Post-Football Weekend Post

I'm been trying to get the words right. This is the fourth version of this blog entry. It all sounds too articulate and intelligent. For this topic, though, I think I should just tape into my inner idiot.

Fuckin' Ravens.

The best defense in the league means nothing when your offense cannot muster a drive longer than four plays.

There's always next year.

No, we've added a bunch of veterens (McNair, Pryce, Mason) and we might lose A. Thomas and Jamal Lewis to free agency. Sure, we always do well with our prospects and young players, but with a roster stocked with so many guys over 30, this is a team on the decline.

I guess they weren't that good.

Nope, we can't just wipe it away like that. If we were in the NFC, then sure, we can expect playoff seeding to stand. The NFCs have's versus havenot's are more pronounced than in the ultra-competitive AFC. Thus, the Chargers lose to the Patriots, and the Colts surge over the lifeless Ravens.

+++++

How about LT railing against the Patriots? I think LT had the right to say all those things, especially taking a pot shot against Bellichek. No team should upstage at someone else's stadium.

It is silly, how riled up we get for the honor of millionaires.

Football: the new polo.

+++++

Why football fans stink: at Fletchers during the Ravens/Colts game. One girl in a Colts t-shirt cheering loudly for her team while dejected Ravens fans mutter curse words in her direction. There's something to be said about cheering on your team. Its something completely else when you're being an ass. Cheer your team at home and don't subject the home team with your "look at me" bravado.

+++++

Why are all Patriots fans obnoxious dickholes?

YouTube Mania!

Ok, ok, I'm wasting time...this should be the last post of the day, eh?

• Gretchen Carlson of FoxNews claimed that Sen. Kennedy is a "hostile enemy" due to his opinion that the congress should have to approve any escalation of US troop levels in Iraq. The White House spokesman had to defend Kennedy. She received the "Worst Person" award from Keith Olberman on Countdown.
• For you tech geeks, here's a closer look at the iPhone from CBS News
• Luther Head of the Houston Rockets posterizes Ronny Turiaf of the Lakers. Look at the ups on that kid!
• I love buttons. I love watching people push buttons that are clearly marked "Do Not Press." I absolutely love it when martial arts masters come out and knock out the button masher. Family Guy promo.
• Any fans of "Mr. Show With Bob and David" out there? Here's Bob Odenkirk helping out on a promo for a new Cartoon Network Adult Swim show called Tim and Eric.
• Robot Chicken is one of the funniest shows out there. Here's their "Ode to the Nut Shot."
• This is the reason why I don't want to be rich while raising a daughter. Or any children for that matter. Spoiled rotten girl.
• A new short from Matt Walsh (of Upright Citizens Brigade fame) called Ordering Popcorn.
  
• Finally, here's a question...wearing magnets on your arm or neck...won't that mess up things? Like credit cards, or computer screens...or won't they fall off?

Oh, here's the chicken dance thing and the all right clip from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Coo-coo-ca-cha!

Some Great Music Sites

If you're like me, you scour the internet for music. Sure, I buy the occasional album, but since I've been out of undergrad, I've had a hard time find the bands. Thank goodness for the "long tail," which allows for even fringe independent outfits to find their potential audience. Here are some of the best purveyors of tasty songs that might hook you onto your next favorite band.

As you know, I've been a long time fan of My Old Kentucky Blog. The guy is quite good getting the indie bands before they blow up. Warning, though, because the blog has become a bit more promotional, as he's got a Sirius blog radio show.

If you've used the Music Blog Aggregator, then this is old news. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it until fairly recently. Type in song title, or band name, and if there's been any mp3 posted by the title in any music blog, you'll get it. Especially good if you're looking for new music. I cross reference the College Music Journal charts to keep my finger on the pulse of what's new.

As a fan of concert bootlegs, I've looked all around the web searching for Sufjan Stevens concerts or Death Cab for Cutie shows. A great site is rbally, who posts full sets of concert mp3s...what's more, the mp3s are usually soundboard recordings, meaning superior quality compared to those audience tapings. I've downloaded Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Cat Powers, Wilco, and R.E.M. concerts thus far...there's no limit to the concert experience from this site. Thanks rbally!

Another great concert archive, but that's not all. The Internet Archive features some great quality concerts (I grabbed the Tenacious D show that I attended, as well as an excellent Death Cab show), although some of the concerts are not mp3 and will require other software to play or convert. Additionally, the internet archive features audio books, poetry readings, radio programs, software, and texts. This is a great site.

Enjoy! Grab them mp3s and aurally enhance your computer time!

Watership Beat Down

This is one bad-ace rabbit. Someone needs to chase the mother-#%@&-ing snake from this mother-@#%#-ing plain!

Snake vs Bunny

Of course, the narrator's accent is funny too.

By the way, I'm wearing suspenders today. Any of you random readers enjoying the anti-belt?

Spam Poetry

The use of random sentences to get spam past your email blocker can create some unique poetry. Here's the latest that I got in my Yahoo! inbox. Enjoy.

Follows the chaotic life of the exotic Dead or Alive frontman.
It also reiterates and clarifies some of the facts around metrics I
discussed in my last post.
Manes, a fixture of the highest level of technology journalism for the
past two decades, says that "if the digital pirates win, we'll all
lose".
Rather than getting burdened by trying to piece together what
really makes Bond tick, audiences can focus on watching a younger Bond
beat up the bad guys.
However, what I found equally crazy was that she performed this stunt
without wearing any safety gear, especially a helmet.com while it was
sitting unused with a company called NetIdentity.
That's after he's put his distracting yappy dog, Liberace, in his
place.
Check out Poppycock in this terrible tale of terrorists tamed by the
tangles of true love, if you get a chance.
It's everything you wanted to know about shag-pile carpets and jacuzzi
tubs.
Aside from its impressivelycompact profile and slick blue aluminum casing, its click wheel is what
sets it apart from competitors from a hardware perspective.
A  man was napping on a Chicago-to-Vermont flight when he awoke to a sharp jagging sensation in
his leg, which felt like it was asleep.
Full Moon Skate The next Full Moon Skate at Flatwoods Wilderness Park,
which is northeast of Tampa Bay, is scheduled for Saturday, November
4th.
, what measures are in place to monitor sea trout stocks ?
2Unless the large trout in the river are being targeted the chances of
covering salmon water are slim.

Duke Blues

I've often been questioned as to my fan-dom of the Duke University Basketball team. Coming from a UNC satellite school, popular belief assigns me to be a fan of the Heels. Besides, many argue, the Tarheels are winning now, while Duke's been rebuilding for the past two years.

Coach K runs a team oriented basketball program while UNC rewards individual genius, thus the success of Tarheels in the NBA, while Dukies become excellent role players. I've always enjoyed the team aspect of any Tarheel team, though it is a bit disconcerting seeing so many three-balls jacked up in any situation. How many ill-advised long range shots have been launched by Blue Devils?

Additionally, I've always enjoyed liking the less favored team in any region that I've lived. While living in Washington, I liked baiting Husky fans by cheering for WSU. During my Miami spell, I was a die-hard Seminoles fans to draw the ire of Hurricane fans; living in Kendall, right in the heart of Dade County, there were alot of Hurricanes razzing my Noles cap. The love of the underdog lead to some great vicarious victories: the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks victory in the face of a lab filled with friends who extolled the virtue of all things Yankees, cheering on little Mark Lemke while most of my friends thought Dave Justice was the neatest thing since pocket pitas, and going crazy go nuts for underappreciated players such as Dwight Howard, Bart Scott, and any Los Angelos Dodger.

Yet for all of this bragging of my love of underdogs, I think I'm sick of the 2007 iteration of the Blue Devils. After a second straight ACC loss, dragging their record to 0-2 in conference play and 13-3 overall, the Dukies are probably out of the top 15 in the nation. They shot 20% from behind the arc (4 of 20), while getting out rebounded 23-32. I'm tired of the big men being outmatched in the paint, and the inability to drive the lane. I'm sick of having a great turnover margin (28 vs. 17) yet being held under 70 points in 8 of their 16 games.

All this while the Heels are going absolutely insane, who yet again have an amazing freshman class and another great white hope in Tyler Hansbrough just out wanting victories. Where are those guys on the Duke roster? The great thing about previous incarnations of Cameron Champions was that there were leaders who just out-willed their opponents. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Shane Battier, J.J. Reddick, Danny Ferry, Johnny Dawkins, Elton Brand, and Jason Williams were insatiable in their desire to win. Compare to the less than hallowed current team, and there's a reason why there's a glum feeling in Durham.

Now I'm not writing off the Devils. I'm not jumping on the Heels bandwagon. I'm just feeling a bit let down about losing to Georgia Tech.

Well, at least I've got the Ravens to cheer for this weekend. That is all.

Mississippi Dump

For those of you laying awake at night, thinking about the possibilities, here's a webpage to help you think about the problem. Jack vs Chuck dot com.

Great Art from Belhaven: during my time at Belhaven College, I got a chance to meet some great artists. Here's some websites.

Daniel Pritchett

Dayton Castleman

Also, Deuce McCallister, of the Saints, bought the dillapidated King Edward Hotel. This place used to be a spelunking paradise.

Why Arrested Development Is Sorely Missed

Mock Trial with J. Reinhold!

with William Hung and His Hung Jury.

Sad, sad McGwire

Oh, woe is he.

While ironman Cal Ripken Jr waxes on about how longevity and stamina deserves to be applauded and Tony "always with a smile on his face while hitting over .300 for an entire career" Gwynn shines on in consistency, but Mark McGwire isn't going to be enshrined this year.

Hopefully, he will be denied every year that he comes up to plate.

McGwire scored a vote on 128 of the 545 ballots. He needed 409 to get the requisite 75%. In comparision, Ripken and Gwynn both received over 97% of the votes.

Why the difference between the men? Easy answer, steroids...McGwire obviously used steroids, HGH, etc, while Ripken and Gwynn never tested positive. Additionally, Ripken and Gwynn didn't play baseball in a manner that raises suspicion...neither went on a record tearing homerun binge like Big Mac in the heady 1998 70 homer season.

So, let's address the latest theory: McGwire is being blackballed for one year, but will eventually be voted in. He has 583 HR which is seventh on the all-time list. Everyone around him (with Barry "Big Head" Bonds eventually joining the Hall when he decides to retire) is in the Hall. McGwire, according to many talking heads, will be in the hall in the next five years.

Should he? No. Why? McGwire was one of the most feared hitters in the 90's. His 1:10.6 HR to at bats ratio is the best all time...but here's the reason not to vote him in. All of his accomplishments came after his body ballooned up. As a rookie with the A's, McGwire had a lanky body type that quickly morphed after a dismal 91 season hitting only 22 HR. From 1989 - 1995, he wasn't a factor for the A's, having been diminished with injuries that limited him to 74 games in 1993 and 1994. Yet, as soon as he was healthy (and huge), he moved over the Cards and went insane. 1996, as a player who had never hit more than 40 HR in a season, took off for a MLB leading 52 HR, then 58 in 1997, and 70 in 1998. How does a player increase their homerun totals to that degree at the tail end of his career. His numbers before 1996 make him a good player to have in the lineup but definitely not HOF. Therefore, now big mac.

Compare Barry Bonds to understand the line. Barry was a HOF player before his insane blowup in HRs. He was a player with five tools, high average, excellent outfield defense, and several MVP quality seasons without seeing the physical evidence of outside medicinal help.

So, Mac, come clean, write a book, cash in, and enjoy the old timer's games. Congrats, Ripken and Gwynn, you earned it.

Best of 2007

So, I planned on continuing the best of 2006, but I've lost interest. Yes, yet another "to be continued" cliffhanger without resolution. Call me a tease, you rabid savages.

So, here's the best of 2007, based on the past five days.

• Best cookies: ELV made some excellent oatmeal raisin cookies, which made me think about the following question; what's the greatest flavor of cookie ever created? I've always been particular to straight peanut butter cookies. The soft cookie with an excellent chewy consistency flooding one's taste buds with nuttiness, with a nice cold glass of milk (or in my case, rice dream) equals a simply glorious taste experience. Yet, how can we forget the magnitude of a chocolate chip cookie? How about those Thin Mints? What about freakin' Nilla Wafers?
  
• Best viewing of a movie that I should I watched years ago: "Platoon" by that freaked out savant Oliver Stone. I think it is quite precient to watch Vietnam War-set movies, given our current quagmire in Iraq. This film is an excellent archtypical jaded war movie, though not as insane as "Full Metal Jacket." Excellent performances by Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and William Dafoe makes for a moving film about the savagry of warfare.
• Best reason to have nine bucks in your pocket: Sofi's Crepes at 1723 Charles St. in Baltimore serves excellent crepes. Though not as delicious as a crepe from a street side vendor in Paris after a full day of walking around the Left Bank, Sofi's makes a mean crepe this side of the Atlantic. Try the ham, gruyere, and mustard savory crepe, or do like ELV and get the sugar lemon or banana avec nutella sweet crepe. Read a City Paper review here.
• Best sporting event viewed on TV (the last 20 minutes): Tostitoes Fiesta Bowl. Did you see this game? I mean, Boise State comes back from losing the lead in the fourth quarter by hitting a hook and ladder play, then goes for two in overtime. The modified Statue of Liberty play, with the amazing pump fake that fooled the Oklahoma defense as well as the TV cameras followed by a behind the back handoff. It was fantastic. Simply awesome.
• Best strange saying during a governmental swear-in: I'm addicted to C-Span and the deuce, C-Span 2. Watching Nancy Pelosi's swearing in as Speaker of the House, I was struck by one of her statements about the rise of women embodied by Pelosi's position of power: "But as a woman, I'm very, very thrilled because I carry a special responsibility. I've broken the "marble ceiling." Ok, I know, glass ceiling...and there's marble in the House building (I think) but wouldn't she have made the same sentiment saying glass ceiling? It seems a bit odd to use marble ceiling. Am I nitpicking?
  

Ok, I'm off to AC for Mikey Freeze's birthday. Here's to hoping that I don't lose too much.