When should you pull the break?

Most people that ride public transportation daily do not pay much attention to the safety signage near the door. One New Yorker, Casey Neistat, decided to look deeper into the emergency break procedure developed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). He asks frequent riders a simple question: When is it okay to pull the emergency break on a train? The answers vary. It seems that such a simple question is highly contested among MTA riders. The lack of a clear solution leads Casey on a search for an answer.

Celebrating 2010 in Sydney

In case you weren’t in Sydney, Australia on New Year’s Eve, we have the fireworks bonanza shot by ITN News. The weather in Sydney around this time of year is great, so why not have a fantastic fireworks display? Enjoy it and look forward to more posts here on Awesome By Default in 2010!

Marvel at The Magic Kingdom

On Monday, August 31, 2009, the worlds of the Marvel Universe and the Magic Kingdom collided as The Walt Disney Company announced plans to buy Marvel Entertainment for slightly over $4 billion. Almost immediately, the Disneyana types were excited and the Marvel Zombies were mortified.

Will Mickey Mouse become the newest member of the X-Men? Will Wolverine become a star on Disney on Ice? Will Hannah Montana dress up like Dazzler on an episode of her series? Will they pit Marvel’s Hercules versus Disney’s Hercules? Will Pinocchio be accused of being a mutant? Will The Incredibles fight against and later with the Fantastic Four? Actually, I’d like that one to come true to tell you the truth.

Most critics of the acquisition fail to realize that the same studio that gave us Hannah Montana, Winnie the Pooh, Cars, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and G-Force also gave us Gargoyles, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Lost, Scream, Kill Bill, Trainspotting, and Clerks. Needless to say, the initial reaction has cooled down compared to what happened upon the announcement. Now, a little clarity is in order. read more

Who screams? Ice cream… for equal rights

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is standing up for civil rights with their recently announced “Hubby Hubby” flavor,  in honor of Vermont’s recent passage of legal marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The Hubby Hubby ice cream is a 30-day rebranding of their popular “Chubby Hubby” flavor. The move is mostly symbolic (PR stunt?) since the name won’t be changing on any store shelves or UPCs. The effort was done in cooperation with Freedom to Marry, a group that fights for marriage rights

The press release sent out by the company this week states, “Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights.”

Since announced on their Facebook page yesterday, the name changed has caused a stir online. Comments ranged from “Brilliant name change” to “Time to give it a rest B & J.” While many people blame Ben & Jerry for using their product as a political soap box, many feel politics and ice cream just don’t mix. Who can blame them. Many products we use today are neutral. If Coca-Cola suddenly supported creationism, would you still be a fan? If Burger King decided all people that buy Whoopers support abortion, would you still order one? Does your food need to have a social agenda?

As someone that supports ice cream and equal rights, I find it refreshing and strange that our political issues can have a flavor. In a slightly ridiculous twist, CBS News recorded a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream truck serving Hubby Hubby to the public in Vermont. The video is below…
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Moon Landing Denial: Out of This World

Yesterday was Moon Day, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 14 moon landing. As someone that has always been intently interested in space, I took some time to research the event through various resources. As with any humanity-changing event, the detractors have taken it upon themselves to naysay the US exploration of the moon and proposed some rather elaborate conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good conspiracy theory. The Di Vinci Code had me looking at the Pope with a raised eyebrow. These are the same types of people that believe the attacks on 9/11 were orchestrated by the government, AIDS is a man-made disease, and Scientologists & Jews run Hollywood. Its these types of shaky premises that make a good story, but offer little foundation.

Moon Day has help tame some of the rumors started by the moon landing deniers with new photos showing the original moon lander and the astronaut footprints on the surface of the moon. While this evidence certainly won’t convince a denier of the scientific truth, its a validation to those of us that want the evidence. The new satellite images come to us as a result of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, which launched on 18 June. LRO’s mission is to photograph the moon to scout for future mission sites. So far, LRO has located five of the six Apollo missions that landed on the moon’s surface. read more

Japan’s Rainbow Draft Beer

There is nothing like a cold drink on a hot day. Beer is the ultimate summer drink, bringing families and friends together around the grill. One company in Japan is trying cater to the beer drinkers that are tired of drinking yellow beer. In an effort to show of their unique style and attention to to environment, the Hokkaido Abashiri Beer company introduced the world to the first blue beer last year. That’s right, blue as in “hey that looks like Kool-Aid” blue. The Okhotsk Blue Draft is supposedly made from water from melted ice bergs that float each year onto Hokkaido beaches from Russia. The blue color actually comes from a seaweed extract. The few experiences I’ve had with seaweed has been via sushi. I can only imagine the beer having a salty, plant-like taste. read more

20 Funny Minutes of C-SPAN

Last Friday comedian Wanda Sykes entertained at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This is by far the funniest thing I’ve seen on C-SPAN in years. She poked fun at President Obama and the first lady. The result is something more similar to a Comedy Central Roast than a presidential event. Even if you’re not a fan of Wanda, she pretty much lampoons the president over many of the recent fluff stories and rumors (Michelle’s sleeveless dresses, Obama giving the Queen an iPod, always being photographed shirtless).

Some of you may remember Steven Colbert’s roast for President Bush in 2006, which was a bit more surreal than funny. Its nice to know that this administration has a sense of humor too. read more

Want super powers? Wish granted

What super hero powers would you want?

What’s the best power to have?  How would you get said power?  Through a genetic mutation in your DNA?  Through a chance encounter with some infected creature or substance?  The how isn’t so much as important as the what.  What is your personal pick for super power?

You will find that this article, like the two before, have nothing to do with Mothers Day.  So we clearly HAVE NOT prepped a week’s worth of awesome stuff for your mom.  Unless she’s into picking superhero powers.  Which I doubt.

Before we proceed, I believe we can all agree that Jubilee’s power of shooting lame ass fucking fireworks out of her hands is the most worthless power ever.

A lot of people say they wish they could fly.  That’s pretty passive and dull to me.  Just flying?  BORED NOW.  Flying should be a secondary to another, more awesome power, like super strength or weather control.

Invisibility is also lame.  So you can go places without being observed.  After the pervy thrill wore off what fun could you really have with invisibility?  Not much.  read more

Prank Calling 2.0: Abusing Technology for Laughs

I admit it, I’m a fan of prank calls. Its the fun of being bad without the risk of getting caught. My inner child screams at the chance to shove in a one-liner before the inevitable click from the other end. As a child I scoured the phone book for people with strange names, as a teenager I used online databases to find surnames that would work perfectly into a punch-line.

Now that I’m a grown-up, the calling has stopped, but I’m able to live vicariously through the millions of angst-ridden kids that record and post their adventures on the web. The web is rife with audio and videos of some of the best pranks out here. I’ve outgrown the puns of Bart Simpson and relish in the elaborate and contrite plots people make up to keep others on the phone. Read on for my favorite prank sites… read more

World’s most Awesome vertical leap

I know I said I wasn’t going to post cats anymore but seriously this cat has some skills.  read more