Sunday, December 16, 2007


There are reports that the Cavs and 76ers are in trade talks involving Andre Miller. I'm not sure I can contain my excitement... Miller, coupled with Varejao's return, could push the Cavs over the top. It's almost too good to be true. But:

This could end up tearing my heart out. My assumption is that this will be a guard-for-guard trade. The 76ers have been giving big minutes to Luis Williams, and probably think his 'emergence' means Miller is expendable. It's also no secret that their shooting guard, Willie Green, is not very good. So this could end up being a Miller-Pavlovic trade (an absolute steal by the Cavs) or, and I can barely dare to hope for this, Miller-Hughes. But Ferry could, well, pull a Ferry, and give up Varejao, resulting in the torn-out-heart scenario.

To further complicate things, the loveable (and inept) Billy King is gone as Philly's GM, but his replacement has several years experience demonstrating a complete inability to put productive players around one of the greatest in the game (Kidd). So maybe it's a wash, and there's an excellent chance the Cavs will come out on top.

No matter what, though, if this goes down the Cavs will have a first rate point guard for the first time in the LeBron era. This could be gravy.

Friday, December 14, 2007


Quick note: I've been in Chicago all week, I'm in Madison this weekend, back in Chicago all next week, and Cleveland the week following that. This is the reason for the dearth of posts. But there will be more than just this one, they just won't be often.

Thursday, December 6, 2007


I heard about Amazon's new Kindle today (here at Amazon and here at Wikipedia). The thing looks ridiculous. I actually heard about it via a Rick Steve's blog post (required reading in my book), and he was going nuts over it even though he's not much of a tech head.

I'm not exactly an 'early adopter' but I want one of these things bad. But I have one big question - how will the library system respond to this? I mean, you can borrow almost any book for free from the library, yet bookstores still exist because they give you ownership over the book and they can guarantee it's in stock when you want it. Those are the advantages. With Kindle, a library can significantly reduce its costs by hosting its books electronically, but this completely negates the advantages bookstores currently have. What the hell is going to happen? I feel like Amazon must have struck a deal with the library system to keep them away from electronic books or something, because the invention of Kindle seems to transform the library system into a potential government-authorized Napster. Crazy.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007


Here is a good example of why it seems to take me so long to get anything done. I recently put the video for 'Right On' on youtube. Of course, 'Right On' was on The Ultraviolet Effect, which was two releases ago. It came out in 2004. The video wasn't done until quite some time after that, but despite always intending to get it online it took me until the waning days of 2007.

Anyhow, the link is here.

The video was made by an acquaintance of mine who did it in his spare time (while working on other videos as a paying gig). I wasn't even really that good of friends with the guy, he just kind of went and did it. I didn't have any real input, and he used primarily stock footage, but I think it turned out well. Oh, he also showed up at the one and only show from the first incarnation of Lost on Purpose: The Live Band and got some great footage that he incorporated into the video.

Weird how things come about sometimes.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007


There are reports, seemingly for real, that the Bobcats have offered Anderson Varejao a three-year, $17.4 million deal. Analysis indicates that the Cavs will obviously match this offer. What is not clear, to me, is whether the offer indicates that Varejao has agreed to sign for that amount. It seems that that is the case.

What's weird is that, since he's a restricted free agent, the Cavs have the right to match the offer and keep Varejao. My understanding is that this is a done deal - as long as they match, he must sign with the Cavs and he's back on the team. But this is especially strange because the Cavs had a BETTER offer on the table. I believe it was three years, $20 million. Again - this is how I understand it - the Bobcats' deal is for two guaranteed years, with a player option for the third year. So becoming a free agent a year early is the impetus behind Varejao's acceptance.

Monday, December 3, 2007


Circuit City is an absolute joke.

First off, this is a link to a nightmare experience someone had recently at a Circuit City store. As bad as it is it's not really a surprise; I think everyone's had a similar (although much milder) experience at some time.

Then there's CC's Holiday 'sales' going on now. First, a couple weeks ago I got a coupon for $15 off in the mail. However, the fine print said the following:

"Offer excludes advertised specials, notebook and desktop computers, monitors, music, movies, games, game hardware, hard drives, select MP3 players, Nikon digital cameras, Velodyne, Bose, Select Polk, Apple, Kicker, MTX Thunder, Verizon, outlet, Firedog, CityAdvantage, and gift card purchases."

What exactly can you use the coupon for, then? Certain cameras? TVs? Nothing I want, that's for sure. Probably 70% of the store is excluded.

Then the other day I got another sale notice. I meant to take photos of it, but I'm at work now, so oh well. The gist of it is that it's a 'sale' to 'help' parents get their kids what they want for Christmas. On the ad itself is a picture of a Christmas list, which includes items such as 'Guitar Hero 3' and 'Nintendo DS Lite'. But on the flip side of the ad is the exact same small print explicitly excluding 'games and game hardware'. WTF?

If this isn't deceptive, duplicitous advertising, then I don't know what is.

I already didn't like Circuit City, but there is no way I'm buying anything there anymore. I don't shop at Best Buy for similar reasons. What a joke. If anyone wants to start a boycott I'm in.