Richard's Blog

If ever a fashion trend needed to die a quick painful death, it would have to be the habit some young men have of wearing their pants so low that they hang off their ass, also known as " sagging ." I thought this trend would have shuffled off this mortal coil years ago. You would think that tripping over your own pants, falling down and literally showing your ass to the world would nip this trend in the bud. However, Andrew D. Lewis , the entrepreneurial force behind Hatch Ventures , has unleashed a new product guaranteed to ensure the survival of this fashion faux pas.  He calls this product, " Subs " and for the ridiculous price of $29.99 you too can look this foolish. Here's a video from CNN showing off Subs. If you're on my naughty list this Christmas, then I might just buy these for your teenage son or your daughter's boyfriend.  Oh and on a side note, if Andrew's invention has fired up the entrepreneurial spirit within you, just know

Thanks to @someecards, I found this treat in my twitter feed today.  Leave it to the Germans to incorporate most of the bodily functions into children's games.  I'm not sure what they're saying in the commercial, but it looks like the object of "Kackel Dackel", is to get the dog to eat and poop. Here's another game from the same company called "Snotty Snotter" where you try to pick as many boogers from the guy's nose before his brain explodes out of his head. And yet another game called "Schweine Schwarte" where you try to stuff a pig chef with as many hamburgers without making his stomach explode. If you're on my naughty list this year, you're probably going to be getting one of these as your gift this year.

Just saw this post on Eater.com . It seems that Duncan Hines has a new product that they're hawking using cupcakes singing in blackface.  I think this was suppose to be on their youtube channel youtube.com/amazingglazes (SFW), but it looks like they pulled it.  Eater.com has the video so you can judge for yourself.  Click on the link below the image and check it out. Video of singing cupcakes

As a fan of both Star Wars and Family Guy, I can't wait to see Family Guy's take on Return of the Jedi . If you get a kick out of these, then also check out Robot Chicken's take on Star Wars.

Since today's the last day of Hanukkah, I thought I'd share this catchy little song that explains what it's all about.

Pomplamoose, a musical group that I posted about a while back , is giving away an album of Christmas mp3s if you donate a used book to the Richmond Book Drive . The idea is to get some gently used books into the hands of students in Richmond California. A well deserved tip of the hat to Pomplamoose and file this under the category of win-win. Kids get books and you get a free Christmas album. If you're not familiar with Pomplamoose, check out their youtube channel here . You may have seen them on TV doing some car commercials for Hyundai. Anyway, I think the music is very cool and it's a worth cause. Check it out.

A Gizmodo post about the winning project in the Volkswagen's Fun Theory series. I think this is a simple yet brilliant idea. I'm not a big fan of photo cops, but the idea of being able to win money for obeying the law is appealing. This concept might even work in Atlanta, a city where everyone drives 80 miles an hour or faster. That is when they're not standing still, stuck in traffic. :)

On the way into work this morning I heard Neal Boortz talking about a couple of shoplifters in Oklahoma. I just had to find this story to get all the details. All I can say is it gives new meaning to the phrase, "Into the fold."

Today I heard that actor Leslie Nielsen passed away at age 84 due to complications from pneumonia. I think most of us remember him for his role as the deadpan doctor from the 1980 movie Airplane! . I grew up thinking that this movie was an original, but later found out it was a parody of a 1957 movie called Zero Hour! . After having watched both movies, I realize now that it was Leslie Nielsen's performance that was the glue that held the movie together. I can't watch the original movie without laughing and thinking of the parody because most of the dialogue is the same. Check out this YouTube video comparing some of the scenes. Whether playing characters like Dr. Rumack or Detective Frank Drebin, he always delivered the laughs with a straight face. His talent will surely be missed.

Found this post on reddit while cleaning out items in google reader.  The picture is of a door to the launch control room for an ICBM (which I found kind of funny). Some of the comments in the thread are very interesting. It's interesting what you can find out about our nuclear launch protocols on a site like reddit.  Who knows, maybe the 1983 movie Wargames was more true to life than I imagined. Check out this opening clip from the movie with Michael Madsen and John Spencer. I also found some links to a 1979 PBS documentary called "First Strike" which are pretty interesting. According to the wikipedia article for First Strike , some of the footage made it into the popular made for TV movie, The Day After (which coincidentally came out the same year as Wargames). During the Cold War, the fear of a full-scale nuclear war was palpable. Movies and TV shows like the above examples were common. The entire world feared that the doctrine of mutually assured des

I don't have any real plans this year for Thanksgiving. I think I'll spend the day trying to get three stars on every level of Angry Birds . That is unless the birds and the pigs can work out their differences before turkey day.

Kinda random and offbeat, but I was checking my site stats and saw that I got a visit from Farmville yesterday. And I don't even play Farmville.

Then head on over to http://www.firstpersontetris.com/ and try it. Mind = Blown :)

Don't you just hate it when you have to fish around the cooler and freeze your hand off trying to get a beer? Problem solved!

Found this last night while surfing. Pomplamoose. Amazing voice, great music, extremely creative. What more do you need? Check out their YouTube Channel . I like their version of Telephone better than Lady Ga Ga's.

It's no secret, I'm an NPR junkie. My favorite show is American Public Media's Market Place. Here's my new favorite podcast:

I saw that the Max Headroom TV Series has just been released on DVD. Might just have to add this to the netflix queue.

Getting the the Fourth of July mood. Think I'll try and add some of these "new" verses to spice things up this year. Restoration Of 'Star Spangled Banner' Uncovers Horrifying New Verses

I really dig subtle Star Wars humor. The Jaba cameo is the funniest part.

I saw this old SNL clip on a blog I follow called Joel on Software . I've always thought that this was one of their funniest fake commercials. Perhaps this is where Obama should be doing his banking.

Since I've got a GPS equipped smartphone, I never really thought I needed a dedicated GPS device for my car. Until now... Thanks to a tweet from @Darthvader I just found out that Tom Tom is going to be selling Star Wars voices for their devices. I can't decide which one would be my favorite, Darth Vader or Yoda. I think I gotta go with Darth Vader. With classic Darth quotes like "What is thy bidding, my master" and "I find your lack of faith disturbing", this is a winner. This is definitely going on the wish list.

Listening to Pandora while working today and Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" starts playing. Whenever I hear this song I can't help but think of Wierd Al's Amish Paradise. If fact I think I like it better than the original.

I love all the Traveler's Tale Lego games. I also know someone who loves the Harry Potter series. So, I'll be pre-ordering this game this week.

I heard on WABE that yesterday was Tax Freedom Day for Georgians. This year it took the first 98 days of the year to work and pay off all our federal, state, and local taxes. So as you're preparing for the April 15th filing deadline, sit back and watch this Schoolhouse Rock classic about taxes.

On the drive into work today, I heard a clip of Congressman Hank Johnson from the fourth congressional district of Georgia expressing his concern that if the U.S. Navy adds an additional 8,000 troops to our base in Guam the island might tip over and capsize. I thought that this might have been an April Fool's prank, that someone took his comments out of context. But after reading this article on TheHill.com , I think he's serious. Judge for yourself by watching this youtube clip.

I heard on the radio this morning that today is National Census Day . I thought about filling out my form and sending it in, but since April 1st is National Census Day I think I'll wait till someone comes to my door and recreate the following skit.

I guess some clever geek is trying to outwit the photocop systems.

According to a story in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution , two navy pilots (both Georgia Tech graduates) have been grounded for their low flyover of a Georgia Tech football game. Navy rules state that flyovers have to be done at least 1000 feet. Rear Admiral R.J. O'Hanlon said, "Despite his spotless record, his complacent, passive response to a major altitude transgression is unforgivable in my view. Continued aviation service involving flying is not in the best interest of Lt. Cmdr. Fryman or the United States Navy." I think it could have been said better this way: "... and broke a major rule of engagement. Then you broke another one with that circus stunt fly-by. Top Gun rules of engagement exist for your safety and for that of your team. They're not flexible, nor am I. Obey them or you're history. Is that clear?" The AJC story has links to the actual flyover, but here's a reenactment: Both pilots have been reassigned to non-flying jobs.

Just saw this commercial. At first I thought it was a joke, but after I saw the 1-800 number I realized it was for real (which makes it even funnier). Who knew that they made panties with built-in junk in the trunk?

Attention all you schadenfreude fans out there. The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Bernard Madeoff was beaten up in prison by another inmate back in December. The article sites current and former inmates as sources. The current inmate said Mr. Madoff's assailant was a beefy man serving time for a drug conviction. The alleged assailant's mother said in an interview her son had not mentioned any scuffle with Mr. Madoff but that he had been a body builder and held a black belt in Judo until he was injured in a shooting in 2002. While behind bars he has regained strength and gotten back into shape, she said. So if you were one of the thousands of people who's investments took a beating a the hands of Mr. Madeoff, you can take some comfort in the knowledge that he feels your pain (literally). I've got to think that this won't be the last time Bernie gets into a brawl. After all, he's still got 149 years left on his sentence.

I recently joined Aardvark . It a site that uses crowd sourcing to find answers to people's questions. It's like a combination of social networking and google search. In fact, Google just acquired Aardvark last month. It's a pretty cool service. I've asked several questions and gotten some good answers. I like browsing to see what open questions I can provide an answer to. Anyway, I try to be a good citizen of the internet and give honest/accurate answers to questions. But every now and then I see a question like this one: How would you answer?

Not exactly sure why this is news. Besides the people still working for Blockbuster, who didn't see this coming? This is one prediction that I think even Miss Cleo could've made. An article in today's Atlanta Business Chronicle says that Blockbuster may seek bankruptcy protection if they can't generate enough cash flow to meet or restructure their debt obligations. In the same way that " Video Killed the Radio Star ", new technologies like redbox , Wal-Mart & Vudu , Netflix , and Video-On-Demand are killing the traditional brick and mortar video rental store. Looking at Blockbuster's stock price (symbol BBI ) it looks like the company has been in a long, slow decline since 2005. The stock is trading around $0.30 a share. This is definitely a stark contract to 8 years ago when it was trading at an all time high of $30.00. Blockbuster, it's time to lay down and die or find a way to reinvent yourself. I think the people over at The Onion may

Time's relentless march forward has claimed another Hollywood icon. Actor Peter Graves passed away yesterday at his Los Angeles home at the age of 83. According to his publicist he suffered an apparent heart attack. He would have been 84 this week. As a child, I watched old reruns of Mission Impossible on WGN or WTBS. After all these years all I remember about the show was Peter Graves' character's name was Mr. Phelps, the leader of the IMF, and of course the opening credits for the show. But I think I'll always remember Peter Graves for his role as Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 movie Airplane! which has since become a cult classic and ranked as one of the funniest movies of all time . Here's some of my favorite clips from the movie. Thanks for the great performances. After all these years, you've earned your clearance Clarence. I hope your final approach and landing were smooth and peaceful.

I love their music, but I probably wouldn't have found out about them if not for their cool videos (and the internet).

I knew that the camera added 10 pounds, but I didn't know that it was 10 pounds of pure crazy. Natural disasters are a great example why news should be scripted and read from a teleprompter. Whenever there's "live" breaking coverage of an event like Chilean earthquake, we get to see how the "real" journalist work under pressure. As always, Jon Stewart does a great job of pointing out how silly the business of news has become. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c The Uninformant www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform