It is official, the boys and I are going to Las Vegas for the first week in March. This is going to be awsome -perhaps costly, but awsome none the less-. We will be leaving from Snowy Buffalo on Tuesday March 1st at 3:00pm. Then with a short 1hr layover in Atlanta -for coctails of course-, we continue to Las Vegas and arrive around 6:00pm. We will be staying at the Luxor -which is the big frick'n pyramid- for four nights. A number of years ago I went to Vegas and stayed at the Luxor, it is one of the cheaper hotels on the strip, but hey whats your walking legs for. Plus you save a few bucks to gample with. Oh yes there will be some serious gampling had. I don't know how much I am going to use for the casinos, but I am definitly going to hit up the tables a bit. Anth is quite the black jack player, so as long as I hang near him, I should be ok. But with the popularity of poker, I am going to want and try my hand at that as well -no pun intended-. I mean, we play a bit of texas hold'em from time to time, and I seem to do alright -I have walked out with more than I came with at least-, so we will have to see.
Also while on this trip, I will be spending some time with my brother Dave - who moved there years ago and I have yet to vist -. Dave just had a son in September, so I want to go hold'em and see his daughter Shelby.
To continue the reunions, my boys Jamie and Nick who live in Arizona are going to stop down for a few night to party it up with us, which is going to rock, since those were the guys I went to Vegas with the first time. So to sum up, I am going to be drunk, broke and tired on the Saturday we return, but as they say "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"!

What happened during your trip to Vegas?

I was reading Liquid Gen's Suck my Blog and Slippy -or one of those cooky guys- posted a link to the most energetic -a bit too energetic- weatherman on t.v. Mark Mathis from Fox news in N.C is a wild guy, but little did Liquid Gen's Suck my Blog know, is that Mr. Weather Mark Mathis is a booze hound. Accourding to the Herald Sun Mark has been 86'ed from the news team to persue a career in intervention due to his drinking problem.

drunken, disheveled, solitary, hunkered down in a $99 room at a Doubletree hotel, a weekend destination he had chosen because he knew he could get vodka from room service if the bottle he'd brought along didn't do the trick.

His annual income was near $160,000. Now the money is mostly gone, squandered on trips, good times, partying.

To bad buddy, but sounds like an OK guy to me. So pick your head up Mark every thing will be fine; common I'll buy ya a drink.

Have you ever taken a crap that was so nasty, that you were afraid that the stench would follow you out of the bathroom?
-Then you find yourself paying to much attention to the smells around you for a bit, just to make sure it didn't.-

Johnny C. over at The Movie Blog posted today about the future of Napster. It seems that the site is planning on adding movies to the list of downloads -for its paying customers of course- CEO Chris Gorog was quoted saying.

"We are currently considering moving into video, particularly to tap the younger video-game generation", told to delegates, according to the Financial Times. "I do think that while there are huge players in the delivery of movies like Sky, there could be a role for Napster".

Online movie distribution has already taken off to a small degree in the US, with MovieLink and CinemaNow selling films via the web from $2.99 upwards.

Pretty interesting stuff; the article on C|Net continues to state:

Nevertheless, analysts are predicting legal film downloads could be a winner. Since the advent of broadband, film downloads have surged considerably; one in four people online have now downloaded a film, according to the MPAA. Such statistics have encouraged Napster and others to eye the market.

So Johnny, when is The Movie Blog going to take advantage of this idea?

This morning on Gizmodo, I was reading a post from yesterday about Midi Bag-Pipes which I must say is frick'n sweet. You may not know -but some of you do- my family is very proud of its Scottish heritage, furthermore we love the sound of some good old pipes -well at least my father and I-. So after reading this article and browsing to the blog Music Thing from the UK, it appears that this novel item goes for about 5k. But not to fret my celtic lads, for I can still persue the dream with a more frugle version at Deger Pipes.

One of the aspirations of bloggers far and wide, is to possibly one day be nominated -and mabye even win- in the Bloggies. Since 2001 they have been holding these weblog awards -I have been paying attention since 2003- and trust me, if you have never checked them out, you realy do find some of the best blogs on Earth during these awards. I personally grab -steal- ideas for design, and content from many of the blogs I check out during the Bloggies, check out some of these popular nominies -some are old favs of mine, and some I have never frik'n sceen before- :

BizGirl::Best Australian Weblog * Never Frick'n Sceen Before *
Xiaxue::This one is for Bukezilla -she's a hottie dude- * Never Frick'n Sceen Before *
Near Near Future:: Best Euro Blog * Never Frick'n Sceen Before *
Wonkette::Best U.S Blog * Old Fav *
Scary Duck::Best Tagline * Never Frick'n Sceen Before *
Defamer::Best Entertainment Blog * Old Fav *
ScriptyGoddess::Best Web Dev * Old Fav *
Gizmodo::Best Tech Blog * Old Fav *
SlashDot::Best Community Blog * Old Fav *
Teaching the Indi Kids to Dance Again::Best kept Secret * Never Frick'n Sceen Before *
Megnut::Life Time Achievement -give it to her already damn it you know she should get it!- * Old Fav *
Gawker::Weblog of the Year * Old Fav *


So as you can see you will cross some damn cool blogs on this list. Gawker Media kina cleaning house this year, and for god's sake vote for Meg Hourihan in the Life Time Achievement category, she is one sharp lady -she created Blogger people!!-

I can't beleive it; I shant beleive it, I actually got news that I have never read before from the Buffalo News today. Now I like to think I am pretty abreast of the news -what I consider news- of today, granted I get the majority of it from other bloggers, but hey thats my thing. I also frequently read a number of movie weblogs which again, I seemed to be ahead of the game when it came to others I know. But this artical I read in todays Life and Arts section about Tim Burton's Corpse Bride had me at the edge of my seat. After watching the trailer for this stop motion animation film, I was swept back in time to Tim Burton's first -well actually seconed- wack at stop motion A Nightmare Before Christmas. The trailer looks great, and is supported by the voices of Johnny Depp, Emily Watson and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on a Russian folk tale where a man accidently weds a corpse. Of course apearing to be briliant.

I was checking out my old professors weblog like I normally do -not insinuating that she is old, just that she is no longer my teacher- and she had this great link to an animated giff that had me laughing out loud in my cubical -which I had to explain to everyone-. So thank you for the good laugh Prof. Lawley and all are encuraged to check out the funny ass giff, which can also be found on Mamamusings.

This is to F'N funny - thanks Gizmodo

Well this has been one of the longest stints of non posting that I have had in a while, and I know you are all on the edge of your seats to know why. Well this weekend was a tough one. First off I had much on my mind, from work to old friends that I spoke to. Then I went out booze hounding with a friend of mine, and her friends and her are pretty big party animals. Not that I can hang, but I think the shots of Crown Royal caught up to me much sooner than later, but it was still a well needed and deserved good time -since the prior week was spent on call for work-. Then Sunday was a day of rest and recovery -like many are doing on Sunday's, and don't lie; you all know it-, folowed by speratic viewings of the 2 football games, that were not in my favor. Monday was a truly hard day, for one I wasn't feeling well, and 2 .....
So needless to say Tuesday I stayed home from work -no I wasn't playing hookie- I was actually not feeling well, it must have been some sort of a stomach virus, or mabey somthing else, who knows. But thank the maker that I was home sick because there was an emergincy with my grandfather and he needed to be taken to the hospital right away. So the remander of the day was spent with my grandpops in the ER, making sure he was ok.
Of course now I am back to work, and still not at 100%. I know this is a sorry excuse for a posting, but to bad. If you really want a good story, ask me about the baby???

The guys at Movie Blog did it to me again, I hate being the type of blogger that just copies others posts, but this is f'n good stuff. Disney is said to be remaking Tron, and Movie Blog has a pretty good commenting thread going on for the post. I personally loved this movie. For 1 I am a computer programmer myself, and when I saw the movie as a child, I was realy into Atari. The neon colors of the suits, and the 90 degree turns of the vehicles, all parts that are scanned into my hard drive. Of course I hope they add Jeff Bridges to the cast, just to show him some love.

P.S. Bukezilla this should realy get you going. Matter of fact I posted this story mostly for you bud.

Being a prorogrammer I tend to drink alot of java, which leads to many trips to the hoop -thats the bathroom for those who live in caves and under rocks-. I pretty much drink coffe continuisly troughout the day, and in turn I am heading off to the lue about ever 10 min, my co-workers probably think I am snorting lines in there. Well today after my 5th mornign cup of Columbian goodness, I felt the pipes building up, and plodded towards the WC. Once I reached my destination, I was met by 2 occupants at the standing stalls -and I am not going to wait in line at work, this is not a Bills game-, so I entered the handicap stall -I like the extra space to stretch- and started to prepare myself. Once I was in motion I saw something very bothersome on the floor. I was looking at the floor since that was the direction everything was moving, and to my disgust I see nail clippings scattered about. These were pretty well sized jammies too, so I am thinking toe nail clippings. Which leads me to the question "who would come into the hoop, take off their shoes and socks, and proceed to clip thier toe nails"? It was a tramatic experience on many levels, I may not be able to use public bathrooms again.

This morning I strolled into work with a wide grin on my face -and no I didn't get laid last night- and proceded to check my morning news -my daily blog reads-. On Slash Dot there was an interesting post about Japanese robotic teams boasting that they will be able to produce a winning World Cup Soccer Team from their VisiON’s model prototypes. Personly I just think they look like little Japanese guys wearing funny suits. But seriously folks, this is pretty cool stuff. Part of me likes to believe that we will live to see the robotic age. My grandparents saw the rise of industry, my parents saw the rise of computer technology, and now we -I am 26 here people- see the rise of the machines. Did you ever see Run Away with Tom Selic?

On Movie Blog today John tells us a little secret about super bowl Sunday this year. It appears that they will be showing the new trailer for Batman Begins starring Christian Bale as a young Bruce Wyane, and of course that mysterious Dark Knight. If you havn't seen the teaser then I best think you check it out at the Home Page

The people over at Gizmodo have posted something quite titilating to me once again. Their menthon of the Pantech & Curitel PH-K2500 has made my nipples hard. Of course this is only a Korean release, and I wonder if the U.S will get their mitts on it some time in the future. Mobile is not as high demand as in other countires. But any way, this sweet little phone not only does your run of the mill functions, it allso has a text scanner, and text to voice software.

This weekend I added a few new sections to Berf Net -along with staying up way to late for my day job, I hate real work on the weekends-. These sections were long overdue but hey, I barely get time to work on the design of my site lately -that is why there is no php in it yet-. The new sections are the About and Portfolio page, the online resume and the contact me page, for those who would like to send me dirty little mails, or mabey even want to hire me for a web job -hint, hint , hint-. So check out the new seections and let me know what you think.

Tonight Anthony, Paul and I are going to be heading up to the HSBC Arena to check out the Buffalo Bandits take on the Toronto Rock. I am very excited, we all played Lacrosse together in high school and have a very fond attatchment to the sport. This will be the Bandits first game of the season, so it should be a good one. Plus since there is no hockey, I think we will all appreciate the action.

I spend lots of time on Google searching for random things. Bu tI also rely on the Groups section for many things. I feel that any developer is required to familurize themselves with this very useful tool. I See now that Google has launched a new Beta version of its group site. Which I feel is much smoother that its predicesor. It is much easier to read, and I can sift trough the replies much faster. There is a rating system, and it now tallies up the total numbers of members in the group. Some of the groups that I frequent are SharePoint Developers, SQL Server 2K, .NET Development and Movable Type -but mabey I got kicked out of that one-. Any how, a much better interface and functionality.

I was down in the break room during lunch today and I picked up the Entertainment section of the Buffalo News and on the cover of the section was the most recent review of the new Michael Keaton movie White Noise also starring Chandra West and Deborah Kara Unger. I was very displeased to read the negative review of this film by Jeff Simon of the Buffalo News, and the low rating of 1.5 stars. Granted that he did continue to write that Michael Keaton is an amazing actor and that the movie is certainly not held back by his performance. But simply the story was lacking, and unsatisfiying. I personally have not yet seen this movie, but I will shortly, hey it is a Michael Keaton film, and we havn't seen him on the silver screen in some time. So after reading this review I must say, I am glad I rarely take these opinions to heart, and would ratehr make up my own mind about the quality of the picture. I see Michael Keaton films to have the same affect as a Bruce Willis film. No matter how bad it turns out to be, it still isn't that bad just because he is in the movie. But you can make up your own mind.

"If "White Noise" is the movie, I'd say that more profitable movie subjects could be found among Bulgarian chicken farmers, waste management conferences in Pismo Beach and the night shift game of pinochle in the sheriff's office of Butte, Mont."
-- JEFF SIMON BUFFALO NEWS 1/6/2005

Just remembering some things .. Sorry folks this one is just for me.

On Movie Blog today John Campea writes about the next publishing of Vanity Fair magazine, and the story on Episode III and its cast. Now I must say I am extremly pumped about this flick, and I think my buds are as well. With out trying to sound like a complete geek, but I plan on buying this issue just for the center fold out poster.

"This issue commemorates the entire Star Wars saga with a special fold-out cover that features Lucas posing with actors and characters from all the films, photographed by Leibovitz. Included are Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Jake Lloyd (young Anakin), Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), Ian McDiarmid (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine), Pernilla August (Shmi Skywalker), Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian). Among the characters spotlighted on the cover are Yoda, Darth Vader, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Jar Jar Binks and General Grievous."

-- from starwars.com article

Any way go check out the article posted on Movie Blog it brings up a few of the subjects visited in the new film.

On the JoHo blog written by David Weinberger -very smart cat- one of the postings of the day is a link to a short flash film documenting the future of online media. Check it out, it is an iteresting watch, and it only takes a few, so I don't think your boss will get to upset.

Yesterday I didn't post to the blog since I was to f'n depressed to even look at it. See the god damn Buffalo Bills lost to the Pitsburge J.V. squad on Sunday, and I was there to see it all unfold. There was about 10 of us who packed up and headed out to the Ralph on Sunday morning. It was to be a great day of BBQ tailgaiting, Labatts Blue, Whisky and 2 hand touch. Then the swan song of the day would have been seeing our home team make it into the playoffs for the first time in years, and after digging themselves out of a hole and producing spectacular wins in the past 6 weeks. My friends and I spent over the standard amount for tickets from scalpers, and sat surrounded by smelly Steeler fans. Then to top it all off, some team wearing Bills uniforms lost the game to fricken back ups. I don't understand, where were the Bills? You tell me. Then the Rams won, which pretty much would have put us in the playoffs. GOD DAMN IT!!!

Well for New Years Eve, I had a little get together at my house with some of my closest friends, and it was a blast. Here are a few pics from the night that I took on my digital camera. Most of them are just touched up a bit, but some I jazzed up, tell me what you think.

Mordiki, Anthony and Buke