December 2006 Archives

All too often, we go and see flicks with high expectations, only to be let down immensely afterwards. "King Kong." "Star Wars: Episode 1." Even "Borat" to a degree.

Anyway, I'm home in the DC area for the week between Christmas and New Year's, and, for better or worse, have been spending a lot of time with my folks. I trust their judgment on movies about as much as I would trust tossing beers back with James Frey as we swap college tales. They wanted to see "Rocky Balboa," aka Rocky 6. At the very least, I thought, it was a free movie ticket and free dinner afterward.

Conceptually, a sixth Rocky movie is absurd. Everyone knows that. A man in his 50s taking on a heavyweight champ in his prime is, simply put, whack. As each Rocky movie degraded in quality, I was set to have a good time just making fun of the flick.

But... it didn't suck.

I'm not going to say I loved the movie. It certainly had a few flaws in it with character development, overuse of deus ex machina and a rather passe, overly dramatic filmmaking style, except where it needed it most (during the climactic fight). But on the whole, I dug it. In fact, I'd say it's the best Rocky flick since numero uno. How? It's hard to discuss without spoiling plot elements (a sin in the world of former college film majors), but unlike the other flicks, this one isn't really about the fight - at least not the one in the ring.

Anyway, check it out if you get a chance. The best way to approach it is to see the first film beforehand and then pretend II-V were simply never made. To me, there is Rocky I and there is Rocky Balboa. That is all.

After work, I went to see "Before the Music Dies" at Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg. It was one of the best documentaries I've seen, seriously.

It was made by two music fans, who traveled the country talking to music execs, musicians and fans, examining the state of music. Art versus commerce. Control versus artistic merit. Mainstream versus independent.

With appearances by Erykah Badu, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Questlove and many others, the independent flick examined why the same pop songs rule the airwaves, where is all of the new music and if music truly will become obsolete.

The most powerful part?

Standing in line to order lunch at my local Panera yesterday, I saw a front-page story that James Brown had died. I felt like jumping up and down with pride. I know that sounds a bit odd, but bear with me.

"James Brown died -- and I know who James Brown is!" Finally, someone famous died, and I recognize the enormity of our collective loss.

The day after Christmas is when you delve into your new presents -- figure out how that thing really works, see if your new clothing actually fits and count up all of your gift cards. One of my favorite presents that Santa left under the Christmas tree was a new silver iPod Nano, complete with earbuds and an armband so I can run with it.

Although now I have to tackle the task of downloading iTunes, choosing the songs and somehow getting them on my iPod. That's all reserved for after my shift today, but it's definitely my silver lining after being one of only a handful of people working at the paper the day after the holiday.

Andybody have any hints to smoothly entering the iPod world?

Shame on Sheetz.

Sheetz is one of my favorite places to eat because their sandwiches and wraps are healthy and fast. I've always admired their clever advertising. I smiled at their saucy coffee bean with clever comments to promote their products. I chuckled at the way they add "Z" to everything. But recently, they made me frown.

I saw a sign near the pastry case that said "Start your diet next month." It's their latest saying to highlight a promo for 2 doughnuts and a cup of coffee for $1.99. What? Isn't it bad enough that the calorie-packed treats are staring you in the face? Now they have to tell you it's OK to indulge in not only one, but two doughnuts that have absolutely no nutritional value and probably account for half of your daily intake of calories.

I know, it's all about personal responsibility, but don't tell people to start their diets next month. Talk about how good the doughnuts are or how great they taste, but don't encourage people to eat unhealthy and be OK with it. It's hard enough in a world filled with milkshakes, muffins and ice cream sundaes to say no on a regular basis to the things we love but know hurt our bodies.

Is a doughnut OK to eat? Of course. But two with a cup of coffee for breakfast is no way to start your day. I say, skip the doughnuts breakfast and order a Schmuffin with egg and no cheese. At least you'll be getting some protein. By skipping the promo your wallet might be thinner, but your body will thank you for it.

So, I got an MP3 player as part of my 2006 "technology resolution."

The resolution was three-pronged: to upgrade my computer, learn to use a scanner, and to enter the world of digital music. I took care of the first two by the end of April, but then the year got away from me and I found myself heading into December with the last part incomplete. I hate not finishing something I start.

So after hours of research and consultations with my tech-savvy friends and co-workers, I decided on a Creative Labs Zen Vision. I ordered it online and it showed up at the office a record two days later!

That was two weeks ago today.

It's still in the box.

Who's going to try out?

CBS will be holding casting calls for two of its biggest reality shows on Jan. 13 at the Harrisburg Mall. More details can be found here:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor_application/

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race_application/casting_call.html

If you think you might try out, let us know! We'd love to follow a few Yorkers to the casting call as they make the attempt to become a reality TV star.

E-mail me at jcox@ydr.com or call me at the office at 771-2051.

If there's anything I've learned in my one year at the York Daily Record, it's that it's hard to get people to call you. No, I'm not talking about waiting for sources to call me back. I'm talking about feedback. I can't even piss people off enough to get them to call (not that I'm trying... much).

But seriously, it's tough to get the citizens of York County riled about anything, good or bad. It can be demoralizing, but sadly, I've just gotten used to it.

Last Thursday (Dec. 14), I wrote a column about my less-than-successful-attempts trying to get guys I know to go to Club XS, the gay club in North York. I ranted about how I feel that, in this area (if not the country as a whole), there is a false sense of acceptance of gay culture. Most people nowadays pretend to be cool about it, but really aren't. I won't retell the whole thing here, so read it in your leisure.

Long story short, I actually got a phone call about the column. In fact, I got five (well, four phone calls and an email). And all of them thanked me for saying what they felt needed to be said. And... it felt good. It reminded me why I do my job. Remember, you don't only have to call us when you're ticked off at us. You can let us know you think we did a good job too.

Hey, folks. Get out to Fat Daddy's tonight and compete in the monthlong beer pong competition they have going on there. It's sponsored by yours truly! The competition takes place every Wednesday at 10 p.m., but make sure you get there early to register. We FlipSidians will be out there next Wednesday (the 20th) to personally hand out a bunch of good freebies, so make sure to come and say hello. The other important deets are below.

Martin Nodell, the creator of the comic book superhero Green Lantern, who uses his magical ring to help him fight crime, has died at the age of 91 of natural causes. The idea for the superhero came in 1940, when Nodell was waiting for a New York subway and saw a train operator waving a lantern displaying a green light. Even though the story line has been revised and reborn several times, the entertaining tales made reading fun for many children and adults alike. Who's your favorite superhero and why?

Read the complete story.

Here's a new way of looking at (and pouring) a glass of wine. Seven Valleys resident John Layne is president of Baltimore-area company WineDocs. He and his employees put together wine tastings for professional meetings, retreats, conventions and other private functions. They now fly all over the country, as well as to Canada, the Caribbean and Europe, for different wine-tasting events. Turning a hobby into a career -- what a novel idea! I wonder how many other unique hobbies would fit this category?

Check out the whole story here.

Some people are well-versed in literature. Some have a treasure trove of knowledge of world history. Others can recite Pi to the 1,000th decimal place. Me? I know lots of Worthless Crap. Lots of it. So much, in fact, that I'm banking that I, along with the help of two friends who know equally as much Worthless Crap, might be able to make $250,000 off of it.

We're going to try out for the second season of VH1's "The World Series of Pop Culture."

A co-worker of mine recently dropped a hint that I needed to check out this band called Black Plaid. I haven't been able to see a show of theirs yet, but I tracked down their MySpace page and was blown away to discover that these rockers are only 13 and 14 years old. Now I'm not saying they're the next Led Zeppelin or anything, but day-um! For middle schoolers, these kids rock.

Tonight, the band will perform in the FINAL round of a HIGH SCHOOL Battle of the Bands at The Championship in Lemyone. That alone ought to tell you something. Later this month, they will be playing at DRAGONFLY in Harrisburg. I was hoping to do a full story on these kids, but sadly, they live just over the county border in Camp Hill.
Check them out on MySpace here.