8-Bit Jesus, recycling, burritos, Patton Oswalt
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Get into the holiday spirit by downloading this free mp3 album of Christmas music from Doctor Octoroc: 8-Bit Jesus: New Christmas Chip-tune Album. Relive 1980s Nintendo nostalgia to the beats of your favorite holiday songs! So far there are nine different chip-tune versions of classic Christmas songs done in the style of different NES games.
Last week’s news
In other Jesus news: A woman who has been suffering for years with various medical ailments believes she can see the image of the Virgin Mary in an MRI of her brain, and is auctioning the image to raise money. Watch this video: “Virgin Mary in woman’s brain?” Slow news day?
The New York Times tells us how to make a living on YouTube: “YouTube Videos Pull In Real Money.”
I don’t know if this is happening in Oregon, but recycling programs are disappearing around the country due to economic conditions: “Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up.”
Burritos
Last week I was having a discussion with some friends about burrito places in Corvallis and the unstoppable “fast casual” (halfway fast-food crap) or “Fresh Mex” dining phenomenon. As far as chain restaurants, there’s the new Chipotle (McDonald’s used to own a majority stake) that just opened on Monroe Avenue, plus there’s Qdoba (owned by Jack in the Box), Baja Fresh (used to be owned by Wendy’s) and Taco del Mar (doesn’t appear to be owned by any larger corporation of doom). As a side note, a friend pointed out that the evolution of the Burger King logo is kind of awesome (see Burger King logos). (BK doesn’t appear to own any fast casual chain, but they were bought out several years ago.) Regarding Corvallis restaurants, there does not appear to be a specific burrito category in The Alchemist’s first annual Alchy Awards. However, there is a “Best Mexican Restaurant” category, which includes El Presidente, El Sol de Mexico, La Conga (AKA Rigoberto’s), ZIA, Bombs Away Café, La Rockita and Tacos Uruapan.
Movies and amusements
Here are a couple of funny stand-up bits from comedian Patton Oswalt: At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas With A Shovel and Racist Cell Phones, Birth Control, and A Stupid Heckler.
Speaking of George Lucas-related crap, I give you Shia LaBeouf in “No No No NOo” video. The Lucas-LaBeouf connection is Indiana Jones 4, which I think we can all agree never actually happened.
Here are some movie recommendations from Roger Ebert: “The best films of 2008… and there were a lot of them.”
I was thinking about Aronofsky’s The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke and wondering (don’t ask me why) which of these tag teams of wrestlers would defeat the other. In the blue corner: Mickey Rourke, James Spader and David Duchovny. In the red corner: Jack Nicholson, James Spader and Christian Slater. FIGHT! (Yes, I know James Spader is in both groups. He somehow fits in with either team.)
I will end with three more weird/funny items: Zombies in Plain English, body parts made of bread and the Canadian “She-3PO” robot Aiko. (See this YouTube video featuring Aiko for this creepybot greatness: “I do not like it when you touch my breasts.”)