Tv

Watched a bit of telly last night, highlighted by a show I'd never seen called "Hustle" and my old favourite, "Prison Break".

"Hustle" is a show about a group of cons who go out and hustle people who have done something dodgy. Last night they honed in on a newspaper who had written a false story about a good friend of one of the group. Consequently they falsified a story about the Queen Mother, saying she had died during the war and been replaced by another woman so as not to alarm the general public. They went to great lengths to make the story tight and ended up convincing the paper's chief that it was true, only to have him betray them. Luckily they had a plan B and managed to get him sacked and damage he paper's reputation. Not awesome, but one of the better shows I've seen in a while.

"Prison Break" was action packed. It ended with Michael in an operating theatre at "The Company" headquarters, Linc trying to bargain for Michael's life, T-Bag being held up by a fake Bible salesman and Mahone being arrested by his old friend Agent Lang. Exciting stuff. Looking at IMDB, we're only 1 episode behind the US after tonight's episode, which is pretty good, even it means I've had to watch it Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (still yet to work out how I get to watch it tonight).

The Bank Job

"The Bank Job" is based upon a true story of a 70's bank heist that was built around recovering some photos of a royal family member in a compromising position from a safety deposit box.

Martine (Saffron Burrows) learns of a bank which has some issues with it's alarm system and consequently has them disarmed while the problem is being resolved. She tells an old scheming friend of hers, Terry (Jason Statham), about this golden opportunity and before long he has gathered a team who can get into the bank and make a raid. Little does he know that he's being set-up purely so Martine can get the invaluable photos and consequently be released from a drugs charge from the Government. The Government is being blackmailed because of the photos and wants to get them back so they can destroy them. A simple job soon becomes extremely complicated and dangerous. Will Terry get busted? Will the royal family be shamed? Will Martine walk free? See it to find out.

A well put together movie, with plenty of twists and turns. I'd picked it out for a dvd night with the in-laws and was a little worried about the content of the first 15mins but it soon improved and everyone thought it was a winner. One of the better done-to-death bank robbery movies you'll see.

Mahervellous

Got my belated birthday present from mum the other day- a copy of "Mahervellous. It's the story of Brett Maher (obviously) and follows his life from birth to the current day. Thankfully there's not much about ages 0-14 but mostly on his days at the AIS to the current day. The most interesting stuff was probably the inside info on the Don Monsoon and Mike Dunlap days and learning about what happened with Chris Blakemore, Leon Trimmingham, Rob Rose, Tim Brenton etc. Also covers his Olympic and International experiences, as well as the tragic death of his son Hudson.

A great read for any 36ers fans, of which there are probably about 10,000 who may consider reading his story.

American Hoax

A big part of holidays for me involves reading, and today I knocked off a book I've been reading in fits and starts all year- "American Hoax".

The book revolves around 5 characters created by writer Charles Firth who, mainly through the use of the internet, he will try to advance in the American political landscape. The characters are named after Aussie icons, including Dr Andy O'Keefe and Edward McGwire. Each is given an agenda and given the task of getting as much of their work published as possible in respected domains.

The book is pretty interesting at the start, but gradually begins to tire a little as many of the characters don't advance that far and really tread water. There is some great humour in the book though, most notably through the use of footnotes. It's different and shows what can be done through an online medium these days. Some of the funnier moments involve pretentious poems by the Khorin-al Ghrant character (a deaf, mute Muslim woman) and the use of Wikipedia and Google to create Bertrand. Best line of the book was this, which cracked me up.

"Today, Dr O'Keefe is planning to run for President, though failing that, is thinking of hosting a new television game show where people have to guess a number and then wait for half an hour to find out whether they were correct".

Worth reading if you're a Firth/Chaser fan or in what can be done with a website and email address.

The Day The Earth Stood Still- Gold Class Style

Headed to Marion last night to take in the "Gold Class" experience with the Osborne's. The movie choices were limited, and we ended up settling for "The Day The Earth Stood Still."

The movie is a modern day version of the 50's classic, this time with an environmental theme. Klaatu (Reeves, in the perfect role for him- a dull alien) comes to earth with a team to kill humans so that the earth can be saved. His people believe they've given us enough time to see the damage we're doing but refuse to change, so they'll save the earth for us. I thought this was harsh as we've only learned the damages caused from using aerosols and the balloons that come out from power points for 20 or so and are making changes, like green power and catching buses instead of using cars and stuff like that. Scientist Helen Benson (Connelly, in another dull role) and her stepson Jacob (Will Smith's annoying kid) befriend Klaatu and try to change his mind about the killing humans bit. Will they succeed? See it to find out.

Not as bad as I thought, but certainly won't be seeing it again. Probably drew me in a bit with cameos from Curtis from "24" and T-Bag from "Prison Break".

Let's now focus on the best part- the Gold Class. We sat down and organised for our meals to come in 30min into the movie. After 5mins a lady came to us with a salad- which we hadn't ordered. About 20mins later Tara's nachos came, shortly followed by a pizza, also not what we'd ordered. A few minutes later my chicken tenders and wedges arrived and they ruled- great quality at a fair price. Shortly after another pizza arrived, also not for us, then my drink which was needed due to the spicy wedges. Besides the food, the chairs also ruled, lying down while watching a movie on the big screen is great. I've decided for major movie events this should be the way to go. Not cheap though. A worthwhile experience.

Casino Royale

Saw this after seeing "Quantum of Solace", which was a dumb idea but didn't really have a choice. Here's my review.

"Casino Royale" brings us a new Bond, Daniel Craig, who is a 180 from all the previous ones. He's cold and calculated and not very funny, but the ladies still love him.

This movie sees him try to halt a fund raising attempt for a terrorist organisation that involves playing "Texas Hold 'Em" (my dream). Of course Bond is good at most things and cards is certainly on the list. Along the way there's lots of chases, fights and explosions, many better than anything we've seen in any movies, let alone the Bond franchise. There's many memorable scenes including an attempt to blow up a plane, a chase on a construction site, a drink spiking and a memorable scene.....well it involves Bond's nuts and a special whip, but it's not sexual.

Don't wanna give to much away but it's a great film, heaps of action and no-one would walk away unimpressed. Make sure you see it before seeing "Quantum of Solace" to save some confusion.

Australia

With less than a week to go before our free movie tickets expired, we
had to see a movie quick. Wifey was keen to see "Australia", so off we
headed to the Parade to check it out. Here's my thoughts.

"Australia" is a movie about Australia and the Australians that live
there. It is set in Australia in the midst of WW2 (probably my
favourite war). The movie focuses on the story of Lady Ashley (Nicole
Kidman, in her best role since "Days of Thunder"), a British lady who
has come to Australia to see what's going on with her husband's land.
She arrives to discover her husband is dead. This devastates her but
also annoyingly means she's now gotta move over 1000 cattle. She
enlists the help of "The Drover" (Hugh Jackman, in perhaps his best
work since he played the voice of "Roddy" in "Flushed Away") to help
with this mammoth task. This begins a huge task of moving the cattle
and then having to take on and run the station. Lady Ashley soon forms
some strong relationships, most notably with The Drover and little
Nullah and when she discovers mysterious circumstances surrounding her
ex-husband's death, against all odds, Lady Ashley takes on the land and
the powerful Carney family who threaten her cattle business existence.
If that's not hard enough then the Japanese invade Darwin and threaten
the lives of all those she loves. Will Lady Ashley again overcome the
odds? See it to find out.

An OK movie, but loses points for it's ridiculous length and the amount
of CGI in a movie that's supposed to showcase the beauty of this big
brown land. The movie begins with a stunning sunset, but after this
there isn't much breathtaking scenery, which is stupid seeing as the
movie is also a little bit of a tourism showcase. The only tourists
this movie would likely capture are cattle rustlers or people who like
dirt. Kidman was OK, Jackman not totally believable as a drover (this
is the same guy who played Peter Allan on stage) but the real star was
David Wenham who was awesome and should have got more screen time.

Christmas

Started Christmas with Christmas Eve at the in-laws. Had all the staples- fried camembert and roast. Present time went well, with the boys fully into it. I cleaned up, getting dvd's of "Extras" and "The Office", shirts, CK jeans, fancy aftershave and more. I even got myself a few presents- a "Best of Bowie" cd and the new "Girltalk" cd. Bands these days. The cd is black with no writing on it and there's no writing on the sleeves, so I don't know what the songs are called, although they all kinda blend into each other so it doesn't matter I guess.

For Christmas Day met up with mum's family at a park in Hackney. Quite pleasant, albeit a bit weird as we did a "BYO". We decided to get some food on the way, but not much seemed to be open. I dropped off the family and went looking for food. After 2hrs I came back with McDonalds. First Christmas I've ever had Macca's for lunch. It brought back memories of when I had Chinese for lunch with Gary in 1999.

At night had dad over for another roast and some dessert. I was damn full by the end of the day.

The Blues Brothers

In my recent weekly dvd hire, got out a few oldies including this "classic".

"The Blues Brothers" is a movie about two brothers, Jake (Belushi) and Elwood (Akroyd), who besides having the unlikely surname of Blues, are part of a killer band. The movie picks up with Jake being released from prison after a 3yr stint and being reunited with Elwood. On the trip home they drop in to see their old Catholic nun who looked after them at the orphanage. She tells them of the pending closure of the home unless they can come up with 5 large. The brothers take this as if they have been given a mission by God to reform the band, do some gigs and come up with $5000. Over the next hour they seek out the old band members, some keener than other to reform. During the hunt we are treated to some great cameos from some other the legends of soul, including Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker and most notable Ray Charles with his brilliant performance of "Shake A Tailfeather". They then manage to book a big theatre for a huge show they hope will raise the money. Will it work? See it to find out.

More a movie of some great scenes and cameos, but pretty patchy in spots. Belushi and Akroyd were pretty unaccomplished actors going into this and the movie heavily relies on gimmicks eg car chases than their acting prowess. Decent and holds up ok for a nearly 30yr movie.

Prison Break

Stupid Channel 7. So I remember last night that "Prison Break" might be on. I checked the guide and I was right.

It was a good episode, but ended stupidly again as Michael, the man who covers all bases, neglected to check the papers that Self handed to him. Yep, the papers were blank, meaning they're screwed. There's another episode on tonight too, which is a bit weird seeing as most channels cancel their big shows in November and don't show them again until Feb. I guess I'm one of the few people left watching it. Oh well. Surprisingly there's another episode on tonight- on Christmas Eve. So while most of the family is in one room watching Marina Pryor and Anthony Callea sing carols, I'll be watching T-Bag get up to no good.

Wall Street

Had been meaning to see this for a while (ie 21 years) and with 3 weeks of nothing to do on my hands, what better an opportunity.

"Wall Street" is a movie about Wall Street. It focuses though on the fledgling relationship of a promising stockbroker called Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen, in a role that showed the skills that would lead to such smash hits as "Young Guns" and "Major League") and one of the most powerful businessmen in New York, Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas). Bud has been trying to get a meeting with Gordon for a while, and eventually gets 5min with him to show his skills. When Gordon shows his lack of interest, Bud divulges some info on a company whom his father works for that is essentially insider trading. Gordon loves insider trading, so tells Bud if he wants his business he needs to keep the inside info coming on other companies too. Bud decides to essentially sell his soul and do this so that he can get all Gordon offers. When a deal goes bad, Bud must decide if he'll keep towing the line or make a stand. Will Bud sell out? See it to find out.

Ok, but not as good as I thought. I thought the Gecko character was going to be way bigger and that Bud was slimier, but it didn't pan out this way. The supporting cast was average outside of Martin Sheen as Bud's dad, especially Darryl Hannah (the mermaid in "Splash"). Ok, but no classic.

My trip to Adelaide

On Thursday headed off for the bright lights of Adelaide. I worked and stayed in Ballarat for the day. The day went reasonably well and the night was full of adventures including watching "The Prestige", treating myself to a burger at "Hog's Breath" and watching plenty of cricket.

On Friday I visited customers from Ararat to Nhill, then drove through. There was plenty of entertainment along the way, featuring the call of the cricket, "Internationalist" and "Ok Computer" and then the 5AA sports show. Listening to the show, I noticed there weren't many callers and decided it might be worth a crack at the quiz. I got through to my surprise and won a $50 voucher to Sammy's. Sweet.

When I arrived I ate, caught up with the family's adventures and then hit the hay.

Saturday featured a visit to the beach, a 3rd birthday party and poker with some dear old friends. I didn't win at poker but had a good time. I did win though on NBA Live, beating Darren for the first time in this version. Many thanks to Kyle Korver. I then took on Corey and killed him too, this time courtesy of a dominant Brandon Roy.

Sunday featured church, lunch at my sister's, tea at Macca's with the Osborne's and then watching the kids while Tara went to "Christmas In The Square". Later on Bruce and I watched "Wall Street" (see next blog).

Today I went into the office to work, then came home and chilled out.

The next few days should be crazy busy but should be fun.

The Prestige

In my motel room the other night I caught this on the movie channel. Here's my thoughts.

"The Prestige" is kind of like "The Illusionist", only a bit different. It is built upon the story of two rising magicians- Alfred (Bale) and Robert (Jackman) who soon become bitter rivals after Alfred seemingly kills his girlfriend on purpose (that would do it for me). They become engrossed in a a game of "can you top this" with no rules, causing a lot of tragedy and pain along the way. Near the end of the movie it seems Robert, who has generally been the follower and not the leader, finally pulls of a stunt that blows Alfred's mind. Has Robert finally outdone his foe? See it to find out.

A gripping story, with plenty of action and a lot for the audience to try to work out. The main stars are excellent, brilliantly supported by Michael Caine, and not so much by Scarlett Johansson. One of the better movies of the millenium.

Quantum Of Solace

Sat night Dean and I headed to Forest Hill to go see the latest Bond flick- "Quantum of Solace". It would be the first Bond flick I'd seen since "The World Is Not Enough" , the one with Denise Richards as Christmas the nuclear scientist, which should tell you how credible that was. That put me off seeing Bond flicks for a while, but seeing as i'd been invited plus we now had D Craig as the the main man, I thought I had nothing to lose.

"Quantum of Solace" is about Bond being on a mission to hunt down a guy who killed a good friend of his (I think). In the middle of that he gets caught up in a plot to overthrow the Bolivian government (man they must have used up a lot of countries) and a rort revolving around natural resources. Luckily most of the film though focuses on vehicle chases and explosions. Some of it pretty jerky, making it hard to properly follow and also allowing them to get away with some of the most ridiculous stunts ever. The film climaxes with Bond and his ally Camille both given the chance to exact revenge.

Good action stunts, and I much prefer this moody, troubled Bond than the suave one. Add the great locations and you have an enjoyable movie. Worth seeing.

Die Fälscher

"Die Fälscher" (or "The Counterfeiters" for those of you who can't speak German) is the amazing true story of a group of Jews in a WW2 concentration camp who are forced to make counterfeit money to help fund the Nazi war effort.

The group is headed by Sally (Karl Markovics, in probably his best role since the heady days of Kreuzfeuer and Qualtingers Wien), a master counterfeiter who was imprisoned when busted just before the war started and then sent to a concentration camp. He gets transfered from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen, where he is given access to technology he never got the chance to work with and is asked to counterfeit the dollar and the pound. He's loving it at the start but as his consience gets rattled by a fellow worker who challenges him that their work is funding and therefore assisting the Nazi efforts. Sally must decide if he'll just do as he's told, or do something about it.

Probably didn't end the way I expected but that's probably because (a) it's not a Hollywood movie and (b) it's a true story. Certainl an amazing story and one well worth seeing.

Steve Nash the comedian

Get Smart

On the weekend we got out "Get Smart", something I wasn't very excited about but thought it would be passable. I was pretty much right.

The movie commences with Max (Steve Carell) as an analyst, keen to get out and do the dirty work. When Agent 23 (The Rock, Dwayne Johnson) gets assigned office work, Max gets his big break. The headquarters of Control get attacked by Kaos and Max and 99 (Anne Hathaway) head a team to attack them and try to stop their latest quest for world domination. There's some action, weak jokes and a thin plot- and that's about it. Carell mails it in like never before, but he wasn't given much to work with. A hastily put together script is the movie's biggest issue, which is a shame considering the esteem the show is held in worldwide. They could have made it much zanier and fun or made it more "what made the man" (think "Batman Begins"). Another shameful attempt at a quick few $$$ built upon the popularity of a legendary show.

Copocabana

So last night we had our Christmas Party for work. This year it was not a cruise, not a theatre restaurant, but some South American food and dancing at "Copocabana".

Numbers were a few down due to some staff having to go to hospital this week and our boss jetting in late from Sydney, but we more than made up for them. We started with a glamorous salad bar, which featured chips (my dream) and lots of beetroot. Soon after we got back to our table a man came with a huge sword full of spicy sausages. He came next to you and said "sausage" and you then said if you wanted said sausage or not. He then repeated this during the night with other meats, just exchanging the word "sausage" for the relevant meat ie "lamb" or "chicken". A nice concept.

Getting drinks was challenging. We placed an order soon after we got there and a lady came about 15mins later asking also if we'd like drinks. We explained that an order had already been taken, plus she'd taken a fiddy. The lady asked what the waitresses name was. Nick joked that he didn't like to ask waitresses their name in case they thought he was hitting on them, but he was pretty sure that the lady worked here. This baffled the lady and she left. Then another waitress came and asked for drinks. Eventually the first one returned with our drinks and even change (which was lucky seeing as soft drinks were $4 and Corono's $8).

As the night wore on, I mean got started, there was dancing, then a band and then apparently a stage show (we left before this). In all my years of partying I've discovered when you go to these things and decide not to dance, all you end up doing is watching drunk people dance, which loses it's wackyness after 15min or so, plus you're left just yelling conversations to people 50cm away from you. Not as fun.

Good food and good people though, although I don't think we'll beat the river cruise for some time. Also loses points for not playing Manilow's signature song.

2 Nights In Paris

"2 nights in Paris" is a movie that showcases Julie Delpy's pride in herself. She wrote the movie and also acts in it, directs it and produces it. All of that is a feat in itself you'd think but she also shows off her ability to speak four languages and casts her character as the sexiest and most sought after woman in France, which under the circumstances seems,well, a bit of a stretch.

The movie is a story about American Jack (Goldberg) and French American Marion (Delpy), a couple who decide to go to France to rekindle their relationship. Things soon get a bit akward though when Jack begins to notice many men checking out his lady and soon uncovers many of them seem to have expressed their love physically with her. He finds this a bit weird considering her apathy and lack of libido and does some research to see what the story is.Is she really the town bicycle or has there been a big mix-up? See it to find out.

Jack was an ok character, but it just seemed to unrealistic that he'd be hooked up with the unappealing Marion. Some good moments, but generally it was annoying.

The carpet cleaning man

So we had this guy come to clean our carpets this week from "Cheap As Chips" (Note for SA readers, it's not the same company as your beloved bargain store chain). Over the phone we were quoted $73 for the service, providing our rooms sizes didn't exceed the specified measurements. When the guy got here he said the floors were really dirty. I told him that i realised this, hence why we didn't just vacuum them and decided to call a company that specialises in cleaning carpets (actually I may have just thought this and not verbalized it). Anyway i argued they were the same dirty as they normally are and that we'd been charged around $70 the last 4 times we'd had them done, including by his company. He said "There's no way I'm doing that for $73. I've been doing this for 7 years". Long story short, we told him to leave it, got another company in who quoted less and everyone was happy, except "Cheap As Chips", and more specifically Michael, the carpet technician.

I love when people talk about their experience in an industry that doesn't seem to need a whole lot of expertise. I've talked before about the guy talking about the fish and chip shop owners who had "been in the game for 20 years". Man, they must have learnt a hell of a lot about dropping frozen food into huge vats of boiling oil. Other industries that many years of experience probably wouldn't account for a lot may include.............

-Shelf stacking
-Lawn mowing
-Gutter cleaning
-Postal delivery
-Bed salesman

Although i heard a story the other day about a 60yr old man who stacks bricks for a living. He gets paid $50 per 1000 bricks laid. He worked on his technique and now stacks 10000 bricks a day, meaning he's getting $2500 a week. Hard work but good pay, so maybe all of the above is rubbish.

Indiana Jones & The Crystal Skull

Tara's turn for a dvd and this is what she chose.

I hadn't seen an Indiana Jones movie since the "Temple of Doom" (the one with the cute little oriental kid and where the guy gets his heart pulled out of his chest). I missed the Sean Connery one, which some tell me was the best.

This one features again Harrison Ford as Indy and this time he goes looking for an old friend who's looking for a crystal skull. A young friend (played by Shia LeBeouf) of Indy's old chum approaches him and tells of his quest and Indy decides to help him find him. Before you know it he's up to his old tricks (running from freaky animals and weird jungle people). Will Indy find his friend and solve an ancient mystery? See it to find out.

The movie started well, but the shenanigans in the jungle just annoyed me (except the flesh eating ants, they ruled). Wifey loved it for the adventure, so old fans of this franchise should be happy with it. You could do worse for a 4th installment in a movie series, so it gets points for that alone.

My week

From Mon to Fri this week I was in Sydney for a work conference. The highlights included..........

-Not having to share a room this time with work colleagues
-Eating at "Lone Star"
-Dinner at Darling Harbour
-Learning stuff
-Rekindling my love of watermelon

Got home pretty darn late Thurs night due to Virgin's seemingly new policy of always having delays. On Fri it was catch up on work, then home for a casual evening and of course, a dvd. Tara picked and went for the new Indiana Jones movie (review to come soon).

On Saturday I let wifey have a sleep-in and looked after the kids, then took the boys down to "Yo-Yo's Playhouse" with Dean and his girls. Fun had by all. In the arvo hit the garden hard, kept an eye on my fantasy basketball team who brought it big-time and shot me up to 2nd place, then went for a family walk.

Sunday was church, then home for more gardening and pottering before going for a bbq dinner for James's 30th. Came home and bathed the boys, watched Idol and Rove, then hit the hay.

I just realised how boring that weekend sounded, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. This week I will commit to more exciting blogging adventures and maybe even one of two opinion pieces.

Saturday

Started the day bright and early with 9 holes with Dean @ Ringwood. The rain just held off and we played some inspired golf. The first time I've played and not got angry in ages, which was nice. After this we came home and joined our families for breakfast.

In the arvo I spent a lot of time with my 2nd family, my fantasy basketball team. They played ok, but need to lift their game a little, especially the big guys. Not happy coming last in rebounds and blocks with that frontcourt. Also did some gardening and playing with the kids. Just before we were about to get ready for our big date we notcied Elijah's face had gone red and his face and eyes had blown up, so Tara had to pop off with him to the doctor. Seems he found a stray pancake from earlier in the day, and he has alergies, so.....All good though.

At night Tara and I headed to the movies (see below), then went for a late dinner at a Thai place around the corner. Really good food, just felt slightly rushed. I think they mentioned the kicthen would be closing soon about 17 times.

A lovely day.

Body Of Lies

On Sat night we used up our last babysitting voucher with the Telfer's and headed out for a movie and dinner date. Sadly most movies seem to start at 6:30 or 9pm on Saturday, which is ridiculous. I mean if you see a 9pm movie, you're not getting home up to and including midnight, which is just silly. Anyway, I digress.

"Body Of Lies" is a story about the work of the CIA in the Middle East, built around ground operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) and Washinton based chief Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Early in the film after an attack, Roger gets posted in Jordan to work with their local team, headed by Hani (played brilliantly by Mark Strong), to track down a fledgling terrorist group believed to be based there. As they don't use modern things like mobile phones (like my friend Darren. Hey wait a minute............) or the internet (like my friend Sam), they are very hard to track. Roger comes up with a great idea of creating a pretend terrorist group that will pose a threat to the dominance of the Jordan based one and hopefully flush them out.

A fantastic movie, set in a great surrounding, led by a brilliant cast, full of action and suspense. Truly one of the great films of this century. Gives a reasonably balanced insight into some of the going ons in these countries. Well worth seeing, even Tara really liked it,so........

You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Another Fri night, another dvd. Once again went for something light and against my better knowledge, went for an Adam Sandler pic. Words alone can not express the stinkiness.

"You Don't Mess With The Zohan" is a fictional story about Israeli assasin Zohan (Sandler) who longs to quit his demanding job and move to the US to become a hairdresser. To do so he fakes his death and boards a plane with a couple of dogs. Once he lands in the US he searches for his dream job, starting at the top salon but after being laughed off the premises, eventually settles for a dumpy small salon. When a hair stylist quits, Zohan gets his chance. He soon becomes renowned for giving great old lady haircuts, which include certain "favours". Things aren't all smooth though as Zohan must deal with racial issues, falling for a Palestinian and being recognised by some countymen.

Just an awful, awful movie. Besides the awful storyline and having more penil jokes than even Mike Myers would dream of, it semi-attempted to touch on the Middle Eastern situation. What was a truly terrible attempt at exposing this longtime conflict was described by Blockbuster's magazine as "a message that's handled remarkably deftly". Mmmm. One of the worst movies I've seen in recent memory. Some good cameos,including Chris Rock (with possibly the funniest line in the movie) and with Mariah Carey doing an ok job but Dave Matthews not so good, perhaps even worse than Fergie in "Posiedon".

My weekend

SATURDAY
Woke up feeling pretty flat, which was annoying. Had pancakes at home, then pottered for a bit. Took Isaac to "Jungle Music" in the afternoon, then came home and chilled for a bit. In the arvo headed to Cattani Gardens for Lisa's Birthday BBQ. That lifted my spirits. Supervised Isaac for a fair while, then got to chat to some of the gang. Got into a conversation with a guy called "Matt", who commented early that he used to ref me. Turns out he was a ref from the church basketball days and I remembered him once I worked out what he'd look like as a 15 year old. He was actually a really good ref and I let him know it as we reflected on the old days. He doesn't ref anymore, which is probably not a surprise considering as a dentist you don't need the $10/hour pay. Didn't eat much as felt a bit weird. This came to fruition later at night when i woke up several times choking and almost about to vomit. Good times.

SUNDAY
Got to church early for tech desk, then headed out for "Engage" which was painting a lovely ladies house. I'm not bad at painting, except for the hard bits. In the afternoon we went for a drive and a snack, then home for dinner. Watched "Australian Idol", which was ok, although i was crestfallen to discover Sophie had been eliminated. At night sat outside in the top weather and chatted with wifey, then went to bed.

What Happens In Vegas

Fri night wifey gave me the order to "get something funny" at Blockbuster. Now our ideas of "funny" differ, but I thought she might like this. It was hard to choose between something like this, which i didn't think would be funny but had famous people in it, or something that went "straight to dvd" with no famous people. I think the former will always win in my books.

"What Happens In Vegas" is about two people (Diaz and Kutcher) who have hit hard times and decide to blow off some steam in Vegas. They meet up, get wildly drunk and get married while out of it. In the morning they decide to go their own separate ways...until Jack (Kutcher) win $3 million on a slot machine with Joy's (Diaz) money. They take the matter to court and the wacky judge tells them they have to stay married for 6mths, see a counsellor and see what happens. Both then set out to do all they can to show they tried to make the marriage work but the other wasn't forthcoming, causing some hilarious premises eg trying to get each other to cheat on them. Who will win or will they form a beatiful relationship? See it to find out.

Some good scenes and cheap laughs, but it's no "Flying High". Kutcher got most of my laughs...actaully all of them. Not too bad for a rom com, seen plenty worse.

The Measure Of A Man

I've got a lot of favourite actors- Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Denzel Washington....but none of them are even my favourite actors. My favourite actor is Sidney Poitier (ok...that might be stretch as I don't think I've ever seen one of movies). Tara saw him on Oprah talking about this book and his striving to be a man of integrity and honour, recognised the similarities with me and decided to get me the book for Father's Day.

It's a good book and goes into his early days in the Bahamas to his move to New York, his early days as an actor right through to his twilight years. He talks a lot about the lessons learned and his motivations along his rise to one of Hollwood's favourite leading men. Challenging and thought provoking at times and well worth a read. Even though I don't think I've seen any of his movies, it gives a great insight into how he battled to get regular work in the early years and then the challenges and decisions he faced along the way as he was able to pick and choose.

Radelaide

Did another quick trip to Adelaide over the weekend, here's what we got up to.

FRIDAY
Left after work for Horsham. Delays included..........
-2 projectile vomits
-Getting dinner
-2 terrifying 20-something drivers. One who was really into her music and alternated between 80 and 120 for a large stretch, as well as some swerving. The other one was reaching for something and swerved over to the other side of the road. Yep, this drive is getting dangerous.

Got into Horsham about 9:30pm and the boys were very excited about the motel. Got to sleep around 10:30

SATURDAY
Left around 7am, grabbed some McD's for brekky and headed off. The boys were good, thanks largely to discovering you can put on cd's for Isaac and whack the fader on so it all goes to the rear speakers, meaning they were happy and Tara and I could chat. In Keith found a cool playground with one of those old carriage rides that goes on a metal track. Much entertainment for all.

Got into Adelaide just before 12. Had some lunch, then I headed off for the Fantasy Draft. Just me, Gary, Ash, Jimmy and Dimi, who I met for the first time. Good draft, if not very complicated with all the phone calls, MSN issues etc. I was pretty happy with my team, not overjoyed but content. It was damn hot in Darren's house, thanks largely to Jim's inability to operate the A/C. Played some NBA Live too which was good.

At night went back to the in-laws for some photo viewing of their trip to Europe, then went to bed.

SUNDAY
Was planning on going to church, but instead went for breakfast @ Evida's. After this went to Arndale to grab some pressies for the day, then went to Tompy's. Had a lovely lunch, watched some "Wiggles", then went to Mum's.

Caught up with the family, ate cakes and then fed the ducks.

At night had dinner with Tara's folks, looked at more slides, then hit the sack.

MONDAY
Hung around the house in the morning, mostly eating, chatting and reading. Finished my Sidney Poitter book which was good. In the arvo dropped over to dad's, then made the trip back. Pretty cruisey drive, then crashed in Kaniva for the night (the same place I wrote about here ). Tara loved it, except for the very low pressure shower, spiders and bedding. The boys loved it though and were extremely hyped and chased each other around for ages, probably the best they've ever played together which was nice.

A good trip...and we get to do it all again in 2mths time.

PRISON BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I get the paper yesterday and notice in the tv guide that "Prison Break" was on at 10:30. Hmm, great promotion Channel 7. Didn't hear a thing and wasn't expecting it as the last season ended not so long ago and i didn't think we'd see this until next year. So I jumped online and discovered this was ep 2, so had to go and read during the ads what happened in ep 1 because I was completely lost. T-Bag was wandering the desert, Sucre and Mahone were hanging with Michael and Linc and Sarah was alive (yep, I guessed it). Looked for a while but only came across an extremely in-depth analysis of ep 1, which took me several ad breaks to get through. It was a tad too comprehensive, but had some great lines in there eg

They meet in an alley. Whistler shows Michael the card and says in order to read it they need to break into a "secure structure." Michael deduces that they need his mad skillz. Whistler says his bird book had info that would have aided the break-in, but they can do without it. Michael's all, "You can do without it. Just shut up and tell me about my non-beheaded girlfriend."

Anyway it's same ol', same ol' for this show, except for the nice additions of some cannibalism (yes, T-Bag was involved) and Michael Rappaport. This guy was going to be anything after his amazing performance as Remy in "Higher Learning" (the one that said "unlearn" at the end of it. Mmmm. Powerful). Sadly he made some bad choices after this ie generally starring as Eddie Murphy's sidekick in a semi-serious drama won't get you an academy award, or cred. I don't know if I can handle more of the same crazy twists and turns, especially at 10:30 on a Thursday. We'll see. Last night, for example, thye had to break into a crazily secured house to get some code and they managed to do it, but when they got it to the computer guy (who was terrible as the "oh no, I don't believe this" hacker) he discovered it was just part of a code and they needed 5 more! Yeh.

Saturday

Started the day bright and early with 9 holes of golf with Duiker and Wei, a chinese guy who asked to join us. Good weather, good company. Sadly, my golf stunk. Pretty much 2 shots that travelled less then 30cm each hole. That hurts. The highlight was when we were commenting on how ridiculously high the new nets were protecting stray balls from the Eastlink, then Andrew proceeded to hit one onto the road.

Came home and then took the family to "McCafe". Isaac wasn't heaps into it, so it was a short stay. Went for a bit of a drive and noticed many houses for sale. If this many houses keep going for sale around is, it might be a bit like "The Stand" around here (Darren, you're probably the only person who reads this who'll get that reference).

In the arvo (after yet another nanna nap) headed to the Malone's for baby Ruby's birthday/dedication. Good afternoon, good people, good conversation. Had a fascinating chat about the future of commercial tv. The lowlight was when I mentioned the product placement in Wayne's World...and no-one knew what I was talking about. Here's the clip for anyone who hasn't seen it.



After that came home and pottered, ate, then went for a walk. Listened to the Simmons podcast while walking on "Fantasy basketball". Strangely, it was mostly about football and baseball, with the last 10mins on the new ESPN fantasy league which 8 lucky people from the public can join. Annoying. For the record, Matthew Berry is not enthralling. After the walk watched some "Chaser", then went to bed.

Birthday times

Celebrated the big 3-2 today, a way better age than 31. After some research, discovered some fellow 32yr olds.

Jaleel White (Urkell)
Emma Bunton (Baby Spice)
Candace Cameron (DJ)
Tim Duncan (Robot looking basketballer)
Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster)
Kevin Garnett (skinny basketballer)
Jeremy Miller (Ben from "Growing Pains")
Fred Savage (Hollywood superstar)
Reese Witherspoon (fine actress from "Legally Blonde")

Pretty impressive bunch.

Started the day with breakfast and paper in bed. Late morning headed to Eastland to get me some presents- a personal grooming kit and a dvd about guys travelling in a tinnie along the Murray. Maybe beter presents for a 52 yr old but, hey, it's my birthday.

Had a nap in the arvo, then went outside and did some gardening with Isaac. At night the lovely Alexa and James minded the boys while wifey and I went out for some Chinese. Pretty good food. Top birthday.

FOOTNOTE
I'm not one of the only famous people born on Oct 5, and being honest they've all had more successful lives than me, except maybe the last one.

Grant Hill (my favourite hoopster)
Kate Winslet (popular modern actress)
Guy Pearce (Mike in "Neighbours")
Bernie Mac (late comedian)
Bob Geldof (fed a few million Africans)
Ray Kroc (founder of McDonalds. Bless that man)
Nikki Hilton (her parents are rich)

Wii

Last night at Johnny and Michelle's I got my first taste of "Wii". I had been looking forward to it for a while and was not let down. Here's my thoughts on the games we played.

TENNIS
Really good. Serving is hell fun and it responds well to drop shots, lobs, slices etc. The best game on the sports pack by far.

BASEBALL
Pretty good too. Pitching more enjoyable, but batting good also.

BOXING
Damn hard work. I built up a huge heart rate and went so hard I think i pulled a muscle in my arm. Enjoyable but more hard work than fun. I beat Johnny, which was rewarding as I think the result would be different if we went into a real boxing ring.

BOWLING
Not as fun, about as hard as doing it for real, and not as rewarding.

GOLF
Really good, the putting takes a while to get use to but good fun.


Could this be my next folly? Unsure if I'll go this route or look into some online basketball via PS3 with my peeps back in Adelaide.

Can you trust "Interaction"?

While at Blockbuster I grabbed a free copy of "Interaction", a guide/review of all the latest movies. The cynic in me would question the integrity of a video store producing a magazine reviewing movies that are currently being hired by them in the interests of making money (ie if Coles put out a magazine reviewing their deli range), but I'll let you read some excerpts and you make your own call.

On "Welcome Home Roscoe Jennings"
"Bad Boys almuni Will Smith and Martin Lawrence may have taken quite different career trajectories, but both have ended up making good, solid movies. Just because Lawrence's flicks haven't had the high profiles of, say, Hancock or I Am legend doesn't make his work any less worthy. Case in point, the sensational, gut-busting Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins........."

My comment: Yeh, when I think "Big Momma's House", "Life" and "Wild Hogs", I think solid. I'm betting it's not that "gut-busting". Also note the spelling mistakes and missing punctuation, and that's me saying that.

On "Reign Over Me"
"Liv has grown up enough to be thoroughly convincing as therapist to Adam Sandler..."

My comment: Yeh, that was right up there with Denise Richards as a scientist, Drew Barrymore as a financial guru and Russell Crowe as a genius mathematician.

On "Over Her Dead Body"

"Eva Longoria headlines this zany comedy which is kind of a mishmash of Hello Again (remember that one? Shelley Long came back from the dead to haunt her unfaithful husband).

My comment: 1)No one born after 1976 knows who Shelley Long is 2) If you have to prompt people to remember a movie by going into detail, fair chance they have never heard of it

So I guess the jury is out on "Interaction". For the record, every single movie had a glowing review, including all the "straight to dvd" ones. Tell me your thoughts.

The Daarjeeling Limited

Fri night wifey and I got out "The Daarjeeling Limited". Here's my IMDB.com review.

Had been bypassing this for a while at the video store as it looked a bit wussy, plus Owen Wilson as a lead character doesn't generally lead to a great movie. But with the tripe on offer lately, decided it was worth a go.

"The Daarjeeling Limited" is a the story of 3 brothers who are brought together by the eldest brother Francis (Wilson) to unknowingly go and see their mother and try to bond again after a year or so of not seeing each other after their father's death. Their meeting place is "The Daarjeeling Limited", a train that travels around India. The aim is to see some places and go on a spiritual journey. Things don't go to Francis's plan though and after they get kicked off the train for bringing a deadly snake onboard, they are dropped off in a very remote location and forced to find another way to their destination. Their lives are turned upside down not long after when they come across three young boys who are drowning in a raging river. I won't share what happens, but the scenario has a deep impact on all.

Solid, but not sure why. None of the characters were particularly likeable and the story dragged at times. I guess the appeal lied within the symbolism and the different scenery and culture. Some good moments, but a tad few and far between for my liking and Wilson and Brody weren't given enough opportunity to display some of his talents.

Not bad, but won't be in my dvd collection anytime soon. Pleasant enough and more food for thought than in most of the rubbish at "Blockbuster".

My 100th post

So this is my 100th post. I will use it to explain some random events of my Thursday evening.

LIGHT FM
Got a text around 7:30ish that my mate Matty's song was on a face-ff on Light FM. I did the right thing and tuned in, then sent an sms and voted for him. About 30sec later my phone rang and it was LightFM asking if they could record an interview asking why I voted. I figured why not. I think I came across very well and the offers should start rolling in soon.

THE OFFICE
My buddy Darren has been asking me to give this a go for about 18mths now. With 4 episodes on back-to-back and the wife out of the house, I guess this was my best chance. Actually enjoyed it. It certainly has taken off on a different angle and some of the more random stuff is great eg when Michael shares how he puts on a George Foreman grill in his room before he goes to bed so he can wake up to the smell of cooked bacon or when he talks about getting in trouble for using the company credit card at a magic shop.

ICE-CREAM
Treated myself with a bowl of ice-cream, topped off with "Ice Wonder" (that would be Aldi's version of "Ice Magic"). That is one of my all-time favourite rip-off names ever. Actually one of the best parts of shopping at ALDI is seeing the rip-off names they come up with. I'd like to see them take it up a notch though. Here's some possible ither names for an Ice Magic equiv

Ice Amazing
Ice Far Out
Ice Tricky
Ice Wow

Australian Idol Update

Whoa. Just realised it's been six days since my last blog. With some people blogging twice a day lately, that makes me look pretty apathetic.This time I have actually been busy.

I guess what most people want to know is what I make of the remainder of Australian Idol. So here's how I rank them in order of preference.

SOPHIE
Did a great version sun night of "Don't Hold Back". It took Darren Hayes to remind her she's mostly good at singing moving songs, not pop and rock. You can check it out here.

http://www.australianidol.com.au/video.html?vxSiteId=d8d9c048-9737-4812-9589-10bb2864aa03&vxChannel=S6ConPerf%3ACon12

She probably won't win as she doesn't appeal much to teenage girls and is a tad personality deficient so far, so she'll need to open up in the coming weeks.

MADAM
Big potential, still pretty raw though. If she keeps straying from R&B she's a goner though.

CHRISLYN
Amazing voice, but probably lacking in some areas and the show's producers will be terrified to go down the Casey route again.

LUKE
Very different, and that's about the only appeal. Did a great version of "Flame Trees" the other night, but he shouldn't be winning "Australian Idol".

The rest are a mish mash of boring people with no unique qualities and guys that would be best on the pub circuit.

My fantasy in Fantasy

For years I've dreamed of getting the Number 1 pick in Fantasy basketball. This year it finally happened, in my 7th year of doing fantasy hoops. I've never picked higher than 4 and have never finished higher than 4, which seems to tell a story. Even Adam finished 1st last year in his first snaring of the prized first pick, so this should be a no-brainer. I'm renowned for being a strong starter, often by grabbing a great free agent and /or stacking games, so if I can do this again, not make a dumb trade and not be hit by a major injury again, I should be fine.

The key will be picking smart and not being affected by injury. Lebron (pictured, in case you've never seen a picture of him before, which probably means you're not reading a basketball story, so why am I even writing this) is the obvious choice, but there are plenty of other people to consider.......

Will Kobe be on a mission this year with the Finals on his mind?
Will Chris Paul continue to rise to super-stardom?
Will the Dwayne Wade of the Olympics show up in the NBA this year?
WIll Amare keep up the form he showed on Shaq's arrival last year?

The toughest thing about the No 1 pick is that you don't pick again until pick 20,but the benefit here is you make back-to-back picks from there on in. It should be a great year and you can track my progress via this blog.

Step Brothers

Headed out with Jim last night to go see "Stepbrothers".......initially. It was kind of supposed to be guys night for our Home Group guys but we were the only two who showed. On the way James made it known he was looking forward to seeing this movie probably about as much as I was keen to see "Titanic" back in the day. By the time we got to the cinema we had a little dilemma on our hands as several other options had been discussed, one being that we see "Mummy 3" instead. Obvious that neither of us would be happy seeing each others suggestion, we did what any 2 guys comfortable with each other would do- we saw our pick by ourselves (note: no two girls would ever do this. Ever. Too many feelings would be hurt). Here's my IMDB.com review.

With the lack of decent comedies coming out these days, and the "mailing it in" efforts of late of such screen giants as Stiller and Sandler, not much not featuring Will Ferrell grabs my attention. So when his latest movie came out, stamped with a hilarious premise, they had me hook,line and sinker.

"Stepbrothers" is the story of two losers (Ferrell and Reilly) who's lives living with their single parents is torn apart when their parents meet and marry, meaning they have to move in together. Initially they hate each other, but soon discover some similarities and form a bond. This is dashed though when their invasion on their parents lives cause them to separate. Can they get their parents back together and live together again? See it to find out.

Pretty crude at times,but that comes with the territory these days with Will movies. The thing I appreciate is he tries lots of quirky stuff, some of it fizzes and other bits are gold (see the fight with the kids,Billy Joel tribute band, the psychologist scenes, the name pronunciations etc). Some great costumes,often stealing the scenes eg the chewbacca mask. Ferrell and Reilly are great, with great support from Adam Scott as Derek. Not a comedy classic by any stretch, and dragged a fair bit in stretches when the comedy was dull, but some good moments.

I gave it a 6/10, which was interesting when reviewing the IMDB ratings
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838283/ratings

Basically under 18 males gave it a 7.8, 18-29's gave it a 7.2 and the 30+'s gave it a 6.4, which is right in my demographic.

For the record, James and I caught up at the end any had a lovely dessert and chat at "The Pancake Kitchen". If anything, we're closer for the experience.

Dan In Real Life

It's was my turn to pick the dvd last night and after about 3 runs up and down the "New Releases", here's what i came up with. Here's my IMDB.com review.

Dan (Steve Carrell, in his most touching role since he played Brick in "Anchorman") is a widower raising 3 girls while balancing a successful career as an advice columnist. The girls are becoming a handful as one wants to start driving and the other is in a burgeoning relationship. At the peak of some frustrations with each other, the family goes to their annual whole family holiday at Dan's parents house (his parents are played by that old dad in "Frasier" and the ageless Dianne Wiest, best known as the mum in "The Lost Boys"). While visiting the bookstore on a break, Dan runs into Marie (Juliette Binoche) and falls head over heels in love. When he gets back to the home he tells his brothers of what happened at the bookstore and is mortified when Marie turns up at the home too, as the new girlfriend of brother Mitch. Dan is extremely confused about what to do and goes down several paths before making his final decision. Will Dan profess his love or will he honour his brother?

Pleasant, enjoyable despite the slightly morally challenging storyline. A few "convenient" situations help make the story slightly plausible, which really helped. A good cast and decent story, but Carrell really makes the movie. May remind many (if they had the misfortune of seeing it) of "The Family Stone".

My week

I've drawn a lot of criticism for my lack of mid-week posting. So here's a snapshot of what you missed from my day today.

ROADSHOW
Attended a roadshow, learning about a machine that sucks up gases and particles for 2.5hrs. Lots of details about flow rate, partciles per cubic metre etc. Fascinating. Was really looking forward to lunch but my mood was best described as crestfallen when I saw we only had sandwiches and I couldn't find a decent sandwich in sight. I eventually picked one up that had a weird combo of ham,tomato,carrot,alfafa and a few unknown things. Had one bite and came across some weird relish that almost made me gag. Looked for a bin to throw it in but couldn't find one, so had to stand akwardly with it for a few mins until no-one was looking and I placed it discretely on a table.

SHOPPING
Took Isaac to do the grocery shop. He kept asking everyone their name and besides Pam at the checkout, most people weren't too obliging.

So that was my day- see why I sometimes go a few days without blogging?

More videos

Here's some more champagne comedy from my collection. From "Extras"

ANDY BUYS MAGGIE A DRESS


MAGGIE AND DARREN GO ON A DATE

Video Editing

Finally overcame some issues with my video editing software- here's some clips from my personal collection. Something for everyone.

SEINFELD ON "ENOUGH ROPE"
On being single vs being married and enjoying the simple things





KENNY ANDERSON
Before CP3, there was Special K. Sure didn't live up to his potential.




MICALLEF on "THANK GOD YOU"RE HERE"
Playing an Englishman. Champagne comedy.

Weekend reflections

"Donut King" prices are spiralling out of control. $2 for a donut I can buy in a 6pack at Coles for $3? That's crazy! You need to take a good hard look at yourself "Bakers Delight" also or the both of you will end up like Pizza Haven who got power hungry and started charging $7 for a large pizza and are now defunct................

Everyone has been banging on about Collingwoods great finals history under Mick Malthouse. The only catch with that...he's won as many permierships in his time at Collingwood as Neil Craig has at Adelaide. It's great to win a final or two here and there but who cares if you don't win the big one occasionaly? That's why I wasn't heaps cut that the Crows lost last week because we were never going to win the flag anyway..........

One thing that bugs me is couples who share facebook pages or email addresses. Ridiculous. They are free! It's not like it's a cost saving method........

At the "McCafe" yesterday a lady told the checkout girl she was in a hurry for her breakfast as she needed to take her children to school. Once she got her food she sat and ate with them for half an hour. Dishonest..........

Going for a walk at 9:45 at night isn't the same as a 9pm walk. Not quite as relaxing when you think someone is following you, a car full of hoons yells stuff out the window and a possum jumps in front of you and scares the hell out of you, all with your senses being dulled because you're listening to your Ipod.

Drillbit Taylor

Last night wifey redeemed herself and picked "Drillbit Taylor", something I knew just came out this week, and while it wasn't going to be any "Casablanca", I thought it would be alright. It was.

Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) is a bum looking for a few quick $$$ to escape to Canada. He stumbles across an ad placed by three kids being bullied in school looking for a bodyguard and sees his opportunity. He'll take their pay, plus also steal a lot of stuff from their houses. After a while he comes unstuck when one of the bullies discovers his true identity and Drillbit has some talking to do as the boys hopes are dashed. Will Drillbit save the day? See it to find out.

Not brilliant, but I giggled a fair bit through it which means it struck something with me. Probably a lot of mixed messages about whole bullying issue (actually come to think of it maybe it didn't really address it at all) but the movie was probably more about some boyish laughs than about addressing the issue of school bullies.

Wilson was alright, started pretty well but got kind of annoying after a while. Generally he's best as the 2nd banana and not the main man (see "The Big Bounce" for proof). Younger guys ie 12-31 will probably get some laughs and enjoy it.

Paul's fast paced weekend

The big weekend started Fri night when I went to our church's "Men's Camp". The first night was pretty casual, I played some "Tipayatung", which is basically a quiz game mostly focused on music and movies and not those pesky topics like geography and art. I won, but never got over not recognising a line from "When Doves Cry". After that played some Hold 'Em and came a poor 3rd. The toughest part of the night was getting my bed ready in the dark.

SATURDAY
Saturday was good, built around discussion and playing a combo football/netball game. It's sad how unfit I am and how my footy skills have declined to near-unco status. Luckily I found my niche as a goalkeeper, which involved standing on a chair for the whole game trying to catch balls. One of the bonuses of spending the whole day with the guys was I got to miss out on seeing the Crows lose. Losers.



At night went to see my favourite Adelaide sports team- the 36'ers. They were playing the South Dragons just around the corner at Knox, which was very convenient for me. There was an ok crowd but being by myself I got to sit pretty much wherever I liked. My best spot was a few rows behind the 36'ers bench and a few metres behind Boti Nagy. I think of all the "celebrities" one could meet, he'd be in my top 5. You could have a chat with probably the authority on SA basketball for the last 30 years and talk to him about all sorts of things (eg how I also didn't like Willie Farley or also think Shane Heal is a goose) and he probably wouldn't be a jerk.

Anyway, here's my thoughts...........

-It's not NBA standard, but it's amazing the depth of basketball now for just 3 teams folding. The 36'ers worst player is Brad Hill, who has improved heaps since his last stint here when he was a scared rookie playing as the 8th or 9th man.
-We started Ballinger, Maher, Holmes, Bruce and Tyndale. That means we had Schenscher and Cooper coming off the bench as our bigs and Winitana and Hill as swingman. Davidson and Kersten didn't suit.
-The Dragons team was pretty strong as well, featuring Olympians Ingles and Worthington , Nick Horvath, Mika Vukona, a new import and a few middle range players who look heaps better playing for Brian in Gibson, Carter and Herbert.
-Must be weird for the Olympians going from Beijing to Boronia ie Goorjian coaching against Scotty Ninnis instead of Mike Krzyzewski, Joe Ingles getting court time, Mark Worthington getting in fights with people from the same country instead of foreigners.
-The 36'ers coaching staff wore jeans and crappy tracksuit tops. They looked they'd just come from the pub. Goorjian looked he was going to a disco after.
-The Dragons got off to a 14-0 start before we got on the scoreboard. Their D was great and we couldn't get a decent look. Then we brought on the 7"2 guy.
-Wasn't super impressed with Aaron Bruce to start with as he just looks like a social basketballer but as the game wore on (especially after the near fight with Worthington) he won me over. Really tough,excellent body languange, aggressive, quick...a lot to like.
-Back to the near fight. Worthington was right up on Bruce, so he elbowed Wortho, who then grabbed Bruce around the throat for several seconds until he was dragged away. Just the foul on Bruce though.
-The 36'ers drew closer in the 2nd and kept it reasonably close in the 3rd but the Dragons blew them away in the 4th.
-It seems the 36'ers still have a way to go until they get their rotations right seeing as we seem to have 2 centres, 1 point guard, 1 shooting guard, 2 guys who are SF/PF and 3 swingmen. I think our best line up would be..

PG- Bruce
SG- Maher
SF- Tyndale
PF- Ballinger
C- Schenscher

-Need to see more of Tyndale before I know if he's a good import. Seems to be very athletic with some good moves but got clearly frustrated in this game (also nearly got in a fight).

Here's my player thoughts and rankings.

Maher- thanks to lots of free throws (several not from his own work) he scored enough but is starting to show his age, especially against a young team. 6/10
Ballinger- never got into the game much and not many plays ran for him but was ok. 6/10
Schenscher- too soft a lot of the time but near unstoppable in the post when given some space. Needs a lot more intensity otherwise Ninnis may kill him. 6.5/10
Holmes- also never got into a groove but did some ok things. Shot looked awful most of the night. 5/10
Cooper- Not given heaps of time but his shot looked improved and was ok on D as usual. 5/10
Hill- much more poised than his last stint. Can hit the 3 and get to the ring. 5/10
Winitana- active but didn't do anything exceptional. 4/10
Tyndale- got frustrated and down early. 4th quarter showed some class but got too predictable and got some charges and turnovers against him. 4/10
Bruce- our best player for the night. Played most of the game and improved as it went on. A little turnover prone at times but solid at both ends of the floor. Promising. 7.5/10

For the Dragons........

Horvath- great game. Scored near 30 and looked unstoppable in the key. Our guys played him way too soft and let him get the ball where he wanted it. Shane Heal cut him, so........ 8.5/10
Carter- solid all game. Ran the offence well. 7/10
Orr- barely played and shot an airball. 0/10
Gibson- very effective. Did his job 7/10.
Ingles- fallen in love with his 3pt shot a little. On offence unless he could get a big dunk always dished off. Disturbing. 7/10
Herbert- great game, active both ends. 8/10
Vukona- just ok. 6/10
Worthington- seems to more concerned with starting fights. Not his best game. 5/10
Darden- shows something but not dominant by any stretch. 5/10

One last note- wore my jumper that I'd worn to the men's camp to the game. Didn't realise 'til I got home that I had a name tag (piece of tape with my name written on it in texta) on. So that's good.

SUNDAY
Father's Day. Got me some pancakes and presents (licorice and a Sidney Poitter book), then headed to church for tech desk. Really good service, highlighted by a boy band parody. After church our home group ran the BBQ, then we came home. I spent the day with the boys, then at night chilled watching Idol. Thankfully Sophie got a wildcard spot and should make the Top 10. Sadly no place for the little froggie kid Olly.

Julius Hodge

Good news for Julius Hodge fans. He now as a blog. Man, they let anyone who can string two words together have a blog these days. Even if their good isn't grammar!

Australian Idol

So Channel 10 has been awash with Australian Idol for the last 4 nights. There's been some ok performances and some pretty ho-hum ones. So far my favourites are still 'lil Tom Williams and Sophie Patterson, with Wes Carr looking ominous. I'm hoping the frog kid gets into the wildcard show because I reckon he has star potential.

Tonight Madam Parker and James Spargo should get through and that would be my top 6 right there.

Columbo & Australian Idol

Had a lot more time for tv lately due to illness and lack of visitors. Here's 2 of the highlights.



COLUMBO
On Tuesday and Wednesday I went down hard with flu-like symptoms. Ended up doing a bit of work but got a little R&R too. Sat down Tuesday and watched "Columbo", a show I hadn't seen in probably 15 years. It was a really good one about a dentist who found out his wife was having an affair with one of his patients, so he put poison in a filling which eventually killed him but he set it up to make it look like the wife spiked his drink. Very good episode, impressing me so much i watched another episode the next day. The next one was about another wife having an affair, also involving a spiked drink but this time strangulation also, which was a good twist. Good stories, good cast all held together by the glue that is Peter Falk as Columbo. Top shelf murder mystery and a lot less gory thatn those CSI shows they have these days.

I'm even thinking about getting a season on DVD, and this trailer may have tipped me over the edge.





All week it's been auditions for Australian Idol, and wifey and I are right into it. There seems to be a decent variety of performers this year, only problem being that several will bomb out when the weekly theme is completely foreign to them ie when the country & western kid has to do disco or the metal guy has to do an Elton John song. Early favourites would have to be Tom Williams from SA or the folky chick from London. Looking forward to Sunday Night's episode. Stay tuned for a comprehensive recap.

Juno

So on Friday, against my preference, wifey got out "Juno" from Blockbuster. I was so not keen on seeing it for several reasons, yet was surprised- it annoyed me even more than I expected.

Juno (played by Ellen Page) is perhaps one of the most annoying leads from a teen movie in recent memory. She's a cocky, alternative teenager who decides one day she wants to express her feelings physically with her longtime friend Bleeker (played well by Michael Cera). As luck would have she gets pregnant and is faced with a big decision. She decides at first to go the abortion route but when she gets annoyed in the waiting room she decides to just give it up for adoption. She quickly finds a suitable couple called Mark and Vanessa (played well by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) in a local paper and her mind is at ease. She's a little cautious at first but eventually becomes very comfortable with them as Mark turns out to be really cool and Jennifer seems really genuine and excited. Just when things seem too perfect, Mark and Vanessa split and Juno has another big decision to make. Luckily though everything turns out cool and Juno can shoot the baby out and get back to her real life and emerging cool band.

Objectionable and troubling on many levels. If you're a parent and your teen daughter gets pregnant, I wouldn't recommend getting out the popcorn and popping this on. Deals with some extremely serious topics in a very irresponsible and appaling manner.

At the end of the movie wifey thought I was over the top with my analysis, yet has issues with some of the violent stuff I watch so I guess the moral is.......

"Different movies, different things to be offended by"