Archive for: July, 2010
Our Writers Take To The Skies
-*-*- NEWS FLASH -*-*-
The popular and Grammy award-winning band Kings of Leon were forced to end a concert in St. Louis last night after playing just three songs because a pigeon pooped into bassist Jared Followill’s mouth.
FIND ME THIS BIRD AND OFFER HIM A CONTRACT
Lifestyle Guide – Local Blogs
I’m a big believer in community. Part of that comes from getting older, I suppose – I like seeing that my city has grown and advanced rather than regressed in the ten-odd years I’ve lived here. Part of it comes from having a firm, ultra-leftist belief in social capital (bowling leagues are civilization!) and I guess the rest is that I just like people.
Let's Roll
Since all of these things are truths about who I am, they naturally compliment the rest of my life: a high-technology RPG played aggressively at everyone else’s expense, every day. I love the capabilities of the internet and social media. Not only do they make the whole world smaller, bringing the rest of the Earth into your living room; they also explode the community in which you live, allowing you to explore mysteries and wonderful accidents of providence in your own backyard. Continue Reading »
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
The G15 - Too Much and Not Enough
Logitech makes great products, and it is rare that I have a complaint about anything they take to market. I am currently on my 5th Logitech webcam, my third Logitech mouse, and my third Logitech keyboard. I have tried interface devices from many other manufacturers and no one seems to quite get it as right as Logitech does. Even though the configuration and management software gets a little goofy or overcooked now and then, the hardware itself is usually terrific.
The G15 was a surprise, because I didn’t really find it to be very good, very well made, or even very useful. The stuff that Logitech always does so right seemed to be missing from the entire equation. This keyboard feels cheap.
Continue Reading »
Lifestyle Guide – Get a Chimney Starter
All my life I’ve felt like my father is a force to be reckoned with when he’s grilling, but I also remember a lot of childhood summers spent waiting for the coals to heat up. It sucked, and I always wanted to start sooner than my dad did. The coals were on fire, ostensibly we’d been outside since the beginning of time. Why couldn’t we grill? Well, he wanted the coals at a certain consistency, which means having almost all gray coals before you start putting food on the grate.
It’s been a while since then, and it’s been very rare for me to get behind a grill myself, but recently I thought my girlfriend and I could have a picnic. I could grill up some food and I’d look cool and we’d have a tasty meal. We had a tasty meal (thanks Martha Stewart), but I felt a lot less cool about grilling outside when she’d asked me several times, “Is the grill ready yet?” I had some pride in knowledge of my craft, and some shame for the terrible slowness of it–as I repeatedly answered in the negative. If you don’t have a fancy-shit grill, it can take upwards of half an hour to really get those coals ready.
Old Spice Odor Blocker Body Wash
There’s been a huge buzz the last few days about Old Spice and The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. This is absolutely deserved: Old Spice has essentially created the first guaranteed viral advertising video series ever, smartly targeting both internet celebrities with huge swaths of social media influence and regular unknown fans with personalized video responses, shot and posted often within an hour of the initial message on Twitter or Facebook.
While the Old Spice Guy was becoming the face of the company over the last year – and before this ridiculous advancement in awesome advertising – there was an incredible in-betweener series of ads for Old Spice Odor Blocker Body Wash, starring Terry Crews and created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Tim and Eric and Terry made ads that were over the top ridiculous. They also made the only bits of advertising that ever compelled me to try a specific product.
After seeing about seven ads as ridiculous as this one, I had to know. I had to know if Terry Crews was lying to me. Continue Reading »
