Lately, Anthony and I have been taking shots at US Soccer in the wake of their embarrassing showings versus Italy and Brazil in the Confederations Cup. Not exactly the World Cup, but it’s still a stage for the U.S. to match up against the very best International teams in the world.
Personally, I had assumed that the US was eliminated from the event until I read the wrap up from the Egypt match which stated that the U.S. had moved on out of the group stage after an unlikely scenario arose where the U.S. beat Egypt by 3 or more (US 3 – Egypt 0) and Italy lost to Brazil by 3 or more (Brazil 3 – Italy 0).
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Categories: Soccer · Sports
Tagged: Confederations Cup, Egypt, U.S. Soccer
“I was talking about this the other day with my Grandfather. I don’t think pitch counts are all that important. If guys just got into the right shape, and learned to pace themselves, I think they could pitch more complete games.”
And so another correspondence was begun between me and my cohort Anthony. Sports Illustrated has taken the lead of ESPN and begun posting email back and forth based articles on their website. The following link is a recent article on the effectiveness of pitch counts.
READ ARTICLE HERE
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Categories: Baseball · MLB
Ok,
So I knew that they wouldn’t pick Dark Knight. Best, and most popular, movie of the year aside. But other than Slumdog Millionaire (which I still haven’t seen. And in fairness I’m going off of what I’m read with the others.) the four noms for best picture are all forgettable movies with unoriginal stories in my opinion. And the one original story (Benjamin Button) got very mixed reviews and wasn’t liked by Ebert or NYTimes if I remember. I also know that from people I know that have seen it, nobody liked it and everybody complained about length. So of course it makes sense that picture gets 13 nods. Frost/Nixon we’ve talked about but I know for a fact it’s only getting votes because the academy is all old farts that love movies abou their past. (Unless it’s Zodiac. Then it gets nothing even though that’s a great movie.) I take that back. I hear good things about Milk and maybe that movie will last, but The Reader is a bunch of hogwash. I don’t care how good it is, it’s only getting nominated for the nudity.
And the best director category is just a rehashing of best picture. That’s laziness.
Best Actress Angelina Jolie? Really? In a movie nobody saw and was panned? Ok. Whatever academy.
Wall-E has no shot but better win for best screenplay. Has to be better than In Bruges. Again, no Dark Knight.
I also love that Doubt has all these actor nods when to me it’s a perfect case of big name actors doing religious period piece in hopes of getting nod. Kind of like the parody movie from Tropic Thunder. If you’re a respected actor and you want an oscar, then just play a priest or a nun. Guaranteed nomination. Especially if the movie is slow, boring and overly serious.
Also, I love that Dark Knight only gets technical awards and will probably lose those to Benjamin Button.
Note: The full list of Oscar Nominees can be found
here.
Categories: Movies
Tagged: 2009 Oscar Nominations, Academy Awards
DeJuan Blair
Well, Pitt wore their gold uniforms last night as they trounced Duquesne in a yearly matchup that is became sad about 10 years ago. I never understood this affectation with solid gold. Not only does the color look like crap, but when the players sweat on the jersey it looks like urine.
I like this quote from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “It has become common for professional and college sports teams to don third jerseys on special occasions. It’s a marketing and motivational ploy.” I had a whole diatribe about why this type of “motivation” is B.S. but I’ll let my buddy over at Pitt Panther Prowl give you his view.
Categories: College Basketball · Sports
Tagged: Panthers, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Uniforms
Before I begin, let me just say I’ve been a fan of Kanye West’s since I first saw a report on the Producer turned Rapper on MTV about a year before College Dropout came out. I think he’s one of the top artists of any genre in the music business today and to say he’s a pop superstar is almost an understatement. So naturally I was excited to hear that less than one year after his third LP was released Kanye West felt the need to give us another record. 808s and Heartbreak is a departure to say the least for Mr. West, with him singing through a Vocoder for the entirety of record.
By this point everyone and their grandmother has written their opinion on the album, so I’m not going to spend much time here. I just wanted to throw in my two cents for your consideration. I like it. Plain and simple. The production on 808s is some of the best you are going to hear. If this album had a real singer on it it would be a classic. I think most people aren’t feeling it for two reasons, it’s not what Kanye usually does and the singing is weak.
I’ll give you the second point. On a few songs the singing and lyrics begin to take away from the music but not enough in my opinion to take away from the overall record. Which I find to be a good listen from beginning to end and somewhat of a concept album. All of the songs relate to love and loss and, while they are the best lyrically, the music is able to take you on an emotional journey. Plus some of the songs can get your feet moving.
As for this record being a departure for Mr. West? I welcome when an artist tries to live outside of the box. Too many artists these days recycles the same record to get sales and airplay. I look at T.I. as one example. I think Mr. Harris is one of the best lyricists and MCs in the game today. And yet he frequently fills his records with radio cuts and ballads for the ladies. This takes away from the overall impact of the album. For rappers today they need to look at records like Illmatic and The Blueprint to see how it’s done. No filler, just good music. I’m getting a little off the topic, but the point is that musicians taking risks can be a good thing. For Mr. West it means his art is expanding and it keeps me excited for the next project. Here we have a talented artist who is at the top of his game and yet he is continually looking for new sounds and avenues to express his feelings. This, I think, is a great thing.
Categories: Hip-Hop · Music
Tagged: 808s and Heartbreak, Kanye West
November 21, 2008 · 1 Comment
Before I get into my feelings on dual personality albums let me give you a little background on my compatriot Anthony’s musical tastes. He’s one of the few guys that I consider to be a listener of music. Most people flutter along from radio hit to radio hit or compartmentalize themselves into a musical box. Which leads to goth kids and those douches that wear “I Am Hip Hop” t-shirts. Anthony might prefer the electronic beeps and boops accompanied by synthesizer to the electric squeal of a guitar, but I’ll give him credit for actually listening to a wide array of music. I only say this to highlight the fact that while I value his musical opinion, when it comes to Rock or RnB, I feel I have to check some of his statements.
As was previously mentioned, Beyonce has decided to release a dual personality album. Sure we all know she can sing, but did you also know she had an edgy side? She’s not all tight jeans and glossy photos. You know her alter ego is edgy because her last name is “Fierce”. Subtle, no? My biggest problem with these concept albums if very similar to Anthony’s, they aren’t fully fleshed out.
T.I. vs T.I.P. was a fantastic idea in my opinion. T.I. is the current pop rap persona of rapper Clifford Harris. A guy who has enjoyed immense success and radio play and has even garnered respect in the acting world. T.I.P. is the hustler, dealer, gangster of Harris’ younger days. The back and forth between the young hustler and the older, richer pop artist could have presented an interesting example of a person’s growth and the trappings of fame. Alas, lazy raps and unimaginative beats made much of the album a far cry from the other strong offerings in T.I.’s catalogue.
Sgt. Pepper’s on the other hand is a classic Beatles album. So it can be done.
To me, the problem isn’t so much the concept of alter ego albums. It is the two fold effect of making a double album and lazy writing. A double album is rarely a good idea. For most artists, getting 12-15 good songs is enough trouble. When they spread that to 30-35, it’s usually a jumbled mess. If T.I. had cut half the songs on his album, he might have had something to work with.
I’m glad that artists try to expand their horizons and create these alter egos to get their messages out. I just wish they’d work a little harder at it.
Categories: Music
Tagged: Beatles, Beyonce, T.I.
Roger Ebert posted a response to John McCain’s lack of manners during the Presidential debate this past friday. In case you missed it, McCain refused to look at Barack Obama during the 90 minute duration of the debate. Not to mention the condescending tone he used to respond to Obama’s remarks. While it is true that Ebert is an Obama supporter, I believe he brings up a good point. Even when you disagree with somebody it is only right to treat them with respect and to acknowledge their viewpoints. It dissapoints me that people in this country can’t seem to talk politics with each other without getting personal, feeling personally attacked and falling into simple Republican vs Democrat arguments. A healthy debate leads to an exchange of ideas which in turn helps us to solve problems and better understand each other. Friday night was a great example of the inability of this country to respect each other’s viewpoints, as displayed by John McCain. Do you really believe he’ll work with Democrats for the betterment of the country when he can’t look at the Democratic candidate in the eye?
>>>READ ARTICLE HERE<<<
Categories: 2008 Presidential Election · Politics
Tagged: McCain, Obama, Presidential Debate, Roger Ebert
The LA Times conducted a poll after the First Presidential debate this last Friday. The poll showed an increase in Obama’s lead of John McCain as a result of their performances in the debate. The poll results can be seen here.
Categories: 2008 Presidential Election · News · Politics
Tagged: Barack Obama, John McCain
Categories: News · Politics
Tagged: CNN, Paul Begala
The NY Times reported today on the exorbitant amount of money that Wall Street CEOs are paid. Of course they make insane amounts of money because their paychecks are approved by a board. And who makes up these boards? Other Wall Street CEOs of course. So it’s in the best interest of everyone to keep pay high for each other. Their pay has grown exponentially in recent years and that doesn’t include the “golden parachutes” they are given when their companies fail or the benefits (corporate jet, personal driver, personal chef) they receive as heads of these organizations. With the current economic crisis, Congress has a chance to finally do something about this issue. Why is it fair that employees lose jobs and CEOs get big pay days? Hopefully Congress can put a stop to this ridiculous practice of stratospheric CEO pay.
For a list of salaries of the CEOs currently involved in the crisis on Wall Street check out this post.
Categories: Economy · News
Tagged: CEO Salaries, Economic Slowdown, Federal Bailout, Wall Street
