Joe, did you go to Geneva?

Yes, I did. And I know I should post about it. And I will, soon. But I work at 6am tomorrow, and I'm going to bed.

Kong is King

King Kong comes out on DVD today, in single disc and two disc "special edition" versions. But because I know PJ (not personally, mind you), I figured I'd look around online to see if there was a special extended edition planned, a la LotR. And indeed, in this interview, PJ says that they're just waiting for Universal's OK to start putting it together for later this year (hmm, what time of year did the LotR ones come out again?). Also, he mentions that the super-happy-fun LotR ginormous box set will be something that will probably happen when the new HD DVD systems get launched. If you've never heard me describe the Character Farewells that Barry Osborn showed a theater full of people at the end of a speech, well...you're missing out on a five to ten minute ramble that ends with me saying they're the funniest damn things ever and I want to own them. Word is that they would be included on this hypothetical box set.

*Sigh* Looks like New Line is going to be getting another $100 or so off me in the next five years.

News Via Hanberg

So I had no idea that Israel's elections were taking place yesterday/today until I read Mr. Hanberg's blog saying that he hadn't heard anything before he went to bed. Well, exit polls are showing that Sharon's centralist Kadima Party claimed the most seats in the Knesset, with Labour second and Likud fourth (third is the Yisrael Beitenu Party, which is appearently so unknown that all the info I've seen on it says that it's made up primarily of Russian Immigrants-let the Anti-Commie insane conspiracy rhetoric start now!).

This is pretty big stuff, since this is the first time in 30 years that the government won't be formed by Labour or Likud. Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert has said that the government will redefine and solidify Israel's borders over the next four years. Not a surprise, seeing as how this election is being seen as an affirmation of Sharon's decision to pull all Israeli settlers out of the Gaza strip.

Personally, I think this could be a very good thing, depending on how the coalition comes together. During my senior year at Carleton, I took a history class called the Modern Middle East, and I remember the first time I looked at a map of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank that showed all the settlements. It was ridiculous. There were so many settlements, on the West Bank in particular, that I felt it was a brilliant piece of propaganda by Israel to convince the rest of the world that it was a piece of Palestinian territory. I thought pulling out of Gaza was a good move, and if Israel surrenders land on the West Bank over the next four years I think it will be a big step toward making the area more secure.

However, we now have a centrist party in control in Israel, and a Hamas-led government for the Palestinians. Hmmm. Things may get interesting here. And not necessarily the good kind of interesting, either.

Read more here.

It's Amazing...

...What a little exercise can do. In preparation for my first frisbee practice this weekend, I went running for the first time in awhile (before you get the wrong idea, I've been doing other exercises as well, it's just today that I finally went running). Man, it wiped me out a bit, but after a bit of streching and getting my wind back, I'm not feeling too bad. Hopefully this means my first practice as Captain won't be spent gasping for breath on the sidelines.

1,854

According to ESPN, 1,854 out of approximately 3 million brackets that people filled out on its website for the NCAA Tournament had George Mason advancing to the Final Four. Of those, only four people-that's right, four-chose all four Final Four teams correctly. The winner gets $10,000. How fricking lucky are these four guys? And the guy who's in the lead right now picked George Mason accidentally. He thought it was George Washington.

Read more here.

Quote of the Day

"What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you simply born with a heart full of neutrality?"

-Zap Brannigan
"Brannigan Begin Again"
Futurama

"I want these motherfucking snakes off the motherfucking plane!"

Sorry about the lack of posts from Geneva, but the day after the one post I was able to get up, Mr. Eppig's internet went irrevocably down for the rest of our visit. I didn't even get to check my email (except for 3 minutes at CERN, the physics lab where Andrew works). Anyway, I've got a ton of stuff I want to post about, but I can't pass this one up. I'd heard about Snakes on a Plane on AICN, but I didn't really pay that much attention. But now New Line has gone back to do some more shooting on the film because of the massive, unexplainable fan base that has suddenly materialized for this movie. The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, and so many people wanted him to say the above line that it actually will be in the movie. People are weird, but I'm actually thinking this will be a pretty cool flick. Read more about it here.

Made It!

Well, I had no time to post the four or five things I've been meaning to do before I flew out to Geneva yesterday, so I thought I would let everyone know that I have arrived in Switzerland, in the sense that I got there and left again. I'm in France right now (Andrew's apartment is in France, where it's cheaper to live). Haven't been anywhere yet, but then again I'm still reeling from the flights (kids on flights suck, and we had to run to make our connection after sitting on the tarmac in MSP for an hour that ate up our layover time). Anyway, more info as I'm able to post. And when I get back, hopefully I'll have posts on Kirby, Ultraviolet (for the love of god, don't see it!), and other stuff.

Live Draft

My fantasy baseball draft is happening in just under 2 hours. I'm very excited, as I really like fantasy baseball when I played last year for the first time. I'm also the commissioner of the league, and I put a lot of work into actually getting everyone into the league. Hopefully I don't draft from the bottom of the order this year.

Help!

I'm man enough to admit when I have a problem. Unless it involves opening something, lifting something, or getting directions to somewhere. But I can admit this: I'm addicted to itunes.

It just happened so fast. I knew when I got my new computer for X-mas that I'd get itunes, because I'd seen it on friend's computers and it looked easy to use, with a good number of options. I also liked the idea of being able to buy songs for a buck (as opposed to paying a monthly fee, which I'm always wary of). But after using it for a couple months now, I'm starting to get scared.

It's just so damn easy. I think I've bought like 6 or 7 songs in the past two weeks. And there's no reason to stop, because that's still only like $7, i.e. massively affordable. I loved downloading free music from the various file sharing systems along with everyone else in college, but with the demise of a lot of those programs, combined with the fact that itunes downloads the songs in like 2 seconds with predictable quality, I have no problem with paying for music. But now I'm afraid I may not be able to stop. Help! Help me before I spend money I can easily afford on music I like again!


ps Just in case you're wondering what I've bought recently, here's a list:
Bom Bom Bom-Living Things
Nth Degree-Morningwood
Gold Lion-Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Come Baby Come-K7
Nothing is Wrong-Gomez
The Road Leads where its Lead-Secret Machines
Beautiful-Moby
Aint No Easy Way-Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Three Strange Days-School of Fish
All Mixed Up-311