Amidst all of the Hack-a-Shaq, the Indians finding some offense and catching some EPL Fan Zone, I am watching the results of the Pennsylvania primary. Once again, toss the polling. I saw an MSNBC poll early on with Clinton having a 46-43% margin. I'm not sure what that means, except the Undecided skew toward Clinton. It's becoming fairly obvious, those that consider themselves "late deciders" go for Clinton. I'm reading "late deciders" as "those who can't vote for a black president". So the vote totals climb toward that magic 10% margin.
83% polled on MSNBC said race wasn't important. I'm not sure most of white America would go on the record honestly about that, in person or over the phone. I think most of those polled think that somehow it'll catch up with them if they go negative on that question. It just bugs me, when the country is ripe for change, we seem to want status quo. So, it's off to Indiana and North Carolina, where those folks could not have imagined the spotlight turns to them. And, unlike Poland, don't forget about Guam before them.
And one other thing. Why so long for beginning results to trickle in and coincidentally, no network willing to call the race early either way. Seems strange for a 10% result, there was so much drama at the start of everyone's coverage.
Meal of Links
16 burning TV questions. Hey, a "Twin Peaks" question (which, as always, is WTF?), and "Sledge Hammer" gets a mention.
Bruce Campbell sits for a chat. He remains one of my favorites.
The real story about gas prices. The last refinery built in the U.S. was in 1976. That seems to be a contributing factor.
Exercise Yard
S. and I went to the Cavs game last night. Hey, I got my "Raisinets" shirt, this time sponsored by FirstMerit. Everything you read or saw about the game was true. Certainly the best game since the big trade and LeBron is certainly making a mess out of the Wizards, who proved they aren't very good. Be prepared for the "whiteout" for Game 3. Doesn't matter much, because of the blowout in Game 2. BTW, the audio from that Alltel commercial, you know "Wizard!", is being played quite a bit during the game and it remains funny.
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26 Down: "The Dresser" director Peter (5 letters) Answer: Yates
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, May 04, 2007
OK, "Spider-Man 3" opens up with a Midnight showing, so off we go to the Regal in Middleburg Heights. Of course, jacked up by Diet Mountain Dew. Gale and I put the chaperone hats on, and were accompanied by Shaun, Kevin, Phil, Phil's girlfriend and some other youngin'. Tickets purchased early helped, because when I arrived at 11:30, they had a line for ticket holders that extended around the corner of the strip center. It was shown on multiple screens and you were assigned one at time of purchase. We had #4, which turned out to be great, as maybe only 25-30 people were in that one. So, it wasn't a mob scene and we dominated with 7 in our group. Kevin started at Crocker Park, before he realized we were several suburbs over from there, but made it in time for the start.
The movie itself was pretty good, not the greatest. Lots of love in the air. In the bathroom afterward, one guy asked, "How'd you like the musical?". BTW, if you're looking for Cleveland, pay attention to the movie. A glimpse here and there, but not much that you could tell. Maybe 30 seconds worth and that might be generous.
The movie was terrific from the standpoint of enough pauses in the dialogue to add your own commentary, and that added to the enjoyment. For instance, the James Franco character, the New Goblin, ends up in the hospital after a fight with Spidey. So, Peter Parker's out in the waiting room and the doctor tells him about the condition of his friend, etc. But as Kevin put it, he never says, "Hey, you know your friend, what's the get up with those rocket boots and that sorta Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtle outfit?". I mean no one seemed to mind. And when Spidey puts on that black alternate jersey, forget it. That means bad things are gonna happen.
And it seemed when the New Goblin and Spidey wanted to be mean, they would just scrunch up their nose and squint. Look for that in your daily life. Tobey Maguire would also have his hair parted differently and did some asinine strut that Peter Parker would think was cool, but was far from it.
Of course, as the most tortured of the superheroes, he had a lot of angst in this one. His life is falling apart, he's meaner, seeking revenge and on and on. Of course, the New Goblin wants to avenge his father's death and you have Flint Marko, aka the Sandman, running around. That means cool CG effects, lots of action, and people making choices, yes, choices, in the movie. It was so mushy near the end, Kevin and I had napkins to do the fake crying bit.
Maguire and Dunst and Franco were the same. Aunt May had a bigger part. Topher and Thomas Haden Church were decent enough as the villains. Bruce Campbell absolutely kills in a small part as the maitre'd at a French restaurant. Certainly not the best of the bunch, but it is Spidey, so you have to see it on the big screen.
Meal of Links
Elvis Costello reissued his early catalog again. This time, actually winding up on iTunes. About time.
David Byrne chats about the science of music. Lengthy, but worth the read.
Who knew that it was National Masturbation Month? The Masturbate-a-Thon heads, so to speak, to San Francisco near the end of the month. It's all for charity.
Exercise Yard
I think Mark Cuban's head is gonna splode. The Warriors beat the Mavs in an historic series, as a #8 beats a #1 in a seven-game series for the first time. Charley Rosen breaks it down.
Visitor
36 Across: "Stoned Soul Picnic" songwriter (4 letters) Answer: Nyro
Posted by Jim at 4:12 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bruce Campbell, Hoops, Movies, Music
Monday, April 09, 2007
Is anyone else mystified at the bad box office of "Grindhouse"? Let's see, take a rare genre with lots of violent, misogynistic behavior, make it last over three hours, then wonder why it doesn't play well.
Boyfriend replaces girlfriend's artificial leg with a machine gun. Admittedly, that looked pretty cool, but that was what I got from the trailer. That's the price the studio pays for allowing Rodriguez and Tarantino to do what they want.
Meal of Links
We are Number 59. The World's Top 100 Most Livable Cities are revealed and we are in the Top 60. Suck on that, Hong Kong.
Andy Richter gets hosed again! Unbelievable. Unlike Sally Field, I guess people really don't like him. He has a cameo in "Blades of Glory" though to keep him happy, I guess.
Speaking of TV work stoppages, here are 13 shows that should have never been cancelled. I didn't watch all of these, but some, oh boy, were they good. Of course, I am a huge fan of (duh!) "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" and I'm glad HDNet is running these again. "Dead Like Me" is the only time outside of "Princess Bride" I think I've liked Mandy Patinkin. "Brisco County" was very good because of Bruce Campbell. Last, but not least, is "Arrested Development" which still makes me laugh out loud.
Exercise Yard
Before we bash MLB and rightfully so I might add, on the Indians-Angels series moving to Milwaukee, let's hear what the Tribe brass has to say. It seems to me they did not fight to keep the series here, instead opting to have the games played anywhere just so they are played. I think the Indians are hiding behind the cloak of MLB, because it is abhorrent to think they would give up home games so easily because of weak, ineffective ownership.
The Angels deserve blame as well for not switching the May series played here, because they would have to fly to Boston after a Thursday night home game. So, everyone suffers. What could attendance be at these Milwaukee games, a couple of thousand?
And the Tribe's front office must take the blame for totally botching snow removal. Call the Browns and ask how they do it. We still have snow on the ground, but it has been melting since Sunday afternoon and I think the field would be ready for a Tuesday night game with professionals removing the snow. I don't want to hear fan comfort and player safety issues mentioned as reasons for the move, because where was that reasoning last Friday? Can you tell I had tickets for Tuesday's game?
Visitor
49 Across: "The Mountain, New Mexico" artist (14 letters) Answer: Georgia O'Keeffe
Posted by Jim at 11:15 PM 0 comments
Labels: Bruce Campbell, Cleveland, Indians, Movies, TV
Monday, January 08, 2007
During a weekend of trying to get out of a funk, staving off a cold, and watching a shitload of English and American football, I was reminded that this week is the week of the Consumer Electronics Show and Macworld. I'm curious to see what Apple is coming out with tomorrow with rumors about a phone, iTV, and a new video iPod, which I've been craving. But I am also intrigued by Sharp's 108-in. TV. Whoo-hoo.
I can now go camping, as well.
Meal of Links
The Rock Hall inductees were announced today. I think the only surprise for me was The Ronettes over Iggy Pop. That baffles me. BTW, today is David Bowie's 60th birthday, and here are 60 Bowie facts. I really dig #37, for some reason. And, he does dig Arcade Fire.
Bad Tigger? Come on, he barely pawed that kid, but check out the kid. He appears to be grabbing Tigger's neck, and I can't believe I'm this concerned about it.
I was elated when I saw Bruce Campbell in the new Old Spice commercial. If you don't know him...well, you should.
Exercise Yard
Stephen Hawking wants to go to space. No laughing.
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28 Down: Vladimir of the Kremlin (5 letters) Answer: Putin
Posted by Jim at 9:41 PM 0 comments
Labels: Bowie, Bruce Campbell, Gadgets, Hawking, Tigger
