Author: Jon

Look, I was right

First, I’ll gloat for a minute because I went 8-3 picking winners, and the Colts even covered like I said they would.  Rex Grossman played badly, but it was the Bears defense that really disappointed.  They gave up 190 yards on the ground to Rhodes and Addai.  You don’t win Super Bowls giving up that kind of yardage on the ground.

Then, I’ll complain that Peyton didn’t deserve the MVP.  True, no one had a really standout game, and typically when that happens they give the MVP to the quarterback of the winning team.  But I would say the Colts offensive line deserved it more than Peyton, and I would say that Addai, with 10 catches on top of 77 yards rushing, deserved it more than Peyton.  But I don’t expect the NFL to actually give the MVP to someone who deserved it.  Everyone was expecting all week that Peyton would get it, and they couldn’t go back on that.

I’ll also complain that the commercials were terrible.  CareerBuilder should go back to the monkeys instead of this Lost/Braveheart mistake they offered up yesterday.  I think Ford made a dumb move pushing their new Super Duty behemoth pickup just as GM is bringing hybrids to the market, although maybe they were just trying to fight off the challenge from Toyota and keep sales of the F-150 ahead of the Tundra, which is probably a losing battle at this point.

And I will finish by complimenting Prince on a nice performance.  I don’t know who the woman in white was, and she was weird, but she didn’t ruin it.  Covering the Foo Fighters was surprisingly cool, and I wish I could pull off the outfit Prince was wearing.

Super Bowl Sunday

Today is the big day. When people all over the country gather together in living rooms and sports bars (but not churches) to watch the best commercials advertisers have to offer, and maybe a football game.

If I were a betting man, and I’m not, except at the craps table, I would take the Colts to cover. The spread is 7 last I checked, and I think the Colts will win by that much. I’m 7-3 picking winners so far in the playoffs, which means maybe I should be betting on the games. But those picks have been ignoring the spread.

In any event, I’m hoping that Peyton finally wins a Super Bowl so we can stop talking about how he hasn’t won a Super Bowl. And I’m hoping the Bears get pounded, because I’ve been telling everyone all season that they aren’t very good, and they’re running out of time to prove me right. Yes, I realize they made the Super Bowl. But who did they beat? No one. The whole NFC sucks.

So, we’re going to a Super Bowl party at the home of frequent reader and commenter gayleforcewinds, who remains the only girl , along with her sister, are the only girls I know who don’t live with a guy, yet own a big-screen HDTV. We went to her party last year, too, and I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a good game, too.

This is why northern states make fun of us

There was a “winter weather advisory” for the entire DC Metro area last night. Schools canceled evening activities, and probably opened late this morning. And for what?

Nothing. There was a little ice on my car this morning. The kind of ice that melts when you turn on the defrost.

Areas that get real snow make fun of us because this area hoards milk and toilet paper when there’s a prediction of an inch of snow. Less than three inches and people in Wyoming don’t even slow down when they drive. And when I first moved to the area, I was working in NW DC, and parking in a residential neighborhood. We had a bad winter, and there was snow on the ground for a few weeks. Half the cars in that neighborhood were never cleared of snow. They just sat. Obviously that’s not something most people can do in the suburbs, but, since I had never lived in the city, it was a completely foreign concept. Not drive for three weeks? I hadn’t done that since I got my license.

Anyway, they’re calling for more “wintry mix” this morning. I’m hoping to use it as an excuse to leave work early.

I want in on this

Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga’s Bogus Calorie Burning Claims – Consumerist

Enviga, the so-called “calorie burning soda” has landed Coke and Nestle in some hot water, as the The Center for Science In The Public Interest has filed suit against both for false advertising claims

I’ve written about Enviga a few times.  I don’t like it.  I don’t like their claims.  I don’t like their carcinogen sweeteners.  I don’t like the taste.

But I do like a lawsuit for false advertising.  That’s always fun.

Coming soon . . .

I’ve got some changes in mind for this site.  I’ve been working on some things, although it’s hard to find time with moving and everything and still wanting to spend a little time with my wife.  But she’s got stuff she has to get done tonight, so I’m hoping to get some work done while she’s busy with that.  My lack of success installing a test MySQL server on my Windows machine is not helping things, but the primary change I’m looking to make right away shouldn’t depend on the database anyway.  Maybe tonight.  This site might be down briefly as I move it to a subdomain.

Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

WordPress 2.1 bonk

I upgraded to WordPress 2.1, and it broke the tag cloud that I’ve been using for my categories. I’m going to have to go find the WordPress API again and figure out why it’s broken and how I need to fix it, but it’s kind of late, and I’m kind of annoyed because I always upgrade and things break and I always think nothing will go wrong and something always does.

WordPress 2.1 doesn’t seem like a big upgrade, but maybe there’s some stuff I haven’t seen yet. I had the impression that it was awesome, but that’s not my experience so far.

Edit: Apparently the plugin that I used for the cloud was just something that some dude wrote, and he hasn’t upgraded it for 2.1.  I guess I need to brush up on my PHP skills.

Inside the house

Living space

So here’s the view from the hallway looking forward. The place is beautiful. There were some minor problems that came up during the inspection – the showers don’t drain that well, the water shut-off is kind of hidden behind the washing machine . . .

But nothing they can’t fix. And parking wasn’t too bad. I don’t know what I’m going to do before I get my car registered in DC, though. It’s 2 hour parking unless you have a sticker. I guess I’ll have to do that sooner rather than later.

The drive wasn’t bad, either. I came from work, although I left work at 2:30, so traffic shouldn’t be bad. But it wasn’t bad coming home at 4:30, either. People say traffic in the city is bad, but it’s really not the city. It’s the suburbs where the traffic will kill you.

You have no idea how excited I am to move.

Bad mood + too much tv = uncontrollable ranting

You know what I hate?  No, the other thing.  I hate Cox Communications‘ annoying mascot “Digital Max”.  I just saw a commercial that thankfully didn’t feature him about how wonderful Cox’s customer service is.  I can’t believe that’s true, but since I haven’t had to call them, I can’t really say it isn’t good.  Their prices sure aren’t very good, but neither are anyone else’s because of the barriers to competition in the cable tv market.

Anyway, for me, the best thing they could do to make me happy as a customer (Which I’ll only be until I move – I think DC is Comcast) is make a little flash game called “Dismember Digital Max” where I could choose from a variety of weapons and then chop Max up into little tiny bits.  Extra points for creatively gory animations.

It would probably be for the best if I didn’t watch any TV tonight.

I cringe at the thought

The Police reunite for Grammys – CNN.com

The band, known for such hits as “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take,” has never performed at the annual telecast for the music industry’s most prestigious awards that are given by The Recording Academy.

If you add in anything from Jane’s Addiction, that’s the list of “songs I hate most in the world”.  I understand that they’ve been hugely influential and lots of people love them, but, for me, listening to Sting is about one rung up from fingernails on a chalkboard.  And one rung down from the sound of my alarm clock.

Luckily, I don’t have to watch the Grammys.