FOR KAY ESS

two sentence movie reviews...

2011-05-17T17:15:00.004-04:00

hanna - a friend hyped this as a european style "arty" action movie. about as arty as x-men origins: wolverine. C.

battle: los angeles - preview looked really good, kinda like district 9 part II. mad formulaic though, best suited for 12 y/o boys. C-.

bridesmaids - in contrast, this moving looked dumb on previews. ended up being the best female lead comedy i can remember, a movie worthy of it's apatowish heritage. A.

the illusionist - not the ed norton vehicle that was overshadowed by the prestige, but rather the latest by french animator chomet. no triplets of belleville, but still a touching portrait. B+.

lincoln lawyer - kind of like a slightly inferior version of the gosling / hopkins vehicle fracture from a couple years ago. just keep livin', mcconaughey. B-.

More AP Euro

2011-04-27T01:21:00.001-04:00

This question is from a test bank I use...

46. Which of the following was not an example of “grunge” music?
a. Snoop Doggy Dogg
b. Nirvana
c. P earl Jam
d. Sonic Youth
e. all were “grunge”
ANSWER: a (p. 957)

My favorite answer is (e).

I also like the fact that only one of the bands is actually a "grunge" band.

History

2011-04-01T00:44:00.002-04:00

This picture, of a prominent world leader, is in one of the textbooks I use in my European History class.

Lil' Q:

2011-03-29T11:19:00.002-04:00

folks, sorry for the slow moving times on this dying enterprise of a blog. in any event, wanted to call people's attention to PC's elder spawn's appearance on the front page of the banner-herald on sunday. here is the pic. pretty cool.

RIP, Nate Dogg:

2011-03-16T12:13:00.003-04:00

godspeed, good sir.

happy friday, folks.

2011-02-25T10:37:00.001-05:00

Trish Keenan

2011-02-13T01:25:00.001-05:00

Trish Keenan, lead singer of Broadcast, died about a month ago as you might have heard. Besides putting out a handful of albums (three of which, Work and Non Work, The Noise Made By People, and Tender Buttons garner A+ status in my book), Broadcast put on two of the best shows I have ever seen, both in East Atlanta. I just bought their most recent effort, Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age, which is just as weird (and great) as it sounds. Below are some reasons to be sad you missed them:

Flash a Stop Sign

2011-02-08T18:39:00.005-05:00

I have lived in the U.S. on and off for the last 8 years and I think I can say that my English language skills have definitely improved. However, a recent incident ("Your dog is such a cute little vermin!") reminded me that there is still some work to be done. It also inspired me to write down the top 5 mishaps of intercultural misunderstandings and incidents in which I found myself lost in translation or otherwise confused:

#1 First Visit to the Grocery Store

One of my all time high moments in the category lost in translation happened on my second day in Athens in August 2002.

My first time in the U.S., I was not only struggling with the language but also with the Southern accent. What's now music in my ears was then pure horror. Everything was a challenge even a simple visit to the grocery store.

I took the bus from Baxter to BiLo on South Milledge. I got my groceries, proceeded to the check out, and swiped my card. The guy at the register asked me "Debit or Credit?". All I understand is "credit" and I reply "yes". The guy annoyed: "Yes, what!?" My confusion grows reciprocal to length of the line behind me. What is debit? After some back and forth I asked him to hold my stuff, left, got cash out of an ATM, came back and paid. My roommate later explained "debit" and I never went back.

On a side note, I carried my 4 big bags back home from South Milledge to Baxter Street (in August). Half way, a random guy in a car asks me whether I need help. Sweating like Mother Teresa in an all men's sauna, I kindly declined in shame and pretended, that my place is right around the corner. It was not...

#2 First Thanksgiving

The family of a now very good friend invited me to come to Atlanta for my first Thanksgiving Holiday after running the Atlanta Half Marathon. I truly had a great time and it could not have been a better experience of one of the best American traditions. To me it was clear that I needed to show my heartfelt gratitude upon leaving, which I did by uttering: "Thank you so much for your hostility." It wasn't until the Thanksgiving the following year that I was told about the mishap and the existence of the word "hospitality."

#3 Flash a Stop Sign

At some point your friends stop correcting your mistakes. That's the only explanation I have for getting away with using the phrase "Flash a stop sign." in sentences like "Oops, i think I just flashed a stop sign" or "I saw a guy today flashing a red light at the intersection downtown" for years.

Half a year ago Stef mentioned that I should not use the word "flash" in this context. "You should use "run" instead." Apparently she was always wondering what I am talking about. My mind was racing trying to figure out who of the people that don't know me too well could have mistaken me for a total creep for uttering the words.

#4 Eisels

I am a new employee at the Agora store in Athens, horrified about every customer coming into the door because my English is still not what it should be for
excellent customer service. But i need this job desperately and try to give my best. A Woman enters the store. "Hi there, do you have eisels?" Me: "Sorry ma'am, we don't sell animals."

#5 New York Road Trip

I'm driving my 1993 Mazda Protege up the highway to NYC breathing the smell of the open road. I am finally enjoying being part of the American way of live and total mobility after numerous previous eye opening trips in Greyhound Buses. I was enjoying myself so much that I first didn't realize the police car approaching from the back with its signal lights on.

I wasn't anywhere near Autobahn speed but thought to myself that I must have been speeding. The police car approaches, I pull over to the shoulder of the Freeway and stop. Instead of enjoying the American dream, I now try concentrating on what my friends told me to do in situations like these in order to not get shot. The cop car stops right in front of me behind a stalled car. The police officer gets out and walks over to me: "Can I help you young man?" Now I am totally confused. Why would he ask that right after pulling me over?

"Well officer, you pulled me over but I am not sure for what. I don't think I was speeding." "No see son, if I wanted to pull you over, I would have driven and stopped right BEHIND you. I was just gonna check on the stalled car right up there." The level of embarrassment I instantly experienced is indescribable. Knowing that I would be the laughingstock in some random highway police station in the middle of Virginia for quite a while didn't make it any better.

There are more stories than that (Huevos will always (mis)remember a lost in translation moment at the entry of the law library) and I'll try to write them down in the weeks to come.

K

cable cars...

2011-02-06T15:04:00.003-05:00

this lady is BUGGIN' OUT:

Colbert's "Sell-Out Off":

2011-01-13T09:46:00.005-05:00

this was a pretty top notch feature by colbert, who i become more and more convinced is a genius. good the whole way, but relevant portion picks up at about 4:20.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

MeTunes - Grammy Vote - Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney & Ezra Koenig<a>

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>

Video Archive

i think VW kinda sucks, and i don't really know BK's stuff, but i give both bands points for taking part.

Top 5 Flicks of 2010:

2011-01-04T15:36:00.007-05:00

my personal top 5...

1. A Prophet - expressed my appreciation for this masterpiece previously. as i said then, it joins shawshank and cool hand luke in the upper echelon of prison flicks (zig, i still haven't seen le trou but i might get it from netflix this week). anyway, this movie has a couple seriously raw scenes. on the whole, i think it's a great depiction of the brutality / yet delicacy involved in navigating human power structure.
2. Black Swan - had read mixed reviews, and honestly went in expecting to be underwhelmed. but this flick is fantastic. the closing 20 min or so (the opening night) is dizzying and beautiful. aronofsky's best film to date.
3. Inception - commented on this briefly in comment to HC's post. conversations trying to decipher what was really going on in this one were pretty common for a few weeks there. as i indicated, i think i agree with this piece that HC forwarded me. regardless of various possible levels of reality, this was a true "edge of the seat" thriller for me. succeeded in reality bending in a way that the similar shutter island failed. i was totally zoned in on this flick from start to finish, as was the whole opening weekend audience.
4. The Social Network - a very enjoyable (and "topical") film. well written, well acted. eisenberg may be around for a while.
5. The Fighter - have never seen christian bale play such a funny and magnetic character. he was funny in american psycho i guess, but this character showed range for a great actor whose only flaw is that he seems like he maybe takes himself too seriously. wahlberg was also great, as was amy adams. similar to #1, it joins exclusive company as a top 3 boxing movie (obviously the other two being rocky and raging bull).

honorable mention:
true grit, cyrus, i am love.

overrated/disappointing list:
avatar, alice in wonderland, greenberg.

your top fives?

BBQ

2010-12-22T18:22:00.001-05:00

From Phillip's, one of my favorite BBQ spots in LA. My other favorite is called Big Mista's.

Yeah

2010-12-16T22:17:00.001-05:00

Black Christmas. Tomorrow night on TCM. Thanks to Reno for introducing me to this in the first place.

the prez:

2010-12-13T14:32:00.004-05:00

wow folks. just went a full calendar month without a post on here. that's pretty ridiculous. is it time to shut this thing down? i guess we should keep it around, even if it pretty much goes dormant. i don't know.

in any event, lots of opinions going around about our president. some people think these congressional elections spelled his end. others think that it will spur him to move in a more moderate direction promote bipartisanship. i for one think he's seemed super moderate the whole time he's been in office, so i'm not sure what this movement would entail. anyway, some "progressive bloggers" and such have been suggesting there should be a primary challenge against obama. that is such bullshit. first, do you think there's somebody more electable in the democratic party? howard dean? come on. second, obama is still awesome. clinton was in a similar bind after two years, and he ended up just fine (other than the blowjob thing). third, this guy makes some really good points. the most relevant to this discussion is that obama losing in the 2012 dem primary would be a GREAT way to alienate minority voters... maybe forever? the other point regarding why he can't be more "fiery" is an interesting point as well.

question: i know all of us / our limited readership are left leaning. that said, does anyone reading this believe there would be a "Tea Party" if obama was white? if a white dem president had done every single thing exactly the same, would the TP exist? i feel very confident in saying no.

coming soon...top 5 movies of the year list. get yours ready.

Gene Simmons is Big Cat's role model:

2010-11-12T13:12:00.002-05:00

Slightly more information on the shooting of a knife wielding man

2010-11-02T13:01:00.002-04:00

This weekend this happened. The deceased is a former client of mine (more frequently rep'd by other attorneys in the office) and former client of Huevos's outfit. The article gets the gist of the story. As you can see by the comments, it provokes one of two very standard responses: 1. of course the cop shot the guy and it was the right thing to do (the vast majority of commenters) or 2. cop was too quick on the trigger when other avenues of resolving the situation may have existed. So here's the little more info

The deceased was essentially and old drunk (one of his former lawyers said "anyo cop whose afraid of sam needs to find another line of work") but one who would often ramp up the stakes of the usual drunken brawling, including the agg assault where he was found guilty of a misdemeanor just a couple weeks ago. Most of his cases involved some combination of alcohol and seemingly excessive agression. But he never seriously injured anybody. On the other hand, Al Sharpton's not going to roll into the ATH to protest the tragic loss of his innocent life.

The officer has frequently worked patrolling public housing areas, admittedly hard work. However, he consistently pushes the envelope (to put it mildly) of what is/is not a legal search. More importantly, he has always been someone who escalates situations, taking situations that may be tense and making them more tense. Cops are frequently in tense situations, and they either escalte or de-escalate them. This guy consistently does the former. The shooting of the dog that is mentioned (not the one where he is injured, which seems fairly reasonable) actually involved a friend of my co-worker. In that case, it is undisputed that the dog weighed 30 pounds. The owners (my co-workers friend) say the dog slipped out by pushiing on a screen door and was a totally non-agressive dog. In any event, the truth is a 30 lb dog (half the size of my own medium sized dogs) can be dealt with in about nine different ways short of killing it. So shooting the 30 lb dog seems extremely dicey.

So in the end, whoever's right and whoever's wrong, it's really about the least surprising situation possible. It was Sam being Sam and Lou being Lou, and the odds are they were both moving inevitably towards this moment or one like it.

"The Black Hulk Hogan":

2010-10-23T15:15:00.004-04:00

so this dude is running for governor of new york:

hero.

law school:

2010-10-20T09:58:00.006-04:00

i don't hate my job. not that i enjoy getting up the morning, but it's a decent gig as far as these things go. but a lot of lawyers truly do hate their existence. but i digress. in any event, here's a pretty apt video that comes to us courtesy of HC:

Springsteen Arena Rock & Funk Dance Party with special guest DJ Johnny 99

2010-09-22T14:32:00.002-04:00

Mr. Ben Makin & I will be DJing together for the 1st time at Little Kings Saturday night starting around 10:30 pm. It's gonna be a Bruce Springsteen dance party with lots of fun elements thrown in. Will we see you there?

dark secrets:

2010-09-17T12:17:00.009-04:00

thanks to Z for clueing me into this magnificent jewel.

the new season of eastbound and down starts a week from sunday. cannot wait.

btw, it's always sunny is back as of last night. funniest two shows on tv.

WM3

2010-09-08T23:16:00.002-04:00

Larry King did a show about the West Memphis Three last night, who I think I wrote about a while ago. FYI, you can get the whole story here if you are not familiar. Anyway, after I watched it I went to that website and read the brief written by the Attorney General opposing their bid for the new trial. Hate to say it, but I think (after a quick read and not knowing anything about law in AR) that they may be F'd, at least at this level and on this issue (also wondering, after 16 years how many appellate roads are actually left). Anyway, the issue now is appealing under Arkansas's statute regarding post-conviction DNA exonerations, which truthfully seems so restrictive that it feels like they were actually trying to LIMIT exonerations rather than allow them. In this case, the new DNA evidence is DNA from one of the kid's fathers and the kid's father's friend (and the absence of DNA from the WM3). Given that all 3 victims were under water it is surprising they found anything, and the finding of only DNA from someone who could have had incidental contact does not sound like it's going to clear the hurdle.

They also have presented a lot of new and very compelling stuff, (including strong evidence that the Dad whose DNA is found also lied to police about seeing the kids that day) but it sounds like the statute doesn't allow you to intermingle normal evidentiary challenges with this DNA challenge--in some sense, they got shot down earlier on normal appeal grounds (without knowing about the DNA) and now they can't raise normal appeal stuff with the DNA, and so no court is taking a full look at the case.

Maybe I've got all this confused--I skimmed a lot of info. But if I'm right (and even if I'm not, actually), it's going to take some serious courage from a Judge or Governor to do the right thing in this case.

Are Met fans dumber than the Mets' braintrust? Or just really sarcastic?.

2010-09-03T00:25:00.007-04:00

Inexplicable...

(taken from amazin avenue who took it from last night's Mets broadcast)

MJ 30 for 30

2010-08-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

Watched that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about Jordan's 1st retirement/season playing baseball. Bit of an MJ fluff piece, but makes two arguments in a pretty compelling manner.

1. MJ was not that bad in baseball. Okay, initially he was awful but he (not surprisingly) worked his ass off and improved through the season, capped by hitting .250 in the more competitive fall league that takes place after the season. The games shots (unless selectively edited) show visible improvement is his swing from 'skinny tall guy in a batting cage next to the mini-golf' to a serious looking swing. His one season took place at 32, and he didn't come back for another (according to the show, see below) because of the impending strike. Could jordan have made it in the major leagues? Probably not, but his season doesn't seem like nearly the joke it has been made out to be.

2. Jordan did not retire because he was unofficially suspended for gambling. I have never believed this, but that may be because I never even heard it until I was like 28. In the show they interview Sam Smith, who wrote the 'jordan is a dick' expose "The Jordan Rules." Seems like if anyone was willing and able to grind an axe on mj, it would be this guy, but he says he doesn't believe it and that there's no way anything could have stayed a secret in the NBA this long, and further that Stern was practically begging MJ to stay. They make a good point as well that a) his dad did die then and b) jordan was getting just a taste of what every celebrity/superstar gets now in terms of scrutiny (The Jordan Rules and people pulling hotel records to determine how late he'd been out gambling during the playoffs).

So anyway, it's worth watching, probably ups my overall opinion of MJ a little and reinforces my belief on the gambling thing. Would like to know how badly outnumbered I am in my wide-eyed belief that MJ really retired.

miscellany:

2010-08-25T16:49:00.004-04:00

watched a couple low budget soderbergh flicks recently. bubble was pretty good. the girlfiend experience was pretty boring. most interesting thing about it is that i guess it was the spring board for that porn star to get a recurring gig on entourage. where she is pretty likeable.

speaking of entourage, i still watch it every week, but it's honestly just been "ok" the last couple seasons. however, the recent episode was an interesting turn. vince being a serious dick to E. this is kinda promsing, in terms of the "drama" of the show. speaking of the tv realm, finished up season 4 of friday night lights a few weeks ago. best season yet, by far. the changeover to east dillon was a great move. and a great finale. apparently only one more season to go, sadly. also just started watching breaking bad. very solid.

some of you may know that i started blowing up season tickets to UGA basketball last season with "truck" turner. well the next couple years are going to be interesting to watch. this year we lose nobody of consequence, bring back two all-conference level performers in thompkins and leslie, and that gerald robinson transfer should be an upgrade at point. we could contend for a conference title, no bullshit. and then next year...the dawgs bring in their first five star recruit in...i don't know, decades? ever?

lebron james is a huge douchebag.

sauce, you been foolin around on mescaline again? i'm just glad they got there before you did some unsavory acts with that dog.

has everybody seen "a prophet"? that one scene is pretty damn raw (if you've seen it, you know which one i'm talking about). great flick, the kind where i was watching it way too late on a weeknight but was too into it to even feel tired. joins shawshank and cool hand luke in the upper cannon of prison movies.

Pacific Northwest (some highlights)

2010-08-09T18:29:00.015-04:00

1. Portland-Portland was easily our favorite part. It's a lot smaller, a lot more accessible (free streetcars) but has seemingly just as much going on as our other major destinations. It really does feel somewhat like a big version of Athens.

2. Portland Street Carts-Within walking distance of any downtown hotel one can venture to any of at least five (maybe more) street food clusters, small parking lots in which food venders back little carts into tiny spaces and dish out amazing food. Thai food tends to dominate percentage wise, with Mexican following but we tended to steer towards stuff we couldn't necessarily get(or haven't gotten) better versions of in Los Angeles or just stuff we absolutely couldn't believe we could find on the street in the USA: the schnitzelwich (a Czech sandwich made with either pork schnitzel or breaded eggplant, Korean tacos, Khao Man Gai (AKA Haianese Chicken Rice), truffle fries, and an amazing hamburger with 3-4 types of peppers. We never tried the vegan BBQ.

3. Portland Underground Tours-Wikipedia kinda spoiled for me afterwards by telling me there's actually no historical evidence for what they tell you but it was kinda cool, either way, to walk around under Old Town and get educated about the practice of "Shanghaiing."

4. The 24 Hour Church of Elvis-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade-Microbrews and pretty much every retro-arcade game you would want. My only complaints are no Spy Hunter and the fact they use the updated version of Gauntlet rather than the original.

6. The Pacific Ocean-We looked at the Stuff White People Like app on JC's iphone and booked a bed and breakfast on the ocean, and went to a farmer's market and ate locally grown foods.

7. The drive up the coast to Seattle-Astoria, OR (where they filmed Goonies) pictured

8. Japadog-Vancouver was nice, especially the few hours we spent biking around the city. Even more amazing than the bike ride was Japadog. The "hot dog renaissance" that's seeping across the country, I guess, has reached Vancouver as well. My favorite was the bratwurst with radish and green onion.

9. Back home-This past Saturday, in my only Entouragesque moment since moving here, I got to spend a few hours at Eddie Murphy's former mansion under the pretense of helping my friend with a magazine shoot. It's obviously pretty nice, with a large pool, a small arcade, a bowling alley, a grotto with inlaid hot tubs, a trampoline, and (my favorite) an aviary. Mr. Murphy actually stopped by for a few minutes with his bodyguard. As I was "working" I felt it would be a bit unprofessional to approach him for an autograph.

<<<<<<<<<<<<< $$$ >>>>>>>>>>>>>

2010-08-05T14:52:00.008-04:00

winter's bone

2010-07-23T09:26:00.004-04:00

i went and saw winter's bone last night. it's about this girl in the missouri ozarks whose absentee father has left her to care for her two younger siblings and mentally ill mother. the story begins right after the father gets busted for cooking meth, puts the family house up for bond, and then fails to show up for court. the movie's essentially about the girl turning private detective and getting deep into ozark meth country/culture to try and find her dad and save her home from the bond company.

winter's bone has long, meditative shots of: little white trash kids playing on a ratty trampoline; a forlorn, forgotten rocking horse with icicles hanging off it; a sweet squirrel-skinning scene; and characters who say stuff like, "don't never ask for what should be offered." as you might expect, the critics came in their collective pants--it's got a "90" on metacritic. to a.o. scott, a movie like this is a travelogue where the characters' stupidity and desperation is ascribed a profundity that just isn't there in real life. one of the lone dissenting critics aptly described it as "southern-poverty porn." i think it's sort of like hillbilly minstrelsy.

i will say, though,that the actress who plays the girl does a really good job. her name's jennifer lawrence. here are some not very ozarkian pics of her: http://www.esquire.com/women/women-we-love/jennifer-lawrence-photos-0610. hubba-hubba! i'm sure she had to get a dialect coach to learn how to talk dumb. she's playing "mystique" in the next x-men movie.

john hawkes is also in this, and he's good, too. he was sol starr in "deadwood." have any of you guys ever watched deadwood? i like it almost as much as the wire.

so, winter's bone is not as good as advertised. it's not as horrible as crazy heart, but you can wait for the dvd. in the meantime, go see inception!

American Murder Mystery

2010-07-21T09:40:00.002-04:00

Pretty interesting article from The Atlantic, if you're interested in poverty, social policy, etc etc etc.

omg

2010-07-18T19:31:00.000-04:00

gang, inception is amazing

Recent activities

2010-07-10T21:27:00.004-04:00

1. Listening to the new Big Boi album. "Shine Blockas" is my summer song.
2. Cooking, a lot. Sandwiched between a so-so squid curry and a green curry in which I realized, upon tasting it, that the green curry paste I made a few months ago and froze had gone bad, I baked a whole fish for the first time with a Jewish recipe from Kerala, India and actually hit at least a triple, if not a homerun.
3. Finishing up Season 2 of True Blood tonight with JC. I think I need to incorporate the Sookie Stackhouse novels into my summer reading list.
3. Finally watched Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. I could write something halfway decent about it I guess, but I prefer this amazing comment from the Holy Mountain trailer on youtube:
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!!!!!!! I SEARCHED THE SONG HOLY MOUNTIAN BY SYSTEM OF A DOWN AND I GOT THIS!! WHAT IS THIS FUCKING MOVIE ABOUT!?!?!
The short Jodorowsky primer (below) by a documentarian who is kind of the Kige Ramsey of 70s Chilean cult cinema is also great. I actually like this guy, though the comments are kind of brutal.

4. Getting ready for Vegas (this weekend) and Pacific Northwest (two weeks)
5. Playing my best golf ever. Mastering my serve/learning how to serve in tennis is next.

Travels

2010-06-29T15:41:00.007-04:00

Laura and I got back from a trip through the northeastern part of the United States and Canada a few days ago and blogged about some of our experiences. Check out our ramblings.

Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The stadium kinda looks like an alien spacecraft landed in the middle of Montreal circa 1975.

I thought y'all might get a kick out of this. It was for sale at a record store called Nuggets in Boston for $29.99! Those yankees just love our southern ways, especially if they can make a few bucks off a shitty photo in a $2 frame.

A beaver chompin' away at Acadia National Park

Vermont

A Dignified Profession...

2010-06-24T14:51:00.004-04:00

"get rid of that vermin you call a spouse"

"the hammer"

the "texas hammer"?

another "hammer".

"whatever"

"insurance company ain't about to pay...can't believe they'd treat me this way"

"the california switchblade":

how long til B "The Big Cat" B ads? or maybe W "The Blizzard" M?

NBA Free Agency Predictions:

2010-06-24T12:35:00.003-04:00

as july 1st fast approaches, the question on everyone's mind is where will lebron sign. after that, all the other free agent ballers will fall into place. my predictions for what expect are as follows:

1. lebron will stay in cleveland. they will make a trade prior to the signing in order to convince him they're in it to win it.
2. wade will stay in miami. i think he's basically said as much.
3. bosh will sign with miami as well. sign and trade of some sort for michael beasley. miami will be up there with orlando, cleveland, and boston atop the east.
4. joe johnson will sign with chicago. teaming up with rose, they will join that upper echelon atop the east within the next couple years.
5. amare will sign with the nets.

where will carlos boozer sign? who gives a shit.

btw, i am a little intrigued by this chris paul trade talk. they said he's not on the block...but not convincingly. the team is losing money, and they're afraid he's going to become discontent soon with their penny pinching ways. they might well entertain that devin harris plus the no. 3 pick offer, which would allow them unload some other bad contracts in the deal (btw, a new jersey team with paul could well change the free agency happenings). also some talk of a deal to orlando for jameer nelson and vince carter. this again would allow a big salary dump. look, paul is a top ten star in the league, no question. but it doesn't seem likely the hornets will build a winner around him, what with their salary cutting ways. so why keep him around til he gets pissed and demands a trade? don't get me wrong, i would keep him for sure. but i'm not an nba owner losing money and trying to sell my team.

4KS Exclusive News Bulletin....

2010-06-13T19:40:00.005-04:00

...the axis powers übercouple makes it official.

just spoke to the handsomest german of them all, our own khoff. had to inquire because his facebook status recently changed to "engaged".

when i got him on the phone, he clued me in that he and his hiromi are not just engaged. in a move conceived of that very morning, they were married at noon on friday in san francisco city hall. rings made of string, next door neighbor taking the pics, her friend brought the flowers, super laid back and cool. in classic khoff fashion, they celebrated the occasion with a bike ride to golden gate park. word is there will be some larger sort of celebration some time next year back in the classic city.

congrats to the two of them. both among the best humans in my acquaintance.

Recently...

2010-05-28T21:46:00.002-04:00

Recent top 4:
1. This really nice sports-related apparel site.
2. Eating poutine and a piece of HC's foie gras, spam and hamburger tower at this place.
3. Accapella Will Oldham show in the back of a guitar shop in Santa Monica.
4. Going through the Universal Studios House of Horrors with a fellow teacher and four female students. Grad night at Disneyland in two weeks!

it may be suicide by tiny increments...

2010-05-27T17:03:00.004-04:00

...but i still think smoking looks cool.

supposedly this fat little two year old puts down two packs a day.

The Lost Finale:

2010-05-26T09:49:00.008-04:00

so as everyone in the english speaking world is aware, ABC's LOST had it's final episode on sunday. the lady and i watched in a room owensboro, kentucky comfort inn and suites, where i had a hearing the following morning. got a little applebees to go and a 40 oz, and settled down for the spectacle.

basically, i thought it was a really good finale. locke vs. jack, as it was from the beginning. a little weird how quickly smokey locke went down, and that kate did him in rather than jack. but enjoyable all the same. this finale brought a degree of closure, but still left an intriguing number of unanswered questions to think about. how long did hurley run the island? how long did kate, sawyer, etc live when the got off the island, and what did they do? the flash sideways/alternate reality set up well as a purgatory/heaven reunion scene. which, i think, is the kind of thing people wanted to see. (btw, the whole flash sideways plotline kind of echoes this flick).

of course the critics / message boards seemingly could not disagree more. but whatever. what were they expecting? seriously? there is no conceivable way all of the loose ends could have been tied up. i suppose it would have been more austere and "real" just to have jack die and do away with the whole flash sideways. but it would have been less enjoyable.

the problem is that tv critics / pretentious fans always want to view television as art. without retreading previous ad nauseum discussions, i do believe there are some shows that qualify (yes the wire, also mad men, sopranoes, friday night lights). these are shows that, from the beginning, have sought to have literary narratives. they have sought to be realistic/naturalistic/whatever. LOST has never sought those things. it was about entertainment. it was a network tv blockbuster. it has more in common with heroes or flashforward than it does the wire; it's just that it's a lot better than those shows. LOST has definitely floundered at times, but at the end of the day that's what it was. an addictive, slightly dumb but very entertaining tv show. and there ain't a thing wrong with that.

500 puzzled rednecks

2010-05-14T17:18:00.003-04:00

As much as it would have made for a great fourth of July (if he would have come in the first place) the fact that he's not coming isn't nearly as depressing as this line: "His satire is probably something that we didn’t feel suited our small-town atmosphere."

Superhero for a day

2010-05-13T11:02:00.003-04:00

So my lovely girlfriend likes to read the Good News Network. She brought this Seattle story to my attention. Pretty inspiring and a good read if you're wondering who to donate money to this year. Also read the comments....

Never Gets Old

2010-05-12T23:40:00.001-04:00

Sure we've heard this one before, but that doesn't mean it's not very, very funny.

Makes sense to me

2010-05-10T09:41:00.004-04:00

I love this guy's ads.

this movie looks pretty awesome....

2010-05-07T10:03:00.004-04:00

zirk ziegler turned me on to this one. i think it looks great. casey affleck is a good lead, he showed that in gone baby gone.

playoff woe:

2010-05-07T09:23:00.004-04:00

ok, so the hawks. i'm about as big of a fan as anyway of the hawks. they're a top 4 team in the eastern conference...and i think it may well be time to start over. "the living legend" kenny bowman forwarded me this article, and i think it makes some good points about why the hawks' offense seems as stagnant as it does. the thing that got me, for those of you who watched the game last night, was josh smith pouting around the court for the entire second half. it's just embarassing. he's come a long way this year, what with not taking three and improving a bit with on the ball defense. but he is so stupid, and such a whiny baby. supposedly NBA players were polled this season about the best natural athlete in the league. lebron won the poll, josh smith was no. 2. i can't argue with that. but i still say we trade him. anyway, my proposed course of action would be three-fold. first, fire mike woodson. he's the worst coach in the league. second, let joe johnson walk. he's married to dribbling time out and then putting up a jumper. he's really good at it, but not quite good enough that he could ever lead a team to a title. third, trade josh smith for a real center to play next to horford, or possibly draft picks. next season we start building around horford. start teague over bibby, with the minutes divided evenly. i think the kid might have game. then start evans as the two and crawford still off the bench as sixth man (and probable offensive team mvp). the offense runs through horford, maybe triangle style. would we make the conference semi-finals next year with this squad? probably not. but we'd be more likely to be true contenders a couple years.

of course all this is probably wrong. maybe they should just fire woodson, bring in a coach with some semblance of offensive/defensive strategies. and a coach with enough balls to bench josh when he plays like an idiot. maybe a somebody like this dude, who turned the then newly assembled 2008 celtics squad into one of the best defensive teams of the last couple decades.

Miracles

2010-05-05T07:54:00.003-04:00

Speaking of Philadelphia Sports Fans...

2010-05-04T11:34:00.003-04:00

Phillie fan running loose in the outfield and eventually getting tasered. Funny on a lot of levels.

Two big things

2010-05-03T20:40:00.008-04:00

Have you seen Big Fan? It's directed and written by the guy who did the Wrestler. Definitely worth watching. The John Prine (a favorite) song at the end is quite apropos. Yes, the main dude in the movie is really obsessive, but who isn't? It's sports for one person, religion for the next, politics for the third. The movie shines a light on what society considers "successful" --or maybe it's just a movie about how much Philadelphia sports fans suck. If you have netflix, you can watch it on instant streaming.

I think I'm the first person to acquire a box set (it was a birthday present from the Ms.) in 10 years. It's the Big Star box set and it's pretty cool. Like many box sets, you gotta skip tracks but there are plenty of deep cut gems. Astra would have done (and probably did) an awesome version of Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos." I can't get enough of songs like "Thirteen," "Holocaust," "Feel," "The Ballad of El Goodo," "In the Street," etc. etc. The packaging, photos, and accompanying booklet with the cds look damn good. Give the band a listen if you haven't already done so.

lest we forget our origins:

2010-05-02T17:10:00.003-04:00

so i just realized that 4KS recently had its 5th anniversary. ridiculous. to celebrate the occasion, i wanted to re-post a classic 4KS post regarding our old pal sauce and the boys of astra. enjoy.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

"spiritual harmonics"

the following is taken from the january 26th edition of the flagpole. this excerpt speaks to astra's preternatural apperception of cosmic forces:

Claiming the influences of devotional texts such as Bhagavad Gita and the Tao Te Ching as well as those of philosopher and psychologist Carl Jung, Astra embeds a sense of spirituality in its music. "Most of the things I write are meditations on those scriptures, pretty much," says Tracy. "I don't think it's necessary to give everyone in the band those chapters to read for them to understand the song. For me, there's that element. I think we all agree music is a pretty serious thing, it's a kind of alchemy, it's a way to understand yourself, the cosmos and reality."

When the band is practicing or performing, Tracy likes to envision a musical mandala. Mandala is a Sanskrit word that represents circle, polygon, community and connection; in Tibetan Buddhism, mandalas are images or pictographs that are to be contemplated during meditation. There are many different ones, each with lessons to teach, and they are the source of much inspiration for Tracy.

"There's always so much detail in the mandalas," he says. "So much energy and information is contained within them that you know you could stare at it for a long time and never fully get everything from it. Sometimes when we're playing and we're playing really well, that's when I feel like we've hit that mandalic transcendental state where we could just play and play for hours without ever getting exhausted."

Meanwhile in the NLB...

2010-04-29T22:36:00.002-04:00

Your Tax Dollars at Work

2010-04-26T13:49:00.001-04:00

Pretty neat visual of the federal budget.

That's how we roll in the motherland...

2010-04-25T19:15:00.004-04:00

Sick

2010-04-23T23:27:00.003-04:00

Hopefully my public defender proselytizing isn't dragging 4ks down, but this was unbelievable. This is evidently some weekly feature written by the shit-ass DA of Fayette County that is published in the newspaper. Hard to say what is most sickening--1. the fact that there's not even any benefit to taking responsibility ("he wanted a deal. We said no."), 2. That he is practically pissing himself with the anticipation ("this was getting fun")at the prospect of sending people to prison for LIFE for 3. drug cases, which the morality of prosecuting at all is questionable, or 4. the fact that this holier than thou asshole judge is nothing but a bullying pervert who just resigned under pressure. Questions remain about the existence of fires of eternal damnation, but I'd like to think there's a place for these guys.

On a lighter note, I passed a church today whose magnetic sign had been rearranged to read "Get Your Spiritual Sluts Here." Could have been some crazy kids, but the church is suspiciously close to ahab's house.

The Playboy Club?

2010-04-23T09:46:00.001-04:00

My favorite recent internet find (read if you're a velvet underground fan)

DFW Redux

2010-04-19T09:54:00.003-04:00

In case there was any doubt that David Foster Wallace read a little more closely than you do.

Pavement In Pomona

2010-04-17T01:42:00.003-04:00

If you've ever read this blog, you may be aware of the fact that I am mildly fascinated by the American rock group Pavement. Last night I went to see them in Pomona, a 2 hour drive from LA in rush hour, at a nice little restored theatre called The Fox. First thoughts: seeing them live is every bit the experience it was 10 years ago in the 4o Watt, though I guess they sound a bit more like they're really trying (SM is a much more accomplished manipulator of the guitar than he was back then), and the venues are a bit bigger. But not much has really changed, which is for the best. They played a ton of Slanted, which was good, maybe not enough Wowee, but overall a good balance of everything. "Fight this Generation," probably my favorite Pavement live tune, was ridiculous. There were a few moments, when the band started the mid song jam and the blue green lights pushed forward through the band into the crowd that I thought the place was gonna lift off into the sky. The WTF moment of the night goes to seeing Latino guys hawking bootleg Pavement shirts outside the venue after the show. All in all, worth the wait. And now I have no real reason to make the mistake of going to Coachella.

two sentence movie reviews....

2010-04-06T15:10:00.006-04:00

crazy heart - even better than i was expecting, makes the best of '09 list for sure. fantastic turns by bridges, gyllenhall, and even farrell. A+.

religulous - ok, so religion has no basis in "fact" and is based on a blind "leap of faith" that is probably ultimately baseless. if you understand that, you don't need to see this movie. C.

sugar - a very interesting and unique script. depressing on some levels, but ultimately an uplifting story in my estimation. A.

500 days of summer - zooey can be pretty damn grating. i think she really believes that she's a manic pixie dream girl, but she's not. D+.

moon - i know a couple people who hated this movie (bloggins, gent). but i thought it was a perfectly enjoyable arty sci fi flick. B+.

julia - tilda swinton is a little much sometimes. decent plot line, but a bit overdone. B-.

how to make it in america (tv) - just tore through the first season on demand in like 2 days. with regard to the entourage comparison, my reaction is this show makes being poor in NY seem more appealing than being rich in LA. A.

The subtle difference between Athens and Baltimore

2010-04-01T15:02:00.002-04:00

One of the amazing/interesting aspects of Omar's gig on The Wire is that everyone knows who he is and what he's doing, but no one calls the police. It seems like a reasonable and believable proposition that people dealing dope, etc would be loathe to call in the po-pos. On the other hand, people in Athens essentially use the police as the Better Business Bureau of drug transactions. Just trade two hours use of your car for $20 of crack and now it's been three hours? Call the police. Get the short end of a beat down for ripping someone off on a drug deal? Call the police.

The opposite side of that coin are the people who believe that robbing drug dealers (even when you have no mask, even when they've known you your whole life) is the perfect crime. Instead what it leads to calls like: I just got robbed by Bob Smith. He had a pistol, he stole $700 and a flat screen, and he's driving down Broad Street in a Green honda. Police pull over the green honda on broad, find Bob Smith, the pistol, the money and the tv. And then you have left your public defender with very little to argue.

Anyway, this was all just a preface to this story, which is an even more absurd version of the above tale. If your going to rob a john, you should at least do it the first time.

deposition gone awry:

2010-03-30T16:55:00.004-04:00

southern lawyers gettin' all ornery.

was it PC or IGG who told me that amazing j. smith deposition story? wanna retell here, maintaining party anonymity?

Various Media Items That I Have Consumed

2010-03-28T15:44:00.003-04:00

I'm usually the last person on this blog to have info on books/movies/CDs, but here are a couple things I've checked out that are worth commentating on.

Bronson--movie based on the true story (pretty closely I think, after checking out this dude online) of a guy in prison in England who has spent 30 of his 34 years of confinement in solitary. The main character/narrator gives an dominating performance sort of like Daniel Day Lewis's recent villain roles (Bill the Butcher and Daniel Plainview). Best scene of the movie: when Bronson (he adopts the name of Charles Bronson, by the way) knows there's a big throwdown with guards coming, he strips naked and covers himself in grease. Awesome movie. True Stories from the PDs office: I just represented a guy whose records totally gives this guy a run for his money--both went into prison on 8-10 year robbery charges, both got another 20 years of time added for crazy in-custody antics, my guy finally just stopped fighting after about 15 years. Another true story: our office represented a dude who liked to get nude, grease up, and go peep in people's windows. Dude also claimed to be related to Chauncy Billups.

The Nine--book a year or two old now written by Jeffrey Toobin, the CNN legal guy about the transformation of the Supreme Court in the past 30 years. Essentially describes how conservatives began to strategically work the Supreme Court like a punching bag, so instead of just appointing vaguely conservative people who check some demographic box, they appoint people who would re-outlaw buttsex in a second if given another chance. Great book, fun read even if your aren't a law nerd. Two points I got: 1. there is no vaguely liberal constitutional doctrine that is safe from Republican appointments to the Supreme Court, which is a reason in the future why I will likely vote for even the lamest of democratic presidential candidates. 2. Illustrates how conservatives are consistently more organized and aggressive in spreading their agenda. Thirty years ago, the Supreme Court was an after thought to them, now they four Supreme Court justices who were essentially handpicked by James Dobson. Don't believe that conservatives are better at playing the game? Check out the recent textbook disputes in Texas, essentially the newest front in their cultural war.

Brief Interviews of Hideous Men (the movie)--Having watched the film Breakfast of Champions starring Bruce Willis (horrible), I am clearly a sucker for movies based on great books. Truth is some things are just better on paper. Good cast, including an appearance by Lester Freeman, but really can't capture the humor/absurdity of the book. The story arc that is constructed to connect the the snippets in the book (if the book was connected, I missed it) is uninteresting. Directed by John Krasinski of The Office (or Friends II if you prefer).

Jaguar Shark

2010-03-24T18:05:00.003-04:00

Notes from Sarah Palin's Real America

2010-03-20T00:24:00.003-04:00

Oklahoma is Georgia without Atlanta, Savannah and the pretty North Georgia Mountains. Stillwater is Athens minus every restaurant that's not a franchise, minus the area of downtown West of Lumpkin, and minus R.E.M. but plus Garth Brooks (who seems like an okay guy but his music is just terrible). Tulsa, generally considered to be the snooty artsy town in the state, was the perfect place for Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin to kick off their tour of what has to be the most miserable night of entertainment ever. But what really makes Oklahoma stand out? A little good old fashion raper killin.' Or actually attempted raper killin that in reality would end with this law being held unconstitutional. But hey, if that doesn't work at least we've got the meth offender registry. As Palin said, "Oklahoma, do you love your freedom?"

Your move Huevos...

2010-03-19T21:24:00.002-04:00

My wife, JC, with former Crimson Tide standout Robert Horry. We also brushed shoulders with The Great One for about two seconds on the way to getting some Pink's hot dogs.

For the next Reno Melons movie night

2010-03-17T00:27:00.003-04:00

I caught this one last last Saturday at the New Beverly Cinema. Interestingly enough, I recently read that the New Beverly was bought by Tarantino as a way of keeping the place going when the owner died. Apparently, Tarantino called the owner's son and asked how much it would cost to keep the place going, and that was that. I get the idea he's pretty hands off and really only get's involved when he wants to show something from his own collection there. Anyway, maybe Tarantino was the one that suggested this one...

world citizens

2010-03-16T12:50:00.004-04:00

my parents are vacationing in madrid, and killing it. i got the below e-mail a couple days ago:

Subject: Hola
To: xxx

Hi ______, Despite being robbed yesterday and another attempt today, we’re having a good time. Are off to Tapas Tour. Hope you’re OKMama. Love,

---

ugh, kill me before i hit 65. :(

Tarantino

2010-03-15T09:21:00.004-04:00

Party on, Big Ben!!

2010-03-08T17:48:00.005-05:00

Milledgeville?!? Dude seems to have a Saucyesque lack of game. Which is hard to fathom while sporting two Super Bowl rings.

Dude needs to get savy, ol' Chappelle style:

Chappelle's Show

Love Contract

www.comedycentral.com

Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs

Black Comedy

True Hollywood Story

Kobe!!

Return of the Kings....

2010-03-02T11:31:00.007-05:00

many of you are probably savy to this, but thought i'd make note just in case. pavement reunion show, tickets on sale this friday. mc2 [possibly] returning to the peach state for the occasion. if he does make it, all his brews are on me. in a related matter, decent klosterman interview of malkmus here. and the first reunion setlist is available here, looks pretty amazing. oh, and video here.

i hope to see everyone there.

Owen Colonoscopy

2010-02-19T10:23:00.003-05:00

Middle name as yet unchosen, although McGringo is not one of the finalists.

Trade Mania:

2010-02-16T17:14:00.003-05:00

as the trade deadline rapidly approaches this thursday, i thought i would take this opportunity to comment on recent trades on those currently being discussed.

first, caron butler, brendan haywood and some chumps for josh howard and some chumps with shorter contracts. this is a huge deal for the mavs. butler is the truth, a paul pierce type with slightly less talent but more grit (and better D). plus haywood is an upgrade on dampier as a slightly better stiff seven foot center. mavs get two new starters, and butler gives them some serious edge. they might be the no. 2 team in the west with this deal.

second, marcus camby to the blazers for travis outlaw and steve blake. blazers felt like they had to make this deal because oden and pryzbilla are down with injuries. probably a good move, i guess. but outlaw is a solid wing, made some important plays for them. as will blake, who is a consumate PG type; a great backup, and a passable starter. they'll miss those two more than they think. and is this a good deal long-term (i think camby walks after this season)? i don't know.

now onto the amare stoudemire fray. i for one think the cavs would be better advised to trade for jamison instead, and then try to bring in bosh in the off-season. stoudemire trade clearly precludes a bosh signing; and while stoudemire is a talent, he plays no D and has had two knee surgeries at a young age. no guarantee he holds up.

for the heat, however, i think dealing for stoudemire would make sense. they need to make a play to be competitive and keep wade in town. there are rumblings they'll run at bosh as well, but for me it's hard to imagine he a) doesn't prefer to sign with bron bron and the cavs, b) wouldn't take some of the knicks money, and c) would leave toronto who has more money to offer. miami seems like the fourth most likely team he'll play with next year. if he's playing with wade, it'll probably be in NY.

btw, the knicks are making a smart play by trying to trade for mcgrady. yes, you heard that right. i know mcgrady is washed up and always injured, and a little bit of a priss. but if they dump jefferies on the rockets in the deal, they can now sign two guys for max deals. the knicks suck, but if they signed two of marquee FAs (bron, wade, bosh), they'd instantly be one of the favorites for the title. and i'm sure those guys would like to play in NY. i think a knicks team with wade and bosh is a real possibility (bosh might opt to play with wade instead of bron if it's in NY). have also heard that bosh wants to be "the man", though. maybe he will take chicago's money, play with derrick rose. he'd definitely share the limelight, but it's different when it's with a PG.

the bron sweepstakes is going to be nuts this summer. i for one def hope he stays in cleveland. but who knows? bron and wade together in NY is feasible too if the mcgrady trade happens.

The Last Dragon

2010-02-09T14:57:00.002-05:00

Surely somebody in our loyal 4KS readership is familiar with "The Last Dragon"? Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem? Bruce Leroy? El Debarge?

Such a weird movie. And yet, amazing.*

*Amazing only in my 6th-grade memory. No representation of actual awesomeness should be construed.

Fortress

2010-02-07T15:09:00.002-05:00

God, speaking of long-lost movies from 6th grade--"Fortress." Somebody please tell me you've seen this movie. It was scary as shit. The teacher and students at a one-room school house in Australia get taken hostage by some lunatics and then have to fight to escape. According to Wikipedia, it's a true story, which makes me sorta uneasy. It was a theatrical release in Australia, but apparently only made it HBO here. Which makes me wonder how I ever saw it, since we didn't get cable until I went to college. I saw this at least 6 times.

Near Dark

2010-02-07T14:55:00.003-05:00

With "The Hurt Locker" getting all the recognition it deserves this Oscar season, it's time we revisted Kathryn Bigelow's 1987 vampire-western "Near Dark." Near Dark is one of those movies I saw at least 8 or 9 times right after it came out on video and then just got pushed waaaay back in my memory -- a status it shares with movies like "The Last Dragon." Unlike Last Dragon, though, Near Dark is not an ironic guilty pleasure. It's an awesome fucking movie. Check it.

I always knew that show sucked

2010-02-06T16:04:00.007-05:00

The profoundly un-funny "Big Bang Theory" made even less funny.

Lakernomics

2010-01-28T14:15:00.003-05:00

I'm about to start teaching economics for second semester and will be teaching the concept of marginal benefits and marginal costs. For the guys, I'm going to use a Lakers example to discuss the idea.
What would be more valuable to the Lakers: a trade sending Kobe in exchange for Lebron, or a trade sending relatively unknown player A in exchange for relatively unknown but significantly more productive player B. Any ideas as to who I could use for the second trade? (I will be giving them the stat lines.) Pineapple? Huevos? MB?

The Corner

2010-01-24T23:42:00.003-05:00

Many of you Wirephiles out there may already be acquainted with David Simon and Ed Burns's book (and the miniseries it spawned), but for those who are not I would recommend it. Published in the mid 90's it is essentially the inspiration for the drug culture/poverty side of the Wire. In fact, there are lines and passages that were essentially passed straight on to the series (Bunny Colvin's speech about the paper bag is almost word for word). Essentially Simon and Burns just hung out for about a year in a particular neighborhood, and eventually got to know old junkies, young wannabe gangsters, and the few law abiding people still living in the neighborhood. Like the Wire, I found the Corner to be almost unbearably depressing and like The Wire it is long on angry diatribes and short on anything in the way of solutions to the problems depicted. However, the length of their experience in the neighborhood and the length of the book give amazingly in-depth depictions of the four or five main characters and even another five or six peripheral characters. Of particular note is the passage about teenagers having kids, which I thought was really interesting and went to read to Mrs. PC. She cut me off before I even started and gave the same explanation that Simon had (and that she has seen in her own job).

Anyway, the book probably isn't going to change anyone's mind about Simon and Burns, but if you liked the wire you'll like the corner. Anyway this whole post may have just been a thinly veiled attempt to reignite the wire conversation now that I've seen the series. Also, for an amazing story about the inspiration for omar (although one that includes a spoiler for one character from the book) check this out.

This is why I had to quit

2010-01-21T15:30:00.001-05:00

Drinking Mountain Dew is hazardous to your health. Damn cops.

Memories

2010-01-20T14:54:00.009-05:00

The Wal Mart in Stillwater Ok was/is one of the ten busiest walmarts in the country. For two years I worked in a video store housed in one of those little cubicles at the front of Walmart and basically watched the world go by. Although I tried to shift our product towards a higher aesthetic (earning managerial ire by selling the only copy of Bad Boys, which was the highest renting title of all time among the older movies), the truth was that I worked in a video store where you simply could not keep Patch Adams on the shelves. I never saw the vast majority of these things but this video certainly takes me back. Someone told me this is basically a compilation of pictures from a website called people of wal mart. Also, sorry I'm too dumb to just post the video instead of the link. Maybe someone can tell me how.

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

(thought i would take the liberty...good shit. - HM)

Acceptance Speeches

2010-01-18T01:10:00.003-05:00

After watching the Golden Globe Ceremony I was sort of bored and disappointed in the acceptance speeches (with a few exceptions). So I searched for some better speeches and found this one and loved it. I guess some of you have probably seen it. Thought I share it anyway.

P.S. Thanks for the movie discussion. I had no idea how clueless I was about good films in 2009.

Thailand

2010-01-16T02:14:00.027-05:00

Breakfast. We took about 450 pictures, at least 300 of which were of food. I know you don't want to see 300 pictures of food, but if you want to see 30 or so, head over to my other blog.

Elephants.

Chinatown, Bangkok.

Not really THEE Golden Triangle. Just a point in the triangle they decided to surround with casinos and tourist traps and opium museums.

One of my favorite Thai dishes, made with eggplant and chiles and eaten with pork skins, cabbage or cucumbers.

Never underestimate the power of a three hour long air-conditioned ride down the Chao Praya river on a boat provided by the Shangri-La hotel featuring a surprisingly good buffet (I'm generally not the biggest fan of buffets).

I'm about to eat you.

I took this picture as we were about to leave this little mountain village we visited. Our middle school aged guide took us to see where they grow what she said was opium (who knows what it really was, or maybe it was opium) and then to a dark, Texas Chainsawesque, cabin where she showed us a gallery of preserved items ranging from a monkey fetus to a two-headed snake. I kinda wanted to take a picture but Joyce advised me against it.

At the foot of the 200 or so steps to one of Thailand's most famous temples.

We hung out with, and got pretty close, with a number of elephants in Thailand. It was cool, aside from the fact that they had been kidnapped and exploited a bit. Not as cool as monkeys or Costa Rican night safaris, I guess.

Eating worms.

A large reclining Buddha.

Me eating durian. Not really enjoying it.

Some other things about Thailand:

1. The traffic in Bangkok flows a bit differently than the traffic in the USA. Whereas rush hour in the USA operates on the assumption that everybody follow the rules, traffic in Bangkok during rush hour (basically all the time) is founded on the idea of everybody simultaneously and cooperatively breaking the rules, and it seemed to always work.

2. We watched Sherlock Holmes in a plush theater with comfortable reclining chairs, drink service to your seat, assigned seats, frigid air, and a blanket to keep you warm. All for $8.

3. The flight kind of sucks. On the way home, though, we had Inglourious Basterds, Funny People, and the Informant, which made it a bit better.

FRINGE

2010-01-14T10:31:00.004-05:00

have y'all seen "fringe"? it's awesome. check out this clip (pay no mind to josh jackson, he just broodin'!!!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDGMHKEWxrE (pace, HM, it won't let me embed it)

it's super-weird, and if you're like me then you'll take good, weird sci-fi where you can get it. it's the closest thing to the x-files since the x-files (it's not that good, though, although it's just as ambitiously weird). the characters are pretty stock for the most part but they've been filled out over the course of one-and-a-half seasons and are accordingly being allowed to act more like recognizable human beings at present. the coolest part, though, and the reason to watch if you're a sci-fi fan is the slowly unfurling mythology of the show's fictional universe(s). i think it's pretty genius and i've been thinking a lot about the feasibility and pseudoscience behind it a lot lately. i won't give it away but you guys should give it a chance--don't h8 just cuz it's on network tv.

Yawn

2010-01-12T00:26:00.002-05:00

I went to see SOnic Youth the other night and was ready to leave after the first song. Either (a) I've seen too many shows and just don't really care anymore or (b) it's because I really just can't stand the new album. I've had fun at plenty of shows in the last year or so so I think it has to be (b). First time I've ever left a Sonic Youth show, out of 9 times seeing them, before the encore was over.

I did get to see these guys, which made it worth it.

Also, just got back from Thailand. Will post some pictures and words on the trip in the next few days...

Top 5 Flicks of 2009:

2010-01-07T10:25:00.012-05:00

my personal top 5 of the year:

1. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction. Wildly effective movie: funny, brutal, smart, fun. Colonel Hans Landa joins the cannon of all-time movie villians; brutally intimidating without being physically so.
2. District 9 - best sci fi movie since....what....Terminator 2? Alien?
3. Away We Go - sam mendes flick probably hits home particularly well for me as it follows 30ish hipster-leaning profession guy/couple who are trying to find where/how to settle into adulthood. The stereotypes of the people they visited might be labeled a little heavy-handed...but i thought they all worked (and were plausible). And the Krasinski/Rudolph leads are excellent. Didn't get a lot of buzz, but i found it to be a perfect, beautiful little film.
4. Bright Star - this period piece was centers around the three year unconsumated love affair between poet John Keats and the "girl next door" (though she is more the lead). True story. Prospects for marriage cut off by his poverty, illness, and then death at age 25. Beautiful film, very touching. May propose it as a Price & Prejudice stand-in at my family's next christmas.
5. The Hurt Locker - simply a fantastic modern war film, follows a bomb disarming unit in the streets of baghdad (i think). does not gloss over the brutality/madness of war. lead jeremy renner is great, and continues to grow on me.

2009 movies i still need to see, and that could well make this list when i do: a serious man, the informant, bad lieutenant.

good, but getting too much buzz in my opinion: up in the air

your top fives?

Let's "Turn On" 2010 right!!!

2010-01-01T16:31:00.001-05:00

I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

the keys to the lamborghini:

2009-12-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

ideas in year shorthand...

2009-12-21T11:13:00.003-05:00

reading this piece on slate this morning, i recalled a discussion i had at our xmas party last weekend (btw, thanks to those who made it out). chatting with TB and his lady RHB, we began discussing what the shorthand will be for a given year in the next decade. "oh ten" works, and "oh eleven" and "oh twelve" sort of work. but there's no way people will say "oh thirteen". will it just be "thirteen", like "october of thirteen"? will it be "aught thirteen"? that sounds a little more dignified. but then again, using "aught" there sort of conflicts with labeling the present [ending] decade as "the aughts". not sure how this should be handled going forward. TB proposed we could call the coming year "zip ten" and go forward from there....then again nobody would say "zip thirteen" so that's probably dead in the water.

sorry to nerd out, but any thoughts on this?

the sauce's prayers are answered....

2009-12-15T09:34:00.001-05:00

the ladies have always told him it happens to everybody.

South Central

2009-12-05T18:12:00.003-05:00

According to this article, one can soon take a tour of LA's gangland. My favorite quote from the article:
"It wasn't long ago that organizers decided against a plan to have kids shoot tourists with water pistols, followed by the sale of T-shirts that read: 'I Got Shot in South-Central.' "

Georgia

2009-12-05T00:37:00.004-05:00

I thought Deuce Deuce and the Sauce would appreciate this one. You guys missed the trucker movie festival at one of our local theatres.

"gimme that christian side huge..."

2009-12-02T13:44:00.004-05:00

because we all know how "front hugs" lead to fucking.

2009-11-22T23:17:00.002-05:00

Friday night I ate live octopus. I've been wanting to try it for awhile, but for whatever reason had not. The restaurant was an old Korean spot, in an especially dark and deserted part of Koreatown. I sat at the bar, with the aquarium that houses the dinner behind me.

When you order the octopus, with the recommended Hite beer, it's kind of like eating Korean sashimi anywhere else, in that they bring soy sauce, a jar of wasabi, and chili sauce, and sesame oil with salt. There's also a bunch of small plates-kimchee, peanuts, some sort of potato, apple salad that can't decide if it's sweet or savory. And then there's the octopus, writhing mindlessly around the plate, with some parts inching and inching closer to the edge to escape. I've never struggled more with a meal.

First, there's the task of simply getting the tentacle on your chopstick, which is occassionally more difficult if the tentacle chooses to use its suction cups to stick to the plate. Eventually I learned to pry it off with a spoon. Once you clamp it between the chopsticks, you may dip it in a sauce, at which point it usually falls into the sauce. Once you retrieve it, you hastily take it into your mouth where, once again, it uses its suction cups to slow the process. After a good bit of chewing, you forget about that scene in Old Boy and swallow. And it's actually really good, though to say it tastes remarkably different than dead octopus sashimi would be a stretch. Along the way, I shared a beer with the older gentleman who prepared my octopus, and made plans to bring my wife next time.

Forced to resign over facebook

2009-11-17T16:30:00.006-05:00

This is a wild story, but somehow it seems completely plausible in Georgia. Do you think the teacher can make some dough in court? Barrow County must have something else on her.

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2009/11/13/barrow-teacher-done-in-by-anonymous-e-mail-with-perfect-punctuation/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog

The journalist kind of misses the point by harping on whether a teacher wrote the email or not. Seems like the more important issue is that it was written anonymously, and the teacher didn't seem to do anything unlawful.

Fox News: "the subtle altering of reality to sell a preconceived narrative"

2009-11-17T09:48:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Sean Hannity Apologizes to Jon

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Dock Ellis:

2009-11-12T17:25:00.009-05:00

this one goes out to AG, who loves this story:

the voiceover is Dock himself, telling the tale in an NPR interview last year at the age of 62 (only months before his passing). RIP, Dock. your legacy is secure is this legend.

he sounds like probably the coolest dude ever.

Antichrist

2009-11-09T09:27:00.004-05:00

I saw Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" yesterday. For those who haven't heard, the basic plot (such as it is) is that, after the death of their infant son, Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourgh retreat to their cabin in the woods and proceed to inflict all sorts of emotional and physical trauma upon each other.

The movie debuted at Cannes about half a year ago. It was booed lustily at its initial screening and decried as a pretentious mess. There were also accusations of misogyny. In the film, Gainsbourgh is ostensibly less able to deal with her grief than Dafoe, a therapist, who appears to be the supposed voice of male reason. Gainsbourgh eventually comes completely unglued, and von Trier appears to be suggesting that unrestrained female sexuality is / can be a source of madness, or maybe even "evil." So critics were like, "time out! that shit's str8 misogynistic!"

Anyway, i saw it yesterday with about 8 other intrepid provincials. It's not mindblowing, but it is challenging and thought-provoking in the sense that, unlike, say, "The Informant," I felt like I had to sit down and talk about it over coffee afterward. It's also got some pretty unforgettable imagery--some of beautiful, some of it just plain disturbing, some of it beautiful and disturbing.

The accusations of misogyny are at least partly justified, I'd say. But so what? Von Trier was in the middle of a black depression during filming (see this avclub interview with Dafoe, at http://www.avclub.com/articles/willem-dafoe,34256/), and depression is oftentimes just anger turned inward. It's a rare occurrence for a director to be honest and courageous enough to show an audience his undiluted truth, however ugly and offensive, during a particularly troubled time. And in any event, von Trier is a known provocateur, so he could just be f_cking around.

I'd say go see it. I'd like to hear what you guys think. ::singsong voice:: It's got a talking fox and a clitoridectomy...

Movie Time

2009-11-09T08:37:00.002-05:00

A Serious Man

I went to see a matinee showing of this movie and ended up sitting two rows in front of what appeared to be an outing from the local seniors' activity center. About a third of the way into it, some old man says to his wife, using his outside voice, "This movie is horrible. Seriously, are you enjoying this at all?"

Well, it's not horrible, in my opinion, but it's not top-notch Coen brothers either. That's not to say it doesn't have a lot to recommend it. It's got that great Coen brothers look, like Fargo or Lebowski, and there's a lot of their signature dark humor. The Coen brothers have called it their "Jew" movie, and they do basically turn the same eye on the chosen people that they did on Minnesotans in Fargo.

Still, it feels a little directionless. No so much as Burn After Reading, which seemed basically half-baked. For the Coen Brothers I'd give it a B-, above Burn or Lady Killers, but still way below their best.

Movie Time

2009-10-31T14:57:00.007-04:00

One day about halfway through my eighth-grade year, my art class had a substitute teacher. There was a guy in my class named Steve Butts who was at least 17 at the time, but possibly 18 or 19. He had literally not done a single art project the entire year, and the regular teacher, who was clearly a little bit afraid of him, never attempted to get him to do one beyond a gentle "Hey Steve, do you think you want to try this one today?" every once in a while.

We were doing "pottery" (if you want to call it that) the day we had the substitute. Towards the end of class, and completely unprovoked, Steve rolled up a baseball-size lump of clay, reared back, and delivered it like a split-finger fastball right to the substitute's temple. The substitute, who was probably nearing 70, sort of hunched over with her head in her hands and then went behind some file cabinets and started crying. And that was it. Nobody reported it to the principal or the cops or even asked the teacher if she was okay. Steve didn't get expelled or arrested for battery. We all just stared at our desks until the period ran out and then left. It was just high school.

There are a lot of movies about bad high schools; it's practically become its own genre. But I've never seen one that comes closer to capturing what it's like, on a day to day basis, to go to a shitty high school than The Class. It takes place in a French school, apparently in a rough suburb of Paris, but it could easily be relocated to DeKalb County.

The movie just focuses on one teacher as he struggles to keep order in his French language class, trying to teach quatrains to students who have only a shaky grasp of basic grammar. It doesn't romanticize--or demonize--either the teacher, the students (a fair number of whom are immigrants from places like Haiti or Morocco), or the school. There's no gang subplot and the teacher doesn't smoke crack, but there's no "Stand and Deliver" moment either. It's just day in, day out public school life. There's no real plot, unless you count a troublemaker (who also shows some promise) getting expelled for an episode in class that the teacher himself might have provoked by referring to two of the girl students as "skanks."

What it captures best, I think, is the low-level insanity that's pervasive in a lot of public schools. The kind where any oral presentation can turn into a shouting match or a fight and any attempt by the teacher to keep order will get him accused--openly, by the students--of being a "racist." It only teeters on sentimental for a moment at the end when we learn that one of the "skanks" has been reading Plato on her own. But the teenage actors are unbelievably good--everyone of them reminded me of someone I went to school with--and they're far better than the adults. It is a pretty remarkable movie.

Rednecks and Steelers

2009-10-30T12:54:00.002-04:00

In news related to this, a drunken Sauce was kicked out of the Manhattan for demanding that they book Wilco.

Totally unnecessary Sauce joke. I just feel like with all the Wire discussion lately we've strayed from our roots. Congrats on the wedding for real though.

Also, an article that touches on two nerdy sports issues near and dear to my heart: 1. what an asshole Larry Johnson is and how he tarnishes Penn State's good name and 2. why the Steelers and a couple of other teams stay consistently good, even though the salary cap always levels the playing field. Love the Aaron Smith quote. Interestingly (for some of you), I think the post-Vick Falcons could join the group of teams that consistently stays above the fold.

top 5 shows (make that 10):

2009-10-28T17:03:00.003-04:00

in the spirit of il gato's wildly popular and interesting "things i don't like, but should" thread (which sort of got hijacked by a less nuanced "the wire sucks" / "the wire is the best show ever" point/counterpoint; sorry), i thought we should put forward a few lists as points of discussion. i thought i would start with one of the most simple ones i could think of: top 5 current tv shows.

1. lost
2. mad men
3. it's always sunny in philadelphia
4. true blood
5. anthony bourdain

ok, so when i look at my list i realize it's pretty vanilla. i'll take it a step further with another 5.

6. entourage
7. house hunters international
8. flash forward
9. californication
10. curb

still not really any big shockers on there, but then again that's for you to comment (obviously i wouldn't think so). a couple exclusions that i do feel like noting, though:

30 rock - like arrested development, i think it's really funny and very "smart". but i just don't care about watching it.
the office - i really like the office, way more than 30 rock. but i still never make a point of tuning in, and old episodes go unwatched on the dvr. in fact the only true comedy that i tune in for regularly is it's always sunny.

thoughts/comments/lists?

Picture show

2009-10-25T17:12:00.004-04:00

I like the picture show on the NPR website. Here's one with some cool pictures of famous musicians. There's one with R.E.M. eating at a BBQ joint in Athens. Is it now J.B.'s on Broad Street?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/10/indonesia.html

Even more thoughts on the wire

2009-10-15T22:18:00.003-04:00

I am only putting this a new post because reading long comments is kind of a pain. Here is my two cents, keeping in mind I've only watched about 1o episodes, plus an hour long interview with David Simon with clips

In terms of storytellling, dialogue and creation of interesting characters the wire is pretty outstanding. For most books, movies, etc this is all that matters. however, the wire is subject to scrutiny of it's 'reality' because it prides itself on just and because it is so grounded in a specific time, place and slice of life. While it's cast of contributors oozes street cred, this does not mean that it is 'real' as I would use the term. I've never lived in the baltimore ghetto, but here's why I think that.

There is a surprisingly good show on tnt or tbs called raising the bar that essentially goes day to day in the life of public defender. once you've stopped laughing about my comparing a zach morris vehicle to the wire, read on. One of the writers for the show is a guy name David Feige, a longtime PD in NYC who wrote a great book called indefensible--as knowledgeable about what's real in that world as one could be. With such great source material, the show absolutely deals with real issues for pds. At the same time, it deals with these issues through characters and specific storylines that are, in a statistical sense, unreal--meaning they could exist but represent no substantial amount of a PD's caseload/clientele. Are there times when DA's violate discovery rules? yes. Is it in murder cases where they hand you a foot-thick file the day before your innocent client has a trial? No. Yes, the wire is better in the standard ways that you would analyze art, but the creative source for rtb is every bit as deep and real. If Feige can/has to take license with reality for dramatic purposes then anyone can/has to.

So does the wire? In my limited viewing I would point to two examples of such alteration. 1. Deangelo Barksdale--the conflicted, reluctant, thoughtful, chessplaying murdering drug dealer. Could he exist? Yes. Does he exist in any meaningful quantity? No. But he is clearly a key character in the show and one it leans on to illustrate the complexity of this world. 2. A speech by someone (perhaps Deangelo) that was in the interview, where he essentially says to some white quasi-authority figure "we know you white people don't care about us, that's why we sell drugs." Of the clients i've dealt with in that situation, probably less than one percent have both the self awareness and personal eloquence to make such a comment. Truthfully, I would love if my client's were like him--it would make my job much easier--and if i was trying to depict them sympathetically I might do the same things. Simon's initial point (poor black teens with no way out rejected by white society) is true, his execution of it through a character is far fetched and not real in any meaningful quantity.

On the other hand, there are aspects of the wire the seem very likely to be real. I am sure they know how to depict street level drugs sales accurately. I feel confident that they are accurately reflecting the workings of a successful drug operation. Mechanical operations are when the street cred of the creators is most helpful--depicting who these people are psychologically and why they do what they do is much dicier, and is always filtered by the subjective interpretations of the creator along with external forces such as the need for drama.

Lastly, it is worth pointing out (if for no other reason than to downplay my own interest in his cantaloup sized testes) that Il Gato's dislike of Simon is a little shaky as a reason to dislike the show. I have a bad feeling that if you discount artwork produce by assholes your book, cd and movie collections are going to be mighty small.

P.S. Wilco kicks ass.

For El Gato Grande

2009-10-15T19:19:00.002-04:00

My favorite pre-1965 movies (off the top of my head, in no order)
1. The Third Man
2. Nosferatu
3. Double Indemnity
4. Teenagers from Outer Space (the mst3k version)
5. Casablanca
6. Yojimbo
7. The Seventh Seal
8. Orpheus
9. Bridge Over the River Kwai
10. The Guns of Navarrone
11. The Bicycle Thief (seriously, it's kinda good, I'm not just trying to be cinematically literate/cool)