Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Gestalt Theory in Action
I know my posts are far and few between nowadays, but this was just too damn funny not to share.
Before we begin, a quick refresher on Gestalt Theory...
a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts
Or perhaps better phrased as the ability for an individual to see "the big picture" even if some the minor details are missing. It's how we can look a partially obstructed view of something, but still have a pretty good idea of what it is that we are looking it. This is done, generally by using context and common sense to fill in the gaps.
Sometimes it works it works in other funny ways.
Take for example a recent, post spring cleaning email exchange I had with a friend who has a business selling crap you have in your closet/garage/attic.
Said friend is a college buddy and in college, some would say I had a bit of a thuggish image, which was all a ruse and nothing more that my youthful rebellion. In the 50's the youth rebelled by dressing up like greasers, drove hot rods and listening to rock and roll. In my day and age and location, we blasted gangsta rap from our mustang 5.0's and wore oversized Guess and Polo products.
...but back to the present...
[ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM T-15] (* names changed to protect the innocent)
My media collection has been purged and is ready to be Firebird* Resaled.
Odd and unusual does not even begin to cover the items in this lot, everything from the first 3 seasons of the Sopranos to a Bootsy Collins Christmas cd.
90% of the stuff is either a CD, DVD, or Video game and will be really straight forward.
There are a few other items of interest...
Linksys Wireless N router (at least I think it is N, it might be G, it is whatever is supposed to be the better of the two...in box with all supplies).
A random box with an old school NES System and a number of loose NES games, including a Mike-Tysonless version of Punch-out. You can probably Box Lot that. Unfortunately the Wii Virtual Console pretty much killed the market value on most old school NES stuff.
There are also a number of loose Sega Genesis games. The real gem of the Sega Games is Herzog Zwei (it was the predecessor to the Command and Conquer types of games). For a while that was still commanding $19 on ebay. Not sure if that is the case anymore. probably worth selling Herzog on it's own and box lotting the rest. (sidenote: if you happen to have a sega genesis stashed away, we should pull Herzog Zwei and set that aside for a couple of games before selling it, it's no halo, but it's a damn fun game).
There's also a Colt 45 clock which is boxed up and ready to ship. I sold it to some A-hole who never paid up. Fucking hooligan. I guess I should have known better. Scrupulous people generally do not bid on second hand colt 45 clocks.
My old timey kung fu sparring gear is also up for grabs. the retail on that was over $100. I suspect it will sell for $20-$40 as while it was MY equipment, it will NOT impart MY kung fu treachery.
Lastly, we have the wolf puzzle. Which my mom gave me for Christmas last year, and not as a "oh man this would be a really funny gift" kind of present. She seriously thought I would like a wolf puzzle. It's mint. It's sealed. It probably won't sell, so just plan on burning it. Hey, c'mon now, you can't have a business like Firebird* Resale and NOT set fire to crap that doesn't sell.
Ok, so now you know what you are dealing with, what's the best way to get it over to you?
[Firebird's response]
I would expect an interesting lot from you, Mr. T-15*.
The CDs, DVDs, and games are easy. So is the router, NES, and Sega stuff, wolf puzzle, and kung fu gear. Generally, I'll tell you if something is worth selling vs. donating. I am not sure if you itemize your deductions on your taxes, but if you don't, you are missing out of free government money. I donate piles of what I consider worthless to me items to Goodwill every year, and then deduct fair market value (as determined by TurboTax).
I have no idea how to sell a gun legally, but I have a friend who will want to buy it. I can put you in touch with him.
[T-15's Follow-up after realizing what happened]
That's a colt 45 clock. it tells time. has a picture of a can of colt 45 on ice with some cheeky slogan like "it works every time."
Not a colt 45 glock, which is used to bust caps and pistol whipping.
Before we begin, a quick refresher on Gestalt Theory...
a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts
Or perhaps better phrased as the ability for an individual to see "the big picture" even if some the minor details are missing. It's how we can look a partially obstructed view of something, but still have a pretty good idea of what it is that we are looking it. This is done, generally by using context and common sense to fill in the gaps.
Sometimes it works it works in other funny ways.
Take for example a recent, post spring cleaning email exchange I had with a friend who has a business selling crap you have in your closet/garage/attic.
Said friend is a college buddy and in college, some would say I had a bit of a thuggish image, which was all a ruse and nothing more that my youthful rebellion. In the 50's the youth rebelled by dressing up like greasers, drove hot rods and listening to rock and roll. In my day and age and location, we blasted gangsta rap from our mustang 5.0's and wore oversized Guess and Polo products.
...but back to the present...
[ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM T-15] (* names changed to protect the innocent)
My media collection has been purged and is ready to be Firebird* Resaled.
Odd and unusual does not even begin to cover the items in this lot, everything from the first 3 seasons of the Sopranos to a Bootsy Collins Christmas cd.
90% of the stuff is either a CD, DVD, or Video game and will be really straight forward.
There are a few other items of interest...
Linksys Wireless N router (at least I think it is N, it might be G, it is whatever is supposed to be the better of the two...in box with all supplies).
A random box with an old school NES System and a number of loose NES games, including a Mike-Tysonless version of Punch-out. You can probably Box Lot that. Unfortunately the Wii Virtual Console pretty much killed the market value on most old school NES stuff.
There are also a number of loose Sega Genesis games. The real gem of the Sega Games is Herzog Zwei (it was the predecessor to the Command and Conquer types of games). For a while that was still commanding $19 on ebay. Not sure if that is the case anymore. probably worth selling Herzog on it's own and box lotting the rest. (sidenote: if you happen to have a sega genesis stashed away, we should pull Herzog Zwei and set that aside for a couple of games before selling it, it's no halo, but it's a damn fun game).
There's also a Colt 45 clock which is boxed up and ready to ship. I sold it to some A-hole who never paid up. Fucking hooligan. I guess I should have known better. Scrupulous people generally do not bid on second hand colt 45 clocks.
My old timey kung fu sparring gear is also up for grabs. the retail on that was over $100. I suspect it will sell for $20-$40 as while it was MY equipment, it will NOT impart MY kung fu treachery.
Lastly, we have the wolf puzzle. Which my mom gave me for Christmas last year, and not as a "oh man this would be a really funny gift" kind of present. She seriously thought I would like a wolf puzzle. It's mint. It's sealed. It probably won't sell, so just plan on burning it. Hey, c'mon now, you can't have a business like Firebird* Resale and NOT set fire to crap that doesn't sell.
Ok, so now you know what you are dealing with, what's the best way to get it over to you?
[Firebird's response]
I would expect an interesting lot from you, Mr. T-15*.
The CDs, DVDs, and games are easy. So is the router, NES, and Sega stuff, wolf puzzle, and kung fu gear. Generally, I'll tell you if something is worth selling vs. donating. I am not sure if you itemize your deductions on your taxes, but if you don't, you are missing out of free government money. I donate piles of what I consider worthless to me items to Goodwill every year, and then deduct fair market value (as determined by TurboTax).
I have no idea how to sell a gun legally, but I have a friend who will want to buy it. I can put you in touch with him.
[T-15's Follow-up after realizing what happened]
That's a colt 45 clock. it tells time. has a picture of a can of colt 45 on ice with some cheeky slogan like "it works every time."
Not a colt 45 glock, which is used to bust caps and pistol whipping.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Where are they now?
It is a somewhat little known cinematic fact that one of the extras in crowded stands at the high school basketball game at the end of Teen Wolf went balls out...literally.
Yes, that is a gummi purple mushroom. I think we have our answer.
Dude had his junk out while they were filming and nobody caught on until the film was already in the can.
As little known as that fact is, even less know where that jabroni is now. While I cannot say with any certainty, I am fairly sure they are in product R & D for Willy Wonka candies. Why do I say that?
Example 1: Willy Wonka Sour Puckerooms Gummies...
Not convinced? Take a closer look...
Yes, that is a gummi purple mushroom. I think we have our answer.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
White Elephant
Each year my office does a white elephant gift exchange, where participants contribute a gift that is purchased (rarely) or just randomly grabbed out of their closet/attic/desk.
Everyone pulls a number and then gifts are chosen by order of the numbers. Starting with numbers 2 and higher you can either grab a new unopened gift from the pile or steal one that an earlier participant has opened (they in turn either steal from someone else or grab a new gift).
My contribution this year was a child leash purchased at the Dinosaurland gift shop. I am an impulse buyer and it was up at the counter along with candy dinos and maps. I came home with all three. Sadly, I left the How to make Wizard Stencils book behind.
My first pick was a nice looking gift bag with the word "Lucky" on it. How can you resist that, right? Besides, it was heavy and heavy is good. When I opened it up, I found that it contained at least 30 DVDs that I never want to watch...the remake of Dukes of Hazzard, some random Billy Bob Thorton movie, Must love dogs ect. SCORE!
Unfortunately, somehow jacked my stash and I lost 30 DVDs I would never want to watch and ended up with a single DVD that I simply can't watch (as it is a copy of the Hulk on the now defunct HD DVD format).
Sigh.
As an added bonus of awesomeness, the bag also included random office knick knacks of former co-workers who have been sacked over the last 12 months...our old Admin's Paper Weight, another colleagues clock they received for putting someone in an old folks home and the piece de resistance, the bag itself.
At first glance, it appears to be a standard holiday gift back, but, upon close examination, one phrase is not quite right. See if you can pick it out from the following...
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Jingle bells
Peace of Earth
Peace of Earth? What the hell is that?
Did the guy from ELF do the QC check on that before sending off to the printer?
Everyone pulls a number and then gifts are chosen by order of the numbers. Starting with numbers 2 and higher you can either grab a new unopened gift from the pile or steal one that an earlier participant has opened (they in turn either steal from someone else or grab a new gift).
My contribution this year was a child leash purchased at the Dinosaurland gift shop. I am an impulse buyer and it was up at the counter along with candy dinos and maps. I came home with all three. Sadly, I left the How to make Wizard Stencils book behind.
My first pick was a nice looking gift bag with the word "Lucky" on it. How can you resist that, right? Besides, it was heavy and heavy is good. When I opened it up, I found that it contained at least 30 DVDs that I never want to watch...the remake of Dukes of Hazzard, some random Billy Bob Thorton movie, Must love dogs ect. SCORE!
Unfortunately, somehow jacked my stash and I lost 30 DVDs I would never want to watch and ended up with a single DVD that I simply can't watch (as it is a copy of the Hulk on the now defunct HD DVD format).
Sigh.
As an added bonus of awesomeness, the bag also included random office knick knacks of former co-workers who have been sacked over the last 12 months...our old Admin's Paper Weight, another colleagues clock they received for putting someone in an old folks home and the piece de resistance, the bag itself.
At first glance, it appears to be a standard holiday gift back, but, upon close examination, one phrase is not quite right. See if you can pick it out from the following...
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Jingle bells
Peace of Earth
Peace of Earth? What the hell is that?
Did the guy from ELF do the QC check on that before sending off to the printer?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Zomb-economics
First as a primer to my latest thesis, a quick recap of Food INC... Corn is the root of all evil.
Ok, there is a bit more than that.
Essentially what starts off with very noble intentions, how can we improve upon our farming practices so they impact the environment less, and produce a greater quantity of food at a lower price? wanders into some creepy territory not that foreign from a Michael Crichton novel... GMO's using natural pollination in conjunction with their proprietary genetically modified seeds to claim farmers who did not buy their seed to owe them seed rights (i.e. scrilla, loot, dough, benjamins) through a twisted version of eminent domain blended against other scary tales of altering the natural diets of animals to include things mother nature never intended them to eat (and thus having riveting impacts on their bodies) and dipping a toe in what really goes into processing our food (and you thought making sausage was bad!).
Being the sharp minded critical thinkers that you are, you have most likely deduced to two primary opposing arguments likely to emerge as a result of this film...
Smith sez: We need to leverage science to do more with less in order to meet the ever increasing demand for food, no matter how frankensteinian the means are. If food supplies are scarce, how can we afford to feed the masses?
Jones sez: We are what we eat and as such need to stop subsidizing unhealthy foods (why is it cheaper to eat an extra value meal than to buy ingredients for a fresh salad?) and start supporting local, organic, natural food supplies.
So after some back and forth commenting on the original post, I volleyed my strategic masterpiece...which I christened "ZombiEconomics."
Apparently the idea of Zombie-economics is not new (as demonstrated by a quick google search).
HOWEVER it is about to get a make over, topic15 style.
In the past, it referred to mindless politics, ignorant of the conditions which lead to the present (and thus creating a susceptibility to recreate them in the future, or as the old adage goes, those who don't know the past are bound to recreate it).
So, you are probably thinking, Zombies are cool. Economics aren't cool, but are necessary, what's the deal with the Topic15 Remix of these two concepts?
The fundamental basis of Zombieconomics is as simple as it is brilliant...eat the poor.
The power of this tenet is twofold, as being a relative term, we are virtually guaranteed never to run out of a food source, likewise it will have the benefit of pushing capitalism to the most obscene boundaries through an unprecedented culture of fear.
It is a veritable mash-up of Darwin and Weber! Survival of the fittest means survival of those who work hard and accumulate wealth (which is not a function of a direct desire to be wealthy, but rather as an unintended consequence associated with a desire not to be eaten, very much in line the Protestant world of not being saved).
I still need to flesh out the concept, but think I might have a dissertation on my hands, should I ever return to the world of academia, which I won't... as that means giving up my $$$$ making job and in turn giving me a front of the line pass to the TBE (to be eaten) queue should my theory ever pan out.
Outsource Outsource Outsource is the new Ho Ho Ho
I made a snarky remark about outsourcing Christmas cards only to discover 1 google search later that my idea is reality.
PS...One day I will get back to blogging regularly, just as soon as I start cultivating proper fodder of Topic15's standard.
Boondock Saint's 2 took 10 years, you just can't rush quality!
PS...One day I will get back to blogging regularly, just as soon as I start cultivating proper fodder of Topic15's standard.
Boondock Saint's 2 took 10 years, you just can't rush quality!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
OBEY The Gambler
In the dream world of topic15, anything is possible and often the outer edge of the envelope of randomness is explored.
I recently had a dream which has haunted me, not necessarily because it was scary, but because it featured an item I would much like to have, yet am fairly certain does not exist.
The context
I was at some podunk blue collar county fair type of event (which I think is a direct effect of a real life trip to York PA for a monstrous train sale). I was browsing the various redneck bric-a-brac and came across an item which can only be described as an unknown, unmet need. And decided to purchase it on the spot.
The item
The object of my desire was none other than an urban camo hooded sweatshirt which had an iconic image of Kenny Rogers stenciled on the front (similar to Shepard Fairey's Obey the Giant work). My desire for this item did not erode when I woke up. It has only intensified. Partially cause it is cool and largely because it does not exists (which of course makes me want it even more).
The resolution
While there are some interesting proxies, the only way to truly replicate the one from my dream is going to be to make it. I've already started on an image to use to cut the stencil (shown above), now I simply need to find the right color of urban camo hooded sweatshirt to bring this idea to life. After a quick google search, I think I may need to opt for sky camo (see #4) rather than urban camo as that is a closer match to the one in my dream.
We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Michael Bay, you be trippin!
After watching the biblically bad Crank 2: High Voltage, I was hoping for some redemption from Transformers 2. I should have known better.
There were a few interesting stand outs, but not all necessarily in a good way. Perhaps the most questionable were the addition of two new autobots, Skids and Mudflap. These characters are based on 2 chevy compacts. They also speak jive, are always causing a ruckus, admit they can't read and one has a gold tooth.
Apparently, I was not the only one to notice the dubious racial overtones.
And you thought Jar Jar Binks was racist. Damn Michael Bay, you really raised the racism bar son! What do you have in store for Transformers 3? A watermelon that transforms into a bucket of chicken?
There were a few interesting stand outs, but not all necessarily in a good way. Perhaps the most questionable were the addition of two new autobots, Skids and Mudflap. These characters are based on 2 chevy compacts. They also speak jive, are always causing a ruckus, admit they can't read and one has a gold tooth.
Apparently, I was not the only one to notice the dubious racial overtones.
And you thought Jar Jar Binks was racist. Damn Michael Bay, you really raised the racism bar son! What do you have in store for Transformers 3? A watermelon that transforms into a bucket of chicken?
Friday, September 11, 2009
Greetings from down unda!
G'day mates! The first 24 hours in the land down under did not disappoint, well except for learning that we just missed Ben Folds at the opera house.
We spent the bulk of the first day hoofing it around town in a zombie-like post 14 hour flight jet lag daze. We did get to see a couple of traditionally cool sights, including the harbor bridge, the opera house and the Sydney tower.
We also saw a few things that probably aren't considered cool by most standard, but I found interesting.
Example #1.
These neo-el camino's run rampant on Sydney's streets.
They seem to also have a bit of a fetish for turkish delight. They sell it everywhere. Unfortunately, they like to keep it real, and by keep it real, I mean make it with rosewater, which just doesn't do it for my western palette.
I found a record shop near by which offers classes in scratching. I am trying to schedule a lesson before we head out.
We took a trip to Manly beach, which if I ever come back to Sydney, will plan to stay there (Sydney is cool, but Manly beach is more laid back and has the most terrifically terrible souvenir stores one can imagine...In one shop I saw an infant wifebeater with a picture of soundwave on it for $3).
I'd write more, but we are off to a walking pub tour. Should be interesting! I will write more later.
We spent the bulk of the first day hoofing it around town in a zombie-like post 14 hour flight jet lag daze. We did get to see a couple of traditionally cool sights, including the harbor bridge, the opera house and the Sydney tower.
We also saw a few things that probably aren't considered cool by most standard, but I found interesting.
Example #1.
These neo-el camino's run rampant on Sydney's streets.
They seem to also have a bit of a fetish for turkish delight. They sell it everywhere. Unfortunately, they like to keep it real, and by keep it real, I mean make it with rosewater, which just doesn't do it for my western palette.
I found a record shop near by which offers classes in scratching. I am trying to schedule a lesson before we head out.
We took a trip to Manly beach, which if I ever come back to Sydney, will plan to stay there (Sydney is cool, but Manly beach is more laid back and has the most terrifically terrible souvenir stores one can imagine...In one shop I saw an infant wifebeater with a picture of soundwave on it for $3).
I'd write more, but we are off to a walking pub tour. Should be interesting! I will write more later.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Nothing runs like a Cena?!?!?!?!??!
Cena's not shy from borrowing from other logos. Just see the comparison to his HLA shirt and the now defunct AWA logo...
Now, I get why he would repurpose the AWA logo, given it is old school wrestling and he is a wrestler and he is all about respect and old skool and all that jazz, but what is the dealio with John Deere?
I mean c'mon, that is totally out of left field.
Don't get me wrong, I love me some John Deere after doing a near weekly battle with the belts on my dad's JD lawn tractor, but can't help but wonder what Cena's connection is. He ain't no farmer, that's for damn sure. I suppose he might be making a play to the blue collar fans or maybe he just likes the color green.
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