A week ago, word leaked out that some people might be considering contracting a couple of teams in the NBA. It was a common sense solution (or partial solution) to a lot of the NBA's issues. But it seems like common sense is back out the window as David Stern has reiterated his desire to expand to Europe and now says that it is going to happen in ten years. Stern really needs to realize that the NBA is falling apart before his eyes... or rather, behind his back as he stares across the Atlantic.

The NBA made great strides in the 80's and 90's but it's been sinking in the 21st Century. Stern seems to be buying his own bullshit that the player salaries are the problem for NBA franchises. The product just isn't as good as it used to be and fans are less and less likely to come out and pay the rising price to see a diminishing product. Also, with the end of the Great Sneaker Wars of the 80's and early 90's, so came the end to the strongest promotion of individual NBA players. Derrick Rose got a new commercial that's airing incessantly but I don't think many people noticed Rose as much as the Dr. Ken from The Hangover and Knocked Up. That ad did more for his stature than Derrick's.

Stern also must not have paid attention to this offseason. Players now realize that this is a business and they'll go where they want, even taking less money to do so. You really think anyone is going to sign to play in the Euro-division? European teams go to great lengths to help young American players who make the leap; is the NBA going to move families overseas and help younger brothers get on a team? The main thing that the NBA has over the Euro teams (for most American talents) is the location and the competition; watering down the latter and sending people out of the country isn't going to help matters. And let's not get into the tax issues for players who are stuck in London or other tax heavy countries.

And can you imagine the issues if the NBA Finals was LA Lakers vs. Venice Canalers? Nevermind the travel, Italy is 9 hours ahead of the US; the games would have to be on tape delay or something.

David Stern should be credit for getting the NBA to prominence but it's a prominence that they once had and are quickly losing. Many of Stern's latest ventures - expansion (especially to Canada), the D-League, the WNBA - are all middling to failing. The WNBA is, at best, a break even proposition. Remember the Vancouver Grizzlies? Great players aren't signing to Toronto (and even OK players often refuse trades there) and it's only going to be worse if they have to cross an ocean and not just a border. Do people even remember that the D-league exists? (And it still makes ZERO sense to put that in the South.)

Stern did a great job but the NBA needs to look at its current product and fix it before they can start thinking about expanding again.

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

For the first half of RED, I thought it might be a top ten movie of the year. Is it a great film? No, of course not. But it kept along at a nice pace, allowed Mary-Louise Parker show off the comedy chops that Hollywood has wasted over her career, and Bruce Willis and John Malkovich and Brian Cox showed some nice chemistry. Sadly, the film was paper thin and by the end of the movie, it started to drag. The humor of the piece dipped and the action scenes didn't improve any to make up the difference. The beginning had some ridiculously over the top moments and then the end seemed to be playing it straight (relatively).

In the end, RED was simply one of those movies that you unwittingly get from Netflix or sit down and watch on cable and think, "Hey, that movie wasn't that bad." No need to see it in the theater but it's a decent rainy day rental.

Posted by SoulHonky at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Chalk this one up in the "Wish I thought of that" column.

Posted by SoulHonky at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

And by that I mean, another film somehow landed below the most infuriating movie of the year. This time around, the culprit is "When in Rome". This film felt like someone looked for the most typical and unfunny script from collegiate screenwriting 101 classes and then actually spent money to make it. Nothing works in the film except for the end credits. Honestly, I would almost recommend DVRing the movie just to watch the end credits and Kate Micucci's kick-ass robotish dance. Actually, I think the only person who might get a boost from this film is Micucci who seems like she could be the next Judy Greer.

The person who didn't get a boost from this is Kristen Bell, who had a couple of moments to flash her charm but mainly just floundered around because of the terrible material. Part of me says that she should run back to TV but I still think she could make the leap to movie star. The problem is the lack of material, which is probably why television is the best option for her because there are better parts for women there. If they switched the roles in "The Thin Man", she could make for a good Nick Charles (Nicole Charles) and Johnny Depp could be funny as the worried spouse. I highly doubt they go that direction though.

If a TV exec was smart, they'd throw some money Bell's way and stick her in another detective series. Granted, the way TV is being run right now, it'd probably be a remake of Cagney and Lacey or something but hey, anything would be better than "When in Rome".

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

So I've been wanting to see more live music but always end up hearing about shows too late and they're sold out (like Mumford and Sons's show last week) or I just don't get motivated enough to see it. Now that I'm on a bit of an unexpected hiatus, I decided to try to get in some shows. I saw The Futureheads and loved it and stopped by Bell X1's acoustic set and was a bit disappointed. I was checking through the Troubadour schedule and saw Free Energy was playing. I had one of their songs and it was OK and I liked the songs on heard on their myspace so I thought "Why not?".

I checked out the headliner of the evening, some band named Foxy Shazam. Let's just say that I know own both of their albums, can't stop listening to their new self-titled album, and am fired up about the show. It also doesn't hurt that all reports are that they give a great show but I'm now addicted to Wanna-Be Angel, Count Me Out, and Killin' It. I'm not sure how I'd describe them but part of me wants to say they are if Hedwig from Hedwig and the Angry Inch grew up in Harlem instead of Germany and wanted to be black instead of a woman. Lead singer Eric Nally's voice isn't miked enough on this but here's a live version of Wanna-Be Angel. (And check out the beard on the keyboard player.

Posted by SoulHonky at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Because this year has been so bad for films, I decided to open up the Best Films of the Year list to HBO films or other TV films. The film that I'm going to put near the top is "The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town". The Promise is a must see for any fans of Bruce Springsteen and anyone who wants to get a glimpse inside the creative process of a musician. I would have also put "Gasland" on the list but apparently it is a 2009 film (according to IMDB) but I definitely recommend that. It's a bit muted in tone but the subject is shocking as it explores the dangers of drilling for natural gas. I know it doesn't sound like the most thrilling subject but when you hear about what's going on and see people light their water on fire, it's pretty unsettling. Especially since there's a push to start fracking near the water supply for a huge part of the East.

"The Promise" is still playing on HBO; there are still some screenings for "Gasland" and I'm not sure when it's going to be coming out on DVD. Here's a PBS piece on the film.

And here's the promo for "The Promise"...

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

One of the best movies of 2010 is coming out on DVD today so you should go out and rent it or throw it on your Netflix queue. Winter's Bone is the atmospheric mystery of a young girl trying to find her father to convince him to turn himself in so that she and her family don't lose their home (which was put up as bond.) This film should see a ton of Indie Spirit Award nominations and I wouldn't be stunned to see Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Not a terrible week. My parlays sucked, the Steelers killed me by getting a field goal instead of a touchdown to win by only 1 and not cover, but I made some Sunday bets that almost all came through (save for the Broncos). I got the Seahawks, Minny/GB over, and the Giants to come out ahead.

Since I'm nailing so many games but screwing up my parlays, I'm thinking of betting more individual games and fewer parlays. For the early lines, I'm liking Lions/Redskins Under 44, Dolphins +110 over Cincy, Pittsburgh -1 over New Orleans (even though, after this week, I swore I wouldn't bet another Saints game), Titans +170 over San Diego, Jets -6 over Green Bay, and the Redskins over Detroit +120. I don't LOVE all of those games but I put smaller wagers on them to take advantage of the current odds.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Well, it seems like the Muslim issue is coming up yet again. This time around, NPR fired Juan Williams for some honest, if not enlightened comments about Muslims. But let's be honest here, or maybe i'll just be honest, how many people don't at least do a double take when they see a turbin on their plane? I don't think this is necessarily some sign of evil intent or a wicked heart. Not only have radical Muslims hijacked the religion and terrorized the world with violent acts but all over or TV and movies, we see Middle Eastern men shown as terrorists plotting to kill us. (And nobody at NBC should say anything about Williams' comment as long as the differently stereotypical "Outsourced" is on.) Williams made a confession of his own prejudice. Personally I think that he should have been applauded for revealing his own weakness.

Unfortunately, like with most issues today, the rational discussion over political correctness run amok has, well, run amok itself. Instead of defending Williams and addressing that, yes, we all hold prejudices, it has become an attack on Muslims and how Williams was actually correct for having his prejudices. Bill O'Reilly on The View touched upon this issue and the focus group with Frank Luntz brought out the problem even more.

The woman who mentions the Bridgeport Bombers (around 2:20) brought up a key point and didn't seem to think about it. She said that Arab groups often don't stand up against these radical groups because they fear "they'll be a jihad against them." That may very well be true. But her response to that is to help the Muslim moderates? No. She seems to agree with the others on the panel who are just blindly labeling all Muslims as terrorist, saying they simply don't care, and basically OKing Anti-American religious persecution. I know that Luntz had a lot of people to deal with but I really wish he had pressed the man who brought up WW2 more because America went beyond mere hate back then. Nobody likes to mention it because it's a part of our history that we've pretty much wiped off the ledger but the hatred for the Japanese led to internment camps. People will say "Oh no, we know better now." but we really don't. The land of the free and home of the brave has gone back to the "Not in my backyard!" ways of WWII and desegregation. Bill O'Reilly seems stunned that Barrack Obama would defend another mosque, this one in Tennessee of all places, but that's what freedom of religion is all about. And the more we fight any mosque from being built, the more ammo for the radicals and the harder it becomes for moderates.

I mean, seriously, if you were a moderate Muslim stuck between a radical arm of your religion and a majority of Americans who basically hate you, why would you stick your neck out? And the "Islam is the problem" crew can't really react to this because it's not like the Catholic church has fallen on its sword and stood up against itself. From burning "witches" to molesting children, Christians have more than enough sins in their past to prevent them from throwing the first stone. It's also hypocritical when Christian blast Muslims as violent and then turn around and label homosexuals as abominations and make jokes about how the murder of Matthew Shepherd was how gays should be treated. Where was the Christian outcry after those comments?

There is a problem in the House of Islam right now. But the way to help solve it and the way that America is built to address it, is to SUPPORT the law-abiding believers and help them root out the people misusing the faith. Of course, you look at the political climate in the US and see more fear and hate than cooperation so it's hard to think that we'll be able to extend a helping hand to the Middle East if we can even treat each other with common courtesy.

Posted by SoulHonky at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

The NBA is finally talking about contraction, something that's been needed for years. Fewer teams would give teams a larger piece of the pie in terms of revenue sharing and while fewer players would be employed, the Player's Union needs to recognize that it's the best answer for a league that is getting more and more split between the have's and the have not's.

So the question is then: who goes? The least valued team was the Milwaukee Bucks but I don't think the NBA should cut any teams with history, which the Bucks have. The team that sold for the least is the Charlotte Bobcats but they've put together an interesting squad and I doubt the NBA would do new owner Michael Jordan dirty by contracting the team he just bought (even if he did buy it for an insanely low price of 175 million.)

The first and most obvious choice to any sports fan is the Los Angeles Clippers. It's a joke of a franchise but the NBA would never cut a team from such a huge market. But what does it say about the Clips that they're the 23rd most value team in the league, a step below the Sacramento Kings? If the NBA can get Donald Sterling out of the league, they should do it. LA doesn't need two teams and if they want to move a team to Anaheim or San Diego, they'd be better off dumping the Clippers and moving another team.

The next teams on the chopping block would be Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets. The Grizzlies could argue that they have finally put together a quality product and might win some games but even with said improvements, they ranked 28th in attendance, are historically in the bottom third of attendance whether they win or not, and they are the second least valued team in the league. I think this year would be a make-or-break season for the franchise. The team has high expectations and a nice young nucleus. If they can't get consistent attendance, they should be contracted.
The Hornets are an easier call. Like the Grizzlies, they have struggled to maintain attendance and while a click glance shows a couple of years of success, the fact of the matter is that those numbers are inflated by the attendance that they got when they played in Oklahoma City. More importantly, in a year, this could be the easiest team to dump personnel-wise. Chris Paul has one foot out the door, David West is a free agent next year, and there isn't really a ton of great talent on the roster after that. Marcus Thornton's a nice player but it's not like he's going to tip the balance of power in the NBA. If the NBA is just junking two squads, my guess is that these would be the two.

If they wanted to dump four, then the fourth team would be the toughest call. The Timberwolves were consistently in the top half (or close to the top third) of the league in terms of attendance for the KG years and I'm not sure you can fault the fans there for the management's horrific track record. The Raptors are crap now that Bosh have left but they're the 11th most valuable franchise and have had solid attendance. The Nets are the Nets but they have a new owner who is willing to spend, are looking to move to Brooklyn, and have history on their side. My guess is that Kevin McHale's tenure would go down as one of the worst in NBA history (as would the KG trade) as it would have taken a solid franchise and put it on the chopping block.

But four teams is probably too drastic. So I think the proposal should be to deep six the New Orleans Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies (although I'd really push for the Clippers to go.) Chris Paul's final year should be cancelled or bought out by the NBA and he should become a free agent next offseason. The Grizzlies don't have a lot of guys signed past next year (most players have team options) so if they NBA turned down the options on Mayo and the other rooks and didn't allow Memphis to extend Marc Gasol or Z-Bo, the only guys who'd be signed to guaranteed deals are Rudy Gay, Tony Allen, Xavier Henry, and Greivis Vasquez. For the real fans in New Orleans, maybe the Thunder could play a handful of games there during the year. Memphis? They seem to care more about college sports, anyway.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Even though I've been on a roll, I'm not really loving this week in terms of betting. I feel comfortable with my picks but not enough to wager big money. Here's my perfect parlay.

The game I like the most is the Steelers -3 over the Dolphins. The Fins aren't pushovers but I think the Steelers are hitting on all cylanders right now and Chad Henne isn't going to be able to beat that defense.
I'm going to break from my rule about betting the Pats and go with Patriots +3. I know it's a long trip and all that but the Chargers are overrated and Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates are banged up. I don't see the Patriots letting up, especially since they are trying to get their offense together.

The rest of the games? It's wide open.
Who knows which Bengals team is going to show up but I like the Falcons at home.
I think Tennesee's defense is going to scare the bejeezus out of Kevin Kolb and take cheap shots at LeSean McCoy's ribs so I'll go with them.
I'm going to put my faith in Washington and also I like betting against Jay Cutler.
The Saints and Ravens -13 is a lot to ask for but the Browns have a rookie QB and banged up running back and receiving corps while the Bills are just flat out terrible and the Ravens should be mad after last week's loss.
Tampa Bay is coming back down to Earth and the Rams are more of a legit threat.
The Niners? Am I really going to pick them again? I think we could be seeing a Matt Moore resurgence but I'll go with San Fran, which means I probably should go with Carolina.
I'm not in a believer in Max Hall and think Seattle should be able to handle the Cards.
Denver should be fired up to get back on the winning track and get Knowshon Moreno some good reps so they should be able to handle Oakland.
Giants/Cowboys is a toss up in every way, shape, or form but I think the Giants will do enough to win and the 'Boys will do more than enough to lose. Ditto for Vikings/Green Bay but I just feel like Minnesota is going to reel off some wins and get back into the thick of things. I also don't know if Aaron Rodgers makes it out of this game alive.

As for my bets, I have 40 bucks on the Pats -3 and 25 on them to win outright (+120). $25 dollars on the Steelers to beat the Dolphins. 10 buck parlay on the Rams and Washington to win outright and another 10 dollar parlay on the points with the Ravens, Saints, Seahawks, Broncos, and Steelers. I might put a bet on the Ravens (hate betting on the Saints right now) but I'm not sold on it just yet.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Even though "Let Me In" is supposed to be very well done, I just can't find any interest to go see it because I've already seen "Let the Right One In". I get that people were happy that the new American version is faithful to the original but part of me doesn't know why a film should be remade if it's going to be a carbon copy. I'd much rather see the American version be it's own entity, ala "The Departed" vs. "Infernal Affairs".

The reason I bring this up is because there is now a report from The Playlist that says that Johnny Depp is interested in starring in a remake of "The Thin Man". If you haven't seen the original "Thin Man", you should put it at the top of your Netflix queue. It's a vintage light-hearted detective movie with a great witty banter between the drunk Nick Charles and his wife Nora as they stumble into a mystery. I'm a fan of all of the "Thin Man" movies and definitely recommend them and LOVE the idea of Depp as Nick, as long as he doesn't overdo the drunkeness. Nick's more buzzed throughout and not shitfaced ala Capt. Jack.

Another remake that I think is a good idea is a prequel to "The Thing". Not only do I like the cast, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton but the original is one of those cult classics that shouldn't necessarily be remade but should probably be reimagined a bit and brought to the 21st century. The original film holds up well and if the prequel was accompanied into theaters by a rerelease of the original, I think everyone would be happy.

One remake that I'm not thrilled about it "Flash Gordon". Now, I think a remake of "Flash Gordon" would be great and I could see The Rock making a solid tween movie out of it but the initial reports about the remake is that it's going to be more realistic and possibly edgier. I'm sorry but the story of Flash Gordon is kind of ridiculous and trying to make it more realistic seems stupid. What, is Flash's achilles heel going to be concussions or a torn ACL?

I'm all for remakes and ripping off older films but the tone needs to be right and there needs to be some sort of fresh perspective brought to the proceedings or else it's kind of pointless. Maybe later this week or this weekend I'll make up a ilst of films that I'd like to see remade and I'm always down for suggestions. What films would you like to see redone? Any casting suggestions?

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Well, the Summer of '10 is officially over and it was pretty lackluster. I know many people thought that "Inception" was a classic but I'm not really sold on it being anything more than an interesting approach to a thriller. I haven't seen Toy Story 3 but Iron Man 2 was a major disappointment and I can't really remember any of the other blockbusters which basically tells you all you need to know about this summer. And since nobody actually took the Challenge, I'll declare myself the winner! Who cares if it is by default. So how were my picks compared to the actual receipts?

1. Toy Story 3: I got this one right although when I was about 100 million dollars off on the box office total which is currently over 410 million. I didn't think we'd see a 400 million film this year.
2. Iron Man 2: I had Iron Man at #2 and was only about 8 million dollars off of the 320 million dollar take. 3. Twilight - Eclipse: I underestimated this film by 20 million and had it coming in fifth. I apologize to all the Twi-hards for not believing in their movie.
4. Inception: The Box Office Challenge was inspired by Wordplayer's board's similar challenge and when I posted my predictions over there, some people scoffed at my Inception numbers but right now, it's almost dead on. I said 290 and it's at 289.7. I also pegged it at #4. Yay me!
5. Despicable Me: Boo Me! I had this film squeaking in at #10 and 120 million but it made almost exactly double that and landed in the top 5.
6. Shrek Forever After: I should have seen the fall in box office for the Shrek franchise coming but alas I didn't. I had this film tabbed for third place and 295 million and it took in about 60 million less than that and couldn't even crack the top 5.
7. The Karate Kid: Another nice choice by me, if I do say so myself. I had the film ranked at #7 with 155 million and it came in #7 with 176 million.
8. Grown Ups: Another one for the W column. I had Sandler and friends coming in at 8th with 145 million and it came in at the eight spot with 161 million.
9. The Last Airbender: Not quite the L that many people are making it seem (people love piling on M. Night), the Last Airbender still made over forty million less than I had expected and was turned on its head, going from 6 to 9. 10. The Other Guys: And let me tell you, NO film makes me happier to see on this list than "The Other Guys". Not because I picked it at #9 at 130 million while it squeaked in at #10 and 118 million but because it BARELY knocked "Salt" my least favorite movie of the summer and one of the most infuriating films I've ever seen out of the top 10 by a mere 30k. Yes, I am happy that I went a big 10 for 10 on the films this year (there's usually one that I whiff on) but I really didn't want to give "Salt" a top 10 spot.

My miss of the year was The A-Team and that only made 77 million dollars but Jonah Hex was probably the flop of the summer. Maybe it hasn't come out everywhere so it's an unfair comparison but A-Team flopped with 77 million on a 110 million dollar budget but it brought it almost 100 million from foreign box office so it wasn't a complete mess. Jonah Hex made 10.5 on a 47 million dollar budget and has made 300K overseas.

Posted by SoulHonky at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

I still haven't seen The Room but here's a short starring the megalomaniacal creator. This one goes for humor whereas "The Room" is supposedly funny because it's serious and absolutely terrible.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

I still have a parlay hanging in the balance (I need the Titans to win by 3 or more) but this was a pretty good week for my picks. My main picks went 3 - 0 - 1 and overall I've finally gotten above the .500 mark as I'm 43 - 41 right now. The opening weeks weren't great but I knocked out 8 (and possibly 9 this week) for two weeks in a row so I'm back in the saddle.

The lessons learned this week were: The Chargers are garbage. Does that mean that the Patriots might not be up for a let down next week? No but I'm not expecting San Diego to turn it around like they did last year. Sure, the Chiefs and Rams are no slouches but even if we give them some credit, the Chargers have still played a ridiculously easy schedule. Right now, there's a good chance that they don't win the division and end up on the outside looking in come playoff time.
I should have more faith in the Lions and Chiefs. They might not win but they'll always be in the game. Ditto for the Redskins who pushed this week but they are better than I've been giving them credit.
The Seahawks and Rams? Who knows? Ditto for the Bengals and Falcons.

And even though I know that they're could be a let down, especially after a big win and heading cross country but I'm liking the Patriots +3 against the Chargers. I stuck with the Jets against the Broncos despite the cross-country flight and think the Pats could also be focused enough to win this one. It also doesn't hurt that they have no room for error since the Jets and Dolphins are staying with the Pats stride for stride.

Posted by SoulHonky at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Shirtless or bikini top, board shorts, a boogie or kick board, and a turbin. You'll be a totally RADICAL Muslim! Bonus points if your boogie board is the Kowabunga Koran. I'm not sure how it would go over and nobody wants me out all night with my shirt off so I won't do it but feel free to go with it. I'm thinking about mocking up some pictures of surfers and skateboarders in turbans and making some Radical Muslim shirts.

And yes, I'm ridiculously bored right now. No work and No play makes Soul a goofy Honky.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

OK, it's time for this week's edition of Throwing Good Money After Bad aka my betting picks. Overall for the season, I'm a robust 35 - 37. I'm hoping this week will get me over the .500 mark.
The games I like the most this week are Colts -3 over Washington, Jets - 3 over Denver, and Saints -4.5 over the Bucs. The Colts are wounded so they won't be overlooking Washington, who I'm still not buying into. I still think they are the worst team in the NFC East but it seems like Shanahan has them showing up to compete and not shoot themselves in the foot while they're at it, which is more than I can say for Dallas. The Jets might be in for a let down game but I'm sure Rex Ryan will be able to fire them up enough to get them to squeak past the Broncos. No Revis is kind of a problem, especially since the Broncos will probably never bother to establish their lackluster running game, but I have more faith in New York's defense than Denver's so even if it is a shoot-out, the Jets should prevail. Speaking of throwing good money after bad, there's the Saints. These guys and the 49ers are bankrupting me but I'm going to go to the well one more time. They should be embarrassed by their performance last Sunday and should be out for blood. The Bucs are no joke and Josh Freeman's a fun, young QB but the Saints are simply better and should actually play like it this Sunday.
As for the other games, I like the Chiefs but I have no faith in Matt Cassel or Dwayne Bowe and don't know if they'll be able to take advantage of Houston's weak secondary. The Chargers should be playing angry, like the Saints, so I'll take them over the banged up Rams. It's hard to trust the Titans but they have a defense and Jacksonville doesn't so three points doesn't seem like too much. Also, people are talking up David Garrard again which means it's time for him to prove his inconsistency yet again.

Cowboys vs. Vikings is a tough call but I'm going to go with Adrian Peterson and Randy Moss. Although the real bet there IMO is OVER 44. That should be a shoot out. I'm also going over/under on the big spread games. I like Detroit but they're banged up so I think the Giants should beat them by the given 10 points but I'm more comfortable betting that the defenses hold enough to go UNDER 44.5 As for Pittsburgh and Cleveland, 14 points is a lot and Clevleand's been pretty good this season but I have faith in the Steel Curtain (and Big Ben might be rusty) so I'm going Pittsburgh and rolling the dice on UNDER 37.5.

The games that I like the least (and those are usually the ones I've been getting right this year; I've been screwing up on the ones that I think are locks) are the Falcons upsetting the Eagles, the Niners getting a win in Oakland, and Jay Cutler coming back to lead Chicago over Seattle. It pains me to do it but I'm going with the Ravens over the Pats +3 although I left that game off of my 12 team parlay. I love me some Patriots but Baltimore's the best team in the AFC right now and our lack of running game and weak defense is going to make it tough to beat the Ravens.
I'll do the math this weekend but I'm thinking I'm down $285 bucks right now. I lost a little last week but the Jags victory over the Bills kept the bleeding to a minimum. Below are my Sportsbook Perfect Parlay picks. Good luck everyone!

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Between Two Ferns isn't always consistent but this one is hilarious. Zach asks a lot of cutting questions that a lot of stars probably wouldn't be willing to sit through. I've heard mixed things about Bruce Willis but it seems like he can poke fun at himself (or let Zach do it.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

I was happy to see that the Kings of Leon finally broke out with their last album but, as with all breakout bands, I was nervous that the success might mess with their heads and their music. The first look to see how success has changed them is now available on the Kings' website as they have a preview of their album online. Listen to the entire album free of charge.

First off, I have to say that it's pretty great that they are making the album available like this. It's also pretty ballsy since part of what spurs sales of post-breakout albums is the sense of the unknown. Can they duplicate their past success? Will they go in a completely different direction ala Radiohead? People won't have to spend their money to find this out now. It's a nice thing to do but business-wise, it's a definite risk.

As for my review, it does seem like the group is getting away from their original low-fiish ass-kickery, best exhibited by one of their first hits, "Four Kicks" But you know what, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Red Hot Chili Peppers matured from their original sound and it's helped make them one of the best bands in the business (and one of the most overlooked bands when discussing great groups of the late 20th century.) Not that I would compare the Kings to the Chili Peppers. The latest album does seem like it might be trying to replicate the success rather than creatively build off of it. Perhaps that has to do with the locale in which it was recorded.

Caleb recently explained, “It was kind of a depressing experience. If we’d made it is Nashville, we’d be out playing basketball or goofing off. Here, I’d wake up and hail a cab to the studio, then spend 12 hours a day in a room with no windows.” He added, “It felt like we were going to the office.” And as “No Money” winds down this ambivalence is only amplified, “And all this pissin’ around, cut me loose of this fucking town: I ain’t comin’ back.” - From Contact Music

That's a telling quote. There definitely does seem to be some life missing from the proceedings. It feels like a professional recording rather than a rock'n'roll record. It's music for hire not songs from the soul. The songs are decent enough but most of them fade into the background.

So unless you really loved the Kings' last album and can't get enough of it, I wouldn't really recommend this record. There is a major caveat to that and that's the fact that music always grows on me so this could be a record that I don't like at first but then find myself listening to over and over. That recently happened with The Futureheads' "The Chaos", an album I rediscovered after seeing the band in concert. Similarly, I think a lot of songs on this album will probably sound better live. A track like "No Money" is OK but I think when it's just the band on stage and feeding off a crowd's energy, it will feel much better. It also should be noted that I thought "Because of the Times" was a step back from the band's previous album but they then built on that experimentation with the stellar "Only By the Night".

As for me, my instant favorite songs on the album are "The End", "Radioactive" (the video for this is below), and "No Money". Hopefully, this is just a step sideways and the next album will be another step forward. If you are new to the Kings of Leon, I'd recommend getting their earlier "Youth and Young Manhood" and "Aha Shake Heartbreak". Those are less polished production-wise but I prefer those albums to this latest venture.

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Another bad week of betting as only the game that I was most worried about actually came through. The Round Robin Parlay was destroyed by both San Diego and New Orleans deciding that they didn't feel like playing. The Jaguars made me nervous by falling behind early but they finally came together and pulled through with the win so the weekend wasn't a total loss. Overall, I did OK for such a wild win (getting 7 right heading into Monday Night) but that doesn't mean much when you pick the wrong games for the parlays and straight bets.

In terms of actual football, the Chiefs could be good except they need a real quarterback. Yes, Dwayne Bowe dropped a TD pass and is simply too unreliable to be a #1 receiver but Cassel isn't the real deal and is a backup. The Chiefs need to cut him and go after a legit QB this offseason if they ever want to be able to get over the hump. The Green Bay Packers' season of frustration continues with another loss and more injuries. The team that looked like the favorites for the NFC Championship can't seem to stay healthy nor can they stop from shooting themselves in the foot. The NFC as a whole is just one big disappointment with the Cowboys constantly looking for ways to lose games (and I think Romo has been exposed as a rich man's Doug Flue - he can do some amazing things but will make too many mistakes to be counted on.) In the AFC, the Ravens seem like the team to beat. I'm not sure how they lost to the Bengals but next week's game against the Patriots is going to be huge. Right now, I think the Ravens and Jets are the favorites in the AFC while the NFC seems like a complete mish-mash of teams that can't get out of their own way. I kind of like the Giants' chances but Eli Manning's turnovers are the stuff that first round exits are made of.

Fantasy-wise, I sold low on LeSean McCoy and am regretting it but I got Jamaal Charles in the deal and I still prefer his schedule to McCoy's, especially in the playoffs (weeks 14/15/16). Loading up on Broncos is paying off as Kyle Orton and Brandon Lloyd can't be stopped and Knowshon Moreno should be able to get some decent points whenever he gets healthy. I'm definitely now worried about him losing carries to Laurence Maroney, who hasn't looked very good at all.

A rough week but it's hard to be too down when I still came away as a winner in two of my three leagues and also because someone busted out the Carlton as a TD dance.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Well, I didn't think it was possible but there's a movie worse than "Salt". I was warned before seeing "Catfish" that the marketing was COMPLETELY misleading (which it was) but that heads up didn't make the movie any better. While the movie wasn't as infuriating as "Salt" that is probably because it never started out with much promise. From the jump, I didn't like the main people, didn't understand why they were so caught up with their initial subject, and really just never gave a damn.

There are a lot of questions about whether the film is real or not and I think that some of it is and a lot of it is recreations but in the end, if it is fake, it's just a pointless movie and if it is real, then they blew and opportunity to make a truly interesting doc. Instead they went with a gimmick. Of course, the filmmakers won't complain because it sold the film and got the movie legit buzz but it's just not that good.

To read more (SPOILERS INCLUDED), continue reading.

(AGAIN, SPOILERS)

In the end, I think the subject of the film was a real person and really did have all those fake personalities. However instead of really making an insightful documentary about the woman and what drives her and why her family allows it to happen and how many other people are other there, the filmmakers went with a gimmick. Maybe they weren't smart enough to make a better movie but they chose all flash (which, again, helped sell the film so I can't say it was a bad choice) and no substance.

One of my main issues with the film was that I just didn't like the filmmakers and thought Nev came off as a creep. And WAY too much of the film was about them. The part about them finding out the charade that was being pulled on them should have been the first act, not the whole film. And if they were going to focus on Nev so much, then they needed to REALLY focus on him and not give a superficial look at what happened. Why did Nev fall for it? Why did he put up with so much before admitting that he was being conned? (Personally, I think a lot of those parts were reshot and they failed to give a better motivation as to why Nev was so interested, even when he knew it was all fake. Honestly, the only thing keeping him in it was the documentary yet he was trying to act like there was some actual emotion.)

I was bored throughout the film but in the end was just disappointed because the movie had an interesting subject and a topic that hasn't really been looked into... and it still hasn't. It's ironic that the ad campaign was so misleading because the film company was basically pulling their own con job on the public. The filmmakers did the best with their talents but, sadly, it just wasn't enough. I also think too much of the film was their egos rather than their main subject's emotions.

Posted by SoulHonky at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

So far so bad. The football season has not been kind to me so far and I'm going $255. I'm switching up the plan this time, going with a round robin parlay instead of a straight 5 team parlay. I'm already nervous about some of my picks, however, so who knows how this week will turn out.

My straight picks are: $60 on Jacksonville -1 over Buffalo (although I could see them having a let down after the Colts victory), $20 on the Saints -7 over the Cards, and $20 on the Chargers over the Raiders. As for my round robin parlay, I chose those three teams along with the Falcons -3 over Cleveland and Green Bay -2.5 over Washington. I keep screwing up one team in my parlays so this will help me out a bit. I could always go with a progressive parlay (which allows for one or two mistakes but with less of a payout).

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

A big thanks to Taylor and Ben who clued me into a couple of nice downloads.

The first is my new addiction, Nine Inch Nail's latest CD "The Slip". Now, I've liked a lot of NIN songs but I never was really a fan. I didn't really follow them, just picked up random songs here and there. But when I found out that Trent Reznor was giving away the latest album for free on the band's website, I had to give it a try. Maybe fans might not be impressed; maybe it's not their greatest work but I love it. It'll be getting heavy rotation for the month of October.

As for Ben's addition to my life, it's iConcertCal for iTunes. Basically, it's a plug-in that tells you when any band in your iTunes is coming to play in your area or has a new album coming out. Seeing as I'm someone who CONSTANTLY hears about concerts too late, this will be helpful.

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Apparently the Patriots are pulling the trigger on the Randy Moss to Minnesota deal and are getting just a third round pick in return. While part of me will miss Randy, the reality is that the Patriots don't seem like a complete enough team to make a legit run at the title this year so it makes sense to move Randy for a piece that helps the future. Now Ben Tate can get some run at the deep threat position and, should the Patriots want to add a veteran receiver to the roster, Antonio Bryant is still unemployed and wouldn't be a bad one year plug and play.

But the real steal of this and most Patriots deals is the fact that all indications point to a rookie salary cap in 2011 and that's when the Patriots have a boat load of picks: the Raiders' first rounder, the Panthers' second rounder, the Broncos' 4th rounder. The Patriots are famous for their wheeling and dealing on draft day but if the rookie scale kicks in this year, they could find themselves sitting pretty and able to add some quality players for cheap. That would leave them more cap space to possibly go out and sign an impact free agent as well as adding young talent, that could include a stud like Mark Ingram via the Raiders' pick.

It's tough to lose a guy like Moss and everybody on the offense is going to have to step up now that defenses won't be keying on Randy but I think the Patriots can survive without him (as has been noted, he hasn't topped 75 yards in his last 12 games, so maybe there's something to the whispers of a lost step). Lost step or not, the Vikings will benefit from his presence, especially Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin. Harvin doesn't have to bear the brunt of being the #1 guy anymore and can slide into a Welker-esque role while Peterson probably won't be seeing as many loaded defenses that only have to stop him. He'll still be the focus of the defenses, of course, but having a legit deep threat should make things easier on him.

At the very least, this just made the Patriots season a lot more interesting.

And while I'm on sports, it's nice to see that the Los Angeles Clippers are already in mid-season form. And the debate between DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall for Rookie of the Year should be good (although I'm sure there will be a third name if only because both players will have their detractors.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

At their core, "The Social Network" and "Easy A" are companion pieces. While the Facebook movie is about one kid's desire to fit in and become elite, the Emma Stone comedy is about a kid lying and using sex to get noticed while trying to help other's fit in. Many people say that "The Social Network" is a film that defines a generation but I think it only really defines the smart kids who have the talent to break from their given spot in the social hierarchy. "Easy A" is for most everyone else. It would be nice to think that Mark Zuckerberg is a face of a generation but, sadly, the people who are more representative of this new era are Bristol Palin, Montana Fishburne, and the Kardashians. The bottom line is that not everyone will create Facebook but a lot of people will gain some notoriety (be it good or bad) from the accelerated speed of gossip and innuendo in the internet era.

For me, "Easy A" was almost the anti-"Kids Are Alright". I didn't particularly care for that movie, even though it was well written. To me, it seemed like everyone was just kind of a jerk. In this film, most everyone was fairly likable, even Amanda Bynes as the tight-ass Christian girl (or maybe it was just that she did a great job with the role.) Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson do a great job as Emma Stone's lax but loving parents and the film has a steady amount of laughs throughout. Thomas Haden Church is solid as the teacher everyone loves and also had a great little comment about how he doesn't get the Twitter generation and their need to share everything. The film does venture into after-school specialand near the end but it doesn't go too far and overall the film was completely enjoyable. I'll admit that I went in with lower expectations so it probably benefitted from that but I think that this is a film, unlike Scott Pilgrim, that most everyone will at least chuckle at and would probably enjoy. I'd rank it with it in the same vein as "Fired Up", "Sex Drive", and "Role Models" as surprisingly good comedies (but not great movies by any stretch of the imagination.

As for "The Social Network", it's just a top notch piece of writing and directing. The acting is strong but I think Fincher and Sorkin are the clear favorites for best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay right now. The film has some great dialogue, the set-up of how the story is told is perfect, and the score was also intriguing. Something that went unnoticed, however, were the effects. The fact that Armie Hamme played both twins and that, when both twins were in a shot together, they morphed his face onto another actor, went completely unnoticed. The only reason I knew about it was because I saw in the credit that Hammer played both twins. While I have to admit that the film wasn't exactly thrilling, it was a great piece of storytelling and filmmaking and it made a legit movie out of something that could have been a very boring story. I'd definitely recommend it to everyone.

On a mildly related note, "Date Night" seems like a movie written by and for the older, married, don't get out of the house demographic. It wasn't that funny and was astonishingly tame and seems like the very definition of Been There, Done That. It's like if the person who wrote Adventures in Baby Sitting grew up, lost a lot of his sense of humor, and wanted to tell a more wacked out version of that story but from the parents' point of view. Definitely a flick that can be skipped. Tina Fey does such a great job writing for herself that when she shows up in other movies, it's a let down.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

OK, I've wasted a couple of Saturdays now, laying around and catching up on the new TV shows and I think I've just about whittled down what I want to watch, what I'll give another chance, and what I just don't care about. Here's the breakdown.

My favorite show is still probably "Castle" since it's a mix of police procedural (which I love) but with some witty banter and decent comedy. The entire cast is great and the cases are just twisty enough to keep me guessing.
While I wasn't a huge fan of the pilot, "Terriers" has developed into yet another solid show from FX. I'm not sure if it's going to go the way of "Sons of Anarchy", a show with a lot of good buzz that I didn't care to watch anymore, but I'm like where this show is headed. They have a lot of storylines coming together and the characters are getting more and more likable as the show goes on. It still struggles with tone, especially when it comes to dialogue. It's an edgy show but now and then the characters break out liners that seem better fit for Ocean's 11 (which shouldn't be a surprise since the show is written by Ted Griffin who penned Ocean's 11.) Hopefully it will get stronger, unlike FX's Louis which started strong and then really fell apart IMO at the end of the season.
Speaking of FX, "The League" hasn't been that strong this season but it's still fun enough for me to check out regularly.
Blue Bloods might drop to the DVR list but, for now, it's a show that I want to check out. I kind of like how they try to tackle issues without getting too bogged down in the whole debate. They just kind of bring up an issue, play it out, have a dinner scene in which the family discusses it, and then moves on. I'm not sold on the overall arc with the Blue Templar, a secret society within the NYPD, but as of now it's only been a throw-in, literally just one scene at the end of the episode, so maybe it will be better when they actually spend some time with it. A great cast and decent stories so it's worth keeping tabs on.

Hawaii 5-0 is basically NCIS: Hawaii but Alex O'Loughlin is growing on me and I'm a fan of Scott Caan. I still don't really give a rat's ass about what's going on in the show but at least they make it somewhat entertaining. This will probably become my cleaning/washing dishes show; nice background noise for when I'm doing something that doesn't necessarily require 100% of my attention.
Nikita doesn't really make much sense but Maggie Q does a nice job in it and is pretty funny when she pretends to be a ditz or some socialite... which I guess is the same as saying a ditz. Like Hawaii 5-0, it's a show I'll put on when I either have nothing better to do and feel too lazy to do something productive or if I'm about to go to bed or am picking up around the apartment.

I really wanted to give "The Event" a chance but at the beginning of episode 2, they flashed back to some earlier lovey dovey conversation with Sarah Roemer and Jason Ritter and all I could think was, "Who cares?!". Even in the expository scene with The President, I didn't care. I found "Persons Unknown" or even "Happy Town" to be more intriguing that this show and those shows weren't very good at all.
I like Jimmy Smits and the supporting cast is getting better but "Outlaw" does nothing for me. One issue might be that Smits's character is either on a soapbox or off laying down big bets with a shady bookie. I like conflicted heroes but there needs to be an actual person in there as well. In this show, he's either a crusader or a creep.
Detroit 1-8-7 is like a watered down version of Southland. The cases aren't as interesting, the characters aren't as strong, the relationships aren't as three dimensional. Since I didn't bother watching Southland, there's no way I'm going to keep track of this one.

Posted by SoulHonky at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

I was off the LeBron bandwagon a while back and was happy to see people joining me after the poorly conceived "The Decision" and the way that The King handled his free agency. However, the latest report about LBJ playing the race card bothers me a bit and I think it says more about the media than the player.

I'll admit that when I first heard the report yesterday, I started to write up a blog post about how ridiculous it is for him to blame race for the critical reaction to his unprofessional actions. But then I actually read the interview.

"Asked if race was a factor in the fallout, James told CNN's Soledad O'Brien on Monday, "I think so, at times. There's always -- you know, a race factor.""

Two things jumped out at me. First off, James was asked the question. It's not like he brought it up out of nowhere, trying to save face. Secondly, he gave a pretty common sense answer. I think that a lot of people misuse the race card and use racism to explain away their own mistakes or shortcomings but this isn't what LeBron is doing. He's simply stating that the world isn't color blind. Would it have been nice if he had added in that he had made a mistake with "The Decision" and should have handled it differently? Sure, but the lack of that doesn't make his comment any less true.

The person that did play the race card (or so it seems from reports) and who seems completely unrepentant when it comes to "The Decision" is LeBron's friend and business partner Maverick Carter. And I appreciate what LeBron is doing, sticking with his friends and coming up together but he really needs to get someone else in there to help him with his decisions. It's great to bring your friends with you on your rise to the top but you also need a mentor, someone who can teach you the ropes.

No matter how much I bash on LeBron, he seems like a good guy. And with all of his money, I doubt that he ends up broke like many other athletes but he definitely needs to at least add some other voices to his inner circle; people who might be able to avoid further PR disasters like "The Decision" or help him control interviews and best deal with loaded questions that he has to KNOW are going to be twisted in order to make a bigger story and get more hits on the internet.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments ()