...hasn't been attractive since Demolition Man.

Get over it.

I saw this on a store shelf the other day:

I have never eaten canned spinach. I have never seen anyone open or eat canned spinach. Somebody must be eating it or it wouldn't be in stores. But those numbers have to be miniscule. But not so insignificant that it is worth the effort to have store brand canned spinach along side brand name varieties. At the store where I saw the Popeye brand, two other brand choices of canned spinach were also offered.

Aside from a general demographic description of the target consumers, I would love to know how much Allens is kicking back to King Features Syndicate for the right to brand with a 90-year-old cartoon character. Does the Popeye licensing fee cover the expense of a single executive? Is there a whole department living off the fat canned spinach rake? Or is it only enough to augment some thirty-year veteran secretary's salary? How many additional units of canned spinach is Allens selling with Popeye slapped on the label? Does that target demographic impulse buy based on a cartoon sailor with a speech impediment? I mean, it's not like a thirty-some parent is buying this in hopes that the man on the can will entice their five-year-old to dig into that yummy canned spinach. Right? Maybe I would believe it if a Pokeman or Bieber were on the label.

In a related note, in the dog food aisle, there is a product called Scooby Snacks.

Trypophobia is something that I did not know existed, until today. I only know about it because Google is always so helpfully trying to finish my search terms. It jumped off the Google auto-guess list below my search quiery and into my OCDish brain corner. I was compelled to investigate.

Within the first five search results was this image:

Also in the first five was an article titled Understanding Trypophobia: Why Some People Fear Holes.

Something Else I recent encountered on the interwebs clearly does a better job of answering the question than the article linked above. That Something Else is adequately represented on the linkedYouTube below. However, if you need to investigate more, YouTube will serve this kind of stuff up all day long. Short Answer: Mango Worms. Leave now. You can't unsee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNYx4BjUHqg

____________________________

Mission level currently at 318.

The number last week was 339. The number this week 333.

Insiders predict 320 by 9/30. Sub-300 before 11/28. Set your odds accordingly.

Cyrus once said, "He knows what to do, he just has to do it."

It is being done.

*****

Does anyone else realize how hard it is to get non-Chinese ditch-bugs outside of Louisiana? I found frozen Chinese tails in Denver. In Miami, I saw them whole cooked in the seafood case for about a month. There are places in Louisiana that will over-night a cooler's worth, but it is not cheap. Maybe they all taste like BP oil nowadays, and I am being spared that nastiness.

I am looking to make some etoufee. I do not want to be stuck with contaminated farm-raised Vietnamese shrimp as a substitution.

*****

Bone can go ahead and choke on his $54 Edelman.

*****

No one will know what I am talking about, but in case I get lucky, I am going to ask this question anyway:

In Avalon Hill's Dreadnoughts for the Apple IIe, if the Prinz Eugen is sunk, the crippled Bismark is out of ammo, and a similarly out-of-ammo Hermione will not disengage in Battle mode, how do I force an exit from Battle mode so that I can steam toward harbor and/or encounter a capital ship that can put me out of my misery? I am sure I have victory conditions already, but I cannot resolve the game. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This is the most ridiculous product I have seen rolled out this year.

The silliest thing about the whole affair is the coy marketing position Miller takes. Only severely handicapped or inebriated individuals cannot pour a beer without splashing everywhere.

Let's drop the charade and get to the heart of the matter:

"Hey college kids, do you like shotgunning beers? Well, we got ya' covered!"

*****

Reading the post below from last year, I am reminded that I recently heard that Joe is at a new location making pizza subs. I will be following up on that, to be sure.

*****

The best names are race horse names. There are some creative boat names out there, and WWII bomber names have their place, but race horse names are part of the joy that comes with the Sport of Kings.

I was in Indy a couple weeks ago.  I went from the airport to Yats.  Chili Cheese Etoufee was the top item on the menu.  I didn't bother reading anything else.

There is no other restaurant's dish that I can ever recall generating such good will with me.  Joe Mi-Way had some cheap pizza subs that I craved throughout high school, pizza subs to which I have yet to find an equal, but they aren't in the same league as what Yats does.  Man, do I miss that place.

On this year's movie remakes:

Clash of the Titans:  Keep falling asleep by the 10:14 mark.  Don't see that changing.  Ever.

Total Recall:  There is not enough Biel and Beckinsale to save this from Wal-Mart bargain pallet.

Judge Drudd:  Based on trailer alone, I officially declare this to be superior to the Rob Schneider version.

Red Dawn:  Chinese invade!  I am so in!  Wait...what?!  N. Koreans?  Changed in post-production?  Because the film company is scared of the Chinese?  Screw this noise.  Embargo'd!

The reason I won't watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes which appears to be set in the present/near future: Brainiac apes and monkeys do not pose a threat to humanity.

1. We own the guns.  Really smart gorillas die the same as dumb ones when shot in the face.
2. We make the reloads.  A really smart monkey with a gun only gets anywhere from six to thirty rounds from a commandeered weapon.
3. We got numbers.  Is this movie set in NYC?  Depending on where you want to draw the line, there are 8-18 million people in the area of NYC.  How many primates are there in all the zoos and research labs in America?  A few thousand?  The best they could hope for would be to sustain an indefinite gorilla war (pun int.).
4. This is an assumption, but is there any motivation for the primates to take over?  I can see an attempt to escape to the wild to be left alone.  But do apes really want to rule humans?  What would those reasons be?  Motivation is a big hurdle.

In the book, the apes were made intelligent and used as servants throughout society.  There was a gradual integration of the apes into the fabric of society and their numbers grew to fit demand.  This is much more plausible in a every-home-has-a-super-monkey society.  But even the book had to make a huge stretch by claiming everyone got so lazy, the people let the monkeys take over.  We have tons of lazies out there, but there are plenty of people who want to earn the cash for material wealth, travel, and political influence.  Plus, the lazies are not about to give up A/C, king sized beds, TV, and microwaves.  They are not going to wander back into the woods (like in the book).

To sum up, big brain baboons are not going to take over.  Now, super intelligent ants -- well, that is a whole other kettle of fish.

Capone's is a bar in Ft. Lauderdale decorated with memorabilia and photographs confirming that the intent was to name it after the famous Chicago mobster.  That plastic cup, concrete floor, well-drink serving, over-loud DJ mix, retard fest is so far away from the kind of speak-easy, classic-styled place befitting the mobster's a name.  It occurred to me that we are missing out on an opportunity to generate some very inexpensive, renewable, environmentally safe power.  It would be as simple as rigging a turbine to the end of the coffin of Al Capone.  It might also require one session with a psychic medium to tip of Old Al about this place.  In other words, Al Capone would be spinning in his grave if he knew what kind of crap shack bears his name and many copies of his likeness.  College towns need a bar or two like this, but bars like this should not be populated by anyone who is old enough to do post-graduate work.  Unfortunately, that described the majority of the people there.  This just confirms that I work with some lame-ass doofuses.  That will be the first and last time I agree to meeting them for a happy hour.

The drive home gave me a chance to listen to Rock Spectacle for the first time in a long while.  That is still a great album.

From our hike to the top of Sleeping Giant:

Lani and Dan on a peak overlooking the island.

We tried to take a hike into the Blue Hole a couple days ago.  Ultimately, we lost the trail in the jungle about a mile in.  Selected images:

Yesterday we went shore diving. I saw a sea turtle eating an octopus.  I also saw a monk seal on the beach.