it’s going to be an exciting year for hoosier basketball.
after the embarrassment of last season surrounding the long overdue departure of Kelvin Sampson (though i still contend he should never have been hired in the first place), the interim disaster of Dan Dakich, and the entire university program just basically giving up for the end of the season and rolling over dead in the ncaa tourney, there’s now this terrific story on espn.com of how IU is down to eight players for next season. so long to Armon Bassett, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas, and Eli Holman. this on top of already losing Eric Gordon, D.J. White, and Lance Stemler to early NBA careers or exhausted eligibility. big trouble? i’d say big opportunity.
these guys that left are a bunch of bitches. sure, they got totally dicked over by IU and Kelvin Sampson, no question. and in totally dirty typical Kelvin fashion, one of them is even leaving to play for an assistant from the Sampson era at Detroit Mercy, and it seems this was all orchestrated despite the NCAA rules prohibiting athletic department staff members from having any contact with an athlete from another school until that player is granted a release. it seems there’s still this strange allegiance to the coach they stood beside as he dragged the program and their futures through the mud. frankly, these aren’t the kind of guys i want representing the school. i think our new coach, Tom Crean, puts it best in this quote:
“Our staff is going to ensure that anyone who attends this University and wears the Indiana uniform will make this privilege among their highest priorities and not treat the opportunity as an entitlement,” Crean said. “We fully expect our student-athletes to accept the responsibilities academically, athletically and socially that come with representing one of the top programs in college basketball history.”
i’m happy to see a couple losing seasons while they bring back some much needed dignity to the program.
way to save the world, ktvu.
tonight on the 10pm news, ktvu ran a story about hybrid cars and whether or not the added cost was really such a great deal for drivers or if it was a bunch of “hybrid hype”. the report included statistics which calculated that recouping the additional cost of buying a prius, for example, would take you something like 3.5 years in the money you’d save on gas.
first of all, someone needs to be punched in the mouth for “hybrid hype”. second, i think someone needs to explain the concept of “long term cost” to these douchebags. given that they also ran a ticker story this morning noting that a barrel of oil may soon hit $200, even if you rule out the cost of burning the planet to a cinder, i think your math is screwed. lastly, take the train or ride a bike. or god forbid, walk.
now if you’ll excuse me i need to drive 10 blocks over the hill to go buy a latte.
my carp atonal is keelin me.
you know man, i didn’t even know i had me a case of it til i done read this amazon product review.
it’s really not nice to make fun of people, but when you confuse a passageway in the wrist through which nerves and the flexor muscles of the hands pass for music which does not exhibit the traditional hierarchy of chord progressions and key signatures played by freshwater fish, i’m going to rib you a little.
could you pee here?
i don’t know man, seems like a pretty reasonable request to me. i’m a man, over 30, plenty of experience urinating into a confined space (like coffee cups and desk drawers).
all joking aside, this is apparently too small of a target given the gigantically huge puddles of urine which i commonly find on the floor.
my colleagues can create highly complex algorithms and systems to do remarkably complex operations. they cannot piss in a urinal though.
quote of the day, geek style
this one comes to us from jim on this season’s “beauty and the geek”:
you convinced me to wear pajamas and deoodorant.
and they say these guys don’t leave as changed men.
black keys concert, warfield theatre, sf
wednesday night we saw the black keys at the warfield theatre here in san francisco, as they tour to promote their new album, “attack & release”. a diversion from the previously raw and somewhat formulaic two-man sound they are known for, the new album is produced by danger mouse. you may know him better as half of gnarls barkley, or that guy who made that weird but totally excellent mash-up of jay z’s “black album” and the beatles’ “white album”. wait, what?
pretty much my thoughts too at first when hearing this odd connection, but it ends up turning out to be a pretty decent album. and i am referring to both the new black keys album and the jay z/beatles “grey album” mashup.
as far as a live show goes, the dudes put on a pretty rocking set for just two guys. i was a little disappointed that a couple of the older tunes from “rubber factory” were loosened up a bit into this sucky sort of “we’ve played this so many times that when we play it now we kinda do these little annoying tempo shifts and retarded tone changes.” Dan Auerbach’s guitar was also partially broken for probably the last 1/4 of the set, but overall it was still an energetic and really, really loud show. at one point on one of the new tracks, the bass was up so high that my chest was vibrating like mad. had i not had in earplugs (i am so old now) i would likely be deaf.
thumbs up!
i picked the final four correctly for the first time ever.
my bracket is the shizzle! and people said i was a chump for picking all four number one seeds. well, perhaps i am, but nonetheless i still have a shot at winning the espn men’s ncaa tournament challenge group that i’m playing in. all i can say, and i never thought i’d be saying this without a gun to my head, is “go jayhawks”.
nine years of my life
today, march 21, marks nine years of my life being spent as an employee of the same parent company, which shall remain nameless. those of you who know me know what i’m talking about, and the rest of you can just be left guessing. hint — it is not a porn company.
despite going through some rather challenging times there, i’m happy to have done it. hell, it’s taking us overseas to realize a goal we’d set for ourselves, and allowed us to spend 4 wonderful years in california. i must admit that being one of the few people i know who’s worked so long at one place in my generation makes me feel like a bit of a relic at times though. i want to be clear that i’m not expecting a gold watch. (i do wonder though now if i get something at 10 years. jeff, if you’re reading — rocket ship ride!)
best of all, it’s where i’ve met some of the smartest and nicest people i’ve ever known. that has enriched my life the most, more than enabling the mass buying and selling of shit for millions worldwide. props to my peeps.
ringin’ with the devil
my man b sent me a link to this matador records blog entry, which includes an awesome vocals-only track of DLR for “runnin’ with the devil”. for some reason, i just find it goddamn funny. without the backing accompaniment, he just sounds like a nutcase.
i took the opportunity to spend a little time in garage band and create my new ringtone from this masterpiece.
we’re moving…to dublin.
yes, that’s right, you did not read incorrectly or suffer a small stroke which caused you to hallucinate. and to be clear, i’m not referring to the Dublins in California or Ohio, or any other state that you can bring to me, along with a map proving the existence of said town. i’m talking about the one in Ireland. republic of, home of stout and whiskey, woolen goods, and hot red headed babes. pretty, green, rainy, and averaging 6 hours of full sunlight a day at the max. but don’t cry for me — i’ll be paid in the euro, which is outperforming the dollar so well lately that i can just buy the sun. okay, maybe not, but i can easily and cheaply fly to spain. anyhow, sometime around mid-august, i will no longer be a san franciscan. i better stock up on tacos now.
