The Contender
Episode 2 of the Contender wasn't nearly as good as the first. Mostly it's because the fight wasn't nearly as good. After all, it's still all about the boxing and this fight, despite what Stallone and company were babbling about at the end, wasn't very good. It was pretty dull. These scenes right after the fight when they show the loser in the shower with his family hanging around are some gut-wrenching scenes. It's tough stuff to watch. This is what boxing is all about: you win or you lose, there is no middle ground. It's so definitive. Certainty is attained either way.

This one time in Paris
This one time I was in Paris and I decided I wanted to try and see if I could stay awake for 48 hours. you know, just for kicks. so I started to and we all went out and we lied down in the Trocadero, in front of the Eiffel Tower, at around 3am, and I was thinking, wow I'm laying down at 3am in the Trocadero, right in front of the Eiffel Tower. So then we all went to a friend's place at around 6am and people started dropping like flies. To sleep I mean. They started to fall asleep, one by one. But I had to stay awake because I had only been up for around 29 hours. I wanted to stay awake for 48 hours. So to keep myself busy I started to write about how I would kill everyone in the room. One guy I would pour boiling water on his face, one person I'd stab in the neck. Stuff like that. Just to keep busy, I wasn't going to kill anyone. But I was going a little crazy from staying awake for 29 hours and I got a little afraid that maybe I would start killing all these sleeping people. I felt so lonely in the world and also an incredible pain. I think it was from lack of sleep. So all of the sudden I noticed my eyes closing and for about 5 minutes I fell asleep. So I failed. In my challenge to stay awake for 48 hours, I mean. THen people started waking up, wondering if I had stayed awake and how they were going to die. I lied and said I had stayed awake. Then we all left for breakfast and I noticed I had lost my key. In front of the Eiffel Tower, in a park, not in Trocadero. This wasn't fun and for the rest of the day I commuted to and from Paris to the suburbs to get it all straightened out. Because that's where the landlord lived. I saw a fat man in a speedo whose body was fully oiled. He was nice about helping me find the key. But it was kind of weird. He had been sunbathing. So finally I got home and put the key in the keyhole and the door didn't open and I crumpled to the ground and wanted to cry. From frustration, but also because, at this point, I hadn't slept in 41 hours. Then, as I lay there, someone called me and it turned out someone had kept my key. so I went and got it, smiled a lot because I was so happy and I finally made it back to my apartment - where I slept for 27 hours and then things all went back to normal.

Coldplay's new album getting prepped
Droool...

Rick Ankiel is done
After numerous attempts at coming back from elbow shoulder/wildness - he's calling it quits as a pitcher. He'll try to make the adjustment to an outfielder now at age 25. It's rough because I always checked in to see how he was doing with his rehab, how his numbers in the minors were doing, and it looks like he just can't get through either the injuries or the mental part of it. He was a pretty good hitting pitcher so it should be a matter of just getting into the mindset of hitting every day and playing the outfield. Only 25, I think he'll spend this whole year at AA and maybe, if he does well, get a shot at some AAA pitching - who knows. But there's no way he makes the club right away and I don't think they want to throw him into AAA right off the bat.

Laughing
It's a circuitous way of proving that weed is good for you. Smoking it, of course.

Recommendations
Reading: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Makes you want to do drugs. No but seriously it's a great insight into what it feels like to do like 5 drugs at once while drinking rum and tequila. How else are you supposed to know how that feels? Don't get any ideas now... Watch the movie when you're done - it's very much true to the book.

Reading: The story in this months Harper's Magazine by George Saunders. It's about a reality TV show but not in a cheesy way. it's pretty funny and I really enjoyed it.

Reading: A short story called "Emergency" by Denis Thompson.

OK and I saw I heart Huckabees the other day - what the fuck is up with that movie? I am all about alternative comedy but this movie seemed a bit beyond my reach. Should I see it again or am I hopeless? It's weird because I really like to discuss some of the stuff they bring up, but it's just too rambling and I felt left behind or something. And what's the deal with the breast sucking scene? Come on!

New Show: The Contender
Not since "Cold Turkey" aired on PAX TV has a show interested me as much as NBC's The Contender. It debuted last night and it has become the only show I will watch - since I'm gradually phasing TV out. It's really a treat to see some boxing on non-cable or non-pay TV (Univision does air the only boxing I ever get to see, bless their hears). But the real treat is not just the boxing - it's to have access to all the emotions and motivations going on behind the scenes, then watching the fight. Last night was a great start as we witnessed why it is that boxers need to be inflated with confidence before every fight. They need to know they have already won the fight before they step into that ring or else they are cooked. It's part of the "sweet science." Last night we witnessed a vastly superior fighter lose a fight four rounds to one (my scoring) to a smaller, less talented, less experienced opponent. Why? The better fighter's head wasn't right - he didn't have his confidence and so he lost.

Next episode is on Thursday, then on Sunday - where it will air every week.

Ahh Spring Training
One of the greatest things in the world is that first ST game - only opening day beats it. So far all things look good: JoBo looks great, DuBois hit a homerun yesterday, no injuries to report...man I wish I was in Arizona.

It's been a while
That's because I am now a corporate whore. For $13 an hour I go to a bank and do whatever they tell me to do. At least I get to go downtown and my "cubicle" is really a very nice setup that has a huge window as my back wall. The view is nice and I can see the river from here. It's a small perk but you take them any way you can get them when you're a part-time corporate whore. I'm actually sitting here now - waiting for more work to be given to me. In th meantime I intend to write - effectively turning this gig into something close to "getting paid to write." This does help me counterbalance the idea of me being someone who works for a bank and wears a tie and does what he's told.

Chaney
Nice to see someone actually take responsibility for their actions.