Blahg

11 August 2008

A monsoon hit the Denver area Friday night, whiping out the HD and satellite transmissions of the opening ceremonies in Beijing. I finally watched the show on the ol' DVR last night and I was thoroughly impressed.

The most awesome thing about this spectacular spectacular wasn't all the fireworks, including those fantastic "footprint" fireworks leading to the Olympic green. It wasn't the Bird Cage. It wasn't the Water Cube.

The most awesome thing was that the vast majority of the show relied on pure PEOPLE POWER. There were 2,008 drummers. There were 2,008 Tai Chi experts. There were, all counted, some 15,000 performers. Topping it off were the unbelievable performers who brought Chinese block-printing to life.

All those people required choreography without the trappings of familiar stage markings and what was the trick? They all knew where they were supposed to be in relation to each other in order to create the desired effect for those sitting on the sidelines, in the nosebleeds, or watching via satellite from thousands upon thousands of miles away.

THAT is the epitome of teamwork and the perfect dramatic embodiment of the spirit of the Olympics.

Awesome. Truly awesome.

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4 August 2008

It's been a while since the last blahg entry. Even with all the election poop, celebrity worship nonsense, and other stuff offering plenty of fodder, I've been bizzy.

But, when a typo like the following falls into my lap, I've gotta pounce. It's an unfortunate one, indeed. It's an Associated Press item posted on the New York Times site.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Conservative political commentator Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported on its Web site Monday that Novak's prognosis is ''dire.''

The 77-year-old Novak told the paper that the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy but details are being worked out with doctors this week.

Novak has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He announced late last month he has a brain. The revelation came less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette and drove away.

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26 March 2008

Come on, Hillary.

It's not a matter of "misspeaking" when a person totally fabricates circumstances surrounding an event. It's not even a matter of forgetfulness. YOU said something happened that DIDN'T happen.

And yet we're supposed to trust you and your "experience"?

I guess we really can't expect much more from the "stand by her man" wife of a President who tried to haggle over the definition of the word "is."

Admit it, Hillary. Your campaign for the White House has nothing to do with me or any other American. It's all about YOU and YOUR legacy and the millions of dollars YOU earned off of hard-working American taxpayers.

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25 February 2008

OK. Another Oscar celebration in the record books.

This year was probably the best in terms of how my own "Ten Best" fared. Eight of them received nominations, five took Oscar home.

• Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for La Vie en Rose. A big, BIG woo-hoo! for that one; it was truly well-deserved. Too many people were presuming Julie Christie would win. Cotillard gave a lovely speech that included a nice reference to the City of Angels. The movie also picked up the award for Best Makeup.

• Tilda Swinton won Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton (and she gave a hilarious speech that came out of left field with kudos going to George Clooney's dedication to the art of acting in the nipply Batman suit). • Sweeney Todd won for Art Direction.

• Ratatouille won for Best Animated Feature, beating out another on my Top Ten, Persepolis.

• Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won Best Song for Once. Even Colin Farrell said he was getting "chuffed" just introducing the duo's on-stage performance of Falling Slowly.

Now then. Speaking of Hansard and Irglova, they made for a classic moment of Oscar inspiration that's been missing the past couple years.

Marketa gave what was simply the perfect acceptance speech. And it almost didn't happen. She got whisked off the stage before she could even say "Thank you."

Big, big props go to Jon Stewart for bringing her back on stage after the commercial break. That kind of thing hasn't happened in the past and, gosh, it was well worth the effort.

Watch their speeches, in their entirety, on YouTube.

“... no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. Fairplay to those who dare to dream and don’t give up.” - Marketa Irglova

For the record, here's my "Best of 2007": Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten A Mighty Heart 3:10 to Yuma Persepolis Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Once Ratatouille La Vie en Rose Michael Clayton Across the Universe

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