This picture couldn’t be any more apt to describe the mood I’m in. Over the long winter we’d accquired some patio furniture and other outdoor furnishings that have turned our backyard from “that place behind the house” to somewhere I’d actually want to spend some time this summer. I was just thinking about how nice it’ll be to blog outside this June, and then I stumbled across the above image.

What are you waiting for? It’s time to caption my summer dreams!

If this article looks familiar, it’s because it was originally posted on the SmartCanucks Tech Deals blog. If it doesn’t, why aren’t you reading our geeky sister site? 😛

Not too sure of the last time you’ve looked at a payphone (if you’re like most of us, the year likely started with a “19”), but it looks as though they’ve undergone a bit of a strange transformation as of late to add in some features from their mobile competition. Now, from select Bell payphones, you can send text messages for 10 cents.

To make things easier these payphones come equipped with a full QWERTY keypad. It appears as though these started springing up shortly after Bell increased their payphone rates for local calls to 50 cents.

Have any of you tried this feature out yet? And just how useful is texting from a phone that can’t receive a reply?

The McDonald’s near my house closed at the end of March. Whether it’s a sign of the economic times or just a final response to the endless complaints about rude service and filthy conditions isn’t for me to say. All I know is that this location has weaved a thread throughout my life;

• When I was a little guy my daycare was two doors down. I’d attended more than a few of my friends birthday parties there at that age.
• The only memory I have of my paternal grandparents is of them taking me there in a stroller when I was 3.
• When I was about 10, my friends and I would take a long lunch from the 6th grade to ride our bikes there and order McPizza.
• When my first daughter was old enough, we took her there for her first McDonald’s after an amazing trip to the flea market.
• Over the past few years it became my walk-to-the-grocery-store-pit-stop for a $1.39 McMuffin.
• My wife even worked there for a brief period last summer.

Yep – that building and I sure have a history.

…and now it’s gone.

Robots RULE.

That is all.

Commence captioning.

Right off the bat let me apologize for the title of this post. It’s not meant in the nasty way you might be thinking. You see, the McGangBang is a real thing, and it seems to be sweeping the nation. The concept is simple — take a double cheeseburger and stick a McChicken right in the middle. The folks over at Eat Me Daily have put together more information than you could ever want on the subject — the McG’s history, the spread of it online, stories and videos — you name it, they have it.

I wouldn’t be much of a McDonald’s connoisseur without pointing out a small factual error. Every picture you’ll find of the item features a double cheeseburger and — not a McChicken — but a Junior Chicken. And yes, there is a difference. A big one in my books. The McChicken is a big, juicy, delicious slice of heaven served on a sesame seed bun. The Junior Chicken is an overly spiced, overly cooked, shriveled up piece of nothing. Not a pleasant experience. As the McG seems to be an American phenomenon so far I can’t help but wonder if they don’t have the real McChicken. A sad state of affairs if true.

I haven’t tried a McG, but considering my love of both chicken and burgers, it seems like a no brainer. Maybe I should invent the BBW McGangBang — a double quarter pounder with a REAL McChicken in the middle. Mmmmm.. meat and poultry, together at last.

Thanks to Boo for sending this story my way! 🙂

We’re a few months out from Christmas, but that no reason Santa can’t live in our hearts all year long! Also, I love this photo WAY too much to sit on it for another 9 months.

Besides, this picture of Santa has a real GI Joe vibe to it in my opinion, and GI Joe is all kinds of awesome.

Forget I said that. I don’t want to give you ideas. 😉

SUPER HAPPY CAPTION FUN TIME BEGINS NOW!

Barbie, the doll that every little girl loves, has just turned 50. So what has half a century of Barbie meant to me?

As a boy, honestly not much. But my wife? She could write novel on the subject. And my four year old daughter who just received her first Barbie this past Christmas (a Little Mermaid Barbie, so long as we’re getting into specfics) would be more than happy to write the foreward.

Rather than writing a lengthy piece on the origins of the doll or the trials and tribulations she’s endured over these past 50 years, I thought it might be fun to take a look at what other people on the internet are saying about the middle-aged model’s sesquicentennial;

• BBC takes a look at the world’s largest Barbie collection
• Radio Free Europe talks about when Barbie came to the Soviet Union
• The Telegraph talks about Shanghai’s new Barbie megastore that opens today
• The Chicago Tribune has advice for a 50 year old Barbie

What are your fond memories of Barbie?

Not quite, but in a recent study conducted by ABC News, McDonald’s was picked the 8th healthiest fast food restaurant in America. It also has the distinction of being the only major fast food chain on the list. Companies like Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC just didn’t make the cut. So what makes McDonald’s so healthy despite their burger and fries image?

Healthy alternatives, like apple slices and juices for Happy Meals and grilled chicken sandwiches for adults, are what cemented their place in the 8th spot. But despite healthy options like snack wraps and salads, it’s up to the consumer to steer clear of things like quarter pounders and McGriddles.

McDonald’s also earned bonus points for featuring their nutritional information on the back of tray liners and preparing their fries in a healthier canola-blend oil.

When you’re out and on the go, do you make healthy choices? What do you usually grab for a quick lunch out?

The number thirteen is generally associated with bad luck, horror and terror. As such I thought I’d share with you all my greatest fear — cephalopods. Squids, octopi, cuttlefish — you name it, I’m terrified of them. It’s actually elevated to that irrational level of fear where even things like this picture above make me a little uncomfortable.

That being said, I recognize how cute a costume it must be to normal folks who aren’t completely freaked out by it. So please, ignore my sociopathic disorders and make with the captioning already!

I didn’t really think about it until I started actually writing the post, but it seems like we’re stuck on something of a theme lately. Week 10 had the horse and lady. Week 11 had Jimmy Olson riding a horse hot dog. Now this week we have a centaur. Sheesh. No horses next week. I promise. 😉

You know the drill by now, team. Take a peek at the pic, pick your brain for a bit, and go caption crazy!

Switching around the letters on signage always gives me a chuckle, and let’s face facts: when you name something the Angus Burger you’re just asking for trouble. It’s why Pac-Man’s name was changed from Puck-Man — vandals are a creative breed.

Besides, it reminds me of the opening to every Fawlty Towers, and Fawlty Towers always makes me smile. 🙂

Last week I went for a real stumper. I picked a picture that I couldn’t possibly come up with a caption for, and as of this writing 68 of you have come out to prove me wrong and give us a great caption!

This week I thought I’d up the ante. Again, I have no idea what I’d caption here. Again, I remind you all to keep it family friendly please. 🙂

Ladies and gentlemen, start your captioning!

Get  up to 100 on-line or in-store 4 x 6-in. Digital Prints at 10 cents Each (Matte or Glossy Finish) at Costco Canada Photo Centre.  This offer is valid for online orders placed between February 16, 2009 and March 1, 2009. To receive the promotion price on your order, you must add the promo code CWWSA216 during the online checkout process.

There is also another offer at Costco Canada that gets you 5 free 5×7 in. digital prints. Use coupon code CWMS1223. This code expires February 28th, 2009. You can only use 1 coupon code per order so you will need to place 2 orders to make use of both coupons 😉

Click here for more details on the Costco Canada 10 Cents Prints  Promo

This week I thought it might be fun to go with a real stumper, and by “real stumper” I really mean “something I couldn’t come up with a caption for, but would LOVE to see somebody else tackle.” Just remember kids — keep it PG. This is a family site.

What are you waiting for? Make with the captioning already! 😛

The internet is a strange place.. But an art collective? They can just be downright confusing.

Dutch Art Collective “SuperFlex” has produced a video art piece known as Flooded McDonald’s. Supposedly it’s a statement on consumerism and responsibility, but I’ll be damned if I could tell you why that is. A clip of the project, on display at the South London Gallery in Britain until March 1st, can be found above.

Statement or no statement, it’s just cool to see a vacant building filling up with water.