JibJab's 2007 year in review is a musical review of all that was this past year set to Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire. Thanks JJ for reminding me of the FroHawk... Actually, maybe I could have lived without thinking of that hair do again. Enjoy.
2007 will be remembered for a year where one team did something that was not supposed to be possible and may not happen again for another 35 years. Our New England Patriots become just the 2nd team ever to complete an undefeated regular season in the NFL [the only other is the perfect 17-0 Miami Dolphins]. Along the way, they set a number of team and individual records. Here are some numbers to consider going into 2008:
16 - Number of wins in the regular season. NFL expanded to 16 games in 1978 19 - Consecutive regular season wins [over two seasons], surpassing their own record of 18 from 2003 to 2004 75 - Total number of touchdowns, averaging more than 4 and half per game 50 - Number of Tom Brady touchdown passes, Mannings' 2004 49 TD's are now history 23 - Number of those 50 that went to Randy Moss. Rice's 22 in 12 games are now second in the books but will always stand as the measuring stick for production 589 - Most points in a season, way beyond the 98 Vikings 556
Perhaps a player from the other undefeated team said it best...
"In this salary-cap era, free-agency era, I didn't think it could be done, and the Patriots did it," said Jim Mandich, a tight end on that team. "They are a remarkable team. They're terrifically coached, and if somebody was going to tie the Miami Dolphins' record in the regular season of going unbeaten, it's appropriate that it would be the Patriots because they're a class act."
Ok, that is all history and we need 3 more victories in 2008 to make it truly a perfect season. Go Pats!
Thanks to a friend of a friend, I have my number for the 112th Boston Marathon. On the morning of April 21st, I will be departing Hopkinton, MA with 20,000 of my newest friends and will make the trek to Copley Square. Thank you to all who have made efforts to find me a number and I can't wait to pass over both the yellow lines painted in the street - one in Hopkinton Center the other on Bolyston Street in Boston - which signify the beginning and the end of the world's oldest annual marathon.
Up till yesterday, the NFL had committed to keeping this Saturday's potential epic and historic Patriots/Giants game limited to their own NFL Network and local affiliates. Previously the NFL had stated that onus of making the game widely available fell on the major cable providers. This is an ongoing struggle between the cable providers and the NFL because companies such as Comcast and Time Warner have declined to carry the NFL Network as part of basic packages. The NFL Network is in it's 2nd year of broadcasting live games. So, again, it's all about money.
In an effort to get the game aired across the country, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a co-written letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggesting they might want to reconsider the league's antitrust exemption.
In response to this new government pressure, the NFL has reconsidered. "We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," Goodell said in a statement. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever." The game will now be simulcast on CBS, NBC and the NFL Network. Ironically for history buffs, this will also mark the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of an NFL game since the inaugural Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC televised the meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.
So it seems that facing congress and reviewing their sweet antitrust exemption [giving them a monopoly not given to any other industries in the US] is not worth the money it cost to bring [to the fans] something that may not happen again for another 35 years.
As we close out 2007, Bostonians are going to celebrate not only the beginning of a new year but the end of a very long project - The Big Dig. December 31st marks the official end of the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project, a joint venture that teamed megaproject contractor Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to build the dizzying array of underground highways, bridges, ramps and a new tunnel under Boston Harbor — all while the city remained open for business.
For those of you who did not have the pleasure of living through the dig, here are some figures associated with the highway project:
Original cost estimate: $2.6 billion
Current cost estimate: $14.798 billion
Length of project: 7.5 miles, about half in tunnels
Amount of dirt removed: 16 million cubic yards
Number of workers at peak construction: 5,000
Number of workers killed: 4
Number of lanes on the old elevated highway: 6
Number of lanes on the new highway system: 8-10
Number of historic artifacts excavated from the Big Dig's path: 200,000
Weight of the project's final environmental impact report: 44 pounds
Number of leaks discovered in roof-wall joints in 2004: 2,000 to 3,000
Number of cars using the old elevated highway when it opened in 1959: 75,000/day
Number of cars expected to use the new underground highway by 2010: 245,000/day
Average trip through the center of Boston on the old Central Artery: 19.5 minutes
Average trip through the center of Boston using the Big Dig: 2.8 minutes
Source: Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and Associated Press news reports
So this New Years Eve, Bostonians will raise a glass and cheer to the end of the Big [and very long] Dig.
On march 28th, 2008 the movie 21 will hit theaters. Check out the trailer for the up coming film:
The movie is based on the best selling book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich which documents how a group of MIT students learned the art of card countering, joined the MIT Blackjack Team and won millions in Vegas over a 5 year period. The math theories used by the team are fascinating and while I really enjoyed reading the book I wish he had expanded not only on the card counting but other math theories used by the students in their very lucrative business.
I would highly recommend reading the book before you see the Hollywood version, which looks good but will probably be a little more flashy than the fact driven book. Hit Me!
Help me raise money to end hunger in America this holiday season! $1 is donated for each song that is downloaded!
Just visit Generous Pour and follow these simple instructions:
Click ENTER to validate that you are over 21 years of age
Download one of the following complimentary songs and Clos du Bois will donate $1 to Share Our Strength, one of the leading organizations working to end hunger in America:
- Corinne Bailey Rae’s Exclusive Remix of Like A Star - Dean Martin’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside - Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song
Get inspired and join the cause by throwing a Generous Gathering, benefiting Share Our Strength, with recipes and tips from six of the nation’s top chefs.
Together we can help end hunger this holiday season!
Lynne Spears' book, which was due in the spring of 2008, about raising her famous daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn has been put on hold on the heels of the announcement her 16 year old daughter is pregnant.
"The book is delayed indefinitely. It's delayed, not cancelled," says a spokeswoman for Thomas Nelson, which publishes inspirational books and Bibles.
I guess this not a good time to release an "inspirational book" about parenting two celebrity children who so far have not shown great decision making skills which is learned typically from one's parents.
Maybe Lynne can negotiate an MTV special for the pregnancy and exploit her children [and grand children] just a little but more. Or perhaps Jamie and long time boyfriend can go the two-and-a-half-year-marriage-with-two-kids route like her older sister. Either way, the Spears family continues to keep things interesting.
Hulu is the long awaited iTunes replacement that NBC has been working on since last spring. I was invited to join the beta program yesterday and so far I am pleasantly surprised with the interface and amount of content available.
Hulu has signed licensing deals with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM)and Sony Pictures Television, will offer content from two leading broadcast networks (Fox and NBC), over 15 cable networks (Bravo, E! Entertainment, FX, Sci Fi, USA, and more), four of the largest Studios (Fox, MGM, Sony and Universal) and a broad array of independent, web-centric content providers and they also have partnerships with such leading programmers as Reveille, Smithsonian Networks, and World Wrestling Entertainment.
The list of shows they currently have available is quite long for a beta release including current shows like 30 Rock, Bionic Woman, Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, House, Las Vegas, Life, Monk, My Name Is Earl, The Office, Prison Break, Scrubs, and The Simpsons. They also have some vintage shows like The A-Team, Airwolf, Arrested Development, The Bob Newhart Show , Buck Rogers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doogie Howser, M.D., Hill Street Blues, Kojak, The Loop, Miami Vice, Outer Limits, The Pretender, Roswell, Simon & Simon, and WKRP in Cincinnati.
At this point my only "complaint" is that shows like Back To You or Damages, which are new shows this year, do not include all of the episodes online. The odd thing is with BTY, they currently have all of the first season except the pilot. I had assumed they would use this new technology to get people hooked on their new shows. Well at least I can go and watch the A-Team pilot from 1983.
I'm not sure how long it will take before they can replace the revenue stream that their former iTunes relationship created, but it looks like they are off to a good start. Now go and sign up for your very own access to the Hulu beta.
NEW YORK - Men are not discriminated against by "ladies' nights" at Manhattan nightclubs, just as people in their 20s do not suffer because some restaurants let children eat for free or have "early bird" specials for older customers, according to nightclub lawyers fighting a federal lawsuit.
Roy Den Hollander has sued clubs including Lotus and the China Club, saying he was discriminated against by ladies' nights, which offer women free or discounted admission and drinks.
Seriously? Isn't the idea of ladies night is to attract women to the bar/club in order to in turn attract men and create social and economic churn? Maybe we should all just join myspace and hope that does the trick instead.
Straight No Chaser, all a cappella group, gives us a very unique take on the classic 12 Days of Christmas sprinkled with other holiday favorites like Santa is Coming to Town, Desk the Halls, Carol of the Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and one truly inspired 12 Days vs Africa finally. Nice work guys.
If this is not your brand of entertainment cup of tea, maybe you can take the family out for a good old fashioned snow ball fight. Thanks J!
Now that the Mitchel Report is published and some are already claiming the former Senators gave his one time employee, the Boston Red Sox, a pass in his report because no current members are listed as investigated steroids users. In fact the report does name 13 former players including one time home town hero's Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn. The report also includes Jose Canseco, Paxton Crawford, Jeremy Giambi, Steve Woodard, Josias Manzanillo, Chris Donnels, Mike Lansing, Kent Mercker and Mike Stanton. Additionally Mitchel names two members of the 2007 World Series team in Eric Gagne and Brendan Donnelly.
Since the report only really named a handful of star quality players and in total less than a hundred players, it is not surprising that any current Red Sox big name player didn't show up on the list. I think it makes more sense to temper any favoritism comments until there is a reason to believe it exists instead of assuming it does.
Paris Hilton continues to expand her businesses, which currently includes perfume, jewelery, shoes, bags, singer and actress, by launching a new canned Italian sparkling wine called RICH® Prosecco. I have to give her credit for continuing to leverage her name in new businesses but I'm not sure if the publicity pictures are exactly what she needs just after serving 22 days for violating probation on her less than stellar driving record [driving under the influence of alcohol 9/06, alcohol-related reckless driving 1/07 and driving with a suspended license 2/07]:
Paris in the nude covered in gold paint
Paris continues to put her name to products which is very smart for a young business woman, she just has to be classier with her marketing efforts or she may see her name brand value be reduced to nothing more than a shiny gold paint job on an overvalued model.
I can hear Fred Gwynne's Judge Chamberlain Haller saying it now...
Uh... uh, what was that word? Uh... did you say 'w00t'?
Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster Inc. accounced that w00t is their word of year based on an online poll of Merriam-Webster's Web site visitors. W00t is a hybrid of letters and numbers, used by gamers as an expression of happiness, joy, and excitement. The word originated in competitive online gaming as an acronym for "we own other team." According to John Morse, the President of Merriam-Webster, "w00t" was an ideal choice for the Word of the Year because it blends whimsy and new technology.
I think Julia Roberts' Vivian Ward would agree: Woot, woot, woot!
iTunes released a list of their top selling albums and singles for 2007 yesterday:
Albums:
1. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long 2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 3. Kanye West - Graduation 4. Daughtry - Daughtry 5. Colbie Caillat - Coco
Singles:
1. Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry 2. Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape 3. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah 4. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend 5. Fergie - Glamorous
Although they did not release the actual numbers for the above albums or singles, the type of music itself is somewhat surprising. There list does not include billboard chart darlings such as the Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden, High School Musical 2 Soundtrack, Nickelback's All The Right Reasons, Hannah Montana Soundtrack or either of Carrie Underwood's albums. The list also only contains one hip hop artist and no country acts. The singles are dominated by female artists, except Hey There Delilah which was written for a girl and probably mostly consumed by the female sector.
Sounds like traditional consumers and digital users may actually have a very different taste in music and hopefully the RIAA will focus on each market segment in 2008 to try and help revive their slumping industry instead of worrying about college students network traffic. On the other hand, I bet Ms. Caillat is pretty happy about the whole web 2.0/digital music thing since she was basically discovered by posting her music on myspace and her album has become a huge hit this year. As Akon would say "whohoe, whihoo"!
My main man, screen name J-Man, has corrected my earlier rating of the Brady to Moss To Brady To Gaffney flea-flicker play below. The new rating is:
You are correct sir, that play did rock. [and it was not approved by the NFL, one Anthony Smith or anyone else on the Steelers team but us Pats fans really enjoyed it]
The Pats don't go for these kind of razzle dazzle exotic gadget plays very often and that is why this was so successful. You won't see them use this again for a very long time, if ever. Enjoy.
1 year ago today I started The Streak - running at least 1 mile a day, every day. On the surface this doesn't seem much like a big deal and for the most part it wasn't hard, although there were many days where I didn't want to run or ended up running at about 11 pm just to "get it in". For all the ups and downs of running everyday for one year, here are five interesting, painful or odd days in the past year:
1. January: I had a common head cold and for the most part I was able to get my mile in however one night after work I was so tired and lightheaded that I thought the streak was over before it ever really began. I got myself to the treadmill and pushed out my mile but at times felt like I was going to pass out. It's tough to run with zero energy, very little air and a pounding head. At least it wasn't a bruised rib.
2. February: Went snowboarding for the first time and after a morning full of lessons I got pretty good, for a first timer, on my board. On my last run of the day, I caught the right edge of the board while turning left and took a heavy face plant. It hurt but the next day my chest was so sore - bruised ribs. For the next week I ran on the treadmill with my left arm holding my chest tight just to finish each mile. PS: Bruised ribs don't heal so quick.
3. May: After a day of wine tasting on our trip to Northern California, we came back to the B&B and "took a nap". When we woke up 3 hours later, it was 10:30 at night. Not having a treadmill at our B&B, I got out of bed and decided to run up and down the not-so-well-lit street for 10 minutes. The owner of the B&B actually came out to see what was going on and I'm pretty sure he thinks I am absolutely nuts to be out there in the dark.
4. September: On our trip to Mexico, I had actually forgot to run one day and only remembered on the back to our room from the bar around 11:30 pm. The fitness center was closed, the property has no open running room and the local roads are completely dark. So I decided to run down the corridor of our hotel, which happen to be on the 6th floor. To make it interesting, I ran down to the 5th floor and ran back that hallway. This continued back and forth up the stairs and down the stairs for the next 10 minutes. I am glad to say no one saw me running around the hallways late at night because I'm not sure I could explain it in Spanish.
5. October: I have joked all year about running from 11:50 pm to 12:10 am and one night while Lisa was traveling and I had to run anyway, I decided to do it and cover two days in a 20 minute contiguous treadmill outing. All I know is that it was late, I got it done and don't really want to do it again.
So after 365 days and more than 575 miles, I have completed a whole year of running everyday. Now If I can just get my hands on a Boston Marathon number...
To jump start the season, here are a few sites for your time wasting pleasure:
Simon Sez Santa: This version of Santa will clap, whistle, jump, answer the phone, sit, kiss, punch and even strip. See what you can get him to do that is better than riding Rudolph!
Grinch Name Generator: Type in your first and last name and out comes your "Grinch Name". Mine is Miserlygloom Crustyshorts.
The Snowdog Christmas Card: While it not very interactive, it's a very clever use of flash technology to blend a story into a card.
Go Elf Yourself: Sure it was around last year but this time you can Elf a group of 4 people. Here's a group dance by the gang from Anchorman. They have also added another site called Scrooge Yourself for those who have a real opposition to the holiday season, like this guy does. Very nice!
Delicious Dish: This SNL Skit from December of 98 featuring Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin makes me laugh everytime I watch it and is a Christmas time tradation.
Do whatever you want to, ladies. My Balls are here for your pleasure.
At approximately 1:30 am this morning, a recently filled gasoline tanker flipped over turning around Sweetser traffic circle in Everett Massachusetts. The subsequent gas spill created an explosive fire destroying 40 parked cars, 2 triple decker tenement buildings and displacing about 150 people into a very cold night.
In the wake of the crash, Chad LaFrance, 30, of Dover, N.H., who drives for P.S. Marston Associates LLC of North Hampton, N.H., was cited for speeding and not having a federal medical certificate with him, which would certify him as fit to drive.
Mr. LaFrance or P.S. Marston Associates will not face any criminal charges from his reckless driving which is the truly criminal part of this sad story. Hopefully P.S. Marston Associates will step up and make it right for the many people effected by this mornings fiery spill.
Not only can you watch the entire Star Wars centric episode online, but you can also watch video commentary by Matt Senreich and Seth Green. Darth Vader's Collect Call, Jedi George Bush and The "Yo Momma" Fight are all very funny skits and the entire 22 minutes is worth a watch for all those Star Wars fans out there.
The MPAA's University Toolkit has been taken offline, due to copyright violations. The software was being offered to universities so that they could monitor students' communications. The problem is the toolkit is based on the GPL-licensed Xubuntu operating system (a flavor of Linux). Under the requirements of a General Public License, anyone who makes a program based on GPL'ed code has to release the source code for their program, hence the name Public License.
The MPAA refused multiple requests to provide the sources for their spyware, which would probably make it useless against all those crafty college computer engineering students. Since they would not respond to repeated requests, an Ubuntu developer sent a DMCA notice to the MPAA's ISP and demanded that the material be taken down as license infringement.
I guess that's a wrap on the MPAA's current toolkit and now they will have to come up with a new script for heading off movie piracy on our college campuses.
This year, college football has had as many as 7 different teams that have been ranked number one in the country. There is only one team that went undefeated - Hawaii - however they will probably not be ranked any higher than eighth in the country because their "soft" schedule. So which teams, who have all lost a game or two, get to play for the "national championship"? Could you imagine the NFL just picking two teams for the super bowl based on some computer model? Neither could I.
What the NCAA needs to do is replace the existing bowl system with a playoff to culminate on the first Monday night in January, which would crown a true national champion - that is the team that has won all of their playoff games. If they were smart, they would tap into the March Madness hype of basketball and bring that to the gridiron. They could also give the playoff teams "bowl" bids or the rounds of playoffs. This would combine the best of both worlds.
Maybe this year's disaster of a college football season will get the BCS guys to rethink their brilliant computer modeling.
JibJab's 2007 year in review is a musical review of all that was this past year set to Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire. Thanks JJ for reminding me of the FroHawk... Actually, maybe I could have lived without thinking of that hair do again. Enjoy.
2007 will be remembered for a year where one team did something that was not supposed to be possible and may not happen again for another 35 years. Our New England Patriots become just the 2nd team ever to complete an undefeated regular season in the NFL [the only other is the perfect 17-0 Miami Dolphins]. Along the way, they set a number of team and individual records. Here are some numbers to consider going into 2008:
Hulu is the long awaited iTunes replacement that NBC has been working on since last spring. I was invited to join the beta program yesterday and so far I am pleasantly surprised with the interface and amount of content available.
I can hear Fred Gwynne's Judge Chamberlain Haller saying it now...
