Movies – Summer 2009

Here’s a recap of the films I’ve watched in the past couple of months.

Scent of a Woman – Part of the Al Pacino’s transition from acting to shouting. It’s a happy medium in this film.
Milk – Fairly interesting biopic. I know it’s about Harvey Milk but they really downplayed the mayor getting shot at the end.
The International - Feels like it takes place in an alternate universe. Awful.
Defiance – James Bond as a Jewish resistance fighter. Straddles the thin line between pedestrian and entertaining.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – I barely watched half of this. Definitely should have been a straight-to-DVD release.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – I really dislike John Cusack as an actor. I think it’s the way he dresses.
Point Break – I didn’t expect much but it was much more entertaining than I expected. Keanu delivers again.
Basic Instinct – Sharon Stone and her amazing body.
Enemy of the State – I’ve always loved this movie. Just a solid thriller with a lot of random semi-famous people in it. Apparently the guy who did this – Tony Scott – is the younger brother of Ridley Scott.
Dragonlance – Laughably bad animated movie. I read these books when I was a kid but I’m not sure why I kept watching this.
Casino Royale – Stands up pretty well to rewatching.
Bourne Identity – The Bourne movies are the standard when it comes to action movies in the past decade.
Bourne Supremacy – Typically considered the weakest of the trilogy but it’s like the ribeye to the filet and strip steak of the other two.
Vali – Decent Turkish movie about a governor trying to protect his region from an evil multinational corporation. I doubt there’s an English translation out there. Don’t worry. You’re not missing much.

Ahmeds and Mohameds oh my

There’s a legend that says George Foreman named all of his children George. Who knows if it’s true and I don’t feel like looking it up. But if it’s true a dark nightmare lies in the simple parental process of identifying an individual. Who comes running when you say George?

The manager of the Egyptian national football team has a similar problem as the great boxer/entrepreneur. He manages a squad of 22 where two names are shared by fourteen players. It is one thing to juggle all of them in practices and kickarounds but divulging instructions during the course of a game must be a task impossible.

In Egypt’s final game in the Confederations Cup, the African champions were walloped by three goals to none by the United States. Their named squad of 22 players had nine Ahmeds and five Mohameds. Seven of the 14 were in the starting 11 and two further Ahmeds joined the game as substitutes – although an Ahmed gave way for each new one. They were also missing their top player Mohamed Zidan (which may explain their lack of goals if not the result) so there was a tantalizing potential for 15 Ahmeds and Mohameds in the team! If nothing else, we can safely conclude Ahmed and Mohamed are the two most popular names in Egypt.

For your perusing pleasure, here is a full list of the Ahmeds and Mohameds.
——————
Ahmed Fathi (started)
Ahmed Faraq (started)
Mohamed Aboutrika (started)
Mohamed Shawky (started)
Ahmed al Muhamadi (started)
Ahmed Eid (started)
Ahmed Abdelghany (started)
—————–
Ahmed Hassan (substitute – mistakenly identified as Hassan Ahmed on some reports)
Ahmed Saidi (substitue)
—————–
Mohamed Sobhy (unused substitute)
Ahmed Kairy (unused substitute)
Mohamed Homos (unused substitute)
Ahmed Raouf (unused substitute)
Mohamed Abougrisha (unused substitute)

How the Turkish Super Lig was Won

In case you haven’t heard, Besiktas are champions of the Turkcell Super Lig this year. You probably haven’t heard unless you have some Turkish blood in you because, well, 1. The Turkish league isn’t that high profile, especially in the English-speaking world and 2. Besiktas don’t make as many headlines as Fenerbahce or Galatasaray do internationally. No worry for fans of the team with the black and white stripes as the club won its first title in six years and the first of beleagured chairman Yildirim Demiroren’s tenure. The league success was coupled with a triumph in the Turkish Cup to make this a great double for a team with perhaps the most passionate fans in Turkey.

The league was still in doubt on the final day with three teams theoretically in with a shout though only Sivasspor had a realistic chance of overhauling Besiktas. Besiktas played away to relegation-threatened Denizlispor and won a potentially tricky game rather comfortably despite conceding a late goal to make it 2-1. Sivas had a difficult match away to Galatasaray who needed a win to guarantee a berth in the Europa League next year. A win for Sivas and a loss for Besiktas would have meant a spectacular title celebration in small Sivas but the exact opposite occurred as Sivas lost in an entertaining game. In fact, the top six all stayed in the same places as Fenerbahce beat Trabzonspor with a last-second goal to condemn the Black Sea side to third (a win by Trabzon would have seen them into the Champions League) and retain Fenerbahce’s advantage in fourth place over rivals Galatasaray due to goal difference. Bursaspor in sixth place were denied extracurricular activities in the upcoming season despite being the best side (in terms of points) in the last 15 games.

Add the scrum at the bottom for the last relegation spot and you have a fascinating end to the season. Konyaspor went down despite finishing level on points with Genclerbirligi and Denizlispor and having a better goal difference. But the deciding a three-way tie requires looking at the matches among those teams and unfortunately for the city of the whirling dervishes they had poor results against the wrong teams this season. Konyaspor joins Hacettepespor and Kocaelispor, both of whom had known their destiny for several weeks, in the Bank Asya 1. Lig next year. Diyarbakirspor will join the Super Lig to give south-eastern Turkey some representation. Manisaspor (champions of the 1.Lig) and Kasimpasaspor accompany them.

As for Besiktas, it’s no secret why they won. They simply had the best manager. I personally thought it was a poor and classless move to bring in Mustafa Denizli early in the season to replace Ertugrul Saglam (who later masterminded Bursaspor’s incredible late-season push). The early results showed little change in fortune but a terrific 2009 earned Besiktas the league and allowed Denizli to add an incredible accomplishment to his CV: he has now managed Besiktas, Fenerbahce AND Galatasaray to titles in his career. He brought in a couple of new players in the transfer period and began to mold his own squad. Fabian Ernst was perhaps the key to the equation as the German, sacked at Schalke, had a great half-season and lent solidity to the spine of the team. And honestly, though Besiktas never played that well, they earned the results and that’s how they won the title.

Interestingly, Besiktas played poorly against the rest of the top five. Seven points (and one win) in eight games is a terrible return and if you add sixth-placed Bursa they earned only nine points in ten games. It’s difficult to read into this but I think it shows a relative lack of quality in the squad (as evidenced by their inability to win against other good teams) as well as a terrific coaching job (as evidenced by the fact the team were motivated to play hard and beat the ’small’ clubs). One and half years removed from a humiliating 8-0 loss to Liverpool (although they had beaten them 2-1 the week before) Besiktas will need a facelift to compete in the Champions League next year. Denizli has already demanded a raise and the power to enact that facelift and surely Besiktas will fare better with him in charge than anyone else at the moment.

If the league were the top five teams

Joining them in the Champions League (at least in the qualifying stages) will be tenacious Sivasspor. While it may be difficult to swallow the lack of a title this year, it was still a tremendous season. The team seemed on the verge of imploding when manager Bulent Uygun did everything but physically attack a referee at the end of a game about ten weeks back. In the finest tradition of Turkish football, he followed it up with a scathing and unwarranted rant during the post-game interviews and every pundit thought that his team would lose the plot just as their manager had. But Sivas kept grinding out results and the Champions League is their reward. Imagine the excitement if they actually make the group stages. Even if they get drawn against the fourth place team of one of the top leagues, it is not beyond their reach. Sivas are virutally unbeatable at home (13 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss this year) and few teams would relish a trip to the foothills of Anatolia.

Trabzon, Fener and Galatasaray will have to content themselves with the bloated experiment known as the Europa League. It’s no secret why Trabzon failed to reach greater heights. Zero wins against the top five teams and a truly pathetic five points from eight games. Ersun Yanal has been shown the door and it’s difficult to see them improving next year despite some exciting talent in the Brazilian Alanzinho and youngster Baris Memis. Still, like Sivas, third place cannot be seen as too great a disappointment for such a thin squad and they were close to the top for much of the season.

Meanwhile, Luis Aragones has been shown the door at Fenerbahce. He achieved the exact opposite results as Mustafa Denizli. A single loss (at Sivas) led to 17 points in eight games against the top five including a double over Besiktas. However, awful results against the rest of the league and a loss to that same Besiktas team in the Cup final saw him meet his doom. Dani Guiza, tipped by many as the most disappointing player of the season, hit late-season form which may see him leave Fenerbahce for the right price. Aragones is not the first high-profile manager too last a single season in Turkey and he won’t be the last. The board have brought back Christoph Daum, architect of recent Fener success, in an attempt to right the ship.

As bad a season as Fener had, Galatasaray had it worse. It’s confusing how this squad squandered so much talent – even with its many injuries. There was a distinct lack of concentration under both Michael Skibbe and his eventual replacement Bulent Korkmaz. At no time during the season did the team put together the type of display expected of their squad. The high point of the season was a last-minute victory against Bordeaux (who were without Gourcuff) in the UEFA Cup but the only reason they needed a last-minute performance was because they squandered a 3-1 lead at home. A 4-1 defeat away to Fenerbahce and a 5-2 loss at home to mighty Kocaelispor were only two of the many lowlights. Next season should see them stronger although there may be concerns if Arda Turan, Servet Cetin and Mehmet Topal decide to try their hand in other European leagues. Frank Rijkaard has been brought in to lend some profile and hopefully some management nous but the construction of their new stadium is taking place at exactly the wrong economic time.

And so a fascinating Turkish domestic season had drawn to a close. The national team disappointed after a magical run in Euro 2008 and the clubs disappointed even more on the European stage. Still, the league this year had an additional sparkle with the type of deep competition that few leagues see in the modern age. Fifteen years ago, Turkish football had the quality of provincial kickabouts but since then the national team has reached the semifinals of two major tournaments, Galatasaray has won the UEFA Cup and Fenerbahce has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. While disappointing on face level, seasons like this show deep promise for the future. More clubs are developing more quality and it is sooner than later that Turkish clubs will be consistent and lasting impact in international competition.

Notorious

I haven’t been getting any value out of my Netflix account thanks to this movie and Milk. Both movies I feel like I should watch so I don’t send them back but I kept holding off on them so long that I wondered why they were in my queue in the first place. As I was watching this movie, I glanced over the production credits for Born to Die, which really is, despite all the hype, a fantastic album. I’d never looked at the credits before and was mildly surprised to see that some guy named Easy Mo Bee produced half the tracks. I’m a big hip hop fan but I don’t know all the producers like I should and I’d definitely never heard of this guy. Then I tried placing him in the film and I couldn’t figure him out. A quick search revealed that he’s not in the movie. What the hell? Surely a guy who produced Biggie’s first single and half his classic album should be in the biopic. Apparently, Puffy has some sort of beef with him and that’s just stupid.

So you can’t take this movie seriously as a biopic because of bull like that and as entertainment it’s only as good as the songs. The main guy does a pretty good job of rapping but really I would have preferred a solid, independent documentary with the original tracks as the soundtrack. The other thing that’s weird is that the music is by Danny Elfman. Huh? Pretty cool effects on the end credits though.

Barcelona beats United

This is the way it was supposed to happen. The ultimate justification of the way football should be played. The most exciting and breath-taking team crowned as champions of a continent. For both the casual fans who gorge themselves on youtube highlights and the elitist purists, the right team won. For the good of the game, the right team won. The triumph of good over, well, not really evil but the triumph of good nevertheless.

Barcelona’s victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final didn’t have the same good versus evil overtones as their semifinal clash with Chelsea but surely everyone outside of Manchester and Madrid were pulling for the Catalan aesthetes. Beyond the first ten minutes, Barcelona dominated the game and ensured the Champions League winner was truly the best of the continent. This wasn’t a back-to-the-walls situation for United but it may have been more dispiriting and embarrassing than even that. Barcelona displayed a type of class that made United look like they didn’t belong in the game. Excepting the opening stages when he looked monstrously unstoppable, Cristiano Ronaldo did almost nothing save commit a few fouls. He didn’t even have much chance to display his patented pout. Wayne Rooney was rendered completely anonymous and second-half substitute Carlos Tevez, described often as an insatiable bulldog, was toothless.

United were theoretically in the game until Barcelona’s second but any objective observer could see it would take a miracle for United to score. The disappointment of United’s attack was compounded when you consider the makeshift Barcelona defense. Sylvinho – in his first Champions League final at a tender 35 years of age – deputized at left-back for the suspended Eric Abidal. Carlos Puyol, a regular centre-back, played as a right full-back and was one of the stars of the game as he shut down United’s left flank and ventured dangerously forward several times. In the center, Gerard Pique – surely fourth choice at the beginning of the season – partnered Yaya Toure, a central midfielder. United finished with Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov on the field but perhaps what they were missing was a battering ram type of striker. The type of striker like Didier Drogba who disconcerted Barcelona so much more often than United’s foursome.

The major story going into the game was the Ronaldo versus Messi debate. I belong to the school who thinks the title of ‘Best Player in the World’ should belong to a midfielder not an attacker but it was a legitime topic of argument. Surely, Messi will win the plaudits this year after a lovely goal for the winning team but I would contend neither is the best player on their team. Wayne Rooney is the man who makes United tick and Barcelona’s strings are pulled by Xavi and Iniesta. For all the praise that’s showered on this duo – Xavi was selected player of the game – it’s not nearly enough. They form the spine of the European champions in both club and country competition. In retrospect, it’s laughable that anyone would think Michael Carrick, Anderson and Ryan Giggs could hold their own against them. Perhaps, as has been suggested, the inclusion of Darren Fletcher and his brand of steel could have made a difference but surely that would have just pushed Xavi and Iniesta to another level.

And that’s the most astonishing aspect of this game. For all the greatness of this United team, it looked like Barcelona could have gone several gears higher if necessary. Their style may not actually have higher gears – after all, we didn’t see any against Chelsea – but their passing and their movement looked almost languid and effortless at times. It looked like they were taking a stroll in the park and United could have been a West Brom or a Racing Santander for all anyone cared. It is utterly shocking that the Premier League champions were unable to win the ball back from their opponents when they were chasing the game. The early goal helped but the Barcelona victory seemed as routine as a scrimmage against their B team. There was no doubt who was superior in this match.

Barcelona denied United the opportunity to be the first repeat European champions since 1990 – before even the inception of the Champions League. The future of this team is bright and they will surely challenge in Europe for several years with these players. There are very few holes although the depth of the squad could be shored up. Barca were lucky this year as none of their top players suffered important injuries but there are younger players like Bojan, Caceres and Brusquets, who was preferred over Keita and put in a very accomplished performance, ready to make the team better. And surely you can expect a club like Barcelona to make a splash or two in the transfer market.

Meanwhile, United have some decisions to make. Many of their supporters will consider it a wildly succesful season despite the disappointment of the final in Rome. A World Club Cup and a Carling Cup are nice trophies to hang alongside their 18th league title, tying bitter rivals Liverpool for most in English history. They too have a number of youngsters who look ready to make the leap but questions remain. Right back has been a concern all year although Rafael da Silva and the return of Wes Brown may be enough to fill that void. The major issue is at the top of the field. For all their attacking options, it has been United’s defense that has brought their success this season. Berbatov has been a colossal disappointment and the future of Tevez is in doubt. It will be fascinating to see how United retool and frightening to think how much better they can become.

So this was a final against the two best teams in Europe who will undoubtedly improve next year. The game was never edge-of-the-seat exciting but the sheer quality of Barcelona was enough to please the most cynical of neutrals. There are some games you will never forget. The Liverpool-Milan clash in Istanbul is a prime example. Then there are some teams you will never forget. Teams that mark their place in history like lions in the wild. Teams that people will write about in books decades from now. Teams that make the sport wonderful to watch. Barcelona this year was one of those teams.

Do it Yourself Food

I’m a big fan of food. I cook most of my meals so I get a lot of opportunity to experiment and expand my repertoire. Lately, I’ve been on a kick making food that I would usually get prepared from the store. It turns out that making a lot of prepared foodstuffs is actually pretty easy. Add the decreased cost (in the long run) and the ability to control the ingredients and do-it-yourself food becomes an obvious choice. Here’s a list of great and easy foods to make yourself that I’ve made recently.

Note: I’m not including yogurt on this list even though home-made yogurt is delicious. It’s just that I haven’t made it recently. Other easy and tasty home-made foodstuffs I haven’t made recently include jam and mayonnaise.

1. Pancakes – I was down in Charlottesville a few weeks back and stayed with my friends E____ and B____. They made some amazing breakfast one morning, punctuated with scratch pancakes. I got the recipe and dominated a later breakfast at home cause they’re so easy to make. Just google pancake recipes and you’ll see how easy it is – goodbye Bisquick!

2. Pickles – Well, this one was a bit of a failure because I ended up making bread and butter pickles… which I really don’t like. But it was so easy to make (just boil some vinegar and water and spices then pour over some cukes) that I’ll be making the salty kind of pickles soon enough. By the way… who wins in a throwdown between salt and sugar? I’ll put my money on salt but sugar has been really sneaky lately.

3. Honey Roasted Almonds – Alright, so this isn’t something I get too often but I noticed I had a lot of almonds lying around so I whipped together a quick and tasty snack. These are real addictive and not too good for you because of all the sugar involved.

4. Granola – Is granola the king of homemade food? I love the stuff. And the granola I make at home is so much better than any granola I’ve ever bought. It’s so simple too: Combine oats and nuts and whatever else with brown sugar, maple syrup and oil and bake for a bit. I find almonds to be a must in any granola but you can add whatever you want. My favorite combo so far has been almonds, hazelnuts, banana chips and coconut. I got knocked at work the other day because I was eating granola for breakfast and this retired sergeant major was wolfing down biscuits with sausage gravy and a whole bunch of other stuff… but damn I bet they’d all be singing a different tune if they’da had my granola.

Movies Update May 2009

It looked like movies were taking over my blog so I stopped posting about each one. Here are the movies I’ve watched since the last time I posted about a film.

Hotel Rwanda – A serious movie.

Let the Right One In – This is a vampire movie from Norway. It’s slow and atmospheric. I didn’t really like it while watching but it’s grown on me. The feeling I get when think of the movie is, ‘hey that was pretty good,’ but I wouldn’t want to watch it again.

Star Trek: Generations – Picard and Kirk team up. Data gets emotions. Solid TNG film.

King of Kong – Unbelievably fascinating and engrossing documentary about the quest to get the best Donkey Kong score ever.

Capturing the Friedmans – Pretty interesting documentary about a family and accusations of pederasty. Still, you can find just as interesting documentaries on cable television.

Monty Python: Meaning of Life – Uneven. Hilarious in some parts, outdated in others.

The One – This movie sucked. It looked like they had a 1000 dollar budget and spent 900 on Jet Li.

Man on Wire – Really interesting documentary about the guy who tightroped the World Trade Center towers. The guy is magnetic and tells his story very well.

The Quantum Solace – I really liked this movie. I’ve read some criticism about how this isn’t really a typical Bond film and how Casino Royale was better. Maybe… but that shouldn’t take away from how entertaining the film was.

Curse of the Golden Flower – Expensive but pretty dull.

Star Trek: Nemesis – Pretty cool uniforms for the crew. I liked this better than Generations. It’s like a slick episode of TNG.

Slumdog Millionaire – Entertaining movie but I’m confused as to how it won Best Film. It’s basically a white person’s idea of India, which, of course, is wildly inaccurate but it’s not like anyone watches movies like this for history or sociology or anything like that.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Basically an edgy chick flick but has some good dialogue parts.

Body of Lies – Pretty standard spy thriller. It may be old hat but it’s still good if you like spy movies.

Layer Cake – Daniel Craig’s in the drug business. I feel like all British crime movies are the same but it’s not a bad way to waste some time.

The Spirit – Pretty forgettable except for the amazing body of Eva Mendes.

The Day the Earth Stood Still – Keanu Reeves was made for roles like this. Look, critics probably panned this movie and the premise is pretty ridiculous but it’s entertaining and, hell, that’s all that matters.

Kramer vs. Kramer -Swept the Oscars in 1979. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep go head to head for the custody of a child. Pretty basic premise but it’s executed really well. Dustin Hoffman, by the way, wears a 37-short. That’s a weird size.

The Bourne Ultimatum – Saw this again the other day for the I dunno how manyth time. Such an entertaining movie. I think it’s revolutionary as an action film. I actually think the first Bourne movie was pretty revolutionary too but this one really pushes the envelope. I love the camera work and how it helps build the atmosphere. The pacing is terrific – even the plot scenes feel frenetic and full of suspense. It’s exactly what an action movie should be… except for the last ten minutes where they throw in some back story. That part is kind of stupid but it’s easy enough to skip cause nothing happens afterwards.

Karate Kid – While I was watching this I realized I’d never actually seen this movie. Pretty good for a mid-80s teen drama.

Karate Kid II – I guess I liked the first one enough that I watched the second one soon after. You gotta wonder how much better 80s movies would have been without the goofy clothing and crappy music.

The Wrestler – Engaging and entertaining. I thought the main guy – Mickey Rourke – was great. Definitely a movie I would watch every once in a while if it came on tv.

Frost/Nixon – I think this film has an advantage in that no one knows who the main actors are. It’s like this. You really think the guy is Frost if you don’t know his real name. With big names, it’s just not the same even with transformative performances. For example, Denzel Washington is great as Malcolm X but in the back of your mind you’re thinking: yeah, that’s Denzel, he was in He Got Game. The movie does a good job of making a relatively unimportant event seem like one of the major events of the 20th century.

Four Reasons I Love Soccer

There are millions of reasons I love football (the real kind). Here are four unique and interesting ones.

1. Derbies

A derby is a generic term for a rivalry but in its truest sense it refers to an intra-city rivalry. Sure, there are rivalries in American sports and college sports have some intra-city rivalries (UCLA and USC come to mind). But they don’t have the same history. Here are three great derbies:

• AC Milan – Internazionale

The Milan derby. They play in the same stadium and they’re both good (unlike the Lakers and the Clippers)

• Rangers – Celtic

The Glasgow derby. A rivalry with sectarian overtones (Catholics and Protestants, if you’re keeping score)

• Real Madrid – Barcelona

El Clasico. It’s not intra-city but it’s has such deep political history that it may very well be the most famous rivalry in football.

2. Own Goals

Is there any other sport where you can score on yourself? I guess it can happen accidentally in basketball but that’s usually an unimportant fluke. The own goal is a devestating concept that is unmatched in the sports world.

3. Cheekiness

One of my friend remarked the other day that football may be the only sport where cheeky is a common adjective. You got to love a sport that allows for the concept of cheekiness in the regular flow of a game. Example of cheekiness: scoring with a back heel.

4. Brazilian Names

Basketball fans have been introduced to the brilliant single name tradition in Brazilian athletics. But Nene is a relatively run-of-the-mill example. Here are a few great ones off the top of my head.

• Kaka (current, AC Milan, Italy)

  Socrates (bottom) and another Brazilian great with a great name – Zico

• Bobo (current, Besiktas JK, Turkey)
• Hulk (current, FC Porto, Portugal)
• Wagner Love (current, CSKA Moscow)
• Falcao (1970s-1980s)
• Socrates (1970s-1980s)

Mr. Woodson and Spaghetti

As I was chopping up some garlic this evening for dinner, my memories were cast back to a teacher I had in middle school by the name of Mr. Woodson. Mr. Woodson taught a class called Synergy when I was in the seventh grade. Synergy was basically a computer class but its curriculum consisted solely of SimAnt and touch-typing. While that may sound like a weak class, I did end up learning touch typing and can now out-type most administrative assistants. So it wasn’t a complete waste. Two things about Mr. Woodson stand out to me in my memory.

1. His use of the word “dunderhead.” Now you don’t hear that word very often. Especially not from a “Synergy” teacher who sort of reminds me of Moses Malone. It’s very intimidating when you’re a pipsqueak in the clutches of puberty when a man the size of Moses Malone thunders “dunderhead” in your direction.

2. His long nails. He was an assistant basketball coach on the seventh or eighth grade team. Maybe that’s why he reminds me of Moses Malone. He played basketball sort of how I expect Moses would play at his age. But anyway… man, Mr. Woodson had some nails. He took half the flesh off my arm while going up for a rebound. His attempts to patch me up with gauze and iodine were as comical as it was shocking to be mauled by a “Synergy” teacher in the manner of a big cat.

But why would garlic remind me of him? Well, we had this short-lived concept called merits in middle school. Touted as the opposite of demerits, you were encouraged to collect them because of a merit auction at the end of the semester. Teachers would offer various items and services and students would use their merits as currency. I can’t remember if I ever got anything out of these auctions so I figure I never earned many merits. There were gift certificates and things of that nature but Mr. Woodson’s offering was special. He offered a spaghetti dinner for your family. Why that never struck me as strange at the time escapes me. I mean, who would ever want to spend their hard-earned merits to eat Spaghetti with their “Synergy” teacher.

In conclusion, Moses is a great name. It should be more popular. I’d also love to see some non-Hispanic people have the name Jesus. Other great biblical names are Elijah, Solomon, Enos and Samson. Bonus female name: Miriam. Anyway, here’s a picture of Mr. Woodson dunking over Mr. Wetmore with a wig.

Reprise

Recommended by Asif. One of those snooty art-house type movies that generally bore me but this one was okay.

PS: It’s a Norwegian film.