Justin's Dick in a Box

This is the funniest thing SNL has done in years!

http://thesuperficial.com/2006/12/justin_timberlake_wants_to_giv.html

Collective Soul Rocks Fairfax!

*Originally Published June 10, 2006 on Myspace*

So with the countdown to babies at about 3 weeks I need to jump on anything I want to do that doesn't involve playgrounds, doctor's offices or the wiggles, and lo and behold, Collective Soul was coming to the Celibrate Fairfax Festival Friday night, about 7 miles from my dojo. Alanna had to sit this one out, so I mobilized a group of about 7 co-workers and friends to party with, only to have them, one by one, drop out with some good excuses (my boyfriends dad's having surgery!) and some lame (I gotta work out). So I was Han Solo last night but that's ok, 'cause I'm a loner Pee-Wee....a rebel.

Got to the stage about 30 minutes before the show and got soaked by a 10 minute downpoor, which stopped right as CS took the stage. My second time seeing them (last time in St. Martinville, LA in 2001), and let me tell you, they are a great live band. They are faithful to their songs, but also throw in some timely crowd participation and not-too-long extended jams. They could only play until the fireworks show started so they got down to business right away and pummeled my ears for 75 minutes with a somewhat predictable (to a die-hard CS fan like moi) set. All the hits were there.

"Counting the Days," "How do You Love," and "Better Now" from their last album, 2004's Youth.

"Why pt.2" from 2000's Blender, (wish there was more from this album because it rocks!)

"Heavy" and "Run" from 1999's Dosage (My favorite CS album)

"Listen" and "Precious Declaration" from 1997's Disciplined Breakdown

"December," "Gel," and "The World I Know" from their self titled "blue Album', 1995

And closed it all out with "an old spiritual" : "Shine" from their 1993 debut.

They also threw in 2 solid new songs from their soon to be released new album.

I was about 3 bodies back from the stage and was taller then anyone in front of me so had a spectacular view. It was an "A" performance, the only drawback was I know they usually play longer shows, with some more obscure album tracks, but as soon as Shine ended, the fireworks began and that was that.

P.S. - Also, if you've never been to Celibrate Fairfax, it goes down in my book as the best executed festival I've ever seen. It's 5 or so city blocks square, all blocked to traffic, well organized, well policed, lots of parking in walking distance and overflow parking with shuttle rides, no lines at the pot 'o golds, $4 beers in a BIG cup, a massive "food court", multiple "Chicken-on-a-stick" vendors, seperate areas for children's rides and adult rides, and 4 stages with at least 2 bands performing at all times. Well done Fairfax. Well done.

P.P.S. - I saw a WUSA channel 9 booth (the compitition), so I investigated and spotted their sasquatch-like morning weather girl, kind of like the body of a NFL tight-end with Jay Leno's face. Always a topic of speculation with my morning crew, I walked right next to her to get some perspective and she is taller then me and our shoulders are very close in broadness.That's a lotta woman!

Film Review: X-Men: The Last Stand

I'll try to keep this spoiler free.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Directed by Brett Ratner

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Vinnie Jones, Ellen Page, Sean Ashmore, & Aaron Stanford

IMDB rating: 7.0


I had to split my mind into two points of view for this film. One is the lifelong X-men fan (ie. Comic Geek) who's been reading X-Men comics since the mid 80's to present. The other is a film buff looking for an entertaining couple of hours in a theater. The second guy enjoyed the action, a couple of surprise twists, and a few great performances by a few great actors. The first guy was ENRAGED by the casual slaughtering of mainstay X-Men (One of whom is killed OFF SCREEN, with barely a reaction from his fellow X-Men!), and actually groaned out loud at the cheesy one-liners tossed off by Wolverine and co.

The filmmakers took the wrong direction with the x-men from the start of the first film. Instead of using source material from the plethora of legendary writers at Marvel Comics, they just use the names and likeness of these characters and go about writing whatever haphazard crap they can cram into 2 and a half hours, disregarding anything done with the x-men before, and virtually killing all hope of this being more than a trilogy. (I know, I know, I stayed after the credits and saw the secret clip at the end. Another X-men film would still be crappy!)

(Take a deep breath)... ok.

There are a few nice moments here, especially with Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) who both steal all the scenes they're in, and have a fantastic race through a building at the end of the film. Ian McKellen is also brilliant as Magneto, and he nails the nuances of Magneto's seemingly contradictory motivation. Kelsey Grammer's Beast is wonderful, and I do like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, but his lines seemed to have been written by former James Bond writers. Average performances by Patrick Stewart (Prof X) and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey)and plain ol bad acting from Halle Berry (Storm) don't help. And Rogue, Iceman, Colossus, and Angel are barely there. Blink and you'll miss them.

A big deal was made over the departure of X1 and 2 director Bryan Singer (who's off making Superman) and his replacement with Rush Hour director Brett Ratnor. Ratnor did a fine job. The action, ambition, and scope of this film outdoes anything in X1 or 2, and I blame witers for making me hate parts of this. But this does work better if taken as a trilogy, and as such, this is a great "ending," wrapping up plotlines and dealing with almost all characters (some permantly, but where the hell is Nightcralwer?!?)

So expect the disappointment if you're an X-fan, or go enjoy yourself if it's only a movie to you.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade = B-

Fuck, That's a Big Shark!

Got this from iwatchstuff.com.

The makers of Meg, the upcoming film about the hunt for an 80-foot-long, 100,000 pound Megalodon shark, are hoping to create some more buzz for the flick, possibly increasing the funding, by releasing some more concept art. The rather creative concept to this piece is: There's this really fucking huge shark, and it's like attacking this boat or something (note: boat should have some kind of robot arm in the back), and this chick is like, "Shit, this 80-foot-long, 100,000 pound shark is trying to eat me," and this dude is like, "I'll try to save you, but fuck, that's a big shark."

My Newfound Softball Career!

The Following was originally published on MySpace in May, 2006

Click here to see the WJLA/Newschanel 8 76'ers!

I finally don't work weekends for the first time in 5 years so I decided to join our company softball team, the WJLA 7/Newschannel 8 '78ers. We play in the DC media League which has 20 something teams, like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, AOL, Washington Post and many others. Little did I know I can smash a softball!
In game 1 vs. WTTG Fox 5, I was called in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 7th (we play 7 innings) with two out. I slapped one in to short center for a hit. Next batter struck out and we lost 8-4.

My strong hit resulted in a DH spot for game two vs WRC NBC 4. I hit the ball hard twice, but they landed right in the right and center fielders glove for 2 fly outs. I was then removed for a pinch hitter and we lost 11-6.
So today arrived and I took some BP at first, since my blazing lack of speed limits my range in the outfield. Only problem is we have two first basemen already who have both been playing for years. Oh, well.... I'll just be the Big Hurt and DH.

Game one vs. ABC News. I batted cleanup as the DH. I came up with a runner on second and smacked a double to center, scoring the run. I had a hard slide into second to get that double, probably my first slide into a base in 17 years. I did it like a pro though. Next batter hit a grounder to short, i waited on the ball and when the shortstop booted it, I took off in a mad dash to third. They made a play for me, but another super slide got me in safe. I was sucking major wind now, just getting to third, but then our next batter singled and I scored easily. When I got to the bench, someone said my slide at second was "awesome." I don't know if it was sarcastic or not, but I'll take a compliment. Next time up, i reached for a low pitch and muscled it over the shortstop's head for a single, but was stranded at first. Third time up, I hit a hot grounder up the middle for a single, then was removed for a pinch runner ,Ken Shaver, who's probably the fastest guy on the team. He eventuall scored and later scored the winning run in a 16-15 nailbitter.

Game 2. vs CBS News. We have 21 players on the team so we pretty much play two entirely different lineups for games 1 & 2. I was called on to be the first-base coach and we won 13-8.
I'm sitting here bloody, bruised and more sore then I've been since playing high school football. But the teams 2-2 and I'm batting .667 with a double, 3 singels, and RBI and 2 Runs.



I'm the BIG HURT.....RUUURRRRRRRRRR!