LPGA - Speak English or bounce

I've pretty much spent half my day reading people's reaction to the new rule invoked on the Ladies Golf Tour, so I thought I would bring it to the blog. The rule, if you haven't heard, is the the LPGA will now be requiring golfers playing on tour to learn the English language, and if they fail a test adminstered by the LPGA then they face suspension.

As I expected, this rule is being blasted by the liberal media (and 80% of people I've seen replying to blogs). Words such as "racist" "discrimination" etc. are being thrown around. The arguments against this are that the LPGA is doing this simply because the Koreans are dominating. Other arguments say the game is global now, blah blah. I'm sure you can figure out all the others.

First off, the Koreans dominating is a reason that this is happening. But not because they want to get rid of the Koreans, but rather they'd like to be able to market their top players and actually maybe get a fuckin interview with one of them. No sport in America can be successful if the top 5-10 players can't speak English.

Anyway, this kind of stems back to a blog post by boon a while ago, but I think this rule is awesome. For one, I see people arguing that this isn't required anywhere else, why is the LPGA requiring it? Well, I don't think this is true. I doubt any of us would have our current jobs if we couldn't speak English fluently, better yet just be able to pass an English test. My second argument is, how are these girls even allowed to be permanently in this country if they cannot speak English? Isn't that a requirement to become a citizen? Or maybe they are all here on visas, which raises a whole other issue in my book that I won't get into.

Bottom line is, I think this is a great rule, that I think all American businesses should adopt (MLB, MLS, UPS, Taxi Services, etc.). If some baseball player can't learn English to make millions playing in the Major League's, then he shouldn't be allowed to take the spot of another American. This can apply to all jobs, not just sports. If peeps are going to complain about, go back to your own country and play for their professional league, and make 3 pesos a game, fine by me.

Unfortunately I think this rule will be lifted through some lawsuit however....I'm sure it violates the human rights of illegal immigrants, who seem to have more power than citizens these days

Term's Travel to VB

I am traveling home the weekend of Sept. 26 for the Doors concert and just to visit. Similar FYI to everyone like Boon's blog.

Boon's travel to Houston

I'm going to be staying with Scott for a long weekend (Oct. 16 to 19), unless he tells me otherwise. Just thought I'd post it here in case anyone else wanted to tag along.

Something Different to Listen to

Boon's Final Top 5

After reading everyone's input, plus my own opinions, here are my top 5 (along with their best role):

1) Leo - The Departed
2) Hanks - Forrest Gump
3) De Niro - Goodfellas
4) Cruise - Jerry Maguire
5) Philip Seymour Hoffman - M.I. 3 (haters will bash this one I know, my only response is any role he plays, he is fucking domination in it. He can play a nerd or a bad ass, and both will be pulled off with excellence.)

Just missed list: Brad Pitt- Troy, Matt Damon- Good Will Hunting

My next list will be top 5 single performances in a movie.

Best Actor (pt.3)

I'm just gonna list a few actors with my top 5 and notables with no explanation, and leave it up to debate --- (** respresents a movie i havent seen)

John Travolta
1) Pulp Fiction
2) Saturday Night Fever
3) Swordfish
4) Grease
5) Basic
Notables: Be Cool, Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Staying Alive**, Urban Cowboy**, The Thin Red Line**, Look Who's Talking, Wild Hogs**, The Punisher

Overall: Hard to rank Travolta, because his movies are so random. I probably am even forgetting a movie, because he has had so many random roles. Looking this list though, I dont put him in consideration for #1

Edward Norton
1) Fight Club
2) American History X
3) Prinal Fear
4) 25th hour
5) Rounders
Notables: Italian Job, Red Dragon**, Keeping the faith, The Painted Veil**

Overall: The Top 5 rival Cruise/Leo/Hanks....sorta lacks the depth but thats just because hes younger I think. The top 3 could be interchangeable in my book in order, Primal Fear could easily be #1 based solely on Norton's performance.

Brad Pitt
1*tie) Troy
1*tie) Fight Club
3) Seven
4) Legends of the Fall
5) 12 Monkeys
Notables: A river Runs through it, Sleepers**, Snatch, Ocean's series, Mr/Mrs. Smith, Meet Joe Black, 7 years in Tibet**, Babel** ,

Overall: After seven there a number of debateable choices for 4/5 depending on how you rate them. I don't think Pitt rivals the top 3, but top 5 could be a possibility.

Best Actress...wait do they exist?

I actually thought of this topic about 2 weeks ago but never wrote anything about it due to time/interest. After Primes recent posts, I thought I would throw a quick little one on paper just to see what you all thought....

The thought occurred to me when one of my (nub) friends said she was watching Seven for the first time. As I stated in my recent comment on Prime's blog, I think that this movie is simply the best that I have ever seen. It brings everything to the table: great cast, suspenseful plot, and killer ending. As I was thinking about it, the one thing I thought of that was interesting was that Gweneth Paltrow was in it. I was thinking that, although she is a famous and admired actress, the fact that she was in that role added nothing extra to the movie. I imagine that many other actresses out there could have played that part the same and the movie would have been the same greatness.

Then I was thinking of other great movies without a high impact role from a female. A few titles that come to mind: Fight Club (another Pitt great, debatable top 5 actor), Road to Perdition, Shawshank Redemption, basically any good action movie, There Will Be Blood, etc. Many of the movies in my top 10 have no large impact from an actress. The only movie that I can say (with not a whole lot of thought or research) that was good due to the large role of a female would be Kill Bill. I simply cannot think of anyone who could better play the role that Uma Thurman did.

I think my main arguement would be this: there are certain roles in which I don't think any other actor could play a particular part better than who was cast. Examples would be Daniel Day Lewis in TWBB, Pitt in Fight Club, Spacey in Seven, Nicholson in Shinning. These kind of roles are amazing and unforgettable. What role that a women has had the same impact as some of the roles I have listed? Any? I would say no, but I am very interested to hear, for my movie knowledge isn't great.

So what does it all mean? Do writers not provide enough impact roles for women in Hollywood today? Are we all just guys and can't relate to women's roles in movies? Or are women just not as good on the big screen as men? I'd say it is a combination of them all, but what are your thoughts?

Best Actor (pt. 2)

I'm gonna go ahead and highlight 2 people in this one since most of the names I had planned on doing have been mentioned already:

Tom Cruise

1 - Top Gun - One of my top 10 movies of all time

2 - Last Samurai - Also could be in my top 10, although this one I have a feeling may be argued

3 - Mission Impossible - 3-7 of Cruise are all pretty even to me, I give MI the slight nod over the rest

4 - A Few Good Men - Like I said, Ive been flip flopping on like 5 movies for the last 3 spots so these could go either way

5 - (tie) Cocktail , Jerry Maguire, Collateral - Cocktail is a classic, Jerry Maguire was great minus the chic moments of the movie, and Cruise's character in Collateral was sweet

Notables: The Color of Money (really might be in my top 5 but I excluded it due to low popularity), Days of Thunder, Born on the 4th of July, Rain Man (only excluded this because half credit goes to Hoffman), Eyes Wide Shut, Minority Report, War of the Worlds (haven't seen), Vanilla Sky (Haven't seen), M.I. 2/3, Risky Business

Overall Outlook: You can't deny the quantity of solid movies Cruise has, definetly should be at least in the discussion for #1


Leo Dicaprio

1- Titanic - Considered moving this lower to avoid the flaming I'll receive, but I can't do it. Highest grossing movie of all time, and it was C-A-R-R-I-E-D by Leo.

2 - Blood Diamond - 2-5 are interchangable in my book, but I'll give this the edge because he carried this movie imo more than the other 2

3 - The Departed - Probably my favorite movie with Leo in it, but a lot of credit goes to the rest of the cast. I still think he was the best though

4 - Gangs of New York - Bill the Butcher was equally as good as Leo, which is the only reason I have this at 4 and not higher.

5 - Catch me if you Can - Actually think some might argue for this to be higher

Notables: The Beach, The Aviator (haven't seen this, but it was up for a lot of awards), The Basketball Diaries, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (havent seen, or heard of until mentioned by boon)

Overall Outlook: If you just look at top 5, I think Leo takes the crown. But he seems to lack the quantity that some of the others have (not his fault). The fact that I haven't seen a lot of his movies (Man in the Iron Mask, Romeo and Juliet, Aviator, etc.) may also be why I see a lack in quantity.

Best Actor (pt. 1)

On vacation in the Outer Banks this week, a discussion formed amongst the fam and co. about who the best actor is, which made me think this would be a great debate for boski's blog. I'm not really sure who my pick is, so I'm going to do a blog on all the top actors and then rank my top 5. Starting off pt. 1....Tom Hanks

Top 5 Movies (my opinion obviously)

1 - Forrest Gump - I think this is definetly his clear cut #1. You may have liked some of his other movies better, but as far as individual performance in the movie this has to be his best.

2 - A League of their Own - This will probably be heavily debated being listed at #2, but Hanks is pwn in this movie

3 - Saving Private Ryan - Great movie overall

4 - Apollo 13 - ditto

5 - Catch me if you Can - Leo really carried this movie but I still throw it in Hanks' top 5

Other Notables-
Big (I wasn't as big of fan of this as most, but I think a lot of people would top 5 this)
Cast Away (Could make an argument for this as high as #2)
Road to Perdition (Sleeper)
The Terminal (haven't seen)
Da Vinci Code
The Green Mile
Philadelphia
Sleepless in Seattle (ive actually only seen maybe 10 minutes of this)
You've got mail

Overall outlook: Outside contender for #1.....definite contender for top 3

Boski on the Olympics (Pt. 2) Controversies

I touched on a few in my first post but now that the games have progressed I figured I could do a full post on all that has transpired over the past few days. Lets start with one that happened even before the torch was ignited. China hosting the Olympics. Man people (including several high profile Hollywood celebs who really know nothing about this topic) protested against China hosting the Olympics for many reasons, but the main one being China's control over Tibet. This is still being protested today during the games. Signs are everywhere showing the Olympic rings made of handcuffs talking about China's rule over Tibet. Now granted i'm talking from afar living in the US but China's has been in control over Tibet for like 50 years now. If Tibet couldn't fend them off then oh well, thats the way shit goes. I'm not saying they don't have a right to fight, but China is allied with so many countries, including the US. We are "encouraging" China to loosen its grip on Tibet, but truth be told I don't think Tibet really wants to be its own separate entity, and why would they be, they are part of the dominant country in the world. Anyway no reason why the games should not be held there. Hell if this is the case half of the world would protest the games if they were held here with our presence all over the place (see boon's post).

So now lets talk about the games, and first up is swimming. With Phelps going for a ungodly amount of golds and world records being shattered left and right one has to question the new suits. Laser cut, designed by NASA, mimicking a shark's skin, these things can take 15+ minutes to put on and are used to dice through the water. This suit, created by Speedo, is unstoppable. So much so that other country's who were sponsored by the likes of Mizuno said that they had to wear the Speedo suit to be competitive against the other swimmers. This upset their sponsors but they allowed it to be done. They are calling this "technological doping". My thoughts, everyone should just swim naked. It would make more of an even playing field.

Next Olympics Baseball and Softball will be eliminated form the games. Some say for scheduling problems. Others say that in the case of Softball it is because the US women are so dominant. My thoughts are, and while i'm not too big of a fan of baseball in the olympics, it is far better than equestrian. Why is this in the olympics? As Term and I were talking it is more horse than human. And this games there is BMX? This sport should be reserved for the X-games, not the olympics. Term said we might as well add Formula 1 into the olympics. Maybe a form of motor racing should be incorporated. All using identical cars. Also thought up, and hes made this pitch before, lethal lefty Phil Mickelson says golf should be included in the olympics, i'll let the debate begin.

Now on to some more serious issues. First up there has been serious complaints about the China boxers getting favorable scores. Many athletes have shown frustration in the ring. I'm not sure how much anyone has watched of this, I've actually seen a lot of this action and can say it does look fishy. But the whole scoring system for boxing in the olympics is shit. The points are awarded for the most random shit. This part of the sport needs some help and fast.

We've had 3 cases of athlets being D.Q. for drug testing. The latest one is in a sport I would never think would have such a thing. Shooting. Kim Jong Su tested positive for Propanolol which is prevents shaking, obviously giving a huge advantage where steadiness is everything. Pretty interesting.

In wrestling in one of the lighter weight categories we had the Bronze winner from Sweden throw his bronze medal on the ground and walk of the podium because he was upset at some of the calls and said he wanted to win the gold and nothing else but the gold. I understand you are upset but you are acting like a 10yo. Have enough respect and dignity to make it through the medal ceremony and then pitch your bitch.

And now the two that are getting the most attention. The Spanish basketball team has come under fire for a photo they did for one of their sponsors. It shows the entire team pulling the corners of their eyes to make "slant eyes" in an effort to look like the Chinese. This add, for a company similar to UPS here in the states, has run in several newspapers. Spain thinks they did nothing wrong, this is also the country who high power people throw around N-bombs and whos soccer fans make monkey noises whenever a black person touches the ball. Jason Kidd has stated if the US would have done that they would have been kicked out of the games, all of them would have been fined by the NBA and would have made to have done major PR work. I agree. Its a double standard the US has to be PC all the time while others are not. There is talk that the 3 NBA players on the Spain team may get some form of punishment but more than likely nothing will happen.

I touched on this in my first post but more info regarding the Chinese gymnastic team has come out. Several newspapers and other media outlets reported a year or two ago about several members on the team who were only 13 at the time. Making them ineligible. Several of the competitors birthdays were listed making them only 14 now. The gymnastic boards are really saying nothing, only that they go by the athletes passport and that those of the Chinese checked out. My thoughts are i'm pretty sure some of them are under the age of 16. But regardless we lost to them. Did they have an advantage by being younger? Maybe, but we still could have won the team event had we not made so many mistakes. I do not think anything will change this games, nobody will ever do an "official" investigation. But I think next olympics we will see much tighter and more in depth background checks and documentation to verify ages so that this does not happen again.

Good Shows

I'll be honest, this topic wasn't completely my idea. I recently read one similar and it got me thinking. I know this topic isn't that great, but I figured a weak post is better than no post ( as is evident by some of bosk's articles =P ). What TV shows out there are really worth watching? I'll start off with the ones that we all have heard about and probably watch.

First is Entourage. I won't go into much detail since everyone knows it. I don't have HBO here so I'll be streaming the episodes off of sidereel.com, which by the way has episodes for all of the shows I'm going to mention. Anyway, the new season starts September 9th. The only real thing I have to say about it is that Drama reminds me of Boski.

Next is Lost. Everyone has heard of it, not all of us watch it. First I'll state bluntly that it is my favorite show on TV. Alot of people are turned off by the fact that questions are almost never answered, and in fact usually lead to even more questions. But I actually like it that way, as long as there is some plan to it like the writers say (they already know how everything ends). The beginnings of this show were very similar for those of us who do watch it, Boon, Term, and myself. Basically, I watched the first couple seasons in a week, about 40 episodes at 40 minutes a pop. You do the math. So if you ever do get the time to try it out Bosk and Prime, I would recommend it.

Then there are the shows that I personally have not watched but have heard good things, and I plan on watching them on sidereel if I get the chance. Weeds and Dexter were both recommended by Boon as well as other online sources. I've seen previews of Weeds and it's definitely high on my to-do list. I've also heard a lot of good things about Battlestar Galactica. I've seen previews, and the plot really does look pretty good.

Now onto the only show that I watch every week, Mad Men. You may or may not have heard of it, it's on AMC. I first watched it randomly on demand over the summer and got hooked. The writer of the show was also a writer for the Sopranos, and the show won a couple emmys last year for best drama and best actor in a drama, I believe. It takes place in the 60's, back when women were harassed at work and liked it, smoking was cool, and everyone drank scotch during the day. The main character works at an ad company and is pretty bamf in general. His wife is also really hot, almost worth watching it just for her.

Anyway, if theres a show you think I'm missing out on let me know. Good shows, the kind that you can't wait another week for, are really rare.

Boski on the Olympics (pt. 1)

For those of you who don't know, Boski is a big fan of the Olympics. Especially the summer games. For me it started in 1996 with games in Atlanta. I started watching mainly for the girls gymnastics. I had a bit of a crush on Shannon Miller and Dominque Moceanu and got caught with them winning the gold. Because you never really knew when they would come on tv I started watching it and really got into the other games. So lets talk about China 08.

The opening ceremony was incredible. The best ever. I watched the entire thing and have it recorded so I can watch it again. The thousands of performers, the worlds largest LED screen, the lights, the sounds. From the hundreds of guys operating the pop-up blocks with computer precision to the guys who created a human version of the "birds nest" stadium. It was simply awe inspiring. It will be difficult for any country to top that (we shall see how England does during the London Games in 2012). Now lets jump onto the games.

Having started two days before the opening ceremony we got a glimpse of the soccer action early on. So let me talk about the US team. With a 1-0 victory over Japan and a heartbreaking last minute tie 2-2 against the Dutch, I think we have a shot going into the next round. But lets asses the team. Bringing Brian McBride out of international retirement as one of their overage players was a good idea, however he has proven to be more of away to draw defenders and allow space for others than really showing his real power. I've watched both games and these are my thoughts. The US needs better defenders, BAD. I don't think there has been a decent defender since Eddie Pope. And before him I'll Thomas Doley as the next best defender the US has came up with. I do like Bocanegra but as you can see he was dropped from Fulham and is more prominent attacking set plays than being a true defender. The guys we have now suck. The other are where I think we need development is in the center of the midfield. I do like Bradley, but he is way more defensive oriented (which in truth he needs to be). The US needs a true attacking center mid. The closest we've ever come has been Tab Ramos. Reyna had good vision but was never a goal scorer. Our wingers are ok. With the senior squad we have two strong ones in Beasely and Dempsey. But these kids Holden and Rogers can play decently.

On a few other events/topics. The bad mitten action has been great. I've also been trying to catch as much of the handball as possible. The womens fencing(saber) was incredible. Gold, Silver, and Bronze all going to an American. I guess the lesson here is don't fuck with American women who have swords. I have found the water polo this year to be boring and have really tried to follow the weight lifting. The marksmanship has been good, but they have not shown much of it this year. Some of the controversy i'd like to talk about mainly regard the Chinese gymnastics team. There has been a lot of talk that they are using underage girls and that the government has faked documents stating their age because gymnastics is HUGE and I mean HUGE in china. When the discovery channel did their special on China a entire segment was dedicated to gymnastics. Word is almost all the girls on the team are underage. They are saying around the 12 to 14 year mark. If this is true its extremely sad. The other controversy that has really not got too much air is about the media coverage, or really accessibility and censorship. The internet in Chinas is regulated and controlled by the government. They are saying that many sites that were anti-china were blocked, even from journalist who were promised complete freedom of the internet. Also they said that the media was not allowed too many interviews, and would not be allowed to film many of the protest going on. But on the other hand the media has made it so several high profile events be held first thing in the morning in China (which is prime time easter US as we are 12 hours apart). The China gymnastic teams has openedly complained about having to preform at 8am their time for world wide audiences. They denied a move to play basketball games at that time. More to come when Boski provided everyone with part 2 of his Olympic coverage.

boon's first blog

I happened to cross CNN.com this morning and the front page says 'Russia Invades Georgia'. Whatever, I don't care, good for them. What pisses me off is in the first paragraph it says "The United States is calling for an immediate cease-fire". Why do we have to play Big Brother for shit that's got nothing to do with us? Is it our "duty" as Americans to stick up for the little kid who can't stand on their own two feet? I say fuck that. We have our own problems, but yet we keep stretching our military to places we don't belong.

"What is Boon's solution?" you ask. It's very simple, actually. We retract our troops and use the trillions we save by building a wall along the Mexican coast with Laptop guns at each mile marker. Then, we take $10 mil of taxed income from Exxon and build a new Sonics stadium. Done and done.

Theres no I in the word TEAM!

So I was preparing this post to follow up on something I touched on with the last topic regarding the spAnd that is taking credit for other peoples work. My soon to be ex supervisor is always bitching and complaining when she is not included in everything. Take for example yesterday. We are implementing a recycling program here. We started looking online for some artwork and started making signs. Well because we all do not have color printers we emailed our signs to one of our designers/tag makers/buyer who has one. Well he took a look at the signs and started making his own. Now Boski doesn't give a fuck. It literally took me 90 seconds to make my sign. Gust google image searched recycling, copy image, past and done. He can tweak them and create new ones. Its a sign that is going on a trash can, what do I care. Then our ops manager (who most of you know) got involved and started making her own tweaks. My supervisor just starts flipping out to me. "Why are they changing our signs? What are they doing? Thats not what I want!" I'm like just let it go, they are some signs that are just going on the containers. She says she is not "as easy going as I am." OK, if that shit pisses you off, you are fucked in the head. But this is the way she is. Everytime something she does is changed, or she isn't involved with everything she freaks out and throws a fit. Its so bad that even people from other departments remark on it. One of the problems we are dealing with right now is regarding some new loading doors. Needless to say this is something I have been trying to fix for 2 weeks. I was swamped yesterday and she says can I call the guy for you and get him out here to talk about it. Sure, thanks for the help I thought. Well she meets with the guy and all I hear is I did this, and I got this...umm Boski did all that shit 2 days ago. Don't take credit for my work. I am the first to make sure I give credit to those who are due it, but this girl just takes it. And if something fucks up, she places the blame on someone else. If shes not in a meeting she freaks. Once I was called into a meeting just by myself with the owner. It was a simple 5 min convo about a company car for one of his family members that he wanted to keep private, no big deal. She starts grilling me after the meeting. What was that about? What were you talking about? If the owner wanted you involved he would have asked you in on it, just fucking nosy. I'm sure everyone has to deal with at least one person at their work like this. Sorry for the rant, more serious post tomorrow. anish languae in America but something came up that I just wanted to touch on real quick.

What are the kids watching?

This maybe more prevalent to me as I have kids, then to others, but I can't help but to comment on what is on TV these days. The shows that are out now for kids are far different then when I was growing up. These shows actually teach you things. Now don't get me wrong, I think this is great, however there should be some sort of happy medium to balance this out. For example...I'm watching Go Diego Go. Which teaches kids about animals, conservation, and Spanish (which learning this language is huge in this country...this will be another post very soon). Normally the show will have a animal that needs to be rescued and Diego will help them. When Diego is helping Linda the Lama they encounter a Puma. They have to run because "Lamas are afraid of Pumas" Why don't they just fucking say a Puma will tear a hole in the Lama's ass and eat it for breakfast. This is nature, this is what happens. Sure they are afraid, but they never tell why. Another show that irks me is the Wonder Pets. Most of you have probably not seen this one as it is relatively new. This show is about 3 pets (turtle, duckling, and guinea pig) who live in a classroom and help other pets who are in trouble. They do it through teamwork. And only do it through teamwork. They even have songs that say "Whats gonna work? TEAMWORK!" OK, teamwork is good, and needs to be learned. But fuck sometimes you are gonna be in some shit and nobody will be able to help your ass. You need to be able to think for yourself and not rely solely on others. These shows are a far cry of what I used to watch. You want to know what I learned from the shows I used to watch??? Roadrunners taste good, call ACME to buy some TNT and try to blow the fucker up. If not resort to dropping a anvil on the fuckers head. Also sticking your finger in Elmer Fudd's shotgun will cause it blowup and you will be ok and Elmer will be fucked. Thats what I learned. Now a days you will not see a gun on TV with a kids show. It just doesn't happen. Seeing a knife or sword is a big deal. Any of you guys remember the old Ninja Turtles? I remember one of them saying "Eat pizza or die!" DIE?!?!?! You can't say that shit now. Hell remember GI Joe? What was the point of that show? Kill all the cobra terrorist fucks. So whats happening to the kids? They are getting smarter (hell i've learned more Spanish watching Diego and Dora then I ever did in Spanish 1), but are becoming wimps. Sometimes kids you have to kick someones ass, sometimes nobody will be there to help you and you will have to do it on your own, in the wild animal kill one another, humans kill animals, and if you can't catch that roadrunner by chasing it call ACME...they will hook you up.

Initial

www.freewebs.com/teaminitial

basically made this site so peeps could see upcoming matches, it looks like were gonna have a lot of forefits coming up because of random stuff so this will help organize i think