Watchmen opening sequence

So I've decided to break the post drought with this -- the opening credits from Watchmen.



Oh, and I really enjoyed the movie. Negative fanboys need to shut it.

A New Era in Late Night

Last night marked Jimmy Fallon's debut taking over for Coney-boy, and if this was a sign of the future, it is indeed a dark and horrifying (and, perhaps more accurately, awkward and unfunny).

A caveat: I never saw the early years of Conan's show, which may not have been amazing. I really don't know. That being said, last night's show was absolutely cringe-worthy. I tuned in a bit late and caught Fallon, who looked like a deer in headlights (seriously, I don't know if he opens his eyes really wide when he's nervous or if someone told him to do that, but it was borderline eerie), bringing out audience members for a rousing game of "Lick it for Ten" (pretty much self-explanatory and about as unfunny as you would imagine). At one point, it was so awkward that I literally groaned out loud. The first guest was DeNiro, who, after they began to speak, I'm convinced was a shitty choice, as DeNiro didn't seem like a particularly talkative dude who could really take over the interview in case Fallon faltered (which, duh, he did). Fallon was hardly amusing, and the only laugh I got was when DeNiro impersonated Fallon, which basically sounded like a retarded girl imitating Jimmy Fallon.

I didn't watch the musical guests (I heard "Justin Ti..." and quickly switched to a little Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (WOOO)), but I held out little hope of improvement on that night. It really surprised me how nervous Fallon was, considering he is an SNL vet. I think in the end, the show made me appreciate how hard it is to be a good host. Conan had his go-to jokes (audience reactions, hating on himself, hating on the show) that were always good for a laugh, and the guests he had were always interesting in large part because Conan made them feel comfortable, and thus allowed them to express themselves easily.

I wouldn't give up hope on JF yet, but I really hope he improves soon, just for his own sake.

Spark the Net

Here is a little game. Below you will find five factoids taken directly from five celebrity Wikipedia pages. Your job is to guess who the mystery people are.

1. "Claimed he hired and sent prostitutes to opponents' hotel rooms the night before a game in an attempt to tire them out, and that at his peak, he spent thousands of dollars a day on narcotics."

2. "Remains as friends with fellow Wild & Crazy kid Omar Gooding, and served as a character witness in Gooding's 1995 gun possession trial. The two currently share a vacation home near Las Vegas where they host an annual Wild & Crazy Kids reunion party, complete with Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby."

3. "Insisted they return to their hotel, saying , 'I forgot something. We've got to go back!' When the limo returned, he ran to his room, grabbed the TV while it was plugged in, threw it out the window and into the pool. He then jumped back into the limousine, sighing 'I nearly forgot.'

4. "During a court hearing, he once called a female prosecutor a 'sperm donor.'"

5. "Common themes in his songs are: 'A deep sense of isolation and an equal desire for connection. A yearning for home - and at the same time, the allure of greater freedom. The good, the bad and the ugly about a crazy little thing called love.'

Stream some rad music from some liberals

NPR has Neko Case and Dan Deacon's newest albums streaming on their site. Case's drops today and I like it after one play through (and look at the cover!). I am listening to Deacon's right now, and it owns. Check em out.

Most Unbreakable Record

On Sportscenter tonight, I saw a preview for something on the "Most Unbreakable Record" in sports. In my opinion, there are definitely a few that are definitely very worthy of consideration, but my vote has to go to Wilt's 100 point game. Dimaggio's hit streak is a very close second, but what makes Wilt's so difficult to break is I'm not sure if, with how athletic players are now, there could be another person who is so much more physically gifted than everyone else around them. Wilt was near if not over 7 feet when very few if any other players were over 6'10" (and most of those were, I'm sure, much less athletic). Most teams don't score 100 points a night nowadays, so unless they give the ball to the same player almost every team down the floor, it isn't even feasible for one player to score 100 points. In addition, most of the teams that can score readily operate a run-and-gun type offense (i.e., the Suns), and these teams score lots of points because they press the ball up the floor. With this type of gameplan, it doesn't make sense to give the ball to one player every time, because the whole point is to get up a good shot quickly rather than make sure it gets to the star player every time. Since Wilt's game, I think the next closest was Jordan with around 80, so the second most points is still a full 20 (or at least 15) off from the record.