Mikko's Blog

I just can't stop watching this. It's an Epic Iverson rant turned into an equally epic YouTube instant classic by DJ Steve Porter.

I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that, and I'm not shoving it aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important. I honestly do. But we talkin' 'bout practice, man.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

So it has been one week since Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of United States of America, and folks, I couldn't be happier. That said, we all must understand that President Obama has his work cut out for him, but he is working long days to meet the many challenges the country is facing today.

Here's a good example of just another day at the Oval Office:

President To Face Down Monster Attack, Own Demons In Action-Packed Schedule

Godspeed Mr President. Godspeed.

So, finally some good news from Alaska. Looks like the missing Alaska ballots have been found. They won't paint the state blue by any means, but they do explain those rather unexpected election figures this year.

It has also been reported that Palin is actually considering running for president in 2012. Wow. Just, wow. Really?

If I were her, I would just capitalize on her 15 minutes of fame while it lasts. An offer of cool $2M has been offered for an adult movie appearance, plus there's even an extra $100K (and a snowmobile!) in there for the hubby. I say take it.

I can now claim my awesome Dr Horrible costume is "an award winning costume" because I placed third in the company costume competition. I was surprised so many people voted for me because not too many people knew of Dr Horrible. Here's the picture from the announcement email that went out to the internal mailing list:

The kooky character behind me is my co-worker Jamie in his traditional monster gear that is guaranteed to scare small children. In scientific terms, 80% of the time it works every time.

Just a quick post here. In case you didn't hear yet, MTV is getting back into showing videos. Yes, really! No, not on TV, however, because that would cut into their precious air time dedicated to washed up has-beens starring in reality shows that have no connection to reality. Instead, there's now MTV Music, a web site MTV attempts to show every music video ever, give or take.

Check it out! You won't be let down. Or given up, for that matter.

Here's a first for this blog -- a food review. I feel I should warn you that if you happen to be a vegetarian or some sort of a health nut, this piece may end up reading like a horror story. On the other hand, if you happen to be a fellow carnivore you may find this review sounding more like an erotic story, food porn, if you will. Either way, consider yourself warned.

For dinner tonight I grilled something the local Kroger deli had labeled "Mexican Grillers". I have no idea what the background of this food item is, ethnically speaking or otherwise. I should note that we are talking Michigan, however. For Michiganders, anything Southwest of Indiana is virtually Mexican. So there's that to keep in mind.

Simply put, these "grillers" are chicken stuffed with ham and cheese and wrapped in bacon you throw on a grill until the chicken is cooked. I think my cholesterol went up a few points just by typing that, but let me tell you, they are DAMN tasty. The salty crispy bacon shell hides all the succulent chicken, ham, and cheese goodness. Mmmm-mmm! You cut into that bad boy and the flavors and aromas just pour out... Heaven!

They were not really expensive, either. I think we paid even $7 for two, and one is certainly enough to feed an adult when you serve it with a little corn and some roasted red skin taters.

Overall, I highly recommend.

I saw this interesting story published on The New York Times about a group of biologists who have constructed a genetic map of Europe showing the degree of relatedness between its various populations. It's interesting to visually see how much genetic overlap there is between various European nationalities -- with a notable exception of us Finns who just don't mix.

Check it out.

Ann Arbor is abuzz with news, rumors, and celebrity sightings right now. Drew Barrymore has been spotted all over Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and recently Us Magazine ran a story about how she was supposedly partying like a rock star in Ann Arbor while shooting a movie here. Now the city has blocked off the corner of 1st and Liberty for a few days for a movie shoot. My office is on 5th and Liberty, so we're talking just four blocks down. I have had two people personally claiming to have sighted Michael Cera (of Superbad and Juno fame) on scene Monday.

Initially everyone assumed this was for the Barrymore flick, but turns out the Michael Cera movie is a whole different movie. Confused? Me too. So let's see what we do know so far.

The Drew Barrymore movie is called "Whip It!". It's a roller derby movie starring Drew herself and Ellen Page. IMDB plot synopsis: "In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin."

The Michael Cera flick is called "Youth in Revolt". It also stars Justin Long ("Hi, I'm a Mac") and my personal favorite, "The" Steve Buschemi. The IMDB lists the plot synopsis like this: "While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, 14-year-old Nick sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity." The movie is based on a novel by C. D. Payne, also titled "Youth in Revolt".

Initially, it would seem that these two productions have nothing in common, but at least two connections can be seen. Drew Barrymore and Justin "The Mac Guy" Long just broke up after dating for about a year. In fact, it has been reported that Justin was supposed to have a role in Drew's "Whip It", but dropped out when they broke up.

The other interesting connection is the Juno connection. Ellen Page, who played Juno, is in "Whip It!" and Michael Cera, who played Juno's boyfriend, is in "Youth in Revolt".

Coincidences or conspiracies? You decide!

You may have noticed sites like digg.com has become seemingly dedicated to lame top ten lists. Where did these top ten lists come from? Why are they so popular? Who is to blame? SPOILER ALERT: I am.

Top ten lists are an ad revenue goldmine for sites as they are a very easy way to create content that drives traffic to your ad driven site. You simply take something your target audience can't get enough of. For instance, guys love models in bikinis. You find pictures of 10 models in bikinis, which takes about 0.04s using images.google.com. You rank them based on your personal taste, sprinkle them across 10 pages visitors have to click through. On each page you fill all screen real estate not taken by a stolen copy of Liz Hurley in bikinis with as many ads as possible. Then you post the link to it on as many social networking sites as you can, and watch the web traffic go through the roof.

So who are these people who fall for these cheesy top ten lists day in and day out. What kind of an idiot does that? Well, for one, I do. And for as long as I, and people like me, keep visiting those pages, they will keep cropping up.

Yes, I'm a sheep. I know I'm being played like a finely tuned Stradivarius, but dammit, I have GOT to find out what this guys list of 10 Worst Movies Of All Time are, who the Hottest 10 R&B Divas Ever To Do Time are, and 10 Craziest Things You've Ever Seen Built Out Of Legos.

So there you have it. The top ten reasons one through ten for digg.com sucking these days are me and 9 other guys like me.

You must have heard Gavin DeGraw's song "I'm In Love With A Girl". It gets a lot of airtime on pop stations these days. I'm bringing it up because I wonder if I am the only one who feels Gavin is trying a little too hard to prove that he likes the ladies. You know what I mean? It's like he's trying to convince you that despite of what you may or may not have heard, he is totally into chicks.

Look, Gav. It's the new millennium, man. We're all just glad you're in love. Nobody cares if it's with a girl, or not. Whatevsies.

Yes, we heard you. You're in love with a girl. Got it. But it would be okay if you were totally in love with a person who might not be a girl. We'd be cool with that, too.

Fine, with a girl, yes. We believe you.

*eye roll*