What movie have you seen the most times in the theater? How many times?

Probably Iron Man. 

What was the last movie you walked out of in the theater?

Fantasia

What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?

Fantasia

What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

Clerks

Have you ever dressed up as a movie character for Halloween? If so, who?

I was probably a Ghost buster when I was a kid.

What was the first R-rated movie you ever saw? Were you allowed or did you sneak?

Die Hard.  Allowed in.  I'm hardcore like that.

Star Wars (orig. trilogy) or Lord of the Rings?

Star Wars.  This shouldn't even be a question.

Pacino or De Niro?

Titanic…did it suck or was it great?

Never saw it.

What’s your take on Cassavetes?

Don't have one.

Favorite John Hughes character?

John Bender  That dude was harsh.

Which movie gives you a boner (or makes you tingle)?

I'm not sure if this question is serious metaphorical.

Which movie always makes you cry like the big puss you are?

Brian's Song.

What’s the furthest you’ve ever gotten in a movie theater? (i.e, second base…)

Third.

Speaking of sports metaphors, what’s your favorite sports movie?

Remember the Titans or Major League.

Favorite
(a)… teen movie?

Ferris Bueller

(b)…Quentin Tarantino movie?

Dusk Till Dawn

(c)…Bill Murray movie?

Stripes

(d)…romantic comedy?

Wedding Singer.  Dig the 80's references.   Or Chasing Amy

(e)…gangster movie?

Godfather II,But if the movie was real, it might be Medellín

(f)…horror movie?

I don't like Horror Movies.  But Saw was good.

(g)…made for TV movie?

I'm not even sure what the made for TV Movies I've seen

(h)…director?

Kenneth Branagh

(i)…drug movie?

Which movie have you seen already but will never, ever, ever watch again?

Magnolia

Which movie are you embarrassed to really like?

Star Wars Episode I

Which movie should be remade asap?

Star Wars Episode II

What the F happened to (insert answer)? He used to be so damn funny!

Eddie Murphy. Is that even a question?

For the love of everything that’s sacred, please someone stop (insert answer) from making another movie!

Eddie Murphy

Which movie do all your friends love but you think is whatevs?

I like most of the movies my friends like.  Except Jeff.

Which movie do you love but all your friends think is whatevs?

See above.

If you could hump/date/marry any movie character, who would it be?

Mandy Moore.  In any movie.

Best movie ever?

American History X.  Try watching that movie and not be changed by it.

Book you wish would be made into a movie, and who would direct it?

What can make anyone, let alone a life long baseball fan; confuse Josh Hamilton and Justin Morneau for two of the greatest players in history of the game?  The finals of the Home Run Derby became a Babe Ruth vs Lou Gehrig battle with Hamilton hitting, for lack of a better term, "Ruthian" blasts all over the Yankee Stadium, oohing and ahhing the crowd with a combination of great power and equally great story.  All this taking in place in "The House that Ruth Built," where Ruth out homered entire teams once upon a time.   The crowd last night had no Yankee to root for, so it chose to root for the spirit of Babe Ruth, channeling itself in Hamilton.  As the crowd chanted his name, Hamilton, a 27 year old in his second year in the big leagues stepped out of the box and allowed himself a smile.  This wasn't Giambi and Sosa and their steroid enhanced home run battle.  This was real.

Hamilton like Ruth, a player who was a testament to the Roaring Twenties, a time known for the extravagant night life of its players and not Performance Enhancing Drugs is beyond all suspicion of cheating, not because of his good name, but rather because of what was his bad name.  He is beyond suspicion because he is regularly drug tested.  Josh Hamilton, the number one pick in the 1999 MLB amateur draft is a recovering drug addict who is tested three times per week by Major League Baseball for drugs.  He is a cautionary tale for players who follow him, but he’s also the story of overcoming one’s mistakes.  The year that the team that drafted him, the Devil Rays shed the tag of loser and making people take notice of them, Josh Hamilton is making people believe.  Believe in faith.  Believe in redemption.  Believe in him.

Justin Morneau is a Canadian born first baseman for the Minnesota Twins, a former MVP and a player known as a very good or great player, but overshadowed on his own team at various times by Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, much as Lou Gehrig, a former MVP and one of the greatest baseball players of all time is first and foremost known for his consecutive games streak was overshadowed by the more dynamic Ruth.  Gehrig with his reticent persona was dwarfed by the larger than life Ruth, whose home runs made older men yell and cheer with the joy and enthusiasm of a small child.  With every home run Morneau hit, it was met with cheers, but nothing that made fans stand up and take notice.  They were seeing a solid player hit solid homeruns.  They didn’t know they were seeing something special.

 Morneau’s story doesn’t have the same Hollywood appeal as Hamilton.  There is no great abyss that Morneau climbed his way out of.       That doesn’t make him any less special of a player.  It just makes his story less remarkable. 

After the contest, Morneau talked about how the rules allowed him to win, and how Hamilton was the star AND the show.  Morneau was humble and maybe in awe of being victorious.  He knew that for one shining moment, Gehrig was bigger than Ruth, but that moment passed, and the crowd continued clamoring for Hamilton and rightfully so. 
Four years from now, the numbers will fade, but the enduring image will be Hamilton stepping out and smiling as the people chant his name.  And the forgotten image will be Morneau holding the trophy over his head.

I saw this at the store the other day, and I was just as floored as Gabe is.  So I've included his commentary on the item, because he's better at the humor of it than I am.

Lil' Gabe is 3 and a half now and so it's very important that we always have a ready supply of fruit snacks. If we're out shopping or at the bank or whatever, fruit snacks have the ability to soothe the savage three year old. We like to let Gabe pick out his own fruit snacks and he usually will choose Spider-Man or maybe SpongeBob. However I came home recently and found these in the pantry.

I would love to know what sick bastard at Kellogs came up with this genius idea. I just spent the first three years of my sons life trying to get him not to eat blocks, and now you're telling him they taste like fucking strawberries. Thanks a lot assholes. Seriously, how in the hell did this ever get past their legal department. You can't tell me that this isn't a lawsuit just waiting to happen. I can only assume that their next product is fruit flavored thumbtacks. 


- PA 

When people let you down often enough, should you be upset at them for not coming through, or at yourself for refusing to see the truth behind their nature?  

I'm in a kinda bad emotional state right now, which is obvious to anyone who has talked to me on a consistent basis.  I'm up and down.  My friendships feel like they are slipping, I'm a bad person.  I try to hard, its not my fault people don't have the same want to remain friends after all this time that I do.  

My best friends constantly have other things to do rather than wanting to hang out.  They are busy I should let them be.  They are my best friends, and I miss them.

I'm to blame, I moved to back home.  I'm not at fault, I wasn't ready to be on my own.

I'm to blame, I should have made more of an effort to keep in touch.  Its not all my fault, I'm only one half of the equation in a friendship.

I'm to blame, my loss of my most important friends is my cross to bear.  Its not all my fault, I've tried many times to make ammends.  

I'm to blame, I should know when to leave well enough alone.  Its not all my fault, I've never hidden whats going on in my head.

I'm to blame, if I wanted things to stay the same, I shouldn't have accepted change.  Its not all my fault, there is always change, and if you don't accept it, its going to happen anyway.


Its alright
There comes a time
Got no patience
To search for piece of mind

Laying low
Wanna take it slow
No more hiding
Or disgusing truths I've sold

Everyday its something
Hits me all so cold
Find me sitting by myself
No excuses, then I know

Its ok
Had a bad day
Hands are bruised
From breaking rocks all day

Drained and blue
I bleed for you
Think its funny
Well you're drowning in it too

Everyday its something
Hits me all so cold
Find me sitting me by myself
No excuses, then I know

Yeah its fine
Walk down the line
Leave our rain
A cold trade for warm sunshine

You my friend
I will defend
And if we change
Well I love you anyway

Everyday its something
Hits me all so cold
Find me sitting by myself
No excuses, then I know

One summer morning, scientists observing elephant seals on a beach on Marion Island near the Antarctic spotted a young male Antarctic fur seal subduing a king penguin.

"At first we thought it was hunting the penguin, but then it became clear that his intentions were rather more amorous," de Bruyn recalled today via email.

The roughly 240-pound seal subdued the 30-pound adult penguin by lying on it. The hapless bird of unknown sex struggled, rapidly flapping its flippers and attempting to stand and flee, without luck.

The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin and thrusting its pelvis at the bird in vain attempts to insert its penis for 45 minutes. Natural, unsuccessful sexual escapades by this variety of seal with members of its own species may last as long as this penguin assault did, "but yes, it is quite a long time and thus unusual," de Bruyn told LiveScience.

The seal then abruptly gave up, moving to sea and completely ignoring the target of its affections. The penguin apparently did not suffer any injury. The scientists detailed their findings in the May issue of the Journal of Ethology.

Sexual harassment is common in the animal kingdom - "Homo sapiens are often testimony to that," de Bruyn said.

Many species perform some form of sexual harassment on members of their own species, "for a variety of reasons many of which are hotly debated," he added.

Many species of seal are polygynous, where one male mates with many females. The males often fight each other to control females.

"This system thus promotes extreme aggression in males towards each other, and if a male cannot control a beach, this aggression may spill over to sexual aggression directed at outlying females, pups or even in rare cases other seal species," de Bruyn said.

And this sexual aggression apparently might leap well beyond the species gap.

The Antarctic fur seals of Marion Island are the only ones known that eat king penguins. The thrill of the hunt felt by the seal the researchers saw may have channeled into its sex drive, as the mating season had just come to an end.

"It may have wanted to eat it and half-way through the chase changed its mind," de Bruyn speculated. "I personally believe the link between aggressive and sexual behavior is evolutionarily far closer linked than we currently believe. This has obvious implications for humans."

On the other hand, the amorous seal may simply have been sexually inexperienced and playful, and wanted practice, the researchers conjectured.

"There are many things that we do not understand about ourselves that are mirrored in other species," de Bruyn said. "Thus by continuing with research efforts on other vertebrates we could learn a great deal about the whys behind human behaviors."

In the shadows 
Of tall buildings
Fallen angels 
On the ceilings
Oily feathers 
In bronze and concrete
Faded colors
Pieces left incomplete
The line moves slowly 
Past the electric fence
Across the borders 
Between continents

Noah looked up.  He had been amazed at the size of the buildings, which he passed every morning and never paid attention to.  The last remaining people out that night looked at him and saw him for how he saw his soul a mess.  With his unkempt hair, dirty looking jeans, black t-shirt.  In the early 90's, Noah would look like a poster child for the grunge era.  Unfortunately grunge was nothing but a music fad, and Noah was left to look like a desperate hanger on. 

In the cathedrals 
Of New York and Rome
There is a feeling 
Ohat you should just go home
And spend a lifetime 
Finding out just where that is

Noah hadn't even noticed where he had ended up, but he was at the steps of Our Lady of Visitation Church.  He had not been a very religious man in years.  He had fought with God too many times, and now, at his lowest point since his original descent into drugs, he was on God's door.  A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.  Where was God when he needed him then?  And where was God now?  Noah picked up a rock, and judged its weight.  He stepped back, ready to launch the stone through the window when, whether it was a trick of the lights or the alcohol, the angel appeared to light up.  The picture was beautiful, and Noah instead hurled the rock down the street.

Crucified for the sins of my humanity ...
Crucified for the sins of my compassion ...
Crucified for the sins of my past ...
By the flesh of my flesh, and the blood of my blood,
You will crucify the raven, NEVERMORE!

"What did I do that was wrong? I never said anything except the truth" Noah screamed,  and as the rock ricocheted off the ground, he furiously took his final swig from the bottle and whipped it down the road after the rock.  The glass exploded and Noah dropped to his knees.  Tears streamed down his face as he thought about the everything he had done before.  The good things that resulted in him ignored, and the bad things he got in trouble for.  Never did the good deeds get rewarded, including the good for Maria...

The flickering bulb in the overhead fixture finally became a stead glow, and as Noah sat up, he knows somethings not right.  He looks at his hand, sees the pool of blood that has formed in his hand.  The highs aren't the same anymore.  Not since that night.  "My friends, that used to be all I ever needed."  But his friends had long since abandoned him.  The song ringing in the background, talking about addiction, a painful reminder of what he gave into that night.  He sees the images, although they have started to blend together.  His girlfriend of five years, her visage taunting him, as she walks into his best friends car.  He hasn't seen either since that day.  It all fell apart around him.  He had abandoned his trust in people and turned to the darker demons that had haunted his family.  The booze led to the pills, which in turn led to the needle he was now staring at now.  He knew the one person who could save him, but he didn't tell her, because he was afraid of her saying she wasn't interested.  So his mind returns to the one thing that does show interest in him.  He closes his eyes, makes a quick prayer that he hopes this will end for him, and then presses the plunger.  His eyes explode open, then close again.  The hunger fed, the pain gone, he smiles.  Maybe tomorrow we'll talk.....

I got this feeling deep inside
But what it is, I don't know
My vengence starts to change
My mind gets filled with rage
I raise my fist up to the sky
What do you say?

He sees her staring at him now.  Tears streaming down her face.  The image is enough to jar him back to his senses.  He picks up the phone.  He fumbles through his cell phone until he finds her name.  Kristen, Kyle, Louie, Luis, Maria.  There it is.  Maria.  What will he say?  He knows that he has these feelings for her.  He has carefully rehearsed everything in his head a thousand times.  He is prepared for any sort of rebuttal she can come up with.  He knows he's ready now.  He presses the send button.  He waits as the phone dials.  Ringing.  Ringing.  Ringing.  He hangs up, knowing that she isn't going to pick up.  Why would she?  He suddenly exhales, realizing that he had been holding his breath.  Why was he doing this to himself?  

The fear I see when I look in your eye
Makes you believe I'm one of a kind
The fear I leave in the back of your mind
Makes you believe I'm
One of a kind 

A minute later the phone rang, it was Maria.  "Noah, are you ok?  You called and didn't leave a message.  Are you alright?"  Noah tried to speak, but he answer, but he wasn't sure he knew the answer.  Was he alright?  "I love you," he blurts out, eschewing every carefully cultivated speech he has gone over in his head.  "I don't know what else to say Maria.  I just want you to know that I want you to be happy, and I love you, and hopefully you can be happy with me."

The silence says more than any response from Maria possibly could.  He knows now that she has no interest in him.  He had prepared himself for any possible response she could say.  He was going to convince her that he was right, but now, with the silence ringing in his ears, he cowers, afraid to say more, but no less sure that he is right in the way he said it now, like it makes any difference. 

"You love me," Maria finally replies, seemingly as shocked by the idea that he had feelings for her just as much as the way he expressed them. "We've known each other for five years, have worked together, but never dated, and now you love me?  Do you realize how impossible that is?  You don't know any of my likes or dislikes.  You don't know my favorite movie, my favorite color, what makes me happy or sad.  You don't know what is my most embarrassing moment of my life.  You've never asked any of this stuff, so You can't love me.  I thought you were fine being friends, but apperantly you got the wrong idea."  And with that she hangs up the phone. 

Noah listens to her explode on the other end of the phone.  Its not unexpected, and its not unreasonable what she says.  He doesn't try to get a word in edgewise.  It would be stupid too at this point.  Instead he walks over to the computer and turns it on.  When Maria has hung up on him, he turns on Alice in Chains, the band he used to listen to when he did his heroin.  After all, Layne liked it too.  But heroin isn't in the future for him this time.  For the first time since he was dropped, he is seeing clearly.  He opens an email to Maria.

Subject:  Please read before you delete

Your favorite movie is Sin City.  You like it because you enjoy the way that the sparse use of color is more successful in bringing out the emotions intended than any sort of Hi-Def trick.  You feel find the car ride scene where Clive Owen is talking to Benico Del Toro funny, because there are times when you feel the same way, that you're so upset emotionally that you can hear a voice telling you everything you don't want to hear.  And although you won't admit it, you're enough of a feminist to like the females kicking the mob's ass. 

Your favorite color is green, because it reminds you of the grass at Shea Stadium. 

Your most embarrassing moment is when you fell asleep in 8th grade and woke up halfway through the boy's sex ed class and had to walk out in front of everyone.  (Thats funny by the way).

As for everything else that makes you happy or sad, you're right, I don't know everything, but I want too.  More precisely, I want to learn the things, not just know them.  And you're right, I've never asked you any of these things.  I've learned them because I've listened to you, when no one else would.  I just thought that I should point out to you the fact that I may not have ever dated you, but it doesn't mean I don't want to, or that I can't be in love with you for who you are. 

Noah Darkwalker

And with that, Noah hit send.

The email sent, a wave of relief spread through Noah.  It seemingly made his life that much better.  He smiled, and pumped his fist.  He wasn't sure what to do now, he knew that the next few days he would be constantly checking his email, in hopes of a response.  But he knew he was going to sleep now, and he would sleep well.

He awake the next morning, and a new feeling of anticipation washed over him.  "I'm not even gonna check it until later," Noah mused aloud.  Naturally the first thing he did was make a beeline for his computer.  No new emails.  A momentary pang of disappointment replaced the feeling of anticipation, but that to went away, replaced by an attitude that reeked of "Oh well."

Now I feel like I'm alive
Don't know just how I got so low
These voices in my mind
Tell me its kililng time
It is a thrill I can't describe 

Noah never heard back from Maria after his email.  They talked occasionally, but never more than two days in a row.  He knew that everything he did caused a backlash against him.  The funny thing is that he had totally recovered from the drugs and booze that had once reduced him to a shell of a man.  He didn't miss them, until now.  He went to the liquor store and bought a bottle of vodka.   His body quivered as he took the first long strong drink of Vodka.  He instinctively wanted to spit it out.  He knew that he wouldn't though.  The vodka hit him harder than he expected.  He was going back down that road.  "How did I get back here?" Noah asked to no one in particular,

So Here I Am 
With My Thoughts Of You
And This World I've Left For Me
Stoic Faces When I Think Of You
And How I Once Believed
So Now You Call Me, 
But You Know I Won't Let You Through
I've Myself To Decieve

 Maybe just drink enough vodka that he would pass out.  He drank and he drank, all the while, the image got stronger in his mind.  He was drinking to escape the pain, but all the vodka did was blur all the good in his life.  It blurred his friends, blurred his family, blurred everything, except the sting of pain he felt deep in his heart.  He walked to his car, and opened the door.  He sat down in the driver's seat.  Turned the key and felt the engine roar.  Put the car in reverse.  Started backing up.  Then he stopped.  He put the car in drive and returned to his drive way.  A voice whispered in his head "Not this way.  No one but you"  Noah knew the voice was right.  As miserable as he was right now, it was him that was miserable, and he couldn't be responsible for others.  He got out and grabbed a few cigars, grabbed the vodka and left his home.  

So Leave The Memories Alone
I Don't Want To See
The Way It Is, As To How It Used To Be
Leave The Memories Alone, 
Don't Change A Thing
And I'll Hold You Here
In My Memory

Sobbing, he thought of all the fun he and Maria had together.  The first time they had met in class.  She had walked in late, and the only seat was left was in the back corner, where he sat.  The class went on for 2 hours, but Noah couldn't remember what the teacher said.  He he been in love the minute he saw her, and they had talked about all their interests.  Noah was shocked, she liked the same things he did, he was confidant enough in his trust in her immediately to talk about his family issues, and was shocked to hear she had similar problems.  Noah knew that she was his soul mate.  He even thought that Maria felt that way.  Until she mentioned her boy friend...

So I Find Me In Your Garden Now
A Sad Smile For The Scene
And All The Flowers That We Planted Now
Taken By The Weeds
But In My Minds Eye, You Know They Still Bloom For Me
They Stand Tall There, In That Summer Breeze

Of course she had a boyfriend Noah knew.  How could she not.  She was stunningly gorgeous.  She was funny.  She was sweet.  She was perfect.  She was everything he wasn't.  And yet, at the end of class, she asked if she wanted to hang out with her sometime.  He didn't know what to say, he just sat with a goofy smile on his face.  And Maria laughed at the smile on his face, a perfect laugh.  Noah would spend months learning that laugh.  And every time he heard it, he felt whole.

Leave The Memories Alone
I Don't Want To See
The Way It Is, As To How It Used To Be
Leave The Memories Alone, Don't Change A Thing
And I'll Just Hold You Here In My Memory

A car honks its horn and Noah is jerked back to reality.  He had made the wrong move.  He told her how much he loved her.  She was distraught, and wanted nothing to do with Noah.  She was afraid of him, not fear of harm, but fear of the love he knew that she felt for him.  It was tough for Noah, they talked about everything, and he knew it was real.  "You meet one person in your life who is perfect for you.  You don't always end up with them though," Noah mused as the vodka was starting to do a number on him.  He tried to forget her.  Tried to move on.  Went on other dates, but he had put Maria on a pedastool no one could ever hope to reach.  Except Maria.  He thought about calling her, but he knew that he had fallen off the wagon, and knew that she would be angry about that as well, ironic, since she flown back into his life a month earlier, tipsy and in need of help.  Noah was there for her.  He always was.  

In my last opening day chronicle, I predicted the division, playoff, world series, cy young and mvp winners.  

Now I'm going to take my favorite over unders for wins, my biggest surprise sleeper team, my biggest sucker team, and my dark horses for the MVP, Cy Young, and other awards
 
First the Awards
NL MVP - Winner - Wright
Runner Up - Utley
Dark Horse - Berkman

NL Cy Young - Winner - Santana
Runner Up - Peavy
Dark Horses - Haren and John Maine

NL Cy Yuck - Winner - Glavine
Runner Up - Lidge
Dark Horse - Eric Gagne

NL Rolaids Relief - Saito
Runner Up - Wagner
Dark Horse - Fuentes


AL MVP - Winner - Cabrera
Runner Up - Ortiz
Dark Horse - Ichiro 
(I think A-Rod will win, but why pick the gimmie)

AL Cy Young - Winner - Bedard
Runner Up - Becket
Dark Horses - Papelbon and Sabathia

AL Cy Yuck - Winner - Mussina
Runner Up - Cabrera
Dark Horse - Any Texas pitcher

AL Rolaids Relief - Winner - Papelbon
Runner up - Rivera
Dark Horse - Sherril

NL Sleeper Teams
Brewers
Reds

NL Sucker Teams
Braves
Rockies

AL Sleeper Teams
Mariners
White Sox

AL Sucker Teams
Angels
Blue Jays

Over Under
Mets 92.5 - OVER
Yankees 94 - UNDER (Under 90 actually)
Red Sox 94 - UNDER (Actually 94 sounds right)
Mariners 85 - OVER

Marlins 68.5 - UNDER
Braves 86 - UNDER (Closer to 78)
Rays 72 - OVER
Giants 72 - UNDER (66)
White Sox 76 - OVER
Phillies 88 - UNDER

Angels 92 - UNDER

Brewers 84 - OVER


Santana's Line: 7 IP, 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 HRA, 8 Ks, 2 BBs, 100 Pitches, .71 WHIP, 1.25 BAA, 2.57 ERA, 1 W, 1 QS

So I'm all set for baseball games this year.  I'm going to go see probably 5 games at Shea Stadium.  Then I'll be going to Washington DC to see the Nationals play in their new ballpark with my buddy Civello.  Maybe catch a game in Baltimore on the way up or down.  I'm going to try and get to Yankee Stadium, since this is the final season there.  But the end all be all of Baseball fever came today, as Civello and I finalized a plan to go to Colorado to see the Rockies play the Mets in Coors Field.  247 round trip airfare, hotel, and rental car?  Sign Me The Fuck Up!  *** EDIT*** Sounds like Mark is making the trek to Colorado that weekend also for Baseball Fun!  Big ups to Mark!***End EDIT***

Congrats to Michelle, who in addition to being a great person, is now engaged.  I've only met her fiancee a couple of times, but he has always been nice to me, and seems like a great guy.  Besides, Michelle obviously agrees with that sentiment, so congrats to you both. 

In other college friend news, I've officially been hooked on Star Wars Legos by Mark.  Its funny, the two of us hadn't even talked about it, but I mentioned to him right before he came down here how deep into Star Wars I've been, reading the expanded universe, playing the Star Wars video games, watching and re-watching the movies, and increasing my overall understanding of the Force.  I've been talking to Mark about coming up in late March/Early April for a weekend, but nothing definite.

Thats really it.  I work alot.  That eats up a lot of life.  So until next month take care.