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Saturday, May 03, 2003I was in East Lansing all day for my sister's graduation. Rather than have one ceremony for the whole school, each section (e.g. the School of Communication) has their own graduation event. It was pretty decent as graduation ceremonies go, with a minimum of bad amateur poetry and corny inspirational anecdotes. The main speaker was Kay Koplowicz, the MSU alum who founded USA Networks. In 1966, as an undergrad travelling Europe, she stopped in at a London School of Economics lecture, which included a tangent on geosynchronous orbiting satellites. The lecturer came up with the idea twenty years earlier, and was disappointed that it hadn't yet been exploited as a communications medium. The lecturer was Arthur C. Clarke. Nine years later, the Joe Frazier/ Mohammed Ali "Thrilla In Manilla" title bout was broadcast to the U.S., where it acted as a "proof of concept" to government officials and entrepeneurs/ venture capitalists. Two years later, Ms. Koplowicz founded USA. Interesting stuff. Anyway, back to the present... I'm tired and achey and definitely Coming Down with Something. Time for some sleep and perhaps, in the morning, cocoa. Mmmm... Cocoa. posted by Nate on 12:43 AM link Thursday, May 01, 2003Oh geez. This article is funny as heck. Some guy and his military buddies go a party and get stewed on beer and absinthe. Hilarity ensues. posted by Nate on 7:12 AM link Laugh out loud stuff from NRO's The Corner: Jonah have you ever noticed that Clintons foreign policy was very similar to the GI Joe TV series. He exchanged a lot of ordnance, no one was ever killed. Cobra Commander was still alive and plotting to take over the world. There seemed always to be a reason to attack, but it never accomplished much. Adid, Hussein...just a thought. More silliness (I'm in that sort of mood this morning, I guess). I just got around to reading Lileks' column from last week: [Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh] is overwhelmed with existential dread, the knowledge that life is empty and pointless. Piglet: Hey, Eeyore! Everyone's going with Pooh to get honey! Eeyore: Go ahead. Its sweet taste can only remind us of death's bitter meal. Yet might not the sting of the bee remind us that we are alive? True -- but the bee, having made its stand, is repaid with death. Thus does his acte gratuit, his gesture to demonstrate that his free will is the very thing that sets him apart, is mocked by the silence of the tomb. No exit, Piglet. No exit. posted by Nate on 6:51 AM link Broken Johnson scratched for a month: The doctors found fluid and debris, but no ligament damage. After Thursday's surgery, the Big Unit will be out of commission for three to six weeks. "We're hoping the procedure will eliminate the cause of the swelling," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said Wednesday... Head team physician Michael Lee, who will perform the cleanup, said it should take no more than 45 minutes. posted by Nate on 5:45 AM link Wednesday, April 30, 2003heh. According to this article, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf tried to surrender to U.S. troops yesterday: "Sahhaf had been at his aunt's house in Baghdad for the past four days and wanted US troops to arrest him so that "they can protect him" but they refused since he was not on their "most wanted" deck of playing cards, said the paper". I guess turn about is fair play: "The Iraqi Information Minister? There is no Iraqi Information Minister. We've never heard of that man, and if we did, he's just a myth. His existence is mere speculation by the pig dog imperialist oppressors and Zionist media. P.S.-- We shall prevail, as always." posted by Nate on 8:45 PM link Today, Iowa State fired "Coach Gone Wild" Larry Eustachy. He has five days to appeal. I find this hypocritical on the part of the school; if a blue chip player dragged a girl down the stairs Lawrence Phillips style, he would get a slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, a coach gets fired because he did some relatively harmlesss things while drunk. Eustachy is an alcoholic and might have some emotional midlife crisis problems as well, but in the macho world of sports there's no room for compassion (see Barret Robbins); any sign of not being in full-on asskicking mode makes you Weak, a Terrible Person who must be ostacized. The "sensitive, overly emotional" sterotype of gays is one reason that gay athletes won't be accepted by their teammates anytime soon. As a heterosexual but quiet, artistic guy I had a hard enough time fitting in in the highschool locker room; it's no wonder Esera Tualo et al stayed in the closet. posted by Nate on 7:50 PM link Tuesday, April 29, 2003My NFL Draft Diary is now available. It's sports! It's humor! It's spoumor!!! posted by Nate on 9:04 AM link Monday, April 28, 2003According to this MSNBC article, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has founded a company called Blue Origin, dedicated to "establishing an enduring human presence in space." His staff includes ex-NASA researchers and science fiction author Neil Stephenson. (I don't like sci-fi much, but Snowcrash is one hell of a book.) Anyway, this is pretty cool. Conventional millionaires buy yachts or planes, but dot com millionaires buy spaceships: this is the computer geek equivalent to Malcom Forbes' "Capitalist Tool" hot air balloon. To paraphrase the Muppet Show Announcer, "It's Capitalist Pigs In Spaaaaace!" posted by Nate on 11:16 PM link Ok, that's enough sports for now... In one of the few funny things they've posted since the war began, The Onion posted this short: Tortured Ugandan Political Prisoner Wishes Uganda Had Oil KAMPALA, UGANDA-- A day after having his hands amputated by soldiers backing President Yoweri Museveni's brutal regime, Ugandan political prisoner Otobo Ankole expressed regret Monday over Uganda's lack of oil reserves. "I dream of the U.S. one day fighting for the liberation of the oppressed Ugandan people," said Ankole as he nursed his bloody stumps. "But, alas, our number-one natural resource is sugar cane." Okay, so it buys into the "war for oil" thinking, but at least acknowledges that we have a moral duty to go after despots worldwide. I would have been content with our invading Iraq because of the WMD and terrorist connections, though the video of the rejoicing Iraqi people emphasized the cruelty of the dictatorship. Inconceivable stuff, really: in America, public figures can rant about George Bush to the media; in Iraq, a peasant's mild criticism of Uncle Saddam to a neighbor gets a car battery to the testes or worse. As a moral matter, we should go balls-to-the-walls to liberate parts of Africa, Asia, and South/Latin America. As a diplomatic matter, of course, we can't just roll into Uganda and Sierra Leone, etc., without upsetting both conservatives ("It's not in the national interest") and liberals ("No blood for diamonds! Bush = Debeers = Hitler!"). To quote President Bush, "Prosperity and freedom and dignity are not just American hopes or Western hopes, they are universal human hopes." Let's pray this war encourages other peoples to rise up against their oppressive regimes, and that America will be there to support them when they do. posted by Nate on 10:35 PM link This is funny. Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy was caught going to a frat party with one of his players following road basketball games. Photos show him downing beers and flirting with college chicks. "a fraternity member said he wound up in an argument with Eustachy because he found the coach's arm around his 19-year-old sister... The woman told the newspaper that Eustachy walked into the house and complimented her on her appearance, saying that she should be attending the University of Kansas, where the girls are 'much hotter.'" This sounds like a commercial I'd see on late night television: It's Coaches Gone Wild! Caught on Camera, Totally Uncensored! You'll never believe what these College Coaching Cuties did when they thought the cameras were off! Order now and recieve Coaches Gone Wild: Shot Clock Sweethearts absolutely free! Watch these hellcat hoopsters run their own version of the "pick and roll" at the on-campus postgame party! All this for only $9.95, Order Today! posted by Nate on 8:39 PM link The Philadelphia Phillies' Kevin Millwood threw a no-hitter yesterday against the San Francisco Giants. Barry "Act Surly and Carry a Big Stick" Bonds was 0-3 with a strikeout. I bet that the Braves are sure glad that they traded him for Johnny Estrada over the winter. Because, well, good backup catchers are hard to find. Yeah, that's the ticket. posted by Nate on 12:38 AM link Sunday, April 27, 2003"What time is it? (bah bop bahbopbop bopbuh) Four Thirty. [The pick's] not late, no no. It's early, early, early..." --The Spin Doctors Weirdness at the draft, as the Vikings ran over their alotted time to pick at #7. This let Jacksonville and Carolina pick ahead of them, J'Ville getting Byron Leftwich, whom Baltimore was likely trading with Minnesota to select. they botched the trade, however, and Jacksonville and Carolina sprinted to the podium. All's well that ends well, though, as Minnesota got the player they wanted, DT Kevin Williams at #9, and Baltimore got DE/OLB Terrell Suggs at #10. Balto later traded with the Pats to acquire QB Kyle Boller instead of Leftwich. I was suprised by the guys who fell a round or more, like Dewayne White, Chris Simms (both to Tampa), and Kelly Washington (third round to Cincinnati). I especially thought that Washington would go higher, to the receiver-needy Jets in the second. Instead, they took Victor Hobson, who was good but not great at my alma mater. I thought the Jets overpayed and might have gotten him in the third had they waited. The Giants also overpayed for Osi Umenyiora, the twelfth defensive end on my board, while my third ranked prospect was still available at their slot. As fior the Lions, they stayed put at pick two and picked Charles Rogers, who wore a powder blue pimp suit for the occasion. Swankypimp.com definitely approves. He also had a cool Madden 2004 commercial, which makes him The Shit (TM). Improbably, Boss Bailey dropped to pick 34, where the Lions took less than a minute to snatch him up. I'm not so sure about third rounder Cory Redding, DE Texas-- I thought they should have grabbed Huggy Bear, Jr. or DT Rien Long, a raw "project" guy the Lions could mold into a starter as Luther Ellis atrophies. Maybe they'll grab him in round four. LB Bradie James is another possibility at that spot. More on the draft tomorrow, after my buddies and I pick our players... posted by Nate on 12:31 AM link
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your stolen base are belong to Rickey Henderson. Questions or comments? Email nate@swankypimp.com |
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