Thursday, December 30, 2010 The Music City Bowl Screw!
So, let me see if I understand this correctly.
If you're on defense in college football and have too many men on the field, you get penalized and that team gets an extra play. And if you're offense, it's five yards, no time run off inside of the final two minutes and you get rewarded for a penalty.
Yeah, that seems to be what happened tonight in the waning moments of the Vols vs North Carolina game tonight. The refs fucked the Vols over and gave the game to NC. First we declare it over, then we say it's not over...and that penalty for having 17 men on the field....oh well, that's OK. Don't worry, North Carolina. The rules don't apply to your shitty ACC program.
Fuck you, refs! Just fuck you!
I am so mad right now I can't see straight. The refs gave the game away tonight to North Carolina.
Of course, having to listen to the ass-hat of Bob "I failed at every job I've had" Davies made it worse. Esp. when he could barely keep the glee out of his voice as the refs rewarded North Carolina time and again in the final thirty seconds and the two overtimes.
Again, I say, "Fuck you refs! Fuck you!"
I hope your bet paid off and that you made a ton of cash on the game. Cause you certainly managed to kick the Vols in the teeth.
Oh, gee, could ESPN have bothered to point out how the NC players were acting like classless jackasses as the game headed into OT? Oh no....we can't do that.
posted byMichael Hickerson at 12/30/2010 09:45:00 PM |
| Tuesday, December 21, 2010 They're Teasing Us
The weather forecast for later this week includes the phrase "Few Snow Showers" on Christmas Day.
It'd be cool if it happened, but part of me thinks that this far out, they're just teasing us!
posted byMichael Hickerson at 12/21/2010 07:34:00 AM |
| Saturday, December 04, 2010 The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever I'm not sure at what age I was introduced to "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," but I do recall it was at school. I remember a teacher reading it aloud to us, one chapter a day leading up to the Christmas break.
I read it a lot as a kid, checking it out of the library at random times of the year since it was always gone at Christmas time. Or I'd check it out in early November and get a jump start on things.
For those of you who may have missed it, you've missed a treat. It's the story of the Herdmans who are "the worst family in town." They've got a ton of kids, all of whom seem to get into trouble and are the bane of their teacher's existence. I believe one of the lines in the book is how the teachers are afraid to hold one back since that means you'd have two in the class the next year.
The Herdmans hear about the annual Christmas pageant at church and show up to be part of it. Of course, hilarity ensues.
It's a great book and I know I'm not alone in loving it.
I do recall that it was made into a Christmas special years ago. I believe Loretta Switt starred as the mother of the narrator and the director of the play. I remember really looking forward to seeing the special and being disappointed by it when I did. The screenplay took the emphasis away from the kids and was more a vehicle for Switt as the mother. It wasn't a huge change but enough that it made a difference.
Looking around on-line, I see the book has been adapted into a stage play as well. I've never seen it, but I think it'd be fun.
Years ago, I got a copy of the book for my niece. I'm not sure if she's read it or not. I need to ask her. I hope she has and that she enjoyed it as much as I did growing up.
posted byMichael Hickerson at 12/04/2010 06:45:00 PM |
| Friday, December 03, 2010 Wizards In Winter Christmas Lights
This video has been around for a couple of Christmas seasons now, but I still think it's cool.
Love watching the lights synchronized to the song, Wizards in Winter.
I believe there is a house locally that does something similar. Each year I keep saying I've got to find it. This year I may actually do it.
posted byMichael Hickerson at 12/03/2010 03:40:00 AM |
| Thursday, December 02, 2010 12 Days of Christmas
Yesterday, I admitted that while I like the "Rudoloph" Christmas special, it's not among my favorites. I do like the song, however. In fact, I like most Christmas music, though I do have my favorites.
One of them is this new acapella rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I think I've shared it before, but it's worth sharing again.
Enjoy!
posted byMichael Hickerson at 12/02/2010 12:14:00 AM |
| Wednesday, December 01, 2010 Christmas Special Round-Up: Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Growing up, "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" was never one of my favorite Christmas specials. I was fascinated by it on a technical level (I clearly recall asking my dad how long it took to animate the stop motion animation for the story), but on the whole I have to admit it wasn't in the upper pantheon of specials like "The Grinch" or "Charlie Brown" or even the not-often shown "Night Before Christmas."
So, it'd been a few years since I'd sat down to watch "Rudolph." Quite a few, actually. I'd say probably close to a decade or so.
So when presented with the choice of "Rudolph" or "The Grinch" last night, I decided to give "Rudolph" another look.
And I came away with the same feeling I did growing up. It's a good, but not great special. Again, on the technical achievement side of things, it's amazing. But on the whole, the special really overstays its welcome. The story works well when it sticks to the story of the song. And I even kind of like Hermie the Elf who wants to be a dentist. But it's really once Rudolph is mocked for his nose and becomes a hermit that things go a bit awry. For some reason, I recall the Abominable being scary as a young viewer (probably four or five at the time) and that may be part of what put me off on the special all these years.
Looking at it with older eyes, I honestly feel like the whole Abominable pursuit isn't the strong point of the story, though it does get us to the Island of Misfit Toys. And yet it feels as though that segment has lost something thanks in large part to Pixar's magnificent "Toy Story" trilogy. I kept thinking of all the mutant toys in Sid's bedroom from the first installment during the entire Misfit Toy segment last night.
Part of it is that lack of really memorable songs in the special. The two big ones, "Holly Jolly Christmas" and the title song don't come until late in the special and I clearly recall as a younger viewer, being anxious as to when we'd hear the famous title song. "Silver and Gold" is OK, but the rest aren't all that exciting.
I don't want to say that "Rudolph" is a bad Christmas special. There are clearly ones that are far worse out there. However, on the whole, it's not quite as great as others. It's fun to watch again every once in a while, but I don't think it will make my annual viewing rotation like other specials and movies. At least until I have kids of my own and get to watch it with them....
