Movin' Out!

Did I just use a Billy Joel song as the title for my last blog post here? Yes, yes I did.

I'm calling it quits on Blogger and moving everything to my new WordPress blogs. I started a new Bucks fan blog called Where 55 Happens, which is definitely the more important (and hopefully more interesting) thing I'll be writing. My personal blog has been shipped over and will remain as it has been: an infrequently updated forum for me to write about stuff that doesn't matter to most anyone.

Who knows if 55 will take off, but with a sweet nickname like "55", how can it not?

Anyway, I hope you'll check them out. It's been fun Blogger. Peace!

If Apple Made Cars

• They would hold only two people, but up to 40,000 songs, 100s of books, or 200 hours of video.
• They could only be filled with gasoline from a specific, proprietary nozzle shaped like a toaster.
• You could not operate both the radio and the air-conditioner at the same time.
• They would have only one pedal for accelerating, braking, and clutch. Buttons on the steering wheel would need to be pressed to access these functions.
• The steering wheel would be on the other side.
• Bumper stickers, window decorations, and antenna clingers would need to be purchased from a single store and could not be transferred between vehicles.
• Owners experiencing mechanical issues would need to bring them to a certified Apple Garage mechanic. There would be 17 in the country.
• Vehicles would need to be authorized to play purchased CDs, and new radio stations would need to be imported into the audio system before playback after entering their range.
• Seat belts, airbags, windshield wipers, upholstery, cup holders, and other components improved upon by outside manufacturers would not be adopted by Apple. Any attempt to integrate lower-cost, innovative alternatives would void the warranty.
• The standard model would start at $433,779.
• They'd probably look pretty slick, though.

Cover It Live: NBA Finals Game 7

My buddy Jack Moore, creator of the Brewers Blog and ESPN SweetSpot affiliate Disciples of Uecker, is joining me to cover the NBA Finals Game 7. Both of us are probably unqualified to do this, but it should be fun. Check it out and join the conversation.

I'm still figuring out how this works, so if the window above is cut off, use the link below to view it in a pop-out window.

Click Here

LOST: The Conclusion

I was completely speechless for a while after LOST came to an end. I wasn't sure I could completely comprehend what I had just witnessed, and I was caught up in watching viewer reactions unfold on Twitter and Facebook. But after thinking about it for the night and placing the Finale in the context of the entire show, I know how I feel about it.

LOST is the most incredible television series ever imagined.

Let me qualify that. It's probably not the best acted, best written, or best rated series ever (although at times, it probably was). But it engaged fans like nothing before it. Everyone had ideas. With so many questions and mysteries, there was no way to make sense of LOST without formulating some sort of theory to explain everything, anything to wrap your mind around. I think the creators meant for this to happen. It's what kept fans involved between episodes at a level far beyond any other show. It's why there are hundreds of LOST fan sites with thousands of theories about smoke monsters, moving cabins, and electromagnetism.

So imagine a show that has everyone formulating their own answers simply because they aren't given any to agree on. That's what LOST did to thousands of viewers who tuned in to tonight's finale searching for any number of things, and legitimately expecting to get them! After all the twists and open-ended questions, people still sat down for every episode expecting explanations and plot reveals. So when Jack's eye closed, and the word LOST flashed on the screen for the last time after absolutely nothing was answered, most fans I've heard from on Twitter or Facebook were left wholly unsatisfied. None of us wanted to hear that a group of characters to whom we'd dedicated 6 years of our lives were dead. Despite what literary critics and scholars might say, the general public is not big on full-circle conclusions. They want closure.

But I think closure came from the end of LOST, if in a different way. Some people stopped listening the minute Jack and Christian revealed the characters in the flash-sideways were dead. For me, Christian's explanation firmly cemented LOST as the most unique television show of all time, because it told viewers exactly what was important. It didn't matter that the characters were dead. It didn't matter how or when they died (keep in mind, the sideways-flashes were independent of time). It only mattered that they were together again, all of them who'd had such tremendous impact on each others' lives.

It may as well have been the entire LOST production staff giving us this explanation. Why did we spend 6 years watching a show if in the end everyone is dead and the Island forgotten? What did any of it matter?

All of it mattered. Every last second. In fact, the only thing that might not have mattered was how it all ended! As Christian said, everyone dies. The characters weren't going to live forever, so it was only a matter of time before the curtain fell on their stories anyway. Why did it need to be shown or explained? The most important thing to happen to any of them was each other.

That's why we watched LOST. We did it because of Rose's undying faith that her husband would come back to her. We did it because of Desmond's unstoppable efforts to see Penny again. We did it because of Jack's unshakable determination to do what he thought was right, even to the end. A show like LOST is too big, too important to define by its Finale. This was a six-year odyssey of triumph, loss, conflict, and redemption. It didn't matter that it ended. What mattered was that it happened.

A Trip to the Sven Den

This past week was eventful enough to warrant a recap post.

We arrived in Ohio late Sunday night and scrounged for floor and couch space in Kevin's new apartment with 7 guys. Few of us had bought sleeping bags, so blankets and pillows were doled out, but the distribution wasn't exactly handled well: Andy and I went through the night with no blankets, forcing Andy to put on a sweatshirt and me to cover myself with a bathtowl. Little did we know that Nate was sleeping on the floor five feet away with FOUR BLANKETS. He actually remarked on how much he was sweating the next morning. Also, Kevin's door spontaneously locked during the night so Nate and I had to pee in the woods behind his apartment building. Pretty much exactly what you'd expect out of 7 guys sharing a one-bedroom apartment on the first night of a hastily-planned roadtrip.

Monday we ate at Kevin's parents before heading to Cincinnati for the Brewers-Reds game. Great seats two rows off the wall in left field. Ryan Braun waved to us. More importantly, we harassed Jonny Gomes the entire game until he got yanked after blasting a three-run homer that put it out of reach for the Brewers. Also, apparently Great American Ballpark doesn't accept vertical IDs, so those of us looking to imbibe were out of luck. In my case, this void was filled by deluxe nachos. I'll be the death of me yet. Still, it was hands down the most fun I've ever had at a sporting event where my team lost.

Steak 'n Shake at 1:30am for a few of the guys. Sleep in armchair, this time with blanket.

Tuesday everyone except Andy and I went home (Brent had to get to his Mastadon/Rascal Flatts collaborative concert). We went bowling, which was an utter disaster. My personal best is 196, set last summer, I think. In three games I scored 81, 55, and 78, I think. Absolutely awful. Felt like Gomes' homer was smacking me in the sternum. We went back to Kev's parents to celebrate my cousin's (his sister's) birthday by eating tacos and watching LOST. Last episode before the series finale? My world is going to fall down around me after this Sunday.

Sleep on half couch, half armchair, two blankets this time.

Woke up at noon Wednesday. We tried going to CiCi's Pizza Buffet on Andy's insistence, but it was out of business. Probably not actually a bad thing. We went to Fazoli's instead, and as usual, I walked out thinking, "Man, I shoulda had more breadsticks..." Of course, a few hours later we were treated to dinner from my Aunt and Uncle again. Food coma.

Wednesday night Andy, Kevin, and I went to see Kick-Ass. Review post forthcoming, let me just say it was one of the best movies I have seen in years. Absolutely fantastic. If the thing had been done by Quentin Tarantino, it would be hailed as a masterpiece. As is, it's simultaneously a good action movie and a great dark comedy.

Left around 10:30 Thursday morning, just in time to drive past Dayton as this bad boy was cranking up the heat. The massive plume of smoke was blowing right through downtown Dayton as we drove past. Windows up. Also found out that the flower shop delivered the wrong flowers to Emily for her birthday. Get it together florists!

Really excellent week. Not looking forward to going back to work on Tuesday, as that officially marks the beginning of my three-month countdown until summer ends. The fact that I typed that sentence in complete seriousness makes me want to cry.

Why I’m Still Watching

Last night’s LOST was cataclysmic. Not because of the plot or character revelations, but because I have never seen a fanbase so universally up in arms from one event. This goes beyond the Nikki and Paulo backlash, because nobody expected anything out of those characters, and most people had a pretty good idea that they were done for after their debut. This episode, though, people were nuts with anticipation. The Man in Black! Flocke! Jacob’s Nemesis! Would we finally get a name for him? If Jacob was the guardian of the Island, what was MiB doing there? Why did he want to kill Jacob? Why couldn’t they kill each other? I was one of them. I was looking forward to getting some answers about the nature of the Island (although I hoped they would just build on the cork metaphor, which I liked).

So I watched it. And that’s about all I did. I wasn’t really captivated, but I was anticipating some big revelation. Character relationships were revealed, the “Light of the Island” shown, the smoke monster born, and Adam and Eve identified. And that was about it. By the time “V” came on <shudder…>, I found that most of the questions I expected to have answered remained a mystery.

At this point, people flipped. Twitter exploded, and TV bloggers demanded Lindelof and Cuse’s heads. The acting was criticized, the characterization was criticized, the writing was criticized. People wanted answers, and with a single line at the beginning of the episode, it was clear that they would not be given.

Well, so what? So there are still questions? What’s new? That’s what LOST is, questions. The questions, the nature of the Island, I’ve always seen these as secondary to the characters. That’s what made the show great in the first place. These characters had a chance to make new lives, to confront their mistakes, their fears. They were simultaneously deep and one dimensional, with the backstories adding layers of conflict. That was the real purpose of the Island. It forced each character to face themselves. The Island’s mythology, its power, these were things that each character grappled with. Everyone on the plane had their baggage (pun intended), and the Island brought it to bear (again, pun intended).

There is no doubt that LOST’s creators and writers have led us on a wild trek bridging genres and themes. They have posed many questions and answered few. But in the end, I see LOST as a story of trials and redemption. Smoke monsters, magic buttons, and underground frozen donkey wheels are great entertainment, but the real reasons I’m still watching LOST are the living, breathing people who asked the same question we’re asking now - “Where are we?” I don’t know what the Island really is, but I know what it stands for: A second chance.

Wordle

Got this from Mr. Dale Basler, my high school physics teacher. It's a graphical representation of my word use in this blog. I assume it rules out common words such as "the" and "is," allowing you to visualize important content only. Pretty cool. It will be interesting to watch it change as I update this blog.

Emotional Movie Scenes

I don't cry at many movies. Certainly not most love stories, and pure tragedies are too predictable o dramatic to invoke that kind of emotion. There are a handful of movie scenes, though, that absolutely get to me every time I watch them. Here are my top 5 emotional movie scenes, with links to videos if I can find them:

WARNING! THESE ARE PROBABLY SPOILERS!

5. Pay it Forward - Funeral Scene

4. Dead Man Walking - Execution Scene

3. Shawshank Redemption - Brooks Was Here

2. American History X - Danny's Death

1. Schindler's List - End

Honorable Mention:

• Saving Private Ryan - Gravesite Scene
• Requiem for a Dream - Ending Montage

Most of these are about death, as you can tell. There are plenty of emotional scenes out there that don't revolve around death, like the breakthrough scene in Good Will Hunting, but admittedly they don't get to me the same way.

Michael Redd

I'm sitting here playing NBA Live '10 with the Bucks, and Redd is a freaking star. He hits from everywhere on the floor, he posts up any guard in the league, and he finishes in traffic better than most players in the game. You know what the best part is, though? The game throws out his player-option for 2010-2011, so I can dump him after the first year if I want. Is there something I can call it when I daydream about video-game Michael Redd and have nightmares about real-life Michael Redd?

Happy Playlist is Happy!

I'd never really used playlists while listening to music before. Mostly just listened to albums, genres, artists, etc. on shuffle. Recently, though, I've gone on a bit of a kick as far as making playlists for certain moods, activities, and the like. Perhaps my favorite is the "Happy Songs for Happy People" playlist, containing all my favorite upbeat, bright, cheerful songs. Mostly I'm concerned with melodies and structure, as far as what I consider "happy," as I've never been much of a stickler for lyrics. They might not be the most complex musical arrangements, but they make for excellent listening while walking to class on a sunny morning. Here's what I've got in there right now:

• Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros
• Baba O'Riley - The Who
• Steal My Sunshine - LEN
• Concrete Schoolyard - Jurassic 5
• Ooh La La - Faces
• She's Electric - Oasis
• Superman - Goldfinger
• Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough - The New Radicals
• I Wanna Know Girls - Portastatic
• Do You Love Me? - The Explorers Club
• Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
• No Rain - Blind Melon
• Black or White - Michael Jackson
• Sun Lotion - Steadman

Incidentally, Hoppipolla gets my vote for "Happiest Song Ever Written." I linked the music video in my last post. I dare you to watch it without smiling. If you want to check any others out, go to Playlist.com and search 'em. It's a decent song database and lets you listen to full songs. If you're clever, you can even download them for free in an only-slightly-illegal way!