Shanks and Praise

Dom was in an elevator today and heard some muzak that reminded him of a time when all it took was a DeLorean and a flux capacitor to make some rock n roll history. I'm trying to get a copy of the Huey Lewis Behind the Music, not paying any money for it, but will share some shanks and praise.

Every Halloween we gives Shanks and Praise to all the Elvis sighting across this great land, and occasionally, from France. Share your faves with Dom and Huck, bonus points if you make it into the shot. We'll be giving away a prize (likely a haiku) to our favorites.

Elvis has manmel-toe.

Move over Ozzie, the best new hotness for your pre-Halloween ritual is brought to you by the JSBX. That's what she said ...

"An old Irish legend tells of a farmer named Jack who tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, whereupon Jack quickly carved a cross in the bark, so that the Devil couldn't get down. Jack only let the Devil go when he agreed never to take his soul.

"Years later when Jack died, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, since the Devil had promised not to take his soul Jack couldn't go to Hell, either.

"Left with nowhere to go and having no light by which to see, he asked the Devil for help. The Devil mockingly tossed Jack an ember from the flames of Hell which would never burn out. Jack carved a lantern out of one of his pumpkins, put the ember inside it so he could see as he endlessly wandered the Earth. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern."

Leading folklore historians have long debated the original shapes carved into Jack's first lantern, though it it widely believed to have been either Elmo or Cookie Monster.

Spooky amounts of shanks and praise to makelessnoise, via flickr

Dom is a scratch golfer. Dom has seen a lot of crazy golf swings. Dom has a favorite. Wait for it. Gnarls has never hit a hole-in-one on the links.

Ever wonder what it would be like to Race in the Volvo Ocean Race, what, with all the scurvy, and pirates, and rum, and the poop deck. Apparently, it's a lot easier to play the game on the internets, but that's not to say you can't still have the rum, and the poop deck. There's a pretty slick game that will be taking up much of my blog time - via Volvo Ocean Race

Ben and Jerry's is giving away free ice cream, again. What ever happened to Hall and Oatmeal?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 5:00pm - 8:00pm, participating Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops

I applaud the effort to create a Guitar Hero or Rock Band or Sims game with The Beatles. I'm a bit baffled by the press release:

"It's a new creative exploration of their music and a celebration of their legacy in a way that hasn't been done before." The developer added that it will be a "music-making game. ... There will be interactive performance of the music ... and stuff you haven't seen from us before."

Is this the inspiration for Eminem's comeback?

via Neatorama

Thailand, I think. Where the moustache is tiny squid roasts and the demon moustache is to be feared.

via Extra



Alex Baldwin on Letterman last night talks about the experience of meeting Gov. Sarah Palin.

As a love struck teenager, I once copied the lyrics of an entire Depeche Mode song onto a hand-made tee shirt as a gift for my highschool girlfriend. Yet, I am much more embarrassed that I just watched (actually twice) this video for "Reach Out" the new single off of Hilary Duff's "best of"(?) album. And . . . I didn't completely hate it. I even forgive that she repeatedly misquotes the Depeche Mode line that is the centerpiece of the song - it's actually "reach out and touch faith" - cause, you know, that's a common mistake.

I am so confused. But in defense of my heterosexuality (not that there is anything wrong with it) I offer the following:

1) Songwriter Martin Gore has explained that he was inspired to write the original "Personal Jesus" based on a book about Elvis Presley.

2) The late great Johnny Cash did a great cover of the song (and, he gets the lyrics right).

3) The original Depeche Mode video has an inexplicable dude ranch theme (ok . . . that's not helping).

Dom attended 3 of the 25 most expensive colleges for 2008-2009, based on total cost (tuition + room and board).

College | Total Cost
1. Sarah Lawrence College | $53,166
2. George Washington University | $50,312
3. New York University | $50,182
4. Georgetown University | $49,689
5. Connecticut College | $49,385
6. Bates College | $49,350
7. Johns Hopkins University | $49,278
8. Skidmore College | $49,266
9. Scripps College | $49,236
10. Middlebury College | $49,210
11. Carnegie Mellon University | $49,200
12. Boston College | $49,020
13. Wesleyan University | $49,000
14. Colgate University | $48,900
15. Claremont McKenna College | $48,755
16. Vassar College | $48,675
17. Haverford College | $48,625
18. University of Chicago | $48,588
19. Union College (NY) | $48,552
20. Colby College | $48,520
21. Mount Holyoke College | $48,500
22. Tufts University | $48,470
23. Bard College at Simon's Rock | $48,460
24. Franklin & Marshall College | $48,450
25. Bard College | $48,438

There's always next season.

via I have see the whole of the internet

via Gawker

Forget about the multi-million dollar infomercial Obama's campaign is simulcasting in prime time tonight on all four major networks. Instead, just read the Times' pre-screening review here (spoiler: it's got a lot of white people in it).





For real stomach-churning drama, tune in later tonight for Obama's appearance on the Daily Show. Got to admire the nerve of the guy risking a major gaff with Jon Stewart when sitting on a commanding lead on the eve of election. Perhaps even more insane? Obama's rumored November 1st appearance on Saturday Night Live (second item). Wtf?

Don't blow Borack, please, please don't blow it.

Apparently Turtle really is banging Meadow ... you heard it here first.

Back in the day when commercials mattered, when visionaries like Don Draper sold products, not advertisings, all it took was a clever jingle to make us all believers. And, the guy who made "eye of the tiger" an everyman anthem.

Also via Web Zen

via Web Zen

Just because baseball can't be played in the rain, and all the players are overpaid, doesn't mean the good people at Taco Bell don't have your back. I'm making my run for the border to collect on my free taco tomorrow, get your groove on, and tell 'em Dom sent you.

via: funny beez

Shanks and Praise wants to here from you, Amorica, on your most hopped-up and exotic elixir for this Friday's frightfest. Dom gets nostalgic for festive libations, and reminds you that a pimp or ho costume is never a good choice. You stay classy, San Diego.

Pumpkin Martini

Start to finish: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients:
Ice
1 ounce vodka, chilled
1 ounce vanilla liqueur
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree

Hopefully the unrated DVD will be a ball of laughs. Community commentary encouraged.

This Shanksgiving, I'm giving shanks and praise to and for the turducken. I have just ordered two turduckens for turkey day, one old school, and one stuffed with cheez whiz. Apparently it's illegal to deep fry these. Shanks to the original Herb's Specialty Meats.

via Neatorama

The World Wildlife Fund in France, in celebration of its 35th anniversary, is running a campaign to raise awareness for natural environmental preservation by parading 1,600 paper mache panda models across the country. The most recent exhibition was at Paris' Trocadero Esplanade. The giant panda is the symbol for the World Wildlife Fund and it is estimated that there are 1,600 pandas in the wild.

Shanks and praise: Neatorama

Via Cracked.com

Cracked ranks the world's most insane halloween costumes.

Shanks and praise: Cracked.com (thanks Andy)

Where have all the '90s grunge mushrooms gone?

Everyone has that dare to be great moment. I think mine is to become the first winner of Bravo's new P-Runs knock-off. I'm hitting the Plaxo hard, Christian, help me get fierce.

Free mimosas!

Dear Stifler's Mom,

I checked my Plaxo today, and you still have not accepted my invite. My computer was down yesterday, so just in case you accepted the invite yesterday, I'll resend it.

Longingly, Dom

Shanks and Praise to blog.doginagumboot.com

I'm not sure what went wrong with my computer yesterday. I'm back.

Hey Geaner, what was Deaner talking about?

via Boing Boing

Several students at Parkway West Middle School in suburban St. Louis are facing suspension for inventing "Hit A Jew Day," during which they smacked Jewish students. According the AP:

"District officials said Thursday they believed that fewer than 10 children of the district's 35 Jewish students were struck.

District spokesman Paul Tandy said that in most cases, the students were hit on the back of their shoulders but one student was slapped in the face.

It began with an unofficial "Spirit Week" among sixth-graders that started harmlessly enough with a "Hug a Friend Day." Then there was "High Five Day."

Soon, though, the days moved from friendly to silly [ed. note: silly?]. Next there was "Hit a Tall Person Day" and, finally, "Hit a Jew Day."

via Smoking Gun

via Photoshop Disasters

via Instructables

via Yahoo News

Online divorcee jailed after killing virtual hubby
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Oct 23, 3:48 pm ET
TOKYO – A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.
The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.
The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.
She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

via Ayyyy!

via Pink is the New Blog (who totally stole the name I wanted for this blog)

Today Shanks and Praise was the target of a vicious distributed denial of service attack (my theory: those damn Scientologist). As a result, our servers were down all afternoon. Dom's been down in the basement bangin hard on the tops and sides of things, and it seems to have finally done the trick. So, sorry for the light traffic. I'm sure Dom will make up for it on the night shift with a double dose of inane stuff that makes no sense whatsoever.

-Huck

"The R&B singer has christened herself “Sasha Fierce” for her new double album, “I Am ... Sasha Fierce,” due in stores on Nov. 18, and has released a lengthy justification for the comical moniker. 'I have someone else that takes over when it’s time for me to work and when I’m on stage, this alter ego that I’ve created that kind of protects me and who I really am,' she said in a statement. 'Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken side and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage.'”

Wtf? Career implosion in T minus 3 . . . 2 . . .

Shanks and praise: WWTDD?

via The Daily Show

Jon Stewart takes a well-deserved shot at some of my least favorite people in the world - talking heads.



Shanks and praise: The Daily Show (thanks Marjory)

Every day we give Shanks and Praise, and many of you ask us - why do you do, what's in it for you? Some of you know it's because we have big hearts. Others know it's because we can't be held down by the man. Still others ... well, sorry that I forgot my wallet and couldn't pick up that check.

Here's your chance to help us to help you give back to the community, in a form that is undeniable, and unstoppable, and cheap -- all you can eat pizza. You see, we think the future goes far beyond the internets, to a place Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa John's call home. Will you join us on our journey?

Shanks and Praise to CiCi's, pick up that guitar and talk to me.

I have always been a fan of the Scrubbing Bubbles - energetic and exuberant, yet mild mannered - they are a lot less creepy than the Keebler Evles.

Bored with searching for new friends on Facebook, I decided to look up some old friends. Much to my surprise, these industrious bubbles have been busy.

Apparently, I'm not their #1 super-fan. Shanks and praise to Props and Pans

it's really about the artiste. Write that down.
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ღ ♥ღ HUGZ ღ ♥ღ

I don't really care who wins the World Series of Baseball. I would, however, like to give a shout out to the Devil Rays for their enlightened approach which allows fans to bring their own food to the stadium. Hopefully there's a least one fan who is no longer on tour, but still selling veggie burritos in the parking lot.

Shanks and Praise to Pat's

via WOW Report

via Boing Boing

via Etsy

via Boing Boing

via Pitchfork Media