Fantasy Drafthelp: Don't Be That Guy!

Excerpted from the only fantasy football guide you need this year, FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2009 ...

Don't Be That Guy

^ Don’t be that guy who is unprepared and whines in the mid to late rounds that everyone worth taking is already gone. They’re not, you’re just woefully unprepared.

^ Don’t be that guy who doesn’t properly understand your league’s scoring system. League setups are like snowflakes; no two are the same. Our draft board is configured to conform to a fairly basic scoring system (illustrated below), but your league could well have some quirks that would force you to make adaptations to our board. Be aware of them.

^ Don’t be that guy who doesn’t pay enough attention and selects players who are already off the board. It’s impolite to your leaguemates and it will invariably break your concentration when everyone howls at you and you’ve got to go back to Square One on a backup pick. To ensure that you are aware of everything that is going on during your draft, utilize a “grid” to track all teams, with the number of rounds going down the left side and the teams listed in order along the top.

^ Don’t be that guy who approaches the draft like it’s a night of epic decision-making. If you’ve done your homework, it’s not. You merely find out where you’re drafting and you “let the draft come to you.” Trust your draft board, abide by it and don’t overrule your rankings lightly. Weeks of preparation will trump minutes of frantic guessing anytime.

^ Don’t be that guy who has ironclad rules, like the weenies who always say, “I’m going to take running backs with my first two picks.” Really? No matter how picked-over they are? That’s insane. To a certain extent, this goes back to the last point about letting the draft come to you. When everyone else zigs, you zag and you’ll get value with every pick.

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WorldNetDaily posts Obama's Kenyan Birth Certificate

Attorney Orly Taitz has filed a motion in U.S. District Court asking the Court to authenticate this document which was obtained from an anonymous source. Taitz is a lawyer and I'm not but I believe that the legal burden of proof is on Taitz's side to prove the document authentic and that the court will so rule.

Update: A poster at Democratic Underground points out that the number on this certificate is 47, O44 and notes that Obama was 47 when he became the 44th President. Also that the zero is actually the letter "O" rather than the number.

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The RAND Corporation and UFOs

Interesting article with information about General Curtis LeMay and General Hap Arnold and possible connections to Roswell, Foo Fighters and more.

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Confusion

I talked to The Youngest today. John was a guy who graduated a year ahead of her. John had a sex change operation and is now Sue. Sue is 'married' to Debbie. This came as quite a shock for The Youngest.

This thing leaves me with a few questions. Now, I'm not going to pretend that I understand someone wanting to change their gender, but whatever. The biggest question I have is this: If you change from one gender because you feel as if you are the other gender, why would you go through with the operation and be a homosexual after wards? From what I understand, a person has to go through intensive psychological testing and therapy before a doctor agrees to the operation. Now, if a person feels as if he/she is supposed to be the opposite sex and identifies with the opposite sex, doesn't it stand to reason that the person is attracted sexually to persons of the sex he/she was born as? I mean, to BE a male means being attracted to women and to BE a female means being attracted to men, right? So, to be a male wanting to change to female would mean the person ALWAYS is attracted to males. Before the operation the person would be gay, but would be 'normal' after. If this isn't the case with a person seeking a change, then why would a doctor accept the person's saying he/she has always felt wrong in his/her body and KNOWS he/she is supposed to be the opposite sex? What am I missing here? This REALLY confuses me.

Okay, so maybe John and Debbie were married before he had the operation. But now he is a woman--legally and in every other respect. It is not legal for two women to be married, so how can they still be legally together? Was their marriage automatically annulled as a result of the operation? Way, way, way too many questions. Maybe I should just quit thinking about it--it makes things that much easier.

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Send in the Links: Weekend Edition (08/01/09)

It's that time again as OTB takes a look around the blogosphere for the cream of the crop and some of the stuff that you probably do not need to know. Ginnifer Goodwin wants you to.

-> Braylon Edwards Failing at More Than His Physical (Paneech)
-> Plaxico Burress Teases Grand Jury (Googling Atlee Hammaker)
-> Curveballs safer to throw than fastballs, O RLY? (The Big Picture)
-> Fan catches Foul Ball with kid on his hip, degree of difficulty: 5.6 (NESW Sports)
-> Should the NBA have a team in Vegas? (That NBA Lottery Pick)
-> If Pikachu was an overweight asian guy... (Urlesque)

Now, Excuse Me, "Follow me to Freedom"

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hope: post-modernist plagiarism

I have been doing some visual research for my Indigenous students - images that may inspire them and that they can use as visual references for their paintings. With copyright issues in mind I have been looking for practical ways to introduce them to the idea of 'combining' parts of different images, cutting, pasting and recomposing in the true spirit of post-modernist plagiarism. This raises some interesting issues related to culture and their place, not just mine, in Australia today.

Quite a few of my Aboriginal students experience shame about their culture. This is because many of the 'stolen' generation have been taught to be ashamed of it. Consequently they have not been able to pass it down to an emerging generation, many of whom now want to know about it. When they are not denying their culture, they are angry at the wadjelas who have stolen it. And when they are not angry, they are just sad.

So what do I say to them when they express this sorrow about not knowing about their own culture? I say: you are the culture - now. Who you are and how you live your life is just as relevant, there is always something worthwhile to say. And slowly we are all working together so you can reclaim some of that old knowledge.

This is the only way I can think of to work with these difficult issues - celebrating in the spirit of post-modernism, where we are all borrowing and exchanging ideas and images. The divisions between cultures is becoming increasingly murky, and although some lament this, some welcome it as a sign of a unified world. Let's hope it is.

This image is perhaps a bit obvious, but I have plagiarised my own badly digitalised symbolic message of tentative hope for the future of Indigenous culture.

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JoJo - Writing and producing an album in Boston and Atlanta.

JoJo, in an April 8, 2008 interview at the Hearst Tower for the "Ultimate Prom" party, JoJo stated that she is writing and producing an album in Boston and Atlanta.

JoJo has lined up producers Tank, DJ Toomp, J. Moss, Toby Gad, The Underdogs, Danja, J.R. Rotem, Billy Steinberg, Bryan-Michael Cox, Marsha Ambrosius, Madd Scientist, Tony Dixon, Eric Dawkins and J. Gatsby. Out of three quarters of the finished material, JoJo wrote all but one song.

JoJo said it will be her most personal album to date with inspiration coming from a romantic breakup to finding a new relationship, as well as feeling s*xier and more confident becoming a woman. The self-written title track is described as an inspirational anthem.

On August 30, 2008, JoJo posted her own answer version of the song "Can't Believe It", which originally performed by T-Pain. On September 1, JoJo said that her album would be out early 2009. In 2008, R&B singer Ne-Yo sampled JoJo's second single "Baby It's You".

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