The Brady-Manning Man-Moment You've Been Clamoring For.
I'm not necessarily a Pats fan; I'm not a hater, either. (Same way I feel about the Yanks/Red Sox - indifferent, still fun to watch.) Surprised just how many are autopicking the Colts, due respect, but I don't see Indy bringing anything that New England has not seen this season. Pats are gonna sit on the Colts, just like they've sat on top of everyone else.
Don't listen to the haters. (Or, hell, go and judge for yourself.) The Sopranos finale was brilliant. From Start to Finish. Yes, the ending, too. Especially the ending. Tony got shot and was killed. Instantly. Right in front of his family. End of Story, kids. No way Tony somehow survives that scene and lives to see another day. As to the question of, "why not just show it?", well, what is it that you were hoping to see? If Carmela, Meadow and AJ got shot, too? I doubt it. Phil Leotardo got taken out in front of his daughter and his grandkids and nothing happened to them; you know the Mafia doesn't touch family when performing a hit. Or did you want to see the three of them crying over Tony's body? You've seen that already, at the very beginning of the season when Uncle Junior shot Tony. Oh, and this: "But he looked up and saw Meadow come in." Really? Did he? How do you know? He looked up and saw something, I'm guessing the barrel of a gun. As the recently-late Bobby Bacallieri foreshadowed at the end of last week's episode (itself, a flashback to when he said it in the first episode of this mini-season), "you probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?" Instant death. CUT to black.
Anyway, Tim Goodman, of the San Francisco Chronicle, sums it up and doesn't miss a thing. Good read.
No disrespect to the East (go Rangers!), but the two Western Conference Semis are going to be some serious fun to watch. Detroit v. San Jose. Anaheim v. Vancouver. These were the best four teams from the West this season, hands down, no question, g'night kid. Congrats to the 'nucks. Luongo v. Giguere - all right.
Being the product of two coasts, I'm pulling for a Ducks/Rangers Cup Final. Wha'boutchu? Predict away, knuckleheads.
Glad that they pulled these. Gotta admit, I certainly was, em, taken with the ad (thank you, thank you) when I first encountered it at the intersection of Hollywood/Prospect and Vermont the other day. Tasteless, to say the least. Strangely tho, the ad was also making me think of 80's metal album covers, like Anthrax's Fistful of Metal...
Most people remember him from being on Letterman in the 80's. Anyone remember him in the RUN-DMC "King of Rock" video? Here's a bio, and a clip of "Larry" handing out hot towels at the Port Authority Bus Terminal:
If you ever find yourself newly broken up with someone (and I hope that you don't, but if you do...), might I recommend the South Park episode "Raisins" (2003). I'm just out of a relationship, feeling pretty down, and seeing this episode tonight for the first time, I don't quite know where to begin. This episode of South Park was so funny, in so many different ways, I laughed so hard, and what made each laugh just that much better was that every written and delivered word rang as absolutely true. From the great Say Anything/Peter Gabriel joke that I knew was comin' but I howled with laughter anyway to the fucking spot-ON fatalism of the Goth Kids, just hangin' out, preying on a lovesick Stan, itself another Say Anything joke. And, then, there is the great joke that is the Raisins restaurant chain itself - which Cartman won't endorse until he gets to try the food, natch. Much needed and appreciated, Trey and Matt, I was a smilin' mofo by the time this one was over. Quoth the Goth Kids:
"If you want to be one of the non-conformists, all you have to do is dress just like us and listen to the same music we do..."
By my count, he should have won at least three by now (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Last Tempation - shit, he wasn't even nominated for Taxi Driver!!), but Martin Scorsese finally got off the schneid last night and collected his first (sigh) Oscar for Best Director. I did have a brief moment of trepidation when I saw that the producers of last night's telecast made the not-so-subtle move to have Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg present the Best Director award last night (those three are old buddies of Scorsese's from their days as the "New Hollywood" auteurs of the 1970's - check out Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls for a fascinating, if gossip-filled, look at Hollywood, circa 1967-1981). It reminded me of when Spielberg's buddy, Harrison Ford, was tapped to present the Best Picture award back in 1999, with most people thinking that Saving Private Ryan had it in the bag, and then, surprise! surprise!, Shakespeare In Love won instead. But my worry turned out to be in vain, and Scorsese finally got his due. LONG OVERDUE (ok, I'm done now).
Here's a hilarious spot Scorsese did a couple of years ago for American Express. "Yeah, Timmy. It's your Uncle Marty. How'd you like to turn five again?"
"With Rodriguez, this cannot be written off to mere stupidity. He's no dummy. He's a savvy veteran who knows how this will play. There had been zero news. None whatsoever about the A-Rod/Jeter rift this season. Bernie Williams decided not to accept a minor-league contract and it has been manufactured into headline news for a week. Starved for news, you know the New York media is going to ask the obligatory question this time of year. But there was no need whatsoever to say anything but "No comment." It may not be easy, but Eddie Murray did it for years. On this one issue, at least, why not just clam up and play the game?
Because he cannot resist. Maybe he didn't want to say the part about lying. After all, he loves his squeaky-clean image. But the rest? Let there be no doubt that this was intentional. Not only does he love the camera, but this is a power move for him. Hey Derek, you're gonna freeze me out? This is how it's going to work this season."
Not cancelled. Yet. What kinda odds are we lookin' at here?
I dunno, kids. I've always had a "love/hate" relationship with Aaron Sorkin's shows. Parts of Studio 60 are interesting, even compelling, particularly anything involving Steven Weber and Ed Asner, but my biggest problem with the show has been it's failure at nuance. Soapbox speeches from out of nowhere, misguided one-sided arguments in the guise of debate, creepy stalker-like ideas about romantic love, the fucking snake/ferret/coyote thing, in the end Studio 60 is just too stupid about how smart it is (or wants to be).
Here's a pretty funny parody I found called Stall 60 on the Sunset Strip.
The Brady-Manning Man-Moment You've Been Clamoring For.
