UMass Amherst is Awesome


At the UMass Amherst graduation yesterday there was a huge protest of Andrew Card, former White House Chief of Staff, who was receiving and Honorary degree.  Many of the graduating class had “No Card” signs taped to their person, and when he took the stage to receive his “degree”, the place erupted into Boos and signs and banners came out all over the place, EVEN ON THE STAGE.

Marketing Anarchy

People in Boston are freaking out because “mysterious packages with circuit boards” have been found mounted below bridges in Boston.

It turns out, it’s looking more and more like a guerrilla marketing for the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force film:


(from Vanderlin)

And it’s not just Boston, Here’s one in Philly:


(from xjohnpaulx)

I’m not a fan of the show, but this is awesome…  I predict this will be a HUGE to-do, since the bomb squad was deployed all over the city to dismantle and destroy these “IEDs”.

Update: Here’s another closeup of one of the Boston “Devices”:


(From MyFoxBoston.com)

Chick Tac Toe

 and I took a trip down to Foxwoods to play some poker this weekend.   I hadn’t played in about a year, and it showed, although I held my own…  Rory seemed fairly satisfied with my play, and he knows what he’s doing, so I guess I didn’t do that bad of a job…    Anyway, while we were there we saw a poster for a promotion the casino was having.  Each day everyone had the opportunity to play Tic Tac Toe versus a chicken.  If you beat the chicken, you get $10k.

A few hours later, on a break from the table, we were walking around the casino, and came across a mob of people waiting to have their turn with the chicken.  The chicken is in a little glass booth, and it’s selection panel is obscured from view.  I don’t know what the gimmick is, I figure there are a few possibilities:

  • The chicken is honest-to-god playing Tic Tac Toe
  • The chicken is trained to peck at a light, and a computer is actually making the decisions.  Chance ensues when the chicken pecks at the wrong light
  • The whole thing is theatre, and the chicken is just for show

I’m not sure about the 3rd option, there are all kinds of laws about contests and honesty within them…

Anyway, so I pretty much expected people to tie the chicken most of the time, since the only way to win is not to play.  There were three “big checks” mounted to the wall, and the promotion had been going on for a few weeks….

But just as we were getting ready to leave, we saw a woman actually LOSE to the chicken.  I had to run away because I was laughing so hard…  I know I am prone to hyperbole, but I believe this is the funniest event I’ve ever seen in my life.

Steve is Gay


Steve is Gay
Originally uploaded by seangraham.

Corinna and I pass by this sidewalk almost every Saturday on our walk to breakfast at Moogy’s. Every week I laugh my ass off at the thought of Steve, who (in my imagination) lives in the home directly behind this sidewalk, leaving his home every day and pumping his fists in the air at the kids who mock him. I doubt whoever wrote this in the concrete had any idea of the laughs they created…

One day I will pass another piece of freshly-poured sidewalk and have the balls to put "Steve is Still Gay" into it.

Weird Al keeps knocking them out of the park

I saw this little nugget buried toward the end of an article on Al over at Idolator.

And really, how can you not root for someone who sees the blinding absurdity in R. Kelly’s serial song poem “Trapped in the Closet”–and raises it by turning it into an 11-minute song about two people going to the drive-thru for some burgers? We can’t wait to see the video for that one.

For the best send-up of “Trapped in the Closet” ever, check the MP3 link at the bottom of that article.

Can I Get a Fuck Yeah!!??!?!?!

After ten years of popular demand, The State is available again! The
first season of the critically acclaimed 1993-95 MTV Series will be
released on iTunes Music Store, starting Tuesday, September 26th.
Depending on how many people download, MTV will release subsequent
seasons, and then eventually, hopefully, a DVD.

The first season includes introductions of favorite State characters
Doug, Louie, Barry & Levon. From the minds that brought you RENO 911!,
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, and STELLA: Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black,
Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri Kenney, Thomas
Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter and David Wain.