Shane Carwin VS. Brock Lesner

I am highly anticipating the upcoming Heavyweight battle between current Champion Brock Lesner and interim Champion Shane Carwin, so much so that I thought I would blog about it.

There have been few fights in the UFC that have me this jazzed up, mostly because I want Brock to lose in a highly desperate way. There are many who feel the same way, especially after many of the questionable antics that Brock has displayed in his last few victories, especially after defeating Heath Herring and Frank Mir. Personally I think that Brock is a disgrace to the sport and while he may have talent, his size and wrestling background has really been his main advantage over opponents at this point that have not put him to the full challenge.

Let's recap:

Brock has lost once thus far in the Octogon, it was to Frank Mir when the two met for the first time, the fight was fairly short and sweet and basically went something like this...

Brock dominated the first few moments and was able to get Mir into a few bad positions on the ground, mostly punching him with short, quick rabbit punches that were effective, but before they could do fight-stopping damage Mir was able to use his expertise off his back and put Lesner into a heal-hook from hell that has the bruiser tapping in a matter of seconds. End of fight.

Lesner being the sore loser that he is pouted, but since then has been improving and gained victories over Heath Herring, Randy Couture, and was able to avenge his loss to Mir the second time they met. However, Lesner and Carwin were suppose to meet in late 2009 but a illness kept Brock from fighting until now, which July 3rd will certainly be a 4th of July firework celebration a day early for sure.

This is really the first time that two fighters of this caliber have met in the octogon at the Heavyweight division. If we look at where the sport has come in the past five years, we also see a growing trend of fighters who can weight over 235lbs and still have agility, grappling, boxing, and Jiu-Jitsu abilities despite their large frame and weight. Brock is often praised for his ability to move quickly, have great power, and punish his opponents when he gets into the ground and pound. However, I think that many commentators and fans are forgetting about several key things that I would like to point out that I think will make all the difference in the Carwin/Lesner bout.

I went back and watched both men in their last few fights, mostly observing Lesner in his defeat over Hall of Famer Randy Couture, which was a great fight for Randy who fought hard against a man who easily weighed about 50lbs more than him. Randy was able to avoid a great deal of damage early on, he was also able to keep Lesner up against the fence for some dirty boxing, and for the most part Randy executed a great strategy to win by decision, but before that became a factor Lesner was able to get Randy to the ground in a bad position and land several short blows, especially a hard one to the back of Randy's head (which should have been called by the ref and a point deduction OR at least a warning), but instead Randy was injured and Brock went on to win the fight due to the referee stoppage (AKA TKO).

Carwin has many of the same skill sets that Randy does, but he is a few years younger and far more explosive than Randy, he also has far more power in his punches, his heavier, and I think possibly better on the ground, which is why I think Carwin (if he can control Lesner up against the cage) will have a huge advantage and should easily be able to pull out a victory. Up to this point we really haven't seen how much damage Lesner can take, we know he can take a punch fairly well as Mir was able to land quite a few and also a knee or two, but Carwin is super-heavy-handed and deadly accurate with his punches that come in severe form. If you take a look at Carwins victory over Mir he was able to push Mir up against the cage and basically land some nasty right hands from a short distance that hurt Mir, but his uppercuts that came from under Mir's arm protection a few moments later are what put Mir on the mat and Carwin finished the fight from there. It was quite impressive to say the least. Carwin also stopped Gabriel Gonzaga with a nasty punch that has him on Queer Street in a blink of the eye, but even more impressive was Carwin's ability to neutralize a submission hold from a great Jiu-Jitsu artist like Gonzaga.

At this point though we have not seen either opponents chin really put to the test, Carwin has been able to plow through his last few fights without going into late rounds and so his cardio could be questionable, but then again so is Brock's, who began gassing out in the later rounds against Heath Herring, who was able to at least go the distance. Lesner is still the bigger man overall and therefore is likely to wear down faster, but quite frankly I don't see this fight going to the second round. Carwin has various places that I feel he can defeat Lesner, mostly leg locks or ankle locks if the fight goes to the ground and he could just as well land a few bombs that could stun Lesner enough to end it that way as well. Lesner's only hope is being able to do what he did to Mir and that is to get him on his back and ground and pound while controlling one of the arms enough that Carwin is unable to defend himself.

Either way, it's gonna be an explosive evening and probably one to remember.

Why I dislike the Pittsburgh Steelers...

When people ask me what my favorite NFL team is, my response if rather simple: whoever is playing the Steelers that week.

I often get asked about my lack of loyalty to the Pittsburgh Steelers since I was born and raised in the Burgh and more importantly, I am a huge supporter and longtime fan of the real sports team in this town...The Pittsburgh Penguins.

So why exactly DO I dislike the Steelers?

Let me be very clear in my answer so I don't muddy the issue. When I say that I dislike the Steelers what I am referring to is the current Pittsburgh Steelers, not the good ole' days of the 1970's team that was the best NFL team ever assembled, no I am talking about the recent era of the team.

Many of my gripes about the Steelers is not exclusive to them as well, in fact I am sure it pertains to many NFL players and teams, but I have to live in Pittsburgh where I hear about it all the time, things like their arrogance, cocky attitudes, trash talk, and of course their drug addictions, drug-selling, and other things that role models should not do. Again, this pertains to many athletes, but is one of the many reasons why I prefer to watch a sport like Hockey where this is nowhere near as much a problem. Take for example the fact that NFL players get more fines than any other sport, they celebrate every single time they make any sort of play, and then trash talk to the media...it's a tired parade. You don't see Sidney Crosby celebrate every time he passes the puck? I was watching highlights of the Lynn Swann catch from the superbowl many years ago and it was interesting how after he made one of the most amazing catches in all of football history he simply took the ball and handed it to the referee. Nowadays guys celebrate as if they won the entire game. It's really beyond rediculous.

Back to the Steelers...

Another upsetting aspect of living in Pittsburgh with this sports team is the unfair media coverage that happens in which the news stations cover more unrelated Steeler talk year round and have total disregard not only for the other sports that are happening in the city, but other important news stories. Why don't they cover some of the good and charitable things that some of the Steeler players do instead of only cover their poor behavior with things like speeding tickets, drug dealing, and Big Ben and his hurt finger?

Now I know that the media coverage has little to do with the Steelers fault, but either way it over-satures the issue and takes things beyond the gag-factor.

Arrogance...

Most people are well-aware by now of many of the Steeler players and their off-field arrogance and personalities, the biggest is that of Big Ben, who will barely talk to fans or sign things for them. I often wonder how him and his ego can even fit into that helmet each week. If you are a sports player (Big Ben included) you have every obligation in the world to treat your fans like royalty. They are the ones paying your salary so that you can live the 'good life' with million dollar homes, exotic cars, and all that glitters, so if you don't have the decency to say 'hello' to fans or sign your name a few thousand times a year, then you are in the wrong business. If anything that sports player should be honored that someone wants their signature, but people like Big Ben have had their entire life given to them and have lost perspective on the meaningful things in life and it's a shame that a role model like that shows such poor taste.

I am sure this is the case with many sports figures, but it seems like the NFL is overloaded with more egos and money-hungry players.

One reason that I have always respected NHL players and especially Pittsburgh Penguin players is that they love playing in this city and really have respect towards their fans. There are numerous accounts of Penguin players who took pay cuts just to remain in Pittsburgh simply because they loved the fans and the team. Not only that, but they show true appreciation for their fans and are humble when around them. NHL players are classy and NFL players in general (especially many of the Pittsburgh Steelers) are anything but classy.

Ok, my final reason(s) for not liking the Steelers has mainly to do with the fans and not the team. Most Steeler fans like the Steelers because they were born here and feel obligated to like this team. I understand that this is the hometown, but people can root for any team that they choose. Just because I live in Pennsylvania does not mean that I am going to root for teams from Philadelphia. People are more tolerate of border-crossing when it comes to College Football when people can root for out-of-state teams. I prefer to like a particular team because of the DNA of the team with it's players. I root for the Green Bay Packers because they had Brett Favre who I always thought was a good player and had respect for him, when he went to the New York Jets this past season I still rooted for the Packers, but also rooted for Favre, despite not really liking the Jets all that much. I suppose if he had played there long enough I could become a convert.

Pittsburgh Steeler fans assume that everyone loves this team and thinks that you are less than them if you choose to root for someone else. I think the majority of the people who go to the games only really love it because they are so drunk that they could be watching just about anything. Maybe fans are more attracted to the spirit of their fandom rather than the sport itself, I know many people who root for the Steelers, but couldn't even name 2 players on the team. Perhaps it's just a tradition, but I prefer free thought where I can choose to love any team that I want without feeling obligated to love a team out of sheer tradition.

Eh, enough about the Steelers already, they won the Superbowl and the only positive thing about that is that for the next week the people of this city will be a little nicer than usual. Then it'll all go back to the same ole thing.

The Slump of the Penguins...

Ok, so everyone who is watching the Pittsburgh Penguins these days is obviously a bit frustrated watching a team that last year made it to the finals now barely able to score a goal. They are in a huge slump! They are not winning at home, not scoring goals, and their power play is pathetic.

So what happened?

Well, many people will point fingers here and there, but I'd like to offer at least my thoughts on the matter:

1. Leadership.
This is a very young team with young leaders and it's easy to lead a team when things are going well, but when things go bad, this is when true leaders emerge. This is a team that is slowly defining itself and it's key players.

2. Chemistry.
The team has seen a wide variety of changes over the past year with players going elsewhere and new lines being formed. The team is changing up the lines and determining who plays well with who.

3. Injuries.
On top of players being gone from the team due to trades, they are also facing many injuries, which they were able to overcome last season, but this year it's challenging with a whole new team DNA.

In order for the Penguins to get the ship turned around there are several things that must happen. Malkin and Crosby need to play on separate lines and also be the leaders of those lines, which means they need to start scoring goals. The Pens also need depth right now to help contribute as guys like Satan, Fedetenko, Staal, and Sykora are also producing less than what should be expected. Also import is the contribution from third and fourth string guys like Kennedy and Talbot, but their production should only come as a bonus to what the top lines are doing. The entire team needs to learn to stop passing so much and just shoot the puck! This is perhaps the most frustrating part of watching this team as they try and make fancy plays and end up losing the puck. They just need to keep firing from the point and look for rebounds, which being me to yet another point, which is having guys in front of the net. This is where most of the action is and we never have enough guys in front who can be screening shots, looking for rebounds, or frustrating the defensemen.

My Bucket List:

Here are a few things that I would like to accomplish in 2009....

1. Go skiing at least once.
2. Go ice skating at least once.
3. Jump out of an airplane.
4. Climb or hike something taller than a house.
5. Spend significant amount of time in a hot tub.
6. Go to at least one opera.
7. Go to at least one musical.
8. Go to at least one symphony.
9. Go Salsa dancing.
10. Make several new friends.
11. Eat more meals with friends.
12. Try and get in shape.
13. Play ping pong and destroy one person at it.
14. Play roller hockey.
15. Go to as many Penguin games as possible.
16. Stargaze.
17. Buy a car.
18. Save more money than ever before.
19. Save someones life.
20. Make someone laugh until they collapse.
21. Show someone how to do something that I know.
22. Spend more time with family and less working.
23. Give more compliments.
24. Drive an exotic vehicle.
25. Travel.
26. Read a great book.
27. Watch as many movies as I can.
28. Write at least one song.
29. Play my guitar more.
30. Make an impact on someone.

The Laundry Trifecta...

Many people who know me well know that I have a deep love for doing laundry. I can't really explain why this is, but I do and I have decided to just embrace this fact. Anyway, not only do I enjoy laundry, but I also have experimented with just about every combination of detergent, softener, and bleach method that exists in the humble attempt to figure out the best way to wash clothes effectively.

Here is the absolute winning combination:

Detergent: Tide Total Care (Renewing Rain HE)
Softener: Snuggle (Blue Sparkle)
Bleach: Clorox 2X Color Booster/Stain Figher (Lavender HE)

These three products together are by far the most effective, efficient, and ultimate way to get your clothes clean, fresh, and restored. It only makes sense to use great products when clothes cost so much.

I will also note that there are a few other products that work really well, the first is if you are concerned about your budget since the Tide is a bit pricy, you can also go with Purex (HE) and it costs about 1/4 the amount, plus it's concentrated, so a little goes a long way. Also recommended is anything from Tide really works well, except never use powders. I also like the new Downy Softener, which works well with the Tide, but the smell of the Snuggle is far superior and lasts much longer. The Clorox 2X comes in a non-lavender scent, which works well, but I really prefer the lavender.

The best place to buy these products for price is Wal-mart/Sams Club as they have the most for the least, Target carries them, but are usually a bit more unless you find them on sale.

Pixar Ratings:

Thought I would share my personal ratings for Pixar's catalogue of films...

Toy Story (1995) B
A Bug's Life (1998) B-
Toy Story 2 (1999) B+
Monster's Inc (2001) B-
Finding Nemo (2003) B+
The Incredibles (2004) B-
Cars (2006) B+
Ratatouille (2007) A-
Wall-E (2008) A

Pixar seems to be getting even better with their productions, the latest film Wall-E had all the right ingredients that Pixar films are now known for: wit, charm, groundbreaking digital work, great characters, fun story, etc etc, but Wall-E goes a step beyond that with a mature and deep story and underlying themes that makes this not just a kids film. I think most Pixar films can be enjoyed by all ages, but this one in particular contains some pretty deep moments and that goes even further than it's obvious eco-friendly push. While I think that the consitentsy in quality that this studio puts out is mind-boggling, there is no doubt that their shining moment thus far is a dutiful and romantic little robot named Wall-E.

So long Butch...

On Friday the world lost perhaps one of the greatest actors of all time in Paul Newman. While he will probably be best remembered for his role of Butch Cassidy, he also graced us with his presence in many other classics like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Hud, Exodus, The Sting, The Hustler, The Color of Money, and of course Cool Hand Luke.

Perhaps one of his greater more recent roles was in 2002's Road to Perdition, which demonstrated just how great of an actor he was even in his later years. At age 83 it's fair to say that he lived a long and prosperous life and his legend will live on for future generations of film lovers.

The Mighty Bucs.

This summer I actually went to my first complete Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC park. I have been incredibly out-of-touch with baseball, which has been intentional ever since they went on strike many years ago. I don't follow baseball nor do I care to as long as things are still the way they are with rediculous salaries, egos, and juiced up players who lie under oath.

Anyway...

I got to see the Bucs actually win in a 15-8 victory over the Dodgers, which is quite a miracle considering how bad of a team the Pirates truly are and have been. While the score looks impressive it was still a disappointing game despite a win. Disappointing? Yes, how could a team this bad play in one of the most amazing fields ever built? It's not really disappointing, it's embarrassing, shameful, and downright despicable. PNC park is a gorgeous ballfield that harkens back to a day and age when baseball thrived and coursed through the veins of any American. And yet, today we get players that don't really care that much, collect their insanely undeserved paycheck, and yet people still watch these bums play. It's embarrassing to see a team this bad and while they may have won this particular game a field this good deserves a team that is also good, or at least one that is trying to rebuild. The Pirates are simply a recruiting station for the rest of the league it seems.

I couldn't believe just how out of touch I have been and this year the Pirates will tie the record for the longest consecutive losing season....for shame. I saw several t-shirts that day that even mocked just how bad the pirates are, the two that I recall were something like:

"I am used to disappoint....I'm a Pirates fan"

"The Pittsburgh Pirates: Rebuilding since 1993"

Our Pittsburgh Pirates are so bad that they are not only a laughing stock to the entire league, but to fans...it's that bad. We are actually 'proud' of just how bad we are! I guess in the many years since I followed the sport nothing really has changed and it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon either. In the meantime, I'll watch the only REAL team that Pittsburgh has, THE PENS!

How the West was Awesome.

People rave all over the place about how good High Definition Video looks, and they are right, but they also overlook just how great true film has always looked, especially in certain formats like 70mm, CinemaScope, Cinerama, etc etc. One recent great example is the release of HOW THE WEST WAS WON on Blu-ray, it's available in a 2-disc set that contains the film in both theatrical versions, including SmileBoxed, which you can see the screen captures here and you can click on the images to see them blown up.

Blu-ray Update.

After spending a large part of the Summer scaling back my DVD collection and making gradual shifts over to Blu-ray, my current collection consists now of 82 Blu-ray discs, they are:

300 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY APOCALYPTO THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD BATMAN BEGINS BEHIND ENEMY LINES BLACK HAWK DOWN BLACK RAIN BLADE RUNNER BONNIE AND CLYDEBRAM STOKERS DRACULA THE BRAVE ONE CARS CJ7 A CLOCKWORK ORANGECLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND CRIMSON TIDE THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW THE DEPARTED THE DIE HARD QUADRILOGY DIRTY HARRYDOOMSDAY THE DOORS EDWARD SCISSORHANDS EYES WIDE SHUT THE FALL THE FANTASTIC FOUR THE FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER THE FIFTH ELEMENT FIRST BLOOD FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM FROM HELL FULL METAL JACKET GALAPOGOSGANGES THE GETAWAY GOODFELLAS HALLOWEEN HART'S WAR HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS KINGDOM OF HEAVEN LONESOME DOVE THE LOST BOYSMICHAEL CLAYTON MEN IN BLACK NATURAL BORN KILLERS NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS NIM'S ISLAND NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN OLDBOY ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST PAN'S LABYRINTH THE PATRIOT PATTONPEARL HARBOR THE PERFECT STORM POINT BREAK PLANET EARTH THE PUNISHER QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL RATATOUILLE THE ROCK ROOM WITH A VIEW THE SHINING STARGATE STEP INTO LIQUID SUNSHINE TERMINATOR 2U-571 THE USUAL SUSPECTS V FOR VENDETTA WILD CHINA X-MEN THE LAST STAND
Plus 3 operas:

SWAN LAKE
LA BOHEME
CELIA & BRYN

While all of these titles are certainly superior to their DVD counterpart in terms of picture and sound quality, there are a few gems here that are worth noting as they are essential titles to own if you are looking to make the most of your home theater system. Those titles are as follows:

PATTON -perhaps one of the best restorations thus far, read previous thread on it.
NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS -even an animated feature is meant to look and sound this awesome.
LA BOHEME - if you are into opera, this disc is a must.
V FOR VENDETTA - superb color, detail, and depth.
BATMAN BEGINS - demonstrates just how great Blu-ray is capable of showing detail, even when it's dark.
PLANET EARTH - what a terrific series, the sound isn't quite as good as it could be, but the picture is stunning.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - insanely overlooked epic that arrives here in it's directors cut version and it not only looks and sounds awesome, but is a more competent film.
HART'S WAR - a film worthy of discover and this Blu-ray is the way to go!
FROM HELL - still underrated thriller with Johnny Depp, this Blu-ray will put any DVD to shame.

My poor blog....

I just can't seem to find the time or rather 'desire' these days to blog. I was doing so well for so long, but lately I just don't know what to say.

Things happening these days:

1. I'm getting pumped about the NHL season.
2. I'm looking forward to cooler weather, watching some football, and wearing long-sleeve items.
3. Excited about new friends and hanging out with them!

One of the most beautiful films, ever.

If you are like me and you are tired of the onslaught of mindless films that Hollywood has been recylcling over and over again over the past few years, then maybe it's time for a change. Often times it only takes a truly great film to recharge your hope again in cinema and what better way than a beautiful film like David Finch's 1980 film THE ELEPHANT MAN. Most people will quickly write this film off as just a bio on the true story of John Merrick AKA The Elephant Man, who was stricken with a most unfortunate disease and was paraded around like a circus freak for years, then from the help of a great doctor (played wonderfully by Anthony Hopkins) he was taken into good care where he finally became treated as a human being.

The film was shot in 1979/1980 under the careful care of director David Lynch, who is typically known for making more obscure artsy films, but for anyone who doubts his ability to make straight-forward films that involve human emotion and depth, look no further than this film, which he truly put everyone on the line. This is by far a no-holds-barred examination into the human condition and perhaps one of the finest examples of such ever pressed into celluloid. It's tactful, honest, compassionate, heartfelt, deep, and profound.

Perhaps the greatest decision that Lynch would make was getting cinematographer Freddie Francis to lens this film, which happens to be one of the last 35mm films to be released in true Black and White (SCHINDLER'S LIST was not shot in B&W, it was converted in post-production) and also using Panavision lenses, which give the film an amazing characteristic all on it's own with Francis opting for a high contrast style that harkens back to the glory days of cinema when deep focus B&W films were common. Francis would later go on to work on some other magnificient films with Martin Scorsese and also work with Lynch again, his 1999 collaboration put forth another great film simply titled THE STRAIGHT STORY and is another must-see.

The casting is also quite excellent with Hopkin's in prime form and John Hurt (who plays Merrick) is simply stunning (it took 7 hours alone for him to get into makeup for the part). Anne Bancroft also co-stars giving the film its credibility with highly talented actors and actresses to pull off the legitimacy of the film and its content. Material of this nature needs to be handled with great care and the acting is essential to making it all work, here it is mastered.

So the next time you're uncertain about which film to put on your Netflix cue after scrolling throught the uninteresting latest releases, put this film on your list and thank me later!

THE DARK KNIGHT...

I won't go into too much detail, but I am sad to report that the latest Batman film, THE DARK KNIGHT, was a huge letdown for me personally. Here is why:

1. The style of this film is inconsistent with that of BATMAN BEGINS and looks too modern, which doesn't keep the consistent look of Gotham City, which was always a city that appeared like it was set in the 1920's, yet had the technology of the future or at least modern day. Instead the film clearly looks like it takes place in Chicago and the use of Hong Kong in the film takes us out of the fictional world of Batman and into a modern day mess.

2. There are many things that are trying to be accomplished in this film, the creation of Two-Face/Harvey Dent and the introduction of The Joker, plus Rachel and her feelings towards Dent and Bruce Wayne, then the screen time to develop Commissioner Gordon and even with 2.5 hours the film just seems exhausted to get it all done. By the end it's almost like a Batman Soap Opera with more dialogue in this film than BATMAN BEGINS times two. It just comes across sloppy and the overall character development is weak.

The best part of the film though has to be Ledger's incredible performance that is both sad, tragic, and yet amazing. Sad because here we finally see Ledger at his best and tragic because we all know this is his final contribution to cinema. If anything his performance alone merits a second viewing of the film despite it's problems.

Penguins: Revised.

No more than 24-hours after my griping about the Pens need for wingers they sign 2 from the Islanders: Satan and Fedotenko, which are no match for losing Hossa AND Malone, but will be a great addition as they will surely up their game playing on a one-year contract with Crosby and Malkin.

The Penguins also secured a 7-year deal with Marc-Andre, which is excellent news, but we also should be looking for a backup goalie after losing Conklin to Detroit along with Hossa. Laraque also signed with Montreal, which is not a huge loss as he was our enforcer, but Eric Godard should fill those shoes well.

It's gonna be an interesting year with a roster change like this!

Attn: Pittsburgh Pens....I can play....sign me!

Over the past few weeks and days the Pittsburgh Penguins organization has been in an absolute frenzy. The obvious reason is that nearly half of the team was eligible for Free Agency and while the Pens knew that the roster would change next year, few people knew just how much.

Gone are Hossa, Malone, Ruutu, Roberts, Hall, Conklin and perhaps a few more as well.

The only good news thus far is that Malkin has been given a 5-year extension and they were able to keep Pascal Dupuis, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. We also snagged a 6-year suprising deal with D-man Brooks Orpik who is a strong defender with tons of hitting power. Pens also added to their grinder-line by signing Calgary's Eric Godard, which is a nice touch to keep our physical game under tap, but we need offense!

While these might be good things it doesn't change one VERY important fact: the roster is thin! We need wingers and we need em bad! Crosby and Malkin are in desperate need of sniper players in order to excel at their playmaking game, we need players like Patrick Elias from New Jersey or Chicago's Martin Havlat, or perhaps Tamba Bay's Martin St. Louis.

Now that we have tons of money (since we lost a huge chuck of players) it would only make sense that we seek after some wingers and a right-handed defender. I was really hoping we might be able to snag free agents Wade Redden or Brian Campbell.

There are even talks about the Pens getting Jaromir Jagr or Markus Nasland, which I think that perhaps Naslund would be a nice addition just for the experience that he brings, but Jagr is too close to the end of his career and has an awkward history with Penguin fans.

So the "core" of the Penguins are in tact, which is a great thing, but we do need some fresh players to get the right combination if we want to make it to playoffs again next year.

Right now the lines are looking short:
Crosby, Dupuis and WHO?
Malkin, Sykora and WHO?
Staal, Talbot and WHO?
Godard ????
Will Laraque stay?

Do they still make em like they used to?

I recently had a conversation with someone about the quality of movies these days and to a degree had to agree with their comment, "they don't make good movies anymore". After thinking about this I had to agree that the frequency of good film-making is probably at a all-time low, but there are still good movies being made, problem is that you now have to seek them out. I decided to make things easy my listing a few of the truly great films over the past 5 years (2003-2008). These are not films that I think are "the best" necessarily, but perhaps a few that may have slipped through the cracks, while others were highly successful in critical and commercial circles.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (2005) Directors Cut ONLY!
MUNICH (2005)
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (2007)
MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
MASTER AND COMMANDER (2003)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
SUNSHINE (2007)
THE DEPARTED (2006)
CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
HALF NELSON (2006)
BRICK (2005)
THE ILLUSIONIST (2006)
V FOR VENDETTA (2005)
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006)
THE FOUNTAIN (2006)
BREACH (2007)
APOCALYPTO (2006)
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005)
EASTERN PROMISES (2007)
CINDERELLA MAN (2005)
COLLATERAL (2004)
THE GRIZZLY MAN (2005)
THE FOG OF WAR (2003)
THE MAGDALENE SISTERS (2003)
SECONDHAND LIONS (2003)
THE BRAVE ONE (2007)
FREEDOM WRITERS (2007)

A Dying Art: The Music Video

My all-time favorite music videos in no particular order:

"Linger" - The Cranberries
Great send-up to the French New Wave and filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard and most specifically the film ALPHAVILLE, which is one of my all-time favorite Science Fiction films.

"The Universal" - Blur
Awesome homage to the late, great Stanley Kubrick with obvious references to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Awesome song that really makes me happy.

"I'm Afraid of Americans" - David Bowie and Trent Reznor
Super concept that involves two highly creative individuals that both understand the power of images with the right musical vibe. Has some interesting post-9/11 impletations.

"Home" - Depeche Mode
Highly unseen, underrated, underappreciated music video from a band that has endured over the last 3 decades despite people in America not really knowing what this band has been doing, but their popularity has never declined elsewhere in the world.

"Around the World" - Daft Punk
A must-see music video that is both creative and poignant at the same time, just phenominally directed.

"Devil's Haircut" - Beck
Another send-up video to a seldom talked about film these days - MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Beck is just great.

"All is Full of Love" - Bjork
Amazing music video that is superbly clever and emboddies the whole 'can artifical intelligence love', which has been a topic often seen in films, note that the robots look like the ones in I, ROBOT.

"Running" - No Doubt
Great collage-piece that really sums up the relationship of this band with it's own members, fans, and a snap shot of their challenges.

"Sabotage" - Beastie Boys
A very obvious choice here, but this song never gets old and the video is just great!

"33" - The Smashing Pumpkins
Shot entirely with a still camera and then rapidly pieced together with every frame comprising of hundred and thousands of stills in order to create a jerky one-of-a-kind music video.

"Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
Just a highly creative music video that came out in a time when music videos were at the peak of their popularity, but were starting to decline in their originality.

DVD vs. HD: raising the bar.

Often when people overhear me talk about how inferior DVD is or how limiting DVD is they are typically surprised. That is, most people still feel that DVD offers the most stunning picture and sound quality available at home. However, this is starting to quickly change as more and more people are 1. buying HDTV's and 2. obtaining HD programming. Both of which quickly lead people down a path that demonstrates to them just how good HD can look, but with that comes a new bar. Once that bar is raised, DVD by comparison, doesn't hold up. It just can't. DVD is limited to just standard definition with MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 technologies only able to up to 720X 576. In comparison, HD programming and or HD-DVD/Blu-ray can do 1920X1080, which means that the lines of resolution are doubled. Not only can DVD not handle the resolution, but the compression needed to fit the movie onto a DVD is a great factor in the poorer picture as well. A DVD, even a dual layered DVD is under 10GB of space, whereas a Blu-ray disc currently comes in a 25GB and 50GB size. This means that the video and audio can be uncompressed, typically you will see the audio say something like 5.1 uncompressed PCM audio on a Blu-ray disc. This enables high resolution audio, plus great picture quality and STILL have room for supplements without jeopardizing performance, at least to a certain degree.

It won't be long with more people having HD programming before DVD will begin to seem like VHS quality by comparison, this doesn't mean that it will go away, just think VHS lasted over 20 years even when a superior format like the 12" laserdisc was around in conjunction.

Got the Blu(es)...

After the demise of the Pittsburgh Penguins I figured I must jump-start this blog a bit with other information. Recently acquiring a Sony Playstation 3 I have been able to enjoy the full benefits of the HD format known as Blu-ray, which I must say it's making me reconsider my entire DVD collection, which is or was nearly 1200 strong. Since obtaining several Blu-ray discs I have decided to scale back my DVD collection and make some trades bring my Blu-ray collection to 35 discs as of right now, they are:

300
BLACK HAWK DOWN
BRAM STOKERS DRACULA
BONNIE AND CLYDE
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
BLADE RUNNER
THE SHINING
EYES WIDE SHUT
APOCALYPTO
GOODFELLAS
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
FULL METAL JACKET
PEARL HARBOR
THE BRAVE ONE
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
GALAPOGOS
OLD BOY
FROM HELL
V FOR VENDETTA
STEP INTO LIQUID
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX
FANTASTIC FOUR
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
TERMINATOR 2
PATTON
CARS
RATATOUILLE
SUNSHINE
THE PUNISHER
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS

Needless to say these are all superior in some way to their DVD beginnings, but some really stand out. The Kubrick discs are definitely superior to the DVD and remastered DVD's that were issued years ago, in fact they are the best that I've seen those films and that includes seeing them in theatrical representations and restortions over the years. 2001 finally has the color that it deserves, but EYES WIDE SHUT also has a few scenes (in particular the city shots) that are just jaw-dropping. Equally impressive though is the restortion on PATTON, which on top of being a masterpiece of filmmaking, also makes for one of the early demo discs on what Blu-ray can offer to a restored film and when it's done correctly, the results are stunning. PATTON was shot in 70mm in a process called Dimension-150 and the Blu-ray definitely shows how spectacular the cinematography was on that film.

One can only hope that this great trend continues and more people hop onto the Blu-ray train. That however can be tricky as it's taken quite awhile for everyone to convert to DVD and while DVD just turned 11 years old it would seem that no one wants to jump ship just yet. But that doesn't mean that DVD is dead. Since you can view DVD's on a Blu-ray player it would seem (especially since it upscales) that it will also improve your DVD quality and certain titles will take quite some time to finally arrive on Blu-ray to begin with. For movie purists, enthusiasts, collectors, and videophiles though this is just the type of fresh air that was needed, espcially since DVD was never meant to be the final word in home video. In fact it was only meant to get people on the disc format, but was always limited in some way. DVD could never handle the storage space to accomodate the best that home video has to offer. Blu-ray takes DVD to the cleaners by offering full 1080p presentation of movies in true High Definition, plus takes the audio to a whole new level as well with formats like Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 and DTS-HD Losslesss audio, which finally gives full uncompressed surround sound in ways that you can enjoy at home with the proper receiver via HDMI.

If you are interested in getting into the Blu-ray format there are a few key titles that won't disappoint, the first film that really delivers in all performance aspects is FROM HELL, which is featured in 7.1 DTS-HD lossless audio and is phenomenal, plus the 1080p picture is stunning with great depth and clarity for a film that is very dark with loads of contrast and color. Plus, it's a truly good film that often gets overlooked as just another retelling of Jack the Ripper.

Another great title would be the BLADE RUNNER 5-disc Blu-ray set that gives all 5 versions of the film including the Final Cut, the theatrical cut, the international cut, the directors cut, and the workprint. All 5 look stunning, but it's great to see the variety of versions of this film, plus there are tons of extras on the other 2 discs and since this film is one of the most imitated Science Fiction of the last 30 years, it only seems appropriate to give it all the attention that this classic deserves and hopefully find a new audience to acknowledge it's genius.

Other stunning discs for picture are of course the Pixar films, which look sublime and finally show what digital animation can look like when there is no generation loss between production and process.

Maybe Penguins can fly afterall - Crush Flyers.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been nothing short of amazing in their post-season performance and while there were a few bumps along the way, they still have managed to put up a 12-2 record going into the final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are also riding on a 16-game home winning streak at this point and it looks like there is little stopping them at this point. This is a team that is beaming with confidence. Not only are they playing well, but they are having fun doing it, which can be seen on faces like Marc-Andre Fleury after winning game 5 with a shutout against the Philadelphia Flyers and ending that series on a high note.

So what's next?

Well, the Pens will have a nice little vacation here as they wait to see the outcome of the Dallas and Detroit series, which heads back to Dallas tonight for game 6. If Detroit wins that series than they will have home ice advantage, but if Dallas wins than the Penguins will have the home ice, which based on the way that they are playing sounds like the preferred choice. Either team will certainly be a test for the youthful Pens.

Marian Hoss has 21 points in the playoffs with Crosby and Malkin right behind with 19 points, but the whole team is contributing in helpful ways. Fleury has been amazing with a 1.6 goals against average as well.

It's gonna be fun!