Things I'm Not Buying

Two categories here...

Things I'm Not Buying...Yet...

1) The explanation that Manti Te'o is the victim of a hoax. There are too many inconsistencies -- the reports that flat-out said he met this girlfriend of his, who supposedly died of leukemia but as it turns out never actually existed, in person; varying reports saying she died just before the death of his grandmother, while others said she died after the grandmother died; and lots of other things in the Deadspin report. Also, the fact that Notre Dame hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation but isn't releasing the name of the outfit that they hired to conduct it, or the firm's report itself, seems a bit questionable. It'll be interesting to hear what Te'o himself says, and if the media does some digging of its own -- especially the "mainstream" media (such as ESPN), who ought to be angry that their outlets once again got scooped by a website.

2) Chip Kelly as Eagles' head coach. Sure, he ran up tremendous offensive numbers at Oregon and had a 46-7 record there. And sure, some of his offense's tactics are being adapted by NFL teams such as the New England Patriots. But can Kelly's offense in full work in the NFL? There are much better defenses in the NFL than in the Pac-8, or 10,  or 12, or whatever number they are now. And Nick Foles may not be ideally suited to such an offense. Will Kelly water it down immediately or will he try it in full at first, then dumb it down if it doesn't work? And even if he can get the offense in gear, the Eagles' defense is a huge mess. Kelly and the guy who ends up becoming defensive coordinator have a lot of work to do. Lots of WIP callers are, as usual, overreacting, saying the hiring of Kelly is a disaster. I'm not willing to go that far. But I am skeptical. And it bothers me (whether it should or not) that he initially decided not to take the job, and then changed his mind. According to one report I saw a mutual friend of Kelly and Eagles' GM Howie Roseman supposedly told Roseman that Kelly's mind could be changed.

3) The return of the NHL. I don't know if it's the recent lessening of my intense level of interest in sports in general or because the NHL was a joke for being shut down by a union-management bitchfest to begin with, but I'm not overly excited about the return of the Flyers. Maybe seeing a game will help in that regard. I don't know.

Things I'm Not Buying...At All...

The likelihood that extensive reform of gun laws will actually occur. Even if Democrats unite, it won't pass Congress without Republicans, and they are enslaved by the NRA and the Tea Party maniacs. I still believe everything I said here.

Quick Reviews: Miserable(s) Hobbit Guilt

Another wrapup of three movies I've recently seen. (The title format for these movie posts might become a regular thing.) Also, these and a few others will go into the 2012 summary based on their release date, not when I actually get to see them, although in these three cases I actually did see them in 2012. Warning: you might find my opinion of one of these to be controversial.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was just too long, drawn out, at times incredibly boring. The only reason to expand this story into a trilogy like its "Lord of the Rings" predecessor is money. Don't let anyone tell you differently. However, I thought it looked wonderful. I watched the 48-frames-per-second version (twice the standard rate), which caused a lot of consternation when some early footage was released, and despite the fact that I also had to endure 3D, I found it to be extremely crisp visually. My grade: C-plus.

Not filmed in 3D or 48 frames per second, The Guilt Trip will cause no consternation or controversy whatsoever. As a mother-and-son duo making a cross-country trip we're given a phoning-it-in Barbra Streisand and a neutered-for-PG13 Seth Rogen. There are a few mild laughs but there's nothing new or innovative about this at all. It's basically harmless. My grade: C.

Let be me honest: I walked out of Les Miserables early. I saw over an hour, but that was enough. I am not against musicals, even musicals with virtually no spoken dialogue whatsoever. I like musicals. But this one just sounded like everyone sang the same loooooooooooooong song. Even as one scene bleeds into another, even as the film jumps years ahead to continue the story, the songs were virtually indistinguishable. (Compare it to "Evita," which also has very little speaking and also has a couple of time jumps, but at least there's variety and clarity.) The only things that snapped me out of my stupor: Anne Hathaway's passion in singing "I Dreamed A Dream" and woefully-miscast Russell Crowe's painful vocals on whatever song or songs he sang. As it went on, and as more characters were introduced, I became increasingly disinterested. This was an absolute mess in every way (except the aforementioned Hathaway bit). Finally, I could take no more. And I even I managed to sit through all of "Rock of Ages." Still, I'm giving it a better grade than "Rock of Ages" just because of "I Dreamed A Dream." So, it's got that going for it, which is nice. My grade: D-minus.

My 2012 In Music

Last year at this time I was lamenting the lack of new music (as in, new in 2011 or new to me) added to my iTunes library. I figured that 2012 would be better since I had gone back to work. Since May I've been out of work but at least I got some unemployment out of it. So, indeed, my 2012 acquisitions are up. (A note, which is mainly for my own reference: the figures below include a couple of CDs I got during 2012 but only got around to adding to my iTunes tonight, so I need to remember for next year's wrapup not to include them again.)

I added 567 tracks to my collection by my count (it's a complicated story but I may be off by one or two because of duplicates), compared to 271 last year. Christmas music comprised 26 of those 567 songs. There were a lot of downloads of individual songs, as well as the first song in my next project - converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format. I have maybe a few dozen 45s and many more 12-inch dance remixes, probably in the hundreds. I'm so excited about this.

Beyond that, I got some free downloaded samplers and mixtapes (which is such an odd term to use for mp3 downloads, but...):

Will Sheridan – G.I.A.N.T. Sampler
DJ ShyBoy presents the RuPaul Mixtape (RuPaul songs mashed up with other songs)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 2: The Mixtape
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 3: The Mixtape
Dangerous Muse – Red
Slaves to the Rhythm – Pride 2011 Sampler

And then there were the albums that were released prior to 2012:

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
Discovery – LP
Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Jody Watley – Midnight Lounge
Paul McCartney – All The Best
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money
Elton John – Rocket Man - Number Ones
Steely Dan – The Definitive Collection
The Gap Band – The 12” Collection and More
Nona Hendryx – Nona (as I mentioned here, the first full-length album I transferred from vinyl to mp3)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream-The Complete Confection (this is the re-released version with bonus tracks -- the original was out in 2010 so I don't feel right counting it as a 2012 album)

In 2011 I got only four albums that were actually

My Return To Baltimore

I've got a new album on Photobucket featuring pics from my quick trip to Baltimore in September. It was a double dose of nostalgia for me. The reason I went was to see a Baltimore Orioles-Toronto Blue Jays old-fashioned doubleheader -- "old-fashioned" meaning you pay for one ticket and see two ballgames (thanks to a previously rained-out game). None of that day-night separate-admission nonsense! So I bought a ticket on StubHub at a good discount below face value, and booked a hotel for one night.

The other part of my nostalgia was because I have a soft spot for Baltimore since I lived there for nine months in 2002 when I was selected for a special work assignment. The government paid for a furnished apartment and I got some per diem money for meals and such. I've been back a time or two since, and every time I go I like to look for familiar landmarks and see what's changed. Take a look at the album and photo descriptions for more about my trip.

Free bus service with a few different routes. Philly needs this.

Rihanna's Bruises?

Note the title of the song, and the artist being promoted in the ad directly below the video. This has to have been placed there on purpose, right? No way it can just be coincidence.

Sleepy New Year

It's about 1 a.m. as I begin writing this, and I'm actually thinking of going to bed soon. I guess the rum I added to the diet Pepsi tonight is making me a little sleepy even though I was not up early this morning by any means. Anyway, it's 2013. Let's hope things are much better than they were in 2012. So much needs improvement: the economy is still a mess, the political system is failing to fix it (because the Republican party somehow finds itself enslaved by the Tea Party extremists -- doesn't any of them realize that these nuts are destroying their party's hopes of winning the White House for the next 20-30 years?), the Eagles turned out to be a disaster and the Phillies are on the verge of a similar fate (unless their old, now injury-prone stars discover the fountain of youth), the NHL doesn't even exist right now -- and that's not to mention the usual hurricanes, earthquakes, crime, war, etc. I could go on but like I said, I'm sleepy. Happy New Year. Please?