At the Movies...

Quick critique of two movies I saw recently. I Am Legend, and No Country for Old Men. They both sucked. Spare yourself, and don't waste four hours of your time on these pieces of shit. You're welcome.

"Straight to my Feet"

Hammer. Deion. Van Damme. This definitely made my day.

My Condolences...

... go out to the Rudin and Meier families. I'd happen to have met Rhiannon and hung out with her several times. Definitely a person who as they say "brightens up a room". No doubt, she'll be missed by many.

Let's put and end to this drinking and driving, people. This is what can happen.

Story:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117977396.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

Great Moments in Pop Culture #2

KTLA Sunday Mornings 1978-1988

What it's remembered for:
Tom Hatten; Popeye; Family Film Festival

What it should be remembered for:
Hatten taking a viewer-submitted doodle, and turning it into a scene from Popeye, easily the greatest display of drawing talent ever; The Pippi Longstocking movies.

Why it makes my list:
Ah, Sunday mornings. Watching Popeye cartoons, Three Stooges, Little Rascals, then some Family Film Festival at 10am, then another one normally at 3pm. Sure, seeing a Jerry Lewis or other classic was fine and dandy, but on the occasion we got to see Pippi, well that was always a treat. I don’t exactly know why, but watching this crazy-ass girl used to make me fall on the ground dying of laughter. Part of it was probably the ridiculous English dub they had running over the film. To this day, I remember my mother saying two things to us: 1) "You better never act like her!" and 2) "What is she wearing?!?" By the way, Pippi likes spunk.

Great Moments in Pop Culture #1

This is the first in what should be many posts detailing memorable moments in pop culture. How does a moment make this list? It needs to conform to two rules:

1. It has to have happened in MY lifetime.
2. It had to be memorable and meaningful to ME.

These posts are in no way ordered. They're just moments I have happened to recall, and feel the need to talk about. Here's the first...

May 16, 1983 - Motown 25

What it's remembered for:
The Jacksons' reunion, Michael Jackson's moonwalk, and his announcement to the world that he is the baddest mofo in show business.

What it should be remembered for:
The Temptations v. The Four Tops battle of the bands.

The best part is at the 4:20 mark. Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards tries to pull the 'diva' thing on Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs, who quickly turns the tables on Edwards by turning a well known Temptations lyric into a "no-he-didn't" prophecy.

Why it makes my list:
It's always a special moment when generation gaps are bridged. Although I always listened to Motown music because of my mother, I never had the connection that she obviously had. This was the music and the people that defined her childhood. She witnessed the art adapt and shift, and she saw the musicians age and die. To me, it had really only been the soundtrack to my early life. Just really good music that I liked. After sitting together and watching this television special, I now had my very own Motown moment. This would be an event I would remember for the rest of my life, something I could pass down to my kids, and it gave me the ability to say that I too grew-up on Motown. And because of Michael's big performance, other kids of different races and cultures shared that same experience. It's rare that you get to experience your parents' past, and this was our generation's opportunity to do that.

I guess it makes too much sense

The college football season is over, so now it’s time for my annual rant against the BCS and it’s flawed non-playoff system. Basically, anyone with a brain who cares about the competitive spirit of college football knows that we need a playoff system. My simple proposal for an 8-team playoff system is this: 1. The top 8 ranked teams meet in the first round, played at the Big-4 BCS bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta) on New Years day. 2. The remaining 4 teams meet in the next round the following week at two of the Big-4 bowl sites. 3. The last remaining two teams meet in the championship round at one of the Big-4 bowl sites (one of the two that was not used the previous week. Pretty simple huh? The arguments against implementing a playoff system are usually a combination of the following: 1. The length of the season. 2. The big-4 bowl games lose their luster and history. 3. The strain on “student-athletes” academically. Now let’s go ahead and kill these silly arguments. 1. The length of the season will be too long. In my proposal, only 4 teams would play an extra game past the original bowl game (+1), and only two teams would play +2. College football teams currently play 11-13 regular season games. If they make a bowl game, that’s 12-14 games. Out of 117 teams, my system proposes that only 4 play 13-15, and only two play 14-16. Schedule-wise, the last game is played January 15th. Currently, the BCS title game is played on January 7th, so it’s not such a stretch to extend the season out 8 more days, especially if it means we can settle this once and for all on the field. 2. The history of the Big-4 bowl games gets ruined. Umm… too late for that. And that’s really not even accurate. Once the powers that be introduced the BCS title game (to be played at one of the Big-4 bowl sites, alternating each year) they effectively diminished the value of those bowl games. Teams that were in the national title hunt all season but don't make it have to "settle" for one of these games. But if you ask any of the players or coaches, because the tradition of the bowl games is so strong, they still appreciate the opportunity to play in them. And the tradition of the bowl doesn't just refer to the game itself. Being a west-coast guy, I'm all into the events surrounding the Rose Bowl each year, especially the Rose Parade. I know the other bowls have their own history and traditions, and that wouldn't be lost just because there are 3 more games to be played in the next couple of weeks. Also in my proposal, instead of one bowl site getting to host the BCS championship game each year, three sites get to host playoff games each year. That's millions of dollars to more bows… how can that be a bad thing? 3. More games would hurt the athletes academically. So this is the argument these college presidents always try to roll out there. I think we all know how comical it is to even suggest this, but let’s take it on. In my system, only 4 teams have an extra week of practice/preparation time. And then only two of those, would have another week. You're telling me that 2 weeks of practice time for only 2 out of 117 schools is hurting academics? What about the other 11-13 weeks during the regular season? If the athletes can juggle the classroom with the practice field then, they should be expected to be able to do it in mid-January. Also, people 1000 times smarter than I have already done the research in this area. They’ve concluded that the bowl format does not equate to greater academic success than the playoff format. Now tell me, how does my simple plan fail? Does it make too much sense? Doesn’t equate to more revenue? Am I missing something? College football fans, please leave a comment and let’s discuss.