linky. from Yahoo!:

A federal judge in Miami on Tuesday ordered the former football great to pony up $25,000 in damages to DirecTV after allegedly pirating satellite TV signals.

The satellite-TV provider sued Simpson in March 2004, accusing him of piracy after government agents raided his Miami mansion in 2001 and turned up "bootloaders," illicit devices used to unscramble DirecTV's satellite signals.

good job, feds! moral of the story: kill whoever you like, but if you mess with DirecTV you're totally fucked.

now playing on iTunes/iPod: silence

Labels: internet

I saw this bus outside the Valleyfair 2 weekends ago. I took a not too clear picture of it on my phone. then, as luck would have it, I ran into it AGAIN outside of the Roseville Shinders last weekend. so I took another phone photo, and I'm able to present to you Beaver Bus Lines #69:

man, after all those high humidity 95-200 degree days, today's dry, cool weather is an absolute godsend. it's 69 degrees right now, with a super light breeze blowing fresh, crisp air right in my window, and I fucking love it.

autumn, I can smell you in the air. you can officially show up now; it's okay with me

now playing on iTunes: Coldplay 'See You Soon'

I was just hit on and I didn't even realize it till Pat and Elena told me so. I'm not too smart.

Labels: personal

no one, except for Nick Punto. the Twins are about to lose, which would be their ninth loss in 12 efforts. this includes three mistake-filled defeats to the Angels of L.A.-Anaheim in which quality starts by Radke, Silva and Mays were wasted. that makes for a .250 win percentage with only the Dodgers losing more in that span. the problem, you ask? it isn't the pitching, but the hitting (or lack thereof) that routinely let fans down withs its ineptness and inability to plate baserunners. just tonight, through Torii Hunter's 9th inning plate appearance, the Twins were walked nine times and scored from those walks only once, and that time only because of two miscues by Baltimore catcher/washout Matt Whiteside. so, one wonders exactly what can be done to help the Twins out. well, here are a couple of suggestions:

• Fire Scott Ullger, and make Molitor the hitting coach already. the evidence of Ullger's biggest shortcoming, not being able to coach players on their hitting, is sitting in the home dugout at Fenway Park. in 2002, David Ortiz was a power hitter who struck out too much and couldn't hit righthanders. then in the '02 offseason Terry Ryan cut ties with Ortiz who then signed a one-year, $1m contract with Boston. after an improved '03 in which Ortiz worked with Ron Jackson, David blossomed into the 2004 American League MVP who still struck out too much but finally solved the puzzle of the RHP to hit .300 with 40 homers and 140 RBI to help Boston get their long-awaited trophy. Big Papi isn't even the only example; Scott Ullger has also singlehandedly destroyed the powerful swings of Mike Ryan, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau with his endless unnecessary tinkering, and essentially ended the once promising career of one Michael Restovich.
• Trade away some prospects for a bona fide bat. Please? having minor-league studs is great. but when you hoard them away, letting them rot at Triple-A Edmonton/Rochester, you're not helping anyone. right now, the Twins have more minor league outfielders than they know what to do with. At Rochester, there is Kevin West and Josh Rabe. at Double-A New Britain, Denard Span is putting the hurt on baseballs. and at Single-A Fort Myers, 2003 draft pick Justin Arneson is just starting to blossom. and that's with Jason Kubel, Lew Ford, Cuddyer, and possibly Hunter in the long-term plans of the big club. that's just at the OF positions! all of the Twins farm is stacked this way. so alls I'm saying is maybe, just maybe, we can part with one, to get someone like Joe Randa or Kevin Millar, or anyone who knows how to hit, in the lineup.
• Stop being tentative on the bases. it seems like the guys have just stopped wanting to play hard. so let's run out those singles, take big leads, and for God's sake take a chance once in a while! the umpire won't tell you when to score, you've got to learn how to do it on your own.
  

hopefully this will catch Gardy's eye. after all, he should be totally relaxed now, after his eventful All-Star break and office tirade.

now playing on iTunes/iPod: silence

Labels: twins

LASTS

Last Cigarette: like, 4 years ago
Last Alcoholic Drink: ...about 26 hours ago
Last Good Cry: a month or two ago
Last Library Book: what's a library? I like owning books, or borrowing from friends
Last book bought: Moneyball, I think. you know, if you don't count textbooks
Last Movie Seen in Theatres: 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'
Last Cuss Word Uttererd : not even sure
Last Beverage Drank: water.
Last Food Consumed: some delicious honey-nut Cheerios
Last Phone Call (outgoing/incoming): Milbrandt.
Last Time Showered: this morning
Last Shoes Warn: the adidas flipflops which badly need replacing
Last CD Played: actual compact disc? Pat McGee Band Save Me
Last Annoyance: Nick incessantly quoting 'Zoolander'. either that or having to rename about 300 mp3's after copying my iPod over to my reformatted harddrive
Last Thing Written: see above
Last Words Spoken: not sure
Last Chair Sat in: my desk chair
Last Web page Visited: Blogger. mainly so I could throw this thing up
First screen name: aero_fan_98
First credit card: Visa
First enemy: I don't have enemies.

DO YOU:

like to cook: meh.
have a secret you haven't shared with anyone: sure.
want to get married: absolutely.
current hair color: blonde

FAVORITES:

number: 32
colors: dark blue
song(s): 'Must Have Been Love'

IN THE LAST TWO DAYS, HAVE YOU...

cried? hah. NO
said 'i love you'?: yes
talked to an ex?: I don't talk to any exes
hugged someone?: yes
kiss someone?: depends on what kind of kiss...

your name: huh? this was pretty random. shouldn't this be like, at the beginning of the form instead of smack in the middle? uh, I forgot the question
your gender: male
height: 6'2''
eye color: blue
your location: the paul
fears: yes, I have those

[ HAVE YOU EVER ]

cheated on someone? nope. not planning on it either
fallen for a relative? can we go back to the name question?
had your heart broken? yes
had a dream come true? probably
done something you regret? probably
cheated on a test? nope.
broken a body part? I cracked my skull once

[ CURRENT]

wearing: pj pants and a tshirt
chewing: nothing.
feeling: meh
watching: well, a '70's Show' DVD is on. not really watching it
should REALLY be: sleeping

[ DO YOU... ]

brush your teeth? you know it
have any piercings? nope
drive? sigh
ever get off the computer? it doesn't seem like it.

[ Friends ]

do you trust your friends? of course
are you a good friend? hell if I know.

[ THE LAST PERSON YOU...]

IMed? uh..... Laura.
yelled at? Austin
fell in love with? Kara

[Random....]

What was the worst day of your life? what the hell?
What has been the best day of your life? yeah, because I can remember dates
What comes first in your life? getting up in the morning
What do you usually think about before you go to bed? everything

[ FAVORITE . . .]

Store: American Eagle. or the Apple store
Relative: Austin
Sport: baseball
Vacation Spot: I love going up to Park Rapids. ideally, I'd like to spend a vacation in the UK seeing the old country
Fruit: bananas, strawberries or cantaloupe
Holiday: Christmas
Name for a Girl: Amanda, Madison, Cassandra
Name for a Boy: Jeremy, Joshua

[ DO YOU . . .]

Like to give hugs? of course.
Like to walk in the rain? light rain, yes. otherwise, I'll be inside, watching it through a window
Have a job? unfortunately
Sleep on your side? usually.
Think you're attractive? nope.
Have stuffed animals? just Sylvester and Mr. Bear. but um, they just kinda sit hidden away from everything

[ WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT . . .]

Abortion: not a fan. but it's not my place to tell other people not to have them
Bill Clinton: great source of humor
Eating Disorders: product of Western culture
Tattoos: not for me
Piercing: nope
Drinking: occasionally.
Guys: most dudes are sex-driven morons.
Girls: [11:16PM] Parrot Malibu: chicks are nuts

[ THIS OR THAT]

Pierced nose or tongue? no.
Be serious or funny? I like to laugh
Simple or Complicated? simple
Sugar or salt? can't it be both, like a french fry dipped in a Frosty?
Tongue or belly button ring? no. though girls with the belly rings are hot
Chocolate or flowers? huh?
Angels or miracles? miracles.
Color or Black-and-white photos? black and white
Rap or Rock? depends on what kind of rock. Linkin Park, I'm looking in your direction
Stay up late or sleep in? stay up late
TV or radio? iPod
members of the opposite sex taller or shorter? shorter. 5'6'' to 5'9'' would be ideal
Sun or moon? the moon
Diamond or Ruby? spades
Left or Right? right
Kids or no kids? at some point, I definitely want a couple
Half-empty or Half-full? it depends on my mood that day
Mustard or ketchup? mustard
Newspaper or Magazine? newspaper
Give or receive? it has to be both, but give if it can't be both
Rain or snow? snow, as long as it doesn't stick around for 9 months
Mexican or Italian food? Italian, dude
A house in the woods or the city? city

now playing on iTunes: Coldplay 'See You Soon'

Labels: web2.0

linky. from twins.mlb.com (emphasis mine):

The Twins will wrap up the first half of their season Sunday before they finally reach the three-day All-Star break, which comes at a good time for the Twins and, Gardenhire said, for everybody else, too.

"This is the time of year when everybody needs a blow," he said.

well, at least we know what Gardy has planned for the all-star break.

now playing on iTunes/iPod: silence

it's sortof been a pattern since I got back from cheeseland. lay down around 11p, sleep for about half an hour, wake up, dick around on the compy or watch DVD's till 4a, then fall asleep and be really fucking tired the next morning. awesome.

the annual cousins trip to Valleyfair happens next Saturday, sure hope I find my sunglasses before then

now playing on iTunes: Something Corporate 'She Paints Me Blue'

how websites will just randomly refuse to load on my Firefox. it's not like they're obscure websites, like mine, but big ones like Yahoo! or Google.

for some reason though, NHDN always loads perfectly. go figure

now playing on iTunes: Edwin McCain 'Alive'

Labels: internet

linky. (AP) from the article:

NEW YORK - For doodlers who can't get enough etching and sketching at home, Etch-A-Sketch is coming to a cell phone.

The nearly 50-year-old classic toy, adapted for the mobile phone by a company named In-Fusio, is being introduced in Britain on a wide array of handsets by the cellular carrier Orange.

next up for mobile gaming? Scrabble! I fucking hate you, Britain.

and another linky. (Ziff-Davis Media) from the article (emphasis mine):

Also this week, Apple introduced a revamped and simplified line of iPods, merging the Photo iPod and iPod, ditching the "photo" name and adding color screens to all of its full-sized portable players. The iPod Mini line remains unchanged.

The new lineup consists of a new 20GB model for $399, a 60GB model for $399 ($20 less than before), and a retooled iPod U2 Special Edition player with color screen for $329 ($20 less than before).

y'know something? I had one of the very first photopods out of the chute, when the 40GB one was $499. now what happens? they eliminate the low end photopod, plop a color screen in the $299 model and drop the 60GB model to $399! please, stop screwing me, Apple.

now playing on iTunes: Ryan Cabrera, 'She's'