Monday, October 28, 2002
In one of the weirder instances of six degrees of separation, I now know two people who directly knew the last two senators to die in office. I actually was very hazy about Paul Wellstone's death on Friday (someone mentioned it in a talk with one professor) until Alexis told me, and the fact that he was a family friend. Also, an old online friend of mine used to go to the same church where Mel Carnahan served in Rolla, Mo.
Hey, I know you ...
Well, it was an interesting weekend in Chicago/Evanston for my reunion. It really dawned on me early that a lot of people I knew and/or wanted to see probably wouldn't have been there. I did see a handful of old friends -- some by design, some by luck (and not necessarily my graduating class). And I saw some old professors at a reception at the brand spanking new journalism school building, which looks really, really cool. What's amusing is that after five years, people don't look all that much different -- maybe a slight hairstyle change or a bit of a weight change one way or another, but for the most part, we looked the same as we did five years ago. It gets more amusing after 10-20 years, I'd imagine. Most of the good-looking people were still good-looking, the ordinary ones still ordinary, and so on.
While I did have fun with some of the reunion events (despite a really crappy Homecoming game -- the NU offense blows when Tony Stauss is at QB), it was weird seeing lots of the same faces from school that I didn't all that well, but were among the movers and shakers that all seemed to know each other. I'm only slightly connected to that whole network, and I guess it showed what circles I was running during my days at school. The people I knew well at the closing party were all journalism school grads -- I thought I knew more people than that. And heck, there were people that remembered me more than I did them, which is actually somewhat impressive given that I could've rattled off plenty of names of people I saw this weekend who likely had zero idea who I was.
I probably should've collected a few more pictures and e-mail addresses from folks, but oh well. It was still a decent-enough time, even if I wore out my legs and feet walking around all over the place.
Well, it was an interesting weekend in Chicago/Evanston for my reunion. It really dawned on me early that a lot of people I knew and/or wanted to see probably wouldn't have been there. I did see a handful of old friends -- some by design, some by luck (and not necessarily my graduating class). And I saw some old professors at a reception at the brand spanking new journalism school building, which looks really, really cool. What's amusing is that after five years, people don't look all that much different -- maybe a slight hairstyle change or a bit of a weight change one way or another, but for the most part, we looked the same as we did five years ago. It gets more amusing after 10-20 years, I'd imagine. Most of the good-looking people were still good-looking, the ordinary ones still ordinary, and so on.
While I did have fun with some of the reunion events (despite a really crappy Homecoming game -- the NU offense blows when Tony Stauss is at QB), it was weird seeing lots of the same faces from school that I didn't all that well, but were among the movers and shakers that all seemed to know each other. I'm only slightly connected to that whole network, and I guess it showed what circles I was running during my days at school. The people I knew well at the closing party were all journalism school grads -- I thought I knew more people than that. And heck, there were people that remembered me more than I did them, which is actually somewhat impressive given that I could've rattled off plenty of names of people I saw this weekend who likely had zero idea who I was.
I probably should've collected a few more pictures and e-mail addresses from folks, but oh well. It was still a decent-enough time, even if I wore out my legs and feet walking around all over the place.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Hail to purple, hail to white
It's always amazing how frenzied I'll get having to get lots of stuff done around the apartment before I've got a somewhat major trip. In this case, I'll be in Evanston/Chicago this weekend for my fifth college reunion. It's odd to think: a) I've been out of school for five years; and b) we're actually having a reunion this close after school. But it should be fun. I was part of the reunion committe (if by default) and there will be at least a couple of people I know that will be at the festivities. And I'll get to see a Northwestern football game for the first time since the Duke game early last year. Finally, it'll be great to see Alexis again, even if it has just been a couple of months.
It's always amazing how frenzied I'll get having to get lots of stuff done around the apartment before I've got a somewhat major trip. In this case, I'll be in Evanston/Chicago this weekend for my fifth college reunion. It's odd to think: a) I've been out of school for five years; and b) we're actually having a reunion this close after school. But it should be fun. I was part of the reunion committe (if by default) and there will be at least a couple of people I know that will be at the festivities. And I'll get to see a Northwestern football game for the first time since the Duke game early last year. Finally, it'll be great to see Alexis again, even if it has just been a couple of months.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Looks like Tim has come up with his Craig corollary and come up with the Jukebox From Hell. It's interesting what counts for "worst songs ever" -- some on the list are truly awful, some are awfully dated, some are guilty pleasures and some make it for the sin of being played on the radio a bit much. I like to consider this list more of a guilty pleasures thing, so this should be a lot of fun. (Hopefully it won't have the same excessive hubris that sometimes comes with Craig's tournament -- not his fault, just the passions incited in some people about music that sometimes goes overboard.) I'll have to do a count on how many of the 256 I have on MP3, CD, or god forbid, vinyl.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
A study in contrasts
For one of the few times that I can remember, Philips Arena had concerts on back-to-back nights. But it was one of the funniest pair I've seen in a while. Monday night, there were tons of teenage girls and 'tweens with their parents all to see the American Idol tour. Then tonight, I saw a bunch of teenagers and some folks in their 20s wearing mostly black. They were there to see Korn. Imagine mixing up your days when trying to attend these concerts? I think it would've been cool to see Simon trying to rip into Korn.
For one of the few times that I can remember, Philips Arena had concerts on back-to-back nights. But it was one of the funniest pair I've seen in a while. Monday night, there were tons of teenage girls and 'tweens with their parents all to see the American Idol tour. Then tonight, I saw a bunch of teenagers and some folks in their 20s wearing mostly black. They were there to see Korn. Imagine mixing up your days when trying to attend these concerts? I think it would've been cool to see Simon trying to rip into Korn.
Couple of quiz bowl notes
Got another trash tournament team title under my belt after continuing an undefeated streak at the Big Lots tournament -- UTC's mirror of the FOGHAT trash tournament. The questions were very good for the most part, and the themes present were sometimes clever, sometimes groan-inducing.
At the same time, a handful of teams were playing on the Junior Bird questions I pretty much edited myself with lots of writing help from plenty of people across the circuit. It was nice to see some kind words about the packets, although I'm confused when I see people complaining that questions were too easy. I actually thought some of the stuff was harder than should've been, but maybe it's good that I somewhat underestimated what people knew. Then again, shouldn't the stuff be accessible even for teams making their first appearance at a trash tournament (hence, not get scared off)? I know fthat from seeing younger teams at the UTC tournaments, they can get frustrated and overwhelmed with a lot of the stuff that has no relevance to them because they weren't born yet.
Finally, there's some interesting rumblings on the state of the game right now from a handful of bright and respected people on a variety of outlets. I'll flesh out my details more later. But quickly, I think that an overall lack of respect between different levels of the game (independent groups vs. "corporate" organizations; newer teams vs. experienced players; hard-core academic vs. somewhat academic vs. trash) and from a number of players of all ages and levels who just like to treat people like crap have hurt everyone from growing. It's hard to offer constructive criticism without thinking it's either a slam or a conspiracy. And it's hard to find constructive criticism because there's too much "This sucks, change it!"
Got another trash tournament team title under my belt after continuing an undefeated streak at the Big Lots tournament -- UTC's mirror of the FOGHAT trash tournament. The questions were very good for the most part, and the themes present were sometimes clever, sometimes groan-inducing.
At the same time, a handful of teams were playing on the Junior Bird questions I pretty much edited myself with lots of writing help from plenty of people across the circuit. It was nice to see some kind words about the packets, although I'm confused when I see people complaining that questions were too easy. I actually thought some of the stuff was harder than should've been, but maybe it's good that I somewhat underestimated what people knew. Then again, shouldn't the stuff be accessible even for teams making their first appearance at a trash tournament (hence, not get scared off)? I know fthat from seeing younger teams at the UTC tournaments, they can get frustrated and overwhelmed with a lot of the stuff that has no relevance to them because they weren't born yet.
Finally, there's some interesting rumblings on the state of the game right now from a handful of bright and respected people on a variety of outlets. I'll flesh out my details more later. But quickly, I think that an overall lack of respect between different levels of the game (independent groups vs. "corporate" organizations; newer teams vs. experienced players; hard-core academic vs. somewhat academic vs. trash) and from a number of players of all ages and levels who just like to treat people like crap have hurt everyone from growing. It's hard to offer constructive criticism without thinking it's either a slam or a conspiracy. And it's hard to find constructive criticism because there's too much "This sucks, change it!"
I've said it before and I've said it again, I'm surprised more people weren't rooting for the terrorists on 9/11 the way people try to counteract the myopia/arrogance/etc. of the New York media. Maybe I take some sports and some criticism of the New York/East Coast a bit too seriously, but sometimes I wonder what might happen if the East Coast gets blown away in some unforeseen disaster.
Saturday, October 19, 2002
21st century digital boy
Well it looks like they've done some retooling over at VH-1 Classic -- seemingly a must watch for anyone who appreciates when MTV played music consistently. Headline Act looks be to a nice change of pace -- 30 minutes (ok, maybe 18 with all the house ads) of videos of one band plus little trivia bits in between (watching the U2 block right now). If you like the band featured, you're hooked for a bit, if not, you move on. I'm not a metal person, but there's now a metal block. And there's some request show, which doesn't look as promising, but who knows. The whole channel still blows other music video channels out of the water.
Slightly down the dial, the other MTV digital channel that's not MTV2 is now MTV Hits (was MTVX -- rock music; then MTV Jams -- R&B and hip hop). Hmm, so this is the channel that MTV used to be. Oh well, at least I can catch up on my pop music, if just for question-writing purposes.
Well it looks like they've done some retooling over at VH-1 Classic -- seemingly a must watch for anyone who appreciates when MTV played music consistently. Headline Act looks be to a nice change of pace -- 30 minutes (ok, maybe 18 with all the house ads) of videos of one band plus little trivia bits in between (watching the U2 block right now). If you like the band featured, you're hooked for a bit, if not, you move on. I'm not a metal person, but there's now a metal block. And there's some request show, which doesn't look as promising, but who knows. The whole channel still blows other music video channels out of the water.
Slightly down the dial, the other MTV digital channel that's not MTV2 is now MTV Hits (was MTVX -- rock music; then MTV Jams -- R&B and hip hop). Hmm, so this is the channel that MTV used to be. Oh well, at least I can catch up on my pop music, if just for question-writing purposes.
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Why am I not surprised about Geraldo Rivera doing something like this? All in a day's work, I guess.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Dude, you're psychic or something
Not long after this post, the venerable Wall Street Journal follows suit. Who knew I could help pitch story ideas?
And speaking of prescient thinking, the Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on ESPN.com (and formerly Slate) likes to rip on the New York Times for its inability to predict final scores of NFL games. So he should check out this Fearless Forecasters grid from last Friday's (or maybe it was Thursday's because of the early game) edition of The Daily Northwestern. Look at Badger and Donnelly's pick for the Michigan-Penn State game and Glenn Kasses' pick for the Oregon-UCLA game. Now match it up with the final scores of Michigan-Penn State and Oregon-UCLA.
Not long after this post, the venerable Wall Street Journal follows suit. Who knew I could help pitch story ideas?
And speaking of prescient thinking, the Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on ESPN.com (and formerly Slate) likes to rip on the New York Times for its inability to predict final scores of NFL games. So he should check out this Fearless Forecasters grid from last Friday's (or maybe it was Thursday's because of the early game) edition of The Daily Northwestern. Look at Badger and Donnelly's pick for the Michigan-Penn State game and Glenn Kasses' pick for the Oregon-UCLA game. Now match it up with the final scores of Michigan-Penn State and Oregon-UCLA.
Call out, Tattoo!
It's always interesting to read what amounts to primer articles on fantasy sports, given that it's my job and that a lot of my friends have been playing it even longer than I have. Still, it's nice to see it get somewhat positive attention, or even less than positive as Frank Deford notes.
A couple of things regarding this, though. For all of you who think I've got the greatest job in the world, think again. It's a job. I deal with lots of issues that any job would entail -- office politics, bickering, dealing with odd people, up and down work conditions, etc. And oh yeah, I become a de facto customer service/tech support person, which is not fun if that's not officially your job. Sadly enough, that Gateway ad featuring the actress who plays Frau in the Austin Powers movies as a phone operator seems similar to me. I hate to give people the runaround, but it gets annoying when you're the alleged "expert" because you're sorta the person connected with the project but yet not directly connected to the information people need. I do respect the people who can work customer service desks/call lines/etc., especially given what complaints they'll have to hear. The saying goes, "The customer is always right" but that doesn't mean, "The customer can be an asshole because of that."
It's always interesting to read what amounts to primer articles on fantasy sports, given that it's my job and that a lot of my friends have been playing it even longer than I have. Still, it's nice to see it get somewhat positive attention, or even less than positive as Frank Deford notes.
A couple of things regarding this, though. For all of you who think I've got the greatest job in the world, think again. It's a job. I deal with lots of issues that any job would entail -- office politics, bickering, dealing with odd people, up and down work conditions, etc. And oh yeah, I become a de facto customer service/tech support person, which is not fun if that's not officially your job. Sadly enough, that Gateway ad featuring the actress who plays Frau in the Austin Powers movies as a phone operator seems similar to me. I hate to give people the runaround, but it gets annoying when you're the alleged "expert" because you're sorta the person connected with the project but yet not directly connected to the information people need. I do respect the people who can work customer service desks/call lines/etc., especially given what complaints they'll have to hear. The saying goes, "The customer is always right" but that doesn't mean, "The customer can be an asshole because of that."
We now have two wild card teams in the World Series. So, will this guy's head explode now? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Costas fan, but sometimes the "purist" aspect goes a bit too far. If some of them really do want baseball back to what it's like in the old days, would we still have Negro Leagues? How far back do you want to go? It's 2002, not 1952 or 1932, get used to it.
In any event, I think I'm rooting for the Giants mainly because of Barry Bonds and not despite it. Then again, it's probably that knee-jerk reaction of rooting for the grizzled veterans toward the end of their career, even after years of rooting against them. It happened with Martina Navratilova, and now it's happening with Bonds. At least now we won't have to hear all the bellyaching that Bonds never did anything in the playoffs. He's in the Series now, so everything is hunky dory now.
Finally, with the World Series starting up Saturday -- meaning endless hype for the next few days, but thankfully saving us from excess 24 promos -- we'll get to annoy many fans with Tim McCarver at the mic. I may be one of the few people (Aaron Barnhart included) that actually likes the old catcher. Sure, he can get preachy at times, but I wonder if people actually listen to what he says and connects it with what's going on in the field. Maybe people don't want to be educated when watching a baseball game, fine by me.
In any event, I think I'm rooting for the Giants mainly because of Barry Bonds and not despite it. Then again, it's probably that knee-jerk reaction of rooting for the grizzled veterans toward the end of their career, even after years of rooting against them. It happened with Martina Navratilova, and now it's happening with Bonds. At least now we won't have to hear all the bellyaching that Bonds never did anything in the playoffs. He's in the Series now, so everything is hunky dory now.
Finally, with the World Series starting up Saturday -- meaning endless hype for the next few days, but thankfully saving us from excess 24 promos -- we'll get to annoy many fans with Tim McCarver at the mic. I may be one of the few people (Aaron Barnhart included) that actually likes the old catcher. Sure, he can get preachy at times, but I wonder if people actually listen to what he says and connects it with what's going on in the field. Maybe people don't want to be educated when watching a baseball game, fine by me.
Friday, October 11, 2002
Congratulations to Jimmy Carter for his Nobel Peace Prize win. Of course, we all care enough because it's someone we've actually heard of. I won't get into the potential jabs at Bush that come with this award. However, I wonder if his Christ-like appearance on King of the Hill or his many mentions on The Simpsons helped with his accolades?
Much like Joyce, I was a bit surprised to find out it was Filipino-American History Month. Shows what I know, I guess. Shame on me. However, it was funny to find out about it through the "big ass" mistake by a student journalist at Washington State. Anyone over there take Spanish? Ay, caramba.
Dude, you've jumped the shark
I see they've somewhat phased out Steven in the Dell Computer ads and replaced him with some of his loopy friends who happen to be interning with the company. I'm still trying to figure out if the girl in the ads is cute or not -- although her facial expressions and general demeanor scream out, "Bitch!"
I see they've somewhat phased out Steven in the Dell Computer ads and replaced him with some of his loopy friends who happen to be interning with the company. I'm still trying to figure out if the girl in the ads is cute or not -- although her facial expressions and general demeanor scream out, "Bitch!"
I really want to get into the baseball playoffs, but with the Yankees now out, I don't feel as motivated. I'm not surprised they lost, it was bound to happen. As for the rest of the Yankee-hating nation out there, I guess the playoffs don't seem as much fun without a villain to root against, eh? Barry Bonds may count, but until the Braves series, he was so pathetic in October, that it was hardly worth jeering him.
Speaking of the Braves series, I went to Games 2 and 5, thanks in part to free tickets from the company (given out to all employees) and the place still wasn't sold out. There was a nice energy early in Game 5, but that quieted early, and worse off, people were leaving after the eighth inning in a 3-1 game. (They may have been losing, but it's not like they were down 13-1 or something, jeez!) There are many excuses for why the stadium wasn't filled -- prices too high (Division Series tickets were about the same price as the regular season; LCS and World Series tickets that sell better are marked up in ridiculous fashion by Major League Baseball); people are working and can't make daytime games (then why did Minnesota sell out daytime games?); people tire of the constant success (then why is Yankee Stadium packed every year?). There is something to be said about people being spoiled here. Then again, maybe we need Larry Munson and Skip Caray calling games together, or pretending it's college football and paying off players to come to Atlanta (oh wait, that's already done).
Speaking of the Braves series, I went to Games 2 and 5, thanks in part to free tickets from the company (given out to all employees) and the place still wasn't sold out. There was a nice energy early in Game 5, but that quieted early, and worse off, people were leaving after the eighth inning in a 3-1 game. (They may have been losing, but it's not like they were down 13-1 or something, jeez!) There are many excuses for why the stadium wasn't filled -- prices too high (Division Series tickets were about the same price as the regular season; LCS and World Series tickets that sell better are marked up in ridiculous fashion by Major League Baseball); people are working and can't make daytime games (then why did Minnesota sell out daytime games?); people tire of the constant success (then why is Yankee Stadium packed every year?). There is something to be said about people being spoiled here. Then again, maybe we need Larry Munson and Skip Caray calling games together, or pretending it's college football and paying off players to come to Atlanta (oh wait, that's already done).
While many of you folks reading this are all part of that great inner circle within quizbowl whose blogs are all linked together, others out there may not be familiar with Craig's song tournament, so I figured I'd give him a little extra publicity and a couple of extra votes. I doubt it will turn into Road to Springfield (of which I was an original voter), but what the heck, eh? Although it is interesting that while Craig is asking "Which one would you rather listen to on the radio if both came on the same time," it also turns into the predictable exercise of what really constitutes "good music."
While I'm at it, congratulations to Phil and Victoria on their wedding last week. As Craig mentioned earlier, it was a nice low-key ceremony (in a pretty modern if strange looking church) and reception. No need for the silly dances that permeate many receptions; and thankfully no Adam Sandler-type folks wandering around.
I own plenty of these CDs so it shouldn't be a major surprise that I enjoyed this homage to TV theme songs. Hmm, HBO still has the monopoly on some of the top TV themes just like it has on quality shows. Think The Sopranos and especially the haunting Six Feet Under themes.
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Sorry it's been a while since I've gotten to this. Too much going on, and a bit too much Playstation in between. But for starters, here's something that thankfully I don't have to deal with much with most of my friends.
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Batter up
It's about time I got back to this thing. I'd been sidetracked by working on Junior Bird questions, which I'm hoping some people will actually use after a couple of schools had to bail on us for a variety of reasons. Of course now that hurdle is out of the way, it's on to the big stuff for regionals. I guess it'll be more time at the computer being moderately productive. Time to get motivated.
While we're at it, it's time for me to get really excited again about baseball now the playoffs have come around. I'd been mildly interested at best down the stretch, and it didn't help that I've proven to be a real fraud in fantasy baseball finishing dead last in two money leagues and finishing one spot of the money for the third year in a row in another league. I think I just don't have the same attention span I used to have to keep up with this stuff all year long. And honestly, being inundated with baseball stuff all day at work actually makes me less interested in following everything to the exact detail every night when I get home. I may be online all the time, but I just can't dive into box scores with great regularity like I used to. Odd to say that toning down the geek factor is actually detrimental to me.
Back to the real games at hand, everyone can blame the Yankees for everything that's wrong with the game (and the world, see my 9/11 rants that connects all of this together). The one thing they probably had a slight hand in causing is that ridiculous 11 p.m. ET start for the Diamondbacks-Cardinals game. But it had to be because Fox wanted the Yankees in prime time and the other two games scheduled that day were on the West Coast, precluding a 1 p.m. ET start. While all of the games and series this time around all look interesting, it also magnifies an interesting problem of scheduling because all of the games feature a team from the Pacific or Mountain time zone against one from an Eastern or Central one. Thus there will be instances where West Coast viewers will be watching games starting at 10 a.m. and East Coast viewers having to watch the aforementioned 11 p.m. starts. That's just the way it goes, especially with TV, which drives the economics of the game, whether people like it or not.
Speaking of TV coverage, ABC Family is not some low-carriage digital cable channel. Almost as many people get that channel as they do ESPN. Let's stop treating it as such when it comes to them showing Division Series games. They're showing the games because of some arrangements that took place when Fox bought the entire postseason package, and even after ABC bought the Family Channel portion, the baseball went along with it. It does get confusing when they slap the ESPN logos on there, but that's because local affiliates in towns with teams in the playoffs are carrying the games as well (which is a nice touch, in my opinion). And it's funny to see lots of ads for 7th Heaven reruns and some really awful Charlotte Church knockoff. I'll have more baseball rants later -- I will be at the Giants-Braves game tomorrow (as will a good percentage of Turner employees).
It's about time I got back to this thing. I'd been sidetracked by working on Junior Bird questions, which I'm hoping some people will actually use after a couple of schools had to bail on us for a variety of reasons. Of course now that hurdle is out of the way, it's on to the big stuff for regionals. I guess it'll be more time at the computer being moderately productive. Time to get motivated.
While we're at it, it's time for me to get really excited again about baseball now the playoffs have come around. I'd been mildly interested at best down the stretch, and it didn't help that I've proven to be a real fraud in fantasy baseball finishing dead last in two money leagues and finishing one spot of the money for the third year in a row in another league. I think I just don't have the same attention span I used to have to keep up with this stuff all year long. And honestly, being inundated with baseball stuff all day at work actually makes me less interested in following everything to the exact detail every night when I get home. I may be online all the time, but I just can't dive into box scores with great regularity like I used to. Odd to say that toning down the geek factor is actually detrimental to me.
Back to the real games at hand, everyone can blame the Yankees for everything that's wrong with the game (and the world, see my 9/11 rants that connects all of this together). The one thing they probably had a slight hand in causing is that ridiculous 11 p.m. ET start for the Diamondbacks-Cardinals game. But it had to be because Fox wanted the Yankees in prime time and the other two games scheduled that day were on the West Coast, precluding a 1 p.m. ET start. While all of the games and series this time around all look interesting, it also magnifies an interesting problem of scheduling because all of the games feature a team from the Pacific or Mountain time zone against one from an Eastern or Central one. Thus there will be instances where West Coast viewers will be watching games starting at 10 a.m. and East Coast viewers having to watch the aforementioned 11 p.m. starts. That's just the way it goes, especially with TV, which drives the economics of the game, whether people like it or not.
Speaking of TV coverage, ABC Family is not some low-carriage digital cable channel. Almost as many people get that channel as they do ESPN. Let's stop treating it as such when it comes to them showing Division Series games. They're showing the games because of some arrangements that took place when Fox bought the entire postseason package, and even after ABC bought the Family Channel portion, the baseball went along with it. It does get confusing when they slap the ESPN logos on there, but that's because local affiliates in towns with teams in the playoffs are carrying the games as well (which is a nice touch, in my opinion). And it's funny to see lots of ads for 7th Heaven reruns and some really awful Charlotte Church knockoff. I'll have more baseball rants later -- I will be at the Giants-Braves game tomorrow (as will a good percentage of Turner employees).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)