Tasty Summer Treat

Pepto Bismol Ice-Cream

Stolen letters returned safely

Pizza King Watch finally gets an update, and it's no wonder. Nothing is bound to upset someone who obsessively photographs store signage more than a letter thief:

"Some people have no respect. This week, Greencastle, Indiana suffered a wave of marquee letter thefts, with the thief or thieves taking only the letter 'R.' Local signage was reduced to near-gibberish, as the above image attests; local Defenders of Freedom were no doubt confused to have suddenly been assigned to the Amy National Guad (I don’t know who Amy is, but she must kick butt).

"Never fear, however—the letters have been returned. Thank goodness! Maybe now things can return to normal for the good burghers of Greencastle.

"And no, the King does not have a Greencastle location… but if he did, rest assured that they would have been trying to sell you a 'SUB DINK,' or perhaps 'BIG SI DINK'..."

PEZamania!

"July 20-22, 2006 Cleveland, Ohio

"Join NEW convention hosts Linda and John Gliha at 'The World's Largest Gathering of Pez Collectors.' Spend a fun filled weekend with an international group of master PEZ collectors, PEZ dealers, and PEZ authors. Learn from experts and add to your collection. See more PEZ than you ever imagined and have the chance to win lots of Valuable PEZ prizes."

A "heavy sensual rap beat"

"Filled with the Spirit," the opening music video from this year's Purpose-Driven Worship Conference is entertaining in its own right, but this commentary from The Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service is the perfect finishing touch:

"A rap video prepared for Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Worship Conference 2006 is one of the sickest things I have ever seen, and I have been researching the spiritually sick world of CCM for many years. It is by a rapper named Smitty and is mis-titled 'Filled with the Spirit.' It features a heavy sensual rap beat with the following lyrics: 'Ohhhhhh, I’m filled with the Spirit; come gather round so all ya’ll can hear it.'

"You have to see the video and hear the voices to understand just how sick and blasphemous this thing is, but I am not going to give out the link because I don’t want young people, especially, to be influenced by this vile thing."

Thanks to J-Dog for bringing this controversy to my attention, and thank goodness for PoF, young people!

Wheels of grass

"When these four university students walk down the street, hamster jokes are hurled at them.

"That's understandable, because they're walking in a giant hoop lined with sod.

"Four Dalhousie architecture students stunned passersby yesterday as they showed off their summer project - and made a social statement.

"They say there's not enough green space in Halifax and that their contraption is a way to 'take the park with you.'"

China to censor karaoke

"Censors with China's Ministry of Culture have created a program to keep 'unclean' songs out of the country's karaoke parlors.

"The ministry has said the cities of Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Qingdao will be the first to test the new program, which allows local karaoke businesses to play songs off a central database loaded with pre-approved songs, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The ministry said the program will also help the government protect intellectual property rights.

"The program could go national if the government deems the test run successful.

"'All the songs in the database for use by karaoke parlors and consumers need to be censored' to ensure their content meets government standards, Liang Gang, director of the Cultural Market Development Center of the Ministry of Culture, said in the Times' report."

Retro LARP

Bored? Enough to play Pong? How about Space Invaders? Maybe Zelda or Punch-Out is more your style. At least Tekken looks kinda fun...

Cleveland vs. Fiji

"'The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland,' boasts the full-page ad running in national magazines like Esquire.

"The Cleveland Water Department ran tests comparing a bottle of Fiji to Cleveland tap water and some other national bottled brands. Fiji Water topped the pack in arsenic and other contaminants, the test showed.

"'Before you take a cheap shot at somebody, know what you're talking about,' said Cleveland Water Commissioner J. Christopher Nielson.

"Edward Cochran, Fiji president, is a native of Bay Village, which gets its water from Cleveland. He said it was his idea for Fiji's advertising agency to make Cleveland the butt of the joke in a national campaign.

"Cochran said the folks at Cleveland's Water Department need to get a sense of humor.

"'It is only a joke,' he said. 'We had to pick some town.'"

Goatse Polo

Via BoingBoing: "The Goatse polo sports a discreet over-the-breast logo that you can use to evoke giggles from attentive Internet perverts."

"Ohio's in a world of hurt"

1980s commercial from Jerry Springer's run for Governor. Link via Cruel.

PoF Haiku-Cinema Update

We're up to 22 entries in Pof Haiku-Cinema. Can we push it over 30?

Keep posting haikus in the old thread. Post any commentary, kudos, whatnot here.

Revver

It's like YouTube, but with commercials. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted Ze Frank's switch to Revver, where he can host his daily updates and make a buck or two by allowing ads to be tacked on the end of his videos:

"Ze Frank has earned more than $5,000 through Revver by posting his stand-up comedy shows featuring rants on pop culture, stunts and dancing."

Let's go bowling

...with Pugs.

Link via M&C.

New Helmet album released

"Most of the remaining songs follow either of these directions: they're tight and surprisingly melodic, or they're tight and vaguely melodic. Some of these tracks get away with it, yet others sound too derivative or just uninspired."

The purpose of Helmet since the album Meantime seems to be to try and make another album like Meantime. Monochrome doesn't quite get there, but it's closer than they've been in a while. Listen here and judge for yourself.

Mosquito

A lot of work went into this Firefly parody. Not too shabby.

"Iowa – Life Changing"

Via BoingBoing: " Every week, David Burge of Iowahawk dutifully pores over the mugshots of female arrestees from Des Moines' Polk County Jail, selecting photos of the women he feels are suitable for candidacy in his Hoosegow Honey contest. He asked his readers to vote for Miss Hoosegow 2006. The winner is Jesika, with 20.9% of the vote."

Maddox to release comic book

"...the best comic in the universe is finally here. Many of you doubted me when I first announced it; you said I couldn't fit this much crotch rockage into a comic. As always, I'm right and you're all idiots for doubting me."

Georgia on my mind

Via DoL: I've always been a fan of Arial, and I know some Verdana-philes out there, but apparently everyone else has settled on Georgia:

"Log on to The New York Times's Web site, and you'll see it there. Just as you'll spot it on the Web sites of London's Frieze Art Fair, the architecture magazine Metropolis, the artist Damien Hirst, and on blog, after blog, after blog.

"All of these Web sites use the same typeface - Georgia. Typefaces slip in and out of fashion like every other area of design, but right now Georgia is the most fashionable one on the Internet. 'A few designers have mentioned that there seems to be a 'Georgia revival' going on,' says Matthew Carter, the British-born, Boston-based designer who developed Georgia for Microsoft in 1996. 'It seems a bit young to have died and been revived already.'"

Worshipping at the Altar of YouTube

Zappa plays bicycle for Steve Allen - Part 1, Part 2
More vintage Zappa on SNL
Robot Chicken - The Neverending Party
8 ½ Mile
and in anticipation of the concert I'll be seeing soon, a new video from Muse.

Man fights bear

This should be included on the DVD extras for Grizzly Man.