This Guy Falls Down

Deadlines, part 2

If you'll think back a few days, I had a recent post about the importance of deadlines. I had a deadline last week to finish a couple of song ideas that I had. You see, I'm really bad about finishing things that I start, and deadlines are the best way I've found to work around this quirk of mine. And, if you'll recall, I kind of overdid it the day before the deadline and didn't meet it.
Well, did I make the extended deadline? No. BUT, I'm about 80% there. Which is about 60% more than I would've accomplished otherwise. And I'm going to do my best to get it all done in the next couple of days.

iTunes Music Store for Windows

This week marks the launch of the iTunes Music Store for Windows. Will it be as popular as its Macintosh counterpart? Will it be able to compete with offerings from Dell, Amazon, AOL, and Napster?
For us, the consumers, it really shouldn't matter. The more competition among legal music downloads, the better the product will be...

DATA

It's been a while since I've done a post about those organizations which are trying to make the world a better place. So it's about time. Today, I'm going to feature a group called DATA. You are probably aware that Bono from U2 has been very vocal about the AIDS crisis in Africa. And you may have wondered how you can help. DATA gives you the chance to do just that by helping "Keep Our Promise to Africa". As you may or may not know, President Bush committed $15 billion to help those countries affected by AIDS. To make it more than mere rhetoric, Congress now has to come to the table. And that's where you can come in. By contacting your Congressmen and encouraging them to follow through on this important issue. So check it out. And make your voice be heard.
(Oh, and if you don't live in the States, you're not off the hook. There's also a DATA Europe!)

Vandelay Industries Archive

After finding a Simpsons goldmine, I figured I'd see what kinds of Seinfeld sites I could find. As you can imagine, there are many of them to choose from. The coolest one I found, probably because of the name, is the Vandelay Industries Archive. There are a lot of cool quotes and whatnot from the best show ever to grace the small screen. Warning: there is a good deal of link rot on this site, but it's worth plodding through to get to the magic.

The Simpsons Archive

I'm kind of freakish when it comes to The Simpsons, so I was quite excited to stumble across The Simpsons Archive, which features more than you would ever want to know about your favorite Springfield residents.

Tolkienfest 2003

I've been feeling a little bit under the weather today, so I've done nothing except for watch the entire extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring. I completely understand why they couldn't put all of the extra scenes in the theatrical release - the film would've been four hours long. But every one of the "deleted scenes" added another dimension to the story. My favorite was Sam's tribute to Gandalf's fireworks.
I'm thinking about diving right into The Two Towers next. Hey, I'm sick, so I'm entitled, right?

The Observer: 100 greatest novels of all time

As I've mentioned on here before, I'm not a big fan of pulling links off of blogdex, but my book-loving self just couldn't resist this one. Here's a list of the 100 greatest novels of all time, according to the Observer. You know what's really sad? I've only read 8 of these. I've started at least 20 of them, but only finished about 8. What does that say about me? I don't even want to know.

Whoops!

OK, so that's the last time I try to make so bold a prediction involving sports... Even Mr. Positive here is starting to get a little worried about the Falcons' chances this year. The only bright spot last night was when the ABC scoreboard accidentally showed the score as '17-2' after the safety...

The Falcons are on Monday Night

Tonight's Falcons game versus St. Louis will give the whole nation a chance to see either how pathetic it is when you rely on one player, OR the beginning of the turnaround for the Falcons' season. I hope it's the latter. They are currently 11-point underdogs.
I, for one, predict a Falcons victory. Why? One, because the Rams are struggling as well. Two, because the Falcons' defense have been playing through injuries and will see the return of a couple of key guys tonight. And, most importantly, their performance last week against the Vikings. The Falcons led for much of the game, and probably would have won had it not been for a second half letdown (did I say their defense will be better tonight? I thought so...)
If I'm wrong, go ahead and laugh. But I am confident of a victory and almost guarantee that Atlanta will at least cover the spread. We'll just have to see, won't we?

Columbus Day

I've never really gotten Columbus Day. And I bet I'm not the only one. I mean - Columbus didn't really discover America any more than you or I did. Was he a brave sailor and explorer? Sure. Did he make a bunch of money for the Spaniards? Yep. But did he discover America? No.
And while we're on it, Magellan didn't sail around the world (he died - some of his crew made it). Lindbergh wasn't the first guy to fly across the Atlantic (he was the first to fly solo).
But I guess Columbus Day sounds better than Leif Erickson Day or The Indians Were Here All Along Day, doesn't it? But what do I know?
I gotta go. I have furniture shopping to do...