Monthly Archives: February 2011

Revolutionary Lightsaber War – Color Corrected!

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So there I was, looking at old archive images I got off the internet when I re-found this classic somebody made.

ModifiedTrumbull


It’s a clever take on the Death Of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton painting.

OriginalTrumbull


But whoever did the original made the British the “good guys” with the green lightsabers!

So I quickly ran a clean copy of the Death Of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton painting through Photoshop myself…

RevolutionaryLightsaberWar-Trumbull


…and history looks much better!

If you click on it, you can get a higher-res version through Flickr.

Oh, and just for fun, I made another version…

RevolutionaryLightsaberWar-Trumbull-B


Redcoats get red Lightsabers.

Some of MMR’s top selling food items for 2010 (AKA the foodie Oscars)

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Going through my monthly reading pile, I finally got to the MMR “food and beverage report” for 2010. (AKA all of the top selling food items of 2010)

Why Food Network misses out on a “foodie Oscars” report is beyond me. I’m also surprised the “winners” aren’t plastering this information all over their products to boost sales.

MMR has all these categories in their report…

  • Cookies
  • Beer (domestic)
  • Ice Cream
  • Bottled Water
  • Potato Chips
  • Frozen Dinners (single)
  • Lunch Meat (refrigerated sliced)
  • Frozen Pizza
  • Crackers (all)
  • Whole Milk (refrigerated)
  • Natural Shredded Cheese
  • Natural Cheese Chunks
  • Ground Coffee
  • Tortilla/Tostada Chips
  • Baby Formula (powder)
  • Bacon (refrigerated)
  • Candy (chocolate > 3.5 oz)
  • Snack Nuts
  • Sports Drinks (non aseptic)
  • Beer (domestic sub premium)
  • Wet Soup
  • Frozen Dinner Entrees (multi)
  • Tortillas / Taco Kits
  • Frozen Entrees (non breakfast)
  • Sugarless Gum
  • Salted Snacks (no nuts)
  • Condensed Wet Soup
  • Chocolate Candy (< 3.5 oz)
  • Cooking and Salad oils
  • Energy Drinks (non aseptic)
  • Natural Cheese Slices
  • Granola Bars
  • Refrigerated Breakfast Sausage / Ham
  • Non-chocolate Chewy Candy
  • Baby Food / Snacks
  • Bottled Fruit Drinks
  • Milk (skim / lowfat refrigerated)
  • Cereal (ready to eat)
  • Bread (fresh)
  • Table Wine
    •

    … but I’m only going to go over a few.

    To start off with, the top selling cookies in 2010 were… CHIPS AHOY. (Dammit! Oreos were robbed again!)

    01TopCookies


    Next up, the top selling domestic premium beer in 2010 was… BUD LIGHT.

    02TopBeerDomesticPremium


    The top selling potato chips in 2010 were… LAYS.

    03TopChips


    Next up, the top selling frozen pizza in 2010 was… DI GIORNO.

    04TopFrozPizza


    The top selling ground coffee in 2010 was… FOLGERS (Starbucks was #3? Seattle’s Best was #9? Buuuuuurn).

    05TopCoffee


    Next up, the top selling tortilla chip in 2010 was… DORITOS. (Oh hell no! Santitas kicks Doritos ass 24-7)

    06TopTortillaChips


    The top selling candy > 3.5 oz in 2010 was… M&Ms.

    08TopCandyChoc>3.5oz


    Next up, the top selling candy < 3.5 oz in 2010 was… M&Ms again.

    09TopChocCandy<3.5oz


    The top selling energy drink in 2010 was… RED BULL (Rockstar white is awesome, but Red Bull is a classic.)

    10TopEnergDrink


    And finally, the top selling cereal in 2010 was… HONEY NUT CHEERIOS (Hey! Where’s my Cocoa Puffs? Not even in the top 10?)

    12TopCereal


    If you want to read the full report on everything, head over to MMR and order the January 10th 2011 issue. They offer back issue PDF and “snail mail” versions on their site.

    RT Tuesdays : 02/08/11

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    Every Tuesday I re-post all zee tweets that didn’t originate from this blog just to keep everything in sync.

    This week on Twitter…

    • Movie question: When has screaming WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS at a bad guy made them stop, drop their weapon and go “Geez I’m glad you asked.” (Feb 7 via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Diet Zen #2: Waiting for the “perfect” moment to act on something you’ve always wanted is like waiting for superpowers before doing good. (Feb 7 via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Diet Zen: Waiting for the “perfect” moment to act on something you’ve always wanted is like waiting for a fire to become a firefighter. (Feb 7 via Twitter for iPhone)
    • @nbccommunity FLAC, the auralwizard. Surrounded by faint music shield for +3 oblivious. Can infect with earworm on 10+ roll #communityDnD (Feb 7 via Twitter for iPhone)
    • @nytimes: what do I think of the #superbowl? The teams belong. The commercials shouldn’t have made it past the division playoffs. #nytsb. (6:18 PM Feb 6th via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Drunken rambling or 80s song: “Fire in the ice, naked to the T-bone / Is a lover’s disguise, banging on the head drum”: 80s! (1:47 PM Feb 6th via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Diet Zen: 5 billion years ago none of the parts that would eventually become us were on this planet. Some people still aren’t all here. (1:46 PM Feb 6th via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Why does sudden hyper-awareness of my own mortality come around 3 am when I can’t sleep? Come again at noon! And bring a double whopper. (2:13 AM Feb 6th via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Bumper sticker from the future: “Lose weight the Guantanamo way! Ask me how!” (4:56 PM Feb 5th via Twitter for iPhone)
    • @KelleeMaize The #ff stands for “Follow Friday”. Every Friday, some people post who they think everyone should follow. Congratulations! (12:27 AM Feb 5th via Twitter for iPhone in reply to KelleeMaize)
    • It’s snowing in south Padre Island right now http://bit.ly/i7YBAA #Firsttimeforeverything (8:36 AM Feb 3rd via web)
    • Supposed Mubarak supporters were actually his security forces. Rode into the crowd on horses and attacked with whips. http://bit.ly/g6j1U4 (2:11 PM Feb 2nd via bitty)
    • @nytimes: #Egypt update, day 9: Pro-Mubarak forces turn out. http://nyti.ms/fIJygK – just now? Did they have to take a bus in? (8:00 AM Feb 2nd via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Rolling blackouts are real. Several city blocks are now in the dark. Mine included. #texasrollingblackouts (7:57 AM Feb 2nd via Twitter for iPhone)
    • Blackouts to hit Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Abilene and the Rio Grande Valley. @ http://bit.ly/hoZbQB (7:23 AM Feb 2nd via bitly)
    • Texas Electric Reliability Council just ordered rotating blackouts across the state. State power demand too much. @ http://bit.ly/hiFBHJ (7:21 AM Feb 2nd via bitty)

    Photos of the February 2011 Texas Valley freeze [photos]

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    Just some quick photos of the big freeze here in the Texas valley. It doesn’t look like much compared to what I’ve seen when I lived in Dallas and Oklahoma, but to the original residents of the valley, this is epic.

    2011 texas Valey Freeze 01 photo


    All car windshields were iced over.

    2011 texas Valey Freeze 02 photo


    Hats to cover your head with? Gone (@ the local WalMart).

    2011 texas Valey Freeze 03 photo


    Gloves? Nothing but one or two non-insulated work gloves left (again @ the local WalMart).

    2011 texas Valey Freeze 04 photo


    Ice scrapers in the Texas valley do not exist. The closest things you can use are putty knives or hard rubber squeegees (and both of those were sold out.)

    2011 texas Valey Freeze 05 photo


    We’re due for one more day of freezing weather, but this weekend we’re back in the 60s and the coming week is forecast for low 70s.

    Hugh Jackman says he does look like Clint Eastwood

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    Way back in November 2010, my gorgeous wife noticed that Hugh Jackman looks a lot like a young Clint Eastwood.

    Eastwood and Jackman

    Eastwood and Jackman

    Today Hugh Jackman said he noticed that too in an interview with Geoff Boucher of the LA Times.

    ———

    GB: How much you weighing?

    HJ: Right now, I’m at 210.

    GB: Wow, so you’re going to be bigger this time? Last time, you looked about, what, 190?

    HJ: Yeah, right, I was 190, something like that. I don’t know how much I want to give away about it, but Darren said with the last one, ‘Hey you looked great, but you’re so tall that in those long shots you looked kind of like Clint Eastwood, and that’s not Wolverine.” He said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky, you know, he’s short and thick. So he said, ‘I want you to go there, get bigger.’ He’s going to come down after he gets done with all the black-tie events over and done with.

    ———

    I said Hollywood needs to remake “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” with Hugh Jackman as the Man With No Name back in November. Any bets on how long it will take the studios catch on they’re sitting on a blockbuster with Jackman?

    RT Tuesdays : 02/01/11**

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    Every Tuesday (** and occasionally on a Wednesday!) I re-post all zee tweets that didn’t originate from this blog just to keep everything in sync.

    This week on Twitter…

    • No home in the Texas valley has a chimney / fireplace. This cold front with a 5 degree wind chill is gonna kick a lot of asses down here. (2 Feb)
    • Wrapping the pipes. To keep them from freezing. In the Texas valley. #firsttimeforeverything (1 Feb)
    • Prince Royce? There’s a real Prince Royce? If i knew you could copyright a name I woulda done mine years ago! http://yfrog.com/h0bditj (31 Jan)

    Prince Royce?

    Prince Royce?


    Anti Monkey-Butt

    Anti Monkey-Butt


    • Happy happy happy happy birthday to my gorgeous and brilliant wife!! (30 Jan)
    • @melissakchan Melissa Chan – In US: Dish Network and DirecTV temporarily airing Al Jazeera. It can be found on channel 9410 on Dish Network and 375 on DirecTV. (30 Jan)
    • Is it me or is the US pulling a Don King with Egypt? “We’ve always been big fans and supporters of the winner! Yes indeed!” (28 Jan)
    • Diet zen: Some men just want to watch the world burn. Far too many men also like to sit on their butts and just bitch about it happening. (26 Jan)
    • Drove by a nursing home with a locked gate and a barbed wire fence all around it. Adding Geritol and Metamucil to my grocery list. (26 Jan)

    Rolling blackouts for Texas

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    I tweeted this but wanted to drop into the blog too. WFAA and The Monitor say “the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — which manages much of the state’s electric grid — ordered rotating blackouts across the state to cope with heightened demand for power.”

    Blackouts are going to hit Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Abilene and the Rio Grande Valley soon. Blackouts should only last 30 minutes or so (yeah, right!).