Category: Random Rants

Salt Fresh Multi-Vitamin Colgate — this is what happens when you’re not paying attention to what you’re buying in a Thai Family Mart. I needed toothpaste. I know the Colgate brand. The box was shiny. Ergo, I made the purchase. Had I been paying closer attention, I would never have bought this vile (so-called) toothpaste. It was the strangest thing I put in my mouth since that time in Cabo when…uhm, never mind that. This toothpaste is gross! Salt?!? Really?!? I want to meet the genius that said, “Hey, know what we should do? Let’s make a toothpaste with a shockingly strong and salty flavor. The people will love it!”

Please let my experience be a warning for all of you. Never buy Salt Fresh Multi-Vitamin Colgate. This is probably the best advice I’ve given in years.

Hi all! Thanks for leaving comments while I’ve been in New York dealing with a sickness in the family. It’s been tough, but things are getting better. Also, I’m pretty sure that my knees have frozen off. It’s hard for me to deal with this kind of weather; not really sure how I grew up like this. A decade in California and a year in Thailand have definitely thinned out my blood.

Now for a random food rant! Here are some photos of some of the goodies I gobbled up with my brother, as well as a checklist of what we ate.

• Pizza (three times) — It’s still mind boggling that 99.9 percent of the pizza places in California can’t come close to NY pizza.
• Bagels (two times) — It’s not as bad as the pizza, but NY bagels make CA bagels look silly.
• Dunkin’ Donutes (two times) — This is more of a nostalgia thing. I generally prefer mom-and-pop bakery donuts.
• Black and White Cookie — Another thing that’s hard to find in California. It seems so simple, yet….
• Hot-Open Turkey — I miss East Coast diners. The ones in CA are healthier, but the variety and portions aren’t the same.
• Mozzarella Fries with Gravy — It’s almost like poutine, but without the curds. Another one of my diner favorites.
• Hot Dog — Onions and sauerkraut, naturally.

My brother and I were planning to hit up White Castle, but didn’t get around to it. Sure, you can buy the frozen ones at the grocery, but it’s not the same. Also, the jalapeño cheeseburgers aren’t available frozen. I’ll regret not grabbing White Castle when I was so close to it, but pizza was clearly the most important foodstuff to get.

I’m actually writing this from JFK and have several hours before my flight. Regular posting will resume shortly. I missed you guys!

After several press conferences, preview events, and a full day of the expo, I’m pretty sure this is the worst thing I’ll see at CES 2012. You know Jay-Z’s song “99 Problems“? Some company took it upon itself to twist the lyrics to the song into a marketing message. I was talking to my friend from HP when I caught the sign from the corner of my eye. I said, “Does that sign really say that?!?” To which he replied, “No f**king way!” Looking at the sign makes me chuckle (from the utter lameness) and get a headache at the same time.

Super important poll today! How should toilet paper roll? Some folks say over is the way to go. Others are more comfortable with it rolling under. It’s an important lifestyle choice and I’d love to hear how you roll. Kindly vote in today’s poll and explain your decision in the comments section.

[poll id=”141″]

I recently had an argument with a friend over caramel apples vs. candy apples. To me, one is vastly superior to the other. I’m honestly shocked on the rare occasion that I hear someone preferring the lesser snack over the obviously greater one. I chalk it up to bad taste or a defective gene. Just to check myself, I want your opinion on the matter. Kindly vote in today’s poll and back up your choice in the comments section.

[poll id=”140″]

I kind of have a man-crush on Warren Buffett at the moment. He recently wrote an editorial calling for higher taxes for people that make more than $1-million. He explains things clearly and his reasoning is sound. As an example, he pointed out the absurdity of the low tax rates he currently enjoys:

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.

Firstly, I love the term “super-rich”. It makes me think that Buffett and his friends parade around in capes…because they can. I wonder if I qualify as super-poor. I’m certainly not in the middle-class at the moment, but neither am I homeless or hungry. I’m pretty this makes me super-poor. Do I get a cape too?

Secondly, I think I’m going to have to abandon Margaritaville and promote Warren to my favorite Buffett. Sorry Jimmy.

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Here are two random photos from Comic Con 2011 that crack me up. Above is Microsoft’s Major Nelson conducting an interview. I love how the Kinect sensor was tracking him the whole time. A bunch of us were goofing on him while he was interviewing because we’re mature that way.

If you’ve ever been to downtown San Diego then you know that pedi-cabs are abundant. Depending on what’s going on around town, you’ll see a variety of sponsored pedi-cabs with themes. My favorite was this Iron Throne pedi-cab sponsored by HBO’s Game of Thrones. I want one!

It’s true! Do you know how I know this? Virgin Mobile’s Sarah Carroll said so. It was great spending the Thursday of E3 2011 seeing all kinds of outstanding games, but I missed Sarah. She was so sweet in the YouTube video above. If you can, please drop her a line on her Twitter account to tell her that you agree that I am the Brad Pitt and/or Angelina Jolie of videogame verbal entertainers and don’t forget to CC me.