Alright, so I'm gonna attempt to write an entire blog on my cell phone(I failed and as you can see have since edited it), connected to the Bob Evans' wifi while I'm waiting for my Sante Fe to go through winterization... this should be fun... oh and it isn't letting me use capital letters or some punctuation, lovely... here we go.
So I was thinking about how much surroundings and circumstances design and build who who people become in sports. I have a couple different concepts that I believe we have all thought of before. I want to put a slight spin on it though.
The first being. Even if we knew who would be great ahead of time, if they came to the Redskins or we drafted them, would they become the players they are today?? Ofcourse I am putting this in a Redskins spin because we've really missed on opportunities in the draft and even free agency over the past 15 years. Now obviously in some situations that is an absolute NO. Would Tom Brady become Tom Brady for any other team besides The Patriots? I definitely think not. Every single team passed on him multiple times. Part of what made Brady who he is today are his coaches and more specifically, Bill Belichick.
The idea that if I took a trip back in time ten years and all my knowledge of the last ten drafts and loaded our team with Haloti Ngatas, Chris Johnsons, DeMarcus Wares, Clay Matthews and Reggie Waynes, would they become the same players we know and love today??? Would Danny even heed my factual wisdom??? Here's a list of a couple big misses we've had(and every team has had a some) over the last 10 years. I'll give you a look at who we could have had and also could have had even if we took the same position player, assuming that the position we drafted was in fact the correct need at the correct time. Just something to remember, my draft strategy is very different then the skins, I am a trenches first kind of guy. O and D lines are what I care for most. That may or may not show up in this list.
2001: 15th Pick: WR Rod Gardener - passed on: Reggie Wayne, Drew Brees, Matt Light and Chad Johnson
2002: 32nd Pick: QB Patrick Ramsey - passed on: Bart Scott, James Harrison, Michael Lewis
2003: No 1st Rounder - Lost the 13th pick to the Jets for Lav Coles(REALLY?) and thus missed on Troy Polamalu, Dallas Clark and Nnamdi Asomugha. After only having a 2nd rounder selected WR Taylor Jacobs and passed on Anquan Boldin, Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Osi Umenyiora, Lance Brigss and Asante Samuel.
2004: 5th Pick: Correct Selection of: FS Sean Taylor - 3rd Rounder: Chris Cooley. No 2nd and 4th. 5th could have been Michael Turner, Wes Welker, Jason Peters
2005: 9th Pick: Carlos Rogers / 25th Pick: QB Jason Campbell - Passed on DeMarcus Ware, Jamaal Brown, Aaron Rodgers, Roddy White and had NO 2nd or 3rd rounder.
2006: Again no 1st, 3rd or 4th Rounder - lost the 22nd pick but had the 35th pick and took LB Rocky McIntosh and thus missed: Nick Mangold, Marcus McNeil, Greg Jennings, MJD, Brandon Marshall, Miles Austin... rough draft
2007: 6th Pick: I believe correct pick of LaRon Landry despite passing on: Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Revis Island. SHOCKER, the Redskins also had NO 2nd, 3rd OR 4th round selections
2008: No 1st rounder: 3 2nd rounders: 34th: WR Devin Thomas, 48th: TE Fred Davis, 51st: WR Malcom Kelly - missed on A TON: Ray Rice, Desean Jackson, Jamaal Charles and when they traded away the 1st rounder missed out on Chris Johnson, Sam Baker and Rashard Mendenhall
2009: 13th Pick: The correct selection of LB Brian Orakpo, despite Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing both being available. No second rounder because of the One-Year-Not-So-Wonder Jason Taylor trade and yet didn't seem to miss on anyone exceptional.
2010: 4th pick: Trent "Silverback" Williams - No 2nd rounder(thank you Donovan McNabb) thus missing: Nate Allen, Jermaine Cinngingham, Carlos Dunlap, Mike Williams and Ricky Sapp.
What do we see most from this list? Well, i don't expect us to make all the right choices when it comes to players. But the fact that we selected 4 good players in 70 rounds of drafting over the last 10 years is a problem. That is an astonishing embarrassment!! This has to change or The Washington Redskins will never win another Super Bowl ever again. Mark my words.
Before we shut this down I want to take a final look into the idea of how circumstances and surroundings effect a player. I'm only going to use one example and I'm sure you'll think of a lot yourself.
What if it sounded a little more like this: With the 1st pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, the San Fransisco 49ers select: Aaron Rodgers, Quarterback from California...
What would have changed? Prior to the draft it was unknown who the 1st pick would be and Mel Kiper Jr actually had Aaron Rodgers as the 3rd best player available and the top QB with Alex Smith as the 4th best player and 2nd best QB. I remember people saying that had Rodgers gone 1st then it would have changed the whole board because like 6 teams in the top 10 would have selected Alex Smith. In hind sight it was the wrong decision as we can all see. We have to look at how the situation was different.
Aaron Rodgers got to sit behind Brett Favre, arguably the best QB of all time on a 10-6 team that won their division. Alex Smith started right off the bat for a team who went 2-14 the year before. Rodgers also got to mature while watching the whole Ted Thompson-Brett Favre situation hit the bloody wall. By the time he came out to start, it was a fresh start for the city and the expectations of his 20 pick falloff a couple years earlier had made it much easier for him to play without the weight of an organization on his shoulders. You also have to look at what impact his coaching staff had been. Alex Smith went into 1st time Head Coach Mike Nolan's defense first, rookie head coaching hands. It must be noted that Mike Nolan is currently the D-Coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and not the Head Coach of the 49ers. Mike McCarthy just ended up as the right person for the Green Bay Packers and Rodgers became the right Quarterback and thus the story is now what it is today.
Would Rodgers been the same if he was a 49er. Impossible. Worse? Maybe. Better? Possibly. Different? Absolutely.
Now how do we make sure the Redskins move closer to the Green Bay Packers then the San Fransisco 49ers in this scenario. I have some ideas. But Danny doesn't care about my ideas...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Save us Rex Grossman, you're our only hope!
My buddy Jeremy had an interesting post on his Facebook which has sparked some very fascinating conversation. I thought you might want a glimpse of its value. I applaud Jeremy for his silly(silly is a good thing) knowledge. he can say something sporty and he has an opinion to back it up. Jer can also get very passionate, just ask his broken Playstation controllers. So when Jeremy made this post, I knew he was gonna spit fire. I just have a slightly different view on the scenario, not necessarily correct, but different. Afterwords I comment on the overall state of the Redskins and give a blueprint to success in DC. It wasn't what I was planning to write but my fingers just did the talk and I let my heart bleed all over the keyboard...
Jeremy. Facebook. Redskins...
Jeremy: For the record, I hate Mike Shanahan. He has lost his mind. He was chased out of Denver, he will be chased out of DC.
Deborah: Hate is a strong word how about dislike instead.
Jason: Na
David Mann: Looks like you don't have to hate Hainsworth any more.
Jason: Do you not like the benching Jeremy?? I like it!! McNabb's favorite target is the dirt, I'm done with that dude
Jeremy: I don't like it all. You think Sexy Rexy is better? Really? Have you lost your mind too? Every thing Shanny does has become a negative debacle. Haynesworth, The Detroit Benching, and now this. Just utter stupid nonsense. Reports are coming out that he's lost the locker room now, reports that they're doing it get money by preventing McNabb from completing some of his bonus goals, etc etc. I'm so sick of this.
Jason
Take his damn money!!! Bonus for what!?!?! Bonuses are intended for superior performance. I'm not getting a bonus at work this quarter but he can go in there, throw 2 more interceptions and cough up 7 more dirt balls and get a bonus because he throws for 300 yards from us being down all game!?!? Career high in INTs and you want a bonus? Forget that, keep the money.
Shanny blows. Kinda makes you want Zorn back because at least you know he didn't know what he was doing and if he ever learned along the way it might actually help the team. Well, this dude is supposed to know. And he doesn't. You do, to a level have to coddle players a bit. He doesn't seem to get that at all. That's part of being a leader.
Is Rex better? No! BUT!! If Donovan were to lead us to a 33-17 victory over the surging Cowboys IN Dallas, all of a sudden it looks like it might be a good idea to keep him around for a couple more years. And then we're screwed for the next 10 years. get used to it buddy, we're not gonna be a competitor until I'm nearing 40. It's just the way it is.
SEXY REXY is our only hope!!
Jeremy. Facebook. Redskins...
Jeremy: For the record, I hate Mike Shanahan. He has lost his mind. He was chased out of Denver, he will be chased out of DC.
Deborah: Hate is a strong word how about dislike instead.
Jason: Na
David Mann: Looks like you don't have to hate Hainsworth any more.
Jason: Do you not like the benching Jeremy?? I like it!! McNabb's favorite target is the dirt, I'm done with that dude
Jeremy: I don't like it all. You think Sexy Rexy is better? Really? Have you lost your mind too? Every thing Shanny does has become a negative debacle. Haynesworth, The Detroit Benching, and now this. Just utter stupid nonsense. Reports are coming out that he's lost the locker room now, reports that they're doing it get money by preventing McNabb from completing some of his bonus goals, etc etc. I'm so sick of this.
Jason
Take his damn money!!! Bonus for what!?!?! Bonuses are intended for superior performance. I'm not getting a bonus at work this quarter but he can go in there, throw 2 more interceptions and cough up 7 more dirt balls and get a bonus because he throws for 300 yards from us being down all game!?!? Career high in INTs and you want a bonus? Forget that, keep the money.
Shanny blows. Kinda makes you want Zorn back because at least you know he didn't know what he was doing and if he ever learned along the way it might actually help the team. Well, this dude is supposed to know. And he doesn't. You do, to a level have to coddle players a bit. He doesn't seem to get that at all. That's part of being a leader.
Is Rex better? No! BUT!! If Donovan were to lead us to a 33-17 victory over the surging Cowboys IN Dallas, all of a sudden it looks like it might be a good idea to keep him around for a couple more years. And then we're screwed for the next 10 years. get used to it buddy, we're not gonna be a competitor until I'm nearing 40. It's just the way it is.
SEXY REXY is our only hope!!
Great American Beer Festival: My first visit
September 16-18 Denver, CO. The Great American Beer Festival: The American beer playground. The largest beer festival in the world, serving up 3523 different beers. That is an increase of over 7% over last year alone!!
One of the best things about the event is the commotion it brings to the Denver area. Colorado already has a lot of brew pubs, ale houses and quality draft bars. The whole concept of "good beer" goes so far beyond the foolish mid-atlantic's view that good beer is Yuengling. Don't get me wrong, I can drink Yuengling... but let's be real, it's no Southern Tier Mokah. Getting me off topic, like usual. As I was saying, COLORADO loves themselves some beer. You take this beer loving place and bring to it the biggest beer event in the world. The entire city adapts perfectly to the changes. We visited 2 really cool pubs before heading to the festival itself.: The Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe who had all 3 versions of the new Saison Du Buff, each brewed by Dogfish Head, Victory and Stone Brewing Companies. http://www.stonebrew.com/news/100225pr/ for more info. This beer was a collaboration of sorts brewing a traditionally spicy Saison but with the added flavors of different herbs such as sage, parsley, rosemary and thyme. Its wild and I am proud to say I enjoy the Victory brew the best. But as I was saying, the Cheeky Monk made a really big deal out of this and it was so exciting to be there while a couple of the brewers were as well.
The next spot we hit was an awesome pub named The Falling Rock Tap House(above). The FR Tap House has over 200 DRAFT BEERS that change weekly!!! Do you get this concept!?!?! We pulled up to the tap house and it was packed!! It was pouring out into the streets and we still made our way in to try a couple of brews. I loved the whole vibe of the tap house and I highly recommend anyone who comes to the Denver area to swing by and grab a beer! I can't even remember what I had EXCEPT THAT I TOTALLY REMEMBER WHAT I HAD!!!! We all had Pliney the Elder by Russian River!!!! Well, the guys had that while the ladies tried different sour beers, framboise, and cherry beers. All of which were amazing!! but the Pliney was special because we can't get Russian River over here in the east and it has become the standard of IPAs amongst the industry.
We had our beers and headed to the convention center... I HAVE NEVER SEEN A LINE SO BIG IN MY LIFE!!! It 8-10 people wide and as long as I could imagine. I thought it would take us hours to get in... but it didn't. We were in the center within a half hour! Looking at the map above you can notice that every tiny little number represents a different brewers table. As we walked in, we were totally wiped for the whole experience and grabbed our mini schooners to grab some beer and get the party started!
I mean, the place was huge!!! Obviously we had a couple spots we each wanted to hit. Brewers like great Divide, Oskar Blues, Russian River and Avery were ones we all wanted to hit. Of course I wanted everyone to try a couple of my favorite beers I've ever had, like Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout!! Any plan of action we had quickly disappeared. We never got drunk... no matter how much I regret that in hindsight... It was just that there was so much. Our best goal was to visit preferred brewers but if while on our way, we came across a brewer that had nobody at their table, in which we would stop and try a beer. That worked well for about 15 minutes and then we all lost each other again!!
There a lot of fun stuff that they had setup that convinced me that i will be going every year and for more than just one day. We tried a lot of really tasty beers from breweries that we never would have had before. They had a cool silent disco and loads of good food. Overall the experience was a blast and I look forward to next year!!!
One of the best things about the event is the commotion it brings to the Denver area. Colorado already has a lot of brew pubs, ale houses and quality draft bars. The whole concept of "good beer" goes so far beyond the foolish mid-atlantic's view that good beer is Yuengling. Don't get me wrong, I can drink Yuengling... but let's be real, it's no Southern Tier Mokah. Getting me off topic, like usual. As I was saying, COLORADO loves themselves some beer. You take this beer loving place and bring to it the biggest beer event in the world. The entire city adapts perfectly to the changes. We visited 2 really cool pubs before heading to the festival itself.: The Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe who had all 3 versions of the new Saison Du Buff, each brewed by Dogfish Head, Victory and Stone Brewing Companies. http://www.stonebrew.com/news/100225pr/ for more info. This beer was a collaboration of sorts brewing a traditionally spicy Saison but with the added flavors of different herbs such as sage, parsley, rosemary and thyme. Its wild and I am proud to say I enjoy the Victory brew the best. But as I was saying, the Cheeky Monk made a really big deal out of this and it was so exciting to be there while a couple of the brewers were as well.
The next spot we hit was an awesome pub named The Falling Rock Tap House(above). The FR Tap House has over 200 DRAFT BEERS that change weekly!!! Do you get this concept!?!?! We pulled up to the tap house and it was packed!! It was pouring out into the streets and we still made our way in to try a couple of brews. I loved the whole vibe of the tap house and I highly recommend anyone who comes to the Denver area to swing by and grab a beer! I can't even remember what I had EXCEPT THAT I TOTALLY REMEMBER WHAT I HAD!!!! We all had Pliney the Elder by Russian River!!!! Well, the guys had that while the ladies tried different sour beers, framboise, and cherry beers. All of which were amazing!! but the Pliney was special because we can't get Russian River over here in the east and it has become the standard of IPAs amongst the industry.
We had our beers and headed to the convention center... I HAVE NEVER SEEN A LINE SO BIG IN MY LIFE!!! It 8-10 people wide and as long as I could imagine. I thought it would take us hours to get in... but it didn't. We were in the center within a half hour! Looking at the map above you can notice that every tiny little number represents a different brewers table. As we walked in, we were totally wiped for the whole experience and grabbed our mini schooners to grab some beer and get the party started!
I mean, the place was huge!!! Obviously we had a couple spots we each wanted to hit. Brewers like great Divide, Oskar Blues, Russian River and Avery were ones we all wanted to hit. Of course I wanted everyone to try a couple of my favorite beers I've ever had, like Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout!! Any plan of action we had quickly disappeared. We never got drunk... no matter how much I regret that in hindsight... It was just that there was so much. Our best goal was to visit preferred brewers but if while on our way, we came across a brewer that had nobody at their table, in which we would stop and try a beer. That worked well for about 15 minutes and then we all lost each other again!!
There a lot of fun stuff that they had setup that convinced me that i will be going every year and for more than just one day. We tried a lot of really tasty beers from breweries that we never would have had before. They had a cool silent disco and loads of good food. Overall the experience was a blast and I look forward to next year!!!
The week that might forever change the NFL... maybe...
October 17th, 2010 was a normal Sunday for most Americans. I for one woke up at my parents home, had a bagel and waited for my wife to arrive. She got to the house right around 10:15. This was nothing but a challenge to me to arrive in La Plata for Church before 10:30 am. Well, long story short, I failed... In part because of the Charles County Police Officer who caught me doing 69 in a 40 ;) Aside from that little hiccup, my Sunday was normal. Church(New Life Garage) was great, as Pastor Micheal totally brought it. Then we split the party to pick up some 8 lb Ribeye to make the absolute best cheesesteaks I have ever had. My Redskins weren't playing until 8:30 that evening, but I am very vested in many players from my 7 fantasy leagues.
From the moment I tuned the TV to football I was hearing about the bone jarring hits that had taken place. But I'm pretty much used to seeing big hits. I'm from the DC area and live in the Baltimore area. So seeing Sean Taylor, Ray Lewis, Laron Landry and Terrell Suggs pop dudes is no new news to me. The first hit I saw was the Dunta Robinson hit across the middle to the low flying Desean Jackson. Both players were out cold with concussions. After seeing the replays it looks like he lead with his shoulder and got a pretty clean shot. But both players couldn't help but crack skulls. The next big hit, or hits should I say hits, were those of James Harrison on Mohamed Massaquoi and again James Harrison on Josh Cribbs. That dude is hella dirty, but that's just me... In both occasions the player was already on his way down and yet Mr. Harrison felt it his job to throw is full force forward, using his arms as leverage to sling himself cone first into the dome piece of both the Browns.
The other guys that left week 6 with concussions were David Garrard, Vince Young and Chris Cooley. But the last big hit I wish to highlight was the Patriot's Brandon Merriweather's hit of Baltimore's Todd Heap. This hit, much like that of James Harrison's seems to be more than just momentum and trying to get a head on the ball. See, Merriweather also added the last little pop after Heap was coming down with a ball and was already mid-tackle. To top it off, he launched himself upward. Heap was going down and Merriweather was going up in what seemed to aim directly at Heaps head.
Because of this, Roger Goddell and the NFL big wigs have decided to start handing out suspension on top of the fines they are already handing out for helmet to helmet hits in an attempt to reduce the head injury of its players.
This is where I have a problem. They are watering down our product. It's our product because it belongs to us. We're the ones who buy the tickets, the jerseys, the TV packages and all the other products that come with the game we love. No, headhunters aren't good. But lets not take all the great hits out of the this very well understood, violent game. And the NFL old guys(ex players) complain about the lack of being taken care of after they retire. And you know what, I feel for the really old guys. But this isn't the same game anymore. But anybody who retired in the 90s or 2000s and have enjoyed the absolutely RIDICULOUS salaries that these guys get don't need any help. They don't need a pension. I don't get a pension! I struggle to pay my bills every month and I'm going to have to work well into my sixties. So I have a little bit of a hard time finding sympathy for these guys who make enough in one season at the veteran minimum(310K/yr) for me to not have to work another day in my life. So why, Mr Goddell are we protecting these overpaid performers who UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY SIGNED UP FOR!! You ask Desean Jackson and Mohammad Massaquoi which they would choose if they would never have to take another hit again but would have to work for the next 40 years or play for another 5-7 years and make 25 million while getting crushed every Sunday. I have a feeling it's not gonna take em long to answer.
This is all about me. I'm not gonna complain anymore about the salaries how stupid all of that is. But I am going to beg the NFL to not move so quickly with all this stuff and let time play it's course. Yes, we had a pretty hard hitting Sunday and some guys got hurt. But don't take away what we love so much about this game. In the cases of Heap, Jackson and Massaquoi's, they went across the middle. They no better and might think twice about it next time... Or maybe they won't, cause they know good and well what came with the job when they signed across the bottom line.
From the moment I tuned the TV to football I was hearing about the bone jarring hits that had taken place. But I'm pretty much used to seeing big hits. I'm from the DC area and live in the Baltimore area. So seeing Sean Taylor, Ray Lewis, Laron Landry and Terrell Suggs pop dudes is no new news to me. The first hit I saw was the Dunta Robinson hit across the middle to the low flying Desean Jackson. Both players were out cold with concussions. After seeing the replays it looks like he lead with his shoulder and got a pretty clean shot. But both players couldn't help but crack skulls. The next big hit, or hits should I say hits, were those of James Harrison on Mohamed Massaquoi and again James Harrison on Josh Cribbs. That dude is hella dirty, but that's just me... In both occasions the player was already on his way down and yet Mr. Harrison felt it his job to throw is full force forward, using his arms as leverage to sling himself cone first into the dome piece of both the Browns.
The other guys that left week 6 with concussions were David Garrard, Vince Young and Chris Cooley. But the last big hit I wish to highlight was the Patriot's Brandon Merriweather's hit of Baltimore's Todd Heap. This hit, much like that of James Harrison's seems to be more than just momentum and trying to get a head on the ball. See, Merriweather also added the last little pop after Heap was coming down with a ball and was already mid-tackle. To top it off, he launched himself upward. Heap was going down and Merriweather was going up in what seemed to aim directly at Heaps head.
Because of this, Roger Goddell and the NFL big wigs have decided to start handing out suspension on top of the fines they are already handing out for helmet to helmet hits in an attempt to reduce the head injury of its players.
This is where I have a problem. They are watering down our product. It's our product because it belongs to us. We're the ones who buy the tickets, the jerseys, the TV packages and all the other products that come with the game we love. No, headhunters aren't good. But lets not take all the great hits out of the this very well understood, violent game. And the NFL old guys(ex players) complain about the lack of being taken care of after they retire. And you know what, I feel for the really old guys. But this isn't the same game anymore. But anybody who retired in the 90s or 2000s and have enjoyed the absolutely RIDICULOUS salaries that these guys get don't need any help. They don't need a pension. I don't get a pension! I struggle to pay my bills every month and I'm going to have to work well into my sixties. So I have a little bit of a hard time finding sympathy for these guys who make enough in one season at the veteran minimum(310K/yr) for me to not have to work another day in my life. So why, Mr Goddell are we protecting these overpaid performers who UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY SIGNED UP FOR!! You ask Desean Jackson and Mohammad Massaquoi which they would choose if they would never have to take another hit again but would have to work for the next 40 years or play for another 5-7 years and make 25 million while getting crushed every Sunday. I have a feeling it's not gonna take em long to answer.
This is all about me. I'm not gonna complain anymore about the salaries how stupid all of that is. But I am going to beg the NFL to not move so quickly with all this stuff and let time play it's course. Yes, we had a pretty hard hitting Sunday and some guys got hurt. But don't take away what we love so much about this game. In the cases of Heap, Jackson and Massaquoi's, they went across the middle. They no better and might think twice about it next time... Or maybe they won't, cause they know good and well what came with the job when they signed across the bottom line.
I don't can't care what you think, Mel Gibson is awesome. The complete blog entry.
So a couple months ago there was a conversation that started about who was our favorite/best actor(ress). I decided to take this to the next level, and through a series of values given to people votes, we established a unified list of the top 20 actors alive. Now understand, you will disagree with this list. But I DISAGREE with this list!! This isn't MY list!! My list would be very different and I would love to know what YOUR list would look like. Hell, I would totally be willing to make a new, modified list. Anyway, this is a consensus list of friends and family that were around when this was made. It took us like 5 hours to establish this and a lot of heated conversations to convince others of why Clooney is so great and who cares if Denzel only has one good film! I'm going to post 5 of these a week for the next 5 weeks in the form of a grand countdown. So without anymore blabbering, here is 20-16.
20. Brad Pitt
Brad ALMOST didn't make this list, but Brad is one of those actors who you can't help but love. He has some of the more memorable roles in film history with bold characters like Tyler Durden in Fight Club opposite (spoiler alert, he didn't make the list, despite some bloodletting) Ed Norton as essentially the same person. Or in the NASTY 90s when he was awesome in 94 and 95 roles in Interview with a Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Se7en and Twelve Monkeys. if those weren't enough to seal him into the list, he topped off his spot in the fun to watch Ocean's 11,12 and 13. Although he was awesome in all of these roles, my first and still favorite character of all was detective Frank Harris in 1992's Cool World where he battled between the seduction of reality and cartoon. Cool cool world without a doubt.
19. Adam Sandler
Ok so I can't lie... I had no part in voting Adam into this list at all and I STILL can't deny his comedic impression he placed upon the late 90s. When i was younger, my brothers and I would fall asleep(or even worse, not fall asleep) to Billy Madison ever night for 2 years. we could quote that movie and for the most part i still can, top to bottom. Adam's best movies by far are his comedies. We all chuckling to ourselves when we think about Bob Barker beating the crap out of him in Happy Gilmore, or the debate over tongue or no tongue for the first kiss on your wedding day before settling with "church tongue" with Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer. I remember literally falling to the ground in laughter when he first sacked the quarterback in The Waterboy or getting my clues of what not to do as a father in Big Daddy. But that's kind of where it ends. I mean, I still enjoyed airheads, Anger Management and Punch-Drunk Love... but it was much different than Bill and Happy... But so happy Madison stands at 19 in our list.
18. Don Cheadle
NOBODY wants to listen to me when I said Don Cheadle might be Top 10! And so he sits here at #18. It's hard to convince someone how great an actor some is if they haven't seen his awesome roles in TRAFFIC, CRASH, HOTEL RWANDA and TRAITOR. I freaking LOVE those movies!!! Like seriously, he was awesome. But the downside is that is kind of it. Sure he was good in Family Man, Boogie Nights and the ocean's series... but that's about it. Seriously, how good is traffic? Whew... Plus, Don Cheadle is very very cool.
17. Jim Carey
Ahhhh, here's a sleeper. You NEVER think of Jim Carey as a "Great Actor" because the first roles you think of(and there's a lot) are great but simpler parts from Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, The Cable Guy, Batman and Robin, Liar Liar and more recently in Yes man and Bruce Almighty. But Jim has worked very hard to not be limited as "The Funny Guy". Jim Carey was fabulous in the very deep, convincing role in man on the Moon as he played Andy Kaufman to a T. He also pulled away in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which along with The Cable Guy is a battle for my favorite Jim Carey movies. Jim Carey is a VERY VERY good actor and if you haven't picked up one of his movies in a while I would highly recommend hitting up some netflix and checking a couple out as you'll laugh and probably find a spot to cry as well.... or worst case scenario, cry from laughing! A couple others to think about would be The truman Show, The Number 23 and The Majestic.
16. Morgan Freeman
What!?!? 16?!?!/ Ae you kidding me?!?! Morgan Freeman... The Voice... is showing up this early in the list at #16?!?!? Yes, he's 16, so get over it! Alright, I'm gonna rattle off a couple gems for ya. Million Dollar Baby, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Gone Baby Gone, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, Outbreak, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Se7en, and playing Nelson Mandela in Invictus. No, I haven't seen all these movies... But not all of these movies are great!!! There are some very good, very memorable roles, but honesty... I think Morgan Freeman will do any movie willing to pay him enough money because according to the list I'm looking at... he hasn't done THAT many really great ones. But that's why this is my blog and I get to write what I want. Shawshank is probably one of MY top...what..?.. 10 favorite movies of all time. That's a different list for a different day.
Come check back next week when I give you our 15-11 that I think you'll be pretty happy with as a whole. OH, can't forget!
Beer of the Week: Oskar Blue's GUBNA. It's a 10% abv Imperial India Pale Ale and it is SO delicious. It's like the Shawshank Redeption of beers!!
Music of the Week but probably more likely "of the Day": Vendetta Red: White Knuckled Substance
And finally my Netflix recomendations 20-16:
Brad Pitt: Cool World
Adam Sandler: Anger Management, but only if you've seen Billy Madison a thousand times.
Don Cheadle: Traffic
Jim Carey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Morgan Freeman: Shawshank? The Dark Knight? Either one is a good idea, whatever your mood prefers.
15. Dustin Hoffman
Ok, so maybe I'm the under educated one who kind of slept on Dustin Hoffman. I definitely didn't give him the film respect that maybe I should have. Had I added a little more value to Dustin he might be a top 10er... Maybe. Needless to say, I did spit some anti-Hoffman haterade and I was probably in the wrong. As I am IMDBing him I am seeing a LOT of quality. I mean, you think about The Graduate, Lenny, Kramer vs. Kramer and his amazing portrayal of Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man were all awesome. One of my Father's favorites of all time and for good reason is Tootsie. He played the role awesome and we super funny on top of it! I think part of the reason I sleep on him is that a lot of his best work was pre-2000s and therefore isn't in my generational wheelhouse. He will always be memorable for me in Sphere, Hook and everybody loved him in Meet The Fockers! He deserves a spot on this list, but I don't know if we every really know where to place him.
14. Tom Cruise
14? Maybe #1? Who knows, but I LOVE Tom Cruise!!! He is always entertaining to watch. He's like Brad Pitt like that. They don't usually have the deepest characters or the most complex roles but they do a damn good job at entertaining you! Get this: Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, and The Firm. That is only the first 10 or so years!!! Those are Hall of Famers!! Minus Days of Thunder but I put that there because it's a sleeper favorite of mine. Than he gets kicking AGAIN over the next 10 years with these blockbusters: Interview with a Vampire, The Mission: Impossible Series, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral and War of the Worlds!! I think I've seen every freaking Tom Cruise movie, maybe a thousand times!! He's awesome!!! No, those aren't all great roles or even great movies, but you enjoyed them and leave with a smile on your face. Top it off with Tom playing Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder and you've got a nice little resume there. And ya know what? I wanna go see Knight and Day. Cause it looks entertaining. I still believe he was at his best in Jerry Maguire but my family insists he was the coolest in Collateral. Hats of Tom, hats of you crazy alien loving movie magic, money making machine!
13. Robert De Niro
Ok, so at this point I get it. People have their rankings and we never believe it until we see the people ranked better than them and take a second to think about it. I get it. 40 years. Thats how long Rebert De Niro has been cranking out HITS. Like straight up gold plated glory! Godfather part II!!!! Yeah! What about Taxi Driver!?!?! Or The Deer Hunter!?!!? Raging Bull! Goodfellas!?!?!? Awmagawd I love Goodfellas. Backdraft! Heat!! Casino!?!? That's like a top 10 all time great movie! And then this is where Robert really shines. He has these roles that he treats special and individual but continues to throw you a wrench like in the Meet the Parents series. Robert De Niro is an all time great. He really is a class act and his great movies are some of the greatest ever.
12. Denzel Washington
This one was tough for me. Denzel plays one of my favorite roles of all time as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day. But aside from 1 or 2 epic roles, I can't think of a LOAD of movies that make me jump in excitement to put him really high in this list. Others must have felt similar to me for him to settle at 12. Despite acting a lot for 10 years he never really had a standout role except for pvt Trip in Glory until he came into the lead in Malcolm X. I'm not gonna lie... I haven't seen it. It's on my to-see list but I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'm not here to convince you that Denzel isn't some epic actor... I am just having trouble mentioning a lot of roles that blew me away. Sure, Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, Crimson Tide and Courage Under Fire were all good movies, but worthy of placing him at 12? No. But I am going to stand on the fact that Training Day IS Denzel Washington! NO OTHER actor could have played that character. None! Sure, Remember the Titans was a feel good and Man on Fire was AWESOME... but I will always compare Denzel to Alonzo... can't help it.
11. Vince Vaughn
I know. You're freaking out. How is Vince Vaughn even on your list!?!? I know. I thought the same thing at first. I JUST LOVE HIM!!! I can't help it!! And evidently I am not alone. Is he a better actor than denzel Washington? I don't know and I'm not here to debate that. I am here to tell you why he is holding down the #11 spot on my list and just consider yourself lucky he didn't jump to 9 or 8! Vince is only the 3rd and the 2nd to the last "funny guy" on our list. Vince's humor is a little differant. he's like the cool college buddy who says some off the wall stuff that he cmpletely believes in and convinces you to believe the same. I could go a couple different ways with Vince but he really is just a one dimensional actor. he has one card to play but plays it better than any other. Each of his characters carry a bit of all his characters before it. I mean, how many times do you quote Vince from Swingers, Wedding Crashers or Old School on a daily basis? I do, constantly!! But those are them. Those are the good movies. It's a short list. There are a couple more I really like, such as Made, The Break-Up, Dodgeball(which others like way more than me but... whatev)Fred Claus, Four Christmases(which I was pleasantly surprised with) and Couples Retreat.
Next week we get to break into the Top 10. For the most part I think it'll you'll be pretty pleased but there are a couple surprises, I won't lie!
Beer of the Week: I tried a couple more Oskar Blues. I snagged some Scotch Ale and Dale's Pale Ale. The Scotch Ale was absolutely delicious and was very affordable at 9.99 for a 6 pack. The Dale's was pleasantly hoppier than anticipated and finished very nicely. I also went to Lure's Beer Club yesterday and enjoy 6 limited release, keg only beers from Bear Republic. They were all really really good, especially the Racer X, a play on their flagship Racer 5 IPA.
Music of the Week: A little bit of a throwback: Further Seems Forever: The Moon is Down
And finally my Netflix recomendations 15-11:
Dustin Hoffman: Tootsie
Tom Cruise: Jerry Maguire
Robert De Niro: Goodfellas
Denzel Washington: Training Day
Vince Vaughn: Swingers... Or Old School
I know... I suck. I would have liked to be done with this list today rather than continuing it and drawing it out. I have a lot of other blogs to bring up, so I'm gonna post the next list in 3 days.... hopefully...
10. Will Ferrell
Will is the last of our comedic snipers on the list. And for good reason, he was able to crack the top 10. Make no mistake, Will Ferrell is awesome!!! He's a SNL alumn who is known for his awkward humor. Ferrell's first big chance on the silver screen was in the cult-favorite, Night at the Roxbury, in a return to another SNL skit brought to the big screen in 1998. Then 2001 came around and Ferrell was off to the races as Mugatu in Zoolander and Frank the Tank in one of my all time favorite movies, Old School. The subtle nuances in both of these characters in which he isn't the star and yet HE is the character you remember most and are left quoting for weeks. I mean... there are a LOT of really really funny movies from Will Ferrell. Elf is a Christmas classic that if it's ever on, I have to watch it. I quote Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy on a daily basis. He also delivered quite the memories as the funeral crashing ladies man, Chazz Reinhold in Wedding Crashers. If you haven't seen these next movies, than you need to tap your redbox and get on it: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Stranger than Fiction, The Producers, Semi-Pro and Blades of Glory. But to top this off, I need to plead with you. There are 2 movies that Will has done in the last 3 years that nobody EVER thinks of when they think of very funny movies. I don't believe either of these movies pulled the money people thought they would and maybe people were just done with Ferrell's style of humor. The first is Step Brothers. The story is SO unlikely and out there but the comedic battle and constant hillarious lines that go back and forth between Will Ferrell and John C. Riley really is epic. Step Brothers is SO freaking good. Next, and the last Ferrell movie I'll comment on is Land of the Lost. This came out last summer and I was very sceptical of what the story lines would be. I watched Land of the Lost when I was younger, so this series is very near to my heart. But they did it. A different story altogether, but one that is full of laughs. Go Get This Movie!
9. Eric Roberts
Um... I don't know how Eric Roberts made this list... I mean, I love the Best of the Best series... He was also good in The Dark Knight, I guess... did you know that he is one of the only actors whos name automatically becomes cool when you say his whole name rather than shorten it. Like seriously, his dearest friends and family, only refer to him as Eric Roberts. No Lie! But seriously, how did this happen?? Who put Eric Roberts on this list!?!?!? Is this a joke?? Hold on... Wait... Oh, its not Eric Roberts? His sister?? Who the heck is Eric Roberts sister? Oh, dang, Julia? I didn't know Julia was Eric Roberts sister. Thats crazy... ok, so I guess the...#9 spot is saved for Julia Roberts, not her brother Eric Roberts. Julia is the ONLY woman on our entire list. I'm sorry, we did kind of whore out Meryl Streep. But we did that to quite a few people. She should probably be taking the next spot, but for now we're talking about Julia... and not Meryl. It's kind of crazy... she hasn't done a thousand movies. She's been very choosy when it comes to her films. Obviously we remember our personal faves, Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, My Best Friend's Wedding, Erin Brochovich, The Ocean's series... Actually that's it. I mean, I loved her in Charlie Wilson's War, but... I mean, she must be one of Americas most beloved actresses. I mean... you've seen em all, so I don't really have any never before seens to recommend.
8. Christian Bale
Seriously. Christian Bale? I mean, I like him and all, but hey, I guess the voting goes how the voting goes and thus Christian Bale (and not Bradley Cooper, who would be on MY list) is #8. For real, Christian Bale single handedly saved the Batman series. Yeah, I know, I hate his "Batman" voice also, but he really does play a really good Bruce Wayne, like, he totally gets the whole swagger, rich kid vibe and rocks it to the max. Some people think that it was Heath Ledger who saved the series, but Ledger was only in the second one, and it was awesome, but there wouldn't even be a second one if Bale hadn't owned the first. Now before I delve into the NEW Christian Bale, I want to touch on the OLD, hella cool Christian Bale. The one who did Treasure Island, Swing Kids and Newsies!! ALL 3 OF THOSE MOVIES WERE AWESOME!!! You cant even buy Swing Kids anymore. Its the story of best friends in the Nazi era that to get away from the Nazi regime would go to late night swing clubs until one day Bale decides to build himself a better life and join the Nazis and thus begins the battle with all his "Swing Kids" friends. Really a good one. I mention it because it is one of my total faves. Bale was also in another one I go back to alot, A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Shakespeare play with Michelle Pfiffer. You know what, Christian Bale is awesome and maybe should be in the Top 5! He was excellent in American Psycho and everything I've heard says that The Machinist is great too, but I just haven't found the time to make that happen. What? He's a voice in Howl's Moving Castle.. hmmm... That's cool. To finish off the Christian Bale list I would like to talk about: The Prestige. Its a film about 2 best friend magicians that become rivals to find the ultimate trick and to struggle with passion, integrity and the lines between a trick and reality. This is a very very good film that keeps you watching and hating yourself each time you blink because you don't want to miss half a second.
7. George Clooney
George is maybe my personal number 1. If the other people who helped established this list had seen more of his good work, he would be much much higher. But they hadn't, and so he isn't any higher than #7. George first became visible to us in the TV show ER, which I watch for years every Thursday night on NBC. But this is a movie list. And George Clooney first started off a bit rocky with a three movie run of From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day and Batman & Robin. There was a reason they stopped making Batman movies after his... Cause it kinda sucked. But than something seemed to click with Clooney as he started to put out some absolute gems. The first of which being Oh! Brother Where Art Thou, which was a different view than we're generally used to. This began a trend for Mr. Clooney who would put out a couple blockbusters that made a TON of money, only so he could fund his desire to make GREAT movies that nobody would ever see. Blockbusters: The lead character Danny Ocean in the Ocean's Series, Spy Kids 3-D and Leatherheads. But the movies he has made that I am forever in love with are Three Kings, Syriana and Michael Clayton. I wish I could talk about Up In the Air or The Men Who Stare at Goats, but I haven't seen them, Apparently, Up In the Air is a great one. If you ever see a nondescript movie that goes under the radar that has Clooney, its probably awesome. I would compare him to or even call him, the white Don Cheadle.
6. Johnny Depp
Ahhh, our generation's Brando?? Dean?? All I know is if he is on the screen, the theater will be full of men and women alike. Because despite being quite the heartthrob, he is also one of the more fascinating and acclaimed actors in Hollywood. Platoon!!!! Awesome! Edward Scissorhands, I cried harder at that movie than any other movie prior. Then he goes on quite the run: Benny & Joon, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco(you know me and Mob movies), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Sleepy Hallow all in like a 5 year run of very very high quality films. Then comes the Pirates of the Caribean series in which we all love the first one and each one to follow a little less than the one prior. Johnny has done a couple great ones and than he's done a couple duds. Do I blame him or his boyfriend Tim Burton, the director that seems essential connected to Depp at the hip. I blame em both! I'll rattle off a couple they've done and you can decide for yourself and I'll also give you mine own simple good or bad as well: Edwad Scissorhands (Good), Corpse Bride (Good), Alice in Wonderland (Dunno), Sweeney Todd (Good), Charlie and the Chocolate factory ( Bad), Ed Wood (Good). Much like Clooney, the less of a big deal the movie is, the more I like Depp and the movie as a whole. Sweeney Todd is a great example as he WAS the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Blow was also way good although I am overdue for another viewing of it as it has been too long. The Astronaught's Wife was deep and my family all loved Secret Window but my favorite of all time was What's Eating Gilbert Grape as a small town brother to a mentalling challenged kid (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the son to a morbidly obese mother in just an awesome movie you will never forget. Fabulous... Makes me wanna go put it in the vcr right now !!!
Until the next one, here are my recommendations.
Beer of the Week: I went on a no drinking for 30 days run ( for the sake of my health, wallet, and just to challange myself a bit) and I stopped at 11 days on July 4th realizing that July 4th weekend, summer as a whole, fall because of Oktoberfest and winter because of all the epic holiday beers, just aren't the right times to NOT drink. So, I may try again come march 18th ;) But I just had quite a refreshing 21st Amendment: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat beer. Really subtle watermelon flavor goes great with the crispness of this wheat beer. This might just be my beer of the summer! Well done 21st Amendment.
Music of the Week: Been rockin a lot of ACDC lately, so go download some!!
And finally my Netflix recomendations 10-6:
Will Ferrell: Step Brothers and Land of the Lost
Eric Roberts: Best of the Best
Julia Roberts: Charlie Wilson's War
Christian Bale: The Prestige
George Clooney: Syriana
Johnny Depp: What's Eating Gilbert Grap
Ok, so 3 days turned into to 3 months, but I lost my account password and I was on vacation and... ya know what..?.. I was lazy. And thus we end now: I don't care what you think, Mel Gibson is awesome!! The finally, 5 thru 1 !!!
5. Christopher Walken
Not only a great actor, but a top notch favorite actor. if it has Walken in it, I want to see it. He's done everything from plucky, to scary, from fun loving to evil. Walken has and continues to put out "all-time film" after "all-time film". In 1978, Walken blew everyone away with Robert Di Niro in The Deer Hunter... The Russian roulette scene is just too good. As far as I see it, he didn't really put out another crusher until King of New York in 1990. He quickly followed that up in Pulp Fiction as captain Koons and my favorite Walken flick ever, playing Gabriel in The Prophecy. the premise of The Prophecy is the spirit of the most evil man in the world inhabits the body of a young Indian girl and Gabriel comes down from heaven in hopes of killing the girl and setting free this spirit which would open up a heavenly war and dismantle God's reign. All of this because Gabriel is jealous of God's love for humans. REALLY freaking AWESOME movie! There's a Prophecy 2 and 3, I just haven't seen them because I didn't want to ruin the initial performance... but I may just have to break down and check em out. He finished of the 90s with Blast From the Past and Sleepy Hollow where he was just scary... I don't even know if he had any lines...But most of his most memorable performances have been in the 2000s in films like: Catch Me If You Can, Man on Fire, Click and Wedding Crashers. Christopher Walken's wild, individual style of acting will always have him bring drama and humor to the big screen and maybe a couple small ones on the occasional SNL hosting. Keep it up Chris!
4. Clint Eastwood
Clint is a different one. because despite what he has done acting, it's hard to not also look at his mammoth directing and producing credits as well. As far as the acting goes, he seems to be settling down after a very full career. As Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he quickly became the new star of the Western streets, essential taking the role from John Wayne. He would also continue to own the western market as the Outlaw Josey Wales, Rawhide, Hang Em' High and even the country musical, Paint Your Wagon. He ended it more recently with Unforgiven. How many great ones are there?? The Dirty Harry series, In the Line of Fire, Million Dollar Baby, Escape From Alcatraz, and Gran Torrino. Did you know he Directed Invictus, Letters From Iwo Jimo, Changling, Unforgiven, and we all knew about Mystic River. Clint really has established himself as a Hall of Famer.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
I just want to put it out there... If we remade this list, it would more than likely have a couple changes. One of those changes would be Leo DiCap to #1. Im gonna drop a couple bombs on you and we'll see how you handle it. Shutter Island! Blood Diamond! Basketball Diaries! Titanic! Romeo + Juliet! Gangs of New York! The Beach! The Departed! Catch Me if You Can! The Aviator! And most recently, Inception. That is a pretty nasty list of movies right there. Oh, and I forgot: what's Eating Gilbert Grape. People bash Inception and say all sorts of crazy stuff about it. I walked away from it astonished. I was so pleased with it as a film and overall movie enjoyment. Leo has matured better than most players could ever wish. He had a bunch of big strong roles at a very young age with Titanic, Romeo and Gilbert Grape. It would be expected that his best work was behind him... But NO, he just changes with time and maturity. I mean, if you look at the big recent ones like Blood Diamond, Shutter Island and Gangs of New York... what more could you ask for? And what is it about him doing films over 2 hours in length?? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy them, but in this gotta have it fast society, it becomes so rare to have a good film.On top of that, once a movie goes past 2 hours we cant seem to handle it... but I can really watch these over and over. Keep up the good work Leo!
2. Mel Gibson
Yes, Mel Gibson may be a bigot nut job. But he has starred in and directed some of the best movies I've ever seen. Well, maybe not movie(s) but at least movie. During our countdown process so many months ago we just kept coming back to Braveheart. I mean, if I did this list over, and I may in a couple years, Mel might not even make the list. He also might still be a Top 10er to though. His body of work is so strong its hard to deny, no matter how much of a douche he may be in real life. Lets start at the top. Who didn't love MadMax??? Those are absolute man's man type of movies. Good strong action flick with a really BA lead. Then he busted out with all 4 of the Lethal Weapon movies which were all action pack, funny and an all around joy to watch. Especially when their on tbs all in a row!! Can't turn em off to save my life! This is where Mel took a turn and decided to be Mr. Loverboy to all the ladies and ran off an 8 year run of chick flicks. He didn't forget the guys during this period but definitely dedicated more time to the hunnies, with films like: Forever Young, The Man Without a Face, Maverick(comedy, but the chicks still loved it) and What Women Want in which he receive the super powers of being able to hear what women were thinking and thus used to to his benefit and then turned into a weak piece of weepy jello and grew emotions or some garbage. I never saw the whole thing so... Like I said, he didn't forget the fellas at this point, while in that same time span rocked the screen with some GREAT movies. Sir William Wallace in Braveheart... need I say more? Oh, you want me to, ok. "YOU CAN TAKE MY LIFE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE MY FREEDOM!!!!!!" Queue goosebumps. Followed all to closely with Ransom, Payback(sleeper good one) and the movie by which I hear quoted every time I shoot my bow with my brothers and Dad: Aim small, miss small: The Patriot. I never saw We Were Soldiers so I can't really talk about that... Or Apocalypto for that matter, but I didn't hear to many good things. But what is the opinion of someone else in my blog really worth? Anyway. This brings me to the last 2 for me to make my Mel Gibson case. I have to mention what may stand as the benchmark and maybe best "real life" case for an alien movie in Signs. I still watch it all the time. It connects the spiritual struggles of a Pastor who has left God because his wife died and the connections of that, with his family and the whole alien debacle. Maybe the last good Jacqueen Pheonix movie as well. And finally, you can't mention Mel without bringing up his Director and Producer role in his film: The Passion of the Christ. I am still moved by that movie. Not by the gross scenes or the argued accuracies to inaccuracies of the adaptation of Christ's crucifixion. But I am moved by the humanity of it. Mel managed to capture the inner battle of Jesus and his spiritual calling that had to be intertwined with his own humanity. I will still cry uncontrollably whenever I see the scene when Jesus is carrying the cross and he falls again and his Mother Mary who has been trying to see him, finally reaches him and he just looks to her and says "See, mother, I make all things new". That is almost the basis of my entire love relationship with God. WOW, KIND OF GOT AWAY AND GOT ON A BIT OF A TANGENT, I APOLOGIZE...KIND OF. ANYWAY, GOOD ACTOR, GOOD DIRECTOR, GOOD PRODUCER AND NUMBER 2.
1. Tom Hanks
Hmmm, Tom Hanks. What can I say that others before me haven't. I got it: All Killer No Filler!!! Tom has done a lot of acting so I am going to do my best to keep it tight and condensed. I always thought Tom was a big hit in the 80s and just continued, but if you look at it, he didn't even really get going until the 90s. Sure, we loved Big, Turner and Hooch, Joe Versus the Volcano and even Bachelor Party, but that's about it for the 80s. The decade turned and with it did Tom Hanks as well. None of those goofy fun loving characters here, well maybe a couple. A League of their Own about a 1940s female baseball league... Okay, So I was gonna rattle them off, but I realized just how big each of these movies actually are. Philadelphia! Not viewed the same way as society has changed in the whole gay/lesbian landscape, but this film was paramount. Forrest Gump! Maybe a top 5 movie of all time, encompassing ever angle of emotions possible but with a joyful twist around each corner. Apollo 13! If you don't know what that is, than go cut your wrist right now as you don't serve a purpose in society. Toy Story 1, 2 and 3!!! I mean, really!?!?! Woody is the best!!! The musical comedy: That Thing You Do, about a 1950s do-wop band. Really fun movie altogether. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN! The military movie by which all other military movies are judge. So great, just so great. The Green Mile! Another big time award winner. Just top to bottom great. Are we starting to see a trend that could lead to you being the best actor in Hollywood??? Cast Away: Essentially a one man movie about a guy that survives a plane crash onto a deserted island and lives out his days there trying to find a way off while befriending a volleyball... Band of Brothers, Road to Perdition, Catch Me if You Can, The Ladykillers, The Terminal (my favorite map in CoD4MW2), Cars, The DaVinci Code 1 and 2, and Charlie Wilson's War. How funny that we end that with Charlie Wilson's war as that is going to be my recommendation. I think it's a very insightful movie about a Congressman's dealings in Afghanistan to help rebels defeat the soviets with loads of hilarious tidbits along the way. Its a drama, but a very smart and funny drama. Tom Hanks is it. Every young actor only dreams of being in a handle full of the dozens of movie he has.
I'll have music and beer recommendation on my next blog but I had to get all of this out of the way first.
And finally my Netflix recomendations 5-1:
Christopher Walken: The Prophecy
Clint Eastwood: Escape from Alcatraz
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Departed
Mel Gibson: Payback
Tom Hanks: Charlie Wilson's War
Thanks again for sticking around. Sorry for holding you hostage for 3 months.
20. Brad Pitt
Brad ALMOST didn't make this list, but Brad is one of those actors who you can't help but love. He has some of the more memorable roles in film history with bold characters like Tyler Durden in Fight Club opposite (spoiler alert, he didn't make the list, despite some bloodletting) Ed Norton as essentially the same person. Or in the NASTY 90s when he was awesome in 94 and 95 roles in Interview with a Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Se7en and Twelve Monkeys. if those weren't enough to seal him into the list, he topped off his spot in the fun to watch Ocean's 11,12 and 13. Although he was awesome in all of these roles, my first and still favorite character of all was detective Frank Harris in 1992's Cool World where he battled between the seduction of reality and cartoon. Cool cool world without a doubt.
19. Adam Sandler
Ok so I can't lie... I had no part in voting Adam into this list at all and I STILL can't deny his comedic impression he placed upon the late 90s. When i was younger, my brothers and I would fall asleep(or even worse, not fall asleep) to Billy Madison ever night for 2 years. we could quote that movie and for the most part i still can, top to bottom. Adam's best movies by far are his comedies. We all chuckling to ourselves when we think about Bob Barker beating the crap out of him in Happy Gilmore, or the debate over tongue or no tongue for the first kiss on your wedding day before settling with "church tongue" with Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer. I remember literally falling to the ground in laughter when he first sacked the quarterback in The Waterboy or getting my clues of what not to do as a father in Big Daddy. But that's kind of where it ends. I mean, I still enjoyed airheads, Anger Management and Punch-Drunk Love... but it was much different than Bill and Happy... But so happy Madison stands at 19 in our list.
18. Don Cheadle
NOBODY wants to listen to me when I said Don Cheadle might be Top 10! And so he sits here at #18. It's hard to convince someone how great an actor some is if they haven't seen his awesome roles in TRAFFIC, CRASH, HOTEL RWANDA and TRAITOR. I freaking LOVE those movies!!! Like seriously, he was awesome. But the downside is that is kind of it. Sure he was good in Family Man, Boogie Nights and the ocean's series... but that's about it. Seriously, how good is traffic? Whew... Plus, Don Cheadle is very very cool.
17. Jim Carey
Ahhhh, here's a sleeper. You NEVER think of Jim Carey as a "Great Actor" because the first roles you think of(and there's a lot) are great but simpler parts from Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, The Cable Guy, Batman and Robin, Liar Liar and more recently in Yes man and Bruce Almighty. But Jim has worked very hard to not be limited as "The Funny Guy". Jim Carey was fabulous in the very deep, convincing role in man on the Moon as he played Andy Kaufman to a T. He also pulled away in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which along with The Cable Guy is a battle for my favorite Jim Carey movies. Jim Carey is a VERY VERY good actor and if you haven't picked up one of his movies in a while I would highly recommend hitting up some netflix and checking a couple out as you'll laugh and probably find a spot to cry as well.... or worst case scenario, cry from laughing! A couple others to think about would be The truman Show, The Number 23 and The Majestic.
16. Morgan Freeman
What!?!? 16?!?!/ Ae you kidding me?!?! Morgan Freeman... The Voice... is showing up this early in the list at #16?!?!? Yes, he's 16, so get over it! Alright, I'm gonna rattle off a couple gems for ya. Million Dollar Baby, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Gone Baby Gone, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, Outbreak, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Se7en, and playing Nelson Mandela in Invictus. No, I haven't seen all these movies... But not all of these movies are great!!! There are some very good, very memorable roles, but honesty... I think Morgan Freeman will do any movie willing to pay him enough money because according to the list I'm looking at... he hasn't done THAT many really great ones. But that's why this is my blog and I get to write what I want. Shawshank is probably one of MY top...what..?.. 10 favorite movies of all time. That's a different list for a different day.
Come check back next week when I give you our 15-11 that I think you'll be pretty happy with as a whole. OH, can't forget!
Beer of the Week: Oskar Blue's GUBNA. It's a 10% abv Imperial India Pale Ale and it is SO delicious. It's like the Shawshank Redeption of beers!!
Music of the Week but probably more likely "of the Day": Vendetta Red: White Knuckled Substance
And finally my Netflix recomendations 20-16:
Brad Pitt: Cool World
Adam Sandler: Anger Management, but only if you've seen Billy Madison a thousand times.
Don Cheadle: Traffic
Jim Carey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Morgan Freeman: Shawshank? The Dark Knight? Either one is a good idea, whatever your mood prefers.
15. Dustin Hoffman
Ok, so maybe I'm the under educated one who kind of slept on Dustin Hoffman. I definitely didn't give him the film respect that maybe I should have. Had I added a little more value to Dustin he might be a top 10er... Maybe. Needless to say, I did spit some anti-Hoffman haterade and I was probably in the wrong. As I am IMDBing him I am seeing a LOT of quality. I mean, you think about The Graduate, Lenny, Kramer vs. Kramer and his amazing portrayal of Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man were all awesome. One of my Father's favorites of all time and for good reason is Tootsie. He played the role awesome and we super funny on top of it! I think part of the reason I sleep on him is that a lot of his best work was pre-2000s and therefore isn't in my generational wheelhouse. He will always be memorable for me in Sphere, Hook and everybody loved him in Meet The Fockers! He deserves a spot on this list, but I don't know if we every really know where to place him.
14. Tom Cruise
14? Maybe #1? Who knows, but I LOVE Tom Cruise!!! He is always entertaining to watch. He's like Brad Pitt like that. They don't usually have the deepest characters or the most complex roles but they do a damn good job at entertaining you! Get this: Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, and The Firm. That is only the first 10 or so years!!! Those are Hall of Famers!! Minus Days of Thunder but I put that there because it's a sleeper favorite of mine. Than he gets kicking AGAIN over the next 10 years with these blockbusters: Interview with a Vampire, The Mission: Impossible Series, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral and War of the Worlds!! I think I've seen every freaking Tom Cruise movie, maybe a thousand times!! He's awesome!!! No, those aren't all great roles or even great movies, but you enjoyed them and leave with a smile on your face. Top it off with Tom playing Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder and you've got a nice little resume there. And ya know what? I wanna go see Knight and Day. Cause it looks entertaining. I still believe he was at his best in Jerry Maguire but my family insists he was the coolest in Collateral. Hats of Tom, hats of you crazy alien loving movie magic, money making machine!
13. Robert De Niro
Ok, so at this point I get it. People have their rankings and we never believe it until we see the people ranked better than them and take a second to think about it. I get it. 40 years. Thats how long Rebert De Niro has been cranking out HITS. Like straight up gold plated glory! Godfather part II!!!! Yeah! What about Taxi Driver!?!?! Or The Deer Hunter!?!!? Raging Bull! Goodfellas!?!?!? Awmagawd I love Goodfellas. Backdraft! Heat!! Casino!?!? That's like a top 10 all time great movie! And then this is where Robert really shines. He has these roles that he treats special and individual but continues to throw you a wrench like in the Meet the Parents series. Robert De Niro is an all time great. He really is a class act and his great movies are some of the greatest ever.
12. Denzel Washington
This one was tough for me. Denzel plays one of my favorite roles of all time as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day. But aside from 1 or 2 epic roles, I can't think of a LOAD of movies that make me jump in excitement to put him really high in this list. Others must have felt similar to me for him to settle at 12. Despite acting a lot for 10 years he never really had a standout role except for pvt Trip in Glory until he came into the lead in Malcolm X. I'm not gonna lie... I haven't seen it. It's on my to-see list but I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'm not here to convince you that Denzel isn't some epic actor... I am just having trouble mentioning a lot of roles that blew me away. Sure, Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, Crimson Tide and Courage Under Fire were all good movies, but worthy of placing him at 12? No. But I am going to stand on the fact that Training Day IS Denzel Washington! NO OTHER actor could have played that character. None! Sure, Remember the Titans was a feel good and Man on Fire was AWESOME... but I will always compare Denzel to Alonzo... can't help it.
11. Vince Vaughn
I know. You're freaking out. How is Vince Vaughn even on your list!?!? I know. I thought the same thing at first. I JUST LOVE HIM!!! I can't help it!! And evidently I am not alone. Is he a better actor than denzel Washington? I don't know and I'm not here to debate that. I am here to tell you why he is holding down the #11 spot on my list and just consider yourself lucky he didn't jump to 9 or 8! Vince is only the 3rd and the 2nd to the last "funny guy" on our list. Vince's humor is a little differant. he's like the cool college buddy who says some off the wall stuff that he cmpletely believes in and convinces you to believe the same. I could go a couple different ways with Vince but he really is just a one dimensional actor. he has one card to play but plays it better than any other. Each of his characters carry a bit of all his characters before it. I mean, how many times do you quote Vince from Swingers, Wedding Crashers or Old School on a daily basis? I do, constantly!! But those are them. Those are the good movies. It's a short list. There are a couple more I really like, such as Made, The Break-Up, Dodgeball(which others like way more than me but... whatev)Fred Claus, Four Christmases(which I was pleasantly surprised with) and Couples Retreat.
Next week we get to break into the Top 10. For the most part I think it'll you'll be pretty pleased but there are a couple surprises, I won't lie!
Beer of the Week: I tried a couple more Oskar Blues. I snagged some Scotch Ale and Dale's Pale Ale. The Scotch Ale was absolutely delicious and was very affordable at 9.99 for a 6 pack. The Dale's was pleasantly hoppier than anticipated and finished very nicely. I also went to Lure's Beer Club yesterday and enjoy 6 limited release, keg only beers from Bear Republic. They were all really really good, especially the Racer X, a play on their flagship Racer 5 IPA.
Music of the Week: A little bit of a throwback: Further Seems Forever: The Moon is Down
And finally my Netflix recomendations 15-11:
Dustin Hoffman: Tootsie
Tom Cruise: Jerry Maguire
Robert De Niro: Goodfellas
Denzel Washington: Training Day
Vince Vaughn: Swingers... Or Old School
I know... I suck. I would have liked to be done with this list today rather than continuing it and drawing it out. I have a lot of other blogs to bring up, so I'm gonna post the next list in 3 days.... hopefully...
10. Will Ferrell
Will is the last of our comedic snipers on the list. And for good reason, he was able to crack the top 10. Make no mistake, Will Ferrell is awesome!!! He's a SNL alumn who is known for his awkward humor. Ferrell's first big chance on the silver screen was in the cult-favorite, Night at the Roxbury, in a return to another SNL skit brought to the big screen in 1998. Then 2001 came around and Ferrell was off to the races as Mugatu in Zoolander and Frank the Tank in one of my all time favorite movies, Old School. The subtle nuances in both of these characters in which he isn't the star and yet HE is the character you remember most and are left quoting for weeks. I mean... there are a LOT of really really funny movies from Will Ferrell. Elf is a Christmas classic that if it's ever on, I have to watch it. I quote Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy on a daily basis. He also delivered quite the memories as the funeral crashing ladies man, Chazz Reinhold in Wedding Crashers. If you haven't seen these next movies, than you need to tap your redbox and get on it: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Stranger than Fiction, The Producers, Semi-Pro and Blades of Glory. But to top this off, I need to plead with you. There are 2 movies that Will has done in the last 3 years that nobody EVER thinks of when they think of very funny movies. I don't believe either of these movies pulled the money people thought they would and maybe people were just done with Ferrell's style of humor. The first is Step Brothers. The story is SO unlikely and out there but the comedic battle and constant hillarious lines that go back and forth between Will Ferrell and John C. Riley really is epic. Step Brothers is SO freaking good. Next, and the last Ferrell movie I'll comment on is Land of the Lost. This came out last summer and I was very sceptical of what the story lines would be. I watched Land of the Lost when I was younger, so this series is very near to my heart. But they did it. A different story altogether, but one that is full of laughs. Go Get This Movie!
9. Eric Roberts
Um... I don't know how Eric Roberts made this list... I mean, I love the Best of the Best series... He was also good in The Dark Knight, I guess... did you know that he is one of the only actors whos name automatically becomes cool when you say his whole name rather than shorten it. Like seriously, his dearest friends and family, only refer to him as Eric Roberts. No Lie! But seriously, how did this happen?? Who put Eric Roberts on this list!?!?!? Is this a joke?? Hold on... Wait... Oh, its not Eric Roberts? His sister?? Who the heck is Eric Roberts sister? Oh, dang, Julia? I didn't know Julia was Eric Roberts sister. Thats crazy... ok, so I guess the...#9 spot is saved for Julia Roberts, not her brother Eric Roberts. Julia is the ONLY woman on our entire list. I'm sorry, we did kind of whore out Meryl Streep. But we did that to quite a few people. She should probably be taking the next spot, but for now we're talking about Julia... and not Meryl. It's kind of crazy... she hasn't done a thousand movies. She's been very choosy when it comes to her films. Obviously we remember our personal faves, Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, My Best Friend's Wedding, Erin Brochovich, The Ocean's series... Actually that's it. I mean, I loved her in Charlie Wilson's War, but... I mean, she must be one of Americas most beloved actresses. I mean... you've seen em all, so I don't really have any never before seens to recommend.
8. Christian Bale
Seriously. Christian Bale? I mean, I like him and all, but hey, I guess the voting goes how the voting goes and thus Christian Bale (and not Bradley Cooper, who would be on MY list) is #8. For real, Christian Bale single handedly saved the Batman series. Yeah, I know, I hate his "Batman" voice also, but he really does play a really good Bruce Wayne, like, he totally gets the whole swagger, rich kid vibe and rocks it to the max. Some people think that it was Heath Ledger who saved the series, but Ledger was only in the second one, and it was awesome, but there wouldn't even be a second one if Bale hadn't owned the first. Now before I delve into the NEW Christian Bale, I want to touch on the OLD, hella cool Christian Bale. The one who did Treasure Island, Swing Kids and Newsies!! ALL 3 OF THOSE MOVIES WERE AWESOME!!! You cant even buy Swing Kids anymore. Its the story of best friends in the Nazi era that to get away from the Nazi regime would go to late night swing clubs until one day Bale decides to build himself a better life and join the Nazis and thus begins the battle with all his "Swing Kids" friends. Really a good one. I mention it because it is one of my total faves. Bale was also in another one I go back to alot, A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Shakespeare play with Michelle Pfiffer. You know what, Christian Bale is awesome and maybe should be in the Top 5! He was excellent in American Psycho and everything I've heard says that The Machinist is great too, but I just haven't found the time to make that happen. What? He's a voice in Howl's Moving Castle.. hmmm... That's cool. To finish off the Christian Bale list I would like to talk about: The Prestige. Its a film about 2 best friend magicians that become rivals to find the ultimate trick and to struggle with passion, integrity and the lines between a trick and reality. This is a very very good film that keeps you watching and hating yourself each time you blink because you don't want to miss half a second.
7. George Clooney
George is maybe my personal number 1. If the other people who helped established this list had seen more of his good work, he would be much much higher. But they hadn't, and so he isn't any higher than #7. George first became visible to us in the TV show ER, which I watch for years every Thursday night on NBC. But this is a movie list. And George Clooney first started off a bit rocky with a three movie run of From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day and Batman & Robin. There was a reason they stopped making Batman movies after his... Cause it kinda sucked. But than something seemed to click with Clooney as he started to put out some absolute gems. The first of which being Oh! Brother Where Art Thou, which was a different view than we're generally used to. This began a trend for Mr. Clooney who would put out a couple blockbusters that made a TON of money, only so he could fund his desire to make GREAT movies that nobody would ever see. Blockbusters: The lead character Danny Ocean in the Ocean's Series, Spy Kids 3-D and Leatherheads. But the movies he has made that I am forever in love with are Three Kings, Syriana and Michael Clayton. I wish I could talk about Up In the Air or The Men Who Stare at Goats, but I haven't seen them, Apparently, Up In the Air is a great one. If you ever see a nondescript movie that goes under the radar that has Clooney, its probably awesome. I would compare him to or even call him, the white Don Cheadle.
6. Johnny Depp
Ahhh, our generation's Brando?? Dean?? All I know is if he is on the screen, the theater will be full of men and women alike. Because despite being quite the heartthrob, he is also one of the more fascinating and acclaimed actors in Hollywood. Platoon!!!! Awesome! Edward Scissorhands, I cried harder at that movie than any other movie prior. Then he goes on quite the run: Benny & Joon, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco(you know me and Mob movies), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Sleepy Hallow all in like a 5 year run of very very high quality films. Then comes the Pirates of the Caribean series in which we all love the first one and each one to follow a little less than the one prior. Johnny has done a couple great ones and than he's done a couple duds. Do I blame him or his boyfriend Tim Burton, the director that seems essential connected to Depp at the hip. I blame em both! I'll rattle off a couple they've done and you can decide for yourself and I'll also give you mine own simple good or bad as well: Edwad Scissorhands (Good), Corpse Bride (Good), Alice in Wonderland (Dunno), Sweeney Todd (Good), Charlie and the Chocolate factory ( Bad), Ed Wood (Good). Much like Clooney, the less of a big deal the movie is, the more I like Depp and the movie as a whole. Sweeney Todd is a great example as he WAS the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Blow was also way good although I am overdue for another viewing of it as it has been too long. The Astronaught's Wife was deep and my family all loved Secret Window but my favorite of all time was What's Eating Gilbert Grape as a small town brother to a mentalling challenged kid (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the son to a morbidly obese mother in just an awesome movie you will never forget. Fabulous... Makes me wanna go put it in the vcr right now !!!
Until the next one, here are my recommendations.
Beer of the Week: I went on a no drinking for 30 days run ( for the sake of my health, wallet, and just to challange myself a bit) and I stopped at 11 days on July 4th realizing that July 4th weekend, summer as a whole, fall because of Oktoberfest and winter because of all the epic holiday beers, just aren't the right times to NOT drink. So, I may try again come march 18th ;) But I just had quite a refreshing 21st Amendment: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat beer. Really subtle watermelon flavor goes great with the crispness of this wheat beer. This might just be my beer of the summer! Well done 21st Amendment.
Music of the Week: Been rockin a lot of ACDC lately, so go download some!!
And finally my Netflix recomendations 10-6:
Will Ferrell: Step Brothers and Land of the Lost
Eric Roberts: Best of the Best
Julia Roberts: Charlie Wilson's War
Christian Bale: The Prestige
George Clooney: Syriana
Johnny Depp: What's Eating Gilbert Grap
Ok, so 3 days turned into to 3 months, but I lost my account password and I was on vacation and... ya know what..?.. I was lazy. And thus we end now: I don't care what you think, Mel Gibson is awesome!! The finally, 5 thru 1 !!!
5. Christopher Walken
Not only a great actor, but a top notch favorite actor. if it has Walken in it, I want to see it. He's done everything from plucky, to scary, from fun loving to evil. Walken has and continues to put out "all-time film" after "all-time film". In 1978, Walken blew everyone away with Robert Di Niro in The Deer Hunter... The Russian roulette scene is just too good. As far as I see it, he didn't really put out another crusher until King of New York in 1990. He quickly followed that up in Pulp Fiction as captain Koons and my favorite Walken flick ever, playing Gabriel in The Prophecy. the premise of The Prophecy is the spirit of the most evil man in the world inhabits the body of a young Indian girl and Gabriel comes down from heaven in hopes of killing the girl and setting free this spirit which would open up a heavenly war and dismantle God's reign. All of this because Gabriel is jealous of God's love for humans. REALLY freaking AWESOME movie! There's a Prophecy 2 and 3, I just haven't seen them because I didn't want to ruin the initial performance... but I may just have to break down and check em out. He finished of the 90s with Blast From the Past and Sleepy Hollow where he was just scary... I don't even know if he had any lines...But most of his most memorable performances have been in the 2000s in films like: Catch Me If You Can, Man on Fire, Click and Wedding Crashers. Christopher Walken's wild, individual style of acting will always have him bring drama and humor to the big screen and maybe a couple small ones on the occasional SNL hosting. Keep it up Chris!
4. Clint Eastwood
Clint is a different one. because despite what he has done acting, it's hard to not also look at his mammoth directing and producing credits as well. As far as the acting goes, he seems to be settling down after a very full career. As Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he quickly became the new star of the Western streets, essential taking the role from John Wayne. He would also continue to own the western market as the Outlaw Josey Wales, Rawhide, Hang Em' High and even the country musical, Paint Your Wagon. He ended it more recently with Unforgiven. How many great ones are there?? The Dirty Harry series, In the Line of Fire, Million Dollar Baby, Escape From Alcatraz, and Gran Torrino. Did you know he Directed Invictus, Letters From Iwo Jimo, Changling, Unforgiven, and we all knew about Mystic River. Clint really has established himself as a Hall of Famer.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
I just want to put it out there... If we remade this list, it would more than likely have a couple changes. One of those changes would be Leo DiCap to #1. Im gonna drop a couple bombs on you and we'll see how you handle it. Shutter Island! Blood Diamond! Basketball Diaries! Titanic! Romeo + Juliet! Gangs of New York! The Beach! The Departed! Catch Me if You Can! The Aviator! And most recently, Inception. That is a pretty nasty list of movies right there. Oh, and I forgot: what's Eating Gilbert Grape. People bash Inception and say all sorts of crazy stuff about it. I walked away from it astonished. I was so pleased with it as a film and overall movie enjoyment. Leo has matured better than most players could ever wish. He had a bunch of big strong roles at a very young age with Titanic, Romeo and Gilbert Grape. It would be expected that his best work was behind him... But NO, he just changes with time and maturity. I mean, if you look at the big recent ones like Blood Diamond, Shutter Island and Gangs of New York... what more could you ask for? And what is it about him doing films over 2 hours in length?? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy them, but in this gotta have it fast society, it becomes so rare to have a good film.On top of that, once a movie goes past 2 hours we cant seem to handle it... but I can really watch these over and over. Keep up the good work Leo!
2. Mel Gibson
Yes, Mel Gibson may be a bigot nut job. But he has starred in and directed some of the best movies I've ever seen. Well, maybe not movie(s) but at least movie. During our countdown process so many months ago we just kept coming back to Braveheart. I mean, if I did this list over, and I may in a couple years, Mel might not even make the list. He also might still be a Top 10er to though. His body of work is so strong its hard to deny, no matter how much of a douche he may be in real life. Lets start at the top. Who didn't love MadMax??? Those are absolute man's man type of movies. Good strong action flick with a really BA lead. Then he busted out with all 4 of the Lethal Weapon movies which were all action pack, funny and an all around joy to watch. Especially when their on tbs all in a row!! Can't turn em off to save my life! This is where Mel took a turn and decided to be Mr. Loverboy to all the ladies and ran off an 8 year run of chick flicks. He didn't forget the guys during this period but definitely dedicated more time to the hunnies, with films like: Forever Young, The Man Without a Face, Maverick(comedy, but the chicks still loved it) and What Women Want in which he receive the super powers of being able to hear what women were thinking and thus used to to his benefit and then turned into a weak piece of weepy jello and grew emotions or some garbage. I never saw the whole thing so... Like I said, he didn't forget the fellas at this point, while in that same time span rocked the screen with some GREAT movies. Sir William Wallace in Braveheart... need I say more? Oh, you want me to, ok. "YOU CAN TAKE MY LIFE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE MY FREEDOM!!!!!!" Queue goosebumps. Followed all to closely with Ransom, Payback(sleeper good one) and the movie by which I hear quoted every time I shoot my bow with my brothers and Dad: Aim small, miss small: The Patriot. I never saw We Were Soldiers so I can't really talk about that... Or Apocalypto for that matter, but I didn't hear to many good things. But what is the opinion of someone else in my blog really worth? Anyway. This brings me to the last 2 for me to make my Mel Gibson case. I have to mention what may stand as the benchmark and maybe best "real life" case for an alien movie in Signs. I still watch it all the time. It connects the spiritual struggles of a Pastor who has left God because his wife died and the connections of that, with his family and the whole alien debacle. Maybe the last good Jacqueen Pheonix movie as well. And finally, you can't mention Mel without bringing up his Director and Producer role in his film: The Passion of the Christ. I am still moved by that movie. Not by the gross scenes or the argued accuracies to inaccuracies of the adaptation of Christ's crucifixion. But I am moved by the humanity of it. Mel managed to capture the inner battle of Jesus and his spiritual calling that had to be intertwined with his own humanity. I will still cry uncontrollably whenever I see the scene when Jesus is carrying the cross and he falls again and his Mother Mary who has been trying to see him, finally reaches him and he just looks to her and says "See, mother, I make all things new". That is almost the basis of my entire love relationship with God. WOW, KIND OF GOT AWAY AND GOT ON A BIT OF A TANGENT, I APOLOGIZE...KIND OF. ANYWAY, GOOD ACTOR, GOOD DIRECTOR, GOOD PRODUCER AND NUMBER 2.
1. Tom Hanks
Hmmm, Tom Hanks. What can I say that others before me haven't. I got it: All Killer No Filler!!! Tom has done a lot of acting so I am going to do my best to keep it tight and condensed. I always thought Tom was a big hit in the 80s and just continued, but if you look at it, he didn't even really get going until the 90s. Sure, we loved Big, Turner and Hooch, Joe Versus the Volcano and even Bachelor Party, but that's about it for the 80s. The decade turned and with it did Tom Hanks as well. None of those goofy fun loving characters here, well maybe a couple. A League of their Own about a 1940s female baseball league... Okay, So I was gonna rattle them off, but I realized just how big each of these movies actually are. Philadelphia! Not viewed the same way as society has changed in the whole gay/lesbian landscape, but this film was paramount. Forrest Gump! Maybe a top 5 movie of all time, encompassing ever angle of emotions possible but with a joyful twist around each corner. Apollo 13! If you don't know what that is, than go cut your wrist right now as you don't serve a purpose in society. Toy Story 1, 2 and 3!!! I mean, really!?!?! Woody is the best!!! The musical comedy: That Thing You Do, about a 1950s do-wop band. Really fun movie altogether. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN! The military movie by which all other military movies are judge. So great, just so great. The Green Mile! Another big time award winner. Just top to bottom great. Are we starting to see a trend that could lead to you being the best actor in Hollywood??? Cast Away: Essentially a one man movie about a guy that survives a plane crash onto a deserted island and lives out his days there trying to find a way off while befriending a volleyball... Band of Brothers, Road to Perdition, Catch Me if You Can, The Ladykillers, The Terminal (my favorite map in CoD4MW2), Cars, The DaVinci Code 1 and 2, and Charlie Wilson's War. How funny that we end that with Charlie Wilson's war as that is going to be my recommendation. I think it's a very insightful movie about a Congressman's dealings in Afghanistan to help rebels defeat the soviets with loads of hilarious tidbits along the way. Its a drama, but a very smart and funny drama. Tom Hanks is it. Every young actor only dreams of being in a handle full of the dozens of movie he has.
I'll have music and beer recommendation on my next blog but I had to get all of this out of the way first.
And finally my Netflix recomendations 5-1:
Christopher Walken: The Prophecy
Clint Eastwood: Escape from Alcatraz
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Departed
Mel Gibson: Payback
Tom Hanks: Charlie Wilson's War
Thanks again for sticking around. Sorry for holding you hostage for 3 months.
Who is the Mecha Godzilla of Pizza?!?
Ok, so I know I have actually made some headway with a couple of my last blogs, causing some legit conversation. But as you know me... I'm generally not uber serious... So time to come back down to the earth for a day ;) So I ask you this question; Who is the MECHA GODZILLA OF PIZZA!?!?!
Before we delve deeper into this, I wanted to tell you that I am a HUGE fan of pizza. I love it. If my wife is at work and I am home alone with nothing to eat........ I'm ordering pizza!
There is NO BETTER TIME IN THE LAST 15 YEARS THAN THERE IS TODAY TO BUY PIZZA!!! Everyone is doing some crazy deal!! crazy like I have never seen before... and I order the hell out of some pizza ;)
Dominos: 2 Medium 2 Topping for 5.99 each - Papa Johns: ANY large pizza ie: unlimited toppings for $10.00 - Pizza Bolis: 25% off any pizza, any size, any topping - Pizza Hut: Any pizza, size, topping for $10.00. I'm used to paying nearly $20 for a pizza but more the most part i can have any of them for around 10 bucks. How sweet is that!?!
I know this is a little outlandish that I am writing a blog that is advertising for the major pizza brands. I JUST LOVE IT!!! So.... get over it... and maybe some pizza vip will toss me a couple free pizza.
I wanna go over each thing I love about these brands to create the Mecha Godzilla of Pizza!
1st: Pizza Hut: Toppings are sub-par, sauce is little acidic but decent, cheese is pretty good but the thing that separates Pizza Hut is STUFFED CRUST!!! That junks is awesome!! I freaking LOVE stuffed crust pizza and its included with their current promo.
2nd: Dominos: They suck. Toppings suck, cheese sucks, sauce sucks... they have a very tasty crust though. It has some butter and than some seasoning on top that is quite tasty. If I could get just rings and rings of crust... I would...
3rd: Pizza Bolis: Probably my overall favorite pizza brand, their sauce is good, toppings are very fresh and the crust is a classic and tastes the way crust should taste. What really pops with Pizza Bolis is their AWESOME cheese. Like its REALLY good! They use a large portion of cheese and the taste of it stands out no matter how many toppings or what kind of toppings you prefer.
4th: Papa Johns: I feel like Papa Johns used to be very different. I remember first trying Papa Johns pizza some 15-20 years ago and they were a mile ahead of all other brands. But it stopped
some 5-8 years ago and I feel like they fell off a lot and gave all the other brands an opportunity to take the crown. I don't know how this happened... but it did. their crust is alright, and the toppings are probably the best and the sauce is quite tasty but they never have enough cheese and it doesn't stand out enough.
So, to chop it up... If I were to make make the ultimate pizza.... it would be: Start off with the crust, we'll use a stuffed crust by Pizza Hut but we'll tweak it by using the same techniques of the Dominos by buttering it and adding some seasoning. Next we'll use the papa Johns sauce BUT not as much as they usually add. They tend to use too much. Of course we have to use a large amount of Pizza Bolis cheese and if we're using vegetables than we use Papa Johns, but if we are using meats we're gonna go back to Pizza Bolis. Man, that would totally be the Mecha Godzilla of Pizza!!
Oh and in case you wanted my rank and couldn't figure it out, it would be: 1. Pizza Bolis 2. Pizza Hut 3. Papa Johns 4. Dominos. Now obviously you may have a mom and pop pizza join that kicks out awesome pizza. Near my parents home there is an Italian restaurant Charlies that bangs out some AWESOME pizza that would completely dominate this blog if they were a corporate pizza chain.
Good beer with pizza is a crisp pilsner. I would recommend Lagunitas: Pilsner. It is an awesome beer with a good hop node but a chill enough flavor that it would combo great with a nice hot slice.
REMEMBER, Im on twitter now so hit me up @jbsully or on facebook.com/papasully
Posted by Sully at 12:22 PM 1 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: charlie's, dominos, mecha godzilla, papa johns, pizza, pizza bolis, pizza hut
Before we delve deeper into this, I wanted to tell you that I am a HUGE fan of pizza. I love it. If my wife is at work and I am home alone with nothing to eat........ I'm ordering pizza!
There is NO BETTER TIME IN THE LAST 15 YEARS THAN THERE IS TODAY TO BUY PIZZA!!! Everyone is doing some crazy deal!! crazy like I have never seen before... and I order the hell out of some pizza ;)
Dominos: 2 Medium 2 Topping for 5.99 each - Papa Johns: ANY large pizza ie: unlimited toppings for $10.00 - Pizza Bolis: 25% off any pizza, any size, any topping - Pizza Hut: Any pizza, size, topping for $10.00. I'm used to paying nearly $20 for a pizza but more the most part i can have any of them for around 10 bucks. How sweet is that!?!
I know this is a little outlandish that I am writing a blog that is advertising for the major pizza brands. I JUST LOVE IT!!! So.... get over it... and maybe some pizza vip will toss me a couple free pizza.
I wanna go over each thing I love about these brands to create the Mecha Godzilla of Pizza!
1st: Pizza Hut: Toppings are sub-par, sauce is little acidic but decent, cheese is pretty good but the thing that separates Pizza Hut is STUFFED CRUST!!! That junks is awesome!! I freaking LOVE stuffed crust pizza and its included with their current promo.
2nd: Dominos: They suck. Toppings suck, cheese sucks, sauce sucks... they have a very tasty crust though. It has some butter and than some seasoning on top that is quite tasty. If I could get just rings and rings of crust... I would...
3rd: Pizza Bolis: Probably my overall favorite pizza brand, their sauce is good, toppings are very fresh and the crust is a classic and tastes the way crust should taste. What really pops with Pizza Bolis is their AWESOME cheese. Like its REALLY good! They use a large portion of cheese and the taste of it stands out no matter how many toppings or what kind of toppings you prefer.
4th: Papa Johns: I feel like Papa Johns used to be very different. I remember first trying Papa Johns pizza some 15-20 years ago and they were a mile ahead of all other brands. But it stopped
some 5-8 years ago and I feel like they fell off a lot and gave all the other brands an opportunity to take the crown. I don't know how this happened... but it did. their crust is alright, and the toppings are probably the best and the sauce is quite tasty but they never have enough cheese and it doesn't stand out enough.
So, to chop it up... If I were to make make the ultimate pizza.... it would be: Start off with the crust, we'll use a stuffed crust by Pizza Hut but we'll tweak it by using the same techniques of the Dominos by buttering it and adding some seasoning. Next we'll use the papa Johns sauce BUT not as much as they usually add. They tend to use too much. Of course we have to use a large amount of Pizza Bolis cheese and if we're using vegetables than we use Papa Johns, but if we are using meats we're gonna go back to Pizza Bolis. Man, that would totally be the Mecha Godzilla of Pizza!!
Oh and in case you wanted my rank and couldn't figure it out, it would be: 1. Pizza Bolis 2. Pizza Hut 3. Papa Johns 4. Dominos. Now obviously you may have a mom and pop pizza join that kicks out awesome pizza. Near my parents home there is an Italian restaurant Charlies that bangs out some AWESOME pizza that would completely dominate this blog if they were a corporate pizza chain.
Good beer with pizza is a crisp pilsner. I would recommend Lagunitas: Pilsner. It is an awesome beer with a good hop node but a chill enough flavor that it would combo great with a nice hot slice.
REMEMBER, Im on twitter now so hit me up @jbsully or on facebook.com/papasully
Posted by Sully at 12:22 PM 1 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: charlie's, dominos, mecha godzilla, papa johns, pizza, pizza bolis, pizza hut
I like Donovan's new Doug Williams mustache
My redskins recently traded for Donovan McNabb. Tough trade for me as the 37th pick overall is a VERY good, high value pick to trade for a 33 year old, 11 year veteran with only 1 year left on his contract and no offensive line to block for him. Not to mention the either 3rd or 4th round pick NEXT year. But if it's a 3rd rounder it means McNabb probably hit a lot of different goals they set for him and in turn we probably had a pretty good season... So I guess I would rather give up the 2nd this year and the 3rd next year.
Sully?? You don't like this trade??
That's not what I said. There are some problems with this deal. The first being that McNabb has only 1 year left on his deal. Let's be optimistic and say he has a great year and makes himself look like the next big OLD quarterback, ala Joh Elway, Kurt Warner or Brett Favre. Somebody is gonna be crazy enough to offer this geeser a 5 year 75 million contract. But do I want my Skins to commit that much to a guy who could be anywhere near that close to falling off? NO!!! So if he leaves than we just gave up 2 picks for a one year potential run to the playoffs in which we get bumped off in the 2nd round...? Is that good?
Although, as I stated in the title, I LOVE DONOVAN'S NEW DOUG WILLIAMS MUSTACHE!!! Maybe its the sign of whats to come??? Doug was a super bowl winning quarterback!!
So....?
So we need to sign him to a contract extension TODAY. A 3 year deal, heavy in incentives that will lock him up until he is 36-37. At that point, hopefully we'll have our own Kevin Kolb that has had time to develop under Donovan that will be ready to take the reigns. That's obviously a perfect world view, but...
The draft is April 22, and we have the 4th overall pick that hopefully turns into Russell Okung, the Left tackle out of OK State that will fill the whole that we haven't had to fill in 10 years because Chris Samuels has anchored it. But what if he's gone?? Than we grab Tennessee safety Eric Berry who is like the second coming of Sean Taylor but with better coverage ability and the ONLY player in the NCAA who could lay a finger on Tim Tebow. If Okung is gone we could also trade down to an early 10 to mid teens spot and grab a lesser Left Tackle and maybe a get a 2nd or 3rd rounder back from another team so we could make up for losing the 2nd rounder to the Eagles in the Donovan trade.
This team still has a lot of holes. A better O-Line than last year that could still use a lot of love, Safety, Cornerback, Wide Receiver and the thing we don't want to talk about... The potential of needing a new Defensive Tackle. That would be if we trade Albert Haynesworth who doesn't want to play Nose Tackle in the Redskins new 3-4 scheme that puts only 3 men on the defensive line and he would have to clog the middle and wouldn't be able to look as flashy and get all the sacks as he did in the past but would be WAY more valuable to the team there. He really is the perfect player for that spot despite the fact that he doesn't want to play it. In which case, what do we get in exchange for him? A 1st rounder??? Arguable the 2 best players in the whole draft are DTs, Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh. So I would be fine if we got one of them, but do we have to lose Okung?? Or Lord!!!
The last thing I want to bring up is the area everyone else talks about that I DON'T EVEN THINK IS AN ISSUE!!!! WIDE RECEIVER!!
We have 2 young receivers, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly who are going INTO their 3rd seasons. Lets talk about the importance of this. Everyone wants to club these guys and call them busts. Wide receiver HISTORICALLY doesn't produce studs the 1st OR EVEN 2nd years of play. Name 3 RECEIVERS NOT NAMED LARRY FITZGERALD, RANDY MOSS OR BRANDON MARSHALL THAT HAVE BEEN DRAFTED AND BEEN HUGE THE 1ST 2 YEARS?!?!! Please. Try. Desaun Jackson? 2 TDs first year. Maclin, 4 and only 700 yeards. Eddie Royal? Ok, 980 and 5 TDs first year.......... 345 AND ZERO THE NEXT!!! And what did ALL of those players have in common?? 2 HUGE things!!!! 1. THEY ALL STARTED!!! 2. THEY ALL HAD QUARTERBACKS TO THROW TO THEM!!! So please, shutup and give these guys a chance and ignore WR in the draft and concentrate on the real needs at hand like the O-Line that started 10 different guys last year.
Geeze... getting me all worked up. I need a beer now, thanks. As of today it looks to be a very exciting year for the Redskins... but so is every off season...
REMEMBER: DRAFT NIGHT PARTY AT TGI FRIDAYS AT ARUNDEL MILLS ON THURSDAY NIGHT!!! Come hang out, it'll be a blast. Loads of specials and I may come dressed as Jim Zorn again... or maybe try Mike Shannahan...
Posted by Sully at 3:01 PM 0 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: haynesworth, mcnabb, reskins
Sully?? You don't like this trade??
That's not what I said. There are some problems with this deal. The first being that McNabb has only 1 year left on his deal. Let's be optimistic and say he has a great year and makes himself look like the next big OLD quarterback, ala Joh Elway, Kurt Warner or Brett Favre. Somebody is gonna be crazy enough to offer this geeser a 5 year 75 million contract. But do I want my Skins to commit that much to a guy who could be anywhere near that close to falling off? NO!!! So if he leaves than we just gave up 2 picks for a one year potential run to the playoffs in which we get bumped off in the 2nd round...? Is that good?
Although, as I stated in the title, I LOVE DONOVAN'S NEW DOUG WILLIAMS MUSTACHE!!! Maybe its the sign of whats to come??? Doug was a super bowl winning quarterback!!
So....?
So we need to sign him to a contract extension TODAY. A 3 year deal, heavy in incentives that will lock him up until he is 36-37. At that point, hopefully we'll have our own Kevin Kolb that has had time to develop under Donovan that will be ready to take the reigns. That's obviously a perfect world view, but...
The draft is April 22, and we have the 4th overall pick that hopefully turns into Russell Okung, the Left tackle out of OK State that will fill the whole that we haven't had to fill in 10 years because Chris Samuels has anchored it. But what if he's gone?? Than we grab Tennessee safety Eric Berry who is like the second coming of Sean Taylor but with better coverage ability and the ONLY player in the NCAA who could lay a finger on Tim Tebow. If Okung is gone we could also trade down to an early 10 to mid teens spot and grab a lesser Left Tackle and maybe a get a 2nd or 3rd rounder back from another team so we could make up for losing the 2nd rounder to the Eagles in the Donovan trade.
This team still has a lot of holes. A better O-Line than last year that could still use a lot of love, Safety, Cornerback, Wide Receiver and the thing we don't want to talk about... The potential of needing a new Defensive Tackle. That would be if we trade Albert Haynesworth who doesn't want to play Nose Tackle in the Redskins new 3-4 scheme that puts only 3 men on the defensive line and he would have to clog the middle and wouldn't be able to look as flashy and get all the sacks as he did in the past but would be WAY more valuable to the team there. He really is the perfect player for that spot despite the fact that he doesn't want to play it. In which case, what do we get in exchange for him? A 1st rounder??? Arguable the 2 best players in the whole draft are DTs, Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh. So I would be fine if we got one of them, but do we have to lose Okung?? Or Lord!!!
The last thing I want to bring up is the area everyone else talks about that I DON'T EVEN THINK IS AN ISSUE!!!! WIDE RECEIVER!!
We have 2 young receivers, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly who are going INTO their 3rd seasons. Lets talk about the importance of this. Everyone wants to club these guys and call them busts. Wide receiver HISTORICALLY doesn't produce studs the 1st OR EVEN 2nd years of play. Name 3 RECEIVERS NOT NAMED LARRY FITZGERALD, RANDY MOSS OR BRANDON MARSHALL THAT HAVE BEEN DRAFTED AND BEEN HUGE THE 1ST 2 YEARS?!?!! Please. Try. Desaun Jackson? 2 TDs first year. Maclin, 4 and only 700 yeards. Eddie Royal? Ok, 980 and 5 TDs first year.......... 345 AND ZERO THE NEXT!!! And what did ALL of those players have in common?? 2 HUGE things!!!! 1. THEY ALL STARTED!!! 2. THEY ALL HAD QUARTERBACKS TO THROW TO THEM!!! So please, shutup and give these guys a chance and ignore WR in the draft and concentrate on the real needs at hand like the O-Line that started 10 different guys last year.
Geeze... getting me all worked up. I need a beer now, thanks. As of today it looks to be a very exciting year for the Redskins... but so is every off season...
REMEMBER: DRAFT NIGHT PARTY AT TGI FRIDAYS AT ARUNDEL MILLS ON THURSDAY NIGHT!!! Come hang out, it'll be a blast. Loads of specials and I may come dressed as Jim Zorn again... or maybe try Mike Shannahan...
Posted by Sully at 3:01 PM 0 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: haynesworth, mcnabb, reskins
Ahmagawd! Redskins and Playoffs and Prostitutes OH MY!!
Alright, so this should be fun. I have a lot I'm gonna hit so feel free to just read what interests you. Won't hurt my feelings ;) But you should definitely read the bottom part, my views on the whole Dez Bryant, Prostitute Mother clip. Hold on to your butts.
Um......... NFL Draft!!!
Alright so I told you I didn't want the Skins to go after a WR, wanted them to dedicate a lot to O-Line depth and hoped as well as didn't believe that Albert Haynseworth would be traded. Evidently Mike Shanahan reads my blog because they followed it to a T. Except for the 4th in the 4th round(our second overall) where they took Perry Riley over the HUGE Maryland OT Bruce Campbell who I was shocked was even still available. I guess with our history with guys named Campbell, they just decided to steer a different direction. I just think this guy is maybe a little bit of a project but had a TREMENDOUS upside that could have paid off and given us even more depth on the O-Line. Honestly, I don't know anything about Riley except that I have mad love for any difender coming out of the SEC, Big 10, Texas or Oklahoma... and he's an LSU boy so he's cool by me.
Aside from that pick and the fact that I thought they were gonna go after Russel Okung out of OK State rather then Trent "Silverback" Williams from Oklahoma I was right on. I like Silverback...and that name, like really, does it get much better as a nickname than Silverback?? Anyway, he's seems to be quick and mobile enough for the zone blocking scheme that made Shanahan(aside from his 2 super bowl rings) famous. I don't really think he's a pure LT, but I'm gonna have to trust the guys who get paid to make those decisions... I mean the rest of the selections were a Tackle, a Center, a late round WR who won't see 50 passes over the next 3 years and arguably the best BLOCKING TE in the draft, Dennis Morris... And after watching a little highlight real(by the way I've never seen a blocking highlight real before today), I must say I really like this pick cause this dude LAYS OUT some D-Ends and Linebackers like its his life!
And NOW I have to root for the Patriots!?!?!?! Are you serious?? Why, you ask?? Because they draft 3, count em 3 Florida Gators!!! The first that was drafted was stud CB and Friendly High School/Fort Washington native Joe Haden to the Cleveland Browns at number 7. Great pickup. The next at 18 to the Steelers was Center Maurkice Pouncey( luckily his twin is still stabilizing the Florida line) and then it happened!!!! The Baltimore Ravens have traded picks with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are now on the clock. Queue Tim Tebow and friends freaking out as he puts on a Broncos hat!! I was Gator Chompin all over my bar!! People say they moved up to early, gave up to much or whatev. but I think that's all relative. They wanted a guy, and didn't want anyone else getting him, so they made sure they got him. No questions asked. Anyway, so 9 total Gators got drafted, more than any other school. But the Patriots selected Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes and Aaron Hernandez all within the first 4 rounds. I guess winners like winners... No matter what, i thought the draft was awesome. being as avid a college fan as I am and seeing guys who were great still being available so late just shows the mass depth that is in the NFL and gets me totally stoked for September!
C-A-P-S CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE!!!
One of my favorite segments on SNL is Really with Seth Myers. So, I've included some video, that I just recorded strictly for this segment. No planning, possibly inaccurate facts thrown around but authentic, from the heart and off the cuff. Sorry if the sound/video sync is off. ill fix that one of these days.
PLAYOFF HOOPS!!
I freaking LOVE the Western Conference!!! I am Die-Hard Wizards fan, but the Western Conference is full of teams I can't root against! I just love em!!! Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook from the Thunder are so much fun to watch! My pick to win it all was Dallas cause they just seemed to have all the right pieces and they still lost in 5 to the "old as dirt" spurs who I LOVE TOO!!!! It was agony to watch the Spurs-Dallas series cause I knew one of em had to lose, just like I feel the same with the Jazz-Nuggets series. Theyre just fun to watch, a lot of really great, exciting players! The Bucks are kind of the same way with Brandon Jennings, and we'll see how that goes for them. Don't like the Lakers... but I like them more than the Cavs... So... I just have never liked the BEST Teams!! I hated the Bulls, can't stand the Cowboys, Red Wings, Duke, Yankees!!! Yuck, makes me sick. Anyway, watch some of these playoffs, really good so far!
WAS YOUR MOTHER A PROSTITUTE?
Who the hell cares!?!? Why are people making a big deal about this series of questions?? And if you live in a hole, or you're my mother... not that she lives in a hole. She just doesn't know all the sports stuff, I guess. Anyway, Dez Bryant is an extremely athletically gifted Wide Receiver from OK State who in his Sophomore year was ruled academically ineligible to play in his team's bowl game. That means he didn't even get good enough grades in a college sports society where teachers are on the hook to help these players stay in school long enough to win all the big games and make the school tons of cash... Which they do. This year, he then after like 2 games or so, was found hanging out with Dieon Sanders and possibly a friend of Dieons who could be an agent. This is illegal by NCAA rules. There are a lot of rules that involve hands in the pockets of agents and boosters and the such limiting the financial pull of those individuals pull on those athletes. Needless to say, he put himself in a compromising position and then LIED to the NCAA investigators about the whole thing. This got him suspended from his entire Junior year of college and therefore he couldn't play anymore. So that brings us to the past couple of weeks. He is interviewing with the Miami Dolphins, as he did with many other teams about them possibly drafting him and then signing him to a very LARGE, possibly upwards of 40 MILLION dollar contract. Now if I am the Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, I am going to ask whatever questions I need to ask to help protect my business and also make us as skilled as possible. In this very dangerous NFL culture we live in now where Mike Vick was killing dogs and Ben Rothlisberger is forcing himself upon women and Daunte Stallworth is hitting people with cars, Jeff Ireland wants to make sure he isn't putting his team in a compromising position. I would to!!! So here is how it apparently goes: Jeff Ireland(JI): Dez, what does you father do for a living? Dez Bryant (DB): My dad was a pimp. JI: Well what did your mother do? DB: She worked for my dad. JI: Was your mother a prostitute? DB: No.
ARE YOU SERIOUS??!?!?!? Like, do we need another episode of Really!?! With Sully! Cause I can make that happen. Who cares!?! First off, Jeff, if it goes the way you said it did... which by the way, Dez said it did not go. Anyway, lets test your reaction: My dad was a pimp. "What? Like as in sells the sexual acts of women to men?? Like that kind of pimp?? Or like a 50 cent or Jay Z(the rappers) Pimp which basically means women love you and think you're hella cool?" WHY WASN'T THAT YOUR NEXT QUESTION!?!?!? If you just let that first question go by the wayside like it means nothing than he might get offended when you ask him if his mother was a prostitute. WHY WOULD HE EVEN DELVE DEEPER?? Because when Dez Bryant goes to jail for domestic abuse(completely hypothetical scenario) you wanna know where that came from. And most men who abuse women and children, SHOCKER, were abused or witnessed abuse when they were younger!!! Does this surprise anyone?!?!? AND DEZ!!!! After answering "My dad was a pimp", why didn't you immediately follow it up with: "I grew up in a very broken home where not everything was by the book-Leave it to Beaver, and I despite that it's part of me, it's not a lifestyle that find any connection with with." Wouldn't that fix it also??????????? But now you wanna cry like a little girl "WHAAAAA, he asked me if my mother was a prostitute after I told him that my mother worked for my pimp father" REALLY!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? So No!! I'm on Jeff Ireland's side, despite that it could have been done a little different, I think he took the high road and kept the series of question on a straight road and didn't deviate... But I definitely would have deviated!!
What am I listening to this week??
NEW - Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
http://www.amazon.com/Year-Black-Rainbow-Coheed-Cambria/dp/B0036WHM14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272736472&sr=8-1
NEW - Justin Jones and the Driving Rain - the Little Fox EP
http://www.justin-jones.com/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Fox-EP/dp/B003ELTN14/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1272736758&sr=301-1
What's in my glass??? Gatorade!! Cause I'm sick!!! if you couldn't tell by my busted video. Ok, so I also REALLY enjoyed the Lures Beer Club visit from Stoudts Brewing Company. I had never had any of their beer before and REALLY loved them all!!! I was so excited we got to have some of the special, sold at the brewery only, limited to only 20 cases, bottles of their Brewer's reserve German IPA that tasted absolutely magnificent!!! I told yall to come!!! Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch would be my biggest recommendation.
Oh, and I just brewed an Imperial Blond Ale with some Rogue yeast, so we shall see how that turns out, I expect a lot out of that actually. Also did a quadruple hopped czech pilsener which isn't fermenting as fast as hoped, so we shall see. And 2 weeks ago bottled my Imperial Pale Ale... could be a sweet couple months.
MAY 16th at Lures, they will have 6 differant Northern California breweries!!! Sounds like fun, all you can eat and drink from 6-8 with tastings as well for 38.95!! Come join, let me know you'll be there and I'll save you a spot with us.
Until next week ;) - Sully
Posted by Sully at 11:31 AM 0 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: capitals, cpheed and cambria, dez bryant, draft, jeff ireland, justin jones, nba, playoffs, prostitute, redskins, silverback, stoudts.
Um......... NFL Draft!!!
Alright so I told you I didn't want the Skins to go after a WR, wanted them to dedicate a lot to O-Line depth and hoped as well as didn't believe that Albert Haynseworth would be traded. Evidently Mike Shanahan reads my blog because they followed it to a T. Except for the 4th in the 4th round(our second overall) where they took Perry Riley over the HUGE Maryland OT Bruce Campbell who I was shocked was even still available. I guess with our history with guys named Campbell, they just decided to steer a different direction. I just think this guy is maybe a little bit of a project but had a TREMENDOUS upside that could have paid off and given us even more depth on the O-Line. Honestly, I don't know anything about Riley except that I have mad love for any difender coming out of the SEC, Big 10, Texas or Oklahoma... and he's an LSU boy so he's cool by me.
Aside from that pick and the fact that I thought they were gonna go after Russel Okung out of OK State rather then Trent "Silverback" Williams from Oklahoma I was right on. I like Silverback...and that name, like really, does it get much better as a nickname than Silverback?? Anyway, he's seems to be quick and mobile enough for the zone blocking scheme that made Shanahan(aside from his 2 super bowl rings) famous. I don't really think he's a pure LT, but I'm gonna have to trust the guys who get paid to make those decisions... I mean the rest of the selections were a Tackle, a Center, a late round WR who won't see 50 passes over the next 3 years and arguably the best BLOCKING TE in the draft, Dennis Morris... And after watching a little highlight real(by the way I've never seen a blocking highlight real before today), I must say I really like this pick cause this dude LAYS OUT some D-Ends and Linebackers like its his life!
And NOW I have to root for the Patriots!?!?!?! Are you serious?? Why, you ask?? Because they draft 3, count em 3 Florida Gators!!! The first that was drafted was stud CB and Friendly High School/Fort Washington native Joe Haden to the Cleveland Browns at number 7. Great pickup. The next at 18 to the Steelers was Center Maurkice Pouncey( luckily his twin is still stabilizing the Florida line) and then it happened!!!! The Baltimore Ravens have traded picks with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are now on the clock. Queue Tim Tebow and friends freaking out as he puts on a Broncos hat!! I was Gator Chompin all over my bar!! People say they moved up to early, gave up to much or whatev. but I think that's all relative. They wanted a guy, and didn't want anyone else getting him, so they made sure they got him. No questions asked. Anyway, so 9 total Gators got drafted, more than any other school. But the Patriots selected Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes and Aaron Hernandez all within the first 4 rounds. I guess winners like winners... No matter what, i thought the draft was awesome. being as avid a college fan as I am and seeing guys who were great still being available so late just shows the mass depth that is in the NFL and gets me totally stoked for September!
C-A-P-S CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE!!!
One of my favorite segments on SNL is Really with Seth Myers. So, I've included some video, that I just recorded strictly for this segment. No planning, possibly inaccurate facts thrown around but authentic, from the heart and off the cuff. Sorry if the sound/video sync is off. ill fix that one of these days.
PLAYOFF HOOPS!!
I freaking LOVE the Western Conference!!! I am Die-Hard Wizards fan, but the Western Conference is full of teams I can't root against! I just love em!!! Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook from the Thunder are so much fun to watch! My pick to win it all was Dallas cause they just seemed to have all the right pieces and they still lost in 5 to the "old as dirt" spurs who I LOVE TOO!!!! It was agony to watch the Spurs-Dallas series cause I knew one of em had to lose, just like I feel the same with the Jazz-Nuggets series. Theyre just fun to watch, a lot of really great, exciting players! The Bucks are kind of the same way with Brandon Jennings, and we'll see how that goes for them. Don't like the Lakers... but I like them more than the Cavs... So... I just have never liked the BEST Teams!! I hated the Bulls, can't stand the Cowboys, Red Wings, Duke, Yankees!!! Yuck, makes me sick. Anyway, watch some of these playoffs, really good so far!
WAS YOUR MOTHER A PROSTITUTE?
Who the hell cares!?!? Why are people making a big deal about this series of questions?? And if you live in a hole, or you're my mother... not that she lives in a hole. She just doesn't know all the sports stuff, I guess. Anyway, Dez Bryant is an extremely athletically gifted Wide Receiver from OK State who in his Sophomore year was ruled academically ineligible to play in his team's bowl game. That means he didn't even get good enough grades in a college sports society where teachers are on the hook to help these players stay in school long enough to win all the big games and make the school tons of cash... Which they do. This year, he then after like 2 games or so, was found hanging out with Dieon Sanders and possibly a friend of Dieons who could be an agent. This is illegal by NCAA rules. There are a lot of rules that involve hands in the pockets of agents and boosters and the such limiting the financial pull of those individuals pull on those athletes. Needless to say, he put himself in a compromising position and then LIED to the NCAA investigators about the whole thing. This got him suspended from his entire Junior year of college and therefore he couldn't play anymore. So that brings us to the past couple of weeks. He is interviewing with the Miami Dolphins, as he did with many other teams about them possibly drafting him and then signing him to a very LARGE, possibly upwards of 40 MILLION dollar contract. Now if I am the Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, I am going to ask whatever questions I need to ask to help protect my business and also make us as skilled as possible. In this very dangerous NFL culture we live in now where Mike Vick was killing dogs and Ben Rothlisberger is forcing himself upon women and Daunte Stallworth is hitting people with cars, Jeff Ireland wants to make sure he isn't putting his team in a compromising position. I would to!!! So here is how it apparently goes: Jeff Ireland(JI): Dez, what does you father do for a living? Dez Bryant (DB): My dad was a pimp. JI: Well what did your mother do? DB: She worked for my dad. JI: Was your mother a prostitute? DB: No.
ARE YOU SERIOUS??!?!?!? Like, do we need another episode of Really!?! With Sully! Cause I can make that happen. Who cares!?! First off, Jeff, if it goes the way you said it did... which by the way, Dez said it did not go. Anyway, lets test your reaction: My dad was a pimp. "What? Like as in sells the sexual acts of women to men?? Like that kind of pimp?? Or like a 50 cent or Jay Z(the rappers) Pimp which basically means women love you and think you're hella cool?" WHY WASN'T THAT YOUR NEXT QUESTION!?!?!? If you just let that first question go by the wayside like it means nothing than he might get offended when you ask him if his mother was a prostitute. WHY WOULD HE EVEN DELVE DEEPER?? Because when Dez Bryant goes to jail for domestic abuse(completely hypothetical scenario) you wanna know where that came from. And most men who abuse women and children, SHOCKER, were abused or witnessed abuse when they were younger!!! Does this surprise anyone?!?!? AND DEZ!!!! After answering "My dad was a pimp", why didn't you immediately follow it up with: "I grew up in a very broken home where not everything was by the book-Leave it to Beaver, and I despite that it's part of me, it's not a lifestyle that find any connection with with." Wouldn't that fix it also??????????? But now you wanna cry like a little girl "WHAAAAA, he asked me if my mother was a prostitute after I told him that my mother worked for my pimp father" REALLY!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!? So No!! I'm on Jeff Ireland's side, despite that it could have been done a little different, I think he took the high road and kept the series of question on a straight road and didn't deviate... But I definitely would have deviated!!
What am I listening to this week??
NEW - Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
http://www.amazon.com/Year-Black-Rainbow-Coheed-Cambria/dp/B0036WHM14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272736472&sr=8-1
NEW - Justin Jones and the Driving Rain - the Little Fox EP
http://www.justin-jones.com/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Fox-EP/dp/B003ELTN14/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1272736758&sr=301-1
What's in my glass??? Gatorade!! Cause I'm sick!!! if you couldn't tell by my busted video. Ok, so I also REALLY enjoyed the Lures Beer Club visit from Stoudts Brewing Company. I had never had any of their beer before and REALLY loved them all!!! I was so excited we got to have some of the special, sold at the brewery only, limited to only 20 cases, bottles of their Brewer's reserve German IPA that tasted absolutely magnificent!!! I told yall to come!!! Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch would be my biggest recommendation.
Oh, and I just brewed an Imperial Blond Ale with some Rogue yeast, so we shall see how that turns out, I expect a lot out of that actually. Also did a quadruple hopped czech pilsener which isn't fermenting as fast as hoped, so we shall see. And 2 weeks ago bottled my Imperial Pale Ale... could be a sweet couple months.
MAY 16th at Lures, they will have 6 differant Northern California breweries!!! Sounds like fun, all you can eat and drink from 6-8 with tastings as well for 38.95!! Come join, let me know you'll be there and I'll save you a spot with us.
Until next week ;) - Sully
Posted by Sully at 11:31 AM 0 comments Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Labels: capitals, cpheed and cambria, dez bryant, draft, jeff ireland, justin jones, nba, playoffs, prostitute, redskins, silverback, stoudts.
Jail bait and the next generation
Sorry, been without a computer for like 10-12 days. Kind of sucked... Anyway:
Just a heads up, there is some really racy subject matter in this. You also probably won't agree with all of my opinions either... and I do get pretty opinionated towards the bottom...
Ok, so... the other day I am driving to my parents house. I have my lovely wife, Julie in the car along with my beautiful and quickly growing daughter, Vida. Anyway, so we're on the road and as you can probably tell just from my blogs, I have a very short attention span, unless something is super interesting. I am always changing the station due to "I like this song, this song is dumb, I can't stand commercials" and it goes on and on the entire trip. That's fine as my wife would rather listen to something fun also. Than we tune into the XM Top 20 station and this cool little beat starts poppin and this seductive voice comes over... and I can peg jail-bait a mile away both visually and auditory. It's Selena Gomez saying things that as an adult are kind of understanding to hear someone talk about... But isn't this chick like.................... 12 YEARS OLD?!?!? So instantly I am freaking out!! Is this what society wants to make my daughter see as ok?? I have Miley Cyrus grinding on some dude(and I don't care who he is, she is showing girls everywhere that this action is acceptable). Sorry, I kind of just jumped the gun there, but you get where I am going... back track...
Lets start with Selena Gomez:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena_Gomez
Selena is actually 17 years old, soon to be 18, but all I can imagine when i think of her is the small, still challenged with shedding some baby fat little girl that was on the Disney(X factor in all of this) channel, singing and dancing her heart away. But this song isn't that same little girl. this is a much more adult theme to this song that SHE HAS NO FREAKING CLUE ABOUT! Ok, to prove my point, I'll give you a couple lines from Ms Gomez biggest hit; Naturally: "And it takes my breath away. What you do, so naturally" - "You have a way of moving me, A force of nature, your energy, It comes naturally, (You know it does,) It comes naturally, (Oh yeah)" - "When we collide, sparks fly, When you look in my eyes, it takes my breath away" And now for the chorus... since I've basically just put the entire song up there... might as well finish it. "You are the thunder and I am the lightning, And I love the way you know who you are, And to me it's exciting, When you know it's meant to be, Everything comes naturally, It comes naturally, When you're with me baby, Everything comes naturally, It comes naturally, (Ba-Ba-Baby)"
First things first... The only thing at 17 that should be taking your breathe away is the overwhelming excitement for new trailers for the damn Twilight movies! And seriously, You have a way of moving me??? Are you kidding me?!?!?! The only thing that should move you is a bad chalupa at Taco Bell!! You're 17 years old!! When we collide, sparks fly!?!?! When you look in my eyes,it takes my breath away!?!?!? The only sparks my daughter is going to see at 17 are those of sparklers on the 4th of July! And the only one having their breathe taken away is the boy who knocks on my door and gets a boot the chest when he asks if my daughter is home!!!
Okay... so to make myself feel a little better about this song, I've changed it's seductive message to something more fitting...
You are the thunder and I am the lightening: This is in reference to her baby sister who is with her at the arcade!
And I love the way you know who you are: Because her baby sister is just old enough to get the concept of her place in the family.
And to me it's exciting. When you know it's meant to be. Oh, this is when she is talking about playing skeeball at the arcade and she tosses the ball and it goes right in. She knows its meant to be! Pretty much, when she throws the ball down the lane, her baby sister makes the sound of thunder and when it goes in the 100 point hole, Selena makes the sound of lightening. See, it comes naturally ;)
It's dumb, I know, but it makes me feel better about the whole situation, so shut up.
So like for real, I am terrified of my baby daughter growing up in such an overly sexualized society where young girls are being pressured once they hit their teens and sometimes even earlier to have sex. Hell, turn on the TV, its everywhere, at all hours!! Not necessarily the pressure but the stories of the pressure. How often is Tyra talking about some girl who is 11, who is talking about how she gives head to boys at school cause its the cool thing to do!?!?!?! Did you know they have a different name for blow jobs now? Its called bopping. Some dumbed down, code name so its viewed differently.
And seriously, what example is being made for them?!? Look at our young stars, they all talk about it all the time. I have Bristol Pailin getting knocked up, Jamie Lynn Spears is on her second kid with I think a second daddy, and Justin Bieber talks about how much girls mean to him and HIS BALLS HAVEN'T EVEN DROPPED YET!!! If he tweets a picture of himself and Kim Kardashian and jokes about her being his girlfriend and SHE gets death threats from little girls!!! You're gonna tell me those same little girls aren't going to be willing to do things .... I CANT'T EVEN TALK ABOUT THIS! Its just making me mad.
Where has our accountability and leadership over family disappeared to? Where are the Dads at?? The mother may be able to relate better to these girls, but where is the father with his loving leadership and tender relationship to his little girl. Fathers, step into your roles as leaders over your households and change the way this next generation is raised. I'm stepping up to the plate. My daughter will make decisions for herself. Some good, some bad. But I promise, I would have done everything within my power and established a righteous standard for my family that my daughter will be able to reference to help make the right decisions. Will she ever sneak out of the house? Probably. Will she get drunk before she's 21? Probably. Will she have sex before she is married? I don't know. But that will be the standard set. And if she falls, I will be there with open arms for my daughter. But there will be no other advice given on the matter. I won't ever give her condoms or put her on the pill or give her some shot because that is only giving partial permission "as long as you're careful". I had a thousand chances to have sex when I was growing up. But the only thing that changed it was the fear of breaking my last standing promise to God. Am I any better than anyone else? Of course not. But I am going to set the same standard for my children. Will they meet every standard set? Definitely not, and that's where love and forgiveness come into play.
Well that was a bit of a tangent... Hopping off soapbox... Thanks again, see ya soon ;)
Hey, I'm also starting to tweet so hit me up on twitter @jbsully or on facebook.com/papasully
Word of the week: Douche
Beer of the week: Adam and I's Imperial Pale Ale - Turned out awesome, very excited!
Music of the week: REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits and what the heck, SELENA GOMEZ!!!
Just a heads up, there is some really racy subject matter in this. You also probably won't agree with all of my opinions either... and I do get pretty opinionated towards the bottom...
Ok, so... the other day I am driving to my parents house. I have my lovely wife, Julie in the car along with my beautiful and quickly growing daughter, Vida. Anyway, so we're on the road and as you can probably tell just from my blogs, I have a very short attention span, unless something is super interesting. I am always changing the station due to "I like this song, this song is dumb, I can't stand commercials" and it goes on and on the entire trip. That's fine as my wife would rather listen to something fun also. Than we tune into the XM Top 20 station and this cool little beat starts poppin and this seductive voice comes over... and I can peg jail-bait a mile away both visually and auditory. It's Selena Gomez saying things that as an adult are kind of understanding to hear someone talk about... But isn't this chick like.................... 12 YEARS OLD?!?!? So instantly I am freaking out!! Is this what society wants to make my daughter see as ok?? I have Miley Cyrus grinding on some dude(and I don't care who he is, she is showing girls everywhere that this action is acceptable). Sorry, I kind of just jumped the gun there, but you get where I am going... back track...
Lets start with Selena Gomez:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena_Gomez
Selena is actually 17 years old, soon to be 18, but all I can imagine when i think of her is the small, still challenged with shedding some baby fat little girl that was on the Disney(X factor in all of this) channel, singing and dancing her heart away. But this song isn't that same little girl. this is a much more adult theme to this song that SHE HAS NO FREAKING CLUE ABOUT! Ok, to prove my point, I'll give you a couple lines from Ms Gomez biggest hit; Naturally: "And it takes my breath away. What you do, so naturally" - "You have a way of moving me, A force of nature, your energy, It comes naturally, (You know it does,) It comes naturally, (Oh yeah)" - "When we collide, sparks fly, When you look in my eyes, it takes my breath away" And now for the chorus... since I've basically just put the entire song up there... might as well finish it. "You are the thunder and I am the lightning, And I love the way you know who you are, And to me it's exciting, When you know it's meant to be, Everything comes naturally, It comes naturally, When you're with me baby, Everything comes naturally, It comes naturally, (Ba-Ba-Baby)"
First things first... The only thing at 17 that should be taking your breathe away is the overwhelming excitement for new trailers for the damn Twilight movies! And seriously, You have a way of moving me??? Are you kidding me?!?!?! The only thing that should move you is a bad chalupa at Taco Bell!! You're 17 years old!! When we collide, sparks fly!?!?! When you look in my eyes,it takes my breath away!?!?!? The only sparks my daughter is going to see at 17 are those of sparklers on the 4th of July! And the only one having their breathe taken away is the boy who knocks on my door and gets a boot the chest when he asks if my daughter is home!!!
Okay... so to make myself feel a little better about this song, I've changed it's seductive message to something more fitting...
You are the thunder and I am the lightening: This is in reference to her baby sister who is with her at the arcade!
And I love the way you know who you are: Because her baby sister is just old enough to get the concept of her place in the family.
And to me it's exciting. When you know it's meant to be. Oh, this is when she is talking about playing skeeball at the arcade and she tosses the ball and it goes right in. She knows its meant to be! Pretty much, when she throws the ball down the lane, her baby sister makes the sound of thunder and when it goes in the 100 point hole, Selena makes the sound of lightening. See, it comes naturally ;)
It's dumb, I know, but it makes me feel better about the whole situation, so shut up.
So like for real, I am terrified of my baby daughter growing up in such an overly sexualized society where young girls are being pressured once they hit their teens and sometimes even earlier to have sex. Hell, turn on the TV, its everywhere, at all hours!! Not necessarily the pressure but the stories of the pressure. How often is Tyra talking about some girl who is 11, who is talking about how she gives head to boys at school cause its the cool thing to do!?!?!?! Did you know they have a different name for blow jobs now? Its called bopping. Some dumbed down, code name so its viewed differently.
And seriously, what example is being made for them?!? Look at our young stars, they all talk about it all the time. I have Bristol Pailin getting knocked up, Jamie Lynn Spears is on her second kid with I think a second daddy, and Justin Bieber talks about how much girls mean to him and HIS BALLS HAVEN'T EVEN DROPPED YET!!! If he tweets a picture of himself and Kim Kardashian and jokes about her being his girlfriend and SHE gets death threats from little girls!!! You're gonna tell me those same little girls aren't going to be willing to do things .... I CANT'T EVEN TALK ABOUT THIS! Its just making me mad.
Where has our accountability and leadership over family disappeared to? Where are the Dads at?? The mother may be able to relate better to these girls, but where is the father with his loving leadership and tender relationship to his little girl. Fathers, step into your roles as leaders over your households and change the way this next generation is raised. I'm stepping up to the plate. My daughter will make decisions for herself. Some good, some bad. But I promise, I would have done everything within my power and established a righteous standard for my family that my daughter will be able to reference to help make the right decisions. Will she ever sneak out of the house? Probably. Will she get drunk before she's 21? Probably. Will she have sex before she is married? I don't know. But that will be the standard set. And if she falls, I will be there with open arms for my daughter. But there will be no other advice given on the matter. I won't ever give her condoms or put her on the pill or give her some shot because that is only giving partial permission "as long as you're careful". I had a thousand chances to have sex when I was growing up. But the only thing that changed it was the fear of breaking my last standing promise to God. Am I any better than anyone else? Of course not. But I am going to set the same standard for my children. Will they meet every standard set? Definitely not, and that's where love and forgiveness come into play.
Well that was a bit of a tangent... Hopping off soapbox... Thanks again, see ya soon ;)
Hey, I'm also starting to tweet so hit me up on twitter @jbsully or on facebook.com/papasully
Word of the week: Douche
Beer of the week: Adam and I's Imperial Pale Ale - Turned out awesome, very excited!
Music of the week: REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits and what the heck, SELENA GOMEZ!!!
AA-12 Shotgun Blast
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2010
AA-12 Shogun Blast
Alright alright alright alright Ok now ladies.
So first things first. My apologies for not putting anything out in the past month. March was just crazy. So I plan to get back in sync this month and give you a couple other things to read.
SECOND:I actually wrote 2 parts to this and it ended up being way to long. So expect the release of my next one, passionately regarding my Redskins to be released early next week, a couple days before the draft so you can get as crazy and grey haired as I am.
THIRD: I won my first fantasy baseball game this week with the highest score in the league, so currently, the Arnold Ho Snackwraps are in 1st and looking for the pennant!!
So I'm in the office on an open at work the other day listening to KISS and it comes to me and I think: What have I been listening to the past 20 years and why has none of it been KISS until now?? So I get to thinking... dangerous, right? There is a LOT of music I listen to now that I never did before, much less when it was actually popular. Favorite bands today are Rush, Kiss, Styx, AC/DC, Guns and Roses. Those are just a couple and they're a bit more of the same genre. I still love and listen to a lot of Coheed and Cambria, Weezer, Angels and Airwaves... And of course it's well documented amongst my friends of my passion for Hip-Hop: T.I. is an all time favorite, Biggie, Gucci or Game.
So what am I getting at?
How much and how quickly do our palate's change as we get old or "mature"? Even as our surroundings change and we are more heavily influenced by the more common styles and themes around us. (should that have been phrased as a question)
Yes, I've always liked Hip-Hop. But I was raised in a very urban (I know you like the use of that very politically correct phrase. I could have said hood, ghetto or been really racy and said "predominately black community" where I was the minority) setting where Hip-Hop was it. Hip-Hop and basketball all day, every day. We played basketball until we broke the rim at that dude's house and moved on to the next one until the same happened. We would walk around the neighborhood and play feux go-go on the cars down the block. Each person beating a different part of some stranger's vehicle to accomplish the desired sound. At any point somebody might spit a rhyme and we move on to the next. What did we listen to? I still enjoy Bone Thugs and Harmony or Onyx. But I also had a different element that my friends didn't. They didn't listen to Christian Rap like I did. If they did, they hid it better than I did. Although I would drop the occasional line from one of those albums during a freestyle session and pretend it was mine because I knew nobody would be able to call me out on it. I mean, DC Talk, was huge and as I got older still listened to some like, Sev Statik, Tunnel Rats or John Rueben. Alright, so the point I'm getting at is, I liked it then. I like it now... but maybe a little less... maybe... but will I get to a point when I'm 40 that I don't like it at all?? I mean, what is my daughter gonna say when I'm 40 and still doing the Superman?? Who knows?
So I think I get the past, but we definitely go through phases. I mean, I was an emo kid like any other during my late teens even into early 20s. It was all about AFI, Brand New and Thursday. And I still like all that stuff. NO WHERE near as much as I did then though. Like not even close. And there is a new breed of scene kids with their Animal Collectives and Matt & Kim. I'm sure they'll look fondly back to those days like I look back to Sunny Day Real Estate, Blink 182 and MxPx. They put their imprint on our lives.
But our musical palates are just like Peter Pan, they don't want to grow up. But they do. They always grow up.
EXAMPLE: I BOUGHT A BLUEGRASS ALBUM the other day!!! Where did that come from??? Mind you, it was a bluegrass tribute to Blink 182. But it was bluegrass nonetheless. I mean, I can listen to more country now than I ever have been able to in my entire life. Some Justin Jones & the Driving Rain, Johnny Cash or even one of my daughter's favorite artists, Taylor Swift. I think part of it is that I'm a little smarter. I realized this in sports years ago and think I am only just starting to get it now for music. If it makes that much money, and is that popular, than there must be a value to it that I just don't understand yet. YET. So I invest myself a little. I did it with College Sports and Nascar and now I'm doing it with music. They're good, you're just not in the right spot to understand that.
So does this mean my next step is Whitney Houston and Celine Dion?? I don't know, is it?? No matter what I am listenning to in 15 years, today I am loving where I am atin my own musical universe. Bring on the Rush, Young Jeezy, Taking Back Sunday and maybe I'll reopen my eyes to the things that I liked back then and have changed into today's Cage the Elephant or MGMT.
So what am I up to this week??
Listening to what I said earlier: Kiss
Song: Love Gun
Beers close to the lips: Lewis hooked me up with a half a case of: Wells Bombardier. it's a 5.2 % English bitter that is really great. I have it just chilling in the basement on the floor to keep it at the proper cellar temperature(40 - 65 F) and its right around 62ish and the beer has a ton of flavor at that level. Absolutely one of the best bitters I've had. highly recommend.
Also: Been drinking a lot of Oaked or Bourbon Barrel aged beers lately. Oaked Unearthly by Southern Tier is out so you gotta snag that. Bourbon County by goose Island is a DELICIOUS 13%, stout aged for 6 months in bourbon barrels that will blow your mind!! Its not cheap but way more affordable than buying 6 Brew Dog Paradox beers which are fabulous but HORRIBLY expensive.
EVENTS: April 20th BEER CLUB with Stoudts Brewery at Lures in Crownsville with the Dawson's boys, Danny and Matt. It costs like 38.95 or whatever and its ALL YOU CAN DRINK or some if the best beers on draft in the area with a tasting of 6 Stoudts Beers as well as a nice spread of ALL YOU CAN EAT FOOD. It's an awesome time and I'll totally be there, so come join me. Just gimmie a call or visit my facebook and hit me there.
April 22nd at Fridays @ Arundel Mills I will be closing for the NFL Draft Party, so come on out, Ill be chillin in the bar the whole time, just don't tell my bosses ;)
See you guys later next week, here's a couple links for you:
http://www.facebook.com/PapaSully
http://www.luresbarandgrille.com/
http://dawsonsliquor.com/
http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/brewery.html
http://www.brewdog.com/
http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/index2.html
AA-12 Shogun Blast
Alright alright alright alright Ok now ladies.
So first things first. My apologies for not putting anything out in the past month. March was just crazy. So I plan to get back in sync this month and give you a couple other things to read.
SECOND:I actually wrote 2 parts to this and it ended up being way to long. So expect the release of my next one, passionately regarding my Redskins to be released early next week, a couple days before the draft so you can get as crazy and grey haired as I am.
THIRD: I won my first fantasy baseball game this week with the highest score in the league, so currently, the Arnold Ho Snackwraps are in 1st and looking for the pennant!!
So I'm in the office on an open at work the other day listening to KISS and it comes to me and I think: What have I been listening to the past 20 years and why has none of it been KISS until now?? So I get to thinking... dangerous, right? There is a LOT of music I listen to now that I never did before, much less when it was actually popular. Favorite bands today are Rush, Kiss, Styx, AC/DC, Guns and Roses. Those are just a couple and they're a bit more of the same genre. I still love and listen to a lot of Coheed and Cambria, Weezer, Angels and Airwaves... And of course it's well documented amongst my friends of my passion for Hip-Hop: T.I. is an all time favorite, Biggie, Gucci or Game.
So what am I getting at?
How much and how quickly do our palate's change as we get old or "mature"? Even as our surroundings change and we are more heavily influenced by the more common styles and themes around us. (should that have been phrased as a question)
Yes, I've always liked Hip-Hop. But I was raised in a very urban (I know you like the use of that very politically correct phrase. I could have said hood, ghetto or been really racy and said "predominately black community" where I was the minority) setting where Hip-Hop was it. Hip-Hop and basketball all day, every day. We played basketball until we broke the rim at that dude's house and moved on to the next one until the same happened. We would walk around the neighborhood and play feux go-go on the cars down the block. Each person beating a different part of some stranger's vehicle to accomplish the desired sound. At any point somebody might spit a rhyme and we move on to the next. What did we listen to? I still enjoy Bone Thugs and Harmony or Onyx. But I also had a different element that my friends didn't. They didn't listen to Christian Rap like I did. If they did, they hid it better than I did. Although I would drop the occasional line from one of those albums during a freestyle session and pretend it was mine because I knew nobody would be able to call me out on it. I mean, DC Talk, was huge and as I got older still listened to some like, Sev Statik, Tunnel Rats or John Rueben. Alright, so the point I'm getting at is, I liked it then. I like it now... but maybe a little less... maybe... but will I get to a point when I'm 40 that I don't like it at all?? I mean, what is my daughter gonna say when I'm 40 and still doing the Superman?? Who knows?
So I think I get the past, but we definitely go through phases. I mean, I was an emo kid like any other during my late teens even into early 20s. It was all about AFI, Brand New and Thursday. And I still like all that stuff. NO WHERE near as much as I did then though. Like not even close. And there is a new breed of scene kids with their Animal Collectives and Matt & Kim. I'm sure they'll look fondly back to those days like I look back to Sunny Day Real Estate, Blink 182 and MxPx. They put their imprint on our lives.
But our musical palates are just like Peter Pan, they don't want to grow up. But they do. They always grow up.
EXAMPLE: I BOUGHT A BLUEGRASS ALBUM the other day!!! Where did that come from??? Mind you, it was a bluegrass tribute to Blink 182. But it was bluegrass nonetheless. I mean, I can listen to more country now than I ever have been able to in my entire life. Some Justin Jones & the Driving Rain, Johnny Cash or even one of my daughter's favorite artists, Taylor Swift. I think part of it is that I'm a little smarter. I realized this in sports years ago and think I am only just starting to get it now for music. If it makes that much money, and is that popular, than there must be a value to it that I just don't understand yet. YET. So I invest myself a little. I did it with College Sports and Nascar and now I'm doing it with music. They're good, you're just not in the right spot to understand that.
So does this mean my next step is Whitney Houston and Celine Dion?? I don't know, is it?? No matter what I am listenning to in 15 years, today I am loving where I am atin my own musical universe. Bring on the Rush, Young Jeezy, Taking Back Sunday and maybe I'll reopen my eyes to the things that I liked back then and have changed into today's Cage the Elephant or MGMT.
So what am I up to this week??
Listening to what I said earlier: Kiss
Song: Love Gun
Beers close to the lips: Lewis hooked me up with a half a case of: Wells Bombardier. it's a 5.2 % English bitter that is really great. I have it just chilling in the basement on the floor to keep it at the proper cellar temperature(40 - 65 F) and its right around 62ish and the beer has a ton of flavor at that level. Absolutely one of the best bitters I've had. highly recommend.
Also: Been drinking a lot of Oaked or Bourbon Barrel aged beers lately. Oaked Unearthly by Southern Tier is out so you gotta snag that. Bourbon County by goose Island is a DELICIOUS 13%, stout aged for 6 months in bourbon barrels that will blow your mind!! Its not cheap but way more affordable than buying 6 Brew Dog Paradox beers which are fabulous but HORRIBLY expensive.
EVENTS: April 20th BEER CLUB with Stoudts Brewery at Lures in Crownsville with the Dawson's boys, Danny and Matt. It costs like 38.95 or whatever and its ALL YOU CAN DRINK or some if the best beers on draft in the area with a tasting of 6 Stoudts Beers as well as a nice spread of ALL YOU CAN EAT FOOD. It's an awesome time and I'll totally be there, so come join me. Just gimmie a call or visit my facebook and hit me there.
April 22nd at Fridays @ Arundel Mills I will be closing for the NFL Draft Party, so come on out, Ill be chillin in the bar the whole time, just don't tell my bosses ;)
See you guys later next week, here's a couple links for you:
http://www.facebook.com/PapaSully
http://www.luresbarandgrille.com/
http://dawsonsliquor.com/
http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/brewery.html
http://www.brewdog.com/
http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/index2.html
The Archive: I've got "good beer" coming out of my armpits
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010
I got "good beer" coming out of my armpits
Oh me oh my!!
Where do I start?
Its been a very busy past couple weeks in my "beer life". So I thought it would only make sense if I take you through my journey the same way I came across it.
My brother Dan and his wife Kristin are celebrating the life of their new baby girl, Sophia Raye Sullivan. The first full day they were home, we decided that we would bring some food over to cook for them/have Dan help ME cook. haha. So I went out, snagged a couple nice sized filets, some potatoes and some large fresh asparagus. Naturally, I checked out my Beer Cloud app on my Droid to see what beer would combo best with filet mignon. My Beer Cloud told me that Belgian Ales or Nut Brown Ales would combo the flavors of the meat the best. So I headed off to my liquor store of choice, Dawson's Liquors and looked for my boys Danny and Matt to help me hook it up right. Well, they weren't there, so i was on my own. I headed right to the Belgians and noticed something I hadn't had before... This Belgian Nut Brown Ale, by Chauffe. A couple weeks earlier I tried Chauffe for the first time at Megan and Leo's going away party when I brought a Chauffe Belgian Dubbel IPA... Which was BANGIN!! Long story short, I picked up a couple different Belgians but BY FAR... Like seriously, its not even close!!! The Chauffe Belgian Brown Ale was the best brown ale I have EVER had. When you think of brown ale, you think of New Castle, which isnt bad by any means but Chauffe had a LOT of body to it and a whole lot of flavor. It was extremely smooth and I couldn't wait for the next taste.
My first recommendation is: Chauffe Belgian Brown Ale: http://www.achouffe.be/en
February 21st was my birthday, I turned 28. No biggy to me as birthdays for me are just another day, but whatev. The only thing I ever ask for my birthday is a dinner made by my Mom. Usually its White Spaghetti, but since my wife has learned to make it I haven't wanted it that bad anymore. But a couple weeks earlier I called my Mother and told her I was hankering for Linguine with Clam sauce. So once again i hit up the sommelier to see what goes best with the clams... I got a couple different directions I was aimed at, first clams themselves go best with Belgian ales but a "Seafood Pasta" was best served with a Hefeweizen. My palate doesn't naturally steer in the direction of Hefeweizens or even a lot of other European flavors as a whole, but I am trying to increase my awareness and appreciation for the very complex flavors they offer. So my intention was to select a six pack Hefeweizen or something... Not 5 SIX PACKS!!! wait... I picked up 3 different Hefeweizen's, the Spring Cider by Woodchuck and a 4 Pack of Fordham's Doppel Bock. I'll start with the Doppel Bock which I picked up because I've never seen it in a bottle before. I previously tried it with Jer at the Ram's Head Roadhouse where I was blown away by the complexities of the dark bock. It has a lot of the same smoky nodes of a Porter but wasn't quite to the same level in the thickness. It was very rich and malty with some great roasted fruit hints deep within it. STILL GREAT IN A BOTTLE!!
My second recommendation is: Fordham's Doppelbock - http://fordhambrewing.com/
So as I stated, it was pretty much Hefeweizenfest for my birthday!! The Hefeweizens I snagged were Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis, Magic Hat's Circus Boy and Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat. We started off wrong... The first one we drank was the FlyingDog Hefe. I don't wanna leave you hangin... so I'll be real with you... It blew our minds!! Its unfiltered, just the way I like most of my beers much less hefes, but what really set it apart was the RICH flavor that was a joy to drink!! It was more full bodied and more flavorful than the other two.
The Next was the Magic Hat's Circus Boy. I have a pleasant history with this beer, trying it over a year ago at West End Bar and Grille when they had it on draft. And it was easily the best beer they had on draft there... and yet it didn't touch the flying dog. It was also unfiltered, but you wouldn't know it by how light and airy it was. Is that bad? No, but it just didn't stand up to the expectation that the Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat had already set and really left us wanting a lot more flavor.
The last was the Sierra Nevada Kellerwies. Typically I like but don't LOVE Sierra Nevada because I feel like a lot of them, much like most Sam Adams beers tend to have a similar flavor to them. I don't tend to taste such extreme similarities in most breweries but these two I do. Needless to say, there are couple Sierras that I feel deviate from this rule, first is the currant Spring beer, the Glisade Golden Bock and the Kellerwies. So the Kellerweis was a very pleasant bounce back from the disappointing drop off with the second beer. The Kellerweis is much more of a classic German hefeweizen taste and feel. A more medium body and unfiltered as the others were but gave us a lot more flavor than the last. Still... doesn't change my instant love of the In-heat.
My third recommendation is: Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat - http://www.flyingdogales.com/Default.aspx
Busy beer week would continue you two days later at the Lure's Bar and Grille Beer Club. This had already been pushed back a couple weeks due to snow and I barely got off work to make it, but WHOA was it awesome!!! The beer of the month for club was Troegs Brewing Company. I found out a lot about Troegs, including that it was started by two brothers who went separate ways for careers and decided to pull together to come up with this great brewery out of PA. I'm not a veteran Troegs drinker, although I gave it my Winter Beer of the Year award with Mad Elf =. So I was very excited to dig in and try all these cool new beers to me. It was kind of neat being that in addition to having 4 beers to try, we also had a Firkin of their spring beer, Nugget Nectar. This beer comes from the same recipe as one of their year-round beers, Hop Back, except they through a bazilly amount if hops in it to dry hop it. Nugget Nectar is super hopping and so flavorful and the fact that I got to drink the delicious unfiltered Firkin just made it better than I could imagine. We also tasted Troegs Hop Back, Dream Weaver Hefe( I probably would have put it in 2nd out of the 4 Hefes I had in those days), Mad Elf and finally a Gold Award Winner this year, Troegenator Double Bock. I LOVE dark, rich, flavorful beers and this one totally hit on all nodes for me. After the event was over I got a chance to try one last beer. I love Rogue's Dead Guy Ale, but they had a new one on draft: Rogue's John John Dead Guy Ale. It's the same recipe as the classic dead Guy except they age it in Bourbon barrels which gives it a new oaky, full on bourbon flavor on top of an already delicious beer. I pretty much called it Bourbon-Lite. :)
My forth recommendation is: Troeg's Nugget Nectar - http://www.troegs.com - SPRING ONLY, get it while its hot!!
Bare with me, as this last Tuesday was another great day for beer lovers. Started off around 12 in the afternoon when my brother Adam came up front Fort Washington so we could brew some beer. We headed to Annapolis Home Brew and after some questioning decided upon an Imperial Pale Ale. I'll keep it simple, but I'll be intrigued to see how it turns out after I think we may have had a couple sanitation issues. Like that isn't always the story with a home brew, but we shall see ;). We were just pitching the yeast as we needed to head out the door and over to Dawson's Liquors where Matt Crow and the Flying Dog Winnebago was waiting to take us up to Frederick for an evening tour of the brewery. You might know them for their crazy labels(Ralph Steadman design) or the association to Hunter S. Thompson but they go so much harder than just a couple cool names. We got to taste some amazing beers and I really came away with a big time appreciation for the quality of delicious beers they put out. To start, I think its note worthy that they were just selected as Mid-Sized Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival in addition the master brewer won Brewer of the Year as well. The tour was a blast and they were actually brewing even when we got there. They thoroughly impressed me with the great flavor of the beers and the care that goes into craft such awesome brews. On the bottom I included some pictures I took on my cell of the brewer and our post tour fun as well as a rank and some short notes on some of the beers we loved.
1. 20th Anniversary Beer: Raging Bitch Belgian IPA - A pleasure to drink and plenty of hops to cure the itch but a lot of additional complexities from the Belgian yeast.
2. Gonzo Imperial Porter: Rockin a hearty 7.8 on the richtor, this beer had a lot of rich flavors that makes your jaw drop.
3. Snake Dog IPA: One of the better IPAs I've had recently, it also packed a wollup at 7.1 with loads of hoppy flavor. Just a shade under the flavor of the Raging Bitch, but still awesome.
4. Doggie Style Pale Ale: I was stuck between this and the Old Scratch Amer Lager, but chose this because at first you might think it was actually the Snake Dog, but it wasen't. Just a delicious classic American Pale Ale that didn't leave you hanging.
I hope you made it to the bottom of this, but if not... well than you aren't even reading this, so I don't know why I am still talking. But if you wanna check out more from Flying Dog, they will be bringing a bunch of brews including the Dog Schwarz Double Lager to Lures Beer Club, Tuesday March 9th. I have to work, but Im trying to get things switched up so I can make it and it would be great to see you there.
Thanks for hanging out and I hope you enjoyed everything.
-Sully
I got "good beer" coming out of my armpits
Oh me oh my!!
Where do I start?
Its been a very busy past couple weeks in my "beer life". So I thought it would only make sense if I take you through my journey the same way I came across it.
My brother Dan and his wife Kristin are celebrating the life of their new baby girl, Sophia Raye Sullivan. The first full day they were home, we decided that we would bring some food over to cook for them/have Dan help ME cook. haha. So I went out, snagged a couple nice sized filets, some potatoes and some large fresh asparagus. Naturally, I checked out my Beer Cloud app on my Droid to see what beer would combo best with filet mignon. My Beer Cloud told me that Belgian Ales or Nut Brown Ales would combo the flavors of the meat the best. So I headed off to my liquor store of choice, Dawson's Liquors and looked for my boys Danny and Matt to help me hook it up right. Well, they weren't there, so i was on my own. I headed right to the Belgians and noticed something I hadn't had before... This Belgian Nut Brown Ale, by Chauffe. A couple weeks earlier I tried Chauffe for the first time at Megan and Leo's going away party when I brought a Chauffe Belgian Dubbel IPA... Which was BANGIN!! Long story short, I picked up a couple different Belgians but BY FAR... Like seriously, its not even close!!! The Chauffe Belgian Brown Ale was the best brown ale I have EVER had. When you think of brown ale, you think of New Castle, which isnt bad by any means but Chauffe had a LOT of body to it and a whole lot of flavor. It was extremely smooth and I couldn't wait for the next taste.
My first recommendation is: Chauffe Belgian Brown Ale: http://www.achouffe.be/en
February 21st was my birthday, I turned 28. No biggy to me as birthdays for me are just another day, but whatev. The only thing I ever ask for my birthday is a dinner made by my Mom. Usually its White Spaghetti, but since my wife has learned to make it I haven't wanted it that bad anymore. But a couple weeks earlier I called my Mother and told her I was hankering for Linguine with Clam sauce. So once again i hit up the sommelier to see what goes best with the clams... I got a couple different directions I was aimed at, first clams themselves go best with Belgian ales but a "Seafood Pasta" was best served with a Hefeweizen. My palate doesn't naturally steer in the direction of Hefeweizens or even a lot of other European flavors as a whole, but I am trying to increase my awareness and appreciation for the very complex flavors they offer. So my intention was to select a six pack Hefeweizen or something... Not 5 SIX PACKS!!! wait... I picked up 3 different Hefeweizen's, the Spring Cider by Woodchuck and a 4 Pack of Fordham's Doppel Bock. I'll start with the Doppel Bock which I picked up because I've never seen it in a bottle before. I previously tried it with Jer at the Ram's Head Roadhouse where I was blown away by the complexities of the dark bock. It has a lot of the same smoky nodes of a Porter but wasn't quite to the same level in the thickness. It was very rich and malty with some great roasted fruit hints deep within it. STILL GREAT IN A BOTTLE!!
My second recommendation is: Fordham's Doppelbock - http://fordhambrewing.com/
So as I stated, it was pretty much Hefeweizenfest for my birthday!! The Hefeweizens I snagged were Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis, Magic Hat's Circus Boy and Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat. We started off wrong... The first one we drank was the FlyingDog Hefe. I don't wanna leave you hangin... so I'll be real with you... It blew our minds!! Its unfiltered, just the way I like most of my beers much less hefes, but what really set it apart was the RICH flavor that was a joy to drink!! It was more full bodied and more flavorful than the other two.
The Next was the Magic Hat's Circus Boy. I have a pleasant history with this beer, trying it over a year ago at West End Bar and Grille when they had it on draft. And it was easily the best beer they had on draft there... and yet it didn't touch the flying dog. It was also unfiltered, but you wouldn't know it by how light and airy it was. Is that bad? No, but it just didn't stand up to the expectation that the Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat had already set and really left us wanting a lot more flavor.
The last was the Sierra Nevada Kellerwies. Typically I like but don't LOVE Sierra Nevada because I feel like a lot of them, much like most Sam Adams beers tend to have a similar flavor to them. I don't tend to taste such extreme similarities in most breweries but these two I do. Needless to say, there are couple Sierras that I feel deviate from this rule, first is the currant Spring beer, the Glisade Golden Bock and the Kellerwies. So the Kellerweis was a very pleasant bounce back from the disappointing drop off with the second beer. The Kellerweis is much more of a classic German hefeweizen taste and feel. A more medium body and unfiltered as the others were but gave us a lot more flavor than the last. Still... doesn't change my instant love of the In-heat.
My third recommendation is: Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat - http://www.flyingdogales.com/Default.aspx
Busy beer week would continue you two days later at the Lure's Bar and Grille Beer Club. This had already been pushed back a couple weeks due to snow and I barely got off work to make it, but WHOA was it awesome!!! The beer of the month for club was Troegs Brewing Company. I found out a lot about Troegs, including that it was started by two brothers who went separate ways for careers and decided to pull together to come up with this great brewery out of PA. I'm not a veteran Troegs drinker, although I gave it my Winter Beer of the Year award with Mad Elf =. So I was very excited to dig in and try all these cool new beers to me. It was kind of neat being that in addition to having 4 beers to try, we also had a Firkin of their spring beer, Nugget Nectar. This beer comes from the same recipe as one of their year-round beers, Hop Back, except they through a bazilly amount if hops in it to dry hop it. Nugget Nectar is super hopping and so flavorful and the fact that I got to drink the delicious unfiltered Firkin just made it better than I could imagine. We also tasted Troegs Hop Back, Dream Weaver Hefe( I probably would have put it in 2nd out of the 4 Hefes I had in those days), Mad Elf and finally a Gold Award Winner this year, Troegenator Double Bock. I LOVE dark, rich, flavorful beers and this one totally hit on all nodes for me. After the event was over I got a chance to try one last beer. I love Rogue's Dead Guy Ale, but they had a new one on draft: Rogue's John John Dead Guy Ale. It's the same recipe as the classic dead Guy except they age it in Bourbon barrels which gives it a new oaky, full on bourbon flavor on top of an already delicious beer. I pretty much called it Bourbon-Lite. :)
My forth recommendation is: Troeg's Nugget Nectar - http://www.troegs.com - SPRING ONLY, get it while its hot!!
Bare with me, as this last Tuesday was another great day for beer lovers. Started off around 12 in the afternoon when my brother Adam came up front Fort Washington so we could brew some beer. We headed to Annapolis Home Brew and after some questioning decided upon an Imperial Pale Ale. I'll keep it simple, but I'll be intrigued to see how it turns out after I think we may have had a couple sanitation issues. Like that isn't always the story with a home brew, but we shall see ;). We were just pitching the yeast as we needed to head out the door and over to Dawson's Liquors where Matt Crow and the Flying Dog Winnebago was waiting to take us up to Frederick for an evening tour of the brewery. You might know them for their crazy labels(Ralph Steadman design) or the association to Hunter S. Thompson but they go so much harder than just a couple cool names. We got to taste some amazing beers and I really came away with a big time appreciation for the quality of delicious beers they put out. To start, I think its note worthy that they were just selected as Mid-Sized Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival in addition the master brewer won Brewer of the Year as well. The tour was a blast and they were actually brewing even when we got there. They thoroughly impressed me with the great flavor of the beers and the care that goes into craft such awesome brews. On the bottom I included some pictures I took on my cell of the brewer and our post tour fun as well as a rank and some short notes on some of the beers we loved.
1. 20th Anniversary Beer: Raging Bitch Belgian IPA - A pleasure to drink and plenty of hops to cure the itch but a lot of additional complexities from the Belgian yeast.
2. Gonzo Imperial Porter: Rockin a hearty 7.8 on the richtor, this beer had a lot of rich flavors that makes your jaw drop.
3. Snake Dog IPA: One of the better IPAs I've had recently, it also packed a wollup at 7.1 with loads of hoppy flavor. Just a shade under the flavor of the Raging Bitch, but still awesome.
4. Doggie Style Pale Ale: I was stuck between this and the Old Scratch Amer Lager, but chose this because at first you might think it was actually the Snake Dog, but it wasen't. Just a delicious classic American Pale Ale that didn't leave you hanging.
I hope you made it to the bottom of this, but if not... well than you aren't even reading this, so I don't know why I am still talking. But if you wanna check out more from Flying Dog, they will be bringing a bunch of brews including the Dog Schwarz Double Lager to Lures Beer Club, Tuesday March 9th. I have to work, but Im trying to get things switched up so I can make it and it would be great to see you there.
Thanks for hanging out and I hope you enjoyed everything.
-Sully
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