Is 'Lego Space Police' Racist?

When I was a kid, Lego men came in one race: yellow.



Now that I'm a dad, I've been exposed to a new generation of far more diverse Lego people.



In the popular Lego Space Police series, human characters pursue intergalactic criminals — all of which, coincidentally enough, are non-human. (The scene depicted below is a clear case of profiling.)



What does this say about the Lego worldview? (And is a "District 9" licensing deal in the works?)









To quote Rodney King: Can we all get along?

The Scene of the (Reindeer) Crime

This came as a shock to me: "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was created here in the Bay Area.

The song was written by San Francisco resident Randy Brooks, and then recorded by the local husband-and-wife group Elmo and Patsy Shropshire in 1979. For a while it was only played on local radio and then country radio — until finally it became a mainstream hit in 1984.

All this time I thought the song was recorded by drunk Nashville studio musicians (possibly in between takes of "Rhinestone Cowboy").

Anyway, it's a shame that the Bay Area has ceded the production of annoying country-novelty tracks to other parts of the world. It seems unlikely that anyone here in San Francisco is going to write the next "Rockin' the Beer Gut."

It's an Eco-Friendly Death Match!

There's been some debate lately about the greenest place in America. New Yorker writer David Owen dissed a report that said Vermont was the greenest state, noting that people in Vermont burn a ton of gas driving everywhere (a byproduct of living in the middle of bum-monkeyfighting-egypt).

He argues that New York is the most eco-friendly place in America, because the population density forces people to take transit and live in small apartments.

I agree that Vermont is an environmental disaster. You might as well light your Hummer on fire and crash it into an AquaNet factory. But I think Ess Eff might give New York a run for its money.

As I've noted before, San Francisco is the second-most densely populated major city in the U.S. And while our transit system isn't as good as the New York subway, we use less electricity per household.

We also compost and recycle a much higher percentage of our waste than New Yorkers. And when you're looking at building green housing, it's a lot easier if you don't need much heat or any air conditioning.

Gauntlet...thrown...down.

Say the Name: Part Two

Remember my discussion about movies that mention their title in the dialogue.

Well, I was excited to see that "Funny People" is such a movie! I watched the unrated version of the film on pay-per-view last month. (Note: It's possible that the title of the movie isn't said in the rated version — I didn't see that.)

I realize everyone else may have already seen "Funny People" by now, but here's my belated capsule review: I agree with the criticism that its third act breaks tone and turns into a different movie. And I don't think it was the tightly constructed comedy machine that "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" were. But to me, it was never boring and definitely worth seeing (despite its two-and-a-half-hour running time). BuboBlog rating: 3 asterisks (out of 4).

Adam Sandler was actually probably the least funny part of the movie, but that's okay, because he had a lot of help. I mean, how many films have a standoff between Ray Romano and Eminem? (Exactly one, by my count.)

Button Up, Button Down

There's an ongoing debate in our household over how to button Elliot's sweater before he leaves the house.

Kelly insists on buttoning every button, whereas I say one or two buttons is enough — since Elliot prefers the machismo style.

So I was very interested to read TWO stories this week on this very topic.

First, the Wall Street Journal declared that unbuttoning your shirt is very hip — and it's even okay to show a little chest hair again. (This apparently is called "heavage.")

Then Slate did a piece on how buttoning your shirt all the way up "is often shorthand for retarded....Think Forrest Gump, Billy Bob Thornton's Karl Childers in 'Sling Blade,' or Sean Penn in 'I Am Sam.'" (Yes, apparently Slate's official style is to put "retarded" in italics and boldface.)

Since Elliot's preference seems to be no shirt at all (or pants), he's way ahead of the game.

UPDATE: It should be noted that the "cholo" look permits you to button the top button without being labeled retarded. (Or at least, people will be too scared to say it to your face.)

Really, Christopher Cross?

There appears to have been a production error with this "The Very Best of Christopher Cross" CD — in that it has 19 songs on it, instead of three.



Track 11 is "A Chance for Heaven (the Swimming Theme from the 1984 Summer Olympics)"?

Wow, okay.

Just Wonderin': Consumer Edition

(In honor of the holiday shopping season, this episode of Just Wonderin' is focused on consumer topics. For the entire series, click here.)

JUST WONDERIN': Why does Geico have FOUR different national advertising campaigns running simultaneously? There's the British gecko commercials, the ones with the cavemen, the big-eyed pile of money, and the ads where a celebrity gives a testimonial for a real-life customer. All the other insurance companies seem to get by with one ad campaign apiece.

JUST WONDERIN': What is up with "layaway"? You pay for stuff, and you don't even get to use it? I mean, are you afraid of the product being discontinued or something, so you want the store to hang on to it until you're ready? Because electronics tend to get cheaper over time, and clothes go out of fashion...so why not save your money until you can afford the latest version and then just buy it outright?

JUST WONDERIN': Why does the Korean Air logo look almost exactly like the Pepsi logo?





And what do they serve on board?

Not So Different

Have you seen those new Hennessey Black billboards that say, "Done Different"?



Is this just a ripoff of Apple's "Think Different" campaign?



In both cases, they're using an adjective when you'd think it should be an adverb: "Done differently."

It worked in Apple's case, because it was like saying, "Think DIFFERENT." As in: "When you think of BuboBlog, you think AWESOME."

But with "Done Different," it just sounds weird. Sort of like when your uncle returns from a tour in Nam: "He came back different."

Either way, it seems odd to copy someone's ad campaign in a bid to show how different you are.

UPDATE: Maybe I'm just upset that Hennessey never asked Digital Underground's Humpty Hump to become their official pitchman (after his free plug: "I'll drink up all the Hennessy you got on your shelf, so just let me introduce myself").

Man Vs. Toddler

You may have seen this on YouTube — pretty awesome.



I think if I ever challenged Elliot to a contest, he would beat me in at least three areas: (1.) volume (2.) getting things from under the dining-room table (3.) drool production.

Bombdizzle Alert: Climbing the Bridge

I was in Atlanta last week, so I missed this until now: Apparently they're looking into the idea of having tours on the catwalks of the Golden Gate Bridge, and they may eventually allow people to scale the suspension cables.

My response to this idea: That sounds awesome! Kelly's response: That sounds unsafe.

But as visitors to Sydney know, they've been doing this on the Harbour Bridge for 20 years.

We didn't try it ourselves, but you can see the climbers over my shoulder in this shot, taken during our visit to Sydney last year.



Here's a close-up.



The Sydney bridge is less steep and less tall, so that may make it less precarious to climb. On the other hand, Australians are more likely to be drunk. So maybe it's a wash.

Holy Crap: This CAN Really Happen!

Remember earlier this year when my dentist couldn't figure out what happened to my wisdom teeth and I blamed a human-ivory harvester?

Well, it's no joke anymore! A woman apparently got her front teeth stolen right out of her mouth, and it happened here in San Francisco.

From today's Chronicle:

Elena Aronson says she was riding a Muni bus to work back on April 6 on Van Ness Avenue when a man sitting next to her fixed his gaze on her teeth, and said, "I want them."

"He kept saying how my teeth were beautiful, like the moon and the stars," she recalled.

Aronson, who grew up riding buses on the South Side of Chicago and later in New York, had never encountered anything quite like it. She decided to make a quick exit.

The next thing Aronson recalls is being on her knees outside the bus, bleeding profusely from her torn lip — with her two upper front teeth missing.

The police haven't been able to find the assailant. And in fact, they don't sound totally convinced about her story. "She thinks this is what happened to her, but we can't really go to court based on what she thinks happened," the SFPD investigator says.

The best part has to be the police sketch they released (notice his missing teeth).



Hey, at least he wasn't missing an ear!