In need of a laugh (VIII)

Ahhhh, John Cleese! Only he and Jack Nicholson could get away with such a routine.

38-67?

Okay, this is starting to get rather ridiculous. I know the Nats aren't the best team in the National League (despite "The Plan" that the Lerners want us to place our collective trust in), but a 38-67 record is just pitiful.

I hate to say it, but I miss the early 2005 team—the team that played with such heart and such vigor that they made every hit, every pitch, every game count. I'd ask what the hell happened to us, but the list of things that got us to where we are now is too long (and too depressing) to get into. But let's just say that there's blame a-plenty to go around, to multiple parties.

Watching my team operate from a pathetic season record isn't exactly new territory, though. For several years I watched Penn State get badly kicked around on the field, and yet I kept watching every game with the hope that they'd pull it out in the end. I do the same for the Nats now. Ending the inaugural 2005 season with an 81-81 record was a decent achievement, but since then we've kept sliding downhill. I truly wish the tide would turn in our favor, but until then, I keep crossing my fingers each night that the Nats will pull it out . . . somehow.

George Lucas strikes again, not strikes back

It's times like this I'm glad I'm a Star Trek fan, because if Gene Roddenberry had fudged with his franchise the way George Lucas continues to do so with Star Wars, I would have jumped ship years ago. Because now, according to IMDb, George Lucas has another card up his sleeve for Darth Vader and company:

Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is a major advocate of theatrical 3-D films, has disclosed that George Lucas is investing in a technology that could turn all of his Star Wars movies into 3-D features that could be given new releases.

I can hear the collective groaning of Star Wars fans everywhere. Because you just know this opens the door to the possibility of more special editions! And for the record, when was the last time any movie was presented in 3-D? Didn't they try that with Jaws 3 way back in the mid-80s with disastrous results? Or does George Lucas just have too much time on his hands and no creativity left that he has to keep fudging with Star Wars?

RIP Estelle Getty

For a number of years, The Golden Girls was something of a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, I freely admit that. Couldn't tell you why, but I always loved the hilarious antics of the four old ladies who shared a house in Miami. And it sure didn't hurt that its main stars were well-established comediennes like Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McLanahan, and Estelle Getty.

So I was saddened today to learn that Estelle Getty, who played the fully unhinged, fully uncensored Italian mother Sophia Petrillo, who often preceded stories of past brushes with greatness with "Picture it!", died this morning at age 84.

And as is my custom, I honor her with YouTube clips of some of her greatest Golden Girls moments.







Rest in peace, Estelle. You will be missed.

A curly W and a football prelude

I was able to catch some of yesterday's Nats-Braves game, and I was simultaneously stunned and overjoyed at our 15-6 stomping of the hated Braves! Because let's face it—any day the Braves are beaten is a good day. Especially if the Nats provide the beatdown. :)

But a few days ago, I received this YouTube clip, which reawakened my love for another sport . . . one that begins in only six weeks!



I'm now finding myself tingling with that wonderful autumn excitement which is Beaver Stadium, the Blue Band, JoePa, tailgates, touchdowns, field goals, beer dogs, and 110,000 shining symbols of Penn State pride. Kinda ironic that this clip was sent to me by an Ohio State fan. ;)

I can't believe it's been five years . . .

This is a sad anniversary for me to mark, because it was five years ago tonight that my grandmother, Joyce F. Hamme, passed away.


Odd as it may seem, I remember exactly what I was doing that night. Like this year, July 19, 2003, fell on a Saturday, and that evening I went to the Arlington Drafthouse with Sam and Nicole to see Anger Management. On the way home from the Drafthouse, I got a call from Will and Erica, who had spent the day in Baltimore, asking if we wanted to meet at a halfway point between Baltimore and Alexandria—and the best halfway point proved to be Sam and Nicole's condo, as they were living in Columbia, MD, at the time. Around 11:00 that night, while sitting on Sam and Nicole's back patio, my cell phone rang for the second time that night . . . and somehow I just knew who it was and why they were calling.

I've been to my grandmother's grave site a few times since we buried her (in York, PA), and every time I visited, I still couldn't quite comprehend the fact that she was gone. Somehow it just never felt right, her not being in the picture. Even now, five years later, it's still hard to believe. And I miss the old girl pretty badly sometimes.

There was a lot of spunk in that little woman—a lot of spunk. And a lot of love, too. She had plenty of trademark dotty moments, but you could never call her insincere. My father always said how strong her character was when he was growing up, and for a few moments, several months before she died, I think I was able to see the woman he knew as a young man. Not the weak and frail lady in advanced age, but the strong-willed, heart-of-gold Joyce who always had hope and always believed in me and my family. And that's how I choose to remember her.

So Grandma, wherever you are, I love you and I miss you. May you continue to rest in peace.

Creepy voice origins

I'm a big Family Guy fan, and today I made an unexpected discovery on Family Guy's IMDb trivia page:

Seth Green reveals in the commentary on Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story (2005) (V) that the voice of Chris is based on Ted Levine's performance as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Hmm . . . I never got the impression that Chris Griffin sounded much like Buffalo Bill. Nor can I picture Chris Griffin uttering, "It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again!" Really, that's more a drunken Peter Griffin utterance.

Ned Beatty turns 71 today

Today, actor Ned Beatty turns 71 years young. Ned Beatty may not be as familiar to moviegoers as, say, Gene Hackman or Harrison Ford. That's because he's largely been a supporting actor over the years, yet many of these roles are quite memorable.

To many moviegoers, Ned Beatty will forever be remembered as Otis, Lex Luthor's bumbling sidekick in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. To others, he's remembered as Bobby, the equally bumbling poor soul who has an unfortunate mid-river encounter in Deliverance. Me, though, I remember him not as a bumbling fool but as a tower of doom from his brief cameo in Network, when he gives Peter Finch a crash course in capitalism.



Happy 71st, Ned!

Fireworks pictures from the Riverhouse roof (II)

This 4th of July marks the third time I've had the privilege of seeing the fireworks from the roof of my apartment building. I tell ya, this kind of convenience can spoil a guy! It was a drizzly night, but that didn't hinder the grandeur of the DC fireworks display in any way. Here are some pictures of said event.

The first fireworks on the night!

As the show began to wrap up.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all! And to all a good night! And by "a good night", I mean fireworks. :)

No, I'm not going to be on the Mall tonight. Rather, I plan to see the fireworks from the roof of Riverhouse (how sweet is that when you can see such a show from your own home?). The only time I was brave enough to venture down onto the National Mall was in 2004, when Bentje wanted to see the fireworks from the Washington Monument. Every other year, I've been on the Virginia side of the Potomac (except 2005, when I saw the whole thing out). In 2001, though, I did travel into DC, just not for the fireworks. Instead, Will had a friend living on Capitol Hill who was throwing a 4th-of-July party, and we took the Metro in to Capitol South on the one day of the year that Metro decides to fudge the rail lines in the name of "independence." After that, we travelled back to Rosslyn for a fabulous party on the observation deck of his former office building. Good thing we were inside, too, because it poured rain the entire time. (Then there was the sprint from the 23rd floor of that building down to the Metro platform, so as to beat the mass exodus from the National Mall. That was unforgettable!)

I remember as a kid watching the fireworks from the park in Dauphin, PA, when they'd set the Harrisburg fireworks off from the Susquehanna River. Those were always fun, and I was very saddened when they stopped that show sometime in the late '80s. Though nearby Millersburg often shot fireworks from the Susquehanna—except they did so on July 3! Which never made sense to me, because July 3 isn't Independence Day.

But happy recollections aside, may everyone enjoy a happy 4th of July!