Obama-Biden ’08: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

I woke up at 11:45 to the sound of Hilliard’s tornado siren – something that’s always annoying, but greatly preferred over the potential alternative of waking up to a tornado showering you in broken class and neighborhood refuse. I started to turn on the radio, then thought maybe that was a terrible idea since my bedroom is on the second floor. I unplugged the radio instead, and hurried downstairs to grab my wallet, phone, and keys.

Halfway down the basement steps the siren was ending its cycle but the thunder and lightning would have none of that quitter’s attitude. Fortunately my flashlight was sitting out in the living room from yesterday’s surround sound wiring adventures, and I found room for that in my hands, all the while expecting tree limbs and cattle to come bursting in from all sides. “Why would you turn around for the flashlight?!”, the audience moans. Good thing I don’t live in a big-budget action film.

Short story shorter, there was a sound in the basement I did not ever want to hear: dripping. One of the entry points for what looks like a Brinks wire is also an entry point for water. Doggone it. In the basement CD101 will only come in audibly if I hold the radio, which I realize is probably unacceptable as I’m standing there in a horrendous thunderstorm holding a wired electronic device next to my face. Now that I’m about to go back to bed I can see that the leak downstairs is a result of the north side of the house getting freakin’ steamrolled with rain. This is no consolation.

Man. I thought the worst of the storm was past here 20 minutes ago, but the foundation-rattling thunder just keeps keepin’ on. So much for a good night’s sleep. Is that hail? Delightful.

Lately I’ve been busy being “grown up” – and the oddest thing is how natural it all seems until I stop and think about it. Coffing’s jet-setting about the cosmopolitan city of St. Louis at an athletic training conference. One of the guys just bought his first new car. One of my sisters is gettin’ hitched. And, the Saturday before last I moved out of the apartment and into a house.

So, if you rely on me as your fount of nerdiness and have grown parched of late as I’ve run off in other directions, a thousand apologies. Somehow I managed to miss for an entire week the announced pricing for the 2009 Dodge Challenger. See, I read somewhere that they would start “under $30,000,” and I knew a 6-cylinder model was part of the mix. This had me assuming that, instead of buying one next fall about fifteen seconds after I pay off the Mazda, I would have to mope about the fact that any Challenger with three pedals and a HEMI was stupidly expensive. From the press release:

The U.S. MSRP for the all-new 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T is $29,995. Featuring the new-generation 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine, the Dodge Challenger R/T produces an estimated 370 horsepower (276 kW) and 398 lb.-ft. (540 N•m) of torque when paired with the standard five-speed automatic transmission.

Pricey? Yes, but not as horrible as I expected. Purty? Yes again. Sadly, manual transmission isn’t an option for the $22,000 base model, and it sounds like you’ll have to cough up another $995 for stick-shift on the R/T. Miserable. I’ve always wanted to drive a noisy, beautiful American muscle car before we burn up all our gas or the EPA forbids anything bigger than a golf cart. Don’t make me buy a BMW 128i in 2009, Dodge! Let’s see some financing promotions and racing stripes on the Challenger R/T, or I’ll do it!!

Not often have I watched an episode of a TV show that was advertised as “Don’t miss!” “You’ve got to see it to believe it!!!” and all the rest without being disappointed. But, once again The Office doesn’t disappoint! Let’s keep the spoilers vague for the poor fools who missed tonight’s episode for whatever reason…

Michael was more tolerable than he’s been since the Jan & Michael meltdown episode. Still, I’m not ready for the character to be happy all of a sudden – he’s been way too awful a person for the last three or four episodes. As for the season-ending surprises, they were funny, moved along a couple of plot lines, and didn’t leave terribly annoying cliffhangers. Kevin in particular was hilarious, and the new HR rep looks to be an enjoyable addition to the show.

That said, before the strike cut things short I was hoping this season would be the last. I hope that whatever the writers have in mind for season five lives up to what they’ve done so far, ties things together nicely, and then brings the series to a close. I don’t want the usual tired on again/off again muck in the Pam and Jim storyline, I don’t want to watch current characters get stale or less-interesting new ones filter in like clockwork, and I’d really rather they not milk this cash cow. I’m crazy, I know.

Who knew that, at this very moment, the state of Idaho is in danger of being devoured by a titanic Peregrine Falcon? It’s amazing the things you learn thanks to the 50 State Quarters program.

For instance, Esto Perpetua is Latin for “Gah! It’s back!!”

Just a quick note, mostly because I wanted to write a post from my new Blackberry.

It is days like today that I love what I do for a living. Great weather and plenty of interaction with great people. I can’t think of anything that would make the weather today any more perfect…70 and sunny, with a slight breeze.

No real news today that I can think of.  I watched the movie “American Gangster” last night and really enjoyed it.  I suggest watching it at some point, it is well worth at least a rental.

I like my car. I drive a Mazdaspeed6, which I got a great deal on because I found a 2006 model still on the lot in November of 2006. This is what my car would look like if you were, say, a squirrel with a fancy camera and a quick shutter… paw:

I’ve never liked silver cars that much. Mind you, depending on the light “Liquid Platinum Metallic” looks noticeably darker than plain old silver… but shiny gray is still not that exciting. Mazda only ever made the Speed6 in a few colors – basically, greyscale working its way up to black, and the obligatory red. And some plum color. My favorite was always:

I could count on both hands the number of times I’ve seen a Mazdaspeed6 that wasn’t my own (which I guess is why Mazda quit making ‘em), but occasionally I’ll see some dude around campus in the Speed6 I wish mine was. Sunroof and everything – which wasn’t even standard on the GT model. When I do – as, if that weren’t obvious, I did this afternoon – I am briefly filled with ridiculous jealousy. Curse you, Dark Mica Speed6 owner!!

A few quick things so I’m not horribly late for work: first, I will be listening to Chuck Berry this morning. Does every song sound alike? Sure. But it struck me a bit ago that it’s great Friday music, just the same.

Thing numero dos: My roomate just showed me a short and wonderful video from YouTube, everyone’s favorite (and least favorite) home of grainy video clips. Adjust your speakers to the appropriate level, and check “Birdtown” out!

Finally, please tell me you’ve been watching Reaper. My parents recommended it to me (let the record show that they also watch The Big Bang Theory – so, I don’t always agree with ‘em), and it’s the best thing going for the CW at the moment. Which, alright, may not be saying a lot…  still. The guy playing the Devil is spot-on: sharp and sly and of course, awful. All the cast is entertaining, but Sam especially. It’s fun to watch an actor go from being the dork in Grounded for Life to being the awesome dork in Reaper.

And I’m off — everyone have a decent Friday and a great weekend!

I just now realized that IMAO.us posted a few of the pictures I sent them for entry in their excellent lolterizt series, and can only assume HostMySite‘s WordPress servers are crying a little as a result of this site having… you know, more than 7 hits. So if you’ve followed a link here in some sort of stupor and are wondering what the deuce is going on here… wander a little further! Thanks, Harvey, for the link.

While I’m on the topic of IMAO (now that they’ve linked us, at worst this will come off as retroactive butt-kissing instead of the usual link-begging), I should point out that if you’ve not visited their site a good place to start would be Frank J.’s Nuke the Moon essay, for which I’ll admit a troubling affinity.

As expected, Blu-ray prices have increased since the end of the format war with HD DVD.  Without opposition, Sony has succesfully driven high definition content out of reach for a lot of people.  Their players are, on average, 2-4 times more expesive than the HD DVD equivalent.  The cheapest HD DVD player you could purchase (before the format war was over) was around $100, and that was for a third generation player.  On the other hand, the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market was closer to $300.  Now, however, the same blu-ray player costs $400…that’s a $100 increase since the end of the format war, which was about a month ago.  At these prices, Sony is making it quite impossible to purchase a standalone player since the PS3 is also in that price range and features a built in Blu-ray disc player.  There have also been about 3 good game releases on the platform, so you could get in on that as well.

It boggles the mind why Blu-ray players are so expensive, when they are unable to connect to the internet at all.  That feature is on the horizon for the players, but all versions of the players so far will never be able to access online content for movies or receive firmware updates, which could possibly mean the inability to watch future Blu-ray movies.  One would assume Sony would distribute firmware updates through the mail on a Blu-ray disc to remedy this issue.  Even with this being the case, Blu-ray prices continue to rise.

It is also popular belief that the upconversion on the Blu-ray player does not match that of the HD DVD format.  This has also been tested by professionals and determined to be true.  This being the case, you can easily grab an HD DVD player for under $100 and enjoy a great upconverting DVD player for the same price (or even less in a lot of cases) as a good upconverting standard DVD player.  Hopefully Blu-ray improves this in the next generation of players, as I have an extensive standard DVD collection and would enjoy a good upconversion for all of them.

Considering all of this, now is the absolute worst time to purchase a Blu-ray standalone player.  The costs are soaring, and they will be obsolete by the time the next generation Blu-ray player is released.  If you really need a Blu-ray player, buy a PS3.  This way you spend about the same amount, plus one would imagine that you will be unaffected by the looming upgrades since the PS3 has online capabilities.  I make it a point, however, to never assume anything with regards to Sony.  I am continually let down by their utter lack of interest in what is best for the consumer.