Wot, no Super Lager?

No one has written in a while, we are busy as hell. I do not find this shocking.

But lately I have found a lot of things shocking, and now you have to hear about them.

1) Ken Griffey Jr. is about to hit the 600 home run milestone and nobody cares.
- WHY??? Where is the outrage?? Ken Griffey Jr. is the greatest player that never was. If he didn't spend most of the years after 2000 severely injured, this guy would probably be past 700 right now and would potentially staring down 800. On top of that, the guy's got over 2500 hits and over 1700 RBI, and if you just look at him you know he did it without the juice. As someone said, "first guy in 35 years to hit 600 home runs and do it without drugs." To the 38 year old man once known as, "The Kid" - I will be watching, and I will be applauding. I played little league during the years when Jr. was tearing it up and making a name for himself - and wearing his hat backward and always smiling. We thought it was so cool and we all tried to emulate him - he bought Nintendos on the road and just had a blast. We all looked up to him. I got mad when he said he'd never play for the Yankees because of how they treated his father. But you know what, could for him - a man of morals, and that's what baseball needs: a man of morals with 600 home runs. I tip my cap to you.

2) "Watchmen" - how did I not read this sooner?
- Seriously?? What the hell?? Was I trapped under a rock for the first 25 years of my life? I am outraged, OUTRAGED that I did not read this sooner. This is the single greatest collection of comics I've ever read and is on par with much of the literature I have ever read. No wonder it's ranked in Time's Top 100 novels since 1923. It's incredible, and even if you don't like comics, read it, because you're missing out. I feel like there are so many layers to this that maybe after four readings I'll have it 80% sussed out. But on this first reading, I'm trying not to burn through it in a matter of days.

3) "Tales of Brave Ulysses" is the greatest song that I almost never hear on the radio.
- This is one of Cream's gems, in my opinion maybe their best song, but I feel like I hardly ever hear this song on the radio, and maybe that's the beauty of it. But listen to it if you haven't, because seriously, you are going to be bitch-slapped with brilliance. You want to hear the Odyssey in three minutes in trippy music? Listen to it, and write a paper on it for your Lit 101 class and impress the girl who sits across from you with the blond hair and the nice smile. Ask her if she'd like to come over to hear the song sometime, tell her it's rocks when you listen to it with candles on and a glass of wine in your hand...but if you're in college you'll probably turn on a black light and give her an Old Milwaukee...so take my advice, or don't, and remain her, "good friend." The choice is yours.

4) The sheer brilliance of Arrested Development
- This show is amazing, and doesn't need my endorsement for more people to realize this. But I'm working on a scene right now where we're attacking Twelfth Night as characters from Arrested Development, so I'm watching a lot of it lately. The actors are all perfect, PERFECT. I don't believe the show could work with anyone other than those actors cast in those roles. I haven't even seen anyone able to impersonate the job Michael Cera does on that show. We can mimic some of the other people, but I believe there is no substitute for most, if not all of these guys.

5) (Added later in the day, which was the purpose of the post...) America, as a country, hasn't discovered Super Lager.
- WHY??? THIS is outrageous. Super Lager is a lager made by the Tennent's Brewing Company of Scotland, it tastes a little like PBR, only with a little bit more of a syrupy quality, and it's 9% alcohol. You do the math. It's two beers in one, in a 500ml can, so really it's 3 beers in one. Drink two, it's a party. We have crappy equivalents in the states - Steel Reserve, Old English High Gravity, but come on, I'd easily pay 4 bucks for a can of Super over here...be aware Tennent's, and send that shit over.

Ok, 4 (5) things really isn't "a lot" - but I'm sure there are more, and I'll post them as they come to me. That or I'll be shocked by the amount of hyperbolic statements I make.

-Jobimoto out

"It's a duck. No, it's a piano."

Mountain of Pain

I know I haven't posted in a while, so just cram it. Fortunately, Jobi has risen to the occasion and put up a solid series throughout the past week.

First of all, I would like to shout out to our confirmed readership of I believe 3. Perhaps more are reading, but only 3 separate people have made comments, so thank you, and I hope you've been enjoying our eggs and toast.

Secondly, I need to get this out of the way: I bought a new camera. For anybody that knows me, that might sound pretty foreboding, considering the behemoth I lug around currently, but this is a simple point and shoot digital camera so that I can take snapshots of friends. The item in question: the Canon SD850 IS. I did very extensive and careful research on this little bugger and its competitors, and I finally settled on it for these reasons: compactness and speed combined with superior image quality and a decent set of adjustable features. And boy what a payoff. This thing is sleek looking and it has a fair amount of weight to the feel, so it doesn't feel cheep to hold. It is rather small, but that's part of the reason I got it. I am careful to make use of the wrist strap, however, as I'm afraid my big hands might slip and drop it. But it fits nicely in my jacket pocket, which is awesome. Photo quality is pretty spectacular for a small camera. Digital noise is pretty substantial at 800 ISO (it goes up to 1600), but the lower ISO's are fantastic, and if I really wanted to get crafty with low light and nice pictures, I'll bust out my real camera. For going to bars, snapshots of goofy crap, and small videos, this thing is my toy of choice, and I highly recommend it. It also has exposure compensation and color effects, ISO selection, and a few other handy settings. It doesn't go so far as to get fully manual, but I don't really mind that much. It's a big relief, actually, not to have to deal with really advanced settings, and the semi-auto modes adjust perfectly well enough and come out with great results. Again, I have my DSLR for "real" photos, which I have full manual control over. Now I can feel better about leaving the beast behind on relaxing trips and fun outings (plus my girlfriend doesn't have to stand around making fun of me anymore while I take 5 minutes to take out my camera, set up a shot, and take 40 photos before I'm satisfied).

Pro's:

• Compact, solid feel.
• Easily navigable menus and quick access to settings.
• Image quality is excellent.
• Auto White balance is pretty accurate.
• Semi-manual settings like exposure compensation, white balance, ISO settings available.
• Movie mode: continuous 30fps high quality movies.
• Fast. Starts up in about a second flat and shot to shot time is pretty fast for its class.
• 4x optical zoom (35-140mm equivalent). That's just pretty impressive.
• Optical image stabilization. Rated to boost camera shake a few f stops.
• Relatively inexpensive at only $215 from Amazon.
  

Cons:

• On/Off button a little oddly placed. Not annoyingly so, but it's flush with the body on the back of the camera and at the top above the lcd screen. On one hand, it takes a little bit of doing to press it (so it's unlikely it will turn on and off at random), but on the other hand, it takes a little bit of doing to press it. *shrug*
• The battery/SD card cover at the bottom doesn't have a lock on it, so when I'm pulling the camera out of the leather case I got for it, I often slip the cover off. Fortunately, both the battery and SD are secured in their slots with springs and locks, but it's still a little strange.
• The zoom lens begins at 35mm equivalent as opposed to something like 24 or 28mm, which means you have a lean back or take a couple steps back to get group shots in at a table. On the flip side you get a pretty good zoom out of it, though. It's just nice not to have to look like an idiot leaning back in your seat at a bar (plus, at a bar and after a few tequila/corona or whiskey/pbr combinations, that could end up being a safety concern..... What? Don't tell me you've never done it)
  

There you have it. In case you might wonder, my two finalists for this camera decision were this and the Canon Powershot A720 IS. The main differences between the two are that while the 850 is a little faster and more compact, the A720 has fully manual controls, a bit better image quality in the medium ISO's, and a 6x zoom. It also uses AA batteries, which is useful for some people, but they drain quite quickly, and the flash recycle time is considerably slower. Not so much fun when 3 sheets to the wind and trying to catch that moment when Jobi has managed to build a mountain out of PBR cans, pint glasses, shot glasses, and Brooklyn Lager bottles, and is about to attempt to climb it.

You laugh.

You shouldn't.

And while I'm on this note, I'd like to suggest, if you haven't already been convinced by Jobi or myself, the absolute splendor of what is known as the Corona with a Tequila Shot. I Think Jobi should have the honor of naming this drink, as he introduced it to me. What you do is simple: Drink about the neck's worth of beer out of a Corona bottle, pour a shot of Tequila into the bottle, drop a lime wedge in, plug the neck with a thumb or palm, turn upside-down until the lime wedge floats to the bottom, upright, and enjoy. You may think this sounds disgusting, but it is a magical summer wonder. Be forewarned, however, as my first introduction to this Mexican liver party resulted in one hell of a story which ended in a lost t-shirt, a soaked and sandy car, and the infamous Gay Blanket. Details will not be disclosed.

That's all for now. More to come.

B-Moto Out.

"yeah... that just came out of your nose...."