For the first time, I watched American Idol from start to finish this season. I'm not exactly sure why I chose to do so this time around, having never done it before, but it was enjoyable. Naturally, I hoped that rocker Chris Daughtry would win...come on, the guy had my vote as soon as he busted out Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive months ago. But I actually think he might be better served in the long run by not winning, since now he can simply be himself as opposed to "American Idol Chris Daughtry." As for the final trio: Elliot Yamin had no appeal for me, I didn't understand the love the judges heaped on him all the time, and I was happy to see him go. And the much-debated final matchup of Taylor Hicks vs. Katharine McPhee? Ehh. Whatever. I don't see myself buying a CD by either one. McPhee is adorable but her stage presence can be pretty non-existant, whereas Hicks is a strong but goofy showman but only when singing some Joe Cocker or Michael McDonald-type cover song.
Last Comic Standing returns to NBC and I'll once again be doing recaps for it on Reality TV Calendar. I've always enjoyed the show despite the occasional controversy and the often-mediocre comics selected. I'll have recaps of every episode on the RTVC site...warning, the site has gotten a little pop-up happy as my tireless editor, Ron Lemon, has tried to make the place profitable. If you want to check it out, I suggest a browser like Mozilla that can painlessly nip those annoying pop-ups in the bud.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sunday, May 21, 2006
AZ wrap-up
So where were we? Ahh yes...Kyoto. It's a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Scottsdale, but we certainly don't go there for the food. The place has become a Loop institution because of the atmosphere and the sake bombers. For the uninformed (or, more likely, the mature), doing a sake bomber consists of pouring yourself a shot of warm sake, dropping it into a small glass of Japanese beer, and downing it. Repeat several times for a guaranteed good time.
So there we were at Kyoto. We actually had a reservation that they immediately honored this time around, so there was no need to impersonate the Oakland A's pitching staff (a story from not too long ago that most of you have heard). It was a rare Thursday evening Kyoto appearance, and the weeknight call seemed like it might affect our mojo. "Let's take it easy tonight," said my friend Erik, who had early meetings the next morning...and then he sauntered up to the bar and ordered five sake bomber set-ups. Easy, indeed.
It actually was a fairly reserved evening as far as Kyoto nights go. The majority of the rest of the weekend was spent at the AVP beach volleyball tournament, as Erik's company, Crocs, recently became the title sponsor. Now this was quite a set-up. Crocs had a double-wide makeshift luxury box looking over the court, complete with food, drinks, and couches. We had a blast hanging out the entire weekend watching Olympic gold medalists Misty May and Kerri Walsh decimate their competition. I think Beth got a little tired of my temporary crush on Walsh, but come on, she's a 6'3" Amazon goddess who also happens to be really cute.
The Arizona trip concluded with a stay at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch for Beth's Jackson-Lewis legal conference. Great resort, with beautiful grounds, a bunch of different swimming pools, and tons of other luxurious amenities. There was even a casino night event, and despite our success at the tables we came up empty in the raffle, crushing our hopes of winning the iPod nano on display. All in all it was a wonderful trip, but we were definitely ready to sleep in our own bed back home.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
A Red Sticker?!?
Beth and I quickly boarded our plane for the flight from Dallas to Phoenix, situated in adjoining middle and window seats. Despite not having the exit row, I thought that sitting by the window with my bum knee on the window side would afford me enough room to be somewhat comfortable.
I was wrong.
Things started badly and got progressively worse. The seats were tiny--the smallest that I've been on in a big plane in a long, long time. And wasn't American the airline that recently made a big deal about adding room to all of their coach seats? If so, then all I can say is, umm..."liars." But since we boarded so close to take-off time, I figured that at least we'd be in the air and on our way soon.
Once again, me, all kinds of wrong. First we're informed that one of the air conditioners is broken. This, while we're sitting in the full plane, on the runway, in Dallas, on a 90 degree day. Awesome. So they get to work doing whatever it is that they do...which doesn't exactly involve fixing said air conditioner. They mess around for a while...and a while longer...and a while longer. Some other minor problem comes up, and they mess around with that. We've gone from ready to go, to half an hour on the ground, to an hour, to an hour and a half and counting, and then we get held up by the red sticker. Or, more accurately, the absence of one.
Apparently, when mechanics work on anything on an airplane, they have to mark the area in question with a red sticker. "It's just like something you'd get at Office Max," the pilot explains, trying to placate us after what has now been two hours in our broken-AC sweaty death box. "Well, the sticker is gone. Either it blew off or...we lost it. So...if we find it right away...maybe it just fell off on the ground...then we can take off any minute now. If not, then it will take a little while longer."
I assume he managed to get all of this out with a straight face. A red sticker?!? Nice to know that airlines are using such high tech repair indicators in this post 9/11 climate.
Anyway, eventually, thankfully, we got off the tarmac and into the air. The flight itself was fairly uneventful, aside from the shooting pains in my knee. Upon landing, we see that our bags immediately arrived at the baggage claim at the same time we did. Good karma after the bad flight, maybe. So we grabbed them, hopped onto a shuttle, and quickly picked up our rental car and made our way down to our hotel in Chandler right across the street from the mall. Dinner with the Bladers at The Cheesecake Factory was exactly what we needed--specifically, a couple of Malibu Coladas each.
On Thursday, Beth went in to do her teaching for work and I happily hung out at the hotel. Read the paper, caught a little sun at the pool, and perused the mall for a little bit, including checking out the newest made-up breed of dog at the pet store. Has anyone ever heard of a "Valley Bulldog?" I certainly hadn't until I saw this British Bulldog-Boxer mix. Very cool mutt. The relaxing day was just what I needed after the travel nightmare that came before it. It seemed like things would continue that way, with a nice, mellow Thursday evening, until I spoke to Shaw B.
"We're going to Kyoto tonight," he said...
I was wrong.
Things started badly and got progressively worse. The seats were tiny--the smallest that I've been on in a big plane in a long, long time. And wasn't American the airline that recently made a big deal about adding room to all of their coach seats? If so, then all I can say is, umm..."liars." But since we boarded so close to take-off time, I figured that at least we'd be in the air and on our way soon.
Once again, me, all kinds of wrong. First we're informed that one of the air conditioners is broken. This, while we're sitting in the full plane, on the runway, in Dallas, on a 90 degree day. Awesome. So they get to work doing whatever it is that they do...which doesn't exactly involve fixing said air conditioner. They mess around for a while...and a while longer...and a while longer. Some other minor problem comes up, and they mess around with that. We've gone from ready to go, to half an hour on the ground, to an hour, to an hour and a half and counting, and then we get held up by the red sticker. Or, more accurately, the absence of one.
Apparently, when mechanics work on anything on an airplane, they have to mark the area in question with a red sticker. "It's just like something you'd get at Office Max," the pilot explains, trying to placate us after what has now been two hours in our broken-AC sweaty death box. "Well, the sticker is gone. Either it blew off or...we lost it. So...if we find it right away...maybe it just fell off on the ground...then we can take off any minute now. If not, then it will take a little while longer."
I assume he managed to get all of this out with a straight face. A red sticker?!? Nice to know that airlines are using such high tech repair indicators in this post 9/11 climate.
Anyway, eventually, thankfully, we got off the tarmac and into the air. The flight itself was fairly uneventful, aside from the shooting pains in my knee. Upon landing, we see that our bags immediately arrived at the baggage claim at the same time we did. Good karma after the bad flight, maybe. So we grabbed them, hopped onto a shuttle, and quickly picked up our rental car and made our way down to our hotel in Chandler right across the street from the mall. Dinner with the Bladers at The Cheesecake Factory was exactly what we needed--specifically, a couple of Malibu Coladas each.
On Thursday, Beth went in to do her teaching for work and I happily hung out at the hotel. Read the paper, caught a little sun at the pool, and perused the mall for a little bit, including checking out the newest made-up breed of dog at the pet store. Has anyone ever heard of a "Valley Bulldog?" I certainly hadn't until I saw this British Bulldog-Boxer mix. Very cool mutt. The relaxing day was just what I needed after the travel nightmare that came before it. It seemed like things would continue that way, with a nice, mellow Thursday evening, until I spoke to Shaw B.
"We're going to Kyoto tonight," he said...
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Moved in
Wow, a month between posts is pretty sad...but it has been a crazy month. We moved into the house on April 21. Technically, the move started much earlier than this, thanks to the generous loan my parents made to me in the form of "Gus the Bus," their beloved Ford Expedition. Thanks to having Gus for a few weeks, I was able to pre-move a bunch of stuff to the new house. Then a very solid trio of movers came on the 21st and finished the job, doing all of the heavy lifting...literally.
Getting everything turned on and working at the new place was easy enough but there were other tasks that took much longer. Right when we bought the house we decided to renovate the entire master bathroom, ripping out the old sink, vanity, cabinets, floor tile, and shower. To this day, the job still isn't done. The new tile is in and the new tile shower is finished as well and it all looks great, but we are still waiting for the arrival of our custom vanity cabinets and a new heavy duty glass shower door. My dad was a huge help with all of this, doing what work that he could and advising me on other stuff. I'm absolutely clueless about all this kind of work, but thanks to him I'm now a little more well informed.
Despite the fact that we just moved in, Beth and I are already out of town in Arizona. She had a couple of work trips that we were able to combine into one big visit and I happily agreed to tag along. Our flight left Little Rock at about 1:15 on Wednesday and everything seemed to be going well. Beth was running a little late after heading into the office for a few hours of work but we still had plenty of time to drop the dogs off at Aimee's house and head to the airport. There was no line at all for the skycap, who checked our two enormous suitcases and printed our boarding passes on the spot. Unforunately we were too late to grab exit row seats, something I always arrive absurdly early to secure thanks to my ample size and gimpy knee. But we had a middle and a window next to each other. The first leg was on a puddle jumper apparently designed to accomodate Hobbits somewhat comfortably. I know I've ranted about these planes before but this one seemed smaller than ever. However, it was just a quick up-and-down flight to Dallas to grab our connection. Once on the ground in The Big D we hopped onto the monorail which dropped us practically right at our next gate, where our flight had just started to board. The timing was pefect. Everything was going great.
Or so we thought...
Getting everything turned on and working at the new place was easy enough but there were other tasks that took much longer. Right when we bought the house we decided to renovate the entire master bathroom, ripping out the old sink, vanity, cabinets, floor tile, and shower. To this day, the job still isn't done. The new tile is in and the new tile shower is finished as well and it all looks great, but we are still waiting for the arrival of our custom vanity cabinets and a new heavy duty glass shower door. My dad was a huge help with all of this, doing what work that he could and advising me on other stuff. I'm absolutely clueless about all this kind of work, but thanks to him I'm now a little more well informed.
Despite the fact that we just moved in, Beth and I are already out of town in Arizona. She had a couple of work trips that we were able to combine into one big visit and I happily agreed to tag along. Our flight left Little Rock at about 1:15 on Wednesday and everything seemed to be going well. Beth was running a little late after heading into the office for a few hours of work but we still had plenty of time to drop the dogs off at Aimee's house and head to the airport. There was no line at all for the skycap, who checked our two enormous suitcases and printed our boarding passes on the spot. Unforunately we were too late to grab exit row seats, something I always arrive absurdly early to secure thanks to my ample size and gimpy knee. But we had a middle and a window next to each other. The first leg was on a puddle jumper apparently designed to accomodate Hobbits somewhat comfortably. I know I've ranted about these planes before but this one seemed smaller than ever. However, it was just a quick up-and-down flight to Dallas to grab our connection. Once on the ground in The Big D we hopped onto the monorail which dropped us practically right at our next gate, where our flight had just started to board. The timing was pefect. Everything was going great.
Or so we thought...
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Opening Day
I love the opening day of the baseball season, and I have long felt that it's one of a few sports days that should be a national holiday. So, in honor of that, here are a few random thoughts on the upcoming baseball season.
I can't believe how sick I am of Barry Bonds and any story about him. We all know he cheated, and eventually he'll go down for something. ESPN's continued Bonds hype is getting sickening. I realize that they have a "reality show" called Bonds on Bonds or some such thing that they need to hype, which is despicable enough. But to give him his own color-coded updates on the ticker scroll with "CHASING RUTH" even when he does nothing, like tonight, is downright shameful. It's appalling, and frankly, I expect more from the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports...I don't think that Jimmy Rollins' hitting streak should continue this year. I like him, he's a solid player, and I even drafted him for one of my fantasy teams, but I just don't think that a hitting streak should continue from one season into the next. At the very least, if he does match or break DiMaggio's record, Rollins' mark should stand alone and separately as "longest hitting streak over multiple seasons."...Speaking of fantasy leagues, I have both A-Rod and Johnny Damon on one team and it makes me sick. I named that team "Slappy & The Traitor," but it still pains me to take any kind of joy from their success...I have no idea if the tougher steroid penalties will have a big effect on the game or not, but I hope so...watching baseball in HD is just incredible. Compared to the crappy regular feed it's night and day...I think the Red Sox will be a lot better than a lot of people do. Their defense is greatly improved and they have one of the deepest rotations in baseball--six guys that could potentially win 15 games as starters if needed. Keith Foulke is still a question mark in the bullpen but even if he falters, there are fallback options in Timlin and Papelbon. In fact, every spot on the roster with any kind of a question mark has a contingency plan in place. I think they'll win around 95-100 games and probably the AL East title. How experts continue to blindly pick the Yankees is beyond me, given the state of their pitching staff. They are one injury away (Randy Johnson? Mariano Rivera?) from a potential third place finish...Joe Morgan continues to be one of the most self-aggrandizing and annoying national baseball broadcasters in the business. I've always said that you can at least make watching one of his games enjoyable for yourself by making it a drinking game: take a sip anytime he mentions himself and two any time he references a former teammate on the Big Red Machine. Case in point: I flip on the White Sox-Indians opener on Sunday night for a little bit and Eduardo Perez crushes a home run to left. Now, I don't have a drink in front of me, but I can just feel the first Morganism of the season coming. And he delivers: "I saw a lot of homers just like that one playing with his father, Tony Perez." Absoutely irrelevant to the game at hand, and vintage Joe Morgan.
I can't believe how sick I am of Barry Bonds and any story about him. We all know he cheated, and eventually he'll go down for something. ESPN's continued Bonds hype is getting sickening. I realize that they have a "reality show" called Bonds on Bonds or some such thing that they need to hype, which is despicable enough. But to give him his own color-coded updates on the ticker scroll with "CHASING RUTH" even when he does nothing, like tonight, is downright shameful. It's appalling, and frankly, I expect more from the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports...I don't think that Jimmy Rollins' hitting streak should continue this year. I like him, he's a solid player, and I even drafted him for one of my fantasy teams, but I just don't think that a hitting streak should continue from one season into the next. At the very least, if he does match or break DiMaggio's record, Rollins' mark should stand alone and separately as "longest hitting streak over multiple seasons."...Speaking of fantasy leagues, I have both A-Rod and Johnny Damon on one team and it makes me sick. I named that team "Slappy & The Traitor," but it still pains me to take any kind of joy from their success...I have no idea if the tougher steroid penalties will have a big effect on the game or not, but I hope so...watching baseball in HD is just incredible. Compared to the crappy regular feed it's night and day...I think the Red Sox will be a lot better than a lot of people do. Their defense is greatly improved and they have one of the deepest rotations in baseball--six guys that could potentially win 15 games as starters if needed. Keith Foulke is still a question mark in the bullpen but even if he falters, there are fallback options in Timlin and Papelbon. In fact, every spot on the roster with any kind of a question mark has a contingency plan in place. I think they'll win around 95-100 games and probably the AL East title. How experts continue to blindly pick the Yankees is beyond me, given the state of their pitching staff. They are one injury away (Randy Johnson? Mariano Rivera?) from a potential third place finish...Joe Morgan continues to be one of the most self-aggrandizing and annoying national baseball broadcasters in the business. I've always said that you can at least make watching one of his games enjoyable for yourself by making it a drinking game: take a sip anytime he mentions himself and two any time he references a former teammate on the Big Red Machine. Case in point: I flip on the White Sox-Indians opener on Sunday night for a little bit and Eduardo Perez crushes a home run to left. Now, I don't have a drink in front of me, but I can just feel the first Morganism of the season coming. And he delivers: "I saw a lot of homers just like that one playing with his father, Tony Perez." Absoutely irrelevant to the game at hand, and vintage Joe Morgan.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Our new house
We bought our first house! It's been in the works for most of the month and we closed yesterday...on our fourth wedding anniversary. Pretty cool!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
I root for the laundry
I know that as a fan of teams that have delivered me four World Championships since 2002 I have no room to complain about anything, but that doesn't change the fact that typing this list below kind of makes me sick.
Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis Colts
Pedro Martinez, New York Mets
Johnny Damon, New York Motherf***ing Yankees
Willie McGinest, Cleveland Browns
David Givens, Tennessee Titans
Ty Law, wherever
Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnatti Reds
I could go on and on. Sure, it's the nature of the game, and everyone on that list brought me so much happiness that I could never thank them enough. But now I can't really root for them. Sure, there are degrees...I still pull for Pedro almost every time out. But Johnny Damon is now deader to me than Fredo Corleone to his brother, and the mere notion of having to openly yell "miss it, Vinatieri, MISS IT!" just turns my stomach.
I don't have a point. I just needed to vent, I guess. It's a sad day for me.
Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis Colts
Pedro Martinez, New York Mets
Johnny Damon, New York Motherf***ing Yankees
Willie McGinest, Cleveland Browns
David Givens, Tennessee Titans
Ty Law, wherever
Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnatti Reds
I could go on and on. Sure, it's the nature of the game, and everyone on that list brought me so much happiness that I could never thank them enough. But now I can't really root for them. Sure, there are degrees...I still pull for Pedro almost every time out. But Johnny Damon is now deader to me than Fredo Corleone to his brother, and the mere notion of having to openly yell "miss it, Vinatieri, MISS IT!" just turns my stomach.
I don't have a point. I just needed to vent, I guess. It's a sad day for me.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Quick poker session
I haven't posted about poker lately simply because there hasn't been much to report. I have been taking meticulous records of each session I play (an actual New Year's resolution that I have stuck to) and that has helped because I always know exactly how I'm doing for the day/week/year. I'm up for 2006, but not by a ton...just trying to keep grinding that bankroll up before the WSOP. A quick little session today certainly helped.
It's a little after 4 PM and I've got some time to kill until the NCAA tourney selection show, so I log onto Poker Fantasy for a little bit. No SNGs are about to start so I sit down with $25 for some .25-.50 NLHE. With JQ suited in the big blind I make the 2nd nut flush on the turn, get it all in, and get paid off...I now have $49. A little bit later I get pocket kings in late position with a few limpers ahead of me so I raise up to $2. Small blind calls, and the big blind goes all in for $6 and change. Trying to shut out the first limper, I push all in. The guy I am trying to force out calls me with $38 and change or so and turns over pockets 9s. The short stack has A-9. No help for either of them and I drag a huge pot, and I now have $93.53 in front of me. I cannot wait to just walk away with my winnings for the session but I decide to wait until before my blinds...and get dealt pocket aces. Raise to $2, one caller. Flop comes three unders with a couple of face cards and two spades (I have the Ace of spades), so I bet $5, trying to take it down right there, he calls. Turn is a brick, check-check. River brings a possible straight so we check it down (I may have been playing too cautiously here) and he shows Ace-king for TPTK, so I drag that one and bail because it was the last hand before my blinds. Sat with $25, and twenty minutes later I left with $102.24. Definitely the craziest and fastest NL rush I have ever had on that site.
It's a little after 4 PM and I've got some time to kill until the NCAA tourney selection show, so I log onto Poker Fantasy for a little bit. No SNGs are about to start so I sit down with $25 for some .25-.50 NLHE. With JQ suited in the big blind I make the 2nd nut flush on the turn, get it all in, and get paid off...I now have $49. A little bit later I get pocket kings in late position with a few limpers ahead of me so I raise up to $2. Small blind calls, and the big blind goes all in for $6 and change. Trying to shut out the first limper, I push all in. The guy I am trying to force out calls me with $38 and change or so and turns over pockets 9s. The short stack has A-9. No help for either of them and I drag a huge pot, and I now have $93.53 in front of me. I cannot wait to just walk away with my winnings for the session but I decide to wait until before my blinds...and get dealt pocket aces. Raise to $2, one caller. Flop comes three unders with a couple of face cards and two spades (I have the Ace of spades), so I bet $5, trying to take it down right there, he calls. Turn is a brick, check-check. River brings a possible straight so we check it down (I may have been playing too cautiously here) and he shows Ace-king for TPTK, so I drag that one and bail because it was the last hand before my blinds. Sat with $25, and twenty minutes later I left with $102.24. Definitely the craziest and fastest NL rush I have ever had on that site.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Oscar picks
I usually try to see several of the big Oscar contenders before the awards but this year I just really didn't want to. I haven't seen many of them, in fact, so instead, here are my own choices for who would win if I was the sole voter in the academy (obviously this only includes movies that I've seen, so...sorry, Brokeback, Capote, etc.)
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel McAdams, Wedding Crashers
Best Original Screenplay: Steve Carell & Judd Apatow, The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steve Kloves, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Best Director: George Lucas, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Picture: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
And other categories that could be awards, but aren't:
Best faithful adaptation of a comic book or graphic novel: Sin City
Best performance under so much makeup you can't even tell who it is: Mickey Rouke, Sin City
Best ending to a movie because it happened in real life: Fever Pitch
Best comedic ensemble: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best reinvigoration of a seemingly dead franchise: Batman Begins
The Caddyshack 2/Rocky 5 Memorial Award for Worst Sequel: Be Cool
Weirdest performance: Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best DVD rental with no expectations that turned out to be pretty good: Red Eye
Worst DVD rental that could have been great but wasn't: Two for the Money
Biggest letdown: Serenity (just because it wasn't as good as the great TV show)
Best...umm..."performance" in very tight or skimpy costumes: Jessica Alba, Sin City, Fantasic Four, Into the Blue.
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel McAdams, Wedding Crashers
Best Original Screenplay: Steve Carell & Judd Apatow, The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steve Kloves, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Best Director: George Lucas, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Picture: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
And other categories that could be awards, but aren't:
Best faithful adaptation of a comic book or graphic novel: Sin City
Best performance under so much makeup you can't even tell who it is: Mickey Rouke, Sin City
Best ending to a movie because it happened in real life: Fever Pitch
Best comedic ensemble: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best reinvigoration of a seemingly dead franchise: Batman Begins
The Caddyshack 2/Rocky 5 Memorial Award for Worst Sequel: Be Cool
Weirdest performance: Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best DVD rental with no expectations that turned out to be pretty good: Red Eye
Worst DVD rental that could have been great but wasn't: Two for the Money
Biggest letdown: Serenity (just because it wasn't as good as the great TV show)
Best...umm..."performance" in very tight or skimpy costumes: Jessica Alba, Sin City, Fantasic Four, Into the Blue.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Iced in
We were stuck in the house all weekend due to a wintry storm that left the entire city pretty much covered in ice. It's a new phenomenon for me--I've seen hurricanes, blizzards, and such, but this "ice storm" deal is a little different. There was a little bit of snow, but then some rain and the whole result gets frozen over. Saturday seemed to get the worst of it, as the streets outside the house were very quiet, although we did get one run from a sand/salt truck. Things are thawing a little bit today and it looks like everything should be back to normal in a couple of days.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Olympics
That Super Bowl sure was terrible, wasn't it? No point in even discussing it at this point, although I do have to point out that I had very little rooting interest at all and I think it was some of the worst officiating I've ever seen in a big game. Just terrible.
So, apparently the Olympics start tonight. I can't rememeber less hype for this event...ever. I do have a question, though...when did "Turin" become "Torino," exactly? Is it just because the second one sounds cooler? Have we ever done this before? I don't think so. Nobody in America talked about the "Moskva" games in 1980, or the "Roma" games, or the recent bid by "Paree." Just weird. Other random Olympic thoughts: I don't think I could name ten US Olympians for these games, and that includes the hockey team...they say there's no such thing as bad publicity and I guess Bode Miller might exemplify that. He's been getting crushed in the press for one thing or another but at least I know who the guy is now, and even what sport he does...what exactly is the Skeleton? I'm guessing it involves some sort of a sled or a luge but honestly, I don't know...yeah, that's all I've got. I'll probably watch some stuff, simply because there's not much else on until spring training. But my interest isn't exactly huge.
So, apparently the Olympics start tonight. I can't rememeber less hype for this event...ever. I do have a question, though...when did "Turin" become "Torino," exactly? Is it just because the second one sounds cooler? Have we ever done this before? I don't think so. Nobody in America talked about the "Moskva" games in 1980, or the "Roma" games, or the recent bid by "Paree." Just weird. Other random Olympic thoughts: I don't think I could name ten US Olympians for these games, and that includes the hockey team...they say there's no such thing as bad publicity and I guess Bode Miller might exemplify that. He's been getting crushed in the press for one thing or another but at least I know who the guy is now, and even what sport he does...what exactly is the Skeleton? I'm guessing it involves some sort of a sled or a luge but honestly, I don't know...yeah, that's all I've got. I'll probably watch some stuff, simply because there's not much else on until spring training. But my interest isn't exactly huge.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Super Bowl Eve
Man, am I sick of the hype. Hey, where's Jerome Bettis from, anyway? And Joey Porter...give it a rest. I won't go into a lengthy analysis of everything because there are much better places to find such information. I'll just say that I think it will be a pretty tight and entertaining game and that I think most people are underrating the Seahawks quite a bit. So...on to the wagers.
Seahawks money line: +285 - one unit - this was my future bet made before the conference championship game. I thought the line seemed way too high then, so clearly I love it now.
Seahawks +4 - two units - my book had it at 3.5 all week until today, when it finally went up to four. That's when I jumped on it. I may press it up before kickoff.
PROP BETS
There were lots of goofy ones as always, but here are the only two I have taken so far:
Shaun Alexander's combined rushing and receiving yardage: 96.5 yards - OVER - one unit
Shaun Alexander's longest run of the game: 19.5 yards - OVER - one unit
The first number seems right about where it should be. Before any line was posted I said I'd take the over on anything around 100, so I did. As for the second one, the line seems a little low to me. Plus I always love having one bet that I can win instantly during the game, so here it is. Shaun could rip off a 30 yard jaunt on his first carry of the game and I'll have that one booked. Anyway, I really like his chances to break at least one 20 yard gainer.
Some that I did not take included parlaying the winner of the game with the gender of the eventual American Idol winner, Josh Brown's kicking points compared to Tiger Woods' number of holes better than birdie tomorrow, the game being tied at halftime and Jake Gyllenhall to win the Oscar for best supporting actor (20-1), or, in perhaps my favorite prop bet on the board, Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens both to be ejected from the game (80-1)...on second thought, maybe I should throw a couple of bucks on that last one after all!
Happy Super Sunday, everyone.
Seahawks money line: +285 - one unit - this was my future bet made before the conference championship game. I thought the line seemed way too high then, so clearly I love it now.
Seahawks +4 - two units - my book had it at 3.5 all week until today, when it finally went up to four. That's when I jumped on it. I may press it up before kickoff.
PROP BETS
There were lots of goofy ones as always, but here are the only two I have taken so far:
Shaun Alexander's combined rushing and receiving yardage: 96.5 yards - OVER - one unit
Shaun Alexander's longest run of the game: 19.5 yards - OVER - one unit
The first number seems right about where it should be. Before any line was posted I said I'd take the over on anything around 100, so I did. As for the second one, the line seems a little low to me. Plus I always love having one bet that I can win instantly during the game, so here it is. Shaun could rip off a 30 yard jaunt on his first carry of the game and I'll have that one booked. Anyway, I really like his chances to break at least one 20 yard gainer.
Some that I did not take included parlaying the winner of the game with the gender of the eventual American Idol winner, Josh Brown's kicking points compared to Tiger Woods' number of holes better than birdie tomorrow, the game being tied at halftime and Jake Gyllenhall to win the Oscar for best supporting actor (20-1), or, in perhaps my favorite prop bet on the board, Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens both to be ejected from the game (80-1)...on second thought, maybe I should throw a couple of bucks on that last one after all!
Happy Super Sunday, everyone.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip
Aaron Sorkin is one of my favorite writers, period. He's one of the best dialgoue writers in any medium and he has a brilliant touch with artfully depicting conflict on levels big and small. I loved SportsNight and I basically gave up on The West Wing after he left. This fall, he'll be making a triumphant return to network television with a dramatic series based on the behind-the-scenes workings of a Saturday Night Live-type sketch comedy show called Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip. I was excited enough about this just hearing that it's a Sorkin show...and then I read some of the pilot. Someone was lucky enough to get their hands on several of the audition sides, cobbling together what they could and posting it on line. It's not even the entire episode and it's brilliant. Kudos to NBC for A) giving Sorkin a second chance after showing him the door based on his cost overruns and missed deadlines for West Wing and B) Picking up a show that clearly and openly skewers SNL. Rumor is that Matthew Perry has signed on for a lead role and he'll be perfect for this. It's amazing how Sorkin can write characters so vivid and well-defined that I care about them after just a few pages...but he's done it. I'm dying. I can't wait to see this show.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Recent reads
Here are the books I've read since around Christmas time:
Phil Gordon's Little Green Hold 'Em Book - I got this one for Christmas and really enjoyed it. Gordon is a very smart guy and I actually think he may be a little underrated as a tournament player simply because he's so often in the limelight for other things, like TV shows. But this book is very informative. He presents bite-sized nuggets of Hold 'Em information, ranging from overall play and strategy to incredibly specific tips for particular situations. Case in point: Gordon goes out of his way to write an integral section on the importance of stealing blinds as the cash bubble nears in a tourney. Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson both made the same point when they spoke at my Full Tilt luncheon at the WSOP last summer. But Gordon takes his theory a step farther--he finds that the absolute best time to steal a quick pot is right before a dinner break...and he's got a point. Huge overhead displays on the tourney floor count down the time remaining in a level, and more often than not, players want to head for that door as soon as possible...thus, they aren't looking to get involved in a big pot right before the meal break. Brilliant little insights like this typify Gordon's book. I loved it, and I know I'll read it again. Grade: A-
School Days by Robert B. Parker - I love Parker and I've read every novel he's ever written. This one is the latest in the ongoing series about Spenser, the wisecracking Boston P.I. This one deviates a little bit from recent offerings in that Spenser's trusty, badass sidekick Hawk is nowhere to be seen...and neither is Susan Silverman, his often annoying better half. In this book, she's out of town essentially for the duration, and thank god for that, because the biggest knock on Parker's recent works has been his instance on having Spenser moon over Susan time and time again. We get it already. This time, Spenser runs a solo job when hired by the grandmother of a boy involved in a bloody school shooting. It's typical Parker, with taught, well-paced storytelling, and the ending isn't exactly predictable, but fulfilling enough. Not a classic Spenser book, but hardly a bad one. Grade: B.
A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal by Anthony Bourdain - Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential, was brilliant, and it made him a star. Please don't judge him or his work on that Fox sitcom that's already been axed--although I even thought that show had potential. Bourdain is a talented chef and a passionate foodie and in this one, he cruises around the world, eating every exotic menu item he can find, with the entrees ranging from a whole slaughtered hog that died at his hand as the guest of honor to...wait for it...the still beating heart of a cobra. Yum! The highlights are engaging enough--like the laundry list of over a dozen faux pas one might unwillingly commit at a traditional Japanese haute cuisine meal-- but the book seems to wander aimlessly, meandering from one locale to another without any discernable reason. It's a decent read but not as good as his other book. Grade: B-.
Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman - I adored Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I practically lived some parts of Fargo Rock City, so I eagerly looked forward to this book, which Klosterman advertises as "85% of a true story" that sees him loading up a rental car and driving thousand of miles around America to visit the sites where famous (and not so famous) rockers died. It's an interesting enough premise, and Klosterman scored points with me right away by nicknaming his rented Taurus "The Ford Tauntaun," but instead of offering up a look at rock immortality or examining the dichotomy of life and death, the book instead veers into Nick Hornby-esque "looking back at past failed relationships through a musical filter" territory. Klosterman even openly acknowledges this. It's not bad, so to speak, just not what I expected or hoped for. It's still vintage Klosterman--he decides that 600 CDs is just the right amount to pack for his trip, he goes on for several pages comparing past girlfriends to various members of KISS based on their personalities, etc. But the incessant rambling about the pros and cons of each of his life's loves grew a little tiresome. I liked it, but I could have loved it. Grade: when not talking about past loves: A-. When writing fictionalized conversations between three different old flames at once: C-. Overall: B. (note: I just read that Klosterman is writing a Super Bowl blog for ESPN. This could be good--if it is, I'll link to it)
Other reads coming soon: Mary Mary by James Patterson and Cell by Stephen King.
Phil Gordon's Little Green Hold 'Em Book - I got this one for Christmas and really enjoyed it. Gordon is a very smart guy and I actually think he may be a little underrated as a tournament player simply because he's so often in the limelight for other things, like TV shows. But this book is very informative. He presents bite-sized nuggets of Hold 'Em information, ranging from overall play and strategy to incredibly specific tips for particular situations. Case in point: Gordon goes out of his way to write an integral section on the importance of stealing blinds as the cash bubble nears in a tourney. Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson both made the same point when they spoke at my Full Tilt luncheon at the WSOP last summer. But Gordon takes his theory a step farther--he finds that the absolute best time to steal a quick pot is right before a dinner break...and he's got a point. Huge overhead displays on the tourney floor count down the time remaining in a level, and more often than not, players want to head for that door as soon as possible...thus, they aren't looking to get involved in a big pot right before the meal break. Brilliant little insights like this typify Gordon's book. I loved it, and I know I'll read it again. Grade: A-
School Days by Robert B. Parker - I love Parker and I've read every novel he's ever written. This one is the latest in the ongoing series about Spenser, the wisecracking Boston P.I. This one deviates a little bit from recent offerings in that Spenser's trusty, badass sidekick Hawk is nowhere to be seen...and neither is Susan Silverman, his often annoying better half. In this book, she's out of town essentially for the duration, and thank god for that, because the biggest knock on Parker's recent works has been his instance on having Spenser moon over Susan time and time again. We get it already. This time, Spenser runs a solo job when hired by the grandmother of a boy involved in a bloody school shooting. It's typical Parker, with taught, well-paced storytelling, and the ending isn't exactly predictable, but fulfilling enough. Not a classic Spenser book, but hardly a bad one. Grade: B.
A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal by Anthony Bourdain - Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential, was brilliant, and it made him a star. Please don't judge him or his work on that Fox sitcom that's already been axed--although I even thought that show had potential. Bourdain is a talented chef and a passionate foodie and in this one, he cruises around the world, eating every exotic menu item he can find, with the entrees ranging from a whole slaughtered hog that died at his hand as the guest of honor to...wait for it...the still beating heart of a cobra. Yum! The highlights are engaging enough--like the laundry list of over a dozen faux pas one might unwillingly commit at a traditional Japanese haute cuisine meal-- but the book seems to wander aimlessly, meandering from one locale to another without any discernable reason. It's a decent read but not as good as his other book. Grade: B-.
Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman - I adored Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I practically lived some parts of Fargo Rock City, so I eagerly looked forward to this book, which Klosterman advertises as "85% of a true story" that sees him loading up a rental car and driving thousand of miles around America to visit the sites where famous (and not so famous) rockers died. It's an interesting enough premise, and Klosterman scored points with me right away by nicknaming his rented Taurus "The Ford Tauntaun," but instead of offering up a look at rock immortality or examining the dichotomy of life and death, the book instead veers into Nick Hornby-esque "looking back at past failed relationships through a musical filter" territory. Klosterman even openly acknowledges this. It's not bad, so to speak, just not what I expected or hoped for. It's still vintage Klosterman--he decides that 600 CDs is just the right amount to pack for his trip, he goes on for several pages comparing past girlfriends to various members of KISS based on their personalities, etc. But the incessant rambling about the pros and cons of each of his life's loves grew a little tiresome. I liked it, but I could have loved it. Grade: when not talking about past loves: A-. When writing fictionalized conversations between three different old flames at once: C-. Overall: B. (note: I just read that Klosterman is writing a Super Bowl blog for ESPN. This could be good--if it is, I'll link to it)
Other reads coming soon: Mary Mary by James Patterson and Cell by Stephen King.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Second draft
The second draft of the screenplay is in and things continue to go well. We received a list of short, specific notes from our producer and it won't be too tough to put the changes in. He also asked that the scenes be numbered in the next draft--a sure sign of a subsequent production draft down the road. The word around the producer's office is that we are "a go picture" and that the association with the group I referred to earlier is "a slam dunk." I'm still taking a wait-and-see approach, but it's all very encouraging news.
The NFL conference championship games went just as I expected they would, which is nice since I had bets on both games. Before last week's action, I also placed a future bet on the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, so now I have them as a no-spread money line bet in the big game at nearly 3-to-1 odds. I believe that the opening line has Pittsburgh favored by 3.5, which is right about where everyone thought it would be. They have played great and they should be the favorites, although it's a little odd to see the #6 seed in the AFC giving points to the #1 team in the NFC. Just goes to show how great the conference really is. Right now I like Seattle plus the points, although I think the line may get even higher before kick-off. I always love the goofy prop bets that come out for every Super Bowl so I'll make some bets and post those before the game. Some people think they are sucker bets but I've always managed to find great value plays there.
The NFL conference championship games went just as I expected they would, which is nice since I had bets on both games. Before last week's action, I also placed a future bet on the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, so now I have them as a no-spread money line bet in the big game at nearly 3-to-1 odds. I believe that the opening line has Pittsburgh favored by 3.5, which is right about where everyone thought it would be. They have played great and they should be the favorites, although it's a little odd to see the #6 seed in the AFC giving points to the #1 team in the NFC. Just goes to show how great the conference really is. Right now I like Seattle plus the points, although I think the line may get even higher before kick-off. I always love the goofy prop bets that come out for every Super Bowl so I'll make some bets and post those before the game. Some people think they are sucker bets but I've always managed to find great value plays there.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Patriots Post Mortem
That was a sickening way to go out for the Pats on Saturday night, but honestly I have no right to be too upset about it. The best analogy I could come up with was feeling like a guy cashing out after losing a couple of big hands at the end of a great run at the blackjack tables--sure, it would have been nice to keep winning, but I'm definitely still "up."
The Patriots won the Super Bowl three times. Occasionally I need to remind myself of this.
And just to get it out of my system once and for all: that pass interference call on Asante Samuel was an absolute joke and the Ben Watson play on Champ Bailey was definitely a touchback, meaning the Patriots would have retained the ball at their own 20. It's almost mind-boggling that despite five turnovers it still took two atrocious calls toknock us off. But it's over. I think Seattle has the best shot to win it all now but I really don't have much enthusiasm for any of the remaining potential match ups the rest of the way. Wagering on games will clearly help me in that area.
So where do the Patriots go from here next season? In my eyes, right back to being dominant like they have been. Aside from the sickening defeat, I'm highly optomistic about the off-season and beyond. Young defensive coordinator Eric Mangini just left to take the head job with the Jets, and that departure hurts, especially since it means we're looking at our third defensive coordinator in as many seasons in 2006. But this is Bill Belichick's defense and I don't expect a lot to change there. He'll name a replacement and keep running the show himself.
The Pats have a lot of personnell decisions to make, with a few high profile free agents, including Adam Vinatieri, David Givens, Troy Brown, Stephen Neal, and Tom Ashworth. Other veterans such as Willie McGinest are looking at being cut or having their deals restructured due to big forthcoming salary cap hits. I think they'll get something done with Vinatieri--we paid him a lot last season as our franchise player and I think that they'll work out an extension reasonable for both parties. I could see Troy Brown return in a role similar to the one he had this year at the right price. Givens might be a tougher signing--some teams desperate for a wide receiver might throw some bucks at him and I could see him as a guy that could be labeled as expendable within the Patriots system, although we'd need to replace him with a comparable player. As for Neal and Ashworth, I'm not sure what will happen there. Neal has really improved over the last two years and I'd love to keep him. As for Ashworth, he is a versatile lineman who will be really attractive on the free agent market. I'd welcome both of them back but the price will need to be right.
One benefit to not winning the Super Bowl is the overlooked fact that our off-season preparations start immediately. Belichick admitted that playing until February the last couple of seasons has made things tougher in the off-season, as we're behind most of the league. This way, we have plenty of time to evaluate the roster and the market. We also have a much higher draft pick than usual thanks to our regular season record: the #21 pick in the first round. This looks like a very strong draft to me and there is no doubt we'll get an impact player if we stay at that spot. I've already seen one mock draft that has us selecting USC running back LenDale White, and that intrigues me. Corey Dillon appeared to have lost a step and White is the kind of tough, between-the-tackles runner that could step right in and fill those shoes. We certainly have other needs, but we've got extra picks too (an extra selection each in the 3rd and 4th rounds from previous trades). So with six picks in the first four rounds, I expect some combination of: running back, corner back, safety, linebacker, offensive line, and wide receiver. The Pats love to wheel and deal and this year nothing would surprise me--moving up, moving down for value, or standing pat and just filling the few holes that we have.
The Patriots will be back in a big way in 2006.
The Patriots won the Super Bowl three times. Occasionally I need to remind myself of this.
And just to get it out of my system once and for all: that pass interference call on Asante Samuel was an absolute joke and the Ben Watson play on Champ Bailey was definitely a touchback, meaning the Patriots would have retained the ball at their own 20. It's almost mind-boggling that despite five turnovers it still took two atrocious calls toknock us off. But it's over. I think Seattle has the best shot to win it all now but I really don't have much enthusiasm for any of the remaining potential match ups the rest of the way. Wagering on games will clearly help me in that area.
So where do the Patriots go from here next season? In my eyes, right back to being dominant like they have been. Aside from the sickening defeat, I'm highly optomistic about the off-season and beyond. Young defensive coordinator Eric Mangini just left to take the head job with the Jets, and that departure hurts, especially since it means we're looking at our third defensive coordinator in as many seasons in 2006. But this is Bill Belichick's defense and I don't expect a lot to change there. He'll name a replacement and keep running the show himself.
The Pats have a lot of personnell decisions to make, with a few high profile free agents, including Adam Vinatieri, David Givens, Troy Brown, Stephen Neal, and Tom Ashworth. Other veterans such as Willie McGinest are looking at being cut or having their deals restructured due to big forthcoming salary cap hits. I think they'll get something done with Vinatieri--we paid him a lot last season as our franchise player and I think that they'll work out an extension reasonable for both parties. I could see Troy Brown return in a role similar to the one he had this year at the right price. Givens might be a tougher signing--some teams desperate for a wide receiver might throw some bucks at him and I could see him as a guy that could be labeled as expendable within the Patriots system, although we'd need to replace him with a comparable player. As for Neal and Ashworth, I'm not sure what will happen there. Neal has really improved over the last two years and I'd love to keep him. As for Ashworth, he is a versatile lineman who will be really attractive on the free agent market. I'd welcome both of them back but the price will need to be right.
One benefit to not winning the Super Bowl is the overlooked fact that our off-season preparations start immediately. Belichick admitted that playing until February the last couple of seasons has made things tougher in the off-season, as we're behind most of the league. This way, we have plenty of time to evaluate the roster and the market. We also have a much higher draft pick than usual thanks to our regular season record: the #21 pick in the first round. This looks like a very strong draft to me and there is no doubt we'll get an impact player if we stay at that spot. I've already seen one mock draft that has us selecting USC running back LenDale White, and that intrigues me. Corey Dillon appeared to have lost a step and White is the kind of tough, between-the-tackles runner that could step right in and fill those shoes. We certainly have other needs, but we've got extra picks too (an extra selection each in the 3rd and 4th rounds from previous trades). So with six picks in the first four rounds, I expect some combination of: running back, corner back, safety, linebacker, offensive line, and wide receiver. The Pats love to wheel and deal and this year nothing would surprise me--moving up, moving down for value, or standing pat and just filling the few holes that we have.
The Patriots will be back in a big way in 2006.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
The script is alive and well
Johnny and I have been working hard on our screenplay this week. Before the holidays we got a round of solid, positive feedback from our producer and we've been doing our best to incorporate most or all of his notes. The script is definitely running long (currently 135 pages) but we've decided it's not our place to cut anything until they ask us to. We're turning in our second draft next week.
We got some great news about it this week, although it's hush-hush and unofficial at this point...but one of the guys that works at the production company called to let us know that our producer has already tabbed him to direct our movie. This is fantastic news for two reasons: one, Johnny is friends with the guy, so working with him will be much easier than dealing with some director we've never met, who might just immediately brush us off to the side. But this guy in question has already confirmed that he wants to work with us when the time comes. Secondly, and more importantly,the naming of a director clearly means that the producer is seriously looking ahead to production, which means we'd get a nice check as well as actually see the movie get produced. All of that is wonderful news, but there's another potential rumor that would be really great as well. Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't say what it is, but it has to do with a certain organization/group getting involved with the movie. Can't add much more than that, I'm afraid, but it would be super-cool if it ever comes to pass.
Steve, I'll give you my Super Bowl picks when the time is right, but if you need them now (blatant homer alert), I'll say Patriots-Seahawks. The Pats should handle the Jags Saturday night, and then the toughest test will come the week after that, whether it's a trip to Denver or Indy. As for the NFC, I just think Seattle will be too tough to beat at home, and their offense is clearly the class of the conference. A Pats-Bears 20th anniversary Super Bowl match would be pretty interesting too.
We got some great news about it this week, although it's hush-hush and unofficial at this point...but one of the guys that works at the production company called to let us know that our producer has already tabbed him to direct our movie. This is fantastic news for two reasons: one, Johnny is friends with the guy, so working with him will be much easier than dealing with some director we've never met, who might just immediately brush us off to the side. But this guy in question has already confirmed that he wants to work with us when the time comes. Secondly, and more importantly,the naming of a director clearly means that the producer is seriously looking ahead to production, which means we'd get a nice check as well as actually see the movie get produced. All of that is wonderful news, but there's another potential rumor that would be really great as well. Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't say what it is, but it has to do with a certain organization/group getting involved with the movie. Can't add much more than that, I'm afraid, but it would be super-cool if it ever comes to pass.
Steve, I'll give you my Super Bowl picks when the time is right, but if you need them now (blatant homer alert), I'll say Patriots-Seahawks. The Pats should handle the Jags Saturday night, and then the toughest test will come the week after that, whether it's a trip to Denver or Indy. As for the NFC, I just think Seattle will be too tough to beat at home, and their offense is clearly the class of the conference. A Pats-Bears 20th anniversary Super Bowl match would be pretty interesting too.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Post Christmas
We had a great time celebrating Christmas twice. Our visit to Germantown felt very quick, heightened by the fact that we decided to return home on Friday night rather than Saturday morning, but that ended up being a good call on our part. We had finished all of the festivities at the McCandless house and everyone there was exhausted so Beth and I got on the road around midnight. It was great to be able to sleep in our own beds and wake up at home on Christmas Eve as opposed to getting on the road that morning.
I've seen two good movies recently...Walk the Line and Munich. I really enjoyed the Johnny Cash movie despite the fact that I'm certainly not a diehard fan of his music. One of the most amazing things about the film for me was that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon both did all of their own singing and did a fantastic job. This certainly helps keep you in the story of the film, as opposed to taking you out of it thinking "that's not really him." Good movie, well paced, with great performances. Witherspoon was really impressive.
We caught Munich yesterday and it was about what I expected. In fact, I'm not even sure exactly what I think of it yet, but that's probably the intended nature of the film. One thing Spielberg does consistently well is establish a clear, visual tone for his films and this one is no exception. I'm not a huge student of early 70s movies but this one flat-out looks like one. Eric Bana is very good in the lead role, and I was also intrigued by Daniel Craig, an actor that I've heard of but never seen before. I believe that he has been tabbed to be the next James Bond and it is an interesting, unconventional choice. The string of Pierce Brosnan Bond movies were completely underwhelming for me--I haven't even seen all of them and the ones that I did catch blandly run together in my mind. And this is coming from a huge Bond fan, so I hope that picking Craig means that the producers plan to reinvigorate the series. Craig kind of has a young Steve McQueen air to him. Give him the license to kill and get it started!
ASU won their bowl game last night and unfortunately we were subjected to the ever-inane Brent Musberger in the booth. He clearly did no preparation at all because he had no idea what he was talking about the entire time, and the only thread he was able to latch onto was the fact that just being there was a huge accomplishment for Rutgers because they have never won a bowl game before, essentially completely ignoring the rather compelling angle of ASU's freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter throwing for over 400 yards and leading an offense that nearly tallied 700 yards of total offense in the victory. No, all that Brent and his cohort Gary Danielson could do was go on and on, slurping Rutgers for their huge moral victory. I understand that the Insight Bowl is a janky third-tier game but feel free to pay attention to the game as it develops if you're being paid to sit in the booth.
I'm saving some poker and Red Sox thoughts for later blogs but I've got some stuff to say about both.
I've seen two good movies recently...Walk the Line and Munich. I really enjoyed the Johnny Cash movie despite the fact that I'm certainly not a diehard fan of his music. One of the most amazing things about the film for me was that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon both did all of their own singing and did a fantastic job. This certainly helps keep you in the story of the film, as opposed to taking you out of it thinking "that's not really him." Good movie, well paced, with great performances. Witherspoon was really impressive.
We caught Munich yesterday and it was about what I expected. In fact, I'm not even sure exactly what I think of it yet, but that's probably the intended nature of the film. One thing Spielberg does consistently well is establish a clear, visual tone for his films and this one is no exception. I'm not a huge student of early 70s movies but this one flat-out looks like one. Eric Bana is very good in the lead role, and I was also intrigued by Daniel Craig, an actor that I've heard of but never seen before. I believe that he has been tabbed to be the next James Bond and it is an interesting, unconventional choice. The string of Pierce Brosnan Bond movies were completely underwhelming for me--I haven't even seen all of them and the ones that I did catch blandly run together in my mind. And this is coming from a huge Bond fan, so I hope that picking Craig means that the producers plan to reinvigorate the series. Craig kind of has a young Steve McQueen air to him. Give him the license to kill and get it started!
ASU won their bowl game last night and unfortunately we were subjected to the ever-inane Brent Musberger in the booth. He clearly did no preparation at all because he had no idea what he was talking about the entire time, and the only thread he was able to latch onto was the fact that just being there was a huge accomplishment for Rutgers because they have never won a bowl game before, essentially completely ignoring the rather compelling angle of ASU's freshman quarterback Rudy Carpenter throwing for over 400 yards and leading an offense that nearly tallied 700 yards of total offense in the victory. No, all that Brent and his cohort Gary Danielson could do was go on and on, slurping Rutgers for their huge moral victory. I understand that the Insight Bowl is a janky third-tier game but feel free to pay attention to the game as it develops if you're being paid to sit in the booth.
I'm saving some poker and Red Sox thoughts for later blogs but I've got some stuff to say about both.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Holidays
We're headed up to Germantown for a few days and returning to Little Rock on Christmas Eve. I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season. Hopefully I'll have more reasons to post somewhat entertaining or exciting stuff during the new year.
Go Pats!
Go Pats!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Busy few days
On Thursday we got the first batch of notes on our script and I was really happy with what we heard. My expectations were pretty low, based on how many changes our producer wanted from our original treatment, plus the fact that we threw a ton of stuff into the first draft and worked on it very quickly. Well, it turns out that he really likes it. He didn't ask us to cut anything and he only asked for a few small changes here and there, some of which were things Johnny and I had already discussed. So we're very excited about the positive feedback and we're looking forward to quickly implementing the producer's suggestions into the second draft. Oh, and this is pretty funny: apparently the producer's next movie he's making is a zombie movie...and he wants me to be in it. Johnny the professional actor found this very humorous: "Nice that you're getting acting gigs out of this," he told me in an e-mail. I certainly won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen, but who knows. If I do end up in "Fist Full of Blood"--yes, that is the working title--I'll certainly write about it here!
On Friday night Beth's division at work had a group meeting in a luxury box at Alltel Arena (fittingly) for an Arkansas Rimrockers game. They are a minor league hoops team in the NBA's developmental league. Looking over the rosters I only recognized three or four names but it was still an entertaining game to watch. Not Memphis Grizzlies--blasting G'N'R entertaining, but still fun. And if you are headed out to an NBDL game anytime soon, it seems that there will be plenty of good seats available. The announced attendance was three thousand and change but it looked like about half that. And the luxury box is definitely the way to go for a game that you really don't care about--free food and free beer, enough said.
On Saturday we went to watch the Jermain Taylor fight at the house of one of Beth's co-workers. Now, I don't want to say that this friend lives out in the middle of nowhere but the directions included things like "turn after you pass the three trailers on your right" and "if you see a toothless guy with a banjo you went too far." Truly it was only 20-30 minutes away but it felt like more. But it was fun to get to watch the fight, although we won't be seeing this bout on ESPN Classic...well, ever. But hey, the hometown hero of Little Rock got the job done and retained the title. I bet he'll end up facing Winky Wright sometime next year.
Nice win for the Pats on Sunday. Sure, it was pretty ugly again and the Jets truly suck but I'll take them any way I can get them right now. My theory is that Coach Belichick is playing a little bit of rope-a-dope, knowing full well that we're going to win the division easily and we don't need to do anything tricky or exotic to get there, and then when the playoffs roll around, anything can happen. And if we can keep Cory Dillon and Kevin Faulk healthy, well, then we might actually have some semblance of a running game for the rest of the season.
On Friday night Beth's division at work had a group meeting in a luxury box at Alltel Arena (fittingly) for an Arkansas Rimrockers game. They are a minor league hoops team in the NBA's developmental league. Looking over the rosters I only recognized three or four names but it was still an entertaining game to watch. Not Memphis Grizzlies--blasting G'N'R entertaining, but still fun. And if you are headed out to an NBDL game anytime soon, it seems that there will be plenty of good seats available. The announced attendance was three thousand and change but it looked like about half that. And the luxury box is definitely the way to go for a game that you really don't care about--free food and free beer, enough said.
On Saturday we went to watch the Jermain Taylor fight at the house of one of Beth's co-workers. Now, I don't want to say that this friend lives out in the middle of nowhere but the directions included things like "turn after you pass the three trailers on your right" and "if you see a toothless guy with a banjo you went too far." Truly it was only 20-30 minutes away but it felt like more. But it was fun to get to watch the fight, although we won't be seeing this bout on ESPN Classic...well, ever. But hey, the hometown hero of Little Rock got the job done and retained the title. I bet he'll end up facing Winky Wright sometime next year.
Nice win for the Pats on Sunday. Sure, it was pretty ugly again and the Jets truly suck but I'll take them any way I can get them right now. My theory is that Coach Belichick is playing a little bit of rope-a-dope, knowing full well that we're going to win the division easily and we don't need to do anything tricky or exotic to get there, and then when the playoffs roll around, anything can happen. And if we can keep Cory Dillon and Kevin Faulk healthy, well, then we might actually have some semblance of a running game for the rest of the season.
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