Double Rainbow, All the Way

This video has been making its way around the Internet lately. Yes, there is some crying (it’s so intense!)

It’s too much dude. I haven’t been that excited about seeing a rainbow, double or otherwise, since…well, I’ve never been that excited about seeing anything ever in my entire life.

In a way, you have to kind of respect the guy. That something so simple as a double rainbow can make him so emotional means that he probably enjoys his life a lot more than the average person. What simple joy. On the other hand, maybe he cries like that over everything.

“You got me a hamburger? With (sniffle) cheese? (sobbing) Double whopper all the way!”

I wish someone would just tell him what it means.

Robust Coffee Lounge

There is an area of town next to our house that is characterized by nothing but empty lot after empty lot. So when a new condo conversion with shops on the bottom started up in one of the few remaining buildings left on the street, we were naturally excited. Even more excitement when a sign went up in the window saying there was a coffee shop coming soon.

The excitement began to wane as the year crawled by and there seemed to be no progress on the shop. The windows were papered over, so you couldn’t see in the inside. Finally we were forced to conclude that the economy had claimed another victim and the coffee shop was a dud.

No so! Last week the Robust Coffee Lounge opened for business. So obviously we had to go over and take a peek.

The place is huge! There is lots and lots of seating. I had a chance to talk with the owners while we were there, so I got some inside information. Their idea was to create a space where people would hang out (hence the “lounge” in their name), so they wanted to make sure they had plenty of space.

We popped in extremely early on Sunday morning, around 7 or so, and ran into 2 other families with little kids. I don’t know if this means the place is especially kid friendly, or if it means that only people with little kids are out of the house before 7. Either way, kids were not a problem.

They have a full menu of sandwiches etc., which I am excited to try. However, if I had any quibble with the place, it was that the bakery section was a little underwhelming. We were in the market for a flavored coffee and a quick breakfast, and we didn’t find much. They had a few muffins and other standard fare, but they were pretty expensive for what they had. One notable exception were the cupcakes from Brown Sugar Bakery, which we are familiar with from the farmer’s market. The cupcakes are good and I’m really glad to see they went with a local company over a national chain of some sort. However, we weren’t looking for cupcakes.

Anyway, if you’re in the neighborhood, please support this business! The owners seemed to be counting on a lot of business from students once school started back up. Perhaps I’ve lived in the neighborhood a little longer, or perhaps I am just cynical, but I don’t think they are counting on the bias against us from our neighbors to the North. It will take a lot of convincing on their part to convince students to walk down there.

We’ll see. But either way, it would be great to have a successful business there. The other shops are empty, but the owners of Robust told me that since they’ve opened a lot of interest has been generated about the other shops. Seeing a thriving coffee shop makes the rest of the property more valuable (seriously, every time I’ve been by Robust, it has been hopping).

This is the kind of place that can really turn a block around.

ZombieFit

Everybody wants to lose weight, to exercise more. It’s the motivation that’s the problem. It’s just that there really isn’t anything motivational enough to get me to run, jump, etc.

Well, there is one thing: zombies!

Now in Chicago you can sign up for ZombieFit, which bills itself as “fitness to survive the apocolypse”.

The keys to surviving Z-day are simple: Be able to lift and throw heavy things, run fast and for long distances, and be able to navigate obstacles and urban environments in an efficient manner.

I will let them describe the program, in their own words:

…five to a dozen people gather to run, jump, climb and vault up, over and around obstacles that stand in for the features of a city in the grip of a zombie infestation. They also undergo strength and conditioning training because zombies are relentless.

There are no actual zombies or zombie stand-ins, though Gatz says they are invoked for inspiration. A precision jump, for example, requires participants to land in an exact location, much as they would have to do if fleeing a zombie from rooftop to rooftop.

“You’ve got to land that, or the zombies are going to get you,” Gatz tells students.

I think it is time for the haters to admit that I’m not the only one talking about zombies here. It’s common enough to be a business model.

Link via Jackie.

Speaking of zombies, I sure wish someone would come up with some plans for a rocket propelled chainsaw. Because that would just be the most ridiculous…

Sharktopus!

My brother just informed me that there is a new Syfy original picture entitled Sharktopus. At the risk of over explaining the title, that is a shark genetically crossed with an octopus to create the ultimate killing machine. This may come as a surprise, but the scientists were not able to maintain control.

For those of you who don’t have the awesomesauce to sit through the trailer, here’s a model of the rediculous:

Why did I have to get rid of satellite??

Yes, the sharktopus can grab you from land with his tentacles, but if that’s not enough, he can also crawl out onto the land to eat you. He also appears to be gigantic, as if he needed another scary aspect. The director was like, “Hmm, he’s scary, but he’s not *that* scary. What if sharktopus was 10 times the size of a regular shark!”

And the sharktopus was created to fight pirates in Somalia! Aside from that obviously being a stupid premise, I think we need a prequel movie: Sharktopus vs. Pirates! (in 3D of course). Maybe we can have the sharktopus transported back in time so it can fight pirates that are on conventional pirate ships, rather than the Somali kind. They’d be lining up around the block to get into the theater.

Well, first things first, somebody watch Sharktopus on Syfy and let me know how it goes.