As a follow-up to an earlier post, Joanna Meets Stephen Cobeagle The Eagle, I thought I'd share this video with you. Oshawa mayor John Gray concedes defeat at the loss of his city's team, the Generals against Saginaw's Spirit, and declares March 20th forever Stephen Colbert Day.
A photographer known as Stuck in Customs has put together a collection of some outstanding photos on his Flickr page. These images are simply stunning and well worth a look.
(link)
It may seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but robotic parking garages are becoming reality. In February, New York will get its first automatic garage in Chinatown.
The fully automatic parking process will allow 67 vehicles to squeeze into a space only 24 cars could be parked manually. Cars will drive on to a pallet which will, like an elevator, slide up and down, but also sideways. The only human on-site will be an attendant who will collect your money.
Robotic parking garages first appeared, where else, in Japan.
The entire article from AP can be read here.
A Ukrainian online gamer is facing up to 15 years in prison for stomping a fellow gamer to death in central Moscow after bad blood in a virtual world spilled over into the real one, prosecutors said.
Alexander Ponamorenko, a Ukrainian citizen known for his prowess in the popular online role-playing game Lineage II, has been arrested and charged with the beating death of Alexander Blyoskin, 22, who had tried to break-up a real-life argument between Ponamorenko and his online nemesis, said Olga Tatarinova, a senior investigator with the Basmanny District Prosecutor's Office.
Read the rest of the article at the Moscow Times here.
If you watched Monday's episode of the Daily Show, you might have seen Jon Stewart interview Microsoft Founder Bill Gates for the launch of the new operating system Vista. At the end of the interview, Gates abruptly stood up and walked off the set. This video shows what really happened.
I received the following letter in my email this morning from US Senator Barack Obama.
Dear Zachery,
Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007: Today, we sadly find ourselves at the very point in Iraq I feared most when I opposed giving the President the open-ended authority to wage this war in 2002 – an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences in the midst of a country torn by civil war.
We have waited and we have been patient. We have given chance after chance for a resolution that has not come, and, more importantly, watched with horror and grief the tragic loss of thousands of brave young Americans.
The time for waiting in Iraq is over. The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close. And the need to bring this war to an end is here.
That is why today, I’m introducing the Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007. This plan would not only place a cap on the number of troops in Iraq and stop the escalation, it would begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces with the goal of removing of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by March 31st, 2008 – consistent with the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that the President ignored.
The redeployment of troops to the United States , Afghanistan , and elsewhere in the region would begin no later than May 1st of this year, toward the end of the timeframe I first proposed in a speech more than two months ago. In a civil war where no military solution exists, this redeployment remains our best leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions that can slow the bloodshed and promote stability.
The U.S. military has performed valiantly and brilliantly in Iraq . Our troops have done all we have asked them to do and more. But no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else’s civil war, nor settle the grievances in the hearts of the combatants.
When it comes to the war in Iraq, the time for promises and assurances, for waiting and patience, is over. Too many lives have been lost and too many billions have been spent for us to trust the President on another tried and failed policy opposed by generals and experts, Democrats and Republicans, Americans and even the Iraqis themselves.
It is time to change our policy.
It is time to give Iraqis their country back.
And it is time to refocus America ’s efforts on the challenges we face at home and the wider struggle against terror yet to be won.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Barack Obama
If Hooters slept with Starbucks, their love child would be Cowgirls Espresso, a chain of coffee stands in the Seattle area. You'll have your coffee served up hot by an attendant wearing skimpy lingerie. Apparently Cowgirls Espresso is not the only place where the only thing hotter than the coffee are the attendants. There are a number of stands that use a little skin to get a leg up on their competition. For the article, click here.
Fetus in fetu happens very early in a twin pregnancy, when one fetus wraps around and envelops the other. The tiny twin forms an umbilical like structure feeding of the dominant fetus. This man lived with this parasite inside of him for 36 years! Read the full article here.
Although this is not new, this interview from January 2006 is worth reading. Steve talks about everything from being Steve Carell's (the Office) understudy to how truthiness is tearing the country apart. See the full interview from the A.V. Club here.
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
--© Warner Bros.
This short mockumentary shed's a little light as to why our President hasn't been known as a great speaker - it's all in the speech-writing. This is worth the watch - it's about five minutes long.
Not all of you will remember the collectible trading cards, the Garbage Pail Kids. Topps originally released the cards as parody to Cabbage Patch Kids back in 1985. Each card was a sticker and featured a character experiencing some unpleasant malady or in a funny situation and was paired with a clever sounding name. I happen to have, taped to the wall at my desk, a card featuring "Warrin' Warren" - a Rambo-esque lad carrying a variety of weaponry.
Fans of the pair known as Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively) will be delighted to see that the two have had their very own card modled after them. Well, sort of.
It appears that the alternative and graffiti magazine While You Were Sleeping featured the duo on a Garbage Pail Kid inspired magazine cover. Unforatunetly, the magazine doesn't appear to be around any longer, so I could not investigate this matter any further. If you have any information about the Jay and Silent Bob issue, or the magazine itself, please let me know.
The folks over at B3TA have posted the results of a recent contest they ran. There are a number of companies out there who have subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) hidden images in their logos which, at a second glance, could be interpreted to have a hidden meaning. Some of these are so obvious, it makes you wonder how they ever got chosen to represent the company in the first place! My favorite is the first place winner, the Brazilian Institute for Oriental Studies. Check them out here
This weekend, I was treated to a pleasant surprise. It seems the folks at Anheuser-Busch started to making some of their beers available in aluminum bottles back in November. These cool new bottles have a sleek look to them, but even better, they will help to keep your beer colder for up to 50 minutes! The beer inside tasted the same, but these blue bottles kept my suds at a frosty temerature that was good to the last drop.
Budweiser is not the first to use an aluminum bottle for their brew. Pennsylvania brewer Pittsburgh Brewing Company appears to have first introduced their Iron City beer in an aluminum bottle back in August 2004. The company produced 20,000 bottles which were sold out the same day they shipped!
You can find these aluminum bottles at high-end clubs and bars along with your local convince store.
For more information on aluminum beer bottles, click here.
This is just sick, and it's not the first story like this that I have read. Health officials in Cheshire Township, Michigan have discovered a trailer shared by a mother, daughter and their 66 pets. The trailer has been reported to be covered completely with feces and urine-so bad that the pet owners have gotten used to their lower bodies being caked over with the pet-filth.
The trailer, which had no heat or running water, was in such bad shape that officials figure it will have to be demolished. In order to keep warm, the women would wear heavy coats while shared a bed, which like every other surface of the home, is littered with animal waste.
The pair of women claim they started out with only 4 dogs, and soon were just overwhelmed by their breeding. Local veterinarians removed the animals from the house over a period of a few days. The dogs and cats ranged in ages from a few days to a few years old. Two Holland-area veterinarians who cleaned and examined the animals said most appeared to be in good health.
(link to original article)
As I was browsing the Net this weekend, stumbling upon one random site after another, scouring for all the best pictures and articles to share with you, I came across Anti-Monkey Butt Powder.
Nobody wants to be stuck with Monkey Butt, right? This great product is great for all the 'butt-busting' activities you might enjoy, like horseback, motorcycle and bicycle riding and will help absorb that nasty 'butt-sweat' and prevent chafing Even if you do nothing but sit on your butt all day long, Anti-Monkey Butt Powder will help you feel fresh and relieve pain and itching due to rashes.
If you are tired from suffering from Monkey Butt, I don't want to here about it. Get yourself a can today!
Hey there you Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game junkies! If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings, you might want to check out this deal over at Turbine. They are offering beta keys for all players who pre-order The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar.
The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ is the world's first and only MMOG based on the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. Players can experience the most famous fantasy world of all time, exploring and adventuring their heroes through the vast reaches of Middle-earth in the fight against the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron.
As if there aren't already enough reasons not to shop at Wal-Mart, head over to Wal-Mart Crime Reports and check to see just how safe your local Wal-Mart really is. Here's a couple of facts from the site:
* Wal-Mart stores analyzed do experience a high rate of criminal/police incidents;
* Based on a sample of “high incident” Wal-Mart stores, Wal-Mart stores experience a much higher rate of reported criminal/police incidents than nearby Target stores;
* National estimates indicate that almost 1 million criminal/police incidents occurred at Wal-Mart stores in 2004 – or 2 criminal/police incidents per minute in 2004;
* Wal-Mart could implement roving security patrols at all stores nation-wide at an estimated cost of 4 cents a customer visit.
Be sure to check it out and read the full report.
This link will take you to a collection of photos in which you will see some very unusual statues.
Head on over to haha.nu and check out this gallery from Canadian Painter Rob Gonsalves.
Yep, that there is none other than Stephen Cobeagle the Eagle standing right next to my wife. Last night, Joanna and I headed up to the Dow Events Center in Saginaw Michigan to watch the Ontario Hockey League's Saginaw Spirit take on the Oshawa Generals. The OHL is a junior league consisting of 20 teams made up of players from the age of 15 to the age of 20. This wasn't just any hockey match that we were headed to see - this was an extravaganza, and not just because it was Joanna's Birthday, although we did have fun pretending that it was all for her birthday celebration.
Unknown to us at the time, next week is the beginning of the OHL All Star Classic. Apparently this is quite a big event in the OHL, as last night's game began with a bang as the Saginaw High School marching band preformed outside of the arena as a fantastic arrangement of fireworks burst into the night sky behind them.The arena was crowded by hundreds of Spirit Fans come to cheer their team on. The Spirit are currently positioned in second place on the OHL Western Division.
Truth be told, we didn't really care much about watching the hockey game. The real reason Joanna and I had come to Saginaw had to do with Stephen Colbert. Fans of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report might remember on his January 16th show, Colbert revealed he had a bone to pick with the Generals, because in an earlier game, the Generals had tossed teddy bears on to the ice as part of their annual Teddy Bear Toss. Colbert felt that this was a personal attack against him, as any true fan would be able to tell you that Colbert suffers from a life long fear of bears. He did not suggest that we toss copies of GM's Annual report (the Generals take the name of their sponsor, General Motors) the on ice, rather Colbert informed us that a link on his website would take us right to the report, and that "CTRL-P is print". Joanna bought tickets the very next day, and I printed out to copies of the report to bring with us. I even made Joanna a "I love Colbert" tee-shirt.
We were a bit concerned when we first arrived, for a voice on the over-head PA system warned the crowd that anyone caught in the act of throwing anything on to the ice would be escorted out of the building. Our fears were soon proved to be all for naught, for not very long into the first period, the Saginaw Spirit scored against the Oshawa Generals and we saw the first copy of the GM Report sail through the air and land on the ice. Several more people threw their reports down to the floor and I'm proud to say that, once we saw no one was getting arrested, we joined in. All in all, somewhere between a dozen and twenty copies lay strewn about on the ice.
We didn't stay around much longer than that. There was no need to-we didn't come for the game, we came for the GM Report tossing-we came for Stephen Colbert. It did, however, matter to us who won, so we listened to the rest of the game on the drive home. Colbert appeared on the big screen TV above the ice just before the team skated on the ice. It was a replay of a segment from the previous night's show. On it, Stephen announced that he and Oshawa's Mayor John Gray had entered into a challenge. If the Generals were to win the game, Colbert would be required to wear the opposing General's jersey for one entire broadcast. Colbert was quick to point out that it was he who would choose the show and told us he might even pick a re-run. If the Spirit were to win, Mayor Gray would declare March 20th Stephen Colbert Day. Gray had first suggested that the new holiday take place on the birthday of Colbert, but Colbert upped the ante by demanding the day take place on Gray's birthday instead. In one of the greatest moments of Junior League hockey, fans of the Colbert Report celebrated around the Nation as the Spirit ended the game as victors, the final score 5 to 4, thus insuring that Stephen Colbert Day is now an official holiday, at least in one Ontario city.
For more photos from the game, click here.
These are some of the most amazing chalk drawings you will ever see, created by artist Julian Beever. Many of his works of art are available for you to view here
You've probably seen the Amazing Sidewalk Art on the 'Net before - you know, the pictures drawn right on to city side walks that look like you could walk right into them?
Take a look at these amazing works of art this artist paints onto the walls of this home. I don't think that it's the same artist, but the style is quite similar. This guy is a master of perspective. These paintings truly add depth to the rooms and look real!
Remember watching Saturday morning cartoons when you were a kid? It's not the same nowadays, is it? If you miss the good ol' days, check out this video clip for a commercial which aired regularly back when I was a kid - it might bring back memories, or at least a hankerin' for a hunk of cheese!
With all the modern advances in technology, there are bound to be a few marvelous creations which forever change the way we live our lives. While I have yet to surmise whether the creation of a Blog could indeed be called marvelous, one thing is for certain, Blogs are everywhere these days, as are Bloggers, those techno-savy people who read and write them.
With all the advances, we have so many choices to communicate with one another. Email, text-messages, mobile phones-most everybody I know uses at least one these means to communicate with the people that are important to them.
In 2007, I challenge you to become a Blogger. Subscribe to Zack's Corner of the Net and use it to keep in touch. Check in with what's going on in my life, and if you have something to share, by all means, send it to me and I'll see that it gets posted here for all the world to see, whether it is a recipe, a photo or anything else. The only catch is, I have to like it, so make it good!
