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Showing posts from July, 2010

Heidi Montag Files for Divorce

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Heidi Montag Isn't the Same Heidi Montag   filed for divorce from her husband of just over a year, Spencer Pratt , yesterday. The interesting thing about this that, because of all the plastic surgery Heidi Montag has had in recent months, Spencer Pratt very well may be the first man in the world who can stand in divorce court, say that his wife isn't the woman that he married, and actually be taken seriously by the judge.

Larissa Riquelme: Robbed and Naked

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Larissa Riquelme  is the model from Paraguay who became famous for her unique cell phone holder during the FIFA World Cup this summer. Larissa Riquelme: Robbed and Naked She promised to run naked through the streets if Paraguay won the World Cup. Unfortunately for men everywhere, Paraguay was eliminated shortly after Larissa Riquelme made that promise. Well, Larissa Riquelme is back in the news again. She was robbed recently. Thieves stole what is perhaps the most photographed cell phone in history (even though we only got to see an inch or two of it). Luckily for Larissa Riquelme, she will be able to recover from this robbery by getting naked and making men everywhere a little bit happier with our lives. She did a topless photo shoot for Para Hombre  magazine. Admitedly, this is a rather unique way of earning the money one needs to buy a new cell phone. However, life is always filled with sacrifices. I look forward to seeing Larissa Riquelme at the next FIFA World Cup,

Annoyed With Google

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I'm annoyed with Google and their AdSense program at the moment. They sent me this coupon for $50 worth of free advertising. I used it to promote my blog. I was skeptical as to whether or not it would be worth it. However, since they offered it, I decided to take them up on it. There was an increase in traffic to my site, but no increase in revenue. I thought it was set up to end once the $50 that they gave me was used up. But I was wrong. They continued to bill me for the increased, non-revenue producing traffic. I know this because I got my credit card statement in the mail today. The definitely charged me for it. Anyway, I have a favor to ask.  Do you see those ads that appear below this post? Please click one of them. It's the only way that I make any money from this blog and, at the moment, I have some catching up to do.

Ellen DeGeneres to Leave "American Idol"

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Ellen to Leave "Idol" From the category of "Things I Did Not See Coming" is this announcement: Ellen DeGeneres  will leave American Idol . Her exit from the show is reportedly a part of the massive overhaul that this show is undergoing. The question now is: who will replace her? The even bigger question, and the one that producers probably fear the most is, will television audiences even care?

Selfish and Stupid

Former President George W. Bush's  memoir Decision Points  isn't due out until November 9, which is a full week after Election Day. However, a certain segment of Republicans are concerned that it could hurt their electoral chances. One Republican even went so far as to refer to the book and its publication as "selfish and stupid." I wasn't a huge fan of President Bush. I have to admit that I'm getting a kick out of Republicans worrying that the memory of him, a full two years after he left office. I'm pre-ordering my copy today.

Thank You, Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel did a Sarah Palin  skit the other night. I think it's one of the best pieces of satire in a long time.

Jane Austen's Fight Club

One of the great things about Jane Austen  is that her work lends itself so well a modern adaptation. Her stories can move across time without losing their inherent beauty. Her plots still feel compelling, and her characters are still believable, almost two centuries later. Through her pen, the English language attains a kind of brilliance that few other authors have been able to bring to it. Some of the modern adaptations, such Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley , have stayed quite close to Jane Austen's original text. Other storytellers have decided to have a little fun with her work. With that in mind, I'm thrilled to have found Jane Austen's Fight Club through the vastness of the internet.

Tony Hayward

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Tony Hayward - FIRED Tony Hayward  has been fired from his position as chief executive officer of BP. In all of history, I don't think there has ever been a person who more richly deserved to be fired than Tony Hayward.

Amanda Bynes "Unretires"

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Amanda Bynes Is "Unretired" Amanda Bynes  announced on Twitter earlier this afternoon that she was "unretiring" from acting. This, of course, comes roughly one month after she announced her retirement. I'm really glad that Amanda Bynes made this announcement. The last thing this world needs is more people retiring at the age of 24. Welcome back to reality, Amanda Bynes.

Pitcher of Happiness

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I found a pitcher of happiness while I was in Ann Arbor this weekend. Jose Cuervo is my new best friend in the world.

That's A Shirt

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Hope Dworaczyk Wears a Shirt I come across a number of a really great quotes from my friends. The best one that I heard this week is, "That's a dress in Las Vegas. Everywhere else in America, it's a shirt." In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson , "It's funny because it's true."

My Weekend Plans

For the first time in years, my email in-box at work is empty . The weekend has officially begun. My weekend begins tonight with 4th Fridays in the Park , a special screening of Whip It starring Drew Barrymore , and some drinking. Tomorrow will be the Ann Arbor Art Fairs and some drinking. Sunday will be church, which will be followed by movies and then some drinking. Hmm....  Does anyone notice a pattern here? Anyway, what are your plans for this weekend?

Greetings from Beta City

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Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih I took this on-line quiz that rates my "Dating Market Value". It confirmed that women like Rima Fakih  are definitely out of my league. I am what the quiz describes as a "classic beta". I scored well with my sense of humor, but that only takes me so far. However, and this is the really important part, if I were to drop 20 lbs. and add $15K to my annual earnings then I would move up considerably. That actually gives me something attainable to shoot for. If you're interested, the Dating Market Value Test for Men is available here . The one for women is available here .

Tea, Earl Gray, Hot

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The folks at M.I.T. have developed a digital food printer . It's called "The Cornucopia"; one can use this 3-D printer concept to store, cook, mix, and deposit ingredients to create healthy meals, with no wastage at all. I'm excited because this brings us closer to the food replicators from Star Trek .

This Is Why I'm Single

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I spend a fair amount of time on Facebook. One of my friends, Hockey Dino , loves to post questions for discussion on his page. Yesterday, he posted the question: How does one deal with the raging hormones of a woman? Is there a secret women aren't telling men? Us men want to know. Most people responded with one variation of flowers, chocolate, or some other such gift. My response was a simple one, though still quite different. I chimed in to say that  I usually respond to raging hormones by telling the woman in question to go make me a sandwich. Of course, I added that this response likely explains why I'm still single. I have to admit that I was surprised by the number of people, almost all of whom were female, who clicked the "like comment" option on that one. It's nice to know that my odd sense of humor is still appreciated. Sarcasm: It's not just for jury duty questionnaires anymore.

Heather Graham Still Looks Awesome at 40

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Heather Graham  turned 40 this past January. She was photographed in a bikini on an Italian beach recently. I have to say that Heather Graham looks better in a skimpy bathing suit at 40 then some 20 year old women that I know. More photos and story at HollywoodLife.com .

Why Gorgeous Girls are Happier with Plain Guys

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Kristen Haglund Needs My Advice I found an article on-line recently from The Daily Mail . It makes the argument that beautiful women are often much happier when they are involved with plain looking guys than they would be if with they were similarly involved with a more attractive hunk of a man. This article was based on research that was conducted at the University of Tennessee and later published in the Journal of Family Psychology . Researchers studied the attractiveness of various couples and then cross-referenced it with surveys that each couple completed in which they rated their own marital happiness. The results were quite conclusive. Women who were attractive, but married to plain-looking guys, reported having a marriage that was much happier and more full-filling than similarly attractive women who were married to attractive men. Rachel Nichols Needs It, Too I don't know about anyone else, but I suddenly have this urge to send copies of this ground breaking resea

Two Great Things

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I blogged before about how photos of Melissa Theuriau  have been showing up in ads all over the internet. It's interesting, though, some of the combinations that I've seen. This one is my favorite. It's a photo that Hope Dworaczyk  posted to Twitter, which automatically overlays an ad on it. And the add features none other than Melissa Theuriau. Hope Dworaczyk and Melissa Theuriau - even if one of them is a pirated image that some fly by night web site is using for it's promotions, there's still something magical about that combination.

Bar Refaeli Understands Things

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Bar Refaeli , who is an Israeli fashion model and currently dating Leonardo DiCaprio , gave an interview in V Magazine  recently. She was asked she thinks people regard her as "sexy". Her response was nothing if not candid. "Why do people think I'm sexy?," she replied. "Maybe it's the fact that I have boobs." You can say what you want about Bar Refaeli, but she does understand men.

People Love Crazy People

Over this past weekend, four different people stopped me to tell me that they loved my Santana vs. Pugh video that I did for my neighborhood blog. It was a simple one. I simply showcased how several people in my neighborhood have lawn signs up for both Harvey Santana and Stacy Pugh - who are running against each other for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. (Yes, they are supporting both of the main candidates in a race where only one of them gets elected. Not sure how that's going to work out.) I guess there's just something special about indecisive voters.

I Love This Shirt

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A friend of mine has this t-shirt. Ich bin ein Detroiter . I love it. It works on so many levels.

Pick Up Lines from Mad Men

Someone compiled all of the pick-up lines from Mad Men  into one video. For the record, I've used four of these myself and was successful with three of them. See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor . I guess I have some more work to do.

Viva La Revolucion

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I was at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit not too long ago. A young woman was also there, except she was there distributing literature for the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. I know this is completely wrong of me, but there's a part of me that thinks that if Karl Marx looked like her then he might have gotten a lot farther than he did with his manifesto.

WGN Needs A Map

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The folks at WGN aired a story recently about the FIFA World Cup, which is currently being played in South Africa . The thing is, they displayed a graphic of South America  in their coverage of it. This, of course, just proves that far too many Americans don't know very much about geography or soccer.

Sam's Club to Start Lending to Small Businesses

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Sam's Club announced today that they will start making loans to small businesses. These loans can be anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 and the proceeds do not have to be spent at a Sam's Club. I have to admit that I've never been a fan of Sam's Club or its parent company, Wal-Mart. However, as a small business owner, I have to say that if something like this begins to put a certain amount of pressure on the banks to start lending again - and I think it will - then I am all in favor of it. Thank you for doing this, Sam's Club. Thank you. I wish you tremendous success in your endeavors. And, as the grandson of a union organizer, I still don't believe that I've said this. It truly is a mad, mad world.

The Internet is Weird

I started creating and posting videos for the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog , which is the other blog that I author that focuses on the Warrendale neighborhood in Detroit. I think it's interesting to see which videos people watch the most. I shot this short video that simply shows a few kids playing in a fire hydrant. I didn't set out to make it. I was just out taking care of a few things, saw them doing it, and turned on my cell phone video camera. I didn't even do anything to promote it. I just uploaded it and embedded it into a blog post. The thing is that short, quick video that I put almost no thought into at all has gotten three times as many views as the ones that I thought for certain would rack up huge hits. I thought my video of the protest rallies surrounding the proposed closure of 77 parks in Detroit would get some decent traffic. However, in spite of the fact that I did a lot more to promote that video and it was a hotter topic, the video of kids playi

Drinking on the Job

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One of the cool things about owning your own company like I do is that it's actually acceptable to drink on the job. And there are days, like today, where that activity starts at 10 a.m.

Happy Canada Day

Today is Canada's birthday. Therefore, I would like to take a moment to wish a very happy Canada Day to my neighbors to the south. And, yes, I do get a kick out of living in the only major city that can refer to Canada as its neighbors to the south.