Rented "About Schmidt" last night and Kathy Bates is H-O-T hot.

The Fat Tax
 

I think this is a fabulous idea. You can buy a ho ho for 25 cents, but an apple costs $1.17. No wonder the welfare moms are 300 pounds.

I am also pro Sin Tax, and I am a major sinner.

Did she gain or lose weight for that movie?

A la my fiance Beyonce in Austin Powers, they made her drop 20 lbs. They realized that people find her much more sexy at 230 than at 250. I know I do.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Thanks for the heads up on this. I watched Saturday night, and even though it was never very close, it was still an exciting fight. Props to both guys. Super props to Gatti, whose early round body shots allowed him to win a fight even though he apparently broke his hand in the third round. Great stuff.

What's up with Michael Grant? The guy looked washed up.

Gatti Ward III
 

It was a good fight, but it wasn't quite Gatti/Ward I or II. Which is to say, it wasn't one of the all time greatest fights ever. No shame in that. Mickey just didn't have much in the tank. But rounds 4 and 7 were pretty breathtaking.

The Fat Tax
 

Now this is a great law. Why should I pay the bills of the ailing junk food junkies who clog the sidewalks, litter the neighborhoods, destroy the rainforest, take up space in hostpitals and burden our health care systems with their addictions to shit that destroys the body? Fuck that. Any good law gigs in London?

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

He's been washed up for a while.

Now that Gatti-Ward is over forever, there really aren't any fights I am anticipating. I would like to see Roy Jones fight Chris Byrd, but it looks as if he will fight Holyfield. Lewis may fight Klitschko, but I don't have high hopes for that fight. Lewis will win within 3 rounds.

Movie I will be seeing based entirely on the preview
 

I think those marketing people like to create buzz and stuff. Also, it's a way of telling all the other studios to stay the fuck away from November 5, 2004.

Movie I will be seeing based entirely on the preview
 

Maybe they wanted to get it out for best animated short? In and of itself, I think that single minute could hold its own against the five to ten minute shorts that usually get those awards.

I know it takes Pixar about five years from start to finish to get a movie out, so I'm pretty impressed that they have that much done by press time.

I had also read that this movie may bepayback by Pixar/Disney against DreamWorks for releasing the Shrek DVD the same day that Monsters, Inc. came to the theaters. Could be that Pixar/Disney is looking to start the media campaign early just to ensure a victory over DreamWorks at the box-office.

edited because I forgot that HTML doesn't work here--RT

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

If I didn't know better, I'd swear Grant and Ruiz were the same fighter.

Roy Jones will never fight Byrd. No payday. I hope Holyfield gets lucky and rings Jones' bell with a windmill. Its too bad we'll never see a Jones v. Tyson match - Jones would never get near that action.

The Jones/Ruiz fight was a new low in boxing. Pitting a washed up stiff against a lower weight class fighter is a recipe for a dull fight.

Jones fancies himself a badass, but he dances around the ring like a Michael Nunn-ish pansey.

The Fat Tax
 

I bet you'd look good in a black robe and powdered wig.

For Love or Groping
 

Another reality scandal uncovered by our friends at the Smoking Gun:

Reality TV Hunk's Military Indiscretion

Drunken groping incident led to "For Love or Money" star's Marine demise

JUNE 9--The star of a new NBC reality TV series had his military career derailed after he drunkenly groped the breasts of a Navy officer after barging uninvited into the woman's dormitory room early one morning, The Smoking Gun has learned.

Rob Campos, the 33-year-old attorney starring in the program "For Love or Money," was headed for a career in the Marine Corps Judge Advocate General (JAG) unit, when the drunken escapade occurred in mid-1999 at the Newport Naval Station in Rhode Island. As a result, Campos was expelled from the JAG training program, slapped with an administrative punishment, and ordered to enroll in a substance abuse treatment program. The incident effectively ended his military career--Campos was subsequently allowed to leave the Marine Corps 20 months before his service commitment expired, a truncated tenure that apparently did not bother military commanders. In a reflection of his damaged goods status, Campos left the Marines having never been promoted from his original rank as a lowly second lieutenant.

Full text: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/campos1.html

No Lady Byng for Scott Stevens
 

Hmmm. And I see that slave feels the same way as you do.

Yet I must disagree with both of you. Granted, when I saw it live, I didn't think about the puck possession issue so much as the elbow thing. It just seemed so obvious to me that he led with his elbow that I was shocked that nothing was called. And that Campbell called it a clean hit.

However, I must admit that I am predisposed to think the worst of Stevens, so perhaps I am, uh, Not Right.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Holyfield is a washed up, brain-washed (playing gospel on the way in the ring? way to kill the fight night electricity), raggedy eared loser. A shell of his former self. He will have to be beyond lucky to connect with Jones on more than 10% of his punches. And when he does connect, it'll be a glancing blow thrown between fists of flurry as Jones lights him up.

Jones is a bad ass. He's been the best fighter in the world since Tyson got sent up the river. That "dancing around the ring" is called boxing. He is amazing.

I went to one of his fights like 5 years ago and I've never seen anyone move so fast in my life. When he was done toying with his opponent, he slipped a punch and knocked the guy out with a cross before the guy had a chance to pull his arm back to his body from the punch he just threw. Ridiculous. If you want to see him go toe to toe with Evander or anyone else, why don't you just get the pay-per-view Tough Guy Fighting Championship?

Thurgreed(I bet you just love Butterbean)Marshall

Brigadoon
 

So THIS is where y'all have been hiding!

Are the gang all here?

Brit, Kafka, Chef, Bob, Paigow, etc.

Miss me?

xxx

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Roy Jones, Jr. Is a fantastic boxer. It's sad that he rarely gets to exercise his skills or fight an exciting fight because he has no real competition.

Brigadoon
 

Brit's been MIA, and Plated retired, but most of the rest of the misanthropes are kicking around here.

not7yS

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

TM,

First, I did buy the Butterbean v. Holmes fight... and I regretted it. In fact, I feel kind of dirty for admitting it here. However, even with that inexcusable indiscretion, I can pronounce I have never been a Butterbean fan.

I fucking loved Tyson in his prime. I loved watching "boxers" cry that he was bad for the sport - that a flat footed wrecking machine who only intended to bludgeon opponents was not real boxing. After the absolutely pathetic reign of Holmes, Tyson was a refreshing kick in the nads that boxing needed. Yes, I like brawlers more than boxers. I want to see the big guy clock the piss out of the little shit throing combinations and ducking out of the way. Hell, that's why we all love the heavyweights. If we wanted to see fast little badasses twsit their way out of getting pummelled, we'd watch college or olympic wrestling.

I like watching Roy Jones because yes, his speed is simply amazing. However, his claim that his speed and ability can outmatch the brute force of any half decent heavyweight is fucking fluff. Ruiz was a cadaver. Put Jones in the ring with a real heavyweight and let him take a square upper cut to the chin and see where he lands. My guess is he'll never let that be an option, and that's a shame. You're right - a Holyfield fight will be another $39.99 I'll waste on pay per view in a drunken haze. But I just can't resist the possibility of seeing anyone punch Jones' ticket.

S(I've always thought a forward handing out a strong elbow to the mouth was always more interesting than an awesome ball handler... I guess its just a question of whether you like watching skill or sheer force)D

http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/

A site about disagreements.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

I'm sure I do not represent the average boxing fan, and my knowledge is lacking, but I find heavyweight boxing these days kind of tedious to watch. I think the lighter fighters throw more punches and actually box more instead of just tracking each other around the ring and throwing the odd punch. Also, after Holyfield-Lewis I, it's hard not to think that the judges are so corrupt it's a bit of a joke, really.

Heavyweight boxing in the past seemed to be much more exciting - Hearns, Hagler, Duran etc. Maybe it is just me.

Although one of these days I would like to go to a fight. I think boxing must be very fun to watch live in person.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Those three fighters were middleweights, dear.

Stick to hockey. And curling.

not7yS

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

The best boxers have both skill and brute force. Ali, for example. Watch the documentary "When We Were Kings" to see what I am talking about. In the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" match in Zaire, Ali out-boxes *and* out-slugs George Foreman (the real George Foreman -- not the affable salesman we see on TV today, but a brawler who brutally crushed Joe Frazier the year before).

Ali was quite simply the best heavyweight of the best generation of heavyweights ever. He fought and beat some real champions. Patterson. Liston. Frazier. Foreman. Norton. We were spoiled. There were so many amazing heavyweights back in the 60s and 70s.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

They were exciting because they weren't heavyweights. Middleweights, mostly.

Just hang around ESPN classic for a bit, and you're bound to see Hagler-Hearns, perhaps the best three rounds of boxing ever.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Tyson, in his prime, was not a brawler. He was a boxer. Unbelievably powerful, yes. But he had great boxing skill. That's what made him so dangerous. He stayed low, bobbed and weaved while coming at you. What made him so dangerous was his ability to move his head and counter punch from a bunch of different angles (with that devastating uppercut and cross). He wasn't an Ali-type boxer. His style was different, but he was still a boxer.

The problem with him since he lost Cus is that he is now a brawler. He doesn't move his head. He's not nearly as quick. And he's constantly looking for a one-punch win. When he was in his prime, he wasn't looking for a knockout punch. He was looking to kill you. To make you drop your hands to your ribs because they were broken -- and then he would take your fucking head off. Artistry.


If Roy Jones, Jr. had a Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler or Tommy Hearns, you wouldn't be talking so much shit. He makes it look too easy now because he has no comp. Some of the greatest fights were among the other-than-heavy-weight class fighters. He has to fight heavy weights because (1) he has no competition in his own class and thus no pay day and (2) people like you (read: paying customers) don't appreciate actual boxing anymore. But if he carves up Evander and doesn't get touched, will that be a win in your eyes? Who does he have to beat and how for you to think he has done something?


Yeah. Shaq is much more fun to watch than Jordan or Kobe.

Thurgreed(you're a strange dude, SD)Marshall

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

Whoops! well now it all becomes clear.

Edited to add that my sports knowledge extends waaaay beyond hockey and curling --- all the way to lacrosse and football with only three downs, which I'm sure will be hot topics some day.

Brigadoon
 

Of course I missed you. I am moving to your country. Got any leads for me?

Concert Review - The New Pornographers
 

New Pornographers played the Knitting Factory last night, a 300-400 person venue in Hollywood. We got there around 8:45 and were a little annoyed to learn that there were two opening acts, and that TNP would be taking the stage at 11:00. But we did buy TNP T-Shirts sold to us by Carl Newman himself! (So Jack, get there early and go to the merch table to chat him up. He's the pale guy with the red hair). We then went upstairs to the movie theater, where Anger Management was the best of a bad group of movies (what an awful script!!!! ). Anyways, once the show finally started, the band did not disappoint. They played every song off of Electric Version and most of Mass Romantic. Dan Bejar (formerly of Destroyer) was missing, but the band still sounded awesome. It's such a cliche, but the songs sounded better live than on the albums (though the lyrics are just as difficult to decipher). Neko is amazing.

Neko and Carl are very funny bantering between songs. They revealed that a) this was the first concert for which they had ticket scalpers outside ("It's weird -- it felt like the parking lot for B.C. Place (silence) ok, how about, it felt like the parking lot for the Hollywood Bowl?") and that b) they played a similar sized venue in LA in 2000 and had nobody show up. Nobody.

Bottom Line: Great show. Go see them if you can.

These two petty sociopaths have a kid together? One or both of 'em needs to get snipped to prevent future traumatized offspring, and fast.

And the remote control issue is easily dealt with. It is always, always mine.

:mr:

There's an FAQ on his home page for Americans that Don't Get Their Relationship.

Do you think he is thinking of such Americans when he writes,

"As you know, this page attracts idiots. We sit here in the gentle glow of thousands of work hours being burned away, and passing idiots are bewitched by the light. They fly towards us and peer in, only to become disorientated and upset. They attempt to enter, but succeed no further than repeatedly banging their poor, bemused little faces against the glass: trying, trying, trying... but never quite grasping the situation. These tiny, tragic creatures - who missed the English lesson that dealt with 'subtext' because they were at home shooting beer cans off a fence all that year and who can do no more than guess, in panic, that 'irony' is probably the name of a character in The Bold and the Beautiful - make many embarrassing mistakes. One such mistake - interestingly, one that brings together the otherwise disparate idiot types 'Teenage Girl' and 'Bitter Divorcé' - is that I hate Margret."

Love the irony line. The lesson for today seems to be that there is so much satire to be missed on the Internet.

Robustpussy,

would you be a dear and insert a re:line in the thread so I know whether it will intrigue me?

Jesus

Just because they build it....
 

..doesn't mean they'll come.

Abysmal weather and a last-minute change of venue killed the Field Day concert

"...only 22,000 actually converted or bought tickets for the one-day show at East Rutherford, New Jersey's 80,000 capacity Giants Stadium.

The concert was plagued by heavy rains for most of the day, and it wasn't until sets by headliners Beastie Boys and Radiohead that the rain stopped and fans with field tickets came out of the stadium and forward to the stage. Before that, only a small crowd of a few hundred braved the pouring rain to huddle close to the stage. Only fans with first-level seats had the second-level overhang to keep them dry."

Full story here

Re: this
 

Snookums,

If you'll be a dove and not quote long posts in their entirety, I'll oblige, notwithstanding the fact that your complaint, to the extent it's properly directed at anyone, is more properly directed at someone else.

XXXOOO
RP

I get it. And I wish them many happy hours of witty, ironic quips and subtle teasing far beyond the ken of me and my beer-swillin' monosyllabic American brethren (and sistren). I just still think they shouldn't reproduce.

The education of Robustpussy in hopes of building a better community
 

Robustpussy,

My intent in quoting your long post was to underscore the importance of the re:line. With a helpful re:line, there is no need to parse through a long, windy paragraph to see if it merits a closer look. Unless, of course, the thread morphs from its original subject. Usually, N7yS will throw in a new and witty re:line which defines the evolving thread in a clever manner most of us would not have come up with, so this is really a non-issue.

Thank you and keep up the good work.

Jesus

(Edited so as not to appear to be a hypocrite- Jesus)

I've always thought the best answer to this problem is for everyone to have a remote. MAD, applied to TV. Too bad I'm too lazy to go to Best Buy to actualize this.

Exciting News from the World of Boxing
 

1. I could never ball handle very well, but I could throw an elbow. I'm a slow white guy - hell, I'm lucky I didn't get more 3 second violations as a kid. Yes, you outed me - I am biased toward the slow and brutish.

2. I don't think Duran or Leonard could take Jones. I think Jones is a freak - too big and quick for his class, yet not enough reach and size for where he ought to be fighting. He's like that 6'0 kid who played center when he was 10 - he should be forced to play freshman high school ball, but he'd get killed there. At least the kid grows up - Jones is perpetually a man between weight classes. And he's short, so I don't like him.

3. As to who he needs to beat, that's a tough one. I recall a while back he refused to fight some cat who hailed out of Fla, but I can't remeber that guy's name. I think if he wants to beat a heavyweight, Tyson is a good place to start. If he can fight Evander, why not Mike? I'd say they're pretty much equals these days.

4. I do appreciate boxing. Jones is clearly a phenomenal talent. I figured that much was assumed. However, I watched the Ruiz fight and found it repulsive. Maybe that was Ruiz' fault more than Jones'. Either way, I thought it proved little more than that a smaller, faster, better athlete could picm away at fat slow over the hill heavyweight. Is that something we all didn't know already? I'd be willing to bet that Hagler in his heyday could have taken out Ruiz that night.

Re: this
 

I will take you at your word and accept that you really did intend to point out the importance of the re: line and not merely give yourself a setup for kissing Slave's ass, NTTAWWT, IMHO.

But, FWIW, thank you for contacting our customer relations department.

Because there's never enough big 80s hair
 

and wide-shouldered spandex outfits:

The Return of V

I thought we fought the final battle 20 years ago . . . and won.

Or did they go hide in Iraq for 20 years, where no one can find them?