vivalaultra

Well, Hinder and Nickelback are vastly overplayed, but they're still terrible. Dan Brown's vastly overread and he's one of the worst authors in the world. Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good.

I am sad. Today the 'Stros released Richard Hidalgo after his ill-fated comeback attempt including a batting average of .135 w/ only 1 HR and 9 RBI. I can't imagine any other team taking a shot on him after being out of baseball a couple years and his dismal spring, so I guess it's off to Japan or Mexico for him. And I was so hoping he'd come back and hit .300 with 44 HRs again.

No they don't. The Killers aren't a great band, but they're certainly not a terrible band. Easily not the worst band on the planet. Their first CD was decently good, all of the singles were extremely catchy and somewhat enjoyable and the new album, while not anything great, is certainly not as bad as anything released by Saliva, Hinder, Nickelback, Creed, Good Charlotte, or others mentioned.

Shit, he ain't got nothing on the Wink Man... Now THAT is a cunt. A cunt named Austin Winkler.

Anybody that says Daughtry is just...wrong. He's so intense; he can't be the worst band on the planet. When he sang the National Anthem at the Saints/Bears game a couple months ago, a single tear fell onto his cheek. That's intensity. I just looked at a picture of Hinder, and I can say that they're not getting by on their looks. And the lead singer's name is *ahem* Austin Winkler. I'd also like to introduce Buckcherry for consideration. That uh...song they have out now..."Crazy Bitch" or whatever. Yeah, it's terrible.

Chien-Ming Wang is going to start the season on the DL and miss at least 3 weeks with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. Between this, Papelbon moving back to the 'pen, and the fact that Wandy Rodriguez is penciled into the Astros' rotation, Clemens is gonna get a frickin' king's ransom to bail one of these teams out.

I also had better taste in elementary school than junior/senior high school. In elementary school, I mostly just listened to what my parents liked. In 3rd grade, my favorite band was Aerosmith. That was in like..1992, when "Pump" had just come out. I also was really into Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains/Soundgarden etc. And there was the steady diet of 60s and 70s rock from my Dad's side-Led Zepplin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Band, etc. and more poppy and R&B stuff from my Mom-Jackson 5, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, et al. When I got into junior high, I started rebelling and getting into Marilyn Manson (like 96 or so, back before he had breasts) and other stuff like that. I also, I'm sorry to say, got really into emo and punk at one point, mostly Fat Wreck Chords stuff, even though I still really like NOFX, Lagwagon, and a few others, the rest is pretty bad. I have a buncha punk and emo samplers from back in the day. I used to work at Burger King and spend my entire paychecks buying crappy punk and emo CDs. I should find some 16 year old with eyeliner and a skinny tie to give em to.

Of course it's Hinder. Outside of that, there's a bunch of those emo/poppy punk bands that have generic names that are just absolutely horrible. I think there's enough good (not that there's even 1% total good, but still, a slight percentage of good) in Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance is leaps and bounds better than alot of other bands in that genre. Nickelback, yeah I could go that route. Crazy Town if they ever release anything else will definitely be the worst band on the planet and could possibly be 'Eternally Worst Band on the Planet Ever' for that song "Butterfly". However, if I can't put LFO (not the techno band, but the *ahem* Lyte Funky Ones) on the list since they haven't done anything in several years, I won't put Crazy Town on there. So, yeah, it's Hinder...or maybe that country guy who actually has a cover of the Hinder song out now, but he's a guy and not a band, so I don't know if he counts.

Clive Owen's too British to be Roland. Even though he's not Cockney British and more Suave British, I still don't think it would work, even if it would mean getting to see lobster-creatures eat his fingers off.

Since this seems to be the only Dark Tower thread on the board, and I doubt there's enough interest (although there should be) amongst people not already involved in this thread, I just wanna mention something that slipped my mind after I read about it a month or so ago-There's going to be a Dark Tower movie. Like...seriously. It's still in the planning stages, but Stephen King sold the rights to J.J. Abrams (he of 'Lost fame, of which SK is a big fan. Abrams is also a big fan of the DT series) for $19. I'm cautiously optimistic about the whole thing given who's involved, but I reserve the right to change my mind as the process moves forward. Personally, if they have to do a screen adaptation, I'd rather they do a miniseries on HBO or something, because there's no way at all they'll be able to do the whole series in one 3-hour movie, and I don't know if the fanbase is big enough to support a movie series like 'LOTR' or 'Harry Potter'. And I'm also worried that the people who aren't familiar with the series will either see the trailers and dismiss the whole thing as a 'Lord of the Rings' knock-off or see Stephen King's name attatched and dismiss it as schlocky horror crap. And I have no idea who could properly play Roland besides Clint Eastwood.

And to think...just a couple weeks ago, all we had to look forward to was Cro Cop vs. Couture. Man, Fedor/Couture would be brutal. Oh shit, Shogun vs. Chuck. I'd even like to see Mark Hunt vs. Tim Sylvia. This is gonna be great.

I guess this ruins Cro Cop wanting to win the UFC title just to bring it back to Pride...

So, was there a specific reason that they decided to move Papelbon back to closing? Was it just because they didn't have any other attractive options or was it something to do with his shoulder? Because if it's just because they didn't wanna go with Piniero or somebody closing games, I don't really see how much of an advantage they get overall having Papelbon as the closer and a rotating cast of rookies and middle relievers starting games. I know this was already discussed over the past few days, but I would think it would be more of a benefit to the Sox of having Papelbon as the #5 starter with Piniero or Tavarez or some closer by committe situation than the other way around.

Oh mah God... I wonder how long Zuffa's gonna keep up w/ Pride being a 'seperate promotion' before they go the WWE route and just take all the big names and let Pride die off...

I think they should put Jooooooolian Tavarez back in the rotation. I mean, he was 3-0 last season in the games he started. And besides, relievers are the new starters.

As per the Phils/Sox ST game on ESPN, Papelbon's going back to the bullpen.

I agree on the new Modest Mouse. I haven't listened to it specifically enough to say which songs I really enjoy the most, but, overall, I like it. There's a couple songs on there that are obviously going to be singles, and, perhaps end up on the next 'Kidz Bop' record, but there's still enough barking and yelping and weird disco basslines to make it a good album, easily better than the new Arcade Fire.

Yeah, but there's a 98% chance that Ken Griffey Jr. will be hurt by May 1st.

And there's nothing really in Hamilton's minor league numbers to suggest that he'll be a top tier player. He didn't really have great power, with only 33 total homeruns in 6 seasons and a cumulative .293 average. Good numbers, no doubt, but nothing overly spectacularly different from many other minor leaguers. I mainly predicted he'd be ROY because it would be an awesome story, but, realistically, I think Chris Young or Kouzmanoff will get it, or perhaps it'll be somebody from out of left field that'll come up a few weeks into the season or something.

AL: East- Red Sox Yankees Jays Rays Os Central- Twins Tigers (WC) Indians White Sox Royals West- As Rangers Angels Mariners NL: East- Phillies Braves (WC) Mets Marlins Nationals Central- 'Stros Cardinals Cubs Brewers Reds Pirates West- Dodgers Padres D-Backs Giants Rockies ALDS: Tinws over Sox in 5 Tigers over As in 4 ALCS: Twins over Tigers in 6 NLDS: Homer prediction- 'Stros over Phillies in 5 Non-homer prediction- Philles over 'Stros in 5 Dodgers over Braves in 5 NLCS: Homer prediction- 'Stros over Dodgers in 6 Non-homer prediction- Phillies over Dodgers in 7 WS: Homer prediction- 'Stros over Twins in 7, WS MVP: Lance Berkman Non-homer prediction- Twins over Phillies in 6, WS MVP: Santana AL Cy Young: Santana AL MVP: David Ortiz AL ROY: Daisuke Matsuzaka NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt NL MVP: Ryan Howard NL ROY: Josh Hamilton

I can say from first-hand experience that there's truth to that...or maybe I just have a fucked-up intestinal system.

In Houston, there's a legitimate threat that the #5 starter beginning the season will be Brian Moehler. The #4 spot has already been given to Wandy Rodriguez, only because he pitches lefty. Phil Garner has been saying that the best rotation candidate during ST will probably not be in the rotation but slotted as a long reliever, as having Woody Williams, Wandy Rodriguez, and then Brian Moehler as the bottom third of the rotation will probably mean that the longman will be getting ALOT of work. I don't see the sense in this argument. A #5 starter, while he doesn't have to set the world on fire, will probably have to average around 160-180 innings to be league average while a long man shouldn't get more than about 80-90 innings a year. Wouldn't it be more productive to put the best pitchers in the rotation so they get more quality innings than the Brian Moehlers and Wandy Rodriguezs of the world? And, also, non-roster invitee Rick "Double Balls" White is pitching himself into a bullpen spot in Houston. In 10 innings this ST, he's given up 0 runs, 4 hits, and 3 walks. I'm sure that by June, he'll have an ERA of around 4.50, but, I'd have no problem with him in the pen filling the Russ Springer role. Plus, he's got a hellacious beard and, even better, he took Andy Pettitte's old number. Hilarious!

Last concert you attended: Austin City Limits 2K6 Last person you ate breakfast with: Mah Daddy Last time you hated something: At the Astros/Yankees ST game on Friday, this loud New York woman behind us that kept calling everybody 'kid'. Last night on the town: My girlfriend and I went out for Italian icecream several nites ago. Italian icecream counts as a nite on the town. Last movie you saw: In theatres-Zodiac; On TV-The Sixth Sense Last book you read: Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Last album you listened to: "The Animal Years"-Josh Ritter Last time you wore a tie: 1998 Last time you cried: December 13th, when my sister was diagnosed w/ blood clots on her brain. She's ok now. Last piece of clothing you bought: A blue plaid snap-button Wrangler western shirt at a Salvation Army store in Kissimmee, FL. Last vacation you took: My Dad and I went to Kissimmee, FL on the 9th and just got back yesterday. We went to Astros' Spring Training. Last food you ate: Steak flautas at Taqueria Grandes. Last promise you made to yourself: "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law. To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." Last TV show you watched: Fox News at 5. Last time you lied: I never lie, owing to my vow to keep myself morally straight. Last time you got into a fight: In Florida with my Dad over whether Luke Scott is a better player than Chris Burke. Last time you were in a hospital: This past December, when my sister had blood clots in her brain. She's ok now. Last time you witnessed anarchy: Last time I read a C-Bacon thread. Last magazine you read: The Sporting News 2007 Fantasy Baseball magazine. Last time you got ripped off: I don't recall. I got jerked off a couple hours ago, if that counts. Last website you visited: Before this one, gmail.com. Last thing you killed: Thousands of sperm. Last person you talked to on the phone: My Momma. Last song you listened to: "You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait Last time you were confused: Often.

I believe that it was Oscar Wilde who said, "A true friend stabs you in the front." Clearly, Mr. Chandler is not a true friend.

I see it's time for the bi-weekly 'Arcade Fire' discussion. Doesn't everyone know where everyone else stands on the issue? I doubt there's going to be any converts to either side in the near future, so, let's just everyone get along. Or at least use lots of nonsensical, rambling arguments and swear words.