Celtics Win, Despite Horrendous Officiating

‘Beat L.A., Beat L.A.!’ Celtics vs. Lakers in the NBA finals, it’s the match-up we’ve all been hoping for! These truly are the golden days in our region.

And yet, I still feel compelled to point out what was obvious to anyone who has been watching the NBA recently – the NBA has a major credibility problem with their officiating. I feel sort of foolish even making the refs an issue , especially since the Celtics ended up winning the series, but it really has gotten to the point where it is difficult to take seriously some of these games. If the refs are doing their job well, they should hardly be noticed during the course of a game. But in today’s NBA, it is ALL about the officiating – they are more at the center of attention than the players during the course of a game and it sucks. There is absolutely NO consistency and there are only two possible explanations – either the refs are just bad at enforcing NBA rules, or there is some sort of deliberate bias for the home team and/or certain players.

Last night’s Celtics-Pistons game 6 was easily one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen. It was mind-boggling and pathetic. And the offensive foul called against Paul Pierce in the third quarter was, without question, the worst single call I have ever seen in any NBA game – ever!  

With the Celtics down five after a Detroit run, Pierce, standing beyond the arc on the left wing, got his defender in the air with an up fake, drew the contact, and somehow made the 3-pointer as he fell backwards. The Palace of Auburn Hills was silenced until the call was revealed to be an offensive foul. Tayshaun Prince would get two free throws on the other end to complete a six-point swing. Bull****. Here is the video.

Read Full Post »

Auntie Buzz (Heart) Baby Buzz

I’ve been an aunt for about a day now and my niece has to be the cutest baby ever…and I’m not just saying that because I’m her Auntie. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see her grow up. I’m always one to look towards the future. Then again, she is only about 36 hours old. I should probably take it one day at a time, huh?

Anyways, things have come a long way in the “birthing business.” My niece was fitted with a personal GPS tracker on her ankle at the hospital! You know, so some crazy baby snatcher doesn’t kidnap her. I was pleasantly surprised at the smiley-faced device.

I also watched the “Business of Being Born” about a week ago. It is a documentary from Ricki Lake (yes, the former talk show host). It was quite informative. I wouldn’t say that I agreed with everything in the documentary or that I would go the “natural” birth route myself, but it is interesting to know that – if you can believe it – the time of day with the most c-sections in the US is about 4pm (right when a doctor is looking to go home and get some dinner). That’s pretty shocking, and I suspect, not a coincidence.

Read Full Post »

Massachusetts Clean Energy – Assorted Links

Here’s a sampling of links about recent happenings with clean energy in Massachusetts – there is a LOT going on. Clicking any link will open a new window so you won’t lose your place.

• Fenway Park unveils solar panels on roof - The green at Fenway Park will no longer be limited to the grass, historic rafters, and 37-foot-high wall in left field. Enough solar thermal panels have been installed on the roof to provide 37 percent of the hot water needed at the 96-year-old park, reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 18 tons. The solar installation is actually part of two broader initiatives. City and federal officials announced Fenway plans to highlight Solar Boston, a $600,000 program aimed at increasing Boston’s solar energy output 50-fold by 2015. The Fenway solar installation is also part of a new MLB program, the Team Greening Program, which is MLB’s first league-wide eco-initiative and has teams all over the country starting green programs. The program provides each team with an individualized Team Greening Advisor, which is a Web-based software tool featuring advice and resources for every aspect of a club’s operations. For instance, the Sox are also making other changes, like switching the field’s lawn-mowers biodiesel and enlisting a group of 30-50 volunteers to collect recyclables between innings.

 

• NSTAR Green allows customers to buy wind energy - Earlier this month the state Department of Public Utilities approved a program that allows NSTAR customers to buy their electricity from wind farms in Maine and upstate New York. Customers who enroll in the NSTAR Green program will have to pay a premium on their monthly bill, $4 – $7 depending on whether you opt to buy half or all of your electricity from wind farms (although I don’t think many people are very excited by the idea of paying more for energy right now). National Grid has a similar program, GreenUp, and there are many other utility and non-utility options available. You can find out what your clean electricity options are based on your town by following this link to the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. For the uninitiated, enrolling in a program like this has absolutely no effect on the reliability of your electricity service, and nothing changes in terms of the way electricity physically gets into your house. The only difference you will notice is the premium on your monthly bill.

 

• Massachusetts Green Jobs Act of 2008 - Last week, in an address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, House Speaker Sal DiMasi announced a new initiative directing millions of state dollars at growing the local alternative-energy sector. Dubbed the Green Jobs Act of 2008, the bill would allocate more than $50 million to the creation of new jobs and revenue in the state’s clean energy industry. The initiative is directly aimed at creating jobs in the clean-energy sector, particularly through start-ups, and is designed to “attract hundreds off millions of dollars in venture capital, create thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in new annual revenue for the commonwealth,” according to a statement by DiMasi’s office. On a related note, the clean energy industry in Massachusetts is already booming – supporting about 15,000 jobs - and is about to overtake textiles as the 10th largest employment cluster in Massachusetts, according to a “census” of the clean energy industry released last year by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). Click the thumbnail image to enlarge the picture. 

 

• Newton/Needham Chamber to present Green Business Solutions Expo - All over Newton and Needham, businesses are looking to go green, and for the first time, the Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce will present an expo to help them learn to adapt to a new, environmentally conscious business climate. The chamber’s first-ever Green Business Solutions Expo will take place at the Newton Marriott Tuesday, June 3. Speakers will cover topics including recycling, organic lawn care, energy conservation, and how businesses can apply to receive government grants and rebates. Fifty-five exhibitors are expected. Chapman Construction and Designis going solar, and for Guy Compagnone, the company’s director of sustainable practices, the business decision is a no-brainer. “If you’re pioneering right now, you’re ahead of the curve. If you’re not, you’ll be far behind and have to catch up later. Straight up, there’s a reduced utility cost, much lower environmental impact and client attraction,” said Compagnone. 

Read Full Post »

Nintendo Wii – Cha Ching! (Fit Launches, Calls UK Girl Fat?)

For anyone even slightly connected to current events or pop culture, you’ve heard of the “Wii.” A video game console controlled by a wireless remote, the Nintendo Wii is a video game marvel recently outselling all other non-portable consoles including Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. According to NPD, Nintendo has sold 714.2 thousand systems in April 2008 – cha ching!

The Wii is unique in that it appeals to an overwhelmingly broad, mainstream audience – kids, teens, men, women, and even the elderly. In fact, the Wii has become quite popular in retirement homes because it is a great way for residents to get up and moving.

Nintendo has taken the “get up and move” concept a step further with last week’s launch of the Wii Fit - a $90 pressure-sensitive “balance board” and game bundle that players can use to do yoga, aerobics, strength training, etc.

Nintendo kicked off the US launch with an event in Central Park, where they set up 38 Wii Fit systems for the public to enjoy and donated $5 to the American Heart Association with every person that tried the game. The event got a lot of attention with gaming/tech bloggers. Being in PR, this “launch event” tactic is very common. And I can tell you from experience, it is no easy feat getting the permits squared away to have an event in Central Park!

Although the game launched in the US last week, it actually had been in the UK for awhile, where Wii Fit has been making some big waves. The game measures your Body Mass Index (BMI) after you enter your age and height. According to a recent story by Mail Online, a ten year old girl was playing the game and it told her she was fat. Her parents were horrified and some experts have been dissing the Wii Fit as a result. I can see both sides of the argument – you don’t want a young girl thinking she is fat if she is not, but IT IS JUST A GAME!!!

Another amusing angle of this story is that the same week the Wii Fit launched, Nintento also released Major League Eating: The Game, which is based off of the concept of competitive speed eating – mmmmm, hot dogs.

All-in-all, the Wii has been a huge success for Nintendo and, although it’s been a year and a half since the Wii hit shelves, it is still hard to come by the console in stores, even with a $200+ price tag!

Read Full Post »

Memorial Day – It’s About Honor & Respect

It’s about honor and respect for fallen veterans – and nowhere is that most appropriate kind of honor and respect better demonstrated than at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Tomb of the Unknowns, which is a monument dedicated to American servicemen who have died without their remains being identified, has been guarded by The Old Guard sentinels (the elite of the 3rd U.S. Infantry) continuously, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, since 1937. The tomb contains the remains of unknown American soldiers from World Wars I and II, the Korean Conflict and, until 1998, the Vietnam War.

I visited the tomb 15 years ago, when I was 11, and can honestly say my memory of that afternoon is still easily among the most vivid memories of any experience from my childhood. Watching the meticulous, dutiful, and precise ritual the guard follows when watching over the graves is truly awe inspiring.

This video seemed apropos – it shows The Sentinels Creed and some footage of the tomb on a snowy day in February 2007. I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Read Full Post »

Buzz Wins Kickball; David Archuleta Loses Idol

 

Last night was bitter sweet. The sweet – our kickball team walked away with a win (I knew all we needed was our official t-shirts – see previous post) followed by some celebration drinks, flip cup, and karaoke at the bar Samba in Somerville.

The bitter – while we were consumed in kickball victory bliss, David Archuleta was defeated by rocker David Cook on American Idol. Don’t get me wrong ”big” David has talent, but I was rooting for Archie, hands down. From the beginning I knew ”little” David was going to make it to the final – but I guess he just didn’t have the “right stuff” (Citation: New Kids on the Block).

I guess I can’t really complain about the outcome, though, since I never vote. On the flipside, you can look at the loss as a positive – being an American Idol winner doesn’t guarantee success. Many AI “losers” have had great careers thus far – ahem, Chris Daughtry.

Now, Fox, bring on So You Think You Can Dance! It starts tonight - right now actually, so Elicia Buzz OUT!

(Note to Ryan Seacrest – it was a wise decision to die your hair back to a somewhat normal color and please don’t ever go back to saying “Seacrest Out” – it was a dark dark time in American Idol history.)

Read Full Post »

Kickin’ It Old School – Buzz Goes ‘Balls Deep’

We joined a kickball league! The “Massachusetts Minutemen” division of the World Adult Kickball Association, to be exact. A couple of our friends recruited us for the team, which happens to go by the name of “Balls Deep” (don’t even ask – I had nothing to do with it!).

We had our first game last week and lost. I think it was due to the fact that we didn’t have our official T-shirts yet. We’re supposed to get them tonight, so hopefully we’ll have better luck for our second game. We’re taking on The Belly-Itchers on what I’m sure will be a wet and muddy field from the rain today.

Read Full Post »

Cartoon of the Day – Gamer’s Hell

Thanks Kotaku!

Read Full Post »

Energy Efficiency: Low Hanging Fruit, Ripe for the Picking

…crude oil $125 per barrel, climate change, energy independence, insufficient electricity infrastructure, volatile prices, and the list goes on…

Energy efficiency is probably the most successful but least appreciated strategy for dealing with the significant energy challenges we face in blazing our country’s path to prosperity during the 21^st century.

For example, U.S. energy consumption at the end of 2008 is expected to total half of the energy consumed in 1970 thanks to investments in energy efficiency according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. And, there remains a huge amount of opportunity for additional, profitable investments (a recent McKinsey study estimated the existing energy efficiency market is about $170 billion per year to the tune of a 17% annual rate of return). Here is a summary of the ACEEE report:

Washington, D.C. - It’s the U.S. energy boom that no one knows about. Energy efficiency may be the farthest-reaching, least-polluting, and fastest-growing energy success story of the last 50 years. But it also is the most invisible, the least understood, and in serious danger of missing out on needed future investments. The ACEEE report, The Size of the U.S. Energy Efficiency Market: Generating a More Complete Picture, concludes that “…our nation is not aware of the role that energy efficiency has played in satisfying our growing energy-service demands…the contributions of efficiency often go unrecognized. The contributions of energy efficiency often remain invisible…” The report also notes that although efficiency is a proven resource, it remains underdeveloped. ”In short, the evidence suggests that efficiency can make an even larger contribution towards stabilizing energy prices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions – should we choose to fully develop it.”

Key report findings include:

• The U.S. stands to gain enormously from additional investments in energy efficiency, and could reasonably reduce consumption by as much as 30 percent during the next two decades.
• Future efforts would bear additional fruit through the creation of green collar jobs. Annual investments in energy efficiency technologies currently support 1.6 million U.S. jobs. The $300 billion invested in energy efficiency in 2004 was three times the amount invested in traditional energy infrastructure.
• Investments in energy efficiency technologies are estimated to have generated approximately 1.7 quads of energy savings in 2004 alone – roughly the equivalent of the energy required to operate 40 mid-sized coal-fired or nuclear power plants.
• Since 1970, energy efficiency has met about three-fourths of the demand for new energy-related services while conventional energy supply has covered only one-fourth of this demand.
• Nearly 60 percent of energy efficiency investments made in 2004 were from the buildings sector, with nearly half coming from appliances and electronics.

Now the key is to pick up all this free money lying on the ground. There are a ton of energy efficiency resources on the internet for homeowners – here are just a few:

• ACEEE Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings
• Department of Energy Energy Savings Calculators, or the Home Energy Saver tool
• Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) – Just click your state to see all the state, local, and utility incentives offered. Basically, your electric or gas company will cut you a check for all kinds of things from caulking windows to buying more efficient appliances. Here is the Massachusetts Homeowner Incentives page.

Read Full Post »

Webby Awards – Buzz’ Best Bets

Last week the winners of the 12th Annual Webby Awards were announced. The Webby Awards pick the best of the best on the Internet in over 100 categories. Most entries fall into four main buckets -”Websites,” “Interactive Advertising,” “Online Film and Video,” or ”Mobile.” Some of the sites are quite entertaining! So you didn’t have to, I dug through them all and here are my favorites:

• Here Comes Another Bubble - A catchy (and funny) music video about the state of Web 2.0 and the Internet business set to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
• Tony vs. Paul - A tale of two friends torn apart via stop motion video. The video was shot in a bunch of different towns in Massachusetts – including Upton. Wicked pissah!
• Coke’s Happiness Factory – An animated movie from Coca Cola. So great!
• National Geographic – Your Shot - NG posts readers’ photos. Love looking at these.
• Post Secret Blog - People anonymously submit their “secrets” to the editor, who posts them. Simple and successful concept.  (I’ll be posting later with my list of other great amusing blogs….stay tuned)
• Milk Get the Glass - Got Milk? Well, you might after playing this visually impressive and fun online board game.
• Atom Films - Tons of great online video.
• Toyota Tacoma World of Warcraft Ad - This guy is the “lawgiver.” Hilarious ad – you may have seen this on TV, but I believe it started on the web.
• Bud Light Swear Jar - Put a quarter in the jar….its for the good of the office!
• Starz Bunny Theatre – Popular movies cut to 30-seconds and re-enacted by animated bunnies. Huh? Exactly.
• Wired.com - Website for Wired Magazine. Cool beans!
• HowStuffWorks.com - Self explanatory. 

Read Full Post »

The Making of a Firefighter

Firefighters are a breed unto themselves, doing a job most of us won’t or can’t do, yet we can’t live without.

In Arlington and Winchester, MA, a news photographer got an in-the-helmet view of the rigors of firefighter training. It’s about as close as you can come without having to endure it yourself. Click image to see the slide show.

Arlington, Mass. – Since he was a young teenager, 31-year-old Chris Gibbons had his heart set on becoming a firefighter. “For me, it was a lifelong dream,” Gibbons said. When Gibbons turned 18, he joined the auxiliary group and passed the test to become an EMT. From 2001 to his hiring last year, Gibbons was an emergency 911 dispatcher for Arlington, while continuing to serve on the auxiliary force. This spring, that dream became a reality, as Gibbons and two others joined Arlington’s firefighting force full time. As a new firefighter, Gibbons will start out on the ambulance, which responds to fires in addition to medical calls, he said. 

Best of luck to my brother, Jason, who is gearing up for the EMT test this summer!

Thanks Wicked Local.

Read Full Post »

Beer Makers Tanked?

Materials costs are affecting all the beer makers, says Jim Koch, the founder of and brewmaster at Boston-based Samuel Adams. Watch the video.

It brings a tear to your eye, but there is always hope at the end of a rainbow.

Read Full Post »

Recession Odds

Following up on a previous post, based on futures trading at Intrade.com, the chances of a U.S. recession in 2008 have fallen from over 70% to under 30% in less than a month.

Related note: An article from BusinessWeek points out that men seem to be getting hit harder during the current economic slowdown – not recession – than women. From last November through this April, American women aged 20 and up gained nearly 300,000 jobs, while at the same time, American men lost nearly 700,000 jobs. So, what’s going on?

Simply put, men have the misfortune of being concentrated in the two sectors that are doing the worst: manufacturing and construction. Women are concentrated in sectors that are still growing, such as education and health care.

Read Full Post »

What Do Moms Want for Mother’s Day?

Once you are married, you officially have two mothers, so Mother’s Day was eventful this year. The more the merrier!

Fortunately, our mothers are not from New Jersey. You’ll see what I mean after watching the drag-mom video below from Clay Weiner. Thanks to AdRants for including the video in your newsletter today. I got a kick out of it!

Read Full Post »

Elicia Buzz on The Today Show (well, sort of)

About a month ago I attended the BlogHer Business Conference in NYC (check out my work post on the 360PR Days blog). At the conference, I had the chance to meet a handful of women bloggers like Miriam Kamin who writes/contributes to about 7 blogs – wow! – including Woulda Coulda Shoulda , and Vera Sweeny who writes the very popular celebrity blog I’m Not Obsessed .

While at the conference, I heard that a bunch of the women were actually at The Today Show studio that morning for interviews – they were working on a segment about moms who blog. So, now that a month has passed, the segment aired just this morning and guess whose head happened to get about three seconds of camera time? Yours truly!

Check out the segment here or click on the picture below. Soon after the 2 minute mark, you’ll see me typing away on a laptop during one of the BlogHer sessions! (Side Rant: I can’t stand Kathy Lee Gifford – you’ll see what I mean after watching the clip!)

I wouldn’t exactly call this my “15 minutes of fame.” That debate-ably special moment will come sometime this summer when, thanks to my 360PR co-workers, I’ll be the subject of a new makeover show on The Learning Channel (TLC). More on that later…

Read Full Post »

Thermostat Etiquette – According to Dilbert

You know Dilbert?  The comic strip that runs in more than 2,000 newspapers. Well, I’m not sure how funny it is to those who don’t work in an office, but I can relate to the comic strip without a doubt.

So, Dilbert.com just went through a bit of a re-launch. I poked around and came across this little gem. For a gal who is never really at the right temperature, this hits close to home. My “cube” is right next to the thermostat – I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Read Full Post »

Vote Red Sox on the 2008 All-Star Ballot

Voting is under way for MLB’s 2008 All-Star Game. Be sure to vote for all your favorite Sox players. You can vote up to 25 times. Thanks to Boston Dirt Dogs for pointing out that if you want to vote for Jacoby Ellsbury (and why wouldn’t you?), you need to write his name in because he’s not on the actual ballot. Click to vote.

Read Full Post »

Cuba Lets People Buy Computers

HAVANA (AP) - Cubans are getting wired. The island’s communist government put desktop computers on sale to the public for the first time Friday, ending a ban on PC sales as another despised restriction on daily life fell away under new President Raul Castro.

A tower-style QTECH PC and monitor costs nearly US$780 (euro505). While few Cubans can afford that, dozens still gawked outside a tiny Havana electronics store, crowding every inch of its large glass windows and leaving finger and nose prints behind.

Entire article here.

Speaking of communism and the abject poverty and oppression it brings, here is one of my favorite examples of a picture saying 1,000 words…and I’ll add a few for good measure.

It’s a picture of the Korean peninsula taken at night. Communist North Korea – where over 23 million people are subjugated by that tyrant, Small-Ding-Dong (or whatever his name is), is shrouded in darkness. Democratic South Korea is on the bottom, beaming with vitality and a booming economy.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Freakonomics – Hoop Data Dreams

Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, who wrote Freakonomics and have a blog by the same name, have written a column about the Celtics’ attempt to use the kind of rigorous statistical analysis that Bill James has made popular throughout baseball while working for the Boston Red Sox

The Boston Celtics, owned by several men with venture-capital backgrounds, have for the past few years been one of the most data-driven teams in the N.B.A. They have also just completed the biggest single-season turnaround in history, entering the playoffs two weeks ago with a league-best 66 victories after winning just 24 games last year.

Coincidence? Probably, for the Celtics obtained two monstrously accomplished players in the off-season, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. It didn’t take a statistician to tell you that the Celtics would be a lot better this year than last.

But the team also employs what the general manager, Danny Ainge, calls his “secret weapon,” a 32-year-old named Mike Zarren, who seems to know every data point about every N.B.A. player, past and present. Garnett calls him Numbers…

Read the entire column here.

Read Full Post »

The News Media Who Cried Wolf (i.e., Recession)

As usual, the mainstream media, frothing at the mouth to bring us each day’s message of doom-and-gloom, has for several months now made it impossible to avoid the constant bombardment of references to THE recession and THIS recession. This must be the most widely predicted/presumed recession in American history. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey from April 30 indicated that 8 in 10 Americans believed we are in recession…80%!

But there is one small detail that has been overlooked in this frenzy – We are NOT in a recession and there is NOT going to be a recession this year. Any economist will tell you that a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. Guess how many quarters of negative GDP growth we have had – exactly zero! The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday that U.S. real GDP grew at a 0.6% annual rate in the first quarter of 2008. This is the same growth rate we saw in the fourth quarter of last year.

To be fair, 0.6% growth is by no means a booming economy. The economy has clearly slowed and the housing sector continues to contract. But this economy, including the labor market and the consumer, has proved to be much more resilient than most would have you believe, and parts of the economy are booming (transportation, exports, energy, agriculture, and many service sectors like health care and education).  

Precious few economic prognosticators have never wavered in their assertion that there is no recession – notably among them are Don Luskin and Brian Westbury. Cheers!

There is a saying that “the media has predicted 10 out of the last 3 recessions,” and here we have yet another example of the media crying wolf. I’m just saying, do yourself a favor and try to deflect pessimism expressed for pessimism’s sake.

P.S. On a related local note, the Massachusetts economy chugged along at a healthy 3.2% annual rate in the first quarter of 2008.

Read Full Post »

Wild at the Franklin Park Zoo

Last weekend my dad, sisters and I went to the Franklin Park Zoo, which I hadn’t been to in years. Previous visits to zoos have consisted of rather uneventful animal watching. The animals just sort of sit there (and understandably – how happy and active would you be if you were stuck in a pen?). Last weekend, however, there was a ton of exciting stuff going on! The leopards were mating, the lion could not stop roaring, the gorillas were swinging on ropes and watching us just as much as we were watching them, and a goose almost killed a black swan.

During the visit I caught myself a couple times thinking about how horrible of a place it is. These animals that are meant to be thousands and thousands of miles away (definitely not in Boston) are trapped. On the other hand, I know that zoos across the country do so much good. They help educate people about animals and conservation. They also help in breeding endangered species and rescuing injured animals or animals that can no longer survive in the wild.

Based on previous visits as a kid, I remembered that the Franklin Park Zoo wasn’t the “cream of the crop” of zoos by any means, but that didn’t really matter as much this time around. Its been a few days and I’m still thinking about the few moments where I made eye contact with some of the gorillas – amazing. I realized that as an adult visiting the zoo, you have a much greater appreciation of the animals. And I’m sure the hundreds of Animal Planet and Discovery Channel shows I’ve watched in my adult life could have had something to do with this as well  

 

Read Full Post »