Changing Desks

I was forced to move my desk today at work. A serious pain in the ass.

Pros:

More privacy, a better organized desk.

Cons:

Harder for me to watch the World Cup. Have to make new friends.

Underrated

The Onion strikes back with a look at the recent past.

Also, coming back from Chicago was a nightmare. Thank you very much Continental and Newark Airport. But on the plus side I had a nice chat on the plane with a 13-year-old boy named Kyle. He watched me beat Super Mario Bros. 2 on Game Boy Advance while we waited to take off from O'Hare. We discussed video games and sports as I tried to get a sense of the modern 13-year-old mindset and knowledge base.

He had no idea what Mr. Show was, but he watched South Park sometimes. Thankfully he was aware of the Nintendo Entertainment System, but he had never heard of the movie, The Wizard (for those not in the know, The Wizard gave kids a first glimpse of Super Mario Bros. 3, probably the greatest video game of all time...it also prominently featured the Power Glove). He was also smart enough to realize how disgusting the bread was on the airplane turkey sandwich so he did not eat it. To be aware of the way that bad bread can ruin a sandwich at such a young age was remarkable.

Overrated

The Detroit Pistons have been a very good team the last 3 seasons. That is all. They are not legendary and they never will be after they lose to the Heat. They won one title and nearly won another (although last year they also could have easily lost to the Heat if Wade was not hurt). Oh wait, you know who else did that? The 1978-1979 Seattle Supersonics. Quick, name 3 players from those teams. Or 2? This was the only great regular season for the Pistons, as back-to-back 54 win campaigns the previous two years did not exactly bring back memories of the Jordan-led Bulls who won 72, 69, and 62 games on their way to a SECOND 3-peat. But you're right Marc J. Spears; these Pistons are just as memorable as Muhammad Ali. Gimme a break. The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers have both accomplished far more in the post-Jordan era.

Chicago means "Land of the Wild Onions"

Blogging from the Apple Store here on the Magnificent Mile. I'm pretty impressed with Chicago so far, but is it a city that is truly going places, like New Haven? Probably not.

Congress is Disgusting!

After this most recent incredible display, I am prouder than ever to be an Independent.

A Photographic Ode to New Haven

The Noodle, The Doodle, and Gourmet.

The Real World

One of the first true signs to me of being an adult was when I started planning to go to Chicago this weekend for Memorial Day. I got all excited about having certain days off and knowing that I had to take full advantage of them. Made me think back to the glory days of unemployment when I wondered what kind of sap would go away on a holiday weekend, when he could just as easily leave on Tuesday afternoon.

Brilliant

The Onion has done it again. You're welcome for bringing you only the gems.

Malcolm Gladwell reviews a book that take a closer look at the relative values of basketball players.

I have to agree

Bill Simmons says:

"If you don't think the Yanks are in trouble, check out last night's outfield: Melky Cabrera in right, Bernie Williams in center and Terrence Long in left. Would you play Bernie in center on your softball team at this point?"

With the injuries to Matsui and Sheffield, the rapid decline of Randy Johnson, and the simple fact that Mike Mussina is not nearly as good as he has been so far this year, the Yankees could be in big trouble if they don't pull off a major trade. But they are the Yankees, so they will probably get a big-name pitcher AND a big-name hitter. Will they be good enough? Possibly to reach the playoffs, but I say the title drought is sure to continue in the Bronx. Meanwhile, the Mets are looking great so far. However, they desperately need another starting pitcher to compete in the upper echelons for the entire season. All Hail King Carlos Delgado!

Where have you gone, Mrs. Eleanor?

Yalies loved you more than you could know...

Ok, that's a lie. Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton, you were a terrible Class Day Speaker last year! We were the class of 2005, not the class of 2000 to whom you must have given a speech somewhere else 5 years prior. Oh well, at least you were memorable...in a bad way. Anderson Cooper, on the other hand gave a brief, fun, and witty talk on Old Campus this past Saturday, further illustrating how out of touch Norton was last year. I still can't believe that anyone recommended her. This stuff should have been voted on.

Anyway, graduation was fun and Yale is now mostly a memory for me as my connection there dwindled considerably after yesterday...(and after the few remaining loyal readers graduate next year, it will be practically gone) Although I do look forward to visiting the renovated Trumbull this fall. I also took some pictures of my favorite eateries before I left. I will post these later.

New Blood

A kid who couldn't be more than 17 was passing out the mail today. It was refreshing to see him learning the ropes.

Big Day/Big Weekend

I play the playoffs today with my touch football team. We plan on taking home the title.

Jen and the Delino Krew (and the rest of the Yale blogosphere and almost everyone I still know at Yale) graduate this weekend! ConGRADulations to all.

People

The title of this post is clever.

First, I want to say that people are insane and have way too much time on their hands. I just walked by the new Apple store (which looks great by the way...reminded me of Blaine in the sphere for some reason) and saw a line around not just the block of the store, but around the adjacent block as well! People were going to wait at least 2 hours just to look inside, when they could look inside with no wait a couple days later if they wanted to.

Second, People magazine is not that popular anymore. This is because it still bothers to have stories about "regular people." Don't they understand that readers only want to "read" about celebrities these days?

In other news...

Famous Little League pitcher Danny Almonte (in addition to being an excellent high school pitcher) is married to a 30-year-old woman! Smart move by the woman to get in on the ground floor. This will lead to groupies for 14-year-old AAU stars in the future.

Charlie "The Ma-" Sheen is a pervert. Really?

Excerpts:

"We dated for about a month. He's such a [bleep]ing perv. He would ask me to dress up, like, in pigtails and schoolgirl outfits. I don't think he's like a pedophile, but he's definitely into really young girls. You know like 18, 19. I don't doubt that everything his wife is saying now is true.

"He was a big talker, and once I asked him if he was this open with all his girlfriends. He said that he was. He said, 'I like to get to know everyone, even pros.' He calls prostitutes pros . . . He would take Viagra every time before sex, which is kind of weird."

Super Mario Bros. 2

Revisiting an old classic on my new Game Boy Advance version, I also decided to re-read the Wikipedia entry about the game. I stumbled across this chestnut:

Due to its unique style of gameplay and set in a completely different world, Super Mario Bros. 2 has become one of the most popular games for the NES and has made a continuous impact on the entire Super Mario Bros., including adding now-typical enemies such as Shy Guys, Bob-ombs and Pokeys and introducing the concept of Luigi being the taller and thinner brother.

Emphasis is mine here. It got me to thinking about comparing the Berger brothers to the Mario brothers (why are they called the Mario brothers...Mario Mario and Luigi Mario?). Which one of us is more like Mario and which one is more like Luigi?

I report, you decide.

Watch out Kobayashi!

But don't worry Kodiak bear. An American finally ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. And this guy, Joey Chestnut, is no joke. He won the prestigious Wing Bowl this year as well. Look for a serious showdown at Nathan's on July 4th.

Henry Stays!

I know you were all on the edges of your seats...

Thierry Henry is staying at Arsenal. Even though this is bad for Liverpool, my favorite team, I'm still happy about it. Henry decided not to be a mercenary and showed that he really appreciates all the massive fan support he has in North London. It was a rare example of team loyalty in any sport. Also, I will get to watch him play more for Arsenal than I would have if he had moved to Barcelona. This is good because he is one of the top 3 players in the world for sure.

The Good Old Days

(Thanks Dan for the pointer)

May 15, 2006

But That's, Like, The Worst Hampton!

Jappy girl #1: So like, I couldn't believe what happened to [Erica], but like, I think she'll be ok. I mean, she's gonna marry some guy who went to Penn instead of some guy who went to Princeton, and she'll have a country house in South Hampton instead of like, East Hampton, but I think she'll be ok.
Jappy girl #2: Oh yeah, I think she can handle it.
Jappy girl #1: Poor thing.

--The Dalton School

Negative Publicity

Yes, it exists. And your humble blogger was recently the recipient of a couple of flames on YouTube, both by the same person whose profile you can find here. Just thought the public might be interested. His comments:

On the Cindy Sheehan Song video:

So what a person has to say is only important if it's covered in the mainstream media? I can see you're putting your life to good use. Your song was about as good as the lighting in the room.

On the Delino Intro video:

You put so much effort into your videos but nobody watches them.

My response:

To each his own. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. And besides, this guy is probably a Fascist anyway, right Actual Rod?

I think we can all agree

Kobe Bryant looked great in his blue cable-knit sweater vest last night on TNT. Seriously though, he had some insightful analysis and I gained some new respect for him. And lost even more respect for Kenny Smith as an analyst. Meanwhile, Charles Barkley is just hilarious.

Champions League Final

Since most of you don't care, I just want to make a few quick points:

-It was great for the game that Arsenal scored first. If Barcelona had gone 1-0 ahead, while being up a man, things could have ended up being pretty boring. Instead, there was palapable tension for over 80 minutes (the end was rather boring, as Barca played keep-away).

-Barcelona were deserving 2-1 winners (the exact scoreline that I predicted by the way) based on their season-long performance, but things could have easily been very different today. Ronaldinho was far from his best, and Henry easily could have scored once or twice to double Arsenal's advantage in the second half. Arsenal should have been more aggressive on the counter-attack in the second half as Barca was pouring men forward. The Gunners took a few decent chances, but sat back too much on the whole.

-I wonder what Henry was talking about with all those Barca players after the game? He is widely rumored to be heading to Barca after the season, and his friendliness with the Barca players and his apparent displeasure with Arsene Wenger during the game should do nothing to quiet those rumors...

-How cruel was it that while the Arsenal players collected their silver medals, they had to walk past the Champions League Cup? That is just not right. It's nice that they get the medals, but couldn't they bring the Cup up afterwards? Every single Arsenal player and coach took a sad glance at the Cup! In America, they don't make the losing teams walk right next to the Lombardi Trophy or Stanley Cup...

Glorious Day

I got a stapler for my desk! Take that, John D. Rockefeller.

I hope that this is not me...

An Onion "peel" from today.

Also, the NBA officials have been very bad this postseason. The Spurs should feel especially robbed. And I have no idea how the Clippers lost last night. Truly.

From a Review of the Clio Awards

I found one of the other shortlist Print entries (which did not win a prize) far more provocative: The ad, made in Bangkok, Thailand, shows a grid of hundreds of snapshots of a young woman's crossed legs. In one lone shot, her legs are uncrossed, offering us a peek at her pink panties. "More Shots. More Chances," reads the text, which advertises a 2-gigabyte Kodak camera memory card.

The full text is here.

The Person has Spoken

Thank you for your response Actual Rod. You are a beacon of hope in this ever-darkening blogosphere. This is my review of the offending restaurant that I ate at on Saturday night:

Cafe Spice [54 W. 55th St. (bet. 5th and 6th Aves.) 212-489-7444]
Do not eat here! Under intense time pressure because we had tickets to an 8:00 PM performance at Carnegie Hall, my friends and I abandoned our plan to eat at the surprisingly crowded Tang Pavilion (one of my favorites as you all know), and walked across the street to Cafe Spice at 7:00 PM. Thinking myself vaguely familiar with the name, I figured it would be a decent choice for a quick dinner. Whoops. The lowlight was certainly the Lamb Seekh Kebab. Avoid it like the plague. It was so rubbery that Dan couldn't even take more than one bite. I unfortunately forced it down. The next afternoon I had some serious stomach problems for about an hour. Coincidence? I think not. For my main dish I ordered the "platter" of Murg Tikka Lababdar (essentially Chicken Tikka Masala). The great deal about the platter is that you get rice, lentils, and naan for "only" $5 extra. Rice is usually included with every dish... Anyway, this dish was thoroughly mediocre. Maybe they excel in more obscure, "authentic" dishes. I did see an Indian family eating there when we were leaving (in time for the show). And I will say that the bathroom sinks were very cool and the service was friendly enough. But don't ever go here. Especially with the incredible Tang Pavilion across the street. I don't care what kind of time pressure you have.

This is a review of the restaurant I ate at on Mother's Day. Notice the difference:

JoJo [160 E. 64th St. (bet. 3rd and Lexington Aves.) 212-223-5656]
Located in a beautiful converted townhouse, this elegant Jean-Georges resturant serves up splendid French fusion cuisine. The setting is superb and the seemingly simple menu (main courses are named Chicken, Duck, Lamb, etc... although they rotate) belies a high level of creativity in the dishes. For starters, I recommend the Soft Shell Crab or the Warm Asparagus Salad, depending on which way your tastes tend to lead you. I chose the crab, and could not have been more satisfied. For an entree, I chose the Duck and again was very pleased with my selection. The fowl was tender and delicious, with a wonderful sauce to complement it. But if you prefer chicken, fish, or any other meat, I have a feeling that you will be equally happy. Finish things off with the Warm Valrhona Cake. Trust me.

That Old Thing

You can never trust a man who wears a tie with a tiny knot.

Social Signaling and Stuff

A look at how we say things and don't even know it. Also, if you say "uh huh" and "OK" more you might do better with the ladies...

And take a look at a new way of using the lottery.

A Question

For my loyal readers (thanks Jen!) and not-so-loyal readers (Dan...), I was wondering if you could tell me advise me on one small thing. Should I add a restaurant to my guide even if I thoroughly disliked it? As a warning perhaps? Let me know what you all think.

The Real Reason that there are no professional sports franchises in Las Vegas

Because everyone would be betting with Ilan and this would threaten the legitimacy of results.

NFL Workshop for Women

I just stumbled onto this wonderful 1997 handbook that teaches women about the rules of the game of football. In 25 short pages (including 5 or 6 for notes), a total NFL neophyte can become an expert in a matter of minutes (or maybe hours). Amazingly, at that time, more than 40 million women watched the NFL every weekend without knowing the rules! My favorite fun fact: "During the football season, an NFL team will go through an average of 1,500 pounds of laundry per day." A brilliant idea to put this one in because now the women reading won't complain about washing your shirts, pants, underwear, sock, and everything else (gotta be no more than 5 pounds, right?). Anyway, I wish you all could see this booklet. I am bringing it home with me, so let me know if you're interested.

I think it would also be helpful if they distributed these guides to people from countries without the NFL. I know that my roommate Nick certainly could have learned a lot!

The Juice is Loose

Everybody's favorite double murderer is up to his old tricks, pretending to sell the famous white Bronco. Brilliantly, his candid-camera show is called "Juiced." Can a new Naked Gun sequel be far behind? At least that way he could make some money to pay to the Goldmans and Browns.

Living the High Life?

Absurdities of the NBA:

"Because the crew is so deep, we have to commandeer [Rip] Hamilton's entire fleet. The birthday boy throws on his fox fur -- complete with real fox heads on the elbows -- and jumps in the Maybach he bought last year with the money he got for winning the championship. The license plate reads 04 BONUS."

For my 501st post...

...I direct you back to the kind of garbage that has made me (not) famous. Check out the American Psycho e-mails from the year 2000. These were used to promote the incredible 2001 film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 book. Christian Bale was robbed of an Oscar that year. No doubt about it.

"In the Midwest, even the Billionaires shop at Today's Man."

"I tried to kill the waiter at Bice but the ax slipped and shattered the dessert cart. Panne Cotta, Creme brulee, Tarte Tatin everywhere."

A Better Way to Spend Your Money

For my 500th post, I direct you to the UN Foundation's web site, where you can fight against malaria.

You wanna get high?

A more serious look at the effects of marijuana (and other drugs if you read the rest of the chapter and book, which I highly recommend!).

Shopping

We all do it. We all love it. Some people are trying to make it a better experience (mostly for retailers). I think that they need more promotions involving gambling. For example:

A shirt normally costs $20. Instead of putting it on sale for $10, have people flip a coin. If they win they get the shirt for free. If not, they pay full price. Exciting, no?

Bars would do well to have this promotion as well for drink specials. Trust me, I've done it on a beach in Thailand. It's fun. (And Dan won't stop playing until he wins.)

I Love the Smell of Cheap Chinese Food in the Morning

And here is my random person of the day that you should read about.

The Future of Gaming

Here you can take look at the new Nintendo Wii controller. I am extremely excited for this system above all others. To be fair I still want to play more XBox 360, but Wii truly looks like a different experience. Screw the hardcore gamers. Video games are supposed to be fun, and Nintendo makes fun games. There's a reason that people (besides me) still play an 8-bit system. The greatest innovation of the Wii system for me at least is the idea of backwards compatibility. The concept that I could have all my favorite games for NES, SNES, N64, and even Genesis on the same system is remarkable! I will say, however, that the name "Wii" (sounds like"We") is pretty terrible. Was "Revolution" really so bad?

Meanwhile, I expect PS3 to be something of a failure (meaning that Sony is going to lose significant console market share) due to its late release and burdensome price tag. Also, the PS3 controller is just as terrible as the PS2 controller, but wireless!

Now if I can just find someone to play video games with me again...

Where did everyone go?

Last week I was hitting peaks in page views and unique visitors. Now I'm back in the doldrums of the regular numbers. I guess it helped my numbers when I re-did the restaurant guide and looked at all those pages a million times...

King James

As if his play wasn't good enough to talk for him, I loved what LeBron said to Gilbert Arenas as he tapped him on the chest before he took his second free throw in Game 6:

"You miss both of these free throws, y'all goin' home."

And then 10 seconds later, King James had made good on his word. That is baller.

NBA MVP

This comes a little late and I don't want to discuss it thoroughly, except to say that the myriad discussions are not worth all the time and effort. In my mind, LeBron was the MVP. I would have voted Kobe second, Dirk third, and Nash fourth. But when you read this, you realize that there's no point in arguing when the voters don't even bother to do their jobs (I wonder if anyone left Nash off?):

Jeff (Phoenix, AZ): It is unconscionable that 22 MVP voters did not list Kobe as among their top five. How can the voting be taken seriously when this is the conduct of those with ballots?

John Hollinger: I'm surprised by that number, yes -- as weird as Kobe can be at times (witness the end of game 7), it's hard to deny that he carried that team to the playoffs on his back. He wasn't the only one though -- five people left LeBron off, and 11 couldn't make room for Dirk.

How much is your local dictator worth?

"What trillion dollar bill?" From the Forbes list:

Fidel Castro
President/Cuba
$900 million
Age: 79
Comandante since 1959.

We estimate his fortune based on his economic power over a web of state-owned companies including El Palacio de Convenciones, a convention center near Havana; Cimex, retail conglomerate; and Medicuba, which sells vaccines and other pharmaceuticals produced in Cuba. Former Cuban officials living in U.S. assert that he has long skimmed profits. Castro insists his net worth is zero. (Editor's Note: Emphasis is mine.)

Practice Makes Perfect

"Talent" is less important than you think it is. Of course, there are certain things that still can't be taught and practiced, but you can get pretty far in most professions simply through determination and hard work.

Video Games

The future of video games is coming. (Although trouble could be on the horizon...) I agree with Nintendo, although ideally I will have the new Nintendo system, along with XBox 360:

"We think that a lot of people don't necessarily want to play a game that takes 40 hours to finish, or a game where you have to spend an hour reading a manual," said George Harrison, senior vice president for marketing at Nintendo of America. "Maybe they just want to have fun for 20 minutes or a half-hour at a time, and we are trying to broaden the gaming market again by appealing to that person. So instead of focusing on getting the absolute most powerful technology into our products, we want to focus on making that basic game experience as attractive and compelling as possible."

The Dangers of Expectations

Waiting is the hardest part. Really.

What about happiness? More than you've ever wanted to know. But a great read apparently.

More efficient football coaches?

If they listened to David Romer, football coaches would probably be better off.

Addendum:

Apparently Romer is silly and used third down numbers instead of fourth down numbers for his statistics. This was a major error and severely compromises his study. That said, coaches are still far too conservative! They still probably shouldn't go for it on 4th and 2 from their own 10, but the 50-yard-line would be a different story...

Behind the Barry

A look at Barry Bonds' Arizona State days. Not surprisingly, Barry had just as many "issues" then as he does now. Except for the steroids of course.

The nuts:

But Barry was different. He would sit alone in front of the TV every morning, watching the cartoon "He-Man" and giggling hysterically. He would sneak into [roommate George] Lopez's closet and swipe his new Ralph Lauren shirts without asking. "(Guy sweated like a pig," says Lopez.)

What's next?

Supposedly Terrell Owens was at the Lakers-Suns game last night wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey! How incredible is that? Now we need to see Barry Bonds wearing Pete Rose throwback...

Also, check out the footage of Larry David reacting to the Tim Thomas 3-pointer.

WSEX

Even in January 2001, the World Sports Exchange was ruining people's lives...at least according to a 60 Minutes report on the horrors of internet gambling. I just saw an ad for this report while watching an old NFL playoff game. Another thing I noticed in another game was that the Jets beat the Colts 41-0 a few years ago! Imagine that playoff matchup now...

Major Restaurant Guide Update!

At great personal sacrifice, I have made the restaurant guide far more user-friendly. You can still find it in the same place on the sidebar. But I am also linking to it right HERE in this post. Tell me what you think. The major innovation here is that you can now click on links to each individual cuisine and neighborhood. I did this because there were just too many restaurants on each page so I thought that the whole layout was getting somewhat unwieldy. Check back often as more restaurants are added and old reviews are updated.

In case you were curious

I, for one, did not know that it was missing.

Some Interesting Stuff

In Las Vegas, you will soon be able to gamble ALL THE TIME! Next thing they will do is hook it to your veins.

And if you just can't get enough beer in the usual manner (by drinking it), try bathing in it as well.

Mel Kiper, Jr.

This is his biography on Wikipedia. He deserves credit for everything he's accomplished, which is shocking considering his humble beginnings. That said, it truly amazes me how "important" he has become.

Why Do Europeans Hate America?

This article about the recently deceased French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel tries to explain this phenomenon in Revel's words. I love visiting Europe, but European hatred of America is mostly short-sighted and irrational. America is definitely deserving of constructive criticism, but blind hatred is a whole different story.

A Deeper Look at Plagiarism

Malcolm Gladwell mused on the subject in November 2004. As you can see below, the article touches on a WIDE variety of issues.

Excerpts:

No regard:

[Dorothy] Lewis was testifying at the trial of Joseph Franklin, who claims responsibility for shooting, among others, the civil-rights leader Vernon Jordan and the pornographer Larry Flynt. In the trial, a videotape was shown of an interview that Franklin once gave to a television station. He was asked whether he felt any remorse. I wrote:

"I can't say that I do," he said. He paused again, then added, "The only thing I'm sorry about is that it's not legal."
"What's not legal?"
Franklin answered as if he'd been asked the time of day: "Killing Jews."

More than a fucking feeling:

And 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'?"—here he was referring to perhaps the best-known Nirvana song. "That's Boston's 'More Than a Feeling.'" He began to hum the riff of the Boston hit, and said, "The first time I heard 'Teen Spirit,' I said, 'That guitar lick is from "More Than a Feeling."' But it was different—it was urgent and brilliant and new."

You should warm up, THEN stretch

At least according to the most recent reports.

Behind the Scenes with Sudoku Puzzles

A good in-depth look at the puzzles that have people obsessed around the world. And if you want to see a complex method for solving the puzzles, look here.

I hate it when...

...I try to walk into a subway station and people are coming up both sides of the staircase. What the fuck?

Magic

David Blaine does it again. Pictures to follow if I get some good ones.