Fact + Bonus Fact: Philadelphia

Fact: Founded in 1859, the Philadelphia Zoo was the first zoo in the country. 

Bonus Fact: Today, most of its 1300 animals can be seen selling pirated DVD's, counterfeit sneakers and liquid angel dust along East Market Street from 12th to 7th Avenue.  

Cyber Monday Goes Global

I think a lot of people think Cyber Monday is just an American tradition, hatched purposefully by capitalist elves to agitate spending and stoke the glowing Black Friday embers. However convenient it sounds, it's simply not true. The term, 'Cyber Monday' actually dates back to the 6th century BC, where its first recorded use is attributed to Emperor Gaozu of Tang, founder of the Tang Dynasty. According to historical documents the emperor, unhappy with outrageous shipping costs and export taxes on his luxurious silk, declared Cyber Monday a Chinese National Holiday. Anyone charging shipping fees on that day would be beheaded and fed to dragons. 

Fast forward a few thousand years and look at how far we've come. Most major retailers are still not charging shipping fees and almost no one is being eaten by reptiles. 

Tablets and HDTV's aren't the only bargains around though. Cyber Monday specials are available all over the globe today. Here are some of the biggest deals: 

Guess What I Did

This past weekend, I did one of the following five things. Guess which one and I'll send you an Insane Italian tote bag filled with mystery surprises. Mostly year-old US Weekly's and mildewy wine corks. But maybe some other things too. Fish food, citronella candles, surgical lubricant...junk drawer kind of stuff. 

Sitting Down with my Vegan DJ Coworker Who Spent 2 Weeks in Europe

Today I'm joined by Fletcher Bentley, my occasional friend and fellow colleague here at my regular, office job processing data into smaller bits of data and then reassembling them into long, data strings which we then hang on data trees. 

Fletcher was born in Madison, Wisconsin and moved to Philadelphia late last year to pursue a degree in aquarium architecture. Aside from his job here at Datatree Data Systems, he works part-time brewing Chemex coffee from a tricycle vending cart, and spinning Portuguese electro and ambient samba at an organic co-op store. This past summer, he took a 14-day trip through six European countries and hasn't stopped mentioning it since. 

Cat for Sale - (Very cute, but full of shit) CASH only

Can you put a price on your beloved pet? The answer of course is yes, and its very simple. Just snap a few photos of the little fur ball, post them on Craigslist and there you go: Your pet for sale. It was something I considered last week when my darling cat, Maybe tried cleaning out my bank account because she didn't feel like shitting. It wasn't the first time either. I'm not sure if she does it on purpose, but her heartbreaking bouts with constipation seem only to come on weekend nights when all veterinary offices are closed and the only place to go is the 24-hour pet emergency room. 

Fact + Bonus Fact: Presidential Edition

FACT: James Madison, our lightest leader, weighed less than 100 lbs.

BONUS FACT: There are over 100 different Chris Christie jokes that can be created with that information.