Something strange happened this week in Amazon.com's apparel section.

For a day or two, a black T-shirt featuring an image of three wolves baying at a full moon claimed the top slot at the online store's clothing bestseller list,, beating out the usual, unremarkable mix of Levi's 505 regular-fit jeans, Crocs clogs and Adidas running shoes.

Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt, Available in Various Sizes

And really, why wouldn't you buy the shirt, which is priced from $7.65 to $17.93, depending on your size? Just read the long and growing list of customer testimonials promising earth-shattering experiences or psychedelic vision quests upon purchase.

"I bought this shirt and instantly old girlfriends started calling me again," wrote one reviewer."My doctor says the cancer has gone into remission," wrote another. "

Thanks for changing my life!"The shirt's page at Amazon.com had quietly existed for years without much comment, but after a snarky link from CollegeHumor.com, the "Three Wolf Moon" shirt suddenly sprouted hundreds of five-star ratings.

Reviewers have dreamed up epics about its powers, weaving fantasies involving everything from the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland to the pop group Duran Duran.

As the joke caught on and got passed around the Web, Photoshopped spoofs of the shirt started appearing online -- featuring corgi puppies, spiders or haddock instead of the now-famous wolves.

CollegeHumor.com, a comedy site started in 1999 by a couple of high school friends who grew up together in Timonium, Md., also claimed victory this week for rigging an online poll run by the state of Nebraska to select a new license-plate design.

The site urged its readers to vote for what it deemed the most boring design available to Nebraska drivers. That gray-and-white plate won.Officials in Nebraska said they monitored Web traffic to screen out visitors coming directly from the humor site, but CollegeHumor.com was still, credibly, claiming the joke a success this week.

"Together we pranked the entire automobile-owning population of Nebraska," wrote a CollegeHumor.com editor, in a Wednesday posting. "Congratulations."

This type of online rabble-rousing appears to be catching on more than ever over the past year, said Tim Hwang, the organizer of ROFLCon, a convention dedicated to celebrating Internet memes.

After all, another Web-based prank crossed over into the real world just last month when a 21-year-old college student, known by the online moniker "m00t," sailed to the top of Time's "most influential person" list in an online poll, beating out the likes of President Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

Gathering nearly 17 million votes, the world's "most influential" person is the founder of another jokey Web culture site, 4chan.org, whose proprietor is known offline by the name Christopher Poole. If you don't get why the shirt, and its reviews, are so funny, don't worry.

CollegeHumor.com co-founder Josh Abramson said it's a case where the shirt is so uncool that it's cool."A lot of things that become popular on the Web are based around just being ironic and being an inside joke," Abramson said.

"This resonates with a geeky, hip crowd that is very Web-savvy. When something resonates with that circle, crazy things can happen."Abramson said his team had considered licensing the wolf shirt for sale.

CollegeHumor.com, which had 7 million unique Web visitors last month, also has an online store that sells T-shirts with ironic catchphrases and designs, called BustedTees.com. But it appears that the site may have been a bit slow to catch on to its own meme.

"We're kicking ourselves that we didn't," he said.The New Hampshire company that makes the "Three Wolf Moon" shirt said that it doesn't generally mind being the butt of this joke."You have to be able to laugh at yourself," said Michael McGloin, a partner and art director at the Mountain, who added that he finds some of the reviews to be "freaking hilarious."

The company certainly doesn't mind the shirt's recent uptick in sales: "Three Wolf Moon" is sold out, and the Mountain has started printing up a fresh batch.

It seems that the wolf theme was growing in popularity even before the Internet hipsters descended, McGloin said."Wolf shirts are super hot right now," he said. "It's the year of the wolf, I guess."

Click now to Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt, Available in Various Sizes

By Mike Musgrove, Washington Post Staff Writer

Labels: ironic tshirt, the mountain, three wolf moon, tshirt, wolf moon, wolf shirt, wolf t-shirt

Have you ever attended a timeshare presentation? I wish you would never attend one. It is traumatic experience sitting through a timeshare presentation. Compare it to buying a used car from a dealer; this is even more frustrating experience as more money is at stake here.

What is a timeshare presentation? It is nothing but a sales pitch by the timeshare companies to force people into buying their timeshares. It begins with an invitation offering you an expensive free gift in return of attending the presentation. Now you go to the presentation thinking that there is no harm in attending and you get a free gift also in return, but you realize that you have made the biggest mistake of life only when you sit through the painful presentation.

The expensive gift turns out to be a gimmick and you are subjected to sheer pressure tactics of selling. The presentation usually last for ninety minutes and may go on and on in some cases. After the presentation, the salesperson will encircle you and will ask you if you have any questions. They go to the extent of literally pressurizing you. They want you to either make a commitment or sign a paper before leaving the presentation. When you say constant no to him, the manager will approach and offer you a good deal.

Sometimes it becomes very hard to resist the temptation after being offered such great deals. But you have to go mentally prepared to say no to them at any cost. Tell them clearly that you have already spent your precious time and can’t spare your time further. Say that you have an appointment with somebody and you have to leave immediately. And do not forget to take your gift before leaving the presentation after all that was the reason why you attended the presentation.

The salesperson and the managers would do their best to convince you to sign some papers by offering many offers, but you should stick to your resolution to not to fall into the trap by constantly saying into your mind that "no, I can't afford to buy a timeshare" and "will I be able to make payments every month". Politely say "no"to any offers however attractive it may look. Also say them that you need time to decide, take their contact number or fax number and tell that you will notify them about your decision. Also tell them that you would not tolerate any courtesy calls or emails.

You can also tell them that you already have a friends or family members in that timeshare location and you don’t need to buy a timeshare. Also another reason you can give them to escape is that you just came to the presentation for the free gift or you can also say that you just wanted to educate yourself about timeshares and it is too early to make a decision about buying a timeshare.

You can also say that you are not one of the frequent vacationers and would be able to vacation year after year and even if you go for a vacation you don’t like to go to the same location every year. Also say that you are not in the financial position to invest in anything now or in near future. Thus we have seen it all depends on our mental setup to sit through a presentation and still survive it.

Labels: how, presentations, survive, timeshare, timeshares

Every individual waits for that time of the year, a much deserved time off from the hectic activities of day to day life. And when the time comes you keep wondering where to go? Where to stay? Etc. And each time you think I should have planned it out before itself. Smart people plan their vacations long before they actually go out for one. And even smarter people buy timeshare property for vacations to have a peace of mind and a place where they love to enjoy and cherish most beautiful memories in the comfort of your home like atmosphere.

Everyone wishes to have a timeshare property at their favorite vacation place. While it may be easy to buy for some, but for some it may be their lifetime savings or hard earned money. So, nobody would like to invest their money in a losing proposition. Here we discuss some of the important things that you have to remember while buying a timeshare.

The first thing to do before buying any timeshare is to understand the types of timeshare. There are basically two types of timeshare plans. A deeded plan, in which you actually buy a piece of real estate property and own it along with other owners but, you can use it only according to the timeshare agreement. A fixed unit, fixed week, deeded timeshare allows you to own a specific timeshare at a specific time each year.

A floating time agreement allows you to be flexible about the dates that you can use your timeshare. But reservations may be only first come first serve as many owners would like to go for that option. Right to use timeshare or a non-deeded timeshare is a leased timeshare. Again it is classified into fixed unit and floating time just as in the case of deeded timeshare. You no longer have rights to the property after the lease expires.

Before investing in a timeshare do your homework about the location first. Do a good research about the location, whether you can go there on a yearly basis. Also it wouldn’t hurt if you research the prices of other alternative accommodations in that place. If you are paying for the timeshare then why buy timeshare if an alternative costs you less. But at the same time you should weigh in your comfort factor also. The alternative accommodation might not provide you with the same comfort as the timeshare accommodation. So, it all depends on what criterion is important to you, cost or comfort.

Always find out your timeshare rights before buying. Your rights may be violated in some cases. In most of the cases the timeshare properties are governed by legal documents known as Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions. It establishes rights for real estate property owners and governs how the timeshare should be managed.

Also important thing to consider before buying a timeshare is to decide whether you want to buy it for vacation purpose only or as an investment. If you want to buy it as an investment you should rethink. Timeshares are not one of the most lucrative properties for reselling. Generally timeshare properties don’t have good resale value and the resale is also difficult due to competition from the original seller himself.

While you may think that the cost of buying a timeshare is simply the cost of buying only the real property. You may be wrong. Because you should always calculate the total cost of time share which includes mortgage payments, maintenance fees, taxes, travel cost, closing cost, broker commissions, financing charges etc. That will definitely raise your hair. Compare the cost of alternative accommodation with the total cost of owning a timeshare now. Go with whichever is cheaper.

Also do not forget to read each and every document carefully before signing any agreement. Never ever believe on promises made by word of mouth. Request everything in written. Also find out about the reputation of the seller and whether he is a licensed timeshare seller. Also never accept properties with unfinished facilities, if you do so take a written commitment from the seller that they would be finished within a specific time frame.

Labels: buyers, buying, property, timeshare, timeshares, tips