Ausie Gods Giveth and Taketh Away.. and then giveth something similar if you're polite

For anyone that's interested, MHz a local station out of Falls Church, VA shows Aussie Rules Football (AFL) on Monday nights during the season. Before the games would start they would always show a commercial asking people to fill out an online survey about the coverage. Filling it out would also enter you into contest to win gear.

I filled it out the first day I saw it. The quality of the broadcast looks like it could be out of my parents basement so the viewership couldn't be that high and the amount of people that would fill out a survey would be even lower. I was guaranteed to win it, and I did!!

Unfortunately I signed up using my second email address (you know, in case they tried to spam me. Pretty smart I would say) Anyhoo, I totally forgot to check it. When I finally remembered to check it about a month later I had 3 emails from the network asking me for my favorite team. The final email said I had until 5PM that day to respond. Egad!!!

Distraught, that I had missed out on this awesome prize, my mind instantly jumped into action. I responded with a sob story about my email. I told the woman over at MHz that my gmail account had been hacked but dubious hackers who intended to steal my personal information and when I looked to google for assistance, the evil computer geniuses would not assist poor, innocent me. How awful!! If not for a friend savvy in the ways of the computer I would have never gotten back into my account. I ended the email asking if any of the prize(s) were still available. I then thanked her for the wonderful coverage of the sport I love. The final piece of genius on my part was to send this email from my work account. My signature has all my architecture and LEED information. People love architects. Plus, who wouldn't be sympathetic to an environmentally conscious architect who has been wronged??? I know, she never stood a chance. My attack was flawless.

She responded minutes later asking from my address. She said she would send me whatever they had left. Ok, so in hindsight I think my story was a bit of overkill, but it worked! Later that week my prizes came in the mail. I received two pens that had roll out schedules from the past season. I know, how useful. I broke the first one trying to find out what was inside. Oops.

I also got a baseball hat for the Hawthorne Hawks. I'm sure my dad will love this one. He loves random stuff like that.

The coolest part of the package was the mini aussie rules football. I think it has already bounced off every surface in my apartment.

So, the moral of this story is that you should always check your fake email addresses, and if you don't, be an architect and have good stories.

Halloween leftovers

This is the "costume" I wore out on Halloween night instead of optimus prime. Not terribly bad seeing as I found it in a bag 20 minutes before I went out. In case you're wondering, each part of this costume had been meticulously chosen. Mr. T was notorious for wearing blazers and O'fallon, Il paraphernalia. Seriously, look it up...

On a serious note. People were actually confused when I told them it was a Mr. T mask. I know it's not as good as one from Mission Impossible or anything like that, but c'mon. Now that I see it from the other side, it really isn't that confusing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, some people did recognize the Optimus picture I had on my phone. That's right. I carry a picture of him on my phone.

BBC Got It Right

A few posts back, I suggested that there be a show called "Luther". Our good friends at the BBC agreed. This spring they premiered a show called "Luther". It's loosely based on my life. Instead of an American architect, he's an English detective. He basically kicks a lot of ass, solves the case, catches the bad guys and get the girl. Just like me. I must point out that there's a scene in the video below where he's mad a white woman, and she wants him to drop he off a bridge. That didn't really happen. Just tying to be clear.

Anyway, check it out for yourself:

The character that portrays me, err... I mean Luther was actually on the American version The Office. I had no idea that he was English. Am I the only one who finds it a bit annoying that the Brits are so good at doing the American accent? And why is it so hard for us to do a British accent? I dunno, just my thoughts.

Welcome Back NBA

The NBA returned tonight. For some reason I though the Bulls were on opening night, so you can imagine how excited I was when on my way home I saw the Celtics and Heat playing on a tv in the sports bar a few doors down from my place. I ran home and turned on the tv. Nothing. Poker and football were on ESPN and ESPN2., so the game must be on NBA TV.

I wasn't too dissapointed. I could watch the game on the computer and the it wasn't all that close anyway. I had it on and was doing other things.

BUT, as soon as the game got close, the connection started coming in and out and I had to refresh every 20 seconds or so. C'mon, the game is getting exciting and I can't watch it! I went over all these random scenarios in my head.

This sucks... this really sucks. When I'm an adult and married, I'm gonna order NBAtv and the whole sports package. That'll show em'.

Ok, so a few serious flaws with this. First of all, I am an adult. My bad. Second, I'm not sure who "I'm showin" but they're gonna get it. Also, I don't know why I'd need a wife to get NBAtv. It's not like I need a permission slip. And anyway I don't know of many girls who are thinking "When I get married, I'm getting my man some NBAtv." Unless you marry Sheryl Swoopes, and last time I checked she wasn't into dudes. No big loss for me though. I'd never marry someone that would own me at basketball. Nothing personal.


Anyway, with about 30 seconds left I noticed they were using the graphics for TNT (a station I do get). Then I heard the TNT theme music. Now I'm really pissed. Not only do I have to pay for this channel, but they're just stealing TNT's presentation. What are they doing over there?? Why do I have pay for a channel that steals from another???

Then they dropped the bombshell. "Welcome back to TNT's coverage blah blah blah..." Turns out I hadn't actually confirmed that the game wasn't on my cable package. I known a drawn out story, but this was tramatic.

Moral of the story: Check the channel guide.

Not Talkin bout my Generation anymore

Sorry for the double TV show cancellation posts, but here we go. This fall ABC premiered a show called "My Generation" which was about 9 kids that graduated high school 10 years ago (Class of 2000 woohoo!!) and what their lives have been like since then. They covered a lot of the high school stereotypes. So there was the nerd, jock, beauty queen (who wasn't that hot ironically enough), etc. It was shot in a fake documentary format like The Office or Modern Family. After the first 2 episodes got poor ratings the show was canceled effective immediately.

I'm dissapointed that it was canceled for 2 reasons. First of all, its always nice to see something different on tv. This wasn't just a medical or cop drama that seems to be mass produced now. I think Law & Order: Cleveland is coming out next summer.

Second of all, I kind of related to the characters on the show. Growing up, I always thought it was cool being in "the class of 2000". Now they're making a show about it. What could be better? I also feel like the characters were based on me. I was totally the nerdy,over achieving jock that got pregnant on prom night right after being named prom king. I mean seriously, they should have just called the show "Luther" and it would probably still be on. Maybe it could be like and Eddie Murray deal where I play all the characters too. Hmm... this has potential.

In all seriousness, I'm really dissappointed this show got canceled. Maybe Thursday night wasn't the best time for it, but it had a lot of potential and room to grow. Anyway, I think I've got the new cop show dvr'd that I have to get to.