Geek Austin

Dr. Pepper dropping HFCS?

2008-03-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

Hey! Here's a step in the right direction (not that I'm encouraging soda intake).
Dr. Pepper has a version of their popular drink made with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar.
Could this spell the end of crappy, cheap high fructose corn syurps?
We can only hope... not that we don't already take in too much sugar in America anyway... but at least it will be "top shelf".

Simon gets ready to maul this dudes ego. Suprising for all!

2007-06-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

OMG! Could this be the ugliest shoe of 2007?

2007-04-11T08:43:00.001-05:00

(Good god! I think an ugly truck just ran over your foot!)

This one forced me to revive GeekAustin. I haven't posted here in some time (sorry to those of you who used to actually read my rants).

If you have been keeping up, you know I like a good shoe. I like to buy shoes at Nordy's. I was checking to see if their site showed any more Adidas Utility's available (love that shoe).

As I was scanning I was stopped in my tracks. It was like my eyeballs had hit a brick wall covered in shards of broken glass. What I saw was THIS! The Chuck Taylor Converse "Specialty Hi Cabin" sneaker for men. They would have been better off calling it the Chuck Taylor Converse "Specialty Ronald McFunkinDONALD" sneaker for clowns. This bitch is UGLY!

I tell you what. I propose a challenge. If someone can send in photos of themselves actually wearing these in a stylish manner (without being a clown), I will henceforth refer to you as "Your Flyness"... because anyone who can pull THIS look off and NOT look like a clown is a fashion GOD! But, I caution you. Should you submit a photo and NOT pull off the look, your photo will be posted here for the world to see which will undoubtedly ruin your chances of ever using your penis for anything other than peeing or using it as a tent poll / towel hook. You have been warned.

Time lapse video of the 2006 Reno Balloon Race

2007-02-06T21:53:00.000-06:00

Too awesome to keep to myself. Check it!

Chi-Kung = The Force

2006-12-04T23:55:00.000-06:00

I'm skeptical... but wouldn't it be cool?

Rummy proves America doesn't mind liars.

2006-10-24T01:37:00.000-05:00

If we didn't like liars, why would we keep them around?
Here's a funnier version if you need a little sugar to help it go down.
Here's a foxier version if you need a little denial to help it go down.

And if you are a fan... I'm sorry. Here's a little Rumsfeld booster shot to help you feel better about the whole thing and pretend it didn't even happen. There's nothing to see here, just ignore the government and go about your business.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ckk96xlzhvz
My theme song for most news outlets today from UB40. Download and blast!

***UPDATE***
Hrm... well... that's done. Let's see. We got a ban on Transfats... Rummy is gone... What else do we put on our wishlist?

Best commercial featuring Hip-Hop

2006-10-23T09:59:00.000-05:00

Of course it's for a brand of fader not a soda, so you'd expect it to be good. You may know that I'm an oldschool hip-hop from the late 80's and when I saw this the first time a few months ago I was blown away! The hand movements completely match the sound being produced. Outside of the arms not having a shadow, PERFECTION! I finally hunted it down and now I'm sharing it with you.

US Transfat ban... w00t!

2006-09-28T01:27:00.000-05:00

By Daniel Trotta

New York - A proposal to ban most artery-clogging trans fats from New York's restaurants could save thousands of lives at little cost to restaurateurs, supporters of the initiative said on Wednesday.

But a leading industry group called for dialogue with city authorities to modify their "Orwellian regulation", which comes as many fast-food restaurants are already trying to reduce transfats in response to shifting consumer demand.

The New York City Board of Health on Tuesday proposed a near total ban on artificial trans fats - those that are made synthetically when food processors harden fat to make it more like butter in a process called hydrogenisation.

Such oils gives french fries their crunch

Such oils gives french fries their crunch. They also contribute to heart disease by raising the body's "bad cholesterol" and reducing the "good" cholesterol.

The initiative faces what promises to be a contentious public hearing on October 30 and approval or denial before the end of the year, potentially affecting everything from the finest restaurants to doughnut carts pushed by recent immigrants.

"We're going try to get into a dialogue with the health department where perhaps we can convince them to modify their proposal where it's not a broad-brush, one-size-fits-all, Orwellian regulation," said Charles Hunt of the New York State Restaurant Association.

The proposal would give restaurants six months to switch to oils, margarines and shortening that have less than 0,5 gram of trans fat per serving. After 18 months, all other food would also need to contain less than 0,5 gram of fat per serving.

"This is a very appropriate for a city health department that is responsible for food safety in restaurants. Clearly trans fats are causing large numbers of premature deaths and disability," said Walter Willett, a leading US nutritionist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

'Customers cannot tell the difference in taste'

"Restaurants are really the primary source of trans fats for most people, so we've calculated that this could really prevent thousands of deaths per year, just in the New York area," he said.

Willett called on the US Food and Drug Administration to enact a similar measure nationwide.

America's fast-food chains, whose foods are among the most laden with trans fats, are moving toward voluntary reduction.

Wendy's International has reduced trans fats by switching to a different cooking oil, while McDonald's has been trying since 2002 to reduce trans fats in its french fries.

The Dunkin' Donuts chain in 2004 started removing trans fats from its bagels, muffins, and cookies and is researching alternative ways to make the poster child of trans fats - doughnuts - healthier while still satisfying customers.

"We've served million of servings, and customers cannot tell the difference in taste," said Bob Bertini, a spokesperson for Wendy's. "It was cost-neutral to us - using the new oil costs no more than the old oil."

The Cellphone Self checkout Postulate

2006-09-23T16:05:00.000-05:00

(See the nice lady? She is making a concerted effort to get the hell outta there!)

Todays rant is on "One reason the self checkout doesn't work" or the "Cellphone Self checkout Postulate". What is the CPSCP? It is a formula that I have discovered after years of grocery shopping. It says "The speed of self checkout is inversely proportional to the retardation of the operators of the self checkout machines". I believe we can all agree that the radiation emitted by cellphones causes humans to become 8 to 10 degrees MORE retarded than they were before cellphone use (and it's not actually the phone, but the speaker and microphone that cause this).

So, next time you have to check out with just a six-pack of Schlitz and a turkey kielbasa look for that person with the cellphone pinched between her head and shoulder. Watch how casual she is when she scans her bread... how lackluster her performance is when she reaches for the eggs to scan next. If a REAL cashier was on duty she'd hardly have time to hit the quick-dial.

I say HECKLE THESE PEOPLE! When you see them taking their SWEETASSED time, speak up! "Hey! It's quicker for all of us when you're not talking on the phone!" or "Are you done yet? Why don't you pay attention!" Self checkout isn't the "Checkout at your own pace" line, it's the "Let's show the cashiers that we can be faster than them" line. See the lady in the picture? Not on the phone. She's even scanning one item with her right hand and prepping to scan another with her left! God bless that lady.

The CPSCP has an alternate axiom that deals with letting your twin 8 year olds try to "help" you check out. The parent involved will find themselves writhe with metal retardation trying to discern what HAS been scanned and what hasn't.

POM introduces pomegranate infused Tea with reusable glass!

2006-05-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

(seen here hanging out with a can of Dora Soup)

Bravo to POM for not only coming out with a great (and unique) flavored tea, but also for putting it out in a package that is the ultimate in recyclable.

(more details when I get back in town)
POM introduces pomegranate infused Tea!

Exxon chief made $144,573 per day: report

2006-04-16T11:37:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Lee Raymond, the chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., earned $144,573 for each day of the 13 years he served at the top of the oil company, according to a report in Saturday's New York Times.
Raymond, who retired from Exxon in December, received more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to an analysis done for the paper by an independent compensation consultant.
Raymond received more that $400 million in the final year of his contract.
Shareholder activists, consumer groups and corporate governance experts were taken aback by the details of the package.
Raymond declines to comment for the report.
Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware said Raymond received "entrepreneurial returns for managerial conduct."
"Exxon was there long before Mr. Raymond was there and will be there long after he leaves. Yet he received Rockefeller returns without taking the Rockefeller risk," Elson said.

2006-04-13T02:03:00.000-05:00

The next piece in the grand Google puzzle is in place with Google Calendar. We should be hearing about the next "big project" very soon. I think it could change the world (wide web, at least).

More ways to waste time and use bandwidth

2006-04-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

The Best of Web Video
Here's a little blog that features the BEST videos from Google video and YouTube. Why mull through Gigs of crappy content when their team of video surfing experts has done it for you? See pure, refined, grade-A (ok maybe B) video goodness. Funny stuff, suprising stuff, memes, etc.

Enjoy!

Cool King Kong out-takes

2006-03-29T15:01:00.000-06:00

Bottled water, a natural resource taxing the world's ecosystem

2006-02-13T15:35:00.000-06:00

Bottled water, a natural resource taxing the world's ecosystem from PhysOrg.com

Bottled water consumption, which has more than doubled globally in the last six years, is a natural resource that is heavily taxing the world's ecosystem, according to a new US study.
[...]

Musicians taking the "bling" outta diamonds

2006-01-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

You may remember long ago I posted my rant on diamonds and how they are useless for anything other than drilling, sanding or cutting glass. Well, it seems to be the hot topic of musical artists today. Check out Kanye West... he's one of the biggest names in rap today, he has a song called "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" where he's talking about blood diamonds and now UB40 has a song called "Bling Bling" also singing the punishments of diamonds.

Looks like it might be catching on! If the glamorous aren't wearing diamonds, then the followers won't want them either. (Don't be surprised if you see an attempt by the diamond companies to push these rocks even HARDER in the near future.)

PS> OH! The one that kills me... I was walking through a mall a couple of weeks ago and saw a little sign outside of a jewelry store. The sign had a photograph of a pile of little buttons or pins that said the words "I AM Loved" or something like that. It was promoting diamond sales. ACK!

"Yeah baby! I love you so much, I spent money to kill some little kid in Africa to get you these rock earrings."

Vince Young makes Austin a better place to live.

2006-01-04T23:23:00.000-06:00

Well, what can I say? I'm a geek... i don't watch team sports... But I'll be damned if my wife and I didn't watch the last 3 minutes of the game GLUED to our couch! It was exciting as a mutha! When we first tuned in I said, "If Austin looses this it's gonna be a crappy day tomorrow", but thanks to the crazy, mad, skillz of Vince Young & team it's gonna be mostly sweet with a slight chance of giddy.

Way to go guys! GO HORNS! (hey! that feels kinda good!)

USATODAY.com - Film fans can expect more advertising on big screen

2005-12-06T23:33:00.000-06:00

This kinda crap really rubs my rhubarb... 20 minutes of commercials before I get to watch a movie I just spent $10 to watch? F'that! I'm feeling a ban coming on. Click to read the whole, sad story.

USATODAY.com - Film fans can expect more advertising on big screen: "Moviegoers should get used to those ads shown as they settle into their seats.

Ad forecasters at ZenithOptimedia said on Monday that spending on in-theater ads, usually shown before the trailers, rose by 18% this year to $400 million — and likely will go up by about 15% each year through 2008."

Science News Article | Reuters.com - Texans can't complain about scorpions

2005-11-30T16:21:00.000-06:00

Science News Article | Reuters.com: "LONDON (Reuters) - Tracks made 330 million years ago by a six-legged water scorpion bigger than a human have been found in Scotland.

Martin Whyte, the geologist at the University of Sheffield in northern England who discovered the tracks, said on Wednesday they were left by a scorpion that measured 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 inches) in length and one meter across."

Vespa Viva

2005-11-19T15:12:00.000-06:00

Vespa Viva: "Not quite a bicycle, not quite a motorbike, the Vespa is utilitarian, stylish, fun, and cheeky. There's not much to it -- a seat, an engine, and a groovy splashguard -- but in its own unassuming way it leaves a filament of Italian culture in its wake whether it's ridden in Chicago, Brussels or Bognor.

Vespa manages to stay cool in popular culture throughout the decades. Gregory Peck rode one in 'Roman Holiday,' and Audrey Hepburn rode on the back of one while adhered to Gregory Peck. Vespas look cool parked in front of art colleges, juice bars and any back lane or side street in Europe."

ABC News: Savant Gives Window to World of Autism

2005-11-17T21:39:00.000-06:00

If you know me, you know this kind of stuff is right up my alley. The TRUE power of the brain lies bottled up... in accessible to the likes of you and I... but for some, things are wired right and that bottle is also broken.

ABC News: Savant Gives Window to World of Autism: "Daniel Tammet of England can verbally reel off the number pi to 22,500 decimal places in just over five hours — though he admitted after a recent demostration that it made him 'very tired.'

Tammet, 26, is a phenomenon. He has done lots of amazing things — like learning Icelandic, one of the world's most difficult languages, in just seven days."

Health food vs. Happy taste buds

2005-11-16T13:34:00.000-06:00

It's a war we wage everyday... By "we" I mean the people who every once in a while say to themselves, "I should just have a salad instead of a Wendy's Triple with Cheese.

Now, let's bring it home... Snacks. Should I eat the last 3 Nutter Butters or the rice cake? Peanutty goodness or styrofoam... I doooon't know.

Well, I actually discovered the Switzerland of snack food... Neutral... Not fighting to be the best healthfood with tofu like tastes and not fighting to make the happiest taste buds like a triple with cheese (or a big slice of carrot cake with cream cheese icing if your not a meat person).

If you can find it, do yourself a favor a try a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips... Just the Nude ones with salt. They taste supergood, and they got all kinds of good crap going on too, like No Trans Fats, No Sat Fats, so on and so forth. Find out more about them here.

***This has NOT been a paid announcement and is solely the expressed opinion of the author. Stacy may not approve of statements like "all kinds of good crap going on", or calling them the "Switzerland of snack food". I don't really care if you try them or not, I'm just saying that my wife and I have put away 2 bags in a week, so don't come cryin' to us when they're sold out in the store and you can't get one to try.

Pranksters... You can always get a job overseas.

2005-11-15T13:57:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I wonder if foriegn companies hire Americans to help with product marketing and the people they hire take it upon themselves to try and boost sales to Americans by naming the product something funny. I mean, some of these things would prolly even be considered an HR violation. In other words... someone please send me a can of Vergina Beer from Greece so I can display it in my office. Go here to see what I mean.

***UPDATE***
Wait! There's more! A whole site dedicated to rude food.
Sorry Stacy... I hope you can call in sick or something today because if you read this at work you're outta there for sure!

Id'nt this a wicked tatt?

2005-11-07T23:18:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about a android arm tatt today (in class). Thought it would be cool to have my left arm tattooed ala Bjork's "All is full of love" robot music video. You know... lot's of seams... like my arms, joints, fingers, etc were made up of panels. I wanted it to be somewhat subtle.

I looked up robo tattoos today and ran into this:

(click to be shocked and awe'd)

It was a lot more extreme than what I had envisioned... but sweet lookin' for sure.
I think I'll hold off a bit longer... just kinda let it marinate for a while.

Netflix subscribers! Support my peeps!

2005-10-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

I just want to do my part to support one of my best friends from way back. Martin Kelley has really been working to make his film making dream come true... and now that he's available on NexFlix, you can give him a little hand. I won't cost you much to make a big impact for him. Just 1 of your monthly rental slots... and like he says, turn it around and drop it back in your mail box the next day. All we need is numbers baby! Thanks for all the help!

here's Martin's message:

Atlanta Filmmakers Film 'Behind the Nine' will be available at NETFLIX on November 1st

http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?trkid=73&movieid=70039662

I want to ask that anyone with Netflix please put this in your cue and rent it. Even if you turn it around in 1 day to get another film quickly, the numbers would be greatly appreciated by us. We hope the response helps our distributor leverage to a national distribution deal with outlets such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video which would be a wider release.

This film was made with virtually zero budget but with a lot of help from the underground Atlanta Filmmaking community.

Please pass this message along to your friends who also have netflix and ask that they put it in their cue as well. Grassroots campaigns for indie films only work when the word is spread. I will be sending this information to everyone I know with email. Please do the same. If we show we can move rentals and sales for this film then other indie filmmakers will get a chance down the road. The beauty of Netflix is that it only costs you time (perhaps missing one rental in your month) since it is a subscription service but the fact that 'Behind the Nine' comes along with your copy of 'Batman Begins' sends a message to the retailers that you want to see independent films.

Thanks for your time in reading this email and please put 'Behind the Nine' in your Netflix Cue today!

Sincerely,

Martin Kelley

Director, 'Behind the Nine'

P.S. It must be noted that this film is UNRATED and does contain Adult language as well as Adult content. It does not contain nudity.

Maxwell born today!

2005-10-11T12:50:00.000-05:00

(Maxwell Bryant and Miranda Soleil sharing their first moments)

Max was born today at 12:50pm. He weighed 11.5 lbs and was 22.25" long.

The whole family is doing great!

I'm gonna get some sleep.

Stevie Wonder releases new album... yeah right.

2005-09-30T21:33:00.000-05:00

: "Ten years later, at long last, it's A Time to Love for Stevie Wonder.

Hard to believe, but the 21-time Grammy winner's last album of all-new material was 1995's Conversation Peace.

The new record, A Time to Love, became available this week as a digital download and goes on sale in North American record stores on October 18. "

Tonight TheScooterScoop supasses GeekAustin

2005-09-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

With over 14,153 hits in 6 months my alternate blog thescooterscoop has zipped on by geekaustin's 14,138 hits gathered over a 9 month period. Even my Playstation 3 gimmick couldn't secure GeekAustin's lead.

Well... What can you say about that? People are researching scooters more than they are dumb 'ole geeks from Austin.

Well, don't let me get 'cha down! GeekAustin got a logo upgrade back in the day, so now it's time for The Scooter Scoop to get a logo upgrade! I've secured a designer and she is bangin' away on a supa-fly logo! Stay tuned for more info and in the meantime go to thescooterscoop.com for info on Vespa, Lambretta, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Aprilla (Aprila), Kymco, Piaggio, Bajaj, Peugeot, and every other scooter on the planet. We've got newsfeeds, commentary, reviews, interviews, oddities and circus freaks.

Enjoy! Oh yeah and don't worry... I'll keep updating GeekAustin with non-scooter related things. It's been slow here lately, but we're expecting a baby in the next 2 weeks... A brutha gots to get his rest while he can!

CNN.com - Treo moving to Windows - Sep 27, 2005

2005-09-27T15:29:00.000-05:00

(Is it me, or does this dude need a better fingernail polish?)

Just as I have foretold... Palm will meet it's demise mid 2006. The emporer will be most pleased.

CNN.com - Treo moving to Windows - Sep 27, 2005 : "...but the hardware improved rapidly, and Microsoft steadily put out new and better versions of its software, while PalmOS was hobbled by its origins as software for gadgets with modest processors and memory.

In announcing the Treo phone on Monday, Palm CEO Ed Colligan said Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system was chosen because it offered features that PalmOS could not."

>Thanks to LaRock for the update! ;)

Taking "Iced Out" to a whole new level

2005-09-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

(Not recommended for use anywhere near the equator)

No, it's not computer generated. See the details here.

Taking "Chromed Out" to a whole new level

2005-09-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

(BLING! You don't wanna be around this thing on a sunny day)

FRAME OF MIND ENTERTAINMENT AND SONY BMG CUSTOM MARKETING GROUP PRESENT A ONE OF A KIND

2005-09-13T22:53:00.000-05:00

FRAME OF MIND ENTERTAINMENT AND SONY BMG CUSTOM MARKETING GROUP PRESENT A ONE OF A KIND: "Sony BMG Custom Marketing Group has worked along side Frame of Mind Entertainment to handle such details as licensing and overall look and feel of the project. “We look forward to the November 1, 2005 release date for this project”, stated Sean Dunson, CEO of Frame of Mind Entertainment “by securing the above artists it will give the Christmas Classics CD a unique place in the market during the competitive holiday season”. "

w00t! Big up my man Sean D! Everyone go out and pick up his new Christmas CD on November 1st! He is one talented dude... Great guy and I'd love to see him blow up now that he's moved out to Cali.

Caving in Bustamante... A report from Roy Lewis

2005-09-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

(Rogelio, the gatekeeper of Las Grutas de Palmito)

Reading this posting from the CaveTex newsgroup brought back many memories, so I thought I would archive it here. Even the fact that he met up with Gordon the Geologist while he was there was too funny. The first time I went, I met up with Gordon and he really added the "seasoned vet" to our band of Mexico amatures. It goes like this:

Hola!!
Several people on cave-tex helped me so I wanted to post a trip report on my adventure to Bustamante Mex this past weekend. My name is Roy Lewis (my friends call me Puppy) I live near Galveston and I am new to caving, just a few trips through most of the Texas show caves (as a tourist), and a few small wild caves in NM along with a few trips in Airman's as far as Sherwood forest along with my oldest son Ian (13). I have only had the chance to go to one Houston Grotto meeting due to my schedule but I will definitely be making more room in the future. The adventure getting to the cave is half the story so if you want to get to the cave skip down about a page, or just delete now if it's all old news to ya.

I wanted to go to Grutas de Palmito in Bustamante Mex after seeing info on a project that TSA did on Presidents day. I met another caver that lived in San Leon MX on the texascaving.com forum and I decided Labor day weekend I would make my first drive ever across the border. I gathered quite a bit of info from the TSA site on the presidents day project regarding vehicle and tourist permits etc, and a few cavers helped me out with waypoints to get me from the border to Bustamonte along with numerous tips (Which were VERY helpful!! ) The way point I loved the most was labeled as BEER. :)

So how hard could Mexico possibly be knowing only a few words in Spanish. Since I was meeting someone in Bustamonte, I thought no problemo. After a little confusion at the Columbian crossing by entering the wrong building I was finally directed to the correct building that I had already passed. In tow were my kids Ian and Bryce (9,13) and my wife Gaylynn. Bryce was quite startled when the customs officer smiled and gave him tikle to his ribs and tossed his hair about. His first exposure to a new culture, ahhhh. We got our tourista cards and then the vehicle permit without any hassle, but I was surprised none of the Mexican agents were bi-lingual, oh well we figured it all out with hand gestures. So I smiled said gracias, ad! ios and went on our way.

About 3 miles later we met the Mexican Military. An officer looked into my wife's window to look into the back seat giving Gaylynn a good view down the barrel of an M-16. And I had to show my vehicle permit papers. Then off we go. We discovered that road work involving big holes in the road are not blocked off with barricades but rather just indicated with a small pile of rocks. Once past Anuhac we saw a huge cemetery that we cruised through and were totally amazed as to the size and detail of the marble surrounding the graves.

Moving on, past lampuzo; we got hungry so we stopped at a roadside stand with one table, and a grill full of chicken, and goat. So (in sign language again and my knowledge of polo and carne (the carne got a laugh)) I managed to order 2 plates with a half a chicken on each and a side of goat ribs I think along with a stack of tortillas and two big cups of really good beans. We shreaded the meat, wrapped it up in the tortillas and ate our first mex meal. A few sodas and a refill on the beans and we made it out of there for about 80 pesos ($8). On to Bustamonte.

Driving into the mountains was gorgeous for someone like me that has lived in Houston too long. Upon arriving at the Agua de canyon I just handed the guy a 100 peso bill unknowing of how much he had asked for and he brought me back 10, as it turns out, entry was 30 pesos per person So I guess the 9 year old was free.

We set up 1 tent down near the end past the last spring, not quite knowing if we could camp there or if we wanted to due to noise and then went swimming. We ran into two Americans that now live in Monterey and it was nice to talk English and ask some questions. They suggested we move to a quieter place which we did later down to what we believe was campground #3, we were the only campers, we had great shade, next to the spring and a restroom. And butterflies everywhere!! And all this for just $3 a person I liked this.

That night we ate at Hotel Ancira and my friend from San Leon was suppose to find me but he never did. The owners son knew English so ordering dinner was easy and the food was good. The next morning Nico still had not found us and apperantly had looked near the spring at the end. So I was expecting to have to hike up to the cave. :( So I shedded the jeans and switched to shorts and repacked the backpacks for more water which was tough since the helmets take up so much space.

Upon arriving at the parking lot beneath the trail Nico shows up with an Austin caver and geologist named Gordon, which also has a 4x4 truck . (big smiles here). We loaded into Gordon's truck and headed to the cave after paying 20 pesos per person to get through the gate. The 2.5 miles up to the cave would be pretty tough if not impossible with my 2 wheel drive f-150, so the fact we drove a maxima instead of the truck was a moot point.

I headed up to the cave with the kids and Gaylynn with Nico and Gordon behind us about 10 minutes while they got their stuff together. I said Hola and introduced myself to Rojgellio(sp) but he started talking to me in spanish so I had to quickly say no comprehende. He tried talking slower but to no avail on my part. After minutes of silence I probably confused things more by saying that senorita Emelie from Texas said hola. He smiled and said si and that was the last of our conversation but I felt that if I could communicate we could have talked for hours. Soon after wards Nico arrived and learned that Rojgellio was trying to ask me if I knew about a group of 8 students that was expected on a clean up project or something. (The students showed up about 30 minutes later actually.)

Upon entering the cave I was dumbfounded!! I stopped as soon as I realized the magnitude of the first room and just attempted to take it all in. It litterally took my BREATH AWAY! The size, the formations, and all that went though my mind for the next few minutes was that this was only the FIRST room. After about 30 minutes of roaming around Nico and Gordon led us to the next section for the climb down the rock slide. Gaylynn was still doing well since the room was soo large but the climb down was tough on her. The kids just scampered down like bugs. We heard the students come over the top and they beat my wife and I down the rock slide easily. I was like, Gaylynn you let little girls pass you up, she told me my life ! was at risk with further comments like that. :)

We continued on to where you have to stoop through a narrow opening to get to another large room before Gaylynn said that was far enough. Nico and Gordon had already gone ahead in their treck to the red room and beyond while we enjoyed the Alter and surrounding formations. And of course the sheer size of all of this.

We slowly began our ascent up the rock slide taking our time. Once back in the 1st room I got to take some pics and really enjoy what was around me by taking a much closer look.
About an hour later Nico and Gordon came out and with mucho gracias to Rojellio we headed on our way.

Through Monday we spent plenty of time in the spring, cruising around the town square, we ate a few other places then the hotel and my son discovered that when they say hamburger they mean it! Yep they actually put ham on it. And I loved the goat cheese enchiladas we got next to the square along with the ice cream and the butterflies and the nice people and my kids seeing that life isn't all about playstation and mcdonald's. I definitely will be back and hopefully I can help out to make the cave even nicer for those going behind me.

Thank you to those that helped me on my adventure into caving on the grand scale.
Puppy
AKA Roy Lewis
)?(
And here are my Bustamante cave pics:
http://tinyurl.com/cdaj4

Read an excerpt from a book in progress here.

OH and if you wanted to read about MY adventure at Bustamante go HERE.

Computer graphics have come a long, long, long way.

2005-09-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

(Even Bruno is astounded by how realistic he looks)

If you have a pretty fast connection, you should check out these video clips from Softimage. Using an app called Face Robot you can do some REALLY impressive facial animation. You can really get a feel for the character's personality not just from how they look, but how they act and express themselves; and judging from this video, this is no guy you wanna piss-off at a bar... and if you DID get manage to get a punch in, it's likely to hurt your fist more than his face.

Expect to see some really wild stuff in the next couple of years. Actors won't have to diet or even shave any more. They'll just throw on some sweats, have their drivers drop them off at the recording studio; THEN let the animation studio worker bees take care of the rest.

gizmag Article: The Moovie: they built it

2005-08-29T20:38:00.000-05:00

(Wow! It's so weird... I LOVE IT!)
gizmag Article: The Moovie: they built it : "This year the third Peugeot Design Contest saw Andr�Costa carry off the first prize for his outrageous two-seater electric concept car, the Moovie. With the Frankfurt Show just weeks away, Peugeot has now released images of the actual working model that was built from Costa’s original concept. It’s one concept worth examining, particularly now that the small electric-powered two-seater city car has gone from drawing board to reality."

Take Action - Common Cause

2005-08-29T15:43:00.000-05:00

Take Action - Common Cause

If you're like me, a newbie to politics, it would probably help you to visit commoncause.org. They will hold your hand and tell you exactly how to make a change for the better (see ethical).

YES, politics are boring... but we should at least do the minimum and help sweep up some of the crap we got out there representing us in our government.

When You Absolutely, Positively Have to Get Off the Phone SorryGottaGo.com - Helps End Unending Phone Conversations

2005-08-29T01:03:00.000-05:00

This could be useful one day... bookmark it.

QDB: Top 100-200 Quotes

2005-08-25T23:14:00.000-05:00

QDB: Top 100-200 Quotes : "
<@Logan> I spent a minute looking at my own code by accident.
<@Logan> I was thinking 'What the hell is this guy doing?'"

This and TONS of other geek hilarity at the Quote Database! Proof that the IRC is full of smart-assed geniuses!

This kinda junk REALLY does make me LOL! Better than comedy central! If yer a geek you HAVE to check it out!1!1!!!!!

CNN.com - Former aide: Powell WMD speech 'lowest point in my life' - Aug 19, 2005

2005-08-24T17:37:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Former aide: Powell WMD speech 'lowest point in my life' - Aug 19, 2005 : "'I wish I had not been involved in it,' says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a longtime Powell adviser who served as his chief of staff from 2002 through 2005. 'I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life.'"

2005-08-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

(The Vespa GTS500ie? Could it really be?!)

Rock Star INXS - Marty kills Britney!

2005-08-19T12:28:00.000-05:00

(Marty always did have a crazy look in his eye)

I don't like reality shows, but once in a while one comes through with some redeeming value. The Apprentice did in its first season... Survivor wasn't so bad in its first season either. Now my (lovely) wife has me watching Rock Star:INXS... and I like it. Especially now that it's down to the final seven. These people got some talent! If you're not watching the show... you got to at least see a couple of the performances, like Marty doing "Hit me baby one more time" (MSN is making a little loot from selling his performances on .mp3.). He kills it... literally. You might as well check out Mig doing "Baby I love your way". Sweet!

Rock Star:INXS doesn't have as much drama as most of the other shows out there and I'm a low drama kinda guy. Mark B. balances out just right this year. DON'T KILL IT NEXT YEAR MARK! Wait a sec... Who are they gonna do next year? Rock Star:New Edition? Just kidding.

Animaris Rhinoceros Transport - Ultimate Burning man Sculpture?

2005-08-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

(Think that's cool? Check out the video!)

I'm not going to go into great detail here... If you want that check out the homepage. But all I can say is this guy is a mechanical genius... Reminds me of giant versions of Arthur Ganson's work (you've got to check out his Machine with Wishbone!). If you are a fan of kinetic sculpture, you should check out both of their sites. These guys are amazing.

Melancholy masterpiece - No John K. for you!

2005-08-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

(OHHH The dispair... THE AGONY!)

When you don't go out much, you tend to forget the rules of the game. For instance... Sometimes, shows sell out. I got an warm, icky, raspberry flavored dose of reality tonight. Two tablespoons full! The story goes like this...

All last week, I was in Indiana, working. When I got there, I found out that not only had they (Super 8) given my hotel room away to someone else, but almost every room in the Indianapolis area was taken! I ended up staying with some realitives (thank God for in-laws). I thought by the end of the week that my luck had changed. The Super 8 even had a room for me... WITH a hot tub in it. Well, I got it all warmed up and the hot tub jets were broken. Damn.

Well earlier in the week the (lovely) wife let me in on a little secret, you see, she discovered that John K. (Kricfalusi) was coming to Austin this weekend for a big Ren & Stimpy Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse. Four big shows... all of them different. I knew my home schedule would only afford me one, so I picked the very last show, Sunday at 9:45pm. Seven o'clock rolls around and I started getting ready. Put on my R&S shirt. Busted out my R&S DVD set for a little John K. autograph action. Pulled up the Alamo Drafthouse website to double check the show times and BLAMMO! I was hit in the eye with the words "SOLD OUT!"

I'm a giant fan of Ren & Stimpy and the heatbreak was more than any man should bare... thus the inspiration for today's Melancholy masterpiece.

2005-08-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

(A sample of the eye candy over at DPChallenge)

One of the truely GREAT things allowed by the internet is the idea that the world's talent can be exposed without the pre-requisite of being capitalized on. You don't have to "know people", or even know ANYONE! The visibility of your craft isn't limited by shelf-space. There's almost nothing between you and the eyes/ears of the world. Some great examples of where this happens are sites like DPChallenge. That's where the above image is from. You can check out people's Photoshop talents at Worth1000. You can check the music skills over at GarageBand.

Now if we could just get money in the hands of these artists...
Scott McCloud has the right idea on how this should be done. This idea is as old as 2001 (probably even older), but here we are, it's almost 2006 and still no go. Who will be the one to make this happen? BitPass? Maybe paypal? Google? There's an even older arguement why this won't work. They say "users hate it". Maybe it's that no one has done it right yet.

I know that if Stevie Wonder released his albums on-line for a $2 download, I would be first in queue to download them and Stevie would be pocketing more than twice what he get's from Motown.

I think you'll see micropayments finally become a reality with the introduction of web-based videocasting. Yes, web-based videocasting is out now like the video version of podcasting, but it's very much in its infantile stages. Eventually it will be more like a semi-pro public access TV station and you'll pay for that instead of CableTV. You think?

Tea! It's the new coffee in the USA!

2005-08-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

You know… Us American’s used to drink tea like it was going outta style… until taxes caused it to, well… go outta style. We then switched over to that nerve shredding toxin COFFEE! I started drinking hot tea about 15 years ago and I’ve drank iced tea since I was a young’un. Yes, I still drink coffee every now and again, but tea really makes me happy (and makes my guts happy too).

See more progress on: learn to like tea

***You can ignore the above. I'm just testing my 43things.com account***

Satisfy your inner voyeur

2005-08-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

(Rummage through Bob's stuff. I don't think he'll notice if you ate his candy.)

This is a fun way to waste a bit of the evening till all your love servants come in for their nightly duties. Dig through Bob's things at www.bobscube.com. It's cool right up to the point when you start to realize... that it's just an advertisement for Hostway. That being said, it's still kinda fun. Doodle in Bob's notebook, watch office chair jousting, listen to his voice mail. I guess if you're gonna advertise to someone, make it fun, right?

Web Drugs vs. Art

2005-08-03T14:28:00.001-05:00

Be sure to do this one at night with a nice pair of headphones on and the lights out. Spoooooky.

99ROOMS.COM

More web drugs for your drooling pleasure

2005-08-03T14:28:00.000-05:00

You'll recognize this work when you see it (granting you saw the previous trippy 'web drug' from Hoogerbrugge.) I'd post an image, but it wouldn't do any justice. This outta keep you outta trouble until I can get something useful up on the blog here.

Gomi is gone - Austin no longer keeping it weird

2005-08-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

(The offending Cat Head as seen from Jo's)

Did the Sunday Scooter Crew bit yesterday and noticed something was not-quite-right. Hrm... What was it... Something was missing. OH! GOMI! What happend to the big red cat head and all the neon? The whole store was gone! After 6 years! Whats up with that? Well turns out some buzz-kill who shouldn't even be on the southside ANYWAY went "boo-who" to the city and had it taken out. Sucka perpetrater! I hope your happy with yourself! Before you know it SOCO and Lamar will have straight-laced skyscrapers and landscaping up one-side and down the other. With the destruction of their natural habitat, the tattooed weirdness will no longer be seen roaming and the people watchers will have to sit at Jo's and read the paper and do normal stuff. Sad.

You can also read this news bit from KXAN.

"Austin's South Congress is the land of the giant boot, home to a zebra, a-la-Carmen Miranda. It is also where neon, wild paint jobs and larger than life hamburgers line the street.

It's one sign that's causing all the trouble.

Gomi has been in business six years, two of that on South Congress. It is a locally owned shop specializing in funky clothes and collectible Anime toys.

"This is not The Gap. This is not Barnes & Noble. This Austin. This is why it says "Keep Austin Weird,'" Gomi co-owner April Lohse said.

But how weird is too weird? After an anonymous complaint to the city back in November, a code enforcement inspector determined the giant cat head sticks out 36 inches into the street.

City code says signs can only stick out 18 inches, but is the flaming red cat head a sign or is it art?

"I can have an awning of the same dimensions, but I cannot have a foam sculpture cat head," Lohse said.

Since the city doesn't offer any permits for foam sculptures, Gomi's owners face a fine of $2,000 a day if the cat stays."

Can you resist the CLICK?

2005-07-30T23:15:00.000-05:00

A little experiment in getting rid of the mouse click. I kinda like it. Didn't take too long to get used to not clicking. Even Mac users will feel like they've got too many buttons.

Only REAL Google nerds need apply

2005-07-30T22:59:00.000-05:00

This little game confirms that I'm a Google nerd. It's like the "You Don't Know Jack" of Google Images. It's called Guess-The-Google. I haven't broken 300 yet, but I've only played it twice. See what you think!

***UPDATE***

I'm posting top scores from the GeekAustin readers and here's the cream of the crop right now submitted by darwiny2k. He sent the screenshot with a simple phrase... "BEAT THAT BE0TCH!" (well... I added the last part to bump-up ratings). Thanks for playing Charles! You are a TRUE Google Nerd. For top score you win... Free Google for a year! Keep it up! Although 355 is nothing to laugh at, I wanna see if it's possible to hit 400!

***UPDATE UPDATE***

Well, I'll be damned! Beating his own score... The Air Tiger Gretzky of Guess-The Google, Mr. DarwinY2K! I'm betting on you man! Get that 400 score and you'll get a LIFETIME of free Google! All you can eat baby! If you get the 400 score AND you put your name in as geekaustin.blogspot, I'll paypal you $20! NO! MAKE THAT $25! I'm no cheapskate, ok? YOU CAN DO IT! (ewww... I just had a Rob Schneider moment... sorry)

Shop around before you gas up!

2005-07-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

(Kick those expensive gas stations to the curb and impress your friends!)

I'm back! Had a great time in Cali. Weather was supergood, just wish I had a week there... but I was missing the fam. I'll bring them with me next time (more like next year).

So, here's what I've got for you today. We all know that Gas is high... It's unlikely that it will EVER drop below $2.00 again... So, until you get your electric car charged up I present to you GasBuddy. Check it out! Enter your city and you get get a breakdown of the gas prices low to high. Stop filling up by the airport and start saving a couple dollars. I found out gas in Austin can vary between $2.05 and $2.24 per gallon! That would be a savings of $2.85 to fill up my CR-V or .57 cents to fill up my Helix.

You can also use it to find out if the gas prices are jacked up near your house and you can ask yourself "where's the luv?".

A mobile version of GasBuddy should be ready to test by 3rd quarter 2005... Be sure to bookmark that one!

(Note: The above image only applies to people filling up 10+ gallon tank... If you drive a scooter and fill it up once, the money you save would only afford you a side of sour cream, which is not as impressive as a grilled stuffed with chicken... sorry.)

Outta town till the 29th

2005-07-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

So sad... I won't get to blog for like a whole week. I'll have my camera with me, so if something cool happens you'll be the first to know.

Now get out there and see what the sun looks like!

Tiny Music Blurb - Toni never sounded better

2005-07-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

I'd like to hear more from Toni Braxton in this sultry style.

10 Steps for Coping with an Orlando / Austin move

2005-07-18T22:58:00.000-05:00

We've been in Austin just over a year now and we're really starting to dig it. We left our cute little slice of Disney World for a steaming slab of the live music capitol. To help those making a similar trek (Ed & Kathleen... I'm talking to you), I've compiled this list of TEN things to help you cope with such a move. It works either way, so if you're leaving your steaming slab for the cute little slice, following this list will help make it better.

Move to Orlando	Move to Austin
1) Find a new church	1) Find a tattoo shop
2) Locate where you parked at Disney World	2) Locate where you parked at the Whole Foods Flagship Store
3) Visit the malls	3) Visit another city with malls
4) Remember how to vote	4) Remember to vote against Bush
5) Spend a lot to see the Titanic	5) Spend a lot to eat Organic
6) Wash car once a week	6) Wash hair once a week
7) Hawaiian print shirts	7) Guayabera Shirts
8) Keep Orlando Clean	8) Keep Austin Weird
9) Choco-Taco	9) Breakfast Taco
10) Tourists on every corner	10) Transients on every corner

Target... I gave you too much credit

2005-07-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

(We loved Target so much we almost put this in as our living room couch. jk)

This will be pretty brief because the story didn't turn out like I thought it would... you see, there’s a Target pretty close to our house that just remodeled into a Semi-Super Target. Not quite the SUPER DUPER Target we used to have in Orlando, but it's still movin' on up.

I said to my lovely wife, "Hey! Looky there! Target is UPGRADING! That's pretty cool. Unlike Wal-Mart, the mega-corp that likes to close down old stores and toss them to the curb like so many empty beer bottles, Target is gonna do the environmental responsible thing and just revamp an existing store!" The wife thought that was pretty cool too and awfully Austin of them.

So, I proceeded to find out just WHO was responsible for this decision. Called the manager, he directed me to district. Called district and they told me to call corp. Called corp, and they put me in touch with John Grimes, Target's big man in charge of Real Estate. I left him a voice message an my number and awaited a call. This was on a Friday, well Monday comes along and I get a call. My caller ID says "Target Headquarters 612-761-5000". I pick it up and it's John. I ran back down what I had said on his voice mail. I even kind of led him on, saying stuff about being "Environmentally responsible" and "Better than Wal-Mart" and even "awfully Austin". I waited for the speech... something... some sort of something cool... But nothing.

Nope... Not even a "Yeah, we're better than Wal-Mart". He just said something about "not being able to reveal secret real estate strategies", and went on about "we do whatever the area market allows. Sometimes we close down and build a new store, sometimes we update." He did apologize for not having anything cool to say and followed up with "If I wanted a cool sound bite he'd have to forward me on to public relations."

No thanks John... That'll do.

Google Earth one word review - DAMN!

2005-07-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

(help! My life has been hijacked by Google Earth!)

I haven't been this hooked on a program since... Well... I don't know... Google Picasa I guess. What I do know is that it's putting a cramp in my blogging lately; especially when I found out about the integration with the Keyhole Community BBS. To my Mac friends... keep the faith! Google is working on a version JUST for you.

Today, this is the closest you'll come to being Superman. Fly from the Eiffel Tower to Mt. Ararat faster than you can name all the critters in Noah's Ark (in French).

But really, it's the most fun you'll have with geography with yer clothes on.

Caution - Your blog / newgroup / bbs / online game play / social life may be affected if not DESTROYED by Google Earth.

***UPDATE***

I think it would be helpful to you if I told you where to GET Google Earth. Go here and pick it up for free!

Tour the world with Google!

2005-07-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

(Lady Liberty as seen from Google Maps)

Tonight I ran into a cool little site. It may not be new to you, but it is to me... It's the Sightseeing with Google Satellite Maps. You can check it out here.

With it you can see places like Area 51, Bill Gate's House, The Great Wall of China and the Hollywood Sign. Pretty good fun!

PF Flyers Brogue - WTF Shoe of 2005

2005-07-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

The shoe discussion was so fun, I might make it a regular piece. Check out these babies... They are the Platypus of the shoe world. Shell toe adidas sneaker meets wing tip dress shoe. A great shoe for... confusing people. Just $95.95! I personally don't have space in my closet for such anomalies.

Geeks start your bidding

2005-07-11T01:03:00.000-05:00

Fill up yer paypal account and get ready to bid 'cause there's a ton of Star Wars gear on the block the end of this month. The above saber (Vader's from The Empire Strikes Back) is expected to go for between $40 - $60k... (that's either a nice Lexus or a new Yamaha Morphous and a swell home made Vader costume). Good luck!

***UPDATE***
Whew... never underestimate the power of a geek with a fat wallet! The sabers ended up going for $118,000 and $200,000! Read the news article here.

Top 5 Shoes I like for 2005

2005-07-09T01:25:00.000-05:00

Soon you will see I have an... um... unique sense of shoe "style" which doesn't include the Puma "Butt-Ugly". And the winners of Steve's top shoe for 2005 (in no particular order) are:

1) The Kenneth Cole Reaction holey Moley (white & lime) $103.95

2) The Chuck Taylor All Star Premiere NuBuck (Green & Charcoal) $65
3) The Dr. Martens 8b97 (Bark & Millweed) $85.95
4) Tsubo Phaet (Fatigue & Khaki) $105.95

5) The Filativa Retro Spike $(TBD)

You'll need some ugly shoes to walk an ugly dog.

2005-07-09T01:14:00.000-05:00

And BOY did I find them. Then winner of UGLIEST SHOE OF 2005 is... PUMA! Check out THIS footwear folly:
You can't walk the worlds ugliest dog in a fly pair of classic Adidas SLII's! That just wouldn't be right. You need a proper pair of "butt-uglies" as my boy LaRock likes to say. THESE my friend are THE butt-ugly.

I don't know what Puma was thinking here. All I can say is they better be DAMN comfortable! You can pick up your pair at Zappos and look like a-damn-fool-who-just paid-$115-for-a-pair-of-butt-uglies.

They also come in a slightly less puke-worthy "Tron Blue" as seen here:*shutter*

***UPDATE***

I'll was gonna give a little bit o slack to Puma on this because it's a Water shoe and it's meant to be completely hidden by your kayak until I saw it came in cheese yellow. Thanks to Kyle for the info on this cheesy little number.

Computer Drugs - Slip Slidin' Away

2005-07-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

Alright folks... This month's Computer Drug is THIS. Not quite as weird as my last computer drug, but equally addictive.... so cue up your Paul Simon's "Slip Sliding Away" and check it out. It's a REALLY drunk spring breaker... sliding down giant, clear, slippery beachballs. It will have you second guessing your planned Ibeza spring break next year.

World's ugliest dog - see for yourself

2005-07-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Resource Investor for this little bit...

By Jon Nones
01 Jul 2005 at 01:03 PM

The owners of the other contestants in this year's World's Ugliest Dog Contest may have thought their pooches had a chance - until they saw Sam.

Ah! Somebody get Sam into horror films. I’m going to have nightmares.

The 14-year-old pedigreed Chinese crested recently won the Sonoma-Marin Fair contest for the third consecutive time.

Surprise, surprise.

He's so ugly even the judges recoiled when he was placed on the judging table, said his proud owner, Susie Lockheed, of Santa Barbara.
I truly hope Sam has been neutered. We do not want another son of Sam.

I can't decide if this thing looks more like roadkill or the Skeksis Emperor (seen below dying in bed). As Arnold's bad writers would say "You are one ugly mutha...". You know how some things are so ugly that they are cute, like ET and Bulldogs? This guy is past that threshold. Put THAT sucker on your bag of Alpo and watch your stock price plummet!

(Ugliest Dog Grand Champion 1982)

On a sad note...

2005-07-02T23:20:00.000-05:00

This past Friday, we lost the man who may have well been responsible for the conception of my first child. Luther Vandross has passed away at the age of 54. Very sad indeed. IMHO he was one of the greatest R&B crooners of all time and will be greatly missed.

Letter to Lipton

2005-06-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

(Lipton Tea is GOOD for you?)

Don' t know what's up with my food kick lately, but I had to send this little comment to Lipton:

"Hello,

I was in a local store the other day and saw something that looked great. Green Tea with Citrus from Lipton. I bought a whole case because I like tea and know the benefits of drinking it.

Put it in the fridge and opened one to drink. My taste buds were immediately greeted by the tongue coating, throat drying nastiness of High Fructose Corn Syrup... The lowest grade of sweetener you can buy. The healthy promise of antioxidants was nullified by Lipton's cost consciousness. Why not use Fructose or Cane Sugar or even NO sweetener at all? Aren’t your consumer’s worth more than the cheapest sweetener?

Well... Lipton got my money this time; shame on Lipton. But, going forward I'll be looking harder through Lipton's veil of health in the guise of fancy wording and packaging. I WON'T be buying anything with HFCS in it. Perhaps enough Americans will wake up and do the same and maybe then manufacturers will respect us enough to use higher quality ingredients. "

Let's see what they have to say in response.

***UPDATE***

Well... Here's their lame, canned reply:

"Hi Steve,

Thanks for writing!

Many factors are considered during development of each product include taste,
texture, nutritional value, ability to retain flavor and quality, as well as
consumer convenience in usage and preparation.

Lipton uses only those ingredients needed to provide desired flavor,
appearance, consistency and nutritional value to its food products, and then to
maintain those qualities during storage and use.

In order to produce good-tasting foods, Lipton also makes use of latest
research to select ingredients that provide desired qualities. Our research
staff continues to review existing products and develop new ones. This ongoing
program provides Unilever consumers with products of only highest quality and
value. We will certainly report comments to Research and Marketing staffs.

Thanks for your interest in our products!
Your friends at Lipton"

Funny how friendly their reply was. "Hi buddy! Yeah nutritional value blah blah. Thanks sweetheart! Love ya!" I expected something with a little more substance in response to my message, which was:

"I was in a local store the other day and saw something that looked great.
Green Tea with Citrus from Lipton. I bought a whole case because I like
tea and know the benefits of drinking it.

Put it in the fridge and opened one to drink. My tastebuds were
immediately greeted by the tongue coating, throat drying nastyness of High
Fructose Corn Syrup... The lowest grade of sweetener you can buy. The
healthy promise of antioxidants were nullified by Lipton's cost
consciousness. Why not use Fructose or Cane Sugar or even NO sweetener at
all? Arn't your consumers worth more than the cheapest sweetener?

Well... Lipton got my money this time; shame on Lipton. But, going
forward I'll be looking harder through Lipton's vail of health in the
guise of fancy wording and packaging. I WON'T be buying anything with
HFCS in it. Perhaps enough Americans will wake up and do the same and
maybe then manufacturers will respect us enough to use higher quality
ingredients."

Which translates into "You dirty cheap bastards! What are you trying to do?! KILL ME! Hiding a gun in a bouquet of flowers. You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Well, poop on 'em! I'm not spending money on that crap again.

Multi-national corps care for Europeans more than they do Americans.

2005-06-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

(Nabisco - More effective at defeating homeland security than the Taliban)

Check out this piece on Transfats and Oreo. Proof again that as long as Americans don't complain about being fed Transfats and High Fructose Corn Syrup, they'll keep spoon feeding it to us.

Corporate Cookies - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com: "Maybe this wasn't Watergate, but I had caught Kraft in a creamy white lie: It's not difficult at all to get Oreos without partially hydrogenated soybean oil (which was invented 100 years ago as a candle wax but worked so good as a fat substitute that Proctor and Gamble called it Crisco and sold it to housewives)."

In summary... Kraft (Nabisco) was saying they couldn't produce Transfat free Oreos... but they do already in Europe. Why??? Because Europeans won't stand for big corps feeding them the lowest forms of food. How long will it take for us to thrust out our palms against them and say "No more!"? One day we will look back on these times like we now look back at the old black-lung coal miners and say "How could they not know that all that coal dust was killing them?"... How could we not know that this crappy "food" is killing us?

***UPDATE***
Oh... thought it might be helpful to let you know what Transfats do. Here's what Gersh says:

"trans-fats, those pernicious frankenlipids that not only
clog your arteries, but actually help lower your "good" cholesterol at the same time. Trans-fats like partially hydrogenated soybean oil are so omnipresent in the American diet that even the government eventually noticed it and, starting next year, food producers like Kraft will be
forced to reveal on the nutritional label how many grams of trans-fats are in each serving."

Git yer grub on! THE WORLD'S BEST GRUBBERIES!

2005-06-29T14:33:00.000-05:00

I've dug up a checklist of places you need to eat at before you check out. Pulled it from Netscape Travel and you can see the original write up here. Most of them were in Europe and I find it VERY hard to believe that NONE of them were in Japan. Oh well, without further adieu:

The top 20 places to eat in the world:

The Fat Duck Bray, Berkshire, England
El Bulli, Montjoi, Spain
The French Laundry, Yountville, California
Tetsuya's, Sydney
Gordon Ramsay, London
Pierre Gagnaire, Paris
Per Se, New York
Tom Aikens, London
Jean Georges, New York
St. John, London

Le Louis XV, Monte Carlo

Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California

Charlie Trotter, Chicago

Gramercy Tavern, New York

Guy Savoy, Paris

Restaurant Alain Ducasse, Paris

The Gallery at Sketch, London

The Waterside Inn Bray, Berkshire, England

Nobu, London

I've eaten at exactly ZERO of these places. It would be hard for me to spend $187 for a dinner of sardine on toast sorbet, snail porridge or bacon and egg ice cream. It's like Jelly Belly made a restaurant or something. I'd settle for the $50 hamburger and an iced tea. I'd put the other $130 sumthin' bucks down as a downpayment on my cholesterol meds.

Blinded by the light

2005-06-29T11:11:00.000-05:00

(Fireproof, Bat shaped lense cover sold seperately)

Saw a blog bragging about a 10 Million Candlepower Spotlight. Well, it ain't got NOTHIN' on this mutha. FIFTEEN MILLION CANDLES BABY! That's only about 3-5 million candles short of a helicopter search light... BRIGHTER than some light houses! This is as powerful as portable gets. I'm almost thinking about getting one to mount on the Helix (scooter). Oncoming traffic would think it was a close encounters moment. Get YOURS here for just $70.

(Note to self... Make a rotating platform that holds two of these for a cheap DIY SkyTracker so friends know where the backyard BBQ party is.)

Anyway. I'm just a sucka for extremes and THIS my friends is extreme. Kinda like the temp here in Austin... Supposed to hit 98 degrees tomorrow. Blah.

Only in Austin

2005-06-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Saw this under Garage Sales on CraigsList...

Don't want to be blacklisted, so I took the mirrored version down.

BevNET.com - BevNET.COM's View: First Take on Coke Zero

2005-06-25T23:26:00.000-05:00

Just had to republish this little piece from BevNet. These guys/gals are THE drink-ninjas and they write so eloquently.

BevNET.com - BevNET.COM's View: First Take on Coke Zero: "BevNET.COM's View: First Take on Coke Zero

Posted: 6/17/2005 10:03:30 AM

Some debuts are too important for just a review....

There’s a lot of debate in the BevNET offices about this Coke line extension, mostly relating to the overall quality of Coke itself. That’s because in terms of its flavor profile, Coke’s little cabal of taste technicians has come up with a beverage that, despite its lack of sugar or, in Coke’s lamentable case, high-fructose corn syrup, still tastes a great deal like its flagship brand: it’s got that key spicy, almost cinnamon-like taste that helped drive Coca-Cola Classic to the head of the soft drink channel. As an added bonus, Coca-Cola Zero doesn’t feature the creepy high-fructose throat coating, tongue-drying action that has plagued the product for the last two decades.

Depending on one’s level of Coke addiction, Zero is better – and certainly more accurate in terms of presenting a no-calorie version of its forefather – than Coke’s other giant product, Diet Coke, although there’s still that giveaway undertone of artificiality in Zero’s aftertaste. That artificiality presents itself in the same way as it does in Diet Coke – as a watery, overly sweet, chemical finish – but it’s not as strong in Zero, because the trademark spice notes drown out and nullify much of the Aspartame/Ace-K blend’s negative qualities.

In other words, in Zero, Coke has come out with something that’s a much better diet version of its core product than Diet Coke.

And that leads us back to the root of the debate here, which is, what’s so great about that? It’s a good version of Coke Classic, an over-hyped brand whose flavor is no longer what it was because of the company’s switch to HFCS, one whose focus on marketing “Coke Moments” has become so ubiquitous as to sprit those moments of any emotional heft, turning them into self-parody. And that begs the question -- in terms of product development, and in terms of re-energizing the Coca-Cola Company itself, is this the best they could do?

Because absent the cultural significance of Coke Classic, this just isn’t that great.

BevNET reviews a lot of sodas, diet and non-diet, and in terms of taste, a great many of them beat Coke Classic any day and twice on a hot one; the companies who make them don’t have the marketing heft of Coke, and because of the distribution practices of Big Cola, they are never likely to garner the followings they deserve. And like Coke Classic, Zero suffers in comparison to the taste of those sodas, as it does in its white and black labels, which look like the printers at the factory ran low on red ink.

But in conducting our reviews, BevNET also looks at marketability, and at the accuracy of a diet drink in representing the flavor of its predecessor. And in that respect, in Zero, Coke has likely come up with a winner. Except, that is, for the label, which is a colorless version of an established piece of iconography. That’s probably as good an analogy as any for the Coca-Cola Company itself, but we predict big sales for Zero nevertheless.

Source: BevNET.com Staff"

Reflections on my trip to Mexico

2005-06-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

(Hundreds and Hundreds of tiny houses)

One thing that made an impression on me, was a little village we ran into just outside of Monterrey. Not sure what the name of the area was, but it was a miner's village. They had just put up hundreds of homes for the mining familys. Each was about $20k US and smaller than my living room & kitchen put together. Here families of 2 or 10 might live, elbow to elbow. I think it made such an impact because we just finished buying a house here in Austin. When we were shopping, we had to find a place that was close to shopping and parks and stuff. These houses were close to dirt (see bottom pictures)

Here is a shot of the front of three houses. No, I'm not using a wide lense. We estimated each to be about 500 square feet. We actually went into one. It was as spacious as a large tent. Very easy to furnish.

Here is the housing complex across the street.

(the fancy two stories)

And you have to zoom-in to this photo to see what I'm talking about when I say HUNDREDS.

(It was like a military barracks)

(click image to make your house seem big)

Discover new music: Architecture In Helsinki

2005-06-23T12:13:00.000-05:00

(Good music doesn't look like Britney Spears)

Checked out Architecture In Helsinki yesterday at Waterloo Records. First time I'd ever heard them... or even heard OF them. I dug the sound. Pretty refreshing. Kiiiiinda like They-might-be-giant-talking-heads covering a non-existant Ween cover of Len's "Steal my Sunshine". Eh, that's a bad example... Talented bunch of kids. They played brass, synths, drums, guitars and sang in teensy falsettos. What was sweet, was that they sounded almost exactly like their CD. Great live gig.

Later that night they rocked Emo's (missed that cause I was in the ER, but that's another story). Anyway. I suggest you peep their site and see what you think. A friend of mine said they were too "Sesame Streetish", but I dig their latest album "In Case We Die". Listen to the track "It's 5!". Good fun and great music for the attention deficient

The OTHER blog in my life.

2005-06-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

(Dub-Ya sent me a photo for all my friends who have been complaining about "updates".)

I've been a bloggin' two timer lately. Part of it is just life... work... kid... preggo wife (a VERY lovely one by the way)... and the OTHER blog. It's The Scooter Scoop. I describe it as this, and you can quote me here...

"The latest, greatest scooter news available online in the USA!"

Why don't you go peep it out and see. Scooters are fun, affordable and help YOU get the chicks... unless your a girl or like dudes... then they will help you get the dudes... Whateva... They rock!

tell yer friends to go to thescooterscoop.blogspot.com

-steve

2005-06-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

R2D2 and Scott-3PO... testing...testing

2005-06-21T10:39:00.000-05:00

well... I guess I can. w00t.

2005-06-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

test to see if i can send images from behind a VPN

Updated Teddy Ruxpin tells stories from digital cartridges - Jun. 16, 2005

2005-06-21T09:54:00.000-05:00

Updated Teddy Ruxpin tells stories from digital cartridges - Jun. 16, 2005: "NEW YORK (CNN) - Teddy Ruxpin, the animated stuffed animal popular in the 1980s, is returning to stores in September after being updated with digital technology.

The new version of the toy, which moves its eyes and mouth while singing and telling children's stories, contains audio and animation data on digital cartridges. When launched 20 years ago, the bear operated on analog cassette tapes."

Hrm... Moves its eyes... and mouth... while singing and telling stories. Just like it did back in 1985. Exciting. You would think 20 years later we'd be closer to a Super-Toy TEDDY like they had in A.I.

Prank phone call heaven!

2005-06-14T18:38:00.000-05:00

(Mmm...Soundboards)

Go here for more soundboards than you can shake a stick at. Unless you've got good stamina, then you could shake a stick at all of them, but it will leave you huffin' and puffin'.

I especially like the Home Simpson one. Call yer granny and see what she thinks about them.

PS> The "Ultimate Star Wars Soundboard" is kinda wack. I mean, listen to Vader's classic "I find your lack of faith distrubing" quote. It's pitched up. He sounds less like Darth Vader the Evil Dark Lord of the Sith and more like Bill Gates the Pasty White Lord of the Geek.

snicker snicker Guy thinks he can call UFOs!

2005-06-10T18:39:00.000-05:00

(You can learn a lot from crazy people)

I think Confucius said it best... "Never underestimate the power of crazy people".
Was that Confucius? Hrm... Maybe Leroy told me that down at the bus station... Anyway,
Think about it... Think of all the crazy people who have changed the world in the past. They're still doing it today.

I was walking the "Haha" isle of my local ebaumsworld and found this little video clip. It's fun to smugly watch someone "makin' a foo" of himself and then have that guy turn around and put his foot in your self-righteous ass.

That very thing happened to me and the reporter in this clip. Peep it out. It's FUN!

***UPDATE*** I'm not a a follower of Prophet Yahweh. Even if it's a magic trick, it's pretty cool. You know what though... There's been a bunch of "UFO" reports going around lately. How about that one in AZ? Maybe the aliens got an agreement with Steve Spielberg to help him promote War of the Worlds.

Sony customer $ervice

2005-06-10T00:36:00.000-05:00

(That little ring in the upper left saved me over a hundred bucks!)

I'm a big Sony fan. All my cameras are Sony. I enjoy the interoperability of many of their accessories... My still camera's wide angle lens for instance. I paid over a hundred sumthin' bucks for that lens in the lower left hand corner. It seems that there would be a way to use it on my video camera as well and if anyone would know the answer, it would be SONY! Here's what transpired:

Customer

Is there a way I can use my VCL-MHG07 Wide Conversion lens with my Handycam DCR-TRV530?

Thanks!

Response (Daniel)

Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry regarding a Sony Camcorder Accessory.

The VCL-MHG07 Wide Conversion lens is not compatible with the DCR-TRV530 camcorder.
I suggest that you opt for the VCL-MHG07A 52mm High Grade 0.7X Wide Angle Lens.
This is the compatible wide conversion lens with the DCR-TRV530 camcorder.

The VCL-MHG07A wide-angle lens allows you to capture impressive results of that wide-angle
shot without sacrificing a single detail. Please click on the following link to view and place an
order for the VCL-MHG07A wide-angle lens online at SonyStyle.com:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VCLMHG07A

Please feel free to contact the Sony Style team for further assistance.

So what we end up with is Sony trying to sell me ANOTHER $120 lens. What's the difference? The letter "A" and supplied converters for 37 mm and 58 mm lenses. I instead opted for the ebay approach. I found a 37mm step-up for $1.85 + $1.75 shipping. Works like a charm.

Couldn't Sony have given me an option? Like "Well, you could buy the 'A' lens or just go pick up a $2.00 step-up converter... It's all good!".

Let the blog be my voice! A voice big enough for Sony to hear! Change your ways good sir, change your ways!

ZIGVIEW - They are one step closer!

2005-06-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

Intro 2020: "ZIGVIEW simply attaches to the eyepiece of your SLR camera where the viewfinder image is captured by a CMOS sensor built into the Zigview and relayed in real time to a 1.9 inch/TFT colour display for easy viewing at any angle."

So... What I've been waiting for is the following:
Take this thing:

and marry it via bluetooth to this thing

Just imagine how great your candid shots would come out if it appeared that you weren't even paying attention to your subject. You could look ANYWHERE and still be able to look through your camera's view finder. You could shoot pictures over walls, around corners and still have the view finder right in front of your eyes. Sweet eh? Of course, you'd have to loose the wires (that's what the bluetooth is for). It would prolly help to have the HMD (head mounted display) be a little less conspicuous. Someone tell Intro 2020 to "hook that up". I won't need any money... just a sample to play around with. ;)

Alrighty then... I'm back!

2005-06-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

(We find your lack of geekiness disturrrbing)

Great to be back in to good 'ole Austin. I'm trying to dig myself out from under the pile of work that has amassed in my e-mail inbox over the last week. Hope to have something worthwhile to post tonight.

No geekiness for a full week.

2005-05-30T12:05:00.000-05:00

(I'm leavin' on a jet plane)

Not to say I won't be doing anything geeky. I'm sure that I'll be watching Episode III again, but I'll be doing so in Jacksonville, FL. What does that mean to you the GeekAustin reader? It means you'll have more time to spend with the family and friends for a whole week. Enjoy! See ya next week.

steve

Functional little Google page

2005-05-27T16:55:00.000-05:00

(not as exciting as PSP licking, but much more sanitary!)

Stumbled across this today. A nice, clean functional way to use Google to its full extent. Try it and see if it makes your bookmarks. It's www.xtragoogle.com.

This just in: Bush is Sith

2005-05-23T12:15:00.000-05:00

(Emperor Bush as seen back in 2000)

You probably remember hearing the "You are either for us or against us" speech from President Bush. Well... Remember that when you are watching Episode III. Obi Wan will let you in on a little secret about people who speak in absolutes.

(I guess that tells you who Lucas voted for, eh?)

Now YOU can be a mad graf bomber.

2005-05-21T14:32:00.000-05:00

(check the phat piece!)

That's right... You don't even have to buy a dozen cans of Krylon and a pocket fulla caps. Just go to this site to check it.

Nokia next-gen N-Gage?! Cooooould be.

2005-05-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

(Whoa! Maybe Bizzaro was RIGHT!)

I know just yesterday I was dissin' Bizzaro because he preferred the N-Gage. Well, maybe he knew something I didn't, cause this baby looks seckzy! I'll tell you this though. I find it nearly impossible for a company that concentrates on phones to make a slammin' handheld. Nokia should have teamed up with Nintindo to integrate the GB Micro into this phone. THAT would be BOMBIN'!. There's no way they could beat 'em, so they might as well JOIN 'em.

Until then... Bizzaro, yer still a lewz3r. Why don't you use your superpowers to prove me wrong. I'm WAAAAITING.

w00t! I hope everygeek enjoys...

2005-05-19T11:48:00.000-05:00

       _______.___________.    ___      .______     
      /       |           |   /   \     |   _  \    
     |   (----`---|  |----`  /  ^  \    |  |_)  |   
      \   \       |  |      /  /_\  \   |      /    
  .----)   |      |  |     /  _____  \  |  |\  \----.
  |_______/       |__|    /__/     \__\ | _| `._____|                                               
____    __    ____  ___      .______          _______.
\   \  /  \  /   / /   \     |   _  \        /       |
 \   \/    \/   / /  ^  \    |  |_)  |      |   (----`
  \            / /  /_\  \   |      /        \   \   
   \    /\    / /  _____  \  |  |\  \----.----)   |  
    \__/  \__/ /__/     \__\ | _| `._____|_______/

Lumaray FL6 LED Flashlight Review

2005-05-19T01:37:00.000-05:00

(caution: Heavy drool zone)

This piece of geekware is sooooo damn seckzy. I think The Gadgeteer review says it all:

Lumaray FL6 LED Flashlight Review: "If I was the prop director for the next blockbuster science fiction movie, there would be no question in my mind about which flashlight the hero would carry - it would have to be The Lumaray FL6.

I mean, just take a look at it; the Lumaray is futuristic, to say the least. The torch end looks like something HR Giger could have designed, and in its present incarnation the FL6 could easily be used in one of the two upcoming James Cameron sci-fi flicks without fans crying 'foul'."

gizmag Article: First 150mph Tango electric performance commuter to be delivered next week

2005-05-19T01:04:00.000-05:00

I was almost tempted to post this on TheScooterScoop instead. That's one skinny-assed car, but I've seen the video and it rocks!

Here's a Snippit:

gizmag Article: First 150mph Tango electric performance commuter to be delivered next week: "May 19, 2005 No folks, this is not an optical illusion or a Photoshop-enhanced image - this is the Tango. The Tango is a carbon fibre, two seater electric commuter vehicle that will reach 60mph in four seconds and 150 mph in a few seconds more – a radical, pollution-free solution to the problem of transport in congested urban environments. The first batch of 100 vehicles goes to market next week when actor George Clooney takes delivery of the first US$85,000 pocket rocket to come off the production line."

See some video of it in ACTION on the website former known as TECHTV. It's bizzar to watch it in action... It's like the physics cops need to give this thing a ticket!

Playstation 3 gets some Bat-Lubbin'

2005-05-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

(WOW! Another shining review)

Got a link from BatGadget.com (only accessable with a superhero VPN connection) and the guys and gals over there are REALLY feelin' the PS3... ESPECIALLY Wonder Woman and Catwoman. I didn't know they were such big gamers. Batman wrote up a little piece and did some testing... He was kinda feelin' it, but said something about "not being able to hold his body weight". I'm thinkin' "Come ON man! This is a game system, not a step stool... or whatever you wanna use it for." I'm sure they had to cut corners SOMEWHERE to get down the price point. If Batman wants something stronger, he should have someone make a custom adamantite case or controller or whatever.

They didn't bother to do any coverage of the actual games... Maybe their too busy. Hell! If I got my friggin' GAMES in, I'd review the HELL out the PS3... WHAT'S THE HOLD UP SONY?

I always thought the guys at BatGaget were a little lame when it comes to gaming. Then you got sourpusses like Aquaman and Manta who are always doggin' electrical gadgets. Screw 'em... you can't please EVERYONE right? And then there's Bizzaro who says he prefers the Nokia N-Gage. Lewz3r.

The PS3 reviews are pouring in...

2005-05-18T10:48:00.000-05:00

(These guys give it a flying "w00t!")

Got my copy of AboriginalTech today and read the review. Pintupi, seen here holding the PS3 controller says "It's one hell of a controller mate. I've only had it in me possession for twenty four hours and I've already fragged TWELVE wombats with her. A real 'bute!"

Pintupi says the PS3 controller is SO advanced, you don't even need power to use it. I'm impressed. Maybe Sony is using some sort of kinetic energy generator... I'm not sure. He hasn't given any details on game play, frame rates or audio. I know it's still early but at LEAST tell us if the movies we've seen are TRUELY game play or really just pre-render crap. More news as it comes in.

Sony Playstation 3 hands on review!

2005-05-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

(w00t! GeekAustin Reviews the PS3!)

Wow! It's great being a big time media rep! When Sony gives you a call and asks for you to do a piece on the new PS3, I mean... How can you turn it DOWN? Well... they didn't actually call me. I sorta found it lying in my driveway behind my CR-V.

Just there... on the ground. I was totally stoked that it arrived just before the big announcement. I'm not sure why UPS wouldn't have knocked or somthing... and I also thought it to be strange that Sony didn't even bother to put it in a box, but it was great to get to get a hands-on unit before ANYONE else in the world. BEAT THAT JOYSTIQ!

Well, all I can say is this... IT'S FANTASTIC! The controller is unlike anything you've every held before. Wireless and completely natural. Sony REALLY raised the bar with this one. The controller even had integrated iSmell. VERY innovative. My controller was stuck in like... I dunno, bananna(?) mode. Perhaps it's a beta issue. I'm sure they'll have it fixed in the final release.

I still haven't quite got the video working and they didn't include any games, but I'm sure that's a small oversight. I'll be calling Sony in the morning to see when to expect the rest of the shipment. I CAN'T WAIT! I'll keep you posted... Until then, this is GeekAustin signing off!

***UPDATE***
Sony hasn't returned my calls yet. It's all good though. I got a friend that works for Sony. His IM says "N/A" right now, but as soon as he pops online I'll see when to expect the rest of the unit and the games and stuff...

The controller is totally weird though. It's got like a color changing paint job. Who knows how much THAT costs to implement, but this morning it's kinda brownish with some cool dot effect and the stupid iSmell won't turn off. I imagine it will run outta juice here in a bit. Even the fruit flys are confused by this thing. Those guys at Sony are sooooooo friggin' out there! This thing Rawks!

If they keep this up I'm gonna have to go into rehab.

2005-05-14T00:54:00.000-05:00

(damnit! I'll never get back the moments I spent hooked on the mindlessness)

Just when I thought it was safe to use Stumble! I ran into this site.
I'd say... about as weird as the last one I posted. Get ready take a small, unrecoverable piece of your life and spend it clicking and asking "WTF?".

beat THIS! Spinners for your teef!

2005-05-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

(I wonder if they come in twenty fo's. Click to see a close up)

This doctor'd up image doesn't do justice for these babys. Go check out triplexgoldteeth.com too see them in action. In the meantime, I'll write a fake review:

Wow! What can I say? The T180's are the BOMB! The UPS man dropped them off this morning and I couldn't wait to slap 'em on my grill. First thing I noticed was the fit. Like a glove... and they SHOULD have because I spent all that loot getting a mould of my teeth in the first place. The only thing a bit uncomfortable was the actually spinners... They made my top lip stick out a bit, you know like when you bored with a piece of chewing come and you stick it to your top teeth, under your lip. Kinda weird.

Well, I tried them out on my baby's momma and she was HYP-NO-TIZED by their blinged out spinnin' action. She couldn't refuse the game I was kickin'. Well worth the $300+ I had to shell out.... AND they match my hub caps, my chain, my belt buckle, my watch, my ring, AND my shoes. Dude, when I walk down the street I make people dizzy! At work the guys in IT call me the Spin Doctor. If I jog at a slow pace (like when I'm heading to the company cafeteria) I begin building up a gyroscopic force. After about 10 minutes I can't control the direction of my limbs. I have to stop and wait for everything to spin down.

Here's another submission from HARDC0RE MARK (oops... Sorry that link is dead. Mark's image was recognized by the feds and was picked up with an outstanding warrent for his arrest). This is how he rolls when he's workin' for the man. Obviously there is no shame in his game. His pimp-hand is strong & his game is TIGHT! He makes the ladies say "aaahhhhhh riiiiight!"

So, would I buy them again? Hells yeah! Nothing says, "Don't f$*k wit me b1tch a'for I have to put the smack down!" better than a spinnin' grill! Who knows? I might even use them when I ask for a raise at the office. I'm sure it's a done deal. Especially if I get the "IBM4LIFE" name buckle.

(But seriously tho... the scrolling led dog-tag? SLAMMIN'!)

In the geeky geeky month of May!

2005-05-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

(Geeks rejoice!)

May (this month) is like the perfect storm of geek months. I mean, how much better can you get? Let me count the ways:
1) THE FINAL installment of Star Wars including the introduction of Vader. If Vader would only kill Jar-Jar... nevermind... I shutter at the thought of such perfection.

2) Hitchhikers Guide finally comes to the big screen (well.. that was last month, but close enuf)

3) E3 happens this month WITH the introduction of the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3, AND the Nintendo Revolution. That's big!

Grrr.. I know there's more. I'll update as it comes to me.

***UPDATE*** WTF? What more do you WANT!? THIS IS ALL BIG NEWS! (except for maybe HHG... I just wanna see the Henson work, since I'm a Jim Henson fanboy)

Maple Syrup + kitty hugs = loads-of-laughs

2005-05-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

(My Baby! She's growin' a BEARD!)

I had to get a shot of this. After my daughters breakfast of waffles she decided she wanted to give the cats a great big hug. Well, just as the old wives tale goes, "Iffin' you eat you some waffles and hug yous a cat, you'll grow yerself a beard." It's absolutely true. I'll be sure to try something similar as my hair thins out.

Cool drink of the week - Dragon Brand "Water"

2005-05-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

This can has a eerie green glow.

2005-05-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

and it's SEE-THRU!