Ferrablog

The Lightning are down 3-1 after two periods at home to the Carolina Hurricanes, who are making them look like, well, the Carolina Hurricanes. They've been god-awful tonight, outshot 20-15, outchanced 14-9, and they seem to be going through the motions. I almost think the worst thing that could happen for the Lightning is to pull this one out; if they do, they just might lull themselves into thinking they can turn it on any time and win. This might be true against a team like Carolina, but it won't be true of anyone they'll face in the playoffs. Sure, Tortorella will chew them a new one even if they do end up winning, but the fact that they keep on winning is going to naturally lead any player to think they're doing everything right, even if they aren't.

That being said, I'll probably still end up rooting for them to pull it out anyway.

UPDATE: They did end up losing, 5-1. Had Marty St. Louis not missed an empty net on a 2-on-1 early in third and cut it to 3-2 with the home crowd getting whipped up, they might have done it. Instead, they sleepwalked from there, and boos were heard at the St. Pete Times Forum. If this butt-whipping doesn't shake their complacency, nothing will.

Actually, a very light snack.

Next time a Bush supporter friend of yours tells you that Kerry "flip-flops", tell him/her that Bush just flops.

For the first time in ten years, the Florida Gators advance to the finals of the SEC tournament with a 91-69 win over Vanderbilt. Forgot about the 94 final appearance (the year the Gators, coached by Lon Kruger, went on to their first Final Four). They'll play Kentucky, and I'm not expecting much, especially considering it will be their third game in roughly 36 hours. They could use a three-point shooting day like they had today (13 of 22). And another 35 from Anthony Roberson wouldn't hurt either.

Anyway, this is the first time under Donovan that they've won two games in the tournament, and it might bump them up from a 6 seed to a 5 seed (perhaps even a 4 if they pull off the upset - their RPI, SoS and road record is quite good) in the NCAAs.

Heads up, George Carlin! This laundry list courtesy of these gentlemen.

Lee Humphrey picked up a loose ball at the baseline with time running out in overtime, and launched a rainbow at the buzzer to give the Gators a 75-73 win in their SEC tournament opener. Since it was 12:40 a.m., I couldn't scream for fear of waking up the wife and kids. Amazingly, it was almost a rerun of regulation when Anthony Roberson hit a 3 at the buzzer to give the Gators an apparent win. But replays showed the clock hit 0.0 just as the shot was about to leave his hand, and OT was on. The Gators advance despite a horrid night from Matt Walsh, who was 1-12 from 3 point range and 1-15 overall. They get Vandy in a semifinal to be played a little over 14 hours from now. Time for us all to get some rest.

The Lightning do it again, 5-2 over the Rangers. Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier with two goals apiece. St. Louis added an assist for three points, and is now at this very moment, three points ahead of Joe Sakic in the scoring race (Sakic has one more period to play tonight). Interesting that Tortorella went back to Khabibulin in goal, apparently abandoning the play-till-you-don't-win rotation since Grahame won on Wednesday night. I guess he's getting ready to go with Habby, and let him handle the load.

Meanwhile, my Florida Gator basketball team is losing 33-20 early against Alabama in their SEC tourney opener. I don't think any SEC team has underachieved more in the tourney than the Gators. The normal result seems to be a first round exit, and I'll be damned if I can remember the last time they won two games in a tournament (1989 maybe? the only time I think they made the final). If I have the gumption, I'll make some comments after the game, which is running late due to the OT in the previous game.

UPDATE: The Gators have pulled to within 37-33 at the half. I guess I might have to watch the second half now.

Kerry up by 7 in the latest poll, taken in the last three days. Hopefully, that NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll, which had Bush up 47-45, really was an outlier. Apologies to my two (?) RMAS readers for recycling a post from there on here.

Bush has a new attack ad out, already dubbed the "Muhammed Horton" ad, since it features a swarthy-looking individual that is supposed, I guess, to be a terrorist. Here is a very funny send-up of the ad, at least until the last image. I can appreciate the point behind the image, but I think it goes a bit too far.

One more thing: In the New Republic item linked above, Ryan Lizza refers to the ad as the "so-called 'Muhammed Horton' ad". Pet peeve of mine: isn't it redundant to refer to something as "so-called" and put quotation marks around it?

For the two or three people (if I'm lucky) that may actually be reading this, don't despair - I haven't lost interest in blogging after two whole days. Busy day at work today, and the wife and I have been dealing with our two-year old boy and his stomach bug today. He seems better now, so maybe the house won't be a vomitorium tonight.

But I've always been a big fan of Al Stewart, and now according to MusicTap, reissues of Year of the Cat and Time Passages, with bonus tracks, are due out April 27. Apparently he's working on a new album as well. Hope it's a bit better than the Down In The Cellar, perhaps the first-ever concept album about wine appreciation in rock history.

Many years ago, I belonged to an Al Stewart listserv. Al's lyrics tend toward historical themes (usually European history) and display a fair amount of intellect and wit, which is part of his (limited) appeal. Personally, even though I consider myself a person of moderately reasonable intellect, it was Al's melodic gifts that attracted me more to his music than, say, the minutiae of the French Revolution. Unfortunately, though, his listserv was comprised primarily of those who locked on to his lyrics to the exclusion of all else, and the amount of pseudo-intellectual posturing on the list became insufferable. As the great Canadian pop-rock band Sloan once sang, "it's not the band I hate/it's their fans." Truer words were never spoken.

And they didn't even take the ice. Their closest competitor for #1 in the East, Philadelphia, dropped a point at home in a 2-2 tie with Dallas, which equalized late. And Toronto, also at home, just fell 3-2 to the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins. The Lightning now lead Philly by two points, but with two games in hand, and Boston by 4, with one game in hand. If they don't fall flat, four points are there for taking with home games against the Rangers and Carolina over the next two nights.

....I propose we nominate this guy. He already has manufacturing experience, thanks to the administration's new definition, and it's not like there aren't any clowns in the Bush administration anyway.

Thoughts going in: I've had this one on the shelf for almost two years. Decided to dust it off; two years later, here's Jim "Jesus" Caviezel, military tribunals - it's almost as if it's been "ripped from the headlines" a la Law & Order.

Thoughts going out: Cliched on so many levels. First, it's the basic Ashley Judd "woman in peril" flick (cf. Double Jeopardy, Kiss The Girls), and it's the typical courtroom drama (albeit in a military setting) full of twists, turns, and "surprise" witnesses, and last but not least, it's a Corrupt Military Conspiracy Drama as well. I half-expected Jack Nicholson to wander in and admit he ordered the Code Red on Santiago. There's really nothing original to recommend here; even Amanda Peet plays the slut as usual. Only Morgan Freeman lends dignity to the proceedings, but then again, Freeman could lend dignity to Freddy Got Fingered. In fact, I still wish the Democrats had made an effort to get him to run for President. He has the experience, at least more than Arnold, who never once played the Governor of California before being elected to that office. And when did Carl Franklin turn into such a hack? One False Move and Devil in a Blue Dress were two of the more sublime films of the 90s. In sum, High Crimes is really a misdemeanor.

Rating (1-100): 44.

Today's terrorist attacks in Spain now appear to be the handiwork of Al-Qaeda or affiliates. If so, it appears that the date they chose is no accident. Aside from it being an "11th", note the number of days that have elapsed between September 11, 2001 and March 11, 2004: exactly 911. Another interesting fact is that Spain has its elections in three days. The mind boggles as to what would happen if another attack on US Soil took place, say, October 30, 2004.

Sad, but inevitable, I suppose. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have essentially released the long-time Pro Bowl safety. He was always one of my favorite Bucs, and his injury woes last season took quite a bit out of the defense. We'll miss ya, "Friendly Fire".

Just received some spam Email at my AOL address (not the one I use on public boards) with the header "Bush is an idiot." It was for a get-rich-quick scheme, a typical spam subject, and not for some sort of anti-Bush site or program. If spammers out there are thinking that "Bush is an idiot" is a resonant-enough phrase that will get people to open spam messages, then his current unpopularity may really have seeped into the national consciousness.

Days like today make it worth living in a state governed by Jeb Bush.

Now that the Rick Perry rumors have been debunked, the juiciest political gossip of the moment might be in Illinois, where Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan (no, not the Clancy creation) is trying to fend off efforts to unseal portions of the file on his 1999 divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, best known for portraying Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager. We will note that those Borg regeneration alcoves were only built for one.

Good to see the NHL suspended Bertuzzi for the rest of the regular season and the entire playoffs. Based on how far Vancouver advances in the playoffs, and whether he's reinstated at the beginning of the 2004-2005 season (if there is one), this could be the longest suspension in league history short of McSorley's.

From today's Washington Post:

"Six months after promising to create an office to help the nation's struggling manufacturers, President Bush settled on someone to head it, but the nomination was being reconsidered last night after Democrats revealed that his candidate had opened a factory in China.

In late afternoon, the administration announced that the new assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services would be named at a ceremony this morning. Industry officials were told that the job would go to Anthony F. Raimondo, chairman and chief executive of a Nebraska company that makes metal buildings and grain silos.

But Kerry's campaign, tipped off about the impending nomination several hours earlier, hastened to distribute news reports that Raimondo's firm, Behlen Manufacturing Co. of Columbus, Neb., had laid off 75 U.S. workers in 2002, four months after announcing plans for a $3 million factory in northwest Beijing. "

....
"Seventy-five minutes after the administration announced a news conference with Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans to name the official, an advisory went out saying the event had been "postponed due to scheduling conflicts." "
....

Perhaps the Bush administration needs to outsource their entire vetting process.

The best team in the NHL right now, the Tampa Bay Lightning, wins yet again tonight, 4-2 at Carolina. After their mega-tilt with Detroit Monday night, a letdown against the lowly 'Canes might have been in order, but the Lightning got the job done. I still have to pinch myself when I see their record; it's been almost as improbable as seeing the Arizona Cardinals at 13-2 in December or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with 100 wins in September. Tonight, backup goalie John Grahame finally got to play (he was sitting a long time thanks to head coach John Tortorella's keep-playing-until-you-don't-win goalie rotation), and was outstanding despite the rust. The Lightning didn't do anything fancy at the trade deadline like so many other teams, having made their key acquisition of Daryl Sydor in late January. But they didn't have to; "why mess with success" was the mantra, and how can you argue with that?

The RNC has really done it now with their crack opposition research team. Aside from claiming that John Kerry is the preferred candidate of Kim Il-Jong, they attempt to slander him by pointing out that he has European support (gasp!)

And if you weren't convinced Kerry was Eurotrash, they give us this one:

British Band Coldplay Endorsed Kerry At Grammys. CHRIS MARTIN, MUSICIAN, COLDPLAY: “We’d like to dedicate this to Johnny Cash, and to John Kerry, who hopefully will be your president one day.” (CNN’s “Inside Politics,” 2/9/04)

I guess capturing the anti-Coldplay demographic is key for the Republicans this year. (oh wait, Starsailor's English too, therefore not eligible to vote - oops!). I suppose they could build a constituency from Gwyneth Paltrow's spurned lovers.

http://www.georgewbush.com/btl/CustomPoster.aspx?type=color

I've already created

"Vote for us, or you'll die",
and
"Because We Can't Afford to Lose 2 More Jobs"

Thoughts going in: Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu is a genius. Amores Perros was one of my favorite movies of 2001, and his Powder Keg segment in the BMW films series was also impressive. I'm expecting this to be one of my favorites of 2003 as well.

Thoughts going out: Mildly disappointed. While I'm a big fan of movies that treat time as something less than linear (i.e.,Memento, Exotica), Iñárritu's decision to slice and dice at least three different time frames is nothing short of maddening here. A powerful story of guilt, redemption and revenge wonderfully acted by Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts, 21 Grams is hampered by its initial 30 minutes of incomprehensibility. As a result, this film almost demands a second viewing, although my philosophy of movie watching is that there are thousands of films I haven't seen, so why watch one I already have? And here's hoping Iñárritu, in his next feature, decides to make something other than an automobile accident the fulcrum of his plot. I'm beginning to think his formative film experience was watching the Mexican equivalent of Highways of Agony in his high school's driver's ed course.

Rating (1-100): 68.

Word has it that Sony Legacy will be re-releasing the Clash's London Calling with a bonus disc of additional tracks, sometime in June.

Thoughts going in: Tim Blake Nelson rocks, not only as an actor, but as a director. I loved Eye of God, and thought The Grey Zone was well-made. He takes on Shakespeare here. Hopes are high.

Thoughts going out: Ugh. This reworking of Othello for the contemporary high school set really plodded along. Thanks to the Columbine tragedy, this film sat on the shelf at Miramax for two years, and perhaps it should have stayed there. Of course when Josh Hartnett has to carry the dramatic weight of the key role (Iago, contemporized to "Hugo"), you're already starting behind the eight ball. And Nelson's direction is nothing to write home about either; unlike Eye, which had an almost Egoyan-like feel, or Grey, which had a real air of versimilitude in showing a forgotten chapter of the Holocaust, there is nothing unique about his style in O.

Rating (1-100): 55.

Movie Reviews

I'm a movie geek - I try to average viewing one movie a day. I rarely go to the theater; instead, I watch DVDs on a large, widescreen TV. What I hope to do here is write a short review of each film I see, broken down into two categories: "thoughts going in" - my expectations for the film, and "thoughts going out" - my review of the film. You'll likely see a mix of older (60s,70s) movies and newer ones (late 90s-present). There's really no rhyme or reason to which films you might end up seeing me review.

Music Reviews

I'm also heavily into music, so I'll be dropping in some thoughts on newly released albums from time to time.

Sports

And I'm a sports nut as well. At the moment, my focus is on the Tampa Bay Lightning (my hometown NHL team), and the Florida Gators basketball team (my law school alma mater). I'm also a huge Tampa Bay Bucs fan, and a New York Yankees fan (grew up on Long Island during the 70s). And despite my love for the Lightning, my close #2 NHL team is the New York Islanders. Unfortunately, there's a strong chance the two will meet in the opening round of the NHL playoffs. Anyway, I plan to throw in game comments for these teams as well.

Politics

As those from rec.music.artists.springsteen know, I'm not shy about offering my political opinions, and just about all the blogging I read is in the political realm. I'm a Democrat and I'm kind of in the middle of that spectrum. (In other words, I'm not a Joe Lieberman Republican-Lite, but I'm not a Deaniac either). For the record, I supported John Edwards. Although Kerry doesn't exactly thrill me, I'm 100% in his corner this year.

Hi! Welcome to Ferrablog. I'm Steve Ferra, (no, not the Irish folk singer - there used to be a picture at this link), a 40-year old Florida attorney with opinions to share on politics, music, movies, and anything else that might strike my fancy. I don't know if I'll have anything groundbreaking or newsworthy to share, but what's one more blog on top of the millions of others? I've been a regular poster on the usenet newsgroup rec.music.artists.springsteen for about the last five years, and from time-to-time, if something I've addressed on there seems appropriate at the moment, I may link to or paste something I've posted to that group.