Shane Life

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating…Kristin Wiig is a genius. Judy Grimes is one of my favorite recurring characters since Aunt Linda. I hope they continue to bring her back.

Just kidding, I do, just kidding, just kidding, just kidding…

Alli and I had the opportunity to catch up on a couple of movies on Saturday – Eagle Eye and Nights in Rodanthe. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the movies, so after the American Royal parade, we caught an earlier showing of Eagle Eye, then napped for a couple hours, then went back out for Nights of Rodanthe.

Eagle Eye

I don’t want to like Shia LeBeouf for the same reason I don’t want to like any other pop star or movie star people tell me is “the next…whatever”. Usually, “the next…whatever” never lives up to the hype. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), LeBeouf is the real deal. Sure, he doesn’t have a ton of range…most of his characters are eerily similar…but I actually really like the character. He’s funny and doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

Eagle Eye is carried largely by LeBeouf, but is buoyed by action sequences that are not quite as realistic as those in The Bourne Ultimatum but are about as exciting. The concept behind the movie has been done before and I won’t give anything away, but it’s more of a statement piece than I expected. The most telling line comes in the last couple minutes of the movie from Secretary of Defense Michael Chiklis. Something to the effect of: “We must be sure that in order to protect our liberty, we need to make sure that we don’t infringe too much on our own liberties.” Patriot Act statement, anyone?

No matter your politics, the movie is really entertaining, especially if you like movies with lots of action. Recommended.

Nights in Rodanthe

Nicholas Sparks movies don’t have a ton of surprises, especially to people who’ve read the books. His adaptations often follow the books to the letter, but that’s OK, because he’s a decent storyteller. Nights in Rodanthe is a love story (duh) about a man who has lost his inspiration and a woman who has lost her identity (not literally). They meet at one of the coolest beach houses I’ve seen in the middle of a hurricane (symbolism, no?) and have a great romance…well…you get the picture.

Diane Lane does a terrific job as Adrian and I really liked Scott Glenn’s supporting character. Mostly, I just liked the story. I hadn’t read the book, but Alli had and I enjoyed it. If you’re a romantic or if you’d like to treat your wife to a romantic movie, I would go check this one out. Sparks’ influence is obvious…in fact, if I didn’t know he wrote it, I would have compared it to other movies that have been based on his books. Treat your wife or girlfriend or inner romantic and go check it out.

We finally got tonight what we’ve been waiting for – the first presidential debate in a race that has been going on since 2006. It almost didn’t happen, but it did and it lived up to the hype.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain performed very well during the first debate, moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS, although both of them fell short in a couple of areas.

Here are my thoughts:

• The following phrases should be banned from future debates: “my friends”, “Main Street vs. Wall Street”, “Henry Kissinger”, “change”, “maverick”, “reform”
• Obama agreed with McCain far too much.
• McCain can’t look Obama in the eye.
• Neither candidate knows enough about the bailout bill to speak with any authority on it.
• I don’t understand the CNN debate scorecards.
• There wasn’t a clear-cut winner, so the win goes to whomever you were supporting before the debate. You could make the argument that the tie goes to Obama because McCain’s advantage in this race has arguably been foreign policy.
• The Vice Presidential debate has the potential to be very ugly if Katie Couric’s interview of Palin is any indication of how she’ll answer questions.
• I wish that I got as many text messages discussing the debate as I do during crappy Chiefs games.

The true race for the White House is finally on. And just in case you were wondering, I am still planning on voting for Barack Obama.

If the Al Davis-led Oakland Raiders end up actually firing Lane Kiffin, do you think we could have him?

It would be nice to have a decent offensive mind somewhere in the Chiefs organization. It’s strange that it might come from a train wreck like the Oakland Raiders, but a young mind is what we need to get through to the children we have as a part of this team these days.

I stayed up to watch last night’s Emmys last night and here are my quick thoughts.

• Good for Tina Fey. She’s one of the funniest women on TV. Would have liked to see The Office win Best Comedy, though.
• I’m starting a Steve Carell for Best Comedy Actor Web site.
• Allowing the Reality Show Host nominees to host the show was a bad plan. The opening was awkward and awful.
• I was SHOCKED that Jon Hamm didn’t win for Mad Men. He’s terrific.
• I’m sick of The Amazing Race winning Best Reality Competition Show. Long live, Top Chef!
• The Kathy Griffin-Don Rickles thing was uncomfortable. To see Kathy Griffin uncomfortable is IMPRESSIVE.
• Best part of the night was the part I least expected: Josh Groban’s theme song medley

Seriously, The Ryder Cup is one of my favorite sports events. Every other year, teams of golfers from the U.S. and Europe unite for a competition for a cup that represents so much more than a typical PGA paycheck. The Ryder Cup is about pride and teamwork in a game that is all about the individuals.

The Ryder Cup was filled with so much drama this year, but Hunter Mahan’s putt on the 17th hole against Paul Casey that ended up halving the match…it was amazing.

I really enjoy watching the camaraderie of the players…how after they finish their matches, they go back and cheer on those behind them. Plus, it’s fun to cheer “U…S…A!” when watching golf.

I could have paid attention to the Chiefs game, but honestly, let’s be honest…watching paint dry is more exciting than the Chiefs offense. But I’d watch the Ryder Cup over just about anything.

It allowed me to change the colors and some minor things on my blog without doing too much work. Now…a gray background. AND BLUE!

So I’m thinking about moving my blog off of this here topfivedesign.com domain. I’d like to make it disconnected and more personal. I’ve considered moving to Tumblr, but then I saw Agregado, which combines lifestreams from various inputs.

But I have a problem: it needs a domain.

To help you out, I’ve created this nifty little image from my about page using Wordle. You can use the following or any of my other pages to help you come up with an idea for my domain.

Go.

I’ve put this off as long as possible, but I can’t keep it in any longer.

Herm Edwards must go.

I’ve said this before, I know. And if you would have told me that the Chiefs would lose 17-10 in week one at the Patriots, I would have taken it. Unfortunately, I – like many other Chiefs fans – saw the sorry excuse for a game.

Listening to the post-game interviews was like listening to Fox News or MSNBC after a big speech by one of the presidential candidates…you could predict exactly what everyone was saying and none of it really meant anything.

Look. It’s unfortunate that the NFL’s MVP was lost for the year, but the person that I feel worst for in that situation is Bernard Pollard. Brady will be fine, but Pollard is going to be demonized for the rest of his career (think Rodney Harrison-Trent Green, but 100x worse) for a clean, hard-working play.

I can’t believe that no one has said anything about how Moss caught the ball on the play that Brady was injured on and then promptly fumbled it away. Moss, who didn’t see the play, thought it was dirty, but he “doesn’t even know how to play dirty.” (BTW, read the comments on the link…they are hilarious.)

The other travesty in this game besides Brady’s injury was Herm Edwards’ inability to come up with any sort of gameplan at all. This is a game the Chiefs should have won. They got the Patriots to turn the ball over and they did not have to play against Brady, yet their offense was just as boring as normal (and don’t blame it on Brody…the Chiefs receivers sucked yesterday). Where was all this great innovation that Chan Gailey was going to bring to the Chiefs offense? I suppose it doesn’t matter when your head coach is a MORON.

Really…4 chances to go 5 yards at the end of the game…D-Bowe drops, so you go back to him instead of the greatest tight end in history or your multimillion dollar running back?

Will someone please tell me how this man is still an NFL coach? Career record is still an abysmal 54-64.

Other thoughts?

• Huard is not – I repeat NOT - an upgrade. He is HORRIBLE. I could have made that throw to Darling. THAT’S how open he was.
• That supposedly upgraded run defense? Not so much. Dorsey was not in on a single play.
• Jamal Charles should start for the Chiefs. That guys is FAST.
• BJ Sams is not Dante Hall.
• Tony Gonzalez and D-Bowe are our only receivers worth anything. And D-Bowe dropped WAY too many balls to get 3 at the end of the game.
• The CBS Scene…DUMB.