The Movies of October

Lots of reviews this week- “The Rum Diary,” as well as four selections from the Philadelphia Film Festival.

Hey, Old Buddy

I saw Buddy Valestro, TLC’s “Cake Boss,” operator of Hoboken’s Carlo’s City Hall Bakery and baker of my birthday cake in 2003, at CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis last month. Here’s a video I put together of him delivering a giant cake in the shape of a remote control.

That Was a Disgusting Act by Joe Buck

I know Joe Buck’s use of the “we’ll see you… tomorrow night” call for David Freese’s Game 6 walk-off homer was controversial- some saw it as a sweet tribute to a father by his son, while others considered it sacrilege. Put me in the latter camp.
Sure, I’m biased, as a Twins fan who considers that probably my all-time favorite sports moment, and also as someone who’s not particularly a fan of Joe Buck. But announcing a game isn’t karaoke, and great calls in the past should remain great calls in the past.
Meanwhile, George W. Bush was at the game that night, marking a rare moment in which Buck isn’t the most flagrant beneficiary of nepotism in a particular room at a particular time.

Analyzing the Chalupa

Here’s a standout look at the various bizarre Brian Wilson Chalupa commercial, and Taco Bell ads in general. I think I know why no one eats anything in Taco Bell ads- because they have to film multiple takes.

Your Accomplice in the Wood Chipper, and Other Hits

A montage of Steve Buscemi’s various movie deaths:

How to Fix Baseball!

Baseball’s never broken, but everyone always thinks it is, so they come up with ridiculous ten-point “how to fix baseball” lists. My favorite was the recent one suggesting that games be reduced to seven innings.
Anywhere, here’s a perfect parody of the genre.

Quote of the Day

Sullivan on the GOP field:

“My own take on this is that Cain is a great performer – he makes a living as a motivational speaker, after all – and the rest of the field is hobbled by one glaring problem respectively, while Cain isn’t. Perry is simply too dumb and lazy to be president. Romney too transparently opportunist for a purist party. Paul is disqualified because of foreign policy. Bachmann is a programmed bonkers-bot. Santorum is a frothy substance whose views of the world are frozen in place sometime around 1986. Gingrich is an asshole who could never win the presidency, and even those who like his permanent smirk/snarl understand that. Huntsman might as well be Al Sharpton, because of his views on climate change, gays and because of his working for Satan. No wonder Cain has a shot, given the debates. He is likable and brilliant at simple, effective presentation. He has the skills of an actor, and a roguish shamelessness that reminds me a little of Clinton. Even though you know he’s a total charlatan, you still kinda like the guy.”

English PTI!

This exists. And they talk a bit more about soccer than Tony and Mike do:

Vikings Stadium Thoughts

So we’re headed for yet another legislative showdown in Minnesota over a stadium, this time the Vikings. A special session is set for next month in which lawmakers will consider whether to approve a state contribution to a new Vikings stadium in suburban Arden Hills.
Now, many people- led by the Vikings management, some politicians, Sid Hartman and especially that preening ass Mike Florio- would like for us to believe that if this stadium bill doesn’t get approved this month, the Vikings are as good as gone to Los Angeles, probably as soon as 2012. Those people are all very, very wrong.
My prediction is, the bill doesn’t get passed this year, as I can’t see a Tea Party-controlled state legislature that just had a government shutdown finding a few hundred million lying around to throw at Zygi Wilf. But will the Vikings leave? No they will not. And that’s because Los Angeles doesn’t have their act together in terms of a stadium either. They have two proposals, both of which have big problems, and neither is likely to earn final passage in the near future.
I expect the Vikings situation to drag on for several more years, with a solution eventually emerging that puts a new stadium somewhere in downtown Minneapolis. But remember- the Twins’ stadium debate dragged out for 12 years, and in that time the team came much closer, on more than one occasion, to leaving town than the Vikings are now.
The best situation would be an open-air stadium- better to give the Vikes the late-season advantage that cold-weather home towns enjoy- that requires not a whole lot of public funds. And no, it should not be in Arden Hills.

Music Critic Quote of the Week

Chuck Klosterman, getting back to what he does best: Informed, snarky rock writing:

The universe is predisposed to hate this new Lou Reed/Metallica album, Lulu, and I totally understand why. It’s not really designed for people who like music. It sounds like what it is: an elderly misanthrope reciting paradoxical aphorisms over a collection of repetitive, adrenalized sludge licks. Anyone who tries to suggest it’s surprising in any way needs to reexamine his or her propensity for being surprised. I’m sure there will be a sector of Metallica’s core audience that feels “betrayed,” mostly because Metallica fans enjoy the sensation of betrayal.1 I suppose a handful of Lou Reed obsessives will consider this record hilarious as long as they don’t have to listen to it, and I’m certain some contrarian rock critic will become Internet Famous for insisting it’s more subversive than Transformer and a musical reaction to both Occupy Wall Street and the subpar drum production on St. Anger. It will be legally purchased by the 13,404 Metallica completists who saw Some Kind of Monster on opening weekend, unless the album is exclusively sold at Walmart, in which case it will enter the Billboard charts at no. 2. Rolling Stone will give it 2� stars and then pretend it never happened; meanwhile, people who thought The “Priest” They Called Him was a brilliant idea will hold a vague, misplaced grudge against Dave Mustaine while sleepwalking to the methadone clinic.
It is not a successful record.
It might be a successful simulation of how it feels to develop schizophrenia while suffering from a migraine, although slightly less melodic.