- Rarely do I find myself being down with Russia and its government, but a recent development has me asking if maybe I shouldn’t be looking for some real estate in Moscow and a summer home in Siberia. Seems a Russian governmental agency is seriously considering banning the new Borat movie due to content it feels might be offensive to some citizens. First question to ask: why can't the U.S. government do the same thing, because this movie is so blatantly lame and superficially stupid that my IQ takes a hit just reading about it. Among other things, the movie portrays Kazakhstan as a place where people are openly anti-Semitic and view prostitution and drug use as morally acceptable. That’s not even my real beef with the film; the humor is just so sophomoric and pathetic that it makes Adam Sandler movies look smart and sophisticated by comparison. So I salute the Russian government’s stance on this issue, even if I do then have to turn right around and……..
- Bash the same Russian government for “crossing out large sections” of the U.N. proposal for sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activity and programs. Russia wants no mention of the Bushehr plant in the document, although reasons for that aren't totally clear. The U.S. agreed to exempt that plant from any regulations contained in the document, but that wasn’t good enough for the Russkies. Hey Russia, maybe when we’re talking about nuclear weapons development, haggling about semantics in a proposed list of sanctions isn't the best choice. Because if and when Iran does develop a nuclear warhead and fires it at your country, is it really going to matter if that Bushehr plant was specifically named in some U.N. document? Why don’t we just worry about keeping reckless, rogue nations from making and using nuclear weapons and live the wording on proposed sanctions for a later time?
- What’s not to love about early season college basketball? Other than 50 and 60-point blowouts of Division II schools by big-time D-I programs, of course. I love college hoops, probably my favorite sport, but if I have to see one more score along the lines of, say, Texas 125, Northsouthwestern Missouri A&M 51, I’m gonna start to lose a lot of that affection for college basketball, specifically any game played before the middle of December. I know, the big schools don’t want to play other big-name schools in non-conference games; they prefer to pad their win totals against lesser opponents and wait for conference play to begin testing themselves. But is it too much to ask that you play school that can actually stay within forty points of you? Thanks for your help on that.
- Still the best music video I’ve seen in a long time: Here It Goes Again by OK Go. It’s been out for a while, but if I come across it, I have to watch all the way through. Just awesome choreography, the four members of the group performing a series of jumps, dance steps and motions while moving seamlessly across two rows of treadmills lined up beside one another, with each treadmill moving in the opposite direction of the one next to it. That all of it was done in one continuous take makes the feat even more amazing. The absence of CGI effects and gimmickry that plagues most music videos is refreshing, and the fact that OK Go doesn’t seem to take themselves too seriously is great. Contrast that against the overproduced, overly slick feeling of, say, an AFI music video, and you can see why Here It Goes Again goes right to the top of my list of favorite music videos to watch at the moment.
- Back in 2002, the sniper shootings on highways in Virginia and Maryland terrorized the nation. For weeks, authorities scrambles for clues and tried to figure out where the next shooting would occur and who was responsible. Now, both Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad have been tried and sentenced to life in prison in Maryland and Virginia, Malvo’s conviction in Maryland being the most recent, happening earlier this week. His life sentence makes sense, he was 17-years-old when the shootings took place, but Muhammad not getting the death penalty is still befuddling. Dude systematically gunned down innocent people in very premeditated fashion, yet you can't give him the needle? If only these shootings took place in Texas about a decade ago when W was governor there. Had that been the case, both Muhammad and Malvo would’ve had a seat reserved in the electric chair the second the judge’s gavel ended the sentencing phase of their respective trials.
- Baseball saw a shocking development today, as the New York Yankees (brace yourself) traded away a high-priced veteran (Gary Sheffield) for young prospects. This is a deal more reminiscent of, say, one of the 27-28 teams in baseball with payrolls around or below $100 million, those who can't overpay grossly for free agents, then sign new ones when the initial signings don’t work out. Yet here are the Yankees, trading away Sheff, set to make $13 million next season, to Detroit for three young pitching prospects. The comical side of this trade is Sheff pissing and moaning about the Yankees exercising the team option for his contract next year and thinking he deserves more money. He’s pissed about a contract he not only signed, but one that he himself negotiated, eschewing the help of an agent. Then the Yanks pick up the option, while Sheff fears losing playing time to younger, better Bobby Abreu. So the Yankees accommodate Sheff by trading him to Detroit. Who’d have thunk that baseball fans would see the day when the Yankees make a trade that drastically reduces payroll? Adios Sheff, enjoy hitting in the chilly, spacious confines of Comerica Park.
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