Why did they not have something like this when I was growing up? I remember wishing for something like this as a kid. My friends and I wanted a snowball gun for the various snowball wars we got into during the winters growing up.

And now they have one! The 80' Snowball Launcher.

This toy blaster makes and launches softball-sized snowballs up to 80', allowing rapid, long-range assaults during neighborhood snowball confrontations. Simply place snow in the forming chamber and close the lid, and it packs three perfectly spherical snowballs. To blast your mark, place one snowball in the muzzle, aim the launcher, and pull back the slingshot mechanism. Because the blaster is powered by elastomers instead of batteries, it provides uninterrupted, fast-action play. Made of durable, cold-resistant plastic. Includes targets for shooting practice. Ages 8 and up. 17 1/2" L x 5 1/2" W x 12" H. (2 1/2 lbs.)

I may have to pick up four of these, one for each of the family!

Posted by: Contagion at 01:34 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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For years I've been complaining about running zombies, they just can't run. But now Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead fame, has written an article regarding the problem with running zombies titled The Quick and The Dead (Not to be confused with the craptacular Sharon Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe movie).

...ZOMBIE DON'T RUN!
I know it is absurd to debate the rules of a reality that does not exist, but this genuinely irks me. You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run. It's a misconception, a bastardisation that diminishes a classic movie monster. The best phantasmagoria uses reality to render the inconceivable conceivable. The speedy zombie seems implausible to me, even within the fantastic realm it inhabits. A biological agent, I'll buy. Some sort of super-virus? Sure, why not. But death? Death is a disability, not a superpower. It's hard to run with a cold, let alone the most debilitating malady of them all.

More significantly, the fast zombie is bereft of poetic subtlety. As monsters from the id, zombies win out over vampires and werewolves when it comes to the title of Most Potent Metaphorical Monster. Where their pointy-toothed cousins are all about sex and bestial savagery, the zombie trumps all by personifying our deepest fear: death. Zombies are our destiny writ large. Slow and steady in their approach, weak, clumsy, often absurd, the zombie relentlessly closes in, unstoppable, intractable.

I couldn't sum it up better myself.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There is an 80's cartoon quiz, where they question your knowledge of, well, 80's cartoons. I took this just to see how much I remembered, after scoring a respectable 100% (Thanks to my sister for the femmi cartoons!), I wondered how many of my readers would score.

The sad part of it is that I recognized every single cartoon listed. I also was wondering why some of the other cartoons I watched weren't listed.

UPDATE: the link is fixed.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:15 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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When I first saw this my inner geek in a million voices cried out in joy and were suddenly silenced as I realized my wife would never let me own one. What could this wondrous thing be that brought my inner geek out? Nothing other than a Darth Vader Toaster!

If there's something every Sith Lord knows how to do it's make a balanced breakfast. While the Jedi have to live off of Jawa juice and fried nerfsteak, the Dark Lord of the Sith prefers to have a reminder of his fiery Mustafar defeat at his breakfast table. Every morning he burns that moment into a slice of bread with the Darth Vader Toaster. This black, ominous kitchen appliance easily leaves the mark of Vader's helmet in every yummy piece of toast. Slather some Bantha butter on top, or make two pieces for an extra-Sithy BLT. Force power not required to operate toaster.

Admit it, you want one too!

Posted by: Contagion at 11:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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TonightÂ’s beer review is sponsored by my blogless friend Wil. He brought this one up to the Colonial Ball for me to review. Some of you may remember Wil from previous infamous reviews of Yuengling. This time he provided me with Fireside Nut Brown by Leinenkugel Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls, WI.

The label on the bottle had a picture of a hearth with a fire blazing in it. The LeinenkugelÂ’s name is center, with the name of the beer in a golden banner under it. The label is rather busy and itÂ’s hard to describe in full all of the detail on it as there is a lot of writing. The neck label has the LeinenkugelÂ’s logo.

When poured into the glass it forms a quarter inch thick creamy tan head made of tiny bubbles. There is a nice dark brown color with an orange tint to it. Light passes through easily enough and there is no cloudiness to the beer itself. Yet it is dark enough that you canÂ’t see through it clearly.

The smell is a sweet combination of maple and caramel with a slight nuttiness to it. The flavor is a mild and unobtrusive combination of Hazelnuts, maple and sweet malts. There is almost no bitterness of hops at all. There really isnÂ’t much of an aftertaste, but there is a slightly sweet one. ItÂ’s not syrupy sweet (mmm tastes a little sappy), but gentle sweetness that is pleasant.

It is a light bodied beer with a medium carbonation level. It is very easy to drink and it slides past the mouth easy.

Over all this is a pretty good beer. ItÂ’s sweet enough to tickle the taste buds, but not so sweet as to be distracting. I found this to be a very pleasant beer to drink. Overall I give it 6 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:18 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The election results are in.

It's time.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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How the heck can they call a state for a candidate when they have less than 75% of the precincts reporting? Hell, the call Illinois for the Obamanation at 0% reporting. Seriously, this is why people decide that voting doesn't matter.

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The first polls are closing and I have a sick feeling in my stomach. You know the feeling I'm talking about, the one where something horribly bad is about to happen and you have no way to stop it. I really hope I'm wrong.... but I doubt it.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The day of reckoning is here in America. Today is the day that we, the people, will decide which leaders is going to flush our futures down there drain. ThatÂ’s right, IÂ’m telling you now it doesnÂ’t matter which party wins, we are equally in trouble.

DonÂ’t get me wrong, I love my country but seriously I think we are in a lot of trouble. I think we are on the brink a chasm that is going to swallow us and render a once mighty nation nothing more than the global whipping nation for every other country. I donÂ’t see a bright spot to this election at all, and that scares me. Hell, I didnÂ’t see a bright side to the election in 2004 and I was correct in my observations at that time. Now, now IÂ’m just scared and I hope to survive the turmoil of the next decade.

The only upside is that in the local election there was this:

Question of Enacting Concealed Carry.

Shall the General Assembly enact legislation to permit the carrying of concealed firearms?

IÂ’ve got a bad feeling weÂ’re going to need this now more than ever.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 And then if you wanted to *really* bring people down, we could always go into how due to the electoral college system their presidential vote doesn't really count anyway I did vote yes on the conceal carry, BTW.

Posted by: Shadoglare at November 04, 2008 11:51 AM (NK2Dj)

2 The question on the Concealed Carry amazes me. Currently in the State of Illinois, 85 of the 102 counties have passed resolutions calling for the passage of a concealed carry bill. But the General Assembly and Gov. ignore it.

Posted by: Petey at November 04, 2008 02:31 PM (5hVCv)

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Halloween was a smash. We had a great time, I have some pictures, I just haven't downloaded them yet, so I'm not sure how they turned out. Hey taking pictures in the dark is difficult!

There was only two things I had issues with on Halloween. I'm not complaining the weather was bad, because it was beautiful. Temps in the 60s, no wind, it was great... if you weren't wearing 4 layers of clothes and a heavy mask with grease paint makeup and latex glue! It was pretty hot. In fact I was sweating so bad that I thought I was going to drown in it. The nice thing is that all the kids could wear their costumes with out bulky coats on. The children where actually able to show off their costumes.

Speaking of costumes that was the other problem I had. There were a lot of older kids Trick or Treating. I'm talking middle school to high school aged kids. Now, I don't mind as long as they are in costumes, and the vast majority of them did. However, the costumes some of the girls were wearing they really ought not to be wearing... anywhere. They are just too young for the "I can't believe it's not fetish wear" costumes. One girl was wearing a pirate costume that she needed to shave in order to wear, and I'm not talking her legs. She was all of about 16... if that. I'm so glad I have boys.

I did get some good scares. Some of them screamed so loudly that a neighbor of mine from a block and a half away came down because, "She thought someone was getting killed". Yea, good times. One group of kids got so scared they all ran in different directions, and I never saw any of them again, so I don't know where or when they ever met up again.

Saturday, Wil and Red picked up Ktreva and I and we all went up to the ONW Colonial Ball in Janesville, WI. Ktreva looked extremely beautiful in a French polonaise dress she borrowed from Red. Her stunning beauty made my frontier heathen dress look even shabbier. Hell, the only thing special I put on was my kilt.

Yea, I just drag her down, but she sure does make me look a hell of a lot better.

The ball is the only time of the year that Ktreva actually gets me to dance with her. Mainly because neither of us dance, and I really don't like to make a fool out of myself. That doesn't stop me, I just don't like it.

We both had a great time. How could we not? We spent 24 hours with some of the best people that have walked the earth.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:17 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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