Well, It's Been a Week

OK everyone, a week since I last posted. So what's on my mind:

Thunderbolts and Thor are both great comics right now!

I rewatched The Killing last night. It is so amazing what a great freakin film that is. It was Kubrick's 3rd film, (of feature length) and the second chronologogically that i have seen. Killer's Kiss was a nice flick, short, gritty with great cinematograpy. But the Killing is a perfect movie. There is not one wasted frame of film in the entire film. So tightly constructed, and incredibly well acted with Sterling Hayden (one of my favorite actors), Elisha Cook Jr. as the near cuckold of the nasty, trampy, oh youi know she was slutty character of Sherrie Peatty, wife of Elisha Cook Jr. Played by Marie Windsor. This film is one of my favorite films in my favorite genre, film noir. A recent purchase, it has stood as a great decision. Now to get my wife to watch it with me.

It's sort of hard ot explain, but I have such a thing for Christina Ricci. She always had sort of a look that appealed to me, but the Opposite of Sex really sealed it for me. This is a recent pic, showing that she still has it going on. It's also nice that she isn't such a stick now; it was sad to watch her drop from her voluptios The Opposite of Sex Role to her too big head for her starved body look. - She's rebounded nicely

Maybe Bartolo /colon is going to be a nice find for the Red Sox?

George Bush Tap Dancing Fool (Original)

Hang in there everyone, 317 more days to go.

A tap-dancing President

When I first saw Bush tap dancing I couldn't help but think of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

Get Over It. It's eight years ago!!!!????

Looking like a member of the Sith, Antonin Scalia (good buddy of Darth Cheney, you know, his hunting pal who had a case involving secret meetings with the leaders of big oil, then refused to reveal the content of those meetings to us, the american people, and Antonin saw no need to recuse himself from that case) - anyway, Antonin spoke at Princeton University yesterday in an address on overreaching judicial activism and how it is bad - had this to say.

When a written question from a student asked about the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision on the 2000 presidential election, Scalia told the crowd of about 300 at Princeton University: "Oh, get over it! It's eight years ago."

"By 5-4 we decided enough is enough and we put an end to it and I think the vast majority of citizens in the country were grateful that we did that," Scalia said of the court's decision, which ended the Florida recount.

So in other words, exercise judicial restraint, except in the most important decision that will ever face the supreme court, the presidency of our country. Then you need to intervene, thus handing the keys to the country to an undeserving junta, an axis of evil, if you will, and now 8 years later we face the consequences of a war with costs likely to exceed trillions of dollars, oil prices through the roof, United States credibility at an all time low, a recession, record profits for oil companies throughout all of this, and an overextended army, exhausted from 5 years in a foreign country (without need, by the way - a war of choice, really an invasion). Oh, OK, I see.

And the vast majority of the citizens of the country were grateful for that? - really, and what color is the sky in Antonin's world?

I have to go vomit now.

Beast

Jonathan Papelbon Does an Irish Jig in his Underwear

Pap, baby. Closes championships and then dances to victory. That's Red Sox Nation, Hank! (When's the last time the evil empire had fun - oh, that's right, last century!!!!

2006- Geico commercial - Caveman at the airport

I freaking love this commercial. It makes me laugh every time! My wife says that when the caveman steps back, crosses his arms, and shifts his neck in disgust, it reminds her of my physical reactions when I am disgusted. Is that good?

Congratulations, Coach K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to coach K, who won his 800th game today coaching the Duke Blue Devils to a victory over the Wolfpack of N.C. State. It was a classic Duke game, in which Duke shot terribly, trailed almost the entire game, and then in gut check time, made the big plays and pulled it out with a 1 pt. victory.

Coach K. now becomes just the 6th mens college BB coach to hit 800 wins. The best part is that unlike 2 other members of that exclusive club, he hasn't had the recruiting, legal, and alcohol problems that plagued Eddie Sutton. He also had done it displaying class and integrity, clearly a sign that he didn't learn everything from his mentor, Bob Knight. (If you read my blog a few days ago, you know my feelings about "The General".

Here's the really exciting part for fans of coach K and Duke basketball (of which I am one, just in case you didn't get that. ) Coach K's record at Duke is 741-205. Let's remove this years record, since the year is incomplete, and his record is 716 and 202. That works out to an avg. win total of just over 26.5 per year. The current leader in wins in men's college BB is Bobby Knightmare, with 902. That means that Coach K's total win total, including his stint coaching Army, is 800- 264. Assuming he wins no more games this year, (unlikely, with 2 more games in the regular season, the A.C.C. tourney, and the NCAA tourney , it's likely he will pull at least 5 more wins this year, and that's conservative) he will easily surpass Knight with 4 more seasons, at which pt. he will only be 65. It is conceivable that he could win 1000 games. An even more promising scenario is to remove the 9-3 record from 94-95, when he succumbed to exhaustion and back surgery. That bumps his avg. wins per season to over 28, which with 5 more wins this year bringing him to 805 would have him starting his 4th season after this one with 889 wins, in need of only 14 to be the winningest coach ever. That's a half season!

Congrats again to Coach K, Duke Basketball, and winning one for the good guys.

Hey Douchebag, STFU!!!

"For his part, Hank betrays no worry about the competition in the American League, whether it’s the Cleveland Indians, who eliminated the Yankees last year; the Detroit Tigers, who added Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter; or, above all, the Red Sox, who have not only won the World Series twice in the last four years but are arguably becoming a national phenomenon. 'Red Sox Nation?' Hank says. 'What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.' ” -- Hank Steinbrenner, New York Times, Play Magazine



Is that so, you big fat fucking douchebag? Is that why your daddy's team hasn't won shit this century? At least Daddy stein made something of himself, you just took big daddy's $ and have been a big, stinking failure. I love to see arrogant douchebags whine and cry, and watching the Boys from Beantown, in all their glory, kick ass and win 2 of the last 4 WS, that is beautiful. Anyone else catch the Hank quote about "The Red Sox didn't wanna see us in the AlCS, I'll tell you that" - really, then maybe you should have told Jabba the Chambermaid to worry less about his new nipple ring and more about throwing a pitch - oh, that's right, the little buggies bothered him.

Fuck the Yankees, and their bazillion dollar payroll, their arrogance, their classlessness (Roger Clemens, anyone?) (A-hole yelling miss it in the infield).

Go Bosox, lets make it 3 for 5.

Beast

I'm Fucking Ben Affleck

Jimmy's response to Sara - check out all the cameos!!!!

4 Weeks Ago Today + Bobby Z movie review

Well, exactly 4 weeks ago today I was being sliced and diced, with the removal of that pesky appendix. Tiny little thing really, but man the pain that sucker caused was something else. Anyway, today is the end of my disability time, and work resumes on Monday. I know it's a good thing (like eating right and exercising ) but returning to the routine is likely to be a bit of a grind, at least for that first week.

I have had lots of time to read and watch movies. last night's flick - Bobby Z. Basically a direct to video flick with a pretty solid cast, including Lawrence Fishburne (the poor man's Samuel J., no disrespect to Lawrence), the ridiculously hot Olivia Wilde (whom I didn't even realize is on House), Paul Walker (a pretty-boy actor in the Keanu Reeves mode, he can't carry a movie, but he won't ruin one either, as long as he isn't required to do any heavy lifting along the way) and Joaquin De Almeida, a bad guy character actor who you've seen a million times (I remembered him from Desperado, but he's also been on both 24 and La Femme Nikita (The Series).

The movie is a nice tight 94 minutes, has plenty of pretty solid violence, some painfully cheesy interplay between Walker and some kid, ends happily with a new makeshift family (Walker, the supposed bad girl gone good, and the kid - I told you it was cheesy) but Olivia Wilde is so freakin hot that all of her scenes were enjoyable, the plot moved along quickly (and the big twist was so obvious that I saw it coming within the first 10 minutes) but still, worth the watch.

I also enjoyed Walker in Running Scared, another violent flick with a sexy (but far more accomplished actress, N.J.'s own Vera Farminga). He didn't ruin it, and the more talented people around him basically carry the story.

5 More Days

So for those of you who don't know, I have been recovering from an emergency appendectomy that was performed on Feb. 1. I was released from the hospital on Feb. 3 (day of the Giants superbowl victory) I haven't been at my job since Wed. Jan. 29, when I went home around 1 in the afternoon with some stomach concerns (and then like an idiot I flopped around in agonizing pain throughout Wed, pain that included me thrashing around all night in the bed while my wife slept on the couch in the living room. I went through terrible chills, a horrendous fever, vomiting, and pain, pain, pain. ...... and I still held out until Thursday night, when a conversation with my buddy Sal led to me deciding to go to the hospital (much to my wife's relief, since she was away on Thursday on a trip, unable to get back home until Friday)

So now, 5 days left until I return to work. I am eager but shifting back onto a schedule is also tough. It's one of those good for you type of things but not fun in the early stages (like exercise)

(Photo on top is me in the ER bed, a self portrait. - Like the Beard? )

Baseball season is less than a month away, and the Boys from Beantown are looking to make it 2 in a row, 3 for 5. (Take that, evil empire. Your steroid infected losers like Roger "The Texas Con man" Clemens and his buddy Pettite, along with Knoblauch, all steroid cheats. Roger didn't do that shit in Beantown, which explains why he started to suck and the BoSox said see ya. (btw, the Texas Con Man statement is something I picked up searching through old Boston Globe columns , and apparently the late Will McDonough coined that phrase for Roger.

Further news from the BoSox is the signing for Bartolo Colon. Basically, replace one aging fat pitcher (you know I love you Schill, even though you never met a microphone you didn't like, and you are a big mouth, and you are even a Bush supporter (you are wealthy, not surprising) but I think Schill is done. So take a shot on another fat, aging pitcher, Bartolo Colon. This guy was still an excellent pitcher not more than 2 or 3 yrs. ago, so it's a no risk, possible high reward if he is able to give the Red Sox some starts this year. The Sox appear to be in great shape to continue their high level of play.

Bushgasm

Funny as hell, but hilarious if you are a hipster doofus like myself and own both seasons 1 and 2 of the Venture Brothers.

Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman's "I'm fucking Matt Damon" - hilarious

Series Review - Season 1 - Weeds

My good buddy Woodman has been suggesting that my wife and I watch the Showtime series Weeds. Those who know me know that that the show's theme is certainly close to my heart, and my buddy insisted it's a solid show. So with the ease of Netflix my wife and I rented the first season and finished watching it tonight. My thoughts are basically... I don't really have any strong thoughts. This isn't necessarily bad, but it is telling. I watch some shows (currently rewatching The Shield, as I have purchased Seasons 1-3 and 4 is on the way) and feel intensely about what I am watching. (A very lengthly post is coming soon with my thoughts on the Shield, which I believe may be the best series I've ever seen, with absolutely no drop in quality throughout the entire series, not even one weak episode.)

Weeds is fun. It has some actors and actresses that I haven't seen enough of (Martin Donovan, who I loved in The Opposite of Sex, Mary Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, and the hilarious Kevin Nealon, perfectly cast in this show.) It tries to juggle a variety of issues, but at the end of the day, the number one description that comes to mind is uneven. There are some episodes that are great, followed by a fairly weak, boring episode. The season ended very strong, and we are both looking forward to the second season. Definitely worth the watch, for the fun actors, (and man is Mary Louise a hell of a MILF), but not something worthy of multiple viewings or of the highest honor, a place in the DVD collection. The Shield will easily be watched a third time through, and the few friends I've turned on to the show have come back raving about it. -

Sports Shorts (II)

To follow up on what I started with on Wed., let's begin with Bobby Knight. He "resigned" (QUIT) from his position as Texas Tech men's basketball coach abruptly, with 10 games to go in the regular season. There were no health reasons. There was no family emergency. Knight just decided it was time. Well, isn't that nice! Can you imagine what "The General" w0uld say if one of his players came to him midseason and said that he was "tired" and knew it was time. I can. It would likely go something like this.

Player "Coach, I can't play anymore. I'm tired"

Knight " So you're quitting on me"

Player - "No, I just don't feel it anymore, coach."

Knight (turning red and raising his voice) " You don't feel it anymore. How bout this (Knight kicks the player in the ass, hard.) You feel that, punk. Do you? You are a fucking disgrace, you son of a bitch. Who the hell do you think you are, making a committment to me, this school, your team, your fans, your family, and yourself. You are a fucking quitter. (Knight grabs a nearby seat and hurls it at the player ) Well then have a seat, you whiny bitch. You are like a girl.. hey, here's some advice I've given to women before, you little bitch, maybe it will help you. If you're getting raped, just lay back and enjoy it."

Player - "Coach, I'm sorry. I am just exhausted."

Knight - (reaching for player, grabbing him by the throat, and choking him) - Tired, my ass. You are a loser, a quitter, and a disgrace. Get out of my sight."

Yep. everything mentioned is taken from just a small snippet of Knight's actions over his career. Of course, Bobby made sure he won over 900 games before resigning, because as always, it's really about him. Not his employers, or the kids who play for him, or the game, or sportsmanship, or anything else. It's always about Robert Montgomery Knight, the General of double standards. Bye Bye Bobby, try not to shoot anybody next time you go hunting and rampage through someone's private property. (True story, Knight hunting, and when the owner of the property told Knight to get off his property, Knight basically told him to go screw.

Then there's Roger. Apparently everything in the Mitchell report has come to be verified by the players involved. Not one player has challenged the report, yet somehow, in roger's world, he has been the victim of defamation and libel. However, even though Roger Dodger is insistent on his innocence, there is plently of blame to around.

McNamee is a liar, according to Roger.
Roger's agents, the Hendricks brothers, didn't let Roger know that the Mitchell report team wanted to speak with Roger.
Rogers" wife Debbie, (clutching her yellow rose of texas throughout the congressional hearings) tried HGH with McNamee's assistance, without Roger's knowledge (yeah Right, control freak0
roger didn't know his wife was trying a substance, with his personal trainers assistance.

Of course, Roger did his best, telling the committee that his communications with a former nanny, and a private meeting with her, was to help the committee, not for any insidious reason)

It does indeed help that Roger can namedrop the former pres. of the U.S.A., George H.W. Bush

so I can only wonder now, if the current Dubya will end his term with something very similar to his beginning - a preemptive strike (this time in the form of a pardon) for Roger Dodger. At least this time it won't cost millions of lives, billions of dollars, and America's world reputation. It will just allow another rich Texan to walk away unscathed by his crimes.

I really can't stand Texas. The state has been the breeding ground for so many shady things in the last 50 yrs, from the assassination of JFK (Dallas ) to LBJ further pushing the US into Vietnam, thus providing a financial sop to the Texas oilmen and munitions providers who profited handsomely from that unnecessary war (domino theory, my ass) - and BTW, if you aren't smart enough to see the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq - lengthy military excursions providing billions for the defense industry and the oil companies, based on providing a backdrop of fear for the general public (Islamoterrorism or Domino Theory), - then you are part of the problem..


I digress, and now I'm getting pissed off thinking about it. - time to go read a comic.

Beast

Sports Shorts

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3230826&sportCat=ncb



Check out this write-up for an article that nicely captures my feelings re: the ultimate hypocrite, Bob Knight, a great example of do as I say not as I do, (no leading by example with this man)

College Basketball is better off without him at this point. I'm so tired of hearing about what a great coach he is; Mike Vick was a great athlete, but he was also a brutal thug who enjoyed hurting animals and that trait overwhelms his athletice ability. Knight can coach, but his insufferable arrogance, threatening demeanor, and bullying nature overwhelms him.

Additionally, Roger Dodger may well begin to go down today, and since I am currently recovering from surgery, I will indeed have the congressional hearing on, wading through the layers of nothing to get to the possible smoking gun.

Great Super Villians

Great super Villains

No particular order here, just great villains from comics, for a variety of reasons.

Green Goblin – longetivity, the major rogue for one of comics’ greatest and most popular heroes, Spider-Man. The Green Goblin has been inhabited by a variety of characters, but the one I refer to here is Norman Osborn. He has learned Spidey’s identity as Peter Parker, he nailed Peter’s ex-love Gwen Stacy, (at least as far as recent spidey canon in Amazing Spider-Man, in which a story by JMS (Strasinski) showed that Norman manipulated a frazzled Gwen and had sex with her. We have also seen Norman’s influence in ruining his own son’s life (Harry Osborn, who died, but in new Spidey Canon, he’s inexplicably back—which is just one of a billion reasons I no longer read Spidey. ) Also, Greenie killed Gwen Stacy in the classic Amazing Spider-Man 121, (creepier now if we believe that Osborn nailed her and then killed – really amps his psycho feel – even better, in current Marvel Universe, Norma n is running a govt. sponsored super team that works to round up unregistered superheroes, the Thunderbolts. Written by Warren Ellis, the insanity and brilliance of Norman Osborn is illustrated in a very striking manner.

Dr. Doom – not the idiot in the FF movies, but the comics’ version. He is truly great, a monarch of his own country (Latveria) brilliant in both science and magic, and truly dedicated to his beliefs. He is a great villain because in his eyes he is a hero, a regal monarch living amongst inferiors.

The Joker – maybe the best ever, for me. He has been portrayed in so many different ways, from goofy in the 60’s batman TV show with Adam West, and a goof ball in comics. The best portrayals for me are easily Jack Nicholson in Batman by Tim Burton, The Killing Joke Joker who tried to convince James Gordon that all men are but a sliver from madness, (the Joker crippled Gordon’s daughter, Barbara Gordon, one time Batgirl and current Oracle in the DC universe, a brutal act that hasn’t ever gone away. Additionally, the Joker’s brutally beaten Batman’s second Robin, Jason Todd, to near death and then blew him up – killing him, until very recently when it became known that Jason Todd was indeed alive, and is currently running around in the DCUtrying to prevent the final crisis.

The Kingpin – he’s terrorized both Spider-Man and Daredevil, but the grim and gritty portrayal of Daredevil’s world from the Frank Miller days thru Brian Bendis and Ed Brubakers current work (three great writers) moved him into another level He utterly destroyed Matt Murdock (Daredevil’s) life. He has helped to set in motion the death of 2 women DD loved. He ruined his law practice. Yet the Kingpin has also suffered, being stabbed and blinded, survived amnesia and a rise back up0 from the sewers if life. He never, ever goes away for good.

Bullseye – hey, the dude turns anything he touches into a weapon. He has killed Daredevils love, Elektra, with her own weapon, a sai that stabbed through her heart in Daredevil 181. She lay down and died on the steps of her lover, matt Murdock. He also killed Karen Page, another Love of DD’s life. DD dropped the motherfucker a coupled so stories down and allowed his spine to fracture. DD then visited him in the hospital and played Russian roulette in the hospital. This guy is one bad dude. (Currently he is pretty fucked up, a quadriplegic in Thunderbolts.

Lex Luthor – the dude who gives fucking Superman a hard time. Is there really any more that need be said? The guy has run and won a presidential election. He is brilliant, ruthless, and not always wrong, which makes it even more frustrating he remains a villain.

Movie Review: Karla

Just watched a pretty nice little indie flick, based on a very sordid, very true murder/rape story that took place in Canada in which Laura Prepon, from That 70's show, plays Karla Homolka, who along with husband Paul Bernardo, were involved with the rape/torture/murder of 3 women, including Homolka's 15 year old sister.

Homolka pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and agreed to serve 12 years for her role in the rape, torture and death of Ontario schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, as well as that of her own 15-year-old sister Tammy.

The movie is an excellent example of a great story, coupled with 2 very solid actors. Prepon was especially impressive, breaking away from the "Donna" role I'm so familiar with for her. The movie is suitably creepy and compelling, I watched all the extras, deleted scenes, and factual info on the dvd, and have looked around on the net for more info. Highly recommneded, especially if you are a fan of true crime stuff.

Beast

(Check out a pic of the real Karla, after her 12 year sentence for her crimes - top left. )

Movie Reviews: Bug

Like the pic to the left? That is a pic of me Thursday night, a self-pic as I lay in an ER bed, awaiting confirmation of what I strongly suspected... acute appendicitis, baby, and thus began the Savster's most recent hospital trip, but that story is for a bit later. For now, a quick review of a movie I watched last night, Bug. I had moderate expectations for the film until speaking with my boss at work and hearing how much he enjoyed the film. He has pretty solid taste in film, so my expectations rose, and were not disappointed.

The film is adopted from a play, and maintains that same enclosed setting, and the film never panders to it's audience. There are multiple ways to interpret what is happening here.

The premise is simple. Ashley Judd's character Aggie lives in a crumbly ramshackle semi-apartment that's part of a motor lodge. She has a shitty waitressing job at a lesbian bar, an abusive ex-husband recently released from jail, and a child she lost years ago. Not to death, or a court system, but actually just lost. Disappeared from a super market. Basically, her life sucks, a lot. The opening scenes show her answering her phone and saying "hello, hello" and never receiving an answer. She believes it's her ex -husband, Jerry Goss , and wonders if he is out on parole and on his way back. She figures it's him calling to screw with her.

One night after work she parties with her only friend, RC, another waitress at the lesbian bar. R.C. introduces Aggie to some guy, Peter, a very reserved, passive, odd but apparently harmless character. He stays there when RC leaves to go to a big bash. He and Aggie begin a friendship, and he stays the night . (Although nothing sexual happens.)

Aggie's ex shows up in the am and makes comments about her losing weight (which she denies). She argues with him, tells him to leave, and at one point mentions their lost son, causing Jerry to snap and smack her. Peter returns with breakfast (2 small muffins for the both of them) and Jerry leaves, telling her he has business to take care of but that he will be back in a week or two. At one point, he picks up a pipe and sees some white lines on a mirror,puts some of the white power on his fingers and rubs it against his gums, looks over at her, and asks "You still snorting this shit" to which she replies "apparently so".

Later that night Aggie and Peter have sex, and go to sleep afterwards. Peter wakes up in the middle of the night complaining about being bitten, a bite Aggie can't see, but wants to see because Peter couldn't be making this up, could he?

The movie was extremely harrowing, and I highlighted the previous sections because as I watched the film, I was uncertain what avenue was being explored. In case someone reads this and wants to watch the film, I do not to spoil anything, but let's just say Jerry is odd and full of some pretty involved worries about persecution, privacy, and agendas, and Aggie is a pretty sad person herself. The movie grabbed me and didn't let go, and at one point during a lengthy diallogue between the 2 I was a bit annoyed, until it hit me.

I highly recommend this movie, although it is very, very intense., and your familiarity with drug use and mental health goes a long way in putting some sense to it all. Plus it was nice to see Ashley Judd act again, something I really haven't seen much of since way back in her debut, Ruby in Paradise.

Beast

Movie Reviews - Detour

Detour is the best 67 minute flick you will ever see. 67 minutes, which about the amount of run time of a 90 minute tv special, after commercials are subtracted. The 67 minutes here contain one of the tightest scripted, cheaply filmed yet well acted B movie film noirs you will have the pleasure of ever seeing.

There is also a strong possibility that the story we see as viewers is a lie, and our narrative viewpoint is untrustworthy, but this is merely speculative. Watch the film, and think about it.

The other extremely impressive element was the level of acting, particularly between Tom Neal and Ann Savage. Her hardened chick from the the rough side of the tracks, desperately scrapping to keep herself above water yet pitifully searching for some validation from Tom Neal. He just wants to meet up with his beloved, but Tom makes many bad choices, (akin to many fools in film noir flicks, not much different from horror characters).

This movie was purchased for an unbelievably low price. I owned the VHS but recently upgraded to the DVD. Of course, the DVD is part of the super low priced 9 movie, 3 disc, $10 collection of public domain film noirs. (More reviews to come.)

Well, it's been far too long since I stopped in to drop a post, traditional for me during this time of year. I usually drop off the grid in Dec/Jan, a little SAD mixed with general malaise.

Anyway, perhaps a bit more about that later.

Beast

Evil Empire + Steroid Abuse = no rings this century

Well, as Gomer Pyle used to say "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise", the Mitchell report has finally come out, and guess who really stands out? - Roger "I tried to kill Mike Piazza", Clemens, man who loves himself almost as much as current Yankee standout A-Hole Rodriguez, but at least A-hole is honest. Roger... not so much. Roger was juicing up since 98, and looking at the stats when he left the Red Sox (a move I hated douchebag Dan Duquette for at the time, but perhaps the former Sox GM knew what he was talking about.) Roger finishes out his last 3 years in Boston with a record of 29-25. He heads to Toronto and it seems the miles on his arm have finally begun to catch up to him, yet magically he hits Canada and promptly drops back to back 20 win seasons, during the same period he begins to .. use ... roids! I guess that explains his Yankee career, and when you begin adding the other Roid fellas (David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, , Ron Villone, Jason Giambi, Rondell White, AndyPettite, GlenAllen Hill, Mike Stanton, Kevin Brown, and the other dozen players who put on the pinstripes, it becomes the clear that the Bronx was truly pumped up to win games. So the empire spends a ton, cheats, and loses. Meanwhile the BoSox just win championships, 2 in our new century. How fucking sweet!!!

1994	Bos	24	24	3	1	170.2	124	62	54	15	71	168	9	7	0	0	--	2.85
1995	Bos	23	23	0	0	140.0	141	70	65	15	60	132	10	5	0	0	--	4.18
1996	Bos	34	34	6	2	242.2	216	106	98	19	106	257	10	13	0	0	--	3.64
1997	Tor	34	34	9	3	264.0	204	65	60	9	68	292	21	7	0	0	--	2.05
1998	Tor	33	33	5	3	234.2	169	78	69	11	88	271	20	6	0	0	--	2.65

Movie Review: Martin

I've recently been watching a good number of horror films. I was never a huge fan of horror while growing up, but much of that is because we didn't have cable until I was 11 or 12 and we didn't rent a lot of horror based films. As I got older I began to check out some more horror but I wanted to see a good film, not just a splatter fest. (I do recall staying at friends houses or visiting relatives who had cable and watching many of the slasher classics, things like Friday the Thirteenth, Halloween, and a very odd My Bloody Valentine - )

I cultivated my tastes and reached a point where I trust certain people's recommendations on movies, and I also know that a quality film can be made in any genre; the key is to know what is quality and what isn't: Martin is quality.

Martin was a very low-budget film made by George Romero, mostly known for his Night of the Living Dead movies. (Night of , Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Living Dead, and Land of the Dead. ) Night of the Living Dead is a genuine classic of cult cinema, using horror as a metaphor for the social unrest in our country, putting a disparate group of characters (black and white) in an isolated situation, unsure what has happened and terrified for their survival. Dawn of the Dead used the Zombie plight as a tongue in cheek indictment of our country's consumer culture, and is another example of the great films being done in the auteur dominated 70's. I have never seen Day of the Living Dead, and Land of the Dead was entertaining but didn't really resonate with me. (Although Dennis Hopper does get off a few sweet lines)

Martin is about a teenage boy who believes he is 84 years old and that he suffers from the curse of vampirism. His elderly uncle believe this also, and takes Martin in to live with him and his daughter, promising to take care of Martin's soul. That's it, that's the set up. Yet within this basic idea, Romero does a wonderful job utilizing the Pennsylvania landscape to create a drearly, isolated sense of existence. (Romero mentions in the documentary about the film that the town was an old mining town, and as the mills shut down the area became more dilapidated - he used that sense of a dying town for some great shots. ) The actors are all so real, genuine, and believable. The great Tom Savini is the only name actor I recognized. I will not reveal the twists in the plot, but this is a perfect example of what a passionate group of talented people can put together with a minimal budget but maximum incentive - Check it out.

Beast Out

Movie Review: Behind the Mask-The Rise of Leslie Vernon

It's always a rush when you watch a film that you know very little about, sort of an off the beaten path kind of film, and find yourself bowled over after watching the movie. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is one of those films. This was a Netflix rental that I threw on the PS2 in my upstairs attic at around 10 pm on Wednesday night. I figured I would get a feel for the flick, and would most likely watch a bit and then return to it on the weekend. The movie had other ideas. The actors were great, especially the leads, Nathan Baesal (Leslie Vernon), Robert Englund (yeah, Freddy, one of many entertaining additions to a film about an aspiring psycho slasher, providing that very tongue in cheek meta-fictional feel that I love). Of course, being the dude I am, I had to include a pic of the super talented and incredibly attractive, (in a very approachable type of persona) Angela Goethals.

As always, I refuse to lay down too much of the plot. The basic idea is Angela Goethals, playing a grad student documentary filmmaker named Taylor, shows up with her "crew" (2 guys for camera and sound) and visit with Leslie Vernon, who begins to show the crew his meticulous preparation in order to have a successful killing rampage. As a viewer, you find yourself completely engrossed but also confused as to exactly where all of this is going - trust me, it is well worth the trip the filmmaker and his cast take you on. Incredibly well acted, very clever without being obnoxious, this will be added to the DVD shelf without a second thought. It's rare that an unknown quantity makes that kind of jump for me, but this film is well worth it. Bonus is that the director/co-writer/producer of the film, Scott Glosserman, comes off as such a nice, cool guy to hang out with in the making of documentary included on the disc. Unlike Eli Roth, who often comes off as an obnoxious frat boy, Glosserman seems to be super positive, liked by his cast, and comfortable managing the chaos and stress of a smaller, indie film.

Highly, highly recommended!