Jekyll

Just finished watching the series premiere of “Jekyll” on BBC America.

Brilliantly done.

James Nesbitt does a fantastic job at playing opposites: As Dr. Jackman, you can tell that there is something not right with him quickly and of course as the creepy, violent & devilishly wonderful Mr. Hyde, he keeps you on the edge of your seat every time he comes popping around to make a mess of things.

And those evil, black eyes…
something to give you nightmares.

Giving Barry His Due

After reading Rick Reilly's piece on Barry Bonds, I found myself torn:

torn between the tremendous amount of joy & laughter the column gave
me, and the sadness that I felt afterward when thinking about Hank
Aaron. As fans of American sports (our self-proclaimed National
Pastime), we've missed out on celebrating one of our greatest sports
heroes- maybe one of our greatest American heroes. Mr. Aaron never
was the Mr. Coffee ad man like Mickey Mantle nor was he loved publicly
like Mr. October- Reggie Jackson. Hank Aaron, in his time, was known
as the "black man" who broke a white man's seemingly unbreakable
record.

As a fan of baseball since childhood, I find myself at __ years of age
in awe of the accomplishments Mr. Aaron achieved on the field, yet I
know little of him as a person off the field. Everything I can read
about and see in interviews tells me what I need to know Hank Aaron as
a person: With dignity & seemingly insurmountable cultural & personal
odds, he achieved what was then unthinkable. Hank Aaron was human
and withstood personal affronts that is despicable & inexcusable in
our age of 24/7 media and so called advances in race relations.
Frankly, I am ashamed that it has taken over thirty years for our
society, which views sports achievement as an ultimate pantheon to
success to recognize Hank Aaron for the class act that he always was-
not to mention that he shatter a record that stood for DECADES.

Records are made to be broken and in this ho-hum chase of the only
baseball record that matters, I am saddened that Hank Aaron will have
to have the asterisk beside his tally of 755 just as Roger Maris did
with 61. With great effort, comes great sacrifice.

Barry, look in the mirror and tell us all what did you ever do to

justify your efforts- proven or not?

I watched it slip away

Oh how I realized, how I wanted time,
Put into perspective, tried so hard to find,
Just for one moment, thought I'd found my way.
Destiny unfolded, I watched it slip away.

Twenty Four Hours

Closer, 1980

Joy Division

Major League Baseball 2007 Predictions

Ok, I am a little late in posting my thoughts on what teams will end up where this year but it is early in the season so it should not matter. I am so glad baseball is back in full swing. I feel a bit lost when football ends because I do not follow the NBA or basketball in general (I do like the March Madness hoopla though).

The numbers in parenthesis are the playoff seeding order.

Baseball Rocks!

NL East

NY Mets (2)
Atlanta (4)
Philadelphia
Florida
Washington

NL Central

St. Louis (3)
Milwaukee
Houston
Chicago
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh

NL West

Los Angeles (1)
San Diego
Arizona
San Francisco
Colorado


AL East

Boston (3)
New York
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa Bay

AL Central

Minnesota (1)
Detroit (4)
Chicago
Cleveland
Kansas City

AL West

Los Angeles (2)
Texas
Oakland
Seattle

NL Playoffs

Los Angeles over Atlanta (Wild card)
NY over St. Louis
NY over Los Angeles

AL Playoffs

Minnesota over Detroit (Wild card)
Los Angeles over Boston
Minnesota over Los Angeles

World Series

NY Mets over Minnesota Twins 5-1


NL MVP:
Carlos Beltran (NYM) 44 HR 129 RBI

NL Cy Young:
Derek Lowe (LAD) 21-5 2.89 ERA

NL Rookie of the Year:
Chris Young (AZ) .280 19 HR 74 RBI

AL MVP:
Mark Teixeira (Tex) .297 51 HR 136 RBI

AL Cy Young:
Justin Verlander (Det) 19-6 3.16 ERA

AL Rookie of the Year:
Alex Gordon (KC) .298 27 HR 88 RBI

Movie Tickets

While clearing off my desk of random paper and receipts this morning, I decided to take the plunge into the first drawer of my filing cabinet to empty it of paper that has cluttered it up for a few years. The main offender in question is movie tickets. I save them after I see a movie. I have hundreds since the late 90’s. They document my life, my taste, my friends, my girlfriends… everything. I was not ready to look into this darkness. Printed names on stubs… All About My Mother, Mostly Martha, Harry Potter… they fly at me and remind me what I am not and what I am. I will try not to be depressed.

Post Oscar Award Thoughts

This year was by far, the worst year I’ve had for Oscar predictions in quite some time. Only 13 right out of 24 does not sit well with me. I guess that is what happens when you don’t do your home work on all the smaller categories (which is usually where I clean up). Still, I did get all 4 acting categories correct (who couldn’t get at least 3 of them right this year with Hudson, Mirren & Whitaker already winning most of the previous award shows & critics polls).

Marty got the sympathy vote.

There, I said it and I think a lot of you out there might think the same thing. Of the five films nominated for Best Picture, I would rank it no higher than third or even fourth. Still, it is nice to see him get an award that should have been given to him twice before.

Helen Mirren gave the best acceptance speech of the night- elegant, reserved, respectful, charming & most of all gracious.

I hope Clint Eastwood really forgot his glasses up there when he was speaking of Ennio Morricone. He looked bad, sounded bad & I believe he knew it.

I liked how the presenters read the script dialogue when presenting the screenplay nominations.

I disliked how the Academy presented the best picture nominations. Please go back to a blurb about the film and then showing a scene from the movie. This was a big, big let down.

Again, the Academy botches up the acceptance speech timing ritual. Let these people speak! This after show speech/web cam thing is for the birds. The spontaneity is gone when you do it that way. Block the show out for 5 hours and be done with it!

Ellen did a great job hosting. I wish there had been more of her in the show.

Oscar picks 2007

It is that time of year again. All the guests are dressed to the nines (some of them to the eights and even worse if they wear frumpy dresses or badly tailored suits) eagerly waiting to hear their name called to grab the golden phallus--- err, sorry I meant the golden statue.

While I have favorite performances, movies and things I liked about movies from last year, my picks for the Oscar’s this year are picks only and not favorites (Unless, heh heh, I say they are).

Best Picture

Toughest category to call this year. Of the five up for the award, I liked Little Miss Sunshine the best from last year (see: December 2006 archives - Movies, Best of 2006). I think it will follow in the path of Crash which came from nowhere last year to pick up the award. Babel is this year’s wild card for me. You can talk Marty up all you want with The Departed, but the movie leaves you cold… especially that trite trick with the rat at the end.

Will Win: Little Miss Sunshine
Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine
Might Win: Babel

Best Director

Another tough call. Clint Vs. Marty and I believe they cancel each other out. Clint made one great movie (Letter From Iwo Jima) & one good movie (Flags of Our Fathers). Honestly, I think Letters kills The Departed and Flags is about equal to Marty’s film. If Clint were to win one more directing award it would put him way into the stratosphere of the who’s who in directing realm. Now don’t get me wrong about Marty. I like his work for the most part. He was ripped twice for best picture (Raging Bull lost to Ordinary People & Goodfellas to Dances with Wolves) & some would argue a third time when he lost out for Taxi Driver against Rocky… Network was better than both of them. My fear is that Marty is going to get the sympathy pick for getting screwed a few times (though I think he may eventually have to wait for the Lifetime Achievement Oscar). Stephen Frears did a good job with The Queen, but that movie is all Helen Mirren all the time so he is out. That leaves Paul Greengrass for United 93 and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu for Babel. If the academy members have any balls, it would vote for Greengrass for making the bravest film in years, however it will not happen. His nomination was the prize for him. That leaves Iñárritu as the pick.

Will Win: Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu
Should Win: Paul Greengrass
Might Win: Martin Scorsese

Best Actress

Would love to see where the 2^nd and 3^rd place numbers were against Helen Mirren. If there is a sure thing this year for the Oscar’s it is Mirren’s performance in The Queen. Streep & Dench have their awards while Cruz and Winslet will have to wait a while longer (not much longer I think for Kate Winslet). Nothing more to say. Mirren is a lock.

Will Win: Helen Mirren
Should Win: Helen Mirren
Might Win: Helen Mirren you dope!

Best Actor

This is one of the other tricky categories. On one hand, you have Forest Whitaker winning every award possible leading up the big night (I think the girl scouts gave him and award as well, or maybe they sent him some mint cookies). On the other hand, you have Lawrence of Arabia himself: Peter O’Toole. And, he is waaaaaaaaaaaay over due for an award. Nominated seven time previously for pictures such as: The Ruling Class, Becket, The Lion in Winter & the afore mentioned Lawrence of Arabia. My problem here is that he did a great job in a lackluster film but because he has been snubbed a few times (How in the HELL did he not win for Lawrence of Arabia!!!!) so the sympathy vote is possibly being called in for him. As for the others- Gosling is in a movie that no one has seen (has not played where I live and everything comes here), DiCaprio was nominated for the wrong role & Will Smith was in a People’s Choice type of film that many in the Academy will not likely vote for. That leaves Forest Whitaker & he should win this award easily.

Will Win: Forest Whitaker
Should Win: Forest Whitaker
Might Win: Peter O’Toole

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Hudson seems to be the front runner for this year. She’s the American Idol darling who has stolen the spotlight from Beyonce (I bet’s she’s really p*ssed). I have not seen Dreamgirls and probably will not see it as musicals are not really my thing where movies are concerned. The math in this category is fairly simple: Babel’s dual BSA nominations cancel each other out (though I loved Rinko Kikuchi’s startling performance). Cate Blanchett is already a winner from a few years ago. That leaves little Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine. Hudson gets the nod.

Will Win: Jennifer Hudson
Should Win: Rinko Kikuchi
Might Win: N/A

Best Supporting Actor

Another difficult category to pick. This one seems to be all about Eddie Murphy channeling James Brown’s celebrity hot tub from Saturday Night Live into a movie. I’m not buying it though I do hear and read that he did a great job. Mark Wahlberg received the only acting nomination from The Departed. I am not sure what this is supposed to tell me though I think Wahlberg has turned out to be a fine actor after paying some serious dues (good lord, he was the head of the Funky Bunch at one time!). Djimon Hounsou was very good in Blood Diamond, but he was even better in Amistad or In America. That leaves the front runners: Alan Arkin and Jackie Earle Haley. Arkin will probably win and he’ll deserve it for the quality and quantity of work he has brought to the screen. Haley should win this award outright for his difficult role in Little Children as a tortured, sick man who has… ahem, a problem being around the, uh….well you can figure it out from the title. When he has his meltdown at the end of the movie, you feel a sympathy for him that you never thought possible and that folks is acting at its finest. I'm hoping he wins because Chris Cooper played a fairly seedy, down on his luck character to Oscar gold a few years ago in Adaptation. Besides, he was Moocher in Breaking Away dammit! He should win.

Will Win: Alan Arkin
Should Win: Jackie Earle Haley
Might Win: Eddie Murphy

The Rest of my Picks:

Animated Feature: Cars
Art Direction: Pan’s Labyrinth
Cinematography: Children of Men
Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Documentary Short: Two Hands
Film Editing: Children of Men
Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others
Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth
Original Score: Babel
Original Song: Listen
Short Film (animated): No Time for Nuts
Short Film (live action): Helmer & Son
Sound Editing: Letters From Iwo Jima
Sound Mixing: Pirates of the Caribbean
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean
Screenplay (adapted): Notes on a Scandal
Screenplay (original): Little Miss Sunshine

Post Super Bowl Thoughts

My prediction was true & the score nearly spot on with the Colts winning 29-17 over the Bears (I picked 26-16 and a good buddy of mine that I have a friendly rivalry with predicted 24-14).

I do not agree with the MVP selection. Peyton had a decent game going 25-38 for 247 with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The MVP selection should have been split between Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes.

Addai’s stats:

19 rushes for 77 yards
10 catches for 66 yards

Rhodes’ stats:

21 rushes for 113 yards, 1 Touchdown
1 catch for 8 yards

That is a combination of 264 yards of total offense out of a total of 430 yards put up by the Colts! No way should Manning have been the MVP.

Super Bowl ad winners:

I loved the Careerbuilder.com ads. Those office workers running over the cliff like lemmings was hilarious.

Budweiser came through yet again with a serious of funny ads. The Carlos Mencia immigrant ad was the best of the bunch followed by the face-slapping ad & the rock, paper, scissor one.

Emerald nuts had I think the best one of all with Robert Goulet playing the mid-afternoon office prankster. Seeing him climbing on the ceiling was great.

Super Bowl gripe: all the god crap. Give me a break! I don’t care if you are a christian and that your opposing coach is also one. It has no bearing on the game and no place in the after game part. I guess Lovie Smith is pissed at god now because his team lost. It’s all a load of B.S. god did not cause you to win or lose a game. Boomer Esiason also needs to get a clue. It is not classy to say all that crap on television and no one cares that you are proud to know them because of it. What a kiss ___.

Good Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Pick

This looks to be a decent game. I think it will be close right until the end.

Final score:

Colts 26 - Bears 16

India

15 years ago today, I left for India. A good friend of mine that I worked with was traveling there for a family function. After only one night of throwing around the idea of journeying with him & his wife, a week later I had purchased a round trip ticket. On February 1^st, 1992- I left the United States after quitting my job, maxing out my credit card without any regret. I spent 50 days there.

A large part of my trip was spent in and around Bombay but we also traveled to the northwestern part of the country visiting the states of Rajasthan & Gujarat. A highlight of my trip was a few weeks on the road heading north into Jodphur (also known as The Blue City) where we visited the Mehrangarh Fort & the Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Leaving Jodphur and traveling west we went to Jaisalmer which is located in the Thar Desert about 50 kilometers from the Pakistan border. There we relaxed for a week with daily strolls about the fort & in the surrounding exterior areas of the city. A camel safari there is one of the fondest memories I have of my travels in India.

A few short weeks later (and a few more side trips to the Ajanta & Ellora Cave systems as well as Elephanta Island) my trip was over and I was on my way back to America. Of course I have many other stories to share, photos to show but those are for another time. I am proud to say that I came back to my home country a wiser and more humbled person. It was the trip of a lifetime and I shall never forget it.