Get Ready For The Slugfest

The first game in Saturday's Final Four doubleheader is the Georgetown-Ohio State slugfest.

Now, both teams have come from behind to win their respective games. Even when they were down by twenty or more points, they came back to beat North Carolina (Georgetown) and Memphis (Ohio State), so I'm expecting a shootout here between the Hoyas and Buckeyes.

I'm from Ohio, so even though I DO have a bit of a bias for those Bucks, there is a place in my heart for Georgetown.

The second game is the Florida-UCLA matchup. Last year, the Gators devoured the Bruins in the championship game. The Bruins look to avenge for that heartbreaking loss, while the Gators look to repeat in both the semifinals and the championship game.

My picks are Ohio State and Florida in the championship game, with the Bucks going for it all. However, Georgetown looks to be the spoiler, which I don't mind at all.
It'll be nice to see John Thompson, Jr's son, John Thompson III, and Patrick Ewing's son, Patrick Ewing, Jr. win one for their pops.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

All Is Fair In Love and Betrayal

loveshtoned/YouTube/Showtime

I don't know where to start, so I'll just write anything.

There's this bitch, Linda. I told you about her before- I'll post a picture in the future. She's kind of what I call a 'guilty pleasure', thing is that she's far from being a perfect '10', but in my desperate moments I find myself drawn to her. Don't ask why. It just happens.

However, things are changing. Sure, there are times when I want to pork this bitch, but then I have to worry about catching STDs and every other parasite she may carry (her history is, to put it bluntly, is less than exemplary. Drug abuse; prostitution. Makes me wonder if she was the inspiration for the Comedy Central sitcom Strangers With Candy. Shit, nothing's perfect).

I may stoop down and fuck this bitch, just to get her out of my system. But if I do, I must take into account the fact that I'm taking a really big risk here.

Then again, I guess that's what the sexual game sometimes engenders. Otherwise, we'd all go insane from not getting any.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.
The L Word, Copyright 2007, Showtime Networks. A Division of Viacom.

JVC Up For Sale

Usually, American companies are on the auction block, only to be bought out by foreign companies and investors.

But in a rare move in the tech world, it's the other way around.

Matsushita- the owner of Panasonic and Victor Comapny of Japan (JVC) is selling the latter. Two American firms, one being Texas Pacific Group- the same folks who tried to buy PGE (Portland General Electric. They almost succeeded, but some ex-governor's shennannigans from 33 years ago kind of blew that apart, didn't it?...anyway...the other is Celeberus, a hedge fund).

What will this mean for those of us who own electronics from JVC?

The story from Reuters can be accessed by clicking on the title.
Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

Final Cut About To Be Updated?

This is just speculative, but it seems that Apple will release an update to Final Cut Studio on April 15.

Click on the title to see the UK edition of Macworld's website's article.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

I'll Be Expecting Your Resignation Soon, Mr. Vice President

Boy, does Washington have it in for Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney.

His chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby gets convicted of two counts of perjury; one count of obstruction of justice, and one of making false statements to federal investigators in the Valerie Palme case- where a now ex-CIA operative's name was revealed. Many people blame him for pulling President Bush's strings, using the head of the Bush crime family as a puppet (insert theme from The Sopranos here). Now, just about everyone- particularly those in the Grand Old (or must I use Good Ol' Boys)Party- are looking at him as if he's a walking case of genital herpes, genital warts, and syphilis.

Many believe that Cheney should have had his walking papers long ago, but our Dolt...er, Commander-in-Chief has this 'loyalty complex' that he can't- or doesn't seem to want to- get rid of. Like the now ex-Secretary of Defense, Donald Scums...um, Rumsfeld before him, Cheney should now get tossed out on his ass- at least while that pacemaker's still in working order.

But should King George II (his pappy is George I, but at least George I had more sense...) decide to keep Dickhead for another 1 1/2 years or so, his presence could be a real asset to the Democrats. After all, why get rid of ol' Tricky Dick (sorry, Mr. Cheney. Now that Nixon's gone to the great White House in the sky- or in the fiery pit- you've inherited the nickname) when the Democrats are itching to have everything pass in both chambers of Congress, and the support for the War on Terrorism continues to erode. Cheney's tenure as Vice President can only help them, while almost every Republican is praying to Jehovah that either Bush finally gets over his loyalty complex and kick his second-in-command out, or that his pacemaker finally gives out.

Either way, Cheney's going to say au revoir to Washington before 2007 is out.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

Perhaps Gays Should Stay Out Of the Military (Besides, Why Die For a Country That Barely Acknowledges Your Existence?)

"I do not believe that the United States is well served to say that says that it is OK to be immoral in any way...
I believe that homosexual acts... is immoral...we should not condone immoral acts..."


Those were the words of Marine General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoken yesterday. He supports the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy put into effect 13 years ago by President Bill Clinton and the Pentagon. He said this in response to the Democrat-controlled Congress' proposal to reverse the military ban on gays (lesbians; bisexuals; transgendered, and sexually questioning included) serving openly.

In an article in today's Army Times, Pace said that he regretted putting his personal views into the mix, but stopped short of apologizing for his remarks.
(see the article at http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/03/TNSuppacegay070313/ ).

Now, could you say that General Pace is homophobic? Probably. But should gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals be able to serve openly? Absolutely (though, as a straight guy, that'll mean that I won't have any more excuses not to serve...but if I have to wear the uniform for my country, so be it. Just be prepared for massacres of al-Qaida hideouts, and the mummified head of Osama bin Laden atop the United States Capitol...). After all, Israel; Britain, and even Canada allow their gay and lesbian troops to serve openly, and so far, I've heard no reports of gay-bashings in their ranks (either that, or I haven't paid much attention to anything military-related outside the most homophobic military in the world- the good ol' U.S. of A.).

The argument against serving while openly gay is that it'll demoralize the troops. That it's just not right. Not moral. Sure, you can be a fag or a dyke in combat boots, just don't flaunt or swish that backside of yours, lest you be handed to the insurgents and/or al-Qaida (of course, if your comrades do that, and it turns out that al-Qaida, the Taliban, and/or the insurgents are gay-friendly, then our military will have a real problem on their hands. In other words, the pink triangle branch of the above three fighting our troops. Talk about demoralizing).

General Pace's comment, you may say, are nothing short of ignorant. As expected, the supporters for allowing gays to serve cry foul over the remarks, which is why I believe that the LGBT community must continue the fight.

Of course, if you are found out, or should you dare say that you're one of those 'freaks' (as my mother calls the LGBT community), go ahead and take the discharge. After all, why die for a country that barely wants you to exist in the first place.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

I Think That This Blog Needs A New Title

The current title, The View From Planet Alex, admittedly, is a pretty catchy title. Sure, it sounds kind of dumb. Kind of out there. But otherwise, it's fun.

But I'm thinking about changing the title- again! I changed the title last year- the previous title was called The Alex Chronicles- and use one that...I don't know, sounds less 'out there'. After all, the last time I checked, I still lived here on Earth, and I was born here on this planet, on the North American continent, in the state of Ohio. Yes, I'm from middle red-state America (I now live in blue-state Oregon. Some may call it The People's republic of Oregon. You should see the Russian translation...).

Maybe it's just me not being satisfied.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

It's All About THE BRACKET, People!

Welcome to the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, people.

Where dreams come true, and smaller teams- think George Mason last season, and of course, the ever venerable Gonzaga University (out of the nutsville town known as Spokane, Washington)- get their time in the spotlight.

Where a field of 64- have that eye on that holy grail of college basketball- the Siemens Trophy.

The road to Atlanta starts Tuesday, in the Nutter Center (on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio), two teams will play for that 16th spot in the West Regionals. Florida A&M Rattlers face off against the Purple Eagles of Niagara.

Then, on Thursday, the real fun starts.

The number one seeds- Ohio State in the South Regional; North Carolina Tar Heels in the East; Florida in the Midwest: and Kansas in the West face off against the #16 teams (Central Connecticut against the Buckeyes: Eastern Kentucky against the Tar Heels: Jackson State against the Gators; and the winner of Tuesday's game against the Jayhawks). For the next several weeks, the drama! The excitement! The glory of the Men's Division I championship! All live on cable, CBS-TV; and more! You can log on to http://ncaasports.com to get live coverage of almost every game (if a game in on TV in your city, you won't get to see it online. Better stock up on the popcorn; pretzels; and beer, junior...).

Join in the fun! It's THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR, BABY!

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

2007 Apple World Wide Developers Conference Dates Released

You can count on Apple to release new products- and likely updates, as well- at least two times a year: January and June. Of course, in January, Apple gave us the iPhone, which we'll see in our grubby little hands in June (we do have to sign up with AT&T's Cingular to get one...why can't they also go with MY service provider, Cricket? Oh, well...one thing we can count on, however, is the fact that Microsoft's Steve Ballmer's eyes will get get greener when he sees one. Of course, being a bald-headed knucklehead from Seattle, he'll hide his iPhone from one William Henry Gates III...poor Steve...).

Sorry, got off track for a sec. Anyway, Apple releases products at least two times a year- January and June. We've already been through the 2007 Macworld Expo and Conference. Now get mark June 11-15, 2007 on the calendars. Those are the dates for the 2007 Apple World Wide Developers Conference, and as always, it's at the Moscone Center- Apple's official convention center, it seems (well, it IS close to Cupertino).

I'll, of course, have the news of what Apple releases in June. But you can count on something (besides Steve Ballmer's impending aneurysm), it will most definitely be very exciting! I can't wait!

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

Adult Film Summit Cancelled

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Herouxville, Quebec- Canada's Hayden Lake

Okay, so maybe I'm going a bit too far on the title, but apparently, many folks of the Muslim proclivity are not very happy about some new laws they see as stifling their beliefs.

On the website, Moonbattery, the authors praise the town's fathers for 'standing up' for the town's values and sovergnity (http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2007/01/herouxville_que.html ), while another group, Religious Freaks, say that what's going on in Herouxville is nothing unlike what Hitler did before the Holocaust and subsequently World War II. (read their blog at http://www.religiousfreaks.com/2007/01/31/avoid-herouxville-quebec-if-youre-muslim/ ).

What this stems from is the move by the Herouxville town council to protect women from stoning; not wearing the traditional female abaya- the name of that robe escapes me right now- and allows female officers to arrest men; etc. As we all know, in many Muslim countries, women are treated like second class citizens, with no rights or protections, and Herouxville felt that what applies in, say, Saudi Arabia, doesn't apply in this town about 125 miles outside of Montreal.

Here in America, we respect all kinds of beliefs, no matter how seemingly troubling sometimes. We can agree to disagree, but in a civilized manner. I cannot play judge, or executioner on the Herouxville laws. But I do feel that perhaps some of the bylaws need another look- like the wearing of the abaya. If the Muslim female feels that wearing the abaya brings more connection to her faith, so be it. If she feels that she can be a Muslim without one, again, so be it.

The decision must be up to the individual, not the government.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

I, Sodom, Take Thee, Gomorrah: Americans Get an 'F' in Religion

Genesis 19:14 says that Sodom looked Gomorrah in the eye, and lifted Gomorrah's veil. Then, in verse 15 says"... Gomorrah took Sodom by the hand, and kissed her- or is it his- husband, and they went back to their home and began having (sexual) relations."

Of course, if you believe the above Bible passage, then you're probably not alone. According to a new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know- and Doesn't, by Boston University religion chair Stephen Prothero, sixty percent of Americans can't name half of the Ten Commandments, and 50 percent of high school seniors think that Sodom married Gomorrah. Come to think of the story of two wicked cities as something written by Shakespeare, something like Romeo and Juliet.

For those who don't know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is the account of the two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, Sodom, in the days after the Great Flood, resembled, say today's Castro (San Francisco); Christopher Street/Greenwich Village (New York); or even Southwest Stark between 10th and 13th Avenues here in Moscow on the Willy (Portland, Oregon. 'Willy', of course, is the Willamette River). Picture Fire Island, Long Island, New York, if you will. Now, two hot and gorgeous angels happened to visit Lot, a faithful servant of the Lord. Now, back before the Lord put a moratorium on angels being visible (unless otherwise ordered to), angels appeared in the flesh. Not too long after their arrival, every man in Sodom salivated over the sight of angels. So, they surrounded Lot's home and demanded that the old goat surface those hotties so they could take them to Sodom's equivalent to a gay orgy. But Lot told them, "no way, Joses. Here, take my daughters. Do what you want." (unfortunately, the option included rape/sexual assault). But the men of Sodom told Lot that they didn't want pussy. THEY WANTED DICK! So, to keep the story short, the angels told Lot- in verse 14 of Genesis 19- that Sodom, and the nearby city of Gomorrah, were going to be destroyed. So God threw fire and sulfur onto the cities, and the inhabitants of those two cities were lost. Lot's wife, who probably had affairs on the side (was she bisexual? Hmmm...) was turned into a pillar of salt.

Okay, so I'm no Bible scholar- hell, I don't read my Bible over half of the time, so I'm in good company here. But the point here is that we Americans are apparently Bible-illiterate (I'm listening to Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River, which is probably what you're telling me right now...). And every conservative theologian probably sees this Bible illiteracy as proof that America is headed straight to hell.

Prothero goes on to point out that many folks think that the Shia and Sunni factions are one and the same, because both are Muslim, and that Islam is the religion of peace- just look at the Iraq conflict and al-Qaida. If those are two examples of peace, I'd hate to see the riots and wars. He suggests that a middle schoolers be required to take a Bible course in world religions, and high schoolers take one on the Bible, and college undergrads to take one course in religious studies.

Yes, that'll make the ACLU and the People for the American Way (the latter founded by legendary TV producer Norman Lear) very happy.

Of course, if we are going straight to hell, at least let me die in a bevy of hot lesbians.

(click on the title for the link to the USA Today article).

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

The World's First Tablet Mac- and What It May Mean For The Mac

For years, the Windows world has enjoyed carrying around these notebook-like PCs- called Tablet PCs. On these, a person can write, or draw out ideas for projects and even use them in presentations.

But on April 1, we Mac-heads- who have salivated over these tablet PCs for years- finally get our own tablet.

The ModBook, made by Axiotron, and distributed exclusively by Other World Computing, a vendor for Macintosh computers- will be released. It runs on the Mac OS X (Tiger, currently, though support for the upcoming Leopard is expected), and has the Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and GMA 950 graphics card inside. In the 1.83 GHz model, you get 60 GB hard drive; 512 MB memory; and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive. That runs at $2279. For $300 more, you get a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 1 GB memory; WAAS-enabled GPS; and 80 GB hard drive. The top of the line has the same features as the $2579, but in addition, you get 2 GB of memory and 160 GB hard drive.

On all models, an iSight camera is on top; a Wacom(R) Penabled (TM) Digitizer pen is included. The 13.3" display is made of Chemically Strengthened glass, and the ModBook allows you to write on it. It's Bluetooth-equipped. The only thing the ModBook doesn't have is an external keyboard (though, it has an internal one. Just turn it on. Got that, Ballmer? It does allow you to use an external keyboard, if you like).

And yes, after you finish your work, you can pop in a DVD and watch that porn flick you've been itchin' to watch all day.

The ModBook is targeted for professionals who edit photos on programs such as Apple's Apeture and Adobe's forthcoming Lightroom.

The ModBook arrives on April 1.

With Axiotron building the first non-Apple Mac computer in ten years, this could mean that Apple will once again open up licenses for computer manufacturers to run the Mac OS X on their computers. If the ModBook is a success- and with many Mac-heads wanting a Table Mac for quite some time, it'll likely be that- look for other manufacturers to put the Mac OS into their computers. I'm guessing- and I'm no computer expert, so don't quote me on this (not yet, anyway...)- that Sony and HP will likely jump on board (HP could turn its' Compaq brand into a Mac division. Who knows? I'm just guessing here. Or it could be a dual-OS or even multi-OS division,with computers running on Mac, Windows, and Linux...).

But right now, the ModBook opens up possibilities that the Mac OS may soon no longer be confined to just Apple. Sure, Apple will continue to create the OS, and control the rights for some time (I doubt very seriously that Steve Jobs will give up his baby). But I'm guessing in about a year- at least- and no more than three to five years, the Mac may be on HP, Sony, and even Toshiba computers. That'll give those knuckleheads up in Redmond a combination of a grand mal seizure and an Excedrin headache.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

Scooter Libby Found Guilty On Four of Five Counts in CIA Leak Case

I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, has been found guilty on four of the five counts in the ongoing CIA leak case where an agent's true identity was revealed.

He was convicted on obstruction; perjury; and lying to the FBI. He faces 25 years in prison.

Stay tuned to CNNfor the latest developments.

I'll talk more about today's verdict, later today.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

The Dumbass' Guide to Teaching Your Baby Nephews How to Smoke Weed

The video that's linked here (just click on the title) has many- myself included- infuriated.

The young boys, one, two years of age, the other, five, being coerced by two knuckleheads- one being their 17 year old uncle- to smoke marijuana. The young two year old takes a hit, and chews, as if he's eating the toxins.

Now, for the record, I don't give a shit if the 17 year old- and his 18 year old friend- smokes the herb. After all, it's their bodies. They do what ever the fuck they want to do with them. But to force their two and five year old nephews to do this, I'm not at all surprised that authorities are calling it a blantant form of child abuse.

What in the hell were these idiots thinking? Granted they were high, but what were they thinking when they gave the weed to those babies? If anything, the anti-drug people- the ONDCP people and Partership for a Drug-Free America- upon seeing this will have much more ammunition for their draconian view of 'a drug-free America'. What the two men, Demetrius McCoy, 17, and Vanswan Polty, 18, need to realize is that they're more or less hurting the cause for adults to smoke marijuana freely and responsibly. And in the former's case, he shouldn't even be smoking the chronic himself.

There's no telling how long this has gone on- for all I know, this is probably not the first time those babies were exposed to weed. And now, they run the risk of having developmental and behaviorial problems- hey, I'm no doctor or psychiatrist, but even so, it doesn't take either to figure out what's wrong with the picture I've witnessed.

Stupid, man. Damn stupid.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

What Will Apple Release This Time?- Chapter Two

April 15, at the NAB convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, Apple will hold a special event. In the past, the all-in-one house of Steve (all-in-one meaning they build both the computer and the operating system- something Microsoft will never do in another million years, considering that they've already screwed up Vista...) has released products for us Mac lovers. I'm talking updated versions of our favorite Mac computers and software, and probably an update of iTunes as well.

So, what will Steve Jobs and company give us Mac-heads this time?

I'm guessing Leopard will be released around this time. Or at least, Steve-O will give us the date of release.

Perhaps, Apple will come to its' senses finally and lower the price of Macs across the freakin' board. Which means I won't have to spend $1500 on the 13" black MacBook I've been salivating over forever.

Perhaps Apple will release a 42" plasma HD Cinema Display monitor for the professionals among us. Just picture looking at our files from across the room would be great- particularly for those of us who use Final Cut Studio (or even Final cut express and iMovie...speaking of which, Apple could release FCS 5.2, or even 6.0, ahead of Adobe's return to the Mac platform with the Production Studio suite that will run exclusively on Intel-based Macs. Production Studio comes out in June).

As usual, the gang in Cupertino keeps everyone in the dark- probably so those fuck-ups in Redmond don't try to spy on the Apple lab, and try to sneak in something ahead of the release of the next Mac product...I don't trust those nimrods from Microsoft.

Also go to http://www.nab.org for the National Association of Broadcasters website. Click on the title above for the Macworld article.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

Bluffton University Men's Baseball Team Bus Crash

The men's baseball team from Bluffton University, a Mennonite-affiliated school in Bluffton, Ohio, was on its way to Fort Myers, Florida to play in a baseball tournament. Most of the young men were asleep when the bus reached Atlanta.

At about 5:00AM Eastern time this morning- that would be 2:00AM here on the west coast, the driver exited off Interstate 75 on to the Northside Drive, NW HOV ramp.

The bus crashed off the overpass, back onto I-75, in the southbound lanes.

Six people, including the driver, were killed. Nineteen were injured, some seriously.
Most of the severely injured were taken to Grady Hospital, the level one trauma center in the city center. Others to nearby Piedmont Hospital, around Howell Mill Road

Atlanta police surmise- and it was my guess as well- that the driver never intended to exit.

An unintentional misjudgement, but given the fact that some Atlanta roads are tricky, the drive probably never knew that he was in the HOV lane. Or he probably did, but thought that he was safely into the other lane when the crash took place.

As I watched the news conference by A.J. Ramthun, 18, of Springfield, Ohio (just outside of Dayton), I felt his pain over the loss of some of the fellow baseball players, and the driver and his (the driver's) wife. His older brother Michael, also on the team, suffered hip injuries.

My condolences goes out to the families of those lost, and my prayers go out to the families of the survivors. May the injured find healing and strength through God, and know that the entire country, and the world, are at your side through this tragedy.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.