The greatest debate of all time

I think it is the most important question that has not been relevant for 1000 years.

What year will we start calling it "Twenty-...", instead of "Two Thousand-..."??

For instance, we say "two-thousand eight" instead of "twenty oh eight"? Why?

In 1999, a friend and I had a great debate as to what year we would change over, and secondly, why we said "two-thousand" and two-thousand one" to begin with. We literally debated this topic for days.

He contended that in two or three years people would naturally shorten it because that was how we called every year up until then.

I felt that because of the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", people would pronounce it "two thousand one". In addition, it is the same amount of syllables in "two thousand one" and twenty oh one". You can't say "twenty one" because it sounds like, well, 21.

For me, the critical year is 2010 for the exact same reasons. The movie "2010" was pronounced "Twenty ten" and because you can lose a syllable if you say "twenty ten" instead of two thousand ten". People are lazy and will shorten a sentence if they can.

Now that we are much closer, I hear it both ways. Will the Super Bowl be in Dallas in "twenty eleven" or two thousand eleven"? Maybe it lasts until 2013. "Two thousand thirteen" is a mouthful. "Twenty thirteen" comes off much smoother.

I'd like to hear your opinions. This is what keeps me up at night.

Living in the now

Got this from Cliff, and it meant a lot to me.

I forget how important karma is and being happy and enjoying life. This video takes about 10 minutes, but it's worth it.

Dr. Randy Pausch

Fox 4 News

It is amazing to me the job that I do and the amount of people that watch the show that I work on.

1.) On Sunday, Feb. 17, 177,799 households watched FOX 4 News at 9. That is households and not people. The average household is 2.5 people. I understand that not everyone in a household is watching, but its possible that as many as 445,000 people could be watching my newscast.

When American Idol is on, 224,075 HH (560,187 total) watched our News at 9. Half of a million people. I can't imagine what the total was for Super Bowl Sunday.

2.) Ed Bark is a former DMN writer who has a website, Uncle Barky, that chronicles DFW television. He also interviewed Tami's anchors, Megan Henderson and Tim Ryan, on Saturday at Stratos Greek Taverna in Dallas. So, this guy has a website that only TV junkies go to, yet, there was a decent crowd of people there. It's hard for me to remember that TV people are celebrities. Hell, even Tami was a celeb in Lufkin when she was a reporter.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here's why TV sucks though. There is a NASCAR race that was supposed to start at 1:30pm. It started at 5:30pm, followed by two hours of prime time, then our newscast. So our newscast will get done around 1am, instead of 10:30pm.

Yeah TV

Random thoughts

Why are there so many judge shows? I don't know anyone who watches them. Judge Judy makes $25 million a year. I make considerably less, but I'm more entertaining.

It bothers me that there are celebrities that don't or haven't ever done anything. Of course, Paris Hilton is the queen, but there are many more.

Can we reduced the time in between the NFL Championship games and the Super Bowl? I watch a lot of sports and I'm so sick of seeing Tom Brady. He's pretty, but please stop. Then we can have the Super Bowl on my birthday again.

Why can't I grow a beard? Dad could grow one overnight.

Speaking of shaving, if you have that chin divot, how do you shave that? Or does hair grow in there at all?

Why is there a comment on one of my blogs from someone I don't know. It's on the 70 article. What possesses someone to randomly search for personal blogs and insult me? Very bizarre.

Here's what he wrote:

Bill, As a non-guitarist, this would explain your opinion of EVH. I can probably name 170 better guitarists. There were some major omissions on that list - I have the issue at home. I have never been a VH fan for one reason - Van Halen 1 was great - and then they kept remaking it over and over again. Nothing original until the shitty keyboards on 1984. I saw them live and thought the whole concert was very contrived and way too rehearsed - I don't mean the music, I mean the bantering with the crowd and it looked like they had "blocked" where they were going to stand for every song. No spontaneity(sp?) whatsoever. I like going to a show not knowing what to expect. I will grant that they put out an occasional decent song after the 1st album, but for the most part, the later releases sounded like outtakes from that same one. Jimi Hendrix was rightfully selected as #1. He did things on the guitar that people still can't replicate today (40 years later) because no one is really sure how he did it. There are 1000s of guitarists who can play everything EVH did flawlessly. There are maybe a handful who can match Jimi (RIP SRV). Sorry for the long answer, we can discuss at more length why VH sucks over a beer sometime.Chris

Hey jerk, get your own blog and let me rip your posts!

"Lost" starts tonight and I can't wait.

Things I'm angry about today

1.) COWBOYS HATERS

I am so frustrated with everybody's upset pick, the Giants. I know I hated on the Boys earlier, but now I'm pissed at sports announcers everywhere. 5 of 10 ESPN "experts" pick the Giants. Are you kidding? The Cowboys beat them twice this year, (by double-digits both times), they're playing at home and are rested.

Here is an interesting article from FOX Sports.

"The Divisional Playoff round of the NFL postseason has produced the most lopsided scores as the teams that have earned the right to rest through the Wildcard round have owned their visiting foes. In fact, the average margin of victory in this round has been 13.9 PPG."

"Since ’93, only four NFC road teams have won straight up in the divisional round against 24 losses."

"5th and 6th seeds in the NFC are just 1-10 (straight up) & 3-8 (against the spread) in their last 11 games in this round. "

At least Madden '08 simulation has them winning 31-10.

2.) SFA LUMBERJACKS

I was so excited to see the Lumberjacks basketball team off to a great start. They were 11-1 and have wins over SMU and Oklahoma (!). I was so excited that I put that thing on the side of the page. Well, since then, they are now 0-1 in conference with a loss to Nicholls St (6-10, 1-0) and my dreams of a first-ever tournament bid are severely damaged. Aww damn.

Things I'm looking forward to

MOVIES

National Treasure
Cloverfield

TV

Bret Michaels Rock of Love II
Lost (Jan. 31)
Reno 911


This long night being over. (Thanks BCS and FOX)

The job hunt

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days in this regard. About four months ago, I applied for a management position in the company. After what felt like a cursory interview, I was in talking with the news director and found an ally. She told me she would speak with the VP of Engineering on my behalf and put in a good word for me. She also suggested I put together a proposal, which I have. We'll see where this goes!