The End of the Page

36 for 36: A New List For A New Year

Admittedly, this is not my cat, but I have four at home and all of them would do this in a heartbeat.

Years ago a friend of mine told me about a productivity experiment. It is kind of like a “bucket list” except you don’t wait until you find out you’re going to die to write it up and you make one every year for the coming year starting on your birthday. The number of items on the list are equal to your new age. Yes, this means the list will get longer and longer each year, but the complexity and cost of each item on the list is totally up to you. You could decide to add one saying: “#5 – Walk more” or “#15 – Watch less TV” or “#34 – Dream about ponies” (how you control that last one is a mystery).

I’ve done this for a few years now with varying levels of success. My first year I made it through every item on my list, but this past year I fell a little bit off track. Numerous things along the way took charge of where my focus needed to be and it was all good things, but I ended with only 12 out of 35 from my list completed. I could start this year with a completely fresh list, but I decided to look over those unfinished items and decide which of those I wanted to keep shooting or as is or maybe adapt them a little to change them towards my current tastes.

Here’s what I was able to knock off the list last year:

• Write new TV spec script (will be submitting this next year)
• Catch one show at the Pantages (saw Avenue Q, fantastic show!)
• Book one writing assignment (landed one coverage gig, not quite what I was hoping for, but it technically counted since it was a paycheck)
• Go on two legit hikes (sore legs after each prove either they were legit or I am still really out of shape)
• Get iron/steamer (sounds silly but you’d be amazed how easy it is to forget how handy those are when you don’t have one)
• Consolidate wardrobe (it was just time to toss out all those button down shirts I no longer wore and various other pieces that haven’t come out of the darkness in years)
• Job front: Move up or move on (this was a strong desire of mine, but ended up being taken care of by my contract ending anyway)
• Don’t drink for one year (other than my wedding weekend, which I gave myself a personal furlough, I accomplished this task)
• Donate bone marrow (adapted this one slightly to “Register for Be The Match, bone marrow donation registry”, which is something everyone should do)
• Increase blog to 300 daily visits on average (a couple strong days helped this average and also counting from a very specific stat engine, but it was the same one I based the number off when I wrote the task, so it evens out)
• Finish reading 24 books (I’ll add the list of books at the end, for those voracious readers out there)
• Get dining room table (although this one was accomplished, we ended up not liking it as much and will be getting a new one in the new house. Still counts though.)

So that was the finished items off the old list. Here is the new list ready and set to go on 12/12 (that would be my birthday, for any exceedingly generous readers out there):

1) Exercise more (even as vague as this is, I still didn’t get it done last year, so laaaaazzzzzyyyyy)

2) Submit/self-publish first novel (I was hoping to get this done last year as well. I just need one more spit polish on it and I think we are ready to go.)

3) Bring more writers to The End of the Page (any budding, opinionated writers out there want to contribute? Leave a comment below or write me directly through the contact page.)

4) Get new tattoo (I just got the design in from my good buddy Brandon, so this will be happening in the near future)

5) Perfect one dish to cook (started this last year, my dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. I made it once so far, came out really well, but far from perfection, more attempts this year)

6) Go on cruise (happily this might coincide with long awaited honeymoon plans)

7) Establish better writing habit (all writers need one, I am in need even more so because I have so many damn projects)

8 ) Enroll in Yoga class (been wanting to do this for a long time. Going to wait until we are settled in the new house and see what classes are in the area.)

9) Send out more than 56 Thank You notes (I read an article about a guy who sent out one Thank You note to random people who affected his life each day for a full year. I tried to replicate this, but fell far short. So instead of jumping right back to the full 365, I just want to beat my total for last year)

10) Bring more books down from WA (I have a ton of books stored at my Uncle’s in WA and I really want my library to be fully together. Plus, he’s been wanting those gone for a long time too.)

11) Finish graphic novel issue #2 (yet another writing project in stasis that needs to be resurrected. It’s got alien ninjas y’all!!!)

12) Try surfing (for those who know me well, this will likely kill me, rendering the rest of the list sort of moot)

13) Go to Big Sur (everyone who’s ever been there swears it is one of the most beautiful places in the state, if not beyond. Gotta go.)

14) Donate blood (Actually, I will need to get this done before the tattoo is done, since they ban you for a year or two after getting one)

15) Take train trip to Santa Barbara Zoo (my wife has done this before and it just sounds neat)

16) Write one spoken word piece (I used to perform spoken word and there is a part of writer’s brain still clamoring for it)

17) Take another class (took a one-day cake baking class a few months ago, had tons of fun. I never want to stop learning new things.)

18) Get AT&T credit card under $3000 (could’ve done this in the past year, but all the money got pooled together to get home loan)

19) Reach 12 new states on my donation map (I have a world map and an United States map on my wall which I mark with small colored stickers for each place I donated to a local or focused charity. My goal is to reach the entire world someday. Just started this last year and I have 7 states and 5 countries so far. Tons to go.)

20) Try sculpting (no promises this will be anything more than a swirly mound of clay when it’s finished, but I’ve always wanted to try)

21) Begin learning to play my guitar (I’ve had an electric guitar for years, but never learned to play it. Need to look for a class this year to get me going on it.)

22) Go on one road trip (this is not counting the trip to Big Sur)

23) Put together book of paintings (I am also a painter and I want to collate a small book of what I have so far)

24) Try five new vegetables (if the surfing doesn’t kill me, this surely will)

25) Read 24 new books (had fun with this last year, kept me focused on always having a book going. Recommendations anyone?)

26) Conduct two interviews for the blog (done one so far, although I am still transcribing, which is a real time suck by yourself)

27) Find writer’s group – online or in person (should help with getting that writing habit nailed down as well, if you have any suggestions of good groups, please send along!)

28) Re-energize date night tradition (with all the other stuff I try to keep going in my creative life, I need to make sure I focus as well on my home life and married life)

29) Take part in 2012 Obama campaign (even though his first term has been far from perfect, I think he’s done better than most people think and is surely a better choice than the other options)

30) Retry 365 photo experiment (one photo a day for a year, it creates a really cool visual calendar of your past, I just didn’t keep up with it last year. I just got the iPhone 4S, so the improved camera on that will make this much easier.)

31) Get at least one paid writing opportunity (worked last year, hopefully that will work again. Wanna hire me?)

32) Open CafePress-type store for art/writing inspired items (anyone know of a better online store to use than CafePress?)

33) Go on three legit hikes (adding one to the total from last year)

34) Pick archery back up (use to go to the range twice a week, have my own Olympic bow and nice set of arrows, need to pick up the hobby again)

35) Reach bowling score of over 200 (my personal best is 187, not too far to go)

36) Spend more time with friends (like the one about date night, need to remember to focus on the social life as well, hopefully many of these can also be done with my friends, maybe they will want to work on their own lists!)

So there you have it. My next twelve months of goals. If this has inspired you to create your own list or you are already a practitioner of this nifty listing hobby, feel free to share yours here.

For those curious about the 24 books from this year, here they are:

Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield

Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Full Dark – No Stars by Stephen King

The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber

Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy by Jeff Sharlet

Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay

Angel River Falls by Thomas A. Morgan

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges

The Mark by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

The Fear by Peter Godwin

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Chasing Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Hunter: The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson by E. Jean Carroll

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan & Jeremy Salter

Charlie Wilson’s War by George Crile

Avengers Trailer (Oh yeah, the Hulk is in there too…)

by Luke Goldstein

The new trailer for The Avengers hit the web today and I must say overall I’m pleased. It captures a nice taste of the dark grit that everyone is shilling for after the success of The Dark Knight, but doesn’t let go of the tongue-in-cheek geek humor from the earlier parts of the Marvel series. Plus, how can you not have a good joke tossed in when Robert Downey Jr. is there?

There was one other nice moment, although completely tossed in at the end as if they forgot it in the original cut, which was finally seeing Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. I’m worried that overall he won’t play a very big part, but we’ll wait and see if that fear plays out.

What do you think of the trailer? Get excited to see the full flick?

Kickstart the Future with Prison Break 2438

Just wait until I draw in the thought bubbles. It’ll blow your mind.

For those of you unacquainted with fundraising and self-publishing your own projects, there are a few amazing websites out there which lend a helping hand in organizing and evangelizing your future piece of awesomeness. Kickstarter is one of those where you can list a project and create donation tiers, teasing out bigger and better prizes for people who donate more and more green to the project. There is a wealth of these needy creative ventures out there and for anyone with a few disposable bucks and a desire to feel like you have truly helped the world become more interesting and imaginative, please dive deep into this site at your absolute soonest. Here, I’ll even point you toward one worthy project right now…

Prison Break 2438

In a bleak futuristic world, in which the United States of America has split into multiple countries, a small band of civil rights revolutionaries must save their leader from the clutches of an evil government.

The manuscript has been written, rewritten and rewritten some more and the authors have now connected with renowned Darkhorse Comics and DC Comics veteran artist Brian Ewing for the soon-to-be-impressive cover artwork.

Lend a hand to help another piece of imagination get out there into the hands of readers everywhere. Who knows, if you donate enough, you could even get yourself free copies of the book, maybe even the original cover art itself! Check it out.

83rd Academy Awards – Choices, Choices, Choices

What do you mean I’m just like all the others? I’m unique! I’m a beautiful snowflake!

Here’s what it all comes down to. Here’s where all the hard work, press tours and hour after hour of standing around on set while the lighting guys get exactly the right shadows to fall across the wall in background. This is the stage that everyone in the industry wants to walk across holding a tiny statue that never fails to surprise the new owner by how heavy it really is. To those people out there who say “Pish Posh” or “The Oscars are all politics and mainstream hype, I don’t need one.”, well, you’re lying. This year there are some categories which feel somewhat locked, a true front-runner eclipsing the poor remaining nominees in the glorious shadow of critical acclaim, but there are many still up in the air and the ceremony still promises to cause many baited breaths, sweaty fists and screams of joy and pain (and that’s just for the people in my Oscar pool). So before the sun sets on that fateful night, I will offer a few choice thoughts on the nominations this year: (I will mark the ones I have not seen with “*”)

Best Picture:

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right *
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone *

Originally I was a big fan of opening the Best Picture field up to 10 films and I would say at this moment in time I am still a fan, but maybe not as strong as before. Let’s be honest, the major push for opening the field was The Dark Knight being overlooked, but what it really did was open people’s eyes to the fact that the Academy needs to follow in the shoes of the Hollywood Foreign Press and create Best Drama and Best Comedy/Musical, but that’s for a much longer conversation. As to this year’s crop of fine films, the two heavyweights battling in the center of the ring are The King’s Speech and The Social Network. While many will claim The King’s Speech is much more attuned to the Oscar voting crowd (which they would absolutely correct in thinking), The Social Network was a tremendous achievement in making something extraordinary out of what most people previously wrote off as “that movie coming out about Facebook”. Fincher and Sorkin created a devastating and scathing pair behind the screen and it is that sheer power and talent which could very well push The Social Network across the big stage that night. Personally, I loved both films and I don’t care which one wins, but if I was a betting man, I would give the slight edge to The Social Network.

Best Director:

• Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
• David O’Russell for The Fighter
• Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech
• David Fincher for The Social Network
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit

I was honestly not the biggest fan of True Grit. I found it to be a really well done film, but not to the tune of twelve Academy nominations. No Country for Old Men was far superior and the Coen brothers have possibly in my eyes become a victim to their own talent in previous works. All of these movies did feature amazing performances and I always give that credit equally to the actor and the director, because the director is truly the one to pull those performances forward. I think this could honestly be the free-for-all battle of the night, even a dark horse shot for the Coen brothers. I wouldn’t be really mad either way it went (maybe if the Coen’s got it I would be slightly miffed). If I need to cast a vote one way or the other, I am going to go back to Fincher and The Social Network.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

• Javier Bardem in Biutiful *
• Jeff Bridges in True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
• Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
• James Franco in 127 Hours *

This is where The Social Network will lose its steam. In the acting realm, although still quite good, The Social Network gets beaten in each round. Colin Firth is the clear leader in this category and for very good reason. The man is the consummate technician and makes everything look simple, clean and honest (and as Jon Stewart points out, “can really wear a sweater.”) Much praise has been handed out to Franco and Bridges, while extremely strong and glowing remarks from people like Julia Roberts have surrounded the performance of Bardem, but the statue will likely be going home with the King of Britain that night.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

• Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right *
• Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole *
• Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone *
• Natalie Portman in Black Swan
• Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine *

While I have heard many wonderful things about all of these performances and not actually witnessed any of the others myself, Portman will undoubtedly climb the stage with grace, humility and probably a good deal of care, since she is incredibly pregnant. The swan princess will bathe in the light of what her character strove for in the film, perfection.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Christian Bale in The Fighter
• John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone *
• Jeremy Renner in The Town *
• Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right *
• Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech

Once again going above and beyond pure emotional transformation, Bale put his body in harm’s way and mutated into the stringy, wiry crack addicted former boxing hopeful, Dicky Eklund. Rush was also quite excellent as the comic foil to Firth’s stammering rage, but I imagine we will not be seeing him share the stage with his regal co-star. Bale will deliver the knockout blow (hopefully, not for real).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

• Amy Adams in The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech
• Melissa Leo in The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
• Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

How could I avoid calling this anything but apt when you have two amazing performances by two amazing women battling it out inside a film called The Fighter. Hell, it practically writes itself. Steinfeld gave a good shot, but she’s young and has a great career ahead of her and I have no doubt we will see her name on this list again. Yet, back in the ring, Leo has been taking the kudos so far and while Adams was surprisingly raw, I believe Leo will continue her reign as champion of this category.

Best Animated Feature:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist *
• Toy Story 3

Right now my main issue here is that Toy Story 3 is listed in both Best Animated Feature and the Best Picture category and I thought you had to choose which one you wanted to be eligible for. Even though they have no shot at Best Picture this year, I find it a little unfair if the film were to take the top spot and then still claim Best Animated Feature as well. Seems like a touch of overkill. Yet, beyond that pettiness on my part, I enjoyed Toy Story 3 a lot, but it didn’t actually move me to the extent of many of my cinema-addicted brethren. I would like to see it go to How to Train Your Dragon, which actually just swept through the animation awards as well. Still holding great love for Pixar, but I have to give it to the other guys this year.

Best Art Direction:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• True Grit

Once again, I kinda fell off the majority bandwagon this year in the praise for Potter Part 1. I am eagerly anticipating part two, partially because I know the big fight that is coming for our well-loved and well-worn characters, but also because I am hoping it will be better than the first half. As for this year, I’m a little torn between Inception and Alice in Wonderland, but I will have to toss my vote in with the more colorful and boisterous Tim Burton, the director of Alice (words that are rarely used to describe him).

Best Cinematography:

• Black Swan
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• True Grit

This comes down to the battle of characters with fractured minds and how well that was imagined and displayed out to us. Black Swan and Inception are my two favorites in this category. Beyond the similarities in the main characters, what we also have is a battle of the go-to cinematographers. Darren Aronofsky, director of Black Swan, went to his trusty friend Matthew Libatique, who also created the amazing visuals for Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, while the director of Inception, Christopher Nolan, pulled in his top gun, Wally Pfister, who brought us the amazing sights of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and even Nolan’s big breakout Memento. Tough choice here…slight edge…Inception.

Best Costume Design:

• Alice in Wonderland
• I Am Love *
• The King’s Speech
• The Tempest *
• True Grit

The most outwardly obvious choice is Alice in Wonderland, due to the flamboyant and fantastical nature of the setting, but you can never see the silent killer coming from the subtle dressings of WWII England (The King’s Speech) or the roughness of the wild west (True Grit). I’ll stick with Alice, but I’m quite prepared to be wrong here.

Best Documentary Feature:

• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Gasland *
• Inside Job *
• Restrepo *
• Waste Land *

Having only seen one of these at the moment, it’s obviously hard for me to really vote. On top of that, the one that I did see, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is widely debated as to whether it is even really a documentary or a piece of street art in itself, created by the mysterious Banksy. If that rumor is true, i don’t think it should be allowed to be in this category, but by answering the question it also loses all the power behind the film. Catch-22, there you have it. Words on the wind though put this between Exit Through the Gift Shop and Gasland.

Best Documentary Short Subject:

• Killing in the Name *
• Poster Girl *
• Strangers No More *
• Sun Come Up *
• The Warriors of Qiugang *

I am going to try to find a way to see any of these because every year I feel bad for not even making the effort after the filmmakers have obviously done such a good job in creating these pieces. Plus, one of them mentions “warriors” and I am hoping for some real life Kung-Fu stuff.

Best Film Editing:

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network

I am going to run with Black Swan here because I felt that the editing here was incredibly important to giving the story its power and persuasion. Badly cut together we would never have followed the fragile ballerina into her fractured world. The editing mirrored her mindset and created the perfect environment for the character to morph and change along the way.

Best Foreign Film:

• Biutiful (from Mexico) *
• Dogtooth (from Greece) *
• In a Better World (from Denmark) *
• Incendies (from Canada) *
• Outside the Law (aka: Hors-la-loi from Algeria) *

Yep, not a good sense of anything here either except for Javier Bardem’s supposed masterpiece of a performance in Biutiful. Dogtooth has also gotten a lot of buzz around the indie houses, but it really hasn’t given me a sense of overpowering Bardem, who might end up the one man show this year.

Best Original Score:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network

OK, I give credit to Hanz Zimmer and his illustrious career in musical scores, but that damn tone from the Inception score just was played over and over and eventually played out. I found the Inception score to be overtly heavy and overbearing, at times, not all the way through.  While three of the others are all well known names in the field, I think this year will go to the new kid on the scoring block, Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose for their work on The Social Network. It was subtle and discreet, but intensely valuable to the overall mood of the film.

Best Makeup:

• Barney’s Vision
• The Way Back
• The Wolfman

Here’s where you start to find those movies that no one saw or very few liked, but had something special going on that the audiences might have missed while thinking, “This is a terrible film.” So, in that mindset, congrats to The Wolfman for scoring the nomination. Yet, since I have only seen one of these at the moment, I can only say that the wear and tear created on the weary travelers of The Way Back was truly exceptional and would make a deserving trophy winner that night.

Best Original Song:

• “Coming Home” from Country Strong *
• “I See the Light” from Tangled *
• “If I Rise” from 127 Hours *
• “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Glad we have the yearly toss to Randy Newman (he would be the Toy Story 3 nomination). The man could write a song about an ant basking in a misty ray of sunlight next to a puddle on the sidewalk and it would still delight the voters throughout the Academy (and honestly, I might hum along to it as well).  A.R. Rahman was the big music maker of last year with the music from Slumdog Millionaire, which might give him some buzz this time around, but I think everyone, whether they admit it or not, is deep down a country fan and that’s why my money falls under the dulcet tones of “Coming Home”.

Best Animated Short Film:

• Day & Night
• The Gruffalo *
• Let’s Pollute *
• The Lost Thing *
• Madagascar, a Journey Diary (Madagascar, carnet de voyage) *

Admittedly I have only seen one of these, but the one I saw was made by Pixar (Day & Night), so really, that’s all you need. Plus, as usual, it was incredibly well thought out, executed and overall brought pure enjoyment to everyone in the theater.

Best Live Action Short Film:

• The Confession *
• The Crush *
• God of Love *
• Na Wewe *
• Wish 143 *

If The Crush from the list above was actually just the trailer from the Alicia Silverstone movie from the early 90′s, I would pick that by a mile, but since I highly doubt that is the case, this is a complete crap shoot for me. I’m going to put my mark on Na Wewe, just because the title gives me absolutely nothing to go on. Mystery makes it intriguing.

Best Sound Editing:

• Inception
• Toy Story 3
• Tron: Legacy
• True Grit
• Unstoppable *

Yes, that’s right, it can now officially be called “Academy Award Nominated – Tron: Legacy“. Nerds around the world, please continue rejoicing at your leisure (or between episodes of The IT Crowd). I actually believe Tron might have a shot here, right next to Inception. Those two really did have a beautifully intricate and expansive soundscape, which without those the movies would certainly fall many, many notches down the totem pole. I’m leaning towards Inception, but the geek in me hopes Tron pulls through.

Best Sound Mixing:

• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• Salt
• The Social Network
• True Grit

Following nicely on the heels of my last commentary, I slightly shudder at the idea of “Academy Award Nominated – Salt“. Never saw that coming in a million years. Inception will likely take this jewel home.

Best Visual Effects:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• Hereafter *
• Inception
• Iron Man 2

There was noting more exciting about the effects in Iron Man 2 over the original Iron Man, so I feel it kind of cancels itself out. Hereafter is too awkwardly mild in scope to break through the intensity of the rest of the crowd. As for Potter, well, I kind of find a movie mostly about kids in a tent a little light on visual effects. Once again Inception finds itself battling for supremacy against a strong opponent, once again the incredibly imaginative Burton and crew. In Alice the effects were actually the thing that impressed me most coming out of the film, the world, the characters mis-sized heads, everything down to the acid-trip induced minutiae. I think Alice deserves it, but Inception will likely take it.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone *

Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin.

Nuff said. (he wrote The Social Network)

Best Original Screenplay:

• Another Year *
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right *
• The King’s Speech

My feelings are torn between The King’s Speech, which was terribly beautiful, subtle and moving, and The Fighter, which surprised and enthralled me with its raw energy and depth. If either one wins, I am happy. Otherwise, sad, sad me.

There you have it. As you can see, my beliefs on who should win are heavily dependent on whether or not I got a chance to even see the film, which is really how it should be. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on who you hope for or just who you think will win.

Stay Classy, Cleveland.

I make so much money now, I bought myself this invisible throne. Dope, right?

Cheers and tears dominated sports bars all over the country last night as the self-proclaimed ‘king’ of basketball made known his long awaited decision of where he would be playing next year. If the NBA was a calm and still pond, LeBron James and his free agent move this summer is the softball-sized rock thrown gloriously into the middle. In fact, maybe it wasn’t thrown, it was shot out of a cannon with fireworks and a five-piece trumpet band.

The fanfare and attention given to this one player and his choice of new uniform is unlike anything we have seen in modern sports history, possibly of all time. Some will argue it was too much, while some might argue it is well deserved, but for me, I honestly don’t care if he needed to take out an hour on ESPN live to announce his decision. What I liked was all the money that came in for advertising during that hour went straight to the Boys & Girls Club where he held the intimate press conference. Love him or hate him, that was a stand up move.

Speaking of those who hate him, none seem to be more vocal about it right now than the depressed and dejected owner of the Cavaliers team, Dan Gilbert. I get it, really I do, your superstar franchise player just walked away from his hometown and home team, where he built his NBA career over the last seven years. He walked away to a team in South Beach, Miami where he will join with two of the other modern day basketball legends and form a dominant trio that many seem to think will automatically destroy the Eastern Conference, if not the NBA as a whole (I’m sure Kobe and Pau have a few things to say about that). James leaving knocks the Cavaliers down quite a few pegs in the predictions and will drain the already economically depressed area of much-needed tourism and marketing dollars, but all I can really say there is, “Cleveland, you had your chance.” Dan Gilbert doesn’t really see it that way.

The despondent owner unleashed a verbal tirade in an open letter to Cleveland and their fans, which detailed a literary temper tantrum the likes of which John McEnroe would be proud. I won’t write out the whole letter here, but for those who have not witnessed its furious glory, you can find it here. Yet, here are a couple of my favorite choice moments:

- “I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE” [all caps was actually his choice, not added by me]

- Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there. Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.

I predict Mr. Gilbert will be eating these words in short time, but the first chosen quote will take at least a whole year to come back to haunt him. David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, went on a tyrannical bend a few years back trying to clean up the sport and wipe out the violence and aggression from the players, but he clearly didn’t think to check into the attitudes and expletives of the owners. Mr. Gilbert should have taken the high road, thanked James for giving so much to his team and to his town. He should also have understood that after seven years and not one single championship ring, James had every right as a player to seek that illustrious fortune somewhere else.

Will Miami follow on the heels of the Celtics methodology, building a powerhouse trio and hoping some of the young blood pulled in at base salary can fill in the gaps? It certainly worked for Boston. Or could James have stayed in Cleveland and let the team continue to try and build around him until the perfect fit came to fruition? That certainly worked for the Los Angeles Lakers when Kobe was threatening to bail. No one really knows until we see the logos emblazoned on the jerseys next year as the confetti rains down from the rafters. Yet, whichever way it works out, the only thing truly lost here is the dignity of Mr. Gilbert and the Cavaliers organization.

What did you think of the letter? Was Gilbert justified in his reaction? Was James justified in his hype?

New Look, New Home

Conquering is fun!

[image via Flickr: mr la rue]

Big greetings to all the readers out there. You might have been a little troubled and possibly emotionally scarred by the disruption in service yesterday, so for that I humbly apologize. I’ve been working on a new blog design over the past couple months and it finally reached the point where I needed to turn it all on and see it work in action. There were a few bumps in the road along the way, but everything seems to be in place now. There will be more design changes to come, but hopefully they will not interrupt service at all.

Thanks as always for reading and please feel free to leave comments on the posts, share them using the new cool “Share This” widget and keep coming on back! In the coming months you will see some new voices, new topics and an expansion on where this whole project is going. If you have any interest in writing for The End of the Page or maybe just a suggestion on the blog itself, leave me a comment or send an e-mail.

The Imperfections of Role Models

There are parts of our cultural heritage which inspire and motivate countless generations to push beyond their boundaries and raise the limits of the human potential. Yet, just as there is light, there is also dark. Other parts of our history serve to tear down those heroes, knock cracks into the pedestals they have been raised up on and bring them crashing down to earth only to gain the opportunity to crush them underfoot. Whether it is from jealousy, spite, envy or greed, these despicable actions by a flawed few can damage the whole in ways  I find particularly vile.

Here are just a few of the recent examples:

- Michael Phelps: record holder for most gold medals won during a single Olympic games (8 during the Beijing Games) has a photo posted of him taking a hit from a bong. The controversy ignites like a firestorm, sending shockwaves through not only his fan base of athletes all over the world, but also to his numerous corporate sponsors. Already his Kellogg’s contract is not getting renewed and Subway is looking for a way to cancel their current deal with him, along with requesting their previous sponsorship money back. Phelps was suspended for three months from the U.S. Olympic swimming team and is now on the fence as to whether he will even compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. (Recent Update: Subway, while not being supportive of his actions, has decided to stick with Phelps and not pursue exiting their contract.)

- Christian Bale: accomplished and critically acclaimed actor who began his career at an incredibly young age with a dramatic performance in Empire of the Sun and recently helped reshape the legendary caped crusader, Batman, and bring about on the biggest and widely loved comic films in history, The Dark Knight. His most recent effort was to reshape and relaunch another franchise, The Terminator, as he took on the role of the adult John Connor. While filming the first installment of the new batch of films, Terminator: Salvation, Bale went on a verbal tirade against the Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut, for stepping into his line of sight during a rather intense rehearsal. An audio recording of that barrage was leaked online in an apparent effort to show people Bale was not the knight in shining armor audiences were making him out to be. This incident, coupled with an arrest last year in London for an argument with his own mother and sister, Bale is being draped now with a persona of a violent, temper-tantrum throwing prima donna. While the fallout from this last attack on his character is not known as of yet, Bale already issued an apology and plea for people not to write off his upcoming film based solely on his on-set reactions.

- President Barack Obama: Yes, I am including him, not in a subliminal effort to say Bale or Phelps are in the same league, but because Obama is suffering already from the same type of political and social character attacks. Barely three weeks into his inaugural term, members of the old guard in Washington are openly and continually putting their feet down in the way of progress and change. They have already caused the withdrawal of three different cabinet choices based solely on tax issues that they found and they have caused a dangerous and dangerous delay in the stimulus package by holding it up in the Senate. It is crystal clear that if this plan whether the plan goes through or not, we are in for tough economic times and I have no doubt the old shadows of Washington are going to blame Obama for continued damages, especially those which they are currently refusing to help fix.

These are only three examples and they are have widely differing effects on our cultural landscape, but they all stem from the same negative phenomenon. When someone rises above the masses, through hard work or sheer happenstance, someone will always be there to try and tear them down. Justifications will be wrapped around them like warrior cloaks, but inside can’t escape the truth, it’s all ego. “I need money, so I’ll sell this incriminating photo.” or “This guy’s famous, but I’m not, so I’m gonna embarrass him.” or lastly “If he can actually fix our mistakes it’ll actually prove we made them to begin with. We must stop him.” The people behind the attacks are always thinking of themselves above all others and that’s where we fail as a society. I’m not trying to move people to another dogma or impose Communism, thinking of the group above all, but there has to be a balance where the individual can appreciate the success and acclaim of another without seeking to shift the spotlight onto themselves. Envy is described as a sin and can truly be a detriment when left uncontrolled, but wanting what someone else has worked so hard to achieve can also be used as a motivator. The achievement of the mantle ‘role model’ once served as a positive thing, but now acts as double-edged sword due to the intense pressure of perfection draped over their shoulders. A person, be it movie star, athlete or politician, can still exist as a role model even after flaws have been uncovered. No one is perfect and trying to force that on someone is only a guarantee of disappointment. When cracks are found in the chiseled veneer they work so hard to craft, instead of raging and calling for their utter downfall, we should relax and remember that they are only ordinary people with extraordinary skills. When we let ourselves devolve into actions like these attacks we not only damage them, but we damage ourselves and our society. Just in the examples above it ranges from millions of dollars lost to a single person to billions of dollars in aid denied to the entire country and for what? We need heroes, we need people to look up to, we need  people to point to and tell our friends and family we want to be like them, because if we don’t see anything over the horizon, we will have nowhere to go.

I am not suggesting that these people, or any others like them in the realm of cultural spotlight, are deserving of extra leniency or a new set of rules. They should adhere to the same laws and be punished by the same consequences we all deal with by the sheer fact of living in this country (and more specifically in our individual states). Yet in the cases above, these people are not being judged and punished by the legal system, it is by the court of public opinion, which is wildly hypocritical. This doesn’t necessarily come into play in Obama’s case, and as far as I know it is not a crime to be a raving lunatic on a film set (lucky you, Bale) , but being caught with weed is still illegal everywhere, depending on the amount on your person, so Phelps is indeed treading in murky waters. But once again, he should be treated like everyone else at that party. Are there pictures and possible criminal trials being hunted for anyone else there? Do we really believe he was the only one smoking at that party? On top of that, unless Phelps gives a complete and detailed confession to smoking weed that night and even the amount that he was holding, that photograph is not nearly enough to convict him of anything other than being stupid enough to be caught on camera doing it in the first place. The punishment should always fit the crime, no matter the person involved and Phelps is being socially persecuted for something in some states only equates to a fine and a warning. Equality works both ways, people. Take a look here to listen to a more comedic and acerbic take on the Phelps fiasco.

So please keep this in mind next time you have the opportunity to snap a photo of a celeb walking slightly off the beaten path, or catch and athlete relaxing from his training a bit “too much”, or next time you’re at the voting booth and you have the opportunity to elect people who are shaking hands with our new President instead of slapping it away.

When we raise one, we raise us all.

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Time for the big move…

[photo credit]

Just a quick note to let everyone know the site will be down tonight (1/24) at midnight for about an hour or so. We are moving onto a new server and planning out a whole new design flow, which I am extremely excited about. Tonight is only the server migration, but the new design will be unleashed in the near future. The site will have more content, more functionality and even more movie linkage (if that is even possible). Thanks for reading and hope you all are having an amazing weekend!

Coming Soon: Defiance

Tossing Drinks to Tossing Jokes: A day in the life of…(6/6)

1 – The only bad thing about this spectacular display of bartending skill is you can imagine how annoying it would be to try to get your keys back from her at the end of the night. [via Pandachute via SkillVideos]

2 – Hunter S. Thompson was a visionary, genius and possible lunatic, which in turn means that anything you create to talk about and feature his life, I’m gonna watch it. [via FilmDrunk]

3 – If you watch this video of an amazingly happy child and don’t crack a smile yourself, you need to look under your bed when you get home, I think you’ll find you left your soul there. We all deserve days where we laugh like that just once. [via Pandachute]

4 – I’m a fan of Seth Rogan, along with millions of other movie watchers happy about the upswing in popularity and profit for R-rated comedies, but I’m not sure I’m a big enough fan to endorse the idea of him playing The Green Hornet in an upcoming adaptation. I knew he was writing it and I’m fine with that, but he doesn’t seem like the superhero type to me. Even Will Smith got on my nerves with unnecessary quips and jokes throughout I, Robot, you think Rogan is going to go through any scene without a pot/dick/sex/fart joke? I’m willing to wait and give him a shot, but this is a risky venture for him, no two ways about it. [via Perez]

5 – You know what’s not a rsiky venture? Making Transporter 3! Jason Statham is coming back once again as the driver who just can’t say no to a job, then can’t say no to kicking the crap out of those who gave him the job. I’m predicting ridiculous car chases, chaser bullets everywhere and needlessly hot women (wait, is “needlessly hot” actually possible? I’m gonna meditate on that…) [via FilmSchoolRejects]

6 – Universal Studios is taking their recent fire as positive as they can and using the destruction as an excuse to rebuild and recreate something new in lieu of the 20-year-old King Kong attraction. Smart move, people. As iconic as it was, it was time to move on from that. They let go of the Back to the Future ride recently and that was at least 5 years its junior. My hope, drive-thru Wanted experience! Angelina Jolie dives down and shoots curved bullets around the tram all day long. Sweet… (although in reality, they should make it a Hulk experience. It could basically be the same set, just updated.) [via ComingSoon]

7 – Sometimes I wonder if people read this and then go out specifically to do exactly the opposite of what I wished for. Brett Ratner came out talking about how he wants to make the next Beverly Hills Cop for the 10 and 12-year-olds who don’t know the first film. Guess what? No one would have known the first film or any of them if they were originally made for the kids. It was an R-rated comedy and one of the nest ever made. They need to jump on this bandwagon and run with it instead of trying to continually trying to shove Eddie Murphy into the family genre. It worked for him for a while, but it’s time he got his mouth dirty once again. Hell, let him wear the Michael Jackson jacket again too, if that helps. [via FilmSchoolRejects]

8 – The creepy next step after buying these Joker themed playing cards is for everyone to show up at the game in Joker makeup. Now tell me who’s bluffing… [via FilmSchoolRejects]

9 – Someone needs to go back and digitally insert this necktie into American Psycho. It’s just too perfect. [via Uncrate]

10 – Here’s a little folk song to end the day entitled New Math. It starts out cute and kinda funny, then segways smoothly into totally irreverent and borderline hysterical. Kudos guitar playing sir. [via GorillaMask via ejb]

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Axel Foely to At-At Families: A day in the life of…(6/3)

1 – In the massive upswing of sequels, it was only a matter of time until they hit something I really hold dear. Beverly Hills Cop is one of my favorite comedies and it holds so many great peaks for R-rated laughers along with being the beginning of a possibly legendary career for Eddie Murphy. It’s not really a big surprise that Eddie would want to jump back into the role of Axel Foley, but take my word, the only way this will work is if they get the old Eddie back. No PG-13 rating here. We need swearing, cocky, abrasive Axel Foley once again. If they follow through on that, I might just start playing the theme song once again as my alarm clock. [via Perez]

2 – Turning from sequels, we go to the only logical place, prequels. J.K. Rowling said she would not continue any more books in the Harry Potter series, but she never said anything about going backwards. She wrote a prequel novel for the Potter-verse, but this is only going to sold for charity in an auction, no mass publication will be done. As gracious as this is, and I am sure it will pull in a healthy amount of Euros, I feel bad for the house that will inevitably get broken into by a mob of crazed quidditch players in search of the mythical tome. [via Starpulse]

3 – I’ve heard rumblings through my group of friends that I should start paying attention to the Fox TV starlet show, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I usually would have been glued to this already by the casting choice of Summer Glau, but something kept me from feeling totally committed to it. Now they sweetened the pot by dropping in Shirley Manson, the lead singer of Garbage, for next season. Hello TiVo, goodbye productivity. [via ComingSoon]

4 – Is it possible the Coen Brothers will ever make a normal movie? I doubt it sincerely. Here’s a link to the Red-Band trailer for their next ecclectic collection of actors in Burn After Reading. [via WWTDD]

5 – This might actually crack a smile on the faces of all those dark, black nailed little girls in the world. Their heroine, Emily the Strange, is on her sad and angry way to the screen. Something tells me a PG rating for this is not forthcoming. [via ComingSoon]

6 – So a couple of teenage girls blatantly stole $150 from a 9-year-old girl scout who was selling those painfully addicting cookies. Two things are wrong with the video here; first, these girls have no concept of morality and a frightening absence of realization of their own effect on the world around them, secondly, these girls are obviously not right in the head because they stole the money and not the cookies. Seriously, they are like crack cookies! [via Today's Big Thing]

7 – Hopefully you haven’t tossed your computer out the window after watching that last scarred piece of humanity, but if you are lucky enough to keep your revulsion in check, here is your reward. You see, there are still some decent people in this place. [via YouTube via Diablo Cody's Blog]

8 – Sometimes, just sometimes, they get something so painfully right. I have no idea if the movie is going to be any good at all, but I hope they keep making these videos, because they are certainly worth the entire movie’s budget. [via The Superficial]

9 – Oh yeah, nothing says lovin’ like a good monkey suit. [via Garfield Minus Garfield]

10 – This is pure genius. Prints available here. [via TCritic]

P.S. There soon will be some changes to this blog. You will see more pointed posts about particular topics alongside those about random happenings on the web or in the entertainment world. Also, I just added two more links on the Charities page, so please take a look in there. I will be adding to that list more often now. Thanks for any support you can lend to these deserving causes.

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