The Arrogance of Roger Clemens

Congress announced today that they would like the Department of Justice to investigate Roger Clemens for perjury.

I've watched these events unfold with much more interest than I thought I would. I'll be honest and say I really don't care if Roger Clemens or anyone else in baseball took performance enhancing drugs. I'm glad they decided to do something about it now. But for a long time everyone knew Baseball was dirty and they just looked the other way. Why single an individual out?

But that is really not my point. The reason this has kept my interest is that Roger Clemens just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole. Anyone who thinks Roger Clemens did not take drugs is either a die-hard blind fan or is just plain nuts. He has the classic signs of a liar. First off, nobody is backing his story. It is not one person who is accusing him, it is several, and their stories all match. When you are the one person saying something, you have to wonder if anyone is going to believe you. Second, he is compounding his lies. Every time he is caught in a lie, he tries to use another lie to cover it up. He never heard about the drugs, and then he only talked about it much later, and then his friend "misremembered" talking to him about it. It's sad.

And the thing is, it was probably unnecessary. Most of the people who have come out and admitted to it are done with the story. Andy Petitte is coming off looking like a saint. But Roger thought he was above it all. He was after all the "greatest" pitcher ever. Who could catch him? Who would dare accuse the best player of his generation? Who would ever believe a nobody over someone as great as he? The rest of the world, that's who.

And by the way, Clemens needs to get his money back from his lawyer, Rusty Hardin. Clemens accomplished nothing by doing what he did. Nobody believes him and now he faces federal charges. How on earth is lawyer let him go in front of Congress is beyond me.

I Hate Carl's Jr's Commercials

I really just don't understand Carl Jr's Commercials.



The above is just one example for the Carl Jr's Chili Cheeseburger. They have had several commercials just like this where the person eating the burger is making a terrible mess. Somehow this is supposed to get me to want to eat their burgers. Do people actually find this an effective marketing message? I certainly don't and would love to know why anybody would.

Facebook on the Iphone

For those who can't get enough of facebook, you can now access facebook on your Iphone wherever you are.



I don't quite get this as a big selling feature. I get why people might want to be able to access the web all the time. I do it on my phone. I check various sites on my phone whenever I get a chance. But to have an advertising campaign to sell a phone based on one website? I must be getting old because I just don't get the allure of knowing every little thing happening to all my friends at my fingertips wherever I am. When you start questioning uses of technology and just not understanding why someone would want some new fangled idea, you know you are getting old.

Sony SXRD HDTV Hard to Find

I've been in the HDTV market for a while. In fact, I have a post about it almost two and a half years ago. I finally decided to take the plunge and have the perfect TV for myself picked out, the 60" Sony SXRD. It has pretty much everything I'm looking for in a TV without being too expensive.

However, for the life of me, I can't find a place that has a price I'm willing to pay. I've seen the TV on sale for as low as $1650, but now I can't really find a place that, with shipping and taxes calculated, comes in for less than $1950. I could still afford the $1950, but it bothers me that I know it can be had for less. I just can't believe how hard it is to find. I would love it if Amazon would get it back in stock, but they have been sold out for over a month.

Having just moved into my new place, I really want to buy a new TV. I don't even have cable yet, because I'm waiting to buy this TV. But because I can't find it for the price I want to pay, I wait. Should I just suck it up and buy it, or should I be patient and wait for it?

Update: Sony killed this TV. While sad, I had to move on. I decided to get a Panasonic 50PZ800U. The set is fantastic and I think I might be happier with it than I would have been with the Sony SXRD

New Knight Rider Sucks Ass

Seriously, who the hell is in charge of making these shows? I really tried to give this show the benefit of the doubt. I used to watch the show as a kid and it was one of my favorites. I always loved the idea of a super-intelligent car. I fully understand that nothing is as good as you remember it from your childhood. So with this understanding, I decided to watch this show and keep an open mind about it. But the problems for the show were many.

• Nanotechnology to solve all problems - I think a writer read the word 'Nanotechnology" somewhere and decided that it would be great to use this cutting edge development in the show to solve all ills. It makes KITT bullet proof, allows him to morph into different shapes, allows him to change colors, and it seemingly makes him invulnerable to accidents. Lets just ignore the fact that nanotechnology is a technology in its very early infancy, good thing to know it will be able to cure all the worlds problems going forward
• Dumb FBI agent - How dumb do you have to be to let the bad guy plant a fake sheriff at the scene of the crime. Wouldn't you wonder where the backup is? Wouldn't you somehow confirm that this guy is who he says he is?
  
• David Hasslehoff is my Father! - Seriously, how lame is it that the new Michael's father is the old Michael Knight. That is just horrible storytelling.
• One Big Ford Advertisement - OK, you are going to make the most high tech car out there and you are going to make it a Ford Mustang? Are you crazy? I've driven a Mustang, highly overrated. I can even get over this fact though. What really bothered me was that it was painfully obvious that the whole show was one big Ford commercial. Every car shown was a Ford. And this show is taking place in California. Have these people been to California? Lots of Hondas and Toyotas, not so many Fords.
  
• The Show just wasn't that interesting - Lame plot. A contrived love story. Nothing new or original.
  

I will give this show one more chance. I MIGHT watch the next episode. Hopefully this was just a bad show as they geared up to a more exciting series.

No Smog Test on Sundays

I went to go get a smog test for my car so I can get it registered in the state of California. I found out that you can't get a smog test in California on Sundays. Apparently, for a smog test to work, it has to have a link to a computer in Sacramento. And apparently this link isn't up on Sundays.

So let me get this straight. In this day and age where we have the internet, and we have phones that can keep you connected anywhere you are, they can't keep up a computer and a data link on the weekends? What type of technology is the state of California running on? An abacus?

Online Dating - Should You Call Off the Date?

Here is the scenario. You arrange to meet someone you met online. You are excited about it. He or she is excited about it. Your date sends you a few pictures before the date and you discover that this person just isn't your type. What do you do?

First off, stop feeling bad for being shallow. There is nothing wrong with you. The importance of appearance should not be underestimated. We are human, and it is natural to want to be physically attracted to someone. I've actually never understood how someone can say looks aren't important and that believing otherwise is shallow. Why is it any better to like someone because they are funny, or successful, or a fantastic kisser? You have to like a person for everything they are, and appearance is a big part of that.

Next, just call the person and cancel the date. Don't write an e-mail. Call the person out of respect. It is a lot harder to do over the phone than it is to write an e-mail, but nobody ever said that it would be easy. Getting the news in any way is bad, but getting the same news over e-mail just plain sucks. Just politely tell the person the truth. That doesn't mean to go into every last detail about why you found them unattractive. You should simply say that you have in fact decided the person was not your time and that you don't wish to waste that person's type going on a date when you know nothing will materialize in terms of a relationship.

Under no circumstance should you just go on the date and then ignore the person. That is the absolute worse thing you can do. Nobody wants you to go on a pity date, much less the person on the date. Nobody wants to waste their time going on a date when the other person knows that this will be the only date. So just do the right thing, call and cancel. Be honest, and be respectful.

I'm a Great Driver!

I went to the California DMV to change my license and to register my car. Despite its bad reputation, I found my experience there to not be too bad. True, the workers there weren't the happiest bunch. I tend to be cheerful when I deal with people, and I wasn't getting the cheerfulness back that's for sure. But nevertheless, I didn't have to wait too long (I didn't have an appointment) and I wasn't subject to anything I thought was unnecessary.

They did make me take a written exam though. About 20 questions or so, but I wasn't prepared for it. Normally, I would have flipped through the DMV handbook or something like that just to freshen up on some of the more obscure rules of the road that they seem to like to throw on the test.

Despite the fact I hadn't prepared and I had to guess on a few, I didn't miss one. Guess the test is mostly just common sense which is the way I tried to answer most questions. Several people actually did fail the test while I was there, so I guess what I've always thought was true. I am the best driver out there.

I take it back - I'm cursed

A few days ago, I wrote that the Lakers are Cursed. However all of that changed this week. The Lakers have now not only made the worst trade ever they may have made the best trade ever. The Lakers traded for one of the best post players in the game, Pau Gasol, for almost nothing. In fact, it was even less than nothing as I think Kwame Brown is a very strong negative every time he steps on the court.

This summer I was massively disappointed when Kevin Garnett went to the Celtics for what I thought was peanuts. Reportedly, the Lakers offered the core of their team in Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. However, the ex-Celtic Kevin McHale decided to do his old team a favor and ship him to Boston. As Boston ran off to one of the best starts in league history, I could only watch wondering what could have been.

Now, I'm SOOOOO glad that trade never went down. Instead of giving a very good player in Lamar Odom and the player who could turn out to be the best Center of his age in Andrew Bynum, the Lakers had to give up nothing. They gave up their worse player and a very promising, albeit unused, rookie point guard. I'm still in shock that this trade went down and keep wondering when I will wake up. Add the fact that the Lakers also got rid of my least favorite player in Brian Cook (at least Kwame could play some defense, Cook was useless) for a very good Trevor Ariza, and Mitch Kupchak just won Executive of the year. Danny Ainge can kiss the award goodbye.

If the Lakers can just keep it together until Bynum and Ariza get back, they are going to be VERY DANGEROUS come playoff time. In fact, they probably just became the odds on favorite to win it all.

Given that I seem to be the one with the curse, everything I seem to write goes the opposite way, than maybe I should not have said that. Oh well. Just in case I really am curse, let me say, I know I will not win $100 million dollars any time soon.

Tempur-Pedic Pillows - Well worth it

I have a Tempur-Pedic pillow and I love it. Whenever I don't have it with me, I just don't sleep as well. I bought my first one about four or five years ago. About two years ago I bought the best pillow they had which cost me almost $200. It was money well spent. What is so great about it? Well it just conforms to your head. It is neither too hard nor too soft.

After I bought my second pillow, my girlfriend liked it so much, she started stealing it from me. It forced me to buy yet another pillow from them. I considered buying their stock for a while (I actually should have as it went up like a rocket several months after I looked into it)

Think about it. You sleep on your pillow every night. You spend, hopefully, eight hours on it every day. What else do you use as much (other than the mattress itself). I guess I see it kind of like designer jeans. If you are going to use something a lot, you might as well really enjoy it.

Installing a Second Hard Drive

I installed a 2nd hard drive in my computer today. I didn't really need the space but figured I didn't want to ever worry about it so I just bought a 500 GB hard drive from Fry's (only paid $100 which was a pretty good deal) and went to open my computer to install it.

Installing a second hard drive is actually a pretty easy process which most people can do themselves You simply have to open up the chassis, screw the hard drive into a slot, find the power cord and the data cord and plug them in. If you have an older computer, it can be slightly more difficult, but with SATA drives, which most drives are these days, it is a snap. Boot the computer and your computer should recognize that you installed a second drive.

Of course, I find out that my stupid computer doesn't have a slot for another 3.5 inch drive, which is the standard size for all modern hard drives. So I had to go back to Fry's to go buy a sleeve to install the drive into a 5.25 inch slot. Stupid thing cost me another $20 (they did have some cheaper options but I went with this one). Nothing ever comes easy to me I guess.

Lakers are Cursed

Seriously, it's true. And you know who is doing it? Chick Hearn. Ever since Chick Hearn has died, the Lakers have not won an NBA title. Their last title was won in 2002, the exact same year that Chick Hearn died. I'm not sure why this is the case, but it clearly is.

First they lose a championship they should have easily won when they had four future hall of famers.

Then they make one of the worst trades ever by trading Shaq for a bunch of garbage. They make the situation worse by trading the only all-star of the bunch for a guy who has bricks for hands.

There is a ray of light for the team with the development of Andrew Bynum, until he sprains his knee. They might be able to limp through until he gets back, that is until Trevor Ariza breaks his foot in practice. Practice man, we are talking about Practice. Well at least Brian Cook isn't coming back.

The Lakers were sports best franchise while Chick Hearn called the games. Since he has left the franchise hasn't been the same. If you are reading this somewhere Chick, please lift the curse.

How to Find Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii

Really easy way to find Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. Every day, just go to another store and look for one. Repeat for several months. This is what I did to finally find a Wii.

In all seriousness, I finally got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. I had been looking for a Guitar Hero 3 while but just could not find one. Understandable since it was a hot gift for Christmas, but even several weeks after the fact, it was still kind of amusing to me that I couldn't find one. I wasn't looking hard, but I was looking. I would just casually look whenever I was in a store that might carry it like a Target or a Best Buy.

Today, I walked into my local Target, and there were three just sitting there. Was tempted to buy all three, and resell them for a profit, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Just got lucky finding one I guess, kind of like what happened with the Wii. Although I somehow doubt the game will still be impossible to find this time next year, unlike the Wii which is still pretty damn hard to find.

Jerks do Win

Today, Bobby Knight won his 900th career game. I am not a Bobby Knight fan. I think the guy is a complete jerk. There are rarely if ever times you should lose your temper, yet Bobby Knight does it with frequency and people just brush it off as, "oh, but he is Bobby Knight".

How come just because you are successful you get to be a jerk. Nowhere else is that more true than sports. Only winning matters, everything else is just secondary. I've written before that nice guys finish last. I guess the converse is true, assholes do finish first.

What a Small World

Today on my way to work, I parked my car and walked toward the elevator. I saw someone I know from work and tried to wave at her. She didn't see me. However, there was another woman who did happen to notice me wave. She thought I knew her and held the elevator for me (I didn't want that to happen since I hate when people hold the elevator).

I walk into the elevator, and wouldn't you know it, I did know her. We went to college together at Princeton. She was a year below me, and we had a mutual friend who we both keep in contact with. I haven't seen her in about 5 years though. Turns out she works in the building across the street. What are the odds that I would wave at someone, she thinks I know her, and I end up knowing her?

Women Overthink Men

I was asking my friend what she was doing this weekend and she told me how her friend wanted to go shopping for a new dress for a party that she was going to. I asked her if she was doing it to impress some guy that was going to be at the party. This turned the conversation toward why women go to such great lengths to impress men.

Now I'm a strong believer that a little bit of work on yourself goes a long way. I'm fully for someone spending time on your hair and putting on makeup that suits you. If you want to put on a special outfit to impress that special someone, great. But very quickly the law of diminishing returns happen. While spending one hour getting ready might make sense, spending three hours probably does not. While picking out a special dress might help, spending a day and a fortune on a new one probably does not.

Most men are not detail oriented. They aren't going to notice that special extra touch that you did just for them. Women should accept this and understand this. Most women actually get upset that men don't recognize these fine little touches but it is just the nature of man. We are always looking at the bigger picture and not so much on the fine details.

Sit 'N Sleep Has Never Given Away a Free Mattress

There is a company that sells mattresses called Sit 'N Sleep. They are located mostly in the Los Angeles area. The radio spot states, "Sit 'n Sleep will beat anyone's advertised price, or your mattress is FREEEEE!!!"

This really really bothers me. The commercial makes no sense. There is no way that Sit 'N Sleep has ever made good on this promise. Here is why. Why on earth wouldn't they match the price? Forget the fact that you won't find the exact same mattress at another store. The problem is that from a logical perspective they would ALWAYS be better off matching the price. There is nothing less than free. So the commercial just bugs me because it doesn't make any sense. If the advertised price of the competitor was $0.01, Sit 'N Sleep would still be better off taking the penny.

New Hampshire is a Bunch of Liars

Most polls had Obama winning handling in New Hampshire. But sure enough, Hillary won the state. It's odd. Most of the time polling is so accurate, especially when they predict a win as big as Obama was seemingly going to have. But somehow, Clinton pulled it out. I know why, New Hampshire citizens are a bunch of liars. Pollsters asked who they would vote for, and then the people of New Hampshire just lied to them. That's the only reason I can think of.

Perhaps women connected with Hillary after her tearful outburst. Perhaps there were some other shenanigans. Who knows. But I'm done talking about the race until November rolls around. Despite the fact that I like to consider myself up to date on current events, the presidential primaries have always turned me off.

Still Can't find Guitar Hero for the Wii

I've been searching for a while, but for some reason, I can't find a Guitar Hero for the Wii. I've looked in a few different stores and still can't locate one. You would think now that the holidays are over, it would be easy to find one. You would think that because it is a game, and not the console itself, it would be easy to find. But alas no. Even checked on Amazon, but not available.

Can't Motivate at Home

I use to never be the type to not be able to do work at home. But lately, I can't seem to actually get myself to do any sort of work as soon as I enter my home. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don't have my own place quite yet, but I don't know why all of a sudden I can't seem to motivate for a new job. It should be easy for me, especially considering my girlfriend isn't with me, so I don't have a lot to distract me. Wonder what's going on with me.