Saturday, May 31, 2008

HHG: Lakers vs Celtics

No it's not a retro game review. We actually have an NBA Finals featuring the Lakers and the Celtics. Of course, this time no Magic and Bird, but rather Kobe and Pau versus Pierce and Garnett.

The Head says: What a difference a trade makes. To start the year Kobe trade rumors were still doing the rounds, but then L.A. brought in Pau Gasol and the entire complexion of the Western Conference changed. With Kobe, Gasol and Lamar Odom the Lakers have a star-studded starting line-up that rose to number one in the West.

That already happened at the start of the season in Boston, who got Kevin Garnett from Minnesota and Ray Allen from Seattle. All year the Celtics have been at or near the top of the East, and for a stretch at the start of the season they were thought to be unbeatable. However as the season wore on, the fatigue set in and the Celtics got their asses kicked handedly from time to time.

The Lakers' stars are younger, and in fact in their prime. They've had no physical problems whatsoever, and should be able to survive a slug-out with Boston.

Lakers says I.

The Heart says: I've always thought the Lakers would somehow rebuild a team that would once again be dominant in the next decade. In fact they are two years early. Boston has enjoyed a huge turn-around, going from last to first in a season. Seeing the age of the guys running the Celtics, Garnett and Allen are not going to have many more chances to win the NBA Championship. Kobe already has a couple of rings, and will have more chances if Gasol and Odom stick around.

Celtics says I. Just for the sake of it.

The Gut says: A throwback NBA Finals. Two old rivals colliding again. What new guard? Except in this case I do feel the Celtics are running on borrowed time. They'll play more desperate perhaps, but there's too many concerns here about the Celtics' durability. Celtics have to win quick and fast, something I would expect the Lakers to prevent handedly.

Lakers win in six.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

HHG: NHL Stanley Cup Finals 2008

The Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings
The Prize: Right to call yourselves Holders of the Stanley Cup for a year.

The Heart: Gotta go with my namesake. Sidney Crosby is the reason people are tuning into hockey again (along with the Great 8) and nothing is cooler than having him captain his team to victory in the Finals. The franchise, a few years ago almost dead and buried, has regained the pride they had in the early nineties with Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux. Sidney could become the youngest captain ever to win the Stanley Cup. I wanna see that happen.

Penguins.

The Head: The Red Wings are winners of the President's Trophy for four of the last six seasons, and this season is the first time in a long while that they managed to hold their regular season form throughout the playoffs. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are savvy hockey players entering the prime of their careers, Chris Osgood is acting and playing fantastic, even supplanting Dominic Hasek. Yes, the Red Wings got exposed for short stretches against the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars, but they pulled together long enough to make the difference. The Penguins I think had it too easy in the Eastern Conference playoffs, with the Flyers, Rangers and Senators making too many mistakes and not mustering up enough punch to counter Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa. The Red Wings will be an opponent on a different scale, one Pittsburgh hasn't faced this post-season.

Red Wings.

The Gut: The last few years the team I felt for was the team that got killed in the playoffs. So I'm going to rationalize my choice here, and pick the Red Wings. I feel Detroit as a team is more mature and is ready to see the series through to the end. Sidney will have more chances to win the Cup, although one Alexander Ovechkin may have something to say about that in the coming years.

Detroit in six.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

HHG: Champions League Final 2008

The Game: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
The Prize: The UEFA Champions League Trophy, and title of European Club Champion in soccer.

The Heart says: Manchester United; It was an emotional moment back in 1999 when the Mancunians defeated Bayern Munich in stoppage time to win the Champions League. They were pretty much down for the entire game and were seconds away from losing, when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer scored the goals that put United in the winner's circle. While I don't see a similar rollercoaster of emotions occurring this time around, the team I feel the most for, is the one from Manchester. It will be Ryan Giggs' record breaking game (most appearances for United). It will be Edwin van der Sar's final big prize (I don't see Holland winning Euro 2008) before retirement. It will cap off a great double season for ManU, who have already pipped Chelsea to the Premiership title.

The Head says: eh... Slightly over a month ago Chelsea almost brought Manchester United down in the race for the Premiership, by defeating them and closing the gap in the league table. That could be the memory for the Blues to hold on to. They have to my account the better team, that should see them through in spite of the injuries to captain John Terry and attacking leader Didier Drogba. Frank Lampard might be able to help Chelsea to offset the individual brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and sheer tenacity of Wayne Rooney. I'm leaning towards a tie, but having to pick one, I would have to say Chelsea.

The Gut says: This time I go for the heart. I'm pretty sure I don't get to see the game (unless they have a television connection in office), and I'm pretty sure I don't want to see Gary Neville's skinny arms holding any kind of trophy... but I feel Manchester has fewer problems heading into the game than Chelsea, less injuries and more peace of mind. Chelsea I feel has more to lose, having finally made it to the big dance without Jose Mourinho, and now they HAVE to win to prove their former manager wrong.

Man United - Chelsea 2-1

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Vista is (the) shit

After finally getting to know Windows Vista a little bit, I can tell you one thing... and it's in the title of the article.

There's actually a lot to like. It looks very good and is quite helpful in making people remember the little tasks people should do on their computers. You know, simple things like updating drivers, and installing a virus scanner. I like the idea of having the performance index, which is a nice way of stimulating you to buy more hardware.

However Vista is far too smart for its own good. It keeps asking you if you really wanted to rename that file. YES, I DID. THAT'S WHY I CLICKED ON RENAME. And then it asks you again. Vista's Media Player is also extremely defensive, blocking all other applications from taking its music file associations. EVEN IF YOU DELIBERATELY INSTALL A SPECIFIC APPLICATION FOR IT.

Thing is, Vista is just trying to protect itself. However it is doing so by assuming the user in front of the screen is a complete moron. Considering I am the user, I find that highly insulting.

Vista as it is, will never be a viable option for business. It takes too many clicks to do something simple. Many clicks take time. Time is money. And more phrases like that.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Emotional moments in sports

A little too American in this day and age, and the media made it a little more than it was, but back then this was one of the most courageous performances any athlete was able to do. The Olympic team gymnastics event saw the US team relying on Kerri Strug's vault to win the gold medal. However she got injured after a bad vault, and U.S. victory seemed lost. And then she tried again...



Make no mistake, Michael Jordan was the single reason the Chicago Bulls won anything in the NBA. His Last Shot Ever tm won the Bulls their sixth championship, en route to his retirement... which lasted all of three years, which he proceeded to tarnish with a stint as a Washington Wizard. Still the way he closed out his first (second, depending how you see it) career, was a story for the ages.



In NHL it seems all moderately good hockey players have their name enscribed in the Stanley Cup, which makes it more compelling if a genuine great player, a Hall of Famer, hasn't been able to do so during his career. Such was the case for Ray Bourque, who played 21 seasons without winning it all. His career was winding down, and he was in danger of notoriously becoming one of the greatest players never to win the Cup. The relief when he won the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche, the class captain Joe Sakic showed when he handed the Cup immediately to Bourque, closed one of the most emotional Finals in NHL history.



The most dramatic finals win in UEFA Champions League history saw Manchester United defeat Bayern Munchen in 1999 in stoppage time, after having been down by a goal and almost being denied the coveted Treble. Note the distraught Sami Kuffour pounding the pitch. Note the arrogant smiles of Mario Basler and Lothar Matthaus being swiped away. Note all 8 foot of Peter Schmeichel do a cartwheel like a Chinese gymnast.


You can't feel more for one player than Pete Sampras. This one match here, against Jim Courier at the 1995 Aussie Open, forever set the legacy of Sampras from being a very good, but boring player, to the greatest champion tennis has known to date. Agonizing over his friend and coach Tim Gullikson, he managed to pull together just enough strength and courage to beat Courier.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Dissing the Bauers and their wedding

Even if you're a moderately popular local artist, appealing to a certain cross section of the general population, how can you be so delusional that you expect hundreds, if not thousands of people to take time out of their lives to see you get married from about a 50 yards distance?

How can the media perpetuate that one person's marriage, a person I don't know, I don't follow, I don't want to follow, I certainly don't care about is more important than say the wedding of my friends... or for that matter more important than my responsibilities or my hobbies and other things I am interested in. Do you really think you're gonna earn my cash from this?

How misled is a national railways company (let me reiterate: national) that it would even consider extending a train to an insignificant place in the middle of freakin' nowhere?

I don't bloody care about Frans Bauer.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Ironman

I'm glad they actually got around to make an Ironman movie. I mean that I'd rather see Ironman on the silver screen than for example Daredevil, Ghost Rider or Elektra. And given the impression Tobey Maguire makes on me, I could even do without Spiderman too. I do realize that it takes quite some computing power to render a convincing Ironman, something that was not possible ten years ago. But a great story can be told anytime. That's why I got into the Ironman comics first, without all the CGI animations.

Thankfully that story translates well to the movie screen. Bit of an elaborate backstory, but considering the average Marvel superhero history, this one is not that far-fetched, and even conforms to the contemporary setting.

There's some great physical comedy from Downey jr., who has given the character enough depth for the audience to respect him, yet is able to completely charm his way with banter and pure wit.

The product placement is really noticeable throughout the movie, although when it's about R8s I tend to overlook that fact and focus on the fact that Audi makes really impressive supercars.

Anyway, I will again get the DVD as soon as it's released. However be sure to catch it in the cinema, and whatever you do... STAY AFTER THE CREDITS.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

May Video Bonanza!

Some old videos to start off your May vacations:

First some good old Knight Rider getting ScrewAttacked...



And to make up for that travesty, some Evolution of Dance from 2006...



I'm actually happy that some of these songs never caught on over here.