Urban Collectables

These are truly urban collectibles. Featured above is the “Petrol Bombed Jeep.”

What says urban better than a burned out car. The graffiti backgrounds really add a touch of realism. You can almost smell the molten metal. It sort of reminds me of when I lived in Detroit. I haven’t lived there for over 15 years but I can only imagine that it hasn’t gotten any better.

See the rest here at Chinnychinchin There are five cars total in the set.

The weirdest travel stories of 2007

After spending five and a half hours on the tarmac in Austin Texas late last year, It was interesting to read that 2007 was one of the worst travel years on record.

Here are a few of my favorites from a USAtoday article:

• A passenger in first class on a British Airways Delhi-London flight in March awoke to discover that a corpse, upgraded from coach, had been propped in a seat in his row.”She kept slipping under the seat belt and moving about with the motion of the plane,” Paul Trinder told Britain’s Sunday Times. “When I asked what was going on, I was shocked to hear she was dead.”
• A 64-year-old man was hospitalized earlier this month after chugging a liter of vodka rather than surrendering it at a checkpoint in Germany’s Nuremberg airport.
• SkyWest airlines apologized to a passenger who said he was forced to urinate in an airsickness bag during a short flight in March because the only restroom was closed due to a malfunctioning light. The man told the Salt Lake Tribune he’d had two “really big beers. It was like I had no choice.” The pilot called police upon landing in Salt Lake, but the airline later gave the passenger a travel voucher in addition to the apology.
• In July, a flight from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Turkey turned back after the crew was unable to break up a fight involving three inebriated men. It started, said the Russian News and Information Agency, when one of the men was “given the cold shoulder” by a woman he was chatting up and hit her in the face.
• Toilets overflowed on an Amsterdam-Newark flight on Continental Airlines in June, causing passenger Collin Brock to tell a Seattle television station King 5 News, “I was forced to sit next to human excrement for seven hours.”
• Passengers weren’t the only ones guilty of bad behavior in 2007. In April, a Northwest Airlines pilot locked himself in an airline restroom, where he had a loud, obscenity-laced conversation on his cellphone as passengers boarded his flight in Las Vegas. When confronted by a passenger, the pilot cussed at him. The flight was canceled as a result of “inappropriate language by a crewmember,” the airline said.
• A stowaway squirrel on an American Airlines flight from Tokyo to Dallas in February caused the plane to land in Honolulu. An airline spokesman told the Associated Press the pilots were worried the “varmint” might damage the plane’s wiring.
• Nepal Airlines personnel sacrificed two goats on the runway in front of a malfunctioning Boeing 757 to appease the “Hindu god of sky protection,” Reuters wire service reported in September. After the goat sacrifice, the plane took off for Hong Kong.
• Not even Vatican-backed Mistral Air was willing to appeal to a higher power when authorities confiscated holy water from pilgrims returning from the Roman Catholic shrine at Lourdes, France. The airline’s president cited rules that ban carry-on containers holding more than 3 ounces of liquid, telling the Associated Press, “These (regulations) have to be respected.”

[Thanks JC]

Gingerman Dunny

I received this limited edition “Gingerman Dunny” from my wife for Christmas. It’s my favorite Dunny from Kid Robot.

Regifting

If you’ve received a gift over the holidays that you really dislike, you may consider regifting it. Regifting comes from the infamous Seinfeld episode “The Label Maker” which originally aired in January 1995. Hard to believe it’s been over ten years already. In this episode, Tim Whatley gives Jerry a label maker for Christmas which Elaine had previously given him. Thus Elaine dubs him the regifter. See a video clip here.

Here are a few rules of the road that I found on regiftable.com:

Is the gift regiftable?
Never regift handmade or one-of-a-kind items. Signed books and monogrammed items are off-limits. Do you have to be told not to regift free promotional items? Some gifts that are good candidates for regifting include good (unopened!) bottles of wine, new household items and inexpensive jewelry.

How is the condition?
Only new, unopened gifts in good condition should be considered for regifting. Never give partially used gift cards. Don’t give items that you have owned for a long time. A general rule of thumb: if you have to dust it off, it is not regiftable.

Is this going to work?
Successful regifters use common sense. If you are going to regift, be sure you know who gave you the item, so you don’t return something to the original giver. Only regift items to people who are not likely to see the original giver.

Do you have good intentions?
Don’t just give a gift to give a gift. Be sure that the recipient will appreciate the item. Remember, if you feel that an item is undesirable, the recipient probably will too. If you are regifting simply because you ran out of time, gift cards are simple to obtain and always well received.

How does it look?
When it comes to gift-giving, go for show! While gift bags in good condition can be reused, wrapping paper is a one-time thing. Always spring for a new card or gift tag.

Can you handle it?
If you don’t plan to announce the gift as a regift, ask yourself if you can keep the secret. Never feel guilty about regifting once you’ve done it.

Have you considered your options?
An unwanted gift could be a welcome donation to a charitable organization. It is also an option to suck it up and keep an unwanted gift—after all, it was a gift.

We’re all going to die – Merry Christmas!

Nothing funnier than a drunk Malcolm Middleton dressed up as a drunk Santa in and around London town. This must be a fairly normal event as most of the people in the video hardly notice or have any reaction to him at all.

In this video, indy rocker Malcolm Middleton puts a holiday spin on his upbeat “We’re all going to die” number. Just add bells, a children’s choir and BANG, you’ve got yourself a holiday classic. He’s pining for the number one Christmas slot on BBC radio one. See the official song site here.

We’re all going to die
We’re all going to die and what if there’s nothing
We’ll all have to face this alone
There’s a when not an if inside everybody
Mortal thoughts like this can make you feel so alone

You’re gonna die, you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die alone
You’re gonna die, you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die alone
All alone.

And what if I don’t become famous posthumously
Maybe my story’s no good
If I can take one possession then it’ll have to be my duvet
When oblivion comes calling it’ll be so cold

You’re gonna die, you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die alone
You’re gonna die, you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die alone
All alone.

When you can’t sleep at night and there’s no one to hold you
Remember I’m going through the same
You’ve got to laugh into the dark
We’re all one in a million
We’re alive, we existed, we took part, in the game.

We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die alone
We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die alone
We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die alone
All alone.

Also see:
www.myspace.com/malcolmmiddleton

Funny Honda Element Commercials

The Honda Element Commercials are well done, funny, and simple. Honda reaches out to their key demographic with a BIG “What up?” On the other hand, the Honda Odyssey commercials also reach out to their target demo but without the pizazz.

Check out the mini site:elementandfriends.com Here you’ll be able to play the companion game driving either the EX or SC model. The game is fun to play and addictive. The basic premise is you drive around an island, in an Element of course, looking for the animals from the commercials. When you see one, a talk bubble pops up. You can either speak with them [initiate dialog between the Element and the animal] or play a game. The animals are an interesting bunch.

So, which commercial do you like the best?

Also see:
Forget the Honda Odyssey Viking spot

Beatboxing Rules!

Faith SFX is a talented beatboxer. It’s great how he grabs regular people of the street and has them beatboxing in no time.

Multipot – Clutter Keeper for Gadgets

If you have an iPhone, iPod, PDA and are tired of the wire clutter, the Multipot is for you. Italian designers Dante Donegani and Giovanni Lauda have come up with an ingenious method for hiding those unsightly wires. The top lifts from the base and the cords are plugged in underneath. When you place the top back on the base, the cord is fed through a small hole on the top. Your rechargeable device plugs in and lays on top. In addition to being functional, it’s also a super stylish light. Well done.

*Note: Also come in a 110v US version.

Via questodesign

Starbucks Sleeve

I think it’s great that Starbucks is committed to the environment. Shouldn’t every organization be concerned about it? Of course they should. Okay, sounds great so far. What about this:

Starbucks is committed to reducing our environmental impact through increased use of post-consumer recycled materials. Help us help the planet.

WHAT? Talk about buzzword central. Here’s what they’re really saying “We love the planet. That’s why this sleeve is made of recycled material. We wanted you to know. We want you to know that we’re thinking about the environment, okay?”

Wouldn’t it be easier if they just said “Recycled sleeve” or “We’re smart enough to recycle, you should too.”

Here’s where it gets confusing for me:

First-ever 10% post-consumer fiber cup
60% post-consumer fiber sleeve

HUH? What is that supposed to mean? It’s the first ever post-consumer cup and it’s only 10%? Shouldn’t it at least be 50%. I’m not sure what post-consumer fiber is but I’m not that impressed that it’s only 10%.

This is an interesting line:

Intended for single use only.

Hmmm. I hope they don’t mean use it once then toss it? That wouldn’t be very cool.

Also see:
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee