erotic corn dog

I've spent the past three years googling for "erotic corn dogs" everyday and never found anything. Finally, today I got a hit. Check out this erotic corn dog eating contest, held annually at the Iowa State Fair. It may not be there next year, based on recent complaints:

http://deadspin.com/sports/erotic-corndogs/competitive-eating-anyone-can-love-306685.php

When Monkeys Attack

This is what happens when you feed the monkeys

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_re_as/india_monkey_attack

Boston College: Number 1 in Football?

BC football may be getting attention for its recent climb into the top 5 of all national football polls, but the team has long been scoring in the top 5 for its graduation rate. Check out this great article from Yahoo Sports:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AlxNp14iPm93DApMez91CoYcvrYF?slug=dw-bostoncollege101007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Bc's football graduation rate is 93% - 25% higher than any other team in the top 10. The article describes how BC's athletic programs should be the national model, given their success on the field and in the classroom. Doing so has required the program to make tough and controversial decisions. During the 1990s, the basketball team got rid of Coach Dan Henning after he insisted that the school accept basketball recruits that couldn't meet the school's academic standards. Henning and his star recruits moved to Ohio State and quickly reached the Final Four. Several years later, the Ohio State found itself mired in recruiting scandals and fired Henning. Last year, BC's basketball team expelled Sean Williams and one other team member. Sean Williams was averaging over 5 blocks per game and was considered one of the best defensive players in a decade. He couldn't follow team rules, so he was forced off the team, a move that probably cost BC a shot at the Final Four. While there have been scandals related to the school's sports programs, these have been dealt with swiftly and openly.

Its nice to know that atleast one school is classy enough to put academics and fairness ahead of greed and winning.

Good ol' Rock

The Rock, Paper, Scissors Champship is happening this weekend. If you're a serious enthusiast, you must already be in Toronto, waiting for the games to begin. The rest of you can read about it here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071009/ap_en_ot/on_the_net

tree protesters get national press

A couple weeks back there was an article in the NY Times about the tree protesters near the football stadium at UC-Berkeley. Here's a like to the article (or click on the title of this post):

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/education/13trees.html

I bought it

I bought the radiohead album today. They really let you name your own price! I initially offered 3.5 pounds. But before I finalized the purchase, I changed it to 2 pounds. Thats about 2 and a half bucks in USD. There is a surcharge, and I was worried it might be of TicketMaster proportions. Instead, it was only .45 pounds. So the total price of the album was only about $3.60 USD. Not bad. I haven't heard the album yet, so I'm happy to only pay this amount for it.

The download will be available on Oct. 10th. Look for a review here next week. If you're interested in buying your own copy at your own price, click on the title of this post to go to Radiohead's site.

New Radiohead album next week

Radiohead will release its latest album, titled "On Rainbows," next week. The release is not through a major label and will only be available through the band's website: www.radiohead.com. How much does it cost? You decide! The band says that it will let fans name their own price for the album - you can even pay nothing if you wish! Check the band's website on Oct. 10th to download it. Read more here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071001/wr_nm/radiohead_dc

Not sure what I think about the name-your-own-price idea. Why would anyone pay anything? Perhaps guilt will induce people to pay something. I think I'll download it as soon as its out and I plan to pay a little bit, but not as much as a normal album. $10 sounds good to me, but I might pay just $5.

Some industry types have criticized radiohead for this approach, saying it will undermine the general value of recorded music. I don't agree with this. I'm not sure music is easily "substitutable," to borrow (invent?) a term from the economists. Radiohead music is particularly unique and I'm not sure it will diminish/reduce people's consumption for other recorded music. I would argue that recorded music is not a normal good, with a limited annual consumption level. Well, people have only so much time to listen to music and their demand for new music is limited by this time. Maybe the music execs should be more concerned about the length of Radiohead's album than its price.