Hilarity, happy weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSbT1RycDY4&feature=player_embedded

Trailer Alert

Comingsoon.net has posted the international trailers for Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince and Michael Mann's Public Enemies. Unfortunately, each Harry Potter has disappointed except for Azkaban, while Michael Mann's Miami Vice was convoluted and emotionally distant. Both international trailers are excellent in their own right, with Public Enemies especially impressive.

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger

Harry Potter as Harry Potter

Thank you Atlanta Thrashers

I just want to thank the Atlanta Thrashers for playing as well as they did the last third of the season. The Thrashers were 12-21-5 on December 31st. They were widely regarded the worst team in the NHL with no foreseeable success any time soon. They had a star player who seemingly didn't want to be there and a front office that could care less about the team.

Starting in the New Year though the Thrashers were a different team. At the beginning of the season new coach John Anderson said that it was going to take a while for his methods to be successfully implemented, and he wasn't kidding. As a huge hockey fan and Thrashers fan the 1st 3 months of the season were brutally hard to watch. We could stop another teams offense even if we sacrificed any semblance of an offensive game to do it. But things turned around. The Thrashers play their last game of the season tomorrow night at home against Tampa bay and at best they will finish 3rd from the bottom in the conference with 74-76 points. While that may not seem like much, the Thrashers looked like they were going to be way worse. Their record at the moment is 34-41-6 meaning they went 22-20-1 the last half of the season. An incredible turnaround for a team that was mired in apathy before the New Year. The new found success was even better from the middle of February onward where the Thrash went 14-9-1 down the stretch to pull themselves out of the cellar. During this turnaround it is isn't coincidental that Ilya Kovalchuk had been named captain. He went from being talked about for not producing to vaulting into the top ten in goals and points.

All of this change the past couple months has given Thrashers fans hope for the future. There is a rock solid core consisting of Kovalchuk (26) Bryan Little (21) Colby Armstrong (25) Zach Bogosian (18!) Nathan Oystrik (26) Rich Peverly (26) and the rest of the defense in which no one is over 28 years old.

Things are looking up.

Reviews from the Sydney Premiere

Star Trek reviews keep coming in! Granted we still have a little less than a month to go, BUT this particular review got me excited though not especially well written.

"The result is a triumph, certain to be regarded as not just one Trek's better moments, but one of the finest films made in the sci-fi genre."

Potential Desktop Background?

I realize I am obsessed, but everything that is released on Spike Jonze Where the Wild Things Are, I have to post. Along with the poster released yesterday, above is a production still Warner Bro's released as well. COME FAST OCTOBER!

First Star Trek Reviews...

The guys at Aint it Cool News posted their thoughts on the new Trek film and they all seem to be in agreement that J.J. Abrams and crew have just absolutely hit this one out of the park. Other online critics are chiming in at rottentomatoes, and slap me sideways, my excitement level keeps sky rocketing. I'll keep an eye out for additional review postings.

DISCLAIMER: I am personally not reading ANY plot synopsis at all when skimming these reviews. The reviews at Aintitcoolnews are great at labeling sections that contain spoilers, however I cannot vouch for anything else found on the web.
Not to give everything away, but as I continue my top 20 summer countdown, it should be no secret what film will be securely in my top 5.

Braves Start '09 Stong

The first two games are down and out of the way and the Braves have come out with half the win total against the Phils as they had all of last year. The team has responded to the challenge of playing the defending World Series champs as well as I could have possibly imagined.

Pitching: Both Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens were unhittable. They combined for 13 and 2/3 shut out innings against one of the most feared lineups in baseball. Check out these lines for the Phils 3 MVP candidates.

Jimmy Rollins- 1 for 9

Chase Utley- 2 for 7

Ryan Howard- 2 for 8 with 2 Ks

The vaunted Phillies leaders went 5-24 with no RBI against our 2 aces. The entire Phillies team has only been able to scrap together 1 run on 10 hits (with only 3 being for extra bases). Lowe and Jurrjens only gave up 6 hits combined. Unreal! The bullpen has even looked halfway decent. Mike Gonzalez labored through the first few hitters in the 9th on Sunday but shut the door when needed most then had a perfect inning tonight. Soriano pitched a solid inning only allowing a walk. Even Eric O'Flaherty looked promising coming in and protecting the lead after Jeff Bennett allowed the 1st runner on that he faced with 2 outs in the 5th. Now we have to be getting excited since we still have 2 debuts coming with Vasquez and Kawakami. Assuming those go as well as I plan, we should be 4-0 going into Saturday.

Hitting: 5 home runs for this team already. 2 for an outfield that only hit 27 all of last season. WIth that said though, we haven't exactly been hitting the cover off the ball. Chipper has started hot though, and Jordan Schafer gave us a hopeful glimpse into his future hitting a 400+ foot homer to the deepest part of Citizens Bank Ballpark. What the offense did do is stake our starters to 2-run 1st inning leads and added on through out the game.

Overall, everything is goign according to plan (my plan) thus far. The Braves have started off like they were playing in the spring. Don't expect them to fall off. We're here to stay.

BEST DAY EVER?

OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN. Summer came early today. Star Trek screened last night. And the reviews have been OVERWHELMINGLY positive...not from the big wig boys (they haven't weighed in yet) but from the people who count, the fans of Star Trek. At some point today, I will make sure to link up some reviews...but for now...OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN.

Been a While

It has been a hellacious week for me. I have been a slave to night shoots (8pm-2am) for the past couple of days, but the emergence of Where The Wild Things Are poster has temporarily brought me out of my temporary hibernation. It's no secret the recently released trailer immediately put the film at the top of my "must see list", but with the release of this poster, I might just have to stage a campaign and try to steal a print from Warner Bros. October 16th CAN NOT come soon enough...Midnight screening anyone?

Braves 2009: Corner Outfielders and final analysis

Many pundits around the country say that the success of the Braves really comes down to Jeff Francouer. As many people know and have read about, and cried about, Francouer had a miserable season. He put up numbers that friends of mine here at UGA could rival if given the chance at the major league level (an exaggeration). Frenchy is supposed to be the "next one" instead, McCann has embraced that role and Jeff is stuck in 2nd gear trying to find his way back to prominence.

RF

With all that said. Francouer is critical to the success and balance of this offense. He will bat 6th or 7th in a left-handed heavy line-up. Having his right-handed power show up again would be an immense lift to the squads overall balance 1-8. While Frenchy struggled at the plate last year he rarely let it affect his gold glove caliber defense. Francouer still had 14 outfield assists and only made 4 errors all season. Braves fans just might start getting restless about Jeff if he gets off to another slow start. But he had a solid spring in which he batted .328, walked 7 times (tied for 2nd on the team during the spring) and only struck out 6 times in 67 at-bats. Those are hte kind of numbers that we have always expected from Jeff. I believe that he will jet right back into stardom this year. Don't expect absurd numbers, but a batting average at least over .270. 20 homers and close to 100 RBI

LF

Some may see LF as a wild card for the Braves, I see it as a source of solid production. Newcomer Garrett Anderson will try and continue hitting like he has for the past 15 years out in Anaheim. Last year he hit .293 which is better than anything the Braves got in Left Field all of last season. Granted he doesn't hit for much power anymore, but a 15-20 HR season is definitely not out of the question. Joining him in left in a possible platoon role is Matt Diaz. Diaz was poised for a breakout season last year when a knee injury kept him limited to just 135 at-bats last season. He's a career .309 hitter with gap power and will poke a few home runs. He's one of the most reliable hitters on the entire time. He's definitely one of the top 5 guys on the team I'd want up there in a pinch. Both play adequate defense, nothing special, but wont do anything stupid. There is a slight concer with Anderson because he played less than 90 games in the outfield last season. But that could be more attributed to the crowded outfield situation in Anaheim more than his age or inability to play the field every day.

2009 Season Outlook

The Braves struggled last season. A perfect storm of bad things happened that ruined any chance of success last year. With all the injuries to the Old pitchers we had, lack of power production in the outfield, and the wear down of the bullpen, the team jsut wasn't deep enough last season for a sustained run. This year things are far brighter. With a revamped rotation, the addition of Garrett Anderson, and the hopeful resurgence of Jeff Francouer, the Braves have every reason to believe that they are going to be legitimate contenders for the NL East crown.

These aren't the Braves that won 15 divisions in a row, it will take time for this team to round into shape. They have to learn how to win. With Chipper now the elder statesman in the lockers room, he is essentially passing the torch to our young core of players (McCann, Francouer, Johnson, Escobar, Schafer, Kotchman). Our team is deep and balanced from 1-5 and 1-9. If we play our game offensively, we will score enough runs. If our starting rotation stays healthy and throws their innings, our bullpen wont get taxed. There are definitely a lot of questions to be answered, but we are in far better shape than last year and the future beyond 2009 looks even brighter (Tommy Hanson, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, Brandon Hicks).

This team should win somewhere between 85-90 games. They're going to contend for the NL East and wild card well into September. I wont be surprised if they make it to the playoff. A world series is not out of the question because if we make it through our division there is no other team in the NL East that is better than the winner of our division and I think the Sox Yankees and Rays are grossly overrated (along with the Phils and Mets). In the end I think a NL east crown is definitely achievable, but the best years for this club are not even back yet. 2010-2011 are the years to really look forward too.

2009 Braves: Up the Middle.

On the second to last installment I'm going to go in depth about middle infield (2nd base and SS), catcher, and CF. All four positions are critical to the Braves success. Well I guess it goes with out saying that any four positions are critical to success, but production from these 4 spots is essential either way.

Catcher:

We have our rock behind the plate. Brian McCann has really solidified himself as a bona fide leader on the Braves. In my mind he is the best player on hte team. Offensively and defensively he is head and shoulders above the rest of the Major League catchers out there. Pitchers love to pitch to him, and the Braves love to have him as a cog in the middle of the lineup. As long as him and Chipper stay healthy, we will get all the power and run producing this line up will need. McCann is such an advanced game-manager behind the plate that John Smoltz said he was the best he's ever had, definitely saying something. His game-management behind the plate will prevent him from having too much trouble catching up with our new pitchers. McCann is the de facto captain of this young Braves team and will be the face of the franchise for years to come (hopefully he's is joined by Jeff Francouer)

Middle infield:

This is a pretty dynamic place. Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson have established themselves as decent fielders and solid top or bottom of the lineup guys. Kelly Johnson ended last season on a tear hitting .398 with 9 doubles and 3 home runs in September. If he brings even a microcosm of that performance in to the season he might be an all-star this year considering how weak NL 2nd basemen are. Outside of Chase Utley in Philley, I really believe that Kelly Johnson is the best hitting 2nd baseman in the NL and I think people will finally notice this year. I wont be surprise if Kelly drives in 90 runs with 20+ home runs this season and gets some major all star/silver slugger considerations. Next is the Gold Glove, right guys?

Yunel Escobar, my cuban brethren. He's a hot-tempered, strong armed, with a sweet stroke at the plate. Yunel had a solid season last year, providing solid d with that rocket arm of his and hit .288 last year. His 10 home runs and 2 SB are rather dissappointing but the guy knows how to drive in runs. His 60 RBI from the leadoff or # 2 spot is killer production from a relatively "light" hitting SS. Another 10-15 homer performace with 65-70 RBI the Braves will be in good shape.

CF

There's a lot of talk about how the competition isn't over. But the truth is Jordan Schafer won it weeks ago. The trade of Josh Anderson only solidified that notion. Schafer is going to be an absolutely star in this league. He's a 4 and a half tool player (not the most powerful) who made a mistake with the whole HGH allegations. But less than a year after his suspension, Bobby Cox has already given him his blessing. Schafer is just too good not to start. He immediately advances the offense by his presence. He'll immediately improve upon Gregor Blancos .251 average and add a ton of stolen bases and stellar defense. People have already compared his d to Andruw Jones. High praise for such a brash young fellow. With all that said. I still love Gregor, but his lack of power and SB potential kill his chances to be any where near as affective as I believe Schafer will be.

Tomorrow I'm goign to finish up the preview with Corner outfielders and then just give a full, passionate, rundown of how I think the season is going to go. How we will finish in the NL east and what I think about the Mets.

What's not cool anymore

Ok, so it's April of 2009 and here's a list of stuff that used to be kind of (maybe) cool, but has now run its course, and is no longer cool.

Top 5

1. Uggs/Crocs- take your pick, they're both not cool. Actually, if you have to pick, go with the Uggs (ladies), because Crocs are simply unsightly eye sores. "But Jack, they're comfortable and weather-proof!" Lies. They are not that comfortable, and if you want weather-proof, go with some nice manly-man boots. Just not Uggs.

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2. Croakies- Ok, some might argue that these are the perfect companion to a nice pair of shades. Such a person might say, "Jack, I need croakies for my sunglasses because I take them off so much, and when I do this, I enjoy hanging them fashionably around my neck." Yes, it's soon going to be summer time. But, unless you feel the unwaivering urge to shine frat-astically for all to see, leave the ole 'croaks at home.

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3. The word "dude"- "But d00d! I love to say dude!" I'm as guilty as anyone of saying this term that survived the stain-on-history that was the 1980s. Now, it's true, the 80s were a crazy time. Men wore makeup and women's clothes. Women wore men's clothes and touted unreasonably horrible hair styles. Neon was cool. So- how did we, as a smart sophisticated people of the modern day, let "dude" survive? There's hope. Let's all make a conscious effort to work on ending the reign of terror. Maybe then, we can just forget that the 80s even existed! Maybe?

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4. Saying "buddy"- "Jack! I understand that dude is an unclever, unsophisticated, and overused word, but surely not the word buddy!?!" Yes. And I'll tell you why. I hate it when somebody calls me "buddy". For a few reasons:

a. It makes you sound like my perverted uncle.

b. I am an adult and would like to be addressed by a proper name.

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5. Trying too hard- Take it easy there, buddy (see #4). Life gave you some lemons, but why're you already making the lemonade? No need to rush through everything. Stressed? Relax. Going to miss the bus? They'll be another. Going to miss the bar exam? Plumbing pays well, I hear.