Awesome Time

So…they didn’t win.  Pittsburgh teams are now 1-1 in league championships where we’ve written a “Win It For…” post.  That’s no better than chance, so…we’re completely useless.  Also it’s July, and nobody’s posted anything here since May.

We’re working on that.

I found this video yesterday as I was surfing.  Definitely food for thought…let me know what you think in the comments.

Those of you who know me know my stance in the creationism “debate” - I’m sure at some point I’ll write a big ranting piece on it here if some super-Jesus-y school board decides they want to be the next ones to mess with high school science classes in the name of “balance.”

For now, though, I point you to PZ Myers at TalkReason, who, laughing almost to the point of tears, relays this story of what happened to him last Friday…

Enjoy.

I can’t believe I live in a world where someone very much responsible for “The Hulk” gets to make out multiple times in the span of 90 minutes with both Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. What kind of moral example is that setting?

My vote for male lead in this movie? Me. My improvisational skills would be stellar.

“Natalie! Scarlett! Don’t fight. You can both have me. TOGETHER!”

Picking the right college stressed me out. I had no idea how I was supposed to decide where to spend the next four years of my life based on course catalog’s, and 45 minute campus tour. By February of my senior year I was lucky if I got three hours of sleep a night, and couldn’t stomach much beyond saltines. And I wasn’t even a high school athlete, let alone the most sought after one in the country.

It should come as no surprise then that Terrelle Pryor, considered by many services to be the best high school quarterback in America has a few short nerve endings these days. Still, according to this story in the Washington Observer Reporter, he has to be a little more careful with how he handles the pressure.

At a basketball game Friday Saturday night, the two-sport star Pryor was taunted mercilessly by the South Fayette student section. “One student dressed in a red sweater vest - think Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. Each time Pryor took his position for free throws, he heard it, [as in] ‘here’s your daddy for the next four years!’”

Despite scoring 24 points, along with 21 rebounds, seven blocks and six assists to lead Jeanette to a tense overtime victory, Pryor became rattled as the game progressed. He began jawing at the opposing crowd, only inciting them further and leading to the ejection of two South Fayette students. However, it wasn’t until the game concluded that things got really interesting.

“As dumb as [the ejected South Fayette students] were, Pryor topped them after Jeannette pulled away in the overtime.He continued his dialogue with fans. Then, after postgame handshakes, Pryor immediately went toward the student section. Following a ridiculous, prolonged exchange, Pryor’s teammates intervened. Why they didn’t stop him before is unknown. Why his coaches allowed it to happen is an even greater injustice.

Officials escorted Pryor and Jeannette toward the locker room, where the two teams were side by side. That’s when a Jeannette assistant exited the Jayhawks’ locker and complained about the conduct of the South Fayette students. That’s something he had a right to do.One officer, however, did not appreciate the direction of the conversation. He was present when Pryor accosted the South Fayette fans.’You’re lucky we didn’t take your kid (Pryor) in,’ the officer said. ‘He threatened to go into the crowd.”‘

Thank god Stephen Jackson wasn’t in the house, or else things might have gotten really ugly.

Keith Olbermann had another of his magnificent Special Comments last night, this one on the current battle between Congress and the President over the renewal of FISA legislation.  I was going to write a post about this, but as is so often the case, Keith says it better than I ever could.

I hope these words haven’t fallen on deaf ears.  Chris Dodd successfully filibustered an earlier FISA bill containing immunity for telecoms, and has vowed to do so again.  Here’s hoping the Democratic leadership in the Senate backs him up, for once.  I realize it’s hard when the majority isn’t really a majority (we’ve got 51 seats, but you need 60 to get anything done), but even then, Harry Reid needs to stand up and explain why things don’t get done, rather than appearing to capitulate and then letting the Republicans control the storyline of it somehow being the Democrats’ fault for not getting anything passed.

I was combing through the piles and piles of coverage surrounding tonight’s State of the Union address (9pm ET, live on C-SPAN and I’m sure everywhere else too), which will be George Bush’s last as President, and I found this neat little clip put together by the Campaign for America’s Future:

(h/t DownWithTyranny and C&L)

It’s always amazed me just how brazen he can be with some of the things he says. You can bet that tonight’s speech will contain much more of the same.

My grandfather had a friend who was fond of saying that the closest he ever came to a religious experience was hearing his first Frank Sinatra record. Old Blue Eyes’ stylings never made me feel the touch of God, but this morning, I think, for the first time, understood the essence of what Mr. Briggs was talking about.

That’s because I was fortunate enough to stumble across this, David Lee Roth’s isolated lead vocal track from Van Halen’s 1978 hit Runnin’ with the Devil. The song is the first track from the band’s self-titled debut album, and opens with the 10 seconds of honking car horns before morphing into a thumping guitar riff. In other words, could there have been a better way for Van Halen to introduce themselves to the world?

And just in case you had any doubt as the vocal mastery of David Lee Roth-and I’m not sure how anyone could after his inflection of “burning” into “boinin” made the song “Panama”- this .mp3 should clear that up.

I can’t believe I paid money to see Pirates of the Caribbean III. I really didn’t want to, but Pirates II ended on a semi-cliffhanger, so I really had to. NO WAY they planned that when the original movie came out. The original worked much better as a stand alone movie. I’m not going to go into detail, because I know all five of you that read this are probably clammering to see it, but suffice it to say that the first Pirates of the Caribbean has forever been tarnished in my mind because of Disney’s decision to “trilogize.”

tril·o·gize

verb, -gized, -giz·ing. (haha)

–verb (used with object)

–verb (used without object)

I know I shouldn’t care, because the first movie wasn’t really that good. And I know that this is probably the nerdiest blog post I could ever write without mentioning Final Fantasy, comic books, or Magic cards.

…It was just so bad. Not only was it epic length (~3 hours), but it had just about every epic/trilogy cliche possible in it. The most ridiculous part is when Keira Knightley, the chick from Bend it Like Beckham and newly crowned Pirate Queen, goes off on this Aragon/William Wallace-esque “there may come a day when the world of man comes to and end… but they’ll never take our FREEDOM!!!” kind of speech to get the troops all fired up before the final battle. PAINFUL.

You really can tell when a movie studio had no plans to make a trilogy until the original movie made bank. The first movie of the trilogy has a happy ending (Neo becomes “the One,” Luke blows up the Death Star), the second movie has a cliffhanger ending, and the third movie kills off a few of the big characters and ties things up in an unsatisfying way. There’s always a dropoff in revenue from first to second and another from second to third. That’s because the fans lose interest and the movies simultaneously get worse (Star Wars fans–Don’t kid yourself, Empire was garbage). Somebody who saw Empire didn’t return to see Jedi. Wanna know why? They didn’t give a shit. I probably wouldn’t have bothered seeing Matrix Revolutions if Phil’s grandmother hadn’t bought my ticket.

Any thoughts? I know I can’t be alone on this.