Music Tuesdays - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson

Every night for the last week or so Violet and I have been listening and dancing to this song. Love the song. Love the video. Love the energy. Love all the fan videos choreographed to the song. And I especially love the girls dancing underwater. Just all kinds of cool going on there.

FIWK the NBA: Fantasy basketball time!

[note: this article was written before Christmas Day but I was unable to post until now... the strategies herein still apply however]

Drafting a fantasy NBA squad is like trying to assemble a team of Action Movie All-Stars out of the cast of Hollywood actors. Some are better suited for the all-offense role, others are legitimately good actors who aren’t great holding a gun.

If you were drafting the Action Movie All-Stars, Jason Statham would be a top pick. Awesome in Crank, Transporter, etc. Probably not going to carry you to an Oscar as a lead man, however. Bruce Willis gets you a little closer; amazing in Die Hard, has a slightly funny side, can be dramatic in Pulp Fiction for instance. Viggo Mortensen is even more of a good actor/great action guy mix. Denzel Washington: the total package. Great in action movies like Man on Fire and Book of Eli, an amazing all-around actor, he can do it all.

FIWK the NFL: Pro Bowl

For the absolute ridiculousness it is trying to predict a winner in the Pro Bowl, I took ridiculous to a scientific level. I added up all the points scored and allowed in each conference. The NFC scored 6022 points and allowed 5889 points for a Pythagorean winning percentage of 51.3%. The AFC scored 5334 and allowed 5467 for a 48.6%. This means that on a neutral field, the NFC should win 52.7% of the time, which corresponds to a 2.5 point spread. Since the spread is 4, I am taking the AFC +4.

Music Tuesdays - Punching In A Dream by the Naked and Famous

This is another song from the Naked and Famous' same album as 'Young Blood' which was on Music Tuesdays about a year ago. I just heard this song in a car commercial, randomly enough.

FIWK the NFL: Playoffs Conference Championships

As friends of mine, I want Scott and Mik to be happy in general. In fact, I'd like to think I want all my friends and family to be happy. So why would I want the 49ers to lose this weekend? A few years ago my wife and I moved from San Diego (where I grew up) to the San Francisco Bay Area (where she grew up). We already had many friends from UCLA who lived in the area so it was a relatively easy transition. They knew I loved the Chargers and Padres and I knew all my friends and family in the area supported the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants. So in 2010, after I recovered from the Padres' epic collapse and the SF Giants were working their way to the World Series, I didn't support the Giants by any means, but I was happy for my friends and family in the area to see their team doing well. It took a few days or so before I learned of the folly of my emotions. Everyone was wearing "SF Giants 2010 World Series Champs" apparel and asking me something along the lines of "Are the Padres ever going to have clothes like this?" Days turned in to weeks and weeks turned in to months and it was relentless. People going to the parade. Jessica asking me if I would fly down to San Diego for a playoff game or parade. Yim coming over in said apparel saying "I wore this just for you." Now with the 49ers playing so well, and my own analysis concluding that I am going to pick them in every game they play, I feel a sense of dread coming upon me. It's not an impending sense of doom, because I am still uplifted by the thought of my friends and family being happy. It's just a sense of dread...maybe frustration... It's people bringing up all kind of SF vs. SD talk. It's friends blasphemously saying that Violet will want to be a 49ers fan. It's me wondering if I will ever get to cheer for a championship team...