Bacon Today

Are you like me? Do you find yourself wondering what the latest bacon news is? Well wonder no more! Bacon Today brings you the latest sizzling headlines from the world over. For example, where else would you learn that in their catering contract, Metallica made sure that the following phrase appeared no less than 3 times in all caps despite the fact that they have at least 6 strict vegetarians on the crew:

“BACON VERY IMPORTANT THAT BACON BE AVAILABLE AT EVERY MEAL AND DURING DAY”

Rock on Metallica! Where would the metal community be without succulent bacon? And where would James Bond be? For it seems that Daniel Craig's physique was built one bacon strip at a time. If it hadn't been for bacon sammiches, there would have been no Quantum of Solace.

I've only discovered this site today, but it has already changed my life. And so I wish you all a Happy Thanksbacon. What started out as a dream - taking John Madden's mad scientist concoction - the turducken - and wrapping the whole shebang in bacon - has become a reality. Eat your fill of one of these and I will keep you in my prayers that you will not have a heart attack before Christmas.

The Wonderful World of MMA

For those of you who didn't think that Mixed Martial Arts was homoerotic enough, I ask you to reconsider. If the sight of 2 sweaty, mostly naked men rolling on the ground with their arms wrapped around each other wasn't enough to convince you who the target audience is, I think the new sponsor might change your mind. Yes, the fighters are now sporting condom ads on their asses.

I don't have much interest in watching fights anyway. Sure they are very talented and highly trained tacticians, but seeing guys beat each other up just seems a little barbaric to me. As if that wasn't enough, the increasing influence of wrestling and ju jitsu make for some incredibly boring fights. Grappling is just not a spectator sport, and as much of a turn on cauliflower ears might be for some, it kind of creeps me out a little. The condom ass ads really don't help build any interest for me. I have a hard time believing that they couldn't find a better place. The front of the shorts comes to mind. Perhaps there's a reason I don't have a job in marketing....

Adding Insult To Injury

Note: If you are in the hospital, being treated for a spinal injury and unable to move, do not let your crazy jealous wife near your phone. In this cautionary tale, Esmerelda Rodriguez found another woman's phone number in her husbands phone, and while unable to defend himself, she proceeded to repeatedly punch him in the balls followed by a round of hitting him in the face with a belt.

The story doesn't mention it, but I do question the events which led to this man's spinal injury and subsequent hospital visit. I suspect foul play may have been involved.

So, should I ever find a woman crazy enough to marry me, then find a second woman willing to give me her phone number, and finally become hospitalized, I sincerely hope that somebody reading this will come to my aid and guard me.

Valkyrie

The History Channel likes to take advantage of movie releases by putting out shows with the same subject matter. I typically enjoy these shows and was happy to come home from work today to find the true story of the upcoming film Valkyrie. Despite the increasingly crazy Tom Cruise playing the lead and being supported by Bill Nighy, who I have previously derided, I'm still pretty interested in the movie based on the subject matter. Bryan Singer seems to be a pretty solid director though, so I'm pretty confident that this will turn out well.

Thanks to Monday Night Football, I haven't watched the History Channel special yet, so I'm going to have to enjoy it later. Based on past experience, I have high hopes for this as well and am a big advocate of familiarizing yourself with the true account before seeing the Hollywood version. It is no doubt very well done, so be sure to check it out. I have no doubt that it will be airing several more times before the release of the film. Also, be sure to watch this featurette on the upcoming film. It's a large file and may take a few minutes to load so be patient.

Change

Admittedly, there is a long way to go, but thus far, President Obama has fulfilled his campaign promise to bring change to Washington (I think that was his only campaign promise) by filling his cabinet with career politicians and insiders. No, I am not a political expert by any means, but I think I would have gone a different direction. I still contend that what he meant by the promise of change is that that is what my 401k will be reduced to by the end of his administration.

This is probably a smart move, actually, buffering his inexperience with people who know what they are doing. It just bothers me that the entire crux of his campaign was b.s. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I don't know that there is a politician in this day and age who doesn't lie his ass off. Maybe I'm an idealist, but I keep hoping that eventually someone will be different. All indications, however, are that I won't see that for at least 4 more years. Where is honest Abe when we need him most? I think I might vote for an honest candidate even if I didn't agree with his politics, just because he was honest.

Chinese Democracy

I was pretty skeptical of the new Guns N Roses album that has been in the works for seemingly a decade now. I figured that a drugged up Axl Rose and a band of nobodies that I have no idea where he found wouldn't amount to much, and after hearing their first single was pretty underwhelmed. I have recently begun hearing their second single - Better - on the radio recently and it's, well, better. It's not Paradise City, but it's not bad. Good enough, anyway, that I'm now interested in hearing more of the album. It starts out a little slowly and takes it's time building, but about 2:30 it kicks into gear and starts to rock. So give it a listen, and if you don't end up with a smile on your face I offer a money back guarantee. Also please ignore the amateur video.

Gas Prices

The one bit of good economic news right now is that analysts expect gas prices to drop below $1.75 a gallon over the winter, the lowest price since 2005. Finally the dark cloud has a silver lining.

Scott's Stock Tip

In what will be a new feature here, I am providing a stock tip of the day. There won't be one every day, but occasionally I'll add one. And I'm kicking off this new feature with a can't miss stock - CRD/A. Crawford & Company has a very good P/E ration, is very undervalued right now and way off the 52 week high (although what isn't?), and recently announced great 3rd quarter earnings. Double what they were a year ago. I don't understand why there is a class a stock and a class b stock (CRD/B), but the fundamentals are the same and the A stock is cheaper so it will have a higher percentage change.

In other random news, don't miss out on today's Woot off. I recently picked up a $139 blu-ray disc player from Woot and am hoping to find a cheap HD DVD player to have as a backup in case something happens to my current one. What I really want is an LG BH-200 blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, but they are too expensive new, and the ones I've been bidding on at ebay keep getting bid up higher than I want to pay as well. It seems a little unlikely that I'll find one on woot though.

Also, I've been planning to write a review of the new Futurama movie, Bender's Game for over a week now. One of these days I'll actually get around to it. All I will say for now is it's better than the previous 2 movies.

Hard Times

Well, the Dow has finally dropped below 8,000. I never thought I'd see it down that low again. Add to that the news that 70% of the Washington Mutual employees are going to get laid off and it's a recipe for bad times. Even though many people around here think that this area is immune to the hardships that are hitting most of the country, I think a lot of them are going to be changing their tune in the coming months. I'm not sure how many employees WaMu has in the area, but I feel pretty safe in assuming that 70% is going to be at least 5,000 people. That's a big dent in the local economy. And a lousy Christmas present to a lot of affected families (or is it effected? Damn it, ever since I read the definitions of the two I can't keep them straight anymore). If you're a WaMu employee, I hope your job is safe.

Anyway, long story short, things are going to get worse before they get better and we are in for trouble around here. I've been having trouble finding a decent job as is and a bunch more unemployed people in the area isn't going to help any. Especially since I expect Safeco to lay off a lot of people in early 2009 too. I've received some offers for low paying jobs that aren't something I want to do, but so far that's it. It's only going to get worse I'm afraid. And I just spent about half an hour on Monster so I forgot where I was going with this other than buckle up and I hope you all aren't hit too hard.

The M's Have A New Manager

Welcome Don Wakamatsu. The Mariners haven't made an official announcement yet, but an inside source leaked the news that the former Oakland A's third base coach got the job. I plugged Wakamatsu into babel fish to find out what it means, and apparently it means Wakamatsu, although I don't think it works if I don't enter Kanji. After spending too much time searching the internet for another translater, I've given up and don't think one exists. And since I can't type in Kanji or Katakana on my keyboard and wouldn't have a clue what I was typing if I did, I guess I'm out of luck. And so I'm going to assume that Wakamatsu means playoffs. That's where I expect him to take us. And the sooner the better. Good luck Don, at least you don't have Richie Sexson and his huge salary to deal with this year.

Godzilla Tree

I don't really have any commentary to go along with this, I just think this is the worlds coolest tree. Located in the Chiba prefecture in Japan, the trees owner says that the tree grew that way on it's own. Now if they can just grow a Rodan tree across the street....

Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D

After renting and watching Journey to the Center of the Earth in regular old 2D, I saw the 3D version at Costco and decided that it was good enough to pick up and watch it again. I've seen 3D movies before, and the old ones weren't all that good, but the 3D in the Imax version of Superman was pretty good, even if the movie wasn't. Anyhow, instead of using polarized lenses like the Imax, Journey uses the traditional red and blue colored glasses. And maybe it's because I'm partially color blind, but the 3D really doesn't work very well. Particularly when objects got close to the camera, they blurred pretty badly our just out and out looked like 2 separate images. In addition to that, the color was off, I think because of the glasses. So all in all it was a little disappointing. Not bad enough that I'm experiencing buyers remorse, but I think I'm going to stay away from the colored glasses.

I Hate Petros

Papadakis that is. I don't know who he's got dirt on to not only have gotten hired by Fox Sports, but to keep his job announcing PAC-10 games, but it must be some really good dirt. Not only does he have an annoying, nasally voice, but he's dumb as a post. He even looks like a tool.

Petros played fullback for USC and his bias is evident. He clearly has his schools he fawns over and schools he hates. Washington is one of the schools he doesn't like and he constantly makes snide remarks about them, occasionally pausing to express his man-crush on Jake Locker. He mispronounces names on a regular basis, and his analysis is anything but insightful. I've had all I can tolerate of this idiot and he really needs a good solid c*ck punch. It's time to get him off the air.

Banjo Hero

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are beginning to get a little passe, so it's time for something new. That's why I think the next big thing will be Banjo Hero. Instead of having stages like the small club and the huge arena, there will be the Appalachian backwoods and the old barn. And when you want to play multiplayer, you can buy the jug peripheral to go with the fiddle and the washboard. It'll be a hoot. Pre-order yours today! It's sure to sell out fast. Straw hat and missing teeth sold separately.

Hasselbeck

With the announcement of the glorious, if ill advised, return of Matt Hasselbeck, I've realized what the Seahawks most need. Since Seneca Wallace hasn't worked out and Charlie Frye has been abysmal to put it mildly, what we really need is a spare Hasselbeck. That's why it's time to sign Tim Hasselbeck. I don't know if he's still a back up somewhere or if we need to coax him out of retirement, but we need a replacement Hasselbeck ready to step right in and take over when Matt inevitably reinjures himself because he wants to come back early and save a horrible season against his doctor's advice to sit out the rest of the year. I hope that doesn't happen, but I can see it coming. So it's time to get Tim on the roster and up to speed as soon as possible. And maybe assassinate Charlie Frye while we're at it.

Saved By Zero

If you hate the new Toyota commercials that play during every commercial break in every NFL game, sometimes twice, then you're not alone. Apparently Cy Curnin, lead singer of the band The Fixx is with you. I have to think that the royalty checks somewhat dull the sting a bit though. Heck, if I was getting a cut every time one of those commercials played, I'd be more willing to sit through them. My iritation, however, stems from the fact that Toyota decided to let a cover band sing the commercial version of the song rather than using the original, as well as the fact that they just keep looping the same 5 second clip over and over again.

Incidentally, Cy also said that he finds it ironic that the song would be used in an advertisement since the song is about the freedom felt by not having any possessions or attachments to worry about. Truth be told, I had no idea what the song was about, but now that I do, I can appreciate the irony. And so I hope that the irony increases by Toyota being saved by zero - losing all of their business so they don't have anything else to worry about.

Democracy At Work

Say what you will about animosity in US elections, but at least we're a step above Venezuela where president Hugo Chavez has warned that he will use tanks to defend the will of the people if the outcome of the upcoming elections aren't to his liking.

"If you let the oligarchy return to government then maybe I'll end up sending the tanks of the armoured brigade out to defend the revolutionary government," he said late on Saturday.

It makes me kind of wish we had a leader courageous enough to protect us from ourselves like that. Why isn't W rolling out any tanks to ensure that Dino Rossi is our next governor?

I can only assume that this means he doesn't really care about us. And I'll finish by saying that I believe that Hugo Chavez is unbalanced. Perhaps it's the uncut cocaine that's destroying his brain. Perhaps it's a family history of mental illness. I'm just glad he's safely in another country where he can spout all the anti-US diatribes he pleases and we can have a good chuckle at his expense.

Down Goes Circuit City

In yet another blow to the economy, Circuit City filed chapter 11 today. I guess it's partly my fault for not shopping there enough, but they just didn't have good enough prices and they were more inconveniently located than Best Buy or any online retailers. That and they had no qualified employees, having laid off their longest tenured employees in favor of minimum wage newbies. I'm pretty sure I remember Jessie predicting this would come back to bite them long ago, but I'm too lazy to go searching through the archives to find it. I hope that other retailers learn the lesson that laying off your best employees isn't the way to turn around a struggling business. Especially since cutting an executive job or two would have saved as much or more.

Still, Circuit City is planning on closing 155 of it's 700 stores and laying off up to 7,300 employees. On top of all of the people in the mortgage/banking industry who have lost their jobs, it's going to be a lean Christmas for retailers. And since CompUSA just closed their doors about a year ago, I'm beginning to wonder if online retailers are simply driving brick and mortar shops out of business. Fry's and Best Buy seem to be thriving though, so I'm not sure that the others weren't just poorly managed.

Well, I'm pretty sure I had some other good points to make but got distracted and don't remember what they were anymore. I need an assistant.

Sorry

....but I can't help myself. Every year about this time I get the Arcadia song Election Day stuck in my head. The only thing that has the power to dislodge it is Saved By Zero. Damn you Toyota for making me hate a classic. At least they haven't ruined One Thing Leads To Another yet.

Spruce Goose

After a gruelling Halloween which saw 158 trick or treaters knock on my cousin Pat's door, Saturday morning we headed down to McMinnville to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum to see the Spruce Goose. I've been wanting to do this for a while and am glad I finally got the chance. The Goose is enormous, and getting the opportunity to pilot it was pretty damn cool. Here Pat is my co-pilot and cousin Wayne was the stewardess on this mission. Yes, I am actually sitting in the same seat Howard Hughes was in when he piloted the biggest plane ever built on it's famed one mile flight off the shore of Long Beach, California. It really is too bad that it never flew again.











It's kind of hard to get a good feel for the size of it from pictures, particularly from pictures taken by a camera phone since I forgot to bring my real camera with me, but here is a fighter jet and another plane that I can't tell what it is parked under one of the wings.

To give you a little better idea of the size, here is a better picture shamelessly stolen from the internet. And just for fun, one more with the SR-71 nicely nestled under it's wing like an ugly duckling. And I don't know why having multiple pictures plays havoc with my formatting, but I'm too tired to worry about it now.

The Goose wasn't the only interesting attraction there though. In addition to a variety of other planes ranging from a Sopwith Camel to an F-15, they also had an impressive space exhibit. Here is a Titan II missile which space buffs may remember propelled the astronauts of the Gemini program into orbit.

And here is one of the rocket boosters from the Titan II.

A cute little unmanned Russian lunar rover.

And the NASA LEM, or lunar excursion module for those of you who haven't seen Apollo 13. Note, this is a replica, not the actual one that landed on the moon. Also note, that is a replica astronaut, not an actual one.

Here we have the much cooler manned lunar rover, brought to you by your friends at NASA.

And finally, the super cool SR-71. Fastest plane in the world. This thing had some unbelievable huge engines, and the thought of taking a spin in this bad boy makes me salivate. But alas, that wasn't inclued in the price of admission, nor was it an optional upgrade. I'm afraid my dream will have to remain just that. And so, if you find yourself with some free time and have already seen High School Musical 3, then do yourself a favor and get down to Oregon to see this museum. It's worth it.

R.I.P. Tuba Man

I just found out about this today and it just makes me sick. Edward McMichael, more commonly known as the tuba man was beaten to death by some teenage punks while waiting for a bus. It's hard to believe that something like this happened around here. It seems like something that might happen in New York, Los Angeles, or Detroit, but here?

Tuba Man has been playing outside of sports events for as long as I can remember. I remember seeing him outside the Kingdome as a young kid. He was as much a part of the sports landscape as any fan could be. I never talked to him, but he always seemed like a very friendly and kind man. That just makes this tragedy harder to stomach. I hope that his assailants are caught and quickly brought to justice. And my condolences go out to his family and friends. Rest in peace tuba man.

Useless Election Trivia

What U.S. presidential race featured the first public opinion poll of voter preferences?

Useless Halloween Trivia

Well, this is a few days late, but here you go anyway:

What were the first jack-o-lanterns carved from?