Thursday, July 31, 2014

Playing possum

Opossums seem mean. And kinda weird. I wouldn't want to have to wrangle one in front of a waiting crowd.

View image on Twitter

It happened last night at the Quad Cities River Bandits game in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa. Here's the video.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Crossover

Simpsons and Family Guy crossing over into the same universe.




It started off OK, then, kinda went down hill. But the potential is certainly there.Apparently the Family Guy universe will invade Springfield on FOX on September 28.

Monday, July 28, 2014

This pillow's on fire

So I don't have a nightstand next to my bed, and I have this exact model of phone so...this is a little scary.

According to this website:

Texas resident Ariel Tolfree may have trouble sleeping for a while. The 13-year-old went to sleep with her white Galaxy S4 under a white pillow – and was awakened by a burning smell close by. The problem? Her Galaxy S4 was burning.

Galaxy-S4-after-being-burned-under-pillow
http://www.inferse.com/16408/samsung-galaxy-s4-burns-pillow-third-party-battery-blame/

The Galaxy S4's battery was so hot during the night that it swelled, then burned not only the Galaxy S4 and through the pillow under which it was placed, but also her mattress.

Tolfree’s family contacted Samsung, who’s taken a look at the smartphone to verify whether or not the parts were originally from Samsung. The team discovered that the battery inside of it was a counterfeit battery from a third party, not an original Samsung battery.

Still, despite the fact that the third-party battery is to blame in the case, Samsung has agreed to replace the Galaxy S4 as well as the mattress and the pillow.

I keep my phone on the pillow next to me when I sleep. It's helpful for it to be that close to my head, as it's my alarm. But a flaming pillow is pretty alarming too. 

Monday, July 21, 2014

Rory's British Open Win

I had some trouble sleeping in this weekend, but that turned out to be OK because I was able to get up and watch the British Open (GOLF ON TV IS COOL, DAMMIT.)

I found myself growing increasingly jealous of Rory McIlroy as the weekend went on because, well, he's 11 months younger than me and he's already won three legs of golf's Grand Slam.

In other news, I broke 50 on 9 holes for the second time of my life last week. So TAKE THAT, RORS.

But I saw a few cool storylines that came out of Rory's British Open win.

First, his dad and buddies won $180,000 off a bed they made with the online gambling site Ladbrokes after his dad made a 200 pound ($341) bet that Rory would win the British Open within 10 years of 2004, with it paying out 500-to-1 odds.

His buddies bet 200 pounds at 250/1 for him to win The Open by 2015 and 200 pounds at 150/1 for McIlroy to win The Open before age 50. Those bets will pay out a combined $136,700.

Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler made it interesting on Sunday, but Rory cashed in for himself and his family. Pretty cool.

So Rory now gets his first taste of the Claret Jug and apparently, that taste is Jagermeister. 

0725_Brian Keogh_party_with_trophy

The photo, courtesy of TMZ, is of Rory's friend on the left, and his MOM, pouring Jager into the British Open trophy. 

He is only 25, after all, so I guess he's allowed to do that. 

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

New music from Tom Petty

Here's a listen of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' new single "Fault Lines" off the Hypnotic Eye album, due out July 29.

Spider Fire

This is something I'm scared my roommate would do. 



Via KOMOnews.com:

Fire officials say a West Seattle man was using a lighter and a can of spray paint to kill a spider in his laundry room when the house went up in flames.

A man who lived at the home told fire officials he was trying to kill a spider in his laundry room using a can of spray paint and a lighter when the wall caught fire, according to Kyle Moore with the Seattle Fire Department. The man wasn't able to put the fire out himself, and he left the home when it began to spread.

The building, which is a rental home, will cost roughly $40,000 to repair, Moore said. It will cost another $20,000 to repair or replace the contents of the home.

It's unclear if the spider survived.


And then the joke at the end. Classic. We had a few wasps get into our apartment and I'm frankly surprised the apartment complex is still standing.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Shock and Ow

This strikes me as one of the most American things ever.

We're going to do our best to work out and be fit and if WE DON'T REACH THAT GOAL, well then we're going to electrocute ourselves until we do.

Ok, so maybe electrocute is a bit of a strong word, but this latest tech gadget is a bit much..




From Blood Sweat and Cheer:

Soon you'll be able to shock yourself on-the-go, from anywhere, with the Pavlok activity tracker.

Tell Pavlok your fitness goals, and if you fail to reach them, the wristband will set you straight—with a small electrical shock!

Yikes?! Cool?! WTF?! Yeah, we feel the same way.

When used with its app, Pavlok can turn your bad habits into healthy ones.

Just tell the app what you want to do, whether it's waking up early or getting to the gym by a certain time. Snooze your alarm or skip the workout, and you'll feel a shock on your wrist.



Pavlok...Pavlov plus shock, perhaps?

Monday, July 14, 2014

Pamplona Selfie Vid

So if you're gonna be running with the bulls in Pamplona, apparently you can't take a selfie. Because that would make the afternoon too dangerous.

Police in Pamplona, Spain are looking for a man who shot a selfie while running a few steps ahead of the bulls.  Video of Friday's run through the streets of the northern Spanish city shows the young man slowing down to snap a photo of himself and others running in front of the half-ton bulls.  The city passed a law this year banning the unauthorized use of any kind of recording device during the bull runs.


The thing is, that's a video I'd actually watch? No one wants to watch your kid's t-ball game or a song at a concert or HEAVEN FORBID a fireworks show, but a selfie video of the running of the bulls? Damn right I'd watch that.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Self-serve Vending Machine

The Minnesota Twins have unveiled self-serve beer vending machines at Target Field, and will reportedly be adding a second for when the MLB All-Star Game comes to town later this month.

Apparently it's not going to take anyone's job either, because they're still going to use real live humans to check IDs, but it's still a little strange. And seems...unnecessary?

What was wrong with the way things were? Not to seem like a curmudgeon, but it was a pretty simple transaction to begin with. I hand person money, person pours me a beer. Everyone wins.

Here's my pros and cons list:

PRO: Can order the exact amount of beer you want, up to 48 oz every 15 minutes

CON: Waiting in a (probably long) line to get a beer

PRO: Hopefully the machine can figure out how to pour it perfectly

CON: It looks like you pull the handle yourself, and you're not good at pouring

Embedded image permalink

I remain unconvinced. Perhaps I'll need to go investigate myself. Say, for a day game some weekday?

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Hot diggity dogs

One of the competitions that fascinates me every 4th of July is the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Well, fascinates and disgusts and mesmerizes and entrances and disgusts once again.




Here's a snippet from a Time.com article about what happens to a person who competes in such a contest:

Not much research has been done about competitive eating. But several doctors from the University of Pennsylvania did an experiment for a National Geographic special, the results of which were published in the Journal of Roentgenology. They wanted to find out what happened to competitive eaters’ stomachs, so they compared two men: one champion eater and one non-competitive-eating man—the control—who simply had a “healthy appetite.”

The men were asked to consume as many hot dogs as they could in 12 minutes. The researchers noted that after eating the hot dogs, the competitive eater’s stomach “appeared as a massively distended, food-filled sac occupying most of the upper abdomen.” There was also “little or no gastric peristalsis,” the squeezing motion that normally helps the stomach break down food.


The article also talks about how competitive eaters basically trick their brain into letting their body ingest more. In other words, don't try this at home.