The Ultimate
Thursday, October 29, 2009 - John Greene
In 2003, Ring Magazine listed a group of who they considered to be the all-time 100 greatest punchers in Boxing. They picked fighters across eras and classes, creating a comparison that combined the usual pound-per-pound equations with fighting ability and how frequently they delivered a punch. Here’s the top ten:
1. Joe Louis
2. Sam Langford
3. Jimmy Wilde
4. Archie Moore
5. Sandy Saddler
6. Stanley Ketchell
7. Jack Dempsey
8. Bob Fitzsimmons
9. George Foreman
10. Earnie Shavers
There’s a lot of room for debate here, but for me, the ranking of Earnie Shavers is a crime. Shavers is a man who was known as “Black Destroyer,” and compiled most amazing records in boxing history. At one point he won almost 30 fights in a row by knockout. He scored over 20 victories in the first round alone. Both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes have stated that he was the hardest puncher they’ve ever fought, and his ability to dismantle opponents who were previously thought unassailable was second to none.
It was his hard punches and fast moves that wore the boxer down – if a match went past round 7, he was likely going to lose. His career was derailed by a retinal problem, but he still was in demand, boxing with Sly Stallone in the leadup to Rocky III and making public appearances. He may not be the best-known, or most respected fighter, but in my eyes, he’s the ultimate puncher, a man that even The Champ respected and still spends time with.
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - John Greene
Halloween is coming up and while there’s no shortage of scare videos on YouTube, this short piece that features a dummy made up as a kid just standing in people’s doorways and their reactions is probably my favorite prank I’ve seen so far this year.
Tags: halloween, halloween prank, trick or treat
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Thursday, October 15, 2009 - John Greene
In May of 2005, middle school student Michael Morrissey created a 30-inch long burrito as part of a class assignment to create a commercial ad campaign for a product. “We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos,” Morrissey said.
Unfortunately, the 30-inch Mexican meal, wrapped in aluminum foil, apparently looked like a weapon to someone watching Morrisey walkingo to class at Marshall Junior High school in Clovis, New Mexico. The police were called and the school was soon flooded by armed offers and tactical team members determined to find the suspected bomb or gun before it was used. In the meantime, 30 parents who heard of the incident over the radio came to the school to make sure their kids were safe from the steak burrito (rice, beans, and guacamole, if you were wondering.)
Morrissey turned himself in once he heard the description of the item the police were looking for. Brandishing the burrito in the principal’s office, he informed everyone that the reason for parents pulling 75 students out of school as armed police swarmed the halls was delicious.
Michael graduated high school this year; no word on whether or not he’s buying a Taco Bell franchise or going to college.
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Thursday, October 8, 2009 - John Greene
These were all created from a single sheet of paper by Eric Joisel, whose mastered the art of origami and taken it to places far beyond the cranes we made in art class. Check out his website and take a look at some of his work. The detail is astounding, as is the variety.
Tags: eric joisel, origami
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Thursday, October 1, 2009 - John Greene
The Kleptones are the ultimate mash-up act. Other acts are happy just putting together two or three songs and calling it a day, but their ongoing efforts have dazzled me consistently, from the thing that put them on my radar, A Night At The Hip Hopera through subsequent releases and even a live album. I don’t know how this escaped my notice earlier, but they’ve created the ultimate version of rock’s ultimate anthem, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” With over two dozen versions spliced, edited, and reloaded, it’s the sort of thing that will make your jaw drop.
Tags: kleptones, mashup, music, queen
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Thursday, September 24, 2009 - John Greene
The picture above? Take a good look at it. Examine the texture of the skin, the way the hair falls, everything. It’s a nicely-rendered piece of work, isn’t it? Someone obviously knows how to use a camera well and they’ve gone and lit the subject beautifully.
That’s airbrushed. No, I’m not saying that they used Photoshop’s airbrushing tool, or that they actually took an airbrush to a photograph. This is actually created using an airbrush. The process behind this image is fascinating and well worth checking out. It’s certainly a huge step forward from that person who’s doing hats and beer coozys at the mall!
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Friday, September 11, 2009 - John Greene
Sorry that I’ve been a bit quiet around these parts lately. With the Mac launch of the UltimateBet software and some upcoming bigger events in the work, I’ve not had the time that I’d like to do these goofy end of the week posts.
A friend of mine sent me a link to this website, which has a list of really hilarious Uncomfortable Plot Summaries. That night over dinner, we all started bandying our own about, and we came up with these:
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas – Journalist and lawyer take drugs, harass the law, and inspire decades of bad knockoffs from those too lazy to learn to actually write.
No Country For Old Men – Man explores terrain along Texas/Mexico border.
Annie – Single, aging weapons magnate adopts young girl; nobody blinks.
Transformers – American cartoon based on Japanese toy line turned into 2-hour commercial for new toy line.
Memento – Man who has never heard of post-it notes has trouble keeping track of to-do list.
Spider-Man – Kid has two amazingly hot girlfriends, a doting aunt, and superpowers and still manages to whine 90% of the time.
I Love You, Man – Paul Rudd loses humor, comedic timing in a dismal mess of… no, wait, that’s more like a review.
Do you have any? Put them in the comments!
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Friday, May 15, 2009 - John Greene
As part of Guinness World Records day in 2007, Jackie Bibby sat in a bathtub with 87 live rattlesnakes for 45 minutes. Bibby also holds the world record for the most live rattlesnakes held in the mouth at a time with 10, has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and leads the Heart Of Texas Snake Handling Team. That’s right: a snake handling team. An elite squad of snake handlers. I’ll just let that sink in for a couple of minutes. Of course there’s a YouTube channel and you can find out more on his website.
(In case you’re wondering, ladies, he is single and looking, so maybe it’s your chance!)
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Friday, April 10, 2009 - John Greene
This is an official portrait of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il. It’s funny how much he resembles Keanu Reeves in the Matrix sequels.
Tags: kim jong il
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Friday, April 3, 2009 - John Greene
As many of you know, the most elite of sashimi dishes is fugu, the poisonous pufferfish, with the torafugu
Sashimi chefs take great care and diligence to ensure that the fish they prepare doesn’t murder their people, frequently training for up to a decade before serving people the fish’s flesh. It’s not uncommon for a dish of fugu, thinly sliced, to cost ¥5,000 (around $50,) and a full-course meal that fully utilizes the edible parts of the fish easily reaching the ¥20,000 mark. Fugu is not cheap and the careful preparation and education it takes to take it on is one of the major factor it attracts a certain clientele.
For another group of consumers, cost is not a factor at all: they want the experience. Many professional chefs actually prepare fugu so that there is a minute amount of poison still on the flesh of the fish, leaving diners with a prickly feeling or numbness on their lips and tongue. It’s not often that you get to say that a meal knocked out your tastebuds and brought you a bit closer to death, hence its attraction among many gourmet diners.
The Fugu’s reputation may be much greater than its actual deathtoll. In fact, the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health’s statistics indicate that there were only between 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan, with a single incident frequently involving multiple diners. In each year, these incidents led to somewhere between 34 and 64 victims being hospitalized and zero to six deaths, for an average fatality rate of 6.8%. The most common deaths related to fugu either involve fishermen eating their catch without proper preparation, but there have been incidents such as kabuki icon Bandō Mitsugorō VIII’s death in 1975. The man, who was commonly thought of as a national treasure, requested four servings of fugu liver in a single meal. With the liver being the most toxic and most difficult to prepare of parts, he gambled a bit too much.
In recent years, Nagasaki University scientists have made an effort to bread a non-toxic variety of torafugu by limiting the fish’s diet to only certain items. They’ve raised over 5,000 of the fish so far, with none of the exhibiting the Tiger Blowfish’s trademark toxicity, but then a question is raised: if there’s no risk, where’s the reward?
Even if the chance of dying from the fish’s venom is minimal, there’s still that risk that attracts so many to fugu. With that risk, that chance eliminated, would the desire to eat the fish go up or down? Will there the number of people willing to try out the fish with its venom removed outweigh those who sought it out solely because of its risks? Much like poker, the danger factor is a great deal of the reward a person gets from enjoying the fish.
Tags: fugu, japan, sushi
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