More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Cal Newport: After you vote - unplug. Good advice. (HT -A Layman's Blog)

- Be remiss if I didn't mention that legendary music producer Quincy Jones passed away aged 91. His death was overshadowed by all the hubbub surrounding the election.

- VDH: From "Clingers" to "Garbage" - why the 16-years of vilification?

- Safe spaces for college students. I weep for our future.

- Bonus: Why the year 2027 keeps coming up for the Chinese

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

As a Boston fan I'm getting restless. It has been months since our last championship... Funny because it's true... Just a reminder - we know exactly who President Obama picked each year in his NCAA March Madness pools but we still don't know where he was the night our Embassy in Benghazi was attacked... Very cool... Georgetown's colors of blue and gray were chosen back in 1876 to support "unity between the Northern and Southern boys of the college"... Marcus Smart Ninja. How many middle age white guys will throw out their backs today trying to pull off this move?... If the day after Christmas can be known as Boxing Day why can't the day after St. Patrick's Day be known as Hangover Day?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Americans spend more money on March Madness than on Presidential elections - by a wide margin. Tell me again why the money these schools make from the TV contracts for March Madness isn't taxable... Watched the Donald Rumsfeld documentary The Unknown Known on Netflix over the weekend. Two big thumbs up! Then again I'm a big fan of Rummy...  Georgetown's colors of blue and grey were chosen back in 1876 to support "unity between the Northern and Southern boys of the college"... It has been 10 weeks since the NFL appointed Ted Wells to "investigate" "Deflategate". Ten weeks!... Heh heh... I was never bothered by that picture of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. If he was photographed shaking hands with Dan Shaughnessy - different story!... Of the Congressmen to vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - 74% were Democrats... The phrase "gent bent" is supposedly short for "you should get bent over so that someone can sodomize you on Christmas". And a Merry Christmas to you too...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I have 99 problems but a busted bracket ain't one of them. Another year and no brackets filled out - give them up already... Heh heh - wisdom from a WWII veteran... Georgetown's nickname of Hoyas means "what rocks!" in Greek. Based upon their performance in the NCAA these past few years - I wonder what is Greek for "what bricks!"... David Petraeus - ISIS is not our biggest problem in Iraq, Iran is... The Mesopotamian god of the moon was called Sin which is appropriate since most "sins" occur at night... This issue could be loaded with irony. Coal plants are needed to protect the manatees... A TV show called Rick Santorum Vatican Spy would be awesome. It would be a cross between The West Wing and Archer... Excellent point - Starbucks wants to talk race relations but they have no stores in Selma, Fergueon or other mostly black communities. Hypocritical posers... So what is killing the bees?...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Whatever happened to the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome epidemic? Interesting question.

- Rocket Frog - awesome!

- Good news - Syracuse and Georgetown about to renew basketball rivalry.

- More good news - JK Rowling to pen Harry Potter related prequel movie EDIT: Link fixed

- This is awful and surprising. The name of the paper reporting is either ironic or an Onion spinoff.

- Better Call Saul is really happening.

- Speaking of Breaking Bad - this Jimmy Fallon parody Joking Bad is pretty funny. I thought it ran long but the final joke is well worth the wait.

- Student athletes or employee athletes? Interesting look at the legal side of the argument. I say employee athletes.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Scott Adams (Dilbert) on how to be an entrepreneur

- 50 Facts about Bill Murray

- If just half the things written about John Thompson in this article are true then Thompson is one of the biggest jerkfaces in the NCCAA from my lifetime

- I can't recommend this article enough - What Lucky People Do Different

- Yeah - this could be me at the beach

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

On the bright side of the NFL lockout - this could be record Fall for apple orchard owners as men no longer have an excuse not to apple pick on Sundays... The rug really ties the whole picture together... During his speech at 1964 Democtratic National Convention - LBJ never once mentioned Vietnam... People love Christopher Walken for the More Cowbell sketch but the Colonel Angus skit makes me laugh just thinking about it... I'll steal the joke - Do you think the Players will hire the law firm of BenJarvus Green & Ellis for their antitrust suit?... Involuntary Collaborations - very cool... With the Red Sox ownership also owning Liverpool and the New England Patriots owners also owning the New England Revolution - I wonder if Liverpool and the New England Revolution ever have a home and home at Fenway and Foxboro?... Of the Congressmen to vote against the 1964 Civil Rights Act - 74% were Democrats... Just awesome... Did you know that Georgetown's blue and gray colors were chosen in 1876 to support “unity between the Northern and Southern boys of the College”... I was never bothered by the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. If he shook hands with Dan Shaughnessey then that's another story... Both retired 4-years ago - I think Bernie Williams has a better chance of returning to baseball than Tiki Barber has returning to football

NCAA Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous March Madness thoughts and observations.

Georgetown's sports teams are called the Hoyas which is Greek for "what rocks!" Given their performance on Thursday maybe the nickname should be changed to "what bricks!"... Every year I say that I'll bet every single underdog in the first round. You would have done pretty good this year if you used that strategy. Instead I picked individual games and went 0-5 until I had Syracuse over Vermont last night... The joke is already old but is Murray State one of those 57 states that Barack Obama claimed to have campaigned in?... I'm in a knockout pool where I have Kentucky and Northern Iowa. Root for those two teams to continue to cover the spread. Can you do that for me? Thanks... St. John's should hire Mark Jackson as their next coach. Then Jackson should hire an up and coming recruiting coach and a veteran bench coach. St. John's should be one of the better programs in the country given their location and history...

Weekend Update

So now we have the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. Even though I had picked three of the four correctly and have Ohio State winning it all in all of my brackets - I'm officially rooting for Georgetown to win the title. I had too many wrong early in March Madness to win any of my remaining pools (I'm 40 out of 60 for my picks) - so I'm just rooting for the Hoyas because of residual Big East loyalty and because they are the biggest underdog left - and I loves me dem underdogs.

I would also like to point out that our interview subject from a couple of weeks back - Carl Spackler - correctly picked the Georgetown over North Carolina upset.

As far as "for entertainment only" game-picking - its almost as if the past four days never existed. I went 2-4 on Thursday, 2-4 on Friday, 0-2 on Saturday and 2-2 yesterday. That's a grand total of 6 for 12 in picks (.500). The vig was worth the action though.

On Saturday night I stayed up to watch Peyton Manning on SNL and I admit that he was pretty funny. However, I couldn't help thinking that he was doing this after and maybe because Tom Brady did it and that Tom Brady did SNL in large part because his idol Joe Montana hosted the show. There has to be some envy on Manning's part - I mean he mentioned Tom Brady just minutes into the show (you never heard Tom Brady mention Manning when Tom Terrific did the show).

Just seven days till Opening Day and I'm really starting to get the baseball itch. I love the way March Madness will be segwaying right into baseball - both the NCAA championship game and Opening Day are next Monday.