Monthly Archives: October 2009

Walmart is selling what?!?! (Coffins)

coffinArticle here! That’s totally crazy. What next? Actual holes in the ground in your local Walmart Cemetery?

The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, now plans to hold on to customers even after they die – by selling coffins.

Prices range from a “Mom” or “Dad Remembered” steel coffin for $895 (£540), to a bronze model at $2,899.

The retailer is allowing customers to plan ahead by paying for the caskets over 12 months for no interest. They can be dispatched within 48 hours.

“From cradles to coffins” – could be quite the tag-line. I do agree with this part of the article: Pat Lynch, of the National Funeral Home Directors Association, told AP news agency: “There’s no question in my mind as a funeral director for nearly 40 years that the most critical element is the human contact.” I think people will always want a personalized service for something as important as this. Getting a coffin shipped to you in a huge box somehow just seems creepy.

Nick Swardson is getting a show on Comedy Central!

nick_swardson_v9One of my favorite comics, Nick Swardson, is getting his own show! Article here:

It’s Nick Swardson’s party…and you’re invited! After numerous hit movies, highly-rated stand-up specials and memorable appearances on “Reno 911!,” COMEDY CENTRAL greenlights a new, half-hour weekly sketch series starring comedian Nick Swardson and executive produced by Swardson, Tom Gianas, Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions and Sony Pictures Television, it was announced today by Lauren Corrao, president, original programming and development, COMEDY CENTRAL. The new series is slated to begin production in November and is scheduled to premiere in 2010.

“We love Nick at COMEDY CENTRAL and even more importantly, our audience loves Nick,” said Corrao. “We’ve seen it in his movies, his stand-up, with his ‘Reno 911!’ character ‘Terry,’ and in the work he’s done developing Gay Robot. We can’t wait to expand his creative voice into a sketch series.”

“I’m very excited to be working with COMEDY CENTRAL,” said Swardson. “They are great people who understand me creatively. They also are very good looking…a lot of 8 and 9’s in the office, guys are probably in the 4’s.”

Executive produced by Swardson, Gianas (“Saturday Night Live,” “Human Giant”), Happy Madison and Sony Pictures Television, the fast paced live-action sketch show is a weekly series that centers around Swardon’s twisted comedic viewpoint. The series will include irreverent digital shorts, man-on-the-street segments and animation inspired by the internet sensation “Gay Robot,” which follows the life of a gay robot and his frat boy friends. Seth Cohen and Scott Landsman are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

Probably will be pretty off-color, but should be good for plenty of hyuks and thigh-slapping opportunities.

Happy 123rd Birthday to the Statue of Liberty!

statue-liberty-1886-celebrationOn this day in 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

The statue’s full name was Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World. It had been a gift from French citizens to their American friends in recognition of the two countries’ commitment to liberty and democracy and their alliance during the American Revolutionary War, which had begun 110 years earlier. The 151-foot copper statue was built in France and shipped to New York in 350 separate parts. It arrived in the city on June 17, 1886, and over the next several months was reassembled while electricians worked to wire the torch to light up at night.

As President Cleveland accepted the statue on behalf of American citizens, he declared “we will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.” The statue quickly became a symbol of America’s humanitarianism and willingness to take in the world’s “tired, poor and huddled masses”–in the words of the poem by Emma Lazarus inscribed on the monument’s pedestal–who yearned for freedom and a better life.

“Lady Liberty” was originally intended to work as a functional lighthouse and, from 1886 to 1901, the statue was operated by the United States Lighthouse Board. In 1901, the War Department took over its operation and maintenance. The statue and the island on which it stands, now known as Liberty Island, were together proclaimed a national monument by President Calvin Coolidge on October 15, 1924, and, in 1933, the National Park Service assumed oversight of the monument. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan established a commission tasked with restoring the deteriorating Lady Liberty in time for a centennial celebration in 1986. A joint French-American preservation and rehabilitation group cleaned the statue and replaced the glass and metal torch with gold leaf. The original torch is on display in the statue’s lobby.

Today, the Statue of Liberty is a major tourist attraction, hosting as many as 5 million people every year. Although access to the statue’s crown was restricted following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, tourists can still visit Liberty Island, and the statue’s pedestal observation deck and museum.

Some cool stats about Lady Liberty here.

(Many thanks to France and those who paid for her.)

What would you do for World Series tickets?

wsprostituteApparently, this lady was willing to trade a bit of time with her body. Craigslist continues to be the avenue for just about anything.

Police say the desperate fan asked for two tickets.
“This is just an individual that got caught up in it, I guess in the hype of the Phillies World Series, she wanted her ticket at any cost and was willing to go the extra mile,” Fred Harran of the Bensalem Police Department said.

The extra mile, indeed.

Win a copy of The Insect that Stole Butter? Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins

bookThought I would pass this along. As the post title says, you can win a copy of a book of word origins, which is just peaches in my opinion. You can read more about the book here.

In order to win, you can enter by going here and answering the quiz question.

I could give you the answer, but that would ruin the fun, right? (If you want to cheat, Google can help you, but you didn’t hear that from me.)

I’m psyched! The Grammar Devotional

grammardevotionalEver get the feeling that you wish you could study English usage more often, but don’t have the proper structure to make sure it happens every day? Search no more! Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, has written the book for you. The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl “serves up 365 lessons on language that are sure to inspire. Filled with new, bite-size writing tips, fun quizzes and  puzzles, and efficient memory tricks, The Grammar Devotional gives you a daily dose of knowledge to improve your writing and also serves as a lasting reference you’ll use for years to come.” Ms. Fogarty has been kind enough to share parts of the book with her followers, including the entire first month! You may click here to download the first month, in which she discusses some of the most  common usage issues that come up. I very much look forward to this book.

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