Betty White is going to host Saturday Night Live May 8!
So now I’m actually going to watch SNL for the first time in… 8 years? 10? Do I need to go to confession for this before or after the show airs?
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch are also going to be on the show, but I bet Betty’s 10 minute skit will kick everyone else’s butts.
I just saw this on the local news.
“A Mexican Navy helicopter was seen doing surveillance in Starr County. Residents of Falcon Heights… noticed a Mexican helicopter hovering over a home shortly after six o’clock last night. Witnesses say the helicopter hovered for about 15 minutes over a house where a known criminal used to live. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. says, “They had armored individuals in the chopper, open ramp, very military looking, in style and preparation.””
Um… and this was OK? The Mexican Navy is free and clear to send a heavily armed excursion into the United States?
This is the only movie trailer you will ever need to see.
Totally true. Absolutely brilliant.
Created by the guys over at Britanick.
Salmonella is makin’ the rounds this week!
Proctor and Gamble just announced that are… “voluntarily recalling Pringles Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger potato crisps and Pringles Family Faves Taco Night potato crisps as part of an industry ingredient recall to protect consumers from potential Salmonella exposure.”
Fortunately, it only concerns those chips with the following codes…
| Product Name | UPC Code | “Best by” date |
| Pringles Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger, Super Stack Canister, 181 grams | 37000 26936 | 02/2011 04/2011 |
| Pringles Family Faves Taco Night, Super Stack Canister, 181 grams |
37000 26773 | 03/2011 04/2011 05/2011 |
Toss ’em if you have them!
Wait… the same guys that make Charmin, Mr. Clean, Downy and Pampers also make Pringles? Those same Pringles that come in pizza, cheeseburger, jalapeno, and loaded baked potato?
Dude. That’s it. Kettle chips from here on out.
Here’s the link to the FDA recall.
UPDATE: And apparently this recall is about to snowball, but not just on Pringles. A company that makes hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) that’s used in a ton of foodstuff looks like the culprit. Click HERE to read more.
On my road trip last week I had a chance to drive through the same area I saw an abandoned gas station back in November of 2009.
It was beyond ruined now.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 01
The giant roof over the three rusted gas pumps had finally fallen and crushed everything underneath it. Getting closer to the store, I could see the roof apparently came straight down with the support beam pushed out and pointing toward the highway.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 02
I would have thought with the angle the roof and the support beams were leaning on my last visit, the roof would have fallen toward the store or toward the highway. Not straight down like this.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 03
The gas pumps that were once standing had been violently pushed aside…
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 04
…and covered with debris from the upper roof collapse.
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Around the corner, I could see what was left of the top portion of the roof.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 06
Surprisingly, the roof superstructure seemed mostly intact despite the fall. The criss-cross latticework of rusted metal hadn’t reflected much of the impact at all.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 08
The painted over red Texaco sign was smashed on one side, exposing what once illuminated the logo…
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 09
…but the other Texaco signs were completely intact on the other sides of the roof.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 10
The rusted gas pump near the lowest point of the roof’s impact was completely crushed and twisted underneath.
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While the gas pump in the center had been torn off its’ base in the impact.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 14
Although the door to the “Uncle Sam’s” store behind the gas pumps was broken on my last visit, I hadn’t bothered to take a look inside. Since I had a little spare time on this trip, I took a moment to get a few photos…
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 17
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 15
…and saw the interior was completely destroyed. Vandalized would be a better word.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 18
Someone tore apart the inside of this store. The light fixtures were pulled down, the window frames were bent out… pretty much everything that could be broken was broken.
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Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 21
Back behind the beverage doors, some product display notice was inked on the wall around September of 2000. 10 years ago… not really that long for something like this to happen.
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I suspect this is one of the “window liberators” the vandals used.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 23
Even the glass on the periphery of the store was smashed and broken.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 24
Glass was crunching in my soles every step of the way back outside, and it took awhile to get every sliver out from where they had dug into my shoes.
I don’t think I will see this gas station again. At this point, this location is a complete loss, and only a complete demolition will make anything appear at this location again.
Abandoned Gas Station Revisit 20
I was a member of GHOST.CC, a cloud computing site which enabled you to login from their website and access a web-based desktop service.
It was really straightforward. You log in with your username and password…
Ghost.CC 01
..and in a few moments a workspace would appear.
Ghost.CC 02
You could customize it, use it as a web browser, create and work on documents… just like you were connecting an working on another PC.
Ghost.CC was fun, but I just didn’t use it that often. Not when I could connect to my personal PCs and Macs just as easily as I could this service, and retrieve my own documents from my own trusted domains and servers. It was also easier and faster to use a proxy site (or my own proxy server) when I needed to bypass any firewalls.
Last night I finally had a chance to sift through one of my older email accounts and found a notice from GHOST.CC that they are closing down for good March 15th.
From their March 3rd email…
“We hope you have been enjoying our free Ghost service. Regrettably changes in the marketplace mean that it is no longer economical for us to host the Ghost service and we will be closing down the service on or around March 15. We will instead be focusing on licensing or selling our technology to larger companies.
We advise you to migrate ALL important folders, files and emails to another secure place before March 15. You might like to consider Google Docs or Microsoft SkyDrive for files and services such as Gmail or Yahoo! Mail for email. Some instructions for migrating data are included below.
We are really sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and are very grateful for the fantastic support we had from our community.”
Ghost.CC was a great idea, and I did get some good use of it here and there. This was an outstanding technical achievement, and it was integrated very well with every web browser I tried it in. I guess it just wasn’t the time for it. Best of luck in your next endeavor, guys.
This is something I have taped on the edge of my monitor at home.
Warning : Highly appropriate profanity at end.
XKCD - Dreams
A recent article on the BBC says “The US soft drinks industry says it has dramatically cut the number of high-calorie soft drinks sold in US schools as part of a drive to tackle obesity.”
While the article trumpets that “the reduction in sugary soft drinks in schools [was] formed part of a deal between the major companies and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation”, I think it’s a rather strange coincidence that corporate concern for “obesity” is timed with the fact that sugar is now priced at an all time high, with sugar prices jumping “… 12% in the last 12 months and is now 33% higher than the level that prevailed for most of the 2000s.”
To make matters worse, now that sugar is rapidly going up in price, suppliers are hording it, thereby making sugar even more expensive than it needs to be. An article on the Daily Tribune says “Food exporters suspect hoarding of sugar as the main reason for the rocketing price of the commodity and called on government to immediately step in to help avert the collapse of the food export industry due to possible supply manipulation.”
Back in December, I posted an article on how General Mills is cutting sugar in children’s cereals, coincidentally as sugar prices reach 28 year highs. GM saw this problem coming way back then, and now the soda industry is moving on it.
I bet there’s going to be even more drastic sugar reduction in foodstuffs soon. Not because the food industry truly gives a flip about the “obesity epidemic”, but because one of their main ingredients just rocketed by a 28 year high mark in 2009.
I also bet this issue is going to snowball pretty quick in the mainstream. I’ve already noticed a huge price increase on sugar in the supermarket, and if GM and the major soda vendors are cutting sugar content, you can bet the smaller companies are going to start making changes as soon as they can.
I just got a link from Disney where you can view any movie you have purchased on Blu-Ray or DVD anytime online for free!
You can check out the preview page at the Disney Movie Rewards site here.
All you will need is the code in the brochure that is enclosed in each of the Disney Blu-Ray or DVDs you own.
Once you enter the code, the movie you own will be available for viewing!
Right now the movies available are Bedtime Stories, Bolt, Bedtime Stories, A Bug’s Life, G-Force, Hannah Montana – The Movie, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Jonas Brothers 3D Concert, Monsters, Inc., The Nightmare Before Christmas, Race to Witch Mountain, The Tigger Movie and UP.
Disney says more movies will be available for free streaming soon, including The Narnia series, Cars, 101 Dalmations, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean (all 3), Ratatouille, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and The Incredibles (one of my favorites!)
Having the ability to watch any movie my nephew wants to at any time and anywhere we are is a massive bonus. Now I’m probably going to buy more Blu-Rays for him since I know I will be able to watch them online for free. Smart move, Disney!
While you’re on the Disney site, if you haven’t already, take a minute and sign up for the Disney Movie Rewards and key in the same codes you used to view the movies online to get points for free stuff. I got a free “baby Kevin” stuffed toy for my nephew when I bought UP on blu-ray, and he loves it.
Every Monday I like to post some music to start the week off on the right foot.
This week is Ida Maria – I Like You So Much Better When You`re Naked.
And December II Chapter VII – Taken By Cars