Wait for it…
So, I knew what it was when I first looked at it, so it kind of spoiled it. Took my eyes a few minutes to really settle on the visual. I find it a bit reminiscent of Inception. Can't wait.
#FAIL
Am I the only one who thinks that Yoda (and Star Wars in general) has been co-opted one too many times? Any underground geeky hipness that was once held has been destroyed by stuff like this tshirt I saw last night.
[Geek Speak: It was a long time ago in a galaxy far away. You can't retcon something like this!?! Continuity, people!]
My Thoughts on Thor
I saw Thor. It was better than I expected. I would watch it again. Keneth Branagh was on Craig Ferguson last night and it was greatness. Now, let's dispense with the niceties and get on to the snarky review:
*Thor's Homies:
- The one dude looked like Andy Samberg from SNL. Great way to break the illusion.
- Who was that Asian guy? Wasn't he in Heroes?
- I thought the chick was Captain Liberty. I was waiting for Batmanuel to show up any second.
- GREAT CASTING: I didn't realize it until the credits. Ray Stevenson as the bearded guy! Brilliant method of fulfilling a multi-movie contract without subject us to more of this garbage.
*Rene Russo? Seriously? Eh, I'll let it slide since she only had about 5 lines.
*I haven't watched that much Deep Space 9 since college.
*Kat Dennings? It's not really her fault, though. We'll blame the writers for this one.
*Loki... and? "Everyone knows how he's always playing tricks." That is the extent of character set-up that we get? (Sure they go on to give a great deal of backstory, but it is all emotional/motivational and has nothing to do with his abilities. So, I spent half the time trying to figure out what exactly the guy is doing.
*Fire robot thing. Loki isn't really scary so let's throw this big metal thing at our hero - sure it's in the comics, but it felt more like they were trying to hit on an Iron Man type of enemy for him.
*The Avengers - Thanks for not over-doing it. Big pop for Hawkeye - I wasn't that impressed.
Thoughts on Baseball
[This post is dedicated to the Wright family for their unfailing love of baseball and those who play it. Though I love you all dearly, I will never fully understand.]
Well, baseball is back. (Didn't it just end?) If one thing can be said for these athletes, it's that they are tremendous workers - what with their incredibly long season. Still, it seems as though many Americans choose to pass on their national past time. Though it may be a little late to institute all of these suggestions for the season at hand, here is what I would do to re-enliven the game.
1. Make it shorter - two ways to do this: a) cut out 1/3 of the games (much like the NBA, it's hard to care early on because the only thing that really matters is the injuries); b) 2 strike "outs", 3 ball "walks", max 3 fouls - this is a double win because it makes every pitch matter and it keeps your starters healthy.
2. Get some personality - there are few cross-over stars in MLB and the vast majority of them wear navy pinstripes and date Madonna. Baseball needs a Mark Cuban, a Dennis Rodman, and a Labron James.
3. Take a lesson from professional wrestling - nothing gets the fans on their feet like a surprise return or major swerve. How 'bout, you're down by 3, things are looking bad, bases loaded, out walks Jose Canseco. The fans go nuts. Who cares if he whiffs on all two pitches and is out (*see point no. 1 regarding balls and strikes)? The entire ordeal would make Sports Center's Top 10.
4. Tell a story - it seems like the only stories in baseball are about the great franchises or are from 20 years ago. Listening to the Rangers just the other day, the broadcast team gave me 10-15 seconds of dead air/crowd noise. Somebody in marketing needs to be mining for the stories (if not creating them). No one cares about a mid-season game between the Twins and the Expos - wait, what? there are no more Expos? There's a story for you right there.
When I was a kid I was present for Nolan Ryan's 7th No Hitter and Kenny Rogers' Perfect Game (I also had a cassette tape with the song The Gambler by the Real Kenny Rogers). In short, it takes a lot to hold my attention. Instituting even two of these suggestions should keep me interested. Just my two cents.
Coming Soon
The Celebrity Apprentice is back on March 6. Maybe I should have saved this because Survivor is coming back sooner (Feb 16). Oh well, I still have to throw this out there. Gary Busey, alone, makes this worth watching. But Meatloaf!?! This is going to be brilliant. David Cassidy looks like a wax figure. LaToya Jackson and Dionne Warwick? It's like they were trying to make sure every episode will be a complete trainwreck. Let's only hope that Joan Rivers shows back up at some point.
Gimme Gimme
I was speaking with my counselor friend, Greg, last night about his recent time out of the country and I couldn't help but think of the film What About Bob? It really is an overlooked gem in the Bill Murray filmography. I mean, with lines like, "There are two types of people in this world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't. My ex-wife loved him." How can you go wrong?
Christmas Favorites
When I was a kid, every year we had to watch Christmas Vacation
and A Christmas Story
I'm thinking, though, that this year I need to break out my old VHS of A Muppet Christmas Carol
What Movie Does Your Family Have to Watch Every Christmas?
People Are People
Katie and I like to watch Undercover Boss. It's not uncommon that we learn something or are moved by the program. You would think that people would have caught on by now, but I'm not going to hold that against them yet.
The thing is, since this new season started - and we're only 2 episodes in - it seems like the people that are pegged to work alongside the boss have had bigger tragedies and more compelling stories. So, it seemed to me to be more of a set-up. And there haven't been any bad employees shown (another sign of things being staged). But after realizing my own judgementalism I thought, "well, you know, we've all got some tragedy and we're all a little screwed up."
At the end of the show, the boss quoted his father and said, I've never known what this meant until now...
People are people.
Simple, yet profound. And if it hadn't been for my own realization earlier in the program, it probably would have flown right past me.
People are people. We are all uniquely the same. We all have hurts, we all have hardships, we've all been wounded. It doesn't matter what kind of car you drive, how big your house is, or what you consider to be a "nice" restaurant. It reminded me of
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
2 Cor. 4:7 NLT
We're all cracked pots. Even if we've been patched on the outside. If our contents don't leak, it simply because something other than ourselves is holding us together.
Pots are Pots and People are People.
Video Wednesday
got a kick out of this. think it makes Dumb and Dumber look a lot more watchable.
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