And Another Thing...

I forgot to share this before. Click here. It is wonderful and I recommend you all read it. Don't close it once you find out the subject matter, READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. Those of you who sympathize with this article like I do should save the link and share it with people as they harass you in the future. Every fan of this sport like myself knows how useful this can be.

Thanksgiving Day

I knocked off 4 1/2 movies on Thanksgiving. My ever-depressing friend Oddi brought up a good point: Who the fuck cares about this list?
Answer: Me. So yet again I am posting it. Also, it is a moderately original way of discussing movies (that is, you don't see movie reviewers posting a continually updated list of movies they see over the course of a year).

Anyways, added 4 of the 4 1/2 to the list. Should see the 2nd half of The Love Guru and all of a few others (Wanted) later.

I am going to include one-sentence reviews on this list from now on...

New additions in bold:

22. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Indy + ALIENS - Irony = Hilarious
21. Charlie Bartlett: No, seriously, Indiana Jones had ALIENS.
20. Definitely, Maybe: Indiana Jones definitely had ALIENS, someone thought "Maybe this is a good idea."
19. Incredible Hulk, The: A giant green monster walking around NYC is more believable than ALIENS in Indiana Jones.
18. Journey To The Center Of The Earth: Dinosaurs in the center of the earth but not ALIENS.
17. Semi-Pro: Will Farrell playing basketball... a lot more believable than ALIENS in Indy.
16. Hancock: Charlize Theron ruined this movie but not nearly as damaging as ALIENS.
15. You Don't Mess With The Zohan: Adam Sandler does Borat is a stupid idea, but less stupid than ALIENS.
14. Step Brothers: This movie was funny like ALIENS in Indy would've been if it was actually a joke.
13. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Forgetting Indiana Jones will take a long, long time.
12. Pineapple Express: I forgot to mention that Indy survived a nuclear blast by hiding in an old refrigerator.
11. Kung Fu Panda: The base that held these nuclear weapons had two guards. Two.
10. Horton Hears A Who: How the Grinch stole Harrison Ford's dignity.
9. Tropic Thunder: I suspect Harrison Ford thought his role in Indiana Jones was sort of like Ben Stiller's in this movie.
8. Role Models: My role models are George Lucas and Steven Spielberg because they can rape Indiana Jones without any major consequences.
7. Get Smart: A great suggestion for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
6. Burn After Reading: Burn your Indy DVD after renting.
5. Iron Man: Irony man = Indiana Jones.
4. Changeling: This movie was the 2nd most depressing of the year. Can you guess the 1st?
3. My Blueberry Nights: What kind of kingdom is centered around a crystal skull?
2. Dark Knight, The: ALIENS killed Heath Ledger.
1. WALL-E: As good as Indiana Jones is bad.

Strange Encounters With Minor Celebrities

It has been a strange week.
Obviously, I live and breathe the Boston Red Sox. I know more about the Red Sox than most people I know and I just about never leave home without a Red Sox hat on my head.
As I do this, I get a lot of attention from strangers who want to offer their two cents on the Red Sox. Generally, I am okay with this, but a lot of times it gets annoying because it usually goes the same direction every single time.
Today, I stopped in an antique store in a part of Atlanta that I almost never visit. The store itself I had never been to and had I had even the slightest better plan for something to do, I would not have stopped, I was just bored and I generally like looking at antique stores.
As I am sifting through books and records a tall African American man approaches me and begins to ask me questions about the Red Sox and my interest in them.
"You a Red Sox fan?"
"Ahh-yuh"
I was not enthused about this particular conversation and I made little eye contact.
"You know a lot about the Red Sox?"
"Yep..."
"Alright..." Here, begins to formulate a random trivia question about the Red Sox that I am already aware will determine how he views me and all white 24 year old men who wear Red Sox hats into random antique stores forever.
He begins... "Who was the hitting coach for the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox team?"
Now, like I said, I am no bandwagoner. I have loved the Red Sox for a long time. I can tell you the THIRD BASE COACH from that team, the songs that played during the post-game celebration after game four of that team's championship and several other completely inconsequential facts about them. However, for some reason, I did not know who the hitting coach for the 2004 Red Sox was.
"Dave Magadan?" I say.
"Nope, he's the hitting coach now."
"Ah. Crap. I forget."
"I'll give you a hint. His nickname was Papa Jack."
"Uhhh... Still don't know. I'm drawing a blank."
"Ron Jackson."
"Ohh, yeah, sounds familiar." It did sound familiar.
"Alright, who played first base for that team?"
"Doug Mientkewicz and Kevin Millar."
"Second base."
"Pokey Reese and Mark Bellhorn."
"Shortstop."
"Orlando Cabrera"
"Third base."
"Ugh, Bill Muller."
"Alright, alright. Have you ever seen a 2004 World Series ring."
By this time I am pretty annoyed and, again, not paying him much eye contact. "I've seen pictures, of course. I've never seen one in person."
Around this time I turn over towards him. He is holding his hand out and reaching to it with his other hand to remove his ring, a 2004 World Series championship ring.
The ring itself is valued in jewels alone at well over $20,000. The historical significance of THIS Red Sox team and what it means to people like myself make it virtually priceless.
He hands it to me.
I read the name. Ron Jackson.

Just to recap: This man approached me to ask me questions about himself. In an antique store. In Decatur, Georgia. Wow.

I, of course, apologize profusely for not knowing him. Once I stopped being a douche and started taking a better look at him, he looked extremely familiar and if one had asked me what role Ron Jackson had on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, I would have surely answered "hitting coach." Unfortunately for me, that is not how the initial question was phrased.
Fortunately for me, Ron Jackson is an exceptionally nice man. He shook my hand and talked baseball with me for awhile. At one point I went off to the other side of the building to call my father who suggested I take a picture. My phone however is a piece of crap without a camera on it so I was seemingly S.O.L. Luckily, there was a Big Lots store in this bizarro shopping center so I was able to run over and grab a disposable camera for $3 and get back in time to catch Jackson before he left. He was more than willing to pose with me and he again handed me the ring so that I would get to hold it in the picture. Unfortunately I have to take 25 more pictures before I can get this developed and share it with you all, but I could not wait to tell the story.
Jackson went on to tell me a lot of funny anecdotes about the Sox. He works in the Astros organization but definitely knows his legacy was with that team. He talked about his friendship with David Ortiz and offered some very interesting insights to various Red Sox happenings. We talked for quite awhile. One especially interesting part was his story about Kevin Youkilis.
Youkilis is known for his incredible plate discipline but he was never known as a good hitter until he met Jackson. Jackson demonstrated how Youkilis USED to hold his bat and then how he holds his bat now and how it was based on his suggestion. Youkilis has one of the most unique and recognizable swings in baseball and is now a notorious power hitter and MVP candidate. At some point during this part of the conversation I literally looked around as though I was on candid camera. "Is this really happening?"

Looking back at this strange and awesome meeting, it seems even more bizarre. I mean it would be pretty unusual to run into a Braves player or manager or something in this city, let alone an integral part of one of the greatest Red Sox teams ever. He lives in Fayetteville now and was in the area visiting family. For what it's worth, he was very interested in my life and who I was and asked me almost as much as I asked him. Although it is a little unusual to solicit such attention, I cannot sing his praises enough.

If you've seen the title of this blog posting, you may have noticed that I said "celebrities" which is plural. Ron Jackson is not the only minor celebrity I have met this week. The other was a little bit more orchestrated.

John Hodgman had a book signing at my local Barnes and Noble store. You may know him as the PC in the Apple Mac vs. PC commercials. He is also frequently hilariously featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has now written two great books. This book tour was to promote "More Information Than You Require," his latest book which came out in late October. I would have been perfectly content if he had just answered questions and then signed books but he actually spoke for 90 minutes and was utterly hilarious. He told of how he came to become a "famous minor television personality" and was very willing to make fun of any and all audience members. He is unbelievably clever and all in all it was a great pleasure to meet him.
He had made a cameo appearance on the first season of Flight Of The Conchords so I had him sign my Conchords DVD cover. He crossed off the word "Conchords" and wrote "Hodgman."
This followed in a pattern as he crossed off his name on the title page of the book and then signed it beneath. I am a big fan of this type of humor and now a big fan of Mr. Hodgman. Also, having now delved into his book, I have to say it is definitely worth a look-see.

Anyways, I'm gonna wrap this up finally. I saw Kung Fu Panda yesterday so I'm gonna put that in the list:
18. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
17. Charlie Bartlett
16. Definitely, Maybe
15. Incredible Hulk, The
14. Semi-Pro
13. You Don't Mess With The Zohan
12. Step Brothers
11. Horton Hears A Who
10. Pineapple Express
9. Kung Fu Panda
8. Role Models
7. Get Smart
6. Burn After Reading
5. Iron Man
4. Changeling
3. My Blueberry Nights
2. Dark Knight, The
1. WALL-E

Rethinking 2008 Movies

I've been rethinking my 2008 movie ranking list. I think I should make it a point to see every legitimate movie of the year. And by year I mean in terms of the Academy Awards as technically There Will Be Blood would count as a 2008 movie. Thus, I think I am obligated to see all of the top 20+ grossing movies, even if Sex And The City or High School Musical III are among them.
Also, I think 2009 will be more along the lines of me blogging about each movie as I see them and then ranking them accordingly. Perhaps a different blog just for that. I have several blog ideas rolling lately and I am just ambitious enough to take them on.
Anyways, I saw another movie tonight and I have two more lined up for tomorrow if I am lucky so here you go:

17. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
16. Charlie Bartlett
15. Definitely, Maybe
14. Incredible Hulk, The
13. Semi-Pro
12. You Don't Mess With The Zohan
11. Step Brothers
10. Horton Hears A Who
9. Pineapple Express
8. Role Models
7. Get Smart
6. Burn After Reading
5. Iron Man
4. Changeling
3. My Blueberry Nights
2. Dark Knight, The
1. WALL-E

Impressive ranking for Changeling. I think it's a tough call to put it where I did. Movies 5 through 13 are all FUN movies and it's hard to say I would necessarily watch Changeling more times than Iron Man or Burn After Reading. I feel as though I have to keep Iron Man pretty high but Changeling is just too good. Angelina Jolie, who I generally don't care for, was just about perfect. The acting was amazing. The direction was imperfect but still good on Clint Eastwood's part. The story was of course excellent. All in all a great movie. Iron Man and Burn After Reading are no doubt among my favorites for the year so it's hard for me to put a movie like this that I maybe have less of an attachment to ahead of them, but for now that's where it is. I may make changes later on, something I have been discussing all along.

As of right now, the top eight movies on the list are buy-able and the rest is not. While this number may seem a bit high, I would argue that I have generally seen some of the more critically acclaimed or important movies of 2008 thus far, thereby increasing the likelihood of a movie being buy-able. When I start seeing the aforementioned S&TS or HSM3, I think it will change.

On tomorrow's slate: Zach & Miri Make A Porno & Quantum Of Solace.

Last but not least, I revamped the sidebar to your right. I renamed a lot of the sections and broke the link lists in to more organized sections. I am quite confident that this will serve me personally much better than it will serve anyone else as I have no clue what you could possibly want from my links.

Updating The List

Working on starting a second blog. Details to come. In the meantime, here's the updated 2008 movie list. I am forgetting some for sure.

16. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
15. Charlie Bartlett
14. Definitely, Maybe
13. Incredible Hulk, The
12. Semi-Pro
11. You Don't Mess With The Zohan
10. Step Brothers
9. Horton Hears A Who
8. Pineapple Express
7. Role Models
6. Get Smart
5. Burn After Reading
4. Iron Man
3. My Blueberry Nights
2. Dark Knight, The
1. WALL-E

Looking forward to seeing: Kung Fu Panda, Changeling, Zach & Miri Make A Porno, Bolt, Sex Drive, Hellboy II, Tropic Thunder
Not liking what I hear about: Quantum of Solace
Most exciting movie release for me, possibly ever: The Road
Second most exciting in the (very) near future: Bolt
Probably wont get around to seeing: Sex & The City, Voyage To The Center Of The Earth, most chick flicks, most horror flicks, Yes Man, Hancock, Mamma Mia, The Mummy

Also, I still think oscar season will produce the best movie of the year, but I'm content with it being Wall-E which comes out on DVD today.

Guess Who's Back, Back Again, Shady's Back, Tell A Friend

I have a new favorite song of all time.

T.I. & Rihanna - Live Your Life

Hip Hop + Numa Numa = Full integration between the races.

The lyrics, without further ado:

You're gonna be a shining star, in fancy clothes, and fancy car-ars.
And then you'll see, you're gonna go foward,
Cause everyone knows, just who you are-are.
So live your life, ay ay ay.
Your steady chasing that paper,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
You got no time for no hata's
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
No telling where it'll take ya,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
Cause I'm a paper chaser,
Just living my life (Ay!), my life (Oh!), my life (Ay!), my life(Oh!),
just living my life (Ay!), my life (Oh!), my life (Ay!), my life(Oh!),
just living my life
Nevermind what haters say, ignore them 'til they fade away.
Amazing they ungreatful after all the game I gave away.
Safe to say I paved the way, for you cats to get paid today.
You still be wasting days away, now had I never saved the day.
Consider them my projay, how much I think they should pay.
Instead of being gracious, they violated and made you wait.
I never been a hater still I love them, in a crazy way.
Some say they so yay and know they couldn't even work on Labor day.
It aint that they black or white, their hands of area in shades of grey.
I'm West side anyway, even if I left the game and stayed away.
Some move away to make a way not move away cause they afraid.
I give back to the hood and all you ever did was take away.
I pray for patience but they make me want to melt they face away.
Like I once made them scream, now I could make them plead their case away.
Been thuggin' all my life, can't say I don't deserve to take a break.
You rather see me catch a case, and watch my future fade away.
(Rihanna):You're gonna be a shining star, in fancy clothes, and fancy car-ars.
And then you'll see, you're gonna go forward,
Cause everyone knows, just who you are-are.
So live your life, ay ay ay.
Your steady chasing that paper,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
You got no time for no hata's
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
No telling where it'll take ya,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
Cause I'm a paper chaser,
Just living my life
(T.I.):I'm the opposite of moderate, immaculately polished
With the spirit of a hustler and the swagger of a college kid.
Allergic to the counterfeit, impartial to the politics.
Articulate but still would grab a nigga by the collar quick.
Whoever having problems wit, they record sales just holla Tip
If that don't work and all else fails, then turn around and follow Tip
I got love for the game but ay, I'm not in love with all of it.
I do without the fame and the rappers nowadays are comedy.
The hootin' and the hollerin', back and forth with the argueing.
Where you from, who you know, what you make and what kind of car you in.
Seems as though you lost sight of whats important with the positive.
And checks until your bank account, and you're about poverted.
Your values is a disarrayed, prioritized are horribly.
Unhappy with the riches cause you piss poor morraly.
Ignoring all prior advice and fore warning.
And we mighty full of ourselves all of a sudden, aren't we?
(Rihanna):You're gonna be a shining star, in fancy clothes, and fancy car-ars.
And then you'll see, you're gonna go far,
Cause everyone knows, just who you are-are.
So live your life, ay ay ay.
You steady chasing that paper,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
You got no time for no hata's
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
No telling where it'll take ya,
Just live your life (Oh!), ay ay ay.
Cause I'm a paper chaser,
Just living my life (Ay!), my life (Oh!), my life (Ay!), my life(Oh!),
just living my life (Ay!), my life (Oh!), my life (Ay!), my life(Oh!),
So live your life
Got everbody watching what I docome walk in my shoes
and see the way Im livin if you really want to
got my mind on my moneyand Im not goin awaaay
So keep on getting ya paper and keep on climbing
looking in the mirror and keep on shining
till the game ends till the clock stop
we gonna post up on the top spot
living the life, the life
brand new city got my whole team with me
the life, my life
I do what I wanna do
Im living my life, my life
I will neva lose
Im living my life, my life
and Im not stopping