Like most sports fans, I usually end up becoming more frustrated with the network play by play than I do my team's play on the field.  Dick Stockton is the prime offender to my ears and sports sensibility.  A bit of quick thinking leads to the ultimate solution "I'll just turn on the radio and listen to it while I turn down the audio on the TV."  Great idea but due to the speed sending the television signal to a satellite or through a cable vs receiving the radio signal at home, the two sources are generally out of sync with the radio revealing the play seconds before you see it on the television.

After a bit of research there are several methods to listen to the local radio play by play in sync.  The methods range from a somewhat costly to free with a bit of effort.

1. The Delay Play Method - This is the costliest method but the easiest (possibly).  Basically, you hook the Delay Play device to the radio and adjust the delay from 0 to 16 seconds. It has an output connection that can connect to a reciver or powered speakers.  Available at ScannerMaster.  Cost: $200.
2. The SportsSyncRadio Method - Similar to method one but at a lower cost.  This solution is an actual radio with built in speaker that will allow you to set the delay between 0 and 8 seconds.  Also available at Scannermaster (This link is from the Bear's Radio Network website so they are a sponsor of the Bears.) Cost: $40
3. The iTunes Method - Requires a PC and a TV with DVR.  Radio Legend Steve Dahl unveiled this method on his daily podcast (dahlCast).  This method requires that the radio station that broadcasts your team's games streams over iTunes.  If they don't, try method 4 or 5.  Cost: Patience

Steps -

1. Start up iTunes and bring up the play by play. 

2. Pause the game on the DVR. The TV broadcast will be ahead of iTunes in this case. 

3. As soon as the action on the iTunes hits where you paused it, unpause the DVR.  If you did it right, you'll be in sync.  If not, try pausing iTunes and then re-sync with the TV. 

It's better to be close than frustrated because it's not perfect.   Remember, close is better than Dick Stockton.

4. The Home Team's Website Method. - Some teams stream their game day play by play on the internet.  If so, you might be able to use the iTunnes method substituting the iTunes feed with the local teams feed. Steps and Cost: See Number 3.
5. The Radio Station Website Method - Similar to numbers 3 and 4 but using the stream from the radio station that carries the home teams games. Steps and Cost: See Number 3.

If all of these methods fail, you can just buck up and get to love Dick Stockton.  Hey, if Leslie Visser can, so can you.

It was one year ago this weekend that a group of seven former bandmates got together for the first time in 25 years and rocked the foundations of College Park Church in Indianapolis.  What a wonderful day it was.

My favorite band that I'd played in, Toast, has not played together since 1984.  All four of us were present and we played a number of songs from our old setlist.  Some sounded great, others not so much.  We were joined by others friends who had played together in other bands, the Surftones and others.

We had three guitars, two drummers, bass and accordion/synth.  We all had a great time and announced that day that we should make it a yearly event.  Unfortunately, it won't be this year.  Preparations are under way to get together in early 2010.

We video taped the entire event.  Michael felt this was the most enjoyable song to watch.  We started playing Rock and Roll and everyone fell into place.  Michael stopped us and said lets take it from the top.  This is take 2, the first complete run through of Rock and Roll.  It sounds a bit rough but you can hear and see the pleasure we all had. 

Frank pulled off the solo like a maniac.  He was our drummer but he is the best musician of all of us.  Bob switched over to bass.  I just sang.  I tried to get cocky and sing the verse after the solo like Plant did on record and my voice gives out after a few words.  It literally breaks.  I had to use care after that.

I really look forward to next year.  For more of the band, look under the Toast and Rockfest 08 pages on JeffHorneWeb.

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the ToastWoodTones.

Wired Magazine published a gallery of photos courtesy of NASA.  The pictures are not of space rather of the Earth, more specifically, inner Earth.  The gallery, entitled Huge Holes in the Earth: Open-Pit Mines Seen From Space feature photographs of open-pit mines from astronauts and satellites. 

While the mines are the result of scarring the earth, they look amazingly cool.

David Cross in an open letter to Larry the Cable Guy from his Audio book, I Drink for a Reason.

Our President let his inner Geek Flag fly yesterday as Olympic and Paralympic representatives showed up at the White House to draw attention to Chicago's bid for the 2016 games.  In order for the President to spar with a fencer, he was given a Light Saber toy and did what all Star Wars fans do as soon as they're handed one... he started buzzing like a light saber.

There have been plenty of photos and videos of the event but my favorite is one featuring a poor soul who "picked" the wrong time to go excavating.  If it is a family photo, that's one thing but when you are attending a media session at the White House, the photo of you going fishing in Lake Boogerville will now be a historic document.

Poor guy.

I have now completed a successful shopping excursion and am ready to delve into Beatles Day head on.  In addition to The Beatles: Rock Band, I picked up some CDs and was able to get some free-bees in the process.

Here's the deal.  I went to Target and could not find the CDs.  The usual type of young (maybe 19 yo) employee pointed me to the games when I asked for the Beatles CDs.  He did not know anything about the music.  Fortunately, an employee who was closer to being my contemporary pointed me to the shelves of Beatles CDs that were off an end cap in the DVD section.  Oh well, at least they had them.  Target gives a $5 gift card for every two Beatles CDs you buy.  The single discs are $11.98, the cheapest around.  I picked up Abbey Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper.  I had a $10 gift card from a recent prescription promotion.  That brought the price down to $40 (tax brought it up to $50). 

I then went to Best Buy and used a Reward Zone $20 voucher on the White Album and Past Masters, both two-CD sets.  Best Buy was out of the box sets but did have the single album "mini-crates" that were $24.  Came with a shirt, the CD and a plastic crate.  Cool but no thanks.  So I took my voucher to the checkout and paid $10 for both discs as Past Masters was marked down to $12.99.  I then went back to Target and picked up Beatles for Sale for $3.50 with my two gift cards.

So in all, I got the nine CDs of remastered Beatles, seven albums, for about $55.  Not a bad day.

Now on to Rock Band with my new, used extra microphone so the wonderful lady of the house and I can harmonize to the band we love.

I love eBay and their plethora of unlicensed goodies.  This one arrived in the mailbox today from an outfit called Watchapalooza.

I received an email from MediaMall offering a discount on their PlayOn software.  PlayOn lets you watch internet video on your TV through devices connected to your home network.  I'd used it in the past but wasn't excited enough to purchase it.  In the past few weeks, they announced the beta of the Wii version.  That changed things.

We don't have an XBox 360 or a PS3.  I'd tried it through our DirecTV DVR but wasn't impressed with the results.  We tried the Wii version and it has really improved.  I decided to try it again on the DVR and happily, that has improved, too.

Their special took $10 off the price.  That was good news.  The other good news is they allow developers to make their own plugins.  So in all, we use it for Netflix, Amazon VOD, Hulu, Revision 3.  The plugins available from playonplugins.com are also impressive.

• Academic Earth
• Adultswim
• Cartoon Network
• Channel9
• Crackle
• Food Network
• GameTrailers.com
• HGTV
• Local Files
• NBA
• NFL
• Plugin Organizer
• Southpark Studios
• Spike TV
• Podcasts (OPML Player) -- with dozens of available feeds!
• International channels: Danish DR and Spanish TVE

It comes with a 14 day trial so I recommend you try it out free.

So you're surrounded by a group of nijas and you're not exactly sure which branch of the martials arts to use.  The fine folks at Cracked.com have put together a flow chart to get you out of every situation.

Microsoft made a poorly kept secret official today by announcing the Xbox 360 Elite will drop $100 to $299 starting tomorrow.  At the same time, the Arcade model will remain at $199 and the Pro has been discontinued and will sell for $250 until stock is depleted.

The Elite is the way to go.  It comes with a headset, wireless controller, Xbox Live Silver membership and a 120 gb hard drive.  In addition, the Xbox will stream Netflix View Instantly titles.

My kids are hoping Santa brings one this year and with today's news, it is looking like more of a possibility.