Still more movie watching

Okay....so I went and checked out like 10 movies at the library...what in God's name was I thinking? But, I have managed to watch a few of them......here's my thoughts:

1) Mamma Mia--actually this was one that the kids bought Kim for Christmas. We saw this on Broadway a couple of years ago, and all I can say is.....wow, it was WAY, WAY better on the Great White Way. First of all, Meryl Streep is probably the greatest actress of her generation and might have been terrific in this role except for two small things. Uh, first of all she can't sing and secondly, its not 1991. Meryl is just a wee bit long in the tooth for the role. Which isn't too obvious because quite frankly, so is Pierce Brosnan....who, uh...can't sing either. But other than that....the movie is tons of fun! Let's just say there are a couple of times in the movie where the timeline becomes completely screwed up.....so badly that as a viewer, you begin to notice.
That's not good. **
2) Ride the High Country--classic western with oldtime stars Randolph Scott & Joel McCrea as a couple of oldtimers doing the proverbial "one last job", which in this case is the transporting of some gold for a bank. You have some absolutely stunning visuals here as they make their way through the mountains, but to me the best part of the movie is the amazing supporting cast.
I mean, literally you have a who's who of character actors from the 60's & 70's. Warren Oates, R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, James Drury, Edgar Buchannon.....folks....its incredible. Really good film. ****1/2
3) Bad Lieutenant--I have to tell you, I'm a pretty open-minded guy. It really takes a lot to offend me, truth be told. But here....you have some pretty offensive material. I read a review where they mentioned that a lot of the offensive imagery was a result of "Catholic guilt". Uh, somehow...I don't think so. Harvey Keitel is an amazing actor who does a really great job in the title role, as a cop who's addicted to not only drugs, violence, sex and gambling....but he's kind of confused on his role as a Catholic apparently also. Pretty much something here to offend everyone. Keitel's performance give the film its * (that's one star).
4) Planet Terror---Part 2 of the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double feature that is an homage to the crappy and cheesy drive-in films of the late 60's & early to mid 70's. This one is the better of the two films. Our plot here, such as it is, has the military (its always the military!) "accidently" releasing some poisonious gas into the air around a small Texas town, which results in the citizens turning into the inevitable zombies. (Its a drive-in movie, remember?) Our cast is actually a pretty good one, with supporting roles by Bruce Willis, Michael Biehn, Michael Parks, Jeff Fahey, & Josh Brolin. The real star of the film though is Rose McGowan, who began dating director Rodriguez during the filming of the movie and who, quite honestly, looks just smoking hot. Good zombie fun with lots of fake blood and a really high body count. ***1/2

Later,
Jeff

Watching a bunch of movies over the holidays

This weekend I've seen three movies...

1) Stepbrothers w/Will Ferrell. Absolutely filthy, but in a hilarious way. Not as good as Talladegha Nights, but still very funny.

2) Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Its from the same group of people who did Superbad & Knocked Up.No where near as funny as those two movies.More of a romantic comedy. I actually thought the real revelation in the film was Mila Kunis (who most know from That 70's Show and as the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy). I thought she was really, really good.

3) The Ox-Bow Incident. Absolutely fantastic.***** A terrific character study and look at the effects of mob violence and rush-to-judgement.

4) Run, Fatboy Run--very cute British romantic comedy featuring Simon Pegg, who was so good in Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz. Here he plays a guy who has run (literally) from responsibility his entire life but decides to enter a marathon as a way of proving himself to his family and friends. Not everyone believes he can do it. Also starring Thandie Newton & Hank Azaria, who is very good as his ex-girlfriend's smarmy new fiancee. ***

5) A Christmas Story--well of course I watched it again. Its Christmas!! How can you NOT watch the classic film set in the late 40's in Indiana about little Ralphie and his desperate attempts to get Santa to bring him a b.b. gun? CLASSIC *****

6) Love Actually--one of my new holiday favorites, this British film stars the likes of Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley (luminous), Alan Rickman, Colin Firth & Emma Thompson. Its about the lives of a group of seemingly unrelated people in London in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Very funny & romantic and a terrific soundtrack to boot. ****1/2

7) Dark Command--so how does this classic John Wayne western manage to find its way onto the list? I'll tell ya how. It starts with a little post-Christmas treat for my dogs and then a 3:30am wakeup call when nature calls---one of the dogs that is. So then I sit up for 2 hours waiting for (no pun intended) all things to pass and I check out TCM to see what's on. Lucky for me, it was a very solid John Wayne effort co-starring Claire Trevor & Walter Pidgeon. Good action, including a spectacular dive off of a cliff that resulted in an industry-wide change in policy, and a very good group of co-stars. Very good.

That's it....so far. I still have a bunch I rented.

Later,
Jeff

Merry Christmas to all!

And after watching Notre Dame's game last night....it is indeed a Happy Holiday!!

Jeff

My man A.P.B.

So yesterday....Andy Poe-Bowdren was SUPPOSED to be flying home---heavy emphasis on "supposed to" there---to spend winter break with us. Well you might have read about the recent weather they've been having in the midwest and yesterday in the New York City area. They got hit with something like 12 inches of snow right in the middle of the afternoon. And, you guess it....when do you suppose that Andy was due to fly out?Those of you who guessed middle of the afternoon can put your hands down and receive full credit. Now, mind you....we had heard ahead of time that the system was bearing down on the northeast, and Andy's mom attempted to change his flight to earlier in the day and called Andy to tell him that. Andy was....ahem.....sleeping and missed the call. So his mom could not change the flight. So he goes to the airport, and finds out that his flight has been delayed. Now, just to make things really, really interesting....his school has reportedly CLOSED FOR THE WINTER BREAK. Luckily, Andy had a friend from school who had mentioned to him that if there was any sort of problem with the weather that Andy could stay with him and his family.

On Staten Island.

So Andy hangs out in the airport for a couple of hours more....the snow is just coming down in incredible amounts until finally, the flight is cancelled. His mom is driving home and attempting to contact the airlines to get Andy on a later flight at the same time. She gets through and is arranging for him to leave on Saturday (today) in the middle of the afternoon. She has almost completed the arrangements when....She loses her signal on her cellphone and the call is disconnected.By the time she gets back with the airline, the flight in mid-afternoon is now booked solid--and she can only get Andy on a flight that will get into Ft Lauderdale (allegedly) around 1 am on Sunday morning. So she gets back in touch with Andy, who is waiting in line at the Newark Airport trying to arrange his own reschedule, and tells him to get out of line and call his friend to let him know that he is going to need that place to stay for the evening. So now Andy takes the train from the airport where he connects with the Staten Island Ferry which takes him to the subway that takes him to Staten Island where his friend is waiting with HIS family and then......well by this time, Kim is pretty much freaking out wondering if our son is wandering aimlessly around greater New York City.But ya know what? He made it. On his own.

Pretty much without anyone else's help but his own.It kind of reminded me when I took a flight from Miami to Tokyo and pretty much had to find my way from the airport to the hotel and there was absolutely no one that spoke English.Except I was 26 at the time...and my son is 19.

And when he does make it home....I'm gonna look at him with just a little more respect that I did yesterday.

Later,Jeff

12/17/08--Updates....I got yer updates right here

So in the last entry I mentioned to you that Kellie's band had been selected to perform at the inaugaration in Washington, D.C. next month. Well last night Kim got the good news that she's been selected as a chaperone! So the Bowdren family is going to be very well represented at this historic event. I told Kim that the most important thing to remember was----don't drink a lot of water..since there are probably NOT going to be a lot of bathrooms there. Ya gotta keep things in perspective folks.

They've also been mentioned pretty prominently in the local newspapers. Today they made the front page of the Miami Herald!!! Check it out here:


Taravella marching band lands coveted spot in i - Flash Player Installation



Last night, I took Beezer to the vet. He has a lot of the "fatty tumors"--which are essentially these sort of nasty looking bumps all over his body that aside from looking nasty, are pretty much harmless. Well, one of them appeared to be growing, so we took him in for a checkup while holding our breath and crossing our fingers. Besides the fact that its Christmas time and we can't really afford some dog surgery of any kind....Midnight had surgery on a similar problem over the Christmas vacation about 5 years ago....and the stress alone aged me a couple of years.
Thankfully he hasn't had any reoccurence but it was on my mind when we took Beezer in.
The doc gave him a thorough check up and then did a needle biopsy on the tumor.
The news came out a few minutes later---

Its just a fatty tumor. The doctor told me that they can get pretty big, but there was nothing else to worry about. Beezer got a ride in the car and a lot of extra attention for his trouble---and I got a big load off of my mind. He is my "sweet prince" ya know.


Later,
Jeff

An eventful last 24 hours

Yesterday, I met Kim for lunch, as my "vacation" at work continued. We decided to go to a Chinese place that we've never been to before. And one of the things I like to do is to people watch. And there was plenty of that to be found. I'm watching one of the waitresses as she goes to hand a customer at another table a stack of paper napkins. Except, as she's doing this, the stack falls to the floor. She begins to apologize all over herself to the customer and picks up the "dirty stack" and hands them a new stack. The customer looks away and she's walking back to her station--at which point I see her brush off the napkins and put them back in the stack to go onto the next table. I suppose the next table would get the napkins that had graced the floor.
It reminded me of something I saw when I had one of my first jobs--in a Chinese restaurant.
I was working in the kitchen washing dishes and one of the waiters brought in a bunch of dishes to be washed. The owner's wife came in right after him and looked at one of the plates--which had a scoop of white rice on it. It appeared that the customer had taken maybe one forkful out of the rice...but otherwise the scoop was in sort of pristine condition. Which wasn't the point of course, but I digress. The owner's wife then walks over to the cooking pot and scrapes the rest of the "pristine" scoop of rice back into the pot.

I never had anything with white rice from that restaurant again. Anyway....


So last night, Kim and I went to the east part of town to watch the city of Pompano Beach's annual Christmas parade--not that I'm not a huge fan of Pompano, but mainly because Kellie and the rest of the Taravella H.S. marching band were participating. There were a lot of other parents and folks from around town to see the parade, and so Kim struck up a conversation with a couple of them, telling them that we were there to see our daughter and the marching band that she was in--ya know, that sort of a thing. And so the lady standing next to us....her husband comes walking back with dinner for his wife and their two kids. So we figure it something quick, especially because the kids are maybe 3 or 4 years old. So the wife is passing out the food to the kids and then asks her husband what he got himself for dinner (obviously I'm an eavesdropper also--I realize its not my best quality).

"What did you get yourself?" the lady asks.
"Ravioli." he answers.
"Ravioli? You bought ravioli?"
"Yeah...why?"
"Who buys ravioli while their standing around waiting for a parade?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"There's nothing wrong with that....but who buys ravioli? What's the matter with you?"

So the parade begins, and we pretend to be overly enthusiastic, as the quasi-local celebrity's drive by and wave to the crowd. So the woman and Kim strike up a conversation about where their kids were in the parade. And I hear:

"Oh, my daughter is a flutist in the high school band." Kim says to the lady.
"Oh, really? My oldest son did that last year."
"My son just left for college a couple of months ago."
"Oh really? My son hasn't left yet. He has a girlfriend. And so he hasn't gone yet....and I just don't think its the right girl....I mean, for him. She's just not good for him."
"Oh...." Kim says.

And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking.....Kim didn't even know this woman 30 minutes before, and now she feels compelled to tell Kim that her son is dating someone she doesn't approve of and.....well....what in the hell was this woman thinking?


Anyway, so today....Kellie got some very good news. She made All-County band!! The entire county consists of 12 flute players and Kellie made 8th chair--which means out of the 200 people that tried out for All-County, Kellie was 8th best--in the whole county!!! She has really wanted this for a long time so I was very happy for her. And the most amazing thing is, she did it on a borrowed flute. Right before she was do for her tryout, her own flute broke and she had to borrow one from a friend--which made it even more amazing.

And then...to really top off the day, late in the day she and the rest of the band from her high school found out that they had been chosen---as the only band from the state of Florida---to perform in the inaugaration parade for the new president!! That means her band will travel up to Washington, D.C. in January--along with about 5 million other people.

There will be 5 million people there....but only one Kellie Poe-Bowdren.

Later,
Jeff

My vacation continues.....so, let's look at some movies

Well, the venerable Broward County Courthouse continues to be watersoaked, so I've been sitting at home watching movies and spending more time than I probably should on my computer. On the plus side, I did go with the wife last night when Kellie had her all county auditon.
What a dad i am!! WOOHOO

Anyway, I saw two really good movies the other day and wanted to give them some props.
1) Flags of Our Fathers--I remember an old friend of mine from work tell me about this book when the book came out many years ago, and what an impact it had on him. So I finally got to see the movie, which details the story of the men who put the flag up on Iwo Jima in the iconic photo. And truthfully, while its a compelling story, it really to me was more a case of how horrible it was seeing what those poor men had to go through--not just on Iwo Jima, but when they were brought home by a nearly broke U.S. government, determined to exploit them and the photo for all it was worth in order to raise badly needed funds for the war effort.
A great film, but sad in its own way. ****
2) Letter from Iwo Jima--This is director Clint Eastwood's companion piece to the afore mentioned Flags of Our Fathers, which is essentially the same story told from the point of view of the Japanese soldiers that fought on Iwo Jima. Now, you might ask yourself why you would want to hear the viewpoint of our enemy. But this is not just a great movie, its an import piece of filmmaking and should be required viewing in any history class. Every story of battle has two sides, and here we see the Japanese soldiers as what they no doubt were....guys who thought they were doing their duty. A baker from a small village, an equestrian with Olympic abilities, and a career soldier who had no desire to do battle with the United States, having spent part of his life living there. Brutal in its depiction of war, yet utterly gripping. ***** a must see.

Later,
Jeff

My Thanksgiving weekend

So last night we drove Andy to the airport---5 hours later than expected---thank you JetBlue and south Florida weather. Which of course meant that he wasn't getting into New Jersey until like 1 a.m. or so. Naturally his mother wanted the obligatory phone call announcing that he had gotten in safely, and then another one that announced that he had actually made it back to his dorm room, which mean naturally that...we had some pretty staggered sleeping last evening. Which was even further interrupted by a phone call at 5:40am announcing that my beloved Broward County Courthouse was....uh...under water yet again.

Nope, we don't need a new building out there....all you registered voters.

Yes apparently ANOTHER water main broke and completely flooded the building. Cue the appearance from the local television stations. They say we'll be out today, but I'll be surprised if we show up the entire week.
More on that as details become available.

My Thanksgiving weekend was spent watching some movies, so let me give you a quick rundown....the less said about the Notre Dame game against USC, the better....although I will say that the Charlie Weis situation has been hilarious to keep a watch on. Everyone short of the ghost of Vince Lombardi has been rumored coming to South Bend over the course of the last 48 hours or so. Again, stay tuned.

1) Point Blank---you might remember a Mel Gibson movie from a couple of years ago called "Payback", where he played a guy who had been cheated and robbed by the mob (go figure), and was looking for some revenge.
Here was the 1967 original with Lee Marvin, which was sort of a psychedelic noir--I think I just made up that term. Anyway, here Marvin, one of the alltime great tough guys in movie history, is out to get the syndicate that done him wrong. He's helped along the way by Angie Dickinson--and may I just say that she was one smoking hot woman in her day---and a stellar cast that includes Carroll O'Connor & John Vernon. A solid crime drama, but might not be for everyone's taste. ***1/2
2) Badlands---a young Martin Sheen & Sissy Spacek are young serial killers (before there was such a thing) on the run in Montana & South Dakota in the 50's. They're so non-plussed about shooting and killing people, you'd think it was happening right now. Both are really terrific in their performances. Chilling. ****
3) Big Fish--a horrible title for one terrific movie. Albert Finney & Ewan McGregor play the same character at different times in his life as a young man learns to come to grips with his father's pending death and the legacy that he has left behind. What were thought of as fanciful stories may have been real life. A really spellbinding fantasy by director Tim Burton. One of the best films I've seen in a long time. *****
4) Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull--okay, here's the deal. If this was NOT an Indiana Jones movie, but just an action movie of its own---I might have really liked it. But Indy has set the action bar so high, I found myself somewhat disappointed---for an Indiana Jones movie mind you. Indy seems a little old and worn out, and I didn't particularly like the Shia LeBouf character at all. Russians, not as good as Nazi's in the bad guy department either. ***

Later,
Jeff

Greatest singer of alltime??

You know there's nothing I love more than a good top 10 list---so a top 100 really gets me going.
Especially when its something as subjective as who the greatest singer of alltime is. I mean, are we talking strictly about who has the best voice? It leaves things very open to interpretation.
Let's take a look at the top 10 to get things going, as tabulated by Rolling Stone magazine:
1) Aretha Franklin--amazing set of pipes, even if she is as big as a house.
2) Ray Charles
3) Elvis Presley
4) Sam Cooke
5) John Lennon--I've always thought of Lennon as more of a writer than a singer personally.
6) Marvin Gaye
7) Bob Dylan--again, I think of him more as a writer. And man do I hate his voice.
8) Otis Redding
9) Stevie Wonder
10) James Brown

I would say at first glance that probably the only complaints I would have regarding the list at first glance is that Lennon & Dylan don't belong in the top 10, and Elvis should have been #2.
I'm not sure Wonder belongs quite this high either.


Now let's take a look at the remaining members of the top 20.
11) Paul McCartney--probably more of a singer than Lennon (certainly more successful and prolific), but is probably too high here.
12) Little Richard
13) Roy Orbison
14) Al Green
15) Robert Plant--I have to believe that Plant needs to be higher.
16) Mick Jagger
17) Tina Turner
18) Freddie Mercury--definitely should be rated higher.
19) Bob Marley
20) Smokey Robinson

Seems like there are a few here that are rated high because of their abilities as "performers" more than as "singers". I think Little Richard, Jagger & Turner are tremendous as performers, but I'm not sure strictly as singers they should be that highly rated---which of course does not mean that I don't think they are great singers. Remember, the list is entirely subjective.

For the remainder of the list....go to:The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time : Rolling Stone

So who's your choice?

Later,
Jeff

Ya know, I really have to finish this post about the top 500 movies of alltime

Okay, try and keep up with me here folks as we return to the list from EMPIRE magazine of the 500 greatest movies of alltime---and some of my thoughts.

395) Casino: I don't know, is it me...or should this film be a lot higher? This was one hell of a great movie and to think that there are 394 movies BETTER than this just doesn't seem right.
336) Titanic: Now here ya have a movie that is either loved or really hated. Say what you will, but this is pretty epic filmmaking. And for what its worth, I think Kate Winslet is smoking hot.
302) Best Years of Our Lives: Now this is one of the great "veterans returning from war" movies, and although it comes off as a little bit dated, its still quite excellent.
280) The Road Warrior--obviously my #2 film of alltime was grossly under appreciated here!
258) The Blues Brothers---I mean, I've seen the movie like 25 times, but even with that much love for a movie, I can't believe that it was rated higher than films like American Graffiti & Field of Dreams. Maybe the people deciding were on a mission from God....
234) The Bourne Ultimatium--there was a fine sense of appreciation for the Bourne films, and I have to believe that in the years to come people will see them for being this generation's version of the James Bond films.
206) The Exorcist: Seems a little low for the scariest film of alltime, doesn't it?
168) Tootsie: Very funny movie that is ridiculously too high on this list.
113) Anchorman--The Legend of Ron Burgundy: I laughed my ass off at this movie. And I totally loved it--but c'mon, you're going to rank this movie above stuff like Double Indemnity, The Sting, Silence of the Lambs, Miller's Crossing, Rio Bravo & The Conversation?? Uh....no.
96) American Beauty--wow, what a great movie. Just outside my personal top 10.
61) The Usual Suspects--another one, just missing my top 10. Who is Keyser Soze?
54) Lord of the Rings II--The Two Towers: For what its worth, the Lord of the Rings trio finished at #54, #34 (part 3) and #24 (Part 1).
43) The Big Lebowski: One spot ahead of Schlinder's List. Wow, that's some cult following.
20) Blade Runner: My personal #1 comes in here....I can live with that.
9) Pulp Fiction: All those stories, tieing together at the end. Oh, and Zed? Zed's dead.
5) Jaws: Should be on the list just because of the scene with the 3 men discussing their scars, and Quint's recollection of the night the USS Indianapolis went to the bottom of the sea. Chilling.
1) The Godfather-Part 1: Well, I can't argue with this one. At least the got #1 correct.

Folks....we lost to SYRACUSE. Our national nightmare is continuing.....

So pretty much ever since Lou Holtz retired I've been waiting and praying for my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish to finally get back to where they were....to get back to playing the kind of football that they played under former head coach Lou Holtz. Oh, there was that 9-1 start in 1998 under coach Bob Davie, you remember....the one that hit the skids because Bob in his infinite wisdom decided that with 5 seconds left on the clock it would be a really good idea to have his QB, Jarious Jackson, to sprint towards his own endzone and take a safety while running out the clock rather than....um...punt the ball away. Now, ordinarily this probably wouldn't be a big deal, but....its Bob Davie we're talking about, and naturally Jackson got tackled from behind and blew out his knee---effectively ending our season at that point, since our entire offense was pretty much..."Uh, Jarious, drop back to pass....run around a little....if no one is open, run like hell". I wish that joke didn't have some semblence of truth, because that really was pretty much our offense that year. And then we had 2000, when Bob's QB Arnaz Battle broke his wrist and we spent the entire season with a TE (Gary Godsey) and a freshman (Matt Lovecchio) who they were afraid to have throw the ball. Amazingly, we managed to go 9-2 AND beat USC. Of course, because it was Bob Davie....we got smoked by Oregon State in the bowl game. Those fighting Beavers. And then of course, there was the "legendary" (just ask ESPN) 2002 "Return to Glory" campaign of Ty "0-11 and counting this season" Willingham. Great start to the season, tremendous effort by the defense....and one truly horrid offense. But I digress. We continued to hope when Charlie Weis brought his "New Jersey tough" approach to South Bend back in early 2005. He was fresh off of a Super Bowl win as the offensive coordinater of the New England Patriots. We were riding high as a kite as this guy made all sort of promises. And, truthfully, 2005 was one terrific year. The offense was positively insane, so much so that we chose to ignore the fact that the defense was horrible. It was like the reverse of 2002. But we went to a BCS bowl game and even though we lost (naturally), you sort of felt like if a couple of plays had gone our way, we might have been able to sneak past Ohio State. 2006 came, and we started the season ranked #2 in the country, and it looked like.....(deep breath)...we might be back.
Not so fast my friend. We went up to Michigan and pretty much got our asses kicked. And later in the season USC pretty much crushed us....and then we got waxed by a far superior LSU team.
And ya know, during the season....those teams we were supposed to crush sure seemed like they gave us a tougher time than they were supposed too. Now guys like Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzja were gone, and 2007 was going to be the year that we really struggled because Ty was such a horrible recruiter and all those upper classmen that he left that were worth a damn were going to be gone. Prophetic words, because we were awful, going 3-9. But we gave old Chuck a pass, because we had expected it, and he was going gangbusters in recruiting, amazingly bringing in the #1 class in the country....2008 was going to be the year when the improvement was pretty much evident. And it was.....until just after halftime in the North Carolina game.
We had managed to take a lead against a pretty good UNC team AT their place, and on the first play of the 2nd half, QB Jimmy Clausen threw a pick six. The other way. And since then folks, its been all downhill. We somehow managed to beat Navy (onside kicks aside), but other than that, we completely failed to show up against Boston College (only our 2nd most hated rival), and then....the other night.....we lost to Syracuse. The Orange. Let me give you some details about those fighting Oranges. They fired their head coach the Monday of game week. He was 9-35 since he got there, and this season their defense was like #110 in the country....and the offense was ranked #115 in the country. If ever there was a game where the Irish should walk into the stadium (and on senior night of all things) and just kick the living beejezus (did I just write "beejezus"?) out of an opponent, this was it. And so, in keeping with a tradition that I had begun earlier in the season after a horrible opening performance against San Diego State, I taped the game and figured I would watch it later. My thought process? If I watch the thing, I would spend 3 hours or so cursing at the television, and eventually even my wife---who has the patience of a saint--would get weary of it. So I'll tape the game, if they win, I'll watch it afterwards with the understanding that....no matter what happens, I know that they've won.
And I watched the LSU-Ole Miss game on CBS, and I'm watching the crawler underneath that is showing the scores....and maybe once in awhile I'll sneak a peek at how the game is going.
And I see Jimmy C throw a couple of t.d. passes to Golden Tate and the Irish eventually take a 23-10 lead in the 3rd quarter. One more score I figure...than I can pretty much wrap up the win, even though I'm not happy that they are not completely spanking the Orange, who are really much, much worse than ND. And then I see that the score is now 23-17 early in the 4th, and I'm thinking to myself that it is a really, really bad idea to allow a huge underdog to hang with you this long, because all you as the favorite are doing is to give the other team the idea that they can.....gasp....win the damn game. And so I'm back to Ole Miss upsetting LSU.
And awhile goes by and I flip back to the ND game to see if its over....and their playing the alma mater. And I look at the faces on the players and on Charlie Weis. And I look over at my wife and say:

"Honey, they lost to Syracuse."
"How do you know that?"
"Are you kidding? Look at their faces! Those are not the faces of winners."

And indeed, they had lost. Luckily, for my own sanity and probably for the good of my television set that I didn't put a brick through, I didn't watch the end of the game and see that the Orange had thrown the game winning pass with like 45 seconds left on the clock. Or that the guy who threw the pass was the son of probably the greatest basketball player in the history of.....um....Notre Dame. Or that even after that, our team would hit a miracle long pass that put us, amazingly, in field goal position with a chance to win the game. Or, that our kicker, who struggled so mightly all season before turning it around a few games back to become our most consistent offensive weapon, suddenly was given the opportunity to make a kick that would make him a Notre Dame legend. Or, that when given the chance, his missed....by about a foot.

And then I thought that all those things weren't necessary. Because it was against SYRACUSE.
And it should have never gotten to that point. But it had. And so I began to suspect that, for the first time, Charlie Weis---Notre Dame grad, and New Jersey tough guy---wasn't the man who was going to lead Notre Dame back afterall.

Which was probably the saddest realization of them all.


Later,
Jeff

More of the top 500 movies of alltime

So maybe your asking yourself what was the top 10 on this rather vast listing of cinema classics?

Well here ya go....EMPIRE magazine's list of the top 10 movie of alltime---again, keep in mind that this list was compiled by fans, critics and "Hollywood finest" (whatever that means).

10) Fight Club (this movie has been wildly overrated by the magazine, in my opinion)
9) Pulp Fiction (you get no arguement from me on this one, although I can tell you that my parents won't be sitting and watching it on a Saturday night)
8) Singin in the Rain (eh, personally I would have it in the top 10 MUSICALS of alltime, no problem--top ten movies? Not so much)
7) Apocalypse Now (just a completely mind blowing film in so many ways. I know its one of those "like it or hate it" kind of films....but there are so many awesome scenes in it...I really don't have a problem with it being in the top 10)
6) Goodfellas (yep, it belongs. So many great and memorable moments--only dispute would be whether its a better Scorsese film than Raging Bull--which came it at #11 for what its worth)
5) Jaws (well obviously since it is in my own top 10 I can't have a problem with it being rated this high. Spectacular popcorn movie--plus tremendous filmmaking equals an alltime classic)
4) The Shawshank Redemption (again, a movie in my personal top 10....here's a movie that can be shown in any film class in a high school or college and take up a solid week's worth of discussion. For example, discuss the character of Andy Dufrene as a Christ-like figure.
That's a day's worth right there)
3) The Empire Strikes Back (again, tremendous popcorn movie---3rd best film ever? Wellllll)
2) Raiders of the Lost Ark (quite possibly the greatest popcorn movie of alltime---tremendous fun and excitement---I'm just not sure its the 2nd greatest film of alltime)
1) The Godfather Part I (and just for the record, Part II comes in at #19--feel free to begin arguing. Seriously I'm not sure many would argue with this film at #1)

Now, since some of you are no doubt wondering where your favorite films might have ended up, let me throw a few notables out at you.
491) Ben Hur (more Academy Awards than any movie--am I right about that?)
487) Superbad (hey, I laughed my ass off too--I'm must not sure its one of the 500 greatest movies of alltime--left me sort of thinking that it got a mention because its the one that everyone is thinking about right now. No Caddyshack? No Slapshot? )
486) Breakfast at Tiffany's (sort of seems a little low for a classic like this)
467) The Deerhunter (hey, its in my own personal top 10--but I also understand that its a very polarizing film. You either love it or completely hate it)
457) Full Metal Jacket (The first hour of the film might have been the most terrifying and hilarious--not an easy combo there folks--movie ever. I'll never understand R. Lee Ermey's drill sargeant not even getting a nomination for best supporting actor.)
430) Big Trouble in Little China (okay, great example. I absolutely LOVED this movie. A total and complete popcorn movie that is completely ridiculous. And you mean to tell me that its a better movie than Full Metal Jacket?)
417) Lords of Dogtown (a decent movie that is unquestionably inferior to the documentary that inspired it--Dogtown and Z-Boys---the lack of documentary's in the list was very noticeable)



More film related commentary tomorrow---hey folks, its late.

Later,
Jeff

Greatest movie of alltime???

So the other day, I picked up a copy of one of my favorite magazines.....Empire. Its a magazine from England that is dedicated primarily to new DVD and movie releases...and also to movie history. Its a little pricey (around $9 or $10 an issue), but I almost always get something out of it. This issue they took on a pretty heavy issue, which was:

What were the 500 greatest movies of alltime. Empire: Features

Wow, that's a pretty daunting task. Its also one that you just know will be ripe for discussion and debate. I've been a film buff since I was in college and took a class in Film as Literature.
Its one of those classes that really had a pretty profound impact on my life, because I went from just being a movie fan to becoming a film buff. What's the difference? Actually I think quite a bit. A movie fan enjoys all the latest stuff that comes out into the theatre or on DVD, and can enjoy a movie for what it is---whether its a serious story or something silly that you'll forget about 30 minutes after its over. A film buff is someone who can appreciate a movie for its art form, for its content, for its acting and can go back and watch something again and again. Its someone who can watch a movie with subtitles, that can enjoy a foreign film, that can enjoy a classic from the 30's or 40's as much as something that was released the previous weekend.

And a film buff has a personal top 10 list in his head....and is flexible enough to change it whenever needed. Here's mine:

10) Rear Window
9) The Shawshank Redemption
8) The Outlaw Josey Wales
7) The Godfather I & II
6) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5) Unforgiven
4) The Deerhunter
3) Jaws
2) The Road Warrior
1) Blade Runner

I'm happy to say that all ten of my own selections were included in EMPIRE's list. And yes, I realized that I cheated just a little bit by making two of my selections either a trilogy and a part 1 & 2. I just feel you sort of have to in those instances. Now, quite frankly, do I think that The Road Warrior or Blade Runner is a better film than The Godfather? Well, actually no. But my own list works on two levels---personal enjoyment and appreciation of film. The Godfather is an incredible piece of art that also happens to be a great enough movie that you can enjoy it on both levels. The Road Warrior is a tremendous "movie", but even I understand that its not the "film" that The Godfather is. I just happen to enjoy it that much....I suppose that's the best explaination I can offer up.

I looked at the EMPIRE list a little bit closer than your average fan. I started breaking it down into certain catergories.....like which decade was featured most prominently. The decade of 2008 back to 2000 featured 102 movies. 1990 to 1999 was next with 92 films. The 80's were next with 89, and then the 70's had 70 (sort of ironic, huh?). The 60's had 50 films and the 50's had 38 (are you noticing a trend here?). The 40's had 35 & the 30's had 14. Films before 1930's were mentioned 7 times. That sure seemed like some classic movies were forgotten about.
It also seemed like the 2000's were probably given a lot more credit than they might have deserved. Then I looked at some of the movies that just looked like they didn't belong.
Ones that stood out immediately were:
499) Saw--this was a troubling beginning to the list, I gotta be honest with you.
459) Top Gun--I know it was incredibly popular, but it never struck me as one of the greatest movies ever made.
453) Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull---just because the rest of a franchise is great doesn't mean that all the sequels belong. I'm talking to you Godfather III.
449) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace--amazing. When this movie came out everyone I know talked about what a horrible movie it was. All of a sudden its an alltime classic?
445) Dumb & Dumber---did I laugh? Yes I did. But an alltime classic? Nope.
405) Dirty Dancing--someone should have left this movie in the corner with Baby.
401) Batman Returns--okay, now you're just being ridiculous.
378) The Goonies--seriously, THE GOONIES????
337) 300--another one that sort of had me question the validity of the entire list.
284) Scarface--the original with Paul Muni, yep. The remake with the alltime overacting job by Al Pacino? Ugh. I hated it.
282) The Godfather III--ahem, I think I've made my point earlier.
281) Interview with a Vampire--Tom Cruise with blond hair. This made the list and Mission: Impossible didn't???
253) First Blood--that it's on the list is pretty amazing. That its this high is absurd.
240) Forrest Gump--I know some people that think its a really fine movie....and then there are some people that its a great soundtrack surrounding one really lousy movie.
162) Nightmare on Elm Street--hey, its not because its a horror movie. I like horror movies.
But this makes the list and The Omen doesn't???


Those are just a few examples of movies that made the list that didn't belong, in my opinion.
Then there are the films that somehow did NOT make the list. Movies such as:

Dark City--one of the alltime great sci/fi futurisitc films.
White Heat--they did not have a single James Cagney movie on the list. Enough said.
Hard Boiled--not only the best John Woo film ever, quite possibly the greatest action film ever.
Red River--John Wayne & Montgomery Clift go on a cattle drive that is a cinema classic.
Thunderball & From Russia with Love--there were only two James Bond movies on the list.

More to come later.

Later,
Jeff

Introducing even more of my family.....the "other dog"

Ya see that photo over there? You'll notice that there are two....count 'em TWO....dogs in that picture.
Pay no attention to the black dog in the background, because...quite frankly, he's the hero of our story.
Nope, today we will talk about the one in the foreground, the white one with the tan trimmings and the ears that make you go....

"Holy crap! What's up with them ears!"

Those belong to our 3rd dog....Jazz. She was a hurricane rescue a couple of years ago. There had been a big storm somewhere else in the country and we started reading the stories about how dogs from the hurricane site were being relocated to Ft Lauderdale with the hope that they would find good homes in this area. And so the plotting by my daughter and I began in earnest. My wife had already put up the "no more dogs!" sign and made it clear that the last thing we were getting was another dog.
Somehow, in all our weaselyness, my daughter and I convinced Kim to go to the Humane Society, ya know, just to "look around". If only I put the sort of effort involved in this situation into one that would make money, I'd be far better off than I am today! Anyway, so we took a trip down to the Humane Society, and after looking around and finding about 27 dogs that we liked, we settled on two. Now, it was important that the dog we were going to get be "cat friendly", because, to my everloving shame.....I also have two cats. Or should I say, the FAMILY has two cats. Me? I'm a dog guy. So the first dog was just a bit "cat aggresive", where as the other dog, the one that the volunteers were trying so hard to get us to adopt, was said to be "cat friendly". Famous last words.

We get the new dog, "Jazz" (what a horrible name), home and we go through all the steps as recommended by the local dog people--ya know---introducing the new dog to the other dogs OUTSIDE the home so the other dogs don't feel "threatened". Letting the other dogs walk into the house first so she isn't seen as "invading their territory". When did all this kind of stuff start? When did we begin to worry whether or not Fido was psychologically traumatized by a new guest at his home? Puh-leeze. So she walks into the house, sees the cats.....and immediately begins chasing them all over the house. So much for "cat friendly". I thought out cats were going to stroke out.

So let me tell you some other fascinating facts about our little Jazz. That's her name, but her other nicknames include: Jazzy, Snazzy, Mooch (the dog is ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS around when someone is in the kitchen---its like she feels its her God given right to be there) and "pretty girl"---obviously that is not MY name for her...that's what the wife calls her. Oh, and besides the whole mooching thing...here's something else.
She farts. A lot. And I mean to tell you....they are d-e-a-d-l-y. We'll be watching t.v., and there she is, just laying on the floor in front of us and all of a sudden....

"Oh God! Did something die in here? Did.....oh! JAZZ!!!"

And she'll give you this look like she has no idea what's going on. But don't kid yourself. She knows.

Oh, and the wife? The one person in the family who didn't want another dog? Jazz is now "her dog".

Women....they always stick together.

Later,
Jeff

One of the "3-timers" is gone

It was a very sad day last week when I received the news from my Dad that his longtime friend and shipmate Jim Seminara had passed away two weeks after suffering a stroke.


His death reminded me of a day in my life a little over 5 years ago. I had just married my wife Kim, and as we were standing outside the reception hall, waiting to be introduced, I told my best man Steve Guerra that I had an idea.

It was time for the best man's toast. Steve spoke into the microphone and asked if, before he gave his toast, he could have the following people please stand up to be recognized.

"David & Peggy Little." They stood, somewhat confused.
"Mr. & Mrs. Seminara." They stood and waved.
"My wife, Colleen Guerra." She stood up, not sure what was going on.

Steve then asked the people at the reception to take a good look at the people standing up.

"Take a look at 'em folks. These are what we call the "3-timers".......they've been to all 3 of Jeff's weddings."



It was a funny joke and it lead to a great evening. But the Seminara's HAD been to every one of my weddings.
I've literally known them and their whole family my whole life. They were stationed in Japan with my father when I showed up all the way back in 1961 (eek!). My father had known "Big Jim" since around 1949. Heck, he knew him before he met my mother! They were, to quote an old song: "Twin sons of different mothers".
They were as close as brothers and their respective family's were also.

And so this past weekend, I made my way up to Orlando along with my brother and sister to pay our final respects to Big Jim. They had a very nice Catholic mass for him, and afterwards there was a burial befitting a former Naval officer complete with a 21 gun salute and the presentation of the American flag to his widow. I watched and listened as his three sons tried bravely not to show how sad they were. I watched and listened as my parents struggled to keep their composure. I know it was particularly hard on my father to say goodbye to his best friend of almost 60 years. It was very moving and emotional. And afterwards, his family invited everyone back to the Elks Lodge for a party...a tribute to their father and husband. I guess because that's what he would've wanted. Food and drinks flowed as everyone recalled their favorite story about Big Jim. I recalled a story he told me at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary about how he & my father used to have a friendly wager whenever they golfed.
It was a good time. Just like Jim would've wanted. And near the end of the day, his seven grandchildren went outside with their grandmother and made a circle around her. And then those seven grandchildren each released a balloon into the air and all shouted out:

"Goodbye Grandpa! We love you!"

And I suppose a man couldn't have asked for a better sendoff than that. You see, "Big Jim" wasn't called that because he was a tall man or a large man.....he was called that because everyone could see what a big, big heart he had.

Big Jim....we'll miss ya.


Later,
Jeff

New blog....let me introduce you to some of my family.....

Nothing like having your photo taken while you're laying on the couch with the drapes wrapped around you. Huh?

Allow me to introduce you to my boy Beezer....if this were a personal column, I'd say....he's around 9 1/2 yrs old, starting to gray about the face, suffering the heartbreak of fatty tumors....his likes are: short walks (those arthritic hips aren't what they used to be), snacks (Jumbones are my favorite), sleeping on the sofa (especially with my head in my Dad's lap) & greeting people with a stuffed toy in my mouth. No, really. Dislikes: going out into the backyard (I like the front yard a LOT more), the same old thing for dinner & having my wrestling match with either Dad or my brother Midnight interrupted by that girl dog Jazz! Grrrr!
So, ya know...if you know any half Lab-half Golden Retriever females that are 7+ years old that are looking for a good time....give my man a call. I was first introduced to Beezer back in the summer of '99, when I began dating my wife Kim. Beezer has a pretty good life story. He originally belonged to Kim's sister-in-law, and apparently one day Kim gets a call from the local police department. It seems that Beezer had been picked up on the equivalent of a lewd & lasivicous conduct charge with another dog in the neighborhood (for shame!) and since his owners couldn't be located, they had Kim as a contact number. After that brush with the law, his owners....um.....disowned him and Kim took him in. So when Kim and I began to date, here comes this approximately 100 lb dog bouncing up to me and I'm told his name is Beezer---you know, after the hockey goalie. Talk about karma. So we pretty much immediately established a bond with one another. I wasn't sure if Kim and I were longterm...but I was positive that Beezer and I were. He pretty much is called "Beezer" now only when he's in trouble....naturally his name has evolved into nicknames and his is "Beedly". He really is, as I call him....my "sweet prince". He's just about the sweetest dog I've ever known....wouldn't hurt a fly even if he could. He's our oldest dog....and the years show on his face and in his movements these days, but he holds a special place in my heart. When I was seperated from my ex-wife (#2 smarty!), I also left our dog Misty...and truthfully I missed her terribly. When I met Kim and she introduced me to Beezer....he took hold of my heart just as much as Kim and her two kids did. I sure do love my Beedly.

Later,
Jeff

Karma---or, should I be gloating about Tyrone Willingham?

I never met the man...and, by most accounts, he's a good man who cares about his football players off of the field and making them contributing members of society. Which is great, if you don't care about how your favorite football team....uh......performs on the field.

So Bob Davie gets shown the door by Notre Dame at the end of 2001 after five years of solid recruiting and almost incredibly inconsistent performances on the field. Say what you will about old Bob, but betting on the Irish when he was the head coach was a dangerous proposition bet.
You literally never knew what you were going to get.

So there's the George O'Leary fiasco with the "enhanced" resume', and the Irish administration needed not only a good hire, they needed one that would make them look good.

Entire Ty Willingham....stage left. Tyrone had managed to parlay 2 winning seasons at Stanford, including a Rose Bowl bid in a season when the Pac-10 conference was regarding as being at probably the worst point in the history of the conference talent wise.....and gotten himself hired at Notre Dame---where truth be told, they care about football just a touch more than Stanford.
Perhaps the administration was impressed by the fact that Ty had managed to have a winning record against.....oops, Bob Davie.....who managed to post a winning record vs. USC, but a losing one against Stanford. Go figure. So Ty is hired and after watching Bob Davie's emotional tirades on the sidelines for 5 years, Ty's stoic nature is mistaken for a deep thinker. Turns out, that what Ty was mostly thinking about was....uh.....golf. Yep, golf. Apparently golf is the real passion of Ty's life, and he really doesn't make a secret of it. He apparently loves it more than recruiting, that's for sure. But we'll get back to that.

So Ty comes in the first season, and has an absolutely amazing start. His team goes 8-0, including a victory over FSU and Bobby Bowden IN TALLAHASSEE. One of the amazing things about the start was that we were doing it without anything resembling an offense. The team literally went the first 9 quarters or so of the season without scoring an offensive touchdown.
That's pretty incredible work by your defense I'd say (uh, not for nothing but Ty was an offensive assistant in the NFL and in college prior to getting the head coaching gig at Stanford--not a coordinater mind you....an assistant). So the team starts off 8-0, but at halftime of the FSU game...something changed, and to this day it can't be explained. Notre Dame was totally dominating the Noles, and either the team let up, or Ty took his foot off the proverbial gas....but the Noles scored the last 14 points of the game to bring the final score to 34-24 (it wasn't really anywhere near that close). The following week at home against Boston College, Ty breaks out the dreaded green jerseys and the team plays horrible in losing 14-7, including fumbling an amazing 7 times. The team wins the next two games against Navy & Rutgers before going out to Los Angeles and getting pasted by USC by a score of 44-13. The Irish happily accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl where they were defeated rather soundly by N.C. State 27-9 to finish the season at 10-3. Good times appear to be on the horizon. The new recruiting class includes a pro style QB in Brady Quinn from Ohio and is labeled as a very good class.

And then the 2003 season comes. After a season opening victory against Washington State, the Irish, who are being featured on an ESPN "Behind the Scenes" type of program, go to Michigan and lose 38-0. They follow that up with a loss at Michigan State and then are 3-2 going into the return game against USC---who had defeated them by 31 the year before. Notre Dame loses this time by 45-14....and then the following week to Boston College and then next to FSU---the same FSU team that they had been so impressive against the year before....by 37-0...at home.

Incredibly, Ty has now lost more games by 30 points in 2 years than Gerry Faust (GERRY FAUST!!!) did in five years. All of a sudden in South Bend, people are getting nervous.
The team manages to win 3 straight games and heads to Syracuse with a chance to salvage a 6-6 record with a win over a very, very average Orange squad.
And then of course, the Irish are defeated 38-12 in what may have been---and this is saying something considering---the worst effort by the team all season. Things were so bad that ESPN cancelled the show after 3 or 4 weeks. I guess even they felt bad for the Irish.

After the season, the Irish come away with what is regarded as perhaps their lowest rated recruiting class ever....hilited by a pair of 4 star recruits from California....and only 2 offensive linemen. Those people in South Bend are starting to wonder what in the heck is going on.

Enter 2004. The Irish are primed and ready for a new season and visit BYU. They not only manage to lose, but they gain a TOTAL of 11 yards rushing. To his credit, Ty appears to right the ship and the team wins impressively over Michigan & Tennessee and stands at 6-2 going into a final home game vs. Pitt. A relatively unknown (at the time) QB named Tyler Palko for 5 touchdowns and 334 yards, leading the Panthers to a victory with one second left on the clock.
The team appears shellshocked after the game, and then travels to LA for yet another game vs. USC--where they are beaten 41-10. Yet another 30 point loss for Ty.

The reports have it that on the flight home, the decision is made to replace Willingham and he is terminated. Naturally a sense of outrage in the media follows, with ESPN calling the Irish at worst racist and at best unfair. Why wasn't Ty's 5 year contract honored?

Of course, what the good folks at ESPN didn't either tell us, or perhaps what they weren't aware of was that Ty had already been in contact with the folks at the University of Washington.
Yep, he was already making his plans to flee the castle before it burned folks. Or maybe WHILE it burned. So Notre Dame hires Charlie Weis away from the New England Patriots and while the Notre Dame family is happy as a lark with the hiring of someone with a terrific reputation and who is a graduate of the school.......Tyrone Willingham suddenly takes the UW job.
Whaaa? How did that happen??? Ty also destroys any chance he ever has to return to the Notre Dame campus on anything resembling good terms when he does an interview with ESPN's John Saunders......what happens is transcribed next.....courtesy of the website Irish Band of Brothers:

If you guys need a reason to get fired up for Saturday, remind yourself of this piece of s--- interview that Fraud did with John Saunders before we played Washington in 2005 ... I would give anything for Charlie to walk up to Ty before and the game and quote Gen. Nathan Jessup from a Few Good Men in his pregame speech ... "I'm gonna tear your eyes right outta your head and p--- in your dead skull. You f---- with the wrong marine." It's time to put this lying, whining piece of s--- where he belongs ... in a figurative body bag. Go Irish!!

John Saunders: It's only been ten months since Ty Willingham was let go by the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. You remember when he was hired three years earlier, he came in to help with a scandal in the hiring of George O'Leary who lied on his resume -- a fact that Notre Dame forgot about VERY QUICKLY three years later.

[Cue "tension" music. Shots of Basilica; cut to clip of Kevin White presser]

Kevin White: From Sunday through Friday, our football program has exceeded ALL expectations in every way. On Saturday, we struggled.[interview segment begins]Ty Willingham: If you take seven days, and six of those days are done absolutely perfectly, okay, it's kinda hard for that other day to fall totally apart.

John Saunders: You weren't just coming in and taking over a program that was storied and had stumbled on hard times. You were taking on a program that had stumbled into some scandal. You cleaned ALL of that up, and your reward was to get fired.

TW: That's life, you know, and that's what I prepared myself for when I took over the job. They say that the microscope is big there. No question about that. But I prepared myself for all of that, and as an African-American coach, your position is somewhat tenuous. There are not a lot of guarantees, as a matter of fact, there are not a lot of coaches getting positions, period, okay, so tenuous may be an understatement.

JS: You weren't given the five years that other coaches got to demonstrate those skills. Do you think it is in part because you're an African-American?

TW: I've always said that in this country there is no absence of racism, okay, we're all aware of that, it's been here for quite some time, okay. And to think it would NOT factor in may be naive on my part. But the people that really know that answer are the ones that we need to talk to.

JS: In my mind, I thought it was handled terribly and I thought what they did was wrong and unfair.

TW: Well then the question then becomes, if that is true, what is the responsibility of the individual? If they're wrong, they have to live with that. But I must handle Tyrone Willingham in the right manner.[shot of Ty running alone out of UW tunnel in slo-mo]

TW: Regardless of what they do, you are to handle yourself as a trueprofessional, a true man of integrity.[shot of Ty at practice, throwing a football]

JS: It's an interesting game not only because of the so-called revenge factor, but you can't tell me you wouldn't feel something special walking off the field on Saturday with a win over the school that let you go.

TW: I make no bones about it -- I am very competitive, I like to win, I like to win all the time. And Notre Dame will be no different.[end interview - back to studio]

Saunders [in studio]: Guys, you know what stood out to me when I went out there to talk to Ty, a lot of people have said he's been passive, and bithis tongue about this whole thing -- he really hasn't, you can see he has very strong feelings, he has very strong opinions about this. What he is, is a man of principle and class, and right now his focus is on Washington.

Aaron Taylor: Because he is that way, John, is why he's going to do well for UW. I think it's a great call and I think we need to play this forward and leave the past behind. It was a bad raw deal and I think Willingham should have had a little bit more time. He's gonna bring integrity, he's gonna bring class, and he's gonna bring a much-needed "oomph" to that program on the field and off it.

Craig James: When you look at it, I think you have to say hey, coach, let it go. It's gone, it's in the past, leave it alone. He needs to focus right now on going out and finding a quarterback, a QB who can help him win on the football field. Get back to coaching. Most parents out there would love to have a chance to play for Ty Willingham [sic], he's a good man, with integrity, and that's what he needs to concentrate on, going out and taking care of his business at Washington and forgetting about Notre Dame

.Saunders: He thinks he's got a great recruiting class coming in next year.

I wonder if John Saunders will think race played a part in Ty's exodus from Washington? Oh yeah John, great recruiting class for Washington!

So Ty gets the job at UW, and in the first year he goes 2-9....hey, how come he couldn't win with Rick Neuheisel's players??? What's up with that? Ty then goes 5-7 the next season, missing out on being eligible for a bowl by losing to a winless Stanford team. Last season, Ty's 3rd...he goes 4-9 and, other than having potential breakout star Jake Locker at QB, things aren't going well.
He's retained after the season...but is terminated today after beginning the season 0-7 and losing to his former Notre Dame by a score of 33-7. The Huskies don't cross the 50 yd line on offense until well into the 4th quarter.


So okay.....now Ty's gone from yet another job. Today on ESPN's show "PTI", Michael Wilbon, one of the most outspoken critics of Ty's termination from Notre Dame, was quoted as saying:
"Just didn't work out at Washington" for Willingham.

Hmm...that's one way of looking at it. Another way might be that Ty is one really, really overrated head coach that managed to take 2 successful seasons out of 12 as a head coach and turn it into a pretty nice income (oh yeah, Notre Dame is STILL paying out his contract for those of you who are boohooing poor old Ty). He flat out does not or will not recruit. He sends out his assistants and basically tells them that he will be waiting in the main office for the kids to see.
If he doesn't have one gung ho group of assistants, it simply isn't going to happen recruiting wise.
Oh, and Brady Quinn....Ty's highest profile recruit and the player that "Charlie Weis won with" that was Ty's guy??? Yeah.....Brady wasn't even being recruited by Ty. His teammate and then WR (now safety for the Bengals) Chinedum Ndukwe had been offered an accepted a scholarship by Ty....and then his FATHER had to convince Willingham to watch film of Quinn in high school and then offer him. Yeah, that's his shining star of recruiting. Ty went out to Washington, a school with a great history that is certainly capable of being a top 10 program at anytime, and proved his worth as a coach, a recruiter and a leader. He failed miserably.

Any other program that considers Ty.....let the buyer beware...and don't be surprised when Notre Dame fans (and now UW fans also) say "I told you so".

Later,
Jeff

I've moved!!

I guess the economy is effecting AOL also, as they've shut down their vastly expensive journal section (please note sarcasm). I will return soon enough with more biting sarcasm.

Later,
Jeff

10/13/08---Some sports observations

Well yes, its been a couple of weeks.  I'm nothing if not consistent in my inconsistency.
By the way, in case you care whatsoever, AOL is closing down the AOL journals, so if I decide to continue my little project here, it will be at another site---stay tuned for details that will be forthcoming within a couple of weeks (since there closing things down around 10/31/08).

Well, let's look at some pain that the world of sports has thrust upon me since last we spoke.  Yep, the Cubs managed to blow it---again.  I'm going to be 47 yrs old within the next 2 weeks (shop early....spend lots) and this was the best Cubs team I've seen in my lifetime.  They opened up the divisional playoffs against the worst team in the playoffs, the Dodgers.  They went up in the first game 2-0....things were going fine, and then Ryan Dempster, who must have been like 12-1 at home this season, serves up a grand slam.  And the entire crowd sort of went silent for a second and then all looked at one another and said:

"Uh-oh."

And it was over.  Right at that moment, the Cubs collectively sort of left the ballpark.
They were done.  Swept 3 to 0 by the Dodgers and that God forsaken Manny Ramirez.
UGH.  Sometimes I totally hate that I'm a Cubs fan.


Notre Dame has officially hit the halfway point in their season and is 4-2, after a tough 29-24 loss to North Carolina on the road this past Saturday.  I just got done watching the game, which featured a sort of wild finish, complete with a couple of pretty badly blown calls by the officials (one for us, one against us) towards the end of the game.
Truth be told, if I knew back in August that we'd be 4-2 at the midway point, I'd have taken that.  Last year's team was so bad, so totally NOT Notre Dame, that I recognized that a lot of what this season was about was going to be continuing the development of some of our young play makers--and there's no question that it is definitely happening.
Jimmy Clausen is becoming an AMAZING quarterback, with tons of zip on the ball and he's capable of making some throws that just have you going WOW!  Of course, because he's still relatively young, he's also occasionally capable of doing something that will make you do the Chris Berman-esque....WHAAAA??  And he had a couple of those moments which cost us dearly against UNC.  Running back Armando Allen has had a couple of games where he clearly showed his vast potential as a all purpose running back who's effective running or receiving the ball.  Robert Hughes seems to be battling some injuries as he has not been as effective as he was late last year during his freshman campaign, and James Aldridge finally seems to be escaping the devestating injury to his knee that he suffered during his senior year in high school with some quality runs having taken place the last few weeks.  Wide receivers Golden Tate & Michael Floyd are turning into incredible players very early in their careers, and are potentially the best duo we've ever had at one time at Notre Dame.  Both are very special players.  The offensive line has really turned things around while pass blocking, but still haven't shown the ability to scratch, maul and claw for that 3 or 4 yards when its needed.  TE thru attrition has been pretty much reduced to freshman Kyle Rudolph, who has shown himself to be the best frosh TE the Irish have had since the days of Derek Brown back in 1988.

On the defensive side, the line simply lacks true play makers at this point.  There may be some in the freshman class that just haven't developed at this point, but upperclassmen like Justin Brown & John Ryan just aren't making plays.  Fellow senior Pat Kuntz shows flashes of ability, but is more likely the kind of guy who would be a backup on a really good line that comes in and provides a few big plays a game with lots of recognition, since he's what used to be described as "a free spirit"---and because he gives great interviews to the local reporters.  Sophomore Ian Williams has not shown himself to be as effective at defensive tackle as he was last season.  The remainder of prospects on the line are extremely young, and while players like Ethan Johnson and Darius Fleming show tremendous potential, you have to wonder if physically their really capable of handling an entire game's worth of action.  At linebacker, sophomore Brian Smith gives the Irish potential for play making ability that they haven't had since the halcyon days of Demetrius Dubose in the early 1990's, but still capable of the occasional boneheaded mental error that an underclassman will occasionally make.  Senior Maurice Crum has been part of the starting unit for the Irish for the better part of 4 years....and while he's smart player with good leadership skills, he just is not a play maker, and will never be.  He always seems to be making the tackle 5 yds past the line of scrimmage or after the reception has already been made.  Last year he played the game of his life vs. UCLA and made all those plays--too bad that's the only game that he's really made that sort of an impact.
Sophomore Harrison "Hayseed" Smith shows flashes of tremendous play making ability, depending on the particular scheme that is being used.  The basic fact seems to be that our real play makers are the underclassmen who haven't had or who aren't ready yet to make an impact (Filer, etc).  Finally, in the secondary, the play (outside of the UNC game) has been pleasantly strong.  Starting safeties David Bruton and Kyle McCarthy have been the MVP's of the defense so far, and corner backs Rashon McNeil & Terrail Lambert have both played well---although a lot of ND fans regard Lambert as sort of a Maurice Crum of the secondary.  A guy who is really "just there" and starting because of his experience who will be replaced next year by a guy with more ability who may not be ready just yet---or who is not currently in school (hello Darrin Walls).

And now....special teams.  Or maybe I should say....not so special teams.  When your kicker is 1 for the entire season going into the UNC game....and the head coach feels that if the ball is anywhere past the 44 yd mark for a "make able" field goal....your special teams are in rough shape.  Kicker Brandon Walker has amazingly been dead perfect on extra points---and completely horrible on field goals.  I mean, seriously...when your head coach doesn't feel comfortable kicking a field goal from further out than 44 yds, and your a national known team like Notre Dame---folks, that's just embarrassing. You have to wonder if special teams coach Brian Polian is going to be able to survive a season like this one.  The return units have been nothing special either, but the coverage units, lead by David Bruton & Mike Anello, have been absolutely outstanding.

The coaching staff has been an interesting mix.  Defensive coordinator Corwin Brown has had to mix his defense with that of new defensive guru John Tenuta, and although the pressure on the quarterback has increased, it has exactly turned into sacks galore, if ya know what I mean.  The wide receivers have shown great improvement, as has the Jimmy Clausen at QB, which is a credit to all those respective coaches.  The offensive line has improved tremendously at pass blocking, but their run blocking remains inconsistent and.....at best....a work in progress.  So offensive line coach John Latina gets high marks for his work on the pass blocking, but an "incomplete" at run blocking.

So at the halfway mark, with a 4-2 record, I'll give the Irish a......B- thus far.
The good:
1) Jimmy Clausen appears to be the real deal.
2) Golden Tate & Michael Floyd=best WR duo in school history?
3) Offensive line's pass blocking has improved substantially.
4) Lots of help from the freshmen.
5) The spread offense from the shotgun has jump started the offense.

The bad:
1) The kicking game--especially the field goals.
2) Defensive line play has been nothing special.
3) Offensive running game has been wildly inconsistent.
4) The return games (both kick and punt units) haven't excited anyone.....in a while.
5) Turnovers=losses on the road.  (See:  '08 UNC)

Later,
Jeff

9/24/08---Catching up on a wild sports weekend

Well I would certainly be remiss as a Cubs fan if I did not make mention of the fact that my beloved North Siders clinched the NL Central title this past Saturday.  I would also be remiss if I did not mention that they clinched the crown at home against the hated St Louis Cardinals.  My father being a Cards fan, all I can say is.....THAT HAD TO HURT!
:)

The Cubs are truly having one of their greatest seasons in my lifetime, or the lifetime of pretty much anyone else alive---last time they won two of ANYTHING in a row was like 1908, and I'm guessing there are not a lot of folks out there who fondly recall that particular year.

So last weekend Notre Dame comes out and just flatout blitzes Michigan in route to a terrific 35-17 victory.  They show emotion, a running game, a passing game.....I mean it looks like things have finally started to turn the corner.  Which leads us to this past weekend vs. Michigan State and the dreadful 23-7 loss in which the Irish ran for a grand total of like 25 yards.  Someone really needs to give our offensive line a swift kick in the rear-end, because our season is already 1/4th of the way over.  This weekend vs. Purdue?  Important game....don't kid yourself.

My Florida Panthers kicked off the 08'-09' campaign last evening with a pre-season win (WIN??  Did I just say the words Florida Panthers and WIN in the same sentence??)
over the Calgary Flames in Calgary by a 3-2 score.  Always nice to stick it to former coach and GM Mike Keenan too.  By all accounts, the team actually looked....dare I say.....impressive in their pre-season debut.  Stanley Cup---here we come!!!


Finally, my Minnesota Vikings, who thus far had pretty much disappointed horribly, came up with a very nice 20-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.  The defense had a very solid game and new QB Gus Frerotte actually helped the Vikes show (GASP!) something that resembled a passing game.   Wonders upon wonders.

Also I read that former Vikings great Wally Hilgenberg, starting outside LB on all four of the great Vikings teamsthat went to the Super Bowl died yesterday of Lou Gehrig's disease.  Wally was a terrific player for Coach Bud Grant during those "Purple Power Years" and will no doubt be missed.


Later,
Jeff

9/13/08---Classic movies always make for great fun

So a couple of weekends ago, I got ahold of a couple of classic movies and got a chance to watch a few.  It was a classic movie-fest, with a slight lean towards film noir.
Here we go with a few reviews:

1) The Third Man:  Late 40's classic with Joseph Cotten & Orson Welles playing the title character working their way through post WWII Vienna.  Its all very stylishly shot, and as you watch it, you almost feel as though you're getting a lesson in film making--which isn't the same as saying you're watching a movie that you enjoy.  I don't know, I just never really connected with it.  Great acting, film making and setting....and yet it felt very cold to me.  ***1/4
2) The Public Enemy:  Early 30's James Cagney gangster classic, and I have to say, that some 70 years later, there are a few scenes that still are a little shocking.  Cagney plays the neighborhood boy who chooses the wrong path in life, much to the chagrin of his mother and war rattled brother.  Classic movie scene where Cagney pushes a grapefruit into the face of moll Mae Clarke!  Big fun here although at times it gets a little preachy.
****
3) Night & the City:  I had heard about this film for years and stumbled upon it.  Richard Widmark, one of the great underrated actors of alltime, plays an american living in London with his wife who essentially exists by conning his way through life.  A total hustler.  One night at the local wrestling matches, he stumbles upon what he feels is his "sure thing" in the form of Stanislaus Zybysko (in real-life a former pro wrestling champion and well known "shooter"--meaning he was real).  Zybysko is training a protege and Widmark works to find his way into the shark infested waters of promoting professional wrestling.  Widmark is terrific here.  ****
4) Crossfire:  Awesome cast!  Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan & a pre-Marcus Welby MD Robert Young makes this probably the greatest "Robert" cast of alltime.
Sort of heady stuff for the late 40's, as Young is investigating a murder with racist overtones.  Mitchum & Ryan play a couple of soldiers who may or may not know a lot more than their letting on.  Again, a little preachy, but it doesn't get in the way of a good story and some terrific acting.  ****

Later,
Jeff

9/9/08---Sports weekend recap....or, there goes my blood pressure

So we're getting closer to autumn, and besides being a great time of the year, what with the weather begin to cool down a bit--that is, if you don't live in FLORIDA of course--and the fact that within the next couple of weeks all my favorite sports will be underway.

The Cubs in baseball, Notre Dame & the Minnesota Vikings in football and the Florida Panthers in hockey.....in other words, you're probably thinking to yourself....does this guy specifically TRY to make himself miserable?

I wonder myself.  So the Cubs have been having what may well be the greatest season in the last 100 years or so......and so naturally the last week they've totally begun to nosedive.  Folks, I've been a fan for like 37 or 38 years.  I don't need this aggravation.
As of right now, their 4 1/2 games up on the Brewers....and I may need to up my medication for my blood pressure.  UGH.

Which brings us to football.  So I watched the first game of Notre Dame's 2008 season on Saturday, and the wife told me that on a scale of 1 to 10, the "cursing scale" was at about a solid "12".  Nope, nothing here to make my parents proud..  Hey, they won, but it was an ugly win.  Which, compared to last year when they were 3-9....I suppose a win is a win is a win, ya know?  But San Diego State is NOT a good football team, and we let them hang out waaaaaaaaay too long.  Some good news?  The offense line gave up zero sacks--last season's total?  58.  Ouch.  So, we'll take that.  Bad news?  Our defensive front three?  Grand total--zero tackles.  Against....San Diego State.  That was not USC they were playing against.  Good news?  Jimmy Clausen displayed far better arm strength and when the game was on the line--he lead the team to a win.  Bad news?
I'm not sure what too make of that hair.  Good news?  Starting strong safety Kyle McCarthy had like 15 tackles.  Bad news?  Starting linebacker Maurice Crum Jr, a 4 year starter committed two dumb penalties in a row---that's not what your captain needs to be doing.  Good news?  Golden Tate, who last year was in the lineup pretty much to "go deep" lead the team in receptions and had a touchdown reception.  Bad news?  WR
Duval Kamara's lazy performance was directly responsible for both of Clausen's interceptions.  If he doesn't watch it, that whoosh he hears will be freshman WR Michael Floyd flying by him on the depth chart.  Next week?  Meeeeeeeechigan.

Next we get to the Minnesota Vikings, who last evening opened up their season against ESPN's favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.  If you don't believe me....just try and listen to one episode of Sportscenter and see if its possible for them not to make some mention of the Packers, or the Brett Favre saga, or historic Lambeau Field, or the "frozen tundra" or.....ah, you get the idea.  Hey, I have a lot of respect for the history and legacy of the Packers.  But ESPN makes me want to retch with their constant lovefest.
And let's just say, the officiating left a little to be desired.  Vikes lose 24-19, which considered QB Tarvarious Jackson spent most of the lst half with like 6 yds passing is pretty incredible.  RB Adrian Peterson had over 100 yds and left a pair of cleat marks on Packers DB Al Harris where he ran him over on one particularly fun moment during the game.  Next week?  Peyton Manning and the Colts.  (Gulp)

And finally, the Panthers will be opening up yet another hockey training camp in a few weeks, once again offering the fans that small ray of hope that maybe....just maybe....we'll make the playoffs this year after shuffling the roster this year and trading away leading scorer and captain Olli Jokkinen.  Let's just say that the line for playoff tickets hasn't begun to form at the Bank Atlantic Center just yet.

Later,
Jeff

8/29/08---oh yeah, I also watch movies

So I've watched a few movies over the last couple of weeks and wanted to give you some quick reviews.

1) Foul Play:  Goldie Hawn & Chevy Chase in a movie that's probably best viewed as a time capsule of the late 70's.  Seriously.  I mean, there were some serious flashbacks going on while I watched this movie.  Couple of quick things.  Wow, how is it that we all didn't realize what a major a-hole Chevy Chase was?  He's basically doing his Saturday Night Live schtick here in his first film role, and he gets old really quick.  What's sad about that is that Goldie Hawn is really good here as the damsel in distress who's trying to stop a plot to assassinate the pope (!).  This was right before her run with Private Benjamin and other big successful movies, and she really has a natural charm to her.
Great support provided by Burgess Meredith, who's hilarious as her landlord, Rachel Roberts & Dudley Moore.  This was really Moore's breakout performance in the U.S.
He already was a big star in the U.K., but this is the role that really got him noticed.
A fun little romantic comedy with a suspense twist that's almost totally ruined by Chase.
Still---***1/2
2) The Great Race:  Its the mid-60's, and apparently somebody told producer//director Blake Edwards to just spend one hell of a lot of money making a chase movie.
Here he gets Tony Curtis (fine), Jack Lemmon (terrifically hammy), Peter Falk (very funny as a henchman) & an absolutely gorgeous Natalie Wood to make that movie.
Seriously, there are a couple of scenes in here where Natalie is walking around essentially wearing a teddy.....and.....wow!  Suffice to say, she was no longer the girl from Miracle on 34th Street.  I mean SMOKING hot.  Anyway, back to the movie.
Curtis & Lemmon are rival daredevils who become involved in a race from New York to Paris in 1908.  Its all pretty harmless, and there's a great piefight besides.  ***1/2
3) The Boatniks:  Late 60's Disney fluff with Robert Morse (who?) and a very young Stephanie Powers, who was an absolute knockout.  The best part of the movie is watching veterans Phil Silvers & Norman Fell chew through the scenary as a couple of jewel thieves.  I kept wondering when Joe Flynn was going to show up.  Wasn't he in every live action Disney film made in the 60's?  To tell you the truth, I really rented it pretty much because I remember seeing it as a kid.  Apparently I wasn't a huge film buff back then.   **3/4
4) Atlantic City:  So here's a movie that I've always thought about renting, but never got around to it.  Its one of those films that I had always heard good things about--heard it was up for a bunch of awards, etc etc---but never got around to watching.  What a mistake.  Director Louis Malle's look at the decaying Atlantic City through the eyes of former mob gopher Burt Lancaster and casino employee Susan Sarandon is a really nice little film about losers in life ultimately winning the small victories that mean more to them than they would to you & me.  Both are really good, in particular Sarandon, who really burst onto the national scene with her performance here.  Interesting film.   ****
5) The House on 92nd Street:  A really fun look back at the FBI's battle with the Nazi's right before the start of WWII.  The always capable Lloyd Nolan is the FBI agent, and the villians are the really obvious, nasty ones.  There's a terrific supplement to the DVD where a film noir expert discusses whether or not the movie really is film noir, or just an interesting look at history (apparently told pretty much through the eyes of J. Edgar Hoover, who saw over the making of the film).  Anyway, if you rent the film, make sure to watch that part of the DVD, because its really interesting.   ***3/4

Later,
Jeff

8/29/08---Let me tell you about my friends at DirectTV

So I have DirectTV.  The main reason for that is that the town I live in has a horrible cable company that has their contract.  Oh sure, everyone else in my county has Comcast or one of the "big companies", but we're stuck with some Mom & Pop company that has reception that is right out of the late 70's on the UHF channel.
If your antenna is good that is.  So I have to put up with the whole occasional "seeking signal" thing on my television when the weather is bad, but trust me....I can live with that in lieu of our cable company.

Of course, then there is dealing with DirectTV on the phone.  Hence my latest post.
I called recently to make some deletions to my account---stuff I really didn't need.
(Hey, its the economy, okay?)  So I'm talking on the phone to the account representative and she mentions something about my "HD upgrade".  Uh, what HD upgrade?
Come to find out, the good folks at DirectTV had been charging me since MARCH of this year for HD reception that I...uh....didn't have.  I told her that I would absolutely love to actually, ya know, HAVE something that I was paying for.  She made the necessary adjustments (i.e., CREDITED my account) and we set up an appointment for the DirectTV guy to come out to my house and do what needed to be done.  We made the appointment for a Sunday in the afternoon, which fit our schedule as we were going to be coming home that day from visiting my parents and that way I wouldn't have to take time off from work.
Okay, here's where the story takes off---stay with me.
The contractor was supposed to come between "12 & 5".  I finally called DirectTV about 5:30 to find out if something had happened...if there had been a cancellation, whatever.  She informed me that it was still on the schedule, but that since the guy was late, I would get a $100 credit to my account.  Not bad.  Finally, about 30 minutes later, I get a call from the guy telling me that he's heading over to my house.  More or less.
He finally showed up around 6:15pm.  He comes into the house and shows me the work order.  Which is for everything but, you guessed it....the HD upgrade.  Oh sure, he had a couple of new receivers for our rooms....but no HD upgrade.  Which sort of aggravated me.  So we called.....my good friends at DirectTV.  And I told them what the problem was!  And they asked to speak to the guy, and basically informed him that he had to go back to his home office and get the part--or have someone bring it to him.  On a Sunday--at 6:30pm.  Yeah, I don't think so lady.  Especially since his home office was in Miami--another country removed from my house.  So believe it or not, he actually gets into an arguement with the lady on the phone.  And he hands me the phone and tells me with disgust:
"I don't wanna talk to her no more."  (Add the heavy Spanish accent)

So I get back on the phone and the lady tells me that he HAS to do what she told him.
I told her, I don't really care who does what....I just want my freakin HD.  (The one that I had been paying for, remember?)  I then mentioned....and this is something that everyone reading this should always remember when ever dealing with DirectTV, because these are the magic words to remember.....are you ready?
"YOU KNOW, I'M CONSIDERING A RETURN TO MY CABLE COMPANY."

Holy crap, did that cause a change in attitude.  She started reducing my fees left and right.  And then she told me that the guy, the contractor, would go and make an appointment with his office to have my HD connected.  I hung up, and the contractor told me that SHE would make the appointment, because he wasn't going to do it.  It wasn't his job.  Why does this happen to me?

Well, I waited a couple of days and no one called me to make an appointment.  So, I called my good friends at DirectTV.  You won't believe it.  They had made the appointment already---they just didn't bother to tell me about it.  Yeah boy.
So the appointment was scheduled a few weeks down the road....on a Tuesday morning.  Yep, because NO ONE works on a Tuesday morning do they?  Do they think I'm a stripper or something---that I have Tuesday mornings available?

So I change my appointment time to--(ducking my head)---a Sunday.  But this one was in the morning.  8 to 12.  And my appointment day comes....and its 11:45 and I haven't heard anything yet.  You might appreciate why I would be concerned.  So I call....my friends at DirectTV.  As I'm expressing my concerns.....the guy calls....and I barely understand him (he's from Miami)...but I do get the part about his being 10 minutes away.  And he arrives, right at noon (there goes another $100 discount!) and he's got my HD!!  I'm so happyat this point, I don't even care when the one guy starts pointing at my dish and speaking rather excitedly in Spanish to the other guy.  Then, the guy that can (barely) speak English says something rather amusing to me:

"He says we have to charge you $70 to mount the new dish."

You probably can imagine that this amused me.  And I asked him...politely....exactly why was that?  Especially since, ya know...I already had another one up there and figured that he would just put the new dish where the old one was.

"Uh, this bigger dish.  Have to secure it with special bracket."

I thoughtfully mentioned that no one had bothered to mention this to me when I spoke too....my friends at DirectTV.  And then he said....and I'm not joking:

"Well, its only $70."

I respectfully mentioned that I didn't have that on me in cash and asked him if he did.
(Confused look by the contractor)

Then I mentioned that I thought it was time for me to call....my friends at DirectTV.
Which of course meant another 2 or 3 minutes of pressing buttons on the phone until you, ya know, actually SPOKE to someone.  (What is this...AOL?)  Finally I got an account representative on the phone, mentioned the problem and was advised......

"He absolutely cannot charge you to mount the new dish.  Positively."

I then handed the contractor the phone and asked him to speak to the representative.

And, for the 2nd time in less than a month, the contractor ended up handing me the phone and told me....

"I don't wanna talk to her no more."

So I get back on the phone....start talking to the rep....and the contractor asks if he can speak to me....so I hand the phone to my wife.  So I walk outside and the guy tells me that the reason he "had to charge me $70" is that putting the new dish up the way the company wanted him too would mean having to nail the bracket to the wood on the side of the roof....or something like that.  But, if I wanted him to put it up, he would do it....but that the company never wanted to tell anyone that his way was the best way because "they would lose customers" by telling them there was an extra fee.  I told him to just putting the freakin dish up there.

So I go back into the house and my wife hands me the phone.....and I tell the account representative.....the one that the guy THOUGHT I had hung up with....what he had told me....including the bit about how the company didn't tell me about the extra $70 and all that.  She had a nice laugh and then......more reductions in fees for my troubles!!!  Woohoo!  So the guy finishes up, and I'm finally hooked up with the HD that I was supposed to have 6 months ago.

Kim told me we got our DirectTV bill the other day.......$19.

I would like to thank.......my friends at DirectTV.

Later,
Jeff

8/14/08---Actual Parenting stuff!

So last night, since Kim was off driving Andy up to New Jersey (and calling in every hour to announce different points of interest---"I just drove past Beaufort, S.C.!!")
I had the duties of accompanying Kellie to her new school's open house.  They had a little presentation in the school's gymnasium, complete with a visit from the mayor and the band and the cheerleaders.  It was Kellie's first actual appearence with her new band which sounded pretty good.
Of course, before the concert she had a full day's worth of practice in the Florida sun.
So I have to pick her up, take her home for a quick shower and get her back to school in time for the concert.  Thank God her school isn't 1/2 hour away like last year.  So she gets home, I get dressed, and she comes out and announces that she has to be to school in approximately 5 minutes.  We pile into the car and we're making our way out of the neighborhood when she announces:
"Oh man....I just split my pants."
"Really?  Wow, I did that the other day at work.  I spent the whole day covering up."

And I keep on driving.

"Um, are you planning on turning around and going back home?"
"Well," I said, "you didn't tell me you wanted to do THAT."

Apparently I didn't stop to consider the untold anguish that could've been heaped upon a new student with a hole in their pants.

So, we go back home, and Kellie changes pants.  Quickly.
So then, we get back to school (in record time!) and I drop her off and go park the car, heading towards the big show in the gym.  I was really my first look at the new school, and everything was very well organized, with students passing out flyers with info, and the different clubs and organizations on campus having tables set up waiting to solicit either money or new members.  And then of course, there were the new students, all trying desperately to either look cool or find their way around.  It was at that point that I had my heavy acid flashback, as I noticed that a lot of kids were wearing the LED ZEPPLIN t-shirts with long hair.

Did I skip the 80's & 90's and just go right back to MY high school days?  Was it '79?
Uh....no.

So anyway, we then do the assembly//pep rally and then we're off to find Kellie's new classes and meet and greet the teachers.  They all seem very nice, although every single one of them takes the opportunity to mention the "budget cuts" and how there's no money for anything, etc etc.  Honey, we are no longer in the private school system, that's for sure.  So we get to Kellie's next to last class, and Kellie realizes that its a class that she's already taken.  You know what that means.

Yep, instant drama and panic.

So, we're off to the guidance office to get some...uh...guidance.

Where we promptly meet someone who was "just leaving", and seemed not really interested in what we were asking.  So I did what any intelligent Dad would do when faced with a situation like that.

I told her that my wife, who was out of town, would call her tomorrow.

Folks, before you scoff, let me tell you.  This parenting stuff---I'm just winging it.  You know, making it up as I go along.  The really important stuff?  I let Kim decide.

So we finished up and we're driving home, and Kellie and I are talking about her classes and which ones look good, etc etc.  And I mention the class that she is going to have to drop and how her Mom is going to call tomorrow to see what's what....and of course, Kellie puts it all into perspective.

"Well, if I drop that class and add another, that's fine...as long as I don't have to switch my lunch hour....because I really like my lunch hour.  All my friends are going to be in that lunch hour."


Lunch hour.  So now you know what's REALLY important to today's teenagers.


Later,
Jeff