By Popular Demand...

しるし (Shirushi) by Mr. Children

This performance is made of win and awesome. An amazing performance by Mr. Children and especially Sakurai. The song itself is already touching. This live performance makes it even more powerful. Add to that the idol girl in the audience couldn't help but shed a tear. I don't know how you can't be touched by this video. Pay attention to the lyrics as well; they are amazing.

The power of music strikes again!

Time to Retire, Mr. Ocean.

No not you, Mr. Soderberg. I'm sure you'll continue to make fine films. Just stop making sequels to your version of Ocean's Eleven.

When it comes to movies, I always try to "see good in bad". I saw Soderberg's Ocean's Twelve not long ago, and unfortunately, I didn't see much good. In this age of sequels, I can't blame Warner Bros. for wanting a sequel to 2001's hit. Its too bad they were walking straight in to a trap... set by themselves! Lets compare the two movies:

• Eleven: takes place in Vegas.
• Twelve: takes place in Europe.

For a "fun", caper movie, how can you top Vegas in terms of location? Different European venues just can't compare with the original Sin City.

• Eleven: introduces a slew of funny, interesting, and/or charismatic characters.
• Twelve: introduces maybe one or two new characters who aren't that interesting.

Again, its hard to win here. The novelty is gone, and it is difficult to focus on the same old characters again. One reason why you lose interest, is that there are too many people to keep track of. Unlike Eleven, they were all bright and shiny new, so the viewer's short attention span was able to stay happy.

• Eleven: focused plot and storyline.
• Twelve: storyline is confusing and boring.

You really have to watch it to understand what I'm saying here. The focus in Eleven was rob Benedict's casinos, with the subplot of Danny Ocean winning his wife back: pretty clear cut. Twelve has the gang trying to get enough money to pay back Benedict, end up doing odd jobs that don't pay up, and as it turns out there's a rival master thief behind it all toying with them just for fun. Even the big payoff twist in the end was very ho-hum. Well, it is possible that by then I no longer cared enough to pay attention.

Unfortunately, Ocean's Twelve was nearly a complete waste of time. I hear that they are indeed making another sequel, Ocean's Thirteen. This one is supposed to be back in Vegas. Maybe they'll get it right this time.

Only In America Part II

Judge sues dry cleaners for $65 Million over a pair of pants

The American legal system strikes again. This time, the victims are owners of a mom and pop dry cleaning store. The idiot offender is, believe it or not, a judge in the District of Columbia. A dry cleaning store misplaced the pants (which were found 3 days later) of Judge Roy L. Pearson Jr. He later denied that the pair of pants was his, and is now suing the poor owners for USD65 Million. He came up with that number through reasoning that makes zero sense:

• Included two years' cost of rental car for travel to different dry cleaners: he somehow thinks dry cleaning is a right and not a privilege.
• Denies the found pants are his despite the matching size and receipt number.
• Suing them for "satisfaction guaranteed" sign: they found his pants, they offered him enough money to buy 10 suits. What more does this moron want?

Why is this case even being take seriously? The VP of Common Sense would have thrown it out immediately. Oh wait... judges are supposed to be VPs of Common Sense. With Judges like Pearson, common sense does not exist!

...Only in America.

Bonus! Sherman Joyce offers to buy this slimeball a new suit. Seeing as to what a cheap bastard Pearson is, the suit should cost no more than $200.

That Bloody Sock

Sports journalist Gary Thorne alleges that Curt Schilling's bloody socks in 2004 during game 6 of the ALCS and game 2 of the World Series were fake, meaning the blood was painted on.

I never took this report seriously, and totally forgot about it after hearing it. Who knew that people took it so seriously? I check the websites and journalists actually spent column space on it. Unbelievable.

I was not surprised to see Curt defend his integrity on his blog. If someone said slanderous things about me and it was important to me, I would hit back too. What surprised me, was the response Curt got from readers/fans. A lot of people thought Curt went overboard, and that he overreacted while criticizing Thorne and other journalists. I'm pretty shocked. Curt has been kind and brutally honest on his blog. I don't see why he should hold back when defending himself against idiot sports journalists, who have given him shit since the day he stepped into Fenway as a Sock.

Athletes, especially those in a place like Boston are under constant scrutiny and pressure to win. Furthermore, the media base their reports on rumors of rumors, and make false accusations. Take Manny Ramirez for example. Last few seasons he was the best hitter and hardest working player on the team. Yet the media still labeled him as lazy and unmotivated, hence the phrase "Manny being Manny". It is no surprise that he wanted to be traded away from Boston when you get that kind of criticism.

When constantly bombarded with that kind of crap, I would be pissed too. Those playoff games meant a lot to the Sox, and I'm sure they were life defining moments for Curt. To be accused of something as stupid as painting blood on a sock during such an important moment is moronic and disrespectful. Besides that, I hardly see the logic here. The media took a momentous moment and had to try and add negativity to it. The event took place three years ago. Why even bother to bring it up, especially when the topic concerned is so meaningless.

I'm with Curt. He has the right to be pissed. People who don't understand his rage just haven't been insulted day in day out like he has.