Visions of Ypsi

Verde FC Wrap-Up (as promised)

2010-10-29T10:43:00.005-05:00

As you'll recall, the league in which the Green Team played went to 7v7 last spring so we scrambled to put together a new team to play in a tougher league. Keeping the green theme, we went w/ Verde FC & enter the MUSL Over 30 5th Division. It was a fun experience & we'll definitely stay w/ it for next year, but we'll have to make some improvements in order to get more points & move up the table a bit.

As a brand new team, finishing bottom of he lowest division didn't surprise me too much, but what did surprise me was the lack of quality in some of the other squads. Had we had enough players on a regular basis, we would have gotten more than 5 points out of the 14 matches (that still puts us on track to finish better than Derby County did in the Premier League a few years ago when they were relegated w/ 10 points after 38 matches). We were short-handed more often than not though which was rough. Playing 8 or 9 against a full side week-in & week-out starts to weigh on ones soul a bit. Everyone on the team improved though so moving ahead, things look good. We had 22 people on the roster but only 15 who showed up on a regular basis (& only about half from week to week). Other than that, our friendships got stronger & the dedication was always there. Even when losing 4-0 w/ 9 people, we kept going forward & trying to play decent soccer, so we can take that from the season as well. Plus, I rediscovered my love of slide-tackling. Even though I also rediscovered the weekly bruises that occur in a tougher league, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. Perhaps next year, we'll relocate to the Ypsi area, sell some kits, & get a few people out to support us on a weekly basis. Start writing your Verde FC songs now so you'll be ready come when May rolls around.

Hey, do any of you guys know how to Madison?

2010-10-28T21:57:00.005-05:00

Ryan Adams: "Halloween Head"

Ryan Adams: "I See Monsters"

Warren Zevon: "Werewolves of London"

Jerry Garcia Band: "Werewolves of London"

Michael Jackson: "Thriller"

Tim Curry "Sweet Transvestite"

I do the Rock, myself.

Arsenal Highlight Series

2010-10-25T05:44:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I last remembered to do this, but if you want to see the ones we missed, you can srcoll through the old ones after you watch it. Stay tuned for a Verde FC season wrap up coming soon too.

Donetsk Don't Tell

2010-10-20T18:18:00.003-05:00

The Soccer Aspect of this Post
Arsenal continue their amazing run in the Champions League yesterday by beating Shaktar Donetsk 5-1 in London which brings their goal tally in the competition to 14 in three games. Awesome! Not only did they score 5, but they were scored by 5 different people: Song, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshire, & Chamakh. The goal they conceded, 8 minutes from the end, was scored by Eduardo. He had played for Arsenal for the last few years before leaving this past summer. He suffered a nasty multiple fracture that kept him out of the squad for over a year, so seeing him get goal was nice too.

The Politics Aspect of this Post
In other news, Don't Ask Don't Tell has been in the news lately, & it seems to finally be on its last legs. Dan Choi has re-enlisted & the courts seem to have done their job. We'll see. Of course, the real reason I'm discussing it is because it fit so nicely into the title. And because it will work as a happy transition into a little fun talk about the election. With all of the ballot proposals coming up next month, I thought you might enjoy this little link: Ballotopedia. It's a little wiki that can keep us all up to date on them, including Califoria's attempt to decriminalize weed & Oklahoma's attempt to make English the state's official language, as the elction gets closer. Enjoy... & dn't say I never gave you nuthin'.

Bad News Everywhere I Go

2010-10-16T21:47:00.006-05:00

Last night @ The Magic Bag, Whitey Morgan & the 78's had their fun CD release party for their 2nd album, Whitey Morgan & the 78's. We'd been looking foreword to is for a few weeks, but @ the last minute Stephanie came down w/ a nasty cold. She still wanted the cd though, so I gave Dan a call & the 2 of us checked it out. We got there right as Horse Cave Trio, a fun rockabilly group w/ w/ obvious influences from Carl Perkins & ZZ Top were starting "That's Alright, Mama." I love it when I walk in on a band I've never seen & they play a tune I love. They also did a dark cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" which reminded us of "Jesus Left Chicago." The other song that stands out, I imagine it's called "Outlaw Blues" because they used that phrase a lot, was less impressive. Rule 1: Name a song after a Dylan song... you got big shoes to fill. Rule 2: verses modeled after "The Future's so Bright" don't really fit in a song named after a Dylan song. They were fun, & certainly talented, but were definitely 1 trick ponies.

At 11:40, Whitey came out & rocked. Apparently, Seger's manager was there checking them out. I hope he dug it because they played a fantastic set. To the best of my memory, here's the list:

Paradise >Bad News
Cheatin' Again
Honky Tonk Angel
Cocaine Train
Another Round
If It Ain't Broke
Memories Cost A lot
Turn Up the Bottle
Where Do You Want It?
I Ain't Drunk

Encore:
Honky Tonk Heros
Crazy

They were great & he crowd was fantastic (albeit a bit smaller than I expected). Dan seemed to dig them too, which was very cool. However, I had a scary ass moment on the way home.

I was rollin' down Southfield 'round 1:30 when the driver's side rear wheel started makin' noise. It sounded like something was caught in the wheel, but then it just stopped... w/in 30 seconds I as on the side of the road though. The tire blew out in what might be the most inconvenient place on Earth. There I was, laying just off of the expressway in the dark w/ cars wizzing by @ 70 MPH. I can say this... it wasn't fun. i got the tire changed & slowly on my stupid little spare made it home.

This afternoon, after watching Arsenal gain a few points on Chelsea, I headed out to replace the tire. I was hoping to find an open junk yard to keep it on the cheap: no dice. I ended up @ a shady auto place on Michigan Ave. At that point, I stalled in the lot & couldn't get it started again. (Sidenote: it stalls all the time, like @ every stop.) It turns out it I needed a new battery & a new starter so what started as a hunt for a cheap tire ended w/ me splashing a lot more cash than i could afford. On the positive side, they replaced the PVC Elbow which was the cause of the stalling. The ironic thing is that I tried to replace it 6 months ago, but the places I went claimed they couldn't get one. Furthermore, the constant stalling & restarting was what cause the other problems. Had I been able to replace it when I 1st tried, the other things would have been avoided. At least it'll work right now, and I'll be sure to make it out to the next Whitey Morgan show. You should too.

Let's Talk About Bond Songs, Baby

2010-10-11T10:08:00.004-05:00

Encore Action has been showing James Bond films almost every night for a couple months. Of course, this means I've been watching a lot lately. Last night, for instance, Live & Let Die was on, followed by The Spy Who Loved Me. This got me thinking about the quality of the theme songs these films have sported over the years. I then, obviously, realized I needed to rank the Top 5. Before we get to that though, here's a little bit about a couple that didn't make the cut. "Tomorrow Never Dies" is the only Bond theme sung by someone who has had her ass a little bit groped by @ least 1 of the writers for Visions of Ypsi. (Actually, I was pushing her out of my way & accidentally touched her ass so it might not qualify as a "grope.") "Goldeneye" is the only Bond film to have a theme song sung by someone whose best theme song wasn't for a Bond film; Tina Turner should have given up on film themes after her awesome performance of "We Don't Need Another Hero" for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. The other reason "Goldeneye" gets special mention is because, while it was performed by Tina Turner, it was written by Bono & The Edge. Here we have a case of the entertainment industry tying to create the perfect song, ie: too many cooks in the kitchen. Lastly, Rita Coolidge, Rita Coolidge may have done it for Willie Nelson, & "All Time High" is a cool song, her country stuff in the 1970's was just so much better that it seems like a let-down.

Before we get to the list, we need to set down a few guidelines. Songs have been selected based on 3 categories: relationship to the content of the film, representation of the artist's general catalogue, & all around awesomeness. And now, your Visions of Ypsi Top 5 James Bond Themes:
5) "Goldfinger: It's a weird song & hard to believe it could have been a hit. Never the less, it rose to #8 on the US charts in 1964.

4) "Nobody Does it Better" Carley Simon's song from The Spy Who Loved Me is good stuff. Her voice is perfect w/o the cheesy '70's qualities found in many of her other songs. Of course, that means it doesn't represent her other work very well... hence 4th rather than 2nd.

3) "For Your Eyes Only" I never assumed Sheena Easton would get props on this site, but props where props are due. It's a cool song, & it works well w/ the movie. I've always really liked it.

2) "Live & Let Die" Many people would complain about this because they feel that Sir Paul should top the list. That however, would be an inaccurate claim. It's a great song, but it doesn't represent the complete Wings repertoire.

1) "A View to a Kill" This song scores high in all 3 criteria. It's perfect for a mid-80's Bond film, it sounds like everything else Duran Duran recorded, & it is simply awesome.

Archie Comics

2010-10-06T15:34:00.005-05:00

Who's the real king in queen Archie's world? Hooper X suggested that it is Jughead, but it may not be Jughead for long. In the September issue of Veronica, Veronica #202, Kevin Keller moves to Riverdale. He is apparently Riverdale's 1st openly gay resident. Considering the population of Riverdale, that seems hard to believe, but I guess the possibility of gay people Riverdale never occurred to the gang. On breaks @ Nicola's, I've read a few Archie books, but I hadn't noticed this new one. I hope there are still a few left on Friday when I go in there again.In this issue, Veronica has a thing for the new kid in school, Kevin, but he obviously isn't interested in her. Jughead, out of jealousy (& maybe homosexual panic) develops a plan to get revenge on veronica for liking a gay guy more than she likes Jughead. The plan involves not letting her in on Kevin's homosexuality in order to see how long they can go laughing behind her back. Nice work, guys. "Ha ha ha... she likes a fag and doesn't know it!" Real classy. Of course, by the end it all works out & they all become friends as we learn that we should all tolerate the gays in out community too (and not a moment too late). But only if we really, really have to, right Arch? Here's a fun little story about it from Talk of the Nation.

James Garner Garners Some Praise from Visions of Ypsi

2010-10-05T21:23:00.007-05:00

The week after I got out of 5th grade, I was in a promotional video for GM that was filmed @ the State Park in Petoskey. (The following year, I was in a GM commercial that actually aired on TV & I have a cop of it waiting to be transferred from VHS to the computer as soon as I find someone w/ the technology to d0 that... so don't worry, it'll be on Youtube for your viewing pleasure soon enough.) I returned from filming to learn that while I was out, cable television had come to Parkview, our neighborhood just west of Petoskey. Of the 9 channels we got, 1 of them was WKBD-TV 50 from Detroit. ("What were the other 8 channels?" you ask... Disney, The Movie Channel, EPSN, CNN, The Nashville Network, USA, MTV, & TBS.) One night that summer, WKBD showed a movie that changed the course of my life (& the life of my siblings as well). My dad recorded that movie that night & we watched it as a family. I even remember the dessert I ate that night: vanilla ice-cream w/ crème de menthe. The movie we watched on that fateful night was Support Your Local Sheriff. By that point in my life, I'd already seen some Rockford Files episodes, so I knew who James Garner was, but after watching the film, I realized that he is pretty freaking awesome. If you don't believe me, watch him in The Great Escape. People always point to Steve McQueen as the star, but Garner steals the show.

You may recall that a couple years ago, I went on a Rockford run & watched it every nightly. Since then, Channel 38, WADL in Detroit is no longer showing it, but Encore Western has been showing Maverick which is just as awesome. If you haven't seen it, give it a go. It was on from 1957-1962 & is one of the strangest shows I've ever seen. It runs the gamut from straight ahead Western to everything else under the sun: hard-boiled mystery, drawing room comedy, adventure, romance, tongue-in-cheek con (even The Sting lifts a large part of its plot from a Maverick episode), Shakespearean tragedy, & satirical post-modern social commentary.

Along w/ the great writing & bizarre plots is the stellar cast. Not only do we get James Garner as Bret Maverick, but his brother Bart is played by Jack Kelly & we get guest appearances from Clint Eastwood, Buddy Epsen, & Adam fucking West! After James Garner left the show, he was replaced by Roger Moore who played Beau, their British cousin. This role lead directly to Moore's starring role in The Saint which in turn set him up to replace Sean Connery as Bond. I know I haven't been blogging as much lately, but w/ teaching, soccer, & the fact that readership is down, I haven't been ass motivated. However, the need to celebrate James Garner & Maverick couldn't be back-burnered any more. Besides, I actually got Aiden to watch an episode the other day... if only we'd have ice cream w/ crème de menthe.

Phone Posting

2010-09-24T11:00:00.002-05:00

You may remember that about a year ago the cord for the lap-top stopped working. We got a new one, but recently, it became clear that it wasn't long for this world. The rubber coting was pulling away from the plug & a few days ago sparks started to shoot out of it. As I didn't have any electrical tape, I put some duct tape over it for the time being. However, that was only going to work for so long. Yesterday, the battery died & I noticed that the green light on the cord wasn't lit. Assuming there was a connection problem under the tape, I started to unravel it & it took it upon itself to scare the shit out of me by sparking in my hands. (Yes... I'd forgotten to unplug it first.) Once it was unplugged, I realized the out-put plug (which had been under the tape) had broken clean off. To make a short story even shorter, the cord will be purchased @ Clover Computers next week after I get paid, but until then I've only got my phone & my office computer.

Arsenal Highlight Series

2010-09-22T05:46:00.002-05:00

I had some problems getting the video from the weekend draw w/ Sunderland to post, but in this video you'll see Lansbury's 1st goal for Arsenal, Robbie Kean score from an off-side position, 2 penalties well taken by Nasri, & then a sweet set piece w/ Arshavin. Enjoy. You can then scroll back for the Sunderland stuff.

Summer Reading

2010-09-21T13:28:00.002-05:00

Here we have reviews of some of the books I've read recently... & by recently, I mean going back to march or April. Feel free to come on up to Nicola's this evening after the Arsenal match & pick up a copy of these books... or order them used right here.

Roddy Doyle: The Van
I read this last spring in the run up to the World Cup. It's part of Doyle's series that also gave us The Commitments, & it takes place in Dublin, set against the back drop of Ireland's 1990 run in the World Cup. The 2 main characters get a "chip van" & wait outside of pubs to sell burgers & fries to the fans after the Ireland matches. It's a fun little book. Subtle & very well crafted.
Bernard Cornwell: Sharpe's Eagle
depending on how you catalogue them, this is either the 1st, 2nd or 8th book in the Sharpe series. It was the 1st written, the 8 in the chronology of the main character's life, & 2nd in the film series. When I grabbed Sharpe's Rifles last year, I didn't realize that the 1st in the films wasn't the 1st in the series. They're fun book, but they lack any real depth. The historical specificity is fantastic though.
Roberto Bolano: The Savage Detectives
This is an amazing book! Bolano is definitely the real deal. Born in Chile, he spent about 15 years in Mexico City before moving to Barcelona where he wrote his novels (most of which take place primarily in Mexico). The structure is frustrating as Hell, but it's well worth it. We get bout 150 pages of a college kid's diary, 400 pages of 3 or 4 page vignettes from about 20 different narrators, & then another 100 pages of the diary from the beginning.
Roberto Bolano: Amulet
Narrated by one of the many narrators of The Savage Detectives, this follows the "Mother of Mexican Poetry" through about 25 years of Mexican literary life... flashing between the ever changing present & the time she spends hiding from the military in a college bathroom stall. It's a much simpler read than The Savage Detectives (& much shorter), but well worth it.
Roberto Bolano: The Romantic Dogs
One of 2 collections of poetry I read this summer. Again, I can't praise Bolano enough. He started as a poet in Mexico, but refused to publish (claiming that publishing for for bougie suckers), but once he had some kids in Spain, he realized some cash wouldn't be a bad thing so we get a bunch of his stuff all @ once. The translations are only just now coming out... & they're coming fast & furiously. Read him!
Paul Beatty: Joker, Joker, Deuce
This is the other book of poetry I read this summer. Like w/ all of Beatty's novels, it's hilarious, heartbreaking, & loaded w/ pop-culture minutiae. He actually has 2 books of poetry, but they're both out of print already. His other one was going for $150 though, so I haven't had a chance to get that yet. If you're into the post-modern poets, give both of these guys a go.
Paul Beatty: Tuff
Paul Beatty provides a great example of the difference between st & 3rd person narratives. In his other 2 novels, we get 1st person narrators telling great, sarcastic stories. This one, though, is a 3rd person story about a young thug in Harlem who ends up running for city council. It's good, but had he stuck w/ the 1st person of his 1st book (he went back to it w/ his 3rd book), this would have been better. Interestingly, writing classes & writers' workshops often suggest 3rd person as an easier, more useful way to write. Here we see that, @ least as far as Beatty is concerned, that isn't always the case.
Colson Whitehead: Sag Harbor
Brand new in paperback, I'm teaching it this fall, so I gave it a go. He's not quite as pop-culture oriented as Beatty, not quite as flowingly poetic as Whitman, not quite as nostalgic as Jean Shepherd, & not quite as political as Ishmael Reed. If it wasn't for the running political commentary on race relations on Long Island during the 1980s, I'd say it would make perfect beach reading. As it stands, it'll be a good book on which to end the semester. It's nothing too weird or revolutionary, but it's fun... plus, members of UTFO make a cameo appearance!
Michael Cox: The Meaning of Night
This seems to have so much potential, but doesn't quite cut it. I struggled w/ this for months, thinking it would get better, but it never really did. I bet it'd make a fun movie though. It's narrated in flashbacks by a murderer explaining why he killed a man, but the flashbacks don't quite hold together, & the pacing is a bit slow. I'll give you the link, but I don't really recommend it.
Ishmael Reed: Barack Obama & the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers
If the title doesn't do it for you, nothing will. It's a collection of essays concerning the media treatment of Obama, comparing it to the treatment of slaves by overseers. At times, it's a bit over-the-top, but in general, it's pretty amazing.
Jean Baudrillard: Simulacra & Simulation
I'd been sitting on this for a long time, but was a little intimidated so I finally got to it recently. I was right to be intimidated, because it's a pretty tough go, but it's worth it. It's fun stuff. A great Borgesian look @ art, literature, & pop-culture.
Flann O'Brien: At Swim-Two-Birds
We started w/ an Irishman, so we'll end w/ 1 too. Close friends w/ James Joyce, O'Brien lets his post-modern flag fly in this weird-ass book. I love it. A college student in Dublin is writing a book about a guy writing a book in which his characters revolt & put him on trial because he's a shit-ass writer. It moves between the 3 different narratives running @ the same time, while lampooning Irish history & mythology. Word up!

Oliver Kuttner & The X Prize

2010-09-16T07:50:00.005-05:00

His car, looking like something out of THX-1138 or Logan's Run, or some other rarely seen '70s sci/fi film, won the coveted X-Prize, a 10 Million dollar award given to environmentally friendly automobiles. His car weighs in @ just over 800 pounds & gets a whopping 110 miles to the gallon. It's even got a back seat & everything so 4 people can sit (albeit probably not so comfortably) in this thing. Furthermore, test runs were made @ the Michigan International Speedway so we get to call this a local interest story too! Here's the story from Morning Edition. Check it out! And then you can check out & edit the Wikipedia page about it.

The Arsenal Highlight Series

2010-09-14T07:50:00.003-05:00

I don't know why I've never done this before, but better late than never I suppose. We'll start today & see how long it lasts. Each week, after an Arsenal FC match, you'll be able to find the official Arsenal highlight footage here. Of course, when they lose 5-0 @ home to Chelsea, we may accidentally forget to post that week. I'm not going to bore you w/ some bullshit Youtube, fan-edited reel set to some shit-ass Euro-trance stuff though. I'll only be posting once the official stuff is released. After the video plays, you can scroll through the back footage to find the Arsenal highlights from the 1st 3 matches as well. Now, enjoy Arsenal's 4-1 thrashing of Bolton w/ goals from Koscielny, Chamakh, Song, Vela, & Bolton's Elmander. Also, you'll be able to see Gary Cahill's less than red-cardish red-card. don't say I never did anything for you... enjoy!

RIP: Ron Walters

2010-09-13T20:15:00.004-05:00

NPRPolitical Junkie

Begging Your Indulgences...

2010-09-11T20:34:00.005-05:00

I'd like to post another Whitey Morgan post, but this one is about this evening

Stephanie is spending the weekend w/ her mom while her mom's husband is out of town. Tonight she took the kids w/ her so I had a night of pseudo-bachelorhood. W/ my night, I grabbed a tempeh burger @ Sidetrack before heading out to see Whitey & the 78s. The catch here is that they were playing @ the Scorpions MC clubhouse between South Lyon & Milford. It meant another Saturday night w/ a long drive to see those guys, but more importantly, it meant I was hanging out @ a motorcycle club clubhouse. I'm sure they're fine upstanding citizens (probably 9-5 yuppies), but I felt out of place like a mother fucker! I know it was all in my imagination, but I felt as though everyone was looking at me like I was a narc or something. I enjoyed a PBR, tolerated 1/2 a can of Miller Lite & hung out in the corner while watching the band. Had I known anyone, it would have been different, but I'm gad I went because I'd never been tot a MC clubhouse nor had I ever gone out on my own like that. Whenever I've gone by myself to see a band or whatever, I've always known I would run into friends, so this was a good experience. If only I had more leather.

Lovable Loser & No Account Boozers

2010-09-05T13:19:00.004-05:00

We went out last night to see Whitey & the 78s. Stephanie had never seen them, & I hadn't seen them in a couple years. They were playing @ the Inverness Inn which is about 1/2 way between Dexter & Chelsea on N. Territorial. It's not in Butt Fuck Egypt, but you can see it if you squint. It's a fun roadhouse style place w/ a nice mixture of locals (who knew people lived there?) & die-hard fans. I'd definitely make the trek again, but next time I see them will probably be in Ypsi. Jeremy said they'll be playing the Savoy in November & I expect to see many of you there.

Last night, they opened w/ "Me & Paul" then "Swingin' Doors," "Lonesome, Orn'ry & Mean," and "Workingman Blues." They moved away from the covers and did a few off of their 1st CD, played some new stuff that absolutely smokes, threw in some more Waylon & Merle covers including "Mama Tried" & "Sing Me Back Home." They played a couple Hank Williams tunes tunes too ("Your Cheatin' Heart" & something I didn't know).

Their new CD comes out in October & they've singed w/ Bloodshot Records, a record label that has seen the likes of Ryan Adams, Neko Case, Whiskeytown, & The Old 97s and is the current home of The Bottle Rockets, The Detroit Cobras, & Rosie Flores. The album was recorded in Woodstock @ Levon Helm's studio, & Larry Campbell (formerly of Bob Dylan's band & Phil & Friends... & Grammy winning producer of Levon's newest records) appears on a couple tracks. It should be amazing.

"Crazy"
"Another Round"
Check out more of their stuff on the Whitey Morgan & the 78s on Myspace and then you can pre-order the new CD here:

Spacey-a-thon Post #5: Another 8 Reviews

2010-09-04T09:12:00.004-05:00

The Men Who Stare @ Goats:
We watched this back in the beginning of May, & it's the 1 that started this whole ridiculous marathon. I wrote about it then, but I feel that a quick mention of it now is a good way to ensure it's connected to the official reviews. It's a fantastically weird movie. Great cast... great plot... great look @ the insanity inherent in the military.

Moon:
A co-worker kept telling me that this is cool, but we only got around to it a couple weeks ago. I really dig it. It's even weirder than The Men Who Stare @ Goats. See it. A man is alone on a moon mining base & Spacey does the voice of his companion robot. Things go wrong & we find ourselves deep in the middle of a nice existential discussion involving cloning @ subjectivity.

Recount:
This is about 3 years old & takes a close look into the Florida recount of 2000. Spacey plays a lawyer for Gore's people & we get John Hurt & Tom Wilkinson as Warren Christopher & James Baker. Oddly, 2 great British actors play the former Secretaries of State... & turn in great performances. It reawakened all the anger that lies deep w/in me concerning that election which I'm sure was part of the point, but all sides are considered in a pretty balanced way. Certainly more balanced than anything Fair & Balanced that we've become used to on Fox.

Ordinary Decent Criminal:
We watched this 1 the other night. It's a little caper flick that takes place in Dublin w/ Spacey as a master criminal w/ an Irish accent. It's OK, but not great. The capers are fun, but the cops are a but 1 dimensional & it seems to have trouble figuring out if it's an action/comedy or some sort of arty thing.

Henry & June:
The 1st ever NC-17 film is also the 1st Spacey film (other than See No Evil, Hear No Evil) that I ever saw. It's as good as I remember, but the pacing is a bit off. Maybe 10 minutes could be cut off. It's a fun look @ the writers' lives in Paris between the wars. Although, it's always made me want to read Henry Miller, I've never actually been able to get through Tropic of Cancer... it's more self-indulgent than this blog.

Glengarry Glen Ross:
I'd never seen this 1 before. The cast is amazing, but I'm sure you're all aware of that. I think I may be the last person on Earth not to have seen this. It's cool, but I wonder if the dialogue w/in each scene is more important than the overall plot which doesn't really go anywhere. BTW, Jack Lemmon is fantastic. Who knew? I think Some Like it Hot may be the only other Jack Lemmon film I've seen. That's kind of embarrassing.

A Bugs Life:
We watched this 1 w/ the kids a couple months ago. I'd seen it when Solstice & Aiden were little. It's good, but it's no Toy Story.

L.A. Confidential:
Awesome. Like The Usual Suspects, it's 1 of Spacey's defining films. I hadn't seen it in years, but I doubt I'll go that long w/o it again. The hard boiled story is fun w/ great writing & a fantastic performance by James Cromwell.

Afternoon in the "D" w/ the Kids

2010-09-02T14:44:00.005-05:00

We were going to go to Lansing today but Isaiah is sick & Stephanie had a headache so I decided to do a little syllabizing & then take them out around here. we grabbed lunch @ American Coney Island. I'd been to Lafayette many time when I was a kid but I'd never been to American. People seem to have a preference, but I don't quite understand the difference... same owners, same food, same atmosphere, same block. Apparently, American beat Lafayette on some Travel Channel show last week; I didn't see it, I've never even heard of the show, so I'm not too impressed w/ the victory. The food, on the other hand, was great. Chili fries & a pair of coneys. I was almost done before I realized they had beer. Oh well... next time.After we ate, wee hit the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. I had never actually been there before... it's amazing! I've sent my students there many times, but the only time I got there was just into the gift shop... never around the actual exhibits. Solstice & Aiden were really into it, but Aiden was (justifiably) creeped out by the Slave Ship exhibit. There was also an exhibit celebrating big, colorful women's hats. I wasn't quite as interested in that, but it was alright. I can't wait to go back. Anyone interested in a trip down there?Or a trip out to Chelsea on Saturday night for Whitey Morgan at the Inverness Inn. The show starts @ 9:00 & I think it's outdoors. I haven't seen them in a few years, & they have a new CD coming out next month, so it should be a fun time.

The Champions League Draw Today

2010-08-26T11:51:00.004-05:00

Group A: F.C. Internazionale Milano,* SV Werder Bremen, Tottenham Hotspur FC,** & FC Twente

Group B: Olympique Lyonnais,* SL Benfica,** FC Schalke 04, & Hapoel Tel Aviv FC

Group C: Manchester United,* Valencia CF, Rangers FC,** & Bursaspor 1963

Group D: FC Barcelona,* Panathinaikos, FC Kobenhavn, & Ruben Kazan**

Group E: FC Bayern Munich,* AS Roma,** FC Basel 1893, & CFR Cruj 1907

Group F: Chelsea FC,* Olympique de Marseille, FC Spartak Moscow** & MŠK Žilina

Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid FC,* AFC Ajax,** & AJ Auxerre

Group H: Arsenal FC,* FC Shaktar Donesk,** SC Braga, & FK Partizan

* My pick for the 1st place teams in each group
** My fick for the 2nd place teams in each group

Here's my initial reaction to the draw:

Inter has Group A wrapped up already, but the 2nd place team will be tough. I think both Spurs & Bremen will be too much for Twente though.

Shalke could pip Benfica in Group B, but Tel-Aviv better hope for some lucky home wins if they want to finish anywhere but the bottom of the group.

Like Inter in Group A, Man U have Group C sealed already. Valencia could manage to get past Gers though. These Buraspor people will have a tough go of it... good luck to them upsetting Man U.

In Group D, I'd like to see Ruben Kazan make it out. They had a nice little run last year in the group stage. Maybe this is their year to reach the knock-out stage.

Roma got lucky to fall ass-backwards into a group w/ Basel & Cruj. Otherwise, I wouldn't have picked them to get out of their group.

It looks like Abromovich wasn't able to pull the strings to get an easy group for Chelsea like he usually does. It's nice to see them w/ a bit of competition for a change. They should still roll over everyone in Group F though.

Visions of Ypsi is unofficially the 1st blog to refer to Group G as the "Group of Death." It'll be a tough one for all of the teams. I'm sure Madrid will pull it together, but who knows?

Arsenal have, what looks on paper anyway, their easiest draw in ages. I hope they don't crew it up.

Four Nice, Young Boys from Liverpool

2010-08-25T07:38:00.007-05:00

And no, I'm not talking about Everton's Reserve back line or some random group of strikers who were never given a chance @ Liverpool under Rafael Benítez. I'm talking about The Beatles. Rolling Stone just released a list of the 100 Greatest Beatles Songs of all time. It's available in a fancy oversize issue w/ little fun facts about the songs (mostly just summary of the fun facts that we all learned in the Anthology series & the fun facts we learned growing up as members of the human ace). Here's the top 20:
1. "A Day in the Life"
2. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
3. "Strawberry Fields Forever"
4. "Yesterday"
5. "In My Life"
6. "Something"
7. "Hey Jude"
8. "Let It Be"
9. "Come Together"
10. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
11. "A Hard Day's Night"
12. "Norwegian Wood"
13. "Revolution"
14. "She Loves You"
15. "Help"
16. "I Saw Her Standing There"
17. "Ticket to Ride"
18. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
19. "Lucy in he Sky w/ Diamonds"
20. "Please Please Me"A couple of the songs seem a bit high on the list & while "She Loves You" is historically important, I don't know if it's really that great of a song. Ditto that w/ "Please Please Me." A couple months ago, RS released an updated version of their 500 Greatest Songs of all time list on which the Beatles songs are placed in a different order: "A Day in the Life" is the 6th Beatles song on that list (after "Hey Jude," "Yesterday," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Let it Be," & "In My Life." This contradiction seems to be raising some eyebrows in the Beatles fan/blogging community, but we must realize they used different critics & musicians to compose the lists so they were bound to differ.My real concern isn't in the slight differences but in the glaring omissions. As if a top 100 Beatles songs list isn't stupid enough considering that they only recorded about 200 originals in total (@ least 200 released on official Beatles records). It's an obvious money grab from RS sure to be followed up w/ yet another ridiculous compilation released before X-mas. Of the glaring omissions, "It's All Too Much," "Savoy Truffle," "Cry Baby Cry," & "Revolution #9" are the most glaring in my eyes. To suggest that "I Should Have Known Better" & "Ticket to Ride" are better than "#9" & "Savoy Truffle" is just sheer folly. Here's my Top 20 Beatles Songs: 1. "A Day in the Life"
2. "Helter Skelter"
3. "Revolution #9"
4. "Across the Universe"
5. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
6. "Strawberry Fields Forever"
7. "Rain"
8. The Abby Road Medley ("You Never Give Me Your Money" through "The End")
9. "She Said, She Said"
10. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
11. "Day Tripper"
12. "Come Together"
13. "Here, There, and Everywhere"
14. "Gotta Get You into My Life"
15. "Savoy Truffle"
16. "It's All too Much"
17. "Glass Onion"
18. "I Wanna Hold your Hand"
19. "Lucy in the Sky w/ Diamonds"
20. "Something"I know this list is no less problematic than the RS list, but that's OK... I'm really just interested in know what y'all's list would look like. Think about it for a few minutes & then let's see your top 20 Beatles songs in the comments section! John digs a sporran

Hot Tub Time Machine & a Thought About Reviews in General

2010-08-23T06:28:00.004-05:00

We watched it the other night, & Joel asked for a quick review, so here it goes.

It is a lot better than I expected. The plot has a few holes that would teach Goatsee a new meaning of the word "gaping," but for once, I didn't really care. The references to 80s films & time-travel films were fantastic... & more subtle than in most movies like this. Plus, Crispin Glover plays the 1 armed bell-hop. As a general rule, 80s time-travel movies are never complete until he makes an appearance. i say, "See it."

In other movie review news, At the Movies aired its last episode last week. Roger Ebert presents At the Movies will supposedly replace it, but the original show has ended. I must say, I loved that show. Film fans said they were dumbing down criticism by reducing it to such basic terms ("Thumbs up" / "Thumbs down") & others complained that they were too intellectual & that reviews "destroy the movie-going experience, but I liked to watch them about over the films. I still remember the 1st episode I saw; they reviewed Raider of the Lost Arc & I knew I HAD to see it. I think it was the same episode on which they reviewed some comedy that featured a scene where couple met @ a mattress store & humped on the show-room floor. I have no idea what film it is, but i might be an Alan Alda film. I also remember, a few years later, their review of Blame it on Rio. I never actually saw the movie until just a few years ago (in the height of my Michael Caine period), but the review always stuck w/ me. It was a long run, & like it or not, their impact on the movie-going experience can never be overlooked. Here's a little clip from your favorite 90s animated review show, The Critic, which features some fun references to The Twilight Zone, An Affair to Remember, &, oddly, Family Ties.

Some "New" Music

2010-08-19T07:01:00.002-05:00

We've gone on a bit of a music buying kick lately. It's been quite some time since I'd purchased CDs, & now suddenly I've picked up a bunch. We watched a documentary on PBS a few weeks ago about Merle Haggard... I think that's what started this. Here's a quick overview of what we've gotten:
1) Gram Parsons: GP/Grievous Angel
I know there are people out there who have based their lives on The Burrito's Guilded Palace of Sin & Burrito Deluxe, but I've always thought they were a bit too slick & over-produced. This feeling has lead me to ignore Gram's solo stuff until now... & that was a big mistake. I'm sure most of you know this already, but these 2 albums are fantastic. More closely resembling his work on The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo than his stuff w/ the Burritos. I've been enjoying this a lot lately!
2) Kris Kristofferson: Kristofferson
This is a pretty strange album. It's got his biggest hits on it but them some silly 70s singer/songwriter talking blues stuff & a song that sounds like it could have come from Kurt Weill. I like it a lot though. "Sunday Morning Coming Down" is soooo cool... but you knew that anyway.
3) Phish: Colorado '88
This is the earliest Phish recording I have. (I used to have older tapes, but I don't know what happened to them over the years.) This finds them right in the middle of their circus music meets Zappa phase before they got into the jazzier stuff a couple years later. It has all of The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday stuff plus a few tunes from Junta 7 some cool covers. It's an amazing document from the early day. It's crazy to think about how long they've been around. I haven't seen them since 1997, but I think if they were to come around here, I'd be sure to go again.
4) Emmylou Harris: Elite Hotel
This has been in Stephanie's car since I brought it home & thus I haven't listened to it yet. One of these day, Emmylou... One of these day!
5) Neko Case: Live in Austin, TX
I listened to this a few times already & loaned it to Liz & Dan who promptly returned it already too. I imagine people who like her already know that this is worth getting & people who haven't listened to her wont run out & get this, but do yourself a favor & give it a go. Her cover of "Buckets of Rain" is amazing!
6) Merle Haggard: 16 Biggest Hits
This is horrible! The track listing is good, the original recordings are great, but this has some fucked up rerecordings. His voice & he pedal steel are fine, but the drums sound like they were programmed on an old Casio keyboard. It's almost unlistenable... I take that back... it is unlistenable.
7) Norman Blake & Tony Rice: Blake & Rice
I've been loving Tony Rice since Drivetrain introduced me to him in 1997, but my knowledge of Norman Blake has been limited to cover versions of "Ginseng Sullivan." This is a fun rootsy bluegrass album (I know... big surprise). I've really been digging "New River Train" & "Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar," but everything is well done on the entire album.
8) The Flying Burrito Brothers: Close Encounters to the West Coast
Although it was recorded few years after Gram's death, & as such, doesn't feature Gram Parsons, I think this is my favorite Burrito Brothers album. The fact that it's live means there isn't the same studio slickness & they include some fun covers too: "Rocky Top," "Rollin' in My sweet Baby's Arms," "White Line Fever," & "Truck Drivin' Man."
9) Del McCoury Band: Del & the Boys
I've never really listened to them before, but people have been raving about them for 15 years. I'm glad I found this @ a garage sale for a buck, because I doubt I would have shelled out the money elsewhere, & it's really cool.

Something evil's lurking in the dark

2010-08-18T06:16:00.012-05:00

I've never been much for zombies. The resurgent zombie craze has, in fact, left me a bit baffled. I saw Night of the Living Dead, but I was more interested in the racial politics than the zombie stuff. I never even got around to Shaun of the Dead... & I really liked Superfuzz. (I never saw Run, Fat Boy, Run either though, so maybe my interest in Superfuzz is solely Timothy Dalton related.) As far as zombie books are concerned, there have been a bunch recently: World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, etc. Believe it or not, I haven't read any of those either. There is even a prequel to the Pride & Prejudice book although @ the moment, I can't recall what it's called. W/ this in mind, you can imagine my shock @ really being interested in this story. You should check it out... scientific evidence for zombie ants straight from The Guardian!

In other zombie news, I was watching a bit of the Man U game the other day & came to a fun realization. People have compare Berbatov to Dracula on many occasions, but it goes far beyond that. Alex Ferguson's House of Fucked Up Horrors also includes Igor, Michael Jackson's zombie from Thriller, & some weird cyborg. No wonder those bastards win so much... they're obviously dealing w/ the dark arts. (I found the Berbatov & Nani pics on-line but I had to make the Rooney & Owen ones... you better enjoy the effort!)

Carnies, Cokes & Cotton Candy

2010-08-13T07:05:00.005-05:00

In the build-up to the big Kelly Miller Circus, we watched a couple circus movies: The Greatest Show on Earth (which wasn't even the greatest show on TV that night) & Roustabout (an Elvis film that bares the distinction of being the only Elvis Film I've ever seen). I wonder if Elvis movies (all 31 of them) might be a good follow-up to the Spacey movies. I realized while watching it that I really have a predilection for loving crap. At t turns out, Roustabout is only vaguely circus related because it's only 1/2 circus; the other half is carnival, but it's unclear what it's supposed to be. We also saw a Dukes of Hazzard episode yesterday morning in which Luke joins some sort of traveling stunt-driving road show which is sort of circus related. And I watched the last hour of Octopussy in which a rogue Soviet officer plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in a circus tent on a US military base in West Berlin & James Bond dresses like the knife thrower (& later, like a clown) to infiltrate the roustabouts & save the day. Did you follow that? Good; there may be a pop-quiz @ the end of the post. As far as other circus movies go, we forgot about Big Top Pee Wee & Dumbo didn't come in time... oh well. Roger Moore IS James Bond!As or the actual circus yesterday, I took Isaiah to watch the tent raising in the morning. He brought his little stuffed elephant toy to show the elephants. He liked the camels too, but the elephants were his favorite. Afterwards, I called my sister & she came out in the afternoon to go w/ us to the show. We went to the 4:30 show so as to get home early, make pizza, & chill out in the evening rather than leaving @ 9:30 & fighting w/ Isaiah's bed-time.

I wish we could see a circus w/o the residual guilt that always comes after watching animals jump through hoops (similar to the guilt I feel every time I eat meat). That said, we had a good time watching the animals jump through hoops. Isaiah loved the dogs, the tigers, & most importantly, the elephants. The older kids dug the ropes/tumbling stuff & Aiden seemed to love the clowns too. I think Elizabeth had fun, & Sam was paying much more attention than we expected he would. He's also developing a strong interest in watching the other kids. While Isaiah couldn't b bothered while watching the elephants, Sam couldn't be bothered while watching Isaiah. It was pretty cute. The down side this year was 2 fold. 1) It was moved from Riverside Park to Parkside Park which just isn't as good of a location. 2) It was hot as Hell in the tent. Other than that, a good time was had by all. They're playing Fowlerville this evening, so you should go check it out.

Jamboree Day 2

2010-08-09T06:56:00.005-05:00

Woke up Saturday morning, poured an XL Rum & Coke, & walked up to the park in time to catch the Mayflys set. Lots of EMU folk were in attendance, but most took off w/o coming back for the other stuff later. It's nice that people came out to support the band, but they missed a lot of good stuff later in the day.

Mayflys:
A good mixture of the stuff from the CD & some new tunes. Super fun dancin' in the AM. There's talk of a Mayflys' appearance @ Daye & Pete's Pumpkin Day party in Oct. That should be cool. There's also talk of a Mayflys' gig in Chicago so I guess we'll be up for a road-trip... I hope Jim has a big floor. If only they played "The Eleven"... or "Whippin' Post". Joe loves the 11/4 so I assumed it was coming.

Funktion:
These guys are a fun funk/hip hop/fusion band from the K-Zoo. Daye was losing her mind for them, so I suppose we can expect them to get an invite to Pumpkin Day too. Overall, that seems to imply a 3 band event 9assuming that those guys from Wisconsin come back again. Anyway, while Funktion as playing, I took Solstice to get some henna from Kelly, my former student & current Facebook Scrabble partner. We @ Visions of ypsi are also proud of her as we introduced her to Charmie & she's been writing for Charmie's Medical marijuana newspaper, The Midwest Cultivator. Afterwards, I took Aiden to meet Brandon Inge @ the Verizon Wireless store next on Washtenaw. he was thrilled & I got to use it as good bribery to keep him havin' fun throughout the fest. Afterwards, we enjoyed the S. African portion of the Foods of the World Cup, fixed another XL Rum & Coke, grabbed our mitts & baseball, & headed back to the park. (We missed Hullabaloo & Rootstand during this Inge/lunch break.)

Dick Siegel:
I hadn't seen him since I went to the Gypsy Cafe w/ Jenn about 11 years for a Bob Dylan b-day celebration when he played "Positively 4th Street." I dig him. Fun acoustic jazzy pop... just like he song y'all know from "Sunday Morning Over Easy."

Wayward Roots:
After a nice, if unintended, tribute to the Grateful Dead (ie: 15 minutes of tuning before the 1st song), these guys pulled off some really good Bluegrass. I love a band w/ dobro & these guys are a band w/ dobro. Maybe the 1st Dobro I've seen in a local band since Drivetrain. Check them out if you get the chance.

Nervous but Excited:
A fun, eclectic folk duo in the style of The Indigo Girls. We all dug them & their cover of "Faith." See them when they play around town.

Black Jake & the Carnies:
These guys are fun as fuck! See them again & again & again! Like punk bluegrass. Loud, silly, a little angry, & featuring a guy who just moved in down the street on banjo (& vocals)... & he played both Scruggs style & claw-hammer throughout each song. They are fantastic... definitely my find of the fest. Isaiah seemed to dig them too as he sat on my shoulders (IE: "Up-Top") as we danced & watched some guy break-dance in the dirt in front of the stage. We also got our pc taken & it should be in the Ypsilanti Courier this week!

The Ben Miller Band:
Good stuff, but I wasn't quite as into them as everyone else seemed to be. I would have preferred the Glen Miller Band, but they're fun... & have a washtub bass.

October Babies:
I didn't dig them nearly as much as everyone else. well, Stephanie didn't really like 'em much either. The bass player is really good & has been in tons of local bands over the years, but the singer is obnoxious as hell. I think she can get away w/ it because she's Asian & people can say, "Ohhh, she's sooo exotic!" Yeah, exotic like a Japanese game-show. If she were white, people would see through it quickly. She's like Yoko meets Bai Ling. I know this sounds pretty negative, but I won't say I disliked them. They sounded fantastic... it was just the stage antics that kind of got to me.

Laith Al-Saadi:
A damn good guitarist... & he covered "Whippin' Post"! Finally, the 11/4 for which we'd been waiting. He also covered "Ophelia." I love that song too. His 3-piece power-trio reminds me of Gov't Mule. They play @ the Savoy every Monday night for free... check 'em out.

The Ragbirds:
I hadn't seen them in a few years. They're really good, & it's nice to see they've been able to stay together. Interesting folk/multi-ethnic stuff going on. Most of you have seen them before, so there's not a lot I can add.

Over-all, the fest was fantastic. Maybe next year we'll get a couple more out-of-town headliners like The Meters or Phil & Friends. Phil might be a bit too much to ask for, but maybe Los Lobos would do it. Up next, we've got the Kelly Miller Circus coming to town on Thursday. It's fun if more than a little problematic in terms of it's animal situation. The web-site responds to criticism not w/ a nice logical defense, but simply by attacking PETA... uncool. We'll be there anyway though. Besides, Tony the Clown's potato shtick will never get old.

Jamboree Day 1

2010-08-07T08:29:00.003-05:00

After a morning @ the DIA to check out the "Through African Eyes" exhibit (more about that in a few days), we stopped by my parents' house to drop off some boxes. They're moving across town so I grabbed some from Nicola's & Stephanie grabbed some from the Co-Op. Once Isaiah had his nap in the afternoon we headed down to the Jamboree. After checking out the vendors, we found a nice spot behind the tapers (all 2 of them) & settled in to watch the music. We missed Mr. Shz, but having seen them once before, we really didn't miss them @ all.

The 1st band we saw was Tokyo Sexwhale. They were pretty cool. Instrumental electronic jams kind of like Particle. They did a 15 minute version of the theme from Magnum PI & closed w/ a fun version of Henry Mancini's theme from A Shot in he Dark. I'll definitely keep my eyes & ears peeled so as to see these guys again.

Next was Theo Katzman. Apparently, he's in My Dear Disco. I liked them when I saw them, but solo, he was lacking something... like an interesting band I guess. His songs all sounded the same & he could have fit nicely on the early to mid-90s pop-charts w/ Matthew Sweet or Tom Cochran. or on the soundtrack from Reality Bites. He was talented, but didn't do it for me. I think Stephanie like him though, so it wasn't a complete wash.

We then went up to Aubrees w/ Georgina & missed most of Dragon Wagon. It's too bad because what we heard @ the end was some good bluegrass. I love me some good bluegrass. I want to say they were playing "Rollin in my Sweet Baby's Arms" & then "Shady Grove," but we were mingling & getting our chairs set up so I may be wrong.

Chuck's band Smokestack was up next. Maybe I'll post the Saga of Chuck from the 1996 Further tour on here soon to make y'all smile. Once you've read that, you'll realize why I was so shocked that he is actually a really good guitarist. I was impressed.

The penultimate performance came from The Macpodz. As far as local bands are concerned, I'd gotten tire of hearing "This band is really good; you should check them out." So I'd never seen them. I was never floored by Back 40 the way I was supposed to be. Hullabaloo are playing this afternoon, but the time I saw them I was under impressed. The Macpodz fell through the cracks... unfortunately. They're pretty fucking great. They're playing The Blind Pig in October & we might have to go. A trumpet player, a drummer, a guy on keys w/ some funky, "Superstitionesque" tones, a singer who also played some hand percussion & the flute, & an amazing bassist. The lack of a guitar threw me for a loop @ 1st, but the bass & horn filled in those gaps nicely. Very, very cool.

Last up was ekoostik hookah. We hadn't seen them since 1999. They haven't changed a whole lot. The guitarist is amazing, but the lyrics blow. I was loving the jams, but then they'd start singing again & it would become boring. They're cheesy sophomoric tunes about getting high & being a hippie. W/ a good lyricist, they could be a good band... or by dropping the lyrics & just doing instrumentals & covers they could be a cool band. As it stands, they're fun & maybe in another 10 years I'll give them another chance.

I'm about to make some PB&Js to bring up there in a few minutes as we check out The Mayflys. Be there! They start @ 11:00. Brandon Inge will be signing @ some Verizon place on Washtenaw @ 1:00 so I think I'll take Aiden up there while Isaiah takes a nap & then we'll be back @ the Jamboree for the rest of he afternoon & evening. See you there!

Spacey-a-thon Post #4: Some More Reviews

2010-08-04T07:34:00.002-05:00

Beyond the Sea:
This is a really cool movie. it got some mixed reviews, but I think a lot f that is due to the fact that it doesn't work like a normal music bio-pic. The flashbacks & dream sequences work nicely to give it a strange mythic feel. It does some nice stuff w/ Bobby Darin's political life during the late '60s. I had no idea he became some sort of anti-war/pro-civil rights hippie. Maybe that's common knowledge, but I didn't know it. I also didn't know he was married to Sandra Dee... but then again, all I knew about Sandra Dee I earned in Greece.
Shackleon's Antarctic Adventure:
I wrote the Wikipedia page about this movie for my ENGL 121 class in May. I wish we'd seen it in the IMAX theater when it was new. The cinematography is amazing. As is the life of Shackleton. Although, he may also have been bat-shit crazy. I wish it went into his relationship to the time period. It seems like that crazy drive to conquer stuff should be put into the context of the early 20th Century British ego 7 the fall of the British Empire.
Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil:
This movie is about 10 minutes too long. It's good, but a bt more editing would have helped the pace. It's a pretty crazy story based on a true murder in Savannah. I almost considered picking up the book, but true-crime isn't really my thing. Spacey plays the Southern gentleman/murderer & does a great job. It left me wondering if people down there really wander the streets w/ open booze @ all hours of the day & night. And if so, why don't we do that up here?
A Time to Kill:
Again w/ the open intoxicants. Them there down in Dixie are some rascally varmints. It's a good movie, but it plays on too many stereotypes. It's really predictable. Also, Ashley Judd is a shit actress. Her boob-sweat in every scene makes no sense either. Matthew McConaughey, on the other hand, was really good. What ever happened to that dude? He was so promising & then he went to shit.
The Usual Suspects:
Awesome. I hadn't seen it in about 10 years. But you all know it, so there's not much to say other that the usual "It's an awesome post-modern story about story-telling & the construction of reality."
Outbreak:
I saw this when it was 1st released on video & stayed clear of it ever since. And rightly so. It's a shit movie. spacey is good as the friend who dies. When his character contracts the disease & dies rather quickly, it's left unexplained how Renee Russo can then survive much longer & remain pretty hot until she is saved.
Se7en:
I'd never seen this. It's almost as cool as its reputation suggests, but like w/ A Time to Kill, the relationship between the main character & his wife is done 1/2-assed. When she dies in the end, I just didn't care.
See No Evil, Hear No Evil:
An offensive, ridiculous, shameless, funny as hell movie. Pryor & Wilder were never afraid to take the blind/deaf jokes a little further than I expected. Spacey as the bad guy w/ the generic European bad guy accent is silly. I saw it in the theater when I was in middle school & I think it holds up pretty well. I was surprisingly entertained by this chimilicious piece of shit.

Visions of Endorsements

2010-07-28T06:30:00.005-05:00

It happened again, a local politician approached me & asked if I was Andre w/ the blog. He was looking for an endorsement. The fact that he knew who I was kind of freaked me out, but it was cool none-the-less. The mid-term primary election is next week, Aug. 3, so I figured it was time to end the suspense & tell you who you should be supporting... assuming you're living in my ward. However, even if you're not in my ward, you should still heed my words in regards to the broader stuff.

Governor: Virg Bernero
He seems to be, by far, the most progressive candidate. I like that Andy Dillon is from Redford (I went to high school there), but he doesn't seem to have his shit together in the same way. (Side note: Mike Bouchard aired an anti-union commercial last week. I only saw it once, but it was scary as shit. He was talking about turning MI into a Right-to-Work state to restore our manufacturing... because the Right-To-Work states are stealing our jobs. I wish that was really the problem, but unfortunately for them, those states [Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, etc.] have shit economies too... & where Georgia is growing isn't in manufacturing but in professional careers & coffee-shop employees. Bouchard is bad news!)

State Senate (18th District): Rebekah Warren
I always liked Pam Byrnes, but now that we have to chose between them, it's clearly Warren all the way. (Side note: Thomas Partridge, the 3rd Dem. on the ballot, is a freaking nut-job. He comes into Nicola's all the time, & I take the Hell off so as to avoid dealing w/ him. I doubt he'll win... I doubt he'll get more than 10 or 15 votes... but if he does, I don't know what I'll do... he's nuts!)

State Representative (54th District): William Riney
He's an old-school organizer. He's not afraid to hit the pavement and look like a goof-ball. He's also an all-around great guy.

Mayor of Ypsilanti: Pete Murdock
I know a lot of you Yuppies like Schreiber, but Murdock is dedicated & honestly concerned w/ the community. He's been involved w/ local politics for years, he's got good plans for Water St. & the Thompson Block. He's always supported the chickens. In fact, I think he's the guy I can lean on for llamas!

Ypsilanti City Council Ward 3: Brian Robb
He's a good guy. He's hitting the streets w/ a great plan to continue revitalizing the city.

Ballot Proposals: Transportation Millage, Yes
According to Ann Arbor.com, there were some technical problems w/ the proposal so the August 3rd vote won't count & it will be on the November ballot again. I'm voting "Yes" just in case. Apparently, state law says that type of proposal can only be determined in a General Election & not a primary. Also, it apparently had 2 too many words in it. we'll see.

Visions of Beer Fest

2010-07-25T06:27:00.004-05:00

Jason & I walked up there @ about quarter to 12:00. We picked up our credentials from Greg & headed to the WAB table to pour until 2:00. The pouring went smoothly, we were able to drink the WAB stuff (ass long as we stepped out from behind the table to do so), & then we grabbed a couple handfuls of tokens & hit the other brews. As VIPs w/ the WAB, we also got into the VIP tent where there were 8 or 10 kegs & a nice buffet w/ some spicy noodle thing that was really good. The kegs were hard to make out, but I know a few were from Founders. I don't think that's what I was drinking though. I had some random brown Ale that was pretty good. The 2nd time we went into the tent, I had some Blonde that was a bit fruitier than I would have liked... it was weird that they weren't labeled better.

As far as the WAB stuff, the Vanilla Porter & the Triskadekaphobiale Coffee Porter were my favorites, but the Green Bullet Organic IPA is fantastic too. I tried the Blonde & the Hefeweizen too in order to know what I was pouring, but those aren't my personal styles.

From the Tri-City Brewing Company from Bay City I tried the Russian Imperial Stout. It may have been my favorite of the Afternoon other than the WAB Porters.

Behind the WAB table was the Kuhnhenn Brewing Company table, a brewery in Warren. They had some sort of UFO theme going on. A few were in rented alien costumes & their beers had space themed names. I went w/ the ET's Reeses Pieces Stout... big let down. They need to spend more time on the beer & less time on the silly gimmicks. At least I didn't get suckered into trying Yoda's Tihaar Mandalorian Fruit Beer.

Next to the WAB table was Sullivan's Black Forrest Brewery out of Frankenmuth. Oddly, they weren't listed in the guide. Also, oddly, the 1 guy working the table was in a tie-dyed shirt, but they had none of their Grateful Dead inspired beers like Grateful Red, Lost Sailor, New Speedway Imperial Stout, or Dark Star Schwarz. I had the Pirate's Porter & it was pretty good. Not real good, but pretty good.

While looking for the guide book things, we ran into my cousin who was working w/ Big Rock Chop & Brewhouse out of Birmingham. He claimed thei IPAs have won all sorts of awards. Norm's Raggedy Ass IPA was the one he wass pushing, but I prefered the Bonnie's Raggedy Ass Imperial IPA. I don't know what an imperial IPA is, but it was good.

Overall, it was a great time. We ran into Daye & Pete who had a nice spot in the shade. I saw a few Green Teamers who were representing the Green Team by being absolutely hammered. And I saw 2 former students... "Hi professor...."

Belle Isle

2010-07-24T07:19:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we went down to Belle Isle for a soccer tournament on Sunday. I hadn't been out there since I was in high school, & then it was only to drive around for a few minutes. I'd never actually hung out there for any length of time. The soccer field got the grass from the Silverdome in 1994 after the Word Cup... but that it was still in World Cup condition, but it was a fun little thing none-the-less. Greg from Verde FC & the Woodward Ave. Brewery hosted it. He brought in 4 teams, 2 from Detroit, a W.A.B. team, & Verde. We got 2 matches (lost both as per usual), & put in a god showing. The island itself is amazing. It's sad that the funding to keep it up isn't available, but even w/ the closed buildings & overgrow areas, it's beautiful. I didn't get to the Great Lakes Museum as I'd hoped, but I did take the kids fishing for a bit which kind of freaked me out. I couldn't get the reel to work properly, but more importantly, I wasn't down w/ watching the worm squirm in agony when I baited the hook. Of course, we didn't actually catch anything so the whole hook through the mouth thing was never an issue. Well, we did catch 1 little fish, but it wasn't hooked; it was just eating he worm and then let go once I reeled it in. Overall, big props to Greg for putting it on & be sure to check out the W.A.B stuff @ the Beer Fest today. I'll be there helping out & pouring for a while so you can stop on by & say hi too!

A Belated Celtic Fest Post

2010-07-20T07:46:00.009-05:00

Isaiah's highlight was seeing the large pile of horse-shit while looking @ the Clydesdale, but for me, that was maybe 3rd best... or 4th. On Friday night, Stephanie & I hit the Pub in the Park for a little beer. They didn't have Guinness this year so we enjoyed a few 1/2 gallons of Boddingtons. we were met out there by Daye, Pete, Geo, Andy, Matt, Laurie, & Pete. As you've probably already heard (or read), I finished 2nd Runner Up in the Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt contest. The winner (as per usual) was a douche. And he was the key-tar player from the band which makes me assume it was fixed. I made a right fool of myself stumbling around & talking shit as I grabbed the mic from the MC (who turned out to be a better musician when she did her little solo set afterwards than the band). Her tramp-stamp sticking out just above her high-waisted 1989 straight out of a TLC video jeans was ridiculous though. There was much stumbling, slurring, & in the case of a certain person who will remain nameless, vomiting.

On Saturday, my parents came out w/ us & we enjoyed a fun morning & early afternoon looking @ stuff, eating fun food (I had the haggis & the haddock chowder), & just hanging out. The music was good, but we didn't listen to as much as we have in the past. We watched some dude give a talk about Haggis which was funny & informative. However, he suggested a delicious sounding sauce made from heavy cream & whisky that also called for "Black Capers." These seem to be a rather elusive ingredient. I can't find the anywhere... other than some shop in Virginia that claims to carry them but doesn't list the brand. I'll try Morgan & York next time we get Chinese food I guess. Aiden got a deck of cards... his new obsession. Solstice got a key-chain... her new collection. Isaiah loved watching the sheep dog & the birds of prey, but really really loved checking out the horses... hence the horse-shit.

Afterwards, we headed out to Howell for Meg & TC's engagement party. It was fun & we got to see the whole family. Of course, if you ask Isaiah what the highlight was... owls? "Yeah... and horse poop." Did you see Grandma and Grandpa? "Yeah... & horse poop." Did you see Aunt Megan & Aunt Holly? "Yeah... & horse poop." I guess you can't blame him... horse poop is pretty awesome. The 2nd Runner Up Happy couple... a little drunk Watchin' the sheep-dog demonstration The Haggis talk by the guy from the National Trust of Scotland

The Return of Mr. Pretty Legs

2010-07-16T07:57:00.008-05:00

The Saline Celtic Festival is going on this weekend out in... wait for it... Saline of all places. Tomorrow's festivities get under way @ 10:00 w/ the parade & the rugby matches. You should be sure to come out tonight though to the Pub in the Park for cheep pitchers of Guinness, some good music, & the 4th Annual Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt Contest. I haven't entered since my sweet, sweet win in the 1st contest back in 2007 so I think it may be time to defend my crown. There will also be some Gaelic Football matches happening this evening. For those of you who have never witnessed this fucked up sport before... believe me, it's something to behold. It's like Rugby & Basketball had some mentally slow, physically challenged love-child. It's the Corky to Soccer's Becca Thacher... & yes, it still wants to drive the car. Here are a few pics from the Ghost of Celtic Fests Past: Stephanie... as the old yellow Escape looks on Wendy, Pete, & an empty 1/2 gallon of Guinness 2 badass dudes A 3rd badass dude Chain-Mail Solstice

WCP #30: Like the Day After Christmas

2010-07-12T08:24:00.004-05:00

Overall, the 200 FIFA World Cup in South Africa was fantastic. Although the final match lacked some of the style I was hoping, it was an exciting match w/ a bit of drama. I was kind of pulling for The Netherlands, but Spain was clearly the better team, & it was nice to seem thee European Champions get the win. The South African Football Federation deserves boatloads of credit for hosting the tournament, a tournament that just a year ago FIFA seemed afraid would have to be moved to a more stable footballing nation like England of the USA (stable in that they could host w/ little prep time). 2014 will be in Brasil so we'll see the Brasilians win again, but then 2018 & 2022 are still up for grabs. I'm pulling for England in 2018 & the USA in 2022. I don't like the idea of 2 in the Americas in a row. The tradition of moving back & forth is a good 1 which is why I hope England gets it before us.

The prospect of looking ahead to the 2012 Euros is nice, but they're still 2 years away... I remember thinking about the next Christmas as a kid on December 26th & thinking it would never come. waiting another 2 years for a big tournament is tough, but the Premier League starts in a month & the pre-season friendlies begin in a week & a 1/2 so @ least there's that. (Here's the Goal.com article about the winners of the individual awards... no mention of the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day though... go figure.)

In terms of the World Cup Wrap Up, Thomas Muller won the Golden Boot w/ 5 goals & 3 assists. Diego Forlan won the Golden Ball, the award for the outstanding overall player of the tournament. If you'll remember, after Uruguay's draw w/ France on the opening day, I said anything they accomplish would be down to him. I didn't expect them to make the Semi-finals, & they may have overachieved a bit, but I was certainly right about him. The Golden Glove went to a player who is also the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day for the Final match. This was a tough decision. Iniesta's goal was nice, & it will probably overshadow his diving, but the 2 dives he took in extra time pissed me off. The 1st of which, while he was barely touched, got Heitinga sent off w/ a 2nd yellow. Fabregas certainly played well, but as he only came on in the 87th minute, I don't think he had enough time to win this award. Torres was out of sorts in each of his appearances throughout the tournament, & David Villa played well leading up to the Finals, but could have done better yesterday. The Spanish defense was fantastic, & Puyol, Pique, & Ramos all were in the running for the final award, but it's coming down to the man who stopped Robben's break-aways twice. Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals is none other than Real Madrid's outstanding goalie & Spain's El Capitan, Iker Casillas.Tears of joy after the big triple crown: World Cup Champion, Golden Glove, & Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day

WCP #29: Isaiah's B-day & a Round-Up

2010-07-11T06:39:00.003-05:00

At 2:00ish this afternoon, people are coming by for Isaiah's big, big 2nd B-Day Blowout. He seems excited & keeps telling us that he's 2, so he seems to get it... sort of. At the same time ass his party we'll also be viewing the final match: Spain v Netherlands. Here's what I like about it. I like that the European Champions are playing a team lead by the people who starred in the Champions League Final. I like that Van Persie is playing Fabregas. We have what seem to be the best 2 teams in the world actually making it to the finals for a change. These are the teams I wanted to see make it (other than France... obviously). The biggest concern is that 1) Spain will play too defensively & 2) Fabregas won't play. He's been better than Iniesta every time he's come on, but in keeping w/ my conspiracy theory, until he moves to Spain, I don't see him breaking into the starting line-up on a regular basis.

Before we get to the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day for yesterdays 3rd Place match, here's a little re-cap of all of your previous Players of the Day from the 2010 FIFA World Cup:
Day 1: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Day 2: Tim Howard (USA)
Day 3: Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Day 4: Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
Day 5: Maicon (Brazil)
Day 6: Diego Benaglio (Switzerland)
Day 7: Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)
Day 8: Michael Bradley (USA)
Day 9: Dennis Rommedahl (Denmark)
Day 10: Elano (Brazil)
Day 11: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Day 12: Katlego Mphela (South Africa)
Day 13: Landon Donovan (USA)
Day 14: Keisuke Honda (Japan)
Day 15: David Villa (Spain)
Day 16: Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Day 17: Carlos tevez (Argentina)
Day 18: Robinho (Brazil)
Day 19: David Villa (Spain)
Day 20: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Day 21: Miroslav Klose (Germany)
Day 22: Bert Van Marwijl (Netherlands)
Day 23: Carles Puyol (Spain)

Spain: 3
Netherlands: 3
Brazil: 3
USA: 3
Germany: 2
Argentina: 2
Uruguay: 2

David Villa is the only person so far to win it twice. We'll see how the game goes this afternoon, but we could easily get another 2 award player (or he could win it an unprecedented 3rd time). As far as Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day fo yesterday adds another one for the Germans: Bastian Schweinsteiger. This Hitler-Youth lookin' mother fucker is actually really good

WCP #28: Vacation Wap Up - The West Coast

2010-07-08T07:47:00.010-05:00

After leaving Petoskey, we drove down the coast to Traverse City. We attempted to stop @ the Music House Museum, but they didn't open for another hour & we didn't want to wait around. Coming through Traverse City was stop & go bumper to bumper as it was the Cherry Festival. The place was packed. There was going to be an air show over the water, but again, it would have been an hour wait so we kept on cruising. we hit Sleeping Bear Dunes around 1:00, drove the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive: 7.5 miles through the woods & dunes. I'd never taken that drive before... it was beautiful w/ some really cool trails. After that, we hit the Dune Climb. Stephanie blew out her flip-flop, so she & Isaiah stayed @ the bottom while I went up w/ Aiden & Solstice. They weren't as in to it as I expected, but it was fun... & sandy. Afterwards, we had some lunch & hit the road.

We took 22 down the coast to US 31 & followed it into Manestee. What a shit town. From now on, I'll go out of my way to avoid that town. we stopped there because we were beat & needed some sleep. The Days Inn was reasonable & had a pool so we checked in & watched some TV: Bye Bye Birdie & a Greatest American Hero marathon. The next morning, Monday, we started home. We stopped in Ludington for a couple hours & then dove south to Holland for lunch. I'd always been under the impression that Holland had lots of windmills & Dutch stuff in town, but I'd never realized that it was all in amusement park type places. Stephanie didn't know this either. How did we not know this. It'd be cool to check it out if we had the whole day to spend, but w/ only an hour or so, we skipped it & grabbed a bite @ some Irish pub where Aiden got to watch the Tigers game... possibly the highlight of his trip. After we ate, we hit the road & were home in 2 1/2 hours. Isaiah @ the Dunes View from the top - Solstice is a speck on the upper left More problematic Native American imageryat the beach in Ludingtonat a stature in Holland, MI
Over all, it was a fantastic trip, probably the best vacation we've taken as a family. next time, we plan to get a room in Ludington & maybe do Holland more thoroughly. I really recommend the roadside tourist traps too. They're so camp & fun, but on to the important info... Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. From the get-go, I'd been picking Spain & The Netherlands to reach the final, but going into yesterday's match, I kind of assumed Germany would advance. I'm happy to say that didn't happen, & a big part of Spain's success was because of their rock in central defence. Not only did he score the winning goal, but his dedication & fight was fantastic from beginning to end. Therefore, Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day in Carles Puyol. His team congratulates him after winning the award

WCP # 27: Vacation Wap Up - The Upper Lower

2010-07-07T06:44:00.009-05:00

After we reentered the Lower Peninsula, we got off of I 75 & hit Fort Michilimackinac. Again, I hadn't been there since I was a kid. Aiden & Isaiah really loved it. They were running around on the deck & in the turrets making gun noises... & Isaiah started it. How did he know to do that? The archaeologists where excavating a house & were about 2 feet deep. They said they'd been working on it for 3 years & had another to go. Archeology is pretty freaking sweet! We had such a good time, I forgot to check out the score of the Netherlands v Brasil match, but I found out soon enough. We considered hitting the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, but we were hungry & needed to find some lunch. About 20 minutes from Mackinac one finds Cross Village & The Legs Inn. It's a little out of the way, but the food & the view of Lake Michigan are amazing. Authentic Polish dishes in a crazy ass stone inn. I got the Pierogis w/ Golabki & Stephanie had the potato pancakes. The waitress, a college student from Warsaw, informed me of the Netherlands victory & then we headed down Pleasant Valley Rd to the Petoskey State Park. After setting up the tent & swimming for a bit @ a proper beach, wee headed to the big Scott Bachelor Petoskey Soccer Alumni match. At the Fort
I was invited by the Rossis even though I never actually went to high school there since I'd grown up playing w/ all of those people & because my dad had a pivotal role in starting the soccer program. He was the JV coach when they started the varsity team when I was in 5th gradeish. After I moved, the team go really good & won the State Tournament a couple times. Playing in a pick-up match w/ those guys was certainly not an easy task, but it was fun. We had dinner afterwards & then headed back to camp. On Saturday, we walked around town in the AM, hit Papa Lou's for lunch w/ my parents who were in town for the soccer party too, & then drove out to Walloon Lake for some swimming. Afterwards, we drove through Boyne City & up the North shore of Lake Charlevoix to get to Charlevoix for dinner where we met up w/ my parents. Dinner @ Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips in The Villager Pub & a stop in Cherry Republic from which we scored some awesome mustard BBQ Sauce, & Cherry Almond butter.

We headed back to the campground in time to watch the fireworks from the beach w/ a few Budweisers. I'm starting to enjoy Budweiser more than I ever imagined I would. The next morning, we grabbed some breakfast, drove through the old neighborhood, & took US 31 down the coast to Traverse City. What did e do there? You'll have to check back tomorrow for the final instalment of the Vacation wrap up to find out. The Circus Shop The single greatest field on which I've ever played Watching the fireworks We have a pic of Solstice on this same rock wearing the same shirt

What? What's that you say? You say you want a Player of the Day? OK. After watching the Netherlands v Uruguay match yesterday, I've decided to make yet another unprecedented decision. Van Bronckhorst's goal was amazing, Robben & Sneijder were great, Van Persie lead the line & even got back to defend. Picking one was difficult until I realized it all came down to 1 man: The coach. Here it is, Your Visions of Ypsi Coach of the Day: Bert Van Marwijk. He made an attacking change @ the interval, bringing on Van der Vaart, & he got these guys to play together as a team. If only the French could have been so lucky. I have a feeling German will win the tournament, but I'm pulling for Spain today. I would love to see van Persie v Fabregas in the final. Embarrassed to be singled out when he assumed everyone should share the award today

Vacation Recap: The U. P.

2010-07-06T07:05:00.007-05:00

We lit out from Ypsi about 6:30 AM on Wednesday, hitting the Bridge around noon after a couple rest area stops. We had lunch @ a scenic over-look & then hit The Mystery Spot. I hadn't been there since I was 10 or 11. It was fun & the kids realy dug it. There were a couple guys there (a 40ish man & his father), & they seemed to buy it all. Even Solstice & Aiden were looking @ them like "WTF???" It was pretty funny. Afterwards, we walked around St. Ignace a bit, saw some really ridiculous/ketchy/chimilicious/racist Native American imagery, & scored an ice-cream cone before visiting Stephanie's cousin whom we hadn't seen in years. That was a nice little visit.

The campground was beautiful. We could see the bridge from our site, & we jus had to walk across to the beach... which wasn't really a beach, but the kids waded around a bit, & I taught them how to skip stones. We cooked hot dogs & beans on the fire, got an uncampingly good sleep, & made pancakes & sausage before we hit the road to Tahquamenon Falls. We stopped @ a deer ranch to feed the deer... including a couple albinos. Isaiah love it & cracked up every time one would eat a cracker out of his hand. Afterwards, rather than the direct route, we followed US 2 along the coast for a while before turning North. Stephanie found Paquin Creek on the map & it was only a couple miles passed where we were to turn so we kept on cruising for a photo op. Paquin Creek Rd, although on the map, is a road in name only. After a few hundred feet, it became dirt. It quickly narrowed to only 1 car width across, became a 2-track, & then we hit the soft sand. Rolling in a full-size van down this little path was kind of scary, but we finally found a place to turn around & made it out to find the actual creek about a mile further up US 2. We took a pic & turned around. The drive along US 2 was absolutely beautiful, & then once we started heading up to the falls, the beauty continued for another 2 hours.

Our 1st stop was @ the Lower Falls where we walked about a mile along the path by the river before going to our site. Solstice & Aiden were such great help setting up & tearing down every day. We then found a beach about 20 minutes away (@ the mouth of the river). Since the river was coming in there, it was a lot warmer than every other Lake Superior beach @ which I've ever swam. We then hit the Upper Falls & The Tahquamenon Falls Brewery. I had the stout which was good, but not at all like it was advertised. They compared it to Guinness, but it was more like an American Stout w/ hints of chocolate & coffee. Stephanie had the cherry wheat which is light & smooth. Back @ the site, we cooked more hot dogs & I boiled a big pot of H2O on the fire to cook some corn.Sleep on the 2nd night wasn't as sound as on the 1st, but the drive back to St. Ignace was nice along US 123. Just north of the Bridge we hit our 3rd tourist tap in 2 days: Castle Rock. I was last there around the same time I was last @ The Mystery Spot. I climbed it w/ Aiden & Solstice, but Stephanie & Isaiah waited on the ground. Aiden didn't want to go across the bridge, but Solstice was fearless. I don't think I would have complained if she didn't want to go, but as it stood, I had to make the trek across to the top. It's a cheesy fucking place, but the view is amazing. we were back on the road just in time to miss the Brazil v Netherlands match, but I heard about the results later @ lunch. The UP had no 3G coverage & even the basic phone connections were hit-or-miss. We tried to up-load pics when we could, but even once we crossed the bridge, 3G coverage was spotty until yesterday afternoon when we hit Grand Rapids. why were we in Grand rapids? Tune in tomorrow for the 2nd part of the Vacation Recap & maybe you'll find out. Aiden @ The Mystery Spot The bridge from our site The Upper Falls Up on Castle Rock

WCP #26: A Quick Vacation Post While Eating Breakfast in Petoskey

2010-07-04T08:08:00.003-05:00

We've been to St. Ignace, Tahquamenon Falls, & Mackinac, & Petoskey. We've done tons of silly touristy stuff & I got to play a pick up game the other night. A more thorough recap will follow, but for now, here is your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. I didn't get to watch the matches so we're doing something a bit unprecedented... I let my dad who is also in Petoskey make the pick: Miroslav Klose.Some people take winning this award very seriously

WCP #25: My 1st Phone Post

2010-07-03T09:36:00.004-05:00

I'm posting from my phone using the wi-fi @ Horizon Books in Petoskey, so this will be a pretty short post. I wish Ghana had gotten by Urugauy, but I'm super happy about the Netherlands,& while I'm temped to go w/ Melo after his own goal & subsequent red card, I think that would undermine the spirit of the award. That said, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is Wesley Sneijder. Here he is looking confused & disoriented

WCP #24: Player of the Day Before We Hit the Road

2010-06-30T05:12:00.005-05:00

Real quickly, w/o any of the witty commentary you've come to expect from all of us here @ Visions of Ypsi, Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. After the Japan loss, I was expecting to go w/ someone from Spain or Portugal, but then once I saw the game, I was tempted to go w/ Landy Cakes who made a stellar appearance on Letterman last night. I think there's something less than honorable w/ that pick though so here it is, your Player of the Day, the goal scorer from the Spain v Portugal match, the 1st person to win the award a 2nd time in this tournament, David Villa.Insert your own caption here

WCP #23: Goin' Up the Country

2010-06-29T06:14:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow we'll be leaving early for a trip to the North Country. We'll be spending the 1st night @ Straights State Park on the NE side of the Mackinac Bridge. We plan on hitting The Mystery Spot in the afternoon & then on to some swimming. Day 2 includes a cruise up to Tahquamenon Falls. I haven't been there since I was 8 or 9 years old... I'm super excited. We have a few options for the morning of the 3rd day (Friday). We may hit Michilimackinac after we get back into the Lower Peninsula. Our other options are the Oden State Fish Hatchery which is free & lunch @ Leggs Inn in Cross Village. On Friday evening, we're going to the big retirement party & alumni match for the Petoskey Varsity Soccer Coach. He's been in charge of the team since it began in the mid-80s. My dad was his JV coach back then when they were getting the team started, & he & my mom will meet us up there for the party. It should be fun to see some old friends. We'll be staying @ Petoskey State Park from which we can watch the fireworks on the 3rd. Before that, we're planning a drive to Walloon Lake & dinner in Charlvoix. Although, from a quick Googling, it appears that Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips might no longer be Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips. In which case, we'll have to improvise, possibly hitting Scalawags in Petoskey instead. On the 4th of July, we plan to drive down the coast to Sleeping Bear Dunes, & then keep on cruising until we happen upon a place to stay somewhere between Frankfurt & Manistee. All in all, it should be an awesome time, but I'll need to figure out how to catch the Brazil v Netherlands match w/o pissing off the whole family.

Speaking of soccer, I imagine most of you are awaiting the Player of the Day. Well, wait no longer for the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day in upon you. Look on his works, ye mighty, & despair! He's never won the award before, & I hazard to guess he won't again, but after getting lost in Man City & then getting shipped home to Santos, he seems to be turning his career round again. If nothing else, he ran the show yesterday so don't let it be said that we don't give credit where credit is deserved. Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day, Robinho. He's 26 but he looks like he's 21

WCP #22: Spacey-a-thon Post #3

2010-06-28T06:35:00.004-05:00

A round-up of 8 of the Spacey films we've watched so far this summer.
*Consenting Adults (1992): This is a shit movie. It attempts to be an early-90s sex-thriller, but lacks the sex... & the thrills. The main lesson from this film is that when casting a sex-thriller, don't look to Kevin Spacey or Kevin Kline... or Mary Elizabeth Mastantonio. It borrows a bit from Vertigo, but the main difference here is that Vertigo is a great film.
*Swimming w/ Sharks (1994): It's worth watching to see Brett from Pulp Fiction (the guy who gets his head blown off) & Ensign Ro get yelled @ by Spacey. It's a pretty 1 dimensional film, but the twist @ the end surprised me. Avoid it.
*The Ref (1994): When this came out, it was billed as Dennis Leary's springboard to super-stardom. I don't know that that ever really happened. It was about what I expected... Home Alone w/ obscenities. I'd heard a lot about it, but it didn't live up to the hype.
* The Big Kahuna (1999): We watched this about 10 years ago, & I really liked it then. It's certainly the best of the 1st batch here, but it has some problems. It must be a really cool play though. If you haven't seen it, we get 3 salespersons in a hotel room during a conference. The 1st act occurs before a big party, & then the 2nd act occurs after the party. In that regard, it reminds me of David Storey's play, The Changing Room, about a rugby team before the game, during the interval, & after the game in the locker room. There are also hints of Waiting for Godot which are always fun.
* K-PAX (2001): This is a really interesting movie, but the relationship between the Jeff Bridges character & the Mary McCormick character just doesn't work. it's a fun discussion of science & sanity, but nothing too mind-blowing.
* The Shipping News (2001): I'd heard a lot about this & had always wanted to see it. It didn't live up to expectations, but it is alright. On the plus side, the music & cinematography are beautiful. On the negative, there are too many tear-jerky, melodramatic twists... the kid sold into black market adoption, the family rape, the prostitute who dies in a car crash. The novel upon which it is based won the Pulitzer, but the plot seems more like a Jodi Picoult straight from the head-lines crap-fest. See it, but ignore the ridiculous twists & focus on Spacey acting his ass off & the beauty of Newfoundland.
* Superman Returns (2004): I hated this when I saw it a few years ago, but it holds up pretty well. The plot is ridiculous, & Lex Luthor as a shadey con artist who marries for money is weird, but Spacey is great as Luthor. The other actors are forgettable, but if & when Spacey gets his wish... ie.: a sequel, I'll see it.
* Shrink (2009): This is a fun movies, but nothing too remarkable. Spacey plays a psychiatrist to the stars in Hollywood, but his wife has recently killed herself & he's as depressed as his patients. The cast is good, it's got some funny &/or touching moments, but it's a pretty forgettable film.

This has been the round-up of the first 8... 1/6 of his films. We've watched 8 others & have 32 more to go this summer. We'll see if we make it through them all. It's already becoming a bit of a chore.

And now, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. I saw neither match yesterday so I have to base this on the highlights & the match reports, but I'm happy to report that the Argentine striker who I could afford for my fantasy team netted twice (as did Jim in his last appearance for The Green Team before his big move to Chicago)while Messi was pretty silent. Mexico seemed to have the same problem w/ Argentina that Arsenal had w/ Barcelona in the 1st match a couple months ago... they could shut down Messi, but then couldn't stop all those other goals from flying in from everywhere. So here you go; for the day England was eliminated by Germany... no big surprise what-so-ever... Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is Carlos Tevez.here he is... looking even stranger than usual

WCP #21: The Day After

2010-06-27T07:04:00.005-05:00

Yesterday evening, we had a fantastic time w/ friends, beer, & Mexican Slayrides. We hung out around the bon-fire for a few hours, & I got some fucked up beliefs about a certain colleague who will remain nameless here confirmed. I also learned that Joe, as a Twain scholar, is the embodiment of the patriarchy (I always kind of assumed that too).

Earlier in the day, before the hopes & dreams of our entire nation were crushed by shit-ass performances by Ricardo Clark & Robbie Findley, I nearly finished the Hen House. Before that, I got to watch the S. Korea's hopes & dreams get crushed in a similar manner. When I woke up yesterday, I was hoping I'd get to give The Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day Award to Landy Cakes or Dempsey, but that was not to be. Instead, we need to go w/ the man responsible for picking apart the S. Korean defense, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day: Uruguayan footballer, Luis Suarez Happy to face Ghana rather than the USA

WCP #20: You Slay Me

2010-06-26T05:51:00.004-05:00

Come on by this afternoon to watch the USA Ghana match & enjoy a few Mexican Slayrides for my big B-Day celebration, or come on by this evening to sit by the bon-fire & enjoy a few Mexican Slayrides for my big B-Day celebration. Either way, come on by. Before that, I'll be working on the Hen House some more & we may mosey on up to the Luna Lake thing @ Prospect Park. The USA match this afternoon should be a good one, or a least not the snooze-fest that we saw yesterday. Portugal's tactics worked, but they certainly didn't allow for much of the champagne football we here @ Visions of Ypsi demand. Spain produced some of said champagne football, but by they end only Fabregas was really trying to create something interesting. Had he been on for the whole match, he'd certainly have won himself another award, but as it stand, we have to go w/ the man who had the vision to put in a 50 yarder & then work his ass off to get the assist to Iniesta for the 2nd goal. Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the day: David Villa. He's excited because he heard there may be Slayrides this afternoon

WCP #19: Hens & the Blue Samurai

2010-06-25T05:27:00.005-05:00

I've never been the most handy of people, but when we got the chickens the other day, I realized it was down to me to make something in which they can live. I looked @ a few pictures of coops & hen houses, learned the difference between coops & hen houses, & made a trip to the hardware store. W/ a pile of 2x4s, a box of screws, some ply-wood, a couple rolls of poultry netting (chicken wire) & a circular saw in tow, I went to work. After working for hours & hours yesterday, I've got the run, a protective area for them to hang out & graze around the yard, finished. It's 6' long & triangular. I'll attach the house to the end this weekend before the USA v Ghana match. They won't start laying until the fall so I have some time to tweak it a bit; I'll post some pics once it's finished. This is by far the biggest construction project I've ever undertaken. we'll see how it goes.

The other thing we'll see is how The Blue Samurai do in the knock-out round. They impressively made it passed the Danes yesterday, & while Van Persie & Sneijder both had great games for the Dutch yesterday, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day Award goes to a man whose family are no strangers to competition. His brother was an Olympic wrestler & his uncle was an Olympic canoeist. I've never met someone who would say something to the effect of "Canoeing for fun is fine, but I need to go to the Olympics to really canoe"? I don't think I knew it was an Olympic sport. That's awesome. And now, having scored a sweet free-kick & then making the goal @ the end, you Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day, Keisuke Honda.Groundbreaking! He is the 1st Asian to win the award

WCP # 18: Tigers & the Knock Out Round

2010-06-24T06:15:00.004-05:00

In 1984, a kid down the street from us got a puppy. It was a poodle, I think, & annoying as Hell. Said kid, David Carlson, who went on to be in Bill Clinton's security detail (@ least that was the rumor... I haven't spoken w/ him since 1988), in a fit of excitement, named it Gibby after Kirk Gibson who had just lead the Tigers to a World Series victory. Well, Aiden made a similar move yesterday afternoon. I wasn't able to watch the USA match so he was tasked w/ Facebooking anything important so I could read along on my phone. Afterwards, Little Clint Dempsey (the chicken) became Landy. Just 2 short years ago he was sitting in as a guest poster on this very blog. What an amazing rise he's had. Klose could have netted a hat trick, gone in goal for a red-carded keeper, stopped a penalty & then split the atom @ his press-conference... he didn't have a chance to pick us the award today. Landy Cakes' stoppage time winner not only sees the USA through to the next round, but they go through as the #1 team & avoid Germany in the Knock-out Round. If they get passed Ghana (& they should) they'll face either Uruguay or S. Korea in the Quarter-Finals, & I think they can beat both of those teams. All in all, Landy's late winner then means by avoiding Germany, they should be favorites to advance through to the Semis. I gotta admit, I didn't see that coming a few weeks ago, so Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is none other than Landy Cakes himself, Landon Donovan.Some people celebrate winning this award more enthusiastically than others

WCP #17: Team USA

2010-06-23T06:41:00.004-05:00

Watching the French team implode was pretty fun, but not fun enough to make up for the fact that my beloved Bleu went home home w/ 1 measly point. Gourcouff's Red Card was a bit harsh, but obviously, that's only the tip of an enormous iceberg of problems in the team. Overall, it was one hell of a ride. Now we can look ahead to the 2012 European Championships w/ Laurent Blanc @ the helm. Here's to hoping the US squad can pull off something a bit more positive. One would think they should be able to get by Algeria, but one would have thought that Spain would beat the Swiss, Brazil would take apart N. Korea by more than 1 goal, Germany would beat Serbia, & of course the French.... There have been some weird surprises; let's hope today doesn't give us another one.

And your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day, again, doesn't go to a French player. I was hoping to be able to give it to Ribery after he scored 7 goals & took the French through, but that was never likely. Instead, we have to go w/ a S. African who worked his ass off & sealed the fate of Les Bleu by bundling in the 2nd goal yesterday: Katlego Mphela He loves Neil Peart

WCP #16: A pinch of grain lasts the wee beasties for a day*

2010-06-22T06:41:00.008-05:00

On Sunday evening, Stephanie informed me that her friend had some chickens that needed a home. She's been talking about her desire to get chickens for quite some time, but I didn't think we'd really do it. After my class today, I'm off to the store to get stuff to build a coop & play area (wood, screws, chicken wire, etc.) They're actually pretty hilarious, & once they start laying eggs, we should be ready to eat the hell out of some eggs. According to Wendy (big props to her for helping us get set up yesterday), w/ the 4 we have we should expect about a dozen a week which is about what we go through now, but if it works out, we may need to get a couple more. Aiden named his Dempsey, a name w/ which I am totally down. Solstice went w/ Jar Jar because she (the chicken, not Solstice) is really fucking dumb... & here we are talking about levels of dumbness I've never experienced before... they're all pretty fucking dumb... they're chickens after all). Stephanie seems to be leaning towards Chewbacca, the Rhode Island Red, because it is bigger & browner than the rest (I know, "That's what she said"). For the 4th, I was leaning towards Zidane (or Domeneche), but now I'm rethinking it. I'll have to wait. These are the names in the running: Zidane, Domeneche, Shaft, Ming the Merciless, Dora, & Swiper (Isaiah seems a little afraid of the idea of one named Swiper though). I'll post more pics once I finish their new abode this afternoon or tomorrow. *[[The title has been changed because I had the quote wrong... we now have a different Montgomery Scott quote in its stead... & it's not really a very accurate claim because they eat everything.]]And now, what you've all been waiting for... your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day! Spain clearly looked better than in their 1st match, & Villa's brace was nice, but Portugal's man-handling of N. Korea was something to behold. I 1st became aware of this guy 4 years ago when he won a "Leshlush Player of the Day" award, & Don S. was totally crushing on him. While he only scored @ the end, he dictated the pace of the game, got an assist, & generally proved why he's considered one of the best in the world. Of course, before he scored, he caught the ball on the back of his neck, rolled it down to his foot, & passed it into the net. The neck trap looked accidental, but still, it was pretty amazing. So w/o further ado, the 1st person to win the award @ two consecutive World Cups, Cristiano Ronaldo. On his knees in celebration... of this award

WCP #15: Matsuchan & Vuvuzela

2010-06-21T07:26:00.004-05:00

After the Verde FC match yesterday morning, a match in which I blew out the inside left big toe of my boots, I went w/ Elizabeth, Dan, & Sammy to Matsuchan, the new ramen shop @ Ford Rd. & Sheldon in Canton. (Check out the review on Yelp. I went w/ the Tofu/Vegetable ramen which may have been a mistake. The salt broth was pretty bland. Both Dan & Elizabeth got much better stuff. I don't recall what Dan got (it was really good though), but Elizabeth got the Soba/Miso Salad & it was awesome. The place is tiny & uber-authentic. Go there.Afterwards, we hit Soccer World on Canton Center. I scored a new pair of boots to replace the blown out toe & I scored some Vuvuzela for the kids. They came to the Green Team match & had a great time blowing them on the side-lines. As for the shoes, I got some Diadoras that were on 1/2 off clearance which was pretty cool. I wore them for the 1st 1/2 & then switched back to the old ones to avoid the blisters while I'm breaking them in. I think they'll work out well.

And now, Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. a big part of me (but not my cock) wanted to go w/ Patrice Evra for unifying the French squad against Domeneche. I'm loving the melt-down & their willingness to air their dirty laundry on such a grand stage. I think it should really go to someone who actually played yesterday though, which leaves us 2 options. Fabiano finally shined up his scoring boots, but the 1st was lucky & the 2nd was the result of his use of his hand... twice. If Henry is a villain for putting Ireland out w/ a hand-ball, Fabiano must be seen in a similar way. Cote d'Ivoire was looking likely to score until he put in a 2nd which changed everything. They are unlikely to progress now (especially w/ Portugal's hammering of N. Korea while I write this). Of course, they're just Cote d'Ivoire & he's not French so it will go relatively unnoticed. But not by me. This leaves us w/ the 2nd option, a man whom I never would have expected to get this prestegious award. He scored Brazil's 3rd goal, work his ass off, & wass then taken out after a nasty tackle on his shin: Elano. Revolution has come... time to pick up the gun

WCP #14: Father's Day, Food, & The Beatles

2010-06-20T07:28:00.004-05:00

Since Dan & I have 2 matches today, the family celebrated Father's Day yesterday by watching games (& Support Your Local Sheriff) & BBQing @ my parents' house. And we continued our attempt to eat our way though the Nations of the World Cup. We had huevos rancheros for breakfast (Mexico) & then enjoyed Shrimp on the Barby (Australia) & skewered Ground-Nut (peanut) & Coffee encrusted beef w/ baked yams. Grinding the peanuts w/o turning it into peanut butter was tricky, but then mixing in ground coffee, red pepper flakes & chili powder was easy (Western Africa: Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, & Ghana). It turned out really well & everyone seemed to like it, but I think I just don't like steak much, which is fine, because after this experiment ends, I think i may need to revert to vegetarianism for a while again (other than for our vacation & during Celtic Fests). For dinner the night before, Stephanie brought Roast Duck w/ garlicky red-skin potatoes up to Nicola's for me (France). Along w/ England & USA, this mans we've covered 7 of he 32 countries so far. We may actually be able to do this.

For Father's Day, my parents got me World Cup 2010: An Indispensable Guide to Soccer & Geopolitics. The analysis is a bit biased & informal, but the chapters about history & politics are fascinating. There are also fun facts about each country. Plus, there is an inexplicable reference after each squad's analysis to the Beatles song that most closely represents the aforementioned squad. They aren't explained & quite often make no sense... I like it a lot. Of course, USA, England, & Brazil make sense.
*Mexico: "I Should Have Known Better"
*S. Africa: "When I Get Home"
*France: "Tell Me What You See"
*Uruguay: "Helter Skelter"
*Argentina: "come Together"
*Nigeria: "Please Please Me"
*S. Korea: "Don't Pass Me by"
*Greece: "Get Back"
*England: "Carry that weight"
*USA: "I Me Mine"
*Slovenia: "Nowhere Man"
*Algeria: "It's All too Much"
*Germany: "I'll Get You"
*Ghana: "Getting Better"
*Australia: "You Know What to Do"
*Serbia: "Slow Down"
*Netherlands: "W/ a Little Help from My Friends"
*Denmark: "I Feel Fine"
*Cameroon: "I've Got a Feeling"
*Japan: "All Together Now"
*Italy: "when I'm 64"
*Paraguay: "All I've got to Do"
*Slovakia: "You Know My Name"
*New Zealand: "I'm a Loser"
*Brazil: "Free as a Bird"
*Cote d'Ivore: "Run for Your Life"
*Portugal: "Let it Be"
*N. Korea: "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
*Spain: "We Can Work it Out"
*Switzerland: "I'm Only Sleeping"
*Chile: "Bad Boy"
*Honduras: "Help"

And now, your Visions o Ypsi Player of the Day. He led the Danes in their fight-back to be only the 10th team in World Cup history to record a come-from-behind victory. Bendtner feels he should get the award, but it goes to Matthew McConaughey... no, I mean Danish geriatric Dennis Rommedahl!A round of applause for all of the previous winners

WCP #13: Deep Space & Deep Frustration

2010-06-19T07:29:00.005-05:00

We went out to the Savoy last night to see Deep Space. It'd been a couple years since we last saw them. The rain seemed to keep people away... there was a very small crowd, but over the last 2 years, they've gotten much tighter & more inventive. The opening band, Mr. Shiz (or something like that) was alright; they came complete w/ a sax player & a Seger cover. I wonder if they also did Springsteen tunes before we got there. I also wonder what inspires people in 2010 to put together an A Street/SIlve Bullitt type band. Deep Space's setlist was cool, but I can't remember it as precisely as I'd like. They opened w/ "The Mighty Quinn," played "Mexicali Blues" 2nd or 3rd & and early "Chinatown Shuffle" that confused a lot of people. They also played an interesting "Wish you Were Here" that nearly fell apart right before the vocals start, but they pulled it together nicely. Stephanie claims I put that song on some mix-tape for her when I was 18. I guess the message I was sending to her was "I wish you hadn't blown your mind on acid so we could still record music together." What was I thinking? Other highlights included a long "Estimated," a funky "Hard to Handle," a cool "Up On Crippled Creek," & I think they closed they closed w/ a fun "Franklin's">"Throwin' Stones." I hope we don't have to wait another 2 years to see them, but Sean claimed they may be taking some time off soon, so we'll see. As far as The Savoy is concerned, they still need to make some changes if they want to become a cool venue for live music. 1) better beer 2) better prices 3) glasses instead of plastic mugs 4) locking the door from the bar next door so random Tucker Maxesque frat boys can't aimlessly wander through looking to get laid.

Speaking of improvements that need to be made, the ref in yesterday's USA v Slovenia match could have done a better job (the USA could have done a better job in the 1st half too, but come on!) His name is Koman Coulibaly, & you can hate him by joining "Yanks who Hate Koman Coulibaly" here. This guy deserves 10x the vitriol that was spewed @ Jim Joyce. At least the Tigers still won that game & it was just one in a long season. This is the World Fucking Cup! Taking the win away w/ such a shite call is unacceptable. Unacceptable I say! What would Jackie Chiles say? "Unacceptable, inexcusable... incomprehensible!" And this brings us to what you've been waiting for... Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. After a piss poor 1st half, but before a piss-poor entire game from England, the USA fought back to draw w/ Slovenia 2-2. Landy's goal was pretty sweet, but it was the holding midfielder who dug in & really pushed before getting the equalizer himself. Edu was robbed, but Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is Michael Bradley. (He's the 1st person so far to get the award after having also gotten it @ the 2009 Confederations Cup... I'll have to check the archives to see who won @ the 2008 European Championships.) Check him out... telling the ref what's up

WCP #12: Domeneche is a Dumb-Ass Douche

2010-06-18T06:07:00.006-05:00

hThey're 2 games in & sitting on 1 point. The French team has too much individual talent to be the shite-squad they have become. Raymond Domeneche has them playing like a bunch of assholes. No team w/ Anelka, Malouda, Ribery, Gourcuff, & Henry should be able to play 2 matches against seemingly lesser competition w/o scoring. Of course, Abidal's 2 howlers didn't help the situation, but the blame for this really rests w/ the coach. I've been calling for his sacking since 2006. They lost in the finals then because of his stupid mistakes. (If you recall, Zidane had dislocated his shoulder & was asking for a sub, but RD the DB took off Henry instead... Materazzi was then able to punch him in the shoulder & talk shit which led to his dismissal which led to the penalty shoot-out w/o Zidane or Henry.) I called for him to be fired after their piss-poor display @ Euro '08 & during their piss-poor displays in qualifying for WC 2010. They still have a slight chance to get through the group, but they need to win big against Algeria & Mexico needs to win big against Uruguay which won't happen because for Mexico & Uruguay to go through, they both only need a draw.

One wonders how Derrida would have reacted to this match? "This therefore will not have been a match at all, but some other de-centered thing." Jean Paul Sartre? "The match itself is a representation of the vast nothingness into which each individual has been plunged" (I think he'd be right). Luce Irigaray? "There is a masculist ideology underlying the result of the match which must be re-contextualized in order to decenter the loss & decenter the language in general." Foucualt? "The culturally constructed opposition between winning & losing will be shown to have been collapsed like the oppositions between gay & straight, sane & crazy, powerful & powerless, etc." Hélène Cixous? "The phallogocentrism represented in sport from the highest levels of FIFA to the lowliest American blogger is always being subjected & deconstructed by the Écriture féminine. Baudrillard? "The match is the similacra for the world, but the world is therefore the similacra for the match; origin & simulation are cast aside & the winners & losers therefore don't matter. Paul de Man? "I must call into question the very claim that the match ever actually took place." If it were only that simple. (And Karl Marx is arguing off-sides).

The USA plays this morning & I'll have to miss the match. I'm not pleased about that, but c'est la vie. It suddenly looks like they have a better chance to progress through the tournament than the French. I assumed they'd get out of the Group Stage, but after they're draw w/ England, they could actually finish top & avoid Germany in the Round of 16. That's pretty sweet. of course, another team worth avoiding for as long as possible looks to be Argentina. Maradona has suddenly done something right & they're clicking. Of course, this brings us to the meat & potatoes of this post. It was a tough call because Messi played really well, but it's hard to ignore a hat-trick, even when other people really made the goals, so Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is Gonzalo Higuaín. Licking his lips in anticipation of their match against Greece & then theit match against whoever wins France's group

WCP #11: Spain WTF?

2010-06-17T06:48:00.004-05:00

Spain's shock loss to Switzerland brings us our 1st real piece of drama. I haven't been quite as disheartened by the style of play as many in the media claim to be, but it's nice to see something weird once in a while. The fact that brazil only beat the Democratic People's Republic 2-1 was about as shocking as things had gotten. I wonder if things would have been different for Spain had the coach used Fabregas as more than a book-end on the bench w/ Valdes to keep Reina from rolling off the end. Furthermore, I wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy. It's long been known that to play for Italy, one needs to play in the Serie A. Could the same thing be happening in La Liga. If Fabregas wants to get his rightful spot in the La Roja, he may need to make that switch to Barcelona. In fact, the Royal Spanish Football Federation may be forcing his hand. Even if that isn't the case, something strange was going on... & that strangeness might just come down to 1 man, the man who saw his team out-shot 24-8, & the man who let none of those shots into the net, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day: Diego Benaglio.Nice hands, brother

WCP #10: Vuvuzela... A Defense

2010-06-16T07:10:00.005-05:00

Last summer during the Confederations Cup there was a lot of talk banning the Vuvuzela. People were upset by the noise & the networks showing the games claimed they interfered w/ the watchability of the matches. I assumed that once the television networks got involved they would be banned tout suite. And I was totally down w/ it. The swarm of bees sound is more than a little annoying, & it's making the singing/chanting usually associated w/ le foot impossible. Over the last few weeks, major news organizations have started beating the old drum to ban them too. Mike Celizic @ NBC has pointed out that they are dangerous. A good reason to ban automatic weapons, unfortunately, I need a little more than that when it comes to a horn. besides, where was NBC after the Hillsborough disaster? Where were they during the Munich air disaster? People have been murdered because of this game. countries have actually gone to war after soccer matches. And it is about this that people are getting all worked up? The Wall Street Journal got a few words in on Sunday too. Again w/ the health risk. As if people singing/shouting/chanting in their neighbors ears is any better.

What's really going on here is that these journalists are using the supposed health risks as a smoke screen to hide their real problems w/ the Vuvuzela. Namely, they want soccer to follow the European/S.American traditions. Celizic even went so far as to suggest that "Tradition is never a good excuse to do anything." Absolutely right. However, hiding behind this claim in order to support the cultural superiority of Europe & South America is an even more problematic tradition. He, & people like him, don't want to do away w/ noise @ the matches, they want to do away w/ non-Eurocentric noise. Sing your songs about blood, murder, rape & religious intolerance, but don't blow a fucking horn.

FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has recently come out in support of the Vuvuzela & he is absolutely correct. FIFA, & the world media, has been claiming that the World Cup will showcase African culture, yet all these groups want to ban anything associated w/ the culture that is different than what we have come to expect. The Vuvuzel goes back to the 1970s (a relatively new cultural tradition), but it's a huge tradition none-the-less. Blatter knows that this is an important part of the World Cup (maybe more important than the outcome). If the World Cup is to be this cultural exchange as it's always been billed, we need to accept the culture that is being exchanged. Otherwise, we're just being racist & zenophobic. And that's a European tradition worth dumping.
And now, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. Since this is post #10, I was hoping for a good traditional #10 to have a big game yesterday. Ronaldo had a great long shot. Robinio did a little show-boating (that came to nothing). Hamsek played well but didn't really stand out. Kaka repeated his recent form for Real Madrid... he had a shite game. He was lost & cold... & went to ground much too easily (Robinio did that too). Since this was the case, I had to rethink the direction of today's award. It certainly doesn't go to the Korean left back. He was beaten over & over & over again. So w/o further ado, I give you your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day: Brazilian right back, Maicon. Hey maicon, how do ou feel about the result yesterday? "Comme Ci, Comme Ça"

WCP #9: The Best Laid Schemes....

2010-06-15T08:31:00.004-05:00

Problematic Scheme #1:
Yesterday, Stephanie suggested that we try to coordinate out meals w/ the cuisines of the countries represented in the World Cup. Awesome idea! Except that we're 5 days into it, it's only 30 day long, there are 32 countries, & I work a couple nights a week which allows me to break soman w/ the family. That said, we're going to attempt it anyway. Now I have 4 major projects for the summer on top of work, vacation, planning a class & reading for class: 1) Spacey-a-thon 2) world Cup-a-thon, World Cup cuisine-athon & 4) Article in defense of the Vuvuzella (blog post to come soon in regards to this one). I think we'll have to bring a few cuisines together to shorten the proses. N. & S. Korea can share a meal (& their people can learn through example like looking to the Black & White cookie. Uruguay & Paraguay might be able to have a single meal. Nigeria & Cote d'Ivore can go together. Finally, think Australia & New Zealand (bbq shrimp w/ Marmite sandwiches) might work as a one-off as well. We did USA on Saturday w/ Hot Dogs, & England yesterday w/ Bridies, Bangers & Mash, & Ploughmans. We may have to use the Perogies & Kielbasa to represent Germany (they controlled Poland for a little while & it's in the fridge already, is that insensitive? If so, we'll come up w/ something else). I'll keep you all posted on how it works out.

Problematic Scheme #2:
I spent the better part of the last year trying to devise a way to get the family to S. Africa. Obviously, it didn't pan out. I then logged on to The Phil Zone the other day for the 1st time in ages to get a Phish set-list & i found a link to the blog of a fellow Zoner who is actually in S. Africa & going to matches right now. my schemes didn't pan out, but his did. You can check it out here.

Problematic Scheme #3:
I was assuming Buffon would have an easy game for Italy yesterday. I battled my emotions & made him my captain on my fantasy team. As it turns out, he gave up a goal & then was subbed out 2 the half w/ an injury. All my hopes & dreams of appointing him the Player of the Day were dashed. This makes us then move on to other options. The only match I was able to watch yesterday was the 1st one: Netherlands v Denmark. Oddly, Bendtner had a really good game, & oddly, he was then subbed out (his fitness was a question beforehand so maybe he was just still hurt). Of the Dutch though, I was a bit surprised. They played well, but not as well as I expected. The young Eljero Elia (named after a mis-understanding of Al Jarreau's name... I shit you not) had a strong showing, but it was the Arsenal man who takes today's award. Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day: Robin van Persie.

Here he is w/ the strange numbering on his shirt

WCP #8: A Quickie Player of the Day Post

2010-06-14T06:01:00.004-05:00

As the Dutch are set to play in a 1/2 hour, I need to keep this quick. Yesterday's matches started out dull as fuck. I ended up giving up on Algeria v Slovenia & mowing the lawn. I missed the 2nd major goalie debacle of the tournament as Slovenia got a lucky win (in what might be the coolest jersey of the tournament... w/ that Charlie Brown zig-zag across the front), but then watched the Ghana v Serbia match before going to my games. I've always like Ghana, & I was happy they were able to pull it out in the end. After my 1st match, Liz, Dan, Sam, & I sat in the bar @ Ford & Canton Center to watch the 2nd 1/2 of the Germany v Australia match. The Aussies looked set to pull 1 back, but then the ref inexplicably showed Cahill a red card. He was in line for your Player of the Day Award until that happened. As it stands, it only seems fair to go w/ a German since they won 4-nil. I considered a few, but in the end, Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is none other than Asenal transfer target Mesut Ozil. Much of their best stuff came through him, but I doubt Wenger will actually buy him. He'll end up @ Chelsea, I'm sure. Here he is, looking oddly odd looking

WCP#7: Rob Green & Your Player of the Day

2010-06-13T09:52:00.005-05:00

The first order of business involves the fact that you'll notice "World Cup Post" has been shortened to "WCP." Not since Regis changed "Is that your final answer?" to "Final?" has the English language experienced such an important abbreviation.

In the Nigeria match yesterday, Vincent Enyeama played a fantastic game in goal. If not for Heinze's sweet diving header, he'd have kept a clean sheet against Messi & Company. He was an early leader in the run-up to the Player of the Day selection, but then the USA v England game happened. Both keepers in that match made me happy, but only one could be you Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. I considered naming Rob Green because of his ridiculous gift for the US, but as an impartial observer, I need to remain impartial. I did, however, become a a fan of his on Facebook, & you should too... the comments are pretty hilarious. After you do that, you can read what the British papers are saying about him:
* Daily Mail
* The Guardian
* The Times
* Telegraph
* Manchester evening News
* The Daily Record (Scotland)
* Irish Times

And now, w/o further ado, your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day, sporting a bulging vein on the side of his head to rival Simon Bar Sinister, Tim Howard. Grade A badass!

World Cup Post #6: Free Booze & Your Player of the Day

2010-06-12T07:33:00.005-05:00

Before I went to Plum Market in the morning, I finished watching my DVD of the France v Brasil match from 1986 w/ Isaiah... he loved it, but then again, who wouldn't? I then went to Plum for a few hours which meant I had to miss the opening match. I was able to hear the pre-game stuff on BBC News Hour, but only caught the highlights of the match later (Aiden watched it all & gave me a good overview though).

I went to Conor O'Neil's (Dan B showed up too) to watch the France v Uruguay match. I met a dude named George & hung w/ him until Dan showed up. He's been following thee french team since the 1960s so we had a good time talking about the old days. In fact, I have to make him a copy of the France v Brasil 1986 match & bring it up there for the next game. As it turned out, my fears about Raymond Domeneche were made manifest in the starting line-up. Maluoda on the bench w/ both Toulalan & Diaby was ridiculous. Then, subbing Anelka & Gourcuff out for Malouda & Henry was another major mistake. Of course, waiting as long as he did to make the change was a 3rd problem. The team must feel like the crew of the ship in The Caine Mutiny. I'm sure rather than taking responsibility for the draw, he was looking for some missing strawberries. What a stupid fucker!

On the positive side, before the match started, some drunk Tucker max lookin' guy stood up & declared our area of the restaurant his "living room." this meant that all rules were thrown out the window & more importantly, that he was buying everything. I thought he was kidding, but @ the half, the wait staff informed us that they were really buying. I ordered an expensive Scotch. All in all, a cup of soup, a sandwich, fries, 3 pints of Murphy's Stout, & a glass of Glenfiddich.

After the match I went to work @ Nicola's & then out to The Corner w/ Stephanie for another pint. We were stittin' @ a table w/ a bunch of the Children's Lit Conference people when suddenly the bottom of my glass fell out & an entire mug's worth of Stout landed in my lap. Once it was cleaned up, they gave me a couple free rounds... I'll take a lap-full of brew for free beer any day of the week.

What? Wait... you're looking for the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day? Alright, Without further ado, your Player of the day for Match Day 1 is the Uruguayan footballer through whom all their chances flowed. He's been a workhorse for Atlético Madrid & Uruguay for years, & it's clear that if Uruguay are to get anything out of this tournament, they will need it to come from him:
Diego Forlán A Player of the Day who played on a day of a France game but is not French... mark your calanders because I don't see that happening ever again

World Cup Post #5: Recent Memories (plus a little preview)

2010-06-10T19:53:00.004-05:00

Tonight I'll give you the final post of the Visions of Ypsi World Cup Memories. We'll take a look @ 2002 & 2006 & then a quick look ahead @ this weekend's excitement.

2002:
About 4 months before the Japan/S. Korea tournament, we moved into the house on Sheridan. The early matches were on @ 4:00 (or so... maybe 3:00... maybe 2:30) in the morning. i got up in the middle of the night for 2 weeks to watch the games, & the crazy lady next-door did too so we would always see each other's light on @ crazy ass times. After winning in 1998, France crashed out in the 1st round w/ 1 point & a -3 goal difference thanks to rock-star-like partying & all night gambling. The USA had their best showing ever though beating Mexico in the knock-out round & then losing a hard fought match to Germany 1-0 thanks to a 39th minute goal from Michael Ballack in the quarter-finals. This was the tournament during which Jason was living in Brasil, & Brasil won so he had a pretty freaking good time. Fat Ronaldo won the Golden Boot w/ 8 goals, & I was unpleased w/ the piss-poor showing from France.

2006:
I was working in the summer for my dad's mortgage company, & we spent our lunches in front of different Wayne & Washtenaw televisions. The USA finished bottom of their group w/ 1 point & a -4 goal difference. They drew 1-1 w/ the eventual winners, Italy, though so that was pretty cool. France barely made it out of their group, but once they did, they turned it on. Zidane had just come out of international retirement & ed the squad to some pretty fantastic results. I watched the knock-out game between France & Spain w/ my dad @ an Italian place in Livonia 7 they won 3-1. I saw the quarter-finals @ Conor O'Neil's in A2 & France beat Brasil 1-0... awesome! They then beat Portugal 1-0 in the semi-finals. The other matches I remember were the Mexico v Argentina knock-out round match (Arg. won 2-1 in extra time), Portugal v Netherlands in the knock-our round (Portugal won & there were tons of cards w/ fights & all sorts of craziness), & the England v Portugal game. I saw them all @ Conor O'Neil's & the England match was crazy w/ tons of British ex-pats losing their shit over Owen Hargraves' mediocre showing.

of course, the finals were a bit of a let-down. Matterazi, the Italian central defender kept punching Zidane in his dislocated shoulder which led up to the big head-butt. I really blame Domenech, the French coach, who refused to sub Zidane out after he dislocated his shoulder. Instead, he subbed out Henry who'd been having the season of his life. I was wearing my Zidane shirt, & since the bar was about 95% Italian fans, I thought I'd get my ass kicked, but they ended up being alright. Bigger losses occurred in the next few weeks, but they've been workedd out quite well, so maybe that's a good omen for the French squad. We'll see how they do tomorrow.

Tomorrow & Saturday:
I hope Domenech plays a 4-3-3, but usually he plays it a bit more defensively. Here's the line-up I would use, if the French Football Federation ever realized that I'd make a better coach than him.
-----------Lloris
Sagna--Abidal--Gallas--Evra
-----------Diaby
---Ribery----------Gourcuff
Govou-----------------Malouda
-----------Anelka
They'll be playing Uruguay tomorrow @ 2:30... come up to Conor O'Neil's & watch it w/ me.

On Saturday, the USA plays England @ 2:30. be sure to watch it even though I don't have a lot of faith in the USA's ability to get much out of the match. Here's the likely line-up:
---------------Howard
Bocanegra--Onyewu--Cherundolo--Bornstein*
--------------Bradley
Landy Cakes----Clark-----------Feilhaber**
-----------Dempsey
-----------------Buddle
I don't know if it's a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2, but it should be alright. Even if they don't get a point against England, they should get out of the group. The problem w/ that is if they finish 2nd, they'll probably end up playing Germany in the knock-out round which will be tough.

Stay tuned for the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day tomorrow & everyday for the next few weeks.
*We could get DeMerritt instead.
** my knowledge of the mid-field is shakey @ bet, so it might be a little different.

And before the matches tomorrow, you can enjoy this... World Cup stars carved our of crayons.

World Cup Post #4: The Middle Memories

2010-06-08T12:01:00.003-05:00

A few days ago, I wrote about my earliest memories involving the World Cup. In this post, I'm going to discuss 1990, 1994, & 1998, but I'm not going to discuss them in order, so if you're married to the idea of a proper chronological post, you can start your own blog.

1990:
I was in high school. I was taking drivers' ed. & going to summer school for geometry (I also went for Algebra II the following year). I have a few vague memories of going to my Aunt & Uncle's house w/ my dad to watch games on their cable (we didn't have cable then), but I really didn't watch much. I was busy w/ my own team & w/ trying to meet girls so I just didn't follow it. My memories of teat one are so vague that I couldn't even remember who won it until I looked it up (W. Germany beat Argentina 1-0 thanks to an 85th minute penalty by Brehme)

1998:
I had just finished college & gotten married so soccer wasn't very high on my priority list. My dad taped a bunch of the games, & I watched the France v Brazil final over & over (France won!!!), but I really have no other memories of the tournament. It's ironic how little I watched the 1 time France actually won it.

1994:
I'm doing this one out of order because I have a lot to say about it. As you may recall, it was in the USA so many people got to see high levels of soccer for the 1st time. I got a gig ushering @ the Silverdome so I got to go to all 4 games that took place there.
Game 1: USA v Switzerland: It was the opening day of the tournament. The final score was 1-1 thanks to Eric Wynalda's equalizer @ the stroke of half-time. That's all I really remember of the match, but I certainly remember having a blast.
Game 2: Romania v Switzerland: I have no recollection of this match what-so-ever, but apparently it ended 4-1 for the Swiss.
Game 3: Sweden v Russia: Again, I really don't remember it very well. I know I was there, but that's all I know. Sweden won 3-1.
Game 4: Brazil v Sweden: I have vivid memories of this one. The Brazilian fans were amazing. It was like being @ a Dead show. People marching around w/ drums w/o any desire to actually see the match. they were there for the awesome party. Romario knocked in a goal @ the beginning of the 2nd half to tie it up. It finished 1-1 & it was the single best game I've ever attended. At one point, some suburban dad told me to make the people in front of him sit down. I told him to stand. I couldn't believe he expected me to ask some Brazilian dudes who had traveled 5000 miles and possibly waited their entire lives to do exactly what they were doing to stop doing it. Maybe now, 16 years later, he understands.

Ushering was fun & we got in for free, but I'll never forget the stupid red, white, & blue uniforms we had to wear, or the ridiculous gung-ho attitude of the rent-a-cops who were in charge.

The other main memory I have of the tournament is of Baggio's hair (& to a lesser extent, Alexi Lalas's hair too... but @ least Lalas just sort of looked like us, & why not, he was from Metro-Detroit). Baggio was the striker for Italy, they lost in the finals to Brazil after the match went to Penalties. He missed, but Romario & Dunga scored their attempts. It served him right w/ his stupid corn-rowed mullet pony-tail. & you thought Sagna made a strange hair style choice.

Be sure to check back soon for France & USA updates & for the recent (2002 & 2006) memories. I n the mean time, you can go here & join our fantasy league. The league is called DB WC2010. The password is 12345.

Dexter - Ann Arbor 10K

2010-06-06T13:12:00.004-05:00

I road into town w/ Courtney & Don this morning. The race started almost on time, & we had fantastic weather. The run was cool & beautiful along the river & up through the woods. It was certainly nicer than just running the roads though Ypsi. The one downside to the run was that I was passed by a former student. I wasn't pleased as she ran by, said, "Hi Andre!" & kept on cruizin'. Other than that, I'm pretty pleased w/ how with turned out. I averaged 10 minutes & 43 seconds a mile which isn't fantastic, but I'll take it for my 1st ever race. Courtney came in a little later, but she hadn't been training much ahead of time, so I'm sure next year, after she's been training on the bayou for a year, she'll kick my ass. Don ran the 1/2 marathon in less than 2 hours... nice work! Shout-outs also go out to Steve K., Steve B., Stacey, & Rachel who all did well. Over all, it was fun, & I can definitely see myself doing it again. Maybe I can even think about working towards the 1/2 marathon. We'll see.

World Cup Post #3: The Fantasy League

2010-06-05T18:43:00.005-05:00

I know I should keep my team to myself until it becomes public on Friday, but I'm so freaking excited (& I know it won't really matter), so I'm going to post my team.
Goalie: Buffon (Italia)
Defenders: Maicon (Brasil), Pique(España), Sagna (Française)
Midfielders: Gourcuff (Française), Song (Cameroon), Hamsik (Slovenská), Schweinsteiger (Deutschland)
Forwards: Messi (Argentina), Van Persie (Nederland), Fabiano (Brasil)

Subs: Ziani (Algeria) def., Bernardez (Honduras) mid., Cesar (Slovenija) mid., Myong-Gil (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) goalie

As of right now, the league consists of myself, my brother, my father, Jason, Joel, & Demir. If you want to join, go here to register & create a squad, & then join the league: DB WC2010 & use the password 12345. And check back soon for my posts about the French & American teams.

World Cup Post #2: Early Memories

2010-06-03T11:36:00.005-05:00

Since the opening match of the FIFA 2010 World Cup is just over a week away, I thought it might be time to take a little stroll down memory lane.

1982:
I only remember a couple matches from the 1982 tournament in Spain. Only a few games were televised in the US, so we had to make do w/ what we had (or screw around on the roof for hours trying to get CBC to come it). I have more memories of my dad on the roof attempting to get the games than I have of actual games. I do recall one FA Final from back then, but what I remember most was the Subbuteo commercial @ half time. Anyway, I remember the final game, Italy beat Germany 3-1 & Paulo Rossi got another goal & then won the Golden Boot. of course, the kid next door, Paul Rossi, thought it was the coolest thing ever. In fact, I imagine he's still excited about it... you can friend request him and find out. This is when my hatred for Italian football began (it was only heightened by their ugly, defensive diving style later as I realized that's how they play).

My other memory from the 1982 tournament involved France & W. Germany in the Semi-finals. Everyone saw the France side, lead by Michel Platini, as the greatest team that year, but a shady call saw them leave after Extra Time & Penalties. I honestly don't know if I ever saw the game then or if I just know the story, but Battiston who was on a break away was taken out by the West German goalie, Schumacher. As Battiston lay unconscious on the ground, the ref missed everything. had Schumacher got the obvious Red Card, things would have been different. Adidas Tango: Official ball of the 1982 World Cup1986:
Almost every game was televised, either on NBC or ESPN. I had a sweet poster in my room w/ the entire tv schedule sponsored by Budweiser. It was for this tournament that Budweiser started airing framing style advertisements rather than cutting into the matches for commercials. This became standard for soccer (& other sports) afterwards. This was also the Tournament that introduced the world to "The Wave." Since it occurred in Mexico, people outside of N. America still refer to it as the "Mexican Wave." The games I specifically remember are France v Italy in the round of 16 (France won 2-0), England v Argentina in the Quarter Finals (Maradona's "Hand of God" goal... he also scored one of the greatest goals ever in that game). I don't have a strong memory of the France v W. Germany semi-final or even of the Argentina v W. Germany final, but the France v Brazil quarter-final was fantastic. My dad taped most of the matches & this is the one I watched over & over & over. A couple years ago, Jean found it on DVD, so I've watched it a few times recently (maybe this afternoon will call for another viewing). All the pundits were hoping this would be the match-up for the finals but they met too early. A Brazilian team w/ Zico, Junior, & Socrates (read about this dude... he's pretty amazing... not only was he one of the best players ever, he had a degree in medicine & a PhD in Philosophy). France won the game on penalties w/ Platini putting the ball over the bar (Socrates & Julio Ceasar [not the Inter-Milan goalie] missed their shots too). What a game! What a game. Adidas Azteca: Official ball of the 1986 World Cup I'm sure this month will provide us w/ some similar matches, but for one of equal awesomeness might be too much to ask. Stay tuned to Visions of Ypsi for more world Cup up-dates... & once the games start, be sure to check back for you Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day! And you can join the Fantasy Soccer fun here. Make you team and then join our league (league name: DB WC2010 / Password: 12345).

From the Halls of Montezuma

2010-05-31T06:57:00.006-05:00

Andre's Top Twenty WWII Films: You'll notice there's no reference to John Wayne or Ronald Reagan. And really, it's mainly because I've never actually seen any of their WWII films. That said, there are a couple on this list that I've never seen, but I feel should probably be included none-the-less.

20) Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944): A much better depiction of the bombing of Tokyo than Pearl Harbor could ever dream to be. Best porno spoof title: Thirty Seconds Inside Tokyo (in this scenario, Tokyo is an Asian woman... not a city).
19) The Dirty Dozen (1967): One of the 1st films I thought of, but really a bit over-rated. It's the 1st appearance of Borgnine, Sunderland, & Bronson on this list. Best porno spoof title: The Dirty Bakers Dozen (a fun little gang-bang film).
18) Schindler's List (1993): I haven't seen this since it was in the theaters. I saw it @ the Penn in Plymouth after we got home from the Hash Bash. Best porno spoof title: Schindler's Lisp (yeah... it's got an all male cast).
17) Saving Private Ryan (1998): I've actually never seen this. I suppose I should. Best porno spoof title: Fisting Private Ryan (some people prefer Saving Ryan's Privates, but a fisting reference is always better than no fisting reference).
16) Stalag 17 (1953): A great film that was then spoofed by Hogan's heroes. Best porno Spoof title: Stalag 69 (I know... too obvious).
15) Tora, Tora, Tora (1970): A great multi-ethnic, mutli-language film. BSPT: Whora, Whora, Whora (yeah, I guess that'll work).
14) Bridge on the River Kwai (1957): neither my fav david Lean, nor my fav Alec Guinness, but it's the only WWII movie they made that I can think of, & it's good... it's just no Lawrence of Arabia. BPST: Bridge over the River Quim (This was a tough one... if you've got better titles, feel free to post 'em).
13) Objective, Burma! (1945): The only Errol Flynn to make the list. It's a fun B movie. I watch it every time it's on. BPST: Errol Flynn's Erotic Jungle Adventure (my first thought was Objective, Booty, but went w/ the more classy, conceptual option).
12) Inglorius Bastards (2009): Time will tell w/ this one... it may climb the list & enter the top 10 some day. BPST: Inglorious Ass-Tards (it's about chicks who are stoopid for anal... I apologize for the offensive title, but if that's really the thing about this post that offends you, you need to re-prioritize your offense-o-meter).
11)Inglorius Bastards (1978): Anothere movie w/ the same title... it's much more fun, plus there's Fred Williamson! BPST: Glory-Hole Bastards (coming up w/ a 2nd one wasn't easy).
10) The Longest Day (1962): Epic about Normandy. It's pretty sweet! BPST: The Longest Gay (??? does that even make sense?)
9) Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (1989): It's no raiders, but it's pretty fantastic. BPST: Indy does İskenderun (it's on the Pilgrim trail from the Eastern Empire).
8) Merrill's Marauders (1962): Basically the same movie as Objective, Burma but w/ a more unknown cast & w/ more ridiculousness. BPST: Marion's Marauders (another gang-bang flick, but this one w/ some Happy Days references).
7) From Here to Eternity (1953): This is the 2nd film on the list to feature Ernest Borgnine. We watched it again last night... it's got some interesting sexual tension... especially between Montgomery Cliff & Burt Lancaster. BPST: From Here to Eternity: The Director's Cut (it's got all the hot Cliff on Lancaster stuff that was originally left on the cutting room floor).
6) The Great Escape (1963): Rarely does my love for POW movies dove-tail into my love for James Garner... sweet! Plus, it's the 2nd appearance of Charles Bronson. BPST: The Great Ass-scape (I phoned that one in).
5) To Be or Not to Be (1942): Before Hogan's Heroes, Jack Benny was making the Nazis look freaking hilarious. The Mel Brooks remake is good, but see the original. BPST: To Pee or Not to Pee (a little golden shower fun).
4) Kelly's Heroes (1970): The other movie w/ Sunderland... as a stoned hippie tank commander who helps Eastwood & company get behind Nazi lines & rob a bank. It's like Three Kings w/ a lot of pot. BPST: Kelly's Herpes (he gets behind Nazi lines, goes to a brothel, & the rest is history).
3) Victory (1981): I've said so much about this one over the years, that it really needs no more discussion. BPST: Deep Inside Micheal Caine (It's better than it sounds).
2) Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981): Pure Awesome. What more is there to say? BPST: Nazi Monkeys (a little fetish fun... unlike the original, no monkeys die in this one... they probably wish they did though).
1) Casablanca (1942): Clearly my favorite. It's in my top 5 movies of all time so it's obviously numero uno here. I saw it for the 1st time @ the Michigan Theater about 12 years ago. It kind of pisses me off that I'd gone 233 years w/o seeing. I've made up for lost time by watching it a few times a year since then. They're playing it for free over Labor Day weekend this year, & you can bet your ass I'll be seeing it again. BPST: Ass-a-Blanca (an little inter-racial number where white chicks get pounded by people of color.

Reubens in Washtenaw

2010-05-28T12:57:00.004-05:00

Over the last 6 months, I've become a bit less vegetarian than I had been for years. In October of 1993, I stopped eating meat & then in the fall of 1997 I went vegan for a couple years. After that, when Stephanie was pregnant, I started to eat cheese & ice cream again since it was around the house more. Then about 10 years ago, we took a trip to FLA where we enjoyed some fish. At that point, we became occasional fish eaters (a few times a year). Lately, I've been enjoying the more carnivorous side of life again. I'm aware it's not the most environmentally sound dietary change I've ever made, & I can think of a few animals who had other plans than t be digested by me, but I certainly haven't gone overboard w/ this. The one thing I have been enjoying again, though, is a Reuben Sandwich. I'm loving me some Corned Beef. Here is a run-down of the Top 5 Reubens in the area.5) Conor O'Neill's
I was a bit surprised that an Irish pub didn't make it a little higher on the list. The slices of corned beef could have been thinner, but the bread was good.

4) Sidetrack
I had this one quite a while ago; I haven't had another 1 since. I think when going to Sidetrack, I'll have to stick to the Tempe version.

3) Cafe Luwak
I just had this 1 an hour ago. The corned beef was great, but the bread was a bit think & dry. I liked the added touch of the grainy mustard though.

2) Aubree's
I tried this 1 a few Weeks ago when we went there for Aiden's b-day. It's fantastic. They use a great marbled rye & load it down w/ thinly sliced corned beef.

1)The Village Kitchen
The don't have a web-site so a restaurant review page will have to suffice. I tried their Reuben for the 1st time a few months ago when I was out to lunch w/ Laura. It's perfect. The bread is grilled to a delicious buttery crispness. The corned beef is thinly slices & heaping. The Swiss cheese & kraut are great. I was kind of shocked that this place topped the list, but it's a really fantastic sandwich. (I also had their corned beef hash a couple months ago. It's equally good.) They're located right by Plum Market, & if you're over on that side of on, give 'em a go!

Lost: The final episode final thoughts in a final post

2010-05-25T14:02:00.007-05:00

The review by Davie Bianculli on Fresh Air deserves a 2nd (or 1st) look. Check it out because it really puts the final episode in perspective. After the show, Matthew Fox, among many other cast members, was on Jimmy Kimmel. He claimed years ago that he always knew how the show would end, but it turns out he meant the final seen of his death w/ his eye closing in the bamboo field just as it opened there when the show started 6 seasons ago. I highly doubt he actually knew that the flash-sideways timeline was actually more like some Limbo/Purgatory/holding facility. When the show started, people thought maybe the island was just that sort of place, but the producers repeatedly denied that angle. As it turns out, they pulled the wool over our eyes. The island was the real world & the real world was the spiritual holding facility. Harold Perrineau was also on Kimmel. He seemed to clear up the "why wasn't Michael in the church @ the end" question pretty well. He was never redeemed & is then doomed to wander the island forever whispering things to people. The whispers were explained in all of 4 seconds a few weeks ago when Michael talked to Hurley in the jungle. If that didn't bother people, then the ending should certainly not raise any eyebrows.

Over all, I have many problems w/ the entire final season, but I certainly can't put all the anger on the 1 episode. It reminds me of Star Trek V in that they needed to explain more than they had to for & did their best to squeeze it all in. If you'll recall, Star Trek V features an awkward alliance between Kirk & a Klingon general. They clearly wanted to get to the Klingon treaty that eventually leads to Worf being on the Enterprise, but rushed it too much. The final episode of Lost is by no means bad like Star Trek V, but the rushed explanations are the same.

Along w/ the connections to Star Trek V there was also some Star Trek II things. namely, Jack putting the plug back into the yellow well thing. It was exactly like Spock putting the mains on-line. The good of the many.... The funeral thing was a lot like Finnegan's Wake... from what I've been able to make out of Finnegan's Wake. It was also like the funeral scene in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader. It's a recent graphic by Neil Gaiman in which Batman dies & all of the main characters (good & bad) speak @ his funeral & claim responsibility for his death. (Alfred's story is pretty good, btw.) Ben's redemption @ the end reminded me a lot of Celie's husband Albert's in The Color Purple. He's just suddenly a semi-decent guy. It's odd, but it strangely works.

What we did learn amounts to this:
* Ben turns out alright which is what I was hoping for all along
* Richard starts aging again & leaves the island w/ Kate, Clair, Sawyer, & Frank... I wonder what he'll do next. Here's a little something for the comment section: in what fields could Richard succeed?
* Widmore & Ben were basically on the same side all along.
* Clair will be alright which suggests the temple-folk didn't really know what they were talking about which is what I assumed all along. That Degen dude pissed me off.
* Anna Lucia wasn't in the church which means she apparently never found her redemption even though she helped the fugitives (Kate, Sayid, & Desmond) escape.
* Being crossed off the cave list wasn't very important. It was just a line of chalk through a name (wee might have gotten that last week, but it was a funny revelation none the less).

What we didn't learn:
* What the fuck was the yellow glowing stuff? And is it similar to the stuff in Marcellus Wallace's briefcase?
* What's up w/ Walt?
* why was Desmond weird w/ electro-magnetism? Did the hatch explosion make him special like Bruce Banner w/ the gamma rays or was he already special and therefore able to survive the hatch explosion?
* How did Mikhail lose his eye? (I didn't really expect to get this info anyway)
* Daniel's time in A2? other than the 5 minutes it took him to decide that blowing up the bomb was a good idea, what was he doing?
* Did the 2 hot chicks in the Looking Glass ever get it on?
* If Ben & Widmore were basically on the same side all along, was Season 4 ridiculous? If their main job was protecting the island & ensuring the Man in Black didn't leave, then why was their struggle important one way or the other? As long as it's getting done, why does it matter who is doing it?

With all of these unanswered issues, a follow-up movie is almost certain. Who will sign on though, & more importantly, what will it be called?
* Lost: The Motion Picture
* Lost: The Man in Black Strikes Back
* Lost: Fire Walk w/ Ben
* Lost: Jack Wants to Believe
* Lost: Jack & Juliet & Kate & Sawyer
* Lost: Big & Carrie Go to the South Pacific (I like this one because Kim Catrall could merge her characters from Sex & the City & Star Trek VI & maybe be some ancient Egyptian mannequin again too)

Lost: The Final Episode

2010-05-23T12:39:00.002-05:00

After my 2nd match this evening, I need to race home having imbibed very little beer in order to catch the recap before the last episode. I'm excited but also a bit saddened by the end of the show. This season hasn't been quite as good as seasons 4 & 5 which are clearly my favorites, but it's been fun. The answers to the questions have occasionally left me w/ more questions though... like when will the spin-off movie come out to answer yet more questions & what the fuck are they thinking w/ the lack of more pseudo-scientific explanations? There have been a lot of answers though so I looked back @ the list of question I posted a year ago & realized that only a few haven't been addressed. Walt, Libby, & Helen probably won't get covered tonight, but we might get some interesting info about Faraday. It probably won't be in regards to A2, but it should be good none-the-less.

Enjoy the series finale & check back here tomorrow for a more thorough wrap-up... adios & namaste.

Solstice Peltier: Bad Ass

2010-05-23T06:47:00.003-05:00

About 20 minutes into their match yesterday, Solstice bonked her nose on the back of some other kid's head & needed to come off for a minute. It seemed pretty innocent, & when she was feeling better she went back in. Apparently, it wasn't as innocent as I thought. She claims the kid left his foot out a little late each time she was going for the ball, which ended up tripping her (or kicking her) repeatedly. W/ about 5 minutes to go, the other team went ahead w/ a penalty kick (after our defender stopped a goal w/ his hand... technically, it was after the PK because out goalie saved it but the shooter put in the rebound). As they were walking back to the center circle, the kid who'd been going @ it w/ Solstice said something in a taunting manner, & she'd had enough. I only saw it out of the corner of my eye & thought it was an accident, but she clobbered him. W/ a look of murder on her face that I only heard about after the fact, she ran into him & pushed him down into the mud. I thought she'd stumbled on the uneven ground & just fell against him, until it was explained to me more completely. Ironically, this happened right after our brawl in the Green Team match last week. I guess this goes to show how bad-sports-person-ship can spread. We had a big talk about not retaliating, but they way she did it was just like I used to do it (or like Gordie Howe), a little after the initial problem & when the ref's back was turned. As freaked out as I was about the whole thing, ass while I obviously did the correct parent thing (a long talk about why we shouldn't do that), inside I was beaming. I assume it was from these shady characters that my little princess got her vengeful streak.

A Soccer Post You Might Actually Want to Read Involving a Ref and a Brawl

2010-05-17T07:00:00.004-05:00

Here's a sampling of the ref's calls in the Verde FC Match Yesterday:
1) Assistant Ref threatened to throw my goalie out of the game for marking the line w/ his foot... it's against the letter of the laws of the game, but it was clear they'd be sticklers for the little things because they couldn't handle the important stuff.
2)My defender has his arm pushed into the ball in the Penalty Box. Ref gives a PK. Before the kick is taken, he then proceeds to admit that he screwed up but didn't change his call.
3) My striker was taken down by the last defender. The ref called the foul but refused to give the red card. So much for the letter of the law.
4) Ref blows the whistle for a pass-back to the keeper. As Eric & I go forward for a quick kick he changes his mind & says "just play." W/ our defense up for the kick, they caught us out & were on a break. It lead to a goal about a minute later.
5) After the match when I was attempting to discuss these issues / the refs, I was quickly told to "shut the fuck up" & "fuck off."

Afterwards, Eric, Cal, Dan, & I headed to another field to play a second match, this time w/ The Green Team. We were a few minutes late & the game had already started. For some reason, we were playing a team of 18 year olds. After some scrappy play, one kid attempted to slide-tackle Jim. He missed the ball, & took out Jim's legs. Jim called the foul & all Hell broke loose. I turned around & he was all up in Jim's face. Jim tried to explain that sliding isn't allowed in that league. "Says where?" asks the kid. First of all, we have 3 English teachers on the team, he's gonna have to come a little more grammatically correct than that. Suddenly, people were all tangled up... we're trying to hold people back while they're trying to fight. People are rolling round & some punches were even thrown (by them... not us... Green Team speaks w/ non-violent resistance; when we raise our fists, it's not in violencec but in solidarity & union w/ the opressed peoples of the world). I've heard of the old days in the league when there used to be fights all the time, but I'd never experienced one 1st hand until yesterday. It was quite a scene.

Tiny Plastic Bags

2010-05-13T16:06:00.005-05:00

After class today, I ran into Kroger's to get eggs for the kids practice tonight. (We're going to play catch w/ them in an attempt to understand the art & science of trapping the ball because it's still bonking off their shins & going 10 feet away.) I didn't plan on getting much but then it occurred to me that I wasn't going to get another chance to grocery shop for a while so I ended up getting a bunch of stuff... like a week & a half's worth of groceries. For my regular shopping I usually go to Hiller's & I grab extra stuff when I'm @ Plum, but I absolutely hate Kroger's. They're huge w/o a great selection (other than the act that they're the only grocery store around that sells Scotch).Anyway, I end up @ the check-out w/ a cart full of shit, shit I would prefer to bag myself, but they're always so pushy that I let them do it. Of course, I told the kid, "get as much into each bag as you can... I don't want to have to carry useless bags." I know I should have brought my own bags, but I wasn't prepared for shopping after class, & @ Hiller's & Plum I prefer the paper bags because we use them for recycling. Kroger's, however, has no paper bags, just the tiny plastic ones.A 2nd bagger shows up, & the kids told her about my wishes. She seemed to understand, but as I was leaving, I realized there were a couple empty bags mixed in w/ the somewhat full ones. Empty fucking bags! Talk about being asleep @ the fucking wheel. Of course, I then noticed that some things... dish soap, bread, a can of fucking tomato paste... were all given their own bags... tomato paste. I could have slipped it in my breast pocket for Christ's sake. The bottle of Scotch wass placed in a paper wine bag & then placed in a tiny plastic bag all to itself. I'm not kidding. Before I left, I rebagged the stuff & ended up w/ 7... count them... 7 extra bags. I know they're using the tiny plastic ones in an attempt to save money, but then they're wasting so many, it can't be cost effective. The ones I got will get used for garbage bags over time (we haven't bought garbage bags in ages... I hate the idea of buying something w/ the sole intention of throwing it out. I feel the same way about toilet paper, but I have yet to find a good replacement. I've been thinking that after a nice deuce, I may just start jumping in the shower. I'll have to quantify the water usage as opposed to the paper usage & determine the +/- on the overall footprint 1st though. I'll you keep all posted on that one, but in the mean time, I'll be wading knee deep through tiny plastic bags.

Summer of Spacey Post #2

2010-05-09T08:15:00.027-05:00

Here's the list of Spacey's cinematic stuff in reverse chronological order:
1. Father of Invention (2010)
2. Casino Jack (2010)
3. The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) *
4. Shrink (2009)*
5. Moon (2009)*
6. Telstar: The Joe Meek Story (2008)
7. Recount (2008)*
8. 21 (2008)
9. Machine Child (2007)
10. Fred Claus (2007)
11. Superman Returns (2006)*
12. Edison (2005)
13. Beyond the Sea (2004)*
14. The Life of David Gale (2003)*
15. The United States of Leland (2003)
16. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) *
17. The Tower of Babble (2002)
18. The Shipping News (2001)*
19. K-PAX (2001)*
20. Shackelton's Antarctic Adventure (2001)*
21. Pay It Forward (2000)
22. Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)*
23. The Big Kahuna (1999)*
24. American Beauty (1999) **
25. A Bug's Life (1998)*
26. Hurlyburly (1998)
27. The Negotiator (1998)
28. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)*
29. L.A. Confidential (1997) *
30. A Time to Kill (1996)*
31. Se7en (1995)*
32. Outbreak (1995)*
33. The Usual Suspects (1995) *
34. Swimming with Sharks (1994) *
35. Doomsday Gun (1994)
36. The Ref (1994)*
37. Iron Will (1994)
38. Consenting Adults (1992)*
39. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)*
40. Henry & June (1990) *
41. A Show of Force (1990)***
42. Dad (1989)
43. See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) *
44. Working Girl (1988)
45. Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
46. Long Day's Journey Into Night (1987)
47. Heartburn (1986)

* Films we've watched so far this summer
** Films I've seen before but will watch again this summer
*** Film we're watching right now

We've got Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil from the library & four or five others scheduled to record. We didn't have Netflix last year for Arnold which made the hunt part of the fun (just like in Predator). Getting the movies will be easier this year; I hope that doesn't take away from the fantasticness of the process. We're about half way through Swimming w/ Sharks right now. It's a really dated mid-90s thing about a Hollywood lackey getting revenge on his mean boss. A bit 1 dimensional, but a fun black comedy. I don't expect many surprises by the end though.

The Big Move! (Complete w/ 3 exclamation points)

2010-05-06T16:18:00.008-05:00

I finally got all moved in to my new office. It's kind of weird in that I'd been in the previous one since the fall of 2001, but the new, temporary home is really nice. It's roomy w/ more shelf space & it even has a shower! It's technically a dorm room w/ a bathroom connecting it to the one next door (where Tony is). Now I get to live out all my Revenge of the Nerds/Real Genius fantasies. It even has windows that actually open!

Goats... & Kevin Spacey

2010-05-04T06:28:00.005-05:00

When I was in elementary school, there was a kid who would bring goat milk in his thermos for lunch everyday. He swore by it, but I was always absolutely appalled. I envisioned him milking the goat straight into the thermos (in hide sight, I kind of doubt that's what was actually happening). He did live on a farm though, so who knows. When I was the dairy buyer @ The Food Hole, I spent about 1/2 of my tenure as a vegan so it never occurred to me to try the goat milk, & then once I started eating dairy again, it just never occurred to me to try it.I have, on the other hand, always enjoyed goat cheese, so a couple months ago, @ Plum Market, I decided to give goat milk a go... & it's awesome! I can't believe I went 35 freakin' years w/o having tried it. I'm lovin' it. In that same vein, I then decided to pick up some goat milk butter... & it's also awesome! I can't get enough if it on toast w/ black currant jam. I've also taken to cooking eggs in it... or anything else that needs to be sauteed, like the morel mushrooms we've been getting from the yard. In fact, I think I'm going to have a piece a toast in just a few minutes while I'm getting ready for my 1st day of the new semester this morning.In other goat news, we watched The Men Who Stare @ Goats a couple weeks ago & it's really good. I'm always up for a George Clooney film, or a Ewan McGregor film, or a Jeff Bridges film, so the fact that they're all in it was cool. The fact that there was really a military group trying to do this shit is ridiculous. Of course, Kevin Spacey was great in it too. We then rewatched L.A. Confidential this week & have since decided that Kevin Spacey will be the actor of the the summer. His filmography is rather lengthy, but over the course of the next few months we'll give it a go. The idea of sitting through Superman Returns again is a bit off-putting though.

Cosmo... WTF?

2010-05-01T20:40:00.002-05:00

Trick #1: Don't give yourself a Brazilian.

In which we discuss a few unrelated issues like mushrooms, baseball, and books

2010-04-30T06:41:00.008-05:00

For your reading pleasure, we have 2 separate mushroom topics. The 1st in regards to the morels mushrooms in our back yard. When we looked @ this house for the 1st time in April of 2008, I found 2 & quickly pocketed them in case we decided not to move here. As it turns out, we did move in & each spring I've found a few more. Over the last week, I've found a grand total of 8 morels. I'll look around again this morning before I go to work, but the window seems to be closing. There are some great recipes for morels, but unless 1 has a larger quantity than 8, the best way to eat them seems to be simply sauteing them w/ butter & garlic. Prepared in this way, they are a lot like escargot. Delicious!In other morel news, I broke my morel coffee cup the other day while packing up my office for the big Pray Harrold move. The cup as my mom's when I was a kid. It had that sweet '70s mushroom pattern that looked all Allman Brothersy, but was really just a fad in 1976. I don't know why shrooms became a fad for people who never did them, but it was a cool cup none-the-less. The last thing I did was put the cup in a small box I was bringing home. Of course, I dropped the box as I went to pick up my phone & keys before walking out the door @ the cup broke into 3 big pieces & a bunch of little bits that made fixing it impossible. You may recall the time last September when I thought I'd lost it. Annette found it & all was good. My previous cup was a Kucinich 2004 cup. The 1 before that was a Women's Studies Program 25th anniversary cup. I get ridiculously attached to the cups so now I have to find 1 that will not only hold my tea/water, but also reflect my personality & socio/political beliefs. It's a hard life.While we're on the subject of Morels, I'd like to remind you that the morel is the state mushroom of Minnesota? How does this relate to anything, you ask? Well, yesterday, we went to the Tiger's game & they beat the Twins 3-0. It was a great game, & the kids had a blast. Solstice & Aiden absolutely love going down there, & even Isaiah watched the whole game w/o getting bored or fidgety. By far, my favorite play was Jackson stealing 2nd & 3rd to set up Damon's sacrifice fly. I'd never seen a 2 base steal in person before... it was sweet. Aiden was impressed by the double plays while Solstice seems to just love the atmosphere in general. Our seat were what 1 would traditionally call shit, but we actually liked them. For 5 bucks, we were in the farthest, highest section down the 3rd base line, but we could see really well, & the section only had 20 or so other people in it (including the weird dude w/ his kid & swastika tattoo). I can't wait to take them down there again, maybe w/ Elizabeth, Dan, & Sam. We're also thinking about a trip to Toledo for a Mudhens' game. Aiden & I had a blast last year, so I think we'll have to make that happen. lastly, we were talking about maybe a road trip to Cleveland or Chicago for an away game... anyone down?Finally, in other news of yesterday, I finished The Savage Detectives... at long last. According to this post, I started it on November 6th. It was hard going but well worth it. Roberto Bolaño was clearly a genius. He has a few other things translated 7 I think I'll have to make it my summer reading project to get through a couple more. 2666 is even longer & more convoluted than The Savage Detectives, but after a short break w/ some more simple stuff, I'll give it a go. I've also read A Mercy by Toni Morrison lately, a book my students absolutely hated, but it was actually really cool. It takes place on a small farm in the 1680s & '90s & each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person on the farm. Plus, it give us a nice look into the issues of religion & slavery in the early colonies... before slavery become the established system I am more familiar w/ in the 18th &19th centuries. Last week, I also read the first anthology in a series by Alan Moore I wasn't familiar w/ called Promethea. Like Watchmen, it's a fun post-modern story dealing w/ narrative structures & the construction of narratives & imagination. Give it a go if you're into comics... you won't be sorry... plus, there are some funny references to Helene Cixous... & who doesn't love a funny Cixous reference? You can get the books right here, or wander over to Nicola's & I can help you w/ them @ your friendly neighborhood bookstore this evening after 4:30.

Get Your Verde FC Replica Kits Today!

2010-04-26T18:21:00.002-05:00

Stephanie got her jersey today and you can get yours too. This week we have a little sale going on. For just $25.00 you can be the proud owner of a beautiful Verde FC shirt.

God & the Tigers or A Coke & a Smile

2010-04-23T11:11:00.005-05:00

While that crazy-ass facebook group praying for the death of Obama was circulating yesterday, I also came across another crazy-ass situation. I saw this bumper sticker... for those who don't want to follow the link, it says, "God bless our troops... especially the snipers." I don't get it. Is it asking God to bless (AKA forgive) the snipers for their aggressive behavior? I doubt it. I don't usually have a problem w/ "bless the troops" type claims in that I assumed they implied protection. But the snipers aren't really in the same danger as the other soldiers. Hiding in a tree & picking people of who don't even know they're there seems like a pretty safe job. I think that if I ever enlisted, I'd certainly choose sniper over "dude who busts into a bombed out basement w/o knowing who is waiting." I don't mean this as an attack on snipers; I don't want them to get shot, I just think the bumper-sticker was odd. Why single them out like that. Is this suggesting that the owner of the sticker doesn't want the other members of the armed forces to receive an equal amount of blessings?

When I was i high school, a Priest (Fr. Wheeler) would lead a team prayer before the matches, but I always assumed it was a pray for a safe game... not for a victory. I never assumed God really gave a shit about who won or lost our high school soccer games. Dan has also been known to lead a prayer before Verde FC matches, & while I didn't take part, I assumed it was a similar situation: a prayer for safety & a good match. If I believed in God, I imagine God would certainly want to see a good game w/ beautiful passing & strong tackles... right? Who wouldn't?Back in 1984, there was a popular slogan 'round these [arts that some of you might recall... "Bless You, Boys!" This sports "prayer" is a little more ambiguous than Dan's or Fr. Wheeler's pre-match prayers. It was cool that they won the series & all, but if God was really concerned w/ the outcome of the MLB post-season & was a Tigers fan, would God really have let us suffer for the last 26 years? 2006 was close, but if God wanted the Tigers to win a few years back, I'm he'd have figured out a way to pull it off.

God may not be a Tigers fan (even God has to know when to throw in the towel... The entire Pantheon of gods must have given up on the Lions back in the mid-70s... but I'm no God. And after last night's victory, I think it may be time to make the call. That's right folks, it's now the time to announce your Visions of Ypsi 2010 Tiger! Before we do that though, you can refresh you Visions of Ypsi Tigers memory here.Phil Coke is it! It's not so much his ability as his name, his ridiculous hair, & his name. I definitely need to get a Coke shirt. I was waffling between Valverde (his name has my team's name in it), Austin Jackson (his name has not 1 but 2 Southern cities in it), & Dontrell Willis (he looks like a cross between Sol Campbell & someone w/ an internal head injury... I dig that.

A soccer post for Kristen and evereyone else who loves the soccer posts

2010-04-20T08:49:00.004-05:00

Wenger seemed to realize, after the loss @ White Hart Lane, that winning the league wasn't going to happen this year. It's been a long 5 years w/o a trophy; "The Invincibles" won the league in 2004 w/o losing a single match, Arsenal won the FA Cup in 2005, lost in the Champions League final in 2006 after Lehman was sent off, & then lost in the League Cup final in 2007 (a match that ended in a brawl which saw Adebayor, the only person uninvolved get sent off for trying to stop it). Over all, it's been 5 years of blindingly beautiful football w/ absolutely nothing but a few broken legs to show for it.

Since they only have 3 games to go, it's time to start looking ahead to next fall. Of course, I'm doing my part by reading all of the transfer rumors. Here's what I, in my infinite wisdom, think needs to happen.

Sell:
Diaby to some French club where he can dribble, dribble, dribble... lose the ball all he wants
Eboue to Italy where his lack of speed won't be an issue
Almunia to a mid-level club in Spain
Fabianski to some backwater club in Eastern Europe where he'll be forgotten
Eduardo to either Spain or Italy Silvestre is out of contract so he should be released & Wenger can then wash his hands of that putz
Denilsen should go to a club like Reading or Burnley
**There's also a rumor that Arshavin & Fabregas might go to Spain**

Buy:
A new central defender to back up Vermaelen & Gallas like Sakho, Boateng, Hangeland, or Upson
A couple strikers... Chamakh is almost certain on a free from Bordeaux & then someone like Hazzard or Gignac... there's also a pretty common rumor about Higuain coming in from Madrid
A new holding midfielder to replace Denilsen like de Rossi
Clearly a goalie... Joe Hart seems to be the main rumor & he'd be great
Another winger or 2 to replace Eboue/Eduardo/Diaby like Gareth Bale
If Fabregas is sold to Barca, then they'd have plenty of money to pick up Gourcuff who already has a great partnership w/ Chamakh in France... plus he has 2 of the other traits Wenger loves... he's young & caries a French passport... in fact even if Fabregas stays, Wenger should put in a bid for him anyway

I hope Fabregas stays, & in general, w/ Wenger suggesting he'll spend more than normally this summer, the team will certainly be stronger next year. Once Gallas, RVP, Vermaelen, Fabregas, Song, & Arshavin are back from their injuries, the spine of the team will be fantastic & the upgrades can then deepen the squad & push for some trophies again.

Lurkers v Posters

2010-04-19T13:50:00.002-05:00

I know a lot of my friends have blogs which I don't read as often as I'd like. And when I do read them, I often leave w/o commenting because I'm in a hurry or just because I nothing to add. I imagine this is the case w/ most people, but it might be time for a little roll call, y'all. I was recently reminded that people are reading this but not commenting, & while I have the tracker, it's not very specific, so I thought I'd dedicate a little space to this little issue. I know Jason, Stephanie, & Holly are reading this on a pretty regular basis, but who else is out there? Stand & be counted, yo! There are also occasional comments from Annette, Steve, & Cmadler. Of course, the comments go up around New Years for the big contest, but in general, I'm fascinated to know who is out there.

A Few Movies

2010-04-17T11:36:00.004-05:00

Good Hair
I watched this the other night w/ some people from my African American Lit class. Chris Rock hosts this documentary about African American hair styles. He seems a bit uncomfortable as an interviewer, but it's fascinating. They really go in depth about weaves and relaxer. Apparently, many women were really upset that their "beauty secrets" were explained, but it's definitely worth watching. At times, the conversations in the barber shop get a bit sexist, & he never seems bothered by that, but then Al Sharpton & Maya Angelou deal w/ the political side of the issue nicely.
Best line:
Rock: "So you lived your whole life & then finally got your hair straightened for the first time when you were 70?"
Angelou: "Well, it wasn't my whole life... I'm not dead yet."
There are also some hilariously offensive moments w/ Ice T.

Whatever Works
Stephanie found this on the Bookmobile the other day. Woody Allen meets Larry David! It's a fantastic film, & the pairing of Woody w/ Larry David was a genius move, but @ times it seems a bit forced. It's certainly 1 of his best comedies in years. Over the last 10 years, only Melinda & Melinda & Hollywood Ending are as good. Of course, Match Point & Cassandra's Dream are fantastic too, but they aren't comedies. My only complaints w/ it are that 1) it falls back on some pretty old WA jokes & 2) everyone is a bit rigid... not Hayden Christiensen rigid, but rigid none the less.

The Visitor
Stephanie found this one on the Bookmobile too. I'd been wanting to see it for quite some time, & I'm glad I finally did. It's absolutely beautiful. A older econ prof from Connecticut returns to his apartment in NY to find an African couple living there (renting from someone who claimed to own it). He ends up befriending them & getting tangled in their immigration fight while also coming out of his boring Econ shell. See it.

Looking gift horses in mouths

2010-04-10T07:07:00.006-05:00

Wonder Woman, Storm, Catwoman, Rogue.... Their pants have always been nearly non-existent in order to sell female heroes to 12 year old boys. When Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out, I remember thinking, "The future is gonna be sweet w/ the tight pants all the sexy, hairless chicks* will be wearing." By the time Star Trek: TNG was on, the thinking sort of shifted to "Come on... no one is really going to wear pants that tight in the future." Of course, this year my thoughts have changed a bit again as those once futuristic tight, tight pants have become a reality. Back in the mid-80s, the girls were wearing tight legging type things, but always w/ long sweaters over them. It never occurred to people that the legging things could stand alone as pants in their own right.

This year, running/yoga attire has merged w/ basic going to class or the grocery store attire into some weird camel-toe show-off sessions. Not only are the pants tighter, but they've become thinner. I now I shouldn't be so concerned (in fact, I should probably just sit back & enjoy the show), & I know I've never been the standard bearer for an appropriate fashion sense, but it's a bit ridiculous. I feel that if I can pick your whoo-ha out of a pussy-line-up, your pants might be too tight. Clearly, this is a trend designed by a couple D&D/Tasha Yar fans... & young women across the county have bought into it like fucking lemmings... lemmings in really tight pants.

Oh, & while we're on the topc of hot, hot women in tight, tight pants, I'd like to remind you all that Staphanie has created a new blog. Be sure to check it out!

*Deltans, the specie of Lt. Ilia, have no body hair other than eye brows & lashes. Their evolution has taken them to some glorious future w/o pubes or old man ear-hair. Of course, afte she became possesed by V'ger, she wore no pants at all.

African American Cinema Celebration

2010-04-07T09:01:00.002-05:00

You, dear reader, may recall that on MLK Day there was a film presentation in the Student Center regarding the use of African American stereotypes in American cinema. You may also recall that I thought it was rather sub-par. It seemed like a basic reiteration of Ethnic Notions, Marlon Riggs 1986 documentary about Black Face & minstrel Shows, w/ a few more recent examples. In response, my African American Lit class & I decided that we should have a bi-weekly viewing of something from the African American film cannon.

1) We started w/ Ethnic Notions in order to get a background of the history & imagery. It's pretty standard fare for college campuses, but it's really good & none of them had seen it.

2) Our next film was Bamboozled, Spike Lee's awesome lampooning of Hollywood & pop-culture. If you haven't seen it... do so! It's intense & at times hard to stomach, but it's absolutely fantastic.

3) Next up was Daughters of the Dust. I hadn't seen it since I was in grad school, & I'm really glad we picked it. I wanted something different from what they're used to, & I also wanted to expose them to part of American culture w/ which they are generally unfamiliar. It worked. It's a really cool film w/ a sort of Virginia Woolf feel to it: multiple perspectives, internal monologues, & a women's story told in such a way that undermines the traditional masculine narrative structures of contemporary films. See it if you haven't.

4) We chose to move on to something a bit more bad-ass... Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song. When Melvin van Peoples made this in 1970, it was rated X in an attempt to keep it out of the main-stream theaters. That didn't work, however, as it went on to be one of the highest grossing independent films of all time. Plus, it motivated Gordon Parks to make Shaft a Black character. Apparently, he was planning to do Shaft w/ a white guy. Can you imagine how different the world would be? The sexuality was a bit tough for a few of my students, but in general, they loved it... it's certainly dated though. It's slower than Star Trek: The Motion Picture. A better editor, cinematographer, & lighting crew might have helped... but also might have taken away from its cult status.

5) This week, by request, we watched Shackles, an interesting, though completely predictable little story about an out of work teacher who takes a job @ Shackleton Prison in New York & inspires the inmates w/ poetry. It was like Dead Poets Society in jail... even down to the fact that it starred a comedian who I've never seen do serious stuff prior to this film (D. L. Hughley. Although the story is pretty straight forward, the editing & split-screen stuff is really cool & works well, as does the inclusion of the poetry... from the reading of "Howl" to the street poet to the stuff @ the Slams, it's all done well.

6) Next week is the last week, & we'll be watching another documentary @ the request of the class. This time it will be Good Hair, in which Chris Rock interviews musicians, athletes & entertainers about the history & traditions of African American hair styles. People like Al Sharpton, Maya Angelou, Paul Mooney, Ice T, & KRS-1 get questioned & it sounds pretty cool. Feel free to join us on Monday night @ 7:00 in room 320 of the Halle Library... bring a snack & a beverage!

Who remembers back to a time when I didn't obsess over sports?

2010-04-05T13:52:00.004-05:00

To start things off, I'd like to invite you to order your Verde FC replica kits. For just $30.00, you too can wear your very own Verde F.C. shirt. Come support your team! Order today and you'll have it in time for our first home game of the season. Pay here & then specify your size in the comments box (numbers and size XXL are $2.00 extra). Be sure to specify your preferred number in the comment box also.

In other sports news, the Tigers play their 1st game of the year in just 30 minutes. Verlander will be on the mound in KC while I'm in front of a class in Ypsi. I'll be sure to follow the 1st few innings before I go to teach though. Before the game starts, I do have a couple thoughts to put out there for you.
1) I'm wondering about Damon's age. He was amazing a few years ago, but he's pushing 37 years young. I sure hope this decision doesn't come back to kick us in the ass.
2) There's no clear front-runner for the Visions of Ypsi Tiger yet. we'll give it a couple weeks before we make our call. Who knows, maybe Johnny will come good & get the nod.
3) I'm always, oddly, a fan of the closers, & the new guy has "verde" in his last name... that's gotta be a good sign.

11 Arsenal Thoughts... cuz 10 just ain't enough

2010-04-02T07:28:00.004-05:00

1) Losing Fabregas to a broken leg is bad luck, but as w/ his previous injury, I think Nasri will be a fine replacement for the rest of the year.
2) Losing Arshavin is rough too, but he's been in relatively bad form lately so it might be OK.
3) Thierry Henry still knows how to play the PR game. He claimed he didn't want to see Arsenal lose & would have rather not even played in the game. He's a class act... even if the hand ball against Ireland has tainted his reputation.
4) I got to use the word "taint"!
5) They looked like ass for 60 minutes against Barcelona the other day, but once they realized they could stick w/ them, the Gunners looked fine. I wonder if that fight back will lead to a stronger 2nd leg in Spain next week. 6) Walcott did more in his 28 minutes on Wednesday than he has for the last few months. If he can keep that up, he's a cinch for South Africa.
7) The remaining fixtures are pretty good. As long as they don't slip up against Tottenham or Man City, things could go well. Man U plays Chelsea tomorrow morning so @ least one of those teams will drop points... here's hoping for a draw!
8) We watched Fever Pitch again the other night. It's even better than I remembred. just be sure to rent the Colin Firth version!
9) I'm going to have to reread the book soon in prep for the World cup.
10) Speaking of soccer books, I just scored a copy of Desmond Morris's The Soccer Tribe from 1981. It still had the insert cor a contest to win tix to the 1982 World Cup. It's a great anthropological look @ the sport.
11) The Gunnersaurus is ridicuous.

What do Andre and Sandra Bullock have in common?

2010-04-01T06:51:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, I attended the EMU First Annual Celebration of Student Support. Students nominated professors who they feel made a difference in their college career & seeing as I've been teaching for 12 years but never nominated for anything, I figured I better show up because it could be another 12 years before I get nominated for something like this. There are people who get nominated for things like this all the time, & then there are people like Sandra Bullock & me... we're well aware that when we get nominated for things, we best be there.

The last award I won was "Mr. Pretty Legs in a Kilt." That was fun & drunken... this was interesting but w/o the booze. It was a nice ceremony, & I got a fancy certificate to hang on the wall. It's nice to know there is @ least 1 student out there whom I've actually affected in a positive way. In fact, I actually have a feeling there is more than 1, but I can't quantify that. In the previous incarnation of the award, they whittled all the nominees down to 1 winner based on an essay written by the nominating students. In their revamping, they (& I think rightly so) decided that a token for every nominee was better than a cash award for 1. In the end, about 50 of us (5 from the English Dept.) showed up to be recognized. We got a group photo, but I can't find it anywhere yet. In lieu of that, here's a photo of my major award.

Gov't Docs

2010-03-26T13:23:00.002-05:00

I did our taxes yesterday & before that, I stood & was counted by filling out the census form. Here are some quick thoughts.

Census...
* The racial option included "Black/African American/Negro"
Are there still be self-identifying as "Negro"? And if so, how come I didn't get "Cracker" or Honky" as an option? It reminded me of some sort of Paul Mooney word association sketch.
* There's been a lot of talk from the Right Wing Crazies about not wanting to give this info to Big Brother. (As if they don't already have it in one way or another for most of us anyway.) However, it seems like this kind of info is precisely the info they'd want to the Gov't to have. They're always crying about White people's dwindling numbers, so one would think those racist fucks would be happy to place another tally in the column for their proud heritage.

Taxes...
* The Feds wanted to know if any of my income came from the railroad industry. I don't know if that meant they wanted to know if I was some sort of robber baron like Crocker or Vanderbuilt, if I was an engineer like Casey Jones, or if w/in this economy, I'd taken to riding the rails like Woody Guthrie & my grandfather. Since none of these were options that relate to me, I clicked no & moved on w/o giving it another thought until I came to the state form.
* The state wanted to know if any of my income came from seafaring. Granted, "Seafaring" is a cool word, but seeing as I neither pilot a ferry to Wisconsin, work as a deck-hand on a freighter, nor make a living as a Great Lakes fisherperson, again I clicked no & moved on.

* My real concern here, though, is that I'm curious about why the Feds want to know about my railroading & the state wants to know about my seafaring, but not the other way around. It's like someone in the IRS woke up one day & said "I demand to know about everyone's connection to the railroads! What? Their connections to boating? Fuck boating!" Of course, the state's person, who may very well sound like Ricky Gervais, woke up & said, "I demand to know about everyone's seafaring! Railroads? Are you 'avin' a laugh? Bullocks!"
Why would one want one set of info and the other a totally unrelated set of info? It seems like if it's important to one, it should be important to the other.

* The feds suggested the money I spent on Isaiah's adoption would be deduct able, but then they claimed to have no record of him. As it turns out, he's on record w/ his old last name... still.

* In the section where they needed to know if I'd received my "Stimulus Check," it claims the info about Stephanie's would be filled in automatically, but of course, that didn't happen & I had to go back in today & override the IRS system in order to correctly enter her data.

* All in all, the refund is a little bigger than last year, which is pretty cool.

Verde FC

2010-03-21T21:49:00.003-05:00

In the ever-widening family of Visions of Ypsi related bogs, I'd like to introduce you to the one for our new team. Dan & I went to the MUSL office yesterday to register. We're still short a few people, but it seems to be coming together pretty well. If you know of people over 30 w/ some skills & the desire to play for a sweet, sweet team, pass on my info! In the mean time, dig our sweet, sweet shirts:

My New Phone... if you can call it that or "Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangsta"

2010-03-19T08:15:00.004-05:00

When I got my last phone, in May of 2008, I was excited about the mp3 capabilities, but in general, I was also well aware that I wanted something simple, w/ few bells &/or whistles. However, it quickly became apparent that the phone sucked the proverbial donkey balls. A few months later, I placed it in my soccer bag during a match, & the unexpected storm/hail/tornado conditions cried havoc & let slip the dogs of war upon the shitty little thing. Since then, the texting/typing/basic usefulness of a phone has been problematic. while typing (or entering a phone number), the delete button would often get stuck down & I would be left for days on on w/o he ability to proceed. This also effected my ability to have a conversation as the same button was responsible for muting my voice... causing people to inadvertently become unable to hear what I was saying & assume we were disconnected. It came to a head yesterday while I was attempting to pay a bill over the phone, but it kept "pushing" the wrong #s which then connected me w/ the wrong departments.

In frustration, I went to the AT&T place by Target to determine my options, options, as it turned out that were much greater than I expected. While settling on a new phone, the 3 people working there also greatly lowered my bill as 2 of them pretended to be Stephanie & me & called the billing people w/ major complaints. They hooked us up w/ an extra 1,000 roll-over minutes & after they fought for an hour, halved the bill.. for a few months anyway. Plus, the woman may join the Green Team! She played in college, is supposedly a decent striker & is a Liverpool fan (& you thought this would be a soccer-free post... HA... not-bloody-likely).I settled on the Motorola Backflip, which does exponentially more than the old phone, has the best camera I've ever had, & has proven to be super-fun. As I then went straight to Nicola's, Stephanie proceeded to take the kids up & procured 1 for herself. This, in turn, allowed her to give her old one to them... & will allow me to go all Office Space on my shit-ass piece of shitty shit.

Rock & Roll: ABBA... WTF?

2010-03-16T06:38:00.004-05:00

We've only been to the Hall of Fame once; for our honeymoon, we drove to Vermont, stopping for a night in Niagara solely for the ironic-hip factor (just like Lois & Clark in Superman II) & then on through up-state New York before getting to our B&B, The Northfield Inn, in Northfield. We spent 2 nights there, which included a day trip to the Ben & Jerry's plant & an afternoon in Burlington before heading south to Hancock were we spent 2 nights (including the Thursday of the final Seinfeld episode) @ The Sweet Onion Inn, a vegan B&B right in the middle on the Nat'l Park. On our trip home, we decide to go south of Erie, through New York, Pennsylvania, & Ohio which meant we were passing through Cleveland. We've been there many times (perhaps you recall when a few of us took Cleveland by the Balls), but only on this, our 1st trip to that glorious city, did we hit the Hall.
In honor of our honeymoon trip & because I wanted to see Phish perform the Genesis tunes, we watched the Induction Ceremony last night on Fuse. Trey gave the speech inducting Genesis which was clearly the speech of a man who loves music. It was like listening to Quinten Tarentino talk about films. He even went so far as to call out the people in the audience who had never listened to Selling England By the Pound... I'm included in that, a fact I guess I'll have to remedy soon.

Billie Joe Armstrong then inducted The Stooges which was pretty cool... & then The Stooges played "Search & Destroy" & "I Wanna be Your Dog," during which he asked all the rich people (the execs, not the musicians) to join him on stage... as if asking if they had the balls to get on stage w/ The Stooges. They didn't. They clearly didn't know how to react as he stood between their table w/o a shirt on screaming the chorus in their ears. It was funny. Well played, Mr. Pop.

After David Geffen came Jimmy Cliff who was sporting some ridiculous glasses. Wyclef Jean inducted him & then he played "You Can Get it if You Really Want It," some slow song I don't know, & then "The Harder They Come" (w/ Wyclef).

Little Steven inducted The Hollies w/w a really long & tangential speech, but it was also really cool. The Hollies then played a slew of songs, starting w/ my fav, "Bus Stop," all of which were great. They played "Carrie Ann," & "Tall Cool Woman in a Black Dress"... & 1 or 2 other songs, & I was reminded that we'll have to get some Hollies from the library soon... they're so fucking good.

On the flip side, a group whom I've never thought was "so fucking good" was inducted next. A few years ago, people were upset when Madonna was inducted, but I was cool w/ that. I'm not saying they aren't important in music history, but ABBA? WTF? I just don't get it. Are people who claim to like them being ironic? Is liking them some sort of hip in-joke for people who deep-down know they suck? Roger Corman got a Lifetime Achievement Oscar this year, so maybe we're now handing out prestigious awards w/ tongue in cheek. I guess that's a possibility... otherwise, WTF?

Finally, Carol King inducted a series of song-writers from New York.
* Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil who wrote "Make Your Own Kind of Music," "On Broadway," & "We Gotta Get Out of this Place."
* Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry who wrote "It's My Party," "Da Do Run Run," & "Do Wah Dtty Ditty."
* Jesse Stone who wrote "Shake, Rattle, & Roll" & "Don't Let Go."
* Mort Shuman wrote "Save the Last Dance for Me," "Viva Las Vegas," & "A Teenager in Love."
* Otis Blackwell who wrote "Fever," "Great Balls of Fire," "All Shook Up," & "Don't Be Cruel."

A slew of musicians joined Paul Shaffer & his band to perform these songs. the best of which were Chris Issac doing "Don't Be Cruel" & Peter Wolf doing "Money, Honey." all in all, it was cool... as was the concert in general. if only I understood ABBA... WTF?

Cops & Pork

2010-03-08T15:29:00.004-05:00

I was heading to Nicola's yesterday morning, knowing full-well that the guy w/ whom I'm supposed to open was going to be late so my mood was rocking from the start. As I was heading West on I-94, just before I got to Briarwood, a State Cop had someone stopped on the shoulder. I slowed down, gave my basic "I'm sorry for ya brother, but it's better you than me" look @ the guy, & kept on cruising @ posted speeds. The cop then pulled back onto the road & sped up right behind me. I thought, "Fuck! this dude is going to pull me over... What the hell???" No sooner do I think this than his light goes, & I have to stop. Of course, he comes up to the passenger side window which doesn't go down properly so I roll down the rear window which makes him have to stand towards the back of the car & talk to me over the seats which was actually kind of funny. I ask what's up & he says, "Let me see you identification & once I know who you are I'll tell you." (I know... you're dieing for an Obi-wan quote here, but I balked.) After he read it, he asked me if I knew the law in Michigan that concerns the act of passing a police officer who has someone pulled over. I doubt that's how he phrased it... but you get the point.

At this point I was shocked. Who knew there was a law about that? I said, "I suppose one should slow down & be careful, but I don't know that we need a law that confirms that. You were on the other side of the car like you are now, so there was clearly no danger." This is basically the same logic Maverick used for going below the "Hard-Deck" to get Jester. He proceeded to inform me that 8 years ago a law was passed obliging drivers to move to the other lane so long as the other lane is available. Hmmm... he pulled me over for that shit? Wow!

After asking me about my driving record & hearing about the old yellow Escape, he goes back to his car & runs my info on his little handy-dandy cop-puter. when he returned, he came back to the driver's side... I don't know why... & asked if I was aware I was driving w/ a suspended licence. Neither knowing what the fuck he was talking about, nor thinking too clearly, I asked, " My licence plates are suspended? How is that possible? Is that a thing that happens?" He obviously says, "No, your driver's licence." Apparently, when I totaled my car, I got some $200 driver responsibility fee from the state & when I didn't pay it w/in 30 days, my licence was suspended. He said most people are unaware of this & don't find out until they are in a situation just like I was in. He then said he was going to let me go, but I shouldn't be driving until I pay the fine which will clear up the suspension.

And like a fool I persisted. "But my licence has been suspended... can't you arrest me for driving?" Why? why can't I keep my mouth shut? I'll tell you why. I was shocked & honestly wanted to know what the rule was. "Yep," he said, "I could take you in. It's only a misdemeanor though, & it's Sunday morning so I'm not going to bother you w/ that. Just be careful."

I don't mean to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but why did he bother pulling me over for such a stupid thing if not to check my record in the hopes of finding something exactly like he found? What was he expecting? Warrants for my arrest as an axe murderer? As it turns out, I was able to keep that part of my life a secret. How he went from douchey stickler for the rules to letting me go after a nice public-service explanation of what I'd done wrong, I have no idea. Perhaps he didn't feel comfortable dragging a dude in a kilt to the hokey... for fear of the pokey. I'll tell you what... I was certainly fearing that.In other pig news, I tried a bite of Aiden's bacon a couple days ago . I hadn't had bacon since 1993, but w/ all the hub-bub about it lately, I figured I'd give it a go. It wasn't bad, but the way middle-class white people shit their pants for it is ridiculous. It's just meat, people. Relax! I've said it before & I'll say it again, "Bacon is to the bourgeoisie as cocaine is to the aristocracy & meth to the proletariat."

A few videos before the State Police story

2010-03-07T19:51:00.003-05:00

The 2012 prophecy @ it's worst!

Werner Herzog reads Madeline???

Barry and Levon w/ sock puppets???

A thought while running today

2010-03-04T22:16:00.003-05:00

There's a little breaking news, but before we get to that, I need to clear something up. While running (I made it 5.7 miles today @ a good pace), I was thinking about the old llama farm on Superior which in turn got me thinking about llamas in general & my interest in them. People often wonder what it is about them that I dig. So here's the thing... in Plymouth there was a llama farm that I always loved & on 1 occasion, Stephanie & I even got a chance to meet them. That alone isn't really enough though. Of course, that isn't enough to make the llama my #1 favorite animal. There's also the Phish song, which is obviously a cool tune (you can hear a a good version from 1992 here), but that isn't really it either. I think my love for these animals is down to their basic personality. They have a sort of have a slacker-chic situation going on. Perhaps you're not aware of this, but I kind of do too. I know there are other, more slackerish animals, but they're too showy. Take the possum (another Phish song); their very name is "possum." Their name is a synonym for being lazy.. that's going to far. They're sort of slacker attention whores. I may be a slacker, & I may be an attention whore, but I'm not an attention whore about my slacking. The llama may be a slacker, but they also know how to party when necessary, that's the other thing I dig about them. They will even get up on their hind legs and sing... that's pretty awesome. They're not like drunks sing Neil Diamond in a bar though... they're subtle about it. So many animals are stinky or obnoxious, or showy... llamas aren't like that @ all, llamas just are.

Oh... & I promised a little new news.... come back tomorrow & I'll lay it on you w/ photos & everything.

USA Soccer

2010-02-27T09:20:00.004-05:00

The brand-spanking-new USA World Cup Away Jersey was released yesterday, & it's pretty awesome. Perhaps you've noticed a certain sarcasm towards Landon Donavon, here, but LD's displays @ Everton over the last month have made me reconsider this anti-Landy Cakes stance, & I may even consider ordering the brand new Landy-Shirt... I may be getting a bit carried away though; we'll see.Speaking of the World Cup, I booked a few nights @ campgrounds up North for the 1st weekend in July yesterday before I realized the trip could conflict w/ the end of the tournament. (I checked & it turns out I just might have to watch the 1/4 finals @ a bar up there... so we're good.) We've got Canada Day @ Tahquamenon Falls & then the 2nd & 3rd in Petoskey. Going to the UP is a 1st for the fam as Stephanie has an intense fear of bridges... & getting there w/o crossing the Mackinaw Bridge is a bit circuitous. She agreed to go for it though so we're all we're looking forward to a little adventure. On the evening of the 2nd, there's a reception @ the High School to honor the soccer coach who has been there since I was a kid. When he took the job, my dad became the JV coach. The fact that he's still there & has won the State Championship a few times w/ a program my dad & his friends started is pretty great so getting the invite to the party (& alumni match) is exciting. I haven't seen some of those folks since since a GD show in Indianapolis in 1995, others since a HORDE show in 1994 (& a soccer game a month before that) & others since I was in school there in 1988. Hopefully, we'll be able to watch a World Cup game together... a France v Italy match w/ the Rossis would be fantastic... especially if France wins.

The Obligatory Olympics Post

2010-02-25T08:11:00.004-05:00

We attempted to watch the Olympics last night, but it didn't go over very well. I know everyone seems to have been struck w/ a nasty case of Olympics-fever, but I just don't get it. I like that the world can come together & celebrate this, I dig sports, I even dig some of the sports in the Olympics, but I just can't watch. For one, some many of the sports seem fake. Not fake like pro-wrestling, but not real sports. Bobsled, luge biathlon... who does this? They seem invented just for the Olympics. Why not include more sports in which real people actually participate like dog-sled or snowmobile racing. Stephanie was wondering how someone becomes an Olympic bobsledder... & we couldn't really figure it out. It must just be that mediocre athletes from other sports get recruited to be stars in a field that no one else ever considered. And then the luge people must just be frustrated bobsledders & the skeleton people must in turn be frustrated lugers.

Conversely, these are ironically the sports I prefer to watch. Of course, I like curling & the skiing events too, but that leads us to the 2nd problem. I hate the way it's covered on TV. We get 4 hour blocks of random shit w/ no clear knowledge of what will be on when. Which then means we have to sit through the random shit for hours before getting 20 minutes of curling or downhill skiing. Many of those hours seem dedicated to figure skating. I know that's what the audience wants (although I have no idea why) & I know that those kids have spent 8 of their 12 years on the planet training for this, but I just don't care. Clearly, it's not a made-up sport like skeleton, but it just doesn't do it for me. And neither does hockey which people often think is weird since I love soccer & hockey & soccer are so similar. I just don't enjoy it though.

My final issue concerns the fact that while I'm trying to watch curling or skiing, I have to suffer through those fluff pieces for 20 minutes. I don't care that Alberto Tomba's cat died when he was 12 or that Hans Brinker lost his inspirational grandfather who had bought him his silver skates. Just make w/ the fucking curling already! That said, you can order your replica Norweigan National Curling Pants here! Order placed baby!

A Date Night Sans Casablanca

2010-02-18T08:55:00.005-05:00

Rather than dwelling on Arsenal's ridiculous showing in Porto yesterday, I want to talk about Béla Fleck. On Monday evening, I saw a Facebook ad for his show @ Hill Auditorium last night, & the cheep balcony seats were only 10 bucks. We hadn't seen him since a Flecktones' show @ EMU in 1996, so for 10 bucks a pop we were in. Back in '96, their show was the same week as Phish @ the Palace & in Grand Rapids & Blues Traveler @ Hill Auditorium, so we had a fun-filled week of local music. This time, I realized the only show I've been to in the last couple years was the Springsteen concert I worked for Nicola's.

After class, I raced home & we hit Amer's for falafels & fries then walked over to Hill. The show was amazing. He's touring w/ his "Africa Project," an ensemble he put together while traveling through Africa (Mali & Tanzania mostly) & studying the origins of the Banjo. These musicians are amazing. Anania Ngolia on the thumb Piano accompanied by a guitarist & then Ngoni Ba, a group from Mali fronted by Bassekou Kouyate on lead Ngoni. The ngoni is an instrument made from a calebasse gourd w/ a goat-skin stretched across it (very much like a banjo) & this dude was like the Jimmy Page of the ngoni... standing on the edge of the stage w/ his foot on his amp & rockin'! Béla Fleck was MCing & would come & go playing w/ these different musicians & then letting them do their own thing. I'm so glad we went. I'd never done anything based on a Facebook sidebar ad, but this was well worth it. Check out this video of Ngoni Ba... you won't be sorry.

A Few Films reviewed This Moring

2010-02-16T09:10:00.002-05:00

French Film
A cute romantic comedy w/ everyone's favorite Karate Kicking French striker, Eric Cantona. He plays a film maker being interviewed by a British documentarian about the art of love. The film was directed by Jackie Oodney, a female Scottish directer... maybe the only one on the planet. when she was younger, she worked on the Second Unit for Spice World which leads me to ask a few questions. 1) Spice World actually had a Second Unit? 2) Why is she loving to work w/ people associated w/ Man U... first Victoria Beckham & now Eric Cantona? It's not fantastic, but it's fun watching Cantona ham it up... although I still think this display was his best performance ever. Play Beautiful, indeed!

Fear and Trembling
The video box suggests that it's a cross between Lost in Translation & Secretary so we gave it a whirl the other night. I see why those comparisons were made, but it also has a sort of Gone w/ the Wind/Birth of a Nation thing going on. It's a beautiful film w/ really cool performances, but the racist undertones are really apparent. It's about a Belgian woman working for a Japanese corporation in the early '90s. She faces every stereotypical Japanese character known to film. Of course, when it's made clear that she has some homoerotic desires for her boss, the alluring, beautiful, angry Japanese woman, we never even get to see the hot scenes they suggest will be coming.

Angels & Demons
I've never had any desire to read Dan Brown's books, but I kind of lke the movies. They're fun & thoughtless... kind of like National Treasure. It seems as though Tom Hanks & Ron Howard got together & said, "Hey, you're a liberal intellectual... I'm a liberal intellectual... let's make an action movie for liberal intellectuals." It's exciting, but not too exciting. It's fun, but not too fun. It's thought-provoking, but not too thought-provoking. As if they custom made it for the 50-something, rich, guilty, pseudo-Buddhists in Ann Arbor & Madison. Ewan McGregor is pretty good though... @ least once his character actually gets to do something.

The Time Traveler's Wife
Recently, I've heard a few different people say, "This is my favorite book... ever!" which makes me assume they haven't read that many books. It's fun & worth reading, but to suggest it's the greatest ever is clearly ridiculous. And the film is a kind of watered down version of the book. The punk stuff is left out... as are the Michigan references (her childhood house is in it, but it's not clear where it is & I don't even think it's clear that it's on the lake). The sexiness of the book is totally left out in favor of some sort of soft-focus designed for Lifetime. If you're like me & dig time travel stories, it's definitely worth watching, but it's not going to win any awards. We watched a Twilight Zone episode last night where Russell Johnson (well, not him, but his character) goes back in time to the night of Lincoln's assassination & tries to stop it. I was hoping he'd use some coconuts to radio for help, but, alas, it was not to be. Of course, Lost is on tonight, so I guess we get to get inundated w/ crazy time-travel stories this week!

Taking Woodstock
This was a pretty cool movie. Maybe even the best thing I've seen since Inglorious Bastards. Eugene Levy & the guy ho plays Michael Lang are great, & it's got the most accurate representation of an acid trip I've ever seen in a movie. (Of course, this claim is based on things I've read & what I've been told by friends & acquaintances. Overall, it's kind of cheesy, & it's romanticization of the 1960s is over the top, but it's well worth seeing. Maybe Ang Lee's best film since Sense & Sensibility.

In Performance @ The White House

2010-02-12T08:50:00.002-05:00

Last night on PBS, Obama hosted a celebration of the music of the Civil Rights Era. As always, Smokey Robinson was fantastic. As always, I found Natalie Cole kind of creepy. And as always, I had no idea what to expect from Bob Dylan. Before he came out though, Jennifer Hudson sang a couple songs; she's pretty fantastic. I've never seen Dreamgirls, & @ 1st, I wasn't sure who she was. But her voice... wow. Yolanda Adams also has a nice voice, but she's really fucking weird lookin'. I've never even been a fan of a little plastic surgery, but hers is freakin' freaky. John Mellencamp basically gave a "I'm not racist; I have black friends" speech, but we'll let it slide because he does have 30 years of civil rights work under his belt. (And because he's new here on Visions of Ypsi.) I'm not embarrassed to admit that Joan Baez's "We Shall Overcome" brought a few tears to my eyes... it clearly brought some to Obama's eyes too. The Bind Boys of Alabama were great, but that just seems to be their M.O., & The Freedom Singers were really good too. They closed w/ a cool group version of "Lift Every Voice & Sing" which I am covering this week in class so I suppose we'll watch that clip them too.

As far as Dylan was concerned, I was expecting one or two songs (wee only got one), but I couldn't figure out which it would be. I was kind of hoping for "Pawns in the Game" or "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," but I expected "Blowin' in the Wind." We got a sweet acoustic version of "The Times They are A'changin'" and it was fantastic. I was worried that a single song on TV would be shit... like the Grateful Dead, he usually needs a few songs to really get going, but it's really, really good. Just him, Tony Garnier on upright bass, Patrick Warren on piano. Watch it here now!

Snow Day?

2010-02-10T10:06:00.003-05:00

As far as I can remember, the last time we had classes canceled @ EMU due to weather was in December of 2000. I was teaching Eng.121 & sharing an office w/ Annette. It was my very 1st semester as a Lecturer, and while Annette & I were in an office together, I really didn't know her at all. Seeing as it's been almost 10 years, today's snow day came as a bit of a shock, & while I'll have to reshuffle the next couple weeks of class to get us back on track, I think I might be able to actually make good use of the day off. Here are the things I'll do:

1) Blogging: Lately, the blogging has played second fiddle to the rest of my life. I suppose that's the way it should be, but I've tried to keep up a steady pace of 10-12 posts per month over the last 5 years, but that hasn't been happening this year.

2) Reading: I feel as though I've been reading The Savage Detectives since Halloween. It's really good, but it's been really slow going too. I guess confining my "fun" reading to bathroom time & breaks @ Plum Market don't make for fast books. However, recently, around page 350, something resembling a plot appeared so the pace might start picking up. We'll see.

3) Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series: I rented it last week & it's due back on Friday so today'll be a good opportunity to watch it. It looks like it might suck, but in keeping w/ my new-found love of all things Terminator, I feel wee need to watch it.

4) Star Wars: We've been talking about watching the whole saga again, so we may need to start today w/ a viewing of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I think Isaiah wants to watch it.

5) Sledding: I image that @ some point this afternoon, probably while Isaiah is taking his nap, I'll take S & A out for a little while @ Riverside Park.

6) Chili: I'll take the day to slow-cook some chili & fix Coney Dogs for dinner.

7) Arsenal: There's a match this afternoon vs. Liverpool, but it's not on Fox Soccer Channel. I was considering resubscribing to Setanta, chose not to. Today, I'm regretting that decision. If I were in my office, I'd be able to watch it on-line w/ a much better connection than I have @ home... oh well. Who wants to come over & watch Arsenal go down in their 3rd consecutive defeat today?

Running

2010-02-05T09:36:00.004-05:00

Not just running! Something that needs endurance! Something that needs stamina! Like, long-distance running! Cross-country running!I've never been much for competitive long-distance running; when I've run, it's always been in order to get in shape for soccer. Courtney suggested that I register for the Dexter-Ann Arbor 10K though, & I think I might do it. When I was at my peak... 20 years ago... I was running 8 miles a day. Let's just say I' not at my peak any more. A few years ago, I was up to 3 or 4 a day though, & after yesterday's mil and a half, I was feeling pretty good, so we'll see.

I got new shoes, but running pants and an Under-Armor shirt... an imitation, Target brand Under-Armor shirt (made by Champion Sportswear). It was 1/3 of the price, but does the trick. Like an anti-McDLT container, it keeps the hot side cold & the cold side hot. I figured if I spent some cash on running, I'd be motivated to stick w/ it for a while. The main goal, rather than the 10K run, is to be ready for soccer in May. A few miles a day should get me there. The other goal is to look less sausagesque in my fake Under-Armor shirt.