Subway Tales: 1 + 1 = 1.5

I just got off the train today and heard the doors closing and reopening several times. Usually, it's someone's backpack sticking out or a large group trying to get in, with one guy holding the door open. As I looked back, to my surprise, it was a dumb cop instead! He kept sticking his nightstick out of the train so that the door would keep reopening. He was just showing off/trying to be funny in front of his female partner. His partner was just as dumb for not stopping him. There should be a new rule where male cops can't be partnered to females because their brain cell count goes down when together. 1 + 1 = 1.5. The male cop probably had his insecurities... perhaps his other nightstick is lacking.

Sword of Azrael: Introduction

Inspired by Andy Roddick's "awards/fines," The Sword of Azrael will be a monthly feature that I'm experimenting with. I plan to post it at the beginning of each month, hopefully on the 1st. It will hand out "fines" for recent events from the previous month in the following categories:

Death by Fire: someone who commits a violent crime and should be executed by the methods of the Order of St. Dumas.

Slave Pit: someone who commits a non-violent crime and should serve jail time for it.

Excommunication: someone who either slacks off or does something irresponsible enough to lose his/her job.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

On my way to work in the morning, there are always a bunch of tall buildings that are cleaning their exterior windows. The setup consists of two guys standing on a rectangular platform hoisted up the height of the building. What I find funny is that they section off a portion of the ground that's exactly the same size and shape as the platform they're standing on. So if they drop something or fall, it means that they'll fall straight down? This isn't the cartoons! It doesn't work that way! While we're on Earth, the wind, air and shape of falling objects need to be considered. If window cleaners are working, the whole are needs to be closed off... not just a shadow of the space they're taking up! If only more people passed high school physics!

Repeated Survey ?'s for 2008-02-26

A repeat of 2007-01-04, but with new answers...

1. When was the last time you took a nap? this afternoon
2. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Dad
3. To text you? BB
4. What are you doing tonight? Watching the NBA play
5. What are you listening to? Only the Strong Soundtrack
6. What did you do over the weekend? defragment
7. What did you have for breakfast? yogurt
8. Last book you read? Batman: Knightfall
9. Last thing you bought? USB hub & 25-in-1 card reader
10. Last movie you saw: Beowulf

Subway Tales: Camera FX

I entered the subway station and walked towards the middle of the train as usual. Today, there was a small camera crew on the platform. It looked like they were from a local public station and were setting up to interview a passenger. The cameraman waited for the perfect shot with the passenger standing on the platform as the train arrived. He switched the camera on and it ran for a few seconds, then there was smoke, electrical sparks and a tiny explosion... doh! That would've looked pretty exciting if it was a live broadcast! Viewers might've thought the camera got hit by the train!

SFII Casting: Bosses

Michael Jai White as Balrog
If the movie makers could get Tyson to cooperate, he'd be perfect because this character was based after him. For those who don't know, "Balrog" was originally named "Mike Bison (aka M.Bison)." They had to shuffle the names for the US release due to legal concerns. Since it's unrealistic to have Tyson play himself, Michael Jai White is my choice. He's more known for his fancy kicks, but he also did a great job playing a boxer in Undisputed II.

David Belle as Vega
Vega climbs, flips, jumps off walls and rolls. David Belle doing all of those things is equivalent to a normal person walking.

Yao Ming as Sagat
How many 7'6" Asians are there anyway? After that, how many have muscles and can move quickly? Yao would be great for this part. They just have to shave his head, put him out in the sun for a bit, give him and eye patch and make him look meaner! I know... I know... he's a basketball player, but I know enough about Yao to say that he won't need a lot of direction when doing the fight scenes.

Billy Chow as Bison
Bison is a tough one to cast, but if you've seen Billy Chow in Fist of Legend, you've already seen Bison! Just change it to a red uniform. That last scene was basically Ryu vs. Bison. It had Jet Li, Billy Chow, non-stop action, crazy combos and breaking of background objects.

Tech Deals of the Week (2/24-3/1)

CompUSA Update
CompUSA has been pretty successful in getting rid of their inventory despite their high prices. I guess people see the "closeout sale" banner and just buy stuff without researching the competition. The 8th Ave. store has been closing off more and more empty sections, but prices have not lowered yet though. Based on what's left there, I think they'll be redoing the store within a month's time.

SanDisk 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.99 @ Radio Shack
Standard sale price for 4 GB model.

Gigaware 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub for $9.99 @ Radio Shack
This is a pretty good price for a USB 2.0 hub... especially a portable one. There's a Targus model that sells for $19.99 @ Office Depot.

Targus 25-in-1 Card Reader for $9.99 @ Radio Shack
A rare low price for a multi-card reader. It's about half the size of other devices that do the same thing.

Acer 24" LCD for $279.99 @ Office Depot
This is the lowest price on this model since Black Friday. It's nearly a Black Friday price too.

Elevating the Bench

Players like Manu Ginobili and Ben Gordon give a new dimension to their teams. They're basically the 6th starter of their respective teams... meaning a player with the skills of a starter, but play off the bench. They both get minutes and often supply most of the offense. When the Bulls and Spurs need to rest a starter, another starter takes his place... no break for the opposing team!

When players are picked for the All-Star game, it's always the starters that get recognition. The fans voting in the actual starting 5 and the coaches pick the bench guy... which are for the most part more starters. What if they treated the All-Star bench players as different positions altogether? I think they should evaluate a guard coming off the bench differently. A guy who's used to starting might not be able to provide a spark off the bench like BG and Manu.

SFII Casting: New Challengers

Sonny Landham as T.Hawk
I can't think of any 7 ft Native Americans, but they sure made Landham look huge in Best of the Best 2.

Charlize Theron as Cammy
She's actually too old for this role, but she definitely looks young enough. She has the acting ability to play a good brainwashed British special forces soldier. She's done a lot of action in Aeon Flux and I liked her toughness in Italian Job.

Wesley Snipes as Dee Jay
Snipes has the fancy kicks to match Dee Jay's moves and he has the same body type. I originally had Michael Jai White here, but based on size, I went with Snipes. I need White for a different role.

Donnie Yen as Fei Long
Fei Long is modeled after Bruce Lee and I think Donnie Yen did a good job of imitating Lee in his Fist of Fury TV series. Yen also has the same super cut body as Lee and has the ability to perform what I call "video game moves," that is moves that look physically impossible.

D. Askerov vs. D. Pacquette

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 6

The Tiger Kings continued their strategy of knocking off the strongest fighters. After John Wayne Parr eliminated the Wild Boar's captain, Rafik Bakkouri, Alain was picked as the next captain. In Episode 5 (which I missed), Alain was then eliminated easily by Soren. So in Episode 6 David Pacquette of UK was named captain. This was the best match of the season so far. Dzhabar Askerov of the United Arab Emirates and David Pacquette were so evenly matched. They went the distance, trading blows and combos. In the end, the judges awarded the fight to Dzhabar. I'm not sure how that happened. I watched this episode twice and very carefully. I thought David won it. Dzhabar fought dirty and even kicked David while he was down. David had the more solid hits and seemed to hurt Dzhabar more. His hits drove Dzhabar back and Dzhabar's hits seemed weak. I guess it's like boxing... the only sure thing is a knockout.

Honest Andy

Andy Pettitte addressed the media at Spring Training last weekend about the whole Mitchell Report issue. In my opinion, he did a lot more than he needed to, but that's just the kind of guy he is. As I've said before, I don't think Andy is guilty of anything as he used HGH (which I repeat was not banned at the time) to speed the recovery of his elbow injury. He's not a cheater because he didn't use it to pitch stronger and faster. He did not use it long-term... just that one time he was injured. The media should really stop putting him in the same boat as Roger Clemens. It's not only obvious that Clemens took steriods, but he also suffers from an extremely swelled ego. It's gotten so large that he's convinced himself that he never took steriods and HGH. When Pettitte spoke to reporters, he was very friendly, polite and open... as always. He had the support of Jeter, Posada and Rivera in the audience as well. Those who don't know Andy got a chance to see his honesty and integrity. Hopefully this will put an end to the bad press about him. Every player named in the Mitchell report should follow what Andy did... just tell the truth.

CHI-CLE-SEA 3-Way

The trade deadline has passed and much to my surprise, Chicago made a move. The basic gist of it is Chicago gave up some defense for offense. Time will tell if that was wise or not. So here it is:

Chicago got Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown. I kind of like this because the Bulls tend to go into team slumps where no one can score. The addition of Hughes and Gooden will reduce that. The previous mistake in building the Bulls was concentrating too much on defense. When Wallace was on the floor with Thomas or Noah, the other 3 guys (who are undersized) had to make up for the offense.

Cleveland got Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Ben Wallace and Joe Smith. I think Wallace is a good fit for Cleveland because they lack defense. And James more than makes up for Wallace's lack of offense. I wonder what will happen to Ilgauskas' minutes.

Seattle picked up Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin and Donyell Marshall.

What I don't like is Wallace got traded to a division rival. As bad as he played this year, I still think he can impact a game, especially in the post season. Last year, he had an OK regular season, but he boosted the Bulls to another level in the playoffs as they swept the defending champs. Also, Joe Smith was the most consistent Bull this season. So that was a bit of a gamble. By trading Smith, I think the Bulls are looking a little at rebuilding.

SFII Casting: World Warriors II

Kal Penn as Dhalsim
Dhalsim probably needs to be a little older than Penn, but he's about the right size. Just about anyone of Indian descent could play Dhalsim because he has a shaved head with lots of face paint. Since Penn is young, he would be in good enough shape for the stunt work. Some makeup along with the war paint can easily make him look older.

Daniel Craig as Guile
Daniel Craig is about the right size for Guile, he's got that chiseled hero's face and is great at doing action scenes. The runner up for this was William Fichtner (Col. Sharpe in Armageddon) because he looks a lot like Guile, down to the hair. But I'm going with Craig assuming they can fix his hair up right!

Djalma Peraira as Blanka
This is the guy that was demonstrating Capoeira with Mark Dacascos in Only the Strong. He can do the same movements as Blanka and has the thick, muscular body to match.

Nathan Jones as Zangief
Nathan Jones is a favorite in the Martial Arts movie genre because he's huge, strong and fast. You've seen him as the big guy in Jet Li's Fearless, Tom Yum Goong and Troy. He's just right for the 7 ft Zangief.

Don't Rush for that Apple

Remember when Apple released the iPhone and then sandbagged us by lowering the price by $100 a few months later? Well, according to rumors, it's about to happen again for the suckers who went for the 32 GB iPod touch that was released as a Valentine's Day promo. It's currently $499, but is said to be dropping to $399. The 16 GB model will go from $399 to $299. The 8 GB model will be discontinued.

If this rumor is true, it'll also be interesting to see how it affects the prices of the other models. If the 16 GB model truly drops to $299, it doesn't really make sense to keep an 8 GB model around. If that drops to $199, then it'll cost as much as the 8 GB Nano. Unless... the Nano prices drop as well. In order for the Nano to be worth its price, it needs to cost less (in dollars/GB) than the Touch. Right now, it does not. It's the same... 8 GB Nano for $199... 16 GB Touch for $399.

Since all of these are flash based, here's another message for Apple... Please drop the Air to something reasonable... no one's going to buy it at it's current tag!

No Kidding This Time!

The Jason Kidd trade officially went through today. It's a little different than before, though. It was still Kidd and Allen to the Mavs, but NJ got Harris, Diop, Hassell, Ager and the retired Van Horn. Stackhouse & George stayed put. I think NJ got the short end of the stick in this scenario because they didn't get Stack. By keeping him, the Mavs retained another slasher that should work well with Kidd's field command.

From NJ's point of view, the most interesting piece of the puzzle was Keith Van Horn. No one knows what kind of shape he's in. He hasn't really played significant minutes since getting traded by the Knicks. Is he in game shape? If he isn't then, the Nets got ripped off. If he's vintage Van Horn, then there's a good chance the trade was an even one.

SFII Casting: World Warriors I

Jet Li as Ryu
Ryu is one of the smaller fighters in Street Fighter and is the greatest figher in the world. So I think Jet Li is perfect for the part, even though he's primarily a Hung Gar stylist. His wide array of moves would allow him to duplicate the Shotokan and Ansatsuken techniques. Jet Li is not that talkative, but is very loud when he speaks with his martial arts... much like Ryu... the wandering pure warrior.

Ray Park as Ken
Ray Park was very impressive with his Shaolin Kung Fu in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. I bought that movie purely for his 5 minute display at the end. I have him as Ken because Ken needs to be able to move like Ryu. Like Li, Park has Wushu fundamentals and can duplicate any martial arts movement. Also, they're both about the same size.

Peter Tuiasosopo as Honda
This is the guy that played Honda in the 1994 version of Street Fighter. It was a perfect choice because he looked just like Honda. He should still be young enough to fit the part today.

Kelly Hu as Chun Li
I picked Kelly Hu mainly for fighting skill and toughness. She might be a little tall for Chun Li, but they can fix that with camera angles and other tricks. Hu has a nice array of acrobatic moves that she's displayed before on the series, Martial Law.

2008 NBA All-Star Game

I don't know what to make of the All-Star game anymore. It's really the same thing as the rookie game. It's all showboating, but the All-Stars are just able to convert more often. So the celebrities try to showboat ineffectively, then the rookies do it and then we get to see the stars show them all how its done. But it doesn't feel like a basketball game because there's very little D. We already saw a dunk contest, shootout and skills competition. I want to see a game with the league's greatest players going at it! Maybe the NBA needs to do what MLB did a few years ago and make this game count for homecourt advantage in the Finals.

On a different note, the uniforms looked messed up this year with white on one side and either blue (East) or gold (West) on the other.

More positive... this was a rare chance for me to cheer on one of my favorite players, LeBron James because he's not beating up on the Bulls. He got the MVP as usual and what a great speech. King James is a natural, not only on the court, but with his off the court charisma.

Now back to the 2nd half of the season!

Stargate Atlantis 417 (Midway)

This was a classic comic book crossover episode where two major heroes go at it with each other, then become friends towards the end. Teal'c made a guest appearance to help Ronon pass a new required interview with the IOA. Ronon, as usual has a hard time accepting any kind of help and always tries to pick a fight. He spars with Teal'c for over an hour until Commander Carter breaks it up. As a fan of the original Stargate SG-1 for 10 years, I would've liked to see Teal'c finish that fight and humble the cocky Ronon... but that could've taken the full hour of the program! So anyway, the wraith made a quick and effective attack on Midway station, forcing the 2 superheroes to work together. This episode is filled with so much action that it makes up for a couple of the slower one preceding it. And now that Ronon respects Teal'c there won't be any tension next time.

SFII Casting: Intro.

Since I got fired up about the upcoming Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li movie, I put together my own casting call. There are a lot of characters to cover, so I'll break this out into a 4-part series starting with 4 of the original "World Warriors," then the next 4, followed by the 4 "New Challengers" and finally the 4 bosses. Here are the guidelines I'm sticking with:

- actors/actresses must be alive
- actors/actresses must be the age and in the condition they are in today (Ex. I can't say Jackie Chan when he was in his 30's)
- actors/actresses will be picked for a SFII movie (not the Alpha series where they are younger... I may save that for a future casting call)

Tech Deals of the Week (2/17-2/23)

Logitech V400 Cordless Mouse for $14.99 @ PC Richard
This is a good price for a cordless laser mouse that had 2 side buttons and a tilt wheel. I've never tried this device, but have plenty of other Logitech mice and keyboards that have been very reliable and comfortable.

SanDisk 3 pk 2 GB Flash Drives for $49.99 @ Circuit City
This is a pack of 3 retractable 2 GB flash drives... red, white & blue.

Flash Drive Deals @ Circuit City
- Sony 4 GB for $29.99
- PNY 8 GB for $54.99

Playo 60 pk DVD+R $4.98 @ Staples
This is a very low price for a 50-pack these days. It's lower than the sale price for a 25 pk.

SanDisk 4 GB Flash Drive for $24.98 @ Staples
This is super low for a 4 GB... and it's at Staples, so it should be relatively easy to get.

Acer 19" LCD for $149.98 @ Staples
They're probably selling this cheap to make way for the new models.

WD 500 GB My Book Ext. HDD for $99.98 @ Staples
I've been looking for this price to hit again. It hasn't been this low since Black Friday!

SanDisk 8 GB Flash Drive for $49.99 @ Office Depot
This even beats the Circuit City price above! I left that listing since not everyone is near an Office Depot.

All-Star Saturday

The most unexpected team won the Shooting Stars competition... San Antonio. With Duncan and Robinson on the team, they were probably the worst shooting team, but they won somehow. Chicago performed well in both rounds up until the final shot. They made all of their shots early and were on pace to win too.

Deron Williams took the skills competition. Last year's champ, Wade messed up early, as did Jason Kidd. Williams has great passing ability and he can dunk the ball, so I guess he had the physical edge. Chris Paul only messed up once, but it was enough for Williams to take the lead.

The 3-point shootout was also pretty exciting, with a close first round between Nowitzki, Gibson & Kapono. That was followed by a nice second round with Gibson & Kapono beating their own first round scores. Usually fatigue kicks in and the second round is lower scoring. As expected, Kapono was the winner. He's really an amazing 3-point shooter and the first guy to have above 50% since Steve Kerr.

The Sprite Slam Dunk Competition wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In the first round, we saw Howard duplicate Iggy's behind the backboard dunk from 2 years ago. Of course Howard is 7 ft, so it was easier for him. And also, Gerald Green blew out a candle on a cupcake (placed on the back iron) as he dunked. For his 2nd dunk, Howard, dressed as Superman, received a long pass from out of bounds and stretched to barely dunk it in. The 2nd round was less exciting, but Howard's first dunk was tipped off the backboard by his left hand and dunked by his right. That's enough hang time for 2 shots! The worst dunk of the night was the 2nd Green dunk of the 1st round where a teammate sat up on a ladder to hold the ball for him. That's not a dunk because the ball was practically already in the basket before it started. Shame on the judges for scoring a 45 (straight 9's) on that. Boooo! The fan voting awarded the contest to a well-deserved Dwight Howard.

Clockwork Apple: Eduardo Santiago

Eduardo Santiago is about 6'5" and a muscular 220 lbs. He's a hard working guy who's always trying to improve his skills. Every weekend, he makes an effort to wake up early and get a good workout. He's always on the same car of the E train as me and is dressed in a warm-up suit, carrying a large duffle bag. He gets off on Lexington to go to his gym. It's conveniently located near his office, which he uses as a "home base" in Manhattan. After his routine, Eddie drops by his office to get a little bit of work done and prepare everything for a smooth start of the week on Monday.

Eduardo Santiago is name after a college friend of mine who was very similar in stature. Eddie was also around 6'5" and was head of the school's gym. He kept himself in phenomenal shape and played baseball, football and wrestling.

All-Star Friday

As expected, the celebrity game was stupid. If they want to get celebrities, they should at least get ones that can play ball! Nearly every possession was a traveling violation (of course they didn't call them). It's no wonder they focused the camera more on the chef cooking Cajun dishes more than the game itself! As I watched this with my family and friends, we joked about matchups that should replace the celebrity game. Some ideas were WNBA vs. Celebrities, Mascots vs. Celebrities or High School vs. Celebrities.

The Rookie Challenge was better, but still too much showboating and no defense. Since it was mostly one on one, Yi didn't get the ball a whole lot. The guy's 7 ft with a sweet jumper. Pass him the ball if you want to win! He pretty much hit his shots whenever he got the ball. I would've liked to see some emphatic blocks though. If I was an NBA rookie or sophomore in this game, I would just concentrate 100% on defense. Everyone else would be looking for a clear lane and I would just make asses out of all of them. What better game to show off blocks and steals!

Well... the sophomores won it as I thought. Daniel Gibson got the MVP. Go Boobie... go!

SF: Legend of Chun Li (Preview)

There's a new Street Fighter movie in the works. And so far it's on its way to being worse than the Van Damme version in 1994! Well, not much is done yet, but here's what we know so far. It will be based on Chun Li's story. It's a little strange because usually US-made interpretations of Street Fighter tend to work around Guile and Ken. Here's the killer... Chun Li will be played by Kristin Kreuk... uhhh... she's half Chinese, but doesn't really look Chinese at all. Chun Li is supposed to be Chinese... from China! I can't believe they're going to go through with this. It's going to be like David Carradine playing a Chinese monk. I will likely boycott this movie unless Kreuk learns to act more Chinese, takes wushu lessons and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Just Kidding... for Now

Yesterday, I mentioned that Jason Kidd had been traded to Dallas, but probably should have pulled that post as Devean George, who was part of the trade blocked it for the time being. He feels that he fits in better with the Mavericks all of a sudden. Previously, he was complaining about playing time. The funniest part about this is he's probably the worst player on the trading block of both teams! What a pain in the butt. It figures he used to be a Laker!

Dallas Kidd

Jason Kidd got his wish today in a blockbuster move with the Dallas Mavericks. It's Kidd & Allen over to Dallas for Harris, Stackhouse, Diop, George & Ager. The Mavs remain pretty strong as they hold on to Nowitzki, Terry & Howard. It should be interesting to watch these guys play with the best point guard in the league. The Nets practically got an entire squad out of this. Kidd is a big deal, but I don't feel the Nets got ripped off or anything. All of those are solid guys that can help the team. They have a decent backup center in Diop and a solid shooter in Stackhouse. They're just weaker at the point now. And of course chemistry is always the unknown.

Battle of the Lightweights

I know... not supposed to talk about the Bulls games. This post isn't about one of the previous games. It's just a comment about the upcoming game against the Heat tomorrow. It was obviously scheduled based on what was supposed to be one of NBA's great rivalries. 2 seasons ago, the Heat eliminated the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Last year, the Bulls had a chip on their shoulder and went 7 and 1 against their nemesis, including the 4-game sweep that got the world to notice the Bulls. The match up this year was supposed to be a battle for a top spot by 2 Eastern powers. Instead, it's the injury plagued Bulls who can hang on for a low seed against the bottom-of-the-barrel, centerless Heat. The TV stations really shouldn't layout their sports schedules for the entire year!

Azrael's All-Stars

I already went over my All-Star picks, so here's who I'd like to see in the competitions the night before the game:

For the slam dunk contest, I'd like to see LeBron James, David Lee, Shawn Marion and Vince Carter. I can't believe LeBron hasn't entered one of these yet. I have a feeling he's saving up something good and will eventually do it. David Lee has some nice stuff that his displays during games. I bet he can be creative in this contest. The same goes for the Matrix. Carter still has this in him too, even though he doesn't do it as much. His movements are more similar to Jordan than anyone else.

I wouldn't change the skills competition at all with Kidd, Paul, Deron Williams and Wade. Wade is the champ and the other three are the top point guards in the league.

For the 3-point shootout, I would just choose the top percentage guys. So I'm OK with Kapono, Nash and Gibson. Stojakovic can stay too because historically, he's one of the top guys. Bryant shouldn't be in there. I'd put Chauncy Billups instead. I'd like to see Brent Barry instead of Rip Hamilton.

For my dream shooting stars team, I'd want Steve Kerr as the veteran, Candice Dupree as the WNBA player and Ben Gordon as the current Bull. This year's team is not bad though. They got Dupree back from last year's team. Armstrong is probably a good 2nd choice to Kerr. Duhon is not one of the best Bulls shooters, but it's his hometown, so maybe that'll give him a boost.

Lost

One of the biggest time-wasters at work is when colleagues hang around and talk about some TV series... namely, Lost. First of all, people already spend 1 hour a week watching this popular show. Then they have to talk about it in the office instead of doing work. One of my friends sent me this video the other day:




It sums up all 3 seasons in 8 minutes. That saves more than 60 hours of time and around $120 for the DVDs!

Tech Deals of the Week (2/10-2/16)

Circuit City LCD Deals
- Acer 19" for $199.99
- Acer 22" for $269.99
- Acer 24" for $399.99

These prices might look high if you look back at my past entries, but these aren't the same models. Acer redesigned their LCDs and they also ave a higher contrast ratio than before.

Circuit City Flash Drive Deals
- SanDisk 4 GB for $29.99
- SanDisk 8 GB for $59.99

Logitech Wireless Notebook Mouse for $9.99 @ Circuit City
This is a nice basic wireless mouse for your notebook. The in-store price is $29.99 - 2 $10 mail-in rebates.

PNY 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.99 @ Best Buy
It looks like this is going to be the standard sale price for the 4 GB drives now, which is a step in the right direction for flash prices!

Y. Fairtex vs. B. Macfie

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 4

There was nothing exciting about this match between Yodsaenklai of Thailand and Bruce Macfie of Australia. As I mentioned before, I don't think any of the fighters has a chance against the 2 Thais. Bruce probably is a good fighter based on his moves, but all of his hits did no damage to Yodsaenklai. Yodsaenklai just took him apart with various round kicks. One of the things that makes Muay Thai exciting is the various ways a fight can be won. In boxing, you can either take out someone's head or torso. In Muay Thai you can also end a fight by rendering an opponents arm useless or take out a leg so he can't stand anymore. In this match Yodsenklai kept hitting the same spot on Bruce's arm. He kicked it so many times that he probably made himself sore too.

All-Star Weekend Preview

Friday, 2/15
I'll likely skip the celebrity game. It usually sucks because most of them can't really play. The Rookie Challenge should be fun. I'll be keeping my ey on Durant, Yi and Scola on the Rookie side. I think the sophomores have the advantage this year. Roy and Aldridge are both on the team, which certainly creates instant chemistry. They've also got Bargnani, Gibson, Gay and Rondo... lots os athleticism.

Saturday, 2/16
The dunk contest seems to get worse every year, with the exception of the behind-the-backboard dunk by Iggy 2 years ago (that should have won the contest). Hopefully Green, Gay, Howard & Moon can come up with something new. The skills challenge will be fun because we get to see some guards go at it. They definitely got the right people for this one... Kidd, Paul, Deron Williams & Wade. The 3-Point Shootout should be good too with Bryant, Gibson, Hamilton, Kapono, Nash & Stojakovic. Shooting Stars is the only evnt with Bulls participants. This year, the team is made up of Duhan, Dupree and Armstrong. It should really be Gordon or Hinrich instead of Duhon though.

Sunday, 2/17
The All-Star game can be really good this year as East and West look evenly matched... at least in the starting positions. Hopefully everyone gives it 100%. I'd like to see some defense and nice game shots... no free dunks!

Air is Full of Gas

The new Macbook Air is advertised as "starting at $1,799," but let's be realistic. One doesn't go through all of that trouble to shrink down the size of a laptop only to load a conventional hard drive into it. It only makes sense to get the solid state flash drive. So in reality, this system starts at $2,798 for the 1.6 Ghz model. That pretty much makes it an overpriced, underpowered laptop. If you think about it and look beyond the nice design, people use portables for vacation or business trips. They're carried to work daily without the hindrance of 10 extra pounds. Most people use them for word processing and Internet. With all of this in mind, there's no need to spend $2,798. You can do all of that for $399 on the Asus EEE PC. You can argue that the Macbook Air can do mid-level video & graphic design. But if that's your purpose, why not get the Macbook Pro for the same price (and almost twice the power)? I can't understand why anyone would get the Macbook Air. And I'm not the only one as Apple's stock has plummeted since its release.

CSE Updated

I updated my Tech Product Search in the rightnav. ClubIT was added and CompUSA removed. I was recently introduced to ClubIT by Wordbirdie, who found an optical mouse for free after rebates. ClubIT is not as cheap as NewEgg or Directron, but they do have great rebate offers and shipping promos. I removed CompUSA for the time being and will re-evaluate them when they become fully integrated into Systemax. I was very disappointed with their close-out sale (still going on). They're trying to get rid of inventory and their prices aren't even competitive yet. It's about the 4th week now and they're only giving 10-20% off the jacked up retail price. Some people are falling for it too. I visited every week and walked out empty handed every time.

10 Elevator Pet Peeves

People who:

- press the button after it's already been pressed... as if it's going to come faster.
- press the down and up button thinking they'll get on one faster.
- enter before letting passengers off.
- push a high floor, then change their mind and push a lower floor.
- take their time getting on while blocking other people behind them.
- ride it for one floor instead of taking the stairs (unless they have a disability).
- block the door and don't glance back to see if others are getting out before them.
- get on first and stand right in front of the control panel, blocking it from others behind them.
- backup to let passengers on, but don't pay attention to see if people are behind them.
- hold the door open to talk to their friend who has already gotten off, making everyone else wait.

More Moving Stars

The deadline is still a couple of weeks away, but there's been a lot of movement of big names so far.

Pau Gasol to LA
To my dislike, this makes LA a much better team. Gasol is a great low post player that could compliment Bryant and Fisher. They basically got him for free too, just giving up Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton & 2 draft picks. What was Memphis thinking? They could have had a quality player from Chicago if they wanted, but 4 scrubs for Gasol... crazy!

Shaq to PHX
All of the recent news has been around where Jason Kidd will go. So this one came out of no where... the big guy joins the Suns and has a chance to face up more often with Kobe. This was a very weird trade because Shaq might not fit in right with Phoenix's running game. He could just stay on the defensive end while the 4-man offense just runs.

Matrix to Miami
In return for Shaq, Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks were shipped to Miami. This leaves Miami with a hole in the middle, but a faster team. Marion's numbers would certainly help out the Heat. It might not be the end of it though. These 2 guys could get shipped again before the deadline.

ARTiGO Pico ITX Kit

This is a VIA-based portable computer that's about half the size of a DVD-ROM drive. Because of it's tiny size, the possibilities are almost endless when putting together a custom system.

The Kit: The kit includes a Pico-ITX motherboard with embedded 1 Ghz VIA CPU, small form factor case & power adapter. The motherboard has 4 USB 2.0's, 2 audio jacks, VGA & LAN. Logic Supply has this for $279.

RAM: This system has only one RAM slot, so you might as well max out. You can get a 1 GB chip at NewEgg for $19.99. So that's a total of $298.99.

HDD: You can get a 100 GB/7200 RPM 2.5" hard drive for $99.99 @ NewEgg, upping the total to $398.98.

OS: The OEM version of Windows XP Home, also from NewEgg costs $89.99... total at $488.97.

The NewEgg shipping comes out to $6.99 and the Logic Supply shipping is $8.38. So the final is $504.34.

That's probably an OK system as far as bang-for-buck, but not a bad price for a fun project. Of course you're also paying for the portability.

Taking the project further: Since this thing is small enough for a drive bay, it's possible to build 3 (or more) of these, load them into a standard tower and cluster them for a super system!

Related Links: Logic Supply, NewEgg, VIA Artigo

Subway Tales: Immunity

I often forget how noisy the subway is and am only reminded of it when I ride with out of town guests. I was on the uptown B train with a few friends from LA and they all covered their ears whenever the train came to a screeching stop. I guess I became immune to all of these noises over the years. I can't even remember what it was like the first time I rode the subway... must've been when I was very young. The fuzzy PA system, closing door alerts, fake basketball team donations and sounds of grinding metal are just automatically tuned out for me. I just have to catch myself when I get close to falling asleep. I probably sleep better on the train than in my bed!

Tech Deals of the Week (2/3-2/9)

Circuit City Flash Drive Deals
- SanDisk 4 GB for $34.99
- Sony 8 GB for $64.99

Creative Laptop Webcam for $9.99 @ Circuit City
This is a great price after a $20 mail-in rebate. It features parental controls, video capture and security.

Dynex 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub for $9.99 @ Best Buy
A cheap way to add 4 more ports to your system.

Kingston 4 GB SD Card for $29.99 @ Best Buy
I think this is the first time I've seen a non-SanDisk SD card get below $10/GB.

Geek Squad 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.99 @ Best Buy
I didn't they had Geek Squad branded drives before, but the design is nice. The cap flips open and remains attached to the drive.

W. Parr vs. R. Bakkouri

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 3

I missed episode 2, but was glad to catch #3 as the two captains battled it out. The strategy of the Tiger Kings team was to eliminate the strong fighters first... the opposite plan of the Wild Boars. So John Wayne Parr of Australia went straight for the blue team's captain, Rafik Bakkouri of France. The match was much closer than it should've been as Wayne Parr got a little sloppy and Bakkouri cut him with a lucky elbow. They both exchanged punches and though Wayne Parr looked more hurt because he was cut, it was easy to tell that his opponent was taking more damage. Bakkouri kept taunting and smiling as they fought, which is usually a sign that a fighter is hurting.

I was happy to see Bakkouri leave as there was an unsportsman altercation between him and Dzhabar Askerov that was the fault of both fighters and made them both look bad. And it was fitting that he was eliminated by Wayne Parr, who is the most professional, well-mannered fighter of the group.

Brgr

Location: 287 7th Avenue (btw 26th & 27th St.)
Cuisine: Burgers, Organic
Phone: (212) 488-7500
Website: www.brgr.us
Prices: About $15 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 9
Service: 7
Value: 7
Environment: 8

Visits: 1

Brgr is a competitor of New York Burger Co. as they both offer pricey burgers in semi-fast food environments. So I'm going to compare the two down to the details.

During my first visit to this place, I ordered their regular Brgr with a soda and sweet potato fries. The beef patties are better here. They cook them medium by default and it's just perfect... meaty and juicy. There are less toppings and less specialty burgers than New York Burger Co. though. And it's much more expensive once you start adding stuff. New York Burger Co. has a better tasting bun as well. So the overall burgers are tied. Sweet potato fries are always a good treat since few restaurants offer it. Brgr doesn't have the variety of dips though. They only have the standard stuff... ketchup, mustard, mayo & brgr sauce. I'd give New York Burger Co. the edge in side orders.

There's more service at Brgr because they actually bring the food to you and take your trash away. I gave it a slightly lower value because the food is equivalent in taste, but more expensive.

The layout of the place is strikingly identical to New York Burger Co.. It makes me wonder who copied who. The decor is much better though. Brgr has the look and lighting of an eat-in restaurant rather than a florescent fast food place.

I love the name too... Brgr. It probably signifies the pure all natural meat used. The meat of word being the consonants... with no vowels.