Uncategorized

From NYTimes.com: A Bad Day on the Course Beats Any Day Pumping Gas

A week ago Steve Wilson was in his Mississippi gas station and convenience store preparing his customers’ favorite item: a hot-pressed roast beef po’ boy sandwich with gravy.

On Thursday, Wilson stepped onto the first tee at the Augusta National Golf Club with the two-time Masters champion Tom Watson and the Englishman Ian Poulter as partners. Wilson, 39, an amateur golfer and gas station owner who has been having recurring nightmares about a golf ball that refuses to go in the hole, is a Masters tournament rookie.

Great story.  What an experience it must be for an amateur to play the Masters in Augusta.

From NYTimes.com: 101 Uses for a Deserted Mall

The dominance of the fashion, food-court and family-focused mall is ending. No new enclosed malls have opened in the U.S. since 2006.

This is article is a discussion of malls and their future.

The new Star Trek had a surprise premiere in Austin and its official premiere in Sydney yesterday and the initial reviews are very positive.  I’ve been a little on the fence about this movie.  I have always loved Star Trek and I was afraid of any “reboot” that would drastically shift Star Trek away from an emphasis on stories and characters to pure action.  Initial reports are of a frenetic pace with lots of action, but still retaining the essence of Star Trek.  That’s encouraging and I’m starting to get more excited about seeing it.

Here’s a comparison of the different Enterprises seen in the TV show and the movies.
The top Enterprise is from the original television show.  The middle Enterprise is the one shown in 1979’s Star Trek the Motion Picture.  In the movie, the middle Enterprise is actually the same ship as the top Enterprise after being refitted upon its return from the original five year mission.

The bottom Enterprise is from the new Star Trek and is a modern take of the top Enterprise.

Also, here’s an article about Shepard Fairey from ArtworksMagazine.com

This is what Bill Gates’s Facebook profile might be like.  It’s a pretty amusing read.

I can’t think of many brands as polarizing as Fox News.  I’d rather turn off the TV than watch the slanted coverage of Fox News.  I just find it irritating.  So, when I saw the Fox News store in Minneapolis, I could feel annoyance boiling within me.  With the generic name of “News”, I’d go in to the store and browse.  With the name “Fox News Channel”, I wouldn’t go in unless they had the last verified bottle of water left on Earth.

So, is that good business to have a store name that turns off some customers?  Or am I just an outlier in my reactions?

From Wired.com: Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre

Since its introduction, The Settlers of Catan has become a worldwide phenomenon. It has been translated into 30 languages and sold a staggering 15 million copies (even the megahit videogame Halo 3 has sold only a little more than half that). It has spawned an empire of sequels, expansion packs, scenario books, card games, computer games, miniatures, and even a novel–all must-haves for legions of fans. And it has made its 56-year-old inventor a household name in every household that’s crazy about board games, and a lot that aren’t.

Most impressive of all, though, Settlers is actually inducting board-game-averse Americans into the cult of German-style gaming. Last year, Settlers doubled its sales on this side of the Atlantic, moving 200,000 copies in the US and Canada–almost unheard-of performance for a new strategy game with nothing but word-of-mouth marketing. It has become the first German-style title to make the leap from game-geek specialty stores to major retailers like Barnes & Noble and Toys “R” Us.

Settlers is now poised to become the biggest hit in the US since Risk. Along the way, it’s teaching Americans that board games don’t have to be either predictable fluff aimed at kids or competitive, hyperintellectual pastimes for eggheads. Through the complex, artful dance of algorithms and probabilities lurking at its core, Settlers manages to be effortlessly fun, intuitively enjoyable, and still intellectually rewarding, a potent combination that’s changing the American idea of what a board game can be.

I love playing Settlers of Catan.  I started playing this game shortly after the first English version was released.  My sister’s friends were having a game night and she asked if I wanted to go.  I kind of rolled my eyes at that.  Getting together to play board games?  I haven’t done that since playing Monopoly over the holidays with my cousins.  I went and was totally hooked.

Purchase The Settlers of Catan and The Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Extension at Amazon.
 

Thanks to Chris for sending me this disturbing picture.

From NYMag.com: It’s Only a Matter of Time Before These Frightening Creatures Invade Park Slope

Saw this Proactiv acne skin care vending machine at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport.  I think it’s an odd place to be selling Proactiv because it’s not really something you would buy as a gift and it’s not something you would need immediately on a plane. 

Now, if the machine sold Snuggies or Shamwow, that would be a different story.