NFL Season Starts… Now!

Fantasy Football fans rejoice! The season starts now.

Big Brother 7 – Nomination #5

The HoH challenge was to see who could last the longest hanging from a giant spider web. Out of all those strong guys pumping iron and primping in front of the mirror, the contest came down to a couple of chicks. Erika gave Danielle the win and now, for the first time in weeks, Season 6 is on the outside looking in.

Danielle is being smart here, chipping away at the largest alliance. Janelle is like, “What? Why would she want me out?” I can’t quite figure her out because sometimes I think she gets it, but then she make stupid decisions when it matters most.

Is Landis Guilty of Doping?

The latest news is that “Sample B” has been considered by the testing firm to show illegal levels of testosterone. But as ESPN’s interview with John Eustice shows, there are too many problems for someone to know for certain that Landis is guilty. They are:

• Even though this testing process is an interpretive test, 11:1 rating is far higher than is routinely found.
• Eight other tests during this year’s Tour didn’t show these levels.
• Dozens of other tests throughout the cycling season that didn’t show these levels.
• Landis has no prior history of doping.
• If Landis wanted to take something illegal to help himself mid-way through the race, testosterone would be the drug of choice.
• Cycling is huge in Europe and it’s not unthinkable for opponents of America didn’t want another American victor right after Lance Armstrong’s run of wins.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean Landis is innocent either, but something is strange about this case. We may never know the truth.

Update: Follow the whole thing on the Tour De France blog and Free Floyd Landis.

Update 2: Landis says that UCI/WADA have an ‘agenda’.

Update 3: “I can prove to you and will demonstrate to you that the people at the laboratory are not objective about this. I have evidence to indicate they have the names of the riders connected to the numbers.”

Dojo Info 8/5/06

1. Utah Teen Sets Text Messaging Record
   160-character message in 42 seconds. That’s flying!
2. Braylon Edwards and Wide Receiver Zen
   That’s gotta be doctored. No way he can do that.
3. Team USA 114 Puerto Rico 69
   That’s the kind of win we should be getting every time out.
4. Annihilation, A Flipbook Story
   I actually watched the whole thing.
5. ‘Eruption’ by Eddie Van Halen
   Just goes to show that you can probaby find *anything* on YouTube.

Random Topic #1

I was thinking today… yes, that’s rare for me, but let’s keep on topic, so as I was saying… has anyone else thought it strange that practically 99.99% of the people in the Northeast who are shouting up and down about the “unbearable” heat are the very same people who are planning to move south first chance they get into another place that’s just as hot?

Or am I the only one?

Global Warming: Truth, Junk Science or a Media Heyday

Another great blurb from the good folks at the FRC:

Today’s Washington Post provides us a textbook case of the politicization of science and the bias of reporting. “More Frequent Heat Waves Linked to Global Warming,” blares the scary headline splashed across page A3, the day after D.C. temperatures peaked at 101. Sounds menacing. Pay no attention to those little kids pictured frolicking in the famed Trocadero Fountains in front of the Eiffel Tower. They just don’t realize how grim their future is going to be. But those merry munchkins shouldn’t even be alive! They were supposed to have been killed off in the worldwide famine and food riots confidently predicted by Dr. Paul Ehrlich back in the 1970s. Ehrlich wrote The Population Bomb and other scary books cleverly disguised as scientific works. Contrast the drastic warming warning with this: On page A6, in a little three column-inch squib, today’s Post tells us that there may be fewer hurricanes this year. The reason? Scientists say that surface ocean temperatures are cooler in the Atlantic this year. Thus, they’ve reduced from nine to seven their expected number of hurricanes and from five to three their predictions for intense storms – but no mention of global climate issues. We sympathize with The Post’s spooked editors. After all, it’s hard to think clearly when it’s 101 . But is it too much to ask that they read their own newspaper and avoid the constant drumbeat of doom-saying?

The Earthsea Cycle

Lately, I haven’t been keeping up with my online database of books and videogames. That is until today. But since I’m so tardy, I’ve decided to take those images out of the right sidebar. (Too much pressure.) There are still link near the bottom to them for those interested.

Here’s a brief review of the last series I finished called The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Very interesting but not grand as the reviews led me to believe. Ged, also known as Sparrowhawk, is a gentile but powerful magician who almost singlehandedly confronts many manner of evil in these four books. I believe there are more but I shall stop here as Tehanu was the least impressive. I imagine it was fanciful stuff for the late 1960s. 6 out of 10

For more Science Fiction and other reviews you can visit my archive.

Big Brother 7 – Eviction #4

Bah! Getting kinda tired of this theme. S6 doesn’t know what’s going on so James decides to break. At least be smart about it. Hold that temper pal. Janelle and Kasar are making one bad decision after another and Howie is just along for the ride. Nothing very exciting in this episode. I did like the giant spider web though.

Oh yeah, Diane got evicted. Erika is still around. *yawn*

Far Cry Review

I know I’m a bit behind playing a two-year-old game like Far Cry now, but the reviews weren’t all that great at the time and I had other things to do. Then I saw I could download and play the game for $9.99, I said, “The time is right!”

Distributed by Ubisoft, the game was actually made by the Cerli brothers (Cevat, Avni and Faruk) who run Crytek in Germany. You can feel the foreign flavor in the script but otherwise it’s top-notch. From the graphics, to the gameplay and even to the story it’s a solid game. Sure the whole “mad scientist mixing monkeys, humans with mutating DNA concoctions in order to rule-the-world scheme” is a bit contribed, but at least there is a story.

Now onto a major problem. To set the stage, I’ve been playing FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D so I’m able to play them on a high difficulty setting. For this game, I choose Veteran because out of the 5 choices, it was one away from Realistic, which is apparently impossible.

It was tough and there’s no in-game saving so you have to make it to certain markers for the game to autosave, but I could handle the job. That is, until the final level. I had to move the difficulty down 2 settings just to finish it. It was brutal! Otherwise, I would have given this game high marks. Even still, it’s a solid game for fans of the genre.

The sequel is getting stellar reviews, but it appears to be only for consoles. It’s a bit confusing. But apparently there’s another game coming from Crytek called Crysis that’s due 4Q. We shall see what the reviewers think of that one.

Angels & Airwaves New CD

It’s been awhile since I heard new music that touched me. Far too long really. Then yesterday I heard the beginning of a song. I thought it might be The Killers, who I like quite well. But as the song progressed, I could tell it wasn’t them. It had a quality that reminded me of some my favorite music back in the 80s. A bit of early U2, some The Fixx with a measure of The Flock of Seagulls.

It turns out to be a band called Angels & Airwaves. It was started by Tom Delonge who made his name with Blink 182. Now I really can’t stand Blink because their music is so repetitive and dull while their lyrics are mentally AWOL. But this new stuff, I just love. So I have to imagine that like most musical artists, Tom’s tastes have changed and matured.

The only downside, is that for some reason, Amazon is currently pricing their clean version CD $2 more than the same album with the parental advisory label. So they’re pushing kids towards the harsh language, I don’t know, seems odd. Anyway, The Adventure is the song that’s getting airplay and it’s currently haunting me.

I can’t live. I can’t breath. Unless you do this with me.

Going through the valley that I’m in right now, I think the very same thought about my beloved at least once a day.

Rockstar: Supernova – Elimination #5

*%#@%&*!!! America?!? Where were you? Zayra, of the great unknown underground sang a semi-rocked up version to an overplayed, lame 80s tune and you didn’t put her in the Bottom 3? You’re voting licenses are now revoked. I’m sorry but you brought this on yourself.

Bottom 3 again and almost out the door. Won’t be long now. “Eternal Life” is a bizarre choice, really. Why isn’t anyone picking a song that’s more up Supernova’s ally?

Jill sang Heart’s “Alone” and did a solid job with this. The band was clearly appreciative. Her voice is so much better than someone like Dilana but she just doesn’t have that swagger.

“House of the Rising Son”? Really? What? Was “Heard it Through the Grapevine” already taken? What about “I Get Around” by the Beach Boys? Why not pick a rock song for goodness sake? I’m confused. I thought the goal was to showcase how you’d sound in front of a rock band. Clearly, I’m baffled.

Great idea by the band to put the singer in the hot seat by forcing them to write lyrics and a vocal melody to an already written Supernova track. Looking forward to see how it turns out.

Big Brother 7 – Power of Veto #4

Do these people even know the objective of the game? Janelle is crazy. I think Dr. Will slipped something in her drink. I dub this Floatergate. To think that 5 non-aligned players count as an alliance is about Big Brother 101. Didn’t they learn this already?

Mike “Boogie” does what must be done and gets himself off the hotseat. Chill Town must be laughing themselves silly. S6 is just making this far too easy.

Dojo Info 8/2/06

1. Web site reveals your inner celebrity twin
   Our obsession with Hollywood reaches new lows.
2. Rock, Paper, Scissors? Beer!
   “I can’t write a thesis or something like that. I am not very good at intense math or something like that. But rock, paper, scissors is something I am good at. Feels pretty special. I would compare it to Swayze after the filming of ‘Road House.’ “
3. Why my cable DVR stinks
   Not all DVRs are created equal. Beware or you might get stung.
4. Nowitzki: U.S. ‘team to beat’ at World Championship
   Really? Not after our last “Olympic” performance.
5. New Zealand Bars Adopt Sin Bin Cards
   Too much beer? Yellow card! Harassing a patron? Red card and you’re outta here!!

Rockstar: Supernova – Performances #5

I feel I must acknowledge that even though Navarro annoys me to the point that I wish bodily harm on the man, he is, as far as I can tell, being honest. There I said it. Let the chips fall where they may.

Performances

“Higher Ground” has never been a song I’m too high on and her performance, while energetic, wasn’t great. She kinda got lost. And I’m fully convinced that Nate Morton, the House Band drummer, can totally school Tommy Lee on the kit. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone who knows anything about Mr. Bass.

Josh performed “Santeria” which is about 180 degrees from what Supernova is all about. So you’d expect the band to rip him up, right? Wrong! These schitzo cowards analyzed his performance with, “Great job!” and “Loved it.” So what does that mean? Well, maybe they’ve got Josh penciled in as a contender? I think odds are they were just drunk.

Dilana screamed “Can’t Get Enough” and upped her freak factor by the order of 3. I’ll give her points for creativity with that whole human platform walk but c’mon, this song was just ho-hum.

Magni struck a chord with his homesick video and for the first time in recorded history, Tommy Lee showed himself to be human by offering to pay for his family’s travel to LA. Wow. I didn’t know he had it in him. Maybe it was a producers idea. Yeah, probably. Magni did a fine job with “Clocks”, again, another song that is just so powerful that almost anyone singing it would get good marks from me.

In the surprise of the night, Ryan played piano to “Losing My Religion” and it didn’t suck. In fact, it’ll probably get the encore. I didn’t think it could be done, but Ryan did a wonderful job and now has a breath of life in his chances to win this thing.

Like the band said, this was Lukas’ worst performance and I agree. I think he was high. Or lost. Or distracted by the shiny drum kit. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t his normal Hyper Dark Gnome self… and I missed him. One thought though, perhaps he tanked on purpose to get Bottom 3, just so he could bring out one of his own songs and blow everyone away? Didn’t J.D. do something similar? Hmm….

Storm did “Changes” by Bowie and was totally blah. Not good. Not bad. Not anything really.

Dana gave her best effort on Baba O’Reiley but it wasn’t impressive. Poor kid just doesn’t have “it” in my estimation. Shouldn’t be here much longer. I say, “Enjoy the ride while it lasts.”

Bottom Three

Toby kinda wussed out with “Penny Royal Tea” and people noticed. First time in the Bottom 3, even if he gets out of it by the close of voting.

What a spectacle. This girl is a joke but people won’t recognize it. Blind leading the blind? Her accent, by no fault of her own, is just so distracting that I feel like I’m watching Japanese business men at the happy hour karaoke. Yet again, I’ll be pleading for the band to send her home. Unfortunately, I don’t have much faith in the band. Oh yeah, she sang “867-5309″… seriously.

“Don’t You Forget About Me” is one of the unique songs that needs to stay the way it was made. Covering it will never end well. Thus Jill is one step closer to moving on from her dream of being a rock singer to making money by taking off her clothes. Not that I want her to head down that road, but Hollywood is a sick place.

Neil Peart in 3D

As I’ve stated previously, Rush is the great rock band of all time. No other band comes close to the inventiveness, progression and musicianship. Sure, they don’t have any “hits” like Brown Sugar, but true music strikes at a much deeper chord.

So when I got this link from my brother Andrew, I thought, no way does this guy does Neil Peart justice. Simply said, I was wrong. “A Digital Man” is an animated video by Bobby Standridge and now my favorite animated music video of all-time.