Author Archives: errhode

Dec5

Zune

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Almost as if it was a belated birthday present from Microsoft, the Zune I won a few weeks ago finally showed up yesterday. Benoc covers the public perception, which generally led me to believe that this wasn’t going be a prize I particularly valued. But you know what…
It doesn’t suck.
I don’t have a video iPod to compare it to — just a nano. But given that, the Zune is immediately more scratch resistant and durable than my nano. I stress the scratch resistant part because I had to go out and spend $25 on a durable case for the nano so that the display wouldn’t become unreadable. On the other hand, I don’t plan on spending any extra money on the Zune. (Well, actually it was free — I don’t plan on spending any money on it at all.)
There’s no scroll wheel, but the controls are pretty intuitive nonetheless. In fact, I like the non-click wheel better for adjusting volume. And for all the reports that it’s “bulky” — seriously, people, there’s a limit at which things become so small that it doesn’t matter. And because I’ve been watching video on the Zune, I’m not sure I’d want it to be too much smaller. I like to see what I’m watching. (Of course, it only supports a limited number of video formats not including divx or xvid, which means I’ve been using Usman’s Beauty and the Geek audition as the demonstration video for everyone who asks. Then again, his tie bit is pretty priceless.)
Oh but wait… there is another shoe to drop. The physical Zune itself doesn’t suck when loaded up with my stuff and not attached to the computer. The software on the other hand… yeah that freezes up a lot if I try to import too many videos. And occassionally it will hang if I decide to edit an album image and I’ll have to restart the program. Plus everytime I start it, it wants me to log into the “Marketplace,” which I have no intention of ever using. iTunes doesn’t ask me log into the iTunes store every time I open it. On the other hand, once a song is on my iPod, if I happen to delete it from my computer because I run out of harddrive space or whatever, I can’t get it back from the iPod easily, which is not true with the Zune. (Yes, yes, I know there are cracks out and there and I could do it… but I am lazy.)
Overall, for a prize, I am more than pleased and willing to put up with crappy software to be able to use it. It was definitely worth my 12 hours of puzzling.

Nov28

J Songs

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One of the things we do in the Women’s Glee Club is “Secret Glee Love” — akin to Secret Santa, but nondenominational and with a $5 limit. At the risk of finding out that she reads my blog (and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t), I have our president, Jaye (pronounced like the letter).
In keeping with the budget, I decided to make her a mix CD and make it themed to her name — songs that start with J(aye). This was surprisingly difficult — lots of songs start with “I” (the Magnetic Fields have an entire album of them), but not nearly as many start with the 9th letter of the alphabet. Initially, I tried to be really ambitious and come up with songs whose artists names also start with J, but after struggling to find the few I did find, I gave up on that. Once I opened my options up a little more, things started to come together and I was quite pleased with the results — provided she likes classic rock as much as I do. I haven’t had any blogging inspiration for awhile and Anand posts these things, so I am being a copycat posting the results of my evening’s compiling. (And now onto that other compiling job I have waiting for me… actually, it’s in perl, which isn’t compiled. So that pun fails.)
J(aye) Songs:

1. Just Like Starting Over — John Lennon
2. Jungle Love — Steve Miller Band
3. Jumpin’ Jack Flash — Rolling Stones
4. Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry
5. Joy to the World — Three Dog Night
6. Jane — Barenaked Ladies
7. Jesse’s Girl — Rick Springfield
8. Julia — The Beatles
9. Jackal — Ronny Jordan
10. Jealousy — Natalie Merchant
11. Janie’s Got a Gun — Aerosmith
12. Jet — Paul McCartney and Wings
13. Jailhouse Rock — Elvis Presley
14. Jokerman — Bob Dylan
15. Jack and Diane — John Mellencamp
16. Just Like Heaven — The Cure

Nov12

College Puzzle Challenge

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Yesterday was the third annual (and second for me) Microsoft College Puzzle Challenge, held at college campuses around the country, including MIT and UMich. My team from last year regrouped, fittingly naming ourselves “The Return of the Cryptic Orchids,” with a goal of doing better than we did last year (which meant we had to be first at our school and/or be the grand prize winner). We met our goal and took first at Michigan by a wide margin (21 out of 22 puzzles vs. 18 for the second through fifth place teams). As a result, I’ll be getting one of the not-yet-released Microsoft Zunes in the mail in the next few weeks. A team from MIT (Quarks and Gluons, who I think were from Random Hall) won the grand prize.
This year’s event (which I kept referring to as a “hunt” even though that’s not how anyone else refers to it), consisted of 22 puzzles, two of which were metas, one of which came on the back of the free shirt they gave us, and not including the opening puzzle, which gave you access to the first 11 puzzles. (Essentially it was a mini-meta using the answers to the five pre-huntevent puzzles (which they went over just before the event started), plus answers to two other quick puzzles, which we never bothered solving.)
The theme involved being stranded on a desert island… with Gummi Bears. One of the flavortexts read “I’m starting to feel like I’m in a Disney cartoon. All over this island, Gummi Bears. Bouncing here… and there… and everywhere.” Immediately I went looking for the theme song on the internet, only to find that it’s been removed. That didn’t stop it from being in my head ALL day, only to be replaced by “Kokomo” upon solving Island Golf Classic (solution). This one I happened to have the mp3 of.
In general, I thought the puzzles were much cleaner and in some respects easier than last year’s puzzles — no ridiculous leaps of logic. In fact, in filling out the post-challenge survey, I had to stretch to name a puzzle I “liked the least.” (I picked Lost in the Mail (solution) because it was more of an ad for local.live.com than a clever puzzle.) But at the same time, I had hard time picking a favorite puzzle, because none of them jumped out as being really spectacular. I wound up saying Rock Formations (solution), a less frustrating tetris puzzle than the one from the SPIES hunt that involved some (very easy) calculus. It was probably the most well constructed puzzle, as well as the last one my team solved, but even that one didn’t make me go “Wow, that puzzle is really clever.” In fact, my reaction to the entire suite of puzzles was similar to my reaction to last year’s Mystery Hunt puzzles — everything was nice and clean and nothing was horrible, but nothing was so fantastic that it will go down as one of my all-time favorites either. (With all due respect to Phys Plant, I’m only talking low level puzzles — their presentation of the theme was one of the best ever.) Maybe I’ve done so many puzzles that it just takes more to impress me… I’m not sure.

Nov4

Michigan 34, Ball State 26

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Went to my second Michigan football game of the season today, thanks to a friend of mine who’s at a conference. With the number 2 team in the country (that would be us) facing a school that I hadn’t even heard of before today, I expected the game to be a big blowout. (Ball State is apparently in Indiana — I didn’t know this until well into the second quarter.)
But surprisingly enough, the game turned out to be somewhat close — a little too close for comfort for my friend who’s been at Michigan since his undergrad days. Ball State got the ball to the 3 yard line with two and a half minutes left — if they scored and managed to convert two, the game would have been tied. Upon this realization, my friend nearly started hyperventilating. At fourth down, Ball State decided to go for it and the student section stood and cheered and frantically waved our keys in the air (as we do for all “key” plays). The QB threw a harmless incomplete into the endzone as the stadium collectively breathed a sigh of relief and my friend sat down to collect his nerves. Michigan rode out the rest of the game for the win.
I actually took the ticket because of the guest marching band conductor — none other than Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart. During halftime, he led the band in a rousing rendition of the Star Trek theme and Hail to the Victors. One boisterous fan even did the Star Trek symbol instead of making the traditional fist during the “Hails.” Stewart also instructed us to “Boldly go [to Columbus, OH] and beat those Buckeyes — be number one!” at which point, the stadium went nuts with cries of “Captain Picard’s on our side!” and “Buck the fuckeyes!” Stewart is, of course, in town with the Royal Shakespeare Company and I’ll be seeing him as Prospero in The Tempest on Tuesday and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra on Thursday.

Oct28

Cardinals 4, Tigers 2

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Cardinals win series 4-1
Quote of the Night, during the top of the ninth: “Damn, stranding a runner on third is like being with a chick who isn’t easy. It takes a lot of work just to get there, and in the end, you still don’t get paid off.” — My cello playing housemate
My streak is over and I realized last night that it’s an eerier streak than I thought. The brief history is as follows: I’m born in Minnesota in 1981 and six years later, the Minnesota Twins win their first World Series title since 1924 (when they were the Washington Senators*) against the St. Louis Cardinals. I move to Boston in 2000 and four years later, the Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918 against the St. Louis Cardinals. I move to Michigan in 2005 and a year later (my power seems to grow stronger as I age and the time gets shorter), the Tigers have their first winning season since 1993 and go to the World Series for the first time since 1984 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
But note that I didn’t say that they won the World Series, for here my streak seems to end. In a postseason where the general consensus prediction among the pundits has been wrong at every level of the post-season, the Series proved to be no exception has the Tigers managed to win only one game and failed to bring it back to Detroit. At least this means I can go to the Halloween party tonight without worrying about the score of the game the whole time.
Also, the last time the Cardinals won the World Series was 1982, the first World Series I am alive for. Coincidence? Almost certainly.
* — The 1924 Senators’ star pitcher was none other than The Big Train, Walter Johnson. I recently found out that my friend Sara is his great-grand niece (the granddaughter of his nephew) and I briefly met his nephew at their family’s tailgate after the Michigan-Iowa game last week.

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Oct25

Cardinals 5, Tigers 0

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Cards lead series 2-1
It was poker night tonight, which means me and a crowd of guys who know significantly less about baseball than I do playing Texas Hold ‘Em with the World Series on in the background. (And on this night, I went home with $16 on a $5 buy-in — jcbarret would be so proud.) Being in Michigan, we’ve all adopted the Tigers as our team (for now) even though none of us are from here. Here’s some snippets of conversation…
Fox flashes Chris Carpenter’s home ERA of 1.41 on the screen
Guy 1: What does that mean?
Me: That the Tigers aren’t going to win.
Albert Pujols comes to bat in the 4th inning with runner on first.
Me: Man, this guy is scary.
Guy 2: Why?
Pujols hits a ground rule double.
Me: That’s why.
A few minutes later, Scott Rolen walks to load the bases with no outs.
Guy 3: This isn’t good, right?
Me: Nope.
After a ground out at home, Jim Edmonds lines a shot to right field.
Me: Well crap.
Guy 1 (looks up from his cards): Wait, what?
Me (points to television as Rolen and Pujols cross home plate): That.
Guy 3: I realize this would take a lot of work and stuff, but why don’t they just make all of the stadiums bigger so that they can allow aluminum bats?
Me (pause to figure out if he really asked what he just asked): Uh… because that would be stupid.
Guy 3: Why?
Guy 2: Yeah, the game would be more exciting that way.
Me: But some poor pitcher would get hit with a line drive going 200 MPH and be killed!
The game enters the seventh inning.
Guy 3: So is this game over?
Me: Never say never in baseball… although Carpenter’s still out there firing rockets, so the odds aren’t good.
Another Tiger wiffs at another pitch.
Guy 2: I think that was the third consecutive pitch over 100 MPH.
Me: Well, maybe it’s over.
The Cardinals score two more in the seventh on an ugly throwing error by Zumaya.
Me: Now it’s basically over.
Top of the 9th, two outs, two strikes on Craig Monroe.
Guy 2: Maybe the Tigers will come back.
(Me, Guy 1, and Guy 3 give him an incredulous look.)
Monroe grounds out to third to end the game.
Guy 2:… or maybe not.
Guy 3: Aren’t the Tigers supposed to be cleaning up against the Cardinals?
Me: What did I tell you during the ALCS? Don’t believe anything the pundits say — they’re wrong a lot. Particularly in this post-season.
Guy 3: Actually, I’m repeating what you said to me when the Tigers were playing the Yankees. You said that the American League was basically a lock to win the World Series.
Me: Oh… don’t listen to anything I say either.

Oct20

Cardinals 3, Mets 1

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It’s time for an old game I haven’t played in a long time… fun with the 9th Edition of the Baseball Encyclopedia.
After 9 innings of some very good baseball, the World Series teams for 2006 have been decided and its going to be a rematch of the 1968 World Series. The Tigers beat the Cards* in seven games that year. And who hit .333 with a homerun and 4 RBI for St. Louis that series? None other than our favorite Fox announcer, Tim McCarver.
It’s also a rematch of the 1934 World Series, another 7 game series, but this one won by the Cardinals. All four of the Cardinal wins were attributed to the Dean brothers — two each for Dizzy and Daffy. Mother must have been so proud. Not to be outdone in the fun names department, the Tigers three winning pitchers were Schoolboy Rowe (this is how he’s listed in the Players Register), Elden Auken, and Tommy Bridges. Well, two out of three, anyway.
So, what can we expect of the coming World Series if history is to be any indication? Seven games and a bunch of colorful characters.
Of course, the last time there was a World Series rematch involving the Cardinals, history didn’t even come close to repeating itself, so what do I know.
* — Sidebar: I was talking to a friend yesterday and he was asking me who I wanted to win the NLCS. I responded with “I think I’m going for the Cards,” and he thought I was making some reference to our weekly poker game.

Oct18

The Advantages to Living With a Musician

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Housemate: I know it’s late, but does anyone mind if I practice my cello for about an hour?
Me: Do you know the Bach Cello Suite No. 1?
Housemate: Yeah…
Me: You can only practice if you play that first.
Housemate: I can do that.
*strains of one of my favorite musical compositions come into the living room*
(Also, never got around to explaining how I listened to game 4 of the ALCS, in which the Tigers finished their sweep of the A’s, via a transistor radio in the middle of a corn maze. But that’s what I did.)

Oct7

Tigers 8, Yankees 3

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Oh, so this is what it’s like to cheer for a team that wins in the postseason… I had forgotten.
I actually started my Tiger cheering last night after the Twinkies got swept, by going to a bar full of Detroit fans and seeing them go up 2-1 in the series with the Yanks. After returning from my tailgate experience this afternoon, I sat in my room alone and watched the Tigers finish it up and send themselves to the ALCS against Oakland starting next. Jeremy Bonderman took a no-hitter into the sixth while in the meantime, the Tigers offense demonstrated that yes, the AL Central was the best division in baseball. They clobbered the Yankees left and right — I was so pleased.
The one thing I didn’t understand… Bonderman went 8 and 1/3 innings. With only two outs to go, why didn’t Leyland leave him in to finish it? He didn’t look in particularly poor shape to me and it’s not like Jamie Walker is an unstoppable closer or anything. Not that it really matters that he gave up a two run homer to Posada. The Tigers are still going to the ALCS and, almost more importantly, the Yankees are not.
Edit: Oh man, how can you not be happy for these guys? I’ve never before seen a team win a series and then go back on to the field and spray the fans with champagne. Not only that, but one of the security cops standing guard also got his own champagne shower.