The art of time-shifting TV shows for later viewing goes back to the days of the VCR, and along with that comes the secondary art of avoiding what happens on said recorded program. This is usually the case with live sporting events, given that you might be able to hear a score in your normal activities (via the radio, some idle chatter while out and about, etc.). You're bound to be spoiled, no matter how hard you try, but that's the nature of the beast because of the "live" nature of the event.
Nowadays, with the rise in use of the DVR, many people are also time-shifting regular television shows or watching programs online via iTunes, Hulu or many of the network sites. With so many people time-shifting shows, when is it OK to "spoil" what happened on a show.
This definitely came to a head on Monday night when (insert requisite spoiler alert here, I guess) Kal Penn's character on "House" suddenly committed suicide (expertly teased on EW.com last month without any indication of which show, never mind the character, it would happen). It was a major shocker -- there was no tease of it in Fox's promos, there was no news leaked of any cast members ready to leave (although we know now that Penn asked to leave the show to join the Obama administration) -- so it obviously took regular viewers of the show by surprise. Along with that feeling of shock and surprise, naturally, viewers took to Facebook and Twitter to express such feelings.
As someone who was time-shifting "House" that night (preparing to watch the show after the NCAA championship game), I did get a couple of somewhat cryptic tweets as the show was going on ("OMG #House"), but didn't think much of it. I'm as guilty as anyone of posting stuff from shows as I see them, although it's usually wacky lines or concepts from "30 Rock," "The Office" or "How I Met Your Mother." "House" usually doesn't draw that same type of instant reaction as it happens, but I let it go. Then, as I was watching the game, I got a longer tweet from a friend of a friend pretty much spilling the beans of what happened ("Why did they kill off Kumar?"). Part of me was miffed that someone would post such a spoiler, but on the other hand, I was definitely intrigued enough that I had to fire up the DVR to watch the show as soon as I could (with the tournament game a blowout, it was easy enough to make the switch).
Yes, the event was shocking, and even though I knew it was coming, it was still a huge surprise when it did. And it was a very sad episode all around (especially seeing what happened to Colleen Camp over the years -- I think she weighed more than Meat Loaf, who played her husband in the episode).
Of course the next morning I had to read about what prompted such a move (and especially since EW had teased it a few weeks back), and got the stuff about Penn leaving for Washington, etc., etc. However, the reaction to those stories were a tad odd in that so many people were complaining about being "spoiled" about what happened. Many of them apparently were still waiting to see the show on their DVRs or online and didn't appreciate the spoiler (especially given the very surprising nature of what happened).
This brings up an interesting dilemma these days, especially among mainstream or general-interest media, in reporting on the happenings during a TV show. I remember a college classmate taking CNN.com to task for posting what happened during the final "Seinfeld" on the front page before the show aired on the West Coast. That's understandable (although you have to wonder if you have to wait until after the show airs in Alaska and Hawaii). But do you have to hold off on reporting what happened on "House" the day after it aired, especially when many are getting spoilers on their Twitter or Facebook feeds as it's happening?
This whole incident brings up a rather odd paradox of today's digital age. The technology makes it possible for more time-shifting and on-demand viewing. However, it's going to be a lot easier to discover spoilers in your Twitter or Facebook feeds. (It works differently than many blogs and such because more often than not you're actively seeking the information on those sites; you get all sorts of things pushed to you on the social networking sites.)
More often that not, though, it's not really a huge issue unless you're a real fan of the show. I care very little about my friends' "Lost" updates, and I'm sure others could care less about lines I'm posting from "30 Rock." And even things like who got voted off on "Survivor" or "American Idol" beyond the overall winner barely create many ripples now. (Besides, there are live blogs of Idol out there, including one run by my friend Rodney, so there's obviously an audience for the instant analysis of what's going on.)
And when it comes to "event viewing," like a season or series finale, there is some reasonable expectation of being spoiled relatively in real time (much like a sporting event). But how should the "shocking but unadvertised death" spoiler really be handled in this "on demand" world? I guess we want our information now except when we don't want it now.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Bah hoopbug
I picked UNC to win it all, but was nowhere near winning any money in my pools thanks to choosing too many upsets except for the ones that actually came through. I will say that the March Madness on Demand product was great for tonight because I could watch the game on my computer while catching my other Monday viewing options on the TV. With the way the game turned out, it was best to find other options.
And with the game being such a blowout and my needing to catch up on other shows (including a very shocking and depressing "House"), I find no need to catch "One Shining Moment," one of the most overrated sports traditions out there. It's not so much the music itself -- it's a sappy '80s song, sure, but I can dig cheese like that. It's the fact that at its core, it's just a bunch of tournament highlights running about 10-15 minutes after the game has finished.
Honestly, as soon as the game finishes, I'm switching to ESPN or something for highlights, or to my DVR to watch what I missed during the game. When I used to work nights, that time right after the game was always a mad scramble to get things organized for postgame coverage. When I watched it at a sports bar, that was the time to settle up and head home.
On the other hand, you have to think that this love for "One Shining Moment" means people still love a good specialized highlights package. Just think about how highlights packages have evolved. I used to really love Warner Wolf's "Plays of the Month" or Len Berman's "Spanning the Globe" features once a month. Now you get them every night on SportsCenter with the top 10 plays, and even more specialized on Baseball Tonight with Web Gems. So maybe there's something to be said about the interest for clips of games that in some cases were a couple of weeks old (an eternity in today's world).
And with the game being such a blowout and my needing to catch up on other shows (including a very shocking and depressing "House"), I find no need to catch "One Shining Moment," one of the most overrated sports traditions out there. It's not so much the music itself -- it's a sappy '80s song, sure, but I can dig cheese like that. It's the fact that at its core, it's just a bunch of tournament highlights running about 10-15 minutes after the game has finished.
Honestly, as soon as the game finishes, I'm switching to ESPN or something for highlights, or to my DVR to watch what I missed during the game. When I used to work nights, that time right after the game was always a mad scramble to get things organized for postgame coverage. When I watched it at a sports bar, that was the time to settle up and head home.
On the other hand, you have to think that this love for "One Shining Moment" means people still love a good specialized highlights package. Just think about how highlights packages have evolved. I used to really love Warner Wolf's "Plays of the Month" or Len Berman's "Spanning the Globe" features once a month. Now you get them every night on SportsCenter with the top 10 plays, and even more specialized on Baseball Tonight with Web Gems. So maybe there's something to be said about the interest for clips of games that in some cases were a couple of weeks old (an eternity in today's world).
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Back on the horse, maybe
Let's see, it's been more than a year since I've updated this blog, so I suppose it's a bit overdue for a new post. So let's have at it ...
As mentioned around this time last year, the cult of Facebook and Twitter have both taken my attention away from blogging. Micro blog posts seem to work better there and driven me from longer thought pieces or decent blog entries. So be it.
Anyways, not surprisingly, I spent the past four days immersed in March Madness. While I saw my share of decent finishes, Cinderella stories and my predicted Cinderellas that didn't pan out (I'm looking at you, North Dakota State), I was mostly intrigued by how well the March Madness on Demand product worked out this year. It was obviously plugged to no end on TV and online, and it served a great purpose (and for free, no less).
However, that product (and similar iPhone application) seems to work best when you're not watching TV. If you're like me and you pay as much attention to the other scores scrolling across the top of the screen as the action, you'll get really frustrated watching the MMOD game as you would the live action. As with any streaming live event, there's bound to be lags in the transmission, so there's a good chance the game you're watching online is about 10-15 seconds in gametime action behind real time. It becomes a bit odd when CBS switches to whatever game you're watching online.
Interestingly, you don't see that strip of scores across the top of the picture in the online feed. Oh yeah, the picture quality is great, depending on what level you choose. The highest level of quality is very sharp.
As for another quirk/feature, you can toggle between games but only when there's game action on. You can't switch games during commercials. You do have to watch the ads, a separate set of ads than the ones you'll see on TV. A bit annoying if you want to check other games during the commercials, but hey, that's a huge reason why it's free.
Finally, I did plunk down the $5 to check out the iPhone app for March Madness. If you've got a wifi connection, you'll get online video and it's decent quality. The video there does have the other scores stripped scrolling across the top of the screen, so in a way it seems closer to watching your local TV station on your iPhone or iPod Touch, but of course the lag issues are still in effect.
Once again, the product is great and if I didn't have a job where I can flip among all the games at once, it would be a solid replacement.
Meanwhile, that Sirius/XM merger may be complete, but there's still programming limited to just one side or another. While the NFL is available on both services (heads up to the whole Sunday Ticket debate), the NCAA tournament games are only available on Sirius. That was more reason I could check out all the MMOD stuff; otherwise, I might've been driving around listening to games.
As mentioned around this time last year, the cult of Facebook and Twitter have both taken my attention away from blogging. Micro blog posts seem to work better there and driven me from longer thought pieces or decent blog entries. So be it.
Anyways, not surprisingly, I spent the past four days immersed in March Madness. While I saw my share of decent finishes, Cinderella stories and my predicted Cinderellas that didn't pan out (I'm looking at you, North Dakota State), I was mostly intrigued by how well the March Madness on Demand product worked out this year. It was obviously plugged to no end on TV and online, and it served a great purpose (and for free, no less).
However, that product (and similar iPhone application) seems to work best when you're not watching TV. If you're like me and you pay as much attention to the other scores scrolling across the top of the screen as the action, you'll get really frustrated watching the MMOD game as you would the live action. As with any streaming live event, there's bound to be lags in the transmission, so there's a good chance the game you're watching online is about 10-15 seconds in gametime action behind real time. It becomes a bit odd when CBS switches to whatever game you're watching online.
Interestingly, you don't see that strip of scores across the top of the picture in the online feed. Oh yeah, the picture quality is great, depending on what level you choose. The highest level of quality is very sharp.
As for another quirk/feature, you can toggle between games but only when there's game action on. You can't switch games during commercials. You do have to watch the ads, a separate set of ads than the ones you'll see on TV. A bit annoying if you want to check other games during the commercials, but hey, that's a huge reason why it's free.
Finally, I did plunk down the $5 to check out the iPhone app for March Madness. If you've got a wifi connection, you'll get online video and it's decent quality. The video there does have the other scores stripped scrolling across the top of the screen, so in a way it seems closer to watching your local TV station on your iPhone or iPod Touch, but of course the lag issues are still in effect.
Once again, the product is great and if I didn't have a job where I can flip among all the games at once, it would be a solid replacement.
Meanwhile, that Sirius/XM merger may be complete, but there's still programming limited to just one side or another. While the NFL is available on both services (heads up to the whole Sunday Ticket debate), the NCAA tournament games are only available on Sirius. That was more reason I could check out all the MMOD stuff; otherwise, I might've been driving around listening to games.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
These are trained professionals
There are plenty of ways to waste time. But if you're a snarky and nitpicky pro wrestling fan, this video of botched moves and broadcasting mistakes (and the rest of the clips in the collection) will kill any entire afternoon. Enjoy.
By the way, I actually have the MP3 of the music used in the video.
By the way, I actually have the MP3 of the music used in the video.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Musical microphones
Couple of interesting changes in the local broadcast booths this season:
-- Steve Stone is back in Chicago, although this time with the White Sox. In effect, he's pulling a reverse Harry Caray, who worked on the South Side before becoming a beloved Cubs announcer. Stone will be doing radio with Ed Farmer. I missed Stone doing Cubs games, but he had an interesting chemistry working with Steve Phillips and Gary Thorne on ESPN a couple of years ago. Strangely enough, Stone will be replacing Chris Singleton (whose dad is one of 500 people calling Yankees games on YES), who looks to be heading to Baseball Tonight.
-- Joe Buck won't do Cardinals games this season, ending a 54-year era of Bucks in the St. Louis booth. I'm not as much of a Joe Buck hater as some of my friends; I'm pretty ambivalent about Buck as an announcer. Of course, he's been showing up in a multitude of commercials (Dude!?!) and doing all sorts of other stuff that his cameo appearances with St. Louis seemed like just a ploy to keep the ties between the Buck family and the Cardinals alive. Besides, it's not like the primary network baseball voice has to have a local gig on the side, right?
-- Steve Stone is back in Chicago, although this time with the White Sox. In effect, he's pulling a reverse Harry Caray, who worked on the South Side before becoming a beloved Cubs announcer. Stone will be doing radio with Ed Farmer. I missed Stone doing Cubs games, but he had an interesting chemistry working with Steve Phillips and Gary Thorne on ESPN a couple of years ago. Strangely enough, Stone will be replacing Chris Singleton (whose dad is one of 500 people calling Yankees games on YES), who looks to be heading to Baseball Tonight.
-- Joe Buck won't do Cardinals games this season, ending a 54-year era of Bucks in the St. Louis booth. I'm not as much of a Joe Buck hater as some of my friends; I'm pretty ambivalent about Buck as an announcer. Of course, he's been showing up in a multitude of commercials (Dude!?!) and doing all sorts of other stuff that his cameo appearances with St. Louis seemed like just a ploy to keep the ties between the Buck family and the Cardinals alive. Besides, it's not like the primary network baseball voice has to have a local gig on the side, right?
Rambling on, with awkward pauses
If you watch enough American Idol, you'll get enough of these bizarre Paula Abdul moments. But I just realized why some of those stumbling moments sound so familiar -- Larry Merchant has made it an art form for years on HBO's boxing coverage.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Err-ball
Put it simply, if you really want to know more about the ABA, you're better off finding the HBO documentary Loose Balls, based on Terry Pluto's great book. Yeah, I saw Semi Pro over the weekend and was predictably disappointed. They did a good job of replicating the look of the uniforms and such, but everything else was pretty bland and uninspired.
But probably the most disconcerting part of the movie was the gratuitous profanity that led to its R rating (and eventually its so-so opening week box office take). I usually don't pay that close attention one way or another, but let's just say that this movie isn't a Kevin Smith or Quentin Tarantino picture where such talk would seem commonplace and allegedly clever.
It's probably still worth a cheap rental later on, but let's just say that I felt silly missing out on the pre-noon matinee price at the nearby AMC theater.
A couple of other observations while watching some random sports-related commercials:
-- I guess it's cool for Subway to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the whole Jared campaign, but using Tony Stewart as part of the ads seems a bit silly these days, given that Smoke seems to be getting pudgier in addition to growing that mullet. I'm guessing Stewart ain't ordering the veggie combo.
-- The Brian Urlacher-David Ortiz Vitamin Water ad is amusing enough, but exactly what country would those two be representing, assuming their opponents are Chinese?
But probably the most disconcerting part of the movie was the gratuitous profanity that led to its R rating (and eventually its so-so opening week box office take). I usually don't pay that close attention one way or another, but let's just say that this movie isn't a Kevin Smith or Quentin Tarantino picture where such talk would seem commonplace and allegedly clever.
It's probably still worth a cheap rental later on, but let's just say that I felt silly missing out on the pre-noon matinee price at the nearby AMC theater.
A couple of other observations while watching some random sports-related commercials:
-- I guess it's cool for Subway to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the whole Jared campaign, but using Tony Stewart as part of the ads seems a bit silly these days, given that Smoke seems to be getting pudgier in addition to growing that mullet. I'm guessing Stewart ain't ordering the veggie combo.
-- The Brian Urlacher-David Ortiz Vitamin Water ad is amusing enough, but exactly what country would those two be representing, assuming their opponents are Chinese?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Oscar night follow-up
For what it's worth, the NASCAR race restarted Monday afternoon, so I was still able to see that at work. However, it looks like Oscars ratings took a huge tumble, although I'm not surprised given the best picture nominees. It's tough to figure out where mainstream success, critical praise and pseudo-artsy snobbery meet, if at all, but I suppose this wasn't one of those years.
Meanwhile, I realized that Brad Renfro was left off the Oscars obit reel. His death was overshadowed by Heath Ledger's, but it still fit the time period, and Renfro did appear in enough notable movies to merit a mention.
Meanwhile, I realized that Brad Renfro was left off the Oscars obit reel. His death was overshadowed by Heath Ledger's, but it still fit the time period, and Renfro did appear in enough notable movies to merit a mention.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Oscar blog 2008
Well, here's one way to resurrect this blog -- keeping up with the Oscars live, like I've done a couple of times in the past. This year, I've actually seen three of the five nominated films, ticking off No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood in one afternoon last week. (At least I was able to understand one of the skits on last night's SNL because of that cramming.)
8:12 p.m.:: And we're off, sorta. I'm flipping back and forth between ABC's Red Carpet show and the NASCAR race on FOX. I might as well check in on my office fantasy NASCAR team (hey, Tom Cruise is at the track instead of the Oscars) while I also see how I fare in my friend's Oscar pool.
8:17 p.m.: Rain causing havoc at the NASCAR race. So much for "It Never Rains in Southern California."
8:18 p.m.: Are Regis Philbin and Ryan Seacrest contractually obligated to host everything on TV?
8:28 p.m.: Jack still has a front-row seat? I guess he's good for mugging it up for the camera all night long. And he's got a seat next to Xavier Bardem (at least according to Reege). Interesting stuff.
8:31 p.m.: Interesting opening graphics montage with the Terminator delivering the Oscars while going through tons of iconic movie scenes/characters along the way. But hopefully that intro wasn't sponsored by UPS, looking at the truck.
8:33 p.m.: Jon Stewart gets to the writers strike stuff immediately. Why not. Nice jab at the Vanity Fair Oscar party as well as the narcissism that is the Oscars.
8:35 p.m.: "Thank God for teen pregnancy!"
8:38 p.m.: Is it just me or does Diablo Cody look like current day Alyson Hannigan?
8:39 p.m.: Well that didn't take too long to get to the political jokes. Nice tie-in with the bad performance of the Iraq movies. And I guess it made sense to cut to Wesley Snipes and Spike Lee after a joke about Barack Obama.
8:40 p.m.: Pretty much solid Jon Stewart for the monologue. Talk about the nominees, get some political jokes in. No song and dance, thankfully.
8:41 p.m.: Wait a minute, isn't one of the best supporting acting categories supposed to be first? Instead, we get costume design. So it's Elizabeth, the phantom menace, that gets the award. I do get a few points for it.
8:43 p.m.: Babs reminisces about her Oscar win. Whatever. But who the heck was reading the envelope for that ceremony? Oy.
8:47 p.m.: Clooney introduces the first waste-of-time moment of the ceremonies -- 80 years of memories montage. Not bad, but still a waste of time.
8:55 p.m.: iPhone plug by Stewart, followed by the Get Smart plug of Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway presenting best animated feature. No surprise that Ratatouille wins (and I did finally catch up to it this weekend), but why wasn't "The Simpsons Movie" nominated.
8:58 p.m.: Geez, an overly made up Katherine Heigl gives out the award for best makeup, which actually features Norbit as a nominee. But it's La Vie en Rose that gets the win.
9:02 p.m.: And we start with the original songs. So Amy Adams goes from The Office to Ricky Bobby to Oscar nominee to singing one of the Oscar songs, all in a span of about three years. I still say Adams looks exactly like Isla Fisher, but that's also because I was totally confused which actress played was actually in Talladega Nights. As for the performance, I'm thinking the outfit didn't necessarily match the song. Then again, I doubt they'd want to put her in the Enchanted get-up, or else have a repeat of that Snow White/Rob Lowe debacle actually showed in an earlier montage.
9:06 p.m.: More yellow-flag racing, and Dario Franchitti is somehow in the lead. Is Ashley Judd there at the track?
9:07 p.m.: Can you smell what The Rock is presenting? When in doubt with some of these awards, pick the artsiest film over the blockbusters. Hence, The Golden Compass beating Transformers (or The Transforming Robots, according to SNL) and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film for visual effects.
9:10 p.m.: Moving right along to art direction. (BTW, we go from The Rock to Cate Blanchett as presenters.) Sweeney Todd wins -- hey, that was my pick. Lots of foreign winners already.
9:14 p.m.: Finally, we get to an acting award, best supporting actor. So of course we have to start with a montage. And how does the montage end -- with Cuba Gooding Jr., since he ain't getting anywhere close to that stage ever again.
9:18 p.m.: No surprise that Javier Bardem and the haircut won, and nice speech to his mom in Spanish. I'm still wondering how Jack got his seats by all the No Country For Old Men folks.
9:21 p.m.: Still raining at the NASCAR race. So which ends first, the Oscars or the race?
9:23 p.m.: Oh great, we're already getting meta with all the silly montages.
9:24 p.m.: Felicity gets to introduce the song from August Rush, since she was in it. Meanwhile, I saw Waitress over the weekend, and that was pretty good. It would've been cool if Andy Griffith had gotten similar supporting actor consideration that Hal Holbrook got.
9:28 p.m.: Owen Wilson's been nominated for an Oscar? But at least he's out there after his issues last year. ... Meanwhile, another foreigner wins, for Live Action Short Film -- Le Mozart de Pickpockets just sounds cool. Too bad, the category it's not part of the pool.
9:31 p.m.: Bee Movie still gets some consideration despite being snubbed for animated feature. The consolation prize is giving out animated short, I guess. And oh yeah, yet another montage -- of bees on film. Congrats to Peter and the Wolf for winning.
9:34 p.m.: If you're going to do a montage for best supporting actor, you're going to do it for best supporting actress as well. Can I call up the montage song from Team America yet?
9:39 p.m.: Oops, I didn't put down any points on Tilda Swinton in what was a pretty wide open race to begin with. But what's with the hair and dress? Yeesh. Still, a pretty quirky acceptance speech that actually mentioned the nippled Bat-suit.
9:44 p.m.: So Jessica Alba is the designated hottie to host the scientific and technical awards. No surprise there.
9:46 p.m.: Two anonymous actors from decent films present best adapted screenplay. It's cool to see Sarah Polley get a writing nomination, but the Coens did get the Oscar over Paul Thomas Anderson, which may be a harbinger for the rest of the evening. But at least Josh Brolin got to present an Oscar for his own film.
9:49 p.m.: Here comes the academy president to explain the voting process with a short video presentation. Cute, and it was a little better than just trotting out accountants, but like everything else at the Oscars, just a tad too long.
9:53 p.m.: Hey, it's Hannah Montana at the Oscars, introducing another Enchanted song. Disney synergy in full bloom, capped off with Kristin Chenoweth (from ABC's Pushing Daisies) singing. I am amused that Chenoweth was the inspiration for Sarah Paulsen's character on Studio 60.
10:01 p.m.: Dorky pregnancy award getup, but it did seem somewhat improvised.
10:07 p.m.: Sucks to be Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen as they couldn't get introduced on their own to present the sound awards. Instead, they had to fight over who was Halle Berry and who was Judi Dench. But as for the awards themselves, so much for the artier films winning by default -- the Bourne Ultimatum got them both.
10:08 p.m.: So I guess we know when a major award will come up -- just look for a montage of former winners. Next up -- best actress.
10:13 p.m.: A pretty big surprise with Marion Cotillard winning Best Actress. Although it goes with the theme of the evening with all the foreigners winning Oscars. She did take the Golden Globe, so apparently it wasn't a major fluke. I guess Juno will probably take the original screenplay award (aka the award for the hip film that has no shot at Best Picture) and be happy with that.
10:18 p.m.: Dude, a game of Wii tennis at the Oscars. They've already had Jon Stewart playing with an iPhone, now this. What other tech toys are next?
10:18 p.m.: Colin Farrell nearly slips on stage before introducing the song from Once. Where are those mops like they have at basketball games?
10:22 p.m.: OK, Jack actually has a use in this year's ceremony other than just mug for the camera. OK, maybe not, as it's a montage of the Best Picture winners, even though that award won't be given out for another hour or two.
10:28 p.m.: Not sure what to say about Renee Zellwegger's look, although I miss her Jerry Maguire look. Meanwhile, The Bourne Ultimatum now has three Oscars, after taking film editing. Nope, I didn't have any points down for that one.
10:37 p.m.: The Alabaster Android (great term, although not my own, for Nicole Kidman) has the honor of introducing Robert Boyle, a long-time production designer for an honorary Oscar. So a little love for one of the very deep behind-the-scenes guys. However, while there were a bunch of great movies noted in the piece, it somehow ended with a shot from Dragnet (the Tom Hanks/Dan Akroyd one). I don't care if it was a shot of the Hollywood sign that prompted its inclusion in the piece, but after seeing all sorts of classic films in there, ending with a movie best known for the Virgin Connie Swail was a bit of a letdown.
10:43 p.m.: Makes sense to have Penelope Cruz introduce the Best Foreign Language film. So Austria gets an Oscar about the Nazis. Not much juice in the category this year.
10:45 p.m.: So McDreamy gets to introduce the last of the Enchanted songs. Sorry, I still think of Patrick Dempsey from Can't Buy Me Love.
10:48 p.m.: John Travolta (not in drag) gets to announce the Best Song winner, although none of the Hairspray songs was nominated. And once again, the out of left field song wins, as the song from Once gets the award. I'm pretty sure all the Enchanted songs canceled each other out, much like Dreamgirls did last year to open up the spot for Melissa Etheridge's Oscar. Best Original Song is becoming a ridiculously wide open category these days, but note to those in Oscar pools, if three songs from one movie are nominated, go for something else.
10:57 p.m.: Nice gesture to give the other writer of the song from Once an opportunity for her speech. It looks like they do have a little leeway in deviating from the script.
10:59 p.m.: Cameron Diaz fumbles around with the word cinematography. It's one of the last awards where a movie star-type like her would be allowed to present. (You've got to earn it to give out the acting/directing/best film awards.) Not a huge surprise that There Will Be Blood got the award. There were some stunning scenes in the film.
11:01 p.m.: Hilary Swank gets the honor of introducing the obit reel. Let's see the gradations of applause. Who's really important or at least most renowned.
11:02 p.m.: Nice to see them put a time frame on the obits, BTW.
11:05 p.m.: Nothing really out of the ordinary. Suzanne Pleshette and Deborah Kerr get the first notable bits of applause back-to-back, followed by a louder ovation for Ingmar Bergman. Not surprisingly, Heath Ledger closed out the bit, but even his ovation was rather muted. In all, there were a lot of notable names, but very few huge stars or truly tragic deaths that would've elicited a major reaction until the end.
11:08 p.m.: Amy Adams is back for Best Original Score. It's still interesting to think that she was Jim's first love interest on The Office. As for the award, Atonement gets itself an Oscar. Good for them. That means only Juno hasn't gotten an award out of the Best Picture candidates.
11:12 p.m.: Hey, it's Tom Hanks. But first, he's introducing some troops in Iraq introducing the Best Documentary Short Subject. They weren't going to have them introduce the Best Documentary Feature, given all the war-related works in that category.
11:15 p.m.: Hanks is back for Best Documentary Feature. Let's see if Michael Moore wins again, although I doubt it. Sicko was pretty dull compared to some of his other works.
11:17 p.m.: Taxi to the Dark Side wins. I guess it was a surprise win, but I suppose it's a matter of which war-related documentary would get the honor.
11:19 p.m.: Thankfully, they've been judicious with the stories of past winners getting their Oscar. The Elton John one was like a bunch of the others tonight -- mildly interesting but you're not missing anything if you switched
channels before they came on.
11:23 p.m.: Hey, did you know there's a new Indiana Jones movie coming out? That would explain Harrison Ford reading off the teleprompter horribly, giving out the Best Original Screenplay award.
11:25 p.m.: Yup, Diablo Cody did indeed win for Juno. All five Best Picture nominees get an award. Surprisingly, I had actually heard of Diablo Cody and her interesting past long before Juno came out, but I never really thought she'd have an Oscar this quickly. But once again, it's pretty easy to pick out the original screenplay winner -- just find the hip movie with the most positive buzz. At least in this case, there was some interesting writing here, which can't always be said for past winners.
11:29 p.m.: It's time for a montage -- Best Actor. We're hitting the home stretch here.
11:34 p.m.: No surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis got the award. He was brilliant in There Will Be Blood, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the movie. I'm still trying to figure out whatever accent he was trying for, but whatever it was, he did a good job of it. Meanwhile, Bill Hader has already perfected the performance.
11:39 p.m.: And it's straight to a montage for Best Director, starting with a great Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau bit.
11:42 p.m.: It's nice to see Martin Scorcese pass the torch for Best Director, and he got to give it to the Coen brothers, who probably deserved one a long time ago.
11:45 p.m.: Denzel Washington got the nice gig for giving out Best Picture, although I'm sure he wished American Gangster was on the list. Then again, he wouldn't have that spot if it were.
11:46 p.m.: And I guess, not surprisingly, No Country For Old Men takes the big prize. I though it was decent, but not even the best of the Coen brothers' work. But then again, I've always liked their quirky comedies, and those don't usually win the big awards. Make it slightly more serious, and presto, an Oscar.
11:48 p.m.: And that's a wrap. So it went about 15-20 minutes past the 11:30 scheduled ending time. That's not bad at all. All those film montages were a bit wearisome, but I guess it was good to have that stuff in the can if the writers strike had continued on. Jon Stewart seemed to move things along relatively well with just enough spontaneous reaction to some of the stuff going on. The whole thing seemed like a tamer version of The Daily Show, sanitized for Oscar purposes. I wouldn't mind having him back again, but I wouldn't be torn up if they go in a different direction.
And that wraps things up for this year. Guess I'll have to make more trips to the movies (or at least to my local Redbox) sooner rather than later.
As for one last update on the NASCAR race, it's still going on, although they've been stuck in a rain delay all day. They were supposed to resume it at 1 a.m. but came to their senses and moved it to Monday afternoon.
8:12 p.m.:: And we're off, sorta. I'm flipping back and forth between ABC's Red Carpet show and the NASCAR race on FOX. I might as well check in on my office fantasy NASCAR team (hey, Tom Cruise is at the track instead of the Oscars) while I also see how I fare in my friend's Oscar pool.
8:17 p.m.: Rain causing havoc at the NASCAR race. So much for "It Never Rains in Southern California."
8:18 p.m.: Are Regis Philbin and Ryan Seacrest contractually obligated to host everything on TV?
8:28 p.m.: Jack still has a front-row seat? I guess he's good for mugging it up for the camera all night long. And he's got a seat next to Xavier Bardem (at least according to Reege). Interesting stuff.
8:31 p.m.: Interesting opening graphics montage with the Terminator delivering the Oscars while going through tons of iconic movie scenes/characters along the way. But hopefully that intro wasn't sponsored by UPS, looking at the truck.
8:33 p.m.: Jon Stewart gets to the writers strike stuff immediately. Why not. Nice jab at the Vanity Fair Oscar party as well as the narcissism that is the Oscars.
8:35 p.m.: "Thank God for teen pregnancy!"
8:38 p.m.: Is it just me or does Diablo Cody look like current day Alyson Hannigan?
8:39 p.m.: Well that didn't take too long to get to the political jokes. Nice tie-in with the bad performance of the Iraq movies. And I guess it made sense to cut to Wesley Snipes and Spike Lee after a joke about Barack Obama.
8:40 p.m.: Pretty much solid Jon Stewart for the monologue. Talk about the nominees, get some political jokes in. No song and dance, thankfully.
8:41 p.m.: Wait a minute, isn't one of the best supporting acting categories supposed to be first? Instead, we get costume design. So it's Elizabeth, the phantom menace, that gets the award. I do get a few points for it.
8:43 p.m.: Babs reminisces about her Oscar win. Whatever. But who the heck was reading the envelope for that ceremony? Oy.
8:47 p.m.: Clooney introduces the first waste-of-time moment of the ceremonies -- 80 years of memories montage. Not bad, but still a waste of time.
8:55 p.m.: iPhone plug by Stewart, followed by the Get Smart plug of Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway presenting best animated feature. No surprise that Ratatouille wins (and I did finally catch up to it this weekend), but why wasn't "The Simpsons Movie" nominated.
8:58 p.m.: Geez, an overly made up Katherine Heigl gives out the award for best makeup, which actually features Norbit as a nominee. But it's La Vie en Rose that gets the win.
9:02 p.m.: And we start with the original songs. So Amy Adams goes from The Office to Ricky Bobby to Oscar nominee to singing one of the Oscar songs, all in a span of about three years. I still say Adams looks exactly like Isla Fisher, but that's also because I was totally confused which actress played was actually in Talladega Nights. As for the performance, I'm thinking the outfit didn't necessarily match the song. Then again, I doubt they'd want to put her in the Enchanted get-up, or else have a repeat of that Snow White/Rob Lowe debacle actually showed in an earlier montage.
9:06 p.m.: More yellow-flag racing, and Dario Franchitti is somehow in the lead. Is Ashley Judd there at the track?
9:07 p.m.: Can you smell what The Rock is presenting? When in doubt with some of these awards, pick the artsiest film over the blockbusters. Hence, The Golden Compass beating Transformers (or The Transforming Robots, according to SNL) and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film for visual effects.
9:10 p.m.: Moving right along to art direction. (BTW, we go from The Rock to Cate Blanchett as presenters.) Sweeney Todd wins -- hey, that was my pick. Lots of foreign winners already.
9:14 p.m.: Finally, we get to an acting award, best supporting actor. So of course we have to start with a montage. And how does the montage end -- with Cuba Gooding Jr., since he ain't getting anywhere close to that stage ever again.
9:18 p.m.: No surprise that Javier Bardem and the haircut won, and nice speech to his mom in Spanish. I'm still wondering how Jack got his seats by all the No Country For Old Men folks.
9:21 p.m.: Still raining at the NASCAR race. So which ends first, the Oscars or the race?
9:23 p.m.: Oh great, we're already getting meta with all the silly montages.
9:24 p.m.: Felicity gets to introduce the song from August Rush, since she was in it. Meanwhile, I saw Waitress over the weekend, and that was pretty good. It would've been cool if Andy Griffith had gotten similar supporting actor consideration that Hal Holbrook got.
9:28 p.m.: Owen Wilson's been nominated for an Oscar? But at least he's out there after his issues last year. ... Meanwhile, another foreigner wins, for Live Action Short Film -- Le Mozart de Pickpockets just sounds cool. Too bad, the category it's not part of the pool.
9:31 p.m.: Bee Movie still gets some consideration despite being snubbed for animated feature. The consolation prize is giving out animated short, I guess. And oh yeah, yet another montage -- of bees on film. Congrats to Peter and the Wolf for winning.
9:34 p.m.: If you're going to do a montage for best supporting actor, you're going to do it for best supporting actress as well. Can I call up the montage song from Team America yet?
9:39 p.m.: Oops, I didn't put down any points on Tilda Swinton in what was a pretty wide open race to begin with. But what's with the hair and dress? Yeesh. Still, a pretty quirky acceptance speech that actually mentioned the nippled Bat-suit.
9:44 p.m.: So Jessica Alba is the designated hottie to host the scientific and technical awards. No surprise there.
9:46 p.m.: Two anonymous actors from decent films present best adapted screenplay. It's cool to see Sarah Polley get a writing nomination, but the Coens did get the Oscar over Paul Thomas Anderson, which may be a harbinger for the rest of the evening. But at least Josh Brolin got to present an Oscar for his own film.
9:49 p.m.: Here comes the academy president to explain the voting process with a short video presentation. Cute, and it was a little better than just trotting out accountants, but like everything else at the Oscars, just a tad too long.
9:53 p.m.: Hey, it's Hannah Montana at the Oscars, introducing another Enchanted song. Disney synergy in full bloom, capped off with Kristin Chenoweth (from ABC's Pushing Daisies) singing. I am amused that Chenoweth was the inspiration for Sarah Paulsen's character on Studio 60.
10:01 p.m.: Dorky pregnancy award getup, but it did seem somewhat improvised.
10:07 p.m.: Sucks to be Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen as they couldn't get introduced on their own to present the sound awards. Instead, they had to fight over who was Halle Berry and who was Judi Dench. But as for the awards themselves, so much for the artier films winning by default -- the Bourne Ultimatum got them both.
10:08 p.m.: So I guess we know when a major award will come up -- just look for a montage of former winners. Next up -- best actress.
10:13 p.m.: A pretty big surprise with Marion Cotillard winning Best Actress. Although it goes with the theme of the evening with all the foreigners winning Oscars. She did take the Golden Globe, so apparently it wasn't a major fluke. I guess Juno will probably take the original screenplay award (aka the award for the hip film that has no shot at Best Picture) and be happy with that.
10:18 p.m.: Dude, a game of Wii tennis at the Oscars. They've already had Jon Stewart playing with an iPhone, now this. What other tech toys are next?
10:18 p.m.: Colin Farrell nearly slips on stage before introducing the song from Once. Where are those mops like they have at basketball games?
10:22 p.m.: OK, Jack actually has a use in this year's ceremony other than just mug for the camera. OK, maybe not, as it's a montage of the Best Picture winners, even though that award won't be given out for another hour or two.
10:28 p.m.: Not sure what to say about Renee Zellwegger's look, although I miss her Jerry Maguire look. Meanwhile, The Bourne Ultimatum now has three Oscars, after taking film editing. Nope, I didn't have any points down for that one.
10:37 p.m.: The Alabaster Android (great term, although not my own, for Nicole Kidman) has the honor of introducing Robert Boyle, a long-time production designer for an honorary Oscar. So a little love for one of the very deep behind-the-scenes guys. However, while there were a bunch of great movies noted in the piece, it somehow ended with a shot from Dragnet (the Tom Hanks/Dan Akroyd one). I don't care if it was a shot of the Hollywood sign that prompted its inclusion in the piece, but after seeing all sorts of classic films in there, ending with a movie best known for the Virgin Connie Swail was a bit of a letdown.
10:43 p.m.: Makes sense to have Penelope Cruz introduce the Best Foreign Language film. So Austria gets an Oscar about the Nazis. Not much juice in the category this year.
10:45 p.m.: So McDreamy gets to introduce the last of the Enchanted songs. Sorry, I still think of Patrick Dempsey from Can't Buy Me Love.
10:48 p.m.: John Travolta (not in drag) gets to announce the Best Song winner, although none of the Hairspray songs was nominated. And once again, the out of left field song wins, as the song from Once gets the award. I'm pretty sure all the Enchanted songs canceled each other out, much like Dreamgirls did last year to open up the spot for Melissa Etheridge's Oscar. Best Original Song is becoming a ridiculously wide open category these days, but note to those in Oscar pools, if three songs from one movie are nominated, go for something else.
10:57 p.m.: Nice gesture to give the other writer of the song from Once an opportunity for her speech. It looks like they do have a little leeway in deviating from the script.
10:59 p.m.: Cameron Diaz fumbles around with the word cinematography. It's one of the last awards where a movie star-type like her would be allowed to present. (You've got to earn it to give out the acting/directing/best film awards.) Not a huge surprise that There Will Be Blood got the award. There were some stunning scenes in the film.
11:01 p.m.: Hilary Swank gets the honor of introducing the obit reel. Let's see the gradations of applause. Who's really important or at least most renowned.
11:02 p.m.: Nice to see them put a time frame on the obits, BTW.
11:05 p.m.: Nothing really out of the ordinary. Suzanne Pleshette and Deborah Kerr get the first notable bits of applause back-to-back, followed by a louder ovation for Ingmar Bergman. Not surprisingly, Heath Ledger closed out the bit, but even his ovation was rather muted. In all, there were a lot of notable names, but very few huge stars or truly tragic deaths that would've elicited a major reaction until the end.
11:08 p.m.: Amy Adams is back for Best Original Score. It's still interesting to think that she was Jim's first love interest on The Office. As for the award, Atonement gets itself an Oscar. Good for them. That means only Juno hasn't gotten an award out of the Best Picture candidates.
11:12 p.m.: Hey, it's Tom Hanks. But first, he's introducing some troops in Iraq introducing the Best Documentary Short Subject. They weren't going to have them introduce the Best Documentary Feature, given all the war-related works in that category.
11:15 p.m.: Hanks is back for Best Documentary Feature. Let's see if Michael Moore wins again, although I doubt it. Sicko was pretty dull compared to some of his other works.
11:17 p.m.: Taxi to the Dark Side wins. I guess it was a surprise win, but I suppose it's a matter of which war-related documentary would get the honor.
11:19 p.m.: Thankfully, they've been judicious with the stories of past winners getting their Oscar. The Elton John one was like a bunch of the others tonight -- mildly interesting but you're not missing anything if you switched
channels before they came on.
11:23 p.m.: Hey, did you know there's a new Indiana Jones movie coming out? That would explain Harrison Ford reading off the teleprompter horribly, giving out the Best Original Screenplay award.
11:25 p.m.: Yup, Diablo Cody did indeed win for Juno. All five Best Picture nominees get an award. Surprisingly, I had actually heard of Diablo Cody and her interesting past long before Juno came out, but I never really thought she'd have an Oscar this quickly. But once again, it's pretty easy to pick out the original screenplay winner -- just find the hip movie with the most positive buzz. At least in this case, there was some interesting writing here, which can't always be said for past winners.
11:29 p.m.: It's time for a montage -- Best Actor. We're hitting the home stretch here.
11:34 p.m.: No surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis got the award. He was brilliant in There Will Be Blood, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the movie. I'm still trying to figure out whatever accent he was trying for, but whatever it was, he did a good job of it. Meanwhile, Bill Hader has already perfected the performance.
11:39 p.m.: And it's straight to a montage for Best Director, starting with a great Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau bit.
11:42 p.m.: It's nice to see Martin Scorcese pass the torch for Best Director, and he got to give it to the Coen brothers, who probably deserved one a long time ago.
11:45 p.m.: Denzel Washington got the nice gig for giving out Best Picture, although I'm sure he wished American Gangster was on the list. Then again, he wouldn't have that spot if it were.
11:46 p.m.: And I guess, not surprisingly, No Country For Old Men takes the big prize. I though it was decent, but not even the best of the Coen brothers' work. But then again, I've always liked their quirky comedies, and those don't usually win the big awards. Make it slightly more serious, and presto, an Oscar.
11:48 p.m.: And that's a wrap. So it went about 15-20 minutes past the 11:30 scheduled ending time. That's not bad at all. All those film montages were a bit wearisome, but I guess it was good to have that stuff in the can if the writers strike had continued on. Jon Stewart seemed to move things along relatively well with just enough spontaneous reaction to some of the stuff going on. The whole thing seemed like a tamer version of The Daily Show, sanitized for Oscar purposes. I wouldn't mind having him back again, but I wouldn't be torn up if they go in a different direction.
And that wraps things up for this year. Guess I'll have to make more trips to the movies (or at least to my local Redbox) sooner rather than later.
As for one last update on the NASCAR race, it's still going on, although they've been stuck in a rain delay all day. They were supposed to resume it at 1 a.m. but came to their senses and moved it to Monday afternoon.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Getting fitted for mouse ears
Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted here. Chalk it up to a part of being busy, another part of wasting time on Facebook and another part of being lazy/apathetic toward keeping this blog up.
However, that may change in one way or another soon. That's because I'm moving up to the greater Bristol area next month to be part of the fantasy edit staff up at the Worldwide Leader. I guess I'm not the only person to be poached in recent days, although I'm definitely not as high profile as some of the others mentioned in that story.
I'll be officially leaving SI next week after 10 1/2 years there, so it's weird to be moving on, but it also seems like it's about time for a change.
Maybe now with the change (as well as the end of the fantasy football season -- I did win my office league), I'll be freed up a bit to blog here again.
However, that may change in one way or another soon. That's because I'm moving up to the greater Bristol area next month to be part of the fantasy edit staff up at the Worldwide Leader. I guess I'm not the only person to be poached in recent days, although I'm definitely not as high profile as some of the others mentioned in that story.
I'll be officially leaving SI next week after 10 1/2 years there, so it's weird to be moving on, but it also seems like it's about time for a change.
Maybe now with the change (as well as the end of the fantasy football season -- I did win my office league), I'll be freed up a bit to blog here again.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Power of celebrity
Been a while since I've posted here, as I've been doing more stuff on Facebook. Among the brief highlights of recent days is finally going to the U.S. Open, seeing Superbad (which really could use this blog's title as a subtitle) and The King of Kong (nerds are nerds, they just wear different stripes).
But a couple of incidents of celebrity or pseudo-celebrity really stick with me:
-- First off, one of my co-workers and I were part of some promotional event with Bengals rookie Leon Hall at a Macy's in Cincinnati last Thursday. Eventually some video of the event will be posted, but in a nutshell, I got to talk fantasy football on stage for about 20-30 minutes (also taking questions), then Hall got to talk about his brief Bengals career (although no Michigan talk, unfortunately) for another 20-30 minutes before he signed autographs. It's still surreal that they wanted me and my co-worker there to be a sort of VIP, but it worked out well. I guess I've got another career opening for Tiffany or even Robin Sparkles.
-- After being a "celebrity," I definitely got my taste of star gazing last night while celebrating my friend's birthday at a small dive-ish Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village. We went because bingo was the activity of the night (not unlike all the karaoke or trivia nights I'm used to seeing).
At some point during the evening, two large groups of tables behind us finally filled up with a bunch of really good-looking people, including some model-types a bit too dressed up for a place like this. I didn't think much of it, as they were just drinking and goofing off playing bingo like the rest of us. Then I realized a couple of tables over was Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Nextel Cup champ. I guess he was the guest of honor at this party, but couldn't really figure out why his big entourage would be at a place like this.
Eventually, this article would explain a lot.
I saw a bunch of t-shirts around, not realizing it was a high school yearbook picture of JJ. Had I known, I would've tried to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, despite two members of our party having really nice cameras, we didn't get good shots of Jimmie and company.
We opted not to shadow their entourage the rest of the night -- we really wanted to get dessert and landed at this chocolate place. But before we left for good, we noticed Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo pretty much taking over our seating area. Remember that this is a small quirky Mexican restaurant/bar, but somehow found ourselves among some pretty random celebrities. Welcome to New York, I guess.
But a couple of incidents of celebrity or pseudo-celebrity really stick with me:
-- First off, one of my co-workers and I were part of some promotional event with Bengals rookie Leon Hall at a Macy's in Cincinnati last Thursday. Eventually some video of the event will be posted, but in a nutshell, I got to talk fantasy football on stage for about 20-30 minutes (also taking questions), then Hall got to talk about his brief Bengals career (although no Michigan talk, unfortunately) for another 20-30 minutes before he signed autographs. It's still surreal that they wanted me and my co-worker there to be a sort of VIP, but it worked out well. I guess I've got another career opening for Tiffany or even Robin Sparkles.
-- After being a "celebrity," I definitely got my taste of star gazing last night while celebrating my friend's birthday at a small dive-ish Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village. We went because bingo was the activity of the night (not unlike all the karaoke or trivia nights I'm used to seeing).
At some point during the evening, two large groups of tables behind us finally filled up with a bunch of really good-looking people, including some model-types a bit too dressed up for a place like this. I didn't think much of it, as they were just drinking and goofing off playing bingo like the rest of us. Then I realized a couple of tables over was Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Nextel Cup champ. I guess he was the guest of honor at this party, but couldn't really figure out why his big entourage would be at a place like this.
Eventually, this article would explain a lot.
Q: You sound a little sluggish today, the day after your 32nd birthday. Feeling OK?
JJ: "Man, I am feeling rough. My head hurts, my body hurts. I'm burning all over. Not enough sleep at all."
Q: What did you get into?
JJ: "We went to this dive Mexican restaurant in New York called Tortilla Flats. You'd love the place. It has the cheesiest stuff you could ever imagine hanging from the ceiling, Christmas lights hung all over the place. And there's all kinds of crazy stuff going on. There's a singing Elvis. They had all kinds of contests taking place, a couple rounds of bingo. We just put a couple tables together and had a blast."
I saw a bunch of t-shirts around, not realizing it was a high school yearbook picture of JJ. Had I known, I would've tried to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, despite two members of our party having really nice cameras, we didn't get good shots of Jimmie and company.
We opted not to shadow their entourage the rest of the night -- we really wanted to get dessert and landed at this chocolate place. But before we left for good, we noticed Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo pretty much taking over our seating area. Remember that this is a small quirky Mexican restaurant/bar, but somehow found ourselves among some pretty random celebrities. Welcome to New York, I guess.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Garden parties
It's always a hoot to watch MSG Classics on MSG Network, which is basically a bunch of old WWF matches from the Garden over the years. There's a huge sense of nostalgia -- for the old announcers, the old bad lighting, the evolution of TV graphics and of course the wrestling. Sure, there have been plenty of changes in the action over time. That's just how things have changed.
But it's pretty sad to watch some of these matches (in tonight's case, the first SummerSlam in 1988) and realize that many of the participants have already passed on. And it's not even the older participants like Gorilla Monsoon or Lord Alfred Hayes. It's often the wrestling talent who was at the prime of their careers when these cards originally took place (for instance, there was a Rick Rude-Junkyard Dog match). So many guys are dying relatively early that you almost can't blame guys like Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter to occasionally put on the boots just to prove that they've stayed alive. Even stranger is that it seems like the guys from those 1970s Bruno Sammartino cards have a better survival rate than the those mid-'80s, early '90s cards.
But it's pretty sad to watch some of these matches (in tonight's case, the first SummerSlam in 1988) and realize that many of the participants have already passed on. And it's not even the older participants like Gorilla Monsoon or Lord Alfred Hayes. It's often the wrestling talent who was at the prime of their careers when these cards originally took place (for instance, there was a Rick Rude-Junkyard Dog match). So many guys are dying relatively early that you almost can't blame guys like Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter to occasionally put on the boots just to prove that they've stayed alive. Even stranger is that it seems like the guys from those 1970s Bruno Sammartino cards have a better survival rate than the those mid-'80s, early '90s cards.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Holy cow!
Just when I do a little obit scouring, now comes the passing of Phil Rizzuto, a fixture of my youth watching Yankees games and just New York area TV in general. His folksy way of calling games made him a beloved figure for Yankees fans for a number of years, and his Italian Catholic background made him a popular figure around my church and grammar school growing up. In fact, I remember signing a petition in second or third grade trying to get the Scooter into the Hall of Fame -- which would happen a number of years later (in 1994).
In a way, I knew the end was near soon when he wasn't at Old Timers Day, but instead sent a letter that was read near the end of the introductions. But while he hadn't been part of the Yankees broadcast crew for about a decade, his aura still loomed large over games.
To say goodbye, here's one of his Money Store ads, as well as an in-game promo for a mid-'80s Yankees game:
In a way, I knew the end was near soon when he wasn't at Old Timers Day, but instead sent a letter that was read near the end of the introductions. But while he hadn't been part of the Yankees broadcast crew for about a decade, his aura still loomed large over games.
To say goodbye, here's one of his Money Store ads, as well as an in-game promo for a mid-'80s Yankees game:
Dead pooling
Here's an interesting set of three celebrity deaths:
-- Merv Griffin. I still remember his talk show from long ago, not to mention Kramer turning his apartment into the old Merv Griffin Show set in one episode of Seinfeld. But his lasting legacy in the game show world is creating Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Of course, only by adding those two factors together do you get the current outpouring of coverage of his death. (For instance, Mike Douglas didn't get nearly the coverage when he passed on recently, although everyone did trot out the Tiger Woods clip from his show when he was just a little kid.)
-- Brooke Astor. That she made it to 105 is amazing enough. It was just weird, though, that she made the news a couple of years ago not because she died but because of in-family squabbling over her care. But as a New York legend, she'll be missed.
-- Brian Adams. No, not this guy, but rather the latest pro wrestler to die somewhat prematurely. He had a rather interesting career with Demolition, although his Kona Crush days are the ones I remember most, even if they seemed to be the dorkiest of his gimmicks. But once again, it hardly registers now when a pro wrestler passes in his 30s and 40s -- unless it's a really extreme case like Chris Benoit. It almost makes you feel good for some of the old-time guys to suit up from time to time just to bring back the old days because many of their peers and many of the people who grew up watching them are no longer around.
-- Merv Griffin. I still remember his talk show from long ago, not to mention Kramer turning his apartment into the old Merv Griffin Show set in one episode of Seinfeld. But his lasting legacy in the game show world is creating Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Of course, only by adding those two factors together do you get the current outpouring of coverage of his death. (For instance, Mike Douglas didn't get nearly the coverage when he passed on recently, although everyone did trot out the Tiger Woods clip from his show when he was just a little kid.)
-- Brooke Astor. That she made it to 105 is amazing enough. It was just weird, though, that she made the news a couple of years ago not because she died but because of in-family squabbling over her care. But as a New York legend, she'll be missed.
-- Brian Adams. No, not this guy, but rather the latest pro wrestler to die somewhat prematurely. He had a rather interesting career with Demolition, although his Kona Crush days are the ones I remember most, even if they seemed to be the dorkiest of his gimmicks. But once again, it hardly registers now when a pro wrestler passes in his 30s and 40s -- unless it's a really extreme case like Chris Benoit. It almost makes you feel good for some of the old-time guys to suit up from time to time just to bring back the old days because many of their peers and many of the people who grew up watching them are no longer around.
Down with the geekness
Despite the fact that I grew up in central New Jersey, it was only last night that I actually saw a concert at the PNC (nee Garden State) Arts Center -- the reasonably-sized outdoor-ish musical venue in the middle of the Garden State Parkway. In this case, I took in yet another Weird Al performance, fully embracing my nerd cred, knowing full well I'd fit in pretty well in this crowd. (It's hard to feel you're "too cool for school" here, mainly because you've spent decent money and had to trek down the Parkway to get to this concert in the first place.)
And having seen a couple of his shows in Atlanta, I pretty much got what I expected -- a ton of costume changes (marked by his faux interviews of celebrities), accompanying videos to most of his songs and one really long parody medley set. Also got some Storm Troopers and Darth Vader for "The Saga Begins" -- to ratchet up the geek factor even more -- and the requisite Segway for "White and Nerdy." Despite the relatively fun set, I'm still a bit thrown that his encore song was "Albuquerque" -- but at least he'll actually be playing there at the tail end of the tour.
He's actually returning to the area to play at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan next month (probably a better venue for his act), but I'm amused at the venues he's playing right around the New York City gig:
Sept 19 New Bedford, MA Zeiterion Performing Arts Center
Sept 20 New York City Beacon Theater
Sept 21 Ledyard, CT Foxwoods Casino
And having seen a couple of his shows in Atlanta, I pretty much got what I expected -- a ton of costume changes (marked by his faux interviews of celebrities), accompanying videos to most of his songs and one really long parody medley set. Also got some Storm Troopers and Darth Vader for "The Saga Begins" -- to ratchet up the geek factor even more -- and the requisite Segway for "White and Nerdy." Despite the relatively fun set, I'm still a bit thrown that his encore song was "Albuquerque" -- but at least he'll actually be playing there at the tail end of the tour.
He's actually returning to the area to play at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan next month (probably a better venue for his act), but I'm amused at the venues he's playing right around the New York City gig:
Sept 19 New Bedford, MA Zeiterion Performing Arts Center
Sept 20 New York City Beacon Theater
Sept 21 Ledyard, CT Foxwoods Casino
Friday, August 10, 2007
Grand Slammed
In the midst of last week's conventions, I was able to catch the first couple of episodes of GSN's Grand Slam -- a pretty interesting show featuring a number of game show legends plus a few other random names. I'm intrigued by the fact that the game tests all sorts of knowledge skills beyond just trivia. It's been fun to watch, although I will admit that having Dennis Miller as a smarmy studio host-type is a very acquired taste. On the other hand, more than one person has said that Pat Kiernan has become the "voice" of game shows thanks to his work on the World Series of Pop Culture and as the disembodies "questioner" on Grand Slam.
If you want to see a little bit of the show, YouTube has much of the first game between Ken Jennings and Victor Lee. Here's one clip. The show continues on Saturday and Sunday for the next few weeks. (Also worth noting -- I've played against four of the contestants in the field -- Ken, Victor, Ed and Dave -- in assorted quiz bowl tournaments, plus Kevin has moderated a ton of my matches.)
If you want to see a little bit of the show, YouTube has much of the first game between Ken Jennings and Victor Lee. Here's one clip. The show continues on Saturday and Sunday for the next few weeks. (Also worth noting -- I've played against four of the contestants in the field -- Ken, Victor, Ed and Dave -- in assorted quiz bowl tournaments, plus Kevin has moderated a ton of my matches.)
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Conventional wisdom
I guess I could consider my Vegas/Miami conference doubleheader a success. I got some business done in Vegas for FSTA with limited gambling damage (although I didn't get a chance to play a poker tournament while in town), and did a fair share of both networking and sightseeing in Miami for AAJA. Plus, it was good to reconnect with all sorts of people at AAJA after missing the past couple of conventions as well as finding even more of my fellow Wildcats.
I got a couple of trips to South Beach in, including a great dinner at The Setai on Friday night with an awesome deal for Miami Spice Restaurant month. But unlike most of my friends' dinner trips around the area, we got some amazing service, which I never really considered a whole lot until now.
The Miami leg of the trip also involved catching a preview of Finishing the Game, the latest Justin Lin film. It was a pretty funny movie in the vein of This Is Spinal Tap, but it was uneven and oddly paced. Still, I'd be interested in seeing it again when it comes out in the fall. However, I don't think it will generate the same buzz as Better Luck Tomorrow did after it was screened at the 2002 convention in Dallas.
Some pictures should be posted up sooner or later -- or they'll just be on Facebook, my newest form of Web crack.
I got a couple of trips to South Beach in, including a great dinner at The Setai on Friday night with an awesome deal for Miami Spice Restaurant month. But unlike most of my friends' dinner trips around the area, we got some amazing service, which I never really considered a whole lot until now.
The Miami leg of the trip also involved catching a preview of Finishing the Game, the latest Justin Lin film. It was a pretty funny movie in the vein of This Is Spinal Tap, but it was uneven and oddly paced. Still, I'd be interested in seeing it again when it comes out in the fall. However, I don't think it will generate the same buzz as Better Luck Tomorrow did after it was screened at the 2002 convention in Dallas.
Some pictures should be posted up sooner or later -- or they'll just be on Facebook, my newest form of Web crack.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
On the road
I'm now part of the insane travel week, starting with Vegas for the next 24 hours or so for one conference before heading to Miami for another one the rest of the week. I thought I was going to encounter luggage issues with the way Continental handles its online bag drop, but all was good since I could check into my hotel while waiting for my bags.
Before I left, I did get to see The Simpsons Movie, and my feelings about it are much like how I feel about the show over the years -- it was a thrill to watch for most of the movie (the animation was impressive), but as it dragged on toward the end, it wasn't as much fun as I hoped it to be. But still reasonably satisfying as a whole.
I also got my first taste of Ring of Honor wrestling as it was playing literally a couple of streets down from my house at a driving range/mini golf/tennis court/roller hockey complex. In fact, they just plopped a wrestling ring in the middle of the roller hockey rink and added some seats around it and voila, instant show.
Not a bad show overall, as it was the tail end of special tournament (although one of the wrestlers in the tournament accidentally broke the trophy during his ring entrance; naturally he lost the match), and I did get to see most of the roster in some form. The guys all seemed to work hard, and there was decent action, even if I hadn't heard of any of them going in. In fact, the final match of the tournament between El Generico (great name for a skinny white dude with a Mexican wrestling mask -- the generic luchador) and Claudio Castagnoli (supposedly a Swiss guy who drew a lot of Fonzie "Ayyy" chants) was a lot of fun with a ton of near falls and high spots.
Before I left, I did get to see The Simpsons Movie, and my feelings about it are much like how I feel about the show over the years -- it was a thrill to watch for most of the movie (the animation was impressive), but as it dragged on toward the end, it wasn't as much fun as I hoped it to be. But still reasonably satisfying as a whole.
I also got my first taste of Ring of Honor wrestling as it was playing literally a couple of streets down from my house at a driving range/mini golf/tennis court/roller hockey complex. In fact, they just plopped a wrestling ring in the middle of the roller hockey rink and added some seats around it and voila, instant show.
Not a bad show overall, as it was the tail end of special tournament (although one of the wrestlers in the tournament accidentally broke the trophy during his ring entrance; naturally he lost the match), and I did get to see most of the roster in some form. The guys all seemed to work hard, and there was decent action, even if I hadn't heard of any of them going in. In fact, the final match of the tournament between El Generico (great name for a skinny white dude with a Mexican wrestling mask -- the generic luchador) and Claudio Castagnoli (supposedly a Swiss guy who drew a lot of Fonzie "Ayyy" chants) was a lot of fun with a ton of near falls and high spots.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Greetings from Asbury Park
For the second time in just a couple of months, I got to check out Fountains of Wayne in concert -- this time at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Unfortunately, Bruce did not show up, but I did see a handful of acts beforehand, as this was part of a daylong festival -- including Mike Doughty, April Smith and Drive-By Truckers. It was definitely a nice bonus to get to see DBT beforehand.
However, with a short turnaround on a small stage between DBT and FOW, there were plenty of sound problems during the Fountains of Wayne set. (Most of the time, acts alternated between the indoor and outdoor stages, giving some time for a sound check.) Bad feedback on a couple of the guitars, the lead singer's microphone deathly quiet on the first song, etc. Getting a spot about four feet in front of the stage made that much more obvious.
Otherwise, the set was nearly identical to the one at Webster Hall, except that they did "Red Dragon Tattoo" during an encore. Also, Smith came on stage to do some guest percussion work on "Hey Julie." (Actually, she crept in right in front of me during a song to get into position later, and I originally mistook her for one of the teenager-types milling in front of the stage before realizing who she was.) The band did as well as they could in spite of the errors, but obviously it wasn't as crisp as it could've been.
Another regret was not bringing my camera into the club (I'd been to too many shows lately where the no-camera things was strictly enforced.) to show exactly how simple the club was and how close I was to the stage for the final show.
Since the journey to the show involved a trip down the shore, I had to make sure to stop by Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash along the way in Red Bank to pick up a couple of trinkets. Actually, Red Bank is a very nice town, but for pop culture tourists like me, as well as a couple of girls I met who were on a concert road trip (the Police, John Mayer/Ben Folds were the other shows on the docket), the Stash is the main thing to see. That sorta irked another person I met who actually was from the town.
But at least I didn't ask the clerk there for directions to the Quick Stop, as a couple of people in the store were doing when I was there. That's another geek trip for another day.
However, with a short turnaround on a small stage between DBT and FOW, there were plenty of sound problems during the Fountains of Wayne set. (Most of the time, acts alternated between the indoor and outdoor stages, giving some time for a sound check.) Bad feedback on a couple of the guitars, the lead singer's microphone deathly quiet on the first song, etc. Getting a spot about four feet in front of the stage made that much more obvious.
Otherwise, the set was nearly identical to the one at Webster Hall, except that they did "Red Dragon Tattoo" during an encore. Also, Smith came on stage to do some guest percussion work on "Hey Julie." (Actually, she crept in right in front of me during a song to get into position later, and I originally mistook her for one of the teenager-types milling in front of the stage before realizing who she was.) The band did as well as they could in spite of the errors, but obviously it wasn't as crisp as it could've been.
Another regret was not bringing my camera into the club (I'd been to too many shows lately where the no-camera things was strictly enforced.) to show exactly how simple the club was and how close I was to the stage for the final show.
Since the journey to the show involved a trip down the shore, I had to make sure to stop by Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash along the way in Red Bank to pick up a couple of trinkets. Actually, Red Bank is a very nice town, but for pop culture tourists like me, as well as a couple of girls I met who were on a concert road trip (the Police, John Mayer/Ben Folds were the other shows on the docket), the Stash is the main thing to see. That sorta irked another person I met who actually was from the town.
But at least I didn't ask the clerk there for directions to the Quick Stop, as a couple of people in the store were doing when I was there. That's another geek trip for another day.
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