So it appears that the changes I've made to the template, even though they show up when I check the template code, aren't going to show up here on the final page. Unless they do so when I publish this, though that seems doubtful.
Should it not show, I'll take it as a sign and move our wayward bloggers back into the normal rotation (not that any of you would have seen them move out of it). With my luck I'll change things back to the original format and then have the pages start showing up the way I've been trying to.
31 March 2003
It's snowing. It's not really sticking, but it's still snowing. So much for that "out like a lamb" crap Mother Nature keeps trying to feed us.
I'd care more about my NCAA hoops bracket being crap if I followed the sport more closely. That I have a bracket with a team that's still alive and picked to win it all (Texas) is a minor miracle unto itself. It does not help that even if the Longhorns take the title, I probably won't have the points to catch the current front runner, who picked his teams from somewhere on or under a major body of water.
And, as usual, I'm doing very well in the no money, pride-only NCAA men's d1 ice hockey pool. Got 11 of the 12 games right (picked BU to upend UNH, which is funny because when I was watching the game I thought I'd picked UNH). For what it's worth I have the Big Red of Cornell taking their first title in ages, though their OT tilt with BC has shaken my confidence a bit.
Watched most of the games from out west, but found it difficult given what, to me, seems like the unfair advantage that teams get from playing a regional on their home ice. I know, there's no guarantee Michigan and Minnesota would play at home, but there's something discomforting about it anyway. The viewing experience wasn't helped by the broadcast teams, who appeared to be the home broadcast duos for Michigan and Minnesota. Not as bad as embedded journalists who call the military formation their with "we," but still hard to take at times.
I'd care more about my NCAA hoops bracket being crap if I followed the sport more closely. That I have a bracket with a team that's still alive and picked to win it all (Texas) is a minor miracle unto itself. It does not help that even if the Longhorns take the title, I probably won't have the points to catch the current front runner, who picked his teams from somewhere on or under a major body of water.
And, as usual, I'm doing very well in the no money, pride-only NCAA men's d1 ice hockey pool. Got 11 of the 12 games right (picked BU to upend UNH, which is funny because when I was watching the game I thought I'd picked UNH). For what it's worth I have the Big Red of Cornell taking their first title in ages, though their OT tilt with BC has shaken my confidence a bit.
Watched most of the games from out west, but found it difficult given what, to me, seems like the unfair advantage that teams get from playing a regional on their home ice. I know, there's no guarantee Michigan and Minnesota would play at home, but there's something discomforting about it anyway. The viewing experience wasn't helped by the broadcast teams, who appeared to be the home broadcast duos for Michigan and Minnesota. Not as bad as embedded journalists who call the military formation their with "we," but still hard to take at times.
28 March 2003
I don't usually watch A Cook's Tour - I find host Tony Bourdain way too grating - but the two minutes of the episode I just saw where he was at the Mall of America was fantastic. He ate at some food court place called Minnesota Picnic. The meal? Pike on a stick (fried) and cheese curds (fried), finished with a piece of cheesecake (fried and on a stick). I know at least one person with Minnesota heritage reads this - what's the deal with the fried cheesecake?
I wound up only catching the last period of BU-Harvard, which was pretty much all I needed to see. The BU explosion for three goals reminded me of their latter stage dominance in the third game of the Hockey East quarters against Providence. The way they let Harvard push them around after the Crimson scored to make it 6-4 reminded me of most games this season. I don't know if it's a lack of physicality or complacency or over-reliance on Sean Fields' acrobatics that's the problem. It could be all three things.
This game did expose the weakest part of the BU game plan: the empty net. We suck at getting empty net goals, and we had some beautiful chances today.
UNH-St. Cloud is kind of dull. I missed each team's first goal while flipping around. Outside of the obvious reasons, I really would like to see St. Cloud win just so we can play someone different. A fifth game against UNH? Thanks NCAA!
The UNH game is on New Hampshire public television, which could be the best use of PBS time since I don't know when. At least it gets the pledge drive off the air. It also helps that the station is HQed at the school.
This is the one time of year I miss having the dish. I'll get to see all the regional finals, but would like to see more of the first round. The dish also allows for redundancy in case, say, a four OT game gets bumped for your lousy local NBA team.
This game did expose the weakest part of the BU game plan: the empty net. We suck at getting empty net goals, and we had some beautiful chances today.
UNH-St. Cloud is kind of dull. I missed each team's first goal while flipping around. Outside of the obvious reasons, I really would like to see St. Cloud win just so we can play someone different. A fifth game against UNH? Thanks NCAA!
The UNH game is on New Hampshire public television, which could be the best use of PBS time since I don't know when. At least it gets the pledge drive off the air. It also helps that the station is HQed at the school.
This is the one time of year I miss having the dish. I'll get to see all the regional finals, but would like to see more of the first round. The dish also allows for redundancy in case, say, a four OT game gets bumped for your lousy local NBA team.
OK, this is strange. The template saved correctly, but the actual page isn't reflecting the change. How very odd.
I'll have to save this for another time. I get to go to the doctor now for the followup visit from my initial physical. That I've been to the doctor like three times in between these visits really takes some of the excitement out of it. Then again, I'm getting to the age where excitement may not be what I want from seeing the doctor.
I'll have to save this for another time. I get to go to the doctor now for the followup visit from my initial physical. That I've been to the doctor like three times in between these visits really takes some of the excitement out of it. Then again, I'm getting to the age where excitement may not be what I want from seeing the doctor.
27 March 2003
For those of you usually interested, I've set up a group for ESPN.com's Baseball Challenge:
Name: I Can Be Centerfield
Password: beanball
I realize now that I didn't actually predict who would get cut from American Idol last night. Bad enough that my bottom three predictions are so off: I did correctly pick Julia, but did not expect to see either camera whore Kimberly Caldwell or Rickey Smith in that group. That Julia was the one sent home isn't a huge surprise, as she's been a regular in the bottom three. It is too bad that she got bounced the week of her best performance. On the other hand, she never really seemed comfortable on stage. She doesn't have the sort of performance background that most of the finalists have, which explains a lot.
Not much else going on. Still watching war coverage, which with the sandstorms got very repetitive. At one point yesterday I heard them bring up the story about the Iraqi hospital that was a command center as if it were new - even though the story was a good day and a half old. When it gets to that, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give a little more time to other news.
Name: I Can Be Centerfield
Password: beanball
I realize now that I didn't actually predict who would get cut from American Idol last night. Bad enough that my bottom three predictions are so off: I did correctly pick Julia, but did not expect to see either camera whore Kimberly Caldwell or Rickey Smith in that group. That Julia was the one sent home isn't a huge surprise, as she's been a regular in the bottom three. It is too bad that she got bounced the week of her best performance. On the other hand, she never really seemed comfortable on stage. She doesn't have the sort of performance background that most of the finalists have, which explains a lot.
Not much else going on. Still watching war coverage, which with the sandstorms got very repetitive. At one point yesterday I heard them bring up the story about the Iraqi hospital that was a command center as if it were new - even though the story was a good day and a half old. When it gets to that, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give a little more time to other news.
26 March 2003
That was quick.
Less than a year after her debut, Connie Chung was unceremoniously dumped from CNN today. Her show was apparently bumped for war-related coverage, and when she asked the brass when she'd be coming back, they told her she wasn't. They threw her a bone by offering other CNN-related work, but she passed.
Admittedly, her show was not very good. The best thing you could say for it was that it was orange, given the dominant color scheme of her set. She's not that good at live stuff, and her show seemed to focus on twaddle. On the other hand, she outlasted Donahue and his vaunted return to the talk format, and she was drawing about a million viewers a night.
The article I read suggested a conflict among the head honchos at CNN, who were split as to the use of household name anchors to boost ratings. Given the quality of programming overall at CNN of late, I have to think that there's more conflict afoot than the whole Connie Chung thing.
It could just be me, but perhaps they should go back to focusing on broadcast news rather than all sorts of shows. Fox News has found success with the show format, but I'd have to guess that they tapped into the same market that drives conservative talk radio. Keep Crossfire, keep Moneyline and Lou Dobbs, but otherwise, maybe just straight news and analysis without the branding. And while we're at it, return Headline News to the old format. This cross between Bloomberg and Battling Seizure Robots has to go.
Less than a year after her debut, Connie Chung was unceremoniously dumped from CNN today. Her show was apparently bumped for war-related coverage, and when she asked the brass when she'd be coming back, they told her she wasn't. They threw her a bone by offering other CNN-related work, but she passed.
Admittedly, her show was not very good. The best thing you could say for it was that it was orange, given the dominant color scheme of her set. She's not that good at live stuff, and her show seemed to focus on twaddle. On the other hand, she outlasted Donahue and his vaunted return to the talk format, and she was drawing about a million viewers a night.
The article I read suggested a conflict among the head honchos at CNN, who were split as to the use of household name anchors to boost ratings. Given the quality of programming overall at CNN of late, I have to think that there's more conflict afoot than the whole Connie Chung thing.
It could just be me, but perhaps they should go back to focusing on broadcast news rather than all sorts of shows. Fox News has found success with the show format, but I'd have to guess that they tapped into the same market that drives conservative talk radio. Keep Crossfire, keep Moneyline and Lou Dobbs, but otherwise, maybe just straight news and analysis without the branding. And while we're at it, return Headline News to the old format. This cross between Bloomberg and Battling Seizure Robots has to go.
Not much to recap from last night's American Idol, as the surprise switch from disco to country rock resulted in a mish-mash of performances, some straight country (Joshua took on Garth Brooks) to more rock-like (Ruben, somewhat fittingly, sang parts of "Sweet Home Alabama," but mostly the refrain) to two performances - Rickey and Clay - that wouldn't have been country or rock even if performed in a South Carolina quarry.
The guest judge for the night was Olivia Newton-John, who could have worked from either a disco or country perspective. Her flexibility came in handy, as Simon apparently has no idea at all about country music. He was non-plussed all evening, which made last night different from other nights not so much.
The show was only an hour last night, so I was switching laundry during Joshua's performance, when I thought we'd be safely in the middle of a longish, not that informative bio on Ms. Newton-John. In any case, no one was unbelievable and no one was really horrific, though I have to admit that Corey, Carmen, and Julia all got much better comments than I'd have given them. Corey's "upper register," which Randy and Paula seem to love, sounds pained to me. Carmen apparently has a lot of power, but I can't hear it through her bleating vibrato. And Julia, well, she still looks like she's being forced to participate by a vengeful teacher.
As for the bottom three... Julia will be in it again for continuity's sake. I have to think Corey will wind up back there again, although he wasn't as God-awful as last week. It would also be just punishment for the mesh shirt he wore. I would like to think Carmen would round this group out, but she won't. She has some sort of odd popularity. And it was her birthday yesterday! I like the idea of a sourly ironic 18th birthday present, but most won't.
Given that, I'll put Kimberly Locke in the bottom three. Not that she deserves it; her performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me" was one of the better ones last night. But outside of Carmen, I can't think of anyone who really should be in the bottom three, so I'll make the pseudo-random pick based on past bottom groups.
The guest judge for the night was Olivia Newton-John, who could have worked from either a disco or country perspective. Her flexibility came in handy, as Simon apparently has no idea at all about country music. He was non-plussed all evening, which made last night different from other nights not so much.
The show was only an hour last night, so I was switching laundry during Joshua's performance, when I thought we'd be safely in the middle of a longish, not that informative bio on Ms. Newton-John. In any case, no one was unbelievable and no one was really horrific, though I have to admit that Corey, Carmen, and Julia all got much better comments than I'd have given them. Corey's "upper register," which Randy and Paula seem to love, sounds pained to me. Carmen apparently has a lot of power, but I can't hear it through her bleating vibrato. And Julia, well, she still looks like she's being forced to participate by a vengeful teacher.
As for the bottom three... Julia will be in it again for continuity's sake. I have to think Corey will wind up back there again, although he wasn't as God-awful as last week. It would also be just punishment for the mesh shirt he wore. I would like to think Carmen would round this group out, but she won't. She has some sort of odd popularity. And it was her birthday yesterday! I like the idea of a sourly ironic 18th birthday present, but most won't.
Given that, I'll put Kimberly Locke in the bottom three. Not that she deserves it; her performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me" was one of the better ones last night. But outside of Carmen, I can't think of anyone who really should be in the bottom three, so I'll make the pseudo-random pick based on past bottom groups.
25 March 2003
Sorry to have not talked to you much of late, but between running a tournament on Saturday, going to some bridal thing on Sunday, and work the other days, it's been busy. And to top things off, today I get to spend all day in a "Managing Professional Growth" seminar that I didn't even sign up for. Have to love development opportunities that are thrust upon one without discussion.
In any case, I'll quickly note that I'm sucking wind in my men's NCAA hoops pools, doing reasonably well in the women's one, came in second in my Yahoo! Oscar pool (by 10 points!) and still need to set things up for Diamond Daily and Baseball Challenge over on ESPN.com. I missed the tail end of my baseball suck league draft due to work last night, but I'm sure my team will blow in the proper ways.
I was going to invite people to join a pool based on the division 1 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament, but Craig has already put out a call, so we might as well join forces. No money, just honor. You can find the brackets here, and you can find Craig on the list to the left of here.
Some quick Oscar comments:
* Michael Moore: to be expected, and not particularly well-done on his part. His best line, about the trouble you get in when opposed by the Pope and the Dixie Chicks, was washed out by the play-over music.
* Adrien Brody: apparently knows how to kiss. Halle Berry seemed winded. Wonder if her hubby wanted some of that action?
* Luise Rainer: is still alive?!?!?!
* Steve Martin: funny. Prefer his dry humor to Billy's schtick or Whoopi's not particularly humorous over-the-topness.
* Chicago: still haven't seen it. Suppose I will one of these days.
* The Pianist: still haven't seen it. I assume it'll play here in the 'burbs now that it won stuff.
* Gil Cates: the show is still too long!
In any case, I'll quickly note that I'm sucking wind in my men's NCAA hoops pools, doing reasonably well in the women's one, came in second in my Yahoo! Oscar pool (by 10 points!) and still need to set things up for Diamond Daily and Baseball Challenge over on ESPN.com. I missed the tail end of my baseball suck league draft due to work last night, but I'm sure my team will blow in the proper ways.
I was going to invite people to join a pool based on the division 1 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament, but Craig has already put out a call, so we might as well join forces. No money, just honor. You can find the brackets here, and you can find Craig on the list to the left of here.
Some quick Oscar comments:
* Michael Moore: to be expected, and not particularly well-done on his part. His best line, about the trouble you get in when opposed by the Pope and the Dixie Chicks, was washed out by the play-over music.
* Adrien Brody: apparently knows how to kiss. Halle Berry seemed winded. Wonder if her hubby wanted some of that action?
* Luise Rainer: is still alive?!?!?!
* Steve Martin: funny. Prefer his dry humor to Billy's schtick or Whoopi's not particularly humorous over-the-topness.
* Chicago: still haven't seen it. Suppose I will one of these days.
* The Pianist: still haven't seen it. I assume it'll play here in the 'burbs now that it won stuff.
* Gil Cates: the show is still too long!
21 March 2003
Just as he brightened up Hey! Stop Doing That!, Scott Monty comes through with the web-based funny, too. For those of you who like your ice cream hippie free, check these guys out. How much you want to bet they've got Bob Packwood milking the cows?
Scott also provided the most (well, the only) entries into our rename the campaigns drive. His suggestions:
Liberty Balls
Sadamn Good
How the West was One
The Blair Ditch Project
Desert Scorn
To which I would add my only thought, Mo' Better Baghdad (a George W. Bush joint)
Going back to the Madonna kids' books, Scott also added these:
Oh, the Places You'll Ho
Alice in Wonderbra
The Princess and the Pee
Humpty Humpty
One, Two, Buckle My Bustier
Ten Little Lakers
Dwight Kidder kicked in with Puss in Boots...and nothing else. I had a bunch, but the only one that stuck was the young adult classic F!ck Everlasting.
Scott also provided the most (well, the only) entries into our rename the campaigns drive. His suggestions:
Liberty Balls
Sadamn Good
How the West was One
The Blair Ditch Project
Desert Scorn
To which I would add my only thought, Mo' Better Baghdad (a George W. Bush joint)
Going back to the Madonna kids' books, Scott also added these:
Oh, the Places You'll Ho
Alice in Wonderbra
The Princess and the Pee
Humpty Humpty
One, Two, Buckle My Bustier
Ten Little Lakers
Dwight Kidder kicked in with Puss in Boots...and nothing else. I had a bunch, but the only one that stuck was the young adult classic F!ck Everlasting.
I just heard three things on Fox News Channel that almost caused my frontal lobe to liquefy.
1. The older male talking head closed a report from the Pentagon with "Sadaam, beware the Ides of March!" A little over the top, but at least it had some context based on the report (which theorized on Sadaam's inner circle and fifth columnists within it).
2. The younger male talking head said that protesters had to be "roughed up" because they were breaking the law by blocking traffic and not moving. There's road rage, and then there's road rage.
3. The female talking head started to gush about how the anti-war movement is funded by Castro and dictators. On the one hand, this isn't exactly a new idea; the Soviets clearly were involved in various peace movements in western Europe into the 1980s. On the other hand, the true believer delivery was breathtaking. She actually reminded me of the female half of this duo.
I will say that I think I was an unintentional benefactor from yesterday's protest in Boston. Sarah and I went up to Manchester to see our priest again to work on some wedding stuff, and traffic was relatively light on Storrow Drive (only came to a complete stop 2 or 3 times). I have to think that some of their traffic-blocking was responsible for keeping cars out of our path. Thanks, protesters!
1. The older male talking head closed a report from the Pentagon with "Sadaam, beware the Ides of March!" A little over the top, but at least it had some context based on the report (which theorized on Sadaam's inner circle and fifth columnists within it).
2. The younger male talking head said that protesters had to be "roughed up" because they were breaking the law by blocking traffic and not moving. There's road rage, and then there's road rage.
3. The female talking head started to gush about how the anti-war movement is funded by Castro and dictators. On the one hand, this isn't exactly a new idea; the Soviets clearly were involved in various peace movements in western Europe into the 1980s. On the other hand, the true believer delivery was breathtaking. She actually reminded me of the female half of this duo.
I will say that I think I was an unintentional benefactor from yesterday's protest in Boston. Sarah and I went up to Manchester to see our priest again to work on some wedding stuff, and traffic was relatively light on Storrow Drive (only came to a complete stop 2 or 3 times). I have to think that some of their traffic-blocking was responsible for keeping cars out of our path. Thanks, protesters!
20 March 2003
Once again, one of the people I didn't put in my bottom three gets ousted from American Idol, as Charles got the heave-ho over more deserving aural criminals. Julia made the bottom three (again), and Corey actually wound up there, too. As in college bowl, I should listen to my instincts more often.
Got to hear Kelly's song from the movie on tape, and it's not very good. I'm sure the recorded version will get the appropriate dose of "studio magic." Her new album comes out on April 15, and apparently they've not chosen a single yet. They may want to do something about that.
As far as that other thing that's going on, from a media standpoint, I am shockingly finding myself watching more Fox News Channel than CNN or MSNBC, mostly because they had more interesting filler (especially this morning). None of the morning talking heads are especially welcome (and the Fox ones are really pretty bad, to the point of saying something like "we've fired at them, now they're firing back at us" as insightful analysis), but Fox did seem to at least present new stuff, and not just think that because someone's in the Middle East that we want to hear them give the same news about the initial strike again. Though Brian Williams in a gas mask was alternately scary and funny.
If you do get a chance to get to the CNN website, check out the War Tracker. Two things stood out:
1. The map was created using stuff from Curious Software. Fitting.
2. The map legend has a listing under "extra" for explosions. So that's what that flame-looking thing is!
And what happened to the cool military operation names? "Iraqi Freedom"? "Liberty Shield"? A little on the nose, don't you think? Another open contest for the Blogalicious readers: come up with more entertaining operation names for the war and the domestic protection scheme. Perhaps I can even cross-reference them with Madonna's kids books, which I have to post. Maybe tomorrow.
Got to hear Kelly's song from the movie on tape, and it's not very good. I'm sure the recorded version will get the appropriate dose of "studio magic." Her new album comes out on April 15, and apparently they've not chosen a single yet. They may want to do something about that.
As far as that other thing that's going on, from a media standpoint, I am shockingly finding myself watching more Fox News Channel than CNN or MSNBC, mostly because they had more interesting filler (especially this morning). None of the morning talking heads are especially welcome (and the Fox ones are really pretty bad, to the point of saying something like "we've fired at them, now they're firing back at us" as insightful analysis), but Fox did seem to at least present new stuff, and not just think that because someone's in the Middle East that we want to hear them give the same news about the initial strike again. Though Brian Williams in a gas mask was alternately scary and funny.
If you do get a chance to get to the CNN website, check out the War Tracker. Two things stood out:
1. The map was created using stuff from Curious Software. Fitting.
2. The map legend has a listing under "extra" for explosions. So that's what that flame-looking thing is!
And what happened to the cool military operation names? "Iraqi Freedom"? "Liberty Shield"? A little on the nose, don't you think? Another open contest for the Blogalicious readers: come up with more entertaining operation names for the war and the domestic protection scheme. Perhaps I can even cross-reference them with Madonna's kids books, which I have to post. Maybe tomorrow.
19 March 2003
It was movie songs last night on American Idol, with a Bond theme performer, Gladys Knight, on hand as celebrity guest judge. Not sure if it was greater familiarity or songs written down to movie level, but performances were on the whole better than last week, and in some cases much better.
Three contestants - Ruben, Trenyce, and Joshua - avoided the meh meter altogether. Joshua was particularly surprising, but his countrified rendition of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was well done. He's more or less made the move to this style of singing, and Simon was more than happy to close the lid on Joshua's new box. He also seemed to take some pleasure in noting that next week is disco songs. I'm sure Joshua would love suggestions for country disco songs.
Everyone else, quickly:
* Corey sang "Against All Odds" and sounded like hell almost the whole time. All the judges but Simon liked it. Simon seemed to think the same way I do. Meh: 6
* Clay sang "Somewhere Out There," and only ranked on the meter because (a) it's a song about a frickin' mouse, and (b) the high, held note at the end of the song wasn't necessary. Meh: 1
* Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell sang the "Shoop Shoop Song" from Mermaids (OK, it's a song used in a movie rather than written specifically for one), and was OK. Nothing special, pretty much like her other performances. Meh: 3
* Carmen sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from Grease, I assume on the notion that because half the high schools in the US perform this in any given year that it'd be easy to sing. Nope. You also know things aren't going your way when Paula tells you you're wearing too much makeup (she was right, though). Meh: 6
* Charles sang "You Can't Win" from The Wiz. Charles just doesn't do much for me. Can't say why. He's not bad, just kind of there. Meh: 4
* Rickey sang "It Might Be You" from Tootsie, and sounded like he was reading this information from a cue card. He sang it really well, though, almost good enough to not register. But there's still something there that doesn't quite click. Meh: 1
* Julia sang "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" and it was not good. She had an approximation of the Flashdance look down (no leg warmers) but there was nothing else. Meh: 6
* Kimberly Locke sang "Home," the night's second selection from The Wiz. Maybe that's what I don't like. I've never been a big musicals person. She was much better than last week, but still not great for me. Meh: 2
The filler clips were still lame, though we got to see the house the kids are staying in (a hacienda-type place in the hills), and learned that Kristen Holt, failed semifinalist from last year and current show correspondent, will be living in the house as well to give us all the dirt. She actually said she'd tell us who's hooking up with who, but I'm guessing most of the stories will revolve around who snores the most. Kelly Clarkson also had a little homecoming, they showed another clip of the movie (quickly becoming a 21st century Beach Blanket Bingo) and sang, though I didn't see that (taped the show for Sarah and didn't watch that part).
For tonight, I'm guessing Julia is out. She's not been sharp either week. I'd guess Carmen for the bottom three, too. The last spot... I'd go with Corey, but I'm going to say Kimberly Locke again.
Three contestants - Ruben, Trenyce, and Joshua - avoided the meh meter altogether. Joshua was particularly surprising, but his countrified rendition of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was well done. He's more or less made the move to this style of singing, and Simon was more than happy to close the lid on Joshua's new box. He also seemed to take some pleasure in noting that next week is disco songs. I'm sure Joshua would love suggestions for country disco songs.
Everyone else, quickly:
* Corey sang "Against All Odds" and sounded like hell almost the whole time. All the judges but Simon liked it. Simon seemed to think the same way I do. Meh: 6
* Clay sang "Somewhere Out There," and only ranked on the meter because (a) it's a song about a frickin' mouse, and (b) the high, held note at the end of the song wasn't necessary. Meh: 1
* Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell sang the "Shoop Shoop Song" from Mermaids (OK, it's a song used in a movie rather than written specifically for one), and was OK. Nothing special, pretty much like her other performances. Meh: 3
* Carmen sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from Grease, I assume on the notion that because half the high schools in the US perform this in any given year that it'd be easy to sing. Nope. You also know things aren't going your way when Paula tells you you're wearing too much makeup (she was right, though). Meh: 6
* Charles sang "You Can't Win" from The Wiz. Charles just doesn't do much for me. Can't say why. He's not bad, just kind of there. Meh: 4
* Rickey sang "It Might Be You" from Tootsie, and sounded like he was reading this information from a cue card. He sang it really well, though, almost good enough to not register. But there's still something there that doesn't quite click. Meh: 1
* Julia sang "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" and it was not good. She had an approximation of the Flashdance look down (no leg warmers) but there was nothing else. Meh: 6
* Kimberly Locke sang "Home," the night's second selection from The Wiz. Maybe that's what I don't like. I've never been a big musicals person. She was much better than last week, but still not great for me. Meh: 2
The filler clips were still lame, though we got to see the house the kids are staying in (a hacienda-type place in the hills), and learned that Kristen Holt, failed semifinalist from last year and current show correspondent, will be living in the house as well to give us all the dirt. She actually said she'd tell us who's hooking up with who, but I'm guessing most of the stories will revolve around who snores the most. Kelly Clarkson also had a little homecoming, they showed another clip of the movie (quickly becoming a 21st century Beach Blanket Bingo) and sang, though I didn't see that (taped the show for Sarah and didn't watch that part).
For tonight, I'm guessing Julia is out. She's not been sharp either week. I'd guess Carmen for the bottom three, too. The last spot... I'd go with Corey, but I'm going to say Kimberly Locke again.
18 March 2003
I'm still not sold on this war.
I don't like Sadaam Hussein, his family, or his Baath Party cronies. I don't like the way he treats his own people.
But I also don't know if a war with Iraq is our best move right now. I think I'm still bothered by the fact that the linkage to terrorism isn't that great. The approach to this war seems much more focused on the potential threat than the actual one. And while I can see that being pro-active can work to prevent future acts, I don't know if we aren't opening up new animosity that will lead some other country to take Iraq's place. It worries me that, three or four years from now, we'll possbily have troops in Afghanistan, an occupation government in Iraq, and then perhaps feel that Syria or Yemen or somebody is now posing a threat to our national security.
In a way, this brings me back to the 1980s, where the fear was that Reagan was going to intervene in Central America and we'd have soldiers going from country to country until we had men in uniform from the Mexican border to the Panama Canal. My hope is that the current situation doesn't move to resemble this.
The other big question, of course, is what do we do about March Madness if we're bombing Baghdad? I tend to agree with the participants in the ESPN.com Sports Nation poll that we go about our business and play anyway. God knows if we wait for a more "appropriate" time, we may not start the tournament until November.
I do agree that the MLB games in Japan may not be the best thing going right now, not so much due to the Japanese (who are apparently OK with the war thing) but as a potential target.
In related news, the French are beginning to show their displeasure with the whole "replace French with freedom" thing by sending packages of pretzels to the White House. Good to see they haven't lost their sense of humor.
I don't like Sadaam Hussein, his family, or his Baath Party cronies. I don't like the way he treats his own people.
But I also don't know if a war with Iraq is our best move right now. I think I'm still bothered by the fact that the linkage to terrorism isn't that great. The approach to this war seems much more focused on the potential threat than the actual one. And while I can see that being pro-active can work to prevent future acts, I don't know if we aren't opening up new animosity that will lead some other country to take Iraq's place. It worries me that, three or four years from now, we'll possbily have troops in Afghanistan, an occupation government in Iraq, and then perhaps feel that Syria or Yemen or somebody is now posing a threat to our national security.
In a way, this brings me back to the 1980s, where the fear was that Reagan was going to intervene in Central America and we'd have soldiers going from country to country until we had men in uniform from the Mexican border to the Panama Canal. My hope is that the current situation doesn't move to resemble this.
The other big question, of course, is what do we do about March Madness if we're bombing Baghdad? I tend to agree with the participants in the ESPN.com Sports Nation poll that we go about our business and play anyway. God knows if we wait for a more "appropriate" time, we may not start the tournament until November.
I do agree that the MLB games in Japan may not be the best thing going right now, not so much due to the Japanese (who are apparently OK with the war thing) but as a potential target.
In related news, the French are beginning to show their displeasure with the whole "replace French with freedom" thing by sending packages of pretzels to the White House. Good to see they haven't lost their sense of humor.
15 March 2003
And now the finish to the weekend.
Vermont 56, BU 55 I learned two things from this game:
1. Early leads are as fallable in college hoops as in the pros. Not like this isn't the millionth example of such a thing, but at one point in the first half Vermont led 16-2. They won the game on their last shot with about 5 seconds on the clock.
2. There are few things worse than the opponent celebrating a trip to the NCAA tournament on your floor.
The two stories here were the horror show of a first half the Terriers put together and the play of Catamount center Matt Sheftic. BU shot in the neighborhood of 22 percent in the first half. They had an off day overall, certainly (they shot 35.8 percent for the game), but the first half was horrific. Billy Collins was out of rhythm all game, which is always a bad sign.
But back to Sheftic, who went 10-17 from the floor and scored 23 of Vermont's 56. BU had nothing to counter him, and even his misses were often converted into a Vermont second chance. He took his fourth foul with something like five and half minutes to go, and for whatever reason BU didn't challenge him again. I'd have done everything in my power to get him to pick up his fifth.
It wasn't a well played game, but was exciting even with the unfortunate ending. With its 20-9 record there's some light talk about BU getting into the NIT, but we'll see.
BU 69, Maine 65 In the one game I didn't go to today, the BU women's team upset Maine to take the America East berth for the NCAA women's tournament. Maine had gone undefeated in league play, and was the odds on favorite to take the title. I didn't see any of the game and listened to very little, but BU had a reasonably big lead (8-12 points) for much of the contest, with Maine chipping away at the end. With a 16-14 record, I have some feeling that they'll draw UConn in a 1-16 matchup.
UNH 1, BU 0 (OT) And in the last game of the night, BU played its second overtime game in as many nights (and third of the playoffs- a Hockey East record) but couldn't equal last night's performance. The winning score appears to have gone in off Ryan Whitney, which (and pardon me while I meta-blog) makes him fraught with greatness. I'm sure Mario is looking forward to having Whitney back him up on the blue line.
BU played better than expected after last night's journey into early morning, putting up a 12-5 shot advantage in the first period. From there on in UNH tended to have the upper hand, though BU kept things interesting. Sean Fields proved to be the biggest thing going in the BU end, performing feats of goaltending heretofore unseen. He was named the tournament MVP, which is fitting given that without him, the Icedogs never would have gotten out of Providence.
The good thing here is that the loss won't keep BU out of the NCAAs. Their record (24-13-3) belies a high pairwise rating (fourth), which will probably give them a number 2 seed at either Providence or Worcester. Not sure who else I'd want in the regional.
So there you have it. Four games in 30 hours, and the only title BU takes is in a game I didn't go to. Go figure.
Vermont 56, BU 55 I learned two things from this game:
1. Early leads are as fallable in college hoops as in the pros. Not like this isn't the millionth example of such a thing, but at one point in the first half Vermont led 16-2. They won the game on their last shot with about 5 seconds on the clock.
2. There are few things worse than the opponent celebrating a trip to the NCAA tournament on your floor.
The two stories here were the horror show of a first half the Terriers put together and the play of Catamount center Matt Sheftic. BU shot in the neighborhood of 22 percent in the first half. They had an off day overall, certainly (they shot 35.8 percent for the game), but the first half was horrific. Billy Collins was out of rhythm all game, which is always a bad sign.
But back to Sheftic, who went 10-17 from the floor and scored 23 of Vermont's 56. BU had nothing to counter him, and even his misses were often converted into a Vermont second chance. He took his fourth foul with something like five and half minutes to go, and for whatever reason BU didn't challenge him again. I'd have done everything in my power to get him to pick up his fifth.
It wasn't a well played game, but was exciting even with the unfortunate ending. With its 20-9 record there's some light talk about BU getting into the NIT, but we'll see.
BU 69, Maine 65 In the one game I didn't go to today, the BU women's team upset Maine to take the America East berth for the NCAA women's tournament. Maine had gone undefeated in league play, and was the odds on favorite to take the title. I didn't see any of the game and listened to very little, but BU had a reasonably big lead (8-12 points) for much of the contest, with Maine chipping away at the end. With a 16-14 record, I have some feeling that they'll draw UConn in a 1-16 matchup.
UNH 1, BU 0 (OT) And in the last game of the night, BU played its second overtime game in as many nights (and third of the playoffs- a Hockey East record) but couldn't equal last night's performance. The winning score appears to have gone in off Ryan Whitney, which (and pardon me while I meta-blog) makes him fraught with greatness. I'm sure Mario is looking forward to having Whitney back him up on the blue line.
BU played better than expected after last night's journey into early morning, putting up a 12-5 shot advantage in the first period. From there on in UNH tended to have the upper hand, though BU kept things interesting. Sean Fields proved to be the biggest thing going in the BU end, performing feats of goaltending heretofore unseen. He was named the tournament MVP, which is fitting given that without him, the Icedogs never would have gotten out of Providence.
The good thing here is that the loss won't keep BU out of the NCAAs. Their record (24-13-3) belies a high pairwise rating (fourth), which will probably give them a number 2 seed at either Providence or Worcester. Not sure who else I'd want in the regional.
So there you have it. Four games in 30 hours, and the only title BU takes is in a game I didn't go to. Go figure.
There's nothing like 7 hours of hockey to start the weekend. Notes from yesterday's Hockey East semifinals at the Fleet Center:
UNH 5, UMass 4 I'd usually not bust myself to get in for the early game unless BU was playing in it. Yesterday served as the exception, as I had to see the debut of UMass in the Hockey East semis. There's usually one "mystery" team in the semis in place of BU, BC, UNH, or Maine, so much the better that it was the Minutemen.
I don't have Cooch's obvious geographical tie to Our State University (or is that Our Commonwealth's University?), but as a lifelong Masshole I have some level of affinity, mostly related to (a) watching the system get jerked around by successive governors, and (b) rooting for their sports teams when it suits me. Yesterday would be one of those days.
UNH had two clear opportunities to take the game over at 2-0 and 4-2, but in both cases let UMass back in. That was odd, as for most of the game UMass had little opportunity in the UNH zone, getting shots but usually nothing of great quality. But they'd find the range, especially with the two goals to tie it back up at 4 (scored 10 seconds apart). Sadly, UNH proved too powerful in the end.
Of course, part of my interest in this game was the idea that we'd be better off playing UMass in the final rather than UNH. The idea that UMass would have gotten there by taking out Maine and UNH, making them perhaps the hottest team in the country? Why dwell on that?
I should also note that the UMass coach is Don "Toot" Cahoon, a Jack Parker protege. So they get extra props there.
With this result, UMass is pretty much done for the year with a 19-17-1 record. They only have two seniors, so don't be surprised if they're back here next year.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY 6, bc 5 (2OT) Apparently, we just need to play all our games against BC in the Fleet Center.
This was not one for the highlight reel. For much of the game, BU looked like it was playing with sticks they carved themselves and skates using sharpened animal bone for blades. It was not pretty. Once again, the one thing standing between a bad loss and an ugly win was Sean Fields, who gave up 5 goals but still had a save percentage over 90. BC put 51 shots on net, outshooting BU in all periods. They had more shots in regulation than BU had in all 85 minutes of play.
Thankfully, Matti Kaltiainen was as shaky as Fields was strong. He let up a softie within the first minute, and didn't look much more comfortable for the rest of the game.
And there was an economy-sized dose of luck involved, as BC hit posts at least twice and there were a few bang-bang plays where they misfired on the second bang. Otherwise, this things ends up 8-5 or so on the bad end.
I suppose I should just be happy that we didn't get a Dartmouth-Colegate type game.
This tournament is always a little tough for BU as the students are always on break. One hopes that more will be on hand tonight, but I fear a larger and more partisan UNH crowd.
Other stuff There's a pigeon living in the Fleet Center. According to one of the concessions guys, it appeared about a week ago and has taken up residence in the space inside the scoreboard. I saw it before the first game, but it was most visible in overtime.
We had this woman sitting in the row behind us who, whenever BU had the puck in the BC zone, would scream "Shoooooot!" Didn't matter what the circumstances were. One on four? Shoooot! Skater has his back to the net? Shoooooot! The puck is scooting across the ice during a pass? Shooooooooooooot!
Of course, I shouldn't mock her passion. I can, however, mock her jacket with the Mona Lisa on the back. Your jacket is ugly! Ha!
My hope was that she'd hook up either with the troll-like UNH fan who spent most of both games screaming in what I took to be Elvish. (I know, trolls don't speak Elvish, go with me here) or the other guy in the row behind us who yelled "Attack!" whenever we took back the puck in the third period. Also regardless of circumstances. Seems like a match made in, well, maybe not heaven.
For being in Boston, you think the Fleet would sell fish at their concession stands during Lent.
UNH 5, UMass 4 I'd usually not bust myself to get in for the early game unless BU was playing in it. Yesterday served as the exception, as I had to see the debut of UMass in the Hockey East semis. There's usually one "mystery" team in the semis in place of BU, BC, UNH, or Maine, so much the better that it was the Minutemen.
I don't have Cooch's obvious geographical tie to Our State University (or is that Our Commonwealth's University?), but as a lifelong Masshole I have some level of affinity, mostly related to (a) watching the system get jerked around by successive governors, and (b) rooting for their sports teams when it suits me. Yesterday would be one of those days.
UNH had two clear opportunities to take the game over at 2-0 and 4-2, but in both cases let UMass back in. That was odd, as for most of the game UMass had little opportunity in the UNH zone, getting shots but usually nothing of great quality. But they'd find the range, especially with the two goals to tie it back up at 4 (scored 10 seconds apart). Sadly, UNH proved too powerful in the end.
Of course, part of my interest in this game was the idea that we'd be better off playing UMass in the final rather than UNH. The idea that UMass would have gotten there by taking out Maine and UNH, making them perhaps the hottest team in the country? Why dwell on that?
I should also note that the UMass coach is Don "Toot" Cahoon, a Jack Parker protege. So they get extra props there.
With this result, UMass is pretty much done for the year with a 19-17-1 record. They only have two seniors, so don't be surprised if they're back here next year.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY 6, bc 5 (2OT) Apparently, we just need to play all our games against BC in the Fleet Center.
This was not one for the highlight reel. For much of the game, BU looked like it was playing with sticks they carved themselves and skates using sharpened animal bone for blades. It was not pretty. Once again, the one thing standing between a bad loss and an ugly win was Sean Fields, who gave up 5 goals but still had a save percentage over 90. BC put 51 shots on net, outshooting BU in all periods. They had more shots in regulation than BU had in all 85 minutes of play.
Thankfully, Matti Kaltiainen was as shaky as Fields was strong. He let up a softie within the first minute, and didn't look much more comfortable for the rest of the game.
And there was an economy-sized dose of luck involved, as BC hit posts at least twice and there were a few bang-bang plays where they misfired on the second bang. Otherwise, this things ends up 8-5 or so on the bad end.
I suppose I should just be happy that we didn't get a Dartmouth-Colegate type game.
This tournament is always a little tough for BU as the students are always on break. One hopes that more will be on hand tonight, but I fear a larger and more partisan UNH crowd.
Other stuff There's a pigeon living in the Fleet Center. According to one of the concessions guys, it appeared about a week ago and has taken up residence in the space inside the scoreboard. I saw it before the first game, but it was most visible in overtime.
We had this woman sitting in the row behind us who, whenever BU had the puck in the BC zone, would scream "Shoooooot!" Didn't matter what the circumstances were. One on four? Shoooot! Skater has his back to the net? Shoooooot! The puck is scooting across the ice during a pass? Shooooooooooooot!
Of course, I shouldn't mock her passion. I can, however, mock her jacket with the Mona Lisa on the back. Your jacket is ugly! Ha!
My hope was that she'd hook up either with the troll-like UNH fan who spent most of both games screaming in what I took to be Elvish. (I know, trolls don't speak Elvish, go with me here) or the other guy in the row behind us who yelled "Attack!" whenever we took back the puck in the third period. Also regardless of circumstances. Seems like a match made in, well, maybe not heaven.
For being in Boston, you think the Fleet would sell fish at their concession stands during Lent.
14 March 2003
My American Idol sense was way off this week as Vanessa took the collar and became the first finalist to set sail for home. In fact, only one of my bottom three was in the actual grouping: Kimberly Locke. I'll have to fine tune the meh meter for next week.
As happy as I am to see Elizabeth Smart at home, and as much sense as the Amber Alert thing seems to make, I find it odd that we're putting this state of the art system over a road and bridge infrastructure that is anything but. Then again, if I had my way we'd stop building 10 lane superhighways and start with more trains.
Speaking of trains, the MBTA announced today that a ride on the T will go up to $1.25 in January. The price for everything else - bus, commuter rail, boats, etc. - will also go up. Problem being that the MBTA is operating under a huge debt load (debt service currently accounts for 30 percent of the operating budget) and is getting less help from the state given its budgetary mess and the slow distancing that Beacon Hill's done from the MBTA over the last decade.
As much as this sucks, it's still a cheap ride compared to New York ($2), Philly ($2.25), Atlanta ($1.75), and Chicago ($1.50). Can't get on the DC Metro website, BART is mileage-based and thus hard to tell, and LA's Metrolink is more of a commuter rail (from what I can tell, locals feel free to correct).
The other problem here is that ridership is down (though that hardly ever seems the case when I'm trying to get somewhere). Nothing in the article I read this morning suggest why this is the case; I suppose the economic downturn is an obvious reason, but I wonder if it's the main one.
Not much else going on, though between the Hockey East playoffs and tomorrow's America East title game, I'll either be very exhilarated or pissed off beyond compare by this time Sunday.
As happy as I am to see Elizabeth Smart at home, and as much sense as the Amber Alert thing seems to make, I find it odd that we're putting this state of the art system over a road and bridge infrastructure that is anything but. Then again, if I had my way we'd stop building 10 lane superhighways and start with more trains.
Speaking of trains, the MBTA announced today that a ride on the T will go up to $1.25 in January. The price for everything else - bus, commuter rail, boats, etc. - will also go up. Problem being that the MBTA is operating under a huge debt load (debt service currently accounts for 30 percent of the operating budget) and is getting less help from the state given its budgetary mess and the slow distancing that Beacon Hill's done from the MBTA over the last decade.
As much as this sucks, it's still a cheap ride compared to New York ($2), Philly ($2.25), Atlanta ($1.75), and Chicago ($1.50). Can't get on the DC Metro website, BART is mileage-based and thus hard to tell, and LA's Metrolink is more of a commuter rail (from what I can tell, locals feel free to correct).
The other problem here is that ridership is down (though that hardly ever seems the case when I'm trying to get somewhere). Nothing in the article I read this morning suggest why this is the case; I suppose the economic downturn is an obvious reason, but I wonder if it's the main one.
Not much else going on, though between the Hockey East playoffs and tomorrow's America East title game, I'll either be very exhilarated or pissed off beyond compare by this time Sunday.
12 March 2003
American Idol kicked off what promises to be a long, drawn-out finals process last night, with kids singing Motown to the judges, a live audience, and special guest Lamont Dozier, who seems to have had his hand in just about anything Motown put out.
The word for the night was meh. There were a few good performances, but mostly uninspiring ones. No one was truly awful. There were bio clips for all 12 performers (they had to fill 2 hours somehow), too. So how'd it go?
* Kimberly Locke sung "Heat Wave" and, with flames on the karaoke-style background screens, did indeed remind one of a Burger King commercial. Meh rating (1=least meh, 10=infinite meh): 5.
* Joshua, who we learned joined the Marines after becoming a husband and father, sang "Baby I Need Your Lovin.'" Meh rating: 5.
* Charles, who hails from Oberlin, Ohio, and really, really seems to favor clothes in various shades of blue, sang "How Sweet It Is," which was the downfall of one of last year's first finals casualties. Uh oh. Meh rating: 8.
* Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell sang "Nowhere to Run" and was pretty much as she always is: not bad, not great. We learned from her bio that she's been trying to become famous since she was a little girl. At least we see where it comes from now. Meh rating: 4.
* Rickey sang "1-2-3" and was pretty good. In his bio he called his sister a dork, adding that she was a female version of him. He sounds better when the songs don't call for him to try to hit all sorts of notes. Meh rating: 2.
* Julia sang "Where Did Our Love Go?" after showing us around her Brookfield, CT hometown. Most of the bios followed the same pattern: talk to family or a friend, show the finalist going back to their high school or college, back to a work site, etc. No real surprises, bio-wise. Just to continue the "feud," meh rating: 4.
* Clay sang "I Can't Help Myself" and it was same as it ever was. Clay looked calm, hit everything, actually a little less crisp with pronunciations. Clay's mom calls him Clayton. Simon finally tried to put Clay into a Broadway/show pigeon-hole. We'll see how it takes. Meh rating: 2.
* Vanessa chipped in with "You Keep Me Hanging On." Vanessa has a pot-bellied pig named Bacon. Its middle name: Bits. I liked that. Meh rating: 4.
* Corey sang "This Old Heart of Mine" while we learned that he grew up just about everywhere and was kind of a handful as a kid. Dozier said he sounded like a young Smokey Robinson, which you can see but he's got a ways to go to get there. Meh rating: 4.
* Carmen sang "You Can't Hurry Love" and proved that she's a quick learner by singing a song with very few held notes. She's from Bountiful, Utah, where everyone has some shade of blonde hair. Meh rating: 5.
* Trenyce sang "Come See About Me" after we learned she left the University of Memphis three years into a nursing program to take a shot at music. Mom didn't like the idea, but she's come around. Meh rating: 2.
* Ruben celebrated Alabama's first-ever Ruben Studdard Day by singing "Baby I Need Your Lovin." Wait, he did? That's what's listed on the official show site. I can't imagine that they let two guys sing the same song. And if they did, Ruben did a nice job in singing it in a very different way from Joshua. Ruben was decked out in a tasteful black and grey "205" shirt. Meh rating: 1.
As for who gets the heave-ho, I'll follow the meh ratings and go with Charles. While he wasn't terrible, he was more obviously off than the others. It doesn't help him that he's kind of the "mystery" contestant, having not gotten much air time and not having a ginned up feud or other schtick to hang his hat on. If we're doing the "bottom three" method, I'll put Carmen and, uh, let's say Kimberly Locke in there. Carmen will still be doing time for her deus ex Simonica appearance, while Kimberly Locke has the double-dip of going first (on a two hour show in ADHD America) and not performing to her usual level.
The word for the night was meh. There were a few good performances, but mostly uninspiring ones. No one was truly awful. There were bio clips for all 12 performers (they had to fill 2 hours somehow), too. So how'd it go?
* Kimberly Locke sung "Heat Wave" and, with flames on the karaoke-style background screens, did indeed remind one of a Burger King commercial. Meh rating (1=least meh, 10=infinite meh): 5.
* Joshua, who we learned joined the Marines after becoming a husband and father, sang "Baby I Need Your Lovin.'" Meh rating: 5.
* Charles, who hails from Oberlin, Ohio, and really, really seems to favor clothes in various shades of blue, sang "How Sweet It Is," which was the downfall of one of last year's first finals casualties. Uh oh. Meh rating: 8.
* Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell sang "Nowhere to Run" and was pretty much as she always is: not bad, not great. We learned from her bio that she's been trying to become famous since she was a little girl. At least we see where it comes from now. Meh rating: 4.
* Rickey sang "1-2-3" and was pretty good. In his bio he called his sister a dork, adding that she was a female version of him. He sounds better when the songs don't call for him to try to hit all sorts of notes. Meh rating: 2.
* Julia sang "Where Did Our Love Go?" after showing us around her Brookfield, CT hometown. Most of the bios followed the same pattern: talk to family or a friend, show the finalist going back to their high school or college, back to a work site, etc. No real surprises, bio-wise. Just to continue the "feud," meh rating: 4.
* Clay sang "I Can't Help Myself" and it was same as it ever was. Clay looked calm, hit everything, actually a little less crisp with pronunciations. Clay's mom calls him Clayton. Simon finally tried to put Clay into a Broadway/show pigeon-hole. We'll see how it takes. Meh rating: 2.
* Vanessa chipped in with "You Keep Me Hanging On." Vanessa has a pot-bellied pig named Bacon. Its middle name: Bits. I liked that. Meh rating: 4.
* Corey sang "This Old Heart of Mine" while we learned that he grew up just about everywhere and was kind of a handful as a kid. Dozier said he sounded like a young Smokey Robinson, which you can see but he's got a ways to go to get there. Meh rating: 4.
* Carmen sang "You Can't Hurry Love" and proved that she's a quick learner by singing a song with very few held notes. She's from Bountiful, Utah, where everyone has some shade of blonde hair. Meh rating: 5.
* Trenyce sang "Come See About Me" after we learned she left the University of Memphis three years into a nursing program to take a shot at music. Mom didn't like the idea, but she's come around. Meh rating: 2.
* Ruben celebrated Alabama's first-ever Ruben Studdard Day by singing "Baby I Need Your Lovin." Wait, he did? That's what's listed on the official show site. I can't imagine that they let two guys sing the same song. And if they did, Ruben did a nice job in singing it in a very different way from Joshua. Ruben was decked out in a tasteful black and grey "205" shirt. Meh rating: 1.
As for who gets the heave-ho, I'll follow the meh ratings and go with Charles. While he wasn't terrible, he was more obviously off than the others. It doesn't help him that he's kind of the "mystery" contestant, having not gotten much air time and not having a ginned up feud or other schtick to hang his hat on. If we're doing the "bottom three" method, I'll put Carmen and, uh, let's say Kimberly Locke in there. Carmen will still be doing time for her deus ex Simonica appearance, while Kimberly Locke has the double-dip of going first (on a two hour show in ADHD America) and not performing to her usual level.
11 March 2003
My real question on this story is whether or not Congresspeople will now engage in freedom kissing and the freedom arts. And will the Marine Corps Band now have a freedom horn player?
10 March 2003
I'm famous! Found this in my inbox just now:
"Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell?"
It's pretty sad that you have nothing better to do with your life than have a quest to be in the top ten for a Google and Yahoo search for someone that you don't even know by resorting to junior high school name calling. I guess that you think that this will be your claim to fame? Wow, you must be so proud. Geez. Get a life.
My response:
Got you to write, didn't it?
To be honest, it wasn't much of a quest. Perhaps I should try to get on national TV and throw myself in front of the camera as much as possible.
"Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell?"
It's pretty sad that you have nothing better to do with your life than have a quest to be in the top ten for a Google and Yahoo search for someone that you don't even know by resorting to junior high school name calling. I guess that you think that this will be your claim to fame? Wow, you must be so proud. Geez. Get a life.
My response:
Got you to write, didn't it?
To be honest, it wasn't much of a quest. Perhaps I should try to get on national TV and throw myself in front of the camera as much as possible.
07 March 2003
So the main prime time offering on Fox Sport New England was Celtics-Clippers, which makes sense (FSNE having the local contract with the Celts). It made less sense when you flipped down to ESPN, and saw that their prime time offering was... Celts-Clips.
Considering that we're in the full swing of college hockey playoffs, you think that FSNE would be willing to let ESPN carry the load tonight and show something of greater local interest (I know, that may not be contractually possible). That not only meant that I didn't get to see BU take the first game of their quarterfinal match-up with Providence (5-4 at Providence, a rink we have trouble in), it also means I didn't get to see- and I have a hard time to believe this even happened- UMass knock Maine out of the Hockey East tournament AT MAINE by taking the games last night and tonight.
As much as I like watching the Icedogs win, there's a large part of me that would have loved to see the Minutemen celebrate in Alfond Arena. Maine's fans are, generally, the most obnoxious in all of Hockey East (based, I think, on the combination of students and locals whose only connection to the school is that they live in the state). UMass became the first team in all of D1 to advance in a conference tournament this season. Yesterday's surprise storm pushed back a few series that could have given them company.
My lone source of college hockey action tonight: the Union-RPI tilt on NESN. Let's just say that it was not attention-grabbing, even with the 2-1 final. Having Bob Norton on color didn't do much to entice me, either.
Interesting facet of their post-game: when they ran through the ECAC scoreboard, the game scores were crammed in the lower left hand corner, taking up about 10 percent of the screen. They filled the screen with a shot of an ECAC banner. Not sure if this came from lousy production, crappy graphics software, or an inferiority complex. I'm willing to say all were involved.
(The results would have driven college bowl "purists" and ACF partisans crazy, as three of the four higher seeds lost in the ECAC tournament. Perhaps Kelly McKenzie needs to become the ECAC's hockey czar.)
Not much excitement in the other two HEA match-ups, as BC topped a depleted Merrimack and UNH bested Lowell.
In other playoff action, I'm passing on this weekend's America East tournament at BU. I somehow can't see spending either $40 for tickets to all three sessions or $18 for one of them. I'm kind of banking on BU getting to the final, which is on the Saturday at the end of BU's spring break. I'll pay the higher price then, and gladly not have to fight the bulk of the student body for a seat.
Speaking of BU basketball, a situation is shaping up that may force me to copy and submit one of my former Freep columns to BU AD Gary Strickler. It appears that Northeastern may leave America East to join the Colonial AA, following former conference foes like Delaware and Drexel. Over in the Atlantic 10, there's some talk about dumping St. Bonaventure given their decision to scrap the rest of their men's basketball season after forfeiting games for using an ineligible player.
Should these come to pass (the NU thing is much more likely than St. Bonnie's getting the ax), it would behoove BU to do everything in its power to jump to the A10. There are four things BU would have going for it at this time:
1. A basketball team on the upswing, looking like it'll get its second NCAA berth. It suggests a quality program but, given the small conference pedigree, less likelihood that bringing them into the conference would threaten Temple or Xavier.
2. The new Harry Agganis Arena is expandable to 7200 for basketball, a size that fits snugly in the middle of the arena capacities for league teams.
3. BU's has nationally and regionally powerful non-revenue sports, which would help raise the A10 profile generally.
4. It would further open up the A10 to the northeast, giving the conference teams in DC (GW), Philly (Temple, La Salle), NYC (Fordham), and Boston. It may help the A10 compete with the Big East, though GW-Georgetown, St. John's-Fordham, and BU-BC are not, at this time at least, obviously competitive games.
There are some rather large impediments, such as BU's probably unwillingness to spend more money on athletics (travel would cost more, certainly) and the low odds that St. Bonnie's will be sent packing. But I wonder how much longer BU can stick with its mishmash of rural state schools and SUNY castoffs. We'd almost be better off packing it in and joining the UAA at that point.
Considering that we're in the full swing of college hockey playoffs, you think that FSNE would be willing to let ESPN carry the load tonight and show something of greater local interest (I know, that may not be contractually possible). That not only meant that I didn't get to see BU take the first game of their quarterfinal match-up with Providence (5-4 at Providence, a rink we have trouble in), it also means I didn't get to see- and I have a hard time to believe this even happened- UMass knock Maine out of the Hockey East tournament AT MAINE by taking the games last night and tonight.
As much as I like watching the Icedogs win, there's a large part of me that would have loved to see the Minutemen celebrate in Alfond Arena. Maine's fans are, generally, the most obnoxious in all of Hockey East (based, I think, on the combination of students and locals whose only connection to the school is that they live in the state). UMass became the first team in all of D1 to advance in a conference tournament this season. Yesterday's surprise storm pushed back a few series that could have given them company.
My lone source of college hockey action tonight: the Union-RPI tilt on NESN. Let's just say that it was not attention-grabbing, even with the 2-1 final. Having Bob Norton on color didn't do much to entice me, either.
Interesting facet of their post-game: when they ran through the ECAC scoreboard, the game scores were crammed in the lower left hand corner, taking up about 10 percent of the screen. They filled the screen with a shot of an ECAC banner. Not sure if this came from lousy production, crappy graphics software, or an inferiority complex. I'm willing to say all were involved.
(The results would have driven college bowl "purists" and ACF partisans crazy, as three of the four higher seeds lost in the ECAC tournament. Perhaps Kelly McKenzie needs to become the ECAC's hockey czar.)
Not much excitement in the other two HEA match-ups, as BC topped a depleted Merrimack and UNH bested Lowell.
In other playoff action, I'm passing on this weekend's America East tournament at BU. I somehow can't see spending either $40 for tickets to all three sessions or $18 for one of them. I'm kind of banking on BU getting to the final, which is on the Saturday at the end of BU's spring break. I'll pay the higher price then, and gladly not have to fight the bulk of the student body for a seat.
Speaking of BU basketball, a situation is shaping up that may force me to copy and submit one of my former Freep columns to BU AD Gary Strickler. It appears that Northeastern may leave America East to join the Colonial AA, following former conference foes like Delaware and Drexel. Over in the Atlantic 10, there's some talk about dumping St. Bonaventure given their decision to scrap the rest of their men's basketball season after forfeiting games for using an ineligible player.
Should these come to pass (the NU thing is much more likely than St. Bonnie's getting the ax), it would behoove BU to do everything in its power to jump to the A10. There are four things BU would have going for it at this time:
1. A basketball team on the upswing, looking like it'll get its second NCAA berth. It suggests a quality program but, given the small conference pedigree, less likelihood that bringing them into the conference would threaten Temple or Xavier.
2. The new Harry Agganis Arena is expandable to 7200 for basketball, a size that fits snugly in the middle of the arena capacities for league teams.
3. BU's has nationally and regionally powerful non-revenue sports, which would help raise the A10 profile generally.
4. It would further open up the A10 to the northeast, giving the conference teams in DC (GW), Philly (Temple, La Salle), NYC (Fordham), and Boston. It may help the A10 compete with the Big East, though GW-Georgetown, St. John's-Fordham, and BU-BC are not, at this time at least, obviously competitive games.
There are some rather large impediments, such as BU's probably unwillingness to spend more money on athletics (travel would cost more, certainly) and the low odds that St. Bonnie's will be sent packing. But I wonder how much longer BU can stick with its mishmash of rural state schools and SUNY castoffs. We'd almost be better off packing it in and joining the UAA at that point.
Another Lenten season is upon us, and once again it's time to give something up. Last year, as you may remember, I gave up cursing. Or tried to, as the reflexive nature with which I use four-letter (or 13-letter) words put a fairly large obstacle on my path to a frank and productive Lent.
This year I decided to give up something more tangible: bacon. And the sandwiches here at the campus center that I'd been getting daily, which I can get without bacon, but figure I can pass on as well. This should be less hard than the year I gave up red meat, but still something that'll take some work. I like bacon.
Sarah raised the same objection as last year when I thought of giving up soda, saying that I should give up something negative in order to make myself a better person. My argument, one that's backed up by both Catholics and Episcopalians (I know, I may be repeating myself) is that the Lenten "sacrifice" is done to become more in tune with what Jesus sacrified, and in some cases to use the money or time saved for charitable purposes.
So I'm going to stick with bacon, thank you very much. It's not exactly dying for your sins, but in the words of Homer, "I'm not running for Jesus."
This year I decided to give up something more tangible: bacon. And the sandwiches here at the campus center that I'd been getting daily, which I can get without bacon, but figure I can pass on as well. This should be less hard than the year I gave up red meat, but still something that'll take some work. I like bacon.
Sarah raised the same objection as last year when I thought of giving up soda, saying that I should give up something negative in order to make myself a better person. My argument, one that's backed up by both Catholics and Episcopalians (I know, I may be repeating myself) is that the Lenten "sacrifice" is done to become more in tune with what Jesus sacrified, and in some cases to use the money or time saved for charitable purposes.
So I'm going to stick with bacon, thank you very much. It's not exactly dying for your sins, but in the words of Homer, "I'm not running for Jesus."
05 March 2003
As you may have seen, Madonna is throwing her pen into the ring and will write a number of childrens' books. This prompted Blogalicious reader W. Scott Monty to put this challenge forth to the rest of us: come up with a name for a possible Madonna-penned book for kids. He starts us off with a good one:
Little Red Riding Crop
Using the TV show M*A*S*H for inspiration I would suggest a title for one of the announced (but sadly not seen) VD films for the 4077th: Hansel and Regretel.
Send entries in via the mail link above or at whatever address you may have for me.
Little Red Riding Crop
Using the TV show M*A*S*H for inspiration I would suggest a title for one of the announced (but sadly not seen) VD films for the 4077th: Hansel and Regretel.
Send entries in via the mail link above or at whatever address you may have for me.
So it turns out that my constant focus on camera whore Kimberly Caldwell has made me a top ten return for just her name on both Google and Yahoo. I expect to get hate mail any time now.
Who I feel really bad for is the teacher of the same name who is in the first or second spot, inasmuch as I don't want anyone thinking I'm calling her a camera whore. I've never even seen her near a camera.
Who I feel really bad for is the teacher of the same name who is in the first or second spot, inasmuch as I don't want anyone thinking I'm calling her a camera whore. I've never even seen her near a camera.
04 March 2003
So tonight's wild card round of American Idol proved one thing: there's a reason why some people didn't get past the Glendale auditions.
Tonight's show also proved you can indeed shoot the piano player, as they ditched the guy who played the last four weeks and went with a karaoke-style backup, replete with background vocals. I don't think this was particularly fair, as there were certainly some contestants who'd have performed better with this accompaniment than with piano only (Patrick and Jennifer Fuentes come to mind).
In any case, camera whore Kimberly Caldwell started things off, and apparently her mugging for the camera is directly related to the quality of her performance. In her semi she got lens time as much as possible, and was in the top 3. Tonight she hardly did the phrase camera whore credit, and didn't do as well. But all is not lost for camera whore Kimberly Caldwell, as you will see.
She was followed by Clay, the goofy-looking guy whose looks are apparently very hard for Randy and Simon to get past. He sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," in what may be (finally!) the first Elton John cover in show history. He nailed it (inasmuch as a contestant on this show can). Clay's performance was clearly the best of the night, and if he doesn't go through there's a fix in.
Then came Nasheka, back from last week's show. She was about as good as last week, which is to say she was also about as not good. I don't get her appeal. And given the changed format, Patrick may have gotten stiffed (not that I think he'd have gotten through, but this set up suits him better). Anyway, the curse of the one-named contestants continues.
Then comes a run of Simon's imported ankle, three of the four "mistake cuts" from Glendale, all of whom also happen to be highly toothsome. Except that the trio - Carmen, Olivia, and Janine- fail to impress. Carmen sings the "country" song "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and is very meh. Olivia (who reminds one of Andrea Corr or a pre-eating disorder Lara Flynn Boyle) sings something that I can't remember, perhaps because she was being drowned out by the music. Janine (the love child of Alyssa Milano and Jennifer Love Hewitt- think of the money Vivid Video could make on that concept) sings "We Belong" by Pat Benatar, and even she knows she's off.
Chip comes back from last week with better threads (Simon insulted Chip's sweater) and a better performance with Michael Jackson's "Rock With You." Paula and Randy love the improvement, Simon shall not be moved. Again. To this point Chip's probably the second-best performer of the night, and Simon couldn't care less. I don't think Chip is blowing me away, but I'm at a loss to explain Simon's distaste for him. Then again, so is Simon, as he can only point to "song selection," which is to American Idol as obstruction interference is to Hockey East refs; you use it when you want to make a call but can't justify it any other way.
Anyway, Chip's followed by Aliceyn, who was featured on the "best and worst" audition special as someone who may have gotten a raw deal. And Aliceyn shows why, giving a pretty good rendition of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." Except that that was the song she sang at her initial audition. And in Glendale. It is apparently the only song Aliceyn knows. Somewhere, camera whore Kimberly Caldwell adjusts her pancake.
Finally there's Trenyce, who got passed over way back from the first show. She says she did some "digging" for her song tonight, which is the little known "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green. Apparently her digging consisted of watching at least one tape of last year's show, where the song was performed something like five times. She is the first woman to do it, I suppose. And she sings it pretty well, but is another person in Simon's doghouse. He blames being in a bad mood, and can't justify it further. I think he's sad that he won't get to watch Carmen, Olivia, or Janine in tight pants week in and week out.
It turns out that America only gets to choose one finalist, and the judges pick the other three. I don't know if that means that all the judges have to agree, or if each one gets a pick. In any case, I have to think that Clay gets through; America's been pretty good about voting for the best vocalists, and Paula could just eat him up with a spoon. I would also go with Chip and Trenyce, solely on performance. Simon may not have liked them, but they both showed growth from their semis and deserve a break better than the Simonettes, who were better left back in Cali.
This leaves an interesting choice for the last spot. Aliceyn performed better, but with a song she's been working on since the fourth grade. Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell didn't do as well, but there's a history of the judges liking her voice. Putting her in the finals also revives the "feud" with her and Julia, at least for one week. And there's a definite favoritism for the contestants who've gotten the most camera time over the course of the series. Finally, Simon needs some young thing to ogle. Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell, get ready for your close-up. Ack.
Tonight's show also proved you can indeed shoot the piano player, as they ditched the guy who played the last four weeks and went with a karaoke-style backup, replete with background vocals. I don't think this was particularly fair, as there were certainly some contestants who'd have performed better with this accompaniment than with piano only (Patrick and Jennifer Fuentes come to mind).
In any case, camera whore Kimberly Caldwell started things off, and apparently her mugging for the camera is directly related to the quality of her performance. In her semi she got lens time as much as possible, and was in the top 3. Tonight she hardly did the phrase camera whore credit, and didn't do as well. But all is not lost for camera whore Kimberly Caldwell, as you will see.
She was followed by Clay, the goofy-looking guy whose looks are apparently very hard for Randy and Simon to get past. He sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," in what may be (finally!) the first Elton John cover in show history. He nailed it (inasmuch as a contestant on this show can). Clay's performance was clearly the best of the night, and if he doesn't go through there's a fix in.
Then came Nasheka, back from last week's show. She was about as good as last week, which is to say she was also about as not good. I don't get her appeal. And given the changed format, Patrick may have gotten stiffed (not that I think he'd have gotten through, but this set up suits him better). Anyway, the curse of the one-named contestants continues.
Then comes a run of Simon's imported ankle, three of the four "mistake cuts" from Glendale, all of whom also happen to be highly toothsome. Except that the trio - Carmen, Olivia, and Janine- fail to impress. Carmen sings the "country" song "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and is very meh. Olivia (who reminds one of Andrea Corr or a pre-eating disorder Lara Flynn Boyle) sings something that I can't remember, perhaps because she was being drowned out by the music. Janine (the love child of Alyssa Milano and Jennifer Love Hewitt- think of the money Vivid Video could make on that concept) sings "We Belong" by Pat Benatar, and even she knows she's off.
Chip comes back from last week with better threads (Simon insulted Chip's sweater) and a better performance with Michael Jackson's "Rock With You." Paula and Randy love the improvement, Simon shall not be moved. Again. To this point Chip's probably the second-best performer of the night, and Simon couldn't care less. I don't think Chip is blowing me away, but I'm at a loss to explain Simon's distaste for him. Then again, so is Simon, as he can only point to "song selection," which is to American Idol as obstruction interference is to Hockey East refs; you use it when you want to make a call but can't justify it any other way.
Anyway, Chip's followed by Aliceyn, who was featured on the "best and worst" audition special as someone who may have gotten a raw deal. And Aliceyn shows why, giving a pretty good rendition of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." Except that that was the song she sang at her initial audition. And in Glendale. It is apparently the only song Aliceyn knows. Somewhere, camera whore Kimberly Caldwell adjusts her pancake.
Finally there's Trenyce, who got passed over way back from the first show. She says she did some "digging" for her song tonight, which is the little known "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green. Apparently her digging consisted of watching at least one tape of last year's show, where the song was performed something like five times. She is the first woman to do it, I suppose. And she sings it pretty well, but is another person in Simon's doghouse. He blames being in a bad mood, and can't justify it further. I think he's sad that he won't get to watch Carmen, Olivia, or Janine in tight pants week in and week out.
It turns out that America only gets to choose one finalist, and the judges pick the other three. I don't know if that means that all the judges have to agree, or if each one gets a pick. In any case, I have to think that Clay gets through; America's been pretty good about voting for the best vocalists, and Paula could just eat him up with a spoon. I would also go with Chip and Trenyce, solely on performance. Simon may not have liked them, but they both showed growth from their semis and deserve a break better than the Simonettes, who were better left back in Cali.
This leaves an interesting choice for the last spot. Aliceyn performed better, but with a song she's been working on since the fourth grade. Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell didn't do as well, but there's a history of the judges liking her voice. Putting her in the finals also revives the "feud" with her and Julia, at least for one week. And there's a definite favoritism for the contestants who've gotten the most camera time over the course of the series. Finally, Simon needs some young thing to ogle. Camera whore Kimberly Caldwell, get ready for your close-up. Ack.
So, from reading over at TV Without Pity, it appears that the "twist" on tonight's American Idol will be that four, rather than two, wild cards will get into the finals. Which means I'll get to type the phrase "camera whore Kimberly Caldwell" several more times, as I can't see the judges not picking her to move on (assuming America doesn't decide on its own that it wants more of camera whore Kimberly Caldwell). Not sure how many the judges pick versus the public (I'm assuming 2 for each). Given this dilution, I wonder at what point they'll just say to hell with it and make the 200+ who get to Glendale all semifinalists. The show may go longer than World Cup qualifying.
But there's supposed to be an added twist to make up for the one that got spilled (by the show's own website, apparently). My guess is that they'll ship in some of the spurned gold-diggers from Joe Millionaire to sing away. It would fit with Simon's apparent wish for more attractive women.
Maybe camera whore Kimberly Caldwell will fill that niche for him.
But there's supposed to be an added twist to make up for the one that got spilled (by the show's own website, apparently). My guess is that they'll ship in some of the spurned gold-diggers from Joe Millionaire to sing away. It would fit with Simon's apparent wish for more attractive women.
Maybe camera whore Kimberly Caldwell will fill that niche for him.
03 March 2003
Apparently you need a group ID number to join my Oscar pool on Yahoo!; the number is 1758. Password is still the same as below.
01 March 2003
For once, an invitation to enter a pick 'em game that's not about sports. Come and test you Oscars predicions against, well, me. And anyone else who wants in.
Go to the Yahoo! Movies page, click on the Awards Challenge link, and enter today!
The group name is Here's Your Stinkin' Oscar!, password to join is action.
Go to the Yahoo! Movies page, click on the Awards Challenge link, and enter today!
The group name is Here's Your Stinkin' Oscar!, password to join is action.
A quick note on American Idol: the wild-card show is this Tuesday, and what's interesting is that 4 of the 9 participants weren't even among the semifinalists. They're folks who didn't get out of Glendale, but who the judges think may have gotten a raw deal. If nothing else, it illustrates the scientific manner in which they choose people.
Back from previous semifinals are camera whore Kimberly Caldwell (I'm going to call her that every time I mention her on the hopes of becoming the highest-ranked search for "camera whore Kimberly Caldwell" on Google), Clay (the goofy loking guy), Chip (who I picked for last week's final 3 but who got beaten out by faux-rocker Patrick), and two single-namers, Nasheka and Trenyce.
And, as now required for every show lumped under the "reality" banner since Joe Millionaire, we're promised a "twist." Maybe Simon's going to pop the question to Paula?
Back from previous semifinals are camera whore Kimberly Caldwell (I'm going to call her that every time I mention her on the hopes of becoming the highest-ranked search for "camera whore Kimberly Caldwell" on Google), Clay (the goofy loking guy), Chip (who I picked for last week's final 3 but who got beaten out by faux-rocker Patrick), and two single-namers, Nasheka and Trenyce.
And, as now required for every show lumped under the "reality" banner since Joe Millionaire, we're promised a "twist." Maybe Simon's going to pop the question to Paula?
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