I can see the discussion at the water cooler now...

"Hi Jim."

"Hi Bob! Say, what are you two doing Saturday night? Want to come over for dinner"

"Hey, that'd be great! Think we could try out that fancy steel hot tub you and Sally bought?"

"Oh, I guarantee you'll find your way into that tub, Bob. Why don't you come over early, say 4, and bring some beers. And maybe a couple of pounds of onions while you're at it."

via Born Rich

via The Ridiculant

Instead, I submit for your enjoyment Ittemia Zensen, a Japanese site dedicated to manhole covers. Members take photos of said manhole covers (which granted are much more interesting than their US counterparts) with their phones and upload them, along with GPS data, to the site.

And it's more than manhole covers. Ittemia has several different areas called 'themes' which allow users to upload images of street signs, fire hydrants, and natural phenomenon such as Mount Fuji and roadside flowers.

From the referenced source:

The Web site started as an attempt to merge on- and offline experiences, and to collect and map little discoveries from daily life. Visitors can also contribute to pages devoted to other motifs, such as traffic signs, inverted-triangle traffic signs found on national roads, and train station signs. The site is the brainchild of Kei Takeda, an IT engineer from Hitachi's software division.

"I've now learned for the first time that the Internet can function to gather people's hidden hobbies in an instant. Even when something seems uninteresting, the mere fact of going somewhere to take a picture of it creates a strong bond, and there can be an upwelling of enthusiasm among those who share the same experience."

via The Mainichi Daily News

Here is the before image. This year we had one main ornament topped with barbecue sauce and poblano pepper stripes. It's surrounded by a bevy of mini-meatloaf ornaments, eached wrapped in two slices of bacon.

Here is the after image: this is the carnage caused by eight people.

The extra meatloaf meatballs will be used in this evening's traditional Christmas Day spaghetti. Another stupid tradition that I love dearly...

Seems that Arriginton thinks that the only appropriate use of a service is the way he himself would use it, because in the piece above he essentially says Scoble has sold his soul and family, not to mention his blog, for a couple thousand non-compensated tweets and FriendFeed posts.

I saw this and thought to my self "Well, self, I suppose it's possible that Scoble is hurting because of this. I mean, the economy is in the tank and all. Maybe his Twitter and FriendFeed activity really is taking the bread right out of the mouth of his family, and he just doesn't realize it."

And then, I took another look at Scoble's picture and laughed, because that is not the image of a man whose family is on the brink of starvation. I mean, he's obviously getting enough to eat (sorry, but it's true). Not to mention the fact that a large portion (no, not the majority) of his posts on FriendFeed in some way mention his family and their activities. Doesn't sound like the issue-avoiding addicts I've known in my day.

Perhaps most telling is the fact that Scoble is in fact still working. I know, crazy talk right? I mean hell, Arrington, did you even look at Scoble's feed on FriendFeed? Seriously, the man flies around to more events than a cheesy motivational speaker. He's got a sponsor, he blasts information about them out to the world, blah blah blah. It's pretty obvious to anyone who chooses to look that the man is still working and in some way or another still getting paid, so there will be food on the table tonight.

So if it's not the family, then it must be the soul, right? Arrington says Scoble has given his time and authority over to Twitter and FriendFeed without compensation, building their services and receiving nothing in return. With that point of view, Arrington must really hate people that volunteer and act as charitable spokepeople, too, since it's obviously they're getting nothing in return for the time and energy they put into those activities... Just to be honest, it's a sad day in the world when the only thing that matters is how much you're getting paid to do something you enjoy. Why the hell isn't the enjoyment of it enough?

And all we're left is the blog, which is all I can tell Arrington is really upset about. Not the fact that the family is starving or that Scoble is being taken advantage of by the big, bad social media conglomerate sites. It's the fact that he doesn't blog enough and now Arrington doesn't get as much to read.

You poor thing...

If you'd like, I'd be happy to point you to some new content with which to fill your time. The internet is an amazing thing that contains more than just TechCrunch  and Scobleizer. I know, I know: it's a shocking thing for you to learn, but it's true. There is an entire internet out there full of people and sites that don't talk about themselves, or social media, or anything like that. Granted, they probably aren't using the internet or all of its services the way you would which means you won't want to associate with them, but still...

If you're biggest gripe is that Scoble isn't blogging enough for your taste, then just find some new stuff to add to your reader. It's the internet, not rocket science...

Click through for the full glory, but my personal favorites are:

Out: Goldman Sachs
In: Gold in sacks

Out: Stock Market
In: Flea Market

Out: Makeovers
In: Leftovers

Thank you, NPR, for bringing a chuckle right when we needed it!

Got your own additions for the Out/In list? Post 'em in the comments, or click through and leave NPR some comment love!

This means that, if you're like me, you're in a flurry of activity trying to get gifts (not to mention getting them wrapped and/or hidden), decorate, get the house cleaned so people can come over, and attend umpteen parties while making sure you wear at least one article of red or green clothing.

With all that going on, it's easy to forget the real meaning of the Christmas season. That's right, I'm talking about the stupid Christmas traditions.

First up: Yugoslavia. Apparently there is a long-standing heritage of mild S&M in this nation:

In Yugoslavia, children celebrate the second Sunday before Christmas as Mother's Day. The children creep in and tie her feet to a chair and shout, "Mother's Day, Mother's Day, what will you pay to get away?" She then gives them presents. Children play the same trick on their father the week after.

Nice.

Greenland opts to one-up Yugoslavia in the weirdness factor, however, by eating a hearty dish of kiviak

raw flesh of an auk which has been buried whole in sealskin for several months until they have reached an advanced stage of decomposition.

They also play a game where some object is passed around the table underneath the tablecloth. If I had to guess, I'd say it was someone's serving of kiviak.

Greece takes it in another direction all together, getting literal with their interpretation of St. Nicholas as the patron saint of sailors. For them, good old St. Nick is covered with sweat and brine from working so hard to save lost ships. Kind of a creepy image to have when you image Santa Claus sneaking into your house at night, don't you think?

Now, don't get offended, okay? I'm including my family traditions in this post, too, because they come across as rather stupid to people who don't know any better.

"ORLY?" you say. "Prove it."

Well, first of all, we open our presents Christmas Eve. It's a German thing, my great-grandfather was German, ergo Christmas Eve = Presents. Stockings were filled by Santa and were ravaged on Christmas morning. I say 'were', but in reality I still get a stocking at the age of 30. Last year, there was vodka in the toe...

Not enough, you say?

Alright, how's this for stupid: every Christmas Eve my family eats ornament shaped meatloaves. As soon as I find a pic of one I'll post it (yes, it might wait until I get on in the wild next week), but it's true: my mother makes holiday meatloaves. Let me preface this by saying that my mother is a meatloaf goddess and has been blessed with the ability to make this amazingly wonderful concoction. If you're a meatloaf hater, it's because you've not had proper meatloaf so keep your trap shut =)

It all started with Valentine's Day when I was seven or eight: she made a heart shaped meatloaf with ketchup on top. We loved it. Adored it, even. The Valentine's Day meatloaf has withstood the test of time, and a few years ago it inspired my mother to try making an ornament shaped meatloaf. You know, round with a little knob on top where the hanger would go. She topped it with ketchup, and then wrapped the knob in foil.

We were in meatloaf heaven. Now every year she makes a large Christmas ornament meatloaf, plus several smaller meatloaves: one apiece for my sister and I to take home and have meatloaf sandwiches, plus two or three more to tide her and my father over. Some are topped with ketchup, some with barbecue sauce, some with green salsa. The knobs are always wrapped in silver, and now she decorates the meatloaves with stripes made red and green bell peppers.

Needless to say, my husband (and both of my sister's ex-husbands) found this to be a rather odd tradition. It only took a year or two for them to agree, though, that it's just not Christmas without meatloaf.

Now it's your turn. What are your stupid Christmas traditions?

Every.Freaking.Morning.

And then by about noon eastern, the subscribers are back. Am I supposed to believe, Feedburner, that everyone reading my feed unsubscribes at midnight and then has a change of heart at noon? Do you really think I'm that stupid? 

Don't answer that, it was a hypothetical question...

I don't know how much longer I can take this, my dear readers. I'm going to start checking out alternatives, so I'm sorry in advance if I wind up asking you to jump through some hoops when/if I change my feed.

Beautiful cripsy, curly, bacon-y bacon...

Wait, where was I?

That's right: eating healthy with bacon. Don't believe me? Check out a great site called The Daily Plate which has tons of nutritional information for grocery and restaurant items. Specifically, take a look at the listing for Hormel Black Label Bacon (our grocery store bacon of choice).

Two pan fried slices gets you 80 calories, 7g of fat and 5g of protein. Yeah, I know, you're freaking out about the fat. Chill, OK? You're allowed about 60 grams in any given day, those 7 grams aren't going to kill you. Plus, try microwaving it: do it right and it still turns out crispy but you lose some of the fat and calories.

And before you get started on the sodium and cholesterol rant, let me point out that if the rest of your day's food consists of lean meat, whole grains, and veggies prepared in healthy fats, the little bit in those two slices of bacon ain't gonna kill you.*

* Note - I'm not a doctor, and if you or a loved one dies from two slices of bacon, don't even try to sue me. This isn't medical advice, if you take it as such you're an asshat.

The whole point of this is that yes, it is entirely possible to be a healthy human being and still indulge in something you really, truly love. We've all heard about the health benefits of red wine and dark chocolate, two food groups that were once considered completely off limits. I'm not saying bacon is going to become the dark chocolate (but damn I wish it would!), but I am saying that if those two slices make you feel as if you're eating like a normal person, then do it to it.

Photo Credit: Dan4th @Flickr

EDIT - Fixed a typo in the headline. Yeah, I'm aware it's a stupid and common mistake. I provide nothing but the best stupid mistakes here on IsThisStupid.com =)

C is wishing death to the liars at Larkin's. GF my butt. 12:22p

T at 1:48pm December 10 - Booo! But, hopefully they didn't *actually* GF your butt o_O

C at 2:03pm December 10 - I think I'd be in better shape today if they did. : (

A at 2:28pm December 10 - Once I figured out what GF was...this exchange is very funny.

A is a guy that I went to highschool with who caught the tail end of a very confusing conversation. Literally...  *snicker*

And in case you're trying to figure it out: my sister has celiac disease and can only eat gluten free food. The consequences of non-gluten free food include some unpleasant 'southern revenge'.