After 3 years, I finally decide to build the photos section of my site.  Take a look and it when you get a chance.  Maybe I will actually doe the other sections too this time around.

If you’ve been reading my blog for while, you know I have a rocky relationship with the Sports Guy of ESPN. I think he’s overrated, over hyped, and his wife, the sports Gal, might actually be funnier than him. For all the moronic things he says, his addiction to Vegas, and his outright refusal to write intelligently about soccer (MLS, EPL, La Liga…. Pick a league), he surprises me every so often with a good article. This week he wrote about the impending trade of A.I. of the Sixers. In his article he actually defends and praises Iverson, something that 99% of sports columnists have failed to do, even though Iverson is arguably the most ferocious guy playing the game right now. His article received an insane amount of responses thanking him for writing the article. I would go as far as calling him the only voice of sanity in sports (which someone did), but I will give him credit for not following to the trend of other sorry sports writers. So I will resume reading his articles (and suggest that you do the same) till he pisses me off or says something stupid about soccer.

[JibJab]

Simply hilarious.

Lately I’ve been craving lobster. I’m going to on the record that I have never had
lobster (I’m not a big sea food guy). Since I have a lot of friends from the New England,
I kept asking a recommendation of restaurants in the city where I could get some good
lobster. They all informed that it wasn’t lobster season and I have to move to New
England to get a good lobster. Clearly that was not good enough.  So After shopping
for some work clothes in Georgetown,
I decided that I will find a seafood restaurant and have some lobster.  After
walking around for a bit my "friend" and I settled for for Manhattan
Seafood Grill.  Located on M street, it was easy to find.  When  I
first walked in I very impressed by the decor and ambiance.  The
right touch of lighting, heat (I don't know about you but i don't want to
be freezing or sweating while I'm eating) , and music.  

At first glance this seems like the type of place you would want to take a girl
out date to impress her.  But let's face it I'm not in the business
of that.  The service was friendly and timely, which was a big change of pace
from the last few times I've eaten out.  The Menu was simple and very readable
if you get can get pass the prices. I didn't not take a look at the
wine list.  We ordered for Crab, Spinach, and Artichoke Dip as a Appetizer. 

And quiet frankly I was very disappointed.  I was by far the worse artichoke Dip
that I've ever had. It was too salty, not enough crab meat and I don't even know what
else was in there. But was plain awful.  I was tempted to recommend that they
a borrow recipe from a couple a friends that make a much better Dip.  For an
entree, we ordered a Surf & Turf.  I was very excited because I thought I
was going to have the best of both world. My excitement subsided after my first bite
of the lobster.  I can not say that the lobster was good or bad since it was
my first time. So I will move on.  The steak and grilled vegetables slightly
made up for the bad appetizer and less than impressive lobster but were still sub
par for a fine dining institution. To review,  

Pros:

• 
  Location, Location, Location
  
• 
  Ambiance  & decor
  
• 
  Service

Cons:

• 
  Food
  
• 
  Food
  
• 
  Food
  
• 
  Price (for the quality of the food)

Needless to say I don't think will be dinning at Manhattan Seafood grill
in the near future.

My friend says:

Let me begin this by saying that I am by no means a connoisseur of fine dining, as
chipotle is my usual fare. However, I do have enough sense to know that the meal that
I ate last night wasn't, by any stretch, fantastic. It wasn't even good, especially
for the price. First off, the appetizer we ordered, "Crab, Spinach, and Artichoke
Dip" wasn't horrible but it was too garlicky and salty to taste anything like crab,
spinach or artichokes. Disappointing and for 7 dollars, I could have had a burrito…

a damn good burrito. And I would not have needed the somewhat bland, very expensive
Surf & Turf entrée. Once again, no grave complaints, but nothing extraordinary,
except maybe the potatoes. But no one should ever spend $37 on decent side dishes.
The lobster looked blah and the steak tasted like meat. Overall, a pretty un-thrilling
meal. But the ambiance was nice and the company was great, so I can't complain too
much. For all the restaurants on M street though, I won't be returning to Manhattans.

Other Reviews:

• 
  City
  Guide (washington Post)
  
• 
  Brien's
  DC Dining Review
  
• 
  Washington
  City Paper
  

I'm going to wait till all those people with interest only loans sell their homes. how wrong of me!

WASHINGTON (AFP) - People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study that highlighted "social capital" gained from drinking.

[ Yahoo! NEWS ]

The moral of the study is to go to happy hour. It's good to know that i've been ahead of the curve.

    I have a friend doing a piece on American youth and debt.  And she is looking for young, hip people like you to interview. 

Hi guys,

I am doing a story on Youth and Debt for my next TV piece. The story will focus on American youth (18-30 yrs olds) and how they are falling into deeper and deeper debt thanks to credit cards, student loans and the rising cost of living. I know we all struggle (to different degrees) to make ends meet as young, just-out-of-college professionals.

What I'm asking from you is this- do you, or anyone you know, want to be profiled for my story? I'm not going to make you look bad, and you don't even have to come out and say, "I'm in $50,000 over my head". Even if you're just paying back your student loans or struggling with the high interest rate on your credit card, I just want to showcase young people dealing with money issues. Even if you're not in any debt but are struggling to make ends meet. Perhaps a shop-a-holic who can't stop using his/her credit card?


If you know of anyone who may be interested in participating in this story, please let me know. My deadline is in a week, so I need to shoot this ASAP. It's fun and completely painless- plus, you'll be an international SUPERSTAR!

If this sounds like smoething you are interested in contact my friend and help her out. Thanks.

After what seems like forever my apartment is now livable.  This comes at a good time because my office it now going to be virtual and I'll be watching sportcenter all day long working from home all day.  My time at the Envoy apartments was enjoyable and full of good times.  But moving the the Croydon was a financially and pratically sound decision (I hope i don't regret because of the crazy lady across the hall).  With that said let the fun at the Croydon begins.  The bar is not yet open, but feel free to come visit.

"LOS ANGELES --Southern California basketball player Brynn Cameron will miss the upcoming season because she is expecting a baby with Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart, according to her father."

[ Boston.com - sports ]

I've never heard of this news organization so i don't believe it. However it's true, as one of my friend said "it's going to be one good looking kid."

Watch the world cup online

Stuck at work?

Rather be watching the world cup?

Click here...

Yea there is a god.

p.s. unlike march madness, you don't have to do any work this month.

World Cup games will be broadcasted online

"All of the BBC's 2006 World Cup matches will also be broadcast exclusively live on the BBC Sport website."

[ BBC Sport ]

There is a god. Although the article says that "The service will be available to UK broadband users and will mirror terrestrial and interactive coverage." The statement doesn't not restrict the viewing to british broadband users ONLY. And if it does i'm sure someone will have find a way to hack around that. I will follow this very closely post any updates. I pray that they are alot of american soccer geeks (oxymoron...i know) that will work a hack if necessary.

Sport guy goes over the top

I love everything ESPN; the commercials, Sportcenter, PTI,
front page (finally starting to get used to the redesign), Page 2, and even
Page 3.  Their covering of “sporting” events is usually second to none;
from bowling to curling, including ice skating.  This year, they decided
to have a live coverage of the 75th Annual Spelling Bee Competition taking
currently taking place in DC.  And I can understand why... most of ESPN
addicts (like me and my friends) are at work at that time and really only stay
at home mom and dads are currently watching.  But I can not understand why
the sport guy has a live running diary of it.  I can take running rants
about poker (and various form of betting gambling) on us, I can take the
rants about Sport Mom and Sport Gal but I can't take a running diary of the
Spelling Bee.  Is that really necessary?  To invest any amount of
time to the Spelling Bee competition at the Eve of the worlds' biggest sport
event (the FIFA World Cup) is sacrilegious... To spend in even an ounce of a
second writing about online should be criminal.  So I'm back to boycotting
the sport guy till covers more soccer (MLS and foreign leagues) and dedicates
the live running diary to the world cup final in a month.

Free Music

Tech site ExtremeTech picks eight of the best music recommendation engines, including Pandora, Last.FM and Liveplasma.

The picks were based on navigation, community and media (text lists
versus streaming music) among other criteria. I've had great success
with Last.FM recommendations - which makes sense, since they know a
whole lot about what I like to listen to, though Pandora's nice because
it streams recs on the spot. What's your favorite destination for
discovering new music? Let us know in the comments or at tips at
lifehacker.com.

Extreme Tech [via Lifehacker]

I personally use rhapsody to listen to music, however these various services are a excellent way to discover new artists. If you want to save the music to you computer for personal use, you can use software like replay music to record them while they are streaming.

World cup rules for (female) signicant others

Extremely important advice and recommendations to be passed on to
wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc. (to all
women in general) These rules are to be communicated prior to the World
Cup in June/July this year... FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THE RULES STIPULATED
AS PER BELOW WILL RESULT IN SEVERE REPERCUSSIONS.

List Of Rules.

1. From 9 June to 9 July 2006, you
should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware
of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be
able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you
will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT
complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all
times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote
control, you will lose it (your eye).

3. If you have to pass by
in front of the TV during a game, I don't mind, as long as you do it
crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to
stand without clothes in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on
right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you
to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I
require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your
mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the
telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second
floor....it wont happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six
packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble
on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come
over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV
between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed
during the day. This rule however is discretionary. (please refer to
rule 2)

6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one
of my teams is losing, DO NOT say "get over it, its only a game", or
"don't worry, they'll win next time". If you say these things, you will
only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never
ever know more about football than me and your so called "words of
encouragement" will only lead to a break up or divorce (not necessarily
in that order).

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you
can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on,
and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note
I am saying "one" game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy
excuse to "spend time together".

8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don't care
if I have seen them or I haven't seen them, I want to see them again.
Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any
other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance
because:
a) I will not go,
b) I will not go, and
c) I will not go.

10. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

11.
The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as
important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying "but
you have already seen this...why don't you change the channel to
something we can all watch??", the reply will be: "Refer to Rule #2 of
this list".

12. And finally, please save your expressions such as "Thank
God the World Cup is only every 4 years". I am immune to these words,
because after this comes the Champions League, Italian League, Spanish
League, Premier League, etc etc.

[props to Yaty]

Now you can't say you haven't been warned.   Currently looking for people to spend the month at lucky bar... inquire within.

Gaydar Malfunction

For the last month or so, I started attending to the gym in the middle of the day.  It’s less crowded, splits the work day in two and allows me to enjoy the weather for a hot second.  Yesterday, during my work out I noticed a gentleman was looking at me. Not thinking much of it, I gave the customary head nod followed by “what up”.  And he responded. No big deal.  Then it occurred to me that the same gentleman was also checking me out last week.  But I again I didn’t think much of it, because I usually look at the other people when they are doing an exercise I have not seen before or if I want to make fun of them when they are using way too much weight.  I finished my work out, showered and got dressed.  On my way out the locker room, the gentleman approaches me. And our exchange goes as follows:

<guy holds my right arm>
Guy: “Can I introduce myself?” 
Me: “yeah”
Guy: “I’m {insert name here}”
Me:  “Henri, Nice to meet you”
Guy:  “Can I take you out for drinks some time?” <holds out a white piece of paper that I’m assuming had his number or email written on it.>
Me: "nah I’m straight” <no pun intended>
Guy: "Aight."
Me: "Have a good one."
<guy exit stage left, me exit stage right>

Seriously???!?!  What part of me screams gay?  The only brain exercise I get these days is thinking about WOMEN (except when playing/watching sports).  It’s true that I’ve been accused of being very metro at times but never gay.  And even so that was about a year.  Not in recent times.  I knew my gym was full of gay people (nothing wrong with that) but I thought they all had a “gaydar.” I guess his must have been malfunctioning or something.

On the other hand part of me is flattered.  It’s not every day that you get asked out for by somewhat attractive man.  Part of me was considering taking the offer; I do drink a regular basis and to have drinks paid for once in while by a member of either sex is not such a bad thing, provided they don’t expect anything in return.  I have to the give the guy credit for the having the balls to ask me out for some drinks, but there in lies the rub:  he had balls.

I will keep my workout schedule as is but I will ask my female friends for some better rejection lines just in case.

Freet TV shows

"Not sure who is responsible for this or what kind of jailtime wish they
have, but the PeekVid web site is offering hundreds of television show
episodes for viewing and download for free."

PeekVid [via lifehacker.com]

Free tv shows on the web, slightly suspusious but worth enjoying while it lasts.

Immigration: Losing sight of the real issue

I’ve grown very frustrated with the new Immigration movement over the last few weeks (one of the many reasons I paused on my series on immigration).  Why you ask?  The first part of my frustration stems from the fact that we are letting the opportunity to make serious changes across world turn into a U.S. vs. Mexico issue.  Seriously is the American public that clueless about our immigration issue as to believe that it only revolves around people entering the country from Mexico?  The fact that the journey of people from South and Central America to this country is more documented than the journey of other immigrants groups does not mean by any way, shape or form that are the only immigrants.  If you haven’t noticed yet, not all immigrants to this country are Hispanics. There are people here from Africa, Asia, East Europe and more. There are people in all these groups that are also here illegally.  Just because Hispanics (not even Mexicans) comprise the majority of the immigrants (legal or not) here does not mean they are only one we should be paying attention to.  To do so will fail to address the immigration problem in its entirety.

The other part of the frustration is rooted in the media coverage.  On every radio talk show (including NPR), evening news and etc all the panelists are either Hispanic “leaders” representing “Let everyone in” model and or someone equally idiotic person representing the “Law enforcement” model.  Is that really all we have to throw at this issue?  What happened to trade laws? NAFTA?  Addressing poverty? Addressing corruption?  Come on people!

With all that said I’m glad we’ve got a debate started on Immigration.

UPDATE:

• More on Immigration in the U.S.
  
• Various proposals currently on the table

Related:

• Immigration: Who is to blame?

Bo Sox Fans 1986 Nightmare Re-Enacted in RBI Baseball

"So last week had the first day since I've been keeping the blog that I missed an entry. I felt bad about this lack of discipline, and no doubt you were upset as well. I wanted to post the little project that I was working on that diverted my attention from posting about music. I decided that I wanted to enter this YouTube Cybersmack contest and win $25,000 for creating the best internet viral video, so I decided to re-enact Game Six of the 1986 World Series in RBI Baseball, my favorite video game of all time. Game Six is one of the most surreal, unbelievable displays of sports in history, and hopefully now that the Sox have emerged victorious in the World Series, it can be seen more as an utterly stupifying comeback, and less of a devastating choke job."

click to watch the video...[ SanDiegoserenade.com ]

This is by far the best of use of old school nintendo i've ever seen. Granted it brings back nightmares for Bo Sox fans.. who cares? This was pure genuis at work. You can also download it here.

Immigration.. Who is to blame?

Since our elected officials can not seem to come to some sort of understanding about the immigration issue, I figured I’d take a stab at it.  I will have a mini-series on immigration (3 – 4 entries).  These are my thoughts on the subject do not reflect the thoughts of my employer, friends, and family.  In this entry I want to talk about who is the blame for the immigration problem in U.S. and across the world (except for France…personal vendetta).  Before I go any further, I would like to state that I’m an immigrant.  I’m originally from the beautiful country of Cameroon, located in central Africa.  In three days, I will celebrate my ten year anniversary of my arrival in this great country.  So who is blame for the immigration?

1.  You and I – go ahead go take a look in the mirror.  How you ask?
   
   
   
   •    We want more money in our pockets.  When we buy cheaper jeans, cheaper cars, cheaper computers, and etc… most of the times it’s not because some company has come up with a more efficient/innovative way to make the product that we are buying, it’s because they were able to find labor for less than a $1 a day.
     
   • nbsp;We don’t invest in a socially irresponsible matter.  When you pick your funds for your 401k, 403b, IRA, Roth IRA or if you just buy stocks, you obviously buy the highest yielding stock/fund.  When is the last time you asked yourself how come company X or Y is outperforming everyone?   Again it most likely because they are found cheaper labor in some foreign country.  In some sectors of the economy those questions are not relevant, but in others they should the first thing that we ask ourselves/financial advisers.
   
   
2.  Our political System.  The way our political system does not have give our law makers enough time to do anything about the immigration. Immigration as well as most social issue will take more than a decade to solve. Our elected officials are short sighted whenever they attempt to craft a solution to the problem because about halfway through their term they have to have start worrying about the next election.
   
3. Law enforcement.  There are laws in the books that would penalize any employers of illegal immigrants.  But these laws are not enforced.  Local police refuse to enforce them because they claim that it will create a wall between them and the immigrants.  Valid point… But they are still not enforcing the laws and therefore immigrants already here encourage their family members to also cross the border.  And we all already know most federal agencies are just a big waste tax payer’s money.  However the paper pushers know where all the good happy hours are. So that’s something.
   
4. Corrupt Foreign officials – It’s okay to skim of the top for foreign aid, everyone does it.  But really it would nice if at least 50% of the aid makes to the people of the country.
   
   
5. Stupid NGOs.  As exotic as it sounds to go to some remote African/South American village to build a church and school for a tribe that primarily rely on hunting to feed themselves; it is seriously one of the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard/seen. It’s what I call the discovery channel effect.  The money would better spend teaching the urban population of “major” cities how to build low cost water filter and pumps.  I digress…
   
6. nbsp;The immigrants – Why are they to blame?  They take the “easy” way out. As miserable as conditions are in their respective country, there is something to be said about staying in your country and trying to improve things.  America and the rest of the developed world did not become this way by everyone bailing out.  Every country has to go throw its growing pains.  And it’s people to stick around and come up with solutions on how to make the country better.

There you have it so now you know who to blame for all the immigration problems.  Next episode… “Immigration: a deeper look”.

 

Some School Pride...

"Overtime belongs to Maryland. So does the NCAA championship. Kristi Toliver hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to cap a 13-point comeback, then the freshman made two free throws with 35 seconds left in overtime on Tuesday night to give the Terrapins a 78-75 victory over Duke and their first NCAA women's basketball title. Maryland (34-4) is 6-0 in overtime games this season - the first five on the road and the last in the championship to complete the second-largest comeback in a women's title game."

[ Umterps.com ]

First there was (W)Field Hockey, then there was (M)Soccer, and now the (W)Basketball....Fear the Turtle.

Chain letter(s)

Because chain letters are now done over blogs...

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Sales Associate
2. Office Assistant
3. Bouncer
4. Web developer

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over
1. About a boy/Love Actually
2. Bad Boys II
3. Good Will Hunting
4. Rome & Juliet

Four Places I've Lived
1. Douala, CMR
2. Nkongsamba, CMR
3. Rockville, MD
4. Washington, DC

Four TV Shows I Love
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. West Wing
3. Sportcenter
4. Squawk Box

Places I've Vacationed
1. Daytonna, FL
2. Ocean City, MD
3. Mt Tremblanc, CA
4. Montreal, CA

Four of My Favorite Dishes
1. Supreme Pizza
2. Omelettes of all sorts
3. Captain crunch/Frosty Flakes
4. Anything my mom makes

Four Sites I Visit Daily
1. Bloglines
2. WAMU
3. Google
4. Craigslist

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Soccer field
2. Golf course
3. Shower
4. Douala

And to Kill two birds with one stone....

My Nickname: Black,  Jig, Patou, Brandi(frat life).

My Hometown: Douala, CMR

My Team: Terps Athletics, CMR athletics,

My Theme Song: My Own Prison(Acoustic) - Creed

My Drinks: Miller lite, sprite

My Spare Time: Code, TV, lisen to music.

My Hiding Place: shower, soccer field.

My Books: The DaVinci Code.. made reading exciting.

My Fake Heroes: Will Smith.

My Real Heroes: My Dad... good thing he doesn't use a computer.

My Tags: Greg, Femi, Don.

Two things...

1. I would seriously pay an insane amount of a money for a cell phone with a breathalyzer…

2. It should be illegal for people to take pictures at bars.

enough said.

UPDATE:  They do exist...Props to G$

Days by the beach

I’ve been on blogging hiatus because I’ve been out of town. I was in Florida visiting my one of my buddies. When it was planned the trip was supposed to be more couple friendly, since we both were involved at the time. But after my break up, there was a slight change in plans. After being stuck next to some lady who was snoring like it was her job on the flight, I got in Daytona Thursday night and we went straight from the airport to the bar. It was a pretty chill night because we had to drive home. The most memorable moment of the night was when we got to Denny’s. For some reason or another, my buddy got extra plate of sides. I called the waitress over and calmly explained to her that I felt discriminated against because I didn’t get an extra plate of sides. Of course I was joking, but the waitress played along and brought me an extra plate of sides. We tipped her well.

Friday, I attempted a sport white folks refer to as “surfing” a.k.a drink as much whale pee as possible (I was later informed that I makes you dehydrated so you get drunk faster… can someone check on that?). After swallowing about 2 gallons of whale pee, I gave up and concluded the following: Surfing was invited by white people for white people. Why you ask?

1. Black folks dominate every non-water sports(this include frozen water)


2. . Any black man not suffering from testicular cancer can not fit in the wet suit.


3. Historically black people don’t do well with water, mostly because as a race we don’t have nothing good ever happened at sea

Okay maybe the last one is pushing it, but three points is a good round number. To be fair to the white folks, I tried to get in the water after only a two minutes lesson. I did pick up some new terms like “pure wave” and “choppy wave”. And I even know how to put wax on your board.
After the surfing we decided to go out and get completely retarded. I could attempt to tell you the stories but the memory is choppy, a condition that was clearly alcohol related. Plus some things better when experienced than when told. And with a lot of future doctors (my buddy is in med school ish) involved in the debauchery, no photo evidence is available. As cliché as it may sound, what happens in Florida, stays in Florida.

Saturday, I attempted the whole surfing thing again without much more success but less whale pee in my stomach. After which we had a bbq at a friend’s of my buddy place. At the bbq, I was introduced to an amazing concoction called “Gin Bucket”…(1) Handle of Gin, (2) 2 litters of 7 up, (1) can of concentrate lemonade, some lemons and sugar. It’s a dream when well made. Along with the “Gin Bucket”, I was also introduced what could easily be the third best drinking game (first one being Beruit, the second one being asshole): Polish horseshoe. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but requires some “athleticism” (the extra calf muscle came in handy) and some coordination. The only downfall is that it also requires a backward. Saturday night was slightly more belligerent than the night before. But really what did you expect?

Sunday was detox day. It was too windy to “surf”, so we laid on the couches and watched every DVRed shows from the week. Absolutely my favorite day. The flight back on Monday was pretty legit but I could have done without the crazy kids running around, shouting and crying.

I really enjoyed my visit down there. Even with all the debauchery, the best part of the trip was driving around with my buddy, listening to music, telling stories and caching up.

Next trip… ATL, capital of the dirty south.

Better Safe than sorry

"Results of the Torn-Up Credit Card Application
experiment show that a bank may issue a credit card when the
application is received on a taped-together form, so shredding such
documents is a much better approach."

[ Lifehacker]

The fact of the matter credit cards are a necessary evil.  If you don't have credit history, you don't have a credit score, and if you don't have a credit score you can't buy anything.  Paying in cash will work for a while till you get accused of being a terrorist, part of the mafia or a drug dealer.  Due some level of paranoia, I currently rip my financial letters, burn part of them (I know my fire engineer roomate is shaking his fist at me now), and seperate the rest in different trash bins around the apartment.  Call me crazy, but if a seven year old can have his identity stolen, I really don't know why/how mine would be spared.  Anyways i've been debating getting a shredder for a month or tow now.  After reading that article, I've getting one from Amazon.   Better safe than sorry.  This is the bad part about growing up.


UPDATE: G$' Thoughts the matter are here

Late nite cheese steak run

One of the many advantages of living alone is the fact that I can convince myself to something absolutely ridiculous without having anyone to talk me out of it. Of course this can be both good and bad but not matter what it usually makes for a good story or a lesson learned.

Last night, I decided to stay in and do some work on a personal project to meet a self imposed deadline (they suck worse then the one imposed by clients). With a ball games on each computer and another one on the TV, I geeked (I just made it a word) the night away. After the games were over, I found myself in need of some new background noise. That’s when I stumbled upon Harold and Kumar Go to white castle. Even though I wasn’t paying much attention to the movie, by the end I was in the mood for white castle’s burgers and a road trip. Since I don’t know of any white castle around here I went for the next best thing, Philly cheese steak. Luckily for me, I’m not the only insomniac in town. At 2:30 AM I had partner “in crime”, and by 2:50 AM we were on the road get some cheese steaks from Pat’s (Geno's is too Las Vegas for me). But before we left we devised the following plan (some people think planning is essential but I personally beg to differ… but this time I made and exception).

Formula for a 3AM of the night Philly cheese steak run:
- 2 hours for the drive there (average speed of 80mph)
- EZ Pass (very Tight on time)
- 15 minutes to get lost (Because Philly might be slightly more confusing than DC)
- 45 minutes to eat (Because the Irish guy will tell you not bother him because it’s St. Patty’s day and will make fun of you for about 10-15 minutes…If you’re taking a rookie also allow time for them to learn the proper way to order)
- 2 hours for the drive back (average speed of 90mph… there is something about the sun being up and realizing that you have at work in 2 hours that makes you drive faster)
- 1 hour for rush hour traffic (Because the beltway sucks)
- Music
- $30.
- Mountain Dew/StarBucks so you can make it through work without sleeping at your desk when you make it back.
- A friend you can actually stand for 6 hours in confined space (Of course it would preferable if you actually enjoyed their company… but at 3AM your choices might be slightly limited).

Needless to say got back safe and sounds. The only negative about the trip is that I didn’t get chance to talk to my sister while I was up there. All in all, good times. Time go enjoy my favorite Irish holiday.

NCAA Tourney on Demand

My company went away from the directTV to the xbox in employee lounge. But really how usefull is an Xbox during Tournament time? Luckily the internet has made great progress and you can stream things. So i will be watching/hearing everthing on NCAASports.com for FREE.... Thank god (which ever on you chose) for the internet.


Don't forget to do some work during this month.

Grey's Anatomy Season 1

Testing the blogging Feature of Rhapsody... geek moment.
Grey's Anatomy Season 1:
1. Cosy In The Rocket - Psapp
2. Portions For Foxes - Rilo Kiley
3. Super Cool - BANG sugar BANG
4. They - Jem
5. Ready To Rise - Vaughan Penn
6. Life is short - Butterfly Boucher
7. You Wouldn't Like Me - Tegan and Sara
8. Sister Kate - The Ditty Bops
9. Live And Learn - The Cardigans
10. Wait - Get Set Go
11. Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
12. There's A Girl - The Ditty Bops
13. I Won't Be Left - Tegan and Sara
14. Wishful Thinking - The Ditty Bops
15. Fools Like Me - Lisa Loeb
16. Could Be Anything - The Eames Era
17. Let Myself Fall - Rosie Thomas
18. Break You Heart - Get Set Go
19. Truth - Vaughan Penn
20. Sunday - Sia
21. Where Does the Good Go - Tegan and Sara
22. Wake Up - The Ditty Bops
23. Evil - Interpol
24. Edge Of The Ocean - Ivy
25. Save Me - Jem
26. Walk Or Ride - The Ditty Bops
27. Never Leave Your Heart Alone - Butterfly Boucher
28. Wish I - Jem
29. Downtown - Tegan and Sara
30. Hummingbird - Wilco
31. Fix You Up - Tegan and Sara
32. Rapture - Laura Veirs
33. David - Nellie McKay
34. Big As The Sky - A.M. Sixty
35. End of the World Party - Medeski Martin & Wood
36. The Dog Song - Nellie McKay

James Blunt Live

After a basketball filled weekend it was a time for some change, I went to see James Blunt at the 9:30 club last night. I have been going through a Rice/Blunt/Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack(s) (Yes... I also watch show although it does interfere with Footballer’s Wives on BBC) music phase for the last couple of months. So when the chance came up to see Blunt live I was ecstatic but more importantly I was hoping he didn’t suck and I was also hoping that the place wouldn’t be filled with twelve years old girls like the John Mayor concert (that was slightly annoying but I had great seats). We got there at 9:30 (the girls that I was going with decided it would be cute to meet at the 9:30 club @ 9:30 pm), which was good because I didn’t have to watch some band I didn’t know of nor care to know about as of yesterday. Despite some annoying kids in front of me, the concert turned out to be pretty good for more reasons than one and definitely going in the books as one of the top 3 of all concerts I’ve attended. He played all the tracks from his current album and several tracks from what I’m assuming are from his upcoming album. I’m def looking forward to when it comes out. The best part of part of the concert is that in a weird way it kind of provided some sort of closure to the ex situation (hey I said it was weird). After a great concert, another chapter of my dating life’s closed and hopefully stays that way.

ACC Tourney - Finale

Similar to Day 2, Day 3 also started with a wicked hangover. Unlike Day 2, the M club didn’t have a breakfast for us. Since most Terps fans had left after the abysmal loss to B.C., it is understandable why they didn’t have breakfast. Denny’s hit the spot just as well as resort’s breakfast. We then headed to the Arena to see the Duke game. As much as I dislike J.J. Redick and his sappy poetry, he is amazing to watch. I’m considering rooting for him when he gets to the NBA. After the game we sold the tickets for the championship game.

That evening we had dinner at Bert’s Seafood. The place was rated best seafood in North Carolina. Although is NC really renowned for its seafood? Despite the very complicated and confusing menu, the food was great. After dinner, we attended another Gentlemen’s club. Can’t you tell there is nothing else to do in Greensboro? There I bought private dances for the other guys in the group as a thank you for taking me to down to the tourney. Who needs thank you cards when you got “dancers”? Again I was talking to one the dancers all night (I think sense a pattern developing here) while watching the ‘Cuse vs. Pitt Game. It turns out that this dancer also had a day job where she is manager and was just dancing for fun (I’m starting to sense a scam amount these dancer… or “independent contractor” as she referred to them). The other guys mistook my curiosity about why women dance for interest in the girl. So they bought me two private dances. It turns out I’m really uncomfortable getting private dances… who knew.
(in the middle of the second dance)

Me: Umm… Can you please stop?
Girl: Yea… Is everything ok?
Me: yeah.
Girl: Do I do something wrong?
Me: No… just not my style. Can you just sit till the end of the song then we will head back to the table. Thanks.
Girl: Ok.

I get back to the table say thanks and proceed to buy them more private dance. What can I say; I really want to come out on top of the private dance buying. Later MP bought me another private dance… this time I didn’t even let her start...

Me: You don’t have to do this.
Girl: Ok. Do you have a girlfriend or something?
Me: No. Told you this is just not my style. Why don’t we just continue the conversation we were having and go back to the table in a few?
Girl: Sure.

I know I’m sad. I felt bad about the money for the dances but really how do you say no to a private dance? I did get golf balls from the establishment… that counts for something right?
The tab at the end of the night was slightly ridiculous. And I had more dollar bills than I know what to do with (since I didn’t use any).

The next day we woke up and drove back that down while listening to the game. Overall good weekend. I Might be slightly “basketballed” out for a couple of days though. Now I have to get rich so I can to do it all over again next year.

ACC Tourney Day # 2

Day 2 started out with a wicked hangover. Do the service ladies really need to bang on the door when they are trying to service the room? It really hurts when you’re hung over. One of the many Maryland alumni associations had a breakfast for the Terps fan staying at the resort. Once we get down there, my name is the only one missing (tiny reminder I’m not really important). So no one in the group wore their name tag. Solidarity. When we walked in the place we were the only people not wearing red. I seriously think the other people looked down of us for that. During breakfast Barbie and I were a bit rude, because we got up in the middle of Mote’s speech to get seconds. But really we couldn’t take the lies and the bad jokes anymore. I remember being a fan of him when I was an undergrad…. Now not so much.

After breakfast, we bummed around till the game time. We watched the second game of the first session. To pass time during the break and the first session, we decided to attend an adult entertainment establishment. Saying that the girls were nothing impressive, would be giving them a compliment. Most looked like they were 3 months pregnant and had been visiting the Taco Bell next door way too often. I was talking to one for while and found that she was graduated college with a 3.9 and just didn’t like her office job after college and that’s why she was dancing… she didn’t like the word stripping. I must the only idiot that actually talks to the strippers. Can you tell I don’t attend often?

At 7pm, we went to watch the reminder of the games. Unfortunately, the Terps got manhandled by B.C. I didn’t except us to win, but I at least expected to show up to play. The beating was so bad we left in the middle of the second half. Can we say NIT?

Back at the hotel bar, the discussions got a little rowdy. A hardcore republican (MP) and a “liberal” (me) talking about politics, the economy, foreign policy and such is just bad. Then you add Greygoose and tonic, a bad loss, and two very stubborn personalities…and you know things are going no where good. No one had to be escorted to their rooms, so think it all ended well. Post bar debate, Barbie, a friend and I made another run and continued drinking till wee hours in the morning. Good times.

ACC Tourney Day # 1

Characters Involved in the trip:
Da King – my friend’s dad (his phone says so… I swear).
MP – my friend’s dad’s friend (make sense?)
Barbie – my friend.

On Monday, Barbie called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the ACC Tournament.  Really how do you say no to that?  The only problem was that we would be leaving early on Thursday morning.  Since I had already Friday off for what was going to be a trip to Boston with the Ex (sad face), I struck a deal with my manager where if I could work 40 hours by Wednesday, he would try to get me Thursday off.  So I spent all the first days of the week at work.  I think there was a cot underneath my desk.  I got the 40 hours in (actually 38.5, but who is counting) and off to ACC Tourney I was.... I did bring the laptop just in case something needed to be done in between games and (hotel) bar hoping.
Wednesday night after watching the Constant Gardner (good movie but I got beefs with it.  Another entry for another day), I packed, got a hair cut and stayed up till 5 am watching cheesy movies and sportcenter.

The drive down (for some reason I thought there was a plane involved at first) was pretty cool.  The necessary road trip nap was awesome not because I was tired and going on 2 hours of sleep but because I’ve extensive experience sleeping on leather.  So I felt right at home (except it was moving at about 70mph).  We stop at Denis for a brunch, where a retired Marine (not with us) felt the need to remind that I was black and too old for Armed services (believe it or not it was not a racist comment, just a little weird).  We also stopped at a gas station to fill and get some drinks (non-alcoholic ones unfortunately).  The people in the gas station were so country it was unbelievable.  It was so shocking to me that I was like “Whoa… they do extist!” (like in the M&M Christmas commercials where they meet Santa Clause). The rest of the drive was pretty chill and relaxing, couple of conference calls, talking about cars, sport and making fun of Barbie (easy target).

Once we got down to NC, we checked in a ridiculously nice resort; a bit intimidating actually. After drop our stuff in our respective rooms (we each have a separate room with some sick view of the golf course… which is equally as sick), we made our way to the hotel bar.  There were four hot girls sitting at the bar, clearly Barbie and I were trying to figure their deal what there deal was.  Da King took a look at them once and suggested that they were “working girls.”   I protested, hot girls likes sports too. Sure enough when the bar filled up, the ladies were hitting on every guy in place.  I felt like such a Rookie (rookie moment # 1). 

We eventually made our way to MD vs. GTECH game.   Barbie and I first try to get media passes so we can meet up with a friend of ours who works for a news station down here.  That was not a successful endeavor, but we stumbled on a VIP area where they served alcohol (they didn’t serve any in the rest of the coliseum… stupid NCAA rules).  We tried to bribe our way into the VIP area, but the man with missing teeth was having none of it.  After we got back to our seats, some guys came to schmooze Da King (he is part of the M club), and ten minutes later we are in VIP area boozing (rookie moment # 2). We finished boozing and went back to our sits to watch the game.  GTECH fans really didn’t show up.  They must have been expecting to lose.  Terps Fans on the other hand travel really well.  I was impressed.  Clearly Terps Dominated…. Mike Jones (who?) and   Nik Caner-Scrappy both played really well.  After the game, we headed back to the hotel bar.  And yes they ladies were still working (rookie moment # 3).  After Da King and MP headed to bed… we hit the town with our friend that resides here.  We got a round of beer, got in a mandatory fan scuffle (the other guys got kicked out).  Last call is at 1:30 around here… Seriously? I was really disappointed.  And since I’m rookie around… there was no after party spot that I knew of. So we called it a night.  Overall first good day.

Introducing..

Intelligent, Witty and hillarious.. but don't take my word for it, read it. Everything Greg

Unlike me he uses spell-check, and since English is he first language is you can expect less grammatical errors.


UPDATE: Unlike my other posts, the errors in this one are intentional.... really i swear.

How to reformat your hardrive

"Hey, Windows XP users: The blue screen of death got you down? Missing dll errors making you frown? Frequent software crashes leave you yearning for that fresh, new PC you unpacked with glee three years ago? If you’ve scrubbed for spyware and viruses, defragged, chkdsked and done the requisite rain dance but things are STILL wonky on your computer, it may be time for extreme action"

[ Lifehacker ]

Since all the non geeks i know are proned to want to reformat their computers every couple of months because they have a "virus" and call me when everything goes here a good artible on how do it correctly.

Grand Opening...

Bar's open for business. Call for good times.

More details about the grand opening party later. In the mean time, Pictures here.

Recycle Your Cell Phone at the Zoo

"FONZ has partnered with ECO-Cell to collect and recycle Zoo visitors'
cell phones, batteries, and accessories. Working cell phones will be
refurbished and donated to low-income people abroad and selected local
organizations, such as battered women’s programs for emergency use (911
calls). ECO-Cell will pay FONZ up to $15 for every working cell phone.
All other phones and accessories will be recycled under EPA guidelines,
keeping hazardous materials from reaching landfills and harming human
and environmental health."

[ FONZ ]

Be green and help people, it's good for you. Did I mention you can see some monkeys while you do this?

Since the break up..

The air in the flat is filled with nostalgia(I keep thinking that if I oen all the windows it’ll go away). Although it’s all mine all along the place feels like it’s lost something.  Everything seems much darker, much quieter and a bit lonelier (is that a word?).  My bed now feels like it’s the size of the Atlantic Ocean, so I sleep on the couch.  Her clothes (what’s left of them) still neatly folder in her drawer, her toothbrush along with her hair pins still on the sink ready to be used any minute.   There’s constant depressing music playing in the background, although I’m quite sure it’s all in my head.

I’ve been keeping to myself.  I really don’t want to answer the “How”, “what”, “when” and most importantly the “why”.  It was good, it was great, It ended.  The End.  This time around I’ve avoided doing the formerly mandatory post-break binge drinking and binge hooking up. Why?  I’m not really sure.  Just didn’t feel right.

Despite all this sadness and loneliness,  somewhere deep inside I know everything is going to work fine because life is back to being the threesome that god always intended it to be:  Man, the gym & ESPN.

Some computer tips...cuz I'm that friend

Let’s be honest here, amongst your friends you know there is one or two that you are amicable with for the sole purpose of calling them when something goes wrong with your computer. Unfortunately for me I happen to be that guy (well people call me for boozing too, and you haven’t you should). Anyways, just last night another one of my friend called me asking for computer advice because his computer was going slow. And of I had to sit on the burn cell phones minutes trying to figure what was wrong and blah blah blah. So I’ve come up with a few things that you can to save yourself some cell phone minutes and not irritate that geek friend of yours unless something is really wrong. Plus you’ll feel smarter and better about yourself.

1. Download Firefox. It’s less vulnerable than Internet Explorer and has a ton of extensions that make browsing much more enjoyable.
   
2. Install Anti-Virus software. Acquiring one shouldn’t be too expensive. If you have Comcast, AOL, or EarthLink as an Internet provider you get one at a discount price. If you are dissatisfied with those or the trial period has expired, you can download Avast. It’s is free and quite affective. I use it on my machines at home. It scans everything from e-mails to AIM conversation including p2p downloads. It’s easy to set up and even has multiple skins. You can also try this one, but I don’t know much about it.
   
3. Install Anti-spyware software. Microsoft’s anti spyware is currently in Beta version, but seem to get the job done. A lot of experts also recommend the paid version of Spybot. But I’m not a fan of it.
   
4. Get a better spam filter. You can find a free one here. And for the love of god (any god), DON’T CLICK ON LINKS IN EMAILS.
   
5. Turn on your Windows firewall
   
6. Back up your Files. You can find externals hard drive that a 2 year old child can setup on Amazon or Froogle at a very reasonable price. My rule of thumb is get one twice the size of your hard drive.

Also don’t forget to secure your wireless network. But that’s something your friend doesn’t mind helping you with that. It will make them feel needed. Even geeks like that. It would nice to call him/her for non-computer related talk/events once in a while, but you don't have to.

UPDATE:  Microsoft has renamed their Anti spyware to Windows defender and it's now a Beta 2.  Download here.

The Time Traveler's Wife Review

In an attempt to broaden my horizons, I decided that I should read more this year. Not only business section of the Post, friends’ blogs but also actual books. Crazy, I know. Anyways, I made it a goal to read at least six non-computer related books this year. The first of book I read was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It was recommended by a couple of friends so I eventually "borrowed" from one of them to read. Whether or not I return is up to various gods, including the god of laziness.

The Book was a very good read. It was not nearly as addictive as Brown's The Davinci Code but it was still tough to put down. At first the book is hard to follow because the story is told from the perspective of the two protagonists (Can a book have two protagonists? If not, then it's really up for debate which character is the protagonist. Can a book have a protagonist(s) without an antagonist(s)? Or can an antagonist(s) be an object i.e. time?. And the author switches the between the two very often. After the first fifteen pages or so you will get hang of it. The book actually starts out rather oddly (7 year old meets a naked man in his 30's from the future) but grows into a love story that endures many tests over "time".

I'm still working on my critic style (really I’m not) so I’m not going to go into the writer's style and her use of various literary tools in the book and whether or not they were used appropriately. But I'm going to tell you that she does a fantastic job telling a love story in a very unique way. The book also raises questions of fate.  Are events in our live pre-programmed and we are just acting accordingly or do we have free will and in effect shape our future? Although the plot is not as wild and crazy as some would like, the author weaves enough webs to keep you reading without getting confused. While the ending was a bit drawn out and the self pity of the one of the main characters was completely unnecessary, it is so superbly written that it will have you wanting to commit suicide if you were in his place. To close the book, the author does and excellent job of tying all the loose ends

If my review doesn't have you sold, just think it was "a Today Show book club selection" and "One of People’s top ten books of the year.

Now that I'm done with this book, I'm looking for the second one. Any suggestions?

To Netflix or Not to Netflix

Over the last week, I've been trying to decide whether or not to get a subscription to Netflix. This seems like it would be a pretty easy decision but it has not been. The positive about Netfilx is that it's very cheap. It has an incredible selection. It would not take that long to have them delivered to my place. And some movies are just meant to be rented and never bought. However, when I want to watch a movie I want to watch it now. I don't want to watch it tomorrow or the day after that. And if I want to watch a movie again, I really would rather not wait for another couple of days to see it again. And there is just something about having a DVD collection that seems awesome. But that gets really expensive. Moreover, it starts to take up a lot of valuable space after a while.

Ideally for my DVD addiction, I would like something that is crossover of rhapsody and Itunes, where I can digitally buy DVDs or just rent them (for a couple of days) and watch them right away. Comcast onDemand is a start to this idea; however I just hate Comcast it's overpriced for a pretty small collection. For now I will keep debating whether or not to get Netflix.

Free Pizza

The catch is that they will send you sale emails long after the promotion is done. This is according to the company CEO Nigel Travis.

Review of the State of the union address

I have no life so i watched speeches tonite. Altough i will refrain from analyzing the content (CNN, MSNBC, FOX are on top it), i still have some tought about them. And here they are.

State of the Union

Things I didn’t like.
- Excess clapping -- seriously there was a ridiculous amount of clapping. I seriously think it double the length of the speech.
- Honoring one soldier’s family members over others -- Over thousands American soldiers died in Iraq. I really don't it's fair that one soldier's family get recognized over the others.
- Mispronunciation of words and making up words -- Enough said.
- Emphasis on God -- Believe or not some people who are also citizen of this country do not believe in god or God. A speech on the state of the union should not have so much emphasis on god/God. I really hope the next president move away from the Regan goodbye line.
- The order of the speech -- The state of the Union speech should first focus on the State of Union first. I think that National issues should have been addressed first and then moving on international issues.
- Spitting out stats -- We all know that stats can be in many different ways to defend make one's point.
Things I liked
- He mentioned one non-Muslim African country -- Sometimes i think the Bush foreign policies seem to focus on the Middle East and terrorism.
- By partisan clapping on major issues -- Mainly supporting the soldiers and dealing with corruption on the hill.
- No Laundry list -- I felt that the president did a good of "addressing" a range of issues without turn it into a laundry list of to do and promises that will never get done.
- Tone of the speech -- Sounded confident and un-apologetic (even though he is/was wrong) about many policies.

Democratic Rebuttal.

Things I liked
- Tim Kaine - New Face for the democratic party.
- Explored a range of issues with concrete examples - They didn't focus on Iraq.
- Focus on Bi-partisanship - It's good for business. - Less focus on god/God - I still think the goodbye line. But much better than Bush. Things i didn’t like
- Too much blame - Enough said.
- Too focus in VA - really VA is not that great. Let’s get serious. They just have more money that most states.
- Giving Democrat too much credit - If they were doing so well they would be in power.
- Still not presenting Democrat concise Democrat plans.

State fo the Union drinking game

"He shall from time
to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union and
recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient." -- U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section
III

[ drinkinggame.us ]

Since there will be nothing on tv tonight except for the state of the union address, you might as well make the best of it and have fun while watching it. Grab (buy) several bottles of booze, get some friends and enjoy.

p.s. Word on the street is that one gets really hammered playing this game. Keep that in mind if you have to work tomorrow.

Philly Weekend

I finally got a chance to leave DC this weekend for the first time in a long time. My first destiniation of 2K6 was the great town of Philly. The girl took me to my first Ice hokey game. Flyers vs. Tampa Bay. The new rules of the game are little foggy but I will brush up on those during the upcoming olympics.The game was pretty hot except the flyers got dominated by by Tampa Bay. The final score was something like 6 - 0. The philly fans lived up to their hype of being absolutely ruthless. I think they were Booing their own team by halftime. And most of them left with 12 minuters left in the third periond (granted the score was 4 - 0). After the game, met up with the girl's parents for dinner. I've done the meeting of the parents before, but that was on my own turf and on my terms. To Meet parents on neutral turf is just another ball game right there. I'm hoping everything went fine. The one rub was that her dad was a republican, and clearly i'm not one. And of course i can't keep my mouth when it comes to politics (Damn NPR). And of course a trip to philly is not complete without cheesesteak. No Pats and Geno this time. It's all good i'm make up for that when i'm up there this summer.

Monthly resolution update: Updated 2K6 resolutions

Terps' McCray out for season

"Maryland senior Chris
McCray, the team's leading scorer, is the latest player to lose his
eligibility to a three-year-old rule that demands a 2.0 grade-point average in
the first semester in order to play in the second".

[ ESPN.com ]

How did he manage to screw this up his last year? Especially with his hopes of getting drafted at the end of the season? Jones (who will be replacing McCray) can shoot 3 pointers like whoa, but his defense his suspect. I hope this doesn't put too big of a dent in terps plans to make it to the big dance. Ever since i've been a terp fan, we haven't missed the tourney 2 years in a row.