TDOS Draft to End All Drafts - Round 20

[Jespher]

My island utopia is nearly complete. I have life in all its forms, love in all its expressions, imagination to give life meaning, along with laughter and cooperation to bring everyone together. I have storytellers, outdoor sports, the diverse cuisines of Europe, and those personable, essential comfort foods. My residents can be entertained with their televisions, or in their beautiful epic landscapes and lush, exotic gardens. They can always stay connected with their wireless internet access, and the superpowers help too . I have the joy of being a father, and the simple pleasures of trampolines, guitar riffs, and maps. Having recently added balance to my life, and that of my residents, the environment is ideal for facilitating my next pick...

With my 20th and final choice, I select:

Happiness

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Research has identified a number of attributes that correlate with happiness: relationships and social interaction, extraversion, marital status, employment, health, democratic freedom, optimism, religious involvement, income and proximity to other happy people.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness

[VF21]

Bricklayer is on the clock with SacKings7 on deck...

[GoGoGadget]

SacKings7 is up, pdxKingsFan to follow.

[SacKings7]

Sorry for the holdup, never got a PM

For my last pick, I take:







Dubai - With it's 7 star hotels, record breaking structures n all the good stuff. Looks like an amazing place

[jalfa]

Sorry for the holdup, never got a PM

For my last pick, I take:

Dubai - With it's 7 star hotels, record breaking structures n all the good stuff. Looks like an amazing place

http://dubai.isnuts.googlepages.com/

What's happening over there is completely insane. Very, very fascinating as well, but holy ****! Just the fact that Dubai has more construction workers than actual citizens at the moment...

[pdxKingsFan]

Ok, this was tough because I actually had a bunch of cool things I can't pick, then there was kind of a 3 way split between the neighborhood I grew up in, the city I went to school in and love dearly and the city I live in now and can't imagine living anywhere else. Then there were a ton of sports I love that I couldn't narrow down to just one. Then it hit me, my last pick is going to be:
The Best Seat in the House
I am not even going to bother with a picture here. Center court at basketball, center ice at hockey, midfield in football or soccer, behind the plate at a baseball game. Front row. VIP service. I got it. If I go to a movie I get the middle of the theater to myself. No craned neck and of course all the seats around me are roped off. If I go to dinner I get the window seat with the view or the romantic spot in the corner. In my theater I get the one spot that has been calibrated for optimal sound.

[GoGoGadget]

Nice.

I actually had something very similar on my list, but I'll wait until after the draft to share it.

[D-Mass]

FANTASY FOOTBALL!



Before fantasy football, I mostly watched 49er games...didn't care a whole lot about what was going on in the AFC. A Bills / Ravens game would have been turned off without a second thought. Fantasy football has made me a much bigger fan of the NFL and it makes it more exciting to watch other games and follow particular players. It doesn't have to involve money...in fact, I generally like free leagues better (mainly because I'm extremely cheap). My work does one in which all of the money generated goes to a massive super bowl party at the end of the season.

[pdxKingsFan]

Its interesting that the thing that most people love about Fantasy Football is the reason that I can't do it. I have been watching football longer than any sport and have pretty passionate feelings one way or the other about almost every team, save a few expansion teams. Not to mention with so few games and a zillion convoluted tie breakers almost every game is meaningful in its own right after about 4 weeks into the season when teams have got their rhythm going.

I think its pretty cool but I just can't do it. I did it in the XFL and kicked butt.

[kingsnation]

With my final pick, I select something I absolutely LOVE to do!!






Singing

So, I love to sing! In the car, in the shower, anywhere I get the chance! I pretty much suck at it, but there is nothing like singing at the top of your lungs to your favorite song!

[kingsnation]

FANTASY FOOTBALL!



Before fantasy football, I mostly watched 49er games...didn't care a whole lot about what was going on in the AFC. A Bills / Ravens game would have been turned off without a second thought. Fantasy football has made me a much bigger fan of the NFL and it makes it more exciting to watch other games and follow particular players. It doesn't have to involve money...in fact, I generally like free leagues better (mainly because I'm extremely cheap). My work does one in which all of the money generated goes to a massive super bowl party at the end of the season.

I've played for 8 years and am 2-1 in Super Bowls. This was on my list for sure and I totally forgot - I'm not signed up yet this year!!

[Löwenherz]

For my last pick (until my three replacement picks) I choose not only my personal favorite dog breed, but also the mascot of my desired profession AND one of my favorite bands.

Dalmatians





Sadly that silly Disney movie shoved these guys into the spotlight so that every little kid with a VCR wanted one and well-meaning parents and irresponsible breeders were more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Dals are a slightly tricky breed to train because of their high energy and need lots of exercise otherwise they go a little haywire. So that led to tons being dropped off at pounds or outright abandoned after the kiddies lost interest and the Dal didn't just sit around and look cute.

But with the right owner, they are incredibly loyal and friendly companions and even with all their popularity, they still stand out in a crowd.

[Capt. Factorial]

For my final pick I'm going to select my favorite way to keep my brain engaged - The New York Times Crossword Puzzle. Sure, I'll take the Wednesdays and Thursdays, and I'd never turn my nose up at the Mondays and Tuesdays, but it's the Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays that I'm going to covet.

[AleksandarN]

With my last selection I pick

Beef Jerky

[Löwenherz]

All right, three make-up picks to bring this to an end. And away we go.

Now this next pick is a dual approach toward both the general concept and my personal association with it.

Grandma's House





Now I admit, the appeal of this pick is not entirerly universal, but the positive stereotypes of the cookie-baking, spoil-you-rotten grandmother is more than enough to counter anything else.

And on a personal note, my own childhood summers and holidays typically centered around trips to my grandma's house and the adolescent wonderland that entailed of carefree days lounging around the pool or at the house, adventures into the open farmland surrounding it, day trips to amuesment parks, water parks and the like, and quiet evenings with the love of family and homecooked meals.

Speaking of which, I may not have picked a favorite food in this draft (I have far too many anyway) but now I have my grandma's home cooking to satisfy the need.

[Löwenherz]

Next up and a bit of a 180 from my last pick.

Indiana Jones-style Archaeology





Now this pick needs some serious explaining. Long before I decided to try my hand at the Emergency Services, I was a history nerd entering college with visions of becoming a sub-dued version of Indiana Jones: traveling the world searching for lost historical treasures, spending nights reading ancient scripts searching for clues to said historical treasures, teaching history part-time at a university to pay the bills, bedding moderately attractive women who inexplicably disappear into obscurity after an adventure with me, beating up Nazis.

Now I still adore history or as my friends say "the knowledge of useless facts" ... but found any sense of adventure or for that matter, social skills, lacking in the true profession of Archaeology. Quick example:

Here is true Archaeology:

And here is Indiana Jones-style Archaeology:

Isn't the latter infinitly more awesome than the former? Don't get me wrong, I understand and appreciate the value of true, disciplined archaeological research and have read assessments as to whether Indiana Jones popularization of the adrenaline-fueled, thrilling and immediately rewarding fictional style has actually been a detriment to the discipline.

Still, I suppose what this pick represents is a fantasy of how I kinda wish archaeology really was ... so that my historical knowledge wouldn't be considering useless trivia, but exceedingly awesome and at times, lifesaving.

[Löwenherz]

And finally,

Satire





The concept of bringing about change by pointing out the absurdities of the system through irony and sarcasm.

Or in more elegant terms: "in satire, irony is militant" - Herman Northrop Frye

[GoGoGadget]

And another draft is in the books. I'll update the draft board momentarily, and everyone can start getting the rankings in. Anyone who owes make-up picks can get them in any time between now and when I start the voting.

[Bricklayer]

I am awful.


Poetry

A quick scan did not seem to reveal this taken, so guess I'll just take the whole thing.

Note: If I missed something and this late pick is stepping on somebody else's toes, I'll just restrict it to the golden era of maybe 1780-1950, and we can even add British if necessary as an additional qualifier (as long as Yeats gets called a Brit for those purposes)

[GoGoGadget]

Considering how far behind others have gotten, you're hardly an awful.