The Underground Man

Liverpool crushes Toulouse

This was originally going to be a description of the recent Champions League game but by now y'all will have already seen it (or heard of it). Notably, we were reminded of why Peter Crouch is such an enigma. A fairly consistent goal scorer these days, you can see the greatness in him if he just had a bit more consistency. While he scored again, he gave away two or three chances that the best would have put away. He could have had a hat trick fairly easily. Frustrating, but you keep him around in the hopes that he'll come good.

He and Dirk Kuyt appear to be a second choice partnership to Babel and Torres right now. Not a bad option. Both are industrious and they're getting to know each other pretty well. I have to watch the game again but this Benayoun midfielder looks like a real find, pacy and quite capable of delivering some decisive passes and crosses.

Liverpool looks a different team this season - hungrier, less willing to settle for a draw. Not that they ever really did, but you could sense that four or five players drove the team in any given game. Now, perhaps because as Benitez says, there are two good players for every position, everyone seems to be pushed to excel on field.

I'm very excited for the season - they haven't played a bad game yet and their only draw came as the result of a very bad ref call (acknowledged by all for a change).

Another one bites the dust

Hallelujah! Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation. This is just one in a long chain of resignations that I didn't expect to see. The train is coming off the rails and maybe a little sanity is coming back to our national politics.

"That wasn't a bread and butter goal.."

"It had a lot of jam." Heard on FSC while watching the Man Utd. v. Tottenham goal.

Just classic commentary. You have to love the EPL.. such a fast game of such high quality. Rarely poor refeering - last week's travesty of a penalty against Liverpool notwitstanding.

I'm surprised..

Ok, I admit it. I'm surprised. I haven't deigned to watch MLS 'cause my previous experience (a couple of years ago) suggested that it was a couple of leagues down from the EPL. It was slow, tactically naive, and players would miss passes in an open field.

But watching last night's game between the NY Red Bulls and the LA Galaxy (recorded 8/18) I found myself really enjoying it. A corker of a match with nine goals scored between the two teams.

The quality of players has definitely come up (not defenders though) and it's pretty energetic. One wishes the fields weren't revised football fields (with the numbers still showing in some cases) but it's just taking quite a while for the sport to catch on here. I suppose the increased Hispanic influence in America is having that effect. Good news.

Time to watch a few more games..

Iraq again..

It's really quite heartening to see this level of understanding at the level of the career military.

I'm quite impressed with their reasoning and writing. One can only hope that they haven't sacrificed their careers by speaking out.

The Bushites are not known for their tolerance of dissent.

A tip of the hat to A Crank's Progress for the pointer to this article.

Michael Vick

Can't say that I'm sorry that he took the plea deal. I don't think anyone wanted to hear the details of his abusing and murdering dogs.

If we never see him again on TV, it'll be too soon.

More on Le Mans

I think the thing that is so interesting about this film, that makes it so accessible, is that it really represented the pinnacle of the Mechanical Age. At least in automotive terms. Not long after this, we started to see the first computers in cars - I believe in fuel injection systems - and this started the inevitable decline to active suspension systems, active ground force effects, and computer-controlled traction systems (not to mention engine and fuel management and datalogging).

In the context of this film, this was still auto-racing as it had been for the last 60 years. The cars were faster, the rubber better, but it was still a man, a machine, a pit crew... Not even a communication (radio) system with the pits - I saw cars flashing their headlights to acknowledge their pit boards. So an absolute ton of judgement/choice remained with the drivers.

A book about one of the drivers of this era, Stefan Bellof, just came out. Sadly, it's only in German and my German is so rusty as to be useless.

I have a poster of one of Bellof's triumphs on my living room wall. Back in the day when Porsche won everything in WSC. Some say that he was better than Senna.

Good..

Good for the bears, I say.

Le Mans in HD

Wow.. Bloody hell.

Just watched the last 1/3 rd or so of the high-definition (HD) version of Le Mans. Chanced across it on TV (purchased yesterday).

Amazing detail. I don't know if the sound was also 5.1 but those 917s sounded wonderful. Reminded of how much I like this film. The best job of depicting what the sensations of race are like. Wonderful photography and pacing.

I don't remember it being this good. Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind.. though it definitely seemed very vivid and the color was just right. Great transfer.

Now I have to see if it is available in HD or Blu-Ray.

Cooking class

I got into a cooking class at the local chef's supply store (Sur La Table) this evening.

Of course, the class would be labelled "Date Night: Casual Mediterranean Dinner". What, are they just rubbing in it that I'm single?

Still.. the menu looks interesting and I hope to actually learn something useful. I do very well (if i say so myself) with even fairly complex dinner preparations but I really want to step up a bit and work on timing and presentation. The menu looks great..

MENU: Marinated Flank Steak with Garlic, Shallots, and Fresh Herbs - Vine-Ripened Tomato Basil Soup - Orzo Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Asparagus, Mushrooms and Feta Cheese - Grilled, Marinated Eggplant with Fresh Thyme and Rosemary, topped with Baked Olives

Nifty hack..

What a nifty hack. These hack are injecting subversive advertisements into torrented movies.

I just saw one in Spiderman 3 - a "meat is murder" message. Struck me as seriously weird being in the middle of the film and I looked up the url displayed on the screen and found 'em.

Apparently, they've done it within a ton of torrented films. Talk about cyberpunk.

Sweet.

Still gonna eat meat though.

Woe unto the Constitution

Talk about abuse of abuse of power. When we look back at all of this in ten or twenty years, will we be saying that these were the first steps into turning America into Amerika? A totalitarian state?

The core premise would seem to be that anything is justified in the battle against "Islamo-Fascism".

But what price victory when we can no longer recognize the country that we live in and are no longer protected by laws? Are we not moving in exactly the direction our worst enemies would dictate for us?

Some keys to success at Microsoft

I've had some success in what Microsoft calls "cross group collaboration".

Basically, I paddle my canoe over to nearby islands bringing gifts and try not to get skewered by the natives before I can explain the benefits of working together. Lots of fun really.

Herewith some keys:

1. Piss no one off.
2. Thank people for helping you.
2a. Make sure their people know they helped you.
3. Make your first interaction with people face to face (go to them).
4. Keep your promises.
5. Only talk about things you know well.

In our electronic culture, of which Microsoft is pretty much the pinnacle, it's telling that personal relationships define whether one is successful or not. It's like the purest form of game theory can be applied in this environment. Fascinating..

Definitely got to get me one of these..

To paraphrase that great actor, Will Smith..

Very damn cool.

Wouldn't have to worry too much about scratching the paint work. Definitely a rich boy's toy.

very sad news out of China

Very sad news indeed out of China. I just learned of this fresh water dolphin species a couple of years ago and now I learn that they are extinct.

These sort of things make me very, very angry. But what can we in the first world do? Our lifestyle contributes to this as much as the depredations of third world nations like China.

Sure, they'll modernize. But they will have turned their beautiful country into an industrial wasteland by the time they do.

Talk about sacrificing for your art

Talk about sacrificing for your art. How's that for nasty?

I so want this..

This just rocks.

Microsoft should hire this guy...

Gridskipper

Very cool site I just found (courtesy of Gmail):

Gridskipper.

we're arming the enemy

I just have a hard time believing this. We seem to have armed the insurgency in Iraq largely by ourselves. And the golden-haired boy himself, General Petraeus, appears to be largely responsible for this glaring oversight.

Simply stunning.

FSJ revealed

It's a very sad day in satire-land. My favorite anonymous online columnist, Fake Steve Jobs has been outed by the NY Times.

All because his literary agent couldn't keep his mouth shut. I really preferred not knowing (and enjoyed the speculation) who he was.

I will now do my level best to forget his name so I can continue to enjoy the blog.

Boxster S - Eva

So, herewith a photo of Eva:





Taken by by good friend, Jason, at my parent's house. Soon, she'll have her own number plate. I thought about the original number plate that Bond had in the first couple of Bond films but that just seemed too obscure for most people to get.

The new tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Positions are on and aligned by the dealer (massively expensive). The wheels aligned very quickly and easily (suspension in great shape) so all I have left to address is the RR wheel that the previous owner curbed. It's cosmetic only, so I won't rush to do it.

Got the dealership to swap out my filter this morning so I feel much better knowing that it's all Porsche-spec parts. No point in risking an expensive motor because of a crap-ass filter.

She drives like a dream now.. no more judder at 80mph+. It was probably the toe - which was out by quite a bit.

Sidejacking

I knew there was a good reason not to use unprotected WiFi.

Damn.. another reason to have to buy an Internet connection.

Last Baltimore picture

One of the last Baltimore pictures I took and, I think, one of my best:





Taken outside of my favorite pub, Slainte in Fells Point. The place made Baltimore livable.
This is apparently a real Royal Enfield that this chap restored. Bravo!

If it wasn't for the great new friends I made after moving there, I would say if I never see the place again it will be too soon. As it is, I'll be seeing them again for a wedding in October. I just plan to keep my eyes closed as I drive through the city.

Pretty much wasted a year of my life and career moving there. It hasn't made me dislike women but it will take an awful lot before I make the mistake of trusting one again.