Talking About LSD On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving of 1990, I came home from New York to find the house full of people, at least 35, all talking and playing cards.  It seemed like an almost wholesome experience, Norman Rockwellian, if Rockwell had grown up at the Hazel Park Raceway and knew how to hustle Clubyash. Children ran all over the place, a minimum of two turkeys were on the table to feed the massive hordes of family and friends, all served after the assembled watched the Lions lose yet another football game. 

After the meal, I found myself sitting at the head of the table next to Jerry Stein, one of my father’s oldest friends in Detroit and Uncle Jerry to my brothers and I.  The Old Man was quite fond of Jerry, even as he belittled his old hippie politics and lifestyle.  After all, he had shown Dad what a dresser was.  Aronchick, however, was always proud that he attended all three of Uncle Jerry’s weddings including the Jewish/Buddhist affair held in the Detroit Institute of Arts on Woodward Avenue. [Read more]

Black Friday bargains result in death of Wal-Mart employee

A 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee has died today after being trampled on during the holiday rush for bargains. Three additional Wal-Mart employees at the same Long Island location have been reported injured You would think that after previous incidents and injuries during Black Friday, Wal-Mart would have taken precautionary measures this year to prevent and aid in the control of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.

One of many stampedes from Black Friday ‘07:

(via Newsday)

fashion forward or fashion flop?

I know, I know. I’ve been slacking and deserve a slap on the hand. Then I decided, what better way to get back into the posting swing than with a hit or miss?

Bobby Trendy and Phoebe Price out for an afternoon stroll and some retail therapy. I know you have to have an opinion on this so let’s hear it!

Bold, fierce and fabulous or hideous, hot mess?

How to say “I love you” in over 100 different languages

As the international community moves towards a unified vision of one world, we should each take the next step in expanding our knowledge of foreign languages. Let’s begin with the basics.

Here’s a list of ways to say “I love you” in over 100 languages: [Read more]

Texting Ozzy

This Ozzy/Samsung advert is hilarious! And check it out…if I’m not amiss here, Ozzy texts the “F-bomb” to the barista at about 12 seconds in. Am I right?

What’s This Tell You About The Way The World Sees Our Bush?

You give America a bad name, Jorge. Good riddance. Try not to fall on ‘the button’ on your way out. Thanks for never once representing anything I believe in while in office. Nice work, douche. (Sorry, venting after 8 years of biting my tongue)

Book Review: Classic Electrics - A Visual History of Great Guitars

We’re nearing Holiday shopping time again and I’ve come across a perfect stocking stuffer gift for your favorite little rocker. Jawbone Press brings you Walter Carter’s Classic Electrics – A Visual History of Great Guitars and it’s sure to please the gear-head axe-grinder in your life …or perhaps that’s you!

From Bruce Springsteen’s Telecaster to Brian May’s signature Guild and from Eddie Cochran’s Gretsch 6120 to Strawberry Alarm Clock’s custom-made green skateboard cutout Mosrite (yeah, you have to see it to believe it!), Classic Electrics is pure eye-candy for electric guitar geeks. There are over 350 guitars represented in the book and they all have brilliant photos and informative text, and some with period brochure reproductions and promotional shots. Perfect coffee table fodder and rock conversation starter. [Read more]

19 year old commits suicide live via webcam

Abraham Biggs, a 19-year-old from Florida, broadcasted his suicide on Justin.tv, a popular lifecasting website. After posting a suicide note, Biggs overdosed on pills live via webcam as viewers egged him on.

When he took the pills and stopped moving, they laughed, expecting his corpse to revive and announce it was all a joke. No one called the police until hours had passed. They kept watching as officers came to the scene and verified his death. Even then, commenters wrote “OMFG” and “LOL.”

The lines defining the stage and reality have been blurred. What many thought was merely a hoax just viewed their very first snuff film. One would think that most people would find something morbidly wrong with watching someone “fake” a suicide. I love the internet, but the real world is not within the monitor you are staring into right now.

(via Valleywag)

Last Pictures Taken: Tsunami victims to Marilyn Monroe

On January 13, 2005 the bodies of Canadian couple John and Jackie Knill were discovered on a Thailand beach resort. They were two of the many victims killed from the December 26 2004 tsunami. Weeks later a Seattle man doing relief work found a damaged camera and discarded it but kept the memory card in the camera. After downloading the images he discovered pictures of the Knill’s enjoying their vacation, as well as shots of a huge wave approaching the shore. With each picture it shows the wave getting closer and closer to shore. The last picture taken of them before the wave hit (shown above) was shot just after 8.30 am on December 26.

The man who recovered the images recognized the couple from a missing person’s web site. After contacting their sons, the man drove from Seattle to Vancouver to give them their parent’s last images.

More fascinating pictures and stories like this one can be found here: listverse.com/history/10-fascinating-last-pictures-taken/

Two views on the future of the GOP… sort of…

The following is a comment left by Scott F on my WTF post that I copied to my home site (sorry Brian), it’s a good comment, here it is…

Scott -

The positions you enumerated in the bulleted list can still sell. But only if you guys make an effort to divorce yourself from the flat-earth wing of the party and return to some pragmatic approaches to governing.

People aren’t going to vote for know-nothings who think global warming is a myth. That ship has sailed, fellas. And I don’t think Americans are buying the idea that market forces are going to fix our health care problems. People actually want the government to do something, and they want it to work. Although it is at odds with your “less government” position, this is one area where you’re either going to make an exception or you’re on the fast train to Whig city.

Rejoin public opinion (and frankly, reality) on a few of these issues and you may find that your message still sells otherwise. (Truth be told, though, I think you’re going to lose on the gay rights thing, too, eventually.)

Myself -

- “flat earth” politics will always have a place in my heart… well, at least the pro-life part of it. [Read more]

World record for the tallest mohawk!

Leave it to a Nebraskan to break the official world record for the tallest mohawk. On November 14th, Eric Hahn successfully styled a 27 inch tall mohawk, constructed only with hairspray and a blow dryer. Any hair that was chopped off was donated to Locks of Love. Hahn and his friends also hosted a benefit concert later that night, donating proceeds to Locks of Love and Project Nightlights, a non-profit focused on building sick children their dream bedrooms. Oh you Nebraskans sure have big hearts… and tall mohawks.

War On Drugs Clock Shows All The Resources We Really Use

So I was skimming the interwebs and I came across this website, the war on drugs clock.  Basically it breaks down just how much money our government is spending to put away non-violent offenders, and just how many of them are in jail, arrested, and a bunch of other pretty staggering numbers.

Now look at these numbers, and tell me why we are in a massive economic crisis. 17 Billion Dollars?!?!? Are you fucking kidding me? That number is absolutely unreal to me, and that is only on a Federal level.  States have spent over 27 Billion on the drug war, do they realize it’s easier than ever to walk out one’s front door and have a bag in your hand within 10 minutes?  Do they realize that this will NEVER change?  Some states have, 13 at last count, with Michigan and Massachusetts on the way.  We are slowly catching on, but it certainly isn’t fast enough.

Am I asking to completely decriminalize the plant and put it in the hands of anyone and everyone?  No, absolutely not, it could easily be regulated at least as much as alcohol is to keep it out of the hands of the younger generation before they have developed to a point where they can responsibly use the drug.  But isn’t throwing almost 40 billion dollars a year at a losing battle absolutely gut wrenching?  I’d say so, especially for the number 2 cash crop in our nation.  Marijuana and hemp could easily be MAKING us billions of dollars in taxes, and stimulating our floundering economy.  Instead we choose to sit back and be robbed blind by our governments; state and federal, on a war that is more hopeless than Iraq and Afghanistan could ever imagine to be. [Read more]

Frances Comes Alive!

If you’re in the New York tri-state area this Friday (November 21st), then you MUST go to the Mercury Lounge to see our good friends, Frances, play their energetic, super-tight live show for their debut full-length album release party. The album is called All The While and it is absolutely brilliant, full of catchy hooks, amazing harmonies, and melt-in-your-mouth melodies. If you can’t be at the show on Friday, you can get yourself a copy of the album from Amazon for under $10 or you can get the digital download at Amie Street for just half of $10! Dig the cover/flyer for the show…

So, hopefully I’ll see you at the show, but if not, make sure to catch this band on the rise in the near future. They’ll probably play in your town in 2009!

The after-party is at Stanton Public.

Listen to songs at the Frances website.

Download the song “All The While” for free at RCRD LBL.

Cheers!

Are The Big Three Auto Makers Doomed?

The auto industry seems to be next on the list of industries that will need federal support in order to maintain its existence in the United States. The Center of Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that the failure of the US auto industry would lead to the loss of 2.5 million jobs which is just more bad news in regards to the weakened US economy. Congress is set to debate this week on the fate of the Big Three, GM, Ford and Chrysler. GM has already warned that it may run out of cash and be forced to declare bankruptcy before the end of the year.

They’re a dinosaur in a sense,” Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I hate to see this because I would like to see them become lean and hungry and innovative. And if they did and put out the right products they could survive. But I don’t believe that the $25 billion they’re talking about will make them survive. It’s just postponing the inevitable.” [Read more]

Whale Wars: Eco-terrorism meets reality TV?

Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson established the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in an effort to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans. Each winter the Sea Shepherd team and a group of volunteers head out to sea to protect these animals. Through innovative direct-action tactics, Watson and his fellow conservationists expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. Their most recent campaign focused on protecting the illegally hunted whales of the Antarctic. However, this time Discovery Channel was on board to capture it all in an action-packed seven part series called Whale Wars.

From stink bombs to flash grenades and hostages to capsized boats, Whale Wars captures the battles and the controversy surrounding not only the whaling industry but the Sea Shepherd’s “no holds barred” strategy. International whaling laws are interpreted by various countries and organizations in different ways. Over 20 years ago, Japan withdrew its opposition to the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling. Just one year later, the Japanese announced a large-scale scientific whaling program designed to “assess” whale stocks.

Many conservationists like Watson don’t buy it and question the scientific validity of Japan’s research program. Is it nothing more than a front for whaling? Activist groups like Watson’s Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claim that Japan’s whaling practices violate international law. On the other hand, Japan claims the direct-action tactics of Sea Shepherd are illegal, in essence a form of eco-terrorism.

So who’s more in the wrong and less in the right? The Japanese or the “radical” Sea Shepherds? You be the judge. Tune-in to Animal Planet Friday nights at 9PM ET or head over to iTunes and watch the first episode for free. Warning: this show is addicting!

Next Page »