Mishmash Musings

Have you heard that Baskin-Robbins is “retiring” five of their flavors? I personally love BR ice cream, and cannot eat the cheap-o crap that you can pick up for a buck at the 7Eleven or whatever, so this news is interesting to me. The flavors that will no longer appear on the menu are: Caramel Praline Cheesecake, French Vanilla, Campfire S’mores, Apple Pie a la Mode, and Superfudge Truffle. Wait, they’re getting rid of French Vanilla? Seriously??? Wow!

Anyway, the two flavors I will actually miss are Caramel Praline Cheesecake (LOVE it!) and French Vanilla. I tried Campfire S’mores once, but never went back. Never tasted the other two.

Well, I guess this just means that other flavors will be coming in to take these five places. That’s some good news, right? Can’t wait to see what’s in store!

Ugh, have you heard some of the recordings of Mel Gibson ranting at his wife/baby mama/whatever she is? They’re available at RadarOnline and pretty much confirm that Gibson is a disgusting pig. I mean, he goes off on her for falling asleep before giving him a blow job. WTF??? And he doesn’t just make a single comment about it, either. He goes on and on and on.

I seriously cannot believe that some people are blaming Oksana in this mess. I realize she’s not an angel either, but come on. No matter what reasons she had for secretly recording Mel, whether she’s a gold-digger or not, those motives do not have any bearing on what he said. No one made him say those nasty things. He’s just a gross, disgusting, self-centered pig. I will never see another movie of his or knowingly support any of his productions in any way.

The YMCA is officially shortening its name to the “Y”. I guess they finally decided to give in and call themselves what everyone else has been calling them forever. I wonder why it took them so long? Remember when FedEx was Federal Express but changed because people shortened the name all the time? Same deal here. If something works, just go with it, ya know? Too bad they can’t get rid of that stupid song like they got rid of the three extra letters in their name!

Have you heard of this new television series called Huge? It’s about morbidly obese teens whose parents decide to send them to fat camp instead of putting them on apidexin or a similar supplement. At first glance, it seems like kind of a stupid concept for a TV show, but I’ve read a few surprisingly good reviews about it. What the reviewers particularly like is the fact that teen obesity is portrayed in a realistic way. The characters suffer like “real humans” instead of just being the “funny” best friend or whatever. Plus, on Huge, the weight loss is extremely slow, which is much closer to real life than what is seen on The Biggest Loser and other such shows.

I don’t have any reason to watch something like Huge, but I’m glad it’s getting good reviews. If a show like that can help troubled teens feel a bit better about their situation, then go for it.

Don’t you just love it when you find that perfect present for whatever occasion is coming up? My best friend’s birthday is next month, so I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of something to get her. Then when I was looking at a wholesale jewelry site, I came across a sterling silver fleur-de-lis pendant like the one pictured here — and knew I’d found the right present. My friend is a HUGE New Orleans Saints fan, so this necklace will definitely be appreciated. Plus, it’s less than $25, which fits my budget perfectly. Can’t wait to get this for her!

I spend the day running around town doing all the minor errands that I’ve let pile up. I had to buy some stamps, get my eczema cream prescription refilled, return books to the library, pick up some things from the grocery store, and get an oil change. I feel good that all these things are done and out of the way. Now I can stay home and work on writing that paper for my linguistics class that’s due on Sunday!

Did you know we have a new arm of the military called the U.S. Cyber Command? Yeah, neither did I. It’s apparently supposed to be a way for the U.S. to “wage war over the Internet” — whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Sounds like a bunch of geeks playing simulation games to me.

Anyway, I actually wanted to show you the U.S. Cyber Command seal because it has a code embedded in the inner ring:

The code is probably too small to see in that pic, so I’ll print it out here too.

9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a

Think you can crack it and figure out what it means? If so, then go over to the Wired Danger Level blog and enter their contest. Even though first prize is just a t-shirt or a ticket to the International Spy Museum, I’m sure there are a ton of guys out there falling all over themselves to be the winner. I’ve seen these types of contests before, and all I can say is that it’s like giving everyone a tube of testosterone cream and putting them in a ring. These guys get very fired up and competitive over who’s ahead, who’s cheating, who’s going to win, etc. It’s all very primitive, actually.

At any rate, it’ll be interesting to see if someone can figure out what the code means. Won’t be me, though. I suck at this sort of thing!

Wow, I just read that Bob Probert died today. Probert was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks during the early ’90s and is known as one of the best fighters ever to play hockey. His primary role was as an enforcer, but he could score some goals, too.

Probert apparently collapsed while out on a boat, and exhibited no vital signs as he was rushed to the hospital. Official cause of death is pending autopsy results.

Of course it’s no secret that Probert had drug and alcohol problems during his playing days, but I hope his death wasn’t directly related to drugs. Last I’d heard, he was clean and had turned his life around. Either way, I feel bad for his family. The guy was only 45, which is way too young to go. RIP, Probie.