has it really been two years?

2 years ago today, i jumped in a fully packed white '97 chevy lumina (that has since been totalled...not by me) and started my final journey from kansas city to massachusetts.

what a crazy journey it's been.

question

at what point does technology become so advanced that it becomes useless?

i think we've found the answer.

newsflash!!!

i freakin' love youtube.



that is all.

ten things i hate...bored out of my mind edition

a triumphant return of an old classic.

sans ado:

1) "webisodes"

2) the office: season two, my name is earl: season 1, the star wars trilogy (not) special edition and the simpsons: season 8 are all out on dvd and i have to be a good boy and not buy them

3) fall out boy

4) the chiefs are 0-2 (not that i am watching)

5) conversant communications phone and internet company for their "prompt" service

6) national grid power company for their "affordable" and "in no way gouged" product

7) it's campaign commercial season again!! woo hoo!! who else is excited about this? i know i'm not alone. awesome!!

8) unfinished projects

9) this (some things don't change) *shudder*

10) the new york effing yankees

everybody else is doing it, so why not?

alright, i guess i'll post some pics too.

why not?


not sure what this is. it certainly isn't cigar or cigarette smoke.


shortly before b took all of our names in poker. well, maybe not james' but that's up to them.


boys at the wedding.


ever the innocent and demure bride. (look for a companion to this soon somewhere in the blog-o-sphere.)


the most confusing line-dance ever.


all the single ladies awaiting anxiously.


awwwww.


hotness personified.


the REAL star of the night.

fin

allow me to be the first to say...

...this was quite a weekend.

yep. quite a weekend.

cleaning house

i'm in the middle of one of those "only-cade" type projects (backing up my blog in text format in preparation for the next time that blogger decided to erase some/all of it) and i have come across some real gems that have been lying unnoticed for months.

i'm not referring to my actual posts, i would never be that egotistic, but rather the swarms of blog-spam that have found their way into some of my comment sections LONG after the post has gone by the wayside.

there are some benefits to having never installed word verification.

here are some of the more amusing ones:

road trip

tv guide

new years = surfing (?)

and my personal favorite:

the dog people

i don't know...i think it's funny.

the hard questions

here's a little taste of the wonderful reporting going on here in boston surrounding the candidates for governor.

enjoy.

"you have a great day, sir."

it's been five years.

and despite the constant reminders, i still catch myself thinking it couldn't possibly have happened. it's still too un-real.

in addition, i am reminded of my first return to the world trade center. it was a good year and a half after the attack and i found myself standing on the corner of vesey and church, a place i had taken some of my favorite photographs of my previous visit, for what seemed like hours.

i'm not sure what exactly the look on my face was, but it inspired a nearby homeless man to intervene.

"sir. why are you sad? this is a place of hope."

i nodded and forced a smile.

"God bless. you have a great day, sir."

and he was gone.




so, if you'll excuse me, i'm gonna go have a great day.

EVERY DAMN YEAR

every year, i look forward to the u.s. open tennis tournament. late summer and new york just seem perfect for each other. and i love watching. the final grand slam of the season boasts drama like no other. drama that often sustains itself well into championship weekend. last night maria sharapova proved she's more than a fluke or a pretty face and beat the rattled justine henin-hardenne for her second slam title and first u.s. open title. today, a resurgent andy roddick looks to see if he can finally put together what it takes to topple the uber-dominant, roger federer. should be a modern day classic

meanwhile, most of the rest of the country has one thing on their mind: football.

that's right. once again, championship weekend at the u.s. open has fallen on the opening weekend of the nfl season.

why is this important?

because cbs sucks. that's why. in the last 5 years, i have not seen a single COMPLETE men's final match (including the '02 agassi/sampras epic which proved to be sampras' last match) due to the fact that, assuming the football game even ends on time, there is always a "post" game show. we've been talking about the start of the season for a month now...is it really necessary to talk about it for another hour and half afterward? if i hear the following phrase one more time, i will bang my head against the wall"

"we'll get you out to the u.s. open final in a few minutes, but first we want to talk to (2nd string defensive end/long snapper/water boy/random guy on the street/whoever is available)."

there are only 3 things that will remedy this situation.

1) cbs finally admits they don't care about tennis and gives up their contract so that another network can carry the championship

2) the u.s. open organizers move the tournament one or two weeks earlier.

3) i, somehow, manage to live in a city without an afc (cbs' love-conference) team so i don't have to suffer through the completely unnecessary post game crap. even in kansas city, i hated it.

so now, i anxiously await the riveting comments of the local sports guys talking about a team that i hate...playing a sport that i care less and less about...on a network that lies AND sucks...instead of watching what the tv guide says is rightfully on.

go to hell cbs sports. directly.

this day just keeps getting better and better

Pitt wants marriage for all

The actor says he'll never tie the knot with Angelina unless the U.S. drops marriage restrictions.


boy. that'll teach them.


i love this freakin' country.

paris-watch '06

Hilton says DUI arrest was 'nothing'

...except of course for the fact that it was AN ARREST.

this woman astounds me. just when i think that i can get by not talking about how much of an utter joke she is, she pulls out beauties like:

"Everything I do is blown out of proportion and it really hurts my feelings."

or

"I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger."

she said she hadn't eaten all day and that the reason she was driving erractically was due to the fact that she was "starving". uh huh. nothing to do with the 3 or 4 margaritas you somehow poured into that grasshopper-like (and apparently empty) stomach.


i just don't understand why we are fascinated with this person. that's all.

tonight, the team formerly known as the kansas city royals limps into fenway for a weekend series.

and i couldn't care less.

is that bad?

suitable follow up

alright, now:

following the previous post, we no ask what are the WORST covers of all time? the ones that should never have been done.

my vote? "sweet child o' mine" by sheryl crow.

whaddya got?

mid-afternoon time waster - cade-style

yeah, so i stole the idea from gentry. but, he probably just stole it from someone else anyway, so...

in an effort to thinly disassociate myself with the character rob gordon (made popular in nick hornby's book, the consequent movie starring john "the man" cusack, and deperate manifestation as a broadway musical, "high fidelity") i will refrain from using the phrase "top 5..."

what we are looking for here are the classic songs (5 or otherwise) that should NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE be covered by ANYONE other than the original artist.

my picks:

"bohemian rhapsody" - queen
"thriller" - michael jackson
"a day in the life" - the beatles
"smells like teen spirit" - nirvana

others that have been mentioned in my presence:

"stairway to heaven" - led zepplin
"come sail away" - styx
"smoke on the water" - deep purple
"november rain" - guns 'n' roses (or any guns song from the axl era (sic)) *

these can be songs that may or may not have already been covered. however, i would rather we stay with the ones that haven't, but you are all grown ups and i can't hold your hand.

so what do you got? let's hear 'em.

and if you behave, there may be a subsequent post that is somewhat related.



*-with all due respect to this entrant's picks, i have a problem. the delineation of "axl era" guns makes no sense. there is no other "era" in regard to this band. if axl wasn't involved, it simply wasn't g'n'r.

as if i need something else to complain about

i'll give THIS to the folks at pixar: they made some quality movies. animated or not, there was some good stuff coming out of their studios around the turn of the millenium.

that said, i now blame them entirely for setting such a high bar in computer animated films.

a bar that can be "challenged" by every joe, bob and leon with a computer and way too much money to spend.

with the upcoming release of 20th century fox's everyone's hero* approaching, i have to wonder if the "glory" days of this art form are done. it is my belief that they are. observe.

toy story/toy story 2 (1995/99; buena vista) - combined budget: $165 million; estimated domestic gross: $438 million
a bug's life (1998; buena vista) - budget: $120 million; estimated domestic gross: $162 million
antz (1998; dream works) - budget: $105 million; estimated domestic gross: $90 million
shrek (2001; dream works) - budget: $60 million; estimated domestic gross: $258 million
monsters inc (2001; buena vista) - budget: $115 million; estimated domestic gross: $256 million
finding nemo (2003; buena vista) - budget: $94 million; estimated domestic gross: $340 million
shark tale (2004; dream works) - budget: $75 million; estimated domestic gross: $161 million
shrek 2 (2004; dream works) - budget: $70 million; estimated domestic gross: $441 million
the incredibles (2004; buena vista) - budget: $92 million; estimated domestic gross: $261 million
robots (2005; fox) - budget: $75 million; estimated domestic gross: $128 million
chicken little (2005; buena vista) - budget: $150 million; estimated domestic gross: $135 million
valiant (2005; buena vista) - budget: $35 million; estimated domestic gross: $19 million
over the hedge (2006; dream works) - budget: n/a; estimated domestic gross: $155 million
cars (2006; buena vista) - budget: $120 million; estimated domestic gross: $241 million
barnyard (2006; paramount) - budget: $51 million; estimated domestic gross: $57 million
the ant bully (2006; warner bros) - budget: $50 million; estimated domestic gross: $26 million
hoodwinked (2006; weinstein) - budget: n/a; estimated domestic gross: $51 million
monster house (2006; sony) - budget: $75 million; estimated domestic gross: $68 million

for those of you who just skimmed over that (like i would have)...i'll sum it up. if you absolutely HAVE to make a computer animated film, you better make sure that it is about fish or an ogre or at the very least, has the words "disney" or "pixar" attached to it.**

my point is this: just because you CAN make a cgi movie, doesn't mean you SHOULD. there are no fewer than 12 projects slated to come out in the next 2 years....that's 6 a year...minimum. any bets how many of them will follow in the oscar-nominated footsteps of nemo or the incredibles? me either. would anyone be sad, really, if happy feet (aka. ANOTHER penguin movie) didn't come out? or open season (aka the movie that's absolutely and in no way at all similar to every OTHER "animals out of their element" cgi movie) for that matter?

well, anyone except ashton kutcher and martin lawrence that is?

please. make it stop.

*- i know. i know. it was the last project christopher reeve worked on. that doesn't excuse it. maybe i'm wrong. maybe it will be fantastic. someone will have to just let me know.

**- though this theory didn't fair too well for valiant.