There are two environmental expos in the northern NJ/NYC area this weekend and we will be attending both:
PSEG Global Green Expo 2008
Liberty State Park
Historic Central Railroad Terminal
Jersey City, NJ
Friday 4/25/08, 10:00-3:30
Saturday 4/26/08, 10:00-5:30, keynote speaker Ted Danson
Sunday 4/27/08, 10:00-4:30, keynote speaker Ed Begley, Jr.
Go Green Expo
The Hilton New York
1335 6th Ave. (near 53rd St.)
New York, NY
Saturday 4/26/08, 10:00-6:00
Sunday 4/27/08, 10:00-3:00
Episode 101 of The Paunch Stevenson Show will feature audio from the events. It’d be great to talk with Ted Danson, Kevin Bacon, and Ed Begley, Jr.!
Based on my experience with other Nintendo events in NYC – the Nintendo World grand opening in May 2005, the debut of Nintendogs with special guest Shigeru Miyamoto in September 2005, and the debut of Super Mario Galaxy in November 2007 – I anticipated a huge crowd, but when I got there, it was just me and one other guy standing in front of the Sheraton hotel on 7th Avenue waiting for Mario. Oh well. When Mario finally walked down the steps, the other guy and I surrounded him and were taking tons of pictures like idiots.
Eventually, a small crowd gathered and children were genuinely excited to see Mario walking down the street. I was surprised by how many adults asked to take a picture with him. It was cool.
The point of this event: Nintendo’s new racing video game Mario Kart Wii debuts Sunday, April 27, 2008, in the U.S. To promote it, Mario walked back and forth along the sidewalk holding the steering wheel that’s included with the game and hailed taxi cabs for people. Steering wheel…racing game…taxi cabs…it sort of makes sense, right? As a bonus, Nintendo paid $10 toward each fare, including mine. Thanks!
Being a video game fan and a Nintendo fan, I knew what the event was for, but I don’t think people walking by did. As you can tell by my video, this was an incredibly quiet publicity event. Mario didn’t talk, but neither did the woman who was with him. She should’ve been belting out, “Hey everybody, Mario Kart Wii is coming this Sunday! It features twelve-player online fun and a motion-sensing steering wheel! Who wants a cab ride? The first $10 is on us!” She wasn’t. There weren’t even any signs or free keychains.
I realize this event wasn’t really necessary because several million copies of the game will be bought automatically by Nintendo fans like me, but still, someone should’ve been handing out buttons or fliers letting people know what was going on. If you’re reading this and work for Nintendo, please consult me for your next game publicity event.
Charlton Heston
Born: October 4, 1923
Died: April 5, 2008 (age 84)
Charlton Heston (real name: John Carter) was an actor best known for his heroic roles in epic movies, like The Ten Commandments (1956), Planet of the Apes (1968), and Ben-Hur (1959), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1944, Heston enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces and served for two years. In the 1950s and 1960s, he spoke out against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. From 1998 to 2003, he was president of the National Rifle Association.
In 1998, Heston had a hip replacement and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In August 2002, he announced he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In March 2005, newspapers reported the progression of Heston’s illness and that he was sometimes unable to get out of bed.
Heston died on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. The cause of death is currently unknown.
Officials at the Center Elementary School in Waycross, Georgia, have thwarted a plot by a group of third grade special education students to kill their teacher. Officials learned of the plot on March 28, 2008, when a student told authorities about the plan before the start of the school day.
The students allegedly brought a broken steak knife, a roll of duct tape, handcuffs, ribbon, and a crystal paperweight to class in a bid to kill their teacher, Belle Carter. The students, ages 8 and 9, were mad at her because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair.
Three of the students have been identified as ringleaders. They could be expelled, but are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.
Did special ed students really think they could get away with murder in public? They can’t even read.
Airborne claimed its products could cure colds in as little as an hour. That’s funny because today, March 4, 2008, Airborne agreed to pay $23.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought against the company for false advertising.
“Airborne is basically an overpriced, run-of-the-mill vitamin pill that’s been cleverly, but deceptively, marketed,” said David Schardt, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Customers who still have their receipts will be refunded for any Airborne they have ever bought. Customers without receipts will be reimbursed for up to six packages, which amounts to about $63.
Airborne was created in the early 1990s by Victoria Knight-McDowell, a second grade teacher who decided to mix together a whole bunch of different vitamins and Chinese herbs. GNG Pharmaceutical Services Inc. had conducted a study and concluded that Airborne products were effective in preventing the flu and colds. However, an ABC News report disclosed that GNG Pharmaceutical Services Inc. was actually two guys hired by Ms. Knight-McDowell who conducted the “study” in their house. Idiots.
