Monday, September 01, 2008

Protests in Thailand, taking on the music establishment and reviewing "Traitor"

- Heck no, we won't go! Heck no, we won't go! By “we”, I of course mean tens of thousands of Thai protestors and myself (there in spirit wherever a riot or protest is taking place), whom authorities in Thailand are ordering to vacate the grounds of Prime Minister Samak Sundarajev’s office, where we have taken up residence to protest his recent policies and actions that have been deemed excessive and in abuse of his power. The police have even gone so far as to obtain court orders demanding the dispersal of the crowds, believed to number around 30,000, and also for the arrest of nine opposition leaders on insurrection charges. Of course, when there are only 2,000 police and 30,000 protestors, your odds aren't that good going in. So hold the fort, Thai protestors, because your cause is just and one should never back down when looking to stick it to The Man. Link arms, throw rocks at the police, burn things, loot, pillage, do what you need to do to make your point. Tensions are high, meaning this powder keg could explode any minute now. So step up and be the one to spark a match, light the fuse and burn this mo-fo down…….\

- You may have heard the expression “Manny being Manny.” It refers to L.A. Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez and his continual wacky antics that make him baseball’s most loveable (and frustrating) goofball. Well, this next story is what I like to call “Suge being Suge.” Suge, of course, is rap mogul Suge Knight, a man whose violent, thuggish past is the stuff of legends in the music world. Whether it’s shootings or dangling enemies off of hotel balconies a hundred feet off the ground, Suge is a huge, hulking mo-fo you don’t want to mess with. So when I hear that he’s being held in a Las Vegas jail for allegedly beating his longtime girlfriend while brandishing a knife, I say it’s just Suge being Suge. Knight was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription and battery domestic violence. Normally I’d say that a wealthy guy like Suge Knight and the posse of high-priced lawyers he has representing him would skate on these charges, but when you consider that police responded to a report of a car hitting a curb near the Las Vegas Strip and found Knight standing over his girlfriend holding a knife, I’d say things could get dicey here. Oh, and the drugs in Knight’s possession were Ecstasy and hydrocodone, if you were wondering. But again, that’s just Suge being Suge…..

- You may not have been ready for it, but college football is back. The good thing about the college football season is that you always have time to work yourself back into the mood for it. The first weekend of the season is crammed with throwaway games, contests that are colossal mismatches because top programs generally seek out the biggest cupcakes possible in order to open with a big win to wow fans and pollsters. For example……No. 1 Georgia really took on a challenge facing in-state Division 1-AA rival Georgia Southern. How can you not admire a team that takes on an opponent from college football’s second-tier subdivision? Same goes for Ohio State, which took on its own in-state 1-AA pasty in Youngstown State. Georgia earned a 45-21 win, while OSU trounced YSU 43-0. Fourth-ranked Oklahoma did the same, but at least they imported their cupcake from out of state, bringing in 1-AA Chattanooga to take a 57-2 beating. Fifth-ranked LSU brought in defending 1-AA champion (but still 1-AA) Appalachian State and throttled them 43-10. Look, I know no one wants to open their season with a loss, especially if you’re expecting to contend for a national title, but c’mon. If you really are one of the country’s elite teams, you’ll have no problem defeating a 1-A opponent. If you can’t, then you just don’t belong at the top of the polls anyhow. Of course, if you’re a 1-A program coming off a lackluster season, have lost your three best players to graduation and have brought in a new, egotistical, liar of a coach who has alienated scores of people in and around the program, maybe you want to open with a lesser opponent. I’m looking right at you, University of Michigan. Fresh off a season in which they dropped their home opener to the same Appalachian State that LSU hammered this weekend, the Wolverines entered this season under new head coach/liar Rich Fraud-riguez and took on Utah, a team from the Mountain West Conference that many feel could be the team from a non-power conference to crash the national title picture this year. Both teams entered the game unranked, but clearly Michigan had a lot on the line. The start of a new era, the hope brought in by a successful, albeit dishonest and despicable, coach…..and the hopes of restoring some pride after last season’s debacle of a home opener. However, just like last year, their season began with a two-point home loss, 25-23 to the Utes. Thanks for coming, Michigan. Maybe next year, schedule a Division III opponent like Wisconsin-Whitewater or John Carroll, maybe you could win that one…..just don’t bet on it…..

- Traitor, as you might expect from a Don Cheadle film, is a pretty decent action flick. Cheadle plaus Samir, a man who was born in Sudan but grew up in America. He served his adopted country as a member of the military, but as the film opens he’s busy selling weapons to Islamic radicals. Adding fuel to the fire is that he’s a devout Muslim, a bonafide badass and wanted by the al-Nathir terrorist group. After Samir is roughed up in a Yemeni prison by U.S. intelligence, he suddenly warms up to al-Nathir’s offer. He travels the world, including Europe and the U.S., planting bombs, wreaking havoc and always being chased by two intelligence officers, one of whom is played well by Guy Pearce. Unfortunately, the agents are always a step slow and never able to catch up with Samir, who manages to be a somewhat sympathetic bad guy. The film does stray from the usual terrorist movie M.O. of bombs, bombs and more bombs. There are explosions and the like, but it’s not the driving force of the movie. Rather, that focus is on the interpersonal drama both within Samir’s mind and between he and the two FBI agents chasing him. This is a genre that has been tapped time and again by Hollywood, so making a decent terrorist/action movie is a tough task. The producers of Traitor have managed to do it, crafting a film that is good, not great, and getting an excellent performance from a solid actor like Cheadle…..

- On second thought, maybe the FBI should take it easy on Kevin Cogill. Cogill is the blogger accused of pirating nine songs from the long-awaited Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy on his website. Federal agents apprehended Cogill for allegedly violating federal copyright laws, but I really think this guy deserves plenty of leniency. After all, GNR fans have been waiting 10 damn years for this album that Axl Rose and Co. continue to tease the release of and hint at, but so far have yet to actually produce for public consumption. So what if someone got their hands on a few of the songs and leaked them via his website? Serves GNR right for dicking around for a decade, dangling that carrot of a new album out for everyone only to yank it away, time after time. I don’t care if Cogill admitted to the feds in a sworn statement that he posted the songs on his website, set the man free. At this point, that album has been dragged out to the point that it’s fair game. If it’s leaked, fine. Just because the members of the band can't get their collective acts together and subjugate their ginormous egos long enough to put the finishing touches on it and release it, music fans shouldn’t be punished for trying to make it available. Free Kevin Cogill! Free Kevin Cogill! Free Kevin Cogill!

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