http://ectoblog.com Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:25:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Consider the classic hypothetical scenario: Your house is on fire and you can take only three things with you before the entire structure becomes engulfed in flames. What would you take? This one's pretty easy for me. There's not a chance in hell that my brain would know what to do ... http://ectoblog.com/2010/03/09/what-to-save-what-to-save/ I was listening to "Don't Fear the Reaper" the other day For probably the first time in a long time My heart was in my throat, wishing them well In their mighty trek around all those helper verbs Through that thicket, that rock n roll briar patch Past the bleaching bones of stupid warriors "She had taken ... http://ectoblog.com/2010/02/25/rock-n-remus/ [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Abraham Vigoda, b. Feb 24"][/caption] "Big-assed Birthday Extravaganza" is an annual holiday observed in parts of the United States on the third Monday in February. This year it is February 15. Big-assed Birthday Extravaganza was originally celebrated in 2007, when someone noticed an unusually large number of ... http://ectoblog.com/2010/02/16/happy-holiday/ Adriano Celentano takes a stab at sounding like he's singing English without really singing English: If this is what Italians think English speakers sound like, we sound pretty frickin awesome. And talk about our dance moves! http://ectoblog.com/2010/02/09/prisencolinensinainciusol-alright/ http://ectoblog.com/2010/02/08/saints-win-saints-win-saints-win/ When I have a bad day, I try to remember to keep things in perspective.  "At least I wasn't raped and murdered by Mongols" is a reminder that I give myself that appears to help. I urge you to try it out next time some kind of clusterfuck happens to ... http://ectoblog.com/2010/01/20/well-theres-that/ You know how it's said that a hybrid gets better city mileage than highway mileage because 1) the gas engine shuts off when the car is stopped, and 2) because of regenerative braking? That's gotta be bullshit, and here's why:  an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Newton, ... http://ectoblog.com/2010/01/11/hybrid-fuel-economy-tall-tale/ I started riding my bicycle again this week for the first time in a long time. You've probably seen me on the road; I'm that guy you pass that you look at for a couple seconds, then say, "Well, good for him!" I used to be the guy you passed ... http://ectoblog.com/2009/11/16/good-for-him/ In a recent commercial for Allstate, Dennis Haysbert intones that drivers who switched from Geico to Allstate saved an average of $396 per year on their auto insurance. He then intones "Surprised?"* Not really, Dennis, and here's why:  My guess is that most (if not all) drivers who switched insurance companies ... http://ectoblog.com/2009/10/13/people-who-discovered-they-would-save-money-if-they-switched-insurance-companies-saved-some-average-amount-of-money-upon-switching/ Microsoft spent time and money on this video: Somebody came up with this idea, other people okayed it. Actors were hired. In the paraphrased words of Ignatius J Reilly: "Filth! How dare they pretend to be virgins. Look at their degenerate faces. Rape them!" http://ectoblog.com/2009/09/29/7/