Watching Maryland lose the lead...and now rally?!
Psuedo-live commentary, watching as Maryland rallies (?) from 75-84 down...having blown the 10-pt lead...but wait...Gilchrist with the 3? Mike Jones with the 3? And now it's 85-88...by the end of this post, perhaps Maryland will have pulled it out.

In the meantime, just some clarification-



Looks like my call was wrong.

Now that the first (bad) reviews are rolling in for The Big Bounce , let me explain my reasons behind my potentially erroneous call.

1) Elmore Leonard books translate well to film. One of my favorite movies is Out of Sight, with a pre-hyped George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez (watching it for the first time now would be a very different experience.) Get Shorty was entertaining as well.

2) Actors can draw you in, but directors make the movie. In more ways than one. For example, I was convinced a couple years ago that Jason Lee couldn't make a bad movie, but he's gotta eat--hence crapola like A Guy Thing. I like Owen Wilson, but the director of Big Bounce also made Grosse Pointe Blank--another underrated movie.

3) Still, a good cast is a good thing. 'Nuff said.

4) It's got that extra element. That girl everyone is talking about.

So...I feel validated. And Shallow Hal is still a good movie.

In the meantime, Maryland has lost.

And my cool tank graphic is gone! I need to find a replacement.
- posted by DD @ 9:20 PM

 
They say America's army is being misdirected...

Russia's begs to differ.

From Germany: more amusing (here) and interesting (here) beer stories.

And a not-so-micro-brew in Oregon that will pump you up.

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Signs that your quest for the Presidency is in trouble



Top news story on a certain candidate's website: "New Hampshire voters show curious interest in Kucinich."

The top story on his own website.

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You wouldn't normally lump "metrosexual" and "sweat like a pig" in the same sentence...unless you're talking about words banished in 2004.

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Over the weekend, saw a movie I'd highly recommend: L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). If you ever went abroad in college you'll find the essence of the experience captured in this movie. Screw the class-you learn more walking the streets, drinking with your friends, and seeing a different way of life. You grow in so many ways simply because you can't fall back in your comfort zone. I think one of my friends, who I met in a summer study abroad course, said it best at the time--in fact, I turned to her again for clarification:

I still believe you're at your purest self when you're overseas and away from all the superficial things that seem to "define" who you are.

Wouldn't disagree with that; certainly that's what the main character of "The Spanish Apartment" discovers. The movie is a fairly idealized depiction of a French graduate student's year in Barcelona, spent living in an apartment virtually populated by a resident of every major Western European country. The end felt a little too afterschool special, but maybe that's because it hit kind of close to home...either way, do yourself a favor. In Blockbuster now.
- posted by DD @ 11:50 PM

 
So true.


The curse lives.

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My "Gilman chums" might appreciate the tiny Alfonse Jean Louis Pierre St. Claude Alfonse Etruvian Theiblot IV reference.

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More news about Gilman lads old and forgotten...an expose of Frank Deford? (registration required)
- posted by DD @ 6:22 PM

 
Diamond scores!

1/25 Update: Actually, he didn't; scorekeepers gave AD two points that actually belonged to Kevin "Unrelated to Michael" Phelps. Sorry, A.
- posted by DD @ 1:47 PM

 
Larry David was a terrible comedian
who failed on stage, failed at Saturday Night Live, and nearly failed with Seinfeld. $200 million and a hit TV show ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") later, you probably know of him...or do you. The New Yorker lets us into his life.
- posted by DD @ 5:58 PM

 


Is this Keith Kormanik, as in Coach Kormanik and ex-Gilmanite? Funny stuff...eventually there's six degrees of separation between some reality show and yourself.

1/25 Update: I didn't realize it until today, but Kormanik unfortunately was booted from the show in the first round. Naturally, he's not thrilled...but it's not quite what you'd expect.
- posted by DD @ 2:58 AM

 
You heard it here first: the Big Bounce is going to be a good movie...no one is feeling me on this.


Call it a hunch.

And yes, Shallow Hal was a good movie too. One might even say very good movie.
- posted by DD @ 7:11 AM

 
DC was starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth. The air had turned cold again. Feeble protests to the contrary aside, I was beginning to buy the argument that the city really was small. Having your neighborhood near the epicenter of a terror alert rarely helps one feel jazzed about living in it, to boot.

Then I went to Columbus, Ohio. And that is a small town. Sure, it looked like a legitimate city from the outskirts; driving in, the skyline evoked Philadelphia's. The population compares favorably to that of DC; it may even be larger.

But man...Columbus is one depressed city. Local industry appeared to be a mix of fast-food joints and body shops; we must have passed a Wendy's every five minutes. When we rode around in a Hummer SUV, I kept waiting to drive through the "nice" area to show off our sweet ride. I'm still waiting.

Clearly sightseeing didn't bring me to Columbus; a college friend's wedding did.


The happy couple; pre-wedding photo, natch.

Our group was staying near OSU, which I was kind of excited about at first. My mental reference point was Ann Arbor, the only other Big 10 college town I'd been in, and had really liked...sadly, this was setting myself up for disappointment. Unlike its pastoral rival to the north, OSU's neighborhood was grimy and seedy, and the streets were barren of anything but college bars and chicken places. Comparing OSU/Michigan would be like contrasting Penn and Princeton, the two are so diametrically opposed only an athletic conference really makes the association a valid one. Since we did get to interact with OSU students--some of us more than others--I was reminded again, for a lot better and only a little worse, of the differences in going to an academically challenging private college rather than a big state university.

I could go on and on about my four (five?) days in Columbus, but suffice it to say I return happy for the groom, pleased having met the bride, amused by some bar antics, and resolved to think more carefully about my choice of attire when frequenting establishments of ill repute. And furious in missing 60 degree January weather on a Sunday--my favorite day, as you now know.

And about that sour taste...when we drove back through the empty streets of DC early Monday, I could have leapt out of the car and kissed them. I shit you not. I was that happy to be back. My family may be from the Midwest originally...but if I live on the coasts the rest of my life, I think I won't regret much. Except not spending a few months in Chicago in the spring time.

Random links:

Occasionally, you hear about the NBA factory that is Oak Hill high school; currently attending is potential prep-to-pro Josh Smith.

Now that you've given your holiday gifts...was it worth the time and money? Not according to this man.

The fifteen minutes begins for the former Mr. Britney Spears.

They're banned by professional leagues world over but you can't go a month without hearing about an athlete trying to sneak through testing. A writer and weekend warrior's interesting first-person account of taking steroids, testosterone, and EPO, to see for himself their effects.

I'm slowly making my way through Louis Menand's "The Metaphysical Club"; perhaps he's reading my blog in return? His own thoughts on end-of-the-year lists.
- posted by DD @ 12:55 AM

 
Summer-time in Sydney, Australia


With news that a winter storm is sweeping our way...looks like a nice place to be these days.

Things I missed:

Just a few add-ons to last week's gi-normous post.

Best movies:

Spellbound; really entertaining, definitely among the four or five best I saw all year. And though I never caught Mystic River, The Station Agent, Bus 174, In America, or Elephant, thanks for the recommendations, had certainly wanted to and will try to see them.

Worst:

I can't believe no one who went with me reminded me just how terrible Two Lost Souls on a Dirty Night was...good indicator that none of them read this I guess.

Great album:

Coldplay's Rush of Blood--though it technically was a 2002 release.

Most club-worthy track:

50 Cent's "In Da Club", natch

Saddest

Johnny Cash's "Hurt". Is it truly a cover of NIN?

Television show:

Arrested Development--even though I had no TV show category, my constant shilling of it leads some to suggest that I should do the same here.

Thanks to those who reminded me that these top-ten type lists always miss the mark, despite the best intentions.


- posted by DD @ 5:47 PM