C'est La Vie

Well, I'd have to say my personal life at this point is less than stellar due to a few not so insignificant issues. Something I think we can all relate to is how bitter the state of Wisconsin is about ending winter. On 21 March, the first official day of spring, there were several centimeters of snow as if to say "haha, I'm just getting started!" Meanwhile most of my friends returned from vacations in the sun where they obtained a golden tan and told me lovely stories of the beach. At any rate, that is neither here nor there. Moving on.

The Sweet 16 is set and the Badgers did well to make it past a tough Kansas State team. Reports are already surfacing that Michael Beasley will go pro. If he does, he has almost a certain lock on being the #1 pick. The heroic performances were slightly less prevalent in the second round of play, but Stephan Curry of Davidson again played like a superstar, scoring 30 points against a Georgetown team that prides itself on stifling defense.

Davidson, Villanova, and Western Kentucky all played like top seeds and put three teams seeded 10 or lower in the sweet 16 for the first time in ages. This year also becomes only the third time 2 teams seeded 12th or lower have made it to the Sweet 16. North Carolina (my champion pick) looks just incredible, scoring over 100 points in both of their first two games and shooting 67% from the field against a disciplined and athletic Arkansas team. UNC is looking to put together one of the most dominant runs in tournament history as they continue to enjoy home court advantage.

For all you fellow gamers out there, it's Wednesday, so Yahtzee is back with a new review on Zero Punctuation. This week he discusses Zack & Wiki, a fairly enjoyable Wii title from a few months back into 2007. In case you are new to Mr. Croshaw's colorful reviews, it is worth mentioning that the language is rather NSFW.

I've started to listen to some new Trance music lately and I'm really into Armin van Buuren (Leiden, Netherlands). Each week he does a stellar Internet broadcast (to over 30 countries) of "A State of Trance," a 2 hour mix of carefully selected tracks. I'd love to hear if you know of any other artists that sound similar.

To conclude, I've got two images for you. First, XKCD continues to be the funniest nerdcomic on the 'net.


And second, this is the first tennis match ever played on water. Yes, that's right. In a pool. Rafael Nadal (my favorite tennis player) played an exhibition match against Serena Williams. Ahem, I quote: "The water-covered court was constructed in the 110-foot swimming pool set in the Gansevoort's exclusive 22,000-square-foot rooftop retreat. A specialist underwater team took five days to construct two invisible platforms at either end of the pool using a combination of bespoke acrylic sheets and supporting acrylic tubes. " Sweet.


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