Jeans & Things
The Kanye West interruption during Taylor Swift’s VMA acceptance speech was terrible. America is hating that guy right now, even after he went on Jay Leno and apologized. But what’s done is done. And here are some of the Kanye West meme pictures that are making their way around the internet right now.
Kanye West obviously doesn’t understand the concept of ‘too soon…’:
Oh no! It looks like Kanye’s interruption has influenced Mario, as he interrupts Toad:
More to come as I find them!
Well, folks. It turns out that the 2009 Summer of Death is not slowing down. Gidget, the Chihuahua dog from the late-1990’s Taco Bell ad campaign Yo quiero Taco Bell, has died from a stroke at the age of 15. Obviously, this is a sad day for everyone. Famous for saying “Yo quiero Taco Bell!” and “Hey, Leezard!” – Gidget made everyone happy, and she will be missed.
Maybe it was a conspiracy. I mean, one day she’s fine, and the next day she’s dead. Sounds fishy to me. Maybe Taco Bueno or Taco Cabana is responsible for Gidget’s death. Just kidding! But I’m sure there are some conspiracy theorists out there who might think that foul play was involved here. In all seriousness, Gidget was 15-years-old and she was sleeping most of the day. That’s old for a dog. She had a great life and put smiles on everyone’s faces. We’ll miss her.
I remember the original Yo Quiero Taco Bell! commercial from 1997:
In my opinion, this ad campaign was one of the best marketing campaigns in my lifetime. RIP, Gidget the Chihuahua.
This is the never-before-seen video from the January 27, 1984 Pepsi Commercial where Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire. This footage was released today, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time anyone has seen the video footage of the horrific pyrotechnics accident that caused second and third degree burns on Michael Jackson’s head and scalp.
Sources close to Jackson have claimed he was never the same after the 1984 accident.
One said: “His personality totally changed after that incident as drugs began to influence his life.
“He was 25 and full of life before then but after that everything changed. (TheSun.co.uk)
Apparently this was the event that also led to Michael’s use of painkillers. Of course, after reading many of the news stories from the past few weeks, we all know that painkillers became an addiction for Michael. And that’s a shame. I wonder how the last 25 years would have gone for him if this accident had never happened.
The mystery surrounding Michael’s life, death and use of prescription drugs grows by the day. Here is a link to some exclusive pictures of Michael’s legs in 2002: ABC News. In these photos, you can see a terrible wound on Michael’s lower leg as well as multiple puncture points from IV needles. Jeez. This man had it rough. I’m glad he is in a better place and no longer in pain.
Well folks, the Summer of 2009 is turning into the Summer of Death. Here’s a list of notable deaths so far this summer:
And we can add another well-known figure to that list as retired Oscar Mayer Foods President and Chairman Oscar G. Mayer Jr. has died at the age of 95. He passed away on July 8, 2009 at Hospice Care in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Mr. Mayer was the third Oscar Mayer to run the Oscar Mayer Foods company. He was the grandson of the original Oscar Mayer, and he had been named named company president in 1928.
Oscar G. Mayer retired from the company in 1977, after Oscar Mayer Foods had posted it’s first $1 billion dollar year. After his first wife passed away in 1998, he married Geraldine Fitzpatrick. And I’m not sure if this is true, but some reports claim that Geraldine was only 21-years-old when they married. He was 85. Again, I’m not sure if that’s true, but it would certainly add to his legacy.
According to TMZ, Oscar’s funeral wish was for the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to not be present at his funeral. Now that would be a sight. Just imagine a processional led by the Wienermobile.
Caution: The video contains graphic images.
Daniel Jimeno Romero, 27, of Alcala de Henares (near Madrid) was gored in today’s Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. According to eye-witness accounts, Mr. Jimeno Romero was moving backwards, facing an oncoming bull named Cappuccino. This rogue bull had been separated from the herd. Daniel Jimeno Romero then tripped over some other runners, and he falls to the ground. While trying to retreat feet-first under the wooden fence, the bull gored him in the neck. The puncture extended to his lung, and the bleeding was immediately profuse.
It’s the first death at the event since 1995, when 22-year-old American Matthew Tassio was gored to death during the running of the bulls. Also, in 2003 Fermin Etxeberri, a 63-year-old Spaniard, was trampled by a bull during the running of the bulls. He was actually trampled in the head, and then he died later that year after spending months in a coma.
Since they began keeping records in 1924, there have been 15 deaths at the Running of the Bulls during the san Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Daniel Jimeno Romero, his friends and family.
Update:
In an ironic turn of events that will eliminate the need for human males, British scientists claim that they have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells. This move makes all men redundant – even the male scientists who helped with the project! Forward-thinking Fail? Owned by the female researchers on the team? I dunno, but those dudes definitely had a fast one pulled on them. Imagine your boss asks you to create a computerized robot that does your job. And imagine that you do it. Do you know what happens next? You get a raise, right? Nope. Of course you never saw it coming, but you get the old “Smell ya later!” from your boss. So let’s all give a big hand to these British scientists. Nice work.
But seriously, according to an article at breitbart.com:
A team of British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm using embryonic stem cells, in a medical first that they say will lead to a better understanding of fertility.
The team of researchers, led by Professor Karim Nayernia, believe their work with in-vitro derived (IVD) sperm will ultimately help find a treatment for infertility in men. That’s pretty cool, right? Their angle is that they will be gaining a better idea of what causes infertility in men and why it happens. There are so many couples out there right now who cannot have kids because of infertility. This breakthrough will hopefully make infertility in men an issue no longer.
Well that post wrapped up nicely.
But wait a minute! Imagine if infertility was no longer an issue. By how much would the human population expand? And how quickly? Sometimes our little blue planet feels a little crowded as it is. Imagine if everyone could have kids. I wonder what that would do to the overall human population on Earth.
I once read a brief summary of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The part that interested me most was the part about reproduction. Agiweb.org sums it up nicely:
Organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support. All living things produce more individuals than can survive to maturity. Think of the thousands of acorns that one mature oak tree produces every year. A female salmon produces about 28,000,000 eggs when spawning. One oyster can produce 114,000,000 eggs in a single spawning. Darwin calculated that in elephants, which are among the slowest breeding land mammals, if all of the potential young of a single female survived and reproduced at the same rate, after 750 years the descendants of this single mother could number 19,000,000! Clearly, if all of these seeds, eggs, and young survived to become adults who also reproduced, the world would soon be overrun with oak trees, salmon, oysters, and elephants.
Is infertility a built-in form of population control across every life form on Earth? To put it another way, did God make it that way for a reason? What if every living organism could reproduce? Would 2 elephants turn into 19 million elephants within 750 years? What about humans? The whole Darwin/Evolution/God issue brings up strong political and religious emotions, so I’ll move on. I’m sure I have offended everyone with this post. But whether it’s offensive or not, it is still an interesting topic to ponder.
The funeral for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, will take place at the downtown Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, July 7 at 10:00am. This date and time have been confirmed by the Jackson family’s publicist. AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips has said that tickets will be free, but there is only room for 20,000 in the Staples Center. Furthermore, there are only 11,000 tickets available for fans. And if you wanted to register for tickets, there was a two day registration period. If you wanted a ticket, I hope you registered.
Registration ended Saturday. And guess what? There were over 1.6 million fans who registered for tickets during the 2-day registration process. Only 11,000 of them will get tickets to the funeral at the Staples Center. However, there will be 6,500 tickets given away for the overflow location at the Nokia Theater, which is next door to the Staples Center. I’m not sure how the math adds up here, but apparently 8,750 names will be randomly selected. Each name will be given 2 tickets to the funeral, and they will be notified via email. [Note: Of course they are using a wristband system. It’s crazy to me that in the year 2009, there is nothing more efficient and secure than a wristband system. I hope they are looking out for hackers, scalpers and thiefs.]
I’m not sure how Los Angeles is planning to brace for the amount of people that will decend upon downtown LA on Tuesday morning. The city anticipates anywhere from 250,000 to 700,000 people will show up at the Staples Center arena on Tuesday. For the fans who do not get into the arena, be aware that there will be no funeral procession through the city, and the funeral ceremony will not be broadcast on the giant screen outside the arena. If you want to watch the funeral ceremony live, your best bet is to watch it on TV at home.
Also, there will be a private ceremony for the family before the public memorial. In an interview with CNN’s Larry King, Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s brother, discussed the private memorial service on Tuesday. He also discussed the family’s desire to have other memorial services around the United States.
And here’s a post about the Michael Jackson fans who were lucky enough to get tickets to the funeral: link
Update (7-6-2009):
BusinessInsider.com is reporting that MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson has signed a new deal, which pays him $500,000 per year for two years. All he has to do is not show up for work. That’s right. Everyone’s favorite MySpace friend is being told to stay away from the office for $1 million.
A single source close to Tom tells us that in the wake of Chris DeWolfe’s departure, Tom signed a new, two-year-deal worth $500,000 per year. As a part of the deal, Owen and new News Corp digital media boss Jon Miller asked Tom to stop coming to the office.
It seems like a great deal on the surface, but after researching it further, this deal is not really a deal at all. It turns out Tom Anderson was making $7.5 million per year for the past two years. He and the other MySpace cofounder, Chris DeWolfe, were both making $7.5 million per year. News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch was the only person at News Corp who was making more than Tom and Chris. Therefore, by signing this new contract, Tom is basically taking a $7 million pay cut. That makes this new deal seem terrible.
I guess it’s only fitting that Tom and Chris have no part in their invention any longer. They sold out to News Corp for a ton of money (supposedly about $327 million), and now News Corp is calling the shots. But it’s okay. At least they got out before MySpace is phased out by Facebook and Twitter. Tom got in, got rich and got out. Some people don’t have it so good. Nice work, Tom. Nice work, indeed.
Jon Lajoie is awesome. I enjoy his work. The day after Michael Jackson died, Jon released the video for his song Michael Jackson is Dead on YouTube. With this video, I think he makes a great point about the media’s relationship to Michael Jackson. They made cash money by labeling him a freak on the cover of every major magazine at some point over the past 30 years. Anyways, I’ll let the video speak for itself. The most poignant lyrics are just before the last verse:
oh it’s so sad that michael passed away
we loved him so much
oh really, really, did you love him
cuz from where i’m standing it kinda looked
like you hated him
and that you called him freak
and that you wanted him to die
but now that he’s dead
you love him and he’s a legend
and he’s so amazing
and we love michael jackson
how about you go fuck yourself
you big bunch of fucking hypocrits
The media is nothing if they are not hypocritical, but I will accept the argument that they are often nicer to people when it involves death. However, it is a flimsy argument, so all you media defenders should try to avoid using it.
This song was written (and the video was posted) less than 48 hours after Michael’s death was announced. Jon Lajoie’s got some skills. Well done, Jon. Well done indeed.
Hey Burger King! I saw your ad for the BK Super Seven Incher today. I think it’s kind of suggestive, but I’m not here to judge. I am only going to advise that you not make this a kids meal. And don’t put too much mayo on this sandwich because if that lady bites into it too hard, mayo might get all over her face. And the only reason that would be funny is because mayo on someone’s face is quite inconvenient. And also, I was under the impression that size matters to some people. Do you realize that Subway has footlong sandwiches? That’s like 12 inches, right? Subway’s got you by 5 inches. Subway owns you, if you ask me.
Oh yeah, how about that copy: It’ll blow your mind away. Is there a cocaine joke in there? Maybe it’s a funny play on words – a pun or a euphamism that goes well with the proximity of the 7-inch sandwich to that lady’s open mouth. Wait a minute?! Is this an ad that is trying to sell me a sandwich by stimulating both my stomach and my lower region with sexual overtones in picture form? I think it is. Goodness. There I was thinking that this pretty lady just had her mouth open because she was so compelled to take a bite out of a 7-inch sandwich. Oh no. A bite? That sounds painful. Your ad is making me think of my special guy getting bitten by a hungry lady. That’s not good marketing. At all. In fact, I no longer want anything to do with this 7-inch sandwich. Don’t even mention the BK Super Seven Incher around me ever again.
I’d rather go to Quiznos anyways. They’ve got a sexy commercial where this sexy hot oven says, “Put in in me, Scott.” And Quiznos sandwiches are bigger than 7 inches. And their sandwich is called the Toasty Torpedo, which sounds much tastier than a sandwich described by its length. And torpedo makes it sound longer and harder, and it also sounds like it would take longer to finish. Maybe you should have taken notes from Quiznos because they know how to do it right.
Note: Honestly, sarcasm aside – really, Burger King and Quizno’s? Really? I see what you’re doing, but I have to ask one question: Will heterosexual men ever want to eat the BK Super Seven Incher or the Toasty Torpedo? It’s almost like the ad is screaming at me, “Hey! Put 7 inches of meat in your mouth.” And it’s doing it in an overtly sexual way that does not have a clear target. Is this ad for men, women, or (god forbid) kids? And Quiznos, don’t think you’re off the hook. In the Toasty Torpedo commercial, the hot warm oven has a man’s voice. WTF? This whole line of advertising is just confusing me. I don’t think of fast food as sexy. Fast food is gross. The two just don’t mix. It’s like that time in the Simpsons where Comic Book Guy says, “But, Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills. You’re from two different worlds… .” Fast food and sexy just don’t mix. Even though this pretty lady is about to take a seven inch sandwich like a champ, it’s just plain confusing. But job well done in creating a viral ad. I respect that. Kind of. But still.