Archive for September, 2011

“Deadliest Warrior” — S03E10 — Vampires vs. Zombies

Deadliest Warrior — Season 03, Episode 10 — Vampires versus Zombies

For the season three series finale, Deadliest Warrior looks to Hollywood and legendary horror monsters to simulate a battle between vampires and zombies, using science and combat tactics to determine which one is the deadliest creature.

Originating from somewhere in eastern Europe, the vampire folklore skyrocketed in popularity after the publication of Bram Stoker’s 1897 thriller, Dracula.  Vampires are creatures of the night.  Able to transform themselves into bats and thought to be intelligent and with six to ten times the strength of an ordinary human, vampires are creatures feared throughout the night.  And it’s during the night when they feed on human blood.  Using large fangs and razor sharp claws, vampires are considered to be apex predators.  But it’s only during the night when they’re dangerous.  Sunlight can kill a vampire just as easily as a wooden stake pounded through its heart or chopping off its head.

In the world of Hollywood, zombies are the walking dead.  This is not to be confused with the West African and Haitian Vodun (a.k.a. voodoo) religion where a bokor (a.k.a. sorcerer) injects something similar to a psychoactive drug into a living person and essentially takes control of his or her body, whether that person is still alive or recently deceased.  The Hollywood zombies are recently deceased, often slow moving creatures.  Appearing stupid and unintelligent, these creatures will use each muscle and every ounce of power to reach its target — living people.  A bite from a zombie or transfer of bodily fluids will transfer the zombie virus, slowly killing that person and making him or her into a fellow zombie.  Day or night, rain or shine, zombies will roam towns and the countryside in hordes until they stumble upon their next meal and pass along the zombie virus.  A zombie can lose its arms and legs and still keep wiggling itself towards its meal.  A zombie will not stop until its brain is destroyed.  It cannot be frightened.  It cannot be intimidated.  It cannot feel any pain.

One-on-one, a vampire would destroy a zombie.  Vampires are fast, agile, incredibly strong, and can think on their feet.  But when faced with a zombie horde or even an apocalypse, can vampires survive against an army of the undead?

VERSUS

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Analysis of Sept. 16, 2011 Reno Air Race Crash

The death toll from last Friday’s tragic crash at the Reno Air Races has officially reach eleven; seven dying at the crash site and four more succumbing to critical injuries and dying in the hospital.

So what happened to the aircraft?

Why did the veteran pilot suddenly pitch up in his modified P-51 Mustang, The Galloping Ghost, roll inverted and slam nose first into part of the spectator viewing area?

Right now the videos of the crash and its horrific aftermath don’t yield a whole lot of clues.  People recording the race were focused on many of the racing aircraft, and it’s hard to find a clear video of The Galloping Ghost.  And from what I’ve seen in the news, personal accounts of the accident match what little we can see in the amateur videos.

Fortunately for the NTSB and anybody else looking for answers, a few photos have surfaced and they actually shed quite a bit of light as to the final moments of The Galloping Ghost and veteran pilot, Jimmy Leeward.

Reno Air Race 2011 – The Galloping Ghost – before final race

Taken some point before its final race, here we can see The Galloping Ghost on the taxiway at Reno.  Inside the red circle you can clearly see pilot Jimmy Leeward sitting in his seat.  As a whole, cockpits for fighter aircraft are usually cramped with just enough room for the pilot to effectively move the controls and safely maneuver and navigate the aircraft. Read more…

“Deadliest Warrior” — S03E09 — Gurkha vs. French Foreign Legion

Deadliest Warrior — Season 03, Episode 09 — Gurkha versus French Foreign Legion

In this episode of Deadliest Warrior we have a match-up of two World War 2-era armies — neither of which are filled with troops born from the country that they serve.

Originally fighting against the British East India Company in the early 1800s, the fierce Gurkha soldiers from Nepal were later hired as mercenaries and fought for the British Crown and in the British Indian Army, seeing action everywhere from south Asia to the World War One battlefields in France, Turkey, and even Baghdad.  Although small in size, the Gurkhas’ Himalayan Mountain training gave them the physical conditioning to become tremendous warriors.

The French Foreign Legion, on the other hand, is an army filled with not only thugs and criminals, but many people wishing to re-start their life by serving in an army composed of the toughest of the tough.  The French Foreign Legion was created because after the 1830 July revolution, foreigners were forbidden from serving in the French Army.  The Foreign Legion’s purpose was to remove the disruptive elements from society (criminals, thugs, troublemakers, disbanded foreign regiments, etc.) and have them fight the enemies of France.  After serving in the Foreign Legion for three years, soldiers can apply for French citizenship providing they meet the requirements.

While the Gurkhas and French Foreign Legion have both been around since the early 1800s and are still in service today, this episode of Deadliest Warrior looks at both armies during their roles in World War 2 (1939-1945).

VERSUS

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Forever Lazy — A Marketing Review

What do you do when you’re cold and don’t want to turn up the thermostat?

• A) Do you build a fire in the fireplace?

• B) Do you wear extra layers of clothing like a sweater or sweatshirt?

• C) Do you wrap yourself in a blanket?

• D) Do you just go to bed and snuggle under the covers?

• E) Get yourself a — which one is it? — a Snuggie . . . . no, a Hoodie-Footie . . . . no.  Oh, wait a sec.  This one is called a Forever Lazy.  Yeah, that’s it.  I’m positive of the name this time.  Forever Lazy.  WTF?  Forever Lazy?  Really?!? Whatever.

According to the TV commercial that may inspire people to smash their head against a brick wall, the correct answer of course is, E) Slip into a Forever Lazy and show people your new sense of style.

Forever Lazy website — www.OrderForeverLazy.com

Believe it or not folks, but there is such a thing as an infant onesie for teenagers and adults.  The joy of walking around and being seen in public wearing a glorified infant bodysuit can be yours!

Forever Lazy – TV commercial — Note – This is an older version of the TV commercial as the current company website has a different final price and “free” bonus item.

Yes, folks, the Forever Lazy is a real product.  Having known absolutely nothing about it until seeing not one but two TV commercials for it today, I can safely say that this saddest and gloomiest days for me (first anniversary of a very tragic event) has been slightly improved by all the laughing I did at the commercial.

Let’s take a look at this TV commercial and see how the company does a ridiculous job marketing the Forever Lazy. Read more…

TROPICAL STORM MARIA – update #2

Bearing down on the Caribbean islands, TROPICAL STORM MARIA has shifted its track slightly to the west-northwest and has slowed to around 14 mph.

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As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, TROPICAL STORM MARIA is currently 135 miles northeast of Barbados and about 275 miles east-southeast of Guadeloupe.  The tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of only 40 knots (45 mph) with gusts to 50 knots, barely keeping the storm classified as a tropical storm.  The storm’s minimum central pressure is 1003 mb. Read more…

TROPICAL STORM NATE – update #1

Over the past 24 hours, TROPICAL STORM NATE has better organized and strengthened, though as of the latest advisory the storm is still a tropical storm and not yet a hurricane.  It is now evident that the storm is going to strike central Mexico and not the southern U.S.

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The latest advisory by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, places TROPICAL STORM NATE about 140 miles west-northwest of Campeche, Mexico, and about 315 miles east of Tuxpan, Mexico.  The tropical cyclone has maximum sustained winds of 55 knots (65 mph) with gusts to 65 knots, and a minimum central pressure of 998 mb.

As we can see in the two photos, TROPICAL STORM NATE now has more of that classic hurricane look and you can start to see the development of an eye in the center of the storm.  The tropical cyclone is still sitting in the southern Gulf of Mexico and drifting to the northwest at about 3 mph. Read more…

“Deadliest Warrior” — S03E08 — Crazy Horse vs. Pancho Villa

Deadliest Warrior — Season 03, Episode 08 — Thasunke Witko (a.k.a. “Crazy Horse”) versus Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula (a.k.a. Pancho Villa)

In this episode of Deadliest Warrior, the leader of the Oglala Lakota Indians at the Battle of Little Bighorn takes on a Mexican revolutionary general who slaughtered dictators and later declared war on the United States.

Crazy Horse’s claim to fame is being one of the greatest Indian leaders in the Great Plains and fighter against U.S. troops.  He led war parties during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, and one of his biggest victories was the defeat of General Custer along with 268 U.S. troops at the Battle of Little Bighorn.  Specializing in ambushing and hit-and-run tactics, Crazy Horse was one of the bravest and fiercest Indians in American history.

A poor peasant turned vigilante then bandit and ultimately the leader of the rebellion army during the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa used guerrilla-style tactics to fight against the rich and corrupt in Mexico and gave the treasures to the peasants.  Fundraising techniques for his army involved everything from robbing trains and hacienda owners to holding people hostage and ransoming them for money.

VERSUS

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TROPICAL STORM MARIA – update #1

Over the past 24 hours, the storm path for TROPICAL STORM MARIA has shifted slightly to the west-southwest, and now all of a sudden the storm is looking a lot more interesting to those of us in the southeastern United States.

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The first image is pretty cool as the top of the screen has HURRICANE KATIA, the left side has TROPICAL STORM NATE in the southern Gulf of Mexico, and off to the far right in the Atlantic Ocean is TROPICAL STORM MARIA.

As of the latest public advisory, TROPICAL STORM MARIA is still about 600 miles east of the Windward Islands and tearing across the ocean on a due west track at about 22 mph.  As fast as the storm is moving, the tropical cyclone is still not that well organized or strong.  The maximum sustained winds are only 40 knots (46 mph), gusting to 50 knots, and with a minimum central pressure of 1006 mb. Read more…

TROPICAL STORM NATE – A First Look

Spiraling and gathering strength in the southern Gulf of Mexico is TROPICAL STORM NATE, the latest named storm of the 2011 hurricane season.

As of the latest public advisory, TROPICAL STORM NATE is about 120 miles west of Campeche, Mexico, and 175 miles northeast of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico.  The tropical cyclone has maximum sustained winds of 45 knots (60 mph) with gusts to 55 knots.  The storm’s minimum central pressure is 1000 mb.

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The exact path of TROPICAL STORM NATE is still a bit of a mystery.  While the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, has the storm curving to the north and then northwest, its forecast position after Friday morning is going to be anybody’s guess.  As you can see in the second image, depending on which computer model you use it appears that TROPICAL STORM NATE could strike Mobile, Alabama or central Louisiana in the U.S., or it may swing to the west and strike central Mexico.  It’s almost like the computer models are throwing up their hands and saying, “I give up!” Read more…

HD Vision Aviators Sunglasses — A Marketing Review

In the world of sunglasses you have the cheap and then the fashionable.

Anybody can go to the store and grab a cheap pair of sunglasses.  Spend $10 and if they get lost or broken, it’s no big deal.

Other people have high standards and want to wear a particular designer brand or style.  Those sunglasses are much more expensive and can be anywhere from $80 to over $200 a pair.  But that’s paying for quality and style.

HD Vision Aviators sunglasses website — www.getHDaviators.com

And then you have sunglasses like HD Vision Aviators that want people to believe that they can have both quality and style for an ultra-low price.  But does the TV commercial go too far when pushing that idea?

Check out the TV commercial and see for yourself if this sounds like an honest product or more like a scam.

HD Vision Aviators sunglasses — official TV commercial

Oh my.  Where do we start with a commercial like this one? Read more…