Fatlo.af

They are fantastic to behold, especially if you’ve forgotten about it and someone reminds you the day before the weekend when its supposed to happen on Monday. It’s like a wave of euphoria passes over you and you’re instantly relaxed at the thought of not only a 3 day weekend but that the following weekend arrives even closer than normal.

Glorious.

If you’re in another state, you probably didn’t get one, however we in Adelaide did. So, if you didn’t, it sucks to be you. Ooh, or if you’re in hospitality, you probably still worked as usual. Refer to paragraph 3, sentence 2 for a correlating response.

I’m going to start changing things slightly in my posts too, if the topic of what I’m talking about is different from the last paragraph then I’ll put a little heading up just so you can keep track. It’s an experiment to see how well it breaks everything up but I’m confident. Quietly confident.

Grand Final Weekend
The weekend just gone gave us the finale’s of two very popular sports in Australia. Depending on what state you live in, they’re both called football.

The NRL and the AFL, they ended their respective campaigns with the usual party hats and red cordial that are de rigeur these days. I’m not going to even pretend to enjoy watching rugby league, if I’m going to watch rugby, its union or nothing. The AFL however, well that offers a slightly more interesting visual experience but even then it doesn’t normally go too far over a moderate level on the interestometer. It just doesn’t excite me in a great manner.

I love watching ice hockey though, basketball too and now that Fox Sports 1, 2 and 3 offer Premier League games whenever they’re on, I’m watching all that I can again.

I used to follow it quite well a few years ago but it was tough to keep up when SBS were the only ones showing the games and they were always pushed well back into the evening because of the time difference. The intertron wasn’t the way it is now with the amount of news coverage either. Thusly, I can sit and watch West Ham lose as many games as possible even though they’ve got a tough lineup and two great Argentinian imports and a manager of quite reasonable quality from the comfort of my lounge room.

Sorry about that, its a bit of a sore point right now.

New Toys and Comments about Bill
The arrival of my latest toy occurred Tuesday morning thanks to Mr. Courier Person, a PS2. Yes, I know, the PS3 comes out next month in the US/Europe and we get it next March but this just means that the PS2 is quite cheap right now. Plus, and I blame this on Paul, I want to play Guitar Hero 2 when it comes out next month. I am such a consumer whore.

I’m doing better than Bill though, he still delights in calling me as many insulting names as possible. This is all to try and regain some kind of dignity because Ebay slap’s him around like he’s in a leather gimp suit being whipped by his mistress. A disturbing picture, I know.

At last count he’s up to buying 1 item every 2.1 days off of Ebay. If you ask him about it he’ll use excuses like: “It’s not all for me”, or “I need this for work” or “Do you realise how much money I’ve saved?”. Of course you do Bill, we know you do. Women use that excuse when they buy things at a sale.

Of course, it does pose the question, for someone who complains so much about how stupid America and its current tenants are, he doesn’t seem to think twice about sending exhorbitant amounts of money to them in exchange for goods and postage. Something to think about.

Geek Products from Microsoft
Microsoft, to some the violator of the earth, known in ancient scripture as wielding a chariot made from the bones of slain angels powered by an engine of undead horses whose riders were once numbering 4, and connected to the apocalypse. I.e. not nice. Of course, there are lovers of MS, which is to be expected. I, as a geek, have to choose a side, its expected. Like in Roman times, either you were with Caesar, or you were dead.

Normally I would choose Apple, I always have. I love those rascals with their iPod’s and their Mac Mini’s. However, the impending release of the Zune seems to have changed all this. Not 100% just yet but it feels all to much like looking at another woman while your girlfriend is looking in the other direction. I’m scared I’ll get caught.

I have read reviews and found examples of its usability and while it does indeed contain the stench of a company badly trying to catch up to the rest of the cool kids I can’t help but think: “Maybe this could be the shit”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPod (well, until some entrepreneuring person thought they deserved it more), but it’s been a while since Apple had any competition in the market for a media player. Competition is good, it breeds better products.

I also like the concept of the Zune because once the geek community gets a hold of it, they’ll penetrate its soft centre and coax it’s will to give up its bounty of configurable things. Much like the Xbox, apparently that was uncrackable too.

That being said, I can’t help but envision a device which fails at its attempts to impress me with a screen just large enough to see myself scowling in it as I tear its spine out and hold it aloft in disappointment. A bit dramatic, but I have my reasons.

For me, Gadgetry is god.

I’ll probably just hold out until Apple release their real iPod Video in January along with iTV. I think that will place the Zune squarely under its bootheel, ready for squashing.

Thats it for me, have a stupendous weekend.

Scott
head like a whole, black out your soul, i’d rather die than give you control