All of us at here at Colaspot wish you and your loved ones a big, fat Happy New Year! No matter how you’re planning to ring in 2006, whether its visiting your favorite watering hole, attending a party, or having a quiet evening at home shaking your head at how inferior Ryan Seacrest is to Dick Clark in every way, be safe. We also want to thank all of our faithful readers who have stuck with us during these bumpy months of kicking off the site. Please keep reading in 2006; we have some big plans in store, and we welcome your suggestions as well. If you have ideas on how Colaspot can make your 2006 a little brighter, be sure to contact us. We’ll see you back here next week, even though you might not be able to make out our posts due to blurry vision caused by your massive hangover.

I will look back on 2005 as the most defining year of my life. During this eventful year, I graduated from college, got married to my wonderful wife, Karen, got a job using my shiny, new degree, and as this column has focused on, moved from Aiken to the Columbia area. While these events will always stand out in my mind, let’s be honest. We all know there’s one thing in 2005 we will remember the most vividly. That’s right, 2005 will go down as the year Tom Cruise went bat crap insane.

I sensed something was off with Cruise when I interviewed him earlier this year for my now defunct blog, Atomic Soapbox. If you happen to visit my old stomping grounds, pay attention to the fifth and final post, and you’ll understand why it went under so quickly - it was either AS or what you’re reading now.

For those of you who missed the original post, here’s my interview with the insane star:

Read the rest of this entry »

Going to be in the Columbia area for New Year’s Eve and still not sure what you’re doing to ring in 2006? Pick up the latest issue of the Free Times, which provides a listing of all the local New Year’s Eve parties along with a detailed guide to Columbia’s club scene. The handy guide is also available on their website. Will you see some of us Colaspotters out on the town come Saturday night? While I can’t speak for my colleagues, I can confidently say that I will not be going out. I’ll be kicking back with my stamp collection, some sparkling grape juice, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, a year-end tradition that you know will be slamming because they leave the “g” off “rocking.” It might just rival 2002, the year I welcomed in the New Year with my deformed, virtual animal pals in Animal Crossing.

Given our love for all things Baumer, we figured we’d continue the love affair by promoting their local concert this week. They’ll be headlining at the Art Bar this Thursday at 10 p.m. with opening act Ben Walker Radio. Bryan went to the last concert and said it was an eargasmic pleasure. Actually, I said that, but he did rave about their live performance. If you’re in the Columbia area, why not kick off your New Year’s weekend with some emo-nerd-pop-rock? While 2005 was a great year for Baumer, we expect even bigger things come 2006.

Just in time for the alcoholathon that is New Year’s, South Carolina bartenders can kiss mini bottles goodbye and start using big bottles of liquor this Saturday at midnight. The change is the result of a state constitutional amendment passed last fall that abolishes the law requiring bars to serve alcohol from 1.7 ounce bottles. Seeing as Saturday night is New Year’s Eve, bartenders can whip out the big bottles once 2006 officially arrives (unless last call is before midnight). While opponents of the amendment say free-pour drinks will pave the way for watered-down drinks and reduced tax revenues, supporters point out that less alcohol will be in the free-pour drinks, which could potentially reduce drunk driving accidents. Now if only we could abolish the state’s law that makes it illegal to teach farm animals sign language. I have a deaf goat who is suffering due to outdated legislation.

Quick break from vacation to point out this post at Signal vs. Noise:

Enterprise is the New Legacy (Signal vs. Noise)

The sharp kids at 37 Signals picked up on something the Startup Junkie noted a while ago: enterprise is becoming a dirty word.

Startup Junkie: Mission Statement

Happy New Year!

The Internet has made it easy for popular culture items to spread like wildfire. We all get those forwards in our inbox telling us to check out the latest funny video clip making its rounds on the Net. While I do not intend for Colaspot to become a steady purveyor of this sort of content, I just had to share Lazy Sunday with those of you who have not seen it. Lazy Sunday is a digital short that appeared on Saturday Night Live a few weeks back, and it is now spreading its infectious whimsy all over the Net. It’s so good, in fact, that it just made me type “infectious whimsy” for the first time in my life. If you haven’t checked it out, click here. And if you have seen it, click again because it only gets funnier with repeated viewings. The clip is even making the rounds at my office, which is definitely out of the norm. With all the complaints of current SNL episodes royally sucking, and the nicest critics calling the show “painfully unfunny,” it’s nice to see them doing something to make your stomach ache from laughter.

Editor’s Note: Seeing as Colaspot likes to endorse “legit” downloads, I should also point out the video is available for free at iTunes. The reason I linked to an “unofficial” site is because it automatically streams the video whereas I was going to have to download iTunes, fill out a bunch of registration info, etc. But if you already have iTunes, go ahead and rock it.

Merry Christmas! We apologize for the lack of updates this week, but it’s really hard to stay focused on anything during this time of year. I haven’t had a chance to play as many video games, Jonathan hasn’t been able to update his blog like he wants, and Bryan hasn’t been leaving Napoleon Dynamite lines on my answering machine. Sounds like we all have some mad holiday spirit, huh? So instead of leaving our -8 readers hanging (we’re still not sure how having a negative number of readers is possible), we thought we’d go ahead and post the usual “out of the office for the holidays” message. If any of you go through withdrawals over the holiday weekend, get your Colaspot fix by rereading old posts. Could it be we’ve filled old posts with hidden Christmas carol titles, and the person who finds the most will win an iPod nano? No, that is not the case. But drink enough eggnog and you’ll find tons of hidden stuff!

All of us here at Colaspot hope you and your loved ones have a safe, relaxing, and wonderful Christmas! And to our Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah! Eat food until you can’t see, giggle like a child/crazy person as you open gifts, and watch A Christmas Story multiple times until you have that dream where you’re chasing the Bumpus hounds through your house while wearing bunny pajamas. See you back here next week.

The Christmas knob is turned up to 11 here, and my writing time has all but vanished in the last few days. I wouldn’t leave you without a fix, though. In lieu of my regularly scheduled column, I bring you some wisdom from the inimitable Fred Gratzon. Fred’s blog The Lazy Way to Success is a must-read for any Startup Junkie. Check out two of his recent posts below, and learn from a master. Next week, I’ll pick another guest columnist and give him or her some link love.

• The Apprentice Sends a Bad Signal. If your company interaction looks like the teams on The Apprentice, you’re in trouble.
• Finding Your Calling: Collaboration. How a team should work together.

This week’s Outlander column has been delayed until next week due to deep, dark secrets that cannot be divulged here (cough, lack of time, cough). In the meantime, entertain yourself with this Walker Texas Ranger fan fiction. Trust me, it’s far more entertaining than Outlander could ever hope to be, and there’s over 300 of them for your reading pleasure. And to think, you didn’t know what you were going to do this weekend.