///Sponsored Video Advertisement about New Zealand///
This post is sponsored by Tourism New Zealand, insofar as I’ve received compensation to display the video, but not to provide any links or specific opinions about New Zealand.
I will say – this is an uncompensated opinion – that New Zealand is a cool country. I’ve always been interested in visiting New Zealand. I feel a certain kinship with New Zealanders, in that their relationship with Australia is a bit analogous to Canada’s relationship with America. I find Kiwis (the flightless birds, not the fruit) to be adorably hilarious. Actually, Kiwi fruit is pretty delicious, too, and the best complement to strawberries. I would visit NZ long before I’d visit Europe. Most importantly, New Zealand is a free, democratic country which satisfies my key travel criteria (I don’t support dictatorships). It’s a country of prosperous, free people.
///The Movie Project///
Hey, speaking of NZ, I honestly think that The Lord of the Rings is the best film trilogy of all time. Even though The Godfather and The Matrix trilogies both began with excellent films (and The Godfather II was just as amazing as #1), both series had terrible endings. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the first installment of The Hobbit, as interpreted by Peter Jackson, in theaters in November!
///RIP Neil Armstrong///
///Catherine a.k.a. lolCat///
I have a minor problem. Cat is adorable and smiles a lot (that’s not the problem). But she’s taken to loving (or perhaps hating) my BlackBerry. Whenever I take out my phone, she stops smiling and stares at it intently. She follows it from side to side (I should actually take a video of this). So now, whenever she starts smiling, I take it out to capture one of her trademark grins, and she stops smiling.
///Mentions///
- Sir BCM enjoyed that article. lol @ “Joe at Timeless Finance gets out his nasty stick…” PerFi authors are hilarious because they’re always slipping things in.
- So did Nelson from FU (Financial Uproar). PS he has a good Twitter.
- And Dave from 6400 Personal Finance said it was the hit of the week.
The author of “How to Write a Check”, whose asinine article and comments inspired my tongue-in-cheek post, did not mention my article. Instead, his weekly roundup read like a who’s who of regurgitated Yakezie spam. Rather than sharing pictures of babies, making money from a sponsored video, and openly mocking terrible writers, he resorted to a post filled with more fat and air than a pork rind. For example, did you know that:
- …Christmas is only four months away?
- …tourist season in South Florida is almost over? Except that it’s not, and the evil Snowbirds from Canada will soon descend like vultures to pick over the corpse of America’s housing market?
- …Dominique at the creatively-named blog Passive Income to Retire wrote about How to Negotiate Your Salary and Benefits? And that the round-up’s author isn’t even witty enough to see the irony in a ‘passive income’ article about improving employment income?
///Amendments and Addenda///
The award for the article that inspired the most/highest quality comments this week definitely goes to Adina for “Emergency Funds: Do You Really Need One?“. Nice work!
///Tweet(s) of the Week///
I always wonder how many of the incidents we investigate started with someone yelling YOLO…
— Regina Police(@reginapolice) August 23, 2012
And a conversation:
@moneyaftergrad oh good! I guess I’ve gotten down to being wrong just 1% of the time
— TimelessFinance (@TimelessFinance) August 30, 2012
///Keyword Fun///
Money-Smart Keyword Award goes to:
can i cancel my td class visa card even if i’ve never used it
Money-Stupid Keyword Award goes to:
cashed in resps to pay off consumer proposal
Your life terrifies me.
is it hard to get a td infinite card?Oh yeah definitely, it’s super exclusive. Especially because they issued one to a 25-year old on parental leave.
RAGE Keyword Award goes to:
how to roll coins
GO AWAY AND NEVER RETURN.
Notably missing keyword to SEO-optimize this post by increasing the keyword density
silver bug
///YouTube///
I’m going to try this sometime soon. I’ve had a deep-fried Mars bar. What I really want to do is deep-fry a Cadbury Cream Egg.
I also want to try deep-fried Oreos. I think I should start a restaurant that just serves deep-fried things.
Kind of neat:
///Quote of the Week///
“I’d get rid of all MBA’s.”
- Henry Mintzberg, prolific management academic, in response to the question, “If you waved a magic wand over businesses, what would you change?“
///Links///
1. I once wrote “Are you considering a Group RESP plan? Don’t. That is all.”. If my statement didn’t give you pause about Group RESPs, then please read this article. It’s pretty disgusting that Children’s Education Funds would steal 90% of the contributions to a deceased baby’s RESP.
2. Tattoos are disgusting. Oh, and 10% of tattoo ink bottles are contaminated with at least one type of infectious bacteria or a viral strain. So if you have a nasty colourful tattoo, you likely got your tattoo with a side of Plague. For the cost of a large tattoo, you could buy yourself 10 shares in BMO and make $50-ish a year in almost tax-free dividends. Build wealth or look like an idiot: the choice is yours.
3. Last week, I featured a terrible article that implied Gen Y’s whiny complacency is, in some twisted way, heroic. This week, let’s read about another reason that Gen Y sucks.
4. I’ve never watched a Twilight movie, but I now have respect for the actor Robert Pattinson after reading this article. Apparently he buys used, domestic vehicles. This is a ‘nouveau riche’ guy who will probably retain and grow his wealth. He doesn’t buy into marketing hype about why it’s ‘smart’ to buy new or why he should buy a ‘better quality’ Toyota or Hyundai for twice the price. The article, of course, quickly whips out its nasty stick and labels Robert’s wise decision a “cheapskate streak”. Surprise — a big newspaper wants you to consume the crap they tell you to consume and doesn’t take kindly to a good role model exhibiting frugality.
///lol-worthy///
Wait, you’re wrong sometimes?!
Maybe Cat is confused as to why you’re paying attention to your BlackBerry instead of her? Or maybe she prefers Android phones
lol! I dunno why that reminds me but… Late last evening she was whining and not interested in sleeping (despite being fed and clean), so I watched some Til Debt Do Us Part on Slice.ca with her. She actually whines when the laptop’s screen is angled improperly for her to see it, and she intently watches full episodes. And I guarantee she’s watching it, because I’ll swivel my chair from side to side, and she follows the screen hahah. I swear Cat loves Gail Vaz-Oxlade.
OMG, so does my son!! Every time he hears her voice, he stops what he’s doing and looks around to see her. It’s funny that Cat has a similar reaction
lol I think it’s her sing-songy voice and her highly variable inflection. Cat was in the womb when we met Gail. And she heard a ton of TDDUP episodes.
This is my afternoon chuckle as I sit in traffic.