Blog, Blog, Bloggin' On Heaven's Door

First off id like to bid farewell to a great man, Jose Andrade. I first met him at best buy almost six years ago, and I got to know him a bit from his time in appliances and being the sales operator. I really wish I would have gotten to know him better, but his surgeries and treatments kept him away from work a bunch. Probably one of the coolest things about Jose was his great musical taste. It would always put a smile on my face when I'd walk over to the managers bridge and Jose would have his ipod hooked up and be listening to Morrissey, but then after like 10 min he'd call me over to the bridge and Jose would be playing "Rumpshaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect and we'd both laugh. The best part about it was that Jose made it like an everyday thing, One minute it was "suede head" then he would call me over and ask me "what do you know about this?" then he would put on "knockin boots" or "poison" and we would both just sit there laughing.

As Mike stated in his previous blog, Little things like complaints about work, customers, school, gas prices, etc, all are nothing compared to what Jose went through. So the next time you think you have problems, just take a breath and realize that it could be so much worse, life is waaaaaay too short.

Sorry if this post is depressing, I wanted to write about Jose then get to the funny stuff, but I don't know, I want this to be all about him.

In closing I'd like to say that the world is really going to miss him and may he put in a good word for us and save us a seat up there.

-Abel

Early Wolverine Movie Review & David's Blah-g (Spoiler?)

While I don't agree with the layout or his apparent schism from IEC, make some time to check out David's blog that I found accidentally since he didn't tell any of us about it. It will be posted in the link section to your right.

I'm almost certain its creation was a direct response to my lack of publishing his early Wolverine movie review. I admit, I lagged it. No excuses. So, without further lagging, here is David's review unedited:

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Hollywood Kills Wolverine
by David

(It’s important to note that this review is based on the early version of the movie that was leaked last week.)

Leaving the third x-men flick, I had low expectations for this movie. It did not disappoint on that level. Because of it's inconsistencies,this is not a movie for the hard-core Wolverine reader. On that level alone this move has failed in it's mission to redeem the X-Men franchise.

As a stand-alone movie it does the job of giving the audience average action scenes. Truth be told, this past weekend I saw Fast and Furious and that had much better action scenes. The best of Wolverine would actually be the fist wolverine vs. Sabertooth battle. The most disappointing character in the movie had to have been Ryan Reynolds portrayal of Wade Wilson, better known to fans of the Marvel Comics as Deadpool. The two reasons for this is because I like him as an actor and he just wasn’t in the movie enough. The other being the way the Deadpool character was massacred and turned into Baraka from Mortal Kombat. The only other character I was more disappointed with was the appearance of fan favorite Gambit. Those of us that remember the X-Men Saturday morning cartoon show on fox will be mortified by the missing quirks that make that character amazing. Even just giving him the red eyes with the black pupils would have been enough for me. The bright spot in the cast was Schreiber’s spot on performance as Wolverine’s arch nemesis Sabertooth. He truly captured the cold and viciousness of the character.

I’m going to spoil one thing, the best scene of the movie happens right before the opening credits so make sure not to miss it. The actors that played the young wolverine and Sabertooth had more chemistry together than the rest of the movie put together.

In the end, for a movie lacking character depth and a true climax that grabs the audience, it’s not the worst movie I’ve ever sat through. The minor fan boy moments are worth a singe watch. If I had an afternoon and six bucks to waste I’d see this movie.

Live Blogging: WBC Championship Japan vs. Korea

Live blogging the 9th inning of the 2009 WBC Championship between Japan and Korea. Please refer to IEC's slogan in response to your complaints.

9:28pm: 1 out left in the bottom of the 8th. Crowd going wild. ESPN says 54,000 people and you might have to agree since it's loud as hell.

9:33pm: One of my favorite "This is SportsCenter" commercials with the New Jersey Red Devil just played.

9:36pm: Ichiro almost knocked one out just like the Seattle Mariners almost made the playoffs.

9:37pm: Hee-Seop Choi ran on the field and was quickly tackled by Dodgers security.

9:40pm: Score is 3-2, Japan leading. Korea with some nice defense, 3 players named Lee, 2 named Kim, and one Choo.

9:46pm: Korea gets a strike out to end the top of the 9th. Just 3 outs left.

9:49pm: Here's something I know you're all thinking to yourself: "Are they serving Dodger Dogs made with real Dog to make Koreans feel at home?". You sir, are an ignorant racist.

9:51pm: Crowd is confused by the playing of Europe's The Final Countdown. There's no team from Europe playing here.

9:57pm: Announcers shocked by the movement of a slider. Ball 4, men on first and second with one out. 2 walks in a row.

10:01pm: With one out left and two men on, Japan looks for their second WBC Championship. If only America cared.

10:03pm: One of Korea's Lee players gets a base hit, we're all tied up! Here we go excitement here we go, clap clap.

10:06pm: The game is going into extra innings. I know it's past 1am on the east coast and ratings in America aren't what they should be, but this has been a very fun game to watch. Updates will be sporadic as I check on my homemade Coca-Cola Barbecue Sauce that's ready to boil. Stay tuned...

10:23pm: Ichiro comes through in the clutch. Japan leading 5-3, Korea is D O N E.

10:39pm: Game over! Japan wins 5-3 thanks to Ichiro. He's a hero to us all.

10:43pm: "I Love LA" played in the background. Carlos' response: "wtf!"
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Closing Comment:

Earlier today every writer on Around The Horn said they didn't buy into the WBC since America doesn't send the best of the best. It's a valid point, especially now that Japan has won the second WBC Championship and has a great chance to three-peat.

For people like myself who enjoy watching sports on TV, especially baseball, the WBC is something I follow casually and will at least try to watch when aired. But I'm not most baseball fans. I'm not sure the MLB will ever come to terms with the fact that most American's could care less about this championship. Baseball is too deeply rooted in American history for a Braves fan, let alone a Braves player, to care about any championship that isn't the World Series.

The U.S.A. will never win the WBC Championship unless they bring a group of players together who play/practice regularly. And we will never see the best of the best from every MLB team unless a real gold medal is involved and the Olympics moves to December through March.

Because The Blog Is Not Enough.

I've joined Pete Carroll, Shaquille O'Neal, and Ben Maller on Twitter. I won't be doing anything nearly as cool as any of them, but I'll try to post winning lottery numbers and horroscopes when the moment presents itself.

http://twitter.com/BoxedMike

Note: Only your positive comments will be posted. That means you, David.