15
Nov
2006

You mean people really like Christmas?

This time last year the news was full of stories about retail stores that were boycotting the word Christmas in their advertising. They were saying “Happy Holidays”, “Season’s Greetings” or some other rubbish. Now this year after listening to their customers those same stores are announcing that they are going to stop pretending the holiday is not called Christmas.

While they say that they are doing it because of the complaints of the religious folks, I think that the reason reason to do this is that Christmas is NOT just a religious holiday! No where in the Christian mythology does Santa come sliding down a chimney!

There are two versions of Christmas. There is the one that the religious folks celebrate by going to a church and then there is the sectarian holiday that we all celebrate with Santa, reindeer, christmas trees etc.The ability of people to find new ways to be offended is truly amazing to me. There are many injustices in this world. Taking the time to create imaginary ones is such a waste of time.

I should note that there is one obviously exception to this new found realization that people like Christmas. Best Buy has decided to continue to attempt to be politically correct by making themselves look ridiculous and banning the word Christmas. Well, I never did like the store all that much anyway. I’ve been a loyal Circuit City customer for years now.

Read more on MSNBC.

Posted by Michael in Life, Randomness
02
Nov
2006

Cranberries in Manhattan

The beginning of the holiday season at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC conjures up images of the Christmas tree lighting, skaters at the rink and, of course, cranberry bogs. Wait, maybe not cranberry bogs. But this year there is a cranberry bog at Rockefeller center. Ocean Spray built an artificial cranberry bog for Chef Ming Tsai at 30 Rock.

Check it out in NY Magazine.

I heard about this in the Emeril blog.

Posted by Michael in Cooking/Food, Interesting Links
01
Nov
2006

Making Marrakesh leather

Wow, I had no idea that making leather was such a crazy process! Thank god there are people willing to do this for a living to we can have quality leather goods!

Check out this BBC pictorial for a look at how it’s done in Marrakesh.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links
30
Oct
2006

Microsoft – From monopoly to purveyer of baked goods

I’ve long been a proponent of Mozilla Firefox. If you use the Internet, Firefox is the browser you should be using. (Check out Michael’s Guide to Spyware and Virus Prevention & Removal for more details).

Last week the new Firefox v2.0 was released. I haven’t had to much time to play with it, but it looks great. In celebration of this event, the Internet Explorer Team at Microsoft sent Mozilla a congratulatory cake. I don’t know what to make of this one. Was it a nice gesture, or does the black and white theme imply something else.

Well, either way, Firefox 2 seems to be kicking IE 7’s ass.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links, Technology
25
Oct
2006

A cat’s tongue

Here’s an odd picture. Someone captured a close-up of their cat’s tongue. Will make me think a little more the next time Fluffy licks my hand.

Check it out here.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links, Randomness
16
Oct
2006

High tech (sort of) pumpkin carving

When I carve a pumpkin my tools are generally a few knives, spoons, etc. But now there’s a special pumpkin carving attachment to clean out your pumpkin. It it sort of like a egg beater. It’s called the Pumkpin Gutter. It seems like overkill to me, but hey, each to their own.

Check it out at http://www.getcarvingquicker.com/PumpkinGutter.htm while i go find my sawzall to cut out the eyes.

Posted by Michael in Randomness
14
Oct
2006

Fried Coke

OK, fried Oreos sound good. Fried Twinkies… maybe. But now something new has been born at the Texas Sate Fair. A guy created a new snack called Fried Coca-Cola. Now, it’s not really fried Coke, but it’s a Coke flavored batter that’s fried then drizzled with Coca-Cola syrup.

I think I’ll hold out for fried Moutain Dew, but you can learn more at WDSU in New Orleans.

Posted by Michael in Cooking/Food
04
Oct
2006

Discovery Atlas is amazing

I’m a big fan of the Discovery Channel and it’s various other networks. They’ve now taken on one of the most unique shows I’ve seen yet. Well, actually calling this a show is probably a little bit of an understatement.It’s more of a spectacle or event.

It’s called Discovery Atlas. It’s a series of 30 2-hour shows that will be produced and aired over the next 5 years. Each episode profiles one country. The features some history, but mainly focuses on modern life in that nation. One of the things that makes this show so amazing is that it is shot entirely in high definition. It’s simulcasted on Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater. The camera work is breathtaking.

There is also a lot of content on their website including podcasts. It’s definitely worth checking out. China has already aired, next will be Brazil, Italy and Australia. My DVR is already set. They air Sundays at 9pm.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links

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