Jeff Dunham's "Identity Crisis" Tour

OK, just got back from a hilarious evening at a Jeff Dunham performance at the All State Arena outside of Chicago. It was hysterical, as expected. Here are a few brief summary/comments of the show:

1. I was surprised to hear the news that Dunham is now divorced from his wife. Walter was the one who brought out the topic with Dunham, and at time, it appeared that it might be going into a rather painful direction, but then, Walter being Walter, he brought the house down with the comedic angle to this. Dunham is extremely brave in using this material in his act, which I'm sure is still a rather sore subject.

2. The first female puppet, Diane, made her appearance. While it was a funny bit, it didn't have the same drop-on-the-floor-laughing level that we come to expect from Dunham's regular characters. I don't think this puppet will make that much of an impact.

3. Dunham ended his usual show and then tried out a new bit that he had just written involving Peanut and Jose Jalepeno. He said that parts of it were written just before he stepped onto the stage this evening, and he still needed to read it off the teleprompter since it hasn't been rehearsed. All I can say is, I can't wait for him to finish off this bit. It was very funny, especially the ad-libed bits!

4. He then brought out a surprising new character, and it was a GOOD one. He brought out Achmed's son, Achmed's Jr, or what Achmed like to call "AJ". Supposedly, this evening is the first time Dunham is introducing this new puppet. The bit between them was a total success and the audience were roaring like crazy. AJ has an English accent, and in the end, we also found out that he's Jewish! That last bit of information just killed Achmed! It was a tremendous act! (Ha, ha!)

A very enjoyable evening. If the Identity Crisis Tour comes to your town, go see it.

Zz.

Formula Rossa - World's Fastest Roller Coaster

The new roller coaster to open at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi is currently the world's fastest. You can get a first glimpse of the ride in this video.



Is it just me, or is the ride is a little bit boring? One can't tell how thrilling something is on a video, and one certainly do not get a sense of speed through something like this. The launch is supposed to top of at 150 mph, but I think because of the expanse of the surrounding area, you don't get a sense of speed. I guess they designed it without thinking of "theming", or using some sort of psychology or optical perspective to make the ride FEELS fast. I think they need to learn from Disney who knows how to squeeze every last drop (and penny) out of ride.

Zz.

The March of the Peabody Ducks

Ah, to be pampered as these ducks.



I wonder if they get eaten when they get old? :)

Zz.

Early Photographic Images of Human Beings?

Interesting find of what could be the first photographic images of people.

So the recent discovery of what appears to be two men near the river's edge in a photo of Cincinnati taken in 1848 is kind of a big deal among photography historians.

As reported by NPR's Robert Krulwich last month, the photo was taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter -- who were standing on the other side of the Ohio River -- on Sunday, September 24th, 1848, 162 years prior to Krulwich's post about it. The photo is what's known as a daguerreotype -- an image developed via an early photographic process developed in France. When zooming in on the photo, Krulwich noticed what appeared to be two human figures.

Alas, this is not the first photograph of a human being.

In case you're wondering if this is the earliest photograph taken of a human -- as Krulwich himself did in a recent headline -- well, it's not. The credit for photographing a human for the first time is generally given to Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype process. In an 1838 photo he took of Paris, Daguerre caught an image of a man who appears to be getting his shoes or boots shined at a street corner. You can see the figure -- together with that of the shoeshiner -- in the bottom left of the image

The article gives links to all the relevant pictures.

Zz.

Paul The Octopus Died

Paul the octopus, who gained fame and notoriety during the last World Cup tournament, died at the age of 2 1/2.

Paul enthralled millions of people around the world by correctly predicting the outcome of several World Cup matches this year.

His caretakers set him up to make predictions for a particular match by draping boxes in his tank with the national flags of teams that were set to play each other. The boxes contained food for Paul. The caretakers divined his pick by watching to see which box he opened first.

I wonder if he could have predicted his demise....

Zz.

Atheists and Agnostics Top Religion Poll

The result of a new poll on religion (i.e. basically Christian religion) shows a very amusing conclusion. Atheists and agnostics tend to know more about religion than Christians!

On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.

Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences.

“Even after all these other factors, including education, are taken into account, atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons still outperform all the other religious groups in our survey,” said Greg Smith, a senior researcher at Pew.

This poll was also reported in the LA Times, which had a similar take on it and also offered a possible reason.

So why would an atheist know more about religion than a Christian?

American atheists and agnostics tend to be people who grew up in a religious tradition and consciously gave it up, often after a great deal of reflection and study, said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum.

"These are people who thought a lot about religion," he said. "They're not indifferent. They care about it."

Atheists and agnostics also tend to be relatively well educated, and the survey found, not surprisingly, that the most knowledgeable people were also the best educated. However, it said that atheists and agnostics also outperformed believers who had a similar level of education.

Now, if this is not amusing to you, I don't know what is....

Zz.

Children of Gay and Straight Couple

Children of gay and straight couples do equally well in school.



This is consistent with many other studies that have concluded that children who grow up with gay parents do not have more disadvantages than straight parents. Those who continue to deny gays from adopting have no scientific data to support such denial other than their own personal prejudices.

Zz.

Not Something You Want To See Near A School

An embarrassing typo right near a school. Not as bad as having drug dealers outside the fence, etc., but still....

Zz.

Fate of Paul, the Psychic Octopus

Now that the World Cup is over and he had done so well, the owner of Paul, the psychic octopus is pondering what else that creature can do.

Sea Life, which operates 32 aquariums across Europe, said it hoped to make an announcement on Tuesday about Paul's future. However spokesman Mark Oakley stressed that the mystic mollusc would certainly be staying in his tank in Germany.

"We've been inundated with offers -- from a betting conglomerate that wants to use him to predict sporting events to a Japanese fortune telling company that wants to use his image on the sides of booths," Oakley told CNN. "There have also been many offers from media worldwide for Paul's lifestory.

I'm surprised the owner hasn't asked it to pick a lottery number. Or maybe he has, and the octopus didn't do well? Maybe he's only good at sports betting.

Grilled octopus with a squeeze of lemon is delicious, by the way....

Zz

Prince is Obsolete

The artist Prince, was the artist formally known as Prince (or as Rosie O'Donnell fondly called, much to his chagrin, TAFKAP), and now is back to Prince, thinks that internet music is 'dead'.

Prince is currently set to release his latest album, “20Ten,” for free through various European print media, including the Daily Mirror and its Scottish affiliate, the Daily Record. Fans can snag their copy this Saturday via the different press outlets, but you they certainly won’t find any of the new material online.

Prince has banned both YouTube and iTunes from using his music, calling the web obsolete.

“The Internet's like MTV,” he told the mirror. “At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

Anyone else caught the irony there? Filling your heads with numbers can't be that good for you, yet he called his latest album "20Ten"? What are those, oh honorable Prince? And his albums are going to be released on .... wait for it ..... CDs, which are encoded in digital bits!

You're right, Prince. Your music can't be that good for me.

Zz.

Michael Buble on Graham Norton Show

There have been many amazing moments on Graham Norton show, but I think this has to rank as one of the top. Michael Buble's appearance on it was very funny and enjoyable. But he capped it off with an amazing performance of his tune "Haven't Met You Yet".





It will hard to top this one. I still watch these two videos regularly even this was from Fall of 2009. Michael Buble is one amazing performer.

Zz.

"Jesus" Struck By Lightning

If any article qualifies as one of life's greatest amusing event, this would be it.

News reports indicates that a 6-story tall statue of Jesus Christ at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along I-75 in Ohio was, get this, struck by lightning!

The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way his arms were raised, as though reaching out to catch a football. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said. The fire department would release a monetary damage estimate Tuesday, he said.

Travelers on Interstate 75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

Now, don't misunderstand this. I'm not having a glee moment here. It is a statue and has no meaning to me. However, many misguided and so-called religious followers often attach meanings to symbols. Just read about people seeing images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary on things ranging from expressways underpass to potato chips! And morons such as Pat Robertson even attaches natural calamity to sins committed by people befallen by such unfortunate events. So I am rather curious as to why none of these people have attached any meanings to such a dramatic destruction of a religious symbol. They always bring out instances when a church or other religious symbols somehow remained standing or unscathed after a natural disaster, as if that is god's sign of something (forgetting that god sent down that disaster in the first place). So this is a clear instance that maybe god didn't like what you're worshiping?

Like I said, it is certainly is amusing.

Zz.

Is Google Responsible For Giving Bad Directions?

This is a rather interesting review of a lawsuit filed by a woman who used Google "Walking Directions" on her Blackberry.

The case, Rosenberg v. Harwood, was filed in Utah, in the US District Court’s Central Division (Gary Price of ResourceShelf tipped us to it today). Harwood is Patrick Harwood, the person who actually hit Rosenberg, according to the suit. Both Harwood and Google are being sued in the same case, for damages “in excess of $100,000.”

Rosenberg used Google Maps on January 19, 2009, via her Blackberry, to get directions between 96 Daly Street, Park City, Utah and 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, Utah. Google provided these, telling her as part of the route to walk for about 1/2 mile along the calm-sounding “Deer Valley Drive.”

That’s an alternative name for that section of Utah State Route 224, a highway that lacks sidewalks, the case says. Rosenberg wasn’t warned about this, putting Google directly at fault in the accident, the case claims:

There's of course, a lot of things going on here, including what is being displayed on the web versus the mobile version. And the same route is also being given by other map applications.

In the end, we all have to use a bit of a common sense in these situations. I've used GPS's and other maps where the directions being given make no sense. Still, I guess if one doesn't know where one is going, or one is in a very unfamiliar territory, how is one to know if something makes no sense? In this case, my guess would be the lack of a pedestrian sidewalk.

It would be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

Zz.

Understanding Fish Reactions to Their Reflection

Amazing what you can learn by simply watching a fish looking at itself in the mirror.



Zz.

Pets Listen Better Than Husbands

A survey of pet-owning married women reveals a very hilarious revelation. A third of them says that their pets listen to them better than their husbands! But this also works the other way, although not as much. 18% of married men say that their pets listen to them better than their wives!

A third of pet-owning married women said their pets are better listeners than their husbands, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll released Wednesday. Eighteen percent of pet-owning married men said their pets are better listeners than their wives.

Now, when do we get to do a comparison with pet rocks?

Zz.

Sushi Restaurant Tuna Has Highest Mercury Level

This is depressing.

It appears that the bluefin tuna that is very sought-after for sushi also has the highest mercury level, when compared to cheaper supermarket tuna.

The team found that restaurants sold tuna sushi with higher levels of mercury than supermarkets. Bigeye tuna or lean bluefin tuna, which are more common in restaurants, had concentrations that approached or overshot by about 4% the FDA limit— of 1.0 parts per million. The study gives another reason to avoid eating bluefin, which is a threatened species, Gochfeld says. Regulatory agencies should specifically mention bluefin and bigeye tuna in mercury advisories, he says.

Yellowfin tuna, a cheaper and more plentiful species found in supermarket sushi, contained less mercury. Yet samples from all species exceeded the daily EPA limits (more conservative than those of FDA, which also incorporates the nutritional benefits of fish) and the concentrations permitted by Japan’s health ministry. What’s more, measures of mercury concentration in bigeye and yellowfin tuna samples surpassed previous FDA estimates.

Sigh....

I've consciously limited my consumption of "big fish", going for smaller tilapia and the likes. Still, I love sushi, especially tuna, even though I know these fish are under distress from over fishing. So I try to limit tuna consumption. Now this.

Maybe I just won't have tuna sushi as often anymore.

Zz.

Another Dumb "Religious" Cleric

Ah, this shows that stupidity knows no religious boundary.

Just so he could outdo Pat Robertson's stupid remarks on the Haiti earthquake, a cleric in Iran (a country that is already well-known for having leaders that don't care that they make stupid statements) is blaming earthquakes in Iran on, get this, "... women and girls who don't dress appropriately ... "

"When promiscuity spreads, earthquakes increase," he says in a video posted Monday on YouTube, apparently of him leading Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, last week.

"There is no way other than taking refuge in religion and adapting ourselves to Islamic behavior," he adds in the video.

You can go find the video yourself. I will need a lobotomy to view any more of such filth.

It is hard to understand these things when you look back at the Dark Ages and realize that there are some people who are still stuck there. And it isn't about these dumb morons, really. It is the people who actually follow them and bought lock, stock, and barrel of the garbage that they are spewing. If these are the people they wish to follow and obey, then they deserve what they get. It is difficult to save people from themselves.

Zz.

Brain Games Don't Make You Smarter

There goes your excuse for playing more of those "intelligent" games. It turns out that you might as well be playing Super Mario Brothers, because those brain games that challenge your cognitive skills do not make you any smarter.

Researchers recruited participants from viewers of the BBC's science show "Bang Goes the Theory." More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week.

They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of I.Q. test before and after the experiment.

Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net scored higher than those playing the games.

So I'll just go back to my silly games.

Zz.

Blackberry Users More Likely To Defect

An interesting survey of mobile phone users.

Conducted by the online market researchers Crowd Science, the survey results show that Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry users are more likely to abandon the brand than iPhone or Android users. When asked of the likelihood of buying a particular brand of cell phone or smartphone if the purchase was made the following day, 39% of BlackBerry owners said they "definitely or probably would" nab an iPhone. And roughly one-third of the participants claimed they'd snatch up an Android phone.

That's kinda prophetic. I'm a Blackberry user (Bold 9700), and while I do love the phone (finally, a 3G connection on T-Mobile!), I think I've outgrown it. About a month ago, I decided to really look at Nexus One. If it weren't for the silly contract on the phone service, I would have switched over to that. So while I didn't participate in this survey (no one called!), it reflects what I would have done.

If RIM doesn't get their act together, they might end up the same way all the big dinosaurs ended up simply by relying on their existing market share.

Zz.

Florida Farmers Destroys Strawberry Crop

Can you believe this? The strawberry farmers in Florida are purposely destroying their crops because it is cheaper than harvesting and selling them.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=18854240

Now, I can understand about limiting supply and the fact that it'll cost them a lot more for harvesting them than what they can get by selling the crop. But they've used up so much resources to get to this point already! I can't believe they won't even let other people harvest the crop themselves. And it is strange that they're afraid of letting the public come in and pick those strawberries. Strawberry picking is such a common activity out here in the upper midwest. I've never heard of these midwest farmers being afraid of being sued because someone got "injured".

I'm glad that there are already farmers letting the public, especially those who provide food for the poor, pick their own strawberries, for free. I wish I know which farmers are destroying their crop, so that I'll make sure that I never buy anything from them ever again.

Zz.

Clinton Becomes Bush's Hand Wipe

OK, this is too hysterical to pass up, so you can look for yourself in case you missed it.



I'm not a big fan of G.W. Bush, but he has provided some of the most hilarious acts of any politicians since Dan Quayle!

Zz.

Indian Military to Weaponize World's Hottest Chili

... and to think that people do eat this.

The indian military is going to use the bhut jolokia, which is the world's hottest chili pepper, as its latest weapon - they're calling it the chili grenade! :)

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chili. It is grown and eaten in India's northeast for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way to fight the crippling summer heat.

It has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chili's spiciness. Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000.

"The chili grenade has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defense laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organization," Col. R. Kalia, a defense spokesman in the northeastern state of Assam, told The Associated Press.

This would certainly a very "hot" weapon!

Zz.

Phoenix Restaurant

I went to Phoenix Restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown today for dim sum. Bottom line: HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING.

I've been there for dinner before. The food was wonderful, and so was the service. I've never done dim sum there before, and at this point, I never will. It is just not worth it.

First of all, we probably arrived at the wrong time. Got there around 11:30 am, and there's a long wait. Typically, this means that it is good. We certainly had high expectation because the place was recommended by someone. So we didn't mind waiting. After all, it was Sunday, and it is around Noon. A restaurant in Chinatown that isn't packed at that time isn't worth going to. So we got our number, and was told it will be about 40 minutes. Fine. We went walking around Chinatown a bit to pass the time.

When our number was called, we were all excited (and hungry). The restaurant is on the 2nd floor, so we walked up. Guess what? There's ANOTHER waiting area! This makes no sense. If they have called us, shouldn't they have made sure a table is ready? But no, this is like a Disney attraction. There's another waiting/holding area, which is in an even less convenient location than the one downstairs. We, and everyone else in this area felt like we are always in the way of everyone else, especially the staff, that have to go though this area. OK, so far it sucks. But still, if it is this busy, the place must be good, right?

We waiting another 15 minutes before our number was called again and we finally get to sit at our table. This is when things really become disappointing.

The food was SCARCE! There were very few dim sum carts going around! Some of them even missed us because the persons pushing the carts were busy either yapping away or simply didn't look at our table, and we were next to an aisle! But the disappointing part is the very, VERY limited selection of dumplings and offerings. The chicken feet cart came by at least 3 times, but where were the shumai? The shrimp dumplings? I'd be surprised if we saw more than 15 different offerings.

I've been to many dim sums before. The one I like the most is on Broadway near the New Chinatown near Argyle street - Furama. Now THAT'S a place to have dim sum. Again, it is crowded, and sometime you get the cart pusher that can't speak English. But that's never a problem. The selection of dumplings is always plentiful.

What was disappointing about Phoenix was that, I expected more. One would think that with the large crowd and long wait, there's something remarkable about it. Not only did not it fill that expectation, it also produced significantly LESS than what I expected to be the norm for a dim sum place.

I will not go back there for dim sum. It has also soured me a little bit on going back there for regular dinners, even though I had good food and service there last time. The whole experience simply made me want to go back to Furama next week for good dim sum.

Zz.

Stinky Passenger Kicked Off Flight

A passenger on Jazz Air was kicked off the plane for having a really bad body odor.

A man on Jazz Air, a regional airline in Canada that also serves U.S. cities, was reportedly kicked off a plane earlier this month because of his strong body odor.

"People were just mumbling and staring at him," said a woman who sat near the man, according to The Guardian, a newspaper in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where the flight originated on February 6. It was a very uncomfortable situation, she added.

Another passenger described the smell as "brutal."

Just imagine if you have to sit right next to him!

One really has to smell really, really, BAD to get kicked off a plane. I'm surprised he didn't get stopped while going through security! What? We don't have odor detectors? What do you call those damn police dogs? Oh, I get it, those dogs ran the other way when this guy walked through security.

Smart dogs!

Zz.

Smoke Level At California's Indian Casinos

An undercover investigation and research from Stanford.

Synopsis: Smoke levels at California's Indian casinos can exceed health benchmark levels during peak attendance hours and many non-smoking areas offer incomplete protection, a Stanford study finds.



And you thought only TV news do undercover investigation! :)

Zz.

Woman Falls And Rips Picasso Painting

A woman, attending an art class, ".. lost her balance .. " and fell into Picasso's "The Actor" painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

DOH!!!

The unusually large canvas, measuring 77.25 by 45.38 inches (196 by 115 centimeters), sustained a vertical tear of about six inches (15 centimeters) in the lower right-hand corner in the accident on Friday.

The museum, located on the eastern edge of New York's Central Park, did not elaborate on why the woman fell.

Take it to the Antique Road Show. I want to know how much the value of it has come down due to this tear/repair. :)

Zz.

Terrorists Accidentally Blew Themselves Up!

Oh, there is justice after all in this world! These bunch of moron accidentally blew themselves up in a bus that they rigged with explosives.

Fourteen suspected terrorists died Tuesday night when the bus they rigged with explosives blew up prematurely, police said.

The explosion occurred as the suspects were riding the bus in the province of Kunduz, said police chief Abdul Raziq Yaqobi.

Now THAT is a amusing story!

Zz.