Sunday Ramble: General Interests

 

I’m thinking about having general interests in topics and how those interests sculpt who we are. I’m kind of envisioning a person that is completely put together like a puzzle, and each puzzle piece is a hobby, idea, feeling, or another sub interest. Does that make sense? I wish I had the capability to draw out a diagram but I don’t have it right now. I’m essentially wondering if there are two people out there who have the same exact interests.

Is it possible? I’m not talking about having 9 out of 10 of the same interests; I’m talking a solid 10 out of 10. For that to happen someone would have to have a similar upbringing, similar parents, similar everything really.

—2 minutes of critical thinking later—

As much as I want this to be a reality I just don’t think it’s possible, not now at least. We’re just a little too unique with too many options. Dammit, I started to write this in hope of talking myself into the belief of two of the same people. I was also going write a little bit on how we’re all unique in our own way and blah blah, but I have a feeling we already know that already.

I was about 30 seconds away from deleting this post and making sure it would not see the light of day, but fuck it, it’s Sunday and I’m rambling.

Here’s to one day finding two people cut from the same cloth…

LA Lakers: Observations & Predictions

- The Lakers seem like they’re a team that needs a moment where they all are going to have to play scrubs on Venice beach and have an 80’s bonding montage some time during the mid season just to give themselves confidence.

- This is the first time in the history of life that fans know more than the coaches. We all see the inevitable fall of Mike Brown’s questionable offense. He’s somehow made one of the greatest point guards of all time a non-factor.

- This year could be a year that blows up the franchise. Mike Brown will kill Dwight Howard’s thoughts of signing an extension, which will result in him leaving. Brown will get fired. Nash will retire early.

- The Lakers are going to have a players only meeting after their Venice beach fun and say, “fuck it, lets do what we want.”

- Princeton offense is gone.

- Derrick Fisher signs with the Lakers. Where is D. Fish?

- Lakers somehow make it to the NBA finals.

Why does this make sense?

http://youtu.be/HI-vja-tcc0 Before we all watch the Lakers and their suddenly horrible offense with amazing players we should all watch this and be happy it exists.

I present: Metta World Peace in a Lifetime movie called “The Eleventh Hour”

…And yes, that is Jenny Garth.

…And yes, I may have to break this video down at some point in the near future.

A New Hope (part 2)

Disney + Star Wars = Episode VII. Yesterday I had a knee jerk reaction that could only be described as … ah… not a good knee jerk. I couldn’t really imagine a world with another Jar Jar Binks. Nor could I imagine the Disney touch in a Star Wars film, but then I got to thinking. Worst-case scenario is easy to see, there are 743 different options, but after a night of sleep sans any alcohol I think I came to some best-case scenarios with this whole thing. Maybe not best case scenario but definitely more of an optimistic approach…

Why has Star Wars become tainted?

Lucas kept adding new shit to the originals - Hayden Christensen as a ghost in Jedi, new effects, Han actually shooting first, new characters, etc. But the main reason is because of the prequels that I stood in line for. The series really took the plunge when Jar Jar hit the screen. I should probably note at this point that I like Revenge of the Sith.

Point is, it’s already been tainted! We can only go up from here, right? If the prequels weren’t released wouldn’t this be a really fucking great moment? Is it possible that Disney would repeat the same mistakes?

Disney is about longevity.

It’s a business, and Disney is a machine. It’s in Disney’s best interest to preserve what they currently have. No way would they break format, they’re gonna ride this universe out far longer than any of us can comprehend. They’re going to recognize what worked, right?

Directors and writers.

There are a lot of good ones. Anyone who takes on the Star Wars universe is going to be shitting because odds are they’re working on the exact thing that got them excited for movies. This is the Holy Grail … wait … speaking of Holy Grail, are we going to see a new Indiana Jones franchise too!?

Kids will like it.

Don’t have kids, not really worried about them, but I am happy knowing that my 1-year-old nephew will one day live in a Star Wars world. Am I seriously writing about Star Wars VII right now? Can I figure out any other reasons to be optimistic about things, maybe. But this will have to do.

There’s no reason to run from the inevitable. The original movies will live on, nobody is holding a light saber to your head and making you see the future of Star Wars. Nobody bitches about the books that have been released exploring the Star Wars universe. We’re just as selfish as the Disney execs wanting to bring back the franchise… it’s just that we want it to stay sleeping so all we have is a lasting memory.

I have been brain washed by the machine. Bring on the movies!

Dear 49ers Fans --

Lets just excuse the bitter aspect of everything for a second because I am a Green Bay Packers fan.

I hopped on Facebook today and noticed my friend just posted a picture of Alex Smith with the tag “Who’s got it better than us?” I stared at it for a long time trying not to think what I was about to think but I thought it anyway —

You can’t use the phrase “who’s got it better than us” only when the 49ers win. That’s just not right. You either commit or you don’t commit. That phrase is the most ridiculous phrase ever uttered from any fan base that has actually lost games. You either gotta double down on the stupidity or abandoned it completely… just like Aaron Rodgers and his title belt move… um… I mean discount double check.

Are we all clear about this? Does this make sense? Any time I talk to San Francisco fans about this I never get an explanation as to how people can act like this phrase doesn’t exist. Where was this just the other week when you lost? I’m confused.

Now back to bitter Packers fan mode. Go Packers.

10 minutes later: I just read the origins of this saying and I can kind of appreciate it from a family point of view, but still… You can’t just sometimes use it.

The Weekend When a World Series Apparently Happened.

I’ll just be honest – I think I’ve given up on wanting to like baseball. It’s almost shocking for me to even say this because growing up in Wisconsin produced sports culture 101 and going to Brewers games was a normal occurrence when I was a kid. I think the times have caught up to me and I find the sport to be boring. The true test is if “my team” was in the World Series, problem is, is that I don’t really have a team anymore. I root for the Brewers due to hometown pride, the Cubs due to parental nostalgic pride, and now the Dodgers due to… shit… close proximity?

Whichever team I end up rooting for, or not rooting for, the bottom line is that baseball needs to inject itself with steroids again. I tried to watch a bit of game 4 last night and nearly fell asleep. Also, I’ve never really noticed until recently but it’s fucking annoying with all the chewing and spitting that’s happening with 90% of the players. I feel like an old man (or woman) saying that but it’s true.

Baseball needs to speed things up otherwise they’re going to fade away into the world of irrelevance.

Prediction: In lieu of NBC recently winning the rights to the Premiere League, I think soccer… ahem… futbol… will take over the ratings from baseball in the future. This is going to piss a lot of people off.

By the way, casual Sunday night NFL beat the World Series in ratings last night.

Topic transition!!!

Speaking of NFL…

My Green Bay Packers. This season has been killing me. Almost watching them lose to Blaine Gabbert yesterday only helped the production of grey hairs on my head.

I had a conversation via text with my friend who said he thinks the coaching staff needs to be realigned and Mike McCarthy needs to get the boot. I think I may agree to a certain extent. Watching the Packers week in and week out just tells me that Aaron Rodgers is amazing and he bails out the poor coaching and lack of discipline from the team.

Topic transition!!!

Speaking of movies…

Okay not speaking of movies, but I think I should note that I saw Taken 2 and Paranormal Activity 4 this weekend. I’m not exactly sure how another sequel can be produced for either franchise from here on out but my god I’m curious. I’m absolutely aware that these films may not be as great as the original but I love when sequels come out and they do well. My thought is… If people are going to see it… do it. That may not be the popular opinion but it only makes sense and dives deeper into the human psychology for specific entertainment and comfort in what we know.

Topic transition!!!

One more thing about the Packers – They’re taking form of the 2010 Packers when they played pissed off come from behind football and won the Superbowl. The only things that scare me are injuries and Eli Manning.

Onward.

What Happened To Ninjas?

Back in my glory days (aka the 90’s) the simple idea of ninjas were pumped into children maybe 75 to 80 times a day, whether it be cartoon or live action. Yesterday I had a moment to think about the times and I came to a realization that the idea of wanting to be a ninja may have died. What happened to ninjas?

In my book there is no question that we’ve gone soft as a society and part of me wonders if ninjas had to be faded out due to people thinking it was too violent. Just for clarity purposes, when I say ninjas what I mean is kids who pretend to know karate and think they can kick the shit out of anything, to a certain extent that kind of bleeds into being a silent assassin… which may or may not be some kind of ninja credo.

Do kids not think ninjas are cool anymore? If not, I blame the parents. The ironic part is that the parents are basically my age or just slightly older. Does this mean there could be a ninja reboot coming in the next 5 years when people my age start pumping out more kids and realize that they were fed ninja material for almost a decade?

Lets just rehash what the 90’s really brought us:

Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtle: The TV show and the awesome movie and semi awesome second movie. Third movie is a piece of time travel junk and I’m not going to get into the latest TMNT reboot a few years ago nor am I going to get into the Michael Bay thing. I just realized the fate of the ninja turtles sits in Michael Bay’s hands… This may not be a bad thing.

Street Fighter: Amazing video game, questionable movie. Who cares though, they were mostly fighting with karate.

Speaking of Street Fighter... Anything with Jean Claude Van Damme: The Belgian sensation basically ruled the 90’s: Kickboxer, Double Impact, Double Team, and Sudden Death. Is Van Damme underrated?

Steven Seagal! Before Segal was on a reality show he was saving the world with karate.

3 Ninjas: Anyone remember Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum? This was probably pitched as Home Alone meets Ninjas Turtles – seriously. This also had 3 movies following, one with Hulk Hogan.

Aren’t these examples enough? They should be. Are ninjas still around like they once were? Am I missing something? Are they still marketed towards children? Will Seagal be in the next Expendables? These are the questions that keep me up at night…

Ashton Kutcher!

 

So, Forbes named Ashton Kutcher TV’s highest paid actor by bringing in 24 million between May 2011 and May 2012. I almost can’t believe I’m going to say this but is this guy a genius? I’d be lying if I didn’t say I appreciate (maybe admire) what he’s doing and basically what he has been doing for the last 10 years or so.

Aside from being the dumb guy on That 70’s Show his biggest contributions have been in the tech world and investing in start up companies. He seems to have some foresight and takes chances with new technology. I remember reading an article about 6 years ago that I was positive was in Time (I just searched the web and can’t find it) that was written by Kutcher discussing the benefits of twitter. In the last few years he’s seemingly invested in 20+ start ups and is on advisory boards of a handful of companies.

Whatever it may be worth you have to at least appreciate what he’s doing. When I first moved to LA he had a restaurant located about 10 minutes away from me on Sweetzer and Melrose called Dolce and now, many years later, that restaurant is closed down and looks as though Ratatouille may be cooking for all of his rat friends because the place is run down and taken over. He went through the “I’m a celebrity I need a restaurant phase.” Now, it seems as though tech investment is the smart thing for him.

I get the sense that he’s on TV to pay for his tech investments, and if that’s the case, then this guy is even smarter than I thought… and I can definitely appreciate that.

It’s early, I need coffee, and this has just filled my Ashton Kutcher quota for the next year or so.

*Side note: The Butterfly Effect is slightly underrated.

The Craziest Thing All Week...

 

A lot of things happened this weekend that could possibly rank in the “wow that was some crazy shit” pile.

To list off a few things in no particular order - Felix Baumgarten jumped from space and proceeded to break the sound barrier THEN proceeded to land and stay alive for it. The space shuttle Endeavor rolled through LA to its new resting place at the California Science center. The Yankees lost Derek Jeter and Aaron Rodgers almost brought back his title belt move while beating up the Texans.

However, there’s something bigger here. Something so confusing that it trumps everything that happened this weekend: Alfonso Ribeiro aka Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince got married this weekend. Congrats dude! But the marriage part isn’t what makes this crazy. I read in an article that Will Smith, Joey Fatone, and David Justice were groomsmen.

Ribeiro. Smith. Fatone. Justice.

If there was ever a moment in history that would confuse me it would be the combo of The Fresh Prince, Fatone, and Justice all doing something together. But I get it; these are Ribeiro’s friends, and this shouldn’t weird me out as much as it does, however I just can’t shake it.

I want to see a picture of all these guys together. It seems like the most random pairing of all time. If anyone has this picture or tracks one down please send it to me asap.

Sorry Felix “first man ever to break the sound barrier” Baumgarten, Carlton Banks and his amazing friendship tree one upped you.

Seriously, someone send me a picture…

Affleck = Badass

I like irrational bragging rights. Not the bragging rights where you win a legit game and you’re champion for a season, but rather the bragging rights where you make a prediction or statement and it turns out to be true, and the only people who know it’s true are you and whomever else you said it too. I feel that I’m the champion of a lot of irrational bragging rights. At this current moment in time I’m cashing in on a statement I made years ago in a possible intoxicated moment, a statement that I doubled down on.

I was in a deep movie conversation with my buddy and the topic was Ben Affleck. I told him that Affleck was a badass to which he disagreed with the fury of a man who may have just been told Brett Favre was traded to the Vikings. The badass comment then started an ongoing thread that resulted in many conversations and even this blog post.

The truth is, even as of a few years ago I couldn’t have seen where Affleck was going with his career. Who could? At this moment in time thousands of people are writing about Argo and wondering how this guy went from low in the Hollywood rankings, to one of the most bankable individuals around. But I don’t want to get into that, because there is no reason to drift into wonderland to think about how a talented individual did something.

Buuuut….

For the sake of irrational bragging rights I’m going to stretch this out and be a little smugger and say these final things about Affleck:

Extract is underrated and he had a great performance.

Hollywoodland was the turning point for him.

He should direct the next Jack Ryan film and have a cameo in it to be the first actor director to ever be in a film of the character he once played, then he’d be more of a badass than Jack Ryan… did that make sense.

I’m looking forward to Argo, and if I didn’t mention it above – I called it. I knew Affleck was a badass*. F you Ottford. *Irrationally bragging.

Dustin Diamond and the Greatest Party Ever?

I jumped on facebook this morning and my buddy Marko had mentioned this party. I almost can’t believe it’s real. I kind of love that Dustin Diamond lives in Wisconsin and I kind of love he’s driving this Screech thing into the ground. I wish he’d embrace it a bit more.

I did a little more digging then found this YouTube video that he released to promote his party a little more (below). If anyone goes to this party you need to let me know. I cannot stress this enough… You need to tell me everything!

Thanks again Marko.

ps: DJ James Freshluggage - Greatest name ever?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZe5_VSq00w&w=420&h=315]

Videos for Writers.

I write screenplays or at least try to write screenplays. On a good day I’d like to consider myself a writer. In my times of procrastination I tend to hop on youtube and look at various writers giving thoughts on their process and even their history. I think people have a tendency to compare themselves to people, especially in the entertainment industry, and when you listen to other people pursuing what you’re pursuing it’s cool to relate with someone if you’re doing the same thing.

Along with writing I make videos – the two are meant to go hand in hand. I realized that I think it would be very helpful to have some short form videos of writers talking about… writing. But not the boring shit, which is what I think the main issue, is with videos about writers – they’re not exciting. But how exciting can they really be I guess?

Point is, I don’t think there are enough resources and entertainment from writers. So, I’m going to make some videos talking to writers, specifically, talking to screenwriters. But I wanted to send out this blog to the millions of eyes that see it (divide that million by a million then add 4 or 6 for actual number).

But I have some questions, mainly geared towards screenwriters:

Would this be something that is interesting to you, if you’re a writer… or if you aren’t a writer?

Are there specific sites that you go to, to listen to writers talk?

What are some questions you would ask a screenwriter?

Do you even fucking care!? Do you relate to people who are in the same field as you?

I’m obviously aware that these videos have to be entertaining and not boring like many would associate it with. I’d basically trying to create a series of videos geared towards writers that aren’t boring.

 

Interconnectivity

From time to time I wake up with a very specific thought or idea that tends to keep me up for hours. It’s strange because this occurrence typically happens around 4:14am and it’s happening more frequently. Maybe it’s an age thing, I don’t know. This morning I woke up thinking about connection and why things happen the way they do. Specifically, I was thinking about people and why we’re connected to the people we’re connected too.

I think about people we meet in our lives that become great friends or people who change our typical day - a lot of times these people are met based off of random decisions. You meet your significant other because you took a random trip to Ikea, or you meet your new boss because you decide to have a beer at lunch. Are these events random? Are they supposed to be?

I was thinking about how I met two of my best friends. My one buddy I met when I was 9 years old. I stole his girlfriend (aka I took her out for ice cream) and he confronted me in what might be the greatest playground confrontation ever. But we didn’t become great friends until high school when we both happen to be in summer school together. Since summer school algebra, we’ve been like brothers.

This is where I note that I’m from a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin called Greendale where the population was roughly 150% white families. This guy I’m talking about is a black guy from Milwaukee. Fortunately for me he took the bus into Greendale. The point that I’m getting at is the odds weren’t in our favor but through random life happenings we were connected, not once, but twice. I should also note the other friend I mentioned is also a black dude. His girlfriend’s locker happened to be next to mine in high school.

The question is, were my friends and I connected and supposed to end up best friends? At this moment I don’t want to open up the can of worms of “is life pre determined” but I think when talking about connectivity you kind of have to walk that line. Do we have a connection to everyone around us? I think we do.

I like to think of moments of connection as explosions. When you interact with someone you’re either going to create a small explosion where your impact doesn’t affect those around you or a large explosion where your impact is so large that the radius starts to hit other people and change them.

So is it up to you to make the connection? Is the connection going to happen no matter what? I haven’t quite made up my mind on that part. But what I have made up my mind about is that connections and life moments go hand in hand. Whomever you connect with will set you in a path to change how your life is led, and on the flip side you have the power to change the life of another just by a moment.

There is a beauty in connection. It’s a bitch to wrap your head around once you start peeling the multiple layers, but those multiple layers are the best part about it.

Ultimately I think that you/me/we should never stop connecting or embracing the moments that connections create … I think it’s the best part about life. Whether it’s supposed to happen or not.

Well... That Was Fun

 

I guess the NFL has reached an agreement with the refs, eliminating the replacement refs. Just to be clear I’m a Packers fan and after last Monday’s debacle I wrote this and told myself I was done with football until they came back because I felt like I deserved better.

So… they’re back. I had a good run of resting my mind from football. For a few hours I was actually excited to detach and not watch football on Sunday. I thought of the end of The Cable Guy when everyone starts to read when the cable goes out – that was going to be me.

This Sunday I planned on reading books and saving the world, maybe knitting a blanket, feeding homeless animals, and feeling as though I really earned the day. I suppose I can still do that, but will I? Realistically I will be watching football and yelling at my TV like I know more than everyone.

I had a good two-day run of day dreaming what my life would be like without football during football season – it looked good. Instead of relating to the final scene in The Cable Guy I’m relating to this…

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU&w=560&h=315]

 

I'll detach someday...

 

 

The NFL: I'm Done.

 

For the sake of attempting to keep this clean I am replacing the F bomb with the word “flipper.” Not only is he a friendly mammal but also, well… it’s Flipper.

Monday Night Football. Green Bay Packers VS Seattle Seahawks 9-24-12. The replacements refs just blew a call, and a game.

I’m flippering done with the NFL. I just wasted the last 3.5 hours of my life watching a game that ended in a blown flippering call that was clearly the wrong call. Let’s be clear about something, the Green Bay Packers won that game, but there is a bigger issue here. That issue being the idea of the NFL and what it is.

Multiple sports players have made it clear that the NFL is a business. When us fans get upset when their favorite player jumps ship to another team or an organization cuts a great player it’s chalked up to being a “business” see Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for this. But they’re right, it is a business, but flipper this business.

This business strives on its fans and its loyal following. It strives on its superstar players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers. It strives on excitement and the idea of a national pastime. But you know what, it’s a flippering business, and the reality is, is that they don’t care about us as much as we care about them… which is fine… sort of.

I think the NFL has reached its tipping point tonight. An obvious blown call that cost a team (Packers) a game in a 16 game season is hard to swallow. From a fans point of view I want better. I put too much time and effort to watch a football game to watch what I just watched.

As a collective group of fans we should stop watching the garbage that’s being spewed every week, it’s unfair. I cannot even imagine from the players point of view or the coach’s point of view where each game could be the difference between a bonus and an extension – it’s their livelihood, as it should be… it’s there passion.

Coming full circle, I’m done. I’m done watching my favorite team. I’m done supporting a business that won’t put its best in a position to allow others to succeed. I’m not going to waste my time anymore to watch this flippering garbage. Something that can be determined by fluke or questionable calls is not what I want. I want better, we all should expect better. I will not exert any more energy to spend money or time to watch this, I can’t.

I don’t support businesses that suck. I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve been the fool too many times when dealing with the NFL. If the NFL wants to tout this business thing whenever something major happens as though us fans are so stupid to think otherwise then we should treat them the same way, fans deserve better, not what is happening right now.

Today I mark it. The day after the Packers and Seattle debacle on Monday Night Football I mark the day that I stop going out of my way to support the NFL. Truthfully, I wish I wasn’t fully committed (and kicking ass I might add) to my fantasy football team otherwise I could fully detach. But I will still be somewhat into football simply because I have to be.

Until the NFL starts giving me it’s best I’m not willingly giving it any more of me.

I hope that players have some kind of mutiny and decide not to play, I hope the NFL figures out how to get the normal officials back on the field, I hope that this travesty of blown football games doesn’t happen anymore. These replacement refs are total flippering shit and they represent the NFL. Until the NFL changes the replacement refs then the NFL should be considered flippering shit.

Flipper you NFL for being who you are. You suck. You should be ashamed of your product.

Flipper!

(The Packers won that game in my book)

Seattle 14 – Packers 12 ********** (Asterisk Game)