the Meat Life

New Year, New Beginnings

2011-01-02T18:16:00.000-06:00

the Meat Life is now moving to Tumblr. Works better for me. I'll still check who I follow on here periodically.

Farewell Blogger.

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End of 2010 Review – Television

2010-12-30T23:50:00.000-06:00

I’ll give you my ten fave shows of the year, but first a look back at one classic show that came to an end in

2010: Lost.

I actually came across the show by accident. My sister asked for the first season on DVD for Christmas of 2005. She said it was a really good show and she was liked JJ Abrams since she was an Alias fan. I was living in Norman at the time and when I went back to my parents’ house in Lawton, I realized I left the DVD set in Norman. So I had to buy another copy in Lawton and gave it to my sister. Now I had never watched the show at all. Through most of college I didn’t have cable TV either so I had heard of it but never really got the opportunity to see it.

So when I got back to Norman I had a decision to make: return the DVD set or see what all the fuss was about. I decided to pop it open and watch, and from the get-go I knew I made the right decision. Lost gave me what I wanted. Cinematic epicness. Mythical intrigue. Conspiracy. Comedic value. And most of all a collection of rich characters that were so real and relatable. I fell in love with the characters and I think that will live on longer than anything else in the series.

Many people found the ending controversial and without resolution of the many questions the show’s mythology posed. I found the ending fitting. As in life, not everything has an answer. And in the end you aren’t going to remember whether or not you found out why the Others were living on the island or how Penny’s dad got all that money or many of the other petty little questions. You are going to remember the people that surrounded you and that impacted your life.

So thanks Lost. Thanks for 6 years (well for me 5 since I caught on to it about halfway through the 2^nd season) of television greatness. We will miss you.

Now here are my ten picks as a MeatLife Fave (Scripted) TV Shows:

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
In its 4^th season, it is still as funny as it began. Nerd-comedy at its finest.

Blue Bloods (CBS)
If you like cop dramas, this show would interest you. If you like family dramas, this would interest you. Solid procedural in its first season that has a lot of potential.

Castle (ABC)
This is a great cop dramedy. The show mixes buddy cop drama with sexual tension filled sitcom and has grown better with age in its 3^rd season.

Community (NBC)
This community college sitcom in its 2^nd season gives a great change of pace. I enjoy the random, off the wall humor.

FlashForward (ABC)
I feel this show ended prematurely, but I can see why it was cancelled. For the epic scale and cinema-like feel each episode, the production budget probably needed more than 5 million viewers an episode by the end of the series to support it.

Fringe (FOX)
Another great JJ Abrams initiated project in the middle of its third season. Combines a decent procedural with a great larger story much in the same light as the X-Files once did.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Still funny and has really separated itself from the similar Friends. Although you would think after six seasons we would have caught a glimpse of the mother by now.

Lost (ABC)
What else can I say?

Modern Family (ABC)
A fairly new take on the family sitcom. Uses the en vogue documentary style filming popularized by The Office. Very funny and will live well beyond its current 2^nd season.

Outsourced (NBC)
A TV adaptation of a feature film of the same name. In its first season I think it’s actually funnier and more entertaining than the film.

One last thing, NBC seems to be a sinking network even with some of the quality comedies it is still producing. One glaring thing was the late night drama, moving Jay Leno to primetime and then back to late night and essentially booting Conan O’Brien off of the Tonight Show shortly after he took it over. Whoever thought Jay Leno would have a successful show at 9 PM (CST) 5 days a week really didn’t know what they were doing. I’m glad Conan has a show now (even if it’s on TBS). And although Jay was villianized in the situation, it wasn’t his fault his network is being mismanaged, so I have no hard feelings for Leno even though I am fond of Team CoCo.

May there be more entertaining quality scripted television in the coming year. We’ll see what 2011 will bring soon enough!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

End of 2010 Review - Music

2010-12-22T01:35:00.001-06:00

the Meat Life will take a look back on the year that was in Music, TV, Movies, Tech, and Sports. We will start with Music.

For the most part since I’ve had kids I’ve been a bit behind on music. Or at least I think I am. Maybe I’m not as up with the times as I used to be, but looking at my playlists on my iTunes it looks like I’m doing pretty well for myself.

There have been some decent tunes this year, and I’ve got 50 of them that I think you guys shouldn’t miss out on. From established artists like Kanye West and Paramore to internet sensation Antoine Dodson, I’ve got the list. So after you take a look at this, fire up your iTunes and download the ones you don’t have. And for those available, YouTube links for the music video or at least the song playing as a vid. Enjoy!

Adam Lambert – “Whataya Want From Me”
Alicia Keys – “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”
Anberlin – “Impossible”
Antoine and Kelly Dodson and the Gregory Brothers – “Bed Intruder Song”
B.O.B. – “Airplanes (featuring Hayley Williams)”
Broken Bells – “The Ghost Inside”
Bruno Mars – “Just The Way You Are”
California Swag District – “Teach Me How To Dougie”
Cee Lo Green – “Fuck You”
Chris Brown – “I Love U (featuring Ester Dean)”
A Day to Remember – “Have Faith In Me”
DJ Khaled – “All I Do Is Win (featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Rick Ross, and Snoop Dogg)”
Dorrough – “Get Big (featuring Nitti)”
Drake – “Find Your Love”
Edward Maya – “Stereo Love (featuring Vika Jigulina) ”
Eminem – “Love The Way You Lie (featuring Rihanna)”
Enrique Iglesias – “I Like It (featuring Pitbull)”
Far East Movement – “Like a G6 (featuring Dev and the Cataracs)”
Foo Fighters –“ Wheels”
Jamie Foxx – “Winner (featuring Justin Timberlake and T.I.)”
Janelle Monae – “Tightrope (featuring Big Boi)”
Jimmy Eat World – “Coffee and Cigarettes”
Justin Bieber – “Baby (featuring Ludacris)”
Kanye West – “Power”
Katy Perry – “California Gurls (featuring Snoop Dogg)”
Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Lady Gaga – "Alejandro"
Lifehouse – “Halfway Gone”
The Limousines – “Internet Killed the Video Star”
Linkin Park – “The Catalyst”
Michael Buble – “Haven’t Met You Yet”
Miguel – “All I Want Is You (featuring J. Cole)”
Ne-Yo – “Beautiful Monster”
Neon Trees – “Animal”
Paramore – “The Only Exception”
Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead (Starsmith Remix featuring Ellie Goulding)”
Rob Thomas – “Someday”
Sean Kingston – “Letting Go (Dutty Love featuring Nicki Minaj)”
Selena Gomez & the Scene – “Naturally”
Snoop Dogg – “I Wanna Rock (G-Mix featuring Jay-Z)”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Between The Lines”
T.I. – “Got Your Back (featuring Keri Hilson)”
Taio Cruz – “Break Your Heart (featuring Ludacris)”
Three Days Grace – “The Good Life”
Train – “Hey, Soul Sister”
Usher – “DJ Got Us Falling In Love (featuring Pitbull)”
We The Kings – “We’ll Be A Dream (Demi Lovato)”
Young Money – “BedRock (featuring Lloyd, Lil Wayne, Jae Millz, Gudda Gudda, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga)”
30 Seconds To Mars – “Kings And Queens”

Next entry? End of 2010 Review – Television

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Oklahoma vs Nebraska: The Lost Rivalry

2010-12-21T10:28:00.002-06:00

Three weeks ago we saw a rather ceremonial end to an iconic rivalry. When you think of all the top rivalries in college football, what comes to mind? There are several that come to mind immediately. Ohio State-Michigan. Georgia-Florida. Florida State-Miami. Oklahoma-Texas. Army-Navy. Auburn-Alabama. Rarely has a rivalry decided who will compete for a national title. One rivalry that carried college football and had those title implications in the 1970s and 1980s was Oklahoma-Nebraska.

Back then, when you thought rivalry you would think the Battle of the Big Reds. Before the prominence of ESPN, there was the Game of the Century and the origin of Sooner Magic. There was an Orange Bowl rematch game and throwing oranges on the field. What other rivalry would not only have the Game of the Century but the sequel as well. If you would like a look at some of those special moments, Sooner Sports has a great section dedicated to the old rivalry.

But then something killed the rivalry. Most point to the creation of the Big 12. When creating the divisions, the separated the two schools. And when setting the schedules, they decided to end the yearly matchup so they would be on two years and off two years. This answer is too easy, though. You have to look at the bigger picture. What really killed this rivalry was mediocrity.

The Sooners were horrible in the 1990s. Since Barry Switzer left the program in 1988, the Sooners only won one of those matchups before the creation of the Big 12 and none of the matchups before Bob Stoops arrived. In 2000 and 2001, both teams were good and could have given us a preview of what was to come. That was for naught…Nebraska fired Frank Solich in 2003 after a 9-3 season which lead to some horrid Bill Callahan coached teams. Although Callahan did have the Huskers reach the Big 12 Championship game against Oklahoma, these two programs were clearly still on different tracks.

The rivalry showed promise last year with a defensive classic as Nebraska forced OU QB Landry Jones to throw 5 INTs in a 10-3 win for the Cornhuskers. But it was too little too late. The 1990s and 2000s killed this rivalry. So this last matchup in the Big 12 Championship a few weeks ago was a window of what could have been under a Bo Pelini –Stoops matchup. It was a great way to end the series. The Huskers built a 17-0 lead in the first half. Oklahoma then miraculously mounted a comeback, tying the game right before the half before a Nebraska field goal to end the half at 20-17. The Sooner defense shut down Nebraska the entire second half and a pair of field goals gave the Sooners the win.

courtesy of Michael Mitra

So here’s goodbye to the lost rivalry. I would say that we would miss it but we’ve been without it for most of the last twenty years. May we have a reunion during the 50 year anniversary of the Game of the Century. I hope the powers that be get that 2020-2021 series going.

So from a Sooner fan, goodbye Nebraska.

the Meat Life End of 2010 Review to come.

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MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s --- Revisited

2010-11-30T01:06:00.002-06:00

Last year I made a list of my favorite tracks of the last ten years. I didn’t get a chance to complete the list, so what better time than now to complete the list. I’ll be doing my year in review for other stuff anyway pretty much all December.

A little analysis…if you look at the list the majority of the songs are heavily favoring the beginning part of the decade. That’s probably because I listened and kept up with music more closely in college than I do now. Music is always up to the preference of the listener. If you are like me, you like catchy music from varying genres to keep you entertained. That and it sort of chronicles the day, the way you look at things at that particular time. Soundtrack to life.

So here are my 100 tracks you must have downloaded from 2000 to 2009.

-Incubus - “Stellar” (2000)
-Eminem - “Stan (featuring Dido)” (2000)

-Linkin Park - “My December” (2000)

-Nelly - “Country Grammar” (2000)

-Eminem - “The Way I Am” (2000)

-Outkast - “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” (2000)
-U2 - “Beautiful Day” (2000)

-Vertical Horizon - “Everything You Want” (2000)

-Alien Ant Farm - “Smooth Criminal” (2001)
-Eve 6 - “Here’s To The Night” (2001)

-Fabolous - "Young'n (Holla Back)" (2001)
-Jagged Edge - "Where the Party At? (featuring Nelly)" (2001)
-P.O.D. - “Alive” (2001)

-The Strokes - “Last Nite” (2001)

-Usher - “U Got It Bad” (2001)
-Weezer - “Hash Pipe” (2001)

-Blink 182 - “Stay Together For the Kids” (2002)
-Clipse - "Grindin'" (2002)
-Coldplay - “The Scientist” (2002)

-Eminem - “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” (2002)

-Eminem - “8 Mile” (2002)

-50 Cent - “In Da Club” (2002)

-Jimmy Eat World - “A Praise Chorus” (2002)

-Jimmy Eat World - “Sweetness” (2002)

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

-Linkin Park - “Pushing Me Away (Remix)” (2002)

-Nelly - “Air Force Ones (featuring Kyjuan, Ali, & Murphy Lee)” (2002)
-Thursday - “Standing on the Edge of Summer” (2002)
-Weezer - “Keep Fishin’” (2002)

-The White Stripes - “Fell In Love With a Girl” (2002)

-Finch - “What It Is to Burn” (2003)

-Mae - “Summertime” (2003)

-Linkin Park - “Somewhere I Belong” (2003)

-The Postal Service - “Such Great Heights” (2003)

-R. Kelly - “Ignition (Remix)” (2003)
-Snoop Dogg - “Beautiful (featuring Pharrell) (2003)

-Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Maps” (2003)

-Alicia Keys - “If I Ain’t Got You” (2004)

-Blink 182 - “Miss You” (2004)

-Finley Quaye and William Orbit - “Dice” (2004)

-Franz Ferdinand - “Take Me Out” (2004)

-Fat Joe - “Lean Back (Remix featuring Lil Jon, Eminem, & Mase) (2004)

-Green Day - “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004)

-Jay-Z - “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (2004)

-Jay-Z & Linkin Park - “Numb/Encore” (2004)

-Jimmy Eat World - “23” (2004)

-Linkin Park - “Breaking the Habit” (2004)

-Modest Mouse - “Float On” (2004)

-My Chemical Romance - “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” (2004)

-Snoop Dogg - “Drop It Like It’s Hot (featuring Pharrell)” (2004)

-Taking Back Sunday - “New American Classic” (2004)

-Thrice - “Stare at the Sun” (2004)

-Acceptance - “So Contagious” (2005)
-The All-American Rejects - “Dance Inside” (2005)

-The All-American Rejects - “Move Along” (2005)
-The Dandy Warhols - “We Used to Be Friends” (2005)
-Fall Out Boy - “Sugar, We’re Going Down” (2005)

-The Foo Fighters - “Best of You” (2005)

-The Game - “Hate It or Love It (featuring 50 Cent)” (2005)

-Gwen Stefani - “Cool” (2005)

-Kanye West - “Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix featuring Jay-Z)” (2005)

-Kanye West - “Gold Digger (featuring Jamie Foxx)” (2005)

-The Killer - “Smile Like You Mean It” (2005)

-Mariah Carey - “We Belong Together” (2005)

-Stars - “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (2005)
-Youngbloodz - "Presidential (featuring Lil Jon)" (2005)

-Augustana - “Boston” (2006)

-Fort Minor - “Where’d You Go?” (2006)

-Justin Timberlake - "My Love (featuring T.I.)" (2006)
-The Killers - “When You Were Young” (2006)

-Lupe Fiasco - “Kick, Push” (2006)

-Missy Elliott - “We Run This” (2006)

-Nelly Furtado - “Say It Right” (2006)

-Ne-Yo - “Sexy Love” (2006)
-OK Go - “Here It Goes Again” (2006)

-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - “Face Down” (2006)
-Taking Back Sunday - “MakeDamnSure” (2006)

-30 Seconds To Mars - “From Yesterday” (2006)

-T.I. - "What You Know" (2006)

-Anberlin - “Godspeed” (2007)

-Chris Brown - “Kiss Kiss (featuring T-Pain)” (2007)

-Good Charlotte - “Dance Floor Anthem (I Don’t Want To Be In Love)” (2007)

-Kanye West - “Stronger” (2007)

-One Republic - “Apologize” (2007)
-Paramore - “Misery Business” (2007)

-Rihanna - “Umbrella (Remix featuring Jay-Z and Chris Brown)” (2007)

-Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar" (2007)
-The Starting Line - “Island” (2007)

-Three Days Grace - “Never Too Late” (2007)

-David Banner - “Get Like Me (featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc” (2008)

-Kanye West - “Homecoming (featuring Chris Martin)” (2008)

-Lady Gaga - "Just Dance" (2008)
-Lil Wayne - “Got Money (featuring T-Pain)” (2008)
-Rick Ross - "The Boss (featuring T-Pain)" (2008)

-All Time Low - “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)” (2009)
-Black Eyed Peas - “I Gotta Feeling” (2009)
-Drake - “Best I Ever Had” (2009)
-Jamie Foxx - “Blame It (featuring T-Pain)” (2009)
-Muse – Uprising (2009)
-Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (2009)

If you don’t have any of these tracks yet, download them now!

In the month of December we will look back at the year that was 2010 in sports, movies, music, TV, and tech. Till then, I hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.

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The Meat Life College Football Two-Thirds Review

2010-11-04T11:11:00.001-05:00

Alright, so I’ve been slacking on this blog lately. Life happens, and since I don’t get paid for this well I can afford to slack a bit. That and reviewing my must see games every week was getting a little old. I was going to do a half way point review of the season, but this way with two months gone and a month to go in the regular season we get a great look at all the teams and all the goings on. So for my Two-Thirds Review, we will go over nine areas of college football goings on this year.

2/3s: Best Team – Oregon Ducks
No huddle, hurry-up, spread offenses are all the rage of college football. The Ducks or as some call them “Nike U,” are described (probably in hyperbole) as running the “blur offense.” Taking the best of no huddle, combine with a spread option look and some fairly good passing and you have Oregon’s offense. According to SoonerStats.com, Oregon is 277 points away from tying the Sooners’ points record from 2008 (716). If they continue to hit their average points per game of about 56, they’ll beat that record. Their defense has been suspect, but they turn it on as they are second in the nation in turnover margin.

2/3s: Biggest Surprise Team – 7-2 Baylor Bears leading the Big 12 South
We could have also put the Syracuse Orange or maybe even the Michigan State Spartans, but Baylor has never been this good. They haven’t been to a bowl game in 15 years. They have never at any point lead the ultra-competitive South Division of the Big 12. Their QB Robert Griffin III is the best talent the school has had in the last couple of decades and is complimented by a talented RB Jay Finley and a decent receiving corp. Now Bears fans can ask not only what bowl game they’ll go to but if they can win the Big 12 South.

2/3s: Biggest Disappointment – 4-4 Texas Longhorns
No one has fallen more than Texas. From a top 5 preseason pick to fifth in the Big 12 South standings, Texas fell harder than Humpty Dumpty. The only time they looked remotely like the program they have been this past decade was their road win against Nebraska. That game they actually looked and played like they cared. With the exception of the Red River Rivalry and that Nebraska game, the Longhorns have largely looked uninterested in playing until they are down big. And even more disappointing…three of the four losses have been at home. Mack Brown has had more home losses this year than Bob Stoops has had his entire tenure at OU (only 2 losses at home for OU in the Stoops era).

2/3s: Best Player – Cameron Newton, QB, Junior, Auburn Tigers
If I did this at the halfway point, it would have been Michigan’s Denard Robinson. But Robinson and the Wolverines have run out of gas. Just imagine if he never left Florida how efficient he would run Urban Meyer’s offense. Cam is third in passing efficiency and fourth in rushing. Newton even caught a 20-yard TD pass last game against Ole Miss. Is there anything this guy can’t do? Well, in three weeks when they play Alabama we’ll find out.

2/3s: Best of the Rest
These are the best players/units out of the other positions on the field.

RB LaMichael James, Sophomore, Oregon
WR Justin Blackmon, Sophomore, Oklahoma State
Offensive Line Oregon Ducks
Total Defense TCU Horned Frogs
Interception Machine Domonic Cook, Senior, Buffalo
Return Game Patrick Peterson, Junior, LSU

2/3s: Biggest Surprise Player – Taylor Martinez, QB, Freshman, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Before the season he wasn’t even being mentioned in the discussion of who was going to start at quarterback for the Huskers. Martinez goes from unknown to leading the team in passing, rushing, and TDs scored. The quick mobile QB seems to have had a big run of more than 20 yards every game (except for the game against Texas for some reason). Kind of reminds you of the old wishbone days the way he runs in TDs.

2/3s: Best Game – Red River Rivalry: Oklahoma Sooners vs Texas Longhorns
Okay, okay…yes a bit of homerism here. But it was probably the most entertained I’ve been all year. OU builds a lead. Texas stages a comeback. A couple of fourth quarter gaffes from the Sooners and then they escape by recovering a muffed/fumbled punt return. It had a bit of scoring, some drama, and a highlight run from OU RB DeMarco Murray. A little bit of everything for everyone…well except for a win for the Longhorns, haha! Boomer Sooner win 28-20. A close second place for best game: Alabama rallies to hold off the upset from Arkansas 24-20.

2/3s: Biggest Games Left
These are the biggest games that will impact both conference championship and national title outlooks, excluding the conference championship games themselves but including this week’s games (and no, I won’t revisit these individually like I did in the first part of the season…maybe just when the season is over)

Baylor at Oklahoma State 11/6
TCU at Utah 11/6
Alabama at LSU 11/6
Mississippi State at Alabama 11/13
Ohio State at Iowa 11/20
Oklahoma at Baylor 11/20
Auburn at Alabama 11/26
Arizona at Oregon 11/26
Boise State at Nevada 11/26
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State 11/27

2/3s: Biggest Question – Will a non-automatic qualifying team make it to the BCS Championship?
With Boise State, TCU, and Utah all in the BCS top 5, there has never been any other time we have been this close to a non-AQ making it to the national championship. And with TCU and Utah playing this weekend, we will be down to two. There seems to be a glass ceiling for these teams, as we see Boise State continue to drop in the standings (even getting passed by TCU in this week’s BCS standings). We can debate it for the rest of the season, but I see these teams getting passed by a one-loss team like Alabama (assuming Oregon and/or Auburn lose in the next few weeks…and that could happen since Auburn does play Alabama). I might not be right, but it’ll probably happen. The team with the best chance to go would be TCU. The computers love TCU (average #3 in computers while Boise #5 and Utah #9) and would get a boost from beating Utah this weekend.

Enjoy all the football. From now till the end of the year it will be more or less a review of different things over the course of this year from movies, music, sports, and tech.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

15 Albums That Impacted My Life

2010-10-12T23:05:00.001-05:00

I’m going to take a break from the college football blogging for a week, so next week look out for my must sees as well as a midway point review or as I will call it: the Meat Life Halftime College Football Awards. Haha yeah in know, prestigious. So during the break, here is some music.

A few weeks ago Bobbie tagged me in her fave albums note. I decided to make a list as well. But like any list I make, I have to narrow it down. When I first made a list of albums I might want to include on here I had a list of 34 different albums. I tried to narrow it down by how much the album made an impact on the rest of what I listened to and how it related to my life. As many have said before music is just the soundtrack of our lives.

So here are the albums I picked for my 15:

Boyz II Men – II 1994
This is more a sentimental childhood favorite. When I first really really started listening to music, this was the best. I was debating either to put either this or Mariah Carey’s Daydream album. I was really into love songs and such and was a huge hopeless romantic until the college. That and every dance in junior high had to include a Boyz II Men slow dance song like “On Bended Knee.” My fave on this album is probably “Water Runs Dry.”

Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album) 1994
The epitome of a great CD in my opinion. An album you can listen to all the way through without skipping any tracks, fun and catchy music, and awesome songs to sing along to. I didn’t get into it until a couple years after it was released, but as they say better late than never. Listening to this album now reminds me of times in junior high hanging out at friends’ houses dancing around and listening to music. Fave track: “Only In Dreams.”

No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom 1995
Ska never sounded better. When I first heard “Spiderwebs” I thought wow this is really fun sounding. I think that Christmas of 1996 everyone and their mom got the CD as a gift. “Don’t Speak” really hit me because when I first got the CD for Christmas not even a week later my grandpa died. I would play that song over and over and over. Then “Don’t Speak” came out as a single a couple months later and blew No Doubt up wide open. Needless to say fave track on album is “Don’t Speak.”

Bush – Razorblade Suitcase 1996
I got into music a little after the grunge era, so this was a new sound to me. When I first hear the album it opened up doors to all of the sounds of earlier in the decade like Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. Although Bush’s lyrics were often nonsensical, I was drawn to how they fit into the music and the big guitars. Fave track: “Swallowed.”

The Wallflowers – Bringing Down the Horse 1996
The album like most in the late 1990s came out when I was still trying to figure out what I was into as far as music. I was definitely into this album. This and Counting Crows August and Everything After are albums where I listen to them now and remember what it was like being a hopeless romantic teenager or evenings talking to old friends over a dinner table reminiscing of years gone by. Very easy listening. Favorite track: “One Headlight.”

Hootie & the Blowfish – Fairweather Johnson 1996
This is another that kind of plays off that hopeless romantic. Lots of love songs on this album. Not as catchy and a bit darker in lyrical content compared to their mega-hit “Cracked Rear View,” this album probably took a good five or six years before I really appreciated it. I then put it away for a while and gave it a listen after my son was born and this album really resonates with me now. Not much of today’s music can grow with you over time. Fave on the album: “Earth Stopped Cold at Dawn.”

Blink-182 – Dude Ranch 1997
I had listened to pop-punk before and after this album, but this is probably my favorite of the genre. It was a mix of teen angst and humor unlike what I’ve heard before. I enjoyed the pace most of all. And then about five years later I was in the most amateur and fun punk-cover band and we covered my favorite track on the album “Dammit.”

Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind 1997
My brother always makes a joke about it, but I used to play this CD over and over and over again. All the songs were catchy and guitar driven. I could never really get into their albums after this one, but this one seemed like lightning in a bottle. My best memories of this album were all the times me and various groups of friends at various times of my life sang along at the top of our lungs to “Semi-Charmed Life.” Fave track: “Motorcycle Driveby.”

Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape 1997
How could the drummer of one of the greatest bands of the 1990s reinvent himself and start anew? This album is how. I know Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters had an album before this, but The Colour and the Shape gave the band a definite sound. What I remember most about this album? The music videos oddly enough. My favorite track: “Everlong.”

Deftones – “White Pony” 2000
In the whole “nu-metal” scene with acts like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, and the like, the only band that has really resonated beyond those initial years the sound was popular to me are the Deftones. I remember my brother getting this CD and we had friends over and we all were listening to it on the stereo in his room. This was much the gateway for their other work. Fave track: “Passenger.”

Linkin Park – “Hybrid Theory” 2000
When I first heard this album, it was in a portable CD player hooked up to a tape deck in my old Ford Taurus. And for a good year it would be my most played CD. I considered it separate from the whole nu-metal and rap-rock phase of rock music simply because that scene was almost dead by the time this CD came out and the fact that the songs on the album were so layered sonically. It basically put together most of the type of music I liked and spit out something both familiar and something unlike I’d never heard before. Reminds me of senior year of high school (don’t worry, fond memories). My fave track: “Pushing Me Away.”

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American 2001
Whenever I listen to this, it reminds me of freshman year of college. Lyrically this album relates very well to that year. The fun of the first taste of freedom and the sort of loss of that innocent feeling after high school or even post 9/11. I remember Ethan once told me that whenever he rode in my car that he wasn’t surprised this CD was stuck in my CD player. And then there is a great memory of riding down country roads in Justin’s car blaring “Sweetness” out the windows. Favorite track: “Sweetness.”

Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends 2002
A girl named Jennifer my freshman year of college tried to get me into emo. She burned a CD full of Dashboard Confessional (and I don’t remember where that CD is anymore). Then based on the music I already listened to, she figured I’d be more into Taking Back Sunday so she sent me a few tracks off this album. I listened to them and kept them around but didn’t really get into them until a couple years later. Now Taking Back Sunday is one of my faves. Thanks Jenn, where ever you are. Fave track: “There’s No ‘I’ in Team.”

Eminem – The Eminem Show 2002
Although I think his best album is probably the Marshall Mathers LP, my favorite from him has to be The Eminem Show. Like most of his work, Eminem spends most of the album analyzing himself and the relationships around him. He still disses a couple celebrities, but in this album he was growing past that. In the era I have lived in, Eminem is probably my favorite rapper (but my fave rappers are probably for another list). I related the most to his music because it felt real and not some caricature of some gangster persona (like say Ja Rule or 50 Cent). My fave track: “Sing For the Moment.”

Kanye West – The College Dropout 2004
Another fave rapper of mine. Now he might be a complete asshole as a person, but I really like his music. First time I listened to this album the whole way through I was impressed with the witty lyrics and introspection. Adrian always says that “All Falls Down” is on the 1821 soundtrack and the epitome of our college careers. I then remember a house party where they were bumping to “Jesus Walks” and that memory makes me laugh a little bit. My favorite track: “Jesus Walks.”

What albums impacted your life?

themeatlife.blogspot.com

College Football Week Five Review

2010-10-05T23:18:00.000-05:00

Well, there was lots of great football this weekend. I traveled to Dallas with the family for OU-Texas festivities. Here were my picks for the games to watch last weekend and a slightly different look back at them.

the Meat Life Must Sees:

Oklahoma vs. Texas
Stanford at Oregon
Florida at Alabama
Washington at USC

The Red River Rivalry lived up to billing as usual, although it was almost not. Oklahoma held a 28-10 lead at the beginning of the 4th quarter after a beautiful tiptoe run TD by DeMarco Murray, when a series of mental breakdowns both for the players and the coaches kept it dramatic. That is until Texas muffed a punt and gave Oklahoma the ball back with a little more than a minute left. Game ended with OU victory 28-20. Stanford-Oregon was probably the most entertaining first half of football all season. High scoring and back and forth momentum, Stanford had a 31-24 lead at half. Oregon shut them down the second half scoring 28 unanswered points with LaMichael James taking over the game. Ducks prevail 52-31. Florida was a letdown much the way Texas was last week against UCLA, offense atrocious against Bama. Tide snooze to victory 31-6. It seems Jake Locker redeemed himself after the horrible performance against Nebraska a couple weeks before. In a game that was back and forth the entire time, Locker comes back from an earlier injury to lead his team down by 2 points down the field to set up a last second field goal as time expired to win the game 32-31 against USC.

the Meat Life If You Have The Time...:

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State
Miami (FL) at Clemson
Wisconsin at Michigan State
Penn State at Iowa

Texas A&M looked as if they would blow out OSU with a 21-7 lead at half...that is until the Cowboys woke up and scored 28 unanswered points to take a 35-21 lead in the fourth. Then OSU squandered that lead and let the Aggies back in and tie it up with five minutes left and time left to score...if it weren't for Jerrod Johnson throwing picks. The Cowboys get the last minute field goal to win 38-35. Miami was up early and stayed that way, so this one was kind of a snoozer, Jacoby Harris well enough to win with 4 TD passes (but the 2 INTs still haunt you if you were a Hurricane fan). Miami rolls on the Tigers 30-21. Michigan State looked impressive again as their coach Mark Dantonio still recovering from both a mild heart attack as well as a blood clot. Sparty holds Wisconsin down 34-24 as they stayed in control for most of the game. And to round out my picks, Iowa dominates Penn State (the Nittany Lions are in rebuilding mode as we speak) in this snooze-fest 24-3.

Although there aren't really any other games I wish I had added, I will say that LSU-Tennessee ending is the most bizarre I have seen. Les Miles...where are your coaching skills at man? With 28 seconds left, you should already have a play ready for your QB to execute. Miles lucked out though, as Vols coach Dooley had not eleven, not twelve...no...THIRTEEN players on the field when the Tigers center accidentally hiked the football before time expired. LSU scores the winner after the penalty and WOW if Les Miles isn't the luckiest coach who just stumbles into victories, then I don't know who is.

Here's what to watch during the OU bye week:

Must Sees:

NEW ADDITION Nebraska at Kansas State  Thursday 6:30 PM CDT
~~Pittsburgh at Notre Dame   Saturday 2:30 PM CDT~~
NEW ADDITION   Michigan State at Michigan   Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
Arkansas vs Texas A&M   Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
Florida State at Miami (FL)   Saturday 7:00 PM CDT

If You Have The Time...:

NEW ADDITION Alabama at South Carolina   Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
LSU at Florida   Saturday 6:30 PM CDT
Oregon State at Arizona   Saturday 7:00 PM CDT

As always, enjoy the football!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

College Football Week Four Review

2010-09-28T21:54:00.001-05:00

There were some good games this weekend. There were also a couple of stinkers and an upset thrown in. Here's a look back at what we saw.

the Meat Life Must Sees:

Miami (FL) at Pittsburgh
Here is one of the stinkers. Pitt pretty much had no chance and couldn't get anything going. Even though Miami QB Jacory Harris still battles the INT bug (he had 2 this game), Miami's defense smothers the Panthers. TML Who to Watch For athlete Dion Lewis from Pitt has struggled through this early part of the season, only rushing for 41 yards in this game. Hurricanes storm Pitt 31-3.

Alabama at Arkansas
Game of the week right here. Arkansas builds a 20-7 lead in the middle of the fourth, Heisman hopeful and TML Who to Watch For athlete Ryan Mallett threw for 313 yards during that span, torching the vaunted Bama D. But the Crimson Tide showed why they are the defending champs with back to back INTs on Mallett and reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram pounding out 157 yards on the ground. 17 unanswered points and Bama rolls through with a 24-20 victory in Arkansas.

South Carolina at Auburn
Another barn-burner in the SEC. Auburn bottles up the spectacular SC freshman RB Marcus Lattimore to just 33 yards after averaging over 111 yards a game. Gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia puts up great numbers in building a 27-21 lead, but after two fumbles was replaced by freshman Connor Shaw in the fourth quarter who threw INTs on back to back drives. Auburn QB Cam Newton is continuing to build a name for himself as he led the charge for the Tigers with 2 passing TDs and 3 rushing TDs, the two passing to take the lead and the win. Auburn outdoes SC 35-27.

West Virginia at LSU
LSU is probably the worst looking undefeated team in the country. The Tigers pull off the win despite QB Jordan Jefferson throwing for less than 100 yards and 2 INTs. DB/Return man for LSU Patrick Peterson struck a Heisman pose in the endzone after a punt return for TD in the second quarter to give LSU a 17-0 lead. The Mountaineers made the score respectable, but their RB Noel Devine was bottled up for just 37 yards rushing. Tigers win over West Virginia 20-14.

the Meat Life If You Had The Time...:

UCLA at Texas
The upset this past weekend. Texas had no offense whatsoever, turning the ball over four times in the first half alone. Their top-ranked run defense was shredded by the Bruin Pistol-option for 290 yards. There was no time that Texas even threatened to come back, making it hard to read going into the Red River Rivalry. The Bruins give the 1997 Rout 66 a sequel, upsetting Texas 34-12.

Stanford at Notre Dame
Here is the other stinker this weekend. Notre Dame had no defense. Stanford dominates this game. They even have a player score a TD on both offense and defense in back to back series. LB/FB Owen Marecic scored a rushing TD and then returned in INT for TD just 13 seconds apart. He is one of the rare players in this day and age to play both sides of the ball. The Cardinal stomps the Irish 37-14.

Oklahoma at Cincinnati
The game was probably closer than it should have been. OU build a comfortable 24-9 lead early in the third. The Bearcats kept clawing back, tearing up the Sooners defense which now ranks in the bottom third of the FBS in rush/pass/total yards against. Cincinnati really could have won the game if not for OU safety Jonathan Nelson's first half play (TD saving tackle, forced fumble, and INT) and turnovers by Cincy WR D.J. Woods (that fumble into the endzone and then a fumble on a punt toward the end of the game). Sooners escape Cincy with a 31-29 victory.

Oregon State at Boise State
Oregon State put up another valiant effort against a non-AQ team, but too much smurf-turf trauma. Boise QB Kellen Moore was his usual self, throwing for 288 yards and 3 TDs, one of them the game-clincher. Beavers spectacular RB Jacquizz Rodgers was held down to 46 yards rushing. I guess for Boise fans here begins the countdown to see if the Broncos will make the BCS National Championship. Boise pulls it out 37-24.

There were no match-ups that I wish I had included on these lists this week. The coming weekend is setting up to be big! Here are the ones I want you to see:

Must Sees:

Oklahoma vs. Texas Saturday 2:30PM CDT

NEW ADDITION Stanford at Oregon Saturday 7:00PM CDT

Florida at Alabama Saturday 7:00PM CDT

Washington at USC Saturday 7:00PM CDT

If You Had The Time...:

NEW ADDITION Texas A&M at Oklahoma State Thursday 6:30PM CDT

Miami (FL) at Clemson Saturday 11:00 AM CDT

NEW ADDITION Wisconsin at Michigan State Saturday 2:30PM CDT

Penn State at Iowa Saturday 7:05PM CDT

Georgia at Colorado Saturday 6:00PM CDT

Enjoy the games this weekend! BOOMER SOONER!

College Football Week Three Review

2010-09-21T22:58:00.001-05:00

Alright folks, here we go again! Another great week of college ball.

the Meat Life Must Sees:

BYU at Florida State
Well, this game was short on the drama factor. Dubbed as a revenge game, there was not much revenge. The Cougars kept it close in the first half, trailing 13-10. But the Seminoles held BYU to just 39 yards in the second half. Florida State pounded the football on the ground, rushing for 278 yards. Florida State runs over the Cougars 34-10.

Nebraska at Washington
The supposed road test for Nebraska turned into a field day for the Nebraska running game. Again no drama there, so the Meat Life must sees are taking a beating. The Huskers dominated the Huskies. Burkhead, Helu, and Martinez all rushed over 100 yards, 6 TDs on the ground between the three of them. Locker had a career worst 4-20 passing and is more than likely out of the Heisman race. Cornhuskers roll over Washington 56-21.

Texas at Texas Tech
Now this one lived up to the billing. Texas took a quick 14-0 lead, but Tech scratches and claws it's way back to tie it up by half. Longhorn D stepped it up big in the second half as the Red Raiders struggled to move the ball. In the fourth quarter, Texas had a 23 play, 9:23 clock squeezing TD drive aided a pass interference penalty on third down that kept the drive going. Longhorns grind out victory over Tech 24-14.

the Meat Life If You Had The Time...:

Arkansas at Georgia
For as early as the kickoff was, this game was really good. Arkansas looked in control as they had a 24-10 lead going into the fourth. Georgia scores 14 unanswered points to tie the game late. Each exchange a short drive and punt. Arkansas has the ball with Heisman hopeful QB Ryan Mallett in command. They drive down to the Georgia 40 yard line when Mallett hits an open WR Greg Childs about 15 yards down field, Childs makes on move to fake out an defender and is gone to the endzone with 15 seconds left on the clock. Arkansas makes a statement with the road win against the Bulldogs 31-24.

Baylor at TCU
Here's a good debate...who's the better non-automatic qualifying BCS team? Boise State or TCU? TCU outslugged Oregon State a few weeks ago and then rolls over Baylor (granted they are a Big 12 cellar-dweller for quite a while). The Bears never really had a chance as the Horned Frogs imposed their will on Baylor. TCU QB Andy Dalton was 21-23 with 267 yards passing and 2 TDs while RB Ed Wesley took care of things on the ground with 165 yards rushing on 19 carries and 2 TDs. TCU rolled Baylor 45-10.

the Meat Life Misses and Wishes Named Must Sees:

Iowa at Arizona
The late night cap game was excellent. Arizona dominated the first half, jumping to a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter due to a blocked punt, interception return for TD, and kickoff return for TD. It then seemed as if they were in meltdown mode as punts and a Nick Foles INT throw get Iowa back in the game with it tied at 27-27. Foles leads a 72 yard drive to give Arizona the lead and the Mike Stoops defense holds strong as Arizona holds on to win against Iowa 34-27.

Clemson at Auburn
Auburn seems to be surviving the barn-burners as they squeak out another close victory. Clemson took a 17-0 lead as it seemed there was a rout in progress. Auburn claws back with a 21 point third quarter to gain the lead. Clemson comes back to tie the game and they go to OT. In OT Clemson holds Auburn to a field goal. It seemed Clemson tied it but a time out was called before the ball was hiked. The redo misses and Auburn slides to a 27-24 victory over Clemson.

Notre Dame at Michigan State
Man, another close game for Notre Dame again. Probably the best ending of the week. The game goes back and forth all game and goes into OT. The Spartans force the Irish to a field goal in OT. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio calls a play he calls "Little Giants," a.k.a. fake field goal where punter/holder Aaron Bates who hadn't thrown a pass since high school finds open TE Charlie Gantt wide open for the game clincher. Later Dantonio has a mild heart attack, has a procedure done to unblock an artery to the heart. He is okay and so is his cardiac-performing football team. Spartans shock Irish 34-31 in OT.

Alright, here is a preview of this weekend's must sees, along with some new additions I've added to the list:

Must See:
Miami (FL) at Pittsburgh  Thursday 6:30 PM CDT
Alabama at Arkansas  Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
NEW ADDITION  South Carolina at Auburn  Saturday 6:45 PM CDT
West Virginia at LSU  Saturday 8:00 PM CDT

If You Have The Time:
UCLA at Texas  Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
NEW ADDITION  Stanford at Notre Dame  Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
Oklahoma vs Cincinnati  Saturday 5:00 PM CDT
NEW ADDITION  Oregon State at Boise State  Saturday 7:00 PM CDT

Enjoy the football folks!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Linkin Park “A Thousand Suns,” the Meat Life Complete Review

2010-09-20T01:51:00.000-05:00

September 14, 2010 saw the release of the fourth studio album of Linkin Park entitled A Thousand Suns. The band over the course of the last decade have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide despite the ever changing struggles of the music industry. And while the first half of the decade saw a distinct and singular definition of the “Linkin Park sound,” the last two albums including Suns see a departure from that causing a divide between critics and fans alike.

Linkin Park album covers from first to latest

Next month will mark 10 years since the band Linkin Park took the rock world by storm. With the rap-rock scene of the late 1990s dying down, Linkin Park took its brand of that genre, mixed it up with more electronic and pop elements, and came out with the widely successful Hybrid Theory. Since then they have taken slow evolutionary steps to try and create a new sound for themselves. The 2007 release of Minutes to Midnight gave way to a more stripped down sound, less Korn and Nine Inch Nails and more U2.

A Thousand Suns sees the band take a step even further away from their signature sound of the early part of the last decade. Lead singer Chester Bennington billed it as a “concept album,” and that is definitely the case. The album explores the danger and paranoia of modern technology, war, and apocalyptic themes. Although there are dark themes, the album overall has a positive outlook on society’s future. The band samples several political figures’ speeches from the 1950s and 1960s, including a speech about the Vietnam War by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that give the album a very ominous feel.

As I have said probably a number of times already, this isn’t the same Linkin Park I grew with as a high school senior or a college kid. A Thousand Suns will not be for everyone. Some people may actually hate it…a lot. Critics from MTV and Artistdirect.com have actually likened it to Radiohead’s Kid A in 2000, an album I actually don’t really like. But they have a point because this album is a turning point for the band much like Kid A was a turning point for Radiohead.

For the music on the album, there is actually less actual songs on there than I would have expected. But that basically makes it more of a complete piece of work as a whole. At first listen I only looked at it in terms of individual songs (nine in total), but after listening to it once all the way through from beginning to end it makes a lot more sense as one piece of work rather than 15 individual tracks it is split up to be. There is definitely a buildup, a climax, and a conclusion. One noticeable thing will be the guitars…or lack thereof. Although the album at times still feels heavy, the band explores other sounds and instruments to get that heavy feel. There are still guitars on the album, but not in the overpowering sense of say Hybrid Theory or Meteora.

The first couple tracks start with ambient noise and a quote from physicist Robert Oppenheimer in an interview he did after his work on the atomic bomb as he quotes the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture. The line quoted includes where the album name is from. The first actual song on the album, “Burning In The Skies,” gives kind of a dance-pop feel.

There is another track of ambience and then leads into “When They Come For Me,” a hip-hop track mainly featuring second vocalist Mike Shinoda that has a heavy Middle Eastern feel with heavy drums and hums from Bennington in the background. Next comes “Robot Boy,” which sounds like something reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Another interlude buffers that song and “Waiting For The End.” That track has a real reggae-style hook from Shinoda between the sentimental verses from Bennington. “Waiting” is said to be the second single to be released.

“Blackout,” the next track, is vocally a throwback to Bennington’s old scream from LP’s past as well as the old pace of the band’s previous work. “Wretches and Kings” is another hip-hop track and probably bumps the hardest of the songs on the album. It takes a sample of a rage-against-the-machine speech from Mario Savio. That leads straight into an electronically modified and ominous quote from Martin Luther King that I referred to earlier.

“Iridescent” feels a bit like a holdover from Minutes to Midnight. Another interlude and then the lead single from the album “The Catalyst” comes on. I can understand why they picked this as the first single, a kind of transitional song to introduce the public to the new sound. “Catalyst” feels a bit like the soundtrack to a revolt and is definitely the climax of the album. The album closes with the acoustic driven “The Messenger,” probably the biggest surprise on the album.

All in all, the album is worth a couple of listens in the very least. If you were an LP fan that only liked their Hybrid days, you will be disappointed in the album. If you are looking for something different to listen to, this may be a good album for you. I would have to say that after a couple listens all the way through, I’ve grown to like the album. Not a classic, but definitely worth multiple listens. It certainly is very different from anything else coming out from popular artists right now. And I definitely recommend if you listen to it for the first time, to listen from beginning to end as one piece. It seems to work better that way, and I’m sure you can find 47 minutes out of your day to do so. One complaint I have is that it feels rather short, but so are the other LP albums, so nothing new there.

One thing that is still the same with Linkin Park is that all the songs sound very cinematic, something I've always liked about the band. Their songs all have an epic sound and feel like they would fit in well in a movie scene or two. And although it may feel like Linkin Park is still experimenting and finding that new LP sound, it’s an entertaining journey.

the Meat Life gives A Thousand Suns 7.5 out of 10.

Download these tracks from A Thousand Suns now!
“Wretches and Kings”
“Blackout”
“Iridescent”
“The Messenger”
(I’ve already told you to download “The Catalyst,” so you should already have that, haha)

themeatlife.blogspot.com

New Banner

2010-09-18T13:38:00.002-05:00

Haha! Hey guys new banner on the Meat Life, courtesy of Michael S. Mitra.

Enjoy the weekend. I'll hit you back with a thorough review of the new Linkin Park album A Thousand Suns.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

College Football Week Two Review

2010-09-15T00:16:00.001-05:00

Same deal as last week. The Must-See Games were a little bit of a letdown entertainment wise. If you were cheering for the home team though (like me cheering for Oklahoma), then the Must-See Games were your treat to watch. Here it goes again!

the Meat Life Must Sees:

Florida State at Oklahoma
In the first couple drives, this game had the makings of a classic shootout. Each team drove decisively down the field. Then, things got ugly. The young OU defense stuffed the Seminoles and QB Christian Ponder for most of the rest of the game. The Sooners and QB Landry Jones took advantage of a leaky FSU secondary, throwing for 320 yards and scoring 34 points…in the first half! They didn’t need RB DeMarco Murray to run the ball 35 times to pull this victory off. Sooners roll over FSU 47-17.

Miami (FL) at Ohio State
The Hurricanes special teams certainly kept it interesting in the first half, scoring a kickoff return and a punt return for TDs, but this was all Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes in this one. Miami QB Jacoby Harris was plagued by the Ohio State defense all day, throwing 4 INTs. Pryor did his best to keep the Heisman hype rolling leading the team in passing and rushing with 346 total yards. Buckeyes stomp Miami 36-24.

Penn State at Alabama
There was some concern with last year’s Heisman winner RB Mark Ingram still sidelined with the knee injury, but Alabama’s Trent Richardson filled in nicely for the second week in a row rushing 144 yards. This game was never close, unless you count the six minutes it was scoreless. Alabama coasts to a 24-3 victory over the Nittany Lions.

the Meat Life If You Had The Time…:

Michigan at Notre Dame
Unlike my brother’s hatred for Big Ten/Notre Dame style football, I thought this game was very entertaining and probably the most entertaining in the weekend ESPN hyped as “Monster Saturday.” Notre Dame QB Dave Crist misses most of the first half as Michigan takes a commanding 21-7 lead behind dynamic running/passing QB Denard Robinson a.k.a. "Shoelace." Crist comes back in the second half and rallies the Fighting Irish as they take the lead 24-21. It then becomes the Denard Robinson show once again, as he led a 72-yard drive down the field for the winning score. Robinson had 502 yards of total offense alone, 258 of those rushing, enough for 5^th most in a game in Michigan history. If they keep playing like this, I might have to take what I said about RichRod back. Wolverines pull out 28-24 above Notre Dame.

South Florida at Florida
This game was great in the first half. South Florida held a 7-0 lead until toward the end of the first half. Then the second half came and they imploded. Gators RB Jeff Demps takes over the game, running a career-high 139 yards and 255 all-purpose yards. South Florida just kept turning the ball over with 4 INTs throw by QB BJ Daniels (he only completed 5 passes to his team). The Gators take the game from South Florida 38-14.

Oregon at Tennessee
This was building up to be a classic. The game was delayed due to lightning in the first quarter. Tennessee was holding their own and had a tie with the visiting Ducks 13-13 at half. Then lightning struck Oregon, scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half. The Volunteers offense was shut out in the second half. Oregon RB LaMichael James had a nice game after serving a one game suspension, rushing for 134 yards. Ducks top Tennessee 48-13.

There weren’t any games I wished I had included on this list this week. Although I would say this, it was a bad time to be a ranked ACC team. Each team that was ranked lost, the worst was Virginia Tech’s choke-fest to FCS and Founding Father James Madison 21-16 (although Georgia Tech’s 28-23 loss to Kansas wasn’t pretty either, Kansas lost to FCS North Dakota State the previous week 6-3). At least Florida State and Miami got beat down by top ten teams. Out of the previous ranked teams, only Miami is still ranked in the top 25 in the AP and Coaches’ polls.

Okay kids, here are my picks for next week:

Must See:
BYU at Florida State Saturday 2:30PM CDT
Nebraska at Washington Saturday 2:30PM CDT
Texas at Texas Tech Saturday 7:00PM CDT

If you have the time…:
Arkansas at Georgia Saturday 11:00AM CDT
Baylor at TCU Saturday 3:30PM CDT

Enjoy!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

A Thousand Suns...the future of album sales?

2010-09-14T00:20:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have known me for a while, I'm a fairly avid Linkin Park fan. I'm not as obsessive as I once was late in high school or early college, but I have followed them since I discovered them in 2000 the summer before Hybrid Theory came out on to today.

One thing that they have always tried to do is adapt very quickly to technologies available. They always have had a mobile studio in which they record samples and demos for new songs. They came out with an iPhone game app where you play the levels and it unlocks live versions of songs and the final level unlocked an otherwise unreleased track called "Blackbirds."

But for the pre-order of their new album A Thousand Suns, they did some things that they have never done for a release. I don't think anyone else has done for that matter.

A couple months ago Linkin Park had announced they you could pre-order the album on their website. They had the usual packages that included merchandise like t-shirts and things and one ridiculous package that included a Linkin Park designed skateboard. But all of these packages included a free mp3 version of the album that will be released to you the night before the album is available in stores.

While the mp3 version of the album is not a new idea (they actually included the mp3 file versions of the songs on their last album Minutes to Midnight), they also give a sneak-peak of the album by releasing a couple of the tracks to you before they send you the entire album. When I pre-ordered the album, a few days later they sent me the first single "The Catalyst" in mp3 form when they first released it. Then a couple weeks ago they sent me the another mp3, this time of the song "Wretches and Kings."

At about 11:00 pm CDT on September 13, they sent me the entire album in mp3 form...a few hours before the CD comes out in stores and the mp3s are available on iTunes. (If that is a tactic to combat piracy, it didn't work. I actually got a copy of the album from one of my friends of the now renowned nomnomnompton blog about a week before the album came out.)

The release of A Thousand Suns does give an interesting look at how other artists will try to release new material. Will other artists try to release their work with little previews before they are officially released? For big name artists that are still selling strong like Lady Gaga or Jay-Z maybe not. (I pre-ordered Jimmy Eat World's new album Invented and the most they did was stream their single "My Best Theory.") But it does present an interesting attempt at changing things up.

I will wait until I give A Thousand Suns a few more listens before I review it here. Until then, keep bumpin that music.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

United We Stand? Where Our Nation Stands in the Aftermath

2010-09-11T20:22:00.002-05:00

I normally don't write about this kind of stuff on here, but I guess I've had this on my mind for a while.

Nine years ago, the worst attack on our nation’s soil took place. A lot has happened between now and then, but where do we all stand now? What ways has the United States changed? In what ways have we stayed the same?

In many ways it has been business as usual. Economic bubbles burst. Before 9/11, it was the dot-com bubble that burst. Companies like Enron were exposed for bad accounting practices, tanking and contributing to a weak economic state. Some seven years after 9/11 the housing bubble burst. Companies like AIG were exposed with bad and misleading investment into so-called “toxic” assets. So we got one thing straight, there will be some type of investment that will bubble up and burst, and there will always be big corporation types that will try to game the system to profit.

There are some negative changes that have gripped America. More and more the country seems more divided. Red states and blue states. Xenophobia. People arguing about “what is right” for America. In the aftermath of 9/11, it was “United We Stand.” Everyone had their American flags out. New York and DC shirts and hats were sported by everyone all over the country. A country captivated…ready to take on the challenges---together. But now we see everyone has to take a side. For or against the war in Afghanistan. For or against corporate bailouts. For or against health care reform. For or against immigration reform. For or against “don’t ask, don’t tell.” For or against building a mosque/community center a few blocks away from the World Trade Center site. The more issues we have to deal with, the more people seem more divided.

Also, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but the media seems to have become a news maker instead of a news source. It is WAY more opinion-driven “news” that has propagated into mainstream media to attempt to compete. Something for everyone really. If you are a conservative, tune to Fox News. A liberal? MSNBC is for you. CNN will lean liberal but they are now leaning heavily on their iReport/blog aspects online to grab the kids that like that social online aspect.

But the way news outlets are now shaped are for a different time to discuss. The main point I was trying to make was how divided we are now. Nine years after one of the most difficult, traumatic, confusing, trying events in the recent history of this country, you would think that something like that would have us on a more united front to get this country straightened out. Not that I am an expert, but I would assume the country came together pretty united when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor or when the Soviets launched Sputnik.

Maybe I’m an idealist. Or maybe I’m too naïve to realize that it’s hard to get 300 million people on the same page. I’m not saying we all should have the same opinion. I’m just saying that we all should have a more open mind. An open mind to take go out on a limb a little bit to try to get this economy back rolling the way it was in the 1990s, the way FDR tried different things during the Great Depression. An open mind to think about the things that will drive the future of the country like green technologies and a broadband internet infrastructure. Things internally that this country can focus on to get the ball rolling.

Instead we are stuck debating about what to do with someone in this country who illegally immigrated even if they are a productive member of our society. Instead we pour so much attention to the Muslim community center they are trying to build blocks away from Ground Zero, casting “Islamophobia” across the US. But why are we focused on these things when the unemployment rate is still floating around 10%? Why are we so concerned about whether or not gays can be open about their orientation when they and other American troops are still heavily deployed in Afghanistan?

I say we fix the problems instead of causing misdirection and making us afraid of immigrants, afraid of Muslims, afraid of gays. Yes, the border is important. But what is more important: deciding what to do with 10 million illegal immigrants or trying to get 10 million Americans jobs? Which is more important: finishing the job in Afghanistan or making sure that they don’t build a church near Ground Zero (and yes, a mosque is a Muslim church, NOT a terrorist factory as some people would like you to believe)?

We need a rally. A "United We Stand"-like rally going into the next decade. Otherwise famous words of Abe Lincoln may come to be.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

---------------------

I’ll stop my rant now. To all those who have lost someone in 9/11 and thereafter to protect this country, I thank you for your sacrifice. Those who are deployed in harm’s way, I thank you for your service. And to all those souls lost that fateful day, I will never forget what happened that day and how it has impacted the world I live in today.

9/11: Never Forget.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

College Football Week One Review

2010-09-07T22:56:00.001-05:00

Hey there sports fans! So I picked some games a few weeks ago that were “must see” and some to catch “if you had the time.” Well, now it’s time to see how those games turned out. After we go over those games I’ll highlight some games that weren’t on my list that ended up being epic.

the Meat Life Must Sees:

Washington at BYU
Well, Jake Locker played very well, but BYU’s QB duo of Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps help the Cougars to 10 unanswered third quarter points. BYU wins 23-17. Although close, the drama wasn’t nearly as good as some of the other matches of the weekend.

LSU vs North Carolina
I’ll have to admit, I turned this game off when LSU had a 30-10 halftime lead. But the depleted Tar Heels defense held strong in the second half, shutting out the Tigers as UNC scored 14 in the fourth. Carolina had one last drive to the six yard line with about 11 seconds left to take the win. Two passes from QB TJ Yates to TE Zack Pianalto. Two dropped balls in the endzone in a heartbreaker. LSU wins 30-24. Second most dramatic of the weekend.

Boise State vs Virginia Tech
Okay, I’m a self-proclaimed Boise hater. So when I called a ten-point Hokie victory, I was not only serious but I was hoping for the demise of all that is BSU football. But someone forgot to tell VT that there was a game going on in the first quarter. Boise State takes a 17-0 lead. Then it seems as if the Hokies wake up and start to take over the game late in the game with a 30-26 lead. Questionable play calls end a Virginia Tech drive that would have milked the clock down. Boise miraculously drives down the field and scored the final time with 1:09 to go. At this point I was yelling at my screen, but easily this finish and the back and forth game made it the highlight of the football weekend. Boise State victory 33-30.

the Meat Life If You Had the Time:

Oregon State vs TCU
Good game. Back and forth play. Dalton uses his running ability to overcome throwing 2 INTs to put TCU up 28-21. Oregon State gets the ball with a chance to fight back and score to bring it even…except the center snapped the ball over QB Ryan Katz’s head, forcing him to kick the ball out of the endzone for a safety with about four minutes left to play. TCU victory 30-21

SMU at Texas Tech
The score really make the game seem closer than it really was for most of the game. Tech never trailed and led the game 35-14 up through late in the third. The 13 straight Mustang points were attributed by stalled Red Raider drives when Coach Tuberville was doing his best Mike Leach impression, going for it on 4^th down twice on back to back drives and not converting. Texas Tech wins 35-27.

the Meat Life Misses and Wishes Named Must Sees:

Pittsburgh at Utah
What a great way to kick off the season with an O/T Thursday night thriller. Pitt trailed for much of the game but the game went back and forth in the fourth and the Panthers tie it 24-24 to force O/T. First play of overtime, Pitt’s freshman QB Tino Sunseri throws a pick. Utah drives close to the endzone and kicks the field goal to win. Utah victory 27-24.

USC at Hawaii
This game proved how big a douche bag Lane Kiffin really is. Scoring the first three TDs, the Trojans went for two all three times (they were 1-3 in converting those...he even went for two a couple other times later in the game!). Although USC never trailed, Hawaii kept up and even outgained the Trojans 588-524. The USC secondary was torched by two QBs (Hawaii’s starter Bryant Moniz was injured in the third quarter…the backup sucked but then third stringer Shane Austin lit it up). USC wins 49-36.

Outside of that, I don’t really feel like putting Villanova-Temple or Jacksonville State-Ole Miss (although, DAMN! the Rebels suck). Another great week of football is coming up! Here are the week to picks to watch that I wrote before the season. Enjoy!

Must See:

Florida State at Oklahoma Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
Miami (FL) at Ohio State Saturday 2:40 PM CDT
Penn State at Alabama Saturday 6:00 PM CDT

If you have the time…:

Michigan at Notre Dame Saturday 2:30 PM CDT
South Florida at Florida Saturday 11:20 AM CDT
Oregon at Tennessee Saturday 6:00 PM CDT

themeatlife.blogspot.com

What Is Old Is New Again

2010-08-27T00:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I ran a little behind on my summer movie viewing, so I have pushed back the summer movie review for the second week of September…because I can. So this entry will focus on music.

These days, popular music is full of samples and borrowed lines. Musical styles are even cyclical. And why not? With industry album sales constantly going down, record labels are probably pushing artists to put out something familiar sounding.

But if you haven’t noticed, it takes less time for something to be borrowed.

The best example of this is T.I.’s 2004 release “Bring ‘Em Out.” The hook is sampled from a line on Jay-Z’s “What More Can I Say,” which came out about a year before. But the line from the song was a borrowed quote from 1999 Notorious B.I.G. posthumous song “Rap Phenomenon.” Did you keep up with all that? So basically in the course of five years, one line in a song was used in three different songs by three different artists (well technically two since one was a sample).

Sometimes the sample game can span decades. The original version of this year’s Jason Derulo release “Ridin’ Solo” sampled The Verve’s 1998 hit “Bittersweet Symphony,” which in turn sampled an orchestra arrangement of The Rolling Stones “The Last Time” released in 1965. There was so much controversy and lawyering when “Bittersweet Symphony” came out that all the royalties from the song ended up going to the Rolling Stones. The legal wrangling continued. The Derulo sample of the same orchestra arrangement did not clear copyrights, and so now the song is played on radio sans the sample.

And that isn’t the first song that Derulo has sampled. His biggest hit to date, last year’s “Whatcha Say,” has a sample of the chorus of the 2005 indie hit “Hide and Seek” from Imogen Heap. The song may sound familiar because it was used in the last scene of the second season finale of The OC and then later parodied on SNL two years later in the Digital Short “Dear Sister.”

Of course, sampling has been done for years. Back when Diddy was still Puff Daddy he declared that he “take[s] hits from the 80s, but do it sound so crazy?”

Styles are even cyclical. The Killers would have probably been a good 80s band. Also songs like Metro Station’s 2008 hit “Shake It” and this year’s release from Runner Runner “So Obvious” has a real 80s vibe. Even Kanye West and Black Eyed Peas get in on the 80s. Or as pointed out a few months back, Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” sounds very reminiscent of Ace of Base’s 1994 hit “Don’t Turn Around,” much like how the guitar riff from Papa Roach’s 2000 hit “Last Resort” is much the same as the riff from “Brain Stew,” the smash from Green Day back in 1996.

It’s all good to me. Now if only they can get JNCOs back in fashion (not really).

Downloads for August:

Linkin Park’s “The Catalyst”: first single off the upcoming A Thousand Suns. It’s like if a revolt had a soundtrack that would be the song.

Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead (Starsmith Remix)”: gets stuck in your head all day.

Dorrough’s “Get Big”: first heard this a few months ago in a friend’s car. Track bumps hard!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part Thrice

2010-08-18T00:52:00.001-05:00

the Meat Five Predictions of 2010

Will Mallett win the Heisman?

Woo! This segment returns for a third straight year. There have been some excellent predictions that I have made (like OU winning three straight Big 12 titles or that there wasn’t going to be a repeat Heisman winner), while other predictions were downright wrong (the 2009 national championship would be a rematch of 2008 or that the Heisman wasn’t going to have another sophomore winner). Those are in the past, though. I’m looking toward the immediate future and I think I have these things clear in my head. So without further ado, the Meat Five Predictions of 2010.

1. Rich-Rod and D-Hawk will be fired after this season

Okay, so I’ve been predicting that Hawkins would be out of Colorado for the past three years, but you can’t argue with the 16-33 record he’s had in Boulder. If you caught the game last season versus Toledo (it was a Friday night game, so nothing else was on) then you know how embarrassing it was to watch the Buffs get run up and down the field. If you are a Big 12 team (even if you are in the North), you DO NOT get lit up 54-38 by Toledo…especially when the receivers at Toledo looked like they had Florida Gator receiver speed against the Buff D. I believe once Colorado leaves the Big 12, that D-Hawk will be forced to leave Buffaloes.

Rich Rodriguez has been at Michigan for less time, but with similar results (8-16). Think about this, his first year there was the first time since the 1960s that Michigan had lost to all three of their chief rivals (Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan State). His spread option offense may have worked in the Big East, but that style of play isn’t very conducive in Big Ten country. And now he’s under fire for alleged recruiting violations at his old job in West Virginia and his current job as well. I don’t think even an 8 win season would be enough to save his job if all these violation talks are true. The last thing Michigan would want would to be the next USC when it comes to NCAA punishment.

2. The Heisman Trophy will NOT go to a sophomore this year

Yes, I know. I’ve said this before (2008). But look at the field of potential Heisman finalists. Locker. Mallett. Pryor. Ponder. Even Jacquizz Rogers from Oregon State are all juniors and seniors. And I’m not sure the Downtown Athletic Club want to make it a habit of giving sophomores the award (the last THREE winners have been sophomores, the only sophomores in the history of the award). So unless I’m busted up by someone like Dion Lewis or LaMichael James (you damn sophomores are going to break up this prediction aren’t you?), I think my prediction is a safe one. My pony in this Heisman race = Ryan Mallett.

3. Boise State will NOT play for a national title this year

As much as the national media might want this to happen, it won’t. The Broncos are ranked in the preseason top 5 for the first time, but there will always be that ceiling that will prevent them from reaching the top 2. Boise has some gutsy scheduling this year that will help their cause if they can escape with a win against Virginia Tech on a neutral field and Oregon State at home. I don’t think they have it to win both of those games though. Unless both of those teams pull an Oregon and totally break down while playing the Broncos. Even then, poll voters are more inclined to vote a one-loss SEC or Big 12 school over an undefeated Boise State. The move to the Mountain West Conference next year will give them more legitimacy, but for now they’ll have to settle for the media darling that won’t break through the top 2.

4. The BCS National Championship Game will match up Ohio State and Alabama

Again with the chalk championship pick, I know. But I can’t picture anyone else (well besides another team in crimson, but that would be the homer in me) more in position to run the table in their respective conferences and end up in the title game. Can Bama repeat? I say yes, the Crimson Tide will be the first repeat champions in the BCS era (I don’t count USC, one of those was only an AP title and not both). Given Alabama’s defensive dominance and Ohio State’s history and lack of variety on offense in those title tilts, I’ll give Bama a 31-13 win.

5. And finally the Conference Winners:

Big East – Pittsburgh. The Panthers will take advantage of a perceived down conference.
Big Ten – Ohio State. Too much talent, especially if the Bucks finally figure out how to use Pryor.
Big 12 – Oklahoma. All the experience gained by the youth last year will pay off.
ACC – Miami. The U…is back? I think so.
SEC – Alabama. Crazy talented. Heisman winner returning. Saban D. Nuff said.
Pac-10 – Oregon. Even with Musoli gone, they are still the most complete team in Pac-10.
Mountain West – TCU. Basically their entire team is back from a one-loss season last year.
WAC – Boise State. If they make a BCS bowl, please DON’T make it against TCU again. Thanks.
Sun Belt – Troy. Trojans have dominated this league, have won 4 of last 5 years.
Conference USA – Houston. Last year they made steps, but this year they are legit.
MAC – Toledo. Central Michigan’s LeFevour graduated. Toledo’s spread O will take over MAC.

Well there you have it. It’s going to be an exciting season. I know probably three of these will be totally and utterly wrong. But hey, that’s why they play the games. Don’t agree with one or more of these predictions? Hit me up.

Enjoy the season sports fans!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Hot hot HOT Links

2010-08-12T02:14:00.000-05:00

Here are your weekly links accompanied by my commentary!

Facebook and other tech stuff

-Facebook streamlines their birthday wall posts. I actually noticed this a few days ago and was rather pleased. Took me less time to read through my feeds.

-Facebook to start a Foursquare-like geolocation feature. But can't you update your location on Facebook using Foursquare already? I don't know, I don't use Foursquare...

-Android now tops US smartphone sales. I'll admit, Google is gaining smartphone OS market share...but if you come out with a new phone every month on virtually every US carrier then you will obvious sell a lot of phones with your OS. What will be more interesting is if Apple ever decides to release a version of the iPhone on another network (like the nation's largest network Verizon...)

-Google still rules the search market share (yeah, who ever thought we would talk about a market share for searching for things) but is lagging behind the innovation of Bing (innovation and Microsoft? Really?!?).

-George Lucas drops a lawsuit against a company that built a laser that "copied" the form of a lightsaber. Get a life, George. Just because a company builds a laser doesn't mean they copied you.

-New Blackberry Torch review. Looks nice. I'm not really a Blackberry guy though.

Sports

-Since Tiger Woods has been sucking it up lately, we get a preview of the golf world post-Tiger.

-Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomes Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. I wasn't a bit Cowboys fan growing up (still not) but I have respect for Smith. Rice, however...greatest of all time!

-I neglected to include this in the last links, but my boy Sam Bradford inks a deal with the Rams. My opinion...NFL needs to do what the NBA does with rookie contracts and have them staggered so that they don't get so much of that guaranteed money right away and have to earn it. So many like Jamarcus Russell get overpaid (in his case, STEALING money) and like Chris Johnson or Darrelle Revis get massively underpaid.

-LeBron finally gives his thanks to Cleveland while Shaq signs with the Celtics. In other LeBron news, his longtime girlfriend was against going to Miami. Should have listened to your girl Bron-Bron.

-OKC Thunder national TV schedule is LOADED this year. After only two games on ESPN during the regular season, it seems that the Thunder are the NBA's "IT" young team. FOURTEEN nationally televised games! Not bad for the country's 45th largest TV market.

-ESPN has an awesome House of Pain feature counting down the Top 50 most painful outcomes (painful for some anyway).

-Stoopsie taking a tour of ESPN today. Nice.

Entertainment

-Interesting Gaga quotes. Why would men want to steal your creativity from your vagina? I think that's the last thing they would want to do with a vagina...

-Why won't Kate Gosselin just go away?

-Wyclef Jean puts in his bid to become president of Haiti. The hips don't lie...ready or not, here he comes...he'll be gone till November...okay I'm out of Wyclef lyric jokes.

Alright, I better go to bed right now...right after I watch the rest of Ferris Bueller's Day Off on AMC. G'night!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part Deuce

2010-08-03T01:17:00.003-05:00

What to Watch For

Warning: Entry is LONG! (That’s what she said.)

We are going all ESPN2 on you right now. The Deuce will tell you what to watch for each week. Think of it as the Meat Life’s viewer’s guide. I’ll give you matchups to view every week. That way if your fave team is playing Creampuff U, you will have something to entertain you that weekend while your team puts up half a hundred on that Southeastern State Tech University of one of those states out there somewhere west of the east Mississippi. There will be “must-sees” and “if you have the times” matchups. Some of the weeks later in the season are really lean on premier matches, so they’ll just have “must sees.” I’ll revisit these matchup later in the season, seeing if they were actually the ones to watch that week.

Without further ado, here they are!

Week One

Must See:
Washington at BYU Saturday 9/4 6PM CT
LSU vs North Carolina Saturday 9/4 7PM CT
Boise State vs Virginia Tech Monday 9/6 7PM CT

Jake Locker will be back at the same place where two years ago he was called for excessive celebration as he ran in for the potential tying score. The penalty pushed the extra point back, the kick was blocked, and Washington went on to an 0-12 record. While Locker will try to exercise those demons, LSU’s inconsistent offense meets North Carolina’s defense that fields a potential 8 NFL prospects. On a rare Monday night affair, Boise State will try to start their season on a high note against their marquee match of the year in Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech team.

If you have the time…:
Oregon State vs TCU Saturday 9/4 6:45PM CT
SMU at Texas Tech Sunday 9/5 2:30PM CT

Week Two

Must See:
Florida State at Oklahoma Saturday 9/11 2:30PM CT
Miami (FL) at Ohio State Saturday 9/11 2:40 CT
Penn State at Alabama Saturday 9/11 6PM CT

Perhaps Oklahoma’s toughest home test will be against the Seminoles in the new Jimbo Fisher era and Heisman hopeful QB Christian Ponder. Miami will start their pair of tough road games as they travel to the much hyped Ohio State team. And Alabama is put to the test at home against JoePa’s Nittany Lions.

If you have the time…:
Michigan at Notre Dame Saturday 9/11 2:30 PM CT
South Florida at Florida Saturday 9/11 TBA
Oregon at Tennessee Saturday 9/11 6PM CT

Week Three

Must See:
BYU at Florida State Saturday 9/18 2:30PM CT
Nebraska at Washington Saturday 9/18 2:30PM CT
Texas at Texas Tech Saturday 9/18 7PM CT

BYU hosted this matchup last year where they were throttled 54-28. This year they will look for revenge against a team in Florida State that was only 3-3 at home. Nebraska will test it’s well vaunted defense against the Locker/Sarkisian offense. The past couple of years the Texas-Texas Tech games have been filled with back and forth action and a drama-filled ending in 2008 (that Crabtree catch…I don’t think I jumped higher than that, until OU blew out Tech the following week).

If you have the time…:
Arkansas at Georgia Saturday 9/18 11AM CT
Baylor at TCU Saturday 9/18 3:30PM CT

Week Four

Must See:
Miami (FL) at Pittsburgh Thursday 9/23 6:30PM CT
West Virginia at LSU Saturday 9/25 7PM CT
Alabama at Arkansas Saturday 9/25 TBA

Miami will continue the tough road trip against old Big East foe and much talked about Pittsburgh. I don’t know why, but West Virginia visiting LSU just sounds entertaining. And probably the most intriguing match that week to me will be the National Champs visiting QB Ryan Mallett and the Razorbacks. They may have a suspect defense, but Mallett launching rockets will be something to see.

If you have the time…:
Oklahoma vs Cincinnati Saturday 9/25 TBA
UCLA at Texas Saturday 9/25 TBA

Week Five

Must See:
Oklahoma vs Texas Saturday 10/2 TBA
Florida at Alabama Saturday 10/2 TBA
Washington at USC Saturday 10/2 7PM CST

The Red River Rivalry will look to be another classic, as the last three have been decided by 10 points or less. This meeting will match two sophomore QBs in Landry Jones and Garrett Gilbert replacing two legends Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. BOOMER! SOONER! Speaking of replacing a “legend,” Florida’s John Brantley will hop in “Saint Tebow’s” spot at QB as they rematch a team they played in the last two SEC Championship games. And while on probation, USC still looks threatening even with Lane Kiffin at the helm as Washington looks to pull another upset.

If you have the time…:
Penn State at Iowa Saturday 10/2 7:05PM CST
Miami (FL) at Clemson Saturday 10/2 TBA
Georgia at Colorado Saturday 10/2 3:30PM CT

Week Six

Must See:
Arkansas vs Texas A&M Saturday 10/9 TBA
Florida State at Miami (FL) Saturday 10/9 TBA
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame Saturday 10/9 2:30PM CT

An old Southwest Conference match in Arkansas meeting A&M, this appears to be an offensive treat featuring Mallett and Jerrod Johnson (two of my Who to Watch For players). The Seminoles and Hurricanes game is always entertaining, as last year was just one of those examples. One of these teams will look to declare that their program is officially back with a victory. The Brian Kelly era in Notre Dame will have perhaps their toughest game of the year as they host the Panthers who last year held off a ferocious fourth quarter comeback by the Irish with a final score of 27-22.

If you have the time…:
LSU at Florida Saturday 10/9 TBA
Oregon State at Arizona Saturday 10/9 TBA

Week Seven

Must See:
South Florida at West Virginia Thursday 10/14 6:30PM CT
BYU at TCU Saturday 10/16 3PM CT
Texas at Nebraska Saturday 10/16 TBA

New South Florida coach Skip Holtz will look to continue the Bulls good fortune against the Mountaineers (Bulls have owned WV three of the last four matches). Look for BYU and TCU to be ranked and to have a closer game than the 38-7 whippin the Horned Frogs gave the Cougars in this Mountain West matchup. And probably the biggest rematch we in Big 12 country will probably be looking to when Texas visits Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were one controversial second away from taking down the Longhorns. And during the off-season the name-calling from both camps flew wild as the conference realignment talk was hot. One last send off to Texas before Nebraska leaves to the Big Ten?

If you have the time…:
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech Saturday 10/16 TBA
Cal at USC Saturday 10/16 2:30PM CT

Week Eight

Must See:
Notre Dame vs Navy Saturday 10/23 11AM CT
Oklahoma at Missouri Saturday 10/23 TBA
Houston at SMU Saturday 10/23 2:30PM CT

Well, the matchups start to thin out from this week on until the Thanksgiving weekend. Brian Kelly’s Irish will try to slow Navy and coach Ken Niumatalolo’s option offense that has beaten Notre Dame two of the last three years. The Oklahoma defense will be tested by Mizzou’s Blaine Gabbert, the Big 12 North’s most experienced QB. And did someone say “shoot-out?” It’ll be an old-fashioned shoot out as Houston and SMU will try to see who can score 50 first before 60 minutes is up.

Week Nine

Must See:
Missouri at Nebraska Saturday 10/30 TBA
Florida vs Georgia Saturday 10/30 2:30PM CT
Oregon at USC Saturday 10/30 7PM CT

You think Mizzou felt left out of all the Big Ten move talk when Nebraska actually is moving and the Tigers were left standing still and almost had no conference to play for? It’ll be one last hurrah between these two for the Big 12 North title if both end up toward the top of the division by this time. If Georgia gets back on track this season, this Outdoor Cocktail Party could be a big one. Even with the probation USC could still win the Pac-10 title, so this game with Oregon could be for that title.

Week Ten

Must See:
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech Thursday 11/4 6:30PM CT
Oklahoma at Texas A&M Saturday 11/6 TBA
Alabama at LSU Saturday 11/6 7PM CT

Control for the Coastal Division of the ACC could be at stake as the Paul Johnson option at GT will be in full effect while QB Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies will try to Beamer-ball it up. The Sooners toughest road test will be against A&M’s Johnson. If the Aggies are the dark-horse in the Big 12 South, they will need to put up a fight against OU. LSU coach Les Miles will possibly be on the hot seat by this matchup against the Crimson Tide.

Week Eleven

Must See:
Kansas at Nebraska Saturday 11/13 TBA
Cincinnati at West Virginia Saturday 11/13 TBA
Penn State at Ohio State Saturday 11/13 TBA

New Kansas coach and Nebraska legend Turner Gill will take on his old team for the first and probably only time since the Cornhuskers will be heading to Big Ten land. The last three Cincinnati-West Virginia games have been decided by five points or less. The two most dominate teams in the Big Ten in the last few years will get to meet to decide the conference (maybe) when the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes.

Week Twelve

Must See:
Virginia Tech at Miami (FL) Saturday 11/20 TBA
Pittsburgh at South Florida Saturday 11/20 TBA
USC at Oregon State Saturday 11/20 7PM CT

Miami was supposed to be dominant team in the division out of the two when both defected from the Big East, but Virginia Tech has been the team owning the conference (2 conference crowns and another appearance in the conference championship game). The ACC Coastal Division is up for grabs with a possible deciding game. The Big East race could be tight by the time Pittsburgh makes the trip to South Florida. Although the Bulls have had solid seasons the past 4-5 years, they seem to break down the second half of the season (2-3 in the last 5 games the last two years). USC returns to the Beavertown, a place where the Trojans have had trouble with and lost the last couple times they have been there. In a wide-open Pac-10 this year, this could be Oregon State’s opportunity to take control.

Week Thirteen

Must See:
Texas A&M at Texas Thursday 11/25 7PM CT
West Virginia at Pittsburgh Friday 11/26 TBA
Colorado at Nebraska Friday 11/26 2:30PM CT
LSU at Arkansas Saturday 11/27 TBA
Michigan at Ohio State Saturday 11/27 TBA
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State Saturday 11/27 TBA
Florida at Florida State Saturday 11/27 TBA
BYU at Utah Saturday 11/27 2:30PM CT
Notre Dame at USC Saturday 11/27 7PM CT

Thanksgiving weekend always features the rivalry spotlight. Texas A&M and Texas will try to have a sequel to the shootout they had last season. The Backyard Brawl recently has had Pitt as the underdog, but the Mountaineers could be the underdog in this matchup. The two teams leaving the Big 12 meet for perhaps the final time as Colorado visits Nebraska. SEC Western Division championship on the line or at least second place? LSU will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to decide. The Michigan-Ohio State game should be entertaining, but I’m still not convinced that Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez will be around after this year. The Bedlam Game will always be entertaining. The last time Oklahoma was in Stillwater, former OU QB Sam Bradford showed his acrobatics on the way to the Heisman Trophy. Will Florida State be able to make it a game against Florida now that Tim Tebow is gone? Will this be the last year of the Holy War, as BYU watches it’s in-state rival Utah leave for the Pac-10? And finally will Kelly bring the Irish to the promise-land and do something that Notre Dame hasn’t done in almost a decade and beat USC?

Week Fourteen

Must See:
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati Saturday 12/4 TBA
Oregon at Oregon State Saturday 12/4 TBA
SEC Championship Game Saturday 12/4 TBA
Big 12 Championship Game Saturday 12/4 TBA

How good was that Pitt-Cincy game last year? Pitt had a 31-10 lead at half and the Bearcats made a monumental comeback culminating in a missed extra point by the Panthers with 1:36 left and Cincinnati scoring with :33 seconds left. The Civil War last year was basically a de facto Pac-10 Championship game and the way the Pac-10 is this season that could be the case again. The SEC championship game could feature two new competitors this year…or it could be Florida and Alabama again for the third time in a row. And could this be the last Big 12 Championship ever? Will it be a rematch of Texas and Nebraska? Could it be the last ever (at least for a long while) Oklahoma-Nebraska game? Or can teams like Texas A&M and Missouri make it to the Cowboys Stadium jumbotron?

Week Fifteen

Must See:
Army vs Navy Saturday 12/11 1:30PM CT

One of the oldest and most tradition-filled rivalries in all of sports, the Army-Navy game was moved to its own weekend (making it the only college game on that weekend, kind of cool). Since my dad was in the Army for 22 years I grew up watching this game. Army has been on a slide the last decade against Navy, but Army coach Rich Ellerson have the Black Knights on the right track. Go Army!

In two weeks, I’ll conclude my college football preview with Part Thrice – the Meat Five Predictions for 2010. That doesn’t mean I won’t have any entries in the meantime. So look out in the next few days!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part One

2010-07-26T23:01:00.004-05:00

Who to Watch For

It’s that time of the year again folks! College football is almost here and I am excited. This will be the third year I’ll be doing a preview before the season begins. Each year it’s been bigger and bigger. For those of you reading my preview for the first time, be aware I AM NOT an expert. I’m just a very enthusiast fan how likes to keep up with football.

This preview will consist of three parts. This first part we’ll take a look at who to watch for…meaning who you need to keep up with. Some of the players I’ll profile on here will be on Heisman watch. Others will just be players who are fun to watch.

Here are ten players who are ready to dominate. It’s not quite the time to start handing them post-season awards since there is a lot of football left to be played, but they will definitely be in the hunt for them. Eyes will already be on defending Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, the junior running back from Alabama, so I did not include him on this list. The link on their name are the stat lines from last year (if applicable) courtesy of cfbstats.com. In no particular order:

LaMichael James, RB, Sophomore, Oregon

With QB Jeremiah Masoli kicked off the team, it may mean more carries. And that’s saying something in an already run-heavy spread option offensive scheme that saw James gain 1546 years rushing his freshman year.

Dion Lewis, RB, Sophomore, Pittsburgh

Probably the best rusher in the country (outgained Heisman Ingram by about 140 yards last season), Coach Dave Wannstedt will rely heavily on Lewis as they break in a new QB. Dynamic runner with a great combination of speed and power, Lewis will be a treat to watch.

Ryan Broyles, WR, Junior, Oklahoma

The most consistent performer on an under-performing offense last year, Broyles will continue to lead this receiving corp. Shifty and deadly fast, Broyles is also an accomplished kick-returner. Even with defenses keyed on him last year and missing the better part of three games, Broyles still managed 15 TD grabs.

Jared Crick, DT, Junior, Nebraska

The post-Suh era begins for this defense, as Suh’s right hand man takes the reigns as the anchor of this Bo Pelini defense. Look for Crick to disrupt the interior line of opponents, although now he will have to do it fighting more double-teams. Crick and Nebraska will look to leave the Big 12 on a high note.

Ryan Mallett, QB, Junior, Arkansas

Probably the best pro prospect at QB this year, Mallett is looking to build on his 3624 yard/30 TD passing from a season ago. Big arm in the Bobby Petrino offense, Mallett will also try to lead his team through the difficult SEC West that includes the defending national champion Alabama.

Rahim Moore, FS, Junior, UCLA

On a lackluster year for UCLA, Moore led his team in pass breakups (7) and led the country in interceptions (10). In the seemingly wide-open Pac 10 this year, Moore looks to do much of the same as UCLA will try to take advantage of the recent USC sanctions.

Terrelle Pryor, QB, Junior, Ohio State

There has always been hype around Pryor, and this season is no exception. Pryor will try to build off of his stellar Rose Bowl performance, but he will need to be more consistent passing (5-13 performance against Wisconsin won’t cut it).

Mark Herzlich, LB, Senior, Boston College

A great story here. Herzlich was ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, then diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in May 2009. The team and fans rallied around him as he was treated and was declared cancer free by October. If fully recovered, he will be a force on defense and an inspiration to all affected by cancer around the country.

Jerrod Johnson, QB, Senior, Texas A&M

The Big 12’s best returning QB. The A&M offense was running on all cylinders last season, and there is little reason to doubt this year will be the same. Johnson (3579 yards/30 TDs in 2009) will try to lead the dark horse to win the Big 12, as many perceive this year may be their best chance in a while to overtake OU and Texas. A&M’s defense must improve for any of this hype to be fulfilled.

Jake Locker, QB, Senior, Washington

We’ll see how far Locker has come as this will be his second season under Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian’s history at USC tutoring Carson Palmer and Mark Sanchez certainly point to good things for Locker, who was already proficient and well respected before his head coach’s arrival.

The second and third parts will come in the next couple of weeks. Part II? What to Watch For…the best matchups scheduled this year. Something to digest during the weeks your favorite team will be playing Creampuff University.

The countdown to college football will continue on!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Hot Links

2010-07-23T00:52:00.000-05:00

New segment!

I know I said next entry will be the Meat Life College Football Preview, so consider this kind of like a pop quiz...only less stressful. Hot Links! (Get it? Meat...Links...okay I'll stop now)

We'll start with the big dog in film right now, Inception:

-Here's a great explanation of the Five "Levels" of Inception.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS so if you haven't seen the movie yet, do NOT read these.

-The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article about the critics' reviews of the movie.

And in the world of music:

-Someone at CNN must have read the Meat Life. Haha, jk.

-Time Magazine's Newsfeed complied a list of the Top Ten Worst Summer Songs. I, a fan of countdowns, had to look at it and give my two cents. If you don't want to click on the link I'm actually going to outline it right now (I know what's the point of having an entry with links and then basically give the link away).

Here is the list in no particular order ---
Katy Perry - "California Gurls"
LFO - "Summer Girls"
Nelly - "Hot in Herre"
Bryan Adams - "Summer of '69"
Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
Fergie - "London Bridge"
Vitamin C - "Graduation (Friends Forever)"
The Knack - "My Sharona"
Sheryl Crow - "All I Wanna Do"
Jeremih - "Birthday Sex"

Okay here is my analysis about this list. First, I'm not even sure if all these even came out during the summer. Second, "Summer of '69" is an awesome song. I don't care that Adams was only ten years old back in 1969, that's not the point. Third, where the hell did Vitamin C go? I guess she was a one album wonder, with that song and "Smile" being the only relevant hits of hers. Fourth, I know that LFO song's lyrics are questionable at best, but that's what I like about pop music. It doesn't have to make sense. You think any of Oasis's or Bush's song lyrics made any sense? Damn, I just compared LFO to Oasis...I should really stop there. And my final point..."Birthday Sex?" Really? Is that what R&B/Pop has come to?

---Sidetrack---
Yes, I'll admit it. I like pop music. Not as much as I like songs with grinding rock guitars or rappers spitting their flows, but I like it nonetheless. It's a part of the culture we live in today whether it's crap or not. Crap being borrow or unoriginal...but how many original ideas are there REALLY in music? Some of it is crap, but some of that crap I like to sing along to. There is nothing more fun (or funny depending on how you look at it) than rolling down I-44 jamming out to Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance." Anyway...
---End of Sidetrack---

Sports!

-Here is the unedited version of the Nebraska Football video telling fans to "Wear Red, Be Loud, Beat Texas." That "Beat Texas" tag was later removed. As a Sooner fan I say, too bad. I would have kept it there.

-Speaking of Nebraska, here's the awesome new Dick's Sporting Goods commercial featuring none other than Ndamukong Suh.

-And touching on what I wrote about a couple weeks ago, apparently the ESPN Ombudsman thinks his network was over the line with "The Decision" broadcast.

-And look who the richest athletes are.

And finally, tech stuff:

-I guess Steve Jobs is giving iPhone 4 users free cases (for a limited time). Should I get my wife one for our anniversary then?

-If Jobs wasn't fed up already, I wonder how he felt when a Microsoft exec called iPhone 4 "Apple's Vista."

-Happy 500 (million users) Facebook! I remember in the fall of 2005 when a girl in one of my classes asked me "hey, can you join this thing and be my friend on it?" Coming fresh off of the Friendster craze, I was reluctant to join one of these new-fangled social networks. But I thought, hey it's college. So I responded "sure, what's it called?" "thefacebook.com. It's going to be cool." Little did I know in less than five years it would be the most visited site in the world.

-Oh, and for you 80s kids, check this one out.

Aight folks, see you next entry!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Meat at the Movies: Inception Review

2010-07-19T23:45:00.000-05:00

Summer movies. Back in the day, I used to be at the theaters every weekend for opening night. Harkin Cinemas in Bricktown used to be my second summer home. These days I catch about two or three films at the actual theater, while catching up with some of the others later. This year so far I have seen Toy Story 3 and Inception. I’ll probably post my review for Toy Story 3 in a couple weeks. Today I’ll cover Inception. And don’t worry, this is a SPOILER FREE ZONE.

Two years after the successful The Dark Knight Batman sequel is released, director Christopher Nolan follows up with the highly anticipated Inception. Fans of Nolan outside of the rebooted Batman series will recognize the skill and style of Nolan, with mind-bender and discussion-inducing films like Memento and The Prestige. And for those who enjoyed those flix, Inception is in that sort of vein as well.

Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb, the leader of a team of “extractors,” thieves-for-hire who steal ideas from people’s minds when they are in a dream-state. Cobb and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) get hired by an energy corporate head named Saito (Ken Watanabe). This time instead of taking an idea, Saito wants Cobb to plant an idea into a competitor’s head, a process called inception (thus the name of the movie, haha). The energy competitor, Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy) will get taken on a wild ride of deception while Cobb and his team try to plant the idea of splitting up Fischer’s father’s company.

But before Cobb can get started on Fischer, he recruits his team to construct and deploy this dream world. He brings along Eames (Tom Hardy), a long-time “counterfitter” with the ability to appear as someone else in these dream constructs. Yusuf (Dileep Rao), an underground chemist, is taken in order to put Fischer in a prolonged sleep-state. The final recruit, Ariadne (Ellen Page) is drafted to be the “architect,” someone who can create whole levels of the dream environment. Some of the construct is developed as a labyrinth for people who populate the dream world, or “projections,” who end up in some cases as protectors of the subject’s self-conscious. Cobb has problems dealing with a projection of his own while the team is inside Fischer’s subconscious, his dead wife Mal (Marion Cotillard).

Still keeping up? It seems a bit complicated, and reading all of that beforehand can be a little intimidating.

But while this runs smarter than your average summer blockbuster, I found Inception pretty easy to follow with the way Nolan spends his time explaining the background and then executing the story. The best part of the movie is the layers of the dream worlds they operate in. At one point some characters are in a fourth level of the dreamscape (don’t worry, not a spoiler…and if you want to know what I meant by fourth level, I mean a dream in a dream in a dream inside another dream…and yes it is crazy, in a good way). The special effects are typical Nolan, fantastic enough to keep you engaged, but realistic enough for you to believe plausible. CG background fit in seamlessly with the live-action. The action was actually a plus, although nothing really groundbreaking there. But then again the action was never really meant to be. And while you may read from some critics that it lacks emotion, I found enough in the story that made me feel attached at least to Cobb and Fischer’s characters (I say that and I'm not even a real big fan of DiCaprio's "auto-pilot" acting style).

I have to say that Inception is my favorite movie of the year so far. I will say this, it is definitely not your typical popcorn summer movie. Think of The Matrix meets Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Yeah, don’t expect to go to the theater and turn off your mind. This film is probably not for everyone. Like many Nolan films, this requires multiple viewings. I remember watching The Prestige for the first time and loving it, but appreciating it more on the second and third times I viewed it to catch the subtle things throughout the film. I’ve only seen this movie once, but I imagine it’ll be much the same. And who knows, after another view or two we’ll see if I’ll have to change my rating. I will definitely own the BluRay when this one comes out. If you are interested, see this in the theater.

the Meat Life rating: 8.5/10

In August, I’ll have the Meat Life Summer Movies Review, looking back at flix like Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2, the big hits, the disappointments, and everything in between.

Next entry I will have to focus my attention to college football. Yes, my friends, it’s the third annual Meat Life College Football Preview!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Where Did The Record Album Go?

2010-07-14T01:26:00.002-05:00

Remember the first CD you ever bought was? I’m not talking about the first CD you had as a hand-me-down or you received as a gift. I’m talking about you saved your allowance up and bought it yourself. Don’t laugh, but for me it was Hootie & the Blowfish’s second album “Fairweather Johnson.” It was released in 1996 and I used birthday money to buy it and play it on a boom box stereo I got as a birthday gift. It sold only three million copies and was sworn off as a commercial failure (Hootie’s debut album to date has sold 19 million).

Fast forward to 2010, fourteen years later and artists would kill to see three million albums, hell, they would give their right kidney for one million. The best-selling album last year was Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” selling a little more than 3.2 million copies for the year, about the same amount as Hootie’s “Fairweather” ended up selling to date. The industry has changed so dramatically that in the last fourteen years that in 2009 there were only 12 albums that sold over a million copies. In 1996, the best-selling album was Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.” It sold 16 million copies by itself, outselling the top seven albums on the Billboard Year End list for 2009.

So what happened?

Well, a few things. The first is the most obvious and the most debated: file sharing. In 1999, Napster burst onto the scene and changed the music industry forever. It was the first popular peer-to-peer file sharing program making it easy for people to look up and download songs in mp3 format. Although Napster was forced to shut down in July 2001, the file sharing continued with other programs and means. The music industry reacted to Napster and other file sharing culprits in witch-hunt fashion, taking on not only companies and organizations that create and proliferate file sharing programs but individuals as well. Remember the RIAA trying to charge a 12 year old kid with piracy? It was some story like that, I forget the details and I don’t know what to put into Google to look that up.

Basically people got a taste of free music that didn’t take any work. Kind of like taping a song off of the radio, only having access to the artist’s whole CD library and every band they have ever toured with and will tour with while doing so. And once someone gets all that music free, it’s hard to stop wanting more free music.

Then the iPod/iTunes came along. Since the mp3 became the music file standard, it needed a player to replace a Walkman tape player or a portable CD player. Both debuting in 2001, over the course of the first half of the decade, the iPod took over. And iTunes did solve the problem of how to make money off of the mp3, but the mp3 world made it easier for the consumer to pick and choose songs they liked. They were no longer forced to buy a complete album when they just wanted the single. With the ease of use and the popularization of the iPod and iTunes, it became the biggest music distributor in the country. Apple passed WalMart for that title in April 2008 and has never looked back since.

So we covered file sharing and the freedom of the mp3. Another reason for the sales decline despite the success of iTunes has been the choices consumers have now to gather their musical content. Satellite radio, internet/streaming audio, and video sites like YouTube have given all of us a way to access music. No longer do people wait till it comes out on commercial radio or the video is played on MTV before they know what is out. And since at least two out of three of those are usually free, someone will be able to listen quickly and decide if it is a song they like and want to own. In the case of streaming audio, sites like Pandora let you pick what style you want to listen to based on an artist name or song title. Their formula will churn out like-sounding songs. There are others like Yahoo! Music or Slacker Radio categorize everything by genre and you can listen from there. And best of all, you can enjoy your favorite songs and artists without paying (unless you go with a premium version of those services or if you listen to subscription based Sirius/XM Radio).

And then the final and maybe most telling situation would be that music just isn’t what it used to be. I was at Adrian’s house for a cook out for my brother and some of us were playing Guitar Hero World Tour. I was singing Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” when Joey Betts made a great point. He said that fifteen years from now, kids won’t have songs like this from this time period to play on a game. He used this example “yeah, a got that Eminem track! Yeah! Let’s play that!” Although I do like Eminem, he does have a point. There is not a real universally loved rock song to play along to from this era. Or maybe that isn’t the best example.

The point is that music isn’t something one goes on a tear buying anymore, especially albums. Artists put out albums more or less to just push something to support a couple of singles. Some artists like T-Pain have now vowed to stop releasing whole albums, and with good reason. I mean unless you are an artist like Jay-Z/Kanye West/Eminem/Lil Wayne/Drake/Beyonce/Taylor Swift/… you aren’t going to push a million copies of your record no matter how much promotion or public appearances you make.

So if you are a record exec or an industry insider, what do you do at this point? Where do you go from here? The industry was obviously really late on reacting to the file sharing trend and waited until Apple popularized the iPod in order to get any stake in it. One thing they have to do to get any semblance of the industry they had at the peak of the compact disc of the mid-1990s is really capitalize on the different times of formats and forums people get their music from now. But now the real questions they have to ask: is it too late to save the album? The music industry?

-----July theMeatLife Download: Neon Trees - "Animal"-----

the Meat Life

LeBron's "Decision," Did ESPN Get It Right?

2010-07-09T00:23:00.003-05:00

Okay, so now the LeBron James sweepstakes is finally over. James will join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach to try to become the new Celtics and bring another championship to Miami. Many will ask a lot of other questions like: How will the players actually play together? Who will take the last second shot to win the game? How will the Heat build around the New Big Three with limited cap space? But the questions that I want to ask is, did ESPN do it right?

The Worldwide Leader in Sports held an hour-long special called “The Decision” for James to announce his big move. According to the SI article by Richard Deitsch, LeBron’s marketing folks approached ESPN holding such an event, picked the advertisers, and made the event’s ad revenue go to Boys and Girls Club of America. Sounds like a novel proposition, to basically have a reality show set up to pay a charity. But Deitsch brings up a good point in the article, does ESPN lose journalistic integrity in this type of forum?

I watched “The Decision” to see for myself, but not live because I had to work. So I fired up the DVR when I got home. I would have to say that the coverage felt more like the pre-game and post-game coverage than a league-bending event. Since Stephen A. Smith “broke” the news earlier in the week and ESPN’s own Chris Broussard later confirmed reports that James was headed to Miami earlier in the day, the drama really was taken away from the event. I’m not sure what LeBron’s people were looking for when they pitched this, as I was kind of bored by the end of the “event.” Seeing a Cleveland fan’s burning LeBron jersey was funny to see though (not funny for the fan, but the fact that James caused people to burn his stuff).

The coverage itself though, seemed fair. An average ESPN non-sporting event coverage. It was like watching NBA Fastbreak, only it was all LeBron. Jim Gray’s initial interview was what I expected and I like Mike Wilbon’s follow-up with LeBron after the announcement. But did it really need to be an hour-long special? The announcement itself and the interviews were probably enough to fill a 30-minute program (the “pre-game” part of the show with Stuart Scott tossing conversation around with Wilbon and Jon Berry was about 28 minutes with commercials).

So as far as ESPN is concerned, “The Decision” didn’t hurt them. The journalism, although not in a conventional setting, was the usual ESPN fare – a decent mix of fact and interviewing and then follow-up opinion from their analysts. I didn't feel that ESPN compromised itself by having the event brokered by James's people.

“The Decision” does hurt James. His ego seems to have outgrown Cleveland and demanded the attention of not only ESPN but also America’s basketball-viewing public. And although this is a unique situation that no other superstar athlete has gone through before, I don’t think you would see a Magic Johnson or a Michael Jordan having his marketing people contact ESPN to put together an hour special for something that’s not related to playing an actual game or getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Maybe I’m old school, but I would have preferred just an update on Sportscenter. Or maybe in this new communication age, he could have done what Kevin Durant did earlier this week and just post about it on his brand-new Twitter account. Of course I say this but I helped feed that ego of LeBron's by DVR-ing the program.

In any event, good luck to James and the New Big Three in Miami. Though you lost a city that loved you so, you just gained a lot more Heat fans around the country.

the Meat Life

the Meat Life: a Re-introduction

2010-07-03T23:42:00.001-05:00

Let’s start again. I’m Chris and this is a little blog known as the Meat Life. I’m a 27 year old married man living outside of Oklahoma City with my wife and two kids. Before this part of my life, the Meat Life probably would have consisted of going to class and some pretty sick house parties. Now I’ve settled down quite a bit. the Meat Life now consists of going to work and chilling out with the family. But between those days and now, I’ve always liked three things: electronics, entertainment, and sports. And that’s basically what this blog is all about.

--Sidetrack--
For those of you who are wondering, why the Meat Life? Well, growing up as a little kid, I always longed for a nickname. For years I tried to make things stick (CJ, DJ…don’t ask me why on that one, C-Money, the list goes on). It wasn’t until I played inline hockey in high school that a name that someone else gave me came along and stuck. Meat. I guess Mitra was too long for someone to yell from the bench, and someone yelled Meat. That name did stay dormant for a bit after I stopped playing organized hockey. Then when I joined a fraternity in college the name reemerged and stuck for good.
–Back on main-track--

Before I was on a couple of other blogging sites. Open Diary from 2000-2002 in pretty much the infancy of the blog craze. I forget what my tag was, but since it was my senior year of high school and the freshman year of college it probably wasn’t all that important. Then from the latter half of 2002 on thru 2006 I was HopelessHero on Xanga. That pretty much cronicled the college life that I previously had. Pics of parties, logging for votes on whether or not to keep my goatie, stuff like that. With that blog I did dive a little bit into the things I liked. To countdown my 21^st birthday, I went basically made 21 countdowns over my favorite things. Songs of the 90s. Best albums since I’ve been alive. Best movies of the 90s. Best trilogies/movie series. Greatest sports moments. Basically a precursor to what I want to do with this blog.

After having my first child, the HopelessHero tag didn’t really fit me anymore. Talking a couple of years later with my brother, Mike, he suggested I should start blogging again. This time around I wanted to make it more focused. Less on my day-to-day life and more on the stuff I was interested in. Thus started the Meat Life.

So for 2008 and much of 2009, that’s what I did. There was no real structure (look back at the previous entries, I averaged about an entry per month if that). I just wrote whatever. Then in September last year until now, I took a hiatus. My second child was born! A couple months ago I thought of going back to blogging again. This time a more structured attack.

Here is the plan as it were: three entries a month. One for each category – entertainment (and by entertainment I mean music, movies, and TV), electronics (TVs, cell phones, games, computers, that sort of thing), and sports (favorite moments, impact on the larger society, all opinions). That’s the goal, anyway (I do have a family to feed, haha!). Since this entry is more of a prologue than anything, I won’t count this one as one of those entries per month. In the future I’ll try to have a guest writer for a second opinion. Writing stuff like this has been sort of a thing of mine for quite some time (you guys from the old school, remember “CT 40?”) so it’s only right that I get this going again.

Before I let you go on this Independence Day Weekend, I’ll leave you with a link. A couple weeks ago there was a glorious moment. In spite of all the turmoil going on around the country with the BP environmental fiasco, the economy, wars overseas, and the country divided politically, American sports fans were united by one single moment of euphoria. And although they got eliminated a few days later, it still remains as arguable the best sports moment so far this year.
Landon Donovan Goal

Have a great Independence Day! USA!

See you guys online!

the Meat Life

RELAUNCH

2010-06-03T02:16:00.000-05:00

---07.04.10---

MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s Continued

2009-08-23T21:59:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-10T23:00:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-28T23:06:00.002-05:00

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

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

2009-07-11T00:02:00.015-05:00

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

2009-07-07T19:43:00.004-05:00

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!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

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

2009-05-21T22:07:00.004-05:00

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!

themeatlife.blogspot.com

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

2009-04-28T20:06:00.002-05:00

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.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

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

2009-04-18T00:40:00.002-05:00

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

2009-04-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

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.

themeatlife.blogspot.com

Twitter? / More Meat Tracks of the Decade

2009-04-07T21:55:00.002-05:00

themeatlife.blogspot.com

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.

---------------

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

2009-04-06T17:53:00.005-05:00

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.

-----------------

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.

----------------

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

2009-03-10T19:17:00.009-05:00

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!

College Football Review

2008-12-14T22:51:00.005-06:00

Alright, well we've come to the end of the regular season and the break before the bowl season starts. A good way to review the season is to look back at my predictions from before the season began and see how I did. I called my season preview The Meatrodomus Five Fortune-Telling Truths of the 2008 Season. We'll see how good of fortune I will have.

"1. OU will win its third Big 12 Championship in a row. Unprecedented in the conference, but I just don't see anyone taking down Oklahoma enough to derail them from getting the conference. I believe that the Red River Rivalry will again decide who goes out of the South Division, and I don't think Texas's defense has matured enough to stop the potent OU offense. There is a lot of hype around up-and-coming programs like Missouri or even Texas Tech, but it is a different story for Tech who has not beaten OU in Norman since 1996. Missouri does have a chance to remain undefeated leading up to the Big 12 Championship, but I don't believe their defense will be enough to stop arguable the most balanced offense in college football. I think Nebraska will make a run at the North title this year as bold as a prediction that may seem, but will not be able to overcome Missouri. Kansas will slide a little this year although still making the Kansas-Mizzou game something special again like last year."

CORRECT! OU did end up winning the conference and got to the conference game in a controversial THREE-WAY TIE (more on that later) in the South division and got into the game via the highest BCS ranking the week before the conference game. Mizzou did end up winning the North but was very disappointing to most expectations people had this year. They were actually tied with Nebraska for the division lead but held the tiebreaker since they won against Nebraska. The Kansas-Mizzou game was a very special game this year with Kansas winning on a last second TD pass from Reesing to Meyer in a snowy and fridged Kansas City field.

2. The Heisman Trophy will not go to a sophomore again this year. Sorry folks, unless Sam Bradford or DeMarco Murray break a number of OU or NCAA records this year, I don't see either one of them getting the Heisman. Now, that's not saying either one won't get invited. I do think that Bradford has the greater chance of getting the nod to go to NYC, but I don't see him winning it this year. The sophomore with the best chance to win the Heisman would have to be Knowshon Moreno of Georgia, but even then he would have to have a killer year. My frontrunner is Chris "Beanie" Wells of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

WRONG! Technically I would consider myself right since I said that Bradford would have to be breaking records to get a Heisman, but I couldn't have been more wrong with my statement in bold. Slingin' Sam became the second sophomore to win the Heisman, edging out Texas QB Colt McCoy and '07 winner Florida QB Tim Tebow. Beanie Wells was injured early and taken out of the hunt after a disappointing performance against Southern Cal. Ohio State itself was considered a disappointment.

3. The BCS National Championship Game will be Ohio State vs. Oklahoma. That's right, it'll be storybook. The two teams seeking BCS redemption with their recent disappointments will face off in the championship game. Now, it is a tall order and I do believe both of these teams will not be undefeated going into the game. The Buckeyes will have to defeat an always solid USC team (which I think this will not be the team they will lose to) and Oklahoma is part of the Big 12 South so it goes without saying that there will be a test. My top 5 teams going into the season right now in no particular order is Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, and Florida. Those teams would have the best chance to make it but I think it'll be Bucks and Sooners in the finale in a close one. The Meat Life Prediction: Oklahoma 27-20. It'll be redemption time for the Sooners and Stoops will finally get his second national title as a head coach.

WRONG! I'm glad I got the OU part right, but like the previous prediction I couldn't have been more wrong about the Buckeyes. Ohio State dropped the senior starting QB Boeckman in favor of frosh-mega-hype QB Terrelle Pryor after the USC loss. Out of my initial top five, only Oklahoma and Florida have lived up to the hype by clinching their spots in the BCS Championship game. Georgia was a mega disappointment and USC, although has a real legit defense, the loss to Oregon State and the fact that the Pac10 was down this year did not help their case at all. OU still has chance at redemption, and it seems like that's been the theme all year.

4. Conference Winners:

Big East: South Florida. Pieces are in place and West Virginia will fall just short.

WRONG! Cincinnati wins overcoming key injuries at QB position to get to an 11-2 record

Big Ten: Ohio State. Goes without saying, although I do think they will lose to Wisconsin on the road.

WRONG! Penn State ran the table beating Ohio State and was a win away from the title game.

Big 12: Oklahoma. See #1

CORRECT!

Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson. Personnel looks solid although look for Wake Forest to make a run again.

WRONG! Wrong wrong wrong. Virginia Tech wins another ACC title and Clemson fires Bowden.

Southeastern Conference: Georgia. They will probably be a 2-loss champ like LSU last season.

WRONG! Georgia big disappointment, Tebow wills Florida to win the SEC after the Ole Miss loss.

Pacific 10: USC. As much as I hate them...Oregon would have made a run if QB Nate Costa didn't get injured.

CORRECT! It was close, Oregon State was a win away from a Pac10 title but Oregon spoiled it.

Mountain West: BYU. BCS Buster? Has the offense for it.

WRONG! Almost right, the best non-BCS conference this year has undefeated Utah as champ.

Western Athletic Conference: Fresno State. Other potential BCS Buster.

WRONG! Fresno finished fifth, Boise State remained undefeated and wins another WAC title.

Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic. Go FAU! Beat those Longhorns! HAHAH

WRONG! Troy wins

Conference USA: Tulsa. New era without QB Paul Smith, but still loaded.

WRONG! Tulsa made it to the C-USA championship but lost to early season darlings E. Carolina

Mid-America Conference: Central Michigan. QB Dan Lefevour the real deal.

WRONG! Turner Gill's Buffalo team wins over previously unbeaten Ball State in MAC title game.

5. No team will go undefeated this season. Now, this prediction may be less plausible. And being an Oklahoma fan, I think out of my top 5 OU has the best chance to go undefeated. But in the aftermath of last season it is hard to believe that the rollercoaster ride college football was would change. Then again, we could go in with 3 or 4 teams undefeated and everyone in the press calling for a playoff. Who knows. I just don't think anyone will come out unblemished.

CORRECT! Okay, when it comes to BCS conference teams I am correct. Utah and Boise State are still undefeated going into the bowl season with a difficult task at hand. Utah faces Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, while Boise faces a tough TCU team in the Poinsettia Bowl.

So I didn't do so well in my predictions. I guess that's how it goes. I will say this, in the Big 12 South it was an unbelieveable season.

And now comes my rant.

It seemed like every weekend during conference play there was a marquee matchup and the drama ended in a THREE-WAY TIE for the division lead at the end of the regular season. I capitalize this statement because most people in Texas and in the media seem to forget that there were three teams tied in the lead: OU, Texas, and Texas Tech. Each with 11-1 records, each 7-1 in the conference, each losing one game to each other. OU lost to Texas 45-35. Texas lost to Texas Tech 39-33. Texas Tech lost to OU 65-21.

Tech was automatically dismissed out of the conversation since it was dominated by OU, which is unfair to both Tech and OU. How should Tech be forgotten when they still beat a then-#1 ranked Texas team? And how should OU be penalized for blowing out the then-#2 team in the country. Imagine if OU had only won by about 7 or 10 points. Would that make Tech more relevant and less forgotten?

All I'm trying to say is there was a THREE-WAY TIE, not a two-way tie between Texas and OU like the media or Texas fans would make you think. I find it so annoying to see plans fly over OU games and Texas fans with "45-35" signs. If you didn't lose to Tech, you wouldn't have to whine and complain to try to get BCS points from voters.

If you take that same "head-to-head" argument with Texas and Tech, then Tech deserves to be in a BCS bowl more than Texas does since Tech beat Texas 39-33. I don't think Texas would like that, would they. But that argument never came about because Texas is Texas and Tech is Tech. Reputation goes a long way with these bowl selections. If there were a playoff, Tech wouldn't feel so jobbed right now.

Speaking of playoffs, it's about that time of year again for my brother-in-law and I to have our EA Sports NCAA Football playoff. That's right, we are making our own bracket and playing it out to see who would win. More details to come later. Enjoy the bowl games and BOOMER SOONER!

Jed and Germaine are ready for the bowl season. Are you?

A Quiet End of an Era

2008-11-16T22:16:00.002-06:00

For some of you there was a time when MTV meant Music Television. For me I caught the tail end of Music Television and the beginning of what MTV is today...lame reality TV shows.

But in that tail end of Music Television after the first few seasons of the "original" reality show The Real World and right before the explosion of reality TV both on this network and on primetime network television, there was a sort of music renaissance. MTV had just debuted their Time Square studios and were juggling around newer shows in their line-up.

When they debuted the new studio they also premiered their new afternoon show MTV Live hosted by Ananda Lewis, Carson Daly, and a random ass British guy named Toby Amies. Occasionally they would have rock music guru Matt Pinfield on as well. And then their primetime consisted of 12 Angry Viewers where they would debut new videos and have fans talk about the vids, Say What? where popular videos were played with the song's lyrics scrolling on the bottom of the screen, and a little show called Total Request where fans would call in during the day and vote on the most popular videos.

That line-up worked for some time and built both popularity and viewership, particularly in MTV Live and later on at night Total Request. The popularity culminated into the combination of the two: Total Request Live. Debuting in September 1998, Total Request Live or TRL as dubbed by Carson Daly, the show's first and primary host until 2003, played the 10 most popular videos of the day as voted by fans. It also played as another way for musicians and movie stars to promote their latest projects.

With the combination of the rising popularity of pop and boy band groups, TRL took off. For the next 5 years, TRL reached it's peak in popularity, becoming both a cultural phenomenon and an icon in and of itself. In the early years, it was the ultimate avenue for new music, and not just the pop that is normally associated with the show. All genres of music were pretty much scattered in. I remember hearing Korn and Limp Bizkit being played alongside Eminem and Britney Spears. The first time I heard "Stellar" by Incubus or "Last Resort" by Papa Roach was on TRL.

I'm not quite sure what happened after Carson Daly left, for like Carson and some of the earlier viewers, I grew up and moved on. But I can guess that the popularity of the show outside of the stars that appear on the show and the host dwindled as more and more new avenues on the internet became available for new music and videos to come out and be shared. As MySpace and YouTube gained popularity to see not just new artists but established artists, MTV again started moving away from music.

Which brings us back to my title. A quiet end of an era.

Tonight was the finale episode of Total Request Live. I just found out about it by chance, my wife still watches a couple of shows on MTV (yep, all of them reality shows). I totally forgot that TRL was still even on. At first I was kind of upset. Even though I had stopped watching the show years ago, it still brought me back to those first few years when it was the flagship of MTV and they stopped Times Square traffic for episodes.

The more and more I thought about it though, the more I realized that it had been quite some time since TRL had even had any relavence. Although all of us old schoolers complain about MTV not playing videos anymore, it's no surprise they don't play any music anymore. The current generation of youth no longer needs a television station that plays music videos. They get them online now. And now instead of new artists debuting on TV they can generate a lot of buzz online as well. MTV moved back toward reality shows as a business move to preserve the company. If no one is watching the network for videos, they had to do something.

And so the finale...although there were a lot of iconic celebs that appeared and performed on the finale and there was a crowd in Times Square, it wasn't the same. They did bring Carson Daly back, but you would think a show like that and being on for that long (ten years is a long time on a network like MTV) there would be more fanfare. But I guess that is what happens when the world changes around you.

I think TRL was on a bit longer than it should have been, which is kind of sad. And so it ends. I guess it is fitting, especially since the first few artist featured in the first few years are now in their late 20s and early 30s. Some like Britney and Christina have since been married and have kids (and in Britney's case have come full circle being divorced, mentally breaking down, and then mounting a career comeback). And some have even disappeared into obscurity (if anyone watched the finale, did you notice that Fred Durst was noticibly absent from all this? I think he's a "film director" now).

So here is my quiet goodbye...thanks TRL. In the pre-Web 2.0 days, it was the ultimate way for music fans to vote on their favorite artists and discover new music coming out. For old schoolers like me, it was an icon that I'm thankful I got to witness and watch and appreciate. I'm sure a program like it will come out eventually. I mean, hell, they first compared TRL to American Bandstand and Carson Daly to Dick Clark (I think Carson still hosts New Years on NBC, so his career is sort of paralleling except for the fact that he dropped of the face of the planet doing his late night show).

So long TRL. Thanks for the memories.

The Meat Life's Ultimate Christmas Wishlist

2008-11-08T10:43:00.004-06:00

Well, it seems like the Christmas shopping season starts earlier and earlier every year. I think last week I saw the first serious Christmas commercial come out. While I think it's ridiculous, I also kind of like it. Most of my list this year is movies and video games. Later on I will have a Meat Ballers List of Items That Are Awesome for those items I will probably be saving up for once I get a house. But for now here is the Meat Life's Ultimate Christmas Wishlist:

Lost Season 4 ($36.99 on Amazon)

Complexity, relationships, and deep human themes drive this show. One of my favorites since I bought the first season by chance and now with the conclusion of the show coming up in less than two years we are finally starting to see the full picture. In this season we find out how some get off the island and some end up stuck on the island. Although the first season is probably the best of the entire show, season 4 shows that this show is still solid.

Seinfeld Seasons 4-9 (Between $35.99-$38.99 on Amazon)

I had gotten the first three seasons for Christmas some years ago but have not gotten any of the other seasons since, out of just outright forgetfulness. Awesome show with iconic episodes and characters like the Contest and the Soup Nazi. Any one of these could continue building my collection and even if I got one it would be awesome.

The Dark Knight ($21.49 on Amazon for 2-Disc Edition)

The most anticipated DVD/BluRay release of the Christmas season, and with good reason. This film was phenominal, transending what it is to be a comic book movie. Standing on its own it makes for a tense and gripping crime drama, the heroes and villains just happened to be dressed up in disguises. Probably the best film I've seen this decade.

Knight Rider Seasons 2-3 (Season 2 - $22.99, Season 3 - $37.99 on Amazon)

I've already gotten the first and last season of this iconic 80s classic show. The coolest car and probably the most fun action series back in the day. Seasons 2 and 3 featured some of the showdowns with KITT and KARR. May seem cheesy nowadays (even the update series on NBC has taken a slightly different approach) but still awesome.

The Indiana Jones Complete Adventure Collection ($59.99 on Amazon)

Growing up watching the first three, I loved the action and the mystique. Spielberg and Lucas make a good creative team. I have yet to see the fourth and latest installment, and even if it doesn't live up to the original trilogy I still wouldn't mind owning it if I owned the other three.

EASports NHL09 (XBox 360 version, $56.99 on Amazon)

Winner of 10 awards for best sports video game, the NHL series has lept to greatness with the skill stick. The new version has improvements on the defensive side of the ice and a playable version of NHL94.

Wanted (Single Disc $16.99 on Amazon)

Action action action is what I was told to expect, another movie I haven't gotten a chance to see, but I'm sure I probably would have liked.

Tropic Thunder (Unrated Director's Cut $22.99 on Amazon)

The controversial action-comedy featuring a bald Tom Cruise, a black Robert Downey Jr and a two members of the "frat pack" in Ben Stiller and Jack Black, yet another I haven't seen but probably would enjoy.

Pineapple Express (2-Disc Unrated Edition $22.99 on Amazon)

A stoner-action-comedy starring an actor on fire right now in Seth Rogen. Rogen prospers in the popular raunch comedies that have come out as of late. And yes, another movie I have yet to see.

Ninja Gaiden II (XBox 360 edition, $36.99 on Amazon)

Playing the original and the demo of this version, this game is awesome. The gameplay and graphics are great, that and the price is down now that it has been out for a while.

Rock Band Drum Pad Silencers ($19.99 on Amazon)

Yeah, it's kind of annoying if you are playing the game and all you can hear is the drum sticks banging against that drum pad. My questions is why couldn't these things be built into the drum when they sell it to you?

Harold and Kumar: Escape From Gauntanamo Bay (2-Disc Unrated, $22.99 on Amazon)

And we end with a movie that I have already seen and just not bought yet. Another stoner-comedy continuing where the White Castle movie left off. Very awesome. Very hilarious. Almost as good as the first.

So there you have it, the Meat Life's Ultimate Christmas Wishlist!

Coming soon, the Meat Baller List of Items That Are Awesome

Blog

2008-10-19T23:18:00.002-05:00

Yes, so my prediction was a bit off. At least OU is #4.

But this is but a mere update, a bulletin to let you know that I will have a huge entry entered in the next couple weeks to cover my recent honeymoon trip to Manhattan. Yes, the Meat Life in Manhattan! And I'll have a couple of other things I'll touch on like the Meat Life Ultimate Christmas Wishlist (it's almost that time of the year again) and a look back at what I would like to call the Meat Life Anthems.

But more on all that later...

OU - Texas

2008-10-10T21:43:00.003-05:00

The biggest game of the season so far features a matchup in Dallas. #1 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas at the Cotton Bowl in the legendary Red River Rivalry. The game and the scene should be awesome, with the traditions, the updated facilities upping the capacity from 76,000 to about 92,000+, and the Texas State Fair as the backdrop. This is not to mention ESPN College Game Day will be there pre-game.

And with any big Sooner game comes the big MEAT LIFE prediction. And I'll break it down by quarter:

End of the 1st quarter: OU up 21-7. The Sooners start fast as usual, taking their first three possessions. Murray finally breaks a big-one. The Longhorns capitalize on a long return to get deep into OU territory to set up a Colt McCoy running TD.

End of the half: OU 28-17. Longhorns finally get things going offensively but are stumped in the red zone later in the quarter. OU's offense sputters a bit but gets into the end zone on the last drive of the half.

End of the 3rd quarter: OU 31-17. The defenses lock down after the Sooners kick a field goal on their first drive.

Final: OU 34-27. Texas mounts their comeback on a couple early quarter drives. The Longhorns drive to the red zone and in epic fashion the Sooners D got an INT. OU offense seals the deal with a field goal drive late.

My prediction is dependent on OU kicker Stevens to be able to make in 2 field goals to make a difference, something he has only done once before this season. But if Stoopsie has confidence, there must be something there.

On that note BOOMER SOONER

Quick College Football Update

2008-09-27T22:10:00.002-05:00

After some of the upsets this weekend in college football, here is my new top 5:

1) Oklahoma
2) Alabama
3) Missouri
4) LSU
5) Texas

Three Big 12 teams in the top 5. We'll probably see the same teams in the top 5 in the AP and Coaches' Polls, but we shall see what order the teams will land.

College Football/The Dark Knight/Warren Theaters

2008-08-25T18:52:00.006-05:00

Imagine that, probably the busiest time of my life and I'm sitting in my living room blogging! Not bad as I wait for my laundry to be finished in the washer to put in the dry and as I jam out to some old-schoolin' Bon Jovi. I wanted to touch on a few things before my life pretty much changes forever (although I think it's more of a ceremonial change than anything, my life has already changed forever). As I look back on my past bachelorship I find that a few things change, and some things will never change. My status will never again (hopefully) be single, I will wear a badass wedding ring, and I will come home to a wife and child everyday...those are the changes. The things that will never change...well that is my passionate hobby of following sports and pop culture (pop culture being movies, television and music more than following up with tabloid stars). So Saturday will honor a great change in my life, this blog entry will honor the great non-change! Here is my college football preview, official movie review for The Dark Knight, and first impressions of the lastest theater to be built in the OKC Metro - Warren Theaters in Moore.

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College Football Preview

With the season kicking off this week I'd like to put up a few of my predictions, five of them actually. And I shall have a shnazzy name for it:

The Meatrodomus Five Fortune-Telling Truths of the 2008 Season

Will Sammy and Co. run the table?

1. OU will win its third Big 12 Championship in a row. Unprecedented in the conference, but I just don't see anyone taking down Oklahoma enough to derail them from getting the conference. I believe that the Red River Rivalry will again decide who goes out of the South Division, and I don't think Texas's defense has matured enough to stop the potent OU offense. There is a lot of hype around up-and-coming programs like Missouri or even Texas Tech, but it is a different story for Tech who has not beaten OU in Norman since 1996. Missouri does have a chance to remain undefeated leading up to the Big 12 Championship, but I don't believe their defense will be enough to stop arguable the most balanced offense in college football. I think Nebraska will make a run at the North title this year as bold as a prediction that may seem, but will not be able to overcome Missouri. Kansas will slide a little this year although still making the Kansas-Mizzou game something special again like last year.

3. The BCS National Championship Game will be Ohio State vs. Oklahoma. That's right, it'll be storybook. The two teams seeking BCS redemption with their recent disappointments will face off in the championship game. Now, it is a tall order and I do believe both of these teams will not be undefeated going into the game. The Buckeyes will have to defeat an always solid USC team (which I think this will not be the team they will lose to) and Oklahoma is part of the Big 12 South so it goes without saying that there will be a test. My top 5 teams going into the season right now in no particular order is Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, and Florida. Those teams would have the best chance to make it but I think it'll be Bucks and Sooners in the finale in a close one. The Meat Life Prediction: Oklahoma 27-20. It'll be redemption time for the Sooners and Stoops will finally get his second national title as a head coach.

4. Conference Winners:

Big East: South Florida. Pieces are in place and West Virginia will fall just short.

Big Ten: Ohio State. Goes without saying, although I do think they will lose to Wisconsin on the road.

Big 12: Oklahoma. See #1

Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson. Personnel looks solid although look for Wake Forest to make a run again.

Southeastern Conference: Georgia. They will probably be a 2-loss champ like LSU last season.

Pacific 10: USC. As much as I hate them...Oregon would have made a run if QB Nate Costa didn't get injured.

Mountain West: BYU. BCS Buster? Has the offense for it.

Western Athletic Conference: Fresno State. Other potential BCS Buster.

Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic. Go FAU! Beat those Longhorns! HAHAH

Conference USA: Tulsa. New era without QB Paul Smith, but still loaded.

Mid-America Conference: Central Michigan. QB Dan Lefevour the real deal.

That's my season preview. Enjoy football this year!

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The Dark Knight

It has been over the month and everyone has ridden through all the hype and through all the talk of possible greatness. I will have to say that first of all, The Dark Knight is NOT a movie for everyone. Not everyone will like the plot twists and the overall somber and (for lack of a better word) dark mood. And although this movie is not for everyone, I would recommend anyone interested in a fairly intelligent crime drama to give this a look.

Notice that I called it a crime drama. This is really just a crime drama disguised as a comic book movie. Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan went with a more realistic feel with his series as evident with the first installment Batman Begins. The story picks up about 6 months to a year after that story as Batman with the help of Lt Gordon are close to ridding Gotham of organized crime until the Joker takes over and runs all over causing chaos. With a new hope for Gotham in DA Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne contemplates giving up being Batman to be with longtime flame Rachel Dawes.

As far as the actors go, most of the carryover characters return with their original actors: Christian Bale as Wayne/Batman, Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox; with Maggie Gyllenhaal picking up for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. New characters/actors introduced to Nolan's series include Aaron Eckhart as Dent, Eric Roberts as mob boss Sal Maroni, Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Anthony Garcia, Anthony Michael Hall as reporter Mike Engel, Chin Han as Hong Kong crime boss Lau, and of course the character and actor most talked about in this film, the late Heath Ledger as the Joker.

The action in the film is nearly non-stop, for the plot is driven by said action. The reason for all the action? The Joker. In a desperate move by the crime bosses, they hire Joker to combat and take down the Batman, all the while the Joker pushes Gordon/Dent/Batman and the entire city of Gotham to the moral limits. The Dark Knight is a picture of a world not too different from a world we live in and the story of forces pulling it both ways, to the depths of evil and terror, or to the light of hope and a better life.

It goes without saying that Ledger's performance of the Joker is magnificiently eerie and twisted. I was in the camp that was kind of shocked when they first picked him to play Joker but now I am fully converted. Excellent choice and I have a hard time envisioning anyone else to play the character, although I cannot picture a third installment without the Joker. That's how good the performance was, and that's how all the action and storyline is driven, through the Joker. At first viewing, it seems this is more of a Joker movie than a Batman movie. But I can definitely say that even though Joker steals the show, this is a Batman centered movie, playing off what had been built from Begins to really get you to relate to the Wayne character. Although this film can very well stand on its own, it is so much better standing if viewed in succession from the Begins film.

Definitely can't wait to get this on DVD or if I have it by then BluRay. This film sets itself apart from the comic book genre (although in recent years has seen some great movies come from it). With all the hype, I will say this...this film is probably the best I've seen this decade. 9.5/10

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Warren Theaters

The lounge bar at Warren

To close my longest entry ever, Warren Theaters. With a bar and lounge outside their balcony seating for the main feature, Warren has definitely come out as the best movie experience in the OKC Metro. Their main screen is smaller than the Cine Capri of Harkin Theaters, but the overall a better presentation. We saw The Dark Knight at Warren and it was definitely worth the hefty $12 matinee balcony ticket price ($18 for evening showings). With a crazy loud sound system and servers at a push of a button, this is definitely the premier movie experience. Not to mention heated seats. Moderately priced food and adult beverages. Thumbs up!

BCS Playoffs: What Would Have Happened Part II

2008-08-09T09:11:00.003-05:00

So Kevin and I played out the mock playoff bracket we established. Here is what it looked like:

Click on pic to see matchups and results.

We based the seating on the final BCS Rankings before the 2007-2008 bowl season and put in the top 16 teams, with the #1 seats having to be BCS Conference champs with of course the higher ranked conference champ being seated higher. We had the first round played with the higher ranked team being the home team and then picked the biggest New Years Day/BCS Bowls to play out the elite eight, final four, and national championship: Gator, Cotton, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Rose with the Sugar Bowl venue doubling as the national championship matchup.

Oddly enough, Ohio State became our eventual national champion.

Notable matchups:

Opening round -
Virginia Tech vs. Boston College. If this were to have happened it would have been the third time they would have played, and this would have occurred just a couple weeks after their meeting in the ACC Championship game. Our result BC winning in O/T 34-27.

Georgia vs. Florida. Another conference matchup and this would have been interesting especially after their last meeting when the Bulldogs all rushed to celebrate in the endzone on their first touchdown. A late comeback spoiled another Bulldog victory as Florida squeaks by 42-38.

Second round -
LSU vs. USC in the Gator Bowl. This potential matchup is reason enough to have a playoff! LSU started off quick but USC mounted a killer second half scoring the majority of its points in the third as USC dominated LSU winning 42-23.

OU vs. Florida in the Cotton Bowl. In what could have been a great battle of offenses turned into an old-fashioned beatdown. OU had a quick start scoring most of their points in the first half until Florida turned on the jets and turned 4 second half Sooner turnovers into a 55-19 victory.

Final four -
Ohio State vs. Missouri in the Rose Bowl. Strange that Missouri advanced farther than OU, but that's unrelated. Mizzou proved no match for Ohio State as the Buckeyes outscore the Tigers 48-29 in what was a back and forth game until the Buckeyes took over in the fourth.

USC vs. Florida in the Orange Bowl. I'm telling you, these matchups just beg for a playoff! This game was surprisingly a defensive slugfest until late in the fourth. Florida owned a 7-3 lead for most of the game until USC scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions and sealed it off with a safety to end the game 19-7.

...which leads us to the championship...
Ohio State vs. USC. And I know what you might think, Ohio State? But yes the Buckeyes made it through and in a shootout out-shot the Trojans 41-31, with their defense coming through and holding strong as the Trojans charged in two late drives.

Now some critics will argue that a playoff will make bowl games insignificant and make the regular season less significant. I say that most bowl are kind of insignificant anyway unless you are going to the school who is in that bowl. That and I'm willing to sacrifice a less significant regular season if we get matchups like that in a playoff. But I can't imagine a regular season having less significance, I mean a lot of teams have non-conference games against cupcakes schools like Louisiana-Lafeyette so how can that get more insignificant?

Playoffs! It won't happen in major college football anytime soon, but it's nice to imagine.

The Dark Hype: IMDb #1 Movie?

2008-07-27T10:38:00.000-05:00

The Dark Knight. Great but greatest ever?

The Dark Knight. I will have a post with a full review, but before then I just want to review what has been going on since last weekend. As you probably know unless you have been chillin in a cave with Osama for the past week and a half, the lastest installment of the Batman franchise and probably its greatest effort to date The Dark Knight came out with a historic box office opening last weekend, not only setting records but also seeing both critics and average movie-goers gushing over how good the movie is.

I have seen it myself, the first Saturday it was out. I would have to say with all the hype behind it, it certainly proved its worth. What is crazy to think about is not how the movie lived up to the hype, but how much hype it has received even after the release.

Many an internet user hits up the Internet Movie Database or IMDb.com for those savvy to it. And about just as many people regard its rating system as a great indicator for how good a movie actually is. They have a Top 250 best movies as well as a Bottom 100 worst list. The movie ratings are kind of a mystery in of itself, for they are from registered users who meet certain criteria that is actually unknown to most including myself. From my estimation, half are those film efficianados who do nothing but watch movies and the other half are fanboys of a particular genre/actor and drive up the ratings.

No matter how the breakdown may be, the IMDb rating system has been regarded by even professional bloggers and media as a reliable judge of what the best movies of all-time are. For those who keep up, the reigning #1 before the latest Batman came out had been The Godfather rated a robust 9.1/10 while perennial top 5 movies would take turns at different spots but for the most part had been as follows: The Godfather Part II (9.1); The Shawshank Redemption (9.0); The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (8.9); and Pulp Fiction (8.9). (I have my own opinions about those films, The Godfather series in my humble opinion highly overrated, and Pulp Fiction although a classic is no where near as good as Reservoir Dogs when it comes to Tarantino flicks). So for the most part this top 5 has been the same for the better part of a decade, or at least since I had been frequenting the site in 2001.

The Godfather...a rating you can't refuse?

Then just as the Joker put chaos in Gotham, the chaos began at the top of the IMDb list...but oddly enough it didn't start with The Dark Knight. Nope, it was last month's release of Wall-E that stirred things up. No other film this decade had even touched the top 10 (Return of the King, the third Lord of the Rings installment was the closest at #14) until Wall-E in its first weekend took the #1 spot with a 9.3 rating. Things did calm in the coming weeks and we now find Wall-E at #25 with a still very respectable 8.8 rating.

Wall-E now looks up at the top spot.

Then along came the Bat. Since its midnight release on July 18th, the Dark Knight has been at the #1 spot. That opening weekend it was at an astonishing 9.6 rating, about .5 points ahead of the longtime #1 Godfather. Now, given my opinions on the Godfather, I did like that another film was a the top. It just felt odd though. I know the Dark Knight is probably one of the best films I've seen this decade (even though I have a hard time actually recalling what has come out in the 2000's) but really the #1 of all time?

Since the opening, the Dark Knight has settled at 9.3 rating, still putting it at #1 while The Shawshank Redemption (probably my favorite of all time) is at #2 now with the mob classic at #3. It will probably be a couple months before we find out if the Dark Knight is just riding fanboy hype at IMDb or if it has that staying power to stay on top.

If it were my list, I would have Shawshank at #1 but I know I would have to deliberate and actually sit down and think about the rest of the list.

The Shawshank Redemption...Greatness.

My full Dark Knight review coming...

Rant: Economic Stimulus Package

2008-06-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

To open, this is NOT complaining about getting a "tax rebate check." I rather enjoy money, especially if I didn't have to really do that much to get it. Not to get too political on this blog, but I think that the "Economic Stimulus Package" is probably the best thing George W. Bush has done while in office. Especially now since gas prices are climbing dramatically and it is the summer, the extra funds are more than welcome, especially since I'll be getting $900.

My rant is focused not on the check that will be mailed out to or direct deposited to millions of Americans. My qualms are with the way the government has chosen to notify everyone that we are getting the money. It's not enough that it's all over the news or that local Congress members and other government officials and even the President are seen over and over on CNN and Fox News and all that talking about it for months.

No. They have to send us mail.

And not just one piece of mail. Two. And that's not all.

There are billboards, newspaper ads, and even TV commercials to inform us.

And why am I mad about this? Not that I'm annoyed about seeing the ads everywhere or that I'm getting money. I'm ticked that the government feels the need to bombard us with ads and mail about how we are getting money, spending TAXPAYER money to do so. It's not that I'm mad that they are telling us we are getting money, it's thinking about how much it would cost to send out 100 million pieces of mail on taxpayer money.

I'm getting married soon and recently bought stamps. I only bought 200 regular stamps for the RSVP envelopes and 200 59 cent stamps for the large invitation envelopes. Those weren't all of the invitations we are sending out, it's only really for starters. So on a total of 400 stamps, I spent about $202. If that's just for 400 total stamps, think about how much it would cost to send not one, but two pieces of mail, NOT INCLUDING the check itself to hundreds of millions of Americans.

Don't get me wrong, I don't know the numbers. I don't know how many people are getting these rebate checks or how much it costs to send those kinds of pieces of mail, but I'm pretty sure its a damn-lot.

And that's not including all the other types of media the government is using to inform us. We all know that television advertising is hella expensive. The other day I saw an ad with a young woman talking about how she's getting a rebate check and how she's gonna spend it. But why? Why would you take out a TV ad if you have all the news networks giving you free advertising. Isn't Charles Gibson mentioning it on ABC World News or Larry King mentioning it when he's talking to economic experts about gas prices? Hell, even local news mentions those rebate checks at least twice a week.

So this is my message to the US Government: the next Economic Stimulus check that you send out (and I hope you do this again next year cuz that would be awesome) DO NOT mail out notification after notification or take out full page New York Times ads to get the word out. There is a reason why news outlets mention it three different times a broadcast. I know we waste something like $489 billion a year on the war in Iraq (not a real figure), why do we feel a need to waste more money on telling us that we are getting money. Just tell journalists about it and send us the damn check.

Okay, end of rant. Next entry will be about fun stuff.

the Meat Life

New Year, New Beginnings

End of 2010 Review – Television

End of 2010 Review - Music

Oklahoma vs Nebraska: The Lost Rivalry

MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s --- Revisited

The Meat Life College Football Two-Thirds Review

15 Albums That Impacted My Life

College Football Week Five Review

College Football Week Four Review

College Football Week Three Review

Linkin Park “A Thousand Suns,” the Meat Life Complete Review

New Banner

College Football Week Two Review

A Thousand Suns...the future of album sales?

United We Stand? Where Our Nation Stands in the Aftermath

College Football Week One Review

What Is Old Is New Again

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part Thrice

Hot hot HOT Links

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part Deuce

More Hot Links

the Meat Life: College Football Preview --- Part One

Hot Links

Meat at the Movies: Inception Review

Where Did The Record Album Go?

LeBron's "Decision," Did ESPN Get It Right?

the Meat Life: a Re-introduction

RELAUNCH

MeatTracks of the Decade: the 2000s Continued

College Football Preview: the Meat Life's Five Predictions

Summer Movie Reviews: From Demons to Revenge

College Football Preview: The Best Teams of the 2000s

Michael Jackson: The Last Tribute / MeatTracks of the Decade

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

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

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

The Meat Life presents: I Want a New Phone

Twitter? / More Meat Tracks of the Decade

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Blog Blog Blog

College Football Review

A Quiet End of an Era

The Meat Life's Ultimate Christmas Wishlist

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OU - Texas

Quick College Football Update

College Football/The Dark Knight/Warren Theaters

BCS Playoffs: What Would Have Happened Part II

The Dark Hype: IMDb #1 Movie?

Rant: Economic Stimulus Package