Thursday, May 21, 2015

Mike Babcock

Mike Babcock finally decided. He chose to leave the safety of the Detroit Red Wings and become the Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The contract is reported to be for 8 years and worth $50-Million. Good luck to you Mr. Babcock. You have definitely taken on a challenge it will be interesting to see what happens.

People have already been coming out on two extremes. The doom and gloom group claim he made a horrible mistake. Toronto is the kiss of death. He won't be able to do anything. His career is over.

The head up their arse group see this as THE turning point. They could be right, It could be a turning point but it could be years before it is proven true or not. Some of these idiots are already making claims that the Leafs are now cup contenders next year.

Extremist Fans. They do make me chuckle.

I did find what one pundit said today very funny. (Unfortunately, I can't find a link to what he said.) He claimed that as of the moment Babcock was signed the leafs must NOW be taken seriously. Really? As of right now? What a twat. The team is the same bottom of the barrel team NOW as it was yesterday. It needs rebuilding.

Also, Babcock is coming to Toronto from the Red Wings. The Red Wings arguably have THE BEST scouting system in the NHL. (And I say this as a Canadiens fan.) It is amazing the talent they can find based on the picks they have every year. They also have a great system for preparing their prospects for the NHL. With Detroit he inherited a lot of apparatus to help keep the team winning.

People expecting an immediate turn around are setting themselves up for a huge disappointment. Rebuilding takes time.

Hopefully Babcock has the backing of MLS and the leafs management and will be allowed to build the team the way he wants. It should be interesting to see how things unfold.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Equalizer

I remember watching the tV show The Equalizer. An ex-special operative slaying his demons by helping those in need. I liked the show. I wish it lasted longer and showed us more about who and what McCall was.

Now there is a movie of the same name. based on the same show. This one stars Denzel Washington as McCall.

The lead in was slow. But not bad.

Having watched the original TV series it was hard not seeing a little white dude as McCall. But it was Denzel!

I kept expecting everything to be a background. Especially working for "Home Mart". A cover ID while he helped someone who contacted him. That was my mistake. Stop expecting the TV show I knew and go based on what was in the movie. Bad mistake.

Taken on its own as a "new" thing it was still damn good. For a rehashed thing. ;)

I loved the TV show. The whole redemption thing with McCall. His past and how it affected things,

And I loved the same things about this movie. But for different reasons. This McCall didn't take out an advertisement. He saw the people around him who needed help and tried to help them. That is an equalizer.

Which leads to an interesting question. In the TV series people came to him. In the movie he saw the people in need and went to them. Which is better?

For me, it worked. It had Denzel and it had an interesting plot. It works. (Even though I still expected some triple or quadruple layer of backup. And 3/4 of the way through I am still expecting it.) :)

So, this could be the prequel to the TV show. Regardless, I like it. Yeah, there is something to be said for the asshole getting it in the end. Prequel. Fuck yeah. :)

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Jack Reacher

after my last post I figured I would go through posts I had wriiten, partially written, or wanted to write, and do something about them. so I am posting this review I wrote about the movie Jack Reacher.  It was written as I watched the movie and alcohol may or may not have been consumed. OK, it was. ;)

*****

Lately I have been reading the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child aka Jim Grant. I have been liking the novels even though the hoboness of Jack Reacher was hard to grasp at first. Scarily enough, I started reading them because I heard about the Jack Reacher movie Tom Cruise did.

Tom Cruise. He is a bit wacky but he can act. Maybe his wackiness helps with that.

I never watched the movie until now. Something about Cruise made me stay away. After reading some of the novels my interest was piqued.

Having read the novels I wondered why the hell they picked Cruise to play Reacher. Jack Reacher is 6'5" tall and built like a brick shit house. Tom Cat is 5'7" and change.

Cruise did justice to the character in the books.

The story diverged from the books. They left stuff out. They changed things. Mind you that made it better in some ways. (OK having Cruise playing a person big enough to kill someone much shorter with one punch is way off.) In many ways?!? There were unexpected things and that made the movie better for someone who read the books and expected it to be exact.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Damn you Tom Cat. You continue to pull off being an action hero.


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Time goes on.

What is the old saying ... time flies when you are having fun. Well, the last 5+ years must have been a lot of fun because they blew by.

I got home from South Korea May10th 2010. What was going through my head. Fuck, I have to find work. What if all the nay sayers and fucktards are right? I stayed in South Korea because I couldn't find anything else at home.

5 years later and I find myself in a job I enjoy. I usually go to work in a good mood and leave in one. It isn't perfect, no job is, but it is good. Before I was there a year I moved from part time to full time. Before another year had passed I made lower management. Now I find myself on the cusp of becoming middle management. All in 5 years at home and 4 years at a job.

So much for being a failure at home and only being in South Korea because I couldn't make it at home.

To the nay sayers and fucktards ... go fuck yourselves. :)

To digress a bit more, I find myself looking at this blog. Posts I have started and never finished. Posts I have planned on starting but never gotten around to. I could easily post about work but signed a non-disclosure agreement. It isn't just that life is too busy, it is busy. But, I just can't find the impetus to write and post. Hopefully it will come back soon or I may just have to close this blog down.