Where are the Transformers and Decepticons?

I was randomly surfing the web the other day and learned Steven Spielberg is directing a live-action movie about the Transformers for a 2007 release. I loved playing with the toys and may just have to buy the new ones to certainly be released with the movie. While that's interesting enough, I read a capsule about the 1986 animated Transformers movie that went something like this:

The movie is set in 2005, twenty years after the TV series, and chronicles the efforts of the heroic Autobots to defend their homeworld of Cybertron from the evil Decepticons and Unicron, a huge robotic creature who eats planets such as Cybertron.

So it's 2005 and I ask, where are the robots? With all of our astronomical (gotta love double meanings) ability, why haven't our scientists seen Optimus Prime, Astrotrain, or Galvatron? Who knew 2005 was once thought of as a futuristic time for any planet in space?

News Directors and Katrina Sitting In a Tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

Everyone is fascinated with death and destruction.

From rubbernecking a serious fender-bender on the highway to a flattened home from a midwest tornado, all of us (though we won't admit it) have a curious fascination when someone's way of living is violently interrupted. I know that's why I look at an accident on the shoulder or can't stop watching "coverage" of Hurricane Katrina. The toxic gumbo that was predicted, with its floating coffins and dangerous oils remaining for days, fascinated me. Oh sure, I didn't want any of it to occur, but I kind of wanted to see just what it would look like (if those ideas could somehow coexist). Of course it's only out of curiosity and not because of any harmful wishes. I know I'm not the only one.

Natural disasters are a boon for TV/Radio ratings and print sales. Radio reports and newspaper articles (even with a few pictures) describe what took place, but nothing compares to the motion of video and watching a piece of siding fly all the way down the road, instead of a newspaper's snapshot of the siding "still" down the road. There's a reason why video is more popular than online slideshows. Though I'd like to think all news directors and their companies don't wish harm on anyone or anything else, they do enjoy incredible disasters like Hurricane Katrina because it means more money for them.

The general public wants to know that residents are okay...just as much as they want to hear about flooding, broken windows, and downed powerlines. Sure, there's a small percentage of the viewership with a personal interest in how SE Louisiana and parts of Alabama are doing, but after hearing about the well-being of the affected area's population, most of them only watch out of curiosity. During the night, all forms of media (TV, radio, print, Internet) are on equal footing (no pun intended) because there's little to actually see in the dark (duh) and reporting avenues do not differ...reading a print/online report is akin to having someone read the report to you on the radio which is akin to seeing that someone read the report.

It's once daylight breaks that TV blows the other forms of media out of the water (really, I don't intend these puns). If all forms are available to you, why listen to the radio or look at a still photograph? TV combines every form - plus you've got video. When Katrina was on its way to the gulf coast and landfall was predicted for Monday morning, you could hear a loud cheer from every TV news director. They were able to send their stubborn camera crews and reporters outside to get video of Katrina as it swayed stop signs and toppled trees (actually getting it as "it happens") instead of waiting for daybreak to see the destruction left. Seeing WFOR's local reporter Brian Andrews fall on his face trying to walk in the storm is incredibly stupid and unsafe, yet I took some satisfaction in his demise. Heaven forbid we have to wait until after the storm passes overnight to find out what happened. By the way, it's funny that reporters first said New Orleans got by unscathed b/c it wasn't the biggest direct hit possible, nevermind the destruction it ended up doing.

The sad truth is high ratings only happen when you show/report the most destructive events with dramatic storytelling. Water flowing down Canal Street will not only bring lots of debris, but also disturbing discussions among TV execs about the possible bodies, toxic gumbo, and the guarenteed ratings they'd carry. The general public is addicted to stories of destruction and the media just does its natural part by feeding the beast what it wants. Try as I might, I can't fault news directors for feeding the public what it continues to starve for - I just wish everyone (like myself) would stop gorging themselves.

On The Road Again...

As my longtime blog readers have read, I tore a ligament in my right knee last fall. It happened during an ultimate frisbee game, but it was doomed to happen after I played with pain in the right knee during a few basketball games earlier that week. So here we are about nine months later and I still get the occasional sharp pain on the inside of my knee. It happened last week and it really sucks. What's annoying is I hadn't played ultimate frisbee or even gone for a long walk within the previous 10 days, so I guess this is what's called a "tricky knee." When I first saw the orthopedist, he suggested that I do some bike riding thanks to its low impact movement. The picture below is of the right knee (thanks Matthew).

Well, with the newly purchased mountain bike, I finally listened to his orders and went for a short 25-minute journey (since I didn't feel like driving to play ultimate) around my neighborhood. I figure if the knee is going to randomly hurt without me doing anything, then doing something doesn't increase the chance it'll hurt the next day...or so this is the excuse I'm going to use when it hurts again. The ride went well and was full of hills, so my out-of-shape legs were wobbly when I was done, but it felt great. Even better is the lack of pain in my right knee. I did get bored just riding around the neighborhood so I know it's time for some trails.

Hurricane Katrina's Crashing The New Orleans Party

As much as I wanted to write about the great dinner I had last night at Old Europe, Hurricane Katrina is now a category 5 storm - aimed at New Orleans. Yeah, this is not looking good. Almost every computer model says the storm is headed toward New Orleans, and that's a scary thing, especially with parts of the city below sea level and predicted storm surges of 20 feet.

I wrote the following comment at capitalweather.com:

I am amazed that a storm that I naively thought "only" dumped 20 inches of water on south Florida has exploded into this massive storm. While it's good to hear that the evacuation seems to have gone well, there are those who sadly won't be out of the storm's way. From a 3 to a 5 overnight is incredible, so let's keep all of our Gulf of Mexico friends in our minds as the storm makes landfall Monday.

Illegal Milk - 6 Games, Illegal Steroids - 10 Games

It seems like the suspensions going on around the major leagues are a bit out of tune. A Florida Marlins batboy was suspended 6 games when he took a bet from pitcher Brad Penny that he (the batboy) couldn't drink a gallon of milk in an hour and not throw up. The batboy didn't throw up, but he didn't finish all of the milk in an hour so he lost the bet and the $500 that would have come his way. Just like Penny said, people aren't thinking straight when you suspend a batboy 6 games for trying a bet, yet MLB suspends players just 10 games for steroids.

I'm addicted to NHL95 for Genesis

I am the best NHL 95 player ever...there I said it.

Of the many games that define my generation, a consensus favorite is NHL 95 (the one without fighting) for the Sega Genesis. To that end, my previous roommate and I logged about 1,000 games (about 20 games per week give or take) in the one year we split the rent. Neither of us owned a next-generation system like XBOX or PS2, so we fired up my old Genesis and couldn't play enough. Our games were tremendous battles full of trash talking and great gamesmanship. It is from our games that I really honed my unmatched skills. (Sadly/Pathetically) I developed a man-zone defense (yeah, I actually developed a systematic defense) that not only stops the skate-in-front-of-the-goalie-for-a-backhanded-(cheap)-goal-maneuver, but also intercepts every one-timer pass. Trust, me it's a work of art. There's Buddy Ryan's 46-Defense in football and then there's my NHL 95 Man-Zone. Like any great defense, it has its weaknesses, but when it's on, let's face it, you're not going to score.

Since I've moved, my new roommate and I haven't played NHL 95 as much as I did before, so I tried starting my own season. To my dismay, the battery in the cartridge has zero power left to save seasons, players, stats, etc. I even ordered a few off EBay, but after 10 years, no battery is going to work. All of a sudden, one day, a miracle was delivered from above in the form of Jakks Pacific...maker of a Madden 95/NHL 95 dual plug-in-your-tv controller (which emulates the games really well except there are no player names, just numbers). I got mine as a gift for my 25th birthday and it was the closest to my heart (I told you it was getting pathetic). I played it a little to see if things worked, but got sidetracked by too much Grand Theft Auto. However, last week, I decided to start a season with Tampa Bay to see if I still had my great skills.

Though the Sabres are my go-to team, I decided to create my friends for all 5 positions and goalie and sign them to Tampa Bay. Since I didn't give anyone incredible ability like 97 on speed or super checking, nobody's overall rating is higher than 81. I dropped 6 players from Tampa Bay (remember, they were just about the worst team back in 1995) and signed all of my friends. My settings call for 5-minute periods, multi-game injuries, 1-game playoffs, and penalties on except offsides (who played with offsides anyway?). I had hoped that playing with penalties would at least make the games competitive because of my aggressive play that always results in spending time in the penalty box.

I've played about 20 games so far and it hasn't been close. Even with penalties and the automatic penalty kill line changes that replace my friends with those bad TB players, the season is just a battle between myself and statistical greatness. The only sore spot is when I accidently had the computer simulate a game, which TB lost 4-1, giving up about 40 shots and killing all of my stats. Nevertheless, TB is 19-1-0, with an average victory of 9.87-0.36. Without those four goals, the goals against would be closer to 0.2. I've had three games of over 20 goals (including a 12-goal period) and have never allowed more than one in a game. Of the goals scored on me, the only "clean" goal was a Mark Messier slapshot. The others were my fault when I took the goalie a little too far out to make a pass that was promptly intercepted and found the back of an empty net.

My (modified Tampa Bay) season goals (sorry about the pun) are: 10 goals/game, 0.25 goals against/game, all 5 starters lead goals scored and overall points, a shooting percentage over 53%, and a save percentage of 98%. That simulated game hurt my shooting and save percentage (mostly b/c it was a 20-minute period game) so those numbers will be difficult. Since this season has been easier than expected, I will next try taking a legit and untouched doormat team and see how well I do with them. Perhaps it'll be TB or Florida, but that won't be for a few more weeks. Of course, at my current playing pace, I'll be done in a few days. One of the game's best features is a 5-minute period game takes about 10 minutes to play, so it's easy to talk myself into another one since it'll only be 10 more minutes.

I might just blog that doormat season, since using my friends on TB to let you know I was 2 goals short of an across-the-board starting 5 hat trick or using the Sabres to average 14 goals/game isn't too exciting. If you've read this much, congrats, though I'm sure few of my readers actually read this far in the first place. Nevertheless, NHL 95 is my passion and I'm always ready for a challenge.

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For my season "finale recap wrapup summary overall discussion", checkout this entry:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com/2005/10/if-you-think-my-nhl-95-playing-is.html

For the rest of my blog, full of rants, raves, articles, links, and poor attempts at humour, check it out here:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com

Our Catch of the Day - Your 39-Year-Old Wallet

In 1966, James Lubeck (not pictured below) lost his wallet full of credit cards, money, and personal ID when he was tying his boat to a dock in Boston's Marblehead Harbor. 39 years later, Antonio Randazzo was fishing some 25 miles from the incident and caught Lubeck's wallet in his cargo net. Incredibly, all of Lubeck's ID and credit cards were in perfect condition, though his $300 is no longer of legal tender thanks to the salt water. It's small price to pay for a great story.

A Smaller AIM Buddy List Means I'm Getting Older

Having reached a ripe (old?) age in the mid-20s, it's funny how life's routines and priorities change from even a few years ago. With all of my 20-something friends, a few of the signs we have matured include our 9-to-5 jobs and that we don't use AIM anymore. Way back when I attended college (haha), AOL's Instant messenger (AIM) was the lifeline to everyone and everything that was going on. Before checking email or the weather, you signed-on to see who else was online and active, since it was and always will be the best way to procrastinate from the all important task of collegiate studying.

Things have changed. Gone are the days when I'd instant message my roommate who was sitting at his desk about 3 feet from me to ask about dinner. Gone are the days when you'd spend as much time checking someone's away message as you would talking with them. Gone are the days when you'd keep old friends on your buddy list, though you haven't actually spoken with them in months or even years, but enjoy their away messages. Most representative of my current age...gone are the days when your buddy list had over 80 people (70 of which were online everyday) and there was excitement when new emoticons became available.

These days, when I do sign-on, my buddy list is much smaller and no more than 7 or 8 people are usually online. The reality is for all of the good that AIM does for communication, it also keeps stagnant and false friendships alive. AIM delays the moment when it becomes apparent to both parties that they need to confront the reality that they'd have nothing to say over the phone. Online conversation pauses aren't awkward because they're expected with everyone multitasking (or at least using that excuse), but those pauses are very real on the phone or worse yet, in person. That's not to say the pauses mean you shouldn't stay in touch, but they go along way toward cementing that the friendship has run its course (if you're like me and don't want a friendship based on AIM). If you haven't talked over the phone or in-person during the last year, then something's amiss.

AIM was also used to leave messages for friends if we couldn't reach them, but with the popularity of cell phones (I didn't get one until fall of 2001), leaving a message for someone on their computer is no longer the fastest and most reliable way to stay in touch. Not only do we have little time to talk with someone on the Internet, but we also don't enjoy the not-really real "realtime" communication it offers. If we want to talk with each other, we'll talk on the phone and if that is too awkward, well, then it's just another friendship that has run out of steam now that all of the college parties have ended.

It might take your AIM-only friendship to realize it, but people change, feelings change, and friendships change - just make sure you stay in touch with those friends who are worth more than just another IM and really deserve a phone call. There's a reason why nobody has covered the lyrics of James Taylor's "You've got a friend" to read, "If you instant message my username...you know wherever I am...I'll log-on...to connect with you again."

You may stop holding your breath...the bike has arrived!

Believe it or not, but the long awaited mountain bike has finally arrived. It was in a box yesterday at the shop and put together this morning. I bought a Trek 4300 and can't wait to take it for a real spin. The seat does feel pretty hard so that might be my first replacement, but before that I'll take a ride to Georgetown down the Crescent trail and see how it goes. Go ahead and laugh all you want, but I'll probably get some bicycle shorts, but not the old man tight ones, since there are now baggy ones that are certainly "more appealing and less revealing" if you will. I bought about $100 worth of accessories like a bottle holder, chain tool, patch kit, air pump, and tire levers...don't worry mom, I already have a helmet.

After all my research, I realized I should go for something that's just-above-entry-level (JAEL) and then decide on how different models felt in that class. I visited REI yesterday and tried their JAEL model which felt fine, but it really didn't have a good cool design to it. Specifically, the color scheme consisted of a puke/forest (are they the same?) with some dark gray along the frame. It wasn't too attractive. Then I rode the 4300 which seemed to have the same ride, but thanks to its brand name, I just felt more confident on it. Plus, the color scheme was sweet. I'm glad I took the REI intro to bike maintenance class so I'm no longer intimidated by all the gears and wires.

Also, I was told on good authority that paying a little more now is much better than paying a lot more later, up to a point that is. I could have bought a Trek 4300 with disc brakes, but the additional $100 wouldn't have been worth it for the riding I would do, just as any higher level bike more than JAEL would have a better suspension, but nothing that I'd recognize. One last thing, if you visit that mountain bike review site, those people use the JAEL bikes for far more than they're ever designed to withstand, which is why their forks would break, etc. If you take care of your bike by cleaning the chain after each ride, it'll be just fine for years.