@Randem

The Lovable Losers have been doing a lot of winning this year, and Cubs fans have been hearing “Go, Cubs, Go” to their hearts' content. There is a little bit of history behind the song that I find interesting.

“Go, Cubs, Go” was written by Chicago folk legend Steve Goodman — two-time Grammy winner, and perhaps most well-known for his song “City of New Orleans”.

Goodman was a die-hard Cubs fan. Literally. He was born after the Curse of the Billy Goat, and died of leukemia at the age of 36. The Cubs never played a single playoff game in his entire lifetime.

But in 1984, they were playoff-bound, and Goodman was asked to sing the national anthem for their first post-season game. He never got to see it. Goodman died eleven days earlier, and Jimmy Buffett filled in, dedicating the song to Goodman.

Now, I will always think of Goodman when I hear his song sung after a Cubs victory. He was a real die-hard fan. And some of his ashes were scattered at Wrigley Field.

Baseball season's underway
Well you better get ready for a brand new day
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.
They're singing ...
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.
They got the power, they got the speed
To be the best in the National League
Well this is the year and the Cubs are real
So come on down to Wrigley Field.
We're singing now ...
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.
Baseball time is here again
You can catch it all on WGN
So stamp your feet and clap your hands
Chicago Cubs got the greatest fans.
You're singing now ...
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.

Labels: baseball, chicago, sports

This week's theme is coaching. The difference between good teams and bad teams is often as simple as the coach. It's particularly interesting to note the effect of a coach's win-loss record, as well as that of his overall experience as a head coach.

Houston at Atlanta
Bobby Petrino (0-3) can't be blamed for his losses. The Vick media circus started his head coaching career on the wrong foot. Still there may be a possibility of Atlanta putting some wins together after Byron Leftwich takes over, but that's not going to happen yet, and they're not going to beat a Texans team that wants to make a new identity for itself under head coach Gary Kubiak (8-11).

New York Jets at Buffalo
Buffalo has a lot of problems, but the first step to fixing them is replacing lackluster coach Dick Jauron (43-61). Eventually the Bills will get their first win, but with Thomas Jones heating it up and Pennington having a some success, I don't see them beating Eric Mangini (11-8) and his Jets this week.

Baltimore at Cleveland
Tough call. Equally mediocre teams, these two. Romeo Crennel (11-24) has shown no talent for leading a team, while Brian Billick (77-54) has led his team to a Super Bowl victory. I'm going to go with the Ravens.

St. Louis at Dallas
It's hard to watch St. Louis be this awful, when they've got the talent to be so good. It really comes down to coaching. They were great under Vermeil, they were good under Martz, and now they're not even a football team any more thanks to Scott Linehan (8-11). No contest. The Cowboys have a winning coach in Wade Phillips (51-39).

Chicago at Detroit
Lovie Smith (30-21) was losing coaching stock in my opinion — and probably that of his players, too — until he finally made the decision to bench “Wrecks”. They're banged up now, and starting a second-string quarterback, but I think the Bears have what it takes to beat the Lions whose coach, Rod Marinelli (5-14) is the latest of the Tony Dungy crew to land a head coaching position.

Oakland at Miami
This is an almost meaningless matchup of rookie coaches, pitting Cam Cameron (0-3) against Lane Kiffin (1-2). With the iced kick last week, I see that Lane Kiffin learns quick. I've insisted for three weeks that Daunte Culpepper was the missing element for Oakland, who do have something the Dolphins don't have -- a win. If Kiffin is the quick-study he appears to be, he'll stick with Culpepper and the Raiders will win.

Green Bay at Minnesota
Another battle of young coaches puts Mike McCarthy (11-8) against Brad Childress (7-12), but one team has the best quarterback in the game. Win lose or draw, Brett Favre is going to set history on Sunday. That should lift an emotional athlete like Favre to step up his game and lead the Packers to their fourth win.

Pittsburgh at Arizona
The Cardinals looked good last week with Kurt Warner passing, but that has more to do with him having been the backup than it does with him having been Kurt Warner. Teams don't game plan for the backup, but rookie head coach Ken Wisenhunt (1-2) hasn't learned that yet. Bill Cowher (149-90), the longest tenured coach in the league, will have Pittsburgh ready for fumble-fingers Warner. I predict not only a Steelers victory, but at least one fumble and one interception for Warner.

Tampa Bay at Carolina
John Fox (46-37) and his Carolina team seem to be in a rut right now, while Jon Gruden (79-68) and the Bucs are really heating it up behind Garcia. I expect the Buccaneers to improve to 3-1 and take the lead in their division.

Seattle at San Francisco
Another talented team looking amiless right now is Seattle, but Mike Holmgren (149-94) won't stand for that. The 49ers don't look much better, and Mike Nolan (13-22) doesn't seem to have the answer. Both teams are at 2-1, but the Seahawks looked better in getting there.

Denver at Indianapolis
Tony Dungy (117-62) and Peyton Manning has has Denver's number for a few years now. Until Mike Shanahan (133-82) and the Broncos figure out how to beat the Colts, their season is going to keep ending in Indianapolis.

Kansas City at San Diego
This is a matchup of two underachieving teams, both with superstar running backs who have yet to make any noise this year. Both teams are suffering from poor coaching. Herm Edwards (49-50) is the definition of mediocrity, and Norv Turner (59-84-1) is a consummate loser, capable of turning a 14-2 team into a 1-2 team. The more talented team is San Diego and they're at home, so I'm going with the Chargers to win.

Philadelphia at New York Giants
The Giants look about as average as their coach, Tom Coughlin (94-85). Meanwhile, Andy Reid (81-50) and his Eagles always figure out how to get things on track.

New England at Cincinnati
For all his lobbying to get a head coaching job, and all the hype that surrounded him in his first two years, Marvin Lewis (36-31) has done a surprisingly mediocre job of leading the Bengals. Not so in New England, where Bill Belichick (114-81) has his Patriots rolling over the competition, even if they have to cheat to do it.

Labels: football, sports

“The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.” -George Bernard Shaw

Labels: qotd

It never ceases to amaze me how much people give away about themselves, all while thinking they're pulling one over on you. It only makes stronger my argument for authenticity.

The latest example of this behavior, which sets me off on this rant, involves the guilty conscience and its effect on trust.

At an early age, I learned that people see the world as they see themself. Thus, a liar never believes what he's told; a thief never trusts anyone else with his property; a cheater always suspects he's being cheated; and so on.

What never fails to surprise me is that this is fairly common knowledge, and fairly easy to understand, and yet people continue to give themselves away.

It's in the accusations, you see. When someone accuses you of something, your first instinct is to defend yourself. Repeated accusations become painful, because you feel untrusted and constantly defensive when you're not guilty of anything.

But the trained mind can pick up on the subtle clue. When someone is constantly accusing you of something, it's because that thing is always on their mind, most likely because they themselves are guilty of it.

When someone close to you is always accusing you of lying, it's a good indication that they are probably a liar. When someone close to you is constantly accusing you of stealing, it's a good indication that they are probably a thief. And when someone close to you seems to always be telling you that they don't trust you, it's a good sign that you should not trust them.

Labels: life, rant

Federal Judge Ann Aiken thinks so.

In a ruling released yesterday, Judge Aiken found sections 1804 and 1823 in violation of our constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures.

“Now, for the first time in our Nation's history, the government can conduct surveillance to gather evidence for use in a criminal case without a traditional warrant, as long as it presents a non-reviewable assertion that it also has a significant interest in the targeted person for foreign intelligence purposes,” wrote Judge Aiken in her opinion.

In addition to finding the relevant sections of the Patriot Act unconstitutional, the judge also ordered the government to destroy all the illegally-obtained evidence.

You can read more about it at Ars Technica.

Labels: big brother, national security, politics

Everyone who has ever used my computer, even for a moment, has taken a particular liking to my search shortcuts — most notably gg, my shortcut to Google.

I'm doing Google searches all the time. Whenever I have a question about anything, I don't hesitate to grab my laptop and look it up on Google. If I had to go to Google.com, wait for the site to load, and click in the search box before I could type in my query and search, it would slow me down.

After reading that, you probably think I'm crazy. But yes, that little bit of extra work would slow me down. I search a lot!

So what is my more efficient solution? It's simple: Firefox bookmark keywords. If you don't understand them, I recommend that you go look at the LifeHacker article about them.

I've published some of my more useful search shortcuts here. Firefox users can simply right-click on the link and choose Bookmark This Link. Then, go into Organize Bookmarks and add keywords to them. I also recommend grouping the search shortcuts into a folder called Search to keep some sanity in the Bookmark menu.

Google Search - keyword: gg
Google Maps - keyword: map
Google Image Search - keyword: img
IMDB Lookup - keyword: imdb
Dictionary - keyword: dc
Thesaurus - keyword: th
Wikipedia - keyword: wiki

After saving the bookmarks, don't forget to add the keywords. The shortcuts are useless without them. Oh, and if you don't use Firefox, you're out of luck.

With the shortcuts, you can now go to the address bar and type gg britney spears to learn everything you want to know about annoying pop singers. But that would be useless.

More useful would be, when you're looking at the web site for a local sushi restaurant and you see their address on the page, you could copy it from the page and paste it into the address bar, typing map before it, so you have something like map 401 N Michigan Ave Chicago. Just a few keystrokes gets you the directions you're looking for.

Labels: hack, tech

Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish Gene (ISBN: 0199291152) explains the Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) in terms of Game Theory.

He describes the give and take of numeric representation of possible sides of an genetic disposition, showing how some traits evolve to become dominant while others fall into an ESS where more than one side are represented in varying proportion.

Of particular interest is how this relates to lying, as a genetic trait:

Obviously, it is vitally important in the war of attrition that individuals should give no inkling of when they are going to give up. Anybody who betrayed, by the merest flicker of a whisker, that he was beginning to think of throwing in the sponge, would be a an instant disadvantage. If, say, whisker-flickering happened to be a reliable sign that retreat would follow within one minute, there would be a very simple strategy: ‘If your opponent's whiskers flicker, wait one more minute, regardless of what your own previous plans for giving up might have been. If your opponent's whiskers have not yet flickered, and you are within one minute of the time when you intend to give up anyway, give up immediately and don't waste any more time. Never flicker your own whiskers.’ So natural selection would quickly penalize whisker-flickering and any analogous betrayals of future behaviour. The poker face would evolve.

Why the poker face rather than out-and-out lies? Once again, because lying is not stable. Suppose it happened to be the case that the majority of individuals raised their hackles only when they were truly intending to go on for a very long time in a war of attrition. The obvious counterploy would evolve: individuals would give up immediately when an opponent raised his hackles. But now, liars might start to evolve. Individuals who really had no intention of going on for a long time would raise their hackles on every occasion, and reap the benefits of easy and quick victory. So liar genes would spread. When liars became the majority, selection would not favour individuals who called their bluff. Therefore liars would decrease in numbers again. In the war of attrition, telling lies is no more evolutionarily stable than telling the truth. The poker face is evolutionarily stable. Surrender, when it finally comes, will be sudden and unpredictable.

The Selfish Gene is an excellent source for understanding why the altruistic society can never be. It also serves to point out the folly in generalizations, such as the ever-popular “why do men lie?”

Labels: books, life, reviews, science

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Brian Griese will be the starting quarterback against the Lions.

Here's what Smith said Monday when asked about Griese: "How much confidence do I have [in Griese]? I have confidence in our entire football team. Brian is a part of that. Even after you have a loss like that, at the same time, we all feel bad. We should. But as far as confidence in our football team, I have a lot still. Brian is a part of that."

That's good, because if they had kept "Wrecks" Grossman at the helm, I'd have to wonder about the long-term possibilities for head coach Lovie Smith.

A head coach has, essentially, only one real job: to prepare his team to win. If he's doing that, his job is safe. If he's not, he should be let go. Lately, Lovie Smith hasn't been doing that job.

The Bears defense was reasonably prepared coming into Sunday night's game, but their offense was not. And at half-time, Wade Phillips made positive adjustments to the Cowboys' game plan while the Bears seemed to step backward.

Also, part of preparing the team to win is giving them confidence. When a problem exists at quarterback — or any other position — and the coach doesn't make a change, the team loses confidence in his ability to make the decisions necessary to win.

Smith's unwavering support of “Wrecks” sends the message that he's not willing to admit his mistake. It's like hanging onto that stock Enron stock you bought, hoping it will bounce back, rather than cutting your losses and looking for a good stock to start investing.

But sticking with the stock metaphor, I fear that the Bears portfolio is not well diversified. I have little doubt that Griese will fare better than Grossman did, but he lacks the talent to be a long-term solution.

Of the three QBs on Chicago's roster, I can't help thinking that the only confidence-inspiring option is third-stringer Kyle Orton, who in spite of lacking any real NFL-level passing skill, has the true grit to make his team believe they can win.

Labels: football, sports

The crew over at Amazon.com are really shaking things up. Earlier this month, they released a redesigned home page. Compared to this, that was nothing.

Today, they launched Amazon MP3, an online music store that is completely DRM-free. At the time of launch, they are offering over two million songs. Most songs sell at $0.99, though there are some going for $0.89, and the occasional long song might cost a bit more. All songs are offered in MP3 format only, and encoded at 256kbs.

Given Amazon's existing user base, the lack of DRM, and the comparable prices, this could be a bad sign for the future of Apple's iTunes store. Adding insult to injury, Amazon offers software to download purchased songs seamlessly into the iTunes software. I can imagine no reason why someone would continue to buy songs on iTunes.

The DRM is the thing that has always stopped me from buying on iTunes. Sure, it's no problem playing on my Mac and my iPod, but if I want to play my purchased song on my PC, or take it to work, or use it in my car's MP3 player, I'm out of luck with songs purchased on iTunes. But that's not the case with Amazon...

Labels: music, tech

“I strongly believe that if you add value to the lives of others, value will be returned.” -Lodewijk van den Broek

Labels: qotd

There's a great little piece on Dumb Little Man this morning about making money productive.

Productivity in this mindset is first cutting stuff out of our life (effectiveness), then finding ways of getting better value for money (efficiency). And since we cut the non-productive stuff out of our budget, we have money extra to go for better value for money deals, even when they require more money!

It's a short, quick read, but it's a good reminder to spend wisely.

Labels: life

The Titans win over New Orleans gives me one more good pick, leaving me at 9-for-16 this week, and putting my running total at 27-for-48 (56%). Vince Young didn't put up a statistically good game, but he didn't throw four interceptions, which killed the night for Drew Brees. And with Reggie Bush running for 15 yards on 7 carries, I think there's no doubt left in my mind who should have won the Heisman Trophy and been the number one draft pick.

Labels: football, sports

With a 3.5 game lead and only 6 games left to play, the Chicago Cubs would have to have a meltdown of chaotic proportions to lose their division. Not that it isn't possible...

Popular opinion among Cubs fans — myself included — is that they're always great, or at least close to it, so it might come as a surprise (it did to me) that this will be only the fourth time that the Cubs finish in first place since the Billy Goat curse in 1945.

From 1876-1945, the Cubs were one of the dominant franchises in baseball. During that period of 69 years they posted an incredible 51 winning seasons, finishing in first place 16 times, appearing in 10 World Series and winning two of them.

That was before October 6, 1945. Game four of the World Series against the Tigers, and the Cubs led the series 2-1. “Billy Goat” Sianis bought two tickets to the game, one for him and one for his pet goat, Murphy. Wrigley denied the goat entrance and Sianis cursed the team.

In the 61 years since the Curse of the Billy Goat, they have had only 15 winning seasons, and finished in first place only 3 times. They have neither won nor even appeared in the World Series. They haven't even won a Pennant.

This year, they're staring at first place. The bullpen is looking good and the big bats have finally woken up. And with Lou Piniella at the helm, the team occasionally even looks like they know what they're doing.

Over the years, the Sianis family has claimed the curse lifted. Will this be their year?

Labels: baseball, chicago, sports

I couldn't have been more right about my assessment of Arizona and Baltimore, although it turned out to be Kurt Warner, not Matt Leinart, who almost won it for them.

Brett Favre is off to an incredible start, and I'm excited for him and the Packers, in what will probably be his last year in the NFL, but their 3-0 record is against some questionable teams. Still, in a division full of questionable teams, they don't need to be great to get to the playoffs.

The past two weeks have restored my faith in Chucky. It's great to see my Buccaneers rolling over their opponents, and doing it with Tampa-style defensive strength. Strong defense has become an identity for the Bucs, and it's good to see that isn't getting lost under the offensive mind of Jon Gruden.

The Lions look more like the team we thought they were, before Kitna's grit gave people hope for something more. I suppose McNabb has answered his critics this week, but I'm not impressed until he does it against a good team.

Thomas Jones had a big day for the Jets, whose win over Miami was far closer than I thought it should have been. I don't foresee either of these teams making the playoffs.

I'd say the Texans put up a good fight against the defending champions, who don't look like the unstoppable machine they've looked like in the past few years. After a close game with Tennessee last week, this week's game should be reason enough to make Indy fans worry.

I have said for the past two weeks that Oakland would not win until they let Culpepper play. Sure enough, he played the second half and led the Raiders to a victory. I suppose rookie coach Kiffin is going to have to make his coaching mistakes and learn everything the hard way (just like he did with the field goal in Denver).

Washington had a chance to tie the game, with a minute on the clock and the ball at the 3 yard line, but they looked utterly disorganized and failed to get a play call in. Come on, Joe Gibbs, you should know the importance of the 2-minute game plan! To make matters worse, they shot themselves in the foot with a penalty and a couple of terrible play calls, practically handing the win to the Giants.

If Lovie Smith doesn't wise up, he's going to get escorted out of the building in the middle of the night the same way the Tony Dungy did in Tampa. Getting rid of Thomas Jones and featuring Cedric Benson was a horrible choice. Jones ran for 110 yards on 25 carries yesterday, while Benson posted a measly 46 yards on 16 attempts. Ah, but that mistake only compounds the much bigger mistake of staying committed to Wrecks Grossman when you've got Brian "son of Bob" Griese, sitting on the bench. For that matter, let me just point out that I've watched these Bears run up win after win behind third-stringer Kyle Orton, who may not have any flare at all but may possibly be the safest of the three Chicago QBs. In spite of the Bears' defensive meltdown in the second half, one can't help getting excited about Adam Archuletta's contribution to an already championship-caliber defense. Keep your eyes on #20, I have a feeling you're going to see a lot of him this year.

Labels: football, sports

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” -Virginia Woolf

Labels: qotd

One word. Fine. It packs quite a punch. I don't like it when someone tells me, "fine." In fact, I'd say I hate it.

When someone tells me something is "fine", the one thing of which I am certain is that the something in question is not fine — it's not even good, or okay. It can safely be said, then, that the person saying "fine" is not being completely honest. In fact, they're being downright inauthentic.

I, like all humans, rely on authenticity. I trust people who I “believe,” and we distrust those who I do not. When someone is not being authentic, not being straightforward, I am aware — even if only on a subconscious level — that they are holding something back from me, and true to my human nature, I question what that is why they need to keep it from me.

And so it goes, then, that when a person says, "fine," it is understood that only ill will follow. In a single word, they have communicated to me that they do not agree with what I've said, in fact they likely disagree strongly, but that rather than express their disagreement honestly they are going to accept the thing the point with which they disagree.

The implications are huge. It is clear that the person has misgivings about the point, but it is unclear what those misgivings are. In basically agreeing to something with which they don't actually agree at all, is this person putting me in danger? Are they allowing me to make a bad decision? Or, is the unspoken disagreement more personal in nature? Maybe it's actually a good decision but one that will have some negative effect on this other person.

The bottom line is that I don't really know. The prudent thing to do, of course, is to ask the person to explain their misgivings so that, at the very least, I can make an informed decision. But the damage of the word "fine" can't be undone. Even if, upon being asked, this person explains their reservations, I will still be left with the feeling that I cannot rely on this person to be honest, or authentic, or to give me information that might be pertinent to my decisions.

If I about to step into a snake-infested pit unaware, I want to have someone by my side who will warn me of the danger... not someone who gives me a smug look and says, "fine."

Labels: common sense, life, rant

Arizona at Baltimore:
It's hard to get a good read on these two teams. It seems like Arizona is a team on the rise while Baltimore is in decline, and they're just passing each other in mid-stream. The outcome of this game will say a lot about both teams. I don't have the faith in the Cardinals just yet, and Steve McNair is expected to start, so I'm picking the Ravens.

San Diego at Green Bay:
Logic dictates that the Chargers are the better, and more talented team, and the past few years hold that up. However, it would be silly to pick a 1-1 visiting team to fly 2000 miles and roll over a 2-0 home team — especially Brett Favre's home team. Gotta go with the Packers.

St. Louis at Tampa Bay:
After the show my Buccaneers put on, I don't feel bad at all about expecting them to make a tough stand at home against the Rams.

San Francisco at Pittsburgh:
The 49ers are on their way up out of the gutter, but they're not good enough to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Detroit at Philadelphia:
In a classic case of victim mentality, Donovan McNabb is playing the race card and blaming his troubles on black quarterbacks receiving greater scrutiny than their white counterparts. If you don't stand up and take responsibility for yourself your teammates will not respect you, and they certainly won't look to you as their leader and have faith in you to pull them to a victory. And even if the bruising Eagles defense knocks Kitna out cold, he'll still make a miracle comeback and lead the Lions to victory.

Miami at New York Jets:
The only good thing about this matchup is that once it's over, one of these teams will finally have a win. I think it will be the Jets, but I don't much care.

Buffalo at New England:
Buffalo has got nothing, and New England presently looks unstoppable. The Patriots will trample the Bills.

Minnesota at Kansas City:
My formula tells me to go with the home team here, but I can't help noticing that the Chiefs have yet to score more than 10 points, while the Vikings have yet to score less than 17.

Indianapolis at Houston:
Okay, okay, I know I'm going to sound crazy here... but this is a matchup of 2-0 teams, and I've got to give the advantage to the home team. Call me stupid, but I'm calling the Texans to win over the Colts.

Cincinnati at Seattle:
Seattle has way more defense than the Browns. I doubt that Carson Palmer is going to throw for 400 yards on the road against the Seahawks. And I can't see the Bengals defense stopping Shaun Alexander.

Cleveland at Oakland:
It all comes down to who starts at quarterback for Oakland. Daunte Culpepper would rise up and give the Raiders their first win, but since I believe they'll stick with McCown, I think Derek Anderson will have another big day for the Browns.

Jacksonville at Denver:
The Jaguars have been lacking some fire without Leftwich, even though I think they made the right choice at quarterback. I think the Broncos have more will to win.

New York Giants at Washington:
The Giants defense looks pretty weak, while Washington is playing — and winning — steady football, minimizing miscues. The 2-0 Redskins will hand New York their third loss, more or less ending the Giants season before it ever got a chance to get started.

Carolina at Atlanta:
Joey Harrington has thrown more TD passes to opposing teams than he has to his own. The Falcons picked up a talented quarterback in Byron Leftwich — in my mind, better than Michael Vick — but one who is injury prone. Still, Leftwich doesn't matter until they let him play, which I don't see happening for a few more weeks. Even though they look like they're in trouble, the Panthers have what it takes to shred the Falcons.

Dallas at Chicago:
In Chicago's one loss, they only allowed their opponent a hard-earned 14 points, whereas Dallas has allowed scores of 20 and 35 to their opponents in their two wins. Sorry, Cowboys, but wins over the Dolphins and the Giants don't mean anything when you're coming to Chicago and going up against da Bears defense &mdash even with Rex Grossman on your side.

Tennessee at New Orleans:
Vince Young versus Reggie Bush. I don't care about the teams or the records. Vince Young should have been the first pick in the draft. Instead the 0-2 Saints took Bush who has produced nothing in the last two weeks, while Young is leading the Titans like a long-time veteran. This is a great matchup for Monday Night Football.

Labels: football, sports

I just caught wind of this in a passing conversation yesterday and decided to look it up and see what truth there was to it. Turns out, there is an Amero, meant to do for North America what the Euro did for Europe.

From what I can tell, it's just an idea. There is a movement of supporters behind it, but it's not official yet.

They do already have currency that you can buy, even if it never becomes legal tender, it will still be something interesting to show people.

I've been going on and on a lot lately about paying attention to the lessons around you. There's a saying "when the student is ready, the master will appear" and I'm starting to see that the master appears over and over and over, in the books you read, on the tv shows you watch, in the conversations you have.

Funny, then, that one theme which has come up a lot recently is the difference between reaction and response. How fitting then that Steve Pavlina would have written an entry called Reaction vs Response on his personal development blog yesterday.

Just as interesting is the fact that they topic of authenticity is another one of those things that has been coming up a lot, and while reading Steve's blog, he had a link in there to another entry, simply called Authenticity.

Labels: life

CheapShooter.com has a new article documenting the seven deadly sins of Myspace photos, which gives details and examples of the offensive photo technique and explains what's wrong with it.

I know why you do it. From that extreme of angle, people can’t tell from your Myspace profile picture that your nose is that big or your acne is that bad. But taking your profile picture from that angle just alerts us that something is wrong. Even if we can’t see it, we know there is something that you are trying to hide. Taking a Myspace profile picture like that isn’t fooling us - it’s just making us suspicious.

I saw a joke going around by email that had a similar theme, but it was just for humor's sake. I like this one, because it's actually written by a photographer for a photography blog.

Labels: photography

Oh, how boring would my life be if I didn't have the TSA to keep me entertained? Just like last time, these ever-vigilant defenders of justice have thwarted a deviously masterminded plan to sneak a cup of coffee on board an airplane, clearly violating that most important of safety regulations: no liquids.

Well thank God our heroes of the airways stopped that passenger from drinking all that coffee, because he had a box-cutter. If he'd been allowed to get all wired and jittery on caffeine, while cramped into that tiny space on board the plane, he might have gone crazy!



I'm starting to see the logic. I mean what other possible catastrophes may have been thwarted thanks to the liquid ban?

• Too-much-aftershave-guy can't bring his Aqua Velva in his carry on, preventing the people next to him from getting fed up with the scent and going ape shit at 30,000 feet.
• Kids can't bring their 400-oz aluminum can of energy drink with them, so they get tired of kicking the seat in front of them after an hour or so, instead of three or four hours, causing the person seated in front of them to go ape shit at 30,000 feet.
• Pet lovers won't be able to put their goldfish in a bag of water and fly it with them on vacation. Sure, maybe the fish will die from not being fed, but at least it won't cause the cat in the lap of the person next to you to go ape shit at 30,000 feet and scratch up everyone in the cabin.
• Vegetable oil, which kills you from the inside, will definitely not be clogging any arteries, making your heart go ape shit at 30,000 feet.
• No shampoo, so there won't be any women getting naked and shampooing their hair with Herbal Essesnces, causing some sex-starved maniac to go ape shit at 30,000 feet.
• There will be no sun-tan lotion, relieving you of the temptation to climb out onto the wing and work on your tan at 30,000 feet.

Labels: national security, politics

Google has added slide-based presentation capabilities to their Google Docs tool. I noticed it this morning, and while I haven't dived into it headlong, I played with it a little bit. Seems to work well enough for my needs.

With email, calendar, word processing, spreadsheet, and now presentation software, Google has essentially created a free, online version of Microsoft Office. While none is as feature-rich as the commercial Microsoft product, they are all quite capable — certainly good enough for me in almost every case.

And Google offers collaboration abilities that Microsoft (to my knowledge) does not. Most of the confusing menus in the MS Office programs are things I shall never use, but the collaboration and sharing of Google documents is something I do use currently.

Now the question is, will it make a difference? I'm sure that large corporations, for example, will keep up with Microsoft Office, keeping current versions and staying up-to-date on licensing. But there are a lot of small businesses (90% of businesses are small businesses) out there that can't afford, or can't justify, buying new versions of all their software every year, and they can't keep up with the complicated licensing.

Since I, for one, don't own or use Microsoft Office at home, I have turned to alternatives. Open Office is quite good, but it's huge and slow, and for the purpose of creating a document or spreadsheet, I already find myself turning easily to Google Docs for speed and simplicity.

And that's the bottom line for me. Whether or not Google has any impact on Microsoft's bottom line is irrelevant, because they've already succeeded by creating a suite of online apps that handle all of my daily online tasks. And I'm not alone.

Labels: tech

With a 20-12 Redskins win, my pick of the Eagles was wrong, leaving me at .500 for the week. I may as well have flipped a coin! Simply picking the home team in every game would have left me at 10-for-16, two games better than I did.

I am, however, happy to see that my comments about the Eagles were right. They're still dealing with the effects of the cancer T.O. brought to that team. With the Cowboys looking pretty good, the Redskins on the rise, and the Giants capable of holding their own when they want to, it looks to me like the Eagles are in for a bad year. I think I'm even willing to predict a losing record.

Labels: football, sports

Last week I read Everything's Eventual, a book of short stories by Stephen King. Most of them weren't really my thing, but there were a few that I got into. The one that really messed with me, though, was “Autopsy Room 4”, about a man who is alive but paralyzed describing the things he sees, hears, and feels during the fearful moments before the medical examiner cuts into him.

The idea of being conscious of everything that happens after death kind of scared me. Worse, the idea of actually not being dead but knowing that you will be if they start cutting into you.

Funny, then, that I see this story today about that actually happening. The medical examiners thought it weird when Carlos Camejo's “corpse” started bleeding. When they started stitching his wound, the pain woke him up. He wasn't dead at all!

Labels: books

If you've ever wanted to make a lighting diagram, you can do it with Lighting Studio 1.0. It's a simple, web-based utility for making lighting diagrams. You can even save and share your lighting diagrams.

It doesn't have the ability to print, however you could screen capture it and print it by other means. Hey, it's not bad for free.

Labels: photography

I got mixed results for my predictions in week 2, and I have mixed feelings about them.

I was right about Pittsburgh... or should I saw it was Buffalo that I was right about? Count 'em out.

Expecting Carolina to stomp on Houston turned out to have been wrong. I hate getting a pick wrong, except when it means that a team I like ended up beating a team I don't. For instance...

...when I'm wrong about the Saints beating my Buccaneers. As I said yesterday, this was all about reducing penalties and being on the right side of the turnover ratio.

While I was right about Jacksonville beating Atlanta — it seemed like a given — it troubles me that the score was as close as it was.

Being wrong about Cincinnati destroying Cleveland doesn't bother me nearly as much as not having seen the game. The teams combined for 96 points scored, and over 1000 offensive yards, with Carson Palmer 401 of those yards through the air. Wish I'd seen it.

I was torn about the San Francisco-St. Louis matchup and went with the Rams because of home field. I was wrong on that pick, but I was right about my assessment of these two teams.

And I don't mind being wrong about the Giants when it means a big day for Brett Favre.

It seemed like Indy was a given, and I was right about the pick, but Tennessee made it close. Much closer, in fact, than one should expect.

And another one. My pick for Seattle was wrong, but my assessment of the teams was right on.

It was right to pick Dallas. Tony Romo may be the next Kurt Warner. Then again, if that's the case, they need to win some Super Bowls soon, because Warner was only able to muster three good years of play.

And I was right about Detroit. It was close, but Jon Kitna thrives in that. With him at quarterback, they'll only lose to superior teams. I can't believe it... I'm rooting for Detroit.

I was right about the Chiefs not beating the Bears this week. Notice, I was very specific about that choice of words, because the Bears did not beat the Chiefs. Chicago's defense and special teams woke up out of their slumber and played well, particularly Devin Hester, who should have been credited with two returns for TDs in that game. But penalties are a problem for da Bears, and so is quarterback. Bad Rex is back.

I was right in that the Jets did not beat the Ravens.

And I was also right about Oakland not beating Denver, though they came really close. Still, I can't understand why Culpepper sits on a bench while McCown gets to play.

Boy, was I wrong about New England. They're a machine! If it keeps going this way, they're going to cheat themselves right into a fourth Super Bowl trophy.

So going into Monday Night, I'm 8-for-15, which is a rather mediocre stat — unless you're a quarterback in Chicago.

Labels: football, sports

It's hard to pick against your favorite team, but it just looked like the Saints were good and the Bucs were bad. I guess I was wrong!

The keys to the Bucs win, however, were the very things that have plagued them for the past few years: turnovers and penalties. Regarding this “hidden indicator”, the Bucs had no turnovers, and only two penalties for ten yards.

When you can play like that, you're going to win the proverbial “game within the game” of field position. By only giving away 10 yards on penalties, and allowing no turnovers, they didn't hand away field position to their opponents on a platter. Likewise, by forcing the Saints to commit two turnovers, on which they scored, the Bucs took advantage of their field position.

I don't know if it's better coaching, or different players, or if it's just Garcia's presence behind center, but it's nice to not see my team giving away 70-100 yards in offsides penalty yards.

Labels: football, sports

“Ships in harbor are safe, but that's not what ships are built for.” -John Shedd

Labels: qotd

One afternoon as I was flipping through the channels — you know the routine, hundreds of channels and nothing is on — I landed on the Food Network. They were showing a program called Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, but the only reason I turned it on was because this episode would be featuring a place in Kenosha, WI.

Kenosha is the farthest you can travel north on Chicago's commuter train system. Always interested in getting out and exploring the world around me, I wondered what there might be to see in Kenosha. I still didn't know much, but at the very least, I now knew where in Kenosha to get a good breakfast: Frank's Diner.

A little research online, and I discovered that Kenosha has a streetcar system running in a loop between the train station and Laka Michigan, with service to downtown stores as well as Kenosha's free public museum along the way. Their five PCC streetcars are painted to represent the historic streetcars of Toronto, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Johnstown. And it only costs a quarter to ride.

The train ride is about two hours each way between Kenosha and Chicago, which for me is apparently just about enough time to read a 170-page book. And since I didn't eat before I left, there was no doubt that I was ready to find Frank's Diner. And that's the first thing I did.

It didn't take much work to find it. Text "franks diner kenosha wi" to Google SMS (466453) and moments later you get a text message back telling you it's at 508 58th street. The streetcar runs along 56th street, so a cord pull at 6th avenue put me two blocks away — where, apparently, there was a classic car show going on.

I was really hungry, so I went straight to Frank's without dilly-dallying, and I'm glad I did because they locked the door while I was eating, so they're apparently not open very late.

Well, either way, it didn't bother me because I was in hog heaven with my “garbage plate”. Even the bread is made from scratch. Everything on the plate was delicious.

And so, belly full and face smiling, my mission was accomplished. Ways I found to spend an afternoon in Kenosha included: walking along the lake front, visiting the free museum, riding the streetcar, browsing in some really neat stores downtown, looking at the classic car show. And, of course, you can't leave Wisconsin without getting a bratwurst.

Labels: travel

“Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.” -Gilbert K. Chesterton

Labels: qotd

Holy crap! If you're in need of an abdominal workout, don't go to the gym, go to the movie theater and watch Shoot 'Em Up, starring Clive Owen.

When the opening scene involves delivering a baby in the middle of a shoot-out, and then shooting off the umbilical cord, you know exactly what you're in for.

This movie makes no pretenses about what it is: an over-the-top action film with non-stop shooting and almost no discernible plot whatsoever. Just like snakes on a plane, the filmmakers didn't waste any time or money trying to justify the movie... they simply made it and said "there it is, in your face."

The stunts are impossible, the body count is immeasurable, the dialog is terrible, and the laughs are a mile a minute.

Labels: movies, reviews

“Curve: The loveliest distance between two points.” -Mae West

Labels: qotd

For every obsessed, psychopathic girl who can't let him go, and for every insecure guy who has ever asked “what was his car doing at your house last night?”, I'm starting a new web site.

StalkerTools.com will be the place to go for all the information you need to scare the living crap out of that person you love just a little too much.

Enjoy.

Labels: fun

Buffalo at Pittsburgh
Buffalo didn't have anything last week, while Pittsburgh was on fire. Easy win for the Steelers.

Houston at Carolina
Houston won their opener. That's all I expect out of them. The Panthers will run through them like a knife through hot butter.

New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Presently, the Saints are a superior team, with more talent in the skill positions. Historically, if the Bucs lose their home opener you can expect three more L's to follow before they figure it out. The Saints will win.

Atlanta at Jacksonville
Maybe Jacksonville wasn't the force I expected against Tennessee, but they'll manhandle Joey Harrington with ease. Easy win for the Jaguars.

Cincinnati at Cleveland
Too much orange on the screen at one time. Look if Cleveland couldn't win their home opener, and if Cincinnati can work over the Ravens, then I can't imagine anything other than the Bengals destroying the Browns.

San Francisco at St. Louis
There's apparently not much left in St. Louis to resemble the Greatest Show on Turf. San Francisco is a team on its way up while the Rams are in decline. Still, I think based on talent and experience, and home field advantage, the Rams should be victorious.

Green Bay at New York Giants
The Packers defense had some inspired moments against Philadelphia, but Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress are a far more deadly combination than McNabb and whatever no-name receivers they have on the Eagles. If that line doesn't start blocking better, Favre's going to snap that streak of consecutive starts. The Giants win at home with Eli at quarterback.

Indianapolis at Tennessee
It's hard to find something about the Colts to criticize. They're really running on all cylinders right now and I don't think the Titans have what it takes to stop them just yet. The Colts go 2-0.

Seattle at Arizona
Arizona is a team that's going to surprise people this year, maybe even this week. I expect the Seahawks to win, but I really think this is the year the Cardinals start to change.

Dallas at Miami
Interesting - a strong offense with no defense versus a strong defense with no offense. I expect a battle of strength when Dallas has the ball, and a comedy of errors when Miami has the ball. Still, you can't win games if you don't score points, and since the Cowboys are the team with an offense, they'll win.

Minnesota at Detroit
Did someone slip a hallucinogen into my coffee, or are the Lions the only team in the NFC North that looks like they know how to play football? I don't know how Kitna will fulfill that ten win promise, short of the announcement of Matt Millen's sudden retirement... but I'm rooting for him and the Lions to beat the Vikes.

Kansas City at Chicago
Dumb and Dumberer this week at Soldier Field. Two great teams, loaded with talent and expectations will get together in the battle of underachievers. I can't help thinking Chicago is going to suck this year, but I don't see the Chiefs beating da Bears at home.

New York Jets at Baltimore
Baltimore is way tougher than the Jets, and they're playing at home. I don't foresee New York beating the Ravens.

Oakland at Denver
If Oakland wins more than three games this year, it's going to happen with Culpepper at quarterback... not Josh McKown and not Jamarcus Russell. I don't think it's going to matter this week, though. A lackluster team dragging its ass into Mile High Stadium won't have much chance of beating the Broncos.

San Diego at New England
Great matchup. I'm glad this is the Sunday Night game. The amazingly talented Chargers will take on the amazingly talented Patriots. I can't help thinking that the Patriots won their three Super Bowl titles by cheating, and I think the Chargers will make a show of beating them today.

Washington at Philadelphia
Washington showed spunk in their win over the fish, but not enough spunk to march into Philly and think they're going to beat the Eagles.

Labels: football, sports

Okay, so it took me a little while to come around to Google Reader, and I think they've changed some stuff since the first time I tried it, but I'm now convinced.

Keeping up with a large number of web sites became easy to do with the introduction of RSS... and now, thanks to Google Reader, it's easy to do from anywhere, rather than being stuck with the settings only on your home computer, or work computer.

I became a GMail believer immediately after trying it, and while I don't think the documents are a replacement for MS Office just yet, I like the ability to share them. Now, with Reader, Google is easily becoming the home of my online experience.

If you haven't tried it yet, or don't understand RSS, it's simple. You find the little "feed" icon () on the page you are looking for, right-click on it and copy the link, and then paste that into Google reader.

Firefox users have it even easier, because any page with an RSS feed will also have that icon in the address bar at the top. The first time you click that icon, you will be asked to choose your RSS tool. Pick Google. From then on, every time you click that icon, you will be prompted to add the feed to Google Reader.

It works for blogs, news sites, sports sites, and even Flickr photostreams. Finally, you can keep up with all your friends without having to go visit every web site every time.

It's also a good way for obsessed stalkers to get back some of their valuable time, so they can keep an eye on their ex while still managing to get some work done at the office. ;-)

Labels: tech

“Absence may or may not make the heart grow fonder, but it certainly freshens the eye.” -Stephen King

Labels: qotd

This is a photo I shot last week. It was one of those days when I was just leaving work and heading for the train station. It was just starting to rain a little bit, so I wasn't trying to dilly-dally, or lolligag, or any other nonsensical word for taking your sweet-ass time.


As I was walking, however, I happened to look up and catch the sun reflecting off of the buildings to the west. I ended up crossing the street and doubling back for an unobstructed view. It only looked right from one specific position, so I had to move around a bit to find it.

For me, this just underscores the importance of always keeping a camera with you. Great photographic moments happen with or without you. You may have to stand in the rain, and you may have to catch a later train, but do what you must to get the shot.

Labels: chicago, photography

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (whose name cunningly points out the missing clause in the phrase "freedom of religion") has an interesting analysis of the flaws in the decalogue, pointing out that only six of the commandments deal with an individual's moral conduct:

In essence, the first four commandments all scream that "the lord thy god" has an uneasy vanity, and like most dictators, must resort to threats, rather than intellectual persuasion, to promote a point of view. If there were an omnipotent god, can you imagine him or her being concerned if some poor little insignificant creature puttered around and made a graven image? Do you think that any god, possessing the modicum of good will you could expect to find in any neighbor, would want to punish children even "unto the third and fourth generation" because their fathers could not believe? How can anyone not perceive the pettiness, bluster, bombast and psychotic insecurity behind the first four commandments? We are supposed to respect this!

On a side-note, their home page make quite an impression. Upon loading, the visitor is greeted by an image of New York City, with the World Trade Center still intact, bearing the message “Imagine a world free from religion.”

Labels: religion

According to a recent article in Science Daily, the "ones" digit in a price has a more profound effect on our perception of a discount than the actual amount of the discount!

The researchers show that "right-digit effect" influences consumer perception of sale prices. When the right digits are small, people perceive the discount to be larger than when the right digits are large. In other words, an item on sale for $211 from the original price of $222 is thought to be a better deal than an item on sale for $188 from an original price of $199, even though both discounts are $11.

When I considered that example, I found that my initial perception did indeed match the effect they reported. Crazy!

Labels: science

“Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” -Anna Lappe

Labels: qotd

Please, someone explain to me why some people have to have the last word? What insecure motivation makes people crave — yea, even need — to have the last word on every matter?

I have noticed that even when there is nothing to discuss, the discussion itself will continue on endlessly until the person gets the last word. And what's worse... what if such people are on both sides of the discussion?

You know the never-ending transactions I'm talking about:

A: I'm sick of talking to you.

B: Alright then don't talk to me!

A: Alright then I won't!

B: Good.

A: Have a nice life.

B: I will... without you!

A: Fine by me.

B: Whatever.

{ad nauseum}

If you're done with someone, be done with them. Telling someone that you don't want to talk to them is a self-evident falsehood. Arguing with someone over the fact that you're tired of arguing is an equally nonsensical paradox.

So what makes people crave this so badly? Why do some people feel a need to impress their illogic upon others?

Labels: common sense, life, rant

Geometry question:
Q. When does a pentagon have only four sides?
A. When it intersects a plane.

Football question:
Q. What is Osama bin Laden's favorite football team?
A. The New York Jets

Physics question:
Q. How long does it take to fall 107 stories?
A. The rest of your life.


Well, there it is, dear reader. It's been six years, I think it's time to make some jokes — that's how we deal with things. When we can laugh about it we can move on.

Labels: fun, humor

I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to become a vegetarian!

Labels: qotd

After going wrong on Baltimore and right on San Francisco, I finish the week 10 for 16. That would be an acceptable number for a quarterback. A team that won 10 of 16 would be in the playoffs. While I'd like to get that percentage up a bit, it's still not too bad.

Labels: football, sports

A List Apart has just put up their second article about web sites developed for iPhone. In it, they discuss some of the limitations and difficulties of the device, such as:

There are also issues that arise because of the simplified user interface. After using the phone for awhile, you’ll notice that there are no open or save dialogs. Indeed, there is no file system that’s visible to the user, so it’s not surprising that the <input type="file" ...> does not work—there’s no way for a user to pick the file to upload.

The author describes everything from optimal screen size, font size, colors, memory limitations, downloads, fonts, and more.

Labels: dev, iphone

Many of us have tried weight training in hopes of reducing fat and gaining muscle. We all know that it's the only way to put on muscle. And many of us are aware that the best way to lose weight is to increase the amount of muscle burning the fat we want to lose.

So if we all know that weight training is the best (or even the only) way to accomplish our goal, why is it that so few of us are ever able to stick to it?

People give up

If I talk about the painful experience of trying to cancel a gym membership, I'll bet most of my readers will know what I'm referring to. And I'm willing to bet that damn near all of my readers have some exercise equipment from late night tv — the Gazelle, the Ab Lounge, the Bowflex, the Nordic Track, the Fitness Flyer, or that silly thing that Chuck Norris sells — sitting in the attic or the basement or the back porch, with a layer of dust and cobwebs on it.

So why do we all get hyped, and get serious enough about doing this that we spend money on memberships and machines, only to give up after a month or two? Most likely because we're not getting the results we wanted. Convinced that we're wasting our time, and that it's never going to work or that it's going to take too long, we give up.

If it's hard, you're doing it wrong

But it doesn't have to be too much work. In fact, most bodybuilders will tell you that they made the most significant progress during their first two months. When done right, a weight training program should yield very exciting results right away — enough that you will have no problem sticking to it.

My motto in life is, “If it's hard, you're doing it wrong.” I don't believe that anything has to be hard. When it is, you just need to find a better way.

It starts with common sense

You can't get stronger if you don't increase your weights. For some reason, people seem to think they can just use the same weight over and over, forever, and that they'll somehow get stronger and stronger. They're wrong.

You can't get stronger until you know how strong you currently are. First you have to find your limit. Keep adding weight until you can't lift it, or press it, or squat it, or whatever exercise you're doing.

Expect exciting results

Once you've found your limit, you should find that you're able to increase it by 5 lbs every week. That's approximately 50 lbs over two months! In other words, if you start off only able to bench-press 150 lbs, you should be putting up 200 lbs (or close) by the end of your second month.

Those are exciting results, and you should be seeing them on all of your exercises. Seeing that improvement should be enough to motivate you by itself, but the development in your body over that time should be significant and exciting as well.

It all starts with common sense, though. You can't get stronger if you don't add more weight.

Labels: common sense, health

Labels: tech

This idea is pretty cool, especially in a space-saving sense, as you're getting a chair, media storage, and a lamp. The only problem is that it seems to lack enough cushion to be properly comfortable.

I don't think it would be too hard to add cushioning material, and then cover the whole chair in leather.

Labels: wishlist

The results of my picks don't look too bad.

Even though I made my pick after the fact, I would have picked the Super Bowl champs to beat the visiting Saints, so I'm going to graciously give myself a point for getting that one right.

I picked the Packers to beat the Eagles, and although they struggled they ended up proving me right.

Also, it looks like I was right about the Texans winning their home opener against the Chiefs.

The Broncos almost didn't do it, but they ended up proving my pick right when they beat the Bills.

I was apparently quite wrong about the Steelers. They stink. 'Nuff said.

Also, the Rams didn't put up much of a fight against the Panthers. Looks like I was wrong again.

I wasn't expecting much from the Falcons, and I was right about that.

But I couldn't have been more wrong about the Jets.

I was right about the Redskins.

But wrong about the Titans.

I expected Grossman to suck but I never imagined the entire Bears team would suck so bad. But I was right about the Chargers winning.

I was also right about the Bucs losing, if that means anything.

I'm definitely a fan of Jon Kitna, but apparently it was wrong to think the Raiders would let Daunte Culpepper play. McKown? Really? Count the Raiders out for the rest of this year.

And in a gunslinging Sunday night game, the Cowboys proved me right by outscoring the Giants 45-35.

So, with two games left, I'm 9 for 14. I'll be pleased to see that turn to double-digits tonight.

Labels: sports

Two wrongs don't make a right... but three rights do make a left.

Labels: qotd

The results of my nerd test were pretty good. I scored high in technology and literature, good but not too nerdy in math, low in sci-fi nerdiness, and barely a blip on the radar for dorkiness. If I was asked to describe myself in those five categories, I'd have probably said exactly what this test said.

Labels: fun

“Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.” -Che Guevara

Labels: qotd

There haven't been many films coming out this year that I've wanted to see, but apparently, they were just saving the best for last.

Aliens-versus-Predator Requiem looks to be much better than the first AVP. If I got the right impression from the trailers, this one promises to be more in a horror style rather than the straight action format of the first one. Can't wait!

And coming the weekend before Halloween, the fourth installment of the Saw movies. The Saw movies always manage to raise the stakes, and I can't wait to see how they've done that with both Jigsaw and Amanda dead. Who'll be the next Saw? And how much more elaborate the games?

There hasn't been a good horror franchise since the '80s. Thank you Saw movies for changing that. Jigsaw's puppet certainly brings a modern and timely presence to the list of horror icons that included no less than Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Jason, the Phantasm balls, Chucky, and the Hellraiser box.

Labels: movies

Saints at Colts
Okay, this pick is going to look downright impressive, but that's only because the game actually happened last night. Free point for me!!! I predict the Colts will win 41-10 with a dramatic second half show by the defense.

Eagles at Green Bay
Favre's old, but he's still Favre. McNabb lost a lot of respect during the T.O. debacle. I'm going with the Pack Attack.

Chiefs at Texans
The Chiefs are loaded with talent, and the Texans um... well... they have a cool stadium. Still, in spite of being awful every year, the Texans always start off with a win at home, and I think they'll pull it off again this year.

Broncos at Bills
Both teams are loaded with talent and question marks. A cross-country away game (ie, from Denver to Buffalo) is generally a recipe for disaster, but there's no better time than in Week 1. Both teams are in similar predicaments, but historically the Broncos rise to the occasion while the Bills have a history of letdowns.

Steelers at Browns
I really want to give this one to the Steelers. It seems like a freebie. But Roethlisberger has some question marks and Pittsburgh still lacks an identity since The Bus retired. I can't help thinking the Dawg Pound will have something to cheer for this weekend. They should relish it, though, because they won't be doing much of it this year.

Panthers at St. Louis
Another tough call. I like home field advantage, especially in St. Louis. The Panthers are a tough team, but I'm going with The Greatest Show on Turf.

Falcons at Vikings
I don't expect much out of the Minnesota Vikings this year, but I expect even less from Atlanta. Arthur Blank put all his eggs in one basket, and when that basket got involved in a federal dog fighting scandal, he was left with Joey Harrington for a starter, and Chris Redman for a backup. I see a 1-0 start for Minnesota.

Patriots at Jets
The Patriots have 8-lbs of Super Bowl hardware and tons of talent. Signing Randy Moss will prove to be a mistake, but not right away. The Jets have an identity crisis much like that of Rex Grossman, so Thomas Jones should feel right at home. This is probably my toughest call this week, but I'm going with the Jets.

Dolphins at Redskins
I remember a time when Miami vs. Washington was a premiere game. Now, who cares? Total snooze-fest. I pick the Redskins.

Titans at Jaguars
I love watching these two teams play each other. It's like watching Rocky — two physical blue-collar teams slugging it out. The momentum swings back and forth. The emotion runs high. I believe Vince Young is going to be the special player in this league that everyone wanted Michael Vick to be... but it takes toughness, not finesse, to beat Jacksonville.

Chicago at San Diego
Rex Grossman is a hack. This is the year that Lovie Smith has to accept that. Brian Griese will be leading this team when the year is done, but that's not going to happen until Grossman flops and fumbles and loses a bunch of games, and that will start with their season opening loss to the Chargers.

Buccaneers at Seahawks
Jon Gruden earned a pass to have a lot of things overlooked when he came to Tampa and gave that city the championship Tony Dungy had failed to deliver. That good will is running out, though. It's time to field a playoff team — nevermind a championship. Currently, the win-loss record is awful for "Chucky", and worse for the Bucs when they play away games on the left coast. Mike Holmgren knows a thing or two about championships and he wants the Seahawks to win one this year.

Lions at Raiders
Another battle of the bottoms. Both of these teams have a problem, and it's not talent. A look at their rosters makes me think both teams should be awesome this year. But they won't. It's not the players, and it's not the coaches. It's the culture, and that starts with ownership and management. The Lions will never will never will so long as Matt Millen is their leader; at least Al Davis has seen the Raiders win some championships.

Giants at Dallas
Another New York team with an identity crisis. Imagine that! Both the Jets and the Giants claim to be from New York, yet they both play in New Jersey. And they use the same stadium! It's no surprise they have identity crisis. Meanwhile, I think the Cowboys look good this year.

Ravens at Bengals
The Bengals have the potential to be great this year, but they won't. Why not? Because the Ravens are going to come into Cincinnati and screw up their heads. It's going to take them a few weeks just to get over the hurting that Baltimore is going to put on them this week.

Cardinals at 49ers
When I saw this game listed for Monday night, I was dumbfounded. But then I saw the time and noticed that Ravens-Bengals is the real MNF game, this is just fluff. Arizona has incredible potential, starting with Leinart, Fitzgerald, and Boldin, but they don't have the attitude and I think San Francisco does.

Labels: sports