The First One Goes Down...

Tomorrow is the birthday of one of my best friends from when I was young. We were a tight knit little group. There were the four of us... from elementary school through high school. We were Millsers through and through, and a part of that proud mini-society, but our small circle was pretty much the four of us... Me, DW, TR, and DR. We went to school together, played baseball and softball together, hung out together, got in trouble together...

Well, tomorrow DR hits the milestone birthday (One I'll never hit because I'm stuck at 28). I still play softball with DW and TR, but DR has kinda drifted away. I'm gonna see him tomorrow, and hopefully we will catch up then... We had a few disagreements that lasted longer than they should have because we are both kinda stubborn, but we were best friends for a long time, and that will always be there.

Elementary school (1st grade):

DR: "Kurt, I dare you to put your hand in this stapler"
Kurt: "Why, you ain't gonna do nothin' if I do"
DR: "Try it and see"

Ker-Chink...

A moment of awkward silence, followed by a pair of eyes quickly growing wide... then a boy realizing two of his fingers and a piece of paper were all stapled together. Next was a piercing hyena scream and the blur of a 1st grader running through the room and into the hall, hand in the air and the piece of paper flapping like a surrender flag in the breeze.

High School:

Setting - 4th of July... the day after we were all caught drinking, doing some stupid stuff, having the cops called on us, etc... At DR's house...

DR's Mom and Dad: "You guys have no idea how much trouble you are in. You were not using your brains at all. Do you know how dangerous it is to be drinking... (Blah Blah Blah... It all kinda rambles together at this point... then back to paying attention)... We are gonna make you guys sign a contract promising to never drink and drive..."

The guys all sign the contract...

DR: (To his parents) "Now that we've got that over with, will you buy us some beer so we can take it to the fireworks tonight?"

DR quite often didn't have his brain attached to his mouth, but that never really slowed him down much...

I could go on forever with stories about the good old days... God a time machine would be SOOOO handy... ;-)

Sorry...

Looks like I won't be able to put up much of a post today :-(

The Weekend (and Holiday) Roundup...

The Lions...

Needed to win just one of those heartbreakers earlier in the season, and they'd be right in the middle of the playoff race right now.

The Patriots...

Need to play to win next week, and play all of their starters for the whole game. Yeah I know the goal is the Superbowl and to not get anyone hurt in a meaningless game, but they have a chance to do something special.

The Weather...

Has been pretty crappy. 50 degrees on Saturday. Alot of snow melted. It's cooled off now, and we got about an inch last night, so let's hope it stays that way now.

The Holidays...

Are here. Everyone, please have a safe and Merry Christmas. Santa rides tonight, and as always, I'll be watching the horizon...

Some Christmas Thoughts To Ponder...

In "The Year Without A Santa Claus", Heat Miser and Snow Miser refer to each other as step brothers, but it is implied that Mother Nature is the real mother of both of them. So does that mean they are actually half-brothers? And if so, who has Mother Nature been banging? I figure Father Time is the dad of Snow Miser, because he's a little more calm and laid back than Heat Miser. You've got to figure he gets that trait from Father Time, who I'm sure can't be in a hurry for anything. I'm guessing Heat Miser is the result of a fling with some cabana boy while Mother Nature was on vacation at a tropical island.

Also, in "The Year Without A Santa Claus"... Kids, if a strange man is ever hiding in the bushes outside your house, don't invite him inside, even if he does look like Santa.

When I watch Rudolf, I wonder if I'm the only one that thinks that Santa and all of the other reindeer are complete jackasses?

In "The Grinch", on the day after Christmas when all of the cheer and goodwill wore off, do you think all of the Who's down in Whoville got out their ball bats and beat the hell out of the Grinch, and then locked him in a cage with a Bumble that had a tooth ache?

Weekend Ramblings...

I Am Legend

I saw it over the weekend. I'll start by saying that I liked it... however, it wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I guess I kinda have my own rating scale...

All Timers - These are my all time favorites... classics in my own little convoluted world
Really Like - Movies that I will buy and watch over and over again
Good - Movies that I might watch again if they are on, but not worth adding to my collection
OK - Movies that were entertaining at the time, but didn't make any type of lasting impression on me
Nothing Special - Just that... not bad, just nothing special
Ugh - A waste of time
Sucked - Self explanatory

This one lands in the "Good" category for me. I'm not gonna try to explain how or why it's in this category for me, it just is. I have a tough enough time trying to rationalize emotional responses, so I'm not gonna even waste my time with it here. I will say that I felt it could have been rated R, even though none of the violence was all that graphic. I'm sure I'm just a little over-protective of my Peanut, but I felt kinda bad when I had to remind her that it was all just a movie, and not real. I like to be able to discuss and rationalize things with her in a little more depth than that, but with a few scenes that was about all I could really do.

Found money

A home owner found $182,000 hidden inside the walls of their house a few days ago...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_fe_st/odd_house_hidden_money_2

$182,000... I found 72 cents in the parking lot at the movies and thought I was doing pretty good ;-)...

I'm not sure why the contractor thinks he's entitled to the money, or why the Ohio "finders keepers" law would apply here. The person that owns the house owns everything inside the house, don't they? If a painter is painting a house, and finds a ring or wallet under a couch that they moved, are they entitled to keep it? That doesn't make much sense to me...

Danger: Avoid Death

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_fe_st/odd_wacky_warnings

Our legal system sure is screwed up. Nothing like having to legislate common sense, and hold manufacturers responsible for consumer stupidity. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making sure manufacturers be held responsible for the safety of their products, but there has to be some limit to the level of stupidity that has to be taken in to account from the public. I guess "Danger: Avoid Death" are always good words of wisdom though...

Snow

8" of snow this weekend... Yay!!! That's also 8" of snow to shovel :-(... Now my body is telling me I should have kept working out a little harder after softball season ended, hehehe... I'm such a slug ;-)

PS... Notice I'm not even acknowledging that the Lions played this weekend... When does spring training start, anyways???

Recent Baseball Headlines...

Dateline... Recent baseball headlines arouse intense emotions in fans, while firm members of the baseball community give slow, deliberate, deeply penetrating responses to hard questions posed by the cunning linguists of the media...

For a deeper, more intense look at the details, here are the facts...

---Rangers to sign Japanese RHP Fukumori
---http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txrangersfukumori&prov=st&type=lgns

---Cubs sign Japanese OF Fukudome
---http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txcubsfukudome&prov=st&type=lgns

Fukudome... Fukumori...

Hmmmm, with this kind of activity, and a few strategically placed pauses in the pronunciation of these names, I suspect there will have to be a new type of TV contract, most likely a series of late night telecasts on Cinemax...

Ok, give me a second to regain my composure here... Sorry about that ;-)...

Oh yeah, on a side note... baseball also released the Mitchell report yesterday, too..

Clemens hit hard in Mitchell Report; Tejada, Bonds and Pettitte also named
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-mitchellreport&prov=ap&type=lgns

I already addressed this topic earlier, and in general it still applies...

http://chockssquawks.blogspot.com/2007/08/should-we-cut-little-slack.html

However, Bonds' current problems stem actually from the perjury charges, not so much from the drug use, so his problems are a little different from the rest of these guys.

I guess I didn't realize how deeply intense and arousing the off-season hot stove league can be ;-)

noznohog

snossicn
midwives absentia
netekarr
ijnug
Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona
Hermes Watches
rainwater reincarnate
commitment hammock

What do these all have in common? These are all phrases that spammers have put in their subject lines to try to get me to open their email. Who actually opens these things? Someone must, and they must end up buying this crap too, or spammers wouldn't keep sending out these emails. Obviously this goes against my previous theory... it doesn't matter how you market something because someone somewhere will be dumb enough to buy it regardless. On a related note, why do I get so many emails for watches? Are watches that big of an internet seller? I'm used to all the V1@gr@ and "magic growth" spams, but what's up with watches???

I'm waiting to get spam from someone actually trying to sell Spam... you know, the canned, processed meat-like substance... I mean delicacy ;-) At least that would be a somewhat creative spam email.

National Champions

ESPN has a web site that lets you set up your own college football playoff and simulate the games to determine a winner...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls07/bracket?lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

It's kinda cute, but if they want the real answer they can check my post from a few days back ;-) Anyways, I set up my own playoff using their bracket and managed to come up with a pretty cool National Champion...



YAY CLEMSON!!! How AWESOME would that be?!?!?

News Flash...

Pee Wee Herman to expose himself to a whole new generation

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/reuben%20to%20return%20as%20pee-wee%20herman_1053148

I wonder if he plans on getting the whole gang back together... Chairy, Globey, Miss Eyvonne, Cowboy Curtis... Hmmm, I bet it would be a little tough to convince Lawrence Fishburne to reprise that role.


I'm kinda distracted today, but I'll keep plugging along...

Winter!

This is what winter and Christmas time should look like...

The front of the building/parking lot

Across the road

Big, fat flakes... it's actually kinda cool ;-) It's been a while since we've had December's like this.

More Random Thoughts

Trying to get back in sync...

C64
I got my first computer when I was in high school. It was a Commodore 64, and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I came across an article about the 25th anniversary of the C64 which jarred my memories...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/12/07/c64/index.html

I know, it's amazing that I must have been in high school when I was about 3 years old ;-) Anyways, I taught myself how to program in BASIC and wrote all kinds of text based games and programs for it. For the first couple of years we couldn't afford a disk drive, so I had to save all my programs on tape. It was an audio cassette recorder that connected to the computer and saved programs on cassette tapes. This of course was just after the discovery of fire, and right before the invention of the wheel ;-) A couple of years later a program called Gamemaker by Gary Kitchen came out for the C64... I thought this was the greatest program ever made...

http://www.mts.net/~kbagnall/commodore/gamemaker/info.html

This program allowed people to make games on the C64 that had Atari-style graphics using a BASIC programming type language and some pretty cool tools. I spent a lot of time making all types of games, but my favorite was Sucker Spearin'. You see, for the first two weeks of April in Mills, the suckers (a bottom feeding fish) swim from the Saginaw Bay up into the little creeks and streams throughout the township. Millsers know about all about this. Back then, it was a right of passage to go out sucker spearin' all night long each spring. Well, I merged red-neck and high tech and made a sucker spearin' video game, and of course it included a digital version of me doing the spearing. Some day I'll have to see if that game still works and post some sucker spearin' screen shots ;-)

A cool website, but is it safe?
I came across a very cool website which has downloadable theme songs to just about any TV show you could imagine, so of course this caught my attention...

http://www.televisiontunes.com/browse.html

I just wonder if this can be legal, and as insane as the RIAA is anymore, I have to wonder if this is another MP3 lawsuit waiting to happen.

Speaking of being in Sync...
Am I the only one a little concerned that Microsoft is writing software that runs in vehicles? So are people gonna need anti-virus software for their cars now? I hope this doesn't give a new meaning to the Blue Screen Of Death.

Lions
At the two minute warning I said sarcastically "I know the Cowboys are gonna score... everyone knows the Cowboys are gonna score... Just let them score so we can at least get the ball back and have a chance to get a field goal." Guess what?!?! The Cowboys scored with 18 seconds left. Not that the Lions didn't have chances. There was a fumble that was right in front of a Lions player, and all he had to do was fall on it and the game would have been over. Instead he tried to pick it up and wound up kicking it right to a Cowboy. Ugh...

Completely Random...
Why does the knuckle on my left hand ache? I don't remember doing anything to it. Am I falling apart? I'm pretty sure it's not an old sucker spearing injury anyways. It might be an old sucker spearing video game injury though ;-)

Weird...

Things have been feeling a little weird and out of sync for me today, so this won't be much of a post, and I certainly won't be enlightening the world with any thoughts today...

Freebies...

The radio morning show that I listen to on the way to work is the Bob & Tom Show. Today is the last day that they are giving away free access to their VIP website, which is nice but not that big of a deal... but included in that is a free download of an entire copy of one of their comedy albums, which is kinda cool.

http://www.bobandtom.com/gen3/index.htm

You have to sign up for free VIP access, and the download is pretty big (about 90 MB), but I like these guys so I thought that is was pretty cool.

The Best Day Of The Year...

Was the day we would get the Sears Wishbook Christmas Catalog. I always turned straight to the back so I could drool over all the new the Atari Cartridges.



Here are four pages of heaven from 1982...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/327585232/in/set-72157594229749541/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/327585247/in/set-72157594229749541/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/327585271/in/set-72157594229749541/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/327585283/in/set-72157594229749541/

Weren't the graphics AWESOME!!!

It's amazing that I was 3 years old at the time and still I would play Atari all day long ( wink ;-) ) Is it bad to admit that I still play some of these once in a while... and I always buy them whenever I see them at yard sales and flea markets, but I don't find them very often anymore.

Driver's Education

Here's a few driving tips for all of those inconsiderate people on the road while I'm on my way to and from work every day...

• When the stoplight turns green, that means GO... don't sit and admire the pretty shiny green light
• When there is no one behind me, don't wait until the last second to pull out in front of me and then drive 10 mph below the speed limit... ESPECIALLY in a no-passing zone!!!
• In a parking lot, park BETWEEN the lines. If you can't maneuver your vehicle between the lines, either your vehicle is too big for you, or you just shouldn't be driving
• If you are driving in the fast lane, you have an obligation to drive faster than the people in the slow lane... otherwise, just GET IN THE SLOW LANE AND GET OUT OF THE WAY!
• Don't drive in my blind spot. Get past me or get behind me already.

Sorry... just had to vent for a minute there ;-)

So Sad

Omaha, Nebraska... My heart goes out to the friends and families of the victims, along with the entire community. Such a senseless tragedy. These types of things always make me feel so sick inside, and I haven't been doing all that great as it is, so I'm sending my sympathy and condolences.

Why I don't watch the news... Headlines from the last 24 hours:

Mall shooter's suicide note: Now I'll be famous
2 moms, 8 dead kids: Are officials to blame?
Mother suspected of killing her five children
Germany children killed
Mom and daughter shot
Mine explosion kills 46 in China
Thieves steal donations

How depressing. It shouldn't be called news, it should be called BAD news, because that's all that gets reported. This, along with the Middle East, the economy, idiot politicians, oil prices, terrorism, Britney and Paris... Ugh, I'm making myself sick.

We now interrupt this regularly scheduled chaos to go back to my place with nice happy thoughts... Ahhh, much better. Thanks ;-)

Now for a few updates on a lighter note...

Fantasy Football Update

I made the playoffs in all three of my leagues, even though one was by a technicality ;-) I guess it's ok considering I haven't been following it very closely this year. Too distracted I guess.

Weather Update

Cold, windy, a little snow on the ground... so far so good :-) We're supposed to get a couple more inches tonight. I hope it keeps up like this.

Try to keep those happy thoughts going, we need all we can get right now...

Wow...

Our Tigers are making things exciting. They pulled off a big trade with the Marlins, and I'm kinda excited about it, but we sure gave up an awful lot.

Yahoo Report...
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ArDQFcPJCVtuNwPBZ0BnXXcRvLYF?slug=jp-tigerstrade120407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


The Tigers got 3B Miguel Cabrera and Pitcher Dontrell Willis in exchange for 6 players with ALOT of potential.

Miguel Cabrera - 24 Years old and already been to four All-Star Games.
Dontrell Willis - 25 Years old and was second in the Cy Young voting two years ago, although last year he didn't do as well.

After giving up Jair Jurjjens for Edgar Renteria and then this trade, we sure don't have a lot left in the minors any more. A little bit about the players the Tigers gave up...

Cameron Maybin - Maybe the best minor league prospect in all of baseball. Has been compared to Griffey Jr.

Andrew Miller - A hard throwing left hander with a lot of potential. Was in the Tigers rotation last year, and kinda sucked during the second half of the season, but once he figures out his control problems he could be really good

Mike Rabelo - Switch hitting catcher. Probably wont be a star, but could end up being pretty solid.

Eulogio De La Cruz - Can throw 100 MPH

Burke Badenhop - Don't know much about him

Dallas Trahern - Good looking prospect in the lower minor leagues, but too early to tell still

Everyone will look at the trade and think the Tigers got a great deal, but we gave up a lot for these guys. Still, it will make us much more competitive for the next two years, so I like the deal and I'm excited about it. It's nice to see the Tigers making moves and trying to improve, after all those years of sucking and doing nothing about it.

The Tigers will have one of the toughest lineups now, and a great rotation too...

C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Carlos Guillen
2B - Placido Polanco
SS - Edgar Renteria
3B - Miguel Cabrera
LF - Jacque Jones / Marcus Thames
CF - Curtis Granderson
RF - Magglio Ordonez
DH - Gary Sheffield

P - Kenny Rogers
P - Justin Verlander
P - Jeremy Bonderman
P - Nate Roberson
P - Dontrell Willis

SWEET!!!

I don't know what they are gonna do with Brandon Inge. He's my favorite Tiger, but like I said before he's not much of a hitter, so I can understand that they needed to make a move to improve production out of the 3B spot. There's still a chance Cabrera gets moved to LF and we keep Inge at 3B.

I can't wait for the season to start :-)

BCS - Bowls, Chock Style

The college football bowl system is screwed up, that's a given. Here's a good article by Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com explaining it, for anyone that cares:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3138383&sportCat=ncf

Football is the only sport in Division I-A athletics that doesn't have a championship determined on the field, but rather through a vote. I'd be a lot more interested in college football if there was a real champ determined at the end of the season. I know there's a plan for a "Plus-One" system after the bowls, but that will still suck, especially for the smaller schools. So, here's my plan for a real playoff system...

The Chock Plan is a 12 team playoff (This leaves room to expand it to 16 later after it becomes a huge success). We can use the BCS Poll to determine the 12 teams, which this year would be:

1.Ohio State
2.LSU
3.Virginia Tech
4.Oklahoma
5.Georgia
6.Missouri
7.USC
8.Kansas
9.West Virginia
10.Hawaii
11.Arizona State
12.Florida

The first two rounds would take place now... four games this weekend and four games next weekend at the home field of the higher ranked seed. The losers of these games could still go play in whatever bowl games, so those bowl games don't lose any revenue. The top four seeds get a first round bye, so this weekend the games would be:

#12 Florida at #5 Georgia
The winner of this game would play at #4 Oklahoma next week

#11 Arizona State at #6 Missouri
The winner of this game would play at #3 Virgina Tech next week

#10 Hawaii at #7 USC
The winner of this game would play at #2 LSU next week

#9 West Virginia at #8 Kansas
The winner of this game would play at #1 OSU next week

After these two rounds, there would only be 4 teams left. The winner of the Oklahoma game would play the winner of the OSU game in the Orange Bowl. The winner of the Va Tech game would play the winner of the LSU game in the Fiesta Bowl. After these two games, the final BCS Championship Game would be a week later.

Here are the current bowl matchups that involve these 12 teams:

Holiday Bowl: Arizona State vs Texas Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
Cotton Bowl: Missouri vs Arkansas Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m.
Capital One Bowl: Michigan vs Florida Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Rose Bowl: Southern California vs Illinois Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m.
Sugar Bowl: Hawaii vs Georgia Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs West Virginia Jan. 2, 8 p.m.
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs Kansas Jan. 3, 8 p.m.
BCS Championship Game Ohio State vs LSU Jan. 7, 8 p.m.

So, as an example, lets say the playoff games go as follows...

This way, the final 4 would be

Orange Bowl: OSU vs Oklahoma
Fiesta Bowl: Hawaii Vs Missouri

All of the other teams could go back into the bowl mix, maybe something like this...

Gator Bowl: Virginia Tech vs Kansas Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Holiday Bowl: Arizona State vs Texas Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
Cotton Bowl: West Virginia vs Arkansas Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m.
Capital One Bowl: Michigan vs Florida Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
Rose Bowl: Southern California vs Illinois Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m.
Sugar Bowl: LSU vs Georgia Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.
Fiesta Bowl: Hawaii vs Missouri Jan. 2, 8 p.m.
Orange Bowl: Oklahoma vs Ohio State Jan. 3, 8 p.m.

BCS Championship Game Ohio State vs Hawaii Jan. 10, 8 p.m.

Texas Tech and Virgina were originally slated for the Gator Bowl, so they would have to be shuffled down to one of the lesser bowls like the Weedwacker Bowl or whatever.

Oh, and by the way, I like the underdog, and I like the Run -n- Shoot offense, so in my little fantasy world, Hawaii beats OSU for the National Championship. In the current system, they will never get a chance to prove themselves.

How cool would this be??? ;-)

Redneck Retaliation

Since my parents are so keen on sharing their redneck thoughts with me, I came up with a few of my own for them. I know they don't read this, but I'll let them know about it later ;-)...

A few I came up with...

You might be a redneck if...

• Your cars are covered with cat paw prints
• During hunting season anyone has ever said "Open the window so I can get a clear shot"
• Raccoons think your back porch is their playground
• The mailman wont come down your road during the spring thaw
• Any part of your car is held together with duct tape (Ok, I've been guilty of this one too)
• You have to honk your horn before you start the car to scare out all of the animals

And a few from Jeff Foxworthy...

• Your favorite beer company can't afford to advertise
• Directions to your house include "Turn off the paved road"
• You've ever found a car after mowing your lawn
• Getting a package from your post office requires a full tank of gas in the truck.

And oh yes... a couple for my sister as well...

• You've ever killed a duck(venomous or otherwise) with your cooking
• You've ever driven your baby sitter to the store

The Long and Winding Post

Four in a row and counting...

Four weeks ago I started to put together a post about what the playoffs would look like if the season had ended, with the Lions in at 6-2, and I was gonna show how they could make a miraculous run and make it to the Super Bowl. Once I started writing it, reality set in... I mean come on, this is the Lions we're talking about. I was holding out hope, and I wasn't gonna give up on them, but I've been conditioned after all these years to expect the worst. Well guess what... welcome to the world of the Detroit Lions fans. Now, four weeks (and four loses) later, here we are with the same old Lions. They can still win three of the last four and make the playoffs, and I'm holding out hope, but the schedule is gonna be tough...

Home against the Dallas Cowboys
At the San Diego Chargers
Home against the KC Chiefs
At the Green Bay Packers

Ugh... It looks like Jon Kitna's prediction is gonna end up being a little off. But hey, even if they can finish 8-8 it will be a huge improvement over the past many years. It's just a disappointing way to end the season after seeing a ray of hope. I'm trying to keep it in perspective though.


The loss of an American Icon...

On Friday Evel Knievel passed away. He was a defining part of pop culture during the 70's. It was always a big deal to see what kind of stunt he was gonna pull off next. I had all the Evel Knievel toys... the action figure, the motorcycle with the rev up crank that would shoot across the floor doing wheelies, the Evel Van that I kept all the stuff in...

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/01/1196394688218.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evel_Knievel

Losing part of my childhood is just a small reminder of how cruel time is... it's always moving forward, and it seems to keep moving faster. That time machine just hasn't shown up, no matter how hard I wish for it.

Washington Redskins...

That was a nice gesture by the Redskins over the weekend. They opened their first defensive play with only 10 players on the field. Since Sean Taylor couldn't take the field with his team, they left his spot empty. My heart goes out to them and Sean Taylor's family, as well as everyone else dealing with a loss or difficult time right now.

Another loss over the weekend...

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is my favorite Mario game, and I still play it a lot. Friday night however, it decided that it wasn't feeling well, and took a little nap for a few minutes. When it woke up, all of my saved worlds were gone. I imagine that after 12 years (God is it really that old) the internal battery is starting to give out. Anyways, I had finished the game a long time ago, so I could go back and play any world I wanted. Now I have to start over from the beginning. I've made my way back to world 3-1 so far, but it's still disappointing to lose all of that work. I just hope the battery doesn't give out again, but I'm sure it will, so I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts.

Too many losses this weekend, and I've been having kind of a tough time today, so...

To get away from the loss theme for a bit here...

I was channel surfing over the weekend, and I can now say I've seen the dumbest infomercial ever... Zorbeez - The Amazing Multi-Purpose Cloth

http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/zorbeez402.html?gid=

This is just a pile of rags, people. I guess if you market it right, you really can sell anything. P.T. Barnum knew what he was talking about. On a side note, the commercial claims that they are machine washable. I guess you would have to wash one rag at a time all by itself, because if they are as amazing as the commercial claims, these rags will absorb all of the water in the washer ;-)

Sparty Power...

MSU is going bowling... YAY!!! Sure, it's just the weedwhacker bowl or something like that, but it's been a while since we've been to any kind of bowl, so I can't complain. Actually, it's the Champ Sports Bowl on December 28 in Orlando against Boston College... so the Sparty's are going to a bowl AND Disneyworld... how cool ;-) Also, congrats to CMU for winning the MAC and earning a trip to the Motor City Bowl against Purdue.

How About a Brew, Eh?...

While in Frankenmuth over the weekend I noticed that the Frankenmuth Brewery is closed and for sale. I'm not really a beer drinker, but that got me thinking... I should buy it so I could make a new brand... Whoopass beer. That way, when the guys are sitting around drinking, it would give a whole new meaning to the phrase "I'm gonna open me up a can of Whoopass tonight." If I market it right, people would buy it ;-)

Post of the Day

Game of the day... The Sparty's pulled off a big win yesterday. That was nice after the way we've struggled a little so far. Don't worry Wolfpack fans, NC State's a good team... we were just "on" last night, and besides, the Breslin Center is a tough place to play :-) You'll have a chance for revenge next week when the Red Wings play the Carolina Hurricanes, but that's at "The Joe", so we just might pull off the two sport sweep ;-)

Complaint of the day... Sage Software has the worst support web site EVER! I know it's for pretty specialized software, so it doesn't affect the general public... but do I really need to select the program I'm working with FOUR TIMES before I get to the right screen?!?!?!

Article of the day... I found a news report on Yahoo about a guy in South Carolina who tried to open a bank account and make a deposit with a $1,000,000 bill. Brilliant. Does this fall into the redneck category, or the complete idiot category? I bet those bank employees had an entertaining day at his expense. He did make the bill look kinda realistic at least.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_fe_st/odd_million_dollar_bill;_ylt=Au3GBL8LSffivvGKsFTfaqrtiBIF

I'm a Redneck

Every year my sister buys the Jeff Foxworthy "You Might Be A Redneck" desktop calendar for my parents as a Christmas gift. Then they go through it and pick out all of the ones that they think apply to me for some reason. It almost seems like it is the highlight of their holiday. On Thanksgiving they gave me a few that they had saved up during the year.

Here's a few of their little gems:

You Might Be A Redneck If...

• You have more televisions than rooms in your house
• You secretly get your firewood from your neighbor's yard
• You consider your softball uniform "dressy-casual"
• You inherited a stolen road sign (or have one to pass along)
• The police have had to talk to you about your bonfires

I have no idea what they are talking about... ummm, well, ok, maybe a few of these vaguely apply ;-) It's funny how all the ones that apply to them were mysteriously missing though.

The Grind

Ahhhh... back to work. Nothing better than being met at the door with the old "My computer says it has a virus so I need you to come look at this." At least let me get to my office first and put my stuff down, people. I'm thinking the extended weekend wasn't extended long enough. I wish I could have stayed in bed where it was cozy.

Now, to play a little catch up...

Lions

Ugh... same old Lions. I must be a masochist. I hope they can keep it interesting for the rest of the season. I'm not asking for much, just to stay competitive. Give us a glimmer of hope for the playoffs, thats all. Three more wins would do it, but I know that's gonna be tough, especially with the schedule they have left. I'm not gonna give up hope though.

Black Friday

You wouldn't catch me out in that crazy mob. I guess I'll just miss out on all those great deals. This year everyone had the added bonus of getting up early to go shopping in 11 degree weather (at least that's what it was when I woke up at 8:00). I even heard that people had started lining up at Best Buy on Thursday at 3:00 in the afternoon... Wow. One thing that really bothers me are the stores that think they have to run sales on Thanksgiving day. I won't name any names (although Meijer's is one that comes to mind), but you really can wait for Black Friday like everyone else. It's bad enough your employees have to deal with the misery of Friday, so don't make them work on Thanksgiving too. These people have families they want to be with, so cut them some slack. I understand that some people have to work on holidays, but this seems obnoxious to me.

Midland High School

Congrats to Midland High School. They had a great season, but unfortunately they lost the championship game to Detroit MLK. Midland had the lead at half time and made it an exciting game, but they just couldn't hold on. Still, those kids will have great memories of their season and getting to play at Ford Field.

Very Cool

A brand new Futurama comes out on DVD tomorrow... "Bender's Big Score." I'll be gettin' it :-)

Attack of the 8 Foot Scorpion

There's a news report about the fossil of an 8 foot scorpion that I thought was kinda interesting (I know I'm a dork, but imagine how cool an 8 foot scorpion would be)...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_sc/biggest_bug_ever


Other Stuff...

It's about 42 degrees, overcast and rainy... but it's still just not right. I shouldn't be able to go out in short sleeves at this time of year. I remember when we'd have snow on Thanksgiving. A lot of snow. One year when I was a kid we got stranded in a snow storm driving home from Detroit on Thanksgiving night. That's how it should be. Hopefully winter will be here soon.


The iPod I had access to pretty much has been confiscated, so I went out and bought a 4GB thumbdrive. Not quite the same, but a lot cheaper, and I can just plug it into my computer at work. Someday I should post my playlist to show how screwed up I really am ;-) Yes, I'll even admit that while I was watching Don't Forget The Lyrics last week I got the lyrics right to Delta Dawn... god that's embarrassing ;-) I've got songs from the 40's through today... There are a couple from the 80's that are my favorites which I listen to a lot though.

Here's the last few songs that have played:

Sugar Sugar - The Archies
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrew Sisters
Fire and Rain - James Taylor
99 Red Balloons - Nina
Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money
Superman - Five for Fighting
Penny Lane - The Beatles
You're the Inspiration - Chicago
King of the Road - Roger Miller
Dont Stop Believin' - Journey
Three is a Magic Number - Schoolhouse Rock
All Night Long - AC/DC

I know... pretty random. I'm a dork.

This blog will be quiet for a while... Here's hoping that everyone has a nice Thanksgiving...

Quotable Quotes

I watched a few movies over the weekend. Here's a few quotes from a good one that I watched for the first time:

• Chip, I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew!
• How 'bout we go get kicked out of Applebee's?
• If we wanted two wussies, we would have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman!
• I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence.
• This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
• Remember that time in tenth grade when we got kicked out of class for playing with Matchbox cars? Who's the retard now? (something me and Randall would have done)
• In the words of the late great Colonel Sanders: I'm too drunk to taste this chicken
• Here, we'll use this knife to pry the other one out! (again, something me and Randall would have done)
• That's what I'm sayin'! My head's all tied up...like a pretzel! I got a pretzel in my head!

Good movie ;-)

I also had a Tarantino mini-marathon Saturday night... I guess I was just in that type of mood :-( Not many lines that can be quoted from these movies without cursing though, and I try to keep it clean here. Besides, comedies are more fun to quote.

Christmas Overkill

I love Christmas as much as anyone (maybe even more), but there is a pet peeve* of mine that has been bothering me. We have a radio station that started playing Christmas music 24/7... the day after HALLOWEEN!!! There are several people in my neighborhood that set up decorations a couple of weeks ago as well. To me, the Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving, and not a moment before that. No decorations, no music, no TV shows... nuthin'. Christmas is special... and fun... but it gets cheapened and diluted when the season starts so early. One month of Christmas is just fine.


A few other thoughts...

I survived the weekend, and I'm OK. I did way to much housework though. I also replaced a window and re-caulked a shower, so I'm not completely useless.

Yay Spartans!!!... Looks like we are going to a bowl :-). And what a shame... the team from Ann Arbor just couldn't pull this one out... that's too bad (sorry, my sarcasm is overflowing a bit here). My other college teams didn't do so good this weekend though :-(. Neither did the Lions. They are looking more and more like the same old Lions. Well, before the season I said I'd be thrilled with 8-8 and I'll stick to that, but it will be a painful way to get to 8-8 (at this rate they might not even make it).

Congratulations to Midland High School. They beat Lowell this weekend, and are going to play for a state championship at Ford Field against Detroit Martin Luther King. I went to Dow High, so Midland was the big rival. I have a lot of friends that went to Midland or have ties to the school, and it's exciting for the community, so good luck to the Chemics this week ;-)

Some of My Quirks

• I eat pie backwards, crust first... but not pizza
• I always try to sit with my back against a wall, or at least facing a door
• I don't like the number 13... my only superstition
• I have to fix the toilet paper if the roll is "backwards"
• I eat potato chips by the handful
• I wear long sleeves when I play softball, no matter how hot it gets
• I usually go through magazines backwards

I know... I'm still a dork

The Migration North

Today is an unofficial state holiday in Michigan. In fact, it's an official holiday in many areas... there are several school districts closed today. I may actually be the only guy at work in the entire state, because today is opening day of deer hunting season. Yesterday the highways were packed with hunters traveling north. Today the woods are packed with hunters sleeping in their deer blinds. Not really my thing... I guess I've never considered it a sport, but it doesn't bother me either. A lot of people really enjoy it, and that's fine with me. I'd rather be out in the woods enjoying nature, not killing it, but that's just me. Now if the deer also had guns, that would make it much more interesting...


Side note:
Last night while I was channel surfing I stumbled across a show on the G4 network that caught my eye, so I had to watch it for a few minutes. I think it was called American Ninja. I only watched a little of it, so I didn't get all of the details. It looked like a contest G4 held to find two people to send to Japan to compete on the Ninja Warrior game show. The first person they chose was Colin, a student going to school at Michigan State :-). The second person they chose was Brett from Greenville, South Carolina. Well of course at this point the show had my attention. It looks like MXC... Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, but they take it seriously. There are a bunch of physical challenges the contestants have to go through to see who the top "ninja" is. I didn't get to see the second half of the show, so I don't know how the two Americans did, but I thought it was pretty interesting anyways ;-)

Stuff...

Long Nights...
When I leave to go jogging after work it's light out, and by the time I get back it's completely dark... it's kinda depressing. At least I do get a nice view of the horizon at sunset, though.

I guess I'm lucky it was warm enough to even be able to go last night. I've only jogged three time in the past month... I'm such a slug, but I haven't had much ambition. I still felt like I could have finished my longer route though, which was kinda cool, but I had to cut it short anyways because I had to go grocery shopping. Yes, I do all of the grocery shopping. I cook and clean and do dishes and even laundry once in a while... and no, I'm not gay ("not that there's anything wrong with that" as George and Jerry would say). Anyways, I had to get myself some Froot Loop Cereal Straws... those are pretty good ;-)

Winning Ways...
Now that we have that powerhouse exhibition schedule out of the way (ahem), the Spartan basketball team is back in sync. It looks like they took out their frustration on Chicago State last night. YAY!!!

Weeeee...
There's a new Mario game coming out for the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, and from the review it looks pretty good...

http://us.i1.yimg.com/videogames.yahoo.com/feature/super-mario-galaxy-review/1169565

It may be a good way to keep my mind occupied for a while. Being the monkey that I am, I have a hard time not always doing something, especially mentally. It's never a good thing for me to be alone with my thoughts, so I have to find something. Maybe I'll get this new game, but I don't know yet. Wii'll see.

I've been so busy today...

I haven't had time to come up with any type of inspiring or insightful blog entry. :-(

Tiger Rumors

It looks like the Tigers are gonna to trade for a new outfielder...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3106431

Jacque Jones... Hmmm. We'll see. I'll miss Omar though.

I hope it works out and I guess I'll have to dig out my old baseball cards now.

YAY Tigers!!!


PS: Thanks to my good friend Rod for the heads up on this story :-)

Random Thoughts of the Day...

Google

I'm losing my Google anonymity. There never used to be any matches to my name that went to me... now I have one, and it's the top match. It's a really old story, too. Even worse, there are three matches if I search using quotes :-( I'd rather stay anonymous, but I'm slowly losing that.

This blog is slowly losing its anonymous status too. If you google "callcash.com", this blog comes up on the first page... #6 on the unpaid results. Callcash.com seems to be out of business though... I'm sure because of my enlightening post... God I'm delusional... and a dork ;-)


Oh... Huey Lewis started off my play list today... One of my favorites...


Big Time

Finding a 15 year old projector at a yard sale... $30
A box of replacement bulbs... $20
Playing Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island on a 6 foot screen... Priceless

-- Oh, the Wii and PS2 are sweet too, but the old Atari 2600 doesn't work on it :-(


Mr. Mister and Wham just played back to back... I feel like I'm back in the 80's


Follow up

All the snow is gone :-( It only lasted a couple hours. To everyone here that was complaining about it yesterday... Shut up or move. You're in Michigan, what do you expect? I can't wait for some real snow!!!


Chicago just came on... You're The Inspiration... What a good song


Depressing

Gas prices yesterday - $3.15
Gas price today - $3.29

Is it this high everywhere? I usually try to not pay attention, because there is nothing I can do about it. It's gonna be $4 before long though :-(


Now Heart just came on... and mine sank a little


Tigers

Alex Rodriquez may end up embarrassed after being tossed around like a hot potato, especially after he realizes that no one can afford what he's asking for. He's still gonna end up with a few bucks in his pocket though ;-)... He would have looked pretty nice at third base for the Tigers, but Mike Lowell would be more affordable, and probably better for the clubhouse, too. I still love Inge at third defensively (he reminds me of myself... hehehe... he wishes he had my arm though) but Brandon just can't hit, as much as I hate to admit it.

How ironic... Bobby McFerrin just came on my play list as I'm finishing up this post... so try to follow his advice, even if you don't like the song... Be Happy :-)

Snow!!!

This cold, damp, dark dreary weather is finally doing something useful.

It's not accumulating, and it won't stay, because our ground isn't frozen yet. Besides, it's supposed to get back up to 50 degrees next week.

At least it's falling, though.

The empty cornfield behind work, now with just a light covering of snow.

A cool side effect of rain/snow out here in the middle of nowhere: The internet runs b...r...u...t...a...l...l...y slow. According to the phone company, it has something to do with the water weighing down the string connecting our tin cans. I shouldn't complain... we're lucky to have electricity and running water.

Juggling Act

Well, it's been a typical morning where I've had to do a little bit of everything. Here are the job titles that would apply to me so far today...

• Computer Programmer
• Receptionist
• Purchasing Agent
• PC Repairman
• Accounts Receivable Clerk
• Alarm System Technician
  
• Proofreader
• ERP Implementer
• Race Program Assistant
• Janitor
• Graphic Artist
• Computer Tech Support
• Web Commerce Consultant
• Phone System Support

Ahhh... working at a small company. At least it keeps me on my toes. It's a good thing I'm so schizophrenic, so this all comes pretty natural ;-)

I gotta cut this post short... I have to go integrate a new production workcenter into our ERP system... right after I take out the trash ;-)

Ugh... Monday

It's cold...
It's raining...
It's dreary...

I wanted to stay in bed...

My head hurts...
My stomach hurts...
My inside aches...

I didn't want to get up...

And the door prize for dragging myself to work...
I'm greeted this morning with "We have a major error, so you have to fix this for us"...
The internet is acting like it's running through a 14k modem...
The main printer wont run a job without jamming...
All of the clocks are screwed up...
The packaging department label printer forgot how to print labels...

I want to go back to bed...

Well... at least the thought of a good venomous duck brightens my morning

Oh, I gotta end this entry... there's another paper jam...


YAY Mondays!!!

Pet Peeves... and Anti-Peeves

A few pet peeves

• Idiot drivers... Homing missiles would be a nice little vehicle upgrade... not that I would use them... very often ;-)

• Big Gulp cups that leak

• Dreams that are right there... but you just can't remember them

• People who walk or jog on the road when there is a sidewalk they can be using

• Cliches that make no sense... If you look at it literally, what exactly does the term "Pet Peeve" refer to, anyways? Does anyone use the word "peeve" all by itself? Does adding the word "Pet" to the phrase make it more annoying, and does that imply there is something inherently wrong with pets?... Hmmm... Maybe this should be a topic on its own...

Anti-Peeves (or - things that help me make it through the day)

• Dr. Pepper

• Fark.com

• Bob & Tom

• Futurama, Family Guy and South Park

• Occasional pointless rambling (See my last pet peeve)

• Venomous ducks

• The horizon

House Call

I'm still not in any mood to do much, but I have a few thoughts...

I watched House the past couple nights, and I have a few comments about Monday's show, even if it was a rerun

1. Good Show
2. I think I might need a general anesthetic before getting THAT catheter, much less do it myself ;-)
3. When the show started, House had a dream about a person that he thought he had never met. Can you imagine something like that?
4. One of my best friends fought in Desert Storm, and I saw the pictures he brought back... Not a pretty sight
5. How does House keep getting all of the cool diseases to diagnose? Does anyone come in just needing an anti-biotic?

I'm watching, and I'll keep watching, every chance I get...

I'm Sorry...

I haven't been feeling very ambitious lately, so I haven't written any new posts in a while... and I'm not sure when I will.

"That's all I have to say about that." - Forrest Gump

I Am Not Smarter....

Than a Vegas bookmaker... YAY Spartans!!!! I hoped they would win, but I didn't expect that type of performance. I guess Notre Dame does have some real problems... Oh, can you hear that? It's the world's smallest violin playing in the background.

Watch out Big 10... Ok, ok, lets not get carried away, but maybe a bowl game this year???

Now my Lions, on the other hand... I wish I hadn't seen this one coming. I thought I was back in 1995 watching a playoff game. I'm hoping they can bounce back and at least make this season interesting. I'd love to go on a wildly inconsistent roller coaster ride with this team, as long as there were a few peaks to go along with the valleys... Even close to .500 would be great. 3-13 year after year really gets old after a while.

Wayne Fontes, where are you when we need you???

I Love My Spartans, But...

Michigan State opened as a 14 point favorite on the road at Notre Dame. The spread is down to 11 now, but even so, I can't see my alma mater beating the Irish like that, as much as I'd love it. Notre Dame has it's back to the wall, and you know the old cliche'... Home dogs bite.

We'll see if I'm right, and I really hope I'm not, but I've got a bad feeling about this weekend.

And speaking of bad feelings, the Lions look to be in a tough spot, too. I have a feeling the line is right for this game... Philly by 7. I'm gonna be pulling for my team with all my heart here, but we are up against another team backed into a corner, with a QB who's been on the hot seat all week. Besides, I think we got lucky and opened against a couple of the weaker teams. If the Lions can win this one, I'm really gonna be in line to have my heart broke, because I might actually start believing... and after all these years, I really should know better...

Sick Question...

Who the hell decided to start using the word "pandemic" in the media instead of the word "epidemic"?... I don't care if there is a subtle difference in the definition... It just sounds stupid

The Fat Lady... She's Warmin' Up

I really wanted to see a sweep when the Tigers - Indians series started. I guess I should have been a little more specific...

What Month Is This, Anyways?

Hey, it's Oktoberfest season people.... But wait, this is September, isn't it? Someone explain this to me...


"I wouldn't go in there, there's a giant skunk in there..."

"That's ok, it's a Toronto skunk, my jurisdiction"



Hint: Google "Frankenmuth Oktoberfest"

A Bad Idea

Am I the only one that thinks this Kid Nation show on CBS is gonna be a bad idea?

Best Quote Of The Day

Lions third-string QB Dan Orlovsky, speaking about Jon Kitna, told the Detroit Free Press: 'Indy can have Peyton and New England can have Tom, but we wouldn't trade this guy for anyone in the world.' Uh, Orlovsky won't be a GM anytime soon.

Taken from ESPN's Power Ranking Page
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking?week3

Football Night in America?

NBC, Is that really the best name you can come up with? You should be ashamed of yourself for your lack of originality, and you should apologize to all of Canada...

Isn't this overkill?

ESPN Headline: No. 1 Miami Northwestern trumps No. 2 Southlake Carroll

Here's the link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3022242


This is football.... High School Football

And this was televised nationally by ESPNU. This is just wrong. High school football teams don't need to travel across the country to play each other, and they certainly don't need to be on national television. This just seems so contrived, based off of some completely random and basically useless national high school poll. Do we really need to turn high school sports into big business? Why can't we just leave high school sports to be king of the hill in their own little area, instead of letting this type of hype give these kids the wrong impression?

Besides, the whole nation could really care less unless you live in Miami or Southlake.

Can the Tigers do it?

Toronto Blue Jays 4
Detroit Tigers 5

Is some of last year's magic starting to show up?

Down 4-1, bottom of the 9th, two outs, facing Roy Halladay, and coming off of a seriously momentum killing double play...

Bang... Casey
Bang... Inge
Bang... Granderson
Bang... Polanco
Bang... Er, Walk, Sheffield
BANG... Maggs

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All you whiners... quit your bitchin' and show your support... or would you rather go back to losing 119 games a year? Yeah, right...enjoy this, however it turns out.

Fantasy Football... So far, so good

Week 1 went well for my fantasy football teams. I'm 3-0, winning my opening game in all three of my leagues. I won't bore anyone with the details, but I guess I could since no one is reading this anyways...

If you are looking to make some changes to your roster, here are some of my thoughts on potential waiver wire moves...

QB's... Ones to look at

Jake Delhomme, Carolina... If he's still out there, grab him

Jeff Garcia, Tampa Bay... I still think there is potential there. Remember what Jon Gruden did with Rich Gannon in Oakland.

Trent Green, Miami... Home against Dallas next week, and Dallas didn't do much to shut down the passing game in week 1

Matt Schaub, Houston... He has some weapons to work with if he can get time to throw

QB's... Ones to be careful with

David Garrard, Jacksonville... Offense is too conservative

Tavaris Jackson, Minnesota... Too young

Jason Campbell... Too young AND offense is too conservative


QB's... Ones to stay away from

Josh McCown, Oakland... Come on, it was the Lions secondary. He's playing at Denver next week, and that will be a whole different story

Joey Harrington, Atlanta... 'nuf said

RB's... Ones to look at

Chris Brown, Tennessee... He had a big week, but he's still gonna split carries with LenDale White, so don't set your hopes too high... but get him if you can anyways

Derrick Ward, New York Giants... Should see the ball a lot while Brandon Jacobs is out with an injury, but with Eli Manning out it will be more difficult to find running lanes

Micheal Turner, San Diego... If you have a way to hide him on your roster, do it. If LaDanian Tomlinson ever got hurt, this guy would be gold

WR's... One's to look at

Ronald Curry, Oakland... 10 catches for 133 yards. He looks to be Josh McCown's favorite receiver. Of course I guessed wrong at my drafts and picked Jerry Porter as one of my sleepers... I guess I was on the right track though

Patrick Crayton, Dallas... With Terry Glenn out, Crayton may get some decent stats, especially if Dallas keeps throwing the ball like they did on Sunday

Derrick Mason, Baltimore... I hate wide receivers from Baltimore's offense, but he had seven catches, and still is Steve McNair's favorite target

Kevin Curtis, Philly... I still think he can have a good year in Philly if Donovan McNabb stays healthy. Some one will take charge in the receiving corps, and Curtis could do it

Nate Burleson, Seattle... May get more playing time with D.J. Hackett injured, but Bobby Engram still is in the mix. Besides, Seattle's wide receivers did pretty much nothing last week, so don't put him too high on your list

Shaun McDonald, Detroit... He had a good game, but he is still the fourth option in Detroit behind Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson and Mike Furrey. Even Detroit's TE had 45 yards, and that production can't keep up all year, so dont expect too much week to week

How About Those Lions!!!

Detroit Lions 36
Oakland Raiders 21

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the Detroit Lions are well on their way to breaking my heart again. My initial reaction is that they looked good, other than that little 3rd & 4th quarter collapse that not only allowed Oakland back in the game, but to come back from a 17 point deficit to take the lead. Ultimately, the Lions stepped up and won a game that in years past they would have lost after giving up that big lead. Any type of road win in the NFL is big, so I'm happy about the result. Calvin Johnson looked good. Hopefully Matt Millen finally got a draft pick right. I don't even want to bring up how good Charles Rogers looked in his first game... I'm sure we won't have a repeat of that (I hope, I hope, I hope...) The entire offense looked good, and the defense made plays when they needed too. However, I'm trying to not get too excited... there were several chinks in the armor on Sunday. The turnovers were painful, although I know that's part of the deal with Mike Martz's offense. Also, to let Oakland back into the game after seemingly dominating them for the first half was concerning. And why the hell didn't anyone cover Ronald Curry?

Well, we are 1-0... But remember, Oakland was the worst team in the whole NFL last year. I know, the Lions only finished one spot higher, by somehow beating the Cowboys on the last day of the season. If Calvin Johnson works out, and JaMarcus Russell flops, then it will have been worth it.

Anyways, only 9 wins to go to get to Jon Kitna's prediction. Let's hope next week at home against the Vikings goes as well... then I will really be on my way to having my heart broke this year...

Commercial Stupidity

Am I the only person that gets a little pissed off every time I see the underwater Hummer commercial? This is the one where the guy customizes it, then drives it off the end of a dock and into the water, where it turns into a submarine. If they are gonna advertise options showing that you can drive it underwater, they damn well better make those options available. Besides, didn't this commercial come out in conjunction with a James Bond movie, like a year ago or something? It's not relevant to anything now. Lets move on already, guys.

One of these days someone is gonna actually take a flat tire and throw it through the window at a Discount Tire store, and what will they be able to say? They are asking for it, aren't they?

The Bionic Woman is Coming Back!

The Bionic Woman is being remade by NBC. It will premier at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 26.

http://www.nbc.com/Bionic_Woman/

Let's hope they don't screw this up!

Fantasy Football Sucks

There's nothing better than drafting Donald Driver as your #2 WR with a fourth round pick, only to watch him being taken from the field in a cart literally moments later. God, this game sucks.

I thought I was pretty solid to that point... Two decent RB's (I consider them both to be #1 quality) and two decent WR's (again, both #1's I think)...

RB Willie Parker PIT
RB Travis Henry DEN (I'm hoping for a lot of potential here... No RB committees please, Mr. Shanahan)
WR Chad Johnson CIN
WR Donald Driver GB


This draft is being held by email, so it's going slow. I'll keep my blog updated if anyone cares about the progress.

(Who am I kidding, no one even reads this but me)

Outlook Auto-Fill, and transfering between computers

Time for another boring tech entry...

Recently I replaced an older Gateway with a newer (but not brand new) Dell for one of my computer users. After going through the painful process of loading all of the required programs, transferring all of the local files, tweaking all of the settings, and configuring email, I figured I had the new computer working pretty closely to how the old computer was set up. Both computers have Windows XP Pro, Microsoft Office Pro 2003, and the same versions of the other programs needed by this user. I figured there would be no down time or learning curve involved, since everything should be the same, just on a faster and more powerful computer.

Well, this morning I was greeted with the ever popular, "Hey, what did you do to my computer? All of my email addresses are gone."

This wasn't actually the case... all of her emails and contacts were there and working fine. The real problem was with the Auto-Fill feature in Outlook 2003.


The names have been blurred to protect the innocent

As you send emails, Outlook remembers the addresses you used, and then tries to automatically fill in the address for you the next time when it thinks it has a match. It's a very convenient feature that a lot of people rely on, and I can understand how frustrating something small like this can be to users who were used to it, and then lost it because of a new computer change.

On a side note, this feature can be pretty dangerous as well. It's very easy to accidentally auto-fill the wrong name if you aren't careful... and send the wrong person the cute office joke of the day... so be careful. And of course when that does happen, just blame the computer guy for not setting up your computer correctly, or causing Outlook to act weird, because we all know it wouldn't be your fault.

So anyways, I set off on a mission to figure out how to transfer this setting between computers. As it turns out, there is only one file that holds this information, and it is easily transferred between computers.

Start by making sure you can see all files and folders... In Internet Explorer, go to the "Tools" pull down, then choose "Folder Options..."



Next Choose the "View" tab in the new window, and select the dot next to "Show hidden files and folders"

You will also want to make sure the check mark is removed next to the option for "Hide extensions for known file types"



Then go to the following folder..

C:\Documents and Settings\{User Name}\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

My user name is steve, so my path is

C:\Documents and Settings\steve\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook



Copy the file with the NK2 extension... In my case it it called Outlook.NK2

On the new computer, go to the same folder. Rename the existing NK2 file so you save it as a backup. Then copy or paste the old NK2 file into the folder. If the original has a different file name, make sure to rename the new file so it matches exactly. Your Auto-Fill should now work on the new computer, and you will be the hero for the day. No, wait... that means people will just find other things to complain about instead...

Nothin'

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What Happened to TV Theme Songs?

Ok, I've already complained about the fact that there aren't any good (or even cheezy) heroes on TV anymore... I got that out of my system. But as I was thinking about it, it occurred to me, there's something else that's missing from today's TV shows... good theme songs. What happened to the days when you could sing along to the opening song to your favorite show, and it would even get stuck in your head and drive you crazy. There were some shows that I'd even watch just to hear the opening song, then change the channel to something else. I can't think of any shows on today with memorable songs. So, in keeping with the top 10 theme, I've put together my top 10 list (Actually top 21 this time) of the best TV theme shows. Each of these is linked to an audio sample from Amazon's website (Thanks Amazon), but be careful, it could get addictive. Also, it appears that these samples are all Windows Media Player format, so Firefox users may have a little trouble if you don't have a plug-in (Oh how I hate that... sorry. If you need to use Internet Explorer to listen, be sure to switch right back to Firefox afterwards. I don't want to encourage anyone to use IE on a regular basis).

So, anyways... Here's the story...

of a man named Brady...

Oops, getting a little ahead of myself... but I think I heard you starting to sing already.

21. Good Times

20. Cheers ('Where Everybody Knows Your Name')

19. The Facts Of Life

18. M-A-S-H (Suicide Is Painless)

17. All In The Family ('Those Were The Days')

16. Laverne And Shirley ('Making Our Dreams Come True')

15. Taxi ('Angela')

14. The Muppet Show

13. One Day At A Time

12. The Odd Couple

11. Happy Days

10. The Jeffersons ('Movin' On Up')

9. WKRP In Cincinnati

8. Gilligan's Island

7. Sanford & Son ('The Streetbeater')

6. Mary Tyler Moore

5. Barney Miller

4. The Brady Bunch

3. The Rockford Files

2. The Greatest American Hero ('Believe It Or Not')

1. Welcome Back, Kotter ('Welcome Back')


Welcome Back by John Sebastian reached number one on the charts in 1976 and was the second largest selling single for the year.

Should we cut * a little slack?

So Barry Bonds has tied Hank Aaron's all time home run record, and within the next few days will have the record all to himself. It's obvious that Barry isn't popular with everyone at the moment, but let's take his personality and demeanor out of the equation and look at the underlying issue. The real question is "Does he deserve an asterisk next to his record?" And what about the other players from this era? How exactly should they be considered in the historical perspective of the game?

After the complete disaster of the strike in 1994, baseball was in trouble. They needed to find a way to increase fan interest in the game, and revive the national pastime. Otherwise, the game was quickly on its way to being past its time. In addition to the complete devastation of the strike, and the loss of a World Series, there were other factors going against baseball as well. Baseball was losing its popularity... The new generation of kids had other interests... video games, skateboards, other extra-curricular activities, and even just plain old slacking in general. The new generation of parents did not have the time or patience to teach their kids the game, instead pushing them into soccer where it was easy to put them on the field and let them run. The skill and practice involved in learning how to hit, learning how to field a grounder, and learning how to throw a curveball were all gone. The intricacies of the game within the game were lost, replaced with the mentality of "kick the ball and chase it". In addition, no longer was there only three television channels, and everyone would talk about the game because that was the only thing that was on the T.V. Times were changing, and baseball needed to find a way to save its sport.

All of these factors lead baseball to turn a blind eye toward performance enhancers. It may not even have been intentional. They may not have considered how serious this topic could become in the future. But they did know that bigger, stronger players... and more home runs... would generate interest in the game. Barry is a product of the system, as are a good numbers of players from this era. These men are at the very top of one of the most competitive sports in the world. Their whole life they've been programmed to do what ever it takes to win, and that is what has driven them to be able to compete at this level. Now this is not an excuse to say that what they did was right, it is just an observation of why and how it happened. And since the powers controlling baseball did not explicitly make clear that performance enhancing drugs would be a major violation, there were no real repercussions to stop this from happening. Until congress became involved and forced baseball to review the drug policy, players had little to worry about. With the rules that were in place, performance enhancement drugs probably weren't considered much different than corking a bat, or throwing a spitball. Sure it was illegal, but it was considered more gamesmanship than cheating. Even when Mark McGwire was on his record setting pace, a bottle of Andro was found in his locker. There was nothing that could be done about it, because it wasn't illegal or against baseball's rules at the time. Can we apply rules retroactively, even in the court of public opinion? Do we convict all of these players because we suspect that they were cheating? Do we really put that much stock in Jose Canseco's book? And is that really the way anyone should be judged, on hearsay? Even now, is it fair to single out individual players without concrete proof? Is American justice based on that philosophy? Just because Sammy Sosa grew much bigger physically during his career, how is it fair that we label him a cheater without proof, or suggest he was cheating if he was only using supplements that were actually within the rules at the time? How can we just randomly assume people like Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens or Ichiro have not used enhancements simply because that is what we want to believe? There is absolutely no proof that any of these players have used any type of performance enhancers, but the same can also be said for many of the players who currently have that cloud hanging over their head.

For better or worse, all of these accomplishments were performed on the field, within the confines of the game, and were allowed to take place by the governing body of baseball. I understand that this can set a bad example for our children, but perhaps it can be an opportunity to actually discuss with them right and wrong, and the fact that people aren't perfect, just human. The real example can be set by baseball from this point onward and the way they fix the problem moving forward, not how they dwell on the errors of the past. Unfortunately in reality, sometimes cheaters do prosper. But if that means that we protect the rights of the innocent in the process, it is a trade off I can tolerate.

Congratulations Barry, but I would still rather share a cold one with Hank Aaron any day of the week.

Top 10 (or so) TV Action Heroes From The Good Old Days

My last rave about The Six Million Dollar Man on DVD got me thinking... What's happened to TV? We only had three channels to choose from when I was growing up, and that was if we could get the rabbit ears adjusted correctly. A lot of the shows we watched may have been corny, but they were fun. Who wants reality?... I have to deal with reality all day long.

So, since everyone seems to like a good top 10 list, I'll throw out one of my own. Hey programming exec's, take note... we could use a few heroes like these every once in a while...

Top 10 (or so) TV Action Heroes From The Good Old Days

15. Ralph Hinkley, The Greatest American Hero (William Katt)
A school teacher turned super hero with the help of a magical suit given to him by aliens. Clumsy and quirky, but still kinda cool. The best part of the show is actually the theme song by Joey Scarbury. I can still hear George Costanza singing it on his answering machine.

14. Colt Seavers, The Fall Guy (Lee Majors)
Who wouldn't want to be a stunt man and bounty hunter... come on.

13. B.J. McKay, B.J. and the Bear (Greg Evigan)
What a cool role model... a trucker with a monkey. I had my sights set high back then.

12. Captain Caveman, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (Voiced by Mel Blanc)
A super crime fighter with a cool, ass-kickin', high flyin' club, and just about anything you could ever want hidden in his hair. And besides, he had his own little band of hotties... this guy was a stud.

11. B.A. Baracus, The A-Team (Mr. T)
"Sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit"... Good life lesson here kids, the system doesn't work, so always take matters into your own hands. Sure, B.A. wouldn't fly, and Murdock drove him crazy... but so what? The guy knew how to take care of business. By the way, Mr. T got his break in 1982 in what now would be considered a reality show ..."The World's Toughest Bouncer". Anyone remember that one? Not a bad career for Clubber Lang.

10. Apollo, Battlestar Galactica (Richard Hatch)
Killing Cylons and searching for earth with the "rag-tag fugitive fleet". This guy was the responsible, level headed Viper starfighter pilot... the one all of the kids were supposed to look up to (Don't worry, we'll get to the fun one later). Was this a rip off of Star Wars? Of course, but who cared? The best ideas are always the ones stolen from someone else anyways, right Mr. Gates? Besides, the Cylons were sweet with that scanning light for an eye.

9. Hong Kong Phooey, Hong Kong Phooey (Voiced by Scatman Crothers)
This guy was a bumbling fool yet always thought he had everything completely under control. Thanks to his cat Spot he always got the job done. If only we could all live in that happy little world, while our friends continually bailed us out of trouble. Hey, wait.... I know a few people like that.

8. Jaime Sommers, The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man (Lindsey Wagner)
Sweet, wholesome, charming...... and she could KICK YOUR ASS! Hmmm....I think I need to go buy a Select Comfort Bed.

7. Hannibal Smith, The A-Team (George Peppard)
So what if I have two members of the A-Team on the list? I should have all four here. The show was a classic. I have never seen so many gunshots and explosions without anyone ever getting hurt. Hannibal was smooth, and was there ever any doubt that his plans would always come together?

6. Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica (Dirk Benedict)
Starbuck was the smoking, drinking, gambling, partying, fun loving pilot that knew how to live. Pretty smooth with the ladies, too. Dirk also gets bonus points for being the Faceman on the A-Team. Shout out to Murdock... You should be on the list too, but I'm too lazy to make it any bigger.

5. Bo & Luke Duke, The Dukes of Hazzard (John Schneider and Tom Wopat)
Isn't it great when the cops are the bad guys, while the local unemployed farm boys took care of the whole county. Cooter must have been one hell of a mechanic (Did they really call him Cooter???), or else that was one tough Charger. It's estimated that they used 309 General Lee's during the run of the show. By the way, why didn't someone explain to all of those 10 year old kids back then that they were taking racist lunch boxes to school every day?

4. Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman (Lyndia Carter)
Welcome to puberty. What, did she...um...catch bad guys or something? I really didn't notice.

3. Batman, Batman (Adam West)
Batman went off the air before I was even born, but thankfully the reruns stayed on long enough for me to become addicted. He had all the cool toys... The mansion, the Batmobile, the Bat Boat, the Bat Copter... And what I wouldn't give even today to have my own Bat Cave.

2. Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (Lee Majors)
I had all action figures. Steve had a magnifying glass for an eye. Oscar Goldman had an exploding briefcase. Bigfoot's chest plate would pop off when he was punched. When these guys combined forces with G.I. Joe, Action Jackson, and the Johnny West gang they were unstoppable. My sister's Ken dolls got their asses kicked so often they were afraid to leave their Dreamhouse.

1. Arthur Fonzarelli, Happy Days (Henry Winkler)
I know, Happy Days wasn't an action show. The Fonz transcends all boundaries, though. Come on, haven't you ever smacked the wall just to see if you could get the light to turn on?

Even today the Fonz is the defining standard for coolness...
"Good Lord, I'm getting a reading of over forty Megafonzies!"... Professor Farnsworth


Man I miss these shows.... We have 2000 channels to pick from today, and almost all of it is a bunch of crap. What time does Riptide come on, anyways?