What entertained me today? 06/28/09

This week has provided good material for what has entertained me. Perturbed is probably a better word to describe of some information and material that I have come across recently. However, you already know there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*Video Game Rage
*Ignored by the Oscars
*Great Sequels

1. Video Game Rage - Recently, I read a news report about a young man, Daniel Petric , who killed his mother and attempted to kill his father last year at the tender young age of 16. The reason he was in the news was he was recently sentenced to 23 years to life. Why is this news? The media is labeling the boy as the "Halo Killer". For the uninitiated, Halo is a video game. An immensely popular video game. Why is that significant? Daniel claimed insanity in his trial and "video game rage" was toted as the reason.

Maybe it was insanity. Daniel was said to have had a hard time distinguishing between the the real world and the world of the "Master Chief". He was said to play Halo online everyday and most days up to 18 hours per day. Another instance of "video game rage" has been attributed to a 17 year old in Arkansas who also played Halo very heavily. One night in 2006, Allen Gann was playing video games and his grandmother grounded him for not doing his chores. He woke up the next day and played violent video games all day, which included Resident Evil, Smackdown vs. Raw and Midnight Club. When reminded of his punishment, he nearly choked the life out of his grandmother. When the state troopers arrived, Allen threw a hammer at one of them and was eventually subdued by being shot in the leg by the state troopers and charged with aggravated assault. And since the D.C. sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo regularly played Halo and the Columbine shooters were Doom fanatics, then all video games must be EVIL. RIGHT?

What do you think? Aren't parents supposed to monitor what their children watch, eat, play with, etc.... Many parents are too busy trying to do their own thing and neglect their children, thereby their children fill their time with the things that entertain them. Unfortunately, it is not a book. Those days of a village raising a child are over. Most kids are raised by cable television. Parents really need to get involved in their childrens' lives and figure out what is going on with them. Halo has sold probably 10 million copies. These are 4 instances. 4 out of 10 million is not an epidemic. Blaming video games is NOT the answer. No one watches what happens in movies and tries to imitate that. Blaming video games is an EXCUSE for bad parenting. Plain and simple. Don't believe me....check this out...



2. Ignored by the Oscars - Over the history of cinema, there have been some movies and actors that for what ever reason were ignored by the Academy, or in other words, the people who give out the Oscar statues. Whom, you ask? Well, where to begin?

When you think of great suspense and thrillers, one name comes to mind for EVERYONE. Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds, Psycho. That name is Alfred Hitchcock. However, he never won an Oscar. Nominated 5 times in 20 years (1941 - 1961) for Best Director. ZERO wins. He was given a "memorial award" in 1968. Not the same thing.

Orson Welles, whom is considered by many the Greatest Director who ever lived, never won an Oscar. Responsible for the radio scare that shook up America "War of the Worlds" in 1938, as well as movies like Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil. Citizen Kane lost RKO Pictures $150,000 (in 1941 money) and every movie Welles made was a commercial failure, however Citizen Kane is considered by many the BEST movie EVER made. Welles received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1975.

Many people will tell you "Lawrence of Arabia" was a classic movie, even if they have not seen it. The actor who played Lawrence.....Peter O'Toole. He lost out on the Best Actor Oscar to Gregory Peck in "To Kill A Mockingbird" and probably thought he would get another chance. 7 more nominations over 47 Years. Zero Wins. Sad.

Despite having extraordinary careers and being revered by his colleagues, Robert Altman seems to have also missed the beckon of the Oscar statuette, along with Boris Karloff, Steve McQueen, Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise. Stanley Kubric was an amazing director and only received an Oscar for special effects on 2001: A Space Oddysey.

But not just people have missed out on the chance to receive Oscars, fantastic movies have as well. Some of these movies are King Kong (the 1933 original version), The Searchers, Easy Rider, Empire of the Sun, Blade Runner, Once Upon A Time In America, Taxi Driver, 12 Angry Men, Frankenstein, Dr. Strangelove, Shawshank Redemption and Psycho. Another film that did not receive an Oscar but proved to be a revolutionary breakthrough in film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. There was no category for animated films back then. So Walt Disney was given an award the following year for "a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field."

3. Great Sequels - Really only four movie genres invest the time and money into producing sequels: Action, Sci-Fi, Comedy and Horror. However, most movies in general suffer from a dreadfully fatal disease in the industry called sequelitis. This is a dreaded illness and what was once a strong, viable and productive movie franchise can be brought to its knees and eventually die due to this debilitating curse. Remember "Chronicles of Riddick". Completely screwed up what could have been with "Pitch Black". How often is it that the video game is better than the sequel movie?

What gives all sequels room to be better movies is you don't have to spend half or more of the movie setting up back story and introducing the characters. Not only introducing, but getting you to "buy-in", to become emotionally invested, to "care" about the characters. Sequels can spend only a few minutes getting people caught up, say with a montage, and go forward with the story. Anyway, Don't believe me....Check this out.....

First, Honorable Mentions - X2: X-Men United - The first movie started the whole superhero/comic book kick of the past decade. However, the second movie did not skimp on special effects or huge action pieces and juggle a dozen different stories into a more cohesive story. Rocky II - Rocky told a great story of a common man succeeding against all odds and the best part of the movie was that HE LOST! Rocky II was where the payoff came and it was earned and that made Rocky II special. Transformers 2 - A geek's wet dream was realized when the first movie finally hit the big screen and was done properly. The second movie introduced new robots, ramped up the violence and action 100 fold and even hit racial lines and controversy by adding two foul mouthed steppin fetchit caricatures in robot form. However, still a much better flick than the first.

Now, my top ten in no real particular order, however I think I did put them in my favorite order.

10. Road Warrior - George Miller shot the first film, Mad Max, for virtually nothing and edited the film in his bedroom and it became a huge hit. The second takes the violence and action up a notch, expands the character and mythology and gave us one of the great cinema chase scenes of all time.

9. Superman II - This movie gave us arguably one of the best movie villains ever in Terence Stamp's portrayal of General Zod. Without the mythology and backstory that slowed down the first movie, this was just pure fun to see Superman battle not one, but three supervillains as powerful as he was.

8. Spider-Man 2 - Once again, after the first movie cleared the way of backstory, the path was set to introduce one of Spider-Man's greatest villains wonderfully portrayed by Alfred Molina. More action, superior story and the high point in Cinema for all comic book based movies.

7. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan - The first Star Trek movie sucked. Yes, I said it and Yes, I am a Star Wars fan. However, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan was outstanding. This movie single-handedly saved the entire franchise and birthed countless TV shows, spin-offs and movies. Ricardo Montalban's turn as Khan was electrifying and made him a dynamic screen villain. This movie made me think differently about Star Trek. That is saying something. Now, if only J.J. Abrams can keep up the good work with his fantastic reboot, maybe there is hope for Star Trek.

6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day - Just like "The Road Warrior", T2 improved in every way possible on the original film and concept. And also just like "The Road Warrior's " predecessor, Mad Max, The original Terminator film had high concept and high promise. James Cameron stepped in and took a "B" movie and drop kicked in amazing action effects, spectacular special effects and gave us an awesome villian in the liquid metal T-1000. The high point in Schwarzenegger's career. James Cameron did have that whole "Titanic" thing and he has bet the farm on "Avatar". Still liked T2 the best.

5. Aliens - Ridley Scott's "Alien" was one of the best science-fiction horror movies ever made. Hard to top that right? James Cameron was able to do it with the sequel. He turned a haunted house in space into an an absolutely terrifying, nerve shaking, edge of your seat thrill ride. The whole Marines vs. Aliens angle was a nice touch and even though Cameron spent the 1st hour developing characters until we saw the first Alien, the movie ended up with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) being empowered and not the victim and kicking some Alien ass!

4. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Even with the complaints that the entire trilogy was ONLY about people WALKING and that the third parts last 15 minutes messed up what could have been a perfect franchise, the second movie is by far the best of the three. No backstory. No character development. Just character enhancement and pure action featuring one of the greatest battles on film. Frodo realizes that he is probably going to lose his life on this quest and the darkness of the ring begins to take him was pure cinema magic. Not to mention the introduction of Gollum, a digital character that appeared real and further helped to pull you into believing the story through special effects sorcery. Peter Jackson's crown jewel. The best book to movie adaptation to date.

3. Batman: The Dark Knight - The first Chris Nolan attempt at the superhero genre, Batman Begins, was a pretty good movie. It made us want to see more. Not perfect, but good. Better than all of the other batman movies except the first (and that's only due to a stellar performance by Jack Nicholson). However, the second movie shifts it's tone to a darker, more brooding movie and in turn will affect every other superhero movie made after it. The best superhero movie thus far.

2. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back - The high point for the entire double trilogy. While the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope was fun, the second movie darkened the series, developed the characters more fully and improved on some new technologies. Arguably the best sci-fi movie ever, it is often referred to as the "Godfather II of sci-fi movies". This was the gold standard of science-fiction movies on how to improve upon a concept. It had one of the all time great battle scenes and a super dramatic climax that was further propelled into Cinema legend with one line, "Luke, I am your father." Genius directing. The one movie George Lucas did not tinker with too much to screw it up.

AND FINALLY NUMBER 1. The Godfather II - The Godfather series is my favorite series of all time. I can forgive the feeble attempt at the Godfather III, however I loved Andy Garcia's character and wanted to see more done with him. The first Godfather movie was a masterpiece unto itself and just like in the Alien series, the second movie actually improved upon the first movie. The story of a young Vito Corleone, brilliantly played by Robert De Niro, and the story of a wiser, aging Michael Corleone told simultaneously was superb. Al Pacino had really settled into his role as Michael and played his character perfectly, even when it came to taking out his own brother. This is the watermark of storytelling and is definitely the movie that all sequels are judged against. It is also the only movie series in history where two different actors (Marlon Brando & Robert De Niro) won the Best Actor Oscar for playing the SAME PART. Both were Don Vito Corleone. Brilliant. My favorite movie EVER.

Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com
www.arewenotentertained.blogspot.com

What's entertaining me today 6/27/09

This week has provided good yet tragic material for what has entertained me. However, I'm not sure if entertained is the right word. Saddened is definitely the word to describe it. However, you already know there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*Prodigal Sons
*NBA Draft
*What makes an ICON

1. Prodigal Sons- Much is said of the prodigal son. Now most of you probably think I'm talking about Jesus. And who is saying I'm not? However, I am talking about something a little more earthly. In the world of Superstardom, many families have made a major impact. However, it is not exactly rare but unlikely that a son eclipses or lives up to the same standard of excellence that the father has put into the world.

Earlier this week, Jeff Jordan, oldest son of "His Airness" Michael Jordan, quit the University of Illinois Basketball team to pursue "life after basketball". No reason was given besides he was ready to focus on his studies. This NEEDS TO BE APPLAUDED! Jeff was already rich by default because of who his father was, but he still chose to walk on to a school where he believed in the program instead of accepting one of the D-1 scholarship offers he did receive. Jeff was due to be a junior in the fall and over the past two seasons, Jeff played in 59 games and scored 58 points, had 42 assists and 24 rebounds. As a freshman he averaged 5.3 minutes a game and moved up to 8.4 minutes per game as a sophomore. Coach Bruce Weber believed in Jeff and said Jeff had the opportunity to gain more playing time this season because he brought an incredible work ethic to the team and he always strived to get better and make his teammates better.

But what is in a prodigal son? What sons have become as famous as the father? Probably the best ever in sports has been Bobby and Brett Hull in Hockey. With several Stanley Cups between them, you could only argue that the only better father-son tandem in hockey have been Gordie and Matt Howe, and that is mostly for the brilliance of the father, Gordie, who is arguably the best Hockey player ever (between him and Wayne Gretzky). There are plenty of other notable father-sons who have played professional sports such as Archie Manning and both his sons Peyton and Eli - NFL Quarterbacks, Bill and Luke Walton - NBA, Felipe and Moises Alou - MLB, Bobby and Barry Bonds - MLB, Ralph, Dale and Dale Jr. Earnhardt - Nascar, Ken and Ken Griffey Jr. - MLB, Ken and Ken Norton Jr. - Boxing/NFL, Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve - F1 Racing, Calvin and Grant Hill - NFL/NBA, Dell and Stefan Curry - NBA, Dick and Pete Weber - Bowling, Tony and Anthony Dorsett - NFL, Joe "Jellybean" and Kobe Bryant and countless other father son combos. I have almost as many father-daughter combos I could mention but that will be the subject of another blog.

As I began, there is no more revered prodigal son than the one called Jesus. "For GOD so loved his only begotten son....", (paraphrased for the less than initiated) that he loosed him on Earth to save us all from our sins.... That's a lot of hype to live up to, even if you ARE the prodigal son. Point of all of this is it is not scientific that greatness passes through the genes within a family, however it IS more likely that a child is prepared and does have the advantage of better genes than an average person towards some type of athletic aptitude. We all have gifts however, and I am anxious to see what Jeffrey Jordan's gifts are now that he is done with his life as a basketball player. Kudos to you, young Mr. Jordan. I can only hope you are not eclipsed and forgotten because of the accomplishments of your younger brother Marcus who will be a basketball player at the University of Central Florida on scholarship this fall. Don't believe me....check this out...



2. NBA Draft- Thursday was not as exciting as I thought it might have been, however it was a good draft. I am the worlds biggest fan of college basketball (an over exaggeration, but it sounds good) and I am a moderate fan of the Professional game. The strange thing is that I had plenty I wanted to say about the draft at first, but now...I just think the draft was OK. That's it. OK. The best action of the draft actually happened before the draft. The "Big Cactus" Shaquille O'Neal was trade from the Phoenix Suns to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and future 2nd round pick and $500K. Wow! The Cavs didn't actually give up much if Shaq pans out. The second most exciting trade was the Orlando Magic landed Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, some other dude and a draft pick. Not bad. Just in case Hedo Turkoglu decides to sign elsewhere, however Vince was the type of player that the Magic were missing in the playoffs. Gamechangers. Definitely. Will it get either team a championship in 09-10....Don't think so...Check this out....



3. What makes an Icon- This week was a week marked in tragedy. Three Pop Icons passed this week. They say it always happens in threes.

First, Ed McMahon passes. Ed had been dealing with some IRS issues and that must have led to additional stress in his life. Beyond being the voice of Johnny Carson and "The Tonight Show" for so many years, Ed was a star in his own right as he was the creator and host of his own show, "Star Search". Star Search ran from 1983 to 1995 and then ran again but this time was hosted by Arsenio Hall. Star Search is responsible for introducing such talents to the world as Tiffany, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Dave Chapelle and David Archuleta just to name a few. Ed McMahon voice provided comfort and continuity to a generation of late night television viewers and it was a familiar and welcome part of the Tonight Show. Mr. McMahon's passing is surely a somber one in Hollywood.


Secondly, Actress Farrah Fawcett passes. Farrah has long been battling cancer and finally her battle was ended. She was 62 years old. Having won multiple golden globes and being emmy nominated, she was best known for her role as Jill Munroe on "Charlie's Angels". Besides Charlie's Angels, the only part I remember and my favorite for Farrah Fawcett was the TV movie, "The Burning Bed". This part, for which she won a Golden Globe, was amazing. Farrah Fawcett became an international sex symbol in the 1970's where young girls across the world were imitating her hairdo and her poster is one of the highest selling posters in history. Farrah Fawcett was adored by her fans and will be missed immensely.


And Last but certainly not least, the most tragic news for the week was the passing of Michael Jackson. The "King of Pop" passed when he was discovered in his home unconscious and not breathing and in a deep coma. He was rushed to the hospital where he later passed. There was a public outcry and nearly simultaneously pouring of distraught people into the streets expressing their emotions.

Widely regarded as the greatest entertainer who ever lived (Don't even get me started about how the people overseas feel about MJ), Michael Jackson has inspired MILLIONS! Mike is the only artist to sell over 750 million albums worldwide and the only artist to sell over 50 million albums on 1 album (Thriller...duh). Mike had the unfortunate circumstance of having his entire life played out on television and in front of the public. Which is actually sad. Sad, because we saw this brilliant artist transformed into a freak of nature before our very eyes.

What do I mean? Mike went from being a precocious super talented African-American little kid to becoming a middle aged white woman with an addiction to plastic surgery and some sort of strange affinity for young boys. Mike has had a life full of fodder for the normal person to ingest. The strange marriages. The little boys. Jesus juice. Amusement park at your house. The Elephant Man's Bones. Strange outfits. Even stranger behavior.

Crazy thing is, even though I was a MJ fan, I haven't been one FOR REAL for about 20 years. Seriously, ever since "Thriller" is when it ended for me. "Thriller" was a fantastic album that you could just put on and let it roll. No fast forward on the tape deck (no CD's back then). "Off the Wall" was an amazing and underrated album. Even though I have enjoyed some songs after the "Thriller" album, such as "Leave Me Alone", "You Are Not Alone" and "Smooth Criminal", once evil (said.."crazy") Mike took over, I wasn't interested anymore. I always wondered if there was anyone around him that said to him (or in their head)..."Dude has lost it. He's crazy!" If no one did, that is what I was saying. However, regardless of personal feelings, Michael Jackson was an incredibly talented individual whose legacy will be to inspire people to be the best at whatever their passion is. Don't believe me....Check this out.....



Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com
www.arewenotentertained.blogspot.com

What's entertaining me these days? 06/22/09

This weekend was good for what has entertained me. However, I'm not sure if entertained is the right word. Saddened is more like it. However, you already know there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*North Korea
*Sports Veterans
*Iran

1. North Korea - North Korea has long been the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Much like North Vietnam and the threat posed by China. Now we find that North Korea kidnaps (or more politically correct..detains) our American journalist and sentenced them to 12 years of hard labor in prison. Why? North Korea claims that these two journalists who work for the independent channel Current TV (owned by Al Gore, no less) were in North Korea illegally and creating and spreading a "smear campaign" against the North Korean government. Not to mention, the North Koreans have been testing nuclear weapons pretty regularly, which include long range missiles. If it were to go down today, Hawaii could be hit by those long range missiles.

President Obama says that North Korea could still find a "path of peace", but that would only be if North Korea were ready to give up their nuclear weapons. Nuclear Weapons in this part of the world will definitely destabilize the economy and upset the balance of peace in these Asian nations. The U.S. is prepared to fully support their allies like South Korea and China, who happens to be a North Korea ally, to bolster the U.N. sanctions placed against North Korea for the nuclear and missile tests. Just this week, Japan banned all exports to North Korea to strengthen the sanctions against North Korea and show it that the U.N. is serious and so are the nations who are supporting the sanction. This is merely the tip of the iceberg and will continue to develop into a situation that needs to be closely watched. Dont believe me....check this out...



2. Sports Veterans - I am a fan of football. I absolutely love college football and really enjoy Professional football as well. If you followed my diatribe on my sickening of the spoiled athlete, then this piece will seem in complete contrast. However, these pieces should have been written on the same day. It further explains what the hell is wrong with the game today.

One of my favorite players in the NFL for more than a decade has been Derrick Brooks. He has been a consummate professional and one of those throwback type of players that lets you know that it is not all purely talent, but HARD WORK that has propelled him to the ranks of superstardom. Derrick Brooks has been in the league for 14 years and in that time amassed 11 Pro Bowls, 6 First Team All-Pros, A Super Bowl Win and Defensive Player of the Year. So why is it that Derrick Brooks is currently unemployed? Someone who has been the heart and soul of a team and in 14 years has only been hurt once, last year, and there is no place for him in the NFL. No teams have contacted Brooks. As of right now, he will not be playing this fall. Has he lost a step? Is he no longer getting the job done?

Teams say they want to go younger and faster. Not to mention dumber. They don't want someone who is going to work harder. They don't want someone who has an amazing knowledge of the game. And the sad part is neither do the players. The younger players. Someone who has that much knowledge to soak up, why don't you latch on to them and learn everything you possibly can. This is one of the qualities in the younger players that makes me hate Kobe. I can not deny his talent and can not say that he is not amazing on the basketball court. However, being the world's number one Michael Jordan fan, I remember when a young rookie Kobe was approached by Michael Jordan to be given some sage wisdom and Kobe brushed him off. He was going to do it on his own. He did want any advice, especially from his Airness. That has always struck me wrong. In the years since, Kobe has changed his tune and RAN to Jordan for advice, but it's the attitude of these young players. They know every damn thing. You can't tell them anything and they don't want to know anything. They are all going to wake up and hit some internal switch and be great. They don't have to work hard. That kills me. Shouldn't Derrick Brooks be playing this fall? I think so. The fans thinks so. But the management and new coach don't think so. Why have a guy like Brooks around? What can he really do for our organization that he hasn't already done?

The sad thing is, this is not a new phenomenon, just a worsening one. Look in the classroom. It is more acceptable to be the dumb student. NO ONE wants to be labeled as smart. Conform. Be like the rest of the ignorant sheep being led to slaughter. Yet, these type of students don't realize that the prisons are being constructed for them. Low wage jobs that used to be for them are disappearing. So what are they to do? There is always a life of crime. But we are producing kids who are too dumb to even be good criminals....Don't think so...Check this out....



3. Iran - Iran seems to be the new focus of our attention these days. We play everything we can on the television to make us more in tune and perhaps sympathetic with what is going on in their country. The real problem erupted when the national election for President on June 12th did not go according to plan. The current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won the election with 62% of the vote over challenger Mir Hossein Moussavi who had 33% of the vote. Many analyst predicted Moussavi would win. However, it has been discovered that many of the towns voting for Ahmadinejad had more people voting than actually lived in the towns. Due to the high number of irregularities about this election, the people have taken to the streets. There has been civil unrest in the capital city of Tehran for more than a week now. Early reports have said there have been at least 32 murders (with reports that the number could be as high as 150), and up to 457 people arrested for vandalizing. Moussavi has used his facebook and twitter accounts to talk to the young people and tell them to "exercise self-control".

Now you may be asking yourself, why do I care? The government of Iran has accused the British and U.S. of "meddling in the affairs, such as the post-election results, of Iran and helping to stir up the unrest in the young people of Iran". Really? We would never do that....(catch the sarcastic overtones)... While I understand and feel sympathetic for the Iranian people as they try to get to a fully democratic nation, I am sick of the media exploiting this fact. This is another ploy by the government and the media to get us to care and then get us to not care about sending aid in the form of money or troops to Iran, because we are aiding this fledgling democratic country through their process. Never mind that this is another country that has a shit load of oil. If all this country had was rocks (like Afghanistan), we wouldn't care less. I'm tired of the government lieing to my face and then the American public being too damn gullible, naive and purely stupid to keep believing this bullshit. Don't believe me....Check this out.....



Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com
www.arewenotentertained.blogspot.com

What's entertaining me these days? 06/18/09

Today is a good day for what has entertained me. I have been meaning to write all week, but I got caught up. So...here goes. You already know there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*Olivia Munn
*The RIAA vs. YOU
*Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
*Spoiled Athletes

1. Olivia Munn - Today is a great day as nerds across the country rejoice and salivate great pools at their local bookstores because the improbable has happened. Olivia Munn, co-star of G4TV's "Attack of the Show" graces the cover of .....(wait for it)....Playboy. I know. You can hardly believe it yourself. Now as I understand, the pictorial is non-nude. (What? In Playboy? WTF????) Just look at the cover, though. How can you not want to check it out. Now, Why do I care? I too, in all of my sophisticated swagger and bonified machismo player personna am in deed a, dare I say it,...nerd. Not that I am ashamed of that at all, but it is not a personna I wear on my sleeve. If you have a love of games, movies and entertainment that is decidely mannish, then you probably watch G4tv or at the very least SPIKE tv. I watch both, from time to time, but the one thing that G4TV has that SPIKE does NOT have, is Olivia Munn. This is one fine woman and her appeal is...she is a woman, but like one of the guys. She likes and plays video games, loves movies, likes electronics, has a great sense of humor, dresses up in costumes like slave Leia at Comic-Con, spends time in Amsterdam, but still says the kind of freaky stuff any man would like to hear in the bedroom. She makes a difference to "Attack of the Show" and to G4TV as a whole. Olivia Munn's Playboy issue hits newstands June 19th, 2009. Dont believe me....check this out...



2. The RIAA vs. YOU - I don't know if you have been paying attention, but if you are a fan of downloading music or music in general, then this article may interest you. In Supreme Court in Minnesota yesterday, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was fined $1.9 Million dollars for downloading music. That's right. You heard me. 1.9 Million. A federal judge found yesterday that this Minnesota wife and mother was guilty of copyright infringement and must have dowloaded EVERY song on the internet, right? Wrong. She is guilty of downloading 24 songs. That's right. You heard me. 24 songs. That accounts for a fine of $80,000 per song. That's right. You heard me. 80 stacks. per song. (Pick mouth up off of the floor!) Now of course this case will go to appeal, because the actual cost of each song is 99 cents, which is the argument of the defendant. This is the second time, Mrs. Thomas-Rasset has been on trial for this. The first trial in 2007 was ordered a retrial because of faulty wording to the jury. However, in that trial, the music companies only fined Mrs. Thomas-Rasset $220,000. The fines have jumped substantially in 2 years. You decide....Here is a PSA for (or against) the RIAA...Check this out....



3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The second movie in the Transformer franchise looks to be the Box Office smash of the year and will be in the theaters next Wednesday, June 24th, 2009. The first movie was outstanding and the expectations are high for the second movie.

The plot is as follows: (SPOILER ALERT: DON'T READ THE REST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW) The Autobots think that peace is possible and has been attained and settle down to enjoy the planet Earth, however Starscream is furious and returns to Cybertron to get reinforcements to wage war and kidnap Sam Witwicky who has learned about the Transformers true ancient origins. Meanwhile on Earth, the Skorpinoks have stolen Megatron's body from the US military and revived him. This forces Optimus Prime to join with International military forces to fight off this new super threat.

Early reviews are coming back saying, "terrible" and "awful", however, that is the same thing that was said about the first movie and the first Transformers movie was great. Who is to say what this movie has in store, but if the last movie is any indicator, this sequel is going to be great. Don't believe me....Check this out.....



4. Spoiled Athletes - Yesterday was the day that another spoiled athlete received a slap on the wrist for another in a seemingly ending parade of transgressions by professional athletes. For anyone who has been following the story, Donte Stallworth, now wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns began his jail sentence this week. For anyone who doesn't know, Donte ran over and KILLED a pedestrian when he ran over the man, Mr. Mario Reyes in a crosswalk in Miami this past March. Not to mention it was a DUI. So big game Donte was suspended indefinitely from the NFL by Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday, however we ALL know that once he is finished serving his (super) light prison sentence, he will be allowed to suit back up in the NFL. Donte is to serve a 30 day prison sentence after a plea agreement for DUI manslaughter and then he has two years of house arrest.

I don't know about you, but I'm so sick and tired of these overindulged, petulent children who don't want to be role models but hold out for the role models money. The athletes decide that they are worth obscene amounts of money, but then disrespect the people who pay their salary by subpar performance and infantile behavior while believing they are above the law because they have the money to be above the law. And we allow it. I'm sick of the Rae Carruths, OJ Simpsons, Ray Lewis, Mike Vicks, Barry Bonds, Jayson Williams, Pacman Jones, Pete Rose, Allen Iversons, Randy Moss, T.O.'s, Chris Henry, Ricky Williams, Tank Johnsons, Barrett Robbins and the rest of these children. But why do we accept this type of behavior? Politicians do it. Televangelist do it. Police do it. We accept certain sectors of society covering up there indiscretions and receiving favors the rest of us do not receive. Why? I don't know. But this is the America we live in. All I know is.....I'm sick of it. Dont believe me.....Check this out....



Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com
www.arewenotentertained.blogspot.com

What's entertaining me today 6/13/09

Today is a bit of a slow day for what has entertained me. However, there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*UFC 99: The Comeback
*Lakers vs. Magic
*True Blood
*Digital Television Transition

1. UFC 99: The Comeback - Tonight is a really great card in the UFC. The fight is in Germany, so it actually came on pay-per-view at 2:30 because Germany is 6 hours ahead of Eastern daylight time. The card features Dan Hardy vs. Marcus Davis in a severe welterwight grudge match. In a lightweight match Spencer Fisher takes on Caol Uno. In another highly contested welterweight match Mike Swick takes on Ben Saunders in a match that both predict will only end in knockout. Now the matches everyone really wants. Cro-Cop takes on Mustapha Al-Turk in Cro-Cop's second debut with UFC. Two of the rising stars of the heavyweight division go toe to toe with the match up of Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo. Cheick Kongo accepted this fight 3 weeks ago after Velasquez's opponent of Heath Herring had to pull out of the fight. And in the co-main event, two of the most exciting stars in the UFC ever face off in former welterweight champion Rich Franklin and former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva. This is a UFC event to watch... dont believe me.....check this out.....

SPOILER: DON'T READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW WHO WON.....
(highlight up to video)

Dan Hardy defeats Marcus Davis - split decision
Spencer Fisher defeats Caol Uno - unanimous decision
Mike Swick defeats Ben Saunders - TKO
Cro-Cop defeats Mustapha Al-Turk - TKO
Cain Velasquez defeats Cheick Kongo - unanimous decision
Rich Franklin defeats Wanderlei Silva - unanimous decision



2. Lakers vs. Magic - I have been saying since before the conference finals were over that whoever comes out of the West will win the NBA finals. I didn't think Lebron had enough team around him to win it all. Some people will then say, "but the had the best record this season..". So! The playoffs are different. It is a new season. However, the Magic have been doing everything they can to put the Lakers down. It just hasn't been enough. Both teams match up well, but the Lakers have a team with people that can create their own shot (ie...Kobe...) and a well balanced team when all cylinders are firing. They have post presence in Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. They have an extremely solid clutch point guard in Derek Fisher. They have a solid role player who can step up and hit big shots from time to time in Trevor Ariza. ..and they have arguably the BEST player in the game in Kobe Bryant. Kobe can create his own shot and seemingly hit just about every shot he puts up. The Magic have a good team in Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee (props for a Western KY player - rookie at that...), Mikael Pietrus, Rashard Lewis and the most frightening defender in the NBA, Dwight Howard. Even though the Magic have players that can step up and hit big shots, they don't have any that can create their own shot like Kobe and none that really put up big points. If the Lakers have their 2nd and 3rd scorers show up, it is a long night for whoever they are playing. And that brings up to game 4. With 4.6 seconds left on the clock, Jameer Nelson's defense on clutch shooter Derek Fisher was non-existent. That is some of the poorest defense I've seen since watching a middle school game. And to not only let him do it at the end of regulation and in Overtime is unacceptable. I think it's amazing that Jameer Nelson recovered so quickly from shoulder surgery when he wasn't supposed to play anymore this season, but that defense????......WOW!!! Was this one hell of a comeback by the Lakers or an unforgiveable choke fest by the Magic. You decide....Here are highlights from Game 4...Check this out....



3. True Blood - The Season 2 premiere for the outstanding HBO series, True Blood is tomorrow, Sunday June 14th at 9PM. The series was created by Alan Ball and is based on the Sookie Stackhouse Novel series by Charlaine Harris. This critically acclaimed series even managed to snag a Golden Globe earlier this year for Season 1 due to the superb acting of Anna Paquin (whom also has an Oscar for her role in "The Piano", but most will remember her as "Rogue" from the X-Men movies). This series has introduced us to vampires (which are all the rage right now due to the undeniable appeal of the Twilight movies) in a new way, as well as shapeshifters and telepaths. This show takes the approach of what if we knew that vampires were among us? Interesting premise. How would this affect people's sensibilities and even moreso those people who are completely obsessed with the gothic and vampire culture. Who is to say what this season has in store, but if last season is any indicator, this season is going to be great.



4. Digital Television Transition - Yesterday was the day that many a grandparent the land over have dreaded. The day has come and gone to transition over to digital television. Can anyone tell a difference? Not yet, I don't suppose. I was so used to going to my grandmother's house and seeing the smaller TV on top of the old 1970's console television with the rabbit ears antenna. But now my grandmother has to moved to the digital age even though she's an analog type of lady. It is estimated to still be over 3 million people who were not ready for the conversion yesterday. I was at Best Buy and saw a mountain of digital converter boxes made by Apex for $49.99. There will be many of us who are completely unaffected by the transition and had already made our choice long ago with someone's cable or satellite service. However, if you are unsure about this whole digital transition, the best place to start doing some research is the Government's digital television website, www.dtv.gov Here I have included a video about Tivo's HD service. Not that I recommend Tivo, (I have digital cable with a DVR box, but it's the same thing as saying Tivo all the time. I often refer to it as Tivo) Those of us who are part of the digital age find that a Tivo or DVR service is a must. Dont believe me.....Check this out....



Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com

What entertained me today? 06/10/09

Today was a decent day for what has entertained me. However, there is never a day that passes that I am not entertained in some form or another. So what is on the agenda for today?

*IPhone 3GS
*So You Think You Can Dance
*Star Wars: The Old Republic
*Sugar and Spice Doughnuts
*Working Out

Here is my entertainment for the day and not in any particular order:

1. IPHONE 3GS - The new Iphone announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference on Monday was something I have been anticipating and listening to rumors about for a while now. What did I think about the presentation? It continued on and on and on and on and highlighted a bunch of new apps..(some interesting, some boring as hell)..and countless people talked about the superiority of this new generation of Iphone. It seems like it was 3 days long with 30 minutes of absolute elation. Here is the skinny on the Iphone 3GS:

• 16 GB and 32 GB version
• $199 and $299 respectively

• Fastest Iphone Yet.
• Landscape Keyboard
• Compass
• Video Camera
• "Finally" Multimedia MMS with Copy/Paste
• Spotlight Search
• Voice Control
• Most Powerful "new" Mobile OS
• Available June 19th, 2009
  

and much more...(still waiting for FLASH support)...Don't believe me.. Check this out...



2. So You Think You Can Dance - The new season of "So You Think You Can Dance" has started and this program is pretty much the American Idol of the dance world. Why does this show entertain me? I guess it is an appreciation thing. When I was young, I would go to the parties and get "loose" and while the guys were hatin', the women were sizing me "up" (in more ways than one, if you follow what I'm talking about). I have heard many a woman say that "the better you throw down on the dance floor, the better you throw down in the bedroom". But I digress. "So You Think You Can Dance" is a great show because just like American Idol, you get the auditions from some good dancers, some great dancers and some GOD awful dancers. The difference with this show and IDOL however is because the dancers are choreographed by some of the top choreographers in the business, they tell fantastic stories through the song and their movements. Only a few times and rarely more than once in the same show will you hear a performance on IDOL where you were like, "DAMN! That was AMAZING!" However, that happens quite often on this show...here is one routine from last year...Don't believe me.....check this out...



3.Star Wars - The Old Republic MMO - This game looks fu#$*ing AMAZING!! I am one of those people that loves video games but never has the time to play them. On occassion, I can find an hour or two during some down week to squeeze in some game time, but that's about it. There are some people who play games like it is their religion and stay completely immersed in their video game experience. One of the biggest examples is MMORPG which for the un-initiated stands for Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game by the likes of games like World of Warcraft. On consoles there are smaller games that keep many millions of peoples attention like Halo, SOCOM, Call of Duty and Gears of War. However, the newest big thing is here and it looks to dazzle. Star Wars - The Old Republic is set up in the Star Wars universe and features the war between the Sith and Jedi thousands of years before the action in all six of the movies. I could say alot about it, but I won't. I'll let you make up your own mind....check this out!!



4. Sugar and Spice Doughnuts - In the overly indulgent world of self involved American consumer, there are few things that can be considered bliss. In the world of Doughnuts, there are many people that SWEAR by their local establishment and some that have gained state, regional or even national notoriety. Many people will argue you and tell you that there is nothing outside of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and on some good days I might agree. However, because of my fifth reason I was entertained today, I have entered Krispy Kreme rehab ( I believe this to be the only way to "kick" the habit that is Krispy Kreme because the must put crack or something in that glaze. It's not possible that it can be that good). Thanks to "The Travel Channel's show "Pig out Paradise" I have learned about places like Voodoo doughnuts that make people "BELIEVERS" (shameless Martin Sheen movie reference), however it is a local spot called Sugar and Spice and I do believe these doughnuts are every thing nice. No video to show, however if you ever make your way through Louisville Kentucky...check these out!!


5. Working Out - Ahhh...the proverbial New Years Eve resolution that has everyone lieing to themself about how they are going once again get "high school skinny". The pipe dream that is washboard abs, a ripped physique and many persons of the opposite sex wanting your new and improved bod. In being realistic, some people jump in the gym and attack with the ferocity of a lioness on a baby gazelle, however the smart person paces themself and works their way up to a level that they can handle in order not to hurt themself. What? What is wrong with that? We are Americans and we expect "instant gratification". This is why the noob bodybuilder looks in the mirror with aggression after their first workout looking for all of their new muscles that they know are there because they can "feel" them. Or the person trying to lose weight who expects to find out that they have lost 15-20 pounds when they are standing on the scale after their first workout. Each person needs to find their motivation in different places. I think I have provided at least one piece. And even though we are talking about genetics, most men (and some women to boot) want to be with Halle and most women want to look like her. If you are not moved by that picture, you might want to check your pulse. I think your are dead. Here is some more motivation...(works for me...)....check this out...!!

Well until next time....
R. Steed (Big Goldie)
"Fluffy Puffy - The Media Mogul in Training"
www.dashowtv.com