Month: September 2006

Posted inMusic

Bank Job

by Deck

BNL Bank JobBeen listening to the new Barenaked Ladies album (are they still called albums?) Barenaked Ladies Are Me.

So far I think I’ve picked out at least three songs that I like a lot and that probably have commercial potential.

However, my favorite song so far is a cute one called “Bank Job” that tells the story of a failed bank robbery attempt. I’m not sure how much commercial success it will enjoy, but I’m sure it’s destined to be one of those cult hits that BNL fans love so much.

So, with very little further ado…

Bank Job
Barenaked Ladies
(Page, Robertson) – 4:27

It was an upset in two minutes flat
We were back on the freeway, foot to the mat
I can’t understand it; we had it down pat
It’s very upsetting, could we leave it at that?

We all had positions; we each had a role
We’d over-rehearsed it; we had full control
They can’t teach you acting, it’s there in your soul
It’s the same with a bank job, and each thing we stole

So I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Wait by the phone

I was the driver; you ran the show
You had the last word, the go or no go
I knew every laneway in Ontario
But it’s not what you’re sure of, it’s what you don’t know

It should have been filled with the usual ones
Throwing their cash into mutual funds
We all had our ski masks and sawed-off shotguns
But how do you plan for a bank full of nuns?

Well, I guess we panicked – we all have taboos
And they were like zebras; they had us confused
We should be in condos with oceanfront views
Instead we’re most-wanted on the six o’clock news

So I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone

Inside the police car you tried to explain
your crisis of conscience; the voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing has gone down the drain
I think we all know who should shoulder the blame

Cause you made a choice there, almost sublime
I’m all for compassion, just not on my dime
You looked like an amateur, and that’s the real crime
So I’ll take a walk now, and you do the time

And I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There’s no need to phone

We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Leave me alone

Posted inMovies / Television

A Couple of Things…

by Deck

This should be quick…

The Eragon trailer is available on the official movie site. Check it out. Looks pretty cool, although I’m a little surprised that we get to see the dragon(s) so soon. I reallly thought that they would tease us with brief glimpses for the first trailer or two.

And I couldn’t resist passing this one on… Visit DailyEpisodes.com to watch just about any episode of The Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Family Guy, or American Dad on your computer. The legality of the videos are certainly questionable, but there’s no doubt how much fun this is!

Posted inGames / Sports

Red Zone Wrap-Up (Week 3)

by Deck

FFL Week 3FFL week 3 is history.

The Shelbyville Outkasts (2-1) kept the Batavia Bulldogs winless with a 99-75 victory. Brian Westbrook made the difference for the Outkasts with a huge 36 point game.

The Houston Inferno remain undefeated this week with a 92-82 victory over the winless Petersburg PowerPuff Girls. Donovan McNabb’s number one FFL quarterback ranking helped the Inferno stay on top.

The Foreign Bodies won their first game 88-58 against the Peoria OrangeCrush, who are also now 1-2. Unfortunately only one player scored in double-digits for the OrangeCrush this week.

The Kentucky Mad Max (2-1) knocked off the P’burg PrairiePride (1-2) despite leaving 53 points sitting on the bench. The Mad Max won the game 83-54.

And finally, the game of the week… My Spooky Boogeymen remained unbeaten this week with a massive one-point victory 77-76 over the Springfield Bullhawks (2-1). To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure how I won because our game was tied at the end of the Monday Night’s game. Somehow the Bullhawks lost a point overnight. I would suggest that Alan of the Bullhawks complain to the League Commissioner, but Alan is the League Commissioner. ;-)

I paid dearly for the win however, with significant injuries to Shaun Alexander and Donte Stallworth. And now there are reports that Terrell Owens was brought into the emergency room last night “after suffering an adverse reaction to painkillers taken for treatment of his fractured hand”. %#$*^! I’m sure knowing my luck that there’s more to the story. Have I mentioned that I SO should’ve kept Donovan McNabb from last year’s team instead of T.O.? :|

See ya next week…

Posted inTelevision

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

by Deck

Studio 60 on the Sunset StripJust got done watching the second episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. What a great show! I can’t recommend this one enough. I’ve been a fan of show creator Aaron Sorkin (“West Wing”, “Sports Night”, “The American President”) for quite a while, but I hope that this series might have even wider appeal because it won’t be so politically focused as some of his earlier work.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is on Monday nights at 9:00 (central). The pilot is online at nbc.com in its entirety. Even better, the promos make it sound like NBC is planning to put each episode online after the show has aired for that week, so it’s easy to get caught up if you haven’t watched it yet. Enjoy!

Posted inGames

Come Out and Play!

by Deck

Come Out and PlayThe Come Out & Play Festival is a street games festival dedicated to exploring new styles of games and play. It was held last weekend (September 22-24) on the streets (and even on the buildings) of New York City.

Some of the interesting games include Space Invaders (giant game of Space Invaders on the side of a building, with your body as the controller), Identity (large-scale social game of secret organizations, covert intelligence, suspicion, trust, cooperation and betrayal), Snagu (camera-phone based scavenger hunt with no limits on time, space, or answers), Manhattan MEGAputt (gigantic game of mini golf, played in ManhattanÂ’s East Village), Cruel 2 B Kind (benevolent assassins stalk New York performing acts of kindness for strangers in an attempt to catch their prey), and Payphone Warriors (control city turf by capturing the cityÂ’s payphones).

CNET has pretty good coverage of the event:

The last couple of articles go into more detail about specific games. Sounds like it was a lot of fun. :-)

Posted inGames

“Sling” is Addictive

by Deck

SlingFound a cute little Flash game earlier tonight (via Digg) called Sling.

As with many of the best games, this one is simple to play, but a little tougher to master. Here’s a brief description from the game…

Sling is a green glob of goo consisting of a hand attached to a head by a long strip of springy slime. Players use the mouse to click and drag on Sling’s head, pulling him around to attach him to different items, or pulling back and releasing him to ‘slingshot’ him to another location. Real-world physics are used to model Sling’s springy arm, his motion and collisions.

Each level of Sling’s world is made up of a single screen of different ‘grabs’ and surfaces that he can attach himself too. There are many different grabs with different characteristics. The most basic grab is a simple ‘gray’ grab. On most levels, Sling must attach himself to all the ‘gray’ grabs and turn them green. Once all the gray grabs are green a portal will appear to take him to the next level.

Be careful, though… As evidenced by the timestamp of this entry, Sling is extremely addicting. Make sure you have plenty of time to play. ;-)

Posted inMovies / WTF?

You’ll Get Yours, Black Bart!

by Deck

You'll Get Yours, Black Bart!Ten points if you can identify the gentlemen in the photo (click to enlarge)…

Hint: The weapon on the left is an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle.

That’s right! The guy on the left is none other than Peter Billingsley, a.k.a. Ralphie from A Christmas Story. Actor/director Jon Favreau is on the right. Jon is directing the Iron Man movie, currently scheduled for a May 2008 release. Ralphie, uh, Peter is co-producing the movie with Jon. The hardware are props for the movie (I hope ;-)).

Posted inSports

Red Zone Wrap-Up (Week 2)

by Deck

FFL Week 2 has come and gone. Once again, the Houston Inferno have posted the high score this week with a 113-78 win over the Batavia Bulldogs. The Inferno only had three players in double digits. However, two of those had 27 points and the third earned 30! The Inferno are now 2-0 while the Bulldogs fall to 0-2.

The Springfield Bullhawks remain unbeaten with a 109-60 victory over the Kentucky Mad Max. The Mad Max (1-1) left Michael Vick on the bench this week, but even Vick’s 26 point performance wouldn’t have been enough to recover from this week’s deficit.

Recovering from a tough loss last week, the P’burg PrairiePride handed the Foreign Bodies their second straight loss 86-67. Both teams left big points on the bench… 74 for the Bodies and 75 for the PrairiePride.

For the second week in a row, the Head Coach position has been the deciding factor in a Red Zone game. The Peoria OrangeCrush stole a win 76-74 from the Shelbyville Outkasts, who had the Philadelphia Eagles for their Head Coach position. The Outkasts would have earned a tie if the Philadelphia Eagles could have held off the New York Giants in overtime. The OrangeCrush and the Outkasts are now both 1-1.

And last but certainly not least… My Spooky Boogeymen are 2-0 with a win over the Petersburg PowerPuff Girls. Fortunately for me, the PowerPuffs left Brett Favre’s 30 points on the bench this week. Unfortunately for me, Terrell Owens broke his hand and might be out of action for as long as four weeks. D’oh! I so should’ve kept Donovan McNabb instead of T.O.

Oh well, there’s still a whole lotta football left to play. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all works out this season…

Posted inRant n' Rave / Toys

ViVa La TiVolution!

by Deck

I love TiVo.

There’s no doubt about it. I’ve been a huge TiVo proponent for many years now. I’ve even managed to convert a couple of buddies to the cult of TiVo.

So I was understandably excited when rumors started to circulate about the next generation of TiVo. Finally after months of speculation, the TiVo Series3 was officially announced just this past week. The Series3 box offers some significant enhancements…

  • Control live Hi-Definition TV and record 2 digital cable shows at once
  • World’s only digital media recorder with THX-certification
  • 300 hours of standard recording time or up to 32 hours in HD
  • New backlit, programmable TiVo remote, easy to configure to your TV

And of course, the Series3 continues to offer the functionality that has earned TiVo such a loyal following…

  • An interface that is both powerful and easy to use
  • Season Pass recording allows you to subscribe to your favorite shows
  • WishList searches automatically record programs based on a number of criteria, including a favorite actor or director
  • Schedule recordings anywhere from tivo.com
  • Advanced TiVo broadband features include digital photos, Internet radio, podcasts, and more

Unfortunately, the new TiVo machine has a couple of major factors working against it. And both involve money. Cash. Finances. Mulah. Green stuff. Legal tender.

First of all, the new TiVo Series3 machine costs $800. :-O Ouch! Despite the sticker shock, I will almost certainly go ahead fork out the dough for a new Series3 before the end of the year. I’ll tell you why in just a moment…

First we need to discuss the second issue. In addition to the purchase price, TiVo also charges a fee for their service ranging from about $13 a month to $299 for a 3-year commitment. When I bought my Series2 machine, TiVo had a lifetime service option available. For one lump sum I was able to avoid the normal monthly service fees. Unfortunately, “lifetime” refers to the lifetime of my existing TiVo box so it won’t automatically transfer over to a new Series3 purchase. On top of that, TiVo recently stopped even offering the option for lifetime service on new purchases.

So I was a little surprised (and pleased) to read the following offer in this month’s TiVo e-mail newsletter…

For a limited time, transfer your Product Lifetime service from a Series1 or Series2 box to the new Series3 HD for only $199. As an added bonus, we’ll keep TiVo service activated on your old box for another 12 months for no additional charge.

Those bastards. They know the one and only pressure point that would make me even consider spending $800 on a Series3 any time soon. I don’t have Hi-Def (yet) so that’s not a big selling point for me right now. But I can’t stand the thought of paying month after month (or year after year) for the on-going TiVo service. If I bite the bullet and spend the 200 bucks now, I’ll save money in the future. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. ;-))

This offer is good only through the end of the year, so I’m going to wait as long as possible in an attempt to maximize the usage of my existing Series2 box. But at this point, I have to admit that it’s just a matter of time…

I’ve given quite a bit of thought about the past, present, and potential future of TiVo (as you can probably tell ;-)). This is already a fairly long entry, so check out the extended body of this entry if you’re at all interested in my further ramblings…
Continue reading “ViVa La TiVolution!”