the cultural taproom

the end for now . . .

2009-04-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

between lack of postings and the social networking revolution, the cultural taproom will no longer post entries.

you can follow your favorite author at their facebook page.

thanks for reading and maybe the taproom 2.0 will hit the interweb someday.

Things That Get Me Through The Day...

2009-04-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, Listen up and listen good. I'm not blogging all night, people.

I don't work well in the morning until my coffee has kicked in, or my two coffees, or my two coffees and a shot of green tea extract and 2 donuts. Don't judge me.

The point is, until such a time as the caffeine gives me palsy and is too much for me to keep sitting and forces me to get up and actually do my job, I entertain myself by checking out several safe and entertaining websites that give me the giggles and makes me a happy worker.

If any of you have a sense of humor you're going to need to check out one if not all of these websites.

Garfield Minus Garfield describes itself as"a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb." It is honest, intriguing, and pretty dang hilarious. I never realized how depressing Jon Arbuckle really was until you take out the talking animals.

Picture is Unrelated is a compilation of every picture ever posted on the web that makes no sense and has no meaning whatsoever. A picture is worth a thousand words, these pictures are worth about 3 letters, W T and F. My favorite pictures are captioned "Spook the Cat and Trick the Soul" and "It's Not a Party Til Someone Takes Off Their Pants". See if you can find them.

I Can Has Cheezeburger is it's own subculture. Cats talk, but not well, they love cheezburgers, there is a cat god and a cat satan. It's a great mix of cute and funny. And after growing up with cats I have to say, this is as close as you get to what a cat is really thinking in their head.

Failblog. Let's face it, there's a lot of failure online nowadays. Ever since parents of teenagers gave up parenting and let their prodegy run buck wild through the electronic world. The idiocy that is America (and foreign countries trying to speak english) has been made available to us all. Learn what fail means. Learn it, and use it.

Not Always Right. This is in regards to that saying "the customer is always right". Anyone who has worked retail understands how untrue that is. Here is the retail lackies chance to tell it like it is. Every stupid, crazy, mean thing that customers have ever said is up for the ridicule of the entire world. YAY! One can only hope that someone has seen something they've said on there and has learned an important lesson. Better to let people think you're stupid than to open your mouth and prove it.

There, I'm done and now you are all better people.

Obstacle 1, Champions League preview and true love?

2009-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

I don’t listen to the radio very much but occasionally I’ll flip around. Lately in checking in with the Impact, I’ve heard Interpol’s Obstacle 1. Like 4 or 5 times, at different parts of the day. Doesn’t that seem weird? I like the song, but can listen to it anytime I want, so I change the channel. This morning on the way to work during a commercial break for Bob and Tom, I tuned in to the Impact and guess what was on? I listened to the song from to the end, hoping that this will break the cycle. We shall see.

Moving on . . .

The Champions League quarters start today. Here are my quick predictions:

Liverpool v Chelsea. Who cares? History tells us that this will be 180 minutes of “tactical” drama. I’m not going to watch, which guarantees a 3-3 draw.

Arsenal v Villareal. I see Arsenal coming good at the right time. I see a tight game tomorrow with Arsenal winning the tie outright next week.

United v Porto. After United’s amazing comeback yesterday, I think they will ride the momentum from that result and a relatively full strength side to claim a 2-0 victory. Then go to Porto and grind out a 1-1 draw.

Barca v Bayern. This has to be the tastiest matchup of the four. The first leg should have plenty of goals, something like 3-1 Barca and I expect a nail biting return leg as Jurgen tries to save his job.

And finally, a bizarre article I found on the interweb:

A Chinese man was killed last night after trying to catch his suicidal girlfriend as she jumped from the seventh floor of their Quanzhou apartment building in south-eastern China.

Tears for the heroes of love
The young man, only identified as Wang, tried to break the woman’s fall by holding out his arms, witnesses said. He was killed by the impact of her body landing on top of him, according to Perth Now.

His girlfriend survived the fall, suffering only from bone fractures and other injuries. She was not in critical condition and expected to make a full recovery.

The couple had quarreled before Wang went to the street below to try and persuade his girlfriend not to jump. It was unclear if she plummeted from a ledge or out of a window.

Hospital staffers say the woman appears confused and doesn’t know how she fell.

This totally reminded me of the opening of Magnolia. (If you haven’t seen it, see it ASAP.) Is this a grand romantic gesture or an act of lovestruck stupidity? I’m not sure which way to go on this one.

cassettes and sports

2009-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

Through Netflix, I got 35 free downloads from emusic.com. As a way of generating track ideas, I went through my box of cassette tapes. Remember those? Here’s what I discovered on my trip down musical memory lane:

There are several albums that highlight the late high school to early college years:
--Superstar Carwash by Goo Goo Dolls
--Frosting on the Beater by the Posies
--Never Said by Liz Phair
--Day for Night by Tragically Hip
--Gish by Smashing Pumpkins

I have digital versions of most everything above, except for the Goo Goo Dolls. It wasn’t on emusic, so my next visit is to mp3fiesta.com, although I have found the album on amazon for $2. Anyway, a great album, energetic indie rock without becoming the sugary, polished and overplayed tracks like Name, Iris and Slide.

Another discovery is that apparently I was really into Aerosmith. Permanent Vacation, Pump, Get a Grip, Best of. Permanent Vacation is a classic. Who can forget Dude Looks a Lady? If I can find a tape player that works, I plan to revisit this aspect of my musical past. Plus there are the Alicia Silverstone videos to revisit.

Saturday night I parked myself on a barstool at Claddagh’s to watch basketball and futbol. My brackets were toast thanks to Memphis losing, so I didn’t really care who won. Where did Missouri come from? And where did they get those uniforms? While that game was going on, I was suffering through Portugal v Sweden. A must win game for Portugal, and, to their credit, they did go for it. Sweden was obviously happy with a draw, looking to pick up scraps and didn’t really go push on until Wilhemsson came on with 30 minutes to go. Unfortunately for Portugal and the viewer (me), they cannot score. I have ranted about this on several occasions, so I won’t go into it again. I will summarize thusly: they either need to change their formation or find a natural finisher. The result: 0-0 and there is a real chance of Portugal not qualifying for the World Cup.

Moving on . . .

The TV with the Villanova/Pitt game was turned away from me so it was hard to keep track. I mostly focused on Montenegro v Italy. An early PK set up Italy nicely, and although Montenegro threatened, they struggled to create many clear cut chances. Italy played very narrow in my opinion and only got width from the backs. Montenegro was ok, with their #8 being quite good. Montenegro had a great chance to equalize in the second half, and Italy has several chances to kill off the match before Pazzini made it 2-0 and secure the three points.

That game was followed by El Salvador v US. The US was terrible in the first half. Poor touches which led to poor possession, with Beasley’s turnover leading to the opening goal. Ching did not get involved and Donovon had to drop deep to get the ball. I left at halftime because I was tired and bored. Turns out the US ended up with a 2-2 draw, which is a valuable away point. Qualification is a certainty, and they need to win the group to get the best possible seed next summer.

Finally, I got this newsletter from a vendor. One of these with business news and tips. At the bottom there is a thoughtful or inspirational quote. Here is the quote from last Friday:

“Keep your eyes on the stars and feet on the ground.” Theodore Roosevelt

Doesn’t that sound eerily like a popular American radio host? Very interesting.

Ta Ta.

Will "Kings" Reign?

2009-03-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

I watched the first 2 episodes of “Kings”—a new drama on Sundays at 8:00 on NBC. The commercials intrigued me because I thought it recast America as a monarchy instead of a democracy. So I was interested to see how the writers pictured such a world. However, my assumptions about the background of the show were completely wrong. Rather, it is a modernization of the biblical Saul and David story found in 1 and 2 Samuel. I figured this out immediately as there were many allusions to the biblical story—some overt and some more subtle. Here are a few:

The main city with a New York skyline was Shiloh
The king was named Silas (Saul); the young upstart was named David Shepherd; the king’s daughter and David’s love interest was named Michelle (Michal); the Prophet was named Reverend Samuels
An early scene saw David going up against a tank whose model was named “Goliath”

Others could be listed, but you get the point. A more subtle allusion revolved around the anointing of the Spirit. In the biblical narrative, the Spirit is on Saul and then leaves him and rests on David. In the show the Spirit is symbolized by butterflies that come and settle like a crown on the actors’ heads. I thought this was an interesting and profound appropriation.

No matter how many parallels and allusions are included, many modernizations of classics end up falling flat. However, I put this “Kings” one on the level of Romeo + Juliet (1996) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. One aspect that sets this show apart from other attempts to modernize ancient stories is the clever mix of modern and ancient language. While Romeo + Juliet tried to keep much of Shakespeare’s language, “Kings” uses modern English while sprinkling in some “spiritualized” language. For example, when Reverend Samuels denounces the king he says, “I bring a message. Since you have cast aside the word of the Lord he has cast you aside as king. He grants you no more favors. He protects what you love no longer. God wishes a man after his own heart. You have none.”

Through the first 2 episodes they have done a pretty good job of conveying the original storyline without too much fabrication or plot twisting. However, I wonder if they can keep it up without too many contrived stories. One problem I have is with the portrayal of the king’s son, Jack (Jonathan in the biblical account). In the TV edition he resents David, while the biblical account shows a man, who though he should resent David, loves him and accepts David’s ascension to the throne. Unless a plot line makes them best buddies, it will be a pretty significant divergence from the original.

As I said, my biggest fear is the writers turning this story into something it is not, or choosing to show one side of the characters over against another. But if they do, they will be in good company since the Biblical writers do the same thing. 1 and 2 Samuel tell all the dirty secrets of David, while Chronicles cleans up his history and presents a more pristine “man after God’s own heart.”

I don’t know where this series is going, but I like it thus far and recommend you give it a try. You can watch the first three episodes on the NBC website.

The Art of Running for People Who Would Rather Do Anything But...

2009-03-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

This may come as a surprise to some of you but I am not an athletic person. I have found in my lifetime that sweating and breathing hard and a lot of movement is not conducive to reading which is what I really like to do. I'm also not excited by the idea of physical activity that does not accomplish anything. It seems an awful lot like work. I hate watching sports, I hate sports talk shows, I hate sports commercials and sports stores. I grew up in a dysfunctional family where athletic extra curricular activities were dominated by my brother and entering any such activities would have lead to unflattering comparisons by my less than stellar father, yes, even as a kid I understood this.

However, at the ripe old age of 29, I have finally set aside some of the more serious "you'll never be as good as your brother" issues while other issues are so deeply suppressed in my psyche that I'll probably never be able to break that wall down and deal with them. This leaves me open to try new things without the crushing self loathing of my childhood (wow, where is this coming from?!) So after much deliberation I took up jogging. Now, after nearly 5 weeks of jogging I can tell you everything you need to know to get up and get moving. Let's begin shall we.

1) Infinitesimal Motivation
I don't have a lot of will power, I'm almost never motivated, I don't have moments of clarity that change my life forever. What I do have is microscopic sporadic urges to do somewhat healthy things combined with a total lack of patience. Thus, whenever I have a free time and think "I should get up and do something", I do it. Immediately. I don't think twice, I don't stop to consider all the other things I could be doing, I don't second guess my abilities, I just go do it. You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish by blocking out rational thought. And to be clear, I never have the urge to run, I have the desire to be able to run. To do something healthy and not pass out or throw up on the side of the road. So if you have even an inkling of a desire to do something, my advice to you is to jump on it. Attack it and never look back. Do it one day, maybe the next time that urge comes around and you do it, it's slightly less horrible.

2) No Victory is Too Small

This is the imperative second step to following infinitesimal motivation. For me it's important to think that following the motivation is actually changing me in obvious ways, that every step I take is moving me away from failure and towards something better, something I spent most of my life believing I could not do. Today I don't feel as exhausted after 2 miles. Today I sprinted the last block home. Today I could talk while jogging.Today I didn't choke on my own spit. I don't talk to people much about what my goals are in running or about running in general, I just can't afford to fill my head with negative or pessimistic comments.

3) The Zero Tolerance Rule

#3 is basically the other side of #2. As I celebrate every little victory, even if it's just not hating running as much as I used to, I also avoid know-it-alls. Know-it-alls are almost always negative and bossy. I have avoided so many things because I was afraid that other people would be dissappointed with me or that I would be disappointed with myself, I don't feel I need anymore of that talk. So what if I'm doing it wrong, I'm doing it. So what if my shoes aren't right or I'm holding my arms too high or I don't bounce on my toes enough (yes, I've heard these before). I'm doing it, if at some time in the future I choose to improve my style by asking your advise I will ask it, until then I'm just working on putting one foot in front of the other.

4) Night Time is the Right Time

This one is not for everyone but it really works for me. Running at night. As long as I don't get hit by a car, I really really like running at night for several reasons. A) It's cooler outside, as we near summer temperatures of 110 degrees, this will be come more important. B) You can't see how fast or slow you are going, it forces me to pick a pace based on what I can handle instead of how fast I think I should go. C) I'm less self conscious knowing there is no one to see me and judge me. D) It's quieter and there's less traffic.

The down side to jogging at night is the possibility of wild animals and weirdos. Ben and I were on the bike trail at about 9:30 one night and got within 20 ft. of a coyote. Tonight there was some old homeless looking guy putting on a ski mask who yelled something at me. I have no idea what he yelled but it kinda sort sounded like "You're a fag!".

5) The Buddy System

Run with someone really positive. Run with someone who's a better runner than you but has a lot of patience. This way, they can talk to you while you run and take your mind off of some of the pain. Run with someone really encouraging. And most importantly, lay out ground rules quickly. Ben is my running buddy and I made sure to tell him the very first day that if he got ahead of me, my first instinct is to catch up instead of telling him to slow down, then I would run out of steam, then get frustrated, then quit. So Ben knows not to push ahead but stays next to me. He also keeps track of time so we stick to our schedule.

6) The Bully System

As much as I don't allow anyone to be negative about my running. I can be negative about myself if I want. I don't allow disappointment or frustration, but I allow myself a little affectionate ribbing now and then. There is a killer hill I run into towards the end of the 2 miles, I hate it. I have yet to run up that thing without having to walk some of it. This is normally about the time I try some negative motivation. "Maybe this hurts so much because gravity is pulling my big fat butt back down the hill", "Maybe I should take this hill twice today, show that cottage cheese who's boss", "maybe I don't hate this hill, maybe I just love little debbie too much". Staying positive and not allowing frustration doesn't mean don't face reality, sometimes reality is having to push through no matter what. Sometimes humor is making the best of a less than ideal moment.

7) Clothes Make the Runner, Especially the Feet Part

I realized 2 weeks ago, that at 29 years old I have never owned a brand name pair of shoes and I've never bought a pair of shoes that cost $50. As of two weeks ago I own both. They are Nikes, I named them Betty and Ling (right and left). They are worth every penny. Betty and Ling keep my knees from hurting (too much) they have arch supports and padding, and they aren't as loose on my feet as my first running shoes (from payless).

I also went out and bought some really comfortable running pants and capris. But for those you can go to Goodwill, there's lots of selection and they've already been broken in for you! Pajama pants don't cut it. It's already hard to run, you should make sure you are as comfortable as you can be

8) Get a Plan

Get any plan, close your eyes and point and you can get a running plan, they are all over the internet. I recommend the Couch to 5K Running Plan created specifically for sedentary people like me. Get a plan, then get a route, no one likes to stop running to decide which way to go, get it mapped out before you go and there's less to think about.

Right now I can't tell you how I feel about running. I like that I do it, I like that I can do it. I don't enjoy it for it's own sake. I like feeling a little bit of accomplishment every time. Things I never thought I would be able to do, like run a whole mile without walking, are pretty simple now. I'm not as embarrassed to run with people watching. I don't know that I'll ever actually do a 5K but it's not out of the realm of reality. I would like to go to Hawaii this summer and I'd like to wear a bathing suit without feeling like the Pillsbury dough boy, or Staypuff Marshmallow Man, or the Michelin Man or any other white squishy monster. Maybe someday I'll enjoy running for the sake of running, maybe someday I feel the endorphins kick in like I hear tell of. That hasn't happened yet. When/if I get to that point I'll let you know, I'm sure it will be a momentous day.

Damages Season 2

2009-03-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

I want to bring to your attention a TV show that has caught my eye "Damages".

When i first heard about this new show back in July 2007 i began to think legal thrillers are silly and boring. They just are...period. For the life of me I cannot figure out how so many people get enraptured by Law & Order, but i watched it anyway and below is what i thought.

So when I first saw the previews of FX’s Damages Season 1 I was expecting a decent performance by Glenn Close as class action lawyer Patty Hewes, but a bunch of petty storytelling with little soul. Not only was I mistaken in my snap judgment of the storyline, but Damages has gone on to become one of the best shows on television.

By the time Damages hit the air The Shield was a bit trite. OK, so Vic is a bad dude on the good side of the law. Yippee. Damages came along and proved that FX has a winning formula for its dramas.
Give the writers leeway to tell intelligent and adult stories, and then what you’ll end up with is an Emmy winning show.

Perhaps the networks should pay attention because they are getting trounced by cable when it comes to original programming. As season one came to a close it was difficult for me to understand how Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) could continue working for Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), even if she planned to work with the FBI to take her down.

The season two premiere answers that quite nicely as we see Ellen one month later struggling to deal with her anger. Ellen’s naivety in season one stemmed from inexperience, not a lack of intelligence or ability. The show handled that deftly, and Rose Byrne held her own against Glenn Close.
Now we’ve moved beyond that as Ellen is insistent on doing everything to take Patty down, even giving the FBI pause when she’s readily willing to perform any task asked. Ellen is also attending anger management meetings, and it’s there she meets Wes Krulik (Timothy Olyphant).

The casting of Olyphant alone for the part had me on edge on whether this man could be trusted, and while Ellen confides in him she does seem reserved. Perhaps it’s because she isn’t ready to move on from her fiancés death, or she suspects him as much as I do. While the big case of the season doesn’t involve Frobisher (Ted Danson) –who, incidentally was shot when last we saw him– I was ecstatic to see him coming back for the second season.
Time will only tell if what happened changed him, or if it’s all an act. One thing I know for sure is that Arthur Frobisher is one of the most likeable bad guys on television. I’d go so far as to say he’s not really a bad guy, just a man with power who suffers from some terrible flaws.
For her part Patty is the envy of the entire legal world after her multibillion dollar win against Arthur Frobisher. Clients are trying to get her to take cases, and Ellen is handed a fake case by the FBI to use to bring Patty down. But nothing sticks, no matter how hard Ellen tries. Or even Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan), Patty’s most trusted lawyer at the firm, who backs Ellen’s decision to convince Patty to head up the case. Then Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), an old friend of Patty’s, calls on her for help. What starts as a favor for a friend and a domestic violence case quickly escalates into something more. Anyone who feared that the loss of Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) as Patty’s legal nemesis would hurt the show need not worry. In the second episode we’re introduced to Claire Maddox (Marcia Gay Harden) who goes to legal battle with Patty the moment she appears on screen. This is a woman who will never be afraid to confront Patty.

Also, Marcia Gay Harden is a stunningly beautiful woman and her portrayal of Claire is so powerful and intense I can easily see her joining Glenn Close and Zeljko Ivanek as an Emmy winning cast member. The style of storytelling in season two is similar to season one, but not identical. We do start off with something happening six months in the future, and then the bulk of the show is what happened to lead up to these moments. Instead of a bloodied Ellen stumbling down the street, this time we get an Ellen who is cold and calculating as she sits and discusses matters with…someone.

The season two premiere ends in this time frame with a scene that is chilling. I didn’t see it coming, and that’s the point. Where Ellen was broken down by Patty in season one I think season two is going to showcase her crossing the breaking point. Damages returns without skipping a single beat. New characters are as complex and interesting as returning favorites. The show delivers on a style that is intelligent and simultaneously easy to follow. You’ll never scratch your head wondering what is up with any character, as each choice and action made makes perfect sense as you watch it. The use of the flashback formula is where Damages shoehorns in its suspense and mystery as we near the end of Season 2 this is a must watch for anyone who enjoys television and i encourage you to get season 1 & 2 and enjoy it as much as i have done.

Next week i will try and stomach discussing the Utd collapse against Fulham as well as Fergie's bad team selection and why i think Liverpool's hype is just hype!!!!

Bye for now

movie/tv reviews

2009-03-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm posting a day ahead because I will be out of the office all day tomorrow, and I can' figure out how to auto post.

Couple of movie/TV show reviews:

Watchmen. **Spoiler alert** If you have not seen it, skip ahead.

The more I review it my mind, the more I didn’t like it. Overall it did do a good job of transferring the comic to the screen. But it’s the details that really get to me.

The soundtrack was amazing. Even 99 Balloons was odd but cool. However any original music was terrible and really clashed with the mood of the film.

As for characters, Rorschach was one of the greatest performances of a comic character brought to screen. The voice, the outfit, the moments were absolute magic. And then there was Silk Spectre II. Horrible. Her voice, her. The way Doc Manhattan was presented was tremendous. There is no way he could have been as dynamic as a visual 10 years ago. (And I’m not just talking about his “you know.”) I thought Ozymandius’ costume was taken from the X-Men wardrobe trailer. Didn’t really fit with the book.

Then there was the gratuitous sex scene. Really did we need that? Were they appealing to the fanboys or the customer who didn’t know anything going in? This movie was 2’40”, felt every moment of it and that was 2” they could have cut off.

Finally, the movie is too dense for a literal presentation. While there were elements of the story told and it created a sort of anti-hero moral tale, a huge theme of the book is why somewhat normal people dress up in spandex and masks. I felt they really didn’t cover this at all and they probably couldn’t and get everything else in.

Last week, I watched the Little Britain USA. Imagine Family Guy and South Park. Now both of those shows go up to a line of decency and jump over. Little Britain starts where those shows end and jumps farther. Tasteless, graphic and offensive. Genius.

Choke. I felt like Choke was some sort of Coen Bros. movie. Here are these characters, this is their world, x,y,and z happens, credits. Lord High Charlie was great, and there was a little “Of Mice and Men” dynamic between the two friends. Now would I see this as a double feature with Fight Club? Not sure. Don’t know if I’ll ever see it again although there were some very quotable lines.

Gone Baby Gone. **Spoiler alert** If you have not seen it, skip ahead.

Wow. Great film. Talk about no right answer and moral grey areas. I had this nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right and when the Detective slipped during his drunken rant about the nature of God, that solved the puzzle for me. This is a film that I could come back to and really enjoy, while trying to figure out which side of the fence I would have been on. Morgan Freeman really stole the show. You inherently trust his character and then are stunned with the plan that is set in motion. His monologue at the end sets up the moral quandary and really gets the wheels turning in your brain.

Now I have to get to the three movies on my bed stand. Besides those, I hope to talk about in the near future about the Champions League draw, MLS expansion and some music I came across.

Ta Ta.

2009-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

“J.Lo Sues Stroller Company for $30 Million”. I can’t even think of something pithy to say because I’m so flabbergasted.

I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of hers, “Maid in Manhattan” really sealed the deal for me and proves she does not have the talent to be either an actress or a singer, but what she does have is business sense. From dancer to actor to singer to perfume and jeans (which I own but only because I paid $3 at the Trinity Evangelical Church Thrift Store). I'm pretty sure she's sold everything including her soul. Let me count the levels of wrongness in this lawsuit:

1) Does she really think she's worth that much?

2) How much free merchandise has she accepted from companies such as this for her to show off in the hopes that this would prompt other people to buy stuff? And yet heaven forbid someone use her likeness to sell something? What’s the difference?

3) How much money does she already have that she needs $30 million more?

4) Considering the current economic crisis that many Latinos find themselves in currently and also considering the aforementioned #3, can she still call herself “Jenny from the Block?”

The sum total of arrogance and greed it takes to pull off this type of lawsuit blows my mind. This is the type of activity that alienates her from the culture she continues to claim she is part of. The mean part of me really hopes she loses some fans for this but I have a feeling stupid people stick together. I'm going to write an aria for J-Lo, it's called "Nobody Cares".

24 Review & A piece of humble pie!!!!!!!

2009-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

November's TV movie 24: Redemption found Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer a chastened man. Helping orphans in Africa, he was hoarse not for the usual reason (barking orders), but from asking his Inner Good Guy for forgiveness for his CTU-agent sins.

24: Season 7 made its long awaited return to FOX in January and with 14 episodes into arguably the best season of 24 to date my disappointment of the teaser movie Redemption has now vanished as i countdown the days to the next episode week after week.

Season 7 started out with Jack facing a congressional hearing for torture crimes against the many international terrorists and domestic traitors that plagued the United States in seasons prior, as he was grilled by Senator Mayer about his actions as a CTU Agent the hearing was interrupted by FBI Agent Renee Walker (she is a dish by the way)

What has happened since has been thrilling, Tony Almeida is back from the dead to help Jack, Bill Buchanen sacrificed himself for the Presidents survival, Chloe is in custody... go figure!!! and now Agent Walker has been suspended and is currently in holding for helping Jack escape custody so that he can continue to solve to missing pieces of what is about to happen next.

I was pleasantly surprised that 24: cast John Voight in what appears to be a role for him as a domestic traitor killing innocent lives for the greater good.... so he puts it.

I am looking forward to the final 10 episodes in what i hope will be more exciting, thrilling and all about Jack saving the country once again.

24 is without a doubt one of America's hottest shows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK so i am going to eat a piece of humble pie here and say Liverpool deserved their win this past weekend at Old Trafford.......... only because we made mistakes and didn't finish our chances.

That's humble right? Anyway i don't think that defeat has cost us the title as so many people seem to think it has, yes we lost the game, but we are still 4 points clear with a game in hand at home v Portsmouth in April. This weekend sees us take the trip the Craven Cottage to take on a Fulham side that we blew away in the FA Cup 1/4 final. After last weeks humiliation i expect a response and if we respond with goals it could be a long day for Fulham as we look to put the lead back to 7 points for 24 hours at least.

Liverpool face a tough test at home to Villa who will be looking to get back in the race for 4th spot. C'mon Villa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later for now, enjoy the week

justin.tv and champions league recap

2009-03-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Due to my busy schedule I was unable to post last week. I’m sure you were waiting with bated breath for my next entry.

Speaking of which, I have subscribed to this blog on my facebook page. With the changes that have been made, new entries from anyone who posts on the blog come across as “my” note. So when JD celebrates his completion of the World Beer tour, I get a facebook comment from my mom worrying about my drinking. How do I fix this?

Moving on . . .

Thanks to justin.tv I was able to catch Barca’s progress in the Copy Del Rey. I was following the match cast on soccernet.com and decided to watch the second half on line if possible. The screen opened up just in time to see Pinto save a PK from Mallorca. From there the game totally changed momentum and Barca equalized with a goal from Messi. On to the final v Bilbao.

I know justin.tv is illegal. But I don’t have the money or time to pony up for the typical cable package, so if there is something out there for free I’ll do that instead. Usually the quality isn’t that great and the feed drops out from time to time so really what harm is it doing? I know there are even better options on the interweb, I just haven’t found them yet. Trust me, I’m bringing enough business to Claddagh’s and in effect FSC and Setanta to make sure everything works out.

The Champions League draw is Friday and the permutations are incredible. All English quarters? Utd v Barca? Will two of the lesser teams meet to insure one of them is in the semis?

Looking back at the round of 16, I will have to say that I was really surprised about the Manchester United result. I put too much stock in the Special One and he didn’t deliver. As for Barcelona, when they are on, they are simply unstoppable. But what happens when they get shut down? The United semi last year is the template for defeat. Organized, determined teams can hold out and if they hold out, Barca will give up a goal or two. Especially this year as the defense has been shaky at best, which in turn has exposed Valdez. Juventus simply didn’t deserve to advance. A horrible first leg condemned them to defeat. They did make it 1-1 on aggregate but after that never really tested or made Chelsea nervous. Once Chelsea scored, then the tie was over. But Juve’s motto must be “gain experience”. The young core must learn how to win and maybe it will pay off with a scudetto next year and a Champions League title in the next 3-5 years. Final thought, watch out for Villareal. If they get a favorable draw, they could sneak into the final.

I have seen the Watchmen but am still processing it. I hope to talk about a couple of movies next week. How’s that for a tease?

Finally, if you like soccer, and especially Spanish soccer, check out the Revista de la Liga Extra podcast. Produced by Sky Sports, it has great analysis, discussion and projects of the La Liga.

Ta Ta.

Big Day

2009-03-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm watching W as I type--it's a little stunning, and I'll have to read up on the accuracies/inaccuracies of it's portrayal of Bush and those around him. Regardless, I continue to be wowed by Josh Brolin--where did he come from?! What a quick string of great performances, No Country For Old Men, W, and Milk, seemingly out of nowhere? This is frickin' Brand from The Goonies, and I hadn't seen him in anything since then up to No Country. I just checked his IMDB filmography and he's been working the entire time--pretty crazy--20 full years in the industry and only now really making his presence felt.

Anyway, looking forward to a big day--maybe a little bit of playing Oblivion on the 360 (new to it, and blown away--it was recommended to me when I bought the 360 and I should have bought it then--it's incredibly deep and rich in content, and probably waaaay to nerdy to describe here, but suffice it to say I'm in geek heaven when I'm playing it), then clean up a bit getting ready for my sister-in-law and her boyfriend to spend the day/night here, then we've got the MSU game this afternoon, Settlers of Catan, introducing Margaret and Kenny to Guitar Hero (Margaret is going to be hilarious, I just know it), and then heading over to Duke's for dinner.

Duke's is the only nice restaurant in Portland, and it's a Cajun restaurant, and I love it. Meg can't find a lot there that she likes b/c she doesn't like spicy food, but I love it--good beer, interesting food selections, actually pretty decent store atmosphere which is severely lacking in the other plastic-booth-flimsy-table-country-decor-fluorescent-lighted restaurants around town.

Oh, and one last note, I have finally completed my world beer tour at Old Chicago after probably 4 years of working on it--that's 110 different beers, so 27 a year-ish, which means I probably visited about once every other month or so, with 4 beers per visit. Along the way have earned a deck of cards, a bottle opener, a t-shirt, a baseball cap, a travel coffee mug, a cooler, and a sweatshirt, and I've drank a fair amount of crappy beer, because in order to get up to 110 that means I'm having to do the Bud, Bud Lite, Miller Lite, Coors, Pabst, MGD, Heineken, and Corona series as well...ick. Most of the gifts were crap, particularly because the WBT logo is UGLY, so that pretty much wipes out the t-shirt, baseball cap, and sweatshirt. The cards and bottle opener are great, but also the first gifts you earn, so it's a loooong dry spell. And a travel coffee mug is the LAST gift a BIGGBY employee needs--how do they not have a logo pint glass? That's always felt like a major misfire. So now I'm through it, and the good news is that now I get credit for any beer I drink, I don't have to keep drinking the different (and crappy) beers, but will I feel as strongly compelled to visit to achieve? We'll see.

P.S. I'm trying to get a similar reward program introduced at BIGGBY--I found it very compelling, and that was at a place where you really can't visit all that often--how many times a month can you go out for pizza? But we've got some fanatics out there that I think would really cleave to a program like this. We'll see...

Why Manchester United embody everything good about football!!!

2009-03-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

I listened to the commentary of our FA Cup tie against Fulham at Craven Cottage on the radio as well as watching it on Dutch TV via an Internet Satelite. The pangs got worse.
The commentators were raving about United. They were ransacking their minds for new superlatives. It sounded as if they were watching football poetry, but as i watched it was more than that.
Not that it's anything particularly new praising United given that i am such a huge Mancunian. Sir Alex Ferguson's sides have dominated the game in England for the last 15 years.
There have been great teams to watch, filled with great players. Too many to mention, really. A cast of stars.
But it feels as though there's something special about Ferguson's latest creation, as though what he has built at Old Trafford has taken another step forward in its evolution.
The way this United team play football, you want to take your kids to a game so that in years to come, they can say they saw them play.
Whoever they grow up to support, they can say they saw a United side that was chasing five trophies.
They can say they saw Ryan Giggs in his glorious autumn, Wayne Rooney growing into his prime, Cristiano Ronaldo in his pomp, the fiery majesty of Paul Scholes, the breathtaking passing of Michael Carrick and one of the best English club defences there has ever been.
And they can say they saw Ferguson himself, standing watchfully over his charges in his Old Trafford perch, gazing down at his final achievement and the one that we may yet remember him by.
For all those reasons, it will feel like a privilege to watch United take on Inter Milan in the second leg of their Champions League second round tie this evening.
Seeing them take on Liverpool, the pretenders to their throne, on Saturday afternoon will be equally unmissable.

It's possible, of course, that Inter will spoil this script by beating United tonight. How typical of their boss, Jose Mourinho, it would be to conjure a result like that, but the evidence we have seen so far suggests that won't happen. The evidence we have seen so far suggests that Inter, like most other teams, are simply not in United's league. United were so much better than Inter in the first half of the first leg at the San Siro that the gulf was embarrassing. Inter were lumpen. United were brilliant.
Apart from all the individual talents the team possess, what is so striking about this United team is its technical accomplishment.
There is nothing traditionally English about their style at all. They have travelled a million miles, too, from the 4-4-2 orthodoxy that ruled their fantastic Treble-winning side of 1999.
They are fluid now. So fluid they slip through your fingers. So fluid they're close to perfecting Total Football. Very close indeed.
Their close control is fantastic. They play the ball into feet at pace into tight areas. They keep possession. They pass the opposition to death.
Their movement is like quicksilver. Players such as Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, dropping deep, pulling wide, are unmarkable.
Their speed of passing and their speed of thought is reminiscent of the Spain team that outplayed England so comprehensively last month in Seville. And compliments don't come much higher than that.
So I hope United wipe the floor with Inter tonight. Not because they're English and Inter are Italian or the fact that I am die hard RED for LIFE, but because this United team represents everything that is good about the game and Inter don't. And because their quest for five trophies is something to be marvelled at, even if, sooner or later, it may come unstuck.
If you can get a ticket for anything in sport, get a ticket to watch this United team play. Its truly mesmerizing!!!!!

Some Facebook Rants

2009-03-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

I recently purged my “friend” list on Facebook. At first I thought it was great to have so many “friends” and to reconnect with people. But as my experience has progressed I have realized that these people are not my “friends”. In fact, I spent four years in high school or college in the proximity of some of these people without ever having a real conversation. My feeling is that if I didn’t make a point to “connect” with them then, why would I now? That may seem heartless and cruel, but it is a fact. I don’t dislike them or wish them ill – I just don’t want to get step up our current association level and become involved in their daily affairs. Most of the people won’t even notice – after all, they have like 300 friends’ lives to wade through and I am probably not on the top of the list. So, my “friend” list has dwindled from 200 to around 120. That is still too many. I would love to pine it down to 50, but that would cause some serious friction among acquaintances.

Maybe that is the next innovation that needs to take place on Facebook – differing categories. Instead of emasculating the definition of the word “friend”, why can’t we categorize people based on our actual relationship? If they are business related, church related, old school people, or whatever else that might solve the problem for me. I know, they have the “top 10” friends group or whatever, but anything that says “Hey, we are going to take all of your information and disseminate it as we please” usually leads me to click “ignore.”

Which leads me to my next Facebook rant – all of these groups and causes are pointless. I don’t join any causes because, listen closely, THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING!!! By definition a “cause” affects change. Signing up for something on Facebook does not make any difference to cancer, to the old vs. new Facebook layout – to anything. Your virtual support is just that – virtual and not actual. Prayer is not going to get put back in schools, abortion is not going to get outlawed, Obama is not going to get impeached just because you join a group or cause. How about writing or emailing your congress person? You might have a shot then. But I don’t think our representatives are trolling about the Facebook groups to help them determine policy.

And if you are signing up to make a statement to your friends, shouldn’t they already know where you stand? Or perhaps they are not actually your friends but merely people you sort of knew at one time. And so we have come full circle.

MIA

2009-03-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of being MIA i have made my triumphant return to The Cultural Taproom, its good to be back....... The main reason for my darkness is that my wife and I welcomed the 2nd addition into our family on February 21st 2009 at 11:59am, Cameron Thomas weighed in at 7lbs 13oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

I've always been amazed at child birth, the first time was a blur as i was mainly sobbing at the mere thought of sleepless nights ahead.... just kidding, but this 2nd time i paid more attention of the actual birth.... in keeping this blog PG I am amazed at how much skin is willing to stretch to allow something of a decent size to exit such a small area...... Anyway it was a beautiful moment that i got to enjoy better this time around.

I did feel so helpless and of course they had an army of nurses in our birthing room accompanied by my Monster-In-Law (did i say that out loud!!!!!!!) with that type of crowd anything i thought about saying i didn't so i just smiled, sobbed and held my 2nd son...... Happy Days.

My special family moment lasted all of 10 minutes, as i turned on the hospital Internet service to get the United v Blackburn latest score, boy did that not go down well.

What can i say I'm a typical male!!!!

So lots of football to talk about, i will start with the Champions League Match day 7.

Inter v United at the San Siro was the talk of the round, the game for United fans and me alike ended in disappointment as we tied 0-0 after dominating from start to finish, United cut Inter apart in the 1st half creating 4 or 5 good chances, but failing to put the tie beyond Inter.

Juilo Caesar made some good saves from an in from Ronaldo, but United's strength, experience to keep the ball and sheer class really shone through.... back to OT for a very confident 3-1 win for the Red Devils.... watch this space.

Cheslea v Inter was boring to be honest and Austin and I called it before kick off, i am not sure of the outcome in Turin, but i fear for Chelsea. I think Juve will nick it 2-0 to progress.

Arsenal v Roma was a typical Arsenal European night of late, plenty of good quality chances wasted that will come back to bite them in the a**. Roma wins 2 or 3-0 in Rome and progresses.

Real v Liverpool, how can you put in a professional performance against one of the best sides in European football history on their turf and then go to Boro and get spanked.... Bizarre.
Obviously the Fat Spanish Waiter cannot figure out the components to become a consistent performer in the EPL and in Europe and until he realizes that and strengthens his squad so that Stevie G and EL Nino are not carrying the scoucers..... Liverpool will always be that ALMOST team regarding the Premiership.

Lyon v Barca was intriguing, Lyon could of finished it in France, but couldn't. 1-1 at the Nou Camp, Lyon to Win on Pens.... Ouch

Sporting v Bayern - GAME OVER

A. Madrid v Porto - If Madrid play anywhere near what the put in against Barca this past weekend expect Madrid to qualify.

Villareal v Panathanikos - ermmmmm a tricky one, but i am going for the Yellow Submarine

Watched the Carling Cup Final with my good friend Austin this past weekend, nothing short than boring, but its a trophy in the bag and medals = confidence especially at United.
Premiership - Won
FA Cup - Favorites
Champions League - If we beat Inter we will make the Final in May, from there is a lottery.

Bye for now

dollhouse, watchmen, soccer report

2009-03-03T08:05:00.001-08:00

Last night I watched the pilot of “Dollhouse.” Interesting concept. What would you expect from Wheadon? I can definitely see the “wiping the slate clean but not really” playing out over time. I will say that the pilot really did a good job of presenting the story while planting future story lines all over the place. It’s definitely a show I could get into.

We are watching pilots to find a show to replace House. The first was Dollhouse. Tom is also interested in Castle and something else. I wouldn’t mind checking out Leverage, but may wait until the first season is over and watch it on DVD.

This weekend I am planning on seeing Watchmen. I am getting a little nervous as reviews and comments are filtering out that it does not live up to the hype. I’m not sure that it can, but I just hope it doesn’t suck. Here’s hoping.

Last weekend was a big weekend of footy. Saturday I watched Juve huff and puff and barely knock the Napoli house down. Very fortunate. With Roma leading Inter 2-0 on Sunday, I actually thought about Juve winning the scudetto. But then the Nerrazzurri recovered for a point in the game and a 7 point lead in the league. OVER.

But a league that has been reignited is La Liga. The wheels are officially coming off at Barca. From a commanding 12 point advantage to a slender 4 point margin. Barca could go from the treble to nothing very quickly. They should see off Mallorca in the Cup tomorrow and get to at least one final, and they should see off Lyon at the Nou Camp to make the quarters of the Champions League. As for the league, the momentum may have shifted to the point of no return. Madrid are not going to turn over Liverpool at Anfield, so will be able to totally focus on the league. Not good for the blaugrana.

As for United, the Carling Cup was hard work. I’m talking about watching it of course. Neither team really hit the high notes, and Spurs were a touch unlucky not to get a goal and make United come at them like the FA Cup. The PK’s were shocking. Bentley, don’t let the door hit you on the way of White Hart Lane. As a passing Spurs supporter, I’m glad they are not in Europe next year. They have gone backwards quickly from the back to back 5th place finishes, and now must rebuild anew. Of course Harry isn’t the one to do it based on his record. That means another coaching change and all that entails. Meanwhile, Villa and Everton have shown what can happen with determination and commitment while Spurs spiral downward back to mid-table mediocrity.

This weekend is the FA Cup. If the form book holds, the semis will be very entertaining. Hopefully Barca can turn it around against Bilbao. And Juve is playing in the Turin derby. Torino are battling relegation so I expect a scrappy game with only the odd goal. Maybe I’ll see you at Claddagh’s.

Ta Ta for now.

An Enlightening Trip to the Movies

2009-03-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Austin’s recommendation, I have been slowly creeping through Mad Men (as my schedule does not allow for much extra television watching). If you are unaware, the show follows members of a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the 1960’s. In a few episodes, the main character, Don Draper, interacts with what I would call “proto-hippies”. In their discussions, they go back and forth between what these advertising agents are actually accomplishing—manipulation or directing the customers to the best of what they already desire. For example, the company represents Lucky Strike cigarettes. They take the approach that everyone wants to smoke anyway, so just get them to agree that Lucky Strikes is the best brand and everyone goes home a winner. Of course, this influencing takes place by leaving out certain details such as the deadly health impact of these and other cigarettes stemming from the ingredients of the cigarette.

All of this is to say, media influence has been on my mind lately so I perhaps I was extra sensitive to an encounter at the movie theatres, but I don’t think so. Before the movie began, while I am used to being bombarded with commercials and trailers, I was not prepared for the video I saw. I can think of no description other than “propaganda.” It was the following music video to a song by Kid Rock called “Warrior”.

I found this video both subtle and not so subtle at the same time. On the one hand you have two red neck icons – Kid Rock and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – supporting the National Guard. Though I am non-violent in principles, I do not begrudge those who want to serve their country in the Armed Forces. However, this is propaganda of the worst sort – glorifying the war and acting as though race relations are being impacted for the better through our armed presence in places such as Iraq. It is a lie that recruiters have used since the beginning – “Want to be a hero? Want to see some action? Want to serve your country? Then join the ______________ (fill in your branch of the armed forces).”

Am I un-American? Perhaps. But if “un-American” means thinking critically about the sort of propaganda that is being served up to this country, then sign me up for the fight against McCarthyism.

soccer, music, my new job

2009-02-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

With the church retreat last weekend, I wasn’t able to watch any soccer. However, after catching up on scores and highlights, I do have a couple of observations:
*Liverpool have collapsed.
*Barca are having a wobble, but can Real sustain their form?
*Inter will win the scudetto, but the race for second will be as exciting as any race for the title.

Today and tomorrow are the first legs of the Champions League knockout. I’m very busy this week and will probably miss most of it. I hope the return legs have drama since I’ll probably be able to watch those. I’m very nervous for United. Barca will turn it around and Juve and Chelsea is a coin flip at this point.

Moving on to the topic of the day, economic crisis, in these tough economic times, I have found a back up job in case I get fired. I will hire myself to maintain my Facebook page. With all of the updates, tags and chain documents to fill out, it’s a full time job.

What a shame spiral Facebook is. I keep my circle of friends relatively small, and could even make it smaller, but I start checking status updates and all of the sudden I’m taking the never ending movie quiz while instant messaging someone about betting on futbol.

Facebook is just another aspect of the internet which, once you’re ensnared, it’s hard to get away from. Another example is youtube. I start watching soccer highlights and, after a series of clicks, I’m watching how to build a car in 15 minutes.

Not that I mind this of course. I’m just not getting paid for it. So I need to create a series of shell companies with the end result of creating a company which pays me to update, post and stalk through Facebook. I’m working with an accountant right to start the process. Maybe I’ve finally found my true calling.

I listened to Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible album all the way through. It’s ok but really does not hit high notes. No Cars Go is an amazing song but the rest is sort of a mismash of Gallon Drunk and Bruce Springsteen.

I’ve also listened a little bit to Moby’s Last Night. Not mind blowing but more of the same.

Finally congrats to Danny. His son (Cameron Thomas) was born on Saturday. I doubt he will post tomorrow due to the new kid brouhaha.

That’s about it. Ta Ta for now.

The Day Has Come

2009-02-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Oscars Day!

I'm happy to say I very nearly closed the gap on seeing all of the films I wanted to. Over this weekend I watched The Reader, The Wrestler, and Milk in theaters, and Changling and Man on Wire. I'm watching Frozen River as I type, and have In Bruges to watch afterward. That leaves me short on Rachel Getting Married, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Visitor. Not too shabby. Wished I could have seen Benjamin Button based on the nominations, but yikes, the 3 hour runtime kept me away.

So here's how I'd like to see the major awards go, based on what I saw (list of nominations here: http://www.oscars.com/nominees/?pn=nominees):

-Actor in a Leading Role: (I didn't see Button or the Visitor) Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler. What a great role for him, with a lot for him to do--physical and emotional pain, triumph, humor, etc. He inhabited the role completely.

-Actor in a Supporting Role: How could it not go to Heath Ledger--even without his death maybe stacking the deck in his favor. Great, creepy, magnetic performance. Christian Bale who?

-Actress in a Leading Role: (didn't see Rachel Getting Married)--Kate Winslet, hands-down. A thrilling performance, and better than her performance in Revolutionary Road, so I was glad to see this role nominated.

-Actress in a Supporting Role: (didn't see Button)--I think I'm maybe not impartial here--I thought Vicky Christina Barcelona was just really really boring. Please Woody, get over your infatuation with Scarlett Johansson--she is no doubt very attractive, but she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag, and she brought the whole movie down for me. So while I think Penelope Cruz might be the front runner here, I thought the very brief performance of Viola Davis in Doubt was riveting. And I wouldn't bee sad to see it go to Marisa Tomei either. Because she's unbelievably hot at 44.

Best Picture/Director-- (didn't see Button)--Slumdog Millionare/Danny Boyle. What a thoroughly enjoyable film this was. I love Boyle's visual style, ever since first seeing Trainspotting, and it's well used here--very kinetic and exciting, taking in the 5 mile out view of Mumbai as well as the in the gutters angle as well. Fun, funny, scary, hopeful, and romantic there's a lot to like about it. My favorite of the season for sure.

So I'll be excited to tune in tonight at 8 on ABC--I don't know that I've done as well as this in the past with seeing so many of the films so it should be fun to watch it all unfold. For now, though, time for some household chores...penance for the movie marathon. ;)

How Much is Too Much?

2009-02-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

According to recent reports, the occurrence of twins born in the US is up 60% since IVF and other fertility treatments have become more common. This means everytime I'm at the grocery store and see twins, I have to stop and think to myself, "Are those real twins, or fake twins?" Then I look at the parents and realize they are 50 year old yuppies and I know the answer.

You see, kids today are an awful lot like boobs. Sometimes God gives you a nice pair, and sometimes you have to get them from the doctor. Before plastic surgery if you saw a woman with a giant pair and you pointed at her and said "fake!" no one would know what you're talking about. I have to think the same thing is going to happen, nay MUST happen, with kids. We will look at the twins in our neighborhoods and try to figure out which are real and which are fake.

Look at these freakin' old celebrities who are popping out twins! Not only that, but I find it an insult to my intellegence that they try to make us think that somehow Julia Roberts just happened to have twins WITHOUT fertility treatments? Yeah right! And Jane Seymour at 45, more twins! Joan London, 2 sets of twins at 50 and 54. And 47 year old Marcia Cross. Some of them are smart enough to own up but let's think about this...

Your celebrity twins are NOT special. They are no more special than your $30,000 butt implants and your $28,000 chipmunk cheeks and $8,000 trout lips. Everybody has twins. It almost takes away from those people that conceive twins naturally, now that's something to be proud of! And the fact that celebrities are setting this trend of spending insane amounts of money to have fake babies is a little saddening. Considering there were 520,000 kids in foster care in the US as of 2003 (the most recent stats I could find) it's just unreasonable for couples to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have their "own" kid. It's even more unreasonable for single unemployed women to make tax payers pay for their fake babies which will most likely end up in foster care! What would happen if we channeled all that money from fake babies into adoption and foster care? Wouldn't this world be a better place?

This is how I see it, in choosing to spend that God forsaken amount of money to get pregnant you are basically saying 1) pregnancy is THAT important and 2) I don't want used goods. Take a look at pop culture today. If you follow the trend, you're going to build your career until about 4 months before menopause sets in, then you spend $500,000 to have fake triplets that don't look like you because you either used someone elses eggs or vagina or you've had so much plastic surgery or all of the above. If you want a taste of what I'm talking about, read some "miracle baby" stories.

About 80% of the time, women are half in love with the "baby bump" cause it's just so dang cute, but it MUST be gone within 5 minutes after your scheduled c-section. Then you take your premature 3 pound kids to whichever gossip rag paid you the most and have them photographed until they're having seizures from the camera flash. Then at about 4 or 5 you abruptly take them out of the spotlight when the toddler cuteness has worn off and you realize kids are not cute or fun and you're too freakin' old to deal with their learning disabilities. But that's all ok because you have a full time nanny and by the time they're 18 you're dead of old age.

Let me just say to all those "celebrity" "parents" out their, or even if you want to be a "celebrity" "parent", here is some hard truth for you: You should not be a parent. There is nothing about parenthood that comes close to the LSD hallucination you're basing your decisions on. You are too selfish to be a good parent. In fact, I don't really think you should have pets either. Get yourself a nice plant, not an orchid because you may have to water and feed it. Start out with a cactus or some other succulent that doesn't require water. If the only stable relationship you have is with your therapist, you should just not get involved in the life of minor children in any way, shape, or form.

Now let me talk to the normal people out there who may be having difficulty conceiving. If you really want kids, not pregnancy, not a baby, not a toddler, but actual kids who will grow up and look awkward and get acne and talk back and eat all your food and want to drive your car, then take a good look at the money you make minus the money it would take to conceive and compare it to the money it would take to adopt, or even foster kids. Don't consider foster kids used goods. In fact, we won't even call them "used", instead we'll call them "previously born". Out of 520,000 kids currently in foster care, couldn't there be one out there that's right for you? Let's take "green" thinking to its logical next step: reduce, reuse, recycle! Let's 'reduce' the number of children we concieve, 'reuse' perfectly good children we already have, and 'recycle'...them....because...eh, 2 out of 3 is good enough.

Now, I'm not against all fertility treatments, in many cases, fertility drugs are cheaper than the cost and time and energy that an adoption would take. In fact I really trully think adoption (both in and outside of the US) needs major overhauls to make the whole process smoother and quicker and CHEAPER for those healthy well balanced couples who choose to adopt. For myself, I plan on having my 'own' kids some day, mainly because it seems cheaper and more fun than adoption. But I have limits on how far I'm willing to go to get them. Clomed (sp?) is a popular fertility drug that works for a lot of people and doesn't cost as much as adoption. However if, at some point, I find that kids are possible with only 52 easy payments of $25,000 plus tax, I'm going the other route.

One of the major proponents of the early church was that it take care of the widows and orphans, two of societies most neglected peoples. I think we should kill two birds with one stone, get your kid, and take care of someone who doesn't have anyone else to take care of them. Doesn't this make sense? Why do people believe they could only love someone that came from themselves? Especially for Christians, we should know that Christ loved us enough to die for us when we were still sinners. We are Gods adopted/foster/used goods kids, we are broken and He still loves us. Why can't we pass that kind of love onto others?

pull me away from the tv

2009-02-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Where do I start?

Watched a lot of soccer over the weekend.

Saturday was the Betis/Barcelona game. Betis put Barca on the back foot and was up 2-0 after 30 minutes. Barca got a soft penalty on the stroke of halftime to give them the momentum going into the second half. Their slick interplay didn’t pay off even with the introduction of Henry and Messi, and Olivera could have killed the game off on a breakaway but failed to convert. With 10’ to go Barca equalized but couldn’t find the winner. Betis away is a tricky fixture and a point keeps the double digit lead over Real Madrid. I’m not too worried about Lyon, which is probably a bad thing. Barca will score at least a goal in France and dismantle them at the Nou Camp.

Sunday was the Manchester United destruction of Derby County. Giggs was in amazing form and his flick to Ronaldo should have resulted in a goal instead of an offside decision. Welbeck’s goal was awesome. I hope he is able to deliver consistently and not just be remembered for his wonder goals.

After that, we watched the Juventus/Sampdoria game. I will try to keep this short. Juventus was unfortunate to only get a point. After Samp’s early goal, they were totally dominant, hit the woodwork several times, and couldn’t get the vital touch. Even though Amauri scored the equalizer, he must go. His whole job is to poach and get across defenders and he could have had a hat trick had he done his job. The only other thought of the game is Juve’s lack of shape, in particular width. At least half a dozen crosses went to the back post with no one home. AAARRRGH!!

Yesterday I watched the Arsenal/Cardiff game. I’m not a huge Arsenal fan and wanted to see the upset. No dice. If Cardiff’s goalie had not stood on his head for the first 15 minutes, the score could have really gotten out of hand.
Couple of thoughts on Arsenal:
--Song and Denilson give up possession too easily and that will cost them against better opposition.
--I hate Bendtner.
--What a return for Eduardo. Great composure, linked up play well and got his just reward.

Next week the Champions League returns. Cannot wait.

I’m still working on the TV on the Radio album. I don’t get it. It’s hip hop, pop and something else entirely. I will say this, their songs don’t sound the same.

I picked up Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible album, Moby Last Night and Portishead Third. For Moby and Portishead I’m going back to bands I’ve liked in the past. As for Arcade Fire, I really like the singles, Black Mirror and No Cars Go, and am trying to get more of an overview.

While going through my music, I realized I never got into Weezer and I don’t know why. They rock and they have a good degree of snarkiness. Oh well. I think I’m going to create a Weezer playlist and just have that run on a constant loop wherever I go. Wow.

I’m playing through Shield Season 2. The show continues to deliver. Great story lines and character development. I’m a big fan of Dutch and Wyms. I really like their dynamic and motivations. Great show and am looking forward to more.

I’m going to end this post with my break up notice with House. I’m done. This show has descending into formulaic drivel. I would do so many different things, but they are not going to. I think they should pull the plug and move on but they won’t. It was a good run. The first two seasons and the start of season 4 were amazing, but you can’t keep doing the same thing in season 5. All good things must come to an end.

Ta Ta.

Octuplet Obsession

2009-02-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

To keep this blog on the cutting edge of cultural developments, today I would like to address a serious issue that has come to the forefront in the last month. In case you have been under a rock, a woman, Nadya Suleman, – mother of 6 – had octuplets. I wanted to spend this entry going off on her, but I will let someone else do that. The following is an editorial is by Jim Wooten and from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, February 08, 2009. I have edited it for content and space but you can read the entire article here.

****************
Octuplets and all children deserve better

The octuplets born to an unmarried woman in California are consequences of self-centeredness gone awry. The woman, Nadya Suleman, had six children, all conceived with the help of a sperm-donor friend. The eight born last month grew from six implanted embryos, life created with friend-donated sperm. She told NBC’s “Today” show that she wanted a large family because she felt alone as an only child. “All I wanted was children,” she said. “I wanted to be a mom. That’s all I ever wanted in my life. I love my children.” The outrage is that a narcissistic adult, for her own pleasure, intentionally brought 14 children into the world, children who will never know their father. It was a conscious, medically assisted choice to have multiple births —- a decision suggesting an impaired mental state that should have raised questions about her fitness as the primary adult female in the children’s lives.

The octuplets should be a wake-up call to the nation. It is child cruelty to inflict the suffering on human life that Suleman visits upon these 14 children. As Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears has noted, children born to unmarried women and to those in cohabiting relationships “must often overcome increased risks of poverty, education failure, child abuse, delinquency, emotional distress and mental illness.” The focus of all law and public policies really should be reoriented to children. They desperately need protection from self-centered adults who casually create life for reasons that are frivolous and self-indulgent. The octuplets’ birth dramatically highlights the plight of children carelessly and frivolously conceived. It should be the spectacle that prompts ministers, educators, entertainers, politicians, aunts, uncles and other family members need to recognize the harm unmarried adults are causing to children.

Life begins at conception. Anything adults do prior to that moment that doesn’t harm a third person is their business. At the moment of life, however, the wants and even the needs of the adults are incidental to those of the child. These 14 children need a protector.
*******************

Here are some additional statistics for you to consider from an article on yahoo.com:

Suleman has been supporting her six other children with $490 a month in food stamps and receives Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters that could total $2,379 a month.
She has estimated her in vitro fertilization procedures have cost $100,000.
Suleman has said she saved for the treatments by working double shifts and also used money from a disability award exceeding $165,000 that she received after an on-the-job back injury.
The Suleman octuplets' medical costs have not been disclosed, but in 2006, the average cost for a premature baby's hospital stay in California was $164,273, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Eight times that equals $1.3 million.
For a single mother, the cost of raising 14 children through age 17 ranges from $1.3 million to $2.7 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If you want to get into the “medicine” of the story, you can go here.

Her personal website. Not much there, but you can donate if you feel led.

So here’s how I feel. I think she is selfish and unnecessarily burdening herself and the rest of us to fulfill some need of hers. If she wants to have children and love them, then fine – I don’t begrudge her that. But when she already has 6 children and spending $100,000 on fertilization techniques whose end result could be nothing other that the birth of multiple children is irresponsible and selfish. There are plenty of options for her to have children and not be such a burden – being a foster mother is one good option. Another would have been to spend the $100,000 on adopting children because God knows there are plenty of children both here in America and abroad that desperately need a good home. Does she deserve the death threats she has received? Of course not. But something has to be done for the future to keep this sort of thing from happening. I implore lawmakers to seriously consider barring these doctors from practicing this brand of “medicine” that is so manipulative and has such wide reaching consequences.

I wish her the best, but expect the worst. I know my tax dollars will help give these kids what they need to survive. I just wish they had been spent elsewhere.

2009-02-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm looking like a total failure in the Oscars run-up--haven't chipped away at all at that list of films I still need to see. Is it fair to blame my wife? I'd like to, if that's an option. Oh, but I did see The Duchess, which I believe is up for an award for its costumes. Super.

No good excuses, really, except for the wife option, just haven't made it out. But I have been watching a lot of Deadwood (sorry to continue the TV theme). In fact, it's my fourth time watching it, if that counts as a testament to the following statement's veracity. If you have ever enjoyed a Western, you MUST watch Deadwood, because it is the BEST TELEVISION SHOW ever produced, and so long as you don't hate the "wild west" setting, you'll think so too, because:

1) Complex characters--every character showing depth and dimension over the course of the three seasons.
2) Fascinating language--you have the collision of Victorian civility with the vulgarity of the West.
3) Writing--tied in with both of the above, I am frequently struck by how perfectly each scene has been set, and love how it almost takes on a Shakespearian quality with characters delivering monologues, thinking aloud.

So I just trimmed down the argument above prior to posting because I realized I was going on for far too long on certain subjects, but again, I cannot commend this show strongly enough to you.

I've watched it the last two times on my iPod, I should mention, listening to it on the commute. I probably have a post coming down the road about movies on the Ipod, too, now that I think about it.

Cheers!

NO MINE!

2009-02-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Most people would think this is weird so I'll 'splain it for everyone who doesn't understand pets.

Let's say you took a picture of your kid and it was a good picture. Like a really really good picture of your favorite person in the world and you thought, "Wow, I don't think I could have taken a better picture of a kid anywhere!". So you show it to your friends and you go to Meijer and have them put it on a t-shirt for you so you can wear it around and when you wear it around even strangers say, "Hey! That is a great picture of a kid!"

Let's say you enjoy that for a while, until one day you notice someone wearing a shirt and it's got that picture of your kid on it! And then someone saw THAT guys shirt and made buttons! And then you notice stickers, and online avatars, and cutsie posters where people have photoshopped a clown nose onto your kid! You'd think "What the heck?" Or maybe you'd think "I really should have copyrighted that picture and then sued all these people" or maybe you'd think both.

This is basically what happened to my horse. Yeah yeah, I know, it's just a horse but it's got to be one of the weirdest things for me to do a Google image search for the word "Clydesdale" and undoubtedly more than one link will have MY picture of MY horse! Let me give you a little sample:

Here he is, and here, and yet again, here he is in a poorly done video, and here he is enjoying some heavy metal, and proudly representing his breed, and here he is in australia, and there are more. Search "clydesdale" in Facebook Flair and he's there. At one point someone had drawn little cartoon running shoes on his feet for their jogging club website.

I know it's petty, but that horse means something to me. And yet people who couldn't care less about this horse use his picture hither and yon without a care in the world. They don't care who he is or where the picture was taken or what a good horse he was. And the little kid in me wants to shout, "NO MINE!" So just to get the word out there, here's the scoop.

His name was THV Jasper. THV standing for Thurstons High Vally, his breeder. Glen Thurston sold my Grandfather Jasper when he was a 2 year old. Jasper was born April 16th, 1980. He was 19 hands tall, taller than the average clydesdale but he was so well proportioned you can't tell from the picture.
Japser served as our main breeding stallion, show horse, and favorite pet for many years. He once dragged me by his leadrope through 2 feet of snow for several yards. He noticed the gate to the pasture had been left open and I didn't. I chose to hang on as opposed to letting go and having to chase him all over the field. He finally got tired of dragging me.
We also had a local newscrew out to do a story on our farm, I was filmed in my pigtails riding on Jasper's back.
The famous picture was taken in Madison, Wisconsin around 1988. The original picture has him facing left. My father was originally in front of his head wearing a blue coat but most pictures you see have him cropped out.
Jasper died the summer of my 8th grade year. He was buried in the stud pen on the family farm. He is one of 4 who have been buried on the farm. Many of our clydesdales are his direct descendants.

That's my horse, he always will be.

music reviews, 25 things, soccer

2009-02-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

Sam mentioned that music hadn’t really been a topic on the blog. Agreed. So here’s my contribution.

Bob Mould, District Line. At the library I stumbled across this album from the former lead singer of Sugar. There were a couple of strong tracks (Stupid Now and The Silence Between Us) that really had that Sugar feel, so I enjoyed those. The album as a whole was weak. I now plan on looking for some of his other solo albums to get a better feel of his sound. By the way, if you have never listened to Sugar, do so ASAP.

I also checked out the Killers album Day and Age. AWFUL!!! It was as if they produced a song with a Casio keyboard a la 1985 and then copied it 10 times and created a CD. Truly horrible.

I am still moving through the Top 10 albums according to Noise. Plan to review TV on the Radio next week.

Last week, I gave into Facebook peer pressure and did “25 Things About Me.” http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=47599016644

I started it and was planned to bail after 5 or 6, but it went pretty quickly, so I did the whole thing. It was enjoyable exercise. Brandon tagged me on “25 bands”, which may be a little tougher.

I watched the movie Primer, which is a mindfuck of major proportions. I read their wikipedia page and it was amazing. Made for like $7000, it will blow your mind. They have a great diagram that sort of illustrates the crux of the movie. I definitely recommend it. I’m watching it again to get a better understanding of it.

Watched Spurs v Arsenal Sunday afternoon with James. Boy do I want those 2 hours of my life back. Eboue is a complete tool and should be cut immediately. Arsenal actually played well with 10 men and most grabbed a goal on a couple of occasions. Without Adebayor, they are in real trouble. As for Spurs, one word CLUELESS. They had no idea how to score. You can’t go up the middle against Arsenal. And then they had no one to cross the ball, so they were stuck. Chimbonda. What a joke. He is terrible and I have no idea why they resigned him.

United and Barca roll on, with Barcelona in amazing form. Cannot wait until the Champions League starts again.

Finally, I played at LISA South on Sunday night. The heater went out so it was like 40 degrees in the bubble. Wore a warm up suit for the first game; could see your breath; couldn’t feel your hands. Crazy.

Ta Ta for now.

All that glitters is not Grammy-worthy

2009-02-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

This blog has focused pretty heavily on TV shows the last few weeks, so I thought I would change it up and talk about music. In the last couple of weeks I have seen various commercials promoting the Grammy Awards show. These commercials kept touting great acts such as the Jonas Bothers (check out my rant against them here), Lil Wayne (who I add to my “no talent ass clown" list), and Carrie Underwood (whose country genre I could do without). So, needless to say, I had not planned on tuning in to see a bunch of artists that I wish would be censored. But a strange thing happened, the Grammys were on while my wife and I caught up on “House” and “Burn Notice” on my laptop. So, I was able to pick and choose what I could take in. And I will say, there were some awesome performances and some embarrassing combinations. So here goes:

Kid Rock was entertaining as usual. I like the song “Amen” and so was happy to see its inclusion in his medley.

Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus sang a song written by the former called "Fifteen". I am not a fan of either and don’t see what all the hubbub is about. But, it was a decent song.

Then, the embarrassment of the night – the Jonas Brothers teamed up with the legend - Stevie Wonder – to do their crappy song "Burnin' Up". One day, someone will explain to me why these guys deserve to perform at the Grammys with Stevie. Until then, I will have to resign myself to continue despising them.

A highlight for me was Dave Grohl playing drums for Paul McCartney as he performed "I Saw Her Standing There". I was hoping they would do a medley and Dave would come out from behind the drums and play some guitar, but it was not to be.

Radiohead performed "15 Step" with USC Trojan Marching Band. If you didn’t see it, you have to check it out below. Classic Radiohead brilliance.

Two groups combined the old and the new to made for great performances. There was a Four Tops medley with stand ins Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo. In addition, John Mayer, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Keith Urban gave tribute to "Bo Diddley". I believe that song could have gone on for 10 minutes and I would have been in heaven. Unfortunately, the production had to make way for Lil’ Wayne & Robin Thicke’s tribute to New Orleans. While that is all well and good, how Lil’ Wayne wins Best Rap Album, Rap Song, and Solo Performance stretches my compression of the human species to the limit and demeans the value of winning a Grammy. Because too many bad sentences can begin with, “If Lil’ Wayne can win a Grammy…”

So all in all, I was entertained by many of the acts and was glad that they included not just the commercial successes in both the award winners and in the performances.

2009-02-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

So I've been AWOL for a few weeks--apologies to anyone who cares, but I just didn't have much I felt like writing about at the time, but I do have a couple things on my mind of late.

#1 - The Virtual Console on the Wii is awesome. This is not a new discovery for me, I figured this out pretty much instantaneously back when we bought the Wii last year. For the uninitiated, the Virtual Console is basically a game system within the Wii. You can download retro games from the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and the NEO GEO directly to your Wii for $5-$10 depending on which system the game is for. So we have all the old Mario and Zelda games, without the hassle of having to do the Nintendo Shaman rituals required to get an ancient cartridge to work, and it's just brilliant. Now, that leads me to...

#2 - What is the best Mario game, and why?

For my money, I've got to go with Super Mario 64--even as much as I really do enjoy all of the sidescrolling Mario Game (Mario 3 probably being the best of those), I've probably come back to play this one more often than any of the others.

Here you have the introduction of so many of Mario's now-staple movements--the long jump, triple jump, butt bounce, wall jump, back flip, and dive--he even punches, kicks, and slide tackles. In fact, I'm struggling to think of any other moves that have been developed since then. It also might have the best "flying Mario" mechanic out of all of the games--it's still a thrill to swoop and dive without the terrible camera angles that are forced on you in Galaxy.

This game also introduced the ability to choose which level you want to play next, so I can choose to play in the "world" of Jolly Roger Bay or go to Thwomp's Fortress, as opposed to the preceding games which were, for the most part linear (there's some jumping around in Super Mario Land via Star Road, but still not the same sort of thing). You've also got red coin stars and 100 coin stars, plus lots of secret levels.

#3 Friday Night Lights, the tv show. I'm a little past midway through watching the second season on DVD--highly addictive. It's a tv series based on the film of the same name, which was based on a nonfiction book of the same name about a Texas high school (American) football team. Even though it revolves around a football team, much of the show is off of the field, dealing with their families and the relationships with their friends. Complex characters, very compelling narratives, and even a great soundtrack. There's a lot to like here.

#4 The Oscars Itch is upon me. I am scrambling to see as many of the Oscar-nominated films as I can before the broadcast on the 22nd.

Down: Frost/Nixon, Tropic Thunder, Doubt, The Dark Knight, Revolutionary Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Slumdog Millionaire.

To Go (among major awards): The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, Milk, The Wrestler, The Visitor, Rachel Getting Married, Changling, and Frozen River.

I'm starting to get nervous--I'm running out of time. At this present moment all of these titles can be seen between Grand Rapids, Lansing, and on DVD (The Visitor out already and Frozen River on the 10th, Changling on the 17th).

More on Oscar and these films next weekend. Cheers!

Light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!

2009-02-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry Austin for not keeping with the trend yesterday, the past few weeks have been insanely busy and it doesn't look like easing up in the near future as the wife and i are due to expect the arrival of our 2nd son in the next few hours, days, or weeks its that close, but i do see "Light at the end of the tunnel"

Anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Superbowl Sunday:
What a game, in particular what a 4th quarter. I have new found respect for QB's and their calming ability to perform game winning drives where the possibility that just one misplaced pass goes astray and so do your hopes of winning the most prestigious title in American sports.

Big Ben produced the most memorable game winning drive that i have witnessed since coming to the States and taking part in the Superbowl Sunday Euphoria. In supporting Manchester United all these years and being passionate about it beyond belief i have been used to them doing things the hard way in winning titles over the past 10-15 years, but nothing like this final drive by the Steelers.

In his post match interview Holmes said he wanted the ball, he wanted to make the plays to win the Superbowl for his team. You need some "Chun duoys" (that's Chinese for "Balls" for anyone that wants to know) in a game of this magnitude to be able to say that let alone execute it, but to his credit he delivered and now the Pittsburgh Steelers are the most successful franchise in Superbowl history.

Going back to my "doing things the hard way" did you see Holmes miss a catch with no pressure at all around him on 2nd down i think it was just before he caught the game winning touchdown in 2 yards of space surrounded by 3 Cardinals players....... hence my respect for QB's, for Big Ben to put the ball on a dime so to speak with barely no room to maneuver is incredible and well worthy of an MVP, but can anyone begrudge Holmes of his nomination...... i can't. Congratulations Steelers

English Premiership:
Well things are finally taking shape in the most exciting season yet, even with defeat at Anfield on Sunday i still see Chelsea finishing 3rd in the top 4, but now see Villa taking Arsenal spot in 4th place after some impressive performances under Martin O'neil.

Liverpool went out of the FA Cup last night to Everton and losing Stevie G for 3 weeks..... no he has not been sent to jail just yet LOL, but he will be missing due to a torn hamstring. Given the fact that he has rescued Liverpool so many times and he is their driving force and also Rafa's complete stupidity in selling Keane back to Spurs i now see United regaining their title in May.

Its all squeaky bum time down at the bottom of the table, really anyone from 8th place can go down, 2 wins for any team on the bounce and they move like 9 places which in recent Premiership campaigns has been unheard of, but i am going to predict the following 3 teams that will be relegated to the Championship.
18 - Newcastle United
19 - Stoke City
20 - West Brom

TV:
Shows on the box right now are class, i have subjected myself to 2 new programs "The Beast" & "Damages"
The Beast is actually quite good, Patrick Swayze i have always liked since the days of his movies "Youngblood" & "Roadhouse", but i was actually impressed by the first few episodes... check it out.

Damages has just started season 2 so i picked it up late, but its not hard to get to grips with what happened in Season 1 as their are enough flashbacks, i have never liked Glen Close acting or looks, but she is actually pretty damn good in this drama. Her assistant is Ellen is quite hot, but the storyline is cool... check it out.

Nip Tuck - Classic for any guy to watch
24 - Best Season start yet, can they keep it up throughout the entire season
House - Class above no other
CSI Miami - Getting boring
The Unit - Awesome
Burn Notice - you have got to check this out, people call it cheesy, but i really like it

Looking forward to the return of Prison Break...... see ya next week

quickie

2009-02-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

i missed the ending of the super bowl. in typical austin fashion, i turned it off after 3 quarters, assuming that the steelers were in control. imagine my suprise when the headlines screamed greatest fourth quarter ever. but it's how i roll. you can thank me for ensuring a great finish. once i hit the off switch, magic happens.

who cares about michael phelps? i don't. 8 gold medals. fine. he's not my role model so what do i care if he hits the bong? enough. listen to charles barkley on this one. atheletes are not role models. they are not even heroes.

i broke down and did the 25 things about me on facebook. i was suprised at how quickly they came out. i thought i would break down after 2.

that's all i've got for now.

sam did monday, i came through on tuesday. can danny, tom, crystal and jd make this a perfect week? stay tuned.

Super Bowl Civility

2009-02-02T07:02:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed the Super Bowl last night, though I went in assuming it was going to be awful. I assumed that Pittsburgh would dominate and that the game would not be close. And, much of the game played out in this way. Fortunately, the fourth quarter more than made up for the rest of lopsided game and it ended up being quite an exciting conclusion.

However, I watched the game with a bunch of high schoolers and middle schoolers, if you can call it watching. They have the attention span of flies, and so they were constantly running off to play basketball, dodge ball, Rock Band, or whatever else. Also they all were rooting for the Cardinals (while I was rooting for Pittsburgh). So, they paid little attention to the game until the fourth quarter when Arizona actually showed up.

It was at this point the inexplicable happened. When Arizona took the lead, two middle schoolers got in my face and were taunting me. I am not a violent man, but I was ready to twist the heads off of their puny bodies. I mean, really? You haven’t rooted for this team ever before, and now you find it necessary to verbally abuse me because they are winning? It is insane! It is a silly game that you and I have no vested interest in. Maybe - maybe - if it is your favorite team you could root like a fanatic. But even then, you aren’t on the team. You don’t own the team. It doesn’t really matter if they win or lose other than your pride bring bolstered or hurt. SO GET OFF ME!!

I know, they are immature 6th graders. But even still, get a clue. This is no way to act. When I hear of LSU fans showing up at Alabama fans house and shooting them. When I hear about Soccer fans rioting and killing one another. When I see the sort of conduct that would be completely unacceptable under any other circumstances, it makes me want to distance myself from the human race as much as possible.

We need to get a clue about what is important. We can root for our teams, or their teams, or any teams. But for God’s sake, we don’t need to dispense with civility in order to do it. Perhaps instead of $3 million commercials about Clydesdales we need sensitivity training commercials. Or maybe, just maybe, we could treat each other with some respect understanding that life is bigger than a silly game filled with testosterone overloaded men trying to maim each other.

Sorry for the Super Bowl downer, but that’s just how I feel. I’ll leave breaking down the commercials to someone else.

weekend recap, the shield and the history of football

2009-01-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend. Poker on Friday night with some people from work. I did ok. I was trying to play cards, host the party and get loaded all at the same time. Multi-tasking is not my strength. I think the only thing I managed to accomplish was to enjoy several Heineken’s. Goals people. Have goals.

Then Saturday I sat on a stool at Claddagh’s most of the afternoon watching soccer. When Roman scored a goal for Spurs after 5’, I was worried. Then United turned it on and that was that. The second half was painful as Spurs knew that they didn’t want a replay and couldn’t overturn the deficit and win the game. BORING!!

Then I watched Juve v Fiorentina. Fiorentina got robbed. Simple as that. Gila wan’t offside and they really deserved a point, but Juve took all three and kept the pressure on Inter. There are several rumors in the internet re: transfers. Hopefully some of them wil come to pass. Zanetti is past it. He’s got to go. Looks like Sissoko and Marchisio is the best paring for the rest of the season.

Sunday I played a double header at the new LISA. My back held up ok, so we’ll see that goes. Then a couple of pints of Magic Hat to round off the evening.

I finished the Shield Season 1 and can’t wait for more. Great show with a great ensemble of characters. Plenty of material to develop and I’m waiting for Season 2 to come in.

From Netflix, I have been going through the History of Football (soccer to all you Americans out there). It’s fascinating, with tons of footage from the first quarter of the 20th century. It’s seven discs, so I’m 2 down, 5 to go.

Keeping it short this week. I plan to add a poll question later this week. Good to see Bristol back on track.

Ta Ta.

My New Hot Button: "Social Mobility"

2009-01-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about race and culture and tolerance lately. Especially since the election and inauguration. And as happy as I am for Obama and as excited as I am for the nation (I did vote for the man), I don't agree with a lot of the reasonings I've heard.

For instance, the idea that a black man has been elected president despite his color is flawed and cliche. Too many people hold onto this statement without taking into account what it "really" means or how reasonable the statement really is considering the number of voters in America and all of the different motivations for voting. I would have to say, with all honesty, that for some voters Obama was elected president BECAUSE of his color. I give two reasons for this.

1) Black people want a black president. I can't say it any straighter than that. That's not a racist remark, that's just the truth. I can't blame people for this. If there was a decent white man running for president in a country that had been run exclusively by men of another race I would most likely vote for him. Sadly enough, this was also proven by none other than Howard Stern. I must preface this by reminding the general population that I do not support Howard Stern in any way shape or form and only know of his experiment through NPR. The man is tasteless. But I do have to admit, it was a pretty slick trick. I think when push comes to shove, an election is still a popularity contest. Everybody plays favorites...everybody.

Reason #2) People are sick of white rice. Yes, rice. Try eating white rice, and nothing but white rice for...let's say...200 odd years or so. Not wild rice, not chicken fried rice, not cilantro lime rice, just white rice. There's lots of it, it's all the same, and it's tasteless (but not in the same way as Howard Stern). White rice has been a decent meal supplement, I don't have anything against it per say. I'm just sick of it, and sick of the status quo. Let's change it up a little big. Yes, CHANGE. So many times during campaign season I heard that McCain was just another Bush. I would go further than that. McCain was just another rich old white man. The US has been run by rich old white men for far too long. They are less and less representative of the American people as time passes...except for the 'old' part I guess. Obama brings a lot of diversity with him, not just African American, but diversity at its most....diverse.

"Obama proves that social mobility is improving for black Americans", I read this in a news article somewhere. This is a basic misunderstanding of how social mobility works.

Reason #1) Obama isn't from Detroit. He didn't grow up in the ghetto, on welfare, with a foster mom with no high school diploma. He grew up in Hawaii, raised by his white grandparents and was surrounded by a family that believed in higher education. The expectations placed upon him growing up were that he would continue his education, and that his actions, choices, and speech would be acceptable to a majority of society. Many African Americans in this country are raised with very different expectations. Many are taught from a very young age to give up on education because they'll never make it and it's a white man's game anyway. They are taught that the world is against them and the only way to get ahead it to have the biggest attitude, the biggest gun, the baddest gang. Everything they see in life tends to prove this is true and if they try anything different, they get eaten alive by both sides. Yes, Obama had conflicting cultures he had to deal with and find out who he was but he doesn't really prove anything, in fact, I am a better example of social mobility than he is. I was the poor ignorant country girl that should have gotten pregnant and dropped out.

Reason #2: It is not societys' job to make everyone socially mobile. It is everyones personal job to choose where they want to be and what steps they are willing to take to get there. Society is not going to hold your hand and pat you on the back and open doors for you. Society will judge you based on your family, your fortune, and your education. It always has and it always will. This is true for everyone. There is a give an take involved. Everyone has to take a realistic look and see how much they're willing to adapt to the larger society.

Let's face it. If you choose to speak and dress in a manner that clashes with socially acceptable norms because "you can't get ahead anyway", then it will be a self fulfilling prophecy. Subcultures can be hugely alienating to the general public. If employers feel your attitude, speech, or clothing is too different than the norm, then you are not reaching as many customers as you possibly could and you are not an asset to the company. This is not about racism, it's about money and it's not about color, it's about "flavor". I don't expect that I would be where I am today if I continued wearing plaid polyester pants (I do miss them). Nor should people expect to be socially mobile if they choose to speak in a dialect that only a few subcultures can understand.

I'm not saying people should totally give in to society. It's a strange concept that there is acceptable and unacceptable diversity but that's where we are at. Society will take away your personhood if it gets the chance. Everyone has to decide for themselves what things are worth fighting for and what things are more divisive than they are worth. Barack Hussein Obama has a name which some people find offensive or suspect but it's his name and he's not going to change it. However, you don't see him with his belt buckled under his butt and you don't hear him calling people "dawg" and "homeslice".

Yeah, we'd all like to see society bend to whatever culture we're comfortible with, we'd all like to be socially mobile without meeting any of the expectations of society. Get over it.

And speaking of the 'name' issue I'll say this. There were "Adolf"s before there was Adolf Hitler. I don't blame them for what Hitler did and I don't think they're going to try to massacre an entire race of people because they happen to share a name with some guy they've probably never met. Barack was Hussein before Saddam ever came on the scene. It's just a NAME people. Again, get over it.

Long Time, No Post. For What It's Worth.

2009-01-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post to everyone this week to share with you my joy over my new brother I got this week. I didn't think I needed any more brothers, but it appears that God had different plans for me. I thought my two other brothers were the best, but everyone keeps telling me my new brother is awesome. PEOPLE WON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT MY NEW BROTHER! I'm so excited.

My new brother is great, except he follows me everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I get in my car and I can't drive more than a mile without my brother waving and smiling at me. I go to the coffee shop, he's there. People are talking about him. Holy crap, the women love him. Any guy looking to pick up a girl could honestly wear a mask with my brother's face and the chicks would squeal. I guess he's attractive. Katie Couric was practically in heat and totally humiliating herself as a journalist the other night. Apparently journalists can't be objective around my new brother. Wolf Blitzer was sporting wood on national TV.

I go to the gas station, there's my brother. I turn on the sports station: my brother is there. I read the sports section (now listen, my brother hasn't played sports since high school--and that was a long time ago) and he's there. I guess professional athletes like my brother, too.

I open up my web browser and celebrities apparently REALLY like my new brother. This makes me distrust him. I generally distrust anyone that celebrities like because they are generally completely out of touch with reality.

I go to church, and guess who's there. My brother.
Today I went into 7-Eleven and out of the 24 different magazines that they sold he was on the cover of 21 and he's still on the cover of every newspaper.

Now, If this was anyone else besides my brother, even if it was someone important, like the guy who invented the internet or something, I would be a little irritated. But, because he's my brother I'm just supposed to swallow this media poop-parade! I turned on my F-ING X BOX last night and the first thing I see is more pictures of my brother!

I think my new brother is being over-exposed. This is alienating me from my new brother. When I thought this was going to be a happy fun CHANGE that I could believe in it is just starting to piss me off.

Here is something I read and I hope my new brother reads it well.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. Luke 6:26.

If you are wondering who my new awesome brother is, here's a picture of him

media shame spiral

2009-01-20T06:33:00.001-08:00

So I finished the Watchmen trade paperback in preparation for the movie release. What an amazing book, especially for the time. The issues raised re: power and responsibility, the nature of being a hero, and the neurosis of dressing up to fight crime were not new, but the application to a superhero world was new.

I can’t wait for the movie, but I’m a little worried it will be a let down. Here’s hoping.

I have started the Shield. Talk about blurring the lines of right and wrong. Vic Mackey is a highly complicated character that is able to be a mirror and foil to all the other characters on the show. Who of us is perfect and what are your motives seem to be the underlying themes of the show.

I really like the Dutch character and find myself despising the captain although I could see him turning completely to the dark side over time. Great show. Check it out.

When I got back from Alabama, I picked up an issue of the Noise and saw their top ten albums of the year.

I immediately decided not to listen to Erykah Badu and Lil Wayne. Yes I am closed minded. So I put the rest on hold at the library and plan to go through them over the next couple of months.

First up, Elbow, “The Seldom Seen Kid.” Imagine Coldplay mixed with My Morning Jacket mixed with ethereal downers. Definitely have to be in the right frame of mind for this album. Not something to turn up to 11 in the car and cruise. I plan to come back to it and see if I change my mind.

Next Los Campesinos, “Hold on Now, Youngster . . .” This is high energy punk/pop and every song sounds the same. So if you like it, it’s great. If you’re like me, and you don’t, not so great.

So 0 for 2. Hopefully some of the other albums will deliver.

One of the movies I picked up on Netflix was “The Beautiful Century”, which is basically a recap of the first 100 years of FIFA. It was a good overall history and highlighted key moments. This would be a great introduction for someone unfamiliar with soccer.

Watching it reminded me of how great South Korea was in 2002. The passion of the team and the crowd was something to behold. And then there’s Al Gore handing the World Cup Trophy to Dunga in LA, with this huge dorky smile. He has no idea what is going on but just smiles and claps.

One editorial point. The video does serve as a propaganda piece for Sepp Blatter’s legacy. He is not responsible for the rise of women’s soccer, great strides in Africa and the worldwide appeal of the game. Those things were in place long before him and one could say have developed in spite of him.

Finally, watched Juve v Lazio on Sunday. With a win, Juve would trim Inter’s lead to just 1 point. After 20 minutes I was praying for a draw. Lazio played at a frenetic pace and should have been 2 up after 30’. They did get one goal after Manniger made his first major error of the season. After that Juve got back in the game, snagged a goal and finished the first half on a high note. The second half they really took control of the game but couldn’t create the right opportunity for a second. In the end a draw was fair result.

Only 3 points behind Inter. I cannot believe that. I haven’t completely turned around my opinion but you can’t fault the fight of the team and the results. They still need to sign some players. Like Mauro Zarate from Lazio. Wow. Pacy, tricky and aggressive. I’ll take him please.

United v Spurs on Saturday in the FA Cup. Cannot wait.

Ta Ta.

Media Update

2009-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Just an update on the media I have been watching lately.

I have caught up on the 2 ½ seasons of 30 Rock. Funny stuff. Lemon’s character reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld in many ways. She is intelligent but often circumstances conspire against her which set up the humorous situations. I will say that although this show is hilarious at times, I don’t see why it gets more industry acclaim than “The Office”.

I have also started a new show, “Leverage.” So far it is okay, but I have only seen 2 of 7 episodes. Basically a bunch of high end criminal types get together to pull of jobs to teach someone else a lesson. It is Ocean’s 11 with some morality. Kind of Robin Hoodish I guess. While the jobs are interesting and I enjoy seeing how they are pulled off, I don’t know that that the storylines are compelling enough for me. I guess time will tell. (A shout out goes to Tom and his Facebook for introducing me to this show).

Also, there has been some debate in other posts about Monk, The Mentalist, and Psych. Let me set the record straight. Monk was first, and Monk's phobias and their impact on his ability to solve crimes make it funny. Psych is silly funny, in an Adam Sandler vein. And the Mentalist contains a more refined comedic element. All are similar in that they include hyper observant main characters. All are funny in different ways. But each is different and, I believe, worth watching.

Moving on. The previews to a new movie, “Taken”, look very intriguing. Though I doubt I will see it in the theatre, I hope I remember it when it makes it to the Library.

I watched the NFL playoffs this weekend. I was happy to see either AFC team in the Super Bowl but think the NFC is a joke. Maybe the Cardinals will pull off a feat like the Giants of last year, but I just don’t see it happening. Early Super Bowl pick – Steelers 27-Cardinals 13.

All for now. Get outside an enjoy the snow (all of you who live north of Tennessee and East of Illinois).

Chelsea & Sir Alex v Rafa aka Keegan

2009-01-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

Chelsea can still win the title, but if you look at their performance against the mighty Manchester United then they will have to improve dramatically.

The worrying thing for everyone at Chelsea is that they just fell apart under the pressure. When they went behind to Vidic's header, their heads went down. It was a very un-Chelsea-like performance in my opinion.

Over the years, the one thing you could say about Chelsea was that they'd be mentally strong. If they went behind they would grind and they'd never know when they were beaten.
But on Sunday, the team spirit, which has been such a feature for Chelsea, just wasn't there and that would be a worry for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Where does Scolari go from here? Who does he pick in the team? He has got major problems all over the pitch.
The 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford is only one result and Chelsea have some influential players due to return from injury like Essien for instance who has been a major driving force in recent years, but the way they've been playing for the last six to eight weeks is a major concern and, in terms of the title race, they're definitely third favourites to win it in my eyes.

Chelsea need to vary their tactics because against United they played exactly the same way from start to finish, no invention, no drive, no passion and if i was a Chelsea fan i would be disappointed with that.
If you're playing in a game like that you've got to test the opposition by playing it to the front men early - play it short, long, wide.

Chelsea just kept playing six or seven passes in the middle of the park which allowed my boys Manchester Untied to get behind the ball, break Chelsea down quickly and hit them on the break. Chelsea were unable to counteract that and deal with top performers like Giggs, Park, Ronaldo and Rooney.
Scolari's men had some nice possession in the first 30 minutes but they never threatened and, again, that would be another major worry especially given the enormous talent of Didier Drogba.

A vast majority of these players won back-to-back titles with Jose Mourinho and they're still good enough, but Scolari needs someone like Arjen Robben, someone who has that extra pace and ability. The big worry for me would be Chelsea's lack of steel - mentally - in certain areas.

When Chelsea played with Robben on the left, he wasn't always everybody's favourite but he could go past people, get the ball to the bye line and make defenders turn.

Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda have been hit and miss and it looks like Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka can't play together. Chelsea have also missed Michael Essien's drive, while Deco started the season brightly but has been non-existent lately.

Manchester United have that great blend of youth and experience and they gave a great performance.
Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville showed incredible hunger and desire for players who have won everything. Giggsy, at the age of 35, gave an awesome performance.
Gary Neville had a shocker against Arsenal and it looked, to me, like he might not play again but it just shows that he is amazing professional and needed games to get back into the swing of things.

Everyone keeps going on about United's centre-backs, and rightly so, but for Neville to put in a performance like he did in a big, high-pressure match was remarkable. It was a lesson to any footballer about what can be achieved.

United have some hard games this week against Wigan and Bolton (away). They've got a massive schedule coming up so we'll wait and see what happens, but they've certainly hit a run of form and that display against Chelsea will give the players a lot of confidence to go on a lift #19 on May 24th.

The title race is certainly between Manchester United and Liverpool and it could go either way - the big tests are yet to come.
Liverpool, even though they had a bad performance against Stoke, have done remarkably well, are still strong and have a great chance of winning it.

I thought what manager Rafael Benitez said about United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in his press conference was true to a certain extent, but he talks about facts like they are clear happenings in the con finds of the Premier League, in my opinion he has no proof to justify a good portion of his Kevin Keegan like rants during that 4 minute press conference. Is he folding under the enormous pressure of being top of the league?

However, as a player you don't want that extra pressure and the pressure is now on Liverpool because of what happened at the weekend, if you going to run your mouth in the Premier League you must back it up and Liverpool failed to do that and that is no 4 points dropped against Stoke.

Benitez would probably have been better off saying 'Alex Ferguson doesn't say anything about teams who finish fourth or fifth so he must think we're his biggest challengers' and let it go, let the players do the talking on the pitch, instead he put more pressure on his team when they enter the most crucial stage of the season. Sir Alex must of been licking his lips at the sight on Rafa's rant.

Ferguson said what he did to get a reaction and he got a reaction. If Liverpool had beaten Stoke and Manchester United had drawn against Chelsea everything would now have been forgotten, but as history tells us it doesn't happen that way.

Manchester United were fantastic on Sunday, the defended their 18 yard box very well to keep Van Der Sar very quiet indeed. They looked refreshed its almost as if they were waiting until January kicked in because of that old saying "United don't turn it on until January" well.......... signed, sealed and delivered United sent out a statement of intent to Liverpool "your in for a fight".

Lets hope that come May 24th, Sir Alex is lifting his 11th league title.

as we all know, the BCS is BS

2009-01-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Started the first season of Monk. My question, what is the difference between this show and the Mentalist?

Both are “consultants” to law enforcement; both operate outside the system with unusual methods; both have a keen eye for observation and putting seemingly unrelated pieces together; both lost their wives in tragic incidents.

I didn’t race to get to get through the season. I only watched 4 or 5 episodes and I don’t think I can commit to Monk going forwards. If he is reinstated to the force, who cares? There is no way he should have a gun, so that aspect of the story is a non-issue. At least with the Mentalist, he is trying to capture a criminal and get justice and closure.

You take these shows and House and the new show Liar coming out and it’s like we’ve got some sort of Sherlock Holmes obsession. Is it because we all want to be genius, observant misanthropes or do we just like mysteries that can be contained within 44 minutes? Some realistic, some not.

Moving on to Burn After Reading. I think I went into the film with the wrong level of expectation. I didn’t really like it at all. Brad Pitt was hilarious and Malkovich throwing F bombs all over the place was funny, and who can forget the contraption in the basement, but I heard the final piece of dialogue, what did we learn?, and was like exactly. I was expecting some sort of story but it was just a random 90 minutes with several characters interacting then dying. I think I need to watch it again knowing what will happen, which is nothing. I’m sure I’m overthinking this.

Went to Art’s bar for the BCS National Championship game, which, when you think about it, is the most ludicrous name for the game. It’s not a championship game in any real sense. It is a game between the top teams in a series of polls and algorithms. I won’t go into a rant about the need for playoff in the FBS division (another stupid name), but will just say that I was shocked that actual defense was played by both sides. I totally expected and wanted a 38-35 game and got a defensive stalemate for 3 quarters. Oklahoma really should have put more points on the board and paid the price for not doing so. A good game, not great, and how much better would it have been if the winner of this game got Utah or USC?

Finally, I started subscribing to the Dan Patrick podcast. Since the Tony Kornheiser show is not coming back, I had to find an alternative sports/pop culture show. What a great show and I highly recommend it. I don’t know when I’m going to find time to listen to it, but I will work on it.

Ta Ta.

Potpourri of Artists

2009-01-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

I attended the Tennessee Christian Teen Convention this weekend, and as usual they brought in a variety of talented folks to provide entertainment. The following are a few of which I took notice that you are welcome to check out on you own.

First up was illusionist Jared Hall. He did quite a few cool illusions and tricks. He incorporated more comedy than most of the more popular illusionists which made his illusions take longer than necessary. But they were good nonetheless. Here is a video of one illusion that I saw in which he levitated a table. And here is a video of him getting out of a straight jacket in less than a minute. Not bad, if you’re into that.

Next up is comedian Jeff Allen. He is an old guy and used a lot of older reference that I found hilarious, but which probably fell on deaf, teenage years. He has a style similar to Brian Regan and self deprecating mannerisms which make for a very entertaining show. Here is a quick bit from his repertoire.

Joe Castillo is an artist whose medium is sand on a light board. He tells unbelievable stories just by moving sand around a table. It is incredible. Here is video of “The Passion.

Finally, the big musical group was Family Force 5 who are reminiscent of Korn with their droning guitars highlighted with electronic beats. They were okay, but I don’t think I am going to pile the family in the minivan and follow them on tour across the country. You can listen to some songs on their myspace page.

It is always tough to get acts that will appeal to the most people in attendance. But, I think the planning committee did pretty well. If you see any of these guys in your neighborhood, check them out.

Interesting!!!!!!

2009-01-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

So i know i was supposed to blog on Wednesday, but given the 3 mile long paper trail on my desk following the holidays i thought I'd wait until Friday to unleash my interesting blog which i hope all the soccer fans out there enjoy.

As my mind wandered whilst making the journey across Michigan last week, i asked myself a question that i have been itching to find the answer for some time now "who are the Top 10 greatest English Premiership Players ever?"

As you can imagine it was quite a long ride home and the thing that was eating away at me was, there are too many good players to name a Top 10.

So i began to filter through the players from the last 16 years of the greatest league in the world today.

In my opinion the 2 sets of Top 10 players below are the greatest players to grace the Premier League. See if you agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top 10 Greatest Players (OLD SCHOOL)

Eric Cantona (The King in my eyes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvSjpgIgCnU
Alan Shearer (260 goals scored what a gifted finisher, pure brilliance in front of goal)
Dennis Bergkamp (sheer brilliance every time he touched the ball) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jirzCkR-jSY
Thiery Henry (174 goals scored Dynamic forward, great 1 on 1 finisher & a pure technical genius)
Paul Scholes (arguably the best attacking midfielder of his generation) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQXrMbArqSs
Paul Gascoigne (If he hadn't lost his way after his serious injury he would be my #1)
Peter Schmeichel (was their anyone better) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvZf5Zp-27Y
Roy Keane (the hardest central midfielder of all time, a true captain)
Robbie Fowler (161 goals scored & the most naturally gifted striker in history) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcv11hWfzMI
Ryan Giggs - (10 league titles is enough to get anyone on this list)

Many will argue that Eric Cantona is not deserving enough of top spot, but i feel that Cantona was the real deal, he retired too early much to every ones disappointment, but he was The King. He changed more games with pieces of brilliance that i was so privileged to see first hand, he danced around the pitch with such elegance that at times you had to pinch yourself to make sure it was real.

Top 10 Greatest Players (Modern Day)

Steven Gerrard (Captain fantastic, Liverpool rely on their skipper and he delivers consistently) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOetwV1zISw
Cristiano Ronaldo (42 goals last season, European footballer of the year. World Player of year??) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GJetwg_nGs
Frank Lampard (He is Mr Chelsea for me not John Terry, he is the driving force behind the blues)
Fernando Torres (Class apart, one of the best forwards in the world) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9L91Gd0mXY
Wayne Rooney (He can be England's white knight if he scores more goals, technically brilliant) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuXXuVqehDk
Rio Ferdinand (Worlds best defender, don't argue he is. Calm on the ball and reads the game so well)
Didier Drogba (Jose's special one and he is, fantastic forward with such presence)
Cesc Fabregas (classy little play maker, can he be Mr Arsenal)
Jermain Defoe (I like Jermaine Defoe, he is quick has an eye for goal and reminds of Micheal Owen)
Joe Cole (Gazza like ball skills, has pace and an eye for goal)

20 talented players, it was tough to name them and i am sure i have missed some great players, but in my mind and my love for the game these 20 players will be remembered for so many good things.

Take a peak at the video clips, truly amazing.

Until next time........................... C'mon United 3-0 v The Blues Sunday

holiday follow up

2009-01-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

So I spent the holidays in Alabama with the fam. Good times. Had decent success with the online poker. Didn’t really watch that much football. Not enough compelling match-ups in college or pro. Weather was pretty nice down there and a nice touch was that it started to snow the moment we got back to Michigan. Why do we live here again?

Watched The Dark Knight again. It really is a great movie, not just a great comic movie. I now appreciate the contribution of the Two-Face character. Will they continue the renegade Batman storyline? My guess is that the next movie will be about his redemption and how Gotham comes to accept the caped crusader. Who will be the foil though?

Erin got me a 6 month subscription to NetFlix. I had movies waiting for me when we got back and I’ve already loaded up my queue. Right now I’m focusing on soccer and movies that are hard to get a hold of (independent, foreign, etc.). Any suggestions out there?

Finally I finished the second season of 30 Rock. Absolutely one of my favorite shows of all time. Each show is 22 minutes of comedic ecstasy. The interplay of the characters is hilarious and the guest appearances are the perfect accessory. Greenzo!! How great was that? And James Carville giving Cajun style advice to any and all?

This week I’ll be watching the first season of Monk and Burn After Reading. Maybe even the BCS Championship game. Not too much soccer on TV this weekend, but a huge clash between Manchester United and Chelsea that should influence the destination of the Premier League trophy.

Ta Ta.

Guitar Greats

2009-01-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

I have this friend, and we have gotten into a few discussions about guitarists - specifically, who is the best guitarist ever. Now he is a moron because he thinks Eddie Van Halen is the best guitarist ever – which is INSANE! I tell him that he is so limited in his understanding of music. But he stands firm.

The problem with this discussion is the same problem with trying to pick the best song or group ever. Besides being extremely subjective, one also has to deal with different genres. Even with guitarists, they play different styles and in different ways. How do you compare great Metal guitarists with Blues players? How do you compare Classic Rock with Hair Band Rock? It seems an impossible task. So, determining who is the “best” ends up comparing apples to oranges rather than comparing Fugis to Granny Smiths. But, it must be done or else we have little to talk about. I propose using criteria such as technique and difficulty of skills in addition to producing music that is pleasing to the ear. Again, it remains subjective, but at least puts us at the same table.

To such ends, Rolling Stone put out their top 100 list of guitarists of which I have reproduced the top ten below:

1) Jimi Hendrix
2) Duane Allman
3) B.B. King
4) Eric Clapton
5) Robert Johnson
6) Chuck Berry
7) Stevie Ray Vaughan
8) Ry Cooder
9) Jimmy Page
10) Keith Richards

All these guys are great. No doubt about it. But some are before my time and some are WAY before my time. So, my top 3 would be the following (in no particular order) – Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton. The reason they are not in order is because they play different styles, but do so exceptionally well. Whenever their songs come on the radio or Pandora, I will listen. Other guitarist’s stuff is hit or miss for me depending what mood I am in. And as for Eddie Van Halen, well, would be lucky to make my top 50.

So, who is in your top 3 or 5 guitarists?
Do you agree with the Rolling Stone list or feel they have overlooked a monumental influence?

Back to Reality--More work, less board games

2009-01-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

So it's back to reality tomorrow. No more five day weekends...sigh. Nice holidays for Megan and I. There was the usual pre-Christmas stress of figuring out where we were going to be and when, but once we had our plan, things worked out quite nicely, spending one day with my Dad, one with my Mom, and one with the in-laws. It was as restful as one could expect. Lots of good food and lots of board games.

I love board games--we have a ton of them and are always looking for an excuse to haul them out. Got a chance to play three new games over the holidays--Munchkin, Settlers of Kattan, and Gobblet.

I was introduced to Munchkin a couple New Years parties back--it's played with a deck of cards, and is a little roleplay-y--so the basic idea is you draw a card to open a door, if it's a monster, you have to fight it. If you kill it you get its treasure, such as armor (in picture) or other weapons, which make you stronger and you go up a level. The first player to reach level 10 wins. It's a little nerdy, granted, but the illustrations are all very funny and the gameplay is quick with a lot of negotiations between players when the monster is too big to take on by yourself.

Settlers of Kattan was given to me as a gift, and we got a couple chances to play this while we were back home for Christmas. Interesting game--lots of strategy--the basic idea here is you're on an island and you start with two settelments that have limited access to resources needed to build more roads and settlements, the object to essentially build 10 settlements. You have to do a lot of trading with other players to gather the resources needed, which requires a lot of politicking. There's really a lot of additional detail that I'm leaving out, but I'm hoping we can find a couple people locally to play with (as opposed to Margaret and Kenny who live in Detroit), because you can't play it two player.

And then there was Gobblet--I thought it looked interesting so I bought it for my Dad last year for his birthday, but we only just now got the chace to play it. It reminds me a little of Othello, in that it's really simple to learn how to play, but there's a ton of strategy that you pick up as you go along. It's two player, and played on a 4x4 board. Each player has 3 sets of 4 nesting pieces (check out the picture). The goal is to create a row of 4 of your pieces, doesn't matter what size, though, of course, your opponent can always use one of the larger pieces to swallow (er...gobble) one of your smaller pieces. You can un-gobble a piece too when you move your larger piece back off of it--but that could inadvertantly end up helping your opponent if you didn't remember that was there. A little hard to do it justice in the description. But, um, just bought it for $15 on Amazon, so this is sure to end up at the office. Maybe Austin can better relate it.

So what are some of the best games you've played lately? What are your top ten, for that matter? Here's mine, excluding games played with a standard 52 card deck:

. Taboo-Better the better you know your teammates--my wife is wicked at this game, though we're never allowed to be on the same team--boo.

. Perquackey-This is maybe the game I'm the best at--It's like boggle, without the structure, a little more fast-paced, think, and a bit more fun because of it.

. Chess-I haven't played in a while, but have always enjoyed it. Used to play it over email with my Dad...maybe time to get that going again?

. Guesstures-Charades, but on the clock--always a riot.

. Boggle-While I still think Perquackey is more fun, there's still a lot to be said about good ole fashioned Boggle. Plus there's a pretty decent version of it on Yahoo games to play one player.

. Scene-It-I'm a movie buff, so have always enjoyed Scene-It, though last I knew it was in despearate need of an update.

. Trivial Pursuit-We have a few different versions--I think my favorite currently is the Pop Culture edition which comes with a dvd for some of the clues.

. Stratego-Played this some when I was a kid, but on my previous model of phone I had a version of this that was a lot of fun to play one player when you're killing time.

. Scrabble-This is a fave for when we're up at the cottage, playing with my stepmom, sister, and sister-in-law. Yep, I'm the only guy who plays it up there, but I'm still pretty good at it.

. Risk-Haven't played this in a while, but always struck me as a fun way to pass an evening with a few friends.

Merry Xmas

2008-12-24T09:18:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a relatively short one for me, as i am setting off for a long 3 hour drive over the Muskegon in this not so nice weather.

Tomorrow is always a nice day, especially since my son is now old enough to understand what it all means, my ability to get a hold of a Santa Suit was a priceless bit of wealing and dealing.

So i will entertain the kids tomorrow for sure.

Following that its the big one..... Lakers v Boston, can Kobe, Bynum and Gasol stifle the former world champions or its it going to be another KG show. We will see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boxing Day brings the usual program of Premiership games which is always something to look forward to. I am going to go out on a limb and say Liverpool will again choke at home v Bolton, Chelsea will draw 1-1 v the Baggies and United will rape Stoke 5-0. Colorful huh.

Arsenal although i like them hugely are done for me, losing Fab for Four months isn't good at all and with the shocking sending off of MANU it looks like a very unhappy Xmas for the Wenger boys away to the inform VILLA.

All credit to Martin O'Neil and the boys from the Midlands, for me they will no finish 4Th or 3rd dependent on Liverpool's can we win the title or are we going to play Wimbledon style football and hoof it to Robbie Keane all season long attitude.

We will see.

Merry Christmas to you all and a wonderful New Year.

holiday shopping, Mad Men and off to alabama

2008-12-23T05:52:00.000-08:00

So for our Holiday party at BIGGBY, we went to the Meridian Mall to shop. After finally pulling myself away from the bar at Ruby Tuesday’s, I stopped by Schuler’s to pick up a few things. Got the new sloan and Dandy Warhols albums. I’ve listened to the Dandy tracks online through their website but this will be a lot better.

Also picked up a hardcover version of the Watchmen. Will be reading that at the first of the year in preparation for the release of the movie. I grabbed a Denis Leary DVD with No Cure for Cancer and Locked ‘n Loaded, (Insert mancrush comments here), as well as Lewis Black Live at Carnegie Hall. I’ve listened to first disc and it’s great.

Finally I got Arrested Development, Season 1 and Sin City. I heard a rumor that they are doing an Arrested Development movie. Is that true? As for Sin City, the greatest comic adaptation ever and a kick ass ride too.

I also found time to watch the first season of Mad Men. The show was recommended to me by Dave and I admit, after the first show, I was not that impressed. But after the first disc, I was completely hooked and finished the rest in record time.

Great writing and acting, amazing depth in the characters and conflicts. An insightful contrast into selling happiness but not experiencing happiness. Add to that hints of mystery around the main character and you’ve got an amazing show.

A couple of aspects that they overplay (?) is the smoking, drinking and treatment of women. Every moment of every shot is someone smoking a cigarette or drinking alcohol of some sort. Is that really how it was? And were women really eyed and touched and ordered around like that? WOW!!

So I plan to get the second season as soon as possible and see how the story moves forward. Check it out.

As for the holidays, I’m off to Alabama tomorrow for a couple of days. I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing. College football doesn’t look that exciting so I’ll probably skip that maintain a tough regimen of playing online poker, looking for music and watching the first season of Chuck. I can’t wait.

I leave you with this great moment from Attack of the Show:

Some Yuletide Joy

2008-12-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

So, I am bored with Facebook. It was nice at first, catching up with some old friends. Seeing the amazing power of the search engine at work. But, my personality is not to really be all that concerned with regular interaction with these people. I just don’t need it or overly desire it. So why else would I use Facebook? I have enjoyed some of the applications – Dungeons and Dragons, Mob Wars, Pro Football Pick ‘Em. But, after retiring 3 characters, and amassing mass amounts of land and experience I just don’t see the lure of it. Will I continue updating my status – probably as I like to be clever. Most likely I will just use it for pictures and videos as the easy interface has taken over my own personal website.

In regard to TV watching, I just finished up the first season of the Unit. It is really good. To be honest, at one time (in early middle school) I wanted to be a special operative. Then I realized that I don’t agree with killing people. So, military service is kind of out the question for me. Anyway, the worst part of the Unit is the whiney, stupid wives. Their storylines are contrived and seem just to be for filler than any real contribution to the overall picture. Season 2 is on tap with Season 3 waiting in the wings.

I have been watching a few sports lately and have been so frustrated by local coverage. It pisses me off. Last week in men’s college basketball Georgetown was playing someone (I forget but a top 10 team) and it went into overtime. Instead of staying with the game they went to the tip off of Kentucky v. Indiana. Now I know I am living in “Wildcat Country” but am I wrong in assuming that basketball fans supersede Wildcat fans? Couldn’t they just finish up the good game and then switch to two college basketball relics? And then, this week my CBS affiliate decided to show the NFL powerhouses of Cincinnati vs. Cleveland instead of those perennial losers Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh (sarcasm thoroughly employed in that last sentence). Apparently, deciding home field advantage is not as important as watching the crappy loser located near your city. It is not just because I have no care about either team. If the Lions or Colts (whom I follow) were involved in an unimportant game and there was another of greater overall significance, then I would say, “Broadcast the latter.”

Enough ranting. If these ramblings seem incoherent, I was up all last night at a lock in with my youth group. If things go well, that could have been my last one ever.

Oooh, me too, me too!

2008-12-20T10:41:00.001-08:00

Yahoo! Who doesn't like Top Ten lists? My turn, and tv only--I just haven't seen enough of 2008's films to make a respectable top ten list. Also I should note that this list will include shows that may have been released/concluded prior to 2008, but were recent discoveries for me:

1) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Sad that it was only one season, but I ripped through these episodes on DVD, something about the behind the scenes of the SNL-like show really hooked me.

2) Dexter - Love Michael C Hall from his days on Six Feet Under, and he's great in the good guy/bad guy role of Dexter.

3) Extras - Taking awkward comedy to a whole new level, funnier, I think, than Gervais's original Office.

4) 30 Rock - Everyone on this show is great, but I particularly enjoy Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

5) So You Think You Can Dance - I think this is the best judged reality show on tv--it's clear they are experts and they offer true critiques of the performances, offering viewers a chance to learn. Oh, yeah, and the dancers are easy to look at.

6) The Office - It may be a knock off, but it's a funny one, and has gone places the original never did.

7) Entourage - Jeremy Piven's character, Ari, is the reason to watch this show, and his assistant Lloyd is a scene stealer. Plus the cameos are fun.

8) Weeds - I thought this season was a bit off compared to previous seasons, but still funnier than most other shows out there.

9) Californication - David Duchovny, I thought, was always funny on X-files, so it's great to see him in a comedy. It does live up do it's name, though, so be forewarned.

10) Project Runway - Another reality show, which my wife is a fan of in general--this is another example of a reality show that has a lot to offer viewers, entertaining, but also educational.

Holiday Observations

2008-12-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

** I seem to have one of those cars that was specifically designed to get stuck in the snow. You can argue that my circumstances are a result of short-sighted auto manufacturing, or you can argue that they are a result of my selection of this vehicle for purchase. I choose to champion the former of the two.

This morning I was fortunate to get out of my subdivision, of course none of the roads there had been plowed. This was at 1pm. I reveresed-overdrived my way down the street, getting stuck about 10 times and probably taking about 15 minutes to drive an eighth of a mile. Then I turned onto Willow, which was also largely untouched by the plows, and Elmwood, same story. You'd think at the very least I'd find smooth sailing when I hit Saginaw. But nope, pretty much all the way downtown it was just surfing through snowbanks that had been moved around all morning by passing trucks and buses.

Once I got here, I made my fatal mistake. Turning left onto Michigan from Capitol, I veered too far into what was the actual left turn lane, which contained about 15 inches of snow (again, no plowing on Capitol). Now I was STUCK. All four wheels were spinning with no ground to push against. I was like a turtle perched atop a mound of dirt, flailing my legs wildly but unable to gain any traction to move myself. I had to be pushed out by several kind passerbys.

The moral of the story is this: if you live in Michigan, sure, it is still un-green and energy-wasteful of you to own an SUV or F-150 just to drive around. But there are certain times of the year when it is also extremely practical and might even be worth the extra three or four thousand dollars (compounded annually).

** If you're like me, you appreciate a good "Carol of the Bells" as well as anybody, but the best iteration I've ever heard, and still look forward to listening to every year, is the acoustical composition that Steven Curtis Chapman put together on his "Music of Christmas" album back in 1995. Multiple guitars and strings, no lyrics, and just a really upbeat, awesome piece of music. Go find it on itunes.

** I took care of most of my Christmas responsibilities, but like everyone, there are a few names left to cross off on my shopping list. People that really wouldn't think twice about not receiving a gift from me, but who are so important to me that I really want to do something for them to show my appreciation. Which means a trip to the ^&$#@&! shopping mall this weekend, because I don't really have anything in particular in mind for them, and need browsing options.

I will inevitably wind up purchasing at least one item from the annual rip-off artists who run the kiosks down the middle of the great halls of the shopping mall, some piece of jewelry or all-in-1 video game or basket of cheeses from around the world. I will do this because I will be at a total loss at what to purchase for the last name or two on my list, because I will be lured by the bright lights and pretty product display, and because, hey, I know what they paid for those kiosks, and trust me, they need my business.

** Remember when we were kids, and the ONLY time you could ever get to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special was that one time a year when it was broadcast on TV? If you missed it, were out with your parents, the TV antenna wasn't working, power was out, too bad.... maybe next year. Then when I was around 12, VCR's got huge enough that my family could afford one, and I could try and record it on videotape.

Today? Well, you could purchase it on DVD, set your DVR to record it when it airs and then watch it all year round, pick it up on ITunes, or just go the illegal route and download the torrent. Truly, today's options are more convenient and allow for Charlie Brown enjoyment at any time, but why am I still somewhat wistful for the limited options and snowy-grained network broadcast of yore? Is it just because I'd like to be that young again?

Movies, TV, Premiership & El Classico

2008-12-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

I shall begin with my favorite movie list that i watched in 2008. (in no particular order)

Batman "The Dark Knight"
Wanted
Quantum of Solace
Cars (animated movie)
Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Untraceable
Vantage Point
The Bank Job
Street Kings
88 Minutes
Hancock
Star Wars (The clone wars)

My favorite movie of the year has to be Batman, Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker was mind blowing, he personified lunacy and just sheer brilliance, but overall the movie was excellent.

Untraceable was good, Ive always like Diane Lane, that was a twisted story line that left you on the seed of your pants from start to finish. Wanted was class, end to end fight scenes and Jolie is just Jolie sexy and riveting in one of her better female roles, anyone that like action movies check this one out.

Quantum of Solace has to be one of my all time favorite 007 movies, Daniel Craig has made the entrance as one of if not the best 007's off all time, excellent movie......

Next is my Favorite TV Shows of 2008. (again in no particular order)

House
Burn Notice
CSI Vegas
CSI Miami
Shark
The Unit
The Shield
Prison Break

Danny's Oscar Winners:

Best Actor in a Movie: got to be Heath Ledger for his role in Batman

Best Actress in a Movie: Angie Jolie in Wanted

Best Actor in a Drama: Hugh Laurie from House

Best Actress in a Drama: Sarah Wayne Callies aka Dr Sarah Tancredi from Prison Break

Premiership:

All the top four were appalling this weekend, Aston Villa will finish in 4th. Utd cant hit a barn door, Liverpool and Chelsea both choke at home and Arsenal well lets just say they won't win anything this year.

EL Classico:

Normally i am a Madrid fan in this game, but i found myself wanting Barca to win and they did, not a classic game, but Barca did enough for the win.

Casillas is world class by the way.

See ya

back in front of the TV

2008-12-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last night I had my first Chuck experience. The show is OK. The Nerd Herd is by far the funniest part. Morgan is a smash up between Seth Green and Bud Bundy and makes for nice comic relief. The Chuck character is annoying at first, but I could see how it would grow on you. I plan to watch the first season over the holidays.

Watched Raising Arizona last week. First time I think I have seen it from start to finish. It’s not nearly as accomplished as the other films but you can see where the Coen Brothers were going. Amazing how William Forsythe can be such an absolute dork in this movie and so intimidating in others.

Last weekend was a big one in the world of football.

--The Big Four all drew. I watched Spurs v United. My instant response to the 0-0 draw is that United will not win anything this year unless they start finishing their chances. Liverpool again showedcthat they probably won’t win the title this year because they can’t step on opponent’s throats. And Chelsea? How can you keep dropping points at home? Arsenal. Done.

--El Classico was not a classic but still entertaining. Real really gave a go of it and had Valdes not come up huge, it could have been a very different outcome. Drenthe scores on that breakaway and then Barca’s nerves kick in and who knows? But what can be said about Casillas? Kept them in it for as long as possible. Messi, although fouled beyond belief, came good at the end. Don’t know if I agree with him switching with E’too in the second half, but in the end 2-0 to blaugrana.

--I was also able to see Juventus v AC Milan in the pouring rain. Great game. Very open which was surprising. De Ceglie came on for Nedved and was fantastic. Served the ball with a surging run for Amauri’s first goal and got Zambrotta sent off due to a bad challenge. Juve is only 6 points back but I just don’t see how they can catch Inter. Ibra is scoring ridiculous goals for fun. The only hope is that they can stay close (4-6 points) until the rematch on April 19. My guess is that Inter will be able to extend it further and a Juve win won’t really dent Inter’s title chase. But all credit to Ranieri and the team for turning it around. Hopefully they get a favorable draw on Friday in the Champions League.

I plan to go to the library this week to pick up the first season Mad Men. Has anyone out there seen it?

Any other recommendations for the holiday break?

Ta ta.

Zeitgiest

2008-12-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

Google has released its Zeitgiest 2008 (spirit of the times): “As the year comes to a close, it's time to look at the big events, memorable moments and emerging trends that captivated us in 2008.” They do this trend study by charting the billions of searches that go through their servers. Though most things were to be expected, I found some interesting things of note. Here are the top 10 fastest rising searches from around the world:
1. sarah palin
2. beijing 2008
3. facebook login
4. tuenti (Spanish Facebook)
5. heath ledger
6. obama
7. nasza klasa (Social networking in Poland)
8. wer kennt wen (Social networking in Germany)
9. euro 2008
10. jonas brothers

Nothing terribly surprising there, except I am amazed that Heath Ledger beat out our next president. I also still fail to see the fascination with the Jonas Brothers.

In a similar vein, here are the top 5 image searches:
1. sarah palin
2. obama
3. twilight
4. miley cyrus
5. joker

I assume Miley made it with all the hubbub concerning her “sensually charged photos”. But how is the Joker in the top 5? Is it possible that a whole generation has no idea who this super criminal is or what he looks like? Bizzare.

In the sports category here are the top 5 searched clubs:
1. manchester united
2. chelsea
3. chivas
4. barcelona
5. arsenal

I was happy to see Man U and Arsenal, but somewhat surprised at Chelsea but no Liverpool. Also, Chivas? Really? And here is the most bizarre list I found – Mascot searches:
1. olympic mascot
2. georgia mascot
3. tennessee mascot
4. ohio state mascot
5. phillies mascot
6. auburn mascot
7. alabama mascot
8. stanford mascot
9. harvard mascot
10. notre dame mascot

I don’t know why these mascots were searched so often. Perhaps they are going into retirement, got fired, or quit and the spot is open to the public. Who knows, but of those listed Auburn, Alabama, Stanford and Harvard seem out of place. The rest are pretty well known but who cares about those 4? Apparently a lot of people – enough to make the list.

So, I end with the question, what thing, picture, concept have you searched for the most this year? I will admit that mine has revolved around celebrities – mostly because I don’t know who the hell these people are. I see something on TV or on the news about them and they are made out to be the biggest thing since Swatch Watches. But I have never heard of them. So, I have to Google them to placate my inquisitive nature. I know, I am just feeding the entertainment monster, but I can’t help my self.

Lost in My Hometown

2008-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

I've been a reader since a was tiny--maybe why I got my first pair of glasses when I was in fricking pre-school. Grew up with my nose in a book. I specifically remember getting in trouble when I was maybe 10 or so, out camping with my dad and brother, on a hike, being chided for missing all that was around me, all the natural beauty, because I was reading as we walked. Always with my nose in a book. So much so that when I turned 16 and bought my first car that I couldn't find my way around Grand Rapids, where I had lived since I was born, because I always, and I mean always, brought a book with me in the car when Dad drove us around town.

So I'm a lifelong reader, but just in the past year or so there have been a number of new developments in that world for me.

1) Graphic novels. I read comic books a little when I was a kid, but never got real, real into them. Always enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side back then as well, but that was as far as it went. Well, my younger brother lead the way for me, and introduced me to graphic novels as an adult when he bought a couple books for me a year and a half or so, Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, a brilliant and in-depth look at the art of comics/graphic novels, told as a comic; and Watchmen, by Alan Moore, soon to be a major motion picture, blah blah blah. Watchmen was a great read, for sure, and mostly felt like a comic book for grownups as it had superheros and all of that. What really hooked me, though, was the first book I picked up on my own, Blankets, by Craig Thompson, a phenominal coming-of-age type autobiography where the author recounts his childhood growing up in a strictly religious household, school, falling in love for the first time, and coming to his own terms with his faith. The whole picture-is-worth-a- thousand-words thing is kinda' true. The illustrations of emotional states are lush and evocative and in particular are a good example of how the graphic novel medium can do things that "normal" books cannot. Whether you go the route of the grownup comic books (the Fables series is excellent, as is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), memoir (David B's Epileptic, Marjane Satrapie's Persepolis, and many others), or other (Alan Moore's From Hell, a telling of the Jack the Ripper story/investigation), there's a lot to explore. And p.s. the Capitol Area District Library has a HUGE selection.

2) Audiobooks. I rent books on CD from the library, rip them to MP3 and then listen to them while going out for a walk, working around the house, and on the commute (25 min drive). Most of the time I'm listening to one thing on audiobook and then reading a different book the old-fashioned way, but presently I'm reading and listening to the same book, A Clash of Kings, the second book in a fantasy series that was recommended to me, and it's 969 pages not counting the appendix (yes, it has an appendix), and it makes it a lot easier if I can pick up 60+ pages a day without even cracking the book.

3) Goodreads. Kinda' the Facebook of reading. You can add books to your "library," rate and review them, check out reviews and ratings from your friends, joing book groups that talk about certain types of books (yep, I joined a group about which graphic novels to read), etc. I'm digging it.

Alright, time to go put out Christmas lights in the shrubbery in front of the house...I'm thinking it's about a 20-page-long project...

The Beautiful Game

2008-12-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Where do i start........... well lets begin at Old Trafford.

I watched the game with Austin as our kids ran riot, spilling popcorn.... you know the usual.

To be honest i was disgusted with Sunderland and i echo the same comments that Gary Neville did, Roy Keane would of been horrified at that showing from the Black Cats this weekend, their mentality was "how long will it be before United break us down" not lets go here and give a good account of ourselves and show the new manager what we are capable off"..... incidentally United struggled to break them down and when they did poor finishing was the issue.

Sunderland gave up right from the first whistle which to me and every other passionate soccer fan out there is disgraceful, i understand if you have to come and get to a difficult place for a point, but do it in a fashion that shows your supporting faithful that traveled 3 hours and sat in a blistering cold wind that you care, but they didn't not even close, their back line barely made it off the 18 yard line and Cisse might as well of played right back from the start. Mind blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, much to my relief Vidic pops up in the 90Th minute to give us the 3 points we deserved to be honest, 3 points v Spurs on Saturday will set us up nicely for the slip up weekend while we are in Japan.

Arsenal v Liverpool
Everton v Chelsea

We will come back with 2 games in hand and hopefully Arsenal win and Everton draw with the scum from the bridge and we will be all set to turn it on over Christmas. Title #19 is coming home again in May!!!!!

Lets talk about Liverpool, well here is my take on them. "useless" the poor win at Blackburn was down to the fact that they were playing a team that is all over the place at the moment and is taking on more water than the falling Titanic. Liverpool are without Torres through injury and Keane..... well lets just say its 19million pounds not well spent. If Gerrard lands an injury Liverpool are done, expect them to start ab sailing down the table over Christmas.

Do you remember Fegie's comments at the start of the season regarding Chelsea, he said and I quote "Chelsea have quite a lot of older players that you wouldn't expect more improvement out of them" WOW was he right, i watched them Ballack and Deco get turned inside out last night against Cluj, but for a lucky goal from Kalou and stunning strike from Didier Drogba would of been embarrassed in a big way.
They just seem to lack that drive of youthfulness in the midfield, in fact i appreciate Frank Lampard that much more after watching Chelsea's midfield last night, but they still pose a threat i will give them that.

Arsenal are the complete opposite with young, vibrant youth, quality internationals and 5 or 6 players of immense experience, but they lack that team experience to challenge this year.
I really like Arsenal and if i was not such a die hard United fan and born and bread Mancunian, i'd watch more love games at the Emirates. They are so quick and there fast possession going forward reminds me so much of Barcelona right now.... well maybe not yet, but in the future.

As Austin said have you seen Barca play recently...... WOW is the word to describe it or OMG.

RM v Barca this weekend and my prediction is 5-0 can you guess which way?

Top Four Premier League at the end of May:
1: Manchester United (too much depth not to win it and we haven't reached 2ND gear yet)
2: Arsenal (they will surprise you all watch this space)
3: Chelsea (too much quality to finish below Liverpool)
4: Aston Villa (yes i have taken a jump off the deep end and gone out on a limb, but i like Martin O'Neil)

Semi Final of the Champions League:
Manchester United v Juventus
Inter Milan v Liverpool

Final:
Manchester United v Inter

Adios for now

another weekend watching sports

2008-12-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

Did anyone see Dallas piss away the game at Pittsburgh? To dominate for three quarters and just implode. Wow. Can’t blame that one on Jessica Simpson.

I was able to catch moments of the SEC Championship. Before the game I thought Alabama would get absolutely destroyed, but they hung in there. In the end, Florida is the best team in the nation. Florida v Oklahoma should be an awesome game. Finally some one to stand up to the SEC instead of Ohio State going there and getting annihilated. This year the Buckeyes will get crushed by Texas. The game I’m really interested to see is Boise St. v TCU. That could be a high scoring classic.

In the soccer world, United tried to squander 2 points against Sunderland but scored at the very very end to win. Yes Sunderland parked the bus but United’s finishing was quite poor, as it has been for most of the season. Everton v Aston Villa was one of the craziest finishes this season. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

And if you haven’t seen Barcelona, check them out IMMEDIATELY. 101greatgoals.com has a great highlight package of the Valencia game from the weekend. It really is amazing.

Danny and I were talking about a possible Champions League last four. The round of 16 will be one of the most competitive ever. Ever round could be very, very tight. I’ve got Barca, Inter, Liverpool and Villareal (depending on their draw), with the Champions League final being Barca v Inter. But a lot can change between now and March.

Last week I saw a movie called Ten. It was a movie about the Ten Commandments, each story having in some way to do with each commandment. Tons of well known actors and written by the guys from the State. My review, not good. Skip it.

That’s it for me. Off to the library to check out Raising Arizona and some more Led Zeppelin.

question: dream concert or event

2008-12-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Oasis is coming to the Palace next weekend. In the past, I would have been geeked to see them, but now, not so much. Maybe it is because I have seen them so many times in the past, or maybe it is because their output has diminished over time. Whatever the case, I'm not shelling out almost $100 to see them again.

So what about you? If you could go to one event or concert, what would it be?

Vacation, Thanksgiving, TV & Cristiano Ronaldo

2008-12-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

My Vacation to "Marco Island" Florida was a timely break that one needed to recharge the batteries and kick back by the ocean, beautiful weather and beaming sunshine between 72 - 76 degrees was just a pleasant change from the cold weather forming in Michigan.

Spending time with my wife and son and family from England was fun, plus a trip to the movies to catch the new Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" that ultimately catapulted Daniel Craig as my favorite 007. The movie was breathtaking.... from insane car chases, in movie stunts that make you understand why one was killed during filming and the female cast was just riveting. A must see, but watch Casino Royal first..... it helps understand the plot of the 2nd Daniel Craig installment.

Thanksgiving was .....ehhhhh. I mean it really is to me a typical Sunday dinner in England, the only bonus is that sport is none stop all day. I watched the Titans maul the Lions and a very impressive Cowboys (Romo) display v the seahawks, its a shame that the 4 games Romo missed is more than likely going to cost the Stars a playoff birth, all in all Thanksgiving was just a good break from work... 4 days to relax and play with my son. Who in fact at the tender age of 3 years old is getting pretty good at table fusball. What a awesome sight it was seeing him score goals and make Rooney and Ronaldo like celebrations.... good times ahead i predict.

TV has gone sour now that The Shield has finished for good, i was very very disappointed at the series finale. I felt for sure that Vic was going to stick it to Claudette on last time, but instead now Vic is stuck behind a desk at ICE.
There has got to be a Movie with some sort of Ronnie v Vic type storyline after the strike team's former leader sent his best friend to the depths of Jail for all there past indiscretions.
I'm glad Shane blew his brains out, but was very surprised and kind of upset with FX that they aired Shane killing his family before putting one in his head, it sends the wrong message i feel.

Prison Break is still going strong, i really like it and those critics out there are starting to get on my nerves, this story line has had more twists and turns than the previous 3 series combined. The whole series has moved away from the Prison and has now become a manhunt for Micheal and Linc as they attempt to retrieve Sila from Agent Self. Keep watching something awesome is about to happen.

CSI Miami - Callie is hot that's about it
CSI Vegas - OK, not bad
CSI NY - Good
House - Absolute Class
The Unit - getting to be absolute class
Burn Notice - Can't wait for the new episodes
24 Redemption - I hope Season 7 is better than the 2hr crap they just aired

Thoughts?

And to the final topic: Ballon D'or Winner 2008 goes to Cristiano Ronaldo.

This is an honor to be named with such great past winners like: Zidane, Kaka, Best, Ronaldinho, Figo, Eusebio and so on, but i have to say that not one of them scored 42 goals in a single season and lifted the Premiership and European crown in the same season.

For all his critics Ronaldo has given United and the fans consistency and above all countless times of brilliance that leave you breathless and wanting more.

I agree that early in his career he was subject to more than 1 or 2 dives per game, but with maturity has got a lot better with this side of the game, yet still they hound him about diving. I'm sorry, but i don't understand what games these so called professional pundits are watching some of the time. Ronaldo gets kicked from pillar to post in every game, yes he complains, but he has a point. I realize he is a marked man and everyone wants a piece of him, but for god sake protect the player at least as he is one of the shining stars that make this beautiful game what it is today.

The poor kid is going to be seriously hurt if referees continue to let other pros get away with the manhandling they get away with.

On a final not, congratulations Ronnie i look forward to watching more brilliance and breathtaking performances that give this game the rich praise it deserves, because after all said and done and all the sports out there Football (soccer) is the worlds greatest sport.

Adios

long weekend with lots of media intake

2008-12-02T12:17:00.001-08:00

My extended weekend was a glorious weekend of doing nothing. Had the best Thanksgiving ever. Hamburgers, chips, dip and beer. Watched Iron Man. Bed. AWESOME!!!

As for Iron Man, good but not great. Decent action sequences, but the movie was a touch unbelievable. Oh well, what are you going to do? Jeff Bridges going cueball was a very interesting look.

I spent a lot of the weekend watching the first season of Burn Notice. I’ll admit, after the pilot episode I was less than impressed. It grew on me as I moved forward. I found the narration both humorous and annoying. I think it’s the guy’s voice. Bruce Campbell is great. I would love to know how this is written. Experience? Research? The result of a Bond marathon? Bullshit? I’ll probably check out season two only to see what happens to the main protagonist. By the way, where has the lady from Cagney and Lacey been hanging out all this time?

Saturday was a big day spent in front of the boob tube. I watched Juve crush Reggina in the snow of Turin. A great set up from Del Piero to Nedved led to Camo’s opening goal and, after going behind two goals at halftime, Reggina just walked around and waited to get on the bus to get out of the freezing cold. A 4-0 victory for the old lady. Still six points behind Inter, and a member of the board came out today and said they won’t sign anyone in January. Their strategy is that the healed injuries at the first of the year will give them the depth they need to fight on several fronts. Problem is that these guys are on the Italian version of the AARP. Sign some youthful creativity, I’m begging you.

Watched the Bedlam game. The defense of Oklahoma St. just can’t stop anyone. They play a good team and give up 40+ points. Their offense just can’t keep up. They must improve the defense a ton if they want to compete with the big boys.

While watching the game, I got sucked into the 48 Hours Mystery. One of these wrongful convictions. They kept saying, stay tuned for the dramatic finale, which of course was just another summary and a new fact or two. It was like an American Idol final episode. Just tell me whether the guy was guilty or not so I can move on with my life. (He was innocent.)

Also, this weekend I saw the Thievery Corporation on Austin City Limits. They are officially my new favorite band. Check out the samples on their website and find their performance of the track “Lebanese Blond” on the Austin City Limits website. It will blow your mind.

Ta Ta for now.

Thanksgiving Wretching

2008-12-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Break was good for me. Got to see some of the folks from my previous church and got to see Carrie’s Brother’s family for a while. Got a 7-Eleven Slurpee – Vanilla Cream flavored. Turkey was tasty – but no mashed potatoes. Also, I finished up a paper that was due on “The Development of Israelite Religion.” I know, enthralling stuff. Let me know if you want me to email you a copy.

The most startling experience of the week came during the Dallas-Seattle football game – a halftime performance by the Jonas Brothers. Now I have seen the Jonas Brothers everywhere. Girls seem to be going crazy for these guys. There is a bunch of swag out there. But I have never heard a song or seen a video by this familial trio. I have just seen public appearances that consisted of silly jabbering with the anchor person while teenage girls screamed in the background.

So imagine my delight when I found out that JB (apparently short for Jonas Brothers) were performing at half time. I know I am a cynical chap, but I was shocked and appalled. These guys sucked live. I mean beyond being terrible. It was like I was transported back to the 90s and was listening to Hanson – except without the talent. Even one of their songs (“Burning Love”) was only a note or two off from being the hook to “Umm Bop.” I am not exaggerating for effect – it was that close. Don’t believe me? I have the two songs below for your comparison.

Well, I can scratch them off my list of CDs that I want for Christmas. Which brings me to my rant. I know I complained about movies the other week. But music sucks too. It seems that anyone can get signed and promoted in such a way as to convince everyone that s/he has talent, when in fact it is all from the hand of the producer. Pandora has been nice in finding new and decent music, but good luck finding quality music in the mainstream.

So, if anyone has some recommendations for some good, new music, I am all ears. I particularly like rap and hip-hop that is similar to old school stuff, rock (both classic and of the grunge era).

"Burning Love" by Jonas Brothers

"Umm Bop" by Hanson (They would not let me embed, so just click on the link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd0C_Us31kk

The Death of the High School Reunion

2008-11-29T15:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I accompanied my wife to her 10 year high school reunion. It was the right thing to do. Now, keep in mind that I deliberately skipped my own reunion last year because I just don't have the taste for that sort of an event...awkward conversation, poor quality buffet type food, etc. But being the good husband that I try to be, I sucked it up and took one for the team.

It was exactly as I had imagined it. I mostly stood/sat in near silence as nearly all of the conversation focused around the good old days I was not a part of, not to mention it was extremely loud from the music (surprisingly not all pulled from this graduating class's high school years) so it was difficult to follow conversation most of the time. I swear I was not trying to be a stick in the mud, but I just really had nothing to say. No one asked me what I did, or anything else really, even when I would engage them and ask them about what they were into. Isn't that how it's supposed to be? I scratch your back if you scratch mine?

The upside was that they ended up being extremely liberal with the drink tickets as they must not have had as many people show up as what they were expecting, so we each got four tickets...yowza. Had they stocked any type of beer that I was interested in I may have been in trouble. Had a couple Sam Adams and a s-t-r-o-n-g gin & tonic and that was all I cared for.

Ended up at a brewpub where a friend of ours was playing (played a brilliant acoustic guitar version of Blackstreet's "No Diggity"), the Waldorff in Hastings...had a not-to-good porter and a decent stout, and that would have all perfectly redeemed the evening if I could have gotten a bite to eat but the kitchen had already closed...oh well.

Last thought: In a world of Facebook, My Space, Linked In, etc., what's the point of high school reunions?

30 rock rules, disappointing super saturday

2008-11-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

I was watching a recent episode of EpicFu and heard the term “green collared jobs”. Really? Aren’t we going a little far with the green movement?

Moving on . . .

30 Rock, season 1. Quality entertainment. Makes fun of themselves, everybody and everything else. The characters are great and play off each other in hilarious ways. I’m surprised I liked Alec Baldwin so much. Can’t remember the last thing I liked him in? State and Main maybe? Before that Glengarry Glen Ross or Beetlejuice. I’m tracking down Season 2 and can’t wait to catch up. I would be willing to add this to my TV rotation.

Off of the rotation is House. I am so done with this show.

Media on demand is so the way to go. No commercials, blow through material instead of waiting for a designated time. How did we function before tivo and box sets?

I spent Saturday afternoon in front of the TV.

Man Utd v Aston Villa
Disappointing match. Rooney had a real chance to win it and blasted his shot into the crowd. Utd was definitely not at their best and look to be off the pace. Ji-sung Park works hard but almost never has the final touch: pass, cross or shot. On a day when they could have made some real ground on the leaders, Utd lacked the quality. Ronaldo really looks bad. Maybe it’s fitness, complacency or something else. It looks as if he is regressing instead of moving forward. Very disappointing.

Juve v Inter. Not the greatest game on the eyes, but Inter’s power is something to behold. Juve were very lucky not to be 1-0 down after they turned it over to Ibra. Juve wasn’t very dangerous, but still created a handful of chances. Camo’s header at the end would have saved a point, but in the end Inter deserved to win. Typical Jose. Not fancy, just successful.
MLS Cup final. I watched the last 10 minutes of the final. The Home Depot Center looks like a nice venue and is a far cry from Foxboro, with the mammoth, non-occupied stands and the throwball lines. Columbus’ third goal showed great vision and effort.

Last night I finished Miller’s Crossing. I would say it’s good, not great. It seems to lose some its gusto towards the end as the double crossers double cross someone else and so on. The last shot of Byrne is a mystery but who am I to criticize?

Breakfast

2008-11-20T20:59:00.001-08:00

Relieved to hear that we avoided making the list of the Worst Blogs on the Internet, I feel I can again surface to add a post to this fine community. Which I helped to launch, but have lately been a poor contributor.

I have lately become aware of so many more readers of this blog than I knew were out there. We don't keep a counter here, in part to avoid the temptation to write for an audience instead of ourselves (not that we can ever truly avoid that). So we don't know how often we are visited, and from where those visitors come. But I've just heard from a lot of people in the last few months who have noticed my absence and mentioned it. This inspires me to check in more often. Friends in the Dominican Republic, in England, our good friends in California, and so many others that I don't talk to enough. This one's for you.

In the last 3 months I've made some decent money at poker, almost ruined my car by not tightening my lugnuts, borrowed a nice laptop, purchased a nicer laptop, given up on the TV show Heroes, discovered the joy of a quiet breakfast alone with a newspaper, survived a cold, worked on my jump shot, won an election (as a campaign manager, not a candidate), experienced an economic downturn, experienced a historic American moment, and tonight, just tonight, watched the Michigan basketball team knock off the #4 ranked UCLA Bruins. It's been a great time.

So many good blog posts to be had there, but I think tonight I will focus on the breakfast. During the campaign I had to attend these county meetings for the Democratic party, and if that doesn't sound boring enough, they took place downtown at 7 in the morning. At first I hated it, but after a few I started to look forward to them. Because the meetings would let out at 9am, I had an hour of downtime before I had to open the comic book store, and so I would buy a paper, go to a nice coffee-and-eggs diner downtown, and take an hour to chill out and read the news.

I grew to love this time, so much that I now observe the ritual even though I don't have to go to the meetings anymore. Every Friday morning I try to get up an hour early (with middling success), get downtown early, and take some time for breakfast.

One of the things I really like about the diner are the patrons. It looks kind of like that place in the movie "City Hall", where John Cusak goes to meet with Danny Aiello over breakfast to discuss business. It has that feel to it. And there are a group of tables pushed together on one side of the restaraunt where the Guys get together, usually about 8-10 of them. I've never been able to discern if all of the Guys are retired, or only some of them, or if they are/were all in the same line of work.

What I know is that they're always there on Friday mornings, and I'm guessing on other days also, talking about sports, the news, jawing with the waitress, and just sitting around drinking coffee and enjoying an extended morning together. I like to imagine that they've all known each other for decades, that they've been coming to this diner for breakfast together for years, and that they'll all grow old together and always have this place to come to in the morning. They remind me that it's ok to relax, to take some things slow, enjoy your coffee, and that the world outside with it's long to-do lists and urgent matters doesn't necessarily have to be answered to Right This Second.

So that's my post. If you're lucky, I'll do another one next week. In the meantime, enjoy your coffee. Read the paper. You have time for it - you really do.

question: favorite new TV show

2008-11-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

thought i would change things up. instead of a poll, which is not very dynamic or flexible, i will create a post that can be commented and discsussed. i believe that this is called a "thread."

anyway, what is your favorite new TV show so far? i came across an article on digg that bemoaned the lack of quality thus far.

let us know.

footy and movies

2008-11-18T10:19:00.000-08:00

Thursday night I watched Juve v Genoa. What a display. Juve rode their luck and were clinical in front of goal to go ahead 2-0. The game finished 4-1, and it was one of the best performances I’ve seen this season. Very reminiscent of last season when they outworked their opponents and created chance after chance. I’m still not sure they can keep it up. At least they are playing Tiago now instead of Poulsen. Sissoko is still in the team, but I’m hoping Zanetti is fit soon. With the win, Juve was on top of the table for the first time since the calciopoli scandal. Inter won to back on top, but for one brief moment, Juve was back in their rightful place.

What a great weekend. Went to Art’s Bar and Grill on Friday night. It’s a local establishment on Kalamazoo St. that was filled with people, smoke and giant goblets of beer. Forget the Brewtus at Applebee’s. It took two hands to drink this bad boy. Ummm . . . beer.

Saturday, got up and watched Manchester United game. They absolutely destroyed Stoke. The final was 5-0 and could have been much worse. CR7 had two nice free kicks, but to be honest, the rest of the game he was crap. His moves weren’t coming off, his passing was atrocious and he was back to his diving. I thought Fletcher had a phenomenal game, and Wellbeck’s debut goal was stunning. Then I watched the second half of Arsenal and Villa. What a result for Villa. Arsenal was all over them, but couldn’t really create clear cut opportunities. Then one bad touch from Clichy and instead of grinding out a draw, Arsenal went to all out attack for the equalizer. That chance was destroyed by a devastating effort from Gabby, who shook off Captain Billy and slotted the second goal in. Consistency, Gunners. Look it up.

Then it was off to help the Vance’s move. Got that out of the way and it was back to the house for some Coen brothers.

Fargo. I had not seen this in forever. It is depressingly realistic. The dialogue and interaction is understated and not dynamic, but how many times in your life do you think, I’m living in a movie? The story was told, the story ends and life moves on. In essence, crime doesn’t pay.

Big Lebowski. What a great movie. Hilarious dialogue, fantastic characters, outrageous situations. The movie creates a world that is just slightly surreal and lets you in for an hour and a half. If you haven’t seen it, rent it TODAY!!

Planning on watching Raising Arizona and Miller’s Crossing in the next couple of weeks, hopefully before Burn After Reading comes out on DVD.

Sunday after church went to see Quantum of Solace. A great Bond film. Action sequences of breathtaking action and detail. Story was actually somewhat believable, which was a nice change of pace. The last sequence was a little over the top, but what are you going to do? Make sure you watch Casino Royale right before. I made the mistake of not doing that and missed out on certain elements of the plot. I can’t wait until it comes out on DVD and watch them back to back. I’m sure I’ll enjoy Quantum a lot more the second time.

Finally, I saw this link on digg.com:
11 lamest blogs http://www.pcworld.com/article/153615/top_11_lamest_blogs.html

I took the time to scan it. No need to worry, we are not on the list.

Ta Ta.

Movie Malaise

2008-11-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

I am not a comic book geek anymore (unlike many of the contributors on this blog) and that is okay – both that they are and that I am not. In fact, I have been out of the loop for quite some time and have not seen many of the comic book movies that have come out in the last 5 years. I have not seen Iron Man, Fantastic 4, Spiderman 2, or even the newest Batman (though it is high on my list). Really, they don’t seem to be all that enthralling to me and typically the acting turns out to be a real let down. So, to say I am less than delighted to hear that there are 75 comics being made into films as we speak is an understatement. As I look down the list, I recognize very few of the comics (again going back to me being “out of the game”). No doubt few will actually make it on the big screen, but I am sure that even fewer of those will be worth watching.

The fact is, in my opinion, movies in general just suck these days. Nothing comes out that makes me turn to Carrie and say, “Let’s go through the hassle setting aside a night and getting a babysitter so we can go to the theatre and pay $7/person to see that movie.” It never happens. I saw the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy in the theatre, and Carrie likes to see the “Harry Potter” movies in the theatre. That’s it. Even after these movies come out on video, we don’t rent them. I am too busy and tired to sit through the drivel that passes for movies these days. I know there are exceptions, but by and large the plots show a lack of ingenuity, so producers try to make up for this deficiency with special effects or star power. Neither do it for me.

So I ask, “Can anyone give me a good reason why I should go to the theatre? Can anyone tell me why I should give my time and money to Hollywood anymore?” Because as it currently stands, I am pretty much done.

Soccer, The Unit & Other Shows

2008-11-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

My weekend's soccer schedule didn't get off the best of starts as Arsenal beat Man Utd 2-1 in quite arguably the best game we have witnessed this season to date.

Arsenal obviously still reeling from their defeat to Stoke the previous weekend and the poor Champions League performance in midweek were well up for this game against the Champions of the English Premier League and European Champions.

It was a classic, Sir Alex called it "playground stuff" "you attack, we attack, you attack" it really was breathtaking at times.

My opinion at half time was "I can't believe we are 1-0 down" the scoreline didn't really reflect what i just witnessed..........................The game should of been 3-3 at half.

I expected United to come out blazing in the second half, but it was just the opposite.... well for 5 minutes at least as Nasri scored their second with some great build up play.

Enter United, they showed why they are the best attacking team in the world, they pounded Arsenal's back four, had our finishing been better we would of won the game.

Ronaldo had a great chance 30 seconds after Arsenal's second to put us right back in the game, but he fired inches wide and i mean inches.

United came forward with such pace it astonished even me... a die hard Red Devil, but our final pass or ultimate finish was very poor in front of goal.
Rooney himself in the first half on another day would be taking the game ball at half time due to the fact he should of scored 3.

In the end United scored in the 90th minute through the young Rafael DaSilva who in my mind is better than Neville and Brown combined, what an impact he made for only being on the field 15 minutes, he tore Clichy to bits and i think Gael is quality.

I am going to hold my hands up and agree with Sir Alex "if you're going to get beat it might as well be against someone that plays good football" that game was a classic, but disappointing to be on the losing end of it..... i really like Arsenal and Wenger to be honest i will be watching more of thier games.

As Liverpool and scabby Chelsea both won the gap is now 8 points with a game in hand for the Red Devils.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal still have to come to OT and take points of one another so to say its over for us is mindless and quite uttlerly stupid from some people.

Can United close the gap as Chelsea did last season? Who knows, but the news that Ronnie is signing a new contract is great news, the bad news is that Hargreaves is in Colorado having surgery by the world renowned Dr Steadman, he is out for the season as was Keane when he had knee issues, but he came back a stronger better player which i expect Owen to do also.

TV is great at the minute.........
24 season 7 is almost upon us with the 24 2 hour "redemption" special soon to air on the 23rd of this month i am excited to see what Jack has in store for us as this season is being billed as "the best 24 ever"..... we will see.

The Unit is hotting up, we are half way threw a 2 part special that sees Betsy Blaine (Jonas's daughter) kidnapped by Syrians. Colonel Ryan goes with the crew to rescue her, but Ryan has bigger problems in that Mac knows he had an affair with his wife. The punishment for breaking The Unit code of conduct is "death" will the rest of the team follow through on the code or will Ryan escape with his life......... watch Sunday 9pm CBS.

The Shield is just awesome, right now Macky has turned in his badge as he hunts for Shane, Travecki is on desk duty at The Barn and Corin has turned on Vic and is helping Dutch and Collette find Vic to put him away for good.
I love this show and i expect a few twists in the final 2 episodes, what is in store for Vic????

House is House, class personified enough said, i think this show would never get old in my book much like ER, but you have to bring Cameron, Chase and Foreman back into the team and fire the rest as they lack House esk persona. I am really looking forward to future episodes.

Thats all for me, i will be in Florida next week sunning it up so enjoy the cold, wet and snowy weather. I will bring you back a story or two.

football, movies, football, tv

2008-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday I was treated to an interesting game between Alabama v LSU. I wouldn’t rate it as a classic. Only time will tell if the LSU QB matures into a solid performer or continues in a shame spiral resulting in a transfer or riding the bench as an upperclassman as the next great thing takes over.

Then it was off to BW3’s to watch Oklahoma St v Texas Tech. OSU just couldn’t keep up with Tech’s offense. I’m not sure anybody can. If Tech can beat OU, they can’t choke in the Big 12 Championship game.

The season is shaping up for an Alabama v Texas Tech championship game, although it’s way, way too early. My guess is that it will be Florida v Texas, which should be an awesome game.

Sunday I watched Vantage Point. Bear with me. I’ve never seen “24”, but I imagine that this would be similar. An agent outside the box who wins the day in an intense and unbelievable situation. I don’t know how Kiefer Sutherland sells it, but Dennis Quaid doesn’t. I’m trying to remember a movie he is actually good in. Hold on a sec, let me check imdb.com . . . Well I just realized I haven’t seen 90% of his movies. He was ok in Traffic and terrible in Any Given Sunday. And he’s in a GI Joe movie? How are they making a movie about that?

Anyway, back to Vantage Point. The movie starts and then rewinds 5 or 6 times, which was ok. Each perspective gave you more information and allowed you to fill in the gaps. I liked that.

****Spoiler alert****

Just when it was time for another rewind, they go on a 10 minute car chase. Like the one in the Matrix Reloaded, that just goes on and on and on. Quaid gets THREE times, including getting pinned between a garbage truck and a building, and yet he gets up and gets the bad guys. They spent way too much time on the car chase and not enough on the motivation of the terrorists or the background of characters.
****Spoiler alert over****

In the end, promising but terrible finish. As usual.

Soccer. Juve continued their revival. Now only three points off the lead. Inter is up in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I don’t see the old soldiers keeping this up for the entire season. I imagine Juventus will fade after the new year.

United lost to Arsenal. Something is missing. Maybe United will make a run as they have done so many times this season, but I see Chelsea grinding out a title, with Liverpool trying to manufacture a winning mentality.

Barcelona. Just youtube their last 5 league games. Ridiculous. Sexy football of epic proportions.

Finally, I watched the entire series of The Job. Leary’s character and cast from Rescue Me, but set in a cop precinct instead of a firehouse. It was funny how one episode of The Job was based on Leary’s comedy routine from No Cure for Cancer re: cough syrup and alcoholics. The end of the series wanders into the extremely uncomfortable situations as his life spirals out of control. Imagine Larry David as a smoking, swearing, alcoholic adulterer in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and you’re getting close. If you haven’t seen Rescue Me, watch a couple of episodes of The Job to prepare yourself for the glory of Rescue Me. If you have seen Rescue Me, you have seen a better version of this show. You can definitely see the origin and direction of Leary’s vision, but it is executed so much better on Rescue Me.

Remember if women don’t find you handsome, they should at least handy.

Observations from the Election

2008-11-10T05:17:00.000-08:00

The following are random thoughts that passed through my head some time during the election process:

I suppose I shouldn’t, but I really question why people voted for the various candidates. Leading up to the election and even after the election it seemed that people just wanted to talk about how “historic” it was going to be. And of course it is historic. But should that fact influence the way we vote? Should we vote for or against the McCain/Palin ticket because we want a woman in the White House or because we think she can reenergize the curmudgeonly Republican party? Should we vote for or against Obama because he is an African-American or because we think he can actually enact change in Washington?

It just seems to me that some people voted not based on credentials but based on physical characteristics. After Obama had preliminarily won, and people were interviewed, they seemed more excited to get an African-American in office rather than the candidate that most lined up with their political, social, and religious beliefs. Am I glad we have broken the race barrier on the highest level? Of course I am. But I wonder if Obama is the right guy to do it? Time will tell.

I am sick of Christians and sometimes wish they were seen and not heard. Leading up to the election I heard the following via interaction with church members, Facebook statuses, blog posts, and other information:
“If Obama gets elected it will be then end of the world.”
“Obama as president will inaugurate the last days.”
And on and on it went with these doom and gloom scenarios based on Obama getting elected. Then, the day after he was, it all changed to, “It’s okay. God is in control. God can bring good from bad. God has instituted the authorities. Blah blah.”
It just seems disingenuous and flip-floppy. Though appropriate for politics, I found it completely inappropriate for God’s people.

Then of course are the doomsday prophecies about what Obama will do in the next 4 years. Since he is apparently pro-abortion, anti-guns, and a socialist, the Religious Right are up in arms. Of course, last I checked Obama’s top 5 things to get accomplished don’t include killing babies, ruining hunting season, and instituting Marxism. He has a few bigger problems to deal with. So why don’t you all calm down at least for a year.

I also don’t understand how our democratic society has forgotten about checks and balances. From what I have heard it is like everyone thinks Obama can enact any change he wants without opposition. I am pretty sure we elected a president as opposed to a totalitarianistic dictator. He has to jump through the hoops too.

Speaking of systems, can someone tell me why California gets 55 Electoral College votes? I know it is based on California having the densest population, but it doesn’t deserve 20 more electoral votes especially when it is guaranteed to vote liberal every time. Basically, the democrats are already 1/5th of the way there each election. I say this not as a Republican, but as a middle independent who would like to see a fairer system.

All in all it was an interesting process. I went from thinking both candidates were great during the Primaries to thinking both were shams during the debates. Here’s to another four years of failed promises!

Okay, so I'm a Wii-nie

2008-11-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

My wife and I managed to get our hands on a Wii Fit this week, which I'm pretty excited about. I'd been trying to pick one up from Best Buy or Gamestop, but they have been consistently selling out the same day the arrive. I tried Amazon instead...they have been out of stock there as well, but they offer a service where you can get a text message when they arrive. Sure enough, on Thursday I got a text, rushed to the website...and nothing. Still out of stock. Refresh. Nothing. Refresh. Nothing. Confused cursing. Refresh. Bingo!

We got it the following day (yesterday), and I've now "played" with it twice, so here's the review:

First thing up, you get weighed in, which I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that I've lost about 10-15 pounds since starting my daily-ish walking routine. It also calculates your BMI, gives you a balance test, and then assigns you a Wii Fit Age...mine was 41. I am 29. Not cool, you guys.

Then you're in and you can chooose between four categories: yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Each category starts with a handful of activities you can choose from, with many more that need to be unlocked. In each activity you get rated in some way, most often for how well balanced you are. It keeps track of your total amount of activity and you continue to unlock new activities or expanded versions of the activities, such as a longer track for running, more reps for the strength activities, etc.

I'm excited for the opportunities the board provides--I'm a competitive person, and being able to be ranked and unlock activities is a good, compelling feature, and being weighed on a daily basis as part of the program I think will also help to keep me focused.

The only downside that I can see is that at this point, at least, it doesn't seem that you can put together a workout with it, where you could string multiple activites back-to-back-to-back rather than having to every 2 minutes use the remote to pick the next activity...it's a little distracting.

Jekyll, Texas blows it, music reviews

2008-11-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

So this weekend was pretty low impact. Watched some TV, played a little FIFA, hung out with Larry. Should have raked leaves and cleaned the gutters, but I can do a two for one next fall.

Saturday afternoon I finished the BBC mini-series “Jekyll”. After the first couple of shows, I was hooked. To be fair, the dialogue bordered on the completely absurd at times, which took away from a great story idea.
The show fades after a blistering beginning as a ridiculous conspiracy element takes over. The ending felt rushed and wasted. The last sequence reveals the missing piece for those of us too stupid to figure out and then . . . credits. As always, great idea, poor execution. Definitely sets up for a sequel at a later date.

Saturday night I watched Texas v Texas Tech. When I turned on the TV, it was 19-0 Tech and I thought, just my luck. So I was in and out of the game, and when Tech went up by 14 in the second half, I almost put in a movie. But I was a trooper and stayed with it. I was rewarded by dramatic idiocy. Texas scores to go ahead and then completely crapped their pants. Poor kickoff coverage, then they let Tech march down the field after they had been stopped in their tracks in the second half. As always, the prevent defense prevents you from winning. When the Texas defender dropped a sure interception, you knew the Longhorns were in trouble. To top it off, the Tech QB then throws a prayer to the sideline and all the defender has to do is knock the receiver out of bounds. God forbid he knocks the ball down. He makes some sort of pansy tackle that we would make in the backyard and Crabtree walks into the endzone. Game over. And what was the safety doing? Very frustrating. Yes, that is why college sports are so much better than pro. Scholarship athletes.

Music I’ve checked out:

Travis (The Invisible Band): The album title says it all. Most of it is pussy rock. Airy songs, falsetto voices. Not what I’m looking for.

VonBondies (Pawn Shoppe Heart): Fever, now that’s what I’m talking about. The rest of the album is ok, Kinda punky, which I’ve never been into, but like to dabble in from time to time.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Take them On, On your own): decent album overall, probably better than Howl. They have this sound and they nail it.

Velvet Underground and Nico: Recently I’ve seen movies that have used their music, so I decided to give them a try. I already knew Heroin (Basketball Diaries) and Venus in Furs (Brick), but I really liked a track called I’m Waiting for the Man. Also Sunday Morning could easily fit into a movie like Little Miss Sunshine or Eternal Sunshine.

By next week, I hope to have finished The Job, a show Denis Leary did before Rescue Me. Also have more Travis on hold, as well as Woodstock 25th anniversary collection. Ta ta for now.

My Political Platform

2008-11-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

JDs Halloween post kindled many thoughts in me. And in this time of voting and change being on the horizon, if I am accepted onto the Halloween Holiday Board I will take immediate action to improve our current situation. As I read over JD’s costume list, I noticed that it reflected much of what I saw from recent Halloweens - WEAK outfits. I remember my mom spending hours sewing up such classic costumes as Yoda and a California Raisin. It is like the parents aren't even trying anymore. Or maybe the kids don't have any imaginations or think that some costumes are too infantile, and thus unworthy. I saw one kid with normal clothes, some white face paint, and some red lines that I supposed were supposed to represent lacerations. I asked him what he was, and he just held out his basket and shrugged. Whatever the case, I think many have forgotten that looking cool is the reason for the season.

I understand that we don’t need to be flushing future college tuition down the drain just for a costume, but come on! Give me something. So I recommend putting more power into the hands of the candy giver. If the kids are just throwing on some shoddy costume just to get candy, then take their very incentive out of their baskets. If you don't approve of the costume (for whatever reason – crappy, no imagination, offensive, etc.) then you don’t hand out candy. It will only take a year or two of this system to increase costume thoughtfulness. Granted, you open yourself to a house and car egging later in the evening, but it is time to make people earn the individually wrapped candy we worked so hard to purchase.

I propose we candy be dolled out according to merit. This socialistic candy distribution to everyone is not working. It has removed any impetus for excelling. Seriously, should the beautifully adorned princess get the same amount of candy as the kid who threw on some work clothes? I ask you - are these the principles that founded America? I don't think so! So here is the breakdown of the candy distribution that makes sense and puts more candy in to the hands that deserve it:

Regular clothes/haphazardly thrown together costume - 0 Pieces
Costume with little imagination - 1 Piece
Costume that is thoughtful, just not over the top - 2 Pieces
Costume reflecting a parent with too much time - 3 Pieces
Costume straight out of Hollywood - 4 Pieces(or a King Size)

This is the year for change. So let’s begin with something near and dear to all of us. After all, if the effort displayed at Halloween is any indication of our economic status, then we are indeed in a crisis.

3 Bags of Candy, 10 Trick-or-Treaters, and 1 Bad TV Show

2008-11-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

So last night was the first Halloween for my wife and I in our house (last year we were in an apartment) and we were suitably excited for the glut of trick-or-treaters we were expecting. So we bought candy, yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. The Take Five bars didn't make it through the week (licking my lips at the memory of them) but otherwise we had a very full bowl of candy for the crowds of children that would be passing through.

It didn't occur to me, until the drive home last night, that we don't have a sidewalk on our side of the road, a rather-busy-for-Portland road. Bummer. So I worried we wouldn't get any t.o.t.s. and was proven correct, until 7:30, after which they came in a few small crowds. We ended up with ten total. Here's the list:

1) A somewhat dowdy princess

2) A tiiiiny little cop who struggled with the 2 front steps

3) An under-achieving pumpkin (just a pumpkin t-shirt--not even a jack-o-lantern)

4) A girl in greenface (zombie? seasick?)

5) A weaponless ninja

6) A mongol-style barbarian, complete with pointy helmet and beard

7) A princess of a more gypsy persuasion

8) An infant in an MSU hat--is this a costume? I think he was being pimped by mom for candy

9) A zombie-ape, I think...scary mask, fur, etc.

10) A mystical butterfly, pushing the upper limits of age-appropriateness for trick-or-treating

Presently struggling through another episode of True Blood, from HBO. Seems like an interesting concept, vampires walk among us following the invention of a synthetic blood that they can drink, preventing their need to feed on humans or animals, and struggle as a minority group for mainstream acceptance, etc. It just hasn't really worked for me yet--just occasional interest-piquing moments and then a LOT of bad acting. I don't know if it's the Southern accent that's pulling everyone down, or the weak scripts, but it's rough! Even William Sanderson, who was superb in Deadwood (perhaps the best television show ever) as E.B. Farnum, the hotel-owner and mayor, is just awful in this. If you haven't watched it, just stay away, go rent Deadwood instead.

of Dreams and Drooling Dogs and Fun Size Snickers Bars

2008-10-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have weird dreams, almost all the time. This is pretty normal for me. Lately, 6am finds my alarm going off right in the middle of a dream cycle. It makes waking up pretty difficult.

A couple weeks ago I had a dream that I was playing midwife to my friend Sarah who was giving birth to twins. I was also watching her 2 year old son Troy. Except that in real life Troy is my friend Cory's son where Sarah's son is named Seth.

Anyway, last night I had my first nightmare in a long time. Like an adult nightmare, not x-rated, but adult. When I was a kid my nightmares were about aliens and ghosts and possessed dolls and such (my parents let me watch Poltergeist way too young). This dream was one of those things that are extra scarey because it could actually happen. Obviously it's a very slim chance, but a chance none the less.

My dream was that Ben got on a game show in LA and was down there for the weekend filming. I was excited and talking about it to everyone and getting impatient waiting for Ben to call and tell me how he did. When he did call I was hoping to hear that he had won lots of money. Instead it was Ben, but Ben mumbling and sounding like he was in pain.
He said, "I hurt". He was trying to tell me something but mumbling and half groaning in pain. He sounded confused and upset. He's telling me something about trying to go somewhere and do something and I'm trying to talk to him and get him to tell me what's going on and then he said "he had a gun...he had a gun...I hurt" and then there's nothing. The line doesn't go dead, he just stops talking.

What really woke me up at that point I believe was the actual fear of living through that moment, even if it was just a dream. I can't imagine being more helpless than being on the phone with your husband hundreds of miles away who may or may not be dying in a gutter somewhere and you have no idea what exactly is going on. Ben doesn't always understand why I'm "hogging the bed", sometimes it's a reason to touch him and make sure he's still alive.

***************

Speaking of drooling dogs? Who's talking about drooling dogs? I AM!
Jodee got taken to the vet today for what we thought was a teeth cleaning and tooth extraction, 2 teeth to be precise. When I got off work I talked to the vet and was told some shocking news. He said that every single tooth had periodontal disease and they ended up extracting, not two, but 28 teeth! That's over half! My stomach dropped!

I ended up going in later and having a 20 minute talk with him about how it got this bad, she had a cleaning less than two years ago and they gave her a clean bill of health! He said technicians usually clean and unless they alert the doctor to some need, the doctor doesn't actually check them. It could also be that her immune system is not working as well as she gets older and can't fight off bacteria. Thus she is now on antibiotics to hopefully fight off disease in the rest of her teeth and see if we can save some of them. He also said her teeth were incredibly easy to extract as there was hardly any root left holding them in place. So hopefully we can stop this thing before it claims any more of her teeth, but in the end they say it's better for her to have no teeth (which won't stop her from eating) so that disease does not get into her blood system.

When I got her home she was still a little doped up but apparently very hungry, she wasn't allowed to eat before the proceedure that morning and by 3 she still hadn't eaten. So she was antsy and prancing around because she was hungry, but prancing like a drunken sailor since she was still doped up. It's was pretty funny. I really need a video camera.

So currently the dog is on what the vet tech calls "doggie vicodin". Which she seems to be enjoying since at 6pm she was wimpering a little and now she is laying next to me and not blinking, she's been like that for about an hour now....she's alive.....yeah, her eyebrows are still moving so she's alive, she's just extra mellow. She's also been licking and smacking her mouth alot, trying to get used to the new feeling in her mouth although thankfully the vet kept her until he felt she had stopped most of the drooling.

Poor little Jodee, say good bye to your tasty tasty carrots. :(

*****************************

Halloween in California? I don't think it exists!
We saw no kids, no costumes, and have a full bowl of candy sitting on the end table. I've been really doing well watching what I eat. I saw myself eat 3 mini snickers so far. Dang you fun size! How can I resist you!

Love/Hate for Drudge

2008-10-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

How did the Drudge Report become one of the most popular news websites on the internet? I think in terms of actual hits, it was the 3rd-most visited news site on the web last month, behind Yahoo and MSNBC. From a design standpoint, its layout is a disaster, completely unattractive, nothing but 3 columns of type and varying fonts. Very few pictures or altering colors to catch the eye, almost NO original content (every link just takes you to a news story from some other website). This guy (Matt Drudge) now has his own radio show and is probably RAKING in the cash from the hits on his website, and to this day it looks like something I could throw together in about an hour with Microsoft Word.

And yet, I visit it every day. I've come to appreciate it for its simplicity, quick loading, and there are usually headlines there that the major sites, with their other vested interests, won't touch. I love it for the links to websites like this, a listing of some of the more bizarre offerings on craigslist for girls (and guys) trying to score tickets to Obama's rally in Chicago on election Tuesday. This was my favorite:

"Are you in need of an extra kidney? Know of someone who needs one? I have 2 good kidneys which is a little excessive. Ill give you one of them for two tickets to tonight’s speech. I live in Denver and tried to get tickets the minute they were announced. Somehow the first come first serve registration did not work since I was put on the waitlist. So, I need two tickets for me and my girlfriend. I have an extra kidney. You take said organ, I take 2 tickets for this historic speech."

Since I have mostly voted conservative over the last few elections, I've never noticed as much of the bias that is obviously there, though. Having a more independent eye this year, I can tell pretty easily who Drudge is pulling for in the next election. His huge-font headline this morning was about how Obama "threw off" three journalists from his plane, all from papers that had endorsed McCain. Of course no mention of the conservative writers that McCain has also excised from HIS plane in the last couple weeks. There's also the fact that coming down to the wire, requests for space on Obama's plane are overtaking the number of seats, and it seems natural that in the last week before the election, he would probably want to engineer as much positive coverage as possible.

house improvements and media intake

2008-10-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

So I’m done with House. I’ll probably finish out the season, but after that I’ll probably find something else to watch. Moving into the fifth season, the formula of being wrong, commercial, being wrong, commercial, being wrong, commercial, moment of clarity and miraculous save, has grown tiresome. How much of a genius can he and his team be, if they nearly kill a person 2-4 times before “saving” them?

The dynamic of Wilson and the P.I. has been a fun change for this season, but it hasn’t been enough to save the show. Last week’s episode re: the sexuality and issues of 13 was interesting but got lost in the confusion of the patient’s condition and the firing, rogue work by 13, rehire.

Next week looks ridiculous. The woman having the baby that Cuddy is adopting has a medical emergency and only House can save her? Really? Is that the direction you want to go?

Obviously I’m fed up with the show, however, I think it could be saved with the following suggestions (ie, mandatory changes):

They need to work in House being involved in clinic duty. It worked so well in the early seasons. He gets to wow normal patients and have interesting dialogue with them that can reveal more about his character. Remember that’s how he found his underage, psycho stalker with the red thong.

How about solving the case on the first try? Now that wouldn’t make it that much of a medical mystery, but for all the times they are wrong, who is to say they wouldn’t get it right out of the gate? You know if a billion monkeys had a billion typewriters . . . .

How about a road trip to some infectious disease conference? New environment, let the hair down (except in the case of Taub) and have real personal interaction.

And if all else fails, have a Road Rules/Amazing Race type event between the old team and the new team. Face it, reality TV is here to say and you had might as well accept it

In short, I would move away from the medical mystery aspect of the show. Based on what I’ve read on politedissent.com, most of the diagnoses and treatments vary from a little outrageous to absolutely wrong. This show is about the characters. Focus on that.

Moving on . . .

I read the first trade of a comic series called “The Losers.” Quite good. Sort of a darkly comic A-Team if you can imagine that. Based on the first story arc, I could easily see this being made into a movie. There’s revenge, backstabbing, ridiculous action scenes. I wonder if anyone in Hollywood has picked this up.

Over the weekend I watched The Science of Sleep. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t even describe it. I’ll just say that the beginning was very interesting as you saw a person’s dreamworld and reality blend together, but then it got sort of weird, as if Terry Gilliam took over as director, and I sorta fell asleep, didn’t care. I don’t even know if I can recommend it.

Last night I started the British mini-series Jekyll, which I guess My Own Worst Enemy is trying to copy. The first show was AMAZING!! Super intense and I have no idea how they are going to wrap it up in 6 episodes, but I can’t wait to finish.

Finally, I have caught up with The Mentalist. It is quite fun to watch him toy with people. I really enjoy the show and if they got rid of ‘roided up agent and the tight ass lead agent, I think I would enjoy it even more. Hopefully they keep the cases interesting (even though are they are completely absurd from a jurisdiction perspective) and keep digging into Jane’s background, motivations and history.

Bonus Premier League Blog

2008-10-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

As i will be leaving for England this week and not able to blog on Wednesday i thought a weekend review and look forward to Wednesday and Saturday Premiership games this week.

Lets start at Stamford Bridge............... Chelsea's unbeaten run of 86 games came to an end Sunday at the hands of Liverpool, a wicked deflection saw a Xabi Alonso effort send Petr Cech the wrong way to give Liverpool an early 1-0 lead and the win at the Bridge.

I still believe Liverpool will drop points and thier reign at the summit of the Premiership will be short lived, they cant keep getting away with last minute winners all season.

There is a long way to go yet, no body's ever won a championship medal in October, but the signs are good for Liverpool. I still predict a 3rd position finish from them, but i could be wrong.

As for the Blues you could argue Scolari's men ran out of ideas on Sunday, you can also point to them missing five or six top players.

Chelsea have usually got people on the bench that can come on and give you a different perspective, whether it's height, pace, a trick or the ability to hit it from 25 yards but on Sunday they didn't really have anybody.

If you have Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole on the bench then you have subs who can really make a difference. Once they get those type of players back then I'm sure it will be a different story.

The great teams can pick themselves up and go on another 10 games undefeated as Manchester United and Chelsea have done in the past, but a daunting trip to the inform Hull City awaits Chelsea on Wednesday, can Phil Brown mount another assault on a top 4 team?

Manchester United had a few individual issues to contend with on Saturday but just because they had a bad second half against Everton it doesn't mean they're going to have a bad three weeks.

Rio Ferdinand, for example, was absolutely awesome until he ran 50 yards to get involved in an incident when Phil Neville got booked for tackling Cristiano Ronaldo.
It took his focus and concentration away from what he was doing and he ended up making a couple of mistakes which almost cost United.

Then, Wayne Rooney had a couple of lapses, mental blocks almost, and got involved in something that led to him being taken off.
Ferguson took the focus away from the players afterwards by blaming the referee, but internally he will sit the players down and explain to them where it went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Ferguson is far too good a manager to let that affect the team ethic.
The Scot also said that everything is fine with Ronaldo but his body language against West Brom last week and on Saturday was not great compared to previous seasons, you cannot hide that.

Ronaldo said on Sunday that he wants to be at Manchester United but let's have a look and see what he's like over the next few weeks. Then that will really tell you.

As for Arsenal i am still not convinced, despite the weekend's movements at White Hart Lane, this is still a good time to play Spurs i think.

Granted Tottenham have recruited Harry Redknapp and that will give them momentum, but they are bottom of the table and when they come under pressure their confidence will still be low. You're better off playing a Tottenham team that are bottom than one that are four off the pace.

Kieran Richardson's sublime free-kick saw (and i mean it was really really good) off a spirited Newcastle side to earn Sunderland their first Wear-Tyne derby victory in eight years.
Djibril Cisse showed great reactions to put Sunderland ahead when he steered in Steed Malbranque's shot-cum-cross.
Shola Ameobi's powerful header from Geremi's fine free-kick drew Joe Kinnear's men level before the break.
But Richardson crashed home the winner with a ferocious 18-yard strike after Nicky Butt fouled El-Hadji Diouf to give the Black Cats a deserved 2-1 win and pile more pressure on Joe Kinnaer and the Magpies.

All in all a pretty decent weekends football, i look forward in anticipation to Wednesday night.

The Punter Enacts Revenge

2008-10-27T06:27:00.003-07:00

I’ve been sick all weekend. I suppose it is some sort of cold. My throat is pretty sore. My head has a lot of pressure. My nose has not seen this much congestion since I drove through Knoxville last year. But, I seem to be on the mend, even if I sound like one of those guys who has throat cancer and talks through the speaker box.

Moving on to better things. Here is my update on the shows I have been watching.

Chuck is still funny and entertaining, though I sort of doubt how long they can keep it up.

Heroes is still captivating and the plot thickens each episode. Which makes me wonder if the writers aren’t in danger of making the plot too convoluted (i.e. Lost – though the writers keep insisting that there will be resolution).

The Mentalist is thoroughly entertaining. It has the humor of Psych with the Zen like import of Life.

Speaking of Life, the show still packs a punch and the interaction between the main characters is wonderful to listen to. Austin has, on various occasions, complained about the scoring of various shows. The music in Life is great. It is as good as I have heard. Great songs at just the right time.

My Own Worst Enemy lacks something. I don’t mind watching it and it is entertaining, but in the end not overly compelling.

I have the first 3 hours of Crusoe ready to watch but have not had the time.

I will leave you with the following video. I saw it live yesterday, and this clip is easily the highlight of Sunday’s football games:

Eye Goo and Chicken Nachos

2008-10-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

First of all, a question: I just blew my nose and some goo came out of the corner of my eye--is that something I should be concerned about?

Not what I was planning on writing about, but it's hard to stay focused with eye goo.

Saturday was brilliant. Started off as every Saturday does for my wife and I--got up, made coffee and breakfast for both of us, sat down to watch The Soup, which was on DVR from Friday night. I don't watch much reality tv at all, but you really don't have to, Joel McHale, the host, goes after everyone, but he's particulary quick to skewer The Hills, Tyra Banks, and Kim Kardashian, which I totally approve of.

Then started watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on dvd as I began a project upstairs in the Library--not really at all what I was expecting, but I was instantly sucked in, and am now about eight episodes in. Watched all of this while working on cataloguing our books using Delicious Library--a program for the Mac that allows you to enter movies, books, and videogames, either by typing in the name, ISBN number, or by scanning the barcode using the webcam that comes in the mac book (I still don't really understand how that works without projecting lasers or whatever, but cool--it works). It then loads in all of the info about it, director, stars, genre, rating, dates, author, publisher, etc. I've got a large collection of dvds and books, and this program was definitely built for me--you can export your library list to excel, which is nice because I can keep it on my phone as I have been known to occasionally forget exactly which titles I own while shopping for them, and when people borrow from my collection I can actually check the dvd or book out to them, so I can keep track of who has what--totally wish I would have had this during the college years because I am certain I lost things loaning them out, but could never remember who borrowed what. Plus, because I am a collector geek, it's frankly very gratifying to see them all collected in a database and have an actual number put to it (854 dvds, 663 books, but only halfway through getting those uploaded). And yes, all of this drives my wife crazy.

Continued scanning books while watching MSU beat UofM (it's about damn time) and after the game went out to run some errands and had dinner at Houlihan's in Lansing. I'm a fan of that place--love the chipotle chicken nachos, which we had last night, and the overall feel of the place. It's no Claddaugh, but I dig it all the same. Plus they have Sam Adam's Octoberfest on tap, which is another big plus.

Lastly, we're watching SNL right now from last night--largely very unfunny, which is interesting having gotten a few episodes into Studio 60 yesterday. Anyway, Coldplay is the musical guest (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLAH6O-wRgI), and I'm just very annoyed by them at this point. Like their music just fine, but this is really rough--are they just too perfectly built for playing arenas and stadiums to be at home in a small studio setting? Did you check out the way they're dressed? It looks like Apple (Martin/Paltrow offspring) dressed them. In the dark. And Chris Martin bouncing around, gangly legs in skinny jeans and arms with what appears to be different colored rags tied around them, wandering around the set, fixing his gaze on a stadium upper deck that just isn't there--dude, take it down a notch or four. Am I wrong here? Signing off--JD

Music and Rice

2008-10-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

First of all, 5 best songs of all time in no particular order.
1) Come By Me, Harry Connick Jr.
2)Jump In the Line, Harry Belafonte
3) Oh What A Night (December 1963) , Four Seasons
4) Diner, Martin Sexton
5) Que Onda Guero, Beck

Why are these my top 5 songs of all time? I don't need to explain myself to you! But if I did I would say that these songs always make me feel better if I've had a bad day for one reason or another. Other close runners up would be Superstition by Stevie Wonder and All Star by Smashmouth. There are seemingly more and more bands I can listen to and not get annoyed with. I think maybe Ben is rubbing off on me. Ben Folds, Weezer, Chris Rice, Green Day, Cake, Coldplay. I even like Amy Winehouse whom I affectionately nicknamed "Amy Wino". Go to rehab you hag! I'm just kidding, I love her! Crack just helps her keep it real.

Current songs I absolutely despise are
1) I Kissed a Girl, some girl who has never really kissed a girl so stop kidding yourself
2) Anything by JLo, I'm still Jenny from the upper middle class block and private school.
3) Anything by Brittney Spears, from the moment she came on the scene I have despised her.
4) Boybands (on a side note, Coldplay actually started as a british boy band called 'Pectorals', smooth move with the name change boys! Brilliant!)
5) Bob Dylan, that man writes music like a 5 year old with Asbergers and sings like a schizophrenic after a stroke.

In Other News...

Although for most of my life I have avoided rice in all forms except for rice pudding which seemed to be the only form of rice with a flavor and a texture, I have decided that some rices might actually taste like more than cotton. Chipotle rice, for instance, is awesome. Tender, flavorful, perfect on my Burrito Carnitas with fresh salsa and guacamole. I've also become a fan of Zatarans. I like that I can add lots of different things to their rice to make a real meal. I like the black beans and rice mix. I add sausage, red peppers, onions, and corn. It's fabulous. And lastly, I'm somewhat convinced that sushi is addictive. The rice adds a little sweetness and texture that's fabulous against the wasabi which is fabulous breathing it out of my nose.
I think my major issues with rice came from the fact that maybe most people don't actually know how to properly prepare rice. So then it sucks. I think there are probably a lot of foods like that.

Other things I'd like to try in Folsom would be House of Kabab and Filafle King. Ethnic AND greasy spoon all rolled into one! Fabulous!

Wrestling: WWE v TNA

2008-10-24T05:43:00.000-07:00

I have been a big fan of the WWE currently but WWF in the past since i was about 6 years old.

I was first turned onto wrestling when my Uncle took me fishing with then a very successful wrestler at the time William Regal, i was in shock at meeting the British grappler who was and still is good Friends with my Uncle.

Mr Regal is currently a member of the RAW brand on WWE, he makes cameo appearances from time to time and his character is somewhat monster like, he strolls around the ring with a scowl on his face maiming his opponent and then unleashing the beast...... classic as i remember him being so soft spoken and funny, but i guess that's all for the storyline of the show.

Anyway my obsession with WWE became apparent, every chance i got to go and see a live event in England i did screaming for my favorite wrestlers and enjoying the entertainment of watching half naked men give chair shots and any other piece of equipment they could to savagely beat their opponent. It was fun, still is.

In the old days you has wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Rick Flair, The Million Dollar Man, Cactus Jack, Randy Savage, Legion of Doom, Brett Hart, The Bulldog etc all great wrestlers in their own right, but as a kid you wanted to see them flying through the air, insane stunts that left you breathless with excitement, but it never happened 10 minute matches ended in a 1-2-3 without much effort...................... Enter Shawn Micheals, Jeff Hardy (The Hardy Boys) Degenration X, HHH, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Rey Mesterio, Randy Orton, yes you still have your plain, but very exciting powerhouses like Batista, John Cena, The Undertaker, Kane etc.

But the highflyers like Jeff Hardy and Shawn Micheals now make wrestling fast paced with more dare devil moves and thrilling story lines, i know its fake.......... but you don't become a Billion Dollar company if your not doing something right. Vince McMahon is an innovator, a genius, a creative wizard that not only makes compelling story lines, but have produced some of the top talent around. WWE is excellent.

TNA is ok, dry, sticky stuff between your teeth kind of thing. Apart from AJ Styles, Samon Joe, The Motor City Machine Guns, Black Jay Machesmo the rest of the roster in an old, washed up WWE rejects pool of has beens.

I mean Sting is the TNA world heavyweight champ, c;mon do something different, give one of the young guys a chance to hold onto the title a little longer.
The are running a storyline at the minute that sees Sting, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle as the new NWO style faction "The Main Event Mafia" what the hell is going on.
Sure they are going to bloody some people up like Styles and Joe last night, but at the end of the day these guys knees are gone and if this was the real deal instead of fiction Samoan Joe & Styles would stomp a serious mud hole in all of their backsides.

Mick Foley is the new general manager so to speak which i think is a great move for TNA, that guy is a well respected legend and if anyone can turn that company into a major player that can compete with WWE then Foley is the man.

TNA is more equipped that WCW was to take on WWE, but i feel unless TNA takes the initiative and books better talent and plots, WWE will reign and most likely put them out of business just like they did to WCW.

bonus beckham blog

2008-10-22T10:31:00.001-07:00

Here were my original thoughts about Beckham coming to America:

yes i know david is coming to america. still amazed at how his talks with real broke down in like 72 hours. why is he coming here? i'll let john brewin from soccernet.com explain:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=399472&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1&cc=5901

so how is this for becks? becks has something that will defy age--ball striking ability. no one in the US has ever seen anything like this. sure joe midfielder might score a great free kick or switch the point of attack, but can he do it consistently and with pinpoint accuracy? i doubt it. becks can. it's amazing. yes, becks is "slow", but that can be compensated for. when i watch mls, you can easily counteract the speed of the 19-23 kids with a footballing brain. possess, see the field, pick your moments. (not run at 100 mph and hack everything in your path). becks can do all of that. LA needs a team of solid defenders, a combative defensive mid to carry becks water, and two hard working outside mids. forwards? can you stand in front of the goal and let the ball bounce of you? yes. then you can play. becks is then free a la zidane to just do whatever. think valderamma with tampa bay. not the fastest guy ever yet he was effective because he was technically gifted and footballing smart.

what does this mean for US soccer. it's a decent pick up. he will put fannies in the seats, temporarily, until the novelty wears off. that's fine. is becks going to anchor the future of US soccer? i hope not. no one player can do that. this is the first salvo fired by the mls. yes, you-- 30 something decent european based player--can play here in the US. $250M is a ridiculous number to start at. when the next fading european superstar asks where's my money, i'm not sure what the answer is going to be. if the mls continues in this fashion, they will go the way of the NASL. so we'll pay you an outrageous amount of money if you can play and sell tickets. the second part is key. we'll give you money if you can make money. if you can't, you'll have to wait until you're past 35 or not get the major cheese. simple equation. you dig? the mls has to continue this strategy. i just don't know where they're going to the money.

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So now the rumor is that Beckham is going to AC Milan to train. He did the same thing for a short period with Arsenal last year, but this looks a little more ominous. There are two issues at work here which will lead Beckham back to Europe: Beckham for England. Beckham in the US.

A move back to a European club keeps him on Capello’s radar, and he wants the outfield record for international caps. He cannot sit on his fanny in sunny LA and hope to be picked for the next round of friendlies and internationals. Therefore, he’ll go to Milan and train and maybe even play so that can continue to get picked. It is as simple as that.

Now, does Beckham have something to offer England? Yes, enegery, experience, a well placed cross or free kick. Can he play 90’? No way. Can he play 15-20’? Yes. So my beef isn’t Beckham playing for England. My problem is England moving forward. Right now it looks like Becks might be part of the World Cup team, which is semi-ridiculous because Capello has had chances to use games to evaluate, younger, more dynamic players and has not. Therefore the fall back position is the Lampard/Gerard midfield and Becks in some role. If it wasn’t for injuries, Heskey wouldn’t even be on the field. But he almost kept McClaren’s job and has really done an amazing job during the last round of qualifiers. I suppose if Capello wants to give the old guard one more try at the World Cup, then that’s his choice. But I guarantee, they won’t make it past the quarters. We all know has this going to end. They will play a well organized team and lose, probably on penalties. They are not fast enough and do not pass the ball well enough to beat the better teams in Europe.

Moving on, the MLS experiment is over. They splashed the cash and PR and had a bump in exposure, but the Galaxy have been found out. They are a poorly run organization. You can’t pay 2 players almost your entire capped salary and hope to survive. They haven’t made the playoffs in 3 years.

Speaking specifically about the Beckham impact on the team, he came to the team injured, was rushed onto the field to get some bang for the MLS buck and promptly stayed injured. Add to that, he was always flying back to Europe for internationals instead of meshing with the team and staying healthy. Besides money, all he cares about is the England team. Add loaning him out to another club, and this creates a lot of confusion for the typical ADD American. Why is Becks wearing a red and black shirt instead of the white jersey of the Galaxy? Why is Becks always in Europe and not here? Why is Becks trying to win baseball caps instead of getting his team in the playoffs?

The move to the MLS was undone for two reasons: injuries from the outset and Capello giving Beckham an England lifeline. It’s time for the MLS to cut their losses, sell Becks somehow and move on. MLS made a mistake. They have made tons since their inception. They will make more mistakes. But they were aggressive and it didn’t pay off. Time to pull the plug, re-evaluate and work on decisions that will improve the league. And can I say, expansion is not one of them.

i am the candidate for change

2008-10-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Media:

Michael Clayton

To be honest, I’m not sure I even understood most of the plot. It appeared as if UNorth was trying to avoid a major financial and PR disaster, and George Clooney was there to minimize the mess, which led to his life spiraling out of control. I think the head of Clayton’s law firm was somehow involved in the cover up but then again I don’t know.

The film was very intense, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. The acting was good, the world created was good, everything was fine. I thought the thread of the fantasy book was very good and tied the movie together nicely. I would probably see it again, if only to figure out the story I missed the first time.

The 4400, Season 4.

The show is finally paying off. I thought at midpoint of this season, the story really elevated and started hitting the high notes. What does Promicin mean for humanity and its future? Who is Jordan Collier and what is his role? There are several ridiculous plot holes but I live with them as the show explores these people and their extraordinary powers. It did go very comic book at the end of the season with people losing then regaining their powers, coming back from the dead, and the protagonists always prevailing at the end, no matter the situation. Looking back, I think they should have minimized the cast and cut away some of the unneeded episodes. All in all a decent show, and I’m very interested in how they wrap this up. I really hope they have an end in sight. Otherwise the show could keep limping along, with stories and situations getting more and more unbelievable.

Update: I just visited the 4400 wikipedia page. After the writer’s strike, it was revealed that the series had been cancelled. AHHH!!!! After all that, just pull the plug. Thanks a latte.

Soccer:

Wasn’t able to catch any games this weekend. Watched the highlights and Chelsea and Man Utd’s demolition of their opponents was scary. Liverpool with another comeback. How long can they keep that up? Juve were sorry again and now have Real Madrid in the Champions League. They will either rise to the occasion or this season will be over in two competitions. The Madrid derby had two extraordinary goals. Look them up if you can.

Politics:

Not my usual milieu, but I was driving around in the car today and heard Glenn Beck interviewing Sarah Palin. This person may be our next vice-president? She speaks like she is either super ADD and can’t say things fast enough or she is pausing waiting for the key words to pop up in her head. The conversation was very disjointed and kinda annoying. It is good that a “normal” person is up for high office, but in theory we need the best and brightest leading the country, and I don’t see the hockey mom as that person. She could have been a cabinet member or something, but second in the command to a candidate who has one foot in the grave?

In the end, I’m not voting, but I am observing and there seems to be a lot of doublespeak from both sides.

I will leave you with a snippet from the voice of reason: Onion News Network.

International Soccer & The Unit

2008-10-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw International World Cup Qualifiers return.

England's much awaited return to Wembley after the thrashing handed out to Croatia a month ago and a noticeable banana skin trip to Belarus today of all days.

Saturday was a formality for the Three Lions or so i thought.... the first half was poor, i do agree with Capello that England looked worried playing at home, maybe it has something to do with the most brutal 90,00+ England fans inside Wembley waiting for us to falter.

Whats that phrase Beckham used before the last World Cup "England expects" damn right.... we pay the money to watch you play, its about time you gave us value.

The second half was much better and saw Rooney playing alongside the much improved Emile Heskey, I have to say i like him a lot, he gives us something more as the target player than Crouch does and to be honest he's a better footballer, calm under pressure, good in the air and for a big guy pretty comfortable on the ball.

5-1 was a bit harsh as Kazakhstan were fairly decent, their forward took his goal well after an Ashley Cole horror show, but all in all i was quite impressed by their approach against what we used to call a powerhouse of international football, i think England can turn the corner under Capello, i like the Italian General.

Portugal dropped more points, Sweden were poor as mentioned by Austin and France were lucky v Romaina, Italy dropped points v Bulgaria and Scotland almost caused an upset by nearly beating Norway, stupid jocks..... how the hell do you miss an open goal from 3 yards out, unless you play for CCFC in the Men's 30+ League...... just kidding.

The Unit:
For 3 seasons now i have watched The Unit, now in its 4th season and it just got better which cannot be said about a lot of repeated season shows on TV.

The Unit is an elite brand of soldiers that undertake missions ordered directly from the President himself, thier whole life is a cover, thier existance is for soley to serve the other members of The Unit and Tom Ryan (The colonol).

The main charater Jonas Blane (Snakedoctor) is The Unit leader, its hard seeing him play any other role than President David Palmer from 24, but he is excellent in this show which has jnow become one of my favorites, Mack (Dirtdiver) is second in command and Jonas go to guy, Mack is also awesome, he is cold and grumpy, but one hell of a soldier. He is going through some marital issues with wife Tiffy at this present time in Season 4 after just discovering that she hgad an affair with Colonol Ryan and that she is serving him with divorce papers, Ryan is going to be killed soon, its The Unit policy...... you dont mess with another Unit members wife.

In short i love this show, calculated plots of assination, sniper shots, explosions... .you name it.

24 is back in November for a 2 hour special, then onto Season 7 in January... .cant wait.

Holmes ripoff, hitman crisis, international soccer, and an international conspiracy

2008-10-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I had a little free time and watched several shows/movies.

First off was the season premiere of The Mentalist. As a House fan, I was expecting a House like character who was a FBI agent or CSI guy. While there are similarities to House, Patrick Jane is closer to Fitz on the British series Cracker rather than Gregory House. Observant and arrogant to be sure, but not such a prick.

I will say the opening sequence is quite powerful. He meets a mother who has just lost her daughter, and the scene ends with a violent moment that I don’t want to spoil that much for those who haven’t seen it.

Jane’s back story is very interesting. I like the scheming psychic angle and how this led to him losing everything. The closing sequence is quite telling and I hope they explore this over time and don’t resolve it halfway through season one.

His “team” is quite annoying and just there for filler. They are not nearly as interesting as 13, Taub and Kutner. To be fair this was only the pilot so maybe they will get better. Robin Tunney has never impressed me so it will take a lot for her not to detract from the show a la Moira Kelly in the first season of West Wing.

So all in all, I’ll probably catch up over the internet since the gang is watching West Wing on Tuesdays at 9pm.

Next was the film, In Bruges.

Not sure what I was expecting, but what I got was an interesting exploration of the existentialist angst of hitmen. It took me a while to realize that Ray had screwed up on only his first job, and clearly he took it very hard. Ken was a nice philosophical balance and his genuine interest in the sights of Bruges was a enjoyable foil to Ray’s desire to avoid boredom, get drunk and date the blonde.

Although the movie was a little slow, the tempo made sense considering the circumstances. Of course Ray was never far from the action and his moments broke up the segments of dialogue nicely. The introduction of Ralph Fiennes was extraordinary. Only word can describe his character: intense. That performance should be bottled and saved for the next comic movie. I’ll be interested if any directors or producers pick up on this or if Fiennes would be interested. Anyway, the buildup to the finale was tremendous as all of the threads of the movie came together in a moment of extreme tension and surrealism.

Stop reading if you don’t want to be swayed one way or the other re: this film or have the ending spoiled in any way.

The ending is when the movie absolutely fell apart for me. Make it to the last minute and you’ll know what I’m talking about. How Ray survives long enough to crawl to the decapitated midget, much less living long enough for medical support is beyond me. He was shot in the gut, ran a substantial distance through the city, and was then shot 3-4 times at close range with the dum-dums (which expand upon contact) and yet still had consciousness. No fucking way. The movie ends with him dying next to the midget, while Harry blows his head off. Credits. Thanks for coming and have a good night.

When Ray’s monologue began, I started screaming at the TV. I was so angry. Maybe I’m in the wrong, but I doubt it.

Saturday afternoon I had a couple of pints at the Dublin Square while watching Sweden v Portugal. Thank God for the alcohol. Johan Elmander, you’re a “top level” forward? Not quite. He could have really opened up the game if he had made even one of the three good opportunities that fell to him. I thought Portugal looked quite poor. Meireles was shocking. First touch and simple possession were lacking for an international player. Deco was a big miss for this team. The biggest problem for Portugal is the shortage of quality strikers. They currently produce amazing midfielders, especially wingers at the moment, but up top, YIKES!! Then Quieroz did the same thing as Big Phil: sticking CR7 up top by himself. Good luck with that. They will probably scrape through to South Africa, may even make it to the knockout stage, but probably no farther. Goals will be hard to find for this team against top flight opposition.

Finally, the FBI has caught on to my illegal activity with imposters of the Nigerian government. I haven’t received my “payment” yet, but no worries. The FBI has taken care of everything. All will be forgotten and I can get $800,000 put on an ATM card if I send them 300 bucks. How great is that?

Blaine is Lame

2008-10-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

In the early 1990s a unique and intriguing figure came upon the scene. At first he just had a few underground videos out. Then he met up with Leonardo DeCaprio and he got a television special. What was his gimmick? He did street magic – but some crazy stuff. Things that would blow your mind and leave your head reeling. I am speaking, of course, of David Blaine. His street magic was unparalleled by anything I had ever seen. His card tricks, coin tricks, made me want to be a magician (Sorry for the use of the word “tricks.” As Gob from Arrested Development would say, “They’re not tricks. They’re illusions.”). And let’s not forget the levitation. I don’t know how he did it. I don’t know if it was real. But it sure looked like his whole body lifted a few inches off the ground. All those things were enough for me to overlook his complete lack of personality or stage presence. I was a fan.

When I heard that David Blaine was coming out with a big, televised illusion, I thought, “This could be good.” After all, if it was as brain warping as his other stuff, how bad could it be? Then I found out what it would be – buried alive. I asked, “Is he going to be getting out of a straight jacket or “transporting” and ending up somewhere else when they finally dig him up?” Nope. He’s just going to be in a box for a few days. So I wondered, “Where’s the magic?” Is it difficult? Sure. Would I /Could I do it? Probably not. But I ask again, “Where’s the magic? What’s the illusion?”

From that point David Blaine has come out with more and more “illusions” they have become lamer and lamer. His latest one a few weeks ago, the “Dive of Death”, involved him hanging upside down without a safety net for 60 hours and eventually he would “jump down” safely. In actuality he did not hang upside down and he came down occasionally for medical check ups and food. The following, taken from Wikipedia describes the scene that I, regrettably, actually watched:

“When the ‘Dive of Death’ took place, Blaine came down from the platform on a cable, and lightly touched the stage. He was then pulled back up into the air, and, in the words of the New York Daily News, ‘hung in the air like a sack of potatoes with a goofy grin on his face, occasionally kicking his legs as though he were running.’ The plan had been for Blaine to be pulled up into the air by helium balloons and disappear into the atmosphere. Blaine attributed the problem to changes in weather conditions that occurred after the stunt was delayed due to an address by President Bush. The finale was not well-received by spectators.”

Being one of the television spectators, I heartily agree. It was as lame as one could have imagined. Seriously, Gob could have given Blaine a run for his money on to see who is the bigger “no talent ass clown.” I’m done with you David Blaine unless you are willing to return to your roots.

***You can type in Blaine on YouTube and find tons of videos. Here is one of my favorites that he pulls on Emmit Smith when he played for the Dallas Cowboys.

Football Nightmare

2008-10-11T19:11:00.001-07:00

Sorry to post off-schedule but I have to something off my chest.

Though I do not live in Michigan anymore, I try to keep up with the Detroit area sports. I still love watching the Pistons and the Red Wings. I am not a big baseball fan, but I root for the Tigers. And then football season came. Man am I embarrassed. But it is not just over the Lions. The Wolverines are a shamockery. Last year they lose to Appalachian State Mountaineers. This year they add the fearsome Toledo Torpedoes to their suckiness resume. The only thing I could cling to while living in Tennessee was the Volunteers seemed to be “rebuilding” as well. Regardless, no football pride exists in the Detroit area anymore.

Since neither the Lions nor the Wolverines are going to make a bowl this year, I recommend that in January they play one another for the “Toilet Bowl.” The loser is not allowed to have a program for a year. More than likely the Lions would win, but at this point it doesn’t matter which team gets suspended. I can’t take it anymore. If they keep it up I am going to have to start rooting for SEC and AFC teams. I shudder as I even type such a thing. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Burn (your retinas) Before Viewing...

2008-10-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

The new Coen Brothers movie "Burn After Reading" completely blew me away. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since we left the theater 45 minutes ago. I'm amazed, I'm astounded, I'm speechless, it boggles my mind...

It boggles my mind what kind of crap these two "directors" put into theaters and people actually watch it. I'm speechless because there are no words to describe the black void that is this movie, I'm amazed and astounded that a movie can have no plot, no character depth, and no entertainment value whatsoever and still be playing in theaters. To quote the most used line in the movie, "Are you f**king kidding me!?" Yes, yes they are. It's a big fat joke on all of us.

Coen Brothers have gone the way of Hemingway, so engrossed in their own genius, they've taken to drinking booze while copious amounts of feral cats do the writing for them and, if I could be so lucky, they too will shoot themselves in the face. Instead of making movies that are, they are making movies that are not. This one in particular has no meaning but also is not purposely meaningless. It is not a comedy, not action/adventure, not drama, not suspense. If this movie were to have any genre whatsoever I suppose it would have to be the brand new "Mostly Boring and Sometimes Mildly Horrific" genre. Not quite realistic enough so that the audience is sympathetic to the characters, not unrealistic enough to be comedy, fantasy, or sci-fi. The one thing this movie really WAS, was a waste of a perfectly good friday night.

"What are we to learn from this?" says some guy in the movie that I'm not even going to expend the energy to check on IMDB.com. NOTHING. You might as well ask what we are to learn from pillow stuffing. The difference between a good concept for a movie and a good movie is a complete story line. Antagonist, crisis, climax, resolution. I suggest that the Coen brothers take the concept of this movie and make it into a REAL movie. Now taking into consideration Raising Arizona and Hudsucker Proxy, I'm willing to give them a do over. If they can remake the Hulk, they can also remake this one and I will consider* watching it.

But let's also not forget that this is not the Coens first steaming pile of a movie. Barton Fink was another notamovie, utterly forgettable except for the bad taste it leaves in your mouth. From this point on the Coen Brothers are on probation, should they continue down this road of depravity I will apply the three strikes rule, and they're already on strike two.

I'm usually one to allow everyone their own opinion. But in this instance I have to put my foot down. Coen brothers wrote, produced, and directed one of the all time worst movies ever made. Period. Done. The End. Finished.

*That's a huge lie, I have no intention of watching this movie or any remake thereof at any time in my life. EVER.

Juventus FC commentary (if you don't care about soccer or Juventus, don't bother reading)

2008-10-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

I watched Juventus v Palermo. I thought I was disappointed last week. Wow. They had a midfield line of 3 that struggled to maintain possession. Sissoko got sent off, which I hope is his last appearance for Juve. He is not up to the standard. Poulsen looks like a deer in headlights. I’m not sure what he offers. Marchisio was one of the better players, but still needs some experience. Amauri. Seriously, he is the one leading the attack? I’m not sold on his quality. De Ceglie was the revelation of the day. In the second half he bombed forward and was quite dangerous. Camo came on late but was awful for a player of his pedigree. Nedved ran around as usual but didn’t impact the game. Del Piero tried and ran and worked but didn’t have the depth of team around him. Giovinco is quite good, but again, he can be taken out of the game physically if everything is on him.

I am disappointed with Juve management in this regard: they bought very poorly over the summer and didn’t address the weaknesses and age of the club.
Weakness 1, out and out strikers. Juventus only added Amauri, and Giovinco if you count getting him back from loan. Now on paper they are strong at this position, but injuries hit and they are left with Alex, Amauri and Seba. Alex and Seba can’t play together, so you left with AMauri and another forward. Now management couldn’t have known about injuries, but why did they sell Palladino?
Not only is he another option up top, but he could have addressed another glaring weakness of Juve—depth. Camo and Nedved are old. Sorry. They can’t play a whole game at a high level and have lost a step. The Palermo game showed that after a midweek fixture, the entire lineup and tactical lineup has to be reshuffled, to Juve’s detriment.
Personally, I would have sold Trezeguet and bought several players (a forward and at least one winger) with the transfer money, in addition to keeping Nocerino and Palladino. Defensively they are strong and deep, but going forward will be a struggle based on the current squad.

Juve will struggle until the Champions League group stage is over because they don’t have the depth and quality of squad to fight on both fronts. They have 9 points after 6 matches and haven’t even played Inter, Milan, Roma or Lazio. From now until mid-December, they could be mired in 10th to 14th position because points will be increasingly hard to come by.

I hope they rectify some of the issues in the January transfer window. I could see, with the right buys, a surge into the UEFA cup spots. I will go on record right now saying they won’t finish in the top 4.

This team needs to be overhauled and a three plan put in place to make them true domestic and European contenders.

And to top it all off, Ranieri got the dreaded “vote of confidence.” Last year he took a strongly motivated and experience team as far as it could go. Third place was really beyond anyone’s dreams, but now the redemption of calciopoli scandal has worn off. Time for the hard work.

Forza Juve.

soccer and movies

2008-10-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

What a weekend of soccer.

I watched highlights of Barca’s demolition of Atletico. 3-0 after 8 minutes. After three consecutive late shows, including a ridiculous goal to by Messi to beat Shaktar, they left no doubt against Atletico. I read a FCB blog Monday and the writer stated that Barca was exactly in the same position last year, came back from international break and slowly declined for the rest of the season. Hopefully the Blaugrana will finish the job this year.

Speaking of finishing the job, all hail Liverpool. I watched them in midweek destroy a subpar PSV. Then I show up at James’ house on Sunday afternoon with Liverpool down 2-0 to City. European hangover? Typical Liverpool swoon? How wrong I was as Torres started the fightback and Kuyt finished the job as the Reds came all the way back and won 3-2. Losing Skrtel will be tough but all other things being equal, I really think Liverpool will compete for the title this year. If they pick up points in December and January, they should have the momentum to go for the Double. Could the almost 20 year wait be over? They may never have a better chance.

I have strong and lengthy comments re: Juventus that I will publish as a separate post.

Finally, my over 30 team won on PK’s Sunday to advance in our end of season tournament. Next is Dewitt. With a win we play under the lights at East Lansing, which will be sweet, but quite cold I’m sure.

Moving on, I listened to the new Oasis album, Dig Out Your Soul. It starts quite well, 4 of the first 5 tracks are passable, and the first single, The Shock of the Lighting is quite good. After that I wasn’t too interested. I will say it might grow on me, but it feels like the last couple of albums. Decent start, a couple of rockin tracks and then a bunch of filler. Let’s face it, after Morning Glory, it’s been just a futile attempt to regain glory. Their first two albums are absolute quality from start to finish. After that, there are several very good singles, but as a whole, lots of wasted tracks. A friend has tix for the December show at the Palace. I’m debating whether to go or not.

I have several movies on hold at the library. I’m hoping to a) get there and b) find time to watch them. On my account are:
In Bruges
Michael Clayton

I hope to review these next week. Early thoughts?

Also, there are rumors of a Coen Brothers marathon in November. Any interest out there in cyberland? Ben? You could fly back for the weekend. Brandon, you can come over. I’m sure we find you a place to crash. Sam? You’ve got nothing to do.

Until next week . . .

Just Eat It!

2008-10-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight was not the first night I've had sushi. It was probably the first time I've had "real" sushi..."real" expensive. I liked the rolls well enough, especially when they had something fried in the middle. Doesn't really matter what it is, as long as it's battered and dipped in oil. And I'm getting a feel for wasabi, mix it with a little soy sauce and it's a kind of spicy that I could really go for when I normally don't care for heat at all.

But I didn't care for the sashimi, raw fish is raw fish is raw fish. You think for what they're charging they could season it and slap on a grill for 20 seconeds. It's slimy and mushy. I don't know how people get into this stuff, must be the hep cool thing.

What I really don't get is the Edemame. Some one asked for three bowls of this stuff to be brought to the table. I had heard the word before but was never impressed enough to remember what it was. Then I remembered why. It's soy beans, call it what you will, it's still just soy beans. Soy beans that have been steamed and then left to get cold. And you know what they taste like? Soy beans, that's right, and they smell like it too! I ate them, I only had 2 cups of yogurt today so I would have eaten anything by that point.

It makes me think about what other similarly worthless crops are out there just waiting for some yuppy intellectual to come along and turn it into food. Makes me wanna go out and mow my lawn, call it Ootafaloota, steam it and feed it to you at $50 a plate.

About Last Night

2008-10-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

I didn't really get the impression that she did this badly, in fact, I'd gamble that this hilarious graphic was probably already completed before the debate even started. Nevertheless, it's hilarious. And I'm too busy this week to write a really good post, so I'm mailing it in:

Dr. Gregory House (Quality)

2008-10-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

What a program...... that's all i am going to say, it puts ER to shame. A friend turned me onto House and i haven't looked back, my DVR has suddenly become increasingly full due to the sheer volume of episodes i am eagerly trying to catch up on. I have become obsessed with this miserable, witty, arrogant and sarcastic character Dr. Gregory House.

Dying Changes Everything (First Episode), marks the start of the fifth season of the series about cantankerous Dr Gregory House at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, New Jersey.

Most welcome it is, too, even if there is a nagging feeling that while the doctor - still recovering from the bus accident that gave him serious head trauma in season 4- may have established a grand show of irascibility in the past, the series might be running out of steam.Not so.

After watching the final few episodes of season 4 i anticipated the start of Season 5 the screenwriters were ahead with their own diagnosis, for they used the previous three episodes to set up a solid switcheroo. In the final moments of season 4, House and his friend and colleague, Dr James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), were unable to save the life of Wilson's girlfriend, Amber, injured in the bus crash and suffering irreparable kidney collapse.

A shattered Wilson, realising Amber had reached the end, responded to her request to be allowed to go to sleep, held her hand and, as she sank into a coma, shut down her life support.

The new season sees House visiting Wilson and, learning his closest supporter is quitting the hospital, suggests to him this is a mistake, for the emotional pain of losing Amber will surely fade. When Wilson refuses to accept this, House, with typical bluntness which i think is absolutely hilarious, tells him to get over his "textbook grief reaction".

It is the final straw. Wilson says he is not only resigning from the hospital but also resigning from the friendship. Yet, with Wilson firmly entrenched in the credits, we may be tempted to surmise a temporary easing away from the distinctive style of surgical diagnoses within House's unit, allowing more divisions between senior staff.

In “Not Cancer,” the second episode of season five, House is desperate, less and less able to hide his panic and his feelings about the loss of Wilson. They seep into the differential diagnosis sessions and his conversations with the patient; in front of his hired private investigator, they become transparent, as even this hired hand feels House’s agony at having lost Wilson’s friendship.

“What do I get from Wilson?” House inquires absently (and almost to himself) during the first differential diagnosis session. His fellows argue about what might and might not have made six transplant victims ill (and fatally so in several cases). But House’s mind is elsewhere, almost in a parallel scene, ignored as the medical debate continues.

Lucas (Michael Weston) a private investigator, who I really thought I would dislike as yet another character in an already too-crowded cast. But I like him. And evidently, so does House, who sees beneath the guy’s slightly dippy exterior to the very sharp-minded man beneath — despite wearing argyle socks with construction boots (and Vans).

He has hired the PI to supplement the investigative duties of the fellows, and he appears to be good at his job. But he’s also pretty good at House-reading, and probably has more potential as a Wilson surrogate than O’Shea the PI. He’s a bit of a con man, charging randomly large amounts of money for his information (and he don't take checks) who does right?

Parts of this episode were overwhelmingly sad. Like Wilson, House is in mourning. House is mourning the loss of his dearest friend, who denies that there ever was a friendship in the first place. House’s grief is camouflaged as something else, and he won’t be cut any slack for it. His grief is private, thereby made even more poignant.

I continue to enjoy Kutner, who seems ever more a combination of whiz kid and teddy bear. I am surprised at how much I liked the PI Lucas. He’s bright and he has an easy rapport with House. He can have a lightening effect on House as he goes through this very difficult time. I hope he does.

House airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) check it out, like me I'm sure you will be impressed.

On a much more important note, Mau Utd have turned the corner with 3 wins in the last 5 games. Berbatov finally put a shift in and scored 2 pretty good goals last night against the Danish minnows Aalborg. (why doesnt he smile when he scores?)

After watching Arsenal lost to Hull at the weekend i am very intrugued to see where this season's trophies will be heading. It really was a poor performance from the Gunners and i was shocked let alone the 40 odd thousend inside the Emirates.

My prediction is below for the 5 trophies on offer, can anyone agree or challenge me.
Premiership - Man Utd
FA Cup - Arsenal
Carling Cup - Chelsea
Champions League - Man Utd
Uefa Cup - AC Milan

See ya

Juventus notes, Wolverines comeback, Batman Begins

2008-09-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday I watched Sampdoria v Juventus, my first full viewing of this year’s black and whites. I was excited to see Christian Poulsen, a signing that was supposed to improve the center of midfield. Not impressed. Saw very little of the ball and gave it away when he did get it. Sissoko is god awful. Liverpool stole from Juventus. This guy can’t tackle, pass or shoot. Good thing he is the other anchor of midfield. In the end I was, in a word, shocked with the nil-nil draw. Juve had no width, very little in the way of possession and little cutting edge.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, this will be a long season. I have grave doubts about whether they will be able to match last year’s third place finish. As for the Champions League, they were fortunate to get a home win vs. Zenit, and will have to get a least a split with Real to progress to the knockout round. I see them going out in the round of 16, because I’m not convinced they can score enough goals to progress.

I’m really disappointed because last year’s team was solid, hard working and dynamic. The management team should have built on that instead of regressing. Why they ever sold Nocerino is beyond me. Young, hard nosed, Gattuso version 2.0 in the making. Getting rid of Almiron and Tiago is fine, but selling Nocerino and Palladino? Nedved, Camo, Del Piero and Trezegol can’t hold on forever. Hopefully they will prove me wrong and contend for the scudetto. Seriously contending for the Champions League is years away due to current squad’s age and lack of quality depth.

While watching the Juve game, I was watching the UM game vs Wisconsin. They got rolled in the first half, came out of the halftime break and had a nice drive. I was like, that’s nice, at least they won’t get shut out. And then all hell broke lose. When the defender rolled into the endzone to put them in the lead, pandemonium baby. What a great game. Too bad that will be their last victory this season.

Watched Batman Begins again. What a great movie. Not just a comic book movie, but a great movie. Good vs evil. Vengeance vs justice. New beginnings, overcoming tragedy, becoming a symbol. I just really enjoyed it and hardly have a complaint. Even Katie Holmes didn’t annoy me that much.

More interesting tidbits from cyber space:

Bad domain names (from the website Funny Shit--http://humour.200ok.com.au/index.php)

Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is www.whorepresents.com/
Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com/
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island atwww.penisland.net/
Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder atwww.therapistfinder.com/
There's the Italian Power Generator company,www.powergenitalia.com/
And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,www.molestationnursery.com/
If you're looking for IP computer software, there?s alwayswww.ipanywhere.com/
The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site iswww.cummingfirst.com/
And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,www.speedofart.com/

If you want to reflect on the diabolical nature of pop music, read this article of the 10 worst songs to hit #1 from Spike.com

http://www.spike.com/blog/top-10-worst-songs/68721

Batdance? Really?

Alright. Enough of that. Back to work. My goal is to get a new poll up soon. Ta Ta for now.