tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56964235017924648452011-06-08T01:36:37.568-05:00Unfiltered. Uncommon. Untamed.Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-669236792087180972008-11-13T19:05:00.007-05:002008-11-13T21:12:25.416-05:00

Earlier today, Southern California participated in the largest earthquake drill ever for the U.S.At 10 a.m., five million people dropped to their knees and covered their heads for a two-minutes pretend earthquake. The last time there were that many Californian's on their knees was at the 1978 San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. ...everyone willingly lies there and does nothing!Scientists say the

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-57598522476926434662008-11-12T13:23:00.007-05:002008-11-12T15:36:57.925-05:00

iApple said that the iPhone and iPod touch are the "future of handheld gaming," that the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are things of the past.False.I'm calling iApple's bluff, and here's why.Nobody wants to play a video game without any actual buttons.First of all, both of iApple's iDevices are touch screens. Nobody wants to play a video game without any actual buttons. We were raised on buttons. The

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-10474981809003691832008-11-11T10:43:00.015-05:002008-11-12T08:37:51.868-05:00

The Phoenix Mars lander is dead. Here are a few quick project facts:-It cost $428 million.-Phoenix was active on Mars for slightly longer than five months (landed at the end of May, 2008).-It was to analyze soil and take pictures.That's like trying to get over an ex-girlfriend for twice as long as you dated her.Now, kudos to the scientists for getting the machine to operate properly on Mars --

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-17957165981134362982008-11-07T07:00:00.003-05:002008-11-07T09:23:44.343-05:00

If these rumors about Sarah Palin are true… wow. We just averted a catastrophe.Let’s look at the positive, though: Sarah Palin has four years to fine tune herself before her next run. We’ll even give her a head start.Sarah Palin, welcome to Life 101.Credit cards are not magical. Campaign aides are not Santa’s elves.Lesson One – Etiquette: There are some situations where answering the door in a

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-76453717373475476752008-11-06T07:00:00.000-05:002008-11-06T15:20:12.222-05:00

And we’re back. Hope you didn’t hold your breath.Here’s the thing, we were going to do a Mismatured year in review, but, in the past year we haven’t accomplished much. Actually, we haven’t accomplished anything. I mean, a bunch of good movies came out; there were some sweet games released for PS3 and Xbox 360. We got a little sidetracked. Hell, city workers would have gotten more done.So instead,

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-49250355351607566412007-11-15T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-14T23:57:42.131-05:00

Is it possible to overdose on Chuck Norris jokes?Well, thanks to his recent public announcement that he backs Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, Chuck Norris has released an ultimatum on the American public: vote for Mike, or prepare to have you scrawny butt beaten far into the ground.According to FOXNews.com, Chuck Norris does not vote for president of the

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-62649572579333670972007-11-12T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T14:45:39.722-05:00

China has done it again. In less than a year, the country has exported two sets of children's toys that turn out to be dangerous if swallowed. First it was lead. And now, the most recent occurrence can cause seizures or even comas if swallowed.The cause, in case you haven't heard, is GHB (for those of you who have yet to watch a crime drama in the last 10 years, that's a date rape drug).With all

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-13223778801908684582007-11-09T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-09T16:27:09.129-05:00

Sony’s CEO says the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats are in a stalemate.The HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray fight has been going on far too long. We’re in round 15 of a 12 round title bout. End it already.Part of the problem is that nobody is taking a side. Everyone is saying “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!” How insightful. Way to really ponder the situation people. You might as well be saying “I guess I’

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-78035441550468400002007-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-07T22:36:44.879-05:00

Two years ago, Chris Simcox was the man with the plan. Simcox, disgruntled with Washington’s seeming lack of hustle in construction of the Great Wall of America, organized the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, pledging to do what the government had failed to do: keep out illegal immigrants from skipping across the border from Mexico into America, Simcox pledged to construct a $55 million high-tech

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-83951121897028302442007-11-06T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-06T09:49:22.267-05:00

Just when you thought your 1994 copy of the Guinness Book of World Records would be irreplaceable (as it collected dust on your bottom bookcase shelf), Jackie Bibby had to go and make it obsolete.Sure, the records for "longest beard" or "smallest person" may not have changed in the past 50 years, but if you don't upgrade your copy, you're going to miss out on Jackie Bibby's "longest amount of

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-83684990979724670322007-11-05T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-05T15:50:39.418-05:00

The single biggest shame in this writer’s strike is that it won’t affect American Idol, which I am forced to avoid not once, but twice a week. My only hope is that Ryan Seacrest’s every quip is secretly fed from a witty writer with a teleprompter.Reports say the strike will likely affect late night talk shows first, followed by primetime TV. Who’s complaining? This is our chance to pull ourselves

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-38693627776019677622007-11-01T05:00:00.000-05:002007-10-31T21:25:52.270-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the sanity of America is at stake. Not only is Jerry Seinfeld’s wife writing cookbooks teaching mothers how they can slyly slip healthy vegetables into foods for their children, but she is being accused of what Jerry considers “vegetable plagiarism” by another cook with similar methods.Please, please, don’t copy my arugula.That clever, covert cook used to slip onions into

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-67319795693869284092007-10-30T05:00:00.000-05:002007-10-30T00:53:44.606-05:00

Many will wish he’ll die for what he did.He lured the daughter of a pastor to his home, baiting her with the hope of a nanny job, and murdered her. Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in association with the Minnesota murder, but have not released his name.On top of the fact that he killed someone (assuming the police have the right guy) I feel additional contempt for the man because of the

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-49671817495064489662007-10-26T09:09:00.000-05:002007-10-26T09:11:25.120-05:00

Vodka nauseates me. I hate the fumes. I hate the taste. I hate the chill that goes through my body when I have to drink it. I hate the sensation of it then seeping out my pores. And now, to add to all of it, I hate the fact that P Diddy is launching a new brand of it in the US.P Diddy, whom I will insultingly refer to as ‘Puff Daddy’ for the remainder of this article (to remind everyone of his

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-49563741236584466132007-10-25T07:00:00.000-05:002007-10-25T10:01:44.393-05:00

Come on, Rudy Giuliani, everyone expected much more from you. As America’s Mayor, leading the country through the toughest times of this generation after the events of 9/11, you were the most loved political figure out there. You never turned your back on the city that raised you, and you dedicated yourself to reviving the metropolis we call New York City.Which makes it hard to swallow when,

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-6164378803771523372007-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:002007-10-23T23:03:32.048-05:00

Fires blaze on in California today. The fires stretch from the Mexican border northward to L.A. Many Mexican citizens are thankful, this week, for such protective fences that keep them out of the frightening flames. San Diego County has evacuated a half-million residents and already thousands of houses have burned to the ground.This is the real thing, people.This is California we’re talking about

Mary Coughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984191457123328509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-517934937797096172007-10-23T07:00:00.000-05:002007-10-23T08:12:36.928-05:00

After completing all seven books in the Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling suddenly announced that Dumbledore, the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a mentor to Harry and his friends, is gay.Why would she wait to announce that until after all the books were complete?This is like the writer of Top Gun suddenly announcing that Tom Cruise’s character Maverick is gay.

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-80744407172016612672007-04-11T17:40:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:31:24.017-05:00

It's hard to have watched the news in recent days without having seen the controversy stirred up by talk-radio host Don Imus. Commenting on the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game between Tennessee and Rutgers, Imus said that the Tennessee girls looked cute, while the Rutgers girls were rough-looking, tattooed, and then went on to label them as "nappy-headed hoes."Big mistake, Mr. Imus. The

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-487181015139353632007-04-08T13:54:00.000-05:002007-04-09T00:25:26.541-05:00

The latest scientific endeavor claims that the ancient Chinese art of tai chi may help prevent shingles.Maybe I'm being too rash in my judgment of the study, but it just sounds far fetched, if not ridiculous. Imagine the planning meeting for it.It probably went something like this: The head nerd said, "my fellow nerds, how shall we use all this funding money? AIDS research?"The nerds replied, "

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-27449282907654291532007-04-04T18:25:00.000-05:002007-04-09T00:45:30.394-05:00

Why doesn't this kind of news ever make the front page?There are days when I find myself scanning through the news briefs at the sides of the newspaper's miscellaneous section, and most days the news deserves being hidden in these places. But this -- this is something truly worthy of front-page attention.An unidentified, naked woman wandered into a fraternity house where she promptly began

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-22919376416186379572007-04-02T11:14:00.000-05:002007-04-02T14:43:55.967-05:00

The US is on the board for shark attacks in 2007. Saturday, a young boy was bitten and Sunday two swimmers were bitten within an hour of each other off the east coast of Florida. None of the attacks were life threatening.Three attacks in one weekend. Last year the total number of attacks was 23 -- we're on pace to shatter that record and I think I know why.We're raising our own little fattened

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-53117494909700445682007-03-30T21:20:00.000-05:002007-04-01T13:32:36.276-05:00

You've heard of Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12 and maybe you've even heard of the upcoming Ocean's 13. But did you hear about Wimberly's 2?Here's the plot: Two guys go into a California jewelry store. One guy distracts the salesman while the other one gets on his hands and knees and crawls behind the counter with a master key to unlock the case. He then fills his pockets with half a million dollars worth

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-83240864420149719862007-03-28T15:51:00.000-05:002007-03-29T10:57:44.978-05:00

Well, don't those darn multimedia pirates just think of everything?Just after the death of Napster, the file-sharing network destroyed by the recording industry and Lars Ulrich of the band Metallica, people were predicting a death in the world of music and movie pirating. Not so.Soon after, programs like Limewire and other BitTorrent sites sprung up around the world, and the recording industry

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-88902707893161680702007-03-26T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:30:17.627-05:00

The US Coast Guard found two college aged students alive after going overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico four hours earlier.They fell overboard around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The first was found at 5:30 a.m. while the second was found at 6 a.m. What rescuers don't know is how it happened.She did something no sane person would ever do. She went gulfing.How? I'll wager a guess.

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-37521202726045448152007-03-21T17:36:00.000-05:002007-03-21T18:11:55.476-05:00

At the end of the year, the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team was ranked #1 in both polls, and many were speculating that the Buckeyes would be the team to win it all in the NCAA tournament. What with freshman phenoms Mike Conley, Jr. and Daequan Cook at the guards, paired with the 7-foot behemoth Greg Oden, Buckeyes fans surely were correct in expecting the world from this talented team.

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-52920966247551474822007-03-16T10:39:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:29:51.387-05:00

I've written about sleep before ("If napping is good for me, high school was great," Feb. 2007), but it's in the news again. And this time it's more fantastic than I could have imagined -- or, as it were, dreamed.According to several news sources, including the New York Times, some folks who took zolpidem, a particular type of sleeping pill, had a side-effect that was more interesting than

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-81850446472286355682007-03-06T13:17:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:29:22.274-05:00

It's time to increase Little Johnny's allowance; he'll be a little short on change now that he got fired from his job.At least, that's what will probably happen now that, according to numerous news sources, a study was just released that says many US teens under 18 are working dangerous jobs and late hours. OSHA, which regulates this, is sure to turn up the heat now that it's been brought to

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-79407063715373618382007-03-02T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:29:05.678-05:00

You've seen magicians like David Blaine float, but recent reports say that wheelchair jockey Stephen Hawking will be performing a similar feat -- which may help or hurt those magicians' statuses. On the one hand, it likens them to Stephen Hawking, a genius of the highest caliber. On the other hand, it likens them to Stephen Hawking, a guy who wears a diaper.Actually, Hawking's floating will be

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-75976137581773506582007-02-28T16:06:00.000-05:002007-03-06T21:19:12.444-05:00

The impossible has happened! After years of directing in Hollywood, and after six Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Martin Scorsese has finally captured the golden statue for his latest film: The Departed. The preeminent director of gangster films, Scorsese has captured the life of Irish mobsters in contemporary Boston featuring an all-star cast (Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-84577464827130975752007-02-23T10:15:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:28:29.864-05:00

The latest Iraq related news involves Sgt. Paul E. Cortez of Barstow, Calif., who pleaded guilty, along with several other soldiers, to raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and her family. They then poured kerosene over her desecrated body and burned it to hide the evidence.Is it any wonder that Iraqis hate America. Is it any wonder that we're failing miserably over there when this

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-1489393391367743282007-02-14T14:39:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:15:34.167-05:00

Now, I know I'm not one of the world's preeminent stylists, and that my sense of women's fashion is inherently hampered by my being a man, but one of the latest trends in women's footwear is simultaneously astonishing and annoying: Ugg boots. These sheepskin shoes introduced to America by our friends from "Down Under" have swept the country; women everywhere are sporting these boots, so willing

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-76123085200867213802007-02-12T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:27:56.820-05:00

It's my dream come true -- naps are healthy. According to a recently published study based out of the Athens Medical School in Greece, they decrease the risk of heart disease by about one-third when taken regularly. News like this is so beautiful and rare that it's almost unbelievable -- somebody pinch me.I think I have to ask my high school to rewrite my transcript. All those detentions for

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-91411760058717571602007-02-08T17:15:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:26:48.054-05:00

There is something wrong in the world today. It's 16 degrees Fahrenheit yet it's sunny with blue skies. I just ate McDonald's yet I don't feel sick at all. My cell phone battery is almost dead but I just finished charging it. OK, maybe that last one isn't that weird but something is most definitely not right.So I checked the news."FDA approves first over-the-counter weight loss pill." Maybe

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-45256871131784571012007-02-08T12:59:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:26:20.872-05:00

Super Bowl XLI is over even though ESPN continues to cover it like it's "news," and the hot-button topic of debate now is whether or not Peyton Manning's victory over the Chicago Bears has earned him the title of the greatest quarterback in NFL history. As a responsible reporter and a columnist with my two-cents to chip in, I decided that maybe I should tackle this debate head-on, ending it once

Jared Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10176759476947111489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-83282713780703193602007-01-31T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:25:57.436-05:00

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks "Heroes" is overrated. I liked it for a while. I was on the "Heroes" bandwagon but not anymore. I'll probably still watch it again next week. And probably the week after that. But I don't have to like it. Every week after it's over, I slowly come to the same realization. Nothing happened. It is the slowest moving TV show ever made.It is X-Men on Dramamine.

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-15469155757411265052007-01-24T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:25:16.379-05:00

I bet every paper will have its celebrity beat reporter on the Brandy Norwood story hoping to turn a phrase. Brandy is the singer/actor most famous for her leading role on television's "Moesha.""Brandy involved in car accident," most headlines will read. A creative little play on words but by the time it hits newsstands it will be a cliché. It's cute, but too obvious.Not to mention there's no

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-1454225805193468702007-01-22T18:35:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:24:56.556-05:00

After plastic surgery, diet pills and morticians ensured that we would stay beautiful long after the daisies we pushed up would die, we have finally hit the next level in vanity. We now have Slentrol, a diet pill for our dogs that was recently approved by the FDA.It's about time. What's the point of us humans staying artificially skinny if we have to go exercise with our dog anyway? Now our

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-35491100321890145312006-12-13T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:24:34.636-05:00

This past weekend I rented "Thank You for Smoking," a satirical comedy about fictional tobacco spokesman Nick Naylor and how he spins the truth to make cigarettes look good. Yeah, the movie makes a mockery of Big Tobacco, but if the real players are as persuasive as this guy, I'll be investing in Tarceva.But unfortunately for you tobacco backers, society is catching on. Smoking bans are popping

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-7633634158583984012006-12-11T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:24:07.370-05:00

An article published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that a Cleveland Clinic doctor owned stock in a company that produces the materials he would sometimes use in spine surgery. Dr. Isador Lieberman would use them if his patients opted for a more expensive, intensive and dangerous operation.What's odd is that they usually picked the riskier surgery. Wondering why?Maybe if your doctor

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-61436767968893922062006-12-08T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:16:54.643-05:00

Since running into E. coli problems, Taco Bell executives have decided to temporarily pull the contamination suspect, green onions, from their menus. It wasn't that I was shocked that people got sick from Taco Bell -- in fact, I thought extra time in the bathroom was an accepted risk when you go "south of the border." Instead, I was shocked that Taco Bell actually uses real onions.Amidst rumors I

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-77325774725007915642006-12-06T07:00:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:16:23.235-05:00

If you ask anyone who knows me what my favorite sport is, they’ll easily tell you its rugby, which is why I sometimes get so angry at FOX Sports and ESPN for never airing it. I can understand if rugby takes a back seat to football, basketball and baseball. Those are America’s staple sports. I’ll accept the fact that it is seeded behind soccer and hockey. I will even grit my teeth and ignore its

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5696423501792464845.post-71507945666732908302006-12-04T15:09:00.000-05:002007-11-12T15:16:01.083-05:00

I've found myself watching more and more of the "Food Network" lately. No, this is not a column about how wonderful a wife Giada De Laurentiis, host of "Everyday Italian," would be. Yes, she would be great but I'm sure that's been done before. And although it involves Rachael Ray, it's not about her either.Instead, it is about how wonderful the wife would be that, not only could cook, but could

Mike Coughlinnoreply@blogger.com