119th Edition - 3/20/07

119 - It is the sum of five consecutive primes (17 + 19 + 23 + 29 + 31). 1-1-9 is the emergency number in many Asian countries. The number of Division I college football teams in America.

• NCAA: A little too quick

Perhaps I was quick to award Kevin Sketch (co-worker) first place in our NCAA bracket... Even this email exchange from yesterday ...

Kevin:
I will not win. I have WI & TX in the final 4. So thanks for the love on your web site, but you're actually just rubbing in the pain of the inevitable.

j:
Good. Now I have something to write about tomorrow as well.

Kevin:
I see, this whole tournament pick thing you created is just fodder for your unimaginative musings. Can't you write some mindless drivel like other contemporaries in your business? Come on man, what's Angelina Jolie up to these days? Didn't she just adopt another baby? What's your take on Larry King's surgery? Or talk about the big exclusive story on MSNBC telling everyone how much of a diva Michael Jackson is. You know, all that really important stuff that people care so much about. Aren't you an entertainment writer?
Seriously, I am looking forward to kicking your ass in chess in a few minutes.

(We also play chess just about every day. And since he can't control what I write on this space, I am beating him 143-0-2, it's sad really. Even when I try and let him win, my subconscious takes over and still dominates. Two stale mates is all he has to show for his hard work.)

• NCAA: The other contenders

*Dave, aka Denever Dave, aka ihuc13 is sitting pretty with 7 elite 8s remaining and all his final four.
*Emily, aka Emily's bracekt (her typo, not mine) also has 7 elite 8s remaining, but her miss is Maryland, going to the finals.
*The one to watch out for seems to be AE, aka Elijah's little brother, aka Andrew Edwards, aka 'shoulder don't work' - he has all the 8 elite 8s left, and is only 3 points behind the leader.

• Greg Oden: the gentle giant

I am sick of a story being made over nothing. Greg Oden, in the closing seconds gave a hard foul in the Xavier game. Talking heads are trying to say that Oden got away with one, and that gave the Ohio State Buckeyes the game. When I was watching the game, I noticed the Xavier player fly after Oden fouled him, but I also noticed Oden touch the ball halfway through the foul. In other words, he was going for the ball. Also, just because Oden is strong, doensn't mean he has to foul light. Hard Fouls are typically the point of fouling. Tap a guy, and maybe it doesn't get called. There was 10 seconds left, potentially in the college career of Greg Oden, so he hit the guy.

• Stuff

SXSW (South by Southwest) is over. And once again, I wasn't there. Next year I will be. I 94 percent guarentee it!
Anyway, here are a few videos from the concerts.
http://2007.sxsw.com/coverage/video/
Word on the street (the street being my future sister-in-laws boyfriend) is that Ghostland Observatory is somebody to check out.
http://myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory