Friday, December 30, 2005

Happy, merry
The holiday season went pretty well, although I'm now in the midst of a long stretch of days in a row at work, but I guess it's fine since it's also coinciding with bowl season.

The time back home in Jersey was fine. Had XM on both ends of the AirTran flight, which is always nice. Hung out with the family (and future family members, as the case may be). Had a sort of "Jeopardy victory tour" visiting friends and relatives over the holiday season, but also dealt with a very wonky wireless connection from somewhere in my old neighborhood -- renovations in my parents' house limited some of the cable access.

Also got hooked, slightly, on Deal or No Deal, which seemed to be an overdone version of a Price Is Right game or even the old Treasure Hunt game show, replacing that creepy butler guy with 26 hot women -- nice upgrade.

Oh yeah, there was also that Sun Bowl game today, which was fun to watch with the local alumni club (and even running into a guy who used to live in my dorm) but then seeing what I thought might happen (defensive collapse) and even some weirdness (NU returning two picks for scores and UCLA returning two onside kick attempts for TDs to make sure the game covered the over).

That game, and the subsequent Independence Bowl, rode my bowl picks losing streak to six, although LSU is helping matters in the Peach.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

I'm back home in New Jersey for "Holiday," and interestingly enough stumbled across public-access TV coverage of the town's tree lighting, featuring the most famous celebrity to grow up there. BTW, never saw her around town growing up. (For what it's worth, I'd imagine, this guy is the most famous to die there.)

Oh yeah, despite some major inefficiences in the check-in process (checking in baggage after using the kiosks needs to be much faster), AirTran does do a good job of making flights go fast when there's XM Radio on the plane. At least you don't have to shut that down during takeoff and landing (like I'd have to do with my iPod).

Speaking of transportation, the current New York City transit strike may end up affecting trips to see friends in the city, although I always wonder what people in other cities think about this strike -- especially in places reluctant to install mass transit.

Friday, December 16, 2005

The rest of the story ...
Since I've got the platform at work, here's Part 1 and Part 2 of the Jeopardy! experience.

And speaking of offbeat stories landing on the site at work, here's how longtime SI hoops writer Alex Wolff bought an ABA franchise. At least he seems to be more with it than a bunch of other teams that came and went without playing a game.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

I think I did a good job in picking this game for my first foray into live NHL action since the lockout. Just a ridiculously fun game. Oh yeah, there were chants of "Fire Millen" late in the third period.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

One last quick Jeopardy note before I end up concocting the grand write-up: The last show of the week/taping session, which I watched in the audience with my parents after being deposed as champ, features the categories "Bizarre MLB Injuries" and "Chicago." Serves me right for taking a guess on carnauba, eh?

Couple of other notes:
-- As I pointed out to Craig, the World Cup draw actually features the Continental Soccer Association battle between Mexico and Portugal.
-- And on another Simpsons note, this is a brilliant comparison between college football teams and the denizens of Springfield.

Friday, December 09, 2005

TPS ... in song!
Too bad it sounds like the Office Space musical will be done by mid-January, when I may be coming through town.
One hit wonder
Hope I'm not spoiling it for my West Coast friends, but I'm one and done despite playing a much better game than my actual victory. But them's the breaks, I suppose. Eventually I'll have some major long wrapup thing. But thanks to all those people that have contacted me since my shows have aired (and who I didn't prod into watching in the first place).

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Trebekie Monster
To those of you searching for me after appearing on Jeopardy!, welcome, yup, this is the guy you're looking for. I'll have more thoughts on the war of attrition later, although I will say it's amusing that the J! site started putting pictures of contestants appearing this week on the front (instead of just on a special page) and, well, I'm not one of them. Then again, that shouldn't be a surprise -- who wants to see my mug front and center?

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

The countdown continues
Just hours before the Jeopardy airing (unless you're in L.A., San Francisco and Seattle). As I've mentioned before, check your local listings. Be there. Aloha.

On a completely unrelated note, you can tell how different some of today's churches are when they're going to be closed on Christmas. On the other hand, it'll be tough to find a seat at the Catholic church on Christmas with the twice-a-years showing up.

Monday, December 05, 2005

The waiting
Just a couple of more days until my brush with TV fame, but for now, you can see everyone who taped the same week with me over here.

I guess I head into this interesting week on a roll by winning my third Trashmasters title, teaming with JD, Julie and Rebecca, and going undefeated in the process. Not sure how we did it, but I guess we were sharp all weekend long, and I think I'm even more surprised to lead the team in scoring. But it was cool to get Julie her first TM title after so many years of playing the event. And as usual, it was fun seeing all the usual suspects.

Oh yeah, I also took my second K-Tel Hell title. When Charlie makes things "more accessible," it means I've got a fighting chance with the speed. Of course, having to battle Craig down the wire for it was both fun and nerve-wracking. Now waiting to get the belt back, although I wonder if it looks like Cena's belt.

Couple of a movie reviews here as well:
-- Walk The Line: Solid film, and I guess I'm really buying both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon singing (I believed Reese first). I think Reese has better Oscar odds than Joaquin, but both are solid.
-- Jesus Is Magic: After going to matinees for long films for stuff like Walk the Line, Harry Potter, etc., I suppose what goes around comes around as I pay full price to see a 70-minute film that probably could've worked as an HBO special. But it was you expect from Sarah Silverman, along with some silly musical montages in between (although she did look pretty good in the '60s get up).

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Woooooo!
Not sure how much stylin' and profilin' he was doing when this mug shot was taken.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. Part of me has been busy, part of me has been lazy. I guess I'm counting down the days before my Jeopardy! appearance, and getting some viewing parties set up. Plus, there's the annual trivia contest/barbecue (which is now the best way to describe Trashmasters) next weekend, so that'll be good -- also a good time to tell even more people I'll be on TV.

Thanksgiving was nice with Victoria, Phil and the Norasaurus coming back into town, and I even got suckered into some Black Friday shopping and survived -- but then again, when you know what you want (a bunch of dirt-cheap DVDs), it just seemed like another day. And now I guess I can accept the Christmas season being here (it was strange seeing all the trees up at work by last weekend), although it was odd hearing Alvin and the Chipmunks being used to sell Sopranos DVDs.

Other random thoughts:
-- RIP, Mr. Miyagi. Although I guess I would've expected him to be older, but I suppose he never really aged a whole lot in the 20-plus years since the movie came out.
-- The local pop station is doing a "lost hits" weekend, so it amusing to hear this song or even this song, but this song should've been lost for sure (you realize Adam Sandler wrote similar lyrics to be funny).
-- My schedule for New Year's is up in the air, but if things fall the right way, a trip to Nashville for a bowl game would be just fine for me. Just too bad Vandy had to lose to both MTSU and Kentucky, or else that could've been NU's opponent.
-- Yes, I've watched the final tables of the WSOP a few times. It really is like the I Love The '80s in stuff that oddly holds up in repeated viewings. But I can't help but think that when I see Andrew Black on TV that it's really a slimmed down Paul Giamatti with Alan Rickman's voice.
-- And speaking of Snape, the latest Harry Potter movie was pretty good, and even the Dawson's Creek-type storylines came across pretty well.
-- It's weird that in baseball, pitching wins are an official stat, yet there are eight jillion ways to crunch the numbers to prove it's an overrated stat (see Roger Clemens' stats this season). Yet football has a rather complex formula to determine quarterback efficiency/rating/etc. but wins get brought up all the time as the number that matters over any other stat. (e.g. Joe Montana and Tom Brady vs. Dan Marino and Peyton Manning).
-- Late in posting this article from Romenesko, but it's curious to see schools where the white kids are the dumb ones. You might even want to cue up the part in The Cable Guy where Ben Stiller says the people who killed his brother were speaking Asian.
-- If you read this story about trying to rename a road after Rosa Parks, you'd think "diverse" would mean the same thing as "urban," especially when the spokesman refers to Clayton County as "a predominantly diverse community."

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Congratulations to Gobo and Sarah on the birth of their first son.

So in the span of just a few days, I've had one friend from college get married (dot-com) and another enter into fatherhood. And I'm just observing from afar, possibly trying to dodge the next stage of adulthood/being a grown-up.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I think it's safe to say that my generation (or at least just among my friends) live primarily for references to anything pop culture, especially when one of the funniest moments on TV I'd seen in a long time was no more than a two-second interstital bit on Robot Chicken with that had just one word of dialogue: "Leon!?!?"

Monday, November 07, 2005

Ten years after
One thing that dawned on a bunch of us this weekend is that it's been 10 years since the core of the "cult" first met. Funny how time flies. Even odder is how some of the stuff that tied the group together all that time ago has suddenly come back in vogue.

I suppose it shouldn't be a coincidence that MTV aired a bunch of Beavis and Butt-head cartoons over the weekend to promote the new DVD collection. And then there's that pseudo-ECW revival marked by the thrilling pay-per-view over the summer and now the addition of Joey Styles to the RAW broadcast booth.
Congratulations to Steve and Melissa on their wedding over the weekend. It was a very nice ceremony, and I was thrilled to see plenty of old faces once again -- really felt like college all over again.

The wedding took me up to East Lansing, where I hadn't been since my last official quizbowl tournament representing Northwestern back in 1997. Ironically, Steve was one of my teammates that weekend -- and it would be years before he met Melissa and then eventually get married (dot-com).

Nice enough college town, although even the allure of cheap clothing at Steve and Barry's could get me to buy some MSU gear. However, I did get to see a very good Spartans hockey game after some crossed signals with other wedding plans during the weekend. When the hockey arena is just a short walk from the hotel, it's hard not to pass it up.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Couple of scattered World Series notes ...
-- The Thrashers game pre-empted the World Series on local Atlanta radio, or at least the primary station. It might've been on a much lower-powered station, but I couldn't pick it up driving around tonight. However, I could pick up the game on Chicago's ESPN Radio station and White Sox flagship. Even with satellite radio around, it's still fun playing with the dial and seeing what you can get. On the other hand, not everyone is as curious as me in trying to find the game on the radio.
-- The "Don't Stop Believing" theme song for the White Sox is amusing. (Remember, it landed in the Top 100 on iTunes because it appeared on Family Guy.) But then they brought in Steve Perry? But shouldn't he be a Tigers fan if he was "born and raised in south Detroit" (aka Windsor)?
-- Nice to see Dustin Hermanson pitching like he did when he's been on my fantasy teams in years past.
Tap the bottleneck
It's close to the perfect storm over here with trying to get a program done for a banquet next week, plus working on TRASH regionals questions, a wedding next weekend in Michigan after that, plus the usual and unusual stuff at work.

And despite that, still had time to play most of Big Lots (the UTC mirror of FOGHAT). I actually got to play most of the scheduled round robin, leaving before the final round to go to work. At that point, we were undefeated had a two-game lead over the field. I guess I've been so used to the strangeness of the tournament, which would explain the ridiculous margins of victories (smallest was 100 points in the first round).

Oh yeah, I've been meaning to write that Northwestern-themed packet for the longest time, so that was just the best excuse/platform to do so. Some of the stuff seemed forced, and I suppose if you don't me (and even if you do), the theme would be very annoying. One team grumbled about that theme just before playing us (I'm not sure if they connected me with the packet) -- it was a Christian college and we played them on Round 9 (for those who know, it's too silly). But if you guys have any other comments about my packet, let's hear them ...

And besides the quiz bowl foray, I went to my first ever Monday Night Football game, and, oddly enough, my first ever Jets game. It was great to have my friend Alyson along for the game because the rest of it was pretty surreal.

Three fumbles in 20 minutes by Vinny Testaverde where all I could do is shake my head; a Jets kickoff return for a touchdown negated by penalties; Brooks Bollinger playing all of the fourth quarter; three Michael Vick interceptions -- strangest part was that the biggest exodus of fans came in the middle of the fourth quarter after the third Vick pick while the Falcons were ahead and the Jets down only two scores.

The buzz in the dome was weird. A couple of times on defense, the place was amped. But on offense in the middle of the third quarter, it was like a church (topped off with a guy in front of us wearing a choir robe done up like a Falcons jersey). And to top it all off, I saw the debut of an Atlanta anthem, which is part of a new city branding campaign. Good artists involved (Monica, T-Boz, 112, etc.) although we could barely pick them out or the lyrics. But I guess it's a tossup whether to show that on the Monday night broadcast or Tim McGraw. That means I've now seen the debut of an official team rap and an official city song. Oy.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Been a bit behind with updates, but for now, check out one one of the most innovative rap covers ever made. (Yes, it's a free download.)

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

My spite-y senses are tingling
I'm not too surprised the Yankees are gone; disappointed sure, but not surprised. Just seemed like a not-so-good matchup. Funny thing is that if Bernie Williams were in center, he probably wouldn't have made it to the gap as quickly as Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield catches that fly ball, instead of two-run triple. Also, it's interesting to see Darin Erstad make the final play with a nice stop on defense after his offense was absolutely trashed during the series (Al Leiter as the designated stopper for Erstad, are you kidding?)

But now that both the Yankees and Red Sox are gone, the main motivating force for many to watch the playoffs this year -- hate -- is gone. Since y'all can't be hypocrites anymore and actually root for someone to win the World Series, here's a little guide for who to root against the most for the rest of October (in rough order of most hateable to least, in my opinion):

1. White Sox: Hawk Harrelson isn't calling games in the playoffs, but if you're not a fan of the team, he's a big reason to root against them. If not now, but think of what he could be next season if they win it all. ... There's that "cursed" thing, which was annoying with the Red Sox last year (even among their own fans) and is just tired this year. ... The legions of Cubs fans still have many reasons to hate. (see below)
2. Astros: Haven't we had enough of wild-card teams winning it all? ... Depending on your political persuasion, there's that Texas thing. ... If you need your fix of Yankees hate, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens are among Houston's best pitchers.
3. Angels: They won in 2003, too soon for another championship. ... The whole Los Angeles of Anaheim thing. Which reminds me, is the name of the city now "of Anaheim," given how many things in the city are named "of Anaheim" -- the hockey team, the baseball stadium, the baseball team. To go with the California theme, maybe the city should be called "de Anaheim." ... Rally monkey and thundersticks are back.
4. Cardinals: Best record in the majors. Default is to root against the favorite. ... The Cubs fan factor. What would happen to Cubs fans if the White Sox and Cardinals meet in the World Series? ... St. Louis fans often regarded as the nicest in the league. When we root out of spite, we just can't have that.
Lots of things to do, which means more reasons to procrastinate. Case in point: The N is now going old school, literally, with late-night reruns of Degrassi Junior High. It even surpasses the old reruns of The Electric Company that used to be on in the middle of the night when all it had was old PBS and Nickelodeon shows.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The DVR Chronicles
Now that the fall season has started, the new DVR is working overtime actually recording stuff other than Jeopardy and movies. (Eventually I'll have to clear out those old Jeopardy! episodes, save the ones with my some of my colleagues on them. I've already done my taping, so there's no need to watch old episodes as study guides.)
Here's what I've gleaned from some of the newer shows I've tried out:
-- How I Met Your Mother: Now that Friends is off the air, we can have more shows about 20-somethings hanging out and not feel like it's a ripoff. Besides, the bar is less pretentious than the coffee shop. Of course, Willow is the reason I'm watching, and I'm impressed with it, maybe because a lot of it feels familiar; however, I wonder how long the Bob Saget gimmick will work.
-- Everybody Hates Chris: See, they can still do a "family" show that's still hip. Obviously, Chris Rock taking over the Daniel Stern narrator role helps, and who knew he could work relatively clean? What I find funniest is that I last saw the mom on Chappelle's Show on one of the "Keeping It Real …" segments.
-- My Name Is Earl: I like Jason Lee's stuff, even though he seems to play some of the same psycho-type characters each time, including The Incredibles, which I saw on cable this afternoon. The show is still taking time to grow on me, and it doesn't help that it's on against House. (But my DVR can record two things at once, which is huge.)
-- The Office: I recorded it the first week after Earl, but I could never really get into it. I'd like to, but just couldn't.
-- Veronica Mars: I know it's a year old, but I've only caught bits and pieces of it last year, so it's time to watch a show or two. I like Veronica Mars the cute sleuth, not as big a fan of the soap opera stuff (competing boyfriends, etc.). Of course, while I keep fawning over Kristen Bell, in walks Charisma Carpenter and well, that's just not right. On the other hand, the Stonecutters have returned to bring Steve Guttenberg back on TV.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

A date which will live in infamy ...
I'm still in L.A., but for those who know why I'm out here (and if you don't, I'm just following in her footsteps) ...

December 7, check your local listings, especially out in the West Coast. Be there, aloha!

Monday, September 19, 2005

I think Tyler covers some of my same thoughts about the Emmys, but here are a couple observations from someone watching the ceremony the same time as the Chiefs-Raiders game:
-- I loved the Zach Braff-Hugh Laurie pairing. A New Jersey native who plays a doctor along with a guy who plays a doctor working in New Jersey. Plus, Zach acting surprised over Hugh's accent was fun, if predictable.
-- There was some sensory overload in the middle of the ceremony in that for about a 10-minute stretch, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Lauren Graham presented an award, then Kristen Bell's musical performance, and finally Alyson Hannigan presenting an award with Doogie Howser (or the NPH, if you will). If I weren't on the phone dealing with some other stuff, I would've been completely useless.

Friday, September 16, 2005

I haven't updated here for a while, but that's because of the onslaught of the NFL season, plus some other stuff that will be discussed later. But for now, here's a fun photo off the wires:

Monday, September 05, 2005

I suppose it's a civic duty now to at least mention how to help Katrina victims especially in the midst of the narcissism that is this blog. At the same time, it's getting tougher and tougher to read and watch coverage of the aftermath of the tragedy. Not only is it hard to fathom all the death and destruction, but the contentious political climate we're living in means that the pure sadness and negativity is just exacerbated since everyone else is to blame, whether they're trying to help or not.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (and Empty Wallets)
The things I do for my job: This week I was in Vegas for a conference where I ended up meeting for the first time a bunch of people I had been working with on a handful of projects for a number of years. Such is the nature of the Internet, I guess.

A trade conference is a trade conference: a handful of speakers, some panels worth watching, others worth heading to the tables, some impossibly gorgeous sales reps for businesses which may or may not be around next year. Plus, there were a handful of fantasy drafts and even a poker tournament (where I finished sixth out of 60 and got a little money that quickly went elsewhere).

There was a Seinfeld moment at one point when Mitchell & Ness gave out bags with shirts and caps. Unfortunately, they were fitted hats, which prompted some rummaging through bags to find the right size. I just stopped bothering trying to find one for my Barry Bonds-like melon and just stuck with the hat.

The Vegas experience this time around was interesting since I really beat up my feet the day before the conference by walking the length of the Strip from Excalibur (where I was staying) up to Stratosphere. Granted, it took all day and I stopped at almost every casino along the way, but it was still a blast. Of course, when you do something like that, most of the really nice casinos just start blending together. Everyone asked me how nice Wynn was, and all I could think was that it was similar to Paris or Venetian or Bellagio; and that I may or may not have won some money on video poker there. After a while, that Green Day song does come into play when you consider the cash being thrown around.

Unlike last time, I wasn't so lucky at the roulette and blackjack tables, getting smoked at both nice places (MGM Grand; New York, New York) and not-so-nice (New Frontier, Boardwalk). Eventually I'll have to learn how to lose my money at those other table games. On the other hand, I did get a nice view of the city from the top of Mandalay Bay.

Another strange thing about this trip was how I somehow ended up working on East Coast time, even though my schedule is usually a West Coast one. How else to explain getting up at 6 and 7 in the morning? On the other hand, it made that 3:30 a.m. trip to the diner at Excalibur after a night at the tables seem reasonably normal.

There's still more to see in town, and maybe one of these days I'll go without having conference duties hovering over me.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Stop dragging my car around
So yeah, there was more to the vacation than just a trip to lovely Shea Stadium. One of the main reasons for the trip north was a cousin's wedding in Montreal. I hadn't been there in a while, and it was good to get a better feel for the city since I'd have to do some navigating around town to find stuff to do.

That included an Alouettes game at a packed house at McGill (albeit with a capacity of just 20,000). That trip included two uphill climbs as we searched for an ATM to get Canadian bills for our tickets, plus a strange exit from the stadium that included walking through a construction site and jumping a concrete barrier to get on to the main road. It almost seemed like we were refugees fleeing the stadium, which could be a good way to describe it after a last-second loss.

Later on, I got to see the loneliness of Olympic Stadium and the modernity of the Bell (nee Molson) Centre while doing a more "traditional" city tour. Hey, I even got to try out some poutine at a curiously named sports bar next to the arena. I'd end up in that general vicinity later that night, at one of the multitude of bars a couple of blocks away.

Another part of the Montreal leg of the trip was trying to find English-language TV. I ended up watching some CNN and a lot of TSN. However, it was very surreal watching Canada's version of Cartoon Network, getting Futurama, The Simpsons and Family Guy (Les Griffin) in French.

The wedding was a wedding, albeit at a really nice cathedral in Centre-ville. The only thing odd was the ubiquitous videographer with a really bright light. The only things missing were a boom mike and Anna Nicole Smith. The reception was very lavish, very long and had a good band. However, when this song was being played, a whole bunch of us turned into the Happy Hands Club.

There was plenty of driving on the entire trip as we went by car to Montreal, and included a quick stopover at the Ben and Jerry's plant outside of Burlington on the way up. It's a nice drive to get there (great views on the interstates in Vermont) but I'd be massively disappointed if that was the only reason I was driving in that part of New England.

So what happens after a 1,000-mile round trip to Canada? Phase 2 (or 3) of the trip as I take my "new" car on a 900-mile one-way trip from New Jersey to Atlanta. It was a good chance to get used to the car, and give the iPod a good workout, although it took me a long time to realize the tape adapter seemed to work better than the FM transmitter. I also learned how varied the sound quality of my MP3s really are.

But anyway, my solo road trip went pretty well as I broke up the drive into smaller parts. Part I got me from Jersey to Baltimore to visit Kristin, which was one of my early plans for the road trip. I also got in a quick trip to DC to visit more quizbowlers (including two of JD's other groomsmen), for pub trivia no less. Thanks to Tricia for tipping me off to that.

I eventually ended up in Richmond overnight, then took off for Chapel Hill to see another friend who just moved into town. At least know I have a better idea about what's in that town, compared to my last time when I drove around late at night to find something to eat.

After my "am I there yet" voyage to Durham a few years ago for a Duke-NU football game, I made sure not to drive straight to Atlanta from the triangle. So I ended up stopping by Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, although the gift shop appeared to be closed, so I couldn't get this hat. Then went down a couple of exits to see Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is best described as ginormous, as well as the big mall on the other side of the exit.

At said mall, there were plenty of chances to get sports logo gear, including the dreaded K hat and vastly reduced Bobcats gear, but ended up passing on everything. I had done the same with more "interesting" choices in Montreal, and I wonder at some point if I've grown up and overdone my sports stuff.

However, I was lucky not to be enticed by all the NASCAR stuff at Lowe's and the mall -- there's a ton of garish looking gear. Unlike the major team sports, there doesn't seem to be a "basic" look for driver gear -- there is no standard logo. When wearing a ballcap with a number of a driver is the most "conservative" look, I think we've got a problem.

So it took me officially 33 hours (but only about 16 actually on the road) and just over 900 miles to get back home and work on all the mumbo jumbo for getting the new car registered and the old one donated to charity. And hoping to get all that stuff taken care of this week since I'm off to Vegas next week. I'm starting to pile up the miles in all sorts of ways, with more yet to come.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Travels with JQ
I guess I'm blogging on the road (actually, just at my parents' house). So while I'm on vacation from my regular job, what do I do within hours of landing in New Jersey? Go to a Mets game (and the third time seeing the Pirates this season -- in three different parks) with some visiting relatives. It was kinda neat because they were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Beatles playing at Shea. So there were Beatles tunes and trivia in between innings, plus taped messages from Ringo and Paul. And of course, there was a tribute band playing before the game, although it was loud enough to drown out the passing planes.

And on a very loose tangent, I'm now catching the late-night repeat of the $40 a Day episode in Chattanooga featuring a ton of places I've never seen or even heard of. Then again, I don't think I've ever done the tourist stuff yet in the city despite my many trips up there. Besides, I wonder how Rachael Ray would handle the usual meal trips during a UTC tournament -- something tells me Provino's wasn't close to being on her list. (Although it looks like Charlie's influence may have even reached that show with a little trivia work thrown in one during one of the stops).

Monday, August 15, 2005

Couple of random thoughts before I head up north for the week:
-- It's interesting hearing the random broadcast pairings for the local broadcasts of NFL preseason games. (Those of you with NFL Network can get a sampling of such games during the week.) Obviously, the national guys need some work, too, but they'll end up in the strangest of places. For instance, Sam Rosen (a Fox guy as well as the New York Rangers TV guy) was calling a game for the Seahawks. I've also heard Don Criqui calling a Patriots game (in between his Inside Edition gigs) and Joel Meyers doing a Texans game. I guess I got used to a local New York broadcaster calling a Jets or Giants preseason game with a former player from the team (like Namath or something) in years past.

-- Can you tell me what is the point of the adult top 40 stations taking out the "rap" portions of pop hits? The jokes about "Ursher" get lost when Lil Jon and Ludacris get dropped off the song "Yeah." And even worse was hearing this station snipping out the rap portions of the Gorillaz song "Feel Good Inc." It's just too strange. With rap being such a major part of popular music these days, why bother taking it out of "pop" songs on a pop station? Just really strange.

-- Finally, here are the answers to the songs no one got.
2. Beautiful South -- 36D
8. Godsmack -- Whatever
15. P.J. Harvey -- Down By The Water
18. Son Volt -- Drown

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

One is the loneliest number
Stealing an idea from Mark, I have listed 20 artists who have exactly one song on my iTunes playlist. Your job is to identify that song. I have tried my best to avoid the one-hit wonder types, as well as bands of which I actually own CDs but only transferred one song to the list. I'll update as people answer them correctly.

1. 311 -- "Love Song" (Joe) -- You may be picking up on a theme ...
2. Beautiful South
3. Boyz II Men -- "Motownphilly" (Contrary SOB)
4. Cheap Trick -- "I Want You To Want Me" (Flax)
5. The Cult -- "She Sells Sanctuary" (Greg) -- Got it off the As Seen on TV compilation of songs from commercials.
6. David Alan Coe -- "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" (Joe) -- As heard during Brian's wedding
7. Fiona Apple -- "Across the Universe" (Victoria) -- Not sure why I don't have anything else by her.
8. Godsmack
9. Heart -- "Magic Man" (Contrary SOB)
10. Jesus and Mary Chain -- "Just Like Honey" (Greg) -- As featured during the closing credits of Lost in Translation
11. Lenny Kravitz -- "Are You Going to Go My Way?" (Tyler) -- I like this song. Don't really like anything else by him.
12. Mandy Moore -- "Senses Working Overtime" (Tyler) -- I'll count it, even though he guessed a bunch of songs off Coverage at the same time.
13. Mariah Carey -- "Vision of Love" (Sean)
14. Nazareth -- "Hair of the Dog" (Contrary SOB) -- More cowbell!!
15. P.J. Harvey
16. Prodigy -- "Breathe" (Joe)
17. Roxette -- "Joyride" (Contrary SOB) -- I think I have way too much Swedish pop in the collection
18. Son Volt
19. The Vines -- "Ms. Jackson" (Joe) -- Yup, it's that one. No one ever said I had a ton of musical taste, as seen by the list of artists on here.
20. The Zombies --"Time of the Season" (Sean)

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

I got you covered
OK, so it seems like everyone is doing podcasts -- some that seem to ring hollow compared to authentic ones like Coverville, a pretty solid podcast featuring cover songs. I'm still trying to slog through a bunch I've downloaded since it became incorporated with iTunes, and then going back through the archives to find a bunch of other ones to listen to (although it's a little clunky when those thing show up in the iTunes library/playlist). It's a decent listen, though, and gives me plenty of ideas for audio rounds in the future.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Let's review, shall we
Finally got myself to the movies since Star Wars and think I picked out a couple of decent flicks to watch:

-- Batman Begins: It's probably not saying a ton that Christian Bale is probably the best of the movie Bruce Waynes, but then again, he's approaching it from a much different angle than the other guys. This one redeemed the franchise, and it helps to have six Oscar nominated actors involved (plus Bale, who should be nominated sooner rather than later). Oh yeah, the future Mrs. Cruise was a bit overmatched in the movie, but she picked up the nipple controversy from previous films (thanks Craig for that one).

-- Wedding Crashers: Hilarious film, especially in relation to all the matrimonial stuff going around me lately. (BTW, congrats to JD on his swift engagement.) It's a good cross between a smarter goofball guy flick and a chick flick (wedding is in the title, remember). And oddly enough, Sports Guy's review probably sums up most of my impressions of the film.
On a side note, at least I'm not the only who actually fell for Rachel McAdams in the movie -- Sports Guy praises her, as does Tyler. But I think it's the brunette look that did it, since she seemed, well, plastic in Mean Girls.

But wait, there's more. While the rest of y'all were reading the latest Potter book, I plowed through a couple of quirky books (but not taking advantage of those usual discounts I usually encounter):
-- Committed: Fantasy football is a big part of my job, but the author decided to quit his job for nearly a year to be an FF junkie. It's interesting to see some of my colleagues and competitors interviewed to give a good overview of the business and hobby, but it further reinforced the idea that reading about other people's fantasy football teams can be a most torturous experience.

-- Superstud: Sometimes poignant, sometimes heartbreaking and mostly hilarious real-life account of a geek's often poor attempts at love and relationships. And since the geek in question is Paul Feig, the creator of Freaks and Geeks, you know the story was going to be told the right way. I suppose it helps that I could probably relate to it way too well, but that's the breaks.

Monday, July 18, 2005

You gotta start somewhere
I know it can't be time for people to start summer jobs, especially when I see a ton of back-to-school sales already (way to spoil some kids' summers in mid-July!), but I guess it is time for people to go after "regular" jobs after being served twice by trainees/working interviewiees today.

Seeing one trainee, especially in sales, is nothing new -- it was fun to get the team treatment as they were selling me a new cell phone. But being the guinea pig for someone interviewing for a hygienist job was a bit strange -- although all it meant was that she followed the script a lot more closely, which isn't a bad thing.

Of course with seeing this stuff, it makes me feel better that I've been doing what I've been doing for so long and not having to start completely from scratch.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Remember me?
Got a note recently from an old friend who stumbled across this site thanks to a good old Google search (at least it's better than the one search that's been dominating my hit counter lately). So if she happens to stumble across this post, hello again.

With that said, it's funny how the World Series of Poker has somehow brought out some vestiges of my past despite the fact that I'm very late to the party. While looking over the early updates and the other bracelet winners, I came across this guy who probably is related in some way to a friend from college (it will especially be a kick for those NU people from my time who read this blog).

And since I'm not that plugged into the poker community, I had no clue that this infomercial star of the early '90s was now a high-stakes player and was eliminated along with Greg Raymer and Phil Ivey on Day 6 of the Main Event. I'd really be interested to see how much air time he'll get on ESPN's coverage. It now really has me thinking what those "three little words" are.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

All in
Like seemingly everyone else, I've picked up the poker bug, although not as intently as many of my friends -- I haven't read any books, still don't much about strategy, etc. And I'm definitely not competing in the World Series, like a couple of quizbowl colleagues (both eliminated in Day 1C).

However, it has been interesting following along with the action, something I would never had considered even last year. We have one guy covering the action on our site, and Fox Sports has some good stuff as well. But I've discovered Card Player has some great up-to-the-minute information on the action -- especially the big names who have been knocked out. (As I write this, Chris Moneymaker has been knocked out -- just hours after watching the 2003 WSOP final table on ESPN Classic.)

Which gets me to the most compelling part of this year's World Series Main Event, is that the 5,619 competitors are truly a mixed bag of personalities. There are tons of guys like Nate and Fred hoping to follow the Moneymaker or Greg Raymer path from anonymity to poker stardom. They're sitting next to ]and lasting longer than legends of the game (some of whom were famous even before there was poker on TV 24/7).

And while you have the "famous for playing poker" people and the "want to be famous for playing poker" folks, there are the "we're famous and we're playing poker" celebrities. Looking over the photo wires at work and keeping up with the WSOP logs, among the celebrities competing include Jennifer Tilly (who won a WSOP bracelet), James Woods, Mimi Rogers, Tobey Maguire, Brad Garrett, Wil Wheaton, Shannon Sharpe, Shannon Elizabeth and Anna Benson. It's a bit jarring for me to see this because I've also seen a bunch of them on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and all of a sudden they're in the Main Event. It seems akin to the Rock-n-Jock or NBA Celebrity league players all of a sudden suiting up for the Pistons, or the old Battle of the Network Stars competitors heading to the Olympics. (Although I guess Gabe Kaplan did move from BotNS to the WSOP, but that's another story.)

Finally, while it really isn't strange that there's a ton of coverage on the World Series these days, what is odd is that the stuff I'm keeping up with right now won't be on ESPN until later this fall. (Their 2005 WSOP coverage does start next week with some satellite tournaments earlier this year.) In a way, it's like Jeopardy! or WWTBAM? in that the winners will have known for months that they've won all this money -- except that now we all have access to when you actually win, unlike the vow of secrecy that surrounds the game shows. And despite it all, the ratings for those shows (especially the Main Event ones) will probably be through the roof -- very strange for something for which we'll have known the results for months.

It's not like ESPN Classic where we want to relive an old game we've seen before, this stuff will be new for lots of people -- but with months of lag time. I would say that it's the antithesis of today's live sports culture especially in Bristol, but then again, the Olympics still often works on the tape-delay system for many events (often to squeeze in profile pieces -- like ESPN does for the WSOP) and grabs big ratings. I wonder if whoever gets to the air the NHL after the lockout will try a similar system of extended time-shifting to increase ratings?

Friday, July 08, 2005

Musical toots
For those interested, the top 1,000 alternative music countdown will be replayed starting Monday and run every day between 10 a.m. and midnight until it's over. The original countdown ran 24/7 over the July 4th weekend, and the top 100 started as I was coming home from work on the 4th, so I'm sure a lot of people would like to hear it during normal hours. For those not in Atlanta, you can listen online.

I've also come across a couple of other interesting musical lists as well. One is a 150 song journey through the 50 states via Minnesota Public Radio. The other is the 13 most overrated songs of all time -- many with which I actually agree, oddly enough.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

I spent a good part of the July 4th weekend listening to the Top 1,000 countdown on the local alt-rock station. Timing was weird because they weren't too sure when it was going to end (after starting on Thursday evening). It ended up finishing about 11:30 a.m. on the 4th, then did a replay of the top 50 later in the day since the bulk of the top songs would've aired in the middle of the night/early morning on a holiday.

It's an interesting list, and supposedly driven by listener votes, which may or may not explain some of the placement of some of the songs. The last part of the lineup (about the top 50 or so) seems like a "standard" list for top alternative songs ever, but it gets very random trying to figure what should go at 544 or 219 or 930. (For instance, how is "Everybody Hurts" ranked behind "Your Woman" or lots of other random bits like that.) I do know that they did one last potshot at The Darkness by putting them at No. 1,000.

I'd be interested to see your comments about the list. It did make for some fun listening because of utter randomness of it, plus the resurrection of songs that haven't been played on the station in a few years.

Friday, July 01, 2005

While I'm on a roll with posts here ... It's good to see radio stations actually opening up their library a little bit with a Top 1,000 countdown. I've heard plenty of Top 500 Classic Rock countdowns in my time, but a Top 1K alternative one has actually been a pretty fun listen since it covers as much ground as any classic rock one. I'll post the list when the station puts it up next week. (Maybe it will make for some fun wagering at the July 4th BBQ -- much like I used to do at school around Memorial Day.)
As many of you know, I own a lot of baseball caps (although I don't necessarily wear them as much as I used to), but I think I've discovered that outside of a couple of my favorite teams, I'm more drawn to the novelty of getting stuff of teams I wouldn't see anywhere else. Hence, that's why I have a bunch of minor-league caps and retro caps (thanks to Distant Replays).

It hit me this week in California when my brother was looking around for some stuff of L.A.-based teams at WalMart. He ended up with $5 hats of USC and Chivas USA, while I went more coastal and got Gonzaga, Washington State and San Diego State. Granted, the $5 price tag each was too hard to pass up -- but I also realized that if confronted with the same deal at a WalMart down here, I don't know if I'd be as quick to jump on, say, Florida State or Tennessee. (Or for that matter, other Big Ten school besides Northwestern; on the other hand, a former co-worker and Penn State alum made it a point to have a hat from each conference foe, so to each his own.)

Who knew I could be such a snob for scarcity and uniqueness? Could that be the reason that I'd be more likely wear a Rome Braves or Myrtle Beach Pelicans hat to an Atlanta Braves game than an actual Braves one?
Oh yeah, after a bit of recovery from a long flight back from Ontario (nice and convenient to get to if you live in that part of the area, but hell to fly to if you're not in the West), I ended up having to crank out this NBA Draft/fantasy impact piece finding a way to sneak in the fact that the newest Laker is from my high school.
Another California adventure
Spent last weekend out in California for a family reunion on my maternal grandmother's side, reprising the successful get-together from three years ago. But we got to see a bit more this time around.

This time, we were closer to civilization the whole time, forgoing the mountain cabin for a park just down the street from Santa Anita Park (although there was no racing that weekend). In fact, the town of Arcadia where we stayed was an interesting mashup of chain restaurants galore and "real" homegrown businesses in downtown. It seemed a bit odd to me that there were walkable towns in the L.A. suburbs, but there they were.

The trip itself was moderately memorable in that we were all going to connect in Houston for our flight to Ontario on Thursday night, but my parents and brother nearly missed the connection because of issues getting out of Newark. They did make it, although I was having flashbacks to when a former co-worker (who was also supposed to drive us around town) nearly missed a flight we were booked on to Chicago because he got caught up in security. It's good to travel in groups, except when the person with a lot more idea of what's going on misses the flight.

We had plenty of time on our hands Friday during the day before the reunion officially kicked off, so my parents and I started by a little driving around downtown L.A. after dropping off my brother for an appointment at USC. I finally got to see the L.A. Coliseum up close (the parking/traffic schemes have to be hell), and we drove by the Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, and the Bonaventure Hotel, prominently featured in this film. We also saw the Cathedral, which didn't look like it from street level. That was the extent of the actual city of L.A. tourist experience, which wasn't half-bad for ad libbing in the morning while waiting for my brother.

Later we met my mom's godmother, which was really nice, and I started to wonder if my goddaughter would try to track me down years from now. (FWIW, my godmother lives in the L.A. area as well, but didn't get a chance to meet this time around.)

Friday night came the reunion itself, which was good as always, seeing a lot of familiar faces (some armed with new or older kids) and meeting some new ones, which included a handful of cousins from London -- complete with the British accents. They were pretty cool and very excited to be in the U.S. actually meeting other members of the family. The accents also threw off the Filipino stand-up comic who performed and naturally brought down the house. After some bonding over drinks Friday night, it was off for part two on Saturday.

For part two, we went to another part of the park for all the basic picnic-type activities that included me actually doing a halfway decent job at horseshoes. Later on in the day, a bunch of us started an impromptu poker tournament. And somehow all that time playing online poker paid off as I was the last man standing and came away with $110. Still trying to figure out how I won, but I don't think you'll be seeing me at the World Series anytime soon, though. There was more reunion stuff Sunday and I ended up with a ton of macadamia nut-based foods thanks to my cousin who lives in Hawaii and brought a ton of that stuff stateside for prizes.

Starting Sunday night, I really started to get a good feel for how massive Southern California is driving-wise. While my brother did all the driving, I did much of the navigating for a side trip to San Diego to visit a couple of my dad's friends Sunday night. A mad criss-crossing of the Southland came on Monday that included a trip to the Reagan Library, a stopoff at the Rose Bowl, shopping for Filipino pastries and then visits to an aunt's house and cousin's place before taking the red-eye back to Atlanta (and thus reprising my Jack Bauer travel/sleep schedule ... just picture Kiefer having to chase around an 18-month-old or looking at Clippers t-shirts at WalMart).

It was a fun weekend for sure, and I'm already looking forward to the next get-together, probably in another three years -- this time in San Diego. I'm thinking there will be a lot more changes (especially among us young adult-aged folks) when that comes around. But for now, I guess I'll see a few more of them at a wedding next month in Canada.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Joe had an interesting bit about Joe Namath being the most overrated player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which actually few people will dispute given his career numbers.

But it got me thinking, with the way people throw around numbers (especially when it comes to baseball), that one day will there be an official "statistical" Hall of Fame for the different major-league sports?

For instance, Hideo Nomo reached the Meikyukai, a Japanese version of a stats hall of fame, earlier this week after winning his 200th combined game between Japan and the U.S. (They also have a "traditional" Hall based on voting.) And the LPGA has a stats-based criteria for entry into their Hall of Fame.

Would going completely to numbers make a Hall of Fame fairer? I suppose it would remove bias (other than from the group determining the statistical milestones) from the selection process, but how do you measure less tangible attributes like charisma, leadership and historical significance (outside of numbers).

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Now that I've started getting nostalgic about ECW, I might as well bring out the video that showed how my buddies could incorporate wrestling angles into student government.

Monday, June 13, 2005

The hardcore nostalgia gap closes in
If a nationally-known retro radio show can have a '90s edition, I suppose we can also be very nostalgic for a wrestling organization that reached its peak about 7-8 years ago and where many of its members are still very active today.

Yes, I ordered the ECW PPV, the first time I've watched a wrestling PPV, never mind order one, in a long while. But when I heard about this event, I was more than happy to find out I was going to be off that evening so I could watch it -- and had JD over to see the festivities. It seemed like the "olden days" of oh, 1996. Not only was the action pretty solid, a handful of the shoot interviews were spectacular, which then prompted the crowd to react in kind.

It was a great show, but I also hope that it lives up to the name of "One Night Stand." While I enjoyed watching the old guys back for another go-around, it seems like it's best appreciated now in short bursts instead of trying to spin it off into a real organization again. I think it'll be hard to match the emotion and passion of this revival on a regular basis. (Plus, you can't be having the Oscar-like "those we lost" montage on regularly, can we?)

Besides, it would take a lot to get some of these guys back into shape, because honestly, some of them just didn't look all that good. On the other hand, bringing these guys back at this time worked better for the combined nostalgia/revival/reunion aspect than the gimmick battle royale at Wrestlemania a few years back.

But it was nice to be "hardcore" for a few hours at least. Now where's that cheese grater?
Everybody's free to steal sunscreen
Oddly enough, I believe this edition of Rhymes With Orange was produced long before this principal was caught plagiarizing two graduation speeches -- including the famous sunscreen speech written by Mary Schmich just days before my own college graudation in 1997. (I've mentioned this before, but I posted that column on the Trib's Web site -- just not in the format linked above -- during my brief internship there.)

While there's usual amount of hand-wringing and "everyone's plagiarizing, so what" reactions, it was interesting to get Mary's reaction to her work being attributed to yet another person besides herself. I am curious that someone could pass that particular speech off as his or her own given it was turned into a book, there was that Kurt Vonnegut urban legend, and last but not least, the Baz Luhrman song which originally reminded me that of the column in the first place.

Then again, awareness of pop culture isn't everyone's cup of tea, as evidenced by the confusion brought about when Napoleon Dynamite invaded the National Spelling Bee.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

The music update
A few disjointed thoughts only connected by musical notes:
-- While at Friday's Braves game, I passed by this guy, which was only a surprise because he was in the upper deck with a few kids and other friends. But no one seemed to bother him, so maybe being up there was a good thing.
-- I'm now part of the iPod world, and now I'm wondering how quickly I'll fill up the 20GB model I've got.

A couple of more notes on the JACK radio format that's now taken hold in Chicago and New York (replacing the beloved WCBS-FM):
-- Eric Zorn over at the Chicago Tribune has a somewhat ambivalent take on the loss of the oldies station there. I guess like Atlanta, the "good times and great oldies" turned into something a bit repetitive. Nuking the format isn't the way to go, but that's the way a lot of radio types think.
-- Speaking of JACK (which in theory is an OK idea), there's now JILL radio? So what exactly makes that broader than a lite-FM station? At least HANK-FM makes some sort of sense -- all country, all time periods.
-- And linking this back to my new iPod -- if JACK were really like my iPod on shuffle, it wouldn't just be classic rock + pop/alternative rock. I'm as middlebrow and mainstream as they get, but even I have a bit more eclectic tastes than even a JACK station can muster. Just thinking of a few songs off the top of my head -- would a station play Lil Jon, Yes, Morrissey, Cameo and a mashup of In Da Club and the Benny Hill theme song in a row?

Finally, I guess I could've easily predicted a very rainy weekend, given it was Music Midtown, which was moved from early May to early June to avoid weather. Whoops.

Monday, June 06, 2005

24-hour quizbowl people

The following takes place between Noon Friday and 3 p.m. Monday …

I knew this weekend was going to turn into a cross between Insomniac and 24, given the very quick turnaround between the end of my shift Friday night and my very early Saturday morning flight to Chicago for the NAQT high school nationals. But in the midst of the trip, an episode of Airline got tacked on.

After a usual night at work that ended at 2 a.m., I did kill off a couple of hours at a couple of places before an early-morning stop at Waffle House en route to the airport. (Typical Dave Attell-type stuff.)

The tournament itself was, in the Donald's terms, "yuuge" with 96 teams and nearly 500 players (makes giving all-star awards to the top 10 scorers seem a lot more meaningful). It was also good seeing most of the usual suspects, some old foes from my undergrad days and matching names to faces of other people I've been meaning to meet. Oh yeah, I got to hang out for a little bit with $5 million moderator team of Ken Jennings and Kevin Olmstead as well.

I did wonder how they were going to fit 96 teams when there were only about 20 ballrooms and meeting rooms at the hotel. The answer: Converting nearly an entire floor of hotel rooms into game rooms by replacing beds with tables. You usually don't find a need to fit at least 10 people into a regular-sized double, and now we know why. (On the other hand, it wasn't much worse than my Myrtle Beach experience that involved squeezing everyone into an empty administrative office.)

You could call some of this the most boring episode of 24 ever since much of it was just spent reading questions and hanging out with people between rounds. On the other hand, that's what everyone, except Jack Bauer, seems to do during those 24 hours, so maybe just I'm just one of those revolving-door analysts, but unlike Chloe, didn't have a need to fire a gun at a charging assassin.

Saturday night, there was a side trip (just down the street to the former Rosemont Horizon) to see Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals between the Chicago Wolves and Philadelphia Phantoms. It was nice to see some future Thrashers such as Kari Lehtonen for Chicago (and oddly enough, the Panthers' top prospect Jay Bouwmeester), but it was a sloppy, penalty-filled game that makes you long for the NHL if you cared to miss it. Philly won in the second overtime (we left after the first one).

The finals of the tournament on Sunday were an interesting sight to see as eventual champs Thomas Jefferson (who had slaughtered everyone the whole weekend) negged 10 times and still won the whole thing. Then they challenged a bunch of moderators to a match. With much of the quality moderator corps having written most of the questions, finding those blind to the question were few and far between. I thought I would've been drafted to play (meaning they'd really scraped the bottom of the barrel). But I had a flight to catch -- or so I thought.

My mid-afternoon flight Sunday was delayed when I got to O'Hare. No big deal, I thought. Just more time to grab something to eat (the Billy Goat Tavern has a stand at the airport -- same attitude and so-so food as the original place). But then came a second delay, then the official cancellation about the time the original flight would've landed in Atlanta. Thus came the mad dash from the gate to the United customer service center where my agent seemed to treat it as if everyone had just missed their flight and told us to go standby for the final flight of the day. However, whereas the canceled flight was on a 737, the last flight was on a modernized Buddy Holly plane. It's not a good sign when the gate agent says your chances of getting on are "very slim." Eventually I got a voucher to stay at an O'Hare area airport and got a standby seat on a late morning flight (instead of an early afternoon one I was rebooked on) and finally getting back home about 18 hours later than I expected. The one time I don't fly Delta or AirTran, and this is what I get.

Oh yeah, my cell phone died in the midst of this, but finding an outlet in the terminal was like trying to find the needle in the haystack. Now I know how cool it is that at least one terminal at the Atlanta airport has a bank of outlets designed for people to recharge cell phones and laptops.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Zoom, zoom, va-voom
Great line from some sports radio guy about Danica Patrick's impressive showing at the Indy 500: "I always wondered what happened to Winnie Cooper."

Sunday, May 29, 2005

You sure Puddy wasn't responsible?
If you're looking for reasons why we so many corporatized, bland or the singular-type team nicknames, maybe you blame this guy, who says wants the New Jersey Devils to change their name -- despite the fact that it doesn't refer to Satan, but rather a state legend that I would learn about in social studies class just after the team took to the ice.

I still remember the contest to name the team, and god forbid had the Meadowlanders been chosen as the nickname.

What is interesting is the state politician proposing the name change represents the district where the new arena will be built. Wonder if it's an early "We really don't want you here" type of talk.

Friday, May 27, 2005

A bunch more assorted thoughts and links (as I develop a pattern of not developing any regularity to these postings) ...

• The streaming audio file of The Shins mini-concert I attended at the local radio station is available for downloading.

• Is Atlanta required to have a kooky criminal on the lam seemingly every month? First, it was the Fulton County courthouse shooter, then the runaway bride and now the fugitive on the crane. Any guesses on what the next wacky criminal will be coming through here?

• With the flood of reality shows coming out this summer, I guess it's safe to say that the major outlets to catch missed episodes of favorite shows are on DVD or TiVo. Of course, many shows now lend themselves to watching it in order so as not to get confused (24, Alias, Lost); but there's still room for one-off shows that will work well in reruns and syndication, although most of them are variations of CSI or Law and Order.

• Speaking of the reality shows, there's celebrity versions of almost every TV competition, whether it be Jeopardy!, The Mole or bowling. But how in the world did they come up with celebrity ballroom dancing (featuring among others, Stacy's Mom, TV's J. Peterman and Evander Holyfield)? And what does ETC think of the whole thing?

• Saw Star Wars: Sith the other day. I'm not a big geek for the series, but I have seen them all and thought this was a good way to wrap up the prequel and lead to the trilogy we know well. It's better than the other prequels, but it's not saying much. I guess I really liked the darkness of the movie -- Order 66 was especially evil. That reminds me: How much was George Lucas inspired by real-life politics for this film?

• Now that he was dethroned in rather impressive fashion in the UToC, how well received will the KenJen board game and potential Comedy Central game show be?

• While many of us are saying that this photogenic young athletic star isn't the same thing as this one, remember that Anna seemed destined for success until we all started ogling her. We're just doing the double-admiring now to cover all our bases. That said, Indy becomes relevant for the first time in years.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

A little catching up ...
Didn't realize until recently the last post was on the third anniversary of the start of this thing. Oh well, it comes, it goes, I continue to blather on.

I was home in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, primarily to attend a wedding of a former two-time college roommate. Good times all around, and it was interesting meeting a few more people from the alma mater (the other set of friends from school). Also good to see Gobo and wife at the wedding, as well as Steve and Melissa.

Also saw The Producers on Broadway (that TKTS booth is actually not so bad if you're going just before the start of the Wednesday matinees). I also learned why I don't drive in Manhattan when I don't have to since it took me 2 1/2 hours to get from midtown out to my brother's place in Connecticut. It also seems weird when you say you got a great parking deal when you paid $11 for an afternoon.

Oh yeah, it's way early for football, but here's one of three mock drafts I've done the past few weeks. Hopefully that's it for a few more weeks, until the next set of magazines come calling. (Oh yeah, also met the rest of our New York staff on the trip -- I guess it's a positive that I match my mugshot; something you can't say about everyone.)

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

A few notes and observations before heading home to New Jersey ...
-- If you see some of those fantasy football magazines later this summer with my picture and picks in it, just realize that I'm providing some of the information it right now. I'm in the midst of three straight weeks of fantasy football mock drafts just a month into the baseball season.
-- I followed Greg's lead and downloaded this band quiz. Without resorting to researching yet, I've gotten about 130 of the 270 bands on the test so far. Eventually, I'll look up the answers.
-- Rob has a good review of Songs for Silverman. But one thing I noticed is that the first single, "Landed," sounds a whole lot like this song. As Craig put it, maybe it's a Carolina vibe going on. On the other hand, I was really happy to hear Landed on this station driving into work on Sunday.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Maybe the reason it's taking Barry Bonds so long to come back is that he's being operated on by this guy, who may be confused with this guy.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

It'll change your life
I guess we surprised even the local radio station with the turnout for a small concert with The Shins that will be aired on the radio (and posted online) in the near future. It was a nice little set -- running through the two songs I already knew (thanks, Zach Braff) plus a few other tunes from their albums. Nice stuff and good way to pass about an hour.

The setup for the "concert" was interesting. It was just a large conference room minus any tables and chairs, but with a few instruments in the middle, plus a mixing board to the side, and the producer in an adjoining booth. However, they found a way to get in about 100-150 people into this small room just sitting on the floor and standing against the wall -- supposedly it was the largest turnout for any of their mini-concerts at the station itself. It reminded me of an event at my dorm in college.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Say goodbye to ...
-- Atlanta's oldies station, part two. It was a tad incongruous to hear an oldies station call itself "new," especially when it was around for two years at the time of its demise.
I'll miss the oldies station here in town, if just for a change of pace. Unfortunately, that station was slipping back to "Good Times and Eight Oldies," which is not a good sign. It's even more sadder that the station actually showed a lot more variety (for an oldies station, that is) in its final hours with their weekly "Atlanta Graffiti" show. Why does it seem that some of the most interesting and varied music on mainstream commercial radio comes on specialized shows?
You can check out more of the revolving Atlanta radio scene through my friend Rodney's radio blog.
-- Chris Candido, one of New Jersey's greatest wrestling talents who, unfortunately, is following a trend of younger performers of dying early. However, it should be said that he appears to have died from complications following an injury last week, and not from drugs, which is often the case. In fact, it makes his whole story all the more tragic.
-- My quizbowl colleagues (save a Mr. Jennings -- whatever happened to that basketball guy anyways?) in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions. I was at a local bar to share in Mark's first-ever defeat, and then watched Brian's loss at home a couple of days later. Great runs by both guys, it's just too bad they couldn't advance any further.
600 and 14
Sure, the runaway bride story may have been a bit overdone, but that's what happens when you're dealing with a society-page type wedding. I'm not sure there will be 14 combined bridesmaids or groomsmen in the multitude of weddings I have attended or will go to over the past year. Still, at least we can have a bit more fun with it now.

That's where my local alt-rock station comes in. My favorite Sunday morning show went thematic to close out the show, playing these songs in honor of this week's events:

Nellie Mckay: I Wanna Get Married
Liz Phair: Polyester Bride
Collective Soul: Run
Jack Johnson: Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Dave Matthews Band: Where Are You Going
R.E.M.: All the Way to Reno
Bethany Joy Lenz: If You're Missing (Come On Home)
Sheryl Crow: Leaving Las Vegas
Fiona Apple: Criminal
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: People Just Ain't No Good

Who says regular radio is a complete waste of time? Besides, it's offering me a chance to sit in on a private Shins concert next week.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Feeling a draft
For those interested, here's my column on the top fantasy prospects from the draft (mostly focusing on this year with a little nod to keeper leagues).

A few other notes and thoughts that didn't make the column for a variety of reasons:
-- Because he's from the alma mater, I will support the Luis Castillo pick, although the steroid charge is still a giant red flag, although I'll have to believe it's a one-time thing. At least you can't confuse that Luis Castillo with this Luis Castillo.
-- I wasn't sure where to put in a line about the Lions taking UConn's Dan Orlovsky since he's probably not a fantasy prospect for a few years, but it is worth noting that Detroit teams have done well with UConn alums, just ask the Pistons (Rip Hamilton) and the Shock (Swin Cash).
-- It's curious to see that Ohio State, Michigan and Northwestern all had the same number of players drafted. Michigan's three picks were among the first 33 and that was it; Ohio State finished its haul with Maurice Clarett; and Northwestern finally reached three with Noah Herron going to the Steelers (their second NU pick of the draft).
-- It may be just me, but Aaron Rodgers looks a lot like John Heffron, one of the Last Comic Standing winners.
-- I like the Jets taking a kicker where they did. Doug Brien was going to be run out of town on a rail, so why not take the best kicker there. Besides, they still got a solid corner in Justin Miller a few picks later. However, with all the big kicks that he had, the Nuge did miss a key one in the Buckeyes' loss to Northwestern, so he's not perfect.
Hello, I'm Kip Kyrgyzstan
You, too, can have your own Michael Vick Experience with the Ron Mexico name generator.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Boom goes the dynamite
Lest I be the one to judge someone's public speaking prowess in front of the camera, but after seeing a few too many iffy quizbowl moderators, this clip is just too funny. I figured it's the next Dream Job winner, but my friend called it the ESPN version of William Hung.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

More TRASHiness
For those interested, the stats can be found here and here. Oddly, IE renders it properly, but Firefox displays it in Kanji. It's been fun seeing some of the writeups from the competitors -- and noting what I wrote.

Any other remarks and stuff from the weekend are more than welcome in the comments.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Emerging from the TRASH heap
OK, I think I can sort of return to reality after working on TRASHionals stuff in between some non-stop stretches at the real job. After getting home late last night, I got a lot of much-needed sleep and a chance to just veg out today -- thankfully.

It was good to all the usual suspects again, including many of you on the left-hand rail who have already posted their results. (To the NUQB alums reading this, yes, I made sure to set up your matchup and read for it -- it's fun to have the power to do that.)

Actually, I wish I got to spend a little more time with a bunch more of people since there were others I barely got to see, but when you're running around and pulling the strings, there's only so much that you can see of the competitors other than the one round I read per team (if I see the team at all). In fact, other than people who know me very well, I'd realized most of the people involved have zero idea who I am (in the grand scheme of the organization) or what I do. For now, I'm OK with it, especially since a lot of the stuff I do are the small details that aren't so obvious -- the scheduling/bracketing/room flow stuff.

Nonetheless, the whole tournament worked amazingly well. We were ahead of schedule for a good part of the weekend and I saw a nice spread of competition and met some nice new people along the way. I think the questions were solid, although there are some hitches of course. (Yes, we may have overdone the Sideways stuff.) I have to tip my hat to the Pitt/CMU people who provided tons of support and did a good job of putting up with me as I directed people around.

Congrats to Brian, Jeremy, Mark and Dave for winning it all (undefeated no less plus a thrilling final match) -- I suppose the belt will travel pretty much in a straight line from Wisconsin to Barrington to Columbia to Norman.

Pittsburgh was a very nice city from what I saw this weekend -- and I suppose it will give me a sneak preview when I get around to visiting the Groces when they move up there later this year. PNC Park was very nice for one of the neo-retro parks and it helped that it was just a few blocks away from our hotel (which also hosted an event that so lent itself to a bonus question).

The Cathedral of Learning was an impressive site from the outside and very nice enough inside for hosting a large tournament -- although it would've been cool if we could've had matches in "The Italian Room," "The Armenian Room," etc. Plus, from a logistical standpoint, it was nice that there were a ton of eateries just down the street. I finally got my chance to try out Primanti Brothers, although I wasn't as overwhelmed by it as much as I thought I would -- the fries in the sandwich were nice, but the steak part was a disappointment. FWIW, it was interesting that there was only a slight markup in the price of the sandwich at PNC compared to the restaurant itself.

Finally, on the way home, I finally got my chance to test out the XM Radio on the AirTran flight. It was pretty cool since there were plenty of listening options, compared to the preprogrammed stuff that usually shows up on in-flight entertainment, although it's still not the Dish Network stuff I got on Song. But it at least it give me something to look forward to the next time I fly the airline.

Friday, April 01, 2005

It's been a week full of deaths, and now you can add Mitch Hedberg to the list. He was a guy I started warming up to (I can dig the hippy/stoner version of Steven Wright), and I know at least one of my co-workers was a big fan (heck, he might've gone to see him just before his passing since he died in New Jersey, ostensibly after doing a set). I really did want to see the double tour with Stephen Lynch, but I ended up having to work.

Here are some of his best lines.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

The next time I do a covers audio round, you'll thank me for this; otherwise, just be warned that I enjoy finding the least essential covers ever recorded.
Self-indulgence in a different form
Yesterday was a day of discovering my personal connections to the sports and pop cultural worlds (as tenuous as that might be).

First off, congrats to Craig for his appearance on the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, my second friend to show up in the competition (with at least a couple of more acquaintances to show up soon). But I'll let Craig tell the story and give away any spoilers for those who haven't seen it.

Secondly, it was good seeing the most prominent alum from my high school who didn't resign in disgrace calling the McDonald's All-American Game, which featured another fellow Falcon. The guy was a beast on the inside for the time I saw him. (And when the heck do we get 7-foot, 300-pound centers to my high school?) I guess I'll be following UConn for the next couple of years.

Oh yeah, I was just as surprised as anyone else watching the work site was advertised during the game.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Just a couple of links to share for now while I'm working on TRASHionals questions:
-- The local alt-rock station celebrated Easter with the countdown of the Top 25 Songs That Laid the Biggest Eggs. Surprisingly, I only own less than half of the list, but seven of the top 10.
-- My friend Steve may have let his regular blog fizzle away, but now he's got a wedlog going.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

-30-
I now find it quite amusing that this is the symbol for "the end" in much written copy, especially since I just hit that magical number today. I don't feel all that much different, although there is this nagging feeling that I should be more "grown up" at this age. Then again, knowing some of my other friends and colleagues that are older than me, I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it -- age really is just a number. Plus, I'm sure I can still pass for much younger, so I don't necessarily have to worry about lying about my age for a while (no need to be perpetually 29).

It is also amusing that I'm now hitting the first real round number age people care about and make cards for. For instance, how did 18 and 21 become such landmark ages, while 20 is rather inconsequential?

Saturday, March 19, 2005

More madness
Would've had an earlier update, but technical issues at work kept me even beyond some of my latest late-night posts. Finished the first round 26-6 and tied for first in a couple of pools, but I lost three of the last four games and an elite eight team in the mix (Kansas). However, my out-there Final Four pick Georgia Tech is alive, much to the chagrin of GW alums JD and Tim. But Bucknell was my only big buster so far -- and my Sweet 16 surprise Vermont made me look good (if only Bill Raftery were calling the game to scream "Onions" on T.J. Sorrentine's ridiculous 30-footer).

I didn't pick both upsets, but Stewart Mandel did and he found someone else at a bar who also picked Bucknell, making for a fun watching experience.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Commercial appeal
After a while, most of the ads running during the NCAA Tournament just meld together, but I'm still trying to figure out who the girl is in the McGriddles ad, although I think it's Hilary Swank's sister in Million Dollar Baby.

BTW, is it a good idea to even compare a woman to a McGriddles sandwich? Given my experiences with said sandwich, I don't know if it's the comparison you want to use to grab a guy on the rebound.

And speaking of ads, how in the heck does three seconds of a Pepsi ad get a girl her own fan blog and subsequent radio interviews and Maxim spread? But at least it's not a blog about this Pepsi girl.
You'd think that with all the weird notices that appear on my cable box that they would've mentioned there was a second channel for NCAA Tournament games (channel 999 in this case). It's not like having all four games at once, like on DirecTV, but having two to flip to (plus having the score panel at the top of the screen), makes it a decent watching experience.

So now through 20 games, I'm at 17-3 -- losing with Minnesota today. I guess I should've come up with an easy way of picking some midrange games -- if they lost to Northwestern, I shouldn't pick them. But if they have a former Northwestern player, go with them -- Ed McCants of Wisconsin-Milwaukee being the latest ex-Cat to light up in the tournament.
Fantasy becomes reality?
I suppose if the stats-based guys are starting to run major league front offices, why not give a job to an astute fantasy player?

Yahoo's contest with the Giants is very intriguing, since it does show that the fantasy world is being more accepted by baseball bigwigs (although there is that new deal with MLBAM that's causing quite a stir among those running fantasy games -- and why nothing launched until mid-February).

A couple of thoughts come to mind with this, though:
-- The one-year contract is nice, but while being in the front office could be a dream job for many people, is $30K (plus an extra $15K cash prize) enough for the winner to move the Bay Area?
-- Which type of fantasy baseball is better training for this type of job -- a draft league or an auction league? Given the nuances of salary structures, wouldn't a good auction player have a leg up on succeeding on this type of job over a draft player? On the other hand, I'd be waiting for those bizarre bidding wars you'll see in an auction ($29 for Shane Andrews is still my all-time favorite).
-- Depending on demeanor, would said winner be in constant contact with Bud Selig trying to change rules or challenging trades?
-- Finally, one last tangential note: On the cover of Baseball Prospectus, it says something to the effect of "The Bible for Fantasy Baseball." While it provides plenty of great analysis, how much can you consider it a "bible" if it doesn't provide any wins or RBI stats in the player profiles when it's a critical part of most leagues? (Yes, I know about the flaws in emphasizing individual wins and RBIs. On the other hand, can I get in on a fantasy league that provides VORP as a category?)
More madness
So I finished the day 14-2, one of my best first-round performances in a while, although having just three "upsets" overall helped, but I did hit all three of them -- UAB, UW-Milwaukee and Nevada. I whiffed on UCLA (Bob Knight is starting to win in the first round again) and Iowa (sometimes riding the hot hand doesn't always work).

That means I'm going to get obliterated tomorrow, especially since I do go out on a limb with a few of my picks. Early prediction -- I go 9-7 and lose a Sweet 16 team or two.

On another note, here's a reason why the Catholicism Wow bracket strategy isn't that great an idea after all.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Early tournament blogging
I'm not going to be as detailed as Bill Simmons for obvious reasons, but here are some thoughts from the first few hours of the madness:
-- I went 4-for-4 in the first slate of games. The 12 seed strikes again as UW-Milwaukee beat Alabama -- one of the easier upsets for me to pick.
-- Thank goodness I don't live in Lexington anymore. I wonder what the buildup for the UK-EKU matchup was like there?
-- I like the running scores stripped across the top of the screen, even if it is a bit much in the sensory overload and sometimes forgetting the score of the game I'm actually watching. The scores help out when you don't have a satellite package, for instance, but CBS has been good in switching from game to game.
-- Eventually I'll get around to ripping the CBS commercials like everyone else, but I'm barely paying attention right now.
-- It looks like I made a good choice in not taking the Ivy League team for the first time in ages. But Iowa is making me look a bit bad, but it's hard to pull for Bob Huggins. UTEP could be a nice team, but why did they go with the shade of Tennessee orange for the jerseys?
-- Geez, how many guys are named Jason Williams in college hoops these days? And is Duke's J-Will going to be doing any NIT games? (I doubt they'll give him a tournament game, but it is the one time out of the year I get to hear from Jim "Mister" Spanarkel.)