Feeling Good For A Tuesday...

Yes, this song was way overplayed at clubs and weddings but you have to admit, this was a great video...




BUT...we all know everything sounds better when converted to Nintendo 8 bit style...I feel like I'm in level six of Mega Man 3.

"Walk Of Life" - Dire Straits

One of the seminal music videos of my youth was the one for the Dire Straits song "Walk Of Life". You probably remember it mainly because it was full of baseball clips. As a little leaguer who was in the midst of a career batting average of .030, this video would bring me inspiration whenever I had yet another 0 for 3 game with three strikeouts and probably two errors in the field.

Anyway, somebody out in the Internet land took the video and edited it down to just the baseball clips. I never realized just how few clips there were. It basically turned a four minute song into forty-one seconds. Oh well, memories are just theater of the mind right?

Enjoy....

CONTRUX!!!

You can have your legos. You can keep your tinker toys. As for me...I was a CONSTRUX(!!!) kid. You might remember how CONSTRUX(!!!) worked. CONSTRUX(!!!) was legos on steroids using much bigger pieces that allowed you to make cool things like trucks, helicopters, or a boat. Even better, some of them had the ability to use batteries to actually make them move. I loved CONSTRUX(!!!).

You might be asking "why are you typing out Contrux in all capital letters?". I would tell you...because its CONSTRUX(!!!). Actually its because of the awesome TV commercials they used to have. I'd like to be the guy in the recording studio who gets to shout CONTRUX!!! every five seconds or so.

Check it out...



I love the drum machine and synthesizer here...I also like the "you build!" part. It's nice to see racial harmony was going on 25 years ago. Not sure why they're playing on a carpet though. Toys with wheels NEVER moved well on a carpet. Oh well, who am I to critisize.

Ahhhh, how I long for the old days of 1985.

Grown Men Crying

They say that the winter is the time of the year where people get depressed. To celebrate that fact, let's take a look at grown men crying!


I'm still in shock over the end of the Mike and the Mad Dog show. If you live in NY and have a remote interest in sports this is big news. Below is video of the show when Mad Dog called in to say goodbye and he starts crying about 40 seconds in. Mike then gets teary eyed and tells a lame story which shows you what the show is going to be like going forward with Chris Russo (the Mad Dog).






His crying reminds me of one of the most unforgettable "grown men crying" moments in all of sports...Mike Schmidt's retirement press conference. I love how his voice breaks when he says "dream come true" at 24 seconds in. Even better, I love his pose at the end when he dries his eyes, leans towards his locker, and crosses his legs. Classic.



Next up is the famous Terrel Owens breakdown over Tony Romo. Sometimes when a customer service person gets mad at my wife, I want to get a little weepy and tell them "hey now, that's my teammate...that's my quarterback".



I wish I had the full clip of this but this taste of this Arnold Palmer clip gives you a good idea of how much rain his eyes could produce. This was taken at his last Masters in 1994...."that just about says it all! ".




From one of the greatest golfers to one of the greatest tennis players...Roger Federer. Talk about taking the spotlight away from Rafael Nadal with your whining.
I love the face caving and the slow breakdown into full tears starting at the :30 mark.




Perhaps the greatest breakdown of all time is Lou Pinella's last game as a Cubs manager. Lou needs to realize that one shouldn't try to talk when crying.




Honorable mention....

Movie Review - The Fighter

With Oscar season here, my movie watching has cranked up a bit. Having a few major snowstorms help free up some free time too.

As is always the case, these review are NOT SPOILER FREE so if you haven't seen the movie being reviewed and want to see it DON'T READ THE REVIEW. Today’s movie is The Fighter.

Circumstances seeing this movie:
My wife and I were up in Rhode Island over the holidays and just wanted to have an old fashioned “date night”. The theaters in Rhode Island are not quite as nice as the one’s I really like in NY but it was passable. Consider this theater an aging Cameron Diaz compared the NY’s more trendy Mila Kunis.

Plot Overview:
A fighter at the crossroads of his career has to decide if he want to take advantage of his true potential or continue to be held back by his domineering family. Lots of punching, swearing, and shaky New England accents ensue.


Quickie Review:
I liked this movie…a lot. I love gritty movies and placing it in a gritty setting like Lowell, Massachusetts makes it extra dirty. Christian Bale is amazing as the washed up, crack head, older brother of Mark Wahlberg’s titular character. Christian Bale’s performance almost makes me want to be a crackhead for a little while. I love his bald spot too. Also of note is Melissa Leo’s performance as the matriarch of the family. Any character that makes you really hate them means it’s a great performance. I love her passive aggressiveness. Amy Adams is H-O-T.

Also of note is the classic rock soundtrack. As a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, its rare that you hear their music in a movie but one of their songs plays over a vital part of the movie.


"Rock on Jimmy Page!"

Common Sense Violations:

1.) Well, it is based on a true story but some things seemed a little extreme. Are the cops really that tough up in Lowell? I mean they didn’t really need to bash Mark Wahlberg’s hand that many times.

2.) It seemed like a nice prison that Christian Bale was in…they let the prisoners watch his HBO special.

Scenes I liked:
1.) Any of the extended sequences…the opening scene of the brothers walking through Lowell and the police scene. I love Christian Bale impersonating a cop.

2.) Sugar Ray Leonard’s cameo appearance.

3.) How they used the HBO commentary for his fights. Though you never see Jim Lampley or Larry Merchant they do a good job of thinking they’re there and adding more realism to the fights.

4.) Chritian Bale escaping from his drug den through the back window and onto a pile of garbage....twice.

"What was I thinking doing The Rocker???"

Let's cut to the chase Hungieman, is there any sex/nudity?
No nudity though you get Amy Adams in a black bra and underwear looking very tasty about to get down with Marky Mark. Of course they are interrupted by the above mentioned nine(!) sisters coming over so we don’t see things go any further.

There was also probably some behind the scenes prison shower action but that was not shown.


"After we have intercourse, let's go to the beach so you can get some kind of tan"

Recommended?
Absolutely! There should be at least three Oscar nominations for the acting alone (Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, and either Wahlberg or Amy Adams. If this movie was a fight, it TKO’d me in the 4th round (Larry Merchant would say in his angry old man voice “just a re-SOUNDING performance by “The Fighter”…well done”)



Final review:
9 out of 10.