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.