Possession trumps need

Now I do think an iPad is pretty much an iPod Touch on steroids, an oversized iPhone without a phone. In fact when Apple first announced the iPad, their incredibly obnoxious interview reel got parodied almost out of the gate...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

And yet after seeing those empty shelves at the retailers, it seems now everyone has one...

I'm sure no one needs an iPad, especially if they already have an iPhone... but dammit now even I want one!

I can haz cheeseburger?

plz?

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Choke Artists

It's probably better the Dutch sports press is nowhere near as poignant as the U.S., because if you get to the championship final three times, and you lose all of these, you get labeled. Scarlet-letter Style.

Instead the Dutch, sober and down-to-earth as they are, go about their business, comforting themselves that "at least they finished higher than Germany", and "we never thought we would reach this far anyway." They also are quick to defer cause to others. "We were beaten by a better team." "The referee had it against us from the start." Not even a hint of self-reflection.

Which is a bad thing. I mean, sure on the whole I personally enjoyed the whole tournament, no matter how Holland played. But some actions during the Final were inexcusable. No, not De Jong's kick to the sternum, which would score major points in an Olympic Tae Kwon Do contest. Not Van Bommel's tripping and hooking, which would put a prostitute to shame.

It was coach Van Marwijk's substitutions, which made no good sense. Basically he took his two hardest working, toughest and most crucial players from the pitch (Van Bronckhorst and Kuijt), and replaced them with a gamble (Eljero Elia) and someone whom I don't remember ever seeing before in any game before this one (Braafheid). Seriously, people around me were absolutely flabbergasted. It wasn't exactly a Dick Advocaat-Portugal 2004-substitution (replace your fastest, most dangerous player, with an old, slow pensioner), but one that definitely warranted explanation...

The most tragic thing is not that Holland came so close to stealing it (ROBBENNNNNEEEE!!), but rather the realization that no matter how Holland plays, beautifully gorgeous or dastardly evil, they still end up losing. At least they can revel in the knowledge they remain the best footballing nation in the world, without winning a World Cup...

...All things considered, I'd rather have them winning.

HHG: World Cup Final 2010

As a Dutchman born in the late 20th century you grow up with the tragic notion that you're never going to win the big one. I guess going to two World Cup finals and losing both by relatively close margins does that to you. Alright... so Holland does have a European Championship title under its belt, but heck even Greece and Denmark can win those...

Now Holland has reached its third Finals against Spain. It's obvious I'm Hoping that this time it does come around their way.

I'm rationalizing though that Spain will actually win the whole thing. Objectively speaking this team has already been to a high pressure situation like this: Spain is the reigning European Champion. They've got important players all over the place, from David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Xavi Alonso to Carles Puyol, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos. And several big names haven't even hit their stride (Fabregas, Torres). Even though Holland have got several seminal players to match (Robben, Van Persie, Sneijder), they are nowhere near as deep as the Spaniards. And the Iberians have defeated more high profile teams on the road to the final than Oranje (Portugal, Argentina, Germany versus Holland's Brazil).

Still, my gut feeling says the World Cup goes to the Netherlands for the first time. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's final international game (or even final professional game outright, which is it anyway?) would end up with him lifting the World Cup trophy. That's a great story. Arjen Robben's emotional fight back from injury to become one of the stars in the tournament. US sports press calling Holland their dark horse to win the title pre-tournament.

And most telling, Holland have had so many breaks this tournament, if they were to lose, they would have many times over in the past four weeks. Denmark's Poulsen's header bouncing the wrong way into his own net. The misjudged shot against Japan. Sneijder's cross brushing over Felipe Melo's head past the Brazilian's own keeper. The deflection against Uruguay. All these events show that there's simply someone out there who doesn't want Holland to lose this year.

This leads me to my last thought. People always imagine what they would do if something truly remarkable and unbelievable would happen to them. Winning a multi million dollar lottery for example. You think you know the stuff you're gonna buy, the trips you're gonna make, the job you're gonna quit... and when it actually does happen to you, it's completely different and nothing what you expected. You will not react the way you thought you would.

If Holland wins Sunday, I believe it will be much the same.

Bigger Than The Pope

Just what is it that LeBron is smoking?

Holding a "Superstar Summit" like he's Barack Obama in the G20 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh? (Delusional...)

Getting an hour-long special on ESPN to announce who he is signing with, like he's freakin' Oprah? (Egotistical...)

Signing up for Twitter as King James? (Tacky...)

Look I know and I see he's the best and most entertaining basketball player right now, but for chrissakes can he get more douchier? He better win next NBA Finals, otherwise he's busting up his image for no good reason.

Mutually Assured Destruction

So our apartment complex has two units up for sale publicly. For the sake of argument, both units are the same. Same three-room setup, same area, almost identical location. Both sellers have similar motives to move out (Hint: It's a woman!).

One of the apartments started out at a high asking price some time ago. It was a bit dodgy, but if somebody's buying, why the heck not? Then the other apartment came on the market, and undersold the first seller's asking price. To tell you something, it wasn't by much, maybe three percent in all. But it was enough to start a war. The original price dropped five percent overnight. One week later the second seller dropped its price to match.

A third unit came into the market some week later, albeit privately. The rate this goes, nobody's selling. Maybe they should think about collusion or something?