This is a listing of some of my favorite movies, no weighting can be inferred by the order of the listing simply my ability to recall :)
1.) Andromeda Strain
2.) Colossus: The Forbin Project
3.) 2001 A Space Odyssey
4.) Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5.) Alien, Aliens
6.) Demon Seed
7.) The Ten Commandments
8.) The Omega Man
9.) Cry Freedom (about Steve Biko)
10.) JAWS - scared me so much I stayed out of the ocean for a long time.
11.) Contact
12.) Omen I, Omen II - that music.....
13.) Remember the Titans
14.) The Color Purple
15.) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
16.) Manhunter - the 1st Hannibal Lector movie in 1986
17.) Brian's Song - nope, I will not admit anything about this.
18.) Any Given Sunday
19.) Necessary Roughness
20.) Lucas
21.) North Dallas Forty - being a Steeler fan, it was easy to hate these guys more.
22.) Soylent Green
Some movies I truly disliked are:
1.) Eragon - Destroyed the story
2.) Chronicles of Narnia - the evil witch was supposed to be beautiful?
3.) Wargames - Why like Demon Seed and hate Wargames? Demon Seed was more horror and evil computer, Wargames - well that was stupid.
4.) ET - go home you big rodent, j/k
Well, for now that is it...
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Bonds, Schilling, HGH, Clemens, and Awards.
I like what Curt Schilling said on his blog. I did not see it as an attack the way the media portrayed it, but moreso as a player expressing his feelings on an issue that is a part of his life.
Many of the people in the Mitchell Report are his friends.
America has been after Barry Bonds for quite a while. When Raphael Palmeiro testified, swore to Congress that he did NOT ever use any illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs - but was latter found out to be a liar, it made headlines for a week and disappeared. The Federal Government never decided to prosecute him, I guess because there was no Federal Investigator involved, just the Congress of the USA.
I must keep that in mind, although I doubt I would ever be in such a situation.
But, to be fair and honest, I never thought about Roger Clemens and drugs. I just loved the guy. I never heard the so-called rumors regarding his ability to pitch, it wasn't like when Barry Bonds swelled up looking like Conan the Barbarian at 40!
But, I guess pitchers arms don't last that long as Roger Clemens arm did.
Personally, I do not think Roger should not give any awards back, nor Barry have any "asterisk" next to his records, at all.
We do not know who was and who was not using in the past, nor how much that possible use impacted the players performance.
It isn't like Pete Rose who made a conscious choice to gamble on baseball, especially when he was a manager of the team. Now, Pete should get in to the HOF for his performance on the field, but nothing afterwards.
I guess, what has irked me the most has been the difference in how people have reacted. Barry Bonds was not the most loved player. But, being from Pittsburgh, I recall when he played there and the fans in Pittsburgh did not make Mr. Bonds or Mr. Dave Parker feel welcome. It was strange, they loved Willie Stargell, but not Bonds/Parker, and I do not know why.
That was very early in Bonds career and I think it was one of the reasons he changed towards fans.
Fast-forward. So, America's response is to vilify Barry Bonds, destroy him, yet ignore Roger for basically the same "rumor" and now what seems to be a solid allegation is hypocritical.
/rant over
Many of the people in the Mitchell Report are his friends.
America has been after Barry Bonds for quite a while. When Raphael Palmeiro testified, swore to Congress that he did NOT ever use any illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs - but was latter found out to be a liar, it made headlines for a week and disappeared. The Federal Government never decided to prosecute him, I guess because there was no Federal Investigator involved, just the Congress of the USA.
I must keep that in mind, although I doubt I would ever be in such a situation.
But, to be fair and honest, I never thought about Roger Clemens and drugs. I just loved the guy. I never heard the so-called rumors regarding his ability to pitch, it wasn't like when Barry Bonds swelled up looking like Conan the Barbarian at 40!
But, I guess pitchers arms don't last that long as Roger Clemens arm did.
Personally, I do not think Roger should not give any awards back, nor Barry have any "asterisk" next to his records, at all.
We do not know who was and who was not using in the past, nor how much that possible use impacted the players performance.
It isn't like Pete Rose who made a conscious choice to gamble on baseball, especially when he was a manager of the team. Now, Pete should get in to the HOF for his performance on the field, but nothing afterwards.
I guess, what has irked me the most has been the difference in how people have reacted. Barry Bonds was not the most loved player. But, being from Pittsburgh, I recall when he played there and the fans in Pittsburgh did not make Mr. Bonds or Mr. Dave Parker feel welcome. It was strange, they loved Willie Stargell, but not Bonds/Parker, and I do not know why.
That was very early in Bonds career and I think it was one of the reasons he changed towards fans.
Fast-forward. So, America's response is to vilify Barry Bonds, destroy him, yet ignore Roger for basically the same "rumor" and now what seems to be a solid allegation is hypocritical.
/rant over
Steelers this Season
I live in Virginia but I am a Pittsburgher. I was boon there, went to school there, met my wife and married her there - so the Steeltown is in my blood.
No matter where I go, one of the first things I do, is call DirectTV, and get my NFL Package Sunday Ticket :)
So here is my season ending rant.
New Coach
Tomlin
I like Mike Tomlin. Like everyone else, we are still getting to know the man but from what I see and the attitude he portrays it is one that goes along with the Steeltown image and that for the Steelers.
His ideas are also good for change and to maintain the tradition of a strong defense and running game.
Now, this season we started so strong - but I saw mental lapses against Arizona and Denver. I mean of all the games we should have expected an all out test and attack against our weaknesses would be the Arizona game.
Why? Simple, REVENGE. Sure, Whisenhunt (note, I liked Ken for the H.C. job personally - but am more than happy with Mr. Tomlin) is a new head coach, but he was passed over by the Rooney's for a coach out of no-where.
Since the relationship with him and Ben was not the best (I am going from broadcaster statements here, but there was an article in the Tribune Review on the matter), I am sure he also blames Ben to some degree for that.
So, why did Coach Tomlin not have his team prepared? Why did a team with a 2nd year QB, who cannot read defenses/and an over-the-hill backup beat us?
On the field, it looked like we would have beaten the Cardinals easily, but they whooped our ass mentally, so did the Broncos, and that lapse I lay at the Head Coach and his squad.
Coaching
Now, I am not done with the coaching. The loss to the Jaguars and the eeked out win over the Rams (nothing to brag about) showed me some serious flaws. The Dick Lebeau defense is done with the personnel we have.
Teams know how to beat it. Throw in 3 seconds or less, and with our highly aggressive safeties you get some real nice play action for deep damage (I am reminded of Randy Moss walking into the end-zone two times in a row).
Lebeau
I realize that the Rooney's did not want Lebeau to go, but lets face it, Tomlin came on the radar for the turn around he did on that Vikings defense. Not the same scheme as our blitzburgh approach, but I think we either need to blend the schemes (which will leverage some of our existing personnel), eliminate it (stupid solution), or continue with the same only get better starting personnel and depth. I mean, look, once Aaron Smith went out, we basically could not stop the run because our front-office did not get any depth at the position.
I think blending the defensive schemes and getting better personnel are the solutions.
Arians
My buddy Chris, I almost said the 'H' word - well he really DISLIKES this coach. Chris is one of the smartest people I know and he has some pretty valid reasons for it, but I cannot argue with Arians results.
He has improved Ben Roethlisberger's production, and without the Bus we had the number one rushing game. But, in my gut, I did not think he knew how to use the running game - until the RAMS game, when Willie Parker was injured and he returned to "up the gut" smash mouth football.
All these sports experts say the Steelers are done because the defenses will no longer respect the play-action without Parker since we have no deep threat, but if Arians goes into his little playbook and does what - I think it was Whisenhunt - did with Kordell, Antwaan and Hines - et al, he can use them to slow those blitzes on Ben.
We have no Kordell or Antwaan, but Santonio and the other receiver corps have shown they are more than capable replacements for that kind of once-in-a-while trick.
If we do get Veron Haynes, well all the better.
Shut Up Anthony Smith
How many Steeler fans had the same reaction as I when they saw that clip of loud-mouth before the Patriots game? Up until then I had some hope "don't wake the sleeping dragon", but no, big-mouth has to go and open his yap, and more than that he cannot back any of it up.
Tom Brady made sure he learned that lesson, time and time again.
Offensive Line
Everyone knows the real strength of a team is in it's line. Currently, ours cannot pass-block, they are designed for run blocking. While Ben is having a stellar year, he also is getting sacked a lot.
Now, is that the lines fault alone? No!
You can see how long Ben holds onto that ball sometimes, in fact a lot, looking and looking instead of dumping it to his checkdowns.
Ben may be a big guy, but for some reason he strikes me as a fragile guy. He slides head first a lot, and looks bad doing it.
I know he isn't as fragile as I am indicating, but he needs to remember that the season rides on him, and grow up to some degree. There is nothing wrong having fun out there, that is what he is supposed to be doing, but when you look at Tom Brady in a huddle - you know who is in charge, or Peyton or Donovan. Ben is a guy still having fun and taking a lot of risks, and believing he can throw the ball anywhere (why his interceptions are higher than they should be but not real bad), and the reason his sacks are so high is because he wants to go deep in this new offense all the time.
No matter where I go, one of the first things I do, is call DirectTV, and get my NFL Package Sunday Ticket :)
So here is my season ending rant.
New Coach
Tomlin
I like Mike Tomlin. Like everyone else, we are still getting to know the man but from what I see and the attitude he portrays it is one that goes along with the Steeltown image and that for the Steelers.
His ideas are also good for change and to maintain the tradition of a strong defense and running game.
Now, this season we started so strong - but I saw mental lapses against Arizona and Denver. I mean of all the games we should have expected an all out test and attack against our weaknesses would be the Arizona game.
Why? Simple, REVENGE. Sure, Whisenhunt (note, I liked Ken for the H.C. job personally - but am more than happy with Mr. Tomlin) is a new head coach, but he was passed over by the Rooney's for a coach out of no-where.
Since the relationship with him and Ben was not the best (I am going from broadcaster statements here, but there was an article in the Tribune Review on the matter), I am sure he also blames Ben to some degree for that.
So, why did Coach Tomlin not have his team prepared? Why did a team with a 2nd year QB, who cannot read defenses/and an over-the-hill backup beat us?
On the field, it looked like we would have beaten the Cardinals easily, but they whooped our ass mentally, so did the Broncos, and that lapse I lay at the Head Coach and his squad.
Coaching
Now, I am not done with the coaching. The loss to the Jaguars and the eeked out win over the Rams (nothing to brag about) showed me some serious flaws. The Dick Lebeau defense is done with the personnel we have.
Teams know how to beat it. Throw in 3 seconds or less, and with our highly aggressive safeties you get some real nice play action for deep damage (I am reminded of Randy Moss walking into the end-zone two times in a row).
Lebeau
I think blending the defensive schemes and getting better personnel are the solutions.
Arians
My buddy Chris, I almost said the 'H' word - well he really DISLIKES this coach. Chris is one of the smartest people I know and he has some pretty valid reasons for it, but I cannot argue with Arians results.
He has improved Ben Roethlisberger's production, and without the Bus we had the number one rushing game. But, in my gut, I did not think he knew how to use the running game - until the RAMS game, when Willie Parker was injured and he returned to "up the gut" smash mouth football.
All these sports experts say the Steelers are done because the defenses will no longer respect the play-action without Parker since we have no deep threat, but if Arians goes into his little playbook and does what - I think it was Whisenhunt - did with Kordell, Antwaan and Hines - et al, he can use them to slow those blitzes on Ben.
We have no Kordell or Antwaan, but Santonio and the other receiver corps have shown they are more than capable replacements for that kind of once-in-a-while trick.
If we do get Veron Haynes, well all the better.
Shut Up Anthony Smith
How many Steeler fans had the same reaction as I when they saw that clip of loud-mouth before the Patriots game? Up until then I had some hope "don't wake the sleeping dragon", but no, big-mouth has to go and open his yap, and more than that he cannot back any of it up.
Tom Brady made sure he learned that lesson, time and time again.
Offensive Line
Everyone knows the real strength of a team is in it's line. Currently, ours cannot pass-block, they are designed for run blocking. While Ben is having a stellar year, he also is getting sacked a lot.
Now, is that the lines fault alone? No!
You can see how long Ben holds onto that ball sometimes, in fact a lot, looking and looking instead of dumping it to his checkdowns.
Ben may be a big guy, but for some reason he strikes me as a fragile guy. He slides head first a lot, and looks bad doing it.
I know he isn't as fragile as I am indicating, but he needs to remember that the season rides on him, and grow up to some degree. There is nothing wrong having fun out there, that is what he is supposed to be doing, but when you look at Tom Brady in a huddle - you know who is in charge, or Peyton or Donovan. Ben is a guy still having fun and taking a lot of risks, and believing he can throw the ball anywhere (why his interceptions are higher than they should be but not real bad), and the reason his sacks are so high is because he wants to go deep in this new offense all the time.
Audio Book Review: The Belgariad Series
I pretty much only read Technical Books now, and casual reading is done via iPod. I have done this for many years, and I have a large collection. My favorite genre is Science Fiction/Fantasy.
The Belgariad, is a 5 book series by David Eddings. The books are narrated by Cameron Beierle.
The first book, "Pawn of the Prophecy" starts with a 20-minute prologue, which at first made me feel like I was back in Sunday school. I started to worry, that this was a mistake. But, after the prologue the reader changed the way in which they were telling the story and it became quite engaging.
It is the story about a little boy named Garion, his Aunt Pol and many, many other people. I will not spoil the story any further, except to say it has Sorcerers, Gods, Witches, Necromancers, goblins, knights, viking-esque people, dryads, and many, many more.
Narrator
For audio books, the narrator can make or break the story. Like in the Harry Potter series, that narrator (Jim Dale) brought the books to life and so does Cameron Beierle.
After the "dreadful" prologue of "Pawn of Prophecy", where Mr. Beierle actually makes you understand the history of how the world came into being - using 'Thee' and 'thou' - type language, it is quite a change once the book begins.
Side Note, when I finished the series....I was so sad I immediately started it again, and this time I thoroughly enjoyed the prologue that I dreaded in the first book. So, keep that in mind, because each book has a prologue - and they do get to be quite interesting and important.
I like a narrator that gives each character a unique personality that the author is trying to develop. Unlike the narrator, Karl Fehr - (some famous actor, who is a horrible narrator), I could barely tell when the scene changed, and was always going back to find out "HUH? when did that happen?" because he has a "running down hill reading style." Mr. Fehr destroyed any enjoyment for The Kingdom of the Elves of the Reaches - simply because of his narration.
But, I put Mr. Beierle in the same class as Mr. Dale as narrator. I have not laughed so much in an audiobook as I did in this Series. I would be driving to work, and bust out laughing on I66 from some scene - and boy did the ride go so much faster. I could picture Garion as a child with his Aunt Pol grabbing his ears so vividly because of the way Mr. Beierle narrated the scene.
Series
Here is the complete 5 book series for "The Belgariad" in reading order:
David Eddings paints a wonderful world, that is a mixture of many other worlds. Some of the "Sword of Shannara", a bit of Middle Earth and of course adding in Gods.
What is so fun about this is the people he creates and you get to know them intimately. Cameron Beierle makes the work all the more fun and enjoyable, I really hated getting to the end. It was not like the Harry Potter series, when it ended - I was ok with that, but this, well I wanted the world to go on and on, even with the losses.
But, I am referencing more than just the Belgariad here. There is a second series, which follows right after this one - The Malloreon. There is some debate as to which is better, I liked this even more.
I hope you like the books, I am currently trying to find the other books/series by David Eddings in audio format. I know they exist because you can get them via torrent, but have not found where they can be purchased nor if they are done by the same narrator.
The other books are:
The Elenium
The Tamuli
The Belgariad, is a 5 book series by David Eddings. The books are narrated by Cameron Beierle.
The first book, "Pawn of the Prophecy" starts with a 20-minute prologue, which at first made me feel like I was back in Sunday school. I started to worry, that this was a mistake. But, after the prologue the reader changed the way in which they were telling the story and it became quite engaging.
It is the story about a little boy named Garion, his Aunt Pol and many, many other people. I will not spoil the story any further, except to say it has Sorcerers, Gods, Witches, Necromancers, goblins, knights, viking-esque people, dryads, and many, many more.
Narrator
For audio books, the narrator can make or break the story. Like in the Harry Potter series, that narrator (Jim Dale) brought the books to life and so does Cameron Beierle.
After the "dreadful" prologue of "Pawn of Prophecy", where Mr. Beierle actually makes you understand the history of how the world came into being - using 'Thee' and 'thou' - type language, it is quite a change once the book begins.
Side Note, when I finished the series....I was so sad I immediately started it again, and this time I thoroughly enjoyed the prologue that I dreaded in the first book. So, keep that in mind, because each book has a prologue - and they do get to be quite interesting and important.
I like a narrator that gives each character a unique personality that the author is trying to develop. Unlike the narrator, Karl Fehr - (some famous actor, who is a horrible narrator), I could barely tell when the scene changed, and was always going back to find out "HUH? when did that happen?" because he has a "running down hill reading style." Mr. Fehr destroyed any enjoyment for The Kingdom of the Elves of the Reaches - simply because of his narration.
But, I put Mr. Beierle in the same class as Mr. Dale as narrator. I have not laughed so much in an audiobook as I did in this Series. I would be driving to work, and bust out laughing on I66 from some scene - and boy did the ride go so much faster. I could picture Garion as a child with his Aunt Pol grabbing his ears so vividly because of the way Mr. Beierle narrated the scene.
Series
Here is the complete 5 book series for "The Belgariad" in reading order:
- Pawn of Prophecy
- Queen of Sorcery
- Magician's Gambit
- Castle of Wizardry
- Enchanters End Game
David Eddings paints a wonderful world, that is a mixture of many other worlds. Some of the "Sword of Shannara", a bit of Middle Earth and of course adding in Gods.
What is so fun about this is the people he creates and you get to know them intimately. Cameron Beierle makes the work all the more fun and enjoyable, I really hated getting to the end. It was not like the Harry Potter series, when it ended - I was ok with that, but this, well I wanted the world to go on and on, even with the losses.
But, I am referencing more than just the Belgariad here. There is a second series, which follows right after this one - The Malloreon. There is some debate as to which is better, I liked this even more.
I hope you like the books, I am currently trying to find the other books/series by David Eddings in audio format. I know they exist because you can get them via torrent, but have not found where they can be purchased nor if they are done by the same narrator.
The other books are:
- Belgarath the Sorcerer
- Polgara the Sorceress
The Elenium
- The Diamond Throne
- The Ruby Knight
- The Sapphire Rose
The Tamuli
- Domes of Fire
- The Shining Ones
- The Hidden City
Eragon, Eldest...my Theories on the next Steps
OK. We now know that Christopher Paolini will release the 3rd book in the Inheritance Series on September 23, 2008 - but in the RandomHouse announcement they indicated that a 4th book will be included in the Series.
“I plotted out the Inheritance series as a trilogy nine years ago, when I was fifteen. At that time, I never imagined I’d write all three books, much less that they would be published” said Paolini. “When I finally delved into Book Three, it soon became obvious that the remainder of the story was far too big to fit in one volume. Having spent so long thinking about the series as a trilogy, it was difficult for me to realize that, in order to be true to my characters and to address all of the plot points and unanswered questions Eragon and Eldest raised, I needed to split the end of the series into two books.”
I have listened to Eragon/Eldest twice and throughly enjoyed it each time. If you go onto the forums there is a lot of speculation as to Eragon's love interest - will it be Arya (most of the girls seem to think or hope so), or Nasuada? Some postulate a new rider, a female - which is an idea I kind of like.
Will he kill Murtagh? I think he will. But, I think Murtagh will hurt him again, and not sure how. But it will make him stronger, and darker.
More to come....
My image of Saphira going after Shruikan in the 3rd and 4th Eragon books...
“I plotted out the Inheritance series as a trilogy nine years ago, when I was fifteen. At that time, I never imagined I’d write all three books, much less that they would be published” said Paolini. “When I finally delved into Book Three, it soon became obvious that the remainder of the story was far too big to fit in one volume. Having spent so long thinking about the series as a trilogy, it was difficult for me to realize that, in order to be true to my characters and to address all of the plot points and unanswered questions Eragon and Eldest raised, I needed to split the end of the series into two books.”
I have listened to Eragon/Eldest twice and throughly enjoyed it each time. If you go onto the forums there is a lot of speculation as to Eragon's love interest - will it be Arya (most of the girls seem to think or hope so), or Nasuada? Some postulate a new rider, a female - which is an idea I kind of like.
Will he kill Murtagh? I think he will. But, I think Murtagh will hurt him again, and not sure how. But it will make him stronger, and darker.
More to come....
My image of Saphira going after Shruikan in the 3rd and 4th Eragon books...
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