LOTUS blog

From the people that brought you LOLCats comes GraphJam.

My contribution:

Some that made me laugh:

Via Jennsylvania:

So here it goes…

1.  Link back to the person who tagged you. [I wasn’t actually tagged though ]

2.  Post these rules on your blog. [Check]

3.  Share six unimportant things about yourself.

1. I watch The Simpsons or Family Guy every single day.
2. I’m afraid of frogs, crickets, grasshoppers, pretty much anything that can jump. (Actually, this is rather important.)
3. I don’t like most breakfast foods (pancakes, waffles, eggs, English muffins, French toast, sausage, syrup, etc.)
4. It doesn’t matter what else is on, what time of day it is or how far along it is in the movie, I will ALWAYS watch The Godfather 1 and 2 if it’s on television.  If there were a Godfather channel, all other channels would be obsolete in my house.  Unless they include part 3, in which case I’d give myself a 3 hour break to sleep.
5. I sing to my dog and replace words in the song with his name. 
6. I have over 4,500 Coke points!  That’s a lot.

4.  Tag six random people at the end of your entry.

Robert Bluey

Trevor Bothwell

Stacy McCain

Pam Geller

Michelle Oddis and Ericka Andersen

Rachel Marsden

Plus one more new one: Toni Coultress

I give you the best explanation of the Elliot Spitzer scandal… as given by an adorable 3-year-old dressed as a princess.

Enjoy the Peep Show!

Ever wonder what happens to all the pre-printed “Super Bowl Champion” t-shirts with the loser team?  Time magazine reports:

The fact that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl may be why the celebration was being held in this small Nicaraguan village — because Boston’s loss was definitely Diriamba’s gain, in the form of the “Perfect Season, 19-0″ Patriots T-shirts and hats that Brady, Belichick and Brewski were supposed to have worn on the field after the game. Due to NFL regulations that prohibit the sale of the losing team’s “championship” apparel, the T-shirts and hats were donated to needy Nicaraguans by World Vision, in conjunction with the NFL and Reebok.

Although most of the shirts had been made for six-foot-four, 310-pound tackles, rather than three-foot-eight, 45-pound elementary schoolers, no one complained about the tailoring. That’s because unlike most of clothing worn in this part of the world, the Patriots gear was brand-new — a wonderful novelty, even if everyone in the village now has the same shirt.

Central America has, for years, been a dumping ground for unwanted used clothing from the United States, thanks to church giveaways, hurricane relief drives and other charitable and business endeavors. (See the video) The legacy of that goodwill has turned Nicaragua’s streets into a living, if slightly tattered, scrapbook of pop culture memories: everything from “Avoid the Noid” and “Party Animal, Spuds Mackenzie,” to “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.”

Those wearing the tees are either unaware of or unconcerned by the meaning of the English messages they bear. It’s not uncommon to see a man wearing a T-shirt boasting “World’s Best Grandma,” or a young girl wearing a shirt lamenting “Stripping ruined my life.” I’ve seen an old woman in “I Love AC/DC,” an indigenous grandmother with a shirt bragging, “My boyfriend is hotter than yours,” and another disclosing that “My boyfriend is out of town.”

Some of the clothing dumped on Latin America is in such poor taste that it’s hard to imagine how it ever got made in the first place. Like the girl’s underwear in a storefront window inscribed with the creepy message, “I love my uncle.”

Actually, these kinds of language slip-ups happen quite often.  My sister works for a toy company and they are always getting samples from China with odd word choices.  For Valentine’s Day she sent me a bag of reject candy hearts.   Here’s a sampling of some of the cleaner ones.

You Suck

Do Me

Easy Lay

Doggy Style

Lick It

Ahh, the language of love.  If you want to hear the dirty ones, it will cost you $4.95 a minute.

I just snagged this from AOL… talk about a loaded poll question.

The answer to the title question is “none of the above” — it’s because she’s too young  :)

Lake Superior State University has just released their annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.”  They include “post 9/11,” “it is what it is,” “surge,” “organic,” “sweet,” and “give back.”

I’d like to add some others to the list:

“Love her or hate her” (only seems to be used about conservative women)

“gah” (used in place of “God” and totally annoying)

All abbreviations for short words — mb (maybe), 2 (to), bb (baby), u (you), WTF (a bunch of short words)

“1,000,000 Strong For/Against” (if you’re on Facebook, you know what I’m talking about)

“In it to win it” (let’s also bannish the woman who uttered this phrase)

Do you have any words you would like to banish from the lexicon? 

(Oh, let’s also banish “lexicon.”)

I came across an interesting list posted on a Facebook group event for Ron Paul supporters making the trek to South Carolina.  (I guess they’ve already written off Iowa and New Hampshire.)  I’ve selected a few stand-outs from the list.

What to Bring

- Warm, presentable clothes (South Carolina winters are cold, and you don’t want to look like a bum)

What NOT to Bring

- Guns, knives, fireworks. (Although RP is THE Pro-2nd Amendment candidate, carrying this stuff around will probably send the wong message in many parts of SC)
- Alcohol (Sorry, no drinking; this is business time)
- Drugs (Same reason as with alcohol, not to mention that’s illegal and this is something the campaign does not need to deal with. Save your stash for home when the campaign isn’t liable, or better yet until after Ron Paul gets elected and abolishes the DEA)

Geez, are these guys always on?

This is an amazing story.  Arnel Pinedo and his band The Zoo are from Quezon City in the Phillipines.   They mostly perform cover songs from Journey, Bryan Adams, Heart and Van Halen, just to name a few.  The Zoo has several videos on YouTube. 

Enter the real Journey.  Several years ago Journey front man Steve Perry parted ways with the band and they have been without a lead singer.  Journey guitarist Neal Schon said:

I was frustrated about not having a singer so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found THE ZOO and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter.

Of course it took awhile for Arnel to believe that the real Neal Schon was contacting him.  Arnel’s friend said, “What if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime?”  They eventually connected and Arnel was asked to be the new lead singer for Journey. 

You must watch Arnel Pinedo’s performance of Journey’s “Faithfully.”

Long live the American Dream.

Back when I was a kid, we only had red and white candy canes… and we liked it.  When I was at Target today I was shocked — shocked! — to see the array of candy canes kids have to choose from.   Gobstoppers, Spree, Sweet Tarts, Now and Later, and Jolly Rancher candy canes lined the shelves.  The poor Classic Cane looked so sad sitting by itself.  It simply can’t compete with Gobstoppers’ claims of three flavors and three colors.  Now even candy has to keep up with children’s short attention spans.

(Note to JOTUS: Happy now?)