I'm in a weird mood today, something I haven't felt before. I get to work this morning and open up my newspaper (because where else should one read the newspaper) to see a front-page article on a double murder here in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the fact that two innocent people plus the gunman being dead isn't enough to disturb me... It was the time and place. At about 6 last night, after work, I made a quick run into our local Radio Shack to get a price on a wall-mounted DSL filter for my apartment. After seeing that just the basic ones were $10 more than I was willing to spend (and probably wouldn't have fit with my phone anyways), I ran over to Target to pick up some stuff before going home. Apparently, at 6:45, another gentleman walked in the store and opened fire for reasons not yet known.
It's makes you ponder the Butterfly Effect. How, what seem to be small decisions we make, can have such dramatically different circumstances. What if, as I had originally planned, had I run into the nearby Bealls or TJ Maxx stores or just gone to Target first before stopping off in Radio Shack. Ever get caught by a red light to see the car that was in front of you involved in an accident? (I have, once) Or really, just anything serious that had occurred that a slight change of circumstance may have involved you. Just creepy.
November 19, 2004
November 18, 2004
$12.95/Month to Watch Commercials
While doing my daily scan of seemingly the endless amount of news on the Internet, I came across an article on USA Today's stating that Tivo, the digital video recorder used by millions to zip past commercials, will begin a new "service" in March that will pop-up an ad of its own when you try to skip through the commercials on a program. So, the people who pay $12.95/month (or in my case $300 for a lifetime contract) to use the service are now going to be subjected to advertising on top of it? Just like how premium services such as HBO and Showtime do not air ads in their programming, neither should a service like Tivo.
Already on Tivo, their "Showcases" option often downloads ads to be viewed if a user chooses. Sometimes, these can be cool such as a movie trailer or a preview of a network's new programs, but usually they're shameless self promotion to upgrade to a new Tivo model or to buy a recorder as a gift. The key is that you can view it if you want to! It's not forced upon you when you're using one of the features of the service that you're already paying for.
And what does this say to the television network execs? That while viewers watch programming that they produce but they opt to forgo the commercials, they're going to be subjected to a commercial from a totally unaffiliated third party that has contributed nothing to the process? Yeah, that's going to go over well with them.
Now, I'm not totally against advertising in all spaces that have recently popped up. Movie theaters showing ads prior to a feature, while I think is dumb, I don't find intrusive since it doesn't interfere with the feature itself (could you imagine movies going into a commercial break after a critical scene). Product placement, if done within the scope of the show, can be OK. Heck, on the now apparently defunct show Father of the Pride, half of one episode was shameless placement for 7-Eleven and was done so well that it turned out to be the funniest part of the short-lived series (Siegfried and Roy, after seeing a 7-Eleven commercial for a Big Gulp, end up taking over their local store and try to make it more "magical"). The WB's summer music special Pepsi Smash at least had some awesome live performances intertwined with the nauseating self-promotion (which I used my Tivo to skip over).
But, what I find the most troubling thing in the article is that currently there is a bill in the Senate that's nearing a vote that would make technology such as this A CRIME!!! The Intellectual Property Protection bill, according to the article, would ban any technology that allows a viewer to skip over the commercials on a DVD or televised movie. While not specifically mentioned, it can be assumed that if this law is passed for the film industry, the television industry will follow suit for a similar bill of their own. What does this mean to you? Instead of having the "freedom" that Tivo and other devices proclaim in their literature to watch what you want when you want, you instead would become a slave to it. If you're watching a recording that you made on your Tivo, you'll have to sit there and watch the whole thing, commercials included. At least if you're watching live television, you can flip the channel and watch something else, but if you're watching a recording you're going to be stuck. Yes people, that's what our government needs to be worrying about, making a person who doesn't want to be subjected to some lame commercial a criminal.
The Sad MNF Controversy Continues
Wow, this whole dumb controversy has already run on nearly 72 hours too long. The best observation on the issue was brought up by Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption yesterday, when he said that all this has done is everytime a news report mentions the uproar, what do they do... They show clips from the skit!!! Heck yesterday, on the 6 PM SportsCenter, ESPN pretty much showed the whole thing in its entirety as they were discussing the controversy of "indecent" material being broadcast during sporting events. So you have the ABC unit of the Disney company apologizing for airing it, while the ESPN unit of Disney is showing it on the SportCenter airing that's most likely to have kids watching.
Then, we have Tony Dungy, who I loved when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping the race card implying that they only chose Owens to further the racial stereotype of the promiscuous African American athlete. Of course, I don't believe he could be further off-base. In Monday night's game, who was probably the only player involved that's a household name. Hmm... I would have to say that it would be Terrell Owens. If ABC had decided to do this skit next week, in a game between the Patriots and Chiefs, I doubt they would have Nicollette Sheridan posing in the Chiefs locker room with Priest Holmes... They would have been over with the Patriots have her woo Tom Brady (just as if it were your Colts, Tony, they would have wanted Peyton Manning). He also said that the scene was "insensitive" following Kobe Bryant's legal issues. I guess I missed the portion where Terrell bent her over a chair and fucked her up the ass.
Many sports and news websites out their have the little "Quick Polls" which ask if ABC went overboard in the Monday Night Football skit. Most of them are between the 70/30 and 60/40 range saying that they didn't feel the sketch was inappropriate. So really, enough!
Already on Tivo, their "Showcases" option often downloads ads to be viewed if a user chooses. Sometimes, these can be cool such as a movie trailer or a preview of a network's new programs, but usually they're shameless self promotion to upgrade to a new Tivo model or to buy a recorder as a gift. The key is that you can view it if you want to! It's not forced upon you when you're using one of the features of the service that you're already paying for.
And what does this say to the television network execs? That while viewers watch programming that they produce but they opt to forgo the commercials, they're going to be subjected to a commercial from a totally unaffiliated third party that has contributed nothing to the process? Yeah, that's going to go over well with them.
Now, I'm not totally against advertising in all spaces that have recently popped up. Movie theaters showing ads prior to a feature, while I think is dumb, I don't find intrusive since it doesn't interfere with the feature itself (could you imagine movies going into a commercial break after a critical scene). Product placement, if done within the scope of the show, can be OK. Heck, on the now apparently defunct show Father of the Pride, half of one episode was shameless placement for 7-Eleven and was done so well that it turned out to be the funniest part of the short-lived series (Siegfried and Roy, after seeing a 7-Eleven commercial for a Big Gulp, end up taking over their local store and try to make it more "magical"). The WB's summer music special Pepsi Smash at least had some awesome live performances intertwined with the nauseating self-promotion (which I used my Tivo to skip over).
But, what I find the most troubling thing in the article is that currently there is a bill in the Senate that's nearing a vote that would make technology such as this A CRIME!!! The Intellectual Property Protection bill, according to the article, would ban any technology that allows a viewer to skip over the commercials on a DVD or televised movie. While not specifically mentioned, it can be assumed that if this law is passed for the film industry, the television industry will follow suit for a similar bill of their own. What does this mean to you? Instead of having the "freedom" that Tivo and other devices proclaim in their literature to watch what you want when you want, you instead would become a slave to it. If you're watching a recording that you made on your Tivo, you'll have to sit there and watch the whole thing, commercials included. At least if you're watching live television, you can flip the channel and watch something else, but if you're watching a recording you're going to be stuck. Yes people, that's what our government needs to be worrying about, making a person who doesn't want to be subjected to some lame commercial a criminal.
The Sad MNF Controversy Continues
Wow, this whole dumb controversy has already run on nearly 72 hours too long. The best observation on the issue was brought up by Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption yesterday, when he said that all this has done is everytime a news report mentions the uproar, what do they do... They show clips from the skit!!! Heck yesterday, on the 6 PM SportsCenter, ESPN pretty much showed the whole thing in its entirety as they were discussing the controversy of "indecent" material being broadcast during sporting events. So you have the ABC unit of the Disney company apologizing for airing it, while the ESPN unit of Disney is showing it on the SportCenter airing that's most likely to have kids watching.
Then, we have Tony Dungy, who I loved when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping the race card implying that they only chose Owens to further the racial stereotype of the promiscuous African American athlete. Of course, I don't believe he could be further off-base. In Monday night's game, who was probably the only player involved that's a household name. Hmm... I would have to say that it would be Terrell Owens. If ABC had decided to do this skit next week, in a game between the Patriots and Chiefs, I doubt they would have Nicollette Sheridan posing in the Chiefs locker room with Priest Holmes... They would have been over with the Patriots have her woo Tom Brady (just as if it were your Colts, Tony, they would have wanted Peyton Manning). He also said that the scene was "insensitive" following Kobe Bryant's legal issues. I guess I missed the portion where Terrell bent her over a chair and fucked her up the ass.
Many sports and news websites out their have the little "Quick Polls" which ask if ABC went overboard in the Monday Night Football skit. Most of them are between the 70/30 and 60/40 range saying that they didn't feel the sketch was inappropriate. So really, enough!
November 17, 2004
The Good Ol' Days of the Internet
Yep, another boring day here working for the Empire, so you get a twofer here on AOwL.com.
I just finished reading an Lance Ulanoff article on PC Magazine's website decrying AOL's decision to launch the low-priced Netscape ISP service earlier this year. Kind of weird that he just wrote such an article last week, but hey, that's not my call.
But instead of writing on the stupidity of AOL, which would take all remaining space on the Internet not currently reserved for porn, it just reminded me of how different things were when I first started using the Internet. I try to be, what the marketing textbooks classify, an "early adapter". The problem is that I have no money, so I can't necessarily jump on the bandwagon as quickly as I like. So, I didn't get on the Internet bandwagon until 1995 when a neighbor of mine got a computer and would let me use it. Even with that, I didn't really start using the Internet daily until I went off to FSU in 1997 where they had terminals throughout the library that had just been installed.
But I remember just some of the great tools that you could use back then that aren't around anymore, either bought up by a corporate titan (i.e., Hotmail) or has just faded through the years due to better competition (i.e., AltaVista). My favorite search feature, before Yahoo! and Google became the staples, was Infoseek. Just so easy to use, would give you so many results if you were doing a report and needed a lot of information. Just a great tool. Then, Disney had to go and buy it to feature their search technology on their new Go.com portal. But, Disney really mismanaged Go, which had great potential with exclusive content from ABC and ESPN, and Infoseek rotted on the vine with it. Now, Go just offers links to their more popular websites and keeps their old e-mail client server active, while offering a search tool run through Google. My original homepage was on the free webhosting site Angelfire back before they were bought out by Lycos (which was, in turn, bought out by Spanish web-provider Terra) and people would be able to visit it without being inundated with a dozen pop-ups. RocketMail and Launch have since been bought out by Yahoo!, but have kept up their quality of content.
Then there was the old Netscape browser, which was clearly the king. Yet, after being purchased by Internet slumlord AOL, was allowed to whither and die (why did they even bother buying them when they turned around and ran the AOL service off of Microsoft's Internet Explorer?). Luckily, some of Netscape's developers have opened up the source for other developers, and have launched the incredible Mozilla Firefox last week (I've been using it for a couple of months when they launched the Preview Edition, and it's such a great tool).
I just finished reading an Lance Ulanoff article on PC Magazine's website decrying AOL's decision to launch the low-priced Netscape ISP service earlier this year. Kind of weird that he just wrote such an article last week, but hey, that's not my call.
But instead of writing on the stupidity of AOL, which would take all remaining space on the Internet not currently reserved for porn, it just reminded me of how different things were when I first started using the Internet. I try to be, what the marketing textbooks classify, an "early adapter". The problem is that I have no money, so I can't necessarily jump on the bandwagon as quickly as I like. So, I didn't get on the Internet bandwagon until 1995 when a neighbor of mine got a computer and would let me use it. Even with that, I didn't really start using the Internet daily until I went off to FSU in 1997 where they had terminals throughout the library that had just been installed.
But I remember just some of the great tools that you could use back then that aren't around anymore, either bought up by a corporate titan (i.e., Hotmail) or has just faded through the years due to better competition (i.e., AltaVista). My favorite search feature, before Yahoo! and Google became the staples, was Infoseek. Just so easy to use, would give you so many results if you were doing a report and needed a lot of information. Just a great tool. Then, Disney had to go and buy it to feature their search technology on their new Go.com portal. But, Disney really mismanaged Go, which had great potential with exclusive content from ABC and ESPN, and Infoseek rotted on the vine with it. Now, Go just offers links to their more popular websites and keeps their old e-mail client server active, while offering a search tool run through Google. My original homepage was on the free webhosting site Angelfire back before they were bought out by Lycos (which was, in turn, bought out by Spanish web-provider Terra) and people would be able to visit it without being inundated with a dozen pop-ups. RocketMail and Launch have since been bought out by Yahoo!, but have kept up their quality of content.
Then there was the old Netscape browser, which was clearly the king. Yet, after being purchased by Internet slumlord AOL, was allowed to whither and die (why did they even bother buying them when they turned around and ran the AOL service off of Microsoft's Internet Explorer?). Luckily, some of Netscape's developers have opened up the source for other developers, and have launched the incredible Mozilla Firefox last week (I've been using it for a couple of months when they launched the Preview Edition, and it's such a great tool).
Shock & Awe - NFL Style
Man, can anything somewhat entertaining be shown on TV without people going nuts about it?! ABC decided to pre-empt the "dropping helmets" intro to Monday Night Football this week to spoof (and shamelessly plug) their Sunday night series Desperate Housewives. The short, as mentioned yesterday, featured Eagles star Terrell Owens being propositioned to miss the game to spend some "quality time" with Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan, who was clothed only in a towel. The end of the scene showed Sheridan dropping the towel to further convince Terrell to skip the game, and then jumping into his arms when he agrees before cutting away to fellow co-stars Terri Hatcher and Marcia Cross who were watching the proceedings on TV before dropping the "Are you ready for some football?" line.
In all, the whole scene was about as titillating as a soap commercial. While definitely attempting to be risque, it was more of a joke attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the ABC hit. But the powers that be are going nuts, comparing this to Janet Jackson's Nipplegate episode from the Super Bowl. Not in any frame of footage is anything other than arms, legs, or head of Nicollette's body ever shown. After dropping the towel, you get a view of her back. That's it. Even the conversation they were having was veiled in double-entendres and relatively conservative.
While admittedly, MNF probably does have an audience of young football fans, there was really nothing here any more contemptable than one may find in a common beer ad. One thing that has been lost in this conversation is that Monday Night Football and Desperate Housewives come on at the exact same time here in the Eastern time zone. While true that kick-off out west is 6 PM, when kids are more likely to be watching, nothing in the whole skit was any more risque than you would see on a soap opera that comes on in the middle of the afternoon.
So really, the only valid complaint anyone could file against ABC in this whole business is that they chose Nicollette Sheridan instead of having Terrell play gardener with the uber-hot Eva Longoria.
So please, ABC stop apologizing... NFL quit acting like hypocrites (yeah, that stuff in only permissable in commercials from NFL sponsors where the league's getting paid)... And to the people whining: Get over it!
In all, the whole scene was about as titillating as a soap commercial. While definitely attempting to be risque, it was more of a joke attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the ABC hit. But the powers that be are going nuts, comparing this to Janet Jackson's Nipplegate episode from the Super Bowl. Not in any frame of footage is anything other than arms, legs, or head of Nicollette's body ever shown. After dropping the towel, you get a view of her back. That's it. Even the conversation they were having was veiled in double-entendres and relatively conservative.
While admittedly, MNF probably does have an audience of young football fans, there was really nothing here any more contemptable than one may find in a common beer ad. One thing that has been lost in this conversation is that Monday Night Football and Desperate Housewives come on at the exact same time here in the Eastern time zone. While true that kick-off out west is 6 PM, when kids are more likely to be watching, nothing in the whole skit was any more risque than you would see on a soap opera that comes on in the middle of the afternoon.
So really, the only valid complaint anyone could file against ABC in this whole business is that they chose Nicollette Sheridan instead of having Terrell play gardener with the uber-hot Eva Longoria.
So please, ABC stop apologizing... NFL quit acting like hypocrites (yeah, that stuff in only permissable in commercials from NFL sponsors where the league's getting paid)... And to the people whining: Get over it!
November 16, 2004
Another Day for You and Me in Paradise
Blah, blah, blah. I don't feel like writing an intro today. A matter of fact, I don't have that much to say. Still can't get enough of Terrell Owens' reaction shot last night in the opening of Monday Night Football where they were spoofing Desperate Housewives. Classic.
Women of Your Local Business
Playboy is launching another of their "Women of..." series with the "Women of McDonald's" coming today on their website, Playboy.com. This follows recent editions such as "Women of Wal-Mart" and the "Women of Home Depot". Of course, they also recently did a "Girls of the ACC" issue featuring a really cute blonde from my alma mater.
Just thought I'd bring it up to further embarass a friend of mine. During my time at FSU, they did another edition of "Girls of the ACC", where one pinup worked at a local bar across the street from my dorm (I lived in Broward Hall, so the bar was The Sweet Shop for you fellow Noles). Anyways, I just had a friend who was obsessed with her and would drag me along whenever he went over there, regardless of what else I may of had to do (but lets face it, I didn't have much of anything to do). The sum of the story was, that he's stupid and I'm still paying my student loan bills that I probably dumped a good deal of cash at that place. I'm not much of a storyteller. But it is kind of cool to realize that you deal with a Playboy Playmate on nearly a daily basis. Don't know why, but it is.
Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy
Today's is the ultimate in laziness. Don't know her name or really anything about her. But this week's "Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy" is the girl in the white shirt (third from left) in this picture from Bush's victory celebration in Time Magazine. Today, I present an open letter to her:
Grand Owl's Secret Lair
St. Petersburg, Florida
November 16th, 2004
Dear Girl In the White Shirt (Third From Left) from the Picture in Time on Page 32,
My name is the Grand Owl, and I came across your photo as I was ripping pages out of the Bush victory issue of Time last week to burn in a sacrificial pyre. After seeing your majestic beauty, it gave me a chance to reflect upon myself and also what this past year has done to our nation. Like you, I am thankful that this derisive election season is over and am prepared to start the healing process as this glorious nation proceeds through another four years of a Bush administration.
Yet, I do not believe that our nation can truly begin to mend until members of the Left (i.e., me) and members of the Right (i.e., you) reach out to one another in the spirit of friendship and brotherly love that was fostered by our forefather's (except that whole incident where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel, apparently a highlight in American history for certain members of the Senate from Georgia). That's why I believe you should meet me, at your convenience, so that we can do it on live television as a symbolic gesture that the nation has moved on from the animosity generated from the election and is prepared to be reborn in a union of one nation.
You may contact, through AOwL.com, to make arrangements for what I feel will be a historic event in the annals of our great nation. With this one expression of unity, the two of us can make a difference and help to lead this nation to a bright new tomorrow. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
The Grand Owl
Random Thoughts
Women of Your Local Business
Playboy is launching another of their "Women of..." series with the "Women of McDonald's" coming today on their website, Playboy.com. This follows recent editions such as "Women of Wal-Mart" and the "Women of Home Depot". Of course, they also recently did a "Girls of the ACC" issue featuring a really cute blonde from my alma mater.
Just thought I'd bring it up to further embarass a friend of mine. During my time at FSU, they did another edition of "Girls of the ACC", where one pinup worked at a local bar across the street from my dorm (I lived in Broward Hall, so the bar was The Sweet Shop for you fellow Noles). Anyways, I just had a friend who was obsessed with her and would drag me along whenever he went over there, regardless of what else I may of had to do (but lets face it, I didn't have much of anything to do). The sum of the story was, that he's stupid and I'm still paying my student loan bills that I probably dumped a good deal of cash at that place. I'm not much of a storyteller. But it is kind of cool to realize that you deal with a Playboy Playmate on nearly a daily basis. Don't know why, but it is.
Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy
Today's is the ultimate in laziness. Don't know her name or really anything about her. But this week's "Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy" is the girl in the white shirt (third from left) in this picture from Bush's victory celebration in Time Magazine. Today, I present an open letter to her:
Grand Owl's Secret Lair
St. Petersburg, Florida
November 16th, 2004
Dear Girl In the White Shirt (Third From Left) from the Picture in Time on Page 32,
My name is the Grand Owl, and I came across your photo as I was ripping pages out of the Bush victory issue of Time last week to burn in a sacrificial pyre. After seeing your majestic beauty, it gave me a chance to reflect upon myself and also what this past year has done to our nation. Like you, I am thankful that this derisive election season is over and am prepared to start the healing process as this glorious nation proceeds through another four years of a Bush administration.
Yet, I do not believe that our nation can truly begin to mend until members of the Left (i.e., me) and members of the Right (i.e., you) reach out to one another in the spirit of friendship and brotherly love that was fostered by our forefather's (except that whole incident where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel, apparently a highlight in American history for certain members of the Senate from Georgia). That's why I believe you should meet me, at your convenience, so that we can do it on live television as a symbolic gesture that the nation has moved on from the animosity generated from the election and is prepared to be reborn in a union of one nation.
You may contact, through AOwL.com, to make arrangements for what I feel will be a historic event in the annals of our great nation. With this one expression of unity, the two of us can make a difference and help to lead this nation to a bright new tomorrow. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
The Grand Owl
Random Thoughts
- Boy, they could have just condensed last night's Monday Night Football game to a series of highlights and mailed in the rest ala a SportsCenter segment. Spectacular plays intertwined with intolerable tedium. By halftime I was watching the Serena Williams/Maria Sharapova tennis match on ESPN 2.
- Last week, the NFL finalized television contracts with Fox and CBS to continue airing Sunday matchups through 2011. One thing about this new arrangement is a provision which allows the league to pull a game from Sunday and move it to either Sunday or Monday night. While this is good for the home fan who watches the games on TV, it's not really good for the fan who pay exorbatant sums to actually go to the game. See, in order to pay $75 a ticket to sit ten stories above the field, people have to work. Generally, these people work normal jobs from Monday-Friday, and may travel a distance to be able to attend a game. So, I'm sure quite a few fans would be upset to have bought tickets for a game that was supposed to take place at 1 PM on a Sunday afternoon, and then have it moved to 9 PM on a Monday night. For example, while I live here in the Tampa Bay area I have tickets to see my beloved Bears play the Jacksonville Jaguars at Alletel Stadium next month. I paid quite a bit to be able to see the Monsters play about four hours from my home and would be extremely upset if, a few weeks before the game, the NFL up and announces that they're moving it to Monday night, meaning I either have to take two days off from my job in order to go or giving up my opportunity to see the Bears play (which, of course, I would want a refund). Just something that these NFL execs should think about as they're rolling in the $8 billion dollars they're about to get.
- Here's something for NHL executives to think about... While the NFL's collective bargaining agreement doesn't expire for a couple years, they're already in talks with Union officials on extending it. Last year, throughout the NHL season, it was like "Are they even going to bother to start talking, or are they just going to wait for the lockout to start?" Well, apparently they chose the latter, and still haven't begun any meaningful discussions, meaning that this entire season is just weeks away from being wiped entirely from the books. Way to f'in go!
November 15, 2004
Let Every Play Lead the Way to Victory
How 'bout those Chicago Bears?! 3-0 QB Craig Krenzel led the Monsters of the Midway to a whopping three points, and yet the Bears still won 19-17, after an OT fumble in the endzone lead to a Chicago safety. Now, what started out as a bleak season with the loss of starting QB Rex Grossman and All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher at least has a ray of light as the Bears are one game behind division leader Green Bay, and hold a tiebreaker on the Packers following an early season 21-10 victory.
I Just Don't Get People
OK, real quick I'm going to sit on my sexist, male-chauvanist horse for a moment, but please... It's with the best of intentions. But why, oh why, do guys kill hot women? I mean, not that I condone murder in any circumstance, but kids and hot women are especially more egregious. Over the weekend, a local Tampa insurance adjuster was murdered and had her body dumped into a river. The woman was just doing her job, expecting a home that was damaged during one of the hurricanes, and the home's owner apparently beat her to death. I just don't get it.
Now, to totally make a 180 with how I don't get people (and probably trivializing the tragic murder that occurred), Maurice Clarrett is ratting-out his former college Ohio State to apparently clear his name or something. First things first, there's really not a doubt in my mind that what he says more than likely occurred. And that's my beef... I don't get why these boosters and alumni do stuff like that. What's the gain, that your team beats their arch rival on Saturday afternoon? So the fuck what!!! I love instances like Chris Webber at Michigan where the school pretty much wiped clear the record books of the years he was there as if they never happened. Yeah, way to do something valuable for your university. I guess, in reality, I'm a sports fan with a little something called "perspective". What's the point of cheering for a team when you know that they're cheating to get where they are? It's almost like when FSU plays Duke in football or when the Devil Rays play anyone, the game just loses its entertainment value.
Game Review
Halo 2 - **** (out of five stars)
I'm not going to pretend that I'm a professional game reviewer, but I have to tell you... This is one of the reasons that I kept my Xbox instead of trading it in for a PS2. The Xbox just has a superior graphics engine, and yet most of the games that I have just don't appear to try and tap it. But, Halo 2, with most stuff issued through the Microsoft Game Studios, tries to unleash every ounce of graphics power the Xbox can muster. Obviously, I mention this because Halo 2 looks incredible. I'm still pretty early into the single-player campaign, but the cutscenes and environments are nearly movie quality (speaking of which, they're making one, so I'll be taking bets on how bad it's going to suck shortly). Being able to use two weapons at the same time just makes you wish that you could do a slow-mo replay to get the full John Woo effect of the carnage that you're inflicting.
I'll definitely write more as I progress through the game, but needless to say, if you have an Xbox and love a good shooter, BUY IT! No point in waiting, you still can't get the first Halo cheap and it's three years old. So, don't be cheap and get your hands on a copy.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - *** (out of five stars)
OK, while I give this game three stars, I'm not totally feeling it. For those in the know, yes, KOTR is over a year old. I just got it, as I am a cheap bastard and picked it up from the $20 Platinum Hits bin. But, I thought that KOTR would make a good first attempt for me into the realm of the role-playing game. For those outside of the gamer community, an RPG as they're called is pretty much where you live the life of a character and lead them through different adventures... In this case, as a member of the Star Wars universe as you may lead your character to the light side of the Force as a Jedi, or to the dark side as a Sith. I've always found RPGs boring, as they just simulate stuff that I could be doing on my own (you spend a lot of time talking to people to learn information; if I wanted to talk to people I'd go outside).
While I love the graphics and the general story of KOTR, I just can't get into it. After about an hour of running around a city talking to people and collecting items, I'm ready to pop Halo 2 back in (just a small side note, for some reason first-person shooters like Halo 2 cause me to feel sick... this from a guy who's a roller coaster junkie with no effect, but I can't play a dumb video game). Anyways, like with Halo 2, I'll probably write more about it as I progress through the game.
Random Thoughts
I Just Don't Get People
OK, real quick I'm going to sit on my sexist, male-chauvanist horse for a moment, but please... It's with the best of intentions. But why, oh why, do guys kill hot women? I mean, not that I condone murder in any circumstance, but kids and hot women are especially more egregious. Over the weekend, a local Tampa insurance adjuster was murdered and had her body dumped into a river. The woman was just doing her job, expecting a home that was damaged during one of the hurricanes, and the home's owner apparently beat her to death. I just don't get it.
Now, to totally make a 180 with how I don't get people (and probably trivializing the tragic murder that occurred), Maurice Clarrett is ratting-out his former college Ohio State to apparently clear his name or something. First things first, there's really not a doubt in my mind that what he says more than likely occurred. And that's my beef... I don't get why these boosters and alumni do stuff like that. What's the gain, that your team beats their arch rival on Saturday afternoon? So the fuck what!!! I love instances like Chris Webber at Michigan where the school pretty much wiped clear the record books of the years he was there as if they never happened. Yeah, way to do something valuable for your university. I guess, in reality, I'm a sports fan with a little something called "perspective". What's the point of cheering for a team when you know that they're cheating to get where they are? It's almost like when FSU plays Duke in football or when the Devil Rays play anyone, the game just loses its entertainment value.
Game Review
Halo 2 - **** (out of five stars)
I'm not going to pretend that I'm a professional game reviewer, but I have to tell you... This is one of the reasons that I kept my Xbox instead of trading it in for a PS2. The Xbox just has a superior graphics engine, and yet most of the games that I have just don't appear to try and tap it. But, Halo 2, with most stuff issued through the Microsoft Game Studios, tries to unleash every ounce of graphics power the Xbox can muster. Obviously, I mention this because Halo 2 looks incredible. I'm still pretty early into the single-player campaign, but the cutscenes and environments are nearly movie quality (speaking of which, they're making one, so I'll be taking bets on how bad it's going to suck shortly). Being able to use two weapons at the same time just makes you wish that you could do a slow-mo replay to get the full John Woo effect of the carnage that you're inflicting.
I'll definitely write more as I progress through the game, but needless to say, if you have an Xbox and love a good shooter, BUY IT! No point in waiting, you still can't get the first Halo cheap and it's three years old. So, don't be cheap and get your hands on a copy.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - *** (out of five stars)
OK, while I give this game three stars, I'm not totally feeling it. For those in the know, yes, KOTR is over a year old. I just got it, as I am a cheap bastard and picked it up from the $20 Platinum Hits bin. But, I thought that KOTR would make a good first attempt for me into the realm of the role-playing game. For those outside of the gamer community, an RPG as they're called is pretty much where you live the life of a character and lead them through different adventures... In this case, as a member of the Star Wars universe as you may lead your character to the light side of the Force as a Jedi, or to the dark side as a Sith. I've always found RPGs boring, as they just simulate stuff that I could be doing on my own (you spend a lot of time talking to people to learn information; if I wanted to talk to people I'd go outside).
While I love the graphics and the general story of KOTR, I just can't get into it. After about an hour of running around a city talking to people and collecting items, I'm ready to pop Halo 2 back in (just a small side note, for some reason first-person shooters like Halo 2 cause me to feel sick... this from a guy who's a roller coaster junkie with no effect, but I can't play a dumb video game). Anyways, like with Halo 2, I'll probably write more about it as I progress through the game.
Random Thoughts
- I'm sitting here watching Monday Night Football, when Eagles tackle Tra Thomas gave some love to the DeLand High School Bulldogs in the opening intros. Being a fellow Volusia boy, I appreciate the shot-out. Meanwhile, my alma mater Lake Mary High School... Well, they just continue to suck.
- How sad is this, I took a test today as I proceed towards my license in the securities industry... Totally cheated and still only managed an 83%. Guess that's what I deserve for spending the weekend playing Halo 2 instead of studying.
- ESPN started their broadcasts tonight of the college basketball season with a preseason NIT matchup between George Washington and Wake Forest. Just have to mention that because I'm a huge college basketball fan. Kind of sad considering that I went to Florida State, obviously a big football school, and just couldn't care less about them. But when it comes to Noles hoops, I've got you covered. Also, while I was there, big into women's college volleyball. They tend to be tall, and I just love those short-shorts they wear.
- Another item to show my sad state, I was watching the Jason Alexander sitcom Listen Up! tonight and the special guest was Wayne Knight. Think about it... Yeah, I was sitting there and couldn't figure out why the studio audience was going nuts, and they were talking about knowing each other from somewhere before. Then, it finally dawned on me that they were both on Seinfeld together. This from a guy who LOVES Seinfeld, and actually plans on getting the DVD set this weekend (comes out tomorrow, and should be good for those other Seinfeld fans out there). I'm telling you, I'm going senile in my old age.
- Who saw the officials give the game over to the Pitt Panthers against Notre Dame on Saturday? Absolutely horrible officiating, with phantom pass interference calls leading to at least two Panther scores (yet an Irish interception was caused by a Pitt player nailing him before the ball was in the vicinity, which the officials let slide). But, I'm usually good for one upset pick a season, and here's mine for 2004... Get your bookies on the line... The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will beat undefeated USC in Los Angeles in two weeks. My prognostications come from gut instinct, and during that debacle on Saturday, it came to me that the Irish will beat the arch-rival Trojans.
- Speaking of the Irish, it tells you the current state of Notre Dame football when the NBC announce team had to constantly talk up that the Irish had a Toyota Gator Bowl bid on the line. Yeah, who needs the exposure that a national championship can provide when you have the prospect of spending the new year in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida. Of course, I'm thinking that it was being talked up so much because, well who happens to air the Gator Bowl... NBC, of course. One prospect that may have me spending my New Year's Weekend in J-Ville... A match-up between Notre Dame and Florida State. But, with their loss on Saturday, that's not looking very likely.
November 10, 2004
Let's Face It... Viacom Sucks!
OK, after ripping on SpikeTV and MTV2 yesterday, I get to rip on CBS today. Love how they walked right into my little trap. Muhahaha! Anyways, I don't know why I'm even defending it because I never saw an episode, but CBS announced today that they're cancelling the baseball drama Clubhouse. Lets just say that it didn't take a genius to see that coming. Probably, the best time to launch a sports-related show aimed at young male viewers isn't during the initial Fall season. Clubhouse originally debuted on a Sunday night (competing against the NFL on ESPN), then moved to Tuesday nights (competing against the baseball playoffs), and finally to Saturday nights (competing against college football and people who have a life). Hopefully, it'll come back mid-season at a better spot in the schedule because it really did look good.
To be fair, here's some stuff from Viacom that I do like:
To be fair, here's some stuff from Viacom that I do like:
- David Letterman
- Comedy Central
- CBSNews.com - probably the best organized American news website, with free video
- Infinity Broadcasting - for being willing to support Howard Stern
- That episode of Eve last night on UPN that had Danica McKellar in that hot red dress (what can I say, put a woman in red or pink and I'm drawn in like a bear to honey)
- Local channel UPN 44 - runs an hour of The Simpsons every weekday and has attempted local programming with Tampa Bay Gamers Unleashed.
November 09, 2004
I-K-U-Z-U-S
Driving to work this morning, I was listening to ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike in the Morning Show where they were waxing nostalgic about the greatest baseball play-by-play man of all time, Harry Caray. How trivial matters such as the actual game would not deter him from finishing whatever story he started on about three innings before. Man I miss him!
T-Plus Seven Days from the Most Important Day of Your Life
Well, we've now had about a week to let the little hiccup we call the presidential election blow over, and no matter who you voted for, doesn't life seem just a little bit better? The only polls that I've heard about in the last week have been college football polls (Go Noles!); the only personal attacks I've heard have been between Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis; local roadways have been cleared of political signage and billboards have returned back to their original purpose... advertising local strip clubs. I tell you, it's a wonderful time to be alive!!!
But fellow liberal-minded people have not taken the news of another four years of Double-Duh in as optimistic a manner as I. Andrew Veal of Athens, Georgia drove up to the former site of the World Trade Center and shot himself in the head. As mentioned last week, Al Franken sounded like he was about ready to cry on his Air America Radio talk show. The Village Voice is running a headline on their homepage "The Dream Is Lost: Four More Years".
Don't fret though, my little owlets... I shall provide you with some quick tips to get you through the 2008 Beijing Olympics and that other thing they normally do every four years.
T-Plus Seven Days from the Most Important Day of Your Life
Well, we've now had about a week to let the little hiccup we call the presidential election blow over, and no matter who you voted for, doesn't life seem just a little bit better? The only polls that I've heard about in the last week have been college football polls (Go Noles!); the only personal attacks I've heard have been between Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis; local roadways have been cleared of political signage and billboards have returned back to their original purpose... advertising local strip clubs. I tell you, it's a wonderful time to be alive!!!
But fellow liberal-minded people have not taken the news of another four years of Double-Duh in as optimistic a manner as I. Andrew Veal of Athens, Georgia drove up to the former site of the World Trade Center and shot himself in the head. As mentioned last week, Al Franken sounded like he was about ready to cry on his Air America Radio talk show. The Village Voice is running a headline on their homepage "The Dream Is Lost: Four More Years".
Don't fret though, my little owlets... I shall provide you with some quick tips to get you through the 2008 Beijing Olympics and that other thing they normally do every four years.
- Don't Like a Double-Duh Policy, Support Organizations that Oppose It
It can be as easy as writing a check or as time-consuming as becoming a full-fledged volunteer or employee. If you're afraid that the Patriot Act may cause additional restrictions on our civil liberties, join an organization like the ACLU. Opposed to the unravelling of thirty years of enivironmental policies, support groups like the Sierra Club. If you support the citizens of the third world instead of the natural resources that can be exploited by corporations, organizations such as CARE can always use help. If there's an action taken that you disagree with, more than likely there is some not-for-profit organization that agrees with you and is working hard against it.
- Civics Lesson for Those New Voters: Congressional Seats Are Elected Every Two Years
So you may have heard that Republicans made gains in the real seat of power, the U.S. Congress (they gained four seats in both the House and the Senate). BUT, the House seats will come up for a vote again in just two years and 1/3 of the seats in the Senate will be up for election in 2006. So, if you're unhappy with an incumbent who ran unoppossed (either literally or practically), find a local official or just anyone who you think would be an asset to Capitol Hill and get the ball rolling. Obviously, for most it's easier to start a Congressional career in the House than running a statewide Senate campaign, but the most important thing is to start early. Work on a platform and start trying to garner some local interest.
- All This Stuff About the National Election, Stuff Sucks Here Too!
Well, have you ever gone to a city council meeting? If there's an intersection in your area that you think needs a stoplight, do you (a) write your local traffic director and city council representative, (b) contact your local homeowner's association or other civic institution that may be able to help, or (c) bitch about it everytime you have to wait for traffic to clear to get across. For those who voted, you probably saw a bunch of weird races where you had no clue who you were voting for... water management district, fire district, city manager (and apparently President). Anyways, each of these people may not get the press but probably make more decisions that affect your day-to-day life than the President or any other federal official. Take the time to see who they are, what it is they do, and find ways that they could do better.
The main point I'm trying to make here is that NOW IS THE TIME! The Democrats put themselves in a hole by whining that Bush was an illegitimate president for two years instead of properly planning a course for the mid-term elections in 2002 and the presidential election of 2004.
So, you may be asking yourself what I plan to do. Can't preach if I'm unwilling to act. Well, I'm going to use my annual bonus to support the three organizations I listed above (but I encourage you to do your own research and find groups that you may more closely agree with) and I'm actually going to check the Florida state constitution to see what the minimum age to be a member of our state house is (I'll be 29 in 2006, so I think I may not be old enough). That's right, Grand Owl for State House 2006!!! If anything, I'd get paid more to sit in boring meetings for three months than I do now in my current job all year.
Did You All Here About This Video Game Revolution Thing?!?!
This holiday season will be good for the Gamers out there. Of course, today is the highly anticipated launch of Halo 2 for Microsoft's Xbox console. In addition, PS2 launched the similarly hyped Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas a couple of weeks ago. Fans excitedly waited for recent releases such as Doom 3 and The Sims 2, and EverCrack II (oops, EverQuest II), Metal Gear Solid 3, and Half-Life 2 are due out in the next couple of weeks. And as you can see, all of the games mentioned are sequels, so who knows what new and original killer game may roll out in time for Christmas.
But what puzzles me is the press that this season is generating. Like the video game fan is a "new" phenomenon. Many are writing that the stereotype of the nerd hiding in his parent's basement for days at a time have been broken, but it has only been the media that perpitrated that stereotype. I remember as a kid going to video game arcades and watching adults dump their quarters into the machines like the rest of us. One of my favorite childhood memories is playing "Frogs & Flies" for the Atari 2600 with my grandfather, then him playing by himself to figure out why I always beat him (I had my controller on the easy setting and his on hard). One of my favorite movie scenes is the "Super Fan 99" scene in the movie "Swingers" where a group of 20-somethings gather around the TV to play EA's NHL 1994 ("Make somebody's head bleed!"). The new flag's already flying from the Capitol, and the media is just now getting wind of the revolution?! While I love the pub for the gaming industry, in my mind it shows the hypocrisy of most media outlets who are attempting to dispell a sterotype that they helped start in the first place.
Random Thoughts
- I don't really get SpikeTV. I was psyched when I heard that TNN was going to change their format to appeal to a young male adult audience. Yet every time they take a stab at something original, it's just a swing and a miss. Over the weekend, I was watching their "Ultimate Gamer" show which was going to focus on Halo 2. What I was expecting was a cool look inside how Halo 2 was made with some gameplay shots and insight on special new features. What I got was like a SpikeTV version of "Queer Eye for the Lame Guy". While I did get some of what I was hoping for, the show focused on someone who they selected as the Halo "Ultimate Gamer" (while giving no explanation as to why he was picked other than that he played the game a lot) as he gets to tour the Bungie Studios in Washington and has his apartment made over in California. You know the shows going to be bad right off the bat when the host's name is "Stryker", denigrates further when all of the lucky participant's "reaction" shots look so staged that it seems he's reading from a cue card, then goes totally off-tangent when for some reason they spend five minutes showing this guy driving around in a dune-buggy. The finale where they show off his new apartment was the capper because, in my opinion, it looked WORSE THAN BEFORE. While his furnishings weren't great, what they replaced them with weren't spectacular either. They painted his living room this ugly and depressing gray, used a grafitti artist to add images from the game on his walls, and pretty much made everything in his place a walk-in advertisement for the game. Not that this guy was a looker, but if I brought a date home to this place I could pretty much guarantee that I wouldn't be getting any action! But enough bitching about this show, SpikeTV has done this kind of thing consistently. If only we could forget the totally awful 2003 SpikeTV Video Game Awards. It would have been Harry Caray's kind of award show since it seemed the producers felt the audience didn't need to be bothered with such minor matters as WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON! They didn't announce the award or who was nominated, they just would pop up and say "The winner for best sports game is Madden 2004!" then show the bewildered developers of the game sitting at a table as confetti rained down and dancing girls joined them, then quickly cut back to their wrestling match or the B-list celebrities that they conjured up to attend this disaster. Some other misses were "Joe Schmo 2" (the first one was cool), "10 Things Every Guy Should Do" which was supposed to show average guys getting to attend premier sporting events but turned into a lame game show (which appears to have been ripped-off for some reason by the ESPN show "I'd Do Anything"), "The John Henson Show" (which I loved him on Talk Soup, but this was a lame "Man Show" rip-off), that weekend late-night programming block from earlier this summer which was just soo all-over the place, and I could go on. But, I write this long rant because I care. I still think the channel could work without reverting back to a USA or TNT type channel (which just replays shlock spooned out by their corporate parents), but the channel execs already seems to be heading in that direction with reruns of Star Trek and CSI that are taking a larger cut of the daily schedule. A last gasp at creativity starts tonight at 9:00 ET, with a new nightly block of original programming (yes, wrestling fans, I know it technically started last night with WWE Raw but it's not new and is not Spike's own original programming): a Tuesday night reality show hosted by Al Sharpton(?!) called "I Hate My Job", a Wednesday night reality show in the guise of "The Casino" or "American Chopper" called "The Club" which highlights the day-to-day activities of a Las Vegas nightclub, a Thursday night Japanese trivia show import called "Hey!", and a Friday night sports retrospective called "Untold" which will show the stories of sports greats (lets see, ESPN Classic has "SportsCentury" and FOX Sports Net has "Beyond the Glory"... yeah we can always use a third show to see where Fran Tarkenton grew up). However, I doubt a quartet of reality shows and a weekly wrestling program will be what it takes to finally launch the network off the ground, but we'll see. HEY, SPIKETV EXECS, I'M ACTUALLY A 27 YEAR-OLD MALE... HIRE ME AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS WORTH AIRING AND WHAT GUYS LIKE ME WOULD FLIP PAST FASTER THAN THE LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK!
- Now, to totally burn bridges with anyone from Viacom, I know many others have said it but I have to throw in my two cents, YOU KILLED MTV2!!! Music fans probably remember back to when the network launched in 1996 with execs cracking on themselves on how MTV didn't play music anymore. MTV2 was going to go back to its roots by playing only music videos. Then, it was anything "music-related" which was still cool with live performances such as the "$2 Bill" series and artist collections. Then it began to denegrate into a VH1 clone with lame "Worst of..." specials and celebrity lifestyle shows. Now, it's just as the name suggests, a second channel of MTV. While they still play more music than their sister station, they've drifted away into playing reruns of old MTV shows such as "Road Rules/Real World Challenge", "Celebrity Deathmatch", "Cribs" and all that other crap. Luckily, we at least have a counter-weight to how bad MTV is with the incredible Fuse (which happens to be run by Canadian media conglomerate CityTV, who actually ditched scripted programming for an all-music format when they made the jump from MuchMusic USA to Fuse). Next week, I'll find a way to rip on Viacom's future gay channel LOGO, but I've gotta keep it nice because they are going to have a show featuring Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson.
- As those of you who follow my blog know, I run about a day behind in my TV viewing as a Tivo a show and usually watch it the next day. So last night I was able to watch Sunday night's Adult Swim lineup from Cartoon Network. This week's lineup differed from normal, with the introduction of a short called Perfect Hair Forever which was an Americanized take on how weird Japanese anime shows can be. I can't really explain it, but if you enjoy any Adult Swim shows, you must see this if you missed it! It was then followed-up by a comical "round table discussion" on that short hosted by Space Ghost which was just as bizarre as the short itself (today's blog title was going to be "My father stuck his human penis in my shark mother" before I heard the Harry Caray clip where he tried to pronounce Kaz Suzuki's name backwards). It makes you wonder if the Williams Street people are comic geniuses or if they will just throw any crap they think up out there to show how stupid we are for thinking it's funny.
November 08, 2004
Bear Down, Chicago Bears
YES!!! Two weeks in a row, my glorious Chicago Bears have been the victors in an epic NFL struggle. OK, that's how I would write it if I were working for the group over at NFL Films. But yes, the Bears won again last night. I nearly wrecked my car on I-4 when I heard them do the recap on Fox Sports Radio. They'll be up against another 3-5 team this Sunday in the Tennessee Titans, so do I smell a three game winning streak... Well, no, that's something else entirely. Ewww...
My Brother's Keeper
So, I was back home in Orlando this weekend for my little brother's Eagle Scout ceremony, the top honor in the world of Boy Scouts (I, on the other hand, didn't make it out of Cub Scouts... An old family motto is: "The outside is why mankind invented the inside."). So, big ups to him as I've seen pictures of him out on the camp-out and picked him up from a weekend long canoe trip in the pouring rain and cold.
But the topic of conversation yesterday wasn't my brother's achievement in the world of scouting, but in the world of dating. You see, my 14 year-old brother has been dating a girl from his neighborhood since the beginning of the school year. Last weekend, he took her out for their first homecoming dance, and this weekend she got to meet the rest of the family. At this rate, they may be married by Christmas.
The general consensus of my family, though, is that he's too young and that the girl is a little too wild for him. I didn't start dating until I was nearly 19 (we met a couple of days before my birthday, always good for an easy present), and too this day am not big on the dating scene. However, my brother and I are polar opposites on the personality scale. While I'm more reserved and brooding, he's more outgoing and personable. While his girlfriend maybe a little more crazy, it looks more like they balance each other out than one taking on the personality of the other. So I say, good on ya. Don't listen to the family, as they're the reason why they've never met anyone I've been involved with and they probably won't until one day I show up married.
Random Thoughts
My Brother's Keeper
So, I was back home in Orlando this weekend for my little brother's Eagle Scout ceremony, the top honor in the world of Boy Scouts (I, on the other hand, didn't make it out of Cub Scouts... An old family motto is: "The outside is why mankind invented the inside."). So, big ups to him as I've seen pictures of him out on the camp-out and picked him up from a weekend long canoe trip in the pouring rain and cold.
But the topic of conversation yesterday wasn't my brother's achievement in the world of scouting, but in the world of dating. You see, my 14 year-old brother has been dating a girl from his neighborhood since the beginning of the school year. Last weekend, he took her out for their first homecoming dance, and this weekend she got to meet the rest of the family. At this rate, they may be married by Christmas.
The general consensus of my family, though, is that he's too young and that the girl is a little too wild for him. I didn't start dating until I was nearly 19 (we met a couple of days before my birthday, always good for an easy present), and too this day am not big on the dating scene. However, my brother and I are polar opposites on the personality scale. While I'm more reserved and brooding, he's more outgoing and personable. While his girlfriend maybe a little more crazy, it looks more like they balance each other out than one taking on the personality of the other. So I say, good on ya. Don't listen to the family, as they're the reason why they've never met anyone I've been involved with and they probably won't until one day I show up married.
Random Thoughts
- I was watching one of those "Scariest Police Chases" shows on SpikeTV over the weekend, when what should I see. Three of the segments were from right here in Pinellas County, Florida. They had a drunk trying to do a field sobriety test in Largo, a high speed chase down the Howard Frankland Bridge which is down the street from my apartment, and another chase down what appeared to be U.S. 19 in Clearwater. How about that for some civic pride?
- Speaking of which, I saw the aftermath of a high speed police pursuit this morning across the street from my apartment on my way to work this morning. I couldn't tell what kind of car it was because it was wrapped neatly around a palm tree, killing the passenger. I don't get why people run from the police. What are the odds you're actually going to get away??? 9000-1??? You're one person against the combined efforts of the city police, county sheriff, and state highway patrol! If you're willing to commit the crime, you better just face it when you get busted instead of trying to run like a punk.
- Well, I guess congrats to the Charlotte Bobcats for getting their first win Saturday night against my Orlando Magic. Their win came on the 16th anniversary of the Magic's first win back in 1988 against the New York Knicks (I was there). I guess the silver lining is that the Magic are at least 2-1 with some potential, unlike their 1-2 last year when you kind of sensed that something was wrong and it wouldn't be good.
November 03, 2004
Election Depression
Quote of Election Night:
"It may show sometimes voters are stupid."
Daniel Ruth, Tampa Tribune Columnist during election coverage on WFLA
And so it goes. As I'm writing this reports are running through the news that John Kerry has officially congratulated George W. Bush on his election victory last night. Dooming us to another four years of an inept government that will cost all of us trillions of dollars in deficit spending, future offensives in North Korea and Iran, increased health costs, and reduced domestic productivity as failed economic policies currently installed will be worsened with additional economic policies which are bound to fail. On the positive side, four more years of Baby Barbara and Jenna. Instead of having a boob pop out during this Inaugural Ball like Jenna did in 2000 (probably the greatest moment in C-SPAN history), this year the twins should just show up topless.
But now, I'm left to debate... "What other country may consider me for political asylum?" I hear Guatemala is beautiful this time of year. But just as Florida didn't drift off into the ocean in 1998 when Jeb Bush was elected, nor do I believe that another four years of Double-Duh will wipe this nation from the face of the Earth. I'm fixing to listen to the Al Franken Show on Air America to make sure he's handling the election OK and didn't hang himself from the deck of the USS Constitution.
So that's it. What more can one say? Our guy lost. It's kind of frustrating when you don't understand where other people are coming from that they would choose someone like Bush to be their leader, but what can you do?
In More Positive News...
Last night was the start of the new NBA season. I agree with Mark Cuban, the idea of starting the NBA season on Election Night was probably a big mistake. TNT, which was broadcasting two games nationally last night, made frequent cutaways to their sister-station CNN for updates. But, it was really nice to have a diversion from the disappointing election returns.
The Pistons took care of business in their first game as the defending champs, dispatching the Rockets 87-79 in a pretty tight game. The Ming/Mac Connection didn't really take off, with a combined 24 points, but they did account for a quarter of Houston's points for the game. It looks like T-Mac is going to be content reassuming his role on the Magic, as he took 25% of the Rockets shots. But, I think with the coaching of Jeff Van Gundy, he can lay the smack down on the Tracy Show and have him working better with his teammates as the season proceeds.
And just as I believe Tracy's return to his pre-trade last night won't be permanent, I think the same of the new Kobe, Team Player mirage from last night. I didn't get to see much of that game (they were having a Harvey Birdman marathon on Adult Swim), so I'm going by what I saw in the highlights this morning on SportsCenter. But, c'mon, Chris Mihm is not the next Shaq and the Nuggs - while they're going to be a good team - are not going to be a powerhouse of the West. The Lakers were handedly ahead after the first two periods, and put it on cruise control through the second half to take out Denver 89-78. But you know, the first game when they play a higher caliber team - say the Spurs on Friday night - and things aren't going well; Kobe's going to be putting up shots from all over the floor and trying to cut through the lane like the MJ-clone he thinks he is. And what's going to happen... A Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett are just going to throw it back in his face. Because they're not going to feel the need to cover new big man Chris Mihm as tight as a Shaq, and are going to close the lane like the DOT (sorry, still bitter about the extra hour in traffic from Tampa to Orlando two weeks ago).
Random Thoughts
- I can proudly announce that Al Franken is still among the living and didn't try anything to drastic. But it doesn't sound like he's taking it too well. For a second there, I thought he was about to cry. Speaking of which, a pro-Bush co-worker here was joking with one of our fellow associates who was for Kerry, and nearly brought a woman who overheard them to tears. PEOPLE, SETTLE!!!
- You may remember my little tirade a year ago about networks placing their logo all over the screen during sporting events. This took a ridiculous turn while watching NBA preseason basketball last Friday night on ESPN. The network keeps their watermark in the bottom-right corner of the screen throughout their programming. During NBA coverage, they keep a little scoreboard right above it which is totally fine. But the scoreboard is predominantly composed of ANOTHER ESPN LOGO! Just in case we forget what channel we turned to, we've got it twice in the span of a couple of centimeters (well, at least on my crappy little TV).
- Another screen-hogging graphic that has to go... Last night's election coverage on our local ABC affiliate WFTS - Channel 28 (which I used to check our local races), was just absurd with the amount of space they took up with stupid stuff. Here's my lame artist rendering: www.geocities.com/jcoriddi/vote2004.bmp. That's right, only about a quarter of the screen had the actual coverage. The rest was a mass of graphics including the entire right side of the screen which offered the timeless advice that we were watching "Vote 2004". Now, CNN Headline News and Bloomberg Television also use graphics at the bottom and side of the screens, and while it's distracting, it at least provides some information. This was just shameless self-promotion. Now, I don't know if they had to do that to crop the screen proportionately or something, but c'mon! Smaller is the key.
- For those of you who tried to follow my advice to watch the Danica McKellar episode of Eve last night on UPN, they postponed it until next week. A sad attempt by UPN to get me to watch their network twice in one lifetime.
- Speaking of which, it's now time for my weekly "Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy." Remember the good old days when a television "child" actor was a good five to seven years older than the character they portrayed. While the West Beverly crew on 90210 was only about three years older than me on TV, the actors who portrayed them were pulling down Social Security checks. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore, as is evidence by this weeks two "women" Daniella Monet of the CBS show Listen Up and Alia Shawkat of Fox's Arrested Development. I crushed on these two from watching their TV personas go through high school life and adolescence thinking that the 90210 Rule was still in effect. But these TV Teen Queens are in real life... Teens! Both coming in at the ripe old age of 15. But, growing up in Daytona we had a rule: If you like scamming on underage tail, make sure you hit more than one at the same time. That way you can add up their ages, and you're in the clear. Warped logic... Yes! But that comes from all the salt air mixed with race car exhaust that we breathe in over there. So with that, I present this week's "Woman I'd Stalk If I Weren't So Lazy" the lovely 30 year-old Daniella Shawkat.
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