I know the Doctor has already written about him, and this may come a little late. I haven't really been able to fulfill my blogging duties and for that I am sorry. With my first entry in a while, I find it appropriate to give my respect and write about Josh Hamilton, on a night where he broke...actually where he obliterated several barriers, and not just the right field fences of Yankee Stadium. First and foremost, I think you deserve to see one of the many moments that brought Yankee Stadium up to its feet, a feat...if you will...that seems impossible to achieve if you do not wear the pinstripes.
Yes, Josh Hamilton did not "officially" hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium, an accomplishment only one person may have achieved in the past, a story that many consider to be somewhat of a myth as well. If you look carefully, and stop the video at exactly 26 seconds, you will see the ball trajectory is taking it right in between the BudLight sign and the Bank of American sign. The ONLY reason that ball did not go out, is because that area of the "white fance" that decorates the top of Yankee Stadium is what looks to be a solid pillar that holds one of the flags. A few inches to the right or left, that ball would have definitely been out. The thing is...that ball wasn't the "farthest" one hit. That ball was measured at 502 feet, where one of the longer ones was measured in at 518, a bomb that reached (reached is actually an understatement) the "black hole" and seemed reminiscent of a familiar player who was only a few feet away, watching Josh do his thing: Reggie Jackson.
Josh hit some of the farthest and most powerful balls Yankee Stadium has ever seen. As he swung his bat, with "The Dream" inscribed on it, hitting home-run after home-run, he finally took a moment at around his 17th, and looked around, smiling and absorbing the moment. Almost as a tribute, Yankee Stadium started playing music from The Natural. Yankee faithful who had no home-town favorite, quickly adopted Hamilton, as everyone else in the stadium did. Hamilton didn't take long to make all 50,000 fans stand up, as by his second home-run the stadium exploded (and I remember him laughing and humbly saying "that's only two, that's only two"), and by the third most fans had stood up to get a better glimpse of the balls he was hitting.
Josh has certainly come a long way since his days as a drug addict. To all of the skeptics out there, Hamilton is subject to three drug tests a week. But Josh doesn't subject himself to the standards enforced by MLB. He is active in his own way to make sure he stays clean. When he first signed on to the Cincinnati Reds, in an effort to re-launch his career, he made it a point that the only way he would play for them, would be to have a close friend to look after him and make sure he was keeping clean. Johnny Narron, brother of then manager of the Reds Jerry Narron, was Hamilton's high school coach, and joined the Reds staff helping with scouting and hitting instruction, but most importantly helping Josh take the necessary steps to remain clean. Narron's help went as far as literally managing Josh's money, to prove to the Red's front office, MLB, and himself that he was in fact staying clean.
Some may look at it and say, "You know, if he really needs a babysitter for that, then he shouldn't even be playing in the first place".
In response to that, I consider Josh's proactivity in finding a trusting figure to help him out through the difficult and exhausting process of fighting an addiction to be quite admirable. Few people find the will power, let alone fight through the judgements and to some degree embarassment, to have what some may call a "babysitter" to look after them.
Anyway, I write this because I think Josh deserves the respect after showcasing what he can do. He can certainly be one of the top players in MLB. He can certainly hit balls as far as anyone has ever seen. He can certainly fight through the obstacles of a drug addiction. And in a stadium where I've witnessed grown men yell terrible terrible things at 8 year-olds wearing the away team's colors, Josh can certainly make 50,000+ people stand up from their seats, and chant his name.
I remember sitting next to the Doctor, patiently waiting for Josh to come up, as he kept saying "yeah, I think Sizemore has a good chance, I like him". Honestly, I expected Josh to give some competiton. But no-one, except for maybe him, was expecting the display of raw power and ability he gave. I was up and out of my seat after his second home-run. To put it simply, only because I'm starting to sound redundant, I couldn't believe what was happening that night. I still get chills when I watch the clips, and hear the chants. It seemed as though the night was his from the very beginning. Yankee Stadium, as of that night, had 32 home games left and it was being clearly displayed in deep center field. (Josh's number for the Rangers). They had placed Josh in the last spot of the batting order, a detail I noted to the Doctor as we were sitting there watching the batters go through, to which he responded semi-jokingly, "yep they always save the best for last". Derek Jeter (America's Captain as many call him) was asked who he thought would win the contest, and he responded with Hamilton's name (he may not have won the tropy, but like the Doctor pointed out, everyone will forget Morneau's win). This was the 23rd installment of the Home Run Derby, and although now I may be playing a bit of numerology, 23 is 32 backgrounds...and nevertheless 23 is a phenomenal number as both the Doctor and I will attest to that. It was the first and last Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium...Hamilton had a dream, years ago, before he re-launched his career and way before Yankee stadium had been designated as the All-Star game for 2008, in which he was being interviewed at Yankee Stadium during the Midsummer Classic. And finally, he is one of very few players, who have managed to get all 50,000 seats in Yankee Stadium to stand and cheer his name.
Josh Hamilton will cruusssshh you.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Josh Hamilton
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Bigfoot's Fuzzy Facts
I've decided to start writing about random facts that have recently been brought to my attention. I thought maybe having a little more condensed and concentrated spontaneity would make our blog more enjoyable for the reader. So here it goes, the first edition of Bigfoot's Fuzzy Facts. This week's edition: iPods powered by t-shirts, Steve Jobs' sneaky plan at becoming filthy rich, and a look at Monica Lewinsky and how she isn't the only one making money off her knees.
Apparently scientists ath the Georgia Institute of Technology are in the works for developing a shirt with a type of technology that would use your movements to generate enough electricity to power small electronics, like an iPod.
-Exactly what will we get from this? It's not very re-assuring to know that I'm going to be buying surge protectors for my clothing. Can you say "not-so-spontaneous human combustion"?
For investors out there: now that technology keeps getting smaller and smaller, wouldn't it be smart to invest in a company that develops miniaturization technologies? Think about it.
Yes Apple has brought down the price for the new iPhone to $199. So really they couldn't be making that much more of a profit...could they? Some analysis points to the cost of the newest batch of iPhones to be as low as $100. OK so its still not that much...? Actually.... with AT&T's subsidizing efforts, Apple is selling these babies close to $400 to AT&T. With over 70 countries targeted for iPhone release by the end of the year, Steve Jobs should be a contender for biggest/sneakiest money maker of 2008.
Tiger Woods won the US Open, with one knee. He's undergoing knee surgery soon to repair a torn ligament that has been bothering him for...the last 10 months! That means he also won the 2008 Buick International,the Dubai Desert Classic, the Accenture Match Play Championship, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational all with a torn ACL. He's made enough money this year (about 5.7 million) with one knee than Monica Lewinski ever made with two knees.
Chuck Norris vs. Blender
Chuck Norris doesn't read books, he stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
Chuck Norris is so fast he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
Chuck Norris is responsible for China's over-population. He hosted a Karate tournament in Beijing and all women within 1,000 miles became pregnant instantly.
Superman once watched an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. He then cried himself to sleep.
'Icy-Hot' is too weak for Chuck Norris. After a workout, Chuck Norris rubs his muscles down with liquid-hot MAGMA.
Chuck Norris doesn't play god. Playing is for children.
UAV's Controlled By iPhone
Yep, the Center for Collaborative Control of Unmanned Vehicles (wow), has found a way to give tasks to unmanned aerial vehicles. The iPhone can't control the vehicle, but as you can see in the video, it seems as though they are figuring out ways to use the iPhone for other interesting things.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Superhero Fashion Emergency
Ever stopped to think about Superheros' attire? Well, now you will.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
What's Missing From the New iPhone and Why
So, people are upset because several things are "missing" from the latest iPhone. People are criticizing that they did not add any "innovative" features such as a better camera, video conferencing, iChat capabilities, etc.
Well if you pay close attention, you'll realize that Apple also released something called the App Store, which most certainly will be able to fill in the gaps for all of these issues. In my opinion, Apple is being smart. After their relationship with AT&T has seemingly gone through some rough patches in the last six months (with AT&T "leaking" certain information, and trying to control the decision making for the iPhone), I'm sure Apple has decided to show them that they're the one calling the shots anyway.
First lets focus on one of the most important things of the new iPhone: the price cut.The price cut prevents Apple from getting a percentage of the revenue from the data and voice plans controlled by AT&T. Well, by introducing the App Store, Apple sneakily finds a way to get around this. The way the App Store works, people develop different applications for the phone, and designate a price to it (ranging from free to whatever they would like to charge), and sell it through Apple. Developers get 70% of revenue while Apple gets 30%. Wouldn't it be nice if someone developed something like...an application for the iPhone that ran like iChat and sold it through the App Store? By leaving it open to third party applications, Apple will certainly be receiving a share of the revenue from applications that will be using AT&T's data plan anyway. My point is that Apple would much rather allow other people to "develop" an application similar to iChat so that they could get some sort of compensation, rather than developing an integrated version for the iPhone and getting absolutely 0 compensation for it.
In terms of video conferencing, I think that Apple is just being somewhat logical. If you could video conference through your iPhone, that would mean you would need a camera in the front so you could see the other person. That would mean you would probably need a camera in the back as well for taking pictures so you could actually look at the picture you are taking. That would mean...you would have two cameras in one phone. That's a lot of cameras in one phone and it sounds very cramped. Today, video conferencing doesn't seem to be really taking off, especially when really the only people you would be able to video conference with would be other iPhone users and people with iChat. Until they develop iChat for windows, and other phones would have video conferencing capabilities, I don't think that will be something that will be showing up in the iPhone anytime soon. Plus think about it. How often would you really use it? Yeah, I like to video chat every once in a while, but it's through my computer. Phones are meant to reach you when you're unreachable through anything else. If you're online, sure you could video chat. But if you're out having dinner, driving, walking down a busy street, or even out in some crowded place, do you really want to focus on your phone during a phone call? You would most certainly be more prone to running into people or getting into a car crash if that were to happen. I think until they really really really get it right, video conferencing will be hard to put into a phone.
What it comes down to, is that Apple is really trying to focus on the affordability and availability in the 70 countries they are planning on releasing it. Regarding other applications that people expected and were disappointed when they weren't presented, just wait because that's what updates are for. Like I said, you can't expect them to release everything at once because that would just make expectations to go that much higher than before, and soon they would run out of innovation. They're playing hard to get, and you just have to be a little patient. Come Christmas time and January, they may be and probably will be releasing a 32GB iPhone. And between now and then, people shouldn't be disappointed with the types of applications that they will be releasing.
Release of iPhone3G
With the release of the new iPhone, a lot of people seemed to be more disappointed than impressed. Why? Well, many expected Jobs to launch several new features that would have been revolutionary in the mobile phone industry. Along with 3G and the GPS features that were released, many expected Jobs to announce video conferencing capabilities, better camera, picture messaging, MMS, and a 32GB model. At the end of the day, Jobs released the expectations: 3G, GPS, lower price ($199 for 8GB...compared to the original price of $599 of the first model). What people were upset about was really the fact that this may have been one of the few times Jobs failed to go above and beyond people's expectations. But to tell you the truth, at the end of the day, he released one of the most innovating pieces of technology on the latest network capabilities. He can't just blow his load right away. The main points of the release of this new phone are the affordable price, 3G capabilities, and the fact that the iPhone will be released in 70 countries by the end of the year, compared to the current 6 that support it now.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Human Tetris
Have you ever played tetris? Don't you just love that game? Well, people in the eastern side of the world seem to really know what entertainment is. When you put one of the most basic and entertaining games created for video game consoles and add people to it, clearly you will produce one of the most hilarious game-shows ever.
Mindless Entertainment
Well I've been at my job this summer for about a week now, and I've learned that I definitely enjoy wasting my time and mindlessly entertaining myself for as long as I can. I've decided to write a bit more often on here as an exercise to keep my sanity throughout the week. At times I like researching and reading about new and exciting things, but I definitely also enjoy practicing some free-thought (where I don't necessarily have any direction in the piece other than for my own entertainment). So, to keep it short and sweet, because this one doesn't really have interesting content like some of my other entries have, I would like to introduce to you something that friends of mine (associated more closely to Doctor Dozer) recently brought to my attention. His name is Gorgeous George, and he is an absolute...beauty for lack of a better word. Actually, I'm very impressed by him, as he seems to be too incredibly stupid to realize that people don't like him. As explained to me, he is a celebrity of sorts, tied to the infomercial world, and all people do is call in to his show and make fun of him. Please enjoy.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
3G iPhone Commercial
If you don't know much about the Apple Store on 59th and 5th avenue in NYC, then you should know that it is open 24/7. Except for today. As I was taking a nice stroll today, I walked by the Apple store and noticed something unusual about it. I noticed that there seemed to be a line outside of the front door, several Apple employees wearing their brightly colored shirts, a good amount of security detail surrounding the building, and more importantly very expensive equipment clearly meant for shooting some sort of production. Upon closer inspection, I noticed no customers were inside of the store, and people were being turned down from entering the store. I couldn't help but ask one of the individuals involved in the detail around the store (it doesn't matter whether they were the security detail or an apple employee for the sake of keeping their identity as ambiguous as possible) what exactly was going on. "Oh the store is closed...they're shooting the new commercial for the new iPhone". Frankly their blunt and honest answer somewhat surprised me, as Apple has remained very covert over their entire operation. People kept carrying very expensive equipment into the Apple store, and the security detail began to set up a "rope barrier" around the perimeter of the store, about 10 feet away from the building, far enough away so that no one could get a glimpse of what was inside. This was at about 5 in the afternoon. I happened to walk by a little more recently this evening at about 10 p.m. and it looked like they were starting to store and shut down some of the equipment that had been placed outside the store. However, they still had a food stand and many more lights turned on inside the store. I decided to pry a little more from a different angle and approached one of the individuals involved in the detail again. When I asked when the new phone would come out, I received a very long-winded and very practiced response concerning their shortage in supply, their periodic but ambiguous deliveries of iPhone supplies, and the common "I don't know, they don't tell us anything". Good, because I had an ace in my sleeve (if you read my previous post on the 3G iPhone you'll see that many events seem to equal a 3G iPhone launch on June 15th), as I already knew that it was a commercial for the new iPhone. "So when does this commercial for the new iPhone come out". Here, they answered a very sincere, "I don't know," as they sounded almost a little disappointed, before they quickly realized what they had divulged clearly caught off guard, and they quickly tried to cover their tracks by saying, "I mean, we're not even sure if it's even for that...ya know". Well, there you have it, in my opinion, they wouldn't be shooting a commercial now for a product they are planning to launch months from now. It seems very clear that they will be releasing this new iPhone within the next 3 weeks.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
3G iPhone
Given the nature of college life and how busy and lazy we become towards the end of a semester, we've taken a very long hiatus from writing any sort of posts on here. Granted we don't really have that big of an audience so, really, was it that big of a deal? Anyway, we're trying to get this site back up and running, mostly to entertain ourselves now that we really have nothing else to do. The last few weeks I've spent a good amount of time researching this new iPhone coming out. All you really need to know is this: Apple is planning on coming out with it's second version of the iPhone, one that is 3G capable. What does this mean you ask? Well, it means that AT&T is setting up a more powerful network for 3G devices, like the new iPhone, so that when they are using the internet, instead of browsing at speeds comparable to dial-up, they'll be using something closer to a WiFi broadband network. So now that you know what the product is, now you need to know when it'll be coming out. Well rumor had it that it was going to be released in January of 2008. That didn't happen. Rumors then proceeded on to talking about a release by the end of 2008. But, it seems as though it should be sooner than that. AT&T has reportedly aimed at completing a 3G mobile broadband network by the end of June. With the supply of iPhones coming to a screeching halt the last few weeks, it seems all but obvious that Apple is making room for its newest addition to the iPhone family. There's also been a few signs that hint to the arrival of this new phone. According to Import Genius, a website that tracks shipments of goods entering the U.S., Apple has been importing a very large amount of "electric computers" into the country the last couple of months. This is the data that the site presents, and it is actually very interesting how they've managed to deter any attention they may have attracted had they labeled the shipments under "iPhone". Additionally, on a visit to an AT&T kiosk at the local mall, I learned today that AT&T employees have been discouraged from taking any sort of vacation between the days of June 15th and July 21st. Coincidentally, Apple's Developer's Conference runs from June 9th to the 13th.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Heath Is No Joke
With The Dark Knight scheduled to come out July 18, many are still wondering if the studios will decide to change anything due to Heath Ledger's death earlier this year. It seems as though Warner Brothers and director Christopher Nolan have decided to move along with their initial plans regarding the marketing time-line for the film. While there was a small hiatus after Ledger's death, viral marketing websites are back up, trying to reel in fans into the world of Gotham. As much fun, interesting, and effective those sites are for increasing the hype on the movie, I sincerely believe that this movie's success will and should be mostly credited to Ledger's performance. Yes, Christopher Nolan has completely transformed the Batman universe from Schumacher's commercialized and "kid-friendly" vision, into a darker, more profound world. But judging from the few trailers and TV spots that have been released so far, it seems as though Ledger's portrayal of the Joker will make or break the movie. They've already placed so much emphasis on his character throughout the marketing of the movie so far, that they clearly want fans to focus on the dynamic that Ledger's performance will bring on to the screen. From what I've seen, I think Ledger truly nails the part. Every time I catch the trailer on TV, Ledger's twisted laugh and his delirious demeanor get me excited to watch the film. I believe that his portrayal of the Joker will match, and maybe even beat Jack Nicholson's portrayal. Now I know that seems a little rash and impulsive. Frankly, I think Nicholson has rarely been upstaged, if ever, in any role he's taken. But there's something about Ledger that I like. Nolan's take on the Joker is much less cartoonish. Its almost like you sympathize for the character as you can feel the anguish in his demeanor with his ragged wardrobe and his smeared make-up. But then Ledger hits you with his sinister and mischievous smile that make you realize how evil his character is. I'll say it again, I think Ledger's performance will make or break this film. I'm very impressed with what they've done with the character, so I say Ledger's performance will be incredible, and will bring a fresh, and more appropriate depiction of the Joker to younger generations. Ultimately, it'll come down to one factor. I think younger generations will be more open and enjoy this portrayal of the Joker. But if Nolan and Ledger are able to sell it to fans of the Tim Burton version, then Warner Brothers will be celebrating a big compensation. This role will become one of, if not the defining role of Ledger's short, but successful career.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Its Like....A Really Big iPhone
Ever watched Minority Report? You know the scenes where Tom Cruise flails his arms everywhere and at the same time he's controlling some sort of holographic computer? Well, that might be happening sooner than you think. Jeff Han, a computer scientist over at NYU, and his boys at Perceptive Pixel have found a way to register your touch onto a screen. Supposedly he was inspired when he saw his own prints when holding a glass of water, a phenomenon called "frustrated internal total reflection".
.....MMMMMkkkkkkkkkk.......
But anyway, it looks like the coolest thing that's come out of NYU since the Olsen twins decided to check in for rehab. It completely changes user interactivity with computers. Frustrated at how you need to click a million times to move your picture albums around? Imagine scattering the pictures as if you were putting them on a table. The boys over at Microsoft have got the right idea. They decided the next big thing is going to be this. So of course, the best way to integrate this into everyday life...is to....turn a coffee table into a multi-touch computer. I have the video for Jeff Han on here. But if you want to check out Microsoft's, look no further than here.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Wanted
I'm big into movies. As of recently, I've been a sucker for the viral marketing that movies like Cloverfield and I Am Legend have used to build up the hype before the release date. Wanted is one of the newest graphic novel adaptations coming to the big screen that looks like may be a sleeper for one of the best movies to watch this summer. It might be a little hard with WALL*E, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight all having great prognostications for their success. Coming Soon just came out with the newest trailer for Wanted. Definitely check it out. Click on "read more" to see it.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Forget SMS, AIM Is Making Its Own Mark
Hey,
Being my first post on the site, I thought I would make a smooth entrance without posting anything too long, big, whatever. But I will be definitely talking about something incredibly important, as it will definitely change the mobile phone market. Apple has just unveiled the new SDK for the iPhone. Basically what this means, is that people are going to notice a bunch of new applications that will come out for iPhones. This is really similar to the applications you can find for your Mac if you go to apple.com, and decide to download a widget, games, etc. But this isn't the biggest part of today's news. Apple also announced today that AIM will soon be compatible with the iPhone. This is something that is somewhat overdue. It is interesting however, the implications this has in the relationship between Apple and AT&T. Are SMS fees going to go down? As a college student I know most people live and breathe by texts and AIM. I do know plenty of people who decide that AIM is far more detrimental to their social lives than texting. With this new update coming up, it'll be interesting to see what other cell phone companies do in response to this. They can't possibly stay quiet when their competition is essentially offering free texting at no extra charge.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Our Blurry Mantra
Hey and welcome to the blog.
As we’ve recently just started this, you probably just stumbled upon this site by some twist of fate since we don’t really have a steady fan base…yet. But that’s about to change. Who are we? Well, we’re really only a few college guys trying to spend some time writing about what interests us, and being college students our tastes range from a wide spectrum of subjects. Basically, we will write about whatever it is we feel like writing. College is a time of stealing music, sneaking into freshman dorms, and wrestling girls into the ground amidst many other things. Don’t you just wish that type of freedom was easy to find? Well, you’ve come to the right place. You can get your little taste of freedom thanks to this blog, where we favor nothing and write about everything.
What we are trying to do is live by the nature of one of the most clever comedians of our time: Mitch Hedberg. He was the embodiment of surreal humor, and made many laugh through his unconventional delivery. This is our mantra. We live every day confined to our small little spaces such as classrooms, libraries, dinning halls, etc. So why not change it a bit. Why not gleefully roam free and have no real purpose. Maybe we care too much about petty little things everyday that we forget to look at what is blurry, thus what may be important in our lives. That is what we are trying to deliver. A blog that has no explicit categorization. We just want to give you the opportunity to learn and read about new things, and maybe then you’ll be surprised and find something you never knew was there in the first place.
So please, take a few moments of your day to peruse through our little baby, and realize that this is in fact the way blogging, and maybe even life, was meant to be done. Without boundaries.