Virgin Money

Wow. Just found "Virgin Money". Anybody doing loans between friends and family should definitely check this out: http://www.virginmoneyus.com/


Edit (1/7/2008): Boy, they sure make it hard to play around on the site. You have to pay before you can really see how it works. I don't know why they don't let you create a loan, try out different payment options, and then shop it to prospective lenders for free. Then when you close the deal, you pay the fee. The way they did it, you'll pay, and if no one lends you the money, you're out of luck. There should be a better way.

Still a good idea. Poor implementation.

$100 a barrel oil

The price of oil topped $100 a barrel recently. Given that oil is traded in U.S. dollars and that the dollar has been depreciating for some time now, how much of the price of oil is simply adjusting for the deflation of the dollar? Is oil in fact flat to the rest of the world?

BTW, has anyone noticed in all the hub bub about $3.00/gal gasoline that orange juice is over $7.00 a gallon! Orange juice.

Where did all the ugly talent go?

For some reason, I woke up at 3:30 this morning. I turned on the TV to find a billion channels of infomercials and only one showing of Law and Order (shocking). So I was watching Time Life "Classic Soul" and started thinking about all the Time Life music retrospectives: Sounds of the 70's, Classic Rock, 60's Hits, whatever. Before MTV, people who could sing were not necessarily attractive. Now we have a lot of people who are attractive, who can't necessarily sing, making music. One of the best things about American Idol is that it gives a chance to talented singers who would never be chosen by the average talent scout.

So, despite American Idol, is there tons of musical talent out there that people would love to listen to if they didn't have to see them as well?

Mike Huckabee Ad

Pretty funny for a political campaign ad. Check out the video.

Wing Suit

I've been swamped, but back in action. Check out this Wing Suit. Very cool.

Hat Tip: Patrick P.

Craigslist Fun

I decided to have some fun with craigslist since I need to sell some stuff anyway. The problem with craigslist is there's too much stuff and it's not well categorized. Maybe this technique will break through the clutter: How to draw to an inside straight in a La-Z-Boy Poker Chair.

Blogging is tough

Wow. Blogging is tougher than I thought. Not the posting of articles, but just actually doing it. I've had several ideas of things to post, but I just haven't actually done it. Mostly it's because I'm not near the computer when I have a "Oooh. Blog that." moment. Just like anything else, time just needs to be allocated specifically for blogging.

How to Beat 9 Master Chess Players

This is too hilarious. Watch Derren Brown beat 9 master chess players. The best part is he reveals the secret after he's done. I'll be watching his other YouTube videos.

Gigantic Truck: F-650

Was out enjoying a video game fix over at Dave and Buster's last night. We ran into this monster in the parking lot. Note: the guy in the picture played college basketball.

I only had my phone to take a pic, so the quality is no good, but you get the idea. Here's the company's website.

The Magic of the Internet

Scuttling around the Internet the other day, I found a reference to myself that I had almost forgotten about. Somehow, I am on the 'net with a credit as a playtester for NFL Football Trivia Challenge. I held this job for a couple months while I was in college. I guess they kept accurate records.

In case your curious, his review of the game is dead on. It was one of the most boring gaems ever devised. Once you went through it a few times, you knew all the answers and the winner was determined by whoever went first. That said, Pat Summerall was great!

Google Fun - Psych is Hilarious

Ok, so I just posted "Psych is Hilarious" after creating my blog earlier this morning. I just typed in "psych is hilarious" into Google and I'm in the 4th spot! Too funny.

Arcade Auction

I'm still a little upset that I don't have my four slot neo-geo anymore. One day. One day.

When that day comes, I'll probably get it from Super Auctions. They roll through Dallas about once a quarter. There are delivery folks there, if you don't have your F-350 yet, plus there are repair guys and so forth as well.

Oh, and when that day comes, I'll probably have a Ms. Pacman Galaga combo as well.

How about an automatic transmission for your bicycle?

I'm not much of a bike rider, but maybe I would be if I had an automatic transmission!

HatTip: ckocur

Psych is Hilarious

This blog could easily devolve into nothing but TV talk, but I've cut waaay back lately so hopefully that doesn't happen. At any rate, one show I still make time to watch (recorded by Vista Media Center of course) is Psych. Psych may very well be one of the best shows on tv, that's not on HBO (which I refuse to pay $12 a month for, so only hear abut through other people). To summarize: Psych is Hilarious.

Psych is the story of Shawn Spencer and his lifelong buddy Burton Guster as they solve crimes for the Santa Barbara police department - psychically. Ok, not really because Psychic powers don't exist. You see, Shawn has an overbearing ex-cop father, played by Corbin Bernsen (yeah the L.A. Law dude) who used to make Shawn run memory drills as a kid. For example, from the first episode, he would make Shawn close his eyes in a restaurant and recount to him the number of people wearing hats and their descriptions. The upshot is that child abuse has yielded Shawn keen powers of observation.

Shawn is pretty much good for nothing as he's spent his entire life rebelling against his father's regimentation. That's hilarious in and of itself as his best friend, Burton Guster, is completely and totally regimented. Gus loves order, Shawn loves chaos. Hilarity ensues.

Through a series of mishaps best understood by watching episode one, Shawn and Gus end up as consultants for the police. You see, Shawn has an amazing ability to decipher their cases, but he doesn't really want to be a cop (I think he already failed out of the police academy). How to work on police cases, but not be a cop. How about being a private detective? Good, but it could be better. Aha! Be a psychic detective! Take one heap of observation, stir in some moaning and "I have a vision" talk and BAM: you're a psychic.

To kick it up a notch, start an agency. What to call your Fake Psychic Detective Agency. Call it Psych. If you're not smiling right now, your use of slang predates 1983.

I've really enjoyed this show. The first episode was probably the best of season 1, but they've stepped it up considerably in season 2 (which is surprising). I've had several laugh out loud moments.

Where else can you get dialog like this:

****************************************************************************
(after Gus reveals a childhood exploit of which Shawn was heretofore unaware as they stroll down a pier)

Gus: Face it Shawn, I am and always will be "that good".

(our duo proceeds to knock their fists together - a variation on the high-five for you pre-1983ers)

Gus: That's why my friends in school use to call me "The G".

Shawn (chuckling): That's funny, I thought they called you "Big Head Burton".

(Gus angrily grabs Shawn's arm and stops walking)

Gus: Don't you ever say that name. I know it was you that started that.

Shawn: I'm sorry Gus. I have a knack for alliteration. I'm a slave to it. Besides, how many words start with "B", really?

Gus (looking incredulous): About a thousand. How 'bout "Bold", "Black", "Beautiful".

Shawn: Who's gonna call you "Black Burton"?

Gus: You get my point, Shawn.

Shawn: Alright. I'll tell you what. I'm gonna buy you an ice cream, and we're going to discuss some new, fresh-to-death nicknames.

(Shawn kneels down and pulls out cash from the Velcro pocket on his KangaROOS sneakers.)

Shawn: How 'bout "Burton: The Billowy Bear"

(Gus snatches the cash from Shawn and heads off - presumably to enjoy some tasty ice cream.)
****************************************************************************

One of my favorite aspects of the show are the "Psych Outs" at the end. More than bloopers, it's usually the cast joshing around. A good one recently was Shawn and Gus, fighting for their lives, treading water in the ocean, singing "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean.

Psych just had it's season finale. New episodes being in January. I'm sure reruns will still come on USA network Friday nights at 8 or 9 (ah, the beauty of Media Center; who watches tv live??). You can check out the Psych overview. I've got another episode queued up.

Blogging. Why not?

I've been against blogging about as long as I was against cell phones. I have a cell phone now.

So now I'm left with the question: why not blog? I realized that I've been blogging for years. I've been doing it through email (yaaaawwwwwnnnnnnn). I find something or learn something interesting. I write a little bit about it, find a link if available and send it to my friends. Works ok. This might work better and it might cut down on email in the ol' Inbox.

Interested...setup a Bloglines account. You can set it up so all new posts go their. Whenever you want to see what I'm up to, go there and bam. Or, you could just come back here again, which is fine by me since I'll have some AdSense up will get $0.37 for every 1000 times you look at my page. Sweet.