Thinking in vain...

The Slinky is packed and ready to go.

Don't worry, I'll let you all know how much he enjoys his new home next Tuesday.

Our production person thought I'd be here forever. I sometimes thought that too... but onward to bigger, better and newer things.

p.s. I also had to give back my laptop... so until my new computer comes, posting will be sporadic or non-existent. But don't worry I will eventually return emails. Besides, I really want to take a stab at that logo.

Sunday Troy-the-GE-Guy decided to put a talk bubble on a photograph of Doug-the-GE-Guy and his son's baseball team that he coached. The bubble said "I like little boys."***

Troy-the-GE-Guy has been out all week. At some point Doug-the-GE-Guy went and got a Teen Beat and proceeded to tape pictures of well, certain people, and other Disney Channel stars all over Troy-the-GE-Guy's bathroom.

Needless to say it was a very interesting morning.

Oh, and The-GE-Guys are taking me out for a going-away lunch. How nice is that???




***Unnecessary Disclaimer: This was all a joke.

That space I leave between me and the car in front of me. On the interstate. When I'm going 70mph. It's so I don't die, not so that you can whip into that space and almost cause a wreck.

****

You wouldn't be riding your breaks so much if you weren't tailgating that poor person.

****

I'd so submit these people's license plates to that website for bad drivers, but for some reason I worry about my karma.

****

Remember the client I was never a fan of?

Well, he was told I was leaving and he goes, "Is it because of me?"

A jerk AND narcissistic.

Perhaps I love this commercial so much because I really, really, really wanted to be able to jump into chalk drawings like they did in Mary Poppins.

So last night at dinner it was brought to my attention that there was going to be a "double moon."

Apparently, according to my source, this is a mirage caused by something I can't remember and the Native Americans sometimes referred to it as a Corn Moon and it signifies the start of Fall.

Needless to say I was psyched. And well.... that's the moon in the photograph. It did appear exceptionally large on the horizon last night (this was about quarter to 10). But unfortunately no double moon.

I've googled it and there are some sites that say it's tonight - and they are pagan in nature. I only found one mention of it scientifically. Of course, I also found out that there was a lunar eclipse last night or rather this morning. Unfortunately when I see eclipse on the 28th I think "oh, it'll start tonight," not that it started at 4am this morning. So I missed that too.

Although, I am crossing my fingers that there *could* be this "double moon" tonight and I'll get to see it.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German left his dead mother seated in her favorite armchair at their shared home for two years because he could not face organizing a funeral, police in the southern town of Fuerstenfeldbruck said Friday.

The woman died of natural causes in the chair in July 2005 at the age of 92, a police spokesman said. A doctor called to the scene at the time gave the son a death certificate but he did not register the death.

Neighbors recently alerted police about the corpse. The man told police he could not bear to move his mother and said he never again entered the room where she was seated. Police have started an investigation for violating German burial law.

Via Oddly Enough

This was the first very quick attempt at capturing Starbucks' new "porch" advertising. I need to get a camera phone - or borrow an iPhone. I suspect it's easier to be stealth about these sorts of things if you can pretend you're doing something else and NOT pulling out an actual camera.

Bear with me. I tried to get all fancy this morning and messed everything up.

Update: Is the orange to light? Too yellow? Hmm.....

Update: Green too ugly? Why is that damn white bar still at the top?

CIA and Vatican edit Wikipedia entries

Someone using a US Senate computer altered a profile of veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas to complain she "interrupts" and is annoying.

Via The Sydney Morning Herald

Starving Snakes Eat Their Hearts Out

Aug. 20, 2007 — Certain snakes can survive without food for two years at a time, but not without paying a physical price, according to a new study that found some snake species will actually digest their own hearts and grow bigger heads to broaden prey options during periods of famine.

The study, which will be published in next month's issue of Zoology, is the first ever to examine starvation physiology in snakes.

Author Marshall McCue, a researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas, thinks intense snake hunger may even explain some of the more outrageous snake stories from recent years.

"Severe hunger might make snakes take greater risks than otherwise," said McCue, who then mentioned "last year's photos of the Everglades python eating the alligator and then lethally 'popping' open, or stories of escaped pet snakes eating unusual objects, like unused light bulbs."

For his study, McCue put 20 ball pythons, 22 ratsnakes and 20 western diamondback rattlesnakes through 168 days of starvation. Weight and other measurements were taken at regular intervals. After the 168 days, McCue chemically euthanized each snake and pureed it in a blender in order to better conduct chemical analysis.

At the 168th day, the snakes lost 9.3 to 24.4 percent of their initial body mass. They also reduced their energy expenditures by an average of 80 percent over the test period. McCue told Discovery News that the snakes usually were sedentary, wrapped up in provided "hide boxes," and only explored their environments when they thought a potential food source was around.

Measurements revealed the snakes actually grew longer during the fast. Growth especially was noticed in the head.

"Larger head bones mean that they can choose from a wider range of potential prey items," he said, noting that snakes cannot chew and therefore must be able to swallow whole animals.

The chemical analysis determined the snakes break down saturated fatty acids into polyunsaturated fats by "picking off bits of hydrogen for energy."

Intestinal fat, which he likened to "belly fat" in humans, as well as fatty liver tissues were among the first to be targeted. As a byproduct, water formed in the snakes' bodies, causing them to "bloat" by around 7 percent.

Then the snakes would digest their own heart muscle.

The heart breakdown initially surprised McCue, but he said it is reasonable given that "the lower energy expenditure allows lower circulatory demands, and therefore permits the heart organ to shrink."

Immediately following a nutritious meal, the snake hearts can quickly rebuild themselves.

Aaron Rundus, a University of Nebraska researcher who has also studied snakes, said he was surprised to learn snakes can survive without eating for up to two years, but, "I completely believe it, and the physiological mechanisms make sense given how successful these reptiles are at surviving under the worst of conditions."

Rundus explained to Discovery News that snakes are "ambush hunters," as opposed to "strategists," so they must wait for incredibly long periods before an unsuspecting victim may cross their paths.

McCue hopes future studies on snake starvation will lead to treatments that can increase food deprivation tolerance in other animals, including humans.

Via discovery.com

Aw, that's just not nice at all. I heart that gecko.

Via the caveman's crib (the after-party).

I thought I bought those little mini-bags of popcorn and didn't realize until after I popped it and started eating it that I bought the regular size.

And yes, you all needed to know that.

I went the back way to the airport yesterday (my sister was returning her rental car and I was helping in this transition) on our way I saw a VERY large yellow sign (picture soon, hopefully) with "Save Countryside" and a blogspot address under it.

I'm still over there trying to figure out their purpose and what's been going on - but I thought the sign was a great idea.

Oh, news on that protester. Seems her signs are now advocating for a hernia specialist. As suggested before, a blog is a good thing for her too. She could just hold up signs with the address.

Got this through the mail, let's just say "cool" wasn't the first thing I thought of when I saw the exclamation point.

But I'm intrigued now, so I may go.

Today is the intern's last day.

The GE guys had actually bought caution tape to use in some sort of prank on him. They wouldn't tell me what they were going to do.

Once I got the card, I told them they couldn't touch him and they told me I was too nice.

Oh, and he's now a fan of the pen tool.

It's probably not a good idea to ask me to spot you while you try to bench press 215lbs.

No worries, I didn't kill him, but my arms hurt.

While watching LA Ink last night I thought I saw a commercial for the new caveman series... or so I thought, the commercial was like a bad high school home movie of drunk cavemen at a party pointing you to cavemanscrib.com.

All I can say is I hate that effect where you grab the corner of a page and they want you to pretend like you're reading a magazine. Stop it... even if you know how it works it doesn't.

I'd never seen this commercial before, but it appears the sites been around a long time. Which makes me wonder why the hell I saw it.

Jetpacks sent me a GREAT 1970's PSA for escalator safety... You must respect the escalator!

Medeco Readies Assembly-Line Fix for DefCon Lock Hack...

Damn. I worked at Medeco for about 9 - 10 months helping convert their product catalog to digital files while I was in college. I remember thinking it was so cool when I was watching Law & Order once and they mentioned Medeco locks and how they were pick-proof.

Hope they fix this...

Tried a new sushi restaurant, aptly named Wasabi. This is where my friend, Richard, described wasabi as... a nose orgasm.

That is where I almost choked on the sip of water I had just taken.

Apparently Kevin Smith movies are not as big in Japan as maybe they should be.

This could lead to trouble... ;)

"Listen, not a year goes by, not a year, that I don't hear about some escalator accident involving some bastard kid which could have easily been avoided had some parent - I don't care which one - but some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator."

Can't fear the escalator if you make it look like a toy. Although, it is kinda pretty.

Via AdPulp, via flickr member aapglobal

I have never read a Harry Potter book - but I have seen the movies and I enjoy them.

I don't know if this is new or just new to me, but I loved it. I haven't had the time to watch all of them, but I'll get around to it.

p.s. It's about 8 minutes long...

To the person who was looking for the "giraffe headed-pig photo:"

If you ever find it, I hope you come back and post a link because I'm intrigued... and I couldn't find it either.

So I had to photoshop a scoreboard this morning. One of our clients wanted to put an ad in the local high school's sports program because they just finished building the new stadium.

And no lie, I just had an argument about what the scoreboard said. I showed it to our freelancer and she didn't think that having it say that the home team was on the 3rd down with 10 yards to go in the 4th quarter was a good idea because it shows that they didn't get very far. And I actually let myself be sucked into an argument about a hypothetical game. By the way, the home team is winning by two touchdowns, so I think they'll win the game no matter what.

I think I need to take a 15 minute break.

I can't help it - it's ridiculous and he has a British accent.

Saw the new AT&T commercial for their new broadband card. There's a British guy in a hole and in the middle of a lake demonstrating how you can now get internet anywhere. I laughed so hard.

I need to figure out a way to record these commercials because it's not on YouTube yet as far as I can tell.

I suppose I'm not the targeted demographic which seems to be young males, maybe that's why it freaks me out.





More here as they have a youtube account specifically for the campaign.

One of my favorite bands just "fired" their drummer.

This is an odd development. Although, their announcement to their fans was very nicely written... even if the PR people did tend toward the melodramatic. Era? Spiritual member? The cause? Really?

See what y'all think.

It is with a sad and heavy heart that we are announcing the band's extremely difficult decision to part ways with our longtime percussionist, and founding member of Carbon Leaf, Scott Milstead.

It has been a long, rewarding road full of memorable shows and great times making music together, but the time has come for some changes that we're confident will lead to greater happiness and fulfillment for all 5 of us going forward.

Scott is our brother and we love him dearly. He is forever a spiritual member of Carbon Leaf who has devoted his life and passion for music to the cause, and we are thankful for an unforgettable era.

We know this is a shock to the people that make Carbon Leaf possible - the fans - and we ask for your continued support and enthusiasm for the band as we look forward to envisioning Carbon Leaf for the road ahead.

A Jesus stain... I think it was a slow news day yesterday.

Watch video (Link launches Windows Media Player)

Read transcript

Heard about this on a local morning show - best part was that the parents have used the stain to help discipline their children.

Why can't I ever find stuff like this??

With all the crap they feed chickens now - wait, you know, forget that. Knowing my luck I'd open the egg and find a two-headed chicken.

Great, now I've grossed myself out...

Egg within egg a freak of nature

(click for bigness)

New claims that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper contains a hidden image of a woman holding a child are provoking a storm of interest on the internet.

The figure allegedly appears when the 15th Century mural painting is superimposed with its mirror image, and both are made partially transparent.

(The title was sarcasm - my sister has her art history degree)

From the Telegraph UK, via Coast to Coast AM

Cingular/At&T has a new version of the "Battle" commercial.

At first I didn't like it - but then I saw it again last night and I've changed my mind... it's as awesome as the first.

If I find it I'll post it.

I also can't find the new back-to-school Best Buy commercials which I want to share because they are great. As you can tell, I watch a lot of TV and unfortunately YouTube is not cooperating with me to bring you all the commercials I get to see.