bendogg.monathecat.com

– and boring. But, it’s great to be home spending time with family and friends. When I get near a high speed connection I will upload photos to flickr proving the beauty of Nebraska. Most people have the idea that Nebraska is very, very flat — which, it is. But, not so flat. People usually only see the section of the state near I-80 (the interstate – it only makes sense to have the biggest highway in the state on the flattest part of the state). On another note, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the speed of my site (dreamhost ru|3z) (and the wordpress admin pages) from dial-up. If I was a good employee I would also do some user testing from home — if I do that, Nebraska really is boring. Happy Holidays and w00t to all!

w00t! 102 comments marked as spam. If only these people were real visitors. Happy Holidays, Everyone!

I’ve been playing with getting video onto the psp and this application single-handedly does it all! PSP Video 9 WOW. I’ve thrown almost every type of video file I have at it – flash (flv), avi, mpeg, .tivo (w00t – tivo to psp!) and out comes a perfectly formatted file correctly named per the psp naming spec and ready to copy to the memory card. (well, assuming you have the right codecs ;)) Fantastic. Now, I just need to wait for the ability to burn UMDs and the psp will be the ultimate portable video device. I am definitely loving the PSP.

I watched L4yer Cake last weekend. I can say that after watching, I’m looking forward to Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. He’s younger, edgier (which will be good) and definitely a cool, suave guy. When the original announcement was made I was a bit hesitant, but now that I’ve seen an example of his work, I’m now excited about the next bond film. (and, it’s also Casino Royale, which, the Woody Allen/Peter Sellers version has one of my favorite movie quotes ever: (I paraphrase) “I see you have a tiger in your office” “Why yes, we actually have several. The one you so astutely noticed and three more around the room.”) So, watch L4yer Cake; it’s cool — and start acting like Daniel Craig; he’s cool.

Lot’s of ex-Red Sox players/managers coming to the Dodgers. Little, Mueller and rumored that Johnny Damon may be on the way too. Now if they could get Manny too . . .

ESPN.com – MLB – Report: Dodgers, 3B Mueller reach two-year deal

ESPN.com – MLB – MLB Rumor Central! I love it! This may be my favorite part of the baseball season (an exciting playoff series or opening day are the other favorites – and the mid-season trade deadline is like a mini-off-season). Winter Meetings (all the GMs together in one hotel) are in full swing and every team is making deals. The amount of speculation is incredible, there are 33 rumors just from today on the MLB Rumor Central page and there will probably be even more as the day goes on. Part of the reason I love it is that there is so much hope that our favorite teams will pick up that one player that will really make a difference next season. Hope springs eternal, but when you can read about it and get 24/7 news updates, hope is a freakin geyser.

from Scharffen Berger – Cacao Nibs – Candy Blog

You’re saying, what the heck is a cacao nib and why cover it in chocolate? (Well, never ask why cover anything in chocolate … we cover things in chocolate because that’s what sets us apart from animals.)

That says it all — why the Candy Blog is awesome! Amen to covering things in chocolate, Amen. Great blog for reviews of all types of candy.

I love Scharffen Berger. It may be the best, american chocolate. I was at an event where Mr. Scharffen Berger was pairing chocolates with liquor (it was at a whiskey tasting) — awesome! It was the first time I had the Mocha Bar. Oh, sweet, sweet memories.

Christmas Time!

Originally uploaded by benchristen.

On shadowstorm’s suggestion, I now have a christmas tree! In the past I have opted out of the christmas tree thing. Mostly because I don’t want to come back from a holiday vacation to a dead tree. Well, with a fake tree that isn’t an issue. I even have a present under the tree! Well, it’s just the box of the present, the new bunn coffee pot is up and running and ready to brew. I’ll be making some tea after I finish this post. Perhaps, tea with cinnamon spice? Anyway, the tree is totally fake, but it’s really nice to have, it came with all the lights on it and everything — it’s plug and play!

ESPN.com – NCF – Congress to look into ‘deeply flawed’ BCS system

WTF! Congress has nothing better to do? I know the BCS is a disaster, but come on! How about worry about real disasters. Having congressional hearings for steroids in baseball was bad enough. Again, WTF!

For those who don’t know, WTF = What the Fuck.

oh, and for the record, I totally failed on my personal blogging challenge. I was going pretty good well there for a week (i know, some posts were really short, technicalities), then I either got busy or didn’t have pressing things to talk about or both. anyway, I’ll have to save the special lychee gel for another day and another reward.