Culturegeist - Confessions of the Pop-Culture Junkies

Law Weekly: FC GULC hopes to spread "soccer fever"

2006-09-22T18:47:00.000-04:00

Photo caption: D.D. Davis (top-left) and Olisa Anweh (bottom-left) celebrate with their team after winning the indoor soccer league championship last spring. They currently are playing in the Law Center’s indoor league. (Photo courtesy: D.D. Davis.)

Note: A version of this article appears in the September 26, 2006, version of the Georgetown Law Weekly.

Soccer balls were literally bouncing off the walls. They were ricocheting off of the pads on the walls and off the curtain hung across the middle of the gym. The goals, nothing more than PVC pipe and netting, fell apart anytime a hard shot hit the post instead of the back of the net. Teammates standing at corners of the court shouted encouragement and advice at the players at the court before ducking out of the way of a fast-moving ball. Shins were bruised, and goals were scored. Indoor soccer had arrived at the Law Center. Intense was a common word heard during and after that match. In the end, the Well Hung Jurists topped Benfica by a score of 7 goals to 6, holding off a late charge from the team of 3Ls.

The indoor league, played on the basketball courts on the fourth floor of the Sport and Fitness Center, pits teams in a 5-on-5 match for two twenty minute halves. Unlike the outdoor variety, there is no goalkeeper; no players on either side can use their hands. Where you would find a sideline painted on the grass, there is instead a wall.

Chris Dolan, 3L is the captain Benfica, which is named for his favorite Portuguese soccer club. Dolan is enjoying the league, and his excitement shows. “I wish the season was longer, and I hope they do it again in the spring.” Benfica’s opponents in the match, Well Hung Jurists, comprise the core group that founded the soccer club here at the Law Center.

Georgetown Law is known, among other things, for its strong international presence. It might be surprising, then, that until recently, there was no club here for the world’s most popular sport. Of course, that all changed when D.D. Davis, 2L, and some friends started FC GULC, the soccer club. The FC moniker is a common mark among soccer teams around the world, standing for “football club” and typically followed by the club’s home city or neighborhood.

The core group of FC GULC formed last spring to compete in a post-graduate indoor soccer league at the main campus. The Law Center’s team defeated the Medical Center’s representatives to win the championship in that league. The core group of that team, including Davis, Eric Charleston, 2L, and Olisa Anwah, 3E, is still together, playing for Well Hung Jurists in the Law Center’s own inaugural indoor soccer league.

Soccer reached a new height in American culture last summer, during the FIFA World Cup. All sixty-four matches were broadcast in high definition on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Unlike the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, when American fans were forced to wake up at two or four o’clock in the morning if they wanted to watch, the matches this year were shown in America during the late morning and afternoon, a fact that certainly helped boost the ratings. The excitement over the sport stemming from the World Cup extended beyond the television. “I think there’s a soccer fever in America right now,” said Anweh. He hopes that the soccer club can build on that momentum and increase its membership and its activity.

Not that the club’s membership is particularly lacking. At this writing, the club boasts 91 members. Outside of the intramural indoor league, the core group of the club also plays together in a city outdoor league every weekend. Because of this familiarity with the team, they seem to know where each other will be on the floor, making plays that look almost practiced.

The club and league might never have happened, though, had it not been for the efforts of Davis, who played soccer during her undergraduate years at American University. “D.D. is the engine behind all of this,” said Charleston, about FC GULC and the intramural league. “She pulled me out of retirement.”

Davis has been playing soccer as long as she can remember, as has Charleston. They each played for traveling teams when they were younger and then for their high schools. Anweh got a later start. His family moved from the US to Nigeria when he was five, and not having played soccer before that, he was behind the other kids. When he moved back to the States in high school, he was suddenly the class of the field. “They all thought I was really good,” he explained.

Of course, the club does more than field their own team. They hope to form more competitive and recreational teams to play, both within the Law Center community and in the greater DC community. They also plan to organize viewing parties to watch big matches. More than anything, they want to spread the love of soccer that they all share. Said Davis, “Playing soccer has provided a great opportunity to meet and interact with students from other years and sections. In addition to winning soccer games together, we have also formed many lasting friendships."

FC GULC is always looking for more people to play, especially girls. Students of all skill levels are welcome, from those who have played enough to have retired and come back to those who have never even kicked a ball. To get involved or find out more information, email D.D. Davis at dld25@law.georgetown.edu.

I found it! Joey Porter on MNF...BYAAH!

2006-09-21T23:51:00.000-04:00

Hooray for YouTube users - on the ball with the Joey Porter thing. Now you can experience it in all its hilarity. Personally, my favorite part is when the genius that is Joe Theisman asks, "Howard Dean lost, didn't he?" I'm not sure if he was being serious or not (unlike if Kornheiser would have asked). Anyway, last YouTube post until after the weekend. I promise.

Quick correction: It was Tony Kornheiser that asked if Howard Dean lost, not Joe Theisman, as I previously thought. Of course, where I have no confidence in Theisman (who is the one who asked why Porter's "BYAAH!" needed explanation, presumably because he thought it was funny ipso facto), I know Kornheiser was making a joke, albeit not one of his best. Just wanted to preserve what little cred I have by setting the facts straight.

Oh, no! He does politics, too!?

2006-09-21T18:47:00.000-04:00

That's right, folks. It's election time again. We are presently less than seven weeks away from the 2006 midterms. Democrats are trying to take back the House for the first time since 1994, and Republicans are desperately trying to stop them. Or are they? There's some contrarianism going around through GOP ranks saying it would be a good thing for Republicans if the Dems took back the House, maybe even the Senate. Hell, there are even some conservatives who are all for a Democrat in the White House come 2008!

Now, anybody who knows me probably knows by now where I stand politically, and let's just say I'd be happy about a Democratic victory for other reasons - I am one. I understand Christopher Buckley's argument for the "real" conservatives' being ambivalent toward the election - they want the Republicans to lose so that they can go back to standing for something again. It's the more cynical argument of Jonah Goldberg that reminds me why I'm not a fan of thinkers like Jonah Goldberg. His line of thinking is that if those crazy Nancy Pelosi liberals take back the House, American voters are going to see what Democrats are really like (not the lovable underdogs we seem to be right now) and will elect a Republican for President. Goldberg is so confident in Democratic overreach (i.e. investigations of President Bush and maybe even an impeachment) he almost falls over himself trying to contain his glee at the thought.

Personally, I don't see Democrats, who can be every bit as strategic and cynical as the Republicans, making the same mistakes the Republicans did. Democrats know that they would look petty and like they were pandering to their base if, immediately after taking back the House, they hired the liberal equivalent of Ken Starr. And they know it would backfire. Hopefully that will keep them from doing it. And hopefully the thought of inheriting the mess that the Republican administration and Congress have created won't be enough to deter Dems from going out and running their very hardest to take back the government.

At any rate, it's public service announcement time. Everybody reading this should make sure to go and vote (even if you are a Republican, or a Steelers fan, or something else disagreeable) on November 7. If you're argument is that you don't know enough about the candidates, I direct you here. There, no more excuses, unless you're lazy, which I know you are. And don't think I'm going to stop bugging you. You should expect more political posts as the election draws nearer. Please don't hate me for that.

Video Working! As promised: BYAAH!

2006-09-21T09:06:00.000-04:00

Alright, kids. I promise I'll do my best to keep this from being a "shit I found on YouTube blog." Nevertheless, I promised you the Chappelle sketch, and the Chappelle sketch I have delivered.

Big Ten Kickoff

2006-09-21T09:03:00.000-04:00

Well, seeing as this weekend marks the opening of Big Ten play, I could think of no better way to fire up our defense than showing them the biggest hit they may have ever put on somebody. Now, granted, the game I'm showing (also against Minnesota, like this weekend's game) is what started last season's "downward spiral," and I know Marcus "Bonecrusher" Pollard left for the NFL, but who cares? Just look at that hit!

Also, this post goes by way of saying that I finally figured out the YouTube blogging deal. Hooray.

One final note: for those of you reading this on facebook, you'll have to navigate over to the real site to see the videos. Just click on the little "view orignal post" button. Or click here. You know, whichever works.

Studio 60, MNF, and the passing of a baseball era

2006-09-19T00:09:00.000-04:00

Three posts in one. Let's do this. Don't have a lot of time - it's late, and I have more reading to do for class, but some things need to be covered tonight.

First, as promised, is "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the new show from "The West Wing" masterminds Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme. This. Show. Rocks. That's it. I made a prediction while watching this, based in part on a little bit of history. This duo has never failed to win the Emmy for best drama. They worked together for four years on "The West Wing," and the show won that award all four times. That trend won't end this year. "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI," and the rest be damned, this Emmy belongs to "Studio 60." I've been psyched about this show since I heard about it - I even read the early version of the script that leaked online. You know that guy who can quote lines during the premiere? Yeah, that was me tonight. Brilliantly written, beautifully directed, expertly cast, and perfectly executed. And my understanding is that the second episode is better. Now that we've all established that I have a man-crush on this show, let's move on to topic number two.

Another thing I was excited about this fall was the move of Monday Night Football from ABC to ESPN. I loved the addition of Tony Kornheiser to the booth, even if I wasn't thrilled about ESPN's keeping Joe Theismann. Mike Tirico is money, too. So far, the booth has been feeling itself out, still, trying to find its comfort zone. That's fine. That's not what this paragraph is about. ESPN has taken the lineup introductions to a new plateau. Tonight I saw a new approach to the lineups. Sure, during the first possession each team was on the field, they showed the player pictures on the bottom of the screen. Where ESPN excelled was in the details - it really is a Disney company. Instead of having the commentators read off the lineup, they videotaped one of the players from each side reading it off and adding his own comments. For the Jaguars offense, it was QB Byron Leftwich, who seemed relaxed and cool. For the Steelers D, it was the usually unbearable Joey Porter. Tonight, though, he had me rolling. He decided instead of playing it cool - he is Joey Porter, remember - he was going to channel Dave Chappelle. More specifically, he channeled Dave Chappelle's spoof of Howard Dean. Absolutely amazing. I don't have video of the Joey Porter bit, but the "Chappelle's Show" sketch is at the end of this post. Do enjoy.

While we're on the subject of football, I want to send my thoughts out to David Pollack, the Cincinnati Bengal who literally broke his own neck making a tackle today. Anybody playing that hard deserves some respect, and a speedy recovery.

One last note. The New York Mets clinched the National League East division title today, officially marking the end of what some would call the Atlanta Braves' reign of terror. As a kid, I was a Braves fan - I loved their pitchers and Dave Justice and the rest of the cast - don't blame me, I was young! The Braves were eliminated from contention sometime last week, but today made it official. Here's hoping the bloody Mets don't go on their own 14-year streak.

So, I'm currently fighting with YouTube to make it let me blog videos, but it's not cooperating at the moment. Watch this space.

Sports & Scholarship

2006-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:00

Remember when we were kids, and the meatheads never ever got along with the eggheads? Okay, neither do I, but our parents might. Regardless, I know a few people who seem to think that sports and academics don't belong together. Being the sports loving law student I am, I tend to disagree, as do the incomparable late Stephen Jay Gould and the always long-winded Gregg Easterbrook, two authentic brainy types. Gould, better known for his thoughts on evolutionary biology, was actually quite the proponent of sabermetrics, and a profound fan of baseball. Easterbrook, a contributing editor for The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly and The Washington Monthly, and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, is also known as the Tuesday Morning Quarterback over on Page2.

Academics have long had a flirtation with sport - not all academics, natch, but still - and one entertaining tidbit I've noticed with these two is their connection to their times. Gould grew up in New York in the mid-20th century, when baseball truly was America's Pastime. In his age (which butts right up against our own), academics loved baseball. Thus the whole sabermetrics thing. Easterbrook, of course, is a football guy. Football is now king in American sport, and arguably also in American academic communities - at least those that follow sports. If you read TMQ's latest column (which actually inspired this post), you'll notice the scientific analysis of statistics that is creeping its way into football, as well - not that you can always tell by the coaches' calls.

Another thing both of these men embody mirrors something one of my professors at Purdue said to my class. It really stuck with me, what he said. He lamented the loss of the true scholar, the interdisciplinary genius. Back in the day, Aristotle was a mathematician, a political theorist, an astronomer, a philosopher and more; Leonardo was an engineer, a sculptor, a painter, a master of anatomy (and if you believe certain novels, the head of an underground organization); Newton was a mathematician, a physicist, an astronomer, an alchemist (and the head of that same underground organization). Today, my professor argued, everyone is a specialist. There are physicists, there are chemists, there are philosophers and painters and writers of prose, but there are no true scholars. If nothing else, Gould and Easterbrook are evidence to the contrary, though certainly not the only ones. (Modern physics actually is the source of some really interesting modern philosophy, and it must have taken some kind of interdisciplinary skill to gather that, right?) Gould and Easterbrook are masters of statistics, philosophy, popular psychology, and of course sports fandom and general geekiness - all admirable disciplines. They are both also enjoyable writers, and I recommend them to anybody interested in some good reading.

Throwaway Post: Best of the Web

2006-09-12T18:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the dearth of posting since I came back. It's been a long week in the world of Civil Procedure and Property (no Torts yet, though...that's for the Spring). Anyway, some housekeeping to take care of. Not that you can tell, since he hasn't posted again, yet, and I haven't had a chance to change the information around the site, but Collin's back. That's right, ladies 'n' gents, the Linesbomb will be resuming his rightful place as a contributor to Culturegeist. Hopefully he'll be able to fill in the gaps of time when law school has my ass in a blender, and I am unable to find time to post.

Anyway, rather than taking time to write out a proper rant, I'm just going to point you to a couple of sites that are at least as good as this one when it comes to killing time online. The first one hasn't been updated in a few months (sound familiar?), but it made my buddy Max famous in New Zealand's little corner of the Internet for a little while. The link has actually been on here for a while now - I'm just now actually properly mentioning it. I refer of course to Nuclear Bob's Shirt of the Day: one man's dream to show the world every shirt he owns - and trust me, there are plenty of them. The site that's been keeping me distracted and laughing for a while now, though, is the Internet Word Generator, created and maintained by Alan, another friend of mine at Purdue. Basically, it creates smashups of words to make some really hilarious new words, most of which have actually never been uttered before. Some of my favorites include Snakes-on-astan, gynomatic, and necrorhythm, but there really are too many to list.

I'll do my best to get a new Hypometer up by the end of the weekend...Also a new pick of the week is up. Huzzah to the return of Aaron Sorkin! Hopefully I'll have a review or something about the pilot up by the end of Tuesday. There are my goals, let's see how it goes.

Stalkerbook for the new school year

2006-09-07T13:53:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to be that guy who yells at the many, many people who are themselves railing against the new features of facebook. But I'm not going to join them, either. Don't get me wrong, there are some issues with the new News Feed and mini-feed, and I'm all for privacy protection. But it seems to me that the gut reaction against the feed is just that - a gut reaction. Once you look through what's actually on there, it's generally stuff that most people on your friends list could find anyway. The big problem is that there is no easy way to opt out, other than deleting each and every individual action you have taken. Bad news, especially since facebook was finally starting to do a good job of reconciling privacy protection with the great good it can do in connecting people and killing time. They allow you now to change who can see which aspects of your profile in each of the networks you have joined. Personally, I'm alright with the mini-feed on facebook - it makes it much easier for me to see how my friends have changed their own profiles, which saves me time and energy. Facebook does need to add the News Feed to the privacy settings, and I hope such a change is forthcoming. Hopefully once people have a way to turn it off and on, the rioting on facebook will come to a peaceful conclusion. I'm sure I'll take some heat in the comments from this, so let's hear it.

Hypometer: new look, same great taste

2006-09-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

Okay, so never mind that post from a few minutes ago re: the Hypometer. It's moved. As I'm sure you must have noticed by now, everyone's favorite (even if they don't know it) monitor of pop-culture is no longer down the right side of the page. Instead, you will find new updates of the Hypometer in line right here in a post (assuming I can make it work). Really, I'm just doing it this way to make my life easier, and to see how it works. Bear in mind that I'm still working out the formatting and other such nonsense. As it stands, I took out the neutral mark in the middle, and instead will be color-coding entries on the continuum. Anyway, you can figure it out. So, without further adieu, I give you your Hypometer.

New in this edition: For the first time, things are falling off the Hypometer. Nobody is really thinking about the World Cup or the Duke Lacrosse Scandal or JJ Reddick anymore, so they have literally fallen off the radar. I'm still remembering the NBA Finals, thanks largely to the FIBA Worlds, which also made the list. How could anything with the word Hype in it not include the pop-culture champion of the summer, Snakes (on crack) on a (motherfucking) Plane? Regardless of its premiere more than two weeks ago, SOAP holds it down at number one. Also making the list: Tiger Woods, fantasy football, and the Irish. Seventeen items on the list this time. Here it is, kids.

The Hypometer v.9.05.2006
More Hype (less chill)

Snakes on a Plane pre-release
Tiger Woods (5 straight wins, and counting)
Notre Dame football, preseason 2006
The new-look facebook
Dwyane Wade post-2006 Playoffs
Kobe Bryant post-81
Lines Wedding 2k6: The Halloween Extravaganza
Fantasy Football
NASCAR
Kobe Bryant pre-81
Bill Simmons
Chris Gianopoulos
Deadspin
Snakes on a Plane post-release
Dwyane Wade pre-2006 Playoffs
USA Men's Basketball post-2006 FIBA World Championships
IndyCar Series

More Chill (less hype)

Again with the new beginnings

2006-09-05T13:25:00.000-04:00

So I must be the worst blogger on the Internet. Seriously. I'm either on for a few weeks, or I'm very off for even longer. Anyway, I'm hoping to reignite this thing and keep it lit through law school, if only so that I have a reason (however noncompelling) to pay attention to frivelous things like pop-culture. Anyway, this is kind of a nothing post announcing that I'm back, and to tell you to check the Hypometer. Watch this space. (Hopefully, it will change relatively soon.)

Inadvertent Hiatus

2006-07-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

So it looks like there will be another brief halt in the updating of Culturegeist. It seems that my laptop has been possessed by some demonic element bent on depriving the Internet of my ranting and whatnots. Alas, I am forced to acquiesce, as I have little other recourse to posting. Long story short - too late - I might not be updating very frequently for a little while. Nonetheless, keep checking up on me - you never know when I might make my triumphant return after expelling the demons.

We're with you, Deadspin

2006-06-28T15:44:00.000-04:00

Big ups to Boomer for catching me up with the rest of the sports world on this phenomenon. How could such an avid watcher of sports as me be so far behind on this? Why don't I read Deadspin more? What the hell is Adam talking about? That question I can answer. I refer to the "You're with me, Leather" movement that has swept the Internet and the airwaves and left me behind. It has spawned SportsCenter references and t-shirts featured on TRL. And yet I remained in the dark until the benevolent light of the Booms shined on me. I'm with you, Boomer.

As an aside, it's strange and somewhat ironic that the buddy of mine who pointed this whole thing out to be goes by the same nickname as the phenomenon's (unwitting) creator, ESPN's Chris Berman. Just saying.

Hype, Chill, and everywhere in between

2006-06-27T23:40:00.000-04:00

So I have a buddy named Chris. He's definitely the inspiration for this post. See Chris is what could be described as a chill kind of guy - laid back, plays Halo, grows a cactus, spurned Dupont because its engineers were too materialistic and hype, etc. Chris revels in his chillness. At times, it can be a site to behold. If there is one thing Chris abhors, it's probably DKs, but that's only because they are his least favorite kind of hypes. Hypes can be difficult to define, but, to borrow a phrase from Justice Potter Stewart, we know them when we see them. Unlike the Supreme Court, which left the question up in the air on pornography, I decided to tackle the hype-chill issue head-on.

Thus was born the Hypometer. With the aid of some friends - including the aforementioned Chris, and most notably my buddy Boomer - I began to compile a list, really more of a ranking, of major and minor events and people, according to how hype or chill they were. The resulting scale is kind of a pH score - the lower the number, the more hype something is, and the higher the number, the more chill. Now, this is not a measure of "good" or "bad," no matter how much Chris might want to equate chill with the former. It's simply a measure of the coverage or the personality of whatever is being measured. I suppose another axis could be added, but it would take a better man to do that. Anyhow, the Hypometer has made the jump from its original home on my AIM profile, which it will continue to inhabit, to Culturegeist.

Of course, the Hypometer is always updating and changing. You will definitely notice watershed events being reflected (e.g. Dwyane Wade). There will also be a pick of the week feature, which is something in the world that I think you should pay attention to. One last note: if you don't recognize some of the names and can't find them on Google, they're probably just friends of mine that made the list, so don't fret. And one more final note: the Hypometer is purely subjective, and it is open to suggestion. So feel free to leave comments on any post nominating something for the Hypometer or whatever. Enjoy.

Monster Ballads for the new generation!

2006-06-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, that title is a bit sarcastically happy. I never got into the hair bands thing - I wasn't born until the end of 1983 after all - so I guess I never fully appreciated the whole monster ballad thing. However, the time has come. My generation has finally grown up. The music we grew up with now has its own ballad CD. That's right, the era of the Buzz Ballad has arrived. I don't know whether to be happy or scared. In my own mind, obviously, the music of Tonic and Third Eye Blind and Oasis (and Everlast, and Sublime, and Bush) is beyond comparison with Twisted Sister or Damn Yankees or Mr. Big. But I'll be the first to say that Lifehouse and Fuel and especially Hole lasted a little longer than they should have. Oh well. Every generation goes through this. After just glancing at the track list for a sec, there is one very obvious omission from the buzz ballad 2-CD set: Drive, by Incubus. How're you gonna forget Incubus like that?

The Sports Guy does Internet video

2006-06-26T15:21:00.000-04:00

Short & quick: Bill Simmons over on Page2 has a list of his 33 best YouTube vids. Definitely something worth checking out. I would make the semi-obligatory two paragraph statement about how amazing the Internet is and how far it has come, but I think I'll let the Sports Guy handle that. Enjoy.a

Newspapers to world: "We're not dead, yet!"

2006-06-25T20:27:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to lie. One reason I want to keep this blog is because I have an overinflated opinion of my...opinions. But I also want to hone my own writing skills, and to keep the ability to write like a person once I go to law school in the fall. My understanding is that legal writing doesn't resemble anything else of this world. I should also admit that should a career in the legal profession not pan out, I wouldn't mind looking for a job writing for somebody, somewhere (hence the skills honing). Hopefully it won't come to that, but it never hurts to have a backup plan.

The reason I write all this is the state of the newspaper industry today. Slate's Jack Shafer, the same man who (convincingly) argued for NYT readers to wholly migrate online, just put out a piece on the current stage of the long, drawn-out (but profitable) death currently being suffered by newspapers around the country. He makes a lot of good points, especially at the end. The word "New" (especially with that capital N) causes a lot of trouble, what with the New Economy and the New Media, but I think the latter is here to stay. I don't want to say that blogs and other "unprofessional" websites are going to replace the classic media. That's stupid. Even Wonkette says she, and other bloggers, are supplements to and checks on the media, not replacements for them. In a culture where we are bombarded by information from all directions and simultaneously starved for entertainment, more options are a must. Besides, coupons out of the Sunday paper are much better than printing them from the Internet. Long live the daily.

Why I hate unbiased coverage of the World Cup

2006-06-23T14:51:00.000-04:00

So we're out of the World Cup. There, I said it, even if ESPN won't - or at least will try not to. We are out of the World Cup. That's right, all impartiality is out of the way. I am a fan of the United States Men's National Soccer team, dammit, and I'm going to write that way! I suppose ESPN's coverage was actually pretty high on the support, as well - several of their analysts only thinly veiled their support for the US side. Julie Foudy, in a remote from her soccer camp, even took a job at the concept of impartially covering the event. I was initially going to write this post about the reaction of the international press to this "bias," but instead of defending soccer heroes cum analysts like Foudy, Eric Wynalda, Alexi Lalas, and Marcelo Balboa from the international press, I think I'm going to take on the idiocy of trying to cover an international sporting event without bias.

I don't mean we should insert politics or racism into sports coverage - this is a time for friends, after all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there should be nothing wrong with being a fan, especially when the vast majority of viewers are rooting for the same team. Why do we treat national/international coverage differently than local coverage? Have you ever listened to radio coverage of a basketball game or watched WGN's coverage of the Cubs? There is no feigning neutrality in local sports coverage. The commentators are unabashed partisans, and that's okay. More than that, it's great. It makes watching much more entertaining when the announcer has a point of view. I would much rather listen to WFBQ's audio feed of Colts games than listen to CBS's commentators. So why is it that "local" coverage of the World Cup by ESPN and ABC feels like they must put up a facade of impartiality?

From my limited understanding of foreign coverage of the World Cup, we might be an anomaly. I have heard that Spanish announcers make no bones about supporting their side, even wearing their team's jersey while announcing the game. Obviously ESPN understands who is watching their coverage, and they do aim to please, describing on SportsCenter exactly how the US can advance. But they simply go out of their way not to use the word we to refer to the US side.

I do want to make one comment about Marcelo Balboa's complaints about the officiating. His comments about the Italy-USA match are obviously the most hyped of them, but they aren't the only ones. He's been vocally criticizing the referees in most games. Even the well-officiated matches he uses to criticize the poorly officiated games. Also, in case anybody is wondering, the man does have a point.

Why can't all commercials be beer commercials?

2006-06-15T23:45:00.000-04:00

Overheard at a recent clandestine meeting:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to induct another campaign into the Beer Ad Hall of Fame. I suppose that by rule, we will have to wait another several years until it can properly be considered, but I think this one is in on the first ballot, just like recent inductees Bud, Weis, and Er the Frogs as well as Louie and Frankie the Lizards. Cedric the Entertainer is on the fringe of getting in, but more for his longevity than his brilliance. The candidate of which I speak is not of the famed Anheuser-Busch lineage, which of course includes the aforementioned Hall of Famers (and also George Clooney). No, this campaign springs from the loins of their bitter rivals from Wisconsin, the Miller Brewing Company. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee, I nominate for early consideration the Men of the Square Table, and their Man Laws!

I love beer commercials. Even when I dislike the beer in question. These Miller Lite commercials are a great example - I hate, Hate, Miller Lite as a beer, though not as much as I despise Coors Light - which is brewed, shipped, and stored cold only because its taste needs all the help it can get (as do the commercials). Yet, despite my distaste for the product, I love the commercials. One thing must be noted when I refer to great advertisements. I'm not looking at effectiveness - obviously if a commercial does nothing to sway me toward a particular product, it is not a successful effort. I'm talking about entertainment value, although by creating an entertaining commercial, a company gets its product talked about by the water cooler and on two-bit pop culture blogs, which raises awareness, which is in itself one measure of a successful commercial, so I suppose there's that.

I particularly enjoy these particular beer commercials. The cast is great: everybody from Burt Reynolds to a pro wrestler to the guy who cut his own hand off after a boulder fell on it, plus the token black guy. Then there's the premise, which I would hope requires no explanation here. The idea of a sacred set of rules for men are nothing new to any group of guys. The Man's Code is well known in all parts, at least in theory. Of course, different geographical areas and different crews will abide by different variations of the Code, but every guy inherently believes that the variant practiced by his group is the one and only proper code, and all others are heretics and blasphemers. Part of the brilliance of the Square Table is its ambition in establishing a uniform set of Man Laws. Its genius also lies in its nod toward the discrepancies that exist among different groups in the form of legislative debate. I suppose the humor helps, too. All in all, I think this has the potential to be what Bill Simmons would call a Pantheon commercial, joining the other all-time great beer ads.

The Beautiful Fever

2006-06-15T21:36:00.000-04:00

As you will all figure out by the many references I'm bound to make, I like to wake up to ESPN Radio & ESPN2's morning show Mike & Mike in the Morning. For those uninitiated, it involves ex-Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman and ESPN NFL analyst Mike Golic arguing, joking, and otherwise just talking sports with the self-described metrosexual sportscaster, SportsCenter anchor Mike Greenberg. The combination is pure magic. Besides the joking that goes on, often involving recorded song, the show is thankfully heavy on that thing only sports fans can truly appreciate: overly technical analysis from ESPN's cadre of commentators. Anyway, you can learn more about Mike & Mike on your own time. This post is about soccer.

Now, I've been a fan of soccer since the first grade, which is approximately when I learned what soccer was. When my parents moved us out to the suburbs, the better parks meant more organized sports to keep me busy after baseball season ended midway through the summer. There were two options: American football, which my mother deplored - no chance of her child playing that (never mind that I had the physique of a potential OL) - and European football, soccer. The choice was simple, and my family joined the ranks of the other minivan-driving soccer families. When the World Cup came to the States later in my elementary school career, I was pretty well hooked on the beautiful game. The founding of Major League Soccer cemented my love of the sport, and not even the last place finish of the US in the 1998 World Cup could diminish my enthusiasm.

Fast forward to 2006, just after the Americans' flat-footed dismantling at the hands (well, feet) of the Czech Republic, and I'm still hooked. Only now, it seems that others might be, as well. More and more, I hear people saying, "I'm not a big fan of soccer, but I'll watch some of the World Cup," or even more poignantly, "I don't watch a lot of soccer, but that goal was amazing!"
It even permeated my favorite morning show today, as both Mikes admitted to being hooked on World Cup 2006. Neither of them, it seems, can stop watching, be it at the gym (as Greeny specified, on the eliptical machine) or in the newsroom. I'm loving it. Finally, men of some sway in the world of American sport are catching the soccer fever, if only for one month of every 48.

Excuse our clutter

2006-06-10T21:45:00.000-04:00

It's been a while, huh? Nearly two years, you say? Oh, pish, as my buddy Pat would say. I'm sure those of you who actually remember the Culturegeist of two years ago have already noticed the new look of the place. For instance, there's the new color scheme, and we are now minus two guys, down to just me, at least for the time being. It will be just me and my sensibilities for the foreseeable future.

For those of you keeping track at home, here's a quick recap of my current standing - just for perspective's sake. I graduated from Purdue University last month with a degree in Political Science and History. I'm still in West Lafayette for the summer, working for the food service and recruiting impressionable freshmen-to-be to work for the man. Come August, I'll be off to the nation's capital to begin my legal education at Georgetown University Law Center, which is to say, there's a solid chance that this resurgance won't last more than a couple of months. Nevertheless, here goes.

An Update? What's that?

2004-06-30T22:34:00.001-04:00

Now some of you may ask yourself what would it take to get Collin to get online and rough out the dial-up connection, just so he can update the site. Well I'll tell you, only the greatest movie ever!!!

Ok, well...maybe not the greatest movie ever, but its definitely my favorite superhero movie ever. Yes, that means its even better than Superman 2, take that Zod!

In case you haven't guessed yet, I'm talking about "Spider-man 2". I risked life and limb to be one of the first to see it at the 12:01 AM screening last night, and let me tell you I was not disappointed. While in line at the theater, my friends and I were interviewed by a local news station and actually made it on the news this morning. For those of you who may have seen my 'spidey chucks' they got their own spot on the news. Alright.

But back to the movie...

Now I won't spoil anything for you, so I'll just go over some vague details...

First of all, Alex Ross is the man. For any of you out there who don't recognize the name, he was the artist on the 'Marvels' series. Anyway, he has created some outstanding images used for the opening credits.

Alfred Molina is amazing as Dr. Otto Octavius, and Kirsten Dunst is fine as ever as the one and only Mary Jane Watson. I really wish I could just discuss all of the amazing scenes with you, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.

Let's just say that the effects are unbelievable, the story is great, and J.J. is funny as ever. Look for Hal Sparks and Bruce Campbell in some great cameos.

If anyone is gonna be in the Fort Wayne area this summer, look me up, I'll be more than glad to go see it again with ya.

Pyro @ the NBA

2004-05-27T15:15:00.001-04:00

So I'm watching the Pistons-Pacers game last night (all the Pacers need to do to win tomorrow is shoot a measly 35%, jeebus...), and during the player intros, I was floored - no, not like that new Taco Bell soft taco thingy on the commercials. Anybody who's ever watched a sporting event - collegiate, professional, even some big-time high school games - knows that the visiting team is introduced first and in a lackluster way before the home team is introduced to much fanfare. What got me was the extent to which the fanfare extended at Detroit's Palace of Auburn Hills.

After the Pacers' starters were announced and properly booed by the hometown fans (we do the same to our opponents), the arena went dark, as expected. Here's where it gets a little more hardcore - the Pistons PR team had put together a little video a couple minutes long with highlights and other video, and the whole deal was narrated by Rasheed and Ben Wallace (no relation, I think). After the video, which was well-made and all that, fire launchers mounted atop the backboards were activated, shooting pyrotechnic glory a good 30 feet above the backboards. Only after all of this was the Pistons' starting five announced. I had never seen such a show just for player introductions, save for the WWE and maybe the Super Bowl.

Maybe it's because I haven't been paying close attention to the player intros lately, or maybe it's because this is the Playoffs. Regardless, it was entertaining television, if only because I personally wasn't expecting it.

Go Pacers.

The Glorious (?) Return of the Ageless One

2004-05-25T17:57:00.000-04:00

It looks like Dick Clark, the man who has been 45 for the last 3 millennia, will have a little more on his plate than New Years Rockin' Eve soon. Everyone knows, even if we can't remember for ourselves, about that old bastion of teenage rebellion and corporate America's taking advantage thereof: American Bandstand. Well, boys and girls, it looks like we're going to get the chance to experience the phenomenon, just like our parents got to.

That's right, according to Reuters, is reporting that Clark will work with the creator of everybody's favorite U-21 kareoke bar American Idol to relaunch his old staple sometime next summer. They're currently pitching the idea to networks. I'd put my money on ABC nailing the rights, which inevitably means the show will fail...miserably.

Not to be outdone by WGN's feature weekend show, Soul Train, the new-and-improved AB will feature a dance competition and a yet-to-be-named younger host. I guess 45-going-on-97 is too old to host the MTV demographic nowadays.

Limits has the flow that makes you booty go OH SNAP

2004-05-18T07:12:00.000-04:00

So I'm new to this game. I don't want any shame brought to it on my behalf, so I'll try to make sense.

Okay, here's the deal. I've had a lot to comment on regarding many things since school has retired for..well, for two weeks or so. This appears to be an adequate forum for my pseudointellectual discourse.

OKAY!

It's both wonderful and horrifying that the music of the 1980s is making a strong comeback. The decade seems to be crawling up from its grave. The "I Love the 80s!" special on VH1 made this knowledge mainstream, but it has been happening for quite some time. I believe the advent of the new millennium has made people painfully aware of how fast society (and time itself) is progressing, so we believe we need to reach back to move forward. For the most part, this is true. I believe that you cannot move forward without having an adequate understanding of where you have been.

However, that's not the way the music industry is being treated. More and more, I am hearing songs on the radio that are painfully reminiscent of trends of both the late 70s, all of the 80s, and the early 90s. Now, I'm not one to bash trends of those times. In fact, the 80s was a grossly underrated decade in terms of music. The problem to me is that a majority of the population still ridicules those who enjoyed the music of the 80s.

Now, to open their eyes, I pose these two points:

1. "Take My Breath Away" by Jessica Simpson.

Don't get me wrong, I dislike this song. A lot. The point is that it's an extremely popular song on the radio these days. I know my indie cred is forever damaged because I keep abreast of radio songs on drives to and from school, but I believe I should be knowledgeable of as many forms of music as possible. However, that's not important. This song is increasingly popular and many people seem to neglect the fact that it's a remake (Berlin). As far as they're concerned, it's a new pop hit. That's an issue to me. Abhorring a period of our culture and praising it when it returns via a current popular individual. In fact, the band System of a Down redid a song by Berlin (The Metro) and again, many people I encountered did not acknowledge this fact. Yet, Berlin is relegated to VH1 specials.

2. "Lovesong" by 311

Now, this is just appalling. Again, a song that is popular on alternative pop radio these days. The original song by The Cure is off, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums of all time (Disintegration). To hear it redone in an absolutely awful pop-cum-reggae style has made me wretch with each listen. It sounds like Sublime on a horrible bender after they just broke up with their 8th grade significant other. I suppose I'd let it pass if people enjoyed the song..I mean, each person is entitled to their own opinion.

The point is that people have not heard the original...and not hearing the original lessens your entire experience. Also, even in the case of hearing it, they dismiss all songs of the area as kitschy and worthless. In the case of "Take My Breath Away," more people have heard it. But for every "Take My Breath Away," there are so many Billy Squire songs (note: Dizzee Rascal, Kelis, etc.), Cure songs (note: nearly every current emo band), and of course...Gang of Four/Public Image Ltd. (note: The Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, !!!, virtually every new dancepunk band).

Respect your elders, people.

PS

Today is the anniversary of the death of Ian Curtis. 24 years to the day.
He was the lead singer of Joy Division, one of the all-time greats.
A band that released a mere two true studio albums.
A band whose life was cut tragically short by the hanging of their engaging leader.
New Order rose from their ashes, but they cannot touch Joy Division.

Experience the magic of the albums Closer (my personal favorite) and Unknown Pleasures.

Returning to Form

2004-05-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

My sincerest apologies, readers of Culturegeist. The end of the semester crept up on Collin and me in April, and to add to that, my computer decided to die. Needless to say, this blog was neglected. Fear not, though! Summer is come, and with it comes somewhat more free time than Finals allow.

That said, expect some changes:

As you've no doubt noticed by now, the format of the site has changed. This is thanks to Blogger's being awesome and adding new templates (you thought we actually designed this layout ourselves!?) and features.
Speaking of new features, Blogger now supports commenting. Alas, it is only available on new posts, so any comments that were made on our "old" posts were lost. Sorry for that, but nobody's going to read that far down the page, anyway, right?
For those of you readers out there who love blogs as much as I do - and I do, and I get made fun of for it, constantly - you probably use RSS. If you don't know, go here to learn more about it. Anyway, Blogger now supports RSS for free! Which means you can type our URL into your aggregate's browser, and bam!-you have Culturegest syndicated right to your fingertips. I think it's really cool.
Probably the most exciting piece of news: new contributor(s) to Culturegeist. I figure since Collin and I are too damn lazy to keep the blog going on our own, we might as well get somebody or a couple somebodies to help us out. I've already invited a friend of mine to join, and Collin just might do the same when he gets around to it.

That's about it for now, except for another promise not to drop the ball and not to allow major lapses in posting to occur...again.

Jack, Naomi, and big-ass Gorillas

2004-03-31T15:03:00.000-05:00

News from Tinseltown: Jack Black will be starring opposite the lovely Naomi Watts in ol' Peter Jackson's next feature, a remake of King Kong, and as MTV makes sure to mention in its headline, "No, not as the ape."

Slow Pace and Superlatives

2004-03-31T14:37:00.002-05:00

Why is it that some critics (sneer) will only hail as "great" those films that will put some people to sleep? Not that I think (all) such movies are bad or even necessarily boring, but some people do. Take for example Lost in Translation or Mystic River - two great films right? I think so, but I'll be the first to admit that neither has anything close to a lightning-fast plot, and as a result, I know there are people who didn't enjoy either. Critics loved 'em, though; they ate 'em up. I did too - they're great films from the writing straight through the directing all the way to the acting. That's not the point.

The point is this: when an amazing film comes out and its plot is a little more up-tempo, the critics yawn "average" or "mildly entertaining." Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, as I've said, is brilliant, period, but Rolling Stone gives it 3-1/2 stars out of five and our own dear Excrement awards it 2-1/2, and the word around the Net is that Eternal Sunshine is a B+ movie. However, no review I've read has actually found anything wrong with the film (except one that called it "self absorbed"). I just don't get it, maybe it's because I'm not a critic, but how can you not throw out the superlatives when talking about Eternal Sunshine?

Adam you just don't understand

2004-03-28T00:12:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry Adam, but you seem not to understand the allusion that was my last post's title. You see back in the day, there was this nice and funny tv show called 'Saturday Night.' In its first two years, there was this sketch called Weekend Update, featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. During this sketch, they had a recurring feature called 'Point Counterpoint,' during which the two cast members would debate a topic, that ultimately turned into them insulting one another directly, and not just their point of view. One quote that frequently came up was 'Jane you ignorant slut,' afterwhich Aykroyd would go on to explain why her point of view was obviously wrong. And as you can clearly see now, I was not attacking you directly, I was merely alluding to one of my favorite tv sketches. Jerk.

That wasn't very nice, Collin.

2004-03-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

A quick note: I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Collin. I wasn't railing against you for saying the movie was merely great. I was railing against your not writing about the movie here as of that time. But since your response was so impassioned, I suppose I'll be nice and let it slide, even though you did call me an ignorant slut.

Adam You Ignorant Slut

2004-03-27T03:14:00.000-05:00

Adam, clearly you misunderstood me when I said 'great.' As you have no doubtedly discovered for yourself now, this is by far the best movie i have seen in a long time, yes, even better than 'Lost in Translation,' and we all know how much I loved that. Truth be told, I never really cared for Kate Winslet, but she is absolutely stunning throughout this entire piece. And Jim Carrey is amazing as Joel, brilliant character portrayed perfectly. As I once explained it to Adam:

jim carrey = not jim carrey
kate winslet = fine

And as far as Adam's non-contrived ending goes, well...he's right. The ending is perfect. It plays right into how the movie had described the characters, and I believe is exactly what would have happened if it were real. I absolutely loved it. Truth be told, I was terribly depressed for the rest of the day when I saw it (as I saw a 1:10 p.m. showing the day it opened), but that was due to how much I identified with the characters having recently experienced a similar downfall of a relationship.

During perhaps one of the best, most fitting parts of the movie (and definitely one of the hardest to watch emotionally), Kirsten Dunst's character reads an excerpt from a poem:

"Eloisa to Abelard"
by Alexander Pope (not Pope Alexander)

207 How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
208 The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
209 Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
210 Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
211 Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
212 "Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
213 Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
214 Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
215 Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
216 And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
217 For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,
218 And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
219 For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
220 For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
221 To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
222 And melts in visions of eternal day.

Now, she actually only says the first four lines of this, but I found the entire stanza to be too beautiful and fitting of the movie to not include. The full poem itself is infact several stanzas, and is in total 366 lines.

This is my response to Adam for saying that I didn't do the movie justice with 'great':

sad, depressing, romantic, funny, tragic, chaotic, reminiscent, nostalgic, amazing, apalling, sweet, touching, honest, beautiful, frightening, gorgeous, crazy, clumsy, dizzying, mesmerizing, calm, peaceful, memorable, brilliant, magnificent, and soothing

This is my definition of the word 'great,' when I told Adam that this movie was 'great.' But who knows, perhaps I should just say that this movie was nice.

Stay tuned for my regularly scheduled Weekend Movie Review, where I will tell you of movies such as 'Dawn of the Dead,' and hopefully 'The Ladykillers,' if time allows.

Due to popular demand, the WAUT has returned. Currently, and fittingly, 'nice' shall be known as the WAUT. If you wish to understand, you will have to go see 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.'

Never try to forget something. No matter how bad you believe a past experience to be, you wouldn't be the person you are now without those events. They have shaped who you are, and you cannot deny this. So instead of trying to erase you past and change who you are, embrace your memories, the good and the bad. Go forth and make knew memories for yourself, and try to help others make fond ones as well.

I Have to Write This Before I Decide to Forget It.

2004-03-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

Collin, my friend. You are a fool. You went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last week. You told me it was great. What the hell were you thinking!? Why haven't you written about this piece of work yet?? This is quite probably the single most brilliant film I have ever seen - the guys I saw it with agree, brilliant is the only word that can describe it.

Seriously, though. If you haven't seen writer Charlie Kaufman's third masterpiece (Being John Malcovic, Adaptation.), do it, now. Drop what you're doing, whatever it is, and go see it. Right now, I can see this winning Best Original Screenplay, Best Film, Best Director, and Best Editing at next year's Peters, and I wouldn't rule out a nomination for Best Visual Effects, either.

The attention to detail (watch Clementine's roots throughout and just try to look for a flaw), the brilliant writing, and the utterly non-contrived ending...I mean just wow. I'm asking how many Golden Globes this could win next year - let's start the bidding at 9, shall we?

Jim Carrey, Kate Winslett, and Elijah Wood (at full height, no less)....all brilliant.

Why are you still reading this? Go watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. GO!

Dropping Balls and Taking Names, Meganomaniacally and Collegiately

2004-03-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since Culturegeist has been updated - midterms, spring break, and the general sloth that follows a week of each of both will do that to college kids. Anywho, we're back, and should be updating more regularly now, so hang on.

Some business to take care of:
The WAUT - Yeah, I know Collin and I slipped a bit in the last couple of posts and didn't use the WAUT. It's not that we dropped the ball, it's just that "duckin' firiculus" had reached the end of its arbitrary unit of time. Watch out for a new WAUT to make an appearance as soon as one strikes either one of us.
WCCR Music Director (i.e. me) - I, on the other hand, have dropped the ball regarding my responsibilities as WCCR music director. I'm blaming it on the intimidation factor involved with a pile of 80 CDs nobody's ever heard (or heard of, for that matter). So I'm resolving to pass on most of those and get Station Manager Tony to get me new CDs he (read: the station) receives in the mail ASAP, so I don't have that giant pile o' music to worry about.

On to the good stuff...

Last month - nearly two months ago at this point - Incubus released their fourth major-label album A Crow Left of the Murder, so named for the second track and in tribute to being just outside of the mainstream (a group of crows, of course, being termed a murder). I've been a fan of Incubus ever since they released 'Stellar' off of Make Yourself, and this album is just as good as anything they've put out. What really catches my attention is how much riskier this album is than a lot of CDs being put out by other big-name bands (read: Linkin Park). Incubus' last effort, 2001's Morning View, embodied a lot of risk by being a lot more mellow at times with tracks like '11am,' 'Mexico,' and 'Aqueous Transition,' and this album keeps with a mellower sound in a few tracks ('Southern Girl' and 'Here In My Room'), but that's not the risk - been there done that. This album sounds less over-produced than their previous works. I know, you're thinking, "But that's the trend, now, look at The White Stripes and The Strokes!" That's missing the point: those bands are more garage rock than Incubus has ever been (they have a DJ in the band, now, come on). I like the sound - it might be that I'm getting more into indie rock, but I like it. This album also caught some of the edge that some have said Morning View was missing. Tracks like 'Sick Sad Little World,' 'Pistola,' 'Priceless,' and 'Megalomaniac' (with its brilliant and overtly political video) are testament to that. If you're into good rock music - fast, slow, hard, soft, angsty, lovey-dovey - give this album a shot; it more than deserves it. They've even thrown a little extra incentive into buying the CD: those who purchase it and go online can get an exclusive password to Internet presales for tickets to Incubus' tour this summer. There, now how can you say no?

It's March, and we know what that means. No, the 15th has come and gone - I'm not talking about the Ides, I'm talking the Big Dance. The NCAA tournament is here, and my bracket is shot to hell. I've only got 7 of the Sweet 16 teams, but my Final Four is 3/4 in tact (stupid Kentucky), and both my National Championship teams are still alive (Wake Forest over Duke), but I digress. I'm not talking about who's going to be whom this weekend, I'm talking about CBS' coverage of said chalk/upsets. It actually just hit me a few minutes ago, but CBS did a good job, at least in my area, of keeping up with all the games while sacrificing relatively little of the "main" game for my market. I can only think of once when they left in the closing seconds of a game to show a game with over a minute left, but the first game had a 10 point separation, while the new matchup was within a couple points (if memory serves). Also, I gotta love the anchors in the studio chastising each other over picks like Gonzaga or Stanford or even *gasp* Kentucky as National Champion; it keeps things light and reminds us that the pundits (in sports as in politics) don't know everything (so that's why they're on TV instead of taking Tubby Smith or Mike Davis or even Miss Cleo's jobs).

That's all I got for now, gotta go watch some hoops and listen to Incubus.

UPDATE: Friday 26 March 12:16pm
I'm done with this year's pool. Wake Forest bit the dust last night thanks to St. Joe's. Oh well, now I just gotta sit through baseball season and wait till the fall when fantasy NFL picks back up.

Reviews, Opinions, and Promotional Pimps

2004-03-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

Well its been a few days since i've posted, mostly due to the fact that i've been running around trying to get multitudes of things accomplished. Amazingly, late Thursday night, I purchased a computer, after having bugged all of my friends for days to help me make sure I got the right one. And I would like to take this chance to thank them for putting up with me.

Now, back to the topic at hand. While Adam here is a promotional pimp for his indie record labels, I will try to bring you the unbiased opinion of...well, me. Now, it must have slipped Adam's mind to let me borrow said CD's so that I may form my own opinion to counter/agree with his, and therefore I will not currently be able to review the aforementioned albums. However, I will bring you updates as to what I have been listening to, and to offer insight into these wonderful bands and albums.

First off, 'Lost in Translation' is probably my favorite movie of the past year. Yes, you heard me, I'd have to say its beyond 'The Return of the King.' It also has one of the best soundtracks, and I highly recommend coming by it by whatever means you deem fit. Especially check for the song 'Just Like Honey' by The Jesus and Mary Chain, which you may recognize as the song that plays as the movie comes to a close. Absolutely wonderful track there.

Speaking of soundtracks....if you've seen and like 'Kill Bill' I highly recommend...no wait, demand that you go out and find a copy of this soundtrack. Absolutely amazing. Only Quentin Tarantino could put together such a soundtrack that so perfectly fits the movie. Look for 'Battle without Honor or Humanity' and 'Don't Let Me be Misunderstood' as the two stand-out tracks.

As far as newer, indie bands go, I recommend OK Go, and The Reunion Show. A couple of great bands here. You may recognize OK Go from their hit single 'Get Over It.' High energy, pop-punk sound gives them their own personal feel to this anger filled anthem. I suggest checking out the songs '1000 Miles Per Hour,' 'You're so Damn Hot,' and 'Don't Ask Me.' As for The Reunion Show, I first discover this little band when I came upon their cd in Von's Record Shop when I was flipping through their selection. The reviews mentioned on the album sleeve compared them to the likes of Weezer with their geek-punk sound. Being a huge Weezer fan myself and the CD being cheap, I picked it up, and have never regretted it. Even on repeat listenings, its still a great CD. 'Art of Doing Nothing' is a great example of their fun sound, and 'New Rock Revolution' demonstrates their high-energy doses of geek-punk.

And now...we've reached a weekly feature here on Culturegeist....Collin's Weekend Review. Here at the Cary Quad West, we usually take over the big screen in the basement, and watch movies and play various games. This weekend being no exception, I'm here to review one game, and three movies for you.

First, the games.....Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast. Virtua Tennis is by far one of the greatest arcade games to ever grace the likes of Putt-Putt. And while the Dreamcast controller is a bit oversized and a pain on your thumbs, its still a great game. If you happen to have four controllers, the doubles matches make for great fun.

Now, the movies...
Pirates of the Caribbean
Definitly an amazing movie. Johnny Depp provides a two-hour impression of Keith Richards in this amazing, oscar nominated performance, as he captures the audiences attention and love. While Legol- er....Orlando Bloom gives a worthy performance as a blacksmith turned pirate. The lovely Keira Knightly is absolutely spectacular, and she's a pretty good actress too. Geoffrey Rush probably delivers the best performance in the movie as a mutinous first mate turned skull and bones captain (literally). Over all, absolutely amazing, 9 of 10 stars.

Braveheart
Now I have to be honest, this was the first time I've ever seen this movie, and I must admit, it was better than I had expected. Although pretty inaccurate historically speaking, the movie does give a glimpse into the bloody history between Scotland and England. With amazing fight scenes, and moving/disturbing torture scenes, you can feel the struggle for freedom. My favorite thing about the movie though, is that it pretty much declares that William Wallace broke the current line of kings, very cheeky indeed. 8 of 10 stars.

Willow
George Lucas and Ron Howard team to create one of the greatest fantasy tales of our time. Building on classic themes of fantasy stories, Willow goes above and beyond your normal fantasy movie. Although not politically correct, I think it has been decided that all of the midgets in the screen actors guild, and some of their cousins, appear in the opening of the movie. That being said, the incomparable Billy Barty appears as the elder wizard High Aldwin in one of his greatest performances, right up there with Gwildor in Masters of the Universe, and Noodles MacIntosh in UHF. Val Kilmer also gives one of his best performances as thief turned hero.
Willow - 9 of 10.
Masters of the Universe - 6 of 10 (but still one of my favorite movies of the 80's)
UHF - 6 of 10 - (but one of the funnitest movies of the 80's, especially/only if you like Weird Al)

RIP Billy Barty ~ 2000.

Thus ends our broadcast day....beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Where's the Music?

2004-03-05T19:11:00.000-05:00

So we here at Culturegeist have been concentrating mostly on movies since our inception 4 days ago (It's been four days!?), what with the Peters, the Razzies, Hidalgo, and Jesus, but all that's about to change. Now that I'm the music director at WCCR, Cary Quadrangle's (of Purdue University) very own web radio station, I have a stack - well, more a disheveled pile - of more than 50 CDs from the last 8 months or so to listen through and review. And, you guessed it, I'm going to report to you, the eagerly awaiting populace, on the best of these hot new bands. I've just started listening to them, and I'm about 3/4 of the way through the second CD - even though the first one shouldn't really count; it was a live CD of one of my favorite bands, The Mars Volta, who I'm actually seeing live in Indy next month.

Anyway, the CD I'm listening to now is from a NY-based quartet called Stuck On 8. Their album All I Know makes it easy to tell who the band's two biggest influences are: Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They've got a few really good tracks which, if the band gets any kind of publicity, could and even should be playing on college radio stations around the country.

On a more local note, those of you out there who are into *legal* music downloads should check out some of the Indianapolis-based music that's been on there for only about a month. Benchmark Records, a local indie label, signed a deal with iTunes last month and now the likes of Loretta, America Owns the Moon, and Devil To Pay are all available for download at reasonable prices. *cheesy salesman grin* Just thought I'd give you all a heads up.

The Passion and 1000-Character limits

2004-03-04T19:18:00.000-05:00

So, I lied about that being my last post, but that's not my faullt! I blame Hoov, seeing as his comments on my post (which surpassed our HaloScan comments' 1000-character limit) are the basis for this post, and here they are:

Nice commentary...although as a history major, this and all of the other "controversial" discussion of this movie misses what in my mind is a fairly major point: crucifixion is one of the all time inhumane, brutal and torturous ways to die. From what I have read--religiosity aside--this is a physically accurrate account of a crucifying. As a prof I had in college said about the death of Jesus and crucifixion in general (parphrasing here): "You dont die just from being stapled to a cross for three hours--these were horrific beatings..." We have over the years so sanitized the death of Jesus to make it consumable for the masses, that we have lost the historically accurrate context for the ass whoopin that it was.

So I am a little mystified by everyone's dismay at the brutality, or the claims that MG is sensationalizing the death of Jesus to make a point. You could compare this to the "controversy" surrounding the brutality in "Full Metal Jacket" or "Platoon" 15 or 20 years ago (I remember one reviewer saying that they were "offended by such a brutal picture of war"...Dude! It's f*&^%$# war!!!) after our society had watched 30 years of John Wayne neatly taking over World War II beaches. It may have been popular myth, but it werent war folks...

A confirmed non-Jew,

Hoov

And he makes a good point. Being crucified is at the top of my Ways Not to Die list - has been since I learned (maybe from watching Sparticus?) just what a duckin' firiculously painful way to die it is. Of course, now I can't remember if it's from your lungs filling up with water or from your ribs crushing your lungs, but regardless, it would suck a lot. Actually, since I'm writing on the subject again, I saw another critique along the same lines as my last post, this time written by Gregg Easterbrook (who also happens to be the author of the very funny Tuesday Morning Quarterback during the NFL season) - just scroll down to the March 3rd post on his blog.

Oh, by the way, it's kinda cool that my parents and their friends are reading this. Thanks for giving us a shot, and even more for getting us feedback - we love that stuff.

Josh, the Annointed, the Beaten into the ground

2004-03-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

So I finally saw The Passion of the Christ last weekend. Yeah, Quentin Tarantino was put to shame by the violence in this film, which bordered on the duckin' firiculous. A friend of mine noticed that Jesus didn't receive the traditional 40 lashes, but received 32 lashes - hooray for being able to count in Latin - before the Roman punishers started the count over with a stronger, metal-tipped cat-o-nine-tails sorta whip thingy, for a grand total of 72 lashes. Now, I'm in an agnostic stage in my life, and that may have something to with this, but the massive flogging didn't mess with me the way I heard others talking about. I was disturbed by these scenes because of the sheer beating this man was receiving, not because of the specific historical icon that man happened to be - call me a Humanist. Of course, Richard Cohen over @ WaPo was disturbed for a whole other reason:

There was so much blood, so much flayed skin, so much horror that almost immediately I became inured to it all. I felt as a surgeon must in the operating theater or, maybe, as the torturer feels when another "job" is brought before him. More work. Repeatedly, I found myself checking my watch.

He also throws out the F-word in his column - fascist - not in reference to Mel or anything, but in the temperament of the film. Violence is a huge part of the fascist mindset, and after reading Cohen's reaction, I have to agree: pretty fascistic. Christopher Hitchens over at Slate drops this particular F-bomb, too, and he goes into some of Mr. Gibson's less admirable (in my eyes, at least) tastes in humor:

[A]n associate of his had once told me, in lacerating detail, that an evening with Mel was one long fiesta of boring but graphic jokes about anal sex. I've since had that confirmed by other sources. And, long before he emerged as the spear-carrier for the sort of Catholicism once preached by Gen. Franco and the persecutors of Dreyfus, Mel Gibson attained a brief notoriety for his loud and crude attacks on gays. Now he's become the proud producer of a movie that relies for its effect almost entirely on sadomasochistic male narcissism. The culture of blackshirt and brownshirt pseudomasculinity, as has often been pointed out, depended on some keen shared interests. Among them were massively repressed homoerotic fantasies, a camp interest in military uniforms, an obsession with flogging and a hatred of silky and effeminate Jews. Well, I mean to say, have you seen Mel's movie?

There are a thousand other columns and blogs I could rip off to further this discourse, but I digress.

Like most have said before me, folks, this flick is not the Gospel truth, it's an Australian conservative Traditionalist Catholic's interpretation of the four Gospels, which often contradict each other. I'm not saying the whole thing is a massive lie perpetrated by anti-Semites, I'm just saying that you gotta see this for what it is: a movie. I've posed it to friends since I saw it that you will come out of it with reinforced beliefs: if you went in thinking the film would be anti-Semitic, it will be, and vice-versa; if you went in yourself being anti-Semitic, you'll come out probably an even stronger anti-Semite, but The Passion won't make you think that way; if you went in a Christian, there you go, but don't expect a tsunami of converts on the heels of James Caviezel's performance.

Now, since this has been thoroughly beaten into the ground by all sides of whatever issues have arisen out of The Passion, consider this my one, only, and final post on the topic.

Gigli Wins! Loses! What?

2004-03-02T12:13:00.000-05:00

Unless you're a fan of the Golden Raspberry Awards, which held its 24th Annual Razzies along with the newly renamed Peters this past week, you may not realize that Gigli is nearly as recordbreaking as Jackson's epic adaptation. That's right, ladies and gents, The Bennifer fiasco mob-comedy flop swept the Razzies, going above and beyond the call of sucking. From the official press release:

ALL SIX “top” RAZZIES®: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Ben Affleck), Worst Actress (Jennifer Lopez) and Worst Screen Couple (Affleck & Lopez combined) as well as Worst Screenplay and Worst Director (both the work of Triple-Crown “winner” Martin Brest, who also co-produced the film).

Other notes from the Razzies: Sly Stallone broke new ground as a horrible actor with his record-setting tenth win in an amazing thirty (count 'em!) nominations, this year for worst supporting actor for his five roles in the latest Spy Kids flick - that's just duckin' firiculous, yo.

Hidalgo, Schmalgo...

2004-03-02T09:29:00.002-05:00

Well I found this interesting. According to a news brief on IMDB, Disney's upcoming movie Hidalgo, the supposed amazing true story, is based on nothing more than a tall tale. The movie tells the tale of an American cowboy who goes to Arabia to participate in a 3000 mile race across the desert, nicknamed the ocean of fire. According to Dr. Awad Al-Badim, director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and an authority on Western travelers to Arabia, no such race has ever taken place. He noted that the idea of the 3000 mile race was 'pure nonsense,' and that it would put the finish line 'somewhere in Romania.' If that wasn't interesting enough, apparently US historians have also done some research into it, discovering the story to have come from fabricated tales told by Frank Hopkins, the real-life cowboy that's depicted in the movie, who apparently was considered to be a pathological liar by historians.

Now....why would Disney go and make such a big deal about this movie being based on a true story, and then not even bother to research into it one bit? Michael Eisner, this is duckin' firiculous....I salute you.

Counterpoint (Adam is wrong)

2004-03-01T01:45:00.000-05:00

Well....as Adam previously stated, welcome to Culturegeist, the single happenin'-ist site that's run by two college guys who live on the second and third floor of the same dorm and who also work together in the dining hall, on the internet....a very prestegious title indeed. As it is 1:45 AM as i write this....i'm way too tired to do much more than say that Adam is duckin' firiculous (see WAUT) for doubting the everlasting juggernaut that is 'The Return of the King.' Although, i have to admit that i would have liked to see 'Pirates of the Caribbean' walk away with best makeup. And as far as the sheep go....i think its best that nobody thanked them, as i would be afraid of what reasons they would have for thanking a sheep in the first place.

Speaking of pirates....I believe that Johnny Depp deserved to win the Best Actor Oscar. Not since 'Cry Baby' has he delivered such a stirring and altogether amazing performance. He deserves to be honored for the two-hour impression of Keith Richards that was...Captain Jack Sparrow.

And with that....i believe i shall go to bed. Stay tuned for future updates and features to the site. FYI....approximately 1 month and 15 days until Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

Rock on Honorable Ones.

Point (Welcome)

2004-03-01T00:47:00.000-05:00

So this is the first post here at Culturegeist, and it will serve the purpose of blasting the Academy. None will stand in the way of the NAZI juggernaut that is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King!!! The ceremony's over, and LotR went 11 for 11, when Mystic River was a much stronger screenplay, and there are some other discrepencies I can think of, but I'm fuming too damn hard. They won half the friggin awards! Next year, it'll be the 77th Annual Peters! That showing was duckin' firiculous* as all damn. I hope New Zealand is happy, although that reminds me of another grievance: no sheep were thanked. In a country whose population is 93.4% sheep, I find it deeply hurtful that the good people who made LotR (a good movie, but still!) found no reason to thank any of them. This is a travesty that cannot go unmentioned. Anyway, welcome to Culturegeist - we hope to keep you amused with our clever banter and whatnot. Collin, take your shots.

Peter Jackson, I say to you, Seig Heil!!

*current Word of the Arbitrary Unit of Time (WAUT)**

**We here @ Culturegeist will try to implement a Word of the Arbitrary Unit of Time, which will be in each of our posts until a new WAUT takes its place.