Friday, May 20, 2005
Friday After Next
Just some random rubbish to end your work week and kick off your weekend:
· BBC One is still the best radio station in the world. Thanks to the way the world turns and the whole time zone change continum, morning in NY is afternoon in the UK. And that means the Colin & Edith show.Nowhere in the U.S. are there two hosts that work off of each other as seamless, and unrehearsed, while still providing a high level of spontaneous comedy. Case and point with this week's Star Wars hype...Edith was in Cannes for the premiere and interviewed all of the movies' stars including Samuel L. Jackson, the old guy who plays the Emperor, the guy who is the voice of C-3PO, and The Muse. Best interview of the set was her time with Hayden Christensen.
Edith is a bit smitten by him. (actually, she'd like to shag the bloody hell out of him) She made him a mix tape (or three) and you could hear her trying to use her "sexy voice." When they played it over the air, Colin et al. took the piss out of her and it made for quite an amusing bit.
So if you have speakers on your computer, can rock out to some good music and great DJ's, click on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio1.shtml?listen
· Keeping with the Star Wars theme - went to see it yesterday. It was good. The time of day I left to see it was even better - an "extended" lunch.
Yes, you knew how it was going to finish, so you went there more for lightsabers and less for plot development. Nice to see the re-introduction of Wookies. Chewbacca and this other dude who looked like a wookie member of the band Gwar. Still good stuff.
· An update on the plight of accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby: Stories out of Australia indicate that if found guilty, Indonesia would transfer Corby back home to serve out the time on her sentence at Brisbane Women's Prison.
Two thoughts come to mind. If they're already making plans and concessions "in the case that she may be found guilty," then guess what? She's guilty. You don't plan for rain unless you know it's gonna rain.
And the second thought, devoid of any legal basis, is Brisbane. If you sentence Corby to live in Brisbane for 10 years, that's worse than any prison sentence I could think of. In fact, it could be cruel and unusual. But that's just me and I was only there 36 whole hours.
· Donald Trump, in his infinite egoism, has proposed his own idea for the site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. His brilliant idea? Rebuild the towers the same as before, except, with one more floor.
The previous plans, which were ugly and scrapped earlier this month due to security concerns for the entire development, included a tower that would peak at 1,776 feet - in honor of the year the Declaration of Independence was penned.
"It's the worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen in my life, and I don't think we have to live with it," Trump said. "If something happened to the Statue of Liberty, you wouldn't rebuild it as something other than the Statue of Liberty."
Yes, Donald, you would replace the Statue of Liberty with something that was as close a replica as possible. But it's a Statue. Not over a million square feet of office space with tens of thousands of people working there, especially when two 112 story towers would immediately become another bullseye for these fucktards to target. And, to be honest, it would be both the height of arrogance and disrespect and would show a tremendous lack of hindsight. To rebuild the towers as they originally were would be a colossal thumbing of the nose to all possible constituencies involved.
· Switching gears to the National Basketball Association. I'm a huge hoops guy. But not the NBA. Until the playoffs. When they play defense and don't travel. How many people do you know that share that sentiment?
Last night, in Indianapolis, one of my all-time favorite players played his final game. Reggie Miller - I fear, one of THE last old-school hoopers - announced his retirement earlier this season. He - being 6-8 tall and barely 185 pounds - was one of the greatest. His shooting in the final seconds versus the Knicks in the playoffs at MSG in 1995 rank as one of the best episodes of clutch play that I have ever witnessed.
And throughout his career, Miller was sometimes brash, cocky, and arrogant. His smack-talk sessions with Spike Lee were legendary, mostly because he backed it up. But as he's grown older, he's become more mature. Even a mentor.
When the game was seemingly out of hand, Pacer coach Rick Carlisle subbed Miller out, so he could get his curtain call. While the Conseco Fieldhouse crowd chanted "Reg-gie," held signs up in his honors, former Pacer head man and overall classy Pistons coach Larry Brown called a timeout to allow fans and players on both ends of the court to properly praise Miller.
At the end of the game, Miller was seen hugging each and everyone on the floor. ESPN cameras then cut to a shot of him talking into the ear of Pistons' forward Richard Hamilton. Rip - another talented guy who might weigh a buck-eighty soaking wet and with rolls of quarters in his warmups - got the proverbial torch passed to him. And who better and what better honor than to get it from one of the all-time gamers. Good luck Reggie. And good luck Rip. The floor is yours to share with D-Wade.
· I'll close with two absurdities. British tabloids are running photos of deposed despot Saddam Hussein in his tighty whiteys. One question: why?
And the next story, well, you just can't make up. Not one facet of the story. Not the battle. Not the arena. Not the fact someone thought of this. Not the fact that tickets to the event were completely sold out for three weeks. Not the fact that a CMFL even exists. Not the fact that they have CMFL t-shirts. Not the fact that the government approved it and is taking a sizable cut. And not the fact that the promoter thought that 42 midgets would have a fighting chance against a hungry african lion. (how's that for a teaser?)
Enjoy the weekend, boils and girdles, and keep on...keep on truckin'.
One.
· BBC One is still the best radio station in the world. Thanks to the way the world turns and the whole time zone change continum, morning in NY is afternoon in the UK. And that means the Colin & Edith show.Nowhere in the U.S. are there two hosts that work off of each other as seamless, and unrehearsed, while still providing a high level of spontaneous comedy. Case and point with this week's Star Wars hype...Edith was in Cannes for the premiere and interviewed all of the movies' stars including Samuel L. Jackson, the old guy who plays the Emperor, the guy who is the voice of C-3PO, and The Muse. Best interview of the set was her time with Hayden Christensen.
Edith is a bit smitten by him. (actually, she'd like to shag the bloody hell out of him) She made him a mix tape (or three) and you could hear her trying to use her "sexy voice." When they played it over the air, Colin et al. took the piss out of her and it made for quite an amusing bit.
So if you have speakers on your computer, can rock out to some good music and great DJ's, click on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio1.shtml?listen
· Keeping with the Star Wars theme - went to see it yesterday. It was good. The time of day I left to see it was even better - an "extended" lunch.
Yes, you knew how it was going to finish, so you went there more for lightsabers and less for plot development. Nice to see the re-introduction of Wookies. Chewbacca and this other dude who looked like a wookie member of the band Gwar. Still good stuff.
· An update on the plight of accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby: Stories out of Australia indicate that if found guilty, Indonesia would transfer Corby back home to serve out the time on her sentence at Brisbane Women's Prison.
Two thoughts come to mind. If they're already making plans and concessions "in the case that she may be found guilty," then guess what? She's guilty. You don't plan for rain unless you know it's gonna rain.
And the second thought, devoid of any legal basis, is Brisbane. If you sentence Corby to live in Brisbane for 10 years, that's worse than any prison sentence I could think of. In fact, it could be cruel and unusual. But that's just me and I was only there 36 whole hours.
· Donald Trump, in his infinite egoism, has proposed his own idea for the site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. His brilliant idea? Rebuild the towers the same as before, except, with one more floor.
The previous plans, which were ugly and scrapped earlier this month due to security concerns for the entire development, included a tower that would peak at 1,776 feet - in honor of the year the Declaration of Independence was penned.
"It's the worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen in my life, and I don't think we have to live with it," Trump said. "If something happened to the Statue of Liberty, you wouldn't rebuild it as something other than the Statue of Liberty."
Yes, Donald, you would replace the Statue of Liberty with something that was as close a replica as possible. But it's a Statue. Not over a million square feet of office space with tens of thousands of people working there, especially when two 112 story towers would immediately become another bullseye for these fucktards to target. And, to be honest, it would be both the height of arrogance and disrespect and would show a tremendous lack of hindsight. To rebuild the towers as they originally were would be a colossal thumbing of the nose to all possible constituencies involved.
· Switching gears to the National Basketball Association. I'm a huge hoops guy. But not the NBA. Until the playoffs. When they play defense and don't travel. How many people do you know that share that sentiment?
Last night, in Indianapolis, one of my all-time favorite players played his final game. Reggie Miller - I fear, one of THE last old-school hoopers - announced his retirement earlier this season. He - being 6-8 tall and barely 185 pounds - was one of the greatest. His shooting in the final seconds versus the Knicks in the playoffs at MSG in 1995 rank as one of the best episodes of clutch play that I have ever witnessed.
And throughout his career, Miller was sometimes brash, cocky, and arrogant. His smack-talk sessions with Spike Lee were legendary, mostly because he backed it up. But as he's grown older, he's become more mature. Even a mentor.
When the game was seemingly out of hand, Pacer coach Rick Carlisle subbed Miller out, so he could get his curtain call. While the Conseco Fieldhouse crowd chanted "Reg-gie," held signs up in his honors, former Pacer head man and overall classy Pistons coach Larry Brown called a timeout to allow fans and players on both ends of the court to properly praise Miller.
At the end of the game, Miller was seen hugging each and everyone on the floor. ESPN cameras then cut to a shot of him talking into the ear of Pistons' forward Richard Hamilton. Rip - another talented guy who might weigh a buck-eighty soaking wet and with rolls of quarters in his warmups - got the proverbial torch passed to him. And who better and what better honor than to get it from one of the all-time gamers. Good luck Reggie. And good luck Rip. The floor is yours to share with D-Wade.
· I'll close with two absurdities. British tabloids are running photos of deposed despot Saddam Hussein in his tighty whiteys. One question: why?
And the next story, well, you just can't make up. Not one facet of the story. Not the battle. Not the arena. Not the fact someone thought of this. Not the fact that tickets to the event were completely sold out for three weeks. Not the fact that a CMFL even exists. Not the fact that they have CMFL t-shirts. Not the fact that the government approved it and is taking a sizable cut. And not the fact that the promoter thought that 42 midgets would have a fighting chance against a hungry african lion. (how's that for a teaser?)
Enjoy the weekend, boils and girdles, and keep on...keep on truckin'.
One.
