If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new iMac G5, introduced at Apple Expo Paris today. It looks very slick from the pictures. I can't wait to see one in person. In G5 related news, my OOB date remains at Sept. 3, so hopefully my computer will be here by mid-September.
The party was beyond awesome on Sunday, and soon we'll be posting photographic evidence to prove it. For those of you who weren't here, or had to leave early because it was a Sunday, we're going to try to host a Saturday party sometime in the near future. Black Ops is indeed in full effect at this place (oh, and in case you were wondering, we've already cleaned up completely. We're that good).
If you haven't noticed, ESPN has finally cracked the top 10 in their top 100 moments countdown of the last 25 years. So far, of the top 25 or so, the only one I have a real quibble with is Pete Rose setting the hits record being No. 12. I'd put he six or seven immediately below it as more memorable than that moment. And with only eight moments left to be unveiled, there are a couple that should be up there: McGwire's 62nd home run definitely tops the list for me. It'll be interesting to see what else they have up there.
In other sports news, I've got one fantasy football team drafted, and I've got another draft scheduled for this weekend. Throughout the season, I'll post my fantasy football lineups here and, of course, how my teams are doing.
That's it for now. Don't forget to vote in this week's versus polls (we're on to the music bracket, with more than half of the first round done). I may have another update tonight depending on how quickly I get SportsPickle.com done.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Back to real sports...
With the Olympics finally wrapping up, it's time for me to rant about the crappiness of them again - an Adam Reisinger once-every-four-years tradition. This time though, the rant is a little more specific. I've seen this mentioned a couple sites in the past few days, but I'm going into more detail on my theory: events that require judges to decide the outcome are not sports. Gymnastics: nope. Diving: not so much. Equestrian: dear God, no.
It's very simple. In basketball, two teams go back and forth scoring points, and at the end of a predetermined amount of time, the team with the most points wins. Same deal in football, soccer, hockey, etc. Baseball works on a similar concept. Individual sports like track and weightlifting simply measure speed, distance, strength, etc. and at the end there's a winner. The thing that separates these sports from judged competition is that if two people/teams were playing with no one else around, they could know at the end who won. If two figure skaters do routines in an empty arena, how do they decide who won? They can't.
Now, I've been spouting this theory for years, and my friends have tried to poke holes in it, but the fact is, it works. What about boxing? Boxing has judges. Yes, it does, but boil it down to the "two competitor" test again. If two boxers are fighting in a ring, the last one standing wins. No judges needed. Ditto for wrestling. Sure, in events like the Olympics, and even championship boxing, judges make sense for time purposes. Without judges, a wrestling match could last hours. Still, it would eventually have a definitive winner. Two gymnasts could do floor exercises for hours and all they would have definitively decided is that they're both in good shape. If you can find a sport that most people consider a "sport" but that doesn't pass my "two competitor" test, let me know.
So, final point on this matter: Judges suck. Though I'm sure Paul Hamm could tell you that right now.
As for the other, real sport issue of these Olympics, the US men's basketball team managed to salvage bronze, despite being a complete disaster of a team. Whoever puts together the team for the 2008 games should watch the first 20 or so minutes of the movie "Miracle." Here are two quotes that just about define the problems with USA Basketball right now:
Out for now. Check back tomorrow for another update.
It's very simple. In basketball, two teams go back and forth scoring points, and at the end of a predetermined amount of time, the team with the most points wins. Same deal in football, soccer, hockey, etc. Baseball works on a similar concept. Individual sports like track and weightlifting simply measure speed, distance, strength, etc. and at the end there's a winner. The thing that separates these sports from judged competition is that if two people/teams were playing with no one else around, they could know at the end who won. If two figure skaters do routines in an empty arena, how do they decide who won? They can't.
Now, I've been spouting this theory for years, and my friends have tried to poke holes in it, but the fact is, it works. What about boxing? Boxing has judges. Yes, it does, but boil it down to the "two competitor" test again. If two boxers are fighting in a ring, the last one standing wins. No judges needed. Ditto for wrestling. Sure, in events like the Olympics, and even championship boxing, judges make sense for time purposes. Without judges, a wrestling match could last hours. Still, it would eventually have a definitive winner. Two gymnasts could do floor exercises for hours and all they would have definitively decided is that they're both in good shape. If you can find a sport that most people consider a "sport" but that doesn't pass my "two competitor" test, let me know.
So, final point on this matter: Judges suck. Though I'm sure Paul Hamm could tell you that right now.
As for the other, real sport issue of these Olympics, the US men's basketball team managed to salvage bronze, despite being a complete disaster of a team. Whoever puts together the team for the 2008 games should watch the first 20 or so minutes of the movie "Miracle." Here are two quotes that just about define the problems with USA Basketball right now:
Craig Patrick: You're missing the best players.
Herb Brooks: I'm not looking for the best players, Craig, I'm lookin' for the right ones.
Herb Brooks: All-star teams fail because they rely solely on the individual's talent.I could go into this with more detail, but I don't think I need to. The fact is we didn't bring the right team to Athens, and it had very little to do with not having Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant or Shaq (those guys probably could have helped though).
Out for now. Check back tomorrow for another update.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Showin’ off the place...
So Tracey and Stacie stopped by the place tonight and I got further confirmation that our place rocks. Both of them were very impressed with the overall place in general, and specifically what we've done to it. We talked for a little while, but for the most part, the visit was short. They may be coming to the party Sunday, though.
As for that party, we're expecting it to be pretty freakin' awesome. Obviously I'll post some pictures (assuming we remember to take some) after it's all said and done.
As for what else is going on, well, the Olympic editions of SportsPickle are finally done, and we can now resume our weekly schedule, as opposed to this Monday-Wednesday-Friday madness. It was nice for awhile, but I don't think I could do it on a weekly basis (and neither could DJ for that matter, I think). If you haven't been reading SportsPickle during the Olympics, all the issues are linked on the front page for your enjoyment.
I'm almost done converting all my images to 1680x1050 resolution, then once I do that, I've got about 60 or so I've pulled from SexyDesktop in the past few weeks that need to be integrated into the collection. I don't want to start those while I'm still doing conversions, because that would just mess up the whole system.
Oh, I picked up the new 2Pac live CD the other day. Wait. Read that sentence again. Here, I'll help you by typing it again, in nice big letters. I PICKED UP THE NEW 2PAC LIVE CD. 2Pac, who has been dead for almost eight years, has a new live CD! The motherfucker died in 1996. He has a live CD, that includes songs that weren't released until 1998 (Troublesome), 1999 (Tattoo Tears) and 2002 (Never Call U Bitch Again) respectively. That's right. On his live CD are songs that weren't released until after he "died." Yeah, right. 2Pac is NOT dead. Dead people don't release live CDs with new music. Not in this world. Especially not if they've come out with one CD a year since they "died."
Oh, I also picked up the new Mase CD. It's not bad, but let's put it this way: if Mase died tomorrow, people would not be clamoring for eight CDs in the next eight years from him. Still, it's not a bad comeback album.
As for that party, we're expecting it to be pretty freakin' awesome. Obviously I'll post some pictures (assuming we remember to take some) after it's all said and done.
As for what else is going on, well, the Olympic editions of SportsPickle are finally done, and we can now resume our weekly schedule, as opposed to this Monday-Wednesday-Friday madness. It was nice for awhile, but I don't think I could do it on a weekly basis (and neither could DJ for that matter, I think). If you haven't been reading SportsPickle during the Olympics, all the issues are linked on the front page for your enjoyment.
I'm almost done converting all my images to 1680x1050 resolution, then once I do that, I've got about 60 or so I've pulled from SexyDesktop in the past few weeks that need to be integrated into the collection. I don't want to start those while I'm still doing conversions, because that would just mess up the whole system.
Oh, I picked up the new 2Pac live CD the other day. Wait. Read that sentence again. Here, I'll help you by typing it again, in nice big letters. I PICKED UP THE NEW 2PAC LIVE CD. 2Pac, who has been dead for almost eight years, has a new live CD! The motherfucker died in 1996. He has a live CD, that includes songs that weren't released until 1998 (Troublesome), 1999 (Tattoo Tears) and 2002 (Never Call U Bitch Again) respectively. That's right. On his live CD are songs that weren't released until after he "died." Yeah, right. 2Pac is NOT dead. Dead people don't release live CDs with new music. Not in this world. Especially not if they've come out with one CD a year since they "died."
Oh, I also picked up the new Mase CD. It's not bad, but let's put it this way: if Mase died tomorrow, people would not be clamoring for eight CDs in the next eight years from him. Still, it's not a bad comeback album.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Enjoying my day off...
I probably could have been much more productive today, but I wanted to enjoy my day off. I'm off today and Thursday this week, then Saturday, then I've got a long stretch of work coming up, as Pooz and Moore are headed to Atlanta for a long weekend. The work is gonna suck, but it'll be nice to have this whole place to myself.
By the way, if you haven't seen the place yet, check out the photo gallery, or better yet, the webcam, which is up and running after a day off to upgrade the hard drive in the iMac. I've got a nice, quiet 30 GB drive in there now, which is more capacity than I really need, but it's practically silent compared to the 13 GB that was in there.
In other computer news, I'm still waiting for my G5. The temporary authorization on my credit card is gone, but my OOB date is still Sept. 3, so I'm holding out hope that I'll have this thing by mid-September. I may try hooking up my display to something in the interim, even if just temporarily to make sure that it works and see how the desktops look on it. I finished converting the black background images today and got a start on the white ones. Of course, I've still got 344 images to convert to 1680x1050 (from 1024x768) so having the time before the G5 arrives is nice. In a related item, once the G5 arrives, I'll still be posting the DGOW in 1024x768, since that's a more standard resolution than the 16:10 aspect ratio of a Cinema Display.
Well, not really much else to talk about today. Pooz, Moore and I played some "Zelda: Four Swords" last night (and this morning, since we were playing until about 2:30 a.m.) and it's an addicting game. Hopefully we can get a fourth person with a GBA over here to play soon, because that would be the true gameplay experience.
"Free ain't easy. Free is real. And real's a motherfucker." - Drew "Bundini" Brown.
By the way, if you haven't seen the place yet, check out the photo gallery, or better yet, the webcam, which is up and running after a day off to upgrade the hard drive in the iMac. I've got a nice, quiet 30 GB drive in there now, which is more capacity than I really need, but it's practically silent compared to the 13 GB that was in there.
In other computer news, I'm still waiting for my G5. The temporary authorization on my credit card is gone, but my OOB date is still Sept. 3, so I'm holding out hope that I'll have this thing by mid-September. I may try hooking up my display to something in the interim, even if just temporarily to make sure that it works and see how the desktops look on it. I finished converting the black background images today and got a start on the white ones. Of course, I've still got 344 images to convert to 1680x1050 (from 1024x768) so having the time before the G5 arrives is nice. In a related item, once the G5 arrives, I'll still be posting the DGOW in 1024x768, since that's a more standard resolution than the 16:10 aspect ratio of a Cinema Display.
Well, not really much else to talk about today. Pooz, Moore and I played some "Zelda: Four Swords" last night (and this morning, since we were playing until about 2:30 a.m.) and it's an addicting game. Hopefully we can get a fourth person with a GBA over here to play soon, because that would be the true gameplay experience.
"Free ain't easy. Free is real. And real's a motherfucker." - Drew "Bundini" Brown.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
What if you could journey to different dimensions...
So I just got finished watching the DVD set of the first two seasons of "Sliders" and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the show when it was on. There were some very good episodes and few bad ones (besides, every series has its bad episodes). Now the only debate is how many seasons do I buy once they're all released. I'm almost certain I'm going to buy Season 3 on DVD, and I may even get season 4, but I can't imagine picking up Season 5, unless its bundled with Season 4. In fact, I can't imagine many "Sliders" fans picking up the disastrous Season 5 on its own, with Rembrandt being the only survivor of the original cast.
I didn't do a whole bunch else on my day off, though I did finally get around to getting my car washed. It was starting to get pretty nasty on the outside. Now I just need to get the hood looked at and everything will be OK.
So Jason, one of my former managers, stopped by the store yesterday. He's moving to Virginia and he needed some boxes, but we got to talking, and he showed me something very strange. He happened to be browsing the photo gallery for the Xserve Upgrade to "System X" (the Mac-based cluster at Virginia Tech) and he found this picture. It's like my long lost twin brother. Seriously, if I shaved, I'd be able to walk into the System X room right now without anyone questioning it. Just compare that picture to my profile picture.
In other Mac-related news, the temporary authorization for my G5 went through again on my credit card. I'm hoping this means it'll be shipping soon (my 20" display is starting to get lonely being hooked up to nothing). For now though, I'm still sticking with the OOB shipping date of September 3. Of course, I've now got all my drives hooked up to the iMac on the desk, so when I do get the G5, I'll be able to simply move one FireWire cable over and be done with the transfer.
"Free ain't easy. Free is real. And real's a motherfucker." - Drew "Bundini" Brown.
I didn't do a whole bunch else on my day off, though I did finally get around to getting my car washed. It was starting to get pretty nasty on the outside. Now I just need to get the hood looked at and everything will be OK.
So Jason, one of my former managers, stopped by the store yesterday. He's moving to Virginia and he needed some boxes, but we got to talking, and he showed me something very strange. He happened to be browsing the photo gallery for the Xserve Upgrade to "System X" (the Mac-based cluster at Virginia Tech) and he found this picture. It's like my long lost twin brother. Seriously, if I shaved, I'd be able to walk into the System X room right now without anyone questioning it. Just compare that picture to my profile picture.
In other Mac-related news, the temporary authorization for my G5 went through again on my credit card. I'm hoping this means it'll be shipping soon (my 20" display is starting to get lonely being hooked up to nothing). For now though, I'm still sticking with the OOB shipping date of September 3. Of course, I've now got all my drives hooked up to the iMac on the desk, so when I do get the G5, I'll be able to simply move one FireWire cable over and be done with the transfer.
"Free ain't easy. Free is real. And real's a motherfucker." - Drew "Bundini" Brown.
Monday, August 16, 2004
And you doubted me...
You thought I wasn't going to get the site updated by Monday but here it is. With new Versus and DGOW to boot!
And this has to be said, since I'm ranting about it in the apartment at this very moment. For those of you who thought that the ESPN NFL team of Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire was bad, the substitution of Pat Summerall for Patrick for the preseason is just an utter disaster. I think an entire quarter just went by without any play-by-play action being called. I know it's a preseason game, but I'd still like to know what's going on. My God this team is awful. I pray Mike Patrick gets better soon (actually, I hope for that out of the goodness of my heart, but also because I can't stand more of this Summerall-led craptasticness).
In better (at least for me) football news, Deion may be coming back. Sure, it could be with the Ravens, which means he'd have to commit two felonies to reach the team minimum, but he was my favorite player, so seeing him come back would be awesome.
Got my first look at the new Bengals jerseys and I have to say I'm not a fan. The stripe down the side is white, which is very jarring with the black body and the orange sleeves. They look like rejected CFL jerseys. Well, that's the Bengals for you.
Oh, for those of you who know me and know my place, we're having the apartment warming party on the 29th after the store meeting. Check Pooz's web site for details.
Stay smart... vacuum dirt. (Yes, that's the new sign-off line for now. It's from the latest Strong Bad e-mail. I'll try to come up with something better soon, but Pooz wouldn't be happy if I left the Usher line up there).
And this has to be said, since I'm ranting about it in the apartment at this very moment. For those of you who thought that the ESPN NFL team of Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire was bad, the substitution of Pat Summerall for Patrick for the preseason is just an utter disaster. I think an entire quarter just went by without any play-by-play action being called. I know it's a preseason game, but I'd still like to know what's going on. My God this team is awful. I pray Mike Patrick gets better soon (actually, I hope for that out of the goodness of my heart, but also because I can't stand more of this Summerall-led craptasticness).
In better (at least for me) football news, Deion may be coming back. Sure, it could be with the Ravens, which means he'd have to commit two felonies to reach the team minimum, but he was my favorite player, so seeing him come back would be awesome.
Got my first look at the new Bengals jerseys and I have to say I'm not a fan. The stripe down the side is white, which is very jarring with the black body and the orange sleeves. They look like rejected CFL jerseys. Well, that's the Bengals for you.
Oh, for those of you who know me and know my place, we're having the apartment warming party on the 29th after the store meeting. Check Pooz's web site for details.
Stay smart... vacuum dirt. (Yes, that's the new sign-off line for now. It's from the latest Strong Bad e-mail. I'll try to come up with something better soon, but Pooz wouldn't be happy if I left the Usher line up there).
Friday, August 13, 2004
Whoever wins, we lose...
...seriously, we lose. Oh boy, do we lose. A bunch of us from work got to see a sneak preview of "AVP" last night (thanks Pam!) and it was a disaster. My fear going in -- that there woudln't be enough of a plot to tie together the cool action sequences -- was very well founded. The plot was bad to begin with, and it was poorly executed at that. The whole movie sucked. To sum it up, the main Predator teammed up with a human. That's right, Predator decided he needed a buddy to kill the Aliens. So he picks the girl from "Love and Basketball." Oh my God, don't get me started. Don't get Pooz started either. He'll rant for hours.
Oh, and being the moron that I am, I forgot to grab the points standings from work. I'll try to do that tomorrow (and post it too). Plus, I'm opening, so I'm gonna play some Madden when I get home.
Peace up, A-Town down. (and I'm gonna keep using that until I find a better way to close these... and I will find a better way.
Oh, and being the moron that I am, I forgot to grab the points standings from work. I'll try to do that tomorrow (and post it too). Plus, I'm opening, so I'm gonna play some Madden when I get home.
Peace up, A-Town down. (and I'm gonna keep using that until I find a better way to close these... and I will find a better way.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
I’m not dead...
...not that anyone asked, but I am still alive.
I apologize for the complete lack of updates over the past three weeks (actually, three weeks and one day to be specific), but I plan on getting back to a regular schedule now that I'm getting this big update out of the way.
There's a lot to cover, so I'm breaking this update down into sections, based on level of importance.
•Apartment Update
•Bagel's gone
•My G5
•Video Games
•Random Thoughts
•Site Stuff
First up, the apartment. I moved most of my stuff in on July 31st, then got the big stuff (bed, dresser, etc.) in on August 1st. I've been here ever since. I took the first week of August off to get everything organized and make it feel like a home, rather than just an apartment, and it really feels like that now.
I have the smallest bedroom, but I don't mind, since I was able to get everything in there. Plus, a lot of my stuff comprises the living room, primarily the main entertainment unit, so things worked out for the best. And things work out so if I ever do get a full size bed, I can just slide my dresser down and still have access to my closet. Obviously me writing about all this doesn't make a whole lot of sense without visuals, so I'll try and post some pictures later on.
There's lots of stuff around to let people know the personalities of the people who live here, like the wall of games and the computer area where the "dining room" should be. Plus, we have the Scarface poster up, so you know either a group of 20-something males or a gangsta rapper lives here (and the stuffed dog in the living room pretty much eliminates the gangsta rapper possibility, save for maybe DMX).
Speaking of dogs, Bagel passed away on July 28th, three days before I moved out. It was tough losing her, but she's been on her last legs for a few years now. She hadn't eaten in three days, so my sister brought her to the vet, who diagnosed her with a form of cancer. We decided it'd be best to put her down, since she'd only have a month or so to live anyway, and she wasn't living well as it was. It was tough on my sister, since she had to make the decision, as well as my parents, because they were out of town in Seattle at the time, and didn't get to say goodbye. Really, though, my cat Sunny has been the most confused, because in the same week, Bagel was gone and then I moved out. I've been back a couple times since, and she is always following me around, hoping I'll stay.
On to happier things, now. I recently received the new Apple 20" Cinema Display I ordered, but I have nothing to hook it up to, since I'm still waiting for my G5. The computer is scheduled to ship on or before Sept. 3, so only three more weeks to wait, hopefully. Right now, I'm operating fine on my iBook G4, my Power Mac G4 Cube and my two iMac G3s, so I don't really need another computer, but I couldn't pass up the power of the Dual 2.5 GHz G5.
So, being in an apartment with two other guys, both of whom like games, we obviously have a lot of video games and systems between us. Currently, we have 10 different systems hooked up in the living room, with only the lack of a power adapter preventing us from adding the Atari 2600 to that total. Recently, I've been playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Sega Dreamcast, an old favorite of Pooz's, and I've become a fan. Of course, for the next few weeks, the game that takes center stage is Madden 2005. I picked it up two days ago for Xbox, but I haven't had a chance to play yet. It's on my list of things to do, right after I finish posting this update.
Of course, I can't mention Madden without talking about ESPN's NFL 2K5. I made mention of the fact that I got it in my last update (remember that one from three weeks ago) and I must say, I'm a big fan of the game. The graphics are spectacular and the gameplay is great too, but the passing engine is a little more difficult than I'm used to (or really, I should say, the AI for the DB's is better than I'm used to). I love the weekly practice schedule feature in Franchise mode, which is a better thing for true football fans than Madden's "Owner Mode." You basically get to plan out your team's practice and film schedule for the entire week leading up to the game, and you can improve your players' ratings. It's a neat little feature that improves the longevity of the game.
Quick hit thoughts of stuff I've missed writing about in the past three weeks, from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and more:
•It's been run into the ground by just about every sports columnist recently, but this latest edition of the "Dream Team" sucks. Seriously. I'm a huge LeBron fan, as you all know, but having him surrounded by a bunch of other players who can't shoot does not make for good Olympic basketball. Two outside shooters is all we need. Is that too much to ask?
•The NFL preseason is upon us and we had a major injury in the first game of the preseason. My 'Skins lost star guard Jon Jansen for the year. Everyone points to injuries like these to say that the preseason needs to be shortened, but that doesn't make sense. Jansen was hurt in the very first game. Even if the preseason was two games, there's still a "first game." If you play no preseason games, how do you determine who are the surprises on your roster? There are always going to be injuries, no matter the system. You just have to deal with them.
•I saw "Collateral" last week, and would highly recommend it. It was a well-done movie, and Tom Cruise does a great job as the villain. Jamie Foxx once again pulls off a dramatic role in a Michael Mann film (the two teammed up in "Ali") and his partnership on screen with Cruise is unexpectedly good.
•Details came out on the ROTK Extended Edition. According to reports, Peter Jackson is adding something like 54 minutes to the already 3 hour, 20 minute movie. I can't wait until its released, so I can watch all three extended editions in order. Plus, the EE gift set is coming with a special statue of Minis Tirith, which should look awesome in my apartment somewhere.
Last but not least, let me give you a quick rundown of stuff on the site. DGOW and Versus will be updated on Monday, as they are scheduled. I changed the countdown clock to a countdown to the kickoff of the NFL regular season, Sept. 9 at 9:00 p.m. - Pats vs. Colts. The points standings are out of date. I'll get updated numbers posted tomorrow, hopefully, but no promises. There's no webcam right now, but I'm hoping to resolve that soon.
OK, I know that's a lot to digest, but you've had three weeks to get ready for it. I can assure you that the next update won't be three weeks coming.
Peace up, A-Town down.
I apologize for the complete lack of updates over the past three weeks (actually, three weeks and one day to be specific), but I plan on getting back to a regular schedule now that I'm getting this big update out of the way.
There's a lot to cover, so I'm breaking this update down into sections, based on level of importance.
•Apartment Update
•Bagel's gone
•My G5
•Video Games
•Random Thoughts
•Site Stuff
First up, the apartment. I moved most of my stuff in on July 31st, then got the big stuff (bed, dresser, etc.) in on August 1st. I've been here ever since. I took the first week of August off to get everything organized and make it feel like a home, rather than just an apartment, and it really feels like that now.
I have the smallest bedroom, but I don't mind, since I was able to get everything in there. Plus, a lot of my stuff comprises the living room, primarily the main entertainment unit, so things worked out for the best. And things work out so if I ever do get a full size bed, I can just slide my dresser down and still have access to my closet. Obviously me writing about all this doesn't make a whole lot of sense without visuals, so I'll try and post some pictures later on.
There's lots of stuff around to let people know the personalities of the people who live here, like the wall of games and the computer area where the "dining room" should be. Plus, we have the Scarface poster up, so you know either a group of 20-something males or a gangsta rapper lives here (and the stuffed dog in the living room pretty much eliminates the gangsta rapper possibility, save for maybe DMX).
Speaking of dogs, Bagel passed away on July 28th, three days before I moved out. It was tough losing her, but she's been on her last legs for a few years now. She hadn't eaten in three days, so my sister brought her to the vet, who diagnosed her with a form of cancer. We decided it'd be best to put her down, since she'd only have a month or so to live anyway, and she wasn't living well as it was. It was tough on my sister, since she had to make the decision, as well as my parents, because they were out of town in Seattle at the time, and didn't get to say goodbye. Really, though, my cat Sunny has been the most confused, because in the same week, Bagel was gone and then I moved out. I've been back a couple times since, and she is always following me around, hoping I'll stay.
On to happier things, now. I recently received the new Apple 20" Cinema Display I ordered, but I have nothing to hook it up to, since I'm still waiting for my G5. The computer is scheduled to ship on or before Sept. 3, so only three more weeks to wait, hopefully. Right now, I'm operating fine on my iBook G4, my Power Mac G4 Cube and my two iMac G3s, so I don't really need another computer, but I couldn't pass up the power of the Dual 2.5 GHz G5.
So, being in an apartment with two other guys, both of whom like games, we obviously have a lot of video games and systems between us. Currently, we have 10 different systems hooked up in the living room, with only the lack of a power adapter preventing us from adding the Atari 2600 to that total. Recently, I've been playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Sega Dreamcast, an old favorite of Pooz's, and I've become a fan. Of course, for the next few weeks, the game that takes center stage is Madden 2005. I picked it up two days ago for Xbox, but I haven't had a chance to play yet. It's on my list of things to do, right after I finish posting this update.
Of course, I can't mention Madden without talking about ESPN's NFL 2K5. I made mention of the fact that I got it in my last update (remember that one from three weeks ago) and I must say, I'm a big fan of the game. The graphics are spectacular and the gameplay is great too, but the passing engine is a little more difficult than I'm used to (or really, I should say, the AI for the DB's is better than I'm used to). I love the weekly practice schedule feature in Franchise mode, which is a better thing for true football fans than Madden's "Owner Mode." You basically get to plan out your team's practice and film schedule for the entire week leading up to the game, and you can improve your players' ratings. It's a neat little feature that improves the longevity of the game.
Quick hit thoughts of stuff I've missed writing about in the past three weeks, from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and more:
•It's been run into the ground by just about every sports columnist recently, but this latest edition of the "Dream Team" sucks. Seriously. I'm a huge LeBron fan, as you all know, but having him surrounded by a bunch of other players who can't shoot does not make for good Olympic basketball. Two outside shooters is all we need. Is that too much to ask?
•The NFL preseason is upon us and we had a major injury in the first game of the preseason. My 'Skins lost star guard Jon Jansen for the year. Everyone points to injuries like these to say that the preseason needs to be shortened, but that doesn't make sense. Jansen was hurt in the very first game. Even if the preseason was two games, there's still a "first game." If you play no preseason games, how do you determine who are the surprises on your roster? There are always going to be injuries, no matter the system. You just have to deal with them.
•I saw "Collateral" last week, and would highly recommend it. It was a well-done movie, and Tom Cruise does a great job as the villain. Jamie Foxx once again pulls off a dramatic role in a Michael Mann film (the two teammed up in "Ali") and his partnership on screen with Cruise is unexpectedly good.
•Details came out on the ROTK Extended Edition. According to reports, Peter Jackson is adding something like 54 minutes to the already 3 hour, 20 minute movie. I can't wait until its released, so I can watch all three extended editions in order. Plus, the EE gift set is coming with a special statue of Minis Tirith, which should look awesome in my apartment somewhere.
Last but not least, let me give you a quick rundown of stuff on the site. DGOW and Versus will be updated on Monday, as they are scheduled. I changed the countdown clock to a countdown to the kickoff of the NFL regular season, Sept. 9 at 9:00 p.m. - Pats vs. Colts. The points standings are out of date. I'll get updated numbers posted tomorrow, hopefully, but no promises. There's no webcam right now, but I'm hoping to resolve that soon.
OK, I know that's a lot to digest, but you've had three weeks to get ready for it. I can assure you that the next update won't be three weeks coming.
Peace up, A-Town down.
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