cabbageboy

Yeah my bad on that...Paranoid has that bit of solo but it's a concise one that doesn't detract from the song. In regards to the debut album, it's one of those albums that seemingly has to win me over when I listen to it. As in I put it on and am like "Man I didn't remember this being so good." There is some really great stuff like NIB on that album, but I prefer a lot of their later stuff to it.

Isn't Mark Henry's insane contract up in 2006 or so? I'd think they'd have to be utterly insane to resign him to any sort of deal after that.

Wasn't Ace Ventura sort of the same time as when Friends first debuted? While it isn't a movie I'm shocked no one mentioned her stint on FAMILY TIES~!

I think people have called Heaven and Hell underrated for so long that it's oddly become almost overrated. I have the CD and it's pretty decent stuff for the first half, but after the title song Dio's over the top theatrical vocals start to wear thin. I wasn't exactly demeaning the first album earlier, just that the rambling nature of it puts it a notch below their later efforts. Sure, Warning is a good song but there's like 10 mins seemingly between the vocals in it, heh. It's all just wild soloing, and it's good but not really something I can listen to ad nauseum. The really awesome thing about Sabbath stuff is that if you look at their albums it seems like different albums inspired different genres. The self titled, Paranoid, and Master of Reality all shaped heavy metal. Stuff like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Vol. 4 sound amazingly similar to grunge stuff from Seattle done 20 years later. Hell, Paranoid even may have had some sort of influence on punk, with its concise sound, speed, and lack of solo.

The Seahawks are really no threat to anyone. They might get to the divisional round but any further? Eh. I'm telling you, it's the Saints' year...to get beat in the 1st round.

The mere idea of an 8-8 jobber like Carolina threatening people in the playoffs is kinda sickening, isn't it? Let's hope the Packers just put them out of their misery...sure it's nice to recover from that 1-7 start but does anyone outside of the Carolinas want this team repeating in the NFC? I'm telling you, the Saints on a given day can muster it up enough to win. For some reason I think they'll get a flukish, lucky win against the Panthers and then get killed the 1st round, haha.

Metr0Man did you actually see the Aragorn/Sauron footage? I found a link on Disc 3 that had a storybook drawing type deal of it, but no actual footage of the fight. While the Frodo/Sam cut in stuff there was cheese galore the actual idea of that fight is awesome I think...I would have much preferred it to "Aragorn fights giant ogre, ring destroyed, eye crashes." Instead we would have had Aragorn vs. Main Heel Sauron, and then the great visual of Sauron exploding when the ring is destroyed. The long ending isn't as big of a deal in the EE...I mean hell I was there 4 hours anyway so what does another 10 mins hurt? It was however incredibly wrong to cut out Lee from the reg. version, and also the Mouth of Sauron scene. Both are vital to the film.

I'm gonna be the only one to dare call this for next week: Saints over the Panthers to make the playoffs. I have no idea why but the thought of the Saints being in the playoffs despite being almost total garbage is just hilarious to me.

Man, that Colts/Chargers game today was possibly the game of the year. The Colts finally woke the fuck up in the 4th quarter with the Rhodes kickoff return and then finally the 49th TD with a minute left. My brother and I were joking that Drew Brees just HAD to throw an INT in the game, and the later he delayed the inevitable, the worse it would be. And sure enough he threw it on their last possession, though I dunno if it really hurt them all that bad. Besides, there would have been something so wrong with breaking the all time TD record in a loss to the Chargers.

After watching the first half of this Colts game it is obvious to me that they are so tentative due to the record BS that they can't do anything. Seriously, the announcers are hyping the Chargers but it's not like their D has done much...it's just the Colts are so nervous in the red zone due to this record nonsense that they can't score.

I think my recent disdain for Kobe made me mark out for the Heat today although given their roster I have no idea why I would do so. I mean god, they have fucking LAETTNER on that roster, and anyone from KY hates his guts and wants him to die. Any U of L or UK fan also detests Dwayne Wade (given that he seemed to own U of L at Marquette) as well, and I am not thrilled with Eddie Jones due to loathing Temple. Yet oddly enough I still marked out for the Heat today. I think the Heat are the team to beat in the East right now. They're the only Eastern team I've seen that can put together 2 halves of decent play.

I think the self titled is actually one of Sabbath's more iffy efforts. Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage are ALL better albums than the first one. The self titled album has way too much pointless soloing and songs that last 10 mins. Sabotage is an awesome album, no one else love it here? Ironically I kinda like some stuff on Never Say Die (title track, Johnny Blade, Junior's Eyes are all good songs). It's Technical Ecstasy that I can't hardly get through, it's pretty bleh.

Well yeah actually his uninspiring NWA outings do make it pretty hard to believe CM Punk would be in any sort of MOTY candidate. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm saying I'm having cognitive dissonance over it. As in "THAT guy was in a MOTYC?" From the times I saw him on TNA I have to admit I saw no signs of greatness, if anything he seemed like a typical indie jobber with a bad sounding name.

I haven't seen that ROH match you refer to, but I HAVE seen CM Punk on a few NWA PPVs and I am having some cognitive dissonance over him being in a MOTY candidate. I think JBL/Book is getting trashed mainly because of how annoying the match was. As my brother said "There was no WRESTLING in the match, it was just Jordan interfering!!" He's sorta right. A heel manager run in can be amusing but here it was so overdone that it got to be just infuriating. What made it worse is that Flair did a very minor thing in the next match (just tripping Jericho or something) and he got tossed! I thought "Jesus, Orlando Jordan did everything but human sacrifice and no punishment, yet Flair just trips Jericho and is tossed?" This sort of stuff is what pisses me off about wrestling sometimes, I swear.

College hoops just has a way of regenerating itself no matter who leaves early. The rivalry games are still intense and if you think the games are weak I suggest checking out the tourney last year and seeing UConn/Duke, UAB/UK, Bama/Stanford, or any number of intense, thrilling games.

This sums up my feelings pretty well: College basketball is better than the NBA, but the NFL is leagues better than college football. The NBA is only good when you have two actually decent teams out there who DON'T play bone and club 75-72 kinds of games. Suns/Sonics and last night's Heat/Kings game are good examples of good NBA play. Besides, the NBA season just lasts forever. I mean sure we know without a doubt who the best team is, but it's often a tedious ride getting there. College basketball sometimes doesn't end up with the best team winning, but it's at least usually a CONTENDER that wins. College football though? Fuck it. There's no real legit champion, no playoff or tourney, none of it makes any sense. My boys U of L went 10-1 and have our best team EVER this year and what reward do we get? The fucking Liberty Bowl. We should at least have a SHOT at competing for it all, as should anyone that is top worthy. Besides, the NFL gets rid of lame stuff like running the option and all that.

I guess HHH is no Ron Perlman when it comes to drawing money as a Blade heel.

I honestly can't think of anything that stands out as total crap. Saying a Holly or Bradshaw match is bad is like saying the sun rises, so I don't even count those guys. Did you expect something good?? Ditto UT against a clod like Heidenreich or a stupid gimmick match vs. Duds...did you expect quality?? UT vs. Heidenreich is hardly the worst match of the year, hell if anything I was relieved that it wasn't worse. Having seen Big Bad John a little down here in OVW I can safely say he's capable of MUCH worse. So kudos for UT for carrying the hack. I saw Cena and Jesus on that SMDN, and it wasn't bad really. Just Cena beating his ass and ending that feud, at least it made the crowd happy. Brock/GB was actually one of the most memorable matches of the year for all the wrong reasons. I'll go with Stevie vs. Tomko. That was the closest thing to making me think WTF?

I'll second Pearl Jam..they never struck me as a band that was particularly good at anything, be it playing or songwriting. The Nirvana bashing/Van Halen pimping is silly. Both are great bands, but are worlds apart in WHY they are great. VH more to technical expertise, Nirvana due to hooks in the songwriting. If anything being technically awesome is a detriment to a band, it leads to constant wanking with guitar or even drum solos which mainly hurts a song instead of helps it. All you have to be is good enough to play it ONE time right in a studio and you can be The Man.

The sad part is that the dude from Good Charlotte is sorta right. There really isn't that much influence in modern rock music from Hendrix or Clapton. It's easier to ape guys like Rancid or Pennywise. I'm not saying that stuff is better mind you. The amusing part is that the guitarists from Rancid and Pennywise have no real distinct style...sure I could tell you "That is Rancid" or "That is Pennywise" but it's more due to the vocals. The instruments sound fairly similar to any number of punk bands. I'd say Johnny Ramone is the guitarist most influential on rock music today...his style was basic, fast, and easy to do. Not the best or anything, but extremely influential.

I had to even strain to remember her in Blues Bros. so no it isn't her most memorable role. Wasn't she Belushi's girlfriend in that, who was tracking him down with a gun?

The problem with these modern musicals is that there is no reason for people to bust into song. Take a look at stuff like Gold Diggers of 1933. Virtually EVERY music number in that is done within the context of people putting on a stage show...the numbers are the numbers from the show (rehearsing, performing, etc). Thus there's a reason for them to exist. I suppose Phantom of the Opera has ample place for music since it's the OPERA and all. But I dunno what to think of the Phantom busting into song. I like the Claude Rains version best, great color in it. I've always found the Chaney silent more cheesy than scary. The Robert Englund one...I honestly can't recall much about it.

Bill Cosby had been in several reasonably good movies with Sidney Poitier in the 70s. He was more TV and standup though. I'd say Reynolds was hurt a lot by several late 80s flops. Dare I say HEAT? And I don't mean the Michael Mann movie. The only movie I've ever seen where the main heel is literally talked into blowing his brains out. Just bad, but hilariously so.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Brady a total fraud. The guy has 2 rings regardless. I like to consider him the Honky Tonk Man of football, just one lucky mofo. The whole thing against the Raiders in the playoffs, the countless times that the Pats seemingly get an INT on someone at the goal line, or a bullshit fumble. I swear these guys are like the Ohio St. of pro football. Just constantly getting luckier than fuck. Some of that is talent I guess, but not ALL those times. I think that's why I have a hard time considering the Pats one of the best teams ever. They just strike me as the Chris Chandler Falcons who went 14-2 if they didn't have to play the Broncos in the Super Bowl and get squashed.

Did Chris Elliott really HAVE a career to kill? Hell the guy still gets some work doesn't he? He revolted me in Scary Movie 2 anyway. Heh, so Kiefer's career was ruined due to Julia dumping him? I wouldn't say ruined, he still gets consistent work when he wants it.