Next Year's Halloween Costume

If I ever actually DO dress up for Halloween, this is how I want to go.

The Latest from Macworld

I can't wait to check THIS out at the Apple store....

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Funny Picture Break

Here are some goofy things I've collected over the last couple of months for this purpose. Weird sense of humor, I know.

Rachmaninoff had big hands

Anyone who has ever attempted Rachy's Prelude in C# minor will appreciate this the most...

A glimpse of my future

This will be me in 30 years....

A little Humor

These are some pictures I have collected over the last few weeks while stumbling around the internet.

Mac users will appreciate this one.

Self-Explanatory

Highly Ironic

The only word you'll ever need

An esoteric funny

While checking the web on compatibility issues between Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) and Finale, I stumbled upon this post from a user on a Finale message board that made me laugh out loud:

I got Leopard today too. It was a gift from my son because his pit bull ate my 10.4 system discs. The dog runs fine on 10.4.

Like Bart, I will install it on a non-essential Mac and check it out.

Bill

Prof replaces term papers with Wikipedia contributions, suffering ensues

Much attention has been given to the problem of students relying on Wikipedia as a source of information, but one professor has turned that problem on its head: instead of term papers, her students now write Wikipedia entries. [Link]

This is awesome! Yes, there are still entries in Wikipedia that need to be filled. Maybe once Wikipedia gets filled up, the prof can turn her attention toward Mahalo!

Blogged with Flock

Say What?

Beauty? Yes.
Brains? Well--did I mention the beauty thing?

Let's blame it on the nerves, not the hair color.

Say What?

A recent pre-meeting conversation:

Patty[who is from Georgia]: Sheri, did you bring the peanuts?
Brian[who is most definitely not from Georgia]: You like peanuts?
Patty: Oh yes, Bob and I eat them all the time
Brian: Do you buy them in the shell so you have to crack them out?
Patty: Yeah, we like them that way.
Brian: I LOVE peanuts--eat them a lot! (they're the perfect snack!)
Patty: I like to eat them balled.
Brian: Balled?
Patty: Yeah, I really like them that way.
Brian: Balled. I've never heard of that before. Balled?
Patty: Yeah, you know, put them in hot water, then drain it and eat them.
Brian: Oh, you mean "boiled?"
Patty: Yeah, that's what I said, "balled."
Brian: No, you said "balled." I've never heard of "Balling" something. I have, however heard of "boiling" something--though never peanuts.
Patty: Well, "BOY-ALed" peanuts are good.
Brian: Ok, I'll have to try them some time.

Escher Re-imagined

I'm sure you have all seen this:



This is M.C. Escher's Waterfall. For the less-informed, if you look closely at this picture, you'll see that the water flow is an impossibility, though on two-dimensional paper, it seems like it ought to work. Notice how even the supporting columns look right at the top, but not at the bottom.

Well, thanks to RocketBoom, I found this clever contest held on Worth1000.com. The rules are thus:

We've all got to start somewhere, even the art masters. In this contest your task is to depict the masterpieces of the renassiance [sic] masters (or other time periods) as they were drawn when the masters were children. Do not simply edit existing masterpieces - recreate them through a child's eyes (i.e. a 3d cube would be an early MC Escher, or a paint by numbers Mondrian).

The rules of the game are thus: Show the works of the art masters (sculptures, sketches, and paintings are all fine) as though they were created by the masters when they were children (as in the themepost, "Baby Warhol" by meowza). As always, quality is a must. We will remove poor entries no matter how much we like you. You'll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count.

I thought this was clever. What would a child Escher have handed in to his art teacher? And what would his teacher's responses likely be? Here's an idea:

Create a Caption

A boy and his dog. What caption best suits this picture?

Obeying the Law

Check out these crazy college students who made a lot of people upset by doing the right thing. The drove 55 mph!

Olympics

I didn't get to see too much of the Olympics this year. I enjoyed what I saw (for the most part) and watched with great interest the men's biathlon 12.5 km pursuit. What a cool concept! Cross-country ski for a couple kilometers, then with your heart pounding at 180 bpm+, shoot at five small targets. For every target you miss, you have to take a penalty lap! The lead changed quite a bit because of that!

Overall, the TV ratings for the Olympics were down this year. I was stunned to find this article in a USA Today last weekend with suggestions for how to improve the ratings. I still can't decide if it's satire or if it's honest. Here are parts of it with my comments included:

To many Americans — particularly younger people — the Olympics aren't relevant. Put simply, they aren't cool. "I hear no buzz about the Olympics any more," says Irma Zandl, a trends forecaster. "The Olympics has lost its soul."

Alright. What is THAT about? The Olympics has lost it's soul? Have the Olympics changed that much over the years? Are there not gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded for each event? What has changed here? The Olympics or the surrounding culture?

Fixing the Games' image won't be easy. Or cheap. Or without risk. But it can be done, say sports marketing gurus, image experts and event planners contacted by USA TODAY to brainstorm 10 ways to revive Olympic "cool."

Because "cool" is what it's all about.

1. Put more 'reality' in Olympic TV.

In a world of risqué reality TV shows, people crave nitty-gritty details and down-and-dirty competition.

"They should have athlete confessional rooms" where Olympians privately vent their innermost thoughts to the camera, says David Adler, founder of BiZbash Media, which produces an events trade website and magazine.

Yes, and we know from past "reality" TV programs that everything we the viewer sees is real. What is the deal? This is about the games, right? The conflict is on the ice/snow. Do we need to create artificial conflict so that somehow the athletic competition becomes more interesting, or we're somehow more attuned to the event?

Yet another way to offer more reality TV would be to reinvent the Olympic Village. With its global appeal and throngs of young, hormonally charged athletes, the Olympic Village is ripe for an uber-cool transformation — and maybe a few gimmicks.

Yes--intramural sports meets Mardi Gras. And stop using the word "Über" without the umlaut!

2. Let viewers have a say.

Viewer voting on televised competitions such as American Idol has given rise to new phenomena: official judges might get the last word, but they're no longer the only voice.

This is briliant. Allow the public to have a say in sports they can't even spell, let alone know the rules. The voting would be based on nothing more than superficial qulities of the athletes.

3. Tap more tech.

Rather than banking on the younger set watching TV, Olympic organizers need to move faster in distributing content through other media. Think more podcasting, streaming video, text messaging, even ring tones that have Olympians saying cool phrases...while this might cut prime-time viewing, he says NBC could make up lost revenue with the right fee structure. It could sell an Olympic package for "a couple hundred dollars" or sell viewing rights for individual events, sports or athletes.

You've got to be kidding. People aren't watching the Olympics now when it's brought to them for FREE, so this guy now thinks it would be a great idea to sell subscriptions just because it can appear on alternate media?

4. Spotlight big rivalries.

Any sporting event without rivalry is boring — especially the Olympic Games, says Michael Lynch, senior vice president of marketing for Olympic sponsor Visa USA.

"We could do a much better job building up the rivalries," he says.

Yeah, since the demise of the Sovient Union, the US has lost a real "bad guy" to go after. Who's left? China? Canada?

5. Decide more medals head-to-head.

Gold, silver and bronze medals in timed events could be decided by a single race pitting the three finalists with the best times, says Lynch. "The less done by the clock the better."

Wow--so now the arbiter of the highest standard is completely removed from the equasion. Can you imagine three or four people on the moguls...at the same time?

6. Offer more and hipper music, less and hipper talk

Olympic events need to move to the beat of diverse genres of current music, suggests Carol Moog, a consumer psychologist and blues harmonica player. "It should look more like a music video," she says.

For events such as snowboarding, she says, lose the TV commentary altogether in favor of a Gen Y-favored music mix.

When commentary is called for, NBC should find more young, hip voices, says Katie Paine of KDPaine & Partners, which consults on business reputations. No self-respecting teen wants someone like their father describing snowboarding, she says. "Instead of someone translating snowboard-ese into English, you need someone who actually speaks snowboard-ese."

This is a great point. As long as we're doing it to sport, let's go ahead and reduce music, language, and commentary to the lowest common denominator--so the kids can understand it.

7. Go back to the 4-year wait.

Sponsor pressure nudged organizers to reschedule the Olympic Games from every four years to separating the Winter Games and Summer Games two years apart beginning in 1994 with the Lillehammer Winter Games. "It's created Olympic fatigue," says management consultant Pam Murtaugh. "It was a pinnacle experience that has been diluted by its frequency."

Dude--whether the summer and winter games are combined or not, the wait IS STILL FOUR YEARS! So "Olympic Fatigue" would be reduced if we had both portions in the same year as opposed to one portion seperated out by two years?

8. Be less predictable.

"Unpredictability and surprises really can work to your advantage," says Don Mischer, producer of the Atlanta and Salt Lake City Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the 2006 Super Bowl half-time show. For the Atlanta Games, Mischer and a handful of people kept the last torch carrier a secret — and awed the crowd when Muhammad Ali came out.

I'm sorry--I think surprisingly few people watch the Olympics for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Olympics, after all are about the games, not the fireworks. And what's the deal with Avril Lavigne?

9. Be more extreme.

Olympic organizers could rip a page from ESPN's extremely lucrative X Games — adding a slate of grittier, heart-pumping events. For the Winter Olympics, organizers should consider adding a snowboarding competition that includes a terrain park with jumps and sliding rails, says Ron Semiao, creator of ESPN's X Games. For the Summer Olympics, he suggests adding skateboarding, bicycle motocross and motorized sports.

I can't put my finger on it, but something seems very diluted and impure about that suggestion. Maybe the motorized portion. The "snowmobiling" race? Could happen.

10. Rethink the Olympic mission.

"Is it about athletic competition at the highest level, or is it about generating revenue?" asks David Carter of Sports Business Group, a consulting firm. Like other big-time sports, the Olympics has become "addicted to the corporate dollar," he says. As a result, more critical decisions are being made by the network and sponsors, not athletes or organizers.

That this is even a question amazes me. This is continuing evidence of how big money has infiltrated all of sports--especially in the US. The ability of the team, the individual contributing unselfishly to the whole, the players/athletes team play is secondary to the money the teams make, the TV revenue generated, the big contracts the players get, etc., etc.

One more thought that may be an unfair generalization of age group who was primarily represented in the Olympics. Could it be that "the kids these days" don't have as much interest in the games because they can't relate to the hard work and dedication it took for these Olympians to achieve all that they have? Could it be that a kid's ability to do virtual snowboarding with cooler tricks that defy virtual reality leaves him uninterested in the true nature of the sport?

Could it be that a large part of overall disinterest in these games by most Americans is that we really don't know anything about the games? What are the rules? What is good form? How are they judged? How is a winner decided?

What about the time zone issue? Are we so used to seeing "instant" results, "live" as it happens that the tape delay just makes it seem less real to us?

I can't wait for the next round of Olympics.

Another dumb online quiz

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Dedication

I'd like to dedicate this to all my guitar-playing friends--and to anyone who ever wanted to play the guitar for this reason:

My Star Trek Character

I'm not a big fan of Star Trek, but I took the test and found out who I am most like. Those of you who know me may not be surprised: (Take the test and post your result!) (and thanks to Matt Brown for the link!)

Your results:
You are Data

Data 61% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 60% Jean-Luc Picard 60% Spock 57% Geordi LaForge 50% Chekov 45% Beverly Crusher 45% James T. Kirk (Captain) 45% Worf 40% Will Riker 40% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 35% Deanna Troi 30% Uhura 30% Mr. Sulu 30% Mr. Scott 25%

Even though you are a genius you are always striving to be better.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...

Paul's Idea

I have my friend Paul Stankiewicz to thank for this! Our families went to Toledo for a fun over-nighter and finished off with a visit to the zoo. Most of the pictures taken over the weekend involved our kids, but the Bald Eagle exhibit seemed inviting for something silly like this...