Egg-Offs

I've told several people about egg-offs and the reaction that is most common is a look of exasperation mixed with despair.

What are egg-offs?  They are basically duels with eggs.  The next question I usually get is "why?"  Because we had the eggs...we had the eggs.  Check out the video (you might want to pause it and let it load...it's kind of slow right now):

USA vs. China, Men's Basketball

I watched the USA men's basketball team, the "Redeem Team," methodically handle the Chinese today and was fairly impressed with what I saw. Here are a few observations:

-I would agree with Doug Collins' comments that the 3 most important keys for this team are 3-point shooting (offensively and defensively), free throw shooting, and what Collins referred to as "slippage." Team USA shot 29.2% from beyond the arc (which is a shorter distance than the NBA line), while Team China went 10-for-27 from three-point land. China also only missed 1 of their 15 free throw attempts, while the Americans went 18-for-25. As for the "slippage," toward the end of the 3rd quarter, some of the players began to force plays, attempting impossible and ill-advised passes. Coach K did a good job of making some substitutions at this point, bringing in Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, and I think that have Coach K will help in this area.

-The defensive effort by the Americans was very good. Team USA collected 14 steals and 4 blocks, forcing 18 turnovers, while only committing 17 fouls. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade all turned in impressive defensive games.

-The announcers during the game underscored the importance of Michael Redd being on the roster. He made 3 three-pointers for the team in 13 minutes of action. Redd will likely see more playing time in closer games when the US will need his shooting expertise.

-Dwyane Wade looked great, and he could go down in history as the greatest sixth man. Coming off the bench, Wade was perfect from the field (7-7) and from the charity stripe (5-5) to collect 19 points (which led all scorers). Wade also had 2 assists and 2 steals in 20 minutes.

-Nice to hear the old "NBA on NBC" theme song once again.

-The funniest moment of the game was probably when the cameras cut to the audience to show a sleeping Henry Kissinger.

-The only holdovers from the 2004 roster for Team USA are LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony. Key subtractions (in my opinion) - Emeka Okafor, Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and head coach Larry Brown.

-Team USA received a pretty positive welcome from non-American fans, and the announcers pointed out several times that the Chinese fans cheered loudly for both teams.

2008 Summer Olympics

Before I get to some notes about the Beijing Olympics, let me just say that I know I've been slacking in my blogging efforts lately. I have a new work schedule now, and as summer winds down I should be able to do some more consistent posting. Now to the Olympics.

I watched a good portion of the Opening Ceremony last night, and felt that China put on a fairly decent show. Some portions of the ceremony were definitely more spectacular than others - the drummers, fireworks, and torch lighting were probably the three most memorable aspects for me. And I thought NBC did a fine job covering the event. The announcers regularly mixed in comments pertaining to political issues with more lighthearted fare - at one point, Bob Costas reminded viewers that the Central African Republic was located in central Africa. But Costas also had some chastising words for the Chinese revoking Joey Cheek's visa. It will be interesting to watch, as the Games continue the next two weeks, how NBC chooses to mix in political discussions with their coverage of the sporting events.

There are several other story-lines that I will be paying attention to during the Beijing Games. One is certainly the medal count competition between the US and China. A lot of analysts have predicted that the Chinese will win more medals than the American delegation. The Chinese team contains 639 athletes compared to the US' 595, and many believe that the homefield advantage will push China past the US. Here are the medal counts from the 4 previous Summer Olympics:

2004 - Athens

US - 102 Medals (36 Gold, 39 Silver, 27 Bronze)
Russia - 92 Medals (27 Gold, 27 Silver, 38 Bronze)
China - 63 Medals (32 Gold, 17 Silver, 14 Bronze)

2000 - Sydney

US - 97 Medals (40 G, 24 S, 33 B)
Russia - 88 Medals (32 G, 28 S, 28 B)
China - 59 Medals (28 G, 16 S, 15 B)

1996 - Atlanta

US - 101 Medals (44 G, 32 S, 25 B)
Germany - 65 Medals (20 G, 18 S, 27 B)
Russia - 63 Medals (26 G, 21 S, 16 B)

1992 - Barcelona

Unified Team (ex-Soviet Union countries) - 112 Medals (45 G, 38 S, 29 B)
US - 108 Medals (37 G, 34 S, 37 B)
Germany - 82 Medals (33 G, 21 S, 28 B)

So far, 12 countries have already won at least one medal. The US women swept the first fencing event, and the Americans have their first gold, silver, and bronze medals.

One of the bigger themes for the US team will be redemption. The US men's basketball team has dubbed themselves the "Redeem Team" as they seek a gold medal in Beijing to erase the disappointments of past world competitions. And recent doping scandals and suspicions have plagued a number of American athletes, in events such as track and field and swimming.

The events I'm most looking forward to watching are baseball, men's basketball, softball, tennis, and track and field. And table tennis - the event that defines the Summer Olympics.

Batman Fever

The Brett Favre comeback/don't comeback debate. The Brewers losing 4 out of their last 6 games. The hot, humid, and wet weather that refuses to leave Wisconsin. Flooding and mosquitoes. The inane political debates which have begun to saturate the media. And Bozo the Clown is dead.

We've had to put up with a lot lately, and more than ever we need a distraction. We need Batman.

Thankfully, the wait is nearly over. The Dark Knight, the most-buzzed about film of the summer (a summer with few buzz-worthy movies), will finally be released this Friday across the country. Many theatres are providing midnight showings, and some are even adding extra showings as early as 6 am.

Early reviews of the Batman Begins sequel are only creating more anticipation. Rottentomatoes.com has posted 15 reviews of the movie already, and so far there is a 100% rating. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine raves about all of the performances from the movie's main stars, and compares Christian Bale to "Al Pacino in The Godfather II." Time's Richard Corliss describes how the movie rises above mere comic book-movie-popcorn-blockbuster qualities, creating a far more substantial product. Corliss credits the film's director, Christopher Nolan, for turning "pulp into dark poetry." While Newsweek's David Ansen's review is mostly positive, he does "wish it [the film] were a little more fun." At the same time, he praises (along with every other critic) the performance by Heath Ledger as The Joker, calling it "a stupendously creepy performance, wild but never over the top."

There are few movies that I will see more than once at a cinema, but I am already planning on seeing Dark Knight once in a regular theater and then later on an IMAX screen. The first thing I plan on doing after I get my paycheck Wednesday, is purchasing some advance tickets for a Friday showing.

Ledge Park

Pictures from a recent day hiking trip to Dodge County's Ledge Park.

The view from one of the ledges.



We took this sign to be more of a suggestion.

Mike's hat gave him special climbing abilities.





Just down the road from Ledge Park is this landfill.

A Little Break

I've been too busy the past couple of days to do any blogging - work started Monday, softball Monday night, more work on Tuesday, little league game Tuesday night, more soul-sucking work today, and an exciting trip to the local KMart for some headphones and paper lunch bags...phew!

I'll probably take the rest of the week off from blogging.  It's going to take me a few more days to get settled into my new daily schedule, plus I've got little league stuff Friday and Saturday.  If I stumble across any free time I'll post something, otherwise I shall return Sunday.

Summer Of TS, Part IV...

...is over. I received the news this morning that I would be employed for the rest of the summer. I know that this will come as a blow to all of my fellow summer bums. No more waking up after 10 am for me.

I made a pledge a month ago that I would not shave until I got a job interview. It turned out that I never got an interview, but instead got re-hired at my previous summer job spot. My beard has moved past the hobo-look stage, so I think I will keep it for a while. Hopefully Waukesha County does not have any rules against employees having facial hair.

Saturday Canoe Trip - Oconomowoc River

A deer jumped into the water ahead of us and swam across the river. You can see its head in the photo below, straight ahead (click to enlarge).

Finished!

The pile of antebellum America books and journal articles lay vanquished.

I finished spell-checking my last paper of the semester just after 1 am. The only thing standing between me and summer is some data entry work at the history office.

Listen At Your Own Risk: 8 Can Miss Bands This Summer

At the beginning of the week I posted my “Summer Music Preview”. As a companion to that piece, here is a list of unbelievably terrible bands that will be performing this summer throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. I am in no way recommending that anyone actually go see these bands, unless it is to heckle or mock them and their fans.

May 16
-Blue Oyster Cult; Potawatomi Bingo Casino, Milwaukee
What better opportunity to wear your “More Cowbell” t-shirt than at a Blue Oyster Cult concert? Don’t expect any surprise appearances by Will Ferrell or Christopher Walken though.

June 5
-Bret Michaels; Taste of Summerfest, Waukesha
-Davy Jones; Waukesha Expo Center
Younger readers may recognize Bret Michaels as the official skank magnet for VH1, but according to his Wikipedia page, Michaels is also considered to be a musician.
Younger readers may recognize…well, actually, they won’t recognize Davy Jones at all.

June 7
-Barry Williams aka “Greg Brady” ; Taste of Summerfest, Waukesha
Remember that episode of The Brady Bunch, when Greg daydreams about his future life, touring as a musician to exotic locations like Waukesha, WI?

July 20
-Hootie & the Blowfish; Waukesha Expo Center
Remember back in the fifth grade when all of your friends were rocking out to Cracked Rear View? Yeah, unfortunately so do I.

July 31
-REO Speedwagon; Wisconsin State Fair
This band has been around since 1967 (what?!), and counting the current lineup, there have been 19 Speedwagoners. The only explanation can be that they are going for some sort of Guinness World Record for most uninspired concert performances.

August 6
-Gin Blossoms; Wisconsin State Fair
This is one of two bands on this list that I’ve actually seen (for free of course). It was actually more sad than funny to watch a band that once appeared on Saturday Night Live, struggling through their old songs like a group of mediocre high schoolers.



August 9
-Charlie Daniels Band; Wisconsin State Fair
I went to go see this band for free a few years ago with some friends, and we were planning on spending the entire night making fun of rednecks. Instead we were treated to the musical experience equivalent to viewing the Sistine Chapel for the first time. Just kidding – we mercilessly mocked the band and the hundreds of fans, until we couldn’t stand the smell any longer and left.

Summer Movie Preview

We're halfway through April and the film industry has yet to deliver the first truly great movie of 2008.

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that summer is quickly approaching, which means that Hollywood will soon be depositing a number of blockbusters into theaters. The bad news is that only a few of them look like they will be surefire hits. There are a lot of movies that look questionable, and I've included some of those on my list below.

Most Looking Forward To:

May 23 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

There were two movies that I grew up with: The Natural and Raiders of the Lost Ark. They could have named this movie Indiana Jones and the Trip to Quiznos and I would still be looking forward to the release date.






July 18 - The Dark Knight

I saw Batman Begins in the theater and thought it was easily the best of the franchise. This sequel looks even better.






Good Chance of Being Worthwhile

May 2 - Iron Man

I'm not a huge comic book fan, but I have enjoyed adaptations such as the X-Men series or some of the Batman films. This movie has been getting a lot of buzz.






June 20 - Get Smart

Steve Carell has built up a fairly solid film record in the last few years, and hopefully this will be an addition and not a subtraction.






July 4 - Hancock

It's hard to go wrong with a summer blockbuster starring Will Smith.






August 8 - Pineapple Express

The Apatow Machine looks to score laughs with the ultimate slacker-stoner-buddy-road trip comedy.






August 15 - Tropic Thunder

I'll be the first to admit that the premise for this movie sounds especially dumb. But after watching the trailer, I thought that this could actually be a pretty funny movie.






Probably Duds

June 13 - The Happening

It's really sad to track the diminishing quality of M. Night Shyamalan's films. After watching this trailer, it's hard to have hope for this movie.






July 25 - Step Brothers

This looks like another formulaic addition to Will Ferrell's IMDB page.