA sending the Nets and Raptors to the NBA's D League in Europe
Okay, that's not true but the Nets and Raptors are playing two regular season games in London next Spring. The upside, that's two fewer games the Nets and Raptors will play on American (or Canadian) soil. Downside, not North America putting its best athletic foot forward.
From espn.com:
The NBA is taking regular-season games to Europe for the first time.
From espn.com:
The NBA is taking regular-season games to Europe for the first time.
NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday that the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will play a pair of regular-season games in London this season.
Another Sweet Synopsis
I don't know who is doing these but they're very funny. Wikipedia link is here. Obviously scroll down to synopsis.
News story of the day: Pissed off flight attendant curses off plane, grabs Some beers, deploys the emergency shoot and takes off onto the tarmac
From NBCNewYork.com:
Nice job man.
A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the p.a. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said.
Jet Blue employee Steven Slater, 38, was working on Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to Kennedy Airport, which landed at around 12 p.m., when he got into a verbal altercation with a passenger, law-enforcement sources said.
Following a heated exchange, the flight attendant told off the entire plane on the public address system, activated an emergency chute near the back of the plane and jumped down the evacuation slide and ran for it.
The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down -- but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said.
Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect "go f--k yourself" and calling him a "mo-fo," according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight's announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane -- especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources.
When his tirade was through, he then took a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane.Nice job man.
Suck It, Entertainment Weekly
In a world full of bad news, this might be the worst...
But at least Entertainment Weekly is the most illegitimate of the news sources TCD follows and this cover/story cannot be true. Otherwise it would be a disaster the likes of which this world has ever seen. Bond is the greatest thing that happened to movies, MGM, TBS and Spike TV all at the same time. Dudes around the world consider Bond to be a Keystone Species. That is, if the franchise goes, the world is over. So dudes of the world unite. Save 007. I would watch Timothy Dalton on repeat if that is what it takes to save save Bond. Seriously.
But at least Entertainment Weekly is the most illegitimate of the news sources TCD follows and this cover/story cannot be true. Otherwise it would be a disaster the likes of which this world has ever seen. Bond is the greatest thing that happened to movies, MGM, TBS and Spike TV all at the same time. Dudes around the world consider Bond to be a Keystone Species. That is, if the franchise goes, the world is over. So dudes of the world unite. Save 007. I would watch Timothy Dalton on repeat if that is what it takes to save save Bond. Seriously.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Try not to let this bum you out...
...but the missing money is probably lining the pockets of corrupt local politicians or American contractors with personal ties to our government.
Gary Busey
From Letterman in 1990, he was crazy then but not nearly as abstract. I think he's on something in this video:
The Big Picture - Silhouettes
Possibly my favorite The Big Picture set, and that's saying something, as they're pretty much all incredible.
Quote of the day
"It seems like not knowing karate was a much bigger liability in the 80's than it is today."
- Jason Mustian
- Jason Mustian
One Of The Funniest Wikipedia Pages
"Regulate," by Warren G and Nate Dogg is a pretty sweet track. I think the Wikipedia page is better, though. Check it out here and focus in on the "synopsis" section. Try not to laugh.
Natural root bridges in India
These photos, taken in Northeast India, are of natural root bridges that the locals grow. Far out man.
TCD Trivia of the Week (and weak)
There is one incorporated City in the United States from which travelers heading either due North, South, East or West from the city's center would eventually cross into the same neighboring state. In other words, the next state a dude travelling due North from this city would encounter is the same state as a dude travelling due South, due East or due West. Gotcha?
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