Time Warp Discovery

I have found a way to warp your self into the future!

By playing Sim City 4, I was able to skip ahead 3 hours into the future. This astonishing feat was accomplished twice today. First, I was sitting at my computer at 9am, and what seemed like seconds later, it was 10am. Later on in the day, I pushed the envelope and warped forward by 2 hours from 11am to 1pm.

Some pessimists would say that I simply lost track of time while playing Sim City 4, but I would dare say that time moves by a little faster while playing Sim City. I recommend buying Sim City 4 and conducting your own time warp experiments.

Super Bowl results

Yet another Super Bowl has come and gone. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beating up on the Oakland Raiders, it brought me back to the good ol' days when big game was a blowout, and viewers were bored stiff in the 4th quarter.

Even though I was hoping for the Raiders to win, mostly because Rich Gannon has led my Fantasy Football team the last few years, I didn't leave the Super Bowl experience empty handed. Every year, I create betting pool to see what the final score will be. We put in $50 in the pot ($0.50/square), and I WON! I walked away with $36 since $14 went to the person getting the halftime score. But I was the big winner, and the obligatory "money bath" was taken. I have all kinds of plans for my $36. Now I can finally Super Size my dinner!

***Editor's Note***
Since 4 spots went unsold on the grid, there was only $48 in the pot. $12 went to the halftime winner, but I still won $36.
-steve

Coolest People

I have decided to mention my top 3 coolest people. Here are my top three choices:

3. Lenny Kravitz - I love Lenny's music, and Lenny has been jamming for the least 15 years, which means he has the staying power. Throw in that he dated/was married to/had sex with Lisa Bonnet, and you have to tip your hat to this guy. On top of all that, he has the quiet confidence to pull off the several different types of looks and styles, including his signature dreds. Oh, and did I mention that his mom was Roxie Rocker, from The Jeffersons? That’s cool.

2. Rusty Day - I knew Rusty from 3rd Floor Graham, during my sophomore year at UNC. Rusty had one incredible characteristic going for him. He could apply himself to be successful in whatever you put in front of him. Put him on your basketball team, you win. Give him a complicated mathematical equation, he would figure it out. Show him a brand new computer game; he would master it within minutes. And after all of that, he would drink you under the table, then go home with whichever woman he wanted.

1. Jesse James - Not the outlaw, but the car modification expert. I highly suggest that you see his show Monster Garage on the Discovery Channel. The premise being that he takes ordinary vehicles, and turns them into something with another purpose. He has turned a Mustang into a high-speed lawnmower, a limousine into a fire truck, and a Chevy Impala into a zamboni. Jesse runs the show, and doesn't mind telling you. He is 100% attitude because he doesn't accept failure. Jesse has recently taken the top spot on my coolest person list.

Funny Site

Thanks to my good friend, Chuck, I have a new website to visit for pure mindless entertainment. You may remember Chuck as the best man in such weddings as....mine.

Take a gander at Homestar Runner. You'll probably get an idea of how warped my sense of humor is since I can get entertained by a minature super-villain wannabe who wears boxing gloves and a Mexican wrestler mask. (Luchadore, for all the wrestling fans) Strong Bad's emails are top-notch, so they come highly recommended.

The geek in me noticed that the Flash animation is incredible, but my internal 8 year-old loves the humor. Enjoy!

DVD Rental, with NO late fees!

I used to be a slave to the Blockbuster video rental machine. I would get the urge to see a movie at home, head to my neighborhood Blockbuster to satisfy my viewing entertainment needs. One would think that my movie thirst would get quickly quenched, but the process would usually turn ugly shortly there after. Once inside the Blockbuster, I had to compete with everyone else to choose among a limited supply of movies, so if a popular movie was out of stock, I was out of luck until my next visit. If I was able to find a viable movie option, then I would have to pay close to $5 a movie. Finally, I had to return to the BB to return the movie. If late, then I must pay BB yet again. It was an endless cycle.

Assuming I would live the rest of my life under BB's dictatorial control, I accepted this fate without alternatives. Then, like a ray of sunshine brightening a dreary, rainy day, I found NetFlix. NetFlix is an online movie rental service, where you choose from an extensive collection of movies. You select movies from their web site, and then they mail to you with their own self-addressed, return envelope that you can drop in the mail for returning whenever you choose. You pay a nominal monthly fee, and start off with an upgradeable 3-movie rotation. This means that you can have 3 movies in your possession, from time the movie leaves their warehouse until it gets returned back to them. The beauty of this is that you have unlimited rentals. The only limitation is the U.S. Postal Service. We have been members of NetFlix for a couple months now. I am extremely happy with their service and hope I never have to become an indentured servant to the Blockbuster cycle.

***I am in no way affiliated with NetFlix. I just like their service***

The Revolution Will Be Televised...and Digitally Recorded

My life has changed for the better. I now possess a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) which is provided by Time Warner Cable in the form of a cable box receiver at a very reasonable price. Now, instead of having a simple cable box that allows me access to my cable channels, I have that same cable box that doubles as a recorder. Since this new cable box has a hard drive inside, it has the ability to record shows to said hard drive for later playback.

TiVo and Replay TV have been the leaders in the DVR industry, but had their own negatives that prevented me from adding this function to my household. They each had a large startup cost for equipment, plus it used the phone line for updates, neither of which I was too thrilled about. However, Time Warner Cable has recently offered this DVR as part of an upgrade package, without the cost of equipment (subscription only).

Unfortunately, my journey to digital recording bliss came with some hefty obstacles. I went to my friendly neighborhood TWC office to switch my old cable box for a new one with DVR with no problem. When I got home, I hooked it up as instructed without a hint of success. I called TWC's help line, and they said that my box needed replacement. This was tougher than originally thought since I had to leave work early to pick it up in the first place, and wanted to refrain from additional premature recesses from work. In a gesture of irony, TWC provides office hours of 8am-5pm, which are impossible for me since I work. Luckily, I was able to get there the next morning to switch the bad box for a new one. I took it home, hooked it up, and saw the message "Please Call Your Operator" on the display. Sheesh. I left for work and decided to address this when I got home. Upon my return, I see my wife Abby lounging on the couch playing with the new DVR. "Look, what we have," she said. My agonizing journey to digital recording was completed by Abby with a 2-minute phone call to TWC.

Finally, I have my DVR and its very cool. I'm sure I'll post more about its at a later date. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I watched a full hour's worth of SportsCenter in 20 minutes this morning thanks to my new toy.

Popularity Measuring Device

For those of you that think you are popular, I have news for you......You're Not! That goes for you Hollywood types as well as the regular shmoes that usually read my website. Why am I so confident of this fact? Because until you have people grooming their privates in honor of you, then you will always come up short in comparison to David Beckham. Beckham is probably the most popular person in the world right now. Why haven't you heard of him? Because the world is not centralized around the interests of just the United States. He's not that big in the US, but that does not matter since the rest of world knows that he is the best soccer player in the world, not to mention that he's quite easy on the eyes if you know what I mean. For those of you who are still unsure who this guy is, he's married to Victoria Adams, better known as Posh Spice of Spice Girls fame.

If you ever think you are getting popular in your line of work, before your ego gets too large, remember this story and count how many people have sculpted their pubes to look like you. This way you will always maintain your grip with reality.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, today I turned a ripe old age of 29. Can't say that much changed. I don't feel any older. I think that the problem is that 29 is not a milestone age. Of course, next year when I turn 30 all of that will change.

Anyway, why don't we celebrate this festive occasion by listing some folks that share this birthday with me.

-Gerri Halliwell, of Spice Girls fame. Otherwise known as Ginger Spice. Too bad she didn't marry the best soccer player in the world like her groupmate, Posh Spice (Victoria Adams) did, or we would still see her in the news. She was also appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations.
-M. Night Shamalamadingdong, known for triple faking the audience in the movies he directs. I was a big fan of The Sixth Sense, one of the only fans of Unbreakable, and a disappointed fan of Signs (the ending was horrible).
-Asia Carrera If you have to ask who she is, then you never watched The Spice Channel. One of the few p0rn stars that is also a member of Mensa.
-Soleil Moon Frye. That's right, kids. None other than Punky Brewster. The rainbow-clad brat that grew up so much that she needed parts of her reduced when she was 16.
-Lucille Ball. The queen of comedy. I can watch that redhead stuff chocolates into her mouth from an overactive conveyer belt OR fight with an Italian woman while stomping grapes anytime.
-David Robinson. The Admiral. Should have been the poster boy for the NBA. Great work ethic and a class act all around. Finished out his NBA career like everyone dreams: Winning the NBA Championship in his final year, and on the same team he started with.

Social Revolution

I usually consider MTV to be the source of evil in society. They put garbage on their channel and pass it off as the latest fad. They are almost single-handedly responsible for the boy band epidemic. Back in the day, they were on the cutting edge of the music industry by playing the latest songs in a video format. Now, Music Television is the biggest misnomer on cable, since you are hard pressed to find a single music video anywhere. With the inception of The Real World and Road Rules, MTV quickly turned into every other channel in the mid range of my cable selections. With this transition MTV also bowed down to any sponsor that was willing to ante up the cash so their product could be displayed in front of MTV'ers, which would immediately put their product on the "cool list". MTV has become a complete sell out, and provides the opportunity for anyone else that wants to sell out with them.

Despite my angst against MTV, they turned me back into a fan with two simple actions last night during the MTV Video Music Awards. I have provided links to the evidence, and I will let you come up with your own conclusions. I have decided to watch MTV on a more regular basis so I will not miss anything remotely close to the aforementioned pair of actions

Exhibit A ***(Yahoo keeps changing the picture. This should be a picture of Britney Spears kissing Madonna)

Exhibit B ***(Should be Christina Aguilera and Madonna)

There is an underlying social movement that is accumulating because of these events. Beautiful girls everywhere will think that it is not only accepted to make out with other hot girls, but that its cool. For some reason, most males are wired to really enjoying the site of two hot women making out, and I am no exception. If girls making out becomes wide spread, we will see happier men everywhere. We are on our way to a nicer world to live in, so I fully support this trend.

Le Changes

Since my last entry lacked the pizazz of the normal COALM post, I have decided to try it again. This time I'll put a different spin on it. I have decided to translate the last post, "Changes", to French then back to English using Free Translation.com. Here is Changes take two.....

I tired myself to decide which of my brilliant posts would claim the in demand price of Post of the Month. Since person seems never to read my old thing, I needed not another manner otherwise that my archive section current to receive to the preceding posts.

Not to foresee a sentimental farewell to this characteristic as I did in the past, because I do not think that the Post of the Month will be lacked the all.

In his place I furnished links to my site web picture, that is not unfortunately the most reliable one, and to our host, our site web of the Fisherman of Dan.

Hidden Treasure

Today I was surprised by my boss coming in the office with a box full of comic books. He told me that he found them in his in-laws rental house, left behind by the former tenants. He was going to throw them all out, but figured someone at work might be able to tell him if there was any thing of value. Being a geek, I have geek-like tendencies, including comic book collecting. Of course I knew something about comic books, so I jumped into the pile head first. Immediately, I noticed that most of the books were junk. Obscure titles that no one has ever heard of, and a few popular titles like Batman, X-Men, and Wolverine. Unfortunately, looking up the suggested prices on the Internet, I found that none of the books in my boss's box were in demand. Couple of bucks for each. And then....

Excelsior! I found a diamond in the rough. Completely out of place among the other refuse, The Incredible Hulk #180 was staring at me with a familiar look. On further inspection, I noticed that this was the first appearance of Wolverine in a comic book ever. Since Wolvie was only shown in the last panel of the last page, this issue did not have the same asking price as The Incredible Hulk #181, which is the official first appearance of Wolverine. That bad boy comes in at a cool $1,690 for a mint edition. The issue that I found was no slouch, cashing in at around $200.

My boss is now going to try to sell it to a local comic book store. I'll keep you updated on his progress, especially if I get my finder's fee.

So Long, Free Time. I'll Miss You.

Last night I had a send off party for my free time. My free time was about to go away for a long period of time, and I was not sure when it would return to me. So we celebrated and reminisced about the good old days. Leisurely reading books, hanging out with my wife, watching movies, those things would now be memories thanks to a new game I purchased last night entitled City of Heroes which will now replace my old friend, free time.

City of Heroes is an online massive muliplayer game based on the superhero genre. (Right in my wheel house) In COH you create your own superhero, complete with cool costume and even cooler powers. From the extremely involved character creation process you go out and defend this mamoth city from the multitudes of bad guys that are plaguing the lives of the inhabitants. Playing alone is fun enough, but once you team up with your buddies (as I did last night), you will experience what makes this a great game.

I highly recommend playing this game to anyone with even a slight interest in comic book superheroes. However, be forewarned that you will have to sacrifcie your free time as well, since this game is so engrossing. I feel like an addict and I have only played one night.

Great Northwest

Traveling into the Pacific time zone really puts your internal clock through the ringer. After two full nights of sleep, I am finally getting back to normal. However, it was well worth it. Seattle is a great city, especially for those of us looking to be as tourist-y as possible. We had a whirlwind tour and now you get my first hand perspective of this fantastic trip.

Warning: The following post is extensive!

Day 1:
Since Abby and I got to Seattle so late (after midnight, Pacific time) I decided to include our going to bed in this "Day 1" section. First thing after waking up that morning we attempt to take a bus to the waterfront where we are to take our boat trip into Canada. Due to the complexity of the bus schedule and our impatience to learn a new language, we take a cab instead. After a beautiful two hour boat trip, we make it to Victoria, British Columbia. We hop a ride on a double-decker tour bus through the city, and ultimately to Butchart Gardens. What an incredible place! A limestone quarry metamorphizes into a botanical anomaly. Afterwards, we make it back to Victoria's harbor town and enjoy some lunch and a tasty beverage or so at Darby's Pub. We really enjoyed the old English feel of Victoria and spent the afternoon strolling through its streets. Finally, we take a return boat trip to Seattle, where I had this incredible skyline view from Puget Sound. Through some crafty planning by people other than myself, we meet friends, Ed and Kristin at the Crabpot restaurant. A charming place that lets you eat from their troughs pile of food with advanced cutlery like mallets and mini-forks. Luckily, we were within walking distance of our hotel. Our fun filled day had led us into an exhausting evening.

Day 2
We begin our day at Pike's Public Market which features rows and rows of fresh seafood, not to mention fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other assorted delights. This place was a virtual cornucopia. We met up with Dan and Erin at a great sushi restaurant near the waterfront. Unfortunately, it was the hottest place in all of the greater Seattle area. On top of that, everyone was served their food except me. Due to Erin's helpful reminder to the server, I was bestowed a late meal...at no cost! Hurray for me! We were given unfortunate news while at lunch, when we learned that our group trip to the Pyramid Brewery was cancelled since they do not give tours on game day, despite not noting this anywhere. They do provide an outdoor area to purchase and enjoy their tasty beverages at reasonable prices in comparison to ballpark prices. This transitioned nicely into seeing some batting practice at Safeco Field with our group. Knowing that everyone in our group was exhausted, the Seattle Mariners and the Anaheim Angels played the s l o w e s t baseball game ever, completing the game in just over 4 hours. Bedtime was shortly after our bus trip to our hotel.

Day 3:
We begin our day by heading to the monorail station which will take us to the Space Needle. Much too late we learn that the monorail is closed due to a fire. Seattle did provide another bus in lieu of the much anticipated monorail. We make it to the Space Needle which was a lovely view. We could even see our hotel room (highlighted in red) from up there. We made our way to Paul Allen's Experience Music Project. An interesting collection of music of all types and other odd sites. Unfortunately, we were located on the opposite side of Seattle and my dawdling pace at the EMP kept us from making the first pitch of this day's game. In an ironic twist, this game was played at a fever pitch (pun intended). All I remember was sitting down at the beginning of the 2nd inning, and the next thing I knew it was the 8th inning. Baseball can be a cruel mistress. After the game, we found the "meanest restaurant in Seattle" where we had a drink and an unpleasant reception by the bartender. In another post game activity, we walked our way to the Underground tour of Seattle, a highly informative historic tour of Seattle's evolution into the city we know today. Our evening turned into a lengthy search for dinner, completed with a virtual seafood filled "pot of gold" at the end of our rainbow. We made one last trip to the Space Needle for a late night view of the city, then called it a night.

Day 4:
Ed and Kristin met us at our hotel, then we all made our last trip to Pike's Market for breakfast. A fantastic way to complete our Seattle trip with one of the most delicious breakfasts ever. We took our time, and leisurely marked time until we had to go to the airport. Our travel for the rest of the day was met with our good friends, long waits and unexpected delays. Oh well, we still had one of the best vacations ever.

Interesting things I saw:
Breven Knight - Saw the former Stanford basketball standout in the Cincinnati airport on the way to Seattle
Submarine - Saw the top portion of a submarine cruising across the Puget Sound on our way to British Columbia
Ichiro - He's real good at baseball
Gas at 93 cents - All the gas stations in Victoria were at 93 cents....per LITER! (about 4 metric liters in a gallon)

College Football With a Twist

This weekend marked the beginning of the much anticipated (at least by me) College Football season. ACC new comer Virginia Tech gave #1 ranked USC a run for their money in the Black Coaches Association Classic on Saturday night. This game was interesting standing by itself, but the folks over on ESPN2 decided to add some flavor to the mix. While ESPN Uno was showing VT/USC normally, the Deuce showed behind the scenes footage of the game's production. Video closeups of producers using television jargon would not have seemed interesting to me prior to witnessing this marvel. I was truly captivated by this inside look on producing a college football game. Honestly, there were times where the storys surrounding the production were more interesting than the actual game. I came away from this event entertained and well informed. I hope they do the same thing for other sports that ESPN covers. However, I doubt I would like to see the behind the scenes of billiards or the World Series of Poker.

What a Glorious Evening

Saturday night turned out to be one of the best nights ever in the Eman book. I was privy to the World Beer Festival in Durham, along with some drinking buddies. This event showcased over 300 different craft and imported beers from more than 120 breweries. It was a smorgasbord of malt beverages with the only limitation being its 4 hour duration. At $20 a head, this was the bargain of the century, especially since most of these imports would have been sold at $6 a bottle at most bars. Believe me, I definitely came up on the high side of this deal. I would even dare say that I consumed $20 worth in the first half of the event.

I drank beers from all over, with all sorts of unique distinctions. I had Lemongrass, Pumpkin, Mocha, Oatmeal and assorted berry flavors to name a few. Then there were the North Carolina based breweries (never realized there were so many in NC). After a while the origin or flavor of the beer was not as important as its availability.

Although I am not sure why I have not attended this event in the years that I have lived in the Triangle area, you can be sure that I will not miss it again. Be sure to take a gander at my pictorial documentation of this event. Fellow drinking mate and Fury hockey webmaster, Eric, has documented this event as well.

Long Tail

I usually try to refrain from regurgitating articles for my weblog content, but this article from Wired is just too insightful to ignore. For you folks that avoid reading like you are allergic to lengthy text, I must warn you that this is a 5 page article.

To summarize, author Chris Anderson focuses on the "Long Tail", a economic phenomenon of consumers purchasing more obscure selections in a commerical entertainment industry given the opportunity to do so. In traditional brick and mortar establishments, selection is usually limited by cost, more specifically shelf space. However, in today's emerging digital markets of Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes, those limitations do not apply. Therefore you the consumer work your way down the popular selection curve simply because more options are available without an added cost. This quasi-economic theory sheds more light on the hit-driven media industries.

Personally, I have reaped the benefits of this pardigm shift directly via NetFlix and iTunes. I can now see movies that I would not have seen in a Blockbuster and purchase an individual underground song without having to buy the entire album which was too difficult to find in Sam Goody.

The trick is to provide several options at reasonable prices. Providing only underground or only popular selections breaks the system. Give this article a quick read and stop accepting what mega-conglomerates have deemed as "hits".

Tetris God

I'm still in shock after watching this...
http://www.eternalfun.com/movies.php?id=107
I don't think any words I provide can explain what is seen in this video.
(Thanks go out to Patrick for showing this to me)

This image more aptly describes my Tetris ability.

Google Me

Google has become a verb in our society.  Hell, it even has made it to Webster's Dictionary.  Several people have "googled" themselves, just to find out how they stack up on the Internet.  Most of us have googled ourselves with varrying degrees of success, but most of you don't have such a unique name as me.  Although I adjusted my search methods, I now represent 75% of the Google results when searching for "Steve Emanuelson".  (The other 25% goes to some actor associated with the University of Georgia)  I searched my name in quotes so that I only get results with Steve AND Emanuelson, instead of getting a whole slew of Steves OR Emanuelsons. 

Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool.

Karma At Harris Teeter

Last night's visit to the local Harris Teeter was its own roller coaster ride.  With nothing available for dinner, I was tasked with retrieving the evening's dietary bounty.  After making my way through the aisles, I managed to find a suitable meal and saved money thanks to my VIC card.  To my surprise, using the aforementioned VIC card during my frequent trips to Harris Teeter in recent weeks, qualified me to a brand new piece of luggage.  Although I was not in the market for a new carry on or duffel bag, I could not look a gift horse in the mouth.  Unexpected positive karma. 

The laws of fate are strange, indeed.  Upon my return to Chez Eman, I was lugging my newly purchased 12 pack Trail Mix of Saranac.  As soon as I picked up one side of the cardboard container, the handle ripped, which quickly deposited the case on the hard concrete driveway.  The case immediately seeped beer like it was bleeding.  I opened up the case and noticed that the Season's Best and the Pale Ale had become casualties.  My 12 pack had promptly become a 10 pack. 

My previous joy of newly acquired luggage had been replaced by sorrow for 2 fallen beers.  On second thought, luggage for two beers seems like a fair trade to me. 

Cartoons Galore

Like so many children of the 70's and 80's, I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons.  Perhaps "watching" does not convey the importance of this ritual.  (Worshiping seems a bit strong though)  Saturday mornings proved to be a rite of passage, none the less, providing an outlet of sloth in rewards for toiling through a long week of schoolin'.  Many of you know that I have a thirst for popular culture that can rarely be quenched, but I have stumbled on quite a repository of information that may satiate me for a while.  Toonopedia has an extensive collection of cartoon biographies that stands second to none.  Although this assembly of information includes comic book references as opposed to exclusively cartoon data, I found it complementary instead of distracting.  I highly recommend perusing the extensive cartoon library and reliving the nostalgia of camping out in front of the television with a bowl of Honey Comb cereal while wearing pajammas with the feet in them.  Maybe you will find something you forgot or didn't expect.  For me, I thought it was nice to find a superhero dedicated to yours truly.

Plethora of Vulgarities

Who would have thought that there could be a single web page where you could find every dirty word or dirty word combination imaginable?  Guess who we have to thank for this verbose blue language listing?  If you guessed the NFL, than you are correct.

Forbiden Names List (Not Safe for Work)

Apparently when a customer orders a custom NFL jersey from the nfl.com store, there are some limitations on what can be printed on them.  Well, if you are going to have a list of what cannot be used, then it has to be some what available.  Some crafty programmers grabbed this list of outlawed names out of a Javascript shortly before it was removed from their web site.  Now you can peruse 1,121 of the most profane names never to be printed on the back of an NFL jersey.  Some of the names would make even George Carlin (NSFW) blush, so the inclusion of He Hate Me as one of the prohibited names caught me off guard.  I'll leave it up to you to find your own gems in the list.

All Things Furious

For all of you Fury fans out there, you can now purchase the Fury logo-ed merchandise that you have always wanted.  All the cool kids are buying Fury gear.  Its the gotta-have, hot item of the year.  Its like Tickle Me Elmo.  Or Beanie Babies. Or Cabbage Patch Kids. Or Tickle My Beanie Patch.

If that does not satiate your Fury fix, you can also download a short vignette of the Fall 2004 Men's Bronze C division champions, which includes actual game footage. 

I have added a link to the Fury Store in my list of links for future usage.

Video Game Nostalgia, Part I

I grew up in one of the first video game generations.  I remember playing Pong as a young tyke on a home system that played nothing but Pong.  Several varieties of Pong.  I even remember seeing Space Invaders or Pac Man at the local (non-Wal-Mart) discount store and begging my mother for a quarter to allow me to play it.  Video games eventually became an integral part of my adolecence.  With the emergence of home systems, beginning with an Atari 2600 and leading up to Nintendos and Sega Genesis and ultimately PlayStation 2 and XBox, I had a steady stream of gaming in my environment.  I think that I could pontificate on several different aspects of the video game and its affect on my upbringing.  (Thus the "part I" moniker)

Today I focus on my personal arcade, the Tastee Freeze (TF).  You may not have heard of this Dairy Queen knock off, but they are the same place for the purpose of this article.  Near the height of coin operated video gaming, the local TF had a minimum of 5 upright video games tucked away in the back of the restaurant.  If my family made an ice cream crusade to TF, I would always check out the games, usually from a distance because I would rarely have the change nor the permission to play these fascinating pixel delivery devices.  However, I respected their influence and somehow knew they could control me. 

Fast forward to the days when my ten-speed bicycle allowed me to make the 1.5 mile journey to the TF.  The hollowed ten-speed allowed me the freedom to play video games at my leisure (rather, when unsupervised).  However, my windows of opportunity were frequently small, typically bracketed by when I got off the school bus to when my father returned from work (an hour, tops).  I learned the art of efficiency on these trips.  Instead of spending quarter after quarter on several games just to waste time, I focused my efforts on Mania Challenge, a wrestling game.  On a regular basis, I would scavenge through couch cushions or whatever to find loose change, then make a bee line to the Tastee Freeze, more specifically Mania Challenge.

I care not to calculate the amount of time and money I poured into that game, but my Mania Challenge skills were unmatched.  I proved time and time again to be the superior digital wrestler by leaving those that challenged me in head-to-head action with their tails between their legs while licking their wounds.  I honed my skills to such a razor sharp edge, that I had to forfeit my final game so that I could make it back home before Dad returned from work.  Most impressive was my ability to maintain an hour worth of gaming on one quarter. 

Today, I cannot seem to work this bit of information into dinner party conversation.  Accomplishments that have been relegated to mere memories.  Lucky for me, MAME has resurrected this former Mania Challenge champion to contemporary times.  I now have the ability to crank up Mania Challenge at any time.  I don't even have to get permission or ride my ten-speed to do so.

Cinco de Mayo Nets Free Food

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, I championed the lunch idea to eat some Mexican fare.  Due to the opinions of too many included parties, instead of dining at the usual restaurant de mexicano, we detoured to Moe's Southwest Grill.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was passable for today's event considering my non-Mexican heritage.  For those of you unfamiliar with Moe's, imagine a Subway for burritos instead of sandwiches.  Personally, I prefer Qdoba to Moe's, but there is not a Qdoba in my lunch radius, so I digress.

Shortly after arriving and hearing the obligatory "Welcome to Moe's" greeting, we learned that in light of Cinco de Mayo, we were privy to free burritos.  That's right, their gargantuan forearm sized burritos were free today.  I still paid for a drink and was even able to purchase a side of queso thanks to my newly acquired disposable lunch funds.  It was a Cinco de Mayo miracle (if there is such an animal).

Moonwalking Birthday

For my birthday this year, I had an inflatable bouncy castle set up in my backyard.  (What?  Didn't everybody rent a Moonwalk for their birthday this year?) One of the coolest birthdays ever.  However, the 31-year-old body does not bounce as well as an adolecent body does.  Thus the reason you see more children in these things than adults. 

Lucky for you I have documented this memorable event through digital photography.  Enjoy.

Doubled My Money!

Last night, things went pretty well for me.  The Fury secured the #1 seed in the play-offs with a 9-2 victory in their last regular season game in spectacular fashion.  (Thanks to my sweet one-timer goal from Stu White, and two assists.  Not to mention points from every player on the team)  Per usual, we retired to the friendly confines of MacGregor's Ale House.  While hanging out at McG's, I noticed an advertisement with a peculiar offer.  They had a special on buy one get one free gift certificates.  For every gift certificate to MacGregor's Ale House that  you bought, you got a second one of equal value.  For those that know me well, you know that I go to McG's after every roller hockey game, which breaks down to almost once a week.  Plenty of my money goes to this establishment on a regular basis, so it was a no-brainer to take advantage of their offer.  My $50 investment quickly turned into $100, albeit in currency useable only at McG's, but what do I care?  This offer was only good until today, and only up to $50.  The way I see it, this is free money.

Twin

I have the theory that we all have a twin somewhere in the world.  Even if the 'twin' does not look exactly like you, they at least have similarities.  Consider that with the face that size, color and position of each facial feature and every combination therein.  Due to the mass numbers of people in the world, someone somewhere has similar facial characteristics as you do.  Most of us try to draw similarities with celebrities, mainly because we either remember celebrity faces a little easier, or we do not want to be reminded that we look just like the guy that bagged our groceries or the waitress at the IHOP.

I will give you the opportunity to mention who you look like, or at least have been told you look like.  So go ahead and add your comment here with your celebrity lookalikes.

I'll go first:
Niklas Nordgren, left wing for our very own Carolina Hurricanes.
Or
Woody Harrelson, Woody Boyd from Cheers

Geocaching

I have recently been introduced to the world of Geocaching, thanks to my co-worker friend, Mark..  Armed with a Global Positioning System (GPS), you can go to the geocaching site, find some coordinates, then go out and find a "cache" hidden from view.  You are probably thinking, "That doesn't seem so hard since you have the coordinates."  It isn't designed to be incredibly difficult, just hard enough to prevent the a non-geocacher from finding it.  Besides, its not easy anyway.  The GPS might get you within about 20 feet within your target, but from there you will need your wits to find your goal.  The "treasure" could be anything, limited by the imagination of whoever created/hid the cache.  Some people simply hide a piece of paper or a log book so that those who find the cache can sign their names.  However, some people create themes or elaborate stories that coincide with their stash.

This past weekend, Mark allowed me to borrow his GPS, which resulted in a weekend of geocaching goodness.  I showed my family this phenomenon, which impressed some more than others, but it was a good excuse to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors.  This weekend might have gotten me hooked enough to invest in my own GPS.

Anagrams

Anagrams have always seemed interesting to me.  Mixing up the letters of words or phrases to make new words or phrases.  (Not to be confused with palindromes) However, my limited intellect has prevented me from making this activity a hobby or even an occasional lark.

Lucky for me someone has created a web application that does all that hard thinking for you. 
http://www.sternestmeanings.com/talk/talk

Enter a word, and get an anagrammed response.  Some people I know have interesting anagrams for their names, so I listed them below.  Seems as if the longer the name, the more descriptive the anagram. We'll see if you can figure out who these folks are.  (Hint:  These are all people I know personally)

On suave elements
Nobly mean abuse
Fine, hard-core
Stud 'n' jurist
Mean, ugly reason
Weird, absorbed
Generous mangle
In irksome rot
Finer dash
Utopian, so glad

Fantasy football season underway

Like millions of people, I own a fantasy football team (The Angry Mob).  I have played against the same group of guys for several years now, and I dig the competition.  Having a fantasy football team certainly helps me gain interest in non-Steeler/Panther games played each week.  I understand that fantasy football is not for everyone, but this phenomenon has swept the country.  Seems like anyone remotely close to being a football fan has a fantasy football team.  And why not?  The difficulty of running your own fantasy football team is next to nothing, while the rewards of winning are high.  An element of prediction accompanies team ownership, but within a week or two, players show their tendencies via statistics.  Therefore, you either start or try to acquire players with the highest statistical totals...repeat that each week.  At the end of the NFL week, you look at your team and marvel at your accomplishments, or you lament at what could have been.  Immediately, the NFL season develops an added dimension, providing a rich texture for you to enjoy the season.

Last year, I delved into fantasy hockey, which I will be doing again this season.  I entered into that fray with much trepidation, considering I only had familiarity with the Carolina Hurricanes and the "stars" of the league.  A couple of weeks into the hockey season and knowing the players became second nature.  It took a small amount of time to gain the confidence in picking hockey players, so that the rewards for fantasy hockey mimicked the rewards I obtained by playing fantasy football.  So for anyone out there that has considered playing fantasy sports, I highly recommend it. 

Friends Get Hitched

Some people thought it would never happen, but my friends Ed and Kristin got married this past weekend.  I have to say it was quite the lovely ceremony, officiated by another good friend, Eric.  Seemed like this wedding was perfect for these kids.  Set at a bed and breakfast in Tryon, NC, overlooking the multi-colored leaves of the NC mountains, with a small group of close friends and family, the event was full of charm.  Not to mention the fact that Abby and I had a ball.  We are lucky to have friends like Ed and Kristin, so seeing them get hitched was quite a treat.

Prior to the event, six of us went to the US National Whitewater Center near Charlotte for some man-made river action.  Joined by a guide, we attacked the raging river resulting in some severe wetness and a lot fun.  Highly recommended if you are ever in that area of NC.  However, I would tend to think that warmer weather would have been better suited for this activity. 

Things I learned this weekend:
-Our first weekend away from Myra Grace was not bad at all
-Ed looked long and gangly in childhood pictures (as opposed to now?)
-A.A. Milne says pooh a lot.
-Cigar smoking should be left to the experts
-Always remember to pack your cooler or else you have to buy a new one (has happened twice now)

Digital Camera Gets Second Chance

I have been the owner of a Canon Powershot A300 for years.  Nothing fancy with this camera, but it did a great job for the simplistic photos I took.  Towards the end of last summer I noticed some hazy horizontal lines on several photos.  Being several years out of warranty, I assumed I had to take the hit on that one.  I replaced the camera with a new fangled one, leaving the A300 to a lonely life of collecting dust on the shelf. 

Recently, for no good reason I thought about that camera wasting away on my shelf.  I thought I would ask some folks on the Internet whether it was worth the repair cost.  So I posted a question at ask.metafilter.com, a web site that I peruse on occasion. Within 24 hours, I got an awesome response.  Canon apparently was having problems with CCR Image Sensors in their Powershot line of digital cameras.  What does all of that mean?  I don't know what the term means, but as a result I am getting my digital camera repaired for free.  Free?  Yeah, I can afford that!

After calling Canon and describing my problem, they said that they would email me some pre-paid shipping labels for me to ship the camera to them for repair.  Within days they will return my repaired camera at no cost to me.  I wish I had known about this when I gave up on the camera (especially before buying a new one).  However, now I will have a great secondary camera that I can treat in a haphazard manner.  Hooray Internet!

Sharing the Madness

Now that March Madness is officially upon us, I thought I would do things a bit differently.  I figured that since I am a man of the people by providing this blog to all of you, I would share my picks with you as well.

I have presented two separate brackets for your unwavering mockery viewing pleasure.  I have the standard picks that I would enter in any pool, which I call "normal".  Mostly chalk with a peppering of upsets, none of which are out of the ordinary.  I also have the crazy picks, which are essentially the picks I was too scared to make on the normal.  I'll keep both brackets available and I will update them throughout the tournament, highlighting my correct picks.

**Refresh your browser to see the latest version of my brackets, color coded for correct and incorrect selections**

Normal Picks

Crazy Picks

I Have Been Simpsonized

Thanks go out to the good people at Burger King who provided a advertisement rich web site which also provides the public the opportunity to create yourself as a Simpsons character. 
www.simpsonizeme.com

Evolution of a Viral Video

Over Thanksgiving, a co-worker of mine set up a nifty gaming environment for his sons.  He hooked up a Wiimote to his laptop via Bluetooth to play Need for Speed.  Next, he took it a step further by attaching the Wiimote to a spring horse to create an arcade style game in his living room.  It was a one time thing, but he just happened to have a camera available at the time, so he recorded the video of his son playing.  Later he uploaded that video to YouTube.  What happened next was unexpected.

His video got popular...extremely popular.  His video has been viewed thousands of times, which is quite impressive.   At present he has over 600 Diggs.  YouTube lists over 16,000 views.  Gizmodo lists over 12,000 views.  That video now exists on CollegeHumor and Evil Avatar, as well as several "gadget" web sites.  In response, the guy had to create a web site devoted to answering questions and dispelling myths.  Keep in mind that the only thing he did was upload his video to YouTube.  That's it.  The closest I have come to viral video popularity is my video of the Carolina Hurricanes raising their Stanley Cup Champion banner, which only had 495 views.  No where near the popularity his video has reached.  I have had a front row seat to watch the viral aspect of my co-worker's video.  There is a definitive "tipping point" that has been met. 

Hotlanta

We took our first trip with both kids this past weekend.  All four of us headed down to Atlanta to visit with some friends.  While there, we attended the Georgia Aquarium which was magnificent.  It had an incredible collection of animals, and not just marine life.  MG enjoyed seeing all the fish and animals, however she did not enjoy having freedom (outside the stroller) then having it ripped away (placed back into the stroller).  Luckily she would eventually bounce back if she had more fish to see.

I also had an opportunity to attend the NHL SuperSkills portion of the NHL All Star Weekend.  Our friends had some connections with Phillips Arena and were able to score some fantastic seats in the lower level.  When that many great players are assembled at one location the entertainment level increases dramatically.  It was quite an experience.  I hope the All Star weekend comes to Raleigh in the near future. 

Things I Learned This Weekend:
-Photography + Night = Bad Pictures
-Glass makes it difficult to focus especially when flashes are prohibited
-Great seats can be offset by all activities taking place on the opposite side of the ice
-Evgeni Malkin's practice moves on the sideline were better than most of fancy shootout attempts
-Bull Sharks are huge
-It pays off to drive at night with two kids in the car.

Where to Drink

Eric pointed out to me that All About Beer magazine created a list of 125 Places To Have A Beer Before You Die.  Searching through the list was interesting enough, but not all that applicable to those of us that usually do their drinking in the States....in NC....or on my couch.  I had imbibed at about 4 or 5 of the 125, depending on how you judge it.  Eric and I determined that our locales were severely lacking in the list of 125, so we decided that a new list needed to be created.  I hope that everyone can contribute to this list.  So I present to you a list of cool places that I would like to drink a beer at, or think that are cool simply because I have already consumed a beer there.

1.  Tailgating at an NHL playoff game
2.  Abita Brewery, Abita Springs, LA
3.  Duck Rabbit Brewery, Farmville NC
4.  Bleachers in Wrigley Field, Chicago IL
5.  Silver Gultch Brewery, Fairbanks AK (northern most US brewery)
6.  Front Street Brewery, Wilmington NC
7.  Weeping Radish, Manteo NC
8.  Any eatery at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg VA
9.  On the green of He's Not Here, Chapel Hill NC
10.  Capitol City Brewing Company, Capitol Hill Washington DC
11.  The Umstead Hotel, Cary NC
12.  Fraternal Order of Eagles, North Canton OH
13.  1st Day of Fall Classes Eve, Fraternity Court, Chapel Hill NC

Please add your favorite places in the comments