I had initially planned to write three different posts today. I had figured I'd write two of them early in the day and then finish the third one in the night, after returning home.
However, a few beers later, and I have to shamelessly admit I have no idea anymore what it was I wanted to write about. No friggin' clue. It's kind of hilarious. I'm sober, in case you're wondering, it's just my memory that's not working.
So instead, I'll just say that today a new world record was made in volleyball as one set in the match of PAOK Thessaloniki V AEK Athens ended at 54-52. For reference, nine times out of ten, a set in volleyball ends when a team reaches 25 points. I'd really like to know how long that set lasted.
In closing, this is one Futurama video I've wanted to post for weeks now but never got the chance, now's a good a time as any, I'd say.
You know it's true.
Wednesday, October 31
[Greek] Imagine 89.7
(To my international readers [lol who?], this post is about shruberries. It's also official, I'm going straight to hell, I mispelled "shruberry" in my original post.)
Το σκεφτόμουνα από καιρό τώρα να κάνω ένα post καθαρά στα ελληνικά, αλλά γενικά προτιμώ την αγγλικήν ακόμα και όταν μιλάω για πράγματα που έχουν να κάνουν με την ελληνική πραγματικότητα. Ο λόγος; Εδώ στην Ελλάδα λίγο-πολύ ξέρουμε πως έχουν τα πράγματα (με την υγεία, την παιδεία, κ.λ.π.), νιώθω ότι θα έκανα αυτό που οι Αγγλοσάξονες λένε "preaching to the choir" -τελικά δεν τα αποφεύγω τα Αγγλικά όσο και να θέλω!
Από την άλλη, αν μέσω της αγγλικής γλώσσας κάποια από τα θέματα που ταλαιπωρούν την κακόμοιρη αυτή χώρα μας μαθευτούν και προς τα έξω, ίσως τελικά αναγκαστούμε να αφήσουμε την απάθεια που μας χαρακτηρίζει στην άκρη και κάνουμε κάτι, οτιδήποτε, τέλος πάντων. Φρούδες (φλούδες;!) ελπίδες θα μου πείτε, αλλά από το ολότελα...
Μετά από αυτή την υπέρ του δέοντος μεγάλη εισαγωγή, ας περάσουμε στο κύριο θέμα του post, το νέο ραδιοφωνικό σταθμό του Αντώνη Κανάκη και του Γιάννη Σερβετά, τον Imagine 89,7. Ο σταθμός ξεκίνησε την Κυριακή που μας πέρασε και πέραν των δύο πολύ γνωστών και αγαπημένων Α.Μ.Α.Ν, το πρόγραμμά του περιλαμβάνει και άλλες cult φυσιογνωμίες του ραδιοφώνου και της Θεσσαλονίκης γενικότερα όπως ο Στάθης "Σκύλος" Παναγιωτόπουλος. Ο σταθμός βρίσκεται βεβαίως στην αγαπημένη Θεσσαλονίκη, αλλά υπάρχει και live αναμετάδοση μέσω των Internets στο site του σταθμού, η οποία μάλιστα είναι εξαιρετικής ποιότητας.
Το μότο του σταθμού είναι "το ραδιόφωνο όπως το φαντάστηκες" και μέχρι τώρα πραγματοποιούν αυτή την υπόσχεση. Είμαστε σε μια εποχή (πω-πω με πιάνει η σοβαροφάνεια πάλι!) όπου το ελληνικό ραδιόφωνο έχει καταντήσει εντελώς άνευρο, ανέραστο, με ελάχιστους παραγωγούς με άποψη και πολλή, πάρα πολλή, playlist. Λέει πολλά το γεγονός ότι την καλύτερη μουσική παίζουν οι αθλητικοί ραδιοσταθμοί, όχι οι μουσικοί. Radio Nowhere που λέει και το Αφεντικό, ο Bruce.
Ακόμα και οι περίφημες έρευνες για το ραδιόφωνο που κάνουν οι εταιρίες φαντάζουν αστείες. Προσωπικά με είχαν ρωτήσει στο τηλέφωνο σε μια τέτοια έρευνα αν ακούω τρεις συγκεκριμένους σταθμούς, οι οποίοι παίζουν αποκλειστικά playlist. Τους απάντησα "όχι, ποτέ" με ευχαρίστησαν και μου το έκλεισαν στη μούρη. Ρώτα ρε γιατί ενώ μου αρέσει το είδος της μουσικής των σταθμών αυτών, προτιμώ να ακούω άλλους σταθμούς, ρώτα γιατί προτιμώ αυτούς που προτιμώ. Αλλά εδώ δεν κάνουμε έρευνες για να βρούμε την αλήθεια, κάνουμε έρευνες για να βρούμε την πλευρά της αλήθειας η οποία μας αρέσει και μας ταιριάζει.
(Φόρα πείρα ο αναθεματισμένος, δεν είναι να αρχίσω να γκρινιάζω.)
Από την άλλη, ο Imagine μέχρι τώρα (και μακάρι, μακάρι να παραμείνει έτσι) είναι όντως το ραδιόφωνο όπως θα έπρεπε να είναι. Ένας σταθμός καθαρά ροκ, αλλά στη νοοτροπία του, όχι με την όποια περιορισμένη άποψη έχει ο καθένας για το τι είναι πραγματικά ροκ στη μουσική. Ένας σταθμός καθαρά της παρέας, χαβαλεδιάρικος, με μουσική την οποία κατ' αρχάς γουστάρουν οι ίδιοι οι παραγωγοί του να παίζουν.
Και φαίνεται αυτό, βγαίνει στον αέρα. Χαίρεσαι να τους ακούς, ακόμα και όταν δεν μιλάνε για κάτι συγκεκριμένο, ακόμα και όταν βγαίνει ο κάθε ακροατής και απλά λέει τον πόνο του ή την καψούρα του. Και, για να το θέσω κομψά, άντε και γαμηθείτε εσείς οι κυνικοί, το ραδιόφωνο ήταν πάντα το πιο ανθρώπινο μέσο, τέτοια πράγματα είναι πάντα ευπρόσδεκτα σε αυτό το χώρο. Η εκπομπή ειδικά του Αντώνη Κανάκη χθες το βράδυ (δυστυχώς έχασα την εκπομπή της Δευτέρας...) η οποία ξεκίνησε στις 11 το βράδυ και τελείωσε μετά τις 3 το βράδυ ήταν συγκλονιστική. Από πλευρά μουσικής, από πλευρά καλής διασκέδασης, χαβαλέ, επικοινωνίας, τα πάντα. Δεν πρόλαβα ποτέ τις παλιές εποχές των πειρατικών σταθμών, λόγο ηλικίας, αλλά από ό,τι λένε όλοι, θύμισε πολύ τις εποχές εκείνες.
Μπράβο ρε παιδιά, πάντα είχατε το χάρισμα να ξεφεύγετε από τη μιζέρια που μας πιάνει συχνά-πυκνά σε αυτή τη χώρα, και χαίρομαι πραγματικά που καταφέρατε για μια ακόμα φορά το ίδιο. Πάντα τέτοια, και εις ανώτερα.
Tip Off time
Expect a flurry of updates today, as I think it's a nice way to end the most productive month this blog as ever seen. I also have a lot of things I'd like to speak about.
First of all, happy Halloween if you celebrate it, you godless heathens! Halloween is always a fun time, or at least that's how it seems like to a guy who has lived all his life in an Orthodox Christian country.
Anyway, after a long wait, the NBA season has finally started. Kobe Bryant hasn't been traded yet, but he seem to be eager to show that despite not liking the team he's in, he's still a professional. Kobe scored 45 points against the Rockets last night, which still weren't enough for his team as they lost 95-92 with a clutch three-pointer by Rockets forward Shane Battier. I still can't understand how a Phil Jackson team can be so mediocre as this Lakers team of the last couple of years.
In other games, the reigning champions San Antonio Spurs edged out the Blazers and Utah defeated Golden State, neither of which results should surprise anyone. I'm wondering if Kirilenko will see any more playing time than last year, after his less-than-favorable comments about the Jazz coach last September. He probably won't, which is a shame as he's a great player.
I think I'll be rooting for the Bulls this year, as I really like their younger players and I'm a Ben Wallace fan. I also really liked Scott Skiles (their current coach) as a player, and he's not a bad coach either. I don't really see them doing any better than last year when they reached the conference semi-finals, but you never know with the East conference. Hell, if the Cavs can make the NBA finals, anything is possible.
I'll also be rooting for the Washington Wizards since Gilbert Arenas is really damn awesome. His blog is really entertaining to read, and he's just as good as a basketball player too. He has amazing confidence in his skills and for that reason makes for an excellent clutch shooter.
Closing this first post for the day with an advertisement for the NBA, starring no other than Gilbert Arenas.
First of all, happy Halloween if you celebrate it, you godless heathens! Halloween is always a fun time, or at least that's how it seems like to a guy who has lived all his life in an Orthodox Christian country.
Anyway, after a long wait, the NBA season has finally started. Kobe Bryant hasn't been traded yet, but he seem to be eager to show that despite not liking the team he's in, he's still a professional. Kobe scored 45 points against the Rockets last night, which still weren't enough for his team as they lost 95-92 with a clutch three-pointer by Rockets forward Shane Battier. I still can't understand how a Phil Jackson team can be so mediocre as this Lakers team of the last couple of years.
In other games, the reigning champions San Antonio Spurs edged out the Blazers and Utah defeated Golden State, neither of which results should surprise anyone. I'm wondering if Kirilenko will see any more playing time than last year, after his less-than-favorable comments about the Jazz coach last September. He probably won't, which is a shame as he's a great player.
I think I'll be rooting for the Bulls this year, as I really like their younger players and I'm a Ben Wallace fan. I also really liked Scott Skiles (their current coach) as a player, and he's not a bad coach either. I don't really see them doing any better than last year when they reached the conference semi-finals, but you never know with the East conference. Hell, if the Cavs can make the NBA finals, anything is possible.
I'll also be rooting for the Washington Wizards since Gilbert Arenas is really damn awesome. His blog is really entertaining to read, and he's just as good as a basketball player too. He has amazing confidence in his skills and for that reason makes for an excellent clutch shooter.
Closing this first post for the day with an advertisement for the NBA, starring no other than Gilbert Arenas.
Monday, October 29
Veronica Mars in the FBI
I finally managed to see the oft-discussed about "pilot" of Veronica Mars' fourth season, which proves that this was indeed the direction that the show was heading to. That being Veronica becoming an FBI agent, with most (all?) of the regular cast being removed. Sadly, the "pilot" (putting this word inside quotation marks because it's only 12 minutes long) did not convince the people of the CW network, so the show was canceled for good.
I can see why this happened, though. There's a lot to like, of course, the new ambiance was really good, the more mature approach worked well, the cinematography was beautiful, and Veronica is the same character that made the show so endearing. But... Everything else feels so bland. The new characters are pretty uninspiring, the dialog seemed kind of forced at times, and well, I can't help but think that there was no big, significant, change from the school/college version of the show. It felt kind of samey, not quite school-girl-amongst-adults as some of the criticism stated, but not too far off either. Perhaps I was expecting something more CSI/X-Files-esque.
Of course, it's kind of unfair to criticize the entire effort on a mere 12 minutes of video, but when that's all the time you get in order to impress people (especially executives), you have to bring out the big guns, so to speak. Horrible, horrible expression, but it's the only one that comes to mind. *d''oh*
That being said, watching this pilot made me realize how much I miss this damn show. I watched the series finale again, and my gods is it ever beautiful. It doesn't matter if it weren't intended as a series finale, it works great for a show which always had loss as one of its main themes. I'm thinking of adding a link to it soon.
If you want to watch the pilot, take a look here and here for part 2.
In other news, according to this source, Firefox has apparently overtaken IE6 and IE7 as the leading web browser. This is somewhat of a false statement though, as if you were to combine the IE6 and IE7 percentages, they overtake Firefox. I can only assume that the IE6 users are casual, "OMG how did this end up in here I'm not good with computers" users, which is the only explanation why they haven't upgraded their browsers yet.
Still, that's quite an achievement for Firefox. Hopefully that won't mean that Firefox will have a lot of security leaks in the near future.
I can see why this happened, though. There's a lot to like, of course, the new ambiance was really good, the more mature approach worked well, the cinematography was beautiful, and Veronica is the same character that made the show so endearing. But... Everything else feels so bland. The new characters are pretty uninspiring, the dialog seemed kind of forced at times, and well, I can't help but think that there was no big, significant, change from the school/college version of the show. It felt kind of samey, not quite school-girl-amongst-adults as some of the criticism stated, but not too far off either. Perhaps I was expecting something more CSI/X-Files-esque.
Of course, it's kind of unfair to criticize the entire effort on a mere 12 minutes of video, but when that's all the time you get in order to impress people (especially executives), you have to bring out the big guns, so to speak. Horrible, horrible expression, but it's the only one that comes to mind. *d''oh*
That being said, watching this pilot made me realize how much I miss this damn show. I watched the series finale again, and my gods is it ever beautiful. It doesn't matter if it weren't intended as a series finale, it works great for a show which always had loss as one of its main themes. I'm thinking of adding a link to it soon.
If you want to watch the pilot, take a look here and here for part 2.
In other news, according to this source, Firefox has apparently overtaken IE6 and IE7 as the leading web browser. This is somewhat of a false statement though, as if you were to combine the IE6 and IE7 percentages, they overtake Firefox. I can only assume that the IE6 users are casual, "OMG how did this end up in here I'm not good with computers" users, which is the only explanation why they haven't upgraded their browsers yet.
Still, that's quite an achievement for Firefox. Hopefully that won't mean that Firefox will have a lot of security leaks in the near future.
Sunday, October 28
Odd and the Frost Giants
The title refers to Neil Gaiman's latest story, which in his own words will be a "novelette". Anything that Mr. Gaiman writes is essential reading, and yes my opinion is completely unbiased. Seriously. If you haven't read his works yet, what are you waiting for? Start with American Gods and the Sandman comics, and go on from there.
You can read more about this new story, including the introduction to Chapter 3, in his blog. I personally cannot wait. Now if only I could find a copy of Fragile Things here (I don't want to order it from Amazon at the moment for a variety of reasons) everything would be great. Oh, well.
I've been trying to write a long post about the concept suggesting that MMORPG's are all about immersion and escapism, and how that is a lie, but so far I'm not happy with the result. Fingers crossed, it should be ready within the week.
Last thing for today, another of my favorite Daily Show segments of the year so far, Language Burier:
You can read more about this new story, including the introduction to Chapter 3, in his blog. I personally cannot wait. Now if only I could find a copy of Fragile Things here (I don't want to order it from Amazon at the moment for a variety of reasons) everything would be great. Oh, well.
I've been trying to write a long post about the concept suggesting that MMORPG's are all about immersion and escapism, and how that is a lie, but so far I'm not happy with the result. Fingers crossed, it should be ready within the week.
Last thing for today, another of my favorite Daily Show segments of the year so far, Language Burier:
Friday, October 26
Well, frack
Just when I finally realized how awesome the current version of Battlestar Galactica is, and a few days after I managed to find season 3, bad news just had to surface.
Turns out, according to this source, that season 4 (also the final season for the series) of the series has been delayed until April 2008, three months later than its original planned premiere of January 2008. It also means that the show will re-appear on television almost a year after the season 3 finale.
And since I'm joining the Greek army for a one-year run in May 2008, that means I'll miss almost the entire season. Oh well, hopefully BSG will go out with a bang and it'll be worth the wait.
Turns out, according to this source, that season 4 (also the final season for the series) of the series has been delayed until April 2008, three months later than its original planned premiere of January 2008. It also means that the show will re-appear on television almost a year after the season 3 finale.
And since I'm joining the Greek army for a one-year run in May 2008, that means I'll miss almost the entire season. Oh well, hopefully BSG will go out with a bang and it'll be worth the wait.
Tuesday, October 23
Fight or Flight? I'll just stay here and watch
This post contain nothing but spoilers.
I suck at witty references. The one in this post's title is a play on last night's Heroes episode, which was the best episode of this season. That doesn't mean it was better than decent, but hopefully it will set a trend for the episodes to come.
First of all, there was no Claire-stalker boy nonsense, finally. Teen melodrama is not what we're looking for in a show with super heroes. And be "we", I mean geeks. We want more superpowers, and better use of whatever powers characters in the show already have, no more recycling of the same ones. Seriously, how many more people can we have who are copying others?
On the subject of superpowers, it was great to see the writer's to explore telepathy on a deeper level that Parkman's usual, simple, mind-reading. The way his father uses that same power provided for the best, and darkest scenes of the season so far, as nothing beats a good mindfuck. Pardon my language, but it's true.
Naturally, this being Heroes, the writing was again pretty mediocre at places, with some scenes being so bad they hurt. So it takes two whole episodes for Peter to open that damn box, and when he finally decides to open it, what's inside? Nothing of importance, of course. Fantastic. And then his prophetical power kicks in just in time. How convenient. Writing like this really makes me cringe.
Still, Kristen Bell's appearance makes this episode worth watching (yes, I'm a fanboy) as she was kicking ass and taking names. Always good to see her again, as she's a great actress. Not sure about her being Electro, but at least she's not a flyer or copying other people and their powers.
All in all, as I said earlier it was a pretty decent episode, but there's still a lot of room to improve before they catch up with the quality of certain season 1 episodes, like "Company Men". I'll be sticking with the show for the time being, I guess. But I'm not going to call myself a "fan" or anything of the sort.
P.S.
That whole scene with the "Scary Door" in papa-Parkman's apartment reminded me of a certain Futurama video... Probably wasn't intended, but said video is hilarious so it's worth embedding it:
"Saw that coming."
Bender.
P.P.S.
Why was Taskmaster-girl watching Dragon and not an actual Bruce Lee movie?
I suck at witty references. The one in this post's title is a play on last night's Heroes episode, which was the best episode of this season. That doesn't mean it was better than decent, but hopefully it will set a trend for the episodes to come.
First of all, there was no Claire-stalker boy nonsense, finally. Teen melodrama is not what we're looking for in a show with super heroes. And be "we", I mean geeks. We want more superpowers, and better use of whatever powers characters in the show already have, no more recycling of the same ones. Seriously, how many more people can we have who are copying others?
On the subject of superpowers, it was great to see the writer's to explore telepathy on a deeper level that Parkman's usual, simple, mind-reading. The way his father uses that same power provided for the best, and darkest scenes of the season so far, as nothing beats a good mindfuck. Pardon my language, but it's true.
Naturally, this being Heroes, the writing was again pretty mediocre at places, with some scenes being so bad they hurt. So it takes two whole episodes for Peter to open that damn box, and when he finally decides to open it, what's inside? Nothing of importance, of course. Fantastic. And then his prophetical power kicks in just in time. How convenient. Writing like this really makes me cringe.
Still, Kristen Bell's appearance makes this episode worth watching (yes, I'm a fanboy) as she was kicking ass and taking names. Always good to see her again, as she's a great actress. Not sure about her being Electro, but at least she's not a flyer or copying other people and their powers.
All in all, as I said earlier it was a pretty decent episode, but there's still a lot of room to improve before they catch up with the quality of certain season 1 episodes, like "Company Men". I'll be sticking with the show for the time being, I guess. But I'm not going to call myself a "fan" or anything of the sort.
P.S.
That whole scene with the "Scary Door" in papa-Parkman's apartment reminded me of a certain Futurama video... Probably wasn't intended, but said video is hilarious so it's worth embedding it:
"Saw that coming."
Bender.
P.P.S.
Why was Taskmaster-girl watching Dragon and not an actual Bruce Lee movie?
Monday, October 22
Evo moment #37
No Daily Show video today, but since there's a lot of buzz about Street Fighter lately, it's the perfect opportunity to revisit one of the most memorable fights from the latest game of the series, Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike.
During the semi-finals in Evolution 2k4, Daigo "The Beast" Umehara, perhaps the most recognizable Street Fighter player in the world, fought Justin Wong, famous for his turtling (read: highly defensive, low-risk taking) style. Daigo was playing Ken, Justin was playing Chun Li.
The result was perhaps the best example of "skill" in videogames, as Daigo's comeback parry-sequence/combo is just insane. If you've never played the game it won't impress you as much, but just think that between each parry of Chun Li's/Wong's super move (that flashy thing), Daigo had less than a second to react.
You can find the complete video of the fight here.
During the semi-finals in Evolution 2k4, Daigo "The Beast" Umehara, perhaps the most recognizable Street Fighter player in the world, fought Justin Wong, famous for his turtling (read: highly defensive, low-risk taking) style. Daigo was playing Ken, Justin was playing Chun Li.
The result was perhaps the best example of "skill" in videogames, as Daigo's comeback parry-sequence/combo is just insane. If you've never played the game it won't impress you as much, but just think that between each parry of Chun Li's/Wong's super move (that flashy thing), Daigo had less than a second to react.
You can find the complete video of the fight here.
Sunday, October 21
Bush V. Bush (Daily Show series #1)
Since I'm trying to hit 100 posts on this blog by this month's end, this is a perfect opportunity to post videos of some of my favorite Daily Show segments.
First video in this new series, what would a debate between first term Prez Bush and second term Prez Bush be like? Jon Stewart has the answer. It can be argued that Jon and his team have made an excellent mockery of this administration because, well... the administration is doing an amazing job with providing them with stuff to be mocked for, but videos such as this are so brilliant that you have to be talented in order to come up with it.
Anyway, enough babbling, enjoy the video:
First video in this new series, what would a debate between first term Prez Bush and second term Prez Bush be like? Jon Stewart has the answer. It can be argued that Jon and his team have made an excellent mockery of this administration because, well... the administration is doing an amazing job with providing them with stuff to be mocked for, but videos such as this are so brilliant that you have to be talented in order to come up with it.
Anyway, enough babbling, enjoy the video:
I need a Hiro
Having just recently watched the fourth episode of the second season of Heroes, I feel the need to jump on the bandwagon. So far, this season has sucked. Royally. Imperially, perhaps.
Yes, it's only four episodes so far, so there's still a lot of time for its creators to get it back on track, but do you really trust them? Lost had sort of lost its touch for a while during Season 2 and parts of Season 3, but it was never this boring. Outside of Charlie-based episodes, anyway.
I should point out at this point that I was never crazy about Heroes, I've always thought it's a fun, if pretty forgettable show, with mediocre acting and uneven writing. And this is coming from a guy who grew up on Marvel comic books, so you should know what my standards are like.
I could never really understand how the show became so popular with the mainstream, especially here in Greece where any TV show/movie slightly removed from reality is labeled as "childish". I guess its simplistic, yet entertaining, nature made people overlook that, and that's definitely not a bad thing.
But these first episodes of season 2, good gods... It's like watching the O.C., only people can also fly and bore you to death with inane conversations here.
Hiro has always been the most interesting character in Heroes for most people, myself included, and having him stuck on his own in feudal Japan is probably one of the reasons why the show has been really dull so far.
Still, it's not all bad. As I said earlier, there's still a long time to go before the season ends, so I'm not giving up on the show yet. Plus, Kristen Bell (the star of the now canceled Veronica Mars show) is coming on the show for a few episodes, starting tomorrow, so that's a definite improvement. Here's hoping.
In other news, Kimi Raikkonen just won the Formula 1 championship, and even though I've lost interest in the sport in general, I've always been a fan of Kimi. I also like seeing Fernando Alonso lose, because he's an arrogant prick. Suck it, Fernie.
Yes, it's only four episodes so far, so there's still a lot of time for its creators to get it back on track, but do you really trust them? Lost had sort of lost its touch for a while during Season 2 and parts of Season 3, but it was never this boring. Outside of Charlie-based episodes, anyway.
I should point out at this point that I was never crazy about Heroes, I've always thought it's a fun, if pretty forgettable show, with mediocre acting and uneven writing. And this is coming from a guy who grew up on Marvel comic books, so you should know what my standards are like.
I could never really understand how the show became so popular with the mainstream, especially here in Greece where any TV show/movie slightly removed from reality is labeled as "childish". I guess its simplistic, yet entertaining, nature made people overlook that, and that's definitely not a bad thing.
But these first episodes of season 2, good gods... It's like watching the O.C., only people can also fly and bore you to death with inane conversations here.
Hiro has always been the most interesting character in Heroes for most people, myself included, and having him stuck on his own in feudal Japan is probably one of the reasons why the show has been really dull so far.
Still, it's not all bad. As I said earlier, there's still a long time to go before the season ends, so I'm not giving up on the show yet. Plus, Kristen Bell (the star of the now canceled Veronica Mars show) is coming on the show for a few episodes, starting tomorrow, so that's a definite improvement. Here's hoping.
In other news, Kimi Raikkonen just won the Formula 1 championship, and even though I've lost interest in the sport in general, I've always been a fan of Kimi. I also like seeing Fernando Alonso lose, because he's an arrogant prick. Suck it, Fernie.
Saturday, October 20
Early Easter!
My, oh my. Can you say Street Fighter 4 teaser trailer?
Too excited to actually make a real comment at the moment, but this is huge. It's ten whole years since Street Fighter 3 was released, and eight years since Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike (which I still play religiously.)
Exciting times to be a gamer, no doubt.
Too excited to actually make a real comment at the moment, but this is huge. It's ten whole years since Street Fighter 3 was released, and eight years since Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike (which I still play religiously.)
Exciting times to be a gamer, no doubt.
Friday, October 19
Early Christmas!
Yes, it's true, Christmas came early this year. The new Daily Show website launched yesterday, with a vast archive, going back all the way to early 1999.
This is amazing news for all the fans of the show, myself included, who love to rewatch certain parts of some episodes. YouTube provided that opportunity in the past, but Viacom actively took down every single Daily Show video in that site. Thankfully though, they decided to make up for it.
So far there are 7,128 videos available, with more being added every day. That, of course, means countless hours, just waiting to be wasted, by watching every single one. I'm especially interested in the Even Stephven segments, as I wasn't watching the show when Steve Carell was still on. That, and This Week in God, which is probably the funniest non-Jon part of the show.
Fans of The Colbert Report should not feel disappointed, as an online archive of the show is schedule to go live in early '08, and the same goes for the Graig Kilborn era of The Daily Show.
The layout of the site is pretty simple and easy on the eyes, unlike the Comedy Central one, so finding the clip you want with relative ease, and better yet, you can embed these videos to your blog/website.
Understandably, the site is getting hammered right now, so you may experience difficulties searching and/or loading certain videos, but I expect this to get better as the initial craze settles down.
Praised be the Internets!
This is amazing news for all the fans of the show, myself included, who love to rewatch certain parts of some episodes. YouTube provided that opportunity in the past, but Viacom actively took down every single Daily Show video in that site. Thankfully though, they decided to make up for it.
So far there are 7,128 videos available, with more being added every day. That, of course, means countless hours, just waiting to be wasted, by watching every single one. I'm especially interested in the Even Stephven segments, as I wasn't watching the show when Steve Carell was still on. That, and This Week in God, which is probably the funniest non-Jon part of the show.
Fans of The Colbert Report should not feel disappointed, as an online archive of the show is schedule to go live in early '08, and the same goes for the Graig Kilborn era of The Daily Show.
The layout of the site is pretty simple and easy on the eyes, unlike the Comedy Central one, so finding the clip you want with relative ease, and better yet, you can embed these videos to your blog/website.
Understandably, the site is getting hammered right now, so you may experience difficulties searching and/or loading certain videos, but I expect this to get better as the initial craze settles down.
Praised be the Internets!
Thursday, October 18
Predictable
There are few things in life that are entertaining (though not necessarily on purpose) on a consistent basis. Greek sports newspapers definitely fall into that category.
A little flashback is needed in order to better understand the context of this story: Last March, on the 24th, the Greek team lost 4-1 to Turkey in our homecourt, the Olympic Stadium of Athens. This defeat was a huge deal, not only for purely sports-related reasons, but also for political ones, as Greeks and Turks haven't been the best of neighbors for oh, a few hundred years. The fact that this loss came on the eve of what is traditionally celebrated as the start of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire didn't really help, either.
The result of this disastrous defeat was a storm of public outrage against the coach of the Greek team, Otto Rehhagel, with the local press furiously calling for his resignation. This being the same coach that three years helped Greece win their first ever title, the Euro 2004. Even certain politicians expressed their disdain of coach Rehhagel in public, and called for his resignation.
Rehhagel though, being a cunning, calculative and just plain smart guy, said nothing but instead made a few subtle adjustements to the team, while retaining its chemistry. The result was that Greece became one of the first teams to pretty much secure qualifying a position in the Euro 2008 championship, even before last night's game in Turkey. The haters had to shut their mouths beforelong.
As for last night's game? Probably the best one this selection of Greek footballers has played yet, and an easy 1-0 victory over the Turks inside their homecourt. Not as emphatic a victory as the one the Turks got last March, but equally as important. With a little more luck, the Greeks could have easily scored a couple more goals, as well.
So how did the local press react to this victory today? Endless praise so exaggerated it's almost painful to read. First-page spreads speaking of a "Holy Victory", references to the concept of the Megali Idea and Byzantium, with pictures of the Hagia Sophia in the background... It's so ridiculous, it's enough to make you cry. With laughter. We only won a football game, guys, relax.
It's as stupid as those videos that circulated YouTube and other similar sites in March, with the Turks saying making a mockery of the 300 trailer and offering such colorful quotes as "the team that fucked the Spartans" and so on.
At least the Turks had the decency to applaud the better team last night, something I've still to see in this country (notable exception being the supporters of AEK, who have their moments.)
Going back to herr Otto Rehhagel, is there any mention of him in all the spreads about the Greek football "empire", that will retain its European champion's crown in Euro 2008*, in any of the 18(!) sport newspapers that circulate in this country? Just one, actually. The newspaper Gata (Greek for "cat") thanks Rehhagel for making them look like fools for telling him to resign in March. The rest seem to have completely forgotten about it, or they just don't care.
Of course, if the Greek team fails completely and utterly in Euro 2008, people will start calling him names and asking for his resignation again. I have to admit, there's some form of morbid entertainment to be had in witnessing such predictable reactions. Which is why I still follow them, after all.
I have decided, for a while now, to stop buying sports newspapers, though. Maybe if their financial gains started diminishing, they'd own up to their opinions a little more. This is my little puny form of protest, if you will. Their frontpages are usually more fun, anyway, and I can read those for free.
*Don't even get me started on that.
A little flashback is needed in order to better understand the context of this story: Last March, on the 24th, the Greek team lost 4-1 to Turkey in our homecourt, the Olympic Stadium of Athens. This defeat was a huge deal, not only for purely sports-related reasons, but also for political ones, as Greeks and Turks haven't been the best of neighbors for oh, a few hundred years. The fact that this loss came on the eve of what is traditionally celebrated as the start of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire didn't really help, either.
The result of this disastrous defeat was a storm of public outrage against the coach of the Greek team, Otto Rehhagel, with the local press furiously calling for his resignation. This being the same coach that three years helped Greece win their first ever title, the Euro 2004. Even certain politicians expressed their disdain of coach Rehhagel in public, and called for his resignation.
Rehhagel though, being a cunning, calculative and just plain smart guy, said nothing but instead made a few subtle adjustements to the team, while retaining its chemistry. The result was that Greece became one of the first teams to pretty much secure qualifying a position in the Euro 2008 championship, even before last night's game in Turkey. The haters had to shut their mouths beforelong.
As for last night's game? Probably the best one this selection of Greek footballers has played yet, and an easy 1-0 victory over the Turks inside their homecourt. Not as emphatic a victory as the one the Turks got last March, but equally as important. With a little more luck, the Greeks could have easily scored a couple more goals, as well.
So how did the local press react to this victory today? Endless praise so exaggerated it's almost painful to read. First-page spreads speaking of a "Holy Victory", references to the concept of the Megali Idea and Byzantium, with pictures of the Hagia Sophia in the background... It's so ridiculous, it's enough to make you cry. With laughter. We only won a football game, guys, relax.
It's as stupid as those videos that circulated YouTube and other similar sites in March, with the Turks saying making a mockery of the 300 trailer and offering such colorful quotes as "the team that fucked the Spartans" and so on.
At least the Turks had the decency to applaud the better team last night, something I've still to see in this country (notable exception being the supporters of AEK, who have their moments.)
Going back to herr Otto Rehhagel, is there any mention of him in all the spreads about the Greek football "empire", that will retain its European champion's crown in Euro 2008*, in any of the 18(!) sport newspapers that circulate in this country? Just one, actually. The newspaper Gata (Greek for "cat") thanks Rehhagel for making them look like fools for telling him to resign in March. The rest seem to have completely forgotten about it, or they just don't care.
Of course, if the Greek team fails completely and utterly in Euro 2008, people will start calling him names and asking for his resignation again. I have to admit, there's some form of morbid entertainment to be had in witnessing such predictable reactions. Which is why I still follow them, after all.
I have decided, for a while now, to stop buying sports newspapers, though. Maybe if their financial gains started diminishing, they'd own up to their opinions a little more. This is my little puny form of protest, if you will. Their frontpages are usually more fun, anyway, and I can read those for free.
*Don't even get me started on that.
Wednesday, October 17
In Rainbows
By now, you most likely will have heard all about In Rainbows, Radiohead's latest album, and the story of how they decided to leave their publishers (multi-national giants EMI) and instead distribute their album on their own, through the internet.
Phew, that was a long sentence. Anyway.
The best part about this, is that you get to choose exactly how much money (or how many monies) you want to pay for the album. But I assume you already knew about this, as well. Yes, you can even get it for free. No, you shouldn't, though. And if you did, it does not make you cool, no matter how much you think so.
I finally managed to buy the album today, but I haven't gotten the chance to listen to it carefully yet, I do like it so far though, my favorite song being "Bodysnatchers". At this point, I should also confess that I am not the biggest Radiohead fan around, as a matter of fact, this is the first album of theirs I've ever bought. When somebody tries to do something so radically different, though, I believe we all have to support it as best we can.
For the curious people out there, yes I did pay for it. How much? Less than the special edition's cost (40 English pounds, coming out on December 3rd), more than what a bootleg copy would cost. Happy now?
Regardless of that, I do hope that Radiohead's decision to promote their album on their own, without the influence of their company, could become the starting point for a whole new era in music. After all, Madonna had already left her big-name publishing company as well, and The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince distributed his last album through a Sunday newspaper in the U.K. However, both these artists have been around for a long while, and their careers have been in decline for a while now (Prince's more than Madonna's, obviously.)
Still, it's a common secret a music artist's main source of income comes from live performances, not record sales, as the publishers take most of those. And how did the last performance of Prince in the U.K. go, you ask? It was sold out. And Madonna's tour was her most successful yet.
What does that all mean, though? For me, it means that there's the blind hope that after almost a decade where hardcore marketing-type people dictated what music we listened to, what movies we saw and what kind of games we played, this fad may finally be nearing its end. I may be a bit too idealistic, but I feel that moves such as Radiohead selling their album for whatever amount their customers are willing to pay, may mean that artists will be able to reclaim control over their work again, beforelong.
As I said, I may be a bit too idealistic in my assessment this. But after so many years in which music, art in general I'd say, had to conform to certain strict standards in order to be commercially successful, I am really glad to see such a bold move from a well-known band.
Certainly, cynics have a lot to downplay this for, but you know what? Fuck cynicism. There's too much of it around already. Just enjoy your almost-free album, suckers.
Anyway, I'd like to end this post on a more positive note, so I'll just post an image of the cover for In Rainbows, which I find very beautiful in its simplicity, as it reminds me of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in a way.
Wait, how did Stephen Colbert get in there? That guy is omnipresent, I swear.
P.S
A good read on the impact that In Rainbows could have to the music industry can be found here. The author concludes that "Unfortunately for the music labels, that change would only decrease their relevance and mechanisms to make money."
Boo-fracking-hoo, I say. Greedy bastards, the lot of them. Viva La Revolution, etc.
Phew, that was a long sentence. Anyway.
The best part about this, is that you get to choose exactly how much money (or how many monies) you want to pay for the album. But I assume you already knew about this, as well. Yes, you can even get it for free. No, you shouldn't, though. And if you did, it does not make you cool, no matter how much you think so.
I finally managed to buy the album today, but I haven't gotten the chance to listen to it carefully yet, I do like it so far though, my favorite song being "Bodysnatchers". At this point, I should also confess that I am not the biggest Radiohead fan around, as a matter of fact, this is the first album of theirs I've ever bought. When somebody tries to do something so radically different, though, I believe we all have to support it as best we can.
For the curious people out there, yes I did pay for it. How much? Less than the special edition's cost (40 English pounds, coming out on December 3rd), more than what a bootleg copy would cost. Happy now?
Regardless of that, I do hope that Radiohead's decision to promote their album on their own, without the influence of their company, could become the starting point for a whole new era in music. After all, Madonna had already left her big-name publishing company as well, and The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince distributed his last album through a Sunday newspaper in the U.K. However, both these artists have been around for a long while, and their careers have been in decline for a while now (Prince's more than Madonna's, obviously.)
Still, it's a common secret a music artist's main source of income comes from live performances, not record sales, as the publishers take most of those. And how did the last performance of Prince in the U.K. go, you ask? It was sold out. And Madonna's tour was her most successful yet.
What does that all mean, though? For me, it means that there's the blind hope that after almost a decade where hardcore marketing-type people dictated what music we listened to, what movies we saw and what kind of games we played, this fad may finally be nearing its end. I may be a bit too idealistic, but I feel that moves such as Radiohead selling their album for whatever amount their customers are willing to pay, may mean that artists will be able to reclaim control over their work again, beforelong.
As I said, I may be a bit too idealistic in my assessment this. But after so many years in which music, art in general I'd say, had to conform to certain strict standards in order to be commercially successful, I am really glad to see such a bold move from a well-known band.
Certainly, cynics have a lot to downplay this for, but you know what? Fuck cynicism. There's too much of it around already. Just enjoy your almost-free album, suckers.
Anyway, I'd like to end this post on a more positive note, so I'll just post an image of the cover for In Rainbows, which I find very beautiful in its simplicity, as it reminds me of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in a way.
Wait, how did Stephen Colbert get in there? That guy is omnipresent, I swear.
P.S
A good read on the impact that In Rainbows could have to the music industry can be found here. The author concludes that "Unfortunately for the music labels, that change would only decrease their relevance and mechanisms to make money."
Boo-fracking-hoo, I say. Greedy bastards, the lot of them. Viva La Revolution, etc.
Monday, October 15
This can't be life
This is a couple of days old, but I just found out that publishing giants Electronic Arts bought up both BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios.
This is terrible, terrible news. EA aren't joking around when they buy up a company, they completely reshape it to their needs, or even disband it if necessary. Just look what happened to some of the best gaming companies of the 90's, like Westwood and Bullfrog. Have no doubt that this will happen with these two companies as well. Which sucks, especiall in BioWare's case, as it's the one company that always provided us with top-notch Roleplaying games.
First Black Isle closed down, and now BioWare is gone, too. There's always the chance that the same people that made up this company will form up a new one, but in the meantime, you should look forward to seeing your favorite RPG franchises being milked dry by EA.
Excellénte. *sigh*
This is terrible, terrible news. EA aren't joking around when they buy up a company, they completely reshape it to their needs, or even disband it if necessary. Just look what happened to some of the best gaming companies of the 90's, like Westwood and Bullfrog. Have no doubt that this will happen with these two companies as well. Which sucks, especiall in BioWare's case, as it's the one company that always provided us with top-notch Roleplaying games.
First Black Isle closed down, and now BioWare is gone, too. There's always the chance that the same people that made up this company will form up a new one, but in the meantime, you should look forward to seeing your favorite RPG franchises being milked dry by EA.
Excellénte. *sigh*
Sunday, October 14
Success!
Relatively speaking, of course. The final score was 113-91 for the Tony Parker-less Spurs, which is a definite improvement from Friday's match, thought not by much.
Hey, that rhymes.
At any rate, Panathinaikos played a lot better this time around, and until half-way through the second quarter, both teams were pretty equal, with the score at 35-32 for the NBA champions. After that, Panathinaikos's players started missing some easy shots and making stupid turnovers again, while the Spurs kept their excellent field goal percentages up, and never looked back.
By the start of the third quarter, the Greeks seemingly gave up, with the Spurs going up with as many as 29 points. Unlike the Rockets, however, they showed more respect to their opponents and started slowing down their tempo. After all, Spurs' coach Popovic had welcomed the Greek team himself, going as far as to give them a tour of their training facilities. You'd expect him to show that level of respect in the game, as well.
The fourth quarter was actually really nice, with both coaches using their backup players instead of their starters, which meant that players on both sides were eager to play some good basketball. Panathinaikos tried to lessen the difference and got it down to 18 about 150 seconds before the end of the match, but a few more silly mistakes meant that the difference passed the 20 points margin again.
All in all, it was a pretty nice game, with Panathinaikos adjusting a little more to the NBA rules, even if the referees were still acting weird. At least they didn't call too many fouls this time, though they did call too many illegal defense violations, on both sides, which I found somewhat amusing. What troubled me yet again was the bad performance of 3D, Dimitris Diamantidis. Didn't score a single point, had too many fouls and turnovers. Maybe he just can't get used to the different style of playing. Generally, Panathinaikos's players had a lot more turnovers and missed shots than they usually do, they must have been really affected by the fact that they were facing the NBA champions, in their home court. Which is, of course, perfectly logical.
I'm reading a lot of whinning in the local media today about how these two games weren't really in Panathinaikos's best interest, with the local league starting only a week from now. I don't know. It's not like they went on a tour in Asia, where they know the opposition would be mediocre, or how Real Madrid, Chelsea etc go on a tour in the States in football, where, again, the opposition kind of sucks. While the players of Panathinaikos may have played two games under a ruleset which they won't have to deal with in at least several more years, it's always good to face a better team than you. Even if you get your ass kicked, as it were in this case.
Plus, it was just amusing to see coach Obradoviç, sitting at the edge of the bench, all grumpy and not saying a single thing. That's a rare sight, people! He gave the match up even earlier than his players, but it's no secret that he's not too fond of the NBA. Elitism? Perhaps. He did say in a later interview that these two games were a great experience for his team and crew, but the jury is still out on whether he was being completely honest or not.
He also did call out the Spurs, saying that it would be really interesting to face such a team in our own court with our fans, and with Euroleague rules. Ooh. Hopefully next year, when NBA Europe Live Tour '08 is supposed to visit Greece.
In other basketball-related news, young center Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Big Sofo, for short,) has reportedly only lost 5 kilograms from last June, and that's terrible news. Why? Because last June, he was 191kg. That's right, one hundred and ninety one kilograms. It's the reason why he missed the Eurobasket tournament, and the reason why his team, Olympiakos, is thinking of waiving him. It's a horrible, sad tale, as he is an excellent player of extremely high potential, and a very young man, as well. This isn't just about his career anymore, even his health will be at danger if he keeps acting like this.
Hopefully things will get better.
Hey, that rhymes.
At any rate, Panathinaikos played a lot better this time around, and until half-way through the second quarter, both teams were pretty equal, with the score at 35-32 for the NBA champions. After that, Panathinaikos's players started missing some easy shots and making stupid turnovers again, while the Spurs kept their excellent field goal percentages up, and never looked back.
By the start of the third quarter, the Greeks seemingly gave up, with the Spurs going up with as many as 29 points. Unlike the Rockets, however, they showed more respect to their opponents and started slowing down their tempo. After all, Spurs' coach Popovic had welcomed the Greek team himself, going as far as to give them a tour of their training facilities. You'd expect him to show that level of respect in the game, as well.
The fourth quarter was actually really nice, with both coaches using their backup players instead of their starters, which meant that players on both sides were eager to play some good basketball. Panathinaikos tried to lessen the difference and got it down to 18 about 150 seconds before the end of the match, but a few more silly mistakes meant that the difference passed the 20 points margin again.
All in all, it was a pretty nice game, with Panathinaikos adjusting a little more to the NBA rules, even if the referees were still acting weird. At least they didn't call too many fouls this time, though they did call too many illegal defense violations, on both sides, which I found somewhat amusing. What troubled me yet again was the bad performance of 3D, Dimitris Diamantidis. Didn't score a single point, had too many fouls and turnovers. Maybe he just can't get used to the different style of playing. Generally, Panathinaikos's players had a lot more turnovers and missed shots than they usually do, they must have been really affected by the fact that they were facing the NBA champions, in their home court. Which is, of course, perfectly logical.
I'm reading a lot of whinning in the local media today about how these two games weren't really in Panathinaikos's best interest, with the local league starting only a week from now. I don't know. It's not like they went on a tour in Asia, where they know the opposition would be mediocre, or how Real Madrid, Chelsea etc go on a tour in the States in football, where, again, the opposition kind of sucks. While the players of Panathinaikos may have played two games under a ruleset which they won't have to deal with in at least several more years, it's always good to face a better team than you. Even if you get your ass kicked, as it were in this case.
Plus, it was just amusing to see coach Obradoviç, sitting at the edge of the bench, all grumpy and not saying a single thing. That's a rare sight, people! He gave the match up even earlier than his players, but it's no secret that he's not too fond of the NBA. Elitism? Perhaps. He did say in a later interview that these two games were a great experience for his team and crew, but the jury is still out on whether he was being completely honest or not.
He also did call out the Spurs, saying that it would be really interesting to face such a team in our own court with our fans, and with Euroleague rules. Ooh. Hopefully next year, when NBA Europe Live Tour '08 is supposed to visit Greece.
In other basketball-related news, young center Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Big Sofo, for short,) has reportedly only lost 5 kilograms from last June, and that's terrible news. Why? Because last June, he was 191kg. That's right, one hundred and ninety one kilograms. It's the reason why he missed the Eurobasket tournament, and the reason why his team, Olympiakos, is thinking of waiving him. It's a horrible, sad tale, as he is an excellent player of extremely high potential, and a very young man, as well. This isn't just about his career anymore, even his health will be at danger if he keeps acting like this.
Hopefully things will get better.
Taking your bets now
San Antonio Spurs - Panathinaikos starts in about five minutes.
Anything below a 35 point loss will be a great success if you ask me.
Anything below a 35 point loss will be a great success if you ask me.
Saturday, October 13
An Assassin and his Creed
These past couple of months have been great as far as gaming is concerned, with both Bioshock and Halo 3 being released, as well as indie adventure game Blackwell Unbound -which I will get around to buying later today, and the rest of 2007 looks to be just as good.
If there's one game I'm really looking forward to, however, is Assassin's Creed. There's just something about the level of freedom that this game appears to provide, I can't quite find the words to describe it, except that it's awe-inspiring.
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW:
The game's setting is also very interesting, though some leaked media from the game imply that this... may change. I'm not sure I like this, as the medieval setting is just perfect for such a game, plus it hasn't been fully explored in gaming so far.
SPOILERS END HERE.
Gamersyde has posted tonnes of new screenshots and a couple of videos, definitely worth taking a look. Some people have been complaining about the gameplay, but I haven't seen anything worrying yet.
And what's with this rumor that Tim Schafer is making a new game? With Jack Black? Do want!
If there's one game I'm really looking forward to, however, is Assassin's Creed. There's just something about the level of freedom that this game appears to provide, I can't quite find the words to describe it, except that it's awe-inspiring.
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW:
The game's setting is also very interesting, though some leaked media from the game imply that this... may change. I'm not sure I like this, as the medieval setting is just perfect for such a game, plus it hasn't been fully explored in gaming so far.
SPOILERS END HERE.
Gamersyde has posted tonnes of new screenshots and a couple of videos, definitely worth taking a look. Some people have been complaining about the gameplay, but I haven't seen anything worrying yet.
And what's with this rumor that Tim Schafer is making a new game? With Jack Black? Do want!
Friday, October 12
Win? What?
" If we do win, expect an update right after the end of the match."
Some dumbass, 11/10/07.
Ow. So much for that idea. The game was a blowout, with the final score being 107-70 for the T-Mac-less Rockets. Panathinaikos didn't even come close to challenging them for the win, in fact they gave up somewhere around the end of the first quarter.
Not trying to make up excuses for Panathinaikos, but as I've been saying for a while in this blog, the NBA rules and general referee attitude are very different than what we're used to in Europe. Essentially, this means that defense works completely difference than what PAO's players are used to. This was perhaps the main difference last night. Too many costly mistakes, such as violations of the three seconds in the paint defense, meant that the Rockets got more easy baskets than they should. Not that we would have won otherwise, but the match would have been a little more interesting.
It didn't help that some of our best players did so badly, either. Diamantidis played horribly, which is surprising for him, though I guess this game showed why he really has no place in the NBA; he is far too slow for the tempo of NBA teams. Jasikevicious was fairly mediocre too, perhaps he thought he had too much to prove against an NBA team, and that's never a good mindset to get into.
The Rockets weren't pulling any punches, either. They didn't even keep the unwritten rule of not attacking in the last 24 seconds if you're up big, which I thought was somewhat lame. But whatever. They do seem like a whole new team from last year's JVG borefest, however, and that's not a bad thing. Interestingly enough, their best player was Argentinian rookie Luis Scola, who was drafted by the Spurs, but was traded earlier this summer for... Spanoulis. Funny how life works sometimes.
On a final note, the referees were unecessary harsh for an exhibition match. Too many fouls called (at some point the Rockets had 19 free throws and PAO had... 2), too many travelling violations called, and they even called two technical fouls on coach Obradoviç, who was sent away during the fourth quarter. Alright, so Obradoviç isn't the most calm person in the universe so he may have had that coming. But still, it's an exhibition game you douchebags, let them play the damn game instead of destroying any sort of tempo that either team was trying to create, by stopping the clock every five seconds.
I'm tempted to say that the officials were trying to make a point with their general attitude towards Panathinaikos, but I guess they're just not used to the European style of basketball, as this is what happens with NBA teams in Europe, as well.
Hopefully the match against the Spurs won't be so painful to watch.
Some dumbass, 11/10/07.
Ow. So much for that idea. The game was a blowout, with the final score being 107-70 for the T-Mac-less Rockets. Panathinaikos didn't even come close to challenging them for the win, in fact they gave up somewhere around the end of the first quarter.
Not trying to make up excuses for Panathinaikos, but as I've been saying for a while in this blog, the NBA rules and general referee attitude are very different than what we're used to in Europe. Essentially, this means that defense works completely difference than what PAO's players are used to. This was perhaps the main difference last night. Too many costly mistakes, such as violations of the three seconds in the paint defense, meant that the Rockets got more easy baskets than they should. Not that we would have won otherwise, but the match would have been a little more interesting.
It didn't help that some of our best players did so badly, either. Diamantidis played horribly, which is surprising for him, though I guess this game showed why he really has no place in the NBA; he is far too slow for the tempo of NBA teams. Jasikevicious was fairly mediocre too, perhaps he thought he had too much to prove against an NBA team, and that's never a good mindset to get into.
The Rockets weren't pulling any punches, either. They didn't even keep the unwritten rule of not attacking in the last 24 seconds if you're up big, which I thought was somewhat lame. But whatever. They do seem like a whole new team from last year's JVG borefest, however, and that's not a bad thing. Interestingly enough, their best player was Argentinian rookie Luis Scola, who was drafted by the Spurs, but was traded earlier this summer for... Spanoulis. Funny how life works sometimes.
On a final note, the referees were unecessary harsh for an exhibition match. Too many fouls called (at some point the Rockets had 19 free throws and PAO had... 2), too many travelling violations called, and they even called two technical fouls on coach Obradoviç, who was sent away during the fourth quarter. Alright, so Obradoviç isn't the most calm person in the universe so he may have had that coming. But still, it's an exhibition game you douchebags, let them play the damn game instead of destroying any sort of tempo that either team was trying to create, by stopping the clock every five seconds.
I'm tempted to say that the officials were trying to make a point with their general attitude towards Panathinaikos, but I guess they're just not used to the European style of basketball, as this is what happens with NBA teams in Europe, as well.
Hopefully the match against the Spurs won't be so painful to watch.
Thursday, October 11
More fedoras and whips
A new image from the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been released, and that is always a cause of joy. Sadly the last image I posted here was taken down, hopefully this won't happen with this one as well.
Since the image is huge in size, I'll just post the link. Clickéz moi.
You can describe it with a mere two words: HELL. YEAH.
*ahem*
In other great news, George Lucas won't be writting the script for this one. Thank the gods.
As for recent basketball news, the NBA Europe Live Tour was completed last night, with predictable results. The Celtics were undefeated, though not as awe-inspiring as their roster would suggest, and yet another NBA team (the Grizzlies) lost to a European one (Malaga).
That's really not saying much though, as it's still the pre-season for NBA teams, and the Grizzlies are perhaps the worst team in the league. Gone are the days of the early 90's where the worst team in the league would easily defeat the European champions, the Nuggets and Toni Kukoc's Yugoplastica, respectively.
Still, there's one game I'm really looking forward for tonight; Panathinaikos against the Houston Rockets. Sadly, Vassilis Spanoulis, who last year played for the Rockets, was injured and he won't be able to play. This sucks, because former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy had no faith in Spanoulis last year and pretty much ended his NBA career prematurely. It'd be really interesting to see how V-Span would play against his former team.
Center Andrea Zizic was also injured and won't make tonight's game either. Doesn't look that good for my team, at the moment. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I believe we could defeat the Rockets, in a single match, during the pre-season, and with FIBA rules. Now only one of those three conditions will be true.
The game starts at 3.30AM local time (to be broadcasted on TV by ET1) so it's going to be a long night. -.- If we do win, expect an update right after the end of the match.
Since the image is huge in size, I'll just post the link. Clickéz moi.
You can describe it with a mere two words: HELL. YEAH.
*ahem*
In other great news, George Lucas won't be writting the script for this one. Thank the gods.
As for recent basketball news, the NBA Europe Live Tour was completed last night, with predictable results. The Celtics were undefeated, though not as awe-inspiring as their roster would suggest, and yet another NBA team (the Grizzlies) lost to a European one (Malaga).
That's really not saying much though, as it's still the pre-season for NBA teams, and the Grizzlies are perhaps the worst team in the league. Gone are the days of the early 90's where the worst team in the league would easily defeat the European champions, the Nuggets and Toni Kukoc's Yugoplastica, respectively.
Still, there's one game I'm really looking forward for tonight; Panathinaikos against the Houston Rockets. Sadly, Vassilis Spanoulis, who last year played for the Rockets, was injured and he won't be able to play. This sucks, because former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy had no faith in Spanoulis last year and pretty much ended his NBA career prematurely. It'd be really interesting to see how V-Span would play against his former team.
Center Andrea Zizic was also injured and won't make tonight's game either. Doesn't look that good for my team, at the moment. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I believe we could defeat the Rockets, in a single match, during the pre-season, and with FIBA rules. Now only one of those three conditions will be true.
The game starts at 3.30AM local time (to be broadcasted on TV by ET1) so it's going to be a long night. -.- If we do win, expect an update right after the end of the match.
Irony is a wonderful thing.
This is a bit of old news, but it's too good to not mention it, even if it's been a while since it happened.
Those of you that have played / are playing MMORPG's know that the buying and selling of characters is nothing new. I remember seeing Jedis being sold for around 2,000 dollars in Star Wars Galaxies, back before everybody and his sister was a Jedi in that game. Same thing with high level characters in Lineage 2, Everquest 2 and every other major MMORPG.
Now in the case of World of Warcraft, since leveling is so easy, characters weren't being sold for that much. Perhaps if their items were good, but still they did not reach such prices.
But in the case of Zeuzo, Night Elf rogue of Sylvanas EU, and one of the precious few people in WoW to have both legendary swords of Azzinoth, which belong to one of the most famous characters in the Warcraft universe, Illidan, the price was much higher. Some nutjob paid seven thousand euros for Zeuzo's account. That's 9,909.09 American dollars.
I won't even begin discussing why it was a bad idea to give such items to regular players. Warcraft lore and the actual game of World of Warcraft are two almost separate entities nowadays, and Blizzard seems to be fine with it. They are, after all, swimming in seas of cash.
What's more interesting in this case is that due to the publicity that this buyout attracted, the new account, owned by the person who paid for it, was banned only a few days later after the event. So not only did he pay an obscene amount of money, he can't even use it to... well, show off to his online buddies, since I doubt he could do much more anyway.
Such is life. *shrugs*
I've also added a link to the deviantART gallery of a good friend of mine, and professional illustrator, Manthos Lappas. It's full of awesome goodness, you should go check it.
Those of you that have played / are playing MMORPG's know that the buying and selling of characters is nothing new. I remember seeing Jedis being sold for around 2,000 dollars in Star Wars Galaxies, back before everybody and his sister was a Jedi in that game. Same thing with high level characters in Lineage 2, Everquest 2 and every other major MMORPG.
Now in the case of World of Warcraft, since leveling is so easy, characters weren't being sold for that much. Perhaps if their items were good, but still they did not reach such prices.
But in the case of Zeuzo, Night Elf rogue of Sylvanas EU, and one of the precious few people in WoW to have both legendary swords of Azzinoth, which belong to one of the most famous characters in the Warcraft universe, Illidan, the price was much higher. Some nutjob paid seven thousand euros for Zeuzo's account. That's 9,909.09 American dollars.
I won't even begin discussing why it was a bad idea to give such items to regular players. Warcraft lore and the actual game of World of Warcraft are two almost separate entities nowadays, and Blizzard seems to be fine with it. They are, after all, swimming in seas of cash.
What's more interesting in this case is that due to the publicity that this buyout attracted, the new account, owned by the person who paid for it, was banned only a few days later after the event. So not only did he pay an obscene amount of money, he can't even use it to... well, show off to his online buddies, since I doubt he could do much more anyway.
Such is life. *shrugs*
I've also added a link to the deviantART gallery of a good friend of mine, and professional illustrator, Manthos Lappas. It's full of awesome goodness, you should go check it.
Tuesday, October 9
Sarunas Number Three
Yes, yes, finally the post about Sarunas Jasikevicious, the Lithuanian basketball player that recently joined the Greek team I'm rooting for, Panathinaikos. A 31-year old playmaker (PG), who excells in long-range shooting and assists. Funny story, in NBA 2K7, presumably due to his rather peculiar last name, the announcer calls him "Sarunas... Number Three." It's pretty hilarious to listen to.
At any rate, this story begun during the first months of summer '07, when Panathinaikos's arch rival, Olympiakos, decided to expand its budget and bring big-name players in the Greek championship. Their main target? Sarunas Jasikevicious, who had had a very mediocre year with the Golden State Warriors, failing to gain coach Nelson's trust. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring one of the best European players back in the continent.
However, Jasikevicious didn't seem all that eager to return, he liked living in the States, and his wife (a model) wanted to work there as well. And in most cases, wives get the last word in this. And in the end, it seemed that he wasn't interested in joining Olympiakos.
Due to that, Olympiakos decided to sign the young Serbian playmaker Theodosiç, a player for which the Panathinaikos coach Obradoviç had expressed a serious interest in. A few days later, Panathinaikos declared their interest in Jasikevicious. And by now, you know how that ended.
Was this move made just to spite Olympiakos? I believe it definitely played a role, but it wasn't the turning point. Panathinaikos may have already had one of the best European playmakers already, Dimitris "3D" Diamantidis, but it was no secret that beyond 3D, we lacked a good playmaker. Jasikevicious should bring a lot more options to Panathinaikos's game, as well as giving an opportunity for Diamantidis to finally catch a break, as he has been playing for more than 30 minutes in every game, for four years straight.
In this sense, Panathinaikos's acquisition of Jasikevicious may even help the Greek national team, for which 3D is also a key player. Fatigue is one of the main reasons why the Greeks played so badly in the recent Eurobasket, after all.
Going back to Panathinaikos, another reason which proves why this acquisition wasn't meant just as a nudge towards their arch-enemies, is the fact that Jasikevicious is perhaps the best playmaker in the world when it comes to organizing an offense based on pick and roll. And it's exactly this type of offense that Panathinaikos has been using for the last seven years, ever since coach Obradoviç came to the team, during which time they have won six national championships and two Euroleage trophies. Almost makes one wonder why they didn't try to get him earlier.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the best-paid basketball player in Europe at the moment (his wage exceeds even that of world-famous football player Ronaldinho) will really live up to his salary, but the potential is definitely there.
Another interesting story about Sarunas: Back when Team U.S.A. was still called the "Dream Team" and championship schedules were created with taking into consideration that they would win every single on of their games, the Lithuanian team lead by Jasikevicious were the first to challenge them. In the semi-finals for the Olympic Games of 2000, Lithuania was two points down with just a few seconds to go, and Jasikevicious went for the three. For a couple of moments, basketball fans around the world held their collective breaths as the ball spinned around the rim, and seemed to go down. At the end, it merely bounced out again, after having teased everyone like that. But Jasikevicious made the right call by trying a three instead of a two, even if he missed. When given the chance to kill a beast, you take that chance. Simple as.
I firmly believe that if he had made that shot, he would have been one of the best, if not the best playmaker in the world right now. Just by being the person responsible for the first defeat of an American basketball team would have been a tremendous boost for him. Just look at where Manu Ginobili is now.
Lastly, you just have to love this guy for having the guts to tell things as they are. It's no secret that the recent Eurobasket that took place in Spain was tailor-made to their needs (even though they still lost *snicker snicker*) and yet Jasikevicious was the only one to come out and say it first. Honestly, what's the point in taking the first place in a group if the second team gets more days of rest? I believe that a healthy and rested Lithuanian team would have won over the Spaniards without too much trouble, but that's all theorycrafting at this point.
Furthermore, a few weeks ago, Olympiacos's coach Pini Gerson (with whom Jasikevicious won a Euroleague trophy in '05 with Makabi Tel Aviv) said that Panathinaikos acquired Sarunas just to spite them, since they didn't need him as they already had better players, and went on to mention that Olympiacos has players just as good as him.
Jasikevicious's reply? "I love Pini, but he has a really big mouth."
<3
Coming soon: A continuation of the post on independent adventure games, a year or so later.
At any rate, this story begun during the first months of summer '07, when Panathinaikos's arch rival, Olympiakos, decided to expand its budget and bring big-name players in the Greek championship. Their main target? Sarunas Jasikevicious, who had had a very mediocre year with the Golden State Warriors, failing to gain coach Nelson's trust. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring one of the best European players back in the continent.
However, Jasikevicious didn't seem all that eager to return, he liked living in the States, and his wife (a model) wanted to work there as well. And in most cases, wives get the last word in this. And in the end, it seemed that he wasn't interested in joining Olympiakos.
Due to that, Olympiakos decided to sign the young Serbian playmaker Theodosiç, a player for which the Panathinaikos coach Obradoviç had expressed a serious interest in. A few days later, Panathinaikos declared their interest in Jasikevicious. And by now, you know how that ended.
Was this move made just to spite Olympiakos? I believe it definitely played a role, but it wasn't the turning point. Panathinaikos may have already had one of the best European playmakers already, Dimitris "3D" Diamantidis, but it was no secret that beyond 3D, we lacked a good playmaker. Jasikevicious should bring a lot more options to Panathinaikos's game, as well as giving an opportunity for Diamantidis to finally catch a break, as he has been playing for more than 30 minutes in every game, for four years straight.
In this sense, Panathinaikos's acquisition of Jasikevicious may even help the Greek national team, for which 3D is also a key player. Fatigue is one of the main reasons why the Greeks played so badly in the recent Eurobasket, after all.
Going back to Panathinaikos, another reason which proves why this acquisition wasn't meant just as a nudge towards their arch-enemies, is the fact that Jasikevicious is perhaps the best playmaker in the world when it comes to organizing an offense based on pick and roll. And it's exactly this type of offense that Panathinaikos has been using for the last seven years, ever since coach Obradoviç came to the team, during which time they have won six national championships and two Euroleage trophies. Almost makes one wonder why they didn't try to get him earlier.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the best-paid basketball player in Europe at the moment (his wage exceeds even that of world-famous football player Ronaldinho) will really live up to his salary, but the potential is definitely there.
Another interesting story about Sarunas: Back when Team U.S.A. was still called the "Dream Team" and championship schedules were created with taking into consideration that they would win every single on of their games, the Lithuanian team lead by Jasikevicious were the first to challenge them. In the semi-finals for the Olympic Games of 2000, Lithuania was two points down with just a few seconds to go, and Jasikevicious went for the three. For a couple of moments, basketball fans around the world held their collective breaths as the ball spinned around the rim, and seemed to go down. At the end, it merely bounced out again, after having teased everyone like that. But Jasikevicious made the right call by trying a three instead of a two, even if he missed. When given the chance to kill a beast, you take that chance. Simple as.
I firmly believe that if he had made that shot, he would have been one of the best, if not the best playmaker in the world right now. Just by being the person responsible for the first defeat of an American basketball team would have been a tremendous boost for him. Just look at where Manu Ginobili is now.
Lastly, you just have to love this guy for having the guts to tell things as they are. It's no secret that the recent Eurobasket that took place in Spain was tailor-made to their needs (even though they still lost *snicker snicker*) and yet Jasikevicious was the only one to come out and say it first. Honestly, what's the point in taking the first place in a group if the second team gets more days of rest? I believe that a healthy and rested Lithuanian team would have won over the Spaniards without too much trouble, but that's all theorycrafting at this point.
Furthermore, a few weeks ago, Olympiacos's coach Pini Gerson (with whom Jasikevicious won a Euroleague trophy in '05 with Makabi Tel Aviv) said that Panathinaikos acquired Sarunas just to spite them, since they didn't need him as they already had better players, and went on to mention that Olympiacos has players just as good as him.
Jasikevicious's reply? "I love Pini, but he has a really big mouth."
<3
Coming soon: A continuation of the post on independent adventure games, a year or so later.
Friday, October 5
The exception to the rule
You may or not have noticed that this blog has turned into a collection of streamed videos. I sure did. It was for that reason that I decided not to post any other videos for a while.
But today was the day when the trailer for the upcoming, straight-to-DVD, Futurama feature film was released. Suddenly, all is good in the world again.
It may be somewhat poorly edited, in a mix-and-match sort of way, and some of the jokes seem a bit all over the place, but let's be serious here. It's Futurama, it's guaranteed to be really fracking awesome. Can't wait.
But today was the day when the trailer for the upcoming, straight-to-DVD, Futurama feature film was released. Suddenly, all is good in the world again.
It may be somewhat poorly edited, in a mix-and-match sort of way, and some of the jokes seem a bit all over the place, but let's be serious here. It's Futurama, it's guaranteed to be really fracking awesome. Can't wait.
Thursday, October 4
WoW machinimas part deux
Yeah, yeah. No updates, no nothing. They'll come, in due time. For the time being, my mind is still a bit messy, so meh.
In other amazing recent developments, Olympiakos finally managed to get a win in the Champions League in an Away match. Incredible, only took them 10 years. They had started to defy the law of big numbers, even.
Anyway, off to the real point of this entry a (surprise, surprise) movie, more specifically, a World of Warcraft machinima. In this case, a song, from the Resident Evil: Extinction OST, performed by WoW characters. The song is rather catchy, and also kind of shitty (especially the lyrics, if you think about them in a Resi context, they are teh lulz), but the editing is just... "Holy shit" good. I love the UT2004/Half Life 2 backgrounds too.
Enjoy:
Edit: So apparently the video kind of messes up my blog's layout, great. Still, I refuse to link a Youtube stream, the quality of this video is too good for that.
In other amazing recent developments, Olympiakos finally managed to get a win in the Champions League in an Away match. Incredible, only took them 10 years. They had started to defy the law of big numbers, even.
Anyway, off to the real point of this entry a (surprise, surprise) movie, more specifically, a World of Warcraft machinima. In this case, a song, from the Resident Evil: Extinction OST, performed by WoW characters. The song is rather catchy, and also kind of shitty (especially the lyrics, if you think about them in a Resi context, they are teh lulz), but the editing is just... "Holy shit" good. I love the UT2004/Half Life 2 backgrounds too.
Enjoy:
Edit: So apparently the video kind of messes up my blog's layout, great. Still, I refuse to link a Youtube stream, the quality of this video is too good for that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)