Even Batman might not have a blanket this cool

I'd never considered buying a Snuggie before. A blanket with sleeves? Are you kidding? If you have to go into a CVS to buy something other than vitamins, drugs, cosmetics, pop or candy, you're probably making a poor decision. 

I did consider buying one as a gag gift for my sister's husband a couple of years ago. I wanted to see if he would completely miss the irony and think it was a cool gift. But I couldn't bring myself to do it and ended up getting him something else instead. Probably a Will Ferrell or Adam Sandler movie on DVD. 

But I might have to reassess my position on Snuggies. Clearly, this company is not content to maintain the status quo with its blue and red models. No, they're exploring the space that a blanket with sleeves allows. And in that space, there is definitely room for a Batman snuggie. 

Actually, I don't think this is an official Snuggie. It's listed as a "comfy throw blanket with sleeves" on Amazon. But that's cool. If Snuggie fell asleep at the wheel, it's reassuring to know someone had the vision to seize an opportunity. Also offered are Spider-Man and Wonder Woman models. (I'm suspicious of the Spidey model, however, since it looks Photoshopped over the Batman guy.) 

Would I use a Batman snuggie? Hell, yes. Especially if I got to use it in a Pier 1 setting like the guy in the picture does. But I get cold watching TV at night. I have blankets. But none with Batman on them. 

No, I would probably never enjoy the company of a woman again with a Batman snuggie. That's something to consider. But would I want to be with a woman who didn't see how cool — or hilarious — a Batman snuggie is? Well... if she was a woman hanging out at my place, then yes.

But I would at least extend the courtesy of offering her a Wonder Woman model to use. 

(via GeekTyrant)

'Are you making more movies with that orangutan then? Those were brilliant.'

Clint Eastwood chatting with P.J. Harvey. Wouldn't you love to have heard some of this conversation?

I suppose there's also a chance the conversation lasted approximately 30 seconds.

Harvey scoring an Eastwood film would be pretty cool, though. Worlds colliding would make me giddy.

(via Awesome People Hanging Out Together)

Hopefully, This Cake Doesn't Smell Bad on the Outside

I don't think I'd ever heard of a groom's cake until my sister got married.  Sure enough, it's kind of a Southern thing.  I can't remember if there was a groom's cake at my sister's wedding or the rehearsal dinner.  And the whole thing seems kind of unnecessary to me.

But I might warm up to the idea after seeing this:

That, my friends, is a cake of a dead Tauntaun, with Luke Skywalker hanging out of its belly.  The cake was created by a local chef, which is what made it a story for AnnArbor.com.

The only thing that might make this better was if Bill Hader served the cake while doing his impression of a Tauntaun.

Here's more on the cake from The Official Star Wars Blog.

Patrick Swayze at His Best

In honor of Patrick Swayze, who passed away today, it seems fitting to remember one of his best performances. Point Break was good, and I love Road House. (Love it.) But was Swayze ever better than when he was locked in battle with Chris Farley for the last spot with the Chippendales on Saturday Night Live?

Sure, the comedy of Farley gyrating and undulating to Loverboy is hilarious. But what really makes the skit is Swayze selling a guy who didn't realize what he was in for, who knows he can't keep up with what Farley is bringing to the stage. Loverboy's "Working For the Weekend" doesn't hurt either, of course.

(Obviously, the skit also carries a melancholy tone, now that both players are no longer with us.)

Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze. May you and Farley can revive this skit in the afterlife.

(This link probably has better video and sound, but it doesn't run the entire skit.)

The Hugh Jackman School of Acting

I saw this comic in the latest issue of New York magazine yesterday, and had to post a clip from it.  It's about Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig starring in a production of A Steady Rain on Broadway.  The two of them play Chicago cops.

How might each of them approach the material?  Well...

You can read the whole comic here, if you don't find your way to a newsstand this week.  And here's a link to the production's official site, if you want to catch some Wolverine and James Bond stage action.

Now if Jackman ever played a Bond villain, we'd really have something...

Strut That Gut!

I posted a link to this article on Facebook, but now that the new blog is up and running, I couldn't let the affirmation of pot bellies in last week's New York Times go without celebration.  It took more than 30 years, but I finally caught up to hipster culture.  Or did hipster culture catch up with me?

(The early 90s grunge era was good for me, however, as I was already mostly wearing flannel shirts and jeans all the time.) 

Unfortunately, I've been regularly going to a gym for about six weeks now.  It must be that natural Casselberry counter-culture streak in me.  (Dad would be so proud!)  But maybe I could keep the pot belly.  (Of course, if a pot belly was my only problem, I probably wouldn't be going to a gym.) 

Speaking of that gym, it was difficult not to laugh the other day at two workout buddies who were constantly lifting up their shirts and checking out their abs in the mirror after each set.  Evidently, these guys missed the memo.

They continued the six-pack preening later on in the locker room, too.  (One side, fellas.  Gotta wash my hands after all that sweat and shared handles.)  Which brings me to this quote from the NY Times piece:

“I sort of think the six-pack abs obsession got so prissy it stopped being masculine,” is how Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out, explains the emergence of the Ralph Kramden. What once seemed young and hot, for gay and straight men alike, now seems passé. Like manscaping, spray-on tans and other metrosexual affectations, having a belly one can bounce quarters off suggests that you may have too much time on your hands.

Hmm, I do have a lot of time on my hands.  (If the blogging wasn't a tip-off.)  But if I start to rock the hard abs a year from now, I'll do my best to cut back. 

Now can the NY Times do an article about guys who are way too comfortable standing around and talking to each other while completely naked?  There's a gym issue that needs to be addressed.