I think it is because of the sloppy play, over-abundance of yellow flags, and preponderance of stupid pointless and silly celebrations that I have had waning interest in football over the last few years. This last season seems to have been particularly boring, but that may just be due to the fact that the Packers totally sucked ass.
All of that said, I am currently watching the Cincinnati vs Pittsburgh game. The level of hatred that the Bengal's fans have towards the Steelers is a thing of beauty to start with. Then early in the game, the Steelers knocked the Bengal's QB out of the game. This just feeds their hatred. The players are all on edge and have been on the brink of fighting after several plays. On top of that, the game is still pretty close (0 - 3 as I type, but the Bengal's are driving).
The fans are in to it. The players are in to it. This game has a level of intensity that I would like to see more of in football. This is exciting to watch, even though I don't particularly care who wins.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Milwaukee Admirals Game
Last night, Lisa and I went to see the Milwaukee Admirals play against the Omaha Knights. It was a fun night.
The night started with dinner at Buck Bradley's. This was our first time to this bar. It is an old bar on a street full of historic buildings, and is very nice. The bar keeps a lot of its historic charm on the inside. The beer selection is great, and the food is very good. I had a rueben, a cup of chili, and two tappers of Guinness. Lisa had a BBQ chicken sandwich, a cup of the soup of the day, and a Sprecher root beer.
After dinner, we walked over to the Bradley Center for the hockey game. The first period, the Admirals did not look that great. On offense, they couldn't keep the puck in the zone, and they weren't really making any shots on goal. Things on defense were not that much better. The Knights actually were able to keep the puck in the zone, and were able to make a lot of shots on goal. The Admirals goalie really kept them in the game the first period, saving each shot on goal. A few good hard body checks started to get the Admirals fired up, and tightened up, and with just under a minute or two left in the period, they scored the first goal of the game.
First period break had some pee-wee hockey. Very cute!
For the second and third periods, the Admirals were back in the game. The were playing much tighter. The ended up scoring a power-play goal, but then gave up a power-play goal to the Knights. With less than two minutes left, the Knights pulled their goalie, leading to an empty net goal for the Admirals. Final score: 3-1 in favor of the Admirals.
With hockey, there is often a fight or two. Last night, there were two. The first one was a dud, with the two guys squaring off for quite some time before a punch was even thrown, and then they weren't even thrown that hard. Lame! For the second fight, an Admiral checked a Knight hard into the boards and it looked like he may have elbowed him in the head in the process. The crybaby Knight took offense to that and came out swinging. This one quickly ended up being a good old fashion face punching where two guys grab each other and start pounding on each others heads for a while. Great fun! The Knight player was bloodied up a bit, and got a nice sound harassing from the crowd when his ugly bloody mug was put on the screen.
All in all, it was a good game (at least after the sloppy play of the first period). We had a good night.
Currently listening to - Deliver Me from the album "Beneath...Between...Beyond..." by Static-X
The night started with dinner at Buck Bradley's. This was our first time to this bar. It is an old bar on a street full of historic buildings, and is very nice. The bar keeps a lot of its historic charm on the inside. The beer selection is great, and the food is very good. I had a rueben, a cup of chili, and two tappers of Guinness. Lisa had a BBQ chicken sandwich, a cup of the soup of the day, and a Sprecher root beer.
After dinner, we walked over to the Bradley Center for the hockey game. The first period, the Admirals did not look that great. On offense, they couldn't keep the puck in the zone, and they weren't really making any shots on goal. Things on defense were not that much better. The Knights actually were able to keep the puck in the zone, and were able to make a lot of shots on goal. The Admirals goalie really kept them in the game the first period, saving each shot on goal. A few good hard body checks started to get the Admirals fired up, and tightened up, and with just under a minute or two left in the period, they scored the first goal of the game.
First period break had some pee-wee hockey. Very cute!
For the second and third periods, the Admirals were back in the game. The were playing much tighter. The ended up scoring a power-play goal, but then gave up a power-play goal to the Knights. With less than two minutes left, the Knights pulled their goalie, leading to an empty net goal for the Admirals. Final score: 3-1 in favor of the Admirals.
With hockey, there is often a fight or two. Last night, there were two. The first one was a dud, with the two guys squaring off for quite some time before a punch was even thrown, and then they weren't even thrown that hard. Lame! For the second fight, an Admiral checked a Knight hard into the boards and it looked like he may have elbowed him in the head in the process. The crybaby Knight took offense to that and came out swinging. This one quickly ended up being a good old fashion face punching where two guys grab each other and start pounding on each others heads for a while. Great fun! The Knight player was bloodied up a bit, and got a nice sound harassing from the crowd when his ugly bloody mug was put on the screen.
All in all, it was a good game (at least after the sloppy play of the first period). We had a good night.
Currently listening to - Deliver Me from the album "Beneath...Between...Beyond..." by Static-X
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Helped Dad on the 40 Ford Today
I got a chance to help my dad work on the cars today. This is the first time in a long time that I was able to get out there and help him. We worked on the 1940 Ford. First we finished mounting the seat belts. Then we worked on the air conditioning.
Dad had already gotten a lot of the air conditioning setup. The compressor and evaporator are both mounted. He also has the AC unit mounted under the dash inside the car. The hoses were run, but we don't have them crimped yet or anything. We marked up the hoses, and them took them back out so we could get them crimped up. Then we mounted the front grill and re-mounted the radiator and tightened everything up. All in all, it was a fairly productive few hours of work.
Dad had already gotten a lot of the air conditioning setup. The compressor and evaporator are both mounted. He also has the AC unit mounted under the dash inside the car. The hoses were run, but we don't have them crimped yet or anything. We marked up the hoses, and them took them back out so we could get them crimped up. Then we mounted the front grill and re-mounted the radiator and tightened everything up. All in all, it was a fairly productive few hours of work.
Bryan Adams to perform at quake concert in Pakistan
Bryan Adams to perform at quake concert in Pakistan:
Canadian pop singer Bryan Adams is to perform at a fundraising concert for quake victims this month in Karachi, becoming the first Western pop star to play in Pakistan since the start of the "war on terror," organisers said.
Some 20,000 people are expected to attend the concert planned at the huge Arabian City club on the outskirts of Karachi, Iqbal said. He did not give any date for the show.
This is also the first time since about 1989 that Bryan Adams will be playing for a crowd larger than about 1000... OK, there was that time he played in The Wall at the Berlin Wall site, but those folks were not there to see him (or the Scorpions (though that at least made since, Berlin being in Germany and all), or any other washed up act that was included...)
Adams, who is also popular among the educated Pakistani youth, had planned to visit Pakistan before the September 11 attacks but cancelled the trip after the attacks.
Well, they can't be all that educated if they are in to Bryan Adams...
Canadian pop singer Bryan Adams is to perform at a fundraising concert for quake victims this month in Karachi, becoming the first Western pop star to play in Pakistan since the start of the "war on terror," organisers said.
Some 20,000 people are expected to attend the concert planned at the huge Arabian City club on the outskirts of Karachi, Iqbal said. He did not give any date for the show.
This is also the first time since about 1989 that Bryan Adams will be playing for a crowd larger than about 1000... OK, there was that time he played in The Wall at the Berlin Wall site, but those folks were not there to see him (or the Scorpions (though that at least made since, Berlin being in Germany and all), or any other washed up act that was included...)
Adams, who is also popular among the educated Pakistani youth, had planned to visit Pakistan before the September 11 attacks but cancelled the trip after the attacks.
Well, they can't be all that educated if they are in to Bryan Adams...
Blue Jays ship Koskie to Brewers
Blue Jays ship Koskie to Brewers:
Third baseman Corey Koskie was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night for minor league pitcher Brian Wolfe.
On the surface, this looks like a pretty good trade. The Brewers are weak in the hot corner, and they aren't really giving up much to make that corner stronger. IIRC, Koskie played well when he was with the Twins. We'll have to see how this one works out...
Third baseman Corey Koskie was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night for minor league pitcher Brian Wolfe.
On the surface, this looks like a pretty good trade. The Brewers are weak in the hot corner, and they aren't really giving up much to make that corner stronger. IIRC, Koskie played well when he was with the Twins. We'll have to see how this one works out...
Friday, January 06, 2006
More Tools
A while back, I created a post about some of the tools that I have found to be useful. However, these tools were mostly Firefox extensions. There are basically two big problems with these types of tools. First off, Firefox is not really a Mac OS X native browser. Many of the usual Mac OS services just don't work with it. Second, a lot of these extensions are kind of clumsy. Thus, I am reviewing other tools.
ecto is a full featured desktop blogging client for Mac OS X and Windows. Obviously, I am trying out the Mac OS X version. I am using it to create this post. It has a 21 demo. If I like it, I will pony up the measly $17.95 for it. So far, it seems like a very nice tool.
Pulp Fiction is actually a tool that I have been using a registered copy of for quite some time, but I stopped using it for a while to try some other tools. It is a very nice RSS reader, and I am going back to using it full time. If you are looking for a good RSS reader, and are a Mac user, I would suggest checking it out.
Currently listening to - City of Blinding Lights from the album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" by U2
ecto is a full featured desktop blogging client for Mac OS X and Windows. Obviously, I am trying out the Mac OS X version. I am using it to create this post. It has a 21 demo. If I like it, I will pony up the measly $17.95 for it. So far, it seems like a very nice tool.
Pulp Fiction is actually a tool that I have been using a registered copy of for quite some time, but I stopped using it for a while to try some other tools. It is a very nice RSS reader, and I am going back to using it full time. If you are looking for a good RSS reader, and are a Mac user, I would suggest checking it out.
Currently listening to - City of Blinding Lights from the album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" by U2
I Won't be Switching
In his keynote address opening the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bill Gates highlighted some of the "features" that will be in Vista.
such as a built-in photo editor that can quickly touch up digital photos before they can be shared—also maintaining an original should a user want to go back.
Can anyone say "iPhoto"? Its been shipping with all new Macs for years.
The photo editing and search features are combined in what Microsoft calls Memories, which allows a user to archive and then find photos and videos, searching by date, tags or keywords, the executives said.
Sounds a lot like some of the capabilities of "Spotlight" to me.
These nifty little features are neat, and some of them probably leap-frog what Apple currently has on the Macs. Of course, a lot of them are currently attainable through third party tools. However, lack of consumer features isn't really Microsoft's biggest problem. What Microsoft really needs to work on is security. It is simply way too easy for anyone to accidently get a virus, or ad-ware, or spy-ware, or other such mal-ware on to a Windows machine. I don't really have that problem with my Macs or with my Linux machine. Partially, the Macs and Linux box are protected by being less of a target. However, they are also protected architecturally by being a harder target to attack, especially the Macs.
Of course, even if MS did do more to secure their OS, I still wouldn't switch. Just based on user experience alone, going from a Mac to a Windows machine would be like going from a BMW to an entry level Ford. Still, since I am forced to use a Windows machine at work, I sure would like to see them do more in the security arena and less in the "flash and glitz" arena.
Currently listening to - Burning Inside from the album "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" by Ministry
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Not the Right Way to Start a New Year
On the way to church on Sunday, we saw that the whole block of 3rd street just south of Main St. was blocked off with yellow crime scene tape. Seemed rather odd in this little town. While we do have a problem here and there, we don't really have that much crime in these parts, at least not the type that involves shutting a street down.
As it turns out, some idiot ran down his wife. Not exactly what one would call "getting the new year off on the right foot."
As it turns out, some idiot ran down his wife. Not exactly what one would call "getting the new year off on the right foot."
I Need a Drink!
According to a recent study, raising taxes on alcohol does not necessarily lead to reduced consumption, and in some cases may actually increase consumption. According to the study, if a "price increase" (that is, a tax) is even across the board, consumption is lowered slightly, and if the tax is weighted towards the lower end drinks, consumption is lowered even more. However, if the tax is weighted towards more expensive alcohol, consumption actually rises. Their suggestion? Target taxes at lower end drinks.
They said targeting cheaper drinks would be better than price rises across the board.
I have a better suggestion. Forget the tax. Let people drink if they want. It is really none of the government's business. It is not government's role to engage in such social engineering.
But the period has also seen a rise in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related deaths - more than 6,500 people die each year from conditions such as liver disease and alcohol poisoning.
Such problems are certainly a consequence of drinking. However, they are consequences that the person choosing to drink can determine if they want to accept. The corollary to that is that they are also a consequence that the drinker should expect to pay for themselves. If we truly want freedom from governmental social engineering attempts, we also have to take responsibility for our own actions, and not expect government to pay for our liver treatments and rehab.
This should apply equally to all sorts of dangerous activities. The argument often used to tax tobacco, or alcohol, or ban pot, or this that or the next thing is that it ends up costing the government a lot of money in medical expenses and such. That is a valid concern. However, the solution is not some sort of stupid social engineering. Rather, the solution is to make people pay for their own bad decisions rather than making the tax payers pay.
They said targeting cheaper drinks would be better than price rises across the board.
I have a better suggestion. Forget the tax. Let people drink if they want. It is really none of the government's business. It is not government's role to engage in such social engineering.
But the period has also seen a rise in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related deaths - more than 6,500 people die each year from conditions such as liver disease and alcohol poisoning.
Such problems are certainly a consequence of drinking. However, they are consequences that the person choosing to drink can determine if they want to accept. The corollary to that is that they are also a consequence that the drinker should expect to pay for themselves. If we truly want freedom from governmental social engineering attempts, we also have to take responsibility for our own actions, and not expect government to pay for our liver treatments and rehab.
This should apply equally to all sorts of dangerous activities. The argument often used to tax tobacco, or alcohol, or ban pot, or this that or the next thing is that it ends up costing the government a lot of money in medical expenses and such. That is a valid concern. However, the solution is not some sort of stupid social engineering. Rather, the solution is to make people pay for their own bad decisions rather than making the tax payers pay.
Kolb is Back!
Adding Dan Kolb as a setup man for Turnbow is a big step in the right direction. With the exception of Turnbow, the Brewers' bullped was pretty weak last year. This is good news ideed. For the first time in a long time, the Brewers are actually moving in the right direction in the off season.
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