Mig

Links – Anti-VD edition

February 15, 2010 at 4:33 am (blog)

These links are not contagious, you will not need to go see a doctor for clicking these links.

• P1 Podcast – TyMo and Pretzel have started their own podcast revolving around the people and different things that make up the 1560 The Game experience.
• The Somewhat Manly Nerd – An interweb acquaintance of mine who’s got some pretty awesome takes on baseball, popular TV shows, and hating Avatar. Check out his GIF section too.
• 15 years ago today… – Dave Hardisty breaks down what happened on Valentine’s day, back in 1995, when the Houston Rockets traded Otis Thrope for Clyde Drexler. Great read.
• NBA All Star Weekend 2010 – Friend of mine headed out to Dallas this weekend to take part of all the All Star festivities. Jealous? Yes I am.
• Windows Phone 7 – Engadget’s live coverage of Microsoft Windows Phone 7’s press event. Details about the phones and the Operating System itself. Feb 15th – 8:00AM Central
• Grooveshark / Pandora – Music sites to help speed the day along. Pandora will create a playlist based on song or band, while you can choose your own songs on Grooveshark.

And just because this cracks me up…

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False Alarm

February 12, 2010 at 4:53 pm (blog)

Let’s just say one of my previous posts was me jumping the gun a little bit. But with the news I heard, it seemed like an inevitability. Oh well. Life doesn’t look so grim now. Mini update completed.

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I Am A Sports Radio Nerd

February 11, 2010 at 3:23 am (blog)

Anyone that has known me for more than a few weeks can pretty much tell you that I listen to sports radio from time to time. Those that have known me for the past 11 years, will tell you that I may be a bit on the obsessive side.

The tale of my sports radio nerdery begins back in the days of yore… or, actually, back in my high school days. My best friend at the time, would listen to Sports Radio 610 in the mornings in his truck. He would get there early, and just sit around in his truck as he was driving to school in his dad’s old truck. Being that we were both huge sports fanatics, I would go hop in his truck for 10-15 minutes, listen to whatever the topic was, and then have something to argue about the rest of the day. This was my introduction to John Granato and Lance Zierlein, nearly 11 years ago, back in 1999. These two knuckleheads sent me into a spiral of what would eventually become a passionate interest of mine.

The main part of the sports radio nerdery, of course, is the sports. I’ve watched one sport or another for as long as I can remember. Bulls vs Lakers. Cowboys vs Bills, these are the early side of sports that I remember, I know I watched games before that, but those stand out as the first championships I ever remember witnessing. Since then, sports have been a large part of my life. Playing basketball in the driveway, playing 1 vs 1 w/ an All Time QB running routes and playing DB with 2 cousins of mine, playing JV baseball in high school, collecting basketball cards, and going to countless sporting events in my life. It was inevitable, that once I came across sports radio, I’d be hooked instantly.

It started with the morning show. I would then go to school, and then repeat the cycle again the next morning. One day I discovered, there’s a night show too…! Wow, and the guy focuses mostly on basketball (at least when I would listen in). Matt Jackson, who would later be joined, then rejoined, with co-host Adam Wexler. I didn’t care much for the afternoon show, as one guy didn’t really know much, and the other guy knew enough for the both of ‘em. The show wasn’t a disaster, but not my cup of tea. Charlie Palillo and Rich Lord. Charlie’s obviously the guy that sounds a lot taller on the radio than he really is.

If I could go on a slight tangent for a moment, around this time, I had also started reading, and registered for a website named Clutchcity.net. A Rockets fansite, it was one of the best places to get any new info, reactions to games, as well as other off topic nonsense. Dave Hardisty, the man behind the bear mask (not really, but his nickname is Clutch), created, and still runs, by far the best single team fan site in the history of the NBA, and is rivaled only by the likes of Sons of Sam Horn in terms of overall sports. It’s here that I came across the man that would eventually become essentially my sports radio “supplier.”

Known by his Jedi name, Chance McClain probably has done more harm to my life than anyone could have ever imagined. How else could I describe a man that made it seem like as a listener, you were as big a part of the show as the guys on air. Ok, not quite, but at least that’s what he lead you to believe. While his hands may have been tied for a lot of things he’d have wanted to do, Chance was still able to get some creative events off, and help get listeners to feel like they were a part of everything. Slapfest? Where two brothers slap each other? While 50, 100, 500+ drunks cheer them on. How is this sports relat…WOW HE SLAPPED HIM…what was I saying? This is amazing.

So there we go, that takes me through about 2003. In 2003, I no longer go to school during the hours of 11am to 2pm. I have early classes at UH on M/W, and late classes on T/Th, so I’m either driving to or from school, while listening to The Jim Rome Show. His show motto is, have a take, don’t suck. What the hell is a take?  I start listening in and quickly start dying laughing at some of the content of the show. Nancy Kerrigan screaming “WHYYYYY”, Tonya Harding’s 911 call (separate incidents), Carl Lewis failing miserably at the National Anthem, among other great sound clips. Rome as an interview normally will just kiss the guy’s ass, but occasionally he has some good stuff. Nowadays, really the only good day to listen in, is the Smack Off.

The Smack Off is a day Rome will set aside and allow all his top callers to call in, rip on other callers, rip on other teams, players, and the world in general, for the luxury of being “Smack Off Champion”. This is where we come across Seanie, the Cablinasian. Sean, in his Rome show career, won the Smack Off five, yes, you heard right, FIVE times. Better yet, he was a local guy. He was good friends with the morning show guys, as well as Chance, and yearly they’d have Jim Rome listening parties, to root on a guy calling in to a radio station to talk smack about others. Yep, yet another successful sports radio event in the books. This is around the time I started poking my head around to see what else was on, nationally.

At the time, I really never slept, I would tune in at night to listen to ESPN radio. Once Matt Jackson was off the air, I was normally working on something, whether it was homework, or whatever web project I was working on, or just playing PS2, I normally had my radio on all the time. The more I listened, the more I started to enjoy the show that was on. All Night with Todd Wright, on ESPN Radio. This guy was the reason I started writing this post tonight. He always had a nice panel of people on, had entertaining segments, and presented his show a bit differently than the run of the mill shows like Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd, and Van Earl Wright (worst radio host ever). Todd Wright, on the other hand, was sheer brilliance. He now resides on Sporting News Radio, in the same time slot, and I try to listen a few times a week now. Hopefully eventually he’ll get moved to the 9a-12p SNR spot.

This essentially fills out my pre-1560 radio listening habits, and except for not listening to Rome any more, I generally listen to everyone else mentioned in this post. I could go on, but this is a good point to stop for now. It gives the people that only met me 2 years ago to see the reason behind the madness.

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in this economy… what are you gonna do?

February 8, 2010 at 11:39 pm (blog)

So I essentially found out last friday that I may or may not be out of a job the last week of May. Essentially, the nameless company that may or may not employ me, lost the contract for the nameless account I may or may not support, to another nameless company. In other words, my current company (in my opinion) would have no reason to keep me, unless another spot came up at a different account. Which is entirely possible, but well, in this economy, you can’t assume you’re going to have a job when you wake up the next morning.

Way too many of my friends have lost their job in the past 6 months for me to assume that I am safe from all that. The way it was laid out to me, I may get moved to another account, I may get hired outright by the account that I support, or I may get hired by the company that won the contract for this account. I give all those about a 5-10% chance each, so anywhere from 15-30% chance that I actually keep some form of employment. It may be time to dust off the old résumé and start spreading it around like Peyton Manning. No discriminating on who gets one. Dallas Clark. Pierre Garçon. Joseph Addai. Terry Tracy Porter. (thanks D-Fin)

The job search thing generally sucks on its own, but the way things are going in just about every industry lately, there are way too many people for not nearly enough jobs. I’m thinking I may need to look into venturing in other areas of the workforce. I’ve got many contacts in different fields, although I’m normally not one to use them unless absolutely necessary. Desperate times may call for desperate measures though, so if you’re reading this, don’t be surprised if you see me pestering you for any info on a job. That likely won’t happen, but well, it may. So be prepared.

It’s times like these when I start looking around my apartment at things I could sell, and prioritizing what I’d sell first if I were to go a long time without a job. TV? PS3? Computers? Movies? Games? Furniture? I’ll have to come up with an excel spreadsheet to determine what I’m going to do if it were to ever come to that. Don’t think I could ever sell my TV. I just can’t do it.

It’s not fun to have to think about this. I’m sure it’s a lot less fun to actually have to go through it. Like I said, too many friends of mine have recently gone through this. Sucks to see them in that spot. Sucks to be looking to be in that direction soon. Granted, I have 3+ months between then and now, but I am definitely one to plan things out this far in advance as to how things could play out.

I promise the next update won’t be so depressing. Maybe a nice “24 sucks this year” post, or a Community thread.

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On This Perfect Day… Part XLIV

February 7, 2010 at 1:43 pm (blog)

Nothing’s standing in my way. My perfect day would go like this.

Drew Brees calls tails. The coin lands tails. New Orleans decides to receive the opening kickoff. Saints fumble away the opening kickoff, and the Colts get a quick TD (on 4th and goal from the 2yd line). Saints receive again, this time, drive downfield and score a touchdown, 2+ yard TD run by Pierre Thomas.

2nd quarter, Saints go on a roll, TD pass to Colston, give up a FG, then a Darren Sharper pick 6, go into halftime up 21-10.

Peyton makes his usual push in the 2nd half after yet another Saints touchdown. 28-24. Brees is unphased, drives downfield again, TD on a screen to Reggie Bush. On the PAT, they fumble the snap, kicker picks up the ball, floats it into the endzone…COMPLETE! 2 pt conversion. Saints up 36-24. Peyton drives downfield yet again, Touchdown, cuts it to 36-31. Brees throws an early in the halfway through the 4th quarter. No matter, after a long drive by the Colts, Sharper picks Manning off again, and returns it for another 6, or lays down to eat clock for the FG..so either 43-31 or 39-31. Peyton’s last futile attempt ends up with yet another Sharper INT. 3 for the game. Larry Brown, Dexter Jackson, eat your hearts out.

Longest FG 42 yards
Shortest TD 2 yards

(Inspiration for the title was…)

clintshane
@SeanCablinasian in my perfect world, the saints score first and last, but lose by 3 in a game in the 40s.
about 1 hour ago from Seesmic in reply to SeanCablinasian

As well as this from the past…

Seems like everyone who has “perfect days” ends up naked in a picture or on video…

(This post is Rated R for retarded)

1stQ – Ov10.5 [20/17.39]
1stH – NO +3 / Ov28.5 [20/54.55]
Coin Toss – Tails [12.54/12.42]
IND 4th Down – Yes [5/6.50]
NO Scorers – Ov3.5 [5/4]
Players w/Pass – Ov2.5 [5/9]
Last score – NotTD [5/9]
1st T.O. – Fum [5/6.25]
Tot INTs – Ov2.5 [5/7.50]
Score 1st=W – No [5/7.25]
Tot KORet – Ov9 [5/3.70]
Long FG – Un42.5 [5/4.35]
Rec Open KO – NO [5/4.76]
Short TD – Ov1.5Yd [5/5.75]
Coin Toss – Saints [5/4.76]
NO Score – 43 [1/100]
NO Score – 39 [1/100]
Saints -7.5 [40/180]
Saints W/Ov56.5 [40/166.18]
MVP – D. Sharper [20/600]

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T.U.R.T.L.E. Power

February 5, 2010 at 5:12 am (blog)

So yesterday I start to read this thread and come to the realization that I hadn’t seen the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies since around 2003. I found this to be unacceptable… and began what would be a shell of a night. I started with TMNT II, as that is all I had available at that moment. Then I went to bed for a while, a friend came over for a bit afterwards, then I went back to sleep. When I woke up again around 2am this morning, I decided I wasn’t going back to sleep, and that I would go ahead and watch the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

I could bore you with an actual review, but I’ll just say, very few movies intended for my demographic around that time (children under 13) seem to hold up for me. Sure, there are classics from that timeframe (early 90s) but they weren’t designed for my age range at the time (6-10). I have to say, both of these movies still had me laughing and actually hooking me in to watching the movie, rather than casually having it on the TV while I work on other things on my laptop or around the apartment. 

Some of my favorite clips:

Since I saw this movie, my go to response to anyone saying “It’s _____” (quiet, dark, whatever) has been “Yeah, a little too ____.” The best is when someone catches on and points to someone. “Hey, it’s Alex.” “Yeah, a little too Alex.” And then we all have a nice nerdy laugh.

Skip to 1:05, where you get this gem. “A Jose Canseco bat? TELL ME, you didn’t pay money for this…”

Nunchuck duel: Serious business yo. “Keep practicing!”

"I was amazed at how intelligent they seemed, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. One of them spoke!"

"Pizza….PIZZA!"

And finally, I can’t end this without posting these two videos. Possibly the best/worst videos in the history of music, but dammit if they don’t get stuck in my head every time I hear them.

Partners in Kryme – T.U.R.T.L.E. Power

Vanilla Ice – Ninja Rap

As my frienemy Daisy says, “ninja rap? can one even hear that?” It works in two ways too, ninja joke, and Vanilla Ice joke. Props to you, Daisy.

There’s more I could post, but I gotta start getting ready for work. Have to stop by my other office to go pick up my debit card, which I forgot at work. Then heading downtown as my coworker is sick and took the day off. Downtown ftw, it’s normally fairly straightforward and I know most of the people there well enough. I’m very familiar with all the stuff at that office too, so it’s pretty easy to handle.

Ok, since you stuck with me this long, I’ll offer you one more clip. I assume if you made it this far, it’s because you’re really bored and will watch it anyway, or you’re as big of a TMNT fan as I was. (am?) Anyone that owned the VHS tape of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has to remember this Pizza Hut commercial.

And with that, I bid you all farewell. Cowabunga, dudes.

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Testing out my new android phone. The google nexus 1

February 3, 2010 at 4:21 am (blog)

I decided that i am only going to use the voice recognition software in order to dispose. That was supposed to say in order to type this post not in order to dispose. Although it is pretty close it still need a little work to get better accuracy. It doesn’t help that i am barely talk. It doesn’t know that i can barely talk because i am sick. Putting a chain seen the little mistakes that makes. Photos of starting to get cert. Isopropyl ether a little bit more clearly. Okay this is pretty funny. Of course it got that right. Mission tire thing makes absolutely no sense. I’m dictating 1 line at a time helen coming out on what happens after latte. She sells sea shells by the seashore. No #### way. So apparently sensors certain words. #### #### #### a #### crap. Crap is acceptable apparently. This is your mom weekly updates. Epm funnier than less lisa jolie pitt. Who the hell is lisa jolie pitt? Oh well that is all 4 tonight.

Now some real typing. Google speech to text needs a little work, but its not so bad. Its mostly me not speaking clearly enough, I assume.

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