Friday, March 24, 2006

Navy 38, Rice 15

When two teams running a flexbone offense meet, the one with a defense and special teams that score two touchdowns wins.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

I'm going to have to add an mp3 blog link section soon. I'd do it now, but I'm tired and lazy. So like I was telling Nicole earlier, I'm addicted to the damn things even though I maybe only actually like 1 out of every 100 songs I download. The best one that I read by far is Aquarium Drunkard, who seems to share roughly the same taste in music as I do. Tonight, he is my hero. I had a tape of those sessions back when I was a dirty hippie tape trader and it was one of my most prized possessions until it was ruined in a hot car. So right now I am about as giddy as a schoolgirl all cranked up on meth. And Don, earlier tonight he posted the "lost" Black Crowes The Band album, which, seriously, they released By Your Side instead of? So anyway, get it while the gettin's good.
Navy 38, Stanford 14

In unrelated news, there is no God.
Since I'm pretty sure (most) everyone that reads this blog is also reading EDSBS, and is therefor familiar with Cowherdgate, I'm probably not bringing anything new here. What I am bringing though, is the obvious casting choice for Cowherd if Hollywood decides to make Shattered Glass 2: The Cowherdening.



















Slap a rug on that noggin and Fuller is a dead ringer for Cowherd...













...seen here in what one can only assume is a default douchebag pose.
Two quick US/Canadian relations items:

1) Why does our currency begin to resemble Canadian currency more and more each passing year? Is this some sort of prelude to invasion?



















Probably the only time Michael Moore and I will agree on anything not involving Krispy Kreme: Pre-emption is the only way to deal with Canada.

2) Canadians are weird and stupid; Americans take that weird and stupid, add hot chicks, beer, and Vegas, and once again prove why we are the lone superpower. USA! USA!



















1..2..3..Boobies. I MEAN SCISSORS!
Word of the Day for Thursday March 23, 2006

paterfamilias \pay-tuhr-fuh-MIL-ee-uhs; pat-uhr-; pah-\, noun;
plural patresfamilias \pay-treez-; pat-reez-; pah-treez-\:


The male head of a household or the father of a family.
















Alba seemed confused whenever I would ask "Who's your paterfamilias?"

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun

First I have to gripe. Though this is a two disc set the actual playing time is only 60 minutes, well within the limits of one disc. I presume Harper was attempting some sort of "concept album" feel (the packaging refers to it as "An Album in Two Parts") due to the title, but it's silly and unecessary and if it hadn't been on sale at Best Buy for $9.99 I would have felt ripped off. The two discs also offer a stylistic problem; while the first has a unified theme, the second feels like a collection of b-sides and demos with no clear reason for inclusion in the album. The first disc is all singer-songwriter Ben. While the man can rock with The Innocent Criminals, I've always felt he was at his best penning simple songs about love and heartbreak. Songs like Morning Yearning, Happy Everafter in Your Eyes and Reason to Mourn will join the likes of Another Lonely Day and Not Fire, Not Ice in the pantheon of great Ben Harper love songs. The Second disc is a hodgepodge of styles and themes and begins on a ridiculous note. Better Way is a latter day Revival; It's got some good music behind it, but the lyrics are so cringe inducing that it's hard to stomach. The title track gives Harper a chance to shine on what can best be described as his attempt at the socially conscious soul funk of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, and Black Rain attempts to recreate that feeling but fails lyrically. Harper's message songs have always had a positive note in them (With My Own Two Hands and Excuse Me Mr. come to mind), so the "black rage" element seems a little incongruous. But maybe that's just the whitey in me. The rest of the disc manages to range from a jazzy blues (The Way You Found Me) to a Zeppelinesque, guitar driven jam (Serve Your Soul), and lacks the coherence of the first. Why Harper felt the need to include the second disc is beyond me considering only three songs are really worth inclusion on the album.

Official Site

Track Listing and Lyrics

Performing Morning Yearning
Navy 48, Maryland 14

The dynasty begins with a thorough woodshedding of the Terps, and I am totally in love with Navy's flexbone offense.
After a day's worth of voting, the poll results read as follows:

Navy - 45% -9
Alabama - 15% - 3
Florida International - 15% - 3
N.C. State - 5% -1
Purdue - 5% - 1
Iowa State - 5% - 1
Idaho - 5% - 1
Montana State - 5% - 1
UCONN - 0% - 0
Akron - 0% - 0
Washington State - 0% - 0
total votes: 20

Apparently there are a lot of flexbone/option fans out there, so it looks like I'm headed to Annapolis. I'll keep you posted as to the results.
Hank Williams Jr. Accused of Harrassment

I have witnesses that can confirm I was busy harrassing a totally different scandalously young girl in Birmingham around midnight Saturday.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Here's your chance to directly affect my personal life! Cast your vote in the "Who Should I Coach Next?" poll in the sidebar to help my decide which team I'll be coaching in my next NCAA 2006 dynasty!

Monday, March 20, 2006

16 Blocks is a movie that is enjoyable to a point. It shares several similarities with both The Gauntlet and Midnight Run, but never really achieves either the violent excitement of the former or the superb scripting and characterizations of the latter. What it gives us is a mediocre chase movie with a few things to recommend and a lot to disparage. Willis plays a washed up, alcoholic detective presented with a last second assignment to transport a witness to a grand jury trial. The witness in question, played by Mos Def, is set to testify against several crooked cops who have made arrangements to make sure he never makes that testimony. Willis’s character is given the assignment because the cop entrusted with Def’s transport is held up and won’t make it in time, and because Willis is an apathetic drunk who’s screw up won’t raise a single eyebrow. True to form, Willis stops on the way at a liquor store and the action begins as he stops the would-be assassins and flees with Def. I won’t give out any spoilers even though most of the “surprises” are predictable, but the rest of the movie concerns the conspiracy of crooked cops as they attempt to spin the events and hunt both Willis and Def down, while our heroes bond in a trite, buddy movie kind of way as they make their way to the courthouse.

The weakest link in the movie is Mos Def, yet another rapper turned actor unable to understand that acting means more than reading lines and, in this case, showing character depth with a ridiculous and annoying nasal whine of a voice. Good actors can make you understand their characters without the use of visual or auditory clues while bad actors dye their hair or use a fake voice. Mos Def is one of them. Throughout the movie there was an audible groan every time he opened his mouth and it subtracted from the whole movie. Def aside, the rest of the movie isn’t that bad, even if it is formulaic with a suitably cheesy ending. Willis, always a solid lead, does his best with the material and creates a reasonably pathetic and depressing tarnished cop, while Donner gives us a few exciting action sequences to keep the pace flowing. Overall it was fair, but I wouldn’t see it again.