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We haven’t been here in a while, so lets clear out the junk drawer, shall we?
First, big props to the men back home:
| ArenaBowl XVIII |
| San Jose Sabercats |
69 |
| Arizona Rattlers |
62 |
| Sabercats win second ArenaBowl |
Best. Arena. Football. Game. Ever. I’ll leave it at that, because those of you who haven’t seen Arena Football live just wouldn’t understand. Seattle needs an AFL team something awful – but once again, it’ll never happen because the Key eats wang when configured for hockey, and that’s what you have to do to be able to fit the AFL field. (Configure for hockey, not eat wang, you perverts.) Special thanks to Barry Ackerley for that one, you polesmoker.
Okay, onward. The summer movie season seems to be in FULL effect, so I thought I’d comment on a few I’ve seen, and what I want to see:
Watched Dodgeball yesterday. About what I expected: group of loveable losers makes good with the help of a cute chick, but with enough of a sense of humor about itself to be worth the time invested. Rip Torn is always funny (hell, just saying his name is pretty damned funny), and the cameos in the last half hour, and the wrapup in the last 10 minutes (which would OTHERWISE be totally formulaic crap, unless you read what was printed on the treasure chest, which makes it all totally okay) is actually worth the fairly insipid buildup. (But not $8. See a matinee or rent the DVD.)
Today’s feature was the controversial Fahrenheit 9/11. Usually I can leave Michael Moore to his business, but I’ve heard enough conflicting opinions about this flick that I figured I should see it myself and make up my own mind. And my mind’s made up: I was right the first time. Not a thing here I didn’t already know: Moore spends the first half of the movie using preroll footage of Gee Dub to make him look like a ninny. Here’s a tip from someone who knows a little something about television: when you have footage of someone who doesn’t know the camera’s on him getting ready to go on camera, you can pretty much make ANYONE look like a ninny. If they had TV back then, I could get you B-roll of FDR that would make him look about as Presidential as Carrot Top. Of course, it helps that Gee Dub IS IN FACT a ninny, but, again, Moore could have done something other than take the easy road out and I would have respected him a little more.
He then goes on to show us that the war in Iraq was started for pretty much no good reason. Well, duh. Finally, he wraps up with a Michael Moore trademark: he follows politicians around with a microphone asking questions that no politician in his right mind would answer, and thinks this proves a point other than that politicians know better than to spend time on camera talking to Michael Moore, because he would twist a lunch recommendation around to make them look bad.
So, I left the movie with about the same feelings I had going into it: the President is an idiot, the war is stupid, and Michael Moore has become a lazy filmmaker. The only reason I can think they they would award this the Palme D’or is that it’s a French film festival and the movie makes Bush look stupid. Of COURSE they love it.
Upcoming: Spiderman 2 is a no-brainer. I thought the first one was pretty good, but the Green Goblin just isn’t strong enough in terms of personality to make a compelling filmatic bad guy out of. Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, on the other hand….GENIUS casting. Nicholsonesque, if I may say so.
Finally, and I know it’s not gonna have a thing to do with the actual story, but I wanna see I, Robot. But I’m gonna go into it expecting not a good sci-fi story, but tons of special effects, lots of cool future-lookin’ sets, and His Royal Freshness blowing shit up. So I should be okay.
And now I get to go downstairs and be trained on the proper procedure for issuing a new CD key. I don’t issue CD keys myself, since I don’t deal with customers directly anymore, but I figure it can’t hurt to brush up on procedure, so I don’t write something that throws the techs under the proverbial bus. So, until next time…
I finished my pimp-ed out PC case tonight! Today I went down to Fred Meyer and picked up a screwdriver, and Dremeled off some of the length of the screws (they were too long for my heatsink), and installed the lit PC fan. Now I REALLY need to find me a LAN party to show it off.
Other news: Congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Not that I’m particularly thrilled that an expansion team that came into the league AFTER the Sharks won a Cup before they did, but the Calgary Flames handled themselves with so little class when faced with defeat (a personality trait made evident even before the Sharks squared off against them), and their fans were so obnoxious, that it pleased me greatly to see them all reduced to Sad Pandas.
Plus, that whole “Canada’s Team” thing pissed me off, especially considering how busy most Canadians are blowing the Maple Leafs most years. Never underestimate the ability of a Canadian to play the Persecuted Martyr. I’m sure we’ll see more of it in the World Cup this September.
More sports: The San Jose Sabercats advanced to their second ArenaBowl today with a 49-35 win over the Chicago Rush. They will either travel to the Snake Pit to face the Arizona Rattlers, or host John Elway’s Colorado Crush in two week’s time, pending the outcome of the other semifinal game tomorrow afternoon.
One more quick thing I’d been meaning to share for a while: Paper Arcade! Here’re my first two attempts at Fine Art…not bad for someone who doesn’t put together those little models for a reason….
| Western Conference Finals, Game Six |
| San Jose Sharks |
1 |
| Calgary Flames |
3 |
| (Calgary wins series 4-2) |
I knew it when the first goal went in. Sharks were just completely out of gas, it had been a good run, it was just time to go home. I can’t complain for a minute, tho….this team wasn’t even supposed to make the playoffs, and they went to Game Six of the Conference Finals. Now that they’re not flying under anyone’s radar, they just need to figure out how to do it again next year…if there IS a next year…
Check out my new pimp-ed out PC case!
I wanna replace the boring fan in the back with a green LED one, and neaten up the cables a little, but otherwise it’s good to go.
(And I have the theme from Night Court (starring Richard Moll!) around here somewhere…maybe I could change the startup sound… :))
| Western Conference Finals, Game Five |
| Calgary Flames |
3 |
| San Jose Sharks |
0 |
| (Calgary leads series 3-2) |
We’re not gonna talk any more about the game last night then I have to to keep you up to speed. Suffice it to say that these guys can’t handle the pressure of performing in front of the home fans at this level.
The good news is, Calgary can’t either.
The bad news is, Game Seven would be in San Jose.
So who knows. I’m inclined to agree with those who would rather have it end gracefully on Wednesday in Calgary then have my heart ripped out and stomped on again come Friday night. And if it ends Wednesday, then I can go gaming on Friday like I usually do.
And if I keep saying that long enough, eventually I’ll start believing it. Yup.
| Western Conference Finals, Game Four |
| San Jose Sharks |
4 |
| Calgary Flames |
2 |
| (Series tied 2-2) |
And Game Five is tonight in San Jose. For once I’m glad to be playing back-to-back games, the Sharks have played so well of late. This is actually starting to look good for the Men In Teal. Make no mistake, tho, it’s an even-up two-out-of-three series, and the team who wins Game Five is in the driver’s seat to win the series.
What’s amazing, tho, is that we’re doing all of it without Marco Sturm. Can you imagine what this team would look like if he were healthy? Wow.
| Western Conference Finals, Game Three |
| San Jose Sharks |
3 |
| Calgary Flames |
0 |
| (Flames lead series 2-1) |
Now we may have a series. The Sharks did a lot last night, including: their first win in the Conference Finals, a shutout that Nabokov desperately needed for his confidence, and a win on the road. On top of that, Alex Korolyuk got to stick it to the coach who wouldn’t play him. The only remaining stigma is winning at home, and they’ll at least get a Game Five in which to do that back in San Jose. Game Four is Sunday at 1:00P on ESPN.
I’m not even gonna bother with a Survivor Spoiler, because if you didn’t know that Rupert had the Viewer Vote Million sewn up from the get-go, then you weren’t paying attention. He could have dropped his pants and farted the theme from Jaws for twenty seconds and Probst woulda been writing his name on that check. Which is fine with me, he’s clearly a good guy and that money will do a lot of good things for his family and those close to him. That said, the “America’s Tribal Council” show was still fun to watch, just to see Rupert roar at the assembled audience. I get the idea he’d be a fun guy to attend a football game with.
Got the parts for my pimp-ed out PC case the other day. Hopefully I’ll drop the parts into it Sunday during the game, if I watch it at home. I shall try to post a picture when it’s done. I have discovered that a chase-light kit exists, which I may pick up a couple of down the road (one kit contains 10 LEDs, to do it right I’d want around 20, I think) and attempt to install around the edge of the window. :)
I left my cellphone at home today, by accident. It’s silly, considering I don’t use it much at all, but I feel naked without it, like THIS is the time something is gonna happen where I need it. So let’s hope for an incident-free day, huh?
Alright, one more time:
S
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P
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L
E
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So Ambuh got the million, Bahston Rob got Ambuh, Jerri got her wittle feelings hurt, Shii-Ann got a new car, Tom got an apology, Soozin got new tits, and Hatch got a Argentinian poolboy.
First, the overall event: It was a shame that once the game got down to the nitty gritty, the whole thing pretty much played out according to Hoyle. Everybody won what they needed to to ensure the most anticlimactic Showdown in the history of the show…
…made more so by Rob’s proposal. Trite, sure, but I admit I’m a sucker for stuff like that, and I have to give the guy props for getting permission from the parents that morning to pop the question and being forthwith about the fact on the show when asked.
Am I the only one who thinks that the application of makeup was all it took to turn Ambuh from Totally Hot Girl Next Door into Just Another East Coast Slut? Yeesh. Take twenty years off of her, she’s Jon-Benet Ramsey.
Jerri walking: Yes, the crowd was a little hard on her. But, c’mon. Save maybe for Hatch (who you’ll notice was also shouted down whenever he tried to turn the subject of conversation to himself), no other former Survivor has parlayed the Survivor experience into a greater extension of their fifteen minutes than Jerri Manthey. She was in NO position to say ANYTHING, and I hope someone was present to ensure the door hit her in the ass on the way out.
About the only upside to the whole proceedings was the announcement of the Viewer Vote for another million dollars, because this is our chance to give Rupert some financial props for being really one of the few truly entertaining elements in these last two Survivor series. So, if you haven’t already, get thee to this link and give Rupert your support. He’s the friendly fellow in the middle of the right-hand column who looks like Hagrid from the Harry Potter books.
| Western Conference Finals, Game One |
| Calgary Flames |
4 |
| San Jose Sharks |
3 |
| (F/OT, Flames lead series 1-0) |
Whatcha gonna do. Both teams played as good a game as you could ask, and it came down to a mental slip-up that caught the Sharks in a line-change in OT.
I had meant to post the whole Conference Finals schedule here, but life got in the way and I didn’t get around to it. So here’s the rest of it:
1) Calgary 4, San Jose 3 (F/OT, Flames lead series 1-0)
2) Calgary at San Jose, Tue. May 11, 6:00P, ESPN
3) San Jose at Calgary, Thu. May 13, 7:00P, ESPN
4) San Jose at Calgary, Sun. May 16, 1:00P, ESPN
5) Calgary at San Jose, Mon. May 17, 7:00P, ESPN
6) San Jose at Calgary, Wed. May 19, 6:00P, ESPN
7) Calgary at San Jose, Fri. May 21, TBA, ESPN
| Western Conference Semifinal |
| Colorado Avalanche |
1 |
| San Jose Sharks |
3 |
| (Sharks win series 4-2) |
Bring on the Flames. I don’t even know when Game One is yet, nor do I care (of course, you’ll know when I do), but this is the best birthday EVER. :)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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