:: xcomputerman.com ::

The Empire Strikes Barack

xcomp — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:40:50 +0000

An episode of epic proportions.

E-meters not required here

xcomp — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:11:56 +0000

From Digg user Huxl3y:

Q. How many Scientologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. None: the lightbulb must find $80,000 dollars to become clear, then it will have the self-determinism to change itself.

Farewell, Oscar Peterson

xcomp — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 09:23:04 +0000

It’s hard to put into words just how great a pianist Oscar was. I could tell you he was quite possibly the greatest pianist of all time, but such words are trite at best. Perhaps I might, instead, quote the words of the LGF poster “zombie” …

In memory of Oscar Peterson, I dug out the only record I own with him playing on it — a compilation album of “The Greatest Jazz Pianists of All Time.” Even in that elite company, the people who put the album together chose to put Oscar Peterson’s track FIRST on side one, and instantly you can tell why — the guy was unbelievable right out the gate. I had forgotten how talented he was — kind of stunning on one hand, and on the other depressing for all the other would-be pianists out there, because one listen to Oscar Peterson and you know you will never, ever be as good as him, or anywhere close.

You know what, I’ll just let his fingers speak for themselves.

When you’re done, go search for some of his other work on Youtube, like this insanely fast version of the Cubano Chant, or a 1958 performance of A Gal In Gallico.

Gospel Jazz Podcast

xcomp — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:43:06 +0000

I’ve recently taken an affinity to Norvell Molex’s Gospel Jazz Podcast, a weekly eclectic mix of jazz tracks with a Christian theme. The musical variety is particularly excellent: the styles range from radio-ey smooth jazz to avant-garde and blues. Some of the tracks feature vocals, but most are purely instrumental; and there are some great covers of popular gospel songs - Ron Brown’s cover of Israel Houghton’s “Come In From The Outside” and the oft-played Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker’s take on Bob Carlisle’s “We Fall Down” are two of my favorites. This week’s episode 107 features both of those tracks, as well as an excellent take on the traditional Christmas carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. Enjoy.

Random XKCD

xcomp — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:32:00 +0000

Outsourcing

xcomp — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:20:30 +0000

I happened to stumble upon the following sequence of Dilbert strips recently while perusing a Slashdot story about Indian engineering giant Wipro outsourcing jobs to the US:

Introducing FourPointers

xcomp — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:23:45 +0000

I’ve decided to spin off a new sports-oriented blog, FourPointers. Go ahead, subscribe.

Bye-bye SCO

xcomp — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:02:00 +0000

Reality bites, stock gets obliterated like a bug in front of a speeding semi. If only people would learn to stop trying to profit off other people’s ideas…

Funniest NBA Thread in History

xcomp — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:09:11 +0000

Actually, I’m not exaggerating. It’s a bit unconventional to make a blog post about a thread on a sports forum (I think), but this one is truly something special. It started with a series of captioned pictures, often featuring Antoine “Because there ain’t no fours” Walker, and it has now turned into a monster. As of the time this post was written, it was at 54 pages of gut-busting humor. Someone find this guy an agent, because his stuff is far more entertaining than 95% of what I see on TV these days. Read it all for yourself.

Big Three, And Frankly Not Much Else

xcomp — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:13:49 +0000

So the Danny Ainge trades away his entire franchise, and gets himself the Big Ticket. Now the Celtics have Garnett, Pierce and Allen. And frankly, not much else: A sophomore point guard who can’t can’t shoot worth a lick (got his tail kicked in a shooting drill by an eighth grader in practice). Who’s that guy that’s supposed to be their starting center again? That’s right, you’ve probably never even heard of him. (If you guessed Kandi-man, you guessed wrong.) Someone explain to me why this three-man team is supposed to be an instant favorite out of the East again? I ain’t buying the JV league argument, even though the East is incredibly weak.

By the way, the aforementioned eighth grader is the son of Doc Rivers, who seems like a genuinely nice guy who just gets utterly outmatched and out-coached every night, as far as NBA contests are concerned. But fear not, for the Celtics have a savior for their non-existent bench: Reggie Miller, armed with loads of Geritol!

Update: Speaking of old geezers, the list is growing rather rapidly. Penny has already signed with the Heat.

Amazing Grace Fall Short

xcomp — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:08:36 +0000

Hey guys … it’s been a long time. Time to bring ye ol’ blog back to life. And what better way than one of the funniest (and strangely, rarest) internet videos of all time:

“Billy on a mobile” interviews with SportsRadio 610

xcomp — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:57:48 +0000

SR610 is a local sports talk radio station in Houston. From time to time they do these “on a mobile” impersonations, with Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy being a favorite target. Recently second round rookie Vassilis Spanoulis has been complaining to the media about his lack of playing time. And this morning, John & Lance pounced on the opportunity.

Click here to listen to the interview. Absolutely hilarious.

How The Lord Of The Rings Should Have Ended

xcomp — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:24:00 +0000

My precioussssss!

Ridiculous Football Finish

xcomp — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:22:58 +0000

Texas high school football game in 1994, Tyler vs Plano East. Tyler is up 41-17 with 3 minutes to go. Watch what happens.

The announcers are hilarious. My favorite quote: “I done wet mah britches!”

Stupidity is bad for your health.

xcomp — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:49:48 +0000

$900 for “3 Sony Playstation” systems? What a deal!

Somehow I don’t feel sorry for the buyer.