Lose for the Fuse Update 3...

Just a reminder to head over to Loseforthefuse.com for my weekly update today.

More Rollin' on Monday.

On Ridiculously Difficult Video Games and the Children that Beat Them...

I don't care if you've ever played a second of Guitar Hero in your life. Just watch the kids fingers and the TV screen, you'll get the idea.


http://view.break.com/422526 - Watch more free videos

On another note, here is a Mario Brothers clone that attempts to do everything it can to make you throw your keyboard through your monitor.



And finally if Mario and Metroid met. (For true Game nerds only)

On Being a Man or Not So Much...

Merry day after Christmas, saw this today and thought you might need the checklist/

25 Skills Every Man Should Know.

I can do exactly 7 of these things putting me at 28% man. Wife o' Dice can probably do 10. Somehow not only doesn't that bother me, it makes me happy. I love that gal.

10 Rollin' points if you can guess which 7 man things I've got in my bag of tricks.

On Duels and Clashes...

Bonus post today since I meant to post the Pixar thing yesterday. I had to talk a little about the two shows that have been debuting this week to decent numbers. Duel and Clash of the Choirs. I've watched both all week and would recommend checking in to either the rest of the week even if you haven't been watching (Clash is over tonight, Duel continues through Sunday).

Duel is a cool new spin on the classic game show. I love that it's tournament style, and that there is some extra strategy involved in the gameplay. This means that there is more to it than getting the answers right, you have to play the game correctly to continue to advance. The downside is that I'm already getting a little bored with it, but this is my pattern with game shows. I'll definitely stick with it through Sunday to see how the final round works and who makes it. The show also gets bonus points for choosing "Greeny" (half of the wonderful Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio.) as host.

Clash of the Choirs on the other hand started slow for me and has gotten better. I have to admit I fast forward through almost everything on this show except the singing. And really as far as that is concerned I've only been impressed with two of the 5 original choirs, Nick Lachey's Cincinatti crew and Patti Labelle's group. But the performances of those two choirs have made it all worth watching. In fact, Lachey's choir's A Capella rendition of Flight of the Bumblebee was worth the price of admission all by it's self, with Patti Labelle doing "Over the Rainbow" coming in a close second. I think I'm rooting for Lachey on this one, but will be fine with either of those two winning.

On Pixar's Wonderful Sneakiness...

You've probably seen some of the more obvious ways that Pixar references their previous (and future) work in their films. But this article gets into the nitty gritty details of how deep that tradition runs. This atmosphere is just one of the many reasons I love Pixar and will be sitting middle center when Wall-E comes out next summer.

The Dominic Monaghan edition...

Two huge things today that appear to be going on without Dominic Monaghan.

First is the announcement that Lost will move to Thursdays at 9 in 2008, which you probably saw, but did you see the extended preview for the season? I am sooooooooo ready.

Second, it appears as if Peter Jackson and New Line have buried the hatchet paving the way for him to direct two Hobbit prequels to the Lord of the Rings. The only way this day gets better is if they announce that it will be in 3D. Can not wait.

AFI sings "You're the Best"...

With end of the year listitus in full epidemic mode (my best of 2007 lists will be up in January) AFI released their annual groups (I would say list except they don't rank them) of 10 best TV and Movies for the past year. They usually do a great job and I was glad to see Ratatoullie and Pushing Daisies on the respective lists.

Lose for the Fuse update...

Head over to loseforthefuse.com today for the first weekly update!

Since we are on a food theme, head over to Free Rice and help end world hunger while you play the simple vocab game. It's a legit website that donates 20 grains of rice for every answer you get correct. Post your high score in the comments using one of the words you missed in proper context for bonus Rollin' points. For example I expect unctuous congratulations on my high score of 42.

On Gingerbread Houses and Globes a Gilded and Holiday Patience...

Just wanted to give you a heads up that my Holiday posting will be pretty chaotic. I've decided through the first week of January that instead of the occasional full post I will do daily mini posts to kind of keep those things that strike my fancy out in front. For instance, today the Golden Globe nominations were announced at which point I looked through them and uttered a heart felt, "meh".

Also you might want to take a look at how to make a Gingerbread House (Gregory House that is).

First Loseforthefuse.com update tomorrow!

The "Time's Top 10" Edition...

I love lists and checking them twice, though it's got nothing to do with the whole naughty or nice thing, and everything to do with my incessant need to rank things. Well, Time magazine has my number with their 50 Top 10 lists of 2007. Reading through these lists has been a humbling realization that as much as I try to stay culturally informed I am sorely ignorant in so many ways. Of course that doesn't mean I won't jabber about them anyway. Without further ado Dice's top 10 Time's Top 10 lists.

Let's roll.

10. Top 10 Movies (opinion 1/opinion 2)

Take a look at these and tell me you don't feel out of touch. Not only have I only seen 2 of the 20 movies listed ("Breach", a surprising inclusion but worthy, and "Beowulf", a surprising inclusion and not quite worthy.) But probably half of them, I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF. Of course the main question is, WHERE IS RATATOUILLE?

9. Top 10 Gadgets

I'll take one of each please, and two of the #1 Iphone. Thanks.

8. Top 10 Returning Shows

The Sopranos leads a list of primarily cable based "edgy" shows. It's as if a show gets better for ever swear word and nude scene somehow. The only three network shows listed are all good inclusions though. The Office, and 30 Rock are worth checking out and if they hadn't included Lost on their list I might just be in jail today.

7. Top 10 Sports Moments

This list is must see material for one reason only, and it sits in it's proper place at #1. The amazing 15 lateral final play (including the seldom used bounce pass lateral) that won a Division III football game for Trinity over Millsap. The list then goes downhill from there including a certain college football upset from earlier this year that I'd just as soon forget.

6. Top 10 New TV Shows

Nice to see "Pushing Daisies" on here and interesting to see "Kid Nation" (I mean it was fun and all but Top 10?) and the couple of episodes that I caught of HBO's The "Flight of the Conchords" (thanks to the free podcast) were very funny (and clean for that matter) The only other one on the list I've even seen (thanks to the aforementioned "We love the f word" mentality) is Discovery's "Planet Earth" which I have made my feelings very clear on (HINT: It's gorgeous and informative, but a bit too arrogant for it's own good).

5. Top 10 T Shirt Slogans

Random, yet funny for the most part.

4. Top 10 Video Games

A good list overall, and a compilation of what will likely be considered the best games of the year. It does seem a bit weird that the highest selling systems of the year (by far the DS and Wii) only have one game a piece on the list. Super Mario Galaxy (at a rather disappointing #4) and Phantom Hourglass (Zelda for DS) are both great games and worthy of recognition. I was just hoping for some Zack and Wiki love, oh well.

3. Top 10 Underreported Stories

Stuff you should have heard about, but maybe didn't.

2. Top 10 Magazine Covers

I know this is a weird one to include, especially so high, but somehow I am just captivated by graphic design and the use of limited cover space to convey emotion and humor. I was engaged by all 10 of these covers.

1. Top 10 Sports Matches

Easily my favorite list. It kicks off with 4 games I watched live and knew I was watching something special (even though my beloved Pistons were the victims of #4) and then finishes with what I still consider to be the most amazing sports finish in history (which I've previously blogged about here). And of course the Boise State win at #1 has to be the most fun I've ever had watching college football.

On Christmas Parenting Peril and Underdogs from Philly...

I have a complex relationship with our annual Christmas decorating. That first night once all the lights and ornaments are on the tree and the decorations in place I am in Christmas euphoria. Within days, however, things start coming out of my mouth like, "Put that down!", "Leave that on the tree!", "Who opened this Christmas present!", and "Quit chewing on that power cord!" and before I know it I'm left with no presents under a top half decorated tree that we refuse to plug in the lights because it attracts the proverbial moths to the Christmas flame. By the end of the first day the "days 'til Christmas" santa is holding numbers that represent my Christmas sentence. 14 days left 'til I'm up for parole, maybe I can get some time off for good behavior.

Let's roll.

TV

You probably know by now that I am a sucker for a good reality show, especially when it brings something new to the table. As long as it doesn't involve celebrities or dating I'm usually on board. Well, this new show on Sci Fi looks like it may be a pretty cool endeavor. It sounds like some sort of weird combination of "The Amazing Race" and "The Fugitive" and could be extremely engaging if done well.

Movies

With the TV shows going dark left and right it's been giving me some time to catch up on some movies I've been holding on my DVR. So far I've gotten through "Invincible", "Rocky", "Rocky II" and started into "Rocky III". The strange thing is I feel like I'm watching the same movie over and over again. It blows my mind how much Invincible is like the original Rocky movies, right down to the location, love interest, long odds, and overdone running sequences (Seriously is the scene in Rocky II where the entire city joins him on his run not the most ridiculous thing ever filmed in sports cinema?) This isn't to say that I didn't like these movies, quite the opposite in fact. Invincible is truly inspiring, and Rocky is a phenomenon I never quite understood until I actually saw it. I get it now. The first Rocky is moving, well acted, and tells an amazing story. The second is a fairly pale comparison to the first (though the fight is incredible) and the third (though I've just started it) seems to start descending into the camp and flamboyance that comes to complete fruition in Rocky IV (the only Rocky movie I had previously seen until this year). Having seen the newest "Rocky Balboa" earlier this year I now understand fully what Stallone was doing with that film. He basically just remade the original Rocky so he could pretend the other sequels never existed. Rocky IV will always have a place in my heart because it is is so completely over the top and fun to watch, but the first and last in the series show the true heart of what Rocky was meant to be.

Music

Great idea from some of the biggest faith-based song writers of all time. MWS, SCC, Tomlin, Martin from Delirious and several others are getting together to write a bunch of songs for charity, but instead of donate the proceeds to the different charities they are giving them the copywrite to the songs. I'm anxious to see if they can put their heads together and come up with some good stuff. Artists aren't generally known for playing well together and "Too many cooks", well, you know. Whatever the case, I think it's a great idea and if anyone can make it work it's these guys.

Game/Tech

You have to check out this auction on Ebay that ended yesterday. It's for Guitar Hero 3 but it's the story behind it that is a wonderful example of creative parenting. The game was originally bought by a father for his 15 year old son but when he caught him smoking some weed with his "delinquent friends" he put it up on Ebay and sent the link to his son to teach him a lesson. All of the details are on the actual auction page, including the son's response and how this has brought them closer. As for me I'm just glad disciplining children is still something that goes on occasionally.

Faith/Culture

As if the spiritual benefits weren't enough, fasting has now been proven to be physically healthy as well. I can just see the Christian bumper sticker people hard at work today, "Fasting, it's good for your heart."

Randomness

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone who has everything? How about some rare Rhino excrement?

On empty Wii shelves and Dicer boy Elves...

Reading "Rollin with Dice" increases your chance of finding a Wii this year by 20%. Little known fact. It also cures insomnia, but that's just a rumor.

Let's roll.

TV

If you are wondering how your favorite shows stand in lieu of the ongoing writer's strike, this is the best site I've found in detailing every show. The network's are being pretty crafty about stretching out the new episodes but our DVR has been eerily silent these last few weeks. Good thing HDMovies had a Hi-def Hitchcock marathon (Vertigo looks amazing, by the way).

Movies

What a lame Holiday movie season. Usually there are at least 4 or 5 new movies out around Christmas that I am pumped about seeing but this year I'm stretching to name 3, none of which I could say I'm "geeked" about. This includes Beowulf that has already come and gone. Now I'm just left with National Treasure 2 and I Am Legend. I guess this is what happens after the greatest summer for movies of all time. If we can stretch the "Holiday" season to January then we can include "Cloverfield" at which point "geeked" becomes an understatement. Speaking of geeked, this winter has me already looking towards summer 08 which among many reasons to get excited you have this specific one:


Can't.... form... words..... brain.... shorting... out...

Music

If you know me you know I live most of my life sprouting headphones from my collar. Since I found an Ipod that had enough space to hold my entire 15,000+ song music collection plus movies, TV Shows, pictures, etc. I haven't gone anywhere without it. In fact, it's likely a factual statement to say that I am wearing my headphones more often than I am wearing pants, especially in the summer. Uh.... The point is, I love having my music with me at all times. The one thing that Ipods have never been able to do though is share. You can't even plug your Ipod into another computer without it erasing your entire library. Enter, miShare. miShare is a genius little device that plugs one end to your Ipod and another to a friends and allows you to swap files at your leisure. I know that neerdowells across the nation will immediately use this to break all sorts of copywrite laws, but just because something can be used illegally doesn't make it a bad product. Used legally this could be a great little stocking stuffer for your music crazed friend.

Gaming/Tech

The hunt for the Wii continues across the country this Christmas and it just keeps getting worse and worse. Wiis are approaching $500 to $600 on Ebay and now Nintendo has decided to pull all advertising for the Wii out of circulation. They said they can't justify advertising a product that is impossible to get. I saw one on the shelf (for about 30 seconds) in July and if I could turn back time I would have bought it immediately (hey, I'm a nice guy and all, but at more than 100% profit I'm all businessman.)

Faith/Culture

Here is a look at a documentary underway about Westboro Baptist Church, or as I call them "those idiots from Kentucky that say that God is killing soldiers because of homosexuality in America" My only request is that the filmmakers make a clear distinction between this small group of morons and the rest of us who love Jesus. Grrrrrrrrrrr. They are not me and I am not them. My fear is that we all get filed under "Christian" together. I hate labels (except of course on soup cans, so I can find the Creme of Mushroom.)

Randomness

Office Max is back with Elf Yourself and this time you can do up to four at a time. So without further ado, the Elfed Dicer boys!

On Finding Osama, Grammy Idols, and Fake Beverages...

Before we get into the topics for the day I wanted to give you a head's up on a new project I'm kicking off today that hopefully will help both myself and 101.7 The Fuse. Since today is The Fuse's 15th birthday I figured it was a perfect time to kick off this year long venture. Today I launch loseforthefuse.com. The simple goal is to get 100 friends and family to pledge $1 for every pound I lose in the next year. All money will go directly to keeping 101.7 The Fuse on the air and can be given monthly, quarterly, or when the year is done. Those who want to help out can sign up anytime during the year but will be responsible to cover any weight lose previous to their signing on. My goal is to lose 100 pounds by The Fuse's 16th birthday and raise $10,000 for the station. I will be doing weekly Friday updates on donations and weight loss at the official blog, loseforthefuse.com and I'd love to kick off this first week strong. If you would consider donating $1 (or more) per pound please head over to the website and click on the "Sign up now" link. Thanks ahead of time for helping me shed some poundage and supporting such a great station!

Let's roll.

TV

Some great hints about the new season of Lost popped up today. Some great stuff and it appears as if the first 8 episodes of the new season are already in the can so at least we will have that if the writer's strike lingers on. Who was in the coffin? WHO I ASK YOU? I MUST KNOW NOW! ARRRGHHHH!

Movies

Morgan Spurlock's (Super Size Me) latest documentary is causing quite a stir. So is the whole "found Osama" thing just a big publicity stunt or did a filmmaker do what the entire US military couldn't? And if you were said filmmaker wouldn't you have considered it your duty to report back your findings to the US Government? Word is that the Weinsteins have dropped 25 million to buy the rights to the film based on just those 15 minutes. My gut says PR stunt, but if not, just, wow.

Music

The Grammy noms are out and there are 6 former American Idol contestants nominated. Does this strike anyone else as crazy? Leading the pack is Chris Daughtry with 4 noms, then Fantasia with 3, Carrie Underwood with 2, and Kelly Clarkson, Mandisa, and Brett (refuse to call him "Ace") Young (for co-writing one of the Daughtry tunes) All in all thats a total of 12 Idol nominations for the most prestigious music award available. This would be like if you opened the paper and found that 6 former survivors had been nominated for Oscars. Like I said, crazy!

Game/Tech

What happens when band geeks cross with gaming geeks, this video, that's what.



10 Rollin' points to the first person who can identify what games these songs are from.

Faith/Culture

I didn't know where else to put this article but I thought it deserved mentioning. I love it when people think fast and are willing to put themselves in danger to save others. His reward, I'm sure, will be higher insurance rates.

Randomness

Check out this add for fictional beverage Slusho. Word is that it is tied into JJ Abrams "Cloverfield" movie. Whatever the case, it's clearly a testament to modern marketing, and definitely belongs in the randomness category. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Don't forget to check out loseforthefuse.com and pledge today!

On Acting Rappers and Athiestic Polar Bears...

My oldest son (Austin, 8) has turned into a voracious reader. In fact, I'm pretty sure the other day he was sitting with a book when he still had game time on the table for the day. What's more, when we hit up his teacher at Parent/Teacher conference her only concern was that he should read books at a higher level. My problem is that his reading skillz are out pacing his content level. Now maybe I'm just an over thinking, overprotective parent, but I'm already a little concerned about the 5th grade level books he's reading (nothing too bad, just some "Goosebumps" type books). His teacher says he should be reading early adolescence type books, but I checked his birth certificate again and he's not really scheduled to deal with puberty type issues til the two thousand teens. I guess I'm up for a little advice, anyone know any higher reading level, yet appropriate age level type books? And yes, I do realize this is classic parental bragging couched in a plea for help, so sue me.

Let's roll.

TV

I set my DVR to record Mitch Albom's new TV movie Sunday called "For One More Day". You may only know him for his often sappy (yet wonderfully engaging) mainstream literature (ie Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet In Heaven) but I fell in love with his writing as a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press. I would highly encourage you to check out his articles online at Freep.com and see the full breadth of his skill and emotion. Mitch has this incredible way of taking a sports story and finding the humanity and truth amongst the stats and figures. Here are his recent takes on The Detroit Tigers blockbuster trade, The Lloyd Carr resignation at U of M, and U of M running back Mike Hart. And if you prefer some Angry Mitch take a look at his ripping of Les Miles, ouch. The point is, even if you aren't a sports fan, you might be a Mitch fan.

Movies

Big news from the X-Files Movie front, as some more cast members are announced including rapper Xzibit as an FBI agent along side the classic Mulder Scully Duo. Even though it does feel like they are pulling a "Poochie" on us (10 Rollin points for the first person to ID that reference) I will withhold judgment until the movie is out. Rappers turned actors can run the continuum from Will Smith to Vanilla Ice or anywhere in between, the main thing is, NEW X-FILES MOVIE IS COMING SOON! WOO-HOO!

Music

Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp announced today that they are going to be co-headlining a tour together starting in February. This strikes me as the absolute perfect matching for a one-two punch, I honestly can't think of a single music fan who is also a Christian that wouldn't want to be at a show. They fill each others gaps incredibly well, like Rocky and Adrian but with better enunciation ("I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps", sorry just saw Rocky for the first time in glorious HD and it's still fresh). I can just see Jeremy telling Toby after the first show, "You complete me, Toby Mac, You complete me." Actually that just went to a really weird place, let's move on.

Game/Tech

Google announced this week that they have integrated AIM into Gmail. I tried it yesterday and it works great and now I don't feel like I'm leaving my AOL peeps behind. It's funny because I keep hearing that IMing is going away in favor of texting but I guess I just haven't gotten with the times yet.

Faith/Culture

I've been holding off talking too much here about The Golden Compass because I'm sure every one of us has gotten the email and read about it. But I will tell you that these comments by Phil Vischer (Veggie Tale guy) perfectly sum up what I would say, and by extension the article he links is the best and most even handed look I've found. Check it out.

Randomness

Find out what your Grinch name is here and if you enjoy it you can thank me, your friend Crabbymonkey Crankyshorts.

On Hannuk... Hanukk... Chanu... that Jewish Holiday that starts today and other stuff...

So Justin (the son that's 6) says to me yesterday, "Hey dad, did you know tomorrow is the first day of Hanukkah?" To which I replied, "No Justin, I did not." I asked him what he knew about it and he said that it was 8 days of gifts and candle lighting and spinning a top. Apparently they have been looking at the different holiday celebrations and traditions in his class. What I find interesting here is that even in Judaism the meaning gets lost in the tradition. You hear Christians talk a lot about loosing the meaning of Christmas, but I bet there are quite a few more people who could tell you that Christmas was about Jesus being born then could tell you why the Jews celebrate these 8 days (It's about the rededication of the second Temple after the Maccabee Revolution, and yes I did have to look it up). The point is, when school's look at religion they can only teach tradition and ritual, it is our responsibility as parents to teach meaning and lifestyle, no matter what your preferred holiday celebration. So to all my Jewish readers, have a great first day of Hanukkah, and if you are ever interested in discussing that whole Messiah thing let me know.

Let's roll.

TV

After preliminary inside reports last week that the writer's strike would be ending soon it now appears slated to continue for a long long time. This article about "Lost" scribe (and producer) Carton Cuse finally stopping all work (not just writing) on the best show on TV has got me all messed up. I think it's time for me to admit that Lost may indeed be out of the picture for a while. In addition to the fresh fist sized holes in my wall this news also means that TV will be all reruns and reality TV for a while. This is where I start the "Bring back the Mole" chant, hoping desperately that someone gives it another shot. I mean, seriously, that Anderson Cooper guy that hosted it was great, and I don't think he's got anything else going on these days, right?

Movies

A New trailer is out today for the next Narnia film "Prince Caspian". After watching it, my anticipation meter went from "oh yeah, that's coming out sometime soon, right?" all the way to "MUST SEE THIS MOVIE NOW!" It looks incredible and reminded me how much more pumped I am to see the lesser read books in the Chronicles than even I was for TLTWATW. I just hope it does well enough that they keep making them cause it would be ashame not to get to the Magician's Nephew.

Music

The news that Jon Foreman was doing 4 solo EPs this next year was like Christmas morning for me. I've got the "Fall EP" on my Ipod right now and it is absolutely incredible, can't wait for the others. To give you reference, hearing this news would be like hearing that your already amazing baseball team was adding two more all-stars to it's roster without giving up any of the starting players. Oh wait, that happened today as well. Some days are just good days.

Game/Tech

You have probably never heard the name Jeff Gerstman before just now, but his story is absolutely blowing up in the Gaming world currently and might even cross over into the mainstream news. Jeff was recently fired from gamespot.com for undisclosed reasons (Jeff has been a staple of their editorial staff for 7ish years) shortly after which his harsh video and written review (for a game that was heaviily advertised on the site) was edited to be a bit nicer and the video review was taken down altogether. You can draw your own conclusions from those facts but sufficed to say the internets are abuzz. This comic (foul language warning) was how I first learned of the story and since then Joystiq has been doing a great job at compiling information that is fair and reasoned. I will be curious to see how this all shakes down, and as someone who is always interested in how $$ and integrity seem to be in constant battle, I've been following it closely.

Faith/Culture

Yes, I know you have been waiting with baited breath, but the day has finally arrived. I have finally landed on a presidential candidate that I think is worth voting for. OK, so maybe it hasn't been your every waking thought, but this recent article solidified for me the way I have been leaning for a few months. Huckabee is the man (er.. person, sorry) for the job. It's been encouraging to see his numbers continue to increase in some of the early Caucus/Primary states and if he can get nominated it will save me from ticking all my friends off by voting third party next November. Plus Hillary vs. Huckabee just has a nice ring to it.

Randomness

You might often see crazy predictions of the future that get everything wrong, but how about one that got a lot of stuff right? Check out this video (and the accompanying Snopes page.) of an ad from the 60's that seems to have nailed flat screens, online bill pay, and PCs.