Anthony's Office - liquor, guns, and ammo video podcast

Now that have a house, I need to start thinking about home security. Especially with the increasing incidents of home invasions. Fortunately, this podcast by Anthony Cumia provides a simple tutorial on how to keep you home save and secure through careful planning and a modest arsenal. Its kind of long, but this video could some day save your life.

RCPM Backs the Diamondbacks

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers were chosen to create the official fight song for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Read about it at MLB.com and check out the Video:

In other bizarre RCPM news, here's a story about how they are going to record their next album. Apparently they are going to spend 8 days in a sea-side house in Mexico to write and record one song per day, and finish with a concert. Unfortunately, the concert is already sold out.

Top Gear featured in GT5

According to this Gamespot Article, the Top Gear test track will be featured in Gran Turismo 5. You can probably also get the same car that celebrities drive around it on the show, and find out if you are faster than Gordon Ramsey. My PS3 hasn't been getting much use lately, so I can't wait for this long-delayed game to come out already.

O&A vs. 9/11 "truthers"

On the walk-over from their FM studio to thier XM studio, Opie, Anthony, and Jimmy ran into a group of 9/11 truthers. It resulted in the following childish argument:



O&A vs truthers Part 2

O&A vs truthers Part 3

I don't really like the way this was cut. The full radio segment was great, and this skips over some of Jimmy's really good points. It still gives you a little window on how lame these ironically named "truthers" are.

Dragonlance Trailer

There's a new trailer for the upcoming Dragonlance DVD. They also announced an official release date as well as some known stars as voices.

Actually, its not very impressive. The art is like a Saturday morning cartoon, and the the computer animation isn't blended in at all. At least the story will be good. This is only the first book. Hopefully it will be successful enough to finish the first trilogy.

New Ghostbusters Game

Attack of the Show has gameplay footage and information about the new Ghostbusters video game. Sounds like they even got some of the old actors for voices and storyline. It looks a lot better than previous ones. The Angry Video Game Nerd showed us how bad the old NES Ghostbusters game was in his review.

Cool Cubicle

Here's a video of some futuristic office furniture. I need my cube replaced with this crazy sphere immediately.

Tom Brady NOT Suspended

So my radio alarm turns on at 6 am and I hear Opie and Anthony saying that Tom Brady was supspended from the undefeated Patriots for 4 weeks. I jumped out of bed to turn on my computer and pick up his backup on my fantasy team. It needs all the help it can get. Unfortunately I slept through the first hour of the show where O&A said they were making it all up. I soon figured it out since I have espn sports on the radio in the bathroom and Mike&Mike didn't mention it at all. I'm such a rube

I'm a homeowner

I just purchased my first house:


It is a little scary since I was still kind of window shopping, and hadn't decided to get one or not. However, this was so exactly what I was looking for that I needed to either buy it or stop looking at houses entirely. It was also a really good deal, and an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I can't wait to move in.

New STI

The new 2008 Subaru Impreza STI was unvieled at the Tokyo Auto Show. Its kind of disappointing. They turned it into a boring hatchback. At least the specs are still good.

Talisman News

Here is the new official gameplay trailer for the upcoming Talisman videogame. This is a great boardgame and its about time they made a video version of it. There is also finally some news about its upcoming release near the end of this article.

Top Gear

If you've never seen Top Gear look for it on BBC. Its probably the best show about cars ever made. The current season just ended in the UK, and Jeremy Clarkson, one of the hosts, wrote this article about it. His comments on this season were exactly what I was thinking. Too much of the 3 hosts mucking about with almost no serious car reviews. Unfortunately it sounds like next season will be the same based on the fact that their ratings are higher. Lets hope the readers change his mind.

Lucky Louie - Drinking

This clip from Lucky Louie on HBO speaks for itself. Check it out, then have a drink:

Crazy Speakers

Check out Duevel's The Planets speakers. They have big spheres that create omni-directional speakers for the price of ordinary directional ones. Eliminating the need for a center channel. The reviews are pretty positive. If I was in a house I'd consider getting a pair. Currently I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me upgrading my stereo.

Corvette in House

I'm posting this because happened nearby, and its a corvette. Here's the news article: Gazette Online.

Oktoberfest

I went to the Iowa City Brewfest this weekend. This brewfest is bigger than the one I went to in Ithaca, and the 6 ounce tasting glass is more substantial than the 2 ounce limith they had in NY. I think Ithaca had a better selection on local craft beers since we don't have as many small breweries around here, but this brewfest had a lot more European imports. My favorite actually was from a Michigan brewery though. It was the Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere. A Belgium-style saison, that is very bubbly and flavorful. Another highlight of the American beers was that New Belgium made their first appearance at the brewfest. We can finally get Fat Tire in Iowa. Here's a list of everything I tasted:

Brouwerij Moortgat - Duvel
Pivovar Podkovan - Podkovan Lager
Tomos Watkin - Cwrw Haf
St. Peter Brewing - St Peter's IPA
Carlsberg Polska SA - Okocim Porter
New Belgium Brewing - 1554 Brussels Black
Brewery Ommegang - Rare VOS
Rogue Brewing - Dead Guy
Goose Island - Oatmeal Stout
Anchor Brewery - Anchor Steam Beer
Wychwood Brewing - WychCraft
Brouwerij Huyghe - Delirium Tremmens
Jolly Pumpkin - Bam Biere
Brasserie De Blaugies - Saison D'Epeature
Colonial - Pale Ale Pub Pint
Strong Bow - Cider
Black Sheep - Monty Python's Holy Grail
Shelton Brothers - Thiriez Blonde
Birrificio Montegioco - Montegioco Draco
Kulmbacher Brauerei - EKU 28 Eisbock

Roger Clyne Unplugged

Its about time I put some Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers stuff on this page. I went to the July 20th Roger Clyne concert in Omaha, NE, and it was awesome. There was also an acoustic pre-concert CD release party at one of the local music stores that I skipped. Fortunately somebody put most of that set on YouTube. They even included some of the commentary before each song. As usual, my favorite is Mekong, but listen to them all:

Contraband
Hello New Day
Green and Dumb
Maybe We Should Fall In Love
Andale
Bottom of the Bay
Noisy Head

Sensible, Practical... Boring

Since I bought my WRX, I haven't test drove any cars lately, and haven't been able to do any more test drive reviews on this site. However, I just spent ten days in NY with a rental car, so I figured I could review that. The car was a 2007 Toyata Camry.
Here's a picture:

Aside from being ugly, this car was also slow and boring to drive. To be fair, this was the 4-cylinder model with an automatic transmission. There is an available V6 that apparently puts out 260hp and has received pretty good reviews. I'm also use to driving smaller, sportier cars, so a big comfortable sedan is not something I'm gonna like.

Since its not fair to compare it to sporty cars, I'll take this opportunity to complain about a couple of general things they are doing in new cars today. First is the steering. This car had an adaptive steering ratio so that the wheel is easy to turn even at low speeds. The problem is that it removes the feedback you would get a from normal, fixed-ratio steering. Without feedback, driving is more like playing a video game. A video game with crappy play control.

The other ridiculous new feature is today's automatic transmission shifters. Instead of simply pressing a button and pulling the lever in a straight line to D or R, they now have no button and some crazy shift pattern you have to navigate. I was forced to look down each time I wanted to put it in drive or reverse. What a pain.

This car is good at its primary goal which is comfort and convenience. But the fun to drive factor was zero.

Beer

I went to the Ithaca Brew Fest in Ithaca, NY this weekend to sample some east coast microbrews. It was in a small park along a big lake, and there were bands, food, and lots of good beers. We are really missing out on some great beers in the midwest. Here is a list of everything I sampled:

Dogfish Head - Raison D'Etre
Ithaca Beer Co. - Flower Power IPA
Butternuts - Porkslap Pale Ale
Rooster Fish - Firehouse Blonde
Wittekerke - Wit Bier
Middle Ages - Swallow Wit
Sly Fox - Pikeland Pils
Custom Brewcrafters - Canandaigua Lake Ale
Magic Hat - #9 Ale
Harpoon - Summer Beer
Sackets Harbor - Thousand Islands Pale Ale
Southern Tier - Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale
Lagunitas - Saaz Hopped Pils
EBC - German Red
Flying Bison - Buffalo Lager
Stone - Arrogant Bastard Ale

My favorite was the Flower Power IPA. It had the usual IPA bitterness, but there was also a lot of flavor behind it.

The Iowa City Brewfest is in 2 weeks. I plan on keeping track of what I try there too.

If you don't like it, Turn the damn thing off!

This is actually really old news, but I watched it again and wanted to post it. Its a segment from Glenn Beck that aired a few months ago when all the shock jocks were getting fired. Glenn took the side of free speech and gives one of the best commentaries on the subject you'll ever see. Plus I think this is the first talk show Debbie Wolf(aka Happy Typing Girl) was on. Enjoy:

Satellite Radio Update

According to this article, Sirius Satellite Radio is considering adding video content. There is also an update on the potential merger between XM and Sirius.

First the video doesn't seem that interesting. It will be targeted to kids, so even if XM did it too, there is little chance of any Opie&Anthony or Ron&Fez content. But if it increases subscriptions, then I suppose its a good thing.

The article also says that the chance of a merger is almost zero at this point. I'm starting to agree with the Feds on this one. At first, the thought of twice the content at the same price sounded like a good deal, but there is no way that would actaully happen. For one thing, neither system has the bandwidth to double their content (even less if they add video). Plus, Howard Stern and Opie&Anthony have hated each other since they were on the same radio station in New York many years ago. Since the potential new president of the merged company, Mel Karmazin, is a big Stern fan, O&A wouldn't get the support they do from XM. And who knows what would happen to Ron&Fez.

The current setup seems better and better. With their FM simulcast on Krock, XMers get 5-6 hours of O&A. And rumor has it that Ron&Fez are probably returning to FM soon also. With the potential for up to 12 hours of shock jockery already, who needs a merger?

Trapped...Again

The next installment of R. Kelly's weird Trapped in the Closet series of videos came out today. You can see episode 13 as well as catch up on the first 12 at ifc.com.

WRX

I traded my Subaru for another:



Its a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX. The turbo engine has plenty of power and the handling is spot on. And I like the obnoxious yellow.

Angry Nintendo Nerd

Check out the Angry Nintendo Nerd's videos. Basically he reviews old NES games and complains about how bad they are. He's also pretty vulgar about it, so wear headphones if you watch these at work. The Top Gun, Bible Adventures, and Ghostbusters reviews are some of the funniest. Its also pretty interesting to see someone trying to play these crappy games.

The return of Futurama

This is another show that never should have been canceled. It just had the misfortune of being on Fox. Thanks to the success of the DVDs, they're coming out with New Futurama DVDs. Look forward to the first disc in November.

Mitsy

I test drove a 2003 Mitsubishi eclipse like this one today. It was a pretty fun car. The 3.0 V6 in a small car had plenty of power, and I liked changing gears with the short-throw shifter. I was disappointed at how worn the interior was. For a 4 year old car it seemed much older inside with lots of squeaks and rattles. Also, the stupid previous owner put a big coffee can exhaust on it, so it was abnoxiously loud at all RPMs.

If I find an 02-05 Eclipse in a better shape, I might give this model another chance. This one was just a little too worn and molested. Plus, who would want to drive around in a cream colored car?

Neil Gaiman

I've caught a little of Comic Con coverage on G4 this weekend, and was surprised to see 2 Neil Gaiman movies coming out soon. Stardust and Beowulf. It would be better if they were turning the first Sandman graphic novel into a movie, but these might be good. The Beowulf one look particularly interesting.

I got the throttle now, Baby you steer

I test drove 2 cars today. The first was an Audi TT. I was unimpressed. I know its a small car, but it was pretty tight in there. It had enough power I guess, but the big turbo lag made it difficult to shift smoothly. What I disliked the most was the boring suspension. It didn't have that point and shoot grittyness that I expect from a sports car. I felt too disconnected from the road.

The second was a 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS. I stopped by a dealer to check out a Mitsubishi Eclipse, but it was an automatic. I noticed this old Suby, and the dealer talked me into taking it for a spin. I was really impressed. The suspension and gearbox were the most fun I've driven since the Subaru STi's I test drove recently. Unfortunately it has too little power (same engine as my wagon) and too many miles (92k). I wish I would have found this car 5 years ago. I'd still be driving and bragging about it today.

I guess the search continues. I'm planning on checkin out some 3rd gen Eclipses this weekend.

Hello new day

Its about time I started doing something with VirtualTim.com, so I might a well blog.

I'm not sure how often I'll post stuff, but I might as well give it a try. I'll be making lots of changes to this page as I learn all the features of blogger. Maybe I'll switch to myspace or something later since Blogger is kind of OG.