1.
2.
3.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
movie time over the holiday time
One of my coworkers was telling me about the habit she and her husband have gotten into on Saturday mornings, which is to go and see a matinee show at the Barrington AMC. Ever since that conversation, I've gone from seeing one movie over the summer to seeing four in the last month.
The Departed is a great mobster movie, and the main thing from it, aside from Jack Nicholson's ridiculous performance, is whether Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio are becoming Scorsese's new DeNiro and Pacino. This is further underscored, probably unintentionally, in Damon's next film, The Good Shepherd, which includes DeNiro. Which is funny, because I had a hard time remembering Damon in any of his characters, aside from being the non-descript, nice white guy, the only time he broke the mold being Will Hunting.
Borat can be summed up in one sentence: "My mustache still smells like your testes." I was surprised that it actually had some semblance of a coherent storyline, and creatively skewered Baptists, frat boys, and southerners.
The next day I parked myself to see Casino Royale, which I was really hoping would be good, because the Bond franchise has been treading water, mostly due to crappy scripts. I didn't mind Pierce Brosnan, but Daniel Craig has a physical violence to him that makes up for any lack of social polish. There was some spy stuff, there was a twisty plot, and the Bond trademarks at the right moments with the right touch. Highly entertaining. The poker scenes are totally ludicrous, however.
Just got back from watching Deja Vu. Denzel makes it a lot more believable than it should be, with all the time shifting hocus pocus, and I don't buy the love story, but heck it's Denzel, and if it's ok with him, then it's ok with the audience.
On the docket for the weekend: football, grading, shopping, Stranger than Fiction, The Prestige.
The Departed is a great mobster movie, and the main thing from it, aside from Jack Nicholson's ridiculous performance, is whether Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio are becoming Scorsese's new DeNiro and Pacino. This is further underscored, probably unintentionally, in Damon's next film, The Good Shepherd, which includes DeNiro. Which is funny, because I had a hard time remembering Damon in any of his characters, aside from being the non-descript, nice white guy, the only time he broke the mold being Will Hunting.
Borat can be summed up in one sentence: "My mustache still smells like your testes." I was surprised that it actually had some semblance of a coherent storyline, and creatively skewered Baptists, frat boys, and southerners.
The next day I parked myself to see Casino Royale, which I was really hoping would be good, because the Bond franchise has been treading water, mostly due to crappy scripts. I didn't mind Pierce Brosnan, but Daniel Craig has a physical violence to him that makes up for any lack of social polish. There was some spy stuff, there was a twisty plot, and the Bond trademarks at the right moments with the right touch. Highly entertaining. The poker scenes are totally ludicrous, however.
Just got back from watching Deja Vu. Denzel makes it a lot more believable than it should be, with all the time shifting hocus pocus, and I don't buy the love story, but heck it's Denzel, and if it's ok with him, then it's ok with the audience.
On the docket for the weekend: football, grading, shopping, Stranger than Fiction, The Prestige.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Hot Stove: Adios Neal Cotts
I remember once there were rumors of Cotts being groomed for a starter's role, but that's gone by the wayside on the Sox, considering that they're already trying to find room for McCarthy. He should do ok filling in the Glendon Rusch role on the north side.
Speaking of which, despite the ridiculous number of year on the contract, the Chubs might actually be serious about contending (or at least putting butts in seats) with the signing Alfonso Soriano. Yes, they gave a 30 yr old too many years (8 year for $136 mill). Yes, they will probably stick him in a brand new position (center field, on a team filled with rookie pitchers that need all the help they can get). Yes, he is a little sensitive to getting his own way, like never taking pitches, and preferring to waste his 40+ home runs batting leadoff, but still. Sounds like another Dominican slugger we know.
The NL Central division leader won 83 games, a scant 4 games above break-even. A healthy season from Derrek Lee, along with the addition of Soriano, could make up a lot of ground in a very mediocre division (and a very weak league) could have the Cubs in the hunt late into September. Whether they get a playoff spot or not probably depends more on the pitching than the hitting, but a staff headed by Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill is a good start.
The positional lineup looks set for the Chubs:
1. Soriano, CF, R
2. Murton, LF, R
3. Lee, 1b, R
4. Ramirez, 3b, R
5. Jones, RF, L
6. Barrett, C, R
7. DeRosa, 2b, R
8. Izturis, SS, S
Piniella will probably go with the nonsensical Baseball Lifer (TM) logic of having the small fast guy hit near the top of the lineup, so Barrett will probably bat lower, and Izturis, OBP sinkhole though he may be, will hit second. Piniella also has the non-logic of Izturis being "a lefty hitter to break up the block of righthanded hitters" to back him up. Anyway, it's still decent, although only Lee and Barrett take pitches with any regularity. Now all the Cubs need is some pitching (closer, then starter) and they're set.
"Everybody wants to win, so that's the most important for me." -- Alfonso Soriano, former Texas Ranger.
Speaking of which, despite the ridiculous number of year on the contract, the Chubs might actually be serious about contending (or at least putting butts in seats) with the signing Alfonso Soriano. Yes, they gave a 30 yr old too many years (8 year for $136 mill). Yes, they will probably stick him in a brand new position (center field, on a team filled with rookie pitchers that need all the help they can get). Yes, he is a little sensitive to getting his own way, like never taking pitches, and preferring to waste his 40+ home runs batting leadoff, but still. Sounds like another Dominican slugger we know.The NL Central division leader won 83 games, a scant 4 games above break-even. A healthy season from Derrek Lee, along with the addition of Soriano, could make up a lot of ground in a very mediocre division (and a very weak league) could have the Cubs in the hunt late into September. Whether they get a playoff spot or not probably depends more on the pitching than the hitting, but a staff headed by Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill is a good start.
The positional lineup looks set for the Chubs:
1. Soriano, CF, R
2. Murton, LF, R
3. Lee, 1b, R
4. Ramirez, 3b, R
5. Jones, RF, L
6. Barrett, C, R
7. DeRosa, 2b, R
8. Izturis, SS, S
Piniella will probably go with the nonsensical Baseball Lifer (TM) logic of having the small fast guy hit near the top of the lineup, so Barrett will probably bat lower, and Izturis, OBP sinkhole though he may be, will hit second. Piniella also has the non-logic of Izturis being "a lefty hitter to break up the block of righthanded hitters" to back him up. Anyway, it's still decent, although only Lee and Barrett take pitches with any regularity. Now all the Cubs need is some pitching (closer, then starter) and they're set.
"Everybody wants to win, so that's the most important for me." -- Alfonso Soriano, former Texas Ranger.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Form. blazing. sword.
Voltron coming to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Or, online. Yesssss. One of the only things I liked about growing up in the 80s.Speaking of the 80s, Slate asks: are you an REM person or a U2 person?
Happy birthday to my dad, the nicest man in the world. Who is now 10 pounds heavier thanks to Brazillian barbecue.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
yawn
Anyone looking to get published should look into Lulu.com. You can upload what you want to publish in simple MS Word format and a cover in .jpg, .gif, or .png, and they'll make it into a book for you. How cool is that? Other people can even buy your stuff. I am actually mulling over publishing my Master's project on Asian American Lit; it's the only thing I've written that is important enough to "publish." With 65 pages, it's thick enough to flesh out a book. Hmm.
In other news, my soccer team is on a 10 game unbeaten streak. I did not know that following a team that I cannot regularly watch live, on another continent, could be so fun. (Wait, this is exactly like fantasy football). The pageantry of European soccer is unequaled by anything in the States, except for maybe the NCAA basketball tournament or rivalry week in college football. The plethora of teams and levels in so many different countries lends itself to all sorts of interesting tournament formats like the Champions League, the UEFA Cup, and the Carling Cup, and that on top of the normal domestic schedule. There are lots of legitimate complaints about the Bears racking up wins on a easy schedule, but that can't really happen in European soccer; if you're good, then you'll have to prove it against very good clubs regularly. The Bears have maybe 4 games out of their 16 that are "big games," whereas a top flight English Premier League team has Champions League games (which is a round robin tournament), Premiership regular season games, Carling Cup matches, and FA Cup. Crazy. It's like playing 4 different seasons at once.
Unseasonably warm November. I can't believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I somehow have a month to get research papers prepped and done. Eeep.
Democratic Congress? Who cares. More of a slap in the face of the current administration than an endorsement for Democrats, I think. They ARE, who we THOUGHT they WERE!
One of my coworkers, on being told about the K-Fed/Brit split, said "I hate people like him! I hate people who advance socially without doing anything! Like Paris Hilton! I hate her!" I helpfully pointed out that people did it all the time in 14th century. I mean, so there's precedent.
In other news, my soccer team is on a 10 game unbeaten streak. I did not know that following a team that I cannot regularly watch live, on another continent, could be so fun. (Wait, this is exactly like fantasy football). The pageantry of European soccer is unequaled by anything in the States, except for maybe the NCAA basketball tournament or rivalry week in college football. The plethora of teams and levels in so many different countries lends itself to all sorts of interesting tournament formats like the Champions League, the UEFA Cup, and the Carling Cup, and that on top of the normal domestic schedule. There are lots of legitimate complaints about the Bears racking up wins on a easy schedule, but that can't really happen in European soccer; if you're good, then you'll have to prove it against very good clubs regularly. The Bears have maybe 4 games out of their 16 that are "big games," whereas a top flight English Premier League team has Champions League games (which is a round robin tournament), Premiership regular season games, Carling Cup matches, and FA Cup. Crazy. It's like playing 4 different seasons at once.
Unseasonably warm November. I can't believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I somehow have a month to get research papers prepped and done. Eeep.
Democratic Congress? Who cares. More of a slap in the face of the current administration than an endorsement for Democrats, I think. They ARE, who we THOUGHT they WERE!
One of my coworkers, on being told about the K-Fed/Brit split, said "I hate people like him! I hate people who advance socially without doing anything! Like Paris Hilton! I hate her!" I helpfully pointed out that people did it all the time in 14th century. I mean, so there's precedent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)