The spread of Wal-Marts over time

by Justin Glow on

For those of you that aren’t from the United States, and haven’t had a chance to visit yet, it might be hard to visualize just how many Wal-Marts we have.

In 2005, there were roughly 3,800 stores in the United States, which honestly doesn’t sound like a lot until you realize just how big the stores are. To put it into a better prospective, the company employs roughly 1.9-million people — enough to take the #5 spot of U.S. cities with the highest population if it were, you know, a city. Pretty wild stuff. (And what a city that would be!)

Toby over at Kiwitobes.com took Wal-Mart’s location data and created a time lapse video showing the growth rate of the chain around the country. Starting with the first store in Arkansas in 1962, it runs through the years, placing a white dot as a new one opens. To watch the video, click the image above.

[Via BoingBoing]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day: Declan Galbraith’s Danny Boy

by Jamie Rhein on

The banning of the song Danny Boy at the Foley’s Pub and Restaurant in Manhattan for the entire month of March got me in the mood to hear the song whether it’s over done or not. Here’s a version by Declan Galbraith, a young vocal wonder in Great Britain. In this YouTube video, he’s 10 years-old. One comment on the YouTube post said that Danny Boy is supposed to be sung by a woman, but Declan belts it out anyway. This guy has a following.

Learning to fly with Mahalo Daily’s Veronica Belmont

by Kent Wien on
My favorite web personality, Veronica Belmont of Mahalo Daily, shows you what’s involved in a $100 1-hour introduction flight. If you’ve ever thought about learning to fly, why not try it out at your local airport. She did:

To find the local flight school in your area that offers this $100 intro flight, go to www.beapilot.com.

Note that the $12,000 figure is for American Flyers, a high end national flight school. My local airport charges half that price for 55 hours toward your Private license. I get a lot of emails asking about the first step in learning to fly–this is it!

Sweater Day to honor Mr. Rogers (and Pittsburgh)

by Jamie Rhein on

You have seven days left to put on your favorite sweater. To be really Mr. Rogers like, although it’s not necessary, choose a cardigan. March 20 is being deemed “Sweater Day” to honor Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood fame. The show was filmed in Pittsburgh and March 20th would have been Mr. Rogers 80th birthday. Sweater Day is part of a six day (March 15-20th), “Won’t You Be My Neighbor Days” a promotional event for Pittsburgh’s 250th birthday year celebration. Here is the link to the events page.

People around the world can participate in Sweater Day and are invited to send photos or a video of themselves wearing a sweater to neighbordays@fci.org

Here’s a YouTube video of Mr. McFeeley from the show explaining what Sweater Day is. As a person who loved Mr. Rogers as a child, this is one event I’m all about. So spread some good cheer and get out that sweater.

Don’t like red sweaters? How about Japanese fashion?

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Breaking News! Travelocity Gnome terrorizes South American town! Eats chickens! Steals babies!

by Grant Martin on

Video from The Sun surfaced this morning showing an alleged gnome running around an Argentinian town, scaring the living daylights out of local teens. My thoughts are that this is either a hoax or a clever viral marketing campaign courtesy of Travelocity. Watch the video below and just try to fight the urge to book a three day two night cruise to Cancun and Belize. But it’s such a good deal!

Be sure to check out the Sun Article here.