Penn State came to play and came to win and they showed the rest of the nation and all the fans in the snow covered stands that the Nittany Lions were not going down to an improved but unprepared Spartan team! Joe Paterno’s Lions played as if they had the whole season resting on this one game, and in fact it was. With the win this past Saturday the Nittany Lions won the Big-Ten title and will be going to Pasadena, CA to play in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day! It’s the first time since 1995 that the Lions will play in the rose bowl and only the second time since they’ve joined the big-ten conference.
Paterno’s seniors played very well and ran away with the game on so many occasions. With interceptions, incredible receptions for touchdowns and they didn’t’ get rattled when MSU got two interference calls in a row near the goal line-giving them 6 tries to get the ball in to the end zone, and that made a 21-0 score a 21-7 score. Momentum appeared to go back towards the Spartans, but it lasted all of 15 seconds as the Lions came back down the field on their next drive and scored a touchdown!
It was a joy to watch this game. Watching this game reminded me of games I had watched with my grandfather. I could hear him rooting for Penn State and talking about how Paterno has one of the highest graduation rates of any major college school that has a football program. As Paterno was seen on TV coaching from the upper box because of his injured hip, the announcers made reference to this fact-which my grandfather told me on several occasions. Paterno is completing his 59th year as a coach at Penn State-amazing to me!-and he plans on returning again next year and for several years after!
I can’t wait to see how the Nittany lions play on January 1st, and I look forward to seeing them play with Paterno on the sidelines next year too.
PSU 49 MSU 18
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283270213
http://www.psu.edu/
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Michigan Lost to OSU in Columbus! [November 2008]
Michigan didn’t play well in their final game this season, but then to be fair they didn’t play well in most of their games this season! All you need to do is look at their 3-9 record this season and realize that no matter how hard they may have played in each game, and no matter how often and by how many points they may have lead in many of those games-they still lost more games than any Michigan team in the last 40 years!
Michigan played well in the first half and then their energy and enthusiasm seemed to bleed away from them. The second half belonged to the Buck-eyes and they didn’t look back. The announcers made many references to how this would be the OSU seniors 5th straight win over the Wolverines and that OSU had never done that before. This was the season for Michigan firsts. We lost for the first time to a MAC team when Toledo beat us 13-10.We lost to MSU, Notre Dame and OSU in the same season for the first time in 20 years. We lost to OSU 5 straight seasons for the first time ever.
This was a season of firsts…this is the first season I ever just wanted to go to sleep and hope it was really a bad dream! Like the Dallas show back in the 80’s! I don’t think that’s going to happen when I wake up tomorrow morning though.
Michigan 7 OSU 42
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283270194
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Michigan played well in the first half and then their energy and enthusiasm seemed to bleed away from them. The second half belonged to the Buck-eyes and they didn’t look back. The announcers made many references to how this would be the OSU seniors 5th straight win over the Wolverines and that OSU had never done that before. This was the season for Michigan firsts. We lost for the first time to a MAC team when Toledo beat us 13-10.We lost to MSU, Notre Dame and OSU in the same season for the first time in 20 years. We lost to OSU 5 straight seasons for the first time ever.
This was a season of firsts…this is the first season I ever just wanted to go to sleep and hope it was really a bad dream! Like the Dallas show back in the 80’s! I don’t think that’s going to happen when I wake up tomorrow morning though.
Michigan 7 OSU 42
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283270194
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Lions remain Winless [November 2008]
I don’t consider myself an overly superstitious person-at work I am but I have experienced the wrath of the Hospital spirit gods run amok when you tempt them by saying the wrong word!
Yesterday The Detroit Lions played yet another home game-another home game which was blacked out because it again wasn’t sold out! I got to listen to most of the first quarter and part of the 3rd quarter as I was driving to and from a family event. I only got to hear perhaps 30 minutes of playing time-which is half the game-and in that time I heard each of the Lions scores. I heard Dante Culpeper throw to Calvin Johnson in the end zone for the first touchdown. I heard the defense pick up a fumble on the next series of plays by Tampa and they ran the ball back for a TD. I heard Jason Hanson hit a 40 yard field goal putting the Lions up by 17 points in the first quarter alone!
I entered the church to go to my cousin’s baptism and when I came out 2 hours later the Lions had given up the ball, the lead and the game! They were down 35 to 17 and I then heard them get another field goal to come within two scores at 35 to 20. What happened with this team over two quarters while I was in church? Did they put a different team on the field? Did they run out of energy and just gave up?
This team is now 0-11 and it appears they have a real chance at making history, and again it’s not the history that any of us want for the Lions. I do not want to be ashamed of having a lion’s shirt on-well I do get looks already though-and if they go 0-16 they will be the first team to do so and who knows how long it’ll be until they can earn any respect from anyone-other teams or their fans.
It seems like years ago-and it was only a year-when they were 6-2 and had high hopes of making the playoffs and giving their fans some hope.
Hope is gone. It left the building. Dignity went with him. Shame is arriving on a bus and it’ll arrive Thursday afternoon when the Lions get their manes handed to them by the Titans.
Box score Lions 20 Tampa 38
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/boxscore?game_id=29693&displayPage=tab_box_score&season=2008&week=REG12
Detroit lions on nfl.com
http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DET
Monday, November 24, 2008
Yesterday The Detroit Lions played yet another home game-another home game which was blacked out because it again wasn’t sold out! I got to listen to most of the first quarter and part of the 3rd quarter as I was driving to and from a family event. I only got to hear perhaps 30 minutes of playing time-which is half the game-and in that time I heard each of the Lions scores. I heard Dante Culpeper throw to Calvin Johnson in the end zone for the first touchdown. I heard the defense pick up a fumble on the next series of plays by Tampa and they ran the ball back for a TD. I heard Jason Hanson hit a 40 yard field goal putting the Lions up by 17 points in the first quarter alone!
I entered the church to go to my cousin’s baptism and when I came out 2 hours later the Lions had given up the ball, the lead and the game! They were down 35 to 17 and I then heard them get another field goal to come within two scores at 35 to 20. What happened with this team over two quarters while I was in church? Did they put a different team on the field? Did they run out of energy and just gave up?
This team is now 0-11 and it appears they have a real chance at making history, and again it’s not the history that any of us want for the Lions. I do not want to be ashamed of having a lion’s shirt on-well I do get looks already though-and if they go 0-16 they will be the first team to do so and who knows how long it’ll be until they can earn any respect from anyone-other teams or their fans.
It seems like years ago-and it was only a year-when they were 6-2 and had high hopes of making the playoffs and giving their fans some hope.
Hope is gone. It left the building. Dignity went with him. Shame is arriving on a bus and it’ll arrive Thursday afternoon when the Lions get their manes handed to them by the Titans.
Box score Lions 20 Tampa 38
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/boxscore?game_id=29693&displayPage=tab_box_score&season=2008&week=REG12
Detroit lions on nfl.com
http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DET
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Michigan Looses at home to Northwestern!
Michigan didn’t waste any time to get back to their loosing ways this season. After last week’s impressive win over Minnesota Michigan lost at home to Northwestern-a team they’ve not lost at home to since 1995!
The weather sucked in Ann Arbor last Saturday afternoon-there is no other succinct way to put it-it was cold, windy and a combination of snow/sleet. No one wanted to be in the stadium to watch this game and with Michigan playing poorly there was even less reason to stay. Fans were leaving at half-time and not worrying about returning!
Michigan has now lost 8 games this season for the first time in their history and they have the change to lose to OSU in Columbus this upcoming Saturday. Michigan has played spoiler against OSU in the past, but that was always a better team than what has been playing this year. Michigan could beat MSU at home this year and I see very little hope they will beat OSU at home either.
Let’s hope the Michigan Wolverines don’t start making this a seasonal thing, else we may have to place them in the same category as the Detroit Lions.
Michigan 14 Northwestern 21 in Ann Arbor
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283200130
Box Score
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=283200130
Monday, November 17, 2008
The weather sucked in Ann Arbor last Saturday afternoon-there is no other succinct way to put it-it was cold, windy and a combination of snow/sleet. No one wanted to be in the stadium to watch this game and with Michigan playing poorly there was even less reason to stay. Fans were leaving at half-time and not worrying about returning!
Michigan has now lost 8 games this season for the first time in their history and they have the change to lose to OSU in Columbus this upcoming Saturday. Michigan has played spoiler against OSU in the past, but that was always a better team than what has been playing this year. Michigan could beat MSU at home this year and I see very little hope they will beat OSU at home either.
Let’s hope the Michigan Wolverines don’t start making this a seasonal thing, else we may have to place them in the same category as the Detroit Lions.
Michigan 14 Northwestern 21 in Ann Arbor
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283200130
Box Score
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=283200130
Monday, November 17, 2008
Penn State Beats Indiana [November 2008]
Penn State may have lost in the last second last week to Iowa but they left little doubt in the second half as to whether they’d win this game. It was close through the 1st half, with no scoring in the 1st quarter and a 10-7 lead for Penn State at the half, but 17 points in the 3rd quarter made it obvious who had taken control of the game and the Nittany Lions added a touchdown in the 4th quarter to make it a 34-7 win and they went to 10-1 going into the last weekend of the season.
Penn State will play Michigan State at home and both teams have high hopes not only of a win but of a big bowl berth for January 1st!
Penn State 34 Indiana 7
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283200213
Monday, November 17, 2008
Penn State will play Michigan State at home and both teams have high hopes not only of a win but of a big bowl berth for January 1st!
Penn State 34 Indiana 7
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283200213
Monday, November 17, 2008
Personal Thoughts on life….. [From an RN]
1-Things never turn out the way you expect!
2-Things always take longer than you plan!
3-Things always happen in three’s!
Like this list!
It’s definitely been my experience that no matter what you do in life that your job, your relationships, your food at the local restaurant is never the way you expected it to be.
Going to school is never as much fun, nor as bad as you think it’s going to be then after you graduate and get your first job, work is not as interesting, as exciting and it doesn’t pay as much as you thought it would. You don’t have as much fun on your days off as you expected because by then it seems like college was a blast and wasn’t as hard because flunking a test wasn’t nearly as bad as the possibility of getting fired!
But then you experience your first real illness-maybe you get the flu, maybe you get hospitalized-and you realize that your health is more important than any job you could have, so getting fired doesn’t seem so bad, until you realize that you have no health insurance without your job, that you can’t afford to pay the hospital and clinic bills and can’t pay for the prescriptions to get you healthy!
So you go back to work on a Monday morning and for those of you who are RN’s like me you realize you’re going to have 4 new patients you’ve never seen before and they all have a med list longer than War and Peace, so completing the morning meds will take you to 11am and then they want to order a new lunch tray because what they brought looks like a cardboard version of a tuna sandwich and smells rather like it’s been underneath someone’s car floor mat for a month-and for those who have a cold and can’t smell-it would amount to feeling like you’ve been out in the rain with your dog at the end of October for a week and you’ve just finished running 10 miles and then had a pile of old leaves placed on top of you to keep you warm and dry-after you were already wet!
So you decide to order a new lunch for your patient and instead of getting the dietary number you end up on a voice mail queue for the low-fat recipe of the month club! By 1pm you’ve ordered the lunch for the patient but it comes up as jello and a banana and the patient’s now hungry, tired and thinks you’re a moron who can’t even get a tuna sandwich right. Mild curse words are heard coming from under your breath, and the other nurses who understand your pain and suffering would offer to help if they weren’t already in their own hell!
So by 6pm you’re ready to quit, and leave the floor but you realize that it’s only 90 minutes until the Governor will release you from jail! And you can spread out giving report for 20 minutes and take a 30 second break in between to pee, drink your juice, take your own AM meds that you never had time for and eat your lunch/dinner before all your call lights go off and each patient wants you to personally give them their pain meds before shift change because they don’t want to have to wait until the next shift comes out of report. So by 8pm your meds are passed, charting is done, report is given and your people are breathing!
It’s time to go home and enjoy the 45 seconds of your evening before you collapse!
And after you wake up from you nap-semi rested-you shower, eat your dinner and go to bed. Realizing that you’re going back to your unit in the AM with the hope that all your work for your patients somehow made a difference in their life-whether you ever know of it or not.
Monday, November 17, 2008
2-Things always take longer than you plan!
3-Things always happen in three’s!
Like this list!
It’s definitely been my experience that no matter what you do in life that your job, your relationships, your food at the local restaurant is never the way you expected it to be.
Going to school is never as much fun, nor as bad as you think it’s going to be then after you graduate and get your first job, work is not as interesting, as exciting and it doesn’t pay as much as you thought it would. You don’t have as much fun on your days off as you expected because by then it seems like college was a blast and wasn’t as hard because flunking a test wasn’t nearly as bad as the possibility of getting fired!
But then you experience your first real illness-maybe you get the flu, maybe you get hospitalized-and you realize that your health is more important than any job you could have, so getting fired doesn’t seem so bad, until you realize that you have no health insurance without your job, that you can’t afford to pay the hospital and clinic bills and can’t pay for the prescriptions to get you healthy!
So you go back to work on a Monday morning and for those of you who are RN’s like me you realize you’re going to have 4 new patients you’ve never seen before and they all have a med list longer than War and Peace, so completing the morning meds will take you to 11am and then they want to order a new lunch tray because what they brought looks like a cardboard version of a tuna sandwich and smells rather like it’s been underneath someone’s car floor mat for a month-and for those who have a cold and can’t smell-it would amount to feeling like you’ve been out in the rain with your dog at the end of October for a week and you’ve just finished running 10 miles and then had a pile of old leaves placed on top of you to keep you warm and dry-after you were already wet!
So you decide to order a new lunch for your patient and instead of getting the dietary number you end up on a voice mail queue for the low-fat recipe of the month club! By 1pm you’ve ordered the lunch for the patient but it comes up as jello and a banana and the patient’s now hungry, tired and thinks you’re a moron who can’t even get a tuna sandwich right. Mild curse words are heard coming from under your breath, and the other nurses who understand your pain and suffering would offer to help if they weren’t already in their own hell!
So by 6pm you’re ready to quit, and leave the floor but you realize that it’s only 90 minutes until the Governor will release you from jail! And you can spread out giving report for 20 minutes and take a 30 second break in between to pee, drink your juice, take your own AM meds that you never had time for and eat your lunch/dinner before all your call lights go off and each patient wants you to personally give them their pain meds before shift change because they don’t want to have to wait until the next shift comes out of report. So by 8pm your meds are passed, charting is done, report is given and your people are breathing!
It’s time to go home and enjoy the 45 seconds of your evening before you collapse!
And after you wake up from you nap-semi rested-you shower, eat your dinner and go to bed. Realizing that you’re going back to your unit in the AM with the hope that all your work for your patients somehow made a difference in their life-whether you ever know of it or not.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Lions Loose to Carolina [November 2008]
Well I didn’t see the game. I worked the night before and slept all day and right through the entire game. I don’t think I missed anything interesting. I’m at a loss for a new way to say that the Lions lost this weekend. They came, they played, they lost.
This time it was an away game, and the Carolina Panthers came in to it 7-2 and came out 8-2. The Detroit Lions may be on their way to their worst season ever as well as a possible NFL record. The season has become pathetic. Dante Culpepper isn’t the answer the Lions need and he’s not going to get people to come out and watch the game-if that we the entire reason that they gave him a contract. I’d rather have watched Dan Orlovsky play and see if he could salvage the season, but two games in to the Culpepper streak and we’re still winless.
The Lions have fans that come out each year and hope for the best, and now I’m starting to think maybe I should expect the worst-at least for the rest of this season.
Lions Loss-Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/boxscore?game_id=29674&displayPage=tab_box_score&season=2008&week=REG11
Monday, November 17, 2008
This time it was an away game, and the Carolina Panthers came in to it 7-2 and came out 8-2. The Detroit Lions may be on their way to their worst season ever as well as a possible NFL record. The season has become pathetic. Dante Culpepper isn’t the answer the Lions need and he’s not going to get people to come out and watch the game-if that we the entire reason that they gave him a contract. I’d rather have watched Dan Orlovsky play and see if he could salvage the season, but two games in to the Culpepper streak and we’re still winless.
The Lions have fans that come out each year and hope for the best, and now I’m starting to think maybe I should expect the worst-at least for the rest of this season.
Lions Loss-Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/boxscore?game_id=29674&displayPage=tab_box_score&season=2008&week=REG11
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Penn State Losses to Iowa [November 2008]
Penn State lost last weekend to Iowa by one point on a last second field goal-24 to 23. The hopes of a national title seem to have slipped through the Nittany Lions fingers with this loss, sending their season record to 9-1 and dropping them to the #8 ranking.
The loss not only breaks the hearts of Lions fans in State College, in PA and across the country, but the verbal abuse started before the game was even over. Color announcers on TV and radio were quick to say that Paterno's team was weak and had no defense. They talked highly of how the SEC was a powerful conference and deserve to have schools ranked in the top ten while Penn State in the big-ten was weak and should have lost their #3 ranking the week before. I sat and wondered how many of these announcers-both TV and radio-grew up in the mid-west or went to school here. Even more so how many had ever set foot in one of our states? They sounded like a political ad making the case for their SEC and Pac-Ten candidate. It made me sick that Penn State lost and in loosing lost their chance at a national championship, but it hurt more with the negative commentary afterward.
Penn State Loss to Iowa
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283132294
Thursday 12th November 2008
The loss not only breaks the hearts of Lions fans in State College, in PA and across the country, but the verbal abuse started before the game was even over. Color announcers on TV and radio were quick to say that Paterno's team was weak and had no defense. They talked highly of how the SEC was a powerful conference and deserve to have schools ranked in the top ten while Penn State in the big-ten was weak and should have lost their #3 ranking the week before. I sat and wondered how many of these announcers-both TV and radio-grew up in the mid-west or went to school here. Even more so how many had ever set foot in one of our states? They sounded like a political ad making the case for their SEC and Pac-Ten candidate. It made me sick that Penn State lost and in loosing lost their chance at a national championship, but it hurt more with the negative commentary afterward.
Penn State Loss to Iowa
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283132294
Thursday 12th November 2008
Michigan Beats Minnesota-Goes 3-7 for Season
More amazing than cheese-whiz was that the U of M Wolverines beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers last Saturday 29-6 improving their record to 3-6 this season and giving them hop that they could end the season with a 3 game winning streak.
I was very surprised that Michigan came prepared for this game. After losing to Utah, Toledo and Michigan State the season was essentially over, and all they had left to play for was pride. Not that a potential 5-7 record is anything to boast over, but if the Wolverines can beat Northwestern this weekend and OSU in the following weekend they will have shown the potential exists to turn around next season, and give hope to the massive following that IS Michigan football that all may not be lost forever. It's just lost for this season!
The additional benefit of Michigan’s win is that the little brown jug stays with us for at least another year. And after the terrible season this team has had they need to enjoy every victory they can!
Michigan v. Minnesota-November 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283130135
Thursday 12th November 2008
I was very surprised that Michigan came prepared for this game. After losing to Utah, Toledo and Michigan State the season was essentially over, and all they had left to play for was pride. Not that a potential 5-7 record is anything to boast over, but if the Wolverines can beat Northwestern this weekend and OSU in the following weekend they will have shown the potential exists to turn around next season, and give hope to the massive following that IS Michigan football that all may not be lost forever. It's just lost for this season!
The additional benefit of Michigan’s win is that the little brown jug stays with us for at least another year. And after the terrible season this team has had they need to enjoy every victory they can!
Michigan v. Minnesota-November 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283130135
Thursday 12th November 2008
Lions Loose to Jaguars-November 2008
The Lions played the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday and they lost yet again. I've been trying to think of a new way to spin the loss both in my mind and here in my blog. But the simple answer is that the Detroit Lions don't play well enough to win. They've played well in many of their games but not well enough throughout the entire game. Winning teams find a way to win-look at the NY Giants Super bowl win over the undefeated NE Patriots.
The Lions have done complete opposite they've found a way to consistently loose even when they have taken an early lead or come back from a deficit.This last weekend is a prime example. The end result was a loss 38 to 14 to the Jaguars at Ford Field. But looking at the details the Lions made moves so that they can lose for the rest of the season!
The Lions signed former superstar quarterback Dante Culpepper to be the new starter since Kitna has been out for the past month. In my opinion Dan Orlovsky has played well and progressed and it showed with the Lions scoring well and staying closer until the end of the game.
Culpepper started and not only didn't play well he was pulled from the game. This future hall of famer who may be wearing a Lions jersey now, but certainly won't be when he stands at the podium making his speech at Akron.
The Lions have consistently taken young, good talent at quarterback and burned them out-Rodney Peete, Charlie Batch to mention a few-but now the Lions are avoiding taking good talent and turning them bad, but are simply taking an old, over used quarterback who's already broken in and broken. I hope I'm wrong, but the Lions have proven me wrong when I've been optimistic about their chances in the past. So I'll wait to see if they prove to be the old Lions or have a new found spirit with their new found quarterback.
Lions/Jaguars Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29661&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&week=REG10
Thursday 13th November 2008
The Lions have done complete opposite they've found a way to consistently loose even when they have taken an early lead or come back from a deficit.This last weekend is a prime example. The end result was a loss 38 to 14 to the Jaguars at Ford Field. But looking at the details the Lions made moves so that they can lose for the rest of the season!
The Lions signed former superstar quarterback Dante Culpepper to be the new starter since Kitna has been out for the past month. In my opinion Dan Orlovsky has played well and progressed and it showed with the Lions scoring well and staying closer until the end of the game.
Culpepper started and not only didn't play well he was pulled from the game. This future hall of famer who may be wearing a Lions jersey now, but certainly won't be when he stands at the podium making his speech at Akron.
The Lions have consistently taken young, good talent at quarterback and burned them out-Rodney Peete, Charlie Batch to mention a few-but now the Lions are avoiding taking good talent and turning them bad, but are simply taking an old, over used quarterback who's already broken in and broken. I hope I'm wrong, but the Lions have proven me wrong when I've been optimistic about their chances in the past. So I'll wait to see if they prove to be the old Lions or have a new found spirit with their new found quarterback.
Lions/Jaguars Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29661&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&week=REG10
Thursday 13th November 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Ghost Town [2008]
This movie is quite surprising in many ways-both good as well as in between!
The star actors are not necessarily the ones that make the movie good and memorable. Greg Kinnear has top billing and while he does have quite a lot of screen time he plays what I consider to be a foil to Ricky Gervais character-Dr. Bertram Pincus who is a plain, boring dentist. He is apparently shy around people and avoids them at nearly all costs. I thought of his character as socially awkward through much of the film, until a scene near the end of the movie where he's at the office he shares with another dentist Dr. Prashar-played by Aasif Mandvi-and Pincus is telling him that he hurts emotionally because he just lost a woman that he loves. Instead of what I expected to transpire in the film Dr. Pincus doesn't open up his heart and seek help, instead he asks his colleague to write a script for him of narcotics so that he can sleep. Dr.Prashar is obviously disappointed and angry at Pincus’ request and behavior. He calls him a selfish prick. This confronting of Pincus causes him to reflect on his actions towards others and change so that he takes time to acknowledge the presence of those he's been trying to get rid of and to help them. In doing so he helps himself-of sorts-as well as gets himself plowed over by a bus!
I cannot finish without mentioning Téa Leoni's performance. I've not been a huge fan of her films but the last two movies I've seen her in-You Kill Me [2007] and now Ghost town [2008]-have shown a depth of character and feeling on her part that made me feel and care about her character. She reminded me of someone I knew in this film and perhaps that is a skill that films and actors and viewers have-to identify with the characters so that we feel like we know them. And in that way perhaps we care about them more than we should, or perhaps it allows us to express feelings we don't believe are appropriate to let out. Anyway you view it-as a person you could be, as someone you have been, or as someone you know-Tea Leoni plays a compelling and believable character who evokes emotion from herself and from the audience.
The film is definitely one worth seeing if you enjoy some dryer humor-not humor about machines that dry clothes, but humor that is more cerebral! And I found it to have an underlying theme expressing the concept that we should do more for each other and by doing so we are doing for ourselves as well!
Go see this film-rent it or go to a theater and view it!
Ghost Town on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995039/
Tea Leoni-imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000495/
You Kill Me [2007]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796375/
Tuesday 11th November 2008
The star actors are not necessarily the ones that make the movie good and memorable. Greg Kinnear has top billing and while he does have quite a lot of screen time he plays what I consider to be a foil to Ricky Gervais character-Dr. Bertram Pincus who is a plain, boring dentist. He is apparently shy around people and avoids them at nearly all costs. I thought of his character as socially awkward through much of the film, until a scene near the end of the movie where he's at the office he shares with another dentist Dr. Prashar-played by Aasif Mandvi-and Pincus is telling him that he hurts emotionally because he just lost a woman that he loves. Instead of what I expected to transpire in the film Dr. Pincus doesn't open up his heart and seek help, instead he asks his colleague to write a script for him of narcotics so that he can sleep. Dr.Prashar is obviously disappointed and angry at Pincus’ request and behavior. He calls him a selfish prick. This confronting of Pincus causes him to reflect on his actions towards others and change so that he takes time to acknowledge the presence of those he's been trying to get rid of and to help them. In doing so he helps himself-of sorts-as well as gets himself plowed over by a bus!
I cannot finish without mentioning Téa Leoni's performance. I've not been a huge fan of her films but the last two movies I've seen her in-You Kill Me [2007] and now Ghost town [2008]-have shown a depth of character and feeling on her part that made me feel and care about her character. She reminded me of someone I knew in this film and perhaps that is a skill that films and actors and viewers have-to identify with the characters so that we feel like we know them. And in that way perhaps we care about them more than we should, or perhaps it allows us to express feelings we don't believe are appropriate to let out. Anyway you view it-as a person you could be, as someone you have been, or as someone you know-Tea Leoni plays a compelling and believable character who evokes emotion from herself and from the audience.
The film is definitely one worth seeing if you enjoy some dryer humor-not humor about machines that dry clothes, but humor that is more cerebral! And I found it to have an underlying theme expressing the concept that we should do more for each other and by doing so we are doing for ourselves as well!
Go see this film-rent it or go to a theater and view it!
Ghost Town on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995039/
Tea Leoni-imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000495/
You Kill Me [2007]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796375/
Tuesday 11th November 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Penn State Gets Dis'd by BCS Standings!
OK so prob next to no one besides myself in the wolverine state here cares that Penn State had a bye week and got completely dissed by AP/UPI in ref to the top ten standings. Penn State remains one of the few unbeaten teams in the nation and were #3 the past two weeks. With the loss to UT by Texas Tech I imagined Penn State would move up to #2 at the very minimum. Alabama was #2 so I thought it would be a no-brainer- Alabama to#1 and Penn State to #2. As it turned out the no-brainer part was in reference to the people who put Texas Tech from #7 to #2 and left Penn State alone.
Texas tech doesn't deserve to jump from #7 to #2-in my opinion. Penn state should have been moved up to #2 and then Texas Tech could have moved up to #3 as UT was moved down.
All I can do is wait and see how well Penn State plays this upcoming weekend against Iowa, and hope that the scorers and press see that Paterno's offense is strong, his defense is stronger and Penn State deserve to be #1 very soon indeed!
Penn State-site on espn
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/clubhouse?teamId=213
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Texas tech doesn't deserve to jump from #7 to #2-in my opinion. Penn state should have been moved up to #2 and then Texas Tech could have moved up to #3 as UT was moved down.
All I can do is wait and see how well Penn State plays this upcoming weekend against Iowa, and hope that the scorers and press see that Paterno's offense is strong, his defense is stronger and Penn State deserve to be #1 very soon indeed!
Penn State-site on espn
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/clubhouse?teamId=213
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Michigan Losses to Purdue
Michigan has become the team I never thought they would become. When I was young and would watch the Michigan v. OSU game it seemed like it was always the game that decided who would be big ten champions, who would go to the rose bowl. Bo Schembechler ALWAYS told us the we were playing for the big ten championship. When I was younger-before entering college-I hoped we'd go for the national title someday, and in 1998 I saw my dreams cone true on a late January evening in Chicago. I watched alone from my dorm room in grad school as Michigan beat Washington State and took the national championship.
Since that day it feels like Michigan has died a little bit more with each game they've played and this season has been the final chapter to the long slow death we've been experiencing!
So many of us did complain the last couple of seasons with the outcomes of the games and the losses and how coach Carr seemed to have lost the fire that he had when he first took over as head coach so many years ago. But with coach Carr we had a link to the past-a tie to coach Schembechler-and with that tie we had a reminder of the past and we were stronger for it, because we could run the ball, we could pass the ball and we won the games by playing hard and remembering we were playing to win-to win for Michigan.
With coach Carr gone we've lost that tie to the past. We've forgotten how to play football and lost the Michigan way. We've forgotten why were out there-not simply to win, but to win for Michigan, to play for Michigan and to represent Michigan!
With those thoughts going through my mind Michigan found a way to loose to Purdue last Saturday-42 to 48.
Michigan 42 Purdue 48 November 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283062509
Wednesday November 5th, 2008
Since that day it feels like Michigan has died a little bit more with each game they've played and this season has been the final chapter to the long slow death we've been experiencing!
So many of us did complain the last couple of seasons with the outcomes of the games and the losses and how coach Carr seemed to have lost the fire that he had when he first took over as head coach so many years ago. But with coach Carr we had a link to the past-a tie to coach Schembechler-and with that tie we had a reminder of the past and we were stronger for it, because we could run the ball, we could pass the ball and we won the games by playing hard and remembering we were playing to win-to win for Michigan.
With coach Carr gone we've lost that tie to the past. We've forgotten how to play football and lost the Michigan way. We've forgotten why were out there-not simply to win, but to win for Michigan, to play for Michigan and to represent Michigan!
With those thoughts going through my mind Michigan found a way to loose to Purdue last Saturday-42 to 48.
Michigan 42 Purdue 48 November 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283062509
Wednesday November 5th, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Choke [2008]
This movie was a bit odd in my opinion-which would lead you to believe that Id enjoy it immensely as I tend to prefer movies with odd endings and twists. But I think it was more my feeling uncertain as to how the movie actually ended as opposed to all the simulated sex that was portrayed in it that left me feeling uneasy at the ending of the movie.
The main characters are Victor [played by Sam Rockwell] Ida-Victor's mom played by Anjelica Huston. Dr.Paige Marshall-played by Kelly McDonald.
The flashes to the sex scenes are confusing to me as I wasn't 100% sure if it was Victor remembering his previous experiences or that he was dreaming and desiring these people. I'd like to think it was the former as then the ending has a much nicer and more romantic ending in my opinion.
But the movie also had such a devastating way of dealing with the mother/son relationship/question. Through the movie we see flash backs of Victor remembering his youth and time spent with his mother, Near the end of the movie we learn that Victor is actually not her real son. That he was stolen from a mall. Angelica Huston kidnapped him when he was little and he never knew it until the very end of her life. She tells him on her deathbed. He appears devastated. He lost his mother that he knew growing up, both in an emotional and physical sense. And he looses the woman he's fallen in love with as she runs away.
The film seems depressing and makes me think about how so many of us are looking for that parental relationship that makes us feel loved, or that special other person who will love and accept us.
Overall this is a good movie with plenty to laugh at and be amused by and to think about, but it's very explicit-both verbally and visually-so don't view it if you're faint of heart. It has an R rating for a reason!
Choke [2008]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024715/
Tuesday 28 October 2008
The main characters are Victor [played by Sam Rockwell] Ida-Victor's mom played by Anjelica Huston. Dr.Paige Marshall-played by Kelly McDonald.
The flashes to the sex scenes are confusing to me as I wasn't 100% sure if it was Victor remembering his previous experiences or that he was dreaming and desiring these people. I'd like to think it was the former as then the ending has a much nicer and more romantic ending in my opinion.
But the movie also had such a devastating way of dealing with the mother/son relationship/question. Through the movie we see flash backs of Victor remembering his youth and time spent with his mother, Near the end of the movie we learn that Victor is actually not her real son. That he was stolen from a mall. Angelica Huston kidnapped him when he was little and he never knew it until the very end of her life. She tells him on her deathbed. He appears devastated. He lost his mother that he knew growing up, both in an emotional and physical sense. And he looses the woman he's fallen in love with as she runs away.
The film seems depressing and makes me think about how so many of us are looking for that parental relationship that makes us feel loved, or that special other person who will love and accept us.
Overall this is a good movie with plenty to laugh at and be amused by and to think about, but it's very explicit-both verbally and visually-so don't view it if you're faint of heart. It has an R rating for a reason!
Choke [2008]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024715/
Tuesday 28 October 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Lions Lost to the Bears in Chicago
Well for all of us who saw any or part of the game, or for those who just saw the highlights, or maybe even for those who didn’t see any of the game, missed the highlights and just saw the box score online…..
It’s probably not a huge surprise that the Lions lost. They went into Chicago, without much hope emanating from their fans and played a very good 2nd quarter. They even played a decent first half over-all. But the fact that the bears defense shut the Lions out in the 2nd half and allowed the Bears to come back to win the game made the Lions look bad on tv, on the sports shows, to football fans everywhere and to Lions fans-where ever we might choose to hide at this point.
We play the Jacksonville Jaguars next week at home at Ford field. I’ve been considering going to the game-yes you didn’t read it incorrectly and it’s not a typo! I’ve been thinking of going to one of the home games this year as I think that my lack of being there doesn’t’ make them play any better, so by being there they can’t play any worse!
Week#9 Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29645&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&week=REG9
NFL.com-Lions home site
http://www.nfl.com/teams/detroitlions/profile?team=DET
Monday, November 03, 2008
It’s probably not a huge surprise that the Lions lost. They went into Chicago, without much hope emanating from their fans and played a very good 2nd quarter. They even played a decent first half over-all. But the fact that the bears defense shut the Lions out in the 2nd half and allowed the Bears to come back to win the game made the Lions look bad on tv, on the sports shows, to football fans everywhere and to Lions fans-where ever we might choose to hide at this point.
We play the Jacksonville Jaguars next week at home at Ford field. I’ve been considering going to the game-yes you didn’t read it incorrectly and it’s not a typo! I’ve been thinking of going to one of the home games this year as I think that my lack of being there doesn’t’ make them play any better, so by being there they can’t play any worse!
Week#9 Box Score
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29645&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&week=REG9
NFL.com-Lions home site
http://www.nfl.com/teams/detroitlions/profile?team=DET
Monday, November 03, 2008
Simpson THOH-Halloween Special-2008
For those of you who missed last night’s Halloween episode of the Simpsons on Fox I’m sure that you’ll have the chance to view it in the future on a rerun! Of course you may need to wait until next year when they do the previous years Halloween specials. You can also go to the web site and watch at least part of the Halloween special there. They have an interesting retrospective you can view online that refers to Halloween specials from the past and you can see your favorite Ned-O-Reno playing Satan, or a where-wolf or just have fun watching the cartoon!
Last night’s special had a parody of three different movie or TV episodes-Transformers, How to get Ahead in Advertising, and the Charlie Brown Halloween Special. I of course enjoy Charlie Brown so it was fun to watch the Great-Pumpkin come to life, and then become incensed and horrified to learn from Millhouse-playing the character of Linus-that we humans EAT pumpkins! Needless to say that when Millhouse prayed for Tom the Turkey to help him eliminate the Great-Pumpkin Tom wasn’t too thrilled over the thought of having thanksgiving dinner with everyone-knowing that his relatives were the center of attention!
Over all it was a good show-and if you kept your eyes open you could pick up the small parodies and humor. I’ve enjoyed other Halloween specials more, but this did make me laugh, and I always appreciate that!
Simpsons official web site
http://www.thesimpsons.com/index.html
The Simpsons on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/
Monday, November 03, 2008
Last night’s special had a parody of three different movie or TV episodes-Transformers, How to get Ahead in Advertising, and the Charlie Brown Halloween Special. I of course enjoy Charlie Brown so it was fun to watch the Great-Pumpkin come to life, and then become incensed and horrified to learn from Millhouse-playing the character of Linus-that we humans EAT pumpkins! Needless to say that when Millhouse prayed for Tom the Turkey to help him eliminate the Great-Pumpkin Tom wasn’t too thrilled over the thought of having thanksgiving dinner with everyone-knowing that his relatives were the center of attention!
Over all it was a good show-and if you kept your eyes open you could pick up the small parodies and humor. I’ve enjoyed other Halloween specials more, but this did make me laugh, and I always appreciate that!
Simpsons official web site
http://www.thesimpsons.com/index.html
The Simpsons on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/
Monday, November 03, 2008
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