Home Field Advantage....

13 wins... 0 losses... The Colts of 2005-2006 are mighty impressive. They will now have no excuse for not winning the Super Bowl... cause in the past it has always been blamed on game location. I however tend to believe that Home Field Advantage will only take you so far. I also believe that letting people not play to avoid injury for 3 weeks is a sure way to lose in the playoffs.

Note to Dungy: Let THEM PLAY. They are undefeated, and if they finish the season that way.. it will serve as a confidence builder. That plus taking a full month off can change the dynamic of how you will play... Manning is on fire right now, so is Edgerrin and Harrison has never looked better.... Let them play.

Note to Rest of NFL: Good luck beating these guys. Even IF they sit the big 3. The defense is just excellent.

Fulminations for the Day... with your good friend Delusional

Today is a strange day for me... don't know why but strange thoughts have been popping my head. For example... Chicken Cheddar Wrap? Is that a sandwich or a garment with a stain on it? and Chicken Velvet Soup... Is that Chicken soup with a garment mixed in? Microsoft... is a cold heartless very large corporation...hmm.. Pocket PC? Well... that moniker is very interesting, right up there with.. Pocket Pool.

Maybe I am feeling this oddness due to the fact that Mr. Miagi Waxed Off for the last time... or that Martha Stewart's Apprentice has been cancelled for next season and the shock is finally hitting me.....?

Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think... Hmm There I am. That is me. I Don't Like that person much. ?????? Well neither do I...

Why do they call it Diet Pepsi? Why not something creative like... Pepsi One? I find it odd that Pepsi would come out with a drink called Pepsi One and then Coke would come out with Coke Zero... Don't they know anything about competition? I mean the Pepsi product must be better.... Just look at the score...

Pepsi 1
Coke 0

COLTS WIN!

Last night's 26-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers moved the Colts to 11-0 and 8 wins from being the undefeated Super Bowl Champions. That is all... 8 wins! I am totally jacked up to watch next Sunday's contest against the Tennessee Titans. I love beating them. They were the first hurdle Manning and the boys had to overcome... then it became New England and then they were saying it could be Pittsburgh.... well..... ummmmm.... NOPE!

The first play of that game last night was a message being sent...... We are the team to beat now. The Indianapolis Colts of 2005.

Thanksgiving Ends... and Christmas Season Begins..

Well... it was an eventful weekend. I didn't actually end up travelling..... the nieces decided to stay home...

But.. it just leads to more interesting life pursuits. The littles and I braved the viciousness of shopping the day after Thanksgiving... it was really kinda fun. Didn't buy much.... But encountered lots of interesting people.

Take for example.... Fred... Fred works in the video game department at Target on the East side of Indianapolis. Freddie(as I called him) was hilariously unknowledgable about the product he was selling. For one thing.. I can't figure out why Target locks up the Playstation Games like they are Gold Bars.... and yet leave DVD box sets out on the shelves. Secondly, Freddie should have at least looked the Ad before coming to his department on The Day after Thanksgiving. Freddie instead ended up SHOUTING at a teenager to "Back OFF MAN." Did I mention that Freddie was about a 50 year old gentleman with a serious chip on his shoulder...?

More exciting than that was the 4 year old I saw who had no parental supervision in the Christmas Decor Aisle... He was to the that aisle like Hurricane Katrina was to New Orleans... Destructive with no rhyme or reason.

So after waiting through the checkout lane... and the endlessly long lines... I departed with less money and great experiences.

YEA! Christmas!! It is coming!

Damn... I am a lazy tick-turd.......Oh Well... Thanksgiving is upon us!

I can't believe I haven't posted to my blog since June 10th..... Damn... that is just plain laziness. Although, a few things may have occurred in my life since then. Let's see..... I am no longer married, I live in a new house, and I have an expanded new role in my job. I guess those things can serve as an excuse.

However, I will make it up to you... my constant readers, who have been stuck here re-reading my previous posts for months....(as if)

Another Thanksgiving is upon us... I love Holidays. I have decided life is about getting from one holiday to the next. Enjoying and savoring each holiday moment is what I now see as my mission for the rest of my life. I never want a repeat of last year's holidays, during which I was so depressed I took no photos on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Heck... it is like 2004 doesn't exist in the late year Holidays department. Weird eh? So this year, I am gonna enjoy myself... come hell, high water, little green men, or even GW Bush.

I thought I would blog for a moment about Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season. Thanksgiving is a time of year when we should reflect on what we are thankful for. I am thankful for many things, and in my family we always tell something we are thankful for the morning of Thanksgiving. I am not sure what that one big thing I am gonna say I am thankful for this year is... It will probably hit me at the last second.

Everyone seems to be travelling this year. Travelling here, there and everywhere. It is incredible. My ex is travelling to New York with her mother... Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade... Shopping in the big apple.... sight seeing... sounds fun. But I am thankful I am not travelling with my ex-mother-in-law. See... there another thing to be thankful for....

Another friend of mine is travelling to West Virginia by car, another person I know is going to Memphis to visit family... and I am travelling 3 hours and back to pick up my nieces on the day before. I am just happy they wanna be with us... even if my brother is too wrapped up to come visit us.... at least his daughters want to. Another thing to be thankful for.....

The Colts beat the Bengals last Sunday after Travelling to Cincinnati.... making them 10 - 0 going into Thanksgiving..... This is definitely something to be thankful for.....

I have a lot to be thankful for... so it is gonna be tough to zero in on just one.

Christmas Season Starts officially on Friday.... This year I wanna decorate old school cheesy. I want the big giant bulbs, in all different colors, complete with blinking. Blinking lights are a necessity.

A couple reviews...

We'll start with TV and then on to the movies.....

Six Feet Under season 5 premiered on HBO this week. The opener was very good with Brenda and Nate finally tying the twisted knot that I am sure will make up their marriage. This series just keeps getting better and better. James Cromwell is SO great in the opener, I was just in awe of his incredible acting skills. This just solidifies the position of Six Feet Under as the best program on television.

HBO also brought back Entourage this week for a 2nd season. This show was great last year and the 2nd season looks even better. The little details in this show are the best. This week when Johnny went to get his headshots taken for his acting portfolio......well it was nothing short of hilarious.

Now for the Movies.....

I went to see The Longest Yard re-make with Adam Sandler.

I am a huge Sandler fan.. I like all his movies.....

That said...


STAY FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR, AWAY FROM THIS WASTE OF FILM.

This movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Is it a drama? Kinda.. Is it a comedy...maybe but with the graphic violence...things don't seem too funny..in fact when a packed theatre groans at every inappropriately timed joke...maybe, just maybe the movie is the problem.

The plot tried to follow the original, but was a total piece of garbage compared to it. Key story pieces were replaced with drivel and bad jokes. Burt Reynolds has stained his already questionable legacy by participating in this utter disgrace.

0 of 10


MADAGASCAR

This is a waste of film. The plot is lame and mostly a copy of every other fish out of water story ever done. Clever Penguins do not a good movie make.

You will laugh a few times if you watch it.. but you will be left with an empty feeling as the story goes off into complete nothingness at the end..

3 of 10

So... a lot of wasted film and some very good HDTV... Maybe the movie executives need to recruit from HBO's staff?

A NEW (OLD) POPE

Well... isn't it exciting? A New Pope has been chosen. Pope Benedict XVI. Wow. Only 16 guys have chosen to be called the same name after being selected as Pope? It seems only yesterday that Pope Benedict I was chosen. My how time flies. Is he like a 16th sequel to the original...geez and I thought Star Wars had a lot of them. Maybe he should have named himself Pope Benedict 0 and became a pre-quel

This new Pope Benedict (AKA Joseph Ratzinger) Age 78 seems a nice enough fellow....however at 78 his reign is sure to be a short one. I hear Howard Stern has already added him to his infamous "Death Pool."

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Speaking of Death and Pre-quels... I am getting very excited about May 19th and Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith. Plenty of Death in that I am sure... I just hope Yoda kicks as much ASS as he did in the last one.

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Speaking of ASS kickings.. the Pacers have taken 3 in a row... and Anthony Johnson managed get himself suspended for the very important final regular season game for Reggie Miller and the Pacers. The Pacers must win to avoid playing Detroit in the first round...... although wouldn't it be fun to eliminate them in the first round as revenge for the unjust suspensions from the brawl earlier in the year? Besides... I am sick of the Pacers playing Boston in the first round every year....go ahead and lose guys.... I am ready for a change of pace!

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Speaking of change just for the sake of changing... the NFL has decided to move Monday Night Football on to ESPN in 2006. AWESOME. ABC has the worst HD of any network. The Pacers game on Sunday was a pixelated mess. GET SOME REAL HD EQUIPMENT ABC! In the meantime... move the games to ESPN HD...but why the wait? 2005 sounds like as good a time as any....

Music Industry = Idiots

If you click on the title, you can read an article from MSNBC.com about how the music industry thinks the price for legal music downloads is too low.

I only have one question for them: "Are you fucking insane?"

Music downloads are EXTREMELY overpriced. 99 cents per song, for EVERY song? Are you kidding me? I can go to any truckstop in America and buy David Allan Coe's 17 Greatest Hits for $9.99(or less)......that means if I want to purchase 10 tracks from the album on iTunes it will cost me the same amount and I won't get the CD, the case or the pictures of his ugly, grizzled face. (Wait...maybe that is a good thing)

While I understand charging a premium for a big hit track and getting 99 cents for that one, I think if they really want to make money they will lower the price for older tracks to 10 cents. People will buy them like crazy and before too long, the money made will far surpass what is made distributing recycled David Allan Coe to truck stops.

It is mindboggling how blind to reality these Music Industry executives really are. Apple has created a market from thin air...and now they are looking to spit in Steve Jobs face. They should kiss his feet. 4 years ago, Napster owned the market and they were making nothing from downloads. Steve Jobs turns his marketing genius to the issue and creates a product to sell against something which is free, is successful and now they say he is getting "too much power?" What kind of nonsense is that?

Even Apple's solution isn't the right one... but it is at least a viable one.

I have said this many times in the past....but here is how you change the world of music.

1. Stop any attempts to sue your target audience. This does NOT help your cause.

2. Charge a market price for downloading songs based on supply and demand. (10 cents for the old low demand, 99 cents MAX for new stuff)

3. Stop trying to control how we use our music. IF we want to make 400 back up copies of American Idol: The Hits...let us. (And GOD HELP US)


It is a simple strategy really. Get a clue Music Industry and make some money in the process!

Fear, Loathing and Shooting Yourself...plus other thoughts for the week ahead

Well.. Hunter S. Thompson has completed his legacy. He has proven, once and for all, that he is a true nutcase. It wasn't as if this wasn't evident already. If you have read even the first line of that self-indulgent nutcase's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" you realize he is a wackjob. Although I believe if had really been interested in being an icon, he should have done this in the late 70s.

Since I will never be shooting myself...you all are stuck with me. I may have a crazy blathering writing style that heavily relies on me as a character....but I will never reach Hunter's level as I will not ever be shooting myself.


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Have you ever noticed that President's Day is not quite the holiday it was when it was just Washington's Birthday? Washington drew much more respect than Presidents in general do. Now people are starting to treat President's Day like Columbus Day and Veteran Day and not give us poor shlubs the day off from our boring IT consulting work. I need to consult for a Bank or Government agency, so I don't have to work on any holidays.

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Yesterday, I watched the last 50 laps or so of the Daytona 500. Growing up, my parents used to haul me to a race everytime when went on any kind of a vacation. While I was watching it, I was stricken by the announcers of the event and their constant use of what I like to call "redneck racin' terms." These are words and phrases you don't hear much of in real life. Such as "trade paint"....if I "trade paint" I am returning a badly mixed gallon of Behr Premium Plus to Home Depot and exchanging it..not running into the car with Home Depot written all over it. "Knicking a bumper" causes me major trauma with my insurance company. If I ever have my car "spin and tumble" or in this case flip 9 times, I will probably not be excited about riding in one for a while.

Since my childhood ended, I have attended none of these events and watched few of them on television. However, after a brief glimpse, I can see what I have been missing. People driving in circles and crashing into each other. Which can be quite entertaining for one afternoon per year or so.

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I can't wait for spring.... NO MORE WINTER.... I need 75 degrees and sunny!

A Very Long Engagement -- A Review

Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this fantastic foreign film. It stars Amélie's Audrey Tautou in another remarkable performance. The movie is set in the aftermath of World War I in France. Mathilde (Tautou) is left without her fiance Manech(Gaspard Ulliel) who never returns from the war. It is a mystery, love story and historical fiction piece all in one.

The performances of all the actors in this film show great depth. The entire cast seem to fit each character perfectly. The script(written by Sébastien Japrisot(novel), Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Guillaume Laurant ) is simply wonderful. Every detail has a purpose, and every moment of the film moves the story forward.

The only down part for most Americans is that the film is entirely in French...so you have to read the subtitles unless you speak French. While this does detract a little from the action at times...it is such a good movie you won't mind.

This is definitely one of the 5 best movies of 2004.

10 of 10

Colts Lose.... Big Changes are needed

Peyton Manning had an incredible season. The Indianapolis Colts had yet another of the same....win a lot during the season lose to the Patriots in the playoffs.

What went wrong this time? Did Manning have a bad day? Not really. Aside from his receivers who suddenly couldn't catch on 3rd down, it was a decent outing. The defense was really good for the first half, and really awful in the second. The 3rd quarter Patriots drive which consumed 9:35 of clock killed the Colts' Season. How do we fix it?

I recommend getting a middle linebacker. ANY middle linebacker will work. What is that? They have Rob Morris? Rob Morris doesn't count. He doesn't exist on most plays. I could go to just about any high school in the country and find a middle linebacker who gets blocked on every single play and pushed completely out of the play. Heck, I could even go out there and get blocked! The idea is to actually avoid being blocked, and to make tackles. Preferrably as close to the line as possible. Rob Morris is worse than bad...he doesn't exist. The Colts NEED a Middle Linebacker. They also could use a couple cornerbacks over the height of 5'5" tall.

The next thing they need? A Defensive tackle. Playing with 4 Defensive Ends and calling 2 of them tackles....doesn't make it so. Defensive tackles are like immovable mountains of stone. They should be big 350+ lbs. of pure girth to clog up the middle and make the other team run to the outside.

How do they pay for these players under the salary cap? Edgerrin James is simply not keepable unless he wants to sign for less cash. He won't...so he is gone. That will free up 15 million under the cap... cut Mike Vanderjagt and free up another 2.8 million and a roster spot to add some depth since the new kicker you sign should be able to kickoff AND kick field goals.

With 17 million under the cap, maybe they could purchase some defense! They only need a little....and the Lombardi Trophy comes to Indianapolis in 2006!

A Few Movie Reviews......

After a Christmas time hiatus from all things internet, I am now back and refreshed. Since I saw a few movies over that time, I thought I would post a few reviews.

The Polar Express
An interesting film from Robert Zemeckis. I am still wondering why this couldn't have been made into a live action movie. The animation while wonderful, seemed completely unnecessary. Tom Hanks is a great actor and to make him come through a computer generated animation process is simply a waste of his great talent.

I did enjoy the film for the most part and it does have very nice feel, however I would have loved to see it as a realistically created live action feature.

6 of 10

Christmas with the Kranks
This movie is funny at times, but fails to reach its full potential due to many plot flaws which exist due to the fact that the adapted screen play strays from the great story on which it is based called "Skipping Christmas". As an aside...Why did they change the name? Skipping Christmas is a great name and a John Grisham bestseller....but Ben Affleck put out a movie called "Surviving Christmas" and the marketing people decided to avoid any confusion with a Ben Affleck movie. Not that I can blame them, but is "Christmas with the Kranks" the best they could muster?

Anyway, I was annoyed with the handling of some of the characters and their motivations. Their motives seem to get lost in the movie version and the characters seem to lack depth.

As for the comic aspect, some of it is funny...most of it is cliche'.

4 of 10

Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Jim Carrey is absolutely a genius of comedic timing. This movie, like the books, contains a very dark form of comedy. Jim Carrey pulls off the part of the villian (Count Olaf) with a flourish. Everytime he enters the frame, he is electric. You cannot miss a moment. The rest of the acting was also very good and this movie is a very entertaining retreat.

The books are quite off beat, as is this perfect adaptation. I hope people notice Jim Carrey come Oscar time for his excellent performance.

8 of 10

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
When I left the theatre, I liked this movie more than I do now. Although my like of it was very low even then. I guess I just have really high expectations from Bill Murray. Everytime he is in a film, I find myself wishing it was Groundhog Day, Stripes, Scrooged, Meatballs, or Caddyshack.....in other words funny. Bill Murray is funny in parts of this movie, but mostly his comic skills are wasted in a very melancholy mood movie. Wes Anderson has shown some skill with this type of film in the past, but does every film he makes need to be a mood piece about people stuck in mid-life crisis?

Watch this movie to see how the cronically depressed live and see comedy through a thin haze of melancholy.

3 of 10

Spanglish
I like this film. Excellent performances from Paz Vega, Adam Sandler, Cloris Leachman and Tea Leoni. The script is good and alive. While this movie covers some of the same ground as The Life Aquatic, it doesn't dwell in hopelessness. The movie actually ends with a realistic amount of hope.

7 of 10.

From the DVD rack...

2 Fast 2 Furious
I don't know why I skipped this one in the theatre. I actually liked it more than the first one. Lots of action and a smooth flowing plot. Very well put together. Paul Walker is just likeable. Although depth is lacking in these films, fun is always there. Lots of fun.

8 of 10

Dodgeball: A true underdog story
I loved this movie in the theatre, and after watching on DVD 3 times. It has already entered classic status. There is no telling how many times I will end up watching this masterpiece. To quote a line from the movie... it is bigger than "the World Cup, World Series and World War 2 COMBINED!"

Vince Vaughn is SO funny, Stephen Root is SO funny...Even Ben Stiller cracks me up as the slimeball White Goodman...(I love it when he says... "I am just White.... W-H-I-T (Pause for 10 seconds) Uh.. E )

If you haven't seen this....see it soon. It is a laugh out loud riot. Full of lines which will enter the lexicon and never leave.

10 of 10

That's enough for now.... I will be more BLOG present in 2005. It is my new year's resolution!