3/18/08 It's Been One Week Since

I've been real bad about this lately. My apologies. It was due to my celebratory partying. No, not for St. Patty's Day. I'm still recovering from Pi Day. We math nerds go all out when Pi Day falls on a Friday. Ok, that's all a lie. I just don't have an excuse. So instead of apologizing and making excuses, let's just brain dump for the week...

• The movie "21" looks interesting. It's about the group from MIT that devised a system to "beat the house" in blackjack. In fact, this site gives the basics on card counting. As an added bonus, the preview features my favorite song by Spoon, "My Mathematical Mind".

• "21" got me thinking about the TV show "24". In my shallow world stunted by blinders, I think the show "24" will be hit hardest by the writers' strike. The fact that last season was probably the weakest season, combined with the fact that it's completely postponed until the fall (or later), has just killed the hype the show once held. I wouldn't be surprised if ratings for "24" are half of what it was at its peak. (Given my lack of knowledge of anything TV related, don't be surprised if "24" has its greatest season ever.)
• I've made no secret that I think that Nickelback sucks. Their lead singer, Chad Kroeger, has done everything to effectively confirm this. In a recent interview with Playboy, he says, "I put my own dick in my mouth. I was 14 and much more flexible at the time." I suppose I can at least apologize for calling them "talentless".
• I've vowed to not play fantasy sports this year. It's just not nearly as fun for me as it used to be. I have, however, made an exception to play one NCAA bracket with my family. In case you need extra incentive to pay attention to the tournament (I know I do - zero teams from Illinois made it), here is the "All Porno Name" Team.
• Out of all of the video clips I've looked for over the years, I've eventually found just about every one. Except for one. It's the Downer Furniture commercial from Central Illinois. I feel like I'm playing "12 Monkeys" here and giving the clues that I can remember to solve some sort of mystery. Here's what I can tell you - 1) I saw it on a regular basis while living in Champaign, Illinois in the latter half of the 1990's. 2) The place wasn't called "Downer". But that's all I remember them screaming. 3) At the end of every commercial, they offer you a free onion if you show up. 4) In at least one commercial, the sidekick guy yelling "We're going Downer!" continually cracked a bull whip.

• The other day I was trying to explain "Mr. Bassman" from The Muppets to someone. Because I'm old, I don't remember who it was. So, if the mystery person I was talking to happens to read this, well, here's what I was referring to.

• I've broken 2 Rock Band bass pedals. I don't even own the game. Apparently it's a very common problem. It's to the point where people are MacGuyver-ing better bass pedals for the game. You think that, with a retail price of $179.99 plus tax plus warranty (get it - seriously), they could have spent more than a buck-oh-nine on a spring loaded crap ass piece of plastic. I mean, seriously, you don't think that something that you intentionally smash with your foot over and over again would require something sturdier?

(If you fast forward to the 4-minute mark, you'll see it break mid-song)

• I was shopping at Trader Joe's the other day. More than once I noticed how utterly inefficient my path through the store had before. And it deeply bothered me. Have you ever had a little upset pit in your stomach and you have to think about what was upsetting you? Usually it's something somebody said or you remember you have to do something. That particular day - the pit in my stomach was due to the fact that I covered almost half the store twice based on my which-path decisions. Like I said earlier, I celebrate Pi Day.