Random links

Interesting news, posts, and movies from around the web...

- Superman showdown - ever wonder what would happen if Superman had to take on a Jedi, a Sith, the Death Star, the X-men, Galactus, Gandalf, or Harry Potter? Check out this article for some of the breakdown. We do know that Batman has taken Superman down before with Kryptonite-laced boxing gloves...

- Kong vs. 3 T-Rex's - View the entire wildly entertaining fight scene between King Kong and 3 tyrannosaurs from the movie "Kong". As one of the comments put it, "When did Kong take lessons from Steven Seagal?" You can see him using some aikido-style moves, utilizing the momentum of his opponents to throw them into each other.

- Transformers: The Movie teaser trailer - I have some grave misgivings about this live-action movie, but the fact that Spielberg is attached to the project gives me some hope. The trailer is kind of fun too.

- I'm suffering a little bit from NBA withdrawal... hm, just realized that I haven't commented on the league since before the end of the Finals! The Heat are a worthy champion, and Dallas just choked... but they'll stay among the elite level for the next few seasons. Dwyane Wade is one of the more entertaining players in the league to watch, but I wonder if his body is going to start breaking down before he turns 30 (in 6 years) due to the pounding he takes from his style of play.

Warriors may be in the running for Al Harrington or Richard Jefferson after trading Derek Fisher for essentially cap space. Either one would provide some punch in the starting lineup (the Dunleavy-Murphy pairing sorely needs upgrading), but the real impetus for change would be Baron getting in shape and playing a full season.

The Pistons lost Big Ben to the Bulls, in a move which appears to make Chicago a team to reckon with over the next few seasons. this writer has an interesting take on the reasons behind the perhaps-exorbitant deal for the not-so-young-anymore Wallace - basically, that teams in the Eastern Conference have a 2-3 year window to win a championship before Lebron, DWade, and Dwight Howard begin dominating on an annual basis, so basically you need to push your chips all-in now. Interesting hypothesis.

Awe-inspiring basketball video: This is labeled a 720 degree dunk, but is probably closer to 540 - it's still jaw-dropping all the same.

- When is it not distasteful to praise someone with $9.25 billion in the bank? When he gives the other $37 billion of his fortune to charity. Kudos to Buffett and Gates. Hey, even if you hate Microsoft's business practices and software, you have to give appropriate due to the charity work that Gates and his wife are doing.

- Here's an interesting read on gender roles within the church. Any thoughts on whether his take is on or not?

- Finally, try this link to see how fast you can type! Clicking on the text area will bring up a portion of text for you to type. If you make mistakes, you need to correct them before the timer stops ticking and gives you your words/minute rate (note: they only want 1 space after periods, rather than the customary 2 spaces). After familiarizing myself with the interface, I tried it maybe 5-6 times and got top scores of: 160.67 wpm w/ 0 mistakes, 143.92 wpm w/ 0 mistakes, and 142.67 wpm w/ 1 mistake.