Friday, December 22, 2006

Ho, ho, ho, hiatus

Yeah, so it's been a while since I've posted something. A combination of work, travel and lots of apathy in play here. Anyways, lots of this and that going on since the last post.

First off, I returned to Atlanta at the end of last month/beginning of this month for Trashmasters once again in Chattanooga. Nice to be a tourist in my former home city for a few days, not to mention seeing some old friends again (although not as many as I would've liked), and somehow waiting until the trip to see my first hockey game of the season.

As for the tournament, finally got to team up with Craig for the first time ever and we ended up losing in the finals to the team that will eventually be my TRASHionals teammates, so that's interesting. Plus, I got to defend my K-Tel Hell title, so the belt now sits in my cubicle itching for some more adornments.

I probably should've picked up adornments in the Tower Records bankruptcy sales. For the first time, things at Tower were actually at reasonable prices, but that's because everything was 60-70% off during my first trips and then 90% yesterday, the day before the stores closed for good.

I did get a ton of stuff I wouldn't have even sniffed at picking up for full price, but for $1, $2 or $4, I'm on top of it. Obviously by the time I got there, lots of the decent stuff was gone, so you had to stretch your mind thinking you landed a find (cool, there's that Bronson Arroyo cover album or what's the deal with all the Foghat). Thankfully I wasn't actively seeking out ironic prizes for trash tournaments, so I didn't load up my bags with even more crap than I already bought because I was interested in it. So while I spent decently on "real" gifts for family and friends, I was able to load up without feeling too guilty about shopping for myself. I think I could've bought three CDs at Tower for the price of the 25-30 things I did get.

As for other things going on, we were amused in the office when Mike and the Mad Dog got really worked up over the SI Sportsman of the Year choice of Dwyane Wade (including a heated argument with my overall boss). We were indifferent, although I think I had a decent choice.

Meanwhile, a few floors down, there's been some interesting feedback over Time's Person of the Year. One person wondered if you could put down on your resume that you were Time's Person of the Year. I wonder how wise it is picking "you" since "you" in general come off as a moron. For every one great blog, YouTube video or substantive online discussion is about 500 others much more idiotic (like this blog, to be honest).

But on the other hand, if you want to know how strange the MySpace generation can be, check out this story from one of my Medill classmates now at the New York Post. My own intriguing MySpace story has me finding one of my fellow Jeopardy! contestants and getting in touch with her for an interesting project.

And in the same online realm, the Vote For Rory Fitzpatrick project is working like gangbusters. However, having just filled out my NHL All-Star ballot, it seems a lot easier to pull off the "write-in" vote here than in other sports -- especially online. First off, there's only 12 actual choices for defenseman in the West and secondly, there's actually "write-in" candidates listed in the dropdown, so it's very easy to choose him as opposed to actually having to type in a name. Still, it's a spirited campaign and one that's actually working as opposed to some of my obscure baseball All-Star Game campaigns.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Spy Vs. Spy

Here's the one thing that has intrigued me about the state of elections these days -- how did the current red and blue state designations come to be? When I was at the Reagan Library last year, a map of his 1980 victory had the states he carried in blue while Carter's was in red.

Secondly, to use some, I guess, outdated stereotypes, wasn't the left formerly accused of being red (the old Communist line), while many conservatives were painted as elitist blue bloods?

By the way, it was interesting being back up here in the New York area for election day -- we got three states worth of attack ads, including one for my new old district.

In other news, when I saw Borat, I couldn't help but think a lot about this guy. And apparently, so did he, as he's now asking for an apology.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Nostalgia redux

The latest dosage of VH-1 list crack just came through this past week with the 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. I had somewhere around 70 or so of the songs already on my iPod and trying to add more for completeness sake, even though there were a few interesting omissions -- Simple Minds, Tears for Fears and Survivor come to mind. But it's always a good font for trash questions and hey, Deborah Gibson and Susanna Hoffs still look good years later.

And speaking of the '80s, I guess the NPH really deserves an Emmy for playing Barney on HIMYM because he dispelled rumors he's straight.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Name that tune

I finally got confirmation about the song that plays in the GEICO ad with the caveman in the airport. It's called "Remind Me" by Royksöpp. Oddly enough, I got the information straight from the Gecko's blog on GEICO's site.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

What is missing the point?

While my double review of Brainiac and Trebekistan was a little bit rambling and such, it still isn't this New York Times twin review, which seems to want a lot more from the books than what could ever be offered from former contestants, even those who have been on plenty of times, like Ken and Bob.

Monday, October 23, 2006

27 and counting

27 and counting
Just as I thought I was outgrowing Weird Al Yankovic, all of a sudden, he has his first top 10 album and top 10 single.

The first single is a YouTube sensation, which is a big reason for the chart sucess. YouTube somehow reached the people wanting to buy the album and single, even moreso than a "Top 40" station, wherever those actually exist these days.

Slate has an interesting piece going into how Al's career has lasted all this time, although I'm still trying to figure exactly what he did this time around to get major chart action when he hasn't really changed the formula (nor does he have to).

Saturday, October 21, 2006

This day in infamy

Note to self: Do not order a sandwich called the meltdown while watching your alma mater set a dubious NCAA football record. And oh yeah, I was on hand for this account of said meltdown.

More updates on the past few weeks in due time.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Publishing industry for $2000

Publishing industry for $2000
So I've now finished off both Brainiac and Prisoner of Trebekistan, fulfilling the need for books about Jeopardy! for about 10 years -- although there will be plenty of first-person accounts in various media outlets until the show finally runs it course.

These books are definitely must-reads for Jeopardy! fans, or more to the point obsessed game show geeks like myself. The actual target fan (i.e. those who actually have a use for HeadOn or the life insurance policies plugged on the show) definitely will not get a lot of the snappy writing in both books.

Of course, both books answer some of the basic questions people have about the show that I, too, have had to answer recently (What's Alex like? How does the taping session work? Do they give you a list of things to study beforehand? No, really, do they give you a list of things to study?), so a lot of that is very familiar -- especially since I've prattled on about it myself. Having plenty of friends precede me on the show also made a lot of the book very familiar.

After going over some of the basic mechanics of the show, the books take somewhat different paths to further complement the Jeopardy! experience.

In Brainiac, Ken Jennings used the Jeopardy! experience to highlight America's trivia subculture with some fun stories about trivia writers, the crazy radio trivia marathon in Wisconsin, Thomas Edison's test and even how the word trivia is misused. And of course is a trip to the quizbowl world that is definitely familiar, given I was at the NAQT high school tournament in Chicago that Ken discusses. He paints an interesting picture of how people are drawn to knowing stuff -- and Jeopardy! is probably the best jumping off point anyways given its status in the current cultural landscape. (What is funny is that Ken regularly talks about "general knowledge" -- a term seemingly derided in some corners of the quizbowl world.)

Given the number of games he won, it's both surprising and a bit refreshing that Ken doesn't recreate every single episode in his run -- although something about the Ultimate Tournament of Champions might have been nice. However, there were plenty of anecdotes during his run to spice things up (the constant trips from Salt Lake City to L.A., running into people he knows at the taping). He can't really downplay 75 episodes, but at least he made it not just a simple narrative of his time on the show.

What made Brainiac a very good read was Ken's writing style. I suppose I got used to it recently reading his blog before getting the book, but it seemed very comfortable and in many ways sounded like the way I sometimes write, or at the very least, some of my friends whose blogs are linked over at the left. Sure, I know Ken somewhat, but it really felt familiar reading it.

As for Prisoner of Trebekistan, it's a bit more self-indulgent and a lot more interesting for the truly rabid Jeopardy! fans wanting to recreate games. However, Bob Harris is also a funny writer and he makes what really is just his life story somewhat relevant to people (at least Jeopardy! fans). Finding a way to connect his life experiences to what categories appeared on the show was clever -- although I suppose if you're on the show as many times as he had, it probably shouldn't have been a surprise. On the other hand, Bob did show that his studies for the show did open up his mind to new experiences (which he got to act on after winning enough to allow him to travel to such places)

Bob also had a great insight on how some Jeopardy! contestants can remain close even after trying to outwit each other on national TV. The tournaments may be better at fostering that friendship, and sometimes I wish I could've stayed closer in touch with some of the contestants from my taping (I've found one on MySpace and that's about it).

As a more "general interest" book, Ken's is obviously the way to go. Crafting Brainiac the way he did opened himself up to a lot more interesting writing and avoided excess first-person stuff that Bob slipped into (although he could spread out the ultimate inside experience over a lot more time). Of course with the right writer and editor, anybody's life story can be interesting as long as you've got a good hook.

What is interesting is that just about a year after my taping in L.A., Jeopardy! has been all over the place in life -- with the books and a trip to see a Celebrity Jeopardy! taping on Thursday. It really does make me wish I could do the whole experience again.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The written word

I'll have reviews of the Jeopardy! books in due time, although I will say it is weird to read the two books with the new Chuck Klosterman collection in between.

Anyways, I figured I'd point out that somehow I'm mentioned in the same sentence as one of the more well-known writers at SI. There's a lot more I probably could say about it, but I'll keep that to myself for now.

Monday, September 18, 2006

TV time

TV time
Caught a couple of series premieres tonight in between the offensively-challenged Monday night game. Nope, neither are on my LaPlaca squad.

The Class: I'm a big fan of the concept, although it seems like it could've been a better movie than sitcom. (I'm a sucker for the nostalgia they're highlighting). However, the weird twist at the start of the show sort of tries to force the action into a passable sitcom about more people in their late-20s (in other words, people just slightly younger than me). Seems like a harmless enough show and it's the right type of lead-in for How I Met Your Mother (in fact, the characters on both shows are approximately the same age).

Studio 60: I enjoyed Sports Night, but didn't watch much West Wing, although this series seems to be a good amalgam of the two shows (including a cameo from Felicity Huffman) plus a heavy dose of Hollywood insiderish stuff. It's a solid pilot and I've got high hopes for the season -- just have to make sure to either DVR it when the Monday night game is actually good.

Oh yeah, still going through Braniac, but it is interesting to see a bunch of people I know (including some whose blogs are linked on the side) mentioned prominently in the book, not to mention an entire subculture with which I'm very closely involved. Unlike Wordplay, where it just seemed like I knew the people (although eventually meeting a few), I actually know a lot of what Ken is talking about, and even written about myself.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I am nerd, hear me roar

I am nerd, hear me roar
If I needed any verification of my utter nerdiness or geekiness, I went to the first signing stop in the Ken Jennings book tour (although he's been just all over TV plugging the book -- including a fun appearance on The Colbert Report on Wednesday).

An aside, what a strange 1-2 punch on Colbert: Ken on Wednesday, Bill Simmons on Thursday.

In many ways it was your basic book signing -- a couple of excerpts from the book were read aloud, some of the same stories he's told numerous times about his experiences on the show, a few of the usual questions about game shows and other assorted stuff from the crowd. (However, it's rather ironic that the signing took place at 7 p.m. -- when Jeopardy! airs in New York.)

But the crowd is where I knew that I was definitely in my element, which was comforting and scary at the same time. I ended up sitting in a row two of the players featured in Wordplay . So you've got the crossword puzzle people on one hand. During the Q&A, I heard from a former DC-area quizbowl player and game show fanatic.

And to round out the intersection of all these knowledge-based cabals, I ended up hanging out with a handful of people from the Jeopardy! message boards, even though I only knew the real names of a couple of the people. So yes, it was very odd to match faces to screennames -- if that doesn't just scream of geekiness, I don't what does. And hey, I'm in the middle of the whole thing, so what does that make me?

In the end, it was a fun little outing. That Barnes and Noble in Union Square is pretty cool (not used to a four-level B&N). I got the book and will probably be part of my commute reading very soon, and KJ even recognized me (he seemed to see a bunch of familiar faces in the crowd). I'll eventually have a review of the book up here. Not only do I have that book to read -- I need to grab the "other" Jeopardy! book not to mention the latest Klosterman book.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Yes I'm still here

Sure it's been a while since I've posted anything here -- the day job (and especially the day blog) is taking precendence.

However, I was able to make my annual trip to Vegas, and that's always fun -- even if my sort of fun often involves wandering up and down the Strip in 100-degree heat. This time around, I was at the Stardust for very much its last hurrah. While I thought Excalibur was a bit too Disney-fied for my tastes, Stardust really did show its age in both the facilities and the clientele. (The 1958-2006 notation on the chips was both celebratory and sad at the same time.) But hey, at least it did have wi-fi access, even if I couldn't pick it up in my room and only got a signal in the lobby.

I still haven't been to downtown, but I finally got to see the Palms and Rio up close. The Palms is an interesting vibe since the gaming area didn't seem all that huge but all the other stuff (clubs, movie theaters, etc.) made up for it.

Oh yeah, I also saw the new Hooters Casino. I was slightly disappointed to see "regular" people serving as dealers when I got in. Then I got to the area where their famous girls served as dealers. So of course I played some blackjack in that area. Otherwise, it's a pretty blah casino.

Another interesting thing is that for as popular as poker is these days, I think not every casino really needs to have a poker room. Some of the more popular places were full (I was trying to find the "stars" at Bellagio, for instance), but others were practically begging for action. Before some of us ended up starting a game at Stardust, one of the dealers and a few hangers-on eyed us like prey, hoping we'd play.

Similar thing happened at Tropicana as I walked by after they announced an opening at a table there. As I got there, I was practically whisked into a seat before I could even think about it. And even quicker did my money disappear. While seeing a long waiting list is disheartening, is it any better to be begged and hustled to play?

Oh yeah, I keep on getting haunted by Barry Manilow, as he had his own show, a gift shop and a giant picture of him along with the Star Trek sign at the Las Vegas Hilton. At least Stephen Colbert knows how I feel about Mr. I Write the Songs.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Disembodied head

Disembodied head
Eventually I'll have to scan in my floating head that appeared in the new fantasy insert of the magazine this past week. Hey, I actually beat a couple of my NU colleagues in the office in getting my face in the mag. That, and some nice promos for the other blog.

Unfortunately, my fellow alum Luke Donald couldn't overcome the Tiger juggernaut, but I'm trying to figure out what's weirder -- one Slam wonder Shaun "not HBK" Micheel finishing second or that John Kruk had to do some PGA highlights during the Yankees-Red Sox rain delay.

I didn't watch the final round, in between scouting out places to live, I also caught World Trade Center, a solidly produced film. Not as powerful as United 93, but a strong film nonetheless.

So now I've seen NFL preseason games at three different stadiums, adding Giants Stadium to the mix for this ho-hum nationally televised contest. It was probably only about half full, and about 10% was left by the fourth quarter. But after all these years, I've finally seen my first NFL game at the Meadowlands. On the other hand, you can tell it was the preseason when the pee-wee game at halftime was more entertaining.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

All in

I didn't post much off the recently completed World Series of Poker main event, although it's good to see ESPN turning it around into shows starting next week. It was interesting following along on-line, mainly because other outlets started making money off it.

Anyways, the one thing I found sorta intriguing about the final table is that there was plenty of support for the one true "pro," although the eventual winner did have a decent backstory to him. It's a major opposite from a major golf tournament like the U.S. or British Open, where an amateur doing well against the pros gets extra support (Matt Kuchar while he was at Georgia Tech, for example), while here, the pro is the sentimental favorite against a bunch of amateurs.

I suppose that says something about poker today that if a big-named pro survives to the final table at the main event, it's almost an upset, whereas an amateur winning it all is now commonplace.

As for something completely different, the silly gimmick of putting stars of an upcoming TV shows in the crowd of major sporting events has shaken down to regular-season Yankees game hyping the new MyNetwork TV. Instead of Sammo Hung at the Final Four or the cast of That '70s Show at the World Series, we get guys (not even the hot women) from this new show and this other new show "found" in the crowd. Kinda silly really, and I definitely feel for Michael Kay having to do those promos this evening.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Silly cinema

Silly cinema
Sorry for the lack of posts. A rapidly declining laptop at home, combined with regular updates at the work blog has kept me from randomly spouting off on stuff here.

Two movie-related things that needed to be posted here:
1. I went to the Netflix Roadshow screening of Clerks in Red Bank, down the street from the original Quick Stop where the movie was filmed. Kevin Smith has his own brief report of the night on his site -- I got there just before the movie actually screened so I missed the Q&A and only got a quick glimpse of Silent Bob, his wife as well as Lisa Loeb (who did some hosting, I think).
They did bring back some of the cast as well. Dante made a brief appearance that I missed, but Veronica did stick around after the film. Even funnier were the appearances by the roofer in the Death Star/contractor discussion and the little girl who bought a pack of cigarettes. Thankfully I didn't geek out completely and get autographs (they were just signing Netflix cards anyways
The Roadshow idea is pretty cool, especially since three of my favorite films are part of this year's tour. While all the Clerks stuff was gone before I could get to it, I did snag this poster, this poster and an Unpainted Arizona t-shirt.

2. I did rush out to see Talladega Nights and thought it was pretty funny, although not on the level of Anchorman -- at least not yet (when a ton of lines spring to the surface after multiple viewings). I will say that the oddest cameos in the film can be summed up in the line: "Is that Elvis Costello and Mos Def?"
Oh yeah, and was I the only one to think this actress was in the film when it reality it was this Oscar nominee? The previous has connections to two of the main stars, but hey, when you can increase the Oscar nominees in the cast to three, why not?

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Settling in

Settling in
I'm slowly but surely getting used to life back in the Northeast. I'm learning different ways to get into the city and to the office via a variety of commuter trains and subways, not to mention working "regular" hours.

On the other hand, I'm diving right into my work (although still having to solve a variety of paperwork/computer issues that come with starting a new job), which includes a new work blog. Seemingly everyone has at work now, so might as well jump in, even though this one has been around for a ridiculous long time.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Safe at home

Safe at home
Well, I'm now in New Jersey for good, and starting up in New York on Monday. It's been an interesting week or so as I made the move out of Atlanta. While I did have a fun "goodbye tour," including a big party at this place a little more than a week ago (which saw a number of my different social universes converging in one place -- much like the Jeopardy! party), I also had to spend a bunch of time finally getting rid of my couch and recliner thanks to a couple of interesting Craiglist buyers.

I took off for good Thursday morning, using a little different route than I'm used to -- taking I-85 from Atlanta to Charlotte, then I-77 from Charlotte to southwest Virginia, then I-81 for a lot of Virginia plus cameo appearances from West Virginia and Maryland. I eventually stopped in Hagerstown, just short of the Pennsylvania border (after about 12 hours on the road), in time to catch the World Series of Pop Culture (I wept as the contestants whiffed badly on the SNL category). Then it was off for a relatively short (3 1/2 hours) jaunt through Pennsylvania and into New Jersey to finish things off.

Almost fittingly, I got back in time for the first weekend of Clerks 2, which I got around to seeing today. If you liked the original movie, you'll like this one. If you didn't, you probably won't. I was a huge fan of the original, and the sequel was just fine -- nothing amazing, just some silly entertainment. I have my doubts for its box office take, if only because a lot of the local multiplexes in the area have it on only one screen for opening weekend.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The final countdown

The final countdown
Just about a week or so before I leave the ATL for good. Been doing tons of packing, cleaning up, selling off most of my furniture on Craiglist (if anyone in the Atlanta area wants a couch, I've got a nice one available) and having friends and family taking me out to lunch to send me off. Still some more prep work to be done, including how I'm going to fit what's left in my car and another going-away party on Friday (my boss had one for me with fellow co-workers last week). Oh yeah, finished off my last night shift tonight, seemingly doing what I will be doing once I get up to New York.

But as for other stuff going around:
-- Wordplay: Finally returned to the movies after a long hiatus, and it ended up being the crossword puzzle movie. Fun stuff, although I swear I've come across many of the featured competitors in real life, even though I know I haven't.
-- An interesting July 4th for me as I saw Superman Returns with Alyson (seemingly only seeing each other on national holidays) before an aborted attempt to see the Lenox Mall fireworks. The movie was decent, seemed like Superman 2 1/2. Brandon Routh was fine as the man of steel, and he seemed to channel Christopher Reeve, while Kevin Spacey started morphing into Dr. Evil toward the end. On the other hand, Kumar got no lines, Superkid had an interesting Lipnick/Jake Lloyd vibe going for him, and Kate Bosworth seemed to be assuming Cameron Diaz's Being John Malkovich look.
-- As for the fireworks, some nasty thunderstorms rolled through just before the show was to begin. It sounded like things were going to get cancelled (at least according to a cop at the place we had established camp at), so we went our separate ways. Then as I got home, I could hear the fireworks from my apartment, so my last chance to see them live fizzled out.
-- I suppose I should comment about the World Series of Pop Culture. I like the show -- the questions are fair, if at times a bit easy, although it strays into some real trivia, which is fine, though. The concept is very simple, which is good. I'm not a big fan of the hosts -- the Studio 7 experiment probably clouds my opinion of Pat Kiernan, while Miss Tungsten seems to be showing her age a bit, even if she had a decent Hef spread last year.
I had too many strikes against me for being on the show (not to mention it taped the same weekend as TRASHionals), but I know I could more than take them on (as could plenty of my quizbowl colleagues). However, watching Wednesday night's episode on DVR, I realized I went to college with Mac from the Bobby, Ricky, etc. team (the middle guy in the team picture; he's a frat brother of one of my friends from school), meaning I'm not the only Filipino-American alum from Northwestern with game show and pop culture experience anymore.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Shuffle up and watch

Shuffle up and watch
While World Cup Soccer has curtailed some of my late-night poker reruns, the actual World Series of Poker has already started. And even more interesting, ESPN will be starting coverage of the main event in late August, just a few days after it has been completed. And for those (possibly like me) wanting to follow in real time, the final table will be available on pay-per-view.

While it's great to see ESPN make such big changes to their coverage, I do wonder what the ratings will be and whether we've already hit the high point of poker's popularity. With the ridiculous flood of shows out there (for instance, I am curious as to how Chris Rose and Barry Tompkins feel about calling so much poker for FSN), can and will the WSOP stand out even if it is the one event that casual fans know about?

Saturday, July 01, 2006

And I'm moving where?

So I guess that line about "closing the state of Florida" from National Lampoon's Vacation isn't completely wrong. You just have to go up to the Garden State where a sales tax dispute had the governor "closing" the state of New Jersey.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Goodbye, coach

Goodbye, coach
Sometimes it's both good and bad that I currently live close to work. That really came into play when I caught the news of Randy Walker's sudden death on ESPN News when I got home last night. I eventually rushed back to the office to get that story up and then deal with a second fire of the latest Tour de France doping scandal.

But back to Walker. He provided lots of ups and downs for NU fans during his seven years at the helm, but at least he got the team to at least a certain level of consistent respectability, further building on Gary Barnett's legacy (remember that I was an undergrad during the Rose Bowl days) and then adding his own twists, especially the now much copied spread offense. While I'm a pretty avid fan no matter what, Walker kept things interesting, that's for sure. It's a huge loss for the university.

For more on Walker, you can also check out my colleague Stewart Mandel's take, which also talks about a whole spat of tragedies hitting the university in recent history.

Monday, June 26, 2006

On the road again

On the road again
Posting has been plenty infrequent lately as I prepare for the move to Gotham. I've been up here at home in Jersey for most of the past week -- my brother's birthday party served as a good reason to drive up a ton of my stuff and get ready for jumping into the fray in just under a month.

And in a few hours I'll be starting another 16-hour road trip back to the ATL. The drive up was actually very good until I got slammed with traffic on I-95 around Alexandria and parts of the Beltway (including getting stuck in some bizarro traffic line near Andrews AFB after getting smacked around on gas) before cruising into Baltimore to see Dave, Jessie, Justin and Kristin (major props and thanks for letting me crash there).

The car got awesome mileage despite zipping through much of the mid-Atlantic with a ton of my crap piled in the back.

Even better, I amused myself by playing all the songs I had on the WOXY Top 500 Modern Rock countdown -- I had 224 of the 500 songs, and I didn't finish it off until I was driving around New Jersey and traveling to the city. (I started the shuffle with Radiohead's "Creep." Anyone want to take a guess at what was last?)

The drive back will involve the Blender 500 greatest songs since 1980. I've got 201 of those already loaded on (with a few more hiding away on CDs back in Atlanta).

FWIW, I was reasonably productive in New York as well, seeing the U.S.-Ghana game at the ESPNZone in Times Square, followed by Pedro pitching against the Reds for a matinee at Shea. Then doing some stuff at the new office. In a way, it was practicing the commute to and from my folks' place, so I had that going for me as well.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Caption time

Caption time!
"Ah, crikey! It's another one of those candygrams again."

Now it's your turn.

The list

For your reading enjoyment, here's the 2006 WOXY.com Modern Rock 500 list. I've been trying to figure out how many of these songs I already have -- it looks like 200 with a few more not ripped from my CDs. Not a bad ratio, especially with a handful of artists/songs I'm used to seeing on these lists not mentioned.

Now to do a similar project with 99X's Top 1000 countdown from last year. At least this will give me some good long-term playlists for my upcoming long drives.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Slacking off

Slacking off
Time to get cracking on the updates. There are some good excuses, but laziness is the easy one ...
-- Played tour guide for my brother his fiancee over Memorial Day weekend. Good times all around, even if we couldn't make it to the aquarium (I hope to do that before leaving town). I'll need to really brush up on my places to go in New Jersey and New York when I inevitably have my first guests visiting me up north.
-- Also spent part of Memorial Day watching minor league hockey. For the second straight year, I've seen a finals match featuring a Thrashers affiliate. Each time was a loss, but each time was very entertaining. And hey, I finally got to see a game with my favorite hockey fan.
And while it's unfortunate the Gladiators were downed in the finals, at least they didn't have to make a return trip to Anchorage to finish the series. Talk about some rough road tripping. That also means I've seen teams from Idaho and Alaska play in the Atlanta suburbs. No wonder the EC in ECHL doesn't stand for East Coast anymore.
-- Speaking of fringeish sporting events, all of a sudden I've become a softball fan thanks to the alma mater reaching the NCAA finals. Of course, even though the women have now won a second straight lacrosse title, a doubles tennis title and possibly a softball title, all anyone will remember is the soccer hazing stuff.
-- Also got caught up in the prime-time National Spelling Bee where "Jersey represent!" While it's nice to see the "up close and personal" profiles, you can see it wreaking some havoc with the timing and pace of the competition. And of course, there's that odd feeling of "I've actually heard of that word" -- but that was only in the daytime ESPN rounds and supposedly were the "easy" words.
What I wonder, though, is when ESPN Classic replays these bees in a few years (either on its own or on Cheap Seats), will some of the competitors get the same attention as this girl.
-- Speaking of spelling, I've had to moderate a bunch of comments for a blog at work. And while I'm blown away by the words these kids have to spell, I'm similarly baffled at how badly people spell in these comments. Forget "ursprache," try spelling "backfield" correctly.
-- In some ways, I'd prefer if people just spelled in internet/text message shorthand. At least there's some rhyme or reason to it. But before you learn how to post on any message board, be sure to check this helpful instructional video.
-- While digging up a new icon for some IM applications, I stumbled across something I'm stunned I didn't know before since it's just a couple of counties away. Check out the Cherokee County school board. Yup, that's the Dog-Faced Gremlin and famed Michigan alum.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Casey Kasem on steroids

One thing that used to be a staple of major summer holidays was the Top 500 countdowns. I haven't seen much of it lately down here in Atlanta, save for the 99X countdown I linked to a while back. Well, it looks like there will be at least one Top 500 countdown that might be worth catching, and you can all find it online at WOXY.com (the "future of rock and roll" from Rain Man) over Memorial Day weekend -- it's another Top 500 Modern Rock tracks. You can look at last year's list to get an idea where they're headed.

Not sure how much I'll be able to catch, but at least it's good to see at least another "radio" outlet (since WOXY is now exclusively online) bringing back the holiday weekend countdown.

Friday, May 12, 2006

More random musings

More random musings
--I'm trying to get my stuff together for the move, and so far it's involved clearing out about 5-6 years worth of EWs and SIs. Next up is figuring out which books that I bought at Goodwill sales over the years will end up going back to Goodwill.
--Eventually I'll read The DaVinci Code, but instead I finished up reading this book, which was written by a former colleague from the college paper. It's a compelling and entertaining read, and it should be interesting if and when it gets made into a movie.
--Speaking of movies, I did see M:I3 the other day, and when you watch that and 24 in the same day, all the plot twists, chicanery and silly corruption will make your head spin. Still, it's good for what it's supposed to be.
--It's fun to see some old contestants return for the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, but I can't help but feel a tad jealous that I couldn't get a second chance to be on the show. I will say that this is one of the first times where I've been familiar with almost every one of the TOC competitors by watching them on TV. But for now, I guess I can help others pass their auditions that are coming up.
--And how did I miss Leon getting traded for, what else, a bunch of cases of beer.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Start spreading the news. I'm leaving today

In a move that's a bit overdue, I'm being transferred up to the New York office, starting in mid-July. The details of what I'll be doing up there is still to be determined, but it's probably not much different than what I'm doing now.

I've enjoyed my nine years (yikes, has it been that long?) in Atlanta, but I guess you can go home again.

Austin City Limits

Talking points from a long weekend in Austin for TRASHionals 9:

-- Flew Southwest for the first time, having to go from Birmingham. The 2 1/2-hour ride from Atlanta to Birmingham was fine (first time in Alabama, shockingly), but the adventure parking was amusing because the airport still had signs for "Long-Term Parking," but the lane for it had a few extra speed bumps and a cone moved out of the way. After navigating that, I realized the machine wasn't working and I had to back out and into the "Daily Parking" lane (which is exactly the same price, etc., except that you don't realize that until you see a tiny sign mentioning price right at the gate to the parking deck). That confused both me and another guy with Georgia plates trying to come in. At many airports, there are three levels of parking, so blocking out that third (and usually cheapest) option just confuses the hell out of everyone.

-- I guess Southwest is like a bus or train since you invariably have to connect at least once no matter where you go. Going to, it was Birmingham to Nashville to Austin. With the layover and then delay in Nashville, I probably could've driven to Nashville and taken the flight to Austin. On the other hand, my friend Keith flew out of Nashville but through Houston to get to Austin, so who knows.

-- Austin is a very nice town, although the highways right around our hotel were a bit of a labyrinth and the map provided by the rental car company didn't help. I'd like to go back when I have more time to experience the city without other obligations. I did get to see the newly opened Blanton Museum of Art, though, on Sunday.

-- Congratulations to Phil, Tim, Rick and Josh for taking two straight games from Craig, Mike, Anne and Julie to win their first TRASHionals title. Some very exciting, well-played games in the finals. I was a bit relieved to see that the teams I had designated as top seeds (at least unofficially) did reach the final playoff group. Although it could say how predictable some of this could be. On the other hand, I was impressed with the Matt Levine-Simon Fraser combination finishing as high as they did.

-- The O'Reillys did well even though I read for three of their four losses and that one of their top players was missing to "spend more time with his family." (Congratulations, Brian and Christine, on the birth of their first child Lillian.)

-- Actually, as I'm putting this together am I realizing some of the better things that happened over the weekend. Unfortunately, most of my initial musings from the tournament were negative, and even worse, that seems to be the only way I can come out of running these events anymore.

Rob and Alma have already expressed their problems with some of the questions, for which I am immensely embarrassed, even though I didn't write any of the questions at issue.

And then there was an issue with another team (who I'm used to dealing with down here) who decided to rip me in front of any other team that was in the same food court as us for Saturday lunch because I didn't sufficiently address their protest when they came up to me with it as we were heading over for lunch. A combination of factors regarding that situation (that I won't go into here) got me very frustrated.

Then there's the array of bad or wrong questions that come up that we should've caught ahead of time. Unfortunately, it seems like those are the only things we hear about instead of questions people actually liked. Yes, we need to figure out where to improve, but after a while, I sometimes wonder if we do anything right. Maybe I take it harder since I do a lot of the little stuff that people probably don't realize I do for TRASHionals.

(I will say, however, that Kilby did tell me afterward that it was his favorite TRASHionals to attend -- unfortunately, I never got to read for him, and that it seems reactions like that are few and far between; although I'm not exactly soliciting them.)

-- But given some of the issues over the weekend, plus some other factors I am loath to discuss here related to all of it, this is my last TRASHionals (at least for now) in an official capacity I suppose I'll still be around to read and eventually play one of these days, but I think it's time to walk away. I do apologize to some of our regular players and customers, but sometimes you do have a take step backward before moving forward.

Drop it like it's pod

So in the midst of a lot of big things going on with me, I've spent a good part of the past two days trying to get that sad face of my iPod. After trying all the different "official" fixes, I finally got it to work by using an old staple -- dropping it on the floor. Since the iPod had gotten jostled a bit in my bag over the weekend, I eventually realized rejostling it might work -- and sure enough, after a handful of drops to shake the hard drive back into place, I've got operating once again and syncing up with my computer. Like one thread on the iPod boards discussion, it's almost like slamming a TV to make it work -- who knew something like that would work on something like this.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

It's been a while

Yup, things have been quiet over here, mainly because of the prep work for TRASHionals. As a couple of noticed, certain blogs go quiet for fear of giving away answers since many of us post about cool things we see. Many times they go here, other times, it's question fodder. So be it.

But a couple of things (that likely won't be going into questions any time soon) ...
-- I've come across my fair share of infomercials over the years, but I'm still floored that there's one of Piccadilly. I thought I was imagining things when I saw at 2:30 a.m., but then the former PAX network affiliate (which shows infomercials until about 6 p.m.) aired it. It pretty much comes across as some mutant cross of corporate training video and Food Network special.
-- Went to the Thrashers home finale on Saturday (which would really be the case after getting eliminated Monday). Fun game to keep the team in the playoff hunt, at least for the time being. But what struck me most at the game was the text message board displayed on the scoreboard before the game and during intermission. If you sent a text message to whatever number shown, you could get your messages on the scoreboard.
Which then led to a couple of "Go Thrashers!" or "I love [fill in name of player here]." But most of the time it was Napoleon Dynamite or Anchorman quotes, or "I love [fill in name of significant other]." There were even a couple of, guessing here, mock marriage proposals (possibly mocking some of the marriage proposals at sporting events I've seen over the years -- although I did see a rather elaborate one at Wrigley Field years ago involving the center field bleachers).
-- If you've heard the song "Steady, As She Goes" by The Raconteurs, the Jack White side project, the opening bars of the song sound very similar to Joe Jackson's "Is She Going Out With Him?"
-- I finally found Andrews Upstairs, a small Buckhead music club, while driving around yesterday. What was amusing was that among the artists I've never heard of, as well as the Retro Night, was this band playing later this weekend.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Rites of Spring

Happy Opening Day, everyone. I'm getting that free preview of the Extra Innings package and pondering yet again if I should subscribe to it for the season. So far, it's been fun to watch everything, although I still haven't got all my teams in order to figure out which games are really worth my time.

And of course with Opening Day comes the end of the NCAA tournament, which I always thought was a weird 1-2 punch because baseball gets pushed to the back in many places by the end of what should be a celebratory day. But then again, that's what the new Sunday night opener does, sorta (although mostly it throws people off since you're not sure if it's an exhibition or for real; same goes with the new Thursday NFL opener).

If baseball is one way you know spring is here, the other would be the layer of pollen sitting on my car right now. Hopefully it didn't aggravate too many allergies of the fine folks who came into town this weekend for JD's wedding.

The ceremony was at a beautiful new church that opted to maintain a more traditional look in the sanctuary, while also doubling as a sort of Marriott almost everywhere else. The ceremony itself was very nice, and it was very cool to see a bunch of quizbowl folks in town as well.

However, the one highlight that many of us will remember is having the Easter Bunny join us for some of the groosmen photos. For whatever reason, the Easter egg hunt was last Saturday (two weeks before Easter), and thus the bunny and a lot of kids were milling about as we were doing photos. Eventually I'll get a hold of one of those photos.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Sports, geography and more

A couple of sporting notes ...
-- I was stunned, like most people, to hear that an IRL driver was killed, but that he was also a fellow Medill alum. However, despite the fact that he was just a few weeks younger than me, I'd never heard of him until today and that he actually graduated two years before I did. I will say that I dug out some of my old graduation stuff, just to be sure.
-- If your bracket is going to go all to hell, might as well have just a ridiculous Cinderella do it in the process. Every year it seems like a team I pick to lose in the first round goes to the Final Four, but this is ridiculous.

And a couple of reasons why Google Maps rule:
-- The Geography of Seinfeld, which maps out a bunch of different locations from the show.
-- Jacktracker, which now adds a geographic layer into the potential plot holes on 24.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Cheap birthday pop

If you're like me, after a while you get used to the list of celebrities sharing your birthday. Mine's an eclectic mix, ranging from Houdini to Alyson Hannigan to Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt to the Undertaker. On the musical end, right now, I know of two notable ones because they're celebrated every year on the retro lunch hour radio show I listen to. One is Nick Lowe, who was recently feted on Coverville, and if it's an annual thing to hear "Cruel To Be Kind," that's fine by me. The other is Nena (or more specifically lead singer Nena Kerner), where hearing "99 Luftballons" every year elicits a different response, so it's interesting that VH-1 Classic is going to be a couple of days late in celebrating her birthday by playing her one big U.S. hit non-stop for an entire hour. It's actually part of a Katrina benefit, but you have to wonder who's really benefitting here?

I'm too old for this ...

So naturally I'm pretty much dead in my bracket pools after Duke and Gonzaga got bounced, both in spectacular ways. (Oh yeah, this photo is a winner.) Guess it's time to root on the Catholic schools to go all the way -- at least the Villanova-BC game should be fun for just that reason.

Other notes:
-- The Applebee's ad was seen just twice tonight, and only once during the basketball game. So I guess they've worn out their welcome.
-- Catching up on some of my DVR backlog -- Jimmie Walker is now Chris Rock's grandfather?!? Yikes!

And speaking of old, I turn 31 today. A couple of things come to mind at this birthday: I'm definitely not some newbie or junior member of groups in town. That hit home at an alumni club function this week where I definitely wasn't the youngest person there, not by a longshot, even though this event really brought in a lot of older alums to this really nice place.

I also felt slightly old a couple of weeks ago when a bunch of college kids came into the bar where I was playing trivia to celebrate one of the group's 21st birthday. I was probably a couple of steps away from pulling a Roger Murtaugh watching the kids come in.

Friday, March 17, 2006

I won't go into great lenghts over my brackets. Picked a few upsets (UW-Milwaukee, Texas A&M), just missed a couple (San Diego State, Winthrop [depending on the entry]), had scares with Final Four teams (BC, Gonzaga -- damn Jesuits). And I'm still alive with Bucknell in the Sweet 16.

(Oh yeah, it's still disconcerting hearing Verne Lundquist referring to today's big upset winner as Northwestern and not Northwestern State. Heck, so now we've both beaten Iowa this season.)

What is interesting, at least at home watching it during the day, is that my cable company is taking advantage of the extra digital channels to provide four feeds of games at any one point -- which is excellent for yesterday and today. Unfortunately, one of the channels is HD-only, which locks me out of one channel, but I still can get three at once for no extra charge. (Although given the price of my cable, I'd better get some value for it.)

Of course, while it's fun watching all these games, seeing the same ads over and over again can get a bit annoying:
-- First off, the in-game promos by the announcers for this show are amusing since no one can pronounce the star's name correctly.
-- Secondly, after watching the same Applebee's ad over and over again, my one thought is: So how many members of the Gilligan's Island cast are still alive? And are they as annoyed hearing that jingle over and over again as I am. That ad campaign actually has me longing for baby back ribs.
-- Voiced-over cell phone ads are fine. The ones with people acting in it have me looking for the phone with the "theft deterrent system."

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Everybody in the pool
Like everyone else, I'm setting up my own bracket pool. No money, just pride on the line here. I might scare up a prize if you do win, though. I'm not trying to cannibalize on all my other friends' pools, just giving you another outlet to do picks. It could be a good test lab for your crazy bracket if you wish.

Yes, I'm using the SI Hoops Bracket Challenge.

League name: JQ's Bracketball
Password: narnia

Enjoy and good luck.

Monday, March 13, 2006

My brain hurts
Maybe there'll be some bracket talk on here. Not sure. I'm just wondering if I can get out of organizing the office pool again. I've got enough friendly contests to worry about anyways.

Instead, I spent a good part of a beautiful weekend here playing Team Trivia, albeit for a lot of cash on the line. That bar trivia group has been doing a "league" concept where your team amasses points over the span of a few months. So if you're going to a place seemingly every week (and score well), like I used to do, and a number of others still do, you'll have a good shot of qualifying for a final tournament where the grand prize is $5,000 (in actual cash, not just bar cash). In this case, the top 100 highest-scoring teams qualify (not sure how many teams there are, but given the company runs shows in about 150-200 places around town, there's bound to be a lot of competition).

My schedule precludes me these days from doing bar trivia on a regular basis, but thankfully my friend Dave had a team and was able (thanks to some holes in the qualifying process) to get into a play-in/consolation tournament on Saturday for the final 25 spots in the big tournament (and play for a $500 first prize). Only 22 showed up there, so we all made the big show, but we eventually finished like fifth or sixth (only three places pay off) after leading at the half. We played it conservatively in the final round, which cost us in the end. Then again, while $500 cash was the first prize, second and third prizes were $250 and $150 in house cash. For a sports bar, that's a bit much money to be playing around with.

The big show was at the 755 Club, the exclusive restaurant above left field at Turner Field. Given that the season hasn't started yet, it would seem it would be easy to park at the stadium and head in. Wrong we were. At the same time the tournament was to start, we hit traffic for a Hunger Walk around the stadium. It made for some interesting cell phone conversations with my teammates as we tried to figure out where to park without running over some of the participants.

We eventually got in, and it was an impressive setup. Once we got through some early registration snafus, there were 120 teams playing for the big prize. The amusing part of the whole thing, though, was that even at the 755 Club, we were still getting typical bar food but at stadium prices. But hey, chicken fingers look slightly better on nice china.

The competition was pretty intense and the questions were really tough. It really was trivia. And while my team was happy to have a sports person on board, I was consistently getting stuff wrong. Yet, through the half, we were tied for fourth out of 120 teams. And like the day before, we stumbled badly in the second half, falling down to a tie for 10th before the final question. However, we cleaned up nicely on naming People's Sexiest Men Alive (we named 12 of the 16 without getting anything wrong -- there are penalties for wrong answers) but ended up falling a point or two out of a tiebreaker for the money (name as many of the 15 American Idol contestants who had a hit on any chart). We didn't get the big cash, but it was a fun time and we got a cool view of the stadium.

But anyway, here are some of the best questions over the past couple of days to test your brain:

Saturday's questions
1. What state's entire eastern and western borders are both rivers? Iowa (Greg) -- We got this one. First thought Missouri, then realized Iowa would have similar rivers bordering it and have shorter borders.
2. At 3.75 pounds eaten per person per year, what is the country's most popular seafood? Tuna (JD) -- We missed with shrimp, but tuna makes a lot of sense once we heard it. That weight sounds like an average eight or nine cans per person per year.
3. Name either of the two teams that share the record for appearing in the most NCAA tournaments without winning the title. Notre Dame/St. John's [27 each] (Flax) -- I guessed Missouri, but the Tigers have the record for most tourney appearances without a Final Four. And yes, that's a tough question, but it's a great way to separate the field.
4. What composer could only write music and play piano in the key of F?

Sunday's questions
1. The snowglobe was first created to commemmorate the building of this structure. Eiffel Tower (Mark) -- My friend Alyson thought of this right away, but we ended up guessing the Statue of Liberty as we tried to associate it with something wintry. This would've vaulted us closer to the lead heading into the final bonus question.
2. Who is the oldest living First Lady? Lady Byrd Johnson (Mark) -- Jeopardy! helped and hurt me on this. We guessed Pat Nixon after all the hubbub over the sorta-hose on a Daily Double last week. Both Johnson and Nixon were born in 1912. Forgot that Nixon was dead. Whoops.
3. What is the only state whose capital contains none of the letters in the state's name? South Dakota [Pierre] (Mark) -- We got this one. Just have to go through all the state capitals. The question is: Can you do it in less the length of one song (and what song? Stairway to Heaven or The Letter or something in between)?
4. What day of the week is the only that's an anagram of another word? Monday [dynamo] (Mark) -- We tried to challenge our guess of Friday [fraidy], but otherwise, we couldn't jumble around Monday quick enough.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Terence Moore is yet another basher of the World Baseball Classic, and one of the reasons he cites is the same that got trotted out at the Winter Olympics for why people didn't care/watch -- there's no real "enemy" like in the past when it was the Soviet Union/Iron Curtain countries.

Well, actually, I think there still is an "enemy" when it comes to international competitions -- it's us, or if you wish, U.S. We're the Duke/Notre Dame/Lakers/Yankees of international competition since we're the only superpower left. Plus, politically, we're hated both outside the country and now, more than ever, inside the country. Of course, it's hard for us to be "patriotic" about our sports teams when we're not sure if we're patriotic in our own country based on what we believe.

I suppose when it comes to future world competitions, instead of thinking of looking at the competition as Russia, Italy, Germany or China, just pretend they represent other things (since more and more people can't identify where these countries are on the map). Use either Conan O'Brien's smack talk for other countries, or just pretend to call those countries "The German Republic of Bush," "The Russian Yankees," "China/Duke sucks," "The Liberals of Latvia," etc.

Going back to the WBC, I'm getting into it, even if the "Yankess" aren't. Granted, not all the games are going to be on TV live, or just on ESPN Deportes, but it's still an interesting concept that needs to be tweaked a lot. If anything, it's a PlayStation-like experiment come to life. And while there are plenty of critics of it, how do those anti-WTO protesters feel about it since Bud Selig says it's supposed to support the "globalization" of the game. Hmmm ...

Monday, March 06, 2006

Interesting Oscars telecast, with EW and Defamer both having decent blow-by-blow blogs.

Jon Stewart was pretty sharp as a host and did a good job of reacting to the events of the show without overdoing it. However, it never seemed like the crowd warmed up to him -- it's like they wanted to laugh at some of his jokes but were afraid they'd be painted in a bad light either by "the public" or by his show later on.

As for other awards, since I only saw a couple of the films nominated for the top honors, it was more figuring out if I picked the winners right. I did a good job of predicting Memoirs of a Geisha for the "pretty" awards, but flipping the cinematography and original score awards with Brokeback Mountain. Speaking of the pudding movie, I guess I don't have to run out and watch it since it lost Best Picture (kind of how I felt about The Aviator last year).

But what does it say that I've seen exactly one Oscar-winning performance -- Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line? Although if Good Night and Good Luck had won anything, that would've made it at least two. And would've made Mark Cuban an Oscar winner, which would've been strange.

One final observation: Chicken Little actually came out to present an award, even though the movie itself was not nominated for Best Animated Feature, despite being just three nominees. Was it really that bad?

Saturday, March 04, 2006

The real Deal or No Deal
It looks like NBC is at least trying to pull a WWTBAM-type of oversaturation of Deal or No Deal, although it's addicting enough to stay on at least for a little bit longer -- if only because there's enough eye candy to keep things slightly interesting. However, those tie-ins with NBC shows have to go -- Molly Sims showed up in her Las Vegas character to bring Howie Mandel to Vegas (while contestants are still there).

But anyway, I think I had my own version of the game "shopping" for gas the other day. My regular station has seen the price go up 11 cents/gallon since Wednesday. That day, I passed on going there because another place that's usually more expensive actually had it 6 cents/gallon cheaper that the normal place (they quickly rectified that the next day). So in the process, I've ended up saving 17 cents/gallon playing some sort of gasoline roulette. It really has become a game in predicting when gas prices will bottom out and filling up then.

Finally, is it really safe to be nostalgic for the '90s now? I know some of the I Love the '90s panelists mocked the notion on the show itself when it aired (especially when it got to 1999), but now VH1 Classic is teasing me for another weekend with a "Smells Like the '90s" block of all '90s videos. Just think, these are all videos that would not have been allowed on the network when it first launched. Of course, when you realize Madonna's "Vogue" is 16 years old, well I suppose it does fit under the "classic" banner -- even if it is followed by Wilson Phillips or Right Said Fred.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Good luck and good night
OK, so Bill Simmons is joining the rest of the fish at the World Series of Poker this summer, even though it seems like he doesn't realize it. And while he goes on about his story of winning money in Vegas after watching Rounders (phase one in the mainstreaming of poker) and seeing some young kids get smoked at the tables, it seems like he's completely overlooking the on-line phenomenon where millions of people can get lots of real action (see Franz Lidz's story about the 18-year-old WCOP champ) -- and get their way into the main event. Sure, they may be fooling themselves into thinking they're good, but does Simmons really think he's much better? (Thankfully, he doesn't.)

When it comes to the WSOP, experience only matters so much because the amateurs will do lots of weird things the seasoned pros wouldn't do. Sometimes the fish get burned, other times, they'll beat the pros. You just don't know. With the numbers growing each year, the odds that a seasoned pro is going to win the whole thing get worse.

However, he does make a good point that bad beat poker stories are just as repetitive and annoying as stories about people's fantasy teams. Which leads me to ...

The recently released book Fantasyland, a chronicle of Wall Street Journal writer Sam Walker's foray into Rotisserie baseball via the Tout Wars experts league.

As might be expected, some of the stories of how his players get hot or run cold before or after key trades can get tiresome (as was Walker's talking to players, coaches and scouts about his team during the season), but it was amusing to see his braintrust (a former NASA engineer now working for the Cardinals and a guy who's appeared on my site) battle over concocting draft strategy -- the clash between classic scouting and the numbers game.

Thankfully, getting a full season's worth of stories about the league's participants, including a couple of colleagues I work with extensively (Jason Grey and Matt Berry) does provide for plenty of entertainment, although I guess it helps to know them.

The most interesting part of the book, though, in my opinion, is seeing the very strange rift between Ron Shandler and SABR, which in a way is indicative of the odd feud between fantasy players/experts/etc. and the growing class of baseball statistical analysts, despite both relying heavily on numbers to reach similar aims.

If you're into the baseball numbers game, fantasy or otherwise, it's an interesting read, but I think it'd be hard to get into it if it's not your cup of tea.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Paging Alanis
If you're going to complain about a lack of floss in jail, you might as well deserve Isaac Yankem as your cellmate.

Couple of other notes:
-- With all the hand-wringing over Bode Miller's washout, remember that he struggled in World Cup competition this year (after winning the title last year). It appears he pulled a Summer of Bode after winning the title, and looks like he turned Turin into the Winter of Bode as well. Oops.
-- The NFL Scouting Combine has been some intriguing TV to watch, even if it is just guys doing drills. It's also stranger seeing it while working out at the gym, especially when the 40-yard dash is going on while I'm on the treadmill.
-- Speaking of the combine, my colleague Stewart Mandel has a good response to the Vince Young Wonderlic debacle.
This whole hubbub over Young, especially in relation to Jay Cutler's rise up the draft charts, shows again how all-over-the-place NFL scouting/evaluation can be. Tom Brady is often considered better than Peyton Manning, and Joe Montana over Dan Marino because they've won the big games. It's wins over numbers over physical tools, so goes conventional wisdom.
We know Matt Leinart has all three, and he's a very good, safe pick near the top of the draft. Young obviously has all the freakish athletic ability, but he too has both numbers and big wins (including a head-to-head victory over Leinart at the Rose Bowl). Cutler appears to have the physical tools as well as the stats, but he played at Vanderbilt, where wins were few and far between (although beating Tennessee last year was huge). And yet, Cutler is being listed above Young in a few mock drafts.
The Brady and Montana comparisons are somewhat applicable as both were lower-round picks despite winning some big games in college themselves. That is not to say winning is everything, or else that Ken Dorsey-Craig Krenzel rematch a couple of seasons ago in the NFL wouldn't have been considered a bit of a joke.
I guess winning in college can be a detriment until you actually win in the NFL, and then it's a wonder why these guys weren't drafted higher. Hmm...

Monday, February 27, 2006

Now that the Olympics are finally done, I guess the focus turns to college hoops (although the World Baseball Classic will be intriguing, to say the least). So tell me why the ESPN juggernaut is showing Duke-UNC on three different channels with different cameras, including one just on the Cameron Crazies?

Speaking of Duke, Mark Bradley of the AJC put J.J. Redick at No. 15 of his top 20 players in ACC history. There's not much I can offer here, so I'll leave the floor open for some of the other college hoops junkies to sound off.

But before then, one last note about the Tar Heel state (or at least one of its former residents) ... Ben Folds' "Landed" has found its way onto ads for Hilton Journeys. It threw me off as I saw the ad tonight, and it's also the song constantly playing on the main screen.

I suppose of all his more well-known songs (with or without the Five), it probably lent itself best for use in commercials -- although the thought of a few of them to sell stuff (maybe "Army" to sell Chik-Fil-A) is intriguing.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

More adventures in wasting time
In recent months, VH1 Classic seemed to be sliding a bit since it started airing "regular" commercials and occasionally showing movies that "rock," but it's lured me in today, or at least giving the DVR a workout, with four hours of one-hit wonder videos. (The playlists for hour 1, 2, 3, 4)

Obviously, their definitions of a one-hit wonder are sketchy (I know the channel has shown the other Blind Melon video that's not "No Rain"), but it's still silly fun.

And on a similar note, while getting this entry ready, Blogger decides to put this blog as its featured site. I don't care how much money he's lost over the years, you'd think he'd still have enough dough to get his own domain name. Don't you think he's 2 Legit for 2 Use Blogspot?

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Is it over yet?
Few more Olympics thoughts as it's almost done -- none too soon with baseball and the tournament on the horizon ...
-- Nice finish to the curling competition -- especially the six (and should've been seven) in the sixth end by the Canadian men to clinch gold over Finland. The Finnish skip looks like an acquaintance of mine, or at least the guy from Rent who was also in A Beautiful Mind and Road Trip. (how's that for a resume?) And congrats to the U.S. men for winning bronze; Bemidji is getting a medal after all.
(Side note: Finland's president caught the gold-medal match a week after finally meeting Conan O'Brien, who used the Olympic break constructively.)
On the women's side, the Swedes (complete with cheesy metal video) took gold over the Swiss team (whose skip oddly resembles Shaun White) with Canada taking bronze.
It's interesting how much of a hit curling seems to be stateside (or at least every four years), and I wonder if it's the fact that a whole match gets shown (live in many cases) and thus you feel like something is unfolding in front of you -- as opposed to the chopped-up runs, races and heats on NBC's prime-time or mid-afternoon shows. Or it could just be that we could do that if given the chance (sort of how poker seems to be taking off since it seems any schlub could win the World Series of Poker main event).
-- However, while curling seems to be doing just fine on the fringes, Salon's King Kaufman has a point in that hockey seems to be shunted to the same edges of the primary NBC coverage -- although it's front and center for me because it's something live during the day. It's probably the biggest event at the Winter Olympics other than figure skating, but you don't see much of it on regular NBC coverage (even though it would be a good way to promote its own NHL coverage). But I suppose it's hard to chop up a hockey game and present it in the same prepackaged bite-sized nuggets like they've done with other marquee sports like skiing, figure skating or snowboarding.
-- Speaking of the Flying Tomato (and I'll agree with Flax that two straight SI covers with him seems a bit much; then again, Jerome Bettis had two covers in three weeks last month), it was amusing seeing Bob Costas pressing Sasha Cohen into responding to White's request for a date or whatever after his gold-medal win. Even more amusing was her "I'm so flattered, but ..." response. (That response sounds familiar. Oh wait, I think I've heard that from at least a couple of women over the years.)
Of course, if things with Sasha don't work out, White probably has a few other options.
-- Oh yeah, what was up with Thursday night's head-to-head-to-head-to-head TV lineup of ladies figure skating vs. American Idol vs. Dancing with the Stars vs. Survivor? God forbid if you're a male who dislikes reality TV.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Hey ladies???
It was a pretty disappointing morning/afternoon with USA's Olympic coverage with both the U.S. women's curling and hockey teams falling in dramatic fashion, and taking the air out of both competitions (curling is pretty much out of the medal hunt, a bronze medal is the best hockey can do).

Nice comeback by Cassie, Jamie and the gang (although they had their chance for four in the 10th end to win), before yet another extra-end loss. It was interesting, though, that the AP story mentions how popular the team has gotten during the Games (OK, so it's not just me). But when you get some cute-looking competitors not overly made up (see figure skating) or bundled up (see snowboarding), it's easy to get some attention.

As for hockey, at least the talk of just two teams dominating that competition can stop for now. The U.S. blew a 2-0 lead to Sweden, then failed to convert on a bunch of other opportunities, before falling in a shootout (where just about anything can happen). However, Sweden's goalie was brilliant, and might give Canada fits (assuming it advances to the gold-medal game). Now I wonder if the men will even be in medal contention.

And before the U.S. women's teams crashed and burned, there was Lindsey Jacobellis pulling a Leon Lett in the snowboard cross (a cool addition to the Games -- nice to have an "extreme sports" race, instead of yet another variation on figure skating) with one of the hills playing the role of Don Beebe.

While there appear to be two medals coming out of it (Jacobellis did win silver; U.S. women likely to win bronze), just doesn't seem like a good day for the ladies.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

I say Turin, you say Torino
I can be an Olympics geek when need be, and so it is that I've done a decent job trying to follow the Winter Games (despite the lead-up columns to the Games that we had pretty much saying the Winter Olympics suck -- great, we're not even waiting to be snarky).

If anything, I get my quadrennial interest in curling revived. It helps that there's usually a match on one of the NBCU networks at 3 a.m. when I'm getting home from work and/or trying to get to bed. And for a bigger plus, the U.S. women's team, or at least the Johnson sisters, is a rather photogenic bunch; however, the early returns are rather disappointing, and we really can't give them medals for just being cute. That could explain some of the saturation coverage, albeit during off-hours. With that said, it's fun picking it up again, and like Cooch mentioned, we pretend to be at least reasonably informed viewers rather quickly. I think part of it has to do with the announcers, and part of it comes with having an open mind (and not quickly mocking it).

As for the rest of the Games, I'm getting ready for "real" hockey to begin, although the U.S. women did have a scare against Finland, trailing 3-2 going into the third before winning 7-3. At least now, most of the games blanketing the coverage on the non-network arms will seem meaningful, as opposed to any women's game featuring non-North American teams.

All the cool speed events like luge, speed skating, skiing, etc., lose a bit of its magic in NBC's tape-delay format, mainly because any competition where you're competing against the clock, you have to edit out some of the spontaneity that comes from hoping if an early competitor's time can hold up. Unfortunately, I have to manufacture my own "live" drama by refreshing the results page on the Web. (NBC sorta tried that years ago with the Triplecast, which was a flop for the most part, by my brother enjoyed watching tapes of some of those events since you got to see everybody.)

What is intriguing to me with the ratings for the Games (naturally, down from Salt Lake City) is figuring out what the public's TV-viewing patterns are these days, and how to appeal to each of these different demographics:
-- First off, you've got sports fans like me who want to watch things live, and so the packaged stuff and tape-delayed drama does nothing for me, especially if I already know what happened.
However, the numbers of fans who watch "mainstream" sports who are also interested in the Olympics seem to be waning. If some of the pre-Games stuff that was written is an indication of the sports-viewing audience today, it's not even worth "expanding our horizons" to watch luge, speedskating, etc. (Maybe it's more magnified during the winter since there is more of a disconnect between sports and reality. We've all run a race or taken a swim in the pool. Not as many of us have ridden a bobsled.)
-- The extended coverage of curling and hockey might be showing that there is a market for The Ocho or Obscure Sports Quarterly. And with those two sports, it's much harder to show the event without showing a full game. Highlights work, to an extent, but it's not like other speed events where you can show a gold-medal run rather quickly.
-- Figure skating, for the most part, draws in a crowd that's not sports fans. But since it has the potential to draw the most ratings (mostly because of the often mutual exclusivity between sports fans and Olympics fans), that's where the bulk of the value of the Games comes from. So it's interesting that while Michelle Kwan's withdrawal does put a damper on things, there hasn't been as much hype over Sasha Cohen (especially if that picture is any indication, and even Shaun White mentioned he really wanted to meet her after he won his gold). Are we to think that just the thrill of the competition is enough to draw people in those extra viewers, or have they just given up on getting the male demographic (who's probably watching 24 anyways)?

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

And just where are the Mulkey brothers these days?
I'm not as rabid a fan as years ago, but I figured it was worth checking out the WWE Raw show since it was downtown, and the whole scene (both in and out of the ring) is always an interesting sociological experiment.

I will say, though, that the experience really deserved having Crow and Tom Servo, or at least a Sklar brother next to me. Nonetheless, it was still an entertaining time, if only because I think at times, it turned into I Love the '80s and I Love the '90s (even though Chris Jericho wasn't around).

The '80s part came in the form of this Peter Gabriel song being the theme song for the upcoming Wrestlemania. Very strange, since it's usually some hard rock song by a band who was in nursery school when the above song hit the charts. The other part came when this guy suddenly appeared, and the middle schoolers nearby looked on in utter confusion, whereas I was getting a tad nostalgic.

The '90s part kicked in a bit when the crowd was surprisingly lively for this guy, who was on the "other" show that no one ever sees. There were a lot of the usual suspects as well who have been with the company for a while, plus an ECW chant when this guy wrestled (he also got the second-best pop of the night). Plus, he showed up at the end of the program to set up next week's big matchup (and wish everyone a nice day).

The matches weren't anything spectacular for the most part, but the Triple H-Ric Flair showdown was fun for nostalgic purposes -- thankfully it was a clean finish and no sledgehammers were involved. And the whole idea of a tournament was good, if only because there were at least the concepts of solid matchups.

Finally, I got to see for myself the oddly mixed reaction for the current WWE champ, the proof that most rap music is bought by kids in the suburbs. A good portion of the crowd went nuts for him, but there was a good amount of booing for him as well. He does have charisma, but he still pales in comparison to The Rock, for instance.

One last note, I guess today's kids don't need cigarette lighters to produce light when the arena is darkened. Instead, I saw a ton of backlighting from everyone's cell phones. A rather surreal look, to be sure.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Some observations and linkage:
-- A letter to the AJC actually brought this up, but the Thrashers have embarked on their latest losing streak after announcing they wouldn't sell opposing teams' jerseys in the arena store and offered an exchange of some other team's sweater for one of those blue jerseys (I think). Karma might be at play. Earl Hickey would be so proud.
-- I suppose when you're now on the outside looking in, you can be a little harsher on the state of journalism these days. That's what Aaron Brown and Ted Koppel are doing here. Interesting stuff, although Koppel seems to think there's actually hope for the business, whereas Brown seems to blame the viewing public. Me, I sometimes wonder why anyone gets into the business when you hear everything is so horrible.
-- And for a little bit of fun, here's a site that's tracking Jack Bauer and poking tons of holes in the continuity of 24 in the process. And of course, it's using Google Maps (Double True).
-- Speaking of Lazy Sunday, somehow real New York bakeries have propelled themselves into the national conscience lately. First, it's the Magnolia Bakery (with all the bomb frostings). Then the Buttercup Bake Shop shows up as a major plot point in How I Met Your Mother -- although the episode in question takes a lot after another movie that also prominently features a scene where baked goods are consumed.
-- One of these days, I might compile a side page or blog with music charts, but for now, here's a link to Blender's list of the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born (i.e. 1980-2005). My ABD teammates and I were playing K-Tel Hell with it on the way back from Michigan after the tournament. Interesting stuff, although obviously tons of questionable choices, but that's what these things are supposed to do. Right now, I've got 143 of the songs on an iPod playlist, with a few more that I never ripped from my CD.

Friday, January 27, 2006

That long-awaited article on the quiz-bowl phenomenon seems to have finally made its appearance (at least in some form) -- albeit on a site that's about to go dark today, although everything should still live on until they let the registration on the domain name lapse.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

I guess the LaPlaca Open will get slightly tougher next season now that UPN and the WB will merge into one network, meaning you'll have a pretty decent lineup by combining the best of the two netlets -- in fact, my DVR does have a handful of shows from those two in regular rotation. But it is a boon this year for the flotsam and jetsam that's on the network right now (although Smackdown is sticking around, likely, killing my hopes of winning the contest this year).

(However, I'm still trying to figure out why, in Atlanta, the local UPN affiliate decided to show this movie at 3 a.m. the other night. Is that going to be the future of the channel should it not get chosen to take on the new network?)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

What day is it anyway?
So in a weekend full of great playoff games, I saw only significant parts of just one contest (Broncos-Pats) primarily because I was traveling for my apparently every-other-year appearance at the Ann B. Davis tournament.

This time, I teamed up with Team O'Reilly and continued my winning streak from Trashmasters (and Big Lots/FOGHAT, for that matter), taking this title as well. It's a crazy run that I can't totally figure out (winning two of the big three trash tournaments, with two completely different sets of teammates, going undefeated both times) -- especially since I somehow also took home a neg crown in addition to leading my team (a very balanced one, in my opinion) in scoring. Mike and Craig ran an excellent tournament, although I had wished to see a few more heavy hitters from the region take part as well.

It was fun to see some of the usual suspects again, and messing around with the iPod both ways made the car ride a lot more fun.

One other note -- Atlanta has a new classic rock station, which is somewhat similar to this station. So similar that at the same time this afternoon, both stations were playing this song. It was a tad freaky when I switched stations realizing I had the same exact song on.