Holiday

Malcolm takes on a new vocation

I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.

I like to think of myself as someone that allows an artist a certain space to present his work, without allowing my personal biases to intrude on the work that is presented. I enjoy a wide variety of films, television, and music. I don't try to exclude a work if I know that an artist is sincere in his efforts and talented enough to share something of substance with the world.

But I do have a high standard when it comes to investing my time and resources to a particular work of art. And there has been no piece of art that I have invested more heavily in over my entire life than Star Wars. From toys to videos to DVDs to message board chatter, and yes, even my relationship with Kim ;D.

I've tolerated the countless changes made to the original trilogy over the years; mainly, in the belief that the artist who had conceived of these films had the best intentions when making these changes. I didn't think that Han shooting in self-defense instead of non-chalant annoyance fundamentally altered the overall arc of the films.

And, while increasingly ambivalent about the prequels, I did not take the hardline stance that some older fans had in dismissing them altogether.

However, in the video above, which has leaked before the official Blu-Ray release, comes a change so poorly conceived and executed that it boggles the mind how it made through the entire upgrade process without someone (anyone!) voicing some objection. From what I understand, these Blu-Ray discs took 3 years to create, and went through three separate revision cycles, to catch the tiniest artifact or color correction. At some point during those 3 long years someone (I'm presuming George Lucas) thought it would be an awesome idea to add dialogue to Vader's reflection and ultimate decision to save his son from certain death. And no one, at any point in this process, could stop this stupid, stupid change from happening.

I had been leaning towards buying the Blu-Ray releases in a couple week, mainly for the behind the scenes material, but after witnessing this debacle, and several other changes, I will not continue to financially support Lucasfilm and its founder until I have some confidence that there is someone in charge who understands why these films mean so much to so many people around the world.

Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go cry into my Star Wars matching pillowcases tonight.

Achievement Unlocked

There hasn't been much to brag about as a Bulls fan until this season, when Chicago unexpectedly earned the best record in the NBA, along with the Coach and Player of the Year. The sports media had preemptively crowned the Miami Heat champions after they signed Lebron James and Chris Bosh, and the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, and Mavericks were all considered better teams through much of the season.

The Bulls scrapped through the first few months of the season with various injuries, and finding their roles in head coach Tom Thibodeau's system, but finally put it all together down the stretch. While they struggled through the first two rounds of the playoff against lesser competition, their tenaciousness and selfless play eventually won out against the upstart Pacers and Hawks.

Which brings us to last night, and their clash with the pre-supposed champions of the NBA. The Bulls took a while to warm up defensively, but they finally go things going with this play late in the 2nd quarter, on this fast break dunk from Taj Gibson:




From there on, the Bulls defense swarmed around the Heat, taking everyone except Chris Bosh out of the game. The final exclamation point came after the Bulls starters were already on the bench, courtesy of Taj Gibson once again:

What I loved most about last night's game was seeing the whole team work together to achieve victory. Every player came into the game ready to contribute and give maximum effort on both ends of the floor. The Bulls are playing championship basketball right now and I hope I get a chance to see them in Dallas in a few weeks! (assuming the Mavs beat OKC)

Whew

This is one of the most amusing (and most exhausting) videos I have seen. It doesn't even need the soundtrack. Maybe I shouldn't be encouraging Malcolm so much to roll over!

You did pick the wrong line

I would never have guessed math theory was involved in this ... then again, that's why I went to law school! Fascinating.

Headline of the Year

(Source)

Boom!

Malcolm had his two month check-up this morning. His official weigh-in is below:

15 lbs. 1 oz.
24 1/2 in.

Malcolm is in the 95th percentile in both height and weight. To help visualize his explosive growth, I have created a chart that projects his measurements at 12 months, given the current trend.

It looks like Malcolm will be 47 in. tall and weigh 42 lbs., 3 oz.

Those buying gifts for his 1st birthday can now plan accordingly.

Kim on Film

In response to Goonies coming out on Blu-Ray this fall:

"I have no interest in that. . . isn't that the one with gremlins or something?"

Lack of Institutional Control

There's a reason this man is smiling, and it's not the donut.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=5272615

I'm With Coco

A few months back, Conan O'Brien announced a new comedy tour on Twitter, which sold out within a matter of hours that day. Even though I was unaware of this until several hours after the tour was announced, I was able to score a couple of tickets online as an early birthday present to myself (which was approved by Kim :D).

Tonight we drove down to the McFarlin Auditorium at SMU to experience a night of comedy gold. The show kicked off with a musical medley by his stage band, which included most members of his house band from TV, opening with Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up" before moving through the crowd with a traveling horn section.

Conan made his first appearance via a video showing the despair and destitution he went through after he lost The Tonight Show. With the aid of a ZZ Top beard and a fat suit, Conan pantomimed the lost months in between his departure from late night TV and the opening of his tour. The real Conan appeared on stage immediately following the opening skit to wild applause from the audience. Even though cameras were technically prohibited, no one bothered to enforce it at the theater. I did not bring one, so the only photos I have are grainy shots from my cell phone.

Conan launched into a traditional monologue reviewing his last few months in exile and sprinkling in a few jokes to appease the local crowd. Throughout the night, Conan and his team did a great job tailoring the show for a Texas audience.

Highlights of the evening included a bit about the 8 Stages of Losing A Late Night Show; a song about his "rough" upbringing in Brookline, MA; a video from a nameless evil TV executive (played by Conan), a "conversation" with the audience where we read words off of the projector screen; a surprise musical set by Jimmy Vaughn; Triumph the Insult Comic Dog appearing for a Mad Libs-style set where he overdubbed his punchlines to make references to Dallas; The Unnamed Chuck Norris Show Random Clip Handle (not Lever), where he brought out 9-Time All Star Dirk Nowitzki for one of the pulls, which featured a clip of Chuck Norris flying a plane over a highway, jumping into the front seat of a moving convertible, pushing the woman driving out of the driver's seat, and then punching her in the face. The last pull of the handle was the all-time classic featuring Haley Joel Osment, which I will play below:



Conan ended the evening with two songs, a cover of "I Will Survive" and an encore of the old rockabilly song "40 Days".

For someone who had never done a live tour before, Conan handled himself admirably well. There were some things in the line-up that could have been tweaked or augmented to play better in the venue, but the production didn't skip a beat from beginning to end. I hope that TBS (and corporate overlord Time Warner) have the good sense to give Conan as much leeway as he needs to put on a great talk show this fall. He's a great performer who deserves, at this point in his career, to have his cake and eat it, too.

TEAM COCO

Health Care

A New Look

BREAKING NEWS !!1!!@!!

The Biggest Losers

One of my guilty TV pleasures has been watching Animal Planet's 2nd season of Whale Wars, a reality show about a rag-tag group of hippie-anarchists who attempt to disrupt Japanese whaling ships in the South Pacific.

Now, let me be clear, I am totally against illegal whaling, and support the full extent of the law to prosecute any merchants that engage in such behavior. But the activists that pursue the Japanese whaling fleet in this series have no authority to do so and are so incompetent and self-righteous about their mission that I actually root for the whalers in every episode.

Everything the crew does ends up in complete failure, including their last ditch effort to actually ram one of the whaling ships. You can clearly see in the video linked in the page below, that the activist captain pursues an aggressive sailing strategy that initiates contact with the whaling vessel, a reckless action that endangered the lives of those on the whaling boat and his own crew.

Whale Wars: Close Quarters and Collisions

It was totally awesome to view the last 15 minutes of the episode, where the repercussions from his actions are fully realized. The look on the crew's faces when they see the Australian police waiting for them at the port, and the inter-titles that explain what actions have been taken against them by the Australian government is priceless. They are dumbfounded by the fact the ramming another boat is considered illegal, and continue to maintain their self-righteous posture until the very end.

Whale Wars: Trouble with the Law

I look forward to Season 3, where the crew will inevitably sink themselves in a brash display of martyrdom.

April Fool's!

[gallery link="file" order="DESC"]

Brought to you by the number 12

This is for my sister.  How great is the Internet to find these things after 25 years?

[youtube=

Things I found on Craigslist this year

• A crib and dresser for the baby.


• An electrician to install ceiling fans.


• An awesome Dutailier glider rocker chair.


• Coffee table and two matching end tables for the living room.


• Tree and lawn care service people.


• A baby bouncy seat.


• Our realtor.

On eBay I found the baby's changing table, nursing bras and a couple of nursing tops, and my pump.  The Internet rocks.

Things I Can't Unsee