When I first heard of John Cusack's upcoming movie, "Hot Tub Time Machine", I thought it was the worst concept for a motion picture since Michael Bay's racist robots in Transformers. An 80s themed vehicle for John Cusack seems like money in the bank (see Grosse Pointe Blank), but it also could be an idea that could go horribly wrong.
Anyway, the trailer was released today and I have to say... it looks good... the trailer does anyway.
Current Standings
Picklez 141 (5th place, 10 points behind the leader)
BabySteps 132 (8th place but essentially last)
LG 136 (7th place)
Tiny Tanks 142 (3rd place)
12 right. Not too shabby. I haven't had to rely on the Mr. Quarter at all.
Week Fifteen Picks
It's really coming down to the wire here. Unless I do abominably, I should be able to stave off BabySteps. LG would have gained another point if she had picked a winner in the MIA game. Four Upsets this week.
IND @ JAC - The question isn't whether or not IND will rest their starters. The question is what JAC team is going to play and is the JAC 1st string as good as the IND 2nd string. Picklez Pick: IND
DAL @ NO - DAL sucks. There's no getting around it. They have the tools and the talent but not the will. Picklez Pick: NO
NE @ BUF - A suckfest to be sure. I don't think that NE is psyched out enough to lose to BUF. Picklez Pick: NE
ARI @ DET - Last time I checked, DET was still terrible. Picklez Pick: ARI
MIA @ TEN - Upset #1. In a question of "Who wants it more?" the answer is MIA. Picklez Pick: MIA
CLE @ KC - I was just as surprised as everyone else that CLE defeated PIT; however, the trend for PIT is to lay down for crummy teams. In fact, they got the AFC Sucktacular Trifecta (KC, OAK, and CLE). Picklez Pick: KC
HOU @ STL - Upset #2. Screwston is so unpredictable. Suck Louis is predictably sucky. Picklez Pick: HOU ATL @ NYJ - Upset #3. Redman didn't do too badly Sunday. I was pretty pleased with his performance. Sanchez has a habit of getting too cocky and throwing a lot of INTs. I think that the terrible ATL secondary is going to have a banner day. Picklez Pick: ATL
SF @ PHI - Who would have thought San Fransuckso would have beaten ARI? PHI is firing on all cylinders and is looking to pull ahead even further in their division. Picklez Pick: PHI
CHI @ BAL - Wow. Pork Cutlet is one of the worst quarterbacks of all times. Picklez Pick: BAL
OAK @ DEN - Will OAK surprise DEN with a road win? I think not. Picklez Pick: DEN
CIN @ SD - This could be a preview of a playoff game... Picklez Pick: SD
GB @ PIT - Upset #4. The season was over for PIT in their loss to OAK. It died when they lost to CLE. Picklez Pick: GB
TB @ SEA - Nothing I like more than meaningless crappy games. Picklez Pick: SEA
MIN @ CAR - This isn't as much of a "No Brainer" as it appears to be. CAR tends to get underestimated. Picklez Pick: MIN
NYG @ WAS - So if Peypey gets to sit for most of his game on Thursday, the power of Manning! will get charged up considerably for Eli's use on Monday. That's the theory anyway. Picklez Pick: NYG
Somehow I missed the news that iMeem.com was being acquired by MySpace back in November. This is incredibly bad news for people that enjoy listening to online music.
After a little research, it appears that iMeem was in financial difficulty even though it was a huge hit with the Internet Community.
I am disappointed. I fully understand capitalism and how the world works... but, there is a part of me that would rather see iMeem gone, than whatever POS MySpace will deliver from the ashes.
So, where does it leave us? For starters, I would guess that most of my playlists on this blog no longer work. iMeem accounts have been wiped out; however, reports are that MySpace is trying to recover the accounts and playlists. Thousand of artists will not be paid for their music due to the nature of the financial deal.
I guess it's time to find another music site...
Articles:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-post-imeem-myspace-music-is-suddenly-the-bad-guy/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803467.html
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/03/imeem-crunched/
What can I tell you that you don't already know? It's a Buffett album, but one that doesn't match the quality of the last few albums.
The Good: It seems like Buffett has finally departed from his attempt to duplicate the "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere" success. Of course, his efforts have produced some good duets and songs; however, it's time for Buffett to make the music he wants to make and not the music he thinks will get him CMT awards. Just my opinion, you actual mileage may vary.
The Bad: The album... I would put this in the category of "Beach House on the Moon". One or two songs you will like, the rest you will ignore.
Sean Daly at the TampaBay.com / St. Petersburg Times gives a less than stellar review: "Buffet Hotel: Don't Bother Checking In".
Buffett's new album is called Buffet Hotel — and no, that's not a misspelling. The Buffet Hotel is a West African musical hot spot. In rather fascinating liner notes (which are by far the best part of the album), Buffett credits this peculiar creative zone for Malian musicians as a source of his own newfound inspiration. The songs you are about to hear, he writes in a warm hand, retell his wild adventures to the far reaches of the world. Except they don't. Instead, Buffet Hotel is basically stuffed with the same crass, hackneyed ingredients he's been ho-humly regurging for years. |
It seems that a lot of PH, echo this opinion on facebook.
Props go out to Mr. Daly for actually reviewing Buffett's album without dismissing it as island anomaly among the utterly disposable rap, hip-hop, and club music released this year.
This is a public announcement. I filed my divorce papers today, hired an investigator to find the boss, and will most likely be hiring them to serve the papers.
The whole thing has run me about $300 plus what I have to pay to have the papers served. Shenanigans. I'm sort of irritated about the money, but guess what? I'm more irritated that the Boss has been taking advantage of me all these months. Really and truly, I probably would have given her all the way until December 2010 to get her stuff out if she had just cooperated, but now, she will have until June 30, 2010 (if she shows up to court). I may be able to ask the court for a change to the agreement if she doesn't show. That means on Feb. 4, 2010 everything in the house will be officially mine to throw away.
The thing is that I probably have another 6 months worth of cleaning to do. I don't know. Maybe two full weekends if I pony up the money for a dumpster. It's mainly scraps of paper, fabric and stupid art stuff.
END OF LINE
Over the weekend, BabySteps introduced me to the finer points of tasting and enjoying wine; thus, it's probably needless to say that I didn't like it.
Background
BS told me that 2010 will be the year in which I "man up" and start learning and enjoying the finer things of life. This included becoming more educated in the art of choosing and tasting wine.
For the record, I just started drinking beer maybe a year or two ago. I also enjoy cocktails and mixed drinks when the mood suits me. I have never been a fan of wine. There are only three exceptions to that. First, I find the wine you get at communion in church is pretty tasty. After all, it has been transubstantiated from mere fermented grapes into the very Blood of Christ. Just sayin'. Second, a while back I had some sparkling white wine at the Man Ranch that the Medic had brought over and I found that to be tasty. Lastly, the plum wine that GM smuggled over is pretty good too.
Bottomline, if I am going to drink wine it needs to be sweet. If I'm going to drink hard licquor, it needs to be sweet. I can handle regular beer now, but I prefer the Leinenkugel Berry Weiss. If I can't get that, Guinness. If I absolutely have to drink an American mass marketed beer, I'll take a Bud Lite Lime or a Michelob Ultra.
His name is BabySteps and he's the worst at what he does...
In case you're wondering what that is, it is opening a bottle of wine. Also, for you non-geeks, I'm referring to one of Wolverine's catch phrases. So anyway, instead of using a cork screw BabySteps uses this thing:
Instead of using a traditional cork screw, BabySteps opts for this Wolverine type claw thingy.
0 for 2
In my lifetime, I've seen BabySteps open two bottles of wine with the stupid contraption he shown above, and both times the cork got stuck inside the bottle. The first time this happened, GM wanted to do a toast so we could all start eating and drinking so there's GM holding his glass up and rolling his eyes while BabySteps pushes the cork into the bottle. The second time I've seen him open a bottle of wine was last night. He failed yet again and splashed wine all over himself. FAIL!
Just so there's no hard feelings BabySteps, here's a little video on how it's supposed to be done:
Sorry it's off center. I'm too lazy to adjust the embed code. Hmmm... Doesn't seem too difficult.
At any rate, BabySteps is standing there telling me how corkscrews are for plebians and that true wine aficionados don't use a corkscrew, blah, blah, blah. Then he pushes the cork into the bottle. Then he splashes the wine all over himself.
You can't just drink it
After he pours the glasses, he then proceeds to give me a list of things I have to do before I actually drink the wine so that I can enjoy it. He also goes on to talk about the different types of wine like Merlin, Caberet, and some frenchy sounding stuff. Hey! I don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, he's talking about wizards, Liza Minelli movies, and using surrender language.
So here's what he tells me:
1. Swirl the wine around in the glass and smell it. "You want to get the full boquet!" he says.
2. Look for the "halo". Apparently, if it is a good wine it will have a supernatural glow to it like the aurora borealis or something.
3. Swirl and smell it again. [BabySteps is winking and smiling at me as he does this.]
4. Before sipping the wine, acclimate your mouth and prepare your taste buds to receive the wonderous sensations and texture of the wine by swishing it around in your mouth. "Remember, this isn't mouthwash. Gently wash the wine over your gums and tongue. Let it caress the inside of your mouth with its velvety smoothness." WTF! This is getting gayer by the second.
5. Swallow the wine slowly and not all at once. "This is good wine! It's not to be gulped down like a fruit punch flavored Gatorade."
6. Enjoy the warmth and intricate taste sensations the wine provides in your subsequent sips.
The Verdict
It was gross. It was like trying to swallow room temperature ocean water. I didn't like it. BabySteps accused me of being a "fruit" for liking sweet wine. My arguement to that is he is a fruit for enjoying swallowing warm slighty salty and bitter liquids.
END OF LINE
Hello everybody! I'm Picklez and I've just noticed a new dance craze sweeping the dojo. It's called the Testing Week Shuffle! This is not to be confused with Archie Bell and the Drells' "Tighten Up" (which I something I recommend these students do) or the Chicago Bears' terrible "Superbowl Shuffle". Here's how you do the Testing Week Shuffle:
1. Don't take your karate training seriously.
2. Don't make any effort to learn.
3. Make the realization that if you don't learn the material you won't get to test.
4. Complain (or have your parent complain for you) about poor instruction.
5. Scramble like hell to learn the material.
Yes. It's that time of year again and everytime I think that I am past the point of having to do the Testing Week Shuffle. I should just be merciless and not let the people test, but if I at least don't go through the motions of trying to help them, then there will be Hell to pay.
I always know who it's going to be, too. I'm like the Nostradamus of Suck. When will people learn that I'm not kidding around when I say you have to practice at home. Hardly anyone listens to me and then they are surprised when I tell them that whatever I'm watching them do is terrible.
This time around I have people with eligibility issues. In other words, I have people who started the class this quarter that are ready to test and people who have been in for nearly 8 months doing the Testing Week Shuffle. It's sad and it's a slap in the face to everyone. On one hand, I have to say, "I can't let you test because you don't have the requisite number of classes despite the fact you are very good at what you're doing" and on the other hand, I have to say, "I can't let you test because you're terrible despite the fact that you've been in for nearly a year." (Ironically, it's pretty much the same as the Shihan dilemma I'm suffering.)
One of the biggest conflicts I have is that the people in question are so borderline as to the material. I mean, they are making very small mistakes. Of course, if they had been busting their asses for the past 2 months, I would let them slide a little on those mistakes. But simply on principle, I shouldn't let them test to teach them not to wait until the last minute. These are truly the times it sucks to be a karate instructor.
END OF LINE
Current Standings
Picklez 129 (5th place, 8 points behind the leader)
BabySteps 120 (8th place but essentially last)
LG 126 (6th place)
Tiny Tanks 131 (4th place)
I don't know what to say. I'm slipping. I've got to buckle down and and have a good week. I'm still over .500 though.
Week Fourteen Picks
I'm pretty much going with the trend. There are some "upsets" but there is nothing surprising.
PIT @ CLE - PIT has decided to sort of suck this year; however, they are still better than the Browns, unfortunately. Picklez Pick: PIT
NO @ ATL - Upset #1. For some reason, NO is the underdog. Are they not going to use their starters or something? I think they've clinched the division and homefield advantage for the next 5 years with their awesome record. Last week's game wasn't the blow out I expected, but they still won. Picklez Pick: NO
GB @ CHI - I think on paper, GB is the better team. Pork Cutlet did OK against Suck Louis but c'mon... Picklez Pick: CHI
DEN @ IND - If IND loses a game, this will probably be it. Still going with the power of Manning! though. Picklez Pick: IND
BUF @ KC - Wow! It's like choosing between getting hit in the nuts with a tack hammer or having a thumb tack driven into your penis... Picklez Pick: KC
CIN @ MIN - MIN lost in to ARI in a preview of what may be to come for the playoffs. CIN as well as they have performed this year doesn't have what it takes to beat Favre and the Vikings. Picklez Pick: MIN
CAR @ NE - Jeez, Louise. What a suckfest. Poor execution versus poor play calling. Picklez Pick: NE NYJ @ TG - Upset #2. The Jets need this win to stay alive for the playoff hunt. Tampa Gay Suckaneers. Need I say more? Picklez Pick: NYJ
MIA @ JAC - Upset #3. They eeked out a win verses NE, but JAC very rarely plays two games well in a row. Picklez Pick: MIA
DET @ BAL - No brainer! Hooray! Picklez Pick: BAL
SEA @ HOU - Screwston! I hate them so much. But I just can't pick the Suckhawks to win this game. Picklez Pick: HOU
STL @ TEN - Suck Louis cannot beat TEN. Picklez Pick: TEN
WAS @ OAK - OAK gets the NFL "giant killer" award this year. WAS isn't a giant though so OAK will go back to their losing ways. Picklez Pick: OAK
SD @ DAL - Upset #4. Another upset that really isn't an upset. SD is pretty consistent this year. They'll make it through the first round of playoffs, but I don't know if they'll make it to the AFC championship. Picklez Pick: SD
NYG @ PHI - PHI win over an ATL that had absolutely zero offense wasn't too impressive. I think Eli sent an e-mail to PeyPey to ask for more of the power of Manning! to come his way. Picklez Pick: NYG
ARI @ SF - They're going to bring their show on the road and give Suck Francisco the what for. (The non-gay version) Picklez Pick: ARI
I AM DETERMINED TO WIN THE VOX GROUP THIS YEAR!
I found this SNL clip amusing.
I like it when people tool on Al Gore. It's sort of ironic. He invented the internet and now he gets mocked on it. Also, the way the people very quickly clear the stage only to come back 30 seconds later is funny to me. You stuck in the 80s people should like the Clause Future guy, too.
I want you to see this, too. It's sort of gross, but funny.
I don't know why I think this is funny. As far as country music goes, I sort of like Reba.
Here's the last one. A lego version of one of the funniest scenes in Spinal Tap. No, it's not the "Eleven" scene.
Simple lines, inter-twining. Hahahahaha!
THAT IS ALL
I'm a big fan of the tv show "Psych" on USA Networks. The first time I saw the show, I was less than impressed. At the urging of some my co-workers, I gave it another try with the thought that the show was more of a comedy than a crime procedural show. A couple of 80s jokes later I was hooked...
Anyway, the show returns this January and this post is just an excuse to share some of the Psych music videos.
Private Eyes (originally by Hall and Oates)
Ebony and Ivory (originally by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney)
Come On Eileen (originally by Dexy's Midnight Runners)
Shout (originally by Tears For Fears)
Take On Me (originally by Ah-Ha)
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