The debate rages on.

Which is cooler - the samurai or the ninja?

Sure, the ninjas are all about the stealth, walking on water, blending into the shadows in pursuit of their prey, tossing ninja stars like Roger Clemens throwing a fastball and then slipping away from the scene before anyone even knows the victim has been killed. They always dress in black and have about as many gadgets and potions to put to use as James Bond after a visit to Q’s lab.

Now, with the samurai it’s all about the honor. You face your foe in blade-to-blade combat with the best swordsman winning. Straightforward. No dilly-dallying. It’s more of a “We’ll show up in the middle of the street or battlefield at high noon and decide this thing. See you there.” kind of thought process.

These hired professionals work for their shogun trying to increase the volume of land they control. It’s pretty strictly a business transaction, but there’s something to be said for that loyalty. If they bring shame on themselves or their feudal master, it’s harikari time.

That dedication even carried over to their pets. One leader was such an animal lover that he was referred to as “the dog shogun” for setting in place laws that prohibited the harming of canines.

While Paris Hilton may have an entire closet of tiny designer T-shirts for her dog Tinkerbell, there has only been one known, documented discovery of a suit of dog samurai armor.

The military outfit consists of a carved wooden helmet and a coat of carved black-lacquered scale mail that would drape over the dog’s back. It is thought the canine protective gear was likely used only in ceremonies and parades and not on the actual battle field.

With that dedication to man’s best friend, these professional warriors gain a few extra points in the ongoing samurai vs. ninja arguments.

Image credit.

One of the biggest icons in film history, Paul Newman, passed away last night at age 83.  You can read a great article about his life (with a lot of amazing pictures) here, or look at the press release issued by the Newman’s Own Foundation here.  Either way, the world is missing a giant of […]

It will only take about 45 minutes to permanently alter the skyline of Indianapolis, Indiana.  Twenty-four years ago, the RCA/Hoosier Dome was opened.  At 10:30 AM this morning, the giant fans keeping the stadium’s roof up were turned off starting the deflation process.  By the time you read this, the home stadium of the Indianapolis […]

It is the first day of fall today, and everywhere the weather is starting to cool down (finally, September had some days in the 90-degree range here!).  That means Halloween is right around the corner, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year’s Day, then 2009.  Time really does fly, doesn’t it?  If your trees are […]

As dedicated Bigfoot blogger NewsComa could tell you, Sasquatch likes to party. Judging by the picture of Bigfoot’s recent trip to Roanoke, Virginia, he likes to party just a little bit too much. That’s why the poor man-ape is passed out face-down on the sand. Fortunately, he’s got that thick woolly coat […]

There are always signs out there that, when you look at them, you just know whoever put the sign up probably wasn’t reading it closely.  As someone who wasted five years of college as an English major (plus a year of grad school, so that’s six years of wasted time and money), I see signs […]

There’s a little plastic guy with a big head who is popping up in the strangest of places.  His name is Bobblehead George, and his website Where’s Bobblehead George? is getting a lot of attention these days, for a very good reason.  From his home base in Nashville, Tennessee, Bobblehead George has gone to Hollywood, […]

Human beings can do a lot of things out of necessity.  For example, let’s take a gander at the Chand Baori, a famous well from India.  Yes, that’s the well above… the crazy thing with the thousands of stairs.  Actually, it has 3,500 stairs, is 13 stories,  and is 30 meters deep.  It was built […]