Messrs. Tosy and Cosh hold forth on a list of 100 Best TV shows, so I'll do a similar thing -- but instead of color-coding shows I like, I'll just bold shows about which I have an opinion, one way or the other. Unaltered titles are shows I'm not familiar with. Occasional commentary, of course.
And now, the list!
24
60 Minutes (I don't much watch this anymore at all, but it was a staple in our home as a kid.)
The Abbott and Costello Show (I've always liked what I've seen of Abbott and Costello, but their show was before my time.)
ABC's Wide World of Sports (I miss this! I remember once watching with keen interest a log-rolling competition on WWoS.)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
All in the Family (Brilliant show, obviously. I didn't get the social comment aspects at the time, since I was a kid.)
An American Family
American Idol (I'm totally hooked, even if I thought Melinda was robbed.)
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica (Wait a minute -- which one? The new one, or the original? I liked the original, but I've only seen the pilot of the new one. I was favorably impressed by that, I admit. I also watched several episodes of the original a couple of years back on DVD, and I was surprised that I didn't find the show to be the campy crap most people believe it to be.)
The Beavis and Butt-Head Show (I loved this! It was clever and funny, not just juvenilia. There's an episode where the guys participate in the school fundraising candy sale, and instead of selling all of their candy bars to other people for two bucks apiece, they just keep selling their candy bars back and forth to each other, just exchanging the same two bucks over and over again. That was hilarious. Plus, the commentary on music videos which in its way presaged MST3K. And you know what? After a very late night closing a Pizza Hut, there's nothing better than Beavis and Butthead at two in the morning.)
The Bob Newhart Show (Hi Bob!)
Brideshead Revisited
Buffalo Bill
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (A special case. I always figured I'd like it, and I watched a couple of episodes during its run and was always impressed. But its timeslot didn't work for me, and I never felt driven to invest myself in getting up to speed on the show's backstory.)
The Carol Burnett Show (You know, I miss the old sketch and variety shows!)
The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
A Charlie Brown Christmas (We will watch this yearly until we die, and probably after that, even.)
Cheers (What can I say? Just an amazing show, with a greater track record for consistent laughs than just about any American show ever produced, in my opinion.)
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show (But not until Jon Stewart took over. I never cared for Craig Kilborne.)
Dallas (Loved it, and I'm not afraid to admit it! I know they're doing a movie version of it, with John Travolta as JR, and I'm ambivalent about that; I wonder if they're doing something like the Brady Bunch movies where it's more spoof than anything else. Personally, I think a fairly compelling movie could be made out of the Dallas backstory, where John Ross Ewing and Digger Barnes meet, wildcat for oil together, and fall for Miss Ellie. CBS did a TV movie of this, years ago, but I think it would make a neat story for a feature film.)
The Day After
Deadwood
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Dragnet
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ernie Kovacs Show
Felicity (Meh. My general antipathy toward JJ Abrams starts here. Never got the fuss. Keri Russell is really cute, though.)
Freaks and Geeks (I saw one episode of this. And I loved that episode. So why have I never come round to watching the rest of it? Because I'm lazy and slothful, that's why.)
The French Chef
Friends (One of my most beloved of shows, even if now I re-watch the first season and notice some of the creaks and growing pains and generic sit-com stuff. I didn't dislike the last season, but the show did noticeably run low on steam, and probably should have ended a season earlier than it did. But I loved it just the same, and I almost think that in its whole "representative show of Generation X" persona or whatever, it's almost become underrated as just a good comedy show. There were some inspiringly funny things that happened in its episodes, and many of them were ingeniously character-driven moments. For my money, the greatest punchline to a sitcom episode ever comes in the episode where Ross finally learns of Chandler and Monica's relationship.)
General Hospital (Huge fan when I was a kid! How fun it was, watching Robert Skorpio and friends struggle to thwart the plans of the evil DVX! And I still remember how mad I'd get when they'd do their once-a-week episode that caught up all of the other storylines, the boring ones about which doctor is in love with which nurse or the latest fight between Alan and Monica Quartermaine or the current doings of the people living in "the Brownstone". I never thought Laura was all that beautiful, though; Finola Hughes as Anna Devane was more my speed.)
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Gilmore Girls (I should watch some of this sometime -- I've heard lots of good things about it.)
Gunsmoke
Hill Street Blues
Homicide: Life on the Street
The Honeymooners (One of the NYC TV stations we received when we finally got cable -- either WOR or WPIX -- used to run this, late at night. And it was always hysterical.)
I, Claudius
I Love Lucy (I was never that big a fan, for some reason. I've seen lots of re-runs, and while I don't dislike it, I've never quite understood all the fuss.)
King of the Hill (I haven't seen this in a long time, but it was a favorite for a while. I still cannot drive by a place that sells propane and not think things like "I sell propane and propane accessories" and "Lady propane is a clean-burning fuel, I tell you what!")
The Larry Sanders Show
Late Night with David Letterman (NBC) (Why not the CBS years, as well? He's done inspired stuff on both incarnations. I love Dave!)
Leave It to Beaver
Lost (Awesome production values. Extremely well-made show, with more craftsmanship than you'll find on lots of feature movies. Sadly, though, a story and characters that completely leave me cold. My antipathy toward JJ Abrams continues.)
Married... With Children
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H (Either side-splittingly funny, or self-important windbaggery. Still, the series's last half hour never fails to move me, when I see it.)
The Monkees
Monty Python's Flying Circus (I could spend an entire series of posts waxing poetic about my love-affair with Monty Python. Maybe I will someday. Suffice it to say, "wink wink nudge nudge know-what-I-mean!")
Moonlighting (Mildly amusing show that I found wildly overrated. I actually put off seeing Die Hard because I generally hated Bruce Willis's character on this show.)
MTV 1981-1992 (If only I'd channeled those hours into something useful!)
My So-Called Life (Ahhh yes, and it's being re-issued on DVD this fall. Gotta pick it up. It's brilliant. I watched every episode in its initial run.)
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Who doesn't love this?)
The Odd Couple (I used to watch it in re-runs when I was a kid, and I thought it very funny. I haven't seen it in years, though.)
The Office [American] (Often brilliant, but there are times -- more frequently last season -- where my credulity is strained such that I can't see how Michael could possibly keep his job doing some of the things he does, no matter how good his sales record is.)
The Office [British]
The Oprah Winfrey Show
Pee Wee's Playhouse
Playhouse 90
The Price Is Right (Sure!)
Prime Suspect
The Prisoner
The Real World (I only watched the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London incarnations, and I enjoyed each. The London season annoyed me a bit, because of that lazy kid from Portland who spent three months living in London and basically never left the flat.)
Rocky and His Friends
Roots
Roseanne (Hated it. Unfunny, loud, boorish. Ugh.)
Sanford and Son (I used to watch this in re-runs with my father. Good times, those!)
Saturday Night Live (It comes and goes, doesn't it? BTW, the guy they have who does George W. Bush right now is awful.)
Second City Television
See It Now
Seinfeld (The first couple of seasons are tough to watch now, but everything else after is gold, Jerry! Gold! Even the much-derided Season Nine.)
Sesame Street (Yup. Nothing else to say, really. Although nowadays...Elmo makes me want to hit the bottle.)
Sex and the City
The Shield
The Simpsons (I think this may be the reason television was invented in the first place. And animation.)
The Singing Detective
Six Feet Under
Soap
The Sopranos (I have no interest in this show.)
South Park (I haven't seen it in seven or eight years, but I often found it quite funny back then.)
SpongeBob SquarePants (This makes me laugh a bit...but I'm never quite sure why. I suspect this show is designed to be watched while drunk.)
SportsCenter (I was watching the day Charlie Steiner lost it after they played the clip of someone singing the "Star Spangled Banner" very badly. That's it, really.)
Star Trek (See the "Star Trek Redux" posts, linked in the sidebar.)
St. Elsewhere
The Super Bowl (and the Ads) (I watch it for the games, and use the commercials for blogging, grabbing food, going to the bathroom, etc. Usually the next morning I haven't even seen all of the ads.)
Survivor (I don't like it much, although we did watch two seasons because for a time The Daughter liked the games they'd do on the beach. But the constant footage of people whispering to one another about who they're voting off gets boring very quickly, and I find that it's hard to root "for" these people, because it seems that the kinds of personality traits that enable one to win Survivor are traits that would make one a complete jerk in real life. Really, who on Earth would want to spend quality time with Richard Hatch?)
Taxi (I remember liking it a lot. I don't remember much of why. It's been a very long time since I saw it at all.)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (Johnny Carson was always class.)
The Twilight Zone
Twin Peaks
The West Wing (First two-and-a-half seasons were amazing; Aaron Sorkin started to peter out a bit for a while. The election episodes in Season Four were pretty dull. The fifth season, the first without Sorkin, was a mixed bag, with some very good stuff scattered into some very boring stuff. But the sixth and seventh seasons were excellent again, I thought.)
What's My Line?
WKRP in Cincinnati (I loved this show. Another favorite from re-runs as a kid.)
The Wire
Wiseguy
The X-Files (I've discussed it before in this space. I hung in there a lot longer than most fans, but it did go on two years longer than it should have.)
Your Show of Shows
---end of list---
OK, that's all the shows on the list. There are some, of course, that seem to be missing, as is always the case with lists like this. ER should be there, I think; its quick-fire storytelling was quite the thunderbolt when it first arrived in 1994, and no matter how bad it has become in the last few years, it was very good for most of its run before that, and often brilliant. (And it's the only show I can think of to have not one, but two, "jump the shark" moments. That's pretty notable.) I'm always bummed out that Barney Miller doesn't get enough love, and ditto NYPDBlue. Recognizing the Super Bowl is well and good, but in terms of remaking the TV landscape, it seems to me that Monday Night Football is more significant.
Anyway, there it is. I watch too much teevee.
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
But I wanted to be...a LUMBERJACK!
Stolen from Jason, I followed these instructions:
1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/.
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top ten results.
OK, so here are my top ten results:
1. Technical Writer
2. Anthropologist
3. Writer
4. Market Research Analyst
5. Critic
6. Print Journalist
7. Translator
8. Communications Specialist
9. Political Aide
10. Activist
Most of these come as no surprise, I must admit -- look at all the writing careers! Yay! Not so sure about technical writing, given my lack of expertise in technical stuff, but there's a learning curve there, I suppose. Also "translator" -- I'm not sure how that came about, seeing as how there were no questions about languages (and my non-English speech is limited to what little high school French I remember). I also don't know how good a political aide I'd be, given the high level of frustration I often feel with politics as it's practiced in this country.
Being a print journalist would be cool -- I could put the "liberal" back in "liberal media"!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Unidentified Earth 17
And now we're back in the swing of things! Before we go on, though, the unofficial entries from the other day are the Fox Plaza in Los Angeles (which served in Die Hard as the Nakitomi building), and the West Wing of the White House (you can see the oval roof of the oval office).
That aside, time for the new entry. Here it is:
Where are we?
(Rot-13 your answers, please!)
That aside, time for the new entry. Here it is:
Where are we?
(Rot-13 your answers, please!)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Christmas in Blogistan? (part quatre)
I haven't mentioned this in a few days, but hey, Buffalo bloggers (all those who haven't already weighed in), pencil in December 8 for a Buffalo Blogger Christmas Con, or Buffalo Blogging Festivus, or whatever we want to call this gathering. My suggestion for a venue is this place. Yes, it's in the Southtowns (Aieee!), and you can't see the HSBC Building from their parking lot (thus guaranteeing that Mary Kunz Goldman* won't be in attendance), but it's quite easy to get to (I-90 to 219 South, 219 South to Milestrip East, Milestrip East to Southwestern Blvd/US20 East, two miles or so to BSG). I have no idea if we'd need to "book" the place in advance, but it looks like a pretty big place anyway, and as I mentioned in a previous posting, the Sabres have a late game that night (they'll be on a west coast trip, puck dropping at 10:00 or thereabouts our time).
Spread the word. Otherwise, it's just Jen and I looking awkwardly across the table at one another, and me saying stuff like, "So. Mark. How's that workin' out for ya?"
Previous posts on this subject here and here. Alan mentioned it, to the sound of chirping crickets; Paul mentioned it and got a couple of responses. Let's get the word out, people! That bar's 15 teevee's aren't gonna watch themselves!
* I kid! She's been producing some nice writing on classical music lately, such as this interview with Van Cliburn. Actually, she's always produced nice writing on classical music.
Spread the word. Otherwise, it's just Jen and I looking awkwardly across the table at one another, and me saying stuff like, "So. Mark. How's that workin' out for ya?"
Previous posts on this subject here and here. Alan mentioned it, to the sound of chirping crickets; Paul mentioned it and got a couple of responses. Let's get the word out, people! That bar's 15 teevee's aren't gonna watch themselves!
* I kid! She's been producing some nice writing on classical music lately, such as this interview with Van Cliburn. Actually, she's always produced nice writing on classical music.
The Road goes on and on
Huzzah!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Complete Recordings will be released on November 6 of this year. It will include four CDs (the releases for the previous two films had three each) and a DVD containing the entire score in really good sound (I take their word for this).
At some point in the future, film music expert Doug Adams will have a book out on the subject of these films and their music. I can't wait for that, either.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Howard Shore's accomplishment on the LOTR films represents one of the towering masterworks of all film music.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Complete Recordings will be released on November 6 of this year. It will include four CDs (the releases for the previous two films had three each) and a DVD containing the entire score in really good sound (I take their word for this).
At some point in the future, film music expert Doug Adams will have a book out on the subject of these films and their music. I can't wait for that, either.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Howard Shore's accomplishment on the LOTR films represents one of the towering masterworks of all film music.
Et tu, Belichick?
Friends, Romans, NFL fans, lend me your ears!
I come to bury the Patriots, not praise them.
The games that they win live after them;
the things they do to win those games are oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with the Patriots. The noble Belichick
hath told you that the Patriots are noble,
and Belichick is an honorable man....
Well. Well, well well. Well. Ahhhh...well.
This may be unseemly on my part, but...heck, I don't care. I've long made absolutely no secret how loathsome I find Bill Belichick and his whole merry band of cohorts in New England, and once again, they prove my point through arrogance and, now, unmasked misdeeds. I've always been flummoxed by the mystique surrounding Belichick (and Tom Brady), and now quite a lot of it is explained: it turns out that Belichick's greatness is at least in part a function of the fact that the guy's just a weasel.
It suddenly seems a lot less mysterious, doesn't it, how Belichick's managed to carve out his reputation as a guy who can somehow elevate the most marginal of players into terrific performers.
It suddenly seems a lot less mysterious how all of those players who thrive under Belichick fail to thrive when they go someplace else.
It suddenly seems a lot less mysterious how Belichick's former assistants go on to their own coaching jobs and end up not doing quite as well.
It suddenly seems a lot less mysterious how it is that the Patriots always struggle against the Bills in their first meeting of the season, and then blow them out in the second.
And it suddenly seems a lot less mysterious just how it is that New England always seems to just happen to have the exact right play drawn up in every situation.
I'll admit it: I'm happy this came out. I like that the hallowed New England mystique has taken a major hit. I like that people are now seeing that franchise more the way I've seen them for years (pretty much ever since that incredibly phony stunt of theirs at the outset of Super Bowl XXXVI, when they eschewed individual player introductions in favor of "being introduced as a team"). For a number of years now, questioning the Anointed status of Belichick, Brady, and the Patriots has been the NFL equivalent of walking into a Catholic church during Mass and denouncing the Pope with a bullhorn.
Well, it now seems clear to a lot more people that the halo on the New England organization is actually a brass hoop held up by a bit of coathanger.
What to do, then? I personally would like to see the Patriots stripped of their first and second round draft picks next year, as well as have the league invalidate any trades they might make to acquire new picks in those rounds. And then I'd require Belichick to wear a three-piece suit on the field during all game days. That ought to hurt 'em!
(OK, gloating's over. Back to the more reasoned tones you've all come to expect here!)
UPDATE: Belicheater.com. I love it. A taste:
Only Belichick’s lack of throwing furniture and his omnipresent monotone keeps his reputation from completely spilling over into Bob Knight territory. He’s a jerk, but not one you hear screaming a lot. Belichick might not completely disdain the comparison to Knight, a good friend of Belichick’s former boss, Parcells. Knight was never one to rush to apologize for his actions, and Belichick doesn’t openly, Nixon-style, declare “I am not a jerk,” instead issuing vague responses that sound like they were written by Alan Greenspan.
But one other thing about Knight. For all of his flaws, he was all about fair play. Belichick is about gaming the system as much as you can.
That's from this article by Bob Cook, reprinted at Belicheater.com.
I wonder how long this has been going on. This seems, frankly, worse to me than Barry Bonds's steroid use; this potentially could put an asterisk next to the results of three Super Bowls. Ouch.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
"The City of Dead Works" (a repost)
I guess this is as close to a tradition on this blog as I have: I re-post this story every year on this date. I wrote it within months of the original event.
"The City of Dead Works"
There is never any rest for me, the Ferryman of the Dead.
I pole my barge across the black waters and up to the pier. So many wait this time, many more than usual. I wonder what has happened, what event has sent me this many. "Come aboard," I say. "I will take your coin for passage." One by one they file past me, each handing to me the coin that they never knew they had. It is the coin which determines where they shall be taken to rest, its metal shaped and determined by life. The coins of these dead are gold, every one of them purest gold. Six thousand come aboard my barge, and each has passage for the farthest and greatest of destinations. In that moment I know that something truly dark has happened; the gold coins are always forged in moments of darkness. I am the Ferryman. I can give them no answers to what lies behind their haunted, questioning eyes. I can only take them on this, the last of all journeys.
When they are all aboard I take up the pole and push away from the pier. The barge always feels the same, no matter how many stand upon its decks. Whether six or six thousand, it is all the same to me. I guide us out onto the River Styx. Some of the people look worried, but there is no need for fear. This river can do them no harm. They are already dead.
This is to be a long journey, I know – it always is, to this destination. As I guide the barge through the black waters, I look on the faces of those who have come to me. As different as these people all look, they all have the same expressions of shock, disbelief, and withering sadness. Here is a man of business, talking into a cell phone. He is trying to call someone, anyone, who will tell him that it’s all a dream, that it didn’t happen, that he didn’t die in a blast of fire, smoke, glass and steel. There is a mother who is explaining to her daughter that they won’t be going to Disneyland after all. And there, a group of firemen stand together, realizing that soon they will meet all their brothers-in-arms who have gone into the infernos before them. So many now – colleagues once in business and now colleagues in death, people who have never before met but now have the gravest thing in common. As the current takes hold, I look back at the pier. There are more gathering there. There are always more. They will wait. Time does not exist for the dead.
"Please," a young man says as he turns to me, "I have to go home to my daughters."
"You are going home now," I reply. "To the home where all eventually return." Two black rocks slide past on either side, the rocks that mark the passage of the circling Styx.
"This can’t be," a woman cries out. "My mother needs me."
"She will be with you soon enough."
"When?" Her voice pleads, and yet there is no solace that is mine to give.
"I cannot say," I reply. "The Ferryman has no hand in Fate."
The tears come then, tears from the six thousand that run over the gunwales and into the river which has been fed by tears for centuries. All tears are born in the River Styx.
"Where will you take us?" someone asks.
"To the place you are promised," I answer. I recall the words of a poet: Will there be beds for all who seek? Yea, beds for all who come.
One our left we approach the Hills of the Damned, an endless stretch of shattered lands which reach away into the blackness. The waters echo with the cries of all those who have been taken to the Hills for the agony they have brought on the living. I consider the bag of six thousand gold coins, and I realize that I will have to journey to the Hills this day. There will be a person, perhaps more, who will pay me with a coin of black tin; but not on this journey. As the hills recede behind us, the unending cries of the damned become fainter and fainter until they are drowned out by the lapping of the waters upon the sides of the boat and the marker stones that we pass. The six thousand fall silent, each realizing that it is not a dream. I would offer solace, but as ever I cannot. I am the Ferryman.
We come around a particularly dark bend, and before us lies a very wide expanse of water, as if the Styx has become an ocean – which in some sense it probably has. And beyond that expanse are the thousands of twinkling lights that I have come to know so well. One man, a fireman, sees them too. "What is that?" he asks.
"It is the City of Dead Works," I reply. The lights of the city glow on the horizon, and every one of the six thousand turns toward them as the Styx impels us onward. As we come ever closer to the city, the glittering lights reflect off the black water.
"I don’t understand," someone else says. "The City of Dead Works?"
"Aye," I reply. "Behold!"
From behind us, golden light: the Sun of the Dead is rising as it always does when the dead come near the City. Above us the firmament is turning purple, then blue; soon the light of the Sun will illuminate the City of Dead Works. As the sky lightens, the true scope of that city becomes plain: it stretches away into the land, farther than any eye could see. Not even the highest-soaring raven, cavorting in the breezes and zephyrs of the dead, could take it all in. It is bigger by far than any one city ever built by the hand of men, because it encompasses some part of all of them. Perhaps it is bigger than all of the cities ever built. Now the sun’s first rays come up behind us, and the first buildings can be seen down by the water.
"That one looks Egyptian," a woman says.
"The Great Library of Alexandria," I tell her. "Once the greatest repository of learning the world had ever seen, now only a memory to the living and a reality only to the dead."
A man points to a building high upon a rock. I nod.
"The Temple of Solomon," I say.
"There are ships in the harbor," says another. Thus for him I name the ships: Arizona, Indianapolis, Lusitania, Bismarck, Wilhelm Gustloff, Cap Arcona. And many, many others. I scan over the impossibly vast city and spot Dresden, as it was; and beside it the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And how many smaller villages, tucked into the hills beyond the City? None can say. The Sun of the Dead shines upon those hills now, and the great stone statues in the likeness of Siddhartha Gautama.
"I don’t understand," a young man says. "Why this City? Why here?"
I only shake my head as we continue to float by the City. I do not point out the fairly small, nondescript office building that sits near the water. It is not a particularly remarkable building; nor was it, really, until the fuse was lit. The six thousand almost don’t recognize it.
Almost.
Not one word is uttered as we slide past the Alfred Murrah Federal Building. Then we turn away from the City of Dead Works, and head again down the waters of the Styx toward distant hills and the place where these people will join their brethren.
"Who lives in that city?" It is a priest in a fireman’s coat.
"No one lives there," I tell him. "The City of Dead Works is not for people. It is for the buildings and the ships. It is for the books and the music, the sculptures and the paintings which are gone forever. It is for everything destroyed by craven people in the name of foolish wars, for everything judged forfeit in the face of transitory desires."
The Styx takes us into the Golden Hills. Soon we will be there, and the six thousand will go where they belong. And then the Styx will complete its circle, taking me back to the pier where more dead await.
"We will be there soon," I say. "Soon we will be at the Elysian Fields, where all heroes go – for that is what you all are. It is what you have bought with your lives, with the shaping of your coins into gold." No one replies. We near the last bend now, and before us lie the Elysian Fields, where peace reigns and where heroes dwell; where all is light and voices are always raised in song. The Sun of the Dead shines warmly on Elysium.
But they do not see it. They, the six thousand, all gaze back behind us upon the City of Dead Works. It will soon be behind us forever as we round the last bend of the River Styx into Elysium. I know they all need one last look upon that City, and I do not grudge them that. For myself, I do not look back; the eyes of the Ferryman are ever forward. But I know. I know that the City of Dead Works is different now. I know that it has changed. I know that the people who come with me now to Elysium, the dead around me, look back on the two soaring towers of steel that now rise above the City where there had been no towers before.
I know these things.
I am the Ferryman of the Dead.
Finis.
Monday, September 10, 2007
There but for the Grace
Kevin at BfloBlog has a rundown on the latest details on Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who suffered a very bad spinal injury in yesterday's game. I don't have much more to say than this...but what a horrible thing to happen.
The thing about the whole incident is that the hit that ended Everett's career and may have paralyzed him for life wasn't that big of a hit, by NFL standards. This wasn't one of those "Cringe when you see the replay" hits. And yet, Kevin Everett may never walk again. Hell, he may even die from this.
The thing about the whole incident is that the hit that ended Everett's career and may have paralyzed him for life wasn't that big of a hit, by NFL standards. This wasn't one of those "Cringe when you see the replay" hits. And yet, Kevin Everett may never walk again. Hell, he may even die from this.
Sentential Links #110
After a couple of weeks without Sentential Links, the world looks darker...more evil...oh wait, that's just the NFL team from New England taking the field again. Oops!
Anyway, here are some new links for your clicking pleasure! (More political ones than usual, by the way. My inner liberal is kind of annoyed right now.)
:: And such is the war in Iraq as seen through neocon lenses. Mistakes are always in the past. The current policy is always working. When the mistakes are being made, those who point out the mistakes are tarred as near-treasonous. Then, after another year or two of pointless, futile bloodshed, it's conceded that mistakes were made in the past. But now we're right on track. And the liberals, once again, just don't get it. (I am so sick of "Victory is finally at hand!" talk, of "The Surge is working!", of all of it. This war sucks, it's not going to accomplish a damn thing other than the creation of lots of new terrorists, and it's time for it to end.)
:: The Petraeus-Crocker testimony is the kind of short-lived event on which the Administration has relied to shore up support for the war: the “Mission Accomplished” declaration, the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddam’s capture, the transfer of sovereignty, the three rounds of voting, the Plan for Victory, the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Every new milestone, however illusory, allows the Administration to avoid thinking ahead, to the years when the mistakes of Iraq will continue to haunt the U.S. (Not a blog post, actually, but a good article nonetheless. This war has been four years of violence leading to nothing at all, punctuated every so often by some kind of moment that the pro-war crowd can use as fodder for cheerleading the continuation of the war.)
:: Anyone who has looked at a medical bill with his name on it and compared the cost to what he pays for the other necessities of life might experience a memorable moment of terror, even if he is at the moment protected by the blessing of insurance. Health care coverage is, for a lot of us, contingent on employment, and in this groovy entrepreneural era we have learned to think of job security as a joke. Having carried post-employment COBRA payments myself, I know how the nervous feeling increases as one drifts further from the corporate zone of protection.
:: We look, after Moore’s propaganda film, like people who can’t quite let go of the other propaganda we’ve had sowed in our brains since birth: That the government can’t do anything right, and the market does everything better. Ask yourself if that’s true the next time you find your COBRA running out. (We saw numbers printed on pieces of paper during and after Little Quinn's life, numbers that bugger the imagination. We once thought that we should maybe bop out somewhere and buy a few extras of those plastic tubes through which we poured his every meal directly into his stomach -- until we discovered that they cost over one hundred dollars apiece. Navigating the morass of medical professionals who were necessary just for that kid's basic care was hard enough without placing those withering costs on our heads, or making us resort to some kind of shopping process, all in the name of "market competition", as though procuring medical care is or should be akin to purchasing a new refrigerator.)
:: Sitcoms are still getting numbers. TWO AND HALF MEN still beats HEROES and 24. THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK manage to hold their own even though they’re in the death slot against GREY’S ANATOMY and CSI.
:: After making this comic, I doubt I’ll ever be able to watch them again, but I will give Peter Jackson credit for doing a tough job for a demanding crowd. (And so ends DM of the Rings. Bummer. Shamus is on to a new comics project now, though, so check it out.)
:: Today, Route 60 is nearly transcontinental after all, traveling from Virginia to Arizona, and Route 62 goes from one border to the other, but Route 66 gets all the attention and the big travel bucks from road-tripping tourists ("big" is relative, of course). Because history is weird that way.
:: We all manage. We do well. We make memories. Life goes on. But each of us -- and most especially I -- look forward to the return of the "unrelenting" 24/7/365 nature of what we do and what we have here in the little house in the tiny woods on the prairie. (One day I hope to feel like this.)
:: I am the entertained owner of three Buckeye pullets (young hens who don't yet lay eggs). (There's a specific word for hens who haven't begun laying eggs? The things you learn!)
All for this week. Enjoy, mere mortals!
Anyway, here are some new links for your clicking pleasure! (More political ones than usual, by the way. My inner liberal is kind of annoyed right now.)
:: And such is the war in Iraq as seen through neocon lenses. Mistakes are always in the past. The current policy is always working. When the mistakes are being made, those who point out the mistakes are tarred as near-treasonous. Then, after another year or two of pointless, futile bloodshed, it's conceded that mistakes were made in the past. But now we're right on track. And the liberals, once again, just don't get it. (I am so sick of "Victory is finally at hand!" talk, of "The Surge is working!", of all of it. This war sucks, it's not going to accomplish a damn thing other than the creation of lots of new terrorists, and it's time for it to end.)
:: The Petraeus-Crocker testimony is the kind of short-lived event on which the Administration has relied to shore up support for the war: the “Mission Accomplished” declaration, the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddam’s capture, the transfer of sovereignty, the three rounds of voting, the Plan for Victory, the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Every new milestone, however illusory, allows the Administration to avoid thinking ahead, to the years when the mistakes of Iraq will continue to haunt the U.S. (Not a blog post, actually, but a good article nonetheless. This war has been four years of violence leading to nothing at all, punctuated every so often by some kind of moment that the pro-war crowd can use as fodder for cheerleading the continuation of the war.)
:: Anyone who has looked at a medical bill with his name on it and compared the cost to what he pays for the other necessities of life might experience a memorable moment of terror, even if he is at the moment protected by the blessing of insurance. Health care coverage is, for a lot of us, contingent on employment, and in this groovy entrepreneural era we have learned to think of job security as a joke. Having carried post-employment COBRA payments myself, I know how the nervous feeling increases as one drifts further from the corporate zone of protection.
:: We look, after Moore’s propaganda film, like people who can’t quite let go of the other propaganda we’ve had sowed in our brains since birth: That the government can’t do anything right, and the market does everything better. Ask yourself if that’s true the next time you find your COBRA running out. (We saw numbers printed on pieces of paper during and after Little Quinn's life, numbers that bugger the imagination. We once thought that we should maybe bop out somewhere and buy a few extras of those plastic tubes through which we poured his every meal directly into his stomach -- until we discovered that they cost over one hundred dollars apiece. Navigating the morass of medical professionals who were necessary just for that kid's basic care was hard enough without placing those withering costs on our heads, or making us resort to some kind of shopping process, all in the name of "market competition", as though procuring medical care is or should be akin to purchasing a new refrigerator.)
:: Sitcoms are still getting numbers. TWO AND HALF MEN still beats HEROES and 24. THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK manage to hold their own even though they’re in the death slot against GREY’S ANATOMY and CSI.
:: After making this comic, I doubt I’ll ever be able to watch them again, but I will give Peter Jackson credit for doing a tough job for a demanding crowd. (And so ends DM of the Rings. Bummer. Shamus is on to a new comics project now, though, so check it out.)
:: Today, Route 60 is nearly transcontinental after all, traveling from Virginia to Arizona, and Route 62 goes from one border to the other, but Route 66 gets all the attention and the big travel bucks from road-tripping tourists ("big" is relative, of course). Because history is weird that way.
:: We all manage. We do well. We make memories. Life goes on. But each of us -- and most especially I -- look forward to the return of the "unrelenting" 24/7/365 nature of what we do and what we have here in the little house in the tiny woods on the prairie. (One day I hope to feel like this.)
:: I am the entertained owner of three Buckeye pullets (young hens who don't yet lay eggs). (There's a specific word for hens who haven't begun laying eggs? The things you learn!)
All for this week. Enjoy, mere mortals!
Broncos 15, Bills 14
Well, that sure sucked! Expecting one's team to go 5-11 doesn't make it any more fun when one of the eleven predicted losses turns out to have been as winnable as this game was. For what it's worth, I saw from the Bills today pretty much what I expected to see today: some promising stuff, and some other stuff that made me wish for December.
Anyway, here are my reactions to various stuff, categorized into three areas depending on how I feel about them.
Woo-hoo!
:: Marshawn Lynch. This was the first time I saw this guy in action, since I didn't watch anything in the postseason. I didn't realize how large he was, and he looks like he's going to be a really good one as he gets better and more experienced. On his touchdown run, he literally pushed a Denver defender into the end zone in front of him.
:: Roscoe Parrish. Great kickoff return, obviously.
:: Paul Posluszny. I liked him a lot. Now, if someone else on the defense would make plays.
Meh.
:: JP Losman. Look, I didn't think he looked bad in the game. Nothing he did seemed really cover-my-eyes awful, like he once did last year. But he didn't seem to step forward at all, did he? Losman's at a stage in his career when he should be able to make more plays than he did yesterday. He didn't step it up. I don't think Losman made any mistakes that cost the Bills the game, but he didn't take control, either. I don't think he took a step backward -- but I didn't see any evidence of a step forward. At this point I think he should be showing some of those "intangibles", now that his raw mechanics seem to be OK.
:: Bills defense. We knew it was going to be a bad defense, and it played like it. Sure, they only gave up 15 points, but it seemed like every time Denver needed to make a big conversion, they either made it or gained enough yardage to turn a long yardage situation into a short yardage situation on the very next down.
:: Offensive line. I was, on balance, favorably impressed by this unit. But we're talking, roughly, fifty-three percent impressed versus forty-seven percent shaking my head in dismay. I like to think the unit will get better as the year goes on and the chemistry develops. They weren't getting blown off the line by the Denver defenders, and a few times they actually seemed to exert some will over the Broncos. But they weren't consistent.
D'oh!
:: Injuries. Holy crap. Coy Wire, Ko Simpson, and Kevin Everett: all hurt today, with Everett's sounding potentially career-threatening. (Not like Everett's had much of a career, but still.) The Bills are already weak at all the positions at which guys got hurt today.
:: Tight ends. It was maddening to me that Jay Cutler always had this big, strong target roaming the middle of the field to grab his dump-off passes (Javon Walker -- not technically a TE, but still), and Losman didn't. Robert Royal? He provided a catch. So did Everett before he got hurt on a special teams play. Two catches. None of Losman's receivers could get open in the middle, and the Broncos did a great job in taking downfield away. Ugh.
:: Peerless Price. One catch. Drawing a lot of salary that could otherwise have gone to a better receiver or a tight end or a defensive lineman or someone who could make a contribution.
:: Dumb mistakes by players. Josh Scobey either missed or ignored a signaled fair catch, and leveled the Denver player who was going to catch a punt. The resulting penalty and re-kick resulted in a net change of nineteen yards of field position.
:: Playcalling. I really hope it comes out who was responsible for trying a deep pass play when there's 2:30 left in the game and you're holding a two-point lead. What a horrible, horrible idea that was; it's only defensible in that goofy NFL-speak way where "You're a genius if it works and a goat if it doesn't." But if that play had simply been a run up the middle for no gain, it would have run fifteen or twenty seconds off the clock that were left on the clock otherwise by the incompletion. If everything else had been exactly the same from that point, the Broncos' rally for the winning FG would have run out of time well short of FG range. As it played out from that point, the Bills didn't even have to convert the third down.
Worse, that call sends a horrible message, doesn't it? If that came from the coaching staff, it seems to indicate a total lack of confidence in the defense. Granted, the D had not played very well all day, but they'd kept Denver to a low score. Calling for the home-run at that point basically says, "There's no way our young guys on D can preserve the two-point win once the other guys get the ball back." It could have been, "OK, youngsters, win the game for us." Instead, it was "God, we need more points." Bad, bad, bad move.
Next up: the Bills visit the Pittsburg Stealers. They should be able to bounce back against...oh crap, it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ach, I have a bad feeling about this.
Anyway, here are my reactions to various stuff, categorized into three areas depending on how I feel about them.
Woo-hoo!
:: Marshawn Lynch. This was the first time I saw this guy in action, since I didn't watch anything in the postseason. I didn't realize how large he was, and he looks like he's going to be a really good one as he gets better and more experienced. On his touchdown run, he literally pushed a Denver defender into the end zone in front of him.
:: Roscoe Parrish. Great kickoff return, obviously.
:: Paul Posluszny. I liked him a lot. Now, if someone else on the defense would make plays.
Meh.
:: JP Losman. Look, I didn't think he looked bad in the game. Nothing he did seemed really cover-my-eyes awful, like he once did last year. But he didn't seem to step forward at all, did he? Losman's at a stage in his career when he should be able to make more plays than he did yesterday. He didn't step it up. I don't think Losman made any mistakes that cost the Bills the game, but he didn't take control, either. I don't think he took a step backward -- but I didn't see any evidence of a step forward. At this point I think he should be showing some of those "intangibles", now that his raw mechanics seem to be OK.
:: Bills defense. We knew it was going to be a bad defense, and it played like it. Sure, they only gave up 15 points, but it seemed like every time Denver needed to make a big conversion, they either made it or gained enough yardage to turn a long yardage situation into a short yardage situation on the very next down.
:: Offensive line. I was, on balance, favorably impressed by this unit. But we're talking, roughly, fifty-three percent impressed versus forty-seven percent shaking my head in dismay. I like to think the unit will get better as the year goes on and the chemistry develops. They weren't getting blown off the line by the Denver defenders, and a few times they actually seemed to exert some will over the Broncos. But they weren't consistent.
D'oh!
:: Injuries. Holy crap. Coy Wire, Ko Simpson, and Kevin Everett: all hurt today, with Everett's sounding potentially career-threatening. (Not like Everett's had much of a career, but still.) The Bills are already weak at all the positions at which guys got hurt today.
:: Tight ends. It was maddening to me that Jay Cutler always had this big, strong target roaming the middle of the field to grab his dump-off passes (Javon Walker -- not technically a TE, but still), and Losman didn't. Robert Royal? He provided a catch. So did Everett before he got hurt on a special teams play. Two catches. None of Losman's receivers could get open in the middle, and the Broncos did a great job in taking downfield away. Ugh.
:: Peerless Price. One catch. Drawing a lot of salary that could otherwise have gone to a better receiver or a tight end or a defensive lineman or someone who could make a contribution.
:: Dumb mistakes by players. Josh Scobey either missed or ignored a signaled fair catch, and leveled the Denver player who was going to catch a punt. The resulting penalty and re-kick resulted in a net change of nineteen yards of field position.
:: Playcalling. I really hope it comes out who was responsible for trying a deep pass play when there's 2:30 left in the game and you're holding a two-point lead. What a horrible, horrible idea that was; it's only defensible in that goofy NFL-speak way where "You're a genius if it works and a goat if it doesn't." But if that play had simply been a run up the middle for no gain, it would have run fifteen or twenty seconds off the clock that were left on the clock otherwise by the incompletion. If everything else had been exactly the same from that point, the Broncos' rally for the winning FG would have run out of time well short of FG range. As it played out from that point, the Bills didn't even have to convert the third down.
Worse, that call sends a horrible message, doesn't it? If that came from the coaching staff, it seems to indicate a total lack of confidence in the defense. Granted, the D had not played very well all day, but they'd kept Denver to a low score. Calling for the home-run at that point basically says, "There's no way our young guys on D can preserve the two-point win once the other guys get the ball back." It could have been, "OK, youngsters, win the game for us." Instead, it was "God, we need more points." Bad, bad, bad move.
Next up: the Bills visit the Pittsburg Stealers. They should be able to bounce back against...oh crap, it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ach, I have a bad feeling about this.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sunday Burst of Weirdness
Some video goodness for this Sunday!
:: Star Wars? Singin' in the Rain? Two of my absolute favorite movies. What a mash-up!
Thanks, Shamus!
:: I recently remembered that goofy song "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry, and I wondered if it had any kind of proto-video from back in the day. Sure enough, it does:
What a gloriously un-PC song this is, from its advice that you should "have a drink, have a drive" to its notion that if your date is rich you should "take her out for a meal", while if she's poor, you should "do what you feel".
:: This isn't actually "weird", but another fun exercise is the "then and now" thing with various singers or pop bands. Here's the Starland Vocal Band with "Afternoon Delight", back in the day:
And here they are again, more recently:
I always find something a bit endearing about one-hit wonder groups who reunite years later to perform that one hit again.
(I also seem to remember that I loved that song when it was the hit of the day, back when I was all of five or six years old. I wonder how much amusement my parents derived from this, since I never realized what the friggin' song was about until I got a copy of it on a 70s hits compilation CD sometime in the mid-90s. I played it the first time, actually listened to the lyrics for the first time in my life, and suddenly realized, "Hey, this song is about teh sex!")
:: In a non-video vein, Belladonna points out that if you have old 3.5 inch floppy discs sitting about, you can make stuff out of them, like your own starship Enterprise. Now that's useful! In a similar vein, some folks actually collect AOL cds.
:: Germany wants your dead.
:: I have seen my own future...specifically, my future clothesline....
:: It bums me out that currently, I can't find a video online of Marv Levy singing the fight song he wrote for the Bills in the mid-90s. "Go Bills, for we are here to cheer for you!"
:: Star Wars? Singin' in the Rain? Two of my absolute favorite movies. What a mash-up!
Thanks, Shamus!
:: I recently remembered that goofy song "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry, and I wondered if it had any kind of proto-video from back in the day. Sure enough, it does:
What a gloriously un-PC song this is, from its advice that you should "have a drink, have a drive" to its notion that if your date is rich you should "take her out for a meal", while if she's poor, you should "do what you feel".
:: This isn't actually "weird", but another fun exercise is the "then and now" thing with various singers or pop bands. Here's the Starland Vocal Band with "Afternoon Delight", back in the day:
And here they are again, more recently:
I always find something a bit endearing about one-hit wonder groups who reunite years later to perform that one hit again.
(I also seem to remember that I loved that song when it was the hit of the day, back when I was all of five or six years old. I wonder how much amusement my parents derived from this, since I never realized what the friggin' song was about until I got a copy of it on a 70s hits compilation CD sometime in the mid-90s. I played it the first time, actually listened to the lyrics for the first time in my life, and suddenly realized, "Hey, this song is about teh sex!")
:: In a non-video vein, Belladonna points out that if you have old 3.5 inch floppy discs sitting about, you can make stuff out of them, like your own starship Enterprise. Now that's useful! In a similar vein, some folks actually collect AOL cds.
:: Germany wants your dead.
:: I have seen my own future...specifically, my future clothesline....
:: It bums me out that currently, I can't find a video online of Marv Levy singing the fight song he wrote for the Bills in the mid-90s. "Go Bills, for we are here to cheer for you!"
Notes from the Southtowns
Some stuff going on in my neck of the Niagara Frontier, if anyone's interested:
:: They don't have a website yet, nor is their physical location even open yet, but there's a new children's bookstore coming to Orchard Park, called "B is for Books". The signage says that they're "coming this fall", so hopefully they'll be open soon. I'll report back when they are. There's also a sign that says they'll do birthday parties as well, so that might be a nice alternative to the Chuck E. Cheese kind of thing.
:: Have any of my readers taken advantage at all of these new "Meal Preparation Stores"? I only just heard of this concept last week, when I read this article in the Buffalo News*. The idea is to allow for "home cooked" meals, but not at home: these places apparently provide you with ingredients and cooking space based on a menu you've chosen, and then you get to use their facilities to prepare the meals and then take them home for use during the week or whatever. Interesting idea for people who are really busy but who don't want to rely on take-out constantly. I don't think I'd get much use out of a service like this, since we do tend to have time to cook, but anyway, apparently these places are springing up all over.
And the newest one's literally on my streetcorner, in what used to be a 7-11. It's called Dinner Dilemma, and they have a pretty informative website up already. If this kind of service appeals to you, and you live in the Southtowns, check it out. (Obviously, for those of my readers who live in places like Albany (NY), Tulsa (OK), Chandler (AZ), or other points 'round the globe, you might want to look into a Meal Preparation Store more convenient to your locale. But then, you already knew that, because my readers are smart folks. Which makes me wonder why I've just typed all this. I need coffee.)
:: Also right around the corner from me is a neighborhood where one house is home to someone who has a logo for IP8Ball.com on the driverside door of their SUV. Ever curious, I checked it out, and it turns out to be a site for a blossoming paintball business. I don't know the first thing about paintball (other than it looks like fun), but, well, there it is.
* Apparently the News has discontinued "First Sunday", the Buffalo-centric lifestyle magazine that always came with the paper on the first Sunday of each month. I know, they want to revamp lots of the ways they provide content over there, what with the Interweb and declining circulation and all, but I liked "First Sunday". Oh well.
:: They don't have a website yet, nor is their physical location even open yet, but there's a new children's bookstore coming to Orchard Park, called "B is for Books". The signage says that they're "coming this fall", so hopefully they'll be open soon. I'll report back when they are. There's also a sign that says they'll do birthday parties as well, so that might be a nice alternative to the Chuck E. Cheese kind of thing.
:: Have any of my readers taken advantage at all of these new "Meal Preparation Stores"? I only just heard of this concept last week, when I read this article in the Buffalo News*. The idea is to allow for "home cooked" meals, but not at home: these places apparently provide you with ingredients and cooking space based on a menu you've chosen, and then you get to use their facilities to prepare the meals and then take them home for use during the week or whatever. Interesting idea for people who are really busy but who don't want to rely on take-out constantly. I don't think I'd get much use out of a service like this, since we do tend to have time to cook, but anyway, apparently these places are springing up all over.
And the newest one's literally on my streetcorner, in what used to be a 7-11. It's called Dinner Dilemma, and they have a pretty informative website up already. If this kind of service appeals to you, and you live in the Southtowns, check it out. (Obviously, for those of my readers who live in places like Albany (NY), Tulsa (OK), Chandler (AZ), or other points 'round the globe, you might want to look into a Meal Preparation Store more convenient to your locale. But then, you already knew that, because my readers are smart folks. Which makes me wonder why I've just typed all this. I need coffee.)
:: Also right around the corner from me is a neighborhood where one house is home to someone who has a logo for IP8Ball.com on the driverside door of their SUV. Ever curious, I checked it out, and it turns out to be a site for a blossoming paintball business. I don't know the first thing about paintball (other than it looks like fun), but, well, there it is.
* Apparently the News has discontinued "First Sunday", the Buffalo-centric lifestyle magazine that always came with the paper on the first Sunday of each month. I know, they want to revamp lots of the ways they provide content over there, what with the Interweb and declining circulation and all, but I liked "First Sunday". Oh well.
A publishing-type question
For any readers who know stuff about the publishing biz: since the Goldman family now holds the rights to OJ Simpson's book If I Did It, does that mean that all royalties go to them as well?
If so, that might make buying the book a bit more palatable.
If so, that might make buying the book a bit more palatable.
Save the Books!
Yesterday was my favorite quarterly event: the Book Sale at my local public library. I adore this sale! And as usual, my haul amounted to under ten bucks. Here is just the stuff I got for myself:
I'm not sure how much, if anything, of today's haul represents a find that I can hawk on eBay. I was able to sell two of the volumes I picked up at the last book sale for more than twice what I paid for that entire haul, which was nice. We'll see. Those O. Henry collections may go nicely, as may that TPB edition of Antartica (which turns out to be a British printing). I don't know if I'll sell that Tolkien volume; I already have both of those tales in another volume, but that paperback is in outstanding condition, save for the original owner's signature inside the front cover. We'll see.
What's always kind of bittersweet at these kinds of sales is reading the cover copy on the books themselves, with blurbs along the lines of "Another breathtaking classic from one of our very finest authors!" or "Certain to be read for many years to come!" These kinds of notices adorn books that no one much remembers at all today. How many stories have come and gone, almost completely vanishing, their only hopes at revival being on the shelves of a library sale where the paperbacks go at the rate of five for a buck? When I see so many volumes whose contents will almost certainly be gone forever in just a few more decades, I wonder how true it is that the cream rises to the top. Far more likely, it seems to me, that authors who rival the finest still read -- the Jane Austens, the Henry Jameses, the Eudora Weltys -- have come and gone without ever being realized. No, the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Sometimes it just gets washed away, right down the sluice drain.
OK, that got a little depressing, didn't it? Anyway, if you like to read, there's really no reason to not frequent your local library's book sale. They need the money, and the books need to be read.
I'm not sure how much, if anything, of today's haul represents a find that I can hawk on eBay. I was able to sell two of the volumes I picked up at the last book sale for more than twice what I paid for that entire haul, which was nice. We'll see. Those O. Henry collections may go nicely, as may that TPB edition of Antartica (which turns out to be a British printing). I don't know if I'll sell that Tolkien volume; I already have both of those tales in another volume, but that paperback is in outstanding condition, save for the original owner's signature inside the front cover. We'll see.
What's always kind of bittersweet at these kinds of sales is reading the cover copy on the books themselves, with blurbs along the lines of "Another breathtaking classic from one of our very finest authors!" or "Certain to be read for many years to come!" These kinds of notices adorn books that no one much remembers at all today. How many stories have come and gone, almost completely vanishing, their only hopes at revival being on the shelves of a library sale where the paperbacks go at the rate of five for a buck? When I see so many volumes whose contents will almost certainly be gone forever in just a few more decades, I wonder how true it is that the cream rises to the top. Far more likely, it seems to me, that authors who rival the finest still read -- the Jane Austens, the Henry Jameses, the Eudora Weltys -- have come and gone without ever being realized. No, the cream doesn't always rise to the top. Sometimes it just gets washed away, right down the sluice drain.
OK, that got a little depressing, didn't it? Anyway, if you like to read, there's really no reason to not frequent your local library's book sale. They need the money, and the books need to be read.
Unidentified Earth (unnumbered edition)
I know that the newest installment of Unidentified Earth was supposed to run this past Thursday, but some logistical stuff prevented me from having the post ready. What logistical stuff, you say? Er...I forgot to do it. Sorry, folks.
So, Unidentified Earth will indeed return to its normal schedule this coming Thursday. For now, though, here are a couple of freebies that should be very easy:
And:
Where are we?
So, Unidentified Earth will indeed return to its normal schedule this coming Thursday. For now, though, here are a couple of freebies that should be very easy:
And:
Where are we?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Christmas in Blogistan? (part troix)
Threads here or here, for residents of the Buffalo Prefecture or anyone from other Prefectures of Blogistan who may wish to travel to Buffalo for a hootenanny on Saturday, December 8. And if anyone has a suggestion for a venue, that would be helpful too -- maybe Duff's in Orchard Park? Someplace in Cheektowaga? Pearl Street? And would a Secret Santa-style gift exchange be fun, or really lame? What say you, folks?
(I'm closing comments for this post because I'd like to keep only two comments threads open on this subject for now. But feel free to comment in either of the two posts linked above.)
(I'm closing comments for this post because I'd like to keep only two comments threads open on this subject for now. But feel free to comment in either of the two posts linked above.)
Luciano
Alex Ross today:
The finest singers not only hit the notes but erase the difference between notes and words. Singing is most thrilling when it becomes a kind of heightened talking. That’s what happens in Pavarotti's “Che gelida manina” or “E lucevan le stelle” or "Una furtiva lagrima": the beauty of the sound envelops you, but you’re not conscious of the artifice of art. It’s as if someone were making conversation in a dialect of dreams.
Bravo, Luciano.
Are You Ready!
We're coming up on the start of the NFL season, folks, so here we go: it's Prediction Time here at Byzantium's Shores. Or, in other words, "Let's all watch as our Humble Narrator goes on record to demonstrate how little he knows about football." First of all, the usual warning to people who might be newly encountering my football-related drivel: don't take all this too seriously. I don't write about football with the intent of seeming like this guy:
but rather like this guy:
OK? Then let's have at it, in our usual Q&A format!
The Buffalo Bills lost just about every talented player they had in the offseason, and replaced them with nobodies, nothings, has-beens, not-yets, never-wills, and never-wases. Just how bad will they be?
Next question.
OK. How bad will the Bills be?
They'll be bad. They may avoid the cellar in the AFC East, by mere virtue of the Dolphins being in possibly worse shape as a franchise, but there's no way they're better than the Jets, and I'm sure they'll have their usual result against the Stupid Patriots (hang with them one game until they blow it late with stupid mistakes, and get blown out in the other).
The Bills are young again. They're new. The roster has lots of holes that are hoping to be filled with guys with three years or less of playing experience. The Bills do have some promising talent on the roster, and if this draft proves to have been roughly about as good as last year's was, then maybe next year they'll be in position to start plugging in guys from free agency and start to sniff around the playoff hunt.
Next year.
Yes, I said it -- I'm looking to next year already.
I think JP Losman will continue to improve. (Can we stop now with the comparisons of Losman to Rob Johnson? Losman's already demonstrated ten times the heart, drive, and toughness that Johnson ever did. So they're both scruffy-looking quarterbacks from Southern California. That's where the comparison ends. Johnson never gave any kind of impression other than that the only reason he was in the NFL was because, well, that's what you do after you have a good college career, he never liked Buffalo, and he got hurt so much that it was like he was made of glass. Not like Losman at all.) Maybe the offensive line, with three new guys on board, will settle in and be better than it's been in years. Maybe Peerless Price finds his form, and maybe the Bills find a tight end who can catch reliably well. It's on defense that they're going to have big problems. They will probably be very soft at the line of scrimmage, as they have been ever since Pat Williams left. Their corners are young and mostly untested. So are their linebackers. This defense is a possible disaster-in-waiting.
And yet, I'm not bothered by the departures of London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes, or Nate Clements. All of those guys are getting older, and the fact is that with the problems this team has in terms of talent on the roster, by the time they got good at the other areas, those players would have been beyond the age of use anyway. Spikes is the one that hurts, in my mind: he was a stunning talent and a thrill to watch, but then he suffered an injury from which players do return, but almost never to the level of play that they'd exhibited before. Clements had a good year last year, but I've watched him his whole career and he often seems to have motivation issues and makes dumb mistakes of selfish nature. I don't think he'll tank in San Francisco, but I don't think he's going to be the savior out there, either. And Fletcher? A tackling machine, sure, but he too is getting older. So basically, whether these guys were here this year or not makes no big difference, since they wouldn't be around when the Bills finally get good again. That being the case, I think it's best to go with youth.
I know that a lot of Bills fans are impatient to make the playoffs again; I know I sure am. Seven years going on eight as one of the eighteen "also-rans" in the NFL is getting a bit old, but I think a lot of Bills fans never actually realized just how fundamentally poor the roster was in the wake of the Tom Donahoe years as GM: this shows as we see just how few of his chosen players are still around (Losman, Lee Evans, Terrence McGee, and a few others). Once the nucleus is in place, then we'll see the kind of thing where the Bills can do the plug-in-guys-via-free-agency thing like all the really good teams do. But Marv Levy is still building his nucleus. I like what I've seen of this so far (with a few oddball exceptions, like throwing money at Peerless Price).
[I don't mean to totally rag on Donahoe, who I think genuinely tried to make good football decisions, aside from his bizarre refusal to address the line of scrimmage as opposed to making big deals to land what he thought were star players like Drew Bledsoe and Willis McGahee. It's just that few of his decisions panned out in terms of good, long-term guys on the roster; several were outright disasters (Williams); and it shouldn't be forgotten that Donahoe himself inherited a team whose roster was bleeding talent, fast. (Read up sometime on the Bills' 2000 draft, if you don't believe me. Not one of the players picked in that draft ever amounted to a thing, and as Gregg Easterbrook once wrote, you can't whiff an entire draft without entering a period of sustained decline as a franchise.)]
So...how will the Bills do? I personally will be elated if they go 7-9. That would equal last year's record, but with a much younger roster. If they pulled off 7-9, I'd be fairly optimistic about their future as a team. However, 7-9 is probably the outlier of possible realistic goals for this team, this year. I think 5-11 is more likely.
You know, you're awfully sanguine about the Bills being in an apparently-unending rebuilding process, in this NFL era when teams can go 3-13 one year and make the conference championship game the next. Doesn't it annoy you that they're one of three teams to not make the playoffs in this century?
Sure, that's irritating, but it doesn't do any good to get mad at the situation as it exists, right? The way I see it, Marv Levy is now doing what Tom Donahoe should have been doing when he got here. Except for Donahoe's first year here (2001, when the Bills were coming off their worst draft in franchise history and were in serious salary cap trouble), he managed each offseason as though the team were just a player or two away from being a contender. We now know that wasn't the case, but that's how Donahoe managed things, for good or ill. By the time his tenure ended, the team's talent stock was terribly depleted. No matter who took over, it was going to mean several seasons of rebuilding.
So how much more rebuilding are you willing to put up with, anyway?
Well, I think that this year needs to be the last of the rebuilding years. Going into the 2008 season, Levy will have had three drafts and three free agent signing periods with which to put together a decent team. I think he's on his way, but if 2008 comes and goes without a playoff berth (or at least a winning record with a serious push for a playoff berth, since it's always possible in the AFC these days to go 10-6 and still miss the postseason), I'll start grumbling.
Should Ralph Wilson sell the team?
Of course. Next question.
OK, the Bills are going to stink then. Bummer, dude! So will the Colts repeat?
They could, and I certainly think they'll be right there, in the mix. I'm not picking them to repeat, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Will you vomit all over your keyboard if the team from New England wins it all?
Yes. As my long-time readers know, I can't stand the smugness of Tom Brady's default facial expressions, Bill Belichick makes me want to throw up, and I detested the way both of those guys acted when they lost last year's AFC Championship Game. (Belichick was rude and dismissive, while Brady apparently didn't even bother to shake the hand of the guy who'd beaten him, Payton Manning. Chalking it up to their shock of actually having lost doesn't wash; when you're a pro at that level and you've been around as long as those guys have, it should be muscle memory that you shake the hand of the guy who beat you.) Watching those guys lose makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes me feel like a little kitten. Conversely, when those guys win, I think God kills a puppy.
So...will the team from New England win it all?
Probably. I shall now gnash my teeth into oblivion.
They're a well-managed franchise. They're loaded with draft picks for next year. They beefed up their receiving corps. Sure, stuff could happen: Randy Moss isn't a given to do much of anything, their linebackers are old, and Smuggy McBrady (I've just now decided that's what I'm calling him this year) is probably due for a bite from the Injury Gods. Their defense could falter. Lots of things could happen that could keep them from Their Holy Anointed Goal of winning Super Bowl XLII. But if none of those things do happen, then I think they're favorites to take it all.
Which means that I'll be buying a new keyboard the morning after the Super Bowl.
Can't someone else beat them? Won't someone stand up to the Stupid Patriots? PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Well, sure! San Diego's got an absolutely loaded roster, and Philip Rivers is a year older. And if their new head coach was someone other than Norv Turner -- talk about recycling a lackluster coach, that's like if Q from the James Bond movies gave the keys to the Aston Martin not to 007 but to the rookie spy Agent Fred -- I might even pick them. And New Orleans is also a complete team that could end the NFC's losing streak in Super Bowls (currently four games, and 2-8 overall since Denver finally reversed the AFC's awful Super Bowl trend after the 1997 season). Indianapolis isn't going to fade, and Baltimore should be there as well.
So who are you officially picking to win it all, then?
Well, let's pick the division winners first, I suppose:
AFC East: New York Jets
AFC North: Baltimore
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC West: San Diego
AFC Wildcards: New England, Cincinnati
NFC East: Dallas
NFC North: Chicago
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC West: Seattle
NFC Wildcards: St. Louis, Philadelphia
AFC Champion: Baltimore
NFC Champion: New Orleans
Super Bowl Champion: New Orleans.
That's who I'm picking, folks. Lock it in now, and tune in each week to see how wrong I am! (In the time I've been doing this, I've picked one Super Bowl exactly right before the season, when I chose the StuPats to defeat the Eagles three years ago. Last year, I was staggeringly wrong, as neither of the teams I picked to go to the Super Bowl even made the playoffs.)
Wait a minute! You said up there that the StuPats would "probably" win it all, and then you don't even pick them to win their divisiion? What's up with that?
Well, I picked that way for several reasons. First, the best way to guarantee that your picks will be at least partially wrong is to pick every defending division champion to repeat. Somebody always falters. Second, in the AFC, it doesn't really matter, does it? The last two AFC Champions have been third and sixth seeds respectively (and both then went on to trounce the NFC top seed in the Super Bowl), and over the last thirteen seasons, AFC top seeds are 3-10 in converting a top seed status into a Super Bowl appearance anyway. And finally, I've been picking the Jerks from New England first every year, and I'm sick of it, because I hate them. So there. It's a totally emotional pick, but then, this is a totally emotional blog, right?
So there you are. Write it down: Saints win it all. In February, when somebody else is holding up the Vince Lombardi Trophy, you'll all be able to laugh at me in my egg-faced state!
but rather like this guy:
OK? Then let's have at it, in our usual Q&A format!
The Buffalo Bills lost just about every talented player they had in the offseason, and replaced them with nobodies, nothings, has-beens, not-yets, never-wills, and never-wases. Just how bad will they be?
Next question.
OK. How bad will the Bills be?
They'll be bad. They may avoid the cellar in the AFC East, by mere virtue of the Dolphins being in possibly worse shape as a franchise, but there's no way they're better than the Jets, and I'm sure they'll have their usual result against the Stupid Patriots (hang with them one game until they blow it late with stupid mistakes, and get blown out in the other).
The Bills are young again. They're new. The roster has lots of holes that are hoping to be filled with guys with three years or less of playing experience. The Bills do have some promising talent on the roster, and if this draft proves to have been roughly about as good as last year's was, then maybe next year they'll be in position to start plugging in guys from free agency and start to sniff around the playoff hunt.
Next year.
Yes, I said it -- I'm looking to next year already.
I think JP Losman will continue to improve. (Can we stop now with the comparisons of Losman to Rob Johnson? Losman's already demonstrated ten times the heart, drive, and toughness that Johnson ever did. So they're both scruffy-looking quarterbacks from Southern California. That's where the comparison ends. Johnson never gave any kind of impression other than that the only reason he was in the NFL was because, well, that's what you do after you have a good college career, he never liked Buffalo, and he got hurt so much that it was like he was made of glass. Not like Losman at all.) Maybe the offensive line, with three new guys on board, will settle in and be better than it's been in years. Maybe Peerless Price finds his form, and maybe the Bills find a tight end who can catch reliably well. It's on defense that they're going to have big problems. They will probably be very soft at the line of scrimmage, as they have been ever since Pat Williams left. Their corners are young and mostly untested. So are their linebackers. This defense is a possible disaster-in-waiting.
And yet, I'm not bothered by the departures of London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes, or Nate Clements. All of those guys are getting older, and the fact is that with the problems this team has in terms of talent on the roster, by the time they got good at the other areas, those players would have been beyond the age of use anyway. Spikes is the one that hurts, in my mind: he was a stunning talent and a thrill to watch, but then he suffered an injury from which players do return, but almost never to the level of play that they'd exhibited before. Clements had a good year last year, but I've watched him his whole career and he often seems to have motivation issues and makes dumb mistakes of selfish nature. I don't think he'll tank in San Francisco, but I don't think he's going to be the savior out there, either. And Fletcher? A tackling machine, sure, but he too is getting older. So basically, whether these guys were here this year or not makes no big difference, since they wouldn't be around when the Bills finally get good again. That being the case, I think it's best to go with youth.
I know that a lot of Bills fans are impatient to make the playoffs again; I know I sure am. Seven years going on eight as one of the eighteen "also-rans" in the NFL is getting a bit old, but I think a lot of Bills fans never actually realized just how fundamentally poor the roster was in the wake of the Tom Donahoe years as GM: this shows as we see just how few of his chosen players are still around (Losman, Lee Evans, Terrence McGee, and a few others). Once the nucleus is in place, then we'll see the kind of thing where the Bills can do the plug-in-guys-via-free-agency thing like all the really good teams do. But Marv Levy is still building his nucleus. I like what I've seen of this so far (with a few oddball exceptions, like throwing money at Peerless Price).
[I don't mean to totally rag on Donahoe, who I think genuinely tried to make good football decisions, aside from his bizarre refusal to address the line of scrimmage as opposed to making big deals to land what he thought were star players like Drew Bledsoe and Willis McGahee. It's just that few of his decisions panned out in terms of good, long-term guys on the roster; several were outright disasters (Williams); and it shouldn't be forgotten that Donahoe himself inherited a team whose roster was bleeding talent, fast. (Read up sometime on the Bills' 2000 draft, if you don't believe me. Not one of the players picked in that draft ever amounted to a thing, and as Gregg Easterbrook once wrote, you can't whiff an entire draft without entering a period of sustained decline as a franchise.)]
So...how will the Bills do? I personally will be elated if they go 7-9. That would equal last year's record, but with a much younger roster. If they pulled off 7-9, I'd be fairly optimistic about their future as a team. However, 7-9 is probably the outlier of possible realistic goals for this team, this year. I think 5-11 is more likely.
You know, you're awfully sanguine about the Bills being in an apparently-unending rebuilding process, in this NFL era when teams can go 3-13 one year and make the conference championship game the next. Doesn't it annoy you that they're one of three teams to not make the playoffs in this century?
Sure, that's irritating, but it doesn't do any good to get mad at the situation as it exists, right? The way I see it, Marv Levy is now doing what Tom Donahoe should have been doing when he got here. Except for Donahoe's first year here (2001, when the Bills were coming off their worst draft in franchise history and were in serious salary cap trouble), he managed each offseason as though the team were just a player or two away from being a contender. We now know that wasn't the case, but that's how Donahoe managed things, for good or ill. By the time his tenure ended, the team's talent stock was terribly depleted. No matter who took over, it was going to mean several seasons of rebuilding.
So how much more rebuilding are you willing to put up with, anyway?
Well, I think that this year needs to be the last of the rebuilding years. Going into the 2008 season, Levy will have had three drafts and three free agent signing periods with which to put together a decent team. I think he's on his way, but if 2008 comes and goes without a playoff berth (or at least a winning record with a serious push for a playoff berth, since it's always possible in the AFC these days to go 10-6 and still miss the postseason), I'll start grumbling.
Should Ralph Wilson sell the team?
Of course. Next question.
OK, the Bills are going to stink then. Bummer, dude! So will the Colts repeat?
They could, and I certainly think they'll be right there, in the mix. I'm not picking them to repeat, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Will you vomit all over your keyboard if the team from New England wins it all?
Yes. As my long-time readers know, I can't stand the smugness of Tom Brady's default facial expressions, Bill Belichick makes me want to throw up, and I detested the way both of those guys acted when they lost last year's AFC Championship Game. (Belichick was rude and dismissive, while Brady apparently didn't even bother to shake the hand of the guy who'd beaten him, Payton Manning. Chalking it up to their shock of actually having lost doesn't wash; when you're a pro at that level and you've been around as long as those guys have, it should be muscle memory that you shake the hand of the guy who beat you.) Watching those guys lose makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes me feel like a little kitten. Conversely, when those guys win, I think God kills a puppy.
So...will the team from New England win it all?
Probably. I shall now gnash my teeth into oblivion.
They're a well-managed franchise. They're loaded with draft picks for next year. They beefed up their receiving corps. Sure, stuff could happen: Randy Moss isn't a given to do much of anything, their linebackers are old, and Smuggy McBrady (I've just now decided that's what I'm calling him this year) is probably due for a bite from the Injury Gods. Their defense could falter. Lots of things could happen that could keep them from Their Holy Anointed Goal of winning Super Bowl XLII. But if none of those things do happen, then I think they're favorites to take it all.
Which means that I'll be buying a new keyboard the morning after the Super Bowl.
Can't someone else beat them? Won't someone stand up to the Stupid Patriots? PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Well, sure! San Diego's got an absolutely loaded roster, and Philip Rivers is a year older. And if their new head coach was someone other than Norv Turner -- talk about recycling a lackluster coach, that's like if Q from the James Bond movies gave the keys to the Aston Martin not to 007 but to the rookie spy Agent Fred -- I might even pick them. And New Orleans is also a complete team that could end the NFC's losing streak in Super Bowls (currently four games, and 2-8 overall since Denver finally reversed the AFC's awful Super Bowl trend after the 1997 season). Indianapolis isn't going to fade, and Baltimore should be there as well.
So who are you officially picking to win it all, then?
Well, let's pick the division winners first, I suppose:
AFC East: New York Jets
AFC North: Baltimore
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC West: San Diego
AFC Wildcards: New England, Cincinnati
NFC East: Dallas
NFC North: Chicago
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC West: Seattle
NFC Wildcards: St. Louis, Philadelphia
AFC Champion: Baltimore
NFC Champion: New Orleans
Super Bowl Champion: New Orleans.
That's who I'm picking, folks. Lock it in now, and tune in each week to see how wrong I am! (In the time I've been doing this, I've picked one Super Bowl exactly right before the season, when I chose the StuPats to defeat the Eagles three years ago. Last year, I was staggeringly wrong, as neither of the teams I picked to go to the Super Bowl even made the playoffs.)
Wait a minute! You said up there that the StuPats would "probably" win it all, and then you don't even pick them to win their divisiion? What's up with that?
Well, I picked that way for several reasons. First, the best way to guarantee that your picks will be at least partially wrong is to pick every defending division champion to repeat. Somebody always falters. Second, in the AFC, it doesn't really matter, does it? The last two AFC Champions have been third and sixth seeds respectively (and both then went on to trounce the NFC top seed in the Super Bowl), and over the last thirteen seasons, AFC top seeds are 3-10 in converting a top seed status into a Super Bowl appearance anyway. And finally, I've been picking the Jerks from New England first every year, and I'm sick of it, because I hate them. So there. It's a totally emotional pick, but then, this is a totally emotional blog, right?
So there you are. Write it down: Saints win it all. In February, when somebody else is holding up the Vince Lombardi Trophy, you'll all be able to laugh at me in my egg-faced state!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Useless Factoidia
A bunch o' stuff!
:: Several people have indicated that they were highly amused by the bunny with the pancake on its head. That's great! But there turns out to be a backstory here: the bunny (now sadly deceased) was named Oolong, and had the ability to balance stuff on its head, an ability which was "exploited" by Oolong's owner for Internet photos. The stuff you learn!
:: Reader Charlie (who hails from Iowa City!) directs my attention to this set of 2007 NFL predictions, which equates each team with a Star Wars character. This is pretty funny stuff...although Norwood's miss was almost 17 years ago! Can't we move past that as the defining moment for this franchise?
:: I don't know about this possible approach to Star Trek that may be in the offing in the movie JJ Abrams is making. Basically the idea is that old Trek standby, the "bad guys go back in time to alter history so our heroes never existed" plot or something like that -- but the plot succeeds in some fashion, meaning that instead of telling a story set within established Trek canon but in the days of James T. Kirk's years at Starfleet Academy, Abrams is literally re-setting the timeline to zero. It's an interesting approach, but I like established Trek canon, and I've never much enjoyed JJ Abrams's work, so we'll see.
:: I've had some search hits the last day or two for JP Losman on the Jim Rome Show; I assume they're looking for this interview Rome did. We'll see how he does on the field, but as far as talking to media goes, Losman's come a long way. I really hope he succeeds as the quarterback here, because Losman's just one of the most likable guys to come to Buffalo in a long time. He just seems like a good guy, and I hope his career reflects that.
:: For some reason I'm also getting lots of search engine hits for "What was the Millennium Falcon in when it lost its topside radar dish", or some variant wording thereof. The answer is, of course, the superstructure of the Death Star II.
:: I sympathize with a guy who got sick, certainly, but I'm flummoxed as to how anyone could consume multiple bags of microwave popcorn on a daily basis for over a decade. I adore popcorn, and I don't even eat it every week, much less every day. Wow.
:: Matthew Yglesias has a good, and brief, post about Sen. Larry Craig. I agree with pretty much every word.
:: A couple of weeks ago, Jayme e-mailed me about For Better or For Worse, when the strip was in the middle of a week-long thing where all that happened was Liz going on in very long-winded fashion to her friend Candice about how Anthony's life has been a disaster and how he ended up in a terribly unhappy marriage and how now he's free and he's the love of her life and all that jazz. As Jayme wrote:
:: Several people have indicated that they were highly amused by the bunny with the pancake on its head. That's great! But there turns out to be a backstory here: the bunny (now sadly deceased) was named Oolong, and had the ability to balance stuff on its head, an ability which was "exploited" by Oolong's owner for Internet photos. The stuff you learn!
:: Reader Charlie (who hails from Iowa City!) directs my attention to this set of 2007 NFL predictions, which equates each team with a Star Wars character. This is pretty funny stuff...although Norwood's miss was almost 17 years ago! Can't we move past that as the defining moment for this franchise?
:: I don't know about this possible approach to Star Trek that may be in the offing in the movie JJ Abrams is making. Basically the idea is that old Trek standby, the "bad guys go back in time to alter history so our heroes never existed" plot or something like that -- but the plot succeeds in some fashion, meaning that instead of telling a story set within established Trek canon but in the days of James T. Kirk's years at Starfleet Academy, Abrams is literally re-setting the timeline to zero. It's an interesting approach, but I like established Trek canon, and I've never much enjoyed JJ Abrams's work, so we'll see.
:: I've had some search hits the last day or two for JP Losman on the Jim Rome Show; I assume they're looking for this interview Rome did. We'll see how he does on the field, but as far as talking to media goes, Losman's come a long way. I really hope he succeeds as the quarterback here, because Losman's just one of the most likable guys to come to Buffalo in a long time. He just seems like a good guy, and I hope his career reflects that.
:: For some reason I'm also getting lots of search engine hits for "What was the Millennium Falcon in when it lost its topside radar dish", or some variant wording thereof. The answer is, of course, the superstructure of the Death Star II.
:: I sympathize with a guy who got sick, certainly, but I'm flummoxed as to how anyone could consume multiple bags of microwave popcorn on a daily basis for over a decade. I adore popcorn, and I don't even eat it every week, much less every day. Wow.
:: Matthew Yglesias has a good, and brief, post about Sen. Larry Craig. I agree with pretty much every word.
:: A couple of weeks ago, Jayme e-mailed me about For Better or For Worse, when the strip was in the middle of a week-long thing where all that happened was Liz going on in very long-winded fashion to her friend Candice about how Anthony's life has been a disaster and how he ended up in a terribly unhappy marriage and how now he's free and he's the love of her life and all that jazz. As Jayme wrote:
Seems to me that Lynn Johnson is going out of her way to justify the storyline's direction, and writing almost a point-by-point rebuttal of bloggers' gripes in the process.
Well, Comics Curmudgeon is on the case, finding an interesting parallel between recent "present day" events in FOOB and the past events that the strip is now depicting in some kind of weird flashback mode.
Personally, I find that reading Michael's narration makes me hear the voice of Bob Saget in my head, and that's never a good thing.
:: Here's a fine essay on how we've lost "silence":
Just give me five minutes without it; that's all I ask, perhaps all I'll need to bring it back into being for myself. Imprisoned by it as I am now, assaulted in every store, elevator, voice-mail system, passing car, neighbor's home, by it and its consequent immolation in the noise of the quotidian, it is lost to me as anything other than a kind of psychic rape, a forced intimacy with sonic partners not of my choosing. When music is everywhere, it is nowhere; when everything is music, nothing is. Silence is as crucial to the musical experience as any of its sounding parameters, and not merely as a kind of acoustical "negative space." Silence births, nurtures, and eventually takes back the musical utterance; it shapes both the formation of its textures and the arc of its progress through time.
(via)
:: I think that now I know where Linus will be hanging out this Halloween. He's looking, after all, for the most sincere of all pumpkin patches!
My kingdom for a quiz
Yup, what would a return to blogging be without a quiz. I grabbed this one from Steph Waller after I saw it on her MySpace page (although she did it as a bulletin, so I'm not sure how to link her answers). Anyway:
1. You have $5 and need to buy snacks at a gas station. What do you buy?
Hmmmm. A Big-Gulp drink (probably Pepsi or Diet Pepsi, although once or twice a year I get a hankering for Mt. Dew or Dr. Pepper), and then maybe a Slim Jim and a bag of Combos (the pepperoni pizza flavor). Combos are, to me, like crack. Many snacks are like crack, actually.
2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
I'm stealing Steph's answer here: one of the creatures from The Abyss.
3. Who's your favorite redhead?
When she colors her hair, The Wife! (When not, Leah Thompson.)
4. What do you order when you're at IHOP?
I haven't been to an IHOP since I was seven or eight years old. But they are building one quite near Casa Jaquandor (it used to be a bar/restaurant called Kelsey's), so I'll be able to answer this sometime soon.
5. Last book you read?
I'll abstain from this one, in favor of a longer post on recent reading for a later time.
6. Describe your favorite pair of underwear.
I don't have favorite underwear. I'm a guy. Underwear is purely utilitarian in nature, and I give it no thought whatsoever except for when I suddenly realize that it's time to buy some more.
7. Describe the last time you were injured.
Physically? I cut myself at work a lot. I've never yet knicked myself on a power saw or shot my own fingers through with the nail gun, luckily.
8. ????? No question????
Huh? OK, folks, use comments to suggest a Question Number Eight.
9. Rock concert or symphony?
I suppose it would depend...but in truth, I have never been to a rock concert before. Not one. I'm not sure how this has come to pass, but there it is.
10. What is the wallpaper of your mobile phone?
I don't have a mobile yet. Or a cell.
11. Favorite drink?
Spiced rum and cola. Or seven-and-seven. Or Southern Comfort in cola. Or vanilla rum and root beer. Spiced rum also blends very nicely with Vernor's Ginger Ale. And, if you can get the mix exactly right, a blend of peppermint schnapps and root beer will taste just like birch beer. (Get the mix wrong, however, and the result is not unlike some of the nastier brands of mouthwash.)
12. What type of top/teeshirt are you wearing?
As of this writing, a light shade of green.
13. If you could only use one form of transportation for the rest of your life what would it be?
I can't decide between a Danube-class starship, a YT-1300 light freighter, or an Aston-Martin DB5 with all the optional extras installed.
14. Most recent movie you've watched at the movies?
The Simpsons Movie.
16. What's your favorite kind of cake?
Carrot cake, with enough frosting to stop a clock. (A cake's primary function is as a frosting-delivery device.)
17. What did you have for dinner last night?
As of this writing: A pulled-pork sandwich, fries, and an appetizer platter from Zebb's. As you're reading this: who knows?
18. Look to your right what do you see?
A floor fan, my CD collection, the teevee, and The Daughter.
19. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
For laced shoes, yes.
20. Favorite toy as a child?
Hmmmm. Not sure, really. I had lots of toys, and the various obsessions thereof came and went.
21. Do you buy your own food?
How else would I eat?
22. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?
Of course they do. Everybody talks about everybody, and really, except for cases of nasty rumor-mongering, I don't think that's a bad thing.
23. When's the last time you had a sour gummy worm?
Never. I don't like "gummies" all that much, no matter what critter they're shaped as.
24. What's your favorite fruit?
Blueberries, strawberries, white peaches. And apples -- we're heading into prime apple-eating season. I love eating an apple on a crisp fall morning!
25. Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel?
Absolutely not! Do I look that acrobatic in nature?
26. Have you ever eaten snow?
Sure. I find that November snow is the best for pure eating, but January snow is the best for use in omelettes.
27. What color are your bedsheets?
Right now, a lavender-type color.
28. What's your mom's favorite flower?
Hmmmm. I haven't the faintest idea, really. We had peonies and rhododendrons in the yard, and when she was a gardener she'd plant a lot of marigolds, but I'm told that was more an anti-rabbit thing than a fondness for marigolds (apparently rabbits don't like the scent of marigolds or something like that, so if you surround your veggies with them, the bunnies won't eat them, or so goes the theory). She has live plants in her home, but a lot of them are potted evergreens.
29. Do you listen to classical music?
Of course! (And for people who are afraid of classical music or think it's "too hard", come on! It's just music. You listen to it just like any other music.)
30. Do you have a "wacky noodle"?
On the advice of counsel, I'm not only not answering this, but I'm not even going to look up what "wacky noodle" means.
31. Do you watch Spongebob?
Not often, because we don't have cable, but I find that show fairly amusing when I do. It's pretty zany, which appeals to me.
32. Last food you ate?
A couple of cookies with my morning coffee. (As I'm writing this. When you're reading this, I may have just had lunch!)
33. Do people consider you intelligent?
I hope so! But then, I can also be a complete clod.
35. Is your away message on?
Not at present. I only IM on AOL, and I'm not signed on right now. (I used to use Microsoft's IM program, but I haven't in a long time. I should also look into Google's version.)
36. Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together?
Why would anyone do this?!
37. What curse word do you use the most?
I get a lot of mileage out of "shit", I'm sorry to say. And thanks to Gordon Ramsay, I now find myself muttering to myself, "Oh, f*** me senseless!" when I encounter random daily dumbness. I do swear too much.
38. What time is your alarm clock set for?
Too frakkin' early, that's what time! On normal work days I get up at 6:00 am. Sometimes I'll get up earlier if there's a special job to do for which I need to be at The Store early (particular maintenance jobs that have to get done before the respective departments open up, for instance). I've also sporadically risen that early so I could get in my daily walk. I've actually come to really like the way the world feels at 5:00 in the morning; I just hate that one has to get up at 5:00 in the morning to see that world.
42. What CD is currently in your CD player?
Nothing for now; I'm pretty religious about removing CDs from the player when not in use. Earlier, however, I was listening to a CD of Kullervo by Sibelius (London SO, Sir Colin Davis conducting). I know terribly little about Sibelius; the only work of his with which I'm more than passingly familiar is his Violin Concerto.
43. What movie do you know every line to?
Star Wars Episode ___: _________.
44. What is your favorite salad dressing?
I don't have a favorite, really; I rotate through a bunch of 'em. When I'm at a restaurant I tend to get ranch a lot, which is really kind of boring, when you get down to it. I love poppyseed dressing, so maybe today I'll get a bottle of it. I don't eat enough salad. I love salad -- but only if the greens are dark and leafy: romaine, arugula, baby spinach, all those. I detest iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is the only food on the planet that is more useless than the plain ricecake.
45. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?
If The Wife wants to get tattoos, sure. Otherwise, no, because The Wife would kick my ass.
46. Do you sleep in the same bed with your pets?
Yes. And the one that usually sleeps with us snores and takes up a mammoth amount of space.
47. Do you enjoy giving hugs?
Yes.
48. What part of your name do people mis-pronounce?
There's a very common way people pronounce my last name which according to my relatives is wrong, but I never correct people anymore. It just doesn't seem useful to do so.
50. If you were to become famous, would you drop your last name?
Yes, and I'd take the new last name "Arbuckle". Why? Why not?
OK, that's it. I'm not tagging anyone, so grab and go if you like.
UPDATE: Huh. On further reflection, it seems that a bunch of questions are missing from this quiz: Numbers 8, 15, 34, 39, 40, 41, and 49 are all MIA! So, readers, go ahead and fill in the blanks with those questions, if you please!
1. You have $5 and need to buy snacks at a gas station. What do you buy?
Hmmmm. A Big-Gulp drink (probably Pepsi or Diet Pepsi, although once or twice a year I get a hankering for Mt. Dew or Dr. Pepper), and then maybe a Slim Jim and a bag of Combos (the pepperoni pizza flavor). Combos are, to me, like crack. Many snacks are like crack, actually.
2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
I'm stealing Steph's answer here: one of the creatures from The Abyss.
3. Who's your favorite redhead?
When she colors her hair, The Wife! (When not, Leah Thompson.)
4. What do you order when you're at IHOP?
I haven't been to an IHOP since I was seven or eight years old. But they are building one quite near Casa Jaquandor (it used to be a bar/restaurant called Kelsey's), so I'll be able to answer this sometime soon.
5. Last book you read?
I'll abstain from this one, in favor of a longer post on recent reading for a later time.
6. Describe your favorite pair of underwear.
I don't have favorite underwear. I'm a guy. Underwear is purely utilitarian in nature, and I give it no thought whatsoever except for when I suddenly realize that it's time to buy some more.
7. Describe the last time you were injured.
Physically? I cut myself at work a lot. I've never yet knicked myself on a power saw or shot my own fingers through with the nail gun, luckily.
8. ????? No question????
Huh? OK, folks, use comments to suggest a Question Number Eight.
9. Rock concert or symphony?
I suppose it would depend...but in truth, I have never been to a rock concert before. Not one. I'm not sure how this has come to pass, but there it is.
10. What is the wallpaper of your mobile phone?
I don't have a mobile yet. Or a cell.
11. Favorite drink?
Spiced rum and cola. Or seven-and-seven. Or Southern Comfort in cola. Or vanilla rum and root beer. Spiced rum also blends very nicely with Vernor's Ginger Ale. And, if you can get the mix exactly right, a blend of peppermint schnapps and root beer will taste just like birch beer. (Get the mix wrong, however, and the result is not unlike some of the nastier brands of mouthwash.)
12. What type of top/teeshirt are you wearing?
As of this writing, a light shade of green.
13. If you could only use one form of transportation for the rest of your life what would it be?
I can't decide between a Danube-class starship, a YT-1300 light freighter, or an Aston-Martin DB5 with all the optional extras installed.
14. Most recent movie you've watched at the movies?
The Simpsons Movie.
16. What's your favorite kind of cake?
Carrot cake, with enough frosting to stop a clock. (A cake's primary function is as a frosting-delivery device.)
17. What did you have for dinner last night?
As of this writing: A pulled-pork sandwich, fries, and an appetizer platter from Zebb's. As you're reading this: who knows?
18. Look to your right what do you see?
A floor fan, my CD collection, the teevee, and The Daughter.
19. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
For laced shoes, yes.
20. Favorite toy as a child?
Hmmmm. Not sure, really. I had lots of toys, and the various obsessions thereof came and went.
21. Do you buy your own food?
How else would I eat?
22. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?
Of course they do. Everybody talks about everybody, and really, except for cases of nasty rumor-mongering, I don't think that's a bad thing.
23. When's the last time you had a sour gummy worm?
Never. I don't like "gummies" all that much, no matter what critter they're shaped as.
24. What's your favorite fruit?
Blueberries, strawberries, white peaches. And apples -- we're heading into prime apple-eating season. I love eating an apple on a crisp fall morning!
25. Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel?
Absolutely not! Do I look that acrobatic in nature?
26. Have you ever eaten snow?
Sure. I find that November snow is the best for pure eating, but January snow is the best for use in omelettes.
27. What color are your bedsheets?
Right now, a lavender-type color.
28. What's your mom's favorite flower?
Hmmmm. I haven't the faintest idea, really. We had peonies and rhododendrons in the yard, and when she was a gardener she'd plant a lot of marigolds, but I'm told that was more an anti-rabbit thing than a fondness for marigolds (apparently rabbits don't like the scent of marigolds or something like that, so if you surround your veggies with them, the bunnies won't eat them, or so goes the theory). She has live plants in her home, but a lot of them are potted evergreens.
29. Do you listen to classical music?
Of course! (And for people who are afraid of classical music or think it's "too hard", come on! It's just music. You listen to it just like any other music.)
30. Do you have a "wacky noodle"?
On the advice of counsel, I'm not only not answering this, but I'm not even going to look up what "wacky noodle" means.
31. Do you watch Spongebob?
Not often, because we don't have cable, but I find that show fairly amusing when I do. It's pretty zany, which appeals to me.
32. Last food you ate?
A couple of cookies with my morning coffee. (As I'm writing this. When you're reading this, I may have just had lunch!)
33. Do people consider you intelligent?
I hope so! But then, I can also be a complete clod.
35. Is your away message on?
Not at present. I only IM on AOL, and I'm not signed on right now. (I used to use Microsoft's IM program, but I haven't in a long time. I should also look into Google's version.)
36. Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together?
Why would anyone do this?!
37. What curse word do you use the most?
I get a lot of mileage out of "shit", I'm sorry to say. And thanks to Gordon Ramsay, I now find myself muttering to myself, "Oh, f*** me senseless!" when I encounter random daily dumbness. I do swear too much.
38. What time is your alarm clock set for?
Too frakkin' early, that's what time! On normal work days I get up at 6:00 am. Sometimes I'll get up earlier if there's a special job to do for which I need to be at The Store early (particular maintenance jobs that have to get done before the respective departments open up, for instance). I've also sporadically risen that early so I could get in my daily walk. I've actually come to really like the way the world feels at 5:00 in the morning; I just hate that one has to get up at 5:00 in the morning to see that world.
42. What CD is currently in your CD player?
Nothing for now; I'm pretty religious about removing CDs from the player when not in use. Earlier, however, I was listening to a CD of Kullervo by Sibelius (London SO, Sir Colin Davis conducting). I know terribly little about Sibelius; the only work of his with which I'm more than passingly familiar is his Violin Concerto.
43. What movie do you know every line to?
Star Wars Episode ___: _________.
44. What is your favorite salad dressing?
I don't have a favorite, really; I rotate through a bunch of 'em. When I'm at a restaurant I tend to get ranch a lot, which is really kind of boring, when you get down to it. I love poppyseed dressing, so maybe today I'll get a bottle of it. I don't eat enough salad. I love salad -- but only if the greens are dark and leafy: romaine, arugula, baby spinach, all those. I detest iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is the only food on the planet that is more useless than the plain ricecake.
45. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?
If The Wife wants to get tattoos, sure. Otherwise, no, because The Wife would kick my ass.
46. Do you sleep in the same bed with your pets?
Yes. And the one that usually sleeps with us snores and takes up a mammoth amount of space.
47. Do you enjoy giving hugs?
Yes.
48. What part of your name do people mis-pronounce?
There's a very common way people pronounce my last name which according to my relatives is wrong, but I never correct people anymore. It just doesn't seem useful to do so.
50. If you were to become famous, would you drop your last name?
Yes, and I'd take the new last name "Arbuckle". Why? Why not?
OK, that's it. I'm not tagging anyone, so grab and go if you like.
UPDATE: Huh. On further reflection, it seems that a bunch of questions are missing from this quiz: Numbers 8, 15, 34, 39, 40, 41, and 49 are all MIA! So, readers, go ahead and fill in the blanks with those questions, if you please!
One Hundred Movies!!!
Tosy and Cosh did this a while back (most recently here, so he has three posts still to go in his series), and ever one to follow the lemmings off the cliff*, I figure I'll do it as well. This series of posts will enumerate one hundred movies that I really really really like a whole whole lot, in no real order at first (although as this series grinds on toward my personal Top Ten, I'll start thinking more about rank), plus a signature moment, line, or bit of dialogue from each that stands out in my head.
So anyhow, without further ado, here are numbers 100 through 91 on my list of Movies You'd Better Love Or You're A Giant Pinhead:
100. A Room with a View
It's been years since I watched this, but it always stands out strong in my memory. It was actually recommended to me during the summer of 1987, when I was attending a music camp; this hippie-type guy (I wasn't a hippie-type myself at the time, just a misfit dork) was talking about movies, and he described A Room with a View as "a movie that made him want to fall in love". Even then I was a Romantic-in-waiting (remember, even then I'd discovered my deep affinity with Hector Berlioz), so I rented this as soon as I got back from the camp. And yes, it made me want to fall in love. Did I? Eventually.
Signature line: "He's sounding the eternal yes." It's such a weird line -- never once have I understood even a little just what the heck the "eternal yes" may be -- but Denholm Elliot says this like it's the most natural thing in the world. I love it when a movie can say something like this and not have me think, "What?!"
99. When Harry Met Sally...
There's just something so right about this movie's belief in friendship as a precursor to love. There's also something so right about this movie's belief in two completely neurotic people, who are neurotic in completely different ways, being so perfect for one another. I can't think of a single mis-step this movie takes, really. (And it could have -- if you get the DVD, check out the deleted scenes, at least a couple of which are awful.)
Signature line: "You made a woman meow?" For some reason, I actually find that line (by Bruno Kirby) funnier than Estelle Reiner's famous punchline for the orgasm-in-the-deli scene.
98. The Guns of Navarone
Another terrific movie I haven't seen in far too long. I rented it in high school, the first time I saw it, mainly out of curiosity. I'd heard of this WWII action movie, but I knew nothing at all about it. I sat down to watch it and was hooked in the first ten minutes. I loved how it took its time with its story, introducing its characters and letting their various personalities interact and clash, all the while honing in on their ultimate mission. It's just a classy, classy film of the type you don't much see anymore.
Signature sequence: I can't remember any specific dialogue from the movie, but the entire last half hour of the movie is riveting.
97. The Love Bug
Cheesy Disney goodness! Many a fine afternoon as a kid was spent seeing the live-action Disney flicks of the late 60s or early 70s (when they were re-released or showed up on teevee, mostly). There's just something nifty about this tale of the sentient VW Beetle that always makes me smile. If there's a more pathetic scene in movie history than Herbie's attempt at suicide by jumping off a bridge, I haven't seen it!
Signature line: "Think about what you're saying," the Buddy Hackett character says to Dean Jones the first time Jones is directly addressing Herbie as if he's alive.
96. The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers
Every fantasy or adventure movie with a comedic touch to it nowadays is always said to be channeling the spirit of The Princess Bride, but really, The Princess Bride looks back to these two movies (shot as one, which is why I count them together). Just grand, great fun.
Signature moment: When D'Artagnan leaps out the window of the upper-floor room to chase after the man who'd previously assaulted him...only to land on the repair scaffolding directly outside said window.
95. The Sound of Music
So, so cheesy...and how I love it so! From that first opening sweep over the Alps, finally settling in on that one hilltop meadow where Julie Andrews regales us with the film's title number (before the opening credits even roll). About the only thing I don't like about the film is Liesl's singing voice -- and Captain Von Trapp's attempt to appeal to Rolf's better nature always rings false when I watch it, seeing as how the only times they interact before that, the Captain doesn't seem to give two shits about Rolf. But I digress....
Signature exchange: "It's so easy to like Maria...except for when it's difficult!"
94. Mary Poppins
I really think that two things keep this movie from being considered one of the great musicals of all time: the Disney logo, which pretty much automatically files it under the "Family/Children's Movie" label for all time, and Dick Van Dyke. I've never been a big fan of Van Dyke's (although later on in this list there will be a movie of his that I really do like him in), and his Cockney antics here get a bit distracting at various points in the proceedings. But other than that, the movie's loaded with terrific numbers, and the fantasy content is just superb with the fully-realized worlds within London existing, unsuspected, just a short distance from the childrens' bedrooms.
Signature sequence: Any time Julie Andrews opens her mouth.
93. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
And here's the movie where I actually like Dick Van Dyke. This movie's overlong, with an introduction that goes on for something like an hour, but once the car shows up, it gets a lot more fun, even if it is basically a tale being told by Van Dyke as opposed to actually happening. The film is beautiful to behold, and frankly, I could look at Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious (Ian Fleming and his suggestive names for female characters, yeesh....) all day long!
Signature sequence: The unveiling of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
92. Whale Rider
I can barely describe this movie. I found its tale of a young Maori girl's attempt to overcome the rigid traditions of her people captivating and magical.
Signature moment: I don't want to describe it...but if you watch the movie, you'll know it when it happens.
91. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I haven't yet seen Order of the Phoenix, so I may be wrong, but so far this is the best of the Potter films. It helps that it was the best of the books, too -- but the film is just rock solid from start to finish. After the first two were helmed by Chris Columbus, new director Alfonso Cuaron toned down the schmaltz and highlighted the tale's darker elements. The first two films, while quite well done, often seemed to be trying so hard to please all the Potter fans in the world; Prisoner of Azkaban, on the other hand, has confidence in its own story and tells it with flair and drama. It's also no accident that Prisoner boasts John Williams's finest score of his three Potter efforts, since Williams always responds best to darker story material and since Chris Columbus always brings out the saccharine in Williams. (Really: my least favorite Williams scores are all for Columbus's movies.)
Signature scene: When Prof. Lupin teaches the kids to defend against the Boggart. Watch this movie and try to figure out when you're looking at a reflection in the mirror!
And there's our first installment. Next time, movies 81-90.
* I know, the lemmings don't really commit intentional mass suicide. No corrections, please!
UPDATE: Well, I wrote this a couple of days ago, so wouldn't you know that just when I finally publish it, the Cosh Bros. go and update their list. Tsk, tsk.
So anyhow, without further ado, here are numbers 100 through 91 on my list of Movies You'd Better Love Or You're A Giant Pinhead:
100. A Room with a View
It's been years since I watched this, but it always stands out strong in my memory. It was actually recommended to me during the summer of 1987, when I was attending a music camp; this hippie-type guy (I wasn't a hippie-type myself at the time, just a misfit dork) was talking about movies, and he described A Room with a View as "a movie that made him want to fall in love". Even then I was a Romantic-in-waiting (remember, even then I'd discovered my deep affinity with Hector Berlioz), so I rented this as soon as I got back from the camp. And yes, it made me want to fall in love. Did I? Eventually.
Signature line: "He's sounding the eternal yes." It's such a weird line -- never once have I understood even a little just what the heck the "eternal yes" may be -- but Denholm Elliot says this like it's the most natural thing in the world. I love it when a movie can say something like this and not have me think, "What?!"
99. When Harry Met Sally...
There's just something so right about this movie's belief in friendship as a precursor to love. There's also something so right about this movie's belief in two completely neurotic people, who are neurotic in completely different ways, being so perfect for one another. I can't think of a single mis-step this movie takes, really. (And it could have -- if you get the DVD, check out the deleted scenes, at least a couple of which are awful.)
Signature line: "You made a woman meow?" For some reason, I actually find that line (by Bruno Kirby) funnier than Estelle Reiner's famous punchline for the orgasm-in-the-deli scene.
98. The Guns of Navarone
Another terrific movie I haven't seen in far too long. I rented it in high school, the first time I saw it, mainly out of curiosity. I'd heard of this WWII action movie, but I knew nothing at all about it. I sat down to watch it and was hooked in the first ten minutes. I loved how it took its time with its story, introducing its characters and letting their various personalities interact and clash, all the while honing in on their ultimate mission. It's just a classy, classy film of the type you don't much see anymore.
Signature sequence: I can't remember any specific dialogue from the movie, but the entire last half hour of the movie is riveting.
97. The Love Bug
Cheesy Disney goodness! Many a fine afternoon as a kid was spent seeing the live-action Disney flicks of the late 60s or early 70s (when they were re-released or showed up on teevee, mostly). There's just something nifty about this tale of the sentient VW Beetle that always makes me smile. If there's a more pathetic scene in movie history than Herbie's attempt at suicide by jumping off a bridge, I haven't seen it!
Signature line: "Think about what you're saying," the Buddy Hackett character says to Dean Jones the first time Jones is directly addressing Herbie as if he's alive.
96. The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers
Every fantasy or adventure movie with a comedic touch to it nowadays is always said to be channeling the spirit of The Princess Bride, but really, The Princess Bride looks back to these two movies (shot as one, which is why I count them together). Just grand, great fun.
Signature moment: When D'Artagnan leaps out the window of the upper-floor room to chase after the man who'd previously assaulted him...only to land on the repair scaffolding directly outside said window.
95. The Sound of Music
So, so cheesy...and how I love it so! From that first opening sweep over the Alps, finally settling in on that one hilltop meadow where Julie Andrews regales us with the film's title number (before the opening credits even roll). About the only thing I don't like about the film is Liesl's singing voice -- and Captain Von Trapp's attempt to appeal to Rolf's better nature always rings false when I watch it, seeing as how the only times they interact before that, the Captain doesn't seem to give two shits about Rolf. But I digress....
Signature exchange: "It's so easy to like Maria...except for when it's difficult!"
94. Mary Poppins
I really think that two things keep this movie from being considered one of the great musicals of all time: the Disney logo, which pretty much automatically files it under the "Family/Children's Movie" label for all time, and Dick Van Dyke. I've never been a big fan of Van Dyke's (although later on in this list there will be a movie of his that I really do like him in), and his Cockney antics here get a bit distracting at various points in the proceedings. But other than that, the movie's loaded with terrific numbers, and the fantasy content is just superb with the fully-realized worlds within London existing, unsuspected, just a short distance from the childrens' bedrooms.
Signature sequence: Any time Julie Andrews opens her mouth.
93. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
And here's the movie where I actually like Dick Van Dyke. This movie's overlong, with an introduction that goes on for something like an hour, but once the car shows up, it gets a lot more fun, even if it is basically a tale being told by Van Dyke as opposed to actually happening. The film is beautiful to behold, and frankly, I could look at Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious (Ian Fleming and his suggestive names for female characters, yeesh....) all day long!
Signature sequence: The unveiling of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
92. Whale Rider
I can barely describe this movie. I found its tale of a young Maori girl's attempt to overcome the rigid traditions of her people captivating and magical.
Signature moment: I don't want to describe it...but if you watch the movie, you'll know it when it happens.
91. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I haven't yet seen Order of the Phoenix, so I may be wrong, but so far this is the best of the Potter films. It helps that it was the best of the books, too -- but the film is just rock solid from start to finish. After the first two were helmed by Chris Columbus, new director Alfonso Cuaron toned down the schmaltz and highlighted the tale's darker elements. The first two films, while quite well done, often seemed to be trying so hard to please all the Potter fans in the world; Prisoner of Azkaban, on the other hand, has confidence in its own story and tells it with flair and drama. It's also no accident that Prisoner boasts John Williams's finest score of his three Potter efforts, since Williams always responds best to darker story material and since Chris Columbus always brings out the saccharine in Williams. (Really: my least favorite Williams scores are all for Columbus's movies.)
Signature scene: When Prof. Lupin teaches the kids to defend against the Boggart. Watch this movie and try to figure out when you're looking at a reflection in the mirror!
And there's our first installment. Next time, movies 81-90.
* I know, the lemmings don't really commit intentional mass suicide. No corrections, please!
UPDATE: Well, I wrote this a couple of days ago, so wouldn't you know that just when I finally publish it, the Cosh Bros. go and update their list. Tsk, tsk.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Christmas in Blogistan?
A special note for the citizens of the Buffalo Prefecture of Blogistan: Jen and I have been in contact, and we're wondering if Saturday, December 8, would be a good day for a BloggerCon Christmas Party. We figure that blocking out a date really early in advance would make it easiest for people to attend, no? As of yet this is literally all we've planned, so a venue would have to be chosen -- maybe one of those big restaurants by the Ralph, or the Buffalo Sports Garden in Orchard Park? (The BSG is on Southwestern Blvd, really easy to get to, and that night the Sabres have a night game on the west coast, so we wouldn't be conflicting with Sabres traffic until late.)
Or maybe someplace in Cheektowaga, more central in the area? Thoughts, folks?
Hey, how about Alan's front lawn? By then he'll have all of his "Bedenko for America" signs taken down, I'd assume. Sure, it'll be cold, but we can get a bunch of 55-gallon steel drums and burn copies of the News and Artvoice in them keep warm, right? (I kid, folks!)
Seriously, though, how's that date work, and where should we do this?
Or maybe someplace in Cheektowaga, more central in the area? Thoughts, folks?
Hey, how about Alan's front lawn? By then he'll have all of his "Bedenko for America" signs taken down, I'd assume. Sure, it'll be cold, but we can get a bunch of 55-gallon steel drums and burn copies of the News and Artvoice in them keep warm, right? (I kid, folks!)
Seriously, though, how's that date work, and where should we do this?
Ah You? Ah No!
Random thoughts on sports, culled while I was on hiatus:
:: Over the last two weeks, the Baltimore Orioles have launched a nine-game losing skid with a game in which they gave up thirty runs. That's an already notorious event in this MLB season, but what gets me is that this was the first game of a double-header. Those guys gave up 30 runs, and then had to go right back out and play that same team again. Ouch.
They finally snapped that losing streak with a win in the first game of a three-game set against the Red Sox just this past Friday night -- but then they went right back out on Saturday and got no-hit by a rookie pitcher.
And yet for all that suffering of one of the more impressive streaks of futility I can remember (although obviously not even close to that epic losing streak with which they began their 1988 season), as of this writing the O's still have a better record than my Pirates.
Oy.
:: The Buffalo Bills made their final roster moves the other day, eliminating a number of fairly surprising names. Quarterback Craig Nall, brought in last year to be part of a supposed three-way competition for the starting job? He's gone now, with rookie third-rounder Trent Edwards apparently the backup to JP Losman. Running back Shaud Williams, who has somehow managed to maintain a stranglehold on a roster spot the last few seasons despite being the embodiment of "Meh"? He's gone, too. I'm surprised that Terrance Pennington, a seventh-rounder last year who got quite a bit of game time in 2006, was cut; sure, he's not exactly the reincarnation of Howard Ballard, but I didn't think he was disastrously bad and might have grown into a decent player. He still might, actually, but unless it's on the practice squad, it won't be here, 'cause he's gone.
The biggest disappointment, for me, is the release of defensive end C.J. Ah You. First, the Bills need all the help on the defensive line they can get. (Ryan Denney suffered a broken foot in camp and Anthony Hargrove -- who lives in the apartment building next to mine, by the way -- is suspended for four games. The Bills signed Al Wallace last week to help, and then he promptly got hurt so the Bills put him on IR.) Now, Ah You was a seventh-round pick this year and scouting reports at the time made clear that he was unlikely to be any kind of impact player in the NFL, but I was really hoping he'd buck those odds and become a defensive stud, because I think it would be really funny to hear 73,000 people chanting Ahhhh YOOUUU! whenever he makes a play. I'm always bummed out when a player with a potentially amusing name fails to make the squad.
:: Ahhh, New England, the home of everything good and virtuous in sport!
:: A conversation of mine from The Store the other day, in anticipation of the Bills' opening game next week against the Broncos, which will pit (among other matchups) generally productive running back (and former Bill) Travis Henry against the Bills' less-than-stout run defense:
Guy I Know: Hey, I think Travis Henry already has 185 yards rushing against us.
Me: Yeah, and he's already fathered two more kids.
Cheap shot, I know, but Lord, Travis. There are ways to keep this stuff from happening, you know. Nine kids out of wedlock, in four different states? WTF?!
:: And speaking of kids out of wedlock, the NFL's Oh-so-dreamy Golden Boy is now just eight kids behind Travis Henry! Tom, Tom, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can! And no tut-tuting for him, because he's the Caucasian GQ-model quarterback who fathered his out-of-wedlock kid with the actress he dumped for a supermodel. That's OK!
:: Apparently the Michigan Wolverines decided to channel the spirits of the Detroit Lions when they played Appalachian State the other day. Whoops. What's funniest? The attendance for that game, at Michigan's home field, was more than 109,000 people.
:: I'm filing this under a sports post because I first heard about it while listening to the Jim Rome Show the other day (Rome's monologue on this here). It's probably mean to pile on at this point, but Miss South Carolina's disastrous answer to a question is now the stuff of Interweb legend, no? Now, let's avoid making this a "Dumb Southerner" thing, because I know people from Buffalo who'd probably be that incoherent if put on the spot like that. (Heck, maybe I would! I'm not afraid to admit that I write better than I talk.) And I suspect that this question was the last thing she expected; she probably figured to get a "How do you solve world hunger" or "How do you fix the schools" or something like that; "People can't find the US on a map!" probably threw her off just a tad.
And besides, there's a bit of truth to her answer, right? I'll bet lots of people don't have maps or globes or spend any time looking at them except for when they're trying to drive from here to a Burger King over there. Hell, look at American reading habits. Lots of folks don't have books, so why should they have maps?
Still, I can't help but be tickled by such verbal constructions as "US Americans" and "the Iraq". You know what I find funniest in that whole excerpt? It's not even something she says! If you listen close, you can hear this goofy quiz-show suspense type music underneath her reply, and the second time she says "the Iraq" (at about the 42 or 43 second mark in the video linked above), the music makes this "Ding!" sound, like you'd hear on a quiz show when the contestant gives the right answer. That little chime elevates this from bad comedy to surrealist comedy, in my opinion. Therefore such as.
OK, that's that. Look for my annual NFL Preview Post later this week! It'll be a hoot! (It usually is, because I'm almost always wrong about an awful lot of stuff.)
:: Over the last two weeks, the Baltimore Orioles have launched a nine-game losing skid with a game in which they gave up thirty runs. That's an already notorious event in this MLB season, but what gets me is that this was the first game of a double-header. Those guys gave up 30 runs, and then had to go right back out and play that same team again. Ouch.
They finally snapped that losing streak with a win in the first game of a three-game set against the Red Sox just this past Friday night -- but then they went right back out on Saturday and got no-hit by a rookie pitcher.
And yet for all that suffering of one of the more impressive streaks of futility I can remember (although obviously not even close to that epic losing streak with which they began their 1988 season), as of this writing the O's still have a better record than my Pirates.
Oy.
:: The Buffalo Bills made their final roster moves the other day, eliminating a number of fairly surprising names. Quarterback Craig Nall, brought in last year to be part of a supposed three-way competition for the starting job? He's gone now, with rookie third-rounder Trent Edwards apparently the backup to JP Losman. Running back Shaud Williams, who has somehow managed to maintain a stranglehold on a roster spot the last few seasons despite being the embodiment of "Meh"? He's gone, too. I'm surprised that Terrance Pennington, a seventh-rounder last year who got quite a bit of game time in 2006, was cut; sure, he's not exactly the reincarnation of Howard Ballard, but I didn't think he was disastrously bad and might have grown into a decent player. He still might, actually, but unless it's on the practice squad, it won't be here, 'cause he's gone.
The biggest disappointment, for me, is the release of defensive end C.J. Ah You. First, the Bills need all the help on the defensive line they can get. (Ryan Denney suffered a broken foot in camp and Anthony Hargrove -- who lives in the apartment building next to mine, by the way -- is suspended for four games. The Bills signed Al Wallace last week to help, and then he promptly got hurt so the Bills put him on IR.) Now, Ah You was a seventh-round pick this year and scouting reports at the time made clear that he was unlikely to be any kind of impact player in the NFL, but I was really hoping he'd buck those odds and become a defensive stud, because I think it would be really funny to hear 73,000 people chanting Ahhhh YOOUUU! whenever he makes a play. I'm always bummed out when a player with a potentially amusing name fails to make the squad.
:: Ahhh, New England, the home of everything good and virtuous in sport!
:: A conversation of mine from The Store the other day, in anticipation of the Bills' opening game next week against the Broncos, which will pit (among other matchups) generally productive running back (and former Bill) Travis Henry against the Bills' less-than-stout run defense:
Guy I Know: Hey, I think Travis Henry already has 185 yards rushing against us.
Me: Yeah, and he's already fathered two more kids.
Cheap shot, I know, but Lord, Travis. There are ways to keep this stuff from happening, you know. Nine kids out of wedlock, in four different states? WTF?!
:: And speaking of kids out of wedlock, the NFL's Oh-so-dreamy Golden Boy is now just eight kids behind Travis Henry! Tom, Tom, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can! And no tut-tuting for him, because he's the Caucasian GQ-model quarterback who fathered his out-of-wedlock kid with the actress he dumped for a supermodel. That's OK!
:: Apparently the Michigan Wolverines decided to channel the spirits of the Detroit Lions when they played Appalachian State the other day. Whoops. What's funniest? The attendance for that game, at Michigan's home field, was more than 109,000 people.
:: I'm filing this under a sports post because I first heard about it while listening to the Jim Rome Show the other day (Rome's monologue on this here). It's probably mean to pile on at this point, but Miss South Carolina's disastrous answer to a question is now the stuff of Interweb legend, no? Now, let's avoid making this a "Dumb Southerner" thing, because I know people from Buffalo who'd probably be that incoherent if put on the spot like that. (Heck, maybe I would! I'm not afraid to admit that I write better than I talk.) And I suspect that this question was the last thing she expected; she probably figured to get a "How do you solve world hunger" or "How do you fix the schools" or something like that; "People can't find the US on a map!" probably threw her off just a tad.
And besides, there's a bit of truth to her answer, right? I'll bet lots of people don't have maps or globes or spend any time looking at them except for when they're trying to drive from here to a Burger King over there. Hell, look at American reading habits. Lots of folks don't have books, so why should they have maps?
Still, I can't help but be tickled by such verbal constructions as "US Americans" and "the Iraq". You know what I find funniest in that whole excerpt? It's not even something she says! If you listen close, you can hear this goofy quiz-show suspense type music underneath her reply, and the second time she says "the Iraq" (at about the 42 or 43 second mark in the video linked above), the music makes this "Ding!" sound, like you'd hear on a quiz show when the contestant gives the right answer. That little chime elevates this from bad comedy to surrealist comedy, in my opinion. Therefore such as.
OK, that's that. Look for my annual NFL Preview Post later this week! It'll be a hoot! (It usually is, because I'm almost always wrong about an awful lot of stuff.)
VIRGIL BRIGGMAN BACK ON THE AIR
And with that, we're back broadcasting again. Thanks again to all for their well-wishes. I think we're going to finally start getting better around here.
And for our first bit of business, a couple of answers to Unidentified Earth 15 and Unidentified Earth 16: the Panama Canal and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, respectively. A new installment will run on Thursday.
And for our first bit of business, a couple of answers to Unidentified Earth 15 and Unidentified Earth 16: the Panama Canal and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, respectively. A new installment will run on Thursday.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Moving along....
OK, folks, I'm not returning to regular blogging just yet -- that'll be on Tuesday, day after tomorrow -- but I'd like to push that bummer of a post down so it's not the first thing people see when they load the blog.
Of course, I need something to take up some space here, so I guess it's time to invoke an old piece of Net lore. So, without further ado, here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Have a good Labor Day, folks, and look for new content on Tuesday.
Of course, I need something to take up some space here, so I guess it's time to invoke an old piece of Net lore. So, without further ado, here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Have a good Labor Day, folks, and look for new content on Tuesday.
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