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Showing posts from May 4, 2008

'80s Flashback: Freddy Krueger

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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: Atari '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 This week's flashback is brought to you by the untied, high-top basketball shoe often worn by "headbangers" in the '80s. I had a friend who wore them all the time, with jeans and a black concert T-shirt. Even when temps hit 100 in Phoenix, that's what he wore. He had to kind of drag his feet as he walked so his shoes wouldn't fall off. I remember the sound of his shoes plowing through the gravel as we walked home from school. OK.

Commercial space travel almost here (maybe)

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Have you got your tickets for space travel yet? If not, they could be going fast. Or slow. Hard to tell. But at www.virgingalactic.com , you can make reservations for a flight with one of their accredited space agents. I bet you can even ask for a seat near the solid rocket booster, you know, so you can really get the full effect. Sure, it will cost $200,000. But don’t be scared off by that. By the time a ship is actually ready to take you into space, $200,000 might be what you pay annually for groceries. Or a tank of gas. So when will the flights begin? Well, Virgin Galactic doesn’t know exactly when it will start sending people into space (and hopefully bringing them back). But my guess is the Rolling Stones will be starting a tour.

The Tourist Remover

Ever want to remove unwanted people from your photos? The Tourist Remover might be for you. It takes multiple photos and blends them together, making it perfect for getting the other tourists out of your blurry picture of the Statue of Liberty. I wonder if people ever use this to eliminate a spouse from a family photo after a divorce. Should check the photos at the home of Alec Baldwin .

Another amazing basketball shot

Just like the other one, this shot was right on target. If the little boy was the target, that is.

Amazing basketball shot

This is just amazing. I hope the kid who made the shot wasn't injured when his teammates crushed him afterward. More crushing, of course, is the feeling for the players on the other team. Thanks to Don R. for the link.

Table tennis or Ping-Pong, it's pretty crazy

Back when I was a kid, my family had a Ping-Pong table on the patio. Maybe if I had been really into it, and practiced each day, I could've done this. (In longer shorts, of course.)

No wizardry in the classroom

Attention teachers: Just a reminder that, as you put together your lesson plans for the day, you should not include any wizardry . Yep, no wizardry. Because if we allow that, pretty soon we'll have to allow cauldrons in the classrooms and create parking spots for brooms. If you claim to not be a wizard, no problem. We'll just need to throw you in a river to see if you float.

New American University: Underwear party!

According to its Web site, Arizona State University ... "has a vision to be a New American University, promoting excellence in its research and among its students, faculty and staff, increasing access to its educational resources and working with communities to positively impact social and economic development." Apparently, it's working. I can't see how running around in your underwear wouldn't "positively impact social and economic development." Before you check out this video , I'd like to remind the many people who believe I'm an Arizona State University alum that I actually graduated from the University of Arizona. It can be confusing, I know, because a lot of people believe ASU and U of A are the same university. I think it's because any time an athletic team from either university plays on national TV, the network shows the same video loop of cacti and rattlesnakes. So for the record, I remember students at the University of Arizona bei

A former camper responds

A response to the "You'll love summer camp" column: Geez....I thought summer camp was where you learn to stretch plastic wrap tightly across the top of the toilet, so the next little camper gets a wet surprise when she uses the restroom - (and nobody ever admits who brought the roll of Saran Wrap) - or camp is where you fall off the top bunk and break your collar bone, so the camp nurse and the cabin counselor rush you to the hospital and call your parents in the middle of the night - or camp is where you play mud football and get ringworm or weird sores on your legs a few days later - or even better....camp is where you get a new haircut and it's free! - oh yeah, fond memories!

Humor Me: You'll love summer camp ... really!

By MATT WIXON The parent-child bond is rarely stronger than when the summer-camp bus pulls out of the parking lot. Children press their faces against the windows and flash teary eyes that ask, "How can you do this to me?" Let's see, where should parents start? There's the fruit punch stain on the carpet and the broken window in the living room. There's the T-shirt that got flushed down the toilet and the dent in the wall from a game of indoor baseball. And can somebody please explain how a chair from the kitchen table ended up in the pool? Yes, parents have their reasons to pack the kids off to Camp Idontwannago. And now is the time to start planning where to send your kids. Or so I'm told. I'm not an expert on this because my kids are too young for camp. But I do know this: Camp is supposed to be fun, not punishment. So when departure day arrives, and some kids act like it's more punishment than privilege, parents naturally worry. They worry that thei