what now?

Euro 2008 is over. I know that you don’t care but I do. There’s always a let down after a big tournament, and after 3 weeks of really great games, there will be an even bigger drop than usual. I’m glad Spain won on a lot of levels. Not the greatest final but it did demonstrate the gulf in class between the two teams. For greater insight into the final read these two articles from Soccernet.com contributors:

Spain
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=552825&sec=euro2008&root=euro2008&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1&cc=5901

Germany
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=552769&sec=euro2008&root=euro2008&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2&cc=5901

There is another gap in my life as well. The Tony Kornheiser show is on hiatus as TK Stack Money goes on vacation and prepares for Monday Night Football. His show via podcast is truly one of the highlights of my day. I’ll have to wait until January for more craptastic entertainment.

In lieu of that, I went podcast hunting. Here’s what I found:

Smodcast. Kevin Smith’s podcast with cohort Scott Mosier. The first one I downloaded was absolutely dreadful. It was Kevin and his daughter doing a special Father’s Day edition. UGH!!! I went back and got an older one, which was a little better. I’m going to give next week’s a shot and go from there. I’m on the fence on this one.

Diggnation. This video podcast focuses on articles from digg.com. Funny funny funny. The hosts drinking beer during the show adds a fantastic element to the show. Kevin Rose reminds me a lot of Jim from the Office.

A sister video podcast of Diggnation is the Totally Rad Show. I’m about halfway through my first one. It’s OK. Review of movies and gaming and tech culture. The hosts are almost dorky cool, but don’t quite pull it off. I’m going to give this another try. A lot of the stuff I’m not even familiar with so that might be an issue.

Finally, I watched the Onion video podcast. I almost peed my pants it was so funny. That one I’ll definitely get into.

Other ones I will be checking out, Ask a Ninja, Attack of the Show, and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.

My ipod nano is sweet. The video quality is quite remarkable. Yes it’s tiny but amazing nonetheless. I can sit on the porch while Larry plays and be responsible while being entertained. I’m planning to load it up for my drive to Mississippi later this month. Erin is going to be a lot of driving.

Finally, I’ve started BSG season 3. The human insurgency thread was interesting in that the question is raised, What will you do for freedom? The humans wanted to be freed from the Cylon occupation and the envelope kept getting pushed until suicide bombing became a real option. Everyone is against terrorism these days, and I am too, but I also realize that part of the foundation of this country is a group that rose up against those that they deemed to be the oppressors, used a mix of standard and guerilla tactics and pushed the colonizers out. Just something to keep in mind.

And on that pleasant note, I gotta go.

another week living the dream

The Euro 2008 quarterfinals were amazing.

Portugal were overrun by Germany and yet still had a chance to equalize at the end. Scolari really pissed me off with his subs. Simao had to have been one of the disappointments of the entire tournament. Just a waste.

For the Croatia/Turkey game, I wasn’t surprised. I gave up after the first extra period. It was painful to watch. I figured Turkey would win on penalties. Two goals in two minutes was shocking though. I have heard comments that Turkey are this year's Greece. Well we'll see v Germany. Between suspensions and injuries, they'll barely have a team. Ff they win on wed, they will beat whoever they play in the final. A Croatia v Germany rematch would have been quite interesting but you don't mess with destiny.

Holland v Russia showed what a team can do against individuals. Holland fell apart in the second half and were lucky to even be in the game. Arshavin has to be one of the most influential players since Zidane. He makes Russia world class and can single handedly unbalance defenses. Spain didn’t face him the first time around and I feel that Russia will knock out Spain.

The Spain v Italy game went exactly like it was supposed to. Italy defended and Spain couldn't break them down. The only surprise was that Spain held their nerve in the PK's. I would still like that two hours of my life back, but Spain v Russia, partII should be very interesting.

I watched a little bit of The Office, Season 3 this weekend. Uncomfortably funny as usual. The merger plot line is rich in humor and the show made the most of it. How great is Dwight? Tool does not even begin to describe him. I love the dry, sarcastic humor of the background characters. And don’t forget Pretzel Day. I don’t even have that to look forward to.

I find it interesting that my disparaging comments re: Dunkin Donuts raised the ire of the some readers out there. I’m not dissing Dunkin because I work for a competitor. I just hated that commercial. I also find it interesting that since then, Crystal and Brandon have become fans of Dunkin on Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, the more I explore, the more I realize how much time I could waste on that site. Between chatting, reviewing other people’s profiles, uploading pics, creating bumper stickers and taking the never ending movie challenge, I would have to quit my job and get divorced. I want my page to be DYNAMIC!!! What a loser I am.

i'm thrilled and annoyed

Watching Euro 2008 has been exhilarating. After the first day or two, the tournament has really taken off and has provided riveting drama. If you have not seen the end of Turkey v Czech Republic, do yourself a favor and find it on footytube.com or youtube.com or ESPN360.com. Unbelievable. The quarterfinals start Thursday and the big question is: Can Spain deliver? I’ll be watching for sure.

During the TV coverage of Euro 2008, this ad for Dunkin Donuts has been shown. It has to be one of the worst ads in the history of television. I would embed it in my post if I knew how and it would probably be more dynamic, but here’s the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eGD5mA-mD8Y

What exactly are you trying to convey? So one sip can help your friend move and then you can enjoy a job well done. IT WON’T BE COLD!!!! I’m not knocking because it’s a competitor, because I enjoy Starbucks Frappucinos and Panera IC Chip drinks. I’m knocking because it’s idiotic, incoherent and really, really annoying.

Speaking of annoying things, I have officially ceased to listen to the radio for music. I had been holding out for the Impact 89 FM, but no more. Every time I turn it on, it’s EMO crap or faux rap or just garbage, not Garbage. I will continue to listen to their specialty shows because provide a great range of music and entertainment, but I’m not searching the dial.

Sam’s post was pretty interesting. Lots of technological influences, which I would not have guessed. I’m hoping to have time later this week to come up with my top 5.

I’ll be working on a new poll over the next couple of days. TTFN.

in the dark

Sunday night our power went out. Not that big of a deal. I mean I could have wasted a couple of hours playing FIFA or online poker, but instead I simply sat in the candlelight and contemplated a) how much of my life I waste entertaining myself and b) what life must have been like before electricity. After sunset, what? You could try to do things by candlelight but good luck with that. After this time of reflection, I increased the backlight on my ipod and read until I fell asleep.

Being unplugged Sunday night brought into focus how I’m plugging back into pop culture. I actually knew that Angelina Jolie supposedly had her twins, but that turned out to be a hoax and so the world have to wait for more progeny from Bradgelina or whatever their celebrity couple nickname is. And this is an actual story. I find myself visiting radaronline and entertainment sections of major media outlets more and more frequently. I find myself hungering for gossip and celebrity train wrecks. Got to get this under control. I can only waste so much time.

As always, I’m behind on movies. I finally saw Superbad. Funny, raunchy, homo-erotic on several levels. As I was watching , a nagging thought kept bugging me until I finally realized what it was: this was American Pie, which was something lese before it. Buddy flick about the transition from high school to college and all the angst and awkwardness and turmoil that accompanies it. The dialogue was hilarious and the cops were a riot. McLovin was a great character, while the main characters had a fabulous dynamic and their banter fueled the movie. I was disturbed by the morning after the sleep over. No sleep over I ever attended went anything like that. Tom, back me up on that.

Finally, Euro 2008 started on Saturday. The games have been interesting so far, in that the favorites have not really lived up to their billing, and the hosts have been very unlucky. The goals have not been there, and it comes down to a lack of quality finishing. Several decent attempts have not even tested the goal keeper. The tournament goes marching on and I’m hoping some of the big teams hit the high notes. I’ll be watching Russia v Spain this afternoon after work. Sorry Aleks, I’m pulling for Spain. Maybe Russia will be runner up in the group.

Finally, for real, Born of Frustration by James is playing as I write. If there is a theme song for my life, that is it.