Facebook users may have noticed a slightly different look to their profile page today. (If you haven’t yet, you will in the coming days.) The social networking site has undergone an overhaul in an effort to make the site’s interface more efficient and less cluttered.
Personally, I like the cleaned up look. My favorite part is that it finally relegates most of those pesky applications to their own designated tab. But some users may be annoyed to find some applications such as “ILike” are no longer a part of their profile page.
If you’d like to get a head start on getting used to the new design, you can make the switch by going to www.new.facebook.com. The roll-out to Facebook’s 80 million users should be completed by the end of the week.
We run pools around here for everything from the NCAA tournament to the Kentucky Derby - so why not use the arrival of our new baby as another reason to pick a winner!??!
We’ve created a baby pool at ExpectNet. All you have to do is pick the gender (that part’s easy if you’ve been paying attention), date and time of arrival, length and weight. The winner will win some sort of baby-related prize.
Don’t post your guesses in the comments below, they will not count!
Each month nearly 3,000 people do something those of us who were born in America never had to - take the citizenship test. It’s just one part of the 8 to 14 month process of becoming a United States citizen, but it might be the most difficult.
MSNBC posted a sampling of the test questions on their website. If you were to take the test today, would you be eligible for citizenship? Not if you score less than 80%.
I’ve you’ve been watching Last Comic Standing this season (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?) you’ve no doubt seen the “Christian acoustic duo” known as God’s Pottery. Freaking hilarious.
Last night they performed their tribute to abstinence titled “The Pants Come Off When the Ring Goes On.” I wish there was video up of that tune, but I haven’t been able to find it yet. In the meantime here’s their Rosh Hashanah tune “A Brand New Start with Christ.”
Christianity used to have the market cornered when it came to proselytizing the masses by way of cornball slogans on t-shirts. But these days everyone is getting in on the act!
George Carlin was an absolute genius, and the comedic world will no doubt suffer in his absence.
I wanted to post a tribute to him, but found myself short on clips that were appropriate to share with a broad audience. (I do try to keep this place in the PG-13 range after all.) Thankfully the Daily News has saved the day. The following jokes are taken from an article they ran today showcasing some of Carlin’s “G-rated” humor.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
In America, anyone can become President. That’s the problem.
Is it true that cannibals don’t eat clowns because they taste funny?
If the “black box” flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn’t the whole airplane made out of that stuff?
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
I’m completely in favor of the separation of church and state. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
Friday night I took in a performance by The Skatalites, some of the early pioneers of Jamaican music. There are only a handful of original members that remain alive and part of the band, but it was really cool to see those old cats (they must be in their late-60s or 70s) move a crowd full of young and old alike. For me, the cherry on top was when they performed “Simmer Down” - the very first single by Mr. Bob Marley and his Wailin’ Wailers on which the The Skatalites were the backing band.
I was going to split my time between Third World and Soullive but the thunderstorms chased me back home. That’s ok. That one performance was well worth the price of admission and is definitely among my favorite concert experiences to date.
I took in quite a few more performances on Saturday. I started off by watching my alma mater - the Newark High School Jazz Band - play a peppy little set at the Gibbs Street stage. From there I stumbled across a humble little set being performed at the Bernunzio Uptown Music Store by The Ted Perry Jazz Project.
From there I wandered around a bit and took in a little from the Gates-Chili High School Jazz Band, the Ben Britton Band (yes Tim and Jim, that’s why I stopped!), and listened to several tunes from Carolyn Wonderland’s soundcheck.
Carolyn Wonderland - What Happened to Peace on Earth?
Then I went home to drop off my stuff lock up my bike and great ready for the main event!
Medeski, Martin & Wood were absolutely phenomenal. They exceeded every expectation I had!
I started watching the show with my buddy Brian but eventually I just had to work my way as close to the stage as possible. How close? Well, I was standing right next to the photographer who took the photo above. Yeah, seeing one of your absolute favorite bands from about 10 feet away doesn’t suck!
Their set was smokin’, but got even hotter once they brought Rochester native Chuck Campbell in on the final four songs to accompany them with some filthy steel guitar! After they closed the set with a funky rendition of Hendrix’s “Hey Joe,” Shane went home a very happy (and tired) boy.
Great festival and yet again, record crowds. I’m already counting down the days until next year!
Today marks the kickoff of the 7th annual Rochester International Jazz Festival. The event features over 800 artists, performing over 250 concerts around the city between now and Saturday, June 21st. The Bertou clan figures to be regular fixtures each night at the free “Jazz Street Stage” on the corner of Gibbs St. & East Ave.
Another new semi-regular installment of SB.com is a theme where the absurdity of reality speaks for itself. A mish-mash of whatever the cat coughs up which sometimes makes you wonder, “Who the heck thought this was a good idea?” and at other times causes you to scream, “Lord save us!”
For example:
Want to hear it? (Who are you to resist?) Then go here. (Only available for a few more days.)
Yesterday afternoon I received the following email from Cheryl:
So do you think that maybe at our new house we might NOT have two homeless dudes screaming profanities at each other in front of the house because one thinks the other one stole his cans?
A bizaare scenario to be sure. Equally bizaare was the conversation I had while home on my lunch break this afternoon.
While sitting in front of a large bay window in our dining room/office I see this dude carting a huge bag of cans from the back part of our lawn to the street. Now, there is a large fence surrounding our yard, so I was annoyed to think this dude (obviously) hopped our fence to cut through our yard. So I went outside to confront him.
Me: Say man, I’m gonna have to ask you not to climb our fence or cut through our yard. You can go around to get to the street.
Homeless Dude: But, I didn’t climb your fence.
Me: (Confused) Well, I saw you carrying your cans through our yard, so you must have climbed it to get there!
HD: No. I kept my cans in your yard last night, behind that tree right there. They were too heavy for me to carry anymore.
Me: Ooooh kay. Well, in that case I’m definitely going to have to ask you not to do that again!
For Father’s Day a few years ago (or maybe it was my birthday?) I got a real boss two-basket deep fryer. Since then we’ve had numerous opportunities to fire that bad boy up and gorge ourselves on some deep-fried goodness.
I’m pretty much addicted to wings, so we have a tendency to make them on a fairly regular basis. And whenever our friends have been over for one of our fried food frenzies my wings always get compliments. For whatever reason, everybody likes them. But the sauce is so ridiculously easy to make I’m amazed more people don’t know how to make a decent wing for themselves.
So for the betterment of the human cause, let me take a minute to share my “secret ingredients”: Red hot, butter
Seriously, it’s that easy folks. But let me break it down a little more specifically.
Step 1:
Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter in a large plastic container.
Step 2:
Add 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot, “Original” flavor, hot sauce. Stir in thoroughly.
If you like your wings a little hotter and the sauce a little thicker in consistency, give it another dash of red hot. If you like it more mild, use maybe a 1/4 cup less red hot.
Frank’s original is king, don’t buy another brand and don’t go for any of that “Chile ‘n Lime,” “Xtra Hot,” or “Buffalo Wing” nonsense. Just go with Ol’ Faithful. You can buy it by the gallon at Sam’s Club (we do), and it’ll keep forever.
Step 3:
Give it a taste. If you like your wings with some more kick, add a tablespoon of Tabasco. Again, stick with the original flavor.
That’s it folks. Two (or three) steps is all it takes to make Buffalo Wings that will forever gain the praise of your party guests. Except now that everyone knows how ridiculously easy it is, my wings may never be complimented again!
OK, so I’ve been wanting to add “Caption This” as a regular feature for a while now. And Wednesday’s installment was a long time coming. But now that I saw this photo, I totally regret wasting it on the last one.
So we get two “Caption This” installments this week. Both featuring Hillary Clinton. I promise, next time it’ll be someone/something else.
As if I needed another reason to make the switch to Apple with my next computer purchase.
According to Forbes.com, Apple has filed a patent to place solar cells in portable devices such as the iPhone, iPod and even their Powerbook laptop computers. This would virtually eliminate the need to charge devices by conventional methods such as outlets and USB cables as these devices would be able to constantly charge themselves through the use of solar energy!
File under: Brilliant Ideas that Should Have Been Obvious
