Rest in Peace

Death comes in threes, so they say. We lost a few good ones this past week:

Dennis Weaver

Not many of us young folk remember McCloud. It was a fish-out-of-water cop show in which Dennis Weaver's McCloud -- a deputy US Marshal -- travels from New Mexico to New York City to fight crime. He ended up fighting crime for seven seasons. I love the scenes of him riding a horse through the streets of alphabet city.

Dennis Weaver was also in one of Steven Spielberg's earliest films, Duel. He plays a haggard commuter who pisses off the wrong truck drive. 90 mintues of terror ensues. It's a pretty cool flick that you should definitely add to your Netflix. The recent movie Joy Ride totally ripped it off.

Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin played the dad in A Christmas Story. He was ancient then, so I was always suprised that everytime I looked him up, he was still alive. Love that scene with the leg lamp.

Darren McGavin was also the original Kolchak on Kolchak: The Night Stalker -- a show which inspired Chris Carter to create The X-Files. If you look at his IMDb page, it's about two miles long. He was in a ton of stuff.

Don Knotts

I knew him as Mr. Furley before I knew him as Barney Fife. Don Knotts was instantly recognizable and the recognition I have of him is pretty much the same recognition I would give to a favorite, older uncle. True to his on-screen presence Don Knotts enlisted in the army and was discharged a few years later, reaching the rank of corporal.

The world is a little quieter place after this week. Rest in peace McCloud, Kochak and Fife.

Wild Wild Wow, or... The Best Movie You Haven't Considered

I just watched Once Upon a Time in the West... and wow. Since you're already at your computer, just add it to the top of your Netflix list. You will not be disappointed. If Star Wars is space opera, then OUTW is Western opera on a scale and storyline much bigger than The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The best thing of all -- you've either never heard of it, or only heard of it, but never thought to watch it. You deserve a happy suprise of a movie.

If you're a fan of the genre, you'll see a lot of references to films by John Ford, Howard Hawkes, et al. If you're a fan of newer cinema, you'll see a lot of things that might remind you of films by Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis and even Peter Jackson. Everybody wins.

I'm most suprised that I was able to purchase the DVD for $10 at Newbury Comics. A movie this good should cost twice as much.

There is a caveat: if you don't like westerns, this will not change your feeling. In fact, it might turn you off completely.

However, if you enjoy the genre and have three hours to spare, definitely pick it up.

Coffee and music

Has a beverage ever changed your outlook on life? I wouldn't call myself a serious coffee drinker, but I can't find a more perfect solution for making me feel like I could take on the world. From the time I wake up to the time I have a few sips of black coffee, I just want to turn around and head back towards my bed. Let the world drive itself to hell while I dream of a warm climate. However, once I have that cup in my hand, the radio going... I am the king.

I'm not sure why this combination of music and caffeine can cause such an attitude change in such little time, but I hope it doesn't get old.

It Begins...

The scouring of newspapers for news, tidbits, anything... the spring training footage... the number crunching.

Fantasy baseball season is fast approaching, and I have a strong desire to defend my 12-person keeper league championship. Last year I got lucky, drafting Derek Lee in one of the early rounds -- he went on to be NL MVP from April to September, and scooping up Chris Carpenter in one of the later rounds, because nobody thought to draft him due to the abrupt ending of his 2004 season. Good thing for me no one was able to see how he would have pitched in the 04 World Series.

I need to decide who to keep, but more importantly, I need to collect my winnings from last season. Give me my money!

Computer Nerds, I Need Your Advice

My laptop is slowly dying, so I'm thinking of building my own desktop. It's been seven years since I last built a desktop, and with motherboard and processor technology advancing practically every day, I'm at a loss as far as motherboard, CPU and hard disk selection. I'm looking to build an inexpensive system (I know I want at least a Pentium or Duron chip, not Celeron nor Sempron), with room for upgrading in the future. Here are my questions:

What's the real difference between Intel and AMD chips, besides price? What's the difference between RAID, ATA and SATA hard disks? What the hell is hyperthreading technology? Help!

Woo Hoo

I'm going! It's been so long, I hope it hasn't changed much since January of 2004.


Vegas baby, Vegas! In May. Maygas, baby, Maygas!

Clinging to Youth (and getting hit in the head)

Last night was the first night of Dodgeball. My lower back is still feeling it. In elementary, middle, and highschool, we would play a game called Bombardment, which is about 90% similar to dodgeball. My guess is the weak-kneed parents of Lexington were fearful for their children playing dodgeball and complained to the school system -- thus the renaming and rejiggering of only a few rules. Silly parents don't know what hit them (or their kids).

I was interested to see what kind of crowd would be there. Surprise, suprise... it was all twenty-somethings, clinging to youth and with something to prove (this writer and his team included). Last night was also a good measure of my peers' athleticism. Let's just say we all need to work out more. I'm not even sure how we did. Once I started running around I never caught my breath, and I all I remember is a big blur from the last half hour.

Anyway, it was a fun evening and I'm looking forward to next week, just in time for my back to heal and then twist up again.

Super Dud

What a boring game... even worse, 99% of the commercials stunk. I did enjoy the commercial that involved some guy tackling a girl in a game of tag football. I don't remember the product, so I guess the advertiser fails. I also enjoyed the Mission Impossible 3 trailer.

I spent pretty much the entire third quarter on my computer, looking at some things with friends. Here's the best of the bunch (and worth the download wait), if you haven't seen it.

Super Pick

I'll go with the Steelers by a touchdown... besides a few numbers (26-2 in games not started by Charlie Batch, Tommy Maddox or Tom Brady, according to the BSG), they just seem to have more confidence and are a more well-rounded team than Seattle.

As far as rooting.... Seattle is the definite underdog in what feels like a Patriots-Rams Superbowl matchup. At the same time, I like Bill Cowher, even though everyone else seems to hate him, though I don't know why.

I'm rooting for the Steelers; let them have their glory but they should realize the only reason they're in the Superbowl is NOT because they beat Indy, but because Denver beat the Patriots.

Hi-Larious

Farrgghhorr brought my attention to this link, a "Dakota Fanning Countdown." It's kind of gross, since she is only 12, but I find the user posts on the website to be hilarious, as well as the site owner's responses.

At Least It's a Classic

I was channel surfing last night and came across On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which is one of the best Bond films ever made, but my focus was on what channel I found it -- AMC, better known as American Movie Classics. Now, some of their choices as far as what are "classics" are questionable -- looking at their catalog, I found they have Three Stooges Meet Hercules and Stroker Ace in their library. They also have all the pre-Brosnan Bonds, which totally throws me for a loop, since you could hardly say that movies like OHMSS (which takes place almost entirely in Switzerland) are American.

Another thing that gets me about AMC is that they are (I think) the only movie-dedicated cable network to have commercial interruptions. Fox Movies, Turner Classic, IFC, and Sundance all show their films without breaks. The weirdest thing, however, is that half of the spots during AMC's breaks are promos for future programming.

Anyway, I just saw on their schedule that Highlander is on in two minutes. Check you later.

Gettin' Porked

Since we're on this cooking kick at the Angry Young Bostonian, here's an easy and extremely tasty pork marinade recipe:

1/2 cup soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp of vegetable oil

Marinate your pork (two 6-8 oz. pieces, boneless or chops) in the mixture for about an hour, occasionally turning them. Cook at 375 for 35-40 minutes, flip the pieces after the first 20 minutes, spoon any extra marinade for taste. Done.

The marinade preparation isn't too time consuming, it's just the waiting for the pork to marinate and then to cook that takes up most of the time. Believe me, though, it's worth the wait. Plus, you probably have all the above ingredients for the marinade in your cabinets and refridgerator right now.