Freakin' Awesome!

Go see it. More on this subject later, I'm exhausted.

The Way It Really Happened...

The Sporting Life, How They Love

There's a lot going on right now in the wide world of sports.



The Red Sox are on an astonishing streak, winning their last 10 games (mostly on the back of the mighty David Ortiz). Of course, Pedro's pitching against them tonight, so the streak could very well come to an end, but Beckett's no slouch himself, and he's pitching at home, so we'll see what happens. We'll keep our fingers crossed.



How great is that picture?? VY was given the esteemed honor of being named the best college football player ever to wear #10. It was a very scientific process, I'm sure. He's up for a couple of ESPY Awards for College Athlete of the Year. His competition, not surprisingly, includes Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, JJ Redick, and Adam Morrison, owner of the greatest porn 'stache outside of Van Nuys.

Morrison is a projected top 3 pick in tonight's NBA Draft. My buddy Micah will be live-blogging the draft for the Atlanta Hawks, so check it out on their site by CLICKING THIS LINK. If he's as good as he was last year, then you'll enjoy it for sure. Speaking of the NBA Draft, I leave you with the greatest NBA Draft picture in the history of NBA Draft pictures. Ahh, memories. Misty, watercolor memories...

Rebel Yell

My friend Jeremy sent me this link today to see if you're a Yankee or a Rebel. Now, given my immense hatred for the Yankees, I was pretty sure I wouldn't come out as a Yankee. And given the fact that I am, at least partially, a Rebel at heart (though I do bleed orange for the Longhorns), I was pretty sure I'd come out at least part-Reb. I was pretty excited, though, that as it turns out, according to this highly-scientific process...

I'm 81% Dixie, baby!!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

I'm pretty excited about this new Superman movie coming out. I get excited about movies. I just saw a commercial for a movie about crossword puzzles, and I practically jumped off the couch, I was so excited. But it's the comic book movies that really get me going, which is weird b/c I never really got into comic books as a kid, and I'm not into them now. I just love the comic book movies, and I always have. Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, what have you. But Superman is, as they say, the Grandaddy of Them All.

Superman is just head and shoulders above the rest of the gang, not just in terms of powers (he can fly, for Pete's sake), but also in terms of interest and marketability. People talk about Superman all the time. I really enjoyed David Carradine's Superman soliloquy in Kill Bill 2, but what I saw today was much more interesting, in terms of Superman's influence on social commentary, and vice versa.

I read two articles online today about the new Superman movie, one insinuating that Superman is gay, and another comparing Superman to Jesus Christ. How is that even possible?? If that isn't proof positive that EVERYBODY feels somehow connected to this icon, I don't know what is.

Now back to this crossword puzzle movie. What's an 8-letter word for "movie that makes Ben Dorfman excited to an embarassing degree"?? WORDPLAY. In select theaters now. Starts Friday in Los Angeles and the rest of the country.

Waiting for Train

Took this with my phone while waiting for the BART train at the San Fran airport a few weeks ago. Thought it was a cool pic, and I also wanted to test out the mobile posting because it wasn't working for awhile. If this gets posted, I guess it worked.

The Question Has Been Popped

I think anyone who might read this has most likely already gotten a phone call or an email (and if not, a thousand apologies, and I'll be happy to tell you the whole story if you ask me to), but I'd feel somewhat remiss if I didn't mention on this here blog the exciting news that Amanda and I got engaged on Friday night! We're both very excited, and we have no definite plans for a wedding yet, but rest assured that everyone will know as soon as we do. In the meantime, here's a picture, and if you want to see the rest but haven't already, leave me a comment here and we'll forward you the ophoto album, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.



She said yes, by the way.

I'm looking forward to about 1,000 more happy years with Amanda, and most immediately, spending as little money as possible in the coming weeks.

Take It or Leave It

A guy I work with is in a metal band called Symphony of Cyanide (that's the real name of the band, I swear), and they had a gig tonight at a bar downtown called Little Pedro's. I was on my way there when my Check Engine light came on. Considering my history with car trouble, I immediately pulled off the highway and came home. I didn't want to risk getting stuck in downtown LA at night by myself. Yeah, I don't think so.

I'll have to take it in on Monday morning. Tomorrow I'm heading to Houston to see the folks and go through a bunch of boxes filled with my old crap. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Don't be jealous. Not much to say about this trip right now, but I felt like writing something, b/c I'm trying to get back in the habit, though it's proven a bit more difficult that I originally thought. Anyway, here are my top 11 songs about travelling to Houston to see my parents and go through a bunch of boxes of old crap:

1. Another Travelling Song - Bright Eyes
2. Airportman - REM
3. Airport Song - Guster
4. Rocky Mountain High - John Denver (I have a layover in Denver)
5. Songs About Texas - Pat Green
6. In Houston - Tapes 'n Tapes
7. Breakin' Bread - The J.B.'s (this is a fantastic song that I just heard for the first time today. probably the reason for this list.)
8. Cleaning Out My Closet - Eminem
9. Memory Lane - Elliott Smith
10. Things I Will Keep - Guided By Voices
11. Long Way Back Home - Barenaked Ladies

Shuffle Up and Deal

As we all know, I'm an excellent poker player, so naturally, I'm interested in all things poker. So, I'm flipping channels, looking for a Seinfeld rerun or something, and I see that the Season Premiere of Celebrity Poker Showdown is on the Bravo Network. First of all, this show gets a Season Premiere?? In May??

Anyway, evidently former co-host and professional poker player Phil Gordon is no longer a co-host of the show, which is a shame, b/c he's a really good poker player, but also a good poker teacher, and he's great at explaining things as they happen. (I recommend his "Little Green Book" if you want a good crash course in Hold 'Em.) Instead, sitting next to the guy who used to have Dave Foley's career (and now has only Celebrity Poker Showdown on the Bravo Network) is professional poker player Phil Hellmuth. Are you kidding me?? This is ridiculous. Big mistake. The guy is known even to people who don't play or watch much poker for being a huge spoiled brat, not to mention a jackass. I love to watch him play in tournaments the same way I love to watch a Jim Rome interview. You want to smack him, but he's guaranteed to piss somebody off in a really entertaining way.

Anyway, he sucks on this show. I can report that with no reservations. His whole appeal is that he antagonizes his opponents. Who's he going to piss off now other than his co-host, who is obligated to sit next to him throughout the entire show? I don't see how this can work. It's a shame, too, b/c we'd hate to lose this show if it gets cancelled. That will only leave about 47 other poker shows on cable television. Whatever will we do??

On the bright side, though, they're playing from Harrah's in New Orleans right now, and they're all playing for New Orleans-related charities. Which is nice.

Solitary Refinement

Amanda's in Germany for 2 weeks on a school trip. The last field trip I can remember taking, when I was in school, was to Marine Life in Gulfport, MS. Marine Life. We saw dolphins shoot basketballs. She's in Germany, where the furor (no pun intended ... well, maybe) over the upcoming World Cup they're hosting will probably be a really exciting subplot to a 2 week (mostly) free trip to another country. She'll probably run into a lot of excited Mavs fans as well.

Anyway, as this is a school trip, our other roommate Josh is also in Germany, which leaves me to enjoy and defend home base on my own. Needless to say, there's going to be a lot of TV watched over the next 13 days. I also need to make sure to work out every day, b/c I've gotten a bit lazy (lazier) over the past several weeks, and I'd like to look a little less like Craig Stadler by the time Amanda gets home. I got off to a good start last night, let's hope I can keep it up.

I've decided that I'm going to watch the first season of Lost while Amanda's gone. I started watching with the premiere of the second season (which ends tonight, by the way, and I couldn't be more upset), but I never saw the first season, so I don't know much of the back story, other than what I've been able to piece together. I rented the first 4 discs yesterday, and by the time I went to bed last night, I was halfway through disc 2. I should be able to knock it out with no problem, especially with a long weekend ahead of me. I think I'll document this with my thoughts on each disc, rather than each episode, otherwise we'd be here forever. Hey, I gotta keep myself busy somehow, in that apartment by myself.

Disc 1 (Episodes 100-102):
- Cool opening. Lot of carnage on the beach. Like Saving Private Ryan, but less intense, except for that poor bastard who gets sucked into the engine and causes the explosion.
- I will never get tired of the turbulence scene, no matter how many times they show it. When the plane shakes and that dude gets thrown into the roof and drops to the floor again, that's just awesome.
- That Shannon is pretty hot. Too bad I already know she dies in the second season. She's a huge bitch though.
- I already thought Locke was kind of a creepy dude, but now I'm even more convinced.
- I'm kind of upset about the fact that my favorite character on the show, Mr. Eko, doesn't show up until season two. You know those GPS things in the cars that tell you how to get where you're going? I'd like to get one with his voice. If you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about. If not, it's a lost cause. I just want to hear him tell me things like "Turn left in 300 yards."

We had a great trip to San Francisco this past weekend. Here's a picture of us at the Golden Gate Bridge. If you want to see the whole album, leave me a comment and I'll send you the link.