Monthly Archives: June 2008

Pixar’s Darkest Film Yet

If you would like to read an average gushing review of Pixar’s latest offering, may I suggest a quick scour of the google.  You won’t find it here. You will find spoilers below. You have been warned.

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I saw Wall-E last night and was thoroughly impressed. The facade of a light-hearted love story geared towards children takes brutal stab at our culture at the same time. The malevolence of big-box corporations, the distraction of always-on mass communications, the proliferation of consumer culture, the exploitation of the environment, the growth of the ever expanding waistline, and the inevitable negative impacts on humanity are directly addressed. Even the Bush administration wasn’t safe with the penetrating “stay the course” line snuck into the dialogue. Wall-E’s message is pay attention to the world around you or else it will slip from your comprehension. It isn’t too late to change. I’ve never considered myself a huge fan of Pixar’s films, but I’ll make an exception for this one.

…I suppose the Macintosh start-up sound Wall-E makes when recharging can also be credited to my liking the film.

Turn Your Gold Into Cash!

You may have seen the commercials for GoldKit, where you send in your old jewelry for cash. According to the official website they will buy all of your “scrap gold jewelry, coins… you can also sell a gold tooth.” I wish that last bit was a typo, but it is not.

Here is the deal. GoldKit sends you an envelope to put your gold in. You send it back in a pre-paid Business Reply Mail envelope. They send you a letter back detailing what your stuff is worth, and you get to decide if you want to cash in.

How could I possibly resist taking part in this scam? I dashed to the official website and within 48 hours a GoldKit envelope arrived in the mail. Only it arrived unsealed. Classy. I definitely want to send my precious metals in a company’s envelopes when they can’t close properly.

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It is time to load my precious metals into the enclosed bag and envelope.

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What did I send?

  1. A necklace I found on the ground
  2. A golden Dorito
  3. A SanDisk MicroSD to SD card adapter
  4. A code cartridge for a blood glucose monitor
  5. A gold Post-It Note of a treasure chest that I drew

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Stay tuned to see how this turns out. I hope the Dorito gets there in one piece.

Book Your Vacation at Lake Oshkosh

No Parking

When I came into work this morning I realized that I forgot my scuba gear. The past few days’ persistent rains have brought copious amounts of water. UW – Oshkosh’s River Center, along with a couple of dorms residence halls have significant water damage. Our entire Maintenance workshop is under several feet of water. I have several pictures of our loading dock area in a Flickr photoset.