FreekBoi's Random Thoughts

Coming Soon

2010-06-21T20:59:00.002-04:00

After a LOOOOONG hiatus, FreekBoi's Random Thoughts will be making a comeback, complete with newly revamped layout, content and all the randomness you've come to love and enjoy. So bear with us for just a little bit as we blow the dust off the old archives, sort through the mess, update the system and just generally try to get a handle on things for the newly renovated Grand Opening. Thanks, management.

Zombies!

2009-03-26T23:39:00.001-04:00

My house is situated on a hill with a nice view of the surrounding territory in a sparsely populated area, so I'd probably just sit tight and pick the zombies off as they come, and hope to ride out the zombie apocalypse until help comes.

Scientists Create World's Smallest Bowl of "Ramen"

2008-06-07T22:38:00.003-04:00

Ok, I am of the biggest fans of ramen noodles in the world, so when my wife saw this story she just had to send it to me. Japanese scientists have created what they are calling the world's smallest noodle bowl, complete with a microscopic string of inedible "noodles" using nanotube technology. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Japanese scientists create microscopic noodle bowl

TOKYO - Japanese scientists say they have used cutting-edge technology to create a noodle bowl so small it can be seen only through a microscope.

Mechanical engineering professor Masayuki Nakao said Thursday he and his students at the University of Tokyo used a carbon-based material to produce a noodle bowl with a diameter 1/25,000 of an inch in a project aimed at developing nanotube-processing technology.

The Japanese-style ramen bowl was carved out of microscopic nanotubes, Nakao said.

Nanotubes are tube-shaped pieces of carbon, measuring about one-ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright AP Photo/The Nakao Hamaguchi Laboratory of the University of Tokyo, HO.

New York Eatery Offers $175 Burger

2008-05-22T09:46:00.008-04:00

The Wall Street Burger Shoppe has recently raised it price on it's most expensive burger up to $175, making it the most expensive hamburger in the city. The pricey piece of meat includes Kobe beef, black truffles, and even edible gold leaf on the bun. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

$175 burger: you want gold with that?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Its creators admit it is the ultimate in decadence: a $175 hamburger.

The Wall Street Burger Shoppe just raised its price from $150 to assure its designation as the costliest burger in the city as determined by Pocket Change, an online newsletter about the most expensive things in New York.

"Wall Street has good days and bad days. We wanted to have the everyday burger (for $4) ... and then something special if you really have a good day on Wall Street," said co-owner Heather Tierney.

The burger, created by chef and co-owner Kevin O'Connell, seeks to justify its price with a Kobe beef patty, lots of black truffles, seared foie gras, aged Gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms and flecks of gold leaf on a brioche bun.

The eatery sells 20 or 25 per month in the fine dining room upstairs versus hundreds of $4 burgers each day at the diner counter downstairs, Tierney said.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright Brendan McDermid/Reuters.

Uruguay Hosts World's Biggest Barbecue

2008-04-14T10:05:00.005-04:00

The small South American country of Uruguay has set a new world record, for hosting the world's biggest barbecue, using over 6 tons of charcoal and grilling up 26,400 pounds of beef. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Uruguay sizzles up one big barbecue

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - One of South America's smallest countries proved on Sunday it can hold the biggest barbecue in the world.

Some 1,250 Uruguayan grillmeisters sizzled up 26,400 pounds (12,000 kilograms) of beef Sunday, beating a 2006 record set in Mexico.

"It's all so beautiful. It's a record," Guinness World Records judge Danny Girton said after the chefs, in white hats and aprons, smoked and barbecued their way into the record book with help of 6 tons of charcoal and 1,500 metal barbecue stands.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez.

French Mayor Tells Locals Not to Die

2008-03-06T22:22:00.003-05:00

A mayor in the French village of Sarpourenx has told locals that if they don't already have a plot in the overcrowded local cemetery not to die, adding that "Offenders will be severely punished". The weird thing is, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. Way back in December of 2005 I blogged about a mayor of a Brazilian town trying to ban locals from dying due to its cemetery being full (blog post here: Mayor Wants to Ban Death) Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

French mayor tells locals not to die

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them.

In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish".

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished".

Link to the full story.

RIP: Gary Gygax

2008-03-04T17:08:00.002-05:00

Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and a man viewed as the father of the role-playing game, has died this morning at his home at the age of 69. As a geek and a gamer myself, I can say that this is a sad day for all RPGers. May he rest in peace. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Dungeons & Dragons co-creator dies at 69

MILWAUKEE - Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gail Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.

Link to the full story.

Man Takes Bullet to Get Out of Work

2008-03-03T17:38:00.002-05:00

Ok, I've heard of faking a sick day to get some time off, but getting your friend to shoot you? That's definitley a new one. That's exactly what a man in Washington did. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Police: Man gets shot to avoid work

PASCO, Wash. - What happened to faking a cough? Sheriff's detectives in Franklin County said a man had his friend shoot him in the shoulder so he wouldn't have to go to work.

When he first spoke with deputies, Daniel Kuch, of Pasco, told them he'd been the victim of a drive-by shooting while he was out jogging Thursday. But detectives told KONA radio that Kuch later acknowledged that he asked his friend to shoot him so he could get some time off work and avoid an upcoming drug test.

Link to the full story.

Chicago Bar to Offer Hot Wings Made From One of World's Hottest Peppers

2008-01-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap in Chicago is going to begin selling Buffalo Wings coated in one of the world's hottest peppers. According to the story, the wing sauce will be made with Red Savina peppers, which according to Wikipedia "have been measured as high as 580,000 Scoville units. For comparison, this is twice as hot as a regular habanero pepper (100,000–350,000 Scoville units), and 65 times as hot as a jalapeno pepper." Wow that's hot. The bar is even making patrons sign a waiver before ordering the super spicy dish. I think that may be a little too much heat for me, but I guarantee my wife would love them! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Snacking on a wing and a prayer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Chicago tavern said on Thursday it will begin selling chicken wings coated in one of the world's hottest peppers -- a dish so hot that patrons first have to sign a waiver agreeing not to sue for injuries.

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap said the wings made with Red Savina pepper will be served with an alarm bell for patrons to summon waiters with sour cream, milk sugar and white bread if things get out of hand.

Link to the full story.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T10:52:00.000-05:00

I think Santa has the right idea, work one day a year, and vacation the rest! Here's hoping everyone has a safe and laid-back holiday. Merry Christmas everyone!

This Old House...

2007-12-21T17:16:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of content for the past month. My wife and I recently decided to renovate and move into my grandparents old place, so I've been quite busy. Between work, fixing the house up (and trust me, it required quite a bit of fixing up), packing our stuff up, moving it all, and now trying to unpack it, I've barely had time to breathe. Not to mention that I didn't even have internet there for a while until they came and hooked up the tv and phones and everything. But, things seem to finally slowing back down to about normal, now it's just all the unpacking. The thing about a hurried move is that shit gets packed everywhere instead of nice, neat little labeled boxes that make everything easy to find. I still haven't found where all my silverware's at (think God for plastic forks!)

Even though it's been quite an ordeal trying to get the old place livable again and get moved into it, I'm glad we did it. After my Grandfather died, my mom and aunt started discussing selling the place, as it was getting to be too much financially to try and keep it up along with the rest of the property too. Well, my wife and I discussed it, and we hated to see it pass out of the family. It's a beautiful old house, solid as a rock, that's stood on the property longer than any of the other homes here, and will probably be here long after they're gone. So, after thinking about it for a while, we went and talked to my mom and aunt and worked out a deal for the place instead of seeing some strangers buy it. So now it's ours and it's coming along nicely. There's stil a few more things I'd like to do as money becomes available (like add a half-bath directly off the master bedroom. The place only has one bathroom, and it's way on the backside of the house!) but it's nice to know that the old family place will stay in the family and hopefully hold many more generations.

Home of $25,000 Dessert Closed Due to Pests

2007-11-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

Remember a little earlier this month I blogged about a New York restaurant creating a 25,000 dollar dessert? (Original story found here: New York Restaurant Creates World's Priciest Dessert) Well, it seems that they may have spent a little too much on ingredients, and not enough on pest control. Ther restaurant, called Serendipity 3 has failed it's second health inspection due to a small infestation of mice and roaches, and has been temporarily closed down. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Mice, roaches close home of $25,000 dessert

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan restaurant that unveiled a record-breaking $25,000 dessert last week has been forced to shut its doors temporarily due to an infestation of mice and cockroaches.

Serendipity 3 on the Upper East Side failed its second consecutive health inspection in a month on Wednesday night after health officials found a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple places, flies and dozens of live cockroaches, the Heath Department said.

"We're rectifying it as quickly as we can," said owner Steven Bruce, adding the restaurant would then be allowed to reopen.

Serendipity 3 set a Guinness world record on November 7 for the most expensive dessert when it partnered with luxury jeweler Euphoria New York to create "Frrozen Haute Chocolate," a blend of 28 cocoas fused with 0.2 ounces of edible 23-karat gold.

Link to the full story.

Jones to Release Kosher Ham Soda in Seasonal Pack This Year

2007-11-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

Jones Soda Co. has announced it will be shelving it's traditional "Turkey and Gravy" soda this year, opting instead to include a "Christmas Ham" flavored soda in it's seasonal pack. This years two seasonal packs will be Christmas and Hanukkah themed, and include such flavors as Christmas Tree, Egg Nog, and Christmas Ham in the Christmas pack, and Jelly Doughnut, Chocolate Coins and Latkes in the Hanukkah pack. And according to a Jones news release, the ham soda is even kosher.

I have to admit, I love most of the Jones Soda I've tried, but I haven't had a chance to sample any of their holiday packs, but they definitely sound intriguing, if somewhat weird, but hey, I'd probably give them a try given half a chance. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Soda-maker: Ham flavor will be kosher

SEATTLE - It's rare to find kosher ham. Rarer still to find it carbonated and bottled. Jones Soda Co., the Seattle-based purveyor of offbeat fizzy water, said Friday that it was shelving its traditional seasonal flavors of turkey and gravy this year to produce limited-edition theme packs for Christmas and Hanukkah.

The Christmas pack will feature such flavors as Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham. The Hanukkah pack will have Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latkes sodas.

"As always, both packs are kosher and contain zero caffeine," a Jones news release noted.

Link to the full story. Picture from Jones Soda website.

And for your reading pleasure, here's some previous posts about the wonderful flavors from the people at Jones Soda Co.: Bottler offers salmon-flavoured soda, Jones Soda to Offer Pea Flavored Soda, and Jones Introduces New Football Themed Sodas.

New York Restaurant Creates World's Priciest Dessert

2007-11-08T22:28:00.000-05:00

A New York Restaurant, Serendipity 3, has unvieled a new dessert confirmed by Guinness as the world's most expensive, coming in at $25,000. The new dessert called the "Frrozen Haute Chocolate" contains 28 cocoas, including 14 of the world's most expensive, infused with edible gold, and topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a La Madeline au Truffle, which sells for $2,600 a pound! All of this is then served in a goblet lined with more edible gold and encircled by a 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds and is eaten with a diamond studded golden spoon that the diners can take home with them. Also of interest is the $1,000 bagel mentioned at the bottom. Here's the story at Yahoo!News:

New York's pricey dessert sets Guinness record

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A day after New York City came up with a $1,000 (475 pound) bagel, a local restaurateur unveiled a $25,000 chocolate sundae on Wednesday, setting a Guinness world record for the most expensive dessert.

Stephen Bruce, owner of Serendipity 3, partnered with luxury jeweller Euphoria New York to create the "Frrozen Haute Chocolate", a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe.

The dessert, spelled with two Rs, is infused with 0.2 ounces of edible 23-karat gold and served in a goblet lined with edible gold. At the base of the goblet is an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds.

The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound.

It is eaten with a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-coloured diamonds, which can also be taken home.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright Chip East/Reuters.

Hospital Blogging

2007-11-05T18:45:00.000-05:00

Well, due to a family emergency, this entry is coming from the cafeteria at King's Daughters Medical Center, in Ashland. They had to send my grandmother down here due to an erratic heart rate, and extremely low blood pressure. She is currently stable, and seeming to be a little better, but her heart's still erratic at times, and she has moments when she's not very lucid. The facility itself is amazing though. The unit she's in at the moment has Internet built into the TV system so you can watch TV or surf the net, the rooms are very comfortable, the staff amazingly friendly, and the food at the cafeteria surprisingly good (oh, and obviously the cafeteria has net access too). Next time I need to go to a hospital, I'm going to see if they'll send me here. I don't care if it's for a stubbed toe, load me up and send me to Ashland.

On a side note, I saw something here earlier I had never seen before, thickened instant coffee. My grandma has been having trouble swallowing, so I guess this was to help her with getting it down so it didn't run straight down here throat, but it amazed me. It was almost like a liquid-y gel, like before Jell-o has a chance to set up properly. All in all, it was quite weird.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:09:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone has had a fun and safe All Hallow's Eve! I myself have filled up on leftover trick or treat candy until I'm about to bust!

And speaking of trick or treat, here's something that I can only hope is a trick. Time Magazine has compiled a list of the Top 25 Horror Movies, and can you guess what gruesome, terrifying flick rated #20? I'll give you a hint, there's no knife-wielding psychos, no back-from-the-dead killers, and the star is a real "dear". It's Walt Disney's classic childhood tale, Bambi! That's right, Bambi, the story of a young deer growing up in the forest. I know, I know, I couldn't believe it either, but apparently the shock of Bambi's mother's death has traumatized children for the decades. Here's the blurb from Time:

Amazing that the first movies parents took their tots to in the 30s and 40s were the early Disney features. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo all exploited childhood traumas. Parents disappear or die; stepmothers plot the murder of their charges; a boy skips school and turns into a donkey. Kids were so frightened by these films that they wet themselves in terror. Bambi, directed by David Hand, has a primal shock that still haunts oldsters who saw it 40, 50, 65 years ago.

Bacon & Chocolate Candy Bar?

2007-10-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I did a double take too when I saw this mentioned over at BoingBoing (Bacon candy bar). It seems that premium chocolate makers Vosges have a exotic chocolate bar called the Mo's Bacon Bar, complete with real bits of applewood smoked bacon in milk chocolate. Here's from the product description:

Deep milk chocolate coats your mouth and leads to the crunch of smoked bacon pieces. Surprise your mouth with the smoked salt and sweet milk chocolate combination.

Crisp, buttery, compulsively irresistible bacon and milk chocolate combination has long been a favorite of mine. I started playing with this combination at the tender age of six while eating chocolate chip pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Beside my chocolate-laden cakes laid three strips of fried bacon, just barely touching a sweet pool of maple syrup.

Link to the product.

Now, I love bacon, and I love chocolate, but there's just something about putting them together that just sounds unappetizing. Not to mention expensive, $7 for a candy bar is just a little over my snacking budget. But hey, given the chance, I'd try it, if for nothing else just to say I did. (Pic copyright Vosges, LTD.)

Jones Introduces New Football Themed Sodas

2007-10-05T22:11:00.000-04:00

Jones Soda Co. has recently announced plans to release a football themed soda pack. The limited edition five pack contains the following flavors; "Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration and Natural Field Turf" along with a sweet flavor known as Sweet Victory. Here's the story from CNN:

Football-flavored sodas for sale
The beverage company captures football's essence with flavors like 'Dirt' and 'Perspiration.'

SEATTLE (AP) -- Ever wonder what the Seahawks' locker room tastes like after a big game?

Apparently, Jones Soda Co. thinks Seattle NFL fans want to know. The company started taking online pre-orders Thursday for a five-pack of sodas with flavors it says reflect the hard work of professional football players.

Clare Bowles, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based company, said the four literally named flavors -- Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration and Natural Field Turf -- are "pretty lifelike."

"Perspiration Soda is kind of salty tasting," she said, with a slightly higher sodium content than the average soda, with a smooth, "stinky football sock" finish.

A sip of Sports Cream Soda conjures up the experience of rubbing ointment into an aching muscle, while Natural Field Turf Soda is like "playing tackle football, and you get tackled really hard, you're down on the ground and you get a little bit of the grass in your teeth," Bowles said.

Link to the full story.

Sri Lankan Resort Unveils World's Most Expensive Dessert

2007-09-24T18:20:00.000-04:00

The Fortress Resort in Sri Lanka has recently unveiled what they are calling the world's most expensive dessert, a $14,500 concoction complete with a chocolate sculpture and a 80 carat aquamarine gem. Wow, that's expensive! I love to eat, but even I'm not sure I'd pay that much for a dessert! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Resort charges $14,500 for dessert

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - This dessert may be a little too rich for you, but you're probably not rich enough for it. A Sri Lankan resort is charging $14,500 for what it calls the world's most expensive dessert, a fruit infused confection complete with a chocolate sculpture and a gigantic gemstone.

"The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence" was created to give visitors at The Fortress resort in the coastal city of Galle a one-of-a-kind experience, said the hotel's public relations manager, Shalini Perera.

The dessert is a gold leaf Italian cassata flavored with Irish cream, served with a mango and pomegranate compote and a champagne sabayon enlighten. The dessert is decorated with a chocolate carving of a fisherman clinging to a stilt, an age old local fishing practice, and an 80 carat aquamarine stone.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright HO/ Fortress Hotel.

"Hobbit" Wrists Help Support New Species Theory

2007-09-21T08:44:00.000-04:00

Some readers may remember way back in Oct of 2005 I blogged about the discovery of a 'hobbit'-like skeleton found in a cave in Indonesia. (Original story here: Bone of Hobbit-like species uncovered) From early on scientists have debated whether or not this was the skeleton of a new species, or simply a pygmy with a brain defect. Well, it seems that recent study on the wrist bones of the skeleton lend support to the theory that this is a distinct species and not just a diseased early human. Here's the story from BBC News:

'Hobbit' wrists 'were primitive'

Careful study of the "Hobbit" fossil's wrist bones supports the idea that the creature was a distinct species and not a diseased modern human, it is claimed.
Matthew Tocheri and colleagues tell Science magazine that the bones look nothing like those of Homo sapiens; they look ape-like.

The announcement in 2004 detailing the discovery of Homo floresiensis caused a sensation.

Some researchers, though, have doubted the interpretation of the find.

These individuals - including the Indonesian palaeoanthropologist Teuku Jacob - have argued that the remains are probably those of a pygmy with the brain defect known as microcephaly.

But the new analysis by Tocheri, from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, US, and co-authors will add further weight to the original assessment.

Their study shows that the wrist bones of the Hobbit are primitive and shaped differently from the bones of both modern humans and even their near-evolutionary cousins, the now extinct Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis).

Link to the full story.

Venezuela Sets World Record for Soup

2007-09-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Government officials in Venezuela set a world record Saturday for the world's largest pot of soup. The huge pot set up outside in downtown Caracas contained almost "3,960 gallons of "sancocho" stew", which more than doubled the previous record set in Mexico in July. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Venezuela claims big soup record

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan officials claimed a world record Saturday for making the largest pot of soup, a giant cauldron of stew prepared by President Hugo Chavez's government.

The hulking stainless steel cooking pot, set up outdoors in downtown Caracas, contained about 3,960 gallons of "sancocho" stew, Food Minister Rafael Oropeza said. That would dwarf the current record-holder listed on the Guinness World Records Web site, a pot of 1,413 gallons of spicy soup prepared in Durango, Mexico, in July.

Oropeza called it "Bolivarian stew" — a play on the name of Chavez's socialist movement, named in honor of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar. He said it was enough to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people.

Workers stood on raised platforms stirring the soup with poles, and then dished out servings to a crowd at a state-run market.

It contained 6,600 pounds of chicken, 4,400 pounds of beef and tons of vegetables.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright AP Photo/Howard Yanes.

Talk About Ironic

2007-09-17T20:56:00.001-04:00

Ok, now this has to be the height of irony, a fitness center with escalators in front of it! And it's not like it's a long climb, it's 15 stairs! What is this world coming to?

Japanese Spa Has Ramen Bath!

2007-09-12T07:05:00.000-04:00

OK, I admit it, I love ramen noodles. I used to eat them long before I became a poor ex-college student living on a limited budget, and I still eat them quite regularly. Well, while perusing the archives over at The Cellar Image of the Day (great site by the way with lots of unique and interesting pictures, go check them out) I came across a picture and a link to a story that was a little hard to swallow (no pun intended): a spa in Japan has opened a ramen bath, complete with peppery water and bath salt "noodles." Yep, you read that right, bathers get to basically become the ingredients in a giant bowl of ramen. According to the story at JapanProbe (found here: Japanese Theme Park Opens Ramen Bath)

"The bath, shaped like a ramen bowl, contains pepper-flavored water colored a light, milky brown, to like tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen soup. The special bath was created jointly by the theme park and a famous ramen shop, Nantsuttei in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture"

And apparently ramen baths aren't the only "food" bath the spa offers. They also have a green tea bath (as seen in the photo), a coffee bath, a red wine bath, and even a sake bath! Makes your normal bubble bath seem tame in comparison, doesn't it!

Cobra Guards Diamond-Encrusted Shoes

2007-09-11T03:24:00.000-04:00

And since we're on the topic of Indiana Jones, how about this story from England that could have come right out of an Indiana Jones plot. Harrod's of London rented a poisonous Egyptian cobra to guard a $120,000 pair of gem-encrusted sandals. Now that's extreme. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

London's Harrods hires cobra to guard $120,000 shoes

LONDON (AFP) - To their high society owners, a pair of haute couture shoes can be a precious thing.

But to guard a 62,000 pound (120,000 dollar) pair of ruby- sapphire- and diamond-encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals at their London launch, retailer Harrods went to extreme lengths: bringing in a live Egyptian cobra to patrol the shoe counter.

Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding precious footwear might be a moot point with security experts.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright AFP/File/Shaun Curry.

Title Released for Indiana Jones 4

2007-09-11T03:18:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember back in July I blogged about some news of the upcoming Indiana Jones 4 movie (see original post here: Indiana Jones 4 News). Well, the offical title has been released; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Here's the story from Yahoo!Movies:

The latest Indiana Jones movie gets a title

The battle to name the new Indiana Jones film is over, and the winner is "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Forget about "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods" or even "Indiana Jones and the Destroyer of Worlds," two of the potential names registered by producers Lucasfilm Ltd. The next movie featuring the two-fisted adventurer will be called "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Link to the full story.

R.I.P. Luciano Pavarotti

2007-09-06T07:07:00.000-04:00

I tend to think of myself as a person with some pretty varied tastes in music, I seem to like a little bit of everything, but I can honestly opera has never made it onto my playlists. Yet, despite all that, Luciano Pavarotti is one of the few whom I enjoy. The world has lost a great talent with the passing of this man. Here's the story from BBC News:

Opera legend Pavarotti dies at 71

World renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in the northern Italian city of Modena.
The singer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, was 71.

His charismatic performances - particularly alongside fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras - helped bring a new audience to opera.

Pavarotti had cancer surgery in July 2006 in New York, five months after his last performance. He had not made any public appearances since then.

He underwent five bouts of chemotherapy in the past year, and was admitted to hospital with a fever on 8 August. He was released two weeks later following diagnostic tests.

Fellow tenor Domingo said he had "always admired the God-given glory" of Pavarotti's voice, while Carreras called him "one of the most important tenors of all time".

The Vienna State Opera raised a black flag in mourning, while Modena said it would name its theatre after its famous son.

Manager Terri Robson said in a statement that the tenor died at 0500 local time (0400 BST) on Thursday.

Link to the full story.

Spain Produces World's Most Expensive Ham

2007-08-19T22:34:00.000-04:00

A farm in Spain is producing what may be the world's costliest cut of pork, a "salt-cured ham costing about $2,100 per leg, or a cruel $160 per pound." I don't know about you, but that's a little more than I'm wanting to spend on my Christmas dinner. It had better produce some dang good left-overs! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

World's costliest ham triggers pork envy
By AMANDA RIVKIN, Associated Press Writer

ALBURQUERQUE, Spain - Spanish cuisine tickles the palate in a thousand ways: ugly but delicious creatures called goose barnacles; boiled octopus with a dash of olive oil and paprika; thick, mushy sausage made from pig's blood.

Spaniards are nothing if not dedicated eaters.

Now, hard-core foodies are drooling over the prospect of something truly superlative from Spain, at least in price: a salt-cured ham costing about $2,100 per leg, or a cruel $160 per pound. It's a price believed to make it the most expensive ham in the world.

Don't grab your wallet just yet. And forget about asking for just a slice.

The 2006 Alba Quercus Reserve (as this pricey pork will be known) won't be available until late 2008 and you must buy the whole ham or nothing at all. But that hasn't dissuaded gastronomic Web sites and blogs from buzzing with talk of the farm where it is being produced, likening it to a Mount Olympus of pork.

Its mastermind, Manuel Maldonado, 44, comes from a long line of ham producers in a country that's nuts about the stuff. In bars and restaurants, legs of ham hanging from the wall are as common as TV sets.

But Maldonado is taking the art of the ham to new heights, pampering his pigs with a free-range lifestyle and top-quality diet of acorns before slaughtering them, then curing the meat for two years — twice as long as his competitors.

It's that last step that Maldonado credits with creating a delicacy that justifies the heavenly price.

Maldonado had hoped to roll out his super-gourmet ham this year, but felt the first batch fell short of his ultra-demanding standards and did not put it up for sale. He hopes to do better this time and have it ready around Christmas 2008.

"This is the best ham in the world because it comes from the best pig in the world," Maldonado says of 2006 Alba Quercus Reserve, a reference to the year the pigs were slaughtered.

"It is the most important ham in Spain," adds Pedro Soley, a Barcelona connoisseur who is among the lucky few lining up to buy one. Indeed, this is a limited edition piece: Maldonado will produce just 80 to 100 legs.

And they are expected to be a world apart from Spain's more common Iberian ham — named for the breed of pig used — which is similar to Italian prosciutto, but a darker red and chewier.

For comparison, Italy's finest Prosciutto di Parma and Spain's top-grade Spanish acorn-fed Iberian ham — both savory, umami-rich meats usually served as ultra-thin slices — top out at $30 a pound.

With Spanish pigs bound for ham glory, diet is everything. The least expensive ham is made from pigs fed on grain, whereas mid-grade hams come from pigs raised on a combination of wheat and acorns.

Then there are Spain's poshest pigs, which feast exclusively on acorns, producing a rich flavor and oily texture that make the meat a delicacy. Spain's finest hams are not considered first-rate without an "acorn-fed" stamp on the label.

Link to the full story. The ham pictured is not the ham mentioned in the article.

Wastin' Away Again...

2007-07-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

Well, after 6 years of trying with no luck, I was finally able to score tickets to the Jimmy Buffet concert in Cincinnati this past Thursday. It was out of this world! It's like the world's biggest parrothead party! The margaritas were flowing, the music was blaring, and beach balls were flying everywhere! Jimmy Buffet is one of my favorite artists. I'm well on my way to collecting every album by him and to get the chance to see him in concert was amazing. You could literally feel the energy wash over the crowd when he did one of his popular songs like Fins or Margaritaville. Hopefully this won't be the last time I get to see him and I'll be able to score tickets the next time he comes back to Cincy. Until then, guess I'll just have to settle for drinking margaritas and listening to my CDs.

Hunka Hunka Reese's Cup

2007-07-17T22:39:00.000-04:00

While at the store today, I found a most interesting candy that got me 'All Shook Up'. Reese's has released a special collectors edition Reese's Cup to honor the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis. It's a peanut butter & banana creme concoction in honor of the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches made popular by Elvis. Well, being both a choco-holic and a Elvis fan, I had to try them. Overall I was very impressed. Banana flavor is a very hard flavor to do right, it usually either comes out too artificial or too overpowering. But these were right on the money, tasting like real bananas (of course, it probably helps that the ingredients list actual banana flakes so they are at least partly real bananas). The banana creme was just the right consistency, not too runny or too chunky and blended quite well with the peanut butter. They're a little to sweet to eat too many of them at once, but they're definitely worth a try.

Here's a link to the official Reese's website: Reese's

Indiana Jones 4 News

2007-07-15T01:21:00.000-04:00

Some good news out of Hollywood. It seems that Indiana Jones 4 has just completed it's 3rd week of filming and everything seems to be going good. He's even doing many of his own stunts, "he just has a few more ice packs and a few more massages" according to the co-executive producer. Here's the story from Yahoo!Entertainment:

Ford Can Still Fit Into Indy's Trousers

HILO, Hawaii (AP) He may be 65, but Harrison Ford still fits into Indiana Jones' tight trousers.

Many fans are curious to see if, 18 years after "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Ford can live up to the physical rigors of the globe-trotting archaeologist in the long-awaited fourth installment of the epic series. The actor's 65th birthday was Friday.

Producers of the adventure, currently being filmed on Hawaii's Big Island, say there's no need to worry. Ford is as fit as ever.

"I have to say, he looks amazing," said Kathleen Kennedy, the film's co-executive producer, along with George Lucas. "He looks fantastic in the outfit."

Actually, Ford knew the hat would still fit but wondered if he could still squeeze into the pants. He did.

The action star, who first introduced the fedora-wearing, bullwhip-cracking Indiana Jones in the 1981 classic "Raiders of the Lost Ark," is actually doing many of his own stunts in the latest film.

"He's doing them, he just has a few more ice packs and a few more massages," Kennedy said.

"And a lot of Celebrex," producer Frank Marshall added.

The movie just completed the first of three weeks of filming in Hawaii, after spending a week each in New Mexico and Connecticut. The lush areas surrounding Hilo are filling in as a South American rain forest.

Lucas and director Steven Spielberg have not released the title of the film, scheduled for release May 22, 2008.

The filming has created a buzz on this normally sleepy island, known for macadamia nuts and premium Kona coffee. It's the most action since nearby Kilauea volcano rumbled to life in 1983.

The film's biggest action sequences are being filmed in Hawaii. Marshall compared one scene to the thrilling, white-knuckled truck chase in the desert in "Raiders."

"It's that level," he said.

Link to the full article.

Konnichiwa

2007-07-08T06:43:00.000-04:00

If you're wondering about the title of the post, it's Japanese for "hello". As a personal hobby and in an effort to broaden my mind I have recently decided to try and learn Japanese. I know, those of you who know me or who have read my profile are thinking "He lives in the eastern part of Kentucky, why Japanese?" Well, there are many reasons for me choosing this particular language. First off, I think it's a beautiful sounding language. Next, I've always been interested in the culture of Japan; the tea ceremony, the food, the legends, etc. Also, I've recently became hooked on some Japanese anime and manga, and I would enjoy being able to read them the way they were wrote, not relying upon a translation I wasn't sure about. Finally, my mom lived in Japan when she was a child and my grandpa was stationed at the Air Force base there, and the stories they've told have piqued my interest.

So, thanks to a trip to Barnes and Noble a few days ago I picked up a book on beginner's Japanese and have been going over it when it's quiet on the night shift here at work. It's been very informative and seems to be a great resource, the only problem is I'm not totally sure of my pronunciations. That's one downside to teaching one's self a language, there's not a live person there to correct you when you mispronounce something or conjugate it wrong or whatever. Another thing I've figured out is that the hours between 5AM and 7AM aren't really conductive for learning anything! Knowledge just seems to slip into the vacuum of mild sleep deprivation. Hopefully I'll be able to overcome these obstacles and continue in my pursuit of knowledge, only time will tell. Until then, sayonara (goodbye).

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

Restaurant Review: Miyako Japanese Steakhouse

2007-07-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: First off I don't claim to be a food critic or anything like it, but I am a fat boy and I like to eat, so although this isn't an official review it comes from someone with a LOT of experience in the eating department.

Monday my wife and I decided to go out to eat at Miyako Japanese Sushi & Steak House in Lexington, KY. This is, without a doubt, the best restaurant I've ever been to in Lexington. The atmosphere was great and comfortable, the staff was the friendliest that I've seen in quite a while and the food was out of this world! We started out with a Japanese pickle assortment as an appetizer which consisted of gari (pickled ginger), pickled ume (Japanese plum), pickled daikon radish and normal pickled cucumber. Next was miso soup with tofu, which was wonderful. Then for the main course my wife had the chicken katsu with rice, while I opted for the tonkatsu and rice. And finally for dessert my wife had tempura ice cream (vanilla ice cream surrounded by sponge cake and lightly fried), while I had azuki (red bean) ice cream. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to sample anything from the sushi bar on this trip. The entire meal was unbelievable. My wife for the most part doesn't like Asian food (with a few exceptions), but even she was highly impressed with everything. I definitely would not hesitate to eat here again.

So overall I would definitely recommend Miyako Sushi and Steak House to anyone in the Lexington area looking for a great Japanese dining experience. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Pepsi Releases Cucumber Flavored Soda

2007-06-13T13:18:00.000-04:00

That's right, Pepsi has released a new drink to help combat the summer heat called Pepsi Ice Cucumber. Unfortunately it's only available in Japan. Which is a shame, as I would love to try this new flavor for myself. So if any of my Japanese readers would like to send me a bottle, let me know and I'll pay for the soda and the price of shipping it, and I promise a complete review here on the blog once it's drunk. Anyway, here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Cucumber-flavored soda sold in Japan

TOKYO - Japanese are staying cool as a cucumber this summer with "Pepsi Ice Cucumber" — a new soda based on the crisp green gourd.

The soft drink, which hit stores here on Tuesday, doesn't actually have any cucumber in it — but has been artificially flavored to resemble "the refreshing taste of a fresh cucumber," said Aya Takemoto, spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor, Suntory Ltd.

"We wanted a flavor that makes people think of keeping cool in the summer heat," Takemoto said. "We thought the cucumber was just perfect."

Link to the full story. Photo copyright AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa.

Archaeologists Find Viking "Mickey Mouse"

2007-06-11T13:22:00.000-04:00

Archaeologists digging in Sweden have discovered a brooch from 900AD that bears a amazing resemblance to Walt Disney's famous creation, Mickey Mouse. However, despite the uncanny resemblance, archaeologist feel that the brooch is actually supposed to represent a lion, not a mouse. I don't know about you, but it sure doesn't look like any lion I've ever seen. Here's the story from The Local:

Archaeologists discover Iron Age Mickey Mouse

Swedish archaeologists have uncovered signs of a Viking precursor to Mickey Mouse. Among the objects found during excavations at Uppåkra in southern Sweden is an iron age figure bearing a strong resemblance to the classic cartoon character.

But archaeologist Jerry Rosengren from Lund University is confident that the bronze brooch - used as a clasp to fasten women's clothing - was in fact intended to represent a Lion King rather than a mere mouse.

"The find is from around 900 AD. It was probably a lion's head that originally came from France. It was however more than likely designed by somebody who had never actually seen a lion.

Link to the full story. Picture from The Local.

LOLCat...This is how I feel right now

2007-06-10T06:41:00.001-04:00

Kool-Aid with a Kick? Dutch Students Create Powdered Alcohol

2007-06-07T22:54:00.000-04:00

A group of Dutch students at Helicon Vocational Institute have created a powdered alcoholic drink called Booz2Go as part of their final year project. All I can think of is this is definitely better than the Kool-Aid I've been buying! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Just add water - students invent alcohol powder

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.

The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros ($1.35-$2).

Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.

Link to the full story.

Nessie Caught on Film?

2007-06-01T05:41:00.000-04:00

A man from Yorkshire, England, has recently claimed to have caught Nessie, the famed Loch Ness Monster, on video. Hopefully, after careful analyzation, this won't turn out to be some big publicity stunt or bid for money. Only time will tell. If it turns out to actually be something, this story may have to be covered over at FreekBoi's Creature Features. The picture at left isn't from the new video, it's the "surgeon's photo", one of the most iconic images of Nessie, that later was revealed to be a hoax. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Man says he captured Loch Ness on film

EDINBURGH, Scotland - The Loch Ness monster is back — and there's video. A man has captured what Nessie watchers say is possible footage of the supposed mythical creature beneath Scotland's most mysterious lake.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this jet black thing, about 45 feet long, moving fairly fast in the water," said Gordon Holmes, the 55-year-old a lab technician from Shipley, Yorkshire, who took the video Saturday.

Nessie watcher and marine biologist Adrian Shine viewed the video and hoped to properly analyze it in the coming months.

"I see myself as a skeptical interpreter of what happens in the loch, but I do keep an open mind about these things and there is no doubt this is some of the best footage I have seen," said Shine, of the Loch Ness 2000 center in Drumnadrochit, on the shores of the lake.

Holmes said whatever it was moved at about 6 mph and kept a fairly straight course.

"My initial thought is it could be a very big eel, they have serpent-like features and they may explain all the sightings in Loch Ness over the years."

Loch Ness is surrounded by myth. It's the largest inland body of water in Britain, and at about 750 feet to the bottom, it's even deeper than the North Sea.

"There are a number of possible explanations to the sightings in the loch. It could be some biological creature, it could just be the waves of the loch or it could some psychological phenomenon in as much as we see what we want to see," Shine said.

Link to the full story.

Coke Sets Record for World's Biggest Ice Cream Float

2007-05-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

Guinness World Records has confirmed that the Coca-Cola Co. has recently broken it's own world record for the world's biggest ice cream float set almost a decade ago. The new world record float was 3,000 gallons, 915 gallons more than the older record of 2,0875 gallons. All I have to say is, Damn, that's a lot of coke! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Coke sets largest ice cream float record

ATLANTA - The world's largest beverage maker on Friday kicked off the holiday weekend by creating a 10-ton ice cream float to break a world record the company set nearly a decade ago.

An official from Guinness World Records confirmed the 3,000-gallon float, made of Vanilla Coke and ice cream, set the new world record.

The Coca-Cola Co. held the previous world record for largest ice cream float — 2,085 gallons — that was set in 1998 in Atlanta, said Guinness representative Derek Musso. He said he was not aware of any other attempts to break the former record.

A tanker from the Atlanta-based company's syrup plant pumped a non-carbonated mixture into a specially made 15-foot-high glass containing a device that carbonated the beverage. Workers dropped buckets full of ice cream into the top of the glass by hand.

Link to the full story. Picture copyright AP Photo/Gene Blythe.

I Think He's Beyond First Aid, Don't You?

2007-05-25T03:19:00.000-04:00

Ok, I hadn't posted any funny pics in a while, but when I saw this, I just had to post it! Reminds me way too much of the guys I'm on the fire department with. Makes you feel really safe, doesn't it?

New Doritos Flavor, X-13D?

2007-05-11T21:55:00.000-04:00

Well, I came into work today and there was a strange chip package sitting on my desk. It was all black and said Doritos and X-13D in big letters. I asked a few of the guys here and it turns out they're a new flavor that Doritos are testing, and wanting the public to submit the new name for. Well, recently Doritos has come out with some pretty good new flavors, so there was no way I was going to turn down the chance to try this one. So, being the adventurous spirit I am, I had one. My first impression was "salsa-y" (I know, that's not a word. These are my random thoughts, not yours, so shut up!), there was definitely a tomato taste with something of a sour hint.

Well, I decided my first taste wasn't enough to give an accurate accounting, so I tried some more. Well, it seems my first taste may have been off a little. After trying several more of the chips, I got the distinct taste of, believe it or not, hamburgers! Complete with pickles (the sour taste from earlier) and either tomatoes or ketchup (the tomato taste). As it turns out, this is the same conclusion that most of the other guys here have came up with as well.

I'll admit, the concept of a hamburger flavored chip is a little weird, especially when you consider that many people eat chips with hamburgers. It's kind of odd to think that you could be eating a burger and chips and have the same flavor from each. But overall, they're pretty good. I could see buying a few bags of them if Doritos goes ahead with the production. So keep on the lookout for Doritos X-13D and give them a try. And, if I'm right, it won't surprise me if in the future we don't see a hamburger flavored Doritos.

Hot Cooked Rice, Just Add Cold Water

2007-05-06T22:50:00.000-04:00

Yep, you read the title right. A Japanese firm has come up with a non-perishable food pack that will steam rice, and all you have to do is add cold water. While they're saying it's primary use could be in areas hit by natural disasters, this technology could easily lend itself to the outdoorsman or others who do not have access to electricity, but crave a hot meal. Here's the story from Mainichi Daily News:

Japanese developers find way to create hot rice with cold water

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki -- An environmental consulting firm and other developers here have come up with a non-perishable food pack that creates steaming hot rice with the simple addition of cold water.

The group has recently introduced the product, named "Hotto! Raisu," to the market.

By subjecting rice to 4,000 times normal atmospheric pressure, the developers were able to preserve rice for long periods in a soft form that holds moisture. When water is poured over an exothermic agent in the pack, steam warms the rice contained within, and after about 15 minutes, the dish is piping hot.

Link to the full story.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2007-05-05T06:21:00.000-04:00

Here's wishing everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo. And for those who are unsure as to what exactly this holiday is, here's a link to the Wikipedia entry for Cinco de Mayo.

Pepsi Summer Mix

2007-05-04T04:39:00.000-04:00

OK, after the story of the frog juice, I decided I needed to blog about the other extreme, a drink that tastes great. Pepsi Summer Mix is a a tropical fruit flavored cola released by Pepsi as a limited time summer promotion.

First of all, I want to know why Pepsi isn't hyping this more. This is one of the best sodas that Pepsi has put out in quite a while, much better than the Holiday Spice Christmas cola they released last winter. I wouldn't have even known about this if I hadn't run across one in the soda cooler at the local Sprawl-Mart. A cola this good deserves at least a TV commercial spot, or some kind of promotion.

As you can see, the packaging is very bright and summery, giving it a light fun feeling. The taste is, according to Pepsi, "tropical fruit". Pepsi never really tells what particular fruits it considers tropical in this case, but whatever they are, they pair very well with the taste of the cola. This is definitely a soda I could be happy drinking all day long.

Unfortunately, according to the package, Pepsi Summer Mix is a limited time only promotion. This means that it's probably going to be like so many other things I like (eg., Smoky Cheddar Barbecue Doritos & Mt. Dew Pitch Black), and I'll get hooked on it and they'll discontinue it and I'll never see it again. Personally, I think that's kind of evil; you put a good product out, get people hooked on it, and then take it away from them. Of course I guess it's also smart business, that way you keep them coming back to see what you'll put out next. Well I guess I'll just have to enjoy Pepsi Summer Mix while it lasts.

Interesting Peruvian Drink: Frog Juice

2007-05-04T04:34:00.000-04:00

It seems people in Peru drink a particular kind of "smoothie" called frog juice, consisting of, among other things, a skinned frog. The blended concoction is believed to have the power to "cure asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness and a low sex drive." Now I don't know about you, but I'd have to be pretty bad off before I'd drink a pureed frog. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Frog juice in high demand in Peru

LIMA, Peru - Carmen Gonzalez plucks one of the 50 frogs from the aquarium at her bus stop restaurant, bangs it against tiles to kill it and then makes two incisions along its belly and peels off the skin as if husking corn.

She's preparing frog juice, a beverage revered by some Andean cultures for having the power to cure asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness and a low sex drive. A drink of so-called "Peruvian Viagra" sells for about 90 cents.

Gonzalez adds three ladles of hot, white bean broth, two generous spoonfuls of honey, raw aloe vera plant and several tablespoons of maca — an Andean root also believed to boost stamina and sex drive — into a household blender.

Then she drops the frog in.

Once strained, the result is a starchy, milkshake-like liquid that stings the throat.

Link to the full story.

Canada Issues World's Highest Denomination Coin

2007-05-03T21:51:00.000-04:00

Canada has unveiled what it claims to be the world's highest denomination coin, a huge gold coin worth C$1 million! Now that's a coin collectors dream come true. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Spare any change? Canada unveils C$1 million coin

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a welcome addition to any piggy bank on Thursday -- a monster gold coin with a face value of C$1 million (455,000 pounds) that it says is the world's biggest, purest and highest denomination coin.

Weighing in at 100 kilograms (220.5 pounds), the limited edition coin easily dwarfs its closest rival, the 31 kg (68 pound) "Big Phil", which was made to honour the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and has a face value of a mere 100,000 euros (C$150,000).

The Canadian mint introduced the mega-coin, which is the size of an extra-large pizza, alongside the one-ounce gold bullion coins it is mass producing at its Ottawa plant.

Originally designed to promote the new one-ounce coins, the colossal 100 kg coins will be produced in a very limited quantity. A U.S. precious metals distributor has ordered three and there is interest in Asia and Europe, the mint said.

At 53 centimetres (21 inches) in diameter and over 3 cm (1.2 inches) thick, the massive coins need a high level of hand crafting.

While it has a C$1 million face value, the coin is worth more than twice that amount given the current gold price of $683.30 an ounce.

Link to the full story. Photo copyright REUTERS/Handout

Now That's an Expensive Drink

2007-05-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

The Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo, Japan has added a splash to it's beverage menu, a 1.8 million yen "diamond-tini". Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

"Diamond-tini" stirs Japan bubble era memories

TOKYO (Reuters) - A new era may be stirring in Japan -- or is that shaking?

Two decades after the "bubble economy", when the ostentatiously wealthy sprinkled gold on food and drank pink Dom Perignon champagne by the magnum, the glass is filling again in Japan with a Martini on rare ice.

The "diamond-tini", a cocktail with a hint of lime and chilled Belvedere vodka over a 1.06-carat stone, is topping the Ritz-Carlton beverage menu at a cool 1.8 million yen (7,520 pounds).

That price includes drink preparations tableside, a serenade of "Diamonds are Forever" as a cut stone slides to the martini glass bottom, and later a ring mounting by a local jeweller.

"It's a timeless drink and diamonds are a girl's best friend, so you combine both this time of year in Japan when proposals are rampant," says hotel manager Bernard Viola.

The Ritz recently opened in the $3.1-billion (1.6 billion pounds) Tokyo Midtown development in the trendy Roppongi district with rooms in the 54-storey tower starting at 70,000 yen ($580) a night.

"There is a market for everything you create. Today it is all about luxury," says Viola, who expects to eventually sell three diamond-tinis a month, though so far there have been no orders.

Link to the full story.

"Kryptonite" Found in Serbian Mine

2007-04-24T21:34:00.000-04:00

Scientists have recently announced that they have discovered a new mineral that matches the fictional chemistry of Kryptonite, as described in the film Superman Returns. It's kind of odd that the chemical makeup of this new element has already been discribed, in a fictional setting. Scientists say the new element cannot scientifically be called Kryptonite, as it has nothing to do with the real element Krypton. Here's the story from BBC News:

'Kryptonite' discovered in mine

Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped superheroes.
A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine in Serbia.

According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is supposed to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its large green crystals.

The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.

"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he told BBC News.

Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.

Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.

"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."

The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.

Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.

Link to the full story. (Image copyright DC Comics)

Would You Eat Here?

2007-04-24T03:37:00.000-04:00

About two years ago, I blogged about a toilet themed restaurant in Taiwan called Marton, which translates to Toilet Bowl. Well, apparently this isn't the only offbeat restaurant in Taiwan. Yahoo!News recently ran a story on another Taiwan eatery, this time with a hospital theme, where patrons can have drinks dripped down through IV tubes into their glasses, and the tables resemble hospital beds. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Bar lets diners tipple from IV tubes

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A Taipei restaurant-bar is letting visitors order "medicine" from a menu and dripping it into their glasses from a transparent ceiling-suspended vat, becoming the latest oddball themed restaurant in Taiwan's capital.

As many as 10 visitors can sit around each bed at the D.S. Music Restaurant, a hospital-themed eatery, and watch showgirls dance on weekend nights or chat up "nurses" whose rabbit-ears complement their starched white uniforms.

The 130-seat restaurant, which features crutches hung from the walls and a wheelchair parked in the lobby, is the only one with a hospital theme in Taiwan.

Other touches include a sign marked "emergency room" leading to the toilets.

"Food is hard to compete on with other restaurants, so the part we emphasize is service," says assistant manager Ou Chia-hao, brother of the 29-year-old owner. "In Taipei, pressure on people is high, and they want a place near home where they can feel relaxed."

Ou's brother opened D.S. last year with T$5 million ($150,760) to express his enthusiasm for the care he got at a hospital when he was treated for a liver disorder.

Two more D.S. branches are in the works, with plans to open by the end of next year, Ou said.

Link to the full story. (Photo copyright Richard Chung/Reuters)

A New Way to Wake Up: Caffeinated Soap!

2007-04-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

For those of you who need a little extra pick-me-up for their morning routine, here it is; soap infused with caffeine. According to the manufacturers the soap provides the same amount of caffeine as two cups of coffee with each wash. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Bar of soap gives caffeine kick in the shower

LONDON (Reuters) - Inventors have created a soap infused with caffeine which helps users wake up in the morning.

The soap, called Shower Shock, supplies the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee per wash, with the stimulant absorbed naturally through the skin, manufacturers say.

"Tired of waking up and having to wait for your morning (coffee) to brew?" ask the makers, thinkgeek.com.

Scented with peppermint oil, each bar is designed to provide a stimulant boost within five minutes.

New J.R.R. Tolkien Book In Stores Now

2007-04-18T16:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm a really big fantasy novel buff, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, so I've been keeping updated on the release of his newest work, The Children of Hurin, completed by his son, Christopher Tolkien. (Previous blogs here and here.) Well, the book officially hit stores yesterday and is now on sale. I'm planning on picking it up as soon as I can find a copy locally. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

J.R.R. Tolkien tale, completed by son

"The Children of Hurin" (Houghton Mifflin, 313 pages, $26, or $75 for a deluxe slipcased edition) — J.R.R. Tolkien: Six thousand years before the Fellowship of the Ring, long before anyone had even seen a Hobbit, the elves and men of Middle-earth quaked at the power of the dark lord Morgoth.

Hunted by easterlings and orcs, they fled to the fastness of Nargothrond and to the deep forests of Brethil and Doriath. Among them, a hero emerged. Strong and courageous he was, but foolhardy and impetuous. His name was Turin, son of Hurin.

His story, released today by Houghton Mifflin, is a publishing event: It is the first new book by the creator of "The Lord of the Rings" in 30 years. The publisher calls it the culmination of an effort to bring to the public the vast body of work J.R.R. Tolkien had left unpublished, and largely unfinished, when he died in 1973.

Tolkien began writing "The Children of Hurin" 99 years ago, abandoning it and taking it up again repeatedly throughout his life. Versions of the tale already have appeared in "The Silmarillion," "Unfinished Tales" and as narrative poems or prose sections of the "History of Middle-earth" series.

But they were truncated and contradictory. Outside of Tolkien scholars and Middle-earth fanatics, few read them.

These works were, after all, largely unreadable — dense, hard to follow histories and legends of Tolkien's vast, imaginary world, crammed with complicated genealogies, unfamiliar geography and hard-to-pronounce names. Readers who took up such books hoping for another Rings saga or charming yarn such as "The Hobbit" abandoned them after a few pages.

"The Children of Hurin" is the book for which these readers have been longing.

It is the fruit of 30 years labor by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son, who has devoted much of his life to editing and publishing the work his father left behind. By meticulously combining and editing the many published and unpublished versions of the tale, he has produced at last a coherent, vivid and readable narrative.

Link to the full story.

Five Feet High and Risin'*

2007-04-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well, thanks to the nor'easter blowing it's way through, we've had a little bit of flooding in the area. So, since I'm a member of the local volunteer fire dept, I got to spend most of my day out in the rain (cold rain I might add) playing in almost knee-deep flood waters. It wouldn't be so bad, but when I came home from work at 9 last night, it was about 50 degrees, so I thought it should be a little warmer in the day, so when they called, I ran out without a jacket. Luckily I was able to snag a turn-out coat down at the station. I feel really good about getting out and helping my neighbors and community, but I know I'm bound to have the flu after this one. Ah well, even if I go get the flu, as long as I've helped at least one person it was worth it. Just somebody please promise to remind me of that in two days when I'll probably be home in bed with a fever and feeling like death warmed over.

*Five Feet High and Risin' by Johnny Cash

Scientists One Step Closer to Invisibility Cloak

2007-04-09T00:09:00.000-04:00

Scientists have recently announced that they're much closer to designing a working invisibility cloak. Currently the design can only cloak a single wave-length of light, not the entire visible spectrum, but there are still many benefits of this, for example, blocking night-vision technology. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

A real invisibility cloak is in our grasp: scientists

Harry Potter fans take note: scientists have finally come up with a workable design for an invisibility cloak.

Physicists figured out the complex mathematical equations for making objects invisible by bending light around them last year.

A group of engineers at Purdue University in Indiana have now used those calculations to design a relatively simple device that ought to be able to - one day soon - make objects as big as an airplane simply disappear.

The design calls for tiny metal needles to be fitted into a hairbrush-shaped cone at angles and lengths that would force light to pass around the cloak. This would make everything inside the cone appear to vanish because the light would no longer reflect off it.

"It looks pretty much like fiction, I do realize, but it's completely in agreement with the laws of physics," said lead researcher Vladimir Shalaev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.

"Ideally, if we make it real it would work exactly like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak," he said. "It's not going to be heavy because there's going to be very little metal in it."

The still-theoretical design will be published this month in the journal Nature Photonics.

Shaleav said he needs to secure funding to build the device and expects it would take two to three years to come up with a working prototype.

The major limitation is that the current design can only bend the light of a single wave-length at a time, and does not work with the entire frequency range of the visible spectrum.

"How to create a design that works for all colors of visible light at the same time will be a big technical challenge, but we believe it's possible," Shalaev said. "In principal it's doable."

Even blocking a single frequency can lead to useful applications, Shaleav said.

Link to the full story.

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T00:50:00.000-04:00

University of Kentucky Hires New B-Ball Coach

2007-04-06T09:11:00.000-04:00

Now I've never been a big sports fan (unless you count professional wrestling as a sport), with ONE exception: UK basketball. Of course, being from Kentucky, that's a given. I think it's something that's hardwired into your brain if you're born in the Bluegrass. Well, our most recent basketball coach, Tubby Smith, has moved on to the University of Minnesota, leaving a coaching void for the Wildcats, a void which has now been filled. Billy Gillispie, formerly of Texas A&M, is coming to Kentucky. Here's a spiel about it from Yahoo!Sports:

Kentucky hires Gillispie as basketball coach

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky's restless fortnight is over. The new leader of Big Blue Nation has a heart as big as Texas, and he'll need it to help restore some of the luster to college basketball's all-time winningest program.

Billy Gillispie was hired as Kentucky's sixth coach in the last 76 years on Friday, a person familiar with the search process told The Associated Press. He'll replace Tubby Smith, who spent a decade under the glare of college basketball's brightest spotlight before bolting to Minnesota two weeks ago.

Gillispie, who led Texas A&M to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 this year for the first time since 1980, will be introduced at a 12:15 p.m. EDT pep rally at Memorial Coliseum followed by a 12:45 news conference, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.

The Wildcats turned to Gillispie after another Billy -- Florida's Billy Donovan -- decided Thursday to stay with the Gators. Texas' Rick Barnes also indicated Thursday he wasn't interested in the job, but it was never formally offered to any candidate other than Gillispie.

Gillispie replaces Smith, who left the Wildcats after 10 seasons to take the head coaching job in Minnesota last month, despite having four years left on his contract.

Gillispie is 100-58 in five seasons as a head coach. He spent the last three years with the Aggies, molding the longtime also-ran into a Big 12 power. Texas A&M went 27-7 this season.

Link to the full story.

Panama Company Claims to Set Record for Worlds Biggest Cup of Joe

2007-04-02T10:14:00.000-04:00

All I have to say is, DAMN that's a lot of coffee! I could stay awake for a week straight with that much coffee. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Panama co. says brews world's biggest cup of coffee

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's top coffee producer said it believes it has set a new record for the world's biggest cup of coffee, after brewing 750 gallons (2,840 litres) in a giant mug on Sunday.

Producer Cafe Duran used 300 pounds (136 kgs) of arabica coffee to brew a cup measuring 3 yards by 1.6 yards over four hours.

"We are really thrilled with this, Panama has done it!" Ricardo Duran, director-owner of the company, said to loud applause, fireworks and live tropical music.

The company will submit its record-breaking attempt to officials at Guinness World Records this month. The previous Guinness record was held by the United States for brewing 660 gallons (2,500 liters) in New York in 1994.

Link to the full story. (Photo copyright REUTERS/Alberto Lowe)

Star Trek's Scotty Prepares to Beam Up

2007-03-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

As some of you may remember, James Doohan, Star Trek's Scotty, died two years ago. A company, Space Services Inc., had planned on sending his remains into space, but the launch was delayed by tests and a misfire of the rocket last year. Well, it looks like the launch will finally take place. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Star Trek's Scotty plots last course for the stars

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The remains of actor James Doohan, who played the starship Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty on "Star Trek," will be blasted into space next month, the company organising the flight said on Friday.

The Canadian-born actor who inspired the catchphrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- even though it was never actually uttered on the television show -- died two years ago at the age of 85.

Houston-based commercial company Space Services Inc. said some of Doohan's remains were packed into a rocket at Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Friday, ahead of the flight scheduled for April 28.

The company had originally planned to blast Doohan's remains into space two years ago. But the flight was delayed by tests, then by a misfire during a practice launch last year.

Space Services spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said Doohan's ashes will be sent up along with the remains of some 200 other people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went into space in 1963. Cooper died in 2004 at age 77.

After a short flight the rocket will return to Earth with the capsules holding the remains.

Space Services is a commercial venture that charges $495 to send a sample of a person's ashes into suborbital space. Capsules containing the ashes are retrieved, mounted on plaques and given back to relatives.

In 1997 the company blasted the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry into space.

Hilarious 911 Message

2007-03-30T14:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, now normally I would just find this kinda funny...but since I've recently been hired on as dispatcher for the local fire and police departments, it becomes even more funny. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

'911 closed, everyone at doughnut shop'

EASTON, Pa. - A firefighter clicked on a link on the city's Web site and got a recording of a bogus dispatcher saying 911 was closed.

"Our offices are closed because everyone is at the doughnut shop," said the audio file. Stu Gallaher, city business administrator, said Wednesday the file was quickly removed when city officials learned about it.

Gallaher said it was accidentally left on the site by former Fire Chief Frank Chisesi, who had been hired to improve the city's Internet offerings. Chisesi said he had placed several audio files on the site but they did not work and he thought he had deleted them.

Firefighter Terrance Hand e-mailed the link to city officials and the media, saying it was "not flattering" to the 911 call center, police or firefighters and seeking an apology. He said his only reply was from Councilman Dan Corpora.

Corpora said he intended to look into the posting, "and rectify any situation that would allow that to be put on the Web site."

New Tolkien Book To Be Released Next Month

2007-03-25T18:35:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember that back in Sept. of 06 I blogged about the news that Christopher Tolkien, the son of the late J.R.R Tolkien, had compiled some of his fathers unfinished material into a complete book entitled The Children Of Hurin. (Original story here.) Well, the official release date has been set for April 17. Here's the complete story from Yahoo!News (photo copyright AFP/HO/File):

New Tolkien book to be published next month: report

LONDON (AFP) - An unfinished book by "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien, which was completed by his son, will go on sale on next month, a newspaper said.

"The Children of Hurin", which Tolkien began in 1918, will be in bookshops on April 17, the Independent on Sunday added. The author's son, Christopher, spent 30 years completing the story from the many drafts produced by his father.

Publisher HarperCollins is keeping exact details of the story under close wraps but its description as "an epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism" will be familiar to the legions of Tolkien fans.

Artist Alan Lee has provided 25 pencil sketches and eight paintings for the book.

Lee won an Oscar for art direction on Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King", the third blockbuster film based on the "Lord of Rings" trilogy that brought the stories to a worldwide audience.

"The Children of Hurin" is the first "new" Tolkien book since a collection of his works -- "The Silmarillion" -- was published posthumously in 1977, four years after the writer's death. It was also edited by Christopher Tolkien.

The chairman of the Tolkien Society, Chris Crawshaw, was quoted by the Independent on Sunday as saying: "It ('The Children of Hurin') would probably make a very good movie, if anyone can secure the film rights."

Restaurant Offers $1,000 Pizza!

2007-03-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

A restaurant in New York is offering a $1,000 pizza! Now, I've always thought of pizza as the traditional high school/ college student/ lazy man's dinner, so I'm not sure if this is really gonna work out, but I suppose there are people out there who would be willing to shell out a thousand bucks for a pizza pie. The pizza pictured is not the pizza in the story. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Meet the $1,000 pizza..

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York restaurateur has cooked up the most world's most extravagant pizza -- a $1,000 pizza topped with six sorts of caviar and fresh lobster.

Nino Selimaj, who runs six pizza restaurants in New York, on Wednesday unveiled his Luxury Pizza, a 12 inch (30 cms), thin crust topped with caviar, lobster, creme fraiche and chives. Cut into eight, it works out at $125 a slice.

"I know this won't be for everyone but there are people in New York who can afford it and once tried, they'll be back for more. It is delicious," said Selimaj, who moved to New York from Albania about 29 years ago.

"Sure, some people will say it is just a publicity stunt but I have researched this for over a year and think there is a demand. I have already sold one."

Selimaj said his restaurant Nino's Bellissima, which is the only one of his restaurants to offer the Luxury Pizza, needs 24 hours notice for the gourmet dish as it orders the caviar in advance.

"But where better to experiment with pizza than in New York where people love their pizza," he said.

If diners are still peckish after the Luxury Pizza, they can always head over to the midtown restaurant Serendipity that sells a $1,000 ice-cream sundae called Golden Opulence which is covered in 23K edible gold leaf.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2007-03-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe St. Patty's Day! Go easy on the green beer, or you'll be seeing leprechauns in no time!

Pa. Eatery Adds 123 Pound Burger to Menu

2007-02-28T10:44:00.000-05:00

A restaurant in Pa. has created a burger that weighs 123 pounds, shattering the previous world record of 105 pounds shared by two restaurants in New Jersey and Thailand. All I can say is damn that's a big burger! Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Pa. restaurant creates 123-pound burger

CLEARFIELD, Pa. - The newest addition to the menu at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub is one whopper of a burger. The Beer Barrel Main Event Charity Burger weighs in at 123 pounds, a meaty monstrosity that its cooks maintain shatters the world record of 105 pounds shared by two restaurants in New Jersey and Thailand.

The sizable sandwich features an 80-pound beef patty, along with a pound each of lettuce, ketchup, relish, mustard and mayonnaise, 160 slices of cheese, up to five onions and 12 tomatoes.

It's topped with a couple of pounds of banana peppers, then sandwiched into a 30-pound bun. Don't forget the garnish of 33 pickles.

There's a pretty hefty price tag, too: $379.

Link to the full story. Obviously the burger pictured is not the burger mentioned in the story.

Book Review: Proven Guilty, a novel of the Dresden Files

2007-02-22T19:32:00.000-05:00

GREAT BOOK!! I couldn't put it down. It's like what would happen if you cross Harry Potter, Sam Spade, added a huge dose of humor and let them loose in the modern world. Harry, the only professional wizard in the Chicago phone book, has his hands full dealing with a war between the White Council of Wizards and the Red Court vampires (a war which he kinda started), Council members who don't trust him, rumors of black magic in town, fear eating demons from Faerie, and the now grown up daughter of a friend who is starting to exhibit her own magic. But for Harry, it's all in a day's work! This is book 8 of the Dresden Files, and while it probably helps to have read the whole series, it isn't a requirement, as it can actually stand alone. I am currently trying to get the other books in the series, and plan to start watching the TV show based on the books: The Dresden Files on Sci-Fi Channel, Sunday nights at 9 Eastern, 10 Central.

Link to this book on Barnes&Noble.com... Buy this book, you won't regret it.

New World's Hottest Chile Pepper Named

2007-02-21T23:29:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's official, the Guinness Book of Records has declared that a New Mexico State University Professor has discovered the world's hottest chile pepper, even hotter than jalapenos, habaneros or Thai bird peppers. Here's the story from NMSU:

NMSU is home to the world’s hottest chile pepper

When Paul Bosland exhaled after taking a bite of the world’s hottest chile pepper, it felt like he was breathing fire.

“Got milk?” he thought.

The next thing Bosland thought, after gulping down a soda, was, “That chile has got to be some kind of record.”

He was right.

In fall of 2006, the Guinness Book of Records confirmed that New Mexico State University Regent’s Professor Paul Bosland had indeed discovered the world’s hottest chile pepper, Bhut Jolokia.

Bhut Jolokia, at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the chile pepper variety it replaces as the world’s hottest. A New Mexico green chile contains about 1,500 SHUs and an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000 SHUs.

“The name Bhut Jolokia translates as ‘ghost chile,’” Bosland said, “we’re not sure why they call it that, but I think it’s because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!”

Link to the full story. Pictured is Bhut Jolokia, the world’s hottest chile pepper (NMSU photo by Darren Phillips)

Mexican Businessmen Set Record for World's "Largest Skewer of Kebab Meat"

2007-02-20T04:09:00.000-05:00

A group of businessmen in Mexico recently set a Guinness Book of World Records record with the world's "largest skewer of kebab meat", a 3.9 ton and 13 foot high skewer of pork! Damn, now that's a big shish kabab. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Mexican businessmen break kebab record

MEXICO CITY - A group of businessmen in the northern Mexican City of Chihuahua broke a tasty record Friday, making a hunk of meat on a skewer big enough to serve 24,000 tacos.

In the Friday event dubbed as the "Tacoton," the meat for a pastor taco, a variety of the Mexican dish that consists of pork squashed onto a stake, weighed 3.9 tons and was 13 feet high, Mexican government news agency Notimex reported.

Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the hunk of meat as the world's "largest skewer of kebab meat," Notimex reported.

Link to the full story.

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T01:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day. Hope Cupid's aim is a little truer for you!

The Ultimate Multi-Tool...

2007-02-12T03:21:00.000-05:00

Japanese Brewery Creates Milk Beer

2007-02-07T01:47:00.000-05:00

A brewery in Japan has created a new milk-beer as a way to help use up excess milk. The product, called "Bilk", was created after local dairy farms threw out huge amounts of surplus milk last year. Here's the story from Mainichi Daily News.

Milk beer called 'Bilk' to go on sale in Hokkaido

NAKASHIBETSU, Hokkaido -- A brewery here has succeeded in producing a low-malt beer with milk, after the drink was suggested as a product that would help use up surplus milk.

The drink, called "Bilk" will go on sale on Feb. 1. It reportedly has a fruity flavor that its brewers hope will be popular among women.

The idea for the drink was conceived after dairy firms threw out a huge amount of surplus milk in March last year. The son of the manager of a liquor store in Nakashibetsu, whose main industry is dairy farming, suggested the idea of producing the milk beer to local brewery Abashiri Beer.

The 31-year-old factory head of the brewery was against the idea, saying that fermentation would be difficult because of the high starch content in milk, but went through a trial and error process to produce the drink anyway.

Link to the full story.(Not sure who owns the copyright on the picture, but it's from Mainichi Daily News.)

Doughnuts With Caffeine

2007-01-26T18:38:00.000-05:00

A scientist in NC has come up with a way to add caffeine to doughnuts and other baked goods. This is the best invention since the deep-fried Twinkie! I love doughnuts, and caffeine is a necessity to get me through the day, so it's a win-win situation. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Scientist develops caffeinated doughnuts

DURHAM. N.C. - That cup of coffee just not getting it done anymore? How about a Buzz Donut or a Buzzed Bagel? That's what Doctor Robert Bohannon, a Durham, North Carolina, molecular scientist, has come up with. Bohannon says he's developed a way to add caffeine to baked goods, without the bitter taste of caffeine. Each piece of pastry is the equivalent of about two cups of coffee.

While the product is not on the market yet, Bohannon has approached some heavyweight companies, including Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks about carrying it.

Beer...it's not just for people anymore...

2007-01-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

A few of you may remember that waaaay back in Nov of '05 I blogged about a company called Happy Tail Ale that makes beer for dogs. Well, apparently the idea is catching on, here's a story from BBC News:

Dutch brewers launch dogs' beer

A small brewery in the Netherlands has launched a new beer designed to bring cool relief to thirsty dogs.
Kwispelbier, marketed as "a beer for your best friend", is made from a special brew of beef extract and malt.

The beverage is a creation of pet shop owner Gerrie Berendsen, who wanted her dogs to share light refreshments with her after a day's hunting.

The beer is non-alcoholic and fit for human consumption, but costs four times as much as a Heineken.

"Kwispel" is the Dutch word for wagging a tail.

Link to the full story. (Photo copyright AP Photo/Albert Seghers)

And here's a link to my original post about doggy beer. Pour the poodle a cold one...

Firefighting

2007-01-16T02:28:00.000-05:00

OK, now most of you may not know it, but I'm a volunteer firefighter at the local fire department. Well, I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but it seems someone snapped a picture of me fighting a fire:

OK, it's not really me, but I am going to try this idea next time I'm on hose duty!

Bank Issues Cat a Credit Card

2007-01-04T22:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is just hilarious! How would you like to be the teller who has to explain to his boss why he issued a credit card to a cat! Pictured is a screen grab from CNN of Messiah with his credit card. Here's the story.

Australian bank issues credit card to cat

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian bank has blushingly admitted issuing a credit card to a cat. Messiah, a ginger tom, was given a credit limit of 4,200 (3,300 US) dollars.

Messiah's owner applied for an additional Visa card in his name on her account with the Bank of Queensland to test its identity security system -- and was astonished when it was granted.

"I just couldn't believe it," Katherine Campbell told local media, cradling the cool cat and his card. "People need to be aware of this and banks need to have better security."

The envelope containing her cat's credit card was addressed to Messiah Campbell and she was not even notified that a secondary card had been issued on her account, she said.

Link to the full story. (Photo Screengrab from CNN)

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T16:15:00.000-05:00

The Top Ten Reasons to Have A Happy New Year:

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

Have a Merry Christmas!

Morons Care More About Cannon Than Student

2006-12-21T12:58:00.000-05:00

I was surfing the net a little while ago, and I ran into something over at Attu Sees All that pissed me off so bad that I just had to say something about it. A cannon exploded at a high school football game in Snohomish, WA, almost blowing the leg off of the ROTC student who fired it. He almost had to have his leg amputated, and has to endure more than a year of physical rehabilitation with an uncertain outcome. And what does the community do? Instead of giving him sympathy and support, they give him threats that if he and his parents cooperate with the investigation which may lead to them not being able to use a damn cannon at football games, they'll hurt him worse! That's right, this bunch of ignorant, heartless cro-magnon morons care more about being able to fire off a big boom at their football games, than they do about the health and safety of students! I mean come on, this is stupidity at it's finest! I personally think that each and every one of these dumbasses who have sent him or his parents threats should be forced to stand out in the town square, and be shot through the head with a cannon! Ugh, I can't write anymore, I'm just way too fed up. Here's some of the highlights of the story from SeattlePI News:

Boy hurt by cannon blast feels twice wounded
By CAROL SMITH P-I REPORTER

SNOHOMISH -- The cannon shot that ripped into Brett Karch's leg, causing a gaping combat-style wound, has also torn a hole in his hometown community of Snohomish.

Karch, whose leg was nearly amputated and who faces more than a year of physical rehabilitation with an uncertain outcome, has been the target of physical threats because of fears his injury will jeopardize the community's tradition of firing the ceremonial cannon before each high school football game and after touchdowns.

...

Shooting off the cannon was the town's salute to the game that launched many notable football careers and entertained generations.

But the shot that nearly took off Brett Karch's leg now leaves the fate of that tradition in the air, and that has upset some in the community.

According to Karch's medical records, security guards notified police after Karch received disturbing phone calls and visits from parents and students, some of whom threatened to "break his other leg" or worse, if he didn't keep quiet about the accident. Hospital staff had to move him to a secure room where they monitored visitors.

Callers and visitors told Karch they would "make sure his other leg got blown off," and that "there would be retaliation" if the family cooperated in an investigation that could end the cannon tradition, said Mary Bissel, Karch's mother. "That's when I kind of got a little upset," Karch said.

The threats also included mention the family would be "banned from the town," Bissell said. She's been warned not to talk to a lawyer, or reporters.

...

The cannon was blown apart. Pieces of it landed 30 feet away, some even touching down in the end zone.

"My leg went flying, and I fell on my right side," said Karch. "Kids were staggering around. I looked at my leg and felt it burning."

"Did it blow my leg off, is my leg still attached?" he recalled asking the closest cadet to him. But the deafened student couldn't hear him.

Within seconds, medics and senior officers sprinted to his side. The team of emergency medical technicians standing by in the event of a football injury rushed Karch into a waiting ambulance.

The priority on the playing field, however, was the game, which didn't stop as Karch was carried off the sidelines to an ambulance, witnesses said.

...

"If this had happened to a football player, you can be sure he would have been airlifted to Harborview," said one parent of a ROTC member, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.

Brown, too, was shocked and later angered by the apparent lack of concern for the seriousness of Karch's injury.

Rumors circulated almost immediately among students that Karch must have packed the cannon incorrectly, and some of the cards and comments have suggested that he deserved what happened to him.

Karch said he didn't do anything different that night, a view shared by his ROTC leader Mack, the retired Marine Corps colonel, who said the team follows military protocols for loading and firing the cannon.

...

The reaction of some community members has taken the family and its supporters aback.

"Snohomish is usually a pretty tight community," Brown said. "Usually when something like this happens, groups come together. But that didn't happen this time."

Since his discharge from the hospital on Oct. 23, Karch has had only three visitors -- two of them Mack and Brown. And despite invitations to school friends, not a single person other than family attended his 16th birthday celebration in November, Bissell said.

Bissel suspects some of the reaction may be because she retained a lawyer to help her understand legal forms the school district asked her to sign after the accident. She has not filed any legal claims against the school or the district. According to Langer, the school district has been cooperative and has said it plans to establish a fund to pay for Karch's medical expenses.

What Bissel wants for her son, though, is the emotional support of the community they've lived in for a decade.

...

McVey has tried rallying support for Karch's family by raising money for dinners. Her initial attempts raised $200, nearly all of it coming from schools other than Karch's own.

The lack of response still puzzles her.

"You have a kid here who's lost part of his leg, who may always have a rod in it," she said. "Where's the compassion? How would these guys feel if it were their son? Would the cannon really matter?"

Link to the full story.

Weird Christmas Traditions

2006-12-20T22:31:00.000-05:00

OK, now I thought I'd heard of some weird traditions before, but these take the cake. A shitting peasant in a nativity scene, and beating a hollow log while urging it to shit presents. I always thought that the creators of South Park may have been way off the wall with Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo, but it turns out they may have actually been onto something. Here's the story from Yahoo!News

Pooping peasant popular in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain - The Virgin Mary. The three kings. A few wayward sheep. These are the figures one expects to find in a traditional Christmas nativity scene. Not a smartly dressed peasant squatting behind a rock with his rear-end exposed.

Yet statuettes of "El Caganer," or the great defecator in the Catalan language, can be found in nativity scenes, and increasingly on the mantelpieces of collectors, throughout Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, where for centuries symbols of defecation have played an important role in Christmas festivities.

During the holiday season, pastry shops around Catalonia sell sweets shaped like feces, and on Christmas Eve Catalan children beat a hollow log, called the tio, packed with holiday gifts, singing a song that urges it to defecate presents out the other end.

These traditions, in the case of the caganer dating back as far as the 17th century, come from an agricultural society where defecation was associated with fertility and health.

While the traditional caganer is a red-capped peasant, more modern renditions have gained popularity in recent years.

Now after reading this I still couldn't believe it. So I just had to have confirmation that this wasn't just a practical joke from Yahoo!News, so I headed over to Wikipedia to see what they had. And here is it:

Caganer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Caganer (IPA: [kə.γə.'ne]) is a little statue unique to Catalonia, and neighbouring areas with Catalan culture such as Andorra.

In Catalonia, as in most of Italy, South France and Spain, the traditional Christmas decoration is a large model of the city of Bethlehem, similar to American Nativity scenes that encompasses the entire city rather than just the typical manger scene. The Catalans have added an extra character that is not found in the manger scenes of any other culture. In addition to Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the Shepherds and company, Catalans have the character known as the Caganer. This extra little character is often tucked away in some corner of the model, typically nowhere near the manger scene, where he is not easily noticed. There is a good reason for his obscure position in the display, for "caganer" translates from Catalan to English as "defecator", and that is exactly what this little statue is doing — defecating.

Link to the full article.

"Demon Ducks of Doom"

2006-12-20T00:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, I was sitting in the restroom the other day, catching up on a little light reading, and I happened to glance over at the counter and something caught my eye. My Axe devil duckie. A cute little black rubber duck with horns, sunglasses and a puka shell necklace and the word Axe written across his chest. He came packaged in a box with some Axe shower gel which I use (great stuff by the way). But anyway, this got me thinking, who's idea was it to take a worldwide childhood icon, the famous rubber duck, and give it horns and make it a devil duckie. Well, I decided it was time to do some research on the devil duckie. And here was where disappointment struck, for my two favorite research mediums, Google and Wikipedia, have let me down. I found a plentiful supply of stores that sell devil ducks, but absolutely nothing on their history. SO now I'm turning to you, the public. If you have any information of the transformation of the childs toy rubber duck into the pop icon that is the devil duckie, please post it here.

Oh, and if you're wondering, the post title is a quote from a previous post about some fossils of giant duck-like creatures found in Austrailia. See it here.

Happy B-Day to Me

2006-12-19T01:55:00.000-05:00

Well, my birthday has come and gone. I'm now officially a quarter of a century, the big 25. Time to put away childish things and start acting like a responsible adult. YEAH RIGHT! Overall, it was a great birthday. Got a few new shirts, a couple of poker and casino video games that plug straight into the TV, a couple of great DVDs and some other great presents. I also had a HUGE chocolate fireman themed birthday cake (in case you're wondering, it wasn't just because I like fire trucks, I'm actually a volunteer fire fighter)which is picture below. I'd have to say it was a great birthday. I've grown another year older, and another year wiser. Well, I'm off to eat some more birthday cake before my pancreas goes into shock from all the icing.

World's Most Expensive Fast Food!

2006-12-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm a fat boy, I love to eat. And hamburgers are one of my favorite meals. But I don't think there is any situation where I would pay $110 for a burger! Ah, who am I kidding. If I was financially secure enough to do it, and in a position to try it, I would, just so I could say I ate it. Here's the story from Reuters:

Jakarta hotel puts $110 hamburger on menu
Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:36am ET

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A hotel in Indonesia is dishing out a hamburger that costs more than twice the monthly minimum wage in some parts of the country.

The $110 hamburger offered by the Four Seasons is made of Kobe beef with foie gras, Portobello mushrooms and Korean pears -- served with french fries, of course.

They're not exactly selling like hotcakes yet, but the hotel says it has sold 20 of the 1.0 million rupiah ($110.1) hamburgers since they were launched this month.

"One burger has 225 grams of Kobe beef. It is so expensive because the flavor is really different," said Erwan Ruswandi, the chief of the restaurant offering the gourmet burger.

"The calves in Kobe get special treatment ... they drink beer mixed with milk, vitamins and eat pesticide-free grass. We add foie gras and also some Korean pears. We import all the materials, and they are high quality so it is so expensive."

Link to the full story.

Happy Blog Birthday to Unicorn Dreams

2006-12-18T00:56:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, it's late, but here's wishing a belated first blog birthday to the lovely girl over at Unicorn Dreams. Here's looking forward to another great year.

Goofing Off

2006-12-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

I was just goofing off taking some quizzes, and I realized I hadn't posted any on here in a while, so I decided what the heck. Besides, I like the result of this one, Mountain Dew is one of my favorite sodas!

You Are Mountain Dew

Ultra hyper and full of energy, you're on a permanent sugar high.

Some people complain about your taste, but the do appreciate your power.

Your best soda match: Coke

Stay away from: Root Beer

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Go Vegan, Get Sick!

2006-12-14T01:34:00.000-05:00

OK, now I have nothing against vegans and vegetarians as long as they don't try to force their beliefs on me, I even had a best friend in high school who was vegan and we ate lunch together without any problems. But the truth of the matter is, I love meat. Broiled, fried, grilled, raw (sushi), I like it. I honestly believe that one of the greatest things in life is a grilled T-bone steak and a baked potato. But when I saw the story about the "Lettuce Ladies", two PETA animal rights campaigners who were protesting eating meat in Kazakhstan by dressing up in bikinis made from fake lettuce leaves and handing out flyers to passersby, I knew something had to be said. OK, now normally this wouldn't be a big deal, I'd laugh at it and move on, but this time is different. For one thing, I'm not a big fan of PETA's methods. I'm a huge animal lover, I promote and encourage conservation and preservation of animals the world over. But I don't always think that the ends will justify the means. And also, is now really a time we want to be promoting vegetarianism? It wasn't very long ago that people were afraid to buy spinach because of mass salmonella outbreaks, and now there are E. coli outbreaks suspected from the lettuce at Taco Bell. I don't know about you, but at this point in time I think I'd be more likely to give up vegetarianism than convert to it! But hey, that's just my opinion, and if these ladies want to spend their time out in the cold freezing their lettuce heads off trying to convert people to food-poison-ism, I mean vegetarianism, more power to them.

I'll Have a Blitzen Dog please.

2006-12-13T00:17:00.000-05:00

A hot dog stand in Chicago is selling reindeer dogs as a December special. OK, I can understand the seasonal tie-in, but you know this has to be disturbing to little children everywhere. But hey, I'd try it, I've never had reindeer meat. Here's the story from MSNBC:

Rudolph roasting on an open fire?

GLENVIEW, Ill. - Just in time for Christmas, they’re selling reindeer hot dogs in suburban Chicago.

With grilled onions and mustard, it will cost you eight dollars at Fred Markoff’s hot dog stand in Glenview.

The reindeer dogs are made in Alaska and actually contain a bit of beef and pork because reindeer meat is so lean and dry.

Link to the full story.

Book Review: Slither by Edward Lee

2006-12-12T03:20:00.000-05:00

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The trichinosis worm is one of nature’s most revolting parasites. Certain types of this tiny worm alter a host’s DNA by injecting a virus which mutates the reproductive system. This forces the host to bear the worm’s young. Typically these worms are never longer than a few millimeters. But guess what? Now there’s a subspecies that’s thirty feet long...

When Nora and her team arrive at the island, she expects a routine zoological excursion...but it doesn’t take her long to realize they’re not alone. Are her lurid sexual dreams making her paranoid...or is she being watched? The dead bodies they find are bad enough, but then her own team members begin to disappear, and when they return, they’ve...changed. Indeed, there are other people on the island...along with something else far worse.

Now for my review:
I was introduced to the writing of Edward Lee through his novel, City Infernal (great read by the way, highly recommended). So when I saw this at the book store, I had to get it. It was typical Ed Lee, full of twists, turns, horror, and believable and realistic characters. I thought it was a great read UP TO about the last few chapters. I loved the first part of the book, I couldn't stop reading it, but as it was winding down it started to drop off. First of all, I thought the real identities of the villains just seemed tacked on and kind of cheesy. I was just disappointed by it. Also there were a couple of continuity errors of a kind of glaring nature. I'd give it about 3 1/2 stars, a good read, but not a great read. If you want to read Lee at his best, I'd recommend you pick up City Infernal.

Link to this book from Amazon.

Kid Arrested for Opening Presents Early

2006-12-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

I was surfing around the net and stumbled onto this and it just begged to be posted. A kid in South Carolina opened one of his presents when he was told not to, so his mom called the police and had him arrested. Talk about being naughty at Christmas. Here's what The Herald had to say:

Penalty for unwrapping gifts early: Arrest
By Monica Chen · The Herald

A mother convinced Rock Hill police to arrest her 12-year-old son after he unwrapped a Christmas present early.
The boy's great-grandmother had specifically told him not to open his Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which she had wrapped and placed beneath the Christmas tree, according to a police report.

But on Sunday morning, she found the box of the popular handheld game console unwrapped and opened. When the boy's 27-year-old mother heard about the opened gift, she called police.

"He took it without permission. He wanted it. He just took it," said the 63-year-old great-grandmother.

Both the great-grandmother and the mother asked the boy on Sunday where the present was. The boy replied he didn't know.

When the mother threatened to call the police, the boy went into his room and got the Game Boy, the report stated. She called the police anyway.

Two Rock Hill police officers responded to the home and charged the boy with petty larceny. He was charged as a juvenile and released the same day, said police spokesman Lt. Jerry Waldrop, who added the boy was never held at the jail.

Link to the full story.

Bravery

2006-12-11T02:43:00.000-05:00

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

2006-12-10T03:28:00.000-05:00

OK, anyone who routinely stops by the blog may have noticed a couple of changes in the past couple of days. Well, that's because I've upgraded from regular Blogger to Blogger Beta. What does this mean for you, the loyal reader? Well, there are only two really big changes that will affect you. The first is that you may notice that the recent post section is gone from the side bar. However, this isn't really a problem, you can just go down to the bottom of the page where it says "older posts" and just go back until you find the post you're looking for. Or, and here's the second change, if you know what the post was about, you can use the new label ability. That's right, Blogger Beta allows me to tag each of my posts with a label (or two, or three...you get the picture). This allows you to click on that particular label and see other posts that have that same label tag and are therefor about the same topic. Hopefully this will help keep the randomness organized (I know, it's an oxymoron) and will make navigating my twisted little world a little easier.

I want this insurance company!

2006-12-09T14:05:00.000-05:00

OK, first a little background. My cousin who lives next door drives a school bus for a living. Well, since today's Saturday, he has it parked out in the driveway. Well, my mother in law came up today to drop off a few things for my wife. While she was turning her car, she said she didn't see the bus and backed into it. It didn't do any damage to the bus, but it beat the hell out of her fender and busted out the tail light. Well, she has full coverage insurance, so she decided to call it in and see what she had to do. Well, when she dialed the number printed on her insurance card, it picked up and said, "Let our horny girls show you a good time." She hung it up, thinking that she may have dialed the wrong number, and tried again. And there it was again, the same voice and the same horny girls. That's right, the number on her insurance cards goes into a SEX HOT LINE!!! We made my wife put it on speakerphone and dial it again, because the rest of us didn't believe her, but sure enough, there's the voice advertising horny girls. Now I'm thinking I may have to switch insurance companies, all I ever get from my old insurance company is a hard time, not a hard on!

Shopping During a Fire!?!

2006-12-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know the shopping frenzy reaches it's height this time of year, but these are some dedicated bargain hunters! I guess they thought that the smoke meant there were some hot deals. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Holiday shoppers keep buying during fire

MENTOR, Ohio - An electrical fire that filled a department store with thick smoke didn't deter holiday shoppers, and firefighters had to block the doors to keep customers from coming in, authorities said.

No one was injured in the fire at Dillards South at Great Lakes Mall on Wednesday, but some bargain hunters were inconvenienced.

"It was amazing," said Mentor fire Battalion Chief Joe Busher. "Even though there was heavy smoke in there, they all wanted to stay and shop. We even had to put people at the door to keep people from coming in."

Link to the full story.

Disgusted

2006-12-06T00:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know that the tone here at FreekBoi's Random Thoughts is usually light with odd news stories, and funny pictures, and humorous events that have happened in my life. I do this on purpose, I figure more people like to laugh than be depressed, so why not try to give them a little humor in their life. But every so often, something comes along that just outrages or disgusts me so much that I just have to share it. I found this over at Attu Sees All, and it just royally pissed me off. Who the hell does this kid think he is? He and his friends beat a guy to death, just because they were frickin' bored! He got the lightest sentence of all the defendants, he's not even served a full year in prison yet, and he wants to go home because he says jail is to hard! WTF? It's not exactly supposed to be a vacation in the Caribbean there bucko! Sorry, I'll come down off my soapbox now. Here's the story from WFTV 9 News:

Teen Murderer Says Jail Is Too Hard, Appeals Sentence

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- One of the teenagers responsible for beating a Holly Hill homeless man to death asked a judge to reduce his 22-year prison sentence Monday. Warren Messner and three other teens pled guilty to killing the man because they were bored, but Messner said prison is too hard.

...

Messner got the lightest sentence of the four boys. Teens Jeffrey Spurgeon, Justin Stearns and Christopher Scamahorn got 27 to 35 years. They all cut plea deals to avoid life in prison.

The state attorney said that's as much leniency as they should get and the judge agreed.

"I can't think of some reason to change the sentence. I'm going to deny the motion," said the Hon. Joseph Will.

Messner's parents broke down at the denial. His mother said it's unfair, that her son fell in with a bad crowd and prison is killing him.

"He's not getting the mental health, the schooling. He's not getting anything, anything but locked in a cell all day long," Lori Messner said.

The judge and the state both argued that being deprived services and being locked away is precisely the point of prison. Warren Messner will spend the next 22 years in prison without the chance for parole.

Link to the full story.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T03:16:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping that everyone out there has a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Try not to eat too much turkey and stay safe while traveling from place to place.

Happy Everything!

2006-11-22T12:05:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my wife for this one!

Due to increasing age, and my decreasing ability to send cards on time, here is my card to cover every Holiday...

Jones Soda to Offer Pea Flavored Soda

2006-11-22T02:31:00.000-05:00

Jones Soda has announced the new flavor for it's Holiday Pack this year: Green Pea! Yep, a soda flavored after the small green vegetable. Well, I guess it's better than last years offering, Salmon. All I know is I'm not drinking it! Here's what Yahoo!News had to say:

Beverage firm offers pea-flavored soda

SEATTLE (Reuters) - After introducing the world to new soda flavors like fish taco and salmon, Seattle specialty beverage maker Jones Soda Co. is offering a new flavor: Green pea.

Green pea, along with other unusual sodas such as turkey and gravy, dinner roll, sweet potato and antacid flavor, will be part of the company's $10 to $15 "holiday pack" of bottled drinks available nationwide.

Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda, said on Monday the collection of strange-flavored sodas usually sells out quickly, even though he can not stomach the drinks. Past flavors included broccoli casserole, corn on the cob and Brussel sprout.

"Why people buy it is beyond me. I can't drink a bottle of this stuff," said van Stolk.

Jones Soda, which sells traditional sodas alongside more exotic flavors like fufu berry and green apple, first introduced the holiday soda pack in 2003, gaining notoriety for its turkey and gravy flavor soda.

"We have the market share leader in turkey-flavored beverages," said van Stolk. "We know we can't compete with Coke or Pepsi by playing their game, but we know they're not going to come out with a turkey flavor or antacid flavor."

Asked if there were any flavors that were off limits, van Stolk said he put his foot down when it came to curried chicken flavor.

"Fish taco was just nasty and we tried curried chicken. That was just wrong," he said.

Funeral Home Coffee

2006-11-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

A friends dad recently passed away, so my wife and I stopped by the funeral home on her way home from work today. I'm not a big fan of funeral homes, they're depressing, the music they play is horribly depressing, the lighting makes everything look washed out and grey. But there is one redeeming feature, the coffee. Funeral home coffee isn't like normal coffee. It's strong, dark and bitter, just like the emotions most of us feel when at a funeral. Of course, maybe I'm biased. Like many people my age in this area, funeral home coffee was my introduction to this nectar of the gods. I can still remember it growing up. Standing around in the lounge of the funeral home while all the adults were talking. There was usually no sodas, so that left coffee as the only option. Of course, back then the coffee was barely recognizable, so full of sugar and creamer to be almost a syrup. And then after it was drunk, there was that thick layer of sodden sugar on the bottom of the cup, the best part. Of course now I've moved on up to adult coffee; strong, black, occasionally some creamer every now and then. But still I'll always have a weak spot for funeral home coffee.

From the "What Will They Think Of Next?" Files

2006-11-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

Flavored golf tees? Ok, I've heard of some pretty strange things that sports players do, but is there really a call for this product? I'm not a golfer, so I'm not sure how prevalent the putting a tee in your mouth thing is, but I'll admit that I do sometimes chew on the end of my pen when I'm writing and have writers block, so if they can do this, maybe they'll come out with flavored pens soon. Just don't make them too good. Here's the story from Yahoo!News (photo copyright Handout/Reuters):

Want to spice up a golf game? Add tasty tees

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seeking the perfect holiday gift for the golfer who has everything? Try flavored golf tees.

U.S. inventors John Packes and Ramon Peralta have come up a product line called Tasty Golf Tees in various flavors including mint, cherry, strawberry, and grape.

Mint is the strongest-tasting flavor in the range.

"It will knock out the foulest of cigar, beer breath within five seconds," Packes of Norwalk, Connecticut, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Packes said they came up with the idea while walking along the fairway one day and noticing that many golfers popped a tee in their mouth as they headed to the next hole or waited to tee up.

Tasty Golf Tees, which cost about 25 cents each, are made from uncoated wood, which is sanitized and flavored. They look and play like regular wooden golf tees.

"Some people just look at you funny," said Packes. "'Do you really put it in your mouth?' They give it a shot and say 'This is kinda cool.'"

National Security?!?

2006-11-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

Well, at least they're not handing out maps!

Happy Dia De Los Muertos

2006-11-01T07:51:00.000-05:00

Here's wishing everybody a happy Dia De Los Muertos! According to Wikipedia, Dia De Los Muertos is:

"an ancient Aztec celebration of the memory of deceased ancestors that is celebrated on November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day).

Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the Anglo Saxon perspective, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life."

Link to the wikipedia article for Dia De Los Muertos.

My own emphasis added, as this is a time I've chosen to remember my father and grandfather, who have both passed on from cancer. I love them and miss them, but I know they're both in a happier place.

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-31T19:29:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!!!

First Snow of the Season

2006-10-23T17:50:00.000-04:00

Well, we've had our first snowfall of the season. It only lasted about 10 seconds and it melted as soon as it hit, but it was snow none-the-less. This means that as much as I dread it, winter is on it's way. I hate winter, it's too cold, you really can't go out and do anything, it's too cold to go fishing, and it's just a dreary time of year, a dead time. Oh well, I just hope it's a mild winter and we don't get much heavy snow, only time will tell.