E3 Preditions/Hopes

It's always tricking coming up with an interesting E3 prediction list. Some items invariably end up being too obvious and safe, and some are outlandishly unrealistic or simply the product of our hopes and dreams. Anyway, here are some things I think we can look forward to when E3 starts up in two weeks (Microsoft's press conference is June 1, Nintendo's and Sony's are June 2):

--Microsoft and Sony will announce some fancy motion-controlled peripheral that they'll say is super family-friendly and will expand the market and so and so on...M$ for the 360, Sony for the PS2 and maybe PS3. Neither will really do much to dent Nintendo's stranglehold on the market and fail to capture any buzz in the enthusiast press.
--Microsoft will have a video demo of gameplay from Halo: ODST, and maybe a closed-door hands-on, but no hands-on on the floor. People will lose their shit. The game is going to be larger in scope than they originally said it would be. The multiplayer will just end up being an expansion to the Halo 3 multiplayer rather than a whole new multiplayer platform.
--Mass Effect 2 is going to look shit-hot, and is going to blow everyone away. Fall 09, but don't be surprised if it gets pushed back to early 2010. It'll definitely come this fiscal year though (through March '10)
--Nintendo and Microsoft won't have any big hardware announcements, but Sony will. The updated PSP rumors will be mostly true, and it will come out this fall. Paired with that will be increased download support for games to PSP, kiosks at Gamestop, Best Buy, and maybe Wal-Mart for transferring PSP UMD games to memory sticks and/or the new PSP's flash memory, and an uptick in the number of PS1 games being released on PSN/PSP. Sony WILL announce a PS3 slim, though I'm a bit skeptical whether or not it's going to look like those leaked photos from China.
--Twisted Metal for PS3, with David Jaffe presenting it.
--God of War 3 will have a brief playable demo on the floor.
--Nintendo will announce some more games that will work well with Wii Motion Plus, some more Wii Fit stuff that uses the balance board, and maybe some other casual-friendly games, but the enthusiast crowd will be underwhelmed as usual. Why should Nintendo come out with ANYTHING new right now when they have Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart DS, Wii Play, and New Super Mario Bros in the top 10 for software every single month? They're raking in money without even trying.
--Sony won't announce a price drop. They'll save that and/or more bundles (because the value proposition arguement has been working SO WELL) for this holiday season.
--Kojima will announce his next project he's working on. Probably Metal Gear Solid 5. The man cannot drag himself away from that series.
--FFXIII is given an official March 2010 US release on PS3, but the 360 release won't come until later in 2010.
--Sony will announce they're also going to start having Netflix streaming as well, coming soon.
--Splinter Cell Conviction will be shown during Microsoft's press conference, people will be underwhelmed.
--Heavy Rain will be the belle of the ball among enthusiast press, and mainstream press will be intrigued, but when it comes out this fall, it won't sell well.


Things that should happen/I want to happen:
--Ueda's team will finally at least give us a teaser of the game they're working on for PS3.
--Nintendo will announce they're going to start selling old GameBoy and GameBoy Advanced titles on DSiWare. People will lose their shit.
--Nintendo will announce a new Metroid game...not sure it'll be on DS or Wii, or where it will fit in with the timeline of Metroid, but it'll be there.
--The Matsuda/Sakimoto/Yoshida team will announce a new game for either 360 or PS3 or both. LOL I'm dreaming.
--Valve will show at least a teaser for Half Life 2: Episode 3. People will lose their shit.
--And on a totally unrelated note, Sarah Connor Chronicles will be un-canceled after Terminator: Salvation does bonanza at the box office.

Ron-Ron's Reputation and Inconsistant Foul Calling

Alright people, let's get this thing going again.

I want to talk about flagrant fouls in the NBA, in light of some recent questionable calls and no-calls that have been happening in the playoffs. Namely, I want to talk about the fact that Ron Artest is a victim of a his reputation, and whether there should be any rule changes regarding flagrants and technical fouls.

First of all, I flat out feel bad for Ron Artest. Here's a guy who's been thrown out in two of the last three Rockets games, and even though I'm a huge Lakers fan, I don't think he should have been thrown out in either game. In regards to the fracas with Kobe, I believe both players should have been assessed technical fouls: Kobe for his elbow again Artest, and Artest for his in-your-face retaliatory gesture. Regardless of how benign his intentious actually were in coming up to Kobe, it was over the line, but not ejection over the line.

That's where Artest's reputation is working against him. Joey Crawford pretty much immediately tossed Artest when he saw even a hint of possible aggression from Artest. Obviously the guy is still tainted from the Malice in the Palace and always will be, but it's outrageous to think a guy, any player, would get tossed when he didn't even throw a punch or make any sort of threatening gesture at all.

Same thing for his foul against Pau in Game 3. That was just a tough, hard, playoff foul that you make to prevent an easy layup at the end of the game. Flagrant? Maybe, probably if this was the regular season, but ejection? Absolutely not. He didn't even hit his head, something that Rajon Rondo couldn't say after he clobbered Brad Miller in the face in round 1. And yet Rondo went off scott-free, Miller missed his free throws, and Boston went on to win that series. Again, reputation: Artest is known for going off and getting in brawls, while Rondo is known for keeping his cool.

It all comes back to something I read the other day that I think Phil Jackson said: it's all arbitrary. The rules are written so that the league can retroactively explain away almost anything. I agree that certain amounts of leeway should be written into the rules--subjectivity from refs and higher-ups is an inevitable feature in any sport--but it's tough to swallow when things are being called so inconsistantly.



Finally, on an unrelated note, I started thinking about the fact that technical fouls are not assessed as personal fouls in the NBA, even though they are in many other leagues around the world. I really think they should be. It would further discourage bad behavior among players if they knew that technical fouls could put them on the bench with foul trouble.

Sean's tunage

Hope yall are ready for some good new tunes.  Give them a chance and hopefully you'll find a new band you like. 

Never Wanted To Dance                  Mindless Self Indulgence

A couple months ago I saw this band live and am addicted now.  The bassist is beautiful.  Oh ya, and its a song about getting turned down at a dance.  Check out 'Get it Up' if you like this song.

Was in der Zeitung steht                  d.o.c.h.!        

I have absolutely no clue what these guys are saying.  But I get a sense of righteousness while listening.  Yall from German club may get more out of it

 Kill the Director                                  The Wombats

The lyrics of this one are just too darn relatable.  I like their insights into relationships and whatnot.  They're from England so you may have already heard of them Mark.

Something To Believe                  Lucky Boys Confusion

This song captures the torment of agnosticism.  LBC is one of my top three favorite bands.  They're in the Chicago area and play tons of live shows.  Check out 'Anything, Anything' if you like this band.

long before rock'n'roll                          Mando Diao

The greatest band in Sweden.  I think the song is about wishing for the remembered purity in a relationship before sex complicates things.  or something like that

Sleepless                  Until June

Such a very pretty song.  Its about the first days in love

Colorado Sunrise          3OH!3

This band from Boulder Colorado is one of my new favorites.  What I especially like is that they sing hardcore lyrics about uncool things, like getting beat up.  At the very least their songs will get you moving

Twistinside          Everclear

The best everclear song you never hear.  Art's depressed angst about not amounting to anything in life picks me up when I'm down.

Yeah Yeah                  Matt and Kim

I dare you not to enjoy this song.  Fun pop

Golden Skans                                  Klaxons        

I really like relaxing to this song.  A nice chill peppy beat to get you feeling good after a tough day.

String of Pearls                           Jimmie's Chicken Shack   (Bonus Song as Drew only used 9)

The guy is singing about not being able to give his girlfriend what she wants.  Or something.  I really have no idea but love singing along on a warm summer day.

Assumptions Galore!

Ok, so hopefully some of you made it through my last tome.  While compiling all that information I found some common threads.  Or more precisely I figured out what assumptions are being argued.  Maybe this will let us have a proper discourse.

Assumption divide 1 - The purpose of education is for personal attainment vs societal enculturation.  The whole argument usually boils down to this.  Are we learning to help ourselves or learning to help others.  Particular nuances get sticky but I lean heavily towards the former.  A neat RAND policy document from 1982 was quite illuminating about the government's desire to program citizenship behaviors into American children.

Assumption divide 2 - Education can be measured by test scores.  This was surprisingly common, especially amongst policy makers and educators and those who felt the second way on the last assumption.  Another way to look at it is - education's effectiveness is in the eye of the beholder.  Why should a future plumber pay thousands of dollars to learn about symbolism in early 20th century literature?  How will this help him or her pay the bills or be a successful parent or enjoy life?

Assumption divide 3 - There is a universal best way to educate.  This parallels a hang up I have with evolutionary eugenicists (digression averted).  Maybe rote memorization of multiplication tables is better for some children.  With a national Board of Education a one size fits all approach is inevitable and those kids will be left out.  The idea of a universal best has been disproved most prominently with spaghetti sauce.   Check out Malcolm Gladwell's speech to TED if you wanna learn more.

Assumption divide 4 - More education is better.  This ties in with the 2nd assumption.  But obviously there is a point where the marginal benefit of education is less than the marginal cost.  Only an individual can dynamically respond when this happens.

Assumption divide 5 - Government knows best vs Parents know best.  This one speaks for itself and is highly controversial

Assumption divide 6 - More resources should be provided to low achievers vs more resources to those with greater potential.    Kurt Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' dealt with this dilemma

Assumption divide 7 - More facilities and individualized programs are better.  The DC study seems to disprove this sadly.

I know this isn't everything but at least it is a start.

So what do you guys think???  What am I missing?  What is left to ponder?  How can we use this information to make a difference?  Should we make a difference?  Does the current situation appeal to you based on how you lean regarding the aforementioned assumptions??