Pete Dudchenko

Time once again for the yearly wrap up. This is where I reflect on the year about the good, the bad and the ugly…let’s begin:

The Good:

• Received a private lesson for kite-surfing for Christmas (I just hope this doesn’t happen).


• Started a new job with a great company.


• Bought a short board for surfing and acually was able to ride it without much transition.


• Visited Turks and Caicos for the first time.


• Was able to witness the greatest NFL game of the year.

The Bad:

• Took my cell phone surfing.


• Matt got a job (bad from his perspective, good for my couch)


• I found out that no matter where you live, people just can’t drive.

The Ugly:

• Played the grocery store game and lost.

Hope everybody has a safe and happy new year!

– Pete

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Straight out of The Simpsons with the Good Morning Burger, comes the Quadruple Bypass Burger from a restaurant outside of Phoenix. If Jolt Cola sold hamburgers at Hooters, this would be the result.

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Ever wonder what celebrity you look like? Check out My Heritage for the answer. You can upload a photo of yourself (or anyone else) and it will automatically find celebrities that you most resemble.

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There’s an odd website dedicated to displaying actual photos of terrified kids, posing with Santa Claus. Not the best use of one’s time but I did see some rather old photo’s on there and some pictures of Santa that, if I had kids, they would never go near. I’ve filtered out the most amusing versions of legitimate “Scary Santas” to save everyone else’s time but seriously, how did these guys NOT scare the crap out of the kids…remember, the difference between Santa and Satan is the placement of one letter.

Ok, starting out with Santa #1 (above). This guy looks like he’s been hitting the eggnog a little too hard on his lunch break. I can’t tell if the kid is crying from being scared or from the alcohol fumes that must be emanating from this guy’s breath. The girl on the left seems to be already catching a buzz as she’s just happy to be there.

 

And now for Santa #2 and my personal favorite of the group. These kids actually seem to be taking it well considering that Santa has probably one of the meanest death stares I’ve ever seen. Something tells me that any unfortunate child that tries to pull on this Santa’s beard is in for a world of Christmas pain.
Ever see Full Metal Jacket?

We’ve got to cut Santa #3 a little slack because judging from the picture’s background, it’s tough to tell if this is a professional Santa at a mall, or just an unhappy uncle who got talked into dressing up at someone’s house. I hope its the latter because if not, I’m pretty sure this picture was taken directly from a milk carton.

The last Santa here (check out the nose) appears to be the only Santa in the world who doesn’t need Rudolf guiding his sleigh tonight. Unless of course the sleigh is actually a 1965 Buick, and Rudolf is the name of Santa’s designated driver.

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Do you use Netflix? From December 5th to the 21st Blockbuster will accept the tear off sheets from netflix envelopes in exchange for a free movie rental from the store. You must have a Blockbuster account (or sign up there) but seems like a good deal.

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I saw the latest Bond movie last night (decent flick but longer than it needs to be) and one of the things that stood out was the amount of product placement in that movie. Maybe it’s just me (probably) but I couldn’t help but notice all of the Sony items in the movie. Coincidence? I’m guessing not since other Bond movies seemed to have followed the same trend. First there was the Sony Vaio laptops, then the Sony Ericsson cell phones which, by the way if there’s any truth to the movie, cell phones will be pushing GPS soon. Finally the kicker was when one of the characters was taking a picture with, you guessed it, a Sony camera. By the way, did I mention that Sony Pictures made the movie?

I suppose this is inevitable considering how difficult traditional commercials must be with TiVo and stuff. Actually I don’t mind a little bit, it adds to the realism of the movie. I’d rather see a Sony or Apple laptop than a fake one anyway but too much becomes distracting. It did start me thinking though of some other movies that have had too much product placement where it becomes noticeable:

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Probably the most recognized use of product placement would be the love of Reeses Pieces by an alien from outerspace.
• Wayne’s World – The scene is when Wayne and Garth have been picked up by a station and the station wants to add product placement for “Noah’s Arcade”. In resisting, Wayne and Garth poke fun of actual product placement in the movie by dressing up in Reebok or eating Doritos chips, all while saying how much product placement in the show would be “selling out.”
• The Transporter – I may be confusing this with the sequel but this seemed like a 2 hour commercial for a BMW.
• The Italian Job – Just like Transporter but this time it was a commercial for the Mini Cooper.
• Thank You for Smoking – Actually there was no direct product placement that stood out for me but this movie does address the concept within the storyline by showing the tobacco industry attempting to make smoking cool again by having movie actors smoke within the movies.

HowStuffWorks.com has more information on the concept of Product Placement. Also, BrandChannel attempts to identify some of the new releases that have product placement in them. You can also read up on the latest PP news.

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NASA is expected to make an announcement tomorrow regarding a “significant find” on Mars according to Wired News. The current expectation, as reported by NASA Watch, is that water has been found which is very significant since it increases the chances of life having existed or currently existing on Mars (microscopic life).

Update: The suggestion for water on Mars has been confirmed.

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