From the land of "Yes, my neighbor's Christmas lights are bright..."

There are two docs that are worth looking at, and they are both on TV. The first, which I have seen, is "Dirty Driving: Thundercars of Indiana". If you want an hour or so of redneckery combined with asshatery, this is a can't miss. Probably need to catch it on HBO On Demand, by this point. This is all about the citizenry of Anderson, IN, and how they cope with life and a bad economy. And also how they aspire to "get me one of those six-foot trophies" at Anderson Speedway most every week.

The other was on on ESPN tonight, "The Greatest Game Ever Played". From the same company that colorized the 1960 Masters last year, it's the 1958 Colts-Giants NFL Championship game. The colorization was really cool. This is no Ted Turner crap where everyone has Ronald Reagan Red hair. And the restoration process found every play, except one, through various forms. So, there are lots of reverse angles throughout. Of course, this game has grown into mythic proportions. Seventeen Hall of Famers were associated with both teams and it remains the only championship game to be determined in overtime. I've got portions of this game on an old NFL Films VHS tape around here somewhere. The game is a great slice of NFL history. Final scenes are hilarious. Colt fans running on the field and tearing down the goalposts...in New York at Yankee Stadium!

And "The Miser Brothers" were on tonight, too. I DVR'ed it for future viewing.

Meal of Links

I saw "Milk" today. Deserves all the accolades it is getting. The casting person astoundingly got actors who resembled the main participants. A little bit slow at times and I think some license taken with a few strategically placed phone calls for dramatic effect. Other than that, it'll be on many Top 10 lists. Sean Penn is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. One for Best Picture iffy, although Gus Van Sant probably gets a nod for Director.

Here are some down-and-out Christmas tunes. "Fairytale of New York" made the list, so...it's the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

On the First Day of Christmas...



Bush's "Midnight Regulations". Lots of stuff will be implemented as he walks out the door.

"Dexter" gets some love. The finale is tomorrow. Jimmy Smits was really good in his guest turn this year.

If The Smiths reunite, I'll be there. "Ask me, I won't say no, how could I?". And, yes, I realized last night I still know every word to "Ask".

Clocks.

Exercise Yard

HBO Boxing had the live Klitschko-Rahman fight this afternoon. One word: Terrible. Rahman took the fight on short notice and, boy, did it show. He hardly lifted a finger in this bout, with Klitschko finally dispatching him in the 7th. Well, the ref had finally seen enough. I had thought that way since about the third round. Unbelievably, Riddick Bowe was on the card.

Which leads me to the replay of the Oscar de la Hoya-Manny-Pacquiao reply. Pacquiao actually rearranged Oscar's "beautiful face", as Lamps put it. I'm not kidding, he destroyed Oscar and propelled him into retirement with fury. Oscar should use the $20 million and start his MMA promoting. Like yesterday. Tough to see the great ones go out like that, but it was as one-sided a big fight as I've seen. Great stuff from Pacquiao.

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45 Across: First right-handed batter to reach 500 home runs (10 letters) Answer: Jimmie Foxx