What Ever Happened to ESPN

There was a time whne ESPN was a fresh, hip, funny sports channel. Now I find it almost unwatchable. Every day it is the same guys with the same joke drooling over the Yankees or Tiger, How many times can you hear then say "Because we edit it that way", of "He brought his adult glove".

I'll watch ESPN news for a few moments to get last nights scores, because that is all I want anyway.

That's it today, just a quick rant and I'm done.

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds

You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'. - Lt. Aldo Raine

Finally I watched Inglourious Basterds. I know, it's Tarantino and I should have gone to the theater. I rarely go to the movie theater these day and I have to really want to see the film to sit in with a bunch of people in uncomfortable chairs with people who can't keep their mouths shut paying too much for popcorn and Pepsi. (and that's another thing, they don't have Coke!)

Anyway, like I said, I have to really want to see a film on the big screen to want to see it and I thought I really wasn't interested in the latest Tarantino film. It was all in the way it was advertised.

Remember those trailers? Must of it concerned Brad Pitt talking to his men about killing Nazis. First of all, I have a problem with Brad Pitt. I know, I should be able to let my own prejudices of any actor go and just watch the performance but there are a few I can, like Pitt and Tom Cruise. So I thought this film was just Aldo and his men going around brutally killing.

What the ad didn't let us in on was the whole other plot, the real plot of the film, the movie theater and the girl played by Mélanie Laurent, which was far more interesting than the Brad Pitt Stuff. It what was what the film was about. Christopherer Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa was wonderful as the crazy "Jew Hunter".

Was the misleading ads done on purpose? My guess is that due to the fact there is a lot of dialog in this film, including lots of subtitles, the studio thought the best was to advertise the film was to show the trademark Tarantino brutality. And there was some it, but not as much as I would have thought.

I really enjoyed this film and I thing many who didn't watch it due to the advertising might too. I also thing that those who expect to see a violent, bloody, killfest with lots of action and dark humor might be a little disappointed, especially what they find out about of the subtitles that they will need to read!

Coffee With Jeff 8-28-10

The Manchester Gallery is in trouble, somethings wrong with the set, and what breakfast cereal should I eat? Also find out why what happened at Beatlefest 30 years ago!

Tags: breakfast cereal, manchester gallery, comedy, jeff, coffee

Overly Nice Drivers

I don't mind jerks when I drive, as long as I don't get into accident because of them. I think these jerks do enough on their own to show their stupidity. What I HATE (yes, I know it is a strong word) is the overly nice driver. These people drive me up the wall.

I must apologize for this post, for it is very long.

One morning I'm driving east, approaching an four-way stop intersection to make a left turn. Another car going west, is already stopped at the corner long before I even put on the breaks. The sun is shinning down and reflecting off his windshield. I assume he is waiting for me to come to a complete stop before proceeding, but once I'm stopped, he just sits there. Why isn't he going? On closer inspection through the reflecting sun, I notice he is waving his hands like a moron telling me to go first. ARGGGG! WTF!

Follow simple driving protocol and the world will be just fine. When it is your turn, GO!

I'm waiting at a stop light. Due to construction, The four lane road I am on will merge to two after the light. The idea is simple, the cars in the left lane go's first, followed by a car from the right, left, right, taking turns. On this day, I was third in line on the left lane. Once the light turned green, the second car in made it clear he was not going to let a car in the right lane merge. Jerk, but that's OK, at least he made it clear. Without a thought, I ease back to let the pick-up truck in the right lane in. As I slow, so does he. Taking turns is so logical, I don't even think about it for a minute, so by the time I realize this what this guy is doing, he are going like 10 miles an hour and I hit the gas in anger.

When it is your turn to go, GO. In America we take turns!

One last example:
The company I work at is on a side street. To get out onto the main street, you must wait at a stop light. Sometimes you must sit through three of four red mights before you can get on the main road. There is also a shopping center on the right and cars are always waiting to get onto the side street, so they can get on the main street. This should be another one of those simple situations.If you are waiting for the might and row of cars are waiting to get onto the road, you let one in a proceed, and then the car behind you let's one car in and so on. One day I was behind a guy who decided to let EVER DAMN CAR waiting onto the road. Even people who were not ever paying attention. He just kept waving his arm, trying to get the day dreamers attention.

I had waiting four lights, now I missing the next two as windmill arm gets a whole parking lot onto the road!

I'm all for courtesy and respect while driving but when you are so insecure you must prove to the world how wonderful you are, you cause more problems and inconvenience to everyone.

The Blog Search - Found One

Before I get started, I wanted to share a few observations in my search for intelligent blogs

1. The World does not need another "Best of YouTube" blog.

2. There are too many dead or dieing blogs out there.

I found a intelligent blog!
Confessions of a Recovering Cynic

This blog is by a 30 something lady named Tricia and I want to talk about a comment to one of her posts. She wrote a very entertaining piece called "I Love My Boobs". I thought it was funny. It is just a list of all the reasons she loves her breasts.

Anyway, most of the comments were positive except one. This is what someone wrote.
"You kind of sound like a whore..."

First of all, I find it sad that a person is so backwards that he or she things a women talking about she body makes her a prostitute. This is an old school mentality, you know, girls are not suppose to enjoy sex, or even talk about it,without being though of as a slut.

But I understand that some people still live in the early 20th century!

What gets me is the face that this person didn't even have enough guts to sign there comment. They left it as "Anonymous". Hey Anonymous, Tricia might sound like a whore to you but you sound like a pussy to me! If you are going to call someone a name, at least have to courage to stand by what you said.

And we have to wonder how that Anonymous found Tricia's blog? Could it be that Anonymous was searching for porn on the internet and found it? If so, it sounds a bit hypocritical to me!

Anyway, back to her blog. I find so many of the personal, diary style blogs to be of no interest to me. They are more geared to family or friends. Confessions of a Recovering Cynic is different due to both its subject matter and sense of humor.

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Also on the subject of Blogging, I found a great, very comprehensive list of 52 points to help one become a better blogger. It is on a site called The Writer's Pulse. If you think you are not doing something write, or are just beginning, I suggest you read this. In fact, I think, from what I've seen on the internet, most people could use this:

52 Ways To Your Blogging

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On last thing. I've got some friends that have some wonderful blogs. They are listed on the right column. I just wanted to point that out. I don't want them to think that when I say I can't find intelligent blogs, I include them. All the blogs I list on the right are intelligent, and very much worth reading. What are you waiting for? Check them out!

Mike Shanahan & Albert Haynesworth

I thought today I’d write about the Shanahan/Haynesworth drama in the NFL. If you are one of the lucky people who are not into sports, you should not visit my blog on Tuesdays, for Tuesday is Jeff’s sports reflection.

Anyway, for those that are unaware, Mike Shanahan is the head coach if The Washington Redskins and Albert Haynesworth is the highest paid defensive tackle in football. Albert plays football for Mike, or would if he could. Right now the two are having a war of words and other nonsense.

I'm sure you know the details but if you don't, I will not bore you with the details of the situation, you can check out ESPN for that.

There are two sides to this, and I don’t mean Mike and Albert.

SIDE 1:
These are two professionals who are part of a highly competitive sport in which the amount or pressure to win a championship is almost unthinkable. As celebrities in the public eye, every detail of there lives are magnified and scrutinized by the public and the media. This pressure can lead to outburst of frustration and anxiety.

SIDE 2:
These are two men who are getting paid millions of dollars to play a game. They are both on the same side. Each one can help the other succeed. Yet, with the amount of money and fame involved, perspective and reason is lost and both men are reduced to the acting like 8 years-old children.

And not a seen that expresses the way I understand the conflict

Mike
Albert's lazy

Albert
No, I am hurt.

Mike
He won't practice.

Albert
Because I’m hurt.

Mike
You won’t play till you practice.

Albert
Mike is just singling me out.

Mike
And that is not going to change.

Albert
Mike's a liar.

Mike
My dad can beat up yours.

And then they end up at the playground after school to fight. They are surrounded by a bunch of kids with microphones and video cameras.

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Update 8-25-10:
I don't want to pat myself on the back, and maybe my blog had nothing to do with it, but I have read that Shanahan and Haynesworth are meeting to talk about things. Hummm... Good luck gentlemen!

My Thoughts on James Cameron's Avatar

This is not a review for the James Cameron film, Avatar. I have never seen the movie Avatar and I really have no plans to see it. Most likely I will, when it is on cable or maybe one day my daughter will drops off the DVD.

I have no doubt that it is a good movie. The estimated costs of the film are between 230 million to 310 million, so it better be a good film. It is beyond me to think someone could spend that kind of money and fail miserably (remember the American abomination called Godzilla)! Avatar is, I'm sure, entertaining since we know James Cameron can tell a yarn.

The film is close to three hours long, Maybe I'm getting old, but that's a long time to sit in a theater.

I keep hearing something along the line of “You have to see it in the theater for the special effects”. I don't care about special effects. I'm sure they are excellent but they don't impress me anymore. I watched the first Transformer movie and that had great effects that put me to sleep.

This film is being show now in 3D with added scenes in iMax theaters. I find 3D a distraction that ruins a film for me. It is nothing more that a gimmick and doesn't interest me. The iMax theater? I am not sure about that yet. I've never seen an actual film in one yet but if I remember when I saw a film about The Grand Canyon in once, it was hard to see the entire screen all at once. Anyway, if I need and over sized screen and dorky glasses to enjoy a film, it is not worth my time.

I still completely enjoy watching John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, which I've seen 50 times, on my 25 inch TV, in black and White and mono sound. Will that same be said for Avatar years from now? Who knows. I know I watch Titanic once and never had any desire to view it again.

I have read that over 150 million was spent on promotion! That's crazy.

You know, making a good film with over a quarter of a million dollars to spend, with great actors and the best special effects men in the business doesn't impress me. DO you know what impresses me? I independent filmmaker, with no budget and amateur actors who makes an entertaining film. Now that is a challenge.

Coffee With Jeff 8-22-10

Today, as you sit down with you java, you'll enjoy a little history of the telephone, Willy and Lisa go west, Brian and Tammy talk Green Bay Packers and we discuss what is considered coffee!

Tags: coffee, telephone, greeen bay packers, willy, canyon, comedy

I Thought I Had Something to Say

I am attempting to have a schedule for my posting. Wednesday is the day I post my search for intelligent blogs. Thursday is the day I post something more personal; my thoughts or experiences. You know, all the things personal blogs post that no one really wants to read. Hopefully there will be enough good content the rest of the week so you can overlook my self-indulgence.

That being said, I've got a problem. Before I went to bed last night I had come up with something I thought was interesting to write about. Now I can't remember what that was!

I am watching the James Bond film, Octopussy right now. What a horrible film. I love the early Connery ones, thought the Dalton films were very good, didn't care much for the Remington Steal (Although I have to admit I only saw one from beginning to end), and have not seen any of the reboot films but the Roger Moore films, wow. Live and Let Die was an OK film, even though it was the beginning of the silliness but they slowly went down hill from there.

Playing poker tonight and tomorrow night. Friday is the game I am really hopping for a good showing. We'll see! I know there are going to be a few really good players and a LOT of beginning/bad players. These players are the landmines of poker, hidden dangers that you must watch for.

OK, enough of my rambling. I'll have something more substantial tomorrow!

Traveling the Internet

In my search for intelligence around the internet, I have seen thousands of blogs, both good and bad, and I thought I'd share some of what I have learned. Before I start I want to point out that blogging is a personal form of expression, which means there is no right way, or wrong way. That being said, there is a few things you should consider if you'd expect to create a following.

Have Something to Say
Yes, this might seem obvious but if you think that getting an extra chicken nugget in your happy meal is worth blogging about, think again. Here is a test; read you post after it is finished and ask yourself, if I didn't know me, would I find this interesting or amusing? Of course anything is worth posting as long as it is done with a bit of humor but very few of us can be George Carlin.

Keep Posts Short and to the Point
I can't tell you how many posts I've began to read that look like a chapter from War and Piece. I usually read the first few paragraphs and if I still don't know the point of the post, I move on.

No Post of Not Posting
Blogging is not as easy as it seems. Like many hobbies in life, it seems like a good idea at the time but soon turns out to be work. From my observations, most people give up at a certain point. Here is the pattern; after a few months a posting regularly, they get more and more sporadic. After a while, six months or so go by and finally we see that classic post “I know it's been a while but I've been busy . . .” I've seen a hundred variations on the no post apology and it is most unnecessary.

Anyway, these are just a few of the things I come to realize in my internet travels. There will be more. I will attempt to post my observations every Wednesday!

What About This Blog?

As I said yesterday, I am making a real effort to increase the reader and viewership of this blog. I am working on a article about my search for intelligent blogs. Today. however, I think I'll write about this blog, and why it is so messed up.

Every Sunday, since the creation of this free blogspot blog, I've posted my show called Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff. (And I appreciate you checking it out) but the problem with that is videos don't bring in viewers. Search engines, such as Google, recognize the written word and can't see what's in a video. So I think it will be up to my actual blog posts to bring in a audience.

And there lies the problem! My subject matter is all over the place. For a while I was reviewing movies and classic rock albums, I blogs about skeptical issues that were on my mind, then I was talking about my life, and all sorts of things. Write now, this blog has become a bitching ground for not being successful.

Does this even make any sense? Writing post's that will most likely drive readers away about how I don't have any readers? It is like owning a restaurant, telling people how crappy the food is, and wondering why they don't come.

My All New Super Quest for Readers and Viewers!

I am shown some concern lately about the lack of viewers to both my blog and my videos “Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff”, which I expressed on the latest episode. My good friend, Pam, sent me a message. She wanted me to know that the best way to get readers is to read other peoples similar blogs and leave comments.

This is something I have attempted in the past but gave up and I think you will understand why as I go along. One problem is I have is that I never have found a blog like mine. Yes, I will take Pam’s advice and begin again.

I am using the Google Blogspot, “next blog” feature at the top of blogspot websites. Here is what I have some across. 22 family blogs, many of which have not been updated in 2 years. 75 sewing and quilting blogs and this I don’t get. It seemed that I just kept clicking, next blog, and sewing type blogs kept popping up! Over and over gain, like the Internet is laughing at me. Nothing again needle and thread, but I don’t sew, never have and never will.

Once in a while I find a blog that I don’t have permission to enter. Fine!

I figured I’ve visited about 200 blogs and I found 2 worth leaving messages. One was a personal blog in which the fellow wrote of his attempt at weight loss and the fact he received a raise. I congratulated him on the raise and gave his my support for his attempt as health. Next, I skeptical science blog, and this one I left a good comment and subscribed.

I’ll keep going when I have time. Tomorrow I’ll begin using Blog Catalog and see what I can come up with!

One bit a bitching to all other bloggers out there. Don't have music play automatically when people load you site. It is very annoying!

Making Vinyl Records - Old School

In the last episode of Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff, I showed some old clips from The Internet Archive of how vinyl records use to ne made. A lot of people of asked me about those clips so I thought I'd link them up. Here they are

Coffee With Jeff 8-14-10

Jeff thinks about a format change and we visit the Manchester Gallery. Also, we talk YouTube and the effect of breast on hits. Along the way we check out the making of records. All this and more!

Tags: comedy, breasts, manchester gallery, coffee, boobs, youtube

Coffee With Jeff 8-8-10

Black and Hot, the Java is ready! My Neighbor has a fire engine, a guy lights himself on fire and lies about it, Willy checks out some bad dancing and I have an idea for a new TV show. All this and more!

Tags: comedy, on the road with willy, fire engine, doctor who, randy malone, bad dancing

Pete's YouTube Channel - MrInterlocutor

To Purchase COFFEE WITH JEFF merchandise, click here

Broken Hearted Toy - Terry's Rock and Roll blog

The Free Sound Project - A lot of sounds we use come from here!

Okemos Brewing Internet Radio - Rock and Roll Deep Cuts!

Zecom Radio Internet Rock and Roll Radio with Marty!
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Enforcer Music - Chicago's Premiere Heavy Metal Band

Slim Rughead and the Texas Hangover - Great Music

Goin' South - Southern Rock and Roll

Willinois Nation

Wicked Whimsy Studios - The Art of Dave Mezger!

Coffee With Jeff 8-1-10

In this show we visit The Manchester Gallery, the first appearance of The Java Player, I advertise my first book and much more.

Tags: comedy, machester gallery, java players, coffee