February 27, 2008

So I’m watching Wheel of Fortune…

…and it’s “teen best friends” week.  I’m not sure the appeal of these various weeks on Wheel of Fortune.  Outside of celebrity week–who can ever forget James Brown’s appearance?–I can’t imagine anyone turns on Wheel of Fortune just to see these gimmicks.  Ohhhh, I gotta tune in for armed services week!

No.

But what’s funny here–two of these best friend pairings are male-female combinations.  In each case, the girl is fairly cute, and the dude is a bit nerdy.

Friend my ass.  Oh, he might be her friend, but these kids are just biding their time.  Ten years from now, the girls are goin to look back on this show and say to themselves “how did I not know he wanted some?”

Oh, and there was just the most awkward hug ever between a particularly dorky looking dude and his “bff.”

Let’s retitle this “I’m tired of hearing about how cute the football players are” week on Wheel of Fortune.

February 27, 2008

Stop Snitchin!

OK, a confession.  Since episode 4, I’ve been watching The Wire ahead of the regular airtime.  For the first three weeks, that was about my only option.  Then I got a hold of some others, and I just couldn’t wait.  That said, I’ve only done updates after the regular cable run time, and I ain’t giving nothing away from episode I’ve already seen that you may not have.  Know why?

Cuz I ain’t no snitch.

And you shouldn’t be either.

February 26, 2008

The Wire–Episode 58

We knew it was coming. Just didn’t know it was this episode, or that it would be so sudden. We actually tricked ourselves into believing that Omar would die in some gunfight. That was too easy, and this show’s never been particularly easy. We dont’ get something just because we expect it. And I’ll tell ya–it took some pride swallowing to be able to write Omar’s death in such an understated fashion. There’s your greatest creation, David Simon, and you just dropped him off the face of the earth like everybody else. Not everybody could do that.

Also, it showed Simon’s ability to wrap things up quickly without feeling rushed, which bodes well for what appears to be myriad things that must be resolved by the end of the series. I have greater faith now than ever that everything important will be tied up. It’s just going to take a clinically precise piece of writing to pull it off.

1. It had to happen like that. Look, Omar had exceeded his life expectancy in a way no character on The Wire ever had. People die when they’re supposed to on here. Omar, by and large, had been incredibly lucky. He had to get it in an unexpected way because that’s how cats like him die. He was never invincible Just incredible. And incredible was good enough for him to be one of the greatest creations in television history. The Wire has made a lot of people love a murderous homosexual black man. Yes, David Simon, you are a genius.

2. How do I feel about Kenard now? I no longer feel bad for enjoying him getting his ass kicked in Season 4. He’s on my “on fire” list. As in, people I wish would die by catching on fire. He killed Omar. But, I’ll be damned if he didn’t play that part to death.

3. Poot! I miss Poot. In Marlo’s camp, none of the hoppers are any fun. Straight Semper Fi. But Poot telling Dukie to bang some more and them come back…damn. What can a kid do in that situation? I got a bad feeling about what that thing is.

4. Remember…when Bubbles came up with the hot shot plan, he was in a horse stable. And where did this cat tell Duke he was? The stables. Ruh roh.

5. McNulty’s cooked. Someone hit him with something he should have, but never did, consider. Somebody would figure out that something was up. Didn’t have to know what was up. Just had to figure it was something, and he’d be at his mercy. Not looking good, Jimmy. But you’re oh so close because…

6. …Sydnor cracked the code. It’s on. But how?

7. Classic humor. The cops playing with the GPS? That’s so damn funny. Plus, the thought of a cop hemming someone up in a Kia Sephia. Kinda lacks the majesty of the Crown Vic, dig?

8. I hate Carcetti. Bastard.

9. Back to Omar. It was time for him to go. He was so old and weary. He was almost like Willy Loman, at the point in his life where he didn’t have anyone left. The game had taken everyone from him that ever really had his back (save for his grandmother). He was fighting on principle in a battle based on the bottom line. There was nothing left for him to do because there was nothing else he could do. He made his point. And when that was done, he had nothing else. He had all that money, but it was never about that with Omar. I’m not sad he died. There was nothing left to live for.

10. Where to go for Mike? They’re really tired of his lip, Chris and Snoop. But it’s really just Snoop, and her jealousy has always been apparent.

11. Chris is set to turn. See that look on his face when Marlo said they were due some time in Atlantic City, as if Marlo had anything to sweat? Great moment of subtlety.

12. The description of the serial killer. Kinda saw that one coming, but still great.

13. Lester’s a G. How else do you shake down a shakedown artist?

14. One thing for McNulty. You can’t say his plan didn’t work. This is Hamsterdam redux. Which means he’s going to really get it in a bad way. Assuming he doesn’t give it to himself.

15. Gus, you’re up next. Open act of defiance. Not a good sign for your future on The Wire. Which means Templeton’s gonna win out.

(BTW, I’ve never been like that about edits. I’m starting to wonder if, at times, I should have been. Always felt like the only thing that truly mattered was the essential point. But that was just me. Was.)

16. The bag scene at the end was perfect. Omar will live on in perpetuity, but under the radar of the mainstream. He is a street legend, from here on out.

February 21, 2008

43 years ago today…

…Malcolm X was killed.  Thanks to my mother for pointing that out to me.

So, as I go to get ready to speak at a church, I bring you a link to one of Malcolm’s best speeches–Ballots or Bullets.

February 21, 2008

Bet you won’t believe this

I’ll be giving a talk at a church today.  I’ll be wearing flame-retardant clothes.

February 20, 2008

Today’s random sports thought

You know, Shaq’s a big dude to be wearing a bright ass orange uniform.  That’ll be almost celestial for real.

February 18, 2008

The Wire–Episode 57

The reviews on Episode 8 are bananas. I’m going to watch it soon. Believe you me.

1. Silly, silly police. In Season 4, Simon went away from pointing out the inefficiency of the police department in truly comic terms. Not as much emphasis on the fuzz, so I understood. But man, having McNulty mimic the serial killer with only a wall separating him and the tap just lets you know how easy it is to pull something off when there’s no good reason to suspect anything.

2. Wonder if white people are offended. I swear, the white editors at The Sun seem like they were written by black comedians. They don’t even seem real. But I do have stories…

3. Told you what Clay was gonna do. He got African as he could, didn’t he? That said–this was a moment when The Wire seemed too much like a TV show. Then again, Clay Davis is realistic. And that is something a cat like that would do. Seriously–Clay Davis put himself out there like he’s Robin Hood. You ain’t Omar, fool.

4. Other funny. The high-profile lawyer would be the lightest skinnedest cat. With a pony tail.

5. The crooked reporter’s gotta go down. Right? I’m not sure either him or Marlo will fall, even though the cosmos should dictate these occurences be law.

6. ‘Splain this to me. How is Omar hobbling around this piece and never accidentally being stumbled upon? Guess the same way he does it with two good legs. Extra gangsta points to Omar for flushing four keys.

7. I hate Carcetti. Clown.

8. Another moment in great parallelism. The cop meeting juxtaposed against the newsroom meeting. All of them investigating something that doesn’t exist. Interesting thing about Templeton–he could have been a hero for finding out this killer doesn’t exist. He’s smart enough to pull that off. But he messed up.

9. Mike works Bodie’s patient. It makes me sad when I realize that.

10. How is Michael going to fold? So many ways out there now to get him out the game. How will he do it? Would he sell Chris out? Marlo wouldn’t go down for that one. Just Chris. And Michael has to know that.

11. Landsman fascinates me. He protects the institution so vigorously in the name of self-preservation, but he doesn’t have enough power to actually be evil. Just a foot soldier, and a good one. But he seemed legitimately happy the money was coming down again. Interesting dude.

12. You don’t get furniture from IKEA for your kids. Not unless you have to. You love them, right?

13. Know what we don’t say enough about Dukie? He is Wallace, except Wallace was more cut out for the game. The similarities are obvious. That doesn’t bode well for him.

14. I preferred Bubbles when he was strung out. There, I said it.

15. Donnell Rawlings has done a great job. OK, Ashy Larry. But he’s managed to offer humor without trying to be a funny man. Not the easiest thing to do. “Y’all can play it how it feels.”

16. The clocks. Any ideas?

17. Poor Sevino. Though, I gotta say Omar had a point. I wonder how th dude that plays Sevino felt when he got the phone call. “Hey, you haven’t been on the show in six years, but we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming down and having your brains blown out by Omar. Just a couple hours of your time.”

18. The kid that plays Michael is incredible. You notice how he never stop selling his anxiety around men? Even before we knew that’s what it was, he sold it. Great work.

19. New classic line. From bad lil’ Kennard about Omar. “Gimpy than a mu’fucka.” No idea why that’s so funny.

20. They gotta give us more Clay, right? I mean, he can’t just disappear after his victory. I gotta know!

February 18, 2008

The Wire On Demand in Durham

Hey, anybody here live in Durham, have HBO On Demand, and wanna watch Episode 8 of The Wire at some point?  And Funzo, we can do it Wednesday no matter what.  I just need that 8.  Now.

Help your folk out.  Please.

Oh yeah, it doesn’t even matter if you don’t want to watch The Wire.  Just let me know if I can come over to your house.  I’ll bring a case of brew, if you want.

February 16, 2008

This Morning on Sports Saturday

Check us out.  We’ve got J.A. Adande on at the top of the 11 o’clock hour, lots of fun with Roger Clemens and Kelvin Sampson and, of course, lots on the ACC.  Check the live feed on the sidebar from 9-12 ET.

February 13, 2008

Make peace with Congress

The Clemens circus has concluded, and neither of biggest monkeys in the show came out looking particularly good.  If Congress’ goal was to embarrass both of these men, it did its job.

But that’s not what Congress is there to do.  It claims it wants to bring more attention to steroid use because of the influence professional athletes have on children.  It sounds like biship, but that’s because it’s coming from politicians.  Plus, you’ve got to be skeptical of anyone that claims he or she does anything for the children, considering that nobody can slam someone for trying to help children.  It’s like the Type O of excuses–the universal donor.  Works in almost any situation.

Well, here’s the thing…this hearing was important to children.  It was worth having for that very reason, even if it’s merely offered as a safe rhetorical technique.

Don’t believe me?  Check out that teenager in Nevada, Kevin Hart, that concocted a press conference to say he was signing with the University of Oregon to play football, even though they hadn’t heard of the kid.

Hart isn’t saying much, so all I can do is offer conjecture with regards to his intentions.  I can only imagine one thing that moved him to carry out such an elaborate scheme–he wanted to be a football player.

It’s not that he wanted to play football.  He could do that in the park any given autumn afternoon.  No, he wanted to be a football player.  Football players have press conferences to announce their intentions.  Football players bask in the ovations of crowded gymnasiums, the bleachers loaded with students that aren’t quite peers of football players, if you get my drift.  Football players–and athletes in general–are stars.  They’re beloved.  They’re respected.  And, for those reasons, they’re something people aspire to be from childhood.

If even one person wants to be an athlete so badly that he’ll go to those lengths to be an athlete for just one day, riding a scheme so hairbrained that he had to know this charade would only hold up long enough for him to enjoy that moment, then I’m OK with Congress taking time to put this issue on television, to bring attention to the drug use in baseball or any other sport.

Most that are dedicated to being athletes want more than just press conferences.  They want it all.  They want the cheers at games.  They want the girls that love athletes.  Oh, and they want the money that comes with it all.  Can’t get that from a few minutes worth of flash bulbs.

But you can get that by shooting physiological fertilizer in your behind.  You can get to those places by creating a body so strong that no opponent can stop you.  You get there by doing what it takes to stay on the field and excel once there.

If it’s just accepted that steroid use is part of the game, something that won’t be discussed and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, then there’s a serious problem that needs to be fixed.  If Congress decides it has to be the body to do it, I’m not upset.  Contrary to popular belief, chances are they didn’t have anything better to do today, anyway.  Most days on Capitol Hill is dedicated to a bunch of stuff most of us don’t know a thing about.

Is this really why Congress held these hearings?  I have no idea, though the cynic in me thinks not.  Either way, that doesn’t mean the reason so many politicians offer for hearings like these–save the children!–isn’t a legitimate one.  Young people want to be successful.  And if the juice is seen as the official ticket to the good life, then we will wind up with a lot more kids killing themselves and falling prey to self-destructive behavior because of their substance abuse (and let’s not forget the behavior that’s destructive to her people).

The worst thing about steroid use is that people don’t engage in it simply to get high.  They get into it to get to where they want to be.  Not where they want to be for an hour or two, but a lifetime.  You might be able to convince a kid that a head rush isn’t worth a heart attack, but can you tell him or her that the chance at millions of dollars, the chance to affirm whatever was lacking in his or her self-esteem, and the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream isn’t worth some risk?  That’s a much tougher road to hoe.

So don’t blast Congress too badly for this.  It’s on to something, whether it cares or not.