Color rules!

This morning I was just waking up when our doorbell rang. I wasn't going to get it -- mostly because I thought it was just my iPod AppleCare, which was scheduled to arrive today -- but it woke up Pooz too, so at his urging I picked up the package. Lo and behold, it was my 60 GB Personalized iPod photo itself! Joy of joys! (Seriously, I love this thing already. The screen is so beautiful, and now I have my iPhoto library with me at all times).

I had the weekend off and didn't really do much other than relax and watch a lot of TV shows on DVD, which is probably what I needed to do for once for a weekend off. Hopefully at some point soon I'll be able to get down to Maryland, but I've been exhausted lately. At least, I had been until having the weekend off.

In bad news, my Street Glow neon isn't turning on under my car. I'm going to drop it off at Circuit City tomorrow to get it looked at. Hopefully it's just a fuse or something simple. I can't imagine all four bulbs died simultaneously.

New DGOW this week, and it's a landmark one. My Desktop picture collection finally cracked 1000 pictures, and the picture to the right is picture No. 1000 itself. I'm going to try to update the file sharing page with the latest DGOW download collections, though the girls.xls file with the counts of pictures for each girl is up to date.

Also, I noticed it's been almost a month since I posted the book page, and I haven't updated it since then. I'll try to have something additional up there later this week, even if it's just minor stuff. And I'm setting a goal for myself (though not exactly an ambitious one) to have the book done by my birthday.

Lots to cover...

... so let's get right to it, in fun and exciting bullet point form!

• First up, as I'm sure some of you have seen in your web travels, pop-under ad providers have found a way to write code that breaks through most common pop-up blockers. As a web surfer, this bothers me, because I'd gotten very used to never seeing pop-up (or pop-under) ads with Safari. Now they're starting to pop up (no pun intended, really) all over the place. As a webmaster though (for SportsPickle.com, if you'd forgotten) this is more of a dilemma. Sure the new code results in more money for DJ (and, in a Reagan-style trickle down effect, me) but some of our readers are probably upset. Still, no changes in the works yet for SportsPickle.com.

• On another web-related note, in his college basketball column this week on SI.com, Stewart Mandel mentioned that his web guys told him statistics show most people aren't clicking on the "continue" link at the bottom of the page to go on to the next part of the story. Let me be the first (well, probably not the first, but still) of many to say "Duh!" Studies have always shown that newspaper readers don't follow the jump on the majority of stories. Why webmasters would think this would be different for the web is a mystery to me. Yet lately all sorts of websites have begun breaking up longer columns into multiple pages, perhaps most quizically so the Washington Post, which seems to apply the breaks to sports columns arbitrarily (Sometimes Wilbon's column will be split, sometimes it won't. What's the deal with that?) Look, I agree that it looks stupid to have a story that turns the vertical scroll bar into a marathon scroll rather than a sprint, but having jumps on websites means loading images and ads multiple times for no reason. It's stupid. Make it stop.

• While I was on SI.com to get the link for the above note, I found this story on the front page about a possible Santana Moss for Laveranues Coles trade. This would be great for the 'Skins, since they're going to have to get rid of Coles no matter what. To get a player like Santana Moss in return would be quite a coup. Sure, Moss hasn't lived up to his rep during his time with the Jets, but he's better than literally nothing, which is what the 'Skins would be looking at if they were forced to cut Coles. Plus, Moss could be a Ricky Sanders type fit in the Joe Gibbs offense, with potentially Mike Williams (with the No. 9 pick, maybe) being Gary Clark. Sure, they'd still be missing an Art Monk go-to possession guy (which Coles actually was last year), but Clinton Portis is better than any RB Gibbs ever had (yes, I'm including John Riggins in that statement. Portis is that good.).

• Apple came out with a bunch of new iPods this week. The bright blue of the new iPod mini makes me jealous, since my blue doesn't look nearly that cool (it's also a year old, so it's faded a little) and the new blue almost matches my car. I briefly thought about ordering one, but instead I got a 60 GB iPod photo, which has already shipped. I should have it in my hands by the middle of next week. Woo-hoo!

• I've actually not watched a single episode of Buffy since finishing season four late last week. I even managed to go three days between finishing season four and buying season five. Of course, that's all going to change in about an hour, when I pop season five into the DVD player. Of course, I still have to watch season one of Angel, which Kate loaned to me last week, and I've yet to start. Plus all the other new DVDs I've bought and yet to watch (like "Vanity Fair," "Fresh Prince" season 1 and "Heat," the last of which I just picked up today).

• I've heard the new 50 Cent album and I have to say I'm very impressed. Shawn said that XXL's review of the album included the line "50 Cent got rich and stopped trying," which is a great dis line but not at all accurate. There are so many good songs on there that I can't even begin to mention them all. I will say this: there is consensus in the apartment that "Get In My Car" will be the joint banging from everyone's car this summer.

• I got my exhaust installed on my car yesterday and it looks awesome. The sound improvement is nice, but not too much (once I get the intake on, then it'll really rumble) but the way the back end looks now, with the new taillights, the clear third and the dual exhaust is just fantastic. Once I get the tinting done, it'll be perfect.

• That just about covers it. I'm sure I left something out. Oh, in fact I did. I renewed my SitePal subscription for another month, but I'm not sure I'll go much further past that. I like it, but not enough to pay what they want for a yearly subscription.

Whoops...

OK, so at least three times in the past week I intended to update this site, and at one point, at least a couple days ago, I even launched GoLive to do something, but I always got caught up with other things (in fact, while I was posting this, I got distracted by the need to update my ESPN HD calendar, to the point that it took me almost 90 minutes to finish this update). So, in the spirit of that, I figure we can recap those other things.

Tuesday and Wednesday I just didn't have much of an interest in updating the site. Well, that's not entirely true, since Wednesday I did get most of my stuff from Modern Performance, including my new taillights, clear corners and even my intake. That all came the same day I bought a bunch of stuff from PepBoys, which made the inside of my car look really awesome. I'm hoping to get most of that stuff installed this week, with Pooz's help of course.

Also, I should mention that Wednesday night, Geoff and Shawn came over and we all watched "Catwoman," which might be the worst movie ever made. Seriously, the story is atrocious, the action is pathetically CGI'd and the direction actually made Geoff woozy. There were so many quick cuts, it was like they were trying to hide something (likely the shittiness of the movie). It was almost too bad to be enjoyable to make fun of, but we found a way.

Thursday was the day that Pooz got really sick (a day after watching "Catwoman," make of that what you will). He came home from work around 11:30 (which was weird in of itself, what with me sitting on the couch, Dave in his room and then someone randomly opening the porch door when Pooz was supposed to be at work) then proceeded to throw up a whole bunch of times. It was anti-good. He ended up having to go to the hospital and spent the night there, then spent the next day at his parents house before coming home Friday night. Oh, and my wheels arrived on Thursday as well, though that wasn't nearly as momentous as Pooz's battle with death (though, because he did win, he remains an undefeated deathfighter).

Friday, I worked until 10 p.m., then when I came home I was pretty tired, so I wasn't going to take the time to update the site. I'm sure I did something, though I can't really remember what I did specifically. Obviously it wasn't too important.

Saturday I had the whole "work until 10, then go in at 10 a.m. on Sunday" thing, though I'm pretty sure that was the night I launched GoLive, intending to update the site. I did put in my clear third light Saturday morning, and I took a bunch of car pictures right after that, so that's probably why I intended to update on Saturday. But stuff got in the way. If I remember correctly, either Friday or Saturday I caught up on TV I'd recorded on my DVR but hadn't watched yet (and actually, I still haven't watched last week's "Alias," which Pam said sucked).

Then came yesterday, when I really should have updated, but instead played something like five hours of "NBA Street 3" after work. Pooz got the game for Valentine's Day and I'm hooked on it, which has of course caused "NFL Street 2" to take a back seat. Eventually I'll finish "Own the City" mode, but it's much more repetative than NBA's "Street Challenge" mode, which has so many different game types it keeps things fresh.

OK, so now that the recap's out of the way, let's move on to new business. Jennifer Love Hewitt is this week's DGOW. I know she's been the DGOW before, but today is her 26th birthday, and being that I still have a huge crush on her (despite the fact she's done nothing of consequence in almost four years), I'm bending the rules. Besides, they're my rules, and I can do what I want with them.

New Versus Polls are up as well. Holly Marie Combs pulled off a stunning upset last week over Catherine Bell (who was probably hurt by the fact that it's gonna take more than a nice rack for me to vote for someone other than Piper). This week seems like a pair of mismatches, but you never really know.

I should also mention that my SitePal membership expires in like four days, and I'm not sure at this point whether I'm going to renew it or not. It's been a nice little thing to have on the site for a month, and actually got me interested in updating more often when I first posted it, but I don't think it's worth what it costs me. Then again, I could easily have a change of heart in the next day or so, so keep your eye on the top right corner of the page.

Oh, also, be sure to visit the photo gallery, where I did finally get around to posting a gallery for my car. I'll try to take more pictures once I've installed some of the new stuff, and of course once I get it washed.

Alone again...

Well, my least favorite day of the year has come and almost gone, with just under two hours left. I had today off, which was nice since I was able to avoid contact with the insipidness which is Valentine's Day. I still can't believe the country has fallen for the stupidity of a holiday created solely to sell chocolates and cards, under the guise of expressing love. If you're truly in love, you don't need a day to express it, you express it every day, with your feelings, your gestures, even your most simple acts. Hallmark card not necessary.

On a positive note, I did get my back bulb for my Street Glow kit installed and it looks awesome. I'd post pictures, but I have none right now, since it's been snowing and raining all day. That weather also killed my plans to get my car washed, which is now looking more like a next week thing. Oh, and speaking of next week things, I also set up an appointment at Best Buy to get the IllumiNite connections hooked up on my front speakers, so that should be lots of fun too, especially as some of my other car stuff starts pouring in later this week.

As for the rest of the day, I mostly just sat around watching episodes of "Buffy." I'm now more than halfway through Season 4, which means I'll probably have to pick up Season 5 at the end of the week. I'm really enjoying these episodes. I got to re-watch "Hush" today, which was one of the only episodes I watched when the show originally aired. Of course, seeing the episodes that followed did jog my memory a little, and I now do remember tuning in for the next couple weeks, though I guess I stopped pretty quickly, because the episode I just finished watching, "Goodbye Iowa," I have no recollection of at all.

Also, in honor of this most worthless of all holidays, I did pick up "Valentine" while I was at Circuit City. It was actually only $6.99, and I enjoy watching David Boreanaz kill people, so it was worth it.

Well, I'm tired and I'm going to sleep now. Before I do, though, I will mention that I'm back on local iDisk sync mode (our bandwidth has been really crappy of late, so it was hard trying to do everything over WebDAV) so there may be a slight delay between the writing time listed above and the actual post time. Also, I'm not doing a new DGOW or Versus this week, since I got them posted so late last week. I should have new ones up next Monday or Tuesday

More ride goodness...

So I didn't think I'd have any more car-related updates before next week, given that I just ordered my stuff in the middle of the week, but my headlight accents arrived today and I put them on. I've got some pictures up for your enjoyment here and here.

I was supposed to get the back light on my street glow kit installed today, but Circuit City was way too busy, so that coolness will have to wait until Monday.

Not much else going on, but I did finally post new Versus polls. I meant to get those up there yesterday, but I just completely forgot. My bad.

Pimpin’ my ride...

OK, so I meant to update this a few days ago (Specifically Wednesday) but I just never got around it it. My bad.

Still, I've been keeping busy. On Tuesday, Pooz and I went on one of our trademark Best Buy-Circuit City runs and I went a little nuts. After buying some DVDs at Best Buy, we ran over to Circuit City, where it turns out they had one last Street Glow kit available, in blue neon of course. So, I asked how much it was and how much it'd be to install. And the answer was acceptable, so I decided to buy it. Then get it installed. So my car is now pimped. Plus, the neon matches my subwoofer box, which I had installed a few months back (along with my speakers, amp and head unit).

I then proceeded ot order a whole bunch of other stuff for my car, including taillights, an intake, a new exhaust system and, of course, rims. Over the next few weeks, I 'll be putting everything on, and of course I'll be posting pictures here as necessary.

In other news, I wrapped up my watching of season 3 of "Buffy," and I've already picked up Season 4. I'll probably start watching that on Monday, given that I'm working the next couple days.

Oh, I should also mention that I put some money down on my PSP, which I wasn't going to get until I saw the launch games list, which is just sick. I can't pass up the idea of portable NFL and NBA Street. It's too tempting.

Super Bowl XXXIX running diary...

So, after spending most of the day playing "Need for Speed Underground 2" I'm finally ready for Super Bowl XXXIX. I'm here in my Sean Landeta authentic Eagles jersey watching the retardedness that is the Fox pregame show, just waiting for kickoff. Once the game is actually the focus, I'll have a running diary going here, with my thoughts on the game, the commercials, and more.

10:15 - And now it's really over. That makes three Super Bowls in four years, all by three points. And I'm sure Brady's gonna get another MVP. This is getting boring. I hope the 'Skins win next year. Or the Steelers. Or anyone but the Patriots. Oh, and "The Simpsons" and "American Dad" better be funny.

10:13 - Wow, the Eagles messed that up. They really should've had someone back to fair catch the punt. That cost them 10 yards.

10:12 - I doubt it's gonna happen, but how awesome would an OT Super Bowl be? Still, I'm not getting my hopes up.

10:07 - Ballgame.

10:03 - OK, the Eagles took care of the first half of making it interesting. Now they need to get the onside kick.Without that, it's over.

9:59 - Two minute warning. This thing is pretty much over. I'm sure the Eagles will do their best to make it interesting, but unless they can recover the onside kick after scoring, it'll be a waste of time.

9:57 - Oh my God, Freddie Mitchell caught a pass. Then Westbrook dropped one. So it all evens out.

9:56 - OK, the Eagles are just about done. Give it a couple more plays to become official.

9:53 - Someone just text messaged me. I'll get up to get it as soon as there's a commercial or another break in the action.

9:49 - OK, clearly things have gone awry in the Lincoln Fry auction. It's up to $99,999,999,999,999.98. I don't think anyone's really paying that for a fry. Especially not a fake one. Oh, and the Eagles need help.

9:46 - And there goes that plan. What the hell was McNabb doing there? Stupid Syracuse loser.

9:45 - Before this last play, Pooz said "If the Eagles are gonna win this game, TO has to score a touchdown." Then TO catches a pass for like 40 yards. Good call.

9:43 - OK, the webcam fell down for the 37th time tonight. We're done putting it back on top of the TV.

9:39 - It took three times for the careerbuilder.com ad to air before I remembered who it was for. I actually thought it was for monster.com. That doesn't bode well for them.

9:34 - OK, can Deion Branch win Super Bowl MVP without catching a touchdown? Because he deserves it after that catch. And with the roughing the passer penalty, I think it's safe to say we're in Eagles implosion mode.

9:29 - I think the Eagles have run that sweep play about five or six times, losing at least three yards every time. Maybe it's time to take that one out of the playbook Andy Reid.

9:24 - OK, now that the Pats are up, we'll have to see if the Eagles can respond and keep this close, or will this be where the Patriots pull away?

9:21 - How'd Big Y afford a Super Bowl commercial? Or is it some kind of filler for extra commercial breaks? Is there a certain amount of time each Super Bowl dedicated to low-budget local commercials? I need answers.

9:20 - So we've got the first ever Super Bowl that's tied after three quarters. Hope the fourth quarter can deliver.

9:18 - That little end around pass was a nicely designed play, but the Eagles were all over it. This is shaping up to be a good fourth quarter.

9:13 - I actually didn't realize Glenn Close was still alive. Not in the "Hammer's alive" sense, but really, for some reason I thought she died a year or two ago. I guess I was wrong.

9:11 - TOUCHDOWN!

9:10 - Wow, what a catch by Brian Westbrook. Maybe the Eagles really have a shot.

9:05 - Hey, TO's still alive. Good for him.

9:03 - "Erections lasting longer than four hours, though rare, require immediate medical attention." Words that I should never have to hear during a football game.

9:02 - It's always holding... again.

8:59 - You can text message your vote for Super Bowl MVP? And this game is on Fox? Does that make Clay Aiken an MVP contender?

8:57 - Troy Brown's nice return called back by holding. It's always holding.

8:53 - Napster to go=no comment.

8:51 - I like the Super Bowl commercial for the Super Bowl, but if we're already watching the Super Bowl, why does the NFL feel the need to advertise the Super Bowl to us? It's not like we're gonna switch to "C.S.I." at this point.

8:49 - Oh God. Crotch cam has to go away.

8:48 - Mike Vrabel just caught a touchdown in his second consecutive Super Bowl. And he's a linebacker. That was a nice catch too. They might want to move him to tight end more often.

8:43 - OK, the nice pass play there has brought some of the energy back into the room. Still, we could use a stray titty.

8:41 - The consensus in the room is that the halftime show has actually sapped our desire to watch the game. Not a good sign for the NFL.

8:35 - Wow, that was a boring halftime show. Even the halftime commercials blew. It's like advertisers knew people wouldn't be watching.

8:12 - Hammer again! Wow, Chris Rock was right. "Bush is back. Hussein is back. Rumsfeld is back. The whole war seems like a bad VH-1 special. Before you know it, it's gonna be Hammer-time again."

8:10 - And it's halftime. Time for the most boring halftime show in Super Bowl history, followed by hopefully a competitive second half. Cause so far this first half has been pretty boring.

8:00 - Wow, where was the defense there? Hey Philly, wanna cover the guy who's caught a TD in four (now five) straight postseason games? Guess not.

7:56 - Hey, Troy Brown still plays offense!

7:49 - OK, this is shaping up to be one of the weirdest Super Bowls ever. No one wants to hold on to the ball. Even Tom "Hey, I'm Joe Montana except not as talented or as successful" Brady.

7:45 - So that's two challenges and two overturns so far this Super Bowl.

7:42 - Did both iTunes-Pepsi commercials have to air within five minutes of each other?

7:41 - Lincoln Fry is up over $350K. And that was just about the strangest fumble I've ever seen. There's no way the receiver wasn't down.

7:40 - New England just ran the same screen play twice against the same blitz. Eventually Philly has to figure this out, right?

7:37 - Finally, the iTunes-Pepsi commercial. Nice job.

7:35 - They threw Hammer back! Best. Commercial. Ever!

7:33 - Woo-hoo! Touchdown Eagles! Touchdown anyone! Woo-hoo!

7:30 - Wow, Todd Pinkston can play football. What a catch!

7:29 - How was that not a late hit? Westbrook was tackled 5 yards out of bounds.

7:25 - Eventually either the Eagles have to stop turning it over or the Patriots have to start capitalizing, right?

START OF THE SECOND QUARTER

7:23 - And, for the second straight year, we're scoreless after one quarter. Is it too late to get the Steelers and Falcons here? Can we try this again next week maybe? In Las Vegas maybe?

7:20 - I think Dorsey Levens just died.

7:15 - Pylon cam=serious disappointment.

7:14 - What is wrong with Wolverine?

7:13 - OK, Rodney Harrison made a really nice pick, preventing an Eagles score, but he doesn’t look good right now. This could be pretty bad. Oh, and what the hell is wrong with McNabb's arm?

7:12 - Bud Light is running away with the commercial contest so far. Where is, well, everyone else?

7:10 - That's the second time the Eagles have gotten lucky on a turnover. That either bodes very well for them or very poorly. This, of course, is why I no longer bet on the Super Bowl.

7:09 - Way to lose 15 yards on the next play McNabb. Jackass.

7:08 - Wow. nice play by Terrell Owens (and a nice help on the illegal pick). Oh, and Pooz pointed out that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lorie is a very ugly man.

7:05 - Lincoln Fry Update: $250,000. Seriously. I think tomorrow I'm going to McDonald's to find a Terrell Owens fry. How much you think that would fetch?

7:02 - Hey, the Eagles' offense isn't dead after all. nice screen to Westbrook.

7:01 - Wow, that was a bad Diet Pepsi commercial. The GoDaddy.com commercial wasn't too bad though. Maybe they'll get more business, which they can use on advertising dollars at SportsPickle.com (shameless plug!)

6:59 - I'm starting to worry that this year's game is gonna be scoreless in the first quarter, just like last year's.

6:56 - Burt Reynolds getting kicked in the groin=comedy gold!

6:51 - Thumbs up to the Diet Pepsi "P. Diddy" commercial. Thumbs down to the LeBron commercial, the Olympus M-Robe (featuring some "Daredevil"-esque kid at the end) and the Paul McCartney halftime show preview.

6:44 - Good job by the ref to not screw up a challenge one minute into the Super Bowl.

6:42 - And A-B takes the early lead in the commercial competition with what I'll call "Pilot Jumper." Oh, and on an un-related note, there's no way the call on the field stands. The Eagles with be punting on 4th down.

6:38 - Kickoff. Only eight minutes late. Not bad. Oh, and a nice return by the Eagles. Hopefully this is an omen.

6:37 - The coveted "pre-kickoff" commercial spot went to Ford, and it was a nice spot for the new Mustang convertible. You know, I almost bought an '02 Mustang convertible, before coming to my senses and buying a car that wouldn't suck in the winter.

6:35 - OK, so the coin toss was just completed in the worst way ever by some seven-year-old football player form Jacksonville. I think Rodney Harrison was going to hurt the kid, before Donovan McNabb stepped in and congratulated the kid. Oh, and we're now five minutes past scheduled kickoff without the ball being in the air.

6:28 - Bill Belichick, once again, in the tasteful hooded sweatshirt. He's done more for the hoodie than anyone since Easy E.

6:27 - Clinton and Bush (the one-termer) are here to help "salute" the National Anthem. Oh, and the fry is up over $300.

6:24 - OK, I had to check. The "Lincoln fry" is going for $52 on Yahoo! Auctions. I think we have something else to track for the rest of the night.

6:21 - lincolnfry.com. What is America coming to?

6:12 - The tribute to Ray Charles and the singing of "America the Beautiful" was OK, but it's just not the same without Ray himself. His performance at Super Bowl XXXVI (the one right after 9/11) was just awesome. Plus, Alicia Keys just doesn't seem to have as inspired a singing voice as she did three years ago.

6:06 p.m. - Apparently the pre-game show is officially over, and we're now into the "kickoff" show. The intro actually wasn't that bad, with the images of the Super Bowl greats coming out of the field. The right mix of old-school and high tech, especially since Fox is usually overkill on the latter.

Hooked on “Buffy”...

I knew I wasn't going to get updates up for four straight days, but I managed to get back here after missing just one day, so I think I deserve a little slack in that regard. Plus, I did have to post SportsPickle.com yesterday after working until about 9 p.m., so I wasn't exactly giving myself tons of time for other things, like sleep for instance.

Of course, I have found plenty of time to watch "Buffy." I'm already through about six episodes of Season 3, which I picked up Monday morning, immediately after finishing Season 2. I'll probably get Season 4 right after finishing Season 3, and so on and so forth, until I've managed to watch the entire series in a span of three months or so. I'm really loving what I've seen so far, which makes it all the more surprising that I didn't watch the show when it was airing. I watched "Charmed" every week and even starting watching "Angel" at some point, but never quite got into "Buffy." Actually, "never quite got into" it doesn't even come close. I only watched one episode, and that was "Hush", which is probably one of the best TV episodes ever. Still, I never tuned in again, for no real reason other than I was already invested into "Charmed." Maybe the time slot, too? I really don't know.

Of course, what may slow me down in my "Buffy" watching is that "Charmed" came out on DVD this week. It's only Season 1, but that is the season that I haven't really watched in full. Of course, comparing "Charmed" to "Buffy" isn't even a contest when it comes to the DVD quality. "Buffy" is full of commentaries and motion menus and all the stuff we've come to expect from TV DVDs. "Charmed" has episodes. With no commercials, which I guess is something. But seriously, no motion menus even. That's just sad. Plus, the packaging of the individual discs looks like something I would have expected from an ambitious eBayer selling DVD-Rs. Hopefully things will improve for Season 2, which still doesn't have a release date yet, as far as I know.

As for other stuff going on, we're not really having a Super Bowl "party" exactly, but if you want to come over and see the Super Bowl in HD (720p and 5.1 Dolby Digital, the finest high definition standard, according to Fox) feel free. We'll have chips, beer, etc. so it should be fun. As long as you're not rooting for the Patriots that is. Because if you are, we're not letting you in. Seriously. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. You can go be a lame front-running loser somewhere else, but not in my house.