MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s Continued

Continuing profiling some of my favorite songs of the past decade, it is hard to believe it has been ten years since Y2K. Haha remember that scare? People stocking up on water and supplies and claiming the apolcolypse was upon us. A lot has changed since then, and yet a lot still remains the same. Last entry with the MeatTracks marked the halfway point of the list, hard to believe it is almost the end of the year and the start of another decade. Anyway, enough bable, here are more of my fave cuts of the past 10 years. These ten will have more of a rock flavor.

-Incubus’s “Stellar” (2000)
"Drive" was their bigger hit on this CD, but "Stellar" is my favorite Incubus song. The hopeless romantic in me loved the lyrics. I liked the whole otherworldly theme of the song, and they made the video express this very well.

-Vertical Horizon’s “Everything You Want” (2000)
Again, during the hopeless romantic stage of my life. When I felt invisible and had the "best friend syndrome." I truly thought I was the right guy for a lot of girls...just not right then to them. Maybe five years in the future. Okay enough of the sappiness (starting to sound pathetic, haha)...great song and really dug the guitar effects in the intro.

-The White Stripes’s “Fell In Love With a Girl” (2002)
Probably one of the cooler videos this decade (this one and that OKGo video with the treadmills). Legos rock. Short, fast, uppity song that really gets you going for the two minute run time.

-Thursday’s “Standing on the Edge of Summer” (2002)
This song actually reminds me of the time right before the end of my freshman year of college. A lot of contemplation on where my life was heading. A lot of late nights driving and thinking. Funny that it's called "Standing on the Edge of Summer," back then I truly was.

-Finch’s “What It Is to Burn” (2003)
First heard this band riding around with Vince. This song stood out to me and I'm not sure why. Maybe the raw emotion in the lyrics that matched the intensity of the instrumental parts of the song.

-My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” (2004)
Great song and I loved the whole movie trailer themed video. I love its fast pace. Very fun to hear on the highway or to sing along to.

-The All-American Rejects’s “Dance Inside” (2005)
My favorite Rejects song. I love this song but I have had conversations with my brother about this song...we don't know exactly what the song is about. I figure it's about a special night with a lover by the mentions of touching and tangles, but I have no real idea.

-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’s “Face Down” (2006)
For a song about an abusive relationship, it is very catchy. I think originally I downloaded a demo version of this song, which featured more screamo elements. I liked the demo better than the one that comes on the radio.

-Three Days Grace’s “Never Too Late” (2007)
A song about hope. This song reminds me a lot of a friend of mine in the past. He doesn't talk to me anymore, but sometimes I think about him especially when this song and a couple other songs come on my iTunes/iPod/iPhone.

-Paramore’s “Misery Business” (2007)
Very catchy, love the pacing of the song (I don't know why, something about a fast song gets me going). Sometimes I catch myself singing along to this on my way to work if it comes up on my iPod.


If you missed the previous entries, here are the songs on the MeatTracks list so far:
-Linkin Park’s “My December” (2000)
-Linkin Park’s “Pushing Me Away” (Original 2000, Remix 2002, Live 2007)
-Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” (2001)
-Eve 6’s “Here’s To The Night” (2001)
-Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
-Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
-Usher’s “U Got It Bad” (2001)
-Clipse's "Grindin'" (2002)
-Coldplay’s “The Scientist” (2002)
-50 Cent’s “In Da Club” (2002)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” (2002)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “Sweetness” (2002)
-Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” (2002)
-Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” (2002)
-Jay-Z's "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)" (2003)
-Mae’s “Summertime” (2003)
-R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” (2003)
-Blink 182’s “Miss You” (2004)
-Finley Quaye and William Orbit’s “Dice” (2004)
-Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” (2004)
-Fat Joe’s “Lean Back (Remix featuring Lil Jon, Eminem, & Mase) (2004)
-Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004)
-Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (2004)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “23” (2004)
-Modest Mouse’s “Float On” (2004)
-Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot (featuring Pharrell)” (2004)
-Thrice’s “Stare at the Sun” (2004)
-Acceptance’s “So Contagious” (2005)
-The Dandy Warhols’s “We Used to Be Friends” (2005)
-Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” (2005)
-The Foo Fighters’s “Best of You” (2005)
-Kanye West’s “Gold Digger (featuring Jamie Foxx)” (2005)
-The Killer’s “Smile Like You Mean It” (2005)
-Youngbloodz's "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)
-Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go?” (2006)
-Justin Timberlake's "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
-The Killers’s “When You Were Young” (2006)
-Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” (2006)
-Ne-Yo’s “Sexy Love” (2006)
-Taking Back Sunday’s “MakeDamnSure” (2006)
-T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006)
-Anberlin’s “Godspeed” (2007)
-Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss (featuring T-Pain)” (2007)
-Kanye West’s “Stronger” (2007)
-One Republic’s “Apologize” (2007)
-Rihanna’s “Umbrella (Remix featuring Jay-Z and Chris Brown)” (2007)
-Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
-The Starting Line’s “Island” (2007)
-Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" (2008)
-Rick Ross's "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)


Look out next entry, the Meat Life will be closing out the summer with the rest of the summer movie reviews.


http://www.themeatlife.blogspot.com/

College Football Preview: the Meat Life's Five Predictions

Tebow: "Who is that loser in the middle without a Heisman?"
Bradford: "I don't know...Frankie Muniz?"


Continuing a look at the upcoming college football season, the Meat Life will make 5 BOLD predictions. Last year I called it the Meatrodomus Five Fortune-Telling Truths. Well, this year I won't go as far as saying they will be truths (I only was about 48% correct). And if you read last season's preview, you know it is really about 20 different predictions rolled into five sections. So in honor of the coming season of greatness...here it is!

the Meat Life's Five Predictions:

1. The Big 12 South will NOT have another three-way tie.
Although it would be a great story to have lightning strike twice, it is highly unlikely it will happen. The press will have you believe it is highly plausible to have OU, Oklahoma State, and Texas all will one loss at the end of the season in a round-robin similar to the Texas Tech/OU/Texas scenario we had at the end of the regular season last year. Everywhere you can read that Texas will beat OU, OU will beat OSU, and OSU will beat Texas. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this won't happen again...at least this season. For a three way tie, those teams will have to beat each other in that way and somehow have the same record. There will be one team to have an extra loss, and I think that will be the Cowboys (that defense still has to prove itself). And not to play homer, but I believe the Sooners will be victorious in Dallas in October and in December will have their unmatched seventh Big 12 crown, the fourth in a row.

2. There will not be a repeat Heisman Trophy winner this year.
Historically, Heisman voters hold previous winners to a higher standard, which is why there hasn't been a repeat winner other than Archie Griffin. Of course on this prediction I could be wrong (I predicted last year there wouldn't be another sophomore Heisman winner and lo-and-behold redshirt sophomore Sam Bradford wins the thing). And the media has all but anointed Tim Tebow as college football's savior (I'm sorry but if I hear another story on ESPN about how he visits prisons and conducts open heart surgery on third-world children I'll have to steal a whole bunch of Florida Gators/Tim Tebow memorabilia and start a bonfire in my backyard). Colt McCoy is also looking to be in the mix, but he would probably be my pick for Heisman out of a pity vote by voters since the Longhorns will again have no run support and McCoy will do his best impression of Vince Young (and win something he didn't).

3. The BCS National Championship Game will be a rematch of last year.
My homerism again comes out, but many agreed that it could happen. The Florida Gators are stacked with talent and returning starters, and Oklahoma can say much the same. It would be a dream rematch for redemption for Sooner fans. I just think outside of Texas no other team has a real shot of getting to the championship game (at least before the season begins). USC usually reloads but has no proven QB. Ohio State has a lot of new names on offense and defense. Virginia Tech has the mystery of how far along QB Tyrod Taylor has developed. Sexy picks like Oklahoma State and Ole Miss will probably stumble along the way a couple times. So my picks are Gators and Sooners, and of course homer pick OU victory 30-24.

4. The Conference Champions:
Big East: Cincinnati - There seems to be no dominate team, but the Bearcats look solid.
Big Ten: Ohio State - A toss-up between the Bucks and Penn State. I will go with Terrelle Pryor.
Big 12: Oklahoma - Record SEVENTH Big 12 title, Record FOURTH in a row. Mark it down.
ACC: Virginia Tech - VTech is in a similar conference streak, going for their third in a row.
SEC: Florida - I hate to say it because I've come to hate that team, but too much experience.
Pac10: Cal - I'm going out on a limb and saying the Bears will steal it away from USC this year.
Mountain West: Utah - Last year's non-BCS darlings have the personnel to do it again.
WAC: Boise State - Has been too dominant over this conference for too long not to win it.
Conference USA: Houston - Dynamic offense poised to make a move this season.
MAC: Buffalo - They can do it again under Turner Gill.
Sun Belt: Troy - I don't know why, and nor do I think I care that much either.

5. The best games will again showcase the Big 12 South.
There might not be the same three-way tie scenario as last season (at least in my predictions) but that's not to say that there won't be any drama. Three of the best matchups of the year will be when Texas visits Oklahoma State, the Red River showdown when Oklahoma and Texas collide in Dallas, and when Oklahoma State visits Oklahoma (think Stoops will call out the fans again to get that extra home-field edge like against Texas Tech last year?).


Well, I said bold predictions, but a lot of these kind of seem like chalk picks. And they are. But what can I say? Hope everyone enjoys the upcoming season! Next entry, the continuation of the Meat Tracks of the Decade and a special music list from the past.

BOOMER!!!

http://www.themeatlife.blogspot.com/

Summer Movie Reviews: From Demons to Revenge

Alright! Back to summer movies! My favorite time of the year, entertainment-wise (football season is my favorite FAVORITE time of the year so to go from favorite to FAVORITE will be awesome at the end of August).

This will be a packed entry, reviewing Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, Up, The Hangover, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Proposal, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I know, with Transformers rounding out the review, I am about a month behind. I guess that's what happens when family life begins and this isn't my day job, haha. (That and NCAA Football 10 came out a few weeks ago and I've occupied a lot of time with that too.)

Here are the ratings of the two movies I reviewed last month:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 6.5
Star Trek - 8.5


And now the main attractions:

Angels and Demons

Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard team up again to make another film interpretation of a Dan Brown novel. I am not that big on reading books (kind of surprising, huh?) so I had not been exposed to reading Brown's novel, so I went into this with no real expectation. By itself Demons stands pretty well. The film is a big whodunit mystery/chase with some nice surprises.

Compared to the first installment of the character Robert Langdon series The Di Vinci Code, it is pretty much on the same level entertainment-wise. Demons is more action and a little less story and character development, but works well with everything that goes on in the plot.

Not a bad summer flick. If you still have the opportunity, see this in the theater.

7.0

Terminator Salvation

This film had a lot going against it from the beginning: not directed or written with any assistance from Terminator's creator James Cameron, being directed by cheese McG, and there is the whole Christian Bale rampage on one of the crew members during production. All of this topped off with the disappointment that was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, there was a large uphill climb for this movie from the beginning.

I don't hate McG, I just didn't think he would be able to be serious long enough to make a decent Terminator movie (he did direct the Charlie's Angels remakes). I was mistaken. Although it is short on actual story, I would have to say that I liked this movie. It is popcorn and it does have some corny references to the previous films, but this succeeds in being entertaining and has enough action to carry the thin storyline. Sam Worthington really stands out in this film.

Although not the classic the first two Terminator films were, definitely worth a watch or two.

7.0

Up

I feel the need to preface this before my review...I'm a Pixar fan. I believe their only miss so far has been A Bug's Life (not that it was a bad movie, just was not as good as the rest of the Pixar lineup). Disney/Pixar is just a hit-machine, just as Disney was a hit-machine in the early 1990s.

Up is probably Pixar's finest achievement in story and concept. Hard to believe but somehow these Pixar characters feel more relatible than most of the characters in live action films. It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of an old man who had lost the love of his life as he attempts to keep a promise he made to her. Not to say this isn't humorous and fun (how did they make it both sad and fun all in one movie?). Like any Pixar movie, very kid friendly (I took my two year old son to see it in the theater).

Probably the best film of the summer when it is all said and done.

9.0

The Hangover

I'll admit, I was very skeptically going into this movie. This type of comedy is usually hit or miss. I do like this style of comedy but was scared it would be a let down.

Far from it. This is the surprise of the summer.

The Hangover is the story of a group of friends trying to retrace the steps they don't remember taking the night of their friend's bachelor party...a friend they lost and are trying to find. Outrageous and over the top on occasion, The Hangover is full of hilarity. Bradley Cooper shines in this comedy. Great cameo by Mike Tyson. Not a film for everyone but definitely a hit.

Great for multiple viewing with so many quotable scenes.

8.5

The Taking of Pelham 123

I'm a big Denzel fan, so it was nice to find out he was going to be in a movie this summer. Pelham 123 is a heist flick, John Travolta being the hostage taker, and Washington the reluctant hero. This is director Tony Scott and Washington's fourth film working together.

There is enough tension to keep someone entertained, but not enough for it to be a great movie.

It is nice to see Travolta in something again, but as a villain his aggression and cursing dialogue seems very forced. Denzel is decent but it seems he is kind of just dialing in the performance here. What is kind of funny here is actors John Turturro and Ramon Rodriguez are in dramatic roles in this film and then in comedic roles in a movie to come out two weeks later (the last reviewed movie here).

Might want to wait to rent this one, but it'll be a pretty decent Redbox movie.

6.5

The Proposal

For those of you who have read previous stuff from me (all you Xanga users remember HopelessHero?), you will know that I'm not opposed to the chick-flick. I will joke every once in a while about chick-flicks, but when it comes to romantic comedies I usually like them. It is the dramatic chick-flick I'm usually hesitant to see.

With that said, The Proposal was very formulaic and predictable...as most rom-coms are. But it is pretty funny. And I like funny. I usually like Ryan Reynolds and I've always liked Sandra Bullock (except in crappy sequels like Speed 2 and Miss Congeniality 2). So all-in-all this movie is pretty fun.

Good date movie to take your significant other.

7.0

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The biggest blockbuster of the summer. With the summer now close to its end, this movie will probably make the most money of any movie this year. Off of the success of the first movie, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf became huge stars. But what could they do to make a sequel to the first movie? I'll let you watch and find out.

As far as a summer movie, this is probably definitive. Big explosions, big action, lots of CGI, cheesy comedy, and a couple of contrived heartfelt moments. If you come into this movie expecting that, then you will not be disappointed. My argument has always been that director Michael Bay will never make a masterpiece, but he will give you a popcorn summer movie. Every single time. And I like a good popcorn flick. I will say that Revenge is about 45 minutes too long, but I didn't really have anything better to do that Saturday.

If you like action movies and just want to turn your brain off for a couple hours, go see this movie.
7.0

Well, the summer is almost over, and there are still some movies I still plan on seeing before it is all said and done. So you know what that means...more reviews to come!

Here are the movies I still want to catch before the summer is out, hopefully I'll get to see them:

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Public Enemies

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The Ugly Truth

Funny People

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

District 9

The Time Traveler's Wife

Inglorious Basterds

There are other movies out that I will either wait on seeing or probably have no intention seeing (Land of the Lost and Harry Potter being the latter):

Drag Me to Hell (in the safety of my own home)

Land of the Lost (wow, how did they ever sign Will Farrell to this movie?)

Year One (looked like could be either really funny or flop-o-licious)

Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen seems like a one-trick pony to me)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (haven't had any interest in any these movies since the first)

Next entry, we'll continue the College Football Preview with the Meat Life's Five Predictions!

http://www.themeatlife.blogspot.com/

College Football Preview: The Best Teams of the 2000s

Less than two months to go until the college football season begins. The last two seasons we have seen crazy scenarios and exciting matchups. There have been a handful of teams that have stood out as the Football Bowl Subdivision power elite this past decade. To start off the countdown to the college football season, I have listed the best schools this decade in the FBS.

1) USC Trojans (93-22, .809)

Reggie "Give My Parents A House" Bush

National Championships – 2*, Conference Championships – 7, Top 10 finishes – 7, Heisman Winners – 3. It is hard for me to list and talk about these first three teams being a Sooner fan, but you cannot deny the success USC has had this decade. No one in the Pac 10 has been able to challenge them on a consistent basis. They have won an AP National Championship in the controversial split in 2003, have won a BCS National Championship the following year and appeared in another championship game the year after. The Trojans seem to reload every year and Pete Carroll always seem to be in the national hunt. It has also been hard to have more star-power than the Trojans (Carson Palmer, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez…and that’s just on the offensive side of the ball).

2) LSU Tigers (90-27, .769)

Anonymous LSU Tiger

National Championships – 2, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes – 5, Heisman Winners – 0. The only school to have won BCS titles with two different coaches (Nick Saban and Les Miles). In the competitive SEC, LSU has been the most consistent team in the conference over the course of the decade. The team trademark has been defense since Saban, and had carried over in the Miles era (at least until Bo Pelini left). The only thing holding them back would be no real Heisman contenders…or you could say that it speaks well to how much of a team the Tigers really are with no real star standing out.

3) Florida Gators (87-28, .757)

Douche bag #1...I mean the Second Coming...I mean Tim Teblow

National Championships – 2, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes – 4, Heisman Winners – 1. This would have been a sexy pick for the #2 slot with the second coming of Jesus as their Heisman QB (I know, I’m taking shots at them already). I placed more importance on wins and top 10 finishes. But it is hard to argue the Gators haven’t been a force in the SEC, especially in recent years. At the beginning of the decade it seemed they would never be able to replace Steve Spurrier…that is until Urban Meyer took over. Two BCS Championships in the last three years. If only they got a hold of Meyer earlier (thankfully not).

4) Oklahoma Sooners (102-19, .843)

All Day baby...all day

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 6, Top 10 finishes – 7, Heisman Winners – 2. If not for BCS woes, Oklahoma could be the team of the decade. OU has the most wins of any schools in the decade (although they have played more games than any other school). They have had two Heisman winning QBs (Jason White in 2003, Sam Bradford in 2008) leading them to BCS Championship games. They have the most BCS Championship appearances (4). And when it comes to conference play, the Sooners have won more twice as many conference championships as anyone else in the Big 12…combined. In the first half of the decade it was all about the dominating defense. That has since shifted to prolific offense (maybe changed since Mike Stoops left the program). Now if Bob Stoops can straighten out their post-season, maybe they can end the decade in the #1 slot.

5) Ohio State Buckeyes (91-23, .798)

Heisman winner Troy Smith

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 5, Top 10 finishes – 6, Heisman Winners – 1. The Buckeyes seem to be suffering from a similar virus the Sooners suffer from. In a similar situation, the Buckeyes could have also found themselves at #1 of the decade with another BCS Championship, losing back-to-back title games to SEC schools (Florida in 2006, LSU in 2007)…both in blowouts. Ohio State has rocked the Big Ten, winning at least a share of the conference crown five times in nine years. Jim Tressel has not only ruled the Midwest, but has also ruled rival Michigan, winning the last five matchups.

6) Texas Longhorns (97-18, .843)

Vince Young...before he went insane

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 1, Top 10 finishes – 6, Heisman Winners – 0. For Texas, there has only been one thing keeping them from being a dominating force in the Big 12 and in the country…Oklahoma. Texas has ended up second or losing a tie-breaker to OU six times in the last decade (including the controversial THREE-way tie a year ago, I emphasize the THREE for those Texas fans who forget they were also tied to Texas Tech). If Mack Brown wasn’t the Sooners whipping boy in the first half of the decade, the Longhorns could have also had a shot at the #1 spot. Instead they are stuck at midnight missing their crystal slipper…I mean trophy. They’ll always have the asterisk. And Vince Young.

7) Miami (Fl) Hurricanes (83-29, .741)

Willis McGahee before the injury

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 4, Top 10 finishes – 4, Heisman Winners – 0. No offense to Randy Shannon, but why did the Hurricanes fire Larry Coker again? (Oh yeah, because he wasn’t able to keep his team disciplined that culminated in an all-out brawl with FAU) The Canes dominated the first half of the decade just as they were a force since the mid-1980s. BCS Championship in 2001, lost in overtime in the title game the next year and in 2000 was kept out of the title game by the BCS and Florida State despite beating them earlier in the season (this BCS thing is full of controversy, huh). Where they really went wrong was leaving the Big East in 2004, where they dominated, to the ACC where they have consistently disappointed. Shannon has them in the right direction, so we shall see where the future of “the U” is going.

8) Boise State Broncos (98-17, .852)

Ian Johnson after the Statue and before he disappears of the face of the planet

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 7, Top 10 finishes – 1, Heisman Winners – 0. Perhaps if they were in a BCS conference, one could argue that Boise State is the best school of the decade. They have the best winning percentage in all the FBS (the first half of the decade under Dan Hawkins, the second under current coach Chris Petersen). They have won their conference as many times as USC during the same time frame (in the WAC and the now defunct Big West). Or as some would argue that the only reason they have such a high winning percentage would be the quality of competition in the WAC doesn’t stack up with the power conferences (with the only real challengers in the conference being Fresno State and Hawaii). The Broncos shining moment came at the expense of an over-achieving Oklahoma team in their Cinderella-like Fiesta Bowl win in the 2006 season, in a thrilling overtime victory that became an instant classic. The victory propelled them to their only top 5 finish.

9) West Virginia Mountaineers (77-35, .688)

The Dynamic Pat White

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 4, Top 10 finishes – 3, Heisman Winners – 0. In the last half of the decade, the Mountaineers were probably the most exciting team offensively, dominating the Big East under Rich Rodriguez. The coming-out party was the Sugar Bowl in the 2005 season, upsetting the heavily-favored Georgia team. After that the school has been trying to duplicate that success for the most part, especially since Rodriguez ditched the team to take the Michigan job. Current head coach Bill Stewart now has the job of replacing the only QB to start and win bowl games in all four years of his college career in Pat White.

10) Utah (76-33, .697)

The Utes upset Alabama

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes - 2, Heisman Winners – 0. Utah is the only non-BCS Conference team to ever win two different BCS bowl games, and with two different coaches (Urban Meyer in 2004 and Kyle Whittingham in 2008). Would be the model example of how a non-BCS team can have success in the BCS…except for the fact that they are trying to get Capitol Hill to replace the BCS with a playoff system (I wonder why? Not really). Last year the Mountain West Conference that Utah belongs to stepped up its game with two teams finishing in the top 10 (TCU) and a third in the top 25 (BYU). Maybe they can replace the ACC or Big East in the BCS (haha probably not).

Others receiving votes:

How did Eric Crouch win the Heisman? More importantly, how did Nebraska pull off a play that Oklahoma couldn't in the same game? Oh yeah, that's right, because Nate Hybl can't run and fell down.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (74-40, .649) – The second Heisman winner (Eric Crouch) and even though still trying to resurrect, the Cornhuskers were a force in the early part of the decade (some idiot up there just decided to fire Frank Solich and hire Bill Callahan).

Florida State Seminoles (78-38, .672) – Bobby Bowden had the first Heisman winner of the decade (the old-man Chris Weinke), a BCS Championship appearance, and has four conference championships (but none since 2005).

Virginia Tech Hokies (89-29, .754) – “Beamer-ball” has led to great defensive and special teams, giving the Hokies three conference championships including the last two. Highlights also include Michael Vick (pre-dogfighting) and outshining “the U” in the ACC since the move in 2004.

Georgia Bulldogs (90-26, .776) – Since Mark Richt has brought Georgia back to relevance in the SEC, winning two conference championships (2002 and 2005). Has yet to produce and lift the Bulldogs to the national forefront, but hard to do so with LSU, Florida, and now Alabama and Ole Miss surging in the SEC.

TCU Horned Frogs (83-28, .748) – Three conference championship (2000, 2002, 2005), a wealth of talent in the hotbed that is the state of Texas, and some guy that used to go there named Ladainian Tomlinson. And why did the Big 12 pickup Baylor instead of TCU?

Oregon Ducks (77-35, .688) – Two conference championships early in the decade and in 2007 almost another one (and a BCS Championship bid?) had Heisman frontrunner QB Dennis Dixon not gotten injured toward the end of the season (talk about bad luck, they went on to lose a total of four QBs in four straight weeks).

Michigan Wolverines 76-36, .679) – Outside of being controlled by Ohio State the last five years, the Wolverines started the decade with three conference crowns in five years. There is also a reason they are the winningest program in FBS history (but if they keep having 3-9 years like last year maybe not for long).


The next College Football Preview entry will have the annual Meat Life Five Predictions. My very next entry will be the Summer Movie Reviews continued!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Michael Jackson: The Last Tribute / MeatTracks of the Decade

The Last Tribute

I am watching the Michael Jackson memorial. I had it recorded on my DVR because I was at work not able to watch live.

Michael Jackson. An entertainer. An innovator. A philanthropist. A polarizing figure. Everything he was for the 50 years of his life, if he wasn't anything else, he was a spectacle. In the many songs he wrote, the many dance moves he made, the millions of records he sold, Jackson touched the soul and inspired greatness. Yes, he was strange. Yes, he was controversial. But even with all the madness that surrounded the latter years of his life, you can't discount the impact the man had on music and popular culture.

There are so many words that can describe Jackson. I have one: remembered. Every once in a while I'll roll to his tunes and every now and then a contemporary song will remind me of one of his songs. During his turbulent years in the 1990s and 2000s, I chose to remember Jackson as the guy who leaned so far forward in the Smooth Criminal/Moonwalker video or the guy who danced on the lit sidewalk in the Billie Jean video instead of the guy pleading his innocence on national TV or strolled into a courtroom in pajama pants.

There was no one like him before, and although immitated, no one in the next 50 years will be like him. So instead of remembering when he held his kid off the balcony window, remember the Motown special he first moonwalked to. Remember the first time you tried to do the Thriller dance or remember when you sang along to The Way You Make Me Feel just for fun one night with your friends.

Remember MJ.

It has been a crazy summer with all the celebrities who have passed on. I'd also like to say goodbye Steve McNair, I'll always remember playing for the Titans in Madden 2001 for PS2 and cheering you on with 1:48 left on the clock on that last drive in Super Bowl XXXIV.

MeatTracks of the Decade: Deluxe Edition

I had a busy month last month with my birthday and all the doctors appointments for my wife, so I'm playing catch up a little bit on this segment. Again if you haven't already known, this is chronicling my favorite tracks this decade. We'll first start this edition out with a few artists that were inspired by Michael Jackson.

-Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” (2001)

One of the few good Michael Jackson covers. I love the kid in the mask in this video. This song along with Blackstreet's "Billie Jean" cover and Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" cover are probably my favorite MJ covers. Fall Out Boy's cover of "Beat It" did not move me, their lead singer's voice kind of annoyed me in that song.

-Usher’s “U Got It Bad” (2001)

Probably my favorite Usher song. You can see the influence of Jackson throughout Usher's music and dance style.

-Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” (2002)

I gotta say one thing about this song...this is SO about Britney. Now, I'll admit, I listened to a little *NSync...not much but enough. I always thought Justin was the Michael of *NSync. And this song set Justin apart from his former group.

-Ne-Yo’s “Sexy Love” (2006)

When I first heard this song, I said to my brother, "Wow, this reminds me a lot of Michael Jackson." Well, a Michael Jackson with less range. That summer I jammed out to this song so much in my car.

-Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss (featuring T-Pain)” (2007)

Now, since Chris Brown is younger, his influence is more Usher. But Usher was inspired by Jackson, so Chris Brown is indirectly influenced by Jackson, especially in his dance style. That and I love this video.

And now more tracks. These are anthems of some sort. Anthems in clubs and in my car stereo. These are some songs I rock out to and sing along to almost every word.

-Jimmy Eat World’s “Sweetness” (2002)

Brings me back to freshman year. This is probably my favorite Jimmy Eat World song. My favorite memory connected to this song was singing along to this riding in Justin's car along country roads.

-Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” (2002)
Awesome to hear in the club. At first I didn't like this song, that is until I heard it in the club. A lot of songs actually end up like that during college.

-50 Cent’s “In Da Club” (2002)
I'll have to admit, for all the hype before he debuted, I was a little underwhelmed by 50. Club anthem in any event. My favorite memory involving this song was when my cover band did part of this song. If you have the tape, give it to me...so I can watch it once then destroy it.

-R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” (2003)
Awesome song to sing along with. Definitely another club/party anthem. This came out back when all the remixes to songs were better than the original put out. That original Ignition song sucked balls.

-Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (2004)
Instant classic. When I first heard this I thought "OH SHIT!" The beat hits you hard and his verse catchy. I played out this song on Winamp when I still had that program pre-meatPod.

-Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” (2004)
Rocked out this song one Winamp as well. No one memory attached to this one, just fun.

-Modest Mouse’s “Float On” (2004)
Great song to sing along to, especially on Rock Band. When I first heard this song when it came out, I was like "Wow this guy can't sing at all, maybe I have a chance to be famous..." Haha, yeah right.

-Fat Joe’s “Lean Back (Remix featuring Lil Jon, Eminem, & Mase) (2004)
I'll admit on this one...played out. But was awesome in the club and loved the remix. Eminem was great on this and it was funny that Mase came back that year.

-Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004)
I think the album this song came off of marked the revival of Green Day. Earlier in the decade they were written off and to be honest their music was getting softer. Not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely different. Green Day's reinvention was complete and this song was awesome. Another song my cover band played.

-Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot (featuring Pharrell)” (2004)
Oh so classic on the dancefloor in the club or the front seat of the car cruising through town. Pharrell's peak in producing.

-The Dandy Warhols’s “We Used to Be Friends” (2005)
First heard this on the OC and then became the Veronica Mars. Love this song in the car.

-Kanye West’s “Gold Digger (featuring Jamie Foxx)” (2005)
Admit it, when you first heard it you thought it was crazy for Kanye to sample Ray Charles. Made sense to have Foxx since he just played Charles in Ray the year before. I remember this was on my playlist on my old mp3 player (pre-meatPod days) on the way to my summer class.

-The Killers’s “When You Were Young” (2006)
It is kind of odd, this reminds me of the summer before my son was born. Reminds me a lot of the month I lived at Thanh's house. It first came out then, so I guess that is probably why. Served as sort of a transition song of sorts, the end of one stage of my life and the beginning of the next.

-Rihanna’s “Umbrella (Remix featuring Jay-Z and Chris Brown)” (2007)
Probably the biggest song of that year. For some reason I like the version with Chris Brown better. The song works very well as a duet. Another song that I didn't like at first but then caught on.

-Kanye West’s “Stronger” (2007)
Another Kanye track where listen and go "how does he get the idea to sample Daft Punk?" Awesome song and still rock to ocassionally in the car.

And always to close out this segment, the previously covered MeatTracks of the Decade:

-Linkin Park’s “Pushing Me Away” (Original 2000, Remix 2002, Live 2007)
-Linkin Park’s “My December” (2000)
-Eve 6’s “Here’s To The Night” (2001)
-Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
-Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
-Clipse's "Grindin'" (2002)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” (2002)
-Coldplay’s “The Scientist” (2002)
-Jay-Z's "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)" (2003)
-Mae’s “Summertime” (2003)
-Blink 182’s “Miss You” (2004)
-Thrice’s “Stare at the Sun” (2004)
-Finley Quaye and William Orbit’s “Dice” (2004)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “23” (2004)
-Fall Out Boys’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” (2005)
-The Foo Fighters’s “Best of You” (2005)
-The Killer’s “Smile Like You Mean It” (2005)
-Youngbloodz's "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)
-Acceptance’s “So Contagious” (2005)
-Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go?” (2006)
-Justin Timberlake's "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
-Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” (2006)
-Taking Back Sunday’s “MakeDamnSure” (2006)
-T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006)
-Anberlin’s “Godspeed” (2007)
-Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
-One Republic’s “Apologize” (2007)
-The Starting Line’s “Island” (2007)
-Rick Ross's "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)
-Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" (2008)


Next entry:
the beginning of theMeatLife's College Football Preview, featuring the Schools of the Decade
and Summer Movie Reviews continued!

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Great Sports, Summer Movies (!), and more MeatTracks of the Decade

Great Sports

Well to start off, we have some great series so far in the NBA and NHL playoffs. I always say sports-wise that this is a great time of the year. There is a game on almost every night whether it be basketball or hockey. What would make this part of the year even better is if there were football on (haha, but then they would be playing year-round and that wouldn't make sense).

The NHL playoffs have been a sort of refreshing resurgence of the league. We just witnessed a classic in the conference semis pitting the best players in the game against each other in Pittsburgh vs. Washington. Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. Personally I prefer Ovie, but the Caps were outgunned in the end in a full seven games. The other set of series have been great as well. Even though they are down 2-0 right now in the West finals to Detroit, it is nice to see the Chicago Blackhawks back in the playoffs.

The NBA playoffs started as merely a countdown to the Kobe vs. LeBron matchup everyone is waiting for in the finals, but we have been treated to some good drama. Both series Boston was involved in were classics, going the full seven and advancing in probably the best series in the last decade against the Bulls and also going the distance with Orlando but falling short. Injuries brought the defending champs down. Denver has been a surprise strength in the west, while Orlando shocked the odd-on favorite Cleveland in the opening game of the series.

Overall, good TV. Always a treat to have them play until mid-June, that way I get to watch some great sports on my birthday.

...and now to
Summer Movies!

Another reason why I love the summer. Yes, I am a sucker for the summer blockbuster. From May till August I usually go broke going to the movies. The past couple years I've had to take my viewing at the theater down a notch, but this summer I'm turning it back up! I've seen two of the major releases so far, and the following is what I rate each.

I will be rating on a scale of 10, 10 of course being masterpiece and 1 being the lowest piece of crap. Those are extremes though, since most of what I have seen so far in my life have not merited either of those ratings. I don't like to get plot synopses, so you'll get my feelings on how the movie is as far as entertainment value and content.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine


This is kind of an odd premise, since the three X-Men films before featured a lot of backstory and were told from a Wolverine-centric perspective. One this thinking, I positioned my initial expectations a little lower. X2 was my favorite of the series and for a while was the top comic book movie in my book (before the reboot of the Batman series put out back to back classics). The first X-Men was a good one, and while The Last Stand was a solid film, it was underwhelming after the experience that X2 was.

On to Wolverine, the movie felt uneven. It was entertaining, but the storytelling felt incomplete. Not much character development for those around Wolverine and Sabretooth, so you don't really feel attached to them in some of the dramatic scenes. It relies heavily on what is already known about Wolverine and Striker from the previous films. The action was still very good, although the CGI was inconsistent. There are a couple scenes where you can really tell it was CG and felt like the graphics in that scene were still in development (and I'm talking about the theater release, not the leak that was online a few weeks before the film was released).

Overall, I give X-Men Origins: Wolverine a 6.5. Solid summer action flick, but don't expect to be attached to the characters too much.


Star Trek


A little background on where I'm viewing this from. I am hardly a "trekkie." I did used to watch a little bit of the original series and I liked The Next Generation. The series after TNG I never really got into because it felt cheesy (on a higher level of cheese then the first two). I do like the movies that have come out of the franchise for the most part. I was kind of happy to hear that J.J. Abrams was working on the reboot of this franchise, he has had solid projects beforehand. Abrams is a little ADD when it comes to franchises though, starting one project and then ditching it and moving on to the next.

So Star Trek...I have to say, great movie. From the opening scenes this movie goes full throttle and barely slows down. Good story and the characters keep a lot of the traits of the original series but create a new world of its own. Great action and the special effect were superbly done. If there weren't and high expectations for the upcoming Transformers sequel, I would say that Star Trek would probably be the movie of the summer. We'll see in a few months where it ends up landing.

Star Trek gets a 8.5, and I'm happy to say that this franchise has new life.

I have yet to view Angels and Demons, I will soon I would imagine. Also next on my list for May is Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum 2, and Up. A nice mix of adult action and kid movies.


...and the finale....
MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s.

Continuing to list my fave tracks of this decade, this installment will be some of the more somber songs. Not necessarily emo or anything like that, just more reflective. After those there will be a list of the previous MeatTracks.

-Linkin Park’s “My December” (2000)
I included this track not for any emotional significance but because this is one of the coolest tracks. At the time it came out, me and my friend David were really into LP and they had first came out. A friend of his found it and burned it on a CD. I didn't believe Linkin Park could do a slow song, listening to their debut CD that came out a couple months before. Who knew turntables and strings could be so dramatic.

-Eve 6’s “Here’s To The Night” (2001)
This song probably holds special significance to a lot of people who graduated high school in 2001. It was our class song and I first heard it on the slideshow during senior assembly. Everytime I hear it I'm brought back to those hallways, those night drives through the country roads, those afternoons in the back yearbook room.

-Coldplay’s “The Scientist” (2002)
My favorite Coldplay song. No emotional situation attached to this one, just a great song and a cool video. Although when I hear this song it reminds me of the time I helped Tommy cut this PSA for an assignment he had. We spend a good couple hours cutting a 30 second PSA about child abuse or something. Good times.

-Blink 182’s “Miss You” (2004)
Great song. Brings me back to spring 2005, so many things happening. My illness, a breakup with a longtime girlfriend, friends graduating college and leaving, and the rollercoaster of emotions that accompanied those times. At first I didn't really like Blink 182's self-titled album, but after many listens and this song it grew to be my favorite.

-Finley Quaye and William Orbit’s “Dice” (2004)
Another great song. Heard this on the OC back when that was "the" show. Just the back and forth dynamic between the two vocalists reeled me in. No particular memory attached to this song, it is just one of the most played songs on my iTunes/iPod/iPhone.

-Jimmy Eat World’s “23” (2004)
My fave Jimmy Eat World song. This song didn't really impact me until the year after the Futures CD came out. And that year I was only 22 (haha). Brings me back to summer 2005 when I was contemplating a lot of things in my life. This song again popped up on my playlist when I was actually 23 that very next summer when my life came at a crossroads leading to the life I have today.

-Acceptance’s “So Contagious” (2005)
My wife introduced me to this song when I first met her. I would later describe this as "our song," my then-fiance proceed to respond "we have a song?" She wanted to dance to a different song at our wedding, and I pretended to agree with her...until I sang this song acappella for our first dance.

-Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go?” (2006)
One of my wife's favorites when we were first dating. I am a big Linkin Park/Mike Shinoda fan and was all over this CD when it came out. Later this would remind me of the times in Norman when I lived in Lawton for a short period of time after college.

-Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” (2006)
No real memory attached to this song. This is probably my favorite track produced by Timbaland. The beat is so infectious and Nelly Furtado's lyrics aren't bad either. This was a top played track on my iTunes for a while.

-One Republic’s “Apologize” (2006)
I was introduced to this song when sitting in on my brother's radio show my last year in college in 2006. It was remixed a year later by Timbaland and became a huge hit. I still prefer the original version.

Previous MeatTracks:
-Linkin Park’s “Pushing Me Away” (Original 2000, Remix 2002, Live 2007)
-Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
-Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
-Clipse's "Grindin'" (2002)
-Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” (2002)
-Jay-Z's "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)" (2003)
-Mae’s “Summertime” (2003)
-Thrice’s “Stare at the Sun” (2004)
-Fall Out Boys’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” (2005)
-The Foo Fighters’s “Best of You” (2005)
-The Killer’s “Smile Like You Mean It” (2005)
-Youngbloodz's "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)
-Justin Timberlake's "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
-Taking Back Sunday’s “MakeDamnSure” (2006)
-T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006)
-Anberlin’s “Godspeed” (2007)
-Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
-The Starting Line’s “Island” (2007)
-Rick Ross's "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)
-Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" (2008)

I'm not sure what I'll profile on the next ten, I'm debating on anthems or more party hits. Who knows, maybe a mix of both.

Catch you guys on the flip side!



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I Want a New Phone - Volume III: the Apple iPhone

So after a long search, I settled on the Apple iPhone. It met most of my reqs for a phone and in my opinion has probably the best user experience. I am still debating whether to wait for iPhone 3.0 OS to come out in June or to jailbreak, so this review is on the iPhone 3G not jailbroken.

For my review, we’ll start with the basics. Every cell I think should start with good call quality, clear speakerphone, easy texting ability and mp3 ringtone capability.

The iPhone as a phone performs solidly and probably better than I expected. With all the media capabilities and everything it does I expected lower quality on the phone side. But it is actually a solid phone. Clear call quality, probably not as good as my old school Nokia from back in the day but pretty good. The speakerphone is solid, the only complaint is that I wish it were a bit louder, I use the speakerphone a lot when I call family so they can hear my son. Texting is actually easier than initially thought. I had trouble with the texting since I wasn’t used to texting on the touchscreen, but that is something I’ve gotten used to rather quickly. The only thing is I’m not able to feel and text without looking like I used to since it is not an actual keypad. Another thing missing is MMS or picture/video/sound messaging. The iPhone is blocked from doing so unjailbroken (I’m not sure if there is a limitation from AT&T to do so if phone is jailbroken, someone message me about that). The iPhone does have mp3 ringtone capability for select songs you have downloaded through iTunes (I have not downloaded/bought any songs on iTunes, and it does cost extra to cut your own ringtones). I’m sure there is a jailbreak capability to use whatever mp3 you have, so I have yet to delve into that.

Next we’ll go over the extras. Extras I had to have was an above average camera with video, solid internet browser, easy to use email application, and preferably a touchscreen.

The iPhone has a pretty decent camera on it. My non-jailbreak phone has no video capture capabilities, so another complaint there. It seems a pretty standard feature on newer phone, so I don’t see why Apple skimped out on video. The internet is by far the best on any phone out right now, at least the ones I’ve had a chance to play with. You have the option of looking at the mobile version or the actual website (outside of flash sites, the only real weakness to the internet on there). Endless list of applications both free and paid make the experience even better. The 3G connection with AT&T is faster than expected. The speed tests I’ve done clock it at best at right below 1 mbps. When I’m at home I have it switch to my wi-fi connection to download apps. The email app is easy to use, but doesn’t have a lot of features. I use my Gmail account on it and it doesn’t have some of the options like starring or flagging certain emails. And of course the touchscreen on the iPhone is the best in the industry, the only one with the two-finger zoom (I don’t know what they call it so we’ll call it that).

And then I had some specifics that I wanted in a phone: compact size, sleek design, and cool factor.

The shape and size of the phone is almost perfect. I like how it is thin and flat. The design is very sleek and ahead of the game. It is the phone that has the most cool factor with the app store and everything. A few extras that are really cool include Google Maps app since it is basically a GPS since it is able to pinpoint your location and even has the street view feature, and the built-in iPod. I still use my Fifth-Gen iPod at work just plugged into speakers at my desk, but for me on the go it is a great all-in-one unit.


The iPhone is the ultimate toy and I haven’t even unlocked its full potential in jailbreaking. The only complaints I have are the lack of video capture, MMS, and a really basic email app. Although I think that a lot of my complaints will hopefully be addressed with the iPhone 3.0 upgrade coming up (rumors have video capability, MMS). Some of my fave apps include Pandora internet radio (thanks Quach and AD), Facebook (of course), Weather Channel (live radar = the shit), and ScoreMobile (live sports scores and updates). My son loves BubbleWrap, Action Bowling, and Drum Kit Lite. Surprisingly he knows how to unlock my phone and which icons to press to get to those apps. He’s only 2! Just imagine what kinds of phones will be out when he’s a teen, it’ll probably be a frickin chip inserted into our brains or some crap.

So all in all, iPhone = greatness. Other than those three complaints I couldn’t imagine life without my iPhone now. It’s a game-changer that hopefully Apple will continue to advance.


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The Meat Life Presents: I Want a New Phone, Volume II - Shopping

Continuing with this series, I going to go over my shopping process. Basically I was prompted by my cell carrier T-Mobile that I was eligible for a phone upgrade. That excited me because it had been a year since I bought an unlocked international phone, the Samsung G-810 camera phone. Solid phone, great call quality, had a 5.0 megapixel camera on one end. The OS was Nokia’s Symbian oddly enough, had basic mobile web capabilities and wi-fi. Good phone, but I was getting bored by it. I thought I would use the camera a lot more than I ended up using it for.

So there it was when I logged into my T-Mobile account, the list of phones available to upgrade to with discounted pricing. G-1, Blackberry Curve, and the Samsung Memoir were the ones that stood out to me at first. It met the reqs I listed in the previous volume. I was leaning more toward the Memoir since it was more of the same as what I had, only with a touchscreen (that and a freakin crazy 8.0 megapixel camera).

As I was looking over my T-Mobile options, my wife, the T-Mobile hater, stated she did not want to stay with T-Mobile for another two years. I’m not sure why she hates T-Mobile, whenever I ask she just says “I just don’t.” Haha so yeah, no pushing that further. But seriously, I had no problem staying with T-Mobile because I have been with them for so long. She has always wanted to go to AT&T because she was with them before we had a family plan together.

So, just for kicks, I looked at what AT&T had to offer as far as phones. Of course the iPhone was one of the ones catching my eye, along with a couple of Samsung phones in the Eternity and Epix, and the HTC Fuze was also a big one that I was looking at. All those had the functionality and a little bit of the fun I wanted in a phone.

So I weighed things in my head. I did stay with T-Mobile since a lot of my friends and my parents and brother had them so I saved on minute with the free mobile-to-mobile. But over the years most of my friends who had T-Mobile had since switched to AT&T…even my parents and brother on their plan switched just last year. And all of my wife’s family is on AT&T, so it would make sense to switch if I did. So I kept that in mind during my phone shopping, that I needed to keep it open to switching and just settle with a phone that I liked.

And even more so, for similar phones the calling plan with features were within $5-10 of each other between T-Mobile and AT&T.

So I went to several websites like wirefly.com and letstalk.com along with t-mobile.com and wireless.att.com to narrow down my phone selection on pricing and what I liked. I also hit up cnet.com and amazon.com heavily for both expert and user reviews. After viewing review, I hit up a few stores both T-Mobile and AT&T to play with the phones myself.

For a bargain, my eye was drawn to the Eternity. On letstalk.com for 2 of them it was free after mail-in rebate (first one was free, the second $99.99 with $100 mail-in rebate). Eternity had good reviews and met most of my reqs, even had some extras like mobile TV and navigation. So there was one option.

I did like the Fuze, attractive, had a pull-out keyboard since I’m more used to a keypad than a touchscreen. Also had a solid camera with flash. I know not a lot of people are big fans of Windows Mobile but I kind of like it, with the limited experience I’ve had with it. Pricing ranged anywhere between free with mail-in rebate to $299 with new contract. So there was another option.

And if I were to stick with T-Mobile, the Memoir was my pick. The G-1 is a great concept, but I didn’t really like the look of it or the design of the keyboard. The Memoir was a sexy touchscreen/camera. Beast of a camera with video capabilities, oh and it did have a phone on it. T-Mobile was offering it to me for $249 with 2-year contract extension. So yeah.

But one thing came to me while I was searching for a phone. I thought about it and thought about it. Why did I feel like I needed a new phone every year? Not that anything was wrong with the phones I had previously, they all still make pretty decent calls. My phone 3 years ago the PEBL still made awesome calls before my wife broke it. What was drawing me to want to get a phone every year.

And I reached an epiphany. I wanted a toy. A new toy to play with every year. Every year it would come down to me getting bored with my current phone. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I knew all about the phone and already used up all the features it had to offer. There was no real way to add onto the phone unless I bought a game or something to put on it, which occasionally I did. But each phone would reach a certain point where I could do no more with it.

And that is where my decision came in. I needed a toy that had so much on it and so much you could add onto it later on. A toy that was functional as a tool of communication and information, but also awesome to play with.

And so it was the iPhone (!) and the switch to AT&T (to my wife’s delight, she ended up with the Eternity).

In the next volume, I’ll go over my first week with the phone and the new service.

The Meat Life presents: I Want a New Phone

Volume I – Intro

Every so often, I feel the need for a new phone. By every so often I mean once a year, and by need I really mean want. I don’t know how it started. Maybe it was back when the cell companies used to have 1-year contracts (man, I miss those). Or maybe I just love new toys…ahem…I mean new useful devices I need.

Cell phones have seemed to grow into more than just a calling device. The evolution into a multimedia multitasking machine in the palm of your hand is quite remarkable. I remember my first cell phone my freshman year of college. I forget what model it was, but it was that Nokia phone everyone had back in the day in ‘01. That tank of a phone, the damn thing would survive almost anything. Back then I only had a calling plan on a joint account with my parents. SMS texting was available back then, but not a lot of people really did it and wasn’t really practically financially (or so I’m told).

You guys know the progression from there. Texting became popular, hell they used to have two-way pagers (back when people used to have pagers). Once that caught on cell companies found ways to make the cell phone cooler…adding cameras (man I remember those early cameras sucked), then someone had a great idea to combine the PDA and the cell phone in one device, then add music and video capabilities, and then finally the internet. Nothing makes the cell more of a usefully tool and a wasteful distraction quite like the internet.

Now if a cell phone doesn’t have picture/video/organizational/internet capabilities, it is not a cell phone. Remember when phones were used to call people? Our short attention spans require more access to more media at a time. I’m as guilty as anyone. Why else would I have ESPN text alerts?

I started to look at phones and became overwhelmed. What do I want in a phone? What do I want it to look like? Since I’m on a family plan with the wifey, I need to think about getting her a new phone too (otherwise it wouldn’t be fair, now would it?).

So to conclude this introduction, I’m going to list specifically what I want out of my new phone. If you want, you can respond on suggestions or phones you have. Next time I update this thing, I’ll go through some of the phones I’ve been looking at and what I’m leaning toward. If you have been looking at my Facebook updates you will know a few of the phones I’ve been looking at.

What the Meat wants in his new phone:
The Basics – Every cell should already have
- Good call quality
- Clear speakerphone
- Easy texting ability
- Mp3 ringtone capability
The Extras – What I gotta have
- Above average camera with video
- Solid internet browser
- Easy to use email app
- Touchscreen preferably
The Specifics – The look and feel
- Compact size
- Sleek design
- Cool factor

So I guess that’s all I want in a phone. I’m not sure what would suffice. I’ve gotten a lot of recommendations so far from Blackberry to iPhones. We’ll see. Next volume will go over my shopping process and realizing what I really want out of a phone.


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Twitter? / More Meat Tracks of the Decade

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E/E - Entertainment / Electronics Section: Twitter? What's the big deal?

So here it comes, my rant. Lately in this thing I've had a couple of rants, I don't know why but certain things bug me. Last year I ranted about the economic stimulus package, not the package itself but the fact that they used part of the money to send out notifications by mail to tell everyone they could get a tax rebate. Not one, but multiple notifications costing millions in paper/print cost. I've ranted numerous times about the BCS and will continue to do so. Last entry I ranted about how the NHL is continually gone downhill since commish Gary Bettman has been in power. This time? Twitter.

Yes, Twitter. Now, I'll have to preface my point-of-view. I'm a Facebook guy. I love it's functionality (usually except for the new layout). I don't like MySpace because it seems so unorganized (although recent changes make it look more like Facebook). That and when Facebook first started as "thefacebook.com" (remember that?) it was for college students. At the time I was a college student so that was awesome. On these social networks, I started out on Friendster. Remember Friendster? Yeah, the OG social network that went no where because all you could really do is become someone's friend. MySpace was a step forward in that you could share stuff with your friends. Facebook was a step forward from that with a more professional look and feel and being able to do so much and communicate.

Now I'm not sure how Twitter started, but according to Nielson NetView it is now the third-largest social network. 7 million people. But I'm a Facebook guy so I look at it from a functionality point of view. So comparing it from my Facebook POV, all Twitter really is more or less is just the Facebook Status Update. The whole site. You can have "followers" who keep up with you like friends, but really all you do is update what you are doing in 140 characters or less. The whole site. That's all you can really do.

My rant is how is this so popular? How are celebs and politicians, the Library of Congress and even news outlets like CNN on Twitter? I would understand if the site did other things...or maybe I'm just too used to Facebook. Another thing is how people sometimes double things and have both Twitter and Facebook and on both their updates state the same thing or have them linked so they will read the same thing. It's like what's the point of having Twitter if all your friends are on something else and updating on something else already.

I really don't understand how stating "eating a ham sandwich" or "this bathroom really stinks" can make up a whole website.

Maybe I'm getting old and resisting change.

Or maybe I want something more than just 140 characters. Is this how things are going to be from now on? Are we just going to be limited to 140 characters? It really confuses me how media/news outlets are on Twitter. So basically just headlines are going to be the info we absorb. No one is going to be familiar with specifics, just snippets. We already have an abbreviated, narrow, and A.D.D. short attention span for everything now, Twitter really just emphasizes that fact.

So I'm making my stand, holding out on joining Twitter as long as possible.

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The Meat Tracks of the Decade (The 2000s)

It's the continuation of the series I started last month, reviewing my favorites from this past decade before the page on it turns. This edition has more of a rock persuasion. I'll first post last month's list and then go over this month's tracks.

Last Month:

-Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
-Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
-Clipse's "Grindin'" (2002)
-Jay-Z's "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)" (2003)
-Youngbloodz's "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)
-Justin Timberlake's "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
-T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006)
-Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
-Rick Ross's "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)
-Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" (2008)

This Month:

-Linkin Park’s “Pushing Me Away” (Original 2000, Remix 2002, Live 2007)
Ending track on Linkin Park's debut album Hybrid Theory, this song has always been my favorite from LP. From the strong, guitar-driven ballad of the original track, to the electronic-heavy remix, and then the solemn piano/vocal performance of the live recording, this song has had significance in the background of the goings on in my life.

-Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” (2002)
This song always brings me back to freshman year of college. So idealistic and naive. I never really thought about it until now, but the lyrics of the song sound if they me from now had a conversation with the me from back then. So much I would tell him. That and I always remember me and Ethan singing along to the "crimson and clover" part.

-Mae’s “Summertime” (2003)
Whenever I hear this song it brings be back to the Cali road trip in '05 when me, Adrian, and Mike went to the Holiday Bowl. Actually, any Mae song from Destination: Beautiful and The Everglow, but this song specifically. The Pacific Coast Highway from LA to San Diego, Huntington Beach at night, and "LA Blows." Awesome roadtrip, especially when we survived a 360 on the highway.

-Thrice’s “Stare at the Sun” (2004)
Great song from an awesome CD. Reminds me of Winter '04 going back and forth on I44 from Norman to Lawton and back.

-The Killer’s “Smile Like You Mean It” (2005)
I first heard this song on the once iconic The OC. The band is probably the most successful to ever appear on the show, and was probably helped by the show since it was at its peak at the time. Although "Mr. Brightside" was the bigger hit, this song is my favorite from that album.

-Fall Out Boys’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” (2005)
One memory sticks out the most whenever I hear this song. My brother Mike singing this song mockingly with an ultra-high pitched voice. Hilarity!

-The Foo Fighters’s “Best of You” (2005)
Brings be back to the craziness that was the Summer of '05. It was the first real summer I spent the majority of my time in Norman since I was taking summer classes and working. This song was sort of described my struggles that summer outside of the classes and work.

-Taking Back Sunday’s “MakeDamnSure” (2006)
Probably my favorite song of the decade. Not sure why I like it so much, maybe because it came out as I was ending my college experience and because of the decisions that lay ahead after that period of my life. That and it's pretty awesome to rock to on the highway.

-The Starting Line’s “Island” (2007)
Another one of those songs that are awesome to rock out to on the highway. That and it sort of describes my need to get away from things sometimes.

-Anberlin’s “Godspeed” (2007)
I'm not sure what the band originally meant by the lyrics of the song, but I interpretted it as trying to avoid losing a hold of childhood. Not necessarily avoiding growing up, but trying not to lose what it feels like to be young. That's probably why I like the song so much. That and Cities is a pretty solid disc.

Next Meat Tracks will be a more mellow list of ten.

Stay tuned.

UT Banner

themeatlife.blogspot.com


Take a look at what the Texas Longhorns have been up to in the offseason:


Longhorns have claimed the 2008 Big 12 title -- with an asterisk
April 5, 2009 6:54 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

AUSTIN, Texas -- The media had their first chance since the end of the season to see the inside of the team room at the Moncrief-Neuhaus training facility following Sunday's Orange-White scrimmage.

Longhorn officials have added a couple of new additions to their list of Big 12 and South Division championships prominently displayed on a wall on the facility.

The Longhorns have included the South Division championship they shared with Oklahoma and Texas Tech in a three-way tie last season.

But they've also included 2008 among their list of Big 12 championships, with an asterisk.

Oklahoma nosed out the Longhorns on a controversial tiebreaker to qualify for the championship game, despite losing to Texas during the regular season. The Sooners then won an unprecedented third-straight championship by beating Missouri -- a victory that was acknowledged everywhere except maybe in the Texas team room.

Intrepid Austin American-Statesman beat writer Suzanne Halliburton snapped a picture of the wall with her cell phone while she was at the press conference. Here's the link of the picture.


Something tells me the Oct. 17 Red River Rivalry game between the Sooners and Longhorns is going to be a good one.

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The celebrated asterisk banner is coming down
April 6, 2009 4:29 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

I just received word from Texas assistant athletic director for media relations John Bianco that the school plans to remove a display in the team room inside the Moncrief-Neuhaus training facility that credited the school with a Big 12 title -- with an asterisk -- from last season.

Oklahoma nosed out the Longhorns on a controversial tiebreaker to qualify for the championship game, despite losing to Texas during the regular season. The Sooners then won an unprecedented third straight championship by beating Missouri -- a victory that was acknowledged everywhere except maybe in the Texas team room.

The Longhorns also included their shared South Division championship along with their other titles. Texas had a three-way share of the South championship with the Sooners and Texas Tech.

Bianco explained in an e-mail that Texas coach Mack Brown wasn't aware of the 2008* on the Big 12 championship wall at the training facility and will have it fixed.

The Texas decision was a correct one, considering the reaction I've seen from fans on not only rival team message boards, but also on Texas ones.

But I wonder how the decision will be playing among Oklahoma fans.


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Yeah...awesome.

Maybe if their safety catches the INT against Tech they would have had the opportunity to go to KC to play against Mizzou to actually earn that championship. Oh well, I say keep it on there. Even with that they still need three more Big 12 titles to match OU.

Okay, next entry will be a real entry.

Blog Blog Blog

It has been a long while since I've blogged. There are many things I could go over and write about, and there will be. This time I just want to touch on three things. One is going to be a recurring section in this, I would like to get back to blogging about once or twice a month. But actually, before I go over what the first section will be, a little background.

It is 2009 now! Crazy, this decade is almost over. In the last ten years I've experience finishing both high school and undergrad, we've had two wars, 9/11, Web2.0, recession, and a black man elected president. So much has changed, and so much remains the same. In honor of closing out the decade, there will be a section called Meat Tracks. I'll basically profile my fave songs from the past decade, a little commentary on why it's one of my faves and where it brings me back to whenever I hear the track. There will be 10 profiled each month from now on, so a total of 100 by the end of the year.

The other two sections are a little shorter this time around. The middle section will be a look at entertainment or electronics, two things other than sports that I enjoy. The last section will always profile something sports, although this one will be more of a rant about one of my fave sports but one that is struggling right now: hockey. Yeah, this entry is loaded. So here we go!


MEAT TRACKS
Music picks of this decade from the Meat Life.
This entry will focus on more party hits.

-Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
This will make me sound really dorky, but this was a theme song of sorts my freshman year of college. The Neptunes were hot back then, producing practically every hip-hop song, and this was my fave that winter. Whenever I was going somewhere I would bump this in my car and I even had the ringtone on my cell. Back then it was a little harder to get ringtones and it was like the tone in one of the verses of the song. Yeah, I was awesome.

-Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
Back then Nelly used to run the show, and his guest spot on this track displayed that. This brings me back to '02 and my first time at a club. It was a place called Legacy 18 (in Bricktown for those of you old enough to remember, it was where the Green Door used to be). Me and some of my friends from the dorms went. They weren't exactly party people, so it was kind of awkward. But after that I downloaded this song and partied in my car everytime it played.

-Clipse's "Grindin'" (2002)
Another Neptunes track, this beat was crazy. This track brings me back to the start of my clubbin days. No memory in particular attached to this, but just the resonating beat.

-Jay-Z's "La La La (Excuse Me Miss Again)" (2003)
This I like more than the original "Excuse Me Miss." I remember riding in a friend's car that summer with this song bumping. I think we were going about 90 through the highways in and around Dallas. I just remember the song and the colors of all the lights as they fly by.

-Youngbloodz's "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)
At the height of Lil Jon's popularity, this was a jem. Great beat and energy. Just enough cheese where it wasn't annoying but fun. Fond memories of OU-Texas 2005 everytime I hear the song. We certainly didn't win the game but we did party it up that night. I remember Mike going buck wild and Jed falling over and asking "who pushed me?!?"

-Justin Timberlake's "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
Unbelievable track when I first heard it. I wasn't a big N'Sync fan, but I have to say I am a big Timberlake fan. This song is my fave from him. Just the T.I. verse alone tears it up. The futuristic and dynamic sound makes it feel new each time I listen to it. Brings me back to the summer before my son was born when I lived at Thanh Lu's.

-T.I.'s "What You Know" (2006)
Brings me back to 1821 Concord and the parties, especially the last one: The Chris Mitra Freedom Festival. Loved how our parties were always Old School themed. I remember at one point each of the roommie played this song back to back to back for a good 20 minutes. That and this was a badass song.

-Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
Not sure why this sticks out so much. My party days had waned before this song came out. I think mainly because they used to play this song over and over again when I used to work at Dell. For the top seller for that week, they had this "Pimp My Cube" where they would put in these cheesy decorations, badass sound system and lights into a cubical and have the top seller sit in there for the week. That song would play everytime they would announce. I was only top 5 so I never quit got to sit in there.

-Rick Ross's "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)
Just a badass song. T-Pain is everywhere now it seems and seems to always accentuate the songs he is in. I would bump this on my way back from work all that spring and part of the summer. Yeah, picture that...from bumping in the car going out to the club during college to bumping on the way home to the kid.

-Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" (2008)
It's not so much attaching a current happening to this song but the feeling of nostalgia it envokes when I hear it. Reminds me of summer of '05 and a particular night when I feel asleep at a club. Yeah, good story, so ask me about it later.

There will be more party songs later, but next time we will feature rock.


EE Section
Profiling Entertainment and/or Electronics
This entry Meat Life is going over the new ABC show Castle.


Now, if you watch any TV on ABC, you probably have seen the non-stop commercial campaign for the cop comedrama Castle. They blitz commercial breaks giving pretty much the entire story featured in the pilot episode that came on yesterday.

Normally I don't mind commercials for show, but for about a month I think I saw the same commercial for that show about 10 times a night on the night I catch a show on ABC (Lost every Wednesday, when my wife watches Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives). Although I was annoyed, I was also kind of intrigued.

So I decided to catch the show when it came on. I was presently surprised. Although not the greatest show in the world and kind of cheesy, the show was enjoyable. I've liked a lot of stuff that Nathan Fillion (Serenity) has been in, and his character as a murder mystery writer tagging along the sharp lady cop Stana Katic (The Spirit) is along the same lines of what you have seen Fillion in before. Solid storyline, although I can see the writer helping solve murder crimes novelty will eventually wear off.

I predict ABC will get a decent 2 seasons out of this show at the most, although I could probably see the show getting axed after 10 episodes if the ratings aren't there. Day Break was a decent ABC show they had during a Lost break but did not survive a season because of poor ratings and I can see Castle getting the same fate. We shall see what the ratings will be.

Castle is on Monday nights at 9PM CST on ABC.


The Meat Life Sports Tear
This week, a rant about hockey.

Hockey has been one of my favorite sports growing up. It was the only sport I played in organized leagues. The speed of the game is what attracted me the most to the game...that and seeing the first Mighty Ducks movie. That last scene in the championship game where Josh Jackson takes the penalty shot is awesome. I don't know how many times I pretended to do that triple deke move.

But now I'm upset. Not so much at the game, but at the professional league that represents it. In the last 20 years hockey has gone from the red hot sport that was challenging the NBA as the third most popular sport in America to a sport that has been almost forgotten and relegated to being shown on a channel that half of America doesn't even know is in their channel lineup. It saddens me to see the sport in the place it is in right now.


1994 was the peak of the NHL. The New York Rangers, the team in the largest TV market in the country, won the Stanley Cup. From that championship series the league saw the largest audience ever to tune into the series. The league had signed a great TV deal with both ESPN and Fox to televise games nationally. The sports' biggest star Wayne Gretzky just broke the all-time goal scoring record. The NHL was on a high. And then the summer after its greatest year, the league shut down for half a season due to a labor dispute.

Now, I'm not one to claim to know what goes on in those type of situations, but all I know is if you are a league that is finally gaining some relevance in the United States you better have your shit straight to bring it even harder after your best year ever. I mark the 1994 lockout the turning point in the NHL. From then on things went downhill. The league got overconfident and expanded from 26 teams at the end of the 1993-94 season to 30 teams by the 2000-01 season, 3 of those teams in non-traditional hockey markets like Atlanta and Nashville.

Since then there has been another lockout/league shutdown for an entire season in 2004-05. The NHL's contract with ESPN/ABC ended that season and was not renewed. It was replaced by an unknown cable network OLN (which later was rebranded as Versus) as well as NBC. Attendance for the most part when compared with what it was in 1994 is down in the United States, where only the traditional hockey markets have stayed relatively the same.

Outside of the business, the game itself has lost a lot. No longer was it a fast and exciting game. Since the expansion, the spread of talent is thin. So normally those who were still playing in the minors are now playing in the NHL. Teams went to a more defensive style of play since the talent level dropped. The term "neutral-zone trap" described not only the defense but where the league was stuck.

I'll have to admit there were some changes that were implemented that helped improve the quality of the game like the crack down on slashing and spearing as well as the addition of the shootout in the regular season doing away with ties. But those are only minor things that is more a band aid than anything.

Here are 5 things that will help the NHL get back to where they were in 1994. Now most of these might not happen or be able to be implemented easily. But it is time for the NHL to face the facts and get this straighted out.

1. Fire Commissioner Gary Bettman. He has been commish since 1993 and has overseen overexpansion and two lockouts. He has caused more problems for the league than progress. His shortsightedness and overambition in the southern states are dragging the league. He has tried to spread the league but the league has spread thin. That and renaming the conferences and divisions has taken out a lot of the traditions the league had.

2. Take teams out of the southern markets. Now I'm not saying contract and drop teams out of the league. I'm saying relocate some of the teams north where either there was a former franchise like in Quebec City or Hartford or in other markets up north. Minneapolis could support more than one franchise and there are a lot of Canadian markets could take a team. You could start by moving the double teams in areas like LA/Anaheim and Florida/Tampa. Keep the Kings in LA and move the Ducks and keep the Tampa team there and move the Florida team north. Make the money where you know you can.

3. Consider Europe. Hockey is huge in Euro nations like Russia, Czech Republic, Norway, and Sweden. Ultimately what could happen is have half the teams remain in North America and half send over to Europe. It could be like the NL and AL in baseball. Most teams won't meet until the Stanley Cup finals and they could have parts of the season where there is interleague play. It'll get complicated with the different currencies and all but it would make sure that the sport's exposure is international.

4. Market your stars to the Nth degree. The NHL has struggled to market players under Bettman. Ask any average American to name a current hockey player and most would probably still give you "Wayne Gretzky" as their answer. What about Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. Ovie is probably the most dynamic star in the sport, but unless you watch Sportscenter on a daily basis you probably wouldn't be able to identify who Ovechkin is or what sport he plays. If you are interested, YouTube Alex Ovechkin and you will pull up some of the craziest goals ever scored, one on his back turned away from the goal while spinning. Yeah, I know...crazy. He is my favorite current player right now and no one knows who he is.

Yeah, that's Ovie on his back...and he scored like that.

5. Sign a damn contract with ESPN. Having to watch hockey on Versus is crap. Not for the production quality or anything like that. The production is fine. But you don't get the exposure on Versus that you do on ESPN. People know what channel ESPN is. People have to look up what channel Versus is. I remember Tuesday and Wednesday night games on ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement. Thorne's yelling style was so epic. Now I only get a sample of that on my NHL09 video game and whenever I pop in the 1994 New York Rangers Stanley Cup DVDs.

So there it is. With the exception of the Europe thing I think all of this is feasible for the NHL. It's a shame that hockey has declined below NASCAR as a major sport in the United States. Although it may never return to its former glory, it may regain some of that back by doing at the very least the last two things on this list.


See you guys on the next entry!