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Thursday, July 25, 2002
More on the retro uniforms
-- The bright yellow A's are cool, but I think I like the dark green better.
-- Why do those pullover shirts look a lot like pajamas (even more than NBA refs uniforms)? When did teams switch from buttons to pullover and then back? And what teams (besides the Yankees) opt not to take on the pullover look? I like the buttons a lot better -- seems more "professional."
-- The Mets' retros bring back great memories of the 1986 season. The Angels ones, while great, have me thinking about The Naked Gun.
posted at 7:24 PM
America's most traveled news/sports commentator
Pick a major news or sports media outlet and Keith Olbermann has probably worked for them. Add Salon to the mix. He makes a great point that most of the baseball poobahs probably missed. Their potential Sept. 16 strike date would be one day before the one-year anniversary of players returning to the field after Sept. 11. Interesting symbolism lost in the stubborness to avoid a salary cap.
posted at 7:07 PM
I know Chip Caray can be over the top when hyping things up during a game, as seen by this great link, but you've got to wonder how much hyperbole he can get into by claiming the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry is bigger than the Yankees-Red Sox. Maybe it's my New York/northeast bias kicking in, but it seems like Yankees-Red Sox has a lot more legs because it's actually very competitive on the field -- and has been part of some big games in history, like Bucky Dent.
I'm not debating Cubs-Cardinals isn't a big rivalry. It definitely is especially in downstate Illinois, but best in baseball? Hardly. It's probably the best in the Caray family since old Harry worked for both. But it's hard to call something a big rivalry when one team has won tons of pennants and the other is best known for being loveable losers. (Not just bad luck second-place stuff like the Red Sox.)
posted at 5:44 PM
When you're ratings are in trouble, feature "Whip It"
I loved VH-1's special on One Hit Wonders (and I've got all of them on tape). It got some of the network's best ratings in a long time. So how do you capitalize on it? Make it into a series. Something tells me it won't go over well, at least not like the specials. Then again Unsolved Mysteries and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? both had nice runs after being a special, who knows.
posted at 1:17 AM
Assorted movie reflections
I felt like I stumbled into something good when Wet Hot American Summer ended up on Starz the other day. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed. I guess it could've been funnier, and I could relate somewhat to the characters, but something just didn't click despite all the decent actors in it. Maybe it was a bit too sprawling for its own good. Maybe it could've been slightly raunchier given the general plot. I don't know. I've never been a big fan of Owen Gleiberman, and his review in Entertainment Weekly may have shown how much we disagreed on the movie.
It took me a while to figure out who Ms. Alias was when watching Pearl Harbor before realizing she was the somewhat dorky looking nurse with the glasses. Definitely not the most flattering look for her, although I suppose it was a slightly better role than that in Dude, Where's My Car? Oh well, then again, I sat through the cool but somewhat overwrought explosions and whatever hideous accents Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck had to further affirm how much I'm a fan of Kate Beckinsale.
On the other hand, I picked up the DVD for UHF and found that very entertaining, especially with the audio commentary. It's a silly movie for sure, but still holds up for camp value. It was amusing hearing Weird Al rattle off addresses of places in Tulsa where they shot different scenes. It helps being a big Weird Al fan to begin with.
posted at 12:55 AM
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
How the mighty have fallen.
posted at 7:19 PM
Speaking of death by chocolate.
posted at 3:54 PM
Must Eat TV?
I've seen plenty of tie-ins between entertainment and restaurants, but this NBC-Baskin Robbins marriage may be one of the strangest. Dwight had a solid idea for one not on here -- Law and Order: Death by Chocolate. I'm surprised there's no Friends-themed ice cream, but I guess you can always order vanilla. It's also curious to see them tie ice cream flavors with a couple of new shows that seem like iffy hits. Which reminds me (going back to the doppleganger bit), I think I've figured out why the girl on the ads for American Dreams seems familiar -- it's a blonde version of Stephanie McMahon.
posted at 1:50 AM
Hey, you happen to look like ...
I've got a strange habit to almost immediately associate someone I run across with some other celebrity. Maybe it helps me remember names and faces later on, or maybe it's just a game I play. But whatever the case, it makes for some interesting observations down the line. It has helped out a bunch when casting "Quizbowl: The Movie" -- pretty much just an excuse to play this game where we cast famous people who most look like different personalities in the Quizbowl world. I won't get into here, at least not now.
However, with that said here are some other cases of celebrity lookalikes (when they can't seem to hire real celebrities) I've seen in commercials: (feel free to add your own in the comments)
-- One of the Heineken ads with a guy and girl fighting over the last beer at a party has a couple of dopplegangers. The guy definitely is a cross between Joe Rogan and Matt LeBlanc. A co-worker said the girl looks like Kristin Davis (which I do see), but I think this ad shows what Britney Spears will look like in about 15 years with dark hair. Interesting thought for sure.
-- The Bud Light Naked Swimmers ad features a dorky guy who looks like a skinner version of a former co-worker, but the more relevant part is that the woman could pass for Katie Couric's sister.
-- Finally, I haven't found the right comparisons for some of the ridiculously amazing women in the Captain Morgan Gold ad, but the guy turning aerobics into a spectator sport could be former WCW champion David Arquette invading the commercial world yet again.
By the way, bless those people at Ads.com for providing links to these commercials. This site will probably come in very, very handy when writing those trivia questions pretty soon.
posted at 12:52 AM
Even for a struggling network like ABC, you have to do your best to keep your funniest people away from some of the rest of the talent, as these stories concerning Drew Carey, Jimmy Kimmel and The Bachelor folks can attest.
On a related note, it looks like they're doing their best to get me to watch the Emmys after naming Conan O'Brien as host. To think how far he's come since those awfully awkward first shows that happened to coincide with my first days of college.
Steve Earle always seemed to me a bit off the mainstream path, so it's not surprising his new song about John Walker Lindh is drawing boos in Nashville, especially. Although it probably will play a little bit better with the "alternative" set, I'd imagine. In any case, it will probably feel ridiculously dated in a few years, but those are the breaks. It doesn't take away from the fact he's a pretty good musician/songwriter.
On the topic of music, I guess I'll throw my vote for "Hot in Herre" by Nelly as this year's top summer song, just nudging out the also-infectious "Without Me" by Eminem, although it's odd to hear the latter getting tons of airplay on the local alterna-rock station here.
posted at 12:34 AM
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Are you ready? ...
First off, the posts may be fewer and more far between as I work on a bunch of quizbowl stuff. With my schedule returning to "normal" next week, I'm actually able to make it up to Chattanooga for Muck Masters. Much of my inspiration for the blog may end up in questions, so bear with me.
Now then, I was definitely marking out hearing the old Degeneration X music, as they teased a HHH-HBK reunion, only to have Helmsley turn on Michaels for reasons we're all trying to figure out. It gets funnier and funnier every day to see a lot of the old gimmicks turning up, even for just a small bit of time. Next up, Doink returns to Raw (and not just in the gimmick Battle Royal).
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