The Last Stand

The Last Stand is my new favorite timewaster. It's actually more of a real game than a timewaster, but it uses flash so I think it still qualifies. Anyway, you get to shoot zombies with lots of guns. And a chainsaw. There's also resource management involved, so it has a little depth beyond gunning down the brain-hungry hordes of the undead. Check it out, just not before work. (Hat tip: Joystiq)

"Those clowns don't know what terror is."

Remember Andy posting about Frank Miller's Batman vs al Qaeda book? Apparently it's being held up because DC Comics and it's parent, Warner Bros., are a bunch of pansies. Oops, I guess "pansies" probably isn't PC. How about ant-American invertebrates? Anyway, they're afraid to send Batman, one of their biggest characters, after terrorists for fear of upsetting, uhm, terrorists I guess? The ones that already want us dead. Would al Qaeda like it more if it was Aquaman out to foil their plots? It seems like Miller has little patience for such things. He's been labeled such things as a "proto-fascist" since the success of "300" has introduced more people to his work. Says Miller: "These terrorists are worse than any villain I can come up with, and I think it's ridiculous that people in entertainment are not showing what we are up against here." Refreshing. (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

Randy Moss Is A Patriot

No, seriously. You see, it's right here. Is there a guy that seems further from the ideal Patriot player than Moss? Well, yeah, his name is T.O. Still, it seems pretty bizarre. However, the Patriots have had success with "malcontents" before (see Corey Dillon). It'll be interesting seeing how this plays out.

UPDATE: More on the trade from ESPN Page 2's Bill Simmons. A quote: "The team looks so loaded, they could probably win a fourth Super Bowl with or without him." Right. I'll make a prediction right now: the Patriots will not win the Super Bowl this season.

Pack Your Bags

Hey, Mike Williams... you suck. That was the message from the Detroit Lions today as they traded the former 1st-round pick and QB Josh McCown to the Raiders for their 4th-round draft pick. Ouch. This was made possible by drafting Calvin Johnson and Drew "Bonzai" Stanton earlier. Catch ya later, Mikey. Thanks for nothing.

Rawkfist

Liveblogging the Draft

1-1. Oakland Raiders- JaMarcus Russell
This one was pretty obvious since it was rumored to be set before the draft even started. I'm still not sold that he's the top QB. Since the Raiders took him, I'm sure he'll never live up to this pick.

1-2. Detroit Lions- Calvin Johnson
Yes, based on ability and value this pick makes a lot of sense. Don't love the pick though. I think other holes would have been better filled.

1-3. Cleveland Browns- Joe Thomas
Nice, solid, safe pick. Is Charlie Frye that unpopular in Cleveland that the fans really wanted Quinn?

1-5. Arizona Cardinals- Levi Brown
Geez, can't the poor guy even get his face on TV when he's selected? I know, Brady Quinn looking at his cell phone is much more interesting.

Why is Keyshawn on the draft commentary team? Am I really supposed to take him seriously with Mel Kiper Jr. right there?

Mel Kiper Jr. has a cybernetic brain. That's the only explanation for his encyclopedic knowlege of the draft.

Oh no, Brady Quinn wasn't drafted by the Dolphins! What are we going to do!?! Ahhhhhhhh!

1-10. Houston Texans- Amobi Okoye
He's only 19? They're joking, right? Think of all the records he could break if he's pretty decent and stays healthy.

Call of Duty 4 looks cool.

Why are the fans at the draft always fat guys with mustaches?

No, I'm not a fan of the MLS, and I already know that. I'm pretty sure I've got that straight ESPN.

Could Brady Quinn actually be left when the Lions pick in the 2nd round? Would they want to take him if he was?

1-22. Cleveland Browns- Brady Quinn
Nope. Good for Quinn, going to his hometown team. Too bad they're still the Browns (yes, that's coming from a Lions fan).

How long is this going to go on? Longest first round ever. Geez.

Okay, with the Lions trading, I'm out.

I lied, I'm back. I'm not sure whether to be deliriously happy or very, very sorry for Drew. He has a lot of potential, I hope being with the Lions doesn't ruin it. Just don't follow Chuck's example.

Threadless

Sometimes in my travels across the cyberscape I come across a particularly interesting website. Threadless is one of them. It's a site that sells t-shirts based on user-submitted designs which are voted on by users. Yes, it has a bit of a hippie vibe, and many of the shirts aren't worth a second glance. But some are brilliant, like this one, which you should go vote for:


Or maybe this one. It may take a while to find one that you really like, but there's plenty to choose from. Check it out.

Cheesed

Andy Warhol once said: "In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Well, we must be beyond the future now because today you can be famous even if you're only a large cheese.

Wrecked?

Mike O'Hara of the Detroit News is predicting that the Lions will take WR Calvin Johnson of the Ramblin' Wreck with the second pick in the '07 NFL Draft. Says O'Hara:

Teamed with Roy Williams, who made the Pro Bowl last season, and Mike Furrey, who led the NFC with 98 receptions, the Lions would have a formidable group of receivers.

Gee, where have I heard that before?

Cheapskate? Just smart.

If this article couldn't have been written by us, then we're doing something wrong. I thought this story would be quite fitting with our baseball trip coming sometime soon (?) and the planning process in the works.

Re: The Madden Curse

So how would one "reverse the curse?" I have a couple of ideas, let me know what ones you think will work and what ones will backfire:

1. Put a Detroit Lion on the Madden cover. It's a win-win play. The Lions player will be good and the curse will have ended. No more Andre Ware's.

2. Put a/the Heisman Trophy winner on the cover. Keep in mind, if you use the latest Heisman winner and he hasn't been drafted yet, you might need to superimpose a few of the copies with the team that drafts him or just give him a white jersey on the cover. Another win-win option. You get rid of the Heisman jinx at the same time as the Madden jinx. Perfect. Now I can start my fantasy football draft. Again, no more Andre Ware's, Gino's, Ryan Leaf's, etc.

3. Put the #1 draft pick on the box. No more Jeff George's, etc.

4. Do a combination of the previous three. But, watch out for double reversing which can turn back into a curse. For instance, a Detroit Lion on the cover would fix the curse. But, if that Lion were a Heisman trophy winner or been the #1 draft pick, that scenario might re-curse the player on the Madden game.

Hobbit House

You know, I've always dug round doors, but this guy went all out. Well, maybe it's a little too above ground, but still very impressive.

Moody

I had a strange experience at church this morning. There were no women in the worship team this morning, so it was lead by the male members plus a few extra guys. I believe this particular group goes by "Bob and the Boys" when they sing at other events. Anyway, the music was slightly different, more upbeat. You could hear the guitars and the drummer actually hit the drums. When they got to the last song I was getting a strange vibe. It sounded vaguely familiar. Not the song itself, just the style and overall sound. Four guys singing in harmony, guitars, drums... then it hit me. It sounded like the Moody Blues. Sort of. One of the singers did have quite a beard. Not that I'm overly familiar with the Moody Blues, but I heard the tapes and CDs played enough as a kid that I probably have dozen songs stored in my head. So, I'm going to share a little bit of that with you:



Enjoy.

Lift Me Up

Baseball Trip

So, has there been any more discussion? Just curious, since I'm about 500 miles out of the loop.

The Tumbler

Today at while on lunch break from work we were discussing my coworker's new vehicle, a Jeep Patriot, which is a pretty nice ride. Somehow the conversation turned to the Batmobile from Batman Begins and how it was constructed. I didn't know the answer then, so I had to find out. This article gives you a pretty good idea as to how the car was made. Now if I only had a spare $250,000...

Be Afraid

So, you're thinking one of the young QBs from last year's draft might be a good sleeper to help you rule fantasy football this season. Don't bet on Vince Young. You see, he's been chosen to be on the cover of Madden '08. And there's a curse. That's right, he could be the next Daunte Culpepper. Good luck, Vince. You're gonna need it.

10-6?

Mike O'Hara of the Detroit News thinks the Lions could go 10-6 this season. He gives a formula for making it to the big one-oh, though "avoid losing streaks" and "win on the road" are pretty obvious for any team. Kitna has mentioned this offseason that he think the team can win 10 too. So what's in the water in Detroit? From here, it smells like crazy.

Rebirthing

Desktop Tower Defense

Timewasters, simple but addictive flash games, are all over the internet. Most of them aren't all that great, but some rise to the top. Desktop Tower Defense is one of them. You set up various defensive weapon emplacements to protect your battlefield, a desktop, from the incursion of different enemies. Simple and really addictive. Check it out. Just not before work. (Hat tip: Joystiq)

I am Iron Man

I'd seldom send you to AICN, but I think this time it's worth it. Why? Because it gives you a look at the first Iron Man suit that will be seen in the new movie, due in May '08. And there's even music (Just enjoy the Ozzy!). Check it out. Just don't get sucked in to the swamp of idiocy that is the comments. Seriously, it gets pretty silly over there.

Old School

Sometimes college students do crazy things. Sometimes those things aren't desctructive. Take these students at UC Santa Cruz. They decided to make a large scale version of Donkey Kong on their dorm windows. The fact that the game was popular in arcades before they were even born was apparently not a deterrent. Sixty-four thousand Post-It® notes and 5 hours later they were finished. Sigh. I miss college. The same group has also done Mario in the same format. This is true artistry folks. They need to do Contra next. (Hat tip: Joystiq)


UPDATE: And now to the video.

The Punisher

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has laid the smack down on Pacman Jones and Chris Henry. Both were suspended for mulitple breaches of the NFL's personal conduct policy, Henry for 8 games and Jones for the season. That's right, the entire season. Both are suspended without pay. For Jones, that's $1.3 million he won't be making this year. Ouch. An excerpt from Goodell's letter to each of the players:

"Your conduct has brought embarrassment and ridicule upon yourself, your club, and the NFL, and has damaged the reputation of players throughout the league. You have put in jeopardy an otherwise promising NFL career, and have risked both your own safety and the safety of others through your off-field actions. In each of these respects, you have engaged in conduct detrimental to the NFL and failed to live up to the standards expected of NFL players. Taken as a whole, this conduct warrants significant sanction."

In other news, Joey Harrington is now a Falcon. He will compete for the #2 QB spot in Atlanta.

Statuesque

Mr. Hockey has been honored by the Detroit Red Wings with a statue. The 12-foot tall bronze sculpture has been placed inside the west entrance of the Joe Louis Arena, which was renamed the Gordie Howe Entrance last October. The statue was sculpted by Omri Amrany, who you might recognize from such statues as the Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame players at Comerica Park, Magic Johnson at the Breslin Center, and The Spirit: Michael Jordan at the United Center.

Victory for MSU!

The Michigan State Spartan hockey team has won the 2007 National Championship. Justin Abdelkader scored at 19:41 in the 3rd period to break a 1-1 tie. The Spartans added an empty-net goal to cap a 3-1 victory over Boston College, who was playing in their second straight national title game.

UPDATE: Here's the summary of the game from Spartans Online.

UPDATE 2: More on the Spartan victory from the Detroit News and ESPN.com.

Ocean Floor

100

Devin Hester is the fastest football player ever. At least according to the development team of Madden '08. No one has ever achieved a perfect 100 rating in the "Speed" category. That's right, Hester is faster than Barry Sanders, Michael Vick, or even that Tecmo Super Bowl god Deion Sanders. According to Hester, "Deion has told me a bunch of times that I was as fast as he was." Does that mean he'll be able to run circles around the offense? (Hat tip: Joystiq)

Win #1

On the day the Detroit Tigers received their AL Championship rings they got their first win of the season, beating the Blue Jays (they are still blue, not just the Jays, right?), 10-9. They barely managed to hang on after giving up 7 runs in the 8th inning. Curtis Granderson had his first career grand slam and also hit an RBI triple.

Mmmm... comfy.

I used Windows Vista for the first time this weekend. My experience? Well, this comic pretty much sums it up.

Q&A with T.J.

The official Lions site has a Q&A up with recent acquisition T.J. Duckett. Check it out here.