You Must Care!

Awhile back I wrote about my disgust for superlatives in the sporting world. Well, that horrible practice has been replaced on my shit-list with the new concept of forced sentimentality. It's the worst, and it's already reared it's head so many times this year it makes my head spin. A few examples...

• Headline: Above Average Quarterback Who Played For a Really Long Time Retires! I really thought John Madden was going to commit suicide when Brett Favre made this (now retracted) announcement. This was followed by a solid month of weeping over quarterback who almost single-handedly got his team bounced from the playoffs. Favre was/is a good quarterback, not the Messiah. He won 1 stinking Super Bowl. You know who else won a Super Bowl? Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Mark Ryphen, et al. Boo fucking hoo. I hope he breaks a leg in his comeback.
• Headline: Golfer Can Walk! Amazing, Tiger Woods won the US Open with a bad knee. You could tell it was bad because of all the wincing. Yeah, he had a bum knee, but it's a golf tournament, folks. The extent of the activity is walking. But the way everyone gushed that weekend you would've thought Tiger was giving burn victims plasma transfusions after every hole. Move over Gandhi and Mother Teresa, Tiger has a limp.
• Headline: Junkie Gets His Shit Together! I have never seen a former heroin addict so praised. Let's retrace Josh Hamilton's steps... #1 draft pick in 1999, becomes a junkie, finds God, returns 8 years later, plays as expected. Geez, it almost makes me want to become a junkie just so I can kick it and be a hero to the entire world.
• Headline: Old Stadium With History (and asshole fans) Torn Down To Make More Money! If Yankee stadium is so special, has such a magical mystique, then why the hell are they tearing it down? Wrigley is still going strong, as is Fenway. Oh no, players won't be able to focus during the all-star game because they'll be overcome by the Yankee Stadium atmosphere. Piss off. Even worse, those classy Yankees fans really sent the house off right by booing every single player that stepped on the field that wasn't wearing a Yankees uniform. Nice show, New York!

Guesses for what's next?

• Peyton Manning gutting through training camp after bursa sac surgery on his knee.
• Some SEC football player getting a fourth shot at college ball after 17 felony arrest during high school. He still doesn't go to class and had a few minor run-ins with the law this season, but no convictions!
• Some gutsy Olympian just lost a family member and wants to win the gold for them.
• Ian finds the courage to buy a new TV after he destroyed his old one in a fit of rage listening to Joe Buck or Jim Nantz or Bob Costas.
  

Winamp Revisited

So on the strength of being able to sync my iPod shuffle without using iTunes, I downloaded the newest Winamp version 5.5.4 just last night. While downloading I opted for the Winamp Remote feature because it sounded cool. Man was I wrong - it's AWESOME!

I've always like listening to music while I work, but I like listening to my music - not some crappy random playlist on Yahoo! Launch, or even the streaming Sirius or XM. The problem is, all my music is on my home computer, and when I add new music, I have to re-sync my iPod and all that. I've thought about creating a home server to host music, but my laziness always defeated that effort before it really began.

Winamp Remote allows you to stream music from your home computer directly to any PC connected to the Internet. After downloading Winamp 5.5.4, you simply have your home computer on with Remote running, and you can log into it from any PC via a secure account that you create.

So here I sit, listening to my mp3's on my home computer, while I'm 20 miles away from home. Technology is finally starting to meet my needs. Ain't life grand!

Blame Halo 3 - Spoof of Akon Sorry, Blame It On Me

Ian the other day said he didn't know what I did for a living. Well, here's a little video detailing what I do with most of my time.

PS - I still can't figure out why Teresa doesn't want me to get a Playstation 3?

Rock-afire!

Remember the Rock-afire Explosion? The animatronic, anthropomorphic animal band at Showbiz Pizza that brought Colin to tears? Well, apparently some of the original programmers of that nightmare-inducing band are re-programming them with modern songs... with hilarious results! Here's a video clip of them playing "Love in this Club" by Usher (It's okay, I've never heard it before either. But I would wager that Usher isn't half the talent of Fats Geronimo).



Don't be afraid, Colin. It's just a video. They can't get you... or can they?

UPDATE: Rock-afire for sale on eBay!!!!

Suck It, iTunes

I wrote a post awhile back congratulating Amazon on their new MP3 service, glad that I could finally abandon the expensive, DRM-laden iTunes store. The only problem was I was still forced to use the ever-so-shitty iTunes for syncing my iPods. Well, no more! The latest generation of Winamp (you remember, that old MP3 application you probably first used in college) now supports iTunes synchronization.

I've had problems with iTunes for awhile - I can't sort music the way I'd like, it never properly detects my iPods when I plug them in, and, oh, it's ugly as hell. Things came to a head last week when Steph actually had to call Apple support because she couldn't get the damn thing to detect any of our 3 iPods. Their response? "Try unplugging the iPod and then plug it back in." Thank you, Dr. Science!

So tonight I'll be putting the latest generation of Winamp through the motions, with my fingers crossed that I can finally kiss goodbye to to all Apple applications sans Quicktime. There's no doubt that iPods are the most ubiquitous music players around. It just drives me crazy that Apple forces you to use their crummy applications with their product. Is it just me or does this sound exactly like a certain Redmond outfit that Apple claims to sit opposite?