No doubt from the creative genius behind boytaurs, comes Man Babies.  A blog strangely dedicated to swapping the heads of infants and adults.  In a word, wow.  In another word, why.  In three words, check this out.

Man Babies

I just thought of a great father’s day present…

I was reading an article the other day talking about “Life after the IT department”. 

It was discussing ways of transferring your ’soft skills’ to industries that couldn’t be impacted by outsourcing.  Two ideas cited were construction and becoming a chef. 

The thinking was, these ‘hands on’ jobs could not be handled remotely.

You might think things like medicine would fall under the same umbrella, but how long until Dr.  Sunit Patel is directing the actions of a robotic surgeon in a Baltimore hospital via high-speed internet connection from Mumbai? 

I’d say 5 years or less.

The same goes for pharmacists.  I have two friends who are married to pharmacists, and I can remember mentioning what I invision as a ‘prescription vending machine’ which would basically verify your identity (probably via bio-metrics), authenticate your prescription via the internet, and then dispense the correct meds with no human interaction required.

With shock and horror they responded “But people need people at the pharmacy!  They’re always asking questions”.  Really? I for one have never, ever asked a question of a pharmacist.  I get my drug related questions taken care of with my doctor.

The bottom line is the entire world seems headed for strange, remotely worked, off-shored destinations.

My question to you esteemed UM readers:  What’s impervious to the outsource?

Comment away.  I’m more than a little anxious to hear your thoughts. 

If you don’t have a lot of will power, and actually have work to get done today, skip this link.  Who knew being a dinosaur running from extinction would be so highly addictive? Continue reading ‘Dino Run’

 Where the hell is my stimulus rebate?  You have 48 hours.

 
Recently my New Orleans operative came to Denver to bring me a few prized gifts from cajun country: Crystal’s Hot Sauce and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.  Why does everything in New Orleans have someone’s name attached to it?  I don’t know, but Crystal’s is a delicious and cheaper alternative to famed Tobasco brand products and Mr. Tony Chachere is like a cajun Lawry’s seasoning salt.  If you see some, buy it, and put it on, well, everything!

(Including a surplus of $10 bills you should probably just send directly to me instead):

Continue reading ‘for the man who has everything’

For whatever reason, listening to Delilah on Mother’s Day evening is strangely comforting.

I’m no newbie to horror flicks and tend to take them with a grain of salt; giving me pure, faux-terrified enjoyment in the theatre. 

I’ll warn everyone then that the new trailer for “The Strangers” is one of the most unsettling things I’ve ever watched.

Continue reading ‘the strangers movie trailer / preview = hella freaky’

We aren’t too proud to beg over here at Urban Monarch and now Skullcandy’s smokin buds headphones are en route.  We’re excited to give these reader recommended headphones a spin around the Denver mass transit system.

Saturday afternoon we went to see Iron Man.  Although the movie itself was great, seeing the Dark Knight trailer on the big screen was even more exciting.  

I’m pretty stoked for both Indiana Jones and Batman, but I have to say The Dark Knight is at the top of my list this summer.

How about you?

I’m currently in the market for an LCD TV.  I’m currently looking for sizes 23-28″ to fit on some built in shelving that I proudly installed myself.  As I look at the prices jump dramatically as the size increases by just a few inches, I began to wonder how much Urban Monarch readers value their TVs.  So let’s hear it.  How big is your TV?

With temperatures already heating up at UM headquarters, my thoughts are drifting to summer treats.  One of my favorites?  Watermelon. 

How to make something already good even better?  Add booze, duh.

CHOW magazine has a great recipe for Drunken Watermelon Pops that would be perfect for a rooftop patio get together. 

I’m looking at you Cerveny.

via Liquor Snob

According to a recently displayed AdSense served banner on UM, we’re expanding our target demographic to include the undead.

That’s right.  Vampfangs.com is a proud sponsor of UM.  For reasons only God, or Lucifer himself, can begin to imagine.

Sometimes I don’t know who gets a bigger kick out of Urban Monarch; me, or our readers.  Don’t answer that.

Do however, check out Vamp Fangs collection of Teddy Scares.

Seriously; just spend a few minutes perusing their site.  Then tell me how the almighty advertising gurus over at Google thought it was a good match for us.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I don’t know if I find this article entirely too funny, or not funny enough. 

According to the BBC:

Young adults in Europe deliberately binge on drink and drugs to improve their sex lives,

The craziest piece for me was this:

this study showed many young people were “strategically” binge drinking or abusing drugs to improve their sex lives.”

“Strategically”?  I don’t know if having a carafe and a half of dill vodka before passing out on some sweaty Russian woman in a bathroom stall could be called ’strategy’.

A purely hypothetical example, mind you.

The article also explores how drugs fit into the mix, with this being said about Cocaine:

More than a quarter of youngsters taking cocaine said they used it to prolong sex and drug use in general was linked to having multiple partners.

Read the rest of the goods here

Hello World!

I’ve gone through a few mice in the short time I’ve had this computer.  The mouse it shipped with was a roller ball which should have stopped being produced after 1998.  Replacing it with a gamer mouse (a slickdeal), I thought I was set for a while.  However, the changable hand weights and molded plastic didn’t see me through for even a year.  Then, a quick purchase of a well reviewed but simple laser, it lasted even less time before the scroll wheel has all but given out.

What kind of mouse are you using?

In all the time I’ve spent studying socializing and ‘pick-up’ one thing that really stands out is the importance of a first impression. 
Countless ‘experts’ point out that once you’ve been perceived as creepy/weird/etc there’s no going back.  You can never recover from making a woman feel uneasy the first time she meets you.

I’m not here to argue the point. 

Continue reading ‘reader input: women and first impressions’

The most surprising part about using a Jimi wallet are all the comments people make about it.  Now on my 3rd wallet, and in a bright orange color called Safety, it’s even more pronounced when I pull it out of my pocket. Instead of writing my own biased accolades on the product, I’ll just write the last three things I’ve heard said about it.  Mind you, these have all occurred in less than a week. Continue reading ‘Jimi Wallet Review From Other People’

radiohead live

Little known fact:  I was in attendance at the very first Lollapalooza.  Jane’s Addiction beneath a full moon was an amazing experience indeed.

It looks like 2008 won’t be too far behind.

In a pairing that can only be called “Coachella Worthy” Radiohead AND Nine Inch Nails are set to co-headline (along with Rage Against The Machine) this year’s 3 day Chicago-palooza extravaganza.

A few other artists that have me en-route to the sperm bank to donate whatever’s necessary to attend:

Continue reading ‘lollapalooza 2008 line-up announced’

NIN is at it again with another free release.  This time though, it’s a full vocal album instead of ambient textures.  Download it now and look at everyone funny when they ask you if you’ve heard the new Nine Inch Nails CD when it comes to the masses in July.

Download: The Slip

This ends up being the menu for today’s potluck:

Yum.