Oscar Observations: Part I

-Was George Clooney really getting played off stage after five seconds? Apparently not, although I guess they changed up the acceptance speeches production this year. They’re playing music underneath all the speeches. A little overly dramatic, but I guess it’s okay…I mean it is Hollywood. I just don’t know how they’re going to actually play off the speeches that go too long.

-Nah but Clooney really did have a great speech. He’s just the absolutely smoothest guy I’ve ever seen.

-Dolly Parton is sixty, SIXTY years old. She looks amazing. I think it’s all natural. Hollywood=another planet.

-Is Jack Nicholson’s date tonight Kiera Knightley? Every shot of Jack has Knightley sitting next to him. I mean, I wouldn’t necessarily doubt it, but she is like barely old enough to drink alcohol. (Just IMDB’ed it…yeah she’s 20, and he’s 84. Okay well he’s 68. There’s no way he can satisfy my future wife [well, one of my future wives…she’s a little old for me])

-Jon Stewart’s doing pretty well…he’s made fun of Hollywood liberals, Scientology, etc…really forcing them to laugh at themselves…which is something most hosts don’t really do.

So we lost…

…I mean, what can you do. We’re not competitive with the soon-to-be #2 team in the country. The only way a team like Syracuse can beat a team like Villanova is with a combination of massive adrenaline and a lot of luck. If and when we meet up with Nova or UCONN in the 2nd round of the Big East Tourney, we’ll need to be running on all cyclinders (and, again, get incredibly lucky). And if we don’t run on all cyclinders and get a 2nd Big East Tournament win, we’ll probably be seeing the NIT in our future. Not good times.

Well Oscars are starting in a few minutes. Some quick predictions: A lot of gay cowboy-ness. Best Picture. Best Actor. Best Director. For Actress I’ll go with Reese. So basically no surprises here. Rachel Wiesz best supporting actress, and Paul Giamatti in a slight upset for Cinderella Man. Maybe Jon Stewart will be funny though. That could be good.

Damn Billy Bush is not only really short, but really a horrendous interviewer. Bush: Can you give us a prediction for the show? Oscar Guy: It’s going to be a great show. Bush: Great thanks.

A great show?! Shocking prediction.

So another letter to the editor coming in about my column. Check it here.

You know, today at the Syracuse game I really re-confirmed my thoughts on the topic of free speech. Some asshole Nova fan kept obnoxiously yelling, pissing off the crowd. And although I, along with most other people there, wanted to punch the guy in the face…I guess I supported his right to chant so offensively (and on Gerry’s day, damnit!). EEEEh maybe not, that guy should have gotten punched.

Onto the Oscars…I’ll post an update at some point in the next couple hours.

Some DO response

Big DO day…check out the bar raid article and the Harvard column…

Got a response (my first of the semester to a column from a reader…good times) to the column, an email from Jessica who wasn’t too happy with what I had to say:

I must say that when I heard what the president of Harvard said in January, it
infuriated me. But what angered me more was your article in the D.O. today. I
cannot believe that you would consider this man a victim, especially because he
resigned! By saying women lag behind men in math and science due to genetic
reasons is offensive, and he was wrong. As president of Harvard he should have
been more careful not to insult half of the population, especially because his
comment has no credability.”Is he wrong? Maybe. Is the suggestion idiotic? Yeah
maybe…” is not good enough for me. In my opinion, he IS wrong, and so is
defending him on the grounds that we have “fragile ears and egos”. Also, even
if it was just in Arts and Sciences, 62% of the PROFESSORS said they did not
have confidence in him. Not just the fragile youth. As a male college student,
you may not hear where I am coming from. All I ask is that you not offend half
the population again by defending someone who already has, and make him out to
be the victim.
I responded:

Jessica-

Thanks for your response. I don’t think Summers is actually the victim in this case, only that he is being unfairly forced out. I would hope there are people like yourself on the campus of Harvard to speak out against Summers, saying how offensive his suggestion is. I would hope there would be other individuals on the campus who would argue against that assertion, saying some studies seem to support what he said.

Basically what I mean is that this is a college campus – a learning environment. If people aren’t allowed to make comments perceived as politically incorrect and potentially wrong, where can they make them? It at the very least opens a dialogue on the topic.

Something I didn’t put in the article, because of space (but also because it doesn’t directly relate to the point) is that as head of the World Bank he made the comment that educating women in higher education was one of the most important goals of the World Bank, and because of that they gave millions of dollars to develop programs to do just that. This man was not sexist or misogynistic. He simply spoke his mind, and, obviously, opened himself up for critique.

Being a male has nothing to do with it – if you were to tell me that all men hate women and are potential batterers in relationships, I would disagree with you whole-heartedly. I’d be offended. I’d think you were 100% wrong. But I’d defend your right to say that 100% as well, and then I’d defend my right to counter your argument.

Glad you responded…one other final question is whether I can post your email on my website www.betweenthekraks.com, simply as another way of continuing the debate.

Thanks.

…she responded with a pretty favorable email. So I guess we’re on good terms now.

Speaking of political correctness, check out this crazy letter to the editor in the DO today against the fact that Ann Coulter is coming to speak on campus. Hey — Ann Coulter’s pretty crazy, but so is Michael Moore and there was no uproar from these people when he came to speak last year.

Well part two of Greta’s interview with Joran comes on at 10 PM. Great story. I’ve got a theory about it, and I think its starting to be confirmed a little as we see Joran as a pretty savvy guy, who certainly doesn’t sound too guilty. I’ll write out my theory at some point, but for now check out this excellent web site about all things Natalee.

Coming tomorrow/Saturday: the promising Real World cast, the probably fake Deal or No Deal and a Villanova-‘Cuse prediction.

closing out a tough week…and big DO day manana

Getting of suprisingly the most difficult, time-consuming week of my college life. Combo of classes/extra-curricular stuff. Definitely will be posting more from now on…

 Part of the reason for that, although I certainly don’t mind, is my two articles in the print edition of the DO tomorrow. First, is a front-page story (my first since freshman year) about the bar raids. The other is a column about the crazy political correctness going on at Harvard. Check it out…

 More to come this weekend, about this year’s Real World cast (looks promising), Deal or No Deal (going downhill), 24 vs. the Apprentice (and NBC’s stupidity) and probably other non-TV related things…

Biggest Win of the Year…

…by far. Not even close. Probably the biggest win of the last two years, considering the circumstances. For the first time all year, ‘cuse had dropped out of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, a disrespectful “last four out” designation from the Big Dance. With this win, and an easy win over Depaul, we now can technically lose to Georgetown and Villanova, win a few Big East Tourney games, and still make the NCAA’s. Ideally though, we beat Georgetown, give Villanova a tough game (hey, Gerry’s last game — anything’s possible) and get as high as a 7 or 8 seed in the tournament. Either way, huge effort from T-Rob (always knew he had it in him) and Devendorf (who goes from looking like a Top 10 player to a mental error-machine with great ease — FRESHMAN) Nah he should be okay though, especially down the stretch if he can learn to control himself.

 Speaking of FRESHMEN…we rushed the court after the win. And I say “we” in the collective, school-wide sense, but “I” and other seniors who saw ‘cuse win the championship three years ago certainly celebrated in the stands. Look, I rushed the court against Pitt freshman year, but they were #4 and we weren’t ranked. It was a huge win. This is a #15 team. But I don’t hate on the people who had to touch some sweaty-ass players: this was the win we all needed — the fans, the players, the coaches. So I guess it’s okay to get a little out of your head and jump around on the hardwood. Did have an impromptu debate with the guys around me about whether or not if we beat Villanova in two weeks it would be apropo to rush the court. I think it’d be okay, especially if they’re still #2. It’s Gerry’s last game, and it would be an enormous win for us. Most disagreed. Regardless, big win tonight almost justifies the little drunken frosh…

And just as my college team’s hopes of an NCAA title go up…my fantasy football team’s hopes of a title go way down…

How much of a pothead do you really have to be to get caught for a FOURTH time by the NFL drug testing? Ricky can smoke weed in the offseason. He can smoke herbal cigarettes, or hookah or SOMETHING in order to keep his ass still in the NFL. Now he’s headed towards a full year suspension. Give this man some O’Dweeds…if you can find him through the blunt smoke…I hate you Ricky Williams…

My girl Washingtonienne got a front-page article in the DO today. Nice work Becker. And by “my girl” I only mean I think the story is spectacular, and not that I would like to be added to the long list of men she’s banged. For those who don’t know Jessica Cutler, read about all the ways she prostitutes out her asshole here. I dont’ want to hate on her…I really actually think she’s cool for being so honest. Anyway I’m sure if you have a dick and have ever been to Washington, you have a Washingtonienne story. Here’s mine:

…by the way, I’m half-kidding about the sluttiness of Washingtonienne…I’m more just trying to somehow get linked at www.jessicacutleronline.com. Ah shamelessly self-promoting:

So this summer I interned for Fox News, at the show Dayside. Great experience, and certainly topics for another day. The interns were allowed to pitch story ideas and eventually work with producers to see their ideas to fruition. Cool. So the first idea I pitched that got okay’ed was to try to get Cutler on the show to promote her upcoming book. I was able to book her a few weeks in advance, for the day the book was to be released. Cool. So the day rolls around and I’m excited to see my idea work out, and also just to see the brutally-honest Cutler spar it out with Linda Vester (host at the time). Well she never showed up. Apparently her agent cancelled in a late-night email to the producer I had been working with, in what sounded like a hangover-excuse. Yeah, on the night her book was to be released.

Either way, good article, and SU’s most famous sex-related alumni since Lexington Steele. Yeah, that Lexington Steele.

Couple other small things:

-check out this page of photographs…what’s the best thing about ice skating in the Olympics? THIS

-So Kevin Federline’s CD is going to be released soon. I’m sure it will be a classic. Best New Artist next year? Shouldn’t there be laws against Federline being a father of three already at just 27?

-one more Olympic thing. This rivalry between US speed skaters Shani Davis and Chad Hendrick is actually pretty entertaining. Obviously NBC needs something to boost their ratings, but their race tomorrow should do it. Davis also has the pleasure of shutting Bryant Gumbel’s barely-Black mouth up, winning the first ever gold by an African American Winter Games athlete.

-okay got some more topics to come shortly. I think the quantity of posts is better than the length (or quality, probably).

 

If a quadruple toe-loop falls on the ice, will anyone hear?

Earlier this week I said the Olympics sucked…and that’s not really fair. It doesn’t necessarily suck, its just not really very interesting. It’s a whole lot of sports that no one really cares about, and the only times it really becomes interesting are the fringe, tabloid-ish elements of it. For example, I tune in to NBC immediately when I hear a skiier had a horrible fall, just hoping to see a replay. Sick, I know, but that’s me, and I’m sure that’s quite a few other people.

 Or I might tune after I hear about an athlete getting banned for doping.

The other major time to tune in is to see what’s up with the athletes the US press tells us we should care about. Some like the crazy ass snowboarders, are kind of funny (and, shockingly, winning us gold medals). Some, like Bode Miller, is an embarrassment who cares more about making Nike commercials than winning medals. Then there are people like Johnny Weir, or Johnny Queer as I jokingly-yet-still-somewhat-homophobically call him. No but seriously, this guy is proud of who he is, and he seems like a fun enough guy, outspoken and smart, so I don’t think he’d mind. He cracks me up. He described a bad ice skating run as “kind of like taking a shot of vodka and snorting cocaine.” Now THAT is a quote.

Check out Weir over the next few days. He lost tonight, and apparently stormed out of the rink complaining about the bus being late or something. If I knew anything about ice skating or the Olympics (or cared) I would tell you when or if he skates next. Since I don’t, just enjoy his quotes. Good times all around.

More tomorrow…

Poor Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney finally spoke to the press today, granting interview numero uno after he turned into Elmer Fudd to his buddy Brit Hume at Fox News. Brit did a good job — Cheney was pretty honest. He asked all the easy questions (how did it happen, in what order) and some tough ones (were you drinking? why didn’t you go to the White House press pool?). Brit even got some questions in about Scooter and the PhoneTapGate.

I thought the best series of questions occurred surrounding whether this experience, which Cheney describes as “one of the worst days of his life,” would force Cheney to reconsider his pasttime of choice. He kind of denied it as a possibility, which didn’t make sense. Cheney could use this opportunity to really press the fact that it’s not particularly safe what he’s doing. I mean, he did shoot a 78-year-old guy in the face, instead of a bird.

Anyway, good interview. Check out the Fox site for the full video/transcript. I also like how CNN hates on Fox constantly. Check out what Kafferty from his dumbass files said this afternoon. The F-word? What a hateful bitch.

One final thing…first of all, if you actually read this at any point, and were waiting excitedly for my bar raid column tomorrow, don’t get your hopes up. There’s a much bigger story here than I can fit into a column, and a lot of angles and some sketchy happenings. It’ll be a front pager sometime in the next couple weeks written by yours truly. So get pumped.

Also, stay tuned to this site as I update some things, including polls and other links, as well as just write a ton more updates/posts in general. Hopefully.

 

Big Big Monday

Big Monday lived up to the hype tonight…wow…

 You know, I think I like Villanova about as much as I hate UConn. They’re just an exciting team to watch and they try so hard. Syracuse could really learn a lot from them…and hopefully they really DO learn a lot from them for when the Wildcats match up with the Orange at the Dome March 5.

So Slicky Dick wasn’t too smooth this weekend. Watching the press briefing this afternoon was yet another assault on poor Scott McClellan. That guy looks like the loser in middle school who always got the thousands of birthday punches, only this time its just a pounding of questions and scoffs instead of fists. It is a little strange though. McClellan just sounds like he’s lying…its almost like he’s just not good at what he does. Ari Fleischer was a pro. He would give as good as he got. And he sounded convincing, even if the amount of bullshit coming from the White House was the same then as it is now. Anyway it just seems fishy. Cheney shoots a guy in the face, and somehow no one really knows about it for almost 24 hours? Botched cover up maybe? Well just leave it to The Smoking Gun to solve anything…here’s the actual police report from the accident…The Smoking Gun is amazing…check the archives for the entire Kobe Bryant transcript from his interview with the police after his Denver creative rehab session.

Finally, working on Thursday’s column for the print edition of the DO about the bar raids back in action. Two weird stories coming out of it that I’m following up: 1)They not only raided Lucy’s, but The Shire on Erie Boulevard. And two SU students and one ESF student got their ID’s taken, along with another 25 or so written up for underage drinking. The Shire? Anyone ever heard of that place? Apparently it’s a hot spot…and 2)This whole “contaminated liquor” thing with Lucy’s. Apparently four bottles had maggots, etc. in it. Googling contaminated liquor though all I could find was hundreds of people dying in India of contaminated liquor last year. Sooo, death doesn’t really go well with Prada bags and Ugg boots, you know? Strange. Check out the column Thursday for the full details…

Michelle Kwan didn’t impregnate the olympics…and other meaningless bs

As the Pro Bowl reaches halftime, it’s time to reflect on eventful weekend in sports, or “sports” if you’d rather put it into the perspective it deserves.

Let’s start with that Hawaiian mess they call a pro football all-star game. It’s ironic that the only person who actually cares about the game, Mr. January himself, Peyton Manning, is playing quite possibly the ugliest game of his season. He’s trying so damn hard though, so you almost have to feel for him. Through the first two quarters, he’s thrown 26 times, has played every down, and has lobbed it up for some NFC D-backs three times already. Okay watch me be a reporter — Peyton didn’t have a single game all season where he threw three interceptions, and he’s thrown three in just the first half. He also tried way too hard in the QB challenge and still lost that to Matt Hasselback. Someone tell him he might start to be more successful if he doesn’t take everything so seriously.

But to be devil’s advocate and completely contradict myself, no one cares about the Pro Bowl. There’s nothing riding on the game, and the players play like it. It’s barely watchable. So I guess the fact that Manning is trying so damn hard provides some comedy. But now that he won’t play the second half, lets go back to the unwatchable half-assed play of the true all-stars. I have a solution for all-star games though. This applies much more for the NBA, where no one plays defense and everyone laughs the entire time like its some joke on the fans for actually watching. Make it like a pick-up game. Put something on the line — like the winners get a ride on the Vikings love boat, and then let them play street ball. THAT would be enjoyable.

Onto the other boring-as-hell sports TV, we’ve got the Olympics! All 400 hours on NBC! Bode Miller said something crazy! That skiier almost fell! Snowboarders are doing X-games stunts! Ice skating judges may make a strange score!

The winter olympics suck. Seriously. Here are the three biggest stories so far from the olympics. First, Michelle Kwan didn’t impregnate the olympics…even though I think it would be a much bigger story if she just took her chances and stayed in…in High Definition for the first time ever, only on NBC!

The second story today was that crazy ice racer Apolo Ohno almost fell and won’t win gold. Anyone mind?

Third story has to be the fact that America has a fever…and the only antidote is more gold medals. We’ve forced the Olympic committee to throw in those X-games events that we destroy every year, just so we can up our gold medals. Seriously, we are addicted to medaling. If we don’t get enough gold medals, the terrorists win.  Oh look, that redhead kid one a gold today, and shockingly, we got the silver too. Awesome.

 Hey, at least ‘cuse won. Now all we have to do is beat Villanova, West Virginia, Georgetown and Cincy and we’ll be set for the big dance…

Column today

My column in the print edition was in today.

 Billy Joel as our commencement speaker…strange but true.

A little worn out from yesterday’s monster Blogback session…I need a drink…