Pulp Free

Always one to follow the crowds, I’ve started seeing Simpons characters popping up all over the place (obviously in much anticipation of the Simpson’s Movie in a few weeks…) But I was like - why? Why are they everywhere?

Well - it turns out that the Simpson’s Movie Web site allows you to create avatars in the style of the Simpsons! Sweet. So I tried it out. I made myself laugh. So here are my first attempts for both C and myself…

I tried spending a few minutes in Photoshop to try and add some shadows! LOL - Not real close on C, but she does love pink!

C’mon now… Was I the only one distracted by the American flag in this picture?

Yeah… While this made news a few days ago, I just had to post a picture of this somehow. As you should already know:

The Spice Girls announced Thursday that they have agreed to reunite for 11 concerts around the world in December and January.

They will be the group’s first concerts since it broke up in 2001, and the first with all five original members since Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998.

The group said shows would be in Los Angeles on Dec. 7, Las Vegas on Dec. 8 , New York on Dec. 11, London on Dec. 15, Cologne on Dec. 20, Madrid on Dec. 23, Beijing on Jan. 10, Hong Kong on Jan. 12, Sydney on Jan. 17, Cape Town on Jan. 20 and Buenos Aires on Jan. 24.

Halliwell, 34, appeared with Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, 33, Melanie “Sporty Spice” Chisholm, 33, Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton, 31, and Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown, 32, to pose for photos and announce tour plans.

“We wanted to say thank you to our fans. It just feels very right for us,” Chisholm said.

Granted, I actually purchased the Spice album (I think I picked it up during my BMG music club days…) and enjoyed a few tracks (like Say You’ll Be There and maybe 2 Become 1). Heck, when I was in England many years ago they were playing Geri Halliwell’s “Lift Me Up” so many times on the radio even I bought the single! But aren’t they just a bunch of average ladies with average voices? I guess some of them made out pretty well… (Sorry Baby Spice - you didn’t make that list…)

Perhaps just more American flag pictures…

(Quick update… Since the first picture was from Yahoo - I now see that there’s also a slide show… Whoa. Hello flags…)

Well… it’s just under 24 hours before all of America will be drooling over their new Apple iPhones. Do I want one? Meh… Maybe version 2.0. I still have 18 months left on my renewed Spring PCS contract. But it does look cool. And way better than the other phones trying to compete with it. Time will tell how groundbreaking this latest effort by Apple will be. Granted - I’ve been Apple’tized since the 3rd grade when our family bought an Apple //e (just had to use the same forward slashes!) We even had an Apple SilentType. Mmmmm… Thermal printers!

Anyway - I digress. The point of my ramblings is more specific to how Apple spoke about their employees on this “dawn of the new age…”

Steve got a “look on his face that was kind of the same look as he had when introducing the Mac in 1984.” He said that it sounded like Steve thought the iPhone launch was a really huge deal, and considered it to be one of the most revolutionary and exciting products they had ever created. Steve said, “Don’t worry about two years from now,” they’ll deal with that as it comes. Apple employees will be able to tell their grandkids that they were at Apple when they launched the iPhone, and that it was all worth the sacrifice.

To thank the employees, all full time Apple employees in the US who have been there for a year will be getting an iPhone at the end of July. Multiple sources have told me that they believe this includes retail employees.

Granted - $600 bonus? Yeah, maybe. But I work in technology. I have the projects that seem to last in terms of “years” rather than weeks. Everything pushed aside (including reason) to make the date. It just seems that in this effort - I think the Apple employees really think that their management teams really do appreciate them. There’s something substantial being released at the end of their project. Something tangible.

Maybe I’ll get a paid-in-full mortgage…

On my nightly news parsing, I wandered across a news article about pickpocketing…

Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front-left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.

He immediately grabbed the person’s wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened.

“I guess he thought I was an easy mark,” Barnes, 72, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Tuesday.

He’s anything but an easy mark: Barnes served in the Marines, was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer and retired after 20 years as an iron worker.

Jesse Daniel Rae, the 27-year-old Newaygo County man accused of trying to pick Barnes’ pocket, was arraigned Monday in Rockford District Court on one count of unarmed robbery, a 15-year felony.

Barnes said he had just withdrawn the money from a bank machine and put it in the pocket of his shorts before driving to the Marathon service station and Next Door Food Store in Comstock park, a Grand Rapids suburb.

He remembers noticing a patron acting suspiciously, asking the price of different brands of cigarettes and other items. While turned away, Barnes felt the hand in his pocket, so he took action.

“I guess I acted on instinct,” he said.

Kent County sheriff’s deputies said the store manager quickly came around the counter. The three of them struggled through the front door, where two witnesses said the manager slammed Rae to the ground and held him there.

“There was blood everywhere,” said another manager on duty, Abby Ostrom, 25.

Barnes was a regional runner-up in Golden Gloves competition in the novice and open divisions before enlisting in the Marines in 1956.

He lived most of his adult life in Comstock Park with his wife, Patricia, before recently moving to Ottawa County. The couple have three children.

After retiring as an iron worker, he now works part-time as a starter at a golf course.

Barnes said he’d probably do the same thing again under the same circumstances, if for no other reason than what he would face back home.

“I wouldn’t want my wife to give me hell for lettin’ that guy get my money,” he said with a smile.

While this story is a nice tale, I had to ask myself, “What is a golf starter?” And I found:

The starter maintains the starting times and tee sheet, and ensures that golfers get off the first tee in a prompt and orderly manner. This job is crucial in keeping the tee times on time. Starters must possess excellent interpersonal skills and be able to handle customers in a friendly and courteous manner. Starters also are very important in making sure that customers have properly paid for their round. The starter also helps golfers find a game if they are by themselves. The starter also is an important part of making sure customers will have a pleasant golfing experience.

Can you imagine if you caused him to start a round late? Or what if you didn’t like his “interpersonal skills”?

Hope you have a pleasant golfing experience!