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.