I thought that this was a decent little series. If you are or were a comic-head, you might like this series. Its called, "I'm a Mac and I'm a DC"...
Part 1:
Part 2:
After Hours...
And the Villains Edition:
While you're on Youtube you'll see links to other parts to the series.
Enjoy...
Celtics going to the playoffs....
If the Celtics would have stayed pat with their trade last month for Ray Allen, I would not have liked the trade because I didn't think that team would have been able to go further than the first round of the playoffs. However, now with this proposed trade for Garnett, the Celtics have the ability to probably go to the NBA Finals. I, as a Knick fan, always took solace in the fact that the Celtics sucked. "Ok, we're not going to the Finals this year or next, but check out the Celtics." Now? This sucks again.
The Celtics and Ainge decided to go for it all these next coming 2 to 3 years. This version of the Celtics is kind of reminiscent of the Rockets team that featured Hakeem, Barkley and Pippen. Except these Celtics are younger. However, those 3 guys will have to play the lions share of minutes throughout the season. I do think that they have a little more depth than I originally thought. Skip Bayless, who I still don't know how he got this job he has, thinks that the Celtics are only the fourth best team in the East. He's an idiot. Looking over their roster I think that they're only really missing depth at the 3. They still have Kendrick Perkins who I thought made some decent strides last year as an inside presence ho ever, I think that they are missing depth at the 3. I like their drafting of Gabe Pruitt, but I don't see him producing soon. I do think that Glen "Big Baby" Davis will produce at the NBA level. He's got great footwork and while he isn't explosive, he is similar to Curry in that he is nimble for his size. I think this puts the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. People will get to see just how good Paul Pierce is again. I think people forgot that this guy is an assassin on the court. he never gives up, scores in bunches and is a clutch scorer. Now you put that together with Garnett in the post and either of them kicking it out to Allen? Pierce was killin' 'em with 'Toine out on the wing, now with Allen? It's going to be a long day for opposing defenses. We will be in for some entertaining basketball next Spring and Summer in the Eastern Conference.
The Mets got better...
Omar Minaya pulled off a nice trade for the Mets' stretch run. Luis Castillo is a very good, professional hitter. While he may not walk a lot or steal as many bases anymore, he gives the Mets another switch hitter at the top of hte lineup. He stole 25 bases last year but he had a lingering quadriceps injury in May that may explain his dip in stolen bases so far this year. While Castillo doesn't draw a lot of walks, he is a consistent .300 hitter who also has a great glove. He broke ryne Sandberg's 123 consecutive games without an error. Castillo has lost a step going to his left, but considering how much range he did have, he still covers a lot of ground. To get Castillo the Mets only had to give up one single A prospect in OF Dustin Martin and one Double A prospect in catcher Drew Butera. Martin has a lot of speed and decent power but strikes out a lot while Butera hit .258 in single A last year, his first in professional baseball, and was hitting .188 this year. Butera does however have a strong game behind the plate. Overall, I think the Mets got over on the Twins which is good considering the Braves just got Mark Texeira....
Here come the Braves...
The Braves finally pulled off the deal for Mark Texeira. I thought they may have given up too much for him, but they definitely got better this season and next. The Braves trail the Mets by 4.5 games and while they could use more pitching help, Teixeira definitely makes them better, especially if this takes some pressure off of Andruw Jones. The Braves had to give up 3 very good prospects along with promising rookie catcher Jarrod Saltamacchia who looks like he's going to be good, productive player for years to come. Thankfully for the Braves, Teixeira is signed through next year so at least they'll be able to hold onto him for that long. Atlanta is taking a big risk but they obviously think the Mets are catchable or else they wouldn't have given up so much to get Teixeira. As long as Smoltz stays healthy, the Mets have finally met a team that has a comparable lineup top the Mets in terms of length and explosiveness, especially now with word that Carlos Beltran will probably going on the disabled list with a strained oblique.
I'm assuming that you all have been following this case. If the charges against him are true, and it's still an if, he is one royally stupid guy. I hope it's not true. Today he pleaded not guilty and he has hired a defense team to prove so in court.
The Feds are coming....
The Federal authorities announced that Vick has a "Superceding Indictment" filed against him. This basically means that the authorities have the power to keep adding charges in their case against him and, according to at least one legal expert, most likely mens that the authorities have gotten someone to cooperate against Vick in return for dropping the charges brought against them.
In addition to the superceding indictment against Vick, the authorities have an 18 page document filled with the charges against Vick as it stands. According to documents submitted by the authorities, the Feds have been building a case against Vick for 6 years and over 5 states. Now, if Vick is innocent, the Feds have put in an awful amount of work for this to at least seem he's guilty. I mean, the authorities don't usually put in this much work and wait years to arrest someone unless they're preparing to bring down someone who is at the top of a family or something along those lines. It would be hard to believe that he is completely innocent of the charges brought against him.
The court of public opinion...
I want to make something perfectly clear: I personally believe that dog fighting is disgusting. Period. I think it's barbaric and cruel to animals. Psychologists will tell you that serial killers and people sociopaths are usually very cruel to animals growing up. It's not exactly the same as taking a human beings life, but there are some parallels that can be drawn. Among the actions that Vick allegedly took place in are electrocuting, drowning and hanging dogs if they were injured badly during fights and even if the dog was just not, "living up to expectations" as a fighter. Really, really awful stuff.
I also know full well that besides that, this was an illegal gambling ring and all that basically means is that the government can't collect taxes from it. Having said all that, for the court of public opinion - good "old fashioned" Americans - to be appalled by his alleged actions is obscene. As I said in response to Dre and Is the other day, this country is filled with hypocrites. This country's track record has proven that we can't even treat human beings humanely let alone animals. Now by saying that I'm not saying that should be let Vick off the hook, I'm just saying that this country needs to look at itself in the mirror before it starts screaming from the rooftops that Vick is an awful human being or a monster.
Dre attested that he knew someone that was arrested for cock fighting...and then he pulled his pants up. Sorry. Kidding. The federal authorities are going hard after Vick for this and, to me, it just seems unwarranted. I mean, it's dog fighting. DOG fighting. You know, dogs? This wasn't a multi-million dollar ripping off of the American people or the way our government responded to Hurricane Katrina where we showed again how humane we are to other human beings. If Vick did this, he should be found guilty. I just think this is yet another news story to divert us from what's really bad in this country. It's DOG fighting.
This first one is the Hindi version. The music doesn't sound like the original much, but you know who they're trying to emulate.
This next one is the Indian version. The music seems closer to the original and the guys outfit is dead on MJ.
And since I got onto the Superman theme, I had to include this one. It's called, "How Superman SHOULD have ended". I thought it was funny.
... But so do these people, and with all this negative energy being emitted by the sports world, I thought it was high time for some comic relief. This is one of those "have to see" videos. Prepare yourselves because someone will be emailing this to you again. 1,500 plus inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Cebu, Philippines practicing a familiar dance routine. This was completely voluntary, not a punishment in any way.
This next one isn't really funny, its just really cool. I've seen birds swarming in extremely large groups before, but this display is simply dazzling. Keep watching as other flocks join in and make some crazy patterns. Trippy, dude.
Starlings Swarming in Weird Patterns
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You may now go on with your lives.
Humble Pie?
I'm sitting here listening to David Stern's press conference for the embarrassment of Tim Donaghy. Wow. He sounds pissed. And contrite. I wouldn't say humble, but humbled. As in, "I can't believe my crap stinks!". He is the most powerful commissioner in sports. Much more so than Baseball and Football. NASCAR is as much a sport as poker and then there's hocket, or hockey. Whatever. It barely exists and I’m not sure can be considered a legitimate professional sport. Anyway, Stern is pissed.
Donaghy was investigated by the NBA prior to this...
Stern outlined in detail Donaghy's history with the NBA. In January of 2005, he had a dispute with a neighbor that resulted in litigation. Donaghy's neighbor sued him over an alleged dispute over what Donaghy allegedly did to his neighbor's lawnmower. Something a little nutty. Maybe Donaghy was cracking under pressure? Only speculation at this point. Stern stated that after this came to light, the NBA started its own investigation over the incident and called Donaghy into the corporate offices and told him that they, "were not happy", with the incident and if behavior/incidents like this continued, he would be dismissed from the NBA. Donaghy moved to another state. Case closed right? Wrong. A little while after this incident, the NBA got a tip that Donaghy was allegedly placing bets on games at the Borgata in
During the '05-'06 season, due to the incident that took place with Donaghy's neighbor, he was not allowed to work any games in the second round of playoff games. This was done despite his rating as one of the better officials in the league. There were no more incidents regarding Donaghy's personal behavior after the one with his neighbor and he began the '06-'07 season with a clean slate. Due to his superior grades for refereeing games during the '06-'07 season, he was allowed to work games in the second round of the playoffs that year. Just this past season. He refereed one of the more talked about officiated games of these past playoffs between the Spurs and Suns in
We did everything we could...
Stern outlined the security measures the NBA has in place to investigate suspicious activity internally. If their internal security force finds something that they consider "fishy", they then call in outside, private investigators. The internal security force, as many other corporations do, is comprised of former law enforcement employees. He went on about this for the first 7-10 minutes of the press conference. Really. It was painful.
Was Donaghy the only referee involved?
Stern also made sure to state that, to his knowledge to which he admits is second hand, that Donaghy is the only official that is associated with this scandal. It's curious though that he was among the highest ranked officials in the game. After each game an official is given a copy of the game that they refereed and they must write a report detailing each and every foul call and NOONE saw anything wrong with how he called the games? What is also curious is that Stern did not mention that there is no investigation underway on any players in the NBA. I know if I were commissioner and it were my league that was under scrutiny for a point shaving scandal, I would go out of my way to insure that there would be no questions left hanging in the air. I would definitely state that none of my players were currently being investigated.
139 Reg. Season Games, 8 Playoff Games and 4 Pre-Season Games in question...
Again, Stern as contrite as you will ever hear him, states that Donaghy is the only official that is associated with this investigation. This was what he has been told so far by the FBI and the Justice Department. Stern stated that, as he understands it, Donaghy is charged with:
Stern also wanted to clear up speculation about what the NBA knew. He stated that the NBA did NOT know that Donaghy may have been betting games or assisting on shaving points this past year. He finished up by stating that the NBA will do more investigating as to what they can do better in the future as far making sure that this type of behavior won't take place again and that this is the worst situation he has ever experienced as not only the commissioner of basketball, but also as a fan of the NBA.
What happens now?
Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I have a question. How does a movie writer and/or director take a story that is already laid out, already a huge hit with readers and fans, already contains all the elements you need for a great movie, and mess it up? I'm still puzzled by this phenomenon. It's happened with a few comic book movies (by a director that doesn't even deserve his name in this post) and now it has happened to the world's favorite young wizard, Harry Potter.
Let me first say that I have not read any of the books. Just haven't gotten around to it yet. Perhaps one day I will. But I'm perfectly content seeing the movies for now. I have seen them all and they have all been quite enjoyable. I was a big fan of magic and wizardry when I was a kid, so I totally understand the allure for both children and adults alike to this franchise. It's what many children dream of... a school where you learn magic instead of science (which if you really think about it is the closest thing to magic in the real world), where you learn to defend yourself against the "dark arts" by learning spells and incantations to fire through your magic wand, where you can fly around on your pimped out broomstick and play a flying brand of basketball/football. I mean, what kid wouldn't want that?
"Order of the Phoenix" is the fifth installment of the Potter series. It's tagline was "When the Revolution Begins...". Its trailer showed a much older Harry training and amassing an army of kid wizards to combat the threat of the evil Lord Voldemort and his band of baddies. Sounds like the makings of a classic summer blockbuster, right?
To quote the recently more popular Murphy brother "EHHHHHH! WRONG! WRONG!"
The trailer LIED TO US! This was by far the biggest let down of the series. I had anticipated the most action packed Potter movie to date. Instead, we were left to sit in the theatre for a good one hundred minutes, while the movie set up the last thirty minutes. It was like someone telling you a story they already told you except adding an extra hour of meaningless details. Things were unexplained, characters were under-developed, and even though the action sequence at the end was entertaining, by the time it happened it felt anti-climatic. Perhaps readers of the book will understand more of what goes on with these characters, but I've heard grumblings in the Potter world that many plot lines of the book were omitted. I'm sure it is very hard to adapt an 870 page masterpiece into a 2.5 hour film, but we need to feel the character's relationships more than they allow you to in this movie. They touch upon a love interest for the Boy Wonder, they touch upon a father figure, they touch upon his connection to the bad guy, but they don't SELL it. As only a reader of the movies, I was left with many more questions than excitement. Are these books out on paperback yet? Perhaps it's time I got the details.
The young actors were pretty good. Although this poor kid that plays Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) will probably never work another day in his life once the series is over (How hard is it going to be for him to break from this seven movie typecast?), he does the character justice. On the other hand, mark my words, we will be seeing much more of Emma Watson, who plays the headstrong female of the lead trio, Hermione Granger. She has grown up into a beautiful young actress who could take the baton from the likes of Kate Winslet and
Kate Beckinsale as the next of England's sexy imports (Hmmm... will she have to change her name to Kate?) Just give her a few more years (or the last two Potter Movies) to really come into her own. Then there's Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), who provides more of a goofy comedic element to the group. This dude will probably be straight to video with Radcliffe in "Harry Pothead... The Sorcerer's Stoned".
The adult actors are an ensemble cast of veterans who, even as the focus is on the kids, really are the glue that holds these movies together. Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson (are Emma and Kate the only girl names in England?), Helena Bonham Carter, and a slew of other limeys are used quite sparingly, but hold it down as the kids stumble into their little "war".
All in all, "Order of the Phoenix" wasn't horrible. It was just a little slow to develop and lacked some of the charm and magic of the other movies. The final battle scene was visually pleasing, but had a element of "Star Wars" to the idea of Harry indulging in his "dark side". I'm still waiting to see a serious, balls out wizard battle. I'm still waiting to see one of these herbs kick it to Hermione, and I'm still waiting to hear if Harry actually dies in the last book. Here's to reading books.
I give this 2 eyebrows, slightly raised.
