http://xcomputerman.com/pages Ibukun Olumuyiwa's weblog Thu, 08 May 2008 06:40:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en An episode of epic proportions. http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2008/05/08/the-empire-strikes-barack/ 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. http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2008/01/25/e-meters-not-required-here/ 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 [1], or a 1958 performance of A Gal In Gallico [2]. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rn6AEVXpeo [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=337hbXJD9vk http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/12/25/farewell-oscar-peterson/ I've recently taken an affinity to Norvell Molex's Gospel Jazz Podcast [1], 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 [2] features both of those tracks, as well as an excellent take on the traditional Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Enjoy. [1] http://gospeljazzsite.mypodcasts.net [2] http://gospeljazzsite.mypodcasts.net/index.php?id=140 http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/12/04/gospel-jazz-podcast/ http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/12/04/random-xkcd/ I happened to stumble upon the following sequence of Dilbert strips recently while perusing a Slashdot story about Indian engineering giant Wipro [1] outsourcing jobs to the US [2]: [1] http://www.wipro.com [2] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14204620 http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/09/07/outsourcing/ I've decided to spin off a new sports-oriented blog, FourPointers [1]. Go ahead, subscribe. [1] http://fourpointers.com http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/08/15/introducing-fourpointers/ Reality bites [1], stock [2] gets obliterated [3] like a bug in front of a speeding semi. If only people would learn to stop trying [4] to profit off [5] other people's [6] ideas... [7] [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=arr2HTeDD_RI&refer=news [2] http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=SCOX [3] http://linux.sys-con.com/read/415418.htm [4] http://www.spokesmanreview.com/business/story.asp?ID=201465 [5] http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/primenewswire/124733.htm [6] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060526105754880 [7] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm?section=money_latest http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/08/13/bye-bye-sco/ 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 [1]. [1] http://realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=667655&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/08/13/funniest-nba-thread-in-history/ 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 [1] (got his tail kicked in a shooting drill by an eighth grader in practice). Who's that guy [2] 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 [3], armed with loads of Geritol! Update: Speaking of old geezers, the list is growing rather rapidly [4]. Penny has already signed [5] with the Heat. [1] http://slamonline.com/online/2007/08/rajon-rondo-cant-shoot/ [2] http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kendrick_perkins/index.html?nav=page [3] http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhUSzXWAco8HuoiS6hT7dvG8vLYF?slug=ap-celtics-reggiemiller&prov=ap&type=lgns [4] http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=comebacktrail [5] http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AlXgR42oZWVmBRj67QBI6cq8vLYF?slug=ap-heat-hardaway&prov=ap&type=lgns http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/08/10/big-three-and-frankly-not-much-else/ 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: http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/08/07/amazing-grace-fall-short/ SR610 [1] 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 [2]. And this morning, John & Lance pounced on the opportunity. Click here [3] to listen to the interview. Absolutely hilarious. [1] http://www.sportsradio610.com [2] http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2007/01/career_advice_for_billy_and_a.html [3] http://www.sportsradio610.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=250443 http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2007/01/26/billy-on-a-mobile-interviews-with-sportsradio-610/ My precioussssss! http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2006/12/22/how-the-lord-of-the-rings-should-have-ended/ 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!" http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2006/11/27/ridiculous-football-finish/ $900 for "3 Sony Playstation" systems? [1] What a deal! Somehow I don't feel sorry for the buyer. [1] http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300050305788&rd=1&rd=1 http://xcomputerman.com/pages/archives/2006/11/20/stupidity-is-bad-for-your-health/