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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 4, 2011 18:48:40 GMT -5
Watched a little of the NFL Network coverage and Cris Carter on ESPN. Looks like the way around giving credit to Tebow will be to talk about how bad the Vikings' defense was. Just like last week, I wonder if these guys actually watched the game.
Carter: "He needs to complete 5 more passes and prove he can be an effective pocket passer. This option stuff just won't beat good teams." Um, Cris, the entire second half, where they scored 28 points, was run from a standard 2-back set with pocket passing and play action. Carter continued, regarding Christian Ponder's late INT, "It doesn't matter what you do the rest of the game, you'll be judged for how you play in crunch time." Wait, what!?! Then why don't you like Tebow?
Tired criticisms are tired.
And the Giants are within striking distance heading into the 4th quarter. This should be good...
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 4, 2011 16:38:16 GMT -5
Your weekly Tebow update from someone who watched the whole game:
QB Rating: 149.3 10/15 for 202 yards 2 TD 0 INT Two of those incompletions were drops where he hit Decker in the numbers, one was to avoid a sack, and one was a perfectly thrown ball in the face of a blitz that Thomas got his hands on in the end zone. There was also a 30 yard completion on 3rd and 20 that was called back for holding. He threw accurate, tight spirals down the field all day. He had four scoring drives in the second half to respond to Vikings scores. This makes him 6-1 as a starter, with 5 road wins and 4 fourth-quarter comebacks.
Von Miller sat out the game, and CB Andre Goodman got schooled by Harvin over and over before the big INT in the 4th quarter.
Waiting for another week of commentary on how he's not a good quarterback and the Broncos are getting by with their defense and a soft schedule.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 4, 2011 1:15:26 GMT -5
Some more off the top of my head:
Shawshank Redemption When Andy emerges from the sewer pipe and euphorically looks up into the rain.
Usual Suspects When Chazz Palmanteri drops the coffee cup and Kevin Spacey's limp disappears.
This is Spinal Tap "These go to eleven."
Bridge on the River Kwai "What have I done?" BOOM.
The Maltese Falcon When they find out the statue is a fake and go after it with the pocketknife.
And I have to disagree with Ebert on Casablanca. "La Marseillaise" wasn't the signature moment, Rick and Sam in the bar after Ilsa came back was the moment.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 2, 2011 3:14:23 GMT -5
The continuous crane shot at the end of The Royal Tenenbaums tracking along the fire engine, ending with Ben Stiller's perfect line, "It's been a rough year, dad."
The moment in Glory when Matthew Broderick looks out at the ocean, gets off his horse, and walks through the ranks from back to front to lead the suicide mission.
Alida Valli's long walk towards the camera and right past Joseph Cotten without a word at the end of The Third Man.
That's a start, anyway.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 1, 2011 18:30:33 GMT -5
Wow. If you go, take lots of pictures and punch Bert I. Gordon in the face for me.
Wait, no, that's mean. Just take a couple of pictures. Then punch Bert I. Then take some more pictures.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 1, 2011 12:20:17 GMT -5
Can I play the snarky bastard and ask if it has less to do with music and more to do with the politics/worldview that often (although of course, not always) goes along with folk? Yes and no. Yes, you can play the snarky bastard. No, I don't think it has anything to do with the perspective or politics. It's entirely musical. I like lots of bands with worldviews contrary to mine.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 1, 2011 12:15:19 GMT -5
Out of curiosity -- how do you account for your appreciation of the folky "Over the Rhine"? I don't know; it's a good question. My best excuse is that they strike me as more pop-oriented than folk. Their instrumentation is low key, but their core seems to be more Beatles pop than strummy folk.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 1, 2011 4:36:46 GMT -5
I had a realization tonight that put a lot of things in perspective. Okay, a few things. Okay, hardly anything. But I still felt like it was a breakthrough.
First a little backstory:
So the other night, I was having beer and wings and theology with a good friend. I once gave him drum lessons when he was in high school, and he's about to graduate with an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering and Astrophysics from CU Boulder. The other thing we have in common is our musical taste. Whenever we meet, we share new music recommendations. He was positively gushing over his new favorite bands, Mumford & Sons and The Head and the Heart. So I came home and checked them out on iTunes. (I had heard rumblings about Mumford, but had somehow missed actually hearing them until now.)
I enjoy me some bluegrass when the season's right, and I'm always in favor of good musicians being creative and original. And I understand why, in the age of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and Nickelback and Kanye and Taylor Swift and autotune, when everything sounds pre-packaged and overproduced and corporate music rules the day, the backlash leads to stripped-down arrangements of down-home instruments like pianos, acoustic guitars, banjos, harmonicas, accordions and foot-stomps, with plaintive and reflective lyrics that are still clever, all recorded without an iota of reverb. (Good Lord, that was a long sentence.) I get all that. But when I listened to those two bands, I was really unimpressed and even found myself making a crinkle face.
And that's when it hit me: I don't like folk music.
Maybe it was never about Bob Dylan. Maybe it's the entire genre. The Guthries. Simon & Garfunkel. James Taylor. Nick Drake. Elliott Smith. Even folk chicks like Carole King or Joni Mitchell or the Indigo Girls. Give me an album of acoustic singer-songwriter melancholy and I'll be polite, but I'll hate it.
The breakthrough for me was even deeper: It's not just folk artists I eschew, it also seems to be rock bands where the skeleton of their music is based on folk. The Eagles, for one. Also, Neil Young. Maybe it's why Springsteen never did much for me. Name any trendy indie band. Wilco? Yep. Arcade Fire? You betcha. Sufjan Stevens? And how. Mumford & Sons? Sadly, yes.
The thing is, I've tried. I've really tried to like these artists. And I freely admit that they all have something creative and amazing to offer. I just didn't realize the common denominator was this simple until tonight. If the core of the sound is based on folk, I'm just not going to like it. It's not for lack of hooks or musicianship or melody or performance. It's something more elemental than that. Something in my subconscious musical brain identifies it and finds it abrasive. Folk music is the raspberry pip that gets stuck in between my musical teeth. Motown soul and bluesy rock & roll is the floss.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 30, 2011 10:08:58 GMT -5
I feel bad for all of you Eagles fans. Even when they were winning and going to championship games every year, they always seemed to be missing something. I could never put my finger on what it was, but I was never surprised when they lost the big game. Maybe it is Andy Reid. Then again, of all the divisions, it seems like the NFC East has a pattern of building teams around selfish skill players who worry more about contracts and hype than winning.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 28, 2011 10:25:29 GMT -5
I feel for the Broncos fans. Watching these sports media types has to be frustrating for you. Yes. I saw Dan Patrick's comment as well. My first thought was, "He didn't watch the game." When Tebow goes 2 for 8, he's terrible and it doesn't matter if he wins in the end. When he throws great passes like he did yesterday, it's still not good enough. He didn't have a game winning drive at the end, just a game tying one, so it doesn't count. Yesterday's QB ratings: Tebow 95.4; Rivers 77.1. In Patrick's defense, the Denver defense is really good right now. Von Miller is the best draft pick we've had in decades.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 24, 2011 23:14:25 GMT -5
i'm thankful for google so i can look up bon mots such as "integumentary." And now that you know, aren't you thankful you have one?
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 24, 2011 12:24:49 GMT -5
I'm thankful for the proper grammar of this thread title.
I'm also thankful for my integumentary system. I can't imagine what life would be like without it. Well, I can imagine, and it would be gross.
I'm thankful for all of the involuntary and unwarranted blessings that make life possible. My belief system calls that "grace", which has the same root as "gratitude". I think there's something to that.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 20, 2011 20:48:48 GMT -5
Thought I'd bump this thread to say that this afternoon I watched a game called by Joe Buck, then a game called by Jim Nantz, and now a game called by Al Michaels. Wow, what a difference. Michaels has long been the best in the business, but after the mundane stylings of the other two, he especially stands out as the gold standard.
Also, Brent Musburger during a college game is a must listen.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 20, 2011 17:41:12 GMT -5
That was awesome.
"I make lists...all the time."
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Post by Mr. Atari on Nov 19, 2011 18:00:26 GMT -5
My go-to episode on a rainy day is always "The Crawling Eye". Always.
It's the perfect gloomy, slow-paced, creature feature with spooky clouds, beheadings, and a monster that doesn't show up until the last reel.
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