BlakeAtwood.com

At the Masters this year, we’ll finally see a golf fan’s dream matchup on Sunday, Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson. They’ve both been playing well, and I don’t know if they’ve ever played together on a Sunday. It would be interesting to see if Phil would pull a U.S. Open meltdown like last year, knowing full well that the laser-like intensity of red-clad Sunday Tiger was boring holes into the back of his head with every swing. Then again, if there’s one thing we know about Phil, he’s surprising. It would be phenomenal if he could give Tiger a run for his money. (It’d have to be a long run, considering how much Tiger already has). I’m envisioning some kind of historic Masters Sunday. But I predict that Tiger wins by 3 strokes. Now if only I didn’t have to work on Sunday…
Oh, and if you’re a golf fan, go watch David Feherty’s take on the upcoming Masters.

[Tax day is fast approaching. I'm sure you could use Financial Reporting Software].

If only we would have waited a few months, I could have enjoyed this while my wife was sick for most of the cruise. For those that don’t like clicking on non-descriptive links, Norwegian Cruise Lines hooked up a Wii to a giant screen in their ballrooms. Looks like a lot of fun. We went on an NCL cruise in November. I remember reading…a lot. The missus got sea-sick (ARGGGHH). There were a lot of senior retirees milling about and drinking far too much. The excursions were fun and it was fun to see Belize, but there was far too much time at sea and not enough time at the ports. Then again, that’s what you get with a cruise, right?

And yes, making puns with Wii in them never gets old. Wii’ll let you know when it does.

[OK. I've heard of life insurance, but what's Death insurance? Making sure you die when you're supposed to?]

Link to scans on Srcribd. For a good laugh, go see the answers that some college kids put on their papers. I only wish I could have been this imaginative whenever I came upon a question that my mind answered with a blank stare. When you can answer with a drawing of a ninja turtle or an elephant (both for bonus points), then I think you should at least get a few points of credit for creativity. I guess that’s why I went to a liberal arts school. I’m pretty sure most of my professors would have given these kids at least a few points for originality.

Also, I peruse Digg fairly often, which is a site the aggregates web links upon which the users can vote up or vote down said links. I don’t vote too often, unless I want to remember where to find something useful, funny, or unique. You can see my list here, if you’re so inclined. There’s actually not much there, and looking at it, you might think I have some infatuation with Spider-Man. I do not, but I do enjoy the movies. Just so you know. The front page of Digg is always interesting too.

[If you're reading this, I'm sure you need a break from all the worries and stresses of life. Go find a Bed & Breakfast]

In some respects I consider myself an early adopter, or at least an early finder. I’m constantly reading tech blogs that keep me up to date on the newest gadget that the world could really do without, but seems so, well, cool. In other ways, I feel like I’m late to the party. Take Tivo. It began in ‘98 or ‘99, but we didn’t see the light until 2004. Then again, I found the Pioneer Tivo DVD Recorder right when it came out, and it’s, well, really cool.

Onward. I started listening to NPR recently, mainly in the mornings. Then I heard about this show, This American Life, and how it began as an NPR radio only show and was moving to TV on Showtime. Alas, I don’t have Showtime, but, hallelujah, they’re streaming the show online for free. I watched the premiere episode last week. It’s brilliant. It’s brilliant if you like true, unique stories told with fairly stunning visuals. I especially appreciated "The Best Gig Ever," which featured the Improv Everywhere group, which, if you haven’t heard of them, you should seriously check out their website. (I forgot about this one: "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – they staged a fake U2 concert on top of a building).

So. I was late to the intellectual party that is NPR. I was, however, right on time for a great show. Go watch it.

P.S. A day after I wrote this post, I found this interview. I must be psychic, because the article starts talking about Ira Glass being a late bloomer, as well as those "lab-rats" who had never heard of the radio show, but found the radio show through the TV show.

[Brought to you by van rack, for when you need a rack for your multiple vans]

Over the last few weeks I’ve been able to watch a few more movies than normal. Yes, we’re regular subscribers to Netflix, but sometimes those DVDs go unwatched for days. This kind gentleman has even made a website where you can compute how much you’re actually spending on your Netflix DVDs so you can figure out if you’re better off at the local (but dying) video rental store.

With Netflix’s addition of a "Watch It Now" feature, where you can, actually, watch a movie in your browser, I’ve been a bit more excited about on demand movies. Unfortunately, "Watch It Now" does not cover their entire catalog, but only a select few hundred, although more are added every day. Using this new feature, I watched Word Wars first (although only half of it); it’s a documentary about Tournament Scrabble players. It was very interesting to see these people who essentially forfeit jobs to play Scrabble tournaments for less than a livable income.

Second was Zach Galifianakis’ Live at the Purple Onion. Bluntly, it’s a standup comedy show. More pointedly, it’s hysterical, minus it’s obscenities. His timing is impeccable, as well as his ability to hold a face.

Lastly, for the time being, was Run Lola Run, a modern classic. I’d heard about it from more than a few different sources. I didn’t know it was a German film, and, thusly, subtitled, but that’s never stopped me before. It was an energetic tale told in three parts about the ways the smallest action can change the course of history. And I loved how it’s typically described as an MTV music video, as if anyone can remember what that means.

On demand video, which is quickly becoming the norm, will be very time-consuming once the amount of content explodes.

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