Oh BBC, How You Have Disappointed Me.

So I'll admit, I get most of my news from the BBC. Well, that and The Daily Show, but I find the BBC to be a bit more credible. When I am at my computer I can easily check the 'Latest Headlines' thanks to a little tab by Firefox. I just checked it, and to my wonderment, the AFC Championship game was one of those headlines. At least this time the BBC didn't put Pittsburgh 34-17 Denver. Or whatever it is they do to denote the score. I don't know, it's just something weird.

Which is actually what I would consider most of the BBC's coverage of American sports. Weird. But I have found some enjoyment in reading it because they are writing for a mostly British audience that probably has limited experience with American sports. I remember when they were reporting on the World Series and they had to explain certain things that someone, like ESPN Brought to you by the American Broadcasting Company, could presume their readership knows previously. Things like the games last 9 innings and things like that. It was an eerie feeling reading about the game going into extra innings, and then on the next sentence reading that a game normally lasts 9 innings unless the score is tied. Or even. I can't remember what they used. But it was an eerie feeling nonetheless.

So I clicked on the tab to send me to the article about the AFC Championship game. It opened up and I started reading it. But this time I was left feeling a little disappointed. It seemed like they were on to me and they didn't want to spend too much times on some of the details in order to make it seem like they weren't writing for a bunch of people that didn't know what they were saying. So they mainly kept to the score and the player's names. It was a rather short report, nothing that would come close to the exceptional and in-depth coverage of the Worldwide Leader in Sports Presented by Disney. I was almost going to give up on this failure of a good time when I read the caption under the picture. Here, this is the link to the page. See if you can figure out what I saw.

Time's up. I am presuming it's blasphemy to use famous British landmarks (wait, is it a British Landmark in that it is in Great Britain, or is it an English Landmark because it's in England? Or is it a London Landmark because it's in the city? I've been told British citizens not in England get upset over the England/Britain confusion by foreigners.) when assigning nicknames to individuals. For I have always been under the assumption he was nicknamed 'Big Ben' like the clock tower on so many postcards. (Ok, yes, I know it isn't the tower itself, but c'mon, go with it.) I've never heard or seen in print his nickname being 'Baby Ben.' I don't know where they got that from, but they must have come up with it somewhere. Perhaps the original meaning was lost in translation. I have no idea.

But thank you BBC, you have made my night in your reporting of American sports. Now I can't wait for the article on the NFC Championship game. Woohoo!


And also, on an unrelated note, my last week of my job starts tomorrow. Hoo-rah! Now I just have to find another job or two to keep my moving plans on target. I think I've planned on my move date to be April 1st or thereabouts. That's so I can housesit for my grandmother. Also, that means Emily, you have to push that baby out earlier than the expected date and then I can see the newborn. Not that I'm making you push a little harder, but just give it a thought.

And on another unrelated note from the previous two notes, I might have a great idea for my book I've been planning on writing during my sabbatical. Seeing as how I failed the NaNoWriMo thing, I don't know how this one's going to go, but I have started planning this one, something I did not do to my previous attempt. In fact I was working on it before I started typing this. So wish me luck.

Things Are a Changin

So I changed a few things over on the sidebar. The Flickr badge is different. This one shows my pictures, but with moving images. Sorry, Shook, they aren't shiny, but I'm sure they are working on it.

Also I made the Google ads blend more with the site. That was a pet-peeve of mine before, because the whole thing didn't flow with the rest of the site. Now it does. I think. If it doesn't, then please don't tell me. It would ruin the Feng Shueish-ness of the page. If only in my mind.

Speaking of flow and stuff of Japanese culture, have you seen ESPN.com today? Holy jumble of crap, Batman. They supposedly made it more user-friendly and streamlined. In fact I think streamlined should be in quotes because that is what they tell you when you attempt to make your comment about the new site. But I'm too lazy to check it out again. And I would know because I made a not so nice comment about the layout. However, I can't read it because that whole user-posting messages-about-the-new-look thing is an ESPN Insider only article. I have to pay a monthly fee to read that. Which I think is ridiculus. I'm just waiting for the day that the whole site becomes pay-to-view. When that day comes ESPN is dead to me and I'm gonna start my own sports website. ESPN has gone so downhill, it's crazy. They are owned by Disney. Disney owns half the world, you would think there would be limitless money for all their endeavors. But apparently not as they have to 'Presented by this' and 'Built by that' there way through Sportscenter. Where does all the money go? I'm surprised Bill Simmons isn't brought to us by Sam Adams. (In the words of the immortal-and quite loud I need to turn the volume down to 1 to avoid Ear Drum explosion-Stephan A. Smith: 'Who?' Exactly.) But that's my beef and mine alone. Back to the regularly scheduled post.

Except the post, I think, is done for right now. Those were the only updates I have offered onto this page today. I know I had something else to write but I got so enamored in the ESPN thing I lost track of my thoughts. And instead of sitting at my computer for a bit of time to see if it comes back to me like some people, I've decided to just end it here.

So enjoy the small changes, I'll be back sometime.

Goodbye Commercials. Hello Product Placement.

I hate commercials. I really do. In fact, I detest them. But they are everywhere on TV. In fact, despite what Sirius would have you believe, they are on sataliette radio too. And not just radio program commercials, real, actual commercials you can hear on free radio too. And that just upsets me. I was lied to. I was misinformed. I was mislead. And they broke my trust. (I also hate the big blue light it casts everywhere. That just isn't for me.) But there is a tool I can use to get rid of them for TV.

DVR. Digital Video Recorder.

Holy schmoly it's a freakin' amazing thing. Sure, it records just like any normal, outdated video recorder, but it has one added feature on the remote: The 30-Second skip button. That, my friends, Romans, countrymen, is a miracle in itself. Now I can record a show and skip-skip-skip right through the commercials.

But I'm sure you don't need me to tell you the benefits of a recorder. I'm just here to tell you how I can't watch live TV anymore. Even sporting events are hard. I keep reaching for the remote. I have used our DVR all the time. All the time. I record The Daily Show with John Stewart everynight it is on. That way I can watch it the next day after work. The show is already hours late on new stories, what's an extra couple of hours after that? I'm not watching it for the news. I'm watching it for the news on the news. So John does his little opening thingy, probably flips it to a 'Senior' something or other then heads to commercial.

My remote is ready. Skip-skip-skippity skip. Right back to The Daily Show. Then they probably go to the 'on location' story. Pre-recorder I would have akwardly looked around as the reporter put the interviewee in a very precarious situation, maybe I would have made myself a sandwich or something. I don't know, I just know I wanted the interview to be over because I don't find them particularly funny.

But that was pre-recorder days. Now, skip-skip-skippity-skip-skip-skip-skip right through that ridiculus piece of garbage. Probably into another commercial. So I skip some more. Then the interview. If I find the person particularly engaging I will watch it. If not, then I skip to the end of the show and erase forever. Fantastic.

But that's not the only show. Oh no, listen to this: I love 24. It's awesome. I'm addicted to the cliff hangers that seem to happen every 15 minutes, right in time for a commercial break. But I hate watching commercials, so I record this show too. In fact I recorded the first two hours last night, and anticipated watching it today. Which I did. However, it was 8:01 real time and there was still 12 minutes left in the show I had recorded and was watching. I can't watch a recorded show and record a live show, it doesn't work that way. (Did I mention we got this DVR free from Dish (Texas) Network? <-If you watch The Daily Show then you would have gotten that.) So, instead of skipping the last 12 minutes (which I would have been caught up with in the previews for the new show) and watching the newest episode live, I stopped the recording at a commercial break and started recording the newest one. Then I turned the TV off and came down here.

Because I detest commercials. I'll be a day behind if it means no commercials. That's fine by me. So right now I have 2 hours and 12 minutes of Jack Bauer's day I still have to watch. Tomorrow shall be fun.

Is This Part Three, or the Sequel?

Alright, so a few months ago, nay, a year and a few months ago, I wrote a post on this blog about Operation: Intrigued. I followed that up with another post about Operation: Intrigued being expanded. I have since taken both of them offline for reasons I will get to later, but for right now I can provide a brief synopsis of the situation.

Operation: Intrigued was really just a stalkerish type deal. It started off because I had seen this same person again and again on campus, and she intrigued me a bit. It was partly because of her looks, but also because I thought she seemed familiar. Like I had seen her before and couldn't quite put my finger on it. After that post a few people mentioned they had the same experience themselves, and that was what the second (follow-up) post was about. While I would not feel comfortable commenting about their statuses, I can safely say my experience ended in complete and utter failure. Almost like a train wreck, but with less people killed.

And that was part of the reason the posts were taken offline. While this person could have seen them before my posting, they were more likely to read them at the time of their disapperance. And that is why they are no longer available, because I was worried. I was scared she would happen upon them and that would just look bad. So I took them offline with no intention of bringing them back, at the present time.

And that is how the past looked, now for the present.

I don't know if this is the third part of the Operation because it is the third post, or if it the sequel to a really bad original Operation. I just don't know. But I think it's time to revive the Operation. While the first Operation does not bode well for this incarnation, I am still hopefull. I don't want to reveal too much, I just want you to be aware of the situation. Maybe some good will come from this. I can only hope.

So I Am Stoked

I just headed over to one of my favorite artist's website (artist as in musical artist, not picture art) and I read some great news. Syd is starting to record a new album on Monday. You have no idea how awesome that is. I have both of his cd's, I enjoy his music, and now, there is an album I get to look forward too.

If you have not yet heard his music, I beg you to go to the website above and check him out. I guess one would classify him as pop, I'm not too good with musical genres. Whatever you classify him as, I still enjoy his work. While his first album (Week Days, Weak Knees) was more mellow sounding, his latest album (Fault Lines) is more upbeat and faster. I like both, although his second one is just a smidgen better. So I suggest you take a gander at the website linked above and explore a bit. Help a fellow out and buy a cd. You'll enjoy it.

Also, I must say I am a little disappointed. I went to his myspace page and I found out some interesting news. He is playing in Maryland at Frostburg State. Syd is from the New England area. In fact he's probably stuck in a snowstorm as I type this. Rarely does he venture farther than Pennsylvania to do a show. (And of course you're all going to look and see he has a few tour dates in Tennessee. Well that's still only one tour. Most of his shows are in the New England area. So my previous point stands.) Yet now he's going to be in Maryland. However, it is the day after my 21st birthday. I plan on going out to dinner with my grandmother the 17th and then heading up to Annville for the 18th and having no recollection of the weekend's activities. And as much as I would like to see Syd perform his new songs live, I don't think it's gonna happen. Now, if I knew some people at Frostburg, it would be another story. But I don't (at least I don't think I do) so he's gonna have one less person at his show.

And that bothers me.

Oh Yeah

I want to go to bed because I've averaged about 4 hours of sleep the past week (the Rose Bowl is my only real excuse, the other days I just stayed up on the internet-web-thingy because I had nothing better to do. And really there was nothing better online, I just didn't feel like going to sleep. So it's my fault.) but my dad is cleaning the basement for an open house thingy that we are having tomorrow (actually, he is having it. In fact, this so isn't mine that he actually gave me a formal invitation (that was photocopied, but it was still the image of the invitation.)) and I can't go to sleep with the rustling and the vacuum cleaner. I told him I would do it (after he told me to do it, but still I said I would do it) and yet he still is cleaning it. Whatever. He's cleaning and I want to sleep, besides, no one is coming down here anyway, it's a Hell-hole.

Oh, and I have a story about the bank that goes with my 'I just don't do that' post awhile back, but I am not in the right mind to write about it. So that's for a later date.

Alright, now I wait for the cleaning to stop so I can finally fall asleep for the next 14 hours.

Let's Make This Clear

I have no idea why I want to move to Arizona. Well, actually, I know why I want to move to Arizona, I just have no idea how to explain it. My decision to move to Arizona came to me, literally, just like *that*. I don't know what triggered it, I don't know what caused it and I don't know why it happened (those three are really all the same, which makes them that much truer). It just came to me and I pounced upon it. I'm preparing to move there, in fact I've started moving all the non-essentials into a box for storage at a later date. What do I need there? Clothes, a clock and this computer, really. Anything more is a plus. I'm probably gonna have my books mailed to me after I get settled in, just in case I'll need them for papers or something like that when I get back into school. But that doesn't matter right now cause that would be over a year away, and I'm not moving in a few months anyway. I need money to move, and that's gonna take awhile to get it *shudder*.

So until then I'm stuck at a job that has some good moments but a lot of times where I just want to jam the claw of a hammer in the side of his neck and a house that is, to put it lightly, not the greatest in the world. But these problems I will deal with, and that will make the 3 day trip there that much more bareable. So, till then, I'm here.

And yes, this post was very rambly because I meant to post about what prompted my decision to move to Arizona, but I'm tired and that seemed like a lot of work and I got side tracked. Hopefully this is coherent, I tried.

Well, What do You Think?

So, take a look at the picture to the right. This is what I have been working on with my Christmas toy. I finally got a Wacom Graphire3 tablet and can now draw on the computer as if I was drawing on a piece of paper. And better yet, now messy clean-up! That's what I enjoy about it. I can jump from color to color and from painting to erasing-just like that. It also helps that I'm lazy.

But take a look at that and see what you think. And even better-you can tell me what you think in the comments section. Let me know how the person looks and what I should change. I'm not too happy with the size of the head, but then again I don't like most things I do. So, let me know, and perhaps there will be more pictures up of my learn'd'ning to draw on a tablet.


Also, Happy New Year. If you're into that sort of thing.