Links of the Day - 12/21/11

1.  Wendy's 2.0
The people asked, and Wendy's finally answered.  The restaurant will be redesigning a few of its locations as prototypes for a possible 2012 rebranding of all restaurants.  I guess congratulations are in order, Wendy's.  Now the inside of your place looks like a Panera with shittier food.  I won't be coming any more often, and I won't be coming less often.  As long as your drive thru is open past midnight, me and my drunk confidantes will still be rolling through in a taxi for a quick fix of chicken nuggets, and it doesn't matter whether Frank Lloyd Wright designed your restaurant or your uncle Bill, who has been out of work for 3+ years and needed a job.  On a side note, I once downed 20 Wendy's chicken nuggets in one sitting on a bet....sober.

2.  MBTA to use old tunnels for an exhibit?
Interesting article.  Couldn't think of anything funny to say, so I'll just leave it as that.  I kind of wish Boston had a subterranean set of individuals who live in the tunnels though, like in NYC.  Sort of like an underground hobo.

3.  NYC pad bought for $88 million
You have to love these Russians, throwing their money around like nothing, laughing in the faces of "puny Americans."  Ivan Drago, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Prokorov,  Dmitriy Rybolovleva.  I don't believe the Cold War is over - it went from a military angle to a "who can flex their financial muscles to pay egregious sums for things they don't really need" angle.  I mean, that can be the only explanation as to the signing of Kris Humphries for $8 million, right??

4.  Pest control, Dirty Harry style

First off, gotta like this guy's flair and ingenuity when it comes to dealing with Boston's rodent problem.  Most people in this position would think about a handgun, but this dude Bill McaBee brought the thunder - a Smith & Wesson rifle.


5.  Drunk History Christmas
Another gem from the boys over at Funny or Die.  Not nearly as good as some of the other "Drunk History" episodes (are they called "episodes"?), but a cast of Gosling, Carrey & Eva Mendes can't be all that bad...

Drunk History Christmas with Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes from Ryan Gosling

6.  "Bored to Death" creator to provide free drinks on the house
Solid, classy move by Jonathan Ames in celebration of his show.  Three seasons is better than nothing, right?  Beware if you are located close to an American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, or Goodwill stores, New Yorkers....you don't want to be trampled by a pack of wild hipsters on the move to the Brooklyn Inn tonight.

7.  Competitive eating gets a reality show
Introducing "Suzilla, The Mouth That Roars."  Though I fully admit that I will never watch a single second of this show, it does make me realize that I wasn't actually that far off with my screenplay idea for a mockumentary based on the world of competitive eating which I had been throwing around about 5 years ago.  Turns out that I was just ahead of my time, and I could have made a killing (as if I had film connections to get the thing made).  I would be lying if I told you I knew where the hell the Planet Green Network was on my cable dial (do people still use this phrase?), but kudos to you, Planet Green.

8.  Jeremy Bloom is a pimp
World class skier?  Check.  NCAA all-american in football? Check.  NFL player? Check.  One of Forbes' "30 under 30" for technology? Check.  Seriously, what can't this dude do...I think I just got a man crush.

9.  Stephen Curry goes back to school

An NBA star arrives back on campus at small, liberal arts Davidson College to try to finish up his degree during the lockout.  If you insert "Stephen Curry" with "Matt Dominici," "Davidson College" with "Bates College," and "basketball" with "social pariah," then these stories are virtually interchangeable

Links of the Day - 12/8/11

Happy Thursday.  Went to a Glenlivet scotch tasting last night, and sadly, didn't come out with any great stories (besides the host's numerous sexual innuendos when speaking about scotch, making everyone somewhat uncomfortable).  Wish I had more for you...

And without much fanfare (Google Analytics doesn't lie), here are your links of the day for Thursday:

1.  http://bostonherald.com/track/star_tracks/view.bg?articleid=1386847&srvc=track&position=recent
Christmas comes early!  Thank God Adam Sandler is producing a sequel to a movie that no one watched in the first place.  Pretty much the only thing good about this movie was the fact that it was set in NH.

Snap bracelets will be back in 2012

2.  http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/relationships/blog/2011/12/theres_an_issue_with_gifts.html?p1=Upbox_links
This is absolutely hysterical to me for some reason - a boyfriend that refuses to give his girlfriend jewelry as a gift, no matter what the cost is.  $7 earrings?  Tough shit.  Snap bracelet?  No way in hell.  $2,000 diamond bracelet?  Sorry.  Engagement ring? Laughable.  Can someone get me this dude's phone number?  I'd like to be friends with him.

Clearly this guy knows what he is doing.  Either he is so scared of getting engaged that he never even wants to flirt with the idea of jewelry for fear that she may get the wrong idea, or he is just batshit crazy.  Either way, I like it.  I have similar odd tendencies I can relate to - for instance, I steadfastly refuse to give a card to someone, no matter what the event (birthday/wedding/anniversary, etc.) if I provide them with a gift in person.  I can't understand why anyone would need a card if I'm physically there to tell them the gift is from me, and wish them well - isn't that what a card is for??  I wish I had thought of this jewelry one earlier...

3.  http://bostinno.com/2011/12/08/mbta-be-nice-to-your-drivers-oh-and-here%E2%80%99s-a-proposed-fare-hike/
Let me get this straight - in order to get out of debt, the T would need to raise its fees by 60%?  Is this the most inefficiently run government organization or what?  I guess I don't mind a price hike up to $2.40 for a T ride, though I wold argue that if you're gonna charge NYC Metro-esque fees ($2.25/ride), at least provide NYC Metro-esque amenities. For some reason, that subway system seems to run much more smoothly than Boston subways...and I never thought I would say that.   I'm sure everyone has their own Green Line horror story to provide.

4.  http://deadspin.com/5866292/the-feel+good-scam-of-owning-the-packers (via Deadspin)
Do the Green Bay Packers have the most profitable funding scam in the history of scams?  Why isn't every professional sports team doing this?  $250 gets you no profit whatsoever, no say in Packers matters, and most likely a piece of paper that you can frame and put up on your office wall in downtown Milwaukee.  I'm pretty sure if Bernie Madoff read this article, he would have said "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING PLAYING AROUND WITH THAT PONZI BULLSHIT?!"

5.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/07/143270513/bonbons-for-breakfast-most-kid-cereals-pack-enough-sugar-to-be-dessert

It took researchers this long to figure out that Captain Crunch with Crunchberries is bad for you?!  How many other readers find this stat more shocking than the actual information provided by it?  In the interest of full disclosure, I refused to eat my cereal unless my mother actually allowed me to put MORE sugar into it.  Sadly, this is not a joke....but they're GRRRRREEEAAAT!






6.  http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/08/reports-of-shots-fired-at-virginia-tech/?hpt=hp_t3
Another tragic shooting at Virginia Tech.  What do they put in the water in Blacksburg??  This is sad and ridiculous.