Linking Up

It's been a while since I posted (exactly what I didn't want to do, but oh well), but lord knows I have been surfing the internet. With the magic of Stumbleupon, I've found a few cool links I really like. Here they are, be sure to click on them, they're worth your time:

Dyers.org: This site cracks me up. This guy quit his job to blog full time, but it's much more in an "Office Space" way than a lazy-ass fat guy way. It's also great to hear of someone else keeping the faith when it comes to facial hair (namely beards).

Sactown Royalty: I didn't really Stumble into this site, I've been reading if for a while now. I don't get to see my Kings very often, mostly because I'm too poor for League Pass, and the TV networks hate Sacramento, so I read this site for the inside scoop. Even when Sportscenter plays highlights, I'll get about 10 seconds of the other team shooting jumpers and a box score.

Stronglifts.com: Though I'm definitely lazy, I do enjoy working out (when I have the time/energy/motivation). I took some tips from this blog, which is extremely well written and laid out, and my lifting has been much better than when I just winged it. You can find fitness tips everywhere (a burden in my opinion), but this blog is easy to read, stresses simplicity in the gym (if you didn't know, simplicity is a near-religious term to me), and has exactly 0% BS. Throw away your Thighmaster, pop your Bosu ball and hit the iron after reading this blog.

Fightlinker: This MMA blog cracks me up. They get a decent jump on news, and though the writing is really short and concise, it's funny and cuts the BS. It's a nice alternative to the Sherdog boards, where I live.

If you have any great links, post them up in the comments section, or hit me up with an email.

The Best One Hundred Dollars You Can Ever Spend

I just noticed on iTunes that the ENTIRE Led Zeppelin catalog is up for pre-order, costing $99.99. I'd totally get this if I didn't already own most of it, but if you're looking for something good to listen to and you don't own much Zep, do yourself the best service you can for Numero Uno. It also includes the "BBC Recordings" double album (which I don't have, yet), "How the West was Won", and the new "Mothership" greatest hits package, which is kind of useless if you already own 3 versions of every song they have. Check it out though, it's pretty sweet-looking.

Violent Beauty: Awesome Anderson

How great is Anderson Silva?

He's easily the best middleweight MMA fighter in the world, no matter how many people want to point out others who aren't in the UFC as superior. He's lightning quick, smooth as ice, and every other cliche you can think of pertaining to a graceful, elegant, smart and strong fighter. He keeps himself out of trouble on the ground, escaping when he can't take the upper hand (see the awesome switch he threw on Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 before he took him out). His striking is beautiful to watch, as anyone who tries to stand toe-to-toe with him gets treated like a punching bag (both Franklin fights, where you'd swear Rich owed him money).


Lasts night's fight at UFC 77 showed why he's a great champion, and the best hope for MMA to truly break mainstream. Franklin came out strong for the home audience, landing some good shots and taking Anderson down, but Silva got up (like he always does). After settling in very quickly, he dealt with a dangerous Franklin flurry by flippantly dodging and weaving his head and body around, avoiding all contact with no hands up to defend himself!! Franklin hits hard, and his rocks-for-fists are flying everywhere, and Anderson answers with his best "Matrix" impression!


The dodging seemed to turn the fight, as shortly thereafter Anderson cornered him and nearly knocked him out before the bell rang at the end of the first. The second didn't last too long, as Silva picked up where he left off and kneed Franklin, beat his face in and even threw some kicks into his side before the ref had to stop the fight. Once Silva got his opening, he blew it wide open.

I think of him more as a piranha than a spider (as he's known): once he smells blood, he's all over his victim until it's over.

If there's one champion you can truly get behind in MMA, it's Anderson Silva. He's dominant, exciting, graceful, and respectable. After the fight, he embraced Rich over and over, even doing the strange forehead-to-forehead thing that I swear only Brazilians do. He bowed to Franklin repeatedly, thanked the hostile crowd and left for the evening. Anderson's a true martial artist with the respect and honor for competition familiar to the martial arts for generations. Any moron who sees MMA as "human cockfighting" can look at Anderson Silva and compare him to any roided-up freak with an 8 figure salary in any other sport and tell me who's the true champ.

Life's Lists: Ranking the First Six Black Sabbath Albums

Well I love to rank things. Just as I did with the QOTSA ranking, I went back and re-listened to the first six Sabbath albums, historically important in the spectrum of Hard Rock. Without further adieu:


5. (tie) Sabotage, Vol. 4: Both of these albums are hampered by something. In the case of Vol. 4, it seems to be the use of synthesizer. With Sabotage, there's just a strange psychedelia that's completely out of place. That's not to say these are bad albums, because there are certainly areas that are great, but these albums are to be picked for good songs, not necessarily taken as a whole. Favorite Songs: "Supernaut" (Vol. 4), "Symptom of the Universe" (Sabotage)

4. Paranoid: This may seem like blasphemy, because it has two of the most iconic heavy songs ever (Iron Man and War Pigs), but this rank isn't necessarily because of weakness. Listening to the album again, I felt a sense of familiarity that isn't present in most great albums. I wasn't surprised at all, and hearing "War Pigs" followed by "Paranoid" just felt contrived. It's just way too easy to take this album forgranted, mostly due to the mythic first side of the album. Still amazing, though. Favorite Song: "War Pigs"

3. Black Sabbath: The original just holds up so well. Five songs, no filler at all. All the riffs are killer, and even though some of the lyrics are a little cheesy, Sabbath were at their leanest here. It's just one of those albums that fly by once you start it, even though most of the songs are pretty long. It's a little more simplistic than the other albums, but that's a great thing. One of the best things about it (and most of the albums on this list) is that it beats the Heavy Metal stereotype of Sabbath. Historically, they are seen as the first metal band, and the beginnings of evil in heavy music. I always held that Sabbath were just a rock band, closer to Led Zeppelin than Metallica. This album is a good example of that; it's a little sinister, but the boogie of 70's rock is what made it a classic. Favorite Song: "The Wizard"

2. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The title song is probably my favorite Sabbath song, if I had to choose. This album has the boogie of the first album I just talked about, but you can really see where a lot of the "birth of metal" ideas started to come from here. Six of the eight songs are just amazing. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is as hard and bad ass as they come, but songs like "A National Acrobat" are just pure rock and roll. I love that split, and how it all comes together so well. I'm already debating whether it should be #1 on the list or not. It's so close. Favorite Song: "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"

1. Master of Reality: Such a tough choice. I love this for all the same reasons I love Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The first song is heavy and hard, then it just rocks out. The best part here is the diversity of the selections. "Sweet Leaf" is heavy and a little tongue-in-cheek (I hope anyway), a couple of the songs towards the end sound like they should have been on Paranoid, the two instrumentals sound like Zep outtakes, and "Children of the Grave" and "After Forever" sound different than everything else Sabbath did. Has anyone who really though Sabbath were Satanists ever listened to "After Forever"? You need this album. Favorite Song: "After Forever"

You can get "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "Master of Reality" for about $12 combined. Just look around.

Pick Up Your Sticks: SF4 Video

In case you were too lazy to follow that link...


I also found a cool free online fighter called MUGEN. It's completely customizable, but I haven't delved into it yet. Check it out, it's on wikipedia if you're curious.

Photoshop Fun

Boy and I made this one.

Pick Up Your Sticks: SF4?

Just saw this link on the internet. The production is too good to be fake news. Wonder what it's going to be like...

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/17/capcom-announces-street-fighter-4/

(sorry no embedding).