Soccer updates

So I forgot to post that the Women's World Cup had it's final draw yesterday. That's where we find out which teams will play each other.

So they're saying that 3 of the 4 groups are groups of death. And the other one is pretty tough, that sound to me like a balanced world cup. Good might be exciting.

Here's the draw if you'd like to see who got whom.

Don't forget that Thursday is the announcement on who will host the 2018 and 2022 world cups. Granted its a ways off but USA has a good chance to win the 2022 bid. The announcement will start around 9am central time, ESPN3 will be covering the event.

The most boring day in history is discovered. Actually it was probably the least historically significant.

Ghostbusters 3 casting confirmations.

A brief description about hipsters.

Shirley you're joking. Leslie Nielsen dead at age 84.

Back to the Future game. buy Telltale Games, and they got Christopher Lloyd to come back to voice Doc. And they got Michael J. Fox's to let them use his likeness, and they got a voice actor who sounds like Michael J Fox did (seriously almost dead on). The only thing negative I can find is the little facebook game they made that's just a bejeweled clone. This is Heavy!

A request regarding internet and mobile device usages.

random stuff

I don't really have much for you today.

The Women's National Team got into the world cup. They beat Italy 1-0.

These two guys met up recently. I assume they went out for a Dos Equis afterwards. I assume Bruce Campbell and Chuck Norris showed up later too.

Also new footage bring new information to an old mystery. Have a good rest of your holiday weekend. And I'll see you tomorrow.

Womens Soccer

Tommorow the Womens National team plays Italy for a spot in the Women's World Cup.

The womens team is 22-1 when qualifing for the world cup since 1995. They lost for the first time this year when playing Mexico 2-1.

Our women's team are two time world cup winners (there have only been 5 championship teams), and it used to be that the US women's team basically just had to show up to get to the world cup.

Well the rest of the world has caught up. So this should be a good game to watch. ESPN will be covering it tomorrow at 1pm.

Gift for geeks

If you have a lot of money and you don't know what to get your geek consider these solutions.

Portal Gun. Not a lie.

Dual screened laptop. Like a giant DS.

Thousand of toy cars on a automated track. I don't think this is for sale, but you could probably build it.

Random Junk

This isn't quite a link dump but things I thought needed to be mentioned.

Sometimes I have to marvel at 4chan despite (or maybe because of) all their weird behavior, they have some very strong lateral thinkers. An annoymous group can't exactly fight intellectual property theft in the courts. 4chan fights Hot Topic. Link provided by Liz.

Everyone has probably seen this, but FoxTrot meets Xkcd.

Evidently back in the day GE was trying to make an exoskeleton for workers to lift more weight, the article compares it to Iron Man but it makes me think of Ripley in Aliens. Also valve, this should be one of the engineers weapons.

Why are you so happy? Researchers want you to know that it's a psychological disorder. Yeah? Well, it sure beats the hell out of depression.

Rock Band 3

I don't have any links for today. But we did rent Rock Band 3 the other day.

It's fun, but ultimetly it's just more songs, and better graphics. I played it on the Wii so I don't know how nice the X-box version looks, and we weren't able to rent the keyboard so I can't tell you about that. The biggest changes I could tell are that now you unlock almost everything rather then amassing fans and money you just get fans and unlock things based on how many stars and spades you get.

The spades are earned by doing some condition that is set at the beginning of the song (like a streak of so many notes, deploying overdrive so many times, or even reaching max multiplier) these conditions get harder as the game goes on.

You also don't have to buy clothes for your charecter, they just get unlocked as you gain fans and get through cities.

It's fun, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to get it, I might get it after it drops in price or buy it used. I still want to try out the pro guitar with out buying it.

Follow ups

Todays theme is follow ups because the only three stories I have deal with earlier stories reported on here, or ongoing stories. What do you want, sometimes things just aren't that funny.

After Mt. Everest got low reviews on google it seems another famous location is needs to work on keeping its guests happier.

Following up on the MLS Final, The Colorado Rapids win 2-1 despite FC Dallas scoring two goals. Man Texas is not allowed to win a title this year.

Oh and for soccer fans keep in mind Saturday is USA vs Italy (women's) this will determine who gets into the world cup, this is the 2nd game. With USA winning the first game 1-0. America has only ever lost 1 game when the women's team is qualifying for the world cup.

In the continued reporting of the new travel checks, New TSA bumper stickers.

Link Dump

Somehow I ended up with alot of soccer videos. This is good timing since the MLS Finals are today. YOu can watch it today at 7:30 central on ESPN.

Fastest Goalie ever.

Sneaky goal.

There are no words for the level of fail here.

Ikea instructions for everything.

It's good to know that if Jen needs a new car it's already been made.

Internet censorship blocked and why it's a good thing.

Dave Barry meets the TSA.

You know that new sound you been looking for, well listen to this. Actually its an old sound.

cause he's Batman, that's how.

101 MI is no more.

Giz saw this and wanted to remind every one to be careful these kind of attacks could happen to anyone.

Science, History, and Space

...so I guess stuff is todays theme.

10 centuries of border changes in Europe. See how many historical eras you can recognize.

Carl Sagan meet Halo, Halo the is Carl Sagan.

The dark spots in the sky, are anything but.

You ever wonder what microwaves look like? Well keep wondering, but you can see how they behave in this video...sort of.

This is science, I swear.

Antimatter captured. Thank god his reign of terror is at an end.

Science harnessed to make cupcake cannon.

Coming Attractions

Trailer for Cowboys and Aliens.

Edgar Allen Poe seen wandering around.

This video manages to sneak in right before the meme dies.

If you don't talk to your kids about Star Wars then they're going to learn about it on the playground and then they'll think it's okay to like the prequels.

For Jon a new game you might need.

The moral dilemma for a couple of decades in the future.

Award Winners

For the first time since the Vietnam War a living soldier has recieved the Medal of Honor. Here is a documentary about his story.

This is the story of a kid who was being bullied. The bully was taking his Mountain Dew every day and drinking it. So the kid starts bringing a urine in a Mountain Dew bottle. So the bullies family is upset and so is the family of the kid who was getting picked on. Parents are always saying stand up for yourself, but they also tell you not to pick fights. So here's a kid using his brain and everyone's upset. Can't please everybody, but it pleases me so I'm proud to announce that this kid wins the 1st annual Kspaz wishes he'd thought of that award.

Fans and their fandoms

Today's post is going to be short, mostly because I've been hanging pictures today.

I've been trying to get people to read Fans! for years, and is why you should start today.

and while we're talking about fanish things you might need to geek out your presents this year.

Nightmare fuel

Akari told me the video of the abandoned New Orleans Six Flags creeped her out. So today's post is dedicated to Nightmare Fuel, and brought to you by Can't sleep clown will eat me.

So is this creepy, or is it a clever way to work out childhood phobias?Flying Monkey Pinata. I didn't find the monkeys creepy as a kid but it seems like everyone else did.

Icelandic Flash Flood. This starts lokking like someone's nightmare towards the end. Yeah I know it's a strech but I wanted to include it, and it's my blog.

Canada's nightmare scenerio. I gotta admit I would hate this. It's already silly the things they make us do in order to get on a plane. I'll post more about this later.

Also a big shout out to new readers Hanna, Murphey, Murphey (no relation), Casselman, Frap. Good to have a way to talk to you guys again.

Dogs and Germany

I asked Giz what should I post about today. She said puppies.

So here you go. Prop B. Local news on the Daily Show.

Also due to me finding some of my army friends on Facebook I have decided to repost my photo album from our 2010 trip to Germany. If it asks you for a password and you don't know my wife's nickname, then private message me on facebook. The city names on the left will take you to photos (sorted by city).

Here's the albums

Our weekly link dump

The only thing I hate about doing link dumps is that I don't have anything to post tomorrow, that has any relation to each other.

Your requied listening for the week.

I swear our aircraft identification in MI was a little more nuanced then this.

How to prepare koopas.

how to make Tennis more exciting.

Steampunk Music Video

Marble Madness meats Monty Python.

New Beatles. Giz is going to want one of these.

JoCo

Jonathon Coulton has a song out called The Princess who Saved Herself. If you buy it from iTunes or Amazon your 99 cents goes towards relief in Haiti. Give it a listen at the link.

Also there is a chalkboard animation for Mandelbrot Set.

You win some, you fail some

Yes this post is all devoted to win vs fail. I'll let you decide for yourself, because some of these it all depends on which side your on.

Nintendo trying to trademark "On like Donkey Kong. Okay I know you guys made DK but I don't think you originated the phrase.

Two unfortunate goal keepers who should have kept their eyes on the balls.

Robert Downey's new role...Mr. Peanut?

What does a robber not want to see when he breaks into a house?

During what month does a woman start to look pregnant?

Cool Stuff

You want this dog.



James, there is now no excuse for you not to know what to buy Jen for birthdays and Christmas.

I know it's late but here's a video about zombies from Halloween (Sung by Rockapella).

THIS POST IS STUPID BECAUSE KURT POSTED THE SAME THING TWICE!

Cool Stuff

You want this dog.

This is almost as cool as the carbonite Han Solo desk.

James, there is now no excuse for you not to know what to buy Jen for birthdays and Christmas.

I know it's late but here's a video about zombies from Halloween (Sung by Rockapella).

Bright Ideas

I'm sure this title will not be sarcastic.

Two movies are coming out which you should know about. Sadly not because of the sheer amount of awesome each represents. Fox is putting out a Family Circus movie, and the Creative Arts Agency is writing a script to make a Rubik's Cube movie.

I'd probably at least rent the rubik's cube one if it involved a cube that gave superpowers or something when it was solved. Sadly it seems that they are writing a script based on a Rubik's Cube speed solving competition. Early reports assume that consumers will get fed up with the movie after 5 minutes tear up the reel and reassemble the movie the easy way.

I might watch the Family Circus one with the help of Riff Trax.

I should have opened with this news.

Back in October The London Times reported that Fifa officials were taking bribes to choose which country would get the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. Saying that Russia had been bribing for the '18 games, and Australia was bribing for the '22 games. There has also been accusations about South Africa (the '10 hosts), Brazil (the upcoming '14 hosts) and USA and Qatar (both '22 hopefuls). These have not been confirmed.

So a high raking offical in FIFA has leaked that England will not win the '18 bid because they broke this news. Meaning that the running is either going to be Spain/Portugal or Russia. Russia says they were entrapped, Fifa says England should have told them before going to print.

But basically if Russia gets the next world cup you'll know what's up. If Spain gets it, it might mean they are trying to draw attention away from this. If England does end up winning it would mean this source is wrong, or that FIFA changed their mind.

The Vote will be on Dec 2nd (at 9am Central Time) for both the '18 host and the '22 host.

History

Looks like this is going to be a grab bag as well, none of the links really have much in common. But in historical news today is the anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall and yesterday was the anniversary of the discovery of X-rays (happened in Wurzburg, Germany).

Conan OBrien's show starts today. And evidently he wants everything to be perfect.

A photo from the upcoming muppet movie.

Did you ever get to go to Six Flags New Orleans? No?This may be your last chance to see it. It was deserted after Katrina and has never been reopened.

Almost 100,000 toothpicks is a weird way to make art.

grab bag again.

Because Jen is driving everyone nuts about Dr. Who, here are some Dr. Who links.

Lego Who? I am such a nerd, my first thought was Doctor 11's sonic screwdriver is the wrong color.

Tardis dress. Your girlfriend will dump you if you make any "bigger on the inside" jokes.

And because everyone freaks out when they see it. The coolest table ever.

Got a t-shirt that's to big. Here's how to fix it.

Slow Motion Popcorn

OWWWWWWWWWwwwww! OW! Ow! ow! Seriously, here's a martial art your not tough enough to do.

Nun Fight.

John Cleese on the muppets...for no reason.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Today was supposed to be my grab bag post, but not anymore. Betrayal at House on the Hill is being reprinted.

"What's that?" you ask. It is a horror themed board game where you're investigating a haunted house. But the real fun of this game is that one of the party members (players) is the killer/psycho/evil being/ect. And what's more is it's random, the game has a system where the scenario changes based on what rooms you're in and who sets the betrayal in motion. My group of friends has been looking for a copy of this since around last Halloween when the Iowa side of our group brought it down.

It's been out of print till now, and used copies were selling on ebay for around 70-80 dollars.

I have played this game 4 times. And so far we've had to fight a group of cannibals and their queen (played by my wife), the Midgardian serpent (Kaiser), aliens (Greypaw), and a flesh man who absorbs people (Greypaw again). A blurb on the website for the game claims there are 50 different outcomes. I have not confirmed this yet, but plan to check.

Supposedly WoTC/Avalon Hill will also be releasing expansions via the interwebs. So that the stories can continually change.

I highly recommend this game especially now that the new printing does not require you to carry around pages of errata to fix the misprints of the original game. Also the rules are not so crazy as to scare away new people, but still deep enough that some strategy is possible.

Our usual play through took about 1-2 hours depending on the luck of the draw.

Word

I posted Ernie Cline's before. But it bears repeating. Give some of his tracks a listen over atSpoken Word.

20 Awesome untranslatable words. Yes schadenfreude is on there, that's probably the only one you'll know.

Mr. Doctorow

I might be a little late to the party so forgive me for this, but I'm currently reading Makers by Cory Doctorow. I read his book Little Brother while traveling through Germany and I have got to say, this man writes Sci-Fi that seems possible. Both books are set in the near future. Little Brother had small things like the X-Box Universal (the next x-box...next box if you will. Where Microsoft gives the console away for free and charges a ridiculous amount for games and peripherals), that seemed so logical a next step that sometimes I wondered if I just didn't miss the announcement.

In both books Mr. Doctorow writes about gait-recognition software. A type of tech that would allow people to be identified by their walk. In Makers its being used to make a device for peoples homes that would unlock their doors while they are walking up the driveway. In Little Brother its used to keep an eye on kids in schools so they don't sneak out, but its also used by homeland security to keep an eye on people.

I got to thinking last night, does this exist. It sounds sci-fi, but it plausible. Sure enough it is a real technology. Yet the technology is in its infancy.

By the way Mr. Doctorow publishes his books under creative commons meaning you can download them for free if you aren't going to make any money off of it. Very nice for those of you who have an e-reader or don't mind reading from a computer. But you should definitely read his works.

And now for a silly link. Make a silly product get silly reviews. The Amazon community strikes again. For my money the best comments are about the airline pilots and the review claiming this is the worst ironing board.

WTF files

4chan to get its own Federal Investigation...for child pornography.

Moving on to happier news

This is why your not allowed to have an inception kit. What's with all the inception links lately?

A song about what not to say to your wife. Set to Green Day's "Time of Your Life".

From our WTF files. Pee Wee Herman and his cousin get in a fight on the WWE. It's good to see the WWE has continued giving high quality entertainment since I stopped watching.

Grab Bag

I was going to post about elections, but I got nothing to say that isn't true of most elections. The Puppy Mill Bill passed by less then 60,000 votes.

So here's some stuff that you might find interesting/funny.

First off in case you need to add dramatic effect to anything you say. It's the inception button.

Capt America pics. Shirtless shot for the ladies.

From the please explain it in terms of movies because we can't understand the science without the reference.Delete Tramatic Memories like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I get that more people probably will read this because of the reference...ignore me I'm in a mood to yell at stuff today.

Election Day, the least magical day of the year.

Well lets get baseball out of the way first. The Giants beat the Rangers last night, and San Francisco has it's first World Series title.

Don't forget today is election day. I hope you all have done your homework.

And here to guide us out this week. some wise words from Vincent Price.

Sports...slap, pull, observe, release, tap, squeeze

Don't have any links for you today.

But I wanted to let people know that you can now get espn3 through your X-Box. Thanks to Kaze who let me know this. Now you are saying so what? Well if you ever wanted to see whats so cool about European Soccer or Rugby now is your chance, and a lot of the games can be viewed a day or two later so you don't have to let them interfere with your schedule.

Congrats to the Texas Rangers who won a game in the World Series on Saturday. They are the first Texas based team to win a game in the World Series. The Houston Astros were in the Series in 2005 and lost all 4 games.

Also if any one is interested in Hockey. Or was interested in learning about hockey now is an excellent time, because the St. Louis Blues are off to an excellent start. Their next game is Thursday against the Sharks. It will be on Fox Sports Midwest, or on 1120AM on your radio. For those of us with out cable, the internet and radio are the only ways.

Also I'll be very impressed if anyone can get what the title of this post is about.
Doubly impressed if you don't use google.