End of an era

After a few years, it's time to stop blogging. But don't worry, you can still hear about my antics at the following destinations

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MY IMDB.COM MOVIE REVIEWS
imdb.com/user/ur7472847/comments?order=alpha

Ghost Town

Generally if Ricky Gervais is in something I'll give it a go, even if it looks like a really average ro-co. Here's my review.

"Ghost Town" as based around Bertram Pincus (Gervais) a dentist who briefly dies during a standard procedure and consequently can now see dead people, whom are strangely just wandering around with the living. The hilarity lies in the fact he's seemingly the only living human who can, meaning a stack of dead people start bothering him asking him to bring closure on some issues that resulted from their death. The main pest to Bertram is Frank (Greg Kinnear, in his finest work since "Stuck On You"), who wants Bertram to get his wife (played by Tea Leoni) to break up with her new love interest. The plan ends up being to get her to fall for Bertram, which seems crazy because Bertram is a real jerk who has no charm at all. Will their crazy plan work? See it to find out.

A strange movie, in that there's some ok jokes but neither the characters or the story contain one ounce of warmth, unusual for a romantic comedy. The cast is strange and the chemistry was non-existent between Gervais and Leoni, although it's his first go at something like this so I guess we should cut him some slack, unless you consider he's not really a proper actor. Some ok jokes but a bit of a let down and a strange choice as a vehicle for Gervais to try to launch into a movie career.

He's Just Not That Into You

Took one for the team last night and hired one wifey was really keen to see. Here's my review.

"He's Just Not That Into you" is something a bit different based upon the hugely popular book. It's basically supposed to be like a little guide for girls to work out if the guy they are with is really keen on them or not.

The movie follows a bunch of different people in very different relationships and opens them up to see what real love is. The main character is Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin, who is relatively new and has only appeared in one movie to poke fun at- "Mona Lisa Smile"), a girl who is clueless when it comes to guys and comes across as way to desperate. She seeks guidance from a few of her friends (played by Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Connelly), whose relationships we also delve into. Eventually she meets a much better source of counsel, bar owner Alex (played by the Mac guy), who tells her all the signals guys give off and helps her understand men better. There's a bunch of other stories featuring Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson and others who feature in storylines about a girl who just meets guys online, a guy who cheats on his wife, a man who won't commit and more. Rather than spell it out, the movie throws up a bunch of situations and leaves us to decide what love is.

Pretty ho-hum, helped by the quality of the cast (except Drew Barrymore, who's storyline was pathetic). Something a bit different with a few ok gags but overall a bit boring for me without any clear message.

The Motorhome Holiday

SATURDAY
-Picked up the motorhome early morning, got the walk through of how it all works, then drove solo over to Adelaide to pick it up.
-This was my first experience driving something this size and being manual didn't help but overall it went pretty well.
-I went one stretch of six hours without talking to another live human being (talked to some people on the mobile I mean, not corpses). Felt weird.
-Saturday is a great driving day, especially in footy season.
-Highlight of the day: seeing the family on arrival, then realising the footy was about to start.

SUNDAY
-Started the day slow, then in the early arvo headed off
-Decided to spend night 1 in Waikerie, famous for being the birthplace of Mark Ricciuto. Strangely a lot of people in the town look like Roo and it seems like it's stuck in about 1986.
-Had a lovely meal at the local pub, with some delicious options at the salad bar.
-Highlight of the day: while attempting a 3pt turn on a hill in a cul-de-sac, a local hoon sped into the street, then gave me the finger for getting in his way.

MONDAY
-Took the boys for a ride on the ferry, then headed deep into the Riverland.
-First stop was Monash Playground, a legendary playground from my childhood. Sadly these days all the cool rides are gone (the big wheel, huge slide, flying fox) due to safety reasons and all that's left are a few lame ones, besides the huge swinging rope, which had a line waiting for it. In place of the dangerous rides, they put in an unfenced lake. Genius. The boys found it and Elijah fell in face first. I had to jump in and save him, which was annoying on several levels, most notably because we both only had 1 set of shoes.
-Stopped in the Renmark shopping centre (which also prompted some angry drivers to show some road rage towards me/the motorhome) to buy shoes and food.
-Drove onto Mildura and settled on a caravan park that wasn't as good as advertised (sadly only noticed this once inside). The lady there was lovely though and surprised me with her love of caravans, telling me they go on caravan holidays when not running the park.
-The caravan park was pretty run down, most noticably the "rec room" which had 1 good game, one of those dual driver games that was sadly "out of order". I think it had been "OOO" since 1992.
-Highlight of the day: adding another accident to the family history of Monash Playground incidents

TUESDAY
-Spent the morning and early arvo in town. Found a "Banjo's" which excited me, as well as a "Dimmey's". Headed to an adventure park for some games, then back to "Fasta Pasta" for their great lunch deal.
-Relaxed in the arvo, then played a stack of table tennis with wifey while the kids flaked out watching telly and pretend playing video games.
-Highlight of the day: thinking that we may soon have a Banjo's in Melbourne.

WEDNESDAY
-Took it slow in the morning, then headed for a stopover on the way to Bendigo. Sadly the towns of Sea Lake, Wycheproof and Charlton didn't have great caravan park arrangements, so pushed onto Bendigo.
-Highlight of the day: a talking cockatoo we met in the Wycheproof playground. Entertained the kids big time.

THURSDAY
-Headed into the mall and gave Tara some kid free time. I entertained the boys with food, toilet trips and the "Thomas" trainset they had total access to in Myer.
-Grabbed a quick bite, then headed back to the caravan park for R&R and then the playground
-At night headed to Pizza Hut. Good times. Discovered later that night Elijah and Pepsi Max are a bad mix.
-Highlight of the day: injuring my knee while on the slide. Feared the worst but luckily came good after half an hour. I know what Riggs from Lethal Weapon would say to me.

FRIDAY
-Packed up and cleaned up and headed for home. Dropped off the motorhome, grabbed an Eastland lunch then headed home.
-Highlight of the day: driving an automatic again.

A great holiday, nice to get away and see some new places, probably would not go the motorhome route again though with kids.

The Godfather

Rewatched this for the first time in about 12 years. The last time I saw it I don't think I was ready to appreciate it's brilliance, as it was a tad slow for me back then. Glad I did.

There's no real point reviewing it, basically most people know what's it's about and know it's universally regarded as one of the best movies of all-time. Here's some reasons why.

-Brando as Don Corleone. Brilliant
-Pacino as Michael. Brilliant.
-The directing of Coppola. Brilliant. Beautifully shot movie with some landmark scenes, most notably Sonny's death and the restaurant scene.
-Excellent story

The movie holds up very well, albeit it's a bit slow at times. Here's 3 scenes that could have been improved.

-Michael moving his father in the hospital. Should have been some guys inside who Michael had to fight off.
-When Sonny beats up Carlo. Really poorly done.
-The restaurant scene. Didn't use the suspense enough, could have drawn out some more.

A brilliant movie, must-see for major movie factors.

For Your Consideration

Stumbled across this is the comedy section at "Video Busters" the other week, a section i thought I'd exhausted.

"For Your Consideration" is the latest offering from Christopher Guest and co, this time the movie is about a seemingly ordinary movie that out of nowhere gets some Hollywood buzz and greatly excites the crew of newcomers and veterans. That's pretty much the story, but it's not done in their normal mocumentary style, it's more of a movie. The cast is the same, featuring Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer, Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard etc. There's also a cameo from Ricky Gervais, albeit it for just a few scenes.

Pretty average, and very few laughs. The style didn't work and the characters had little to work with. The last few from these writers has dropped off quite a bit, with "Best in Show" being the last real decent one, largely thanks to Fred Willard. Give it a miss.

Fame

"Fame" is the latest Ricky Gervais stand up offering, joining the stable that includes "Animal" and "Politics".

In "Fame" Ricky talks at first about being famous, then gets onto his pet topics of homosexual men, God and Adolf Hitler. It's pretty much more of the same and amazingly I've gotta say it was full of yawns. A couple of ok jokes, but most of it was rubbish and stuff we've sort of heard before. He really mailed this one in. I then tried out the special features, but again more of the same old stuff ie annoying Robin. He's pretty much a one trick pony and his act is getting a bit worn out. he's been doing it for 8 years now and needs to come up with something fresh to avoid becoming Eddie Murphy.

Disappointing.

Revolutionary Road

"Revolutionary Road" reunites "Titanic" stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a story about a couple who become unhappy with where their life is and decide to set off for Paris. Leo plays Frank, a business man who is becoming increasingly bored with his life and has realised he's not where he wants to be. Winslet plays April, a stay-at-home mum who still yearns to become a great actress (her character, not Kate Winslet) but realises that part of her life has probably passed her by. One night April confronts Frank that they should up and move to Paris, a place Frank loves and that may enable him to chase his true dreams. At first Frank comes up with all the negatives, but soon realises "why not!". They start making plans but things get railroaded when April gets pregnant and Frank gets offered a way better job with a lot more money. Will they still chase their dreams, or will their responsibilities keep them home?

Something different, as the movie leaves it to you for the most part to decide whether life is about chasing our dreams, fulfilling our responsibilities...or a bit of both. Well acted and a good story, but it got a bit too silly for my liking in the last 30mins. Worth a look.

Valkyrie

For the first time in recent memory, I was overwhelmed with choices when I popped into "Video Busters" last night. There was plenty for me, but also a decent range left that wifey might be interested in too. Being a long weekend, I got a stack of videos and for the overnighters grabbed this and "Revoltionary Road".

"Valkyrie" is based upon a remarkable true story of a group of brave men who attempted to assasinate Hitler and seize power of Germany during WW2. That has to rank as one of the gutsiest things to attempt ever. Heading this group is decorated war hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (played by Tom Cruise, in his finest work since "Top Gun"),perhaps the most important Colonel ever behind Colonel Sanders. The plan is reasonably complicated, but if they can pull it off, they will see Hitler and a bunch of his key men killed and a coup occur where the SS will be shutdown and the country can be placed in safe hands and will consequently surrender to the Allies. It won't be easy though. The plan relies on being able to get key army people to be willing to commit treason and to get Hitler to unwittingly sign a document that will essentially enable the coup to occur should he be killed. Tricky. Will The Colonel pull it off? See it to find out.

Reasonably well done, except for the fact everyone spoke English and without a hint of a German accent. That made it seem a bit weird. Cruise was ok at The Colonel, but there would have been about 50 better actors they could have used eg Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks or Sean William Scott. Amazing story and well worth seeing.

Tiger

For the first time ever, I took part this morning in the "Tiger" experience. I'd had fears about going with them due to bad stories and their reputation for being very "tight" on a lot of their criteria. Was it all a media beat-up? I was soon to find out.

I got to the airport nice and early, just in case they decided to close the gate a bit early, and walked straight up to one of their counters. They had 3 counters, running,

"Hobart"
"Melbourne"
"All Flights"

I decided to line up in the "Melbourne" queue (because I was going to Melbourne). After a few people checked in, confusion broke out as we all were apparently in the wrong lines, plus they weren't taking Hobart passengers in the "All Flights" queue. We rearranged ourselves and got in the right queues. I got served pretty well, but was a tad surprised that they weighed hand luggage. Each to their own though.

I went and got some food and a paper and headed to the gate with plenty of time to spare. I sat for a while and then heard them call out a "final call" for all passengers going to Melbourne. Bewildered, I joined the small line, only to discover this was for an earlier Melbourne flight. I sat back down again and time started to get close to our departure time. A voiceover then came advising we'd be boarding in 45min, which turned into an hour. I wandered around, looked through the bookstore, then headed back to the gate.

Once onbaord, I sat down, got comfy and pulled out my magazine. I then heard some loud talking going on, which sounded like a couple of blokes mucking around. Turns out 2 guys were feuding because an older man born in a different country had reclined his chair, which squashed the younger guy, who said he "had long legs", to which the older guy replied "that's not my problem". The older guy then went on a rant, to which the young guy replied "we'll sort this out in Melbourne". Cool, a fight on the tarmac! The flight attendant attended to the matter and just asked the younger guy to swap seats with his partner. All was soon sorted and we were on our way.

We made up some time in the air, but landed an hour and a bit late. Annoying. Also annoying is the long walk from the tarmac to the terminal, but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too. By the way, the young guy with the apparent long legs was the same height as me. Lame.

In summary, delays happen on all airlines, but not a great first experience with the new kid on the aviation block. Will try and avoid them in the future.

Tv Update

A lot of people have been asking me what I'm watching on tv these days lately, so here's an update.

TALKIN 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION
Generally if you pop Shaun Micallef's head on the tv, I'll watch it. This show isn't bad. It pits 3 regulars from the Baby Boomer generation (Amanda Keller), Charlie Pickering (Gen X) and some annoying guy from Gen Y (?), with a guest celebrity each week from the same generation to answer some really easy questions based around standouts from each decade (ie fads, tv shows, music etc). The questions are a little too easy and the guests get a little too much time to rabbit on, but it's decent. Probably a bit like an hour long version of "Spicks and Specks" at about 1/3 of the pace. Micallef is the highlight of the show with his quirky faces, one-liners and intersting intros. Pretty good, but not gripping ie good show to watch while doing odd jobs. Here's a sample



SPICKS AND SPECKS
One of the best Aussie shows, which generally now gets really good guests. There's a good mix of easy and tricky questions, with a stack of interesting facts (which I love). Not "must see", but if I don't watch, 8 times out of 10 I'll record. Here's a clip



LIFE ON MARS
Gave up on this a while back when they started jerking around the timeslot. Overall maybe a little too slw, but maybe I'll get it out on dvd one day.


24
Due to the dumb timeslot and my laziness at bothering to record it, I decided a while back I'll wait til it's out on dvd. When it is I'll probably take a few days off and get right into it- if it's good. Early reports are the start was awesome but it waned near the last few hours (as it normally does).


THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE
Think I'm a bit over the show, just too many guests that suck. Needs to stick with male comedians as a general rule I think. My favourites have been Bob Franklin, Tony Martin and Merrick Watts thus far. Here's a clip from Bob's recent show



CHASER
Last night's show was a bit of a let down. The guys just keep pushing the boundaries and pretty much all the jokes tried to contain an element of racism, sexism or similar. Getting away from some of their clever, wittier stuff and just going for the off joke. Bummer.

ONE HD
Watching a fair bit of this, mainly the NBA but also a few other bits and pieces, especially One Week At A Time, which is solid. The best addition to tv since "Webster".

24: The Game

On the Easter weekend I started playing a game I'd barely touched since I got it 2 years ago- "24". My lovely wife surprised me with a PS2 for my birthday in 2006 and got me this game plus some other one that wasn't as good (I think I sold it on ebay). I played it a couple of times but thought it was pretty crappy, mainly because I couldn't work out some of the key features and am not great at these games generally. With a fresh attitude and time on my hands, I pulled it out on Good Friday and once I'd completed the first 2 levels I was hooked.

From what I followed, there is a home grown terrorist (Madsen) who is going to wreak havoc on LA by generating earthquakes. You generally play Jack, but also a little Chase (who is undercover in Madsen's crew), a little Tony and even some Kim and Michelle. The best part of the game is the variety of scenarions: from driving cars, to just shooting people, to helicopters, to interrogating people, cracking codes...plenty of variety. Some are not as fun, but you appreciate a break from just blowing people's brains out. There are probbaly about 5 or 6 really hard levels where I decided to get some "assistance" (read cheating by getting infinite health and/or ammo). Most of the levels I struggled on were acknowledged as being hard by the walkthrough notes, so that made me feel better.

It took me just over 6 weeks and maybe really around 24hrs to complete. I used a combo of holidays, late nights and time home alone to work on it and enjoyed it immensely. I used cheats for the last 1hr6mins, where the amount of men coming at you was mental.

Overall a really good game. I'm not a gamer at all, but I liked it, probably mostly because I love the show and it wasn't ridiculously hard. If you're still not sold, check out this awesome trailer.

Lebron

Had the opportunity Saturday to sit down and watch some NBA- Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavs and the Magic. The Cavs were heavily favoured to win this series easily but lost Game 1 at home, putting them quickly on the backfoot. Game 2 started well for the Cavs and by halftime they had a good lead, thanks to LBJ and my fantasy basketball favourite, Delonte West. In the 2nd half thought the Magic came out smoking and kept it close until the 4th, when they hit the lead in the dying minutes and had a 2pt lead with 1 second left. Then Lebron, the freak, did this



Just amazing. You'd be pretty gutted if you were the Magic. Should be another awesome series and must go to 7.

Seven Pounds

Got this out Friday night for our weekly dvd night. I'd heard mixed reviews and was unsure if Tara would like, but knew she'd like it more than "the Wrestler", so gave it a go. Here,s my review.

"Seven Pounds" is a the story of Ben Thomas (Will Smith, in his best work since "Hitch"), an IRS agent who seems to be on a mission he help radically alter the lives of a bunch of strangers. Gradually his story unravels that brought him to this point- in a nutshell he killed seven people in a car accident and seems to be trying to make up for it. His wife also died in the accident which really set him off.

Ben stays reasonably detached from the people, until he meets Emily (Roasario Dawson, in her best work since "Josie and the Pussycats"), a lovely lady who needs a heat transplant bad. Ben starts getting very close to her, so close in fact he expresses his love physically with her. Ben must decide if he'll let her know his secret and if he'll go through with his plan. Will Ben go through with his plan or will he give it all up for Emily, who may die anyway if no donor comes forward? See it to find out.

***************SPOILER ALERT********************

I'd heard mixed reports and some about the unusual ending, although I gotta say it played out pretty much as expected. Something different, but nothing to write home about. Another semi arty-farty movie by Will Smith that doesn't cut the mustard.

The Jordan Rules

Have been slowly re-reading this classic over the last few months, mainly in spurts of 1 or 2 pages as I spend time in the quietest room in the house.

"The Jordan Rules" follows the Bulls for a year, luckily it turned out to be the year of their first title in the dominant Michael Jordan era. It follows the team on the road and give great insight to the inner sanctum and the experiences of all the team, from the superstars like Jordan and Pippen, down to the crappy ones like Stacey King and Dennis Hopson. It shows Jordan's strengths and weaknesses ie he can be a massive jerk, the strategies of Phil Jackson to motivate his team, especially MJ, the workings of GM Jerry Krause......all a basketball junkie would be interested in knowing. An especially good re-read 18 years after the book was written, considering Jordan's early exit from the game, where the young guys ended up and what became of the team. One of the best basketball books I've ever read, and I've read about 7 of them, so..........

Death At A Funeral

"Death At A Funeral" is the story of a bunch of family and friends coming together for a funeral. The funeral gets off to a rocky start due to some feuding between brothers, the accidental drugging of one of the guests and a midget with an agenda. Yep. Soon all of these wacky circumstances become entwined when the midget threatens to expose the secret life of the deceased unless he gets some money. Before you know it someone gets knocked out, the drugged guest strips down and threatens to jump off a roof.....hilarity ensues.

A quirky Britsih comedy which takes a while to get going but the last 20mins are right up there with the best dark comedy around. A solid cast and great storyline make this one of the better "laugh out loud" movies I've seen in the last few years. Well worth a look.

Armageddon

Stumbled across "Armageddon" the other night on Foxtel, and with little to do and my brain reasonably empty, decided to rewatch it. When I first saw this at the cinema back in 1998, I remember thinking it was one of the dumbest films ever plus I was completely fed up with the "natural disaster" genre that was drowning society. Would time change my perception?

"Armageddon" deals with the question "what would happen if a meteor bigger than earth hit earth?". For some reason the US discovered this threat and decided they alone could come up with the answer. Their solution was to send a bunch of misfits who drill for oil into a spaceship to land on the meteor, drill a huge hole in it, then send a nuclear bomb inside it and blow it up from the inside. Genius.

NASA enlists the "world's best driller", luckily also American Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) to come and help select the best drill and a plan to get the bomb into the meteor. Harry thinks it will be easier to use his crew who he's used to working with, rather than professional astronauts and scientists. Reluctantly NASA agrees and starts training the crew for the most important job ever in the world. During and after the tests it's clear the team isn't up to it, but they go anyways. Will this cast of misfits save the world? Take a wild guess.

Worth watching for the pure comedy factor, if you can overcome the normal US arrogance and ridiculous storyline. A solid cast, given little to work with, covers a multitude of flaws, most noticeably the crappy Aerosmith theme song. Gets bonus points for Pete Stormare who plays the Russian astronaut.

The Majestic

Running out of "overnight" options, I decided to look for some weekly's I never got round to seeing. Man is that hard work. Settled on 2 movies for the kids, and 2 for me and wifey. The first we got around to seeing was "The Majestic".

"The Majestic" is set in the US in the 1950's where the Government is extremely fearful of the threat of communism spreading on it's shores. The Feds are on a witch-hunt, looking for any possible people who may be spreading the communism message and even those showing interest in it. Upcoming Hollywood writer Peter Appleton (Carrey, in his finest work since "Dumb and Dumber") is one such suspect, and when his career looks shot due to a pending enquiry, Peter one night drives out of town to deal with his frustrations. Due to a strange sequence of events, Peter falls into a river, bumps his head and gets amnesia. He is awoken by a local the next day, who takes him into town for some breakfast and time to work out what happened. Peter can't remember what happened in the accident, let alone the last 30+ years of his life, so stays and tries to work it out. Very quickly though an old man notices him and is sure Peter is his son Luke, who was believed to have died in WW2. He looks the same and seems to have several similar characteristics, so everyone goes along with it, even though Peter (who doesn't know who he is don't forget) isn't so sure. Before long Peter has embraced who everyone thinks he is and starts to relax into his surroundings. Is Peter really Luke? Is Luke really Peter? Does Peter really exist? Does Peter just look like Luke? Is Peter dreaming? See it to find out!

I really enjoyed it because it kept me guessing, was set it a nice little town and it had a nice little story. Carrey does a nice job and is backed up by a solid cast, especially the dad, and more "hey it's that guy" guys than you could poke a stick at.

Death To Smoochy

"Deatb To Smoochy" is the story of the meteoric rise to fame of loveable kid's character "Smoochy" (played By Shedlon Mopes, who is really Edward Norton). "Smoochy" gets his break when "Rainbow Randolph" (Robin Williams) is busted taking bribes for kids to appear on his show. Overnight Randolph becomes a disgrace and the network ,headed by Nora (Catherine Keener), sets out to find the next tv star. "Smoochy" becomes an overnight hit, and consequently everyone now wants a piece of him. Randolph wants to kill him, slimy agent Burke Bennett (Danny Devito) wants to get in on the action, powerful people want to get on his show, charities want money.....things needless to say get out of control. Sheldon, a man of integrity and values has to work out if he'll go along for the ride or, as Marcia Hines would suggest, stay true to himself. Will he sell out? See it to find out.

Different, not that great in my view, but at least it was interesting. A pretty strong cast, which was good as the film probably needed it.

Hot Fuzz

With little available on the "New Releases" front at Video Busters, wifey and I went the weekly route. One of the choices was "Hot Fuzz".

"Hot Fuzz" stars Simon Pegg (in his best work since "MI3") as an over the top cop whose extreme dedication to the job has seen him wear out his welcome in London. His superiors decide to send him to a quiet little town that should settle him down and allow him to take it easy. Upon his arrival, he discovers it's even sleepier than he imagined. He takes to arresting underage drinkers and minor offenders to pass the time until he's advised the local cops like to take a more carefree approach. Soon though some out-of-nowhere murders start taking place and Angel (Pegg) has a mystery to solve that he's been waiting for. The action gets intense and Angel is in for the biggest battle of his life.

Quite different but really enjoyable. The film does get a bit weird, but you kind of see it coming, although it does get pretty zany near the end. Some interesting directing, quirky jokes and full-on-yet-humourous violent scenes make it unlike anything I'd seen before. Pegg is great as Angel and there's a strong supporting cast, most notably Nick Frost as Danny.

Well worth a watch.

The Promotion

Saw a poster up in a shop a while ago and thought this looked ok. Slightly concerned I'd never heard of it and pretty sure it was "straight to dvd", but with the premise and these guys, surely it was a "can't miss".... or was it?

"The Promotion" stars Seann William Scott (in his most challenging role since "Dude, where's my car") and John C Reilly (in his best work since "Never Been Kissed") as two rival assistant managers at a grocery store. The two are hoping to land a manager's job at the new store across town and start undermining each other to make themselves the best candidate. This is where it gets weird. I was hoping for non-stop pranks and capers, yet the film didn't go there and just placed Reilly's character, Richard, in a few akward moments where he was made to look stupid. You'd expect some non-stop shenanigans and then it turns out neither gets the job, but the film plays out quite like how it would in real life. Neither actor is given much of a leash and is played reasonably straight.

The film was ok (wifey actually really liked it), but I guess didn't turn out how I expected. I felt like a night of silly jokes but the film didn't deliver, although I kind of respect what the writer/director (Steve Conrad, who wrote "The Pursuit of Happyness") tried to do. The film tried to be a slightly more realistic of how one of the situations might play out and din't try too much to go for wacky, unrealistic pranks or to go the other way and pull to hard on the heart strings. Just ok, dragged a fair bit at times and didn't deliver what it could have.

The Crows

2009 marks my first year in a few years I haven't had Foxtel and hence the ability to watch all the Crows games. Here's how I've gone so far.

Rd 1- Crows v Collingwood
Had the ability to go to this one but thought we'd get flogged, so stayed home. Listened to bits on radio and sounds like we played well and had some nice promise shown by the young guys (Petrenko in particular).

Rd 2- Crows v Saints
Dean came over and watched the 7 coverage. We couldn't get into any flow and the Saints were very impressive (there's a phrase I don't think I've ever said before). Not much too like.

Rd 3- Crows v Dockers
Headed down to the local pub with the father-in-law to watch this destined to be classic. We were the only ones watching it. Frustrating at times, but plenty of promise. The best patch of young guys we've had since the mid-to-late 90's (Petrenko, Dangerfield, Walker, Vince). Added bonus was the $4.95 dinner I enjoyed.

Rd 4- Crows v Geelong
Watched at home on my Pat Malone. Geelong just killed us at the start of the term and we clawed our way back too late. Again some promise from the young guns, but Geelong way too polished. Robert Shirley again proved his lack of skill.

We play the Demons this week and considering the weather and late start, will probbaly go to the local again to support the boys and bend the old elbow.

36'ers

*I have no idea who this guy is


There's sad news unfolding that my beloved Adelaide 36'ers may not be allowed entry into the "new" NBL unless they can get a guaranteed $1million in the event they hit hardship. That seems mental and if one of the league's premier teams can't provide that backing then the whole league should just shut shop. It would suck to see the team go, but the league has become a bit of a joke and unless this new league brings major changes, maybe it's for the best. If last season was the end of the 36'ers, here's some of my favourite 36'ers memories

*Watching Game 2 of the 36'ers v Tigers in 1994 when Davis was out and we were considered goners on a tiny portable tv at Broken Gum

*Seeing Acie Earl's first game in Adelaide with the Kings. He was a beast, just a tad lazy though.

*Sapwell's 3 to take down the Hawk's in 1999. Gary and I were there



*Being there for the 2nd Championship win

*Being there for Game 1 of the year we beat the Pigs in Farley's first year. Farley had his way with Scotty McGregor several times.

*Going to my first game in years this year to see Julius Hodge, only to discover when inside he was holding out and would not play for them again.

*Being there for KB and Darnell's first game.

*Mocking Phil Smyth's substitutuon patterns

*Watching the many rookies who got garbage time only and were never seen again eg Blake Truslove

Spirit of Tasmania

On Wednesday night I got aboard the "Spirit of Tasmania". For those not aware, it's a large ship that travels from Devonport to Melbourne. It allows you to bring your car and due to the time it takes (11hrs), you can even get a cabin.

I got to the loading area near 5:30pm and surprisingly found a queue already formed. Considering I didn't have much else to do, I decided to join the queue. I sat in the car for just an hour or so, passing the time by listening to some podcasts and filling out a Tourism survey that was annoyingly long. Once aboard the boat I put my stuff down in the cabin, had a wander, then sat down for dinner. It was a "no seconds buffet" and the menu was interesting. I settled on a piece of fish, some pasta and a roast dinner.

After dinner I headed back to my room, realised there wasn't much to do there (2 bunk beds, toilet and a shower in an area half the size of my bedroom), so headed back upstairs. There was a theaterette showing "Marley and Me", which didn't interest me at all, so I listened to some podcasts out on deck, then headed inside to watch "Spicks and Specks" with 2 other people. The rest of the ship (maybe 100 people in 2 different areas) was watching "Australia's Got Talent". What a shock. While watching, a lady in a towel come running out demanding a medic, then another man in a shirt and towel came looking for her, also asking for a medic. I don't know what they got up to in that tiny bathroom. With that episode behind us, I pulled up a comfy chair and did some reading and snacking, then back to my dog's box for more reading and podcasts.

Was awoken at 6:05am by the PA system to be ready for a 6:50 disembarkment. I got my stuff together and headed for one of the lifts. I waited there for about 50mins so that was good. My deck was the last called to go to our cars and we were held up by some clown they couldn't locate who's car was blocking the first lot getting out. Once I got to my car it was another 30min wait until we got to leave.

Overall more entertaining and not as uncomfortable as I imagined and an insight into what it must have been like on the "Titanic".

24: The Game

Besides reflection, Easter is a time to do the stuff you normally don't get the time to do, especially when you're bored. So on Friday I pulled out "24: The Game", a gift Tara brought me for my birthday two and a half years ago that I'd only played a few times due to difficulty playing, time and lack of enthusiasm for the game. To my excitement, the game is actually really cool and after the first two levels there is plenty of variety to the game- location and task wise. It took me a while to work out basic things, like using cover and not just walking into open rooms, and now it's much more fun to play. As soon as I get better at not shooting hostages I should have the game down pat. I'm stuck on a level where I walk into a room with 4 guys with machine guns and one of them has a hostage I need to question. So far my hostage keeps getting shot by me in the head, so I've got some work to do. It's been an unexpected fun surprise this Easter and I look forward to completing it and then possibly looking into other popular games with the kids these days.

Forcey's Easter Message

Another year, another Easter.

To many, Easter is their second favourite holiday of the year, because you get a super-long weekend, and get to eat loads of chocolate guilt free. It's a chance to go away, or do home renovations, or kick back at home and relax. For some, it's tough, especially Good Friday, with there being no footy to watch, with shops being closed and the newspapers being only a few pages long. Even some fast food joints like KFC are closed.

Mnay want to see Easter overhauled. A seemingly growing proportion of the community are annoyed that they have this stuff enforced on them when they're not even Christian. Rising amounts of people from other faiths even find the Easter period offensive, and we hear more and more stories each year of places like schools and nursing homes being asked to remove any symbols that refer to the Christian themes of Easter or Christmas eg http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25313469-661,00.html

I come from a biased position because I've been a Christian for most of my life, but to me we as a community will allow this breaking down of our traditions at our own peril. The old phrase "if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything" seems extremely apt in this situation, especially in today's world. In today's Australia I think we have the incorrect notion that all that is great about this country is summed up by us sending a bunch of underprepared men to the first world war. I am not at all underappreciative for the work done by our soldiers back then and ever since, but believe we've forgotten the greatness of this country is largely due to the foundations laid over 200 years ago. From the early days of being founded, to settlement, Australia was covered in prayer and many of the founding Christian fathers dedicated this land to God. Our constitution is based upon Biblical teachings and principles and is largely responsible for our democracy. Many also don't realise Australia came within a whisker of being founded by explorers from other religions that would not have allowed us to enjoy the freedom we have today.

Good Friday means a variety of things to a vareity of people. Some observe the day as a "special day". Some are respectful of the Easter message by eating fish on Fridays. To some, it's annoying. To Christians, it is along with Christmas Day a day we take time to remember afresh the love of God demonstrated by sending his son Jesus to the world to die for our sins so we could be reconciled to him. To any who enjoy the Easter weekend without embracing the message, I'd encourage you to consider two things this year

1/ What would the country look like without the strong Christian heritage we have? Think about our schooling system, our charity and welfare assistance organinsations and our hospitals whose roots are in the Gospel message. Without this message, these organisations wouldn't have been inspired and our country would likely be crippled.

2/ Did Jesus walk the earth? Was he who he said he was? Did he die on a cross and then rise again after 3 days? Historically there's no doubt he existed, the questions is was he a fraud or really God in person sent to give us new life. The story can be read in the Bible from Matthew 26, or you can read online at biblegateway.com

I'd encourage you to consider this sometime over the long weekend and work out what Easter really means for you. Have a great Easter.

The Queen

"The Queen" is a story about the Queen. More specifically, it focuses around how she and Buckingham Palace handled the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.

The film begins with the introduction of the new Prime Minister Tony Blair (well played by Michael Sheen) to Her Majesty (brilliantly played by Helen Mirren, in her finest work since "Teaching Mrs Tingle"). In a surprise to me, this occured just before Princess Di was killed, bringing the two figureheads into close relationship very quickly. The two have differing opinions on how to handle the aftermath of the tragedy and Blair soon finds himself needing to be very forceful to avoid the Royal Family becoming a target of scorn. Blair manages to convince the Queen, reluctantly, to make an appearance and a speech in order to save their reputation.

The film cleverly intertwines real-life footage of the events, most notably where the actors are "CGI'd" into original footage. The insight into the Royal Family is fascinating, and more so to the Queen (eg she drives a little jeep around the property). The cast is great, most notably the forementioned plus James Cromwell as Prince Philip and Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair. I wasn't expecting much of the film, but really enjoyed the way it was done plus the walk down memory lane. It brought up lots of surprises eg that Diana was only 36 when she died and that the Queen knew how to drive a jeep and use a mobile phone.

Well worth seeing.

Shooting Dogs

Another wifey pick, another African movie. If I had a dollar for............

"Shooting Dogs" is not a movie about people that go around shooting dogs but the genocide that occured in Rwanda in 1994. The film is set around a small Catholic school that becomes a shelter for many seeking refuge. Based at the school are a British teacher (Hugh Dancy, in his most powerful role since "Basic Instinct 2"), a priest (John Hurt, in his finest work since "Mr Forbrush And The Penguins"), some European tourists, the Rwandans and a small team of UN soldiers. The reason for the war is the desire of the Hutus to rid the land of Tutsis. The situation across the land becomes horrific with thousands being killed daily. The group at the school has their hope taken away bit by bit, beginning with the news the UN will not attack oncoming soldiers unless in their own self defense and the evacuation of any Westerner who might be of some help to their cause. Will they escape? See it to find out.

I didn't go in with much expectation but this was a really powerful film. John Hurt as the priest was excellent and the glue for the film. The story was strong but besides Hurt the cast was pretty weak, especially Darcy with his annoying little head shakes and all. A remarkable story of a people that were tragically deserted by the larger world. In all 800,000 were killed in just 100 days. Well worth seeing and one of the people films on an African story you'll see.

Knocked Up

This week we started another "Quickflix" trial, and Tara loaded up our want list. The first dvd to arrive was "Knocked Up". Here's my IMDB.com review.

"Knocked Up" starts Seth Rogen (in his best work since a guest appearance in "Dawson's Creek") and Katherine Heigl (in her finest role since she played Sarah in "Under Siege 2) as Ben and Alsion, two people who hook up in a night club and have a one night stand. Ben is a loser stoner, Sarah an up and coming entertainment reporter. The next morning Sarah realises what a loser Ben is and quickly tries to end it quickly....until she discovers she's pregnant. Sarah then decides to track Ben down and get him to be a part of this unexpected surprise. She soon learns although he's a complete loser who spends his time hitting the pipe and watching movies with ladies with no clothes on, he's sweet too. Sarah has to work out though if she wants to shack up with him and become a family or to have the child and try to continue on her career path and hopefully meet someone fancier.

It's pretty rude and crude, with lots of sweet "ohhhhhh" moments to balance it out.... sorta. Some potential jokes were left hanging, while others where done to death. Ben's housemates provided plenty of laughs and really stole most of the great scenes. Jason Segel as Jason was probably my favourite character in the movie. Pretty funny overall, but plenty of akward, uncomfortable moments.

Children Of The Silk Road

Last year wifey won some tickets to see this at the cinema. We never got round to it, but on the weekend it was wifey's choice of movie (being her birthday and all) and she picked this.

"Children Of The Silk Road" is based upon the remarkable true story of journalist George Hogg (played by the annoying Jonathan Rhys Meyers, in his finest work since "Bend It Like Beckham), a Brit who during the 30's found himself in China looking for untold stories and ended up being the saviour to a heap of young orphan boys.

Hogg bravely chose to go to China in the 30's to try to tell the world about the atrocities being commited by the Japanese soldiers on innocent civilians. He gets caught by the Japanese early on into his trip and is about to be murdered when he saved by a small band of Chinese fighters, headed by Chen (Chow Yun-Fat, in his finest work since "Ban wo chuang tian ya"). Chen helps him on his way, where he eventually comes across an orphanage in an abandoned grand building. Here he meets up again with US nurse Lee (played by Radha Mitchell, in her best work since some guest appearances on Aussie sitcom favourite "All Together Now"). She challenges George to stay and help these abandoned boys rather than just run back home like a little nancy boy. George stays and ends up dramatically changing the boys lives. Word soon reaches him though that the Japanese will be coming, so he must take them on a seemingly crazy 700mile journey through the rough Chinese winter to refuge.
Will they survive and reach freedom? See it to find out.

Not bad and certainly inspiring in pieces. Meyers pulled it off reasonably well considering how unappealing he is to men in general, if not for a few scenes that were uncomfortably akward. One of the better movies set in China I've seen, perhaps even better than "Rush Hour".

Bushfires

Went for a family drive saturday up to Healesville. Had a look around, grabbed lunch, then decided to trek on a bit further. After about 30mins we came into Narbethong, where I'd never been before. This small town was badly hit by the fires. Here's some pics we took. Was thinking about going onto Marysville but the roads were still closed. Amazing to see first hand just how much damage they did.

How to lose friends and alienate people

Friday night settled on this for "Friday DVD night". here's my IMDB.com review.

"How to win friends and alienate people" is the story of Sidney Young (Pegg), the brains behind "Post-Modern Review", a British celebrity rag that pokes fun at celebrities. One day to his amazement he gets offered a role at "Sharps" magazine in NY, one of the most respected magazines in the industry. He figures he's there to shake things up, but he's wrong and is given some very boring "work your way up from the bottom" work to do.

From early on Sidney alienates most around him by being obnoxious, a little too rough around the edges and unwilling to "play the game". He struggles to find any allies until he gradually wins over Alison (Dunst, in her finest work since "Jumangi"), a co-worker in his department. Sidney soon learns though to get anywhere he'll have to sell-out to get their respect and fulfill his dream of having sex with rising actress Sophie (Megan Fox, who I know nothing of except learning she has an older sister from her IMDB.com profile).

Not bad overall, with Pegg surprisingly good as Sidney. At first you instantly hate him, but eventually he wins you over. A solid cast also featuring Jeff Bridges (who I'd assumed was dead) and Scully from the X-Files, who seems to be making a comeback. Some pretty clever scenes and some freaky ones.

Eagle Eye

Sat night wifey was up for a movie, so headed off to "Video Busters" to get something we'd both enjoy, especially her. Sadly I went at 3pm, just a terrible time for getting a video as not much has been returned from the previous night. After 3 laps of the store I settled on "Eagle Eye". This broke my rule of when i'm struggling to find something, always selecting a movie I've heard is crap but has famous stars in it over a movie I know nothing of with nobody's in it (although I'd heard LeBeouf is popular these days).

"Eagle Eye" is a "thriller" about two people (LeBeouf as Jerry and Michelle Monaghan as Rachel) who both receive weird phone calls requesting them to do crazy, dangerous things (think a modern day "Die Hard With A Vengeance"). After several attempts to escape these requests, it soon becomes clear this is serious- really serious. We are left for ages not knowing who or why is putting them up to this but around half way through we learn the shocking truth. Is it terrorists? Is it the Government? Is it aliens?

Surprisingly not bad. An interesting idea that's been done before, despite some ridiculous elements ie the kids trumpet. Ok for what it is, just a bit annoying at times.

RockNRolla

With wifey out Friday night, it was the perfect chance for me to see a film she'd hate. After a decent walk around the store, i stumbled across "RockNRolla". My buddy Gary had said it was solid, and I'd liked "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock...", so figured this was a can't miss. Or was it?

The film, like the others mentioned, is about a bunch of bandits who are all trying to pull something off and their stories gradually become intertwined. It revolves around Lenny (Tom Wilkinson, in his best role since "Rush Hour"), a shark who due to his connections decide what infrastructure projects go ahead. When a Russian offers $7million to get a stadium built quickly, Lenny finally meets his match. Throw in a precious painting, lots of cash, some junkies and small-time crooks and you have a recipe for disasters.

A great cast, most prominently led by Mark Strong as Archie (my favourite B grade actor of the 2000's) and Toby Kebbell as Johnny. Both these guys should have had more prominent roles and meatier dialogue. Sadly, the movie was relatively ho-hum with no great memorable scenes, except maybe the one where Handsome Bob asks a special request of OneTwo before his prison sentence. Akward but clever. A decent try but certainly two rungs below Ritchie's two great works.

An actual funny work email

A first year primary girl handed in the drawing below for a homework assignment.



After it was marked and the child brought it home, she returned to school the next day with the following note:


Dear Ms. Davis,
I want to be very clear on my child's illustration. It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip bar. I work at Bunnings and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent cold weather. This photo is of me selling a shovel.
Mrs. Harrington

Ronin

Last night wifey and I rewatched this old video that I've had wrapped in it's original packaging since 1999.

"Ronin" is the story of some free agent crooks who are called in to help co-ordinate the theft of a briefcase. They group contains a mix of guys from other countries with different specialties. The team is headed by Robert DeNiro as Sam and Jean Reno as Vincent. A well planned job soon becomes unstuck when one of the crew is revealed as a fake and another a betrayer. Soon the job gets massively complicated and those left must decide if it's worth going ahead.

I remember really enjoying it at the cinema, but rewatching 10 years later, it's not so good. Since this films like "The Italian Job" and the "Bourne" trilogy have come out which are done much better with better effects and dialogue. Put it this way- without DeNiro it would have been a train wreck. The similarities particularly with "The Italian Job" are creepy. I laughed quite a few times at the extras who were shot or ran for their lives during the car chases and shootouts, as well as DeNiro's face while driving. Still watchable, but it doesn't hold up when compared to similar movies of the last 5-7 years. It can though probably lay claim to being the inspiration for such films (except "The Italian Job", which was a remake, or the "Bourne" trilogy, which was based upon a book written, like, years ago).

Burn After Reading

Friday night made the big mistake of hiring "Burn After Reading". For some reason I thought it would be more enjoyable than the other awful Coen brothers movies i'd seen (The Ladykillers, O Brother Where Art Though etc) with it's great cast and wacky storyline. Bad move. As always, the old "stick with what you know" motto I've lived my life by would have served me well if I stayed disciplined.

The film is about some dimwitted fitness instructors (played by McDormand and Pitt) who stumble across a seemingly top secret disc with government files. Linda (McDormand) sees a great opportunity for blackmail and therefore the chance to fund her required plastic surgery while Chad (Pitt) just sees the chance to score some free money. Soon they become embroiled in a serious situation and it's no longer a chance for easy money. Will they pull it off? See it to find out.

**Spoiler alert**. The story was going ok but had several irrelevant storylines that weakly ended up intertwining with the main story (Malkovich, Clooney etc). The ending was a massive letdown to say the least. Besides Brad Pitt's performance there wasn't much to salvage. I know some people will say "you just don't get the genius of the Coen brothers", but personally i think they are knobheads.

What a week

Last weekend was dedicated to moving house. It was a killer. A big shout out to all who helped (Al, Andrew, Matty, Dean, Cam and Carl). Thanks also to Mini-Movers, especially for managing to load the paino while me and the boys loaded everything else. So the entire weekend was dedicated to setting up the new house and cleaning up the old one.

MONDAY
More cleaning of the old house, including a late night one (more on that soon). Had a going away dinner for one of my work colleagues at night in Carlton which was good. It was a set menu and i came up well with calamari for entree, chicken for main and mudcake for dessert. There were allegations i got offered steak while on the phone and one of the guys swapped their chicken for it but nothing was proven. On the way home decided i should do a bit more cleaning at the old house. Sadly didn't read the instructions on one of the cleaning bottles that stated i had to wait 30mins before working on the area I'd sprayed. That's annoying at 11 at night.

TUESDAY
Tough day. Went to work expecting to here about some changes, we had this but also lost 2 great workmates who got retrenched. Was a very depressing day, only brightened by the morning tea provided which I think they hoped would make us go "it sucks so-and-so got fired, but these donuts are delicious!" Went from here to a final inspection of our old place, which went pretty well.

WEDNESDAY
Normal day pretty much, at night went to AIHE meeting (gathering of heads of engineering at the major motels, plus a few oddball people like me). Good chance to see a spectacular view of the city (from the 35st floor of the Sofitel), have some free nibbles and drinks and mingle with people in the industry. Not as fun was the 50min presentation on power saving ideas for motels.

THURSDAY
Another standard day pretty much. At night had home group at our place for the first time, with Dean & Ali running it. Was a top night.

FRIDAY
Worked, then came home for some take away (awful fish and chips from around the corner) and a movie ( the awful "Burn After Reading", from a bit further away). Moving house means a new video store. Long term we'll probably go for Video Ezy, but for the short-term signed up at an old favourite- "Video Busters", about 10mins away.

SATURDAY
Awesome day, containing many of my favourite things. Had pancakes and coffee for breakfast, then sat for ages reading the paper. After this went for a walk with the family by the creek, then came home and had a delicious sandwich. In the arvo watched a heap of basketball, most notably the Suns v Raptors. Shaq scored 45 and was simply awesome. After this had a sleep, then did a little work around the place. At night had some of Tara's delightful carbonara outside and now will settle in for a movie and chocolate. Way better way to spend a saturday than what I did with the last one.

Good news

For those of you who used to watch Jerry Springer and thought "that Steve guy is being wasted", here's some good news. Here's a clip.

24: Redemption

"24:Redemption" is a movie version of the much loved tv series. It picks up the story with Jack in Africa, hiding from the Government who wants to bring him in and charge him with his use of torture on suspects. While in Africa Jacks hooks up (not in that way) with an old colleague (played by Robert Carlyle from that movie about the guys who become strippers) who is running a shelter to help young men and protect them from rebels who want to recruit them for their armies.

As normally happens, trouble finds Jack and soon the lives of his friend and the boys are under threat. Once again, Jack can't turn his back on baddies and helping vitims, so he gets involved. Will he be redeemed? Will he risk all to save the innocent? See it to find out.

Not bad, but any "24" missing Chloe, Tony and Edgar is going to be up against it. Don't think the format really worked for the show, as it obviously all happened a bit quick. Keifer really seemed to mail it in too. It's a bridge to the next series, which will see Jack on trial. I caught the preview on the special features and it looks ok, will probably give it a go.

The Explorer

Recently my mum handed over a stack of my old childrens books that we thought would be nice to now read to my kids.

I came across one which i remember liking, mostly due to the novelty cover. It's called "The Explorer" and is about a boy who pretends to be an explorer and gets into all sorts of adventures. It's not so light-hearted though and seems to set out to bring down kids who let their imagination get the better of them. Take this extract for example....

After a few days in bed, the doctor advised him: "Listen to me well, Peter. We should let imagination be a friend but reality our guide. Because when fantasy prevails over reason, it can be the beginning of mental sickmess...."

Yep, that book just got tossed in the bin. Don't want to have to explain mental health issues to a 3yr old.

Things to do in Melbourne when you're hot

Yesterday morning marked the day of our Garage Sale. Shame it was on the hottest day ever in Melbourne. Wifey sat outside for most of it while me and the boys cooled down inside (no I didn't make her, she said something about being happy outside in the peace and quiet). We had a fair amount of people come through but only made $25, better than nothing though and we got rid of some of the larger stuff which was good.

After the garage sale we headed to Ringwood Aquatic Centre. Was good up until a huge windstorm came and my left eye filled with dust. After an hour it wasn't annoying me so that was good. Michael and I then hung in the big pool watching people do bombs off the 10m board. There's not much in life more enjoyable than sitting in a pool watching blokes over 100kg doing bombs.

Don't try this at home

It's better than shooting t-shirts into the crowd, or kiddies dribbling around an obstacle course, but this coulda been ugly. Not for the queasy.

http://deadspin.com/5145244/on+court-drowning-nearly-the-most-exciting-highlight-of-okc-thunder-season

Life On Mars

For the first time in maybe a few years, I'm trying a new tv show- the US version of the UK hit "Life on Mars". What got me in? Harvey Keitel, a storyline involving time travel and mysteries.

It's about a cop who gets in a car accident and gets sent back to 1973. After the first episode we're not really sure why (or how it's possible) but he believes there's a reason. His boss is a hard nose old school type (Keitel, in his dream role) who does things that would get him suspended in 2008. Sam (Jason O'Mara) has to adapt to being bereft of technology and dealing in things the old fashioned way. The first episode gave enough to make me want to become a regular, which will join "24" as my "must-see" shows for 2009.

Sixers V Dragons

A few weeks back, I was going through some receipts and noticed on the back of one receipt a "Shop-A-Docket" for a free family pass to the upcoming 36ers v Dragons. Pretty decent offer. Normally it's for a free coffee or a cheaper tax return but 4 free basketball tickets is way better. So we loaded the family and headed off to "Hisense", where I hadn't been since a Boomers v Dream Team game in 2001 with Gary, to see my beloved team take on the Dragons.

South started well and keep playing that way for 48mins while the 36ers played a suckier, wussier style for the whole match. We straight out stunk. Adelaide has long struggled against Goorj's physical teams and this was one of the worst, nay the worst, I'd seen. There was no chemistry (not surprising seeing we had a new starting line-up again) and we were forced into poor shots. The only bright spot was was Winitana in the 4th, who only played 21 minutes including the whole 4th and in this style of game should have played nearer 40. We were outrebounded, outhustled, outsmarted.....awful. Let me give a run down on each player.

GRIZZARD
Looks promising, but found no groove.
Stats: 10 pts, 7 boards, 0 assists

MAHER
Restricted to just standing on the 3pt line. Looked old.
Stats: 9 pts, 1 board, 0 dimes

BRUCE
Tried hard but kept persisting trying to draw contact bringing the ball upcourt when they were never going to call it, which killed him. Tried to force too much. Looked scrappy. Must be annoyed with his continual role changes.
Stats: 4pts, 2 boards, 4 assists, 4 turnovers in 18min

WINITANA
Should have played more minutes, suited to this game. Looked good in the 4th
Stats: 14pts, 1 board, 3 dimes

HILL
Tried, but largely unsuccessful
Stats: 4,2,2

SCHENSCHER
Got butchered by their interior D, but played way too soft (weird). Frustrating.
Stats: 8 and 8 with 2 blocks (and maybe 5 against)

COOPER
No meaningful minutes, brought in at at the wrong times
Stats: 4 and 3

HOLMES
Battled hard, probably our best with Winnie. Produced my only "well done" of the night.
Stats: 10 and 11

DAVIDSON
Started (goodness knows why), battled, but a terrible match-up against the Dragons. Got caught on Burston a few times on some unsuccessul pick and rolls with expected results.
Stats: 6,2,3

BALLINGER
Like when we played them in the trial game, was the focus of their efforts. They played him hard/dirty and killed his flow.
Stats: 8,6,1

Add to that their 11 blocks to our 4 and 12 steals to 2 and you can see it was a frustrating night for me and my approx 20 fellow Sixers fans. Oh yeh, I also had wifey and my two kids with me don't forget. The boys were about 8/10 in the first half but went troppo in the 2nd half, meaning I found it hard to get into the game, which may have actually been a good thing. Isaac nsisted he loved the game though, but most of that may be related to the frosty fruit and the South mascot.