Monday, January 15, 2007

Random Thoughts from the Weekend (and Arizona)

1. I have nothing more to say about the Buckeyes.

2. Besides that Chris Carter loves playing corn hole.

3. Tail gating was a lot of fun for the game, plus, the first 16 seconds of the game were awesome.

4. Though we were filmed for some local Arizona news channel. A camera guy came by and filmed us watching the game in the parking lot. So that's neat.

5. The legends are true, they do exist. There are commercials for these places all over Ohio, but the actual restaurants are nowhere to be found.

6. We also hit up the Pink Taco. Did we really even have a choice?

7. This website got a lot of use while we were out in AZ (as my buddy didn't have a TV). It is awesome.

8. If it added 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' to it's roster, it would be the best website ever. That show is sweet.

9. The greatest basketball scene on TV, ever:

10. More 'It's Always Sunny...' clips here and here and here

11. Speaking of TV shows, I don't watch "24". When I was in bed [due to the shoulder surgery] I watched an entire season, because it's gotten such great reviews. About halfway through I didn't care for it, but I figured that since I had the time on my hands, why not go through the whole season to see if gets better or that I missed something. Nope. My main problem is the lack of resolution. They'll spend 3 episodes trying to find some scientist guy who is crucial to The Mission. They find him and then he somehow dies (and he dies by some inane accident or misunderstanding) and now they need to go after some disk he left behind that explains his theories. They then go get the disk and some random act happens and they lose/break it. Then they gotta go find some one to fix the disk. And on and on and on. It never ends.

11. Jack Bauer is a Real American and uses any mean necessary, even torture. I could give a shit less, it's a TV show. Not everyone sees it the same way.

12. Huh? It's absurd yet real?
But, more likely, it's thanks to the series' knack for somehow raising the apocalyptic stakes of each crisis Bauer confronts. And to the growing assurance with which "24" somehow straddles the extremes of hyper-real and preposterous: "24" is patently absurd on so many levels, yet it's as white-knuckles gripping as anything on TV. If we look too close, it's laughable. But it cuts too near the truth to not keep watching.
13. Um, nukes? Ah, what?

14. Give me "The Shield" or "The Wire" over "24" any time.

15. I just finished the third season of "The Wire" last night. Fantastic show. Just phenomenal.

16. More TV: Colbert and O'Reilly will be on each other's show this Thursday.

17. Even more TV: something might happen on Oprah this week involving Barack Obama.

18. Last bit of TV: Next few SNL hosts are announced. Still no Colbert. I need this. You need this. America needs this.

19. Browns going West Coast?

20. Good call on not going with Mike Sherman. The Cardinals just went the 'NFL veteran coach who is okay but kinda overrated', plus I'm a fan of anything that weakens the Steelers.

21. Don't expect a 1-year turnaround for the Browns.

22. So Paul Hoynes is doing a year long project called 'Best I Ever Saw' about the best Indian he saw at each position. Kinda neat.

23. Kinda stupid: Eddie Murray is the best first baseman.

24. It's not like the Indians were short in the category. I mean, Jim Thome could've worked fine.

25. Unless he's saving Thome for third base... but I'd use Travis Fryman or even Matt Williams.

26. Are the Cavs going after Corey Maggette?

27. Not really sure where'd he fit, though he'd be a nice piece to have when Larry Hughes goes down. Get Hughes some free weights or something. The man is a stick.

28. Call up Penny, it couldn't hurt. It's not like they're giving Pavlovic or Gibson minutes anyways.

29. Windhorst says the Cavs might go after Earl Boykins in the offseason, but they didn't really have a chance to trade for him:
It is believed the Nuggets did show some interest in piecing together a larger package in recent days that would've allowed the Cavs to get Boykins, but the Cavs weren't interested because the Nuggets wanted Drew Gooden to be part of the the deal.
30. I read somewhere the Boykins wants another shot to play in Cleveland. I'm not sure where I read it so I have no link. All I know is that in the offseason where Jim Paxson signed both Ira Newble and Kevin Ollie to 5 year $15 million deals, Earl Boykins got the same contract from the Nuggets. Hmm... Ollie or Boykins...

31. The Cavs aren't going to get Steve Blake.
There have been some reports the Cavs showed interest in using a trade exception to acquire point guard Steve Blake, now that he's been moved to the Denver Nuggets in the Boykins deal. These are false; no deal is being discussed at the moment. Blake visited the Cavs two years ago when he was a free agent, but left town without an offer.
32. Windhorst misses hearing Joe Tait on the radio. As do I. Here's a pic I shot o and Tait before the Sunsf coach Brown debacle.

33. Dallas has a free throw coach who was taught by the guy who taught Mark Price (Denny Price, Mark's dad).

34. I'm down with anything that makes the regular season mean a bit more (and make guys show up).

35. I know everyone calls the Times liberal and all that. But really? This is liberal?

36. I dislike Joe Lieberman. A lot. He's very silly.

37. Does Lieberman agreeing with Bush really make it 'bi-partisan'? He lost the Democratic primary and ran under the Connecticut for Lieberman party. So if we want to get some Democrats behind the 'surge' we should really be looking for a 'tri-partisan' agreement.

38. Chuck Hagel slaps down Lieberman. Just switch parties guys (er... Joe become a Repub, Chuck become a Dem, don't become a Connecticut for Lieberman).

39. Nice article about McCain and Hagel in Newsweek.

40. So for the past two weeks I've been playing two albums over and over. I can't find my self to put in another CD or load another album into the iPod. First album: Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady. It's Bruce Springsteen + Billy Joel + Bob Dylan. It's sounds Midwestern and American; like their best bar band ever. AllMusic:
This is the set up for the slickest, catchiest, and most focused collection of songs by Finn and his rocking Brooklyn quintet. The guy's not just a storyteller, he's a rock historian, a fan boy gone wild, telling stories of everything he says, He's not speaking for anybody but himself, and as a result his appeal is wide
The other album? The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. I read some good reviews but I was skeptical, I used to work in Barnes and Noble and we'd get a ton of those little goth kids coming in asking for MCR. I was this guy:
... but anybody who didn't follow the fashions of emo and punk closely might have ignored the group's tragic, romantic neo-goth image and merely assumed that MCR was another good poppy punk one-hit wonder, not far removed from, say, Fall Out Boy.
I am glad I picked it up. I'm loving the hell out of this album; part of feels like if I had heard this in high school I'd be worshiping the ground these guys walk on, if that makes sense. As it is, this is a classic concept album or rock opera. If nothing else it's the heir-apparent to Green Day's American Idiot.

2 comments:

LargeBill said...

Concur that Murray was an awful choice for 1B. He was a great first baseman but that was long before he put on a Tribe uniform. Over three seasons he played 309 games for Cleveland he only used a glove in 45 of those games.

As far as the Hagel/Lieberman switch goes - not a chance. Lieberman is pro choice, pro-taxes, pro-union/anti-Walmart, pro-excess government regulation, etc. The only thing he agrees with some Republicans on is wanting to win the war. However, you all can have Hagel if you want him.

Ben said...

Lieberman was one of the 'parental advisory stickers on CD' guys back in the day and one of the biggest critics of Clinton.

He'd be a moderate to liberal republican, but right now he's a very conservative democrat.