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

Cantalopes are funny

If you don't believe me, just read this article. Not only is it frickking hilarious, but it pretty much sums up my attitude toward Barry Bonds, except that my attitude toward Bonds includes the word "dickhead."

Black and White

Just a quick post tonight before I go back to bed (a massive nap got away from me).

Check out this. It's an advance image of the teaser poster for Spider-Man 3, probably the most anticipated comic book movie out there right now. Here's the kicker: it's supposedly a color photo. Rumor is that Spidey will be sporting a version of his famous Black costume.

For anyone who doesn't know, Spidey's black costume (which he found in space-long story, don't ask) turns out to be a somewhat psychotic alien symbiot who tries to get Spidey to kill people and generally go on a rampage. After he ditches it (the symbiot is vunerable to sonic waves), the suit finds another poor sap by the name of Eddie Brock and turns into Venom, who became one of Spidey's deadliest and most popular villians. If Sam Rami is indeed going to do a story with the black costume/Venom, this movie will very likely kick severe ass.

This shot looks great. It's gracing the desktop of my computer right now. The only problem is, it's wrong. Check out this fan art of a classic adaptation of the traditional costume. Now, they both look cool, but come on. There's a reason they call it classic, people!

A new outrage

With South Dakota one signature away from outlawing abortion in order to force the recently recreated Supreme Court to revist the issue, I'm going to start the public outcry against what I'm suggesting we call Activist Legislators. Unike Activist Judges who try and legislate from the bench, forcing our society to accept that all people have the same rights and prevent Bush's God-given right to spy on all of us in the tub, Activist Legislators try to adjudicate from Congress. I fully expect the country's politicians to see the parallel and soon start protesting these lawless individuals.

I could rant for hours about the social ass-backwardness of this country and this administration, but it's 1am, and I'm going to bed (I'll make the one exception to say that it's all Caleb's fault). Check out this editorial in the StarTrib for a good, simple opinion on gay marriage. Oh, and Hanberg, if you're reading this, I'll try and give you a call tomorrow (Monday). Sign up for the damn fantasy baseball league, damnit!

Big news for frisbee Joe

So tonight my frisbee team, TBA, had the much-planned meeting to determine how we wanted to approach the season. There was a lot of talk and relatively little beer consumed, and I was actually surprised by how productive we were. But the super cool news for me is that I was chosen as the third team captain. Last year we worked with two captains, and both those guys were reelected, and I got the third spot. This is the first time that I've been a captain for a team on this level. I was nominated for captain of GOP for my senior year, but didn't get it (out of four nominations, the two guys who were the best choices got the spots, so I was ok with that). But this was somewhat of a surprise, since I hadn't really thought about the possibility of three captains, and if I had I wouldn't have figured on getting the last spot myself. I'm super excited about it, although I think it'll take me a while to get into the captain mindset. An interesting season awaits. Hopefully I won't go mad with power.

Look out, Java!

Ha! I have fixed the damn super-spacing issue that has been haunting me for months! I'm going to put this on my resume and get a job as a IT troubleshooter.

You heard me: Curling fucking Rocks!

It's the sensation that sweeps the Olympics every four years. Curling rules. For reasons why, click here. Also, look for Erik Hanberg in the stands looking post-orgasmic as he witnesses Olympic curling firsthand not once, but twice.

Hanberg! Steal a Gold Medal!

Waves of jealousy go out to Mr. Erik Hanberg, who has got to be leaving soon for Turino, where he will be taking in the Olympics in just a few days. I don't know how he's going to cope, because the last few times he's been here he's called The Grand (the movie theater he runs) somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 times a minute. I hope he'll be able to relax and enjoy the games, because I don't think he'll be able to do that from Italy.

I think he'll be seeing two Curling matches, a US hockey game, downhill skiing and ski jumping while he's there. Aside from just hanging out and making everyone who knows him sick with envy.

Look out, WTO-Kreuser's coming

So $1100-odd later, I've bought the tickets. Kathreen and I will be in Geneva from March 13-20 visiting Mr. Andrew Eppig, who has promised to show us the sounds, sights and wonders of Geneva, which has some sort of deal with all media agencies that it will be referred to as an "international city". I'm just assuming that last part because whenever I look for info on it that's invariably what comes up.

Anyway, I'm super psyched, as I haven't been out of the country since going to Japan to see my sister in May of '03, and I haven't been out of MN (other than Wisconsin, and that doesn't count) since my annual Potlach/visit Hanberg trip last July.

The best at what he does

You know, with taking a bullet at the end of last season and his plucky trek across the island with the tailies to get back to the camp, I had started to think that maybe Sawyer had lost his edge. Without his "stash" to create conflict over, there just weren't as many clashes between him and people. And with the introduction of queen Bitch Ana-Lucia and the huge, badass Mr. Eko, I kind of thought Sawyer might be getting kicked off the A team. I thought he'd gone soft, getting chummy with Jin and Michael on the way back.

No longer. Holy Shit, that was probably the best written episode of Lost all season. Kathreen and I sat and watched and tried to figure out the con while it was going on-not that it helped any. I think the only time we got ahead of the curve was in figuring out the accomplice. For those of you who aren't watching Lost...start. Right now. Pay whatever money you need to get caught up, because this is the best show on tv. Period. Now the new Sheriff has all the guns, and as he says himself "I'm not a good guy."

Are you sure that was the Seahawks?

My sympathies to all the Seahawk fans out there on losing the Super Bowl. It was odd because it looked like the 'Hawks were channeling the Vikings of the last several years (not this last one, because they sucked). First, they got screwed by the refs. I'm sorry, Roethlisberger did not get the football into the endzone on that dive. His head, yes. The football, no (well, after he had been down for 30 seconds). Also, that was the cheapest offensive pass interference call I've seen since Moss was in town. I know the receiver put his hand on the guy and made it look like a push off, but the amount of force was clearly so negligable that the defender didn't even rock backwards on his feet. Since Roethlisberger's run was on 3rd down, we can call this an 11 point swing (+7 to Seattle for the touchdown, and -4 to Pittsburgh for kicking a field goal instead of getting into the endzone). That ties the game and sends it into overtime, where the championship gets to be decided by a coin toss (yippee!). But it would have at least been exciting.

However, you can't blame it all on the refs. Like the Vikes, the Seahawks compounded the officiating mistakes by making two boneheaded decisions. First, Holmgren's decision not to go for the 4th & inches in the second quater. I know he was on his own 25 or whatever, but it's the biggest game of the year and he should have known his defense couldn't hold Pittsburgh back forever (up until that point they had done a fantastic job). Madden & Michales said Holmgren couldn't risk giving the ball up so close to the goal, that it would swing momentum. But then the Steelers took the ball and drove in for their non-touchdown touchdown. I'm sorry, but 4 & inches (especially the short inches that it was) should be a no-brainer in the NFL, wherever you are on the field. The other boneheadedness came out during the 'Hawks 2-minute drill, when they wasted a ridiculous amount of time trying to get one play off. Hasselbeck audibled through I think the entire playbook, and Holmgren appearently kept calling in new plays. It was a moment worthy of Denny Green, who is widely acknowledged as the worst clock manager on the planet.

So it was half the refs fault and half Seattle's fault. I have to put the Steelers as a distant third in terms of factors that decided the game.