The Richest Companies in the World

Fortune 500 recently released the list of the top 100 most profitable companies in the world.

Wal-Mart came in at number one on the list, which doesn’t surprise me. Six of the top 10 are oil companies, which of course makes the whole gas price situation ridiculous.

Motor vehicle companies, General Motors, Toyota and Chrysler also came in the top 10.

Hyundai and Fiat come in ahead of BMW, which seems ridiculous.

Other familiar names are Home Depot (44th), Samsung (46th), Hitachi (48th), Nestle (56th), Sony (69th), Boeing (87th), Costco (94th) and Target (96th).

Interesting to note is that Samsung seems to be the top ranked electronics manufacturer. I would have assumed that spot would have been held by Sony.

Click here to read the entire top 100.

Joke of the Day

Thanks to Jes Golbez for this little gem:

Popples… Throw them at your siblings!

I don’t know what caused me to remember these, but somehow they popped into my mind this morning. Popples… I haven’t thought of them since I was about 6 years old, yet still I remember them. They began as a TV show that ran from 1986-87, and quickly became popular toys.

Popples were brightly colored stuff animals, and resembled teddy bears in a way. They had pouches in their backs, and you could invert them so the Popples actually went inside the pouch and became a ball. I think what I liked best about these toys, was I could make it into a ball and throw them at my sister.

I know me and my sis each had one, or maybe they were both hers… I can’t really remember. My only real memories involved us playing “throw the Popple”. One of us would stand on the couch, and the other person would chuck Popples at them. Having your little sister agree to let you throw things at her? What an awesome game.

The Popples in the TV show were quite the trouble makers. The kids in the show tried to keep them a secret, but the Popples always came along and messed things up. When the kids tried to clean their room, the Popples would come along and make it a mess. Thinking about it now, why the hell did the kids want to keep Popples around? They seemed more trouble than they were worth.

The Popples cartoon series has been released on DVD in the UK, but has yet to see a North American release.

Check out this original Popples commercial:

Father of the Year?

Wow, imagine the future you’d have if this guy was your Dad…

From WHDH-TV – Police helped a Boston man find his lost 3-year-old son at South Shore Plaza, then charged the father with stealing.

Officers arrested Jonathan Williams because of what they said he was doing when his boy wandered away, Deputy Police Chief Russell Jenkins said.

The boy was quickly located in Macy’s, but when Williams arrived to pick him up, members of the store security staff said they suspected him of stealing merchandise earlier.

Stolen clothing was found in a bag that Williams had left at a customer service desk while looking for his son, Deputy Jenkins said.

He was arrested and charged with larceny.

His mother picked up the boy after the incident.

> Read more weird news stories

The best jury-duty excuses ever

I always thought that if I was called for jury-duty, and didn’t want to go, I’d just say I’m a liar, don’t like old people or something like that to get out of it. Apparently, that won’t work…

From CNN.com – A Cape Cod man who claimed he was homophobic, racist and a habitual liar to avoid jury duty earned an angry rebuke from a judge on Monday, who referred the case to prosecutors for possible charges. Daniel Ellis’ excuses to try to get out of jury duty didn’t sit well with the judge.

“In 32 years of service in courtrooms, as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney and now as a judge, I have quite frankly never confronted such a brazen situation of an individual attempting to avoid juror service,” Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson told Daniel Ellis, according to a preliminary court transcript of the exchange.

Ellis, of Falmouth, had been called to court with about 60 other potential jurors for possible service on a 23-member grand jury.

On a questionnaire that all potential jurors fill out, Ellis wrote that he didn’t like homosexuals and blacks. He then echoed those sentiments in an interview with Nickerson.

“You say on your form that you’re not a fan of homosexuals,” Nickerson said.

“That I’m a racist,” Ellis interrupted.

“I’m frequently found to be a liar, too. I can’t really help it,” Ellis added.

“I’m sorry?” Nickerson said.

“I said I’m frequently found to be a liar,” Ellis replied.

“So, are you lying to me now?” Nickerson asked.

“Well, I don’t know. I might be,” was the response.

Ellis then admitted he really didn’t want to serve on a jury.

“I have the distinct impression that you’re intentionally trying to avoid jury service,” Nickerson said.

“That’s true,” Ellis answered.

Nickerson ordered Ellis taken into custody. He was released later Monday morning.

Ellis could face perjury and other charges.

Haha, this guy cracks me up. The least he could do was actually pretend he was serious. Maybe throw out a few racial slurs or gay jokes. Now he’s taken into custody? Haha, just hilarious. Maybe it’s better just to suck it up, and “do the duty”.

Five Quick Movie Reviews

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

The Life Aquatic is a hilarious film, but it’s comedy comes in a very dry manor, so it’s not your typical comedy. The film stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum. Murray is excellent in his role as Steve Zissou, a former hot-shot underwater documentary filmmaker coming to terms with that the fact that he is no longer a success. He meets his long lost son (Wilson), and together they go on an adventure to kill a shark that ate an old friend of Steve’s.

It’s a pretty odd film, and I loved it, but I could understand how other people would not like it. If you appreciate dry humor, and quirky characters, then I think you would enjoy this film.

My Rating: 7.5/10

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Zoom: Academy For Superheroes

I’m going to be honest and admit I never even finished this movie (I made it to the one hour point). I tried. I tried hard. I just couldn’t. It’s sooo horrible. It’s obvious it was made to appeal entirely to boys (and some girls) between the ages of 7-12. I can’t imagine anyone outside that age group being able to tolerate it. Within the first few minutes there are multiple fart jokes. That right there should tell you the quality of the film. What’s with Tim Allen making shitty superhero films? Skip on renting this crap.

My Rating: 2/10

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Idiocracy

Incredibly, this film from the creator of Office Space and King of the Hill went straight-to-DVD. It stars Luke Wilson and Dax Shepard. It’s about a man of average intelligence that gets frozen as part of a military experiment, and ends up waking up 500 years in the future. The world has become incredibly stupid, and Joe (Wilson) is now the world’s smartest man. It’s an interesting plot idea, and I wouldn’t say they failed at it, but the movie didn’t impress me. It could have been much better.

It came off as very low budget and “cheap”, and I think that hurt my opinion of the film. It was a little too goofy, and I guess that was the intent, but I think they had a good idea and didn’t pull it off as well as they could have. Still, it was an enjoyable movie and helped pass the time.

My Rating: 6/10

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Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers is very similar, yet completely different from The Life Aquatic. Bill Murray stars in this one as well, and he plays a rich, yet lonely man in his 50′s who gets an anonymous letter from an old girlfriend. In the letter, it says he got her pregnant 20 years ago, and her son has gone off on a road trip to try and find him. Don (Murray), in turn, goes on to visit each of the four girlfriends he had during that time to try and find clues to see if that was the one who gave birth to his son.

The movie is a dramatic comedy, and puts Murray’s character into several hilarious situations. It also stars Sharon Stone, Julie Delpy, Jeffrey Wright, Chloe Sevigny and Frances Conroy.

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but went into the film with high expectations, and didn’t necessarily live up to them. It’s a good film, yet the ending disappointed me, which I’m sure it did to several other viewers. Still, a good film worth checking out.

My Rating: 7/10

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National Lampoon’s Pucked

This direct-to-DVD film stars Jon Bon Jovi as an unemployed man in his 30′s that’s always coming up with get rich quick ideas. His latest idea is for a women’s hockey league, where the women are all hot and wear little equipment. Not many of them are hot, and they wear a lot of equipment, and the main female character is a huge nasty woman that resembles a man. Not really sure how they hoped to please the potential renters with this one, as it’s clearly a movie teenage boys rent in hopes of seeing some breasts.

I rented it, as it’s a film about hockey, which is something you don’t see very often. I figured, how bad could it be? Well, it was so, so, so much worse than I could have imagined. It looks like the budget was somewhere between $45-65 dollars, and I just cannot fathom how any studio would decide on making this film. Absolutely horrible movie, and possibly one of the worst I have ever seen.

My Rating: 1/10

Somehow, this news doesn’t surprise me

From YahooNews:

A U.N. report showing Canadians use more marijuana than people in any other industrialized country is more evidence that the drug should be legalized, activists said on Tuesday.

The 2007 World Drug Report found that 16.8 percent of Canadians between 15 and 64 used marijuana, otherwise known as cannabis or pot, at least once in the past year, four times more than the global average of 3.8 percent.

That compared to an average 10.7 percent in North America and 5.6 percent in Europe, said the report, issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in late June.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world with 160 million people using it at least once in 2005, the U.N. report said.

Papua New Guinea topped the marijuana list with 29.5 percent of the population using it, followed by Micronesia, Ghana, Zambia and Canada, according to the annual finding.

Canadian media report that the number of people arrested for smoking marijuana rose dramatically in several Canadian cities last year after the Conservatives took office and killed a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Laws on possession of marijuana in Canada are generally more relaxed than those in the United States.

I don’t think this information should surprise anyone, although I’m not sure how much the percentages were influenced by the fact that the laws here in Canada are a lot less severe, and people may be more willing to be honest.

> Read more odd news stories

This song amuses me

The following song by Rihanna really makes me laugh. It’s called “Breakin’ Dishes”. It’s actually a pretty good club song, but the whole point of the song is hilarious. She’s mad at a guy, so she writes a song about how she’s going to “break dishes off [his] head all night”.

Yes, break dishes.

It’s absurdly awesome. Check out the song below, via YouTube…

Great Movie Quotes: Magnolia

Quiz Kid Donnie Smith: I’m sick and I’m in love.
Thurston Howell: You seem the sort of person who confuses the two.
Quiz Kid Donnie Smith: That’s right. That’s the first time you’ve been right. I confuse the two and I don’t care.

> Read more Movie Quotes

Movie Review: Ratatouille

I usually don’t go to the theater very often, but this was my second visit in a week’s time. Michaela and I went to see Ratatouille over the weekend. As you may know, from my Top 12 Computer Animated Movies post, that I love Pixar films. Each year, one of my most anticipated films is the latest Pixar release.

They have struck gold yet again with this latest creation. Rats aren’t nearly as lovable as other previous main characters such as toys, cars, fish or superheroes, but somehow director Brad Bird gets you to care about them just as much.

The film centers around a rat named Remy who has a nose for great food. He soon discovers that he loves to cook exquisite meals, but must be in a kitchen to have access to the ingredients he needs. This, of course, is an impossible dream, as everyone knows the biggest no-no for any kitchen is to have a rat among it’s inhabitants.

Remy meets a young man named Linguini, who cannot cook whatsoever. Despite their obvious differences, they form a unique team in order to get the things they are unable to get on their own.

Like all Pixar films, the animation in Ratatouille is unmatched. The story is also wonderful as well. It’s a great family film, that can be enjoyed by any age. I’m 25 years old, and loved it, while I would have no doubts about letting my three year old sister see it, either. Pixar and Disney form such an incredible combination, and are continually releasing incredible films for the whole family to enjoy.

I highly recommend Ratatouille. As far as how it fits in the mix of Pixar’s previous works, well it’s hard to say. I wouldn’t rank it up there with Finding Nemo or The Incredibles, but it probably comes in ahead of Cars and Monster’s Inc. Either way, it’s an incredible movie that is a definite can’t miss film.

My Rating: 9/10

Now is this is what I call a “recovery”

Wow, I don’t know how he pulls this off…

Movie Review: Domino

When I first saw a trailer for Domino, I was pumped. It looked like a very cool movie, and I really enjoy Tony Scott’s type of directing.

Somehow, it took me until now to see it.

The film is about the life story of Domino Harvey, a Ford model turned bounty hunter. It’s based on her life, but the story told is not necessarily true, nor does it try to portray itself as a true story. Yes, Domino Harvey existed, and was a bounty hunter, but no she did not kidnap part of the cast of 90210.

Tony Scott took some “artistic liberties” with his film, which turned out to be great, as it became part satire, part action film, part true story. I love his direction, with the unique film colors, quick snaps from scene to scene, great music, and gritty feel.

Domino is not one of his best pieces of work, but it’s an entertaining film none-the-less. It’s much more confusing than it needed to be, and the story becomes somewhat jumbled, but overall I enjoyed this movie.

Keira Knightley did a great job portraying Domino, and I liked the sassy, badass-chick attitude she brought to the film. Mickey Rourke was great as Domino’s boss, Ed, and this role suited him perfectly. Delroy Lindo, Mo’Nique, Macy Gray and Lucy Liu also make appearances.

If you liked Deja Vu or Smokin’ Aces, this film has a similar feel, and I think you would like it as well. It’s a fast-paced, bad ass, shoot ‘em up film, and if that sounds like your type of movie, check out Domino.

My Rating: 7.5/10

What’s your ‘Prison Bitch” name?

I don’t ever plan on going to jail, and if I did, I sure as hell don’t plan on becoming someone’s “prison bitch”. But hey, thanks to the Prison Bitch Name Generator, I can find out what my name would be, anyways.

So what is it? Apparently, I would be affectionately referred to as “Skidmark”.

Awesome.

What’s yours? Click Here to find out.

The ‘KidSafe’ USB key

This is a pretty interesting new way to block your kids from having internet access on the computer:

Computer geeks and white-hat hackers in the UK developed the KidSafe Parental Control Key to help lock down computer access in the easiest and most secure way possible. Each key is unique and cannot be duplicated. When inserted, they key allows your computer to boot and access the internet. When removed, the computer is locked tight, and unusable.

Kids today are smart, and can get around Windows passwords, and Internet filtering programs pretty easily. Proxies and workarounds exist for even the most draconian firewalls, but the KidSafe key protects your computer and your kids with a physical key. It’s stronger, more reliable, and more convenient than passwords. It can’t be uninstalled or worked around – even by booting to safe-mode. They’ve even got processes to keep your computer from booting to a live CD or other boot device.

Pretty smart new way to keep them off the net… unless the kid looks at the back of the computer and sees the bright purple stick that says “kidsafe” on it. Like it says above, “kids today are smart”, and they’d probably figure this out sooner or later. Still, for the real young ones, I think this could be a great product. We’ve all heard the stories of the little five old girl searching for “pony”, and getting some pretty inappropriate results.

You can buy it here, for $59.99 USD.

Movie Review: Mini’s First Time

This past weekend I discovered a little-known gem called, Mini’s First Time. After really enjoying her work in Thirteen, I was anticipating Nikki Reed’s next piece of work. It comes in the form of another sexually driven film, where she plays a rebellious young girl.

Mini’s (Reed) mother is a failed actress that has manages to marry a very rich man named Martin, played by the incredibly wonderful Alec Baldwin. Mini is in grade 12, and growing up with her drugged-out Mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) has caused her to want to do whatever possible to rebel, in hopes of actually getting some attention from her emotionally-absent Mom.

The acting was simply great in the film. As much as I enjoyed Reed and Baldwin, who were perfectly cast, I think the stand-out was Carrie-Anne Moss, of Matrix fame. She was absolutely hilarious in her out of control role, and she really impressed me. I’ve never been a fan of hers, but seeing her in this role has changed my opinion of her.

There are also appearances from Luke Wilson, Jeff Goldblum and Rick Fox.

The film’s tagline, “Sex. Murder. Blackmail. There’s a first time for everything”, is a perfect way to describe the film. It’s an incredibly fun dark-comedy. I’m surprised I haven’t heard much about it, as it had a pretty big-name cast, and it’s a great little film.

My Rating: 8/10

“You’re such a jerk!”

This video is a few years old, but I came across it today, and thought I would post it for those that haven’t seen it. I’ve always got a good laugh from it.

It seems everyone’s favorite placenta eater doesn’t like water guns…

When is the last time someone used “jerk” as an insult? Oh Tom, you are such a silly little Scientologist.

Movie Review: Transformers

After waiting for the Transformers live-action film for over twenty years, I was finally able to watch it this past Tuesday. I’ve been looking forward to the film since before it was even considered, and especially since it was announced three years ago.

I had huge expectations going into the movie, but also had my reservations. I had this awful feeling, that somehow, someway, they would find a way to ruin my dream. Well, after leaving the theater, I was very happy to say they didn’t.

I am extremely impressed with how the whole film came together. It was as advertised; a grand, special effects extravaganza with a good story, good characters, and it was just an overall enjoyable experience.

The acting was much better than you’d expect in a film like this, and I am liking Shia LaBeouf more and more with every film I see him in. Megan Fox performed way beyond my expectations, and the rest of the cast did an admirable job as well.

The stars of the film were easily the Transformers themselves. The special effects were absolutely mind-blowing. I will go out and say they were the best I’ve ever seen in any film. Of course, I am pretty biased, but the fight scenes and transformations were so incredibly cool and jaw-dropping.

Some of the dialog was silly, and a little goofy at times, and that was the one thing I’d change about the film if I could. However, saying that, I can understand their reasons for doing it. They wanted this film to appeal to kids as well as adults that were fans of the cartoon, and adding somewhat childish dialog here and there helps appease the youngsters in the crowd.

It was great to hear Peter Cullen’s voice again (he voices Optimus Prime), and he did a great job reprising his most beloved role. I liked how they paid homage to the original cartoon and movie, by both including quotes as well as a few other little things here and there to give a nod to the hardcore fans.

Some people may be reluctant to see Transformers, as they might think that because they never watched or cared about the show as a kid, they wouldn’t enjoy it now. I don’t think that’s true at all, as they made the film one that anyone could enjoy. You do not need any prior knowledge of Transformers to understand or enjoy this movie, and I highly suggest that anyone who appreciates a great, all-out action film see Transformers.

I am a hardcore fan, and even though I had huge expectations, the film lived up to them entirely. Everyone should check out this film, and if possible, in theaters, as it’s one hell of a great time.

My Rating: 10/10 (how could I give it anything less?)