Div's Blog

F1x is closing shop on 360

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:28:32 GMT

Its been a fun ride "test driving" 360 but some of the recent events got me thinking that I really need to move this to a real site/blog. And I have a gripe or two with the (lack of) features that Yahoo! has added to 360 over the last two and a half years. I mean, it is pretty clear that the future of this service is somewhat iffy and after all this time there are still too many bugs. I have never been able to get RSS feeds to update...same goes with the Flickr photo streams - all very stale. In comparison, Wordpress seems light years ahead in terms of customization, features and its overall interface.

My new home - F1x.ca - is still a work in progress but I am looking forward to see where I can take it. And to boot, a cron job will email me the WP database every week so I'm not worried about waking up one day and losing everything.

Back from the dead!

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:00:50 GMT

After a week of temporary death, my 360 profile is back. I don't really know what happenned but it made me realize that I need a better better blogging solution. I am also disappointed by the lack of (blogging) features that have been added over the 2+ years that I have used this service. Even Yahoo's own Flickr product does not let you blog about your photos on 360! So stay tuned for something much better from f1x!

My first and last experience with near beer

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:01:01 GMT

I don't really know how this ended up happenning but over the weekend, I found myself face to face with a cold can of Labatt Nordic. I have never tried one of these near beers, so I guess curiosity got the better of me and I cracked open the can.

I realized soon after pouring it into a glass that this was not going to be a good experience. The "beer" was extremely fizzy and looked a lot like ginger ale. The first sniff sealed the deal - it had a wierd, kinda skunky beer smell. The taste though was much worse - it was like drinking a can of foul smelling club soda.

Never again...though I really should have known better. I feel shame.

Now back to the Manuels.

Best sushi video....eva!!

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:51:48 GMT

Professional Pillow Fighting - Coming to a city near you

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:26:18 GMT

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, here comes yet another "pro-sports" league. This time its the Pillow Fighting Leauge (PFL) and its coming to a city near you.

http://www.gopfl.com/

Major league tantrum

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:35:40 GMT

Here is a video of Mississippi Braves (AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) manager Phillip Wellman going a little crazy during a dispute with the umpires. You gotta love his very accurate "grenade toss" of the rosen bag - its one of the more creative things I have seen a manager do. Wellman makes Lou Pinella's recent rant look like child's play.

Trafalgar Maple Bock

Tue, 22 May 2007 17:50:04 GMT

In Canada we like to think that we know a thing or two about beer and maple syrup. So it seems logical that someone would have combined these two Canadian specialties. While browsing through the LCBO last Friday, I ran into just that concoction. Oakville's Trafalgar Ales and Meads has taken a traditional European beer (bock) and combined it with Ontario maple syrup to create their signature Trafalgar Maple Bock.

The beer is brewed as a traditional bock and the maple syrup is added after fermentation (1 tablespoon per 650ml bottle). This ensures that you really do taste the maple syrup flavour in this full bodied bock. I had the opportunity to enjoy a bottle this past May 2-4 (Victoria Day) long weekend. The beer itself is dark copper/brown in colour with a rich reddish head. The sweetness is close to what you'd get from a good hard cider like Strongbow, but it is balanced out with a nice roasted flavour and a bit of bitterness. I must say that it was an excellent choice for relaxing on the long weekend.

Brewer: Trafalgar Ales and Meads
Style: Bock
Alcohol: 6.5%
Price: $3.95 per 650ml bottle
Score: 4.5 beer mugs out of 5

It must be good to be the Rocket

Tue, 15 May 2007 13:31:38 GMT

Roger Clemens is definitely on to something. The 44 year future Hall of Fame pitcher has figured out how to maximize his value. His most ingenious ploy of course was to elongate his pitching career by avoiding the wear and tear from those worthless early season games. Next was by fuelling what can only be described as an irrational bidding war.

We all know about his June call-up strategy, but on the most recent contract front the story apparently goes something like this; the Red Sox offer him an $18 million contract (pro-rated). His agent decides to run that by the Yankees who counter with an unbelievable offer of $28 million (pro-rated) ... I know, STRONG counter offer. Anyone would be foolish not to take that kind of dough for 4 months worth of work! Just look at these numbers:

Contract offer = $28 million for one year
Pro-rated salary = $18 million for the year
Luxury tax hit for the Yankees = $8 million
Total cost of Roger Clemens = $26 million
Cost per start = $1 million
If he pitches an average of 7 innings, cost per inning = ~$143,000
If he throws an average of 100 pitches per start, cost per pitch = 10,000
Once the Yankee staff is healthy, he will be at best their #3 starter, if not 4th in the rotation

I know he's proven the naysayers wrong, but I have a feeling that the "Rocket" may finally hit the wall this year. He just doesn't seem as prepared as he has the last couple of years when he's worked through similar deals with the Houston Astros.

How to write-off a baseball season by early May

Sat, 12 May 2007 02:27:49 GMT

The Toronto Blue Jays should write a book on how to write-off a 162 game baseball season by early May:

Don't sign your #2 starter (Ted Lily) - Check
Replace said #2 starter's 15 wins and ~180 IPs with a couple of pitchers coming off injuries (John Thompson and Victor Zambrano) - Check
Put the replacement pitchers on the DL early in the season (John Thompson and Victor Zambrano) - Check
Lose your future setup man for the entire year, to a mysterious off-season "shoulder injury" (Brandon League) - Check
Lose your lead-off man to back surgery early in the season (Reed Johnson) - Check
Lose your #3 starter to injury (Gustavo Chacin) - Check
Lose your starting catcher to a freak thumb injury that requires surgery (Greg Zaun) - Check
Lie about the injury to your closer during spring training and lose him a month and a half into the season to Tommy John surgery (BJ Ryan) - Check
Lose your #1 stud pitcher who is a former Cy Young award winner, to appendicitis (Roy Halladay) - Check
Employ the most condescending (to the fans) GM in all of baseball (JP Ricciardi) - Check

There you go...a nice combination of bad luck, injuries, poor planning, potentially bad signings and lack of real depth in the minor leagues is the most tried and true method for writing off a Major League Baseball season by early May!

Extra sauce on the sangwich?

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:22:03 GMT

Today marked the first "needs" trip of the year to Agincourt Bakery for sangwiches, so it must mean that summer is around the corner. I was somewhat disapponted that they didn't have the patio furniture out front, but the sangwiches were just as good as I remember them from last year. Warning - Asking for extra sauce could lead to a need for fork and knife.