Signs of the Times, Issue No. 146 - 03/01/11

And there's Jericho with the nonchalant cover...

Greetings to one and all. This is another Tuesday and I hereby bestow upon you another marvelous Issue of my Newsletter. The Newsletter, to my absolute shock, seems to be getting more and more popular by the day. That's good news. People are even voting for the polls on the blog site. It's a miracle! There are still a couple haters out there that seem to violently disagree with the stuff I write. However, it just proves once again that, love it or hate it, you all keep coming back for more. Topics to be discussed today: "Survivor", the most expensive bricks you'll find anywhere, the future of the Utah Jazz, my continued retirement, and the most polarizing young boy in the world. On we go!

**QUESTION TIME!!**

Q. "Inquiring minds want to know what you think of this newest season of 'Survivor' with the whole 'Redemption Island' twist... and Russell's third attempt at playing the game."

- Tyson Hinde

A. Ah... Good Question, my man. It should come as no surprise that I am a fan of reality shows, especially "Survivor," which I have often hyped as the greatest show on television. "Survivor" is now two episodes into its 22nd season and has introduced a new twist to the game: "Redemption Island." Said island is a place where voted-out contestants go after they are eliminated from the game. Once there, competitions will be held to determine which of the two combatants will remain in the game. The head-to-head challenge will permanently dismiss the loser, while the winner will wait three days to compete against the next tribemate voted out of the game. Currently, there are two castaways on the island and I assume that this week's episode will begin with the Redemption Island challenge, then transition to the rest of the castaways that are still in the game, like a normal episode. Because no R.I. challenges have taken place yet, I'm not sure how it will all go down. Initially, I was really worried about this season. What do they say? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well, "Survivor" has survived an entire decade without changes this big to the gameplay, so I honestly felt that Redemption Island could be the death of the series. Then, on top of that, they brought back Boston Rob and Russell Hantz for their fourth and third seasons on the show, respectively, which I thought was a bad idea. As the first show rolled around, I went into it with unusually low expectations. By the end of probably one of the craziest first-episode Tribal Councils ever, though, I had been pleasantly surprised. After two episodes, this season shows a lot of promise. Even the addition of Rob and Russell has been good! I still love Russell and I still hate Rob. I just can't stand how everybody hates Russell and worships Rob when they don't realize that Rob is just as much of a villain as Russell is. Russell just doesn't pull any punches and try to play the hero role like Rob does. Anyway, I'm still loving "Survivor." If you've been a fan in the past but are hesitant about this season, give it a chance and I think it might surprise you, too!

Jeffrey.

Q. "What is your opinion on these all-in-one devices? Is it really better to have a low-quality camera, phone, Internet, etc., and have them all in the same place, or would it be better to have a high-quality camera, a phone that's not the size of a brick (no matter how thin it is), and reliable Internet? Does the convenience outweigh the lower quality?"

Just thinking,

- Kathryn

A. Well, coming from a man that can only call, text, and take pictures on his phone, I have not yet jumped to the smart phone ship. I don't think it's absolutely necessary for me to have the Internet on my phone right now. Of course it would be helpful if I needed to Google something right on the spot and I didn't have my laptop with me, but I've survived so far and will continue to do so until my phone breaks or something. Camera phones really freaked me out at first. I thought people would just be snapping creeper pictures of me left and right. They're actually kind of handy, though. I mostly use the camera on my phone to take pictures if I see something funny or if I'm at a concert and want to rub it in somebody's face. The quality of the pictures that the camera phone takes is usually a pretty sub-standard, though, so, in my personal opinion, I'd rather have a separate camera, phone, and Internet connection. Cost a little bit more, I suppose, but I think it's worth it.

Q. "Hey A-Town,

I'm new to the SotT stuff but I am quite enjoying it also. I saw this comment on the crazy 'book of faces' the other day and thought of you. What do you think? (This comment was in response to someone saying they felt sad for the Jazz): 'It's actually important that we lose enough games to miss the playoffs. I know that sounds crazy, but the more young talent we can get on this team, the better. There's no point in making the playoffs and getting beaten in four or five games by the Mavericks, Spurs, or Lakers. Make up some injuries, blatantly tank, do whatever you have to do to get another pick in the lottery to go along with the New Jersey pick we get this year. It will be better for us in the future.'"

- Kim Andersen

A. Thanks for the Question... and welcome to my life. Hope you find something you enjoy. I may have jokingly made a couple similar comments about the Jazz earlier on this season, but I quickly repented and found the fallacy in my previous way of thinking. Do we want New Jersey to lose every single game until the end of the year? Absolutely! Do we want Deron Williams to completely choke now? Yes! Are we stupid if we still cheer for D-Will, even a little tiny bit? Of course! We want New Jersey to be the worst team in the league this year because we have their draft pick next year via the Deron-for-Harris-and-Favors trade. But do we want the Jazz to just give up on the remaining twenty-something games this year? Nooooooo. That would do us absolutely no good, other than letting us stop caring about basketball two weeks earlier. The Jazz don't currently have their own first round pick last year. It was traded to Minnesota for Al Jefferson. So if we tank this season, it would give the Timberwolves a better pick. There is no chance of us having two lottery picks in 2011, so thinking that the Jazz could get two great first round picks this year isn't accurate. We have New Jersey's first round pick this year (almost a guaranteed top five or six pick) and next year we will have our own pick (probably mid-to-late first round) and Golden State's first round pick (from the Williams trade) - another potential lottery pick. Right now I'd love to see the Jazz make the playoffs. I can almost guarantee you we'd be out in five or six games, but it would just be funny to think about Deron watching the Jazz in the postseason from his recliner at home. On a final note, the more I think about that trade, the more brilliant it was. It was great to get Deron out of here (he wasn't going to stay past next season, anyway) while we could still get something out of him. What will really be funny, though, would be if he doesn't resign in New Jersey after next season.

Anybody remember this guy? 'Cause I sure don't!

Q. "Dear Aaron,

'Dancing with the Stars' revealed its newest cast last night. Are you excited about it? Are you going to make a prediction? You know, you really used to be good at picking a winner."

Just Curious,

- The Junior Mounties

A. (SALUTE!) Thanks for bringing that up, you jerks. Some of you who are newer to the Newsletter may not know that I once correctly predicted three - count 'em: three - consecutive winners on "Dancing with the Stars." Then I kind of got hooked... more like obsessed. Crazed. I craved another victory. The next season, I picked Evan Lysacek who got robbed in the finals. Last season I picked Brandy who also got the short end of the stick, thanks to Bristol Palin, voting machine, extraordinaire. After losing those two seasons in a row, I subsequently retired from my DWTS picks a couple months ago. Bringing us back up to speed, I just saw the new cast... and I thought last season's cast was lame! The one bright spot is that my hatred for Derek Hough can go on vacation because he is, as well. Mr. Hough isn't on this season, which makes it extremely difficult to choose a winner, since Derek has won three out of the last five seasons. No, I will not be making a pick. I'm done with that dang show. Rigged, I tell you. I'll tell you who I want to win, though. --this is not a prediction!!-- Chris Jericho! The Liontamer!! Yes!!! **said in Chris Jericho voice** "COME ON, BABAYYYY!!!"

The Liontamer, himself!!

Wow! Lots of Questions today. I like it, people. I like it! This next section is coming compliments of my younger brother, Cody, who texted me a little earlier this morning with a suggestion for this week's Boo Box.

"So, I just barely turned on my phone... and to my surprise, I had 27 texts telling me that it was Justin Bieber's birthday... this is a sick world we live in. My only birthday wish to him is that he will finally hit puberty..."

Well said, brother! Who cares about Justin Bieber??? By the way, did you peeps notice that in last week's blog poll of "Who has better hair?: Justin Bieber, Edward Cullen, or Aaron?", young Mr. Biebs only got one vote? That vote, might I add, came last minute. I should have closed the polls a couple hours earlier. The end result was Aaron: 9 votes (81%) and Edward and Biebs tying with one vote a piece. Justin Bieber is a LOSER!! He's a little kid! Why does everyone worship him? What did he ever do? Nothing! He sang a couple songs and grew his hair out. So what, people? Rise up! Rise up with me against the Beliebers! We can overtake them! Everybody together now - BOOOOOO!! Down with Justin Bieber! But, possibly the worst news of this entire day is that in 365 days from now, all we'll be hearing is "Justin Bieber (18) caught smoking!" I can see it now. Justin Bieber will soon fall like so many teen pop stars before him.

The little rebel cut his hair!!

I forgot to give a Shoutout of the Week last week, so I'll give two this week. First and foremost to Kimberly Andersen, the newest convert to the SotT fold. Hello!! And secondly, to a man who is too busy with his studious life to have been featured more prominently in this week's Issue. But we must recognize Mr. Dallin Akagi, whose school (Cal-Tech) recently won a basketball game, ending a 207-game, 11-year-long losing streak. That is quite the accomplishment, Dallin. I hope you partied that night away... after you finished your homework, of course!

That's all the misery I'll put your little eyes through this week. Congratulations on surviving another Feel Good About Yourself Tuesday. My best and most pleasant wishes to all of you.

Until next Time,

Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!

Aaron