Everyone Likes Soccer Highlights...Everyone

If there is one thing I have learned during my time on earth, it is that everyone loves soccer highlights.  Whether it is people that have never touched a soccer ball or people that have played soccer since they were 5, everyone loves watching a beautiful goal.  Thankfully, Europe has tons of professional soccer players that can do amazing things with a soccer ball.  My favorite video of soccer highlights recently was ESPN's Top 10 Champions League moments.  Be prepared for some bad pronunciations...hey ESPN is American (and sorry for the ad at the beginning).  My favorite goal is #2, and my second favorite is #6.  Goal #1 does take the cake for amazing commentary...enjoy.

Welcome back! Introducing, the chiPhone

It's great to be back after a wonderful blogcation.  Thank you to everyone that participated in the survey...especially the person who answered "eliminate it" to every question.  Fortunately for the internet, I will not be taking their advice.  I received some great feedback and I may be enacting some changes in the near future.  For now, lets get back to business.  

A couple weeks ago, a video showed up on Slate.com that was a parody of the "There's an App for That" iPhone commercials.  The parody was a bit outdated, complaining about the iPhone dropping calls, but was sort of funny in that it poked fun at the outrageous number of Apps some people have on their iPhones.  Here is the original ad (WARNING: Contains Profanity)

Luckily, the humor in this parody was rescued by a clever person who created a parody of Chicago based on a parody of the iPhone and came up with "The chiPhone".  I hope you enjoy!

Keep checking back for more to come...or just subscribe to the RSS feed.  I have plenty more on the way for this Friday!

Also, if you're new, or just need a refresher, here is the story behind Amalgamattion.

Help make Amalgamattion better!

Alright readers...I have been doing some thinking about Amalgamattion, and I have decided to do a couple things.  

First, I am going to take a quick vacation from posting to think about what direction I would like to go with the blog (and of course increase demand by creating artificial scarcity!)  I plan to start posting new stuff this Friday.

Second, I have created a survey that will help me bring you more of what you want.  This is your chance to share your opinions anonymously and help me improve my blog.  If I don't receive enough responses, I will definitely consider ending this endeavor.  This is not a self-important blog where I write my feelings regardless of whether or not people read them.  

Thanks in advance for all of the feedback and see you on Friday!

Sweet Imagery

So first take a good long look at the image...then scroll down.

Yes, this image is stationary...pretty awesome.  If you click the image you can check out a bigger version that has an even crazier effect!

The Pride of Iowa!

As if winning an Olympic gold medal wasn't enough, Shawn Johnson, the pride of Iowa, threw in a Dancing with the Stars title!  Last night, Shawn and her partner laid down a perfect score and charmed the nation.  Just another reason why Iowa is awesome.

Do Aviators Wear Aviators?

This is why I love Slate...always ready to answer questions that you have never really thought about before.  Check out the answer here.

Battery by Burrito!

I am lucky enough to live near a corridor of Halsted Street in Chicago with 5 Mexican restaurants within 2 blocks, all on the same street.  Sometimes, I have trouble deciding where to eat, especially late night.  I was shocked, annoyed and humored beyond delight by this article that features one of my favorite stops (and of course, the cheapest), Taco and Burrito Express:

Two men were arrested for allegedly throwing burritos after becoming agitated that they didn’t receive money while playing a coin-operated game early Saturday at a Lincoln Park neighborhood restaurant.

This type of disrespect should not be condoned in always peaceful Lincoln Park.  If a Mexican culinary institution is willing to be dedicated enough to stay open 24 hours (I often see people eating at Taco and Burrito Express on my way to work in the morning), they deserve more than having their wonderful creations thrown back at them!  Unite burrito lovers and fight for justice!

This track blew me away and I want to share it with you.

Check out this track: HYPNTZ by Dan Black.  

If you want to check him out further, he has a pretty gnarly myspace page.

Awkward Mondays

Sorry for the lack of post on Friday!  Today's posts will have to be extra good.  

Thanks to Miranda, I bring you some awkward family photos.  Good way to get your Monday morning started right.  Almost as good as the free instant NesCafe coffee some lady gave me as I entered the El station this morning....wait...much better.  

Don't go here if you have stuff to do the rest of the day.

My friend Scott showed me one of the most entertaining websites a couple weeks ago.  Now I want to share it with you.  

Sporcle.com is a website full of quizzes on topics ranging from the basic: US Capitals, 3 Letter Body Parts and Major Sports Teams (all 4 leagues) to the much tougher: Countries of the World, Corporate Logos and Pixar Movies to the completely impossible: The Longest.  

Check it out...that is if you don't want to get anything else done today.

William Fitzsimmons is one of the oddest people you will ever meet.

I was listening to my "recommended" radio station on last.fm yesterday and came across a guy named William Fitzsimmons.  I enjoyed his music a lot, so I decided to check out his website.  I cam across this awesome biography:

William Fitzsimmons is one of the oddest people you will ever meet. Born the youngest child of two blind parents, William was raised in the outskirts of the steel city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Due to the family's inability to communicate through normal visual means, William's childhood home was filled with a myriad of sounds to replace what eyes could not see. The house was suffused with pianos, guitars, trombones, talking birds, classical records, family sing-a-longs, bedtime stories, and the bellowing of a pipe organ, which his father built into the house with his own hands. When his father's orchestral records were not resonating through the walls, his mother would educate him on the folk stylings of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel.

His music is somewhat odd, but definitely pleasing to the ears.  Check him out.

Good way to finish off a rainy Wednesday

What happens when you combine Chuck Norris and Keyboard Cat?  Hilarity.

All props to Max for this one.  Thanks.

Jokes about jokes are usually funny.

I'm sure everyone by now has heard of fmylife.com.  If you're like me, you have also seen it abused into unfunny oblivion.  The tradgedy of the FML, is that when your friends use it, there are no "you deserved that one" button below it to click.  (Alternativey, I would actually prefer a "you just used FML in the wrong context and it wasn't funny at all" button, but I digress.)  

Fortunately for people like me, someone created a great parody of FML.  I present to you: mylifeisaverage.com

I hope you enjoy it.  

Spidermonkey on ABC!

Spidermonkey, the cycling club I am a part of here in Chicago, saw some exposure on Good Morning America on ABC this morning! One of the anchors wore a Spidermonkey jersey while reporting on Bike to Work Week in Chicago. Check out the video!

...oh and bike to work on Friday!

This blew my mind. Or my ears.

Someone compiled 12 YouTube videos that somehow go together.  They are all in the key of B flat which is party of why they work together.  It is fun to turn certain videos on and off or adjust the volumes.  The more info section explains how the project works.  Crazy.  

Dear Dancing Kid, I envy you.

I am huge fan of hilarious YouTube dancing videos. I have been mesmerized by the likes of Doglover and her fellow YouTube dancers. Recently a friend sent me a video of a maybe 4 year-old chubby red-haired boy that rocked my world. Here is his debut:

Well come to find out, maybe 4 year-old chubby red-haired boy that rocked my world ("M4YOCRHBTRMW"), is a YouTube user named "archiepug2" (or more likely than not, that's his Mom/Dad's YouTube user name. He actually has a whole series of videos featuring his astounding dance moves. You can check all of them out here.

M4YOCRHBTRMW if you are out there and reading this, I envy you and wish that my parents taught me to be that cool/exposed me to the internet when I was your age. Also, if you're doing interviews, I am interested.

Ernest Provetti - worst father of the week

On Sunday night, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, the only current Celtics player ever to have appeared at an NQR Party at Tufts University (if you're not familiar, look it up), hit the game winning shot to keep the Celtics alive in their playoff series against the Magic.  Big Baby not only hit the game winning shot, but also proceeded to go absolutely nuts and run into a little kid...creating a fatty on fatty collision and some great entertainment.  First, here is the video of the shot and the collision:

Today the boy's father decided to grovel for some attention and contacted the NBA to complain about Davis' conduct.  The embarassing move is detailed on ESPN.com today in this article (which also includes another great video of the collision/celebration.)  

The only thing more entertaining than out of control professional atheletes is out of control fathers.

I am always down for good kitty and puppy video

♥ BEST FRIENDS......UP TO A POINT ♥
Uploaded by funnytoo - Watch hilarious animal videos

Unreal HD Video

Happy Monday morning to all!  

I have something to get the day started off right.  

I do not know a whole lot about cameras and how/why they create such cool images, but this video has an astounding quality of picture even in slow motion.  Enjoy!

I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

Awesome picture...from Iowa!

In 1918, 18,000 men at Ford Dodge, in Iowa, stood in 105 degree heat to form this picture of the Statue of Liberty.  Absolutely unbelievable.  The detail continues to impress me the longer I spend looking at the picture.  Here it is.

If you're new to the Amalgamattion, here is the story of how it came to be.

I have an abusive mother.

UPDATE: Mother Nature listens when we talk!

Apparently, Mother Nature has been reading Amalgamattion!  Check out the forecast as of 4:45pm CDT:

Alright, when I moved to Chicago, I had to realize that, while I was fixing most things I hated about Boston, the one thing that would remain would be the terrible weather.  Lets take a look at the current hour-to-hour forecast for Chicago:

This is not fair.  Right when I get off work and I want to ride my bike home and play tennis, there are going to be thunderstorms.  Thanks for 75 and sunny while I sit in a climate controlled high-rise office building.

I love my mom.

I'm calling DHS on Mother Nature.

Just Manny Being Manny

I would assume most sports fans have already heard that Manny Ramirez, famed MLB slugger, and a quintessential piece of the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox World Championship teams, has been banned for 50 games because he tested positive for a Performance Enhancing Drug.  Now the funny part.  It has come to light that Manny tested positive for a women's fertility drug.  Here is the ESPN story complete with Peter Gammons interview.

Twitter!

Sorry for no post yesterday!  No excuses.

I joined Twitter a couple months ago to following a cycling race and have since become quite a fan.  It has been interesting seeing my friends join and experience vastly different levels of enjoyment!  If you have any twitter questions or want someone to convince you to join, give me a call.

Found an interesting set of pictures portraying Twitter before the internet...pretty entertaining!

Hopefully I will find some more awesome stuff to put up this afternoon.  

My Job in the New York Times!

I work in a field called Transfer Pricing...which few people are familiar with.  Transfer Pricing can be a powerful business planning tool, but most of the time, it is just another part of tax law that corporations must comply with.  Yesterday, Obama announced a plan to close certain tax loopholes.  One of the "holes" people thought may be closed was transfer pricing.  However, transfer pricing was for the most part left alone.  

The following NYT article demonstrates a seriously lacking knowledge of transfer pricing.  For instance, it alleges that "corporations routinely abuse the tactic to minimize their taxes by undercharging or overpaying their foreign subisidaries for goods and services."  The problem with this statement is that undercharging or overpaying foreign subsidiaries for goods and services is illegal under IRS code.  So in reality, the money that the Treasury is allegedly losing due to transfer pricing is merely due to a lack of enforcement.

Enjoy the article and enjoy knowing more about my career!

Why Men Like to Watch the Food Network

I'll agree that this is pretty low level humor...but I really enjoy it when Rachael Ray does funny stuff...because usually she's really annoying:

How to Thread Corn

Move over Texts from Last Night...you've been replaced.

Alright, so by now you're familiar with the wonderful world of Texts from Last Night....but I stumbled upon something tonight that just might be the rage of tomorrow...

Awkward Boners

WARNING: NSFW (depending on who can see over your shoulder)

Enjoy! and don't forget to vote!


In case you're new...here's the story of Amalgamattion

Lil Twist on Lil Wayne

I have been watching this video a couple of times a day for the past week.  Pretty awesome.  

While I do love the original version by Weezy himself, this is a sweet take on it.  

Favorite line: "I don't need no sample, I got a girl with a banjo."

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

Oh and by the way, I think I've fallen in love with the girl playing the violin in the black shirt...

Not Your Everyday Evangelism

During a conversation with my coworkers at lunch about Egypt killing all of pigs within its borders, I was reminded of one of my favorite rap lyrics in the Chain Hang Low Remix "my flow is sicka than a Muslim who ate pork and beans..."

So I did a random google search...and the results were, well, funny?

http://www.mujahideenryder.net/2008/05/11/lil-wayne-praises-allah-in-a-millie-islam-muslim/

Big Baby and the Celtics Get a Big Win

It was a good weekend for my Celtics!  So here's a little parting gift for the Bulls fans.  

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2589976687_783d16d6b8_o.jpg

All credit to Suzie on this one.

Don't Call it the Swine Flu!

As I have yet to come down the the "Influenza H1N1" virus yet, I have found it mostly entertaining thus far. Here is a little bit of wisdom I found on the web:

Being an Iowan, I feel the need to join the fight against the word swine flu (I guess posting this picture probably is not helping) Thus, I have resorted to referring to the Influenza H1N1 virus simply as the Aporkalypse in all conversation on the topic.

The story behind Amalgamattion.

Playing for Change

This is quite a starting point, but this video is so awesome. Recorded by multiple unknown street artists across the world in a "virtual studio". The video will make you smile and should improve your Friday!

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Here's more info, if you're interested in the documentary this is from. Apparently you can buy it at Starbucks now.

I am definitely taking suggestions for the design of the blog and anything else. Here is the story of how this blog came to be.

The Story Behind Amalgamattion

I have an overly active mind.  My second grade teacher tried to place me in the behavior disorder program because I would prevent other students from doing their work.  She was not the first or last teacher to express to my parents that I had the symptoms common to ADHD.  Unfortunately, my second grade teacher got cancer.  Fortunately, I escaped the BD program and went on to have a successful career at Ernest Horn Elementary School.  

This site is a chance to share what I find on the internet.  Rather than using twitter, or using my gchat status, or pestering people with messages, I have decided to create a central place to find...well, what I have found.  

Enjoy!