Saturday, January 7, 2012

I like the show "Parenthood," but one thing about it creeps me out


One of the few network TV shows that I regularly watch is Parenthood on NBC.  I'm not exactly sure why or how this happened, but it's in my DVR every week and I like it.  There is one tiny detail from this season that is REALLY irritating me though: the Braverman brother and sister (Max and Haddie) have exactly the same haircut.  It's weird and disturbing, and it bothers me that the show's producers aren't doing anything about it.


These pictures don't quit do it justice because they both have longer hair on the show now, but trust me, it's identical.  I'm pretty sure no high school girl would ever go out in public knowing she had the same haircut as her little brother.

Friday, January 6, 2012

The Bruins are officially out of hand

I think I need a team of statisticians working for me in order to figure out just how good the Bruins really are right now.  For example, they have won their last two games by a combined score of 15-1; and their last two home games by a total of 17-0.  When was the last time an NHL team did that?  Boston has played 37 games this season, and has scored exactly twice as many goals as they have given up (138-69).  Has any team previously ever been able to do that this late in the season?  And of their 26 wins, 15 of them are by 3 goals or more.  Is that a record?

I have no idea how to put these numbers in any sort of historical context, but I'm guessing they all rank near the best of all time.  The Bruins also continue to dominate the league in a number of categories that I mentioned last week, most notably both total goals scored AND fewest goals allowed.  So if anybody out there reading this has access to some sort of all knowing NHL statistical database, please let me know how this Boston team currently stacks up against the all time greats.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Boston smoked New Jersey last night

Boston put a bit of a beat down on New Jersey last night.  The game was fairly close early on, but about 2/3 of the way through Boston pulled away and won easily.  Despite the fact that New Jersey was missing a few key players due to injury, this game was about a proven playoff tested team grinding out a win vs an inferior opponent.  The final score was 6-1; or was it 89-70?  Wait, what sport am I talking about?


I didn't see a second of the Bruins win over the Devils last night because I was at the Celtics/Nets game.  The Celtics did what they often do, which is play to the level of their opponent for most of the game.  In this case it was a Nets team that fielded a starting five indistinguishable from their bench.  It's also crazy how much the Garden crowd loves Greg Stiemsma already.  With Football season coming to a close, I'm thinking of creating some sort of "Stiemsma-meter" to replace the Tebometer.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I watched the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen on "60 Minutes" the other night

First, I want to say that I have always disliked 60 Minutes, for one simple reason: Going back to when I was a kid in school, that stupid ticking clock was the last thing I wanted to hear on a Sunday night.  It's the perfect metaphor for the weekend ending, and the dreaded Monday morning fast approaching.  My entire life, nothing has ever made me change the channel faster than hearing that stopwatch.  I can't believe the show's creators never thought of this a million years ago in 1968 when it first went on the air.

So the only reason I saw this feature in the first place is because a friend of mine texted me on Sunday night "Put on CBS now!"  I had recently been talking to her about my Citibank rock climbing commercial blog, and how what the girl does in the ad looks totally unsafe to me.  Now watch this:

(I know it's long and goes completely against my theme of brevity, but I PROMISE it's worth it.  As I watched it live my jaw continued to drop further and further.)





After seeing this, my conclusion is that this kid Alex Hunnold has got to be completely insane.  I am more shocked than I am impressed by it.  I can comprehend how a person can physically do what he does, but not mentally.  Which is why "raving lunatic" is the only logical explanation.

UPDATE 1/9: So it has just come to my attention that Alex Hunnold is the guy in the Citibank commercial.  Weird.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals

This song made it big in 1989, but to tell you the truth I honestly can't remember if I liked it in then or not.  It's one of those songs that has sort of lived on and lasted as a kind of cheesy retro pop radio hit.




A little known fact about the Fine Young Cannibals: they got their name from a 1960 film entitled All the Fine Young Cannibals, staring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.  Those two were married by the way; twice actually.  It's pretty weird to think of Maria from West Side Story being married to Number 2 from Austin Powers.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Tebometer Monday: The end of the road.

On a day when the Green Bay Packers backup QB completed 31 of 44 passes for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns, Tim Tebow had easily his worst game of the season.  In fact, it was one of the worst games played by any NFL quarterback in recent memory.  Tebow went just 6 of 22 for 60 yards with a fumble and an interception, dropping his career completion rate down to 47.3%.  Even though the 8-8 Broncos managed to back into the playoffs despite the loss, postseason stats don't count towards a player's career numbers; so the Tebometer will not move again until next season.

When I first created it 9 weeks ago, the number stood at 48.1%.  At this point I think there is a definite possibility that Tebow will never get to 50%.  The improbable run of fluky victories has already allowed him to keep his job much longer than he should have.  If other teams have 2nd string QB's capable of putting up numbers like the Packer's Matt Flynn did, it makes no sense for someone as inaccurate as Tebow to be given the opportunity to keep starting.  Unless something astounding happens vs the Steelers next week, it's looking more and more like we've already seen the best of what Tebow has to offer as an NFL quarterback.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year


My favorite New Years Day ever was 5 years ago, 1/1/07, back in my NYC days.  The entire staff of Buddakan hung out at closed Union Bar all day.  I know this is meaningless to most people, but if you were there that day you know what I'm talking about.  Ever since then I've thought that New Years Day is way better than New Years Eve.

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