Government Gives Money to Fools!

So with the passing of the economic stimulus tax rebate plan (with which I don't agree), there are all these news stories about the newest tax scam going around. Con artists are posing as IRS agents and calling people or sending out emails soliciting bank account numbers and other sensitive information. So there is the number one problem with giving people free money. There is a ton of people who don't even know how to hold onto the money they already have. They just give it away to crooks! The IRS doesn't call you to give you money. Everything is in writing with the IRS. Well, I think that anyone who reports that they are a victim of this tax scam shouldn't get their rebate check. They're too stupid to deserve it!

Who Wears Short Shorts?

So I was flipping around the TV this weekend and found Friday the 13th Part 2. I love watching horror movies in the morning; it's just a great way to start the day. I've never actually seen any of the Friday the 13th movies. Being a child of the 80's, I had to watch it. I love late 70's and early 80's teenage movies: the hair, the music, the cool dudes looking like regular goofy guys. The whole stoney atomosphere was perfected in this movie. Then I got hit with the fashion. Within the first 20 minutes came this shot (you can see the rest of it here):



This movie came out in 1981! Look at those shorts! This is a much more "sexy" outfit than the ones I've seen in the current run of teenage movies. (Yes, I watch them; I love teenage movies.) And then the shirt is classic. A Mickey Mouse half shirt with no bra. Come on, what were the 80's doing?

Watching this movie made me think of the how much the media promotes the predominent parental concern that kids are exposed to too much sex and violence. "How can the kids be expected to handle it all?" I always think of the 80's as not that long ago. But 1981 was 27 years ago. I bet many of these concerned parents aren't too much older than the cast of movie. This movie and others like it were super full of sex and violence. Is it really that much different today? No, parents just need an excuse as to why their kids do terrible things and they don't want to take the blame themselves.

World's First Canned Cheeseburger

So this Swiss company, Katadyn, revealed last year a brand new product: canned cheeseburgers! At first, I was truly disgusted, thinking that this was something for the supermarket. (I came across it in a Zagat newsletter). However, was developed under their Trekking-Mahlzeiten label and is meant for the outdoors. So after backpacking for 5 days eating dehydrated food, you can heat up this burger and enjoy a tasty treat in the woods! OK, so maybe not. I found this thread on Something Awful that documents the "cooking" and consumption of the canned cheeseburger.
This picture pretty much sums up the authors thoughts:

Unfortunately for us in the U.S., Katadyn can't export the burgers overseas, because they actually DO contain beef.

Damn Jelly Shoes!

So I had been hearing for a while that jelly shoes had come back with all the other terrible 80's fashion. I never truly believed it until yesterday. I was walking around Urban Outfitters happily noting that they were starting to come away from such an 80's throw-back look, when the jellies caught my eye. It was like getting smacked in the face! They just came out of nowhere and looked identical to the jellies of the 80's (yes, I had a pair).


It dawned on me that I hated jellies more than any other fashion product of the 80's. I hated them more than stirrup pants (I never had those), day-glo (I had one thing), legwarmers (I had one pair as a little kid) and acid wash jeans (I never had those). I think they are the epitome of 80's tackiness. At least stirrup pants started with a purpose: to keep your pants inside your boots. Jellies served no purpose but to make your feet sweaty, smelly and sticky. Michael joked that they've probably just been sitting in a warehouse for over 20 years waiting for their opportunity to get out. I wouldn't doubt that with the Urban Outfitter ones, but as I poked around for pictures, I realized that all sorts of designers have put out their own version: Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, etc. But the best pair is by Stuart Weitzman bejeweled with Swarovski crystals and selling for $115 at Bloomingdales!