Moonage Webdream

I think this is something almost every single person on the planet can relate to ( except Bill Gate and Warren Buffett ):

Technorati Tags: Humor

I’m just going to post this as I got it:

NEW CAMERA $350.00
NEW SCHOOL CLOTHES $400.00
NEW BACKPACKS $60.00 
PICTURE OF THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
**********PRICELESS********** 

Technorati Tags: Humor

Remember that post I did chastising idiots for falling for and downloading viruses and worms labeled “Britney Spears nude“?

Then, we had that silly thing with the bizarre and perverse statue.

Well, finally, here’s the real deal:

I like it.  Britney looks good!

Looks a lot better than the statue and the paparazzi shots.  I wish they hadn’t airbrushed her hair tho.

Technorati Tags: britney-spears, Pavlov's Dog

Got this email today:

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT AREA CODE 809

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said "Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you–get back to us quickly. I Have something important to tell you." Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. We didn’t respond. Then this week, we received the following e-mail: Subject: DON’T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284, AND 876. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON’T EVER DIAL AREA CODE. This one is being distributed all over the US . This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on. They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the US , you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you’ll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you’ll often be charged more than $24,100.00.

WHY IT WORKS:  The  809  area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas).  The charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That’s because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You’ll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong. Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam.

Sandi Van Handel
AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-904   

Additional information on these area codes can be found from ATT at: http://www.consumer.att.com/consumertips/areacode.html

The beauty of this one is IF you click the ATT link, it tells you first thing:

Fraudsters have been distributing bogus e-mails through the Internet that are purported to come from AT&T. The topic: a phone scam involving the 809 area code. The scam itself is real, however, the e-mail and warning contain erroneous information. AT&T would like to set the record straight and separate fact from fiction.

The charge is about $4 a minute, not $2,400.  However, it just boggles me that this email would still have life even though the email itself debunks the legend it promotes.

Technorati Tags: Urban Legends

Here’s the story:

In a perfect world, college basketball coaches would nearly double the size of the 65-team NCAA men’s tournament field. Realistically, they’d accept a smaller victory. Motivated in part by George Mason’s remarkable Final Four run last season, coaches will urge the NCAA to expand its most lucrative championship event during the men’s and women’s basketball committee meetings in Orlando, this week.

“They’d love to see the tournament double to 128,” said Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. “It’s based on several things. First, there are a lot of good teams worthy of making the NCAA field, and second, the size of 64 or 65 has been in place for a number of years.”

First of all, with the at-large bids, the best of the good teams make it. Sometimes they don’t. But, the problem is not that there are enough bids, it’s because they didn’t do enough to get in. Racking up wins by playing inferior teams doesn’t make you good, it just means you padded your schedule. I’m not interested in seeing those teams in March. Second, just because we’ve had too many teams in the tournament for a few years does not justify adding more.

Having 65 teams in the tournament at this point has rendered most of the better conference end of season tournaments meaningless. Expanding the field to 128 will render them ALL meaningless. All you’d have to do is play about 30 really bad teams and you’re in. There would be no reason at all for Kentucky to play Michigan, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville. or any other major team during the season. That’d just hurt their chances in getting to the tournament if they lost to a couple of them. That’s all. Secondly, there would be no reason for a coach to win their tournament. If the teams already has 25 or 26 wins, their in with 128 teams. The coach would be best suited to use the conference tournament to rest his stars and see who else is progressing. That would be fine for a 128 NCAA tournament. But, most people are more likely to watch their teams play close to home than at the various regional playoff rounds. And lastly, the NCAA tournament is supposed to be about the best teams in the country. Just because a team gets streaky hot in late March does not mean that for the entire season they were that good of a team.

The bottom line is there is a lot of parity in the NCAA basketball ranks these days. You only have to put five guys together to have a heck of a team. The evidence being cited to expand the tournament is actually just evidence the that NCAA selection committee has not done a terribly good job figuring out who the best teams are at the end of the season. Expanding the tournament won’t make them look any better.

UPDATE June 30, 2006: The NCAA nixed the expansion.

Technorati Tags: basketball, college, ncaa, Opinions, Sports, tournament

This picture was taken during a recent beach volleyball tournament:

I kid you not.

Meanwhile, I hear the US did poorly at the World Cup games and I think the Reds are still losing every single game.  I’ve lost all interest in America’s summer pasttimes.  I think I’m going to start watching beach volleyball.  Just a gut reaction I’m having right now ( see my previous post on proper product placement. )

A quickie update, this pic was taken at the country most known for it’s beautiful beaches and tropical sunshine, Switzerland.

Technorati Tags: beach-volleyball, Pavlov's Dog, Sports, switzerland

A woman charged with stalking Hall of Fame announcer Bob Uecker was arrested in Illinois and turned over to U.S. Marshals to await extradition to Wisconsin, police said.

Ann E. Ladd, 45, was arrested Thursday night in a parking lot outside of her home in Prospect Heights, Ill., said Prospect Heights Police Detective Sgt. Al Steffen.

Uecker, 71, has said Ladd has been stalking him for six or seven years, sending unsolicited gifts such as flowers and teddy bears and showing up at Brewers games and in hotels across the country.

Can someone tell me how you develop an obsession for Bob Uecker?  This sounds really bad for Ann IMO.  I don’t think she’s broken any laws, but she definitely needs protection.

Technorati Tags: Idiot of the day

In 1974, I was 11 to 12.  Now, this is a difficult time for any kid.  In the early 70’s.music was all over the place.  There was rock, there was glam, there was punk, there was some techno, and most of all, there was disco.  Now, for a pre-teen trying to figure things out, that made things complicated.  Each music scene had its own dress code, slang, and cliques.  People weren’t terribly concerned with being flexible.  This created problems for me.  At the time, all the hot chicks I knew were
into disco.  All my guy friends were into rock.  So, if I did go to an event ( all proms and school dances featured disco ), I was sort of left out in
the lurch as far as actually enjoying the music.  Now, I was the kind of
guy that would dance to anything, since that’s how you actually got to touch a girl without a whole lot of effort.  But, it always became kind of boring since I didn’t like the music.  A few disco songs did cross over and I actually admit that I liked them.  One song that always got me going was “Jungle Boogie” by Kool and the Gang.  It was a totally nonsensical fun song with a heck of a beat and very easy to listen to vocals.  Kool and the Gang were pretty much THE band that brought horns to disco.  I truly think every song KC and the Sunshine Band did was a knock-off of Jungle Boogie.  Thanks to Kool and the Gang, and a couple of others, I survived the disco scene with my senses intact and gained the confidence it took to move on to more of what I liked ( read, stuff the chicks didn’t like at the time like David Bowie, Gary Numan, and ACDC ).

Usually when I comment on someone here, I like to put pictures of them
somewhere so people can identify with the person.  Finding individual pics of Claydes Charles Smith proved sort of futile.  So, I thought I’d post
what Claydes’ impact on people was.  This clip is from a 1974 broadcast of Soul Train.  Now, it could have been from Dance Fever or ANY of the many dance shows at the time.  Everyone played Jungle Boogie.  Everyone danced when it played.  

I think that’s the image Claydes would have preferred when people think of him.  Claydes died yesterday of natural causes. 

Technorati Tags: charles-claydes-smith, jungle-boogie, kool-and-the-gang, Music, Tales, Where Are They Now?

Brittany Bower arrives showcasing, well, her, uh, Sidekick actually.  Gotta question T-Mobile’s logic here.  You want your product noticed do you not?  I mean, who’s looking at her ear right now?

Technorati Tags: brittany-bower, Pavlov's Dog, sidekick, t-mobile

Some days I really feel like this is the job I have:

Technorati Tags: bad-job, Humor