On the way home from work today, I was reading this article about, so-called urban yuppie survivalists (preppers). The article showcases a couple of people, who live in relatively urban areas, but have adopted a “survivalist” mentality. The article distinguishes between the modern prepper and the extremist camo wearing, bronco driving type, with the radiation-proof bunker installed under the back yard. Although, one of subjects from the article did have a camo outfit as part of his survival kit. What the author of this article maybe didn’t realize is that preppers have existed long before financial meltdown and nuclear proliferation, they are called Mormons. Rather than being driven by paranoia of the Apocalypse, they are acting to align with the teachings of the Mormon church. It’s true that the majority of the Mormon food storage owners probably do not match the profile of the “prepper” as described in the Details article (they probably do not store vodka, for instance), however, Mormons do wear a lot of khaki and polo shirts. Ok, ok, there are probably just as many, if not more Mormon food storage owners who fit into the camo wearing Bronco driving category (just not where I live). Hahaha

The other day, Reagan was returning from a jog, and when she was closing the door to our apartment, she accidentally shut one of her Ipod earbuds in the door. Since then, she has been alternating between borrowing mine, and using her old ones (the kind that require the little foam part, to stay in [the foam part has been lost for ages]). I was looking online today, to buy her some new ones. Luckily, there is a store only a couple of blocks from my work, that carries them. They cost $29, which seems like a pretty reasonable price for some earbuds, right? That is until you look at the new 1GB Shuffle which is only $49, including earbuds and cradle. If the earbuds are $29, that means that the 1GB MP3 player (and cradle) are only $20. What? The MP3 player is cheaper than the earbuds? Is there an option to buy without earbuds? I’m sure that it is more complicated than it appears on its face. The production price of both the player and the earbuds probably fall closer to center, and the earbuds are probably in actuality a smaller part of the $49 Shuffle package. This leads me to wonder further, how much Apple is gouging. They are retailing the package for $49, the production price must be around $20 max, for the player and earbuds. I’m assuming that the raw materials for the shuffle (mostly the anodized aluminum case) are more expensive than the entire actual cost of production of the earbuds. So how much must it cost to make the earbuds? I’m guessing not more than $3. Then again, I could be way off. I tried to look it up. I didn’t find any production cost info on the earbuds. But I did find this article about the markup on the original Iphone.

In perusing a gallery of street art done by D*Face, for his aPOPcolypse now exhibit, on display at UK Street Art, I came across this piece that I thought was especially timely.

I am about 6 months overdue for my 6 month checkup at the dentist. Initially I scheduled it (about 6 months ago), but kept getting so busy at work that I would have to re-schedule, about 3 times. Then I ended up just not going. About a year ago I had a re-treatment on a root canal, that I just ended up never getting a new crown on. Gross, I know. Anyway, I’m getting really sick of it. So I finally made an appointment to go to the dentist today. I don’t really mind going to the dentist. I just hate all of the waiting around. I actually really like the way my teeth feel when I come out. But I am dreading it a little bit today. I’m afraid of the lecture that I’m going to get when my Dr. sees that I still haven’t had the crown done. Oh well. Sometimes a little kick in the butt is what I need, to motivate me to take care of things that I have been putting off. Wish me luck.

I had to repost this from Animalnewyork.

confidence, originally uploaded by stevem78.

I had to repost this graphic, contrived by my favorite British mash-up artist. I have written about the dude before. His name is Steve Mannion, he is the author of Base58. Anyway, he recently switched his site over to a wordpress format and has been publishing pretty regularly again. It is funny how often I feel like I relate to the stuff that he produces. In the case of this graphic it is no different. I think that if a similar chart were constructed, depicting how the same attributes are eminated by me, it would not diverge much from the one posted by Mannion.

I came across this chair, this morning when I was out moving the car. I thought it was mighty kind of the person discarding it, to put would-be curb shoppers on notice. On the other hand, this chair was on the curb half way around the block from where I live. Having a bed bug infestation is one of the worst things that I can even think of. I hope that whoever discovered them, was able to get them under control. I hope that their kids don’t play with the kids that live in our building. Man, it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

When I was reading this morning on the train, I came across an article about being “that guy.” The most entertaining part, for me was the picture of George W. Bush giving chest bumps to an AF academy grad. Anyway, go to the Details website and take the quiz to find out if you are that guy. The quiz is almost as entertaining as the article itself.

One of the coolest things that I have seen so far, this Monday morning. Fi5e, aka Evan posted this gem on ni9e blog. If you are going to leave that nasty gold badge on there, why not just go all the way? According to Razor Apple, only 20 of the hats were produced and are not currently for sale. They are probably so expensive that you can’t afford them anyway.