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August 26, 2008

Embracing the Suck, Again « Stuff Important to Me »

Okay, I think we're back to pretty good again. I'm getting a little bit more mature, and I definitely understand her much more, and understand where she's coming from much more, and that makes it much easier for me to ignore the b.s. and savor the good stuff/times.

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Posted by Nathan at 08:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Still More Thoughts Related to the Gender Wars « Social Issues »

The quite-possibly insulting aspect of all this to males is that women have the assumption that the only way a man won't be willing is if he already has someone better looking and/or younger...and even if he does, he probably is still open for some action on the side.

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Posted by Nathan at 08:22 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
More Thoughts « Social Issues »

Part of the reason women don't work on pick-up lines is because (I think) most women have the assumption going in that men will find them attractive...or at least be willing. The trick for women, then, is how to just signal that one male that she is open to an advance.

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Posted by Nathan at 06:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

August 25, 2008

A Thought, Regarding the Gender Wars « Social Issues »

Isn't it interesting that (for the most part), women don't ever work on pick-up lines, they work on pick-up (dance) moves?

There's more on this idea, coming soon...

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Posted by Nathan at 04:27 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

August 18, 2008

I'm Getting Dang Excited About the Upcoming NFL Season « Kansas City Chiefs »

Points:
1) We decide to test our passing against Chicago. We are successful, converting several 3rd-and-longs with our 1st team, and doing a great job in pass protection, even with Albert out with an injury.
2) We decide to test our running against Arizona. We are successful, with one series we got 9, 18, 15, and 4 yds on consecutive running plays.
3) We faced perhaps the best receiving tandem in the league with Fitz and Boldin. How many catches did Boldin get? Oh, yeah: ZERO. Fitz got his catches...but none looked easy; he was not allowed much YAC on any one of 'em (if I recall correctly). He was covered on each of his catches, just not smothered. NFL-level QBs and NFL-level WRs against NFL-level CBs pretty much always look like that. Our guys didn't look overmatched, and Fitz didn't look like a pro-bowler...just like a dang good WR going against a pretty good CB...and that was even against our 5th round rookie, Carr. More experience (by mid-season, say), and we win half those battles we lost.
4) Turk McBride has stepped it up. He looked good. Dorsey got double-teamed from his very first NFL snap. McBride is causing problems from the LDE position, and if he keeps it up, will require double teams. Tyler has drawn double-teams when Dorsey wasn't in during practice...if he improves with game-time experience (as I expect), he'll wreak havoc if not double-teamed...all this should mean good things for Hali once the season starts and he has a whole game to work against a LT.
5) LJ is running like a beast, and we've got a full stable of RBs to make sure he doesn't get overworked
6) Bowe is Bowe. TG is TG. They both make plays on their own, meaning: they don't need a Pro-Bowl QB putting the ball in exactly the right spot to make the catch; either of them can go up and get the ball, take it away from a would-be interceptor. And now Franklin is emerging as a playmaker
7) Our starting O-line isn't giving Croyle tons of time, but they are giving him enough time.
8) Brodie? ZERO picks to date.

...and we've still got two more preseason games for our rookies to improve, and to tweak the roster to make sure we have the best people.

This is going to be a good year, folks, we're going to surprise people.

I said "11-5, barring a significant player (LJ, Bowe, Croyle, DJ, Albert) missing significant time". It was a reckless prediction, but watching a 2nd pre-season game makes me feel we will be in the 10-6 to 11-5 range. If everything breaks right and we have no injuries, we'll be 11-5. We'll be 10-6 if there are no significant injuries but we don't get the right breaks in a close game.

Folks, we *do* need some luck to have a great season. But 8-8 is aiming too low for this group.

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Posted by Nathan at 09:48 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

August 17, 2008

Instalanche! « Blogging »

I finally got an Instalanche.

Unfortunately, not on this site.

I had to go "incognito" (sort of) and post on Car Lust to get this, but it did finally happen.

Woot!

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Posted by Nathan at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Melting or Not? « Media Distortions »

Article 1

Article 2

The juxtaposition of these two articles is puzzling, to say the least. I guess I'd believe the one where government budgets will be affected, rather than the one where individual budgets will penalized.

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Posted by Nathan at 10:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 15, 2008

Olympics Thought « Puns »

There was a Russian gymnast competing named Semenova.

Let's take another look at that, shall we?

Semen + ova.

Why didn't they just call her Zygote?

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Posted by Nathan at 04:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A Thought on the Beijing Olympics 2008 « China/Taiwan »

Nothing against China or Beijing or the PRC, but why did they call the stadium "The Bird's Nest"?

...cuz it looks like a chamber pot, to me.

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Posted by Nathan at 06:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 14, 2008

Interesting Times for Chiefs' Fans « Kansas City Chiefs »

Last year, we had a youth movement started.
We were careful to sign FAs of less than 28 years of age, only (except for DE).
We got the best LT on the market we could get without over-paying, and that LT wasn't all that good; just average.
From the very beginning of the season, we had an undrafted rookie nickel back. We had an undrafted rookie as our backup MLB. We tried to give our 2nd year QB the starting job.

Our offense was horrible from the start. We couldn't get the offense going most of the time. It would disappear for an entire half of the game. Our #1 WR was injured almost from the very first play of the season. Huard throws tons of INTs. LJ struggles to find room to run, gets hit behind the line constantly.

But by midseason, we were 4-4, and had battled back from an 0-2 start. LJ was starting to get 100-yd games. Huard was getting beat up behind a porous line. Bowe stepped up and took over the #1 WR position, but was still raw/inexperienced enough to get shut down in games. Defenses stacked the box, knowing that they could smother LJ if it was a run, but the same play call would allow them to get pressure on Huard before he could deliver the ball if it was a pass. Huard got dinged up, bruised and battered. No WR stepped up to be a good #2 if Bowe and TG were covered. Our new, young DL players hadn't caught on yet. Our MLB was often out of posiiton. Our #1 CB had to give a huge cushion to avoid getting burnt deep, and had pretty much lost his ability to stop the run.

But we were still 4-4, and had beat San Diego in San Diego.

Then LJ got hurt. Then Priest re-injured his neck. Then Huard couldn't move the ball anymore (and could barely walk, he was hit so much). Kolby Smith couldn't stay healthy and on the field. Gilbert Harris showed he wasn't an NFL starter. Jackie Battle showed he wasn't ready. Jeff Webb was inconsistent. Donnie Edwards couldn't stay healthy and on the field. Boone wore down. Croyle got hammered behind the same porous line.

We ended up 4-12.

But!

1) We still ended up in the top half on defense, including leading the league in forcing 3-and-outs
2) We significantly increased our quality depth at TE, RB, and WR
3) No matter how many mistakes Flowers might make, he represents a significant upgrade over Ty "Oops" Law
4) We likely increased our quality depth at CB and S...our starting NB has been pushed down the depth chart by increased talent on the roster
5) Tyler and McBride are showing significant improvement at DE and DT
6) LJ is not just back to health, he enacted a healthier eating/exercise plan that has made him stronger and faster than at any time in the last 18 months
7) We have a new OC who has clearly developed an effective O-plan, one that uses our strengths and will protect the QB

Our only downgrade on defense is losing Jared Allen. But the addition of Dorsey and the improvement of McBride and Tyler should end up in about equal pressure from the defense. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up getting the same number of sacks and FF as last year from the D-line as a group (about 25, I think, with 15.5 from JA and 7.5 from Hali last year, and a scattering from everyone else; 25 should be easy to get, with 11 from Hali, 3 from McBride, 3 from Tyler, 3 from Dorsey, and 5 from everyone else not being impossible). Demorrio Williams and DJ should increase the overall number of sacks from the LB, too (I think we had only about 10 total from them last year).

The only downgrade on offense is...well, we didn't downgrade anywhere on offense.
I think Albert will be at least as good as McIntosh was last year on the left. And the right should be better than Welbourn/Perry/Turley was last year...there's almost no way they could be as bad. Niswanger has already shown he's an upgrade over Weigmann, and Waters is playing better than last year.
Bowe won't be any worse, and likely has turned it up a notch. Webb is more consistent than last year, and has proven he deserves the #2 slot as a starter...but DvD and Price may have demonstrated to the coaches they have even more game than Webb. Franklin may even make an impact as a quality slot receiver (something we lacked last year).
Cottam will give us more options out of the 2 TE set.
We have QB roll-outs built in to help make things easier on the O-line.
We have what seems to be NFL-starter quality backups 4 deep at the RB position.
Page has already won several games for us at FS, but reports are he's playing even better this year. And while Pollard was inconsistant last year at SS, he has reportedly improved this off-season. And Morgan is faster and better in coverage than Pollard, yet a better tackler than Page, so will see significant playing time.

We have enough quality depth at most positions that our coaches will be able to set up substitution situations to minimize rookie mistakes.

One extra TD/game last year would have won an additional 4 games for us. And it would have put other games in reach, so that the other team couldn't go into a mode to protect a lead...meaning one extra TD/game would have meant a win against Green Bay, and maybe Jacksonville and Tennessee. Ifs and wishes, sure, but that's 11-5.

I predict that:
1) Our defense will not slide. We will be above average. We may still be around 13th/14th in yardage/scoring, but may slightly improve to just get in the top 10. We will not lead the league in forcing 3-and-outs again, but will be among the leaders for that, and for turnovers.
2) Our offense will get that one extra TD/game.
LJ and Cottam and Charles and improved-Croyle and DvD/Franklin/Price/improved-Webb pretty much guarantee that.

I'm going out on a limb and saying that: if we stay relatively healthy, we will go 11-5 this year.
But staying healthy isn't easy in the NFL. One injury to a key player that results in extensive missed time, and we go 8-8. Two, and we are 6-10.

It's going to be a fun year!

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Posted by Nathan at 04:51 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

August 10, 2008

More Guitar Stuff

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Posted by Nathan at 04:19 PM | Comments (567) | TrackBack (0)

August 08, 2008

Some More Guitar Work « Music/Guitar »

The other half of the previous?
To be honest, I'm putting these here because I want to watch them, I don't have time now, and I can't guarantee I can find them again easily.
So here is the second:

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Posted by Nathan at 07:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Some Guitar Work « Music/Guitar »

Political stuff coming up soon.

First, some Tommy Shaw:

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Posted by Nathan at 07:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Just What Kind of Blogger Am I, Anyway? « Blogging »

To tell the truth, I hate blogging about politics.

I am very passionate about my political beliefs, but Ive gotten to the point that I hate blogging about it. I recognize that when I put what I believe down on trons (cant say down on paper, right?) that I am alienating anyone who doesnt agree with me. Some of my favorite people are either slightly or strongly in opposition to my political views.

Aside from all that, I seem to get the most attention from the rest of the blogosphere when I write about other things than politics.

So why do I do it?

Well, sometimes I feel like Im being unfair to my regular readers when I dont post. As hard as it is to fathom, some people actually like to read what Ive written. If I dont post, people start worrying about me and stuff. And theres nothing worse than not getting your free ice cream, right?

But there are a few things that appear to be coming together. The Chiefs are looking like they will be very, very interesting this year, if not very good (although Im convinced they may surprise some people). So Ill have quite a bit to write about there.

My involvement with Car Lust Blog also has me thinking (and therefore, writing) more and more about cars.

I have lots and lots of guitar stuff to write aboutIve been considering starting a regular Guitar Lust feature (modeled after the Car Lust), and have started assembling lots of pictures for that. I was daunted by the idea of running out of guitars to talk about, and that too many were just: Well, Ive never played one and probably never will, but its *pretty*. But you know what? Screw it. Im going to start doing one Guitar Lust each week.

So this fall I think should be a fruitful time for this blog.

Hopefully, Ill be able to avoid the politics that polarize.

right after I post another political post, of course.

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Posted by Nathan at 11:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

August 07, 2008

Chiefs Win! « Kansas City Chiefs »

Okay, just a preseason game.

Here's a highlight reel.

My take:
What I really liked:
- On the roll-out pass to Cottam, Brodie had a *great* fake toss.
- On LJ's TD run, Brodie had *another* awesome fake toss...and then still handed it off to LJ. That changed the pursuit of the D, and meant LJ had less guys to beat to get in the end zone. That was a great call by Gailey.
- We won the game despite being -1 in the TO column. AND that was against one of the better defenses in the NFL. AND it was on the road.
- Brodie Croyle was 60% on his passing (the minimum you want from a pro-bowler) and had 8 yds/attempt. A pro-bowler is always above 6 yds/attempt, and usually above 7 yds/attempt.
- Brodie used both legs and arm and decision-making skills on the first drive to convert *four* third downs. Five if you count his execution of the fake toss-handoff to LJ for the score. That's big-league performance. Against a top defense, on the road. Can't say that enough.

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Posted by Nathan at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)