This is cool

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Ferrari Theme Park Starts to Take Shape

A bit of a stretch for this blog, but our reader(s) probably won't mind. This looks interesting.

ABU DHABI, UAE (autospies.com) – We've already seen Ferrari's licensing skills produce a range of merchandise from sunglasses to laptops – and now it's taking on Disneyland with the prancing horse's very own theme park. The doors will open in 2009 in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. A large slice of desert on the island of Yas will be reclaimed to host the development, which will include 24 attractions, including a 70-metre high G-Force Tower and what's claimed to be the world's first F1-branded twin rollercoaster ride, allowing races between carriages. Budding Schumachers can try their hand at go-karting and dune buggy racing – and there are bound to be plenty of opportunities to snaffle up Ferrari-branded goodies, too. The plans by Benoy Architects even reveal plans for the Ferrari F1 pitlane experience. This is a massive scheme, including a motor racing circuit destined to host the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009, posh hotels, apartments, villas, a golf course and marina, dozens of restaurants and shops... you get the idea. The whole thing is going to cost around £300 million (US$583 million), much of it stumped up by Middle East developers Aldar Properties. Ferrari CEO Jean Todt has called the site 'an important attraction for fans and car lovers worldwide.'

MAKING TELEMARKETERS PAY -- IN CASH

For the record, I was not looking for porn when I discovered this article about suing telemarketers. It looks like I may be up for this. He makes it sound so easy.

Suing telemarketers is not new, but Web-based court forms have made it much easier. Electronic filing is slowly becoming standard at small claims courts across the country, said Emily Doskow, editor of "Everybody's Guide to Small Claims Court.”

"It's very consumer friendly," she said. "It's been growing in
popularity for the last five years."

"It's been growing in popularity"? I love the idea that suing people is popular.

Talk about a slam dunk! He put up a website (http://killthecalls.com) to help other people get in on the action and apparently the MSNBC exposure is jacking up his traffic.

Inventor Dreams of Even Slices of Pizza

"Most of us are all too familiar with the common situation where, in ordering and eating a pizza, the size of the pieces contrast drastically in size. When this occurs, the large pieces are difficult to handle, often resulting in dropped sauce and toppings that can stain clothing and carpet. Furthermore, due to the fact that pizza is often hot, burns can result where the hot cheese, sauce and toppings drop onto one's person. Also, where the pizza serves as a meal for a number of people, the disproportionate pieces make for unequal servings and, as a result, further cutting is required to even-out the meal. From a business point of view, a poorly cut pizza relates directly to quality and workmanship in the food product. Accordingly, there is need for a means by which commercial pizza establishments and restaurants can ensure constant, evenly sliced pizzas on a consistent basis. The development of the present invention fulfills this need."

You know what? This guy's right. I can't stand it when I have to shave an 1/8th of an inch off of a slice of pizza in the name of equity. Oh sure, ignore it, you say! Well, that's the kind of talk I would expect from someone a few irregular stains on their carpet. More than one pizza chain has lost my business when slices failed to fall within my pre-subscribed pizza tolerance of 342 ± 2 millimeters.

Thank God for visionaries like Kenneth Morris. In 1999, he give us the holy grail of pizza making, the even-slice pizza cutter (U.S. Patent No. 6,557,260). From ancient steel first created in the wind furnaces of Sri Lanka in 300 B.C., to the rise of modern steel production in 1850, all of mankind's progress has led to the creation of such a glorious tool:



While this news caused a great deal of joy among the pizza eating community in 1999, shares of Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser were sent crashing on the New York and London Stock Exchanges, respectively. Private shareholders incited a near panic as the rid themselves of what was sure to become "junk" stocks as the need for personal cleaning products vanished.

What? You saw this coming? Rubbish. Who could have predicted that the invention of the multiple pizza slice cutter in 1991 would have been a precursor to the even slice cutter of 1999. Sure, one could claim that these two inventions were really the same thing, but I think Mr. Morris ends that controversy.

"Patent No. D316,656 describes the ornamental design for a multiple slice pizza cutter."

When tattoos look like this, sign me up

So much for Shadow Puppet theater. What can I say about this guy? These pictures are amazing. Guido Daniele takes making hand animals to a whole new level. There's not a whole lot left to the imagination about the animals here, and there's not much to say, except check them out. I could cut and paste the Reader's Digest article about him and these creations, but it's easier to just follow the link.

I'm sure I'll catch some flak from gstdog for the lack of a souvenir tie-in, and for a bit of a miss on an original angle here, but I can defend this post. First, I'm not even sure that gstdog even reads this blog anymore, judging by the fact that I haven't seen a post from him since about, oh, 1997. Secondly, if I wait any longer for gstdog to post his next fascinating insight into evenly sliced pizza or overzealous beer pong players, this blog will become even less relevant than it already is. So I thank you, loyal reader (you know who you are) for your patience in our content drought. I hope you find this exposure to a talented and original artist worthwhile, and maybe we'll see you again soon.

Enjoy.