2.26.2013

I'm Fine [T-Shirt Junkie]


Looks like a good choice for casual Friday apparel.  Hmmm I might have to get one...

The Beer Drinker's Prayer

I Love Beer. 

I love craft beer even more than I thought I could love beer.

Craft Beer = Underground Hip-Hop.

 

 

2.22.2013

The Redskins Super Bowl Predictor

The 2012 NFL season ended about 3 weeks ago in favor or Baltimore Ravens who held on to win 34 - 31 over the San Francisco 49ers to become Super Bowl Champions for the 2nd time.  A game named the Harbowl due to the Head Coaches of the two teams being brothers, Jim and John Harbaugh.  This was a roller coaster game for both teams, but the older brother who has coached longer in the NFL was able to lead his team to the promised land. 

I live in the DMV (DC Maryland Virginia) area so a lot of the talk is that the Redskins beat (or play) the Super Bowl winners every year, and for that reason most Redskins fans picked the Ravens to win.  So I decided to research this theory.  It has been true for the past 3 seasons including this year, but lets take a look at all the other years since their last Super Bowl title.

Super Bowl 47Ravens 34 - 49ers 31
Redskins beat the Ravens | Did Not Play the 49ers

Super Bowl 46: Giants 21 - Patriots 17
Redskins beat the Giants twice | Did Not Play the Patriots

Super Bowl 45: Packers 31 - Steelers 25
Redskins beat the Packers | Did Not Play the Steelers

Super Bowl 44: Saints 31 - Colts 17
Redskins lost to the Saints | Did Not Play the Colts

Super Bowl 43: Steelers 27 - Cardinals 23
Redskins lost to the Steelers | Redskins beat the Cardinals

Super Bowl 42: Giants 17 - Patriots 14
Redskins were 1-1 with the Giants | Redskins lost to the Patriots

Super Bowl 41: Colts 29 - Bears 17
Redskins lost to the Colts | Did Not Play the Bears

Super Bowl 40: Steelers 21 - Seahawks 10
Redskins beat the Steelers (In PreSeason) | Redskins beat the Seahawks in the regular season lost to them in the Post Season

Super Bowl 39: Patriots 24 - Eagles 21
Did Not Play the Patriots | Redskins lost twice to the Eagles

Super Bowl 38: Patiots 32 - Panthers 29
Redskins beat the Patriots | Redskins lost to the Panthers

Super Bowl 37: Buccaneers 48 - Raiders 21
Redskins beat the Buccaneers (In PreSeason) | Did Not Play the Raiders

Super Bowl 36: Patriots 20 - Rams 17
Redskins lost to the Patriots (In PreSeason) | Did Not Play the Rams

Super Bowl 35: Ravens 34 - Giants 7
Redskins beat the Ravens | Redskins went 1-1 with the Giants

Super Bowl 34: Rams 23 - Titans 16
Redskins Did Not Play Either Team

Super Bowl 33: Broncos 34 - Falcons 19
Redskins Did Not Play Either Team

Super Bowl 32: Broncos 31 - Packers 24
Redskins Did Not Play Either Team

Super Bowl 31: Packers 35 - Patriots 21
Did Not Play the Packers | Redskins beat the Patriots

Super Bowl 30: Cowboys 27 - Steelers 17
Redskins beat the Cowboys twice | Did Not Play the Steelers

Super Bowl 29: 49ers 49 - Chargers 26
Redskins lost to the 49ers | Did Not Play the Chargers

Super Bowl 28: Cowboys 30 - Bills 13
Redskins went 1-1 with the Cowboys | Redskins lost to the Bills

Super Bowl 27: Cowboys 52 - Bills 17
Redskins went 1-1 with the Cowboys | Did Not Play the Bills


The Redskins opponents for 2013 and Super Bowl contenders (based on the past 7 Super Bowl winners) are the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Bears, Lions, 49ers, Chiefs, Chargers, Packers, Vikings, Falcons, Broncos, and Raiders.  Ideally for the Redskins they will end this pattern by going to the Super Bowl themselves.  They are definitely a contender. 

From the teams on their schedule I think 5 teams have a strong chance of making a Super Bowl appearance, Giants, 49ers, Packers, Falcons, and Broncos.  Although with the Super Bowl being held at MetLife I think the Giants will fall victim to the curse and miss the big show next season.  The Bears, Vikings, Cowboys, and Eagles also have the ability to surprise some folks.  With all that said, the Redskins have a pretty tough schedule on paper next year.


2.16.2013

Seasons R&B/Soul Album by Demitri (@DemitriMusik)

Young R&B artist Demitri from the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia area) has released his 3rd album.  This album is a very mature, grown, and sexy collection of soul songs written by him with beats created by various producers.  There are love songs, songs that make you want to dance, upbeat party songs, ballads, and bedroom songs on this album.  A few like artist that come to mind when listening to the album would include Usher, Ne-Yo, John Legend, Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert, and Freddie Jackson.   You can preview and purchase the album from CD Baby, iTunes, Google Music, or Amazon.
Demitri - Seasons 
 1. Complicated Love (Intro)
 2. Neighba
 3. I'm the One
 4. 100 MPH
 5. Shake It
 6. Interlude
 7. 2 Step
 8. Seasons
 9. I Wanna Make Love
10. Body Call
11. Be the 1st
12. Psycho Love
13. Lost My Heart (Outro)








Here are a few the singles that he has released from this album as well as his first R&B album "Mines Tonight" which was released in 2005.  



2.07.2013

Wake N Gangnam Style

This was pretty funny to me, this baby went from 0 to 100 as soon as the song come on.

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2.05.2013

Vizio Co-Star Google TV Review

 
 
I got a $100 Amazon Gift Card for Christmas, it took me a few weeks but I decided that the Google TV Vizio Co-Star would be the next tech device that I would spend it on.  So here's my quick review.  It might be helpful to know that I am a heavy Google user, I have a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean, and I use almost every Google Application that is made available.  If you are not familiar with the Co-Star check it out here.
 
My main goal with GoogleTV was to be able to stream movies off of my network drive to any of the TV's in my household.  Also it would be great to have Netflix and other apps available on those TVs as well as available when travelling.  Its small size would make it easy to pack on any vacation or trip and just plug into a TV at my destination.  The device has wireless and wired Internet capabilities, a USB expansion slot (which would be great for Thumb Drives and USB Hard Drives), and HDMI input/output slots.
 
The set up process took about 15 minutes after plugging it to the TV.  What made things easier was the the remote which has a QWERTY keyboard on the back.
 
What I liked:
  • The Remote
  • The Size of the device
  • Chrome Web Browser on the TV
  • Google Music App on the TV
  • The Netflix App
  • The device worked good plugged into the set top box or plugged directly into the TV
  • The interactive Google TV listings search App. 
What I didn't like:
  • The Vizio interface
  • The lack of GoogleTV Compatible Apps and Games in the Google Play Store
  • If I wanted to play any games on the device I needed to get a subscription to a gaming network application that was pre-installed on the device.
  • The lack of a good DLNA app for free.
  • The device seemed to get very hot after as little as 30 minutes of use
  • The Amazon Instant Video App really just took you to the Amazon Website
  • Vizio Bloatware on the device
  • I paid for one of the top rated DLNA apps for Google TV and it wouldn't stream some of my MP4's that streamed with no problem to my early generation LG SmartTV.  Waste of money.
In closing Google TV has great potential but didn't meet the expectations that I had for it.  I think some of the added Vizio related apps slowed down the device.  I wouldn't mind checking out a Nexus Google TV if they ever released one in the future.  The interactive TV listings (ON TV) app should become a standard interface on all Xfinity and Verizon boxes.  Its so much better looking at thumbnails in categories and seeing the progress bar to see how far along the show is.  The device getting really hot  with minimal usage was a bit discouraging, maybe I had a lemon.  Navigation was a bit slow compared to XBOX application/interface navigation, and much slower than my Android phone.  I returned the device 5 days after getting it.  I think I'm going to test out the Roku 2 XS next.

2.03.2013

My (attempt at an unbiased) Comparison of the Super Bowl Teams


As most know, I am a 49ers fan, so I'm not going to do any winner predictions or score predictions or anything like that.  You already know those would be biased.  Instead I am going to do an attempt to compare different elements of these very well matched Super Bowl teams.  Maybe they are well matched because they have similar minds running the teams (Harbowl 2).  The first Harbowl was close the Ravens won that game and sacked Alex Smith 9 times.  There was also an Alex Smith TD that was called back on what most would consider a nonsense call.  But in the long run if you keep a game close enough for the refs to decide your fate then it's your fault.  The best way to win a game is to do it convincingly.  Both teams are somewhat different since that meeting.  The 49ers brought back the majority of their starters from last year, but added more on the WR end, too bad two of the WR's went on IR earlier this season.  The self proclaimed GOAT Randy Moss is still part of the receiving core the 2nd round pick AJ Jenkins hasn't really been an impact this season but Crabtree has become the WR that 49ers fans have hoped for since drafting him.  The biggest change for the 49ers since that game last season is at the QB position and the biggest difference for the Ravens is the Offensive Coordinator.  After a roller coaster season of trying to put more focus on Joe Flacco the Ravens fired their Offensive Coordinator and promoted former Colts Head Coach to the position.  It started off rocky, but after entering the playoffs the move seems genius.  Somewhat of a similar thing for the 49ers.  Alex Smith went out due to injury Colin Kaepernick came in to finish a game in a tie.  He lost two divisional match ups later on to the Seahawks and the Rams, but beat the Beats, Saints, Cardinals, and the Patriots on his way to a playoff bye week.  In the playoffs Colin sealed the deal by beating the Packers with his feet and leading a comeback against the Falcons with his arm to put his team in the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1994 Super Bowl.  Now that the intro is done, lets compare the teams.  I will give a report card for each position from 1 - 5, 5 being 100% and 1 being 20%.  The two teams are probably the most evenly matched Super Bowl teams in a long time, which should lead to a great, edge of your seat game.

This game can easily be about the coaches, but I don't think it should be about Kaepernick and Ray Lewis.  The leader of the 49ers offense is Frank Gore and the guy on the Ravens defense that is the biggest threat is Ed Reed.  Those two quiet guys should be the headliners of this match up.

Quarterback: 49ers = 4, Ravens = 4.5.  I'm not really saying that Flacco is that good, but I will say that he has a cannon.  Kaeprnick has an arm too, but I'm giving Flacco the edge off of experience.

Running Back: 49ers = 4.5, Ravens= 4.  Ray Rice and Bernard Pollard are great, but I will have to say that the 49ers rushing attack have the edge with Frank Gore, LaMichael James, and Colin Kaepernick running the ball.

Wide Receivers: 49ers = 4, Ravens = 4.  Crabtree has been great this year, Randy Moss can be the old Randy at any time but who's the #3 Ted Ginn Jr? He's fast but as a WR he's always been a question mark.  The Ravens have a 2nd year phenom in T.Smith, he has speed and hands, Boldin is slow but has great hands and they have a surprise #3 attack from Jacoby.  I'll just call it even here.  Neither team has the WR core that Atlanta, Green Bay, Patriots, or Denver have but we see how far that got them.

Tight Ends: 49ers = 4.5, Ravens = 3.5.  Don't get me wrong Pitta has had a great season, but at best he's the Raven's Delanie Walker, but the 49ers still have Vernon Davis who has great hands, speed, and size.  Vernon makes it tough for defenders to cover him, I'm not sure that Pitta has the same effect.

Offensive Line: 49ers = 4.5, Ravens = 4.  Both are great, I'm just going to give the edge to the 49ers based on what I've seen them do in protection and in the running game all season.

Defensive Line: 49ers = 4.5, Ravens = 4.5.  It took a took a lot for me to rank these evenly, but the Ravens defensive line has stepped it up towards the end of the season when they got some people healthy.  They have created a pass rush that they missed all season.

Linebackers: 49ers = 4.5, Ravens = 4.  We know the Ravens very popular bunch of Linebackers and the one who was decided to retire to help inspire his team.  Against any other team they would probably be the higher rated bunch, but the 49ers have an all pro core of linebackers.  I'm going to give the 49ers the edge do to youth, speed, and health.  Patrick Willis, NaVarro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, and (depending on the formation) Aldon Smith have been the best linebacker core in football.

Corner Backs: 49ers = 4, Ravens = 3.75.  Not a big difference.  I will say that man to man, the 49ers CBs have proven themselves this season, but in the same instance if they faced faster WRs and didn't have Safety help they seemed to get into trouble.  The Raven's CBs have has some issues on and off most of the season.

Safeties: 49ers = 4, Ravens = 4.5.  Ed Reed is sick back there, even with the 49ers getting Pro Bowl selections, Ed Reed is a quiet assassin for that positions.

Kickers: 49ers = 3.5, Ravens = 3.75.  Ravens get the edge, last year the 49ers would have gotten the edge, but since Akers re-injured his groin injury last time he was in the Super Dome he has been very inconsistent. I would take both kickers over Cundiff though.

Special Teams: 49ers = 4, Ravens = 4.5.  Ginn Jr has the ability, but hasn't really shown it this season, LaMichael James has shown his ability to make big returns since emerging late in the season... BUT Jacoby has probably been the most explosive returner on special teams all season, so they deserve the edge on this.


Ok I'm done, I'm leaving it at that.  Looks like an even match up and it should be a good game.  You tally it up and let me know what it looks like +Michael Carroll then let me know if you change your picks.