Who's Next?

First there was John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.



"I've never seen anybody quite like Secretary Bolton. ... I don't have a second, third or fourth in terms of the way that he abuses his power and authority with little people." -State Department intelligence chief Carl W. Ford (April 12, 2005)


Then there was Joshua Bolten, chief of Staff.



"Simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic by replacing Andy Card with Josh Bolten without a dramatic change in policy will not right this ship." -Senator Chuck Schumer (March 28, 2006)



This can only mean that the next Secretary of State will be...



"Michael Bolton is a no-talent ass clown" -"Office Space" (1999)

Concert

I went to a cool concert last night. I was accompanied by LG and my friend David (he who invited me to the Johnny Walker event). The show was at Southpaw, the concert place right next door to my apartment. There were three bands at the show, but we skipped the first one since we'd never heard of them before. When we got to the place the second opening act, Richard Buckner, was just beginning. He is a pretty good singer-songwriter who I know a little bit about. Intrigued by this song, which was featured (for good or for bad) on a Volkswagon commercial, I went out and bought one of his CDs a while back at Used Kids. I like his music but he was a little too electric live. I expected a nice lonely man with a guitar, a glass of beer, and a tear running down his cheek. He was not any of these things. I imagine (to a much lesser degree of course) that my expectations for him and the actual event were similar to when Dylan first went electric. Although the results were not nearly the same. Anyway, I'm going off on a weird tangent, so back to the show...

The headlining act was a band called The Minus 5. Some of you (Jack, Burb) may know them from my incessant promotion of them as a "cool" band. They are comprised of a variety of people (depending on the album), but are mainly made up of Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck (of R.E.M. fame) as well as Bill Reiflen on drums and John Ramberg of bass. In addition to these folks, they are accompanied on their CDs by the likes of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, and Glenn Kotche of Wilco, Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, and a host of others. I am a big fan of the band, especially their two latest CDs ("Down with Wilco" & "The Minus 5 (the gun album)"). They were great to see live (although my tiny hope of seeing either Jeff Tweedy or Colin Meloy pop up on stage was dashed) and I think that everyone enjoyed them. As for those of you reading this post who are interested in the band, here are three songs of theirs that I fancy.
The first, from "the gun album," is called 'Cemetery Row' and features Colin Meloy as lead vocalist.
Second is a song from "Down with Wilco" called 'The Family Gardener' sung by Jeff Tweedy.
And third is another cut from "the gun album" called 'Out there on the maroon' with lead singer Scott McCaughey. Enjoy them all!

sucky week

This past week has been pretty crappy. Three consecutive all-day meetings at work, followed by a three hour (3 hour!!) training session on Friday. All while I have to do about 7 full days of assignments. And, on top of that, I am sick. This weekend was much needed. But it's already Sunday and I'm not quite better yet. Looks like next week will be crappy too.

Oh how I wish we had summer vacations.

I haven't give up on it yet

I watched two episodes of "Lost" last night. It's been a while since I've seen a new episode, what with repeats and other things going on. The two I watched were "Maternity Leave" and "The Whole Truth." A few times this season I was admittedly disappointed by the show, a feeling which seems to be common among those who watch it, but these two episodes (especially last night's new one) restored my faith in the show. There is a lot still unexplained, but some things are becoming clearer, or at least making more sense. Though Claire is not one of my favorite characters (and babies are annoying) her episode was very well done. The flashbacks to her disappearance were a long time coming, but they were not at all what I expected. Plus we were given the return of Ethan in another creepy scene or two. We also found out that Alex is (possibly) still alive and that Rousseau is just a big softee.
Last night's episode didn't offer too much information about the past, but surely set up some exciting things for the future. Weird captive guy Henry is beginning to manipulate the Losties and is trying to pit Locke against Jack. I can't really predict what is going on with his character (or what will happen next) but I do know that I am intrigued and will look forward to the next episode.
Don't give up on the show yet. I know Burb hasn't and I hope the rest of you won't either.

Cars & Dough

After the last post, which was very text heavy, here's a more visually pleasing entry:

All of the following cars have made the "World's Most Expensive Cars of 2006" list put together by Forbes Magazine. I thought they were pretty cool looking. And ridiculously overpriced.

Bugatti Veyron

$1,192,000 (1,001 hp)


Pagani Zonda Roadster

$667,321 (650 hp)


SSC Ultimate Aero

$654,500 (1,046 hp)


Leblanc Mirabeau

$645,084 (700 hp)


Saleen S7 Twin Turbo

$637,723 (750 hp)


Koenigsegg CCR

$545,568 (806 hp)


Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren

$452,750 (617 hp)


Maybach 62

$385,250 (543 hp)


Porsche Carrera GT

$440,000 (604 hp)


Maybach 57 S

$367,000 (604 hp)


So, which one would you buy?
If it were me, and I had millions of dollars to throw around, I'd probably go for the Saleen S7. I'm sure it'd help me score with the ladies. Woo hoo!

Drink on soldier of God

A friend at work invited me and another guy to a Johnny Walker "Striding Man" event last night. It was a free event to promote Johnny Walker scotch whiskey. We got to the place at about 8:30 and followed the long line of people in. Before we could enter, a Johnny Walker representative took our driver's license and scanned it into this very fancy handheld computer (Burb, you would have been so jealous). She then asked us a few questions about what we like to drink, what type of alcohol is our favorite, how often we drink Johnny Walker, etc. After the Q & A we headed into the nearly barren concrete room for drinks and food. Or, rather, make that drink and food. As we entered we were given a coin which we could trade in for 1 beverage of our choice. The bar served three scotch-based drinks: a "Red Margarita" (with Johnny Walker red), a "Red Zinger" (JW Red with ginger ale and lime juice), or a JW Black on the rocks. Because we were only offered one drink, I went for the last option. My companions ordered the Red Zinger. We stood around for a while, eating a few bites of food that came by on trays and watching the large TV screens that were set up on one side of the room. They were flashing videos of sports cars, athletes, "hot" women, and bottles of JW. It was a pretty obvious attempt at advertising/propaganda.

About a half-hour later, we were invited into the next room (or, rather, part of the same room just with a black curtain dividing it). There, we were led to rows of very sleek white couches. There were probably a few hundred people there, sitting four rows deep in a square shape. In the middle of the square was an open space with spotlights on it. In front of us on long, white tables were many glasses of scotch. Each small shot glass stood on a colored circle indicating what kind it was. There were five circles in all: black, gold, red, green, and blue. Only the black, red, and green were on the table when we sat down. After we were seated, the lights dimmed and another series of videos were shown in the gigantic screens that surrounded us on every side.

After the videos, a man in a black suit and wearing a Madonna-esque microphone headset came out into the middle of the square. He introduced himself, the company, and gave us a little history of the JW corporation. Then he discussed how he liked to drink JW black neat or on the rocks. He sequed into another video (with a black color theme) and asked us to try to JW black that was in front of us. With each type of scotch, he told us another story or instance when having that drink was the best thing in the world. JW Red is for mixing, JW gold is for drinking cold as an after-dinner drink, etc. etc. We even got to try the rare and expensive JW blue, which is supposedly the best scotch ever made. I will admit that it was my favorite, but at that price (about $200 a bottle) I'll go for something a little less sophisticated.

The night was a fun one, mostly because the two people I was with are very funny individuals, also because I drank a fair amount of scotch. We even got little Johnny Walker Striding Man pins.

What I was most taken aback by at this event was the near-religious devotion to scotch that the host had. He told the group that he had decided one day to quit his job and work, instead, in his passion: which was apparently alcohol. Each different kind of JW would be almost orgasmic in quality to him. I was kinda surprised that he didn't equate drinking JW blue with "tapping a hot slut" or some such thing (about 95% of the audience were men, 75% of those were drunk). At one point, however, he did (in referring to JW blue) say "This answers that age old question: What would Jesus drink?"

Now, I'm one for constant religious blasphemy. You might even say that it's part of who I am. But to go as far as to equate an alcoholic drink to a deity, that's a little too much. The guy was clearly (and desperately) needing a little help from AA. Of course, his higher power might end up being a smooth, smoky liqueur.

It's NCAA Basketball Time!!!

[I know I haven't posted for a few days, so to make it up for you I have a wonderful post on the NCAA tournament.]


The 2006 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

Earlier today, I filled out my bracket for the NCAA tourney (thanks Burb). Now, I won't give away all my magical secrets that make my surefire picks the winners that they are, but I can give you a little preview of the tourney as I see it.

Now that's a mighty 'stache!



This is Adam Morrison, one of the best basketball players in the tourney. He has a kick-ass moustache, not to mention some crazy hair. And, because he's white, he is constantly compared to Larry Bird. I've got Morrison and his Gonzaga teammates going to the Elite Eight.

This guy kicked my ass on the court



The guy on the left of the picture is Grant Billmeier. He lived in the same small town that I grew up in. He and his older brother lived down the street from a friend of mine and we played basketball at their house over the summers. Grant is nearly 7 feet tall, his brother about the same. Needless to say, I got my scrawny butt whupped on a regular basis. Grant is a senior at Seton Hall, a #10 seed. I have them winning their first round game before falling to Tennessee in the second round.

The "Ays" Have It



For some reason, this year seems to be filled with people whose names confuse me. In the Big East Conference alone, you have Allan Ray, Rudy Gay, Aaron Gray, and Antonio Graves. These players represent three of the top teams in the tourney, which I think is a sign. That's why I picked Ray's Villanova Wildcats, Gay's Connecticut Huskies and Pittsburgh, where Gray and Graves play, to make it to the Final Four.
I think, to avoid confusion, everyone should have a nice unique name...like Pittsnogle.




Them Boys Can Shoot!




In the last category of the evening (I know there's not much written here, but it took me a long time to find all these damn pictures) I present the two most clutch guys in the tournament: J.J. Redick of Duke and Gerry McNamara of Syracuse. Both of these guys will have good (if not great) NBA careers because of their ability to hit from long distance. For now, though, it is exciting to watch them tough it out against other college guys. I hope that they both get to play some close games and take some heroic last shots. I have Duke and Syracuse meeting in the Sweet Sixteen. Duke will prevail on their way to another Final Four.


I hope that you enjoyed my NCAA Tournament breakdown. Good luck filling out the brackets.

PS- In case you wondered: searching for "Gay Huskies" on Google gets you very few pictures of the basketball player. Among the funniest finds is this:

words are silly

Progress
Regress
Ingress
Digress

Pro-, re-, in-, and di- are all prefixes. So does that mean that they are prefixes of the word gress? No. That’s because there is no such word. At least not in the English language. So where did it come from? Apparently, it comes from the Latin word gradi, which means “to go.” It makes sense if you look up the word egress, which means “the act of going out or leaving.”

There is absolutely no point to all of this…

Do you ever feel like you're in a movie?

Both last night and this morning, as I was walking to and from the train station and my house, I had that familiar feeling of being in a movie. This was mostly due to the fact that I had my iPod on and was listening to some appropriately night/morning music. I felt like somewhere out there there was a camera filming me and that the music wasn't just in my ears and in my head, but surrounding me entirely.
I find that this sort of thing usually happens when I am walking. My mind seems to float away for a little bit and it imagines that I am in the middle of some pre-constructed reality. Maybe it's just me, but I bet not.

Oscar summation

Well, the Oscars were last night (as you all know). I was happy enough with the results, although my predictions weren't completely accurate. The two awards that bugged me the most were Best Picture and Best Actress. I was really hoping that Brokeback would win Best Picture, mostly because it would validate something about Hollywood that people always claim: that Hollywood is more open and comfortable with "non-conforming" relationships (whatever they may be). At least BB got nominated and won for best director and screenplay.
The other award that I was bugged by was Reese Witherspoon winning Best Actress. I base this solely on the fact that that woman annoys me...a lot. I hadn't seen most of the other movies she was up against (or hers for that matter) but in general I have a deep respect for a certain other actress who was nominated (think "Desperate Housewives"). I really would have loved to see her win, especially for a role that seems very difficult to play. Instead, we got the bubbly Mrs. Phillipe. Boo-urns.
Overall, I thought the Oscars were entertaining. John Stewart was funny enough, especially during the more ad-libbed bits. His opening monologue was okay, but I most liked the "Daily Show-esque" political ads and clips. Very funny stuff. All in all I would give Stewart a thumbs-up and wouldn't mind seeing him host again next year.
Your thoughts?

It's time for an Oscar prediction post!

Here are my predictions for the Oscars that will be on this Sunday. Sadly, I won't be able to throw a fabulous party like I did last year. But at least I can still take my best guess at who will win. Feel free to comment and let me know who you think will win. (My selections are in italics)

Best Actor

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"
Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Supporting Actor

George Clooney in "Syriana"
Matt Dillon in "Crash"
Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt in "A History of Violence"

Best Actress

Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron in "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams in "Junebug"
Catherine Keener in "Capote"
Frances McDormand in "North Country"
Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams in "Brokeback Mountain"

Best Animated Film

"Howl's Moving Castle" Hayao Miyazaki
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" Nick Park and Steve Box

Best Adapted Screenplay

"Brokeback Mountain" Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
"Capote" Screenplay by Dan Futterman
"The Constant Gardener" Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
"A History of Violence" Screenplay by Josh Olson
"Munich" Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Best Original Screenplay

"Crash" Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Story by Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
"Match Point" Written by Woody Allen
"The Squid and the Whale" Written by Noah Baumbach
"Syriana" Written by Stephen Gaghan

Best Director

"Brokeback Mountain" Ang Lee
"Capote" Bennett Miller
"Crash" Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck." George Clooney
"Munich" Steven Spielberg

Best Picture

"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
"Munich"

New Story

Instead of a new post here (this one clearly doesn't count), there's a new story on Spec's Story Time for you all to read. Enjoy.