Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Jeb's Predictions=Bad
Remember me saying I liked UConn, Duke, and Texas A&M tonight? Well all three lost. Go me! That is all.
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I've been sponsored
I was in an in-depth discussion on Fark today and some kind soul decided to buy me a month's subscription to TotalFark (the premium version of the site). This is exciting. I'll have to check it out. I'm afraid though that I may become addicted. Once you go TotalFark, it may be hard to go back to the Basic version. Just thought I'd brag about something that only my friend Matt would care about.
More notes on college basketball
According to Ken Pomeroy's log5 method (which is what I partially base my predictions on), William & Mary has a 0.3% chance of winning the Colonial Tournament. Yikes! My pick to win it, Old Dominion, has a 45% chance to win with conference leading VCU at 27.2%. Here's to the 0.3% in life.
Appalachian is up to the 8th team out in Joe Lunari's bracket projections on ESPN. Moving up but they've still got some work to do.
Also to show how difficult the Colonial League is at the top, Lunardi has three Colonial teams in the bracket this week. Granted none is above an #11 seed but that's pretty solid for a mid-major conference to have three teams among the top 48 or so in the country.
Some good games tonight. Maryland at Duke. Texas A&M at Texas. Villanova at Connecticut. I like Duke and Connecticut at home. Texas absolutely can "upset" Texas A&M with Durant playing for the crowd at home. But you know I love the Aggies this year. So I'm going with A&M.
Florida is down to #6th on the ranking scale for seeds now. They can still get a #1 seed, but I think they might have to win the SEC Tourney to do it and hope teams like UNC and Kansas lose as well.
Appalachian is up to the 8th team out in Joe Lunari's bracket projections on ESPN. Moving up but they've still got some work to do.
Also to show how difficult the Colonial League is at the top, Lunardi has three Colonial teams in the bracket this week. Granted none is above an #11 seed but that's pretty solid for a mid-major conference to have three teams among the top 48 or so in the country.
Some good games tonight. Maryland at Duke. Texas A&M at Texas. Villanova at Connecticut. I like Duke and Connecticut at home. Texas absolutely can "upset" Texas A&M with Durant playing for the crowd at home. But you know I love the Aggies this year. So I'm going with A&M.
Florida is down to #6th on the ranking scale for seeds now. They can still get a #1 seed, but I think they might have to win the SEC Tourney to do it and hope teams like UNC and Kansas lose as well.
Prince Charles...Nutritionist?
Prince Charles suggests banning McDonald's
I have a better idea. How about banning people from getting all their nutrition from Big Macs and Double Quarter Pounders. That might improve diets a bit more.
Hate the sinner not the sin. That's what I always say.
I have a better idea. How about banning people from getting all their nutrition from Big Macs and Double Quarter Pounders. That might improve diets a bit more.
Hate the sinner not the sin. That's what I always say.
More on the Gators
Bill Simmons had an interesting point today. He was talking about how Florida has looked like they're just on cruise control. Perhaps because they were the champions last year, got into the NCAAs as a #3 seed and then turned it on. He said that probably wouldn't happen this year because the top teams are loaded compared to last year's teams. He asked if any team from last year could have beaten one of the top ten teams from this year. I checked the Ken Pomeroy's site and this may be accurate. If you compare Florida's performance last year to the performance of this year's teams, at present Florida would rank 11th. He only has a couple years of data but if you consider the two national champions before Florida, North Carolina and UConn, they would rank around 4th currently. So it's clear that Florida was the weakest national champion of at least the past three years. Even with virtually everyone back from last year, unless Florida plays with more passion, it's going to be difficult for them to win 6 straight in a Tournament with loaded UNC and Kansas, UCLA, Ohio State and Texas A&M.
Very early, but the stock market has rebounded some from yesterday's debacle. Of course I'm not along for the ride. I have a position in JOY Global which sells mining machinery. Unfortunately it missed earnings and it looks like it's going to drag me down for the day. It was one of the stocks I was worried about the valuation as of late too. Looks like I didn't sell the right stocks. At least in the immediate term.
Very early, but the stock market has rebounded some from yesterday's debacle. Of course I'm not along for the ride. I have a position in JOY Global which sells mining machinery. Unfortunately it missed earnings and it looks like it's going to drag me down for the day. It was one of the stocks I was worried about the valuation as of late too. Looks like I didn't sell the right stocks. At least in the immediate term.
DailyKos doesn't know economics
To celebrate my 200th post on my new blog, I'm going to make fun of DailyKos.
I was browsing through the stories on DailyKos yesterday. I don't know why. I don't like Bush either but they blame him for so much, even things he has nothing to do with, that it reaches self-parody. There was a diary on the big drop in the stock market and the comment section was filled with the usual nonsense. Is it mutually exclusive to be a far-left liberal and have any understanding of economics whatsoever? I'm sorry to stereotype but I have yet to meet one. They all assume that every corporation is bad, the government single-handedly controls the economy as if it's a computer network set in the corner of the Oval Office, etc. And I know ovals don't have corners BUT YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT! Here's some of the "jewels" that were in the comment section.
The markets are reacting to the fact that he somehow SURVIVED his trip to Afghanistan: Yes because the market gets really happy when someone one heartbeat away from the Presidency is targeted in assassination attempt. That just buoys everyone's spirits. On most sites, I'd count this as sarcasm. But it's Kos, so I think the author is genuine.
If I had any money to speak of I'd be in gold and real estate: Yeah real estate is a great bet now as the housing market seems to look even worse by the week. It looks to me like real estate will be in a down market the next 2-3 years to unwind some of the ridiculous gains we've had. And gold is one of the stupidest investments long-term you can make (besides Social Security). I remember reading somewhere that if you invested $1 in gold 100 years ago, today you would have about 97 cents. And that doesn't even include inflation.
Peak Oil will tank the real estate market VERY soon: Just like it did the last two times peak oil was expected to hit. Oh wait it didn't. Because it's a flawed economic methodology and doesn't take into account reserves that haven't been found yet and severely underestimates the amount of reserves countries may have or be producing. But keep the doom-saying up guys!
Cash is king in a recession: Someone else countered this on the Kos forum but I thought I'd ask too...what kind of cash? Dollar? Euro? Yen? Peso? Currencies change value compared to others all the time.
Gold is real money: No it's not. It's a fucking element. It's a commodity. It's not real money. It changes in value. An ounce of gold today may be worth a vastly different amount a year from now. If gold is real money than so is helium.
In a recession, oil is king: Already been countered but yeah...oil demand goes down in a recession.
Wait till China puts the billions in the world stock market they are talking about doing First they take our manufacturing industry and our jobs. Then they make everything and sell it back to us so they can take our money. Then with our mone, they buy up our debt so we are really dependent on them to live. Next, they take the rest of our money to buy up the stock and own the corporations in the US stock market. I'd say we've been invaded and beaten without a shot. Good ol' free traders and neo liberals.: This sounds strangely familiar. I KNOW! The 1980s when the Japanese were doing the same. And then their economy went into a decade long recession.
Somebody should NAIL Bushco for private account talk NOW...!!!: For one day? It wasn't even that large a drop by historical standards.
There goes our wonderful economy...What will they point to now?: In truth, Bush & Co do point to the stock market a lot to prove the economy is strong. But just because there was aless than 4% drop today doesn't prove or mean the economy is in the toilet. It was a one day event. In 1987 it lost 1/4 of its value. Yesterday it lost less than 1/25. That's a bit of a difference.
And it goes on. Please liberals, start to understand economics. If we can get you to understand that and business and get the conservatives to actually care for individuality and stop thinking they should rule the world then maybe we would be in a little better place.
I was browsing through the stories on DailyKos yesterday. I don't know why. I don't like Bush either but they blame him for so much, even things he has nothing to do with, that it reaches self-parody. There was a diary on the big drop in the stock market and the comment section was filled with the usual nonsense. Is it mutually exclusive to be a far-left liberal and have any understanding of economics whatsoever? I'm sorry to stereotype but I have yet to meet one. They all assume that every corporation is bad, the government single-handedly controls the economy as if it's a computer network set in the corner of the Oval Office, etc. And I know ovals don't have corners BUT YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT! Here's some of the "jewels" that were in the comment section.
The markets are reacting to the fact that he somehow SURVIVED his trip to Afghanistan: Yes because the market gets really happy when someone one heartbeat away from the Presidency is targeted in assassination attempt. That just buoys everyone's spirits. On most sites, I'd count this as sarcasm. But it's Kos, so I think the author is genuine.
If I had any money to speak of I'd be in gold and real estate: Yeah real estate is a great bet now as the housing market seems to look even worse by the week. It looks to me like real estate will be in a down market the next 2-3 years to unwind some of the ridiculous gains we've had. And gold is one of the stupidest investments long-term you can make (besides Social Security). I remember reading somewhere that if you invested $1 in gold 100 years ago, today you would have about 97 cents. And that doesn't even include inflation.
Peak Oil will tank the real estate market VERY soon: Just like it did the last two times peak oil was expected to hit. Oh wait it didn't. Because it's a flawed economic methodology and doesn't take into account reserves that haven't been found yet and severely underestimates the amount of reserves countries may have or be producing. But keep the doom-saying up guys!
Cash is king in a recession: Someone else countered this on the Kos forum but I thought I'd ask too...what kind of cash? Dollar? Euro? Yen? Peso? Currencies change value compared to others all the time.
Gold is real money: No it's not. It's a fucking element. It's a commodity. It's not real money. It changes in value. An ounce of gold today may be worth a vastly different amount a year from now. If gold is real money than so is helium.
In a recession, oil is king: Already been countered but yeah...oil demand goes down in a recession.
Wait till China puts the billions in the world stock market they are talking about doing First they take our manufacturing industry and our jobs. Then they make everything and sell it back to us so they can take our money. Then with our mone, they buy up our debt so we are really dependent on them to live. Next, they take the rest of our money to buy up the stock and own the corporations in the US stock market. I'd say we've been invaded and beaten without a shot. Good ol' free traders and neo liberals.: This sounds strangely familiar. I KNOW! The 1980s when the Japanese were doing the same. And then their economy went into a decade long recession.
Somebody should NAIL Bushco for private account talk NOW...!!!: For one day? It wasn't even that large a drop by historical standards.
There goes our wonderful economy...What will they point to now?: In truth, Bush & Co do point to the stock market a lot to prove the economy is strong. But just because there was aless than 4% drop today doesn't prove or mean the economy is in the toilet. It was a one day event. In 1987 it lost 1/4 of its value. Yesterday it lost less than 1/25. That's a bit of a difference.
And it goes on. Please liberals, start to understand economics. If we can get you to understand that and business and get the conservatives to actually care for individuality and stop thinking they should rule the world then maybe we would be in a little better place.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Gator bait?
Florida is starting to collapse. They lost to Tennessee tonight. I think that's their 3rd in the last 4. At one point they were down by 27. I had them winning the national championship again this year in the preseason, but they're really sliding down my list of contenders. Better turn it around Gators. My List of 8 has a 100% success rate the past 6 years. You'll want to be on it.
I picked Davidson to win the SoCon Tournament. Matt has chosen Appalachian. let the battle begin!
Now watch Charleston win it.
Economists today said there is only a 1 in 5 chance of a recession this year. In other news, there is an 80% chance of there being a recession this year.
I majored in economics. I only say it because it's true.
I picked Davidson to win the SoCon Tournament. Matt has chosen Appalachian. let the battle begin!
Now watch Charleston win it.
Economists today said there is only a 1 in 5 chance of a recession this year. In other news, there is an 80% chance of there being a recession this year.
I majored in economics. I only say it because it's true.
That was hideous.
Well the slaughter on Wall Street is thankfully over. For the day at least. I've been leery about my sharply rising portfolio and the fact that the major indices hadn't had a big percentage drop in several years. The laws of statistics finally caught up. The Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ all lost more than 3% today with the NASDAQ closer to 4. My portfolio at least held up some being as risky as it is coming in with a 3.98% decline. I don't think I've ever lost a 4 digit number in one day. A first time for everything. On a brighter note, with the rise I've had this year, I'm still up nearly 10%. Which is great since all the major averages are now in the red for the year. I guess we'll see in the coming days and weeks whether this was just a needed "shaking of the trees" on Wall Street or the start of a longer correction. I feel we could be in a downtrend for a little while. I don't know about a recession though. I feel that we can make it into at least 2008 before the dreaded R word hits us. But the thing about recessions is nobody knows when they're coming and in fact, we generally don't know we had one until after it's over.
I figured it was fake
UNC students admit breakup was a hoax
I posted that video earlier. It seemed pretty obvious. This guy had like thousands invited to the event and his "girlfriend" didn't even know. I know he said she didn't use Facebook but please. In fact they weren't even dating. It was a well done hoax though and proved a point. I was skeptical to begin with but it was an enjoyable clip.
I posted that video earlier. It seemed pretty obvious. This guy had like thousands invited to the event and his "girlfriend" didn't even know. I know he said she didn't use Facebook but please. In fact they weren't even dating. It was a well done hoax though and proved a point. I was skeptical to begin with but it was an enjoyable clip.
A confluence of events
Some pretty interesting news today...
There was a suicide bombing in Afghanistan today where 23 people were killed. Apparently, the primary target was Vice-President Dick Cheney. However he wasn't in the immediate area and was rushed to a bomb shelter.
Remember how I warned that that the stock market (especially my stocks) have had a pretty remarkable run and were due for some correction? Looks like my prediction is coming true today. The news of the attack in Afghanistan, Alan Greenspan's remarks of an imminent recession, China stocks getting pummeled, among many others are killing stocks today. And I think it's safe to say that my 10 session winning streak will be ending today barring a remarkable comeback. Good timing Jeb. Selling the bond fund yesterday. That was wise.
On a good note, Cogent reported earnings yesterday and investors seemed to deem it acceptable. It's the only stock up mine that is up today. The one that's been the lone loser in my portfolio for quite some time. What can you say?
Since I used to be a baseball card nut, I'll share that the famous Honus Wagner T-206 card has sold for a record $2.35 million. I think my all time most valuable was a Mike Schmidt jersey card. It booked for triple digits. But I doubt I could get that for it.
I have a comic that books for a over $1,000. But it doesn't go for but about 25% that on eBay. Oh well.
I think I should stick to more liquid investment vehicles such as stocks.
There was a suicide bombing in Afghanistan today where 23 people were killed. Apparently, the primary target was Vice-President Dick Cheney. However he wasn't in the immediate area and was rushed to a bomb shelter.
Remember how I warned that that the stock market (especially my stocks) have had a pretty remarkable run and were due for some correction? Looks like my prediction is coming true today. The news of the attack in Afghanistan, Alan Greenspan's remarks of an imminent recession, China stocks getting pummeled, among many others are killing stocks today. And I think it's safe to say that my 10 session winning streak will be ending today barring a remarkable comeback. Good timing Jeb. Selling the bond fund yesterday. That was wise.
On a good note, Cogent reported earnings yesterday and investors seemed to deem it acceptable. It's the only stock up mine that is up today. The one that's been the lone loser in my portfolio for quite some time. What can you say?
Since I used to be a baseball card nut, I'll share that the famous Honus Wagner T-206 card has sold for a record $2.35 million. I think my all time most valuable was a Mike Schmidt jersey card. It booked for triple digits. But I doubt I could get that for it.
I have a comic that books for a over $1,000. But it doesn't go for but about 25% that on eBay. Oh well.
I think I should stick to more liquid investment vehicles such as stocks.
The New Rasputin: Rulon Gardner?
I always thought the story of Grigori Rasputin (although probably fictionalized a tad) was fascinating. He was poisoned, shot, beaten, thrown into a sack and only then did he drown...or so the legend goes. Well there is a modern day heir to the throne and his name is Rulon Gardner. I was only aware of a couple of these and noticed the story on Sports Illustrated's website so I knew I had to share it.
In case you don't remember, Rulon Gardner won the 2000 Olympic gold medal in wrestling against the nearly invincible Alexander Karelin. Well since then, it's been interesting times.
The first thing (which I was not aware of) was while he was in elementary school, he was impaled by an arrow in show and tell. In his abdomen. I thought it was show and tell, not show and impale. (BOOOOOOOOOOOO). In 2002, he was stranded while out on his snowmobile, suffered frostbite, and had to have his toe amputated. In 2004, while riding his motorcycle, a car struck him. Well, God pulled out all the stops for the next one. This time, he was in a small plane crash (which he survived) into 44 degree water. Him and his friends swam for more than an hour (it takes 30 minutes for hypothermia to kick in) finally found shore, and had to go through the night without shelter and limited supplies. They eventually found help once morning came to allow Rulon to cheat death yet again.
My theory is that he somehow Rulon got ahold of a picture of God drunk or something and now God is trying to get rid of the evidence. So Rulon, my advice is to give the picture back so God can "uncreate" it. Word on the street is the next deathtrap involves a hanglider, a tank of piranhas, and a bucket of pig's blood. So get rid of the evidence! You better do it quick before this becomes like those Final Destination movies. And we don't want to get that stupid.
In case you don't remember, Rulon Gardner won the 2000 Olympic gold medal in wrestling against the nearly invincible Alexander Karelin. Well since then, it's been interesting times.
The first thing (which I was not aware of) was while he was in elementary school, he was impaled by an arrow in show and tell. In his abdomen. I thought it was show and tell, not show and impale. (BOOOOOOOOOOOO). In 2002, he was stranded while out on his snowmobile, suffered frostbite, and had to have his toe amputated. In 2004, while riding his motorcycle, a car struck him. Well, God pulled out all the stops for the next one. This time, he was in a small plane crash (which he survived) into 44 degree water. Him and his friends swam for more than an hour (it takes 30 minutes for hypothermia to kick in) finally found shore, and had to go through the night without shelter and limited supplies. They eventually found help once morning came to allow Rulon to cheat death yet again.
My theory is that he somehow Rulon got ahold of a picture of God drunk or something and now God is trying to get rid of the evidence. So Rulon, my advice is to give the picture back so God can "uncreate" it. Word on the street is the next deathtrap involves a hanglider, a tank of piranhas, and a bucket of pig's blood. So get rid of the evidence! You better do it quick before this becomes like those Final Destination movies. And we don't want to get that stupid.
Monday, February 26, 2007
It ain't me babe
My brother and I finally got around to watching Grave of the Fireflies. What an incredibly sad movie. But it's quite good. Roger Ebert was right to call it one of the finest war films of all time.
I've been listening to Spirit of Eden a lot the past few days. It's one of the albums that supposedly jump started the post/rock genre...whatever that means. Post/Rock is sort of the modern "alternative"...meaning whatever we can't categorize. Laughing Stock is a great album as well and a companion piece to Spirit of Eden but it's harder to get into than Spirit of Eden. And a few more reasons why Radiohead's Kid A work is a tad overrated. Motion Picture Soundtrack has to be cribbed at least partially from the track Wealth. And Wealth blows it out of the water.
I hit my 1,000th page view the today. WHAT A MILESTONE! Of course a couple of those are mine when I was looking on my blog for something. Haha. But whatever. And I think 4 ou of the last 7 visits were from the same person. For the love of God, Ashley, get a hobby!
Georgetown's 11 game win streak came to an end against Syracuse. Bad news for any potential bubble team (including App) as that may solidify 'Cuse in the Dance.
Good news from William & Mary today. I have been awarded a $5,000 scholarship for my first year in the MBA program. That should help some. And even better potentially, is that I won a graduate assistantship for my second year. This is helpful because it would effectively cut my tuition rate in half for that year (as I can claim Virginia residency at that point) plus I will get paid an addition $4,000. So that one could save me around $17-$18 thousand for my second year. Of course all this is contingent on me keeping my GPA above 3.0. It'll be a lot of work but I think I should be capable of that.
Another record leveraged buy-out (LBO). TXU is getting bought out for about $45 billion. I wonder how much longer this private-equity spree can last. It seems everything is a rumor to be bought out. I've heard Anheuser-Busch, Dow Chemical, Chrysler and my own Bed Bath & beyond among many others.
This is inspired by the Best Actor winner last night....Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicolas Cage, Phobe Cates, (Well excuse me) Judge Reinhold, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards. Why am I just rattling off actors and actresses. That's some of the cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Amazing that many later to be well-knowns were in this movie huh. In fact with last night's win, three have won Oscars (Penn, Cage, Whitaker). That's just crazy.
I've been listening to Spirit of Eden a lot the past few days. It's one of the albums that supposedly jump started the post/rock genre...whatever that means. Post/Rock is sort of the modern "alternative"...meaning whatever we can't categorize. Laughing Stock is a great album as well and a companion piece to Spirit of Eden but it's harder to get into than Spirit of Eden. And a few more reasons why Radiohead's Kid A work is a tad overrated. Motion Picture Soundtrack has to be cribbed at least partially from the track Wealth. And Wealth blows it out of the water.
I hit my 1,000th page view the today. WHAT A MILESTONE! Of course a couple of those are mine when I was looking on my blog for something. Haha. But whatever. And I think 4 ou of the last 7 visits were from the same person. For the love of God, Ashley, get a hobby!
Georgetown's 11 game win streak came to an end against Syracuse. Bad news for any potential bubble team (including App) as that may solidify 'Cuse in the Dance.
Good news from William & Mary today. I have been awarded a $5,000 scholarship for my first year in the MBA program. That should help some. And even better potentially, is that I won a graduate assistantship for my second year. This is helpful because it would effectively cut my tuition rate in half for that year (as I can claim Virginia residency at that point) plus I will get paid an addition $4,000. So that one could save me around $17-$18 thousand for my second year. Of course all this is contingent on me keeping my GPA above 3.0. It'll be a lot of work but I think I should be capable of that.
Another record leveraged buy-out (LBO). TXU is getting bought out for about $45 billion. I wonder how much longer this private-equity spree can last. It seems everything is a rumor to be bought out. I've heard Anheuser-Busch, Dow Chemical, Chrysler and my own Bed Bath & beyond among many others.
This is inspired by the Best Actor winner last night....Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicolas Cage, Phobe Cates, (Well excuse me) Judge Reinhold, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards. Why am I just rattling off actors and actresses. That's some of the cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Amazing that many later to be well-knowns were in this movie huh. In fact with last night's win, three have won Oscars (Penn, Cage, Whitaker). That's just crazy.
Southern Conference Tournament Predictions
The Southern Conference Tournament is set and now I'll predict what I think will happen. Can Appalachian and Davidson get in the race for at-large selections if they don't win the Tourney?
FIRST ROUND
#8 Chattanooga vs #9 Wofford: Wofford has one of the worst defenses in the country. That will cost them. Chattanooga 73 Wofford 70
#7 Western Carolina vs #10 Elon: Both teams are bad but Elon is worse. Western Carolina 70 Elon 68
#6 Georgia Southern vs #11 Citadel: The Citadel is clearly one of the worst teams in the country. Should be an easy win for Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern 69 Citadel 59
QUARTERFINALS
#1 Davidson vs #8 Chattanooga: Davidson has 22-1 in their last 23 games. The loss was to Appalachian. Chattanooga is not Appalachian. Davidson 79 Chattanooga 65
#4 UNC Greensboro vs #5 Furman: Greensboro was actually the preseason favorite by some in the North Division before App's great season. I think their talent propels them into the semifinals. UNC-Greensboro 69 Furman 66
#2 Appalachian State vs #7 Western Carolina: App and Davidson are clearly the two best teams in the Southern Conference. However unlike Davidson, App has lost to teams they shouldn't have. I don't think App loses to Western but if they are looking ahead to another game with Davidson it could happen. Appalachian 81 Western Carolina 66
#3 College of Charleston vs #6 Georgia Southern: Don't look past College of Charleston. They haven't gotten the publicity of Davidson or Appalachian but they are a good team and fully capable of winning this if the top two stumble. College of Charleston 68 Georgia Southern 62
SEMIFINALS
#1 Davidson vs #4 UNC- Greensboro: UNC-G is talented but Davidson smells another NCAA bid. Too much Davidson. Davidson 78 UNC-G 67
#2 Appalachian State vs #3 College of Charleston: Bobby Cremins has Charleston in a position to contend for many years to come. But App has been building to a season like this for a long time. It'll be a hard fought win but App advances to the final. Appalachian 71 College of Charleston 66
FINAL
#1 Davidson vs #2 Appalachian State: The match everyone in the Southern Conference has waited for. The two best teams with a trip to the NCAAs on the line. The loser will have to sit and hope their name is called on Selection Sunday. The only time they played this season, App won on Davidson's homecourt. This should be a good game. So who wins? I like Davidson. Both team's offenses are pretty comparable. But Appalachian doesn't have as strong a defense as Davidson. Davidson's coach McKillop also has more experience than Fancher so I think the edge goes to Davidson as well. I think App comes up just short but will get no worse than an NIT bid. However if they want the NCAAs they'll have to pull against several of the bubble teams in front of them. Davidson 76 Appalachian 74
FIRST ROUND
#8 Chattanooga vs #9 Wofford: Wofford has one of the worst defenses in the country. That will cost them. Chattanooga 73 Wofford 70
#7 Western Carolina vs #10 Elon: Both teams are bad but Elon is worse. Western Carolina 70 Elon 68
#6 Georgia Southern vs #11 Citadel: The Citadel is clearly one of the worst teams in the country. Should be an easy win for Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern 69 Citadel 59
QUARTERFINALS
#1 Davidson vs #8 Chattanooga: Davidson has 22-1 in their last 23 games. The loss was to Appalachian. Chattanooga is not Appalachian. Davidson 79 Chattanooga 65
#4 UNC Greensboro vs #5 Furman: Greensboro was actually the preseason favorite by some in the North Division before App's great season. I think their talent propels them into the semifinals. UNC-Greensboro 69 Furman 66
#2 Appalachian State vs #7 Western Carolina: App and Davidson are clearly the two best teams in the Southern Conference. However unlike Davidson, App has lost to teams they shouldn't have. I don't think App loses to Western but if they are looking ahead to another game with Davidson it could happen. Appalachian 81 Western Carolina 66
#3 College of Charleston vs #6 Georgia Southern: Don't look past College of Charleston. They haven't gotten the publicity of Davidson or Appalachian but they are a good team and fully capable of winning this if the top two stumble. College of Charleston 68 Georgia Southern 62
SEMIFINALS
#1 Davidson vs #4 UNC- Greensboro: UNC-G is talented but Davidson smells another NCAA bid. Too much Davidson. Davidson 78 UNC-G 67
#2 Appalachian State vs #3 College of Charleston: Bobby Cremins has Charleston in a position to contend for many years to come. But App has been building to a season like this for a long time. It'll be a hard fought win but App advances to the final. Appalachian 71 College of Charleston 66
FINAL
#1 Davidson vs #2 Appalachian State: The match everyone in the Southern Conference has waited for. The two best teams with a trip to the NCAAs on the line. The loser will have to sit and hope their name is called on Selection Sunday. The only time they played this season, App won on Davidson's homecourt. This should be a good game. So who wins? I like Davidson. Both team's offenses are pretty comparable. But Appalachian doesn't have as strong a defense as Davidson. Davidson's coach McKillop also has more experience than Fancher so I think the edge goes to Davidson as well. I think App comes up just short but will get no worse than an NIT bid. However if they want the NCAAs they'll have to pull against several of the bubble teams in front of them. Davidson 76 Appalachian 74
The madness continues
Barring a complete meltdown later today, my winning streak is going to go to 10. And it may be another big day. JAKKS Pacific had really great earnings and is currently up about 14%. That's the toy company that I got my brother to invest in. So if I want any of my stocks to do well, it's that one so my brother doesn't get burned with his first investment.
I bought Meritage Homes today. It's the 13th largest homebuilder in the country. When housing was booming everyone said house prices and sales would go up forever. I didn't believe so I stayed the hell out of real estate and homebuilders. Now that the bubble has burst, commentators would have us believe every homebuilder is going down in flames and will all have to file for bankruptcy. I don't believe that either. So I've been thinking for several weeks of buying one. I looked at some others but with the research I've done, Meritage seems to be one that will come out of the troubles in the best shape. And since they're in 13th place they have more room to grow than say D.R. Horton which is #1.
I'm going to sell my bond mutual fund. I decided I'm 22 and have no reason to be investing in bonds. I don't know what I was thinking. On a bright note, I think it will be reported as a loss even though I've made money. The money I made was income and I'll be paying taxes on that this year. At least that's the way I understand it. Of course I made a C in Accounting II so what do I know?
The Wisconsin-Ohio State game was pretty good. I haven't seen bracket projections for today, but I assume Ohio State is up to a #1 seed now. Especially with losses by Florida and UNC. They might not have passed both of them AND Wisconsin but they surely got in front of at least one which is all they need right now.
I'm taking a shower now and off to the vet. Later
I bought Meritage Homes today. It's the 13th largest homebuilder in the country. When housing was booming everyone said house prices and sales would go up forever. I didn't believe so I stayed the hell out of real estate and homebuilders. Now that the bubble has burst, commentators would have us believe every homebuilder is going down in flames and will all have to file for bankruptcy. I don't believe that either. So I've been thinking for several weeks of buying one. I looked at some others but with the research I've done, Meritage seems to be one that will come out of the troubles in the best shape. And since they're in 13th place they have more room to grow than say D.R. Horton which is #1.
I'm going to sell my bond mutual fund. I decided I'm 22 and have no reason to be investing in bonds. I don't know what I was thinking. On a bright note, I think it will be reported as a loss even though I've made money. The money I made was income and I'll be paying taxes on that this year. At least that's the way I understand it. Of course I made a C in Accounting II so what do I know?
The Wisconsin-Ohio State game was pretty good. I haven't seen bracket projections for today, but I assume Ohio State is up to a #1 seed now. Especially with losses by Florida and UNC. They might not have passed both of them AND Wisconsin but they surely got in front of at least one which is all they need right now.
I'm taking a shower now and off to the vet. Later
Post-Oscar Observations
I was glad to see Pan's Labyrinth win the second most awards. But instead of finishing 2nd to Dreamgirls it was The Departed that beat it. Pan's Labyrinth should have won more though. Especially Best Foreign Language Film. But at least it got some recognition.
No real surprises in the acting categories. Except for a mild upset of Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy.
Good to see Scorsese finally get his well deserved Oscar. And to see The Departed win best Picture. I only saw two of the other contenders but it was easily #1 of the three. I won't mention Children of Men or Pan's Labyrinth. Oh wait. I just did.
Ok I have to take our diabetic dog to the vet in the morning. So I'm going to bed. Yes...a diabetic dog. You know our country has an obesity problem when your dog is diabetic. Night
No real surprises in the acting categories. Except for a mild upset of Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy.
Good to see Scorsese finally get his well deserved Oscar. And to see The Departed win best Picture. I only saw two of the other contenders but it was easily #1 of the three. I won't mention Children of Men or Pan's Labyrinth. Oh wait. I just did.
Ok I have to take our diabetic dog to the vet in the morning. So I'm going to bed. Yes...a diabetic dog. You know our country has an obesity problem when your dog is diabetic. Night
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Jeb's Re-Ranking of 2006 in film
I normally don't do this so early, but I've seen quite a few films since the end of the year and I felt it appropriate on the day of the Oscars to re-rank them. I even have a new worst and best choice for 2006. So let's see the rankings for what I think was the best year in film in many years.
29. Saw III: I'll be honest. I never saw the first two. But if they're of similar quality, I'm not missing much.
28. The Marine: I'll be honest, it was kind of funny and enjoyable every now and then. But it screamed "straight-to-cable" not an actual theatrical experience. Of course it was produced by WWE and starred John Cena so I probably shouldn't have expected Lawrence of Arabia.
27. See No Evil: Same as above. It gets ranked higher because our wrestling star actually sort of did a choke slam which broke the tie.
26. Lady in the Water: Certainly looks even worse since I saw Pan's Labyrinth. Shyamalan has jumped the shark. Or maybe he did with The Village. Whatever.
25. Eragon: The fact that this was released nearly three years after LOTR trilogy didn't help its ranking. It looks like it was made ten years previously. I never read the book and you could tell they edited it mercilessly.
24. The Hills Have Eyes: I heard they're making a sequel. Who exactly asked for one?
23. Glory Road: I almost forgot I had seen it.
22. X-Men: The Last Stand: As mediocre as it was, I'm hoping it was the last stand.
21. Jet Li's Fearless: Not really very memorable either. A few cool martial arts scenes. But eh.
20. Hostel: Quite vicious. Pretty interesting but I like my horror more psychological.
19. Superman Returns: I thought this would be better with Bryan Singer at the helm. He did so well with X-Men. I was wrong.
18. Mission Impossible III: I only went to see Philip Seymour Hoffman. I wasn't disappointed with him.
17. Nacho Libre: Cute. Better than Napoleon Dynamite. Why didn't it get more pub?
16. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Pretty much ruined Johnny Depp's character. Thanks. Good job. Great visual effects though.
15. Inside Man: It was enjoyable but...if I have trouble remembering it when I compile these rankings, it definitely hurts the score.
14. An Inconvenient Truth: Seems to have rallied the cause to stop global warming. Loses focus at times to talk about Al Gore's personal life. But it was informative and more interesting than you'd think hearing Al Gore give a speech would be.
13. Slither: A fun homage to B movie horror
12. Thank You For Smoking: It's a pretty biting satire at times. But I don't understand when it loses focus and tries to become cute. Did Disney produce this? Did the filmmakers get scared? I dunno.
11. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Nowhere as consistently crazy or funny as Anchorman. But it has its moments. Loved all the fun being poked at NASCAR.
10. Snakes on a Plane: Shame it flopped at the box office. Such a ridiculously entertaining movie deserved better.
9. Flags of Our Fathers: Well done film on the soldiers who were captured in photograph putting up the flag on Iwo Jima and what the country did with them for propaganda purposes. But it would have ranked higher if not for the last third which hit us over the head with preachy moral lessons and sentimentality. I honestly felt like I was watching The Wonder Years in the last scene.
8. Babel: At times magnificent (most of the Tokyo story), other times inconsistent and maddening, Babel is this year's love it or hate it film. Since it's better than Crash, it'd be silly not to give it the Best Picture award this year. It doesn't deserve it but it's better than Crash. That's why when you make stupid choices, it makes you look stupid later.
7. Little Miss Sunshine: Seems to be getting some backlash because it could be a dark horse Best Picture winner tonight. In fact, I actually think it has a better chance than Babel now. The backlash is a little unwarranted though. The critics are criticizing it because people like it. And critics like to be in their own special club and like movies that nobody else does to make them feel intelligent. But this is a cute movie. It doesn't belong as a Best Picture nominee but it was probably the best comedy this year.
6. Borat: Cohen should have gotten a nomination for Best Actor. I mean, he did the entire press junket as Borat. WHO IS THAT DEDICATED TO HIS CRAFT? Great mockumentary that throws jokes where you least expect it. Although that nude fight scene still haunts my dreams.
5. The Descent: It's only appropriate that the best year in movies in awhile gives us the best horror in at least a decade. I dare you to watch it at night. I dare you. Loved all the homages to other movies (Apocalypse Now, Deliverance, Predator, Alien, etc.)
4. United 93: When the previews first came, audiences were disgusted saying it was too soon and was exploiting a tragedy to sell tickets. That's why you should wait to see something before you criticize it. A very respectful film showing us the day's events. Although it's not a documentary or even a "mockumentary", it has elements of one. There are no blatant characterizations. The passengers aren't brave action heroes, and the hijackers aren't sneering villains. They're all just people drawn into an extraordinary event in human history. I'll repeat what I said last time. If you're not shivering or a little teary-eyed when the screen goes black, you may not be human.
3. The Departed: It was wonderful to see Scorsese with his best film in over 15 years. I don't think it's the best film of the year (that's why it's third) but among the contenders I hope it wins. Scorsese at least deserves Best Director. If Eminem and Three Six Mafia have Oscars, shouldn't Marty? A great cast although they mostly got snubbed. On a second viewing, the score was outstanding as well with Rolling Stones, a live version of Comfortably Numb, and bagpipes playing Dvorak.
2. Children of Men: If this doesn't win Best Cinematography, something is seriously wrong. We had an attack on people in a car where the camera never cuts and stays inside the car the entire time. But that paled in comparison to the finale where we had Clive Owen in going through the streets and alleys of a warzone without the camera cutting. Bullets fly all around, blood splatters the camera (although it later leaves in what must be a subtle cheat), and explosions kick dirt up everywhere. Really amazing. The parallels to the Nativity Story are fascinating (and in case you don't notice it, they make a joke about the Virgin Birth which is one of the few examples of humor). A dark look into a potentially Fascist future and we leave with no easy answers, but we do leave with a glimmer of hope.
1. El laberinto del fauno: I'm just trying to confuse you. This is the actual title of Pan's Labyrinth. Pan's Labyrinth is the actually incorrect English title (actually means The Faun's Labyrinth but they decided that could be confused with the word fawn so whatever). Pan's Labyrinth is the best film of 2006. Period. And it may be the best film of the decade and one of the greatest fantasies of all time. Its stature has only grown since I saw it and have read more about it. The ending is actually ambiguous to some (not to me. The director even agrees with me but sees how people can find it ambiguous. The opposing view is an interesting argument but all their claims can be countered while evidence for my side cannot be so easily. I may write about it later but I won't spoil until everyone has at least a reasonable chance to see it.). The trials that Ofelia undertakes can be read by some as an allegory of pre-Franco Spain. The visual effects are impressive but understated. The acting is top-notch. Vidal is the most evil war-movie villain since Goeth in Schindler's List. The score is beautiful. As I mentioned before, Mr. Shyamalan may want to take notes to know how to truly engage the audience in a fantasy. I could go on but it's incredibly hard to explain how wonderful this film is. I've done the year-end movie rankings since calendar year 2004 and this is the best movie I've seen in this timeframe. When you get a chance to watch it as I did, I think you'll be emotionally overcome in the final frame as well.
29. Saw III: I'll be honest. I never saw the first two. But if they're of similar quality, I'm not missing much.
28. The Marine: I'll be honest, it was kind of funny and enjoyable every now and then. But it screamed "straight-to-cable" not an actual theatrical experience. Of course it was produced by WWE and starred John Cena so I probably shouldn't have expected Lawrence of Arabia.
27. See No Evil: Same as above. It gets ranked higher because our wrestling star actually sort of did a choke slam which broke the tie.
26. Lady in the Water: Certainly looks even worse since I saw Pan's Labyrinth. Shyamalan has jumped the shark. Or maybe he did with The Village. Whatever.
25. Eragon: The fact that this was released nearly three years after LOTR trilogy didn't help its ranking. It looks like it was made ten years previously. I never read the book and you could tell they edited it mercilessly.
24. The Hills Have Eyes: I heard they're making a sequel. Who exactly asked for one?
23. Glory Road: I almost forgot I had seen it.
22. X-Men: The Last Stand: As mediocre as it was, I'm hoping it was the last stand.
21. Jet Li's Fearless: Not really very memorable either. A few cool martial arts scenes. But eh.
20. Hostel: Quite vicious. Pretty interesting but I like my horror more psychological.
19. Superman Returns: I thought this would be better with Bryan Singer at the helm. He did so well with X-Men. I was wrong.
18. Mission Impossible III: I only went to see Philip Seymour Hoffman. I wasn't disappointed with him.
17. Nacho Libre: Cute. Better than Napoleon Dynamite. Why didn't it get more pub?
16. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Pretty much ruined Johnny Depp's character. Thanks. Good job. Great visual effects though.
15. Inside Man: It was enjoyable but...if I have trouble remembering it when I compile these rankings, it definitely hurts the score.
14. An Inconvenient Truth: Seems to have rallied the cause to stop global warming. Loses focus at times to talk about Al Gore's personal life. But it was informative and more interesting than you'd think hearing Al Gore give a speech would be.
13. Slither: A fun homage to B movie horror
12. Thank You For Smoking: It's a pretty biting satire at times. But I don't understand when it loses focus and tries to become cute. Did Disney produce this? Did the filmmakers get scared? I dunno.
11. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Nowhere as consistently crazy or funny as Anchorman. But it has its moments. Loved all the fun being poked at NASCAR.
10. Snakes on a Plane: Shame it flopped at the box office. Such a ridiculously entertaining movie deserved better.
9. Flags of Our Fathers: Well done film on the soldiers who were captured in photograph putting up the flag on Iwo Jima and what the country did with them for propaganda purposes. But it would have ranked higher if not for the last third which hit us over the head with preachy moral lessons and sentimentality. I honestly felt like I was watching The Wonder Years in the last scene.
8. Babel: At times magnificent (most of the Tokyo story), other times inconsistent and maddening, Babel is this year's love it or hate it film. Since it's better than Crash, it'd be silly not to give it the Best Picture award this year. It doesn't deserve it but it's better than Crash. That's why when you make stupid choices, it makes you look stupid later.
7. Little Miss Sunshine: Seems to be getting some backlash because it could be a dark horse Best Picture winner tonight. In fact, I actually think it has a better chance than Babel now. The backlash is a little unwarranted though. The critics are criticizing it because people like it. And critics like to be in their own special club and like movies that nobody else does to make them feel intelligent. But this is a cute movie. It doesn't belong as a Best Picture nominee but it was probably the best comedy this year.
6. Borat: Cohen should have gotten a nomination for Best Actor. I mean, he did the entire press junket as Borat. WHO IS THAT DEDICATED TO HIS CRAFT? Great mockumentary that throws jokes where you least expect it. Although that nude fight scene still haunts my dreams.
5. The Descent: It's only appropriate that the best year in movies in awhile gives us the best horror in at least a decade. I dare you to watch it at night. I dare you. Loved all the homages to other movies (Apocalypse Now, Deliverance, Predator, Alien, etc.)
4. United 93: When the previews first came, audiences were disgusted saying it was too soon and was exploiting a tragedy to sell tickets. That's why you should wait to see something before you criticize it. A very respectful film showing us the day's events. Although it's not a documentary or even a "mockumentary", it has elements of one. There are no blatant characterizations. The passengers aren't brave action heroes, and the hijackers aren't sneering villains. They're all just people drawn into an extraordinary event in human history. I'll repeat what I said last time. If you're not shivering or a little teary-eyed when the screen goes black, you may not be human.
3. The Departed: It was wonderful to see Scorsese with his best film in over 15 years. I don't think it's the best film of the year (that's why it's third) but among the contenders I hope it wins. Scorsese at least deserves Best Director. If Eminem and Three Six Mafia have Oscars, shouldn't Marty? A great cast although they mostly got snubbed. On a second viewing, the score was outstanding as well with Rolling Stones, a live version of Comfortably Numb, and bagpipes playing Dvorak.
2. Children of Men: If this doesn't win Best Cinematography, something is seriously wrong. We had an attack on people in a car where the camera never cuts and stays inside the car the entire time. But that paled in comparison to the finale where we had Clive Owen in going through the streets and alleys of a warzone without the camera cutting. Bullets fly all around, blood splatters the camera (although it later leaves in what must be a subtle cheat), and explosions kick dirt up everywhere. Really amazing. The parallels to the Nativity Story are fascinating (and in case you don't notice it, they make a joke about the Virgin Birth which is one of the few examples of humor). A dark look into a potentially Fascist future and we leave with no easy answers, but we do leave with a glimmer of hope.
1. El laberinto del fauno: I'm just trying to confuse you. This is the actual title of Pan's Labyrinth. Pan's Labyrinth is the actually incorrect English title (actually means The Faun's Labyrinth but they decided that could be confused with the word fawn so whatever). Pan's Labyrinth is the best film of 2006. Period. And it may be the best film of the decade and one of the greatest fantasies of all time. Its stature has only grown since I saw it and have read more about it. The ending is actually ambiguous to some (not to me. The director even agrees with me but sees how people can find it ambiguous. The opposing view is an interesting argument but all their claims can be countered while evidence for my side cannot be so easily. I may write about it later but I won't spoil until everyone has at least a reasonable chance to see it.). The trials that Ofelia undertakes can be read by some as an allegory of pre-Franco Spain. The visual effects are impressive but understated. The acting is top-notch. Vidal is the most evil war-movie villain since Goeth in Schindler's List. The score is beautiful. As I mentioned before, Mr. Shyamalan may want to take notes to know how to truly engage the audience in a fantasy. I could go on but it's incredibly hard to explain how wonderful this film is. I've done the year-end movie rankings since calendar year 2004 and this is the best movie I've seen in this timeframe. When you get a chance to watch it as I did, I think you'll be emotionally overcome in the final frame as well.
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
The field is set for the Colonial Athletic Men's Basketball Tournament so I thought I'd take guesses as to how it will turn out.
First Round
#8 William & Mary vs #9 Georgia State: William & Mary has had a decent year playing above .500 but struggled in losing their last three. Georgia State was 10-19 this year, lost to William & Mary twice, and never showed they could beat anybody. Third time the charm? Nope. William & Mary 70 Georgia State 66
#5 Northeastern vs #12 Delaware: Northeastern didn't have a winning record but closed out strong to finish 9-9 in conference. Nothing ever seemed to come together for Delaware as they went 5-25. Northeastern 70 Delaware 62
#7 Towson vs #10 UNC-Wilmington: Towson has lost three straight but they play 7-21 UNC-Wilmington. That should lift their spirits. Towson 72 UNC-Wilmington 67
#6 George Mason vs #11 James Madison: If George Mason wants to even have a chance for a second straight Final Four (not bloody likely), they have to win this tournament. Fortunately, they get to start with the second worst team in the conference. Beware though. James Madison beat Old Dominion so an upset isn't impossible. George Mason 73 James Madison 60
QUARTERFINAL
#8 William & Mary vs #1 VCU: William & Mary hasn't played VCU within single digits this year. And VCU knows they can beat some teams in March Madness if they get in. They'll be properly motivated. VCU 78 William & Mary 66
#5 Northeastern vs #4 Drexel: Drexel has had a very good year but the late year loss to William & Mary may have doomed their at-large chances. They should be able to beat a pretty weak Northeastern though. Drexel 68 Northeastern 59
#7 Towson vs #2 Old Dominion: Old Dominion beat Georgetown this year and is currently on an 11 game winning streak. Make that 12. Old Dominion 75 Towson 64
#6 George Mason vs #3 Hofstra: Hofstra still smarts from last year's Tournament in which they were snubbed and watched as a team they beat twice (George Mason) made it to the Final Four. Sweet revenge? Possibly. This should be a close one. But Hofstra's defense isn't quite as strong as the other elites in the conference. That will cost them. George Mason 70 Hofstra 69
SEMIFINALS
#1 VCU vs #4 Drexel: Both teams are good enough to cause damage. But everyone knows that this league is probably a one bid conference. So this game is extremely important for NCAA hopes. It's tough but VCU did better against the other "good" teams in conference and also doesn't have bad losses like Drexel does. VCU 70 Drexel 68
#6 George Mason vs #2 Old Dominion: Will the dream for George Mason continue!?!?!?! No. Old Dominion 67 George Mason 61
FINAL:
#1 VCU vs #2 Old Dominion: Just as it should, it's down to the two best teams in conference. VCU had the best record but Old Dominion was hotter down the stretch. So who wins the rubber match? Old Dominion lost the first game by 5 but hasn't lost since. Last time they played Old Dominion won by 16. VCU is good, but if Old Dominion can beat Georgetown, they can play with anybody in the country. Old Dominion 73 VCU 71
First Round
#8 William & Mary vs #9 Georgia State: William & Mary has had a decent year playing above .500 but struggled in losing their last three. Georgia State was 10-19 this year, lost to William & Mary twice, and never showed they could beat anybody. Third time the charm? Nope. William & Mary 70 Georgia State 66
#5 Northeastern vs #12 Delaware: Northeastern didn't have a winning record but closed out strong to finish 9-9 in conference. Nothing ever seemed to come together for Delaware as they went 5-25. Northeastern 70 Delaware 62
#7 Towson vs #10 UNC-Wilmington: Towson has lost three straight but they play 7-21 UNC-Wilmington. That should lift their spirits. Towson 72 UNC-Wilmington 67
#6 George Mason vs #11 James Madison: If George Mason wants to even have a chance for a second straight Final Four (not bloody likely), they have to win this tournament. Fortunately, they get to start with the second worst team in the conference. Beware though. James Madison beat Old Dominion so an upset isn't impossible. George Mason 73 James Madison 60
QUARTERFINAL
#8 William & Mary vs #1 VCU: William & Mary hasn't played VCU within single digits this year. And VCU knows they can beat some teams in March Madness if they get in. They'll be properly motivated. VCU 78 William & Mary 66
#5 Northeastern vs #4 Drexel: Drexel has had a very good year but the late year loss to William & Mary may have doomed their at-large chances. They should be able to beat a pretty weak Northeastern though. Drexel 68 Northeastern 59
#7 Towson vs #2 Old Dominion: Old Dominion beat Georgetown this year and is currently on an 11 game winning streak. Make that 12. Old Dominion 75 Towson 64
#6 George Mason vs #3 Hofstra: Hofstra still smarts from last year's Tournament in which they were snubbed and watched as a team they beat twice (George Mason) made it to the Final Four. Sweet revenge? Possibly. This should be a close one. But Hofstra's defense isn't quite as strong as the other elites in the conference. That will cost them. George Mason 70 Hofstra 69
SEMIFINALS
#1 VCU vs #4 Drexel: Both teams are good enough to cause damage. But everyone knows that this league is probably a one bid conference. So this game is extremely important for NCAA hopes. It's tough but VCU did better against the other "good" teams in conference and also doesn't have bad losses like Drexel does. VCU 70 Drexel 68
#6 George Mason vs #2 Old Dominion: Will the dream for George Mason continue!?!?!?! No. Old Dominion 67 George Mason 61
FINAL:
#1 VCU vs #2 Old Dominion: Just as it should, it's down to the two best teams in conference. VCU had the best record but Old Dominion was hotter down the stretch. So who wins the rubber match? Old Dominion lost the first game by 5 but hasn't lost since. Last time they played Old Dominion won by 16. VCU is good, but if Old Dominion can beat Georgetown, they can play with anybody in the country. Old Dominion 73 VCU 71
Saturday, February 24, 2007
College basketball action
Here's a rundown of a few games and what I think will happen today.
Clemson at Boston College: Someone needs a win to stop the bleeding. Boston College has lost three straight. Clemson has also lost three straight and is 2-8 since their 17-0 start. Of course Boston College didn't lose to Wake Forest. Yeesh! BC has lost their last two home games but I think the third time will be the charm. BC wins.
Indiana at Michigan State: The Hoosiers beat Michigan State by 22 last time they played. But the Spartans were just recovering from injuries. Revenge time for the MSU.
Pittsburgh at Georgetown: Big East Showdown! This game is for the lead in the conference. I'm really bullish on the Hoyas' national title chances so I'll go with Georgetown at home.
Wichita State at Creighton: Missouri Valley Madness! Creighton has played themselves onto the bubble with three losses in the last four. Wichita State hasn't had their mojo in awhile. I think this is the perfect tonic for Creighton to right the ship.
Stanford at UCLA: Stanford has had a good season and actually beat UCLA earlier this year. The Bruins won't let that happen again. UCLA wins easily.
Iowa State at Kansas: The Jayhawks keep rolling
Baylor at Texas A&M: Ditto
LSU at Florida: LSU has the talent. Of course they've lost 9 of their last 10. And I think Glen Davis is injured. Hmmm. Let's go with the Gators.
Georgia Tech at Virginia: The Yellow Jackets are better than their record. They will send the Cavs to their second straight loss.
And a few guesses for tomorrow's games...
Maryland at North Carolina: The Terps have been on a roll winning four straight by an average of more than 15 a game. If they beat UNC, it will be significantly less. They're perfectly capable of keeping up with UNC and pulling off the mild upset. But I think UNC's talent overwhelms Maryland in the end.
Wisconsin at Ohio State: The #1 vs #2 matchup lost a little luster when Wisconsin lost to Michigan State. But this is still an important game as it's looking likely that there will be a #1 seed from the Big Ten but probably not two. If Wisconsin wins that might permanently shut the Buckeyes down to the #2 seed level. Wisconsin's loss to Michigan State will have them motivated to not lose two in a row. But I still think the Buckeyes have the advantage. They lost to Wisconsin already so there's the revenge factor. It's at home for OSU. And I think OSU is a better team (albeit barely) than the Badgers. Should be a good one but I think OSU clinches the #1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament with a win tomorrow.
Clemson at Boston College: Someone needs a win to stop the bleeding. Boston College has lost three straight. Clemson has also lost three straight and is 2-8 since their 17-0 start. Of course Boston College didn't lose to Wake Forest. Yeesh! BC has lost their last two home games but I think the third time will be the charm. BC wins.
Indiana at Michigan State: The Hoosiers beat Michigan State by 22 last time they played. But the Spartans were just recovering from injuries. Revenge time for the MSU.
Pittsburgh at Georgetown: Big East Showdown! This game is for the lead in the conference. I'm really bullish on the Hoyas' national title chances so I'll go with Georgetown at home.
Wichita State at Creighton: Missouri Valley Madness! Creighton has played themselves onto the bubble with three losses in the last four. Wichita State hasn't had their mojo in awhile. I think this is the perfect tonic for Creighton to right the ship.
Stanford at UCLA: Stanford has had a good season and actually beat UCLA earlier this year. The Bruins won't let that happen again. UCLA wins easily.
Iowa State at Kansas: The Jayhawks keep rolling
Baylor at Texas A&M: Ditto
LSU at Florida: LSU has the talent. Of course they've lost 9 of their last 10. And I think Glen Davis is injured. Hmmm. Let's go with the Gators.
Georgia Tech at Virginia: The Yellow Jackets are better than their record. They will send the Cavs to their second straight loss.
And a few guesses for tomorrow's games...
Maryland at North Carolina: The Terps have been on a roll winning four straight by an average of more than 15 a game. If they beat UNC, it will be significantly less. They're perfectly capable of keeping up with UNC and pulling off the mild upset. But I think UNC's talent overwhelms Maryland in the end.
Wisconsin at Ohio State: The #1 vs #2 matchup lost a little luster when Wisconsin lost to Michigan State. But this is still an important game as it's looking likely that there will be a #1 seed from the Big Ten but probably not two. If Wisconsin wins that might permanently shut the Buckeyes down to the #2 seed level. Wisconsin's loss to Michigan State will have them motivated to not lose two in a row. But I still think the Buckeyes have the advantage. They lost to Wisconsin already so there's the revenge factor. It's at home for OSU. And I think OSU is a better team (albeit barely) than the Badgers. Should be a good one but I think OSU clinches the #1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament with a win tomorrow.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls...
...who do boys like they're girls who do girls like they're boys!
Yes I'm listening to Parklife. A fine album.
When Will gets back from jujitsu, we're watching Grave of Fireflies. It's supposed to be one of the best anime films of all time. It was at Best Buy one day and we considered buying it. But it was $50. Damn these imports!
Did you know that 800 U.S. civilians have died in Iraq since the start of the war? I didn't. Don't hear that figure bandied about on the nightly news huh?
Have you heard about the NFL player for the Tennessee Titans Adam "Pac-Man" Jones? They had the NBA All-Star event last weekend. I don't know all the details, but there was a triple shooting that apparently came after Pac-Man was showering a stage with strippers with money. And not just any amount of money. It was $81,000. That's right. $81,000. The reason he was showering the stage? He was "making it rain". Kind of a dramatic effect sort of thing. Well then he wanted the money back. Since last I checked, stripper wasn't synonymous with charity worker, she refused. He responded by assaulting her and an altercation developed. In the end, there was a shooting in which three were injured. One was paralyzed from the waist down (hopefully not permanently). Aside from that, every time I hear the story I LOL. Yes I just used IM jargon in a blog post. I should be shot. But it is utterly brilliant.
Yes I'm listening to Parklife. A fine album.
When Will gets back from jujitsu, we're watching Grave of Fireflies. It's supposed to be one of the best anime films of all time. It was at Best Buy one day and we considered buying it. But it was $50. Damn these imports!
Did you know that 800 U.S. civilians have died in Iraq since the start of the war? I didn't. Don't hear that figure bandied about on the nightly news huh?
Have you heard about the NFL player for the Tennessee Titans Adam "Pac-Man" Jones? They had the NBA All-Star event last weekend. I don't know all the details, but there was a triple shooting that apparently came after Pac-Man was showering a stage with strippers with money. And not just any amount of money. It was $81,000. That's right. $81,000. The reason he was showering the stage? He was "making it rain". Kind of a dramatic effect sort of thing. Well then he wanted the money back. Since last I checked, stripper wasn't synonymous with charity worker, she refused. He responded by assaulting her and an altercation developed. In the end, there was a shooting in which three were injured. One was paralyzed from the waist down (hopefully not permanently). Aside from that, every time I hear the story I LOL. Yes I just used IM jargon in a blog post. I should be shot. But it is utterly brilliant.
End of an Era
I sold Activision today.
I'd probably held it too long. It hadn't really done much the past couple of years. But I had owned it since December 2002 which makes it the stock I've held the longest. And it was the 2nd best stock I ever owned in terms of performance. I had a total return of over 250% on it. I got rid of my final stake mainly to diversify a little more. I've been pretty exposed to tech lately and Activision is the second largest video game publisher. There's another stock I may buy on Monday. I'd buy it today but my account has day trading regulations and I can't put money I didn't have at the start of the day into new securities until the next trading day. So farewell Activision. May we meet again someday!
I did buy a new one today though. Genesis Microchip. They're a semiconductor company that puts devices into flat panel devices such as computer monitors and flat screen TVs. It was trading below $8 when I bought and it has over $5 in cash per share. That says deal to me. Early indications are good. It's up to $8.33 last I checked.
Tom Vilsack dropped out of the race for President today. His campaign wasn't looking that strong. I think he was the former Iowa Governor and he wasn't even leading in polls for the Iowa caucus. A good rule of thumb is if you can't win your own state, you might as well give up. He probably didn't have much of a chance of raising the money to compete with Edwards, Obama and Clinton either. The left wing also hates him because he was the leader of the Democratic Leadership Council for a time which basically shunned anti-war Democrats. And the left wing smells blood so yeah...not much of a chance. Among people actually running, I think Bill Richardson is the only one who could potentially be a serious factor not among the Big Three. Al Gore could but he may not run. Wesley Clark must not be because he's taking too much time and his support is drying up. I think Biden sunk his candidacy in the first week. Others like Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich, etc just don't look to have the support network. But I guess anything can happen.
I'd probably held it too long. It hadn't really done much the past couple of years. But I had owned it since December 2002 which makes it the stock I've held the longest. And it was the 2nd best stock I ever owned in terms of performance. I had a total return of over 250% on it. I got rid of my final stake mainly to diversify a little more. I've been pretty exposed to tech lately and Activision is the second largest video game publisher. There's another stock I may buy on Monday. I'd buy it today but my account has day trading regulations and I can't put money I didn't have at the start of the day into new securities until the next trading day. So farewell Activision. May we meet again someday!
I did buy a new one today though. Genesis Microchip. They're a semiconductor company that puts devices into flat panel devices such as computer monitors and flat screen TVs. It was trading below $8 when I bought and it has over $5 in cash per share. That says deal to me. Early indications are good. It's up to $8.33 last I checked.
Tom Vilsack dropped out of the race for President today. His campaign wasn't looking that strong. I think he was the former Iowa Governor and he wasn't even leading in polls for the Iowa caucus. A good rule of thumb is if you can't win your own state, you might as well give up. He probably didn't have much of a chance of raising the money to compete with Edwards, Obama and Clinton either. The left wing also hates him because he was the leader of the Democratic Leadership Council for a time which basically shunned anti-war Democrats. And the left wing smells blood so yeah...not much of a chance. Among people actually running, I think Bill Richardson is the only one who could potentially be a serious factor not among the Big Three. Al Gore could but he may not run. Wesley Clark must not be because he's taking too much time and his support is drying up. I think Biden sunk his candidacy in the first week. Others like Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich, etc just don't look to have the support network. But I guess anything can happen.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Another boring update about my stocks
Truth in advertising. Can't beat it.
I'm bad at predictions. I said Wellman's earnings report looked disappointing and it would probably fall today. Hich is why it closed up 9.93%. See, I'm glad to be wrong sometimes. But yeah, the winning streak continued mainly because of that. We're up to eight straight sessions now. And now I'm up 12.3% on the year. Retirement here I come.
And I've found another stock I think I'll buy. And with the luck I've been having, after I buy it, it will be up 25% by next week. This surely can't continue. Please go down tomorrow just to soothe my nerves.
I'm bad at predictions. I said Wellman's earnings report looked disappointing and it would probably fall today. Hich is why it closed up 9.93%. See, I'm glad to be wrong sometimes. But yeah, the winning streak continued mainly because of that. We're up to eight straight sessions now. And now I'm up 12.3% on the year. Retirement here I come.
And I've found another stock I think I'll buy. And with the luck I've been having, after I buy it, it will be up 25% by next week. This surely can't continue. Please go down tomorrow just to soothe my nerves.
Studio sues over topless Jennifer Aniston pics
The aforementioned article
I happened to see these pics awhile back (I was researching...a paper...I promise). This lawsuit seems a little unfair. Granted, I know it violates copyright and all. And it's extremely probable that the pictures were stolen by someone. But let's be honest. Whoever the culprit is, they did a great service for everybody. He saw the shameful hypocrisy of only allowing us to see Jennifer Aniston's sexy bare back and her cute butt and said "NO SIR!" "IT'S NOT FAIR," he shouted to the rafters. "The viewing public must also see her chest." And not behind an opaque or semi-translucent facade (or what some call clothes). Whoever you are out there, you are a hero. And I salute you. Cheers!
Have I officially lost all credibility yet? I have to be close.
I happened to see these pics awhile back (I was researching...a paper...I promise). This lawsuit seems a little unfair. Granted, I know it violates copyright and all. And it's extremely probable that the pictures were stolen by someone. But let's be honest. Whoever the culprit is, they did a great service for everybody. He saw the shameful hypocrisy of only allowing us to see Jennifer Aniston's sexy bare back and her cute butt and said "NO SIR!" "IT'S NOT FAIR," he shouted to the rafters. "The viewing public must also see her chest." And not behind an opaque or semi-translucent facade (or what some call clothes). Whoever you are out there, you are a hero. And I salute you. Cheers!
Have I officially lost all credibility yet? I have to be close.
Another observation of Italy
I forgot to mention that with Mr. Prodi's resignation, that the new government of Italy will be the 62nd since 1945. That's right. That's an average of about one new government per year. That shows how fragile parliamentary democracy can become. Compare that with United States Presidencies. In 1945 it was FDR and thus has followed Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush again. That's only 13 different Presidencies in roughly the same time period. Just thought I'd share.
Britney Spears Odds!
I am a psychic. Well partly. I was talking about how the Vegas odds of Britney Spears' death by the end of the year were probably getting more and more likely. Well there are Vegas odds! Ok it's actually an offshore gambling website. And sadly there is no bet on death. Perhaps too morbid. But I did find some odds for events that could befall Britney by the end of the year. So I decided to list them. I'm not sure if this counts as copyright or plagiarism but just to be partly safe, I got it from BetUS.com.
See I even provided them with a link. So they shouldn't be too mad.
The numbers after each event is how much money you get back for every $100 bet. The event must take place by 12/31/07
See I even provided them with a link. So they shouldn't be too mad.
The numbers after each event is how much money you get back for every $100 bet. The event must take place by 12/31/07
She will get back together with Justin Timberlake
+1000
She will come out as a Lesbian
+200
She will get dropped by her label
+300
She will become a Hare Krishna
+5000
She will join a Christian cult
+2000
She will get married in Vegas (again)
+500
She will become estranged from Sister & Family
+400
She will permanently move out of country
+4000
She will request Asylum on Hollywood Squares
+10000
She will shave her Children’s heads
+5000
She will OD
+700
She will be arrested for a DUI
+200
She will be declared an unfit mother
+700
She will announce she has AIDS
+5000
She will marry Michael Jackson
+15000
that will sell over 5 million copies
+2000
She will star in a blockbuster movie
+15000
She will attempt a sex change
+2500
She will start a career as a hairdresser
+2000
On a bright note
I was redoing my Oscar Predictions and noticed that I had Pan's Labyrinth winning the second most (behind Dreamgirls). If I'm accurate that would be great. I would be extremely excited. And I think I'm spoiling which movie will be #1 in my re-ranking of 2006.
My mother's hatred of the Tar Heels is a tad annoying
I hate UNC too. But I at least recognize they're a good team. My mom says ridiculous things like "Well he ought to win with the 12 best players in the country" and "It's not fair to get that much talent" and "He'll regret that". Yes having too much talent can be a problem on a team for chemistry issues. But I think that's a problem every coach would love to have. Also, it's not like Duke doesn't have talent. I think they have six McDonald's All-Americans. And Kansas might be more talented than UNC. What I'm saying is there are always every year a few teams with overwhelming talent. I also pointed out to mom when Florida and Arizona had similar talent several years ago she said that was "smart". To finalize this incoherent rant, UNC doesn't have the 12 best players in the country. I said they might have the most talent 1 through 12. There's a difference. In fact, other than Tyler Hansbrough, they might not have a player among the top 12. I don't think they have one in the top 5. I'd go with Kevin Durant of Texas, Nick Fazekas of Nevada, Alando Tucker of Wisconsin, Greg Oden of Ohio State and the player I think should be ACC Player of the Year, Jared Dudley of Boston College. That's my opinion.
This rant was inspired by mother saying "Carolina don't look so damn good to me" last night. They ended up beating NC State by 19. I think she thinks that all the other powers are destroying teams every night by 50 points. Which isn't the case. Carolina has had some questionable losses (the first State game, Gonzaga, and a sweep against Virginia Tech." But I had them in my Final Four and they've done nothing to disprove that. In fact at this stage I may have done my best job of projecting the Final Four I've ever done. I had Florida, UNC, UCLA and Kansas. If you add Texas A&M to that list (jump on the bandwagon dammit!) then I think those have been the five most impressive teams in the country. Yes that leaves out the 1-2 punch in the Big Ten of Ohio State/Wisconsin but I might wait till Sunday to see if one elevates into this group. Both are good but they haven't impressed me as much as the aforementioned five.
Duke goes on the road to a struggling Clemson team tonight. Don't be surprised if The Tigers pull it out. Remember they lost in Cameron due to a "clock malfunction". But I'm still picking the Dukies.
App's last home game against UNC-G tonight. I was thinking about going. But I probably won't. Contrary to what some of the rabid ASU fans are thinking, App is neither in, a lock, nor has an inside track into the dance. They must stay perfect until at least the SoCon final to even have a chance to get in. If they lose beforehand and still get in, I'll make an apology. But I think any loss beforehand and they have to win the whole thing. UNC-G isn't a bad team, but ASU is clearly a better team. And my sources indicate that there should be a solid home crowd advantage tonight. App wins by double digits.
I haven't mentioned my future, as yet unofficial alma mater lately. William & Mary has struggled as of late. They've never actually made the NCAA Tournament. Wow, that's a brilliant choice by me huh? Of course you probably shouldn't choose MBA programs based on basketball success. But anyway, the Colonial is a tougher conference than the Southern. I know App beat VCU who currently leads the Colonial, but I would bet on VCU in a rematch. And they might be 2nd best in the conference. Old Dominion is on a 10 game winning streak. But anyway, William & Mary is in the middle still. They'll have to win the Colonial for any postseason action at all most likely. With VCU, Drexel, Old Dominion, Hofstra, and 2006 Final Four participant George Mason (I still can't get over that), that's pretty unlikely.
Memphis vs Rice is on TV. That's just cruel. Poor Owls. I don't think the Memphis win streak ends here. It goes to 16 tonight.
The Italian prime minister resigned. Yet, it's almost not reported on any American news sites I found. But earlier today CNN's lead story was about Prince Harry going to Iraq. Let's compare.
Leader of the Italian government steps down inspiring crisis planning
3rd in line to meaningless title goes to Iraq
Which is more important? Hmmmm.
Cisco and Apple settled their iPhone issue. Thank God! I was worried to death over that.
Slate looks at Hillary's foolish stance on Iraq. If this isn't settled and soon I agree that it could doom her nomination. If she sticks with this, her only hope is that Democratic voters don't care much about the Iraq War. If she thinks it was right, say it was right. If she thinks she was wrong, she needs to say so. Triangulating is fine to a point. But not with this issue.
Another article. A bit of a mistep by Obama. It was a good trap by Hillary. They should have seen it coming.
I apologize if I don't have much to say about the Republican side right now. The Democratic race has been more interesting thus far. I will say a few things. Rudy is doing better than I anticipated. At this point, Republicans don't seem to be sneering about many of his more liberal leanings. Is it some of his tough talk about appointing conservative judges or are Republicans tired of the culture wars? Mitt Romney is planning to hit the airwaves with the first campaign ad of the campaign. And not a moment too soon. Ok probably a few moments too soon. And John McCain said Donald Rumsfeld would go down as one of the worst Secretaries of Defense ever. Which inspired controversy for some reason even though it's painfully evident to anyone except incredibly partisan neoconservatives.
This rant was inspired by mother saying "Carolina don't look so damn good to me" last night. They ended up beating NC State by 19. I think she thinks that all the other powers are destroying teams every night by 50 points. Which isn't the case. Carolina has had some questionable losses (the first State game, Gonzaga, and a sweep against Virginia Tech." But I had them in my Final Four and they've done nothing to disprove that. In fact at this stage I may have done my best job of projecting the Final Four I've ever done. I had Florida, UNC, UCLA and Kansas. If you add Texas A&M to that list (jump on the bandwagon dammit!) then I think those have been the five most impressive teams in the country. Yes that leaves out the 1-2 punch in the Big Ten of Ohio State/Wisconsin but I might wait till Sunday to see if one elevates into this group. Both are good but they haven't impressed me as much as the aforementioned five.
Duke goes on the road to a struggling Clemson team tonight. Don't be surprised if The Tigers pull it out. Remember they lost in Cameron due to a "clock malfunction". But I'm still picking the Dukies.
App's last home game against UNC-G tonight. I was thinking about going. But I probably won't. Contrary to what some of the rabid ASU fans are thinking, App is neither in, a lock, nor has an inside track into the dance. They must stay perfect until at least the SoCon final to even have a chance to get in. If they lose beforehand and still get in, I'll make an apology. But I think any loss beforehand and they have to win the whole thing. UNC-G isn't a bad team, but ASU is clearly a better team. And my sources indicate that there should be a solid home crowd advantage tonight. App wins by double digits.
I haven't mentioned my future, as yet unofficial alma mater lately. William & Mary has struggled as of late. They've never actually made the NCAA Tournament. Wow, that's a brilliant choice by me huh? Of course you probably shouldn't choose MBA programs based on basketball success. But anyway, the Colonial is a tougher conference than the Southern. I know App beat VCU who currently leads the Colonial, but I would bet on VCU in a rematch. And they might be 2nd best in the conference. Old Dominion is on a 10 game winning streak. But anyway, William & Mary is in the middle still. They'll have to win the Colonial for any postseason action at all most likely. With VCU, Drexel, Old Dominion, Hofstra, and 2006 Final Four participant George Mason (I still can't get over that), that's pretty unlikely.
Memphis vs Rice is on TV. That's just cruel. Poor Owls. I don't think the Memphis win streak ends here. It goes to 16 tonight.
The Italian prime minister resigned. Yet, it's almost not reported on any American news sites I found. But earlier today CNN's lead story was about Prince Harry going to Iraq. Let's compare.
Leader of the Italian government steps down inspiring crisis planning
3rd in line to meaningless title goes to Iraq
Which is more important? Hmmmm.
Cisco and Apple settled their iPhone issue. Thank God! I was worried to death over that.
Slate looks at Hillary's foolish stance on Iraq. If this isn't settled and soon I agree that it could doom her nomination. If she sticks with this, her only hope is that Democratic voters don't care much about the Iraq War. If she thinks it was right, say it was right. If she thinks she was wrong, she needs to say so. Triangulating is fine to a point. But not with this issue.
Another article. A bit of a mistep by Obama. It was a good trap by Hillary. They should have seen it coming.
I apologize if I don't have much to say about the Republican side right now. The Democratic race has been more interesting thus far. I will say a few things. Rudy is doing better than I anticipated. At this point, Republicans don't seem to be sneering about many of his more liberal leanings. Is it some of his tough talk about appointing conservative judges or are Republicans tired of the culture wars? Mitt Romney is planning to hit the airwaves with the first campaign ad of the campaign. And not a moment too soon. Ok probably a few moments too soon. And John McCain said Donald Rumsfeld would go down as one of the worst Secretaries of Defense ever. Which inspired controversy for some reason even though it's painfully evident to anyone except incredibly partisan neoconservatives.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A good year
I'm pretty startled how my stocks have done so far. Consider this...
Dow Jones Industrial +2.21%
S&P 500: +2.77%
NASDAQ Composite: +4.27%
Wilshire 5000: +3.71%
So most stocks have had a good start to the year. But here's my portfolio...
Jeb's Portfolio: +11.27%
So the closest of the major indices to me is the NASDAQ and I'm beating it by 7 percentage points. That's insane. I don't know if I've ever had this great a start before because my record-keeping at first wasn't as good as it is now. It would explain more if my portfolio was incredibly risky, but I don't think it is. Just remarkable luck so far and some good movements.
Only two of my stocks are down for the year. Cogent and JAKKS Pacific. Everything else is up.
Bed Bath and Beyond +11.94%
C&D Technologies +26.58%
Deltathree +38.89%
Global-Tech Appliances +17.09%
JOY Global +11.67%
Kemet 18.58%
and that's just some of the good ones. And remember I said I bought Lenox. I bought it a month and a half ago and it's up 58.08% What can you say? Even Wellman which I just bought a couple of days ago is up 8.05% (although they just released earnings. Disappointing to say the least. I may be in the negatives tomorrow).
I'm on a seven session winning streak. I'm up 5.63% during this timeframe.
I'm really not bragging. I'm just listing this so when the market crashes, everyone can mock me for typing this. But I'm not going to lie. It's been a great start to the year.
Dow Jones Industrial +2.21%
S&P 500: +2.77%
NASDAQ Composite: +4.27%
Wilshire 5000: +3.71%
So most stocks have had a good start to the year. But here's my portfolio...
Jeb's Portfolio: +11.27%
So the closest of the major indices to me is the NASDAQ and I'm beating it by 7 percentage points. That's insane. I don't know if I've ever had this great a start before because my record-keeping at first wasn't as good as it is now. It would explain more if my portfolio was incredibly risky, but I don't think it is. Just remarkable luck so far and some good movements.
Only two of my stocks are down for the year. Cogent and JAKKS Pacific. Everything else is up.
Bed Bath and Beyond +11.94%
C&D Technologies +26.58%
Deltathree +38.89%
Global-Tech Appliances +17.09%
JOY Global +11.67%
Kemet 18.58%
and that's just some of the good ones. And remember I said I bought Lenox. I bought it a month and a half ago and it's up 58.08% What can you say? Even Wellman which I just bought a couple of days ago is up 8.05% (although they just released earnings. Disappointing to say the least. I may be in the negatives tomorrow).
I'm on a seven session winning streak. I'm up 5.63% during this timeframe.
I'm really not bragging. I'm just listing this so when the market crashes, everyone can mock me for typing this. But I'm not going to lie. It's been a great start to the year.
Jeb's Movie Reviews: Babel
Well this makes last year's Best Picture nod to Crash look even stupider in hindsight.
Not that Babel should win the Best Picture. Absolutely not. I've yet to see Letters from Iwo Jima or The Queen but The Departed was clearly better. And that doesn't include Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men which I think were the two best films of 2006 (so far). But Babel completely and utterly shames Crash in nearly every way. (Note- I don't think Crash is a bad movie. But there's a clear barrier between a decent film and one that deserves a Best Picture. Crash is one of the "worst" Best Picture winners I've ever seen and clearly should have been a distant fifth in last year's awards ceremony). But this review isn't about last year. It's about Babel. So what did I like about it?
First off, it's more mature in tone. The message about problems with communication between different cultures isn't shoved down our throats as much as which last year's Best Picture winner was guilty of. The situations aren't completely outlandish (ok at times they strain credulity, but it's within the realm of possibility). The acting was very strong as well. When Cate Blanchett only has the third best performance by a female, that's pretty strong. Like all the other pundits, I especially loved Rinko Kukuchi. Her arc is the best written and best acted. At first it seems out of place with the other three subplots going on, but after awhile you realize the connection between them all. There are some touching subtleties as well in her arc alone. I keep praising her storyline, but her segment also had the most impressive sequence in the film. She enters a club with her friend to party with some other people including a guy she clearly likes. I should point out that Rinko's character is a deaf-mute. Anyway, they enter he club and it's very loud and exciting. And then the camera switches to a first person view out of Rinko's eyes. Silence. She's fascinated by the lights and everything going on around. But she can't hear a thing. Probably only being able to see is a sensory overload. The camera alternates back and forth with the sound going on and off and there's some great editing throughout. Finally, the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, does a great job of keeping the story lines going smoothly. The most dangerous thing in ensemble films like this is to keep the storylines on the track and I think he does a pretty good job. Crash didn't do so well last year.
Of course there were some problems. Several of the stories seem truncated and underdeveloped. Others seem to go on longer than they should. The pacing does get off at times. Some situations seem to be placed solely as a device and not really to advance the plot. I really didn't notice any of these problems until about an hour and half in (it's about two and a half hours). Give them credit for keeping it up that long without major problems. But the third act is much weaker than the rest of the film. Also the film does have the opposite problem that Crash did. Crash made sure we knew that racism is bad. But the general theme is harder to explain for Babel. I mentioned it was about difficulties in communicating between cultures, but the focus does shift wildly at times. In a the film could be both longer and shorter. Longer to bring more depth to the stories. Shorter to give it more focus.
It's hard to criticize ambitious works too much. I always give points for at least trying. And Babel certainly did try and certainly succeeds incredibly at times. As I said I especially loved the subplot in Japan and as one reviewer mentioned, it would have made a fine movie by itself. You should watch Babel to see what all the fuss is about. But it is not tops in this genre. If you want to see the best, see Magnolia, Short Cuts, Nashville, or Gosford Park. And then explain to me in case Babel wins, why Babel or Crash deserve Best Picture over the list I recommend.
Not that Babel should win the Best Picture. Absolutely not. I've yet to see Letters from Iwo Jima or The Queen but The Departed was clearly better. And that doesn't include Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men which I think were the two best films of 2006 (so far). But Babel completely and utterly shames Crash in nearly every way. (Note- I don't think Crash is a bad movie. But there's a clear barrier between a decent film and one that deserves a Best Picture. Crash is one of the "worst" Best Picture winners I've ever seen and clearly should have been a distant fifth in last year's awards ceremony). But this review isn't about last year. It's about Babel. So what did I like about it?
First off, it's more mature in tone. The message about problems with communication between different cultures isn't shoved down our throats as much as which last year's Best Picture winner was guilty of. The situations aren't completely outlandish (ok at times they strain credulity, but it's within the realm of possibility). The acting was very strong as well. When Cate Blanchett only has the third best performance by a female, that's pretty strong. Like all the other pundits, I especially loved Rinko Kukuchi. Her arc is the best written and best acted. At first it seems out of place with the other three subplots going on, but after awhile you realize the connection between them all. There are some touching subtleties as well in her arc alone. I keep praising her storyline, but her segment also had the most impressive sequence in the film. She enters a club with her friend to party with some other people including a guy she clearly likes. I should point out that Rinko's character is a deaf-mute. Anyway, they enter he club and it's very loud and exciting. And then the camera switches to a first person view out of Rinko's eyes. Silence. She's fascinated by the lights and everything going on around. But she can't hear a thing. Probably only being able to see is a sensory overload. The camera alternates back and forth with the sound going on and off and there's some great editing throughout. Finally, the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, does a great job of keeping the story lines going smoothly. The most dangerous thing in ensemble films like this is to keep the storylines on the track and I think he does a pretty good job. Crash didn't do so well last year.
Of course there were some problems. Several of the stories seem truncated and underdeveloped. Others seem to go on longer than they should. The pacing does get off at times. Some situations seem to be placed solely as a device and not really to advance the plot. I really didn't notice any of these problems until about an hour and half in (it's about two and a half hours). Give them credit for keeping it up that long without major problems. But the third act is much weaker than the rest of the film. Also the film does have the opposite problem that Crash did. Crash made sure we knew that racism is bad. But the general theme is harder to explain for Babel. I mentioned it was about difficulties in communicating between cultures, but the focus does shift wildly at times. In a the film could be both longer and shorter. Longer to bring more depth to the stories. Shorter to give it more focus.
It's hard to criticize ambitious works too much. I always give points for at least trying. And Babel certainly did try and certainly succeeds incredibly at times. As I said I especially loved the subplot in Japan and as one reviewer mentioned, it would have made a fine movie by itself. You should watch Babel to see what all the fuss is about. But it is not tops in this genre. If you want to see the best, see Magnolia, Short Cuts, Nashville, or Gosford Park. And then explain to me in case Babel wins, why Babel or Crash deserve Best Picture over the list I recommend.
This is the end
Tony Blair has announced Britain will start pulling out of Iraq. The allies continue to dry up leaving America in the lurch. I wonder if this is more of an attempt to save Blair's legacy. He's stepping down this year and the Iraq War has certainly made him unpopular as well as his perceived subservience to George W. Bush. I haven't heard much talk about the "Coalition" as of late.
Carolina plays NC State. I don't normally pull for the Tar Heels but I think Wolfpack fans have been getting too cocky because their team isn't as bad as the Arizona State team that their former coach Herb Sendek now coaches. I have a feeling the Tar Heels won't be looking ahead this time and will give NC State their best effort. Carolina wins by 25.
Important matchup in the top part of the ACC. Boston College at Virginia Tech. I say the Hokies win.
And Virginia (who is currently tied with Carolina for the ACC lead) plays at Miami tonight. I expect Virginia to keep pace with UNC.
ABC is going to do a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. I'd tell you what it's about, but I don't care. So why am I even blogging about it? HEY! MIND YOUR MOUTH!
Viacom is licensing TV shows and movies to Joost. That should teach YouTube. Go with somebody nobody has ever heard of. A similar situation would be is if I was jilted by Jessica Alba and I then started pursuing an ugly homeless woman. That'll teach them!
Britney Spears is in rehab. The previously mentioned Vegas odds are getting better and better all the time.
Carolina plays NC State. I don't normally pull for the Tar Heels but I think Wolfpack fans have been getting too cocky because their team isn't as bad as the Arizona State team that their former coach Herb Sendek now coaches. I have a feeling the Tar Heels won't be looking ahead this time and will give NC State their best effort. Carolina wins by 25.
Important matchup in the top part of the ACC. Boston College at Virginia Tech. I say the Hokies win.
And Virginia (who is currently tied with Carolina for the ACC lead) plays at Miami tonight. I expect Virginia to keep pace with UNC.
ABC is going to do a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. I'd tell you what it's about, but I don't care. So why am I even blogging about it? HEY! MIND YOUR MOUTH!
Viacom is licensing TV shows and movies to Joost. That should teach YouTube. Go with somebody nobody has ever heard of. A similar situation would be is if I was jilted by Jessica Alba and I then started pursuing an ugly homeless woman. That'll teach them!
Britney Spears is in rehab. The previously mentioned Vegas odds are getting better and better all the time.
A shameful performance by Buckeye fans
Look how long it takes the Ohio State faithful to destroy a Florida statue on campus! More than five hours? Pathetic! What a bunch of pansies. No wonder they got their asses whipped in the BCS Title Game! Funny clip though.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I'm just saying
Wisconsin lost tonight. Told ya.
I just watched Flags of Our Fathers. Pretty good. It drug on a bit too long at the end. Seemed a tad disjointed at times. And frankly, I thought it got preachy in the finale. But it was an interesting movie. Certainly no Saving Private Ryan though.
I'm listening to Talk Talk's last two albums. I got them in Amazon along with Blur's Parklife (thumbs up). I couldn't find them in any stores so I broke down and bought them. They are truly amazing. I may have to update the infamous Top Ten List soon. Of course I should probably listen to them in an environment where Will isn't playing a game with lots of TALKING AND SHOOTING DAMMIT TURN IT DOWN!
I'm not an angry person. Really.
I just watched Flags of Our Fathers. Pretty good. It drug on a bit too long at the end. Seemed a tad disjointed at times. And frankly, I thought it got preachy in the finale. But it was an interesting movie. Certainly no Saving Private Ryan though.
I'm listening to Talk Talk's last two albums. I got them in Amazon along with Blur's Parklife (thumbs up). I couldn't find them in any stores so I broke down and bought them. They are truly amazing. I may have to update the infamous Top Ten List soon. Of course I should probably listen to them in an environment where Will isn't playing a game with lots of TALKING AND SHOOTING DAMMIT TURN IT DOWN!
I'm not an angry person. Really.
Truth is stranger than fiction
The dean of West Point had enough. He decided that it something needed to be done to stop Americans from torturing prisoners He headed to the airport with some of his key advisers and where did they fly? And yes I stole this part from the article. It's not plagiarism if I admit that I'm stealing.
Abu Ghraib? No
Guantanamo? No
Secret CIA Prisons?
Hollywood? Yes
What's in Hollywood? Well they film 24 there. They met with the producers of the acclaimed show and asked them to stop having the actors who play Americans from torturing prisoners. This is true. This concerns me in so many ways. But I'll only mention one because it has blown my mind so. The dean said he's concerned that some of his cadets may think that the way they torture on 24 is how it should be done in real life when interrogating a suspect. But isn't West Point one of the best schools in the country? I mean, it's not the dregs of society that get in. It's not the stereotypical grunt who attends West Point. It's one of the finest institutions of learning in the country. If the cadets honestly can't separate reality from fiction, then I think we need to stop lionizing these Ivy League schools or Service Academies because it's clear that there is no discernible difference in their student quality than any other school in the country.
Where I read this.
Abu Ghraib? No
Guantanamo? No
Secret CIA Prisons?
Hollywood? Yes
What's in Hollywood? Well they film 24 there. They met with the producers of the acclaimed show and asked them to stop having the actors who play Americans from torturing prisoners. This is true. This concerns me in so many ways. But I'll only mention one because it has blown my mind so. The dean said he's concerned that some of his cadets may think that the way they torture on 24 is how it should be done in real life when interrogating a suspect. But isn't West Point one of the best schools in the country? I mean, it's not the dregs of society that get in. It's not the stereotypical grunt who attends West Point. It's one of the finest institutions of learning in the country. If the cadets honestly can't separate reality from fiction, then I think we need to stop lionizing these Ivy League schools or Service Academies because it's clear that there is no discernible difference in their student quality than any other school in the country.
Where I read this.
Uh Oh
I'm sitting here enjoying another day in the stock market and then CNBC has to ruin it.
"Is day trading making a comeback?"
I'm generally of the belief that when everyone is getting interested in the stock market that's when it's time to get out or at the very least be extremely careful. Why? Well Wall Street has a term for most individual investors and people who rush in when the market is doing well and rush out when it goes bad. "Dumb money". It makes sense. People sell out of their stocks after losing money in the dot com bust. But that was when to fully invest because it was at the bottom. So everybody who is in the market does well. After a good span of time, in which the "dumb money" is on the sidelines, the "dumb money" decides to get back in. This generally happens right when the market is peaking and the smart people are hedging or preparing in case of recession, busts, etc. Well if people are starting to day trade again, thinking they can come in and just trade rapidly and make tons of money, well that concerns me a tad. Everyone seems to be optimistic in the markets as well (myself included, I'm generally long-term bullish) but there are several things that actually concern me not related to the "dumb money". Last I checked commodity prices have collapsed from their highs including oil. Copper is the most important to me though because copper is "the metal with a Ph.D in economics". Anyway, if all these commodities have fallen it could be an indicator that the global economy is slowing down. It may be a soft landing, or it may not be. I don't know. Also the housing market continues to fall. Analysts keep calling a bottom and then worse numbers come out. The troubles are spreading to subprime lending which could be a dangerous chain reaction. Will this turn out to be much ado about nothing? I don't know. Also the Fed Funds futures seem to indicate that if there's a change in interest rates, that they'll go up instead of down. Moving them down might help keep the economy afloat, but another move upward may be too much. But they're still concerned about inflation so it's a tough call. Another odd thing is the Dow and some of the other major indices haven't had a big down day (2% or more) in a really long time. I don't remember the exact timeframe, but it's been a long streak. The law of statistics and averages has to catch up to reality sooner or later. I guess what I'm getting at is this. I majored in economics. But I have no idea what the economy is going to do. And most economists don't either. There are a lot of warning signs of a recession or slowdown out there, but they're not overwhelming. I'm cautiously optimistic that this year will remain pretty strong but a recession looks increasingly likely to me by 2008-2009. The problem is we won't know if we're in a recession until several months in and maybe not until it's after it's over. That's just the way economics is.
"Is day trading making a comeback?"
I'm generally of the belief that when everyone is getting interested in the stock market that's when it's time to get out or at the very least be extremely careful. Why? Well Wall Street has a term for most individual investors and people who rush in when the market is doing well and rush out when it goes bad. "Dumb money". It makes sense. People sell out of their stocks after losing money in the dot com bust. But that was when to fully invest because it was at the bottom. So everybody who is in the market does well. After a good span of time, in which the "dumb money" is on the sidelines, the "dumb money" decides to get back in. This generally happens right when the market is peaking and the smart people are hedging or preparing in case of recession, busts, etc. Well if people are starting to day trade again, thinking they can come in and just trade rapidly and make tons of money, well that concerns me a tad. Everyone seems to be optimistic in the markets as well (myself included, I'm generally long-term bullish) but there are several things that actually concern me not related to the "dumb money". Last I checked commodity prices have collapsed from their highs including oil. Copper is the most important to me though because copper is "the metal with a Ph.D in economics". Anyway, if all these commodities have fallen it could be an indicator that the global economy is slowing down. It may be a soft landing, or it may not be. I don't know. Also the housing market continues to fall. Analysts keep calling a bottom and then worse numbers come out. The troubles are spreading to subprime lending which could be a dangerous chain reaction. Will this turn out to be much ado about nothing? I don't know. Also the Fed Funds futures seem to indicate that if there's a change in interest rates, that they'll go up instead of down. Moving them down might help keep the economy afloat, but another move upward may be too much. But they're still concerned about inflation so it's a tough call. Another odd thing is the Dow and some of the other major indices haven't had a big down day (2% or more) in a really long time. I don't remember the exact timeframe, but it's been a long streak. The law of statistics and averages has to catch up to reality sooner or later. I guess what I'm getting at is this. I majored in economics. But I have no idea what the economy is going to do. And most economists don't either. There are a lot of warning signs of a recession or slowdown out there, but they're not overwhelming. I'm cautiously optimistic that this year will remain pretty strong but a recession looks increasingly likely to me by 2008-2009. The problem is we won't know if we're in a recession until several months in and maybe not until it's after it's over. That's just the way economics is.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Proof There Is No God of the night
I was reading about the movie Control which is about Ian Curtis' life and suicide. Ian was the lead singer of Joy Division which is perhaps my favorite band of all time. Anyway, I noticed that there is a soundtrack of the movie being released. Some of the acts mentioned make a lot of sense. U2. The Cure. Depeche Mode. The Killers. David Bow.....waitaminute...THE FUCKING KILLERS?!? What the hell are they doing here? Those damned mediocre hacks? Who the hell allowed them in this project? Damn that's annoying. And if we had to choose a more modern-era band to do a Joy Division cover, why couldn't it have been Interpol? You know the one every music critic when doing the album review for Turn On the Bright Lights mentions Joy Division. So The Killers are doing a cover of Shadowplay. It should be truly godawful. I think it's already been leaked. I'm afraid to look for it. This news makes me want to watch the film Stroszek and then hang myself. How utterly depressing.
Angle Dance!
I was looking through YouTube when I decided to search for the infamous Angle Dance. It's from a show called Square One. I first witnessed it in high school geometry class and it has haunted my dreams ever since. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and please try not to recoil in horror.
My annual sacrifice
Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday (what a shock). I've decided to do my annual Lent sacrifice. I've decided to give up...sex. Yes, for the entire length of Lent, I will not be engaging in sex. It will be a difficult sacrifice. Only my strong willpower will be able to keep me from the temptations of the flesh. It will be similar to the film 40 Days and 40 Nights although I guarantee that my odyssey will be funnier. Also mine won't waste 94 minutes of your time. So wish me luck! And godspeed! all that jazz!
I'm going to watch Kansas (Rock! Chalk! Jay! Hawk!) now. Bye.
I'm going to watch Kansas (Rock! Chalk! Jay! Hawk!) now. Bye.
A humble request
Would every Appalachian fan please restrain yourself? Appalachian is not in the NCAAs yet. They don't even have an inside track. They are currently on the bubble. If they don't at least win out and make it to the Southern Conference final, I don't like their chances. They are a quality team but it may be too hard for two Southern Conference teams to get in. In my opinion, there are a lot of teams still ahead of them. So calm down. In the words of Winston Wolf "Let's not start (bleeping) each other's (bleeps) yet."
I love that line.
Speaking of Appalachian, they have a road game against Western Carolina tonight. They should be able to beat them pretty easily. Or will there be a letdown? I'll tell you one thing. If App loses to Western, UNC-G, or Elon in these next three games, I don't think they get in without winning the SoCon Tourney. Just my humble estimation.
Looks like we'll have a #1vs #2 matchup this Sunday. #1 Ohio State vs #2 Wisconsin. Both have done well and look to be prime candidates for Jeb's List of 8 once the NCAAs start. In fact that was Ohio State's last loss in early January to the Badgers. I think this time the Buckeyes will get revenge. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ohio State plays Penn State Wednesday (should be a laugher) while Wisconsin has a tough one on the road against an underrated Michigan State team. I'm sensing two losses for the Badgers this week. They only have two losses. They're due to sputter.
Kansas plays Kansas State tonight. Kansas has been absolutely killing since their loss to Texas A&M. 97-70 on Kansas State. 92-74 on Missouri. 75-46 on Colorado. 92-39 on Nebraska. Starting to look scary are the Jayhawks.
Well in honor of BracketBusters weekend that has just passed, which teams do I think have the best chance of pulling a George Mason? Well personally, I don't think any really do. That may have been a fluke or a culmination of great mid-major play. And there's too many good teams this year that I don't think one could make it through the gauntlet. Of course, we said the same thing last year. So which mid-majors will be the toughest to beat in the NCAAs? Here's my current top 5. I'm only picking teams from the conferences included in the College Insider Mid-Major poll.
#5 Gonzaga 18-10- This may be the year that Gonzaga's NCAA streak comes to an end. But if they get in, they'll be one of the most dangerous mid-majors. Wins against Carolina, Stanford, Texas and Washington bolster my point. Lots of competitive losses to good teams as well such as Butler, Washington State, Duke, Nevada, and Memphis in overtime. But will the losses "mushroom" without Heytvelt? Couldn't resist the pun.
#4 Creighton 18-9- The loss to Drexel hurt. But this is the best non-BCS conference in the country. And Creighton is 2nd in the league. Surely they're in. Wins include George Mason, Xavier, Houston and lots of quality conference wins.
#3 Missouri State 19-9- Their position is much more unstable than Creighton's as they're a distant third in the Missouri Valley. #2 Wisconsin has only two losses. One to Indiana. One to Missouri State. Need I say more?
#2 Southern Illinois 23-5- Looks like the Salukis are going to get a good seed for March Madness. They've beaten Virginia Tech and Butler and are currently leading the Missouri Valley.
#1 Butler 24-4- They've lost two of their last three with one against Southern Illinois? So why are they #1? They have beaten Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Kent State, and Purdue. Somehow they aren't even first in the conference! How good is the Horizon. If Butler isn't first, there must be some quality competition in it (Wright State and Loyola). With the right seed, they could be a near lock for the Sweet 16. With some great matchups and some luck, they could make the Final Four.
XM Satellite Radio and Sirius have decided to merge. According to Yahoo Finance, Xm has lost nearly $739 million in the last twelve months. Sirius has lost more than $1.17 BILLION in the last twelve months. I think this is the definition of two drunks on the sidewalk trying to prop each other up.
Oh, I just noticed Wisconsin is #1 in the AP poll. That must have been the Coaches Poll I saw. So it's a #1 vs #2 matchup. With both positions reversed in each poll. Kind of odd though. Honestly if the season ended today would Ohio State even be a #1 seed let alone the #1 team in the land? I say no. Not that they aren't good. They are. Very. But who would they pass? Obviously not Wisconsin yet. Because Wisconsin beat them, has less losses and is tied with them for first in the Big 10. Advantage Badgers. Probably not Florida either. Florida has the same record as them and killed them in their only meeting. So the Gators and Badgers are ahead. And probably Carolina too. Hard not to put an ACC team with 4 total losses that beat Ohio State when they played. And I've not even mentioned UCLA yet. So Ohio State is very good and still has a great chance of getting a #1 seed (beating Wisconsin on Sunday would certainly help.) But the high ranking may be just a tad premature.
I love that line.
Speaking of Appalachian, they have a road game against Western Carolina tonight. They should be able to beat them pretty easily. Or will there be a letdown? I'll tell you one thing. If App loses to Western, UNC-G, or Elon in these next three games, I don't think they get in without winning the SoCon Tourney. Just my humble estimation.
Looks like we'll have a #1vs #2 matchup this Sunday. #1 Ohio State vs #2 Wisconsin. Both have done well and look to be prime candidates for Jeb's List of 8 once the NCAAs start. In fact that was Ohio State's last loss in early January to the Badgers. I think this time the Buckeyes will get revenge. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ohio State plays Penn State Wednesday (should be a laugher) while Wisconsin has a tough one on the road against an underrated Michigan State team. I'm sensing two losses for the Badgers this week. They only have two losses. They're due to sputter.
Kansas plays Kansas State tonight. Kansas has been absolutely killing since their loss to Texas A&M. 97-70 on Kansas State. 92-74 on Missouri. 75-46 on Colorado. 92-39 on Nebraska. Starting to look scary are the Jayhawks.
Well in honor of BracketBusters weekend that has just passed, which teams do I think have the best chance of pulling a George Mason? Well personally, I don't think any really do. That may have been a fluke or a culmination of great mid-major play. And there's too many good teams this year that I don't think one could make it through the gauntlet. Of course, we said the same thing last year. So which mid-majors will be the toughest to beat in the NCAAs? Here's my current top 5. I'm only picking teams from the conferences included in the College Insider Mid-Major poll.
#5 Gonzaga 18-10- This may be the year that Gonzaga's NCAA streak comes to an end. But if they get in, they'll be one of the most dangerous mid-majors. Wins against Carolina, Stanford, Texas and Washington bolster my point. Lots of competitive losses to good teams as well such as Butler, Washington State, Duke, Nevada, and Memphis in overtime. But will the losses "mushroom" without Heytvelt? Couldn't resist the pun.
#4 Creighton 18-9- The loss to Drexel hurt. But this is the best non-BCS conference in the country. And Creighton is 2nd in the league. Surely they're in. Wins include George Mason, Xavier, Houston and lots of quality conference wins.
#3 Missouri State 19-9- Their position is much more unstable than Creighton's as they're a distant third in the Missouri Valley. #2 Wisconsin has only two losses. One to Indiana. One to Missouri State. Need I say more?
#2 Southern Illinois 23-5- Looks like the Salukis are going to get a good seed for March Madness. They've beaten Virginia Tech and Butler and are currently leading the Missouri Valley.
#1 Butler 24-4- They've lost two of their last three with one against Southern Illinois? So why are they #1? They have beaten Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Kent State, and Purdue. Somehow they aren't even first in the conference! How good is the Horizon. If Butler isn't first, there must be some quality competition in it (Wright State and Loyola). With the right seed, they could be a near lock for the Sweet 16. With some great matchups and some luck, they could make the Final Four.
XM Satellite Radio and Sirius have decided to merge. According to Yahoo Finance, Xm has lost nearly $739 million in the last twelve months. Sirius has lost more than $1.17 BILLION in the last twelve months. I think this is the definition of two drunks on the sidewalk trying to prop each other up.
Oh, I just noticed Wisconsin is #1 in the AP poll. That must have been the Coaches Poll I saw. So it's a #1 vs #2 matchup. With both positions reversed in each poll. Kind of odd though. Honestly if the season ended today would Ohio State even be a #1 seed let alone the #1 team in the land? I say no. Not that they aren't good. They are. Very. But who would they pass? Obviously not Wisconsin yet. Because Wisconsin beat them, has less losses and is tied with them for first in the Big 10. Advantage Badgers. Probably not Florida either. Florida has the same record as them and killed them in their only meeting. So the Gators and Badgers are ahead. And probably Carolina too. Hard not to put an ACC team with 4 total losses that beat Ohio State when they played. And I've not even mentioned UCLA yet. So Ohio State is very good and still has a great chance of getting a #1 seed (beating Wisconsin on Sunday would certainly help.) But the high ranking may be just a tad premature.
Oscar Predictions
The Academy Awards are this Sunday. I'm not making any bets. Last time I won, the loser refused to pay me. Very sad. Note...these aren't who I think SHOULD win but who I think WILL win.
Note: I changed some of these because some of the movies I recently saw and decided to change my mind based on how I felt the Academy would choose.
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Animated Feature: Cars (The Academy always loves Pixar.)
Best Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Cinematography: Children of Men (That one long take at the end where the blood splatters the camera may clinch it.
Best Costume Design: Dreamgirls
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Documentary Short: Rehearsing a Life
Best Editing: United 93
Best Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth (Should be Best Picture)
Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Original Score: The Queen
Best Original Song: Our Town (I sense the Dreamgirls 3 noms will cancel each other out)
Best Animated Short Film: The Little Matchgirl (guess)
Best Live Action Short Film: West Bank Story (guess)
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Picture: I'm ruling out Letters from Iwo Jima because first it wasn't the best movie spoken in non-English of the year (Pan's Labyrinth!). Also, do you think a movie spoken in Japanese and from a Japanese perspective is going to win The Oscar. And Clint Eastwood has already directed two Best Picture winners. I don't think a third is this year. I'm also ruling out The Queen. I've heard it's a fine film but I would be shocked if it won the prize. Doesn't seem to have a lot of "buzz". So that leaves The Departed, Babel, and Little Miss Sunshine. Little Miss Sunshine could pull a shocker but I sense it will come up short of the final two. I think this is the year that Matrin Scorsese wins an Oscar. But will they give him a Best Director Oscar but still snub his film. It's not impossible. And although I've not seen Babel yet, it seems to be the same type of movie as Crash with multiple actors and actresses, parallel plotlines, etc. And we know how that turned out last year. I'm going to guess (and hope) that The Academy learned their lesson from last year though and will pick The Departed.
I'm going to try to rent Babel before the ceremony though and before Sunday, I will post a mid-year update to my Top Movies of 2006. I've seen a lot of movies that have really turned my year-end list null and void. So expect that soon.
Note: I changed some of these because some of the movies I recently saw and decided to change my mind based on how I felt the Academy would choose.
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Animated Feature: Cars (The Academy always loves Pixar.)
Best Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Cinematography: Children of Men (That one long take at the end where the blood splatters the camera may clinch it.
Best Costume Design: Dreamgirls
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Documentary Short: Rehearsing a Life
Best Editing: United 93
Best Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth (Should be Best Picture)
Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Original Score: The Queen
Best Original Song: Our Town (I sense the Dreamgirls 3 noms will cancel each other out)
Best Animated Short Film: The Little Matchgirl (guess)
Best Live Action Short Film: West Bank Story (guess)
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Picture: I'm ruling out Letters from Iwo Jima because first it wasn't the best movie spoken in non-English of the year (Pan's Labyrinth!). Also, do you think a movie spoken in Japanese and from a Japanese perspective is going to win The Oscar. And Clint Eastwood has already directed two Best Picture winners. I don't think a third is this year. I'm also ruling out The Queen. I've heard it's a fine film but I would be shocked if it won the prize. Doesn't seem to have a lot of "buzz". So that leaves The Departed, Babel, and Little Miss Sunshine. Little Miss Sunshine could pull a shocker but I sense it will come up short of the final two. I think this is the year that Matrin Scorsese wins an Oscar. But will they give him a Best Director Oscar but still snub his film. It's not impossible. And although I've not seen Babel yet, it seems to be the same type of movie as Crash with multiple actors and actresses, parallel plotlines, etc. And we know how that turned out last year. I'm going to guess (and hope) that The Academy learned their lesson from last year though and will pick The Departed.
I'm going to try to rent Babel before the ceremony though and before Sunday, I will post a mid-year update to my Top Movies of 2006. I've seen a lot of movies that have really turned my year-end list null and void. So expect that soon.
Yet another ACC Update
Most ACC teams have about 3-4 games left in the regular season. So now I'll update you on how I think things will turn out.
Boston College 18-8 (9-4)- My predictions for a BC collapse started coming true as they went 0-2 against Duke and Carolina this week. The remaining schedule isn't easy either with road games at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech and a home game against Clemson. BC should get to a double digit win mark in conference and with some luck could have 20 wins before the ACC Tournament.
Clemson 19-7 (5-7)- Clemson is in trouble. After starting 17-0, they have went 2-7. They desperately need to pick up some wins if they hope to make the NCAAs. But with a schedule that includes Duke and road games against BC and Va Tech, it'll be a battle just to get to .500 in conference play.
Duke 20-7 (7-6)- Rumors of the Blue Devils' demise were greatly exaggerated. But not by me. Sure the losses have been piling up, but I ask which is a bad loss. The worst loss I see is the one to Virginia. And that was a road game to a team tied for first in the ACC. Duke should be able to finish with a winning conference record. And don't be shocked if they beat Carolina. I'm not saying they will. Just saying don't be surprised.
Florida State 17-10 (5-8)- Having lost 4 straight, the Seminoles are another team that needs some wins and fast. They need to sweep the remaining schedule just to get to .500 in conference. Miami and NC State are winnable but on the road against Maryland will be very tough.
Georgia Tech 17-9 (5-7)- The Yellow Jackets would probably sneak into the NCAAs today but they still have at least 5 games remaining. Fortunately, their four remaining regular season games have three at home. Unfortunately one of them is against Carolina. Most likely, the Yellow Jackets split their last four games and need a win or two in the ACC Tournament to clinch a bid to the Big Dance.
Maryland 20-7 (6-6)-With a three game winning streak, the Terps have gotten to .500 in conference play for the first time this season. Games against Carolina and Duke remain though. I say they lose those two but beat FSU and NC State and will need a win in the ACC Tournament to clinch their bid.
Miami 10-16 (3-9)- They broke their long losing streak to a confusing NC State team but then lost a battle for worst in the ACC against Wake Forest. They've got a good chance now of finishing dead last in conference. None of their remaining games are against the dregs of the ACC but they might be able to upend one of their tournament hopes.
North Carolina 23-4 (9-3)- I still think the Tar Heels have been the most impressive team in the country. They're still playing for a #1 seed as well. Also an outright regular season ACC title is theirs for the taking. They're tied with Virginia currently but I think that most likely UNC has a better record than them in the final four games.
North Carolina State 14-11 (4-8)- They sweep Virginia Tech twice and beat UNC but lose to Miami. I'm confused. With this record, any State fan who makes fun of Sendek's struggles at Arizona State is an idiot. And it probably won't get better. Three out of the last four are on the road. The home game is against Wake Forest which they should win. Other than that, I don't see any W's.
Virginia 18-7 (9-3)- The Cavaliers have had a great season so far and have all but assured themselves of an NCAA berth. But is it just me or doesn't anyone think they've played over their heads? I think they have. And that's why I think they'll play about a split the rest of the way with away games against Miami and Wake Forest and home games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. We'll see. But it's been a great season and they should at least finish 2nd in the conference.
Virginia Tech 18-8 (8-4)- The Hokies confuse me. They beat Duke in Cameron. They swept North Carolina. Yet they've also lost to Western Michigan, Marshall, and been swept by North Carolina State. So how good is the team? We probably won't know until the NCAAs. The remaining schedule isn't bad. I think they go 3-1 and tie for 2nd with Virginia.
Wake Forest 13-13 (4-9)- Nice week for the Deacons who got back to .500 overall with wins against Clemson and Miami. That may be the last highlight of the season though with road games against Georgia Tech and NC State plus a final home game against Virginia. They might get one win out of that but two would be too much for this team.
Just guessing here's how I think the seeds will be for the ACC Tournament.
#1 North Carolina
#2 Virginia Tech
#3 Virginia
#4 Boston College
#5 Duke
#6 Maryland
#7 Georgia Tech
#8 Clemson
#9 Florida State
#10 North Carolina State
#11 Wake Forest
#12 Miami
Boston College 18-8 (9-4)- My predictions for a BC collapse started coming true as they went 0-2 against Duke and Carolina this week. The remaining schedule isn't easy either with road games at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech and a home game against Clemson. BC should get to a double digit win mark in conference and with some luck could have 20 wins before the ACC Tournament.
Clemson 19-7 (5-7)- Clemson is in trouble. After starting 17-0, they have went 2-7. They desperately need to pick up some wins if they hope to make the NCAAs. But with a schedule that includes Duke and road games against BC and Va Tech, it'll be a battle just to get to .500 in conference play.
Duke 20-7 (7-6)- Rumors of the Blue Devils' demise were greatly exaggerated. But not by me. Sure the losses have been piling up, but I ask which is a bad loss. The worst loss I see is the one to Virginia. And that was a road game to a team tied for first in the ACC. Duke should be able to finish with a winning conference record. And don't be shocked if they beat Carolina. I'm not saying they will. Just saying don't be surprised.
Florida State 17-10 (5-8)- Having lost 4 straight, the Seminoles are another team that needs some wins and fast. They need to sweep the remaining schedule just to get to .500 in conference. Miami and NC State are winnable but on the road against Maryland will be very tough.
Georgia Tech 17-9 (5-7)- The Yellow Jackets would probably sneak into the NCAAs today but they still have at least 5 games remaining. Fortunately, their four remaining regular season games have three at home. Unfortunately one of them is against Carolina. Most likely, the Yellow Jackets split their last four games and need a win or two in the ACC Tournament to clinch a bid to the Big Dance.
Maryland 20-7 (6-6)-With a three game winning streak, the Terps have gotten to .500 in conference play for the first time this season. Games against Carolina and Duke remain though. I say they lose those two but beat FSU and NC State and will need a win in the ACC Tournament to clinch their bid.
Miami 10-16 (3-9)- They broke their long losing streak to a confusing NC State team but then lost a battle for worst in the ACC against Wake Forest. They've got a good chance now of finishing dead last in conference. None of their remaining games are against the dregs of the ACC but they might be able to upend one of their tournament hopes.
North Carolina 23-4 (9-3)- I still think the Tar Heels have been the most impressive team in the country. They're still playing for a #1 seed as well. Also an outright regular season ACC title is theirs for the taking. They're tied with Virginia currently but I think that most likely UNC has a better record than them in the final four games.
North Carolina State 14-11 (4-8)- They sweep Virginia Tech twice and beat UNC but lose to Miami. I'm confused. With this record, any State fan who makes fun of Sendek's struggles at Arizona State is an idiot. And it probably won't get better. Three out of the last four are on the road. The home game is against Wake Forest which they should win. Other than that, I don't see any W's.
Virginia 18-7 (9-3)- The Cavaliers have had a great season so far and have all but assured themselves of an NCAA berth. But is it just me or doesn't anyone think they've played over their heads? I think they have. And that's why I think they'll play about a split the rest of the way with away games against Miami and Wake Forest and home games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. We'll see. But it's been a great season and they should at least finish 2nd in the conference.
Virginia Tech 18-8 (8-4)- The Hokies confuse me. They beat Duke in Cameron. They swept North Carolina. Yet they've also lost to Western Michigan, Marshall, and been swept by North Carolina State. So how good is the team? We probably won't know until the NCAAs. The remaining schedule isn't bad. I think they go 3-1 and tie for 2nd with Virginia.
Wake Forest 13-13 (4-9)- Nice week for the Deacons who got back to .500 overall with wins against Clemson and Miami. That may be the last highlight of the season though with road games against Georgia Tech and NC State plus a final home game against Virginia. They might get one win out of that but two would be too much for this team.
Just guessing here's how I think the seeds will be for the ACC Tournament.
#1 North Carolina
#2 Virginia Tech
#3 Virginia
#4 Boston College
#5 Duke
#6 Maryland
#7 Georgia Tech
#8 Clemson
#9 Florida State
#10 North Carolina State
#11 Wake Forest
#12 Miami
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Use another knife to pry it out.
I just watched Talladega Nights. Pretty funny. Right up there with Anchorman. I won't spoil my favorite scenes. But I really liked Ricky's dad and Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) as the gay French driver. Very enjoyable. I also rented Thank You For Smoking. I might watch that in a minute.
I read a quote in the Charlotte Observer today about Iraq. To paraphrase, someone said sectarian civil war was like checkers. This was chess. I disagree. Chess is too simplistic. This is more like go. Ever played go? My brain melts at the thought.
Congrats to Kevin Harvick on the Daytona win. And my pick Tony Stewart was off to a great start finishing 43rd. Out of 43. Good job Jeb.
I read a quote in the Charlotte Observer today about Iraq. To paraphrase, someone said sectarian civil war was like checkers. This was chess. I disagree. Chess is too simplistic. This is more like go. Ever played go? My brain melts at the thought.
Congrats to Kevin Harvick on the Daytona win. And my pick Tony Stewart was off to a great start finishing 43rd. Out of 43. Good job Jeb.
Turn my headphones up!
I was checking who's on Meet the Press today. It's White House press secretary Tony Snow. That might be pretty good. I think Mr. Snow is a pretty good press secretary. Much better than Scott McClellan. "But Jeb," you say, "aren't press secretaries just a bunch of liars?" Well, yeah. That's their job. And can we criticize someone for lying or tell misleading half-truths when their job is to lie and tell misleading half-truths? I think not! Scott McClellan was just pathetic and totally unbelievable. Watch a Tony Snow press conference. He's so good he could pull down his pants and pee on everybody, tell them it's raining and I swear the Washington Post would have a cover story about how it started raining in the White House Press Room. He did work for Fox News so he has experience with lying. *Rimshot
Does anyone else check the news, see the top story saying something along the lines of "2 Baghdad car bombs kill 56, injure 127" and get confused as to what day it is? It's like a game of depressing deja vu.
Carolina beat Boston College. Told ya.
The Daytona 500 is today. I'm not really a die-hard NASCAR fan but since I live in North Carolina, I am actually contractually obligated to watch the Daytona 500 every year. If you don't, I think you're at risk of being deported to New Jersey. But that's probably the only NASCAR race I'll watch all year. I predict Tony Stewart wins the NEXTEL Cup. CHeck back in many months to see if I was right.
A small political update. I like most people currently have Hillary Clinton as the odds-on favorite to become the next President in 2008. But an interesting issue has been developing. Her refusal to apologize for the Iraq War Resolution. In case you don't remember, before Bush invaded Iraq, there was a resolution put before Congress authorizing the use of force if blah blah blah. Anyway, just about every major contender for President at the time voted for this resolution. John Kerry. John Edwards. Dick Gephardt. And so did Hillary although she didn't run in 2004. They did it because they were scared to challenge the President in the post 9/11 environment and they thought voting no would make them look like weak hippie liberals. It turned out slightly different than they anticipated. Here's the problem for Hillary. Barack Obama was in the State Senate at the time but still said he opposed the authorization of force. Although the incredibly two-faced John Edwards defended his vote in 2004 to the death, he has now miraculously seen the light (and checks from the left wing of the Democratic party) to become an anti-war populist. As much as I dislike him, it was probably a smart move. Hillary however refuses to actually say "I was wrong". She says things like "If I knew how the President would..." and "With what I know now..." That doesn't count. She is taking a big risk. Perhaps it's bravery. But it's going to be hard for her to win this nomination against two anti-war critics who either opposed it from day one or have had a "moment of clarity". Nobody in the left-wing of the Democratic Party is going to vote for her if she doesn't apologize. I don't know how large the left-wing is currently, but you know that from the last election, they're smelling blood. So I think Mrs. Clinton needs to swallow her pride and be willing to admit that she was wrong. It's not impossible, but if she doesn't it will be a very hard slog through the primaries.
Does anyone else check the news, see the top story saying something along the lines of "2 Baghdad car bombs kill 56, injure 127" and get confused as to what day it is? It's like a game of depressing deja vu.
Carolina beat Boston College. Told ya.
The Daytona 500 is today. I'm not really a die-hard NASCAR fan but since I live in North Carolina, I am actually contractually obligated to watch the Daytona 500 every year. If you don't, I think you're at risk of being deported to New Jersey. But that's probably the only NASCAR race I'll watch all year. I predict Tony Stewart wins the NEXTEL Cup. CHeck back in many months to see if I was right.
A small political update. I like most people currently have Hillary Clinton as the odds-on favorite to become the next President in 2008. But an interesting issue has been developing. Her refusal to apologize for the Iraq War Resolution. In case you don't remember, before Bush invaded Iraq, there was a resolution put before Congress authorizing the use of force if blah blah blah. Anyway, just about every major contender for President at the time voted for this resolution. John Kerry. John Edwards. Dick Gephardt. And so did Hillary although she didn't run in 2004. They did it because they were scared to challenge the President in the post 9/11 environment and they thought voting no would make them look like weak hippie liberals. It turned out slightly different than they anticipated. Here's the problem for Hillary. Barack Obama was in the State Senate at the time but still said he opposed the authorization of force. Although the incredibly two-faced John Edwards defended his vote in 2004 to the death, he has now miraculously seen the light (and checks from the left wing of the Democratic party) to become an anti-war populist. As much as I dislike him, it was probably a smart move. Hillary however refuses to actually say "I was wrong". She says things like "If I knew how the President would..." and "With what I know now..." That doesn't count. She is taking a big risk. Perhaps it's bravery. But it's going to be hard for her to win this nomination against two anti-war critics who either opposed it from day one or have had a "moment of clarity". Nobody in the left-wing of the Democratic Party is going to vote for her if she doesn't apologize. I don't know how large the left-wing is currently, but you know that from the last election, they're smelling blood. So I think Mrs. Clinton needs to swallow her pride and be willing to admit that she was wrong. It's not impossible, but if she doesn't it will be a very hard slog through the primaries.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Hola
Yeah I haven;'t updated today. I've been tired and when I wasn't tired I was busy playing without new dog Sadie. Yes Mom got a new dog. She said Daisy needed a friend. And she knew someone that was getting rid of theirs because the couple had recently had a baby or something like that. She's a 4 month old German pointer. She seems to like me. She keeps jumping on the couch to lay with me. The dachshunds don't really like her but Daisy does. They have played nearly nonstop. Which is funny because Daisy is a basset so she's low to the ground while Sadie is very lanky. Good times.
The Senate voted not to tart debate on the Iraq war resolution. There were 56 votes in favor but as you political junkies know you need 60 in the Senate to end debate. As I said it's a worthless resolution. Put some teeth in it or shut up.
Appalachian got a big win in basketball beating the Wichita State Shockers. That will definitely help the at-large candidacy. I'm still doubtful, but it can't hurt.
Florida lost today to Vanderbilt. Their long winning streak is over. I always forget that Vanderbilt has an odd arena. The coaches and bench are at the endzones of the court. Not the sidelines. And the court is raised so it's higher than the first few rows. Never understood that. Now that the Gators have lost, I think Memphis has the longest winning streak in the country. And they're up 8 on Gonzaga at halftime.
Kansas beat Nebraska 92-39. Ouch.
I guess the marquee game tonight is North Carolina-Boston College. The game could help decide the regular season ACC Title (diluted from expansion but whatever). If BC wins, they are in first by themselves. If the Tar Heels win, it's a tie for first between UNC and Virginia. I'm picking the Tar Heels tonight. It's in Boston, but UNC is the most talented team in the country. After the loss to Va Tech, I think they'll be real motivated to come out strong on BC. I guess BC could be pumped to for their loss against Duke. But I'm not real bullish on Boston College. They don't really have a marquee win that shows me they are among the elite in the country. So I say UNC wins by 10.
The obituary this week in The Economist was Anna Nicole Smith. Which was unexpected because they generally stick to people more of the stature of say Gerald Ford or former Chilean dictator Auguste Pinochet. Even when a titan doesn't die, they sometimes pick good ones. Two weeks ago was the inventor of the instant noodle. It was a good obituary though. I love The Economist but their obituaries are still a distant second to the New York Times which are more like essays or novellas about the subject's life. Those are always entertaining in a slightly morbid fashion.
Speaking of Anna Nicole Smith, apparently Britney Spears went to a tattoo parlor and shaved herself completely bald. I drop Anna Nicole Smith's name because I'm guessing the Vegas odds of Britney ending up dead by year-end are starting to soar. Just saying.
No stock market Monday. Stupid President's Day! But I hit another all time high. I suppose I should be leery. These constant all-time highs are generally just a massive set-up for a crash or bear market. In case this happens, I'll record this doom-saying for posterity's sake. But Lenox and Deltathree had very good days Friday. And I bought a new company. Wellman. Their main line of business is extremely sexy. They manufacture PET resins which is basically the plastic soft-drink bottles. They do a few other things but that seems to be the main thing. They've been in the doldrums for a while so hopefully I've picked them up on the cheap.
The Senate voted not to tart debate on the Iraq war resolution. There were 56 votes in favor but as you political junkies know you need 60 in the Senate to end debate. As I said it's a worthless resolution. Put some teeth in it or shut up.
Appalachian got a big win in basketball beating the Wichita State Shockers. That will definitely help the at-large candidacy. I'm still doubtful, but it can't hurt.
Florida lost today to Vanderbilt. Their long winning streak is over. I always forget that Vanderbilt has an odd arena. The coaches and bench are at the endzones of the court. Not the sidelines. And the court is raised so it's higher than the first few rows. Never understood that. Now that the Gators have lost, I think Memphis has the longest winning streak in the country. And they're up 8 on Gonzaga at halftime.
Kansas beat Nebraska 92-39. Ouch.
I guess the marquee game tonight is North Carolina-Boston College. The game could help decide the regular season ACC Title (diluted from expansion but whatever). If BC wins, they are in first by themselves. If the Tar Heels win, it's a tie for first between UNC and Virginia. I'm picking the Tar Heels tonight. It's in Boston, but UNC is the most talented team in the country. After the loss to Va Tech, I think they'll be real motivated to come out strong on BC. I guess BC could be pumped to for their loss against Duke. But I'm not real bullish on Boston College. They don't really have a marquee win that shows me they are among the elite in the country. So I say UNC wins by 10.
The obituary this week in The Economist was Anna Nicole Smith. Which was unexpected because they generally stick to people more of the stature of say Gerald Ford or former Chilean dictator Auguste Pinochet. Even when a titan doesn't die, they sometimes pick good ones. Two weeks ago was the inventor of the instant noodle. It was a good obituary though. I love The Economist but their obituaries are still a distant second to the New York Times which are more like essays or novellas about the subject's life. Those are always entertaining in a slightly morbid fashion.
Speaking of Anna Nicole Smith, apparently Britney Spears went to a tattoo parlor and shaved herself completely bald. I drop Anna Nicole Smith's name because I'm guessing the Vegas odds of Britney ending up dead by year-end are starting to soar. Just saying.
No stock market Monday. Stupid President's Day! But I hit another all time high. I suppose I should be leery. These constant all-time highs are generally just a massive set-up for a crash or bear market. In case this happens, I'll record this doom-saying for posterity's sake. But Lenox and Deltathree had very good days Friday. And I bought a new company. Wellman. Their main line of business is extremely sexy. They manufacture PET resins which is basically the plastic soft-drink bottles. They do a few other things but that seems to be the main thing. They've been in the doldrums for a while so hopefully I've picked them up on the cheap.
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