World Soccer Daily Podcast

This is a podcast that has had some good times and some bad times, but in the end holds a special place in my heart.

In the summer of 2006, my interest in soccer was grabbed for the third time in my life.

The first came in the World Cup of 1998 when I was really introduced to soccer for the first time outside of kicking the ball around with friends and their playing in local youth leagues. That summer I went over to my brother’s friends house a decent bit and they always seemed to have on the games. I would take a peak now and again and even though I would watch 30-minute stretches, I never really got very excited about it.

Then, 4 years later, I was working for a video store and it happened to be a time when we were doing allot of inventories at the store. It worked out for me that that manager of the store was a former high school soccer player who loved the game and would play the matches on the TV while we worked well into the morning. Not only this, but due to the time difference, I was able to go home and watch the next match before going to sleep well into the morning.

The game had grabbed me enough at this point to give me a passing interest. I still didn’t really know anyone’s names or most of the rules, but I did buy the FIFA World Cup game for XBOX and played it for a few months. However, the World Cup was quickly over and I moved on to other things.

Everything changed in 2006. As the World Cup got closer, I saw more and more information about it. I noticed that our cable provider now had Fox Soccer Channel and casually watched a few matches that were shown. I started getting interested and looked for a podcast that would give me some good information on the game, and have fun listening to. There were a handful of podcasts that I got into at that time including The Beautiful Game, a few others, and the only one that I still listen to today from this list, World Soccer Daily.

At this point, the show consisted of Steven Cohen and Nick Geeber. Steven was the crazy guy that talked fast, was very opinionated, and I quickly found out, a Chelsea fan. The other, Nick, was funny, a little more laid back usually, but would rise to Steven often enough, and was a Liverpool fan.

I quickly downloaded their last few months of podcasts and started listening to a few a day as I used them, somewhat, as my introduction to the game. At the same time, I supplemented the podcasts with rules and information that I learned and researched online, mostly on Wikipedia and a few other sites.

So, by the time the group stages were over, I had a good idea as to how the game was played, some of the major players, and some of the strengths and weaknesses of the major teams involved.

I obviously was cheering on the USA, but knew better from my new learning to expect them to go very far, despite what I was being told by the pundits here at home. I also began following England where I quickly was able to pick up on who the player were, what club teams they played for and some of their attributes.

So, I watched all but maybe a game or two of the World Cup while following the commentary on the World Soccer Daily podcast. During this time, though, I wasn’t just getting information on the tournament, but also on the world of club football as well. They were definitely biased towards the English Premier League, but also seemed to give decent time to the Spanish Primera Division and the Italian Serie A along with smaller amounts of time to the German Bundasliga and the French League 1.

As the World Cup began to wind down, I realized that this tournament was not enough this time to quench my thirst for “The Beautiful Game.” Therefore, I found out that only a couple of months later the club leagues would start up and I began doing a bit of research as to what league I would watch and a team that I might want to follow. World Soccer Daily was integral in this process as during this time many new viewers of the sport were calling in with similar questions that I had myself.

I quickly decided on following the English Premier League mostly as I found out that Fox Soccer Channel played a few of their games every week. So, next was to see if there was any team that stood out. I had really enjoyed watching Peter Crouch in the Olympics and watching how different he was than most of the other players. I also liked the little I had seen of Steven Gerrard and that which I read about his history.

I then began doing research on the teams, how they were doing in recent history and their more distant history. After looking into the top-flight clubs, I began to quickly be drawn to one team, Liverpool. It helped that Nick was a fan and Steven hated them, so I was never left without information, praise, and criticism of the team. They also had a few of the players from the England World Cup team and had a history similar to my college football team Alabama with one of the riches histories in the sport, but with more recent difficult times and signs of a resurgence to come.

This podcast helped me then to get more and more information, not only on my new team, but also on the other 19 teams in the league. It also helped me to get an idea of what the Carling Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup, and Champion’s League were and how they worked.

I have listed to the show ever since with a drop for a couple of months here and there and through a few host change ups. However, it seems that now the show is stronger and more popular than ever with Nick gone who was the one who tended to change the subject off topic more and was more lewd to current host Kenny who seems at time to be a bit of Steven’s puppet, but more and more has created a personality of his own and is more likely to give what seem to be his own thoughts on many things.

The biggest positive change, though, was when they started bringing in outside people to interview and answer some phone in questions. This, I believe, seemed to start with fan favorite Georgie Bingham, but has now grown to quite a number of players, managers, journalists, commentators, officials, and pretty much people from every aspect of the game.

It is enjoyable enough today that I can listen to a show no matter what time of year and no matter how much or little is going on in the game.

If you are a fan of soccer or as referred to pretty much everywhere else, football, give this one a go. Also, if you are interested and want more information on the game, this is a great companion on your journey.

Film Spotting Podcast

Film Spotting is a podcast that I came across a few months ago. I had long since gotten ride of the few movie podcasts that I had listened to on a regular basis, and I decided to give a look around to see if there were any decent ones out there that I could sign up for.

Before long I can across this one. It is run by two former actors that now teach acting for colleges, see most new movies, and have vast knowledge on movies in general. They are a good pair to do this, as one is more of a classic critic and the other more modern to give two completely different views on many films.

This is a weekly show that incorporates spoiler free reviews of new movies, reviews of other movies in theaters and occasionally DVDs, top five lists, questions for top fives for listeners, Mattie’s Movie Minute, and Massacre Theater where they act out a famous scene with listeners e-mailing their guesses.

This is a podcast that I now look forward to seeing in my iPod queue every week at the end of the week and I have grown to enjoy it more and more as I have listened. To add to this, they occasionally have an extra show to go along with their 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minute weekly show that goes about 40 minutes where they try to catch up on topics and review a movie at the behest of one of their winners.

If you enjoy movies, like to hear discussion on them, or like to listen to podcasts about movies, this is definitely for you. It is out of Chicago, IL and they are currently trying to set up a meeting of many of their local fans. Give it a shot, its well worth it.

Diamonds of DVD #1: Meet the Feebles

For those of you with a messed up since of humor like me, you should give this one a try. This was the second movie that he ever made, the first that didn't take four years when everyone had time to do stuff.

It is a muppets-like variety show with a cast that is adored by the public. However, nobody knows how truely deranged and preverted they are. This is a movie that you probably won't add to lists of your favorites, but one that you will not soon forget.

If you are looking for something completely twisted and pretty funny as well, give it a shot. The preview is a fairly good indicator for the movie without the main plotline which is basically used as a way to show all of the craziness that happens in the production.

NFL Sunday Ticket: What Are They... The Cops?

So, I was thinking about getting the ESPN Gameplan this year for college football and trying to talk my brother into getting the NFL Sunday Ticket since we had both last year with the free year of Sunday Ticket for signing up and we had watched a number of games on it. I was and still am willing to pay the $100 for the ESPN Gameplan, which I feel is well worth the price and would have probably been willing to pay the same or even a little more for the ESPN Sunday Ticket if my brother had not been willing to do so.

However, when I went to approach him about it, I asked him if he was interested in getting it this year. He gave me the "your a crazy person look" and told me that it was super expensive. I was confused and he told me that it was a few hundred dollars or over $50 a month for the package. I couldn't believe this. It was a ridiculous amount of money for not that many games and usually the lesser games to boot.

So, a couple of days later, I decided to check it out. I went on their website to find the following:

SAVE NOW WITH OUR EARLY BIRD OFFER: Get a head start on the NFL season by ordering NFL SUNDAY TICKET® with your DIRECTV® base package for just 5 payments of $53.80 — that's a savings of $30 off the retail price. Offer ends July 31.

Seriously, you are going to try to promote this as a deal? A little over $50 a month instead of an even more ridiculous $60 a month. I don't understand why they have to be so ignorant with this package. Pretty much all of their other packages I have looked into have come at a decent price. I have to believe that this was originally setup for bars and whatnot and then started being offered to regular subscribers at the same rate and they got enough people interested in order to keep it at the rate.

Needless to say, we will be watching about the same amount of NFL football this year, we just won't have the choices we had before. At this price, I cannot ever see getting the package, which is a shame for someone who was really started to get back into Pro Football last season.

Quality Commericals #1: Barney Houwser W.C.

I must say that I am loving the resurgance of Neil Patrick Harris's career. The once titular character on Doogie Howser M.D. began his comeback a few years ago with Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, portraying himself and a nice, light comedic role. He followed this up with a co-starring role in one of the better comedies running, How I Met Your Mother as a suit clad, womanizing power-player... who isn't.

Here's hoping that NPH continues with the quality roles and Old Spice continue with commericials more like this than the one with Bruce Campbell.

Liverpool Summer Signing: Robbie Keane (from Tottenham)

I think that this is a great pickup for Liverpool. If they had to pick between Keene and Barry, I'm glad they chose Keane. Barry was only a slight advantage over Alonso and if Alonso can get some of his old magic back, not even that, whereas Keane will come in and make a big impact early on. With his versatility he will allow Rafa to run so many formations and player combinations it will be unreal. Add to his poaching ability and precision long strikes to the fact that he has been a die-hard Liverpool fan since a child and I think you have a really special combination that is going to lead to great things for the team.

I am drooling as I imagine the linking between Keane and Torres.

Liverpool Summer Signing: David Ngog (from PSG)

It is nice to bring in a talented young, quick stricker for a change after Ryan Babel was immediately turned into a winger last season. They can keep this guy for a few years and use him in the Carling Cup and FA Cup along with some easy games to get him some work, but won't have to worry about him getting large ammounts of playing time at his age. Hopefully we have one here for the future, but will go right into the first team backups.

Beautiful Girls that Catch My Eye #5: Kari Byron

Kari is someone that I have noticed since she first joined the MythBusters team and is one of the girls that shows that Geek Chicks are hot.

MythBusters Jaws Special

So, I had planned on doing other things tonight, but how can you turn away when presented with a night of MythBusters on Shark Week?

They started with the previously run Jaws spectacular where the following was found out.

1. Punching a shark in the nose or gills will temporarily force it to move away, but does not work as a long term detterant.

2. An adult great white shark could break through a shark cage determining on the strength of construction.

3. An adult great white shark could break through the hull of a boat the size of the one used in Jaws.

4. An adult great white shark could not pull a boat backwards fast enough to bring the back part of the boat under the water.

5. An adult great white shark could possibly pull three barrels underwater, but could not maintain them under the water for any period of time.

6. The gun used in Jaws could have shot a hole in a compressed air tank, but it would not explode, it would rocket through the area. So it would have still killed the shark, but not exploded.

The Best Football Game I Ever Attended

I remember it like it was yesterday, which most of it I should since I just rewatched the game yesterday from some old DVDs that my brother had made of the game.

It was 2005 and My father, brother, sister, and myself drove the two hours to T-town in order to see our first Alabama football game of the year. It had been a hard run of years with the probations and coaching carusel at the University of Alabama, but things seemed on the precipace of change.

We had a huge comeback against Southern Miss (including possibly the best catch ever from Tyrone Prothro)to keep an early disaster from occuring and strong wins over South Carolina and Arkansas had put us in a position to really make a push for the SEC West with a victory over #5 ranked Florida.

We arrived in Tuscaloosa a few hours early and my father and sister went to meet one of my father's friend's while my brother and I went to hang out with some of his high school friends who were living on campus. We hung out for about an hour watching the early games and talking about any current news and our predictions for what would happen.

Mine, by the way is listed below from my website that I was maintaining at the time.

Alabama vs. Florida – Man, I am looking forward to this one. Alabama and Florida both come into this game undefeated, something that fans could have only dreamed of a few weeks ago. Florida is riding high with three victories already under their belt in the SEC (South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky). Alabama has two themselves against South Carolina and Arkansas, but have already used up two freebies this season. With only one left it is getting to be crunch time for the Crimson Tide. Both teams have already had their ups and downs. Florida has looked very good in three of their four games, but looked unorganized and unfocused against Tennessee two weeks ago. Alabama on the other hand has only had one solid game so far in their win against South Carolina and have looked shaky in their other three. When things are going well for Alabama, their offense can go for 200+ yards on the ground, 300+ through the air and to multiple recievers or a combination of the pair and their defense has been solid throughout. Florida has yet to establish a rushing attack, but with their high octane passing game, the numbers that they are picking up on the ground have been plenty enough so far. However, I believe that Alabama will come out strong this week. They will key on stopping the Florida running game and then drop back to protect against the long pass plays. If they can manage to frustrate Leak, they have a chance of causing some turnovers and arrant passes. Look for Alabama to start off with some early long passes as they did against Southern Miss in an attempt to put early points on the board in anticipation of a high scoring game. However, they will quickly settle into a steady regime of pounding running plays to try to wear the Gators down. The key thing to watch are the halftime and end of third quarter scores. If Alabama is within two touchdowns at the half and within one touchdown at the end of the third then they will have an awesome shot at an upset and Shula's first signature win. I think that Alabama will come out strong offensively and hold the Gators to only a couple of big drive and win a very important game 31-17.

So, we discussed what we thought and I had a really good feeling about the game. A few others did as well, but just as many people were skepical about our chances of winning the game.

After the hour, we met back up with my sister and father and walked to the stadium. As always the entry from the bowels of the stadium to field level is a sensory overload. The light and greeness of the field, accompanied by the sounds of at least 40,000 fans and the band just overcome you.

So, we quickly made our way to our seats and the buzz about the game was palpable. Everyone was talking about it and getting pumped up. Then the game began. The first series was exactly what the crowd needed. Our defence was dominant and even after Prothro fumbled the punt, the defense stood up again to force another punt. Then, the game took its final step into the fan frenzy when Brodie Croyle hit Tyrone Prothro in stride for a long touchdown pass. This was the loudest that I had ever heard the crowd at Bryant-Denny stadium.

At this point, all fans seemed to be pulled into the atmosphere and there was not a person left sitting or silent as we continued to chant, and sing, and scream our team on.

The game continued to fall about as well for us as it could until "The Incident" when Tyrone Prothro broke his leg in such a graphic manner. In the stadium, you could see the play and the flag and then that he was down, but you were just thinking that we should have had a touchdown and at least got the 15 yards. However, as he stayed down in the endzone, hushed chatter began to move around the statium. People with radios began to get in the information about how seriously the injury was and everyone's high was completely floored. It took quite a while to get him on the stretcher and then off the field. However, how composed he was as he left gave people the idea that he would be OK and the cheer for him as he left was deafening.

By this point, the game was nearly over and as the clock ticked down it was obvious that for the first time in years, we had a huge victory. The fans in attendance were also the hardcore fans. After so many years of average success, the fair weather fans and tag-a-longs were gone leaving tickets for the true fans and they came through amazingly.

As the clock finally began its countdown for the last minute of gameplay, the band started up and the crowd went crazy. People were screaming themselves horse, throwingout their arms shaking their pom-poms, and hugging each other estatically. We ususally leave right before or right after the game concludes, but in this one, we stayed about half an hour afterwards to soak in the atmophere and the endorphines from the huge win.

I still remember coming home after the win and watching the game again and seeing the highlights. I had never heard so much of the audience over a broadcast before and it was great to be part of that group.

The Guild: YouTube Award DDR Video

They promised more of the DDR video if they won and they did. So, here is about 2 minutes of Felicia Day's spastic attempts at a few of the songs. It is pretty darned funny and looks like quite the workout.

The Guild: Thanks and Request

In this video, The Guild are thanking their fans and donors for helping them to win the SXSW Green Light Award and letting everyone know that they were also nominated for the Yahoo and YouTube awards for best webseries. Zaboo also promised more of a video of Codex's drunken DDR shennanigans that they show a bried shot of.

The Guild: A Christmas Raid Carol

I really enjoyed this little Christmas gift from the cast of The Guild with all six guildlings contributing gaming line rewrites to classic Christmas songs. Good stuff.

The Guild: Season 1: Gag Reel

Here are some outtakes from the funny little web show The Guild. Some of the moments are quite funny.

Peoria pitcher charged

Two Videos - The first is from Sports Center. The second is a longer uncut fan home video of the incident.








As many of you have now seen, in a Class A minor league baseball game between the Chicago Cubs affiliate Peoria Chiefs and Cincinnatti Reds affilliate Dayton Dragons, a fight broke out that appears to so far be the craziest minor league baseball story of the season.

This all started on Wednesday when three Peoria players were beaned. In the first inning of the Thursday game, another Peoria player was hit. So, in the second, Peoria fought back by hitting two Dayton players, including one in the head. The second hit batter for Dayton then made an aggressive slide into second to break up a double play and therefore, the next pitch up and in.

The Dayton manager had enough by this point and came out to argue. After a minute, the stand in manger for Peoria, in due to Ryne Sandberg's trip to Cooperstown, came in to take up for his team. At this time, the two managers began to argue and as the exchange became more heated, the umpires stepped back and the Peoria manager pushed the Dayton manager.

At this point, both dugouts cleared and players began attacking each other. One of the first players on the scene was the Peoria pitcher who had just hit to batters. As he arrived, he threw the baseball he was holding in the area of the Dayton dugout. However, his aim was wild and the ball ended up smacking into the forehead of a fan near the dugout who was dazed after incident and sent to a nearby hospital.

The man was released the same night, but the warrant quickly went out for the thrower of the ball, Julio Castillo who had only been in the states for a month from his native Dominican Republic. He was being held on $50,000 bail and if convicted of his charges could face up to $15,000 in fines and 8 years in prison.

17 people were ejected from the game, but after pleas for a temporary stay of the ejections to keep pitchers from being forced into playing outfield positions, the game continued and was eventually finished.

Officials are currently reviewing data to decided what sorts of fines and suspensions should be handed down to the two teams.

Wisconsin just as crazy as Alabama

I keep seeing more and more national stories of crazy Wisconsin people through my news feeds and this one did not disappoint.

Apparently, a Milwaukee man went out to cut his grass the other day and after not being able to get his riding lawn mower to start, shot it with a sawed off shotgun or rifle.

The police call came from a woman who lives with the man who reported that he was intoxicated at the time.

The man was upset with the police intervention stating, "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."

If convicted, the man could face up to an $11,000 fine and up to three months in jail.

Apparently, the crime wasn't in shooting the lawn mower but in possession of the short barrelled gun and also for disorderly conduct.

Sirius / XM Merger Finally Given Go Ahead

On Friday, the FCC finally voted to approve Sirius's buyout of XM satellite radio. I think that this is a great thing that will lead to many more subscriptions for satellite radio as all services will be consolidated into the new company and someone wanting the services provided on both can now subscribe to the one service.

There are talks about the cost savings that will result from the merger which I will have to keep my eyes on. With most normal radio stations playing mostly garbage and bad studio shows, a subscription to a satallite radio with a decent price point might be a good idea in the future.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 10: Boss Fight!

The opening to this episode has Codex again high on adrenaline for standing up to Zaboo's mother. She is eating chocolate pudding while explaining how she felt.

So, back at Cheesybeards, they all agree to help Zaboo take on his mother. They treat it like they would a boss in the game. They go over her strengths and what they will use to attack her. They then go to confront her.

She tells Zaboo it is time to come home, but he hesitantly refuses. She gets angry and his will breaks, however, Codex is there to help and even Vork chimes in. They all stand up for Zaboo and use their "attacks" on her.

Eventually, she starts crying, which takes out Vork and uses mind control on Zaboo. However, Bladezz arrives to save the day. He tells her that Zaboo tried to kill himself because of her, which stuns her and gives Codex time to heel up Zaboo.

Zaboo then tells his mother that he is not going home with her, that he is an adult and will be treated like one. This takes her down, but she is quickly back up and brushes herself off. She tells him not to bother changing his mind and that she always wanted a sewing room.

The group give each other high fives until Zaboo runs off after his mother. We then hear him getting punched in the face as well and he returns to the group holding his head.

We conclude as Zaboo's mother drives off and the group talks about what just happened. They even accept Bladezz back into the group after his help with the boss. He just wishes she would have dropped some loot. Zaboo puts his arm around Codex and says that she dropped some loot for Codex. Codex's "Oh Crap" reaction is the end of the episode and season.

I watched the annotated version on YouTube that has little interesting bits to add about the show that were pretty interesting. It was a great episode, at least one of the better ones, if not the best. I am really looking forward to the new season and am thinking about buying the first season on DVD which comes out in less than a month.

I have noticed some other videos out there from the Guild so I will try to look at them tomorrow.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 9: Owning Bladezz

Another good opening with Codex confiding that their escape was more difficult than she thouhgt as there were bars on her windows, so they had to sneak out through the heating duct. But she had just lied again, they left through the back door. She is trying to explain to herself why she had done it and states, "I couldn't let Bladezz distroy the guild, this is all I have in the world right now." Then she realizes what she just said in a bit of a wow moment.

So, the group meets up again at Cheesybeards to discuss their plight and Bladezz arrives. He tells Codex to "show him her nips" and she is shocked. Tink then tells her that she had promised him Codex would show him her breast if she came. He tells her no boobs, no money. Vork states that, "nipple negotiations aside" he would like to give hime a chance to appolagize. He refuses and so Codex pulls out the big guns.

She and Zaboo had went around getting all of the papers when an advertisement inside with Bladezz where he is selling sausage. He is distressed by this discovery and then they pull out a handfull of other pictures they found on his online modeling portfolio. Bladezz explains that his mother forced him into it to pay for college and Codex threatens that she will send them to the student newspaper if he doesn't agree to their demands. Vork agrees, "Repent or Rape?"

Bladezz agrees and is stunnded that he was owned.

At the end of the episode, Zaboo is terrified as he sees that his mother has found them. He gets ready to flee, but Codex tries to rally the group to take on the worst boss of all time, Zaboo's mother.

Another great episode. I'm really looking forward to the finale.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode #8: Tipping Point

The opening of this episode has Codex hyped up on adrenaline after saving Zaboo who had tried to hang himself. She finally feels like she is starting to take control of her life.

After stopping Zaboo and getting him down, she states that he has to stop. Zaboo states that he cannot go hom with his mother, his only option is rerolling. Codex tries to talk him into going with his mother, but Zaboo explains how much she refuses to let him grow up with humiliating stories.

The guild then chimes in as Codex had accidentally left her mic open. Clara is one of them and Tink is upset and want her to come pick up her "sperm-blossoms" immediately.

Then Bladezz pops in to gloat about what he had posted on the forum and Vork tries to open negotiations with him for their bank. Codex demands he return it immediately, and Bladezz calls her feisty and leaves to start distributing it to newbies.

Everyone upset and resigned to their fates, but Zaboo has an idea as to how to get back at Bladezz, get him to give back the Bank and take down the video. Codex must get him past his mother first. She tells everyone to meet at Cheesybeards in an hour.

Good start to this episode, but pretty short.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 7: Home Invasion

Another really good opening to this one with Codex putting a bag of frozen veggies to her temple stating that her head hit the floor yesterday. She then tells us that Zaboo locked him self in the bathroom 18 hours ago and that he and his mom have been screaming at each other all night. Suddenly, everything goes quiet and she hopes they have left. However, when she steps out of the room you can hear things shattering and the screaming start back up. Codex runs back in her room and whispers to the camera, "Help Me!"

Codex asks about Clara's kids and apparently Clara had dropped them off at the curb at Tink's place. Codex is shocked, but Tink tells her it was no problem, it was an unloading zone and she rounded them up. We then see that all three kids are in a cage in the corner of Tink's room.

Codex then smells something and goes to investigate. Apparently Zaboo's mom is cooking something and she offers some to Codex and appolagizes for the punch. She explains that she is like a moma cougar, "When someone messes with my cubs, I rip out their spleen." She assures Codex that Zaboo is packing his things and they will be leaving soon.

So, Codex goes back to the game where Vork is infuriated. On the official forum, Bladezz had taken their characters, made them naked, and had Vork going around defiling them all which he says is against his alignment.

They then start argueing about what to do when Tink smells something foul and says that Clara never said anything about touching them when Codex suggests a diaper change. Zaboo then states that it is time to log off. Codex tells him that she will talk to him on the other side. He then tries to hang himself on her bed with a USB cord.

This webshow just keeps getting better.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 6: Total Wipe

Codex begins this episode by venting a bit of her frustration of not yet getting rid of Zaboo and as they arrive home from the meeting Zaboo mentions that now they have gotten past courtship, may now he can "put his wizard staff in her mana pool."

She finally then states that he has to leave and get a hotel room. He is confused and they end up talking about her ex-boyfriend who's cello she had set on fire. This gets her a little upset and Zaboo hugs her and calms her down. Then her eyes go wide and Zaboo says, "Uh-oh, woodied." So, she pushs him a way and again demands that he has to leave.

Zaboo packs his suitcase and Codex goes back to her computer to talk to the Guild. They finish a fight and Vork wants to open negotions for thier stash. Clara points out that she just found out that her babysitter had quit a week ago and Codex is shocked that the kids had been alone that long Clara tries to brush it off, but does need a sitter for the next day. Vork volunteers as long as she pays him the going rate, but Tink wants it as well to punish Vork for loosing all their stuff.

Codex then hears another ring of her doorbell and goes to see who it is. There is an Idian woman in traditional garb on her doorstep asking about her son. She states that he has been microchipped and she knows that he is there. Codex is confused until Zaboo pops up and states that they are in love. Codez turns back to the woman to be met by a fist to the face.

More fun with the guild, except for Codex who seems to always get the short end of the stick.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 5: Rather be Raiding

In the opening, we get Codex talking about how the guild had helped her to explain to Zaboo that they were just friends and that he had then packed up his things and moved out. However, he then immeditatley sits down, tells his "love monkey" that dinner is ready and pets her hair with oven mits. She then depressingly states that she just lied to her own webcam.

In the main part of the episode, the guild is at Cheesybeards and they begin to indtroduce themselves. Clara states that her husband is in pharmacudicals and that she stays home and takes care of the kids where she is also into pharmacudicals. Tinkerbella who refused to give her real name give a description to her life, which Zaboo points out is the plot to Ugly Betty. Codex, real name Sid, states that she was a former violinst, a child prodegy, but now she is just old. Vork states that he did take car of his grandfather full time, but he died the previous summer. However, he left him his house and he still collects the man's Social Security check. Codex points out that it is illegal, and he changes the subject.

Vork asks Codex about her relationship with Zaboo. She replies that they are in no way together, but they then hear Zaboo telling Clara and Tinkerbella about how they are going to have an in game wedding ceremony. This further freaks out Codex who asks him to get her sweater out of her car and after he has left begs the group for help with him. They are shocked as Tinkerbella points out that "they have been sucking virtual face since the gargoyles." Clara chimes in that they have been sharing lots of winkies in the chats.

Codex again starts pleading for their help before noticing a pack of cheese on the table next to Vork. She asks him about it and he explains that they charge $1 for cheese there where slices in a pack are only a quarter and they can buy said cheese from him if they would like as well so as to not buy into their "cheese gouging."

They then finally get down to the official guild business of discussing Bladezz future. Tink wants to kick him, but Clara and Codex believe that he should stay with guidance. Then Bladezz shows up and confronts the group. He also reminds Vork that the previous week he had transferred the guild's gold and equiptment to his other character, so he has everything. Then as he tries to finish and make his exit, he is confronted by his younger sister telling him that his time is up and their dad said to get in the car. This ruins his exit and he awkwardly leaves.

The guild is upset at Vork who states that in order to try to rein Bladezz in he gave him more responsibility. Clara points out, "The retarded cousin rides the short bus, you don't let him drive it."

Then Tink points out that her boyfriend is laughing at them all and they look around. She states that he is waiting in the car where she told him to and Clara asks if he can check on her kids for her. The rest of the guild is shocked that she left them in the car and she shrugs it off saying that she cracked the window.

Lots of good dialogue in this episode.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode #4: Cheesybeards

The best opening so far as Codex starts by saying that she was quick to setup parameters after Zaboo came in with only his boxers. She started crying hysterically and he put his pants back on. She is looking forward to the in person guild meeting afterwhich Zaboo will go home, hopefully without a restraining order.

The main part of this episode starts off with Codex and Zaboo arriving at Cheesybeards in her car. She is pissed that he took so long getting ready and so they aren't early like she normally likes. She then has her name called and is immeditatly hugged by Clara. Codex is surprised that Clara was able to spot her so easily and assums that she must have picked out her voice. However, Clara states that Zaboo posted pictures of her last night while she was sleeping. Codex is infuriated and storms off to the restaurant.

Once inside, they meet Tinkerbella who is very abrasive and tells them that she hasn't decided whether or not she is going to join them yet. So, they look around for Vork who they think they see and walk over near his table. They hear him recording instructions for future gaming and know that they have found the right person. Everyone is a bit awkward around each other and Codex states that it is about time that they all met up for real and talked about real life.

This draws a huge pause where everyone is super awkward now. Finally, Tinkerbella mentions that a monster she had fought that morning had dropped an Epic blade and the Guild immediately surrounds her to congratulate her and get the details. Codex is the only one that does not and is disappointed by their inability to talk about life outside of the game.

Another strong episode and we start to get a better perception of her Codex is as her character begins to grow.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 3: The Macro Problem

In this episode, Codex starts with her monologue where we can tell she is still freaked out by Zaboo at her house. She mentions that the game has always had lots of drama, but with the game you can always log off at the end of the night, however, you can't log off of you life. After a breif pause, she relizes what she just said and tries to clarify that she did not just suggest suicide.

In the main part of this episode, the rest of the Guild assume that Codex and Zaboo are a pair, even though Codex denies it. However, topics quickly change as Bladezz has recieved a 24 hour ban for running around the Trading House screaming FAG from a macro that he had built. Vork is mad at him for the ban and because as The Nights of Good they have an unblemished record for... well.. doing good. Codex is also not happy with this because her father and ex-boyfriend are both now gay and there is an unsaid accussation that she was the cause. Zaboo mentions that she can never turn him gay.

He also mentions that they are networking their computers. Vork then tries to get a response from Bladezz who has since logged of. Codex, still being freaked out by Zaboo's presence suggests meeting in person to discuss their issues since they are a local guild and after some hesitation froma few members, they all agree.

We then see Zaboo in the doorway to her room wearing boxers and what looks to be a dunce hat. He states that it has +5 to sexterity, like dexterity, but with sex at the beginning... he says he's a linguist.

This episode continues the funny and leaves you wanting more as the in person meeting surely will be in the next episode.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 2: Zaboo'd

In Episode 2, we find that there is a format to the show where there is a little opening web video like a video journal where Codex talks to the camera about what is going on followed by the titles which has all of the characters for the players of them game. Then the main part of the episode starts.

In this episode, Codex is trying to deal with the fact that Zaboo is in her house. He has hacked her life and knows everything about her. This creeps her out more than a little and asks him why he has come to her house. He replies that she has seemed sad and came to hold her. He then talks about their relationship, which Codex immediately denies. So, Zaboo opens his laptop and shows her a chat log he had saved where he had offered her gold so she didn't have to "farm" a netherworld with him and she declines so as not to ruin their relationship. She then gives him a ;), she winkied him. Apparently this is a term of endearment in their world and she tries to explain it away by saying that it was a keyboard error, she meant to use a colon, but sometimes her finger doesn't hit the shift key.

Zaboo will not take no for an answer though, and as Codex has no backbone, he is able to break her will quickly. However, as he is getting her to stop refuting their connection, he abrubtly stopped and tells her he "needs to drop some kids off at the pool." She is confused and he restates that he "has to poo." She is a bit disgusted by this, but begins to point out where her bathroom is and he finishs the directions as he knows the layout of every place she has lived.

As he runs of to the restroom, Codex slumps back to her room where she announces to the Guild that she has found Zaboo... Yeah!(sarcasm)

Another good episode, though even shorter than the first at less than 3 minutes. It beings to build up the tension between Codex and Zaboo while continuing to bring the humor.

The Guild: Season 1, Episode 1: Wake-Up Call

In the opening episode of the The Guild we are introduced to Codex, a young girl who is jobless, has just been dumped by her shrink, and has a gnome warlock sleeping on her couch.

Codex is talking to her therapist who refuses to continue seeing her because she refuses to break away from her online friends, who she spends most of her time with on a World of Warcraft like video game. Even as they speak, she continues to play with them. She tells the shrink that she has cut back on her internet time and we see a sticky note with One Hour Internet written on it and crossed out to show 2, 3, 4, and then 5 hours.

Her guildmates are upset as her support never came in their last battle since she was on the phone and we meet the other members of the guild: Vork (guildmaster and leader) who lives alone and on the bare nessecities; TINKERBALLA - a young Asian girl who spends all of her time online, paying video games, and is more independant than most of the others; CLARA - an airheaded mother of 3 who neglects her children to play the game; and BLADEZZ - the youngest member who still lives at home with his parents and is the crude member of the group.

After their defeat, they mention that their sixth member, ZABOO, never showed up and that he hasn't been on for 39 hours which is shocking to all of them.

Codex then hears her doorbell and goes to see who it is. There is a young man their with a delivery. She opens the door and he hands her a bouquet of blue flowers and after she tells them that they are beautiful he tells her that they are for her because she is beautiful. He then tells her that she has a nice forehead.

She is confused and asks if she knows him. He chuckles and tells her about resurrecting him after he was gored and it dawns on her that he is ZABOO. He then brushes past her with his laptop and a bag full of stuff to her bewilderment.

This is an awesome first episode full of laughs as we get to know the story and the parties involved.

Beautiful Girls That Catch My Eye #4

I hardly rembered Felicia Day from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as potenial slayer Vi, but I heard her give some interviews on a few of the podcasts I listen to and then I saw her in Dr. Horrible and The Guild and she has really caught my eye. Here are a few nice photos I found of her.

Felicia Day in Goofy Comedy

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show appears to be a spoof on crazy Japanese shows. It is a girl who brings on guests and does odd and confusing things. In this epsidoe, #8, she brings on a zookeeper who has a bushbaby with him. The animal (a human in costume) is nervouse, but the hostess spins the chicken wheel and they mime driving in front of different background images.

Next, she has three new people that are out on stage playing instruments as she sings the bushbaby a loud, energetic song to relax. During the confusion of the song, it runs away and the zookeeper leaves to try to find it and the show ends.

This show had a couple of funny little parts, but was overall just really odd and didn't leave me wanting to really check out the other episodes. Apparently Felicia was the girl in the panda outfit, I think she was playing little mini hand cymbols during the Relax song.

Split Reaction on Splitting Hairs

SPLITTING HAIRS from Michael Boretz on Vimeo.

Splitting Hairs is the story of a many who has tried everything to get his hair back after he started going bald in high school. Nothing has worked and this has killed his confidence. After a disasterous pick-up line in a coffee house, the main character is approached by a man offering a miracle cure.

He decides to check it out and finds out that the man is killing homeless men, scalping them and then transferring the scalps to bald men. After seeing the results, our main character decides to go along with the procedure and chooses and kills the homeless man himself.

Later, he has long, full hippy hair and walks around, enjoying the attention that he now recieves. He even goes back to the same coffee shop from before and barely notices the girl who he had tried to attract before and instead moves on to a different woman who he quickly sets up a date with.

Things begin to go wrong when preparing for the date he sees a news program that the doctor who had performed the scalp transplant has been arrested and is giving up the information on his patients.

He is quickly tracked down and has one idea that might save him from going to jail. He picks up the hair trimmer...

We next see him in prison, hair still intact, as he twirls a thick strand of hair. After a couple of seconds, a new hand enters the frame, carressing his hair.

Splitting Hairs was a decent little short film with a couple of chuckles of comedy and an interesting little murder scheme. I thought that they could have done a bit more with the story, though or at least with the reveal that he had not cut his hair at the end. Plus, they seemed to play that once he got his new hair, he was taking a step up from Felecia Day to the new girl and it didn't really seem like that was the case to me. I just may be biased towards Felecia, though.

Overall, it was a decent little short film and well worth the 16 minutes to give it a shot.

Project Runway: Season 5, Episode 2

My Original Prediction
Leanne
Suede
Joe
Kelli – won ep. 1
Emily
Kenley
Jerell
Keith
Daniel
Terri
Stella
Korto
Blayne – out in ep. 1
Jerry
Jennifer
Wesley

The reality starts setting in for the contestants as someone has already gone home.

The contestants now must pick their models. Most stuck with their original models, but a few shook it up. I’ve never understood the decisions to stay with a model regardless of the situation and how their clothes look on the model.

Belle is the first model out and isn’t very attractive or good on the runway so it was a good decision for nobody to pick her up and for her to go.

The models then come back out and Heidi tells them that they will be making cocktail dresses for their models.

Heidi has a nice gypsy type look going on.

They then meet Tim in the work room who tells them that not only will they be making a dress with their model as the clients, but the models will also be buying the material and they will be using “green” fabric. These are natural fabrics.

The designers are freaking out because the models don’t really know what fabrics to buy and how much to buy.

Runa made a very odd choice during the shopping of buying peacock feathers in a “green fabric” challenge.

A much more toned down look for Kenley today.

Most contestants are really worried about their fabrics, but Jarell thinks that they are set.

Next, they must work with their models to find out what their models really want.

Stella again is resistant to try to do something different despite what she said in her opening. She states that her model is earthy and flowy, but she doesn’t do that, she does urban and form fitting.

Blayne and Jennifer “I have to prove myself to Darth Vader. Who’s that? Heith, Darkthlicious.”

Kelli to Stella – “Look at you drapey draperson.”

Stella – “I don’t want to do something I’ve never done before, it’ll look half ass. Kendall wanted something flowy, but I’m not going to do that.”

Emily – “Suede likes to talk about Suede in the third person, doesn’t Suede?”

Now time for Tim to walk around.

Kenley has a great smile.

Tim – “But Korto, if this is right and works well, we’re not going to see those darts.” Korto replies – “This is the outside of dress.”
Tim continues – “This is the outside of the dress…………………….OOOOHHHHH??!!”

Tim then makes three important announcements.

Nobody gets immunity
The winner will have their dress sold on Bluefly.com
Their will be a guest judge, one of Hollywood’s young, hottest stars.

This weeks Bluefly.com question of the week.

Which is crazier?
Blayne’s Tanorexia
Stella’s Leather Fetish
Suede using the Third Person

I’m going to go with B. Stella said from the beginning that she was going to use the show to step out from behind all of the leather and try new things, but she can’t seem to get her mind past having to do new things and work with new fabrics in the challenges and constantly moans about it.

Stella then goes on another leather kick and Blayne starts mocking her. She hears a bit of it and jokingly calls him out about it before telling him to remove the piece of leather from between his teeth because he had gapped teeth.

Meanwhile, he hugs her and says, “Oh, I love your leather face.”

At the same time Stella is wearing on my nerves, Kelli is growing on me.

Jarell – “The look on allot of contestant’s faces, especially team Ugly Brown Fabric is a look of concern, and I think rightly so.”

The models now head out to the runway.

Heidi’s looking good again with a tight, black corset-like top with a short skirt and wavy fun hair.

The special guest judge is Natalie Portman in an average looking green dress. She is somewhat promoting her vegan shoe collection.

The height difference between Natalie and Heidi is immense.


Thoughts on the dresses:

Keith – A billowy golden dress with a looping neck strap and a curtain-like skirt. Not so good.

Terri – A nicely made and fitted navy blue dress with an ascot like collar and a black belt. A bit simple, but nice looking.

Wesley – Ugly dress on the model a shiny chocolate brown that just doesn’t look good and isn’t fitted well.

Jerell – A unique looking dress with multiple blue colors and a triangular cutout between the breasts. Interesting, but not my favorite.

Jennifer – An odd dress that’s very floaty with bright orange mixed with grey. Confusing looking, but not bad.

Daniel – Another odd one to try to figure out. The dress looks a bit plain, but it’s standout feature are the pockts. More confusion.

Joe – Simple, but elegant. He is using the brown fabaric, but he makes it look good. He also makes a small circular cutout below the breasts and outlines it with something sparkling and uses the same thing on the straps.

Suede – Neat, fun looking dress with criss-crossed white and red strips up top and a flared out skirt below. Good, interesting dress.

Kenley – Beautiful ivory colored dress with pencil skirt and black belt. Oversized pleat-like collar distracts, but takes away little. I wish she would have done a more toned down collar, though, as it is a nice dress.

Kelli – Not nearly as impressive as last week. This dress is three separate parts that don’t come together. An ivory pencil skirt, light turquoise non-fitted top, and fluffy straps. The skirt is really nice, though.

Leanne – Another lackluster performance for Leanne. The chocolate brown dress looks like a bad dress with the fabric straps hung on a chain around her neck.

Stella – Biggest surprise of the round. Stella comes up with a very nice looking dress. It has the tie up the right side and long sleeve on that side with none on the other. However, the fit seems a bit off, and the length of the long sleeve is too long for the fabric.

Blayne – I really like this dress. It is a hot pink super tight and short mini dress with a black right side and a looped over bit on the left.

Emily – I’m not digging Emily’s low front, long back loosely pleated skirt with braid edged top. The blue, brown, and white isn’t working for me either.

Korto – I really don’t like this dress. She is trying something new, but it looked like someone made the dress and it fought back and tried to go back to strips.

Dress Rankings:
1. Joe
2. Suede
3. Stella
4. Blayne
5. Kenley
6. Terri
7. Jerell
8. Jennifer
9. Kelli
10. Daniel
11. Emily
12. Keith
13. Leanne
14. Korto
15. Wesley

Their Thoughts:

Kenley – The model loves the dress and so does Nina. Natalie thinks she looks gorgeous and glamorous. Michael says it’s chique. The only one that used the fabric correctly. It can look cheap or elegant and she went the elegant way. She has such a great look, she looks like some broad out of the 40’s.

Wesley – Say’s he didn’t have the material he needed. Natalie likes the little bow-tie, but that’s it. Heidi gave him one of her low scores. The seam is wavy. Satin have to look like human hands didn’t touch this, and it looks like 20 sets of hands touched it. Nina says shiny, tight, and short is the quickest way to look cheap and this does. Too tight, too short.

Stella – Michael likes the lacing detail and that she was able to get her personality into the dress. Natalie says it fits perfectly, but she really doesn’t like asymettrical. It fits well and is made well

Korto – Natalie likes the cut on the top, but she thinks the stuff on the bottom almost make it look inside out. Nina says they make her look like she has wings. Michael likes a curvy girl, but even curvy girls don’t like fins off their butts. Natalie laughs, and Korto cries. Big disappointment, didn’t like it at all. Outside darts were interesting, but bad idea.

Suede – Natalie says that she would wear it. It is sweet and fun and young and unique and special. Nina likes it as well. It is creative, work, and lots of thought. Michael says it was the right dress on her. Heidi says that if she were 10 years younger, she would wear it too. It looks effortless.

Leanne – Carolyn throws Leanne under the bus, frowns and says that the dress is not what she pictured and was the only model to go against her designer. Natalie says that she looks a bit like Peter Pan with the hat she is wearing. Michael say that it is five dresses in one. Nina thinks it is all over the place. Good idea, but all over the place. She needs to learn to edit.

Korto and Leanne have put on the waterworks en masse as they await the decision. Korto is in and still crying as she leaves you would think she was out. Leanne is in and she is almost crying again as well.

Their Rankings:
1. Suede
2. Kenley
3. Stella
T4. Keith
T4. Terri
T4. Jerell
T4. Jennifer
T4. Daniel
T4. Joe
T4. Kelli
T4. Blayne
T4. Emily
13. Korto
14. Leanne
15.Wesley

The results of the Bluefly question of the week are as follows.

Which is crazier?
Blayne’s Tanorexia (37%)
Stella’s Leather Fetish (16)
Suede using the Third Person (47)

Well, the person that looked to probably be the worst was off after only two shows. I did pretty good again as their 1, 2, and 3 were my 2, 3, and 5. We also picked the same last three again and agreed on the worst.

Next week they will be taking pictures of New York and then using one as inspiration for a dress.

Michael – “It looks like toilet paper caught in a wind storm.”

Project Runway: Season 5, Episode 1

This episode starts out with an introduction for this season’s designers.

Jerell Scott, 28 – Freelance Designer – Los Angeles, CA – Former model moved to New York and created his own “cool” clothes. Currently designs one of a kind pieces for people ranging from Saudi royalty to celebrities.

Blayne Walsh, 23 – Freelance Designer – Seattle, WA - Designer for six years, works at a coffee shop, passion for urban wear, and obsession with tanning.

Joe Faris, 41 – Senior Designer, Schott Brothers – Detroit, MI

Stella B. Zotis, 42 – Freelance Designer – Astoria, Queens, NY - Rockstars come to her for customer outfits such as Blondie and Sebastian Bach. Also for hookers, pimps, or whoever is tough enough to wear her clothing. Using the show as a chance to step outside of leather and denim.

Jennifer Diederich, 27 – Freelance Designer – Florence, Italy – Surreal style “Holly Golightly goes to a Salvadore Dali exibit.”

Kelli Martin, 27 – Boutique Owner – Colombus, OH - If Vivian Westwood and Bette Johnson had a baby, that would be her. Owns her own store, Black Market.

Terri Stevens, 39 – Freelance Designer – Chiacago, IL – Currently working for Victoria’s Secret as a visual manager.

Jerry Tam, 32 – Owner/Design Director, Form – Butte, MT - Owns company, Form. Using show as a means to make it to the next level.

Suede, 37 – Freelance Designer – New York City, NY – Has designed for Polo Jeans, Todd Olham Jeans, and Jordache. Suede is ready to stop making money for others and to make some for himself. He also likes to refer to himself in the third person.

Keith Bryce, 26 – Boutique Owner – Salt Lake City, UT – Self-taught designer.

Korto Momolu, 33 – Freelance Designer – Liberia now in Little Rock, AK – Trying to get into the New York scene.

Leanne Marshall, 27 – Freelance Designer – Portland, OR - Started own clothing line Leanimal a few years ago. The self named “silent fashion assassin.”

Kenley Collins, 25 – Freelance Designer – Pompano Beach, FL – Started in high school buying vintage clothing and reconstructing it.

Emily Brandle, 27 – Freelance Designer – Sacramento, CA – Has designed her own line. Launched the design team “Smoke and Mirrors” in L.A., which has become a successful L.A. brand.

Daniel Feld, 25 – Freelance Designer – The Berkshires, MA – Infuses aspects of science and nature into his designs. Has worked in a variety of design fields.

Wesley Nault, 23 – Freelance Designer – Blackstone, MA – Started designing and creating clothing at a young age and was paid by classmates to do the same for them.

Initial Thoughts:
Wesley is not sure of himself, jittery, and will be off quickly.

Daniel May have what it takes to make it far.

Emily is good looking and also could go far.

Kenley is gorgeous and I hope she can back up her confident demeanor.

Leanne is similar to Jennifer, but has the confidence to succeed on the show.

Korto may be over confident and go out 5 or 6 shows in.

Keith has the edge, but intelligence thing going for him and he could make a run.

Suede is a novelty along with Blayne. He could make it a long way if he doesn’t self destruct. However, the show only needs one so look for one to get the boot in the first few episodes.

Jerry seems too stiff to make it too far on the show.

Terri is a wildcard. She seems to be confident and carefree, but I can’t tell if it is good and a final 6 or bad and out in the first six.

Kelli is similar to Stella, but not quite as far out there. Probably won’t make the final, but should go rather far.

Jennifer is someone with interesting ideas, but a bit too loopy in personality to make it very far.

Stella is confident but rock star only works so long, look for a early to mid exit for her.

Joe is confident and experienced, but I don’t think he’ll have the flair to win, but will probably come close.

Blayne could be this season’s Christian if he can hold it together. I’m not sure that this is the right environment for him to thrive and he could go out early to mid.

Jerell seems to know who he is and what he wants. Will make it far, but not to the finals.

Predictions after initial meeting of designers. (Ranked top to bottom)
Leanne
Suede
Joe
Kelli
Emily
Kenley
Jerell
Keith
Daniel
Terri
Stella
Korto
Blayne
Jerry
Jennifer
Wesley

So, once they arrive at the house, they find a note for them to all meet on the rooftop. They meet Tim and Heidi their with glasses of champagne.

I have always thought it was funny with Heidi hosting the show that she is very hit and miss in the styles and clothes that she wears. It is a decent day for her, though, in a red and black print dress with a corded connection at the top. However, her hair is pulled back very drastically. Good dress, bad hair.

They make the designers believe they are going to have an immediate challenge, but instead end up meeting each other and drinking champagne.

Kenley confronts Blayne on his leather skin from tanning so much. She looks divine in a bright red dress with matching lipstick. Her long brunette hair is swept over her left ear and held in place by a giant yellow flower.

They are finally into the competition as Tim Gunn wakes everyone up at 4 a.m. Jennifer meets him at the door in a towel and makes a comment later to the camera about wishing she had already brushed her teeth, and my what big teeth you have.

So, the designers are walking down the street with Tim and end up in front of Gristedes Grocery Store. The site of the original challenge from season 1. Not only that, they brought back Austin to talk to them about the challenge.

Leanne’s looking a bit like Lisa Loeb today, Emily like Rachel Weisz and Kenley like day wear Bettie Page.

Kelli makes the point to emphatically that she did not want any table cloth or anything that resembled fabric as it would be too easy.

Suede describes the challenge as “Whackadoodle.”

Joe starts making a tomato/spaghetti dress.

Kelli is using bleach and dyes on vacuum bags to make a garden dress.

Daniel is making a sweetheart cocktail dress out of blue solo cups that he has ironed and layered.

Jerell is already getting annoyed by Blayne.

Leanne is a bit jittery and nervous about her table cloth, which many others chose as well.

Jerry is very condescending of the others, he won’t make it far with this superior attitude unless he really brings it.

Stella realizes that her garbage bags are too thin to work well and just moans about it over and over. Apparently she thought they would be like black leather pants.

Now it is time for Tim’s inspection.

Daniel has a “wow factor going on.”

He thinks that Kelli had bought marbleized paper when he sees her vacuum bags. He even does a double take as he leaves.

Stella is still pitching a hissy over having the garbage bags that she chose.

Korto makes a big, baggy dress from a yellow tablecloth.

Jerry is making a rain jacket from a shower curtain.

Tim is disappointed by the number of table clothes in the room. He is worried that the judges will think they are a bunch of slackers.

The Bluefly.com question of the day is:

What’s your all time favorite “Project Runway” challenge?
Supermarket
Flower Power
Paris Couture
Metropolitan Museum

I’m going to have to go with C. I like actual fashion more than the lets make a dress from ketchup packets stuff they sometimes do.

Now, everyone has had Tim’s tablecloth comments set in and are trying to hide them.

Blayne is now even more overconfident than Jerry as he claims that he said he was going to dominate and now he is… because he finished first. Sorry buddy, this isn’t grade school.

I would like Stella to shut up now.

It’s a new day and Kenley is now in a bright, rich, blue dress, another good look for her.

Tim sends in the models and it’s crazy time.

Kenley see’s Jerry’s Model in his outfit and says, “That’s so American Psycho and scary.” “It looks like he created something for an axe murderer.”

Tim comes in with the 5 minute warning and then calls the time.

Heidi’s back and looking her best in a short champagne colored dress with her hair flowing

Let’s Start the Show:

Emily – A white, satiny dress with an odd high turquoise collar with little balls on it. Not very good to me.

Jerell – uses a lawn chair and paper umbrellas, to make an interesting dress. It has a poufy white skirt and an interestingly patterned top with what looks to be mini umbrellas at the top and some sort of blue streamer on the left shoulder.

Leanne – a bubblegum pink dress with candy glued on the straps and tissues willy-nilly on the front. Not terrible, but not good either.

Korto – I nicely made dress, definite African influence, nice use of the fresh produce plunging down the right side of the collar.

Jennifer – Nicely made light pink dress, hip, flirty, young, with lipstick kisses on it. Nice layered skirt, looks great on the model.

Daniel – Blue Solo cup fitted dress. Not a great fit, but excellent for the medium he chose, which showed allot of creativity.

Terri – Braided mop top with some sort of red wrap skirt. I like the top, but not the skirt.

Suede – Pretty basic dress from a tablecloth. The dog baggies as trim add very little to the look.

Stella – Terrible trash bag dress. It looks like what it is, absolutely no transformation.

Joe – Pasta on the skirt with a top made from an oven mit. Fairly creative

Kenley – a small top made from a dodgeball with skirt made from a lawn chair. It actually looks a bit fancy, but not my type of style.

Jerry – Made a rain jacket from a shower curtain. Wow… look at that original though process… boo. Also, who makes a rain jacket for their first challenge.

Wesley – Basic yellow dress with yellow cups and fly swatters as a strap.

Blayne - Used a bit of everything and it shows. She looks like a junk drawer.

Kelli - Beautiful skirt and the coffee filters actually work as the top. Really, really nice work.

Keith – Another tablecloth dress with very little else. I don’t like the puffy skirt on this one either.

My Dress Rankings:
1. Kelli
2. Daniel
3. Jerell
4. Jennifer
5. Korto
6. Joe
7. Kenley
8. Terri
9. Leanne
10. Emily
11. Keith
12. Wesley
13. Suede
14. Jerry
15. Blayne
16. Stella

Their Thoughts:

Daniel – stood out from all the others, used not fabric substitute, took a chance, structural form, creative, smart use of material. It was sexy. Bravado and confidence.

Jerry – Is she a bridal nurse? It’s freaky. Dress looks like a handi-wipe gone wrong. A night on the town… after she left the hospital. No shape or color innovation. Not that creative. Something that looks strange. Something you would wear in a slasher movie or if you were going to kill someone.

Korto – Very chiq. Used fresh grocery product. Looks impeccably done. The right girl, in the right dress, styled the right way. Low marks for resorting to the table cloth. High marks for the visual look.

Stella – No transformation, she walked out in a garbage bag. Not impressed. I just had to do something because I had to do something. Punky point of view. Butt-ugly. Doesn’t make me curious.

Kelli – Made hook and eye closures out of the spiral from a notebook. I like the way you think. You are resourceful. It’s great. When you look at it closely you see all the detail and technique. You pushed the envelope and made something a girl would want to wear. Dying was gorgeous.

Blayne – Not boring. Playboy bunny gone grunge. Diaper made it look cheap. Provocative. Not pretty. Looks like she had a diaper pushed between her legs. Wrote hideous on my card.

Their Rankings:
1. Kelli - winner
2. Daniel
3. Korto
T4. Jarell
T4. Jennifer
T4. Joe
T4. Kenley
T4. Terri
T4. Leanne
T4. Emily
T4. Keith
T4. Wesley
T4. Suede
14. Blayne
15. Stella
16. Jerry - out

Viewers vote on the question:

What’s your all time favorite “Project Runway” challenge?
Supermarket (12%)
Flower Power (24%)
Paris Couture (28%)
Metropolitan Museum (36%)

So, I matched up pretty good. Their top three were my 1, 2, and 5 and we had the same bottom three. I picked the winner and was one off the loser, but Jerry deserved to go home just as much.

Great preview line, “It looks like a pterodactyl from a gay Jurassic Park”

Beautiful Girls that Catch My Eye #3

Kenley from the current season of Project Runway is not only an accomplished designer, but a beautiful woman as well. She loves her retro-look as do I and sometimes she looks like a dead ringer for Bettie Page which is very nice. I'm looking forward to seeing much more from her as the season continues.

Beautiful Girls That Catch My Eye #2

Iliza Shlesinger is one of the two funniest people on this season's Last Comic Standing and so far I would have to say that she is the funniest overall. She also has a wit and charm to her that makes her stand out. Add in the goofy behaviour, sorority girl impersonation, and ability to make up jokes on the fly and perform them well and you have a girl after my heart.

Beautiful Girls That Catch My Eye #1

I love Liv Tyler. I think that she is a pretty good young actress that just keeps getting better and she has the ultimate girl next door look.

I Love Geek Girls!!!

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #13

Buffy Anne Summers wins RedEye's Best Superhero Tournament.

In a tournament where hundreds of thousands of votes were cast overall, Buffy beat out 3 #1 seeds in the 32 character tournament for best Superhero.

In round one, she defeated Thor, who is no slouch with a rabid fanbase as well, 51.2% to 48.8 percent in her closest victory of the tournament while taking in 6393 positive votes.

Round two matched her up against the probable favorite of the tournament, Batman who is probably the most popular superhero ever, and stronger today than ever. After being behind earlier on, she came back for a convincing 58% to 42% victory taking in 6832 votes in the process, here most of any round.

The Elite Eight matchup came down a bit as she took on The Silver Surfer, who in my opinion is a niche character, nowhere near Batman. Buffy won, again convincingly, this time 60.4% to 39.6% with a total of 3887 votes for her.

The Final Four had her up against one of the other top Superheroes of all time, Superman. She continued to roll, however, winning 57.2% to 42.8% with 4682 votes.

The Final pitted her against the second or third most popular superhero character right now, Spider-Man. By this time, many of the voters had tuned out and Buffy won by a landslide 85% to 15% with 2516.

I was a bit surprised by the outcome, but when you get the Whedon-machine rolling, there is very little you can do to stop it.

[Currently Listening to Nothin' At All - Heart, Taxman - The Beatles, La Grange - ZZ Top]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #12

Australian Sub sinks U.S. Warship

This seems insane, doesn't it. Either it was a huge mistake or an overt act of war... or it was just a training exercise using a a new super torpedo created jointly by the U.S. and Australia.

The torpedo in question is the world's deadlies and was used in war games to sink a retired American warship.

I have two questions...

1) Why are we working to make bigger and more destructive torpedos? Aren't they big and bad enough already? I can understand new guidance systems or something like that, but bigger?

2) Is this really what we are spending our money on? Inadequate armor and vehicles in our current wars, but we have plenty of money to spend on a big torpedo.

Seems more than a bit ridiculous to me.

[Currently Listening to If You Could Only See - Tonic]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #11

As many of you have heard or read with how popular the new Batman movie The Dark Knight currently is, there was an incident between Christian Bale and his mother and sister after the Bristish premier of the film.

Apparently, there was an argument where Bale's mother and sister were berating his wife, he got fed up, screamed at, them and brushed past them as he stormed off. The police were called by someone not in that party and when they arrived, the mother and sister pressed charges against him.

So, he came into the police office willingly, gave his side of the story, and left without being charged.

It is now coming out that the incident also included the two trying to get him to give them money to help his sister raise her three children. They have both now stated they they wish it would have stayed a private matter, but want to see him punished for bullying them.

Ok, now the plot thickens. It was mentioned to me the other day by a co-worker that this was another case of someone just trying to take a peice of the pie for themselves from a celebrity. This is bad enough when it is a stranger or one time acquaintance, but when it comes from your family it is truely apalling behaviour.

It seems to me from the information that keeps coming out that they tried to get him to give them the money due to his current success. Next, he refused and it would not surprise me if we were to find out that there were drugs or similar issues with the sister's past. Next, the pair became upset that he did not give them the money and began berating his wife. At this point, he became angered, yelled at them, and left. They were upset at not getting the money and figured that they could report it to the police in hopes of getting money without going to court.

If something like this ends up being the case, my ruling would be to allow Christian Bale two free punches on each for wasting everyone's time and trying to exploit a family member who had done well for himself. Of course, if things end up being different from this, the punches probably won't be neccessary.

[Currently listening to With A Little Help from my Friends - The Beatles, Modern Love - David Bowie, I Want to Know What Love is - Foreigner, ]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #10

Can Dennis Kucinich be any smaller a person or any crazier than you remember?

Well, it seemed a stretch, but today, he proved that he was up to the challenge. He walked in an article of impeachment of President George W. Bush to the House Judiciary Committee today while fellow whacko's filled the courtroom and lined the halls.

I can understand those who don't agree with many things that Bush has done and I don't know all of what he has done, so maybe there is something there somewhere that would deserve impeachment, however, nothing has come out as of yet to lead to such a step.

The committee chairman admitted that it wasn't really even an impeachment hearing since the votes needed for such had not been reached on July 15th. However, many on the committee used the day as a time to do a bit of venting about the president, however, they were restrained by rules regarding in what ways the president can be mentioned in the House.

I must agree with many of the statements from the Republicans in attendance including those of Larner Smith who dismissed the hearings as a waste of time. He also pointed out that pointless excersizes such as he had just witnessed are reasons why Congresses approval ratings are under 10%, whereas Bush's despite the venom shown are at 32%, still not in any way good, but well above those of Congress.

I did enjoy Dan Lungren of California's quote, "Maybe what we're here for is impeachment light' " -- a "never, never land" where Democrats lay out their accusations, but don't follow up on impeachment.

More to the point, Mike Prince of Indiana state, "The framers (of the Constitution) did not intend impeachment as a political device," Pence said, adding that he believed the president has "consistently put the American people's need before his own."

What a bunch of gibberish. It is time for Bush to be out of office, but lowering Congress to something like this shows how far we have gone since its creation.

[Currently Listening to Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi, Yellow Submarine - The Beatles, Another One Bites the Dust - Queen, Back in the U.S.S.R. - The Beatles, Nothin' But a "G" Thang - Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, ]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #9

Can dead people vote?

Obviously, the deceased cannot physically vote, however, depending on the state you are in, if you die between the time you cast your vote and the election itself (absentee ballots) you may or may not have your vote counted.

Currently, there are only a dozen states with any ruling for this on the books and they are pretty evenly split.

One side of the arguement is that when a person casts their vote that is their voting day, as long as they have recieved their ballot and made their decision on it, and sent it in they have voted. However, the other side says that if they do not make it to election day than they have no right to vote for the contest on that day.

I must say that although this is in interesting debate, I must fall in with those stating that the votes should not count. Personally, I think that way too many absentee ballots are allowed to begin with. On this situation in particular, how can someone vote on something that will not effect them. This is like a county, city, or state, having a local law go to the vote of the entire state or country. Where do you draw the line. If they allow this to continue, why could a person months or even years before an election write down their vote and have it notorized, what is the legal difference?

If you don't physically make it to the date of the decision in question, you personally have no stake in the outcome as you aren't around for the aftermath. Sorry, but no speaking from the dead, if you please.


[Currently Listening to Tha Crossroads - Bone Thugs~N~Harmony, Hole in My Soul - Aerosmith]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #8

Is Polygamy a form of organized crime?

In and of itself I see nothing wrong with polygamy as long as all parties involved go into it with the knowledge of it.

However, Senator Harry Reid seems to have a point when he states that many current polygamist groups work similar to organized crime groups. They are running a sceme of many legal infractions, including some very serious, but being overlooked by most people.

This seems to be very similar to what you run into with Travelers. It seems that from what we see in the public, those constantly committing crimes are the exception rathan than the rule.

[Currently Listening to Days of Our Lives - Bone Thugs~N~Harmony, ]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #7

Is "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" protected by free speech?

During the Olympic torch relay in Jeneau, Alaska, a former high school student was suspended for holding up a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The boy was suspended and appealed the ruling under the state's Free Speech Provision.

The question being asked is whether or not the banner was legitimate political or social protest or a pro-drug statement?

However, wouldn'ta pro-drug statement be considered social protest? My question is whether or not the boy was on school grounds when this happend and wheter or not having Jesus on the banner had any effect on the ruling.

If the boy was on campus than I could see the school disciplining him as I'm sure their are anti-drug passages in the handbook. However, I would look for other drug issues at the school and see how they were handled compared to how his was to see if religion played a part. If it did, I would push back hard.

[Listening to Breathless - The Coors, When I Come Around (Live) - Green Day, Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen]

Interesting Web Articles: 7-25-08, #6

Green Bay, Wisconsin family unable to sleep due to mystery noise.

Apparently, a couple in Green Bay have been hearing a mysterious noise outside of their house at night that sounds somewhat like an 18-wheeler. However, they never see such a truck when they hear the noise and have been unable to find the source of the noise.

Others visiting the house have also heard the noise, but electronic equiptment has yet to capture it.

A little mass hysteria in Green Bay? I wonder if this started before or after Favre mentioned possibly playing for another NFL team, maybe their ears are still ringing.

[Listening to Pain - Four Star Mary, ]