And the winner is: UD!

All the games are not yet over, but the luck of the draw in the selection process means my margin of victory will remain unchanged.

In short, The Urban Docent has done the impossible: win the regular-season NFL office contest. I end with a final 9-game win margin.

My win streak was unbroken from Week 1 going forward; while I did have a week where I was tied, I was never beaten during any week of selecting games.

Some may have tracked our progress from week to week, and you can continue to see how we survive the playoffs and Super Bowl.

Each gamer has a distinctly different set of picking criteria and level of NFL/football knowledge. I'm by far the least knowledgeable about players and leadership personalities, but I guess what little I know -- coupled with great guesses -- payed off.

To my fellow pickers -- The Limey, Other Guy, Fantasy Fanatic -- I say thanks for the great competition. If you would like, I would be more than thrilled to have you guys offer some insights into this season courtesy of the comment section for this post.

Thanks -- see you all again soon!

Before you rent it . . .

Many months ago, I posted two movie reviews for films I saw in the theater on the same day.

So, before you rent -- or purchase -- "Snakes On A Plane" or "The Descent," check out the reviews I put together on 20060819.

Read and enjoy

Must-see DVD

I missed "A Scanner Darkly" when it was in theaters earlier this year because my work schedule was too insane to visit the big screen. I did, however, manage to read the re-release of the classic "sci-fi" novel by Philip K. Dick, and I really enjoyed it.

This film works because the director took extra special care to craft the screen adaptation mirroring Dick's novel. He even collaborated, in a sense, with Dick's remaining family to ensure the big-screen version was true to the text.

Many portions of the film seem to use the original conversations and narration present in the novel. If you have ever read the book, it is very entertaining to see the great performances carry through all the intensely different back-and-forth of these memorable characters.

And you might expect a character-driven film to fail due to the presence of one Keanu Reeves, but have no fear -- he doesn't make this one a mess. Each character is performed perfectly; there are no weak performance, there are no bad on-screen moments. Rarely will you ever find a film with so many solid acting jobs as you find here.

It may take a moment to get used to some of the more sense-defying aspects of the animation techniques applied in the film. But before it's over, you will begin to enjoy the near painting-like quality of the production. I mean, how else are you really going to present the scramble suit technology without having a string of Jar Jar Binks-esque bad CG moments?

As a side note: You may remember the street preacher-type character abducted shortly before Arctor gets in the car with Donna and they have the landmark discussion of moving to a farm up north.

The abduction scene featured a cameo by none other than Austin resident, Alex Jones. (The film was made in Austin, by the way.) Jones is a great choice for this role as much of what his character had to say is very similar to the kinds of topics he covers in the real world with his radio programs, websites and documentary films.

With a single week left . . .

A single week of NFL games remains prior to the start of the playoffs. Here is how the office standings look going into the last week:

Urban Docent: 151
Fantasy Fanatic: 142
Other Guy: 138
The Limey: 134

NEW WEEK OF NFL PICKS

Thursday, Dec. 21
Minnesota at Green Bay

Saturday, Dec. 23
Kansas City at Oakland

Sunday, Dec. 24
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Carolina at Atlanta
Chicago at Detroit
Indianapolis at Houston
New England at Jacksonville
New Orleans at N.Y. Giants
Tampa Bay at Cleveland
Tennessee at Buffalo
Washington at St. Louis
Arizona at San Francisco
Cincinnati at Denver
San Diego at Seattle

Monday, Dec. 25
Philadelphia at Dallas
N.Y. Jets at Miami

(primus sucks)

Worst Christmas ever?

"Why is there so much bad news?" Well, people like to gossip about something they saw on TV, heard on the radio or read in the paper/online. And who doesn't, on some level, likes to hear about how bad off everyone else is. . .

For the same reason that "if it bleeds, it leads" remains true, this website is a "fun" way to see how other peoples' Christmas holidays have produced some of the worst times in their lives.

On this rotten slice of the Internets, there are stories that are funny, traumatic and otherwise sad. The tales of yule terror range from a kidnapped child enjoying a puked-soaked Christmas meal to loved ones counting off their last minutes on earth in the true holiday spirit.

WARNING: THIS SITE IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. STORIES ARE OFTEN TOLD IN A RAW, IN-YOUR-FACE MANNER. IN OTHER WORDS, NO PUNCHES ARE PULLED. THIS IS NOT A KID-FRIENDLY SITE. THIS ONE IS FOR ADULTS ONLY.

You have been warned. Enter at your own risk.

Chloe the Cat says, "Merry Christmas, you fish-smelling mouseface!!!!"
(click image to make much, much larger)

You read it here first (. . . sort of)!

Many moons ago in an entry entitled, "Wii: I'm just not sure," I repeated the concerns of some others that Nintendo's runaway console may be relying too much on the gimmick of motion-sensing controls. By visiting the linked item above, you'll see a video I found showing the ease with which the fancy new controller could leave your hand and make physical contact with your TV or general surroundings.

My overall distrust of the reliance on motion play took a turn for the worse on Friday with this news story in the Washington Post:

Japanese gamemaker Nintendo on Friday announced the recall of 3.2 million straps for its popular Wii computer game controllers.

The problem? People are apparently putting too much faith in the structural integrity of the thin wire connecting the wrist to the controller. Controllers are flying, TVs are getting broken and consumers cannot be trusted to simply take it down a notch.

Until the multimillion piece replacement project is complete, everyone is asked to be a little more careful and exhibit some self control. And if you can't do that, then maybe you don't need to Wii after all . . .

Ok; what the heck is going on here?

Some velvet mornin' when I'm straight
I'm gonna open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it end
Some velvet mornin' when I'm straight

Flowers growing on a hill, dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much, look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

Some velvet mornin' when I'm straight
I'm gonna open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it end
Some velvet mornin' when I'm straight

Flowers are the things we know, secrets are the things we grow
Learn from us very much, look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

Funny

Sunsphere

In an older episode of The Simpsons, Bart obtained a drivers license while completing a school-assigned career day project. Using the fake id and with the help of Martin, Nelson and Milhouse, a rental car is secured and the under-aged roadtrip begins.

Along the way, the foursome decides a trip to Knoxville, Tn., is in order to catch the World's Fair. Unfortunately, Milhouse has pointed them all in the wrong direction because of an out-of-date travel guide.

The crew crashes the Sunsphere, destroys the rental car and ends up having to be a little more creative to get home. It's a classic episode showing The Simpsons at its best.

Prior to my recent visit to Knoxville, I had forgotten that Simpsons moment. Imagine my delight and subsequent laughter when I spotted the Sunsphere towering over the horizon.

Here are some other sights from in and/or near the mighty metropolis known as Knoxville:

Christmas and bowling in New England

During the Urban Docent's recent return visit to Boston, we all stumbled across this funky old Fairway Bowling location west of the city.

As my first impressions of the center were from the corner of my eye as I drove by at night, I originally mistook the place for a furniture store. I was really delighted to discover that this was a place much more exciting and original.

We made a special return trip the next night to what I figured would be an older version of predictable bowling. But this place offered a true New England original -- Candlepin Bowling.

Candlepin offers a much greater challenge than what typically passes for the game of bowling. The pins are smaller and harder to knock down all at once. The pins you do bowl down stay in play until your turn is over; there is no machine sweeping them away between pitches. And the ball is smaller, which makes aim and precision harder to accomplish.

We tried our hand at it, and we really enjoyed the experience. I think I ended up with a 68, which I'm assured is a great start for a beginning Candlepin bowler and non-New Englander.

But an added amazing feature of the Fairway Bowling was the presence of wall-to-wall Christmas animatronic displays. Apparently, the owners started putting up the animal-centric holiday machinery 30 + years ago, and the tradition continues to this day.

Some of them are neat; some are creepy. Here are the videos featuring some of what's available: