A Flowery Song

How Not To Be Seen (Halo Style)

Instant Replay

Do you like the NFL's system of instant replay? I could understand why not; it's pretty awful compared to the Big Ten's implementation of the same idea. However, it's better than no replay at all, and apparently it's here to stay. Check out the story here.

Brawl In Hockeytown

Ten years ago today was one of the most memorable games in Detroit Red Wings history.

The Brawl in Hockeytown.



I can't usually say I hate opposing teams, but I hated the '97 Colorado Avalanche, Claude Lemieux especially. I'm sure you did too. Enjoy the video.

UPDATE: Looks like I wasn't the only who noticed the anniversary. The Detroit News has an article up here.

Truly Great Words

Having been inspired by the "Merc with a mouth", I think we need to start a list of truly great words. Once we have a few it could migrate to the sidebar. Number one on the list would be, of course, monkey. I have two other candidates as well: chimichanga and minion. So, any other suggestions?

Spider-Man 3...

...has a new trailer out, which you can see here. Yeah, I know it's Comcast, but what're you gonna do? It includes new scenes from the movie, including the first glimpse of the villain Venom, which I have to admit made me giggle with delight. It also gives you a pretty good idea of how the plot will unfold, so you could probably consider it spoiler material. You can learn more about the movie at the official site.

Pitiful

Of Log Skidders and Locusts

For those of you who don't regularly have the experience, working with engineers can get a little strange. I say that as one who was partly trained as an engineer and without malice. Here's an example. At lunch today, we concluded that this vehicle, a John Deere Log Skidder:


Would be the appropriate machine if you had to deal with a plague of giant locusts, like this, only much bigger:


I wonder if the other people at Arby's could hear our conversation and thought we were crazy? Well, if using a log skidder to fight giant locusts is crazy, I don't want to be sane.

10

How many wins does Jon Kitna think the Lions will have this coming season? "I really think we should not win any less than 10 games this year, to be honest."
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Sorry, it took me a moment to recover from a furious fit of laughter. Read more here.

Back...

...and better than ever. Well, maybe not, but I've been watching Mike & Mike in the Morning a lot the past week, so I can't help but steal the line. I could say my prolonged absence is what you get when no one comments on posts, but really it's all about Comcast. And how much they suck. In fact, only a jury rigged repair is letting me get on the internet now, but who really needs to be able to close a window all the way. Good thing it's spring. And, man, the sports world has been a little crazy while I've been out. Matt Schaub out of Atlanta and in at Houston, sure to send David Carr out of town? Trent Green possibly signing for the veteran minimum in Miami? Tubby Smith leaving Kentucky to coach the Golden Gophers? Crazy stuff man.

Public Service Announcement

Basements don't like water.

It often destroys a basement built with cardboard boxes.

Note to self: Build house with a sub-pump.

Or, be prepared to employ every and all shop-vacs you don't own so you can pump out about 1000 gallons of water and dump it in your backyard.

Even better, when weather report says warm temperatures are heading your way, get out the shovel and move out all snow in backyard into someone else's yard.

I'd attach a picture, but I'm lazy.

Public Service Announcement

Cell phones don't like washing machines.

They often function after drying however.

(Air dry only, do not tumble)

Cowabunga!

Have I used that title already? Anyway, if you want to see some shots and concept art from the upcoming (3/23) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, click here. If you don't, well, what's wrong with you? Ninja. Turtles. Come on. The movie looks to be a mix between The Incredibles and, uh, TMNT. The real question about the movie though is whether there's going to be more kids in the audience that 20-something-year-old fans. What do you think?

Rams East

Yesterday the Lions agreed to a 2-yr contract with former Rams WR Shaun McDonald. You think maybe, just maybe, Mike Martz has some say in personnel decisions? Seriously though, I think McDonald is a good pickup. He's the kind of guy a struggling team trying to rebuild (maybe just build?) needs: solid with potential to become even better. Substance instead of flash. You know what the sad part is though? After spending three 1st round draft picks on WRs, the article reads "...strengthening a receiving corps that includes Roy Williams and Mike Furrey." Sigh.

Reminder

The field for the NCAA tournament is now set and you can start filling out your brackets for the tournament challenge. Just remember to be done by Thursday morning. League ID 32717, password monkie.

I think...

...we need a logo. You know, something like this:


Except without the rampant copyright infringement. Anyone have any ideas?

Another T.J. TD!

The Lions have signed former Michigan State star T.J. Duckett to a one-year deal. This is the first move by the Lions to excite me since, well, last season started anyway. Could T.J. and Tatum Bell make a "thunder and lightning" combo for the Lions? Or is this Duckett's chance to be a feature back after splitting time his whole career? Maybe I won't have to quit on the Lions after all. Maybe.

Teams

Picture from Worth1000.com.

Supertones Strike Back

House of Flying Daggers

I just watched House of Flying Daggers and decided to look up some reviews to help me organize my thoughts about the movie. This review puts it better than I could. The key quote:

"Swords are sharp. Ziyi Zhang is pretty. There sure is a lot of bamboo in China."

Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

Junk Mail

Stack let me know if you got my e-mail. I couldnt remember your email. Hopefully you get it.

Cap's Dead

I've been without the internet for a couple of days so I've been pretty much without news. So, imagine my surprise to return to the internet and within 10 minutes discover that Captain America is dead. Apparently it's all over the place, even on CNN. It's not quite the event that it was when Superman died, but it is an awful lot of attention for a less-than-well-known hero. Of course you could go on for hours about the symbolism of gunning down a here that's basically dressed in the American flag, but I'll skip that. Cap's always been high on my list of favorite heroes, so it's a little disturbing to see that he's been killed. It's more annoying that he has a lame death, killed by a sniper's bullet instead of going down fighting, even if the assassination was plotted by his arch-nemesis. I mean, come on, in his first appearance Cap punched Hitler in the face! I'm sure there's some commentary on the state of our culture in here somewhere, but I'm too tired. So, until the (probably) inevitable resurrection, RIP Cap.

Math Help for Haag

Not you too ESPN

Has the world turned upside down? It wasn't too long ago that the Golden State Warriors were just as much a laughingstock in the NBA as the Clippers. But then Jason Richardson came along and made the team somewhat entertaining to watch. But no matter who they had, the Pistons took care of business. Well, until this year. Back in November, Detroit traveled to Golden State and got spanked 79-111. A swift 32 point butt kicking. Lindsey Hunter led the team with 14 points on the night. So, last night the Warriors came to the Palace where the Pistons have been playing fairly well lately (unless you count that ridiculous loss to the Wade-less Heat...on their home court...after 5 days of rest). Most were expecting a bit of revenge. No. Warriors 111, Pistons 93. Yeah, only 18 point this time...AT HOME. Oh, and guess who lead the charges? Lindsey Hunter with 20 points. Look guys, if Lindsey Hunter is the only one the Warrios can't seem to stop, you're in trouble. Lindsey Hunter? Come on, he was drafted in '93 (I know because I was at the Palace when he got drafted right before Allen Houston). He's over 36 years old running around on the court. "We're pinning our hopes on Lindsey Hunter? Please tell me we have something more."

One other thing that ticked me off last night...the ESPN Bottom Ticker. I knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen, especially since you now have females talking Men's College basketball on the ESPN set, but stop trying to be Title IX and Equal Rights and women are just as knowledgable crap. The world was spinning absolutely perfect when the bottom ticker read "NCAA" for the Men and "NCAAW" for the women. But then you had to tick me off last night. What is this "NCAAM" crap? Like I can't figure out who you are talking about when it's just plain old "NCAA". Besides, anyone that follows college basketball (meaning anyone that follows Men's basketball because no one cares about Women's) knows what teams you are referring to on the bottom ticker. It's not like I'm sitting at home wondering "Was that the score for the Duke men's team or the Duke women's team?" Like I said, anyone that follows college basketball knows the Men's team sucks, so if you see the name "Duke" on the bottom ticker with a single digit ranking in front of their name, you know it's not the Men's team. So now you are saying, "Well what if there isn't a ranking in front of either teams name?" Well, then it's still obvious that was a men's score because no one cares about women's basketball scores, especially if both teams are unranked. If you want to do everything exactly the same, then you have to show all the scores of both genders. No one cares about the MAC conference and how CMU did last night in Men's basketball. But, ESPN will put the score on the bottom ticker. However, ESPN has never put a Women's MAC score on the bottom ticker because first, no one cares and second, MAC teams wouldn't be ranked in Women's basketball. But, if you are trying to all of a sudden reach a female demographic on your network, then you might as well start showing scores for all Women's teams. That means I better start seeing scores for MD Eastern Shore versus Ark Pine Bluff (yeah, they have a team).

Oh, and it was kinda cool to see Kenny Mayne doing Sportscenter Sunday night with Stuart Scott. Bring back Kilborn and Eisen!!!

¡Cuidado! ¡Llamas!

Book Club Time! - Tides of War

I promised I would put up a review as soon as I finished, so here it is.

"Tides of War" - Steven Pressfield

Pressfield also wrote Gates of Fire, so the writing style is similar. Short review: if you liked Gates of Fire, you'll like this one too. If you haven't read Gates of Fire, what are you waiting for?

The core of the story is the career of Alcibiates ( if that name doesn't ring a bell it mmight be worth looking up. Interesting fellow), told through the eyes of his long time friend, confidant, and assassin.

Comparisions to GOF: similar framing of the story, historical detail, color, and general ring of authenticity in characterisation. Overall, I didn't like it as much as GOF, but that is mostly due to it focusing on less likeable people and less heroic events. Th Spartans sacrificed themselves to attain eventual victory, Alcibiates was driven and destroyed by both himself and the city which he embodied. But I'll skip the essay and give the book thumbs up.

Tourney Time

I've just created a Yahoo! Tournament Pick'E group. The number is 32717 and the password is, of course, monkie. Emails will be arriving in your inbox sometime this week (probably), but that info will get you in if you can't wait.

Free Agency

The Lions started out free agency Friday by sending Dre' Bly packing for Tatum Bell, George Foster, and the Broncos' 5th and 6th round picks. They also sent James Hall to the Rams for a 5th round pick. Today they signed DE Dewayne White from the Bucs.

Obviously the Lions must be worried about their running back situation since they acquired Tatum Bell. The second article points out that TJ Duckett will fly to Detroit on Monday and meet with the Lions. This is the first news I've heard about the Lions all offseason that's had me excited. Bell and Duckett could make a great RB tandem if Bell can be successful outside of Denver. And since RB duos are all the rage in the NFL, why shouldn't the Lions jump on the bandwagon?

Movie Parallelism: Part Deux

Well, I've already broke down the action movie playbook between Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, so now I'll look at two other movies 15 years apart in release.

The movies are "Escape From Alcatraz" and "The Shawshank Redemption":

1. Both movies are about escaping from prision. I know, pretty deep observation.

2. Both movies have a leading white character (Eastwood and Robbins) who develop a relationship in the prison with a black character.

3. Each movie had a jerk for a Warden.

4. There was a homosexual that wanted to get some action with the leading character in each film.

5. The main characters in each movie were mostly in prison for life sentences, usually because of murder (Eastwood and Robbins).

6. Each movie had an old guy who was really attached to something. The old guy in Alcatraz loved to paint and when told he couldn't anymore, he chopped off his fingers. The old guy in Shawshank loved his library and didn't want to be released from prision.


I think that's all I could remember. There may be more but I haven't seen either movie in quite awhile. Well, I do own Shawshank, so I could go watch it.

You Tube

How do you post a "You Tube" video?

The Da Vinci... Errr... Last Tomb of Jesus

There's been a lot of controversy about James Cameron's "documentary" The Last Tomb of Jesus. As far as I can tell, this article from John J. Miller of NRO tells you all you need to know. A quote:

The Lost Tomb of Jesus runs perilously close to Erich von Daniken territory — no prehistoric astronauts, but definitely a flight of fancy. It runs for 90 minutes (with commercials stretching it to two hours). Views that dissent from its relentlessly uncritical presentation of a madly speculative theory — which is to say, the opinions of Cross and virtually every mainstream Biblical scholar who has examined the film’s central contentions — receive almost no air time.

Check it out.

100 Years of Faygo

Did you know Faygo is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year? Well, I didn't until I read this article from the Detroit News. The most interesting thing I learned from the piece? Faygo is credited for "pop" being used in the Midwest rather than "soda." Fascinating. Flavors, of course, are Faygo's claim to fame. Some of the more popular: Rock and Rye, Moon Mist, Redpop, Root Beer, Strawberry, and Pineapple Orange. Okay, so Pineapple Orange and Strawberry may not be that popular, but they're my favorites. What are yours?

The good ol' Chronicle

Hey, you gotta love that picture of community service in this weeks addition of the Cass City Free Press. Nothing says good community service work better than a picture of Damian Izydorek and Gilberto Nazario from "Complete Concrete." I think the name of the company should be "Complete Convicts." That might make more sense. I'm fine with them bulldozing buildings down, but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with them building apartment structures.

Nazario...what a great Cass City family heritage. I mean, who could forget Jose in 7th grade. I've loved it in the fall of 2005 when I had jury duty in Caro. I didn't have to serve, but I was selected as a possible juror for a Circuit Court case that same day. Guess who was in court. Jose. Criminal Sexual Conduct. Gasp. I wonder what I would have said if I was selected and they asked me if I had prior knowledge of one Jose Nazario. I probably would have lied or else Jason Mester might have killed me. He was there supporting Jose. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Mester and pal Jason Humpert also worked for Complete Concrete. I know Humpert does because his sister is married to the owner of the company.

Oh, and who could forget Jose's sister...Anna. You remember. The summer we were going to be freshmen in high school. Anna and 2 other girls, one in 6th grade and the other in our grade, Amanda Smith, decided to steal a truck and go on a joy ride. Well, when you have a 6th grader driving, Anna, bad things will happen. Bad things did happen and Anna died. Great family story. I remember the first day of english class that freshman year with Mrs. Comire:

Mrs. Comire: So tell me about yourself.

Amanda Smith: Hi, my name is Amanda Smith.

Mrs. Comire: Wow, what happened to you? Why are you on crutches?

Amanda Smith: (Sitting down with cast on leg and crutches at desk) Well, me and some friends decided to steal a truck this summer and we got in an accident and my friend Anna died.

Mrs. Comire: Oh, you're THAT Amanda Smith.

This has been Down Memory Lane. Hope you enjoyed.

Things to Ponder...

Pro Athletes buying drugs online? What's next your going to tell me they don't visit strip clubs. Shocking developments. Maybe I'm not that smart but if I'm buying beef-roids online, I'm sure as Cass City's growing stock on the TV 5 News, not going to put my real name on there. And furthermore I'm probably not going to put my real address on there either. Maybe they did this and they cought them anyway, who knows. Just a thought.

Second, Pencil in you schedules March 24th boys for a gathering. Just pencil in the whole day. Groom how does that work in your schedule?

Third, "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader" Has got to be a huge accomplishment once you win. THERE KIDS... I SHOWED YOU!

Late