Blogs are Stupid

EGM: What do you think of [the first opponent] Glass Joe?

Bobby: Uh...he's white.

Anthony: He kinda looks like Barbie's Ken.

Dillon: I'm just pressing random buttons here....

Garret: That's probably how you beat the game.

Anthony: Why is Mario in this game? What does he have to do with anything? But it'd be cool if you can become Mario and jump on the guy's head and he dies.

Garret: "Mike Tyson" is bad publicity for this game.

Brian: What's this supposed to be?

EGM: Football. It's one of the first great portable games.

Brian: I thought it was Run Away From the Dots.

John: I don't see how this has anything remotely to do with football.

EGM: Which team are you playing?

Kirk: The red lines.

Tim: They could've just as easily called this game anything—Baseball, Bowling, Escape From the Monsters.

EGM: Did you score?

Kirk: I bumped into a dot.

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- -- The kids were naughty, Dad put the presents on eBay instead of under the tree -- and Mom's been crying ever since.

Now, even the tree's down.

Saturday morning was sure not to be very jolly for three brothers -- 9, 11 and 15 -- who didn't straighten up when their father told them Santa wasn't too please with their fighting, cuss words and obscene gestures.

Dad and Mom had warned their sons that the Nintendo DS video system -- and the three games that go with it -- were headed for the auction block if they didn't get their act together.

"No kidding. Three undeserving boys have crossed the line. Tonight we sat down and showed them what they WILL NOT get for Christmas this year. I'll be taking the tree down tomorrow," the man announced in his eBay posting.

"If you don't buy them, we'll return them to the store," the seller known online as magumbo--2000 reported on the site.

Creators of "The Grow-Op Game" say the $39.95 "educational board game" highlights the perils of the marijuana business and cautions would-be growers.

"You get ratted on by neighbors, hydro cuts you off, you get floods, there are tons of stuff that is negative about it," said Vancouver-based creator Ivan Solomon Saturday.

Solomon said the Monopoly-style game is the brainchild of a young, 20-something reformed pot grower, known only as the "Rabbit," to conceal his identity. Solomon said Rabbit came up with the idea for the game while serving time in jail.

Here, then, is a selection of some of those "offbeat" stories which offered an insight into human nature in 2004:

It turns out that's not exactly the case with Bill Rancic, the winner of the show's first edition. We all thought he was going to be the project manager of the construction on a new Trump office tower in Chicago.

Actually, his title is "owner's representative."

Trump acknowledged Rancic is hardly "running" the project, but Trump insisted, "I've always said (the winners) would be under very strong supervision and auspices. And that's what's happened with Bill."

In one method used to get their message out, opponents used an automated phone line.

The person on the automated phone call says he's from a group called Friends of the Earth, and he's opposed to a stadium built with public money

Friends of the Earth is part of a coalition called "No D.C. Taxes For Baseball."

"This is the only building in the world in which each apartment can spin individually," said Joao Carlos Peters, marketing director at the Moro construction company.

The Council claims to be fighting for the poor of the District when it is far more likely that it is in the process of killing a development deal, with baseball as its centerpiece, that would bring significant benefits, not costs, to those very constituents.

Council members claim they are protecting citizen tax dollars when they know that not one cent of public money is earmarked for the Anacostia waterfront project. All funds to back the bonds to build the park will come from the team's new owners (rich), the top 11 percent of local Washington businesses (prosperous) and fans who attend games (many affluent). As for the District's pot of money collected through taxes -- called "the general fund" -- not a cent would be taken out of it.

As a bonus, more than 80 percent of Nationals fans, about two million a year, would come from the suburbs and spend tens of millions of discretionary entertainment dollars in the District.

One popular item for holiday shoppers is the "lap pillow," with skin-colored polyurethene calves folded under soft thighs -- a comfy cushion for napping, reading or watching television.

The 9,429 yen ($90) pillow, which comes with one red and one black skirt, went on sale in late November and maker Trane Co Ltd says shipments have reached 3,000 in just a few weeks.

"We created this item to help tired people relax," said Makoto Igarashi, Trane's managing director.

Care was taken with details such as the softness of the thighs, panty lines on the pillow's "backside" and wrinkles in the lap of the skirt so as to make the pillow look and feel as real as possible.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Two friends are at a party when one sees a potential love interest across the room.

Immediately, the other friend swoops into action, making an introduction and helping to keep the conversation going -- all so the buddy can score a phone number.

It's long been a ploy in the flirting arsenal. But now, those who ride shotgun for the sake of love have a name: They are the "wingmen" and "wingwomen" of the dating world.

...

At Arriviste Press, a small Boston-based publishing house, writers have launched a Virtual Wingman service on the company's Web site. All clients have to do is plug in a few details about themselves and what the sort of date they're looking for and, using that information, the virtual wingmen will craft a personal ad, free of charge.

Meanwhile, in cities such as Chicago and New York, a person can rent out a real, live wingperson on an hourly basis.

If you haven't watched Arrested Development you reallly should. I just started watching it on DVD and it really is great.

Randomly for reference is their top 10 for 2003:
I post it only because I think its funny that Playmakers made it.

Alias
Angels in America
Arrested Development
Everybody Loves Raymond
Joan of Arcadia
Nip/Tuck
Playmakers
Soldier's Girl
24
The Wire

On the flip side, Trump called law student Allen, 29, overeducated and underexperienced before firing him — even though finalist Kelly Perdew has the same number of degrees and Jennifer Massey has a similar amount of business experience. What gives?

Webber said he had been contacted by the show's producers but didn't give permission for his name to be used.

"My lawyers are looking at legal action now," the Kings forward said. "There was never a part in the show. They wanted to entice me to come on there. But I said I really didn't care about being on their show. So no, I never agreed to do it, and my people are upset that they tried to use my name to snare interest for their last show."

Webber said the entire situation lets you know that "reality TV really isn't reality TV because that whole thing was staged."

Shares of Blockbuster were up 2 percent Tuesday after the company said that it plans to stop charging late fees for its movie and game rentals at the end of the year.

The company plans to nix the fees on Jan. 1. The rentals will still have due dates, Blockbuster said, but customers will have a weeklong grace period after the due date.

The rental outlet will then automatically sell the product to customers holding it beyond the grace period, deducting the rental fee from the sale price. At that point, customers will have 30 days to return the movie or game.

"They are here giving me 110 percent," Bryant said of his teammates.

Really? The Lakers are playing for Kobe now?

That wasn't a slip of the tongue. Two player agents who represent players on the Lakers and one league source told Insider that Bryant was ruling the Lakers with an iron fist, getting in players' faces and acting as if he owned the team. According to one agent, Bryant even threatened to trade his client if he didn't do things The Kobe Way.

"I get the feeling that everyone there is pretty miserable," one agent told Insider. "I know [my client] wants out, and he claims others do too. It's hard enough to have a coach on you all the time, but then when a player is doing it, too, it's just too much."

1. "Titanic": Leonardo DiCaprio's "I'm the king of the world!"

2. "Dirty Dancing": Patrick Swayze's "Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

3. "Four Weddings And A Funeral": Andie McDowell's "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed."

3. "Ghost": Demi Moore's "Ditto." to Patrick Swayze's "I love you."

5. "Top Gun": Val Kilmer to Tom Cruise (news): "You can be my wingman anytime"

6. "Notting Hill": Julia Roberts' "I'm just a girl... standing in front of a boy... asking him to love her."

7. "Independence Day": Bill Pullman's "Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

8. "Braveheart": Mel Gibson (news)'s "They may take our lives, but they will not take our freedom!"

9. "Jerry Maguire": Renee Zellweger to Tom Cruise: "You had me at hello."

10. "The Postman": A blind woman says to Kevin Costner (news): "You're a godsend, a savior." He replies: "No, I'm a postman."

That last one is too funny.

My boss and I were talking to Nick about exteneding his intro for Jessica by 30 secs. We asked him what he wanted to say about her.

These are [Nick’s] exact words...

"Let's see what could I say.......Do you really want me to tell you...... Not too many nice things to say about her (this is [we] started sweating and getting uncomfortable)... How about she was the best stocking I ever stuffed?" He then proceeded to say, "She was the best Chimney I've ever come down on."