Unreal. How anyone thought this was going to be a cakewalk is a mystery to me. Somehow the Giants came out fully Red Bulled and put the pressure on early. At one point in the game they had the biggest lead any team has had on the Patriots all year: 12 points (in the 4th quarter!)...yet somehow Brady and company prevailed.
"It's a great win for our team." -Tom Brady "This is one for the ages." -Chris Collensworth
After Moss dropped that pass I dropped to the floor, laying there silently staring at the ceiling until TLM wasn't sure if something was medically wrong. She then urged me (sorta forcefully) not to count Brady out. Naturally, on the next play, Brady connects with Moss to break both the single season TD passes record and the TD receptions record simultaneously...oh, they took the lead on the play too, by the way.
All records possibly achieved in the game were reached, and there's only one major goal left for this 2007 Patriots team:
The Patriots game against the Giants this Saturday night can now be watched by more than just people in the Boston market (no, not the restaurant chain) and subscribers to the NFL Network, as originally slated. In what will be an unprecedented simulcast, the game will now also be broadcast by CBS and NBC.
"It'll be like the State of the Union address, you can flip to every channel and see it." -Bill Belichick
I'm sure of two things: the people over at ABC must be fuming unless they've already received some kind of compensation for no longer having the exclusive rights to the local market, and that we'll be seeing p-l-e-n-t-y of NFL Network ads and general hype during the game. Believe me when I say that all of those records, starters playing or sitting, even the score in the game will at (most) times be playing second fiddle to NFL propaganda.
Point Two:
It's good to finally see at least one Patriot break away from this "our only goal is to win the Super Bowl" mantra and tell it like it is. Tom Brady laid it out in a locker room interview the day after Christmas:
"We've got a lot of records at stake, the most important one being the 16-0...I hope we achieve that. It would be a great feat for the team. We'd go down as the only team to be 16-0, so that's the goal I've got in mind." -Tom Brady
Though I'm sure winning the Super Bowl is still the supreme goal, it's nice to see a little honesty from the players (if only one so far publicly). Here's a thought: if realizing what they are on the verge of as a team is sinking in, what about all those other records, particularly the individual ones?
What will happen if the Patriots score three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter and essentially lock up the game by the half? Will Brady, Moss et.al. come back to take the field for the third quarter, risking potential injury? What if the team they are facing has already (and most likely will have) pulled their starters? How important are those records, even if only secretly to the individuals themselves?
I know this: we care. We want to see all those records broken. We want to see it happen, no matter what it takes, because we know these types of seasons and these types of chances don't come by everyday. So, Coach, give them a chance to do it, even if it's in the second half.
"Being associated with Santa Claus...there is a lot worse, so I'll take it...When you're a kid, sometimes you dreamed of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but that's not the [cover] I pictured." -Bill Belichick
Is it jealousy? Spite perhaps? It's no secret that right now Boston is the place to be a sports fan, what with the World Champion Red Sox, the undefeated Patriots, and the NBA-best Celtics, etc. It's simple: the Patriots (and Boston sports in general) are no longer the underdogs, and subsequently it is no longer hip for peripheral sports fans (if you can call them that) to root for them. Instead, the American way dictates the common moron to shout "down with the victors" and mock guys like Belichick and Brady.
...and so St. Nick somehow managed to find our small little condo yet again, as evidenced by presents under the tree, stockings full of stocking stuff, and some bites taken out of the cookies we left out.
Ok, so we didn't leave out any cookies, but we still managed to start off what could have been one of the most stressful days of the year with an enjoyable exchange of gifts. Then both TLM and I went into full family-holiday-preparation mode, a process involving not only showering, shaving and getting ready to go out, but also preparing ourselves mentally for the socialization that lay ahead.
As opposed to what many of you many be inferring right now, this didn't have anything to do with mustering up enough patience to deal with an annoying relative or friend, but rather beating back the trepidation of us (ok, me) saying something stupid, incoherent, or (and this is my forté) entirely inappropriate to anyone during the course of the day. I think that save for a side conversation I had in front of my uncle's mother about a novelty book about "how to swear in every language", I did ok. Many others will not be able to say the same, I'm sure, before the day is done, and it is in recognition of such accomplishments of verbal tomfoolery that Wired has put out their 2007 Foot-in-Mouth Awards.
My personal runaway favorite from the list: James Watson of Watson and Crick DNA discovery fame:
James Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA, talked his way into retirement by telling a London newspaper that he feared for Africa because black people aren't as smart as whites.
Watson told The Sunday Times he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says, not really."
TLM and I started what we hope will be a couple of new traditions this year. The first is me making a Christmas Eve Spencer-special meatball dinner, and the second is something both of us would have loved as a tradition growing up but never really had: opening one gift on Christmas Eve.
Well, we're both adults now (at least that's what people tell me), and we can do whatever we want, so we did. I gave her a big plastic bin with 100 plastic cookie cutters inside (which we hope to be using soon), but that pales in comparison to what I saw when I opened the gift she gave me: a Wireless Weather Station featuring Oscar Outlook Forecaster.
For some reason, I've come close to buying some sort of indoor/outdoor thermometer (weather stations as they're called I know now) more than a few times last year, and TLM apparently picked up on it. The gadget she gave me is better than anything I was eyeballing, I assure you, and it even comes with a name (we...ok, I...like to name our gizmos). As for Oscar the weatherman, I'll let the video speak for itself.
The weather held off, but it's fifteen down, one to go. The Patriots are too far along now to not achieve this. I know they'll preach the "15 one-game winning streaks", but I doubt in the locker room next week they'll be thinking about moving on the the playoffs. Next week is about a lot of things, but what will be on the mind of everyone is nothing except one thing:
In my meandering across the web for yesterday's post about Futurama, I came across lots of images and stills from the series. I also came across some original artwork, like the image above by "Satomi-Chan", that portrayed the show's characters as if they were anime. I was particularly impressed with the less-bubbly work of "spacecoyote", and her vision of the Futurama world (and also the Simpsons world), as seen below. Both galleries, hosted at deviantart.com, are definitely worth checking out.
I just finished watching "Futurama: Bender's Big Score", and it was like seeing an old, witty, yet still very adolescent friend.
You read correctly; "Futurama", quite possibly the most underrated of all the modern cartoon series, is back after being canned four years ago ending with a shortened fourth season. Apparently the execs at FOX had only so much time for a sci-fi cartoon with esoteric references, math-based humor, and an alcoholic robot with more one-liners than Rodney Dangerfield in his prime (who I'm pretty sure makes a virtual "head-in-a-jar" cameo in the series).
There will also apparently be a fifth season, interestingly slated to be first released as DVDs and then shown on Comedy Central. FOX's decision to give the go ahead was due in no small part, I'm sure, to the show's massive fan base and it's success while being rerun on AdultSwim (it ate up half the space on my DVR, at least).
Wired has been running some great articles revolving around "Futurama" and video games. Video games, you say? Yes, and the first is a review of the quintessential episode "Raiders of the Lost Arcade", a must-see for anyone who ever played an Atari.
I need some Slurm...
UPDATE 12.23.07 Oh, and as for a movie rating for "Futurama: Bender's Big Score"... 3 and a half starts, so there.
TLM found the compliment to "ICanHasCheezBurger" today...and this one is (dare I say it?) for the dogs. It's called "IHasaHotDog" and is similar in format and unique vocabulary to it's catty cousin. There's another post about it over on TMT today, too.
Though we may be just a little biased, we both agree after going through lots of the pics on the site that cats are definitely funnier than dogs...but there are still gems like this:
Denise Martin told us all a tale during the "Survivor: China" finale that not only gave rise to a collective sob of compassion from the audience akin to what one might hear after seeing an impoverished child in a CCF commercial for the first time, but also a check for $50,000 from producer Mark Burnett. It seems, however, that she stretched the truth in places and skipped the truth altogether in the rest. Her nonchalant recitation of how the powers that be in the cafeteria hierarchy wouldn't let her keep her job as a lunchlady because she was "too popular" turns out to be more of a fictitious appeal to the masses than an actual lunchpail sob story.
According to Nancy Lane, the Superintendent of Douglas Public Schools, Martin was promoted to janitor, and given almost a $10/hr. pay raise along with it, in March of this year, before she even tried out for the Survivor. This, to be sure, is not what Martin wanted us to believe during that reunion show.
"They did explain to me today that reality doesn't necessarily mean factual" -Nancy Lane, Douglas Public Schools
Martin appeared on The Early Show this morning and admitted that the implication she made about being demoted because of her appearance on Survivor was false. She also said that she tried to get her old job back but the position had already been filled. Also, when the question of whether or not Martin would still accept the $50,000 was proposed, she gave the impression that she would, if it was still being offered.
In the words of my friend Bugman, "Another classy Masshole."
Last night Todd Herzog was announced as the winner of Survivor: China, and once again the Achilles' heel of reality television shows was exposed: they lose steam as time progresses and the finales totally or mostly suck.
Last night was a case of mostly sucking, as is the Survivor way. All we care about is when the jury gets their chance to congratulate, question, and chew out the remaining survivors....the other 2.5 hours you can fast forward through and not really miss a thing. Though it sounds like a waste of time (and it is), it's more than other reality shows can say for themselves. At least Probst used to jump out of airplanes and parachute into a live studio audience to deliver the results...
Go ahead. Pick a show. "Big Brother"? "Flavor of Love"? "The Bachelor"? "The Amazing Race", maybe? I defy you to come up with a show that has an exciting finale.
At least the next Survivor looks to be like an "All-Stars 2"...kinda. Rupert and Yul would be a good team up.
The New England Patriots became the second team in history to start a season 14-0 after beating the Jets 20-10 today in a wet and rainy Gillette Stadium. Though the weather may have limited much of the Patriots' game plan to a ground attack, it proved not to be a factor in terms of the outcome.
In a game that also featured two blocked punts, the Jets seemed poised for a comeback late in the game. Chad Pennington, in for an injured Kellen Clemens, threw what was initially ruled a TD that would have made it a 3-point game with just under 3 minutes left. The play was reviewed and overturned, however, as receiver Justin McCareins clearly didn't have possession when his first foot hit the ground. I'm sure the New York media will cry foul, but it was the right call, without a doubt.
The closest the Pats came to losing today was when the game was temporarily suspended because some meatheads were slinging snowballs onto the field with the Pats in the end zone in the 4th quarter, bringing me to the edge of my seat wondering, albeit for a moment, if their perfect season would end with a forfeit.
Thankfully, it didn't.
The only other team to win their first 14 games was...you guessed it...the 1972 Miami Dolphins. For them, the 14th game marked the end of the regular season and clubhouse pat on the back. For the Pats, it's just a step closer to their ultimate goal (no, not a perfect season...another Super Bowl Championship) and a broad smile on the face of Bill Belichick.
The Patriots will face the 2007 version of the Miami team next week, who up until today were the polar opposite of the Pats; that is, they had yet to win a game. The Dolphins beat the Ravens in overtime 22-16 after Baltimore tied the game with a field goal with 8 second left in the 4th quarter. The Ravens kicker Matt Stover couldn't put the potential game winner through the uprights when given the chance in overtime, though, and Cleo Lemon found Greg Camarillo for a 64 yard game winning TD.
The Dolphins finally winning may not be all that bad. It may be the old Red Sox fan in me, but I for one was worried that karma would somehow intervene next week if an 0-14 Dolphins team were to face a 14-0 Patriots team, potentially spoiling the breaking of their own franchise's record, no matter how daunting the task may be. Now that they won a game, I'm back to reality and pretty confident that New England will be playing the NY Giants with a 15-0 record.
TLM and I just got back from seeing "Mamma Mia!" (my first musical) at the Colonial Theater in Boston. I'm still gathering my thoughts on this one, though I can at this point ask: who knew there were so many ABBA fans?
UPDATE 12.16.07 As I went to the ABBA website to get some more info for a more substantial review, I noticed two things: today is Benny Andersson's birthday (he's one of the ABBA guys), and their question of the month is "Do you listen to ABBA every day?", a question to which 67% of responders said "yes". Read into that what you will, but it sounds like ABBA fans are pretty obsessive. When were they big? the 70's?
As for the show, I was taken aback at first. As I'd mentioned before, I'd never been to a musical, never mind one that featured music I'd only heard previously on "best of" anthologies and classic rock stations (classic already in the early 90's).
The set was simplistic yet effective. Two big pieces of faux-stone background that would be positioned in a variety of ways actually led to mostly-believable settings. Yes, I'm giving props to the props.
The story was simple and original and actually wasn't that bad, albeit profoundly predictable. There was frequent humor, though much of it, however harmless to the writers, I don't think was meant for children. In fact, I think it was clearly written for a particular generation of people, specifically those in their late teens or early twenties when ABBA hit this part of the world.
What struck me as unusual was the (often distracting) crowd activity. At times I felt like I was at the Rocky Horror Picture Show, minus Meatloaf and people throwing rice at the wedding. At the end of the show was nothing short of an homage to ABBA. Three of the main characters came out dressed in the spacesuit costumes of the time and led the bopping crowd in a rendition of "Dancing Queen", an image now forever ingrained in my head.
The singing was fine, and the dancing is what I imaging it to be...just a stone's throw from the "showtunes" pieces put together for "So You Think You Can Dance". What they do they do well, and I do respect that.
Overall I had a good time, and I give the show a B.
I have a confession to make. I plan to set my DVR to record the new 2008 version of American Gladiators when it starts in January. I was a fan of the original show in the 80's, and for some reason (maybe that I have extra space on the DVR) I think I might be a fan today.
In honor of that classic and perhaps too short-lived series, I found this clip on YouTube. It's the intro for the first season of the show, though the audio is a little off. All your old favorites are there, from Nitro, Turbo and Zap to Sabre, Blaze and Lace.
The new series will be hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali. I can't wait for their banter...oh, and the gladiatorial games, of course.
Content found on The Neoteric is of no particular genre, topic, or focus, other than it was all at some point, in some way, interesting enough to me to write about.
