Something Shiny

I’m not sure why I feel like a cat being petted backwards in a room full of rocking chairs every time this commercial comes on the television, but thank goodness someone fixed it.

Jonny etc’s Breakfast Safari.

Ah, Scott Meyer pits pint-sized pirates against petite princesses and, as usual, hilarity ensues. He also manages to get in a jab at SUV owners as an added bonus. Click the frame to the right to go through to the full strip.

Brilliant. – There, I Fixed It – Redneck Repairs.

The latest installment of Basic Instructions makes me “not angry.” Click the pic for the full strip.

I’m not sure why everyone seems obliged to try to get in on April Fool’s day, but it leads to a ton of crap that isn’t funny. So far, the only thing that’s caught my eye was the Living Social deal for Spalami (in Porkland). Check out the promo video below, or just hit their site for details. At this point, runner up is Think Geek’s Angry Bird Pork Rinds. But after the brilliant Tuantaun sleeping bag and iCade of years past, I’m a little disappointed in TG’s showing this year.

There’s a new brewery going into St. Louis Park, and they need our help. Check out the video, then read on below for more information.

If you want to throw a few bucks in the hat (contingent on them reaching their goal of $35,000), head over to their Kick Starter page and check out the swag and behind the scenes access you can get in return for your generous contribution. Pledges have stalled out as of late so please pass on the word to anyone you know who might be interested.

Click the pick to find out how you connect the birth of Jesus with Kenny Loggins.

I like beer and I enjoy making it myself. It’s perhaps not the most healthy of habits, the making and drinking of beer, but competitive eating was just too difficult to break into. You had to sign up for events… go to those events… it all seemed like a huge hassle. Home brewing, on the other hand is much easier, especially if you have a quality kit and retailer to support you. It’s only slightly more difficult than making a large (5 gallon) batch of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Living in the Twin Cities, I have the good fortune of being conveniently located near Midwest Supplies, a fantastic home brew (and wine making, and hydroponic gardening, and cheese making) shop. The gear is great, the ingredients are fresh, and the pre-packaged recipe kits (the box of Mac ‘n’ Cheese, if you will), are outstanding.

So why am I blathering on about competitive eating, macaroni and cheese, and brewing my own beer today? Well, Groupon has a deal today for either $42 or $44 (depending on whether the page title or buy button are correct) to get you setup with nearly everything you need to brew your first batch of beer including most of the gear, and all of the ingredients. All you need to provide yourself is a really big pot and 48 empty bottles. Don’t have the empty bottles? Well, you have about two weeks from the time you start brewing to the time you need to bottle. I’m sure you can figure something out.

So, if you’re interested in brewing your own, pick up the Midwest Supply Groupon. It’s one of their holiday ones, so it actually runs for a couple days, good through Thursday, 12/16. Looks like you can either pick it up in store, or have it shipped to you for about $10. For the amount of gear you get, $10 for shipping seems more than fair.

And here I thought I wouldn’t have anything fun to post on this festive Friday. This is… this is brilliant. It’s like a time machine to Christmas-past in some friend’s half-assed finished basement. Be sure to check out the TV Guide in the upper right hand corner for the listings.

Click the pic or here for the BetaMaXmas experience.