Bruiser Chong

Line of the week, folks. I nearly choked on my Frosted Flakes.

Circuit City's ad for the upcoming week is out and their 3-for-$30 deal is probably one of the best I've seen in a couple of years. Here's the list: Pirates of the Caribbean Johnson Family Vacation Forrest Gump Bridget Jone's Diary Old School PCS: Dave Chapelle Blue Collar Comedy Tour: Ride Again Last Samurai Cold Creek Manor My Baby's Daddy Gladiator Mean Girls Miracle Never Die Alone Saving Private Ryan Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie Kill Bill 1 Pulp Fiction Buzz Lightyear in Star Command Walking Tall Ransom Kill Bill 2 Cold Mountain Girl Next Door Out of Reach Alien Schindler's List Atlantis Secret Window Braveheart Granted KB V1 & 2 are both going to get SE treatments down the road, but there's no set date for that yet, so this is an excellent time for fans of the film who were on the fence about buying barebone releases to finally do so. Pulp Fiction is the two-disc CE that came out a couple of years, so that's an excellent price, as well. As you can see, there are a lot of titles that have come out in the past year on the list, which gives you an idea on how affordable DVDs are becoming, not to mention how quickly price drops occur now. Unless I can resist, I'll finally get both KB's, as well as Pulp Fiction, since the one I've got has a case that looks like hell. Moreover, I'm tempted to finally check out The Girl Next Door, so I'll have to talk my buddy into getting KB V2 and Pulp for himself. Anyway, it's a good list that I thought I'd post over here.

He'll never play that many games. He was great as a fill-in for Sosa, but there's a reason he went from being ROTY to being a bench guy. I'm fine with a Hollandsworth and Dubois platoon. Too much emphasis has been made on signing a big name. Big names don't always yield big results. Just ask Steinbrenner.

I'd imagine they'd be what's out there now. Aside from the Kill Bill series, all of his films have been given excellent DVD releases in the past. There were some rumblings about the Reservoir Dogs SE transfer a while back, but I doubt an upgrade in that would warrant yet another purchase. I can't imagine finding much reason for some people to buy a third version of either RD or Pulp, and the Jackie Brown release is great as it is. Me, too. It's just that I've seen it so many times that some of his stuff from his San Fran special makes me laugh more now. It's still classic material, but it's tough to find everything as hilarious as you initially did when you've seen it dozens of times.

Blasphemy. Tony the Tiger would bitchslap you if he heard you say that.

I used to despise them as a kid, but now I don't feel right unless I've got it on. My girlfriend doesn't wear them half of the time because she insists she's too short for them, which I think is idiotic, considering how she drives. That and her car makes a beeping noise every couple of minutes when she's not wearing it, so I'm pretty insistent that she put it on, if not for her own life then for my sanity.

Actually, I think it was leaked that the special editions will start in August. Yeah, I heard that, too, but I've come to learn with DVDs that even stated release dates are tenative until you've got the damn things in stock. August is still quite a ways away, so I think I'll still get them, and then if the SE sounds good enough, I can always pass these ones on for a little bit of change on eBay. And the Chappelle DVD is definitely worth the purchase. Still, I wish they'd release his 1997 San Francisco special on DVD. That was basically his big break in the world of stand-up and features a lot of classic material that I think rivals his best stuff from Killing Them Softly, in terms of quality.

That'd suck to be sitting at the breakfast table eating a big bowl of Frosted Flakes and suddenly have a PLANE crash into your house.

That's a long time in sports.

I think the Astros are still in trouble. Kent's gone, Beltran's gone and the ability of Biggio and Bagwell will go down at least another peg this season. They'll still present a formidable team because of their pitching (except everyone in the bullpen not named Brad Lidge), but I can envision them being much like the Dodgers a couple years back. Magnificent pitching but not nearly enough hitting to keep them in the game.

That's sorta funny considering they just traded him to Boston in July.

Looking at the box score, he walked both. I chalked his 2004 season up to just getting back into the groove of things. Hopefully his tendency to be a bit wild will subside as he moves into the closer role. Otherwise, we might as well stick that young kid Farnsworth in that spot.

Game is terrible and just getting a break because of his connections and affiliations.

That game was just a disaster period. I watched the first couple of innings and saw the Cubs go up 7 or 8 to 1 and came back later horrified to see the game tied at 8. That was their final meeting of 2004 and the end of the belief that the Cubs may have a shot at the Central. It was also the game in which Hawkins lost his damn mind and nearly attacked the ump following his terrible inning of work. Fun fact here: The Mets had two men on when Hawkins entered the game. The pitcher responsible for the baserunners? Ryan Dempster.

"I said 'look bitch...cocaine's a powerful drug, but that ain't my baby.'"

I'm willing to give it a shot. Hawkins couldn't handle the pressures of closing out games in the big city, even though he wasn't as bad as some people made him out to be. They signed him as a set-up man, so why not use him there? I think he's more effective setting things up. I'm not sold on Dempster, but he's as good as any of their options right now.

I watched FG from the absolute beginning and I'm amazed at the cult following it got once the DVD sets were released. That said, saying you like it seems almost cliche since it's become such a huge hit in the last two years. I'm weird like that, but when people ask what my favorite shows are, I rarely mention FG, even though I've always adored it. I'm the same way with music, too. Saying guys like Eminem and 50 Cent are your favorite rappers, for example, always seems like a safe answer, even if it's the truth.

Wasn't he just involved in trade rumors? They need to give up on this guy, already.

I'd put Ramirez in the four slot, too. Even Dusty said that he was his RBI guy. They usually go in the cleanup spot, right? I think Stoney was on the money when he said Patterson wasn't going to be a leadoff hitter, he would eventually become a middle of the lineup guy. And with his strikezone, I sure hope that comes true eventually. Still, I think a LOT of us slept on the Nomar re-signing. Here's a guy who can still produce if he's healthy and we'll have him for a full season this time, not just two months. If Sosa can produce, Nomar stays healthy, and the Cubs quit trying to hit jacks all the time, they could be a very potent offense. Lots of "ifs," though.

The Cubs have offense, they just don't utilize it. When everyone from the leadoff hitter down to the number eight hitter is trying to constantly launch one out of the park, the results aren't pretty. No one really knew their roles last season. You need some established power guys, but you need people ahead of them to strive to get on base for the real damage to be done. Small ball wasn't the answer, but there were so many situations last season where little things would've helped. Getting a basehit, for instance, became an exercise in futility for a lot of the Cubs last year. They lived and died by the longball, which is great when you play in Wrigley and wind's blowing out. It's just a bitch when the wind's blowing in or you've got an ace going up against you.

What the fuck does that even mean? I dunno, but it sucked. I think he was trying to say he's above giving a second thought to Internet drama even though he put in a solid three years of work to "establish" himself on these boards. are you writing my biography? Certainly wouldn't make for a very interesting read if I were.

Or just look at the entire 2004 Chicago Cubs.

What the fuck does that even mean? I dunno, but it sucked. I think he was trying to say he's above giving a second thought to Internet drama even though he put in a solid three years of work to "establish" himself on these boards. As for the site itself, everything's been said. I think it's really lackluster and for the most part, there are a few constant contributors with a lot of people making cameos (reminds me of a place I used to post at). I've always thought that layout was extremely bland and uninticing. It's not all about the content. You've gotta have a good look to draw people in. The content will keep them here. While I've got no beef with any of the staff, I have to say that there's not a whole lot that makes any of them really unique. Some have really good stuff, but a great deal of the columns I've read have been so paint-by-numbers that I wonder why I should read it here when it can be read hundreds of other places? With the Dames thing, his absences are expected. The man uprooted and basically started an entirely new life in a new place. Surely people didn't think that a message board and connected website were going to remain top priorities for him. It's because of this that I never got why he didn't just do a change of ownership. If you can only make brief appearances every so often, then maybe it's time to let go. And while I wouldn't say Dames was all about himself when it came to the site, I have to admit that I got discouraged at times when I'd submit something and it'd be buried near the bottom of the page or even to the next page because of all the pinned articles that rested atop the main page. Some articles deserved to be there, but I thought some pieces were pinned up there undeservingly so and for too long. That usually created a look that suggested no new content had been added, either. I just think you guys need to figure out who's going to do what. Believe me; these big visions rarely work out the way you expect them to. Whether it's because of taking on too much or just being unrealistic in your goals, that's usually how it goes. I'd say that before any changes are made, the head guys need to get together and create a collective vision for the site. Even then, it's going to be a tough road, since people are so unreliable that you can never really bank on everyone coming through with their assigned position.

I had class today. But then again, my school closes for virtually nothing other than the landmark holidays.

Liar.