Movies, XM, Dave Matthews Band

On the weekend before last, Megan and I were (once again) in Cincinnati dealing with some car warranty service, and we stayed at this ancient Comfort Inn. Man, that place was rundown. They had real cable, though, instead of that LodgeNet crap that only gives you the networks, ESPN, and HBO. They also advertised some sort of "data hookup," which is really just code for "Haha, suckers! It's just a place to plug in a phone cable!"

Anyway, we went to Gameworks, then to the AMC theater at Newport on the Levee. We saw two movies in the same day: The Longest Yard and Madagascar. I wanted to see Star Wars, but it was sold out and I don't think there's any way I could've roped Megan into seeing that. The Longest Yard was your typical "prison is hilarious" movie (OK, there really aren't that many movies that cast prison as being humorous--except Ernest Goes to Jail, which was awesome). It had some funny moments, but I almost enjoyed picking out the cameos as much as the comedy. Wow, that is really dorky; I even checked IMDB to see if I was right. However, it's probably a movie that I will eventually forget about.

Madagascar was also pretty entertaining, as it's one of those movies--like Shrek and Finding Nemo--where there are some jokes and parodies that only adults will get. They didn't attempt to make the animal characters so lifelike that they just end up looking creepy, and the style of [computer] animation worked. The main characters were alright, but I really enjoyed the scheming of the penguins and the psychosis of the lemur king Julian. <Tangent:> King Julian was voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, the guy that plays Ali G. Da Ali G Show is wonderfully funny, if you ever get the chance to watch it. He sets up interviews with real celebrities and politicians and asks some of the most ridiculously stupid questions with a straight face. His two other characters are also funny: Borat, the chauvinistic Kazakhstani reporter; and Brüno, the host of an Austrian gay TV show. Oh, and the Ali G movie isn't really that funny because it's all scripted, so stay away from that</Tangent>

The next day, before heading back home, we decided to see another movie after lunch at Texas Roadhouse. Megan saw Monster in Law, and I finally got to see Star Wars Episode III. OK, the dialog wasn't good. I get it. However, the experience was very good. SPOILER WARNING: Anakin is Darth Vader! Oh noes!!!!!!11111elevenelevenoneoneone... Seriously though, I really enjoyed the movie. Take my opinion with a grain of salt though; I didn't hate I and II like you're supposed to if you're part of the "in" geeks. Of course the special effects were great, but the theater I was in had an awful sound system. All the sounds seemed to be coming the front, rather than the surround sound experience you might get on opening night in the best theater available.

On to my XM Radio...When I bought my new Honda, of course the salesperson brought over the "well-equipped" Accord EX, and one of the features that it came with was XM Radio. Well, I like to listen to lots of different types of music, as well as ESPN and other sports talk radio, so I was hooked. It started with 3 months free, which is like getting you hooked on free crack, then charging for your second hit. I decided to go ahead and buy the 3-year plan since it was cheaper per month (they let you cancel at any time, and refund a pro-rated amount). One reason I love it is that I don't have to listen to our Zeke Mullins (he's on our local EPSN affiliate instead of ESPN programming in the morning) during my drive to work, and I can pretty much always pick up XM. Now, for my standard complaining...The interface for the receiver that is in my car is very basic. Spartan, you might say. The Delphi XM branded receivers have so many more features. For instance, the Delphi ones can be programmed to tell you when a song by your favorite band comes on on another station. Things like that. Also, that 3-year plan is locked to this unit, so I can't just transfer service to another radio if I ever decide to get one. Still, I'm happy with it.

Last thing on the list...the Dave Matthews Band concert on Wednesday. Well, we got there about 6:30, and it was raining. That shouldn't have been a problem, since we got seats "in" the pavilion area. However, they failed to mention that the specific seats we got were not covered. So we moved up and stood under the roof next to this huge support pillar until the opening band came on stage around 7. We sat down in a pair of seats that WERE covered, and luckily nobody came to claim those seats for the whole concert. Robert Randolph (and the Family Band) was the opening act, and they were pretty good. We had seen them on the PBS show Austin City Limits and liked them, so I was glad to see that they were the opener.

Around 8:20, Dave Matthews and crew take the stage. It was a good performance, but I felt like it was too heavy on the newer music. I hadn't even really heard much from Busted Stuff, and Stand Up just came out (as mentioned in a previous post), so I wasn't really that familiar with some of the stuff they played. Actually, the most entertaining part of the show came near the end when Robert Randolph came out and played steel guitar with the band. That extended jam session finished up around 10:45, and since I had to be at work the next day, we decided to leave before the encores. Normally, I'm not the type to leave early like that, but I knew I would be dead the next day, especially after waiting for traffic to let out.

I think that's all for today.

14 Innings, The Contender, Movies...

...at least that's all I have on my list. As those who are close to me can attest, I'm forgetful. So lately, I've been keeping a list of things to write about. Since it's been a while since my last post, this list is now somewhat outdated, but I'm going to go ahead and toss it out there, even though nobody ever reads my blog. Am I really that boring? Yes, I know I am. The least you could do is reply sometime.

First off, my cousin Mike(y) and I met up in Cincinnati to go to the May 24 Reds game against the Washington Nationals. Also, it was Griffey Bobblehead Night, which was our original reason for getting tickets. The tickets that I picked up were $30 seats, two rows back from the field. I also got an extra ticket so I could pick up a Bobblehead for my brother Josh, which was a hassle, because they made me run out to the centerfield exit to re-enter. Bleh. Anyway, the game was pretty enjoyable until the 9th inning, when Kent Mercker started his second inning giving up a hit. Then David Weathers came in, retired two batters, and allowed the runner to score, tying the game at 3-3.

Of course, at this point you think it's all over, as it generally is with the Reds. Well, the game drags on for some time, with both teams going through a multitude of pitchers and bench players. It was getting awfully late, and I still had a 2-hour drive ahead of me and an alarm clock ready to wake me up at 6:30AM. My scorecard was so screwed up by the time I ran out of space in the 12th that I just gave up and put it away. In addition, it had been sprinkling off and on all night. Finally, in the bottom of the 14th, the Reds get LaRue and Luis Lopez on base, when the newly called-up pitcher Randy Keisler comes to bat after pitching two good innings. He drops a hit just over the heads of the infielders, and the Reds win in four hours and twenty minutes. After it was all over, I can say that it was actually pretty fun, but I was tired at work the next day.

Moving on...The Contender finale was aired on the same Tuesday night, so I didn't get to watch it live, but I did remember to record the whole thing. Megan and I have been watching it pretty much all season, and I never thought that I'd get into boxing that much. One thing I didn't like about the finale was that they didn't show 3 of the undercard matches, which we were looking forward to. First, they showed the Bronze Medal round between Alfonso Gomez and Jesse Brinkley. After the first round, Alfonso really took over and won the match. Too bad he couldn't take over the previous match like that, because I was really pulling for him to take it all. The Final match between Sergio Mora and Peter Manfredo was actually pretty boring. Mostly it was Mora being held back on the ropes but landing some good punches every time. By the end of the match, Manfredo had pretty much given up trying to get a desperately needed knockout, so Mora won decisively. I guess they're planning on having rematches and more title fights within the confines of The Contender, so we may see these guys on TV again. One thing to note: boxing is much more interesting--especially at these lower weight classes--when it's "Contenderfied," rather than live, because they give you the highlights, have better camera angles, and show great punches in slow-motion. It is much easier to follow and understand.

Bleh. That was a lot of typing. I'm even boring myself at this point. I'll leave my movie-going experiences until next time.