watching expired appliances align

less recent del.icio.us links

Every so often I like to repost the links I've added to del.icio.us/marcb. Here's a handful (now with more comments!) from the past few months (most recent links at the top):

Doggy Steps, Official Site.
Spending the morning working from home during the transit strike means I can find out about great inventions like this one!
This item is just stairs! When I see things like this I wish I knew how to build things myself. Oddly, it doesn't make me want to own a dog at all.

Fredericksburg.com - Fredericksburg offered up fertile spot for rock's roots
Link Wray's "Rumble" was born in my hometown? "The young crowd went crazy, demanding that Wray replay "Rumble," initially called "Oddball," four times that night."
Was Judge Reinhold around at the time?

defective yeti: The 2005 Good Gift Game Guide
I must print this in 2 point type, stick a copy in my wallet and use it the next time I'm out shopping for board games.
FYI: I go out shopping for board games maybe three times per year. And the list is printed out and currently in my wallet.

Baseball Toaster : Catfish Stew : Lousy Drafts
An interesting observation about the draft pool the last time the Oakland A's gave up a first round draft pick.
Please note that I've quckily become quite fascinated by all the baseball hot stove action this year.

Bloglines | zlite's Blogs
Imagine you're new to the internet and wondering where to start with a Bloglines subscription. For all things media/science/tech-y, could there be a better place than Wired editor Chris Anderson's public Bloglines account?
I love reading his Long Tail blog.

MLBAM: The Stealthy Money Machine -- The Hardball Times
A few fascinating notes about Major League Baseball Advanced Media
Peep this if you don't think you can make money by working together and using the internet.

The Coming Golden Age of Television - Blog Maverick
Mark Cuban explains his love of HD and the idea of AM radio-like TV stations.
Now can someone explain to me what will happen when I watch HD shows that are broadcast at 720p if I buy an HD set that doesn't process 720p signals?

Video Aids to Film Preservation (VAFP)
Really cool little films about film preservation!
I'm seriously not joking about this one. If you're interested in decay and storage and handling or even the use of the internet to deliver bits of video'd content, this is really awesome.

ESPN.com - MLB - Sapporo toasts Valentine by naming beer after him
I've never wanted a can of beer more than I do now.
Strike that - I just want one of those cans of beer.

Monster Kid Home Movies
If I had an Amazon Wishlist, this would be on it.
Oh, I do have an Amazon Wishlist. Too bad I wasn't able to add these items to it.

Baseball Prospectus | How Much is That Stadium in the Window?
(sub. req'd) "Mostly, Long's study shows the degree to which we need to rethink what "cost" means in terms of stadiums, and how to determine who's bearing the burden"
Dear Government, stop using my money to build complexes for deep pocketed sports teams owners. Thank You.

file : the collection - chalk
A gorgeous Polaroid
(pretty colors)

Cool Tool: Poly Business Card Book
Someone tell Jeremy to get one of these books for his collection from ten years ago!
Certainly this sort of thing has to be better than actually scanning your business cards. And what's up with business card scanners? On a semi-related note at the airport during thanksgiving I saw kiosks advertising receipt scanners. What in the world? Is typing a few digits really that tough?

TV Squad: TV Halloween Costume of the Day: Magnum PI
To date the best TV Squad post
I really did note this one a long time ago! There was no Halloween partying for this past year. Is it too early to take 2006 costume suggestions?

Baseball Prospectus | Articles | The Week In Quotes: October 17-23
"One guy who's a little sad [about going to the World Series] is Lance Berkman, because he can't play flag football yet." (Roger Clemens)
I love "The Week in Quotes!"

KATDENNINGS.COM - Oh Steve Martin
It's fun when people talk about how giant-sized their heads are!
That's Kat Dennings, actress from 40-Year-Old Virgin talking about her head, not Steve Martin's.

the coffee flats terrors!

on sunday evening the coffee flats terrors won the floyd, ny 2005 fall bocce league championship. our team couldn't have been more excited. podcast coming soon.

podcast #15 is online

While searching for an interesting postcard or two to decorate my apartment I found a documentary treatment I wrote in the Fall of 1994. It's called YOUR RAZOR OR MINE? Proving that I was more creative and interesting a decade ago (yet obviously obsessed with facial hair), I've included it in the podcast. Or, perhaps I read it because I'm trying to stir up interest in a documentary about facial hair? You be the judge!

download the mp3
subscribe to the feed
podcast archives

Audio Comment Line - 206.666.2726. Call now to leave an audio comment for me to use on the show! That number again is 206.66-MARC-6.

Party Announcement!

I'm going to send an email out about this, but I figure the blog is better for conveying more info.
-----

Slowly burn off your New Year's Eve hangover by joining friends and engaging in a little mental dexterity.

I'm hosting a NEW YEAR'S DAY PARTY!

It's a board game party! Boggle! Trivial Pursuit! Puerto Rico! And More!

Imagine three rooms of non-stop board game action!

With snacks and drinks!

Invite your friends!

The plan is to have three or four different games happening at the same time. There will be something for everyone! It will also be an all day affair - drop by whenever you're in the mood. The party will start at noon. Because I'm optimistic and love board games, I don't see it ending until thirty-six hours later.

The party will be a mixture of fun, strategic contemplation and casual hanging out. Definitely bring your own games (like Jenga (2-8 players, 20 minutes) because it's fun to laugh at people who don't have steady hands due to the consumption of too much champagne the night before).

Here's a partial list of the games I'll have on hand:

TRIVIAL PURSUIT - Pop Culture DVD Edition - A few of us played this two or three years ago. It's an odd mix of easiness and obscure challenge. (2-? players, team play, 60 minutes)

PUERTO RICO - I'm sure you've heard me talk about this game before. It's considered the best board game ever by the folks at boardgamegeek.com. The object is to build a thriving Puerto Rico by developing plantations, creating buildings, populating the island and shipping goods. I recently purchased the "expansion set" which includes forest tiles and additional violet buildings. (3-5 players, 90 minutes)

SAN JUAN - An offshoot of Puerto Rico, I've played this game three times and can't wait to play again. It's a card-based game with a much quicker set-up than Puerto Rico. (2-4 players, 45 minutes)

POKER - Perhaps you're familiar with this game? Apparently something called Texas Hold 'Em is sweeping the nation. Conveniently, I own a few decks of cards and some poker chips. (3-10 players, time N/A)

BOGGLE - Not Boggle Deluxe or Super Boggle or Expansion Boggle or anything like that. This is the classic – the box features the same color scheme as that Little Professor calculator thing you had as a kid. Bring your own pen and paper. (2-6 players, 10 minutes)

INGENIOUS - I just picked this one up and I'm excited about it. Matthew Baldwin of The Morning News writes a wrap-up of good gift games every year. Here's a bit of what he had to say about Ingenious:

Have you played dominos recently? I have, and I’ll let you in on a secret: BORE-ing! It might be fun if you were actually in Jamaica, playing it at a cafÈ against both an 80-year-old man and your own tolerance for rum and coke, but under any other circumstances it’s pretty dull.

Luckily, he found Ingenious addictive and great for two players. If you've got some time, listen to an interview with Matthew Baldwin from KOUW's The Beat. (1-4 players, 20 minutes)

THE SETTLERS OF CATAN (Travel edition) - This is another game I just purchased and haven't played. Boardgamegeek.com gives it a Bayesian Average Rating of 7.24. I have no idea what that means, but it sure sounds good, doesn't it? (3-4 players, 90 minutes)

GOLD DIGGER - Three New Year's Eve's ago Jamie, Kaci and I found a quiet table at Buttermilk and played this for hours. Pick a claim and try to outwit the other prospectors! (2-5 players, 20 minutes) (game to be provided by Jamie and Kaci)

MUNCHKIN - According to boardgamegeek.com, "MUNCHKIN is a stand-alone card game designed by Steve Jackson that "simulates" (well, sorta') a fantasy-themed RPG (oh, ok, D&D) in a simple, card-based game that's chock full o' silliness." No triantakohedron dice needed! (2-8 players, 45 minutes) (game to be provided by Jamie and Kaci)

EURORAILS - This is the first game that helped me realize there's more to board games than Sorry! (2-4 players, 30 minutes) and Museum Caper Clue (2-4 players, 30 minutes and not really that bad). Did you know there's a whole genre of railroad games? Eurorails may be one of the best. Players build railroads and deliver goods from one European city to another. It comes with crayons! You can draw on the board! What's not to like? (2-6 players, 180 minutes)

PLAYSTATION 2 - I own SSX Tricky, Madden 2005, and an EA sports baseball game but I'll probably rent one of those classic Namco / Activision type packs. I'll have the videogame machine set up for those who are more comfortable interacting with the cathode ray tube. If there's a game you think everyone would have fun playing, bring it along! (1-2 players)

BALDERDASH (3-6 players, 60 minutes) and a few other classics will be stacked on a shelf somewhere. But get out of your comfort zone and try something new.

Drink and carouse as much as you can on New Year's Eve and then wake up Sunday and stumble over to my apartment in Ft. Greene. Not only will there be more drinking and snacking, I promise lots and lots of cursing. When I play board games I cuss and trash talk in the most vicious fashion imaginable! Could there be a better way to start 2006?!?!!

The party is pretty much open to anyone I've ever met before, so email me if you want the address.

NEW GAMES JUST ADDED!!!

SET (1+ players, 15 minutes?) - An impulse buy this past weekend, Set proved to be confounding and addictive. It's a pattern recognition card game that's probably easy for some yet terribly difficult for me.

CLUZZLE (3-6 players, 45 minutes) - Clay + Puzzle! It's a sculpting game in which you don't want to be too talented. There's the sculpting round and then the guessing round. It looks like a totally silly time. The box is really cute! Who wants to give it a try?

podcast #14 is online

Ahh, December. It's the time of year for office holiday parties and "top ten things of 2005" lists. In my best attempt to recycle content, here's podcast number 14. It's another podcast from CRINGE. In an exciting twist, I've included some bonus material. In order to get to my reading (a letter to Bob Iger, President of ABC written when I was 16), you'll have to listen to a few other letters I don't anticipate reading at Cringe. For no-holds-barred excitement, download the podcast and listen to the unbridaled enthusiasm conveyed in letters to Rolling Stone, the cable company and a local newspaper columnist.

download the mp3
subscribe to the feed
podcast archives

JUST ADDED - Audio Comment Line - 206.666.2726. Call now to leave an audio comment for me to use on the show!