The Voices in Frank's Head

Frank Buckles - Enlistment Photo Frank Buckles  of West Virginia passed away earlier today as a result of natural causes. He was 110 years old. Mr. Buckles held the distinction of being the last American veteran of World War I. We, as a nation, have officially lost an important generation. His legacy, and the legacy of those who served with him, will live on for generations. The full obituary for Mr. Buckles is available here from the Associated Press.

I published my picks for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards earlier this month. I only made picks in 18 of the 24 categories. Of those, I was right with 10 of them. It wasn't my best year ever as far as Oscar picks go. However, getting 10 out of 18 right isn't too shabby either.

I was flipping through the wedding announcements in my local newspaper the other day. I was aghast when I saw one of the young women whose nuptials were published. I will spare the details since this blog is a public forum. Instead, I'll simply say this: some brides are seriously tempting fate by wearing white.

International Space Station The Space Shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station this afternoon as part of the STS-133 mission. This will be the last time that Discovery will dock at the station since the shuttle program is now being phased out. Discovery was the first shuttle to ever dock at the International Space Station and now it's time for her to retire. It has been an amazing 27 year long career for her.

There's a short video clip of a five year old little girl circulating the internet. In it, she emphatically explains that she won't get married until she has a job. Somewhere in the world, I suspect there is a little boy saying, "Your job is to shut up and gimme a sammich."

Once upon a time, when I was young and naive, the world made sense to me. Maybe if I drink enough, the world will once again make sense. Or least I won't care as much about all of the bloody nonsense. This is my random thought for the day.

She Googled Her Wedding Google launched Google Weddings recently. It's designed to use the existing free Google tools to simplify wedding planning. Google Docs  provides a budget template, Picasa provides photos albums , and so on. They even have partners like Boutiques.com to help find the perfect wedding dress and Google Googles for your smart phone to help brides get more details on things they see in print. Yes, Google Weddings really does do everything possible to simplify wedding planning. My first reaction is that this just seems a bit odd to use Google to plan a wedding. However, I'm also painfully aware of the fact that I'm a guy. As such, my first thoughts about weddings in general are to simplify them by running away as quickly as I possibly can. Unless, of course, there's a cool wedding cake at the reception along with lots and lots of booze. In which case, that's an all together different story. Mmm... Cake...

Books, Books, Books The Borders Bookstore near me is closing due to their recent bankruptcy filing. I swung by the place the other day, think I'd pick up something from their closing sale. The place was packed . There was a line to get into the store - their 4,000+ square foot store, I might add. All I could think was, "If the place was this busy before, they wouldn't have gone into bankruptcy."

Britney Spears  never really set any records for musical talent. However, she managed to set a new record for the most product placements in a music video . Britney Spears is such a national treasure.

Heidi Montag Stimulates Detroit The Detroit Free Press  is reporting that eight hospitals in southeastern Michigan are expected to hire 14,000 people between them over the coming months. This is expected to include everyone from doctors and nurses to chaplains, medical billing coders, and information technology specialists. Evidentially, Heidi Montag  is coming to Detroit for another round of plastic surgery.

Taylor Swift in the Bahamas Taylor Swift  was in the Bahamas recently. I'm not sure what the purpose of her visit was - whether it was a vacation or business - but I do know that I like this photo of her there. With this photo, Taylor Swift very well may be the new spokesperson for the Islands of the Bahamas. I know I certainly want to head there after seeing this photo. Thank you, Taylor Swift, for helping me make my vacation plans.

After watching this short video with Irina Shayk , I have this sudden desire to go buy a few cases of SoBe Lifewater . I can definitely use some more electrolytes. Or something.

I hate eHarmony. It's highly overrated, in my opinion. I think that's why I love the Super Harmony spoof of it so much. Super Harmony is definitely the best dating site around.

  Irina Shayk Joins the Elite Congratulations go out today to Irina Shayk . This 25 year old Russian swimsuit model has landed on the cover of the Sport Illustrated  swimsuit issue, which puts her in elite company in the modeling world. I figure the best way that I can commemorate her accomplishment is by blowing off work to ogle pictures of her on-line. I'm sure my clients won't mind a delay for Irina Shayk's sake.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Today, we commemorate the Feast of St. Valentine - a martyred priest of the early Christian Church who was killed by a pagan king for preforming marriages. In recognition of this, the Catholic Church recognizes him as the Patron Saint of Cheesy Greeting Cards and Overpriced Flowers. Okay - I might have made up that last part. Regardless, I want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.

I almost forgot, but today is Mistress Day. It's the day before Valentine's Day when, hypothetically speaking, a married man might find an excuse to do something special with his mistress before treating his wife to Valentine's Day. Since I have neither a wife nor a mistress, the occasion slipped my mind. Regardless, I'm in an especially snarky mood this evening. Therefore, I could not help but make a Mistress Day post.

My friend Hockey Dino  posted this photo to his Facebook page. It's no wonder why this woman has trouble finding her way into the kitchen.

I've come to the conclusion that every time a politician says, "let's focus on the future", it's usually code-speak for "please forget about how I screwed you over in the past."

My Own, Personal Robot I'm a man of very simple tastes. All that I really want is a robot that can go to boring meeting for me, like the new Anybots . It's a simple gadget, the next step in teleconferencing, if you will. My robot will see and hear everything that happens in said meeting and project a (possibly pre-recorded) video image of me on its screen. It delivers all of the benefits of being in a meeting without actually being in the meeting. Yes, I'm a man of very simple tastes. All I want is an Anybot. And a trampoline coffee table . And my own personal shark sub . And some of the great t-shirts from Think Geek and Snorgees . And a beer bottle cooler . And - well, you get the point.

Part Trampoline. All Coffee Table. I saw a trampoline coffee table this afternoon. It's perfect for those individuals who look at the middle of their coffee tables and think, "My God, I wish I could jump up and down on my coffee table." My life will never again be the same as it was this morning. The trampoline coffee table by Alberto Bonomi  is available here .

I found this photo on-line and all that I can say is, "Wow!"

I have lots of t-shirts already. However, I found one that I really, really want. Want it. Want it. Want it. Thank you to the folks at SnorgTees for coming up with this one.

The folks at Del Taco have a series of videos up on YouTube. They're both disturbing and brilliant. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden desire to visit my local Del Taco.

It's almost time for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Every nominee this year is incredible. Of course, only one of them will be able to walk away with the Oscar. Oscars. Oscars. Oscars. I am proud to present my predictions for this year's Academy Awards. Overall, I believe it is going to be a big night for  The King's Speech. However, I do not think it will be able to dominate every category. These, therefore, are the films that I predict will win an Oscar in each of the various categories. Leading Actor Colin Firth  for  The King's Speech Supporting Actor Mark Ruffalo  for The Kid's Are Alright Leading Actress Natalie Portman  for Black Swan Supporting Actress Amy Adams  for The Fighter Animated Feature Toy Story 3 Art Direction Inception Cinematography Black Swan Costume Design Alice in Wonderland Directing The King's Speech Documentary Feature Exit Through the Gift Shop Documentary Short Killing in the Name Film Editing