Field of Deets

Thanks to Alana for sending me this link, a little humor, sort of, for your day.

Two for the price of one today.

Wow.

I've been slacking hard on blog reading and I was just getting caught up at the convenient hour of 3:30 am-ish when I read Aaron's blog, see the High Life link on the right, and he mentioned how you have to stop flipping through channels when you come across Field of Dreams and James Earl Jones is delivering one of the greatest speeches in movie history. And he is right. If you don't stop at that channel for that moment, then you and I will seriously have to reconsider our friendship and you ought to seriously reconsider the depth of your humanity. And if you don't come to any conclusions after that, then isolation in Siberia is probably going to be your best option.

What other movie moments are mandatory stops to watch?

This is somewhat difficult because it applies only to movies that are on TV all the time.

- About a dozen parts in The Shawshank Redemption, but as a rule, I would say anytime you hear Morgan Freeman doing a voice-over you need to freeze your fingers.

- In Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon and Robin Williams are sitting on a bench near a park is a scene that people really ought to stop for.

God, I'm really disappointed in my effort on coming up with scenes. (That wasn't a prayer, mind you, I was just using God's name to convey my disappointment. In this case "God" is interchangeable with "Shit", and probably in many other cases as well.)

I'm going to look into some more, but if you have suggestions for scenes that meet your criteria for an automatic stop I would like to read about it.

Right now my wheels are barely spinning.

There's this thing that I've heard that some people have called a sleep cycle. Some people even have regular ones. Mine is almost ungraphable it's so erratic. For one, working at Jeff and Jim's until 5 in the morning is great way to fuck it up for a few days. Second, I'm a night owl and the world is a morning entity. I'm not sure that's a good mix.

I'm an incredible all-nighter puller.

Two weekends ago I went to Madison for the Badgers' Season Opener at Camp Randall. I worked on Friday from 4:45 pm to 5:00 am and I was on the road to Madison by 6 am. I got there in time to hang with Sher, Bass, Bethel, and Chris for a bit and then meet up with Jesse and Murphy at the game, which was an 11 am kickoff. I made it through the game, went back to the fellas new pad, which is pretty kick ass, grabbed an hour long nap, then got up, watched football, and boozed hard that night. I met a kickass dude named Wahid (I think) from Pakistan, was introduced to Jin's Sandwiches, which was an awesome experience, and then slept from 4 am to 10 am and was on the road back to EC by noon - a whirwind trip.

Now Sleep.

Until The Next.

Alright, The OC Season Premiere -

Before I blow your minds with my insight into this little show, I have a must read link for OC fans. Go here, read this, enjoy, then come back.

I have mixed feelings on the episode, but it left me feeling optimistic about the rest of the season, of course, I still have my concerns.

Let's get it out of the way because if you know me, you know it's coming, the line of the show- Seth speaking to summer on a beach after sailing: "I think you just have a weakness for seamen." Or something like that. Anyway, I always go for the cheap perverse joke. And a close runner up was Ryan mocking Summer around the fire. Since when is Ryan sarcastic and funny? Maybe Seth is rubbing off on him a little bit. And that last sentence put in the context of the speculated homo-erotic tendencies in the Seth/Ryan relationship could take on a new meaning. Back to the show.

I was really happy to see them take the unrealistic route and wrap up the shooting ordeal right away. You had Julie's scheme, the scare that Ryan would take the fall, and all that went with it all in one episode when they could have easily, and painfully, dragged it out for 5-6 episodes.

Jimmy Cooper is back. Why? What will come of this? Is he leaving again soon? Was he just there because Marisa shot a dude? Does he want to score some of Julie's money she's assuming she'll get from Cal's will? Or does he really want to get back together with her? I'm going to say he was in town because of the shooting and will probably not make it through September on the show.

Speaking of Cal's will, this is one of the most intriguing developments that the early part of the season has in store for us. You have to think he figured out a way to stiff Julie, but I bet he left money for Marisa. I think Seth will get the bulk of it, which has potential for fun on the show. Ryan will get nothing. Kirsten might get some, but Cal won't want Sandy to have access to it, so that's why I think Seth will get the bulk, or possibly Hailey, who is hot and ought to return, but we'll touch on her (hopefully) whereabouts later.

Kirsten isn't ready to come home. But she will back within the next two episodes. And welcome Jeri Ryan, you're the leading candidate to be the new Oliver and ruin your career. Is she a lesbian? Is she in rehab to meet rich people she can mooch off of? Whatever her intentions are, they are not good.

Overall in the show I was impressed with how the writer wove comedy into the dramatic scenes and did it so it wasn't cheap or inappropriate. He kept all the characters within themselves, especially Seth.

I think all the actors under 30 on the show are becoming pretty good at their craft, except for, of course, Mischa Barton, who, while being better than last year, is still quite awkward to watch at times. I still get nervous when I know she's going to be in a scene where the action rests on her boney-ass shoulders.

The OC did a lot last year what they did on the season three premiere. We have a complex, absurd plotline conveniently tied up in one episode so that the show can move on. I am relieved that the writer/creator didn't allow the shooting to hold the show hostage for 6 weeks.

Moving on, did any of you watch Reunion right after The OC? Aside from some shady acting, I think the show has a lot of potential. It has me sucked into the plot already. Problem: It is inconveniently in the same timeslot as CSI, which is a major handicap for any show. But this show is such an original idea and seems to be going in a good direction. It's already established complex relationships between six characters and set up a slew of mysteries to figure out. In addition, one of the co-stars is the aforementioned woman who played Hailey on The OC. I'll keep watching.

Brief intermission for comedic purposes. Happy Birthday to this guy. Look out Shooter.

Sunday was maybe the shittiest day in a long time to be a Minnesota sports fan. The Twins finished up getting their asses swept by the Indians by giving up 10 runs in the first two innings on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Carlos Silva, having issued just nine walks all year, got shelled in the first for four runs. I guess when they know you're going to throw strikes, they're ready to swing. Then Joe Mayo came in and, like the levies in Nawlins, let the flood right on in. The Indians scored 6 in the 2nd. Good job, Joe.

The Twins playoffs hopes were officially decimated by the Indian sweep. At the beginning of the season I thought the playoffs were a mortal lock for the Twins. But, they just can't seem to score runs. They need a big bat in the middle, someone who can hit 40 dongs and drive in 100 runs. Fans will have to keep praying, cause that guy ain't coming.

Football. Fuck. The Vikings on Sunday put on one of the worst offensive performances I can ever remember them having. Five turnovers and a couple other fumbles they managed to accidentally recover killed their drives. The Bucs didn't even need to have a defense on the field. Dante Culpepper, yikes, but they will turn it around. Not all is lost. But that was one horrible game.

Twice Jermaine Wiggins had TD's called back. On the first he was called for maybe the worst offensive pass interference call I've ever seen. Seriously. The call was that bad. Not only did it suck for me as a Viking fan, but it sucked as a fantasy football owner too. I had Wiggins in the line up in place of the stupidly suspended Antonio Gates. Oh well. Next week. There's always next week.

And Next Week it is, so on to more TV, more school, more football, more life.

I see G Dubs's approval rating has dipped sub 40. That's good news. Raise your hand if you regret voting for that douchebag. (If you see someone with their hand raised, go kick them in the shin.)

Does it bother anyone else the way this guy stands? He has his shoulders sort of rolled forward and the backs of his hands facing the crowd, as opposed to letting his arms hang naturally, in which case his thumbs would face the crowd. He twists only at the torso and there is no bending elbows, wrists, or fingers. Robotic. Very Robotic, like his speech patterns.

Many people are very pissed at the Government for the way it responded to Katrina. One thing that really bothered me was the way G Dubs spoke about it. All his speeches sounded as if he was campaigning again. "We're working hard to do this, we're going to do this, I've asked congress to do this..." There was no sympathy, no genuine concern on his part, no encouragement. He's a stiff. Politically I'm not a big Bill Clinton fan, but I do really miss having a president who could deliver a message as well as he could. That guy is an incredible speaker. If Bill Clinton is the Joe Montana of public speaking, then George W. Bush is Sean Salisbury.

And Kanye West? Pshhh. As much as I hate Bush and all his ideas and his Good Ol' Boys ways, Kanye was not the guy to deliver that message in that way. He also chose the wrong forum in which to do it. He looked scared standing up there saying those things; it's hard to give weight to something said so insecurely. By the way, he's overrated.

I was just reading some newspaper articles and cnn.com and there are so many things going on right now that I don't know where to start reading or where to start writing, let alone where to start thinking.

This whole Chief Justice thing is going to have me up in arms. I will give you that warning now. What a shitty, shitty time to have two seats open up on The Court. I'm not sure people appreciate the impact this could have on the next 40 years of our lives. This will be discussed in more detail later. I promise you that.

Agh. On the better things. Last Thursday Will and I hit up the Pat McCurdy show at the Stones Throw. If you haven't seen him in concert, you really ought to. It's just great entertainment. So I got real drunk at the show and didn't set an alarm and slept through my only two classes on Friday so so much for perfect attendance, already, again.

Alright, the clock has struck three and I need to sleep. Read and sleep. Take care, kids.

And remember to go through your phones and call someone you haven't spoken to in a long time just to say, "Hi."

Until The Next.