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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.


Stupid Fact of the Week
There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg

24 February, 2008
OSCAR NIGHT 08
Bossman: 13.1
Da-Ego: 11.1
Turmel: 11.1
The Rockel: 11.1
Justin T: 11.0
She-Mendenhall: 10.1
He-Mendenhall: 9.0
Mills: 8.2


And, the Rockel-Cathey side bet:
Rockel: 88
Cathey: 77


Blog-o-matic:
Here we go... 3 minutes left... if you're not in now, better hurry...
Here's Jonny... Stewart's on stage, all bets are off...
Haha... Make-up sex... at least the first writers strike joke was a good one...
Lookout, baby... Stewart's on a role... wtg, Jon...
Alright, let's hand out some awards, and, more importantly for us, some points...
Rockel assumes last place as Elizabeth grabs a statue...
Ratatouille! Social! Also, rockel extends his lead in the side bet...
first upset wins Bother-me some points along with cathey in the side bet... Daego and Rockel alone at the bottom now...
Rockel needs some help from the Rock... and DOESN'T GET IT... Beth capitalizes on another upset and takes first...
SOCIAL!!! Everybody cleans up with Sweeney's Art...
Mr. Mills joins me and daego at the bottom as Javier gets what was coming to him... rockel pulls further away in the sidebet...
Let's start breaking up some of these ties... Owen, help me out... Alright, Mozart! a little name recog. goes a long way...
Bethanny capitalizes on another longshot, and takes mr. mills with her this time...
Supporting Actress... man this one could go any way... TILDA? way to go Greg! It even shocked her... Great speech, Tilda
SOCIAL!!! (sorry, greg)... Joel/Ethan pick up an adapted to go with their original fargo script...
"and the baby goes to..." HA! (<-- Dr. Morrow voice)... wtg, jon... best joke of the night
BOURNE scoring love already? Uh-oh... no points for anybody...
AGAIN!!???!!! BOURNE??!!1! WTF?
MARION!!!! Ryan and I start climbing out of hell as Cathey gains a few points in the sidebet...
Wii Tennis...
Falling Slowly... such a beautiful performance... bravo...
Bourne again... boo.
standing O... nice
as much as i'm not a Penelope Cruz fan, it's nice that they got a presenter who can pronounce all the names...
AUSTRIA, YEAH! Rockel cozies up to Bether-me (sorry Eric) as Bossman (my boss... I had to make his picks for an event he was attending tonight) takes first...
FALLING SLOWLY!!!FALLING SLOWLY!!!FALLING SLOWLY!!!FALLING SLOWLY!!!FALLING SLOWLY!!! So happy! So emotional! So happy!
Okay... at this point, we've got 8 awards left... rockel is near the top, which is as it should be, but he's taking a risk in a few remaining categories (orig screenplay, documentary), so we'll see... it should be noted, however, that cathey will have to win ALL of the remaining five categories where we differ in our sidebet picks to pull off the sidebet upset...
Marketa!!! Thanks, Academy...
Robert!!! No points for anybody... Deacons, what happened, Baby?
In Memoriam... wow... tuff year...
Bored during comercial... HIGHLIGHTS THUS FAR: Swinton's Speech, Marketa coming back out, "And the baby goes to...", Robert Elswit pulls an upset and tries to thank Danny Day, who... apparently went to the bathroom...
Cathey picks up a big win in the sidebet as Justin and Daego climb a few spots on Atonements Score...
The American Soldier as a presenter... nicely done, Academy...
Freeheld... no points for anyone... Mr. Mills picks up the most of the three tiebreakers (with 2), but lingers near the back with only 5 major category wins...
Nazionale and Turmel gain ground with Taxi... Rockel solidifies a win in the sidebet...
Only four categories left... Everybodies going with No Country for Director... Rockel's taking a risk on writing with Clayton... Daego's taking a risk on Picture with Atonement... and Mills is taking a risk on Actor with Depp... Which way's it gonna go?
Rockel's risk doesn't pay off... Juno ftw... dammit...
Mills' risk doesn't pay off... Day-Lewis ftw... HELLZ YEAH!!! MILKSHAKE!!!
With only Director and Picture remaining, you're pretty much looking at the final standings... Daego has a shot at a portion of first place if Atonement can pull down a best pic win, but he runs the risk of falling into a three-way tie for second with the Rockel and the Turmel...
SOCIAL!!! Congrats, Coens...
Here's Daego's big chance..............
Coen's Win! Coen's Win! Coen's Win!
So, none of the risks at the end pays off... Rockel pulls into a three-way tie for second, and Bossman wins (hopefully he did equally as well at his event...)
Not a bad night... Jon did even better than last year... maybe they'll have him back again... Good night, East Coast...
posted by Rockel @ 5:22 PM   3 comments
23 February, 2008
I guess I need to get this on the record
Oscar predictions, people... you're running out of time...

So far I've got Mr.'s Mills, Nazionale, and Turmel locked in... if you've sent me your predictions and are not one of the three listed, shoot me a comment telling me how you sent them in (email, comment, etc...) I've been horrible at keeping up with them...

...I do believe I will live blog during the events tomorrow, but may decide to attend a friend's event... There will be no Oscars in person for the Rockel this year... oh well...

My predicts:

Actor - Lead: D. Day-Lewis
Actor - Supp.: J. Bardem
Actress - Lead: M. Cotillard
Actress - Supp.: C. Blanchett
Animated Feature: Ratatouille
Art Direction: Sweeney Todd
Cinematography: No Country...
Costume Design: Across the Universe
Directing: No Country...
Documentary Feature: War/Dance
Documentary Short: Salim Baba
Film Editing: No Country...
Foreign Language: Austria - Counterfeiters
Makeup: Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Music (Score): Atonement
Music (Song): Falling Slowly - Once
Picture: No Country...
Short Film (Anim): Madame Tutli-Putli
Short Film (Live Action): Le Mozart de Pickpockets
Sound Editing: Transformers
Sound Mixing: No Country...
Visual Effects: Transformers
Writing (Adapted): No Country...
Writing (Original): Michael Clayton

If you haven't submitted.... time's running out... I'm looking at you, Cathey... and Custer... and Mendenhizzles all...

Don't be left out!
posted by Rockel @ 8:08 PM   2 comments
20 February, 2008
The ego has landed
Da-ego wanted me to send up the word that he is back online and posting...

...and since he just got accepted into this acting studio, I guess I could send some love his way.

Check him out.
posted by Rockel @ 7:57 PM   0 comments
19 February, 2008
Redirect
Attention: The Wade that was once a Lucas has brought forth a Lucas into the Wade household.

Congrats to Chuck and Andie on the arrival of their gorgeous baby boy.

Here is the most recent video blog/update... but scroll through the Politically Correct page to see more pics and vids.


Political comments still on there way. Stay tuned.

5 days to the Oscars... get your predictions in.
posted by Rockel @ 9:12 PM   0 comments
14 February, 2008
What the Hell? (Sports edition)

So, thanks to Doyle's comment, there will be a special Political edition of "What the Hell?" appearing here in the next few days. But first, to sports...

As mentioned previously, DUKE BEAT CAROLINA!!! (Ok, sorry, I promise no more outbursts) However, according to the brilliant people who sit around a table putting numbers in front of team names, the Blue Devils are still ranked only 2nd in the country.

Now, first of all, let me just say that second isn't too shabby (especially when UNC is fifth). Secondly, let me say that yes, I realize the number one team (Memphis) is undefeated. However... let me point out... that Duke plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) while Memphis is currently topping the charts in... Conference USA (C-USA).

For those of you unfamiliar with NCAA Conferences but very pleased with patriotic names, let me assure you that although Conference USA sounds great... it is anything but. C-USA boasts big school names like: Tulane Green Wave, Central Florida, Southern Miss, and Tulsa, as well as three teams well below .500: East Carolina, Southern Methodist, and Rice (0-10 in conference, 3-20 overall).

Now let's compare that to what Duke is facing in the ACC. A few days ago we witnessed the first team in the ACC to drop below .500 (since very early in the season) when the worst team in the conference (Virginia) nearly beat the 5th ranked team in the country (UNC), ultimately falling short by one point. That's right. The worst team in the ACC nearly beat the second best team in the ACC. Why? Because even though Virginia is an abysmal 1-9 in the ACC, they still are just barely under .500 overall (11-12) because they are (go ahead, do the math) 10-3 out of conference. Yes. The team with the absolute worst record in the ACC (2.5 games behind any other team) is 10-3 when playing teams outside of the ACC.

It's not just a different conference, it's practically a different sport.

So, anyway... Duke is not number one. As I said, 2nd is nothing to scoff at... and I'm not... I'm just getting warmed up for the real injustice...

OK, so blogger is being weak and not letting me post pics... the standings referred to are on this page, below is a pathetic attempt to copy the data over)

1. Memphis (72) 23-0, 1,800
2. Duke 21-1, 1,714
3. Kansas 23-1, 1,662


The number in parenthesis after the name represents the amount of #1 votes the team received. So not only is Duke ranked 2nd... there isn't a single analyst, out of the 72 that comprise the Associated Press board, that feels Duke deserves to be on top. Not a single one!

But even that's okay (to a degree... I guess)... Again, Memphis is undefeated... hard to argue with that... which brings us to ESPN and their "Power 16 rankings"... This is where they get 12 of their own analysts to rank the top 16 teams and compile them the same way as the AP Top 25... Here we go:

(Again, here's the link)

1. Memphis (11) 24-0, 191
2. Duke 22-1, 175
3. Kansas (1) 23-2, 158


Well, there they are again... same order. No difference, right? Wait. What's that after Kansas' name?! A One?! Kansas got a #1 vote?! Kansas?!

Now, wait, Rock, you say. They're listed as the number three team on both lists, and there must be some mistake because this one shows them as having two losses whereas the first list only showed one.

No mistake. After the AP list came out they lost, THEN the ESPN list came out and some idiot STILL decided that Kansas deserved a #1 vote over Duke (or Memphis for that matter).

But wait, Rock, you say. Kansas is in the Big 12 Conference, along with some very formidable opponents such as Texas, Kansas State, and Texas A&M.

Wow, I respond. You really know your conferences. It's true that it is one of the tougher conferences in College hoops. However, let's look at Kansas' record...

- They have played against only 3 teams ranked in the top 25 (Duke has played 5)
- Of those 3 games, they have won only 1 (Duke has won 4 of their 5)
- The one that they won was against #24 USC (Duke beat #13 Marquette, #20 Wisconsin, #23 Clemson, and #3 UNC)
- Kansas lost to #24 Kansas State by 9 points, and lost to #11 Texas by 3 points (Duke lost to #9 Pittsburgh by 1 point!! [in overtime!!!])

All of this and Kansas STILL gets the love over Duke, ESPN?

What the hell?

posted by Rockel @ 1:35 PM   3 comments
12 February, 2008
The Strike is Over!
Finally... I can write again.

Because that's what has been keeping me from writing here... not that I've been lazy...

Anyway... lots of updates:

Yes, the strike is over... a tentative deal has been struck... but tentative means several years, so no worries, things will be getting back on track as far as your favorite tv shows go...

To keep up with what shows will be shooting existing scripts, new scripts, and which ones will be coming back next season, check out this page...

Here are the highlights:

The Office - Expected to shoot 6 new episodes to air in April/May.
24 - Season 7 likely postponed until January '09.
30 Rock - Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
Bones - Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.
Boston Legal - Expected to shoot 6 to 8 new episodes to air in April/May.
Heroes - No new episodes expected until fall.
House - Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.
My Name is Earl - Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
SNL - Returns Feb. 23.
Scrubs - Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they'll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

The other big news out here is that the roomie got a job on a cruise ship... so he'll be shipping off in about a week or so. Congrats to him on that, and here's to getting your sea legs early in the 6 month tour of duty.

As for me, I'm still at Sony, still taking on more and more responsibility and projects, though my boss never misses a chance to (jokingly) remind me how soon I could be gone.

Oscars are less than two weeks away. Get your Predictions in!! The daego and the roomie have preliminary predictions in... Mr. Mills has sent his in as well... don't get left out. We're doubling the grand prize this year. That's right. Twice the pride AND the bragging rights of last year. It could change your life.

There's a woman at Sony who works a lot of the award shows... she just worked the Grammys and has worked the Oscars the last couple years, so there's a good chance she'll be doing it again this year. The Rockel is doing everything he can to swing that connection so he can watch the big night live and in person.

Other than that it's pretty much business as usual around here. My Pack didn't make it to the Super Bowl, but I ended up watching the big game at a house filled with Giants fans (and one really annoying Pats fan), so it turned out alright.

Speaking of sports... DUKE BEAT CAROLINA!!! @ Carolina!!! Undefeated in the ACC, baby!!! Go ahead... whine about how you were down a guard... Duke's been playing this whole season without a center and they've figured out how to win all their games (save one... by one point). Aaahhhhhh... anyway... my condolences to all my loser, er.. carolina fan friends out there. Keep looking on the bright side... take tonight for example... you managed to hold off the worst team in the ACC and win by one whole point. Dominance. March 8 looms large. Be afraid.

Okay... that's it from this coast.

Until next time...
posted by Rockel @ 8:08 PM   2 comments
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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.

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