Here is a news story on the Tomato Late Blight which John was featured a bit in.

Oh yes, notice the wide screen That is courtesy of my HAVA which records in HD

Sad news for coaster fans came out this week. Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA is closing the Big Bad Wolf down on September 7th. The 25 year old coaster has “run its life” according to the park.

It really is a shame. The coaster was one of the first suspended coasters in the US, and I believe is still the oldest one still standing. Compared to today’s coasters it isn’t the fastest or the tallest, but the ride is still a great one. It remains and probably always will remain my favorite ride to do in the dark. This is mostly because of the setting, it’s back in the woods and you ride through a simulated Bavarian village (video below). In the dark, it’s just pitch black for most of the ride, except for lights in the house windows.

Why it’s being taken down I don’t know and they won’t really say. It can’t be for space issues, as the park has never put anything in the area another coaster “Drakenfire” was at. This ride was taken down as it was just a neck killer. They tried taking out loops and other stuff, but the coaster just left you hurting (though it was a fun ride).

One probable reason for the ending of the Wolf is mechanical. Anyone who grew up going to the park knows on any given day the coaster could be broken for a few hours or a whole day. I remember once it got stuck way out in the middle of the ride at night just when then park was about to close. I wouldn’t be happy if that was me!

I can’t help but think this is a ploy to get people into the park in the bad economy. However it’s my hope though if they do close the coaster that they will in its place put a Wolf II, bigger, badder and better

Press Release On Closing Of The Wolf

John was on the local news, that was doing a story on the Tomato Blight hitting many states. It’s a fungus killing tomato plants.

The farm’s tomatoes are fine though

BTW John said the reporter was HUGE. John is about 6 feet, and he looks like a dwarf compared to this guy.

This is like the best thing I’ve seen in a long time! I needed this given the stressful week I’ve had. Big thanks to Hot Lunch for enlightening me to it!

No doubt some of you have heard the trouble Christian Bale has gotten himself in for his F Bomb dropping tirade on some poor lighting guy that walked into the middle of a scene he was shooting for the upcoming “Terminator Salvation Film.” (Dear Mr. Bale, I’m not sure anyone cares about Terminator that much anymore, especially without the Governator in it).

Well someone took the audio clip and turned it into the following dance mix. This is HILL AIR E US. There is even a special guest star in it!

This has dirty words in it. So yeah, don’t play this at work, unless you either want to get fired or become the hit of the office (and then probably get fired).

I never saw this before (it’s 2 years old) but it’s fricken hilarious. Watch this weather man go from somewhat straight to gay in zero seconds.

BTW there are tons of hilarious weather news clips on YouTube! What is the weather going to be in Haiti today?

Of course the worst one is Rated R for language. This means don’t play it at work with your sound turned all the way up! Now while we shouldn’t laugh at people’s disabilities, well this guy apparently had an attack of tourettes on air . . .

At 4:55 a.m., just five minutes before the doors were set to open, a crowd of 2,000 anxious shoppers started pushing, shoving and piling against the locked sliding glass doors of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., Nassau County police said. The shoppers broke the doors off their hinges and surged in, toppling a 34-year-old temporary employee who had been waiting with other workers in the store’s entryway.

People did not stop to help the employee as he lay on the ground, and they pushed against other Wal-Mart workers who were trying to aid the man. The crowd kept running into the store even after the police arrived, jostling and pushing officers who were trying to perform CPR, the police said.

Source:NY Times

This story doesn’t have a happy ending, the man died. How sad is it? How pathetic were those people who thought more of getting that sale than another human? I hope it was on store camera and every single one of them goes to jail, or at least have their faces plastered on the news to be made to feel like the scum they are.

I originally had the words “Merry Christmas” at the end of the title of this post, but replaced it with the much loathed “Happy Holidays.” Why? Because we have entered the season where we will yet again have to hear about the “War on Christmas” and how it’s “illegal” for people to say “Merry Christmas” and have to use “Happy Holidays.” Retail stores that use “Holidays” will as usual be boycotted over it by many in this country. I’m sure the American Family ASSociation already has their boycott list up.

Perhaps people should stop worrying and fighting over what retailers or the people on the street call the season or say to each other in passing by and be a little more concerned about how people treat each other. Tis the season for good will and joy among men, but how many people show it? This poor guy and his family will have neither a “Merry Christmas” nor “Happy Holidays” cause he’s dead. He died because people cared more about getting a sale. He died for “Holiday Consumerism.” That right there is the real war on Christmas people should really concern themselves with.

Greetings Tomato Lovers!

This is a special blog post, regular readers of my blog please excuse the intrusion.

If you are new here, you most likely landed here from a search engine looking for information about the Ramapo tomato. Perhaps you even found out about it from the NY Times article and are looking to buy some. You aren’t alone! Unfortunately the NY Times left out the name of the farm featured in the article, and as a result our home has been inundated with calls from people wanting the tomato.

Unfortunately at the moment the Ramapo isn’t ready yet and it won’t be until sometime next week (Mid-August). When it is ready you’ll be able to buy it at Springdale Farms in Cherry Hill, NJ. This is the farm featured in the NY Times article. However the farm is not equipped at this time to ship the tomato, which means you’ll have to come in person and buy them. Because of the local demand for them, you may actually be hard pressed to find any Jersey farms that are shipping them.

To find out more about the tomato you can visit Rutgers, who are responsible for bringing back this “lost” Jersey variety. They also have a listing of Jersey farms growing the tomato where you can purchase them. If you are a gardener or grower, there is also an order form on the site to purchase seeds for your own garden.

I now return to my regularly scheduled blog!

RANT AHEAD! (I collect toys in case you didn’t know)

This right here is what the news is calling “S&M Barbie” and has parents and Christian groups outraged!

Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far. A children’s doll in sexually-suggestive clothing is irresponsible – it’s filth. – The Christian Voice

Okay here’s the catch. This is part of the DC Comics collection of Barbies, which already include Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Woman (which I of course own). This is the character of Black Canary. This doll is so obviously marketed at collectors. If you want proof, well these dolls are the ONLY Barbies you’ll ever find in a comic book store. Of course even when Mattel points out that this is part of the DC Comics’ collectors line, well some moms won’t buy it.

Several mothers, however, aren’t buying it….neither the explanation nor the doll. Los Angeles resident and mom, Roberta Moran, said, “They want kids to grow up too fast, basically. When babies are little they should have babies that are soft and lovey.” Mom Zully Gomez adds, “It doesn’t look very appropriate for a Barbie. It looks like a stripper.”

You know what, save it. Did you buy your kids the “Wizard of Oz” Barbies? OMG you taught your kids about being gay! What about the “I Love Lucy” Barbies OMG, teaching your kids to stay in a marriage with cheating husband! How about the “Gone With The Wind” Barbies? Just insert your own racial injustice saying here. All these Barbies are aimed at the collector market, because Mattel knows Barbie is a collectible!

Finally for those who really are offended by the sexual innuendos. Well you know what, maybe it’s time you learn the HISTORY of Barbie! I don’t know how many people know it, but Barbie IS a sex doll. She IS an adult toy. The woman who “invented” and sold Barbie to Mattel TOOK the idea from a sex doll! Yes she found the doll in Europe (Germany if memory serves me). The doll was marketed at adult men as a gag gift basically, and she turned it into a children’s toy. A children’s toy which Mattel bought and sold to kids. A children’s toy that taught little girls to be pretty and popular they had to be blond, blue eyed and have a perfect unachievable without surgery figure (in case you didn’t know, the original Barbie’s dimensions are not humanly possible unless you have a few ribs removed). A toy that taught them they needed a man to be complete. Need I really go on?

Image: The Sun
News Story Links/Sources: KTLA News, Fox News, MomLogic

P.S. I don’t follow this comic character at all, but the outrage the doll alone has prompted me to buy one when it comes out (cause that makes it even more collectible). That and the fact it’s fabulous!

It’s once again time for me to get political! If you haven’t heard the news, well now you have, and you’ll keep hearing about it on tonight’s news as well as tomorrow’s I’m sure. The state of California’s Supreme Court (the majority of whom were republican appointed) struck down the ban on gay marriage in the state, which voters approved in 2000.

Of course while I’m happy about the news, it also has me worried. In New Jersey our courts and legislature are pretty much set to rule that their “civil union” compromise to marriage here has pretty much been a failure all around. However the governor refuses do this during an election year. Why? Obviously because the republicans would use it against him and any other democrats.

That of course is what has me worried, this has come in an election year. I have NO doubt, NONE at all that the republicans and McCain will use this as a wedge issue. There are many conservatives out there that do not like McCain at all because of some of his policies and stances, so I have no doubt this is something he can use to reach out to them. Frankly it worked before and I’m sure it will work again. I just feel this doesn’t bode well for the democrats, who in my opinion have already shot themselves in the foot as is with the whole superdelegate thing and Obama versus Hillary debate.

Back to California, it’s still not a done deal. There will be challenges, there is already talk of going to the Supreme Court (who always seems to reject hearing these cases saying it’s up the the states to decide). There is also a move to have a gay marriage ban put on the ballot there in November, one that this time would put it in the state’s constitution. If that happens I hope a large portion of gays and lesbians in California would consider leaving the state. Could you imagine what would happen to Hollywood if all the make-up artists, hairdressers, clothing designers and not to mention closeted actors just left the state? Movies and TV shows would end up shutting down! It would be like the writer’s strike, but possibly forever for some.

I am also hoping for the day when someone in either a state or the US senate will have the guts to introduce their own “marriage protection” bills. These ones however would serve to protect marriage from further being destroyed by those who can marry. I mean if people are so gung-ho on “protecting marriage” then where are the bills to ban divorce? How about making spousal abuse, verbal, mental AND physical punishable by prison time? Let’s also send adulterers to prison. You have to wait 7 days to buy a hand-gun, how about a marriage waiting period as well? Of course nobody would have the guts to introduce these bills, because they infringe on the rights of the majority, who would no doubt go apeshiz over them.