Don’t Be So Mayo

I still watch TV. Not as much as I used to because the commercials berate my consumer ID to a pulp that I actually care about the image I purvey by choosing a sandwich spread. Really. It’s mayonnaise folks. Eggs whipped in fat, 'seasoning' and chemicals. Really. I have the power to choose but is that choice a change or is it a transformation? Do I take the blue pill or the red pill? Do I Miracle Whip or do I Mayonnaise?

All right, enough of that. If you want to know more visit Nacho Underpants on the sandwich spread lowdown.

And the Emmy goes to...

Anyways back to the TV shows still worth my while. 2 of my favorites happen to be Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Both feature a strong premise, fantastic writing, acting and production values. Mad Men showcases the boom and bust world of advertising set against the challenging period of the baby boomer. Breaking Bad sees a high school chemistry teacher dealt a fatal hand in life go alpha-male working the crystal meth trade to support his family before he dies. Of course, most of you know the scoop and it's good to know they took home awards on Sunday for the best in show.

Another commercial. The latest Liberal spot claiming:

We can do better

Really. You can, I’m sure. Regardless if you’re someone, something or party it's possible but may never a have chance if the choice is Green Washing as the strategy.

The new slogan for the Liberal's should be the mantra for the Wind energy industry in Canada who’s capacity to generate a whopping 2,854 megawatts -- enough to power more than 860,000 homes and equivalent to about one percent of Canada's total electricity demand. (Source: Reuters)

One percent? Really. Wind energy's potential can equal 1% of the country's energy portfolio. Hmm. Really. My brother can get more output from a burrito & beer.

For more on this subject check out the tasty menu @ the new Steak & Eggs blog.

or

JoFergs & Skyler point vs. counterpoint on the wind debate.

And for something edgy, check out Jeff's trippy take on 1968.

As they say on TV, stay tuned and we'll hear from you on Twitter.

Only in Japan...

The people who brought you Godzilla, Mothra and Akira have turned their rather interesting take on science fiction to the realm of -- get this -- agriculture. I've never understood the Japanese predilection towards gigantic robots piloted by children and the like, but apparently the robot fetish is doing some good for the farmers of the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Tokyo University of Agriculture has developed a wearable exo-skeleton that will be used to assist farmers over the age of 65 in their daily duties of plucking radishes and whatnot from the earth. For those of you who don't know what an exo-skeleton is, remember that scene from Aliens where Sigourney Weaver is fighting the alien queen in the airlock, and she comes out of the storage room in that big yellow suit? The whole "get away from her, you b*tch!" line? Yeah, that's an exo-skeleton. Here's a picture of Sigourney's badass suit, and here's a picture of the one the Tokyo scientists have built for farmers.

The idea is that it's a powered suit that will take some of the bodily stress associated with physical labour off the elderly farmers, and frankly I think it's a great idea. I mean, some people might argue that when you're 65 you don't have any business picking radishes anymore because you should really be retired. But if you know anybody of that age bracket, you know the last thing most of these people want to do is retire -- they want to feel useful and they want to continue contributing to the greater good, however they might see that. This suit allows them to do just that. And let's face it -- when 40% of your radish-picking work force is over 65, it's probably a really good idea to implement some kind of support system for them, because no matter what manga and anime might tell you, putting kids in robot suits to pick vegetables still probably falls under the category of child labour.

Cool idea, but like I said in the title -- this could only come from Japan.