One ring to ruin them all

I looked into the red ring of death last week, and I hope I never have to again. Dealing with EB Games was terrible. They didn't want to honour the $100 warranty I bought from them. I actually had to argue with the clerk.

I posted the full version in my blog here

Posted by cpt-crunch @ 10:54 am EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Facebook down!? AHHHHH

Facebook has been down since I got home. It's 3 a.m. and I'm going through withdrawals. I am officially a Facebook addict.

UPDATE:

OK... it's back up; phew.

Posted by cpt-crunch @ 3:07 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

How can you not like Paris???

> She's humble: "I'm a good person. I'm a compassionate person. I have a big heart. I'm sincere, and they'll see."

> She's changed: "I've definitely matured and grown a lot from this experience. I could be a more responsible role model."

> She's literate!: "I read letters, I wrote in my journal."

> She's imaginative: "I would just close my eyes and pretend I was somewhere else."

> She's spiritual: "There was a nun who works at the jail for all the ladies, and she would come every day and we would pray."

> She makes time for work ... and play: "I am a social person," she said. "I love to dance, I love to go out, I love music. But a lot of people don't know that I'm a business person. I run several businesses."

> She has a nesting instinct: "When I have a daughter I have a lot of good advice for her."

~ Sources: All quotes from Larry King Wednesday, except first one, which is from a recent People mag.

Posted by cpt-crunch @ 2:27 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

WWE shocked by sensational media

Did anybody else find it odd that the WWE berated mainstream media for “sensationalistic reporting”?

In a statement released on its website, WWE announced it was “shocked” that the press was suggesting the double-murder suicide involving one of its premier wrestlers was linked to steroid use.

On Monday the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department found the bodies of Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and his son, Daniel inside their posh Atlanta home.

Police said Tuesday Benoit had strangled his wife and smothered his son, leaving Bibles beside their bodies. He then went into his exercise room and hung himself.

“WWE strongly suggests that it is entirely wrong for speculators to suggest that steroids had anything to do with these senseless acts, especially when the authorities plainly stated there is no evidence that Benoit had steroids in his body, pending the toxicological reports, and that they had no evidence at this time as to the motive for these acts,” said WWE.com.

Never mind that the WWE survives through its sensational content.

Never mind that the WWE has done nothing but advertise itself through this tragedy.

Never mind that the WWE ran an advertisement for its wrestler “The Undertaker” beside one of its statements about Benoit’s death.

This seems a clear case of the kettle calling the pot black.

Posted by cpt-crunch @ 12:55 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Pretty fishy

Overheard in a Starbucks:

"Have you guys heard of the new trend? ... It's called fish painting. You buy a real fish and you paint it. The point is touching the fish."

I was about to blog about the iPhone's release date (June 29) and how it's another checkpoint in the amazing way technology is changing how we interact, when I overheard the above quote. Writing about perhaps one of the most important technological revolutions of the past year was completely trumped by the intriguing idea of fish painting.

I thought she was lying. However, a Google search revealed that fish painting is also known as juicing or dying the fish.

My first thought was, 'where do I buy a fish to paint?' Visions of a happy childhood painting Easter eggs melded with the idea of the joy I could have painting and showing off my proud, swimming little painted fishy.

Alas, Wikipedia sunk my fun. The party-pooping online encyclopedia says fish painting is a "stressful, painful process" that leaves fish susceptible to disease. And apparently, it's not a hobby at all. Some pet stores inject the fish several times with a syringe to make their tropical fare more colourful, and therefore more pricey.

Visions of a squirmy little koi and me trying as hard as I can to keep my paintbrush between the lines faded.

So Starbucks girl had her facts a little mixed up. But it's for our benefit because we now know of the savage cruelty to our cuddly, splashy friends. There are groups which lobby against this aberration of nature: "The British publication Practical Fishkeeping started a campaign in 1996 to ask retailers to stop selling dyed fish," says Wikipedia, adding the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has also condemned the practice.

So hooray! And don't give me Kurt Cobain's attitude that "fish don't have feelings" because Finding Nemo taught me otherwise.

Posted by cpt-crunch @ 10:31 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments