General

For the third year in a row, I have attended a monster truck really.

Yes yes, laugh if you must. But they’re strangely entertaining, and quite affordable ($12 this year, less than in the past). The audience is often more entertaining than the show itself.

This is the same monster truck show I’ve seen each year. I think they really do fancy themselves as a companion to pro wrestling. There are ‘Quad Wars’ in between monster truck events; 4 wheeler races between two opposing teams. The team names magically change depending on the city you’re in. Last night we were treated to Pittsburgh vs. Boston. I guess since the Patriots beat the Steelers, we have a rivalry or something.

Despite some scripted fights, Pittsburgh’s captain getting run over, and dramtic Boston comebacks, Pittsburgh managed to eek out a victory in a special overtime challenge. Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds.

Oh, and we also got to see a ‘battle’ between the two worst transformers ever.

Some pictures of the whole “Monster Jam” are here. I might put up some of the videos I took later.

And check out the year in pictures for the highlight of the show: The Safe Auto truck flipping over. Take that, annoying car insurance commercials!

Here’s some cool stuff I’ve been grooving on recently:

Mario flash movies!
These things are simply jaw droppingly amazing. The guy who made the short films did it all in flash, using spirtes from Mario 1 waaaay back on the NES. The music, editing, everything is perfectly crafted. The end result is far more epic and grand than Mario probably has any right to be. Now if he’d only finish part V…

Free Speculative Fiction!
It’s a fancy name for Sci-Fi and Fantasy. The site archives freely (and legitimately) available Sci-Fi/Fantasy writings on the web. There’s a good mix of known and lesser known authors available.

D-Lib Magazine!
Good scholarly reading in the digital library arena. Probably not for everyone obviously, but I like it.

Watchmen: The Movie!
Nothing more than a logo at this point, but I’m anxious to see this on the big screen. If only to see what they were forced to cut out. I still think the graphic novel would be better converted to a TV miniseries than a single feature film – The length alone is prohibitive.

2005 (almost) In Pictures!
My year-long opus in picture taking continues. I haven’t missed a day yet, though I’ve come close once or twice. I’m starting to run out of easy picture ideas too, so I’m gonna have to start getting creative…

I know I’m forgetting something. That’s all for now though.

Word on the street is that Arrested Development is cancelled. David Cross was apparently on one of the evening talk shows last night and said that production stopped yesterday. I’d expect an official announcement soon.

What’s the show getting replaced with? American Dad, which had possibly the least funny pilot episode I’ve ever seen. Fox is jumping on its bandwagon just because ratings for it were good. News Flash: Any show right after the super bowl is going to have huge ratings. Not every show has the quality to back it up.

I suppose I should have expected this, every show I watch gets cancelled. Both Enterprise and Arrested Development in the last week. At least AD got more than one season I suppose, and the critical acclaim is worth something.

I’m so angry about this decision that I can’t even get up the energy to properly rant about it.

edit: GetArrested.com is an official Fox site with a petition to keep the show!

Just booked my tickets for DC, I got an amazing deal. Independence Air is offering 20% off all flights with a valid college ID! Even with taxes and a fee for a shuttle and/or gas for a friend (I’m flying into Dulles which is farther from the hotel than Reagan would be, but IA doesn’t fly there), it still costs me less than even Amtrak would. (Stupid Amtrak!) At a fraction of their travel time, too.

If you want the 20% off, just use this link, also listed on their homepage:

http://www.flyi.com/specials/college/index.htm

According to Forbes via Newsweek, Pittsburgh is the worst city in the nation for singles. Three years in a row now! Gives me an excuse for singlehood I guess.

And I’ll gladly keep the $218 the average guy spends on Valentine’s Day.

I do wonder what criteria goes into determining the worst city for singles though.