23 February, 2008

Sport or not?

I don't know the "official" definition of sport and I am too lazy to look it up. I have a pretty good idea of what I consider a sport to be, though. Football, baseball, soccer, basketball...all sports. Boxing, skiing, track and field...also all sports. Pretty much anything that the average person could never hope to do on any sort of real competitive level is a sport in my book. What is not a sport, in my opinion, are any activities which can also be classified as leisure activities and to which almost anyone can aspire to be reasonably competitive in with some practice. At the top of the list for me is golf. Don't get me wrong, golf takes skill but that does not make it a sport. Darts, billiards and chess all take skill but none of those are sports either. These are things that most of us, with practice, can become good or even great at. We can not all throw a 60-yard bomb into double coverage or slam dunk a ball on a 7-foot, 300 pound man intent on stopping you from doing just that. You may delude yourself into thinking this but it is not true. And don't tell me it was your parents' fault for not involving you in said sport from an early age. I love sports and I enjoy watching shows and reading magazines that cover them. What I hate is having to sit through the non-sport crap they cover, i.e. golf, NASCAR, or the damn Bassmaster fishing garbage that is presently on ESPN. Look, I'm not saying these things don't take skill. I'm just saying these people are not elite athletes and their fields are not restricted to a minority of the population. I could drive a car really fast around a track and run into stuff just as much as these professionals do. I could catch fish if I had either the patience or hours of my life to waste. And given enough practice, I could learn to hit a little white ball all over what is essentially a beautiful waste of land and then follow it so I could hit it some more. (On a side note, why don't they just close down all the golf courses and use that land to build housing for the homeless?). All these leisure activities being passed off as sport are really starting to piss me off. Why can't they get their own channel and leave the sports channels alone?

22 February, 2008

White Room and Jungle Juice

Why would anyone put wall to wall carpeting in a bathroom? Why would they compound that idiocy by making it white carpet? Why am I asking? This morning as I drove home from work my mind wandered of its own accord (as it often does) to a party I attended while still a junior in high school. It wasn't one of my better moments but it is memorable for having introduced me to a wonderful concoction commonly known as "Jungle Juice". The ingredients for this delightful drink are simple: Hawaiian Punch and vodka (plus ice) mixed in a (presumably) clean ice chest. If mixed in proper proportions it tastes almost like straight Hawaiian Punch. And therein lies the problem, at least for me on that particular night. Since I have never liked beer I opted instead to drink liberally from a seemingly harmless ice chest of punch. So liberally, in fact, that I drank half the ice chest myself. Long story short, the vodka all kicked in at once and I soon found myself seeking the sanctuary of a toilet. That is when I first discovered the designing faux pas that is white carpet in a bathroom. Without being too graphic (I have a weak stomach myself) let me just say that the carpet was largely pink after I got finished emptying all my bodily fluids (or most, I did not urinate on the carpet after all). So the poor guy who had thrown this party while his parents were out of town had no hope of hiding his illegal little shindig thanks to me, a guy he had just met that night. For the rest of the time we were in school together he desperately wanted to kick my ass. Now why would this story come to mind some 17 years later? Furthermore, why would I share such random silliness? Obviously, if you are asking yourself that question right now you have not read the description of this blog. My mind wanders, I share, your life is enriched. It's been nearly six years since I've consumed alcohol of any type but damn if that story isn't funny. Serves people right for being designer retards.

19 February, 2008

Happily Lost

Two things have kept me happily distracted in the past week and they both involve being lost. Some would argue this is appropriate since at times it seems my mind is lost and wandering. But I digress. The first is the t.v. show Lost. I have watched since episode 1 and I feel that the three episodes that have aired thus far this year are some of the best. I never really felt that they would get off the island til the last episode but obviously the "flash-forwards" show that to not be the case. I worried that if they got off the island the show would lose it's air of mystery. Seeing Jack's future and who Sayeed will be working for dispels that notion in my mind. I read an article in the past week (in my local paper I believe) crowing that this season shows that the writers never really knew where they were going and are just making up things as they go along. The writer complained that questions are never answered and more mysteries are constantly revealed. To me, this does not show the writers are lost (forgive the pun) but rather have created a complex story with so many levels that they must slowly pull back each level like the layers of an onion. I still believe this show is the best on television. The people that complain about it either haven't watched all the way through or are just to stupid to follow what's going on.
The second thing keeping my attention recently is the video game "Lost Odyssey". As you all know from my previous post I was eagerly awaiting picking up my copy last Tuesday. Due to a series of events beyond my control (and instituted by both Microsoft and Best Buy) I was not able to acquire said game until Wednesday afternoon. Let me say, it was worth the wait. The graphics are beautiful, the story deep and at points moving, and the characters are interesting. Yes, there are load times at some strange points but they are never that long and most often give you a moment to rest before a battle (or after an intense one). It has one of the most difficult first boss battles I have ever encountered (it took me about 3 hours to finally get past it). If you are a fan of video games, and RPGs in general, I highly recommend you play this game.
So there you go. If you have been trying to get in touch with me lately and haven't been able to, this is probably why. Or else I don't like you. Can't you get the hint?

13 February, 2008

WTF?!?

Not really a legitimate post here. I just wanted to put something new out there and since I've been up since 4 freaking 30 in the morning (on my day off no less) I figured now would be a good time. I am looking forward to picking up my copy of Lost Odyssey today, though (it's a video game for them what don't know). I know most gamers think RPG's are over but I like them and this one looks really cool. So that is what I will be doing for my next couple days off. That and hopefully sleeping a little later.

07 February, 2008

Shout out

I would like to personally thank Stizz over at Elusive Twilight for adding the Superiority Report to his blogroll list. His site is pretty cool. You can check it out by clicking the link on this page.

He...is...IRON MAN!!

I don't know about anyone else but the more I see of the upcoming Iron Man movie the more excited I am. If this movie turns out to be as cool as the trailers make it look this may very well be the best "comics" movie ever made. No, I'm not being biased because Iron Man is far from my favorite comics character. I'm more of a Spider-Man or Silver Surfer guy. But this movie, thus far, looks really good. When I first heard about it I was worried that the Iron Man suit would look really lame or that the flying sequences would suck. From what I've seen so far though that doesn't seem to be the case. In a few short months (May, I believe) we will see if this movie lives up to the hype.

05 February, 2008

Terminate

Last night was my first opportunity to see the new Terminator television series. I'm happy to say it will be the last time as well. Who the hell greenlighted this crap? James Cameron really should be ready to put hits out on some people. I mean T3 was bad enough but now this? The first two Terminator movies were awesome and people have gone and ruined it. There are also plans to make a 4th movie set in the future where we meet the adult John Conner (finally). I don't care, even if it is Christian Bale. T3 and this dreck they have on t.v. now have made me not care about a once great franchise.

03 February, 2008

History Denied

Anyone who knows me should have realized as soon as I endorsed the Patriots in Super Bowl 42 that they were royally screwed. Sure enough though, the Giants just pulled off what is likely the largest upset in NFL history by beating New England 17-14. It was also probably one of the dullest. Yes, the 4th quarter was very exciting but if it wasn't for the fact that the Patriots were undefeated coming in that in years to come most people would ignore this game. But, they were undefeated and the Giants were huge underdogs. Congratulations to New York and my apologies to the Patriots for endorsing you.

02 February, 2008

Recently Read

I thought it might be a good idea to list some books I've read recently and give them a completely arbitrary ranking based on my own scale (which you can find to the left of my posts if you look for it). This hopefully will work better than just recommending books randomly from time to time. So, in no particular order, here we go.
1. Ilium by Dan Simmons. If you like sci-fi and have never read anything by Simmons you are doing yourself a grave disservice. I'm not a big fan of reading sci-fi yet Dan Simmons is one of my favorite authors. He never disappoints. This book is also highly recommended if you are a fan of the Trojan War (specifically, The Iliad). Oh, and throw in the fact that this all happens on Mars far in the future and you have a very intriguing book. How does it all tie together? I can't tell you without ruining the story. You really have to check it out. I give it a 5 on the haonmot scale.
2. Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr. This is an older fantasy novel sorted under the heading of "Celtic fantasy". It involves reincarnation and karma and a disturbing underlying theme of incest. It shows great potential at times yet at others it seems a bit disjointed. If you don't have a burning desire to read anything else at the moment, give this a shot. Haonmot scale ranking:3
3. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. If you liked The Stand or are a fan of alternate history you will likely enjoy this book. The premise is intriguing and the post-apocalyptic storyline plays out in a relatively convincing manner. Imagine if all technology of the past thousand years was suddenly rendered inoperable. Nothing mechanical of any kind works. Even gunpowder is ineffective. People suddenly find themselves back in agricultural society. What happens next is fascinating and thought provoking. I give it a 4.

A Not So Super Prediction

Unless you live under a rock, you must realize tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. In case you don't know, the two teams playing are the New England Patriots and the New York Giants( I've talked to people this week that had no idea). The Patriots, of course, are looking to complete a 19-0 season. The Giants are looking to pull off likely the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. So even if you're not a fan of either of these teams (which for the record, I'm not) it should still be one of the highest rated Super Bowls ever. So, since there probably aren't enough people out there making predictions I figured I'd put mine out there. A lot of people think it' s a good sign for the Giants that they played the Patriots so closely the last week of the regular season. I happen to think that will actually work against them. The worst thing you can do is give Patriots coach Bill Belichick time to prepare (he's had two weeks since the AFC Championship game). The second worst thing is to let him have a lot of recent game film on you. It's even worse if that film happens to be from a game against his team. So, I think the Giants are running into a buzz-saw. It will be close for 3 quarters but in the end the Patriots will make history. Let's call it 38-21.