PreEmo

Last night, sitting around the poker table at the house of Sanjiv, we were listening to some music from the late nineties and early 2000s and Hoobastank came on and I said, "this was one of the bands that paved the way for what is now referred to as 'Emo.' This is Preemo!"

Is it just me or does Fergie look like a cross between Axl Rose and Slash?

"Prom" vs "The Prom"

This has always bothered me.

Results 1 - 10 of about 103,000 for "going to prom". (0.19 seconds)

Results 1 - 10 of about 58,600 for "going to the prom". (0.21 seconds)

Mom Finds Intruder In 5-Year-Old's Bedroom

Man, 21, Charged With Breaking And Entering

If the door was unlocked, shouldn't he have just been charged with "Entering?"

Ah, the definition: "...the pushing open of a door that is ajar followed by entrance into a building will be sufficient to constitute the 'breaking and entering' elements of burglary."

Although, another definition mentions "criminal intent" which, I don't know if there was any in this case.

This week's mailbag from Bill Simmons may have the best opening I have ever read:

Q: Would you eat a poop hot dog to guarantee the Celts the top pick in the Oden/Durant sweepstakes?
--Tom, Salt Lake City

SG: I'm already eating a poop hot dog -- it's called "the Doc Rivers extension."

09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0

Study shows black players whistled more than whites

This grinds my gears



$14 in convenience fees on a $35 ticket?!?!?!
Meanwhile, ticketbastards separate out the charges so that it doesn't look as bad:



I'm all for supporting live music, but this is out of control.

Pizza Bartman

Decent article, but the end of it really got my goat:

Friend Aaron True called the whole thing, “Pizza Bartman,” a reference to the Chicago Cubs fan who cost the team Game 6 of the NL Championship Series in 2003 by trying to catch a foul ball.

Listen! That play did NOT cost the Cubs the game! Alex Gonzalez made an error and Prior threw a wild pitch, etc. John Tomase, just say that it was a reference to a similar play that happened at Wrigley Field during the playoffs and leave it at that. Enough with the rivisionist history! I just hate these sports writers that sensationalize everything and end up effectively changing history itself by repeatedly making inaccurate statements.

Oh yeah, while we're at it: Drew Bledsoe did NOT dive into a "mosh pit." There are no mosh pits at Everclear concerts, idiots.

Lack of Updates/Drinking Marathon

Sorry for the lack of updates. Since April 11, I've been going out every night. It will be eight nights in a row by this coming Wednesday. To recap: Foosball on Wednesday night, dinner and drinks on Thursday night, Beer Summit on Friday night AND Saturday night, dinner and drinks again on Sunday night, Patriots Day Red Sox game on Monday, and Ours @ Great Scott tonight. Back out again tomorrow night for more foosball. Whew!

Convicted murderer arrested scalping tickets outside Fenway

That is awesome.

More office email fun

Email received 5:25 PM:
Please make sure you are all registered for AIIM

Email received 6:54 PM:
PLEASE DO NOT register for AIIM

'Nuff Said...


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270408113

Email from the office manager on Friday:

Many of you have noted that the accuracy of the daily calendar could stand improvement. I have given this considerable thought and have come up with two things which will hopefully make morning calendar more accurate.

• The first is to deal with the problem of the calendar at the reception desk being covered with scrawl of varying degrees of legibility within days of being posted. In order to keep recent updates clear I will have a sheet of lined paper over the calendar Where you can write changes. I would still, of course prefer them to be emailed.
• The second is to address the often confusing issue of whether someone who is not here and has left no message for anyone is late/out sick/ working from home/visiting a customer/ etc. It is proving not always feasible to get this information by 10AM by asking around. SO - at 10AM (half an hour after we are all either supposed to be here or have called in) I will walk around the office taking note of whether it looks like you are here today. If your office is locked and dark and I do not have a note on the calendar, on the update sheet, in my email or voice mail about why you are not here, then your name will appear on the calendar sheet in a new column called WU10 (whereabouts unknown at 10AM). If you want to talk to someone urgently and have seen that they are WU10 - it means that I don't know where they are either and when/if they are coming in. Yes, I'm hoping that pressure from annoyed peers will soon make it possible to retire that column
• REMINDER: If you normally work from home on a certain day it is YOUR responsibility to tell me if you are going to be coming in to the office on that day after all. If you don't I will likely mark you as working form home unless I happen to see you on the 10AM walk around.

The proudest moment at my job happened today, as I am the first employee to achieve WU10 status.

Only in Vegas.

Parking spaces reserved for women?

What is up with that?

FLV Player

Some of you may be wondering about the FLV player screenshot in my "Rut Cracker" post. It is pretty sweet. You can save youtube or google videos to your system using Firefox's VideoDownloader extension and replay them using FLV player. It's very useful for rewatching any clips that get taken down due to inappropriate content!

Poor taste? You be the judge!

From Bodog.com...
Bet On: Will Heather Mills prosthetic leg fall off during a dance routine on Dancing with the Stars 4?
Any wagers placed after outcome becomes public knowledge will be graded as No Action. No refunds. No over limit wagers. If Heather Mills does not participate in Dancing with the Stars, all wagers will be graded as No Action. Heather Mills' leg must fall off, not be purposely taken off, during a dance routine for all Yes wagers to be graded a Win.

Requisite post on site visitors and search terms

Pretty cool, I've got a couple of "regulars" from the college ranks. Also, some cool hits from distant lands resulted from people searching for some random stuff. They were probably disappointed.
I'll close this blog entry with a nod to fellow blogger and UMass alumnus, Rick.



File under NO SHIT!

I found this hand to be very interesting. What would your play be here and why?

Yahoo! Mail was down today, so I was hunting around and found this. Not bad for a last resort!

The Rut Cracker:

How in the world did the FCC approve this commercial? Not that I'm complaining...

Billy Packer needs to shut his pie hole. He got the Duke-UNC end of game situation totally wrong. When Tyler Hansbrough was elbowed in the face by Gerald Henderson with 15 seconds to go in the game, Packer continually defended the Duke player, repeatedly saying it was not intentional. What a load of crap! The officials got it right, suspending Henderson, and showing how much of a fraud Packer is.

UNC Message Board

Duke Message Board

Reading these two boards reminds me of the divided reaction after the Pedro-Zimmer incident.

Ninja?

Yo Gardasil, it's One Fewer, not One Less...

Sorry, the grammar police were out in full force last night.

This is for my friend, Rick:

This is very interesting. Is it because people in Mississippi and Utah encounter paternity issues all the time, so Brady's impending fatherhood is ho-hum?

Another one bites the dust...

Wayne Newton was a disgrace to live music, Vegas, and face lifts.

This is for my friend, Sanjiv:

This is one of the strangest IM's I have ever received:

[11:03] ForTheKill: we need to get hartford two upgrade builds, what do i need to do?
[16:08] ForTheKill: i created you.

Interesting:

"When you provide a check as payment, you authorize us either to use information from your check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from your account or to process the payment as a check transaction. When we use information from your check to make an electronic fund transfer, funds may be withdrawn from your account as soon as the same day we receive your payment, and you will not receive your check back from your financial institution."

This is what donuts used to be at Dunkin' Donuts:

"If we were even lucky enough to be targeted by a mad bomber with the foresight to clearly illuminate, mark, and make public his explosives, homeland security still would have only found 10 of them within the first hour."

The length of "Cheers" when you cut out the commercials: just under 25 minutes
The length of "The Office" when you cut out the commercials: just under 21 minutes

I think the Globe hit the nail on the head today with the article about the generation gap in reactions:


We will never be totally safe, and being afraid does not make us any safer. One can be vigilant without being scared. The authorities and the media tried to instill fear into the city yesterday. Over nothing. If someone wants to blow something up, they will. This was not such a case. My comments here probably will not change anyone's mind about this incident, but I AM trying to remove some of the stink of fear that permeates America right now. If you have fear, you do not make intelligent decisions.

The city officials and investigators in charge should take the full brunt of the blame for creating the panic. They dropped the ball big time, and are now looking for scapegoats to draw attention away from their mishandling of Mooninite-Gate. Strike one: These were put up weeks ago. Strike two: These were put up in about nine other major cities. Strike three: Once they got ahold of one, they didn't/couldn't recognize that it had no explosive capability.

I have a WHAT IF of my own:
This wouldn't even be an issue IF the authorities weren't involved.

Guess what, Boston police, media, security, and government? This wasn't a hoax until you turned it into one with your ineptitude.

"You've got to figure that even the fertile defensive mind of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who always has something up the cutoff sleeve of his hoodie, at some point is going to run out of schemes to throw at Manning."

Riiiight...

"We're from Tennessee. When we see someone we don't know, we get the shotgun."

Are those buttons, or did they cut off that guy's hand?!

The Fiesta Bowl last night was one of the best games I have ever seen.

I didn't think that The NFL Network's broadcasts could get worse than Bryant Gumbel and Chris Collinsworth, and then they put in Dick Vermeil, who has the absolute worst broadcast voice I have ever heard.

Morneau, Justin $ 385,000
Jeter, Derek $ 20,600,000

Any question on the most valuable?

I hate this faucet. There's one in my company's bathroom. Do they realize that one push is not enough to adequately wash one's hands?

"Verkeersbordvrij!"

The best excerpt is:

"The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior," says Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman, one of the project's co-founders. "The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."

How's this for misplaced priorities...

A man was busted for marijuana possession with intent to distribute. After serving his time, he became an assistant coach for Norwell youth football. When the charges were made public, the coach resigned.

Here are some BRILLIANT excerts from this article:

‘‘Possession of marijuana is a serious crime, but possession with intent to distribute is infinitely worse,’’ selectmen said in a letter to Garvey that was signed by Chairman John Mariano.
...
Garvey declined to make public the results of the criminal background checks the league runs on coaches, and noted that some coaches may have, as youths, committed less-serious crimes, such as drunken driving.

Hmm. Drunken driving considered a less-serious crime than marijuana possession?

After watching Fernando Rodney throw some cheese vs the Cardinals, I had a thought. If Rodney had a dark "substance" on his hand, no one would notice!

"ESPN video analysis of Rogers' left hand during his previous starts during the '06 playoffs appears to show a similar substance."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay-Z and Budweiser? What a sell out. It's a pretty big step down from Cristal.

Great. This week's "The Office" episode ruined the ending of "Million Dollar Baby" for me.

I don't know what was more disgusting: watching Jeter go 4 for 4 or Fox's inept handling of the broadcast. I turned the game off after they cut into the middle of a pitcher overthrowing to first base on a pick-off attempt.

All I have to say is that there is more luck involved in Fantasy Sports, Horse Racing, and the lottery/Keno than there is in a poker tournament.

Ali G DVDs! Great!

If you order season 1 and 2 together, it costs just two cents more than buying them separately! Normally, a merchant would give an incentive to "bundle." Here, the only incentive is about 3 mouse clicks, which, according to HBO's sales department, is worth 2 cents.

"We both spoke and I wasn't the first. I held his shirt but don't you think it is a provocation to say that 'if you want my shirt I will give it you afterwards'?

"I replied to Zidane that I would prefer his sister, that is true. I brought up his sister and that wasn't a nice thing, that is true," said Materazzi.

Why is Materazzi being suspended?
What is wrong with these people!?

This is pretty sweet.

American Mastroeni gets three-match ban from FIFA

What? Is this FIFA's way of "standing behind" their horrible officials? What a joke. It shouldn't have been a red card in the first place. What an insult.

It's official: The spinach and bacon souffle at Panera is not as good as the four-cheese or the spinach & artichoke.

It shouldn't take a movie to get people to act. But let's hope it does.

I won an iPod last year. Let's see what I get this time...

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1850675

05/03/2006 01:50:23 Wagered $10.00 to win $11.50 on TAYLOR HICKS Unsettled
TAYLOR HICKS VS KATHERINE MCPHEE (AMERICAN IDOL-WHO WILL LAST LONGER)

The Real Secret
to Winning Consistently


The real secret to winning consistently.
Ok, you've studied, paid your dues and learned your favorite game up, down and sideways. Does this mean you're always going to win? Nope not at all. While luck in any form of gambling is critical to winning, there is one other aspect that is even more critical. Now bear with me here, because you've heard this before. But this time I'm going to tell you how to make it work for you every time you play.

Here it is…
It's your state of mind and mindset at the time you are playing. Think back to things you have done in the past. It might be a gambling example or possibly even an athletic memory. Mindset in athletics is virtually the same as mindset in gambling. If you approach either event with even a hint of doubt you are almost doomed to failure. Sure on occasion luck might be on your side, and you win in spite of the doubts.

But most often,when you doubt yourself, losing is almost a foregone conclusion. When you enter an event confident, without a single doubt about winning you become a very dangerous opponent. You act positively, with little or no hesitation and doubt. At these times it seems like you can just do no wrong. It becomes instinctive, you just know what you have to do and do it. I'm willing to bet you can jog your memory and relate to this. Those times when you met and overcame a challenge, and just knew the whole time it was happening that you were going to!

I'm equally sure you can think back to times when you did something but weren't quite sure you could measure up to the challenge, and didn't. Your mental outlook at the start of any endeavor has more to do with the outcome than any other single factor. And it doesn't matter whether it's Gambling, Athletics, and even Business. Of course luck will always be a factor, but with a strong positive mental outlook luck becomes less and less important. You don't need luck. You become "razor" sharp and cut through obstacles and challenges as if they didn't exist. People entering a Casino with the attitude "well all I can lose is what I've brought" will almost certainly be going home broke.

Just as someone who sits at a poker table will leave broke with a similar attitude. Now this magic elixir of confidence that helps people attain great things can be called up whenever you are ready. The one thing that forces that mental outlook more than anything is preparation. That's why someone with years of experience, in anything really, can carry themselves with that air of superiority. They're not traveling down unknown roads. They've been down the path before and know what to expect, and how to react.

So is it possible for someone lacking that depth of experience to be able to play with the same attitude? Yes it is. All it takes is some preparation. The preparation won't guarantee you will win. But it will greatly increase the odds that you will. Here's how to call up that confidence any time you want it. Pay attention now. Before you enter any event, plan and study. I don't care how long you've been playing or what level of real experience you have.

Before you begin, sit and contemplate your strategy. In the case of gambling, think of your strategy and read some trusted material to remind yourself of certain actions. Read it even if you could recite it from memory! Read old or new material from a good source, but whatever you do get yourself mentally into the game before you play. I positively guarantee doing this will improve your level of play. There's no way it cannot! This 10 minutes of mental preparation will make a world of difference in your play. As time goes on and you gain more and more real experience you'll feel you need to do this less and less.

Don't let that temptation alter your actions. Continue to do what works and you'll continue to play "razor" sharp at any level you attain. Oh and one more thing. When you play with this attitude luck is much less of a factor. But for those times when luck does happen to smile down at you, the keys to the castle will be yours!
Good luck and keep me posted on how you do!

Remember- Take some home!
Jersey

Before I close let me say, I know some of you more experienced players will read this, smile, and think you don't need to do this. That's probably a good thing. It will give some young "upstart" a chance to play on more equal terms with you. Remember, there is a BIG difference between having many years' experience, and just one year…repeated over and over.

VERRRRRRRRY Interesting!

Wow this sucks!

Gotta love google.com's quotes of the day.

Today's: All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com is pissing me off. What is the deal with these ads on myspace.com or dialidol.com

If you "sit" on a page, it will load new ads, and then you have to click on the back button several times just to go back one page...
I don't like this at all. As users, we need to stand up to this form of advertising. Hopefully, I browser (Opera) will come up with a way to disable this ad functionality.

It looks like we need to go back to a 3-party system!

Holy Crap:

Howard Zinn. 'Nuff said.

This Is Bull Crap.

What was it about Boston and the team that made you want to sign that contract?

"Just, you know, going to Fenway Park 81 times a year, man. There's an excitement in that place I'm not going to get anywhere in the National League except maybe Wrigley."

Article on dynamic range.

And this is why:

She will be one of the last three girls remaining.

Hoop

B-I-N-G-O

What's the difference between SRLRF and SRP1B? About 5 bucks.

Holy crap, this is a mess

"Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening."

- Barbara Tober

This is good for when you are checking your own credit report and they ask you what county your address is in.

Wow, these guys really are imaging experts.

Nice.

Best blog post in some time.

Good article on horrendous officiating

I'm going to the grocery store and buying all of this great stuff

Bush overstepping his bounds?

Hmmm...what kind of foosball table is that?

"I know he had the skirt on, but I don't know if he had a thong on underneath there," Woods said. "It certainly was good."

Estonia rules!

Subway is advertising their chicken parm sub. I tried it. It sucked. The following is a list of places with a better chicken parm:

Land Ho, Orleans, MA
Table Top, Holliston, MA
Johnnie's Pizza and the Brick Smokehouse, Newton, MA
Red Sauce
Antonio's, Amherst, MA
Pinnochio's, Amherst, MA
Andrea's House of Pizza, Watertown, MA

Last night at 4PM, entered the PokerStars Blogger Championship. 1400+
players. Top 36 get an
iPod Nano or better. I came in 19th. Other prizes in the tournament
were an XBOX 360, a 24"
flatscreen monitor, and a trip to the Bahamas for a WPT event.

Then at 10PM, played in a $1000 total prize freeroll at Intertops with
700 players, came in 6th
and took in a cool $40.

"Hot Shot" Harm

During Game 1 of the World Series, Tim McCarver said "Carl Everett was swinging for the North Side on that one!" Too bad U S Cellular Field's home runs are hit to the south east, not the north.

Ouch, Illinois losing by like 60 to Penn State. At least they will always have this.

I received my foosball championship ring last night. It is pretty big. Made by Jostens. I'll post pics later.

I had a crazy dream last night. Things that happened:

- I was late
- I was driving, and at an intersection, a car coming from the right had cheesy spinner rims.
- The car passed me, and I noticed it also had the new exhaust pipe bling.
- I stopped by Blockbuster for some reason, and I went to the cash register to pay for a rental, but I didn't rent anything. I paid for the rental though, and I guess it was assumed that I would pick out something. But all Blockbuster had was vinyl records. So then I went back to the register and got my money back.
- That same bling car was speeding behind me, then put on the brakes and turned just before it hit me.
- When I got to my destination, there was some strange scene that included a person with pig features, wearing a shirt saying "Sperm Donor."
- The pig-man had a name of "Lefty" and he was holding a knife in each hand that seemed to be permanently attached.

Awesomely haunting

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 3173256