FourBux

Round peg in a square hole

So, I’ve said for a long time that the best job ever has to be that of the guys on the MythBusters show on the Discovery Channel. These two guys Adam and Jaime, with a cast of characters thrown in for good measure, dig up urban legends, myths, and historical stories and test out it’s feasibility. Basically, they look up obscure junk - most of which is emailed to them in the form of SPAM, I imagine, and they figure out a way to test it. As I watch today, they are testing to see if the cardboard cereal box has more nutritional content that the sugary cereal contained in it. Turns out that the food product has more nutritional value. Go figure. Moms everywhere cringe. What will they use as a block to the whiny “awww, mommmmm, why can’t we get the Sugar Blasted Chocko Bombs?” pre-tantrum fit? Besides that, how many parents today used the excuse that “the box has more nutrition than the cereal in it” argument?
More »

Changing my perspective

I used to be an art snob.

Maybe it was just part of the fresh out of college outlook, the punk who has the underlying feeling that the unwashed masses just couldn’t appreciate art – you simply don’t have the training. How could you possibly know what the artist was trying to convey – this is modern art. You have to be shown what the artist wanted you to see – this isn’t interpretive!
More »

If I lived in a comic strip…

Yes, that’s me. At least until the goatee became too hot.

Waxing poetic over coffee

Well, it’s Sunday, and I’m back at the coffee shop. The interesting assortment of people here today include the monk again and a table full of bikers. These guys are the real deal: ZZ Top beards, shaved head or long hair in ponytails, leather coats - the whole bit. Outside you can see their bikes - retro Harleys and a Titan. Cool big bikes. Big guys to haul around.

I listen to their conversation - not because I’m intentionally eavesdropping, but because they just take up the whole room. They’re talking about the new “features” on the newer bikes. Complaining, mostly:
“GPS, why, can’t these stupid yuppies read a map?” For some reason, he looks at me. Not cool, hombré. Not cool.
“What am I gonna do with a CD player on the road? Where are you supposed to keep CD’s?”
“Seriously, cupholders? Do the clowns who design these new bikes even ride them?”

The best quote though, seemed like it came right out of a sales brochure: “I don’t even want a radio - all the music I need is the wind blowing through my hair.” Keep in mind this guy must have weighed three hundred pounds, clad in a leather coat (even though the current outside temperature is 63°F), and big boots. Everyone at the tables chimed in agreement. Who knew the average biker was so poetic?

Oblong is a shape too

There’s this place I like hang out and work - Soma Express on Camelback at 40th Street, here in Phoenix. Not only do they usually have a pretty good cup of coffee (bottomless, for $1.95!), but great food and free WiFi. Another thing I’ve noticed though, is that the place is full of healthy people. Unnervingly healthy. They may not all be models, but for the most part, the patrons of the cafe are generally in great physical condition. Sometimes they come in after a run or bike ride along the canal, or for a quick bite at lunch, but the constant is that they are all in fantastic shape.
More »

I love my car. What’s wrong with that?

In 2003, Phoenix had a “gas crisis,” which only was an inconvenience until the hysteria of the masses set in. After being told repeatedly that there is no crisis, the general populace decided that just in case there was a crisis, they had better fill up every gas tank in every car they owned, plus all the approved containers they could get their hands on. Lo and behold, there was no more gas.
More »