mgroves

Whiteboard Groves

2007 was a big year for mgroves.com.

Now it's time to look back and see what was good, and what wasn't so good, and to (hopefully) get some feedback from you, the faithful reader about what you like and what you want to see (and don't say "more posts with hot Asian women."

First up, I wanted to list the new features that I've put on mgroves.com in 2007.

• New design (from Jonny)
• Google search
• Merchandise affiliate ads
• Multiple writers (who all eventually gave up after contributing some fine posts): Tweeder, Correl, Jonny
• Tags
• BlogRush
• Some regular weekly features including Tuesday Tube and Weekend Update, the former of which I see as a great success.
• Maybe some other things that I can't remember...

Which of these features do you like? Hate? Don't care about? What features would you like to see added or removed?

Second, here are my favorite posts from 2007, in no particular order:

• Movie knock-offs - I enjoyed this because I fell victim to it, and it opened my eyes to a whole other world of sleazy entertainment.
• Any of the Game King posts. These posts were really the only information on the Game King-II on the web (and they might still be) besides the basic product specs on import sites. I think these helped a lot of people, and they made me some money too!
• Jeffrey Marzi. It's really a shame that this post didn't get any traction with Digg (or anyone), because it's quite an interesting story (and video). If you haven't watched the full "Malkovich's Mail" video, you should do so.
• I really enjoyed making the Best of Futurama video posts leading up to the new DVD release.
• I didn't do a lot of politics this year (as I said I wouldn't), but one of my favorite political posts was on the Ohio strip club law. It's really a very interesting issue if you can get past the "pervert! prude!" arguments and really discuss democracy, free speech, regulation, and decency. This is one of those rare issues where my libertarian side and my conservative side really clash.

List some of your favorite posts! Go ahead! Use the Google search on the right side of the page (click the "mgroves.com" radio button first) and make sure to post a link in your comment.

Missed the last Tuesday Tube? Head over to the tag search for 'tuesday tube' and browse through the archives.

This weeks' Tuesday Tube was rushed out because of all the goings-on around here. Enjoy, or not.

Here's something that really cooks.

This cat would be great to throw on sleeping homeless people.

Setting any video to "Tijuana Taxi" automatically makes it 75% more hilarious.

Will it blend? Guitar Hero III. This guy's jokes are way cornier than I could ever aspire to.

RiffTrax did the Star Wars Holiday Special. I don't think any TV/movie is more deserving. Enjoy references to The Golden Girls and Futurama.

Here's how to stop hurricanes: a giant ship with nuclear reactors or something, and Michael Jackson.

Porky Pig has a potty mouth.

Here's what happens when you throw boiling water into freezing air.

Ever seen that one-man version of Star Wars episode 4? Now you don't have to.

Really good young Mark Hamill impression.

This is the Weekend Update for the weekend of December 14th through December 16th.

Missed the last Weekend Update? Check out the Weekend Update archives.

The big event this weekend was the annual Groves Christmas party, now in its third year.

This year, the weather was a little rough which caused many guests to show up late and some not to show up at all. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough people to eat the ridiculous amounts of food that seem to be increasing exponentially every year. However, plenty of guests showed and the party was a rousing success.

Minywheats received his Brutus Buckeye coffee mug. I didn't get any video, but I assure you his acceptance speech was filled with sarcasm and expletives, just like his comments on this blog.

Ali's brother's wife has taken to calling me "Mateo", the Spanish version of my name that I also went by in high school Spanish class (she is from Columbia). This is also the first time she's seen snow in person, and she was frolicking in it like a crazy person. I also did a little parking lot fishtailing to demonstrate snow driving issues. Heh, I love doing that, even with no one else in the car.

Now taking offers.

First off, non-binding house resolutions are generally pointless and a waste of time.

There were three of these non-laws voted on this year for various cultural and religious celebrations: Ramadan (Islam), Diwali (Indian/Hindu), and Christmas (Christianity). All three have generally the same language, although the Ramadan one also has text about prejudice towards law-abiding Muslims citizens post-9/11. Fine.

The Ramadan vote was taken on October 2, 2007. It was passed unanimously with 376 voting "yea" and 0 voting "nay".

The Diwali vote was taken on October 29th, 2007. It also passed unanimously with 358 voting "yea" and 0 voting "nay".

The Christmas vote was taken on December 11th, 2007. It also...no wait. It did not pass unanimously. There were 372 voting "yea" and 9 voting "nay". What the...?

Who are these 9, and how did they vote on the first two?

I want to stress again that all 3 of these resolutions are stupid and pointless. But seriously, what's up with these guys? Ramadan and Diwali are worthy of a resolution, but not Christmas?

Missed the last Tuesday Tube? Head over to the tag search for 'tuesday tube' and browse through the archives.

In this week's Tuesday Tube, I'll do my best not to use the non-word "rasslin'".

Lex Luger may be one of the worst pro wrestlers of all time. He has less moves than Hulk Hogan, and interviews like a slobbering goof. Plus his face looks about 20 years older than the rest of him.

It's okay to enjoy pro wrestling. It's not okay to get all choked up about it in some random high school gym.

Speaking of goofs, here's some backyard wrestling that involves mouths full of liquid, spitting, and bizarre noises.

This next one was submitted by a reader (Sithlet). Boxing refs are doing it for themselves...

And here's the wrestling scene from Spiderman, with a RiffTrax commentary. It comes complete with a Diabolik reference from the last episode of MST3K.

And that's it. Do you have a YouTube, Google, Dailymotion, etc. video that you think belongs in a future Tuesday Tube? Well, first check all the old Tuesday Tubes to see if it's already there! Then, ask yourself, is this something that 90% of MySpace users would enjoy? If the answer is "no", then send me the link: webmaster@mgroves.com.

I've mentioned this essay several times to friends and collegues in the past, so I thought it might be interesting to post it here.

This essay was written by a German born professor who has lived in the US since 1992.

It's called A subjective comparison of Germany and the United States, and while he puts the word "subjective" in the title, and I think that point should be stressed, I think most of his observations are fair. While I certainly think the USA is a great country and I feel very lucky for living here, it is by no means a paradise (nor is any country for that matter).

I think there's a line from the essay that sums things up pretty well: I'd say naive optimism characterizes the American mentality and deliberate, hesitant pessimism the German one.

I find this essay particularly interesting not just because of the typical Europe-North America differences one might expect, but because of the unique history of Germany, especially in WW2, and it's affect on the current culture.

Note that the author isn't really expressing a preference here, or endorsing one country over the other, but merely listing differences. He certainly does inject his opinion in many places, politics included, but as I've stated before, everyone and almost everything has a bias, and the author makes no bones about that.

Also note that this essay isn't exactly recent. Therefore, some things might have changed (in both countries) since it was written.

Brodie

Listen, not a year goes by, not a year, that I don't hear about some escalator accident involving some bastard kid which could have easily been avoided had some parent - I don't care which one - but some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator.

Personally, I think Chipmunk movies are a much worse threat to the children than escalators...

I was logging in to a new bank account that I created recently, and they asked me to create some security questions.

This is typically stuff like "mother's maiden name" and whatever, just to increase the amount of barriers to unauthorized access.

At this particular site, you can select from a couple dozen pre-written questions and then supply your answer in a textbox. So, here's an example:

I was just about to submit this when I though to myself: "Wait a second. That last question would have the same answer for every single person who doesn't live in New York." OH, EXPLOITABLE!

This is becoming something of a tradition here at mgroves.com, I guess.

The Star Wars Holiday Special. Yes the same one I wrote about here and here.

Lucas is so ashamed of this train-wreck of a TV special that he always gets the videos taken down!

So here it is again, the Star Wars Holiday Special. This is the abrdiged, 5 minute version without all the Wookie noise (also without the cartoon).