TJ Ford: Stayin On Point.

Raptors nation has been lately been up in arms, over the the point guard tandem of TJ Ford and Jose Calderon. Since Raptors fans need something to bitch and complain about the debate has been raised on who should start and who shouldn't start. Unfortunately, due to the injuries to TJ Ford, Jose has now become the starting PG for the Toronto Raptors.

Before TJ was injured in that game against Dallas earlier this year. He was arguably the MVP of the Raps so far. Only dude who was bringing it night in, night out, while Bosh and Bargs were battling injuries and 1-11 shooting nights. He was playing a more controlled pace compared to last year and was shooting almost 50%. TJ brings alot more than just scoring and distribution of the basketball, he brings an edge, an intensity. His Swag is Phenomenal... when his jumper is falling, TJ Ford plays like the top tier point gaurds, even though he is still only 23 and ranked #6 behind the usual suspects(Nash, Parker, etc.) for Efficiency.

TJ haters like to point out that he plays a bit reckless, takes ill-advised shots and is not a pass first PG. Also that when TJ scores big we lose. These people would prefer Jose Calderon as the starter of our team. While I like Jose, he could definitely be a starter on the bottom half of the teams in the league, he's nowhere on TJ's level.

While TJ's decision making is improving by leaps and bounds, he shouldn't be described as reckless. TJ plays a little more reckless or "dynamic" when compared to Jose. TJ's the only player who can consistently get to wherever they want to get on the court using a combination of his quickness and dribble. He causes havoc for teams who run set defenses especially when breaking them down off the bounce and kicking to our open shooters. While Jose runs a mean pick and roll, he can't get those open lay-ups that he was getting last year. Teams read the scouting report and don't let him turn the corner which means he has to shoot or swing it around. This leads to our offense becoming stagnant if jumpers aren't falling.

TJ's ability to find the open man is underrated. People like to point out Assist-to-Turnover ratio as a basis of the TJ-Jose debate. I say thats a useless stat because the top tier point guards in the league have a high # of turnovers, Steve Nash averages 3.2 per game. D-Mart is currently leading the league with a 12-1 ratio and we all know how great of a PG D-Mart is. Jose has a respectable 5.83 Asst/TO ratio. Jose's stats have been inflated due to the fact he plays against other team's benches but more importantly because he plays a safer game. When I say safer game I mean, he will not try to go to the lane for a foul mostly because the officials don't respect him but because he chooses to make the safe pass... to Bosh on a pick and roll. Our fast break points have been fully minimized when Jose's out there due to his lack of playing the passing lanes on defense but also due to the fact that if we do have a fast break he just pulls it back an waits for the rest of the team so we can set up the pick and roll. This is all great and dandy but we run a PREDICTABLE Offense. The scouting report on us would be don't go under the pick and close out on all shooters. We would be left shooting contested jumpshots all night, rather than having a free flowing offense looking for the open man. When it comes to the playoffs and you're playing the same team atleast 4 times in a row, you think they'd figure out your plan on offense when all you run is pick and roll and no one can beat you off the bounce? TJ's dynamic play keeps defenses on their heels, constantly having them to adjust rotate or be wary where the open shooters are because TJ will find them. The Raptors do not have any other player who can create their own shot. Without TJ attacking the defense the Raptors are a jumpshooting team, and a team that lives by the shot, dies by the shot as well.

People like to mention that TJ takes ill-advised shots. I like to think, good for him that he has the confidence to take that shot whenever the defence gives it to him. TJ's intensity and confidence on the court instantly make our team better. He's afraid of no one, has the intensity and edge to get through a playoff series. On a soft team like the Raptors, he is the only player on our team who's consistently brings it. As much as I like Bosh, he admitted he was shook in last year's playoff series but what player was bringing it night in an night out no matter what, thats right TJ Ford. As shown last year when he won that game against the clippers at the buzzer or with that game winning assist to Bargnani for the win in Portland the following night. Even after the injuries, TJ still has the confidence that he can make the shot when the game comes down to the wire. That my friends is called Balls, he's the most clutch player on the team, hands down.

People like to say that "we need a pass first point guard, we have enough scorers". While I agree to that in theory. In theory, communism works. The top PGs in the League can and will drop 20 points a night if needed, if other players are not getting the job done. TJ does a good job at recognizing when our players aren't playing well and takes teh shots himself to keep us in the ball game. Our players are all shooters and if the jumpshot isnt falling, it usually does a number on their confidence. To average 8-10 assists is excellent for a young point guard, averaging over 10+ assists doesn't equal victories (unless you're Steve Nash, but even he's surrounded by slashers and cutters) . As a PG you have to be able to score to keep the defenses honest, and keep them on their heels. The reason TJ scores so much when we lose is because everyone else just starts tossing up bricks, TJ decides to add a bit more scoring himself. When TJ is scoring between 15-20 and dishing 8-10, we are that 47 win team which won the Atlantic Division title.

Get well soon TJ!

Wes Anderson Hearts Brown People

Lately I’ve been getting some flack from people asking me why I haven’t got a chance to update my blog or whatever whatever. I been busy, what can I say?

One of my favorite movies of all time is Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou directed by Wes Anderson. This is an off colour comedy staring Bill Murray along with a stellar supporting cast including Jeff Goldblum and Owen Wilson. Bill Murray makes this movie hilarious with his awkward brand of humour. Recently I was told that if I enjoyed Life Aquatic that I would enjoy the previous Wes Anderson movies, Rushmore and The Royal Tanenbaums.

This interest has really been peaked lately due to the release of Wes Anderson’s new film The Darjeeling Limited, staring Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman who have been characters in his previous movies. I recently watched Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums. Both movies were very well written and had a spectacular cast and provided humour in many awkward moments with clever dialogue.

One reason why I like these movies besides the satirical humour is Wes Anderson’s use of Indian people as hilarious supporting cast members which interact with the main actors as normal people rather than stereotypical use of Indian characters i.e. Convenience store clerks or Math nerds. In Life Aquatic, a prominent role is given to the camera man, Vikram Ray, who interacts with Bill Murray and William Defoe as hilarity ensues. Vikram is a turban wearing Sikh who even at times is shown without wearing his turban and jus lazing around the ship in a more natural form. When I first saw this, I couldn’t believe that they had depicted a turban wearing Sikh like this. This is surely a step forward in educating the American people on Sikhs and

people of Indian origin as a whole, especially in America where ignorance reigns supreme. In Rushmore there was an Indian actor but he was a janitor or cleaner of some sort and had little to no lines but provided a slight multicultural element in the movie. This element was further developed when this same actor Kumar Pallana, was shown as Gene Hackman’s right hand man and family servant Pagoda in The Royal Tanenbaums. Pagoda has an interesting back story and a couple of hilarious bits through out the movie especially one particular stabbing scene.

The new movie by Wes Anderson is set on a train which goes through India and revolves around 3 brothers. There was a recent article posted on Slate about Wes Anderson’s portrayal of coloured people. From my perspective this article is just one man’s point of view and necessarily don’t think Wes Anderson to be a racist.

Sometimes Wes Anderson winks at the brothers' fetishistic attitudes toward India, but he eventually reveals his own. When Francis grandly declares, "I love these people"—minutes after a shoeshine boy has run off with one of his "$3,000 loafers"—or when Peter says, "I love how this country smells; it's … spicy," Anderson must be chuckling at them.--Slate

The article can be read here

Here’s an article from the New York Press with Waris Alhuwalia, the actor who plays Satyajit Ray in Darjeeling Limited and Vikram Ray in Life Aquatic. He addresses the Slate article and how he and Wes Anderson have been friends and what’s it like to be in a Wes Anderson movie.

Speaking about the scene from Darjeeling..

We knew that was racist. It's the character. It's done to agitate Owen's character. When you go into a foreign country, you run that risk. Wes treated the country beautifully, in terms of how he shot it. It's earnest and honest. The films of Satyajit Ray are something that he loves. He got really into it.- Waris Alhuwalia

The interview can be read here.

From what I’ve heard about Darjeeling Limited, that it actually shows India off whether it be the beauty of the landscape or the people and like typical Wes Anderson flicks, hilarity ensues. I commend Wes Anderson for deciding to make a movie here and again showing the audience something they haven’t seen yet. I can’t wait to see it.

Domo Arigato Dr Roboto?

Recently I went to the doctor's office, and knowing my previous experience with doctors resulted in 4 different doctors and 4 different diagnosis, I wasn't looking forward to it. So I figured I would do the research before and self diagnose myself an see if the doctor agreed with me. Lo an behold, he did, said I was pretty much right on, wrote my prescription and I was then on my way. As I was leaving, and reminiscing of some of the inabilities of doctors. Sticking to the theme of this blog, being slightly outrageous to stupidly insane. I determined that, doctors can and will be replaced by robots.

Yes, Robots. From my bare basic knowledge, everyday doctors, your common GP (General Practitioner) can be replaced by a robot which is database driven for information purposes. Where you don't have to answer questions like, "Are you allergic to this or that?" or "Have you been sick in the past". A robot could pull up the data of a patients medical history and then determine what prescription would be the most suitable.

The human body has not changed for at least the last 100 years. This can easily be programmed into a robot using complex algorithms. Knee bone connected to the...hip bone....etc. Robots with built in computers could determine what ails you and what prescription can suit you through scanning and knowing your medical history.

Currently, there is a varying degree of expertise in the profession. The differences between a 50 year old physician and a new graduate are quite extensive. With robots, this discrepancy wouldn't exist since each Robot would be as competent as the next. You won't have to worry if your dumb ass doctor (oxymoron?) giving you an incorrect diagnosis or a prescription that doesn't suit you.

As a generalization, I feel a lot of these diagnosis's are procedure based, as in the eliminate the options based on what you ate last, what you're allergic to, what your previous medical history is, etc. Once they determined that, they match your symptoms to some condition that's written in a book. If all these descriptions were available online (which there are) could be cross referenced with what the patient is experiencing and their previous history and also other patients with similar symptoms, I think this would definitly eliminate the massive wait times, the general inefficiency of the medical practice.

I recently read this article microchips which are the size of rice kernels, to be planted within patients. These microchips could provide the a patients medical history.

The American Medical Association has endorsed the use of implantable microchips to help reduce medical errors and adverse drug reactions. “Passive tags,” implanted under the skin with a needle, contain identification numbers that can be scanned by a radio frequency reader and then used to retrieve a patient’s medical records. Tags approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration contain such data as the presence of a pacemaker or chronic disease.
It said the chips may help to identify patients, "thereby improving the safety and efficiency of patient care," reports the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The article was found in the Toronto Star can be read here.


Another article I came across while formulating my ideas is from MSNBC regarding another pilot program involving RoboDoc's. The 200-pound (90-kilogram) robots stand about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall. They have flat video screens for heads, and video cameras serve as their eyes and ears. The aim of the technology isn't to replace human doctors, but to make it more convenient for doctors to check in with their patients, and for patients to get quick access to personal physicians who aren't at the hospital. It is just a matter of time before this type of technology can completely take over that position. More can be read here about it.

Also, imagine the hit television series that would be produced by this new RoboDoc hype. First there would be EER (Electro Emergency Room). Where a crack team of ER robots take care of patients in the ER with zany results. Housing Mechanism MDDR-Ram 1.0, This one is about an angry robot doctor who has been programed to follow the rules...his own. Last but not least my favorite show, The Grey Robot's Anatomy. This show revolves around a scandalous Grey RoboDoc who just can't keep her hardware closed. Her emoticon chip has been programmed without logic algorithms. Watch as she tries her luck with RoboSurgeon and Animal RoboDoc. These are just an example of the types of shows we might be in for.

DISCLAIMER: This is by no way a disrespect to the the doctors and nurses and everyone in the medical profession who are saving lives, every day at the hospital emergency room or doctor's office. Their profession is quite stressful and engaging and could not be done by your average Joe Schmo.

Open Sesame

Recently in my post work haze which usually involves a slight case of brain comatose and a larger case of being oblivious to my environment. Once I pull into my driveway, my itinerary consists of taking of my sunglasses (if its sunny), after that I get out of my car, take my briefcase out of my trunk, hit the lock button and get to the once I've locked my car using the key fob, I sauntered in my post work stupor upto my front door.....and recently been trying to unlock the front door with my car key fob, pressing unlock, and then trying to open the door then realizing that I have to use the Neanderthal method of unlocking the door. This led me to wonder why this hasn't been implemented in society.

Whats the difference with having keyless entry to the front door and your car? If you lose your keys, they can unlock your car and get into your house with the key if needed. I was more surprised that my brain has been now wired to try an open my front door with my car keys due to habits formed from deep in the subconscious. Either way, I thought it was pretty interesting and I want my keyless house entry damn it!

What do you guys think?

The Simpsons - It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times?! Stupid Monkey!

I've been a big fan of the Simpsons for as long as I can remember, whether it be using random quotes as responses to life's everyday questions, its a television show that is one of my all time favs. With the release of the new Simpsons Movie, which has been 18 years in the making, a side of me was excited on the idea of a movie of my favourite show and to relive all the comedic joy from my years past. The other side of me determined that if the movie was anything like the current show, that it'll be a huge disappointment. The best Simpsons episodes were from the early seasons preferable 4-10 after the show became a bit contrived and the jokes weren't really there. My fav character is probably Mr Burns, Kent Brockman, Milhouse, and Homer of course. I've compiled a list of my favorite quotes.

Enjoy!

Homer: Marge? Since I'm not talking to Lisa, would you please ask her to pass me the syrup?
Marge: Dear, please pass your father the syrup, Lisa.
Lisa: Bart, tell Dad I will only pass the syrup if it won't be used on any meat product.
Bart: You dunkin' your sausages in that syrup homeboy?
Homer: Marge, tell Bart I just want to drink a nice glass of syrup like I do every morning.
Marge: Tell him yourself, you're ignoring Lisa, not Bart.
Homer: Bart, thank your mother for pointing that out.
Marge: Homer, you're not not-talking to me and secondly I heard what you said.
Homer: Lisa, tell your mother to get off my case.
Bart: Uhhh, dad, Lisa's the one you're not talking to.
Homer: Bart, go to your room.

Homer: Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I've seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!
Marge: HOMER!
Homer: I gotta go Moe my damn weiner kids are listening.

Scully: Homer, we're going to ask you a few simple yes or no questions. Do you understand?
Homer: Yes. (lie dectector blows up)

Grandpa: My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star.

Marge: Homer, the plant called. They said if you don't show up tomorrow don't bother showing up on Monday.
Homer: Woo-hoo. Four-day weekend.

Homer: I bet Einstein turned himself all sorts of colors before he invented the light bulb.

Grampa: [writing] I am disgusted with the way old people are depicted on television. We are not all vibrant, fun-loving sex maniacs. Many of us are bitter, resentful individuals, who remember the good old days, when entertainment was bland and inoffensive.

Homer: Is that a good siren?
Bob, RV Salesman: You ever known a siren to be good? No, Mr. Simpson, it's not. It's a bad siren. That's the computer in case I went blind telling me, "Sell the vehicle to this fella and you're out of business!" That's what the siren says. It seems the Ultimate Behemoth is a wee bit out of your price range, and "wee bit" is me being polite. You couldn't afford this thing if you lived to be a million.

[Homer learns that Dimoxinil costs one thousand dollars.]
Homer: A thousand bucks!? I can't afford that!
Sales clerk: Hmm... well, we do have a product which is more in your price range. However...[He pulls out giant jug labeled "Hair in a Drum" with a $19.95 price sticker]Sales clerk:I must assure you, that any hair growth you experience while using it will be purely coincidental.

Mr. Burns: Ironic, isn't it Smithers. This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That's democracy for you!
Smithers: You are noble and poetic in defeat, sir.

Homer: He's awake
Marge: Oh, Bart! We thought for a minute you'd gone away from us.
Bart: I did go away, Mom! I was miles and miles and miles away, writhing in agony in the pits of Hell! And you were there! And you and you and you. You, I've never seen before.
Homer: Hey, yeah, who are you? I saw you chasing Bart's ambulance
Lionel Hutz: Hutz is the name, Mr. Simpson. Lionel Hutz, attorney-at-law. Here's my card. It turns into a sponge when you put it in water.
Homer: Ooh, classy.

Barney: Hey, Homer, you're late for English!
Homer: Pffft, English, who needs that? I'm never going to England. Come on, let's go smoke!

Homer: Which one's Selma, again?
Marge: She's the one who likes Police Academy movies and Hummel figurines, and walking through the park on clear autumn days.
Homer: Oh, yeah yeah yeah. But I thought she was the one that didn't like to be... you know... touched.
Marge: It's Patty who chose a life of celibacy. Selma simply had celibacy thrust upon her.

[Homer is eying up a pair of luxurious tennis shoes]
Homer: Oh, 125 bucks...
[Flanders appears in a `thought' balloon over Homer's head.]
Flanders: Sometimes, you got to spoil yourself... spoil yourself... spoil yourself...
Homer: But I can't afford to-
Flanders: Simpson! I order you to buy those shoes!
Homer: Okay, Flanders, you're the boss! Heh heh heh.

Mr. Burns: Excellent. Once again the wheel has turned and Dame Fortune has hugged Montgomery Burns to her sweet, perfumed bosom. Somebody up there likes me, Smithers.
Smithers: Somebody down here likes you too.
Burns: Shut Up!

Marge: Maybe a part-time job is the answer.
Bart: Oh, Mom, I couldn't ask you to do that. You're already taking care of Maggie and Lisa is such a handful.
Lisa: She means you should get a job, stupid!
Bart: [Daniel Stern's voice, à la "Wonder Years"] Me? Get a job? Were they serious? I didn't realize it at the time, but a little piece of my childhood had slipped away, forever.
Homer: Bart! What are you staring at?
Bart: Uh, nothing. [Daniel Stern continues] He didn't say it, and neither did I, but at that moment, my dad and I were closer than we-
Homer: Bart! Stop it!
Bart: Sorry.

Homer: [affecting accent] Hello, my name is Mr. Burns. I believe you have a letter for me.
Postal Worker: Okay, Mr. Burns, uh, what's your first name?
Homer: ...I don't know.

Burns: Who is that bookworm, Smithers?
Smithers: Homer Simpson, sir.
Burns: Simpson, eh? How very strange. His job description clearly specifies an illiterate!Chief

Wiggum: Fat Tony is a cancer on this fair city. He is the cancer, and I am the... um... What cures cancer?

Homer: Boy, you don't have to follow in my footsteps.

Bart: Don't worry, I don't even like using the bathroom after you.
Kent: The time has come for finger-pointing, and most of them are squarely aimed at the boy's parents.
Homer: It's not our fault! We didn't want the boy, he was an accident!
Marge: Homer!
Homer: Uh... Could you edit that last part out?
Kent: Mr. Simpson, we're live, coast-to-coast.
Homer: D'oh!

Mr.Burns: Quick Smithers. Bring the mind eraser device!
Smithers:You mean the revolver, sir?
Mr.Burns: Precisely.

Mr. Burns: Woah, slow down there maestro. There's a *New* Mexico?

Mr. Burns: Nonsense! Dogs are idiots! Think about it, Smithers. If I came into your house and started sniffing at your crotch and slobbering all over you, what would you say?
Smithers: If you did it, sir?

Kent Brockman: We win again. But the real winners here are Marge's Hors D'Oeuvres.
Homer: How do you come up with such witty remarks?
[focuses in on ear plug/mic]
Guy in the van: I guess you could say its my racket.
Kent Brockman: I guess you could say I'm Iraqi.
Homer: Get off my property.

Kent Brockman: Scientists say they're also less attractive physically and while we speak in a well-educated manner, they tend to use low-brow expressions like 'oh yeah?' and 'com'ere a minute.'
Homer: Oh yeah? They think they're better than us, huh? Bart! Com'ere a minute.
Bart: You com'ere a minute."
Homer: Oh yeah?

Wiggum: Put out an APB on a Uosdwis R. Dewoh. Uh, better start with Greektown.
Friday: That's "Homer J. Simpson", Chief. You're reading it upside down.
Wiggum: Uh, cancel that APB. But, uh, bring back some of them, uh, gyros.
Friday: Uh, Chief? You're talking into your wallet.

I'll come up with some more later!!

The Frozen Shirt

A light bulb went off in my head after a soccer game during a hot an humid summer night. We had just finished playing and we were discussing how the Nike Dri-Fit jerseys were still soaking wet. As the synapses started firing at a faster pace, I began theorizing an idea which would provide the ultimate climate cool.

(WARNING: PATENT PENDING, aka DON'T STEAL MY SHIT, YOU RAT BASTARDS!)

My idea consists of developing a fabric similar to climacool technology or Dri-Fit, where as NO2 or Nitric Oxide is infused or woven in to provide actual cooling. These strands of "dry ice" would provide the cooling effect. Using RF technology which can detect increases in heart rate and temperature can control the precision of how cold the strands become. This material would be powered through either kinetic energy sensors built into logos which or could be powered externally from a watch or bracelet. That is the basic premise of the solution to providing the next generation of high performance clothing.

The kinetic energy or stored energy sources would provide energy to power the shirt or piece of clothing for 2 hours. Once the energy and consequently cooling capabilities of the fabric would lose its properties it would be a time for a recharge. A recharge would consist of refreezing the fabric or replacing the battery in the watch or within the logo of the shirt. The fabric would provide an even medium for temperature of the outside environment and a person's body temperature to compensate for physical activity. The cooling mesh within the shirt would allow for more comfortable approach to athlete performance.

This is a preliminary design and after some more research, we'll see if this is feasible or not. This would revolutionize clothing for an active lifestyle, an I'm sure the team at Nike or Adidas are diligently working on this...Hey guys if you need another person on your team, holla!

Operation: Banana Ram

For a team building event at work, we were taken to African Lion Safari. The entire week, I had been pitching the idea of how awesome a monkey would be around the office. You know, helpful with thing such as photocopying and occasional shit throwing contests, it would be great. This idea was formulated in my head and we figured that our upcoming trip to African Lion Safari would be the mostly opportunistic chance.

A monkey, like Homer's helper monkey Mojo, would make life just a bit more fun. The idea of being able to teach it things, make it dance, eat things, make fun of other people with it and lets not forget battle it, especially if it steals your keys or banana. Like Mojo, you can dress him up with popular monkey fashion, whether it be a glittery vest and a fez. Hell, you can pimp him out him up like 50 cent. You could even teach it to speak English, answer your phone for you.

"Hey monkey, you wanna get that? yeah tell her I'm not here....for fuck sakes, I told you answer the phone, not throw it... Get down from there!"

The monkey would be great from a career standpoint as well, and then literally have an assistant and/or scapegoat. Something goes wrong blame the monkey and then take credit for the monkey's work (this depends on how well you've taught the monkey the aspects of your job). You can't really ever teach the monkey to be the model employee because eventually that ambitions son of a bitch will be promoted or even worse take your job.

"Ok hire the monkey, Fire Bamrah"...... No one wants to hear that.

Well all week, we all had decided that it would be fun to have a monkey around the office and devised a plan which involved, luring the unsuspecting monkey to our tour bus and then some how hiding it in my shirt an leaving the park. Sadly, this fool proof plan did not pan out since they locked the tour bus doors from the outside and did not allow the windows to be opened. Our dream specifically my dream of having a monkey bring me coffee will have to wait, oh well, at least theres the co-op kids.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

With the new live action Transformers Movie being recently released to theaters, I was hunting for a review of the movie, when I stumbled upon this article from the makers of Cracked Magazine. A preview from this article :

#7. Soundwave

Transforms into: A cassette player

Why is he useless?

Soundwave looks like he should be 100 percent badass, until you get to know him. He can read minds, intercept and block radio transmissions and is one of the strongest Transformers around; no easy task when all of your peers are enormous robots.

You stop liking/fearing/respecting Soundwave, however, when you realize that he uses all of his robot powers for the sole purpose of spying on his fellow Decepticons to detect mutiny. Seriously, he quietly hangs around his evil pals, waits for them to take issue with one of Megatron's orders and then records the shit out of it.

The other downside to Soundwave is that, when he's not out being a giant robo-narc, he's a motherfucking cassette player. We stopped needing a cassette player in like the early '90s. Can you even name a single person who owns a cassette tape anymore? If we want some tunes, we can just use the mp3 player on our niece's camera phone.

Did you hear that, Soundwave? Our 7-year-old niece's camera phone is a more impressive Transformer than you.

The entire article can be read here.

While I disagree with the author on the uselessness of Soundwave, people forget that he was the one who could create Energon cubes which were filled with the earth's energy. He also had a a puma and falcon which were transforming cassette tapes (Rumble and Lazerbeak). His transforming power just wasn't great, I mean a cassette player? really? Soundwave gives the illusion of being cool because he's almost like a DJ and the closest thing to hiphop, he even looks like he's wearing headphones. While Soundwave isn't in the new Transformers Movie, I bet he will be in Transformers 2. Most Likely he'll come back as a massive transforming iPod or something.

Oh I found a hilarious preview, enjoy.

UPDATE: Just saw it.... FUCKING AWESOME!!

A Commercial Offense

I've experienced something that I've never thought would occur to my at the hands of multi-national corporations. They have made commercials which could be deemed offensive. While driving I heard a commercial about a McMuffin from McDonalds and while watching TV, the new commercial for Coke Zero. Rather than having commercials where people are dancing and efficient uses of product placement. McDonald's decided to play the race card, while Coke poked fun at airplane crashes.

While these commercials seem harmless to the naked eye, I wonder what marketing genius came up with these ideas and then who they were accepted by. The radio commercial involves a dude asking about an egg McMuffin. Then while arguing with another employee asks his co working "Sanjeet" who replies with his best Apu impersonation about not knowing anything what a McMuffin is or on what the conversation even pertains to. Even if it is mildly offensive, why the loud and atrocious accent? and then clear indication that "Sanjeet" could not understand English? I would really like to see who the target market and demographic this commercial was aimed for. If the ad campaign's goal was to be comical then why even add the component of an extra Indian dude, it could be done with your standard Susan or Joe blow. What was the goal of this commercial? Is it supposed to want me to eat a McMuffin? Just because the resident Indian IT guy doesn't know about? Maybe its because I'm Indian and I don't like my people being portrayed as blithering fools or being used as a cheap side show for a horrible ad campaign, either way..I digress.

This brings me to my next point about commercials becoming to liberal and insensitive to its target audience especially by multinational corporations. The latest Coke Zero ad revolves around two pilots flying a cargo plane. One of the pilots is flying the plane out of control because he thinks he's dreaming because Coke Zero has no calories or some bullshit like that. The commercial shows the plan flying all over the place and almost crashes into the tower where radio personnel operate. The end of the commercial shows the speeding plane trying to land upside down. Can Coke really be that callus to the events of 9/11 or other airplane accidents? Again this brings me to what the marketing geniuses were thinking? How does this apply to the main audience? The commercials main goal should want me to drink a Coke Zero, not think about how the people at Coke can be so stupid. This can't be out of the box thinking, since it doesn't any achieve goals indirectly. It almost shows that pilot is hallucinating because of the Coke. Maybe that was the selling point.

Multinational corporations should be held accountable to their national ad campaigns. These two examples Coke and McDonalds already have profits in the millions which means that non conventional attempts at advertising should be acceptable? Maybe I'm being too politically correct, but i think it fundamentally goes back to the goal of a marketing campaign. Coke should take lessons out of Pepsi's book and use P.Diddy to sell or a dancing Jimmy Falon. McDonalds really needs to make a cool mascot like that Burger King's King. Now those commercials are funny. Other global companies should take notice and not make these advertising blunders and try to be more in tune with the social consequences of mis-marketed products.

I know I won't be having Coke Zero or a McMuffin any time soon.

2 Day Work Week

An idea I've been trying to pitch at work, mostly at lunch when I can get anyone to listen to my hunger induced ramblings. Today I pitched an idea that has been siting with me every Wednesday morning before work. I think it would be great if we had Wednesdays off, which would split the work week up into 2 mini 2-day work weeks. People at work said that they'd rather have Friday's off like a regular so long weekends.

This would revolutionalize the work culture and way we live our day to day lives. I proposed the idea that with a day off in the middle, you could recharge your battery and have a day to do all those bullshit errands you have to run on the weekend since you don't got time during the week because the boss is working you like a fucking doggg!!--- I mean... a day that would allow you to do all the shit you don't want to do on the weekend. Which leaves the weekend to relax or do whatever you want, stress free.

It would also provide the sense of accomplishment, since the weekend would coming be earlier. I think this would be a good idea to change the work culture stressing the "go go go" lifestyle. This would be similar to the siesta in Spain, minus you know...the sleeping... I'm sayin, It would lighten the workload and ease stress in general because Hey! you're working less! I know employers won't have it but maybe half the hours could be made up through out the week. I'll stay an hour longer if I know my day off is a day away. There could be an argument made on the type of implications it could be made on the socio-economic aspects of society. The retail businesses, restaurants and malls would have a substantial increase in revenue, while the corporate and manufacturing industry would suffer. There are many pro's an cons which should be discussed by the labour board and...the prime minister.

I really wish it was the weekend now.

I'm out!

Peace.

The Serial Killers Club: Funnier than it Sounds

I've recently began reading a book called The Serial Killers Club by Jeff Povey. This novel is a black comedy, no not like Norbit, more of a satire involving a club of well...serial killers and one man's journey of trying to be accepted, and just having a sense of belonging. Our protagonist is a Dougie who's accidentally joined this club and his having a hard time staying in, since members keep finding out he's not a "Skiller". Even though he claims to be a good person and not a dirty "skiller" like all the others, our narrator fits the profile like a bloody glove. He is withdrawn and has a desperate need for acceptance with some obsessive-compulsive tendencies and is quite self-conscious about his height. Normally, these qualities wouldn't equate to violent behavior, but in the right environment and the right circumstances, you never know.


This novel is extremely funny yet disturbing at times since it lets you into the psyche of serial killers and how they operate. There are clever ironies through out. The author does an excellent job in describing the various "Skillers" and their different personalities and styles. This is Jeff Povey's first novel and he is prominently known from his writing on the British sitcom Eastenders. This novel moves along like a movie, and a good movie at that: it's graphic, witty and funny. There's no way this book won't make it quickly to the screen and it's good to read it before it gets cast. As I read it I've laughed out loud many times, not as much as Ant Farm, but still quite a bit. There are disturbing parts that make you question your own psyche but thats neither here or there....(haha)

From the back cover:

When our unlikely hero stumbles into the path of a serial killer, he has no choice but to defend himself-and ends up killing the killer. Shocked by his own strength, he then goes through the dead man's wallet and finds the damnedest thing: a personal ad inviting the killer to join a party hosted by Errol Flynn. Errol Flynn? Isn't he dead?

What begins with passing curiosity soon becomes uncontrollable obsession, forcing our hero to fly to Chicago to join the party. From the moment he steps into Grillers and meets eighteen "skillers"-serial killers, to the uninitiated-his life is never the same. Their name: the Serial Killers Club. Their game: to share the thrill of the hunt and to make sure no two members target the same victims. With the monikers of old Hollywood stars masking the skillers' identities, their ranks include "William Holden," "Tallulah Bankhead," "Richard Burton," and before long, "Douglas Fairbanks Jr.," our hero himself.

But "Dougie" has no intention of wasting innocent victims. Instead, with a government special agent on his tail, he devises a perfect plan to knock off the members of the club one by one. But what will happen when they notice their numbers dropping? Dougie doesn't have an MO and he's not really a bloodthirsty killer. Or is he?

Introducing a brilliant, witty new voice to the world of thrillers, THE SERIAL KILLERS CLUB is fresh, frightening, and darkly funny

So far I've had trouble putting it down, it is that good. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy and entertaining read and is interested in crime based novels.


I'm out

peace!

I Let My Watch Talk For Me

The evolution of cellular phones has been one of man's greatest technological achievements. From the 'totally rad' Zach Morris big block phones to phones that can worn. Thats right, this company from Australia has produced a mobile wrist watch, complete with BlueTooth headset.

The M500 Watch phone was made for spies, I mean mobile enthusiasts everywhere. The M500 is the size of a watch, complete with leather straps for attaching securely round your wrist. What it's lacking in size it's certainly not lacking in features, full sms functionality via the 1.5 inch touch screen, full blue tooth compatibility, Dial Up Networking, Games, Mp4 Player, 128 Mb Memory, USB connectivity for software uploads, downloads, 199 number memory storage, 40 embedded real tones, amongst other things.

From Engadget Mobile

SMS Technology claim this mobile has an impressive 80 hour standby with 200 minutes of talk-time, although whether the novelty of talking to your chums through your wrist would last 200 minutes is another matter.

From Gizmodo

Here come the cellphone watchs with this $499 Dick Tracy-esque model from SMS Technology Australia being the second one we've seen this month. Called by its maker "the world's smallest wrist phone," My MobileWatch has an internal antenna, voice dialing and hooks up to Bluetooth, so imagine yourself wearing a tiny headset and just nonchalantly using your watch as a phone.

From what we could gather on the company's website, the MobileWatch is not quite ready to ship yet, but they're telling us to hurry because there will only be 30,000 watches available. Both of those little pieces of information make us slightly nervous. With its GSM functionality, the company says you can place an existing sim card into the unit, and then you'll be making phone calls from your wrist. Hey, it's just like Dick Tracy used to do, but better. His was just a two-way radio, with no Bluetooth!

More photos can be seen here.

It has all the features of a phone from 2005 but hey, it fits on your wrist. I like the one with the brown leather strap, it looks ballin'. All this bad boy needs is a camera an some way I can check my email, an then we good to go! Only thing is you might look crazy talking into your watch but hey that's never stopped you before.

"My watch saying hi shorty we can be friends" - 50 Cent

Now you can txt that too.


I'm out.

peace!

Accidental Development

A discussion I was having with some colleagues occured at lunch revolving around someone's yogurt. We were discussing on how crazy flavours are developed. I firmly believe that most if not all products that are developed....by accident. This applies especially to products being developed in the mass production environment.

I envision the conversation going like this between 2 employees on the production floor:

Employee #1: Alright Boss, I put the Mango flavour extracts into Vat #1.

Manager: You did what!? Vat 1 contains the Strawberry yogurt!....Oh man, the boss is gonna kill me, this is the 2nd screw up this week! First the Blueberry in the Orange Vat...now this.

Employee #1: You got to be fucking kidding me?! Again!? I swear those Vats were labeled wrong. How am I supposed to know whats in 'em...Please don't fire me, I have kids in colle-

Manager: Ok 0k, let me think....THINK...Ok lets just get rid of these horrible...horrible mistakes, hopefully no one finds out.

Marketing Guy: Hey guys whats going on?

Employee #1/Future inventor of Strawberry Mango Surprise : Oh shit, I mean ...Hey! ...(eyes shift nervously)...We're just chilling you know...hanging out....

Manager: (points at Em#1) He just mixed the Strawberry and Mango Flavours together!! I swear I didn't know anything about it....Please don't tell corporate...I'm barely hanging on here, especially after that aquarium incident...They'll take my house and my wife she'll kill me, (starts sobbing)

Marketing Guy: Wait, wait slow down a minute...let me think...I think we can do something with this...

Voila!! Strawberry Mango Surprise!

I'm sure it doesn't get developed exactly like this but you get the idea. There are many significant products that were developed by accident such as Penicillin and Viagra. Viagra was to relieve heart conditions and blood pressure, with abnormal side effects of course. While it could be said that there is an experimental component of development of new flavours and products. I feel that it mostly combinations of existing ideas with modifications once the team realizes they have a great idea on their hands. The marketer's dream, turning everyday mishaps into multi million dollar ideas.

I'm out.

peace!

Random YouTube Magic Part 2

As the NBA playoffs progress I've begun realizing how much I need a PVR so I can fast forward these awful commercials. The commercials that I particularly despise revolve around magician or illusionist David Blaine. Honesty, who hired this guy, with his stupid theories on why Kobe scores...magnets?! really? oh and lets not forget that if someone steps on a certain spot on the court, another player will catapult to the rim for a thunderous dunk.

His monotonous voice does not create any illusion on how crappy these commercials are. He sounds as if he's smoked way too much reefer in his day and is high as balls. I don't even know how he can even be considered a magician. Wheres the magic in living in a fucking box for a week in your own waste? by this same logic we can assume that all homeless people fall into the same category. Lets not forget the literal chilling out in the block of ice without dying of hypothermia trick. His latest illusion is the Drowning Alive trick where he hangs out in a ball of water for a week, and yes he does have a resuscitation unit like a scuba diver dangling in the center...just in case he needs some air. Where's the magic in that??.... I digress.

I found another David Blaine Street Magic video. He's terrorizing the same two idiots as last time. What the F?

Enjoy.

Ant Farm - Jon Stewart says its Hilarious too!

I've recently started reading a book that was recommended by a basketball website SLAM magazine. The book is called Ant Farm (and other desperate situations) by Simon Rich. This book is a compilation of short essays, stories and monologues. The author displays a knack for creating humor from scenarios of discomfort and despair. There's the son who unwittingly exposes his single mother's promiscuity with the local hockey team, the nerd who becomes cool in the eyes of his Bulgarian pen pal through misinterpretation. Jon Stewart lends his name for recommendations and even he says "open this book, anywhere, begin reading, and you will laugh. I'm not kidding-do it! I can wait...[humming Jeopardy! theme song]...See?".

Ant Farm is simple, smart and easily understandable, and that’s a potent combination these days. It is definitely targeted to younger generations and is very easy to read. The only real knock against it is that it is ridiculously slender, I mean I don't like my books on no Rosie O' Donnell shit but I'm sayin, I could finish the book in one sitting.

An excerpt from the book called I still remember when I got my first Calculator:

teacher: Okay, everyone, today we're going to go over some word problems.
me: What the hell else do you have back there? A magical pen that writes book reports by itself some kind of automatic social studies worksheet that....that files itself out? What the hell is going on?
teacher: If a farmer farms five acres of land a day-
me: So that's it, then. The past three years have been a total farce. All this time I've been thinking, "Well, this is pretty hard and frustrating but I guess these are useful skills to have." Meanwhile there was a whole bin of these things in your desk. We could have jumped straight to graphing . Unless, of course, there's some kind of graphing calculator!
teacher: There is. You get one in ninth grade.
me: Is this... Am I on TV? Is this a prank show?
teacher: No.

Gold! Jerry! Gold!!

I literally laugh out loud or LOL if you will, at the end of each little monologue or story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thought provoking, rib spliting literature.

I'm out.

Peace!

Tribute to Dirk, Kobe and Nash

Came across this video while browsing through YouTube. Its a tribute to Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash of hilarious proportions.

Enjoy.

Where can Quantum Teleportation take you?

The most trying aspect of traveling is the actual transportation from point A to point B. There needs to be a more cost efficient and environmentally friendly method to travel long distances. There are many disadvantages with the current method of travel, especially via airplane. The uncomfortably cramped seats, The delays, the horrible food, The amount of dollars to build accommodating infrastructure basically the overall complexity and inefficiency of the solution. It would be a great accomplishment to develop a new method which would remove the stone age method of travel. One development is through the means of Teleportation. Yes the same kind in Star Trek, phrases like "Beam Me Up Scotty" won't be for members of the Starship Enterprise any more. (FYI I don't like Star Trek or Star Wars or anything involving space)


Teleportation comes from the term Telecommunication and Transportation. Basically the concept revolves around a massive fax machine, where ultimately humans will be the paper being fed into it and a carbon copy being replicated at the destination. We are a long way from transporting entire human beings but scientists have been able to transfer properties of an atom to another atom., which is a break through in itself. Quantum Teleportation will be the next phase of computing, conveniently called Quantum Computing.

The good people at IBM state:
Teleportation is the name given by science fiction writers to the feat of making an object or person disintegrate in one place while a perfect replica appears somewhere else. How this is accomplished is usually not explained in detail, but the general idea seems to be that the original object is scanned in such a way as to extract all the information from it, then this information is transmitted to the receiving location and used to construct the replica, not necessarily from the actual material of the original, but perhaps from atoms of the same kinds, arranged in exactly the same pattern as the original.

A teleportation machine would be like a fax machine, except that it would work on 3-dimensional objects as well as documents, it would produce an exact copy rather than an approximate facsimile, and it would destroy the original in the process of scanning it. A few science fiction writers consider teleporters that preserve the original, and the plot gets complicated when the original and teleported versions of the same person meet; but the more common kind of teleporter destroys the original, functioning as a super transportation device, not as a perfect replicator of souls and bodies.

This study was from 1993!!

A more recent revelation was done as a joint effort between Austria and the United states states that :

The ability to transfer key properties of one particle to another without using any physical link has until now only been achieved with laser light. Experts say being able to do the same with massive particles like atoms could lead to new superfast computers. This development is a long way from the transporters used by Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Kirk in the famous Star Trek TV series. When physicists talk about "teleportation", they are describing the transfer of "quantum states" between separate atoms.

These would be such things as an atom's energy, motion, magnetic field and other physical properties. In the computers of tomorrow, this information would form the qubits (the quantum form of the digital bits 1 and 0) of data processing through the machines. The landmark experiments are being viewed as a major advance in the quest to achieve ultra-fast computers, inside which teleportation could provide a form of invisible "quantum wiring". These machines would be able to handle far bigger and more complex loads than today's super-computers, and at many times their speed.

You can read the entire article here.

Moore's Law states that current architecture design using the traditional transistor model will max out by 2011 which would require a new mechanism and particle transfer medium, basically a new architechture for computing to be done. Teleportation is that medium and new wave of computing. For you non techies out there, this means faster Mindsweeper and alot faster porn!, haha

Teleportation on grand stage would allow instant globalization, where everything can be done face to face, without borders of land an sea. There would be less pollution and the architecture while at first will be burdensome, will eventually become the equivalent of a phone booth. You walk in state your destination and then walk out from a similar phone booth at your destination. Quantum teleportation should be able to take you anywhere in the world conceivably.

Teleportation is among the biggest scientific advancements that we have left to make. Now that I live in Toronto, where the commute traffic say on the 401 is a full-on "catastrofuck," my desire for teleportation technology has grown 10-fold. Sure airplane companies would lose alot of money if this happened. I say jump on the gravy train Air Canada, you can't do any worse!

I'm out.

peace!

Rock out!

Life would be amazing if you could party really hard, get up in the morning, do whatever you wanted without a care in the world. The life of a Rockstar would be awesome, I mean you get paid (well) to rock out! Rock stars party really hard, wake up in the morning tell the ladies from the night before to leave, and then go have breakfast. Noone is concerned with image or bling bling, the scruffy and dirtier you look, the cooler you are. The funny thing is I don't really, even listen to Rock or Metal. The normal choice for a suburban youth would be to be a rapper. I mean you really dont need that much talent to rhyme some words together, throw a million dollar beat in teh back an we good to go.

Being a rockstar is better than being a rapper because if you're a rapper you have more of an image to worry about. The constant ideals based on the newest or "freshest" gear, the jewlery the cars, etc. Even if a rapper is now made a lot of money and is rich, still feels the pressure of keeping it real and maintaining that hood image. The amount of diamonds that these rappers wear is disgusting, especially watching that movie Blood Diamonds, I realized being a rockstar would be a lot cooler. Also rappers are very flashy and want to be noticed yet, hire a ridiculous amount of security. A rockstar can go unnoticed just because they look like normal people (to a certain extent). A rockstar can just wear whatever clothes, torn ripped, no jewelery an still be famous. Their job is to go on stage and just rock out, do something that they love and get paid really well for it.

Only knock is that the damage that the all the hardcore partying does to these rockers, the hard drugs and constant drinking take years off their life, but they don't care. They're rockstars, they're not supposed to care about anything, which is great. They just don't give a f*uck. All I gotta do now is learn how to play the guitar and then I'm on my way to becoming a Guitar Hero!! (note to self: get the video game)

peace!

Random YouTube Magic

Whether is with a deck of playing cards or making coins disappear or making my stuff disappear, my little cousins are amatuer magicians. They're getting good at it and they enjoy it. Always with the "Tony, let me show you something" and proceed to pull out a deck of cards followed by a "Oh shit! Where'd it go??" followed by me saying "Tell me right now how you did that, Right now". I'm surprised magic tricks...or illusions are not more popular with society. I do see this increasing with acts like Criss Angel:Mind Freak, but he's just weird.

I wish I knew how to do magic, especially hilarious magic like GOB from Arrested Development or David Blaine...

On with the show, Enjoy.

Live from the ACC

My voice is hoarse and scratchy, barely audible. This is what happens when you go to game 1 and 2 of the NBA playoffs to see the hometown Toronto Raptors Vs. the New Jersey Nets. We have games 3 and 4 being played at the Swamp or America's Armpit, New Jersey, I've been to Jersey an it stinks for real. Early reports show that they'll barely sell out let alone have a raucous crowd like the ACC.

The ACC was rocking, you could feel the electricity as soon as you entered the building. From gate one all you could hear were chants of "VC Sucks!" and "LETS GO RAPTORS" clap-clap clap-clap-clap. The crowd was ready and they(we) wanted blood. The Raps fans were rabid and you could tell there was definitly a lot of negative energy being sent towards a certain player on the Nets, whats his face. Just the fact that there were so many cameramen walking around with ESPN just added to the excitement.

As Game 1 of the series started, the arena went dark and the Raptors showed an awe-inspiring intro for the post season, that would make every Raptors fan pledge allegiance.

The crowd showed its class by applauding the American national anthem. the crowd really gave it to Wince every time he touched the ball, even breaking the D-Fence chants just to get a quick boo in. The Sea of Red was out in full effect during the game.

Towards the end of the game the crowd was really into it and you could tell that the Raps were starting to get past the first game playoff jitters. If CB didn't pick up those quick two foul the outcome would have been different I'm sure. TJ was definitely ready to play and was abusing Kidd whenever he could. I read that Bosh and Co. actually was scared/overwhelmed by the crowd, since it was so crazy. Could the crowd of had a detrimental to the performance? Possibly...but probably not. We were upset that we didn't get the win, but some of the boys did get onto TV, Newspaper and other forms of media representing the Raps and the Raptors Nation.

Onto Game 2, The crowd again was bloodthirsty to say the least. An example of how crazy the fans were was from a video from the Score. Who's that guy in the back? :P



I told people to look out for me on TV, I'd be one wearing red.

We had better seats for this game. The crowd was loud as ever, I couldn't even hear my brother who was sitting beside me. I honestly thought the top of the building was gonna blow off. Sam Mitchell got the coach of the year award presented to him.

Then it was onto tip off, both clubs were shooting atrociously and combined for 26 points in the first q. This clearly was not gonna be a run an gun game. The crowd really got to Vince since he'd brick the first free throw, to the crowds delight. TJ and Jose played the PG position well. One of my favourite parts of the game was after Jose scored a layup he turned and looked at our side of the arena and let out a primitive yell as if to say 'LETS DO THIS!!'. We in turn got up an screamed back in reply. It was almost a primitive thing, it reminded me of the movie 300 where the soldiers were responding to King Leionidas's inspiring speech. This just showed how intense the game was and how the players like Jose respond and feed off the intensity of the crowd. Another time Jason Kidd had some words with Jose and we all stood like we had Jose's back. 20,000 fans backing up one of their players in a fight. There's only one word for that Awesome. Another highlight were when the Raptors shoot a 3, the crowd will stand in anticipation so when it goes down we're ready to yell as loud as possible. There were a couple of sequences where Nick and I were going Crazy, literally screaming and getting super intense. He almost ripped my shirt, while he was jumping around. Anthony Parker and Bosh both ripped it and we let them hear our cheers and how much we appreciated rim rattling slam dunks and the money ball 3's. I feel like AP can drop numbers like this every game, he is just that nasty. Both of these games were the best Raptors game experiences I've ever been to, and I'm still contemplating on whether to go to Game 5. After we got the win we were outside the ACC chanting LETS GO RAPTORS and VC SUCKS. I even yelled out a couple of times "Lets tear this city apart!!!", as to insinuate a riot but everyone laughed it off. Oh well, next time.

LETS GO RAPTORS

I'm out.

peace!

In Colangelo We Trust

For the last 5 years us die-hard Raptors fans have been though the ups an downs, subject to teams full of underachieving players and lackluster management. Heart breaking loss after heart breaking loss. Until now...The basketball gods have rewarded us with the best GM in the league, and a team full of talent and potential. The Raps not only have made it to the playoffs with home court advantage, but have won the Atlantic Division for the first time.



I was saying from the beginning of the season after the 2-8 stint, that all this team needs is some time to gel an grow together, find out each others strengths and weaknesses. This process was rapidly sped up by the likes of Sam Mitchell, our head coach and our intelligent point guards who made sure to find out everyone's likes an dislikes of situations on where to get the ball. I was calling for his head earlier this season but have seen the improvement like calling timeouts and making substitutions at the appropriate times but also motivating the players to be the best they can be. This team has a lot of confidence and plays with alot of heart and the effort has been consistent. The home crowd finally has a team to be proud of, one that will scrap and claw til the buzzer goes.

We're even beginning to get recognition from the same NBA "experts" who said we would go 21-61. The good people at NBA Fanhouse, gave our team a couple of awards. Chris Bosh was awarded The Best Player We never get to see Award.

"And the winner of the prestigious CTNBAA: Chris Bosh. He's the best player on the best team that no one ever gets to see, which is doubly a crime since the Raps are so much fun to watch."

We also got the Best Uniform Colour Tweak. From NBA Fanhouse:

For the 2006-2007 season however, not that many teams opted to redefine their look when it's obvious some kind of change was needed (*ahem* Minnesota and Washington *ahem*). One team brave enough to venture into the new uniform business were the Toronto Raptors. All they really did was eviscerate the ugliest color in sports: the purple (and maybe added a raptor claw here and there).

From True Hoop on ESPN:

As much as I love the current Raps team (in part because it is a TEAM), I can't help but think what type of damage the Raps could have made with an all-star CB4 playing alongside the NJN version of VC. I wonder if CB4 feels the same. Either way, I cannot wait for this series, and I cannot believe that the Raps playoff run starts this weekend.

You can read all about it here

I can't wait for the playoffs, I got my tickets for the first 2 games in Toronto. In closing, I'd like to thank the Toronto Raptors organization for such an amazing season. Thank you for revitilizing this franchise and bringing exciting ball back to Toronto. Mr Colangelo, when we shook hands I felt your divine power, In Colangelo We Trust.

Bring on the Nets!

I'm out.

peace!

TV, Man's Real Best Friend.

Television has been a main feature in the North American household since the dawn of time, even possibly since dinosaurs were around. It provides informative and convenient media outlet on current events, sports and entertainment. I was never a big TV viewer from the get go to be honest. At Western, the TV was mostly dominated by my roommate, which was cool, because honestly I didn't know what good shows were out there and I did not have the time to watch anything then Simpsons and Seinfeld and the Raptors game. We watched the first season of Sopranos, Transformers and Arrested development but that was on DVD.

We eventually started watching 24, we made it a group thing for the boys. The inhabitants of 106 (Manjit, Nick and myself) with the boys of 602 (Gunness and Kav) with the occasional Raman, would get together every monday evening no matter what the schedule to participate in this ritualistic event. To tell the truth I miss those times, making Monday evenings a worthwhile night. The constant "Shut up Tony, they're talking!". Kav could not watch the show with me, I had the tendency to ruin it...just a tad. This is one show that is a suspense action drama, which I have reduced to a comedy in my mind. The nonsensical plot twists, the predictability and (un) super human effect of Jack Bauer, the protagonist. Jack aka Wack or Quack Bauer as I liked to call him would make irrational decisions, constantly yelling, but of course would save the day at the end. I have seen all the previous seasons on DVD with season 4 being my favourite, this season has to be one of the worse seasons to date. I've kind have rekindled this old time tradition by watching 24 with my little brother who like me, like making fun of Jack and other characters of 24. Jack is like a modern day Caveman, toting a gun like "shoot first ask questions last, that's how most of these so-called gangsters pass" to quote the late great B.I.G. He epitomizes whats wrong with the American population, especially ones who are pro war. Earlier in the season, Jack killed one of CTU's top agents, because he was jeopardizing the case, what happens later, the terror suspect dies meaninglessly. Now we're out one of the main characters of the show. One of the things that makes me laugh about 24 is the extra emotional side, its like wait, I thought Jack Bauer was a badass, now he's got feelings? oh and there are also scenes where he's acting like a squirrel, grunting, cave-man like after crucial scenes, this also makes me an yell obscene things at the TV. With the latest episode of Jack risking World War 3 occurring with the Russians, Chinese and the US just to save the love of his life Audrey Raines, and using the excuse that "Audrey has done so much for this country". Gimme a f'in break.

I had a theory, that 24 was sponsored and funded by the US government. This show had 24 episodes (of course) that were 1 hour long an each of these episodes had high tech gear, army helicoptors, pro government propaganda and how the per episode budget must be substantially higher than other shows on FOX. Oh and did I mention the show was on FOX (this show be obvious on the government's involvement). It also promotes anti-Muslim theologies and the idea that any person of colour could be a terrorist, black or brown, since it depicts terrorists living secretly in society, to rachet up the fear in the US. It also helps to propagate an anti-Muslim agenda. To reiterate, Jack Bauer is wack, 24 is propaganda, but will I miss it on Monday night....hells no!

I, like Homer Simpson love TV. "Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover." and I agree with him...secret lover not so much...*looks around nervously*, haha. With my time off after school, I caught up on all the amazing TV shows such as realizing how hilarious Simpsons episodes are, the genius creation that is Arrested Development. This clip is proof of that. It has some of the funniest moments in the show involving my favourite character GOB (pronounced Jobe). Arrested Development is easily the funniest show ever...EVER! Bold claims you say. People who watch this show and you know who you are, will agree with me. Its funnier than the Office (which is also a funny show and has its moments).



Shows like Sopranos, Entourage, the Wire (all HBO shows...oh yeah!) are amazing and I would recommend them to anyone. I never got into popcorn shows such as Friends and the new phenomenon known as Grey's anatomy, which I don't like, I mean if I wanted to watch a comedy based in a hospital, I'd watch Scrubs.

The quality of TV has increased significantly, especially with one of my favourite inventions High Definition (HD) TV. If you got HD you know what I'm talking about, its so clear its almost like you're there! Half the time you're just watching it like "damn this shit is so clear!". Its to the point where I refuse to watch TV on smaller TV's, its just not the same, and HD is just an entirely different experience. Lately there's been price drops on HD TVs, which makes me wonder that something even better is on the horizon.

The next thing must be Virtual Reality TV. Where watching TV would be reduced to putting on a set of glasses that projects a movie on a screen as the eye can see, where you feel like you're part of the action. Oh man I can't wait for that!! (It will probably be television that will provide more pixels per inch, maybe that new 1080p technology) The television industry is booming thanks to technology and quality of programming, and I'm not mad at all.

I'm out.

Peace!

Hockey Night in Canada

So the long weekend is winding down. This weekend was a drama filled couple of days, mostly on the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs were on the verge of making the playoffs. I decided to watch this game even though I'm not the biggest hockey fan. It was a wild one with the home team coming up with the win. Unfortunately the home team will not make the post season due to some last second heroics by the NY Islanders.

I realized while I was watching the game was that, one of the reasons why I don't like hockey is Don Cherry. This guy must be the most ignorant and most uber-Canadian person ever. I know he's not a fan of basketball but I feel like he would be a racist in real life. You're thinking, "those are some bold allegations Tony" (Just remember if you know me, you know I like being controversial for no reason). I remember his whole bias against Europeans saying they were soft and that North American products were better choices. Now people would argue who's better Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby, and Ovechkin is not a soft player by any means. Back to the actual point, I was saying, he is what is wrong with the sport of hockey. The Don Cherry SportsPlex is in the heart of the ethnic neighbourhood of Brampton, which means he can't be THAT ignorant, can it?

With Canada being such a multi cultural country, why not have a colour commentator who would promote the game itself without bias on the player's ethnic background. Is this to appease the 40 year old baby boomers who desperately want the Leafs to win a cup since the late 60s? The NHL decided to speed up the game, smaller pads to increase the scoring, which did increase interest in the game, but I think the marketing aspect of the league has not reached similar level. I think they need to make the game "cooler", you say "Tony, how do we do this?" I say get rid of Cherry, bring in some young commentators, but obviously this would cause an uproar to the faithful of Hockey night in Canada. Some food for thought, what do you guys think? I think the entire culture of Toronto and Canada is changing to incorporate our multicultural roots. The emergence of the Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC and lets not forget the Jays, all show a natural progression of hockey's market dominance declining. As an indication of this change, Kyle Wellwood and some other Leafs were at the Raptors game, maybe this is a sign of things to come. There are also marketing issues with MLSE on how the handle the Leafs and the Raptors. Remember those old Nike commercials, with Doug Cristie and Alvin Williams playing hockey or some of the leafs playing basketball. I think these need to be reintroduced to bring back some of the coolness factor for both facets of the company. I think I'll blog about that idea later.

In conclusion, my message to the NHL, try to market the game to a different demographic. Get rid of the high collars and plaid suit wearing ancient hockey relic, known as Don Cherry and maybe Hockey can regain some glory and appeal to some of the younger generation. Since I keep my ear to the streets all I hear is "Hockey is wack" or "Hockey is sick gay" from the urban Canadian youth aka my little cousin. How can we change this? or can we?

I'm out.

Peace!