I saw this shoe in the SkyMall shopping magazine.  It's the Gravity Defyer Athletic Shoe with built in springs in the back.

I was curious and called the company's 800 number to ask exactly what their logo was.  The woman I spoke to said that she's asked that all the time and they call it a tear drop.  That's the worst looking tear drop, I've ever seen.

Just picked up an Entertainment 2010 Coupon book that my orchestra, the Cincinnati Community Orchestra is selling as a fundraiser.
If you dine out at all, it's definitely worth the cost.  Especially if you like Indian restaurants like I do.  It seems that every Indian restaurant in Cincinnati is in there- Ambar, Baba, Apna, Amol, and quite a few more more are all in there with a buy one entree, get one free.  There are other restaurants like Teller's, Nicola's, and Aqua that I'll definitely use.

The book also contains coupons for fast food, dry cleaning, events, and merchandise.  I'll be keeping a running log of the coupons that I use below.  My girlfriend and I dine out a bit anyways, so it'll be interesting to see (at least for me) how much I use it.

If you buy the book from the link below, and use the Group ID 423630, the cost will be $20 + $5.00 shipping which is a $10 dollar discount over the normal $35.00 retail price.  Plus the Cincinnati Community Orchestra will benefit from each sale to help pay for music rentals, etc.

Purchase Entertainment Book

Entertainment Coupon 2010 Useage:
Dining
Nicola's- $20 off an entree.  Nicola's is pricey but very good. $20 off pretty much takes care of the tip on a dinner for two.  Yeah, Nicola's not the best example of saving money, but since I was planning on going some time, it's better to have a discount than not.

From CNN.com: What's a planet? Debate over Pluto rages on

It was three years ago Monday that the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, a decision that made jaws drop around the world.
...
Earlier this year, the Illinois Senate adopted a resolution declaring that Pluto was "unfairly downgraded" and restoring "full planetary status" to the celestial body as it "passes overhead through Illinois' night skies."

I always wondered what a state legislature does.

As to Pluto, I agree with the downgrading of Pluto.  There are seven moons that are larger than Pluto, plus quite a few trans-Neptunian objects that are similar sized.  Either all those are planets or Pluto's not a planet.

However, that doesn't make Pluto any less interesting.  Pluto's moon Charon is so large in comparison, that Charon doesn't rotate around Pluto, but a point inbetween. 

From ArrestedMotion.com: Shepard Fairey Vote Original Source Photo Revealed

From NYTimes.com: H.P. Tries to Keep the Ink Flowing

H.P.'s printing group has long been one of the company's star performers. It accounts for nearly a quarter of overall revenue. Printer ink remains one of the most expensive liquids on the planet -- more valuable than expensive perfumes -- providing H.P. with far higher profit margins than PCs and other types of computing hardware provide.

You know printer cartridges are expensive, but this is an interesting way to think about how costly the ink is.

I think the aluminum bottle works well for Coke capturing the iconic Coke Bottle that you lose in can form.  I picked this up in California, but I haven't seen one around here.

Here's a link on Amazon to possibily a different style bottle, but it's not available yet: Coca Cola 8.5oz Aluminum Bottle

My parents started composting by throwing all vegetable and fruit scraps in a pile in their gigantic vegetable garden.  Every once in a while a seed from fruit will sprout.  My dad's got a his first little cantaloupe growing!

NYDailyNews: 'Battlestar Galactica' headed for big screen at warp speed under 'X-Men' director Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer is finally heading to space.
Almost a decade after he dropped out of a planned "Battlestar Galactica" TV project in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, The "X-Men" director is jumping on board a movie version of the sci-fi series, Variety reported.

It sounds like another reboot to me.  They just finished the series and now they're rebooting it again?

You don't bring in Bryan Singer in to tell the same story the Ronald D. Moore just did.  I think they're going to go back to the original series and retell it with lots of evil robotic cylons and space battles with very little depth that you get in a movie versus four years of a television series. I have no doubt it could be entertaining, but I think a remake this soon pretty much craps on the series that just completed.

From Cincinnati.com: Arroyo says he flouts MLB's drug policy

"I can see where guys like Hank Aaron and some of the old-timers have a beef with it," Arroyo says. "But as far as looking at Manny Ramirez like he's (serial killer) Ted Bundy, you're out of your mind. At the end of the day, you think anybody really (cares) whether Manny Ramirez's kidneys fail and he dies at 50?

"You were happy if the Red Sox won 95 games. You'd go home, have a cookout with your family. No big deal."

A fascinating interview with Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo about supplement and drug usage in MLB.

As a side note, why didn't the Cincinnati Enquirer get the interview for this story?  USA Today and Cincinnati Enquirer are both published by Gannett, but you would have thought that the Enquirer would have wanted this interview.

From NYTimes.com: While My Guitar Gently Beeps

Fascinating look into the development of video game The Beatles: Rock Band.

From AngryAsianMan.com: red dawn: the chinese invaders are coming

They're remaking Red Dawn, the cold war movie that starred Patrick Swayze.

For those who are unfamiliar with the original Red Dawn, or perhaps too young to remember, the movie's about a group of midwestern teenagers who band together to save their town when Soviet forces invade the United States. Remember, this movie was produced in the middle of the Cold War, and probably scared the crap out of a lot of people back in 1984.

Only this time around, the foreign invaders in the remake are -- of course -- the Chinese (with Russian assistance). Not really surprising, considering all the rhetoric out there about China and its two billion people taking over, well, everything. I'm with Jen, who wonders if there's any way to do Red Dawn with a Chinese enemy without it being totally racist?

How would you feel if a Chinese company remade this movie with American soldiers invading a Chinese city with Chinese high school students fighting back and killing American soldiers?

Between the United States and China, which country has a recent history of invading other countries? 

Streetcar in Jersey City.  I've been taking photos of streetcars when I see them while traveling.  This is part of a 2.2 billion dollar investment across the river from NYC.  Mass transportation is a way of life in cities on the East Coast.

Support Streetcars in Cincinnati

 
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

From RottenTomatoes.com: Toying With the JOEs: How Do the Characters Match Up?

A look at how the GIJoe movie characters look compared to the old action figures.

From Merriam-Webster.com

Main Entry:
Re·al·tor
Pronunciation:
\ˈrē(-ə)l-tər, -ˌtȯr, ÷ˈrē-lə-tər also rē-ˈal-tər\
Function:
collective mark
--used for a real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors

rē-lə-tər

This seems to be saying that "re la tor" is a correct pronunciation of this word.  I grew up saying it this way, but I've been trying to change to "real - tor" because I feel dumb pronouncing it with an extra syllable when there isn't one.  I wonder if this is a case of enough people pronouncing a word incorrectly that it becomes a correct way of saying it.

Did you know that not all real estate agents or brokers are realtors?  Only those that belong to National Association of Realtors.  According to Wikipedia there are 1.3 million realtors and 1 million licensed real estate agents.

From CS.Slacker.com

The Zerg used to give me the creeps when I played Starcraft, but this is a very cool cake. It's pretty amazing that Starcraft was released over 10 years ago.

RadioShack: Our friends call us the Shack

When I think of "shack" I think run down little building of ill repute.  Actually, I think that works...

From NYTimes.com: In Sister's Book and Father's Scrawl, Music Thought to Be Mozart's

Since the 1760s, the fragmentary works sat scrawled at the back of a music book used by Mozart's sister to study keyboard. They were in the hand of their father Leopold, but no composer's name was attached.
...
Mr. Leisinger said in a telephone interview that the pieces were most likely composed in 1763 or 1764, when Mozart was 7 or 8. If truly by him, they would serve as an important link between his simple earliest compositions and his first major works, Mr. Leisinger said.

Listening to the music, it seems impossible that it was written or even played by a 7 or 8 year old.  But, I have never been in the presence of genius like Mozart.

You can hear the two new Mozart pieces played here.

From NYTimes.com: Shuttle Returns to Earth With a Special Passenger

Among his scientific duties and routine maintenance chores, Dr. Wakata also tested bacteria-killing, water-absorbing Japanese underwear designed to be worn in space for weeks at a time.

"I wore them for about a month, and my station crew members never complained," he said Thursday. "So I think the experiment went fine."

From TheTVAddict.com: 10 Things You Might Not Have Known About BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Star Michael Hogan

A nice interview of Michael Hogan, Colonel Tigh.