Good TV

Recently, I've started watching more of the Discovery Channel and (to a lesser extent) The Learning Channel. When I was a kid, I always watched Discovery Channel for the animal stuff (surprise surprise) which has since been moved to Animal Planet (an AWESOME channel, by the way). Anyway, a lot of the stuff I've gotten into has been really good, though some of it really bad. Here's a quick run down of what I've seen, though do not forget who's writing this: I'm the type of nerd (that type would be a BIG nerd) that likes this stuff.

Deadliest Catch - I caught this show one night because it was either that or the O'Reilly Factor (can you blame me?). I actually found it kind of interesting... but not for very long. I couldn't imagine trying to watch an entire season of it. I don't really understand why they didn't just make it a two hour movie or something; there are only so many times you can watch a person decide between crab fishing in a storm or waiting it out. Also, being the total animal nerd that I am, they should show more of the crabs.

I Shouldn't Be Alive - I know, I never really thought this show would be good either. But it was on after Deadliest Catch and I never changed the channel. I always thought the bottom of the actor barrel was dead people and other extras on Law and Order. Those guys are still a step above the people who reenact stuff on I Shouldn't Be Alive. They were really, really, REALLY bad. Aside from that, while I'm happy all these people defied mother nature and survived, the stories are really drawn out to fit an hour.

The 700 Pound Man - I caught part of this show tonight. If you ever need any inspiration to go to the gym, watch this show. The guy is 760 pounds, hasn't moved off his bed in a few years, and is otherwise ridiculously disgusting. When he had to go to the doctor, they literally borrowed a whale sling from the local aquarium and had a special wide load ambulance. This is another one of those documentaries that reaches high levels on the unintentional comedy scale (which reminds me, I still need to see Grizzly Man).

Dirty Jobs - Another show that was entertaining for a very short period of time. It does however make you realize that there are a lot of jobs out there that you don't really think about that still get done. For example, there are actually still chimney sweepers and stuff like that out there.

Myth Busters - Aright, this is the actual reason I'm writing this entry. I'm now watching my fourth episode of this show in a row. What have I seen on this show? Levitation machines from vacuum cleaner parts. Making fire by rubbing sticks together, magnifying glasses, ice, etc. Can a bullet kill you after being fired straight up into the air, or from under water? And the best thing I saw tonight: they powered a rocket by using salami as fuel. Brings whole new meaning to the idea of the kind of stuff you put into your body. I highly recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it, it just generally cool (nerd cool, that is).

You're kidding right?

We all know that last year the Patriots drafted Diet Pepsi machine (remember all those annoying commercials?) In an apparent attempt to continue dominating the football food market, this year they drafted Dave Thomas in the third round. When asked of the pick, Bill Bellicheck said "Well, his 40 time is lacking a bit, but you can't top those sqaure burger patties."

Bye Bye Ricky

It's official. ESPN is reporting that Ricky Williams will be suspended for the entire 2006 season because of a fourth drug violation. This probably means he's played his last game as a Miami Dolphin, as they have already started working Ronnie Brown for a year anyway. It may very well mean that he will never play in an NFL game again (for real this time, not like two years ago). If so, it may be one of the saddest stories of a professional athlete squandering his talent. When a player doesn't reach his potential because of apathy, contract holdouts, or battles with the law, it is disappointing. However in those situations the blame is almost entirely on the player because, for lack of a better term, he is a jerk. Ricky's battle with social anxiety has been well documented and highly publicized since moving to the Dolphins. I'm not excusing his behavior, nor am I saying that anyone with social anxiety will have drug problems, but I am saying he's had it pretty tough. Anyway, a number of people have asked me as a Dolphins fans how I felt towards Ricky since the retiring thing and everything else. That's basically it, I feel bad for him.

On less depressing notes, what happens to him and the Dolphins now? I believe that the collective bargaining agreement says that you can't be cut while suspended for a drug violation. I also don't think anyone has ever been suspended for an entire season before (Ron Artest recently was the remainder of a season). Does he still play in the preseason? Does he have to go at least sit on the sidelines for the four preseason games? Can you say "awkward"?

Also, they are still saying that this violation was not because of marijuana. Quick! Everyone start wildly speculating on what crazy drugs he was doing this time! Heroine? Diet Pills? Poppy seed bagels like that Seinfeld episode? Too much Red Bull?

...

One slight correction the morning after as I read and watch all the news coming out. Ricky's battle with social anxiety has been well documented, but not at all highly publicized. I'm reading articles today that take pot shots at Ricky for studying yoga in India and studying hollistic medicine, and they are willing to give every detail of his life and quote everyone they can find with a mic. But no article that I've seen today has at all mentioned his social anxiety.

Honestly, I think it's just another way that the NFL is trying to protect it's masculine image, because real men don't have psychological problems. Real men suck it up and play football every sunday (HUGE sarcasm there if you didn't get that).

...

One more edit: a story came out today about Onterrio Smith, who we all remember was suspended for all of last season as a result of a drug violation (remember, the "Whizzinator" scandal?) This is why I would never take a research job.

Talk about positive enforcement on your career choice...

For the past five years, I have been studying to become a Software Engineer. I found it fitting that on my last day of undergraduate classes for this career, I hear about a news article in Money magazine saying the Best Job to have is in fact, Software Engineer. For the record, I felt they missed one of the best things under the "What's Cool" section: basing the quality of your work environment on how expensive a foosball table your company has.

So this is where I start to sound really arrogant: I now figure I have the best job out there, at one of the 20 best companies to work for in/around Boston. Boston is clearly the best of all major US cities, you can find a number of reasons why here (and yes, the Mike mentioned in this link I believe is me). Finally, when our Boston apartment lease is up in September, Becky and I plan to move to Newton, which continues to be rated the safest city in America.

Not to be forgotten, I have my health, happiness, fun friends, a loving family and a beatiful fiance (still getting used to that word, though).

All in all, things are pretty good.

Ok, that's my ego trip. I promise that won't happen again for a long time, but I had to throw all that out there in one uberpost.

A few notes on today's baseball game

Patriots Day means Boston Marathon and Red Sox brunch. A few thoughts for today while watching the game:

Reason number 584624023 why I love where I live: all the sudden there is a loud noise outside so I have to turn up the TV to here the game. The loud noise happened to be the same reason everything in the game stopped for a moment: a flyover by a couple jets.

Remdog just mentioned that this is the earliest game ever for Seattle: 8AM Pacific Standard Time first pitch. First of all, I hate it when away games for the Sox start at 8 instead of 7, so I'll try to remember this day and Seattle fans next time I'm pissed about being an hour late. However, it was also mentioned that no one in Seattle is airing this game on TV. That's kinda shameful. You don't DESERVE to have games at regular times Seattle. You can bet that if the Sox were playing some random team on some local holiday (read: Blue Jays and Boxing Day) at 8AM, there would be enough Sox fans in Boston watching to warrant the game being aired. This is why your sports teams are either bad or leaving (Supersonics).

Welcome to the Lenny Dinardo Era! Not like he's been great or anything, but here's betting he's as good as most teams 5th starters. But seriously, why did we trade Arroyo again? I know I'm not exactly the first person to say this, so I won't repeat everything. And I won't even comment on how Willie Mo has been playing, I feel like that's kinda irrelevant. We need another great hitter like Fenway needs more Obstructed View Seating: it might make the numbers better on paper, but is it really going make anything better? Back to pitching, we'll either have to stick with Dinardo for a while or call up a prospect a little earlier than expected. Not that I have a problem with those solutions, but if Arroyo was still around we wouldn't have NEED for ANY solution.

OK, back to the AI grind. Maybe more later after the game about the marathon.

...

I wrote all that around the 5th inning. However, I just watched Mark Loretta DEMOLISH a walk off home run, and I felt the need to add this last bit: was anyone else thinking "If we can just get to Big Papi, we will get out with a win"? He had already tied the game twice, and we all know what he does. I swear, I saw Loretta win it, but I'm still just hoping we can keep the game alive for him to get up.

Book Review: Best American Sports Writing 2005

One of the original points of this blog was to do book and game reviews. I'm hoping in particular to do a lot of book reviews (especially after I graduate) because sometimes I look for book clubs appealing to the standard male 18-30 range, and find nothing but sports lists. I enjoy a range of books from that don't really fit into any category so I'll list a few: Harry Potter, anything by Dan Brown, Now I can Die in Peace (or anything online by Bill Simmons for that matter), Spam Kings, most of Mike Lupica's fiction, Prey (by Michael Crichton, and I especially recommend it for the Lost enthusiasts out there), etc.

Now that I've complained about only finding sports books to read, here's a review about a sports book:

If you don't' know, the "Best American Sports Writing" series comes out once a year. Some guy who I've never heard of (and from what I can tell has no qualifications other than he came up with the idea to compile good sports writing on a yearly basis) collects the best sports articles of the year. Then he chooses someone you HAVE heard of (this year, Mike Lupica of ESPN and the New York Post) to pick the best 30 or so articles and put them in the book. The series has been going for a while now and I've read some of them over the years, though I'd like to start making it a regular habit.

Though the book has 2005 in the title, it is the best articles from the year before (2004). Some of the years headlines include the Red Sox winning the world series, the Patriots continuing their push to become a dynasty, Ricky Williams smoking pot, and the NHL strike. You will not find an article in this book about any of those headlines. The series has been gravitating more and more towards the heart-warming stories that you never hear. The stories that "make you believe again", so to speak. I think I'd prefer a book that helped me remember the biggest headlines of the year than to hear about a California track team that triumphs over poverty.

That being sad, the articles are pretty good. By the end of the aforementioned track team article, I did actually care about whether or not they succeeded at the end of their year. I was quite intrigued by the practice of "fish hunting," which is the practice of killing fish with guns that is only legal in parts of Virginia and Vermont. Despite not being the popular sports that you see on TV every day, the articles do hold your attention and keep you turning pages.

It's not like you've never heard of anything in the book either. There is a good article about the death of Ken Caminetti. There are others about Eli Manning's rookie year and Joe Paterno's return to glory at Penn State. But I don't think those were exactly the biggest headlines (though admittedly, they were probably top 20).

Small side track for a minute. One of the articles in the book (Making Contact by Ira Berkow) chronicles the writer's efforts to find a major leaguer he once played little league with. The point of the article was essentially that everyone has that "one degree of separation" between themselves and the major leagues. So of course it got me thinking about my connection. The closest I come is with Jeff Allison, who I'm told I played little league with. A year or two ago, he was drafted in the first round by the Florida Marlins, however has not yet gotten to the big leagues mainly due to a battle with his addiction to OxyContin. It was a pretty big story around here as he was drafted right out of high school (which doesn't happen often around here). Anyway, my mom has told me stories of me playing little league with him and even if he never makes the majors I figure it's as close as I'll ever get seeing as I never made it past tee-ball.

Now as luck would have it, The Pride of Peabody by Michael Bamberger appears later in the book. The article chronicles Jeff Allison's senior year of high school and his time with the Marlins, as well as a Peabody High coach and his son's battle with drug addiction. Anyway, great article, though kind of a downer. It's easy to get desensitized to drugs as they are on the news daily, but this article and the movie Requiem for a Dream really make your stomach hurt. One more quick critique of this article: Peabody really isn't THAT bad. I'm not exactly looking to move back anytime soon, but they make it sound like a Midwestern mining town where no one can get out. There's plenty of upward and outward mobility, and most people I know there are quite kind to outsiders. If you're reading this Mr. Bamberger, I'd be happy to prove you wrong, right after I snicker behind your back because your name is Bamberger.

Anyway my final rating on a scale of "blech" to "wow": "meh". I'm glad I have it (especially for the Pride of Peabody article), I'm glad I read it, but make sure you don't expect big headline stories. If you can find it cheap (I got it 60% off at barnes and noble recently) and you are dying to read something or like the series, pick it up. I've also found it's a great book to have when you only have 15 minutes to burn: one article and you're done.

Book I am now reading: Thank you for Smoking.

Quick Post: Firefox adds

I have no time to write, but anyway Firefox ran a campaign to have random people make them commercials. This is what people came up with.

Also, I'm writing an RSS Firefox extension for my web class that will be done soon. I'm that cool.

Yay!

I noticed that yesterday and today there has been a large spike in traffic to my blog. Perhaps it was due to my Pulitzer prize winning article on April Fools Day. Or perhaps it was because two days ago I got engaged. Yeah, that's probably it. For those of you who are coming to this blog for the first time looking for extra details, you are likely to continue finding them here. Not to disappoint, but we have a few pictures so far. Everyone wants to know about the ring, so there is a picture of that, along with some pictures of the proposal site, here. I'm not exactly sure if that link works or not, if it doesn't work (and you let me know about it) I can email you a link.

Anyway, not a whole lot of details have been set yet. We know we want to have the wedding sometime in June of '07, so keep that month open for now (what, like you were going to plan something else 15 months in advance?). Any suggestions or ideas about the wedding are welcome at this point. We're still adjusting to the fact that we are engaged and recovering from the hours spent on the phone with people screaming at us. Speaking of which, I think the count of people who said "Well I can't say I'm surprised" hit around 20, Catherine wins for highest pitched screams, Stacy Wasserman wins for most original thing said over the phone, my dad wins an apology from me for spoiling his news (he bought a convertible and was literally driving off the lot when I called him), and my mom and sis get the special unexpected award; they drove down from Peabody to our apartment with a bottle of champagne to celebrate (unfortunately, it was 9 o'clock, Becky and I had been on the phone for 2 hours with only family, and we hadn't eaten since our picnic, so the visit was brief. But it's the thought that counts).

So there it is. Becky and I are spending most of this week seeing people and celebrating. If I haven't seen you since Sunday we should plan a time to celebrate as well. If you have left Boston for some reason (what's the matter with you?) let me know when you will be back, and we'll celebrate.

April Fools done right

First of all, no, I haven't written in a while. I thought about doing another "woe is me, I'm so busy" entry but I think we've had enough of that. Besides, an elephant stepped on my hand last week and I've had trouble typing.

APRIL FOOLS!!!

What you've just witnessed is April Fools done horribly wrong. It's dumb, people know it's coming, and no one laughs. Also the wrong way to do April Fools: throwing something at someone or otherwise physically hurting them and then yelling out "April Fools!" thinking they won't care after that.

Thankfully, there are people out there doing April Fools the right way. I'm a big fan of many of the tech giants doing classy April Fools stuff lately. For example, CNET news, a general all things tech news site, put up a review of the new E-vri-thin, the hot new product that is basically just a 2x4 inch magnet. I'm especially a fan of when he starts showing attachments and shows the closepin.

Also getting into the fun is Slashdot.com, which is "News for Nerds" as opposed to just tech news. In response to recent data saying that for some inexplicable reason the sites readers are overwhelmingly male, for April Fools they decided to change their color scheme from manly off-green to uncomfortably bright pink. Nerds everywhere are cringing in their Dorrito stained star trek shirts. Also, they changed their slogan from "News for Nerds" to "OMG!!! Ponies!!!" and put up an add for unicorn T-shirts. You gotta love people who can laugh at themselves.

Finally, I believe the site that started this trend (and many other trends for that matter), was Google. Google does more than put up a simple video or change a slight sight design; they go all out. This year, it is the release of the new Google Romance dating service. If you didn't know any better, you might think this was a real thing, until of course you read that the dates are all expenses paid, assuming you don't mind a few contextual ads appearing during your meal. I highly suggest checking out the site as the jokes are endless. I believe I saw a few all centered around the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Like I said, Google started this stuff a while ago. Last year, they released plans for the Google Gulp, the new line of energy drinks. For the record, one of the interns at work last year thought this was real. No joke. They also said once that they were hiring people to go work on the moon. This one was kinda boring. But the Pigeon Rank and Mental Plex the years before that were good, so you can't have it all.