Football Prediction

While I've got football on the brain following the Ty Law signing, and WFAN's visit to Jets camp, where they interviewed Herm Edwards, Terry Bradway, Donnie Henderson, Mike Heimerdinger, Chad Pennington, Jonathan Vilma, Eric Coleman, Pete Kendall and Ben Graham, here's a little prediction I cooked up from a discussion I had the other day with a friend.

*Out of the twelve playoff teams in the NFL in the 2005-2006 season, five to seven of them will have qualified in the playoffs from the 2004-2005 season.*

Not an "official" prediction, but it's likely that three of these will be New England, Indianapolis and Philadelphia. I just hope the Jets will be one of the teams as well.

Two NY Sports Notes

Note 1

The New York Jets look to sign Pro Bowl CB Ty Law today, a move that should definitely improve the defense, even if Law still is not 100% from his foot injury last season. Unfortunately, it sounds like the team will also have to cut 10-year veteran Ray Mickens to make room for Law. While this move will add a spark to the recently one-sided Jets / Patriots rivalry, which has gotten a bit stale since Bill Parcells left the area, it's a bit sad to see Mickens, the Jet with the second-longest tenure on the team let go. Mickens has never been an outstanding player but he's been consistant and durable throughout his career (until last season's injury) and due to his smaller physical size (5' 8", 180 lbs) has been a bit of an underdog who has been easy to root for. Perhaps they can bring him back at a lesser salary.

Note 2

I try not to link to other blogs on this site, as an effort to keep the content fresh (no pun intended) but this transcript of banter between Ken Singleton and Michael Kay was too easy to pass up. I guess when the tv stations go to commercials, the microphones aren't always off on MLB.tv. It's too bad I can't get MLB.tv because the Yankees and Mets are blacked out for anyone living in NYC. Hearing this sort of banter would be worth the price alone.

China - Part 3 - Terra Cotta Soliders

When we last left off my China trip virtual slide show, we were in the city of Xi'an. Just outside of the city are many tombs of leaders and a very well known cultural site, the terra cotta warriors. They were found thirty years ago by some farmer who was digging a well. I thought that was both funny and remarkable. The government has invested a lot in trying to publicize the soldiers and the cultural value. I think the farmer who found the soldiers is still alive and signs autographs.

There are three main pits with soldiers in them. The "first pit" is the largest, and that is where the first three photos are from. The "second" pit is smaller and did not allow photography. The "third" pit was the smallest and the fourth photo is from that site. There was one area where soldiers were removed from the pit areas and put on display. The final photos are all close ups of those soldiers.

This entire site is pretty wonderous, from the garden outside to the large airplane hangar-like structures that house the soldiers. In the parking lot, it's pretty sad, as there are many peasants trying to sell you trinkets, and these peasants will swarm around you the moment they realize you're from out of town.

An amazing site, and a highlight of my trip. Enjoy the photos.

Switch Pitcher

The other night two baseball observations of mine came together to form one great dream.

The first, which was actually made by my brother, was that no modern player will ever be able to be called, "The Greatest Yankee Ever." Why not? Because Babe Ruth has that title. Not only was Ruth one of the best Yankees ever, he's one of the greatest figures in professional sports ever. This means, even if a player is truly great, and a Yankee, he would still probably have to share the title of "Greatest Yankee" with Ruth.

So how could a player become the "Greatest Yankee" beyond Babe Ruth? Well, they'd probably have to change the game so dramatically that there would be no option but to call him so. A player like Barry Bonds or A-Rod won't make it. Sure, they are great players, perhaps some of the greatest in their time, but they aren't on the level of Babe Ruth. When Ruth hit 59 HR in 1921, the second most HR were hit by Ken Williams. Williams only had 24 HR. Ruth was a pitcher before that as well!

In order to be considered "the best" you then would have to be so innovative and yet also play the game at a high level, much like Ruth. What would be the next innovation that could strike baseball this well? Of course, it would be the switch-pitcher. I dream of teaching my kids to throw with both hands so that they can one day be major league switch pitchers. Think of all the possibilities! If you were in a jam against a batter you could just "change your look" by throwing with the other arm. You could alternate R/L depending on the batter. Even better still, you could pitch game 1 as a right-hander and game 2 as a left-hander. After all, you'd be using all the muscles on the other side of the body. You could be your own relief pitcher. The next innovation in the game will be the switch-pitcher. How great would it be if you could pound someone with your left-handed fastballs and cutters, and then suddenly throw right-handed knuckleballs to the next batter? You would be valuable as two players in one. If you were on the Yankees and you were good, you might just be able to take that title from Babe Ruth.

Spoilers

What is the statute of limitations on spoilers?

(Warning, may contain some spoilers, depending on how they are defined)

When is it okay to discuss the ending of a book, movie or TV show? One might argue, you can never discuss it with someone if they haven't seen it, otherwise you've spoiled it. That's a good point, but what about media that is well-known? Can I discuss Darth Vader's relationship with Luke Skywalker and not worry about spoilers? What about the endings of "The Wizard of Oz" or "Rocky?" At what point do these pieces go from unknown to common knowledge? Certainly I can't talk about the ending to the newest Harry Potter book, but what about the ending to the first book?

With books, I feel that one indication that the book can be discussed freely is if the book has been turned into a movie. But still, is it okay to question the fate of Frodo and Sam in the "Lord of the Rings" or is that a spoiler?

A good friend of mine once spoiled "The Usual Suspects" but it was okay because I saw the Academy Awards before I saw the film, and the awards indirectly spoiled the movie anyways.

So what are good milestones to look for when trying to determine if something is spoiled?

The inspiration for this post is the third Harry Potter movie, which I saw last night. There's something about it that really bothers me, but I can't discuss it here because it really spoils the movie.

Worst of the KFB

The Kitchen Fresh Blog completed its first year two months ago, so what better way to celebrate than emphasize some of the crappier moments in this space?

In the spirit of the Not Top 10 on Sportscenter, please find my five least favorite posts to this blog. In other words, I wish I had never written them.

In general, while reviewing the first year of the blog, I've noticed a few things.

Complaining about spare change seems to be a theme on the blog. As do rants about the Red Sox, weather forecasts, politics, and the Jets. Not surprisingly, these posts are of low quality.

My favorite posts were generally from things that have happened to me or from observations that I think are clever. I think the latter category may make me seem a bit smug, but it is my blog, after all.

Not-Top 5

1) Writer's Block posts. These are silly, and I've done it twice.

2) Speaking of posting things twice, why don't I tell the same story twice? I guess it was so traumatic, I had to tell it again.

3) I'm just an idiot. It's a chain restaurant!

4) I don't really understand the joke in this post... I wrote the joke!

5) In general, I had posted a lot about these vanity searches. Boring.

While I found these five to be the poorest in quality, in general, there were a lot of mediocre posts to the space, mostly revolving around current events, and posting links. I need a little better quality control.

Best of the KFB

As if having a blog wasn't self-aggrandizing enough, here is a post to that blog that highlights my favorite posts. Consider, it as "Blogman's favorites."

Of course, May 13, 2005 was the actual first anniversary of the blog, so it's great to put something together two and a half months later commemerating the event.

These are the posts in their order that they were posted.

1) My crazy roommate plays this silly name game. This is one of the stories that inspired the creation of the KFB.

2) Salads. I've never had a satisfactory answer to this question.

3) This post manages to capture two observations - one about complex family situations and the other about man-purses.

4) It's not often that I have my camera at the same time that I observe something funny.

5) Group dynamics. One of my favorite topics.

6) Sort of similar to #4, although the bottle wasn't going to go anywhere.

7) I can't believe this actually happened.

8) What is the convention on this anyways?

9) I found this to be fairly clever.

10) This still happens to me!

11) I haven't watched Law & Order in a while.

12) New York City is a strange place. Sort of the same theme as #7.

13) This post about Chien-Ming Wang is a bit silly, but wouldn't it be so funny??

14) Yet another true story about something that happened to me on the street.

Spare Some Change?

I have a personal policy not to help anyone asking me for change, regardless of what they look like or their story. The reason for this is that I've been hoodwinked before and so I don't like to be taken advantage of because I'm nice. Therefore, I just assume everybody asking for change or food is up to no good, and then deny their request.

Today, a couple asked me for change and for some reason, I felt pretty bad for them. It's made me re-think the policy. Instead of punishing those who actually need assistance because of those who might not, shouldn't I just accept that not everybody is honest and at least help those few that I can? It's not like I couldn't afford to drop a dollar here or there to help folks out, even if they all don't need help. I don't think this will change my policy but it's something that was passing through my mind this morning.

Changing Gears: Personal July Recap

Looking back at the blog, I've realized that I hadn't posted too many personal anecdotes, which is generally what these blogs are for. So here's a quick recap on my month of July, which featured many trips and goings-on.

July 2 - Live 8 concert in Philadelphia. I wrote a post about this.

July 4 - Fireworks at South Street Seaport. I never took any photos of all the things happening there, but it was jam packed. The friend I went to Live 8 with was also at the fireworks with me, and I told him I thought there were bigger crowds at the fireworks but he disagreed.

July 8 - Yankees versus Cleveland Indians. The second Yankee win I've attended. It was also visor night. There's a post about this, too.

July 11 - I skipped work during the day in order to get tickets to "As You Like It," a production of Shakespeare in the Park. It was a good show, with great production quality, and the stage was beautiful, especially at sunset. The lead, Rosalind, was played by Lynn Collins, who I guess has been romantically linked to Keanu Reeves. One thing about the comedy is that Shakespeare comedies seem fairly formulaic (I'm no literary critic). Someone cross-dresses, there's a misunderstanding and a bunch of weddings. They all lived happily (very happily) ever after. There you have another Shakespeare comedy! The other realization I had this day was that there are so many people in New York City who don't work. I'm not sure what these people do for a living but it's not working.

Week of July 11 - Also included a trip to Chinatown for dinner, drinks at the 79th Street Boat Basin, dinner in Times Square (Spanky's BBQ) and a dinner in Times Square followed by drinks in the East Village. Busy week but I don't have any silly stories to tell from any of these events.

July 16-17 - I visited Boston for the third time in three months. I've got a lot of friends up there so it's always nice to pass through the area. Before leaving, I got measured for a tuxedo for an upcoming wedding in December. Then, I stopped off in Connecticut at a BBQ hosted by the couple to be married in December. The weekend in Boston consisted of dinner, drinks and then dim sum Sunday morning. It was nice to see everyone, but I wish I could have spent a little more time up there. The drive was treacherous since I was very tired.

July 18 - I saw the Stephen Chow movie, Kung Fu Hustle. I enjoyed this film much more than Shaolin Soccer. It was much funnier. Someone told me that Ebert called it a combination of Bugs Bunny and Quinten Tarantino. This is a great description since it has the Looney Tunes type of silliness.

July 19 - The dinner destination was Spice Market, a hip and trendy Jean Georges restaurant that opened last year in the Meatpacking District. It was tasty, although a little expensive. We had chicken samosas and a spicy shaved tuna for appetizers, a grilled chicken and a cod dish for the main course, accompanied by ginger rice and for dessert, some sort of ice cream sandwich. I forget the flavor of the ice cream (Thai tea?) but it wasn't too sweet and very tasty. We also got drinks - a mojito and a mai tai. The decor is pretty cool, the restaurant is huge. There's so much hype, I'm not sure the place could ever live up to it, but it was definitely a hip place to be and the food was tasty. I don't know why there is such a difficulty in securing a reservation to this place (I made this one back in early July) because it wasn't packed when we arrived at 8pm.

July 22 - I moved. To a three bedroom apartment just down the road. My roommates are cool, although one of them hasn't moved in yet.

July 23 - Two milestones. I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I saw reigning NBA MVP Steve Nash while at dinner in the East Village. No comments on the Potter book, except I like to brag about how I reserved it back in January at the NY Public Library and got it right after it came out. What is it that makes Harry so popular? As for Steve Nash, I didn't talk to him, but it was exciting since I don't usually have a lot of celebrity sightings (although in June I passed Ice-T walking down the street in Times Square).

Also on July 23, I had a really substandard experience at Cold Stone Creamery. Not only did we not get very much ice cream, but there were only three strawberries mixed in! While I'm complaining about Cold Stone, why must they try to up-sell the customer on everything? It's like trying to buy a TV at Best Buy, except instead of "Would you like a service plan?" the question is "Would you like a larger ice cream? More mixed in?" Are these guys on commission?

July 24 - I had the waffle ice cream sandwich at the Original New York Milkshake Company. This will not be the last time I have this waffle ice cream sandwich.

July 25 - After several months of missing Smallville, I'm starting to catch up. Five more episodes for the rest of the season. The episode from this evening? Lex Luthor is split into two, his evil and good sides. For some reason I'm finding Kristen Kreuk (Lana Lang) less attractive than in the past. We've been away from each other for too long.

July 26 - Out to dinner on the West Side, at a mexican place. Why isn't this place listed in Zagat or on MenuPages? Note to self: while a chimichanga sounds good because of the words "deep-fried flour tortilla," it really isn't.

Well, that's a recap. If anything cool happens in these last three days, I'll keep the KFB posted.

Fight Club

Ninth Rule of Fight Club: Do not tell the NY Times about Fight Club.

What a great snippet to get me to read the article:
"In small cities and towns where there is not much to do, cage fighting is making a comeback."

Speaking of fighting, I saw an ad the other day for the WWE Summerslam. The headline match? Hulk Hogan versus Shawn Michaels: Immortality has a price. Was that an ad from twenty years ago? No, it's 52 year-old Hogan versus 40 year-old Michaels. I don't know if I should be amazed that these guys at their ages can keep up with the physicality (steroids?) or amused by professional wrestling's inability to market new stars.

NBA Coaches

Larry Brown is headed to the Knicks at the tune of nearly $10 million per year. That will be more than Phil Jackson makes, around $7-10 million annually.

Mike Francesa on WFAN made a good point yesterday - when did NBA coaches make out so well on the pay scale?

The highest paid NFL coach? Parcells and Gruden make around $3 million, and Spurrier made around $5 million. I was looking for Bill Belichek's salary (he should probably be the highest paid) but it's probably in that range. It seems to me that these coaches work the hardest (not to mention often have personnel responsibilities) and probably would be expected to be paid the most.

MLB? Joe Torre makes about $8 million to take care of the Yankees, but his success with the team probably justifies it. Plus, the MLB season is the longest of any of the major pro sports.

So what is it about the NBA coaches that makes them so coveted and highly paid? Yes, they are a very visible personality on the sidelines, and are certainly instrumental in the direction of a team. But recent NBA coach successes aren't necessarily these big superstars. For example, Gregg Poppovich, Lawrence Frank, Stan Van Gundy and Mike D'Antoni have all had recent success without much "celebrity" status. It's clearly a demanding job, but I can't help but think the scale is out of whack.

One more note about the Brown signing, regarding the Knicks roster. I took a look at the 2003-2004 roster (pre-Isiah Thomas) and there's only one player who is on the '05-06 roster, Allan Houston. I just can't help but think with Brown now in the fold, the Knicks will make yet another round of changes to the team. It would be nice to have a team I could recognize and begin to root for (although I have to admit, I'll also take a good team).

Toll Free

Now that cellular phones are so ubiquitous, do you think toll free numbers actually help companies? After all, the toll free number prevents long distance charges, but with cell phones those are nearly non-existent. In addition, a toll free call still counts against your cell phone minutes, so it's not really "free." Perhaps most people still have their land line, so the toll free call is nice, but for most of my peers, who have cell phones as their primary phones, it doesn't seem as useful.

Late Night Subway

Waiting for the subway late at night is never easy, as the trains run infrequently and it's the most common time to have service changes and outages. But you know you're really in for it when the "money train" or the "trash train" pulls into the platform. Particularly the trash train, which is like a bunch of flatbed subway cars that have dumpsters on them. Not only do you realize there's no hope for a train to come in on your track (and the train moves quite slowly, so even if it leaves there will still be delays), there's also a ton of trash in the subway station with you.

Yet Another Reason Why People Don't Vote

People don't vote because our politicians spend less time on things people care about and more time wondering how long daylight savings time should be and making comments like "The beauty of daylight-saving time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier" (Edward Markey, D-Mass).

I Think My Next Computer Will Be a Mac

Despite all the things I might complain about with Macs - stringent software restrictions, high prices, lower number of software titles, "trendy" computer user base, I think I may have to make the switch in a few years with my next computer. I'm sick of worrying about security features, and incompatible iTunes updates.

The announcement of WindowsVista doesn't make me any more excited either. What a stupid name. I think the pose in this photo is hilarious too.



Addendum: I've noticed a lot of free video content on the web (CNN.com, ESPN.com, etc) requires windows media player, which unfortunately is not available for Mac. This adds a little monkeywrench into my plans of Mac switching, although hopefully by the time I have to make any decisions, everyone will have embraced quicktime formats.

Safety versus Individual Rights

I understand that the police want people to feel safer, so therefore are initiating searches of people's bags on the subway. But it still makes me feel uneasy.

Look, I'm not carrying anything that anyone would take away or get me into trouble. Still, there's a few things that concern me with the searches.

1) I don't really expect them to last that long. I get the sense that once the London bombings fade from memory, these searches will be viewed as more of an inconvenience and an annoyance. Think of how people view increased airport and stadium security these days.

2) That the searches aren't that effective and are more for show. This really worries me. Maybe it's just something for peace of mind but not won't actually to do anything. The Police Commissioner said they would search fewer people if the subway was busier. Shouldn't they be searching more people when the subway is busier? After all, isn't that when these guys are most likely to attack?

3) This is the most paranoid concern: what's to say if an apartment blew up that the police wouldn't start randomly searching apartments? We're definitely looking at a conflict of search and seizure versus individual rights. Granted, the MTA can set rules and you don't have to use the subway or any other public transportation. Also, it will be more than 99.999% of people who are compliant with these regulations. But still, what happens if a guy gets caught with something and then the charge gets thrown out in court because of illegal search / seizure? Obviously, you can't legislate to what "might happen in court to get the charge thrown out." But when I hear politicians (Bloomberg) say things like, "We know that our freedoms are threatening to certain individuals and there's no reason to let our guard down." I have to think, "If you keep rummaging through my stuff, then soon there won't be that many freedoms for those people to worry about."

But still, I don't want the terrorists to win. I'll stay vigilant.

Product Endorsement

I laughed when my friend told me he had put his Sandisk Cruzer Mini flash drive in the laundry and it still worked after going through the washer. Of course, I then proceeded to do the same thing. Mine still works too. So here's a KFB product endorsement for the Sandisk Cruzer mini flash drive. You can accidentally wash it and still keep your data.

China - Part 2 - Xi'an

In Part 1 of the China Trip Posts, I gave a glimpse of the city of Xi'an. Here are a bunch of additional photos from Xi'an. Next time up will be the Terra Cotta Soldiers.

Xi'an was traditionally known as an arts and cultural center, and generally seemed a little less cosmopolitan than Beijing, Hong Kong or Shanghai. Perhaps that's just the parts of the city we visited.


The bell tower of Xi'an. It's in the center of the city wall, but the city now extends far beyond the walls. This was an alert-type tower. We went to dinner at a dumpling restaurant near here that was pretty cool, as the dumplings were shaped like the meats they contained (such as little chickens, ducks, pigs).


When you climb up the bell tower, which isn't that tall, this is some of the view. One friend asked, "What are all the green cars?" They're taxis. Speaking of taxis, imagine a place where everyone moves like a NY taxi driver (pedestrians, mopeds, bus drivers) and that's what Xi'an was like. Referencing two of my favorite amphibians, crossing the street was like Frogger, and riding in a taxi was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.


You can walk up on the Xi'an city wall. It extends like this all the way around what was originally the city.


This is a summer palace that Chinese leaders had used. It's just outside of Xi'an. I believe Chiang Kai-Shek got kidnapped here back when he was in charge.


This is called the wild goose pagoda. It's part of a Buddhist temple. We paid extra to climb up this, but it totally wasn't worth it. The view was crummy and since it was a hot day, all we got was dehydrated.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I reserved the latest Harry Potter book at the NY Public Library. Just picked it up today. There were 800 reservable copies, and I was 200th on the queue. Of course, I reserved it back in January...

I have just begun to read it, and am pleased to find that it is shorter than the last book (there was a trend where each volume had been getting longer and longer). The biggest problem with these books? I know how it's going to end. They're all unsolveable mysteries. Making matters worse, since there's magic in the world, anything can happen. Anything! Oh, the ceiling turned into cotton candy? It's magic! Look, that man has six arms! Magic. Let's turn back time... You get the picture.

I also hope there isn't much about a Quidditch match. What a stupid game. Maybe it should be an Olympic sport.

Ribfest

I can't believe my last post to the blog was about feces as a means for electrical power. It appears as well, that my "Yankees won't make the playoffs" prediction may not come true after all.

About a month back, I had the pleasure of attending Nashua, NH's annual rib-fest. Here, you pay admission to a little outdoor fair and then can purchase ribs from a bunch of vendors. The session is held on the grounds of Anhauser Busch's factory in Nashua. While the ribs were tasty, here are some photos from the day that have nothing to do with ribs - the clydesdales and a stunt plane that flew over the site.

And yes, I got the itis.


Doesn't it look like this horse is in prison? So sad.


Stunt planes are fun.

Poop Power?

I don't know if this is cool or gross but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to work in a biogas plant.

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees - 7/8/05

I'm falling behind with posts to the blog.

I still have 100+ photos from China that need to be posted here, and some things from the Nashua, NH Rib Fest a while back that also need to make it up here. Then I also would like to do a Best of / Worst of the first year of KFB. For now, enjoy some shots from the rainy Indians / Yankees game. Actually, it was raining early but cleared up to a nice night. Also, it turns out to be my second victory this season.


Chien-Ming Wang. This may have been his last start of the year, depending on the DL situation. I have also seen Kevin Brown, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano pitch this year, so pretty much all the regular starting pitchers.


The theme of today's photos is, players who weren't on the Yankees back in April when I saw a ton of games. For example, center fielder Melky Cabrera.


Melky Cabrera has a silly looking photo for his shot on the big screen.


No Tony Womack here! It's Robinson Cano.


Coco Crisp of the Indians. You couldn't make up a better name.


Ah, Tier Reserved, my favorite place to sit.

Getaway Car

I think all crooks should drive the Ford Escape as their getaway car.

Newsstands and US News

I was looking around for a magazine today, and couldn't find it anywhere. I stopped by about four or five of the corner newsstands asking for the magazine, and none of them had it. In fact, several of them looked at me as if they had never heard of the magazine. Then I realized that these newsstands only carry porn and cigarettes. I hadn't ever noticed that before.

The magazine I was looking for? US News and World Report. Nobody carries this thing. It's like the black sheep of news magazines. More newsstands had The Economist (which is like the British hippie cousin of news magazines). It makes you realize how US News has been able to turn the "Top 10" list into a year-long publication. There's top colleges, grad schools and hospitals. When will they come out with "America's Top Religions?" They would be able to have all sorts of categories, like "miracles performed," "martyrs," and "fundraising." The best categories, of course, would be "selectivity" and "reputation."

Sandwiches Without Bread

Imagine: Roast beef, bacon, melted cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and ranch dressing...

Sounds like a great sandwich, right?

Nope, it's a Quiznos salad!

Here's another: Black Angus steak, bleucheese crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty!

I'm amused by the "healthy" options at these fast food chains, like salads at McDonald's and Wendy's that include fried chicken on them, but this is a bit much, isn't it? Quiznos suggests, of course, that these salads are low carb, and thus more healthy. Here's the facts: if it sounds like something I'd like, it's probably not healthy.

Terror Alert Color Coding System

We all know this one -- Orange means "heightened alert," red means "under attack," and so forth. Does anyone know how much it cost to come up with this thing? I was just wondering what the going rate was for color-coded alert systems.

My Entrance Music Please...

I have always thought that various people require entrance music, much like wrestlers.

The only three I've come up with are:

Members of a wedding party to the wedding reception
Judges into a court room
Surgeons entering the operating room for surgery

But I'm sure there are other instances where it would be appropriate, and I'm just missing them.

Baseball - Out of the Olympics

Baseball and softball have been eliminated as Olympic events. I guess it's not a great shock since nobody in Europe plays these sports, but yet they're quite popular in the US, Latin America and Asia. I've always thought the IOC had a bit of European bias, and this confirms my suspicions.

Reasons baseball was eliminated?

Cost - building baseball and softball stadiums were too costly and weren't utilized after games in host cities. Good point, although the article mentions that the IOC considered adding golf as a medal sport. Golf courses aren't costly to build? Not to mention, if you want to televise something more boring than baseball, then golf is a good choice.

Another reason cited was recent problems in MLB with steroids, and the lack of professional players in the Olympics. This seems contradictory, since if all the MLB players are using steroids, why would you want them in the Olympics? Most importantly, I thought the Olympics were an amateur event. I know pro basketball players go to the Olympics, as do pro tennis players and many other professionals in other sports. This is disappointing. Sure, it would be nice to see MLB players make it to the games, but the whole point of the Olympics is to give the amateurs a chance to shine.

Perhaps baseball and softball should be eliminated from the Olympics, but these aren't good reasons to knock them out. Did you know handball was an Olympic event?

Kevin Smith

Every time I see Kevin Smith on television or in a movie, I like him less. Why might that be? It's not like he switched to Scientology or something. Some of the recent appearances of his that I've seen include him talking about comic books or the Superman movie (which he was loosely affiliated with for a while), or him on the Tonight Show talking about his latest projects. Clerks was one of my favorite movies for a while, and I even found Dogma, Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back hilarious. I thought that it might be due to beginning to “grow up” but I’m not sure that’s the case, since I still get a kick out of mainstays like South Park and Robot Chicken. As far as I can tell, it's not me, it's him.

Tour de France

Lance Armstrong's final Tour de France is as a member of the Discovery Channel Team. This, of course, is probably his tribute to the Simpsons episode, Lemon of Troy.

Bart: Milhouse, you and me will be Omega team, Todd, you and Data are 'Team Strike Force'. Nelson, that leaves you and Martin.
Martin: Team Discovery Channel!
Nelson: Aww... your wussiness better come in handy.

Live 8

I went to the Live 8 show in Philadelphia this past weekend. What is Live 8? It's the sequel to 1985's Live Aid show. This year, the goal was to lobby the upcoming G8 meeting to forgive debt to Africa and increase aid to African countries. There were nine shows that ran concurrently (including one in London that sounded pretty amazing). I don't know much about debt relief for Africa, and the show didn't do much to convince me that I should be in favor of it. But it was a pretty cool experience, with estimated 800,000 people at the show. The NY Times had printed something about 1.5 million people, but I think that was wrong.

We got to the show around 10am and waited in our spot for 2 hrs. Here are some photos from that spot.


This was our view of the concert site, which was on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The "No Turn on Red" sign and the traffic light were more in our way than expected.


A view of the crowd behind us.


Here is a shot of the statue to the left of us and the crowds.

The best act we saw was Will Smith (who included in his performance a sing-along of the theme song from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"). We also saw the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Destiny's Child and Kanye West perform. Also at the site, performing later in the day, were Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, and Def Leppard. I heard the DMB set, which sounded pretty good, but will have to watch the remainder on the internet. We left since the show was a bit slow between acts, and we were getting hot in the sun. Here are some more photos from the day. I put some arrows on the famous people, since otherwise, it's nearly impossible to tell who they are.


Will Smith, the first emcee.


The Black Eyed Peas.


Jon Bon Jovi. It's a little blurry.


There were just so many people!


The fire department set up these trucks that sprayed water. Pretty cool idea. Fortunately it wasn't too humid on Saturday.


Here's a view from further away of the concert site. It was almost wall-to-wall people from here to the stage.

How to Tell You Have a Gambling Problem

How can you tell you have a gambling problem? When you start placing bets on which city will host the Olympic games. New York, incidentally, is a long shot at 25-1. This makes me wonder if the same agencies have over/unders for death tolls in major earthquakes and natural disasters.

Prediction: Tom Cruise is not the last "heart throb" movie star to say something crazy or controversial

Throwing this into the prediction section.

Tom Cruise recently came under fire for his strong statements against psychiatrists and antidepressant medication. For some reason, this reminded me of some of the strong statements Mel Gibson had been making about Christianity and social issues while promoting his last film (I believe it was a little movie about a carpenter).

These are all "heart throb" male movie stars who now, with a lot of works under their belts, have expressed stronger opinions about things and are portrayed by the media as "losing it" a little bit. This will happen again. Colin Farrell and Brad Pitt, watch out.

This, by the way, excludes people like Tim Robbins, who are outspoken about their politics, but never really made it to "heart throb" status. Richard Gere is a borderline case, I don't know if his Tibet statements are as well publicized as Cruise or Gibson, but he certainly likes to have opinions!

Let this also be a lesson to future celebrities and pretty people in general: For the most part, the public doesn't want to hear anything you say that's supposed to be intellectual. Most likely, ugly intellectuals will ridicule you even if you make sense because they are jealous of you. So just look pretty.

Review: Alice in Chains: MTV Unplugged

Alice In Chains: MTV Unplugged
1996, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc
Vocals - Layne Staley
Guitar - Jerry Cantrell
Bass - Mike Inez
Drums - Sean Kinney

Collecting all those Pepsi iTunes caps paid off, as I was able to receive this album for free (and the cost of 13 bottles of Diet Pepsi).

This is only the fourth complete album I have ever purchased online. It's a bit hard to do, since I am so attached to liner notes and the total package. Unfortunately, the problem is, the more I like the album, the more I want the liners, so in the end I try to choose albums that I don't know much about or I'd like to try. The other three albums I had purchased were all Foo Fighters albums, and I got them for $5 each after Real had their $0.50 song promotion.

That's just a little background. While I've listened to all the Alice in Chains studio releases, I am by no means an avid fan of the band, and for some reason, they're one of the Seattle bands that slipped under the radar for me in the '90's. I'm only now starting to appreciate their work.

So it brings me to the Unpluggeed album, which is quite a treat. For the casual fan ilke me, the band breaks out some of their most popular hits, such as Rooster, Would?, Down in a Hole, No Excuses and Heaven Beside You.

The acoustic sound is much smoother than the electric versions of these songs, and Staley's distinctive voice booms over the instrumentals.

I wrote the above about a month ago. This remains my favorite Alice in Chains album. A great addition to my music collection, especially at the cost of a baker's dozen bottles of Pepsi.

Stand Up - Dave Matthews Band Part 2

Previously, I had promised a review of the album

That promise will go unfulfilled. I like this album, and it seems like the band has a jazzier sound than on their last studio recording, "Busted Stuff." At first I didn't think it was a particularly good album, but it's growing on me, and I think it's a strong work overall.

I recently acquired the new album from the Foo Fighters, "In Your Honor." It's got some catchy tunes, but did it really warrant a double CD (total 80 minutes)? It had the same copy protection as the DMB album, and it also wasn't a problem to put on my iPod, despite warnings to the contrary.

Batman Begins

A pretty good movie, but for some reason, everything I have to say about it is negative. Am I just a negative person?

Another post from the archives.

An anecdote from the movie. With about a half-hour to go, a guy in front of me had his phone ring for the second time. He took the call and was speaking just loud enough for some of us to hear. The person sitting on my right (a stranger) tapped this man on shoulder, and the following occurred.

Man on Right (MoR): Could you do that outside?
Man on Phone (MoP): I'll be finished in a minute.
*MoR puts hands in air*
*MoP keeps talking for several minutes*
Me: Shut up.
*MoP swings around and points at the MoR*
MoP: YOU don't tell me to shut up! I'm taking this call!
Movie Crowd (MC): SHHHHHHH!
Man off to Side (MotS): You idiots be quiet! [something like this]
Man in Back (MiB): I'm a cop!
*MoP keeps talking on phone but eventually finishes*

Not one of my better moments. I didn't realize what I had done. I didn't want it to sound so mean, but I think I was fortunate that the MoR took the heat for my nasty comment. I was probably the smallest of the three guys (and perhaps, least wily). I had just been trying to pay attention to the movie, and this was the fastest way I could think of to ask him to stop talking without missing anything. I'm not usually one for confrontation but I think because the MoR was willing to ask him to stop, it emboldened me to take action (which, of course, totally backfired).

Apostrophe S

I'm going to try and unload a few posts that I had started but never finished up.

For some reason, the usage of the apostrophe s ('s) tends to be confused a lot in English. For example, just the other day, I was in a hospital and saw a sign that read, "Doctor's Only" for an area that had restricted access.

I thought to myself, "I wonder why it is so hard for some people to use properly, it has never been a problem for me."

We just use the apostrophe when someone owns something (Blogman's post) but we do not use it when it is time to make plurals (thousands of Blogmans). Trickier is the its/it's convention, when "its" is posessive and "it's" is for "it is." Tricky, but nothing that the average person can't handle.

Then I kept thinking, that isn't so easy. There's also another wrinkle. What is proper usage of the apostrophe is when it comes to plurals of abbreviations. For example, do I use the apostrophe if I want to say, There aren't that many DVD's that I want to own" or "How many RBI's does he have?"

RBI is a tricky one, is the plural of "Runs batted in" RBI or RBI's?

Which reminds me also of the word "moose." What's the plural of moose? Two moose, or two mooses?

Maybe this stuff isn't as easy as I thought.

China, Part 1

China - one of the few places where being "one in a million" means there will be a few thousand other people like you.


This first photo is from Xi'an, our first major stop in China a few weeks back. The first is from the bell tower of Xi'an, and it's in the old city center. The city has stretched far beyond the city walls. Historically, this city has been an arts and cultural center.

The city was not as commercial as future stops on our trip (Wuhan and Chongqing) nor was it as cosmopolitan as Shanghai. But it was still a nice city, even despite the fact that crossing the street was like being trapped in Frogger, and riding in taxis was like riding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World.


This second photo is of one of the Terra Cotta Soldiers. This particular soldier has been removed from the pit and is on display in a little museum they had. The soldiers are located about one hour away from the city. Apparently they were placed to guard an emperor's tomb, which was later destroyed in a protest. Then about thirty years ago, some farmer found them while digging a well. I believe the farmer does some book signings from time-to-time.

D-Rays Fans, Unite!

Amazing to think that not only are there enough Devil Rays fans out there to warrant a fan site, but there's enough to create a sub group of fans who want the current owner, Vince Naimoli, to give up control of the team. Such a young franchise, and it's always finished in last. Hard to imagine there being a significant fanbase. These days, being "loveable losers" isn't easy.

All Look Same?

The president-elect of Iran looks exactly like a guy who was involved in the 1979 US hostage situation. This news seems a bit frightening and also very believable. Then again, maybe it's a case of mistaken identity? Is there an alllooksame.com the former hostages could take for Iranians?

Poor Jets

Seems like everybody's getting a brand new stadium except them, and theirs was the highest profile project of them all. Mets? Yankees? New places across the street. Nets? Brooklyn. Giants? Renovating Giants Stadium. The Jets? Nothing, and they spent tons of time and money advertising for their project.

Elevators

Some observations about riding elevators.

When two people are stuffed into an elevator with a bunch of other people, they usually stop talking. If they continue talking, especially at a loud volume, they get glares from the other elevator occupants. The glares are indicative of the hostility often involved with riding the elevator (check out the looks on faces when an elevator stops at a floor and nobody gets on or off -- always unhappy). People tend to avoid standing in the center of the elevator as well. But when the elevator's not particularly crowded, there's a certain comfort in the elevator in conversing with strangers or making little jokes. It's almost like the quick version of the "single serving friend" they talked about in Fight Club.

Umbrella Case

Make a list of items that seem to get lost often, and you'll often find on it: sunglasses, gloves, socks. (Aside: when you lose a single sock, you might as well have lost the pair, since one sock is fairly useless)

Add to the list of lost items the umbrella case. It's never easy to fit the case back on the umbrella once you've used it, and there's no good place to put the case while you're walking around with the umbrella.

Frequent Flier

In those parts of the world that use the metric system, do you think they get frequent flier "miles" or "kilometers?"

Since all the airlines share frequent flier programs, do you think you would have to convert your frequent flier miles to frequent flier kilometers and vice-versa? I thought maybe those countries using the metric system might get frequent flier "points" which were equivalent to miles but seemingly arbitrary per flight. Royale with Cheese, anyone?

French Things

French toast in China was made on french bread. I was wondering if that was because they took the "french toast" concept too literally, or if french toast in France was really on french bread. Then again, in France, if you just order "toast," do you get french toast? Is that like getting "bacon" in Canada?

This got me thinking, is french toast even French? For that matter, are french bread, french maids and french knit things from France? French fries are from Belgium. But then, what about Belgian Waffles?

3-7

This is why the Yankees will not make the 2005 playoffs (my first prediction to go in the "Predictions" section). They are 3-7 versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

I'm not off the bandwagon yet... but I've got one leg dangling off the edge.

Amstel Light

I usually drink an Amstel Light if I'm having a beer. The other night, when I ordered just "Amstel," a friend told me that she had never heard anyone order a "regular" Amstel. I said that whenever I order "Amstel," I usually get an "Amstel Light" and that I didn't think there was a regular Amstel. When the waitress came back, she said she couldn't find "Amstel" that they only had "Amstel Light" in the back. This got me to wondering, "Is there a non-light Amstel?" It would certainly make sense, although I've never had a miscommunication where ordering "Amstel" got me the non-light beer.

To resolve this question, I went to Amstel's website. There is definitely an Amstel non-light beer, but I'm not sure if it's available in the United States. It is, according to their web site, available in 75 countries, but which countries is not apparent. You can buy Amstel Light on Freshdirect, but not plain "Amstel."

Snapple Ice Pops

I wish I was in Union Square last night so that I could have seen the giant Snapple popsicle disaster. Snapple, trying to make the largest ice pop ever, failed, and it melted all over Union Square. Apparently there was some problem when they had to put it upright in order to qualify for the Guinness Book of Records. The rats in the sewers must have loved all the Snapple that was all over the place.

This reminds me, how great a job would it be to be the Guinness World Records inspector? First of all, you probably get to go to all these exotic locales and see all sorts of exciting things. Secondly, you are the arbiter in determining if it's even a success. In the case of the ice pop, the Guinness guy gets to say, "Nice ice pop, but it's got to be upright."

Pink Floyd: The Wall

I thought I ought to see "The Wall" considering that I have heard much of the music, and I don't have the familiarity with a lot of 70's rock. You can see in this film how this was definitely the era where MTV was started, and the vignettes are pretty interesting. But a lot of it is over my head as well. The animated sequences, convoluted storyline, and imagery are all strong, but in the end, I can't synthesize the concepts well enough to really understand what's happening.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it's a really elaborate and confusing music video. Perhaps it needs to be seen while using some sort of drugs for best appreciation.

Metrostars???

I'm watching MSG Sportsdesk, a local cable sports highlight show so that I can catch up on the action from the Yankees and Mets today. Instead, the lead story of Sportsdesk is of the NY/NJ Metrostars, the local MLS entry. How do the Metrostars warrant the lead story of Sportsdesk? Time to change to ESPNEWS.

A Bus Trip to Boston

Two anecdotes from a recent bus trip I took to Boston:

I learned from the last bus trip that the best way to stay occupied on the bus was to either sleep or watch DVD's. So I armed myself with a mini DVD player and two discs of Seinfeld Season 4 and Super Size Me, a Netflix disc that I had in posession for several weeks.

When I got on the bus, I took the window seat, and it was packed. The guy who sat next to me must have been 300 lbs and was ready to crush me. He carried a large soda cup that nestled into the area between his tit and belly quite well. I was a little apprehensive about watching Super Size Me at this point, but I figured, "What the heck?" and popped it in. The first five to ten minutes of the movie are full of shots of fat people, so I angled the player to prevent my oversized neighbor from seeing that I was watching a movie that ridiculed him. Fortunately I had headphones. At the rest stop, I had to get off the bus, and this guy was so large it was awkward for him to step into the aisle, so he saw I was antsy and kept apologizing. Of course, I said, "No problem, it's okay" (but it really wasn't okay).

On the return trip, it turns out I had the same bus driver! What are the odds? I know it was the same guy, not only because of his appearance, but because of his Yankees #12 (Alfonso Soriano?) pin. Midway through, I had to pee like mad, and I wasn't sure if we would make a rest stop. So it was the bus bathroom for me. The bus bathroom is not a friendly place for a male trying to pee, and I was terrified that I would end up nailing my leg after we suddenly stopped. Fortunately, only through luck and great balance, I was able to avoid any messy situations.

Haiku Friday is Dead

I just killed it.

Leaving Friday posts as haiku-only was too difficult -- the positive side was that I would post less on Fridays, but the negative side was that any post I wanted to make became much harder since I only had 17 syllables to use in order to express it.

Barad-Dur

I'm not really sure how to present the details of my two weeks in China on this blog yet, but rest assured, there will be many photos.

That said, I couldn't help but post this photo of the Tomorrow Square building in Shanghai because I really thought it looked a lot like a modernized version of Sauron's tower in Lord of the Rings. And no, I did not know the name of that tower off the top of my head, I had to do an internet search to find it.

Question Answered

I was wondering what would happen to John Madden once ABC decided not to renew Monday Night Football. Now we know. It all worked out fine for him.

Weather

The weather forecast is certainly something that I've enjoyed picking on in this space. But I think I've got good reason. For example, today, accuweather.com suggests that it will be 66 degrees in New York today. On the other hand, weather.com suggests a high of 84. To break the tie, I flipped on the local news channel, NY 1, and it said 88 degrees. Well, I guess 2/3 in the 80's must be right.

Life Is Like A Hurricane

In a fit of nostalgia, I was searching for DuckTales: The Movie on Netflix, only to discover that it's not available on DVD! What gives?

Tangent

My use of the word "entendre" in the previous post brings to mind a conversation that I overheard at a wedding this past weekend.

Apparently, the word "forte" when used in the context of meaning "strength" is pronounced "fort" instead of "for-TAY" like it is in music. Thus, in the usage "Addition is not his forte" you would pronounce the word as "fort."

Of course, this could lead to the pun-tastic expression, "Pronunciation is not his for-TAY."

Synergy

I love synergy, which is why it pleases me that I can link my China trip with this recent post about the Hooters casino.

In Shanghai, heavily advertised in the tour magazines and maps was the only location of Hooters in China. Hooters Shanghai.

I didn't go.

There is, surprisingly, no Hard Rock Cafe in Shanghai. Is Hooters the new Hard Rock? Insert tasteless joke here. Please enjoy the double-entendre.

Job Security

Imagine you worked for a company, and whenever they said, "You're doing a great job, you don't have to worry about this round of layoffs" it actually meant, "Pack up your desk, you're about to get canned."

That's the world of pro sports managers and coaches. Given this, Joe Torre can't be too thrilled about getting the dreaded "vote of confidence" in an article from the NY Times:

---
Over the weekend, the principal owner George Steinbrenner indicated through his spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, that he was pleased with how Torre was handling the team. Steinbrenner said Torre's job was safe, and during this latest losing stretch, he has given no public signs of wanting to fire any coaches, either.
---

You're doing a great job! Your job is safe!

42

Not only is it the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything, it is also the number of free songs on iTunes that I redeemed from Pepsi.

Cablevision

When I heard about this new stadium as part of an alternate plan in New York to get hosting for the Olympics, the first thing I thought was, "What will Cablevision complain about for this plan?"

First Post Back

is about Las Vegas...

Do you think if you're a man or less attractive woman working at the San Remo hotel in Las Vegas, you're concerned about your job security after this announcement?

So Gratuitous, It's Hilarious

This advertisment featuring Paris Hilton is hilarious. I don't know how else to react. She's washing herself and a car... oh, and it's an ad for a hamburger.

You know, I don't even think she looks that good in the swimsuit.

What did she ever do to be famous anyway? Near as I can tell, it's that she's the daughter of rich parents.

With this post, I've also realized that along with technology, entertainment and sports that fast food also seems to be a highlight of this blog.

Recent Musical Additions

I've recently splurged on a ton of new music for a variety of reasons.

Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up
It's taking me a little while to warm up to this album, which has a more smooth jazz feel to it than some of the band's past work. I think my feelings for this album are similar to those I had about U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." When I first got the U2 release, I was cool to it, but now I realize that I enjoy it quite a bit. Familiarity with Stand Up will probably improve my reaction.

Audioslave - Out of Exile
I don't have it in hand yet, but I have heard it online two or three times. The sound doesn't seem as edgy as the first release but there are some songs that I definitely like on it.

Alice in Chains - MTV Unplugged
The fourth digital album that I've purchased, this time with credits from the Pepsi/iTunes promotion. I've always liked grunge-era Unplugged recordings (particularly Nirvana's) and this one doesn't buck the trend. This is already one of my favorite Alice in Chains albums if not one of my favorite albums overall. My only complaint is that they didn't perform "Man in the Box."

Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park
Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam is in a band "on the side" called Brad. A friend of mine gave me a mix containing a song called "The Day Brings" off one of their albums and I thought it was great. After listening to some samples on iTunes and discovering that I could get the CD "used" on Amazon.com for $0.69 + shiping, I decided to splurge. The result is a nice mellow CD. Vocalist Shawn Smith has a great, distinctive voice.

Liberal Bias or Database Software?

You decide. The Times had as its top story in the National, Washington, Science and Health sections that President Bush was threatening to veto a stem cell bill that was currently in Congress. Is this a database software issue, where the story was considered to be a part of all four sections? Or is it part of a liberal conspiracy to call out the President on his position on this issue, which is right of center?

MyGoogle

Looks like Google is adding a personalized homepage feature. Just part of their steps to becoming a portal services company. I'm still sticking by my prediction of Google IM.

Google also has what I consider to be a creepy serivce - the search history. Now I can track how many times I vanity search!

LifeDrive

I've had an idea for something like the LifeDrive, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before it got made. When it starts playing video and music, it will totally catch on.

Two Links

I will post two links
Audioslave's new CD
Google's new portal

Flashback to Episode 1

Interesting quote from George Lucas, who was asked whether or not Darth Vader should have been born "bad" in the first place.

"No," Lucas told The Associated Press. "That's why most people got upset about 'Episode I.' They said, 'Well, he should be a monster.' But he's not a monster. He has sort of heightened skills and awareness, and he's smarter than most people, but at the same time, he makes rather bad decisions."

Really? I thought most people got upset about Episode 1 because of "Jar Jar Binks," "bad acting" and because it was "boring."

A Quick Star Wars Episode 3 Post

It was good. Most of my nitpicks will spoil the movie so perhaps I'll deal with them another time. Overall, high action, and they cut the awful chatter that plagued Episode 2 short for the most part.

Fewer Updates

There will probably be fewer updates the next three weeks or so. I'm heading off to China on the 27th and will not be back until June 9th. In the meantime, it's a bit busy and so sadly there won't be too much happening.

One update you should expect to see is a non-spoiler review of Star Wars: Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith, which I will be seeing on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Also, down the line there should be a "Best" and "Worst" of the KFB in the works, another Yankees game in June and some words about the PS3 and Xbox 360. You can't wait, can you?

Eight Isn't Enough

Whoa!

Eight in a row? Sure, it's against the A's and M's but still, they're back at .500, and Tino's been hotter than hot. I would like to see how they respond with their upcoming games against the Mets and Boston.

Eight home runs in eight games? What a hot streak of hitting! Tino Martinez has sure made me look silly for saying to my friends that they would need to find someone to take his spot in the lineup by the end of the year.

Bad Start to Fantasy Baseball Season

At my fantasy draft, in the third round, when the team ahead of me selected Tim Hudson over Carlos Zambrano (the two best pitchers available at the time), I asked them, "Why Hudson over Zambrano? They're pretty similar in my eyes." The response was, "We just don't trust Dusty."

Maybe that's why their team is in fifth place and mine sits in sixth. Is it any surprise that after a 136 pitch game that the following happened?

From ESPN.com
Zambrano retired his first nine batters before running into trouble in the fourth and eventually leaving the game with what trainer Mark O'Neal called "tennis elbow." Baker said Zambrano will be re-evaluated Sunday.

Zambrano is my best pitcher and my team is dead last in K's. Dusty Baker may have been a bigger factor than I had thought.

Stand Up - Dave Matthews Band - Part 1

A future part will contain a bit of a review of the album.

This part will address the issue of the copy protection that is widely discussed all over the CD. I picked up the CD at Best Buy for $10 but I had a $5 coupon, and it made the CD $5, which is a great deal. But I was a little concerned that copy protection would make the CD unplayable on my iPod. The label says that the CD will only play on an "appropriately configured computer" and iTunes is not considered part of the "appropriate configuration."

So I put the CD in my computer and crosed my fingers hoping that iTunes would be able to play it and rip it. It did, no problems at all.

I was overcome by relief. I was curious about this issue and so I went to the website that the CD lists for help, http://www.sunncomm.com/support/bmg - here's what they have to say about the iPod:

---
Can I transfer MediaMax digital audio files to my iPod?
Apple's proprietary technology doesn't support secure music formats other than their own, and therefore the secure music file formats on this disc can't be directly imported into iTunes or iPods.

While these discs aren't currently compatible with iTunes or iPod, we are actively working on an acceptable solution, and have reached out to Apple in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod: http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html

Even though there is no direct support on the disc for iTunes or iPod, SONY BMG has worked out a way for consumers to move content into these environments, despite the challenges noted above. If you'd like more information on how to move content to iTunes please CLICK HERE.
---

Well, I'm here to report that this is not true. Wondering why, I found this article that talks about using the shift-key to disable the copy protection. That's not what I did, but I have autorun disabled as a security default, and I think that did the trick.

Now a question is, have I done something illegal? After all, I own the CD, don't I have the right to turn it into MP3's? Seems to me it should be fine. It's the same thing I do with all my CD's, put it on the computer and listen to it on my iPod instead of a CD player. I'm still old school, preferring the jewel case and liner notes to having the digital copy.

The next part of this will contain info on the music.

Secretary of State Rice Goes to Iraq

I guess we can say that one sign of a country's safety is whether or not visiting officials from other countries have to announce their visits there or not.

Iraq? Not at that level of safety yet.

Filibuster

Changing the filibuster rules just to get some judges nominated is probably not a good idea. On the other hand, the filibuster is sort of a silly concept.

Regardless, here's an amusing article about an ongoing filibuster happening at Princeton. What I find particularly amusing about this is that most people complain that the government never gets anything done. But now, many people want to keep alive something that slows the government down. If that's the case, then the government must be doing something that people don't like.

Strange Days in NYC

There's a lot of strange news from New York City these days, with a wall crumbling onto the highway, horses running free in the streets and a fire on a train bridge all within the span of about a day.

Happy Birthday Blog

Happy Birthday Blog
Kitchen Fresh for one whole year
Hope it does not rot

A Brief Technology Rant

In this article, Bill Gates says that the iPod won't be able to sustain its music dominance. He said, "You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface -- like the iPod today -- and then lost its position."

Well, Mr. Gates, if you were to make parallels with computers, then you'd have to also include the fact that a certain company tried to copy everything interesting about the Macintosh and apply it to PC's. Does this mean that the same company plans to try and copy everything about the iPod?

Then, this article goes on to suggest that the cell phone will overtake the iPod because of all the great Microsoft media playing software that will be integrated into phones. I've had enough of all this "great Microsoft software." My phone is for making calls. It serves its function at an adaquate level. Do I really need Microsoft crap on it too? Could you imagine having to deal with phone viruses and trojans? The less my cell phone is like a computer, the better.

To The New York Times

Stop stealing story ideas from my blog. I know this thing is pretty amazing, but still, you can come up with your own angles!

Your graphic from May 12, 2005
My post from March 15, 2005

Expensive Toast

So a man tries to sell a piece of toast that he made a "drawing" on and when it gets a $15,000 bid and when the buyer doesn't pay up, he gets angry.

This is understandable, except I've sold a few things on eBay before, and you always have the option of selling to the next highest bidder, so I'm not sure exactly why this was such a problem for the seller.

"-at" Animals

I have just written a post about not liking cats, and then one about seeing some bats (who I find to be particularly frightening). Add "rats" to the list as well. I don't like rats. I believe that's 3/3 for "-ats."

Ladybugs

A ladybug flew into my room and it was bothering me, so I captured it and released it into the hallway. I felt it would have been a bit strange to kill a ladybug, and google confirms, killing a ladybug is bad luck in some circles.

One thing I have never understood is why bugs are attracted to lights. It's not like you see bugs try to fly towards the sun. A google search gave me a result that the insect gets confused, thinking it's the moon and the stars, but again, I've never seen insects fly directly at the moon.

Animals flying towards the moon reminds me of this time when I visited Melbourne, Australia. They have this casino that has a big bright spotlight pointing at the sky. As I walked towards it one evening, I thought to myself, "Wow, those birds are all attracted to the light! I don't think that I've ever that many birds in the middle of the night." Turns out, they weren't birds, they were bats.

Big Cats

I don't really like cats. Part of that is probably that I'm allergic to them. Who likes an animal that makes it hard for you to breathe?

But there's something else creepy about them, and these big Savannahs, combined breeds of wildcats and home cats, appear to be frightening. I don't have a lot of tolerance for the owners who are hiding them, and I am not afraid to admit that the cats frighten me a bit.

Life Without AdBlock

Firefox had a few security problems that involve disabling popular extensions for the time being. This means life without my favorite extension, Adblock. I had forgotten how many ads some of the sites I visit have, and how annoying the flash banners that block the page content can become!

Going Places

I went to Boston this weekend and here's a synopsis of my travel methods. Instead of driving, this time I took the train up, and the bus on the return trip.

The train’s a lot faster and roomier than I remember. The last time I took an Amtrak train in the US must have been at least five years ago, and internationally, I rode the shinkansen about three years ago. So I was fairly surprised by the short ETA and few stops on the New York – Boston Metroliner. There was a ton of space for my seat, but it was all “business class” so I guess that’s why. It was nice to have an outlet available while I tset my clunky laptop on the tiny tray table. The train was a little late overall, but only by about 10-15 minutes.

I couldn’t help but think that I had overpaid slightly in order to get to Boston, considering that my return trip was $15 on the bus.

The bus was another story. I definitely got what I paid for – no frills, but you get there. I’ve taken the NY – Boston bus two times in the past, and once it was Greyhound (about ten years ago) and the other time was Chinatown. The Greyhound rates have really plummeted since Fung Wah and co. started their routine trips between the two cities.

As the Greyhound bus pulled out, I was surprised to see Fung Wah buses also leaving South Station (they don’t leave from Chinatown anymore), but the Greyhound’s competitive $15 rate, less-shady background, and final destination (the Port Authority is more convenient to my place) made it the best choice for me. Overall, the trip was fine, but I realized riding the bus is pretty much lost time for me. I can’t read on the bus since I get carsick, and I can’t use my laptop since the battery doesn’t have enough juice. So it’s 4 1/2 hours of tunes on the iPod and sleeping.

The only other major negative about the bus is that it took about an hour to get to the port authority once we were in Manhattan. I guess the driver had a sense of the traffic issues, but I couldn't help thinking, "why didn't we take either of the highways?"

The “bus one-way, train the other” strategy worked out about as I had expected. I was exhausted for the bus return trip, so even though sleeping was the only thing I could do, it was also necessary. On the train, I was more functional and able to get some work done. Total for the trip was about $50 each way, so it works out to a little more expensive than the bus and a little cheaper than the train.

ADDENDUM - 5/9/05 - 9:15am
It was nice of Greyhound to send me my trip confirmation email TWO DAYS AFTER I returned from Boston! That's really useful!

Pointing Fingers

Maybe these two guys should stop "pointing fingers" at each other and just hug or something.

The lawyers are going to love this case.

iTunes 4.7.1.30 for PC

It only took me about four or five months to discover that the newest version of iTunes could be minimized into the taskbar (as shown above). Of course, it also took me about four or five months to discover that the newest version of iTunes doesn't like something about Windows XP SP 2 or whatever the latest version is.

The Title I Wanted To Give This Post is Dirty

I took a nap earlier today and when I woke up, I decided to get a slice of pizza and some things from the grocery store. I was still groggy as I went from the grocery store to the pizza place, but as I walked down the street, a guy yelled out, "Pussy!" and I'm fairly certain it was directed at me. My ears perked up, and I was shocked. I kept walking, instead of trying to determine both the target and validity of the remark.

Was he calling me a "Pussy"? I certainly wouldn't appreciate that. I haven't even met him before! Was he stating some sort of primal, uncontrollable desire for a cat? Unlikely.

But as I walked away, I couldn't help but think, "Since I didn't confront him, doesn't that actually make me a pussy?"

Just another reminder why I love New York.

Breath Spray

Maybe I'm hanging out with a fresh-breath crowd, but it's been ages since I saw someone whip out a "breath spray" to give themsevles fresh breath. In fact, I don't even consider it an option. What happened to breath spray? Was it toxic? Harmful to the environment? Bad social stigma? Too cheesy? Overtaken by the Listerine Pocket Pak?

Restaurant Hunting

Looking for a restaurant to eat at in Manhattan is not easy.

First of all, there are just a ton of restaurants. Even breaking it down to a certain cuisine or price range can get tricky. There's a seemingly endless list of options that changes with openings and closings all the time.

Secondly, there are a ton of restaurant resources. The "gold standard" is the zagat review book, but there's also New York Magazine, Menupages.com, CitySearch, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, and the NY Times, just to name a few other offerings.

Then there's the problem of not seeing the restaurant, menu or trusting the reviews. A place that is considered "good for groups" on one site, is a "singles hangout" on another and "very romantic" on another. One site's "good decor" is another site's "don't expect much from the interior." Who's to know?

Each site also has a great price rating system, often signified by a number of dollar signs. How much per person is $$$? Does that include three courses or one? Not only do two restaurants which I would consider to be in different price ranges have the same dollar sign, a given restaurant on two different sites may have two different dollar sign values!

A citysearch specific problem is that when you look for restaurants that are "nearby" it limits the search within five miles. Unfortunately, just about everything in New York City is within five miles, including northern New Jersey and the outer boroughs.

This isn't even dealing with whether or not the food is any good. As it turns out the best method is the "ask your friend" method.

Writer's Block

With no sporting events worth writing about, a decline in political interests, not much in the news and very little going on personally, I suddenly have nothing to share on this space.

I will not post again until I have something to offer. Hopefully it's funny.

UPDATED 11:55 PM
I am such a jackass. I've written a post like this before! At least it was about seven months ago...

Summary: Six Yankee Games in One Month

Here are some stats:

Yankee Record - 1-5
Yankees were outscored - 30-22
Starting Pitchers Seen - Johnson (2), Pavano (2), Mussina, Brown
The Yankees lost to all the AL East teams

4/5 - L - Boston - 8-5
4/10 - L - Baltimore - 7-2
4/19 - L - Tampa - 6-2
4/26 - W - LA Angels - 12-4
4/28 - L - LA Angels - 3-1
4/29 - L - Toronto - 2-0