toddvj

I'm already bulky enough. I'm actually down from 255 to 240, and plan to keep losing. I hate to buy clothes thinking that I'll "shrink into them," but at the same time I don't want it to be too huge if I get down to 180-190. On the other hand, I'll probably only wear it 6-7 times a year.

So I got this gift certificate for NFLshops.com. I thought, since it's more or less free, I'd get an "authentic" football jersey. I usually wear XXL T-Shirts, and according to their sizing charts, that is about a 54. However, in the jersey I want, the only sizes available are 52 or 56. Anybody have any personal experience with these jerseys, and which way I should go? I am 5'10 240lbs.

Agreed. I read a story in the paper a couple years ago that still sticks with me to this day. A guy forced his 10-year-old daughter to sit in a scalding bathtub for 10 minutes, until her skin peeled off. This is one case where I think an eye for an eye would be the right way to go. http://isanticountynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=459&Itemid=1

Normally I just ignore the nay-sayers, but I think there is a point to be made here. Most of the contestants are already "starving musicians" before they come on the show. Some have had recording contracts, some are struggling in the bar scene, etc. Look up almost any of the contestants and you'll probably find some music that they self-released or had released by a smaller independent company. Sure the producers of the show want to make it look like it is just a bunch of kids walking in off the street, but if you look during the "auditions," you'll notice they are always reading the contestants' resumes as they walk in the door. I have no doubt in my mind that the people that are going to make it through are pre-determined (at least for the most part), and they just throw in a few nut-jobs to make it look legit. How much of the contest is real, and how much is rigged, I don't know. I think the voting is real, but it is clear that the judges are there to steer public opinion toward the artist they feel is the most "commercially viable." The music industry is a business, it's no secret, it has been for a long time. They are there to make money, plain and simple. The fact is, it's hard to make it in the music industry, but if it's what you want to do, swallowing your pride, and going on American Idol is one way to make it. Are you "selling out" when you go on the show? Maybe. But the fact is, win or lose, you are going to get noticed. These kids are household names once they're on the show. So you do your time, fulfill your obligation to 19 records, then go out on your own as a well-known artist and make the music you want to make. I don't think anyone is saying that American Idol is the pinnicle of what music has to offer. For the most part, the show is very, very cheesy. It's fun to watch, though, and whether or not you like the artists' type of music, they do manage to "discover" some real talent. One American Idol alumnus, Carrie Underwood, came from nothing to be a huge superstar in country music. She is possibly the most popular artist in country music today. She has sold millions of records, won grammies and CMA awards. And that's without "rehashing the same mainstream commercial crap." I don't listen to that type of music, and wouldn't personally buy her albums, but I also wouldn't lump her in to the category of "made-up pop stars." And to skonopa, those are some interesting bands, nice list. I'll have to check them out. I checked a couple out, I would have never heard of them (except Nightwish) otherwise. Which is sort-of my point. Although, I suppose if they were more well known, they would lose some of the "coolness" factor that they have? I do think that Adam Lambert, from this season's American Idol, has the chops to front just about any of those bands, if that is what he chose to do. And that's what I think he's best suited to do, be a front-man for a rock or heavy metal band.

They're finally blowing them out, huh? It's funny how some retailers are still trying to sell these things for $25-30. I've pretty much got all the HD-DVDs that I want, but I'll have to look carefully through them and see if I can find $25.00 worth that would make good additions to my collection. Check out also inetvideo. They have great deals all the time. HD-DVDs starting at $1.99, and they often have sales with free or discounted shipping. Even if you don't have an HD-DVD player, some of the titles are cheap enough that you can buy them, then turn around and trade them in at red2blu.com, and get some Blu-Rays cheap. You could even sell the HD-DVDs with no cover on ebay or CL, and recoup some of your money.

I didn't like him at first either, but I came around.

Yeah, Adam should have won, no doubt about it. There was really no contest. The votes really might as well be a coin flip. If you call to vote, the lines are completely saturated, most of the time you get a busy signal. I think it's more a matter of how many people listen to the "thank you for voting" and how many just hang up once they get through. Nothing against Kris, but I just don't think he'll amount to anything, whereas I'm pretty sure Adam will. Well, Adam DID sing Queen, both he and Kris did. As far as type-casting, what do you mean? Voice-wise, I think he is a good fit for either band. If you are talking about something else, maybe his lifestyle, I still think he's a good fit for either. []

That's the problem. There is almost no enforcement. If you get caught, it's a slap on the wrist. The cops figure it's the merchants' fault for accepting the stolen card and don't even bother going after the bad guy. Even if you know exactly who the bad guy is.

I'd recommend starting in the middle. Unless you want to be subjected to a group sing-along and a Lil Rounds/Queen Latifa duet. There were some great surprise performances. KISS on american idol? Queen, Santana, Rod Stewart singing Maggie Mae. Good stuff.

Yep, I had a couple charges from iTunes and amazon. both micro-charges (under 1.00). My bank caught it before I did and issued me a new card. I got lucky, but it made me realize that it can happen to anyone.

On the bright side, though, it's better than being led out in handcuffs.

Find another kid his age, and hire him to get your stuff back.

That's cheap. About $70 US. I would expect it to go much higher within the week even with the damage. If I were in the market, I'd probably pay $250-300 US (or 330-400 AUD), but I'm kind of a cheapskate, and I would probably not win the auction at that price. Then again, it is damaged slightly, even though I'm sure it does play fine. So maybe my price is attainable?

First two things I do when I buy a new CD are, make a copy for the car, and rip to my hard drive. I use EAC/LAME, rip to mp3 for best compatibility. I originally ripped all my CDs to 128kbps when a 80GB hard drive was considered large. Then I got a 60GB iPod and re-ripped the entire collection to 192kbps VBR. I have since gone back and ripped my favorites to 320kbps, and left my "catalog" CDs at 192 VBR. I also have a few "favorite favorites" in Apple lossless but also kept the 320 version, again for compatability. I can stream my music via my HTPC, my TiVo, and my iPod dock (I have 160GB ipod now - almost full). For tagging, EAC does the job for me. Only thing that I've found is that sometimes the genres are strange, so I've changed them in iTunes. I also have a program called media monkey that works great for tagging.

When you're all ready for a set-up like that, it never works []. You might have to set up a new meeting and bait them into saying "Josh, it looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately" by asking questions like "has my attendance been bad?"

Holy ****! That's a great deal!

Very Pretty. Weird layout for the pictures, though. Looks like they're cut off.

Not only would I not open it, I wouldn't give not opening it a second thought.

Just one thing. Just because GM doesn't do leases doesn't mean that you can't lease, does it? There have to be third-party finance companies that will lease, aren't there?

Are they competing with your auction when they do. If so that's pretty bold. If not, why do you care?

Besides, I'm pretty sure if you are using the OEM restore discs, it won't ask you.

What about Kara-- After Danny gets done singing "Dream On" by Aerosmith, she says I think it would've been better if you did some"Early Aerosmith" like Cryin' or Crazy!!! What a moron. You would think these judges that have made their living in the music business would, I don't know, actually know something about music? They proved that they didn't when they criticized Allison, and gave the others a free pass. They just don't know good when they hear it. Most of them only care about boring R&B crap anyway. That and they are really just looking for the most marketable, not the most talented. Not to take anything away from Adam.

Does HDMI work for DVD-A / SACD? That's a huge selling feature if it does.

Just read a review of Green Day's upcoming album, 21st Century Breadkdown, and the reviewer says that it makes American Idiot look like a warm-up!!! That is a pretty bold statement. If that's the case, I'm anxious to get my hands on it.

Nice. They didn't show that on American TV did they?