The Rebirth of Evil Dead

So, Sunday afternoon I was able to see the the re-imagining of Evil Dead. Now, granted it didn't have Bruce Campbell looking like a scared confused puppy dog, but there would have been no way to recapture that magic. However, the re-imagining was worth the 1-hour and 40-minutes of my Sunday afternoon spent in a darkened theater.

Now first off, I have this to say about both the original Evil Dead and the new version: If you are in a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere and you find a book of ancient spells bound in human flesh, LEAVE IT THE FUCK ALONE! Now that being said, first time director Fede Alvarez delivers with buckets of blood and an edge-of-your-seat uneasiness. Will it be a career builder as the original was for director Sam Raimi? I would bet against it. Alvarez will have to prove himself with original material to cement a career. Marcus Nispel and Alexandre Aja are a couple of upstart directors who have accomplished little since directing a remake of a classic horror film. (Although Aja's Mirrors is an underrated film.)

The basic story is the same as the original, a group of young men and women take some time to themselves in a remote cabin. This time, it's to help a young woman quit cold turkey. Of course they find some weird shit in the basement, including the "Book of the Dead". And as irony would have it, the brainiac science teacher of the group is the one who reads aloud from the book, unleashing the demon who takes possession first of Mia, the recovering addict. And one by one, the others in the group get possessed, tortured and taunted.

The violence in the re-imagining is far beyond anything in the original film. By far the most the most disturbing is the oral-masochism involving an straight razor. But the electric knife is a close second. The gallons of blood dispersed in this movie are a sight to see and will have all horror fans grinning ear to ear. And yes, there is a chainsaw.

I'll be the first to admit I haven't liked most remakes of classic horror films. (Think Psycho, Friday the 13th, The Omen and Fright Night, just to name a few.) Evil Dead's re-imagining has given me faith good remakes of classic horror films are possible. I can't say I have faith the upcoming remake of Carrie will be anything more than a steaming pile of shit.

So, if you want to see a gory and fun horror movie and you don't mind it's a re-imagining of a campy classic, the go check out Evil Dead. And you hardcore fans, make sure to stay and watch the credits until the end. Just sayin...

2103 MLB Predictions

AL Division winners: Toronto, Detroit, Los Angeles
NL Division winners: Washington, Cincinnati, Los Angeles
AL Wild cards: Texas, Tampa Bay
NL Wild cards: St. Louis, San Francisco
AL Champion: Detroit
NL Champion: Washington
World Series champion: Washington

AL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL MVP: Joey Votto
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
NL Cy Young: Johhny Cueto
AL Rookie of the Year: Dylan Bundy
NL Rookie of the Year: Gerrit Cole
AL Comeback player: Mariano Rivera
NL Comeback player: Troy Tulowitzki

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Better cover song
	Sympathy for the Devil -- Guns N Roses
	Wicked Game -- HIM
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I hate going so long between posts

When I go this long between posts, it really bothers me.  Sure, I could write about the shitty state of American politics every day, but I'm already jaded enough, so that will never be an option.  I will discuss politics and my Libertarian views when the time is necessary but right now it is not.  So, what should I write about?  This isn't going to become a full time sports blog, although there's be plenty to write about there.  Sports blogging appeals to a specific kind of person, so I don't want to get into that trap either.  The direction I'd really like to focus 75% of my energy on is music.  There are so many entertaining options for writing about music.  And the great part about it is, you don't necessarily have to be a fan of the same kind of music as me to enjoy reading about music related blogs.  My intent would not be to lure you to my tastes in music, but if something I write leads you to go on iTunes or You Tube and check something out, well that's great.  Nothing like expanding your mind, even if it's just for about 4 minutes.  Someone I care about very much opened the door of Eminem's music to me.  I wasn't much of a fan of his music until I met her.  Now I appreciate the great talent he is.

The other 25% of my energy will focus on everything else from sports, to politics to food to lessons I learn from my dog.  Hopefully I will find the inspiration and the words needed to keep this blogging up and running the way it should be.

And if you have any ideas or suggestions for things you'd like to see discussed here, feel free to let me know.   Pretty much any topic is fair game.

I will be back tomorrow.

We see what's most important to these idiots...

As Rand Paul was fighting for our civil liberties and fundamental rights as Americans, these RINO "republicans" were having dinner with the dictator in waiting, Baraq Hussein Obama:

Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Mike Johanns, R-Neb.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Dan Coats, R-Ind., Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Pat Toomey, R-Pa

Make sure to let them all know how you feel about this!

Monday Madness

Greetings to you all on this Monday morning.  I have just a few thoughts to share with you today, so grab your coffee and enjoy both this post and that glorious hot drink!

The suicide death of Mindy McCready shows me one thing: we all have a breaking point and none of us know what that breaking point is until we crash right into it.  Unfortunately, one we reach that point it's too late.  Anyone can say they'd never choose suicide, but we don't really know, do we?  My sympathies and prayers go out to her family.

The only time I have a problem with religion is when people bastardize their religion in the name of hatred.  For example, Islamic extremists and the Westboro Baptist Cult.  I am shocked to learn the NFL's squeaky clean golden boy, Tim Tebow has agreed to speak at such a church.  Tebow is scheduled to speak at the First Baptist Church of Dallas on April 28.The church's minister. Robert Jeffress, has called Catholicism the "genius of Satan", AIDS a "gay disease" and claims Islam promotes pedophilia.  He has also made attacks against the Mormon and Jewish communities of America.  Tim, please reconsider your decision to speak at this church.  You are a better person than this.  You have no business speaking at a church which promotes hate over tolerance and compassion.

I don't agree with John McCain much, but he's right about Benghazi.  There is a massive cover-up taking place.  Come clean on this, Mr. President.  You owe that to the American people.

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Matt Cooke has a well earned reputation as a dirty player.  But to his credit, he has worked very hard to change his game after a suspension cost him ten regular season games and the first round of the playoffs in 2011.  That being said, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk needs to stop crying and shut-up.  The horrific injury to the Achilles tendon of Erik Karlsson was an accident and nothing more.  Hockey is a dangerous sport and sadly, these things happen.

Thanks again for reading.  I'll be back soon.

Hookers & Bottled Water

The left wing media has no decency left.  I mean seriously, a sip of water by Senator Marco Rubio's (R-FL) during his response to Obama's Lies to the People Address Tuesday night is worthy of headline news and on-air debate but a United States Senator, Robert Menendez (D-NJ),  has been implicated in an underage prostitution scandal in the Dominican Republic and no one says anything.  Why are MadCow, Tingles, The Bloke and the Master Hater silent?  What excuses do the feminists have for this man?  Where are all the organization who fight and bring awareness to this kind of criminal activity?  Are any of you surprised they are silent?

Let me explain something to you all.  Where there is underage prostitution there is sex trafficking.  Where there is sex trafficking there is sexual slavery.  When these young women outgrow there usefulness, they are disposed of.  And if the corpse is lucky, it's just fed to the dogs.  Actually, if the girl is fortunate, she's dead before being fed to the dogs.  If any of you think you can image abuse worse than what these young women endure, check yourself into a psych ward immediately.

So, what the left wing media of this country is saying is a sip of bottled water on live TV is a more heinous and insulting act to the American people than a Senator allegedly involved in the above mentioned atrocities. I can't speak for the rest of you, but I am more than appalled at the thought of underage prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery.  I would hope anyone with even an ounce of decency inside of them would be as well.  But apparently the left wing media has none left.  I would say shame on them, but there is no shame to be brought upon them.  If you have no decency, you cannot be shamed.

Now I am not naive enough to believe these atrocities happen only in third world countries.  This happens everywhere, I'm sure here in America as well.  But when a US Senator is implicated isn't that worth coverage from the media, even if the Senator accused is a democrat?  I think so.  You can be damn sure if a republican was accused of this, it would be covered 24/7.  This is one of those times where our compassion as human beings and our anger about such sick and twisted crimes needs to come before politics.  It shouldn't matter if you are a democrat, republican, libertarian or independent.  You should be outraged this man is still a US Senator.  He should have been forced to resign the minute he was connected to this scandal.    But alas, the left wing media doesn't share that opinion on such things when their team is among the accused.

This is what the American media has become, people.  A sip of bottled water is more scandalous than an US Senator being implicated in the sexual degradation of young women.  How much lower can they fall?

My State of the Union

The country is broke and the federal government continues to spend money like drunk, whoring college students on spring break.  This is unacceptable and needs to stop.  Across the board cuts in all areas is the only answer to this epidemic.

We have far too many people adhering to the philosophy of "ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you."  This is also unacceptable.  Let me explain something to you all as simply as possible: THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T OWE YOU A DAMN THING!  Please put down the Cheesy Poofs, turn off The View and stop depending on the government to swoop in like the Avengers and save you. Go get a job even if it's a sweaty dirty job.  A crappy job is better than no job.  I've been there, done that so I speak from experience on this.  It only has to be a job until something better comes along.  That's how it was for me.

The government continues to invade our privacy and infringe on our rights with backdoor legislation and executive orders.  We need to stop being so timid and let our voices and outrage be heard.  CISPA is being reintroduced.  Let's start there and get it stopped.

There is a Benghazi cover-up no one seems to give a damn about.  Why are the tapes classified as "top secret" and why were a general and admiral fired?

Obama's drone attacks have killed 4X as many people as Bush's in half the time.  Why isn't this considered war crime?  It was for George W. Bush.

How about them gas prices?

Raising taxes will not help the economy or lower the debt. It will have a negative effect on the economy as people will have less money to spend.  JFK had the right idea: if we lower everyone's taxes, the economy will grow, unemployment will drop and the government will collect more tax dollars.

I'm sure there is something else I am missing, but it's not even 9AM and I've only had one cup of coffee.  Have a great humpday everyone.

Happy 65th Birthday, Alice Cooper!

Just like to wish a rocking, spooktacular happy birthday to the godfather of shock rock, Alice Cooper!

Super Bowl Thoughts

The Harbaugh Bowl will be a close one.  The Ravens will have a halftime lead but in the second half, the 49ers will take control and win the game and their 6th Super Bowl and send Ray Lewis into the twilight with an L.  Don't expect  Colin Kaepernick to have a game like he did against Green Bay, however.  Expect more of what we saw against Atlanta.  Joe Flacco will have a great game, but not enough to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.  And rushing yards should be kept to a minimum here, despite both teams having great talent in the backfield.

Some keys to the game:

Randy "Not the Greatest Ever" Moss... In the red zone, the Ravens may have difficulty covering both him and Vernon Davis.  The focus, and rightfully so, will be on Davis so Randy may have a chance to make a play or two.  This is something to keep an eye on.

David Akers... The 49ers kicker has struggled all year.  Will it be in his head during the biggest game of the year?

The Baltimore receivers...  Inconsistent was what they were during the season.  They've been great during the playoffs.  Will they keep it up for one more game?

Halftime score: Baltimore 14 San Francisco 7
Final Score: San Fran 27 Baltimore 24
MVP: Vernon Davis

And do yourselves a huge favor, skip the halftime show.  Take the dog for a walk or take a shower.  Do anything but watch Beyonce.  Seriously.

Some Underrated Alice

I was listening the other day to what I consider one of Alice Cooper's underrated albums, The Last Temptation.  And I also admit, it took me awhile to warm up to this album.  Aside from Alice's trademark satire on "Lost in America" this album wasn't what we'd come to expect from Alice.  It was a diversion musically and lyrically.  (This album also began a series of albums from Alice with a theme or concept to them.  Temptation followed by Brutal Planet and Dragontown.)  Alice tells a story through the eyes of a jaded young man and his views on life and his descent into darkness.  Those aren't new ideas for Alice, however it's different here because Alice isn't the character telling the story.  The opening track "Sideshow" seems to bring shades of the classic "Desperado", but also injects a new direction of music for Alice, not the dive bar style guitar we've all come to love. We do get that on "Lost in America", however.  

The one track which really stands out to me from this album is "Stolen Prayer", a song co-written by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.  Cornell also provided backing vocals on the track.  Chris's style and influence on the lyrics and music is obvious and it is by far the album's best track.  Cornell also wrote another track on the album, "Unholy War".

I know this album received lukewarm reception from Cooper fans and rock critics.  And honestly, I can understand why. It was not the Alice we saw on he previous two outings, Trash and Hey Stoopid.  This album didn't have a "Poison" or "Feed My Frankenstein".  Alice's trademark twisted sexuality was missing from The Last Temptation.  The track "You're My Temptation" just didn't live up to those standards.  It seemed more like having a crush on a stripper than unchained lust.  Even Alice's love ballad on Temptation, "It's Me", didn't bring the same sense of sorrow we felt on "I Never Cry" or "How You Gonna See Me Now".  In a way, "It's Me" had a sense of hope to it.

The album does have it's dark moments with "Nothing's Free", a song about selling your soul to the devil (and another strange musical diversion) and "Lullaby", a track about fighting one's own fears and demons.  But as I said earlier, as a whole this album is a new and unexpected turn for Alice Cooper.  I'm sure that is why it took me awhile to warm up to it.  If you are an Alice Cooper fan and this is one of those albums you ignored or tried to forget, I ask you to give it another chance.  You may just find your own appreciation for it upon a new listening.

Bush League Baseball Writers

The 600 baseball writers who vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame have shown their true colors.  They are a group of self-righteous and sanctimonious punks.  Not voting Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds into Cooperstown diminishes the value of that museum, leaves out significant parts of baseball history and makes other deserving players unnecessary collateral damage.  The voting process is a farce and needs to change.

The baseball writers are the only Hall of Fame voters instructed to consider character and moral fiber when casting their ballots.  But who in the hell are they to judge anyone's character or life?  Make no mistake, the time will come when each and every one of us faces that very judgment.  But it is not here.  And certainly not by a group of arrogant baseball writers.  But riddle me this, if character and moral fiber are so important, why is there a racist, antisemitic alcoholic and beer guzzling womanizer in Cooperstown?  Just curious.

Barry Bonds is baseball's all-time homeruns leader with 762.  Say what you want about how he got there, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or not, it's in the record books.  It's fact.  Bonds also owns the single-season homerun record with 73.  He is third all-time in runs batted in (RBIs) with 1996, second in extra-base hits (1440), first in intentional base-on-balls (688), finished his career with a .298 batting average and also stole 514 bases.  He won seven Most Valuable Player awards, eight Gold Gloves and was voted to the all-star team 14 times.  Are not those Hall of Fame numbers?

Roger Clemens is one of this generation's greatest and most electrifying pitchers.  Clemens, aka "The Rocket",  finished his career ninth on the all-time wins list with 354, third all-time in strikeouts (4672) and had a career earned-run average of 3.12.  He compiled seven Cy Young awards, one MVP award and was named an all-star 11 times.  Like Bonds, Clemens has Hall of Fame numbers.

Both Clemens and Bonds have come under attack for alleged use of PED's during their career.   The allegations came during a time when baseball had no mandatory drug testing and therefore there is nothing but speculation to use as the basis for any judgment of how their statistics and accomplishments were achieved.

I mentioned earlier other players have and will become collateral damage because of Bonds and Clemens.  Let me give you one very good example: Mike Piazza.  Never once has his name been associated with and PEDs.  It appears everything he accomplished he did through hard work and talent.  Among catchers, he is the all-time leader in homeruns (427), racked up 1335 RBIs, 2127 hits and a career batting average of .308. He was National League Rookie of the Year and a 12-time all-star.  Not bad for a 62nd round pick drafted as a favor to then manager Tommy Lasorda.  Piazza has numbers worthy of Cooperstown based on the position he played and the numbers he put up.  He received just over 50% of the vote in 2013.  To make it to Cooperstown a percentage of 75% is needed.  Piazza is looked at with caution because he played during the "steroid era".  Just another example of how wrong the voting is for enshrinement into Cooperstown.

The truth is, Bonds and Clemens but butts in the seats in every stadium across America.  I paid to see Clemens pitch against the Pirates when he was a member of the Houston Astros.  Barry's chase for 70 homeruns and then the run to 756 brought baseball fans of all ages together, regardless of whether they were cheering for or against Bonds.  They are part of baseball history, legend and lore.  Keeping them out of the Hall of Fame is telling an incomplete version of the history of America's Pastime.  The baseball writers need to get over themselves and vote for what's best for baseball, and that is enshrining Barry Lamarr Bonds and William Roger Clemens into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

If I Were Santa Claus...

These are some gifts I would have delivered...

Lindsay Lohan: Her own island.  If she has her own island, there is no reason for her to own a car.  So she can be as drunk as she wants whenever she wants.

PBS: Commercials.  It's the 21st century.  Adapt.

George Lucas: a Neurolizer

Wiz Khalifa: a new hometown.  Seriously, how many of you Pittsburghers out there actually claim Wiz as one of us?

Tingles Matthews: some Ben Gay to help whatever is ailing that leg

Chris Brown: Three rounds with Wladimir Klitschko.  Go ahead Chris, throw a punch now.

UAW: A bill for the money lost on the GM bailout

Rachel Maddow:  I can't be mean on Christmas... on to the next one

New York City: A new mayor

Taylor Swift: relationship counseling

Nicolas Cage: A good script.

Ron Paul: an apology from the RNC


I hope you all had a great Christmas and got everything you wanted!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all.  May you have a blessed holiday.

I Have Solved The School Safety Problem

I had a fantastic idea pop into my last night.  And just between all of us, it is one of my more amazing ideas, and that is saying something.  I can solve school security issues and eliminate pissed off airline travelers with one simple act: eliminate the TSA.

I'm sure you all understand how that fixes the latter of the two issues.  But how does it help with school security?  It's simple.  The TSA's budget for 2012 was approximately $7.1 billion dollars, with about $1.2 billion of that coming from taxpayers.  If the TSA is eliminated, that money is opened up for other use.  So, take that $7.1 billion and turn  it into grants for schools who wish to hire security personnel.  And in an effort to promote the hiring of veterans, if any school wishes to hire veterans as their security, they get extra funding.

To me this requires no debate.  Eliminating the TSA, who spend most of their day groping old ladies and bullying kids in wheelchairs, will increase commercial flight passengers and cut down on lengthy waits and other aggravations at airports.  Seriously, airport security and walk through metal detectors is adequate enough security at an airport.  The $7.1 billion being wasted by the TSA would be better used towards protecting American schools from unspeakable acts like Newton.

Now more than ever we must find a way to protect our schools and the children and teachers in them.  Turning the TSA budget into grant money for schools who want security on site is a simple, common sense approach to making schools safer.  I can't think of a single case where the TSA stopped a terrorist.  I'm sure that's because they are too busy trying to be politically correct and "randomly" searching grandma and handicapped kids.  Nevertheless, it's time to focus on a real problem in America: school safety.   So disband the TSA and focus on the children.  This approach is simple, smart and does not stomp on anyone's Second Amendment rights.  So, let's make 2013 about real change in our priorities and show the children they are number one on all our lists.