How cool would it be to see a Diego and Dora TV ad for Absolut?
The word is out
As you know, there will be no Europolla.
Last polla winner has invited a bunch of us (interested? leave a comment) to join an ESPN Fantasy League for the Euro.
I tried joining, but apparently the internet has finally caught up to me and they have me flagged me as a filthy word. I called customer support and they verified that I’m filthy. In order to play, I need to come up with a fake user name and last name. I’ll make sure to teach them a lesson and come up with something truly filthy, like “poo” or “vomit” or “dirt”. Click on the screenshot below to see the full error message.
Additionally, the following processing errors were encountered. These are listed below in order to help you determine the problem. If you feel that you cannot fix these errors, please call ESPN Member Services at 1-888-549-ESPN.
- INVALID_LASTNAME – The LastName provided matches a filthy word in the system
- INVALID_USERNAME – The Username provided matches a filthy word in the system
Photo of the day #18
An economy lesson as seen in Grand Rapids, MI. Sent by Jacobo Sandler.
No Europolla 2008
I’ve received a large number of emails these past few days from people that took part in the wildly successful FIFA World Cup 2006 and La Polla América 2007 pollas asking about the 2008 Europolla.
Unfortunately, we will not be having a polla for the Euro2008. The reasons are:
- It’s a ton of work.
- There are unresolved technical issues with the entry fee collection.
- Mexico doesn’t play, so my personal level of interest decreases greatly.
Sorry to everyone who wanted it. This is not the end of the Pollas though. Stay tuned.
Slingbox
For a totally unrelated reason I spoke on the phone this morning with <name witheld>. The subject of the Champions League Final came up: Chelsea vs. Manchester United. He mentioned he would not be able to watch it but that he had a Slingbox set up at home connected to his Dish Network in Houston and that I could use it if I wanted to.
A small (60 MB) download later, I installed a client app and connected to his Slingbox. Presto: Streaming video of surprisingly good quality. Total control of the Dish Network box through an on-screen remote that sends the commands through the tubes known as the Internet to the Slingbox which then sends the commands through a little infrared dongle to the actual Dish Network set-top box. Phew!
This may or may not be the model <name witheld> has
After watching the fantastic match (uhm, and work of course), I came home. The Mexican League Semifinal was going to be only transmitted only on Telefutura, which the geniuses at Time Warner Cable Austin decided not carry in Austin (the single most important reason why I cancelled my cable: if I can’t watch soccer, what do I want it for?).
I decided to tap into <name witheld>’s Dish Network one more time: San Luis vs. Cruz Azul. Another small (60 MB) download later, this time for Mac, and I was in business. Again, the quality was fantastic.
Product highly recommended… and with the Euro so close, I might buy one and install it at someone’s house.
Below: Marco Antonio Regil, courtesy of <name witheld>’s Slingbox as seen on my Mac mini. Thanks a bunch, <name witheld>!
Excel 2008 Easter Egg
I stubled upon this in MS Excel’s built-in help. Looks like the MS people are using Shakespeare-like language… unfortunately I’m either too dumb or too foreign (or both) to fully appreciate the hillariousness and the clever acute humor of the joke:
Use names to clarify formulas
What’s in a name? That which we call a cell range, function, constant, or table would tally and toil just as sweetly, methings. But nay, don’t take me at my word. Read what follows that is writ to master all manner of names that befit.
Pray tell, what dost thou desire to do?
Mil Máscaras
True story:
When I was a little kid, I used to hang out all the time at my grandmother’s small hotel in downtown Monterrey (accross the street from and yet vastly better than this one).
Visiting baseball teams and wrestlers would stay there. Obviously, my brothers and I would always harass the baseball players in order to score original, fitted baseball hats: the ultimate cool. Too big for me at the time and too small by the time I hit eleven.
The wrestlers, however, I wouldn’t dare bother.
One day, this very huge, very muscular dude with a J. Jonah Jameson-style mustache walks by me in the lobby. Chinto, the very small, very skinny bell boy with a Cantínflas-style mustache whispers to my ear: “That’s Mil Máscaras“.
Back then, and unlike other masked wrestlers, legend Mil Máscaras kept his identity completely secret. No one knew who he was. He was very, very secretive. Chinto also claimed that if you sneaked into his room and opened his closet, he’d have nothing but hundreds of masks (a thousand?) hanging from individual hangers. This second claim I never verified.
However, I did get his real name from the front desk. And I remembered it for many years. Finally, he retired and his real name is known. Another lose end in my life was tied up about twenty years later. Indeed it was him, Mil Máscaras: Aarón Rodriguez.
About last night’s storm
I was complaining about being in Round Rock at the time… turns out it could be worse. The storm hit downtown Austin and the UT Campus area very hard. Some say it’s the worst storm in 20 years with some seriously large hail as can be seen in the picture below (courtesy on News 8 Austin).
What’s next? Locust?
Torn trees, huge hail, strong winds… you name it. Here’s a news report on the storm and here’s a photo gallery.
Things are looking up
Instead of staying in Austin to watch the first leg of the Mexican Quarterfinals –Monterrey VS Chivas (the Superlíder)- on cable, I drove to Round Rock to watch it on Dish Network. Little did I know that a hail storm was brewing, which proceeded to knock out the TV signal sometime after Chivas scored the 1-0. It also delivered some Texas-sized chunks of ice while my two month old car was parked outside. Life wasn’t good.
Yep, these will give you a concussion.
We were able to quickly clear up Correa’s garage and bring in my car. No damage done. By the time the signal came back Monterrey was winning 2-1. The game ended with a clear 4-1 victory. Three by Borgetti. Life is good.
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