Call the Police!

Okay, so this recording is pretty old, but I was reminded of it while reading through some other news articles, and since I don't think I've posted it before, and it's pretty funny... and ridiculous at the same time, I figured I'd post it.


This is definitely not something worth call the police over. From what I understand, many fast food places offer some sort of "western" burger at one point or another, and they're often offered on a "limited time" basis, and we can assume that she went to a Burger King when it was no longer the promotional period for their Western Whopper... if we assume that she was actually at a Burger King, and not some other fast food joint.

If she really was at a Burger King, she does sort of have a point, as Burger King's slogan is "Have it your way." That supposedly means you can ask them to without certain condiments, or to add certain other condiments, to a burger. How hard would it have been for their employees to just add some bacon to a Whopper, and smear some barbecue sauce on the inside of one of the buns?

Still, that's not something you call the cops for. And I bet if she had asked them nicely, they would have happily added some bacon and barbecue sauce to her burger...

Why?

A few days ago I saw a this music special on MHD, that's when I found out that Jewel had released a new CD... except it's a country album.

First Michelle Branch, and now Jewel. Why?

No strangers to love

Why the Joker doesn't answer the Bat-Man's questions

Dun dun dun

Celebrities who look alike... but not really

Ever since the first time I saw Rachel Bilson on The O.C., I've always thought that she reminded me of Mila Kunis from That '70s Show. In fact, I sometimes get the two of them mixed up. But when I really look at them, I don't think they look that much alike. I can easily tell them apart when looking at their pictures, or watching whatever TV show or movie they're in. Yet whenever I see one of them, I'm instantly reminded of the other. Sometimes I might even remember the other's name but struggle to remember the name of the actual person I'm looking at.

I guess they sort of give off the same vibe somehow. They're both brunettes, often with similar hair styles, and have a similar bodytype.

I'm glad to find that I'm not the only person who thinks they look similar. All you have to do is Google their names together, and you'll find others who think the same.

Another set of celebs who I think have that "similar but different vibe" would be Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton. Perhaps owing to the fact that they're both musicians, in addition to some physical similarities.

Jennifer Esposito and Eva Mendes are yet another example of this...

On the other hand, I think Erica Cerra, Sarah Shahi, and Emmanulle Vaugier really do look alike.

I feel the earth move under my feet

An earthquake shook Southern California earlier today. According to the US Geological Survey, it was a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered in the Chino Hills area, about 23.7 miles (38 km) away from where I live, at 11:42am.

I was working at the time, and felt the P-wave a few seconds before the actual quake, which lasted, I guess somewhere between 5 to 20 seconds (yeah, my internal clock sucks). Afterwards, I looked around the apartment, and the only thing that fell over was the air freshener in one of my bathrooms.

Don't do this

So as of July 1st, it is illegal in California to talk on your cellphone while driving, without using some sort of hands-free device. However, texting is still fine. WTF?

I mean, I get that a lot of teens who text a lot can text without looking at the keyboard or the screen, but they still gotta look at the screen to read what other people have texted them. That means taking your eyes off the road, which most people wouldn't be doing if they were talking on the phone, even if they weren't using any hands-free devices...


Anyway, here's a dude in India doing something that no one should ever do:

Sneak previews on cable

When it was released on DVD last year, I remember reading the plot summary for Blood and Chocolate, and realizing that I've already watched it before. The strange thing for me, at the time, was that I don't ever recall going to the theaters to watch it--The movie hadn't piqued my interest enough for me to want to spent money to watch it in the theaters. Nor did it garner enough interest for me to look for a way to watch it online.

What's more, I remember being able to watch a crystal clear picture version of it. I still remember very specific scenes, too. But no recollection of watching it in the theaters.

Then it hit me--I must have watched it as a sneak peak on a cable HD channel. It makes sense. They do sometimes show full-length movies that are only just getting to be released to theaters. Like the recent sneak peak of Quid Pro Quo. Which, coincidently, stars yet more people I recognize, but almost couldn't place.

There's Vera Farmiga from The Departed, and Nick Stahl from Terminator 3.

Friday the 13th: You win

On my way back to the office after buying lunch, my car's "Service Engine Soon" light came on. So I dropped by AutoZone after work to see if I can find out what's causing it... Hoping that it's just something minor, like maybe I didn't tighten the gas cap enough.

No such luck. Instead, I've got this.

P0403

EGR Flow Circuit Malfunction

And here are the details, according to AutoZone's printout:

Definition
EGR system fault (Exhaust Gas Recirculation)
Explanation
The ECM has detected a fault in the EGR solenoid circuit
Probable Causes
1.-Failed EGR vacuum solenoid
2.-Open or short circuit condition on the EGR solenoid circuit
3.-EGR solenoid faulty
4.-Failed EGR pressure sensor where applicable
5.-Failed EGR position sensor where applicable

It was $140 to "rent" the ODB-II scanner, which they supposedly credited back to me when I returned it (about five minutes of use). The credit back hasn't shown up yet, though.

That one with the guy who was in the movie that was out last year

Ever watch something, and see some actor that you recognize, but can't quite place where you've seen him or her? Happens to me all the time. Recently, there's been a few actors I've been trying to place (and was able to, thanks to the Internet).

First, there's Chris Williams. He's in the end of this State Farm Insurance commercial.

He's also in the recent "Smoky Chipotle Crispy Chicken" commercial for KFC, but I couldn't find a video of it online.

I've seen him in Dodgeball, The Wedding Bells, and Californication.


Next, another KFC commercial.

There's Jessy Schram, who I would've seen in Veronica Mars, and Edwin Hodge, who I've seen in Invasion. That's why they both look familiar.

A parody of revisionist history

19 years ago, students in China led a series of protests, cumulating to a tragic end on June 4, 1989 at Tiananmen Square. This post is in memory of those who gave their lives.

The image above comes from an episode of The Simpsons that aired three years ago.

Mighty Wingman

I was reminded of this Coors Light commercial (which I guess I've never posted, because it's older than my first blog entry), while watching an episode of Flight of the Conchords on HBO while I was making black sesame ice cream last night.

The episode involved a gender role-reversal, in which the two guys try to date two girls who work at a bakery. One of them (Jemaine) asks the other (Bret) to be the wingman, but while Bret has all the luck with the girls, Jemaine couldn't get either girl interested in him.

Bret's (eventual) date turns out to be very aggressive, behaving like what's typically described of guys--The other girl went along as her wingman. When it became clear that Bret didn't want to have sex with her after only two dates, she told him that she has to ship out for war in Iraq so that he'd have sex with her. She's done in five minutes, then falls asleep. When Bret encounters her again at the shop, she claims that they changed her schedule, and that she'd have to ship out the day after, then saying that they both used each other and dumps him. As Bret and Jemaine leave, she's seen high-fiving the other girls in the shop and mocking Bret.

I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way

This is quite impressive. Here you see the guy in the process of mapping real human textures onto the cartoon Jessica Rabbit character. You can get the full-sized picture here.

He's also done the same for Homer Simpson and Mario (of the Super Mario Bros.).

Aliph Jawbone

I got myself a new Bluetooth headset and a new cell phone... Primarily, because my old headset's battery had to be charged every other day--too often to my liking. So I bought the Aliph Jawbone, CNet's highest rated Bluetooth headset for cell phones.

It has such a high rating for two things--"Noise Shield" and "Audio Enhancement." Both work great. However, there are several caveats to using the headset.

As you can see from the above picture, the top cover came off. How did this happen? While trying to remove the charger. Chalk this one to bad design and lack of documentation. There's no "release button" or anything like that on the charger, but you're not supposed to just pull the thing off the headset, despite there being no instructions on charger removal in the owner's manual. Only after contacting their support staff, am I given proper instructions for removal.

1. With the top of the Jawbone facing up, hold the Jawbone in one hand.
2. With your other hand, grasp the cap of the USB charger cable on the top and bottom (not the sides) with your thumb and forefinger.
3. Gently bend the cap of the USB charger cable downward and away until the Jawbone is disengaged.

Without these instructions (which, as of this posting, cannot even be found in the FAQ section of their website), you're likely going to get the top pulled off eventually.

The next caveat, which is probably the first thing anyone would notice on a non-broken unit--the design and size. This is just a quick comparison of size...

All of the "professional" reviews I've read for the Jawbone talk about how good the Jawbone looks. I do not concur. They also do concede on its large, bulky size. On that, I do concur.

As you can see, not only is the Jawbone larger in terms of surface area, it is also much thicker.

Not surprisingly, the Jawbone looks huge when worn properly.

Still, the most important thing about a headset is that it should work properly. Looks are secondary. As I've mentioned earlier, what this unit is top-rated for, works great. Also, despite its apparent size, it's still quite light--at 0.5 ounces, it is by no means heavy.

Noise Shield--Jawbone identifies your voice (through an "activity sensor" that must make contact with your face), and eliminates virtually all other sounds, so the other side of the line can hear exactly what you're saying.

Audio Enhancement--Jawbone monitors the volume of the noise around you, and adjusts the volume of the headset accordingly, so that you should be able to hear your call even if you're surrounded by loud noises.


But that brings us to the next caveat. Jawbone is apparently very susceptible to the many radio frequencies around us, as after pairing it with my Z520a (a Cingular phone, which Jawbone all but promised to work well with), it would constantly drop the Bluetooth connection--even though they are sitting right next to each other. After the connection is dropped, the phone will try to find it again, and reconnect, only to have the connection drop again 20 seconds later. This often continues for 10 to 20 minutes, until the phone finally gives up trying.

During this time, however, the phone's battery is considerably drained. Whereas before, I could keep the phone on standby for about 4 days before I had to charge it again, with the constant searching of the Bluetooth device, the battery needs to be charged again the very next day... which rather defeats my purpose in getting a new Bluetooth headset. And since the Z520a never dropped the connection to my previous two Bluetooth headsets, I know the problem is not the phone.


However, upon getting a new phone--I was up for a free upgrade, and wanted a new phone anyway--Jawbone does work much better with it, and hasn't dropped the connection once... it basically means anyone buying the Jawbone has to be very careful about what phone they have, as I've read about many other phones that don't pair well with Jawbone.


As mentioned earlier, I've contact their support staff--more about the broken cover than about the Bluetooth connection. Although they were initially very quick to respond, giving me instructions on requesting an RMA, they've yet to respond to the RMA request, even though they mentioned that I should be getting a response within one business day. Two business days later, I still had no response.