Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)

It's a well known fact that all cats dream of managing a train station in Japan at some point in their lives. But a job like that is an awful lot of work. In reality, most cats would turn up their noses and walk away before lunch break to find a simpler dream. It's a rare cat that would not only stay, but excel. A rare cat like Tama.

Over the years, Tama's worked hard to be the very best station supervisor she can be. She's truly been an inspiration to Japanese cats worldwide, and it's great to see her finally get the respect she deserves. Oh, didn't you hear? Tama's been promoted to operating officer! She's an executive now!

Of course, this thrilling event was previously covered by blog dlisted, but we feel Tama deserves all the recognition she can get. So well done, Tama! And we hope all of you take a moment today to reflect on how a cat has a better resume than we do. It's really quite humbling.

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From: Bryan Meyers
Subject: Woot saved my life
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 5:23 PM

My name is Bryan Meyers. I have just been evacuated from the Haiti earthquake. One of the things I had with me when the quake started was my cell phone; stuck to its back was the Lumpod LED flashlight that I had received some time ago in a Woot Bag of Crap. I had to walk through the dark streets of Port-au-Prince six miles to get to a secure place. I walked over rubble, bodies (dead and injured), downed wires, back alleys. The flashlight lit my way very reliably. As I said in my journal, THANK YOU, BAG OF CRAP!

If you’re interested, you can read my journal and view some pictures at www.bmeyers.net/haiti or at haiti.bmeyers.net.

From: Matt J. Rutledge
Subject: Woot saved my life
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 9:01 AM

Bryan, Thank you so much for sending this. I have shared this with all of our employees and I expect they will all be as deeply moved as I am by it. We don’t deserve credit for anything of course, but I appreciate your feelings and the mention. I have no way to relate your experience directly but I’m sure it must be life changing. Against the grim picture of what’s taking place there, it is very inspiring.

We have been brainstorming on further ways for Woot and the Woot community to help with a donation program. I believe your story – even magically involving the BOC - really brings things home to the IT/Internet community and I’m pretty sure we would like to incorporate it as a Woot blog mention and newsletter item announcing a donation program.

Best wishes to you and your family from everyone at Woot.

Matt Rutledge
Founder, CEO Woot Inc.

If you've already given elsewhere, know that we respect your generosity during this terrible disaster. If you haven't, please consider one of the other charities we've previously mentioned on our blog. Here's our short list:

American Red Cross
Online: http://www.redcrossstl.org
Telephone: Call 314-516-2782 or 314-516-2800
Text message: Text the word “HAITI” to 90999, and a $10 donation
will be given to the Red Cross payable on your next mobile bill.
Doctors Without Borders
Online: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
Telephone: 1-888-392-0392
UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake
Telephone: 800-4UNICEF
Food for the Poor Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.foodforthepoor.org
Telephone: 954-427-2222
World Vision Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.worldvision.org
Telephone: 866-280-6587
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Online: http://clintonbushhaitifund.org

We're very pleased that our jokey little website was able to provide a member of the community with some help when it was needed, and we're so glad Bryan is safe. We hope his story helps to inspire you to donate as you can, just like it inspired us.

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For those of you who have been following other news, it saddens me to report that Glen Bell, creator of Taco Bell, died Sunday at the age of 86. No cause of death was mentioned, because honestly, I think we can all figure that one out.

Glen Bell was an innovator, who taught millions of Americans to "think outside the bun." Taco Bell started back in in 1962, WAY before people were sick of hamburgers, so you can imagine how hard this guy had to work to earn a buck. Eventually he sold out to Pepsi, which is right about when you started seeing Taco Bells every 60 yards or so. But Glen Bell was the first guy to say, "Screw that hamburger noise. I'm packin' this junk into a tortilla. Quick, give me some lettuce and tomato!"

And that's been their business model ever since. Taco Bell sports a menu with myriad options but every single one of them consists of meat, beans, and cheese with either lettuce, tomato, or both. That's it. Sometimes it's shaped like a taco, or nachos, or a chalupa (whatever the hell that is), but the end result is the same: diarrhea and a solemn oath never to eat there again.

You have to admire a "restaurant" that establishes the concept of "4th Meal." You know 4th Meal, right? That time late at night, after your dinner, y'know, when you get really hungry for some low grade food for no reason. Right?

Oh, Taco Bell, do you mean when I'm blind drunk taking a taxi cab home? Is that the time you're referring to? Or maybe it's when the bong haze clears and I've developed eye strain from seven and a half hours of Warcraft. Because I've checked and I don't know of many people who spontaneously crave 1/3 lb burritos at midnight unless some sort of intoxication is involved. But sure, we'll go with 4th Meal, because "For When You're Just F*&$%d Up" wasn't as catchy.

But I digress. Take a moment to remember Glen Bell and all the times he's bailed you out: after a party, coming home from a bar, on your lunch break when you forgot to get cash so you only have $2.78, and every night after the pizza place blacklisted you for freaking out the delivery guy when you accidentally answered the door with no pants. 

In accordance with his wishes, Bell will be smothered in a fiery chipotle cheese sauce and wrapped in a warm flatbread.

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The New York Times has put up an interactive satellite map of Port-Au-Prince in Haiti showing the city both before and after the devastating earthquake of January 12th.

Dragging the satellite image, you can see just how much destruction they're dealing with there. It's a little overwhelming, to say the very least. The parks, especially, as once empty green spaces are now filled with tents and makeshift shelters.

For those interested in giving, we've got a small list of charities you might want to consider. We're not endorsing these organizations or anything, but they are some of the ones a few of us have donated to in the past. Also, remember that, before giving to ANY charity, it's important to do a little investigation into that organization to make sure that your donation is properly used. As sad as it seems, there are a lot of scam artists out there who like to use tragedies like this for personal gain.

American Red Cross
Online: http://www.redcrossstl.org
Telephone: Call 314-516-2782 or 314-516-2800
Text message: Text the word “HAITI” to 90999, and a $10 donation will be given to the Red Cross payable on your next mobile bill.

Doctors Without Borders
Online: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
Telephone: 1-888-392-0392

UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake
Telephone: 800-4UNICEF

Food for the Poor Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.foodforthepoor.org
Telephone: 954-427-2222

World Vision Haiti Earthquake Relief
Online: http://www.worldvision.org
Telephone: 866-280-6587

Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti.
Online: http://www.yele.org
Text message: Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and go toward Hatian relief projects.

If you know of any charities or relief providers, feel free to post them in the comments. Again, we urge you to do your own research before donating, even to the charities your fellow Wooters go to. And feel free to suggest others in the comments below.

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Come, friends! Take my hand and return once more to Eternia, a world of strange magics, fierce battles, and endless action figure marketing opportunities!

(above image by Johnny Sampson)

Gallery1988 in Los Angeles, with a little help from Mattel, has been featuring one hundred artists who have put their own spin on the He-Man mythos with their latest Under The Influence showing. Paintings, sculptures, even custom lunch boxes will be on display until January 29th. Click the Read More link for some of my favorties.

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Any information found at wewwl.com is certainly a total and complete lie. And all the pictures are fakes. Really, you shouldn't trust a single thing they tell you. It's all just a pack of lies.

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Video game adaptations of movies have almost always been a little lacking in the quality department. Usually rushed money-grabs hoping to ride on the coattails of a film's popularity, very few of them ever seem to recapture the magic and thrill of the source material. I mean, there are a lot of very good reasons why Atari buried the E. T. game in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

But we do like a good retro mash-up around these parts, and these video game box mock-ups from Australian graphic artist Robert Penney are pretty fantastic. I can almost hear a much younger version of myself whining at my mother for a copy of "Avatar: The Game". "But look, mom! Aren't the graphics awesome?"

You can check out the full set, including Cloverfield and Snakes On A Plane, at Penney Design's tumblr. Anything you'd like to see done up in the old Atari style?

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Yeah yeah, all the cool kids knew about it months ago, but The Batman Villain Project is still cool. One guy, WanderingBert, has decided to draw as many Batman villains as he can remember. In an adorable and unique style. We're not just talking the usual Rogue's Gallery here, either. Sure, The Joker and co. are here, but WanderingBert digs deep into the realm of the obscure (Shame), the stupid (Jackal-Head), and the shamelessly used to shill snack cakes (K-9).

Take a second. Peruse.

And if you're anything like us, you can then while away several hours looking up obscure Batman villains on Wikipedia to get their whole life story.

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There's a lot to be said about opinions on graffiti art, and there are plenty of good arguments for both sides. Which is why it's so interesting when the creators choose to clash. Disrespectful? Inevitable? It's something that everyone has to decide for themselves. Of course, this generally seems to happen with clever little bombers who just make a quick tag and then run away, but what happens when a noted, talented graffiti artist collides with a noted, well regarded graffiti piece?

The artist creating was Banksy, and the piece he chose to redo was a classic in the London scene that had been up since 1985. Head over to blog Cakehead Loves Evil and see the final result of this battle. But before you go, let us just say Happy New Year to you, our beloved readers. We'll see you in 2010!

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