September 24, 2009 by traveler.

Since the Segway hasn’t injured enough users, Honda has released a motorized, self-balancing unicycle to really amp up the hurt. You know it’s up to the task, because Honda included the balancing skills of their Asimo robot. (Fall 1, Fall 2).

Wow- I can close my eyes and picture all the fractured ankles. If you enjoy laziness and danger, the new U3X is a dream come true.

———
Check back soon for the second part of my Cairo/Giza photologue.

Posted in Tech, Junk, Weird, Video, Toys, Funny, Design, Gear | No Comments »

July 18, 2009 by traveler.

What hasn’t yet been said about the King of Pop? MJ has seemingly been on TV more after his passing than during his entire lifetime. It struck me that there was one aspect not entirely explored, however- the worldwide urge to recreate his performances. Browsing Youtube videos yields a TON of tribute videos, and I’ve saved you the trouble of sifting for the golden nuggets. Here’s a small sampling of MJ’s influence- the 23 Best Michael Jackson Youtube Tributes.

MJ around the world-

Thriller- Phillipine prison

Thriller- Sydney Opera House

Thriller- Indian ‘homage’

Billie Jean- Saudi dance (Billie Jean added to unrelated dancing video)

Billie Jean- Yemeni kid

Beat It- Mariachi version

Beat It- Eritrean kid

Dangerous- Chinese kids

Billie Jean- on Britain’s Got Talent

Does the costume make the performer? Here are a few more MJ tributes-

Beat It- Mini Michael Jackson

Smooth Criminal- Mario style

Worst MJ dance EVER (but kinda funny)

Of all MJ’s performances that people love to recreate, Thriller is by far the most popular. There are dozens of Thriller versions on the net. Here are some of the best-

Frame for frame LEGO remake

OU Marching band

Darth Thriller

US Marine

W&M University (new record?!)

‘13 Going On 30′ clip

Enthusiastic 3-year-old Girl

Mario Paint recreation

There is also a meme of Thriller dances at weddings. Here are two of the best matrimonial Thrillers-

Groomsmen Get Down

Entire Wedding Party

No tribute would be complete without a performance from the real deal. Here is Michael himself performing “The Way You Make Me Feel” with Britney Spears. Britney is then at her peak, but is still no match for Michael.

MJ & Britney- The Way You Make Me Feel

Posted in Comedy, Junk, Weird, World, Video, Retro, DJ, Old News, Funny, Music | No Comments »

May 27, 2009 by traveler.

W T F ???

This movie has got to be a joke. Gooby? Oh great- IMDB confirms it’s an actual movie. Check out this trailer-

Holy hell. That face at :35 is just too much. Awful title, awful costume- this one looks potentially worse than Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus…

Please tell me these are elaborate, absurdist performance-art gimmicks. ::sigh::

Posted in Junk, Weird, Comedy, Video, Movies, Eww, Funny | No Comments »

May 5, 2009 by traveler.

Ouch. Consumerist reports that a Best Buy customer in Texas opened a brand-new MacBook Pro box and instead of a laptop, he found…a paving stone.

Is this becoming a trend? First it was the Chinese newspaper & rocks in a Nintendo DS box, and now this. While Wal-Mart made good on the missing Nintendo DS, apparently Best Buy told the proud new owner of a paving stone that “Apple seals the boxes, not us. Take it up with Apple.” Hmm. I’m gonna go with…the customer gave his credit card to Best Buy for this purchase, not Apple.

Which makes this potentially simple- customer notifies credit card company that he is having this problem with BB and is working to resolve it. If BB still won’t rectify the situation, he gets credit card company to reverse the charge and file a grievance against BB.

Of course there is another important question- could this be a shady customer’s shakedown attempt? Guess Best Buy and the credit card company will work that all out. Maybe it’ll turn out that this guy ends up throwing that paving stone back in his yard where he found it. Who knows.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Gripes, Business, Tech, Nintendo, Toys, Apple, Gear | No Comments »

March 12, 2009 by traveler.

Back in January, I posted an article about some unusual chocolate bars from 3400 Phinney. I thought it would be a one-time event, but my hook-up began stocking other varieties of 3400 Phinney chocolate bars. With great apprehension, I decided to accept the challenge and venture out once more into the vast chocolate wilderness. With the abject failure of the Coconut Curry chocolate bar, I decided to play it a bit safer in selecting flavors for this batch.

Hazelnut Crunch
If you are a fan of Nutella, I bet your ears just perked up. This chocolate bar will surprise you, however, because it doesn’t use hazelnut cream like you might expect. I completely anticipated some velvety, rich hazelnut flavor blended into the chocolate, but that wouldn’t be a 3400 Phinney creation. This bar differentiates itself by adding large slivers of actual hazelnut nestled into the milk chocolate. This gives the bar a nice nutty taste (imagine that!) - FAR from what hazelnut/chocolate lovers would expect. The slivers also impart a salty finish, giving the bar a nice blend of salty and sweet in every bite. If you like hazelnut, this bar will expand your ideas of what a hazelnut chocolate bar can be. Despite your initial reservations, however, this might turn into your favorite hazelnut chocolate treat!

Vanilla
Simple, elegant vanilla. This bar is exactly what you anticipate, and it does not let you down. You may wonder what the ’spin’ will be on this flavor, but there is no real trick, no surprise. The only twist to this flavor is that the chocolate bar’s simplicity really allows the ingredients to breathe and the quality to shine through. Besides, after choking down bites of Coconut Curry, sometimes you just need to tuck into an uncomplicated Vanilla flavor.

Stay tuned for more unusual chocolate treats- I have more flavors yet to review.

Posted in Weird, Junk, Food, Pics | No Comments »

January 11, 2009 by traveler.

When you think of your favorite ice cream flavors, what comes to mind? Strawberry, chocolate, butter pecan, maybe mint chocolate chip? What about Saffron? Is saffron on your list? If not, it might be soon.

Baskin Robbins ME unleashed September’s flavor of the month- Saffron Escapade. This new flavor incorporates saffron ice cream, sesame cardamom brittle, and a honey ribbon. For those not familiar with saffron and cardamom, Wikipedia describes cardamom as having a ’strong, unique taste’ with a ‘coolness similar to mint.’ Saffron is described as ‘hay-like and somewhat bitter.’ Sounds like perfect ice cream ingredients, right?

Despite initial reservations, I would recommend trying the flavor IF you enjoy flavor contrasts, particularly the interplay of savory and sweet. Lately that has been a big theme of mine, and so I enjoyed the Saffron Escapade tremendously. In fact, I went back to Baskin Robbins the very next day to buy another serving of this experimental flavor. I’m glad I did, because the flavor appears to have disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

In the end, you might be glad you missed it. In an attempt to win converts, I managed to disgust several people who thought Saffron Escapade was hands-down the worst ice cream flavor they have ever tasted. I, however, loved the taste and would gladly pick up a scoop if I find it again. (BR- make Saffron Escapade flavor of the month again!) In any event, I will remember it as one of the weirdest ice cream flavors I’ve tried.

Posted in Weird, Junk, Food, Eww, Pics | No Comments »

January 4, 2009 by traveler.

Looking to buy a gift for the billionaire-to-be baby in your life? Might I suggest this…

I GUARANTEE you will be the only person at the baby shower to give this diamond pacifier. YES- I SAID DIAMOND PACIFIER. WTF?!?! Glad to see the recession isn’t quite affecting everyone. At only $17,000, this pacifier has to be a joke, or some sort of conceptual art piece. $17k for something your kid would chew on? Save yourself a couple grand and get your kid a pimped-out stroller instead.

As a side note, the website ’selling’ the pacifier (I am guessing that diamond pacifier sales are a bit sluggish) offers a large lineup of other, more reasonably priced children’s gear. However, beware (or enjoy) their line of political clothing. It seems to target liberal consumers and anger conservative website visitors.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Business, Toys, Style, Funny, Pics | No Comments »

January 3, 2009 by traveler.

Time for round one of Weird Food. For the series’ premiere, we are looking at chocolate bars with, well, interesting ingredients. Theo Chocolate brings us the 3400 Phinney Chocolate line, featuring organic chocolate from Fair Trade certified cocoa beans. These are not your mother’s chocolate bars. These flavors will challenge the most adventurous candy connoisseur.

Coconut Curry chocolate
I am a huge fan of coconut curry. Coconut curry chicken, that is. Coconut curry chocolate is not my idea of a tempting treat. With great trepidation I unwrapped the bar, half expecting evil spirits to be unleashed. I dutifully took a bite and was surprised that the curry flavor wasn’t as overpowering as I expected. I took a second bite and realized that the curry does kinda build up from bite to bite. After my third bite, the curry flavor exploded in intensity, blocking out any pleasant chocolate flavor. There wasn’t a fourth bite. The only person I can imagine might like this ‘chocolate’ bar is someone who…actually, I can’t imagine anyone liking it. Shame.

Fig Fennel & Almond chocolate
I shook off my unpleasant memories of the coconut curry and moved on to this more palatable-sounding flavor. Those with adventurous tastes might enjoy the flavors in this chocolate bar. The almond slivers and fennel interacted nicely with the bittersweet dark chocolate. I was relieved to eat this candy bar, because it reaffirmed my faith in 3400 Phinney. While this bar might not become my new favorite (hard to beat a simple peanut butter cup), I can see it satisfying a craving for unique chocolate flavors. Try one for yourself and see what you think.

Based on their website, 3400 Phinney has a number of other unique flavors. If I get to try any others, I will let you know. Also, stay tuned for further Weird Food posts- a loved/hated Baskin Robbins experiment is coming up.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Health, Food, Eww, Funny | No Comments »

December 31, 2008 by traveler.

Happy New Year!!! A celebration like this deserves some good tunes. Lemme fire up my Microsoft Zune…hmm…that’s odd. It seems to have frozen. Wonder if anyone else is having that problem. Aahh! It’s Z2K! Oh crap, what if the reason it is frozen is because it is linking to all the ‘red ring of death’ XB360s and they are preparing to sprout laser cannons and take over a la War of the Worlds!

Thankfully there is a solution. Shoot- I sure hope there isn’t an i2K on the way. ::Shudder::

Posted in Junk, Business, Tech, Apple, Design | No Comments »

December 27, 2008 by traveler.

This food-induced coma is a killer. Such awesome food, but I can’t take much more of the ‘holiday spirit’. Gotta be good…next year the only coma you’ll find me in is a Christmas cauliflower coma.

I found some weird food items this holiday season, and I’ll share some of them shortly…right now I’m too full to type anymore. Merry Christmas!!

Posted in Junk, Health, Food, Eww | No Comments »