Subway Tales: MTA Joe

I have no idea what Joe's job is, but he's there all the time at one of the MTA's major stations. All he does is stand in the middle of the platform and hang out with conductors that are either leaving or arriving. He doesn't seem to do anything though... not helping customers, announcing anything or even sweeping the floor. Yet he's there all the time and works long hours. He's there before my morning commute and I often see him when I return in the evening. Maybe the MTA hired him to raise the morals of the conductors and other MTA employees. MTA Joe... a real transit hero!

Another added bonus... he dresses like a cop so he can look cooler than what his actual duties are.

ASUS U31JG

It's really hard to keep up with ASUS's models. Just recently, I wrote about the U36JC. That's not even available yet and they already have another one with better specs... the U31JG. This one has almost the same specs... 2.53 Ghz Core i3 or 2.8 Ghz Core i5, 13.3" screen with NVidia Optimus and 10-hour battery life. The 2 main differences are... the NVidia card in the U31JG is a big upgrade... The GeForce GT 415M (rather than 310M) and the max RAM is 8 GB (instead of 4 GB). The odd thing is the U36JC has a USB 3 port and the U31JG does not.

Both models trump any other laptop at 13.3", but have one very weird weakness... .3 MP webcam. Isn't that odd? All the power they poured into it and ASUS loaded the worst possible webcam. Their EEE PC line has 1.3 MP.

Green Hornet

I wonder what happened to the Green Hornet remake. Years ago, it was rumored, but seemed like a done deal that Jet Li was going to play Kato. It was perfect because he's probably the only actor right now that could step into Bruce Lee's shoes. Then I just saw the trailer for this movie... no Jet Li! They also turned it into a comedy. Kato is played by Jay Chou (Initial D) and Green Hornet by Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up and 40-year Old Virgin). Jay Chou was great in Initial D, but he doesn't know enough martial arts to play Kato. And Seth Rogen has had all comedy roles.


I'm sure the movie will be funny and entertaining, but I'll pass on it. I would rather see Green Hornet as a serious action movie with cool stunts and fight scenes.

Christmas Games

It's somewhat of an honor to be playing on Christmas Day in the NBA. The media will pick high market teams usually. This year had all good matchups... Bulls/Knicks, Heat/Lakers, Celtics/Magic and Nuggets/Thunder. If you get picked to play on Christmas, it means you're on a good team basically. However, a lot of players have voiced their opinions about playing on such an important family holiday. We've heard from LeBron James and Kyle Korver on this. It's understandable because people want to be with their families for the holiday. But I think that's the price of being an NBA player. YYou're paid millions of dollars to entertain. So they should play on holidays because that's what they make the big bucks for.

The Bulls have had it tough though. They played on Thanksgiving, Christmas and will also play on New Year's.

Tough Win

I didn't think last night's game against the Wizards would end up being a win after Kirk Hinrich made the Bulls pay for trading him. Once again, he showed that he's the league's best defensive guard as he was tasked with holding down Rose. The first half was basically the Hinrich show as he shutdown his former student and was on fire at the offensive end. The Bulls turned the ball over and went into their droughts. Rose somehow scored 25 with the crappy start and bad 4th. If you look at the numbers on the Bulls side, you'd think that there was no way they won this game. Boozer had 30 and Deng had 14. No one else had more than 6. But as bad as they played, they really shutdown the Wizards at the end with tough defense. Hinrich had 19 pts/9 asts/5 rebs.

The positive note is that the Bulls can grind out tough wins. This was again, with Noah out and Gibson with limited time. If we look back at things, the Bulls should have never traded Hinrich. Even if there was a logjam at the guard position, Hinrich and Rose can easily swap point and shooting and do a much better job than the current Rose/Bogans starting combo.

Fare Hike Coming

I just read and was reminded that the next MTA fare hike is just around the corner. It actually caught me by surprise because it's been in and out of the news throughout the year, but disappeared recently. I think most people forgot it was coming and there has been no announcement by the MTA.

So the monthly card is going up to $104! It's hard to imagine that back when the MetroCard came out, it was nearly half that price. They're also getting rid of the useless 14-day card. People can just buy 2 weeklys. I'm surprised they kept it around that long. It's about as practical as a $2 bill. There's a grace period for old cards that ends January 10, so I thought I'd check my current one out. It expires January 9! I happened to luck out. I can buy a new one under the current price still!

No Problem

After a tough 1-point loss over the weekend, the Bulls had a nice blowout victory last night against the .500, but red hot Philadelphia 76ers. Both Noah and Gibson were out, but they somehow held the Sixers to just 76 points and never gave up the lead since going down 0-2 at the start of the game. Rose and Deng each lead with 22 points. Boozer had a double-double. The team had 6 players in double figures and I believe every player scored except Keith Bogans... who started.

So far this year, the Bulls haven't been falling into their usual bad habits. I'm talking about getting big leads and then losing them. And also going on winning streaks and then dropping down to .500. I think the core is hungry for a championship this year. Injuries aren't stopping them either. No Noah.... no Gibson.. no problem. There's more depth than I ever imagined in this team.

Tech Deals of the Week (12/19-12/25)

FINALLY... I found a week with enough sales worthy of a post! Hopefully this keeps up.

iPod Deals
- 8 GB iPod touch @ TG for $225 + $40 gift card
- 8 GB iPod nano @ TG for $145 + $15 gift card
- Memorex iPod travel dock @ TG for $45
- 8 GB iPod nano @ BB for $169.99 + arm band, wall charger & Gumy earbuds
- 16 GB iPod nano @ BB for $199.99 + arm band, wall charger & Gumy earbuds
- 8 GB iPod touch @ BB for $229.99 + $40 gift card

Flash Sales
- 8 GB HP @ ST for $14.99
- 8 GB PNY Compact @ ST for $19.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ BB for $16.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ BB for $34.99

Hard Drive Sales
- 1 TB HP Ext. @ ST for $89.99
- 2 TB WD Ext. @ ST for $119.99
- 2 TB WD Ext. @ BB for $109.99
- 3 TB WD Ext. @ BB for $179.99 (best bang/GB)

Logitech M305 @ BB for $12.99
This is the lowest price I've seen on one of the best basic notebook mice out there. It has a compact dongle and is very responsive for a non-laser mouse... works on more surfaces than competing models.

Store Key: BB = Best Buy, CC = Circuit City, CU = CompUSA.com, DI = Directron, NE = NewEgg.com, OD = Office Depot, RS = Radio Shack, ST = Staples, TG = Target

Weekend NBA Wrapup

Bulls
The Bulls winning streak finally ended last night against an unlikely LA Clippers. But it could just be a sign of a Noah-less Bulls lineup. It was an uphill battle despite a 34 pt/8 ast effort by Rose, 25 pts from Boozer and 17 from Deng. They just didn't get anything from anyone else. In fact, no one else got higher than 6! The Bulls made an amazing run during the last few seconds and had a chance tie the game with Rose at the freethrow line with no time left. He missed the second shot. But the Clippers deserved to win that one. They outplayed the Bulls in every way and stole one.

Heat
The most hyped up game was Friday night's Knicks/Heat matchup, with LeBron visiting NY for the first time since FA 2010. Naturally, the fans booed him everytime, but as with the Cleveland fans, he quickly shut them up with a big game. The Knicks fans have the least to be bitter about. There was no chance of LeBron signing with NY. The media was just building up the hype.

Knicks
After an 8-game winning streak, the Knicks cooled down with a loss to Boston just before entering the Miami game. Then they faced off with LeBron's former team on Saturday and lost! That's a 3-game losing streak now. While the Boston and Miami games are acceptable, Cleveland is not!

Lucky 7

It's been 4 years since the Bulls had a 7-game winning streak, but they did it last night with a 110-93 win over the Toronto Raptors. It was a close game in the 1st quarter, with the Bulls only leading by 5, but they really pulled away in the 2nd and never looked back. Rose and Noah played injured, but Boozer really picked up the team with 34 pts and 12 rebs. He was also still on limited minutes. And none of the starters played in the 4th. This is the way it should be against teams like Toronto, instead of playing down to their level. Rose was obviously in pain as he only scored 6 pts, but moved the ball around well with 11 asts.

The bad news is Noah announced that he will undergo surgery to repair tendons in his hand today. He will likely miss 10 weeks. Fortunately, Boozer came back just in time. The starting lineup still looks OK as Gibson can take his place, but the overall depth will suffer a bit. I would like to see more minutes for Scalabrine as well. He's one of those guys that the Bulls should put in if someone's struggling. He moves and shoots well for a big guy.

Lee

While the Cliff Lee free agency wasn't as exciting as James/Wade/Bosh, he was the guy all baseball fans were keeping an eye on. All the talk was around the Yankees and Rangers, but he pulled a surprise decision to go with his former team, the Phillies... the team that shouldn't have let him go in the first place! My gut feeling was that he would stay with Texas. They did so well once they got him and it seemed like he was very comfortable there. The Yankees would have offered the most money, but personality-wise, I didn't see him enjoying playing in the city.

Although I would've liked to see Cliff Lee as a Yankee, the Phillies are the next best thing. the Yankees won't have to face him until the World Series. It's also nice to see players out there pick the best environment for themselves and their families, putting money aside as the primary reason.

6 Straight

The Bulls made it 6 in a row last night with a win over their Central Division rival, Pacers. While the Pacers aren't a good team, the Bulls need to constantly be tested with teams of various levels so they can learn not to play down to a worse team's skill level. They've been doing a good job of that lately, beating both good teams and taking care of business. Last night, the starters came through with their usual numbers and the bench really helped out. Every player scored except Asik. I should also note that Keith Bogans player 18 minutes and scored only 3 points. The game was close until the Bulls pulled away in the 4th quarter, as they kept playing hard for every minute. As in other recent games, the team defense was as good as the offense as they held teams to under 90 points.

The main concern about last night's game was the physical play. Rose took a hard fall and everyone feared that something was broken. Fortunately, x-rays were negative and he just has a sprained wrist. That could put him out for a game or two though. The next couple of games are against sub-500 teams, but they have the Knicks on Christmas Day. The Knicks have been just as hot as the Bulls lately and there hasn't been a Christmas Day game between the two since the Jordan Era. I wonder how they NBA planned this one. There was no indication that either team would be playing this well at the time they did the schedules.

ASUS U36JC Review

Here's a hands-on review of the ASUS U36JC by Netbooknews.com:

MVP!

That was the chant whenever Derek Rose went to the freethrow line in the 4th. For the first time in 5 years, the Bulls finally defeated the Lakers. They were able to limit Bryant like they usually do. But this time, they didn't give up a big game to Gasol, the guy that usually beats them. Rose ended with a big 29pt/9ast night with 3 three pointers. Korver added 3 more off the bench. Boozer ha da double-double and Deng did a good job on Bryant. The only bad point in the game was the 1st quarter as usual. The Bulls only scored 12 points, a season low for the opening quarter. Yet they managed to cut it to a 9 point deficit by the half and then by the 3rd had a 17 point turn-around.

So that was the 4th game in a row. Rose truly is the MVP right now. He's playing better than James or Wade. Some are saying he's the 2nd best player in franchise history. I'm going to go with 3rd... he's not better than Pippen quite yet.

Jeter Press Conference

Jeter was his usual self in his resigning press conference. He expressed his opinions about the negotiation process and how he was angry that the details went public. He fielded the questions diplomatically. Only Jeter can get his feelings out there without really burning anyone. He's such a master at it. I see a big year coming up in 2011 for the captain.

Sword of Azrael: One Crazy Monk

A NYC monk went mad in a downtown Buddhist temple. He decided to squat at the temple and among the things he's done are pissing into a wash basin and putting cat crap on a prayer book. He would save his piss overnight just so he could pour it into the basin. The monk, Xiao Dan Wu should be excommunicated from the temple and from the religion for that matter! I wonder why this went on for more than one incident. The other monks should have gone Shaolin on this guy. Sometimes being passive isn't the best road to take!

Sticking With the Plan

The Bulls racked up another win against another legitimate team to bring the season series against the Thunder to 2-2. Rose had an off night, but this one played out the way the Bulls planned things over the Summer. Boozer is definitely 100% now as he got 21 pts and 12 rebs, including several nice looking and-ones. He took contact and followed through. He's the inside presence the Bulls have been looking for all these years. Rose's "off night" consisted of 11 pts and 9 asts... still very good point guard numbers. Deng had 19 pts & 8 rebs. Korver had 13 off the bench. With Boozer back, Rose is not going to be #2 in scoring... he'll probably drop to below #10, but the Bulls are going to win more games with teamwork. I'm looking forward to it!

Weekend Sports Wrapup

Bulls
In their 2-game losing streak, it appeared that the Bulls were having a hard time adjusting to Boozer in the lineup. He also looked very rusty and slow. I think Boozer got it back in his 3rd game on Saturday night though. He put up his typical numbers at 25 pts and 9 rebs. Rose had another great game with 30 pts, 11 asts, 7 rebs and a career high 5 steals. Rose's 3 pointer sent the game into overtime, where they sealed the deal against the Rockets 119-116. Something I don't get about the Bulls lineup is... why is Keith Bogans starting every game? He's in the shooting guard spot, but can't score. So Rose has to pick up the slack. Get Korver in there! His 50% 3-point shooting is useful in droughts!

Yankees
Finally, the Yankees and Jeter agreed to a 3-year, $17m/per deal. The 4th year is an option based on his performance for the first 3 years... a typical Yankees front office deal. So I'm glad that's over. Jeter's back to being the captain for 3 more years at least. On Saturday, the Yankees also agreed to a 2-year deal with Mariano Rivera. Just before that, the Red Sox made an offer as well. Rivera turned it down since he's one of those players that will always be a Yankee. So Jeter, Rivera and Posada will all be back next year. Pettitte will likely return if the Yankees can get Cliff Lee. If they can't, then Pettitte is a maybe.

U36

As if the U35JC wasn't good enough, Asus quickly released an updated model, the U36. The main attraction is the thinner body. It's pretty close to the Macbook air + it has a Core i5! It also features USB3. So the tech specs are close to the Bamboo version of the U35, just in an improved body. So this is the new ultimate laptop!

Return of the King

All the news was around the Heat/Cavs game last night as it was LeBron's first visit to Cleveland as a Heat player. The Cleveland fans showed their stupidity and James responded with class. One woman held up a sign that said "What should I do? Beg for mercy." It was meant to poke fun at James' most recent Nike commercial. I think the last thing James is going to do is "beg for mercy," especially when he punished his former team with 38pts, 8 rebs and 5 asts. The 28-point blowout allowed James and Wade to sit out the 4th quarter. A couple of times, the crowd was cheering "Akron hates you." But Akron made it clear that they support James. And locally, there's a distinct difference between Cleveland fans and Akron fans. At other times, they would shout "Scottie Pippen," implying that James is accepting a secondary role to Wade. I consider Pippen second only to Jordan, so any active player who gets compared to Pippen should take it as a compliment. Scottie Pippen? Sure... why not! So the fans couldn't come up with anything intelligent or effective to stop the greatest player in the NBA. James responded in interviews with how he still loves the Cleveland fans. He was obviously unaffected by the boos as he played one of his best games of this season.

Subway Tales: Fatman Irony

Sometimes it's a good thing to sit next to a fat guy. How is that!? It can work under certain conditions. You have to be boarding an almost empty train and you have to be there before the fat guy. It happened to me today. I went in and quickly got a corner seat. A huge guy sat next to me. He was large enough to spill into the seat next to him. So no one was able to sit next to him... not even a supermodel! So he had extra wiggle room, which resulted in more space for me as well. It's rare, goes against logic, but can happen!

NBA Update

Bulls
The Bulls ended up losing last night's game. There was no late run to close within single digits. It seems like Orlando is the team to beat in the East. They just posed too many problems for the Bulls. They also got blown out in preseason when they also had Boozer in the lineup.

Nets
The Nets look better than last year, but still aren't really that good. Last night's game was very exciting though as they went to triple OT with the Denver Nuggets. There was buzzer beater after buzzer beater and a lot of clutch defensive plays on both sides. Brook Lopez played one of his best games. In the end, the Nets lost, but I'd say that was a good game to sway Anthony over to their side next year.

Heat
Tonight's game is going to be interesting because it will be LeBron's return to Cleveland. He'll most likely be greeted with boos, but hopefully there are some real fans out there.

Bulls vs. Magic (At the Half)

The Bulls started a home stand that actually looks much harder than the circus trip they just got back from. It started against the Orlando Magic. Carlos Boozer returned and looks very rusty so far. The chemistry isn't there yet as the Bulls trail 61-37. With 37 points, no player is in double figures yet. Rose was keeping them in the game in the first quarter, but they really dug a hole with an 18 pt 2nd. For Orlando, Carter is leading with 20... traditionally a player the Bulls have had trouble stopping in the past. It's a tough game for Boozer to come back in. He walking right into the line of fire. But I'm still watching this one because the Bulls often make a 2nd half run.

Subway Tales: Today's Cast

Switching Lanes
Starting with the down escalator on my morning commute, there was the normal condition of people walking on the left and scattered people standing on the right. One guy walking down would go right every time there was an open space. He was right in front of me and switched to the right. I passed just as he was trying to go left again just to make it clear that it wasn't worth it to switch. If you're going to commit to walking, don't switch lanes too much, you might lose your spot.

Paper Fumbler
On my first train, there was a woman standing up, trying to hold her bag and umbrella while reading a newspaper. Each time she turned the page, she would almost drop the paper and then catch it on the way down. This went on until she finished the entire thing and drew a lot of attention. The sound of rustling paper alerted surrounding passengers each time. Is it really that important to read the paper on a crowded train and on a rainy day where you need to carry and extra item?

Blind Runner
On my way home, I was running across a large public space. Another person was going the opposite direction. He was looking right at me yet he kept veering into my line of sight. He was iPod headphones on, so he was paying attention to his music and not to the path ahead. I blew past him, just missing. He didn't even notice. It's amazing how blind people can get when they're not concentrating on something. I mean, this guy was looking straight ahead and didn't see a thing. He probably wouldn't have noticed even if I knocked him down!

Successful Circus

The Bulls dropped to 3-3 for the Circus Trip after a Carmelo Anthony buzzer beater on Friday. The 98-97 loss can still be considered a success though because the Bulls had Rose out with a stiff neck and Gibson playing with an injured ankle. They dug a hole for themselves early in the game, but came back to take the lead in the 4th.

In last night's game, they also fell behind early and got stronger each quarter, eventually coming back to win 96-85. They held the Kings to just 9 points in the final quarter. As usual, Deng, Rose and Noah put up their usual numbers with good support from Korver and Brewer off the bench.

So that was the best Circus Trip since the Jordan era as the Bulls went 4-3. More importantly, all 7 games were winnable. They didn't get blown out in any of them. The Spurs and Lakers were close. And the Nuggets came down to a buzzer beater by Anthony. They basically lost to the 3 best teams and took care of business with the weaker ones. And they did all this without Boozer.

Circus Trip Update

Lakers
If you look at the final numbers, this game was a formula for a Bulls win. Rose led all players with 30 pts and 8 asts. Noah and Gibson each had double-doubles. Deng added 13, but the Bulls got almost nothing from the bench. They also defended Bryant well as usual. They just gave up too many 3's. After this 91-98 loss, the Bulls fell to .500 for the circus trip.

Suns
Poised for another loss... back-to-back games and a 21 pt 1st quarter deficit, the Bulls fought back to keep a winning record on the road trip. This wasn't just a great game by Rose (35 pts, 12 rebs), Noah (17 pts, 15 rebs) and Deng (26 pts, 10 rebs), but Korver had his best game as a Bull with 24 pts off the bench.

Black Friday

I didn't post anything this year for Black Friday because I didn't really see anything that was out of the ordinary in pricing. It was just a good time to stock up on some basics because they were on sale everywhere...
- 8 GB Flash Drive for $10
- 16 GB Flash Drive for $20
- 1 TB 3.5" HDD for $50
- 2 TB 3.5" HDD for $100
- 500 GB 2.5" HDD for $50
- 1 TB 2.5" HDD for $100
- 28" LCD TV for $250

Apple had their usual sale of $101 off of selected systems and $41 off of some iPods/iPads. The only item worth buying was the Macbook air. The iMac is mid-cycle and the Macbook Pro is overdue for an update. The iPod touch was also just updated along with the Nano ($21 off).

No Pity

When I was watching the Pacquiao vs. Margarito fight, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the Mexican. All he did each round was go out there and get hit by hard combos. On the rare occasions where he landed, Pacquiao just hit him back 5x more. Margarito was too big to take down, so he just got punished for all 12 rounds.

I just finished watching the HBO special 24/7 and feel differently now. I didn't know the backstory of Magarito before... banned from boxing for reinforcing his wraps. That's not the worst part either. He denies knowing about it. As Pacquaio said, "what is he stupid?" How could he not know what's going into the wraps when his trainer is right there. It was the Mosley fight where he was caught. Without the foreign objects, Mosley destroyed Margarito. Pacquaio's team was nice enough to give Margarito a chance at redemption, but in the special Margarito and his team could only bad mouth the champ and act over confidently.

So after watching that, I'm with the majority in thinking Margarito didn't deserve a shot. He's a cheating bum!

Subway Tales: Battle of Rohan

Whenever there's a train delay at the first stop of a train station during rush hour, it reminds me of the Battle of Rohan from Lord of the Rings. The passengers on the outside (orcs) are trying to storm into the castle while the people on the inside (Rohirrim) are trying to get out, creating a clash of hundreds in the middle. But the people on the outside aren't working as a team. They're battling for seats! Whoever gets in first will get one... the rest have to stand. The doors opening is equivalent to that guy that accidentally shot down the orc.

Triangle and Circus

The Bulls played a great game on Friday as they matched up well with the Dallas Mavericks. When they slipped against the Spurs, I thought they were going to go on a losing streak with the rest of their Western road trip. They always have trouble against any team with Jason Kidd. I guess the difference now is they have Derrick Rose! The game was close throughout, but the Bulls were losing at the start of the 4th. It wasn't a particularly good game because Deng was having a bad scoring night (just 8 pts). Rose put up 22 and the bench made up for Deng with Watson's 13 and Korver's 14. Noah and Gibson each had double-doubles. If anything won this game it was rebounds... 59 to the Mavs' 34. Gibson had 18 of the Bulls' 59 and Noah had 17!

So the Bulls end the Texas triangle at 2-1 and are back to a good start for the circus trip.

Subway Tales: Twitchy Gamer

Most people are playing with their iPhones, Droids and portable gaming systems on long subway rides. With games requiring tilting the devices, there's a new level of stupidity on the subway. Now gamers are not just sitting still and pushing buttons. They're waving around in their seats. This one iPhone gamer across from me was trying to play a game, but stay in the confines of his seating space. So he was kind of twitching his shoulders. He was successful in staying within the seat, but everyone on the train thought he had some kind of problem. The train filled up except for the seat next to him... no one would take it! At the first stop, incoming passengers ran in and without thinking, some woman sat next to him. He played and twitched away. Although he didn't invade her space, the woman was looking at him funny because he looked like he was having a spasm! He then realized that it looked weird and gave up his seat to another woman. At least he was considerate!

Back to Reality

For a while, it looked like the Bulls were going to get 5 straight wins and 2 out of 3 from the Texas triangle. The first quarter was close as the 2 teams traded shots. The Bulls started to pull away in the second quarter as Rose continued his hot shooting from the previous game's 4th quarter. The Spurs had a mini run at the end, but the Bulls were able to get into the half with a 10 point lead. Then they just went dead in the 3rd quarter, only scoring 12. Rose had another big 4th quarter and finished with 33 pts. The starters did OK overall, but we could've used a bit more from the bench. The Bulls weren't supposed to beat the 8-1 Spurs anyway, but they just missed stealing one and going for a potential Texas sweep on Friday against Dallas.

Adidas, Rose & Howard

Circus in Town

How about that? A win to start the circus trip! The Rockets aren't really a feared Western team without Yao Ming in the lineup, but they were coming off a nice come-from-behind blowout against the Knicks the other night. The Bulls started slow as usual last night, but never let the game get out of hand. Rose, Deng and Noah did great and Korver & Brewer did their jobs off the bench. The Rockets played their best in the 3rd quarter when they held the Bulls to just 14 pts. Rose was on the bench most of the time with 4 fouls, so it looked like a potential collapse. But when he came back, he put of 17 of his 33 in the 4th quarter. Those points came mostly from the 3-point line, reminiscent of Jordan against the Blazers!

So the Bulls are looking good overall even without Carlos Boozer. Rose, Deng and Noah have been very consistent lately. I'd still like to see Korver start, but this team is looking like it can compete with Miami!

Office Diets

I was standing on line to get a coffee today and the person in front of me ordered a doughnut. She got into this whole conversation with the barista about how that was going to be her lunch because the office cafeteria was closed by the time she was done with all of her meetings. So it brought to attention how bad some of us eat in the office. Here are some examples:

Popcorn
Popcorn fills you up, so it's a popular diet food. But it's just ridiculous that people eat this as a meal. It's like eating air! And it's not like it's packed with nutrients or anything.

Shakes
This is another popular one that solves a few problems. It contains all the vitamins you need, depending on ingredients. It's popular in the office because it's more efficient. There's no need to take bites and put it down once in a while. You can just chug your whole lunch and be done with it! The problem... because it's liquid, it's going to break down faster. So you'll be hungry again way before you would've been if you had a sandwich.

Fast Food
NYC is in a health craze, but I still smell the strong scent of McDonald's fries fairly often. Fast foods has always been an appealing office cuisine because, well... it's fast. This is probably the worst habit to fall into because it's totally unhealthy. This usually develops among people who are already out of shape. So the fat will get fatter!

Sweets
Coffee shop snacks are another meal replacement that shouldn't be. While they fill you up for the moment, they're mostly breads and will digest too quickly. Like with the shake lunch, you'll be hungry again before 6pm.

TV Dinners
These are popular because of the speed of preparation, but also because people tend to buy the small ones. It's bad because it's not a true diet food. You're just eating less junk... starving yourself instead of replacing nutrients.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

NBA
It was a good weekend as the Bulls racked up 2 wins. They took care of business at home against the Washington Wizards in Hinrich's return. Even though he was on the other side, the former captain did receive much deserved cheers during a video tribute and intro. In the 103-94 win, Rose had 24 pts & 8 asts. Deng had 20pts, 9 rebs. Noah had 21 pts, 9 rebs. Again, everyone with minutes scored. The starters did their job and Korver & Brewer off the bench supplied some depth. The Bulls record now stands at 5-3... a very good start considering team history. This is probably the best record they had in years going into the circus trip.

Boxing
Manny Pacquiao added another belt and weight class to his collection as he took apart Margarito Saturday night. It was just another match that was overhyped. The commercials and sports programs played it up like it was going to be a tough match. Margarito was much bigger and taller. Pacman fans were worried that this could be the one he loses. But it was all hype. Margarito had no chance. Of the 12 rounds, I'd say he probably just won the 6th, which later Pacquiao admitted he was hurt in. The rest of the match was just like any other recent Pacman fight... a total beat down. People are still talking about Mayweather, who seems to be ducking. I think Pacquiao can safely retire without questioning of his skills... although he won't!

Blowout

The Bulls continued their assault on the west with a 30-point blowout of the Golden State Warriors. As with most Bulls wins, all starters were in double figures... Rose had his ast/pts double-double... Noah had his rebs/pts double-double. Korver off the bench also had 10. Deng had a big game as he led the way with 26. Deng has been extremely streaky, which is odd because he was Mr. Consistency a few years ago. Maybe he should go back to his 2 pt jumper game. His best year was the year he didn't attempt any 3's. The Warriors didn't put up much of a fight. The game was pretty much over in the 1st quarter. They're not particularly a good team, so it's nice to see the Bulls take care of business last night.

Golden

Supposedly the Yankees are looking to give Jeter a 3-year deal and just about every story out there is writing about Jeter's declining defense. Doesn't that make him much more valuable? If his defense is considered declining on a year he fields .989 at the toughest position, earning him a Gold Glove, then he truly is the best SS by far. He also lead the way with 6 errors... better than many outfielders. Some players get 6 errors per month! Remember, the Gold Glove is an award voted on by managers... not fans. So OK... Jeter's defense is declining. Maybe next year he only gets runner up to the Gold Glove? 8 errors? He's the perfect guy to have at SS when pitchers are trying to give up grounders!

I'd like to believe that the deal is already done and the Yankees are just laying low and letting the media have some fun. Jeter playing for any other team would have been like Jordan moving to the Knicks in the 90's. The Yankees want Jeter back and he want to play for NY, living out his childhood dream. It's a done deal, it went Jeter's way... we just don't know it yet.

Beating the West

Maybe the West truly is weaker now as the Bulls defeated the Denver Nuggets in a battle of the 2 lead scorers... Rose and Anthony. The weakened West shouldn't apply to the Nuggets though as they kept their stars and core. It's just weird that the Bulls last 2 victories were against tough Western teams and they've lost mostly to the East. They just played to the level of their competition again, but this time they won by 2 with a strong 4th quarter performance and good defense. Anthony won the scoring battle with 32, but the Bulls as a team won the game with all of their starters scoring in doubles... and everyone with minutes scored. Noah continues to average a double-double.

Nothing in a Bulls game is given, so it's important to watch every game and all the way through as a fan. Over the past few years, they've been a .500 team. So basically, they have a 50% of winning each game, whether it's against the best team or the worst. They've made 30-point turnarounds to win games and they've also gone through huge droughts to lose them.

This was also an important one because of Anthony's free agency next year.

Daylight Savings Commute Part 2

Following the same pattern as the morning commute, the evening trip seemed to be 1 hour ahead of real time. I usually travel around 6pm, but the crowd felt like it was 7pm... or later, meaning it was empty. I was able to get a seat and there were several empty ones for the whole trip. And it was on a train that's always packed. So this supports the idea that people never fell back this weekend. It's even harder to believe on the evening commute because surely most people used their computers during the day!

Daylight Savings Commute Part 1

We had a 49-hour weekend as it was time to "fall back," but judging from this morning's commute it seems like a lot of people forgot to do it. As I walked through the streets, the bus stops were more crowded than normal. The subways were packed like it would be normally 1 hour after my regular commute time. I saw some of the regulars in my car, but a lot of new faces. It wasn't just the customers either. Both trains and buses were off schedule.

I don't get how people can forget about it in this day and age. All you have to do is turn on your computer or phone and it's already done for you (with the exception of iPhone, which had a bug). It's hard for me to imagine that someone can go through an entire day without using their phone or computer, even if it's a Sunday.

Playing to the Level

Last night, the Bulls once again played to the level of their competition. They lost, but played like an Eastern power against the Celtics, one of the toughest teams. They fell into an early 16 point hole as usual, but came back in the 4th quarter to force overtime. They played well enough to win, but failed to execute in the clutch. They would get close, tie or small lead, but weren't able to knockout Boston. They just don't have enough scoring power to make a blowout run. While Korver had minutes in that game, I feel he needs more minutes in common with Rose.

While this is an acceptable loss, it hurts most when I think about the Knicks game the night before. Dropping a game against a weaker opponent just makes this a 2-game losing streak. In order to make the playoffs, the Bulls need to take care of business against the weaker teams and once in a while beat the elite ones. On a more positive note, it's hard to gauge the Bulls' potential until Boozer is back and healthy.

Failed

After getting off to a 2-1 start, the Bulls dropped an easy one against the Knicks last night. It wasn't Amare Stoudemire that beat them though. He had a pretty quiet night, but the scrubs like Gallinari and Douglas (who I've never heard of) both had career nights. Things were close in the 1st quarter, but the Bulls dropped to a 21 point deficit at the half. They kept making runs, but made mistakes as they were on the verge of taking control back. Every time they closed within single digits, they would make a stupid turnover or get fouled and miss free throws. Part of it is coaching as well. Thibodeau took out his starters towards the end, but the game was still in reach. Also, Korver in the 4th quarter was hitting circus 3-point shots. If he had been there with the starting group, this could have been a win.

I don't get why Kyle Korver isn't a starter or at least playing 50% of the game. The guy shoots over 50% from three. When the Bulls fall into a drought, they're better off with him jacking up 3's. So 2 trips down the court would translate to 3 points instead of a 10-point drought (5 trips... 0 points).

I generally don't like it when the Bulls play the Knicks at the beginning of the season since we're always a 2nd half team, but last night's game was winnable with Stoudemire as a role-player. The Knicks will only get better as they feel things out.

Giants on Top of the World

The Giants completed the World Series last night 4 games to 1 in a 3-1 pitcher's duel with the Rangers. Neither team was expected to make it in and the edge had to go to Texas after they defeated the Yankees, but SF showed its dominance. They beat Cliff Lee twice with their own ace, Lincecum. Veteran Edgar Renteria had the clutch hits and earned MVP honors. So there you have it... the league evolved. It's good for baseball to have a variety of good teams instead of just the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies taking all the rings away.

So now begins the Cliff Lee competition. Question marks are afloat because his Rangers didn't win the World Series. They got trampled 4-1 and 2 of the losses are his. So there's a chance he might leave. In my opinion, his only real shot at joining the Yankees is CC, one of his best friends. Texas is probably a more comfortable environment for him, but can this team do it again or is one championship it's limit. The Yankees are committed to winning every year. When they lose, it's because they go overboard... like getting obsessed with beefing up batting instead of fixing the pen. There is also Lee's wife's comments about NY fans (which I happen to agree with). I may get into that in a future post. But Cliff himself played it off as an isolated few people. It's hard to tell what this guy's thinking. Does he have a real shot at joining or is he keeping relations good just for an offer... which would force Texas to up the offer?

By the Numbers

It's only 3 games into the season, but last night's win against Portland gave the Bulls a 2-1 start. That's really good considering this team usually goes 0-10 or 2-9. It also ended the Blazer's undefeated 3-0 streak. The win came as everyone played the roles they were paid to do. Deng scored a career high 40 pts as he was on fire the entire game. Rose had a pts/asts double-double. Noah had a pts/rebs double-double. All starters scored in double figures. So they played a nice complete all-around game as a team to beat a tough Western opponent. It's not possible for them to do this every night, but it's nice to have someone relieve Rose of scoring every once in a while. Deng isn't going to put up 40 pts every night, but it would be nice to get him averaging in the 20's... which he has been capable of. Korver also needs to get back up in the 20's. Rose will have his assists and Noah will have his rebs (league leading BTW). The Bulls just need 2 guys to score above 20 and everyone else pitch in.

On Thursday, they will face a rebuilt Knicks with Amare Stoudemire for their first time. Stoudemire has given them problems when he played for the Suns and the Bulls still don't have Boozer in the lineup, so it should be interesting. In the past, when the Knicks beat the Bulls on rare occasions, it has been in the beginning of the season.

What Should He Do?

I thought this was a good commercial for LeBron to do in answer to all of the criticism of him moving to Miami. It's great to see Nike supports its athletes. I'm still a Bulls fan, but I do appreciate what LeBron does on and off the court. And I'll be his fan no matter where he plays... unless he joins Kobe's Lakers!

First Win!

The Bulls got their first win last night against the Central rival Pistons. It certainly didn't look like it was going to turn out OK after a 20 point deficit in the 2nd quarter. Ben Gordon was on fire and burning his old team in the first half. He didn't miss a shot as he went 10 for 10. The amazing comeback came from mostly the bench as they got off to a quick start in the 4th with a 19-4 run. Rose provided most of the overall offense, tying a career high 39. He also filled up his stat sheet pretty good with 6 rebs, 7 asts, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Noah had his usual double-double... 15 pts and 17 rebs. This game could've used a little more from Deng and Gibson though. They were lucky to have the bench on fire last night.

Detroit is not as bad as they were last year, so this was a respectable win. They added McGrady and Gordon is healthy. They still have Wallace, Prince and Hamilton from the championship days. In my opinion, they didn't win this game because Gordon played only 27 min. If he went 10-10 with 21 in just the first half, doesn't that earn him more minutes? As long as the Pistons misuse Gordon, they won't unlock their full potential.

The Answer

When James, Wade and Bosh assembled in Miami over the Summer, one of the questions was... can this team beat Orlando? While they had all the scoring power in the league with the big 3, there was still no center position to match up with Dwight Howard. Well, that was answered with last night's 96-70 victory. Wade led the way with 26pts. James had 15 pts, 6 rebs and 7 asts. It wasn't really a big night for anyone... just good teamwork. Dwight Howard was contained to 19 pts and they didn't get much else from anyone else... 4 from Carter? So the depth of the Magic team just didn't show last night. I don't expect them to be this bad each time, but the Heat made their statement with that game.

Manager... Check

Joe Ghirardi was resigned yesterday on a 3-year, $9 million contract with incentives up to $500,000. So one major component is all set and off the todo list. Ghirardi has been a good manager overall. The Yankees had the best record this season and continued to play OK through some tough injuries. They got their record with bad pitching too. Many of the pitching changes and juggling of various batters were tough gametime decisions. Ghirardi proved he could handle it with all of the come-from-behind victories this year. Also, we can look at this another way. Let's say the Yankees don't resign him. Who's left to go after? Anyone else they bring in can be a risk just because they don't know them as well. With Ghirardi, they know what they're going to get and the players already know the system. This years losses for the most part can't be blamed on the manager. Most of the time, pitchers fell behind early in the game or the bats fell asleep.

At least one item is crossed off the list. No more Chicago Cub rumors. Now on to Jeter & Mo...

RE: Subject Line

Today, I was searching for an old email someone was referencing from 2 years ago. Every search I ran was pulling up 0 results in Outlook. While Outlook's search isn't the greatest, it wasn't to blame in this case. I eventually found it the old fashioned way of looking through everything sent by that user. It turned out to be the typical case where a colleague got lazy with email and replied to an unrelated message just to get my email address. No one should ever do that because it throws things out of sync. The thread was a series of 15 messages by 5 people and then there's one message in there that doesn't even talk about the original subject. It's really not that hard to type someone's address or username in corporate email. All programs allow shortcuts so that you don't have to type everything. Yet some non-techies think you need to type out the whole address with domain. So they get lazy and just reply an existing message even though it's not related. This could be a future subject for corporate training... or new employee orientation!

Opening Night

The Bulls started their season last night against the Thunder without Boozer, who is on the injured list. It was a good game because the two teams were separated by no more than 5 points until the 4th quarter. The 2 teams were close in level last year... both had similar records and were 1st round playoff teams. Last night, Rose lead the team in scoring with a number of spectacular inside plays and reverse layups. Noah and Deng had double-doubles. That normally sounds like a winning formula, but the Bulls just didn't have enough offense to go through 4 quarters. This is a very different team than last year, with only 5 guys returning. The core from several years ago is gone except for Deng really. At this point in time, I don't think it's a better team than 2 years ago... the team that took the Celtics to 7 games.

In last night's game, Rose, Noah and Deng did what they were supposed to. Rose's minutes were limited due to foul trouble, but he still made an impact. I would've liked to see more minutes given to Korver. They need him to get hot because there's a scoring handicap with Boozer on the DL.

Overrated?

Overrated!? That was the chant in Boston last night as the powered up Miami Heat opened their season against the Boston Celtics. The Heat had a 9 point first quarter (beating a season low from last year) and just a 30 point 1st half. Still, they stayed in the game and made a threat in the 4th. While it's only the first game of the season, one would expect 3 of the best scorers to put together something better. The Celtics just had better teamwork. Remember, they are the blueprint team for what the Heat stringed together over the Summer, a union of star players that got together instead of playing against each other.

After that game, the Lakers defeated the Rockets. Yao Ming returned after a year off and will be on limited minutes until he eases back into full time. They're starting him off on 24 min. He started out slow offensively, but ended up with 9 pts, 11 rebs and 2 blocks... not bad for half a game. The Rockets still have some good role players, but I think they lack an additional superstar to contend with the rest of the West. They added Kevin Martin, who can potentially fill that role.

Rebuilding for 2011

The Yankees have a lot to address this Winter. I don't think this team is that far off from being a championship team, but the more important issue is all of the expiring contracts... Jeter, Rivera, Ghirardi, Pettitte and some of the short term guys.

The Captain
The news about Jeter has been around his off-year this year. People keep talking about his .270 batting average, whether or not he can play SS anymore. I think this year is a fluke. It's not a sign of him getting old because he was just one year younger last year. And yes... he can play SS. He's still the best at it. They Yankees infield is all gold glove and have given up the least # of errors in MLB. Jeter needs to come back at all costs. He's the face of the franchise and is a great leader. He's up there as one of the greatest Yankees of all time. The fans would never forgive the organization if he went and played for the Red Sox.

Bullpen
Rivera is 40 years old, but doesn't seem to be losing anything. He's still the best closer in the game, throws 90 mph and faces the toughest batters in the lineup with a 1.* ERA. Resigning him is a no-brainer. If the Yankees fall short on money, Kerry Wood might be the guy to go, although I think they should keep him as much as possible. They should also hold on to Joba despite the off year. Everyone else is expendable.

Pitching
Obviously, CC is still on contract. Unfortunately, so is Burnett. Pettitte is still a question mark as he decides year-by-year whether he's going to retire or not. He had an 11-2 season because of injury and ended with a strong ALCS performance. Those aren't signs of someone who should retire... but then again, Mike Mussina went out on a 2-win season, the best of his career. Many say Pettitte will return if the Yankees are able to sign Cliff Lee. Besides CC, Andy, Mo and Wood, the rest of the pitchers on the roster had bad years. Hughes had the record, but not the ERA. Some players took steps back this year, like AJ and Joba. Let's not forget Chan Ho Park in the first half! So it wasn't a surprise that coach, Dave Eiland was fired yesterday.

Catching
Posada is still on contract, but people keep bringing up what position he will play. I think he's still fine as catcher. There has been no one to hand the torch over. Cervelli is close, but doesn't have the offense and is not as experienced with the entire pitching staff. Like this year, he'll probably see limited minutes as catcher. Hopefully Cervelli can really improve soon though.

Manager
When the Yankees fail to get to the World Series, the immediate reaction is to fire the manager. Every move he makes gets second-guessed the next day... if he's wrong. People forget that the Yankees have the best record in the AL, despite the terrible bullpen and injuries to key players. So I think Ghirardi should come back as well. I believe in keeping the team together for the most part. Failing in the ALCS is no reason to start from scratch.

No 28

The Yankees' season ended over the weekend. They were able to force a Game 6 in Texas behind a solid start by CC last week. That was also the only game where the team was in control for 9 innings. The offense was what it was suppose to be all series long. Unfortunately, it didn't last for the return to Texas. Game 6 was another game where they fell behind and couldn't get runners in. Hughes was shaky, but getting out of trouble in the early innings. CC was available to come out of the pen, but Ghirardi likely left Hughes in too long and never got to the ace. What I don't get is if you're in a do-or-die situation, you should have everyone ready to go. The moment Hughes was in trouble, CC should've come in... or even Pettitte... or both. There was no tomorrow, but still, the Yankees went to their usual routine of the bullpen regulars.

But it wasn't game 7 that was the fatal error. I look back at Game 3 and wasting Pettite's great pitching performance to an almost guaranteed Lee win. If that had been Burnett's game, the Yankee's would surely have had another win under their belt. AJ would've lost Game 3, with a slight chance of winning. Pettitte would've had Game 4... and the Yankees won Game 5 already.

Anyway... it's basketball season now!

Subway Tales: Leaner

Like I said before... what they don't see behind them does not exist!

Apple Update

Lion
The new OS was expected and there's only one name left... Lion. That has to be the last OSX before 11. It's the king after all! The catch is it's going to be released in Summer of 2011 even though it was announced today. Lion, as expected will adopt a lot of iOS features that were introduced with the iPad. The dock will expand to a grid much like the iOS home screen. There's also going to be an app store for Mac. Facetime will go to the Mac right away... before Lion.

Macbook Air
They came out with the 11.6" version as rumors claimed and they also updated the 13.3" model. Price points are more reasonable this time. You're paying for portability like before, but this time you won't feel as ripped off. The 11.6" model starts at $999 and comes with a 1.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD & NVidia 320M. Another $200 and you get a 128 GB SSD. The 13.3" starts at $1299 for a 1.86 Ghz Core 2 Duo... all other specs are the same. $300 more gets you a 256 GB SSD. My recommended system would be the lower 13.3". SSDs are overpriced still, so there's no need to overspend for the 256 GB one. Instead, take the $1299 model and spend $100 for the 4 GB RAM option. You can even get the external DVD drive for $79. Another neat feature is the systems come with a flash drive for OS reinstallation... more manufacturers should do the same.

Burned

AJ Burnett almost proved me wrong last night as he started out strong and was on his way to winning a 3-2 ball game. But he couldn't go the distance as he gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th. The bullpen that was great in the first game gave up 2 more in relief (1 from Logan, 1 from Chamberlain). 5-2 was still manageable at the time, but the bullpen kept making the hole deeper. And the offense wasn't quite there except for Cano and Jeter. The Yankees were able to threaten, including a based loaded 8th, but couldn't hit with RISP. The Yankees, a strong home team couldn't pick up a game at Yankee Stadium and the Rangers, a weak road team has won all of its playoff away games.

So the Yankees are down 3-1 and the Phillies are also down 3-1. More than likely, we're going to see a pretty boring World Series between the Rangers and Giants!

Mac Rumors

There's an Apple event coming up tomorrow and a bunch of rumors floating around as usual. Here's a quick summary of some of the rumors and my take on tomorrow's release.

New OSX
This is due for an update, so there's likely going to be a major release. Apple has learned a lot from tweaking iPhone and iPad. So the new OSX will probably add some iOS components to it.

Air
The biggest rumor out there is likely the 11.6" Macbook Air. This move makes all the sense in the world... if there's a fat price drop to go along with it. The problem with the Air now is it's the same size as the Macbook Pro and not that much lighter. So taking 2 steps down to 11.6" really makes it a separate ultraportable platform. I don't expect a powerful processor though. If they couldn't get the Core i3 into the 13" Pro, there's no way it'll be in the Air. At most, it'll be an older Core 2 Duo.

7" iPad
This one has been in the new the past couple of week. It's already developed... actually it was at the same time as the 9" model in the market. I don't think this will be released tomorrow for 2 reasons. They haven't milked the 9" model to its fullest yet. And I know all the Apple nerds who bought the 9" would still buy a 7" one. The other reason is the other companies haven't released their 7" models. yet. Apple might study the reception first.

Verizon iPhone
This is all over the rumor sites and blogs too, but it won't be released tomorrow. This will be in 2011 or never.

HR Reviews

I'm watching Game 4 right now, but wanted to write about the 2nd inning homers immediately because the TBS announcers keep talking about the Cano one. Cano hit a solo into the front row in right field. They replayed it several times and the TBS announcers keep saying there was interference and that Nelson Cruz could've robbed it. There was NO WAY! The ball arced over Cruz's glove. It was clearly in the stands. A fan did touch Cruz's glove, but after the ball was already over. He had no chance of robbing it. So the umpires made the right call. It was a homer all the way.

Right after that, Lance Berkmann hit one down the right field line. It was initially ruled a homerun, but the umpires had to review it because it was so close to the pole. Video replays showed that it did go foul by inches. After a short break, the umpires made the right call.

We're in the top of the 5th and it's a 3-2 lead right now. Burnett's actually looking good so far.

Scrambled Rotation

It happened just as I said it would yesterday. Andy Pettitte pitched a good game... well enough to win against any pitcher except Cliff Lee. Pettitte just made 1 mistake in the 1st inning, giving up a 2-run homer. From then on, he was solid and did not give up a run through 7. Cliff Lee pitched another gem... just 2 hits through 8. So the way the Yankees setup their rotation cost them a game. Had Pettitte gone #2, they would've won game 2 and be up 2-0 entering last night's game. Last night's game should've gone to AJ Burnett. Since no one knows which Burnett shows up each night, it's best to take the chance of going up against Lee. Lee is almost a guaranteed win anyway. Then Hughes would go 4th unless the Yankees are losing the series.

Now, the Yankees are down 2-1 in a series they should really be leading, after the amazing comeback in Game 1. AJ Burnett is scheduled to pitch Game 4, but there's a chance Ghirardi might send out CC Sabathia on short rest and have Burnett come out of the pen in case of early trouble.

In the postseason thus far, Andy Pettite has pitched the best. CC has been shaky, but was able to work through his 2 outings. Hughes had one good game and one very bad one. Burnett is untested. The bullpen was great in game 1 , but sucked last night.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

ALCS
The Yankees came out of the weekend with a split. After they had that exciting comeback in CC's game, Phil Hughes blew his game early and the team couldn't recover from 5-0 deficit through 3 innings. I still think it was a successful weekend because any time you split while being away in the playoffs, it's a good thing. The Yankees erased the Rangers' homecourt advantage with the Game 1 win. I have to question the rotation order though. I feel like Game 2 should have been Andy Pettitte's game. That was the order they went in before. While Hughes had the strong ALDS start, he has not been as consistent as Pettitte during the season and during playoff baseball time. Based on that, I would have to think Hughes' ALDS start was a lucky one. Yesterday's loss kind of confirmed that. Now, Pettitte will be facing Ranger's ace, Cliff Lee tonight. Lee is almost a guarenteed win for the Ranger. So the smart thing to do is throw the wildcard, Burnett against him. Instead, the Yankees are sending their 2nd best (or best) against Lee, which could cost them an unnecessary loss.

Bulls Pre-Season
It's hard to tell what the pre-season record means for the regular season, but the Bulls aren't looking good overall. Boozer is injured and won't be able to play for a while. He's going to miss a few weeks at the beginning of the season. He's one of the major players in the team's strategy, so that kind of puts a question mark on how well this team can play. The good news is Rose and Deng have been playing well in each game. Rose has been consistent since entering the league, but Deng had a quiet season last year. I'd like to see him perform like he did 2-3 years ago.

JWP vs Yodsaenklai
John Wayne Parr and Yodsaenklai Fairtex squared off for the 3rd time over the weekend. Both guys entered in great shape. It's amazing how JWP keeps getting more fit as he gets older. Yod also looked more cut than usual. Both guys were coming off of tough losses. Parr had that very controversial loss to Preacher last month. Yod lost to the much weaker Artem Levin in a rematch. This weekend's fight was a close one, but JWP finally got the win on points.

Joe, Mo & Taco Bell

This commercial is pretty funny because they got the very serious Joe Ghirardi and Mariano Rivera for this funny commercial. Rivera plays his usual closer role to relieve a rookie from something he can't do!

Instant Classic

The Yankees went into last nights game after a nice long rest and were able to reset their rotation, while the Rangers went the full distance and couldn't send their ace, Cliff Lee up against CC Sabathia. So the Yankees were expected to win the game. If the Rangers took it, it would be a steal to have a lower pitcher in the rotation beat the Yankees' ace. Well... it almost happened. CC was out of control from the first inning as he quickly gave up 3 runs. But even with a bad start, he still kept his head in the game as he ended the first inning jam by making a diving tag on the runner heading home.

Wilson, the Rangers pitcher was lights out and probably pitched the best game of his career up to the 7th inning. He had a solid 5-0 lead and the Yankees couldn't put a rally together. Cano homered in the 7th, but that was it. Then the 8th inning opened with a hustle play by Gardner. He ran full speed as always on what should've been a ground out, but bad positioning by the defense and a last ditch slide got him on base. Jeter doubled to score Gardner. Then the bases were loaded on walks. A-Rod doubled 2 more runs in. The Yankees batted around and the Rangers depleted their bullpen. After the 8th, the Yankees were up 6-5 in an amazing rally. Texas completely collapsed. Their pitchers kept throwing meatballs and their outfielders couldn't field cleanly.

Kerry Wood walked the first batter at the top of the 8th, so the Rangers were set to start a rally. Then all of a sudden, Wood made a snap throw to first to pick off the runner. Instead, it was one out and Wood's mind was cleared and went for the attack. Rivera gave up a leadoff base hit in the 9th, but nothing came of that.

So the Rangers had their chance. They had CC beat with the lower end of their rotation and the still blew the game. Michael Kay said "the series is over" because of that. I agree.

Auto Shutdown

This morning, as I shutdown my home PC to go off to work, it started installing a windows update... 13 items. So it was going to take a while and it made me appreciate the auto shutdown feature. I just turned off the monitor and headed right out to work. I remember when Windows Update first started out. If it started installing, you had to wait for it... no auto shutdown. I remember one time at work, I got a call from my colleague Jack, telling me he was going to be late for work because his PC was stuck doing an update in the morning. He had to stay home and wait. The other alternatives were... force shutdown and risk OS damage or leave the computer on all day. Windows Update has come a long way!

Subway Sandwich

Nope... not that kind! This is what you get when there are 2 backpackers opposite each other...


They should really start giving tickets for this. It's very rude on a crowded train. The human upper body is usually larger than the leg area. That's part of the reason for removing backpacks while riding the train. Also, people tend to swing them around with no regard for what they don't see behind them.

Unextended Holiday

Monday's commute was nice and comfortable with all bank, gov't and financial jobs observing Columbus Day. Every time I took the subway, I was able to get a seat... pretty much everyone did. I'd say about half of NYers get this day off. I'm sure some people take the day off to coordinate with friends that automatically get it. One thing I noticed about the Columbus Day weekend is no one extends it like they do with Labor Day, Memorial Day and others. On those holidays, I'll notice a comfortable commute all week long. With Columbus Day being a bank holiday that 50% of commuters get, I figured the Tuesday after would have a 75% attendance, but it was just a normal 100% day.

Rangers It Will Be

The Yankees will face Texas this Friday as Cliff Lee was the ace of Game 5. As expected, it was a pitcher's duel for most of the game. The final score was 5-1, but 2 of those runs came in the 9th inning as insurance runs. It was pretty tight until then. Cliff Lee was amazing, going for the complete game and striking everyone out along the way. It'll be interesting to see how the Yankees prepare for this. They have to finish the series as quickly as possible or face Lee twice... which would almost surely guarantee the Rangers 2 wins.

Ultimate Matchup

I don't watch a whole lot of Yankees games, but I made sure to catch the Rangers vs Rays game tonight. Texas took the first 2 games in the series in Tampa Bay and looked like they were going to upset the Rays. Then the Rays came back and took the next 2 in Texas. So this game 5 has a World Series like feel... last game of the series... tie break. Each team sent their best pitcher out for the ultimate matchup... Cliff Lee for Texas and David Price for Tampa Bay. They're also 2 of the best pitchers in the AL (behind CC Sabathia).

Besides the exciting game, this means that whichever team wins messed up their rotation for the ALCS against the Yankees. Both aces are out there right now, so they likely won't get sent out on Friday. So the Yankees have the option to keep their rotation intact and send out CC first against a weaker pitcher in the opposing rotation. Or they could save CC for when Price or Lee get sent out. Each option has it's advantages and things would probably cancel each other out.

Sweep

The other question was answered in last night's closing game of the ALDS. Phil Hughes, who has had a a bad 2nd half except for maybe 1 game gave his best outing of the year in a 6-1 win to clinch the 1st round. He went 7 innings and only gave up 4 hits. His last couple of batters took it deep, but were all flyouts. The only taint in last night's game was Kerry Wood loaded the bases and allowed a run in the 8th. Logan came in and retired one and then Robertson did the same to get out of the jam. Rivera closed out the 9th easily.

The Rays just won their game this afternoon to force a Game 5 against the Rangers. So the Yankees will get maximum rest while the winner of the other ALDS series will go the full 5 games. This will certainly benefit the older Yankees pitching staff. Pettitte and CC won't have to go out on short rest. Going into the ALDS, the Yankees looked like they only had one pitcher that was a sure thing, but now there's more confidence after Pettitte and Hughes won their games. Pettitte is fully recovered and Hughes got rid of his postseason butterflies. The next game is all the way @ next Friday.

Soda Ban

The city is still looking for creative ways to penalize its people in order to make money appear out of thin air. There was the proposed soda tax and now, the sugary drinks are taking another hit. They want to ban sodas from food stamp users. The excuse is that it's to combat diabetes and make people more health conscious. I'm in favor of all of that. But the other step the city needs to do if they were truly concerned about health is they need to lower the prices on something else... like bottled water, juice or milk. The other side of it is they need to make it easier for people to get the healthier items. Bottled water costs the same or more as soda, which doesn't make any sense. So I agree with promoting health, but I just don't think that's the city is sincerely doing that.

How it's Done

Many people were uncertain about the Yankees pitching rotation beyond CC Sabathia. One of the questions was whether or not Andy Pettitte was fully recovered from his groin injury. His last 3 starts at the end of the season were shaky, although the last one showed signs of improvement. It seemed like he got the rest he needed though because the guy that showed up on the mound was the guy who started the season 11-2... the same guy that has the most postseason wins in the history of baseball. Pettitte gave up 2 runs in 7 strong innings, only getting into trouble in the 2nd. He was in a based loaded jam with only 1 out, but got out of it with only 1 earned run. With more postseason experience than any pitcher out there, he was calm and collected the whole time.

The offense was mostly provided by Lance Berkmann, who ended the regular season on fire. Since coming back from injury, he was refreshed and put on his all-star, homerun derby champ suit again. This wasn't the retired out of shape guy we say when he first joined.

The Yankees now have a comfortable 2-0 lead and can finish things off at home tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Rays are struggling as they fell behind 0-2. It just shows that the best regular season team doesn't necessarily make the best playoff team.

Game 1 Action

Game 1 opened up the ALDS with an exciting first game. Fans on both sides must have been rolling their eyes and cheering every other inning as the Yankees and Twins traded punches. Francisco Liriano had a great pitching performance through the first 5 innings, only giving up 2 hits. CC Sabathia was struggling, but worked himself out of trouble most of the time. He didn't look great, but his experience allowed him to grind through it. The Twins got off to an early start with a 3-run homer. Through 5 innings, I felt like the Yankees were continuing their end-of-season slump where they would lose the lead early and never fight back. No one was hitting Liriano and many were getting into 0-2 counts to start. But the Yankees did battle back to get a 4-3 lead. CC then got into trouble right away and ended up walking in the tying run on bases loaded. He recovered by striking out the next batter to end the inning. Teixiera had a 2-run homer for the game winning RBI. The Twins did threaten in the 7th and 8th, but the bullpen held things down, including a 4-out save (actually 5) by Rivera. I say 5 outs because in the 9th inning, what should have been the 3rd out was called a base hit by the umpires. Young hit a flyball to right. Golson hustled and made an amazing catch. The umpires ruled that it touched the ground and he cradled it. The replay shows a clean out as did a stainless ball. It was all politics though. The umpires couldn't let the game end in Minnesota on a decision even if it went against the integrity of the game. It didn't matter though. Mo got Thome to popout with the next pitch.

On a side note, earlier in the day, the Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter against the Reds in their Game 1. That's the first no-no since the 1956 World Series between the NY Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers. It's also Halladay's 2nd no-no of the year, with a perfect game during the regular season. Amazing!

ALDS Preview

The Yankees have chosen their 25-man roster and are going with a 3-man rotation for pitching. AJ Burnett is still part of the team, but will not start... at least in the first 3 games. They're going with CC, Pettitte and Hughes. If there's a Game 4, CC will pitch on short rest, which he has always done well. AJ will come out of the pen and may get a start if the Yankees win the first 2. I think this is the right setup. Pettitte isn't 100% and Hughes hasn't been that reliable because of his ERA and HRs. So the Yankees may need long relief. AJ can always reinvent himself by being the hero out of the pen just like Hughes of last year. Also, covering long relief will be Mosely and Mitre. Obviously, if all goes well, we shouldn't see either of them. The starter just needs to make it through 6 or 7, then there's Joba, Wood and Rivera and sometimes Robertson. Vasquez didn't make the roster at all because of his ineffectiveness towards the end of the season. It must have been a tough decision because if you look at the entire season, he's better than AJ. So the Yankees are banking on AJ's postseason of last year.

As for the position players, everyone's healthy and most players have been pretty good in the last few weeks. A-Rod and Texare hot. Jeter is out of his slump. The 2nd half Granderson has been very reliable. Even Berkmann is going back to his vintage all-star ways. The concerns are the slumping Posada and Kearns, who kind of switched stats with Berkmann. Out of the kids, Golson beat Nunez for the last spot in the roster. It makes sense for the ALDS because they will need Golson's arm and coverage in Target Field's spacious outfield. With that walkoff throw to 3rd a couple of weeks ago, he gunned himself into his first playoff series.

Let October baseball begin!

Undisputed III: Redemption

The Undisputed series is now a far departure from the original that starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames. Undisputed II featured a switch from boxing to MMA. It went from a regular boxing movie to a fancy martial arts straight-to-DVD movie with awesome moves by Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins. The 3rd installment got even more interesting because the protagonist is Scott Adkin's character, Boyka, who was the villain in Undisputed II. I actually got the 2nd movie because I wanted to see some of Michael Jai White's fancy moves. But his part was that of a boxer learning MMA. Scott Adkins actually stole the show with his fast paced extreme martial arts. So it was great that they gave him center stage in the 3rd film.


The story was clean and simple... no holes, but nothing sophisticated either. It's just a prison tournament with no back story... no undercover agents, politics or terrorism. The highlight is the martial arts action and stunts. Te choreography and camera work is very nice. There were 8 fighters in the tournament and about only half of them were actually good, but the camera certainly helped out the ones that weren't true fighters. Obviously, the main character, Boyka is very good. Also, keep an eye out for the Korean fighter, played by Ilram Choi and the Capoeira fighter, played by Lateef Crowder. My only complaint is the villain of the movie wasn't intimidating enough. He was taller than Scott Adkins, but that was about it. He wasn't that muscular and his moves were enhanced by the video editing. If he wasn't using steroids, the Korean fighter would've taken him out in the first round. They did the same with the American fighter who only knew how to punch. He didn't deserve his name above the title because he didn't really do anything but be annoying. The only reason he was probably there is because it's an American movie and they had to get some presence in there.

The acting was pretty good. There weren't any dramatic parts or anything difficult on the acting side other than doing accents and being angry, but this is a pure fighting movie. So I didn't really care about that or the simple story. The fights were great and the movie was entertaining.

Related Links: Undisputed III Official Site, IMDB

Table Set

It's all set. The season is over and the Yankees will begin the postseason on Wednesday as the wildcard against the Twins. They dropped the last 2 series of the season. This weekend, they lost to the rival Red Sox, but I think it was a worthy sacrifice and well played. The Yankees sent out their first team for the position players, for a chance to win, but they didn't mess with their pitching rotation. It was all to setup CC Sabathia for the first postseason game. They got Pettitte in to get warmed up and have a regular rest before the postseason. He did OK in his game... the only win in the Sox series. AJ was given a chance for redemption and it didn't work out well for him. But the table is set for the rotation. There are no injuries right now, so the Yankees are looking good and have no excuses.

All By Itself

For office use, the average PC is a lot more powerful than the tasks it actually gets used for. For example, systems we purchased last year have 160-200 GB of hard drive space. About 10 GB of that goes to the OS and office software. Most users only deal with Word and Excel files, so their total "My Documents" space is a few hundred MB. Some users have a lot of personal files like music and photos... maybe a few GB.

Today, a user with a computer purchased last year somehow filled up his hard drive. We got a ticket that his "hard drive somehow got full." He thought it was a virus because he couldn't find out what was taking up all the space. He claimed he didn't do anything. So that means the computer filled up all by itself? It turns out he was burning a lot of DVDs and the copying program wasn't set to clear the temp files!

As in most cases, the computer is innocent. It almost always takes a human to mess things up. The computer never does it all by itself. They're not THAT good yet.

Budget Cuts & Fare Hikes

It looks like a MetroCard fare increase is inevitable despite the budget cuts of last year and a previous fare hike less than 2 years ago. And it's all because the MTA can't manage its budget. Drivers still get their huge vacations and the guys at the top still make the big bucks... which we're all funding. Remember, a drivers gets 3 months off if a passenger spits on him. A benefit that appealing would sure motivate me to try to get spat on! One day of embarrasment for 3 months of paid vacation is a great deal. No other job in the city offers anything like that. A few days ago, a passenger splashed a driver in acid. I wonder if the drivers gets over 3 months, since he actually sustained injuries or if the MTA considers spit to be equivalent to acid.

No More Messing Around

After performing terribly against the Rays and the Sox... and losing the opener to the Jays, the Yankees finally clinched a playoff berth last night. A 6-1 win over the Jays in Game 2 guaranteed them the wildcard spot. Ghirardi moved CC up in the rotation to get this win over with and out of the way. The Yankees ace had a solid performance, giving up 1 run on 3 hits. Also, with his career high 21 wins, he likely secured the Cy Young award. The win count is the most important for voters, but CC also pitched the toughest, most meaningful games compared to other candidates.

The Yankees have 4 games left in their season. In order to get in as the division champs, they need to not only win their games, but the Rays need to lose at least two. I think the organization is certainly going to try for the wins, but won't be in a life and death situation where they burn a couple of starters + the bullpen to claw through for a victory.

Sword of Azrael: Reginald Williams

This is one of those no-brainer Death by Fiery Sword penalties. Reginald Williams repeatedly abused and eventually beat to death his girlfriend's 2-year old son. The mother, Theresa Foster is just as much to blame as she pretty much let it happen and may have had a hand in the beating as well. The boy died from blunt force injuries to the head and torso and internal bleeding. This is something no child should ever have to go through, let a alone a toddler. And on the other side of things, it's impossible to imagine who can do such a thing. I can't even imagine the worse criminal having it in them to do this to a child. Death is too good a punishment for Williams and Foster. We'll see how the system plays out.

Rivalry Weekend

The Yankees and Phillies tried to clinch playoff berths over the weekend against their respective rivals, the Red Sox and Mets, who played the spoiler roles.

Yankees
All the Yankees had to do was win 2 games against the Sox and they would be in as the wildcard, but they nearly got swept in their closing home series. The Red Sox aren't necessarily out of it yet either. There's a remote chance they can get the wildcard if they win all of their games and somehow the Yankees pull a last second Mets collapse. Pitching was terrible in both Games 1 & 2. Game 1 was sort of a fluke because it was probably Andy Pettitte's worst performance of the year, letting up 6 runs in 3.1 innings. Despite the blowout nature in the early innings, the Yankees nearly put together a comeback behind 4 combined homers by A-Rod and Tex. What was a 10-1 game ended up being 10-8, but a loss is a loss. Game 2 was a typical good start and collapse by Nova. Both games showed lack of resiliency by the bullpen. Game 3 was a little more exciting than it should have been. The Yankees had a 3-1 lead into the 9th and everything was looking good, even the bullpen. But the Sox ran on Rivera and got 4 SB's, both of which scored and tied the game. But somehow, even when we see a rare blunder by Rivera, Pappelbon manages to one up him. Rivera might have blown the save, but Pappelbon blew the game with terrible control. He ended up walking in the winning run... the worst way to lose. With 1 out of 3, at least the Yankees cut their magic number to 1 and guarantee a tie for the wildcard spot. They just need one measly win and their in.

Mets
The Mets are totally out of the playoff running as they're behind a good double digit deficit from the wildcard. They're merely playing for pride and to end the season strong. They still have a chance to shoot for 500, which is a good goal at this point. Though it's far to extreme to say that the Mets are Phillies spoilers, over their weekend series, they successfully delayed the celebration of their rivals by taking 2 games.

Expected Split

A 4-game series against the rival Tampa Bay Rays would've been an excellent opportunity to secure the Eastern Division. That's how everyone was writing it up. The Yankees were doing OK and the Rays were slumping of late. But somehow, I knew the 4-game set would end in a split. The 2 teams are both very good and nothing was going to be decided quite yet. It's going to come down to the last couple of days of the season.

Game 1 was a dogfight as the 2 teams tried to outgun each other. The Yankees were cruising behind rookie Ivan Nova through the 5th inning. They had comfortable 4-0 lead and the kid was pitching well. Everyone got a little nervous in the 5th inning because in his last outing, he gave everything back and more in a 6-0 lead. But he got past 5 this time... only to collapse in the 6th! He gave everything back again, but fortunately the Yankees also exploded in the bottom of the inning to secure the lead in an 8-6 victory.

Game 2 was a nice bounce back for Phil Hughes, who hasn't pitched well in a while. He was OK in this game, going 6 innings with 3 earned runs. Vasquez was ineffective in relief, but Joba was solid to bail out Vasquez and close it down. The Yankees knocked around Shields in the first inning for 5 runs and that was pretty much the story. The Rays threatened with men on base in the 8th, but a clutch performance by Joba prevented any damage. It's certainly good to know that Joba can solidify the end of the game along with Rivera and Wood.

Games 3 started out OK as Burnett was behind 0-1 through the 3rd inning, but a rain delay closed the curtains on this one. The Yankees could not send Burnett back to the mound after the lengthy stoppage. And they couldn't piece together a solid bullpen combination to win the game. They had no chance as Ring, Mosely, Gaudin and Albaladejo combined for 6 earned runs.

Game 4 was a tough loss because they lost a game with their ace, CC as he faced off with the Rays ace, Price. CC started out solid, but got knocked around in the 6th inning for 6 runs. Then Vasquez came in and hit 3 batters in a row to bury the game for good.

So after the long series between the 2 best teams, nothing changed in the standings... both teams walked out in the same position as when they started. The Yankees hang on to a 1/2 game lead because of the extra game in the win column. The significance of the series is the Rays own the tiebreak with the 10-8 season series lead. So if they're tied at the end of the season, the Rays will get the division and the Yankees the wildcard. As I type this, the Yankees trail the Red Sox on the 4th 3-1.

Autumnal Equinox?

Yesterday was the first day of Autumn. So how were we welcomed to the new season? We had a nice sunny 80 degree Summer day with a thunderstorm at night. It was in the high 70's to 80's today as well and will continue to be like that for at least a week. So the trend that's blurring the lines between seasons continues. It's just the beginning of Fall, so the hot weather can be normal, but I just think it's odd because it already started cooling down weeks ago... after we had that short 100 degree streak. I just hope we get a short Winter out of all this!

Subway Tales: Pick Your Poison

The train was crowded as usual for the evening commute. This guy who had a seat was taking up a little more room than he should have because he was spreading his legs. There was an empty seat next to him, but he clearly didn't want anyone to take it. One stop later, a thin woman attempted to sit. The man didn't give an inch. The woman would've fit, but opted to stand form comfort. On the next stop a large guy walked in, saw the spot and compressed his way in. All the seated guy had to do was give way to the thin woman on the stop before and his commute would've been a lot more comfortable. The large guy eventually got off, but was replaced by another guy about the same size. Lesson learned... pick your poison. If a thin person tries to squeeze in... let them. There's always someone larger coming in later!

Sword of Azrael: Caffeine Killer

Woody Will Smith of Kentucky gets the Death by Fiery sword penalty for killing his wife and blaming it on caffeine. His defense is going to be that he was on too much caffeine from coffee and sodas and it drove him insane. If an argument like that isn't immediately dismissed, I would lose even more faith in our justice system. Imagine if that was even considered. Most people here in the US have some kind of caffeine addiction. It would pretty much green light them to do whatever they wanted and actually have a usable defense. Caffeine, even in large amounts is not a mind altering chemical. What's next? Sugar addiction? High cholesterol?

The O's

The series against the Orioles was the one the Yankees had to win this weekend since it was the easiest team in the remainder of the season. So the Yankees did their job in that part, but they didn't get the sweep.

Game 1 on Friday was an exciting game with a lot of good signs. AJ Burnett wasn't great, but he was much better than his previous starts as he went 7 innings and only gave up 3 runs. He had 5 K's on 1 BB. Robertson successfully setup and Rivera closed. A-Rod knocked in all of the runs with 2 homers... 2nd and 9th innings. The 3-run 9th inning shot gave the Yankees the 4-3 win and is equivalent to a walkoff on the road.

Saturday's game was a game fans have been itching for as we waited patiently for that offensive outburst. The bats really need to prove that they can score runs in the Fall. CC wasn't dominant with his strikeouts, but he still got the job done with his other pitches and picked up his 1st 20-win season. He had a comfortable lead for most of the game as the Yankees gave him 11 runs on 13 hits.

Though the Yankees really needed a sweep in the close divisional race, there was one positive that came out of the 4-3 loss on Sunday. It was Andy Pettitte's return to the mound after 2 months of being on the DL with a strained groin. He was able to go 6 innings, looked great, gave up 1 run on 3 hits. It's pretty much the same type of game he was having before the injury, so he's 100% and the Yankees need that going into the postseason.

U35JC Correction

I previously wrote that the Asus U35JC could have a Core i5 processor, but it turns out I was as wrong as the stores that offered the pre-order option. They originally had that option up on their sites in anticipation that they could swap out the CPU. But when the units got released to the retailers, the original Core i3's were soldered onto the motherboard. So they could not be upgraded. However, this does not affect my review of the laptop. It still beats out the M11x and the Macbook Pro. Also, with the Core i5 option out of the picture, the price of this laptop drops to around $1300 instead of $1500.

Federer Deadshot

This video of a Federer photoshoot was floating around YouTube. It was a break from a Gilette commercial and Federer decides to hit a bottle off a guy's head with an overhead serve. The guy was so nervous, he dropped the bottle a couple of times!


Now that's deadly accuracy!

Tornado in NY

I've been saying for the past couple of years that we're probably due for a tornado. The weather has been getting stranger each year and the seasons are sometimes mixed up. This Summer, we had a really high average temperature, but if you look at the individual days, you'll see streaks of 60's and 100's. There was a tornado in Jersey a couple of years ago. Well, today it finally hit. I don't think it was officially classified as a tornado, but some witnesses are mentioning a funnel cloud and pitch black conditions as it ripped through Queens and Brooklyn. It swooped in swiftly and lasted less than 10 minutes, but cut down several trees and power lines. It wreaked havoc on the evening commute, disabling the 7, L and LIRR trains because of downed trees on the tracks. Up until now, it's causing traffic problems. Some commuters are still stuck. It's amazing how a normally sunny day can change in 10 minutes!