Thankfully I left work a little late today, because if I hadn't, my crappy commute home would have been even worse. As I was leaving the mall, Moore called me and told me not to take I-84 home. Apparently two customers had just come in and said it had taken them an hour to get there from Hartford (normally a 10 minute drive). So I drove home through Hartford taking Route 44, which was just retarded. I'm sure it was faster than the traffic-filled highway, but it was still crazy slow, mostly because the lights are as non-synchronized as possible. It was like a "three yards and a cloud of dust" way of driving. I was not a fan.
Otherwise though, today wasn't bad. Work went well and now I'm home for a nice three-day weekend with absolutely no plans. If you have any ideas as to what I should do, let me know.
Thought I should mention that today is a pretty big day in Desktop Girl history. Both Lacey Chabert (the first DGOW) and Monica Bellucci (one of the most popular DGOW) were born on this date, 18 years apart. Lacey turns 22 today, putting her squarely in my age group, while Monica reaches the big 4-0. She's not quite old enough to be my mom, but she could easily be an aunt or something. Of course, that doesn't matter, since she's still super hot.
I do have some good site-related news. I didn't have to buy additional iDisk space, because yesterday Apple made enhancements to .Mac, which included an increase in overall storage space to 250 MB. You can allocate that almost any way you like between iDisk and Mail, so I chose to allocate 15 MB to mail (the minimum you can do) and 235 MB to iDisk, so now I've got enough space left to keep adding DGOW and related items for another year or so. Plus, now, I can upgrade to 1 GB of storage space for just $49.95. I love this company!
Speaking of things I love, I got some new sneakers yesterday. I had seen them at Finish Line on Tuesday, and they're a Finish Line exclusive, so I couldn't get them Wednesday when Moore and I went to Buckland. When I went back to Finish Line yesterday, they had the shoes I wanted -- the 2 The Zone from Reebok -- but they also had the new Vick II from Nike. The Vick shoes were nice, but in the end, I went with the 2 The Zone because I like the fit of Reebok shoes better, plus I prefer primarily white shoes. I got the royal blue (as pictured) and they match my Harrison jersey pretty nicely.
Oh, also, I have to mention that Pooz finally posted the pictures from last month's party, so check those out. And we're going to have a crazy Halloween Party (costume required) on Saturday, Oct. 30, so be sure to plan to be here. And if you have any ideas for a costume for me, let me know. Right now, I'm going as a Mac Genius. That's not gonna fly.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Day off!
So remember when I wrote that today I wasn't going to do much other than post SportsPickle.com and play "Burnout 3." Well, I was half right. I posted the latest issue of SportsPickle (which you're free to check out after you've finished reading today's entry. As for the rest of the day, I spent most of it playing "Def Jam: Fight for New York." Watching Pooz play it last night, I didn't think it would be too great of a game, but then I started playing.
I picked up the game when Pooz went to bed at about 1 a.m. then finally forced myself to stop playing at 4 a.m. I'd already completed about 35 percent of story mode and gotten some serious bling for my character (one of the points of the game is to buy stuff with your earnings, like clothes and jewelry). So when I woke up at like 11:30, Pooz was playing again -- he went to work at 12:30, then I played until 4 p.m., at which point I'd finished the story mode of the game. My character is seriously awesome now, and I've bought some of the best finishing moves in the game, so I'll have to get some one-on-one action with Pooz once he builds up his character a little more.
Otherwise, today was a pretty uneventful day. Moore and I did end up leaving the apartment at about 7:30 or so. We checked out CompUSA, which didn't have anything interesting in stock, so I managed to not spend money there. We stopped by Westfarms, and the Apple Store (obviously) for a brief BlackOps meeting, before heading over to Buckland, where I picked up the Collector's Edition of "Star Trek: Generations." Moore is a much bigger Star Trek fan than I am, but he's not a fan of this movie. I actually liked it more than I thought I would, and it's grown on me over the years. I loved the idea of Kirk and Picard fighting side-by-side.
Also, I noticed a couple interesting things at the mall. First off, at Westfarms, yesterday I ate at Sbarro, which is all the way across the mall from the Apple Store. On my walk there, I passed six empty spots, plus an Ann Taylor store that's undergoing renovations. Most of the empty spots are covered with generic mall covering, but the Victoria's Secret full store, which is undergoing renovations is a notable exception. Buckland meanwhile has much fewer empty spots, but does have something very disturbing: a Christmas Store. That's right, it's not even October, and Buckland has their temporary holiday store already set up. I'm not a fan.
The new DGOW and Versus are up, and it's a big week in Versus, as Britney Spears finally makes an appearance in the polls. Obviously you know who I'm voting for (as much as it pains me not to vote for my favorite Spice Girl). Please vote accordingly (oh, and the other poll, Cox vs. Crawford, is the first in the "Wild Card" region, which is the final region of the first round of the tournament).
I picked up the game when Pooz went to bed at about 1 a.m. then finally forced myself to stop playing at 4 a.m. I'd already completed about 35 percent of story mode and gotten some serious bling for my character (one of the points of the game is to buy stuff with your earnings, like clothes and jewelry). So when I woke up at like 11:30, Pooz was playing again -- he went to work at 12:30, then I played until 4 p.m., at which point I'd finished the story mode of the game. My character is seriously awesome now, and I've bought some of the best finishing moves in the game, so I'll have to get some one-on-one action with Pooz once he builds up his character a little more.
Otherwise, today was a pretty uneventful day. Moore and I did end up leaving the apartment at about 7:30 or so. We checked out CompUSA, which didn't have anything interesting in stock, so I managed to not spend money there. We stopped by Westfarms, and the Apple Store (obviously) for a brief BlackOps meeting, before heading over to Buckland, where I picked up the Collector's Edition of "Star Trek: Generations." Moore is a much bigger Star Trek fan than I am, but he's not a fan of this movie. I actually liked it more than I thought I would, and it's grown on me over the years. I loved the idea of Kirk and Picard fighting side-by-side.
Also, I noticed a couple interesting things at the mall. First off, at Westfarms, yesterday I ate at Sbarro, which is all the way across the mall from the Apple Store. On my walk there, I passed six empty spots, plus an Ann Taylor store that's undergoing renovations. Most of the empty spots are covered with generic mall covering, but the Victoria's Secret full store, which is undergoing renovations is a notable exception. Buckland meanwhile has much fewer empty spots, but does have something very disturbing: a Christmas Store. That's right, it's not even October, and Buckland has their temporary holiday store already set up. I'm not a fan.
The new DGOW and Versus are up, and it's a big week in Versus, as Britney Spears finally makes an appearance in the polls. Obviously you know who I'm voting for (as much as it pains me not to vote for my favorite Spice Girl). Please vote accordingly (oh, and the other poll, Cox vs. Crawford, is the first in the "Wild Card" region, which is the final region of the first round of the tournament).
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Kinda Tired...
You'd think being able to sleep in until 10 a.m. every day would mean you wouldn't be that tired, but that assumes you're not staying up until 2 a.m. every day. That said, I've only got two more days of work before I can finally relax on Tuesday. All I'll have to do that day is SportsPickle.com, and probably laundry, but other than that, I can just sit around and play "Burnout" all day.
Well, given that it is Saturday, I should probably get my NFL picks for the week up. I've been a super non-impressive 15-16 so far this year, so I warn you, my picks are for entertainment purposes only (and are pretty much entertaining in the same way that "Joey" is entertaining, meaning not so much).
•Atlanta over Arizona (my survival pick on Yahoo! also)
•Cincinnati over Baltimore
•Minnesota over Chicago
•NY Giants over Cleveland
•Kansas City over Houston
•Tennessee over Jacksonville
•St. Louis over New Orleans
•Philadelphia over Detroit
•Denver over San Diego
•Indianapolis over Green Bay
•Seattle over San Francisco
•Miami over Pittsburgh
•Oakland over Tampa Bay
•Washington over Dallas
I thought about picking Detroit over Philly just to go for the clean sweep of home teams, but I couldn't do that. Still, I think most of the matchups this week lean favorably to the home teams. The close ones, in my opinion (which, thus far this season, has been proven to be as solid as a coin flip) are Cinci-B'more and Giants-Browns. I don't think the Giants are really that good, but the Browns just have too many injuries this early in the season. They're going to have too many guys playing who weren't expected to be counted on yet.
I'm still debating what to do about the iDisk situation. I've got about 2.6 MB free now, thanks to some deletions of some files I didn't need. Still, that's only enough to get me through next week's DGOW. I think I'm just going to buy more iDisk space, because of the ease of use. I don't really feel like cross-linking to some hosting company, and dealing with transferring my domain over.
That's really all I have to say for now. I'm going to try to post again tomorrow after work, but don't get your hopes up.
Well, given that it is Saturday, I should probably get my NFL picks for the week up. I've been a super non-impressive 15-16 so far this year, so I warn you, my picks are for entertainment purposes only (and are pretty much entertaining in the same way that "Joey" is entertaining, meaning not so much).
•Atlanta over Arizona (my survival pick on Yahoo! also)
•Cincinnati over Baltimore
•Minnesota over Chicago
•NY Giants over Cleveland
•Kansas City over Houston
•Tennessee over Jacksonville
•St. Louis over New Orleans
•Philadelphia over Detroit
•Denver over San Diego
•Indianapolis over Green Bay
•Seattle over San Francisco
•Miami over Pittsburgh
•Oakland over Tampa Bay
•Washington over Dallas
I thought about picking Detroit over Philly just to go for the clean sweep of home teams, but I couldn't do that. Still, I think most of the matchups this week lean favorably to the home teams. The close ones, in my opinion (which, thus far this season, has been proven to be as solid as a coin flip) are Cinci-B'more and Giants-Browns. I don't think the Giants are really that good, but the Browns just have too many injuries this early in the season. They're going to have too many guys playing who weren't expected to be counted on yet.
I'm still debating what to do about the iDisk situation. I've got about 2.6 MB free now, thanks to some deletions of some files I didn't need. Still, that's only enough to get me through next week's DGOW. I think I'm just going to buy more iDisk space, because of the ease of use. I don't really feel like cross-linking to some hosting company, and dealing with transferring my domain over.
That's really all I have to say for now. I'm going to try to post again tomorrow after work, but don't get your hopes up.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Not much to say...
Sorry I missed the usual Monday update, but I haven't really had much going on since Sunday (I did only miss three days). I had Monday off and watched some movies, then went up to Holyoke Mall with Pooz, where I picked up Marvin Harrison and Carmelo Anthony jerseys. I'll try to have pictures posted of those soon. The Harrison jersey (white, authentic) is pretty crisp looking.
Unfortunately, new, awesome jerseys don't help me pick NFL games any better. After a 7-8 opening week, I went 8-8 in week 2. Technically, it's an improvement, but if I don't get a good week soon, I'm going to be lingering around .500 all season. Speaking of .500, that's where my 'Skins sit after an atrocious week 2. Looking on the bright side, though, the defense still looked pretty good, and the team almost won, despite seven turnovers.
The Star Wars trilogy arrived on DVD yesterday, and I watched Episode VI last night (because Pooz had already watched IV and V, before I got home from work), then watched the IV and V today. I'm not even going to comment on the big change to VI, other than to say I'm still sorting out my feelings on it. Both Pooz and I were yelling at the screen at first, but we've settled down since then.
I think all my car insurance issues are sorted out, having faxed everything to Progressive yesterday. I think 12 pages of documentation to prove my liability limits for the previous year should be enough. Now I have to fax my new Progressive sheet into Horace Mann, so my parents can get my name taken off their insurance. It's anti-fun stuff.
Also, our first rent check is due next week, which obviously puts a damper on the apartment life (having had it free for two months has distorted my view of things. Anything that went wrong, it was like "oh well, we're living here for free). In addition to that, apparently there have been a few complaints about the noise level coming from our apartment. We're obviously going to tone things down, but right now we're pissed, not because the complaints happened, but because the people who complained went straight to management, rather than coming to us first. If they had asked us to ever turn down the volume, we would have. Instead, for the past two months, we've been doing things the same way for two months because we didn't think anyone had a problem with it. Now that we know, we'll change things, which we don't have a huge problem with, and there shouldn't be any big problems in the building anymore.
Also, my G5 is still awesome. Just thought I'd remind you of that. I finally figured out how to automate the conversion process from fullscreen to widescreen for my desktop pictures, so I was able to convert 90 pictures today in about 20 minutes. My desktop collection is up to 695. When I hit 1000, whoever the girl is will automatically be DGOW for the week, even if she's already been it. Which reminds me, I'm down to less than 1 MB of free space on my iDisk, which means I need to figure out a new plan soon. I may purchase some more iDisk space for $60 ($5/month) or sign up with a hosting company to get more than 100 MB of additional space, given how quickly I run through it. I found a place that will give me 2 GB for $3.95 a month, but that's only if I sign up for a two-year commitment. Still, that's only about $35 more, so I may do that. Of course, then, I have to do more coding work on a weekly basis. It's all a big mess.
Unfortunately, new, awesome jerseys don't help me pick NFL games any better. After a 7-8 opening week, I went 8-8 in week 2. Technically, it's an improvement, but if I don't get a good week soon, I'm going to be lingering around .500 all season. Speaking of .500, that's where my 'Skins sit after an atrocious week 2. Looking on the bright side, though, the defense still looked pretty good, and the team almost won, despite seven turnovers.
The Star Wars trilogy arrived on DVD yesterday, and I watched Episode VI last night (because Pooz had already watched IV and V, before I got home from work), then watched the IV and V today. I'm not even going to comment on the big change to VI, other than to say I'm still sorting out my feelings on it. Both Pooz and I were yelling at the screen at first, but we've settled down since then.
I think all my car insurance issues are sorted out, having faxed everything to Progressive yesterday. I think 12 pages of documentation to prove my liability limits for the previous year should be enough. Now I have to fax my new Progressive sheet into Horace Mann, so my parents can get my name taken off their insurance. It's anti-fun stuff.
Also, our first rent check is due next week, which obviously puts a damper on the apartment life (having had it free for two months has distorted my view of things. Anything that went wrong, it was like "oh well, we're living here for free). In addition to that, apparently there have been a few complaints about the noise level coming from our apartment. We're obviously going to tone things down, but right now we're pissed, not because the complaints happened, but because the people who complained went straight to management, rather than coming to us first. If they had asked us to ever turn down the volume, we would have. Instead, for the past two months, we've been doing things the same way for two months because we didn't think anyone had a problem with it. Now that we know, we'll change things, which we don't have a huge problem with, and there shouldn't be any big problems in the building anymore.
Also, my G5 is still awesome. Just thought I'd remind you of that. I finally figured out how to automate the conversion process from fullscreen to widescreen for my desktop pictures, so I was able to convert 90 pictures today in about 20 minutes. My desktop collection is up to 695. When I hit 1000, whoever the girl is will automatically be DGOW for the week, even if she's already been it. Which reminds me, I'm down to less than 1 MB of free space on my iDisk, which means I need to figure out a new plan soon. I may purchase some more iDisk space for $60 ($5/month) or sign up with a hosting company to get more than 100 MB of additional space, given how quickly I run through it. I found a place that will give me 2 GB for $3.95 a month, but that's only if I sign up for a two-year commitment. Still, that's only about $35 more, so I may do that. Of course, then, I have to do more coding work on a weekly basis. It's all a big mess.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Oh yeah G5-y Goodness!
So I haven't updated this site in a few days, but I have some good reasons, more than just working five of the last six days. On Tuesday afternoon, just after work, I dropped off my car to get my hood fixed. It's been loose for a few months now, and I finally needed to get it fixed. I left it there all day Wednesday, and it was ready for pickup on Thursday morning, so it was a nice quick turnaround and it was covered under my warranty. Also, I can now drive above 65 without fear of my hood flying off. So that's a good thing.
An even better thing happened Thursday though. I finally got my G5. It's more amazing than I could have imagined. I've even got a nice dual monitor setup going on with my old 15" ADC display and my 20" DVI Cinema Display. Plus, I picked up a PowerMate, which looks awesome on the glass desk, glowing blue. Plus, with the new setup assistant that's built into the OS, I was able to transfer my complete setup from my iBook at get everything going nice and quickly. Now I just need to get some games to take advantage of the 256 MB video card and I'll be completely set.
So that covers Thursday, and some of Friday (since, of course, I had to spend some of Friday after work playing with my G5. It is the best computer I've ever owned). As for Wednesday, I was car-less, so I spent most of my time in the apartment, playing "Burnout 3" for Xbox. Pooz picked it up last week, and since then we've been hooked on it. It's the best racing game I've ever played, and the replay value is very high. There are something like three dozen courses and different events on each one. My favorite thing so far is the crash junctions, which are setups where you try to crash your car at an intersection and create the biggest crash with the most damage possible. So I played that for like six hours on Wednesday. I did get out for a little bit, when my mom came and picked me up and I had Rosh Hashana dinner with the family. Lilah is still very cute, even though she is nearing two and can be cranky at times (and I don't even live with her).
As for last night, when I was going to post an update, I instead went to see "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." Whoops. It would be among the worst movies I've seen this year, if this year hadn't produced so many bad movies. It wasn't as bad as "Van Helsing" but it was still pretty awful. The strange thing is it's actually getting good reviews. I think critics are so caught up with the filmmaking style that they forgot to watch the movie. There was nothing close to redeeming about it. It was comical though, when Pooz and I started giving it a running commentary. Oh, and if you think Angelina Jolie is a good enough reason to go see it, you're wrong. She's in the movie for all of about 10 minutes, and is covered from head to toe. Not helpful.
OK, so let me get around to my NFL picks for the week. I was 7-8 last week (though I would have been 8-8 if I'd posted my Tennessee pick on Saturday morning). This week I'm not giving my thoughts on every game, just my winners).
•Kansas City over Carolina
•Green Bay over Chicago
•Denver over Jacksonville
•Houston over Detroit
•Indianapolis over Tennessee
•Pittsburgh over Baltimore
•New Orleans over San Francisco
•Atlanta over St. Louis
•Washington over NY Giants
•Seattle over Tampa Bay
•Buffalo over Oakland
•Dallas over Cleveland
•New England over Arizona (though I still hate the Pats)
•NY Jets over Chargers
•Cincinnati over Miami
•Minnesota over Philadelphia
A couple of quick thoughts on those picks. I'm picking the Redskins every week until they look like the Chargers (or the Bears did last week). For now, Joe Gibbs is still God, and Clinton Portis is some kind of prophet. That's why I bought my Portis jersey today. As for some other games, despite their near collapse last week, I think the Steelers have what it takes to beat the Ravens, who looked terrible last week. Also, I think St. Louis's frequent turnovers will hurt them, because it'll give Mike Vick more opportunities to do amazing things.
That's it for now, I'll try to be back before six days go by.
An even better thing happened Thursday though. I finally got my G5. It's more amazing than I could have imagined. I've even got a nice dual monitor setup going on with my old 15" ADC display and my 20" DVI Cinema Display. Plus, I picked up a PowerMate, which looks awesome on the glass desk, glowing blue. Plus, with the new setup assistant that's built into the OS, I was able to transfer my complete setup from my iBook at get everything going nice and quickly. Now I just need to get some games to take advantage of the 256 MB video card and I'll be completely set.
So that covers Thursday, and some of Friday (since, of course, I had to spend some of Friday after work playing with my G5. It is the best computer I've ever owned). As for Wednesday, I was car-less, so I spent most of my time in the apartment, playing "Burnout 3" for Xbox. Pooz picked it up last week, and since then we've been hooked on it. It's the best racing game I've ever played, and the replay value is very high. There are something like three dozen courses and different events on each one. My favorite thing so far is the crash junctions, which are setups where you try to crash your car at an intersection and create the biggest crash with the most damage possible. So I played that for like six hours on Wednesday. I did get out for a little bit, when my mom came and picked me up and I had Rosh Hashana dinner with the family. Lilah is still very cute, even though she is nearing two and can be cranky at times (and I don't even live with her).
As for last night, when I was going to post an update, I instead went to see "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." Whoops. It would be among the worst movies I've seen this year, if this year hadn't produced so many bad movies. It wasn't as bad as "Van Helsing" but it was still pretty awful. The strange thing is it's actually getting good reviews. I think critics are so caught up with the filmmaking style that they forgot to watch the movie. There was nothing close to redeeming about it. It was comical though, when Pooz and I started giving it a running commentary. Oh, and if you think Angelina Jolie is a good enough reason to go see it, you're wrong. She's in the movie for all of about 10 minutes, and is covered from head to toe. Not helpful.
OK, so let me get around to my NFL picks for the week. I was 7-8 last week (though I would have been 8-8 if I'd posted my Tennessee pick on Saturday morning). This week I'm not giving my thoughts on every game, just my winners).
•Kansas City over Carolina
•Green Bay over Chicago
•Denver over Jacksonville
•Houston over Detroit
•Indianapolis over Tennessee
•Pittsburgh over Baltimore
•New Orleans over San Francisco
•Atlanta over St. Louis
•Washington over NY Giants
•Seattle over Tampa Bay
•Buffalo over Oakland
•Dallas over Cleveland
•New England over Arizona (though I still hate the Pats)
•NY Jets over Chargers
•Cincinnati over Miami
•Minnesota over Philadelphia
A couple of quick thoughts on those picks. I'm picking the Redskins every week until they look like the Chargers (or the Bears did last week). For now, Joe Gibbs is still God, and Clinton Portis is some kind of prophet. That's why I bought my Portis jersey today. As for some other games, despite their near collapse last week, I think the Steelers have what it takes to beat the Ravens, who looked terrible last week. Also, I think St. Louis's frequent turnovers will hurt them, because it'll give Mike Vick more opportunities to do amazing things.
That's it for now, I'll try to be back before six days go by.
I’m still ready for some football
OK, yesterday was awesome, if only because I had the day off, FOX showed the Redskins game, and the 'Skins won. Oh, and Clinton Portis proved why the 'Skins traded for him, and Fred Smoot proved why they could afford to trade away Champ Bailey. All in all, that game couldn't have gone much better for me and all Redskins fans.
As for the rest of the games, well, um, don't ask. OK, I'll just say I'm 7-7 right now, needing the Panthers to win tonight to salvage a winning week. Right now, I can't really get a read on this game. Carolina seems to be having some early season jitters, but hopefully they'll work things out.
Today is Monday, so don't forget about DGOW and particularly Versus. Last week, LeAnn Rimes and Shania Twain ended up tied, so I've reset the votes and left them up for another week. Make sure you make your feelings known (and ladies, you can vote too. Just vote for who you think the better singer is. Or who you'd like to hang out with. Really doesn't matter what your criteria are, just pick a girl).
In personal Mac-related news, my G5 has an OOB date of tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some happy news there. I'm all set for my dual display setup (a 20" DVI and a 15" ADC) with two external HDs, so it'll be my powerhouse machine from day one. As for this site, I'm running out of space on my iDisk, so I'm probably going to have to buy more soon. Either that, or change DGOW to DGO(everyother)W. Which I might have to do anyone because I'm running out of girls I want to spotlight.
As for the rest of the games, well, um, don't ask. OK, I'll just say I'm 7-7 right now, needing the Panthers to win tonight to salvage a winning week. Right now, I can't really get a read on this game. Carolina seems to be having some early season jitters, but hopefully they'll work things out.
Today is Monday, so don't forget about DGOW and particularly Versus. Last week, LeAnn Rimes and Shania Twain ended up tied, so I've reset the votes and left them up for another week. Make sure you make your feelings known (and ladies, you can vote too. Just vote for who you think the better singer is. Or who you'd like to hang out with. Really doesn't matter what your criteria are, just pick a girl).
In personal Mac-related news, my G5 has an OOB date of tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some happy news there. I'm all set for my dual display setup (a 20" DVI and a 15" ADC) with two external HDs, so it'll be my powerhouse machine from day one. As for this site, I'm running out of space on my iDisk, so I'm probably going to have to buy more soon. Either that, or change DGOW to DGO(everyother)W. Which I might have to do anyone because I'm running out of girls I want to spotlight.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Once more, with feeling...
So there was one game Thursday, and one game Saturday, but now the NFL gets things going for real, with a full slate of Sunday games, plus one more tomorrow night. For me, the big game is Redskins-Bucs, because I can't wait to see how Joe Gibbs does in his re-debut, after a dozen years away from the game.
As for how I'm doing, well, I'm already 0-1 in picking this year (I obviously didn't post in time to pick the Dolphins-Titans game, and even though I would have picked Tennessee, I'm not giving myself a win for that). So here we go with what are hopefully better picks for the rest of Week 1 (predicted winner in bold):
•Arizona at St. Louis. Denny Green will eventually make an impact on Arizona and turn things around, but not in Week 1, against a very good Rams team.
•Baltimore at Cleveland. Everyone's talking about how Jamal Lewis destroyed the Browns last year, so this will be no different. Hate to burst your bubble, but that's not how things work in the NFL. Still, the Ravens are better than the Browns, who will struggle to gel on offense this year.
•Cincinnati at New York Jets. This is a tough one to pick. I think both teams are improved, but when in doubt, go with the veteran defense against the first-time starter at QB.
•Detroit at Chicago. Both of these teams are awful. Chicago has no offense to speak of, while Detroit is the exact opposite. So, in a toss-up, I'm going with the home team, maybe just to appease Pooz.
•Jacksonville at Buffalo. The Jags are a popular "surprise" pick for the Super Bowl, which begs the question: If everyone is picking you as a "surprise" contender, is it still a "surprise" if you contend? OK, that has nothing to do with this week, but neither of these teams really excites me. I guess I'll go with Buffalo because they have more weapons.
•Oakland at Pittsburgh. I hate the Raiders, I like the Steelers, and I think the Raiders are going to be terrible again this year (mostly because I think Norv Turner is an awful head coach).
•San Diego at Houston. Will someone please force San Diego to trade LaDanian Tomlinson to a good team?
•Seattle at New Orleans. I think this is the year that the Saints start off poorly, then rally at the end of the year to make their record look respectable (as opposed to starting off hot, then imploding in Nov./Dec.).
•Tampa Bay at Washington. It really doesn't matter what I think about this game, because I'm picking Washington anyway.
•Atlanta at San Francisco. Mike Vick is going to have rough days in the Falcons new offense. Fortunately, their first test is against one of the worst teams in the NFL. Oh, and a message for D'Angelo Hall: your injury is what we in the industry call "karmic retribution," i.e. "that's what you get for trying to pull of Deion's old number in the house that Prime Time built.
•Dallas at Minnesota. Thankfully for the Cowboys, Minnesota cut Brock Lesner, otherwise we might see him piledrive Vinny and kill him the process.
•New York Giants at Philadelphia. The Kurt Warner experiment can end two ways: 1) he recaptures his magic and leads the Giants to the playoffs or 2) he has more turnovers than completions and Eli Manning's starting the second half of this game. Guess which one I'm expecting. Need help? Well, I did pick the Eagles.
•Kansas City at Denver: Jake Plummer is not a good quarterback. Someone needs to let people know this, because somehow Jake's been fooling a lot of people all these years.
•Green Bay at Carolina: I'm firmly in the "I don't get why people are down on the Panthers" camp. They did pretty much the same thing as New England in the offseason, yet most experts think it's a given that they won't get back to the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they still have Stephen Davis, right?
Onto new business. Pooz, Moore and I saw "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" Friday night, and it wasn't nearly as bad as critics are making it out to be. In fact, it was pretty good. I liked some of the action better than the first one (which I just got on DVD, and watched just before seeing the second one) but the story of the first one was a little more interesting. And now obviously there will be a third one, as long as the box office for this one isn't terrible.
Also, it would be wrong of me not to mention that yesterday was Sept. 11, three years since one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Also though, the date has a little more personal significance to me, because it's two years since the death of Johnny Unitas, the former NFL quarterback who was working for Towson University at the time of his death. I'd just me him a week before he died, and he was very jovial and happy to be working for Towson, helping to raise awareness for the football program.
Speaking of that football program, the Tigers played their first Atlantic 10 game yesterday, and came amazingly close to beating the defending national champion Delaware Blue Hens. It seems like Gordy Combs has put together a pretty good team in Towson this year (and an amazing defense), so things are looking up for my Tigers.
As for how I'm doing, well, I'm already 0-1 in picking this year (I obviously didn't post in time to pick the Dolphins-Titans game, and even though I would have picked Tennessee, I'm not giving myself a win for that). So here we go with what are hopefully better picks for the rest of Week 1 (predicted winner in bold):
•Arizona at St. Louis. Denny Green will eventually make an impact on Arizona and turn things around, but not in Week 1, against a very good Rams team.
•Baltimore at Cleveland. Everyone's talking about how Jamal Lewis destroyed the Browns last year, so this will be no different. Hate to burst your bubble, but that's not how things work in the NFL. Still, the Ravens are better than the Browns, who will struggle to gel on offense this year.
•Cincinnati at New York Jets. This is a tough one to pick. I think both teams are improved, but when in doubt, go with the veteran defense against the first-time starter at QB.
•Detroit at Chicago. Both of these teams are awful. Chicago has no offense to speak of, while Detroit is the exact opposite. So, in a toss-up, I'm going with the home team, maybe just to appease Pooz.
•Jacksonville at Buffalo. The Jags are a popular "surprise" pick for the Super Bowl, which begs the question: If everyone is picking you as a "surprise" contender, is it still a "surprise" if you contend? OK, that has nothing to do with this week, but neither of these teams really excites me. I guess I'll go with Buffalo because they have more weapons.
•Oakland at Pittsburgh. I hate the Raiders, I like the Steelers, and I think the Raiders are going to be terrible again this year (mostly because I think Norv Turner is an awful head coach).
•San Diego at Houston. Will someone please force San Diego to trade LaDanian Tomlinson to a good team?
•Seattle at New Orleans. I think this is the year that the Saints start off poorly, then rally at the end of the year to make their record look respectable (as opposed to starting off hot, then imploding in Nov./Dec.).
•Tampa Bay at Washington. It really doesn't matter what I think about this game, because I'm picking Washington anyway.
•Atlanta at San Francisco. Mike Vick is going to have rough days in the Falcons new offense. Fortunately, their first test is against one of the worst teams in the NFL. Oh, and a message for D'Angelo Hall: your injury is what we in the industry call "karmic retribution," i.e. "that's what you get for trying to pull of Deion's old number in the house that Prime Time built.
•Dallas at Minnesota. Thankfully for the Cowboys, Minnesota cut Brock Lesner, otherwise we might see him piledrive Vinny and kill him the process.
•New York Giants at Philadelphia. The Kurt Warner experiment can end two ways: 1) he recaptures his magic and leads the Giants to the playoffs or 2) he has more turnovers than completions and Eli Manning's starting the second half of this game. Guess which one I'm expecting. Need help? Well, I did pick the Eagles.
•Kansas City at Denver: Jake Plummer is not a good quarterback. Someone needs to let people know this, because somehow Jake's been fooling a lot of people all these years.
•Green Bay at Carolina: I'm firmly in the "I don't get why people are down on the Panthers" camp. They did pretty much the same thing as New England in the offseason, yet most experts think it's a given that they won't get back to the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they still have Stephen Davis, right?
Onto new business. Pooz, Moore and I saw "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" Friday night, and it wasn't nearly as bad as critics are making it out to be. In fact, it was pretty good. I liked some of the action better than the first one (which I just got on DVD, and watched just before seeing the second one) but the story of the first one was a little more interesting. And now obviously there will be a third one, as long as the box office for this one isn't terrible.
Also, it would be wrong of me not to mention that yesterday was Sept. 11, three years since one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Also though, the date has a little more personal significance to me, because it's two years since the death of Johnny Unitas, the former NFL quarterback who was working for Towson University at the time of his death. I'd just me him a week before he died, and he was very jovial and happy to be working for Towson, helping to raise awareness for the football program.
Speaking of that football program, the Tigers played their first Atlantic 10 game yesterday, and came amazingly close to beating the defending national champion Delaware Blue Hens. It seems like Gordy Combs has put together a pretty good team in Towson this year (and an amazing defense), so things are looking up for my Tigers.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Are you ready...
...for some football? A Monday Thursday night party! The NFL kicks off tonight, beginning a stretch of games on four of the next five days (thanks to the impending Hurricane in Florida, the Tennessee-Miami game has been moved to Saturday). I love football. More specifically, I love NFL football. And I hate the Patriots, so I'll be rocking my Peyton Manning jersey tonight.
As I write this, the Patriots are unveiling their Super Bowl XXXVIII banner to the tune of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna." That song usually is a foreboding indicator of bad incidents, so I'm hoping the Pats get their clocks cleaned tonight. Maybe Marvin Harrison will end up with 300 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Wouldn't that be nice?
In other news, I'm up to the final two episodes of Season 3 of "Alias." To be honest, I actually liked the early season stuff -- where Sydney was trying to discover the mystery behind her missing two years -- much more than the "Passenger" plotline of the end of the season. Also, the episode that's up next -- the second-to-last one of the season -- was easily the worst of the season on first viewing, and possibly the worst of the series. I'll have to see if DVD re-viewing changes that.
Thought I'd let you know about a few site updates. I finally posted pictures of the last three NBA jerseys I've gotten: MJ's 1984 jersey, Lamar Odom, and Ray Allen. Plus, I updated the ESPN HD schedule through October (with recurring events set up for NFL Countdown and Primetime). Also, I was checking out the calendar on iCalShare.com and someone actually left a comment thanking me for making it. I thought that was pretty cool.
By the way, in case it wasn't already painfully obvious, my official pick for tonight is the Colts. I'll post the rest of my picks for the week either Saturday night or Sunday morning, and then, once Week 1 is complete, I'll put a little picktracker on the left of the site to follow my success for the season.
As I write this, the Patriots are unveiling their Super Bowl XXXVIII banner to the tune of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna." That song usually is a foreboding indicator of bad incidents, so I'm hoping the Pats get their clocks cleaned tonight. Maybe Marvin Harrison will end up with 300 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Wouldn't that be nice?
In other news, I'm up to the final two episodes of Season 3 of "Alias." To be honest, I actually liked the early season stuff -- where Sydney was trying to discover the mystery behind her missing two years -- much more than the "Passenger" plotline of the end of the season. Also, the episode that's up next -- the second-to-last one of the season -- was easily the worst of the season on first viewing, and possibly the worst of the series. I'll have to see if DVD re-viewing changes that.
Thought I'd let you know about a few site updates. I finally posted pictures of the last three NBA jerseys I've gotten: MJ's 1984 jersey, Lamar Odom, and Ray Allen. Plus, I updated the ESPN HD schedule through October (with recurring events set up for NFL Countdown and Primetime). Also, I was checking out the calendar on iCalShare.com and someone actually left a comment thanking me for making it. I thought that was pretty cool.
By the way, in case it wasn't already painfully obvious, my official pick for tonight is the Colts. I'll post the rest of my picks for the week either Saturday night or Sunday morning, and then, once Week 1 is complete, I'll put a little picktracker on the left of the site to follow my success for the season.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Whoops...
OK, so remember two days ago when I said I'd be back Monday for DGOW and Versus and an update. Yeah, not so much.
But here I am, a day later, but not a dollar short, because I have both those updates, plus some other stuff for you. First off the site-related stuff. If you're visiting the site and not voting in the polls, please vote. I need all the votes I can get. Remember, the question is "Who's your pick?" You can interpret that anyway you want. Then, I'll interpret the results the way I want. Remember, this site is AdamReisinger.com, not AdamReisinger'sFriendsandtheirOpinionsAboutWomeninEntertainment.com.
Speaking of women in entertainment, Alias Season 3 DVD came out today. I'm watching the first episode as we speak. I think this season will hold up better on DVD than it did during weekly airings. Of course, there was that one late season episode that seemed more like a 15 minute scene stretched out for an hour, but otherwise, I think it'll be fun to watch these episodes.
So Pooz and Moore got back from the ATL last night, when Tracey and Stacie were over, and I've decided that I need to go to this conference next year. There's probably enough events to keep me interested, plus the stuff I could buy would be awesome. For example, I got more swords. Actually, daggers. Legolas's daggers from "Lord of the Rings." We've got them hanging above the DVDs right now, because they're so damn cool looking there. And now, because I got such a great deal on them ($75, which is way below retail cost), I'm super interested in getting Arwen's sword now. World of Weapons has it for $155, which really is way more than I want to pay. I've seen it go on eBay for about $75-100, which is more in my range.
Well, that's about it for now. Just thought I'd mention the daggers. And the "Alias." And the... no, that's it, pretty much.
But here I am, a day later, but not a dollar short, because I have both those updates, plus some other stuff for you. First off the site-related stuff. If you're visiting the site and not voting in the polls, please vote. I need all the votes I can get. Remember, the question is "Who's your pick?" You can interpret that anyway you want. Then, I'll interpret the results the way I want. Remember, this site is AdamReisinger.com, not AdamReisinger'sFriendsandtheirOpinionsAboutWomeninEntertainment.com.
Speaking of women in entertainment, Alias Season 3 DVD came out today. I'm watching the first episode as we speak. I think this season will hold up better on DVD than it did during weekly airings. Of course, there was that one late season episode that seemed more like a 15 minute scene stretched out for an hour, but otherwise, I think it'll be fun to watch these episodes.
So Pooz and Moore got back from the ATL last night, when Tracey and Stacie were over, and I've decided that I need to go to this conference next year. There's probably enough events to keep me interested, plus the stuff I could buy would be awesome. For example, I got more swords. Actually, daggers. Legolas's daggers from "Lord of the Rings." We've got them hanging above the DVDs right now, because they're so damn cool looking there. And now, because I got such a great deal on them ($75, which is way below retail cost), I'm super interested in getting Arwen's sword now. World of Weapons has it for $155, which really is way more than I want to pay. I've seen it go on eBay for about $75-100, which is more in my range.
Well, that's about it for now. Just thought I'd mention the daggers. And the "Alias." And the... no, that's it, pretty much.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
So tired...
Despite the peace and quiet of having the apartment to myself, I can't wait until Moore and Pooz get back from Atlanta because I'm so tired right now. Having shifted from a 1-10 schedule to a 9-6 schedule, while in the middle of working a full week in a row (and 9 of 10 days total) is exhausting. Plus, I need the time off that's coming at the end of this week to go get my car fix. The hood is loose, and though the front latch seems to be holding OK, I'm afraid it could come loose while driving, which would be bad for everyone involved.
Still, there is some good news. I got a new cell phone, which is freakin' awesome. Seriously, I never realized how nice having a bluetooth headset could be until I got this phone (the Verizon Motorola v710). Now I'm hooked on using the headset. The phone is nice itself too. It syncs with iSync (though not over bluetooth, due to a Verizon firmware lockout) and it takes pictures and movies. In fact, I took a little movie of Lilah today when I stopped by the house. I also bought some nice ringtones for it, though they were damn expensive. It was cheaper to buy them in bulk though (bulk being seven) so I did that and found some I can rotate through, rather than buying one for $2 and another one later on when I get sick of it.
Now that I have a phone with a camera in it (commonly called a cameraphone) I'll be able to take pictures of cool stuff when I see it (the CoolPix 995 isn't the most convinient camera to carry around at all times) so I may have more pictures on the site in the near future (not even counting the pictures on BlackOpsHQ.com, which now forwards to its own page).
In other super awesome news, Alias Season 3 comes out on DVD Tuesday, which should give me plenty to do when I have three straight days off and my car is in the shop. Sure, Season 3 wasn't the best in terms of storytelling, but it was extra-Sark filled, and the unintentional comedy is off the scale, with the continued ineptness of the people who are supposed to represent America's intelligence agents. Oh, and Punisher comes out on DVD too, and I'll probably end up getting it, even though I didn't find it as good as it should have been. Honestly, it just boils down to the fact that he didn't kill enough people in the movie. The real Punisher (and yes, I know he's a fictional character, but still) would kill more than eight people in getting vengeance for his family's death.
Oh, and I love the sight of that little countdown clock to the right. It's almost time for NFL season and I'm psyched. Now if Cox can somehow get WTNH-DT live before Thursday night, I'd be more psyched, because then I could watch the NFL opener in high def.
That's it for now. Tune in tomorrow for new Versus and DGOW, as well as regularly scheduled rants.
Still, there is some good news. I got a new cell phone, which is freakin' awesome. Seriously, I never realized how nice having a bluetooth headset could be until I got this phone (the Verizon Motorola v710). Now I'm hooked on using the headset. The phone is nice itself too. It syncs with iSync (though not over bluetooth, due to a Verizon firmware lockout) and it takes pictures and movies. In fact, I took a little movie of Lilah today when I stopped by the house. I also bought some nice ringtones for it, though they were damn expensive. It was cheaper to buy them in bulk though (bulk being seven) so I did that and found some I can rotate through, rather than buying one for $2 and another one later on when I get sick of it.
Now that I have a phone with a camera in it (commonly called a cameraphone) I'll be able to take pictures of cool stuff when I see it (the CoolPix 995 isn't the most convinient camera to carry around at all times) so I may have more pictures on the site in the near future (not even counting the pictures on BlackOpsHQ.com, which now forwards to its own page).
In other super awesome news, Alias Season 3 comes out on DVD Tuesday, which should give me plenty to do when I have three straight days off and my car is in the shop. Sure, Season 3 wasn't the best in terms of storytelling, but it was extra-Sark filled, and the unintentional comedy is off the scale, with the continued ineptness of the people who are supposed to represent America's intelligence agents. Oh, and Punisher comes out on DVD too, and I'll probably end up getting it, even though I didn't find it as good as it should have been. Honestly, it just boils down to the fact that he didn't kill enough people in the movie. The real Punisher (and yes, I know he's a fictional character, but still) would kill more than eight people in getting vengeance for his family's death.
Oh, and I love the sight of that little countdown clock to the right. It's almost time for NFL season and I'm psyched. Now if Cox can somehow get WTNH-DT live before Thursday night, I'd be more psyched, because then I could watch the NFL opener in high def.
That's it for now. Tune in tomorrow for new Versus and DGOW, as well as regularly scheduled rants.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
BlackOps is in effect
So, I finally got off my ass and registered BlackOpsHQ.com and it's live now. For now, it forwards you to the menu page of my homepage (just like AdamReisinger.com does), but eventually it'll have its own section on the site, where hopefully we'll post the web comic. Once Pooz and Moore get back from Atlanta (they're headed down there from tomorrow through Monday) maybe we can try to get that off the ground. We already have some ideas for some early editions. Of course, the first thing we need to get up there is the gallery from the party. That is, once I get rid of the self-incriminating photos.
As for what else is going on, not much. I pretty much just chilled out today, which was probably a good idea, given that I'm working the next seven days or so, and in that stretch it's just me and Geoff. Work's gonna be crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to take my time off after that to enjoy my G5 (which is still scheduled to ship OOB Sept. 3, as of 30 minutes ago).
There's a new commercial airing for the Westfarms mall using an IM theme, which in of itself would be lame, but they actually mention the Apple Store (something about "the webcams are so cool" or some stuff like that) which is nice.
In not so cool news, it looks like the charges against Kobe Bryant are going to be dropped with prejudice, so the D.A.'s office won't be able to bring Bryant back to trial at any point in the future. Obviously, this looks very good for Bryant and very bad for the prosecution. To be honest, it doesn't even look good for the civil trial. The biggest thing is the amount of money that's been spent on the pre-trial hearings to date. If I were a resident of Eagle County, I'd be pretty pissed about the waste of my tax money. The trial has brought nothing but bad publicity to Eagle, the dropped charges bring more bad publicity, and at a cost of millions of dollars. But hey, Kobe's gonna have to play with the crap team that is the Lakers, so it's all good.
Picked up a bunch of DVDs yesterday, and they're on the list to the side (but not in the complete DVD Library section yet). Yes, I bought "SBTB: The College Years." I might be the only person on the planet (aside from Bob Golic) who enjoyed that show. Obviously It doesn't have the timeless quality of the original show, but I found that some of the episodes were still pretty funny. As I right this, I'm actually watching some of the high school episodes right now. This show was so stupid and so funny at the same time.
Time to wrap this up. Gotta go kick 'em in the grill.
As for what else is going on, not much. I pretty much just chilled out today, which was probably a good idea, given that I'm working the next seven days or so, and in that stretch it's just me and Geoff. Work's gonna be crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to take my time off after that to enjoy my G5 (which is still scheduled to ship OOB Sept. 3, as of 30 minutes ago).
There's a new commercial airing for the Westfarms mall using an IM theme, which in of itself would be lame, but they actually mention the Apple Store (something about "the webcams are so cool" or some stuff like that) which is nice.
In not so cool news, it looks like the charges against Kobe Bryant are going to be dropped with prejudice, so the D.A.'s office won't be able to bring Bryant back to trial at any point in the future. Obviously, this looks very good for Bryant and very bad for the prosecution. To be honest, it doesn't even look good for the civil trial. The biggest thing is the amount of money that's been spent on the pre-trial hearings to date. If I were a resident of Eagle County, I'd be pretty pissed about the waste of my tax money. The trial has brought nothing but bad publicity to Eagle, the dropped charges bring more bad publicity, and at a cost of millions of dollars. But hey, Kobe's gonna have to play with the crap team that is the Lakers, so it's all good.
Picked up a bunch of DVDs yesterday, and they're on the list to the side (but not in the complete DVD Library section yet). Yes, I bought "SBTB: The College Years." I might be the only person on the planet (aside from Bob Golic) who enjoyed that show. Obviously It doesn't have the timeless quality of the original show, but I found that some of the episodes were still pretty funny. As I right this, I'm actually watching some of the high school episodes right now. This show was so stupid and so funny at the same time.
Time to wrap this up. Gotta go kick 'em in the grill.
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