Entries categorized "Weblogs"

Monday, July 02, 2007

I'm not really into stats but still...

Did you know that this site averages the same amount of hits per day regardless of whether I write anything here or not?

Something about that strikes me as kind of lame.

The fact is I've kind of lost interest in this site and I am often finding myself wondering why I even bother with it. When I think of all the time I have spent on this thing that I could have spent getting better at playing my guitar, reading a book or just hanging out with my kids, I feel a little stupid. Like what the hell was I thinking? I'm not saying this thing is a total waste but I'm feeling like it's pretty close.

Gone Fishin...Maybe it's just the weather. I mean it's too damn nice out right now to want to waste time sitting in front of the keyboard typing stuff. I'd much rather be on-line with a large-mouth bass this time of year.

Anyway the site is paid for and all that so it's not going away, but don't be surprised if the updates are sporadic over the summer. If something exciting or noteworthy happens I may become inspired to write about it. Then again maybe I won't. I know that's a killer way to decrease your site traffic, telling people you're not going to be around that much, but as the statistics prove, it doesn't really matter that much anyway.

In the meantime if anybody asks tell them I've gone fishin' or something.

(t-shirt at: Michael's Closet)

Friday, June 22, 2007

Hopefully I don't do something dumb while driving to a site with my boss today...

Happy Friday everyone! We made it. Was it just me or did this week seem to really kind of drag on? I don't know, but it did for me.

Just gotta get through today and the weekend is here.

I have to go visit a customer today which I am absolutely THRILLED about. Not. And my boss is coming with me so that means that the chance of me saying something stupid quadruples. As my friend said to me the other day, 'Yeah, you do have that whole 'honesty' thing.. just don't talk and you're good'.

Ok. That's kinda hard to do when you're in a car with somebody for four hours... I'll just use some corporate buzz words and talk in corporate-speak and I think I'll be ok. Peel the onion! Low hanging fruit! I'll ping you on that!! (Ug.)

In the meantime, I've got a new story up at Faster Than The WORLD today so head on over and check that shit out!

Update:
Well I'm back, at 3:30 PM on a Friday. Can't complain about that! AND I didn't say anything dumb, as far as I know, so yay me! Driving down to the site with my boss was not bad. We just talked about movies and stuff.

I have to say, as managers go my current boss is pretty good. I've had some pretty horrendous managers over the years, some that have literally given me nightmares, so I should not complain about my current boss or give an impression that he is a bad guy. And no he does not know about this site (as far as I know) so I'm not just saying that. Ha.

Have a good weekend!!

Monday, June 11, 2007

To link or not to link, that is the question...

Something I have been thinking about lately concerning this site is the question of links. Like, what is the proper etiquette when dealing with links to other sites?

I have been thinking about seriously pairing down my list of links to other sites and basically going from around 60 links or whatever it is down there to more like, 10. This would include removing some links to sites that also link back to me.

So if I do that does that make me a big internet jerk? As ridiculous as this may seem I do wonder about this. It's nothing personal. I just don't want to have such a huge list of links. But, I don't want to be an asshole either, especially in the cases where somebody is linking back to me. SO what do I do?

I feel kind of dumb that this is something that I even think about. I mean really! Who cares about this stuff? But still, any insight from those of you who are more astute at this sort of thing would be appreciated!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Do not adjust your internests..

Hello faithful readers! Just a quick post to let you know I'm dicking around with the site name. The main thing this affects is the name that will show up for the site in an RSS Feed. So if you're subscribed to my feed, first off, THANKS and second, if you noticed the name of the feed changed and were wondering what happened, now you know.

Other than that, it's just the name that appears at the top of the browser window. No big deal.

I'm trying to come up with a new name for the site because I've never really liked 'mr. blackandwhite'. That was just supposed to be a temporary name till I thought up something better. Well, almost 4 years later, I think maybe I have, 'The Man Nook!' Totally stupid, or sheer genius? I don't know, but I kind of like it. I like it better than 'mr. blackandwhite' anyway.. so there you go.

Where in the world did I come up with this goofy new name, 'The Man Nook'? Well the name comes from the Man Nook that exists in my house...

(I'm sure those of you who are male and married with kids can relate to this..)

See, my Wife and Children basically own every room in the house. There is no space to be had for my stuff. I once suggested putting my Patriots Superbowl Footballs out on display on the fireplace mantle. Yes, I thought they would look nice there and add that 'special touch' to the living-room. This suggestion was met with quizzical looks, followed by hearty laughter by everyone in the house.

The exception to this ban on my personal decoration style is a little corner in the basement that I call The Man Nook. You might have heard other men refer to this space in their own homes as 'The Man Zone', 'The Man Cave' or 'Man Town'.

In this little nook I have a tall, circular, bar-room style Patriots table and some Patriots bar-stools set up and I have my autographed New England Patriots photos hanging on the wall and some Red Sox pennants and a shelf for my NASCAR die-cast cars and that sort of thing. It's a very sports oriented nook. There is a beer bottle opener conveniently located right there on the wall. That is my corner of the house and this is my corner on the interweb, so there you go. It's The Man Nook. Come on in, relax and let's shoot the shit. You can see the TV from here too. It's nice.

I'm not switching URL's or anything like that so no need to adjust any links, though I might get another domain if I find this name really sticks. Right now I really like it, but next week I might think it sucks, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there. In the meantime, even though the name is changing it's still the same B.S in the posts.

Thanks for reading! I do appreciate it!!

Monday, May 21, 2007

It's Faster Than The World's First Birthday!

This week marks the 1st birthday of my favorite interweb hangout, Faster Than The World. FTTW is almost a toddler now! Pretty soon it'll be up on both feet, rambling around, pulling all the cd's out of the cd rack, and generally climbing on and getting into everything.

Time to baby-proof. What? Oh, you say that we don't need to do that because it's a website? Hmmm. Have you seen what it's gotten into lately?

There's always something interesting going on over at Faster Than The World. You never know what you're going to get that's for sure. Every day is different so head over there this week and check it out. To celebrate the big birthday there's going to be contests AND prizes! Wow! Yes you can actually win a lap-dance with one of FTTW's writers. Or a t-shirt. Maybe.

While you're over there, check out the new addition to FTTW, Faster Than The Blog. Yes, FTTW now has a blog. Or blarg as I like to call it. Because I hate the word 'blog', as you may know. Think of it as a spill-over site for all the extra.. 'stuff'. It's all about having fun over there so head on over and enjoy!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Tagged again

Tagged again. Here it is:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. Every Friday I have a thing I do called 'Reward Friday'. I get a Dunkins sandwich and coffee on my way to work. If I don't get my reward Friday Dunkins, it throws off the whole day.. Wed is Mini-Reward day. I sneak out of the office and get a Dunkins coffee. Iced in the Summer, hot in the Winter. I think Dunkins should be paying me for all the promotion I give them.

2. I have been playing the guitar since I was 15. When I listen to music I like to listen to that 'awful acid-rock' (as my Mom refers to it). I also like country music, and by country I am referring to like, Johnny Cash and George Strait, NOT The Dixie Chicks, and I also enjoy classical music.

3. I have a hard time thinking of 8 random facts. Dude I suck at this. I'm at 3 and I've already run dry! I root for The Pats, The Sox, The B's and The C's. I also watch NASCAR. I guess you could say I like sports.

4. My first time attending a live Pats game in Foxboro was Pete Carroll's last game. My 2nd time attending a live Pats game in Foxboro was Bill Belichick's first game. I got to meet Jonathan Kraft at that game but I was too awestruck to say anything to him. I really wanted to say something like, 'Tell your Dad thanks for saving my team' but all I could do was smile at him. What a dweeb.

5. Hey ok. Check it out. I'm at 5. More than halfway there now! Ok now what next... I am not a very materialistic person. I don't want a lot of 'things', but there are a few things that I do want. Unfortunately those things are sports cars, pickup trucks, motorcycles and fishing boats. Dammit.

6. Despite the fact that I live in Massachusetts, I hate Winter. I think that there are only two good things about winter: New England Patriots Football and pond hockey.

7. I was doing good but now I am losing steam. I went back to Angela's site for ideas... For work I spend all day working on computers. Oh, by the way. I hate computers and computer related stuff. The other day, some geeks were outside my cube arguing about which is better, Mac or Windows. I seriously wanted to strangle them. If your arguments sound something like this, 'Dude the C shell is sooo much better than the korn shell...' you seriously need to get a life. Also, FUCK OFF and get away from me! Thank you.

8. Hey! I'm at 8! Ok. Hmmm. I am somewhat obsessed with my lawn. I want my lawn to look like the field at Fenway Park. Weeds are my enemy and I show them no mercy. Dave Mellor is like a god to me (Mellor is the head greens-keeper at Fenway Park). Nitrogen. Katydids... A lot of people don't even know what that is.

Ok that's it!

I'm not tagging anybody else because rules were made to be broken. Heh heh heh.. BUT I will give you a bonus 9th fact!

9. I am a lifelong Red Sox fan, though oddly I did not actually start following baseball until I was about 21 years old. That one is too long to explain.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Stuff I was thinking about while eating my Dunkins sammitch..

Doh!I think Curt Shilling is great and of course I think his blawg, 38 Pitches, where he talks straight to the fans and anybody else who cares to read his opinions, totally rocks, but there have been a few recent occasions where I bet Shilling wishes he had just kept quiet.

His reaction to Gary Thorne's idiotic suggestion that 'The Bloody Sock' was a fake a few weeks ago and now his recent Barry Bonds 'cheating' comments and subsequent public apology are a couple classic, open mouth, insert foot, moments.

If these comments were from any other 'normal' person, who cares? It's just another fool and their opinion and it's no big deal. Nobody's going to get offended if Joe Baseball Fan says that he thinks Barry Bonds is a cheater on some sports-talk radio show, but that rule obviously does not apply to someone with a high profile like Curt Shilling. When someone of Shilling's stature says that kind of thing on the radio, it causes a bit of a stir.

Personally I really don't care about Shilling's recent public flubs. To me it's not as big a deal as the media is trying to blow it up to be (there's a shock). As someone who has had more than my share of embarrassment caused by my own dumb-ass comments, I do kind of feel sorry for Shil, but at the same time, what he says on the radio or writes on his site does nothing to hurt or sway my opinion of him one way or the other. All I care about is what he does on the mound every 5th day.

I did find Terry Francona's reaction to Curt's shenanigans to be quite funny. 'Zip it.'

--

This recent comment about my favorite hockey player, Ray Bourque, by The Pats newly acquired receiver, Wes Welker, made me feel old:

"We've gotten to know each other a bit; Ray is a great guy," Welker said. "He's a legend around Boston, which I'm learning more and more since I've been here. I knew of him growing up, because I used to play Sega Genesis, the ice hockey game. I was always the Bruins, and it was Ray Bourque and Cam Neely. That's who I always played with."

Welker KNEW OF HIM growing up because he used to always play as the Bruins on his SEGA GENESIS ice hockey game? Oy...

Friday, April 27, 2007

Tagged: Why do I blawg?

My interweb friend Angela tagged me this week. I have never been tagged before so this is very exciting!

Ok. Maybe it's not 'exciting' but it's cool. For me, anyway...

Ok. Feeling nerdy. Moving right along.

So, the question is: why do I blog?

First: I HATE the word blog. I feel like such a nerd using that word. Ok I know I'm kind of a nerd by default, seeing as how, here I am, typing away on the interweb, but, you don't have to make it worse with such a nerdy word...

So why do I blawg? Well, mainly for fun. It's an outlet. It's something to do. It's a way to connect with other people who have similar interests. I like to go and read my friends' sites and leave comments and of course I like to get comments here.

Also, I can swear and be a wise ass and say pretty much whatever I want to here. Because it's mine. I pay for it. I set it up. I run it. If I want to say fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck, I'll say it. When I write something here, I may be right, I may be wrong. I may be crazy. I may be a jackass, I may be right on the money... Doesn't matter because I'm in charge around here. That's why it's copyrighted as 'Man King'.

But mainly, it's all just for fun. Like I say in the 'about' page, I don't take any of this too seriously and neither should you, and I appreciate anybody that stops by.

So there you go. That's the beer and tequila enhanced version of 'why I blaug'.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Tweet! Tweet!

You might have noticed a new addition to my side bar, a little internet gizmo called 'Twitter'. It's a cool thingamabobber that lets me send an update to this site, and you, and anybody else that's interested (all zero of you), telling you all about whatever incredibly mundane thing I happen to be doing at the time.

I have to say it's pretty cool and serves absolutely no useful purpose what-so-ever, except for being fun and kind of addictive. Plus I could use it to totally lie to you guys about what I'm doing and that would be fun. I could fully send some kind of bogus update to totally trick you.

Like I could send an update telling you that I'm in bed with with 10 Victoria Secret models at the same time, (not doing anything of course, just in bed with them having a pillow fight. I AM married you know..) or that I'm hanging out with Bill Belichick, having some pizza and Coca-Colas and helping him break down some game video (Coach, check this out, see the way Manning holds the ball before he throws? That's right when Tedy Bruschi should come flying in, swat the ball away from Manning, recover the fumble and run in for a touchdown.)

I could tell you guys that I'm getting a back-rub, (that NEVER happens, so you would know I was tricking you then,) or that I'm picking up my new 2008 Dodge Challenger, the first one off the assembly line... Yeah. The possibilities are endlessly stupid!

Last night I was using Twitter during the Sox game to spontaneously 'live blog' / vent during the game. That was kind of fun. (God what a nerd...)

Supposedly you can get the thing to work using Google Chat but obviously I am an idiot because I can't seem to figure out how to do it. I have gotten it working at home with Adium (Mac based IM client), but so far, no go with G-Chat. If any of you super-smart folks out there know the secret to making Twitter work with G-Chat, I'd like to know what it is!

So there you go. Twitter is fun. Feel free to stalk me on my twitter profile, until I get bored with it and move on to something else. Ok, the Victoria's Secret models have asked me if I want to play Twister with them, so I'll send you a Twitter update a little later.

Friday, March 30, 2007

NFL Rules and Dream Cars...

Hey what's up? I am over at Faster Than the World today trying to find out which baseball team people are going to be rooting for this year and talking about my first dream car, the Datsun 240Z. Head over and check it out and leave me some comments! Yes I am a comment whore. So what?

There are a bunch of great stories to read over there while you're at it so, head over and enjoy!

Not much going on around these here parts other than the fact that I am still sick and coughing my goddam head off. My whole body aches from coughing and my head is killing me. This sucks!!

I saw the NFL owners decided to make replay permanent, until someone decides to try and make it un-permanent. I don't really have a problem with instant re-play. It does kind of stall the game at times but overall I think they do a pretty good job with it.

The only other rule change that jumped out at me was the new one about spiking the ball in the field of play. So does that mean the end-zone too or just on the main field of play, between the end zones? I'm not sure so I'll have to read up on that one.

This rule seems kind of lame to me. The NFL is kind of silly about player celebrations and that sort of thing. It's getting to the point where players can't do anything expressive on the field. I agree that sometimes it can get over the top, like when T.O. pulls out a pen from his sock and signs a ball, but I don't see what's so bad about spiking a ball. If you make a big play in a game, you are going to be excited and I don't see what's wrong with a player showing that excitement. That is the kind of thing that gets fans fired up, like when a player makes a first down and throws his arm forward, giving the first down sign, or if a running back runs for a huge gain and spins the ball on the ground. I love that stuff! That is part of what makes the game fun.

Players need to have some way to express themselves after a big play. Like I said I have not fully read up on this new rule but on the surface it seems pretty ridiculous to me. Typical NFL, No Fun League.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Some thoughts on the Bristol race this weekend...

I know that I'm in the minority here but I don't like The Bristol race. The reason I don't like the racing at Bristol is because it's basically one big long set of caution laps with a few green flag racing laps sporadically thrown in. Yes, the history and the concept of racing at Bristol is cool, but the always caution filled race itself just frustrates me as a viewer.

One thing that does have me interested in this year's Bristol race is the fact that NASCAR will be running the 'Car of Tomorrow' at Bristol. I am curious to see how NASCAR's new car will perform and what, if any difference it makes in the race. It should be interesting, provided we can get some racing in, between caution laps.

NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog has a good post up talking about the Car of Tomorrow and The Bristol race this weekend. By the way, if you're wondering where all the good NASCAR blogs are, definitely check out NASCAR Ranting and Raving and go from there. You can't go wrong.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Shilling starts blog. Old Media dies a little more...

With Curt Shilling recently unveiling his own personal blawg*, 38 Pitches, we are are once again presented with another example of the continuing erosion of 'the old media'. I'm talking specifically about news outlets, print, television and radio, whose reporters and columnists make a living by twisting people's words and injecting their own bias into everything they write.

The old media is becoming a dinosaur and it is happening right before our eyes.

Sites like Shilling's are rare these days. Not too many athletes have the inclination or the interest to start up their own interactive website, where they share their personal thoughts with the world and trade comments with their readers, but I have to believe that there are other athletes and public figures out there who are tired of having their words and ideas re-interpreted and re-purposed by reporters and newspaper columnists. Once those people learn that they can talk directly to the rest of us without having to go though the dirty filter of the main stream press, sites like Shilling's will become more and more numerous.

As personal websites like 38 Pitches become more and more predominant, people will no longer need to rely on the the likes of The Boston Globe, whose columnists can't even be bothered to write an original article, for their insight into what athletes, politicians and other public persona's are thinking.

Why read some newspaper or magazine columnist's edited and biased interpretation of what a public figure has said when you can go right to their blog-site and get it straight from the source?

The filters are coming off and the walls of the old school media are crumbling. Enjoy.

On a side note, I would love to see someone like Shilling keep their own recordings of their interactions with the press and then post the unedited version after the reporter's version has been published. I'm sure it would very interesting to compare the two versions of the same story.

*PS> I still hate the word 'blog'.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Feelings, nothing more than feelings...

I have been dealing with some some very wimpy emotions and feelings and shit lately and I actually had a whole post written up talking about them but while I was on the verge of hitting the [POST] button, I abruptly changed my mind and deleted it instead and decided to do the right thing and ignore them / bury those annoying feelings deep down where they won't bother anybody.

Plus, I would not want to affect anyone's happiness points system. There you go.

In the mean time, that does not leave me with much to talk about at the moment so I'm going to point you over to Faster Than the World where people are voting for the Funniest Movie Ever. Because we all know that voting in online internet polls is way more fun that talking about stupid feelings. Enjoy!

Besides, it's March 1st today and March FULLY RRUULEESS!! I love March. March is when Spring happens. That means snow, your days are numbered. It also means that I'll have to pick up some Scott's lawn fertilizer soon because pretty soon I'll be able to see my grass again. Yay!

I feel better already.

Did I mention that I'm going to a flower show this weekend? Yup, that's right. So NOT gay because flowers are awesome and are way better to look at than gray, icy-cold slush and snow. And they smell nice and put me in a good mood because they are ALIVE, unlike the frozen wasteland outside my window at the moment. AND you can get all kinds of good land-scaping ideas at the flower show. And I'm into that shit. So there you go, again.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Links updated and Testarossa dreams...

I don't have much to offer you today (do I ever, really? Don't answer that...) but I will tell you that I just added a whole bunch of Pats blogs that I've recently found to my list of sites that I wish my site was as cool as... Feel free to peruse and enjoy.

It goes without saying that reciprocal links are always appreciated, even though I actually did just say it and now feel somewhat whore-ish. Whatev.

Last night I had a really cool dream that I was driving a Ferrari Testarossa. A white one. And I was driving it REALLY fast. I was fucking flying through the gears and the engine was racing and making a magnificent roar. Then the Testarossa turned into a black Daytona. Even cooler!

Hmmm. I think maybe I was dreaming I was in an episode of Miami Vice... Anyway... A super-cool dream all the same..

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

I guess I should post something...

Am I supposed to post stuff on here or just dick around with the site design?

The Pats beat the Lions on Sunday, in case you did not know by now. That game was an exercise in frustration. The front part of my brain spent the whole game freaking out about how The Pats were going to blow it and lose a game to one of the worst teams in the league, while the back of my brain sat back and told the front of my brain, 'Deud, just relax will ya? I'm telling you right now, The Pats are not losing this one. No way, no how. They won't allow a loss to this team, so chill.'

Of course, the front side of my brain did not chill and was on edge though out the entire 4th quarter. When it was over and the Pats walked off the field with a victory, the back half of my brain was all, 'see I told you not to worry.'

I should listen to the back half of my brain more.

So I've been thinking of telling more people, i.e., my family members, about this site. There are only three people, outside of my Wife of course, that I have told about this thing in all the time I've been writing it. So far, as far as I know, the things I've written about here have not made those three people hate me, so I think it may be ok to let the word out about it. I am not good with keeping in touch with people via phone or e-mail, seeing as how another one of my nick-names could be 'mr. anti-social', so maybe this would be a good way to do that... I figure if my family can't read this thing, then who can? (Besides a bunch of strangers on the internest.) Hmmmm. What would the back half of my brain do?

Friday, December 01, 2006

#2 Seed in AFC is there for the taking...

Hey everybody! Happy Friday. Nice job getting through. It felt like an extra long week for me after last week's Thanksgiving break.

Welcome to December. The Ravens lost to the Bengals last night and that makes the #2 Seed in the AFC up for grabs. There is no way San Diego wins out the rest of the year. Opportunity is knocking for The Pats.

I'm over at Faster Than the World today. Head over and check out my football post if you get a chance!

Thanks!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Please note:

I would just like to note the following:

It's the middle of November and the temps here in the Northeast U.S. are in the 60s. Fabulous. I hope it stays like this all winter. I hope it is 55 degrees in the middle of January. Global warming rules.

You may have noticed that I've been throwing around the word 'awesome' a lot lately and I feel the need to point out that 'awesome' is not a word that can be applied to just anything around here. 'Awesome' is definitely not an adjective to be taken lightly. To receive the 'awesome' moniker on this site, something must be truly AWESOME. So if I tell you that I think something is awesome, that means that I think it's really, really good and super cool too.

Unless I am being sarcastic.

Like when I describe getting cut off in traffic by a person talking on their cell phone while driving their Ford Expedition as awesome, that's not really awesome. That's the opposite of awesome. Or if I describe the feeling of finding out that Jessica Biel has been dating Derek Jeter as awesome, that is total sarcasm right there. That is definitely the opposite of awesome. Oh my sweet Jessica, what were you thinking?

Please don't tell me that Jeter has also dated Jessica Alba. There are some things I'd rather not know. Maybe he has, maybe he hasn't. I honestly don't know, but if he has, then don't ruin it for me. Let Jessica Alba remain pure in my mind. Thank you.

While I have been using the word 'awesome' quite a bit recently, on the flip side, I have been trying to curtail my use of the word, 'fuck'. Overuse of this word limits it's effectiveness. Plus it's naughty.

A couple people have e-mailed me, ok one person, has e-mailed me, asking what I thought of the The Sox shelling out 50 million just to talk to some Hekimatzuizilla guy. (Apparently he's a pitcher?) My answer: The Pats are playing Green Bay this weekend.

Seriously, talk to me when pitchers and catchers report. I'll see who shows up at The Fort and tell you what I think then. Right now it's football season.

This may be one of the most pointless posts I have ever written. And that's saying something.

One last thing. The End Zone is on Fridays now, so head over to Faster Than the World and check it out if you get a chance!

Ok as you were. Happy Friday.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Shake it up...

This site has grown very 'blah' for me lately and I think it's time for a change around here... I don't know what is going to happen or when it's going to happen but it's time to make this place a little different.  Maybe a new look will help... I don't know. But it's time for something to shake this place up a little. The writer will stay the same, sad to say, but maybe the writing can be improved too.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Colts Pats talk over at 'The End Zone'

Hey what's up gang. If you get a chance, head on over to 'The End Zone' and check out my latest football post, as well as the extremely interesting method I have chosen to pick this weeks games, 'The Spongebob Game Picks'!

Basically, whatever my mind wanted to pick, I picked the opposite. You will be surprised how many of them are actually turning out right. The Spongebob Method works! Who would have guessed!

Plus there's a bonus over there featuring one of the most asinine technical support calls I have ever taken.

Check back here later for some Pats / Colts posting on tonight's game...

Enjoy!

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Ten Thousand?? We could almost buy our own ship for that!

Hey innerwebs! Later on today, this site will pass the 10,000 hit mark and I wanted to mark the occasion with a quick post about it and also say that I really appreciate everybody that stops by.

Special thanks to anybody that links to my site as well. You are super cool.

Ok. Back to your weekend. Hope it's a good one. I'm about to go out and mow the lawn for the final time this year.

It was an exceptionally good year, lawn-wise. Weeds were minimal and a lot of the areas that were a little bare really filled in nicely. I think it might have been the best year my lawn has ever had and hopefully next year will be just as good!

For those who are not aware, I am a slave to my lawn.

Once the lawn mowing is complete, it'll be time to winterize the old lawn-mower and then re-arrange the shed, a chore that I hate doing, mainly because it means putting all the summer stuff away and moving the snow-blower to the front of the shed. Once the snow-blower's in the front of the shed, that officially marks the onset of winter. Here's a huge, 'BLAH!' to the start of winter.

I'm hoping this season will just be cold and not have too much snow. I'd like to do some skating on the ponds this year. We already had a brief snow flurry at the end of October, so I guess we'll see how that goes!

Ok time to get to work. Have a good weekend!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Just when I had started to lose faith in the magic of the internets...

... I discover, THIS: DINOSAUR COMICS!!

Totally. Fucking. Awesome.

Personally, I find it to be really annoying when people emphasize something by typing. something. out. that. way. So you know if I'm doing it, it must be really good.

If you don't laugh at these comics, you have no humor in you. Or you're my Wife, who, after asking what in the world it was that I was laughing at, sarcastically commented, 'oh a cartoon,' then proceeded to just squint at it and state, 'I don't get it.'

Don't listen to her folks. It's funny. I'm telling you.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Faster Than the World is now even faster than before...

If you have not stopped by Faster Than the World lately, you should head over there and check it out. The site has been totally revamped so that all of the day's stories are now available on one page and it looks great!

With over 20 authors writing over the course of 7 days, there's something there for everyone. Some stories might make you laugh, some might make you think, and some might make you say, 'damn that's pretty fucked up!' But either way, there's a lot of good stuff over there, so check it out!

And don't forget, the folks over at Faster Than the World are always looking for new stories and writers, so if you want to contribute anything, as a one-shot deal or on a regular basis, just drop them a note and let them know!

See you over there!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Blah, whatever...

Lately what's been happing with this thing is that I think of something I might like to write about, usually while I'm at work, since that's where I spend 80% of my life, and I try to make a mental note and file it away for later.

I try as much as possible to avoid coming in here during work, so I tell myself, 'That would be cool to talk about on the site. I'll do that when I get home.'

But by the time I get home, I am no longer in a writing mood because when I get home, I've transitioned from my paying job to my other job, which is taking care of all the various things that need to be taken care of here at home. By the time that stuff is done, I've lost all my motivation to talk about whatever it was that I thought was funny earlier in the day, which sucks, because I like writing in here and getting comments on posts and all that. It's fun.

On top of that, I've been trying to do other stuff, like read more and things like that, but there's only so many hours in a day, so the site has been the thing that's been falling off the plate lately. There's got to be some way of working all this stuff in somehow, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it... Oh well. Maybe if I wrote faster... har.

Fiction Writing contest over at FTTW!

Hey gang, I've got some fun news to pass on. Faster Than The World is holding a fiction writing contest for the month of Rock-tober! Check it out:

The theme for you story should be applicable to Halloween; not necessarily about Halloween, but something appropriate for the season - examples would be ghost stories, horror fiction, anything spooky, scary, gory or creepy...

Sound interesting? Got some Stephen King in ya? Well then head on over there and get your stuff out there for everybody to see. Like always, it's all about having fun and maybe making people cringe and shudder with fear... or something like that.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Today's the day! Get over to Faster Than the World and check it out!

Today's a big day over at Faster Than the World. This is the day that the brand new website kicks it into gear and it looks great!

It's been a lot of work for everybody involved, especially Turtle and Michele, the founders of the site. If you have not stopped by to check it out yet, head on over there today and join in because the whole point of this thing is to have fun.

FTTW is one of the few sites where there really is something there for everybody; music, movies, cars, sex, sports, adventure stories, and stuff that doesn't fit into categories.

I think the new site design came out really great and I'm glad to be involved over there. Turtle and Michele are always on the lookout for new contributors too, so if you want to get involved, just step up!

See you over there!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Check out my first football post over at Faster Than The World..

Hey if the NFL can hype itself, why can't I?

Football season finally kicks off tonight and my first post in 'The End Zone' is now up over at Faster Than The World. Swing by and check it out! Hope you like it.

I'll have a regular slot every Sunday morning at FTTW so head over there before the games start to get a full dose of, well, whatever you want to call this stuff that I write.

And don't forget to look at all the other cool stuff that's over there too. There's a ton of stories, buttons, links and pictures for you to click on and explore, so dive in and have fun!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

We're on a Mission to Destroy... This is gonna be cool

Well my vacation is over and I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I have not really been on the computer for the last few days, except to check an e-mail here and there and to look at a few selective websites.. My bloglines list has like 600 unread posts backed up in there so I'll have to catch up with that stuff later.

In the meantime, something pretty exciting has come up for me that has me all jacked and pumped. Michele and Turtle over at Faster Than the World are taking their site to a whole new level and they have asked me to be a part of it.

They are turning their site into an online magazine with contributing writers who will be posting about all kinds of cool, different and interesting topics, ranging from music, to muscle cars, to sex, to movies... sports, video games, guitars, and stuff that just does not fit into any category.

They have asked me to write a weekly story about the NFL for their new site and I am pretty fucking psyched about it because this thing is going to be really cool. I am psyched that I am going to be involved in this.

My stories will appear on Sunday mornings before the games get started. I hope you will take some time to check them out and participate in the comments, and while you're over there, definetely check out the rest of the stuff on Faster Than The World because it really kicks ass.

It will suck you right in.

Trust me.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Happy birthday you stupid waste of time!

Just a quick post to mark the fact that today is my blog's birthday. Happy birthday blog.

2 years. 2 years worth of complete and total nonsense. That's a lot of friggin' nonsense my friends.

Thanks to everybody that stops by here to read this stuff, and a special thanks to those that actually come back!

Now, on with the nonsense. I'm gonna see if I can take the nonsense to even higher levels in year 3! It's going to be tough, but I'm up for it.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

I love this site: Barstool Sports

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this website, Barstool Sports.

I am not sure where I found this site, but it has quickly become one of my favorite places to go on the internets.

It's funny and sarcastic and it's all about Boston Sports, with occasional pics of scantily clad women thrown in. Bonus!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Proper care and feeding of your feeds...

Ok, this is the last time I'm going to write about this, because it's silly, but I have a slight problem with occasionally becoming obsessed with things, so this is my way of 'letting go'.

All the site feeds are working now, for both the old feeds and the new 'burned' feeds.

If you were already a subscriber, (thanks again,) there is no need to re-subscribe to the site feed. In fact, you don't have to do anything. The feed you were subscribed to all along should auto-magically pick up the new Feedburner feed and all the goodies that go along with it, which is nice.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're probably better off anyway...

On a completely unrelated note, today is the longest day of the year here in the good old Northern Hemisphere. Enjoy it.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Feed Me... yeah, sure.

Hi Gang.

I know this is going to sound incredible, but there are people out there who actually find this nonsense interesting enough to subscribe to. I know, amazing!

For those of you who subscribe to the site feed, first of all, thanks! And second of all, I have updated the feed so that it is now linked with Feedburner.

If you are already subscribed, you should not have to do anything. The old feed should still work fine. Or you can re-subscribe to the new 'burned' feed and enjoy all the extra goodies that come with it, like the ability to bother people by e-mailing them my posts, and seeing related items in Technorati and Sphere.

The new feed also makes it easier to subscribe with your favorite RSS feed aggregator. See, I'm always lookin out for you.

Thanks again for subscribing and if you see any wonky weirdness in the the feeds, I'd appreciate it if you could send me a note to let me know. Thanks!

Update:
Um, yeah. So, that all sounded so cool and easy when I first typed this post. Click a few buttons, select a few check marks, done.

The feed seemed to be working right at first but then I noticed the new posts were not being displayed, so after wasting way too much time dicking around with the dang thing, I'm not sure if this new Feedburner setup is working or not, but I don't really have a lot of time to spend messing around with it, (nor do I want to spend a lot of time messing around with it).

I figure I'll check it later and see what's what and if it's still not displaying the new posts, I'll just set it back to the old way. If it ain't broke don't fix it I guess...

If you are subscribed and you notice the feed is not being updated or any other weird behavior, please let me know. Thanks!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Doin' burn outs and annoying the neigbors with that loud obnoxious music...

R.I.P. A Small Victory...

Long live Faster Than The World.

1-2-3-4! Go!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Frappr Hacker...

It seems the spammers have gotten their hooks into Frappr.

I noticed the other day that there were a bunch of new maps listed under my Frappr profile that I had not personally added myself to.

At first I thought this might be some kind of new feature in Frappr, since these newly added map links pointed to maps that related to items in my profile's interest list. For example, there was a 'Fans of George Strait' map linked to my profile, along with several other maps that I had not purposely added myself to.

I deleted all the maps that I had not added myself and then checked back a few days later. Sure enough, there was a whole new batch of newly added maps that I had not personally added myself to.

Apparently, someone or something is going around in Frappr adding people's profiles to maps by simply using their e-mail address.

I e-mailed Frappr support about this and the response was basically 'Yup, that's probably what's happening'.  (WTF?)

So I guess the point of this whole story is, if you use Frappr, you might want keep an eye on your profile for any new maps getting added to it that you did not add yourself and then e-mail Frappr if this happens to you.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Odd and ends...

Quick note to self: Don't work on website posts after 11 PM. You are prone to making lots of grammatical errors.

Self replies: Thank you, you tool.

If you have not checked out The New England Patriots Podcasts yet, you have been missing out on some great shows. The guys over at Patriots Football Weekly have been doing two pre-draft Podcast shows a week and they have been very informative. They are definitely worth checking out.

Fred Kirsh, if you want to thank me for the PFW Podcast plugs, a complimentary renewal to my PFW subscription would be nice. Hint!

Google Calendar: Did you know you can add the Red Sox and Patriots schedule to Google calendar by just doing a quick search in public calendars? Well you can. And it's awesome.

Despite the Pats glaring need at wide receiver this year, this very informative article over at The Cold Hard Football Facts explains why it would probably not be in the Patriots' best interest to pick a receiver in the 1st round of the NFL draft.

Also, I gotta say, this Draught Party CHFF is planning at The Cask this weekend sounds like it will be a blast. I am highly considering sneaking out of the house and making an appearance... We'll see.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Recent observations...

Noticed recently:

File under - Protect me from myself:
New software recently released for the latest iPods now has a setting that allows you to set the maximum volume for the device. I don't really have a problem with that and I guess it could actually be a pretty handy setting, but I have to wonder, is it really necessary?

How about this for an idea: if you think your music is playing too loudly, just turn down the volume. I know, call me crazy!

Oh wait, that would mean you might have to take some personal responsibility for your own actions. Never mind.

File under - Football Geek:
Speaking of the iPod, I've been listening to the Patriots PodCast over the last week or so and I have to give it an enthusiastic thumbs up! It's no secret that I can't stand Boston Sports Talk Radio, so The Pats Podcast has been a great find for me. Get it on iTunes.

File under - Nerdery:
While at work, I've seen people goofing off in a variety of ways, from playing solitaire, to shoot-em-up video games, to just plain sleeping at their desk. I'm certainly not perfect myself and have been known to occasionally waste valuable company time and resources goofing around on the internets.

My personal goof-off sin involves Bloglines. I go there several times a day to check for updates to people's sites. It's not like I'm spending hours there or anything like that but, let's face it, the less time spent wasting time at work, the better. That is where this handy little Konfabulator widget comes in. It displays the most recent Bloglines site updates right there on the desktop. Very cool! (And free. Bonus!) "This'll put you in solid with your boss..."

Friday, March 31, 2006

Notice anything?

So, you might have noticed, I've got the Red Sox colors goin' on now. Opening day is next week so I figured it was about time. The banner is an oldie that I have always been kind of proud of [pats own back] showing my back yard oasis in the height of summah.

Do you know how many hours it takes to cut Red Sox logos into grass?

I know it's a Summah-time pic and it's only the beginning of Spring, but I don't care. Why wait? Enjoy.

Go Sox!

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Van Heffer...

If you have never listened to the Wichita Rutherford podcasts you are really missing out on some very funny stuff.

You have got to check out his Van Heffer video podcasts.

I mean, if the guy with the Randy Rhoads, 'polka-dot' style mandolin does not want to make you watch this, there might be something wrong with you. Seriously.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Pats / Sox Nation Frapper Map...

After I got sucked into this whole Frapper thing by Beth, I decided to make a map on Frapper for Patriots and Red Sox fans to post their locations (Bruins and Celtics fans are also welcome!)

This map is just for fun and is up there for anybody to enjoy and use. If you want to display the button for it on your site, you can get the code in the widgets section on Frapper. Enjoy!

Monday, December 26, 2005

Some site stuff...

I've moved all the old posts from my original blogspot site over to here. Typepad only lists the last 10 months on the sidebar but if you click on the 'Archives' link you can go in and see all the old posts. Woo! Very exciting eh? Try to contain yourselves...

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I'll be heading back to work tomorrow. Blah. I normally take this week off but I have no vacation time built up yet since I'm so new... Oh well.

Well, this post is absolutely scintillating isn't it?

Monday, October 24, 2005

Must read blog...

I found this one surfing around, bored, on Technorati.

american short-timer

It's written by a true artist of the F-Word.

Quit wasting your time here. Go read it.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Sgt Hook is back!

One of my favorite writers, Sgt Hook, is back and writing again after an extended hiatus. Cool.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Brain Dump...

I've been feeling very run down and tired lately. I've got all kinds of shit going on and I feel like I just can't keep up with it all. I feel like I keep falling farther and farther back on stuff. Then, just when I think I'm making some progress and start to feel like I'm getting caught up with things, something happens to set me back.

It's as if I'm clawing to barely keep up and keep my head above water lately. Of course, most of these feelings are probably all in my head, but they are there none-the-less. In the meantime, can somebody toss me a life jacket please?

The Sox won on Ortiz's awesome walk-off homer last night and the Yankees lost to the Devil Dogs, making our lead in the East, 4 and our Magic Number, 22. I'm hoping we can win this series against The Angels and head into this weekend series against the MFY with a 3 game lead, minimum. I hope the Sox see the opportunity that is in front of them this weekend. They could really slam the door on The Yankees chances for the division and put a serious kink in their Wildcard hopes too. Seize the moment Red Sox!!

But, first things first. We still need to get past the always tough Angels...

The World Champion New England Patriots kick off the NFL season tomorrow vs The Oakland Raiders. It's still hard to believe it's already time for football! I am pretty excited about this NFL season and am really looking forward to tomorrow's game. It will be so cool to see the 3rd Superbowl Championship banner unveiled at THE RAZOR. I'll probably be bouncing off the walls tomorrow waiting for the game.

I found a cool site, massachusettsgasprices.com. Use it to find the cheapest gas stations in your town. There is a Konfabulator Widget you can use to go along with it here. There's probably a Dashboard widget for gas prices too, but I have not tried any of them out yet.

I've been listening to a really cool podcast that features some great jazz guitar, No Idle Frets, on the way home from work and it really makes the commute fly by. I start listening to it and just zone out driving. The next thing I know, I'm half way home.

I finally reached critical mass on my computer drive, with barely 500 Megs available, so I ordred a new drive to replace it. I bought some RAM too so my computer will be much happier once I get it all put in.

I've been toying with the idea of dropping the silly psudonym that I use around the interweb and just using my first name when I leave comments and stuff on my friend's sites but I'm still building up the nerve to do it. I know, I know, talk about making a big deal out of nothing. I can be such a goof about some things! Oh well.

I'll end this one with a quote to get you ready for The Patriots game tomorrow:

"I had an equipment manager at Michigan. He's got so many Big-Ten rings, he doesn't have enough fingers. He said, 'You know, Tom, you know what my favorite ring is?' I said, 'What's that?' And he said, 'The next one. The next one. That's my favorite."

-Tom Brady

 

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Your search is over...

I don't know why, but for some reason, my stats are always showing folks who are coming here looking for images of Sandra Bullock and The Word Series Trophy. Not that I'm complaining, I just find if very odd... So, in order to make those folks happy, here they are!

Ws_trophy_1
This was a picture of a pin I found at MLB.com. Obviously it is copyright MLB and the Red Sox and a boatload of other people...

And here is a picture of my ex-movie wife, Sandra Bullock.

28days4

Damn. What'd she ever see in that biker guy Jessie anyway? Oh well, maybe Jessica Biel is still available as a movie-wife...

Monday, August 29, 2005

Wasting time and bandwith for a whole year...

One year ago I started writing this little weblog over on blogspot with this extremely exciting and informative post.

Wow, incredibly insightful, huh?

Like a lot of people, I started and deleted several blogs before finally sticking with one. The first one was a private journal that I started shortly after my kids were born. I thought they might like to read it when they were older but after about a month, I went back and read what I had written and it seemed like the whole thing was nothing but posts about, 'will they ever stop crying?' and 'more diapers, ugh.' I wound up just deleting it.

The first time I ever heard about a blog was this article on CNN.com.

The first blog I ever read was LT. SMASH

After reading some of the military blogs, I became interested in writing a blog myself so I made a few abortive attempts at starting one, but I was never happy with my writing. I'd go back and re-read the entries and be like, "this is effing lame," so I kept deleting them.

I think I started and deleted about 5 journals and blogs before keeping this one.

The person that really inspired me to start a blog and actually stick with it was C.B. over at 'My War' (you can pre-order his book here). I have a great admiration for C.B's writing ability and his writing style has had the most influence on my own, (not that I am anywhere near as good a writer as he is...)

Another blog that made want to start and actually keep writing here was Bambino's Curse. Unfortunately, this one appears to have been taken down but it may be back in another form here someday...

A lot of exciting and memorable stuff has happened in the last year and I have had a lot of fun writing about it here. If you stopped by and read any of it, I appreciate it. If you actually came back to read some more, well, that's just really cool. Thanks!

Sunday, August 07, 2005

My War

C.B. has a new post up over at My War.

Get over there and read it while it's still available. (And pre-order his book while you're at it.)

Thursday, July 21, 2005

F WEEI...

First off, what day is it today? I'm having trouble keeping track... Thursday? Good. One more day to Reward Friday.

Last night I found a cool podcast called "The Boston Sports Massacre". It's a sports-talk show who's topic is, you guessed it, Boston Sports. If you're like me, and are kind of sick of what's out there on sports-talk radio, you will probably like this podcast.

I am not a big fan of WEEI and am at the point where I hardly even listen to it anymore. I think the WEEI morning show sucks ass, frankly. I won't even mention the morning hosts names here because I hate them both so much.

The afternoon show on EEI is 'ok'. I don't care too much for Dale Arnold but I like Michael Holley so it balances out. Those guys are on while I'm at work so I never hear them anyway.

The Big O show is not too high on my list either. It depends on who they have on for guests whether I can tolerate it or not. Do you really want to know what my opinion of Pete Shepard is? I think you can guess...

I listen to The Zone sometimes but the reception fades quick once you get off Rt 495. 

So as I'm sure you can guess by now, I was pretty psyched when I found the Boston Sports Massacre podcast. I think it is a nice alternative to what's available on the radio and I can listen to it anytime I want to. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I like it, so I thought I would help give those guys some exposure and let others know about it.

So, if you're like me and are pretty much completely sick of the Boston Main Stream Sports Media, check out The Boston Sports Massacre podcast. Here's the link to their feed so you can subscribe in iTunes:

http://bostonsportsmassacre.com/bsm.xml

This promo brought to you by... my very low opinion of The Boston Sports Media.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Yay!

Yay! Unkymoods is back!

I am happy!

Friday, July 08, 2005

What is your opinion?

I have been writing more about current events and life and general recently and I started wondering if anybody that reads this actually cares about that kind of stuff.

I was thinking about breaking the current events and life and general stuff off into a seperate blog and keeping this one just for football, baseball and sports stuff.

So I am soliciting your opinion to see what people think! What would you rather see when you come here?

If you see a post that is not sports related does it make your eyes glaze over and want to click on the link to your next interweb destination as quickly as possible?

Leave me a comment or send an e-mail (I've got lots of gmail invites left for those that want one by the way..) Any and all input is appreciated. :-)

Thanks!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Technology is against me...

Lately it seems like all my gadgets are against me.

My computer crashed for the first time in about 3 years last night. It probably had to do with the fact that I have hardly any space left on my drive and I was running about 5 apps at the same time. I'm guessing my computer ran out of virtual memory and went belly up.

My computer came back to life but some of my settings got all effed up and my iTunes database got trashed. All my songs were still there but I lost all my playlists which was a major bummer.

So I need to get a new, bigger drive but I'm having trouble prying open my wallet. It has to be done but I'm stalling. I tried going through and deleting some songs to make room but I only freed up about 800 MB of space. It's too hard to part with my tunes!

I could also use another 512 MB of RAM too but the drive will have to come first. An 80GB drive costs about $200.00. Money is tight right now and my Anniversary is around the corner. That takes priority over a computer drive.

I've been very annoyed with my .Mac account lately. I've added a bunch of bookmarks to my online bookmarks file but the damn things will not sync with my computer and get added to my local Safari bookmarks. It's pissing me off! It all worked fine in Mac OS 10.3.9. I'm wondering if Sync is broken in 10.4.1 or something. Either way, I'm not going to be renewing .Mac. It's expensive and I don't use half the services. The one thing I use everyday is the Bookmark sync and if that's not working, it's just not worth it.

I was very sad to see that 'unkymoods' seems to have disappeared. I just found that site a few weeks ago and really liked all the different moods you could display on your blog. Now unkymoods.com just has a godaddy parked page. I hope it's not gone forever but it doesn't look good.

I've been wicked busy at work. Things are just nuts and half the people are on vacation, making it a lot worse. Thank god it is Friday tomorrow. Why do the short weeks always seem to be the longest to get through? Overall work has been 'ok' lately. I'm trying not to let stuff bother me and just go with the flow. I posted my resume online on Monster. Maybe I'll get a hit or two...

I've been getting into Podcasts lately. I heard about them a few months ago on a Soxaholix post but never got into them. It was too hard to find ones that I liked. Now that you can find them right in iTunes, it is real easy to find interesting Podcasts. So far my favorites are The Daily Sourcecode, Accident Hash and 5 Minutes with Wichita.

I made an area for Podcasts in my link area.

I would like to try to do a Podcast someday. Maybe I could do it on my hour long drive to work. It could be called The Commuter Hell Podcast and I could talk about all the near accidents I witness on an almost daily basis. I could be like a play by play announcer for Rt 495.

Hows this sound?

"Oh, look at that! That person nearly got killed by that lady in the SUV talking on her phone!"

or,

"Why are we stopping? Oh, accident on the other side of the highway. Carnage. Very interesting. Everyone stop and look."

I'd need to get recording equipment and somewhere to record the files first. Another reason to get that new hard drive I guess... First things first.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Save early, save often

Ok, I had a big long post all written up and then I closed the damn browser window. Post gone. Cryin' won't bring it back. Save early, save often, dammit.

Anyway, I was going to tell you about some podcasts I've become interested in and some other junk, but now I'm tired and I don't have the energy to try and re-write my post.

I signed up on Audioscrobbler so if you want to see what I'm listening to, go check it out.

Also, I'm displaying my IM status on the blog now, so if you want to chat me up, feel free, especially during a game. I'd be happy to chat with ya!

Ok that's it. Sorry this is lame now. My earlier post was much more entertaining but I deleted it because I'm a tool.

I need to sleep but I'm staying up watching The Red Sox / Rangers game. It seems like whenever I go to sleep thinking the Red Sox have a game all wrapped up, I wake up to find they've blown the game, so now I'm going to see this one through to the end. This is a trend that cannot continue.

7-4 Sox, bottom of the 8th. Wake. Wake. Wake. Wake... Will he pitch a complete game? We'll see (if I can keep my eyes open).

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Colors. Colors. Colors.

Yo Ease let's do this...

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Color change...

I went from having no color to lots of color! What can I say, I get bored easily. Just plan on this never staying the same from one week to another...

Now I'm trying to make a graphic for the top of the page.

Currently listening to: Mudhoney 'Burn it Clean', in case you're interested...

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Site updates...

I like the overall layout of my site but it needs some colors or graphics. Its too bare. I'd like to be able to add color around the edges but I need to figure that out. I'd also like to add a list of songs that I've recently played too. I'll probably need to add some kind of gadget or widgets to do that. I have the iMix link but iTunes does not show everything I've played.

Anyway, it's rainy out today so I'm not going to be working outside. I figured maybe I could work on sprucing up the site since I'm stuck inside today.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Comments on the Comments

This is just a freindly fyi. I have the comments set up so that anybody can leave one. You don't have to leave your name, e-mail, webpage or anything else if you don't want to. Of course, it's nice if you do, but you don't have to.

I plan on leaving it set this way unless I start getting spam or something in my comments, but hopefully that wont happen.

- The Management

Friday, April 15, 2005

Some new links to check out!

I've added a couple new links to the site, Jaded Does Hockey, A Small Victory, and The Coalition of the Dark Side.

'Jaded Does Hockey' is by Firestarter who also does 'The Jaded New Englander', and is one of my favorite sites.

'A Small Victory' is a pretty well known blog that I just started reading fairly recently and covers a varietly of topics.

'The Coalition of the Dark Side' is actually a Yankees site. You may be surprised that I would link to a site about The Yankess but for some reason, I started reading this site fairly regularly after it was linked to on The Soxaholix. I'm not sure why I keep going back there, since it's no secret that I hate The Yankees, but I do, so I figured I'd link to it, just because I can.

I also added a search bar so now you can search the site and do cool stuff like look up how many times I use the 'F' word in my posts.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Tips for blogging safely...

Just putting this out there as something to be aware of for my fellow cube / lab dwellers out there in blogger-land...

How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else).

Since they monitor outgoing and incoming network traffic here at The Software Factory, I have been trying to dicipline myself to post only from home, or on my lunchbreak...

"Silly boy you got so much to live for
So much to aim for, so much to try for
You blowing it all with paranoia
You're so insecure you self-destroyer
"
(- The Kinks)

Friday, April 01, 2005

Finally!

Well, I finally got the site all set up and pointing to the right places, and I've e-mailed everybody that links to me (that I know of) to let them know that the site's URL has changed.

The domain mapping process was not hard, it just takes a long time for all the network stuff to propagate. If anybody ever wants some tips on using domain mapping with TypePad and GoDaddy as your registrar, just let me know.

Whew! Now that is over and I can just post stuff! Just in time for Baseball season too.

Let the fun begin!

Site config blah blah blah, G-mail

I'm still in the process of setting up the site so it points to my domain. As I said earlier, it's working for www.mrblackandwhite.com, but http://mrblackandwhite.com still points to GoDaddy's 'Coming Soon' page.

Supposedly domain mapping will point to both spots but now I'm wondering if I messed up somewhere. All this tweaking gets on my nerves. I want to just get this thing set up and be done with it but as with most things computer related, the setup part can be time consuming. Once this is all set up, then it will be over and I know it will be worth it.

I'm really enjoying Typepad and I'll definetly be keeping this as my new location. I'll post a final goodbye message and a link over there on my old blog once I have all this domain name stuff finally worked out.

Also, I've got a bunch of g-mail invites. If anybody wants one, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you an invite. Google now gives you 2GB of space, which is a huge amount of space for e-mail. That's pretty cool. I'll never use that much, but cool none the less.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Still cooking...

Well, the site is now linking up to (www.mrblackandwhite.com) but if you go to (http://mrblackandwhite.com), all you get is the GoDaddy Placeholder page.

Hopefully this is just a case of the DNS settings not being fully resolved yet. It says it should link to both but it takes 24 - 48 hours and it's only been 24 hours or so...

I hate waiting.

Patience...

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Patience Level = 0

I've purchased a domain, 'mrblackandwhite.com' and I've set TypePad up so that this site maps to the domain. So, supposedly, eventually you will be able to read this extremely stimulating site at 'mrblackandwhite.com'.

The problem is, it takes several hours for the domain registrar to bake your settings before they are done. That means I've got to wait A WHOLE DAY!! I can't wait that long. I want it to work NOW!!

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Ok that's IT!!!

Hey everybody!

Well I think I've finally got my blog template set up the way I want it over at TypePad. Go over and look at it and tell me if it sucks or not.

I value any input I can get. So let me know what you think!

Thanks

Update:
While I was trying to post this little blurb, Blogger did it's thing where it forgets where it is and goes off into Neverland. That's the final straw. My mind is made up.


(Warner Bros.)

Sometimes you just gotta say, "What the Fuck."

Template Madness...

Yeah, Ok. You know the previous post where I said I had my template all set? Well, I went and changed it around again and now it's different. I'm obsessed. I can't leave it alone.

Ok. I think I'm done fucking with this thing now. Really. (yeah right...)

Well, what do you think?

Well, after lots and lots of dickin around with different colors and columns and fonts and all kinds of other junk, I think I've finally settled on a site design that I like.

At some point I'm planning to make a banner with a cool graphic when I have some time.

Yes, I know, the site is called 'mr. blackandwhite' but there's a lot of blue. I like blue ok?

I actually tried to do something with blacks, whites and grays but I did not like the look of it. Besides, I find sites that have black backgrounds and white text extremely hard to read. For some reason that combo just kills my eyes and I did not want to do that to you. See how nice I am?

So, let me know what you think of the site! Do you like it? Does it totally suck? Is it easy on the eyes? Do you really care less? Let me know! I'm looking for feedback!!

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Learning curve...

Hey whats up everyone. I'm learning my way around TypePad right now so there's not much to see here for the moment. The look of the site might change a lot until I can figure this thing out a little better. Right now I am just deciding if I like TypePad enough to move over from blogger.

If you happen to read this I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on the pros and cons of TypePad vs. Blogger, other than the obvious fact that Blogger is free, that is.

My blogger site is http://mrblackandwhite.blogspot.com in case you're interested...

Friday, March 18, 2005

Scotty! What the hell is going on down there?!

I've been bitching, mostly to myself, about how slow blogger is lately. Well it looks like they are working on it at least...


(Star Trek.com)

In the mean time I have been considering making a switch to Typepad or maybe even Moveable Type. Blogger is ok but it's kinda slow and I want to be able to do more with the 'look' of my site. I'd like to customize it more to my own design.

Of course, moving to one of these services means prying open my wallet, since they are not free, like Blogger (dammit).

Thursday, October 21, 2004

The Soxaholix: And down goes Goliath. Down goes Goliath.

The Soxaholix: And down goes Goliath. Down goes Goliath.

The voice of a Nation.

Monday, October 18, 2004

The Soxaholix: Pile your ass on this bandwagon

Soxaholix sums it up perfectly (again).

The Soxaholix: Pile your ass on this bandwagon

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Welcome! What brings you here?

Hi there!

I've noticed sitemeter reports that I usually get visitors right after I have posted a new topic on my blog.

First of all, thanks for stopping by! Hope you don't find it a complete waste of time (but if you do that's ok!)

I am very curious to know how you found this little time-waster of mine.

If you're dropping by would you do me a favor and leave me a comment just letting me know what brings you my way? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Have fun surfing the rest of the internet. Be careful out there!

Thanks =)

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Hit the 'Next Blog' button and experience the freak show

Today I decided I would see what happens when you hit that 'next blog' button up there in the corner.

I learned it takes you to some pretty strange places. I lingered on a few but none were bookmark worthy. I just kept hitting that 'Next Blog" button though. I just had to see what was around the next corner.

Now this little time waster I have here certainly is not the cream of the crop by any means, but whoa. Blogoshphere? I think blathersphere is more like it..

If you happened to get here via that little 'Next Blog' button, Hi! Hope you're enjoying your tour of the internet freak show.

Here's another addition to it right here
[PUBLISH]

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Attention spammers: this is not a real e-mail address

Well I posted an e-mail address in my profile. If anyone wants to send me a message, go nuts!

It is an alias address but it will still get to me. We'll see how it goes and if I don't get a bombardment of spam, I'll keep it up. If I do start getting spam or other offensive e-mail, I'll just delete it and make a new one.

It is really more for me to be able to contact people without giving out my real address, until they have proven trust-worthy.

And yes, I am well aware that I am a paranoid freak.

Thanks!

Scintilating nerd news...

I'm going to put my geek hat on now and speak in my Professor Frink voice:

I added some more links to the growing list. As I learn about other blogs or websites that interest me, I'll add them on there.

.Mac now offeres more space on e-mail and i-disk (about time). They also have e-mail aliases now which is cool. These are basically throw away adresses that can be used in place of a real adress. If the e-mail starts getting nailed by spam and other undesireable crap, just delete it and make a new one. I was going to sign up for some free yahoo service to get a throw away e-mail. This is better.

I'll add one to the blog later. Gotta run it through Spamstopper first. So hey, maybe I'll hear from ya!

I was considering canning my .Mac subsription as it's pretty expensive. Like every thing else Apple does, it's over-priced by about $50. But in the same vein it's about 10 times easier to use and hassle-free. So I'll shell out for another year.

ok, geek hat and Frink voice off.

Monday, September 27, 2004

Site meter reset

I put sitemeter on the blog but everytime I made a change and checked it, I was adding to the counter.

Very lame.

I blocked my home and work IP and re-set the counter.

All is well (and I am pretty bored to be writing about this).

Name change?

I'm toying with the idea of a name change. Anonymous is pretty, well, Anonymous!

The adress of the blog is mrblackandwhite. Maybe I should change my name to match.

I like 'Anonymous' because that's how I prefer to be. At the same time, when I leave a comment somewhere, I'd like it be be somewhat distinctive, instead of just another 'Anonymous' poster...

Hmm. Thought required here... a deep subject I know.

Update:
Well, I gave it a shot. Staying 'Anonymous' is better.

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Yahoo! News - Soldiers' War Blogs Detail Life in Iraq


Yahoo! News - Soldiers' War Blogs Detail Life in Iraq

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Hi there!

I put sitemeter on my blog today and noticed I get visitors! Hey that is pretty cool. Hi!

Thanks for visiting and reading my blog! Hope you find it somewhat interesting and not a total waste of your time =)

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

American Soldier: Forward MARCH!

Looking for a real life hero? Look no further.

American Soldier: Forward MARCH!

Friday, September 17, 2004

Blogging at work = trouble at work

This past week I was slacking at work. I was not giving my job my full attention while I was there because I was distracted by blogs. I was spending time adding links, reading other blogs and occasionally posting while at work. Bad employee! Bad!

This is a trend that cannot continue. When at work, I must be focused on work. Job security cannot be put at risk. There is too much on the line (i.e. wife, kids, mortgage, bills) depending on me.

Lunchbreak would be a more appropriate time to read all the blogs I have become interested in and maybe post to my own if something interesting enters my brain.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Hey I figured it out. Why do I feel more dorky than before?


(Marvel Comics / Barry Winsor Smith)
Logan / Weapon X / Wolverine

I am an idiot. I can't post pictures

I'm feeling very dumb right now because I can't post a picture. I'm trying to get a picture for my profile. I downloaded that dang hello thing (no Mac version btw, which is lame).

I put my picture into hello and now I am not sure what to do to link to my picture. What a dork.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Shakin off the rust

I was looking through some of the things I posted recently and how about that, someone actually read my blog and left a post! That's pretty cool. Thank you!

I have been enjoying writing here and scraping the rust off any writing skills I had in the past.

Hope some of this proves interesting to some folks, but if it does not that is ok too. I'm just doing it for the fun and to blow off steam and vent some thoughts now and then. I have to say I was kind of nervous writing my first few entries but I think that feeling is starting to wear off. The rusty gears in my brain are getting some oil from writing these entries and that is a good thing.

A few new links and misc quotes

Quote of the day:
In response to one of my usual wise ass remarks: "Kiss my Grits". I'd gotten so used to the standard "Fuck Off". =)

I added a few more links on the side over there on the right. They are not in any order as usual.

Enjoy the links!

Monday, September 13, 2004

Looking for Patriots blogs..

When I was adding the links to the site, I realized there are no Patriots blogs that I am aware of. It seems like there are tons of blogs about the Sox, but nothing about the Pats. Maybe there has not been enough anguish over the Pats the past few years to inspire anyone to write about them.

As a hard-core, die-hard Pats fan, I expect I will be writing about them a lot. The last game gave me fits.

I'm also a die-hard Sox fan (is there any other kind? I don't think I have met one). I won't be writing about them. It is bad luck if I write about them or discuss how they are doing in any way other than your basic 'They won', 'They lost', 'They are doing good right now' or 'What the FUCK'.

I realized this last year when I was writing entries in an old blog during game 7 of the ALCS. We all know what happened and will not go there... (Timlann in the 8th, Willimamson in 9th god-damn it)

Some Links for ya

I added some links to the side of the site over there on the right. Hope you like them. They are not in any particular order. They are just a listing of places I frequent on a regular basis.

You will notice a lot of them are military blogs (a.k.a Milblogs). I first learned about blogging from a CNN.com article back when the war in Iraq first started. The news from the major networks and cable stations about what was happening in Iraq at the time pretty much sucked (and still sucks by the way...)

The Milblogs were a great way to know what was happening 'on the ground' without going through some a-hole news-director's bias. Plus, I found it was a way that I could, (in a pathetically small way, but better than nothing) support our guys and gals who are sacrificing their lives for me and my family by leaving comments or sending e-mails and trying to let them know how much they are appreciated.

Anyway, enjoy the links.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

MY WAR

MY WAR

CB's back. Glad he is ok and hopefully not in any trouble from the higher-ups. Here's to reading some boring posts that involve him sitting around with no bullets being shot at him.

Saturday, September 04, 2004

So what's up with this?

Yo Yo Yo. What's up everybody?

So what's the deal here? What's this all about?

It's not about anything. It's just a place to put down thoughts and ideas.

It' also a place where I can write about whatever I want without the fear and loathing of the wrong person reading it. That's the whole point of keeping this site anonymous. As long as I don't fuck it up, I can write about whatever comes to mind and not worry about pissing off somebody in my family, one of my friends, or somebody at work.

I just have to be careful not to give away too much! There are a few hints on here that could potentially give me away, but the people that would recognize the hints are extremely unlikely to come across this blog.

So that's dumb you say. In one sentence I'm saying the point is to stay anonymous and in the next I'm saying there are ways to figure out who I am.

Well there is no way to write a completely anonymous blog. Your personality is going to come through in the things you write about and the stuff you put on your blog. Besides, the chance of getting caught, however slight, adds to the fun... and having fun writing is the whole point of this little outlet of expression.

Thanks!

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Hello!

Hello there everyone.

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