Author Archive
DadNews Daily – Then and Now Edition
A guy in Florida was fired from his job as town manager of Fort Myers Beach because his wife is a porn star. No kidding. Amazingly, this sort of thing has happened before. Nerve’s Scanner blog links to the tale of a woman who used to be “Miss Nude Belgium” (that might be bullshit, says Nerve) who was canned from her job as a bus driver due to her nekkid past. Shit, I would think that would be the reason to hire her. (TampaBay.com, Nerve.com)
This next one is way more gross. “Waiter, there’s a condom in my soup.” Not a joke. It happened.”Zdenek Philip Hodousek, 50, of Mission Viejo [California], claims in his Orange County Superior Court suit against Claim Jumper that the restaurant was negligent in making his soup April 12, The Orange County Register reported.” The alleged “negligence” is a condom the guy found in his soup. It was tied off, the way people do when they’re, you know, done using it. For sex. EWWW! Claim Jumper is a chain restaurant. A current promotion is called “Claim Your Reward!” Um, no thanks.
But! This has happened before. (EWWWWW!!!!) In 2004, “Seafood restaurant chain McCormick & Schmick’s…settled a lawsuit brought by a California woman who said she suffered severe emotional distress after she discovered a condom in her clam chowder, a company spokesman said.” How does something like that happen once, much less twice? (Times Of The Internet via Robin’s News on the Howard Stern Show, CNN)
Bonus: what else is going on at Claim Jumper restaurants?
Well, here’s some random person who decided to try out their new iPhone 3GS by filming stuff in the bathroom of a Claim Jumper restaurant!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMAQ_rRXQ2M]
And this video is titled “Bowling For Soup – Condoms.” I can’t listen to it now because there are young ears in the room. But the title is too good to ignore.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2gB7fazG_g]
Image: Amazon
Five Year Old Sings Folsom Prison Blues
I discovered Johnny Cash somewhat late in my life. Not that my life is over, mind you. But I only started sampling the Man in Black around the time that he came out with his brilliant cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt.”
This kid, however, appears to have been exposed to Cash much earlier. Like five years old. Not only is he familiar with the music, he can sing Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Do we really believe the little guy when he sings, “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die”? No. But that’s OK. As Hannah points out over at Strollerderby, “After you check out little Wesley singing the Folsom Prison Blues at a coffee shop in Seattle, I think you’ll agree that this is far too awesome to be inappropriate.”
Here’s Cash doing the song himself. Watch both videos, then give me 500 words comparing and contrasting the two styles.
Health Care Reform, Blue Dogs, and Paul Krugman
It doesn’t look like the House will vote on a health-care bill before their “recess” on Friday. For some reason I think “recess” is an appropriate term for such a childish group of individuals.
Oh no he didn’t! He did not just call members of our government childish!
Ah, but I did. Why? Because one of the main stumbling blocks appears to be the self-described “Blue Dog Democrats.” I fully respect the idea that people will disagree with the President’s plans, even if they are members of the same party. But why do they have to give themselves a name? Do they wear special jackets? Perhaps with little blue doggie patches on them? Anyway, Paul Krugman says that the Blue Dogs “aren’t making any sense” because they want to keep the costs of the proposed health care plan down, but at the same time don’t want to force small business owners to contribute to it. (I’m simplifying a lot. Sorry. I don’t have a NOBEL PRIZE.) Personally, I think Krugman is an extremely bright guy but is wrong about this particular point. It is possible to think one thing that appears to be in opposition to something else. It happens all the time. To me, the real problem is watching potentially life changing legislation get hung up by a bunch of guys who feel the need to call themselves something as stupid as the Blue Dogs.
Is the President’s plan perfect? I have no idea, but I doubt it. Will the Obama Presidency collapse if health care reform isn’t passed by Friday, as Krugman suggests? Nah. In fact, the President himself said “by the end of the year” in his press conference last week. Nobody seemed to notice. So this “before you get to go to recess” deadline is mostly designed to give the House and Senate a kick in the ass.
And you know what? It worked. Republicans are talking seriously about health-care reform. You know the last time that happened? Nixon. (Again, I may be wrong about that. But I don’t think I am.) Not that I want to let anyone off the hook, but you know something? That’s a victory for President Obama. A very real one. Can you tell me the last time we saw a debate about the issue at hand — health care — getting more attention than the politics surrounding the issue? Obviously politics are still very much a part of the storyline. But John McCain just helped the President kill off a plan to build more F-22 fighter planes. John McFuckingCain! The guy who ran against Obama for President! How is that not seen as a major political victory?
I hope they pass a health care plan. I really do. And I hope it’s not done to meet an artificial deadline. But I don’t think it is. If the House leaves without a vote, they’re the ones who will look like they haven’t done their jobs. The President is doing his. It’s time somebody started to notice.
Show and Tell – The Male Brain
Oprah, or rather one of her many minions, tells us about the male brain. Unfortauntely the research was based on Steadman, and is therefore flawed. I kid. Sort of. (CNN/Oprah)
New phrase: “dead-finger tech.” As in “you’d have to pry that thing from my cold, dead hands.” Or finger. “dead-hand tech” doesn’t have the same ring to it. Christopher Dawson couldn’t live without Google Apps. Me, I need food. But I’m a weirdo. (ZDNet)
Image: SXC
Get Your Kid a Robotic T. Rex
Neat little item from Amazon. The Robotic T. Rex book, only $14.00.
Description:
Real robots have been around for more than half a century and used for a variety of purposes. Some dinosaur robots are at the cutting edge of robot research. For years, experimental dinobots have been helping scientists and engineers test out different ways of walking. This “rexbot” will have two legs for walking and a tail to keep it balanced, just like the real T. Rex. Also in existence is Banryu, a real working dinosaur robot. This Japanese robot is about as big as a medium-size dog and is able to patrol the house like a guard dog and using its infrared sensors that can listen for noises and sniff for smoke. From fossil bones in museums to special-effects monsters in movies, T. Rex is probably the most well-known and fascinating dinosaur of all. This all-encompassing, full-color illustrated book gives kids an up-close learning experience and the chance to build their own walking T. Rex!
DadNews Daily July 26, 2009
- GM is pulling their sponsorship of the Buick Open. This is a big deal for the PGA Tour. If I cared more about golf, this would bother me. (ESPN)
- Michael Jackson may have some other son as a result of a one-night stand. The least believable part of this story is the part about Michael Jackson having a one-night stand with a woman. Sorry about that. The Sun has video of the kid, Omer Bhatt, who at 25 years old isn’t a kid anymore. They say he has an “uncanny resemblance” to Michael Jackson. The fact that he’s moonwalking while wearing a costume and hairstyle that is remniscent of Jackson helps the uncaniness. If this is all a money grab, I’d say it’s quite canny, actually. (The Sun)
- A father in Iran was arrested for mourning his son, who was shot during a riot in Tehran. Awful. (L.A. Times)
