Open Thread & Movies & Sports Posted by Oaktown Girl, 05 May 2007 07:41 pm

Open Thread (#7)

Well, the frenzied fun of the Kentucky Derby Live Blogging pretty much blew out Open Thread (#6), so here’s a fresh one because there’s just so much going on this weekend - NBA and NHL playoffs, TC tells us there is LPGA action this weekend, a boxing match that is supposed to save boxing, and of course Paris Hilton possibly maybe actually doing jail time saving the corporate media from having to possibly maybe actually perform their duty to keep us informed of things that really matter.

A tip of the MOJ’s gavel to WAAGNFNP newcomer Ya Ya who not only picked the Derby winner, but picked it with authority. Maybe Ya Ya will resurface later this weekend when she reemerges from her Oscar De La Hoya-induced swoon.

Me, I’m missing a killer concert because I’m stuck inside with a horrible cold. So I rented a couple of movies. One is a Czech film, and the other is this one:

pollock_poster.jpg

 

Which, can you believe, I still have not seen and it came out in 2000?

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Responses to “Open Thread (#7)”

  1. on 05 May 2007 at 7:47 pm 1. christian h. said …

    Well, the Bulls played terrible today. Sigh. Can only hope they do better Monday.

    As for Paris, the weird thing is media types running around asking why is she such a story? - pretending not to notice they are the ones making it one. As Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler likes to ask: are they really that stupid? As importantly, do they think we are?

  2. on 05 May 2007 at 10:20 pm 2. James Killus said …

    Paris Hilton is the hardest working, most productive member of her social class.

    http://unintentional-irony.blogspot.com/2007/02/why-i-like-paris-hilton.html

    Also, apparently her breathalyzer test for the DUI was 0.08. Dang, girl, that’s not even trying.

  3. on 06 May 2007 at 7:00 am 3. JP Stormcrow said …

    In catching up on the Derby, I was somewhat surprised to find that the Hunter S. Thompson article I mentioned yesterday is reprinted in full on the Official Kentucky Derby site! - there is a link near the bottom of the home page to “Hunter S. Thompson”. Holy vomit-stained shoes Colonel, I got your unlikely social co-optation right here.

    Unfortunately it is sans illustrations, so here is spyder’s image from yesterday as an embed

  4. on 06 May 2007 at 10:53 am 4. James Killus said …

    I’m going to particularly recommend the psychoanalytic drawings of Jackson Pollock. Some may be found on the web, such as:

    http://www.askart.com/AskART/photos/CNY11122003/316.jpg

    http://www.davisart.com/Portal/images/thumbs/MFH-719.jpg

    Pollock fit the stereotype of the “tortured artist,” but it’s always important to remember that the “artist” part is more important than the “tortured” although in the case of the psychoanalytic drawings, it’s pretty obvious that one fed the other.

  5. on 06 May 2007 at 12:06 pm 5. spyder said …

    obligatory Paris Hilton comment, complete with name dropping and whoop-tee-doos.

    Now that Amanda has discovered Mr Peabody and Sherman’s wayback machine, i shan’t use that metaphor for suggesting the longer ago than now; oh well, anyway: once upon a time. I had two jobs to help me pay for grad school: teaching and lifeguarding. I kept them both as a career move, because summer’s were much more fun, sitting for days on the beach in SoCal, getting paid surprisingly good bucks, and not thinking all that much about the upcoming courses needing attention. For a good part of the 70’s into the early 80’s i supervised (the late afternoon, evening shifts) a short stretch of the Pacific Coast bordering Malibu and Pacific Palisades. One part of that beach was famous for beach volleyball where the hoi polloi met the athletically talented. Among the local usuals were the Hilton clan. That would be the group of brothers and male cousins who showed up after mornings of surfing some place or other, and while away the afternoons scrabbling some sandy digs, and playing hearts and backgammon for very big dollars. Of the five i got to know (including Rick, father of the twins), a couple exhibited the family curse, most famously manifested in their uncle Conrad “Nicky” Jr.; Paris seems to have been gifted with that gene too, while her father fortunately was not.

    The gene seems to favor self-destruction, substance abuse, incapacity to hear the internal voice of the disinterested spectator saying NO!!!!!. There also appears a long delayed-adolescence present as well; even Rick and Davey, who have become very successful in the family biz, started off being teens well into their 20’s. Of course there were a few who simply didn’t make it out, suffering horribly. Among their social group however, they were not even close for being the worst. That said, Paris has a couple of paths open to choose. Her sister seems interested in finding herself and working towards some modicum of settling into business. Paris could do so herself, or simply keep lighting her genetic fuse, becoming yet another Hilton roman candle flaring off into its little fireball apocaplypse.

  6. on 06 May 2007 at 2:47 pm 6. Colonel KL said …

    Surfacing from underneath affectionate wolfhound, rottweiler and mastiff puppies and covered in horse hair, not to mention ’summer is already here’ Florida humidity, I’m finally inside cooling off for the day.
    JP Stormcrow…… do I owe little Tiffany an apology? :)
    Spyder, as is becoming (to me anyway) apparent, you nailed it just above, regarding Hiltons ad nauseum.
    Regarding Pollock, I have a close relative whose late father allegedly taught Pollock one of his favorite painting techniques. The late gentleman was Frederic Karoly, whose paintings were and perhaps still are in the Gugenheim, Rockefeller collections, etc. A painting by Mr. Karoly hangs in my living room.

  7. on 06 May 2007 at 3:28 pm 7. Colonel KL said …

    Movies? I’ll give ya movies! Porco Russo; Pan’s Labyrinth; The Shooter; Final Countdown; ET; Amadeus; Inherit The Wind; 2001: A Space Odyssey and that’s just fer starters!

  8. on 06 May 2007 at 3:32 pm 8. christian h. said …

    A painting by Mr. Karoly hangs in my living room

    I’m jealous.

    On another front, the French lost it and elected the racist reactionary Sarkozy president. At least some rioting seems to be going on. I hope they firebomb him right out of office. Bloody hell.

  9. on 06 May 2007 at 3:54 pm 9. Oaktown Girl said …

    James said: Also, apparently her breathalyzer test for the DUI was 0.08. Dang, girl, that’s not even trying.

    I KNOW! What the hell are they gonna call her biography - Barely Illegal??

    JP - I love that drawing, thanks. And thanks for the Pollock links, James. Colonel KL - very interesting inside info!

    One thing I liked about the movie was that you got to “see” a lot of Pollock’s non-splatter/drip works, and that was very interesting to me. I had the luxury of viewing the movie last night without the burden of knowing anything about Pollock’s personal life, so I wasn’t distracted by any internal dialog going on in my head about “Oh it wasn’t like that” or “oh, they got that pretty correct”, etc. Sometimes it’s nice to view a biography that way, isn’t it? You can always go back and do your own research later if you want. The movie certainly made me want to find out more about his wife, Lee Krasner, and see more of her artwork.

    Anyway…overall I did enjoy the movie, and for the 1 or 2 of you out there who still have not seen it, I’d recommend it, esp. if you are a fan of art at all. One tiny complaint: there was one really, really bad editing cut where Ed Harris was in one house and suddenly, seemingly in the same scene he was in another house. Turns out the first part was a piece of a deleted scene that I got to see in full on the DVD “extras”, so at least the explained why I was so confused at that one point in the movie. But they should have just cut the scene altogether instead of leaving a piece of it, esp. with no transition to take you to the next place. Bizarre.

    As part of the “extras”, you can watch the whole movie with Ed Harris’ commentary if you want, but no need to do that. I sampled just a bit of it, and within a minute after the opening credits roll, you get this gem from Mr. Harris, “Fucking extra with the hat needs to calm down! Hopefully nobody’s looking at him.”

  10. on 06 May 2007 at 11:05 pm 10. The Constructivist said …

    I’m back, all. Onechan came down with a fever yesterday am and then burned her left thumb on the rice cooker a few hours ago, so it’s been Nurse Dad at Constructivist House Really Not at All as Tiny as It First Looked/Felt Apartment. Haven’t been able to even read the comment thread until now, what with the research and the not-quite-live-blogging the LPGA and the appreciating peter ramus-ing and the non-post comment-essay submitting to Cliopatria’s Jamestown 2007 symposium and the non-writing-my-overdue-WAAGNFNP-essay-ing.

    But it was worth the wait. Better than missing the Derby itself. I got all excited when they showed some horse race yesterday afternoon, but it turns out it was some Tokyo race instead of the (tape-delayed) Derby, so I switched over to the JLPGA and got onechan to sit still and watch her fave Karrie Webb come in third. Assuming she’s better by Friday, we’re all going to see this week’s event in Fukuoka live!

    And that’s what I did during my summer vacation.

  11. on 06 May 2007 at 11:09 pm 11. The Constructivist said …

    Oh, and while my previous comment waits in spam limbo, let me just add that I’m really happy for Mi Hyun Kim, although she and Juli Inkster ruined my dream of a four-way playoff at -2 with Ai-chan, Lorena, and them two. My question to the Party is how long you all think it’ll take for women’s golf to catch up with women’s tennis in terms of purse equity with the guys? Michelle Wie to win her first major? Wie to make her first cut at a men’s tournament while still playing regularly on the LPGA? More Asian corporate sponsors? The GNF?

  12. on 06 May 2007 at 11:20 pm 12. The Constructivist said …

    I (sniff) haven’t seen a movie in a movie theater since I had to follow onechan out of the mall theater showing Howl’s Moving Castle not far from Mt. Fuji, because a 1-year-old’s gotta walk. That was over 2 years ago, if my memory serves (and usually it doesn’t–I’d better check with the tsuma). Anyway, we’ve even stopped renting movies out here because it’s a 15-minute walk (as opposed to 3-minute in Chiba) to the video store. So the list of movies and tv DVDs I haven’t seen is growing fast. But don’t pity me–this summer will be my second straight golf-free summer.

    One thing I’m looking forward to about being back in the States is that Netflix is shifting to web delivery over the summer (or so I read somewhere). Another is buying onechan some kiddie clubs during the winter sale period.

  13. on 07 May 2007 at 12:18 pm 13. spyder said …

    LPGA prize money will begin to equalize with mens, when more baby boomer retired women take up the sport, as their male counterparts die off earlier.

    Wie will win a major within the next five years.

    Wie will not make a men’s cut, and it is likely that none of those playing at the moment will either. Watching the Wachovia, witnessing 23 out of the top 30 golfers in the world, try to make shots in conditions that changed every fifty to a hundred yards, hit putts that are literally blown out of the hole, craft wonderful online eagle chips that are blown dead or off line by twenty or more feet.. the women right now don’t strike the ball hard enough to overcome those issues, from another 30-50 yards/ hole (maybe even per shot) further away.

    There must be more Asian corporate sponsors if there is to be any continuation of professional sports; that is where all the $$$ are (okay all the yen, yuan, Euros, rubles, etc.) at the moment that will defray the mounting costs of the tours.

  14. on 07 May 2007 at 1:34 pm 14. christian h. said …

    Another test by the MOOAD. This one worked quite a lot better.

  15. on 07 May 2007 at 2:17 pm 15. Kiera PSI said …

    I just got privately ragged by Oaktown Girl (okay, maybe ragged is too strong a word) about not commenting on her movie choices. As she WELL knows, the Kiera does not do ART films…this also applies to movies ABOUT artists, i.e. “Pollock”. Sigh.

    Haven’t seen much of anything lately. The D-Man (my hubby-beau) is not much of a movie-goer. He does love Disney, so we did actually go to the theatre for both Pirates movies and will go again for the third, as well as for Narnia…but anything else I kind of have to drag him to. We are planning outings to the Drive-In this spring (yes, my town actually has one of the few remaining drive-in movie theatres in existance, yippee) where we will luxuriate on an air mattress in the back of his Silverado with the dogs (chihuahua and chipin) and enjoy the night air and some semi-public cuddling and our own darn snacks and drinks…all for the bargain price of $12 for the two of us.

    As for Oscar…I called it, in front of witnesses, and was terribly sad to be proven right. Grrr. I actually LIKE Oscar. So does the D-Man…who actually got to meet him a few years ago when HBO brought him to the cable office where the D-Man is a technical manager. There aren’t that many gentlemen in the sport, he’s one of a fading breed. Now what we’re seeing is the real street punks (like Tyson) or the wanna-be street punks like Floyd. What the heck kind of a name is “Floyd”, anyway? The neighbor’s have a daschund named “Floyd”. Again…sigh.

  16. on 07 May 2007 at 2:37 pm 16. Oaktown Girl said …

    While it’s easy to “hate” on Maywhether, I think we should all keep in mind that the promoters and HBO have not only asked but encouraged him to play up the “bad boy” thing for promotional reasons to add hype to the fight. HBO even had a “reality” show featuring each boxer’s life and training regimen getting ready for this fight.

    For all I know, Maywether is most likely a perfectly nice guy who’s going along with the bad- boy hype to add to his paycheck (not that I’m judging). I could be wrong, I’m not a fight fan, so I don’t really follow these guys. But I do know something about boxing promotion and fight hype. And this fight had hype and promotion to the max because the entire world of boxing was leaning on this fight to help save the entire world of boxing.

    All I’m saying is as much as people dislike Maywether, I’d like them to understand that a huge promotional campaign went into helping them formulate that idea.

    On to movies: As much as I was entertained by Johnny Depp in Pirates, I never saw Pirates of the Caribbean II because it seemed to be only about the special effects alone. Did you like it, KieraPSI?

    Also, I never saw Spiderman II. Anyone got opinions/reviews on the Spiderman movies (II and III) as long as we’re talking big budget Hollywood flicks for the moment?

  17. on 07 May 2007 at 3:02 pm 17. christian h. said …

    I didn’t like the first Spiderman movie, even though I’m a huge Kirsten Dunst fan (anyone else here saw The Cat’s Meow?). I liked the second one much better, and certainly plan to go and watch this one.

    As for Pirates of the Caribbean, and regarding the subject of DVD commentaries: it has one of the best ones I know, by Keira Knightly (who seems really smart and funny) and Johnny Depp (who doesn’t, really). They play off each other very well there. I’d wait to rent the second and third simultaneously, b/c the second one doesn’t have an ending.

  18. on 07 May 2007 at 3:14 pm 18. Kiera PSI said …

    I wasn’t thrilled with Pirates II because it so obviously set you up for the sequel. You HAVE to see the sequel or never get the resolution to the cliffhanger. I think that is a cheap marketing ploy and very unworthy of both Disney and of Mr. Depp. Pirates 1 was standalone.

    The special effects were okay. I’m not an effects person…the last time I was truly blown away was in the late 70’s when “TRON” first came out. I followed that film around to 5 different theatres in the Philly suburbs…the only way I could see it 5 times, they didn’t keep movies in a theatre more than a week there at the time because of a limited number of screens). Those effects still, IMNSHO, hold up today.

    I enjoyed Spidey 2 even though I don’t really like Toby. Haven’t seen Spidey 3, that may be one of our Drive-In trips.

    Floyd may be a nice guy, but he could have had some class and admitted that Oscar held his own despite his age handicap and that he’d surprised him. The boy’s own father admitted it could have gone either way in the judging…despite the technicality of Floyd having better “numbers”. Some judges would have scored him lower for fighting a purely defensive game. If Oscar had emulated him it would have been a damn boring fight, but he might have won as he would not have been exposing himself to Floyd’s hits. BTW. I’m calling Floyd a “boy” based on his age (since I’m just old enough to be his mama) and his apparent immaturity…don’t want to be thought of as racially insensitive here. Oscar’s just a bit too old and much too apparently mature for me to call him “mijo”.

  19. on 07 May 2007 at 3:30 pm 19. Kiera PSI said …

    Oh…not that Oscar is hurting from this loss. He walked away with 30 million dollars JUST from the fight…that doesn’t include profits he’ll make because his company, Golden Boy Productions, produced and marketing the thing in partnership with HBO.

    Hey, YaYa? Is he still married? I think they were saying the woman in the audience was his ex-wife, but I could be wrong…I was busy teasing the D-Man about my being able to tolerate tequila. (For those not in the know, gastric bypass surgery left we with a supreme intolerance for most types of alcohol, I have pretty much an allergic reaction to just a sip or two of most types). I was able to drink an entire strawberry margarita - one made by my brother-in-law who does NOT go light by any means on the tequila - over the course of dinner and the fight and not get more than just a little tipsy. HOOOrah!

    Anyway, Oscar is a cutie. Floyd’s not bad looking either…but there’s that scary age thing…even the four years difference just creeps me out.

  20. on 07 May 2007 at 4:50 pm 20. Seattle said …

    Ok, I will admit to spending 2.5 hours of my morning yesterday watching Spiderman 3. Probably about the same time whichever horse won the Kentucky Derby. Please someone save me from long close up shots of Toby McGuire. There was a portion of the movie in which I literally just closed my eyes until the painfully embarassing Venom induced street strutting was done… However, the 7 year old loved it and the rest of us endured it for his sake.

  21. on 07 May 2007 at 5:06 pm 21. Oaktown Girl said …

    Listen to KieraPSI break down that fight!
    But to be fair, if we’re going deduct brownie points for behavior outside of the fight itself, then we HAVE to go after Oscar and his “singing” career. On the scale of badness (and cringe-iness), I’d say that trumps just about anything that’s ever come out of Maywhether’s mouth for sure!

    Thanks for the “Pirates” DVD tips christian and KieraPSI. I will indeed wait till they are both out on DVD.

    And christian, just last week I came upon Kristen Dunst’s movie “Cat’s Meow”. It came up on a Google search when I was looking for something else entirely. Go figure.

  22. on 07 May 2007 at 5:08 pm 22. Oaktown Girl said …

    Please someone save me from long close up shots of Toby McGuire.

    Gojira have mercy, indeed!

  23. on 07 May 2007 at 7:58 pm 23. Kiera PSI said …

    Well, so called singing has nothing to do with boxing. Mouthing off about boxing has everything to do about boxing…but that’s not what I was talking about. I was talking about the in the ring action…or lack thereof. Floyd was totally non-aggressive, not taking any of the risks. That would cost him points with most judges. Oscar was being the aggressor, taking all of the risks, it should have earned him more points than it did.

    Regardless…I knew who was gonna win before the fight started…wasn’t happy about it, but that’s life.

    As Roxy would say, “Who gives a crap about boxing when I could be having a belly rub?”

  24. on 07 May 2007 at 9:47 pm 24. Oaktown Girl said …

    Well, so called singing has nothing to do with boxing. Mouthing off about boxing has everything to do about boxing…

    Perhaps, but as I stated, if we’re deducting brownies points for behavior outside of the fight itself, that applies regardless of the subject matter.

    And your superior breakdown of the boxing match itself was never in question (as I acknowledged in #21) …just mildly surprising! And I think I speak for many of us about how jealous I am that you get to go to the drive in and watch a movie under the stars, and with your (spoiled rotten) doggies too!

    But back to the LPGA (I just wanted to say that to give TC a mild heart attack hearing those words coming from me), I do have a very strong opinion on Michelle Wei. I think it was a huge mistake for her to play against the men before she had even won one tourney on the womens’ side, let alone establish dominance and the need to move up to the next level. (Is “tourney the right word, or is it always “match”?). I’m sure that’s the conventional wisdom of most golf people, but I thought I’d say it anyway just to show TC I am somewhat aware of what’s going on in golf. Somewhat.

  25. on 07 May 2007 at 9:58 pm 25. Colonel KL said …

    Wellll, my 18 year old daugher saw Spide 3 and said, “yuck”. Not that good, she said.

    Far as boxing goes. I’ll stick to kickboxing, myself. Expect review of “The Guardian” soon. Just downloaded it from Veoh.

    Oh, btw be sure to add “The Sixth Sense” to great movies list.

    Off to bed with my two Werebeasts LM and E. :)

  26. on 08 May 2007 at 9:32 am 26. Kiera PSI said …

    No, no, no, Oaktown Girl, not deducting brownie points for mouthing off. Deducting brownie points JUST for fighting a purely defensive fight and not taking any risks.

    I know what you mean about the surprising. I started commenting at the party and all the men turned around and stared at me with their mouths hanging open…except my nephew, he just laughed his butt off at their expressions. “Yep, that’s my aunt,” he said and laughed some more.

    Am I a boxing expert? Hell no. Have I watched many bouts? Not really…not in comparison to how many football, baseball or hockey games I’ve watched. But I’ve always had an odd knack for figuring out what they’re doing or not doing in there (which is probably why the fight scenes in the Rocky movies always bugged me).

    Yes, my doggies are spoiled rotten. But ya gotta love ‘em. And they love their mama Kiera and the D-Man. Interesting article in the weekend newpaper supplement USA something or other about how petting a pet releases health beneficial chemicals. They say petting your sweetie releases the same chemicals so I must be getting doubly healthy! Yeah, I know waaaay TMI.

  27. on 08 May 2007 at 9:50 am 27. spyder said …

    I stopped watching boxing in 1985, after the Hagler-Hearns bout in Las Vegas. Having been in attendance in 1981 to see the Hearns-Leonard battle, my friends and i realized that the ‘85 war had the same potential to be of that quality and intensity. Maybe it is collective consciousness, or group mind, that triggers the unbridled hysteria of the crowd, literally climbing up on their seats and drink tables, screaming at the top of their lungs (and we are talking about high rollers with huge entourages out of their minds), feeding wave upon wave of energy into the ring, boosting the quality of the matches. I have yet to see performance art be as well integrated and synergized into a crowd as what occured at those two events. Clearly, this latest hyped incarnation was nothing whatsoever like that; for that matter nothing else in boxing has been.

    for a long spidey critique and review see Asymptotia

  28. on 08 May 2007 at 10:18 am 28. Oaktown Girl said …

    Understood, KieraPSI. I was referring to my comment in #21 where I proposed deducting points for non-fight behavior since that was one of your knocks against Maywhether.

    spyder - nice description of the atmosphere of the boxing matches you were at. I can certainly appreciate it. Boxing has always had a substantial cringe factor for me, so while I appreciate the skill for sure, I’ll probably never be a “fan”. Has mostly to do with the socio-economics of who’s actually doing the boxing and getting the shit beat out of them and who’s making all the money on the promotion, TV, and advertising end. (I know I’m not alone here).

    I finally heard a review yesterday of Spiderman 3 - the critics were very disappointed, much like your daughter, Colonel. Apparently, it’s also really long too, so you’re sitting through a bad movie for over 2 1/2 hours! But the critics did take the opportunity to rave about Spiderman 2, calling it “the best super hero sequel ever”. Well, perhaps. But let’s face it, that’s scant praise! I’ve heard it is a really good movie, (christian apparently liked it just fine) so they should have tried to say something better about it than that!

  29. on 08 May 2007 at 10:26 am 29. christian h. said …

    After reading reviews, and hearing people talk about it, I think I might back off from watching Spiderman 3 for the time being. Then again, maybe not.

    As for boxing, I’ve never liked it. Similar reasons to those of Oaktown Girl.

  30. on 08 May 2007 at 12:17 pm 30. Kiera PSI said …

    Okay, sorry, OTG. If they did that…wow, that would make such an impact. We’d never have another Ali, etc. Hmm, can we give points to fighters if they have to listen to an announcer like Howard Cosell?

    I’ve never LIKED boxing either. I’ve just kind of gotten stuck with it. I know I wouldn’t be able to stand to be in the audience….ugghhhhh.

    We’ll only see Spidey 3 because of the drive-in factor. Hopefully they’ll have something good as the second feature.

    Hey, Oaktown Girl…you should make the drive down some weekend. We can go visit the local wineries and then hit the drive in. We’ll leave the doggies at home if you like…and we can also bring lawn chairs if you’d prefer that to sharing the air mattress.

  31. on 08 May 2007 at 3:43 pm 31. The Constructivist said …

    On Wie, Oaktown Girl, we’d all be singing a different tune if she had just played better in the men’s tournaments she was invited into–she brought her C game at best, for whatever reason. She certainly had her chances (although they would have been better in the pre-”Tiger-proofing” [actual Tiger-helping] era of the PGA, the lengthening and narrowing and roughening [forgive the made-up word] was not yet in full swing when she was first trying).

    Now, if she struggles on the LPGA (i.e., lots of top 10s, few wins), as I expect her to this summer (in part b/c she’s been going through a growth spurt), the criticisms are likely to get even more intense: her parents are going to be blamed for not entering her into enough girls and junior tournaments, etc. She’s going to be criticized for not learning how to win. This is a bit unfair–look how badly all the heralded U.S. rookies who rocked those circuits are doing this season on the LPGA. Even Ochoa, who rocked the college golf world before turning pro, took years to learn how to close the deal on the LPGA (and recent weeks show she still is learning, even if she is #1 in the world). Fact is, there’s no perfect way to prepare yourself for the kind of competition on the best tour in the world, but in the medium run Wie will be a much better LPGA player for having weathered the pressure and scrutiny and expectations of her early career. When she becomes old enough to be a full-fledged LPGA member (next year?), I expect her to quickly rocket into the top 5 in the world and challenge Ochoa and Sorenstam for #1 by the end of that summer. She really is that good. By then, I doubt anyone will want to criticize her for trying to compete against the guys (although I think many would appreciate it if she tried for Monday qualifiers like everyone else).

    Wie starts playing on the LPGA at the end of May, so stay tuned. I got the Mostly Harmless crystal ball at a 100-yen shop in Nishijin, but lately it’s been performing fairly well. We’ll see….

  32. on 08 May 2007 at 5:14 pm 32. Oaktown Girl said …

    On Wie, Oaktown Girl, we’d all be singing a different tune if she had just played better in the men’s tournaments

    Yes, but I assure you I’m not Monday Morning Quarterbacking here. I was unhappy to hear that she was jumping right to the mens’ tourney as soon as it was announced.

    For one, I felt Wie skipping the LPGA reflected poorly on the women’s circuit (for obvious reasons), and even though I’m not golf fan, I am a strong supporter of women’s sports and want to see them thrive and succeed. For “second”, it created another ridiculous flurry of bullshit debate about whether men should be allowed to play in womens’ tournies. For “third”, because Wie was doint this without having won even ONE LPGA tournament, the whole affair had the whiff of “cheap publicity stunt” about it which was exploited no end on TV and radio talk shows by people who are NOT strong supporters of women in sports.

    Had Wie dominated the women’s circuit and THEN moved on, I feel strongly that all of those issues would have been minimized.

  33. on 08 May 2007 at 5:18 pm 33. Oaktown Girl said …

    Okay, sorry, OTG. If they did that…wow, that would make such an impact. We’d never have another Ali, etc.

    Kiera PSI - we’re talking about just this fight, not all of boxing. You know that. If you’re simply trying to be a pest…mission accomplished! I surrender!

    And yes I’ll take the lawn chairs over the matress for the drive in, thank you very much! :)

  34. on 09 May 2007 at 9:00 am 34. Kiera PSI said …

    I can picture Oaktown Girl stretched out in her lawn chair, frosty beverage in hand, A’s shirt on bod, big s**t-eating grin on face, watching movies in the cooling night air. Not sure what we’d do for cabana boys, though.

    So, everyone else…since Spidey 3 apparently sucks, do you have any recommendation for current movies that don’t include “art” films?

    Our drive in is currently playing “Wild Hogs” and “Meet the Robinsons” on one screen and “Spidey 3″ and “Are We Done Yet” on the other. The synopses do not look terribly appealing. Why this combination? Goddess only knows. They do that here…combine a G with a PG-13 and then a PG with a PG13 or even a R. Kind of makes it difficult for the people with kids to stay for both movies.

    It’s a fairly small town so we have only one regular theatre. It’s playing Spidey 3 on two screens, and then has “The Invisible”, “The Condemned”, “Next”, “Lucky You” and “Disturbia” - oh, and they’re also playing “Meet the Robinsons”. Sigh.

  35. on 09 May 2007 at 12:49 pm 35. Oaktown Girl said …

    Kiera PSI - Ha! Sounds great. (As long as the cabana boys are “straight” of course, not the “pool boy” variety from the Mad TV sketch!)

    I think everyone would agree that just because Spiderman 3 is apparently not worth a full-priced theatre ticket and full-priced snax, it’s just fine for a cheap-ticket drive-in under the stars with the hubby and dogs and your own snax. Enjoy on behalf of all of us!

  36. on 09 May 2007 at 4:32 pm 36. Kiera PSI said …

    Good point. Maybe we’ll mix up a batch of strawberry margaritas and go this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on the “worthiness” of watching it. Maybe the key is the proper amount of “lubrication” (no smirking Colonel KL - I know where your mind immediately went).

  37. on 09 May 2007 at 8:40 pm 37. Kiera PSI said …

    Dang it, A’s lost tonight. Guess they used up their quota of runs last night. Missed the game, sorry, so can’t comment on the action!

  38. on 09 May 2007 at 10:29 pm 38. Oaktown Girl said …

    Kiera - and even worse, the Warriors didn’t just lose tonight, they GAVE it away, and are now down 2-0 to Utah. If the Warriors had made just ONE more lousy free throw, they would have won.

  39. on 10 May 2007 at 7:21 am 39. Kiera PSI said …

    Oh for pity’s sake. Guess I’d better drag out the candles and lucky talismans and such. Bobby and Priscilla are all set to watch the A’s tonight. Gus has grudgingly agreed to provide lap space. When is the next Warrior’s game? I won’t watch it, can’t abide basketball (all those over-elongated bodies spidering around freaks me out), but I can send some good vibes.

  40. on 10 May 2007 at 8:04 pm 40. Kiera PSI said …

    Ooops. Guess I got carried away. I tried to pull it back in the 5th inning, but they were on a roll by then and there was no stopping them. A’s win 17-3. Looks more like a football score. I hope they saved a few hits for their next few games!

    Bobby and Priscilla are laughing their tiny butts off and Gus has an extra twinkle in his eye.

  41. on 10 May 2007 at 10:56 pm 41. Oaktown Girl said …

    Kiera - I turned on the radio in my car today on my lunch break and the A’s were up 16-3! Nothing good usually comes the next day after the A’s score huge that way. Maybe they can break that cycle tomorrow.

    The Warriors’ game tomorrow is here in Oakland, the schedule says 6pm. Game 4 Sunday in Oakland, also scheduled for 6pm.

    Guess I’d better drag out the candles and lucky talismans and such.

    By all means, please! Candles for the Warriors’, folks! Light ‘em if ya got ‘em!

  42. on 11 May 2007 at 8:07 pm 42. Kiera PSI said …

    They just HAD to be playing at the same time, didn’t they? Holy moley, I don’t know if I’ve got enough juice to spare for both at the same time!