(no subject)
Insomnia, when it happens for the first time in awhile, doesn't make itself apparent. It sneaks up on you, while you're doing something mundane or pointless to while away the hours before you go to bed. In my case, this means playing CM and Pac-Man on ebaumsworld. Before you know it, it's a little over 2 hours before you were going to get up for work. On the plus side, I'll get a visit from my old friend, sleep-deprived lunacy.
Champions League final is only a few hours away. I don't know if it'll be a classic, what with Milan's poor form and Liverpool's Euro-bunker, but it's still a big deal. No predictions, as we all saw what happened last time I tried that.
DC United 3:2 Kansas City
A pretty good showing in attack, and other than 2 bad moments, a good show at the back. Boswell got handcuffed by a bounce on the own goal, but looked like he was also caught between trapping the ball or kicking the fuck out of it. I defer to the wisdom of my father: "When in doubt on defense, kick the ball away from your goal as hard as you can." On the second goal...well, what's a DC game without Nicky making a seemingly harmless ball into an adventure?
Esky looked more menacing (where's Ray Hudson?), and Nowak's very flexible formation seemed to completely flummox the Wizards. Nice to see Gansler get beat at his own game from time to time. I have a feeling we're within a month of an outburst from Freddy, assuming he won't crack the starting lineup by then. He fits the supersub role perfectly, though. The run and pass for Gomez's second were very mature...I just hope he can show that when the press comes a-calling, too.
***
With Simms out to play for the nats, I'm guessing we'll see a midfield of Gros-Carroll-Olsen-Kovalenko in behind Gomez for the game against Dallas. I have to admit, I'm worried about what Johnson, Ruiz, and O'Brien can manage against our defense, which seems to break down badly twice a game no matter who the opposition is. Seems like a decent bet for that one to be a high scoring game, what with Dallas not exactly putting up an iron curtain at their end.
***
And that brings me to Mike Petke, the wanker. It looks like this was mostly a cap move: Petke costs more than Prideaux and Namoff, and one is always going to be on the bench. It's the nature of MLS, I suppose. The most fitting tribute I can think of to Petke is this: he won me over. When he arrived, we all were deeply unhappy about it. After all, Petke was about as "New York" as you could get in MLS. He was also a sometimes captain for the metrofuckers, he wore white shoes, and he dyed his hair. In other words, everything that would make you unhappy with an opposing defender, he did. Not only that, but going the other way happened to be the last two remnants of the glory years: Jaime Moreno and Eddie Pope (remember, at this point there was no guarantee whether Benny would ever play again...and even then, he was only there for the end of it). The bad times were well and truly on.
Petke, however, had other ideas. One of my main problems with MLS is that the players, generally, are too reserved. They get out in the community more than any athletes I know of, but there are precious few that want...nay, need a rapport with the fans. Mike Petke is one of these. And so, as the story goes, he turned up at an offseason DC fans Happy Hour, and was greeted by the "Petke is a wanker!" chant. Welcome to DC, right? Instead of trying to quiet them down, or leaving, or any other number of solutions, Petke got up on a chair and began acting as a conductor for the chant. 5 years of hate began to melt away, just like that.
And, if he hadn't won us all over by season's end, there was that 96th minute equalizer (set up by CHINO ALEGRIA!!!) against the Crew after McBride had scored on an injury time penalty with what was, basically, their second shot of the game. Of course, DC lost that game in overtime, but that's not the point. Petke's reaction after the goal said it all.
Mike, you had us at "wanker". Good luck in Colorado...it looks like you're going to need it.
***
Hey, look, the sun!
***
Almost forgot what else I wanted to mention. Last night, I saw the new Star Wars. I believe the two words I used most in describing it afterwards were "diabolical" and "execrable". As in "That was diabolically execrable!"
I should state that the special effects were great and that it's tempting to just take that for granted. The fight scenes were creative and well-executed. There was no Jar-Jar, nor any of the other racial-stereotypes-as-alien characters. These were all good things.
Now, for the bad. Hayden Christiansen is, and I don't say this lightly, as bad an actor as I have ever seen in a major motion picture. He was so bad, he could have made Ed worse (if you don't recall, Ed is a movie from '94 or '95 about a monkey that plays minor league baseball with Matt LeBlanc, and teaches everyone about love, sportsmanship, and hurling feces. If only it were all true...). I would call him "wooden", but it would be an insult to the thespian tendencies of trees. Honestly, it would have been better if they had a big neon sign with whatever his emotion was supposed to be right above his head at all times.
FEAR
JOY
CONFUSION
You get the point. The only thing he did right was show physical pain. Congratulations, Hayden, you know how to make a face like you stubbed your toe. Hell, he could even have had someone stick a needle in his arm, we'd never know.
Oh, don't think he's going to bear all of my vitriol (turns out $7 is worth a lot of vitriol). If there's one thing I can't stand in film, it's when the makers of a movie treat their audience like a gang of morons. And so, when General Greivous goes into what is very obviously an escape pod and says, TO NO ONE AT ALL, "Time to escape!", I have to feel insulted. Does George Lucas believe I have the same mental capacity of an infant? It would seem so. Independence Day treated its audience with more respect.
Even the skilled actors mailed it in, for the most part. Jimmy Smits sounded like he was reading from a teleprompter, as a stick was being put up his ass. It was the same problem every time: Samuel L. Jackson wasn't Mace Windu, leader...he was "Leader". Natalie Portman (who was, as per usual, gorgeous) wasn't Padme Amidala, confused and emotional wife, she was "Confused and Emotional Wife". The list goes on. There were no nuances, and you can only blame poor dialogue for so much.
So, to bring it all together, I hated it. I would have been much better off wondering how things got to that point, rather than having it so painfully illustrated by a once-great film maker who is now very much past it.
***
Man, I used to be Mr. Popular around here. Now, the last 3 comments are from me drunk, me drunk, and me sober explaining what I did while drunk. I suppose this is what happens when you up and vanish with no explanation.
***
Things done while trying to feel sleepy:
-Checked out the Post for any news on DC. Guess what? Dema's staying.
-Googled "terpidiots" in hopes of finding a cached version or something. Other than the Kool-Aid Man busting through a brick wall on campus and porch-fishing, it was the best thing any student did in terms of dumb entertainment.
-Pondered how much my neck and back will hurt around 11am.
-Pondered how much I like the line "Average MCs is like a TV blooper/MF DOOM is like D.B. Cooper" (verdict: a lot)
-Thought about going for a run, but then remembered the principal rule of surviving on no sleep: conserve energy at all costs. For future reference, rule #2 is "Eat once every 4 or 5 hours, but don't stuff yourself". Rule #3 is "When you start thinking crazy, laugh at yourself and move on. Otherwise, you will actually go nuts."
-Pondered how I may have botched being the one of us that finally gets with Krista's sister (apparently, she is now single...I made no moves because I thought she was spoken for and because everyone else there was going for it anyway. Note to self: Practice saying "What that got to do with me?" whenever a girl says "I got a man")
-Pondered how I may not have botched it, on the off chance that she believes I'm playing hard to get
-Pondered washing my sheets. Decided not to (and by "decided", I mean "Got distracted by something else and forgot what I was pondering")
-Pondered using new words instead of the same one over and over again.
-Wished "ponderous" came with a mood icon.
-Wondered what our next mash-up party will be (after successfully mashing up a moonbounce with a housewarming, Graduation with New Year's, and 40 hands with togas). My current idea is Christmas in July, but what unrelated, silly idea goes with that? Generally, these things have come to us as a house naturally.
***
Alright, I just spent an hour on this. Enough!
P.S. I found some Mucha Lucha fruit snacks at the store. Apparently there's a cartoon about Mexican wrestling. I bought them with a mixture of delight and honor.
P.P.S. My dad doesn't need back surgery. Just physical therapy, and to not do certain things. Plus, he's now going to be building models of kayaks for a place called Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, which he's excited about. It was good to see him in such a good mood (we had dinner Tuesday). And with that, I'm really and truly out.
Champions League final is only a few hours away. I don't know if it'll be a classic, what with Milan's poor form and Liverpool's Euro-bunker, but it's still a big deal. No predictions, as we all saw what happened last time I tried that.
DC United 3:2 Kansas City
A pretty good showing in attack, and other than 2 bad moments, a good show at the back. Boswell got handcuffed by a bounce on the own goal, but looked like he was also caught between trapping the ball or kicking the fuck out of it. I defer to the wisdom of my father: "When in doubt on defense, kick the ball away from your goal as hard as you can." On the second goal...well, what's a DC game without Nicky making a seemingly harmless ball into an adventure?
Esky looked more menacing (where's Ray Hudson?), and Nowak's very flexible formation seemed to completely flummox the Wizards. Nice to see Gansler get beat at his own game from time to time. I have a feeling we're within a month of an outburst from Freddy, assuming he won't crack the starting lineup by then. He fits the supersub role perfectly, though. The run and pass for Gomez's second were very mature...I just hope he can show that when the press comes a-calling, too.
***
With Simms out to play for the nats, I'm guessing we'll see a midfield of Gros-Carroll-Olsen-Kovalenko in behind Gomez for the game against Dallas. I have to admit, I'm worried about what Johnson, Ruiz, and O'Brien can manage against our defense, which seems to break down badly twice a game no matter who the opposition is. Seems like a decent bet for that one to be a high scoring game, what with Dallas not exactly putting up an iron curtain at their end.
***
And that brings me to Mike Petke, the wanker. It looks like this was mostly a cap move: Petke costs more than Prideaux and Namoff, and one is always going to be on the bench. It's the nature of MLS, I suppose. The most fitting tribute I can think of to Petke is this: he won me over. When he arrived, we all were deeply unhappy about it. After all, Petke was about as "New York" as you could get in MLS. He was also a sometimes captain for the metrofuckers, he wore white shoes, and he dyed his hair. In other words, everything that would make you unhappy with an opposing defender, he did. Not only that, but going the other way happened to be the last two remnants of the glory years: Jaime Moreno and Eddie Pope (remember, at this point there was no guarantee whether Benny would ever play again...and even then, he was only there for the end of it). The bad times were well and truly on.
Petke, however, had other ideas. One of my main problems with MLS is that the players, generally, are too reserved. They get out in the community more than any athletes I know of, but there are precious few that want...nay, need a rapport with the fans. Mike Petke is one of these. And so, as the story goes, he turned up at an offseason DC fans Happy Hour, and was greeted by the "Petke is a wanker!" chant. Welcome to DC, right? Instead of trying to quiet them down, or leaving, or any other number of solutions, Petke got up on a chair and began acting as a conductor for the chant. 5 years of hate began to melt away, just like that.
And, if he hadn't won us all over by season's end, there was that 96th minute equalizer (set up by CHINO ALEGRIA!!!) against the Crew after McBride had scored on an injury time penalty with what was, basically, their second shot of the game. Of course, DC lost that game in overtime, but that's not the point. Petke's reaction after the goal said it all.
Mike, you had us at "wanker". Good luck in Colorado...it looks like you're going to need it.
***
Hey, look, the sun!
***
Almost forgot what else I wanted to mention. Last night, I saw the new Star Wars. I believe the two words I used most in describing it afterwards were "diabolical" and "execrable". As in "That was diabolically execrable!"
I should state that the special effects were great and that it's tempting to just take that for granted. The fight scenes were creative and well-executed. There was no Jar-Jar, nor any of the other racial-stereotypes-as-alien characters. These were all good things.
Now, for the bad. Hayden Christiansen is, and I don't say this lightly, as bad an actor as I have ever seen in a major motion picture. He was so bad, he could have made Ed worse (if you don't recall, Ed is a movie from '94 or '95 about a monkey that plays minor league baseball with Matt LeBlanc, and teaches everyone about love, sportsmanship, and hurling feces. If only it were all true...). I would call him "wooden", but it would be an insult to the thespian tendencies of trees. Honestly, it would have been better if they had a big neon sign with whatever his emotion was supposed to be right above his head at all times.
FEAR
JOY
CONFUSION
You get the point. The only thing he did right was show physical pain. Congratulations, Hayden, you know how to make a face like you stubbed your toe. Hell, he could even have had someone stick a needle in his arm, we'd never know.
Oh, don't think he's going to bear all of my vitriol (turns out $7 is worth a lot of vitriol). If there's one thing I can't stand in film, it's when the makers of a movie treat their audience like a gang of morons. And so, when General Greivous goes into what is very obviously an escape pod and says, TO NO ONE AT ALL, "Time to escape!", I have to feel insulted. Does George Lucas believe I have the same mental capacity of an infant? It would seem so. Independence Day treated its audience with more respect.
Even the skilled actors mailed it in, for the most part. Jimmy Smits sounded like he was reading from a teleprompter, as a stick was being put up his ass. It was the same problem every time: Samuel L. Jackson wasn't Mace Windu, leader...he was "Leader". Natalie Portman (who was, as per usual, gorgeous) wasn't Padme Amidala, confused and emotional wife, she was "Confused and Emotional Wife". The list goes on. There were no nuances, and you can only blame poor dialogue for so much.
So, to bring it all together, I hated it. I would have been much better off wondering how things got to that point, rather than having it so painfully illustrated by a once-great film maker who is now very much past it.
***
Man, I used to be Mr. Popular around here. Now, the last 3 comments are from me drunk, me drunk, and me sober explaining what I did while drunk. I suppose this is what happens when you up and vanish with no explanation.
***
Things done while trying to feel sleepy:
-Checked out the Post for any news on DC. Guess what? Dema's staying.
-Googled "terpidiots" in hopes of finding a cached version or something. Other than the Kool-Aid Man busting through a brick wall on campus and porch-fishing, it was the best thing any student did in terms of dumb entertainment.
-Pondered how much my neck and back will hurt around 11am.
-Pondered how much I like the line "Average MCs is like a TV blooper/MF DOOM is like D.B. Cooper" (verdict: a lot)
-Thought about going for a run, but then remembered the principal rule of surviving on no sleep: conserve energy at all costs. For future reference, rule #2 is "Eat once every 4 or 5 hours, but don't stuff yourself". Rule #3 is "When you start thinking crazy, laugh at yourself and move on. Otherwise, you will actually go nuts."
-Pondered how I may have botched being the one of us that finally gets with Krista's sister (apparently, she is now single...I made no moves because I thought she was spoken for and because everyone else there was going for it anyway. Note to self: Practice saying "What that got to do with me?" whenever a girl says "I got a man")
-Pondered how I may not have botched it, on the off chance that she believes I'm playing hard to get
-Pondered washing my sheets. Decided not to (and by "decided", I mean "Got distracted by something else and forgot what I was pondering")
-Pondered using new words instead of the same one over and over again.
-Wished "ponderous" came with a mood icon.
-Wondered what our next mash-up party will be (after successfully mashing up a moonbounce with a housewarming, Graduation with New Year's, and 40 hands with togas). My current idea is Christmas in July, but what unrelated, silly idea goes with that? Generally, these things have come to us as a house naturally.
***
Alright, I just spent an hour on this. Enough!
P.S. I found some Mucha Lucha fruit snacks at the store. Apparently there's a cartoon about Mexican wrestling. I bought them with a mixture of delight and honor.
P.P.S. My dad doesn't need back surgery. Just physical therapy, and to not do certain things. Plus, he's now going to be building models of kayaks for a place called Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, which he's excited about. It was good to see him in such a good mood (we had dinner Tuesday). And with that, I'm really and truly out.