Photo: Tip Jar @ Corner Market

Olympics 2008 Monkey Movie - BBC Sport

Olympics 2008 Gorillaz' Monkey Teaser for BBC Sport

The Summer Olympics approach. The Beijing Smog dissipates to reveal a 21st Century marvel of sports and media like none other before. NBC plans to provide no less than 200+ hours of event programming DAILY through its various media channels online & on TV. And none other than the stuffy old Beeb trumps NBC in a big way here with this daring Gorillaz magical mystery tease trailer for the 2008 Olympics. Would this work on American TV?
As much media coverage as there has been about the difficult year that China has had in the run-up to the Olympics, it has enhanced the drama far more sharply than any old torch relay could. Will the algae ponds ruin the crew relays? Will the air quality force officials to cancel outdoor endurance events? Will Tibetan monks embarrass Chinese politicos? Will media coverage of the ongoing earthquake recovery efforts spoil the magic? This is supposed to be modern China's coming-out party. Will this whole event be a fiasco?

Forget about Britney Spears. Worry no more about Amy Winehouse. No more choreographed realities. Cancel the daytime soaps. VP running mates? NFL Training Camp hold-outs? Puh-leease. Get your popcorn ready. It's time for round the clock sports like we've never had before.

The Zen of Bobby V

Saw this film last night on the Deuce (ESPN2) thanks to a heads-up yesterday afternoon from The Hardline's big-time baseball-head Rhynes (Mike Rhyner) on my favorite sportsradio station 1310AM The Ticket. One part "Lost in Translation", one part "Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the NY Cosmos", this is a great sports documentary from a couple of rookie NYU filmmakers. It's too bad ESPN2 saw fit to chop it up with sloppy commercial break editing. You see an American thriving in a foreign country, paying respects annually at Hiroshima, and truly immersing himself in all things Japanese (Bobby Valentine even looks slimmer from all that sushi!). And the film provides a great perspective on just how serious the Japanese fans are about their "baseboru". Would love to see Bobby V return to Arlington to try and get the Rangers back in business. Wishful thinking probably...

My brother and I were lucky enough to take in a Yomiuri Giants game at the Tokyo Dome 8 years ago. It was one thing to see how closely the Japanese follow baseball in America. It was another experience to see their devotion to the game in person. The games are much faster-paced in Japan and are very exciting to watch because the whole crowd's involved in every little detail. I was surprised at how small the Tokyo Dome is. So it's no surprise that Bobby Valentine advocates a new showcase stadium for Japan's premiere baseball club.
Turns out that interest in Japan's national pastime has dwindled somewhat in the face of a strong challenge from soccer.
I'm disappointed to find out that footage of Bobby V singing karaoke was cut out of the final edit. Maybe that will make it into the DVD release.

Cricket at the Aldridge Baseball Diamond

On Saturday my Dad and I walked by my old elementary school on the way
to the grocery store. We happened to notice these guys playing cricket
on the baseball diamond at Aldridge Elementary. I heckled them over
the chain link fence a bit telling them that they're in the wrong
hemisphere and chanting for them the "Hey batter batter SWING!" chant.
Aside from the big changes at Aldridge (new turn-about, renovations to
the exterior, etc.), it's clear that there are some major demographic
changes in the old neighborhood as well.

As slow a pace that cricket seems to have, maybe it's a better sport
to play here in North Texas in July and August than baseball is
anyway. These guys were happy enough playing it.

Anti-Emo Violence Plagues Mexico as Attacks Increase

A report from Rolling Stone's "Rock & Roll Daily" blog today caught me checking to see today's date. Why? Because I thought it might already be April 1st. I mean, this is as close to an Onion farce as possible without actually being an Onion send-up.

A wave of anti-emo violence has descended on Mexico. The first reported instance occurred on March 7th, when 800 young people came to the city of Queretaro with the sole purpose of finding emo kids to beat up. The anti-emo movement has propagated from message boards and social-network sites led by youths who dislike “the emo look and attitude.” A week after the Queretaro incident, a group comprised of punks and rockabillies faced off against the emo crowd. In response to the attacks, the emo population staged a silent march asking for peace and tolerance through Queretaro’s main center on March 15th. The march was organized by a Mexico City gay-rights organization that feels the anti-emo attacks are fueled by homophobia. The problem is not only restricted to Mexico, however: Reports from Chile of skinheads fighting emo kids occurred prior to the Mexican violence.

Even better are the comments below the post:

Comments

PinballWizard | 3/27/2008, 9:33 pm EST

It’s just like the Mods & Rockers!

mcache | 3/27/2008, 9:06 pm EST

I’ll give $15 to any Mexican who brings me the empty skull of Chris Carrabba

Locust | 3/27/2008, 8:53 pm EST

WHY IS EVERYONE AGAINST ELMO. ELMO NEVER HURT NO ONE HE JUST WANTS TO TEACH KIDS

vault | 3/27/2008, 6:57 pm EST

We need a border wall to keep emos out.

Twilight for Baby Possum...

Is the start of a brand new day. Snapped this photo at 8pm last night
as this baby possum's evening was just getting started. It didn't take
too well to my camera or me getting a few feet away. But that made it
crawl out of the street and back on the sidewalk; a safer place
without a doubt.

Happy Belated Easter!

Easter basket stuffed duck strikes a Joe Cool pose.

Beatles Matryoshka Dolls

Just a quick e-mail post to share my prize office possession: my
Russian Matryoshka Beatles. I got these from my friend Mo's garage
sale years ago for a buck. John, Paul, George & Ringo have started
many conversations ever since. The artist is from Moscow. His name is
written on the bottom of the biggest nesting doll: John, which I
assume means that he was the artist's favorite Beatle. "Mockba 1991"
is written right next to the signature. Each Beatle has two portraits-
one from the psychedelic era and the other from the Let It Be/Abbey
Road days. Thanks, Mo for the bargain.

Esteban Colberto entrevista a Lou Dobbs

As we continue to wait for Lou Dobbs to go down to Guanajuato as Vicente Fox's invited guest at his ranch to discuss immigration, here's a potential preview of how it will all go down. This manages to spoof Dobbs, Sábado Gigante, and cable news in 5 minutes. And who knew Sr. Colberto spoke such fluent Spanish?

Alamo Drafthouse + AMC Loews Cityplace = East Village Dallas?

Robert Wilonsky over at Village Voice property The Dallas Observer has been all over the latest Haskell Avenue news regarding the shutting down of AMC Loews Cityplace 14 next week. Kudos to the erstwhile Roger Ebert stand-in (who needs A.O. Scott anyway!) for reporting on the closing of the crime-plagued megaplex. Gang-banging, purse-snatching and carjacking, while all memorable events, do not make for a pleasant movie-going experience. The last movie I saw there must have been 5 years ago.

When Wilonsky broke the news yesterday about the closing, Austin's Alamo Drafthouse franchise came to mind. Would they snap up the chance to revamp an urban megaplex? The Alamo Drafthouse ownership group looked into the theater property at Casa Linda back in 2006. The Drafthouse has the reputation for being a real movie-lovers operation. They host all kinds of premieres, film fests, & SXSW events. Wouldn't it be nice if Dallas got a little "Keep Austin Weird" and it meant something more substantial than another crappy cheese steak sandwich shop or a Thunderclouds Subs?

Turns out that there are already plans for the location (again reported by the vigilant Wilonsky) in the familiar shape of the hoity-toity West Village. A mixed-use development with "retail & upper-level residential" will be replacing Shittyplace upon City Plan commission approval. Sound familiar? Mockingbird Station, Park Lane Place anyone? I doubt that plan will include an Alamo Drafthouse. But you can be sure that there will be plenty of valet parking.

Pablo's Point got some attention from the Studio Movie Grill folks when we last broached this topic. Driving up Central Expressway towards Forest, I happened to notice that the old Royal Lane Albertsons is being converted into an 8-screen "boutiqued" cinema house courtesy of Tony Romo's favorite Studio Movie Grill in early February. Yes Dallasites, you will soon be watching Indiana Jones break out the movie mojo while sipping on a cold Studio Grandé Blue Margarita.

Went to see "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" at Northpark 15 over the holidays. For $10 I laughed 3 times and sat through 35 minutes of commercials. I'd like to think that the marketplace (DVD's, home theater sets, ageing Gen Xers) will force the AMC's of the world to offer a little more than their antiseptic movie house product. Don't get me wrong, I'm as content as the next guy to see a movie theater again at Northpark. But there will be plenty of room for competitors like the Studio Movie Grill. And someone tell me soon that the Alamo Drafthouse is looking at a property in Dallas.

Former Old Monk Barmen take their chances on Downtown Plano & DART Rail

( Photo courtesy of G.J. McCARTHY/DMN)

Co-owners Gabe Whatley and Kelly Wesner, who previously helped operate The Old Monk, a popular Dallas pub, built the Fillmore in a building that was previously a hardware store, pharmacy and antiques shop.
Mr. Whatley said the crowds have encouraged him.
"People are looking to us to bring more people to the neighborhood, and I think we have," he said.

Gabe & Kelly are great guys. Pablo's Point wishes them much success in their suburban endeavors. Are Plano pubs smoke-free? I'm ready for Dallas pubs to go smoke free. Half the kids "smoking" at the Old Monk just let their ciggies dangle & stink up the joint so that they look cool. Let's move the smokers outside once & for all.

Sad news about the Tecole Taco House across the street from the Idle Rich Pub. It has been closed. Word is that it will be reopened in the new year as a mere pub. The food was really tasty. And it was a great place to get churros with caramel: a very effective hangover remedy.

The Hammer & The Hard Line

Well, once we had an easy ride and always felt the same
Time was on our side and I had everything to gain
Let it be like yesterday
Please let me have happy days
Won't you tell me
Where have all the good times gone?

- The Kinks

By now many Dallas radio listeners have heard all about Greg Williams ongoing recovery issues. Last week the Hard Line announced his being shown the door - ostensibly for not having complied with a "get-clean or you're fired" order from station management.
In the past few years I have really taken to listening to this Sports Radio station. Before embracing the Ticket 1310 AM, I used to screen out most AM radio for the poor sound and the bevy of commercials. At one point on my dial XM Radio & MP3 CD capability forced out local radio in favor of commercial-free entertainment. But I found myself craving local coverage. The recipe for 1310 The Ticket's Arbitron-ratings success in the DFW market has been a simple one: consistent, conversational sports coverage by next-door neighbor personalities. Greg "The Hammer" Williams was a key part of this recipe for the afternoon drive-time program. His "back porch country witticisms" imbued the 3+hour show with a sense of perspective. Don't be mistaken: It's Rhyner who holds the show together. Yet he seems to be the on-air personality most affected by The Hammer's departure. He would be wise to try out a few more co-host candidates.

My two cents would have the Sturminator replace Hammer. Bob Sturm has the sports smarts and the Ticket Schtick down pat. The one thing you can't expect to replace is the personal chemistry that the Hammer & Rhynes had together. They both loved talking the "talking sport" of baseball.

They have had Kevin Scott & Rob Wilonsky on the show to patch the dam. But The Hardline would do well to replace Greg Williams with a headliner from one of the other shows. Rhynes stated that they were likely to add someone to the lineup. The 2nd half of this statement is available here. The Morning Musers have their mojo. BAD Radio from 12pm to 3pm has Bob Sturm, Dan McDowell & Donovan Lewis. Bob Sturm would be a good fit. He's very knowledgeable sports wise. Dan McDowell might fit the Hammer's personality better. He's known to be cranky & willing to pick a fight (ask Lee Corso about that). But it's hard to imagine Dan McDowell handling the schizoid, to and fro Hardline of Corby & Danny very well.

Might be weird to analyze the drive-home show of an AM Radio Station's line-up. But this is the biggest ratings draw in DFW radio. It has been carefully cultivated over the years.
There's a liturgical quality to "Hi, I'm Ty Walker reminding you to remember the time you spent listening to Dunham & Miller Mornings on The Ticket SportsRadio 1310." It gets stuck in your head. A friend of mine moved to Cincinnati but still listens to The Ticket podcasts online.

(The photos were taken at a remote that the Hardline was doing at the Sigel's in Buckingham on September 27th a mere few weeks before Greggo's meltdown.)

Tom Petty - Runnin' Down A Dream DVD Trailer

In my daydreams, the movie megaplex down the interstate would be featuring this kind of movie in a festival atmosphere once or twice a week.

From Rolling Stone:

Peter Bogdanovich’s documentary Runnin’ Down a Dream, which tells the story of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ thirty-year journey and explores Petty’s own wanderings as a member of Traveling Wilburys and a solo performer. The film — which features testimonials from Eddie Vedder, Rick Rubin, Stevie Nicks, Johnny Depp and Dave Grohl, and footage of Petty playing alongside Bob Dylan, Vedder and many other artists — will screen October 14th at the 2007 New York Film Festival and in select cities the following day, and will then air on Sundance October 29th. A deluxe DVD release will hit Best Buy stores on the 16th.

Viewer Voices: Where We Respond To The Opinions Of Our Uninformed Viewers

Viewer Voices: Where We Respond To The Opinions Of Our Uninformed Viewers

Scorsese to produce George Harrison Doc, Bogdanovich Petty Doc & Ringo Tarantino

RollingStone.com's Rock & Roll Daily Blog has this tidbit about a Martin Scorsese-produced rock doc on George Harrison.

Martin Scorsese will direct an authorized documentary about George Harrison, Daily Variety reports. “George Harrison’s music and his search for spiritual meaning is a story that still resonates today and I’m looking forward to delving deeper,” Scorsese said of the project. Harrison’s widow, Olivia, who will serve as a producer on the film, which will go into production this year. “It would have given George great joy to know that Martin Scorsese has agreed to tell his story,” she said. Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have also agreed to participate.

And it appears that, finally, we will see the fruit of Peter Bogdanovich's yearlong filming of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' 30th Anniversary Tour.

In other rock movie news: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are about to get the documentary treatment at the hands of filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. Runnin’ Down A Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will debut at the New York Film Festival in October, and will then be available as a four-disc set at Best Buys nationwide. In addition to the documentary film, the release comes with a DVD of the band’s 30th Anniversary Concert in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida, as well as collection of rarities.

ContactMusic.com quotes Quentin Tarantino's desire to make a film with Ringo Starr. (If he can do for Ringo what he did for John Travolta, you can imagine that Ringo is listening carefully.)

PULP FICTION director QUENTIN TARANTINO is hoping to cast BEATLES legend RINGO STARR in an upcoming movie role. The cult filmmaker admired the drummer's presence onstage and believes he has the abilities to star in a future film. He says, "I'm Elvis over the Beatles any day of the week but there's always been something special about Ringo. "I've always thought he had the best stage presence in the band."

Battle at Kruger

Here we have proof that it's never too late to give up. Don't mind the shaky camera work. It's worth putting up with.

My father-in-law showed this viral video to us. He said "before you watch this, don't freak out, ok?"

From http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1630667,00.html

Not that you ever planned to mess with a cape buffalo, but if you did, here's a thought: Don't—especially if the way you were going to do it was by picking on one of his kids.

Cape buffalo aren't usually the stuff of news, but in the last month they've become the heroes of blogs, newsgroups and fan sites, ever since YouTube posted a video that may be the hottest upload in web history that doesn't include a naked famous person or a politician saying something career-ending. The 8-min., 23-sec. clip is a three-act play of attack, counterattack and rescue shot three summers ago in Kruger National Park in South Africa and posted only this May. Since then, it has been viewed more than 3.8 million times—200,000 times in a single day this week—drawn more than 6,000 comments and been bookmarked as a fan favorite more than 20,000 times. And a single viewing of the thriller in Kruger (though you're unlikely to watch it just once) shows why.

The smackdown took place at an ordinary watering hole where a small herd of cape buffalo were drinking and idling, wandering dangerously close to a pack of concealed lions that either did not smell very lion-like or, more probably, were crouching deliberately upwind. On the other side of the hole, six tourists and a guide watched in a parked range vehicle. The lions waited until the buffalo got close enough and then pounced, seizing the baby and scattering the adults. That's usually a game-ender for a baby buffalo, but things got even worse for this one as he struggled backwards, splashed part way into the water, and got his hind legs snagged by a pair of crocodiles. He somehow yanked free of them, but remained in the jaws of the lions until suddenly the adult cape buffalos stormed back in much greater numbers, dispersed the lions and made off with the remarkably unharmed baby.

"The guide told us that in his 15 years of doing this he'd never seen anything like it," American tourist Jason Schlosberg tells TIME. Schlosberg shot still pictures of the battle while a travelling companion, Dave Budzinski, shot the now-famous video.

The response from the YouTubers was less measured.

"Mess with one bean, you get the whole burrito," one posted.

"This is a disgrace for the lion family! Beaten by a cow!" said another.

Still others saw a larger message in the encounter. "A democratically elected government formed the LEMA (Lion Emergency Management Agency) which takes a little time to organize, but seems to come through in the end. We could learn something here."

"Majority rule, plain and simple," was how another put it.

Human geopolitics aside, what many wanted to know was just how common this kind of gang war is among species. Does such comparatively organized thrust and counterthrust occur routinely in nature, or were these unusually clever critters?

Certainly the battle for dinner between the lions and crocs was nothing unusual. Plenty of animals subscribe to the are-you-going-to-finish-that? school of eating, rarely waiting for the answer before trying to help themselves to someone else's meal. Even top predators like big jungle cats may spend as much time defending a kill as eating it, one of the reasons some of them will carry a carcass up into a tree before tucking in.

"It's common for two species to fight over a third. That's not unusual," says veterinarian and animal behaviorist Katherine Houpt of Cornell University.

What really surprised and delighted web viewers was the cavalry charge of the returning buffalos, who put themselves in the path of the predators to save the good-as-gone baby. Cape buffalo, after all, are not the MacArthur Fellows of the animal world. They're lumbering, quarrelsome and predictable in their movements and, says Houpt, "40% of them wind of them up in the belly of lions." But that means 60% don't, and the rescue that the Kruger group pulled off was actually nothing particularly special among herding species.

"These kinds of animals collaborate all the time," says the University of Pennsylvania's Sue McDonnell, also an animal behaviorist and vet. "The larger herd is broken down into smaller harems, with a domanant male and several females and their babies. If a youngster is threatened, both the harem males and bachelor males—which usually fight with one another—will get together to try to rescue it." You don't even have to travel to Africa to see such herbivorous first-responders at work. McDonnell specializes in studying wild horses and has occasionally seen the rough—sometimes lethal—treatment feral dogs receive when they're foolish enough to spook the group. Huzzahs for the heroism of the Kruger buffalos are fine for the web crowd, but for the herding males themselves, it's just part of the job description.

One question that's not answered—and probably not answerable—by either the video or the scientists is how well the beaten-up baby fared after the cameras stopped rolling. Certainly the right bite to the neck would have caused the baby to bleed out fast—which did not appear to happen—and the right hold on its hind legs would have broken them, making it impossible for him to trot back to the herd as he did. Buffalo hide is tough, and perhaps this baby was even tougher and scrappier than most—or perhaps the crocs and lions simply had their B-teams out that day. Whatever the answer, one of the best thing about the alternate-reality, user-driven world of the Web is the freedom it provides—in the absence of alternative evidence—to invent the endings we'd like to see. Judging by the 6,000-plus responses, in the YouTube world at least, the baby's doing just fine.

Transformative Musical Experiences

On the drive into work today, I listened to some of the Eddie Vedder soundtrack to the upcoming movie adaptation of Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild". The Eddie Vedder solo stuff is great, very meditative, expansive, & reflective. It's the perfect kind of music to have a transformative musical experience to on a drive. Before leaving for work, I hastily threw together an MP3 CD of a variety of albums to listen to. Along with the Eddie Vedder on the CD, I put on Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours", Robert Plant & Allison Krauss's "Raising Sand", Tegan & Sara's "The Con" and some John Hiatt.

I'm really excited to listen to the Robert Plant & Allison Krauss album. I watched a press kit for the album on Amazon.com. (BTW Amazon, I would've gladly posted the video here if Amazon would allow it.) I'm not a huge fan of either artist really. I mean, I love Zeppelin as much as the next 30-something guy who spent their youth listening the them on Classic Rock Radio and trying to pick out "Stairway to Heaven". But I'm really keen on the uniqueness of the musical pairing between such polar opposite artistic backgrounds. In particular, I'm looking to hear a different Robert Plant than what I'm used to hearing in Zeppelin. And likewise, I'm interested in hearing Allison Krauss in a less wholesome, bluegrass vein.

My commute is 6 miles long and only takes 15-20 minutes depending on school zones and traffic. The shortness of the trip severely limits the possibility of having any transformative musical experiences.

Back in the day there were plenty of opportunities for transformative musical experiences. As a student, the drive down to Austin was long enough to listen to 2, 90-minute mix tapes. The drive up to Texoma-Land from Dallas was long enough for an album.

Given the short commute, my in-car choice for entertainment has changed somewhat. For the past 5 years, I've developed much more of an appetite for talk radio than I ever used to have. (Specifically, SPORTS Talk Radio.) Talk Radio can be transformative as well. But it's obviously not a musically transformative experience. Rather, it can be a thought provoking one. Dad used to tell me that I'd grow out of my zeal for music. I suppose that's manifest in my preference for SportsRadio these days. So this week I will make an attempt to listen to a bit more new music. Perhaps I'll have the occasional transformative musical experience.

Stones/Scorsese Shine A Light

I can't wait to see this movie. This should go some way towards making up for the dreck that was "Pirates of the Caribbean III". I had so looked forward to seeing Keith Richards as Captain Jack Sparrow's dad. And then they went and made it one of the worst sequels since Superman III. That was one of the worst experiences I've ever had sitting in a cinema. Damn shame.

No word yet on when the Peter Bogdanovich movie of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' last tour will be out. It commemorated their 30th Anniversary as a band.

Anyone seen "Gimme Shelter"?

My Sweet Pirate