R.I.P Jay Bennet

For those not familiar with the name, he's a musician. He was a member of Wilco, back when Wilco was the best band in America. He left the band in 2001, just before Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out. With the last two Wilco records (Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album)), it's become pretty apparent that Bennett was the driving force behind the band. Things have not gone well for him recently (just a month ago he sued Jeff Tweedy for royalties owed to him), but still, the dude was a musical genius and he deserves to have a bit more renown that he has.

-M

Two Weeks

First contender for Song of the Summer. Also, serious contender for Video That Will Freak You Out the Most When High.



-M

NBA Draft, for Your Pleasure

It's that time of year again, folks. The only thing an Indiana Pacers fan has to look forward to every year... THE NBA DRAFT!!

Of course, the Pacers still managed to fuck that up. If it's obvious that you're not going to make the playoffs, you start tanking games. Indiana fans are smart. It's not like the 8 or 9 of us that's left are going to get all pissed off that you're losing these games on purpose. We're hip to whats down. You lose as many as you can, and who knows? Maybe we could have got Hasheem Thabeet. Instead we're going to get the 13th pick. Awesome. Here comes Austin Croshere part 2.

1. Clippers. Blake Griifin will go number one, but here's the thing- the Clippers don't need him. In fact, he may hurt them. They already have Zach Randolph. He's not as good as Griffin, but NO ONE will take him in a trade. His contract is too big. So I really wouldn't be surprised to see the Clipper's trade him, painful as it might be to them. But they could get a great point guard for him. Or a decent guard/center combo maybe. I think doing that is better than having Rudolph and Griffin in a power struggle for the 4 position.

2. Grizzlies. If they don't pick Hasheem Thabeet, they're morons. Sure, Rubio could be great, and so could James Hardem or Jordan Hill, but these guys need size bad. Thabeet won't be putting up monster 40 point games or anything, but he'll protect the paint and knock people around a bit. They need toughness and any other pick from them is plain stupid.

3. Thunder. Ricky Rubio. These guys could become serious contenders in a few years. They're making really smart draft moves recently and Rubio could be just another piece of the puzzle. The only problem here is they have a solid up and coming point guard in Russell Westbrook. Although I'm sure he could move to the shooting guard position, if need be. If you don't go for Rubio (who is probably the most entertaining point guard in the draft. Maybe the most entertaining player in the draft, period), you go for a big man. Jordan Hill might do well for himself here. But I don't see Rubio falling out of the top three.

4. Kings. Ouch. They were supposed to get the top pick. So falling to number four, which to a Pacers fan would be a dream come true, has to hurt like hell for Kings fans. But it's not all bad. They can still draft Jordan Hill. He'll be a nice fit for the Kings. Maybe not a superstar, but certainly a nice building block.

5. Wizards. James Harden. He'll be a great compliment to Gilbert Arenas, if Gilbert is still alive next year. If not, hey, you still have James Harden. I think he's going to have a good career in front of him.

6. Timberwolves. Tyreke Evans. The T'Wolves need some help with small forward, and Evans is being "slept on", as the blacks say. He's a top five talent, getting him this late in the draft will be a bargain.

7. Warriors. Jrue Holiday. The Warriors need a point guard and Holiday is the best available at this point. He can lead this team into the future.

8. Kicks. Stephen Curry. It'll happen pretty much no matter what. I don't know how well Curry's game will translate into the NBA, but it won't matter. He'll almost certainly be a Knick next year.

9. Raptors. Dejuan Blair. It looks like Chris Bosh is on the way out. May as well get a bad motherfucker like Blair to replace him. If I were them I'd draft him and focus on sending Bosh somewhere in return for a nice scoring guard. Build for the future, Toronto.

10. Bucks. James Johnson. I don't know a lot about this team. Seems to me like they need help all across the board. I figure they'll go with Johnson cause he'll be the most talented big man left at this point, but really they could do anything and draft anyone and it wouldn't surprise me.

11. Nets. Jonny Flynn. Nice point guard. Could be a solid player for a long time to come. Could do well with the Nets.

12. Bobcats. DeMar DeRozan. They need a scorer after trading Jason Richardson, and DeRozan has a ton of potential. They'll be jumping for joy if this dude falls this far. A lot of people are saying he could go in the top five.

13. Pacers. Ugh. I have no idea. Jarret Jack turned out to be better than I expected, but he could be on his way out this year. T.J. Ford is great and all, but he's injured too often. If we go for a point guard, we should go for Eric Maynor. Not my dream choice, but I think he could be a solid player and a nice fit for this team. But there's also the fact that we badly need an athletic big man. Troy Murphy is good on the boards, but we need someone who can kick some ass in the paint as well. If they go for the power forward they need, I'd say maybe Gani Lawal. But drafting him this high seems extremely unrealistic. Fuck it. They should draft Ty Lawson. End of story.

14. Suns. I think Steve Nash's best days are behind him. Draft for the future and get a good point guard. If the Pacers draft Maynor, draft Lawson. If the Pacers draft Lawson, get Maynor.

Well, that's how I see it going down, sports fans. Let's hear your thoughts on the subject.

-M

Locke=Fucked

I don't know how much of a review this will be. I can't promise this won't just turn into a rant. Cause I'm sort of pissed. Anyone who knows me will know why I'm pissed.

It's like they pulled the rug out from under us. Which I'm sure the writers think is a good thing, but not this time. They've pissed in the collective eyes of their fans.

John Locke, as I've said before, is the best character in any medium from this decade. We've watched him go from a pathetic sad sack loser to a hero who everyone can relate to in one way or another. After season four, I was upset. They just fucked with him all year and then killed him in the end. But season five Locke? Holy shit! He was kicking ass and taking names. He was serving up heaping helpings of "Fuck You" to anyone who looked like they needed a delicious taste (i.e. Ben). I can't tell you how satisfying it was.

Then came this last episode. We all knew something was up. It's Locke, after all. He can't be allowed to be happy too long. Every single season has ended with Locke either being dead or making a huge mistake. I just couldn't wrap my mind around what was up. The one thing I did know was that by the end of the episode, Locke would probably be back to his old failing ways.

This twist, for the average viewer, would have been awesome. The writers should probably take it as a compliment that they've created a character so many people are emotionally invested in. But when we found out that this new Locke wasn't Locke at all, I wanted to put my foot through the screen. How could they do this? From a story telling point of view, it was cool, but I'm beyond caring about the story when it comes to Locke. I just wanted him to be happy. He's had such a shitty life, with one failure coming after the next. Even Richard said he didn't seem all that special. Yet we all held out hope. We KNEW Locke was special. He just needed to get there. Now? It seems he was just a puppet all along. He's still dead and some evil dude has taken his form just to kill Jacob.

The one thing that keeps me going is knowing that the writers of Lost are not stupid people. They know what they've done. And surely, if they didn't know before they know now that the fans will not sit back and let the most beloved character from one of the most beloved shows of all time keep getting fucked over like this. It's as simple as this- they now have 17 episodes in which they have to figure out a way to make millions of angry Locke fans happy. And the only way to make us happy is to give Locke the happy ending he deserves. Good luck.

And now for the rest of the episode.

First off is the ending. Evil Not Locke (or as the blogsphere is calling him, "Esau"... read your Bible to figure that one out. It sort of makes sense, really), Ben and Jacob. Obviously this Esau (probably not his real name, by the way. His name will probably be Bob or George or some shit) can't kill Jacob for some reason. "The Rules" and all. I guess it was the same reason Ben wasn't allowed to kill Widmore. But Esau had a plan. He may not be able to kill Jacob, but Ben could. This scene was probably the most interesting of the episode. First off, I was never completely sure Jacob could be killed, or even harmed. I was wrong. Ben stabbed the shit out of that motherfucker. And Michael Emerson is a fucking great actor, isn't he? I've always liked Ben, but I've never really felt sorry for him until this scene. Kudos to Emerson for making Ben's pain and anger seem to genuine.

Mathew Fox also did a great job as Jack in this episode. If there was one scene that could compete with the scene I just mentioned, it was Jack vs. Sawyer (or maybe the drive by, which was hilarious). That whole thing was awesome and awesomely hilarious. Sawyer is a sucker punching bitch. But even after that, Jack managed to put him down. So Sawyer kicked him in the bag and hit him with a stick. Fight like an adult Sawyer, you prick. I'm glad Juliet died. Speaking of Juliet, it was hilarious when she showed up telling Sawyer to stop. Jack staggering around in the background gave me a fit of the giggles.

Also, I've never cared for her character. For awhile now we've been teased with the fact that someone major would die in this episode and that the death would be very emotional, like Charlie's death. Frankly, if Juliet is in fact the one who died, I don't care. She was slightly interesting when she first came into the show, but she was so aggressively annoying that I just couldn't get into her. Then for the past two seasons she's been nothing but a background character who occasionally says something halfway important. But mostly she was just a cardboard cutout. I know some people liked her (and who knows, maybe she isn't dead after all?), but I think her potential was wasted.

Fuck it, I'm done with this. Here's my end of the season thingy.

Best episode- This Place Is Death

Worst episode- The Little Prince

Most overrated episode- 316

Most underrated episode- The Lie

Best performance of the year- Terry O'Quinn, This Place Is Death

Best character- Daniel Faraday

Worst Character- Juliet

Five Questions I need answers to-

1. Is Locke dead? Or rather, will/can he come back to life?

2. Is Jacob dead? Will/can he come back to life?

3. How did Jacob and Evil Not Locke get their powers?

4. How will Hurley end up saving everyone's lives? Cause you know it's gonna happen :)

5. Who will Kate pick- Jack or Sawyer? Just kidding. God, I hate her so much.

-M

My Life Come to Life

Or come to painting. My life is this painting come to life. That's it.

Gladiator 2

Gladiator was an awesome movie. But after it ended, everyone was asking the same thing- "When's the sequel coming out?" Just kidding. No one was asking that cause the star of the movie dies at the end (SPOILER!!) But apparently Russell Crowe asked Nick Cave (of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) to write a sequel. And apparently the sequel, while it will never be made, was actually going to be sort of awesome. I took this synopsis from Gone Elsewhere. It's a long read but worth it.

"EXT. Dark Wilderness, a storm rages. We follow two thieves as they stumble across the body of a Gladiator lying in the mud. They strip it of its armor and weaponry. One of the men suddenly goes silent; a large spear is embedded in his spine. As the other man flees, he turns to see the dead Gladiator rising:

It is MAXIMUS…gasping for air, frantic and disoriented.

A middle-aged man steps out of the shadows to assist. He introduces himself as MOREDECAI. He says that he’s been waiting for Maximus to arrive since watching him die in the Coliseum yesterday. Maximus says that he has no time for riddles. Mordecai responds that he has all eternity.

Cut to: Maximus makes his way through a wheat field, his wife and son (MARIA and MARIUS) stand beneath a giant poplar in the distance. A storm hits, heavy rain obscuring his vision. A fantastic bolt of lightning strikes the poplar. He violently awakens. Mordecai approaches and explains that there is something he needs to show him.

As they walk, Maximus stresses that he must locate his family. Mordecai tells him that there are those who search and those have given up the search. Over eternity, the former eventually become the latter. They approach the edge of a cliff…

Beneath them in the valley: an encampment bordering a pitch-black sea, filled with the infinite numbers of the damned, stretching endlessly to eternity. They descend.

While making their way through the camp, Mordecai breaks up a fight between two women. He’s something of a peacekeeper here. In return for his services, the Gods allow him to return to Rome (in spectral form) for brief visits. In the midst of their conversation, the crowd explodes with excitement. In the distance: a lone man glides along the darkened sea on a small boat. Thousands pour into the water shouting “Elysium!” as the boat disappears into the fog. Mordecai pronounces them fools for believing there is any escape.

The two make their way to a massive, ruined temple near the encampment. Maximus enters and finds the Roman Gods (Jupiter, Apollo, Pluto, Neptune, Mars, Mercury, and Bacchus) who mock his predicament. Still, they offer a deal: their brother, Hephaestos, has run off to the desert filled with bad ideas. He is gathering apostates/fanatics and slowly amassing a power greater than their own. As a result, they’ve aged…grown weak and diseased. They want Maximus to seek out Hephaestos and kill him. In exchange, they will reunite him with his family. Maximus bolts out of the temple without saying a word.

Mordecai warns him that the Gods are lying. He can not be reunited with his wife because she sacrificed her place in Elysium to allow their son to cheat death. Marius was resurrected and returned to Earth (specifically Rome) where he lives out his days. As for Maria…she could be anywhere in the netherworld, but will never be found.

Maximus refuses to listen and heads off. In the desert, he has a vision of his wife. He gives chase as she leads him to a bloodied, dying stag entangled in brambles. He attempts to free it, but the animal’s wounds are too severe. Maria’s voice pleads “help us” as the stag takes its final breath and dies in his arms.

Maximus locates Hephaestos’ camp to find it completely abandoned, save for the man himself. Left for dead by his followers, Hephaestos explains that the masses have lost faith in the Roman Gods. As result, they’re dying. There is only one true God and their time has rightfully passed. Maximus asks about his son. Hephaestos stresses that he is in great danger and needs his father’s assistance. As they lock eyes, the Gladiator is transported…

…back to the world of the living. Maximus rises out of the body of a dying Christian is the midst of a massacre in Lyons. It’s a mob scene, dozens of Christians being beaten/hacked to death by The Emperor’s forces. Seeing an elderly Bishop on the verge of being slaughtered, Maximus grabs a weapon and beings hacking away at the attackers. He’s overwhelmed by the crowd and restrained. Before the killing blow is delivered: an unseen voice orders a stay. 25-year-old LUCIUS (Connie Nielson’s son from the original) approaches. Lucius asks the rebel his name…he has seen him before. Maximus does not answer, but pleads for the Bishop’s life to be spared. Lucius responds by nonchalantly decapitating the old man. He orders the guards to kill Maximus, but he manages to escape.

Down the road, he encounters two men (PETER and MARCUS) who ask for his help. He follows them to a sanctuary where their leader (IRENAEUS) gives Maximus a brief history of their predicament: Lucius and the Emperor seek to put down Christianity…to wipe it from the world. The Christians need help in alerting their Rome-based leader (a schoolteacher named CASSIAN) that the Empire is on the verge of locating him. Maximus refuses and heads off in search of his son.

Along the path to the city, he finds a family of butchered Christians. He’s approached by the ghost of Mordecai who explains that his failure to kill Hephaestos has resulted in permanent banishment to Earth. Maximus seems unconcerned by this. After arriving in Rome, he checks into an inn where several folks seem to recognize him…

At the palace, Emperor DECIUS scolds Lucius regarding his bloodthirsty methods. Lucius defends himself by explaining that (in his mind) their empire is dying. Plague, famine, earthquakes, the great granaries of Rome destroyed by inundations…all result from the anger of the Gods. The Christians mock their divinity and must be destroyed. Their leader must be found. The Emperor reveals that a census is being taken. Anyone who is Christian will be arrested and be provided with an opportunity to recant. If not, they will be put to death in the Coliseum in a spectacular fashion. “The people will be entertained”.

Meanwhile, a large gathering of Roman Christians discuss aforementioned census. Several propose standing up and fighting back. Maximus enters: tells them its suicide. They ask who he is; he responds that he was once a Roman soldier. One of the men steps forward: “You served the devil himself”. It is MARIUS, who proposes killing the intruder. They share some heated words before the gathering is broken up. Maximus rages to Mordecai that his own son does not recognize him.

We find Lucius walking the halls of the palace. He passes the bust of certain famous Roman General and halts in his tracks. A haunted look crosses his face.

Maximus locates the Christian leader, Cassian and offers his help. Cassian apologizes for the actions of his student, Marius, last night. His adopted son has a hot temper on occasion. He relates a tale of how he found Marius alone in a sick ward as a little boy, no parents to speak of.

Maximus heads back to the inn to find a pack of groupies. “He walks!” they exclaim. One of the gathered is JUBA (Djimon Hounsou’s character). They embrace, drink and catch up…Juba listens, dumbfounded. He presents Maximus with a gift: the totemic figurines of Marius and Maria buried at the end of the first film. He recently retrieved them after learning that the Emperor will be flooding the Coliseum for a match involving alligators. Maximus thanks him. We cut to Lucius torturing a family to uncover Cassian’s identity.

The next morning: Marius walks through the city. He’s confronted by two young men who mock his faith. As the confrontation turns physical, Maximus steps from the shadows and beats the attackers to a pulp. Father and son have a nice conversation in which Marius compares Maximus to the Apostle Paul: a violent man who converted after hearing Christ’s voice, becoming God’s chosen instrument. The two speak of their families: Marius discusses his birth father’s constant absence. Maximus describes the pain of leaving his wife and child, particularly his son…Marius.

Marius arrives at school just in time to see Lucius and his men enter. They announce their intent to arrest the Christian leader. Seeing a fish necklace on Cassian, Lucius rips it away and delivers a nice bit of dialogue:

LUCIUS
You are students, are you not? Scholars? Learned young men? Then, answer me this: Does Rome stand deep-fixed and deathless as in the time of the great Caesars? No. I think not. Does she prowl the world, hungry and fearless and all-power? Again…I think not. Do the Gods sit mighty and well-pleased in the Heavens and bestow on her, her just rewards? No and again, no…I think not. Rome weeps and this little fish swims in her tears. A fish…a little fish…hidden around an old man’s neck. The earthquakes that have ripped this mighty empire asunder…charge this little fish. The infernal plagues and disease? The hellish pestilence that ravages our land? Charge this little fish… The diabolical rage of the Gods? I say again…CHARGE THIS FISH. And charge the one that wears it! The man here spits n the eyes of the gods themselves! He is the enemy of us all!

Lucius stabs Cassian to death . Marius escapes and heads directly for Maximus, asking for his help in creating an army. Several short training/recruitment scenes follow. Later, Maximus and Lucius have a brief face to face meeting (short excerpt follows):

LUCIUS
Forgive me, Maximus, but I am confused…about many things. As a boy…as a little boy…I watched a Roman General who became a gladiator bring down the very heavens upon his foes. When he died, I stood by my other and we wept, and all of Rome wept with us. He was a solider…a great warrior. Yet, he stands before me now. How can this be?

MAXIMUS
Do not despair. You will see the heavens some tumbling down again.

We cut to The Coliseum, teeming with thousands of cheering Romans. The grounds are completely flooded with several ships battling hundreds of alligators with fireballs and arrows (note: did Cave ask Michael Bay for guidance on this?) Lucius speaks with the Decius and informs him that the Christians are forming an army under a resurrected Maximus. The Emperor gives permission to crush them.

Maximus’ army heads for the forest. Father and son share a brief conversation: the truth of their relationship is unspoken, but seemingly recognized by both.

Lucius and an army of hundreds approach. A massive battle ensues. Lucius kills Juba. Enraged, Maximus cuts Lucius to pieces. As readies to deliver the killing stroke, Lucius drops his sword and seems to accept his fate: “Only at your hands, Maximus”. An arrow then explodes through Lucius’ neck, fired by Marius. A storm hits, the heavens explode with rage. Marius falls to knees and bellows: “Oh lord what have we done?” Maximus kneels as well, rubs dirt between his fingers.

We intercut the following with shots of the dying stag from earlier in the film:
- Middle Eastern Battlefield: Maximus stands surrounded by hundreds of Crusaders as they battle a Muslim army. Everyone dies around him, only Maximus remains untouched.
- Europe: Maximus battles tanks in World War 2.
- Vietnam: Maximus battles Vietcong with a flamethrower.
- The Pentagon, Present Day: Maximus washing his hands in a men’s room sink. He stars at himself in the mirror…reflecting. Mordecai stands behind him…whispers: “Until eternity itself has said it’s prayers.” Maximus exits; proceeds into a large war room containing a dozen men in suits.
- The edge of a black hole: Maximus commands a futuristic, 3-story tall space suit. The machine’s giant titanium claws grip the side of a planet-size starship. Maximus leans back, kicks off the hull and simultaneously opens fire on 10,000 amorphic creatures as they bear down on him. (ok, I made that last one up)

Fade to black."

I would pay 10 dollars to see this movie. This movie sounds better than the first one. Can we start a petition to get this made?

-M

So... Wilco

How about those Wilco dudes? I love'em. Sort of.

We have a strange relationship, to be sure. Their first album, A.M., was a somewhat forgettable album. It had some good songs but it wasn't a masterpiece. Being There was an almost masterpiece. It's the album where they really just went for it. It wasn't a perfect album, but it was thrilling to hear a band stop giving a fuck and really shoot for greatness.

Summerteeth was one of the more interesting albums of the 90's. Before this one they were a alt country band. With this one... they turned into a darker version of The Beach Boys. And it was awesome.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I can't even describe. If you haven't heard that album you don't know what you're missing. Go listen to it now and hear the best album of this decade.

Then came A Ghost is Born and that's where things started to go sour. I enjoy the album very much, but it has problems. First is "Spiders (Kidsmoke)". The earlier version of the song had it as a beautiful acoustic song. Slow and sad. The album version turned it into something different altogether. Not that the song it turned into was bad, but it just felt like they messed with something that was almost perfect and turned it into something lesser. Why mess with something so good if the outcome isn't going to be as good as the original? Then there was that song near the end of the album that had 12 minutes of noise at the end. There was no need for it. The album just felt like it had a bunch of needless experimentation.

Then there was Sky Blue Sky. And that was the worst, most boring album they ever made. Aside from "Side with the Seeds", the album doesn't have a single song that could stand next to their greatest works. Mostly the album was filled with songs like
"Hate It Here", which was just a throwaway Dad-Rock song.

So now they've got this new album called "Wilco (The Album)". I'm not sure what to think. The album's name is both boring and bland, yet kind of funny and self deprecating. The first song is called "Wilco {The Song)". This is a song I've actually heard before and I really disliked it. But come on. Wilco being funny? I'm intrigued yet treading lightly at the same time. The only other song from the album I've heard before is "One Wing", another song I found boring. So who knows? So far I sort of like the way they're going with this whole "humor" thing, but I've not been a fan of the songs I've heard. It's pretty rare to find a band like Wilco. I love them yet now, whenever I hear they have a new album, I tread with caution, not excitement. Like, am I happy they have a new album? Is it just going to be more Dad-Rock songs? Are they still doing the alt country thing like on Sky Blue Sky, or are they heading back to the sonic wave length like on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Or are they up to something new altogether? We'll find out, but right now I'm not entirely sure I want to.

-M