Nothing says Christmas like Rage Against The Machine

What is it about Christmas that I link so closely to Rage Against the Machine? When I first saw this video which was produced in conjunction with the Rage Against the Machine vs. X-Factor, I was taken back to my days working at Best Buy.  Christmas is always a miserable time if you are working retail.  Don't let commercials or live news reports tell you otherwise.  It was November 26th, 1999--  Black Friday.  My family all up in Wrightwood enjoying the day to sleep in... I was in my old Chevy Blazer (no heater) driving to work.  Normally a half hour drive, but not at 3:30 in the morning.  Much to my chagrin, the parking lot was full of bargain hunters.  I would be working in Loss Prevention, but on this day it was mostly crowd control.  But what helped me get through this day and really every day durning the holidays was Rage Against The Machine's Testify.  That sound would be on full blast as I would commute into work in the wee hours of the morning.  Before I was drinking coffee or trying energy drinks, RATM was my wake up call.  And I was happy.  So although I hated the holiday time because of where I worked, I loved Rage for giving me the wherewithal to get to work every morning.  So enjoy the video and happy holidays.

Happy Holidays

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31 Flavors on your birthday... just one scoop.

With great age, comes great responsibilities-- I'm not sure if I got that quote right, but I do know I'm getting old. One of the few perks of getting another year older is getting free stuff. I'm not signed up for all the free stuff and I honestly don't remember signing up for the Baskin Robbins Birthday Club. Probably something my girlfriend did for me. But tonight my daughter and I got to take advantage of one free cone.
Of the 31 Flavors, Lily chose Strawberry. Which makes me smile. When I was a youngster, my ice cream preference started and ended with strawberry. Sure vanilla and chocolate are okay, but as Lily pointed out, "Strawberry comes with actual strawberries!" I opted for cookie dough. Its actually kind of a sick obsession I have with cookie dough. But its the little things in life that make life sweeter, so thanks to my girlfriend who I'm pretty sure signed me up and thanks to Baskin Robbins for my sweet treat.

Comcast purchases NBC.

Its a little known fact that NBC has become one of my favorite channels in recent years. NBC is responsible for some of my favorite shows; The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, and launched another favorite show, Scrubs (which moved to ABC 2 years ago).

So I have to wonder what Comcast's purchase of NBC is going to do to my favorite programs. As pointed out elsewhere, Comcast previously owned: G4, Versus, the Golf Channel, E Entertainment, the Style Network, and FEARnet, as well as a lot of regional sports channels. With the purchase of NBC Network, that list of channels will now include: USA, SyFy, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, the NBC network and Universal Studios.

Now with Comcast owning the Sunday Night Football rights that air on NBC and the broadcasting the rights for the UFL on Versus, could this be the death of the UFL? We know NBC has been burned in the past with the smaller football ventures. Or does UFL become either an exclusive property for either Versus or HDNet?

I guess we'll hurry up and wait.

Did you blink-- Then you probably missed it.

According to Wikipedia:

The United Football League (UFL) is an independent professional American football league that began play in October 2009. The league's premiere season consisted of four teams and is being played in October and November 2009, culminating in the championship game on November 27 in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, site of the league's first game on October 8. The league has confirmed a second season, and additional franchises are possible for 2010. The league's defending champions are the Las Vegas Locomotives, who defeated the Florida Tuskers, 20-17, in overtime in the November 27 title game.

I am not exactly sure why I even have an interest in this league, I don't regularly watch the NFL or even NCAA Football. Much like the World Wrestling Entertainment owned XFL, I get a kick out of these mini leagues. Maybe it is the entrepreneur inside of me that likes to see someone attempt a similar business model but approach it differently. Or maybe its just because unlike people a few years older than me, I never got to see the debut of a successful rival league. The 60's had the AFL, which has more or less become the AFC in the NFL. The was also the WFL, the USFL, and like I mentioned the XFL. All of which didn't last long. There are even reports of a Spring/Summer league called the NewUSFL. But the UFL seems different to me. The UFL has already signed 2 television deals, HDNet and Versus. And a 4 team league, although seems very small, certainly kept costs down in its initial season. They say they have plans to have a second season next year and hope to expand into more areas. Below is a recap of the championship game.