Lunar Adventures

Reel-to-reel lawnmowers are awesome, in theory

In an unexpected fit of environmentalism, a little while back I bought a reel-to-reel lawn mower. A $40 purchase from Craigslist. For those of you unfamiliar with the odd bit of history that is the reel-to-reel mower, it’s just like a normal, gas-powered mower, except that it doesn’t use gas and it doesn’t cut grass. Sure, it [...]

Southwest Airlines “bags fly free” commercials hit home

Southwest Airlines has long had smart marketing. Their latest set of commercials on bags flying free, “We Love Your Bags”, is another great example of a smart company employing a smart strategy. Focusing on strengths and differentiation is nothing new to marketing, but those basic tenets seem to get lost in favor of cleverness and “wow” [...]

Things I’d Buy If I Had Unlimited Amounts Money: 12 Segways

Segways are one of those things that are kind of cool in concept, but when forced between choosing to spend a few thousand dollars on a scooter that rolls at 8mph or, well, anything else that costs a few thousand dollars, the choice is pretty easy. Practicality put aside by the magical mystical “unlimited money” clause, [...]

Rock Band lets me fulfill my rock star dreams

This isn’t a review of Rock Band, or The Beatles Rock Band. I don’t have the patience to do a proper video game review — but I did want to write a few words about why I think these games are so much fun. I’m not going to lie — I still harbor fantasies of being [...]

NBA referees drive me batty. Mavs fans feel the referee pain again.

I want to preface this by saying that, yes, Antoine Wright should have played until he heard the whistle. Yes, the Mavericks should have hit their free throws down the stretch. Yes, it would have been nice if Dirk hit his turnaround jumper (I do believe it was taken at the right time, [...]

Mavs vs. Nuggets, game 3: Keys to the game

The Mavericks were in Game 2 until they started turning the ball over again and the game got sloppy. The Mavericks started to have bad possessions every time down the floor; which lead to breakaway baskets for Denver. Jason Kidd needs to step it back up — he needs to be the floor general he’s capable [...]

Keys to the game, Mavs vs. Denver Game 2

Actually, let’s call it the key to the game. Fewer turnovers. If Mavs turn it over a reasonable number in Game 1 (instead of 8 from their point guard, who’s here for his brain more than his body), I have little doubt they win the game. Play game 2 like game 1 — solid defense, decent shot selection [...]

Mavericks provide kick in the crotch to Maverick fans

Rick Carlisle has his work cut out for him: he has to figure out a way for the Mavericks to learn to guard the pick and roll and slow down Tony Parker. The Mavericks got off to a slow start in game 2, much like game 1… but this time, no one was able to slow [...]

Key to the game: JJ Barea

Who’d have thought that one year ago, we’d be saying the key to a Mavericks playoff series would be JJ Barea? (Sidenote: I suddenly couldn’t remember if Barea had one “r” or two. So I Googled “Barea.” And JJ is the first entry. Google juice for the little guy.) His quickness needs to bother Parker — make [...]

Note to NBC: The Olympics consist of more than three sports

If all I knew about the 2008 Beijing Olympics came from NBC’s television coverage, I would conclude that:

Swimming was the most popular sport in the world, and Michael Phelps was running for supreme dictator of the planet &#8212; he gets interviewed more than the U.S. presidential candidates;
Gymnastics [...]

Lessons learned for August 2, 2008

Grilled snapper is my favorite kind of seafood.
The Dallas World Aquarium is a really neat place &#8212; if you haven&#8217;t been yet and live in Dallas, you should go.
Manatees are really, really big.
No one ever has the t-shirt I want [...]

WordPress from my iPhone

Hi. I’m writing this post from the really slick and easy-to-use WordPress iPhone app. Neat. PS. I got an iPhone 3G. It rocks but isn’t flawless. More to come.

NHL Hockey playoff overtime is amazing

I’m writing this post while keeping a watchful eye on the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks hockey game — it’s game 6, double overtime, 1-1. Stars up in the series 3-2, but game 7 (if necessary) is in San Jose. So they want to close this out. I’ll be the first to admit that hockey [...]

Annoyance of Day™: Banner ads that talk

Advertising drives the internet. I understand that, and can deal with it — even this humble little site has an ad on it here and there. And with the rise of contextual advertising and niche marketing, I’ve even clicked on some ads because they were — get this — relevant, interesting, and presented a product [...]

Ceremonial first creepy-crawly sighting

I think now I’m truly officially a homeowner. I was awakened a few minutes ago by the sound of something pitter-pattering across the hardwood floor. I had my suspicions, so I turned on the light and sure enough, there it was: a cockroach. Now, a little background about me. I’m terrified of roaches. My top five fears, [...]

On measuring success

One the topics floating around here in Meadows administration is the topic of measuring success — specifically, how students define success and whether or not that changes throughout the course of their college career. That got me to thinking, how do I define success? Life-wise, that’s a tricky question. But career-wise? Easy. Flexible hours, an office with a [...]

Annoyance of the Day™: Income taxes

It’s April 14 in the US, so what could today’s annoyance of the day be if not taxes? Of course, calling tax time an annoyance is like calling a leg amputation a minor medical procedure. But the point stands. The current system of taxing, deductions, and 9,000,000 pages of tax laws on the books is arcane. Do [...]

Important NCAA basketball bracket update

One of my pet peeves in life is when people talk too much about their fantasy baseball, basketball, or football team or talk too much about their bracket around people who aren’t in their league. Sure, amongst other people in your league? Talk until the cows come home. But among unconcerned parties? Spare us the [...]

On stubbornness

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a pretty stubborn cat sometimes. More often than not, really. Sometimes, it’s because I have a strong conviction and feel that I’m in the right and don’t want to compromise. But sometimes I’ll be sitting around minding my own business and having a stubborn moment all by [...]

Dirk Nowitzki is a lot of things – including tough

From the day Dirk Nowitzki was acquired by the Mavericks on draft day, one of the knocks on him was that he was soft. He’s been fighting that reputation ever since, which I think is a pretty unfair one. He went ahead and proved that he is as tough as they come — and, as John [...]