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Written by Eric Courtney
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Thursday, 05 July 2007 13:01 |
Boomer went on his first Kenai River fishing trip, but he didn't seem to enjoy angling like most Alaskans. Although he did look pretty cool in his life jacket, you could tell that he just didn't enjoy the experience. Maybe he was embarrassed at the fact that he was wearing a life jacket while other dogs were wandering around on other boats with just the fur on their backs. I would bet that he was probably the best swimmer on our boat, so he probably felt a little humiliated by Rhonda insisting that he wear the safety apparatus (that cost a pretty penny). He was cold and miserable. We put him back in the car, to nap, halfway through the charter.
He's still the best dog ever!
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Written by Eric Courtney
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Tuesday, 12 June 2007 12:59 |
Last week was a big week. A big week in terms of who, and how many people, would meet a violent bloody end.
The much anticipated series finale of the Sopranos made history on Sunday night with mixed reaction around the nation. Some fans felt cheated due to the ending that didn't really end. I personally liked the ending. The building suspense at the end was very evident (although the numerous clips of Meadow trying to parallel park was a little too much), leading the viewer to think something big was going to happen. The way I saw it concluding, at that point, was the restaurant exploding once Meadow finally made it inside. But that's not what happened.
We did see Phil Leotardo meet a grizzly fate (insert visual of Phil's head being tucked in for a dirt-nap here), as the clipping of a mob-boss always pleases fans of shows and movies like these. But all-in-all... The end didn't turn out to be the violent war between families, like a lot of people had hoped.
Anchorage, Alaska, on the other hand, turned out to be very violent last week. When you think of Alaska, you think of opportunity, a new start, a safe place to raise a family far away from the urban jungles in the lower 48 states. I hate to say it, but that is just a glance at Alaska from an outsider. The fact is... Anchorage, Alaska's largest city (population just over 300,000), is really turning to hell these days.
Last week, a dozen kids jumped a guy in a gas station. They beat on him, shot him, then beat on him some more. He lived to tell police that he did not know his attackers and that the only reason he could think provoked the incident was that he was wearing a red hat. Good thing I have a black Cincinnati Reds hat, but I’m sure that wouldn’t make any difference.
On Friday night police officers responded to a call only to be attacked when they arrived at the scene. Luckily no weapons were used.
On Saturday night, a hillside party was ruined when a fucking coward decided to murder a male partygoer, and reportedly shot a girl in the chest after she pleaded with him to spare her life. Apparently he was bumped by someone earlier at the party; like that never happens at a party or club... He came back later looking for the person who bumped into him. I guess with the intention of shooting him. He couldn't find that person, so he decided to make two innocent people pay for the fact that he should have been stillborn 17 years ago. Now this total Zero will spend his life in prison being passed around like a hash pipe at a Stones concert. Fitting punishment, I'd say.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot... There was also a sexual assault of a woman (by 2 or 3 men) that happened over the weekend that by coincidence took place on the trail of a popular annual running event that was happening the morning of the incident. What event you ask? The Anchorage Run for Women. A nice touch, don't you think?
So while the Sopranos pleased some and disappointed others, the city of Anchorage disgusted everyone. The battle for most violent week, easily goes to Anchorage. A place I call home.
On a brighter note…
Stay tuned for future updates of Boomer's recent fishing trip on the Kenai River!
Out!
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Written by Eric Courtney
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Monday, 28 May 2007 12:53 |
Why is it that the 18-36 year old, white male, age demographic is represented as the pot-head market when it comes to fast-food radio spots. I'm sure I am not the only one who has noticed this. It is overwhelmingly obvious that restaurants such as Taco Bell and Carl's Jr are attacking the faithful members of the 420th Legion without shame!
Don't believe me?
The next time you tune into your favorite radio station (anything other than Hip-Hop and Oldies), pay special attention to the Taco Bell and Carl's Jr spots. The voice talent in the commercials always have one or two guys who talk like Jeff Spicholi (Sean Penn) in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, or Floyd (Brad Pitt) in the film True Romance. Those of you who have no idea who those characters are, I'm basically saying that the male talent in the spots sound like they just blazed two chambers of Chronic, consecutively, out of a party-bong. Yeah dude... Those guys!
If you really think about it, it's kind of brilliant.
Those people who aren't wilted when they hear the spots are somewhat amused by it because there is a stoned guy in it, and let's face it... Those guys are funny. Unless, of course, you're actually waiting in line behind one at the Taco Bell drive-thru, while they take 10 minutes to figure out that they are reading a menu (or ordering food from the wrong restaurant). Regardless the advertiser's message gets through.
Those dudes who are listening to the spot with a THC fueled purple glowing ball powering what was once their brain an hour earlier (insert visual of any Grateful Dead album cover here) totally relate to the spot immediately. And I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone that nothing sounds better than a Grilled Stuffed Burrito, Nachos, and a gallon of parched-throat-relieving-Pepsi when you have Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride, in a continuous loop, playing in your head.
Now I'm not part of the latter demographic, but I can say that there may have been a few times in the distant past when this type of marketing campaign would have worked on me from both angles. So I'm telling you all right now...
The marketing firms in charge of these spots have very creative minds. I would love to know what takes top priority of the brainstorming sessions for these gems; perhaps they start at 4:20pm (cough, cough). "Dude, you're totally like bogarting that idea, brah."
I'm out!
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Written by Eric Courtney
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Monday, 16 April 2007 12:52 |
So Spidey is, yet again, the biggest baddest cinema blockbuster to hit the screen in opening-weekend box office history.
I have heard a lot of negative reviews on Sam Raimi's latest effort. Not as many positive reviews, but a lot from co-workers and celebrities. Enough for me to comment about it. Surprisingly enough... Star Wars mastermind, George Lucas even took a stab at the wall-crawler by calling the third installment of Spider-man, "silly."
The last thing I want to do is start a war with Star Wars fans, but hey... Lucas judged a fellow successful director's film in a negative light. Yikes! That's a No-No. When something kicks your ass, it's always best to show a little class.
Granted the film may not have been the best of the Spider-man series, but I enjoyed it immensely. I actually enjoyed it more than the original film. The second is probably my favorite.
I love Sam Raimi's style. I really do. Did he cram too much into the latest installment? Maybe... I don't think so. I think he broke down the characters, as well as he could, to cram two very popular Spidey-villains (three, if you count Harry Osbourne's character as a villain) into a cinematic release. I think all characters blended nicely. I really liked this film. What was the message? It's always better to be on the "dark side's" opposition, than to be vengeful. Sound familiar? Hmm... George?
One moment in the film that really stood out, to me, that most people probably missed altogether (I thought it was brilliant, if you look at it from a film-maker's perspective...), was when Peter made an ass of himself in the night-club. He humorously played the piano, danced, and embarrassed himself in front of both his date and Mary Jane. When he walked outside the club and showed emotional facial characteristics of compassion, a character behind him opened a Spider-man-blue-colored umbrella to shield themselves from the rain (good Spidey). Shortly thereafter, his emotion turned back to the "dark side," where a character then opened a black umbrella in the background (bad Spidey). Sam is a great film-maker and I applaud him for subtle messages like this (No he's not the first to display scenes in this fashion, but it's awesome when it happens before you... And you witness the magic).
What more do you want from a comic book story? Really... Should the stock market be involved? Should Aunt May suddenly, Miraculously, become pregnant? Should J. Jonah Jameson come out of the closet? Please... Cinematic Arm-chair-Genius-Critics, shut the "eff" up, and just enjoy a very good summer blockbuster film.
As for George Lucas... His third installment of Star Wars (Return of the Jedi) had a very-uncomfortable ewok village quasi-disco-dance-off at the end that would make any director cringe. It definitely made me hate the third film, albeit over 30 years ago. George, you're bad-ass. You have my utmost respect, but really... Should you be throwing stones? I'm thinking, "NO!"
Spider-man 3 gets a thumbs-up from me. Go see this, regardless of what you have heard.
I'm out, web-fans!
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