Just another WordPress site
As a follow up to the earlier post that the Beijing News posted a satirical story from The Onion as fact, the newspaper has now finally retracted the story and apologized. However, as I said before, they still don’t seem to get the idea of satire: “Some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them, with the aim of making money. This is what the Onion does.”
The Detroit Red Wings have won back the Stanley Cup, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 5 last night. Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom received the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP for the playoffs, becoming the first European to do so. Oh well, I was hoping for a better showing by the ‘canes, but Detroit was just too good a team.
The Washington Post has a nice piece on the history of bourbon and the different processes that manufacturers use to distill the liquor.
I’m not a big basketball fan, but I really hate all the fawning compliments given to Shaquille O’Neal. Yeah, he’s huge, that goes without saying. So because of his size he doesn’t need much of a vertical leap to swat shots away and rebound. Offensively, it doesn’t take all that much skill to walk up to the basket and dunk it when you’re as tall as he is. And his free throws? C’mon now, I suck and I can do better than that. Finally, someone else is willing to come out and tell it like it is: Shaq’s “skillz are wack.” Now beyond any name-calling, this reporter has some well-written arguments listing why any other NBA player would not be able to last in the league as long as Shaq has.
Anybody that read comics in the ‘70s and early ’80s probably remembers the cheesy Hostess comic book ads featuring superheroes fighting crime with, say, Twinkies. This site also has scans of ads like the (in)famous Sea Monkeys, X-Ray glasses, and more.
The Internet Pinball Database rules! Star Wars and Jurassic Park are my all-time favorites. I found a Star Wars machine at Gameworks in Seattle and spent way too much time playing on it rather than all of the new-fangled arcade games they have nowadays. Man, do I feel old when I talk that way.
Martha Stewart’s in trouble! Martha Stewart’s in trouble! That’s right, baby, schadenfreude at its worst. Apparently, shares of Martha Stewart Living stock have dropped precipitously following the news that she sold off 3,000 shares of ImClone just before its experimental cancer drug was rejected by the FDA. The smoking gun – the former executive of ImClone was Martha Stewart’s former boyfriend. She denies all wrongdoing blah blah blah, but let me just say: this is a Bad Thing.
Sony Music and Universal music may finally get the picture that a lot of people would be willing to pay for high-quality downloaded music that can be burned to CD etc. without restriction. Apparently, this summer both companies are making singles available for download for $1.49 and $0.99 without restrictions. If true, this shows that industry executives have finally removed their heads from the sand and realized the direction they need to take if they want to embrace rather than butt heads with consumers. This is still only a first step in my opinion but is a welcome change from the litigious stubbornness of the RIAA.
The Atlantic has a well-written article about the recent competition between Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter). There were obviously a lot of factors weighing into declaring Lockheed Martin the winner, but I find it particularly amusing that the somewhat ugly appearance of the Boeing entrant was at least mentioned.
I guess there’s a collector for everything, including hotel soap and toiletries. I find the fact that this person has collected over 800 pieces since 1989 less disturbing than his quote, “This is like talking about my children.”
