Monday, September 13, 2004
Nobody Knows Nothing
Just completed a right relaxing weekend here in Southern Cali. It's hot around here - for reasons unknown to just about everyone - September and early October are the warmest months of the year. All that meant was that I got to spend a weekend inside doing some of the best things I enjoy: watching football and movies. Which is where I learned my lesson, that yes, nobody knows nothing.
Case in point. College ball this weekend. Michigan v. Notre Dame. Notre Dame is reeling from a loss to Brigham Young, which hasn't been good since Steve Young played there. Sure, they're hampered by the fact that the players have to wear short-sleeve white dress shirts instead of uniforms, and sure, they have to wear the special Mormon underwear, but still - they beat Notre Dame. So naturally, Michigan was going to kick them to the curb.
Not so much. Nope. I'm living in a world where, Michigan is worse than Notre Dame, Ohio State (my team since I'm 3 years old) is only a hair better than Marshall, Texas (one of my other teams) is barely better than Arkansas, and Indiana is better than a ranked Oregon team.
(Indiana, by the way, is a third of the way to a bowl game. If they can pull it off, it'll be the first time in more than ten years that the Hoosiers make the jump to the post-season. If they can pull it off, shouldn't we all make a visit to the Motor City Bowl to watch them play valliantly against the MAC co-champion?)
Then, on Sunday, we had the new football season. I'm always rolling my eyes listening to Newton rant about the Redskins, about his near romantic obsession with John Riggens, the whole thing. Well, we caught the game out here - and they did indeed look tough. And here I thought there was no way that they win their opening game.
For that matter, I figured that if my own hometown Bengals lost, there was no way it would be after scoring 24 on the J-E-T-S-Jets-Jets-Jets. What the hell was that all about?
Anyway, I'm glad it's all here. Ah, football.
Oh, and I saw probably my favorite movie this year (so far) this weekend. The wife and I headed out to the Pacific Theaters in Culver City to finally see Garden State. Really terrific. It's been a long time since I last saw a movie that spoke so clearly and, I thought, correctly about the struggles that so many people go through coping with their past, their friends, their family, and the general looney tunes world we live in. My wife thinks this might be the year for Natalie Portman to get the Oscar nom, and she's probably right.
(I generally can't deal with movies she's in - I still think back to all those mid-90s flicks with her, like Beautiful Girls and The Professional, where she's underage and really oversexualized and it gives me the creeps). But she was great in this one. And I'll go one step further. I've seen a lot of movies in my day where people fall in love on screen. I don't think I've ever been so sure that they were really, really in love as I was in this flick.
Terrific all around. And I have to get the soundtrack.
Coming soon: Comics news and the Star Trek convention. I swear.
Case in point. College ball this weekend. Michigan v. Notre Dame. Notre Dame is reeling from a loss to Brigham Young, which hasn't been good since Steve Young played there. Sure, they're hampered by the fact that the players have to wear short-sleeve white dress shirts instead of uniforms, and sure, they have to wear the special Mormon underwear, but still - they beat Notre Dame. So naturally, Michigan was going to kick them to the curb.
Not so much. Nope. I'm living in a world where, Michigan is worse than Notre Dame, Ohio State (my team since I'm 3 years old) is only a hair better than Marshall, Texas (one of my other teams) is barely better than Arkansas, and Indiana is better than a ranked Oregon team.
(Indiana, by the way, is a third of the way to a bowl game. If they can pull it off, it'll be the first time in more than ten years that the Hoosiers make the jump to the post-season. If they can pull it off, shouldn't we all make a visit to the Motor City Bowl to watch them play valliantly against the MAC co-champion?)
Then, on Sunday, we had the new football season. I'm always rolling my eyes listening to Newton rant about the Redskins, about his near romantic obsession with John Riggens, the whole thing. Well, we caught the game out here - and they did indeed look tough. And here I thought there was no way that they win their opening game.
For that matter, I figured that if my own hometown Bengals lost, there was no way it would be after scoring 24 on the J-E-T-S-Jets-Jets-Jets. What the hell was that all about?
Anyway, I'm glad it's all here. Ah, football.
Oh, and I saw probably my favorite movie this year (so far) this weekend. The wife and I headed out to the Pacific Theaters in Culver City to finally see Garden State. Really terrific. It's been a long time since I last saw a movie that spoke so clearly and, I thought, correctly about the struggles that so many people go through coping with their past, their friends, their family, and the general looney tunes world we live in. My wife thinks this might be the year for Natalie Portman to get the Oscar nom, and she's probably right.
(I generally can't deal with movies she's in - I still think back to all those mid-90s flicks with her, like Beautiful Girls and The Professional, where she's underage and really oversexualized and it gives me the creeps). But she was great in this one. And I'll go one step further. I've seen a lot of movies in my day where people fall in love on screen. I don't think I've ever been so sure that they were really, really in love as I was in this flick.
Terrific all around. And I have to get the soundtrack.
Coming soon: Comics news and the Star Trek convention. I swear.
P.S. It bears mentioning here, for no reason in particular, that when I spell-checked this post, the word "Hoosiers" came up as unknown. The suggested change? "Hookers". I'm not sure what it means, but OUTSTANDING!
