Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

R.I.P. Michael Jackson
posted by Kristen on June 26, 2009 @ 11:25AM

Isn't it surreal that Michael Jackson is dead? I've been painting all morning with the news on in the background, and every now and then a Michael Jackson childhood memory will spring up from way back when. Remember this...

...At St. John's Church in Liverpool, during the consecration of the Eucharist I believe, when Geoff yelled out at the top of his lungs "MICHAEL JACKSON!" for reasons still unknown. Hilarious!

...a bunch of us trying to moonwalk on the kitchen floor wearing socks. Eric was the only one who mastered that.

...having MTV banned from the house because I was scared to death by the Weird Al Yankovic video "Eat it", a take on Michael Jackson's "Beat it". At the end, his eyes turned yellow. I used to try to hide under the coffee table, the same coffee table my feet are resting on now. :) It was still pretty scary.

...It wasn't really halloween until the radio stations played Thriller.

Any one else have some funny memories??

13 comments | Tags: culture

Kristen said about 1 hour later

Remember Ryan White, the kid he "befriended" who died of AIDS? Or how about when his hair was light on fire while filming a Pepsi Commercial?
Eric said about 3 hours later

I remember when Steve got the Thriller album. Ugh! Did I hate listening to that!

I don't have too many other memories of him, though. I pretty much tried to ignore him.
GJ said about 4 hours later

MTV got banned due to Def Leppard's Rock of Ages video. You guys must have gotten it reinstated at some point to have gotten it banned again. I do recall someone freaking out due to the eyes at the end of the original Thriller video, but I don't recall the Weird Al sendoff causing a similar effect. Of course, by then I think I was off in college land and had pretty much stopped watching TV by then.

Steve got Thriller?? I thought that was you, dude. I could be wrong, though--my memory has more holes than swiss cheese these days.

I'm gonna have to post the video now. You may wish to avert your eyes, I know I will. :)
Steve said about 10 hours later

I got thriller? I don't remember that. I remember getting Jefferson Starship, but not MJ. MTV got banned because of Wierd Al as I remember it.
Steve said about 11 hours later

So how many people really think he was the king of Pop? Parsla and I were just discussing this. We reviewed all of his hits, and I counted 9 that I recognize. How about Madonna? Billy Joel? Gwen Stefani? All have more hits than Michael Jackson. Heck, even Rush has more hits than Michael Jackson....
GJ said about 12 hours later

It Weird Al, bud. No one else comes close.
Marc said about 13 hours later

I dunno the numbers, but I would bet MJ's hits lasted on the charts much longer than most of the others'. Not to mention they are immediately recognizable. His stage performance is pretty close to unmatched. The moonwalk was sweet. Oh and he was black. Not being racist, just honest. It was a big deal to be such an influential black person at that period in time. I think King of Pop makes sense being so good at all aspects. Madonna has some good songs, dancing...maybe, certainly not likable to all audiences. Billy Joel has awesome music, but I imagine this stage performance is pretty dull being behind that piano a lot.

I think I'm gonna go practice up on my moonwalk. I remember Eric doing it, it was pretty awesome. I've never been able to get it to look decent.
GJ said about 20 hours later

Top selling artists, 1 billion records or more:

The Beatles, Elvis Presley

Next: 500-999 million

Bing Crosby, Michael Jackson

Next: 200-499 million includes

Madonna, Bob Marley, Celine Dion, Elton John, Julio Iglesiasm, Maria Carey, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Queen, Rolling Stones, Drifters, Bee Gees, ABBA, and a few more.

So, strictly speaking, if we're talking pop sales, Elvis was the king. Jackson wasn't far behind.

Some other rankings of interest:

Billy Joel: 100-199 million
Gwen Stefani: less than 50 million
Rush: less than 50 million
Britney Spears: 75 to 99 million
U2: 100 to 199 million
Aerosmith: 100 to 199 million
New Kids on the Block: 50-74 million
Van Halen: 75 to 99 million
Kristen said 1 day later

Hey Steve--remember our parachute pants? We (at least I) called them our Michael jackson pants. They were like vinyl and had zippers all over them. I think I had a red pair and you had a black pair, or vice versa.

I was just browsing iTunes, and out of the top 100 songs today, 46 of them are Michael Jackson songs. Wow!

You know, I can't name a single Bing Crosby song. Whodat? LOL

I think he is the King of Pop--and I think this is easier to conceptualize when you consider the impact he has had on places like Japan. We mass produce pop icons here in the States, but very few have the long-lasting global impact that Michael Jackson has had. I doubt that anyone 20 years from now is going to say, "Gosh, that Britney Spears, her amazing talents are the reason I am now a superstar!" Plus like Marc said, he broke some serious racial barriers. It was a perfect storm for someone like him to be launched into a worldwide star.

So who do you think will do the big tribute, a la Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" tribute to Princess Di?
Kristen said 1 day later

Personally, I'm ready for a Stevie Wonder come-back, maybe with a Justin Timberlake guest spot.
GJ said 1 day later

Bing Crosby, eh? White Christmas....

He was a bit before your time, and also not a pop dude. The Beatles and Elvis were definitely pop, but also not of MJ's era. So, realistically, while he reigned from the early 80s to the early 90s, he was the king. Today, the market is so fractured, it's likely we'll never see someone that big again.
Eric said 3 days later

Continuing on the fractured market, if American Idol keeps churning out new "stars" every year there will certainly never be another king or queen of anything.

And yes Steve, you got Thriller. I DEFINITELY remember it. You don't have to admit it though. I understand.

The problem with looking at record sales to determine who is the king is that they comprise worldwide sales. MJ was extrememly popular outside of the US. So is U2. It may be different if you look at US sales. Any way you look at it, he was one of a kind and made a huge impact in the music industry. But that was in the 80's. A LONG time ago, really. His reign was pretty short, but not much different than Elvis' stint.
GJ said 4 days later

It's not just American Idol. These days, recording your own music isn't that hard and doesn't require super-expensive equipment as in years past. With the continued expansion of information dissemination on the Web, it's not hard to get noticed if you know anything about marketing and have a quality product. This serves to dilute the pool--but you'll also find some diamonds that would never have made it with the music industry 30 years ago.

Additionally, pop music itself has greatly matured over the past 50 years. There are main family branches (rock, R&B, folk, country, etc.) and many sub-genres (metal, bluegrass, rap, contemporary, etc.) that serve to allocate artists to particular pigeonholes. Music fans often identify with only a few of these sub-genres--and so, unless an artist bridges across many differing sub-genres and is equally talented across each, it's very unlikely that they'll reach the market penetration that Elvis and later MJ enjoyed.

Regarding the whole "King" title--nobody said this was American-only sales, or this was King of the US Pop Charts. Given the influence Great Britain has had on the US pop scene, I think it makes little sense to limit the scope to the US. Now, you could make the argument that album sales doesn't work, since album sales have plummeted in the past ten years with the advent of digital online music. Radio play hits are also tough to use since radio is not only fracturing but finding itself losing out in a video-centric world (but if you do, MJ kicks ass here too).

Concert sales? Maybe--but these are driven as much by concert talent (not every band/singer is a good live show) as the pull of the artist's music in the first place.

I think in this day and age, we can't even begin to agree on how to measure a new King/Queen of Pop--meaning, of course, there won't be another one anytime soon, if ever.

Golf Thread!
posted by GJ on June 19, 2009 @ 8:50AM

Ok, now that the Tennis thread went into overdrive, let's review the golf game. First up, a word from the developers:

Next, Disc Golf.

And Cali Lewis' review:

22 comments | Tags: games, wii

Marc said 9 minutes later

Golf has shipped for me, but Newegg was a bit slow, so I might not see it until Monday. This game has great reviews, so it better not let me down. :)
Geoff said about 1 hour later

dude that weather thing is awesome!
Eric said about 3 hours later

My golf combo is in the car. Apparently, I have a lot of catching up to do in tennis, but I'll try to get a jump start on Marc and GJ in golf. I already had Tiger Golf for the Playstation 2, but I don't know if the experience I have with the controller is going to help me much on the Wii.
GJ said about 3 hours later

You don't need a leg up on me in tennis...I still lose to the *$&@&^@!!! medium computers on a regular *$#$@(!! basis.
Marc said about 4 hours later

That weather thing really is awesome. It's such a simple little feature, but such a great idea. And Eric, if this game is as realistic as it sounds, I think you have a leg up on all of us.

Where's Steve? He's gotta get himself a Wii now to jump in this action. :)
GJ said about 5 hours later

The coup d'état would be getting Drew doing this. He's just sooo driven, he'd be a joy to corrupt. :)
Geoff said 2 days later

Gave golf a shot real quick...played 4 holes. It is awesome. I did quite well to boot. Birdied two, parred one, and bogied the other. It is actually very good for working on your golf swing if you can believe that. Immediately took my regular swing just to see how it wood hit. Sure enough I hit it into the Pacific ocean (facing north). Next round I really focused on keeping the remote straight and turning my body in the follow through...worked beautifully.

I don't know how much of this I'd play by myself (golf is only really good when you get to watch your companions hit it into the water), but I'm sure career mode could be cool.
GJ said 2 days later

Disc Golf is also really, really fun. Give it a shot.
Marc said 3 days later

So how awesome is the MP with golf? Does it respond pretty much 1:1 with your motions?
GJ said 3 days later

Yep. MP works great w/ golf.
Geoff said 3 days later

Yeah it rocks.
Marc said 5 days later

Just to note, golf has arrived (and my slice has returned). I'm ready to kick your guys' butts. Just send me an IM, e-mail, or call me and I'm in.

Can you do disc golf online too? I tried playing that right handed yesterday and I managed to introduce my slice there too.
GJ said 5 days later

Not sure, just got back from my SMA trip (oh, the manatee!) Will check it out tonight, maybe.
GJ said 5 days later

No online disc golf. :(

I started my "career" last night. Wow, do I suck. Six holes in, I was already +12. Kind of like real life--a great much of my game needs work. Hahahaha.

Except that in real life, six holes in I'd be +20 and have lost at least two balls.
Eric said 7 days later

I can't wait to play you guys. My first round I was +6 in career mode. I'm only on my second round, but 5 holes in and I'm -2.

I don't have power at the house right now, but I've got the Wii and the tv hooked up to the generator, so I might be available tonight.

I'll try to send an email out tonight, but I need to run an extention cord to the computer (come to think of it, I need to do that anyway to go online on the wii!)
Marc said 7 days later

I'll be at a baseball game most of the night, but will be available for late night golf if anyone is up for it. (Probably around 10 or 11)
Geoff said 7 days later

I think I may be up for it if I can convince Michelle to give up the TV.
GJ said 7 days later

I'm here, so ping me online if anyone wants to play. oh, and I really, really suck at golf. just like real life.
GJ said 7 days later

WERE GONNA PLAY NOW STOP ERIC YOU NEED AIM STOP
Marc said 7 days later

GJ and I just traded bogey's for 18 holes, but GJ ended up beating me by like 5 strokes. Apparently hitting into the trees as a shortcut works as well as it does in real life.
GJ said 8 days later

Yep. Took me an entire hole to figure out that stupid 30 second rule on the stroke. First hole should have been a birdie, too.

Anyone up for golf tonight? We should do a conference call. :)
Geoff said 8 days later

I may be...if the timing is right :)

Wii Motion Plus -- dust off that Wii!
posted by GJ on June 16, 2009 @ 6:56AM

Check out this tennis game:

This game is played using the motion plus attachment to the wiimote. No more just swinging the wiimote--you now have to swing like you would in a real tennis match. The MP item has three gyroscopes embedded in it, so it can figure out the orientation of the Wii remote in real-time. The difference is nothing short of amazing.

Even better--it comes with a seamless WiiConnect interface, allowing you to play with the rest of the world in lag-free matches. It also has a number of party games that look pretty cool.

Prefer golf? EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 also uses the MP attachment, and it's even BETTER than the tennis game. No more power meters--how you swing is how you swing (or putt). Which likely means I'll be spending a lot of time in the virtual trees on the right side of the fairway. :)

Same Wii, multiplayer action:

Party Mode:

102 comments | Tags: games, wii

Eric said about 1 hour later

Sweeeeet! I have been itching to get both these games. So they are available at the store? How much are the MP's?
GJ said about 2 hours later

Both games are $50. MP is $20 each unless you buy them at Gamestop, who sells them for $25. You can get an MP bundled with either game (if you can find them) for $60.

Wii Sports Resort is coming in early July, and will also include an MP, all for $50. It also includes updated golf and bowling games, along with fencing, archery, jetski, disc dog/golf, ping pong, basketball, cycling, canoeing, and wakeboarding. I hear most are pretty good with the exception of cycling.

Marc is buying Tennis today, I'm probably doing the same and have PGA Tour 10 coming early next week.
Marc said about 3 hours later

I wasn't able to find the MP bundle for Tennis for some reason, but Best Buy seems to have the games for $50 and MP for $20 and have no shortage of them. Tennis looks really awesome, some of the party games that GJ alluded to look very fun, King of the Court for example.

As for PGA Tour 10, I'm hesitant to pick it up. I've played various golf games and never been a fan. Perhaps with the motion plus it will feel more real and I'll enjoy it more, but I'm still thinking it's not gonna be my cup of tea. Wii Sports' golf was obviously so horrible, but I still enjoyed it more than other golf games.

Wii Sports Resort looks to be a nice sequel, I'm especially itching to play fencing and ping pong. I had no idea they had an updated bowling game, but the updated golf might be enough of a replacement for PGA Tour 10 for me. We'll have to see Geoff's double fairway cross slice. Whichever game reproduces those best clearly has their physics right. Unfortunately, I don't know if either game will let you stand sideways Geoff. :)
Geoff said about 3 hours later

I'll figure something out, maybe reverse the MP on the Wii remote
GJ said about 4 hours later

Or hold it upside down.

I'm getting golf shortly, so I'll let you know. I'll be honest--I'm half hoping I can use it to correct my god-awful slice.
GJ said about 8 hours later

Network details: doesn't use Nintendo's wiiconnect servers--goes through EA's multiplayer service (may require you to open TCP and UDP ports in your firewall). Can play with anyone in the world, or limit opponents to those in your WiiConnect friends list or EA buddies.

Net play appears to be lag free. Not clear yet if you can play four-way doubles on the net, but I see no reason why not. Also unclear if the party games play over the net.
GJ said about 8 hours later

Wii Sports Resort release date is July 27, so we've got six weeks or so until that comes out, unfortunately.
GJ said about 12 hours later

Oh boy, here comes tennis elbow.

Played online, didn't have to open any ports. Some dude kicked my butt. We had a bit of lag, and it did factor into a few points, but it wasn't huge and was fairly equal opportunity. I sucked so bad in the first set, the lag points were my only freaking points.

But, it started to click by the second match. Still have a ways to go before I'm even remotely proficient. Got good enough to scare off my opponent, who barely won the second round.

My ea profile name is, what else, DragonIV. Some of you have me as Wii buddies, so you can find me that way too. Will be back on later tonight.
Marc said about 15 hours later

Been playing the game most of the night. Very addicting. The computer is extremely difficult (read: I suck) even on medium.
GJ said about 15 hours later

I suck worse than Marc. He let me win earlier.
GJ said about 18 hours later

ok, I'm sucking less. I can beat the easy computers...just handed Venus and Mac their behinds in Australia.
GJ said 1 day later

Went back to medium, and Boris just beat me up pretty good. I'm down and out in Australia. On to Europe when I'm done icing my elbow.
GJ said 1 day later

My elbow is blown. I'm on the Tennis DR for at least a week. Dammit! Golf can't get here quick enough.
Geoff said 2 days later

I have to talk to Onkyo...my stupid receiver doesn't like any signals being passed through it except HDMI apparently. After fiddling with it for an hour to come up (it randomly works), I decided the heck with it. I could hear the sound though!

Damn Circuit City...should have never bought it from there.
Eric said 2 days later

I didn't realize everyone was buying this. I'm going to pick it up as well so we can get some matches going. Don't know when I'll get it. Maybe Wal-mart has it. I have to pick up a fishing license today anyway so I'll see. Let you guys know when I have it.

Geoff and Marc: make sure you post your EA profile names as well.
GJ said 2 days later

mine is dragoniv. :) but heads up, I haven't figured out how to do four-way tennis.

Golf, however, is four-way. A buddy of mine at GamerDad got it and says it is freaking awesome.
GJ said 2 days later

oh, also, we've been matching up via wii friends so far. we might want to try EA and see if the lag goes away (it's not bad, but it shows up every now and then).
Eric said 2 days later

I got it. Didn't come in a combo with wiimotion, so I had to buy that separately. I want to get the golf, too, but I may have to wait a little while. I'll buy that in the combo so I can have two wiimotions. I'll see if I can try tennis out tonight. Wal-Mart had plenty of everything. Why the heck didn't they make a combo for the tennis though? Stupid.

GJ the only one who has golf so far? I'll get it sooner if others do (hint, hint!)
GJ said 2 days later

geoff has golf, gj and marc have ordered it and are awaiting shipment
GJ said 2 days later

Combos are hard as hell to come by. There will be one in Wii Sports Resort, tho.
Eric said 2 days later

Wal-mart had the Golf combos. I guess I'll be picking that up for the weekend, if I can swing it (i.e. hide it from the wife.) Hey...I need it! Sorry for the pun, completely unintended.
Geoff said 2 days later

I got my Golf Combo at GameStop..they had a bunch..though it costs a good penny. $70. I picked up Tennis and an extra Wii Motion Plus so Michelle and I can have it. I guess I'll have to tear apart my Wii and directly connect it to my TV to get it to work...stupid receiver. Gonna send it to United Radio to get fixed after talking with Onkyo. At least I got an english speaking guy! That was a surprise.
Geoff said 2 days later

I believe I only have GJ Wii code...Marc, Eric? I thought this was posted elsewhere on the blog but couldn't find it (search isn't working either on the blog).
Marc said 2 days later

We were exchanging the Wii codes via e-mail before Geoff. My EA account is: Hgoale. I'll look into the search, maybe Site5 upgraded Rails on me without letting me know.
GJ said 2 days later

Geoff, GameStop is a ripoff.

The bundle's retail is $60. These are the same idiots charging $25 for the MotionPlus.
Geoff said 2 days later

Yeah I paid $25 for motion plus...where are you getting it and for how much?!?! Sorry, I paid $60 for Golf...$50 for tennis.
GJ said 2 days later

Meanwhile, even though my elbow hurts, my new HD setup is working flawlessly, even with my Onkyo receiver. Of course, it's probably nowhere as nice as Geoff's, since my Onkyo came from Radio Shack and is something like five years old.
GJ said 2 days later

MP is $20 everywhere else. Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc.
Marc said 2 days later

The search problem is a limitation in Site5's MySQL. I'm assuming you searched for something like "Wii" or "wii codes." Sorry sucker, they only allow searches of 4 characters or more. I'll put in a ticket to see if they can change that because to be honest, there's a lot of 3 letter words out there. :)
Geoff said 2 days later

yeah really, that's dumb with MySQL.

My Onkyo works great other than this HDMI thing. I'm hoping it is just my receiver with a loose connection or something, but the sporadic working/not working has me wondering if there are some incompatibilities with the HDMI cables and my components. I know HDMI 1.3 is fairly recent and I don't believe my TV is 1.3 compliant since it came out after my TV was purchased I believe...however my HDMI HD-DVD player always work through the receiver...so I'm at a loss.

In other news...I fired up tennis before my hockey game...boy that is tough! Went 4 rounds with a 3 star tennis player, and lost. Had a couple 3-1 set losses that were close. Was getting better as I went along, but yeah way different from Wii Sports. Definitely more enjoyable to play against the computer (lots of mileage this game is going to get)...though somehow I don't think anything can oust the sheer craziness embodied in Wii Sports Tennis in multiplayer mode. The front net battles we have are just hilarious. This is far more technical, and will still be fun. It is definitely the best Wii game I've played since Wii Sports. You can bet though that I will still request a good Wii Sports Tennis battle next time we're all home as well, just in case I get whooped in REAL tennis :)

Next up, Golf!
GJ said 2 days later

Yeah, you're right, Geoff. The totally unrealistic net battles don't happen, but as Marc and I can attest, playing live people is simply outstanding and even more fun. And once you get pretty good, you'll see some wild rallies. I haven't played much in the way of doubles yet, so that will probably be even crazier.

You can see, however, why this game is so highly rated. It's everything it claims to be. Now, Newegg, where the hell is my golf game????
Eric said 3 days later

Okay, I didn't get a chance to get the tennis game fired up last night. I don't have a profile yet, but I'll find yours tonight. I'll post mine too, when I get it. Kyle and I will probably play around with it for a while before we try to go online. So still no way for 4 of us to play doubles together, unless it's local?

I'm picking up golf today (don't tell Gina!) She wasn't happy that I picked up tennis, to be honest. Oh well, she'll get over it. Kyle and I, being outnumbered now, have to stick together. I told him I was buying TW golf, and it's going to be our little secret, at least for now! It may turn out to be a little difficult to hide on a 50" TV - I haven't worked this all out yet!
Geoff said 3 days later

Just tell her it's a hidden easter egg game in Tennis...like they do on DVD's. I'll setup a profile sometime this weekend...I've got to win at least a few games before I make a fool of myself online.
GJ said 3 days later

Hey, getting slammed online is what it's all about! But yeah, the medium computers will give you a pretty stiff challenge.

Golf is showing up sometime today, but I have to head to 'cuse on Monday to do some emergency virus recovery at St. Marys's. So, I may get some playing in this weekend, but not much.
Marc said 3 days later

You guys better practice up, you're looking at a two time champion now (on medium). I won the US Open and Australian Open, all in one night! Take that Pete Sampras (who I beat in the championships both times). Hopefully before you guys even start playing I'll be a Grand Slam champion.

I'll probably step it up to hard soon, as the medium guys are falling for the same tricks every time. But like GJ said, the medium guys will give you plenty of a challenge, especially while your character is young and weak.
Geoff said 3 days later

what if you yourself are young and weak? I think my arm is going to be sore after serving up 15-20 sets.
GJ said 3 days later

You suck. My elbow still hurts.
Marc said 3 days later

I stopped playing after two hours last night because I could feel the burn in my neck...I really give it a good hard swing on the serve.
GJ said 3 days later

Marc--I confirmed it's all timing. I can serve pretty freaking fast with just the right timed hit.
Marc said 3 days later

What are you "working from home" to get a leg up in tennis? Taking this competition to a new level. :)

Have you started to get some equipment that enhances your character? I've got a racket to improve my serve power, new shoes for speed, and finally got a second ability to use (being silver forehand and silver diving and reach). What kind of speeds are you getting GJ? I can usually hit a serve at around 119MPH pretty consistently. Wondering if I should use the serving ability, even though mediums can't handle the 119 too well.

And a hat to cover my bald head.
Geoff said 3 days later

Why in the hell are you bald?!?
Geoff said 3 days later

how do you tell your speed? does it only tell you when you play with your character?

I've yet to create a profile since I've been doing actual work
Marc said 3 days later

As surprising as it sounds, I actually WON a bet. Stanley Cup Finals night my team at work had a party and my third line manager bet me $200 I wouldn't shave my head. So I took him up on it. That little piece of hair that was left got me another $50 for coming into work on Monday with it. The money was put to good use in buying all these newfangled Wii games and gadgets. :)
Eric said 3 days later

I don't know how any of you are doing any work with the number of posts you all put up. Man, is this a record?
Marc said 3 days later

Your speed will show up on a little LED board in the arena, usually in the top left part of the screen by the line judges.

I'm pretty sure this is the most comments in any blog post. And who said anything about doing work? :)
Geoff said 3 days later

definitely is the most comments of any post.
Steve said 3 days later

Holy crap.....

You guys are killing me. I really shouldn't be buying a Wii, but god I really really want one, especially if Tennis is as much fun as it sounds. That said, I prefer the 4 player battles we have at home, it would be a shame if you can't make that happen online (though it's more fun when you do it all in the same room).
GJ said 3 days later

You can do it all in the same room, no worries. And golf is four way live and online.

Work? Dudes, I've averaged about 14 hours of work per day for the past week. It's the damn Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sell (translation: that's my client, and this is hell week. One of many.)

I had no idea about the serve speed. But damn my player is slow and clumsy. Anna Sharpova just pounded the living crap outta me, 6-4. On medium. Grrrr.
GJ said 3 days later

Where do you get the fancy fast sneakers? Is that the swag we keep opening up? Didn't know it made you faster.
Steve said 3 days later

You mean Maria Sharapova. My dream girl.....
Steve said 3 days later

Or Anna Kournakova, but she hasn't been heard from much in the past few years. She was the original Russian beauty though.
GJ said 3 days later

Sorry, yes, it was Maria. She runs like the wind, and has a nasty backhand. Still have welts on my face.
Marc said 3 days later

Yea, eventually you'll starting opening some swag that gives you boosts. So far it's just been sneakers and rackets. I'm waiting on the backhand enhancing wrist guards.
Eric said 3 days later

My EA profile is ecas33. My console code is 6900 3473 1894 3513. I only have GJ's so you other two can send me a message if you want.
GJ said 3 days later

I got my green endurance sneakers, and my top spin enhanced racket. Made it to the semifinals of the US Open, beating my nemisis Boris Becker along the way. But I lost to Andy Roddick in the semis...the big jerk!!

Won my second online match, too (beat Marc one of three games in our play early last week). Made sure to use Federer, but this tough guy (who had about 630 online points to my measly 332) aced me twice early on, and I thought I was going to lose my service (for shame!). But...turns out, he sucked at the drop shot, and I got some cross-court drops at the line that were just gorgeous. He continued to fall for it for the rest of the match, and he went down in flames 3-0. Jerk disconnected as the match was ending, but he still got the forfeit loss. Good work, EA--I positively hate multiplayer services that reward line droppers.

So, I'm only AIM (my id is expgregbaumbach). If you see me online and my status isn't Away or Sleeping, feel free to ping me for Tennis or Golf. I have done a pretty good job of rehabbing my elbow and can now play 3-4 games in a row without pain. Yay!
Marc said 4 days later

My console number is 4374-6358-6590-7148. Hgoale on EA.
Eric said 4 days later

I send buddy requests to both Marc and GJ last night. Let's see if we can get a game going tonight, if your free. I'll ping you when I'm in. We could try golf as well. I really sucked last night. +6 for the first game. I need some practice.
GJ said 4 days later

Yeah, I sucked at golf too..mostly, my putting needs work. I accepted Eric and Geoff's invites in Tennis, and sent invites to all three of you in golf. Marc, I have an open invite to you in tennis--I think we've previously played as wii buddies.
GJ said 4 days later

not sure if we can play four player online with tennis--that may have to be golf.
Geoff said 4 days later

Eric, I am MajesticIX on ESPN, and I sent you a buddy request in Tennis. I already played Marc earlier (and got whooped..though 3 of the 4 matches were close). I'd be interested in playing as well...depending on what time and whether Ashlyn is awake or not. Let me know...txt me if need be as I may be away from my computer

GJ said 4 days later

I'm going online now. 4:04pm et.
Geoff said 4 days later

dinner...feeding baby...forgot the fights are on tonight, so I probably won't hit up online Tennis until midnight lol
GJ said 4 days later

You and your WFC. I'm gonna golf tonight, I think. Elbow needs a rest. Played a dude in tennis ranked 600th in the world, and man-oh-man was he tough. I lost twice to him, but it definitely helps to play a better player to improve...or watch yourself make the same dumb move, again and again and again. :)

Just working on dinner now, so the earliest I'll be on is 9pm, likely.

I'll be offline Sun-Tues, since I have hockey tomorrow night, and will be in Cuse Monday-Tuesday.
Kristen said 4 days later

Hi guys! Sweet haircut Marc!

That's my contribution, as I wanted to be included in the record breaking number of comments to this post. My elbow is sore tonight too, but not from Wii, unfortunately. I was busy scrapping princess decals off the walls of one of my bedrooms. Geoff, I left a hilarious message on your cell phone tonight. I was calling to find out what color paint is in your kitchen, and as we were turning into Lowe's Drew almost took out some chic doing a u-turn in a little Kia. I don't think I let out any 4 letter words, but I bet you'll be laughing when you hear my reaction.
Steve said 4 days later

You guys aren't helping me stay away from buying a Wii. I'm going to look at a Neon next week, an 01 Neon R/T. If I buy that, I'll dump the Challenger, and that will free up some money long term (6 Challenger payments = Neon).
GJ said 4 days later

Just so you have the numbers:
wii: 250 comes with 1 wiimote and nunchuk.
Extra wiimotes, 40 apiece
Extra nunchuks, 20 apiece
Motionplus (need 1 per controller, but you may not want one for each controller as few games use it) 20 apiece
Golf, 50
tennis, 50

Tennis elbow: priceless.
Marc said 4 days later

Well, it's official, I've gone through my second "year" in tennis, went undefeated and earned myself a Grand Slam. Nearly have all 3 abilities open and now have Roddick's serve. I have no clue how I was getting 119MPH before, but some equipment change put me down to a consistent 78. Now that I have Roddick's serve, I'm up to 94. Once I get this third ability, I'll be able to serve bullets, dive cross court, and slice the ball like I do in golf. :)

From the looks of it, Tennis is only 1v1 online, unless you have a buddy on your own console to get the 4 player online. Golf, however, is definitely 4 player online. I look forward to losing in that.
Geoff said 4 days later

i suck at online tennis. I simply can't finish. I always start ahead, and then slowly lose, almost always in tie breakers...accept this one dude who could hit 200 mph servers and crank it everywhere I wasn't. I lost that easy 3-0 :)

I can however crush the computer in easy...once I win my first tournament I'll jump back up to medium.
GJ said 5 days later

My career ground to a halt. Not sure why, but I'm seeing mucho problems with the MP--a whole lot of missed swings where either swings way late or not at all. Persisted across three sessions--but that doesn't rule out I'm doing something goofy with the remote. I'm going to give it a shot without the MP and see how it works.
GJ said 5 days later

Oh, and my serve with the silver Serena serve is 83mph. Using the pros online, I can get 85-90mph, tops.
Geoff said 5 days later

I've got to let me arms heal...damn shoulder is sore from all this tennis. And to boot I'm sick so I can barely breathe through my nose.
GJ said 5 days later

Tried with without the MP. Don't bother with that, it sucks. Can't really do the placement that you can with the MP working.

Still, very broken MP. Tried both of mine, similar results. Yet, it works fine in the ball machine practice, even on high speed / high frequency / random everything else. So...not sure what I did, but the game is unplayable for me right now.

Disc golf, however, is a lot of fun.
Marc said 5 days later

Did you happen to be playing McEnroe during that? I swear to god they disable your Wiimote when he starts losing. I demolish him on my serve and then I get up 40-0 on his serve and suddenly I can no longer swing and he wins. Needless to say, I tend to swear the most when playing against him. :)

I saw the no swinging too GJ, but it turned out to be because I forgot to plug in the nunchuck early enough. Just as a match was about to start, I felt like I was missing something. Doh, forgot the nunchuck! Ran and grabbed it, plugged it in and swinging was very off. I have no clue why it caused the swinging to be off, but after barely winning an exhibition, I left the Grand Slam mode and came back in, and it was night and day.

Geoff and I have seen some pretty ridiculous bugs online, where the opponent will hit it out or outright miss the return, yet win the point. I hit it out against Geoff on a game point and I won the game. It happens very rarely, but I've seen it enough to confirm it does happen. Last night I witnessed a very obvious double bounce against the computer. I had a drop shot (you know my ridiculous ones), that I saw double bounce, so I put my hands down assuming the point was over and suddenly on just about the third bounce, the computer returned it, I didn't hear out, so I frantically swung and naturally sliced it way out. Computer got the point. I've read in some forums though, that people seeing this glitch unplug the nunchuck and plug it back in during their serve and haven't seen the problem return for the rest of the match.

You can watch the forums here. Lots of discussion about these glitches online.
GJ said 5 days later

I've seen the double bounce issue online again and again. Word to the wise, always play the ball on that unless it's going out of bounds.

I have the nunchuk plugged in from the get-go, so no dice there. I'll take a look at the forums.
Geoff said 5 days later

I'm out of commission for awhile...arms are sore and got a pretty nasty head cold. I'm sure Ashlyn will come down with it today or tomorrow after just recovering from sickness last week...ah the joys of life. I can only hope I picked up what she had, but I'm sure I would have gotten it last week some time.
Marc said 5 days later

I just had all of the glitches combine online at the worst time. I was absolutely rocking people, then I got paired with a guy ranked 125th. We battled it out for a good 6 games, then when I had MATCH POINT on his serve, he served it, I returned it. Pretty normal stuff, but before the ball even bounced, the announcer called game, Federer wins. So I figured worst timing...oh well, I get him on my serve. He scored 3 points on my serve, twice where he hit it out and once where he it double bounced and he knocked it over my head. Finally, he won when I served a rocket, the screen said ACE, and then "Federer wins." In the end, he worked his way back and squeaked out the "win." Absolutely ruined it, I haven't had that bad of an experience with the game yet.

That's quite frustrating, mostly because I've moved up to hard and the computer isn't much harder than they were on medium. They fall for the same tricks, they just happen to dive a little better and recover faster. I was hoping the online play would at least extend the game a bit more, but if they can't fix these glitches, it's not gonna hold my attention unless we're all in the same room. I only see this online, and lately have seen a ton of lag, so I'm wondering if EA's servers are being hammered and they are introducing problems while trying to fiddle with their networks and servers.
GJ said 5 days later

Yeah, but the swing problems are plaguing my single player game too. You're not seeing that in the single player mode, Marc?
GJ said 5 days later

Note, I do only see the double bounce, out of bounds, weird display crap online...and it's getting worse, not better.
Marc said 6 days later

I don't see any problems in single player mode, except the double bounce once. Although it could've just been my mistake, but I was pretty certain. Either way, online it happens all the time and yes it's gotten significantly worse. Which is actually a good sign, since it can probably be fixed remotely.
Eric said 6 days later

I suppose I haven't played enough to be sure I'm seeing the same errors. There have been a few time Kyle and I have both said, "Hey, that was out!" I'll have to keep a closer eye on it.

Sorry about Saturday night - Kyle and I were forced off the Wii for awhile.

About the WiiMotion. I've been having the same problem as GJ with both my WiiMotions. It gets to the point that you can't even swing at all. One fix that seems to work for awhile is reconnecting the remote. Every time I've done that, the swing goes back to normal. I had to do that twice playing McEnroe, but I ended up beating him (in Easy mode - I still have some work to do.)
Marc said 6 days later

Don't throw away those MPs, it looks like it's probably the game. People who have played Wii Sports Resort and PGA Tour 10 think Grand Slam Tennis hacked in their support for MP, because the 1:1 is horrible in comparison. I kinda hope they are right, because Tennis, while awesome and much cooler than the original Wii Sports tennis, does not feel like a 1:1 motion with the MP. It does feel a lot better, but not jaw dropping.

There's a huge discussion of this on the forums. I'm going to give it a week or so and see if the online play gets fixed, but if the bugs continue, I'm definitely contacting EA about getting a refund. The single player was fun, but certainly couldn't hold my attention for too much longer. Laura isn't too interested in playing and I'd probably kick her butt anyway, so that pretty much leaves online play for me. So if it continues to be buggy, I'll take that $50 and apply it to Wii Sports resort.
Steve said 7 days later

Wow, did you guys know that there is a REAL game called tennis, where you can actually swing a real racket and hit a real tennis ball on a real tennis court? Man, that is a lot of fun. Parsla and I went out last night to play. The only downside, you have to chase the ball down when you hit it out of bounds. But boy, is it fun! Turns out, you can find these tennis courts at many high schools. To think, they finally got around to taking something from a game and actually turned it into reality. And so fast! I mean, wii tennis has only been around for 2 years or so, and all the high schools have already replicated the wii tennis courts with real life size tennis courts! Simply Amazing!
GJ said 8 days later

As a matter of fact, I have played several racket sports, most notably tennis, racquetball, and squash. Tennis is my least favorite to play in real life--there is a lot of ground to cover and the game isn't very forgiving. Squash and racquetball are much more in-your-face and competitive, so when in real life, I'll play those. Unfortunately, those courts are not as popular as tennis courts.

The computer game allows me to play the sport far beyond my natural abilities. That's the cool part. It also allows me to find an opponent any time of day, and play on nearly a moment's notice. So...don't go dissin' my imaginary sport, tough guy! :)
Marc said 8 days later

Actually, this game will be the second that has brought me into the real game. First was rock band, which turned my interest into learning guitar for real...I always wanted to, but figured I didn't have the dexterity and rhythm. And a couple days ago, Laura and I picked up rackets to get into tennis, as I haven't played it in ages and we have a court literally 50 feet from our apartment.

I agree with GJ though, tennis is pretty unforgiving and I have a feeling I'll prefer racquetball, I was playing pretty competitively in college, but alas, there's one racquetball club within 50 miles of me and they are outrageously expensive.

I find Grand Slam tennis to be much more of a mind game when playing people online. I've had some pretty ridiculous volleys and seen some returned shots where they just quite simply outsmarted me. Those matches are rare, but I know playing with you guys, I'll see those matches all the time. Geoff threw me for a couple loops when we played the other day. :)
GJ said 8 days later

I'd agree with Marc--it's definitely a mind game. You truly want to play a sport and use calories? Head outside, as Steve infers.
Geoff said 8 days later

I'm not sure all of my loopy shots were intentional lol. I know a number of times I put the ball in the opposite place I had intended which drove me insane.
Steve said 8 days later

Actually, beginner tennis isn't too bad, once you stop running towards the ball, and once you realize you don't need to swing much to return the ball. Now, learning how to hit fast and how to put spins on the ball, that takes time and talent. Bust just volleying the ball is fun. Parsla has never really played, and I've played just enough to be dangerous - I try the advanced shots, and usually they either go into the net or almost over the fence....

You know I'm just giving you guys grief. If I had the time and money, I'd be right there playing alongside you. Now Forza motorsport, that is fun. I raced at Road America last night, got punted off in turn 1 on the first of 5 laps, and battled back, passing the leader on the last corner of the last lap. That was fun!!!
GJ said 8 days later

Don't get me started back on Forza, man. I never won the full race at that Deutschland track, and it still eats at me!

On a totally unrelated note, I've solved my swing problem. Now if I was only halfway decent!
Steve said 9 days later

Which race at Nurburgring Nordschliefe? The arcade mode? The endurance race? Or one of the others?

Played tennis again last night with Parsla, and am sore. It was hot. Guess that's one of the benefits of the computer - you can play in a nice air conditioned house.
GJ said 9 days later

Arcade mode, last bit (all four segments). Doesn't seem to matter which class I run, the computer cars all accelerate poorly, but have amazing top speeds. Make one mistake, and they zoom past and disappear into the horizon. Best I've done is lead about 50% of the race, but in order to do that, I'm blocking the lanes best I can and invariably I enter a turn poorly at some point.
Steve said 9 days later

Oh heck, I beat all four of those sections no problem. Having real life experience helps a lot though. Have to run a near perfect lap though. Not looking forward to trying to win the endurance race there though.
GJ said 9 days later

I can beat all four sections individually--that's easy. Put them all together, and that's where the wheels fall off my bus.
Steve said 10 days later

Was there a full course in arcade mode? I know I beat it, I'm at 100% in arcade mode, about 75% in career mode. Won several full length races at the ring too, longest one was only 2 laps though. I think the endurance is 10 laps (130+ miles).
GJ said 10 days later

it was the last race in arcade mode
Steve said 10 days later

Back to tennis - have the issues been resolved yet? I'm not buying unless I'm sure I will have countless hours of fun with it. Wii sports Tennis is fun multiplayer, but not so challenging on your own.
Marc said 10 days later

The single player gets old pretty fast. The online seems to have gotten a little better, but not entirely. If there's any lag at all on any side, your game is screwed. For instance, Laura started watching a video on her computer while I was playing online and things slowed to a crawl.

If you're going to be around during July 4th, I'm sure you'll get a chance to check it out, so I would hold off until then.
Geoff said 11 days later

yeah no doubt. I'm rethinking purchasing my games not because I don't like them, just finding the time to play them is impossible. Interested in a Wii Steve?

I honestly don't put it to as much use as it deserves (as in I've played it maybe handful of times since I've owned it)

Actually, the only time I really played it was when I purchased the old SEGA Wonder boy in Monster World :) lol not even a Wii game!

Steve said 11 days later

Yea, I'm thinking about getting a Wii. I don't have a ton of time to play it, but now that the last event of a very busy May-June racing season is over, I might have a bit more time. Only 3 more autocrosses that I have to organize for the rest of the year, spread over August through October, compared to 5 that I organized in the past 8 weeks, including a last minute site change for the event today, plus working 4 days at Formula SAE. Phew. I'm looking forward to some time off.

I won't be home for 4th of July, since Mom and Dad are coming out here the following weekend for Maddie's baptism. So I get to spend 4th of July weekend furiously scrubbing down and cleaning my house! Then after Mom and Dad take off back to NY, Parsla and I start our road trip out west, stopping by one of her friends in Lincoln, Nebraska, then on to Colorado to spend time in the mountains and watch the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, then back to Minnesota to see Parsla's sister, then to northern lower Michigan for Parsla's family reunion, then back home and back to work the last week of July. Should be fun.
GJ said 11 days later

Sounds like an awesome road trip--cool!
Geoff said 12 days later

I've waited for this day all my life....the FIRST 100th COMMENT TO A POST! WOOHOO!

ok, got that out of my system. Sounds like a cool roadtrip! Unfortunately I won't be coming out to Michigan, have a wedding to go to that weekend (I also need to get extended licenses and crap to go through Canada as well)
Steve said 12 days later

extended licenses? Oh, that's right, you guys probably don't have passports and such.
Geoff said 12 days later

Nope. I ain't paying that kind of money for a darn ID unless I'm going way out of the country. That's ludicrous.

Wow. Just, wow.
posted by GJ on June 14, 2009 @ 7:51AM

I honestly thought that the sensible folks in the GOP (national level) would shout down the morons that have the microphone for the conservative movement in the United States. I figured that the Dems wiping the GOP off the map in the last election would give these decent folks them the upper hand.

Instead, the looney asylum at the GOP has run wild. Ask the common party member, and they can't really give you a cohesive answer as to who the voice of the party is. Worse, they are energizing the fringe far right wing--the gun-toting survivalists, the neo-nazis, the militant anti-abortionists are all louder than ever. FoxNews, mouthpiece of crazy-central, is happy to whip them up in a frenzy.

Crazy religious people are scary. They're the folks that make the best violence--because they believe they are divinely inspired, and will be rewarded in heaven. There is no denying that the fringe-right is heavily populated with religious crazies, and Fox News is happy to push them along.

What, then, to make of these, found on the FoxNation website recently:

Maybe it's a conincidence that they're pointing images of guns at prominent blacks. I really doubt it.

Exhibit B: constant referral to late term abortionist as baby killer, bringer of baby genocide, etc. Then posting HIS ADDRESS. ON THE AIR. What did they expect to see happen?

Last week, George Tiller was gunned down by a crazy anti-abortionist. But the fun didn't stop there.

This week,Holocaust denier James Von Braunn kills a security guard on his way into probably trying to kill a whole lot more people at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

So, this prompts some reactions from the loonies in power:

Rush Limbaugh: "(James Von Brunn) has more in common with the marchers and protesters we see at left-wing rallies."

Harry Binswager (Ayn Rand Institute): "How did it happen that you look at people that are Nazis and you say that those are right-wing? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever!"

Wow, the crazy is strong in those two.

So, Shep Smith, the lone voice of reason on Fox, starts tearing into the loonies that write into Fox. He reads several of them on the air, and explains that encouraging this sort of thing is, well, DANGEROUS. Imagine what response he got for this.

Rush Limbaugh on Shep: he is "whining and moaning"

Pamela Geller: accused Smith of 'scary stupidity' and being a 'pompous elitist,' before arguing, 'Shep sucks. And Shep has always sucked, and it's time to get rid of the deadwood.... He has got to go.'

So, rather than toning down the rhetoric, instead, we get the "it's the liberal's fault" line. Again. And the loony faithful just keep eating it up.

The liberal left have some fairly "interesting" media moguls as well, but they do not appear to incite violence. Perhaps they're a more benign form of crazy? I dunno, but I fear this summer will see a whole lot more unfortunate politically based violence before it comes to a head. And that's just our "home-grown" terrorists!

I expect a lively discussion in the comments. :) Don't disappoint me!

10 comments | Tags: politics

Marc said about 7 hours later

I saw the YouTube video of Shep Smith on Fox and couldn't believe it was Fox News. It was all the rage on digg.com and they expected him to be fired any time now. :)

Fox News is like watching high school students gossip. While CNN isn't even close to how crazy they are at Fox News, I've seen them have similar ridiculous discussions. We're in very dangerous times when crazy people are watching these crazy news stations and taking things at face value, or on the opposite end, other crazies are getting attached to the "everyday journalist" (read: blogger) and reading those at face value. Sometimes I feel like I should just step back and let them shoot each other.
GJ said about 7 hours later

Nah, Fox won't get rid of Shep. They can hold him up and say, "see, we're not 100% crackpots."
Eric said 1 day later

Oh, boy. You've been watching to much NBC (Neurotic Bonehead Coalition)!

I'll be honest - I think everyone's crazy! The mainly liberal media (with the obvious exception of Fox News), the administration (spend, Spend, SPEND!), every feakin' politician that opens his/her mouth, the whole dang world! What the heck is going on? You can't blame it all on the GOP, although I agree there are crazies popping up all over the place.

You look at Fox News, and it's just the polar-opposite of MSNBC! It unbelievable! These people are taking pot shots at each other over the airwaves! I have never seen such outrageous behavior on either side. Why ARE we taking sides anyway! We are supposed to be one country of Americans, but these idiots are spliting the nation apart.

I say we forget all this nonsense and get back to the arguement that really needs settled:

Tastes Great! Less Filling!
Geoff said 1 day later

hahahaha
Eric said 1 day later

By the way, those images you posted above are obvious in intent and completely wrong. People are always entitled to their opinion, but it's against the law to make death threats (and that goes for SEIU and ACORN, too!)
GJ said 1 day later

Yeah, death threats seem to be a fixture on the far right lunatic fringe. The far left has a few that do this as well (Animal Liberation Front is a good example) but you generally don't see their ideals being championed by the mouthpieces of the left.
Steve said 1 day later

You guys actually pay attention to Fox news and Rush Limbaugh? I have to admit, I don't watch much news anymore, and certainly not Fox news (not even the local Fox station). If I watch the news, I'll watch a Lansing station, as they aren't nearly as annoying as Detroit stations are. Sure, the anchors aren't quite as polished - but who cares, they at least tell of news I care about, and don't seem anywheres near as one sided.
GJ said 1 day later

No, actually, I don't watch much in the way of news. Most of my news comes from BBC America, the AP news wire, Wall Street Journal, and the Economist. With Tiller's death, I did a little checking around to see what Fox's response was knowing their history with him. Little surprise that instead of apologizing for doing idiotic things like publishing Tiller's work and home addresses, they were instead publishing that same information about the next two leading late term abortion providers. Responsible journalism, that.

Limbaugh is being quote far more often in the legit news wires because the GOP doesn't appear to have a rudder at the moment. I don't think many people realize that he's an entertainer, not a legit pol. Same goes for Glen Beck, the crybaby loose cannon at Fox.

Eric's got a very valid point above. The separated-at-birth halves of the MSM seem to be designed to split America apart by the same divisions that split our politicians. I think it may well be simply that they need to put on a constant spectacle in order to justify 24/7 news coverage, but at what cost?
Eric said 2 days later

I don't watch much either. I pick and chose things to watch. I do watch Glenn Beck, mostly because I find him humorous. He may be a cry baby, but I enjoy his rants. I read most of my news online, but I get it all over the place (AP, Reuters, WSJ.) Even MSNBC from time-to-time, if you can believe that. I don't listen to Rush. He's a joke.

We have to get away from the finger pointing politics. GOP's and Dem's act like they are light years apart, but it's really not the case anymore. Just the dance alone is what makes Congress and the Executive Branch so ineffective. Not that I know how that gets done. Personally, I pay much more attention to local and state politics now.
Eric said 3 days later

By the way, GJ. I could not find any indication that someone posted Tiller's address on the air. Was it his home address or work address? Who posted it - O'Reilly? When was it posted?

Trivia Time: What Was The Top Selling Car of 2008?
posted by GJ on June 7, 2009 @ 6:37AM

I think you'll be suprised at the answer. And then you'll want to smack me silly, as usual.

2 comments | Tags: trivia

God Tries Out Texting
posted by GJ on June 7, 2009 @ 6:33AM

Realizing He needs to reach out to His younger people in a way they will understand, God decides to give texting a whirl.

19 comments | Tags: religion, humor

Eric said 2 days later

No doubt, old folks like me had a tough time reading this!
Geoff said 2 days later

haha I did as well; but we have a lifetime to decipher this great mystery.
GJ said 2 days later

JUST WATE UNTIL UR KIDS GAT A LITLE OLDER!1!!111 OMG WTF LOL
GJ said 2 days later

courtesy of the AOLer translator.
GJ said 2 days later

And just for grins, this is what it spat out. Slightly different than the post's version, which is far LOLer.

1. IM DA LORD UR GOD
2. U SHAL NOT MAEK FOR U AN IDOL
3. U SHAL NOT MAEK WRONGFUL UES OF DA NME OF UR GOD

and so on.
Marc said 2 days later

I thought it made for some very efficient reading. You knock one character off a couple words and you can read and write millions of times faster. It's a proven fact, the interwebs tells me so. Maybe you geezers will catch up some day. ;)
GJ said 2 days later

it's all about faster texting--has nothing to do with faster reading. Science (tm) tells me so.
Kristen said 2 days later

I have become bilingual without realizing it just by the nature of my job. Couldn't figure out what "slip" was today though--some new nickname for a drug. Couldn't get google to cooperate. Let me know if you can figure that out!
Kristen said 2 days later

Just found the government site with a comprehensive list of street names for drugs--no "slip", but have you ever heard of a "smurf"? A cigar dipped in embalming fluid! I don't think I could ever get that bored.
GJ said 3 days later

The Partnership for a Drug Free American doesn't know of slip. Then again, they don't know of smurf, either.

Of course, with a little reading comprehension, you know they're talking about a drug when they use an unfamiliar term, you just don't know which one. Does it really matter which one? Just curious.
Kristen said 3 days later

Doesn't really matter-just trying to stay up on the lingo!
Steve said 3 days later

You guys had difficulty reading those? Really? Guess Parsla has had me texting too much for too long....
GJ said 3 days later

wht drvs me crzy is ppl who im this wy, speclly ppl @ wrk. its vry hrd 2 tak thm srsly, ya knw?
Steve said 4 days later

I hate people that try to sell you something and type like that. I was interested in buying a car from a used car dealer, the used car salesmen contacted me with that kind of text. Needless to say, I didn't bother to respond.
GJ said 4 days later

Yeah, for some reason some folks think there is some kind of changing of the guard here regarding this kind of chatspeak, as in we're all going to convert over to it because it's so easy. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but it takes me far longer to decipher that then plain old properly spelled English.
Marc said 5 days later

There's also, obviously, no standard for shorting of the words, which is part of the reason why it feels like reading a new language every time.

I noticed with a lot of younger kids in college, who were big on texting, that they weren't capable of writing a formal document from both a grammatical and spelling standpoint. It was quite common to find those words sprinkled in too, but usually when they went to spell those words, they didn't know how.
GJ said 5 days later

They have their place and time--IM and phone texting makes some degree of sense. Writing long form, in emails, blog entries, letters, or essays should use the full language. But of course, if you spend all your time practicing the short form...well, you know what happens as a result.
Marc said 5 days later

BTW, Thanks for the birthday card GJ. This topic seemed like a fitting place for thanks. :)
GJ said 5 days later

LMAO!!!! Only wish I could say I planned it that way!

Oooh, it's the Moon...in HD! Geoff should like this!
posted by GJ on June 5, 2009 @ 4:17PM

It should come at no surprise to anyone that this was not taken by a US spacecraft--oh, no, this was done by the Japanese. They actually spend money on this sort of thing. :)

2 comments | Tags: video, science

Note to Russia: returning to the Soviet Way nyet likely to work
posted by GJ on June 5, 2009 @ 3:48PM

Now, I'm familiar with revisionist history, and well aware that the winners write history. However, Russia's neo-Soviet government is toying with Soviet-era tactics, like, oh, I dunno, rewriting history. Nyet so fast, Boris! I think the Poles would like a word with you.

No comments | Tags: politics, news

Excellent Takedown of Oprah
posted by GJ on June 3, 2009 @ 7:40AM

Newsweek did an excellent takedown of Oprah's constant plugging of downright lunatic health advisement. It's long, but worth a read.

7 comments | Tags: skepticism

Geoff said about 2 hours later

Good read..at least half of it. Couldn't convince myself to read further, my eyes hurt.
Marc said about 6 hours later

Good read, and I actually read it all! Wouldn't have done it without the font increase feature in Firefox.

I've never been a fan of Oprah. Anytime there's a cult like following, dangerous things happen and she feeds into it. Everybody is going to have their flaws, believe weird things at times, or just be flat out wrong. She's in a position of power almost nobody has, and she's not careful enough with explaining very clearly that what she is showing or talking about is not a Silver Bullet.

I'm also not a fan because she gets a pretty good rap for how much she contributes to charities, yet people don't look at her enormous wealth. I'm waiting to see one of the Top billionaires drop down to being a measly millionaire and donate all their money to charity.

I just read about a local woman who had cancer, which has recently subsided, who over the course of a couple decades, raised over $4 million for breast cancer charities. That's pretty fricken remarkable. If Oprah used her power and wealth to contribute an equal ratio that this woman did, maybe we could be closer to curing some of these crazy diseases.
GJ said about 13 hours later

I would say the the rich shouldn't wear down their riches by giving it all away at once. Better is the way Bill Gates does it--funding foundations with enough capital such that they can be self-sustaining on interest alone. I may not like MS, nor what Windoze did to the computer world, but I think Gates is easily becoming the next big philanthropist on the scale of Andrew Carnegie.

Still, Oprah seems to think her business savvy means she knows all. That's a fatal flaw among leaders--true great leaders surround themselves with the best and brightest, not the most popular folks. Oprah is embracing that fatal flaw with enthusiasm.
Steve said about 14 hours later

I'm with Geoff, good read, first half anyway. Lost interest after that. I never liked Oprah, so I love to hear that she got bashed by a nationally known good publication. Ha!

I agree with GJ too, Bill Gates is quietly becoming probably the biggest philanthropist since Carnegie. Though, easy to do, when you are one of the richest persons in the world.
Marc said about 14 hours later

I originally mentioned Bill Gates in my comment, but removed it at some point apparently! I fully agree, Bill Gates is doing things right so far.
Marc said 1 day later

Speak of the devil: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE55253F20090603?rpc=64
GJ said 1 day later

Yeah, maybe he can have the Gates Foundation help smack the anti-vaxer crowd around. He'd be my freaking hero at that point.

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