The greatest video game review ever?

I found the following video review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl by The Escapist: Zero Punctuation to be highly entertaining.  Especially the follow up response to his critics! (Probably not safe for work, or wear with headphones!)

This weekend we were coming back from a wedding in Southwest Michigan.  Our travels led us to I-94, by way of US-131, coming from the South.  This is the path I would normally take:

However, Michigan (Kalamazoo?) has decided to screw the pooch and completely hose things up.  This is the new path, to get from Northbound 131 to Eastbound 94:

What.  The.  F-.  Not only was the ramp to East 94 from 131 CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION TWO YEARS AGO, but we had to completely make a large loop just to go the right direction.  Bah!

So I’ve decided that traveling for work…in a word sucks.  I’m tired of eating out for every meal.  The flight out here (the long one, from Chicago to LA) was awful (thank you, airline industry for sucking even worse than you used to)…I think we need a corporate jet.  And my body is out of whack, too.  I’ve actively been up since 5:45am, and can’t go back to sleep.  Of course, I went to bed at 8pm local time, too.  :-/  The first night, there was no free wireless Internet in the hotel.  Ten bucks for a day’s worth of connection time, when all I need is less than an hour?  At least now at the next hotel it’s free, but it’s 1) a very weak signal, and 2) the slow 11mps wireless Internet.  Who the heck doesn’t have wireless-g anymore?

And don’t even get me started on the reasons I’m out here…I’m not even sure where to begin with that.  I might address some of those concerns in a later posting, but I guess we’ll see.  I’ll just say that it looks like I’m on the brink of a possible IT nightmare, one of those stories you read about in tech journals and say “whew, glad that wasn’t me!”.  Yay?

Wow, there may be a new low in this year’s Presidential election season…here’s Jon Stewart telling it like it is:

Nothing like pandering to your heavy political demographic of 14-year-old boys, right? Here’s the full segment. I have to say it’s like watching a trainwreck, horrible yet magnificent at the same time. I think McCain’s is the most awkward, although “Hill-Rod” is quite possibly the lamest nickname ever.

Let’s celebrate!  Here’s what I think would be fun….

• Having a giant tire fire in the back yard
• Drive fast to work
• At any stop sign or light, rev the engine to spend more gas
• Go the store and buy as many aerosol cans as possible, and use them all in the parking lot.  Ask the clerk for the ones with the most CFCs.
• Visit nearby Michigan State’s campus, and hold a rally.  Have signs and shirts saying “Down with Ozone!” and spray the aerosol cans around.  Preferably near an Earth Day celebration rally.
• Fill up any number of gas powered small engines, mowers, chainsaws, weed whackers, etc., and just let them run.

Any other suggestions?

I’ve got it!

1. Read about a drunken gathering of idiots on popular public social networking sites, as well as the local media hyping up such an event.

2. Attend event, on the sidelines, and record video of it.  Be sure to zoom in on lots of faces.

3. Sell video to the authorities and news media. (So that’s what takes the place of “???”)

4. Profit!

So the other day I was thinking about what it would take to go to the Final Four in Detroit next year.  One, it’s relatively close to home, and two, think about the possibilities of Michigan State playing in the Final Four, in Detroit.  That would be most excellent.  My search lead my to the NCAA Online store, where there were details on how one might actually purchase tickets to such an event.

The basics are that you have until May 31 to enter a lottery for the chance for tickets.  You can opt for one or two “books”, each containing tickets to the games in Detroit.  The books are $150 or $170 each.  You can enter up to 10 times for the random drawing.  You have to front the money first, and if you don’t get selected you get a refund (minus $6 per entry for fees).  Soooooo…..for two ticket books, entered once, I’d have to put up $346 for the chance to get seats somewhere in Ford Field.  I could put in more entries, but that’s another $346 for each entry!  Buuuut, how much is the chance to see the Spartans (if they make it) almost at home in the Final Four!

Luckily, one reporter tells his experience of watching this year’s Sweet Sixteen at Ford Field, and how it essentially was crap.  Which makes sense, if I think about it.  I remember watching the Basketbowl at Ford Field, and really I think I watched most of it on the jumbotron.  So maybe I should just save my money and watch things in the comfort of my own home?  The beer’s cheapers, no line for the bathrooms, and the couch is comfortable.  Heck, we could always go to a bar in E.L., too.

It also makes me wonder…is there any way to petition the NCAA to bring tournament games back to actual basketball arenas?  You know, for the better experience for the fans and all?

I’m messing with Wordpress and a bunch of other stuff….hoping to make some changes here soon.  Let me know if something doesn’t work!

We’re one of those teams.  You know, the ones you see on the ticker at the bottom, hopelessly down and you’re like “Man, sucks to be that team.  They don’t have a chance.”

How different would things have been if they didn’t have to start the second half with a 30 point deficit?

I want to be able to revise my bracket after the first round - there’s a whole tons of teams that I underestimated, as well as ones that I overestimated.  Even the sure things aren’t sure!

Sigh….maybe next year?  Was it too optimistic to think of making the Elite 8?

Muxtape.com

Oh, wow, this is cool.  I’ve seen this mentioned in a couple different places now; Muxtape is a SIMPLE way to create and share MP3 playlists online.  You sign up fast (just give a username, password, and email address) and then are given a blank slate to upload up to 12 MP3s to share with the world.  You point people to yourusername.muxtape.com and they are greeted with a minimalist playlist to listen to the songs streamed over the Interweb.  Alas, I don’t think I have any songs I can actually legally upload, but I love the concept.

I’ve having a field day just browsing the playlists.  What an eclectic collection!  I’m rocking to alexlines right now…it feels akin to browsing YouTube or Wikipedia for random things…..just stumbling on new crazy stuff!  Now all I want is a direct link to be able to download songs (or even the entire list!) from Amazon…