beeker buffoonery

fav 5: '11 albums

2012-01-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

1. Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination

2. Mastodon - The Hunter

3. The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual

4. R/D - Liquid Heart Keeper

5. Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising

... and more favs from 2011:

fav album opening: Amon Amarth - "War Of The Gods"

fav album finale: Mastodon - "The Sparrow"

fav eletronic song: R/D - "Smitten Seeker"

fav metal song: Skeletonwitch - "This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)"

fav punk song: Rise Against - "Broken Mirrors"

fav pop-punk song: The Darlings - "American Dream"

fav soundtrack: Bastion

fav comeback album: Face To Face - Laugh Now, Laugh Later

fav remix: As I Lay Dying - "Confined (Kelly "Carnage" Cairns Remix)"

fav album art: Mastodon - The Hunter

fav album letdown: Jimmy Eat World - Invented

fav song for singin' along: Foo Fighters - "Arlandria"

fav song I want to see LIVE: Mastodon - "Black Tongue"

fav 2010 album of 2011: Copy - Hard Dream

fav guilty pleasure album: Breathe Carolina - Hell Is What You Make It

fav song for jogging: The Black Dahlia Murder - "A Shrine To Madness"

fav song for a rainy day: Darren Korb - Mother, I'm Here (Zulf's Theme)

fav song for the trampoline: Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Wrestler"

fav song for purchasing a parakeet: Lights - "Suspension"

fav song for fighting a grizzly bear: Trap Them - "Every Walk A Quarantine"

Hoss

2011-06-23T11:00:00.001-04:00

Meet Hoss. He is a thumbnail hidden somewhere in my MP3 folder. This is the view I get when I look at the parent directory of my MP3s. It's obviously a Lagwagon album, but I don't have that album in my collection. It must be mistakenly associated with some folder or MP3. I have no idea, I have never been able to find him or figure it out. He's been with me for at least 7 years and I don't see him going anywhere anytime soon.

ice bubble nuclei

2011-06-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

fav 5: '10 albums

2011-06-17T14:00:00.012-04:00

1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

2. The Glitch Mob - Drink The Sea

3. Coheed and Cambria - Year Of The Black Rainbow

4. Little Boots - Hands

5. Weezer - Hurley

fav 5: '09 albums

2011-06-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye

2. Passion Pit - Manners

3. Strung Out - Agents Of The Underground

4. Lazarus AD - The Onslaught

5. AFI - Crash Love

fav 5: '08 albums

2011-06-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

1. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

2. Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

3. The Faint - Fasciinatiion

4. Less Than Jake - GNV FLA

5. No Use For A Name - The Feel Good Record Of The Year

fav 5: '07 albums

2011-06-17T11:00:00.012-04:00

1. Blaqk Audio - CexCells

2. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

3. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

4. Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb

5. As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

fav 5: '06 albums

2011-06-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

1. All Shall Perish - The Price Of Existence

2. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations

3. In Flames - Come Clarity

4. Dissection - Reinkaos

5. Boy Sets Fire - The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague Years

fav 5: '05 albums

2011-06-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

1. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Vol. 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

2. No Use For A Name - Keep Them Confused

3. Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster - Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster

4. Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

5. Kane Hodder - Pleasure To Remain So Heartless

fav 5: '04 albums

2011-05-26T11:00:00.002-04:00

1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine

2. The Faint - Wet From Birth

3. Rise Against - Siren Song Of The Counter Culture

4. All That Remains - This Darkened Heart

5. Unearth - The Oncoming Storm

fav 5: '03 albums

2011-05-25T11:00:00.001-04:00

1. The Black Dahlia Murder - Unhallowed

2. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

3. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

4. The Postal Service - Give Up

5. Muse - Absolution

fav 5: '02 albums

2011-05-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

1. Thrice - Illusion Of Safety

2. Underoath - The Changing Of Times

3. mewithoutYou - A to B: Life

4. Brandtson - Dial In Sounds

5. Blindside - Silence

fav 5: '01 albums

2011-05-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

1. Unearth - The Stings Of Conscience

2. Thursday - Full Collapse

3. Saves The Day - Stay What You Are

4. Liars Academy - No News Is Good News

5. Sevendust - Animosity

fav 5: '00 albums

2011-05-20T12:00:00.001-04:00

1. At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command

2. Darkest Hour - The Mark Of Judas

3. Catch 22 - Alone In The Crowd

4. AFI - The Art Of Drowning

5. Papa Roach - Infest

albums of the aughts (+1)

2011-05-20T10:00:00.004-04:00

oooooooh yeah! Has it really been 1 year since my last attempt to bring the blog back?! Oh well... here we are. It happened. I blame twitter. This could be my last hurrah, but I want to have another go at it. Who knows? At the very least, I want make sure my "albums of the decade" posts see the light of day. We'll see what happens.

To kickoff the return, over the next 11 days I'll be listing my top 5 albums for each year of the 2000's, followed by my picks for 2010. This post is so old, it's not even lame anymore. It's Starter jackets. I've thought about this list for nearly 2 years (unfortunately), so at least I feel very comfortable with my picks. I tried to stay true to what my level of appreciation was in each of the corresponding years, while also adjusting for lasting the test of time. This is a list of "my favs", not a "best of". Please share your thoughts.

beek is back! Part II: The Evil Magician

2011-05-17T10:00:00.033-04:00

beek is back!

2010-05-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

ironic ad

2010-02-24T23:18:00.003-05:00

From what I hear these days, Toyota has no problem "moving forward". Turns out this marketing campaign debuted in September, but I think someone needs to rethink this slogan.

anal beads?

2009-12-05T21:45:00.004-05:00

I clicked on "why?" Tim Tebow was a trending topic on brizzly. Results are below.

That's funny, but don't be an asshole bashing this kid. I'm sick of people talking shit on college kids, especially Tim Tebow. Save your bitching for the pros. God forbid someone has faith in this shitty world. Tim Tebow is a fine human being and I wish we were all more like him.

Office Depot nonbargains

2009-08-16T23:46:00.004-04:00

I absolutely hate shopping at Office Depot, but sometimes I crave the variety they offer. Anyway... I thought I would swing by the pens aisle and see if they had my Pilot G-2 07 black pens on sale. Well... it had a yellow tag, but after further investigation... it was the exact opposite of a sale. Way to take advantage of parents shopping for their kids' back to school crap. Ass clowns.

parkway time

2009-07-13T14:29:00.000-04:00

I forgot I had this pic. I took it with my phone while I was on the Parkway going to the airport in Pittsburgh. If you can see it in the red circle, this friendly motorist has a digital clock facing out his back window. Purpose? Your guess is as good as mine. It definitely didn't help relieve my anxiety about getting to the airport on time.

LBJ GNV

2009-07-12T22:19:00.006-04:00

Look... sometimes I have random consecutive thoughts. I heard about Lebron James' MVP shirt he was wearing, which is a spin-off of the RUN DMC logo... but reminded me of Less Than Jake's GNV FLA cover art. So I mashed them together. That's how we got here. I really don't know what all of this means.

breakfast links

2009-07-07T08:13:00.001-04:00

Hey kiddies. I have a metric shit-ton of links I've gathered over the past few months... and to be honest, I barely remember how to properly construct a links post! So allow me to shake off some blogging rust and share a greasy batch of links.

- One of my personal favorite buffoonery posts was one called "Devastatin' Album Cove rs". I shared a couple of lists of all-time worst album covers, but also discussed some memorable CD packaging from my collection. Here's a bit of an extension to that. Another great list of awful album covers and a fun blog called "LP Cover Lover". (Be warned, some of LPCL is NSFW.)

-A nifty chart with the evolution of the video game controller.

- Beaker gets Ultra Extreme Fever!

- A dipshit writer for FOXSports made the case for Eli over Big Ben in October. On February 1st, he was proven wrong.

- A beautiful archive of ancient computers.

- Here is an exquisite comparison of WMP vs. Winamp vs. iTunes vs. MediaMonkey. Winamp & MediaMonkey are the undisputed winners. Mac lovers, I implore you to take a stand! You shouldn't settle for such inferior media software. You shouldn't all hold hands and shrug off all the limitations and inconveniences that come with a Mac. I'll never understand.

- As with all of these links, this is pretty dated... but here are some breath-taking photos from the Greek riots in December.

- Increase your facial hair vocabul ary.

- Best music video ever? It's at least in the discussion. zombie-zombie.

- A great article on Engadget about the short-comings of Tivo.

- How amazing are Cold War unicorns?

meh... that was a little weak for a links post. My apologies. A lot of my football, olympics, and music links didn't stand the test of time, so I omitted them. I'll be back with more soon.

hibernation complete.

2009-06-22T19:49:00.005-04:00

I can't believe I've only had 2 posts in the last 3 months! Ridiculous. Unacceptable. I suppose twitter sorta filled the void for me with sharing websites and thoughts, but my blogging hibernation was mainly because of my focus on finishing my PhD. And... I'm happy to say that I successfully defended my dissertation last week and things are looking up for me. That was a huge stress relief. I'm amazed at how poorly I handled stress the past few months and what an unhappy person I had become. It taught me a good bit about myself and it was a much greater mental struggle than I had bargained for. I'm forever grateful to my family and friends for their support and putting up with my miserable ass.

Now I'm back to my original form and the buffoonery has returned. I have a lot of rants and ideas built up, so I'll be back to my regularly scheduled blogging from this point on. Thanks for bearing with me... now let's have some fun!

git happy!

2009-05-20T22:31:00.003-04:00

I know I've been neglecting the blog, but I'll be back soon in full force. Until then... check me out on twitter... and GIT HAPPY!

big foot

2009-04-03T01:06:00.008-04:00

(8tracks)

thumbs up

2009-03-25T14:22:00.003-04:00

While I was listening to Pandora, AFI's Fall Children came on. Awesome, right? Yes, but something's strange... can you spot what's wrong with this picture?

Yes, that's the album art for Winning London starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I assure you that AFI is not on that soundtrack. PANDORA FAIL!

(... still got the thumbs up from me though)

Remembering products without commercials

2009-03-18T06:26:00.003-04:00

I started my day (like usual) by going to hulu and watching last night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart. And shows on hulu always begin with "The following program is brought to you with limited commercial interruption by _____." But this time it said "...with NO commercial interruption by VISA." Excellent! And that got me thinking (and blogging) that VISA chose to not waste my time with ineffective, throwaway commercials, but rather just proposed the slogan "Let's go commercial-free." Is this not admirable? But with a giant company like VISA, they are taking little risk that they won't be remembered. Similar to how Radiohead took little risk in letting the buyer choose the price of their most recent album "In Rainbows". I doubt that other companies (like Fred Savage Sausage) would have the cohones to waste their advertising dollars on a 10 second uncommercial. But long commercials don't always work either. In fact, I saw the full frickin' trailer for Taken for about 2 weeks straight and I still had absolutely no urge to see Liam Neeson's "very particular set of skills".

Obviously, no commercials has been done before in some capacity. I remember some sponsors constantly on screen during the World Cup, for example. And they usually brag "without commercial interruption by ____". But what if more and more TV shows started going "commercial-free" or with purely product placement. Would it still be special? Will they reach a point where they overdo it and we actually don't even notice the companies that are making our lives commercial-free? I doubt we will ever get that far, but I still find it interesting to talk about... and I'm talking because VISA didn't show me a commercial this morning.

By the way, for those of you who didn't see Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer last week, I highly recommend watching it.

provocative dog grooming (Dayton, OH)

2009-03-13T14:13:00.002-04:00

ds2, originally uploaded by beekface.

The NHT has an official logo

2009-03-06T08:05:00.000-05:00

(Now Hear This)

ice cube stalagmites!

2009-03-04T21:16:00.002-05:00

Check it out! I found some stalagmites on my ice cubes! No drips from the ceiling or anything, so I was really creeped out. Apparently this phenomenon is known as ice spikes. I use bottled water for ice cubes, because my sink is absolutely disgusting. So I guess that was part of the reason. crazy crazy.

cable guy (c. 2003)

2009-02-26T12:46:00.005-05:00

(courtesy of halogoggles)

fav 5: "healthy" cereals

2009-02-25T11:37:00.007-05:00

Honey Bunches of Oats with Peaches
Special K Fruit & Yogurt
Special K Red Berries
Raisin Bran Crunch
Honey Nut Cheerios

That's a freakin' solid list! I don't care if I have Special K on there twice... don't look at me like that! And I could live off of HBO with Peaches. It's immaculate.

What are your cereals of choice?

Amazon jobs

2009-02-24T03:57:00.004-05:00

Amazon bottle, originally uploaded by beekface.

OK... this is really just a test post from flickr. I got a new BlackBerry and flickr is a lot slickr than Picasa on the phone, so I'll do phone uploads there. I'll provide the link later.

The other point I was going to make was that I was surprised to see Amazon at the Penn Sate Career Fair I went to last week. Surprised because it's a company that I've never seen physically represented, so that was neat. I just talked to them briefly, but it seemed like they only had jobs for Computer Science majors and some warehousing/distribution stuff (amazon.com/careers). I'm sure it's neat technical junk, but they said the only research facility they have is in Seattle, and I'm not looking to go there unless it's for Boeing. But I did snag a sweet water bottle, as seen in the pic. (Also, check out that geeky Valentine's robot I got! Its got a rad tie.)

Pittsburgh Tunnel Traffic

2009-02-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

Kinder Lips

2009-02-11T09:49:00.003-05:00

Probably my favorite Kinder Egg toy. Looks a little like A-Rod if he was a magician with 'roid rage, no?

A Reader Omen

2009-02-09T12:43:00.003-05:00

It seems that I'm a little behind on my Metal Underground feed. Note taken!... please leave my soul alone.
Also, this is a good chance to share my "top" feeds (the ones I read every day). They're all highly recommended and let me know if you are curious about any.
What are your "top" feeds?

Green Man

2009-02-05T22:46:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite birthday gifts ever from a friend in my early college years. He's fully poseable and equipped with a variety of weapons. They're called Stikfas and you can get yourself one here. It definitely looks like their product line has increased.

This picture turned out intimidating and haunting too. Love it!

HERE WE GO!!!

2009-01-30T07:51:00.000-05:00

Steeltown

2009-01-29T07:54:00.000-05:00

Interviewers: Avoid Lloyd

2009-01-28T08:07:00.000-05:00

Forecast for Tampa, FL

2009-01-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

This Sunday, expect severe Towel waving and a 100% chance of a Cardinals beatdown! Stay tuned for more Black N' Gold hype tomorrow on WBEEK - The Buffoonery News Channel.

Steelers: Live or Die

2009-01-26T09:05:00.000-05:00

No Easy Way Out - Rocky IV (parody)

2009-01-23T09:03:00.002-05:00

It's not Steelers related, but it still gets the job done getting you psyched!

Remember the Greats: Greg Lloyd

2009-01-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

Santonio's mocking bird dance will be a lasting image in the rivalry

2009-01-21T10:12:00.004-05:00

This is my favorite photo from the Raven's game. I love the dejected Ed Reed in the background. Also, did you notice Nate Washington calmly running along Santonio being his rearview mirror, then delivering the final block on Reed? It was great.
Santonio has overcome mid-season mediocrity to be a very potent weapon on offense. I've always been impressed with his crisp route running, but his moves after the catch have been magical this year. I was really worried about him after his arrest for posession of marijuani a, since the track record for NFL players for performance after a drug bust is subpar at best (e.g. Nate Newton, Ricky Williams, Travis Henry, Leon Lett, Bam Morris, Koren Robinson, Cedric Benson). But he proved me wrong and the last two weeks he's provided the spark early to inspire the team, and I have no reason to doubt that he'll do it again in Tampa. You should also check out his blog. Not the best material, but I'll forgive him while he's on his playoff run. However you can tell that he actually enjoys blogging and interacting with fans on the web.

(D.C. Steeler Nation)

The Steelers are Heartbreakers.

2009-01-20T18:12:00.002-05:00

The Gators have won 4 championships and the Steelers got "one for the thumb" all in the last 3 years! I'm a spoiled brat. I know... so I don't want to take this trip to the Super Bowl for granted. Today will be the first daily dose of Steelers celebration until February 1st (and possibly the 2nd - fingers crossed!).

Let's begin with this great remake of "Heartbreakers" by The Pop Rocks:

(via Blog N' Gold)

Letterman's Great Moments in Presidential Speeches Montage

2009-01-20T05:04:00.001-05:00

Adios amigo.

foto phavorites #16

2009-01-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

omega dread

2009-01-15T07:52:00.000-05:00

A ghetto version of the X-Men's Omega Red, no?

geico is invading my brain!

2009-01-12T15:34:00.005-05:00

In case anybody else got the "Somebody's Watching Me" remix by Mysto & Pizzi stuck in their head from the dozens of Geico commercials during football this weekend, here is the full track:

Oh... and by the way...

2009-01-12T10:30:00.001-05:00

Divisional Playoffs: Steelers-Chargers Live Blog

2009-01-11T16:01:00.006-05:00

Let's see how this goes... GO STEELERS!!!

16:19 Eagles just beat the Giants and are going to Arizona next week. I can't stomach the thought of a Ravens-Eagles Super Bowl... I really hope the Cards and Steelers can have something to say about that!

16:25 Cowher and Marino just squared off over who is the best WR in the league. Cowher stubbornly stuck with Andre Johnson and Marino of course went with Fitzgerald. Cowher... buddy... you never were good at picking star receivers were you? (with the exception of Hines)

16:42 How about we keep a "Darren Sproles is five foot six" counter. Five foot six: 1 (courtesy of Phil Simms)

16:46 J. Reezy kicks off, Timmons engulfs 5-foot-6.

16:49 Vincent Jackson is sober today. 7-0 Chargers.

16:55 Fast Willie is doing the Bettis Boogie... hope he keeps up the intensity.

16:58 Just learned something new... Roethlisberger is a lefty kicker. Sneaky Tomlin. I like it.

17:03 Santonio with the HUGE return! Oh my goodness. Things gots to be going our way when the special teams is makin' it happen! Maybe San Diego can't cover kicks when Scifres doesn't kick it inside the 10. 7-7

17:08 Steelers just rushed 3 on 1st and 25. Nonsense. If they don't rush either Woodley or Harrison every down, then they damn fools.

17:12 Rushed Woodley. Sack. I know what I'm talkin' about people! 3rd and 25

17:23 End of the 1st. Simms mentioned something that was on ESPN this morning... did you know that 33 of the last 39 seasons the Steelers have sent a linebacker to the Pro Bowl. pretty awesome.

17:33 Parker is still running hard. He's on the verge of breaking one.

17:51 Fake punt, not good. Tomlin has no faith in Berger.

17:54 Woodley is playing his heart out. He's a good one. By the way... 5-foot-6 10 rushes for 15 yds.

17:57 Chargers FG. 10-7 Chargers

18:05 Steelers driving with a minute left in the 1st half. Second illegal formation call against the Steelers. This is just lazy coaching... there is too much of that this year. Someone needs to be calling this in practice. Ben with a big pass to Hines down to the 3. Surprised Hines didn't get in on that one.

18:08 Willie's in for a TD. He's gaining more and more momentum. 14-10 Steelers. Chargers pack it in and go to halftime.

18:37 Heath Miller TD! Roethlisberger is looking sharp. 21-10 Steelers

18:39 5-foot6 with a big kick return. Son of a bitch.

18:40 Kiesel tipped the pass, Foote catches it. Steelers ball! Big play to get the momentum back.

18:41 Howie Long is such an asshole in these Chevrolet commercials.

18:46 Norv lost his second challenge. Have you noticed that the refs have stopped saying that the replays were "indisputable"? I feel like this is a concious decision so there is no dispute over being indisputable. Huh? What?

18:49 Taunting penalty not called on a tackle on Willie with the guy standing over him afterwards. I think it's a wussy rule, but a rule is a rule.

18:52 Steelers recover a punt off of some fool's head. He got caught red-handed on a holding non-call too. Looking good. Steelers ball!

19:08 Wow... so much has happened, I'm getting behind. Steelers went for it on the goalline, didn't make it, Woodley had a LETHAL sack on Rivers, and Ryan Clark showed extreme discipline in pulling up on a hit on Gates since the pass was over his head. Wes Welker wasn't as fortunate. Steelers' ball on about the 50.

19:10 Pass interference called in the endzone on San Diego. First and 10 at the 1. HERE WE GO, STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!

19:11 Gary Russell TD! He should have carried it on the 4th down play last series instead of Carey Davis. I'm hating Davis this game. 28-10 Steelers

19:17 Troy missed a rare tackle on 3rd down. Not cool.

19:18 Nice tidbit by Nantz... Lawernce Olajuwon Timmons, named after Hakeem.

19:23 Touchdown Chargers. I don't want to talk about it. 28-17

19:35 What'd I say about Willie? He's rollin'. Touchdown #2. 35-17 Steelers. This one's almost over, but I wouldn't mind some more torturing of Rivers. It's just so much fun.

19:44 Leftwich is in and he just aired it out to Sweed. He dropped it. Damn... he's a dud. What a bad draft it was this year.

19:52 5-foot-6 burns us for a long TD. Didn't he notice that the game was over, when Leftwich set foot on the field? Jerk. 35-24

19:57 Victory formation. Ravens are in town next week. Going to be a good one!

The Polish Ambassador - Duty Calls

2009-01-07T22:37:00.001-05:00

(The Polish Ambassador)

The Rodeo Lion

2009-01-06T10:24:00.008-05:00

(8tracks)

Deichkind - Limit

2009-01-06T00:11:00.000-05:00

Nut Buttons

2009-01-05T20:39:00.003-05:00

Why is this not the name of a punk band? Or maybe a pet name for a significant other? A curse word? How about a turtle? There are a lot of possibilities here and I'm glad that on January 5th, 2009 I said these two words consecutively.

What are your ideas?

(Best Week Ever)

humbled by wild cards

2009-01-04T22:43:00.004-05:00

I'm a little disappointed with my NFL playoffs picks so far, going only 2-2 after the first weekend. I was blinded by my Ravens hatred, but I stand by my belief that the Chargers are the weakest team in the playoffs. Looking forward to a royal beatdown next weekend at the hands of Silverback & Co. Then having the oppurtunity to have a rematch against the asshole Titans or go 3-0 over the Ravens this year? It's fantastic! Gives me chills! For those who don't know this, I haven't bought cable in over 2 years and live on bunny ears and hulu. Well... I freakin' bought it just to watch the Steelers at home for the playoffs! Woooo!

I guess I can't be too down on my playoff bracket. I mean, I have some pretty good company at 2-2.

Mongoose Ben

2009-01-02T20:01:00.002-05:00

(courtesy of stephen biernacki)

Wanna know who will win Super Bowl XLIII?

2009-01-02T14:32:00.004-05:00

The internet is polluted with NFL playoff picks, but I want to further contaminate the web with my thoughts. Time to brag a bit... 3 years ago I won our office pool because I foolishly (and luckily) predicted the Steelers win in Detriot, the following year I won picking Indy, last year I didn't see the Giants coming at all and I think I had Jacksonville beating the Patriots (can't remember). The point is... I could have a worse track record, so give me a chance. Plus, I just want to get my picks "on the record".

I initially wrote a huge post, but I deleted it to keep this brief. So on with my picks...

I feel most confient in the Panthers winning it all and the Dolphins causing some noise. Not sure why the Dolphins aren't getting much love. I really think they're a solid team. The Cardinals should be a little too much for the Falcons at home and the Chargers don't even belong in the playoffs. I love the Steelers, but our up-and-down O-line and pathetic Special Teams will cause problems. I think Big Ben will return to his confident self with a FB in the back field blocking for Willie. But I have to give the edge to the Panthers to win it all. I HATE Delhomme and he contradicts ever important requirement of "calm, leader QB" to be a SB champ, but somehow I see them controlling the clock with their ground game and Steve Smith maintaining his superhero abilities for a few more weeks. Plus, they just seem to have "it" this year. The Giants are falling apart and the Colts could very well be in the SB too. The Titans are far too immature to win a ring. They stand no chance.

Good luck with your Playoff Challenges, office pools, and remaining fantasy leagues. It'll be a great post-season!

hulk face

2008-12-22T01:11:00.003-05:00

flying in style

2008-12-22T00:50:00.005-05:00

I guess these aren't that new, but there are official NFL planes for US Air with special team paint jobs. I believe they have ones for Phoenix, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh (for the Cardinals, Panthers, Eagles, and Steelers, respectively). I had a chance to fly in the Steelers plane from Orlando to Pittsburgh during Thanksgiving. The US Air employee even took this picture for me outside of the terminal so I didn't have to shoot through the glass.

Going home for Xmas

2008-12-19T12:24:00.003-05:00

Flying home this afternoon... looking forward to the holidays and seeing everyone. Not looking forward to the weather on Monday...

Mayne Street Sucks.

2008-12-17T23:50:00.003-05:00

Glad I tried out "Mayne Street". It SUCKS... as expected. It's like an amateur attempt at The Office. Considering they only need to write 5 minutes of material for these crap webisodes makes it even more depressing. Absolutely horrid. I hate ESPN sometimes. If it wasn't for Bill Simmons, PTI, and maybe Fantasy Focus... I would be a full-fledged Yahoo! Sports man. In fact, did you know that Yahoo! is the most visited sports site out there? Over ESPN, Fox Sports, Sportsline, etc?! They've actually had the lead since before the Olympics. I'm assuming it has something to do with their successful fantasy experience. Speaking of good sports sites, those links come from the best independent sports news source/blog I've found: The Big Lead. Check them out.

Anyway, I digress... I also wanted to share an accurate review the Daily Herald wrote about "Mayne Street"... here are some of my favorite parts:

"A Web gem it's not. In fact, it's just more proof of how the Internet is ruining the world, including the sports world, which many believed couldn't get any worse."

"'Tell 10,000 co-workers to click on it so they order a second season,' [Mayne] wrote in the chat.

"And clicks, my friends, are what it's all about in the current media environment. Page views - from different computers, not the same one over and over - are where it's at. So blogs make reference to one another and exchange links to get the click-go-round going. Altogether, it produces a narcissistic, self-referential attitude."

Ultimate Farrior

2008-12-17T00:42:00.004-05:00

The Steelers were honored/limited to 3 Pro Bowlers yesterday. Congrats Silverback, Troy, and Farrior. Here is an oldie, but goodie MS Paint masterpiece from their '05 Super Bowl run.

orangutan on meth

2008-12-16T09:22:00.004-05:00

(courtesy of telegram sam)

zombie fingers

2008-12-12T01:52:00.012-05:00

(8tracks)

all smiles

2008-12-11T13:03:00.000-05:00

What the hell is this thing? I know it's from the Amazon. Any guesses?

beeker buffoonery's 100th post!!!

2008-12-08T10:41:00.005-05:00

100 posts! Very exciting! It's been about 1.5 years and I know I've blogged a bit in spurts, but I hope to be more regular in the future (about 2 per week). It's been extremely fun and a great creative outlet for me (instead of boring engineering all the time). I still don't have much of a direction for the blog, besides just things that interest me... and I doubt that will change.

Without question, the high point for me was the reference in the Post-Gazette's Blog N' Gold and others to my Terrible Towel in Beijing post. It was barely anything, but I had a great sense of blogging commodore. I continue to wish that all of my friends had blogs. So, if you're reading this, please feel free to email me, add me to Google Reader, follow my blog, or just check back occasionally... and I would love to read YOUR blogs, discuss blogging tech, or do any type of collaboration. Also, I update my Reader shared items much more often than this blog (that's why it's at the top - "beeker LIVE!"), so please check that and add me to your sharing friends.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments. Now... an ode to the buffoonery: (click to enlarge)

War with Canada

2008-12-04T15:42:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week (12/2) there was an amusing BS Report with Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal (writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live) going through the Week 14 NFL games. When they got to the Dolphins-Bills game, here's their exchange:

Cousin Sal: Miami at Buffalo... except it's not at Buffalo it's in Toronto.

Bill Simmons: Oh no!

CS: Yeah.

BS: Is this a dome or not a dome?

CS: You know, I'm not even sure. Miami at Buffalo in Toronto. I think they play in the Maple Leaf's Gardens, right?... No, I don't know where this is.

BS: It can't be a dome. If they built a dome, we would have heard of that. I should probably find that out. But uhh... does that Toronto thing... I don't know if it helps them or what happens.

CS: I think we're looking to start a war with Canada sending them Pennington and J.P. Losman. I really do.

BS: What... does Ricky (Williams) get through customs?

CS: That's another thing, yeah.

BS: What are the odds of that? We probably have to scratch him right now.

Classic Simmons. I loved it. Good podcast. He also calls his friend to rehash some of the best moments from Rocky IV. Then he wrapped it up with a call to Connor Schell, a high ranking ESPN executive who Simmons has cited before about hating it when he calls his friends on the podcast and was allegedly the reason why the podcast was on hiatus for a few weeks. Juicy, no? The cocky Sports Guy even says to him, "If I told you that I just talked to my buddy Gus for 20 minutes about Rocky IV... would you be enthralled or disappointed?" Yikes! I don't want to ruin the suspense, but it turns out to be a dud. I'm sure ESPN is ecstatic to have Simmons during the internet age and I highly recommend the BS Report to any level of sports fan.

Unoriginal Family Guy jokes

2008-11-18T13:23:00.009-05:00

I love Family Guy, but I feel obligated to reveal the origins of some of their jokes. I thought that Family Guy discontinued using recycled jokes after Season 4, however this previous episode, Tales of a Third Grade Nothing, was potentially their worst writing to date. Every laugh was predictable and the writing was too "jokey". I would have shrugged this off, since I should have better things to do than write a blog post about a cartoon... alas I don't and I'm enraged that the people of Diggnation have given 2,945 diggs to an unoriginal Family Guy gag. I truly don't understand why some things become so popular on Digg, but I'll save that for another post. Right now, I want to expose some unauthentic Family Guy jokes (and this does not include the countless similarities to The Simpons):

Grape stomping lady from Tales of a Third Grade Nothing (S7E6) - Stewie reenacts (jump to 11:50) a popular and hilarious viral video. The only problem is that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia briefly mentioned this same blooper a few weeks ago. They didn't present it the same way, but they made the Family Guy writers feel "OK" to use this particualr viral video. The gutless writers didn't take the risk to use a different or potentially better blooper, they were comfortable with what has already been tested to get a laugh. This is uncreative and very weak. And God knows there are many more clips to choose from.
Jesus Christ magic from Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story - This one I wasn't aware of, but it caused a lawsuit. Pretty bad. Is that supposed to be parody?
Air horn censorship from PTV (S4E14) - One of numerous gags from Season 4 that were taken directly from Arrested Development. I'm not saying this originated from AD, but I'm very suspicious that Family guy writers didn't get their idea from Lucille's "rape horn" in Afternoon Delight.
Snoopy doghouse from Brian Goes Back to College (S4E15) - Brian is bummed and plays the role as Snoopy. But only a few months earlier on Arrested Development, George Michael acts like Charlie Brown after being dumped my Egg. See the doghouse in the back!
"Up here, Brian. Up here." from The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz (S4E18) - This is probably their worst offense. After being contaminated with bad holy water, Stewie is quarantined in a bubble. Then while trying to change his diaper himself, Stewie flashes Brian and says, "Up here, Brian. Up here." This was also taken from Arrersted Development when Kitty Sanchez returns to work with fake boobs and says to Michael, "Up here, Michael. Up here."

Boxes full of Pepe!

2008-11-07T19:18:00.002-05:00

Do I have followers at Autoblog?

2008-11-06T21:53:00.005-05:00

I don't mean to flatter myself, but could Autoblog have possibly gotten an idea for a recent post from my Google Bling? You decide:

Penn State Riot!

2008-10-27T12:08:00.002-04:00

Party on Beaver Ave!... BYOPS (Bring your own pepper spray)

foto phavorites #15

2008-10-17T12:00:00.002-04:00

Mannequin in South Beach

2008-10-13T23:58:00.003-04:00

crazy paddy

2008-10-03T23:26:00.003-04:00

Solo Cup Company - Augusta, GA

2008-10-03T12:04:00.003-04:00

Live blog: VP debate

2008-10-02T21:19:00.007-04:00

21:20 And we're off!... and I'm going with an impromptu live blog. This is meant to be light-hearted... so enjoy! Let's start out with some Palinisms:

"Can I call you 'Joe'?" - during the handshake

"I'm not going to answer the questions the way Senator Biden and the moderator want, I'm talking to the American people."

"... he has a detailed plan, and now I'm going to give you some of those details."

Apparently she's had her firmware updated since the Couric interviews... Biden has his work cut out for him.

21:42 Current leader in the buzzword tally: fundamental. Biden has identified "The fundamental difference" between McCain and Obama for the economy, energy, and Iraq war. fundamental difference = a good thing? I don't know, but Obama better hope so.

21:56 I'm watching this on ABC... isn't it nice that there aren't any sponsors all over the screen during this nonstop action? Lovely.

22:05 Biden: "... go to joebiden.com..." - site dropper. I went there. I was redirected to Joe's my.barackobama.com profile. Well done, Joe.

22:12 Palin just dropped an elementrary school's name and now the teachers have a riot waiting for them tomorrow with students fighting for unspecified amounts of extra credit.

22:18 Palin is apparently unclear on the meaning of "Achilles heel". It's not an incoherent list of good qualites. Biden understands the tone of "Achilles heel", yet he mistakenly thinks "excessive passion" qualifies. hmm... I don't feel so bad about how poorly I handle this interview question now.

22:21 Biden almost turned on the waterworks. yikes.

22:33 Oh snap! Biden tossed out a few "God blesses" to wrap things up. Well played.

Winner: Biden?... it was a good debate. I enjoyed it. But I think I must say that Biden impressed me more than I thought... but Palin was tolerable, however she was in the red for me at the start. Nice to see some civil, educated discussion of the issues. Fun stuff... first live blog and I've somehow become a political dork.

A Great Tuesday

2008-09-30T12:22:00.006-04:00

This is a pretty good Tuesday... one for which all Tuesdays to follow should be measured! OK... I'm going a little overboard, but with an inspirational Steelers MNF victory over the Ravens and a sweet trio of albums released today, this Tuesday isn't too shabby.

First, the Steelers game... our offensive line is horrific and with Simmons gone for the year, don't expect Trai Essex to improve the situation. It's also disappointing to lose Mendenhall for the season, but for a 4th string RB, Mewelde Moore filled in nicely. I will get back to him in a minute, but first... let's touch on how important Ben Roethlisberger is to this team. I'm proud to have him as our QB and it's great to hear him become more of a vocal leader of the team... especially without "The Chin" on the sideline. I like Tomlin, but he has more of a team-centered attitude. It's great for camaraderie, but not so good for lighting fires in bellies. So it's good to have Big Ben get in their face occasionally... and I think they will respect him for it. Hell... even the defense fed off of him after the TD pass to Santonio (particularly Harrison and Woodley). I am also extremely grateful to have Jeff Reed as our kicker. He has proved to be extremely reliable in tough environments and tight games, as well as drunken photo production. Well done. Finally... Mewelde... where have you been all of my life? I was watching the game in a bar and I didn't realize till a bit later that Mendenhall and Davis were out with injuries, so I was initially flippin' shit when I saw Double M getting so much work down the stretch. In fact, by my count... Mewelde was the go-to guy in a shocking 12 of our final 14 plays! Amazing! His fresh legs at the end of the game certainly helped, but he was breaking off and getting open very nicely when Ben was under pressure. I hope to see more of him to come.

The second part of this great Tuesday is because of some excellent CD releases. Anberlin, Amon Amarth, and Trivium all have new albums out today... and from what I can tell, they all sound remarkable after a few listens. I got the Anberlin album through newburycomics.com with a limited edition autographed 7-inch. I haven't listened much, but it's a pretty standard release for them... and that's a good thing. The first single from New Surrender is "Feel Good Drag", which was originally released on Don't Take Friendship Personal, but don't judge them for that... they explained themselves here.

Amon Amarth... wow! I had to go out and by this one too, however I didn't get the bobblehead set. I've only briefly listened to from Twilight of the Thunder God, but this is a monster album! The production is outstanding and Lars' vocals/growls are at an all-time astonishing level. They've really hit their stride as a band and this album sounds like the tightest, most intense offering to date. Have a listen on Myspace or the widget below.

Finally, Trivium has conquered their identity crisis with mistaking themselves for Metallica (see The Crusade) and put out a very good, technical, melodic metal album. I was always very disappointed with The Crusade's combination of promising musicianship held back by embarrassingly awful lyrics and cliched song structure. All indications are that Shogun is a great rebound album, and I'm particularly fond of their first single "Down from the Sky".

Not a bad Tuesday, huh?... and I didn't even mention Iron Man being released on DVD!

foto phavorites #14

2008-09-27T11:43:00.001-04:00

foto phavorites #13

2008-09-23T11:42:00.001-04:00

ESPN Fantasy Woes

2008-09-19T14:05:00.001-04:00

I decided to try out ESPN's fantasy football services for our league this year. The main reasons I did this were curiosity, free real-time scoring, and 120 seconds per pick in the online draft (vs. 90 sec max at Yahoo!). There are a lot of other very nice features (almost too many at times).

However, I'm not here to praise the World Wide Leader's great fantasy site... there are a lot of drawbacks too. I find the menus and tabs to be pretty convoluted... then again, it's hard to adapt after 7 years at Yahoo!. The Bye Week information seems to be intentionally hidden (especially during the draft) with the exception of looking at the extended player schedule. This is a useful view, but there should be a more succinct way to get this info. I also overlooked an option that prevented us from drafting TEs, even though I had selected WR/TE roster spot. That was a mess... but oh well.

But all of those complaints are dwarfed by the ridiculous scoring limitations. I'm baffled by the difficulty of implementing fractional scoring (for example, when a RB gets 89yds in a game and you get 8.9pts, instead of 8pts). A very common and logical setting is seemingly overlooked in the ESPN rules. Here is a very painful email exchange I had with ESPN customer service about the problem:

Fractional scoring is (seemingly) very counterintuitive. Why not just have a button to say "Fractional Points" instead of having to put 0.1pts per 1yd. I've never discussed or thought about FF like that, it's always "1pt per 10yds", with or without fractional points. Plus I still don't know how to get fractional scoring for QBs, since you can't specify to the hundreths decimal (ie. 0.05pts per 1yd, since I really want 1pt per 20yds). Can you help???

Ben
_

Thank you for contacting us.

You are able to do this to the nearest tenth in custom leagues. The LM will need to change the scoring settings. For example rushing 10 yds = 1 point would need to be changed to 1 yd = .1 point.

Regards,
John
ESPN.com Customer Care
_

You didn't answer my question. I knew that about Rushing and Passing... but QBs can't have 0.1pts per 1yd. It needs to be0.05pts per 1yd (or less). If that's the best ESPN can do here... I'll be going back to Yahoo! next year.

Ben
_

Thank you for your reply.

You could go with every 5yds = 2.5 points. I know this isn't exactly what you want, but that is the closest we offer to what you are asking for. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Regards,
John
ESPN.com Customer Care

That's real effing brilliant, John... that means Phillip Rivers would have scored 203.5pts this week! Let's hope ESPN hires some people who understand fantasy football and make their site more user friendly... otherwise, it might be back to Yahoo! for me next year.

Google Bling

2008-09-17T11:41:00.006-04:00

Introducing Google's new automotive effort, the 2009 Google Bling! Featuring 26" Google Chrome rims, hands-free Google Talk cell phone kit, and Google Earth nav system with real-time street view (so you can admire your own ride while cruisin' down the strip!).

NFL Week 2: Chaos Ensues

2008-09-16T14:45:00.003-04:00

Wild week! LT and Darren Sproles are having identity crises. Anquan Boldin hates Arizona, but LOVES touchdowns. GTO 'Sullivan is revved up! Marion Barber is a fantasy love machine. Brandon Marshall is putting to good use his reduced suspension. ("I was wrong." - in TMR voice) A pair of Arkansas rookie RBs are delivering the goods. And Romeo Crennel has taken over for Art Shell in the statuesque staring competition.
(Note: Bill Simmons deserves credit for the Art Shell Face. The man's brilliant.)

But if we learned nothing else, at least we can take away one thing from Week 2...
DON'T DROP THE BALL!!

foto phavorites #12

2008-09-15T10:26:00.001-04:00

foto phavorites #11

2008-08-30T08:32:00.001-04:00

The Ultimate Competition

2008-08-29T20:35:00.004-04:00

"I hereby declare this August 15th as the beginning of The Ultimate Competition between Zach E. and Ben S."

It begins... stay tuned.

Liwei Falls...

2008-08-27T12:11:00.004-04:00

Li Wei - a brilliant artist! Not photoshopped.

Phelps GIF Challenge

2008-08-26T09:41:00.003-04:00

I love me some crazy GIFs! Wired's Listening Post is looking for the appropriate audio for this one:

sweet linkage

2008-08-24T09:14:00.001-04:00

- Mad collection of beautiful GIFs

- Post-Gazette's list of Steelers bars by state

- Want to digitally archive the local front page coverage of major news and sporting events? Like The Boston Globe's headline for the 2004 World Series or Ocala, FL's coverage of Tropical Slut Fay (and Bret Michaels). Newseum is the answer.

- An excellent feature column from Motor Trend on the Secret History of Ferrari... including the origin of the shield, Enzo's signature, and Dario the driver,

- I haven't seen too much of the Olympics... but apparently Tiki Barber is putting on quite the display... and calling his co-anchor a "total medal c*nt". (Follow-up)

- A good TED talk on amazing sea creatures. Ridiculous octopus camo at the end.

- Man goat.

- Fantastic view of the impossible win.

- With Heath Ledger's remarkable interpretation in TDK... here is a brief (but thorough) history of the Joker's appearance. (I still need to see it in IMAX!)

- Here are some other comics coming to the big screen. Watchmen looks unreal and everything that has to do with The Avengers will hopefully come together nicely.

- Finally... Darren Aronofsky is doing a RoboCop remake?! OMG!

foto phavorites #10

2008-08-22T20:54:00.003-04:00

Here we go, ______! Here we go!

2008-08-21T09:05:00.007-04:00

Congrats women's beach volleyball... yada, yada, yada. What's really important here is the Terrible Towel that made its way to Beijing! See it in the background?! (ESPN)

HERE WE GO, STEELERS! HERE WE GO!

Red Dwarf Flare

2008-08-20T16:08:00.002-04:00

before/after (c. 2004)

2008-08-15T13:35:00.003-04:00

foto phavorites #9

2008-08-08T10:48:00.001-04:00

Mission Accomplished (c. 2001)

2008-08-07T10:45:00.003-04:00

foto phavorites # 8

2008-08-06T14:52:00.001-04:00

rye squared

2008-08-05T22:23:00.004-04:00

I am currently enjoying a Terrapin Rye Squared Imperial Pale Ale. I only comment on this because, ... well, this isn't my first tonight... and it is truly one of the finest beers I've had in months. It has a wonderful smell of fresh mash and hops with a strong, but smooth taste. Good stuff.

hidden gorilla paradise

2008-08-05T18:24:00.005-04:00

Apparently researchers have found 125,000 gorillas in Congo, which would more than double the previously believed number of Western lowlands gorillas on the planet. OK... cool... this is a good thing since they are awesome creatures that were listed as critically endangered... I get that. But who is in charge of this stuff? How did people miss all of these frickin' apes?!?! "We knew there were apes there, we just had no idea how many." No shit! I try to have faith that the researchers of the world are doing a good job with stuff like this... but come on! Seriously! I hope there is some professional gorilla counter out on his ass for this. Is there anything else we should know about guys?