Most every social bungle, depressing news item or fallen hero usually inspires some clever soul to create something humorous for the masses. To help stomach watching the Lance Armstrong Oprah two part interviews, there's a bunch of fun interactive games - and some products - circulating around the web.
BingoSTRONG and Armstrong Bingo, both play at home bingo games (you print out the hi-res boards I've included here), a doping game for those who keep steroids in their cupboards and of course, a drinking game. All mocking the once admired cycling legend Lance Armstrong while watching his interview with Oprah*.
click on the above image to download it at high-res
The game above now has rules, shown here:
Not the only Armstrong Bingo game out there. The Telegraph is offering this game board for you to play as well:
Join in the fun with the Lance Armstrong-Oprah Interview Doping Game:
And yes, of course, there's a drinking game, too.
*Oprah Winfrey's hotly anticipated, two-part interview with Lance Armstrong will air Thursday and Friday nights at 9 p.m. EST/PST on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. For those without a cable subscription, "Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive" will also be streamed live at Oprah.com.
AMC has issued a caption challenge for Mad Men fans. Three fabulous retro illustrations by Dyna Moe (of "Mad Men Yourself" fame) each with five options for the best caption. Vote now for your favorite.
1. Which caption should win?
• "Umm, guys?... Should we have invited Peggy?..." -- from Panco
• "These morning bull sessions are getting out of hand gentlemen."-- from Liza Ogilvy
• "90% of creative is horsing around." -- from mishyshelly
• "Road Tested...Sterling-Cooper approved" -- from Blonde Dynamite!
•"Forget My Old Kentucky Home, next stop the Belmont Stakes!" -- from kathiemarie Vote here
2. Which caption should win?
• "Could you be a dear and grab me my brandy manhattan...And a straw?" -- from TheHaphazardBlonde
• "Don't forget to vacuum under the bed."-- from Teach123
• "I knew you'd been smoking in here!" -- from Kerco
• "This is nothing. You should have been at Lutece." -- from Take_Break_Share_Love
• "Who's the comedian that called maid service?" -- from PeeJay Vote here
3. Which caption should win?
• "No, Betts, you can't see Russia from here. That's New Jersey." -- from elscoot57
• "Meditate on THIS emergency!" -- from Betts
• "I'll get Dick, you get Don." -- from BoredBeauty
• "You sure Sally gets her temper from Don?" -- from Kevin Ament
• "Don's a worthy target, but I'd rather be Duck hunting!" -- from Strawberry73 Vote here
For the past few years I have been writing posts about Norad's Santa Tracker (once a partner of Google's) and how it works as a nice online activity to enjoy with your children and friends. Now that Microsoft's Bing has partnered with Norad, Google has gone all out and created their own Google Maps' Santa Tracker and until it launches on Christmas Eve, you can explore a fun interactive animated site with plenty of games and goodies or download a Google Chrome app for added entertainment.
above: screen grabs of the Village briefing and windtunnel
Santa’s many developer elves, who are hard at work in the North Pole helping Santa prepare for his big day, have combined their elf magic with the latest and greatest in Google Maps technology and sleigh engineering to allow you to follow his progress around the world, and also learn a little about some of his stops along the way.
above: a sneak preview of the Google Santa Tracker which launches on Christmas Eve.
Even without using Google chrome as your browser, you can enjoy the following at the Google Santa Tracker Site:
•Create a Custom Phone Call from Santa in the form of an mp3 file you can send to your friends (This is really cool. It takes a few minutes to make the first one, but it's worth it.)
•You (or your kids) can play one of three games that operates with your keyboard.
Present Drop:
Village Racer:
Jetpack:
If you use Google Chrome, you can download the app and enjoy even more fun like a dashboard tracker, play around with Santa's blimp or elf bus and write messages on a frosty browser window.
The friendly elves have also invited you to explore Santa’s village while Santa gets ready for his journey. So go ahead and explore his village, you might just find some fun activities and meet some interesting elves.
The Google Maps Santa Tracker is created and developed by Google, with a little help from Santa’s elves. Need help or have another question? Visit their Help Center to learn more about Santa Tracker.
The stop motion video features illustrations burnt into toast with a laser. Created in conjunction with the Samsung Create Your World website to promote their new NX100 digital camera, the site also features a fun and easy interactive way to place your own image on a piece of toast.
Simply upload your image, choose your level of toast darkness and voila!
above: Santa as he cruised over Perth, Australia a few hours ago
If you have children, they are undoubtedly anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jolly Ol' Saint Nick this evening. Chances are, they are not snuggled in their beds with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads. Heck, they don't even know what Sugar plums are.
It's more likely that they are using every excuse in the book to stay up late (I'm thirsty, I have to pee, I wanna see Santa....) and try to catch a glimpse of the bearded gift courier, you can assure them that He's on his way with the NORAD Santa Tracker.
Regale them with wonderful updates and info, like how many gifts have been delivered, how many snacks Santa has consumed so far in real time and his latest stop.
In case the kids wanna know exactly how Norad tracks Santa, here's the official answer: How NORAD tracks Santa:
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.
Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.
The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allow our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.
The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year on Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.
The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and welcome Santa to North America. In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph.
And a video to share with the kiddles:
You can see him via satellite, or map or terrain... zoom in on some Santa Cams, use Google earth to follow him and more.
Santa takes breaks during his Christmas Eve trip around the world – especially for snacks left by children. Do you put a snack out for Santa? Kids all over the world do. Some even leave carrots for Santa's reindeer. (Carrots are their favorite food.) Check to see how many cookies Santa eats during his journey. No wonder he’s jolly and round! Leaving cookies for Santa is a tradition for many families. Imagine eating that many cookies in one night (burp)! How many cookies has Santa eaten so far at the time of this post?: 41143 Now see how many here!
HOT UPDATES from the North Pole: Mrs. Claus has informed NORAD that Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list includes a record 1.9 billion children under the age of 15 this year. This list grows continually, as children are born at the rate of approximately 340,000 per day.
NORAD has received confirmation that the special navigation panel aboard Santa’s sleigh is functioning as planned. The elf staff provided no further comment or details. North Pole officials confirmed that the Santa Cams NORAD uses on Christmas Eve are in fact able to detect and photograph objects as large as 100 lollipops long and 55 lollipops wide. Elf Soen Firr, chief Santa suit engineer, confirmed that Santa’s red suit has been weatherproofed and tested to ensure Santa will stay warm and dry in any type of weather. No further details of the suit’s material or capabilities were released. Today, NORTH Pole staff have advised NORAD that it is the final day to send Santa an email because Santa and the elves will begin loading the sleigh later today. This is such a huge task that they will not have time to check emails!
NORAD has confirmed that Santa and his fully-loaded, reindeer-powered sleigh took off from the North Pole and soared into the arctic sky at 6:00 a.m. EST (5:00 a.m. CST, 4:00 a.m. MST, 3:00 a.m. PST). NORAD radar is tracking Rudolph’s bright red nose, and satellite imagery is providing minute-by-minute coverage of Santa’s location.
