How Much Could Your Carry in a Bank Robbery?

10 fun questions HERE.

Why Men are Attracted to Dodge Trucks

Fun Shopping at the Grocery Store

Nozzle Rage

Not always a good analogy but they do have a decent comedy clip. NozzleRage.

I Hate Telemarketers

I've been on the National Do Not Call List since its inception and legally, all telemarketers are supposed to consult and respect this list before calling a number. The Seattle Times and The Post-Intelligencer are among the worst telemarketers in this area.

Do you think these people even follow the list? And on numerous occasions, I've also told these people to make sure my numbers - ALL of them - are on their Do Not Call Lists. But the SOB's keep calling me at all hours of the day and night. Of course, when you call them back after hours to complain, there's never a manager to yell at. One of these days, when I have some extra time to kill, I plan on going after them for penalties and fines that they probably owe me and thousands of other people that they've been harassing for years.

Local Seattle geek, Chris Pirillo actually taped an 11-minute video on YouTube of his fun with one of the Seattle Times telemarketers.

How to Buy a New (or Used) Car

Probably one of the most unpleasant tasks you have to do at least once in your lifetime: Buying a car from a car dealer. I've generally used a lot of different tricks myself when buying - er, negotiating to buy - a new or used car. Most of them are common sense, meant to even the odds against the typical car dealer's bag of dirty tricks:

• Buy your car in the last quarter of the year (the new models come out then and everything depreciates a year more);
• When you go up to the receptionist, try to find out which salesperson is in second place for the month (he or she will be a lot more eager to close a deal than No. 1);
• Show up late on the last weekend of the month (particularly good if it's a drizzly and miserable day outside with no customers around and Superbowl Sunday is especially good);
• Go outside from time to time to make a phone call to consult with a nonexistent spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, especially after each time your salesperson has to go back to "talk to his manager";
• Be prepared to walk out of the showroom without looking back if things reach an impasse.

Anyway, this is all a prelude to a 6-minute YouTube video by Rob Grule at the 2007 Ignite Conference in Seattle on the same subject. A lot of these ideas are basically Negotiation 101.

Hallelujah! The Farting Preacher

Grandma's Remote Control

From The New Yorker's enduring cartoonist, Roz Chast:

Whiteboard Music Video

Going for Gold in Beijing

With the record-breaking numbers of viewers as the Beijing Olympics has been drawing, it's hard to keep track of who's been winning what. Yahoo Sports has a real-time page with the current medal scorecard updated regularly. This clip's from Monday evening, August 11th, showing the USA leading with a total of 20 medals with China in second place with 16 but leading the States in gold 10-6. Russia's way back in 6th place right now, with no gold yet. Perhaps their best athletes are busy invading Georgia right now?

Redneck Flat Screen

Speaks for itself.

Art Meets Science

Simply beautiful. Sachiko Kodama bills herself as a ferrofluid artist and has recently been "discovered" and represented by an American gallery. Her unique pieces are like eye candy: you can't take your eyes off of them.

Proof Again that Americans Have Way Too Much Crap!

Just when you think you've seen it all... here's the $20 Goatee Saver. Trim that goatee to perfection and bring out the inner babe magnet, guys! Click HERE to see it (and order it, you decadent bastard!)

Soda or Pop?

When my kids and I first moved out to Seattle over 11 years ago, among the first subtle differences we noticed between the East Coast and the West Coast was the old Soda vs. Pop debate. We mostly called it soda back in Florida but it seems that most of my kids' friends called it 'pop' out here in Seattle.

Of course, someone's created a website devoted to the study of Pop vs. Soda HERE. It's definitely a regional thing.

Tire Gauge or Not?

Way too much press on tire gauges and not enough on the real issues. But does keeping your tires properly inflated really make a difference? Inquiring minds want to know. So I checked on Edmunds.com, the car site, and here's what they came up with on fuel economy myths and facts. I was surprised by a couple of them.

Stopping Rain at the Beijing Olympics

No other country has gone as far in trying to control virtually every aspect of the presentation of the Olympic Games, from minor details like uniforms all the way to the weather. China has placed an incredible amount of its prestige and standing in the global community and the Olympics in Beijing are the grand finale to China's entry as a world leader.

My brother, Albert, was among the first Western photojournalists allowed in certain parts of China in the 80's and he's been getting requests for many of his shots taken in Beijing in 1985. Albert's Beijing shots are being used as part of many Before & After photographic essays documenting the dramatic changes the city has undergone over the past two decades.
Portfolio Magazine has posted an interactive graphic detailing how a special Chinese Olympics group in charge of the weather plans to ensure that it doesn't rain on their parade.

What Crack Does to You...

The Worst Face Painting. EVER!