Lakers vs. Celtics...

Two teams with a storied past... 10 meetings in the finals, and for the first 8 matches the Celtics stood tall, unbeatable. Then the Lakers reigned in th 80's.

Now they finally meet in the finals again, over 2 decades later, no kareem, no Larry, No Magic or Showtime. Just a group of young talent including the league MVP and some of the strongest and most consistent players in the league.

The teams are both #1 seeds, and have the best 2 records in the NBA, so this matchup should be stellar. Kobe has proven to be a machine, powering through injuries to hand and back to lead the lakers to a 12-3 playoff record this year (league best so far) and are undefeated at home in playoffs this year.They've won 14 straight home games and 21 of their last 24 postseason games at home.

Lakers are averaging almost 106 per game while limiting opponents to under 100 points.
don't forget Kobe is the playoff scoring leader at 32 per game.

Celtics are only averaging 92 points in the playoffs, but are holding teams to under 90 points. Can the Celtics D limit the Lakers offense?

We'll find out soon. Thursday at 9 pm. be watching.

McClellan memoir slams white house

Admirable but untimely. Mr. McClellan, it is a laudable and noble thing to try to clear your conscience over your part in this current administrations dealings, but a tad too late and certainly untimely. I would hesitate to ask how much you were paid to open your mouth and say all this now, with your book tour coming up, but that might suggest strong conservative, capitalistic, and maybe right wing tendencies on your part, which would mean this administration would have to applaud your efforts, and the liberal, leftist groups would have to acknowledge less than altruistic reasons for your dramatic outpouring of less than flattering facts about this white house's current tenants.
Motives aside... Here's the story...

McClellan says he believed Bush as war started
By David Jackson and Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, whose new memoir has sparked controversy about the Bush administration's plans before the Iraq war, said Thursday he is "disappointed that things didn't turn out the way we had hoped they would turn out" at the beginning of the administration.
McClellan, whose memoir claims the administration manipulated facts to "sell" the Iraq war, told NBC's Today Show that he became "increasingly disillusioned with things" during his time in the White House.
"My hope is that by writing this book and sharing openly and honestly what I lived and what I learned during my time at the White House that in some small way it might help us move beyond the destructive partisan warfare of the last 15 years," he said of the memoir, excerpts of which were first disclosed earlier this week.
BOOK BLOW UP: Criticisms stun White House team
RICE BACKS BUSH: She says administation was clear on Iraq
Also Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the latest administration official to express puzzlement about McClellan's statements.

Review and analysis- Achebe "Dead Mans Path"

Paved With Good Intentions


The third reich- the Vietnam war- the patriot act: all examples of acts undertaken with the well-intentioned ideas of the people involved. All turned out to be bad- nay, disastrous ideas. In “Dead Man’s Path” by Chinua Achebe, Michael Obi is an enthusiastic and energetic young man newly appointed to the position of headmaster of Ndume Central School. Ndume Central School was an old fashioned school located somewhat centrally to the daily village activities. Michael and Nancy, his wife, try to take this school and modernize it with his advanced education and lofty ideas. However, one must always remember to honor the past, and not make the common mistake of the human condition to dismiss the values and wisdom of the past in the search for a better future.
From the beginning, Obi denigrates the “old and superannuated people in the teaching field” rather than graciously receive the examples and knowledge they represent (247). Nancy herself is more interested in her sudden rise in social standing than for the actual good they both could do. Hence, upon discovering the existence of an ancestral footpath leading from the shrine to the village’s burial site, Obi’s first concern is not for the traditions of the people he is supposed to teach, but for the propriety and appearance of the path according to his own ideals. Obi scoffs at the ritualistic ideas and the history of the villagers saying, “Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas” (249). It is exactly this type of disregard for cultural canon that led the European colonials to ‘civilize’ the savages around the world. This well-intentioned thinking leads Obi to his eminent downfall.
Moreover, Obi’s zeal is fueled by an overdeveloped sense of pride in his abilities and social standing. Even Nancy is “infected by his passion” to “show these people how a school should be run” (247-248). They raise teaching standards, and cover the grounds in gardens of hedges and flowers, as if the flora could set the school grounds above its surroundings. The ancestral path, infrequently used by the villagers, intersects this garden through the school compound and inflames Obi’s concern over the propriety of such a path, since a school inspection is imminent. Lest his pride be damaged by an imagined impropriety, Obi springs into action.
Obi immediately closes off the ancestral footpath, not just with heavy sticks- but with barbed wire as well. Perhaps the barbed wire was as strong of a barrier as was the barriers to tradition in his mind. When the village priest, obviously a man to be respected, confronts Obi with the importance of the path to the village, Obi responds without a hint of respect to the conventions of the village saying, “the whole purpose of our school is to eradicate just such beliefs as that” (249). This blatant disregard of the villages deeply held beliefs compounds Obi’s problems as those very beliefs rise up against him (250). When the death of a young woman in the village is attributed to the inaccessibility of the path, the villagers are obviously incensed.
Before the inspector can visit, the hedges and flowers near the path- and all around the school as well- are torn up and trampled (250). Obviously the new life he intended for the school was rejected by the villagers as they retaliated by trampling his ideas of the way the school should look, the hedges and flowers of Michael and Nancy’s dreams and ideals. Had this couple but respected the people they were meant to teach, the people who wore those very paths into the earth, perhaps the supervisor would not have seen the barbed wire of Obi’s mind that caused the “tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster” (250).
Forcing one’s own ideals upon people who are treading well known paths has never resulted in the best of circumstances. Obi hopefully learned that the past of a person will always have bearing on the future of that person, and it is important to respect that history- for oft times it is more than just hopes and dreams carried up on that foundation. It is a solid basis of beliefs and traditions that can be more volatile if upset than just a mere dream. Michael and Nancy- remember that we must acknowledge and respect the whole beings of those around us in order to create a mutually beneficial future.

Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama - yours to lose.

I think it is evident throughout America that the democratic party, despite a wealth of good intentions, has set itself up to lose an election that was once considered a "Gimmie" after the past four years of unpopular political missteps that has come out of the Bush administration. The election should have been a democratic lock, but now I have doubts that America sees a party ready to change America because all they see is the normal political bickering that has characterized the democratic party (since they ARE so diverse in membership, they have a hard time agreeing on... well, much of anything).



With the lack of satisfaction over the "War on Ira..", ahem... "War on Terrorism", the democrats should have had this election in the bag, but thanks to backbiting, dirt digging, and TOO many diverse needs within the constituancy, the democrats are setting themselves up for a big loss to McCain.

Isn't the point to win the white house? Get your act together Dems, or lose the election. Simple as that. Maybe they really sould join forces and help unify the party. True loyalists will continue to support them against McCain, race and sex aside.

I never thought I would miss Gore running for office....

American Idol Finals Winner David Cook???

Ok, maybe a lot of rockers out there voted 3 or four times because that is the only way David C could have beat Archuleta tonight. When Cook himself said Archuleta hands down out performed him last show, thats the only explanation. Archuleta lost by 12 million votes. Maybe his fan base just couldn't use the phone after bed time, and Cooks were able to keep calling.

Either way, we now have our rocker idol to make up for the Daughtry withdrawal so many idol fans suffered with his loss.

The true Idol on tonights show was George Michael though, with his stunning performance that had people crying in thier seats. AWESOME.

RESULTS: COOK WINS IDOL, Archuleta wins hearts, and Michaels wins night.

Tokyo pop

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

COOL CHANNEL TO WATCH!! Check this out if you are a anime or manga fan!!

Byrd sh*ts on Obama - A sign from god?

Byrd says it wasn't political.
Byrd says he thought Obama might be muslim, what with his name so... ethnic sounding.
Guess the Pastor of this small Church of God in Jonesville, SC doesn't watch the news to hear Obama attends a controversial little church in Chicago where another controversial little pastor made some other controversial little comments that had some controversial repercussions for the Christian church.
The last time someone made some racially and religiously charged political comments, Mitt Romney was holding up a sign showing ignorant people couldn't spell "momma" (see it here)
http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/21/mitt-catches-s-t-over-hillary-bashing-sign/
Now this Pastor decides to show ignorant pastors from small southern towns can't spell "Hmmm". (See it here- http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2008-04-20-0005.html ) "Obama Osama humm are they brothers"

Churches, especially the Christian church of late, are really not making a strong showing for being racially tolerant, whether it be a black OR white church, huh? Kinda makes me sad...

New Movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So the next installment of Indy is coming out, and people are practically drooling to see it... crash and burn. However, I think that it is going to take some people by surprise when it actually has some decent content in it and reprises Indy successfully, even if the audience is not as forgiving of Indy and Spielbergs flaws as his devoted fans used to be 19 years ago.

Still with Indiana Jones rides at the Disney Theme parks, and it not being so long ago that Young indy had a television show, perhaps people are underestimating the power Indy still holds in our culture...

Speaking of, I find it refreshing to note in the following article that Indy goes from chasing religious oriented artifacts to chasing science and alien artifacts in this installment (Roswell?) . Any thoughts out there?



Indiana Jones is back! And the Cannes Film Festival has him

By Anthony Breznican,, USA TODAY
Welcome to France, Indiana Jones.
You should find the accommodations here at the Cannes Film Festival, along the crystal waters of the Mediterranean, most pleasant. But be warned: There are critics in the midst.

The intrepid archaeologist with a penchant for fistfights and fedoras has squared off against Nazis, flesh-melting spirits and monkey-brain-eating cult leaders.

On Sunday, we'll see how he fares with international film reviewers.

While it isn't the fate of the free world or the Shroud of Turin at stake, much rides on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's debut Sunday night at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Or, make that Indiana Jones et le Royaume du Crâne de Cristal, as the ubiquitous signs at Cannes read.

Few films come shouldering as many expectations as this installment of one of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood history. And given that the series — and its star — has gone 19 years between episodes, the film world is a little anxious about whether Indy still has some crack left in his whip.

If the cast and crew are nervous about the high-profile debut, it doesn't show. If anything, star Harrison Ford approaches the movie's fate the same way his character would a pit of snakes: with a quip.

"That damn costume still fits," he says. "We've always had fun making this kind of old-fashioned, uncomplicated movie. People will always be drawn to a good yarn."

Well, most people. A few harsh (and anonymous) reviews from early industry screenings made their way to the Internet last week. But it seems Indy creator George Lucas would have been surprised had they not surfaced.

"You'll always be compared to what you've done in the past, and you can't compete with fond memories," he said in March. "You're never going to make everyone happy."

Besides, says star Karen Allen, who is reprising her role as the plucky Marion Ravenwood, the true test comes Thursday, when the film opens nationwide.

"Who knows who they are," she says of the online reviewers. "I can't imagine anyone who liked any of the first three not loving this film."

Everyone's a critic

Millions will judge for themselves Thursday. Analysts say Skull could be two hours of Indy plucking lint from his hat and it would still enjoy one of the biggest debuts of the year, thanks to the franchise's legacy and the veil of secrecy that director Steven Spielberg has kept over the project.

"Critics have had less and less impact on a picture's box office," says Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo. "And with a movie like this, which people have been awaiting for so long, the effect (of harsh reviews) is going to be nil."

Many had assumed that 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, co-starring Sean Connery as the hero's father, was the final installment. That included Spielberg, who included a nostalgic ride into the sunset as his closing shot.

Even Allen thought her days as a hard-drinking adventurer were done. The actress, who includes Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, on her Christmas gift list, was caught off guard by the director's phone call.

"It crossed my mind that he was calling to say thanks," she says. "He said, 'We just announced we're making the next Indiana Jones film, and we have a wonderful role for you, but you can't tell anyone.' I told my son, because I was going to be gone for four months. I had to make plans."

Anticipation for the fourth movie has been building since the late '90s, when talk first began about bringing the series back. Since then, numerous writers have taken a crack at the story — from Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) to M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) — and the project seemed destined to become something Ford, Spielberg and producer George Lucas would talk about making, but never actually complete.

When Skull got the official green light, it was almost inevitable that the film would land at Cannes, which has increasingly turned to high-profile Hollywood films to draw attention to a festival once known for its international fare.

'Worldwide attention'

Festival organizers, "like virtually everyone else in the movie world, need to drum up interest and attention for themselves," says film historian Leonard Maltin. "Obviously, purists would prefer not to have that Hollywood association. But you have to think global, and nothing is going to get more worldwide attention — for the festival and the movie — than having these stars and director on the red carpet."

It's widely known that the new film ages the character in real time, about two decades, placing Jones in the 1950s during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The villains seeking the eponymous relic in this installment are not Nazis, they're Soviet agents, and Cate Blanchett plays their dominatrix-like leader, Irina Spalko. Meanwhile, Jones has continued his relic-hunting, though not quite at the same intensity as the tank-crashing, runaway-mine-cart-racing good old days.

"We started thinking about Indy's legacy and what all of his searching really was about," says writer Jeff Nathanson, who spent a year working out the story with Lucas. "He's still searching. That's the great thing about the movies and this character. It's his love of the hunt, his desire to keep searching and never lose that passion."

But the professor sees that the price of his own pursuits has been a lack of family — a continuation of a sentiment from The Last Crusade. In that film, Jones rebukes his aloof dad, saying, "What you taught me was that I was less important to you than people who had been dead for 500 years in another country."

Says producer Frank Marshall: "I think you'll see a side you haven't seen before of Indiana Jones — a warmth to the character, some heart, though it doesn't get sappy."

Some of that heart stems from the presence of the young Mutt Williams (Transformers' Shia LaBeouf), a young greaser in a black leather jacket who roars around on a motorcycle. His arrival, Marshall says, helps trigger the new adventure.

"Indiana Jones has been pretty quiet in the past 19 years," Marshall says. "He's really dedicated his life to education and teaching. and so he's been mellowing, shall we say. It takes quite an event to get him back into the fray. That is something that has happened and brought to him by Mutt."

'We're in the '50s now'

Another newly revealed story point: Jones is facing a congressional probe similar to that era's House Un-American Activities Committee, which in the movie is crushing the reputations of professors, scholars and teachers suspected of lacking patriotism.

"We're in the '50s now, there is a great deal of pressure on academia from people like Joe McCarthy," Marshall says. "The educational system was under fire. It's kind of interesting that Indiana falls prey to that. He comes under heavy government scrutiny."

It seems unfair, doesn't it, given that Jones came to the aid of the U.S. government by preventing Hitler from harnessing the power of both the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail?

Marshall laughs: "That's kinda the way he looks at it."

Whatever it is that Mutt presents and the pressure from the politically charged investigation combine to launch Jones on his race against the Soviets to figure out the power of the crystal skull.

The skull, an artifact based on several real objects sculpted from clear quartz, suggests an alien rather than human source. Add that to a shot in the trailer — of a box marked Roswell, N.M., the site of an alleged alien landing in the late 1940s — and the pieces point to galactic origins.

Koepp says it's important to have something from beyond human understanding to trigger Jones' innate doubtfulness and skepticism.

"The supernatural is always close at hand," he says. "But Indiana Jones plays the classic skeptic and agnostic. He allows it may exist. He just hasn't personally seen proof of it. There's an intellectual respect there. He knows there is a lot of stuff he doesn't understand."

The spiritual dimension isn't the only Indy screenwriting guideline.

After reading dozens of previous drafts, Koepp says, there were certain rules they laid down, things that Indiana Jones would never do.

The big one: "Feel sorry for himself," Koepp says. "He was a character who never, besides a moment in the first movie where he thought Marion was dead and allowed himself to get drunk, he would never bemoan his lot in life and feel like he got a raw deal."

But that doesn't mean he's not vulnerable. "The whole idea of the character," says Koepp, "was that when he gets hit, it hurts. He's human. He winces, and he has to cheat in his fights, and when he gets hit in the face, his knees buckle and he falls on his (butt)."

So if he takes a beating from the critics Sunday night, he might grimace and groan. But the perfect Hollywood salve — big box office — will be on the way.

Contributing: Scott Bowles and Donna Freydkin

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-05-15-indiana-jones-cannes_N.htm

Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Anime ROCKS!

This is Bleach episode 32. one of the coolest animes to rock mainstream tv in years! More adult oriented while still teen friendly, this anime revolves around Ichigo Kurasaki, who turns into a Shinigami, one who guides souls to the next world while protecting soul society and earth from dangers of the hollows! See more soon at http://www.mjutv.com/animEtionnation

Sue Simmons and the great F@*K up!

Check this out! I say "You GO girl!"

Maybe it's time America was a little less PC anyway! We are so afraid of stepping on toes and being stepped on anyway!

6 million saw this hillary video... did it hurt Hillary?

Tell me what you think of this s--t!

Watch it and give me your opinion. America (or I) wants to know!

Religion. Help or Hindrance?

While it is true that many people find religion to be an enhancement to their lives, I find that it all too often is simply a hindrance to the lives of people in general. It has been my experience, that while it may be true that individuals get personal benefits from religion, it also tends to close the persons mind to the greater world around them; that their intense faith in something unseen closes the mind to other options.
A person who believes in something for which there is no definitive proof tends to get defensive about their beliefs. As a result, the mind shifts into a mode of discomfort, and an “Us” vs. “Them” attitude as one struggles to find those who hold the same beliefs, and disdain those who believe something different. Often times, this can result in violence. More often, however, it serves to simply set apart people, one from the other. You can see this in the mundane today as clashes between those who identify as Christian or Islamic, or sects of such groups clash, often as a response to the fundamentalist ravings of a few loud religious or political leaders. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, the word Muslim tends to have a nasty connotation to it, and the uninformed masses pointing fingers does not seem to help the situation.
The acts of a few seem to represent the whole. “Al-Qaeda attacked us” became “Muslims attacked us” and translated to “ALL Muslims are terrorists”. My own parents are Pastors, and based on TBN news and suggestions of things they hear on that channel, every Muslim is being taught terrorism as a required course in elementary school, or in the Mosque. No matter what evidence I show them from books or the Internet, there are no exceptions to this rule in their eyes. They refuse to believe that the teachings of Muhammad contain peaceful and good works towards others.
I think that it is their own belief in Christianity and the sanctity of the USA as a whole blinds them to the greater world around them in a lot of ways, and I pity them and all those like them, hand raised in worship but covering the eyes.

Welcome to Opinions are like A--holes

You've got one. I know you do.

Mine just happens to be the one that matters on this site.

What is your opinion? Let people know. I'll post anything that I happen to have an opinion about, and I want to know what you think. I may post an episode of BLEACH, an anime, or the results of that last Lakers game (THANKS for winning again guys! Utah started to scare me there!), since the Lakers are the best team around, and always have been.

I might post a new movie vid, or just some s--t about the latest election news. Don't get me started on Bush, or we may never stop posting... LOL. If it's interesting to me, look for it here. You want me to post something, or research a topic, let me know. If I think it is worth my time, I'll look it up.

My main posts will be about:

1. gay stuff
2. straight stuff
3. environmental stuff
4. anime stuff (Bleach ROCKS!)
5. Video/Movie stuff
6. book stuff
7. my stuff
8. your stuff
9. news stuff
10. anything else cool this week.

Which leads me to this: WAS ANYONE WATCHING THE SAME EPISODE OF AMERICAN IDOL I DID THIS PAST WEEK? I'm sorry, but David Cook was WEAK and Syesha was HOTTTT! Cook had no concept of pitch, and his songs were weak for the first 30 seconds of each 45 second song! Keep him from his guitar and his hands and body have NOTHING to do, and he just plain looks awkward on that d-mn stage. I'm starting to think that the judges are scripted, or at least told how they are going to vote. (Ok... So I'm not an avid watcher of IDOL, for those who knew it was scripted long ago...)

Syesha, at least, sang her songs incredibly well, and if second to Archuleta, it is only because he has that f--king Disney appeal that is so prevalent in America today... with the Mylie's and Jonas Bros. and s--t just dominating music. Thank the GODs MADONNA is back to show this new generation of stank hookers how to lose their innocence properly.