Today is International Bacon Day, make sure you cook some bacon.

If I wasn't in a condition that limited me from doing so, I'd be having a Bacon Explosion or two today.

Since I can't make one today, I'm promising to all that come to my full recovery party that I'll make at least two!

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Tomorrow, April 16th, is the 262nd anniversary of the Battle of Culloden. For those of you that have been reading me over the last four years may remember my alter ego regailing his story of Culloden and the Clearances. For those that don't want to do the reading, Culloden was the last of the battles for the Jacobite cause that ultimately ended the Scottish Clan system and a national heritage.

Tomorrow, I'm getting together with some friends and hitting the Hope and Anchor, an English Pub, to help remind them of the what happened.

For some fun, here are a couple of video clips regarding Culloden, The first is from the Culloden Battlefield Experience in Scotland.

Trailer for audiovisual film at National Trust For Scotland's new Culloden Battlefield Experience. A dramatic reconstruction of the Battle of Culloden, the last battle fought on British soil on 16th April 1746 between the Jacobite supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie and The British Army of George II. Directed by Craig Collinson & Produced by Nobles Gate.

And short tour of the battlefield done to The Ghosts of Culloden.

If you are going to be in the area, you can join us. The whole family will be there.

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Yesterday at work, Bruce comes over to me and shows me an ad for a new place in town, Hope and Anchor English Pub. It just opened and he wanted to go check it out, probably because the ad boasted “the girls wear the shortest kilts in town.” I thought, "hell why not!" He met me at my house after work and we headed off to the pub.

We got there and the atmosphere seemed really nice. It wasnÂ’t too loud, there was music, but it never interfered with conversation. They had pool tables, dart boards and TVs, but the sound on the TV wasnÂ’t even audible, at least not from where we were sitting.

The menu only had a about a dozen items, but they did have Bangers and Mash, Cottage Pie, Fish and Chips, Scotch Eggs, Cornish Pasties and other English, Irish and Scottish food. Sorry, no haggis! They even had real HP sauce for the pasties! I had the pasties and a Scotch egg. The pasties were good, I was pleasantly surprised. The Scotch egg wasnÂ’t quite right. First it was served cold. I feel they are the best at room temperature, but you could tell this was pulled out of a fridge. Then they quartered it. I know they did that so that the patrons would have an easier time eating it, so I can forgive that. However, I donÂ’t know what they rolled the egg in, but it wasnÂ’t oats. It was some kind of breading. It didnÂ’t taste bad, but it isnÂ’t a traditional style Scotch egg. Somebody around us got the Fish and Chips and they looked and smelled fantastic.

The beer selection left a lot to be desired. They had Guinness, Bass, Stella Artois, Newcastle, Bud Light, Miller Light and Wood Pecker hard cider on tap. They had a handful of bottled beers, but the selection wasnÂ’t much. At least they had some good beers on tap. I couldnÂ’t help but to recommend some beers they may want to try stocking to go with the theme. As long as they have Miller Lite, Stella Artois, Guinness and BassÂ… IÂ’ll be fine.

Unfortunately none of the staff was wearing kilts. Apparently the girls only wear those on the weekends. Before you ask, we are planning on going back to check it out this weekend. We also had a great bartender, Amy. She was nice, personable and really kept us happy. Even later in the evening when it was just Bruce and I in the place she sat there and chatted with us.

The prices were good too. The average entrée was under $10.00 and the tap beer ran $2.50 for domestic to $4.00 for import. That’s pretty standard for Rockford.

On a Monday night it wasnÂ’t very busy, but IÂ’m interested to see how it is on a Friday or Saturday. I want to see if the music gets too loud or if it becomes impossible to have a conversation. Also they have a stage for bands to play on, so IÂ’m interested to see what kind of bands they will get. If it keeps up the high impression itÂ’s given me, this could move into my top five favorite bars.

Even if I do have to sit under a sign that says "God Bless the Queen" and I'm a Jacobite!

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Well I know what I would do if I had $15.6 septillian dollars. It wouldn't be to fix the economy. I wouldn't help the poor or the third world. No, I would build my own real life Death Star. Death Star Costs $15.6 Septillion, 1.4 Trillion Times the US Debt.

Now of course the jobs it would create making it would fix the economy... but hey!

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As you might have noticed, I have a special love for bacon. I keep trying to find new and interesting ways to cook and serve it. Hence how I found the Bacon Cake!

It's all I want for valentines day! lol

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Speaking of Movies... Here's a trailer for a new cartoon movie that looks interesting. It's based on another planet... and humans are the aliens. Check out the Official Planet 51 Trailer.

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all I can say about this recipe is yum.... Bacon. All hail the Bacon Explosion.

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Over at Listal, basically a place that makes lists, they have a post up of Almost Unrecognizable actors. It's a list of various actors that have done roles that required them to wear make up. This list is what they feel is the best jobs were you can barely tell it's the actor. Some of them I disagree with, you could tell Mrs. Doubtfire was Robin Williams, etc. If you like movies, you'll probably find this list interesting.

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This video is in Japanese, but you can get the general idea of what they are talking about.

I need to get me one of these. I don't know how well it will work as an alarm clock, but it sure would be fun.

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Here's a video clip that I found really interesting. It's a series of time lapse pictures of the sky.

I found this over at Astronomy Picture of the Day. The website says it gives a different picture each day, but it hasn't been updated since December 31st.

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I didn't even know they made remote control jets until I saw this video.

All I could think when I saw that jet crash in a fiery ball, is that the guy that owned it had to be pissed. Those things can't be cheap.

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I'm actually pretty impressed with the overall look of the finalized product. I didn't think you could do something that fast with spray paint and have it actually not look like a complete piece of crap.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:56 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Anyone that knows me, knows I love bacon. It may not be a completely healthy obsession (both physically and psychologically), but it is one. So this week when searching the internet I found the best bacon combination for the holidays

First, for those of us that want to just decorate the house with Bacon. You have Bacon Christmas tree ornaments!

Then on Christmas day you can have a a Turbaconducken. I've never had a Turducken before, but when I finally have one, it's going to be wrapped in bacon. MMMMmmmmmm Bacon.

Doesn't that look delicious!

Then finally, as a side dish you can have, what appears to be, the best bacon food stuff I've ever seen. It combines bacon with another guilty pleasure of mine... Cheese! We have the Bacon and Cheese Roll.

Oh c'mon you know that looks sinfully delicious.

If I have a heart attack before the New Year... you'll know why.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:40 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Not ones that are actual biohazards, just ones that are in the shape of biohazard symbols. Over at Juggling Frogs they have a way to make your own cookie cutters out of foil pans!

Now if you have the time, patience and the skills to attempt this, let me know how it works out. I maybe tempted to try to try it out myself.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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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!

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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!

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I stumbled across pictures of a restaurant in Chandler, AZ called The Heart Attack Grill. Now, as un-PC as this is, I find it refreshing that a restaurant is actually marketing food that people want with no regards to any type of reprecussions from the "Everyone should eat lettuce" crowd. Which from the look of the burgers, there is no lettuce on them! I really wish there was one of these places in Illinois, I'd so go there for a double bypass and some Flatliner fries! Although the waitress staff looks mighty tempting too.

MMMmmmm burgers and nurses.

Posted by: Contagion at 11:26 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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This arguement has been going around the blogosphere for a long, long time. I remember seeing many a post about it. What do you call soft drinks? Is it soda, pop, coke, etc. This arguement has even gone on outside the blogosphere. I know many of my friends and I have had this debate.

Someone has taken this debate to a new level and actually did a survey to find out. Then they made a map based on the answers. Finally we have the Soda Vs. Pop map.

Click to enlarge.

They also have a breakdown on to how the map can be read over at Strange Maps. Looking at this map I have to conclude pop is the most used term!

Posted by: Contagion at 09:48 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Yeah, I'm totally a soda guy, even though I live in a pop area. I just thing "pop" sounds stupid

Posted by: Shadoglare at September 13, 2008 10:31 AM (jHfl8)

2 That's pretty cool!

Posted by: Roses at September 13, 2008 01:06 PM (ncThF)

3 It's Coke dangit. I don't care if its Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Coke or Gatorade it's still a durn Coke!

Posted by: BloodSpite at September 13, 2008 02:04 PM (OwcwO)

4 A pop is what you get up-side the head. Ya drink a soda.

Posted by: Wes at September 15, 2008 08:05 AM (1crE/)

5 That was dang cool. And it is 'drink.' Not Pop, not soda, not coke. "You want a drink?" "Yes. Whatcha got?" "I got coke, pepsi, diet coke, dr. pepper, and tea." Now- the tea thing....be careful- if you like it sweet, you better tell them. And vice versa.

Posted by: rave at September 16, 2008 01:20 PM (hVKpB)

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This is really cool! Esquire magazine has come up with a cover using E-Ink (Electronic Ink) that blinks.

Apparently they are only producing 100,000 of these.

Looking at this makes me wonder how far away are we from the days when we have moving pictures in newsprint. Think about it. All those fantasy and Sci-Fi movies may not be far off. The newspapers from Harry Potter and the wanted posters from Serenity/Firefly.

Now what I really want to know is, how much is this going to cost?

Posted by: Contagion at 09:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From the creators of the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, EeepyBird show us how to have fun with sticky notes. eepybird.com

Oh man, I could have been doing this when I was in Tulsa! I wish I had found it earlier.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:12 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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