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Showing posts from April 27, 2008

'80s Flashback: Atari

Friday is here again, so it's time for another '80s Flashback. Before a word from our sponsor, here are the recent '80s Flashbacks: '80s Flashback: OP corduroy shorts '80s Flashback: Parachute pants '80s Flashback: Rambo cartoon '80s Flashback: Psyche! '80s Flashback: Jim and Tammy Faye '80s Flashback: Avoid the noid '80s Flashback: Mary Lou Retton '80s Flashback: One night in Bangkok '80s Flashback: Adams Atoms '80s Flashback: Don't you forget about me OK. This week's flashback is brought to you by Crystal Pepsi, which actually came out in 1992 but still has an '80s feel to me. It was a clear cola ... and clearly taken way too seriously by the people creating this commercial . Now the flashback: This week we remember Atari, makers of the "2600" video game system that ate up many of my days when I was about 10 years old. But Atari did more than video games. The slogan of an Atari commercial from the early 1980s w

Tripping out on the mountain

Hey mom, I'm lost on the mountain and I tripped over something and broke my leg. At least I think so. Maybe I'm just having a bad trip. Amazingly, this headline is NOT from The Onion . Expensive Santa Cruz Mountains search finds stoned teen

Time magazine's most influential joke

Time Magazine asked readers in an online poll, "Who are the most influential people of 2008?" Who is No. 1? Well, you know he or she has to be pretty big time because a man known worldwide, the Dalai Lama, is No. 206. That puts him 199 spots behind No. 7: Tyra Banks. Yep, this is legit. Also, No. 2 is "Rain," and it has nothing to do with weather. You can check out the list here .

Wedding vows, then a kick to the bride

I meant to blog about this yesterday, and then got busy and forgot. You've probably heard about it by now, but it's funny enough that, well ... I wish I could've been the reporter putting this story together. It involves a brawl between a bride and groom on the day of their wedding. Sadly, that's not exactly unique. Intoxication is tremendous fuel for marital fireworks. But this scene was special. The groom "used a karate-style kick with his leg to kick Christa [the bride], knocking her to the floor," the criminal complaint said. Maybe it was just part of their first dance together. A hip-hop move gone bad, perhaps. Next: The fight traveled from a hallway to an elevator then into the hotel lobby where, police said, the couple threw metal planters containing live plants into an elevator at the men who tried to break up the fight. Well, it looks like the bride and groom were teaming up on that one. I guess they reconciled. And finally, truly a wedding-day vision

Unneeded product, cool commercial

I have absolutely no use for the product, but the commercial is pretty neat. When I was 12 years old, this is the kind of thing I spent many unproductive hours putting together, usually while listening to one of my homemade soundtracks .

Flipping out on the race track

My wife sometimes tells me that she doesn't want our sons to play football. I can understand the way she feels because it's a rough sport, and she doesn't want her little boys to get hurt. But she shouldn't worry about that, given what our 5-year-old, Ryan, has decided on for a career. After earlier deciding that he wanted to be a soccer player, and then an artist, then a "lawnmower guy," then a guy who plans birthday parties, he said this week that he wants to be a race-car driver. That probably won't happen, of course. He'll just be a 16-year-old driver who drives like this ...

Humor Me: Surviving cubicle life

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By MATT WIXON Congratulations on landing your dream job. You'll tackle new challenges, pursue higher goals and cash a check big enough to make super-sizing your value meal a no-brainer. Make sure to focus on that your first day, when you get locked in a stairwell looking for the restroom. The second day will be better. But the first day is like transferring to a new school, where the other children stare, nobody sits with you at lunch and you get stuffed in a trash can during recess. Thank goodness that won't happen at work. The people are more mature and the trash cans are way too small. More important, unprofessional behavior is prohibited by most companies. You would know that had you read your employee manual instead of using it as a coaster on your coffee table. But don't feel bad. Most people don't read their employee manuals, which rarely reach the literary heights of the instruction booklet to George Foreman's Lean Mean Grilling Machine. And while em

The dreaded job evaluation

You walk into the boss's office and feel the first beads of sweat on your forehead. You heart begins to race, your mouth gets dry, and you feel like an 8-year-old facing interrogation over a broken lamp. It's the annual employee evaluation, a time for paranoia, sweaty palms and painful silences that stretch out longer than the director's cut of Apocalypse Now . But relax. These answers to common evaluation questions will help you get through it. Q. Where do you see yourself in five years? A. Taking on bigger challenges, expanding my role with the company and helping the company strengthen its position for the future. (Strategically vague, it's the perfect answer to an evaluation question because it says nothing.) Q. How do you feel you benefit the company? A. I'm a team-oriented person who works hard and wants the company to improve. (Important note: Never say you are willing to do "whatever it takes" to help the company improve. "Whatever it takes&q