Monday, November 30, 2009

Gladiator - Jared Allen



Watch Minnesota Viking star defensive end Jared Allen tear apart Aaron Rodgers on the football field or watch him spear an elk in the wild.


Periodic Table of Cupcakes

via Digg

Kanye West - "I'm So Appalled"


Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanks to Technology

We can get tweet updates from the Local15 News team.


...and we can partake in the miracle of human flight.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Greatest Playoff Performance of the Decade



1) Allen Iverson - 2001 Finals - 48 points
2) Shaquille O'Neal - 2001 Finals - 28 pts, 20 reb, 9 ast, 8 blk
3) Tim Duncan - 2003 Finals - 21 pts, 20 reb, 10 ast, 8 blk
4) Kevin Garnett - 2004 West semis - 32 pts, 21 reb
5) Dwyane Wade - 2006 Finals - 42 points
6) Lebron James - 2007 East finals - 48 points

Vote here.

The clip is worth watching for the highlights and Charles Barkley.



"That might have been the realest thing I ever heard."

-Kenny Smith

Monday, November 23, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup - June 11-July 11

The list of 2010 World Cup qualifiers was finalized today.


Host:
South Africa

Europe:
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland

South America:
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Paraguay
Uruguay

Africa:
Algeria
Cameroon
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Nigeria

North America:
Honduras
Mexico
United States

Oceania:
Australia
New Zealand

Asia:
Japan
North Korea
South Korea



In the words of ESPN Internet user xLittleP:

"From the New World to the Old, I send two words: INSTANT REPLAY."

Harry Potter Theme Park


Opening Spring 2010 at the Universal's Islands of Adventure Orlando, Florida.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Watch this classic film (#4 on IMDB's user ranking of the Top 250 movies of all-time) for free on YouTube from now until 11/30.

Don't Break the Cypher




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Gymnast Shawn Johnson Euthanized


Gymnast Shawn Johnson Put To Sleep After Breaking Leg


In other news:

H.R. 2651 Fans Storm Senate Floor After Passage of Bill

November 12, 2009 - WASHINGTON—Diehard fans of H.R. 2651 charged the floor of the Senate chamber Tuesday after their bill, a 14-vote underdog nicknamed the Maritime Workforce Development Act, passed 51-49 with just moments to go in the legislative session. "They said we'd never even make it out of House subcommittee, but this bill just had too much heart to quit," said longtime supporter Ed Wynarsky, who along with three friends spelled out "2651" with digits painted on their bare chests.† "I grew up following loans for maritime career education, and this has been a long time coming. We were due…. We were due." A champagne-soaked Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), whose last-second vote clinched the bill's passage, said the guys on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee deserved much of the credit, but that the biggest thanks should go to God.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Secular vs. Religious


"It’s amazing to watch [Pacquiao] in the ring. For most people, myself included, there will never be a moment where we reach that level of fullness of being. Where we will be completely invested so fully and richly in something that it seems to burst through the skin. When Pacquiao waits in the ring he seems to bristle and radiate, to quiver with the thrill of the moment and the profound joy of being a human body so supremely trained and suited for the task at hand. It is electric, like watching a hound straining at his tethers to go after the rabbit. It’s like something wild is running through him. I imagine if you were to drink his sweat in those moments you would become intoxicated."

............

"In a sense this fight is prelude. If Pacquiao wins the economic forces of the sport will almost necessitate a match with Floyd Mayweather, his spiritual opposite. Like Ali, Mayweather has trapped himself in a cage of excellence, brushing right against the edge of technical brilliance and ring science. Floyd is a difference engine in the ring, a bloodless operator who never makes a foolish mood. The thought of his cool excellence versus Pacquiao’s explosive dynamism is almost too much to bear, a contrast and clash generations in the making."

-FreeDarko blogger, ShoeFly
Pacquiao earns 7th title in 7th class

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely ?


"I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out it's sounds and chords and harmonies."
-Napoleon Bonaparte

Forbes goes on to say that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac before they began their first ever ranking of the world's most powerful people.

1) Barack Obama - 48
2) Hu Jintao - President of the People's Republic of China - 66
3) Vladimir Putin - Prime Minister of Russia - 57
4) Ben S. Bernanke - Chairman of the Federal Reserve - 55
5) Sergey Brin and Larry Page - Founders of Google - 36
6) Carlos Slim Helu - Chief executive of Telmex - 69
7) Rupert Murdoch - Chariman of News Corp. - 78
8) Michael T. Duke - President, CEO and Director of Wal-Mart - 59
9) Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud - King of Saudi Arabia - 85
10) Bill Gates - 54
11) Pope Benedict XVI - 82
12) Silvio Berlusconi - Prime Minister of Italy - 73
13) Jeffrey R. Immelt - Chairman of General Electric - 53
14) Warren Buffett - 79
15) Angela Merkel - Chancellor of Germany - 55
16) Laurence D. Fink, Chairman of BlackRock - 57
17) Hillary Clinton - Secretary of State - 62
18) Lloyd C. Blankfein - Chairman of Goldman Sachs - 55
19) Li Changchun - Propaganda Chief Communist Party China - 65
20) Michael Bloomberg - Mayor of New York City - 67
21) Timothy Geither - Secretary of the U.S. Treasury - 48
22) Rex W. Tillerson - Chairman of ExxonMo - 57
23) Li Ka-shing - Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) - 81
24) Kim Jong II - 68
25) Jean-Claude Trichet - President European Central Bank - 66
26) Masaaki Shirakawa - Governor of the Bank of Japan - 60
27) Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan - Abu Dhabi Investment - 41
28) Akio Toyoda - Chief exectutive of Toyota - 53
29) Gordon Brown - 58
30) James S. Dimon - Chairman of JPMorgan - 53
31) Bill Clinton - 63
32) William H. Gross - Pacific Investment - 65
33) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - President of Brazil - 64
34) Lou Jiwei - Chairman of China Investment Corporation - 59
35) Yukio Hatoyama - Prime Minister of Japan - 62
36) Manmohan Singh - Prime Minister of India - 77
37) Osama Bin Laden - 52
38) Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani - Prime Minister of Pakistan - 57
39) Tenzin Gyatso - Dalai Lama - 74
40) Ali Hoseini-Khamenei - Grand Ayatollah - 70
41) Joaquin Guzman - Drug Trafficker - 52
42) Igor Sechin - Deputy Prime Minister of Russia - 49
43) Dmitry Medvedev - President of Russia - 44
44) Mukesh Ambani - Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited - 52
45) Oprah Winfrey - 55
46) Benjamin Netanyahu - Prime Minister of Israel - 60
47) Dominique Strauss-Kahn - International Monetary Fund - 60
48) Zhou Xiaochuan - Governor of the People's Bank of China - 61
49) John Roberts Jr. - Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court - 54
50) Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar - Head of D-Company - 53
51) William Keller - Executive Editor of The New York Times - 60
52) Bernard Arnault - Chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy - 60
53) Joseph S. Blatter - President of FIFA - 73
54) Wadah Khanfar - Director-General Al Jazeera - 41
55) Lakshmi Mittal - Chairman of ArcelorMittal ADS - 59
56) Nicolas Sarkozy - President of France - 54
57) Steve Jobs - Chief Executive of Apple - 54
58) Fujio Mitarai - Chairman of Canon - 74
59) Ratan Tata - Chairman of Tata Group - 71
60) Jacques Rogge - President of the Olympics - 67
61) Li Rongrong - Chairman of State-owned Assets Supervision - 65
62) Blairo Maggi - Governor of Mato Grasso - 53
63) Robert B. Zoellick - President of World Bank - 56
64) Antonio Guterres - U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees - 60
65) Mark John Thompson - Director-General BBC - 52
66) Klaus Schwab - Founder of World Economic Forum - 71
67) Hugo Chavez - President of Venezuela - 55

23 North Americans.
3 South Americans.
15 Europeans.
18 Asians.
7 people from the Middle East.
1 Australian.

The XX

The XX - "Intro"


Vote for NBA All-Star Game


Who do you want to play?

Vote every 24 hours up until January-ish?

Clash of the Titans



300 or The Lord of the Rings?

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Future is Here


S i x t h S e n s e was the buzz of TED 2009.

(TED is an invitation only annual conference dedicated to "Ideas worth spreading." The acronym stands for Technology Entertainment Design. Past speakers: Bill Clinton, Bono, Dave Eggers, Bill Gates, Jane Go0dall.)

SixthSense was created in a lab at MIT, "spearheaded by student Pranav Mistry."

"It is a wearable device with a projection screen that paves the way for profound, data-rich interaction with our environment."

The description does the device no justice though, you must watch the clip. Think Minority Report.

Watch the whole video.

Felt - "Felt Chewed Up"


Minnesota's own Slug (Atmosphere) and L.A.'s Murs are back for the third tribute album, Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez. Coming out this Tuesday.

(prod. by Aesop Rock)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Great Move by Fox News

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

J.R. Smith back off suspension


J.R. Smith was fresh off his 7-game suspension as he helped the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls in a controversial finish last night.

Great end of the week coming for NBA television.

Tonight:
(9) Cavaliers @ (3) Orlando Magic - 8:00 p.m. EST - ESPN

Thursday:
(9) Cavaliers @ (8) Miami Heat - 8:00 p.m. EST - TNT
(4) Suns @ (2) L.A. Lakers - 10:30 p.m. EST - TNT

Friday:
(6) Atlanta Hawks @ (1) Boston Celtics - 8:00 p.m. EST - ESPN
(2) Lakers @ (5) Denver Nuggets - 10:30 pm. EST - ESPN

Thursday, November 5, 2009

David "Skywalker" Thompson



An excerpt from Bill Simmons new book, "The Book of Basketball"

70. David Thompson

Lacks a conventional resume but aces the "Did he connect with fans on a spiritual level?" and "I've never seen anyone in my life like this guy!" tests. I remember attending a postmerger Nuggets-Celtics game and being so blown away by Thompson that my father's innocuous comment, "Too bad we only get to see him once a year," left me profoundly disappointed. Since we didn't have SportsCenter or DirecTV back then, for all I knew, Thompson was dunking on everyone's head ten times per game and I was missing it.

We'll remember Thompson as the Intellivision to Jordan's PlayStation 2, an original prototype for every high-flying two-guard who followed. Blessed with a lightning first step, a reliable jump shot, and a 44-inch vertical leap that had him handling jump balls for North Carolina State (not strange until you remember that seven-foot-four behemoth Tom Burleson played for them), Thompson had everything you'd want in your shooting guard except height. Listed at six foot four, Thompson was closer to six foot two and looks noticeably shorter than his contemporaries on tape. Didn't matter. The dude soared through the air like a Bud Light daredevil bouncing off a trampoline (Growing up in Carolina, Thompson shot hoops on a dirt surface in his backyard. Some wonder if this led to his freakish jumping ability, especially since MJ grew up playing on a dirt court. If my son shows any promise at all with hoops, I'm building a clay basketball court in my backyard.). What really separated him was his zero-to-sixty explosiveness in traffic. Surrounded by four or five taller players, time and time again Thompson took your breath away by springing four feet to block a shot or dunk on someone's head. He didn't need a running start and didn't need to bend his knees. Honestly, it was like watching a squirrel. In thirty-five years of attending NBA games, I've never seen anything remotely approaching the sight of Thompson's leaping ability in person; he made you feel like you were watching a lousy sports movie with bad special effects where the lead character gets magic sneakers or something. You don't earn the nickname "Skywalker" unless there's a really good reason. I just wish someone had told this to Kenny Walker.

The defining Thompson story: During the same afternoon as Havlicek's final game, Thompson was battling Gervin for the 1978 scoring title (That was one of the great random sports days: Havlicek's final game, Thompson exploding for 73 (a record for noncenters for 28 years), Gervin responding with 63 and Gary Player coming back from seven strokes to win the '78 Masters. If ESPN Classic had ever started a show called The Greatest SportsCenters We Ever Could Have Had, April 9, 1978, would rank right up there.)). Back then, the Boston Garden's PA announcer rattled of NBA scores during time-outs (remember, we didn't have T-shirt cannons and JumboTrons back then), so after giving the Nuggets-Pistons halftime score, he added, "David Thompson has 53 points," and everyone gasped in disbelief. I remember thinking, "He's gonna break 100! He's gonna beat Wilt!" He ended up with 73 points, but the fact remains, Thompson was so explosive that an eight-year-old NBA fan honestly believed he could score 100-plus points in a game. So what happened to him? He developed a monster coke problem like so many other rich celebs in the late seventies, battled a variety of injuries and eventually blew out his knee after falling down a Studio 54 stairwell (The Studio 54 incident happened in 1984, well after the likes of Andy Warhol and Liza Minnelli had stopped hanging out there. Had Thompsons's career ended in '79 because he got flung down a Studio 54 stairwell by Bianca Jagger's boyfriend or something, now that would have been cool.). When Jordan arrived in November 1984, Thompson was already gone. And maybe it's impossible to capture the magnitude of Thompson's premature demise, but screw it, let's try.

David Thompson was...

1. The most underrated superstar of the past thirty-five years
2. The single biggest NBA tragedy other than Lenny Bias