I know this post may seem a little random, but it's really not. I've been watching his new show on CBS "Smith" and I've been enjoying it. It's about a bunch of cons, with Liotta being the head guy who organizes the crew. Very similar to Heat. Personally, I'm a fan of Liotta. I've liked him since Goodfellas. Liked him in Unlawful Entry. He's a good bad guy. You can route (not like a highway, but like cheer for - I know, that doesn't look right) Well, last night, I finally watched the 2nd episode, and that's when I first noticed it. (Quick thanks to all the smart asses at DVD TALK).
Either he's been stung buy something, ala Martin Short in Pure Luck, or he's had some bad plastic surgery. Funny note, Burt Reynolds looked like Plastic on his guest role of My Name is Earl. He's looked like that for a long while though. Take a look. The top picture is from 2001. The picture on the bottom is from 2006. Almost looks like a different person.
I saw this Friday Night, and I damn I'm glad I did. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. I laughed so hard, my stomach was a little sore. Yes it's that funny. Definetly worth the price of admission, late show, matinee, whatever. It's worth paying to see and it's even better if you bring some friends. Don't be afraid about seeing it in a crowded theater because I actually think it works better in a full theater. Laughter is infectious. I made me realize how much I missed the Jackass show when it was on tv. Some of the stunts they pulled on the tv show were hilarious. Lost Boys and whatever else followed soon after, just weren't the same. It's just sad that when TV gets a good idea, they quickly wear it out with imitators and copycat shows.
That's A&M's record versus tceh. A&M has lost 9 out of the last 12 times. It's getting rediculous. This last time, victory was snatched away with 26 seconds left, the equivalent of a last second game winning shot in basketball. Actually, I think it's eerily similar to the 3 pointer that LSU hit in the NCAA Tournament to knock us out. This was a 40 yard bomb by Grahm Harrel to Robert Johnson was so improbable, you can run the same play 9 more times and not complete one of them. Seriously, this ball was perfectly placed, and an amazing catch by woods with our FRESHMAN (bolded for emphasis) cornerback Jordan Peterson all over the reciever. Seriously, it was about as best as he could of played the ball, short of turning and looking for it. I put no blame on Peterson, I still think he's got a bright future here. I do put a little blame on Justin Warren, our SENIOR linebacker. According to our defensive coordinator, there was a max blitz on the play. If you watch this video you can see even the cornerback blitzes, but Warren just drops back into no man's land. If he blitzes, then I think we have a really good shot at either a sack, or a qb pressure, forcing him to throw early. Seriously, take a look at the video. You can see that the running back, Woods picked up the block on the cb, when the linebacker didn't show. What makes the loss even more frustrating is that we had 2 long time consuming drives to tie the game. That's basically the gameplan with a quick strike offense like tceh's. We chewed up the clock and got points. We even got the ball back and we ended up kicking a field goal to go up 27-24 with about 2 minutes left. Unfortunatley, that was too much time. There was also the slight euphoric "high" after Mark Dodge's interception. Sadly, the buzz was killed on the official review which overturned because the ball hit the ground before the catch.
The worst part of it is, that although I've started to become accustomed to losses lately, this loss pretty much ruined the rest of the college football games for me. I watched them, but this time it was with a certain numbness where I just couldn't get into them.
Now TexAgs is in overreaction mode, with people calling for the firing of our coach midseason. It's a pain to even go over there right now. Hopefully, it will clear up a little with a W at Kansas. Even that, according to some posters on the message board, will be hard to come by. Here's also a list that's been popping up alot lately in the "against" column of Coach Fran.
The following lists some of Fran's accomplishments in his four years as Head Coach at A&M.
1. 20-20 overall record
2. 11 losses of 20 or more points
3. Lost to every Big 12 team, except for KU/KSU, at least once
4. Lost to every Big 12 team, except for KU/KSU/Baylor, by at least 20 points
5. Overall Big 12 record: 10-14 with an average loss by 24.
6 points.6. Big 12 South record 5-10 with an average loss by 23.8 points.
7. Pass defense ranked 117th in the country in 2005
8. Our average loss is 22.5 points per game.
9. Barrick Nealy passed for 378 yards. In the other 8 games he's averaged 165 yards passing against I-AA competition in 2005
10. Paul Mosley rushed for a season high 133 yards. He's averaged 57 ypg the rest of the season in 2005
11. Joel Klatt passed for more yards in one quarter than any other QB inColorado history.
12. Allan Evridge threw for a career high 357 yards. He's averaged 129 ypg against the rest of the schedule.
13. First WR to ever catch 4 TD passes against A&M. (Todd Blythe)
14. Worst loss in A&M history. (77-0)
15. Worst loss to Tech in A&M history. (56-17)
16. Worst bowl loss in our history
17. First loss ever to Iowa State.
18. First losing season since 1982
19. First loss to Baylor since 1985
20. 3-12 record on the road
21. Of the five football games in the 125 years of Aggie footballhistory where our defense surrendered the most points, Fran owns three of them.
77 points to OU .............. FRAN
59 points to TT ............... FRAN
57 points to tu ................. Bellard
56 points to TT ................ FRAN (tie)
56 points to Ohio State ... Stallings (tie)
This is Franchione's career vs. teams that ended the season in the AP Top 25. His win over Texas Tech in 2004 is his only victory ever against a BCS conference team that ended the season ranked.
1992-1997 New Mexico 1-5
L #24 Fresno State 28-31
L #18 BYU 47-49
L #16 Colorado State 31-38
W #10 Utah 23-21
L #23 Texas Tech 7-34
L #17 Colorado State 13-41
1998-2000 TCU 1-0
W #13 Air Force 35-34
2001-2002 Alabama 0-6
L #13 South Carolina 36-37
L #4 Tennessee 24-35
L #7 LSU 21-35
L #5 Oklahoma 27-37
L #3 Georgia 25-27
L #14 Auburn 7-17
2003-2006 TAMU 2-12
W #21 Utah 28-26
L #19 Nebraska 12-48
L #3 Oklahoma 0-77
L #12 Texas 15-46
L #4 Utah 21-41
L #3 Oklahoma 35-42
W #18 Texas Tech 32-25
L #5 Texas 13-26
L #13 Tennessee 7-38
L #21 Clemson 24-25
L #20 Texas Tech 17-56
L #22 Oklahoma 30-36
L #1 Texas 29-40
L #25 Texas Tech 27-314-23
All-Time 1-18 vs. teams from BCS conferences
Doesn't look good for him. Baring some major upsets (where we come out on top) in the later half of this season, specifically in November, this is looking like the end for the Fran era at A&M. The question is, who can we get to replace him?
My wishlist
Gene Chizik - I would love to get this guy, but I'm not sure we can. Great defensive mind.
Butch Davis - I hear he's inline for the Arkansas job if and when they fire Houston Nutt.
Steve Craigthorpe - He's coached at A&M during which we had our greatest passing offense. Also, he's doing great things at Tulsa. Is he ready for the big time?
Tommy Tubberville - I doubt we can get him, but when we fired RC, he was rumored to be in the mix for the job. Plus, Auburn had almost shown him the door. Now, I don't think we can get him, especially after the past few seasons he's had. He's a god there now. Who knows, money talks. Maybe he's still pissed at his employers.
Mike Price - He's turning around UTEP, but rumor has it he doesn't have much of a defense. I would be in favor of this guy.
Bo Pelini - another great defensive mind. I wouldn't be mad about getting this guy.
Randy Shannon is the DC for the 'canes. I would love to get him as well, but I think he's the heir apparent to Larry Cocker.
Petrino just got a big extension from Louisville, so I would think he's out.
What we really need is the Billy Gillespie's of the football world. Who is that and where can we find him?
No seriosly, the roof was on fire at my jobsite on Friday, causing quite the stir in Dallas. Actually, it was the roof of the stair well. Apparently, the Arkansas roofers (no I'm not kidding) may have accidently (I would put that in quotes, but then you might think I'm implying something, and I'm not...or am I?) caught some of the plywood on the walls as they were torching the overlaps in the roofing sheets. The fire produced a thick black plume of smoke when the ashalt sheet underneath caught fire. It really made it look worse than it was.
There were 15 fire trucks present, I believe every channel had a crew on site. Even the spanish channel (not sure which one) wanted me for an interview. I, luckily, was busy taking the statements of the roofers. There were at least 3 news choppers as well as the police helicopter, who was circling very close and banking sharply directly above the building.
That was a pretty crazy way to end the week. I didn't make it home till about 9 PM, which pretty much ruined any chance I had of heading down for the tceh game. I ended up catching Jackass 2 instead.
The sprinkler pipes in the parking garage burst due to either too much pressure on the pipe (apparently, 2 fire pump trucks tried to plug into the system at the same time) or it was shady fittings. We're not quite sure yet. They worked over the weekend to get that system back up and running. Also, some drywall will have to be replaced, as well as some fixtures that got caught in the parking garage flooding. We also had some damage to the 2nd floor cabinets that we were storing down there.
....and Coach Fran finally has a winning record at A&M. 20-19. Wow. Took him 4 years, and what, 8 million dollars, but he finally got there. Guess scheduling this year was really looking out for him. But, "what's his record in the Big 12" you ask? Good question. 10-14. Let's hope that gets corrected this season. It will have to be, if we plan to reach the record I think we should.
On a much happier note. Stacy Reeves is a photo journalists (yes, apparently we still have those at A&M) for A&M. On her website, she takes some great shots of the A&M games. Here's the photos for the game versus La Tech. Great work Stacy. I've been checking out your photos since you first posted your website. My favorite is the Heisman-esque pose of Mike Goodson. Sure wish I could of used that one for my blog. EDIT: GUESS I CAN USE IT NOW. SOMEBODY PUT IT ON THEIR PHOTOBUCKET ACCOUNT. WAY TO GO TEXAGS.
Oh well. The spider lightning photo will have to do. EDIT: THE SPIDER LIGHTNING STAYS!
NOTE: From Stacy herself, please don't hotlink to her photos. (Hell, I'm not even sure how you would do that. I couldn't save them to my hard drive)
In other great news, Army beat Baylor in overtime. Baylorfans is in complete meltdown mode, and they are trying to get themselves withdrawn from D-1 football. I'm laughing my ass off. This week, tceh comes to town. God I hate tceh. F'in techerheads. I hope we kick tceh's ass.
Apparently I've been asleep for a while because during the summer, the people at LOST have started a game. By the end of the game, apparently you would know the secrets of the island and the origin of the numbers.
Well today's your lucky day. I know this blog is the 1st place you check the intraweb (you know, I 'm not even sure I know what that term means, but I'll use it anyway) for all the goings on, so here it is. (Yes, it's another YouTube video. Get over it. No I don't own stock in it.) Here's the You Tube video that has all the videos in one piece.
(again, a place holder till I can embed the video)
The Sci Fi website has a short article with all the necessary links on it.
Also, the Lost Experience Blog has all the glyphs (wtf?) and codes (I don't know this one either) down. This thread seems to summarize the whole thing pretty accurately. I've only glanced at it soo far.
Well, if you're like me, you just wanted to avoid the work and just get the answers. I mean seriously, I've got enough on my plate trying to keep up with other shows.
just walk your dumb ass into oncoming traffic. Seriously. Stop reading and kill yourself. The Office (and yes I'm talking about the US version) is the funniest show on television hands down. No arguements. Arrested Development is gone. Scrubs isn't back until early next year. How I Met Your Mother may be in the ballpark, but it's not quite there yet.
Last night was the Season 3 premier and if last night's episode is indicative of future quality, then we're going to be alright. Seriously, too many laugh out loud moments to count. So apparently, somebody has done me the favor of uploading it to YouTube. Enjoy. Try to stiffle the laughter while you watch this at work.
Since I have trouble copying and pasting the embed links on youtube, I'm only able to give you the link to the page. When I get home, I'll correct that.
Damnit. This is version 2 of this damn post since somehow, my last post got deleted. Fucking sucks to, cause it was kinda long (and I would say funny, but I don't know what you would say). Anyway, let's try this again.
On Sunday, they showed the pilot episodes to their most famous shows: Felicity, Buffy, Angel, Dawson's. There were suppossed to be old promos for the station as well as interviews, but I never saw any of those. It must of been the DFW affiliate's choice not to show them. Sad as I was most looking forward to that. I've seen all 4 of those shows before. Felicity I watched 2 years of, then really spotty the next (and last) 2. I saw Dawson's up until they graduated high school. Watched 1 or 2 episodes after that, but I had already missed soo much. I'll eventually finish them up on DVD someday. Buffy I watched most of, then finished with the DVD. It took me forever to finally get around to watching Season 7. Angel, I watched the 1st season of on tv. Then I couldn't keep up, so I'm starting over with the DVD set. I'm on disc 3 of the 1st Season. Scratch that. After this weekend, I'm on disc 4.
While this past Sunday was the final airing of The WB. It's not really going away, it's just being merged with UPN to form The CW, which basically means the channel for white teen dramas is being integrated with a channel made up mostly of black sitcoms. (Insert humorous segregation joke here) Many of The WB shows will be carried over, some were an eazy decision (Gilmore Girls), some weren't (One Tree Hill), some didn't make it (Everwood), and others came back from the dead (7th Heaven). Yes that pun was intentional.
Anway, the Youtube video is the last thing to play on The WB. The WB showed up around the time I was starting high school, so I kinda grew up with it. I watched both of the Nikki Cox shows, especially enjoying Unhappily Ever After as they paraded her around in mini skirts and tight tops. I watched 7th Heaven until they they wrote Mary off the show. I remember watching Popular. I watched Jack and Jill. I may have been one of the few that remember Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane, where I first saw Michael Rosenbaum, who later went on to play Lex Luther on Smallville. My younger brother and I saw Zach Morris make his comeback on Hyperion Bay. I saw a few episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Shit, I saw a few seasons of Charmed. I'm still watching Gilmore Girls. One Tree Hill is my guiltiest of pleasures. I'm trying to keep up with Supernatural, which I really enjoyed and is kinda creepy. I also am trying to keep up with Smallville, even though it pisses me off more often than not. I watched the full season of Jack and Bobby, and I kinda miss that one. I thought it was great. The Mountain was also another show, while not great at first, it turned into a sort of guilty pleasure. Roswell was another show I started out watching, but then lost track of. I would love to finish it up and see how it ended.
I had alot of fun watching these shows. What was funny is that I was one of the few people that could watch The WB because our town cable provider did not carry that station. We were lucky enough to have a c-band satellite system. I kept up with the shows, and then I would fill in Meredith and Tanya about Dawson's, while we were in Stu. Co, suppossedly working. Sometimes, Tonya would have family memebers send her tapes of the shows, but that didn't last too long.
What I'm probably most gratefull for, is that The WB gave these shows a chance to succeed. Nowadays, if a show isn't a hit right out of the gate, the networks cancel it. Many times, shows aren't given a chance to find an audience and succeed. Shows like Buffy and Angel, arguably the networks most popular and successful shows, would probably not have lived as if they had premiered on another network. I'm not sure what network would have picked up Dawson's or Felicity. I dunno, maybe ABC? Smallville? Supernatural? Maybe Fox would of found a spot for them. I dunno, but I do know that with Fox's track recored, they would of been quick to bring down the axe.
Anyway, I hope the new channel, The CW, gives new shows the same chance that it's ancestor would give them.
Anway, this week, the fall season really gets going. Yes I know Fox had premiered much of their new lineup already, but they have to cause in about a week, they broadcast nothing but baseball playoffs until November. I've watched Prison Break since it came back, and man have they really upped the unbelievable quotent. Still, a fun ride. This gets DVR'ed.
I'm eagerly anticipating Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. If I knew nothing else about this show, this one get's a viewing based on Sorkin's name alone. But since I know a little more than that, I'm really excited about it. It's got a great cast: Amanda Peet, one of the guys from Wings (one of the brothers), Chandler from Friends, and Josh from West Wing. I think NBC has a hit on it's hands with this one. Reported price per episode is 2 million. At that price, it better be a hit. This one also gets DVR'ed.
I've set my vcr to record the CBS comedies. I really like How I Met Your Mother, and I'm soo glad it's back. Barney is hilarious and Robin is smokin hot in the "ordinary girl next door" sort of way. The class looks like it might be funny, plus Andrea Anders is on it. (Are they ever going to show the remaining episodes of Joey? I know it tanked, but damnit I wanna see how it ends!) I picked up The New Adventures of Old Christine over the summer. It was actually pretty good and I thought to my self tat I think it would survive the Seinfeld Curse. (Elaine ended up winning a Emmy!) I also enjoyed 2 1/2 Men, which I started watching this summer. Predictable, yes but worth a few laughs. I'll watch it if I have time.
Other new shows I'm wanting to check out: Smith and Jericho on CBS, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Kidnapped, 30 Rock and 20 Good Years on NBC. Nothing new on on ABC or Fox. Lost, Scrubs, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, Las Vegas, Simpsons, American Da, Family Guy, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Office, Earl, Smallville, Supernatural, and 24 will be watched when they come back. The O.C.? Maybe-maybe not. That seems like it's alot, and it might be. We'll see how long they all last.
This was a fantastic game and I highly recommend it to any and everyone. It's a must buy for anybody with a DS. It's a brand new game, not a remake or a port, but it's in the old school (or is it ol' skool?) side scrolling genre. It's got elements from all the previous SMB games.
On Monday, I finally beat the game on the train ride home. The last castle was a PAIN IN THE ASS, and it took me many tries to beat. Hell, the mini boss in World 8 was also a pain for me. I eventually got the best out of them. I'm now going back and getting the remaining star coins throughout the game and trying to figure out how to open up wolds 3 and 7.
Now, hopefully I can get back to Trauma Center and diffuse that damn bomb!
What a weekend. College Station was a blast. Great to see my friend Jason again. It's been too long and I will make a trip down to Houston. Sorry for all the shit we gave you for being in MENSA. ...and also for the spit ball. Thanks to Kyle for letting me crash at his place. For the love of god, please run the vacuum through. The "guest bathroom" also inspired me to never EVER let mine get that bad. Christ that was disgusting. Thanks to Steve and Kristina for driving and letting me ride. The trip down there and back was pretty quick, and that's cause we were having a great time in the car talking. We should do it again soon.
The game was excellent. Great game to watch at Kyle. The improvements really look excellent. The game was dominating from start to finish. I like the score 51-7. The horns lost, so that was great. UTEP gave tech all they could handle, and should of won that game. Still, a great night. Here's some highlights from the Aggie game.
Jordan Peterson's Hit (OUCH)
Joey Thomas' Catch (Great F'in Concentration - although it's hard to tell with the quality of the video)
Mike Goodson's Run (He's gonna be great)
A picture from my phone (damnit I need a real camera) of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band! (Whoop!)
Now probably my favorite video. During the game, they showed the new Texas A&M's new recruiting ad campaign on the 12th Man TV. I thought it was a fantastic ad, a huge improvement over what we used to have. Here's a directlink to it off the Aggie Network web site.
Kyle Field got plenty of new improvements over the offseason. Here's a short video showing the new video board, the ribbon boards as well as the move of the "Welcome to Aggieland" to the Former Students side.
Now here's a link to download the new Intro. It's 60mb, and I haven't seen it up on You Tube yet. I'll embed it when I see it. Until then, "save as" and check them out.
A shot from the field. A shot of the 12th Man A shot of the Former Students
Ribbon boards, moving the "Welcome to Aggieland" sign, as well as some maroon on the 3rd deck facia. Looks great. Great changes. The video board looks clean, classy and smooth.
Now, here's the intro video for t.u. on their new video board. It seems during the intro, it was full screen (took up all the available screen). Near the end of the video, you can see the ads take over and video is relegated to only a small piece of the giant new board.
They new board had been nicknamed "Godzillatron" (obviously because of it's size). It's suppossed to be the largest HD screen in the world. Yup, they're clever up in Austin. Really rolls off the tongue doesn't it?
Here's a still pic.
Yea. More like Adzillatron.
Seriously, it looks like a freakin NASCAR. Can you get anymore ads on that thing? Oh, and how come you've got 2 4x3 screens side by side. Why isn't it widescreen? Why isn't it in HD?
The band is called OK Go, and the song is called "Here It Goes Again". This may be the coolest video I've seen in a long time, and perhaps ever. I may go get the album based on the video alone. The music, it isn't too bad either. Check it out.
Doesn't You Tube rock? I love it. If I ever miss anything, and people are talking about it, you can find it on You Tube or google video. Love this website.
...and with that, so does Emmanuelle Chriqui's time on my blog. One last look before we trade her in for a newer model.
Also, I'm a little sad that the show ended on Sunday Night. It's such a fun show and the 30 minutes (yea, it's more like 22-25, even on HBO) goes by soo quickly, I'm always left yelling "Already!?!" when the credits roll. Sad to see Ari get fired, but I have a feeling that won't last. Oh, and I swear I'm going to punch the next person that says "This show sucks without Ari." He's not leaving the show people. I have no idea where that came from.
Also, there was definetly not enough Sloane this year. She was only in a few episodes around the middle of the season.
Here's to hoping the show makes it back before March, as it's scheduled to come back the same time as Sopranos.
I saw it again this morning on the train to work. It was a young brotha with his jeans sagging and pinch rolled above his Fila hightops.
I wasn't fast enough to get my camera phone out and take a picture. I will try to be better prepared next time to bring you proof.
It seems that fashion flashback has advance up to the '80s. I'm not too sure that I'm excited about this.
UPDATE: 8.30.06; 7:25 AM (Isn't it cooler to put periods in the date instead of hyphens. I think it is.) Saw him again today. Still had the pinch roll. I even took a picture, but you couldn't see the actual "pinch roll". The sagging jeans were covering it up, and he was already headed in the opposite direction before I can get another shot. I'll try again tomorrow.
UPDATE: 9.8.06; 2:21 PM I have obtained pictures! Taken yesterday morning, I got a good shot of the offender's jeans while on the escalator. Behold:
After 1 listen each yesterday, I'm liking both albums. DMX seems a little mellower than what he used to be, which is a shame, cause I like him when he's mad. Of course, he includes a prayer (which I always like) and a song which is like his conversation to (or sometimes with) God. To me, that's usually the highlight of the album. I had to laugh when somebody on the album broke out with the lyrics "Ma ma say, ma ma sa, ma ma ma coo sa".
Outkast's Idlewood, which doubles as a soundtrack to their movie of the same name is something different for them. I believe the movie is set in the Prohibition era, and the 20's-30's era music is exactly what you would think of having heard the cd. The duo always seems to reinvent themselves or try something new and different with each passing album, and this one's no different. I like this new sound. It's catchy as hell and I can see, with a few more listens, these songs would get stuck in my head. The song "Morris Brown" is the single out and it's pretty doing a pretty good job of getting stuck in my head.
I'll definetly give them a few more spins each and hopefully come up with a final review.
Dallasites should get the joke right away. Everyone else, may need someone to explain it to them.
Credit has to go to the MySpace User Katherine. Apparently she's the original creater of Cash and there has been some imitations from other people. I'm just trying to give credit where credit is due. Hilarious work Katherine. Hilarious. I, and many people at Texags.com await your next installment.
I like it. I really did. It was something different. It kinda reminded me of Ol' Dirty Bastard, which is a good thing. ODB is even on one of the songs, singing the chorus to "Build Me Up Buttercup". I thought that was hilarious. If you were a fly on the wall, you could hear me singing it for the next few days.
I also enjoyed the song "Bullet" with Citizen Cope. "Tell a Story" was also another song that stood out to me. "Brand New" with Kanye will probably be, if it isn't already, the next single. Anything Kanye does right now seems to be hot. Right now, the single that has been released is "Dynamite", which is also pretty good. I believe iTunes gave it away for free as the single of the week. "All Girls Cheat" is a song you just have to listen to. Hilarious. I'm definetly glad I took a chance on this cd, buying it while never having listened to it. Way to go Best Buy for pricing it soo cheap at $7.99 that I had felt comfortable taking a chance on it. See RIAA. Price the CDs cheaper and maybe people would buy them more.
I finished this on the train to work this morning. Took me a little longer than the previous books because I took some days off and just stared out the window of the train or played my Nintendo DS. Sometimes, I caught a little nap. Anyway.
The last few chapters I read pretty quickly. That was some freakin revelation at the end, that Chuck seems to do rather easily. They "twist" hasn't gotten old for me and this is the 4th book of his I've read. I'm soo engrossed in the book by the time I'm getting near the end, that I'm not looking for a twist. There are people that go into M. Night Shamalan movies lookin for the twist, and I think that takes you out of the movie.
This book, more than any of his others that I've read jumps back and forth in time to tell the story. That in itself makes it a little hard to keep up. The author (or I guess the main charactor Shannon) would say "Jump back to the time I was..." in the middle of a chapter. It's a little hard to get used to, but afterward, you find out that the flashback is helping tell the present story and helping flesh out the main character.
So far I would rank my favorite CP's books as: Fight Club - I love it. Saw the movie way before the book. The book made it better. Awesome. Survivor - This definetly needs to be made into a movie next. Excellent book. Fincher, where are you? Invisible Monster - I liked it alot. A little easier to understand the theme in this book than in Choke. The twist at the end was excellent. I could see this one as a movie, but it would need a great director to help flesh it out so it would work as a movie. Choke - Not quite as good as the others, but that's mainly cause I didn't quite understand the theme of the book and what the author was trying to say. Some great "LOL" moments as well as some cringe worthy and shocking moments in this one as well. The twist (although this one should probably be called a reveal), wasn't as exciting as in the other books. Still, a good worthwhile read.
Get Lifted was probably my favorite album from last year. Amazing cd, that I immediately fell in love with. John Legend quickly became a favorite of mine and Number 1 is the most played song on my iTunes. His Grammys were well deserved.
Well now he's got a new album coming out later this year, and a new single "Save Room" that is already out and already stuck in my head. I think it's fantastic. It's a little different from his 1st album, but I would expect that. I'm anxious for the new cd.
Check it out:
EDIT: Well apparently, Blogger doesn't let you link to Azureus. Guess you'll have to get it on your own. I definetly recommend it though.
Not all the pictures on the site may be that weird, but Cat People in gereral are just weird.
Bonsai Kitten is another funny one, and I remember the hilarity when people thought it was real. Now I'm not sure the website is still there. It's been 5-6 years since I first saw it.
1st fight went the distance...6 rounds. 1 guy looked like he was throwing and landing more. The opponent seemed to be throwing (and landing) with more power. He ended up winning by decision.
The next fight was over in 24 seconds. The opponent would not defend himself, and the ref called it. TKO. I litterally saw about 3-4 really good punches from the winner before it was called.
The next fight I missed completely. I went to the bathroom. Walked back in right to hear the bell go off. I learned later it was a TKO.
The main event. Holyfield vs. Jermey Bates. Over in 2 rounds. TKO. The picture shows the best hit Bates landed at the beginning of the 2nd round. By the end of the same round, he was backed up against the ropes and Holyfield was "wailing" on him. I use that term loosely, cause while Holyfield threw like 20-25 punches, none of them were haymakers. The ref stepped in and called it.
We didn't even stay for the remaining fights. They pushed 2 fights back until after the main event. We stayed until the official decision, and for Evander to walk around the ring thanking people.
The night was started off at Al Biernat's for their "Restaurant Week" special. 6 of us, at 35 bucks a piece, 2 appetizers, 1 $60 bottle of wine (that was suppossed to be a $30 bottle) plus some cocktails, tip equals $400 bill. It was good, but my prime rib didn't last very long. :(
P.S. I know it's been a while since my last blog. It's not that I've forgotten to write, it's that I haven't had much time. Work's been real busy and so have I when I'm at home. Not much time to update, but I don't think you've missed anyting.
This was the baseball movie with Kevin Costner. Wait. Let me rephrase that. This was one of like 3 or 4 baseball movies Kevin Costner has done (I don't think he's done yet). A bit of a chick flick, but it has sports in it, so it's okay. Pretty similar to Jerry Maguire actually, which is another one of my favorites. It's before Tom Cruise turned into a giant douche, but I digress. Originally I saw this movie when it was released on DVD. I liked it, but didn't give it much thought. It was good, Kelly Preston is a total babe, and it had a feel good ending. Costner is a solid actor (at least in baseball movies). Since that first viewing, I've seen the end of the movie on multiple occasions on cable.
About a month ago, I was laying on the couch watching movies or dvds or something (vegging out - how the hell do you spell that anyway?), when I caught this movie right at the beginning on Encore. Now the kicker is, it was about 3am on a Saturday. No I didn't go out that night. I was just chilling at home doing my own thing. I'm not a loser, you're the loser....No you are! Back to the movie. I stayed up the rest of the night and watched it. It was damn near 5 AM and the horizon was starting to get lighter. This time, the movie stayed with me. I loved it. I really did. It took about 2 full viewings, but something clicked for me. Not quite sure what it was, but it really elevated this movie into a whole another category, a sentiment that was shared by my younger brother, even though I didn't think he had seen this movie. Now I'm thinking about picking up the movie on DVD, especially it being so cheap. That would pretty much guarantee that I would never watch it again.
Funny, how sometimes watching a movie once isn't enough. I can watch a good movie multiple times and get something new out of it every time. I'll catch a new line that I didn't hear the 1st time, or I'll find something funny, that I didn't think was funny years ago when I first saw it. Like, I didn't realize when Forrest Gump is in his underwear in Jenny's dorm room, his clothes being all wet from the rain, that Forrest "sneezes in his pants". Years after first seeing the movie, I'm laughing at something new (to me). In Karate Kid, Johnny's smoke weed in the boys bathroom during the Halloween dance. When I was a kid, I just thought is was a cigarette. Anyways, those are just two examples out of many more, but you get the point.
Sometimes, I don't really find anything new. Sometimes, it's just a damn good movie that I can't change the channel to no matter how many times I've seen it. Apollo 13, Shawshank Redemption, (hell, even Bring it On), which are movies that I don't own (well now I own Shawshank), always get watched when they are on tv. Something about them just sucks me in. I swear TBS played Apollo 13 every weekend one summer, and I watched it damn near every weekend. Sad thing is, I held my breath every time we were waiting for the chutes to deploy.
I dunno what to say about this. I'm actually a little disappointed in this effort. I've given it a 3-4 good listens and there really isn't a track that stands out in my mind. There's a nice verse by Jay-Z on Young Girl, and Nelly is on "Baby", another song that isn't too bad. The hit single right now with Gwen Stefani "Can I have it Like That" isn't anything special. I actually think she's wasted on that song. I can't really say I was impressed with Kanye's track, Number 1. I can't even remember what Snoop's song sounded like, and that's saying something as I'm a big fan of the S-N-double O-P.
I like the N.E.R.D. albums. I really like the Neptunes Presents...Clones album. I'm going to go ahead and say I'm dissapointed. I'll put this album away for a bit and then revisit it later. Maybe something will stick out by then.
Yesterday on the train ride home, I finished Chuck Palahniuk's Choke and I must say I'm impressed. While I didn't quite like it as much as I liked Survivor, which I thought was amazing, I still had a great time reading it. After reading Fight Club, then Survivor, I pretty much had Chuck's style down. Even so, I did not see the twist coming at the end. Great stuff.
Chuck's characters, especially the protagonist, always seem very likeable, even though they are pretty f'ed up and are what you would normally call "bad guys". You find yourself rooting for the bad guys. I love when a book or a movie can make me do that. That really fucks with my sense of right and wrong and makes me rethink my stance on things. Love it.
I also like the way Chuck has done his research extremely well because his books are always filled with random, but useful information. I'm curious to see if it's actually true, or something he made up. (I've heard it's true.) Denny's a dropout med school student with a sexual addiction. So in the book, you get to learn some medical terms and ailments as well as what goes on in rehab. In flashbacks, you see that Denny's mother teaches him things that you wouldn't learn in school, but are helpful to know in real life. For example, he learns about the "codes" given over a P.A. system in an airport, grocery store, department store. It's pretty interesting stuff.
My only complaint is I sometimes have a hard time figuring out what the hell is going on. That may be partly due to the writer's style, but I would probably peg most of the blame on my ADD.
I'm going to start Invisible Monster next. I expect it to be just as good as this one was.
Apparently, this is a Japanese game show called Gaki no Tsukai or タイトルコール噛んだらダメよ ガキの使い for short. I have no idea what they're saying, although I wish I did. Even so, I would sit and watch this all day. What is it about shots to the nuts that I find so funny?
After a little research, it turns out that they have to say tongue twisters correctly, or they get it in the neither region.
I played the demo last night, downloading it off of Marketplace. It was a fun time, but I think my title describes this game perfectly. That's what they should of called this game. It's pretty much a rip off of GTA. Even most of the controls are the same. The shooting mechanic is done a little bit better than the GTA series does it. The driving is much improved, as it seems they've installed what would be called a navagation system on the map, showing you where turn on the map and everything. The difference in handling and sound of each car is minimal, but that may be contributed to the demo. We'll see how the final game comes out. There are not helicopters or motorcycles in the game though, so that's a bummer. The health system is a little different, as in I found it much harder to die than GTA. The language and humor is very similar to what you heard and saw in San Andreas (Freckle Bitch being what they called "Wendy's". I will probably end up picking up this game, baring any reviews completely blasting this game, as I liked what I played and I like the type of game this is. It should hold me over until Oct. 2007 when GTA IV comes out.
I think I've exhuasted The Raconteurs and Arctic Monkeys. Both albums I liked greatly. Very easy to listen to all the way through.
The Arctic Monkeys I liked, but then again, I've liked the whole Brit Pop scene(wave/explosion/resurgence?) lately. Very catchy, very fast paced. There were specifically 3-4 songs (including the current single "Look good on the dance floor") that I really found catchy on here, although I caught myself listening to the entire album multiple times. I even caught my self saying "all you people are vampires" a number of times. Great Stuff and will definetly be adding it to the rotation.
The Raconteurs I also liked quite a lot, although I'm not sure how to describe their sound. It's like slow rock/blues music. They remind me of a band that you would book at a high school dance. I may have seen them in a John Hughes movie somewhere. Jack White, from the White Stripes is in the band, sans Meg. It's an interesting sound the band has and it's very easy to listen to. I liked it, and I would recommend it.
Anyway, it's time to load up some new stuff.
I've been listening to 2 new CDs lately. Rhymefest's Blue Collar and Pharrell's In My Mind. I'm liking Rhymefest's album. Very creative. He's getting alot of love from the reviewers. The Build Me Up Buttercup cover with O.D.B. is great.
I'm a little dissapointed in Skateboard P's album. (God, after 2 spins, it was already getting on my nerves). I expected more outta Pharrell on this. His production seems 2nd rate. I'll have more on both of these albums in a week or so when I get a few more listens in.
Also, I'm lookin to pick up the new DMX album this week. Early reviews have been pretty favorable. X just got outta jail again for something, so hopefully he's a little pissed off. Makes for a better album.
That, mixed in with a few different podcasts (Ricky Gervais, LCVG, Major Nelson) pretty much sums up my music listening. I've been trying to stay away from my "Most Often Played" playlist, and for the most part, I have.
Bob Log III is a God.Damn.Genius. (Sorry Lord, but that's how the quote goes) He just made the most outstanding song I've ever heard. He must have an I.Q. of 160. Bob Log III, you are goddamn gifted.
Nobody knows who Bob Log III is. Nobody knows how old he is. People are not quite sure what he looks like. He's been rumored to be anybody from Tom Waits to somebody from the Strokes.
From wikipedia: Bob Log III is a lo-fi blues one-man band based in Tucson, Arizona. He is well known for performing in a flight helmet and singing through a telephone headset attached to the helmet. He plays slide guitar and a bass drum at the same time as well as using a drum machine and various effects. When Bob Log III was a child, he lost his left hand in a boating accident. It was soon replaced with a monkey paw, and a new guitar style was born.
Now, on to the GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN which happens to combine 2 of my loves in life. This must of been what Tenacious D wrote their tribute song. It's called Boob Scotch. Yeah, that's right. Boob, as in mammary gland + scotch, as in single malt, whiskey aged 12,18 or 21 years. It's the genius that he combines them both. The video is on his website and probably on google videos or youtube.
I've found my new anthem. It's my theme song. The intro to my sitcom. The song to play over the closing credits of my movie. Boob Scotch. Genius.
What an amazing book. I just finished it up this morning on the train ride to work. It was a great book with a pretty satisified ending. I'll make you highlight SPOILER ALERT!: I thought he went down with the plane. I was left pretty satisfied with how it ended. I figured he finally was "free". Then I got to work and decided to look for a review or a website (funny how I always tend to end up at a message board) that talked about the book. In it were some theories that really made me think. Also, apparently there's a secret ending that was not in the book. SPOILER ALERT!:Tender survives. He dictates his story to the cassette recorder mentioned on page 7 or 8, then jumps out with one of the parachutes he got when he let the passengers off. He leaves the cassette recorder talking to the black box. The recorder won't survive the plane crash. Now I may have to go back through and look for the clues it mentions. Great stuff. Overall, it took me about a week to read.
I've read that a movie was in production (maybe in preproduction) until the 2 planes crashed into the Twin Towers, which pretty much landed the project on the shelf (I'm not quite sure if that pun was intentional...). I can understand why that happened, but hopefully the movie will eventually get made. It's just too good of a story not to turn it into a movie. I've been trying to assign actors to the roles in the book. I think Ed Norton could pull of the main character pretty easily, but then again, maybe they don't want him to do another Palahniuk book. I was thinking maybe Matthew McConaughey could do the role of Tender. Maybe Kate Winslet as Fertility? Or how about Lauren Ambrose? I dunno. Now I have to decide which book of Chuck's I want to read next, Choke or Invisible Monster. Any advice?
It's almost football season and you know what that means....the return of the girl in red. The girl in red. You've surely heard of her. She's made the rounds on the college football message boards, and nobody seems to know who she is. She was makin the rounds way before the FSU Cowgirl and her friends were. All I know is, I can stair at that pic for hours. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for her and trying to imagine what her answer would be to a 9 iron, some ice cubes and a stuffed buffalo (for safety's sake). If you know who she is, then hook a brother up.
Oh, and her blonde friend ain't too bad on the eyes either. "Tiki hut" indeed. By the way, Southern Fried Football is a great site for choosing your next divorce.
Remember Mike Folsum, the 1st Aggie Grad in space? Sure you do, the Discovery mission has been making headlines almost every day. Well, while on the job, apparently he had a little time to goof off. Check it out. See the larger version here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060719.html In the picture you can see part of the International Space Station, astronaut Piers Sellers, and that little piece of land we like to call Earth. All that from the reflection of the visor of Michael Fossum.
I'm always amazed at how white the suit looks. It's in very stark contrast to the darkness (Darkness is spreading!) of space. Also, I know there's a reason, but why can't you see any of the stars in space like you can see them on Earth out in the country on a clear night? Anyways, very cool picture.
This is the actual cover I went with. Had to give it to my man Justin Warren. Big things from him this year. BIG THINGS.
Yup. Picked up the 360 version yesterday and was able to sneak in a late game (1 am) after I got home from Superman.
Kyle Field looks excellent. The crowd is wearing white when it should be wearing Maroon. Still don't have Yell Leaders (and yet the horn mascot was there :furious ). They'll have to update the stadium again for next year's version as they're installing a new massive hd video board. Otherwise, the stadium looks great.
The game seems more polished than the demo, leading me to believe that it was an early demo (rumored to be the E3 demo) we were playing. I noticed a few hiccups through the game, nothing worse than a dvd layer change.
Yea, I agree that the "jumping the player when he's down" annimation was a bit overused. Nothing to worry about though.
Huge playbooks. Lots of variety. I wish we had the trick plays in this version, but to tell you the truth, I probably wouldn't use them that often. I very very very rarely ran any kind of reverse in previous versions.
I do miss the stadium pulse and the impact player features. Those should of been in there.
The momentum meter was ok. I had it going for me in the 1st half of the game (scored 28 pts) and then was ice cold in the 2nd (0 pts). That may have been cause the cpu had the momentum after a long td run and then picking up my qb's fumble and returning it. Not totally sure about this feature yet. I'll have to play a few more games.
Didn't get to try online , but it doesn't surprise me that the EA servers were down.
I need to work on the running game a little more. I had some success, but then I was getting stuffed later in the game. I need to adjust to the new controls, as that was screwing me up some.
Hopefully this weekend I can meet some of you online.
P.S. Superman Returns on 3D Imax kicked serious ass. More Impressions on that later.
It's time to get into the football mood. NFL teams report to training camp in about 2 weeks. 2 a days start at the beginning of August. My football craving has been a little subdued this year due to how bad we finished last year, but I can feel it coming on. Fran, it's time to put up or shut up. Anything lest than 9 wins is UNACCEPTABLE this year with the schedule we have. Show us why you're worth 2 million dollars a year. You know where to find me for the next few weeks. Send me a friend invite, and we'll play.
I saw this one a few days ago and I couldn't stop laughing. How could something sooo wrong, be so funny? I'm not sure who would actually wear it, (I know I wouldn't) but damn if I can't help but laugh.
I saw this one on a friend's MySpace page. I thought it was pretty funny, and basically know of 1 person that would get a kick out of it(he's white, but would appreciate it).
This one's basically for the Aggies. As you probably know, there's an Aggie on the Space Shuttle right now. A few days ago, Mission Control was joking around with him with the quote:
During the second spacewalk on Monday, the spacewalkers replaced a cable reel to a rail car needed to move large pieces around the space station and installed a pump compartment for the complex's cooling system."That was a great (spacewalk) and it showed that Aggies can be taught to work locks, latches and anything else," flight controllers wrote in their daily morning electronic message to Discovery's crew, referring to Fossum, a graduate of Texas A&M. "Miracles never cease."
MCC: Good morning Discovery! Mike, we hope you enjoyed that. I'm not too sure about the rest of the crew. But it was from Melanie and all the other Aggies around the globe.Mike
Fossum: Gig 'em Aggies! Thanks Steve! And thanks to my lovely Aggie wife, Melanie, and most of our family and many friends for setting that up today.
MCC: You're welcome. You know Mike, there are quite a few Aggies right here in Mission Control and all throughout Texas who've been watching what you've been doing intently throughout this mission. So much so, you could even say, "the eyes of Texas are upon you."
Mike Fossum: Ooh! I'm not sure I like the tone of that.
A skit from the 1st "Lost" episode of Chappelle Show. It's about how 2Pac's (or Tupac) lyrics were, "a head of their time". I think it's hilarious and probably the funniest thing from that first episode.
I've piced a version that has the captions on it, cause some of the lyrics are a little hard to understand.
I liked Click. I did. My brother and I were trying to catch the Imax showing of Superman, which was freakin sold out...again. Every showing Wednesday was sold out. Unbelieveable. (Actually, it's quite believable. There's only 2 Imax theaters in the whole damn state. Hopefully, we can catch it next weekend, since Pirates 2 is coming out.) Click was barely going to start the previews and it was the only movie either of us had not watched. So I bought the tickets and we headed in. It was a a spur of the moment thing, As a quick side note, this Cinemark allowed you to buy a pizza and bring it in to the theater, which smelled so good we tried to get one as well. 10 minute wait = nevermind. The movie was good. It was an Adam Sandler movie ( and by that, I mean one of his Happy Madison Productions, not Spanglish or Punch Drunk Love), so by now, you should know what to expect. If you liked Big Daddy, then I think you'll like this movie. The movie was funny. Not all the funny parts were used in the trailers (thank the lord). Chris Walken is great in this one. Kate Beckinsale brings all the hotness you would expect, except her accent. The movie also had a point/message to give to you, which maybe a little heavy handed, but it's a good message. I'm just not sure I was happy with the ending. With the way it ended, that really makes Chris Walken's character pointless doesn't it? Also, Rob Schneider does have a hilarious part in the beginning. I didn't catch many other of Sandler's buddies in this one. His dog does make it into the movie though.
Anyways, it was definetly worth the full price ticket (they don't do student discounts!). I'll probably add this one to the DVD Collection.
I always suspected, but never had proof....until now. Sounds like he had a pretty prominent career at A&M. Then he went Pro. Read the rest of the story by clicking on the link.
The Speech Al Pacino gave near the end of Any Given Sunday, over some clips of great plays in College and Pro Football. It's a great speech that totally makes the movie and gets me pumped up. The plays are pretty good as well, although the quality leaves alot to be desired. I'm soo ready for football season to start. How many days 'till NCAA Football 2007? Time to show us why you get paid soo much Fran.
Yup. It's July 3, and I'm working. Eh, scratch that. I'm at work. I have a short list of things to do today, and I think I can make it last most of the day. Sucks that the 4th had to be on a Tuesday. Half our jobsite, subcontractor wise, isn't working today. It's a pretty slow day. Looks like I need to change out the music we be jammin to since I think I've moved on.
Great summer album. It's different from her last 2 cds. It's light and fun with production from Timbaland (he's a fav of mine). There's some catchy tunes on here. "All Good Things" is my probably my favorite. Promiscuous is great, that's why it's the single. No Hay Igual is another single that maybe didn't get enough air play. It's more reggaeton, so I'm not sure if that made it mainstream. Maneater is a song that I picture Tommy Boy doing the "She's a Maniac" dance to. Listen to it and you'll know what I mean. Showtime, Do It, Afraid, and Te Busque (both versions) are the other winners on the album. I'll probably be replaying this cd throughout the summer. If it lasts longer than that, than I know I've got a good album. Her previous 2 albums had serious longevity.
Another great album. It's refreshing to hear some new music, completely different from anything you've got in your collection. There are plenty of great tracks on this one, but my favorite is still Crazy. It's just catchy and perfect for playing at a loud volume as you're leaving work for the day. It's hard to pick out any other songs, as they're all pretty dang good. I've got a feeling this cd will be up for plenty of awards when it comes around next summer. Excellent cd. Definetly pick this one up.
Now that those have been properly listened to, I've loaded up 2 more cds into the iPod: The Raconteurs and Arctic Monkeys. Both have singles out on radio and XM that I've heard plenty of times and that I like. I'll let you know what I think of the rest of the cds after I give them a few spins.
Now in the past week or so, I've also been finishing up some TV on DVD season sets. I've recently run through Entourage Seasons 1 and 2 as well as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7. I'll continue on about those tomorrow. I think there may be a limit to how many pictures you can put on a single post.
Tonight alot of the guys (and I think a few girls) are going to stimulate the economy at Penthouse. I'm sure there's some girl there that's trying to put her self thru law school. Or is it Med school? Anyways, it should be nice sharing the same strippers with other horny bastards. It's funny cause the guys have come down with colds and sore throats after an outing like this. Here's to hope-ing (otherwise, It looks like I'm a bunny rabbit) I'm first in line with some of these hoes. Either way, here's to "dedicated bitches".
Tomorrow should also include Coppel Deli as well as the Ranger's game. Not sure when we'll shoot off fireworks.
Alright I'm out. I may actually have to get some work done today. Maybe I'll do the DVD post a little later.
Ray Liotta 2001
Ribbon boards, moving the "Welcome to Aggieland" sign, as well as some maroon on the 3rd deck facia. Looks great. Great changes. The video board looks clean, classy and smooth.
