I’m a cold bastard, but this…
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 25, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia
…this is just a little too cruel, even for me. Yule be in tears at Christmas (via DrudgeReport). There is a video accompanying the article of you want the full effect.
THERE can be only one thing worse than not getting the present you want this Christmas – and that’s finding your most wanted gift is just an empty box.
But that’s exactly what happened to this young lad – who thought he was unwrapping the Xbox360 console he had been dreaming of all year.Instead, his mother stuffed the Xbox packaging with a few winter jumpers, and the devastated young boy’s beaming smile quickly turns to tears.
His family can be heard laughing in the background as the boy’s mother says to him: “We can’t afford an Xbox”.
It’s emotional scars like that that turn people into great comedians, or axe murderers, later in life. The fact that he got a real Xbox 360 a week later does little to obviate the initial impact of the prank, I’m sure.
I should repo that comment…
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 22, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia
Become a Lab Rat with a Shaven Head ????
Give me crazy (legal) ways to make money during this economic dowwwnturn…. Become a Lab Rat? Sell my Hair?
I hear locksmiths and repo men are making a killing these days…
(okay, okay, repo men always make a killing, but you’d be crazy to do that job…
Do you think she’s just a little biased?
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 12, 2008 by John in In the News, Politics
Mich. Gov.: Vote Against Auto Bailout “Un-American”
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) said it was “un-American” for senators to have voted against approving a bailout of troubled automakers last night, saying their vote may cause a recession to become a depression.
“It is unacceptable for this un-American, frankly, behavior of these U.S. senators to cause this country to go from a recession into a depression,” Granholm said during a radio interview Friday morning.
She’s not exactly objective, here. Last time I checked America was supposed to be about freedom, free enterprise, and capitalism, not socialism and corporate welfare. Yeah, I know, I’m usually more cynical than that.
EPIC Fail III
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 8, 2008 by John in Consumer, In the News, Money
53% of rescued borrowers default anyway (hat tip, Stacy):
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than half of delinquent homeowners whose mortgages were modified earlier this year ended up redefaulting within six months, a top bank regulator said Monday.
Some 53% of borrowers with loans modified in the first three months of 2008 and 51% of those with loans modified in the second quarter could not keep up with payments within six months, according to U.S. Comptroller John Dugan, who spoke at a housing conference.
Is anybody really surprised? Last I heard/read the banks who received bailout funds are just hanging on to them, not using them to relieve debt or make new loans as intended. This whole thing is just a CF.
Drink up!
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 5, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia
In the US they are going to party like it’s 1933:
Tonight is the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition – of 5 December 1933 when Utah became the deciding 36th state to ratify the 21st amendment to the constitution, and restore to the country’s citizens the basic human right to go out and have a drink.
Look at that. Utah was actually good for something…
Be Afraid
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 3, 2008 by John in Consumer, In the News, Money
The Worst Is Yet To Come: Anonymous Banker Weighs In On The Coming Credit Card Debacle:
Today, we are bailing out the banks because of their greedy and deceptive lending practices in the mortgage industry. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. More is coming, I’m sorry to say. Layoffs are being announced nationwide in the tens of thousands. As people begin to lose their jobs, they will not be able to pay their credit card bills either. And the banks will be back for more handouts.
If the government would just bail me out on my last credit card (that seems to be taking forever to pay off) I promise I’d stimulate the economy more with those “extra” hundreds of dollars freed up each month. Honest.
California Wildfires
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 21, 2008 by John in Family, In the News
These photos on Boston.com are insanely great, even though this one is less than 20 miles from at least five of my family member’s homes:
British Slang
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 17, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia
The origins and common usage of British
The origins and common usage of British swear words. “Both Oxford and London boasted districts called ‘Gropecunte Lane’, in reference to the prostitutes that worked there. The Oxford lane was later renamed the slightly less-contentious Magpie Lane, while London’s version retained a sense of euphemism when it was changed to ‘Threadneedle Street’. Records do not show whether it was a decision of intentional irony that eventually placed the Bank of England there.”
I Voted
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 4, 2008 by John in Penn Jillette, Politics, Tom Leykis
Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) is fond of saying the only way to waste your vote is to vote for an inferior candidate (in his opinion both Obama and McCain are inferior) or a third party candidate, since there’s no way one of them will win (interesting, since he is a self-proclaimed libertarian like myself). He basically says you shouldn’t vote as a way of demanding better candidates. Interesting, bombastic and deliciously cynical, but not very realistic.
Radio show host Tom Leykis (a libertarian who voted for Obama) is fond of saying that you shouldn’t vote if you don’t know anything about the candidates or issues. That way, he stipulates, his vote counts more because he is intelligent and informed.
John Bedard (of East Helena, MT) is fond of saying if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. So, I did my civic duty.
Bollocks - More than you ever wanted to know
Permalink | Tweet This! | | October 28, 2008 by John in Interesting/Trivia, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America
Regarding the vanity plate on my motorcycle, “Bollox” (usually spelled “Bollocks”):
“Bollocks” is a word of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning “testicles”. The word is often used figuratively in British English, as a noun to mean “nonsense”, an expletive following a minor accident or misfortune, or an adjective to mean “poor quality” or “useless”. Similarly, the common phrases “Bollocks to this!” or “That’s a load of old bollocks” generally indicate contempt for a certain task, subject or opinion. Conversely, the word also figures in idiomatic phrases such as “the dog’s bollocks” and “top bollock(s)”, which usually refer to something which is admired, approved of or well-respected.
It’s really quite versatile, perhaps more so than any American profanity, which also makes it difficult/tedious to explain when people ask.