It’s go time...

That was Dave Moore's message to me and Pooz at 1:15 this morning. We both had an idea of what it meant, but we weren't sure until we talked to him around noon. He's in, and we're getting an apartment.

Now, thanks to the delays, it's not the apartment we thought we'd end up with, but the one we did put a hold on is actually a little bit bigger, and $20 a month cheaper.

As for eBay, I'm not as angry as I was yesterday. The Saturn thing still bothers me, especially because I did hear from the guy and he is basically getting into a semantic argument with me. He defines functional as "getting power." I define it as "being able to interactively play a game." Whatever. I bought another one already, for less than this one, and now I'll have two controllers, an A/V cable for my Genesis, and spare parts should I need them (I found out the Saturn is very easy to take apart).

The T-Mac/Stevie Franchise trade went down, and Pooz thinks the Magic actually got the better end of the deal, based on the fact that Cuttino Mobley is a better player than people give him credit for. While I agree with the latter statement, I can't agree with the former. After the trade, the Magic may move from the bottom of the East, to the middle of the pack (7-10 or so). The Rockets, though, immediately become a top four or five team in the West, especially with the Lakers ready to dismantle.

The question now becomes can the Magic convince Dallas to take Francis for some of their spare parts, in the hopes of pairing up Francis and Shaq to rival the duo of T-Mac and Yao. It'd be a great rivalry for the next couple of years. Then again, so would just about anyone with Shaq if he gets to play in the same state as Yao.

OK, time to go wait in line for "Spider-Man 2." People are saying this movie is amazing. I believe them. That's why I'm going to a 12:01 show, rather than waiting until after work tomorrow.

Not an eBay fan right now...

OK, so the Saturn I picked up off eBay doesn't work, and I get the feeling I'm not going to hear from the guy ever again. Then again, I might. Who knows. Also, I asked the person who I won the SNES from for a tracking number and still haven't gotten that. D'oh.

So I'm still looking to buy a working Saturn, though right now I'm going to wait until I have the SNES in hand before I do that. If I don't get a refund on the Saturn I have right now, at least I'll have one for spare parts (and I may still be able to get it working, I just didn't have the patience last night).

I have to fess up. Versus is more than just a weekly feature. I actually have this whole tournament going. I planned it out from my Desktop Girls. However, doing one match a week means the tournament would actually stretch over a year long. So I'm picking up the pace. Two polls per week now. Just reload the page and you may get a different poll.

So, Friday is the big day (Lindsay turns 18!). Next Monday, I promise you both DGOW and Versus featuring Lindsay, and maybe something else, if I can figure out something else to post.

Not so productive...

So remember when I said I was going to do something other than play video games and watch movies all day on my day off. Whoops. I played Mario Golf and NBA Ballers, and watched "The Italian Job." Still, getting a movie sent back to Netflix is always an accomplishment.

Even though the apartment plans aren't close to final, I'm already making plans for moving out of here, which include buying retro video game systems. In the past two days I've picked up an SNES and a Saturn and Geoff has offered me his NES, so the Apple Frat House (as we've been known to call it) should have just about every major game system released from 1985 on (and no, the Atari Jaguar and Sega CD systems don't count as major, you loser). Just to clarify, it will likely be NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, Xbox, GameCube and GBA. We may forgo hooking up an actual PS1 (since the PS2 emulates it fine), but Pooz does have one. And yes, there will be multiple switches involved. Particularly a four-port component switch and a six-port S-video/composite switch.

In related news, I'm still single.

On to less pathetic items, I'm getting close on the book. If I get motivated on Tuesday, I may put up a book history timeline page, and post that PDF of the first three chapters I've been promising. Right now I'm more concerned with finding the short story that comprises the key to the final chapter. I know it's on one of my backup CDs, I'm just not sure which one.

Holding pattern

No news on the apartment situation. Like I promised, I'll let you know as soon as I know. Which hopefully will be soon. I really want to move out. I'm starting to feel a little cramped here, with only a semi-living room (with a busted light fixture to boot) and living in a house with five other people. Plus, my sister's babysitting in the morning is getting really annoying when I'm trying to sleep 'til 11 (and I know I shouldn't be complaining about sleeping until 11:00 a.m., but I am).

I am happy though, because I picked up Mario Golf: Advance Tour for the GBA, and it's freakin' awesome. I'm so hooked right now. I'm already close to finished with story mode, then it'll just be golf awesomeness whenever I want.

Oh, and I just found out about this Mavericks trade. I know the Wizards wanted to get rid of Jerry Stackhouse, but Stack, Laettner and the No. 5 pick for Jamison? That's just giving up. And I know Jamison wasn't too thrilled with his situation last season, but how fast will he be demanding another trade now? Would you want to be on the Wizards right now? This is the franchise that crushed MJ's spirit. That's hard to do. Stupid fuckin' Wizards. On the bright side, the Mavs still have a chance to end up with a good lineup after a trade for Shaq. Especially if they draft someone decent with the pick (this means no high schoolers, foreigners, or Luol Deng. I hate that guy.).

The draft is tomorrow and unlike last year, I won't be doing a mock draft (or six. I think I did six last year). I do hope that Emeka Okafor goes No. 1, but I think he'd have a better longterm future with Charlotte than Orlando. The Magic have no direction right now. And to add to my previous suggestion to the Mavs, they should draft Josh Childress. He'd be a slick fit in a lineup that could include Nash, Finley and Shaq.

OK, so once again I'm closing tomorrow (which means no running draft commentary either), and Friday, but I'm off Saturday. No idea what I'll be doing with my day off yet, but hopefully it'll be more productive than playing video games for eight hours.

Not so close...

OK, so updating the apartment situation: Dave is now going to look at the place Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., and hopefully we'll have an answer shortly after that. Honestly, I'm just excited about possibly moving out of my house (finally!) so any answer he gives us is good, in that an answer gets us closer to a final decision. Still, we are no closer than we were this morning, and we won't get any closer tomorrow, so thus the title.

If you didn't vote in last week's Versus poll, it's too late now, and I hope you weren't planning on voting for Kirsten Dunst. She got spanked. I thought with Spider-Man 2 coming out soon, she'd get more support, but Jennifer Love Hewitt (whose most recent role is in "Garfield") destroyed her. I felt so sorry for Kirsten that I made her this week's DGOW. Check out the sweet picture from "Spider-Man" and the other ones on the download page.

Now, I'm no NBA expert, though I do have an ESPN Insider account (and if that's not a commercial slogan right there, I don't know what is) but it seems like this is shaping up to be an even crazier off-season than last year. First off, the Kobe rape trial is going to be so far off the charts, it won't even compare to the shock of the allegations from last summer. Then, everyone's going to be traded. Really. Everyone. Shaq, Iverson, T-Mac, Stevie Franchise, the entire Dallas Mavericks roster, the last remaining quality Celtics (or Celtic, sorry Paul Pierce), and, just for the hell of it, Shawn Kemp. Of course, Darko won't be traded because no GM would trade for Darko. But still, there's gonna be a lot of player movement. And somehow, Orlando may not take Emeka Okafor first. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Worst case scenario for Okafor is Ben Wallace. Worst case for Dwight Howard is Kwame Brown. Best case for both is Tim Duncan (though I think Okafor is more like 'Zo Mourning). I'd rather have the Ben Wallace-like guy than the Kwame Brown-like guy. Hell, I'd take Lisa Leslie over Kwame Brown (well, no I wouldn't but Kwame blows, and his anti-MJ stance while they were teammates is just unacceptable).

So close...

Well, we were all supposed to go up and check out the apartment this morning, but Moore has things to do, so he's gonna check it out on his own later and let us know what he thinks. Gives me a chance to do a quick update here. DGOW and Versus will be updated tonight, so enjoy Monica Bellucci just a little bit longer (or download the damn picture and enjoy her all the time).

"Dodgeball" was a damn funny movie. You have to see it. Just about every one of Ben Stiller's lines will have you laughing. As will most of the teams in the Dodgeball world championships, and seeing them all get nailed in the face. Bottom line, it was funnier than I expected it to be, and worth paying to see in theaters.

And in the "WTF" department, my DVD racks are full. I'm actually out of space for DVDs on the two main racks. Thankfully, I'm going to box up all my CDs, which will free up another rack. In fact, I'm probably going to do that tomorrow, since I have the day off. I do have to do SportsPickle.com tomorrow, but that shouldn't take too much of my time.

“We’re talkin’ about practice”...

OK, this is just a real quick update. Just got back from seeing "Dodgeball." It was good. More on that after I sleep. Before I went to see the movie though, I went looking for the full Allen Iverson quote on "practice." I wanted to make it my available message in iChat. I came across a CNN/SI archive page that had the full transcript of the press conference, now linked here. It's the funniest thing I've ever read. Just read the answer to when a reporter asks Iverson "So you and coach Brown got caught up on Saturday about practice?"

Iverson: "If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. (laughter from the media crowd) We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. (more laughter)

That whole quote is now one of my available messages. It will be up frequently. We are indeed talking about practice. He says it 13 times in that answer alone. 25 times in the press conference. My favorite press conference quote ever. Even better than Jim Mora's "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game, another game."

See, what had happened...

Whoops.

See, I thought I was supposed to work 1-10 today. Apparently I was supposed to work 8-5. Thankfully, Omar called at like 8:15 and got me awake, otherwise, there would've been some crazy bad issues. As it turns out, everything was fine, nothing was broken. S'all good.

Oh yeah, and I haven't updated the site for three days. D'oh. I'm way too busy celebrating the crazy stock price rise of my employer to do anything else. We're up to $32.91 and were above $33 for most of the day Friday. Plus my mutual funds have been going up steadly for the past two months too. Eventually I'm going to sell everything and pay off all my debt. It'll be freakin' awesome.

Pooz, Moore and I checked out some apartments in Middletown and one of them was pretty nice. But Pooz and I went back to the place in Manchester, and it really does blow them away. Plus, they're offering a sweet move-in deal if we get in by August 31. It's getting some very serious consideration. I just don't know how much longer I can live at home without going crazy. I want to blast my music and movies loud at 8:00 at night, but I can't because of the baby (and the family, they're not fans either). Apple Frat House is slowly but surely becoming a reality. It's gonna be sweet.

Also, I just noticed, Jennifer Love Hewitt is kicking Kirsten Dunst's ass in the Versus poll. What's up with that. Sure, I voted for J-Love (and I'm sure by calling her "J-Love" I've just cost her at least one vote) but I thought Dunst would get more support, especially with "Spider-Man 2" coming out next week.

Speaking of movies coming out soon, Black Ops is going to see "Dodgeball" tonight. Should be good. Moore and I still need to find a time to go see "Stepford Wives," basically to watch hot Australian Nicole Kidman for two hours. We're big fans. Pooz, not so much (he hates the bitch, or so he says). I'll let you know my thoughts on them (then again, when haven't I let you know my thoughts on a movie I saw? Exactly.).

One more thing... less than two weeks 'til Lindsay's birthday. Just thought I'd let you know. A Maxim spread can't be far behind.

Ballin’...

So ever since my trip to the Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago, I've wanted to pick up "NBA Ballers" for either PS2 or Xbox. It seemed like a pretty fun game and the graphics were slick, but I didn't want to pay much for it. It dropped from $50 to $40, but I still wanted to wait. Yesterday, Best Buy had it for PS2 for $30, so I broke down and got it. I also got "Quantum Leap" and "Playmakers" on DVD, so it was a productive day.

"NBA Ballers" was, for the most part, more fun than I expected. There are only two frustrating things in my opinion about the game. Load times are crazy long, and for some reason, there's loading involved multiple times when you're choosing gear. Also, because it's 1-on-1, it's hard to change your strategy when you're losing. In "NBA Street" if you're down, you can try going with another player, but in "Ballers" that's not an option.

Otherwise though, it's a great game. The graphics are much slicker than "Street," as the names would suggest. The courts are beautifully rendered, with much attention paid to the little things like weather and the crowd. The gameplay is very similar to "Street" but, because it's 1-on-1, it's harder to break a guy down with a special move and blow right past him. It's still very fun.

I didn't do much else yesterday. I'm gonna try to get some stuff done today, because I think I don't have to be into work until 4:00. I really need to update DVDPedia. It's like two weeks behind, which isn't good. But once again, DGOW and Versus are on time.

Feelin’ better...

After having my car towed from Moore and Geoff's apartment last night, then not being able to sleep all night, I was pretty pissed when I went into work today, but after a decent day at work, I'm OK now. Also, having Mario 3 to play on my GBA helps cheer me up.

We did see "Chronicles of Riddick" last night and I was very impressed. It was an amazingly entertaining movie, with great action sequences. The tea cup scene is just crazy. I won't say more. Just go see the movie. Trust me on this one, forget what you read in reviews, just see it.

So, what else is going on? Not much. After five straight days of work -- plus a day for the meeting the day before that -- I have a day off tomorrow. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Probably watch some movies, and update my desktop pictures. I've got about 30 or so from sexydesktop.co.uk waiting to be converted into my system, so I'll take care of that. I also need to update my DVDPedia library, and the wishlist, to keep track of DVDs I want to get. You have any ideas about what else I should do? Then let me know. I'm open to suggestion.

What’s up with LA?

Ok, so the Pistons looked like they were beyond done, and then the Lakers come out and play like that instead in Game 3. What. The. Fuck. Shaq needs to have one of his crazy ass 40-point, 20-rebound, 11-of-14 from the free thrown line games right quick, or LA might be done. I still think they're gonna win, but at this point, I have to say it's gonna happen in seven, not six.

As for apartment hunting, it's going well. Pooz, Moore and I looked at Waterford Commons up in Manchester, which was really nice. The third bedroom in the three bedroom units is a little small, but not so small it's not livable. I also found a couple places in Middletown we might check out. Sure, they're a little further from work than I'd like to be, but it's not like I'd be living in New Haven or Springfield or something like that.

If you have some spare time today, and want to read something other than my web site (and why would you? My site is the best one on the Internet, with SportsPickle.com coming in a close second.) I recommend you check out Bill Simmons's latest column on ESPN.com Page 2. It's about how it's been 10 years since the Nicole Simpson/Ron Goldman murders and how surreal all the events were as they unfolded 10 years ago. I can still remember sitting on Phil's couch watching the Knicks-Rockets NBA Finals and yelling at NBC because they put the game into a small corner of the screen while they followed the White Bronco chase live. It was crazy.

It was almost as crazy as Mike Resnick telling Mr. Brown (our AP Bio teacher) that he had to go to the bathroom, right as they were announcing the verdict (because Mr. Brown wouldn't let us bring a TV in to watch it). Then Mike went into the next classroom, and we heard loud screams as the verdict was announced. Mike walked back into the room like nothing had happened. Finally after a minute of silence, Mr. Brown asked him, "So?" Mike's response: "Nope." None of us could believe the verdict was not guilty. It was all we talked about for the rest of the week. Now it's been 10 years and we're still talking about "Orenthal the bus driving murderer."

On a happier note, ABC is not only broadcasting the NBA Finals in HDTV, but in 5.1 surround sound. It's the ultimate NBA experience. I can't wait for NFL season to watch more games like this. Technology rules!

Back on the hunt...

So, let's review: Don't let Kobe touch the ball at the end of a close game. Ever. Seriously. Sure, it didn't work for the Spurs, but how often is Derek Fisher going to burn you. There's only one devil, and you only have one soul to sell, so Fisher isn't going to make that many shots. Kobe on the other hand is Jordanesque in his clutch play. (He is NOT the next Jordan. No one is the next Jordan. They could clone MJ, raise him in an artifically created identical environment, right down to cutting him from his high school team as a sophomore and having Fred Brown throw the ball to James Worthy in the artificial '82, and CloneJordan still wouldn't be the next MJ. I will not argue this any further. Today.) Still, Kobe's damn good. And the Lakers are going to win in five games. The Pistons are so done they didn't even try in overtime. It was sad.

As for more pertinent info relating to me, Pooz and I are going to look at an apartment complex in Manchester. While in the past, I've been opposed to apartments, I really want to get out of the house and I'd like to try living with Pooz and Moore for a while before buying a place with them. Hopefully this place will be as nice in person as the floor plan looks. It seems to have a kitchen layout that lends itself well to a bar area for parties. Which is really all that matters.

Oh, and on a related note, I'm almost out of debt, and by the time we move into a place, I should be completely debt free. Well, except for the fact that I'm going to eventually buy a new Power Mac G5. I was going to hold myself to the mid-range model, but the temptation of a Dual 2.5 GHz system may be too much to pass up. I'd like to wait until I pay off all my credit card debt before I make the purchase, that way I can pay off everything in about five months or so. At least that's the plan.

I love HDTV

Seriously, if you don't have an HDTV, you need to get one. Pooz, I'm talking to you (and to all my other regular readers who don't have HDTV). Seeing SportsCenter in HD -- its debut high def broadcast is on right now -- is a revelation. I've never seen highlights like this before, and I really can't wait to see more programming on the worldwide leader. It's just beautiful. And it's almost football season. God, I love my TV (oh, and the 5.1 surround sound system too).

Oh, and if you haven't heard yet, Apple introduced "AirPort Express" today. It's pretty cool looking. I'd go into all the details, but just check out the page for all that info. All I know is that I'm going to get one. Streaming my iTunes Library to that aforementioned 5.1 system (with a TosLink connection!) is gonna rock.

I should mention that my first day back at work went fine, though something strange did happen during a conversation with Kendra. We were discussing my fascination with Britney Spears, and I actually said, "I think I'm growing tired of her." I didn't think I'd ever reach that point, but as I explained to Kendra, Britney went from cute, to cute/crazy -- the phase where she was still cute but had a wild side too -- to now just crazy. She may not be there yet, but she's getting close. And she's the bad kind of crazy, the diva style, not the Angelina Jolie "I'll do anything you want in bed" kind of crazy, which would be a good thing.

Back to work...

Well, after eight consecutive days off from work, it's finally time for me to head back. I had some fun during my time off, but I'm looking forward to getting back to a more regular routine. Also, I'm gonna throw my novel on my iDisk so I can get some work done on it during my lunch breaks at work, as well as at home.

Pooz's party last night was pretty cool. We had a lot of fun, and not as much alcohol as we would have thought, because we actually ran out. Doh.

Speaking of "Doh!" moments, what was up with the Lakers last night. I'm very surprised they lost Game 1, with almost no contribution from their role players. Now, some people seem to think that this could lead to a Pistons series win, but I tend to believe this will play out like the 2000 Finals. The Lakers came into that series cruising, having not lost a playoff game (and not lost any game at all since April 1) but were upset by the Philadelphia 76ers. They went on to win the series in five games, motivated by the loss. That should repeat itself here.

In other sports news, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit two home runs yesterday, pushing his career total to 498. He should hit number 500 sometime this week, which is surprising in that it probably should have happened two years ago. For people my age, there were two athletes who stood head and shoulders above everyone else when we started to seriously follow sports: Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey, Jr. There's a reason why Griffey is the only active player on MLB's all-century team, and it's mostly because he was the unquestioned player of the decade in the 1990s. Sure, in retrospect, people will say Barry Bonds should be in this argument, but the fact is at the time, Griffey was the man. He was the youngest to reach the 200, 300 and 400 homer milestones, and had the sweetest swing in baseball. It was textbook in its ease, and awe-inspiring in its power.

Ok, back to the present. There's a new DGOW and Versus. I'll have the Versus archive page up tonight, along with the photo gallery of my place. Time to get ready for work.

Where’s Adam?...

OK, sorry about the utter lack of updates for the past two days. This one isn't going to be long, since I'm on my way out, but I'm gonna give you a quickie recap of the past two days, in case I'm too drunk later to post anything intelligible.

Friday: bought a whole bunch of GBA games and played them for much of the afternoon. I also got the Pitch Black Unrated DVD, and discovered why having a GBA is awesome: I can sit in my big black chair, watch a DVD on my big TV and still play a game at the same time. Oh, and I wrote a little bit more of my novel.

Saturday: woke up with a crazy headache, probably because I was up until 3 a.m. playing GBA. Doh! I did finish off the Legend of Zelda first quest, but didn't get much else done, thanks to the headache. Oh, I did write some more. I'm almost done with chapter 12, then just the final two chapters. I need to be in the right mindset to write them, because they're pretty dark, moreso than any other chapters in the book.

I finally got around to taking the pictures of my living space here. I'll post those in the photos section later on, along with some updated jersey galleries this week.

Oh, the NBA Finals begin tonight, so I guess it's time to make an official prediction. I'd like to say Lakers in a sweep, but I also want to think that Detroit's defense can steal a game. So, let's go with Lakers in 5. Detroit wins game 3.

Now it's time to head over to Pooz's place for a crazy party (or so we hope... the weather's killing us here... stupid rain).

Mission accomplished...

There's only one word to describe today: awesome. The day started off normally enough, with me exchanging the Garnett jersey I bought today for one that's the right size. Then things got a little crazy.

We drove into Springfield to find this comic shop owned by this guy that Pooz and Moore met at Wizard World, and after some slight directional mishaps, we found it, and honestly it was kind of under-whelming, especially after having seen Harrison's last month. Also, the guy they met wasn't even there today, so it wasn't as good as it could have been. Still, Pooz bought a cool Batman statue and Superman back issue, so it wasn't a complete waste.

After that, we were just driving along and Pooz says "do we go to Holyoke or back to Connecticut." I, not knowing any better say Holyoke. As it turns out, neither Moore nor I had ever been to the Holyoke mall, which is rather nice. Three levels (though the first level is small, mostly a food court and arcade) and plenty of varying stores -- including the only mall-attached Best Buy I've ever seen. Pooz came very close to buying a bunch of stuff at Best Buy, which is where we came in, but decided to wait until we left, which was a good decision.

As we were walking around the top level, we spotted a store on the second level that had a John Elway throwback jersey in the window, and Pooz immediately says to me, "you have to buy that jersey." So, after walking around a little more, we make our way to that store -- "Against All Odds" -- and see a sign in the door: "Official Mitchell and Ness Dealer." I'm done.

I'll save you the sordid details of the conversations in the store -- let's just say that at various times, seven different jerseys costing more than $300 each were involved -- and instead skip straight to the damage: Four authentic M&N jerseys for $670. It's not as bad as it sounds. One of them was Pooz's (a Gayle Sayers long-sleeved Bears jersey). As for me, I got an '86 Doc Gooden Mets jersey, an '89 Bo Jackson Royals jersey and an '86 Doug Williams Redskins jersey. Pictures will be posted soon.

So, after a trip to the food court for some lunch, we made our way out of the mall. Pooz decided to not get any of the stuff he wanted at Best Buy, given that he'd just dropped $145 on a jersey. So we headed back to Pooz's place and played some video games for a couple hours or so. Shawn Kemp, despite some accuracy from deep, was back to being Shawn Kemp (that is to say, fat and not a good basketball player), and Lamar Odom, though not the player he'd been in the past, did save me in one game. Rather than sit on our asses and play games all afternoon (and evening) we went to see "The Day After Tomorrow," which we'd heard nothing but bad things about.

Well, the movie wasn't terrible, though the dialogue was. As Pooz pointed out, if the movie doesn't win an Oscar for special effects, he's gonna boycott something... or something like that. Honestly, if it doesn't win, we're not gonna do anything about it, but it would be an injustice. Oh, and after seeing it, I do have to mention one thing: if Jake Gyllenhaal is the next Superman, then I'll never see another Superman movie. I can't think of many people who I'd want to see play Superman, but I can think of dozens, if not hundreds, I'd pick before him. He could play Jimmy Olson, maybe, but not the Man of Steel. Hell, I'd take Shaq as Superman before I'd take Jake fucking Gyllenhaal, no matter how hot his sister is.

So, driving home from Pooz's, Moore and I were discussing the movie and we came to a simple realization. You can drive however the fuck you want, so long as you keep a folder on your passenger seat that has a government seal on the front and on the inside has a fake report with "Classified" stamped on it and key phrases like "Climatic shift," "mass destruction," "millions in danger," "imminent implications" in boldface and highlighted. Maybe throw in some scribbled notes. Then, when a cop pulls you over for driving 100 mph, you just scream "I have to get to Washington! The president must be warned!" Then hand him the folder. He'll get all worried and you'll be all set. If the cop offers to give you a police escort, you just say "no, you have to warn as many as you can! There's no time! The hour is upon us!" This is what me and Moore talk about. And no, we're not insane.

Oh, and to top everything off, when I got home, what was waiting for me, but my new GameBoy Advance SP, NES Edition. I'm gonna have to go out tomorrow to buy some games, and probably a GBA-GameCube connector, just because I can.

Well, I guess that covers everything. If you've read this far, I commend you (or I'm worried about you, and your unhealthy obsession with me). More to come tomorrow.

Black Ops road trip...

So it turns out I'm going to the Basketball Hall of Fame today after all. Well, that's only because I ended up with the wrong size Garnett jersey, so I have to go up and exchange it. After that, Pooz, Moore and I are gonna find something to do.

Last night, Pooz and I were over at Moore and Geoff's apartment, and we got some NBA Street action going on. We discovered that Shawn Kemp is the new Lamar Odom. A little background: Pooz and I have been playing against each other since the game came out, and a few months back, I started playing as the Clippers. It was at this point that we found out that Lamar Odom has some kind of auto-enabled God mode or something. Seriously, he might be the best player in the game. He plays better than his ratings suggest. If the real-life Lamar Odom were near as good as the NBA Street one, the Heat would be playing the Lakers in the finals right now. Well, last night, Lamar Odom was not his usual self (maybe he was too high or something) so after a couple games, we switched teams and I played as the Suns, while Pooz took the Magic. Out of the gate, we we're making Shawn Kemp fat jokes, but then the weirdest thing happened: Kemp started making plays. I won the first game, but Pooz wanted a re-match and he had a new strategy: give the ball to Kemp at all times. All you need to know about the game is that Kemp hit seven three-pointers. Seven! On one of them, I had just activated my level 2 gamebreaker, so Pooz ran down the shot clock and threw up a prayer from 40 feet, hoping to hit the rim and get the rebound. Instead it went in. We had to pause the game at that point, we were laughing so hard. There was no explanation for what happened, other than maybe one of the programmers was a big fan of Kemp in the early 90s and secretly gave him his stats from his Seattle days. Or he also has a secret God mode.

Well, enough ranting on video games (though I should mention I've started a welterweight career with Suger Shane in "Fight Night" and I'm undefeated through about eight fights so far). I'll let y'all know how the day went when I get back.

“We’re playing bas-ket-ball!”...

I decided to go up to the Basketball Hall of Fame today, rather than tomorrow, so I can dedicate the next three days to writing. And not a single exhibit dedicated to Kurtis Blow. Or Master P. Or even Lil Bow Wow for that matter. Not anyone who's recorded the song "Basketball." Oh well.

I got a later start than I wanted to, but there wasn't a whole lot to see there, so despite the fact I got up there at 3:30 didn't matter. Obviously the hall of fame has changed a lot since the last time I was up there -- they built a whole new building for it -- and they took away the coolest part of it: the conveyor belt with the different hoops to shoot at. Sure, they have a whole court now, but it's just not the same.

Also, as I was walking through the place, I had to keep reminding myself that Michael Jordan isn't a hall-of-famer yet. There isn't much for him there. Of course, come 2009 the place will be like Jordan central. If you haven't figured it out yet (probably because you haven't been by my jersey gallery) I'm a huge MJ fan. I practically worship him, as does most of my generation. There's no one who did more for his sport in the past 20 years than Michael Jordan, not Bird, not Magic, not Montana, not anyone. I might give you Gretzky, if anyone cared about hockey in the way they care about basketball.

Also, one of the cool things about the Hall of Fame is once you're done with the museum itself, is that you get 50 percent off at the Reebok store, which has tons of NBA jerseys. Of course, I bought two: Kevin Garnett and Mike Bibby, both authentic. I also got a T'wolves hat, which obviously goes with the jersey, but is also just a pretty cool hat.

On, non-basketball related matters, I finally finished chapter 11 in my novel, the second-to-last chapter that takes place when Tyler is in college. Now, moving into the last three chapters, I get to some really juicy stuff, kind of the big climax to this complicated story. If I finish this weekend (which I really hope to do), I'll post some of the early chapters for you to read.

Well, I'm off to Moore and Geoff's apartment for some drinking and video game playing. Be sure to check out my photo gallery from the HOF today (57 pictures) and of course my LOTR swords. And I'll get some apartment pictures up this week, I promise.

Vacation, Day 3...

Ok, so I still haven't really done a whole lot on this so-called vacation. I did manage to get to the DMV and get my driver's license, which was less annoying than I thought it would be. Sure, I did have to wait a total of about 45 minutes, but I didn't have to get my picture re-taken, and the wait wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be when I first arrived.

I also got the DV camera I wanted, and set that up in my bedroom as a second webcam. It's offline at this moment (as I'm using the iBook in my living room to type) but it's going to be up most of the time. I also can use the camcorder as an analog-to-digital converter, which will be helpful for finally getting some of my old sporting event tapes digitized. My first task was converting LeBron James's high school senior year game against Oak Hill, which was pretty easy. I may actually make a DVD of it, just to see how that comes out. I'm then going to do Michael Jordan's last game (his real one with the Bulls in the Finals against the Jazz, not that crappy Wizards one) and maybe some others that I have laying around.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm actually gonna get started on some writing for tonight, then do some serious work tomorrow. I'll even post some of it here for you to read. That should be fun!

Quickie post...

I don't have a whole lot to say right now, but I just wanted to get the moving of all the May posts out of the way. Everything from May is now on its own page, and this one will be here for all of June. Then it moves (see, this isn't that complicated).

So, Derek Fisher did play and the Lakers did win. Not a huge surprise. Despite what some so-called experts are now saying, I don't think either of the Eastern Conference teams has a chance to beat LA. Mainly because neither of them has anyone who can stop Shaq (and don't get me started on Ben Wallace, who is great in the East, but has no chance of stopping Shaq. He's not strong enough.).

I'm gonna go swing by the DMV and get my license, then go to the store to get my DV camcorder. I'm not sure whether I want to swing by Borders today to do some writing or if I just want to get started here and do the Borders thing later in the week. Obviously, I'll keep you all posted.