I just read an article in the USA Today about how the bad economy is actually good for would-be vacationers. A lot of people are just staying home instead of taking their normal summer holidays, which is hurting the travel industry. For instance, Las Vegas hotels are reporting occupancy rates in the 80-85 percent range, which is unusually low for Sin City. So now the hotels in turn are offering amazing discounts on their room rates in order to attract travelers.

The article listed lots of places in Vegas where you can get a room for under $50, and even a bunch of places with rooms under $20. I’m not sure exactly what kind of accommodations you’d be getting for that price, but who cares! Nobody goes to Vegas to sit in their hotel room all day!

We really need to start planning a vacation soon. It’s been ages since we’ve been anywhere interesting!

Wow, I can’t believe this! The Blackhawks just made a major move in free agency this offseason by signing former Detroit Red Wings forward Marian Hossa to a massive 12-year, $62.5 million contract! Hossa led the Wings in goals scored with 40, and was third on the team in total points with 71.

He will have a big impact on the Hawks, and give the team another sniper in the lineup to go along with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Hossa’s signing will also make it easier for the Hawks to part ways with Martin Havlat, since they haven’t been able to work out a deal with him yet.

The Blackhawks also signed Tomas Kopecky away from the wings. I don’t know much about him, but hope that deal works out too.

I’m waiting for the NHL to release the 2009-10 schedule because I want to attend the home opener!

Do any of you follow Chad Ochocinco (formerly Chad Johnson) on Twitter? He’s a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, and is a prolific tweeter. Today he posted a bunch of interesting reminiscences from his childhood, and I found myself laughing and nodding on more than one occasion.

For instance, he writes: “What you know about the first day of school outfit layed out on the floor with the shoes, socks ,shirt and pants, come home with me”

Man, I totally used to do that!! When I was a kid, I only got new shoes once a year, right in time for the first day of school. We weren’t allowed to wear our shoes in the house — except if they were brand new. So the whole night before, I would walk around in my new shoes, and then set them out with the rest of my outfit on the floor.

He had a bunch of other great ones too, but this is what I identified with the most!

I was browsing through some Yahoo News photos this morning and came across this one. It’s of a 4-year-old Boxer mix named Pabst, whose owners entered him in the World’s Ugliest Dog contest. The annual competition was held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairin in Petaluma, CA last Friday. Pabst won, but I don’t think he’s that ugly! Yes, he has a major underbite, but so what? World’s ugliest? That seems like a bit of a stretch!

(AP Photo/Noah Berger)

It’s not often that I get entrepreneurial urges, but when I do, I usually act on them. And that’s exactly what happened this morning when I saw this pack of 50 Glow in the Dark Bracelets over at Buy.com. It wasn’t the product itself that gave me pause, but rather the quantity. I sat here thinking who would ever need to purchase 50 of these Light Stick bracelets at one time — and then it hit me. The likely purpose would be to resell the items for a profit.

This is actually not a bad idea, especially at this time of year. There are lots of outdoor events held in the evenings, and I always see people wearing these types of bracelets at concerts, carnivals, fairs, and fireworks displays. I bet I could make some pretty good money selling glow in the dark bracelets to kids attending these events. A pack of 50 is on sale at Buy.com for just $14.99 with free shipping. If I then turn around and sell the bracelets for $2 or $3 apiece, I’d end up making an awesome profit. Heck, I could sell them for a buck each and still come out way, way ahead!

I’m seriously thinking about trying this. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to sell huge quantities because I’d probably need some kind of license or something, but I’m sure I could move a couple hundred bracelets. I should just go ahead and do it!

I just read that Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks has been chosen for the cover of NHL ‘10 by EA Sports! That’s so awesome! I really became a huge Kane fan during Chicago’s playoff run this season, and will definitely buy the game once it’s released in September. To give you an idea of how unusual this is for me, the last EA Sports Hockey game I bought was… NHL ‘94. Yikes!

Congrats, Kaner! Let’s hope there’s no cover curse associated with this game!

Wait, Anderson Cooper is gay? I had no idea! Not that it really matters one way or the other, so whatever. But I was just surfing around this morning on some celeb gossip sites, reading more about Michael Jackson’s death and the state of his financial affairs when he died. One thing led to another, and from clicking various links, I was taken to some posts showing Anderson Cooper and his alleged lover. The posts were all quite old — two years at least, so that shows how clueless I am.

I do not watch CNN regularly, so I have seen 360 maybe twice in the past couple of years. I don’t know — is Anderson open about his sexuality? I’ve read conflicting reports, with some people saying that he outed himself a while ago and some people saying he wants to keep it quiet because it will help him remain an impartial, unbiased journalist.

The first thing I thought of when I read that he was gay? No wonder he made that tea-bagging comment back in April!

(Photo ©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM)

Ya know, I’m usually a peaceful, mellow kind of person. But this whole North Korea situation is getting utterly ridiculous. Apparently, the government over there assembled 100,000 of its drones citizens to chant some “crush the U.S.” bullshit, as leaders threatened death and a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” against the U.S. and South Korea if they dare try to enforce U.N. sanctions.

At this point, I have two words to say about the whole thing: preemptive strike.

(Photo credit: Korean Central News Agency, via Associated Press)

I was very sad to hear that Farrah Fawcett succumbed to cancer today. She had been battling the disease since 2007, and actually lived longer than her doctors thought possible — probably thanks to the experimental treatment she received in Germany. But even that couldn’t keep the cancer at bay for too long.

I saw the documentary Farrah’s Story last month and thought it was great, very moving and touching. It’s too bad that Farrah’s son Redmond was in jail and wasn’t able to see his mother again before she died, but at least partner Ryan O’Neal was there.

RIP, Farrah. 1947-2009

I admit that I’m a total dork when it comes to labeling my things. I put my name on practically every item I own, from my netbook to my iPods, cell phone, digital camera, books, and anything else that leaves the house or gets loaned out on a regular basis. Usually these “labels” amount to nothing more than a thin strip of paper that I’ve cut out by hand and attached with scotch tape, so often they end up curling up or falling off after a while. That’s why I’m considering buying this Brother P-Touch Thermal Label Printer.

The Brother P-Touch is a cool little handheld label printer that is suitable for both home and office use. It comes with quite a few features for such a simple machine. For instance, it can print in nine different styles and three different sizes, can accommodate up to two lines of text, and can print multiple copies of the same label with ease. Moreover, the user can manipulate the text alignment of the labels, or take advantage of convenient functions like auto templates and memory keys.

Truth is, this Brother P-Touch is probably a more sophisticated machine than I need for my labeling purposes, but since it’s on sale for just $11.99 at Buy.com right now, it would be crazy not to at least consider it. I know I would use this thing all the time, so there’s no question that I’d get my money’s worth. The only question is whether I want to buy yet another gadget right now. It sometimes seems like I have too much stuff already!