A couple of items:

 

The new Miss America was crowned the other day.  Lauren Nelson of Oklahoma won the little tiara of fame and great responsibility.  Looking over the competition, it seems that it was Ms. Nelson’s to loose.  You would think Florida or California could find some good looking women for this thing.  Sure, these gals may all be talented, like Ms. Wyoming and her aerial silk routine, but there weren’t too many lookers in the bunch.  I think Ms. Hawaii should have gotten some bonus points for her Tahitian fire dance routine.  Of course, this is all subjective, which I just hate.  The pageant should be judged based on how many times a girl gets hit on in a bar for a set period of time.  That would be much more objective.

 

The Salt Lake City county government made it official; they won’t be putting any money towards a soccer specific stadium for Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah.  I applaud the decision.  People are now scrambling to see if the owner, Dave Checketts, would be willing to have a stadium at the state fairpark.  This makes more sense because the state owns the land, could give the team a ridiculously cheap lease, and the stadium would replace an old venue at the park currently used for concerts.  Everyone wins – except for the fact that the team struck down that idea last year.  Not only that, Dave Checketts has pretty much said that no Sandy stadium means he will probably sell the team.  What?  Sounds like a spoiled brat to me.  This guy is rich enough to buy the team and get it going, own the NHL St. Louis Blues, and then holds the county hostage by saying if public stadium isn’t coughed up for a soccer specific stadium, he would get rid of the team.  Whaaaaa!  Many are saying that this puts a black mark on Salt Lake for getting future pro sports teams, like baseball or hockey.  Uh, Salt Lake has a black mark against getting those types of teams because the area does not have a dense enough population and people here don’t have as much disposable income because they’ve got 8 kids at home to feed.  Pro teams should be willing to pony up their own money if they want new, state of the art, sport specific stadiums.  I have nothing against soccer, just against pompous jerks like Checketts.

 

 

Latest FDA Consumer Magazine Available Online

 

The latest issue of FDA Consumer includes articles on these topics:

 

»  Cancer drugs -- How FDA decides which ones to allow on the market.

»  Vaccines -- What's recommended for young children, adolescents and adults.

»  Flu shots -- Many people at high-risk of flu infections fail to get their yearly shot.

»  Nutrition label -- FDA introduces new tools to help consumers make healthy food choices.

»  Unapproved drugs -- New agency enforcement policies crack down on these products.

»  Breast implants -- FDA has approved marketing of silicone gel-filled implants.

 

The issue is online at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/107_toc.html.  

Just a few items of note from the last few days.

 

Sundance: the festival is over and the locals are relieved.  Big winners were films with a foreign focus, such as Padre Nuestro, a film about an illegal from Mexico looking for his father in New York.  Audience awards went to Grace is Gone, the film starring John Cusack.  Not a surprise because it had big star appeal.  One of the awards for “Singularity of Vision” went to No End in Sight, directed by Charles Ferguson, "in recognition of the film as timely work that clearly illuminates the misguided policy decisions that have led to the catastrophic quagmire of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.”  This film could have been done using crayons and a cell phone camera and still would have gotten this award.  I will give it a little credit because they only talked to people that had actually been in Iraq, either leading or fighting there.  Who didn’t win at Sundance?  Hounddog didn’t get squat.  This begs the question of whether groups should call for national boycotts of films like this, because most likely they won’t go far unless they get a lot of free publicity, you know, like calling for a national boycott.

 

I will have my kitchen back this week.  The floor is down and will be sealed tomorrow.  A few minor items need to be taken care of after that and I should be able to move everything back in and hook up the appliance after that.  I’m thinking Wednesday I should be completely back in.

 

Colts in the Super Bowl.  Never would have guessed that.  I don’t think they will win.  If they do, well, Indianapolis will probably explode since the city has never had to deal with winning before.  While I was out at dinner the other night, I noticed a guy wearing a Colts shirt.  Hey, let’s jump on that bandwagon while it’s still rolling…

 

Soccer stadium in Salt Lake: the county debt review committee gave the big thumbs down to the proposed soccer stadium.  Part of the problem was that the team said they could draw at least 11 concerts a year that average 17,500 people.  No one bothered to tell the team that over the last five years there have only been 5 concerts in the Salt Lake valley that had more than 17,000 in attendance.  The team said their numbers were conservative.  The debt review committee said their numbers were bogus.  The county can still move forward with funding the stadium, they just can’t put forward a bond for it now. 

 

And this just in: Salt Lake City’s mayor Rocky Anderson was in Washington D.C. demonstrating against the “war” in Iraq.  It appears that the “mayor” is spending more time away from SLC doing activist things rather than running the city.  The city counsel seems to have a free reign on what goes on here.  Rocky isn’t running for mayor again this year.  This is probably a good thing, since he really hasn’t been a mayor for the last year or so.

Oh, where to begin?  Dakota Fanning’s little film about a girl growing up in the South in the 1960s has probably gotten the most buzz.  If people would learn that as soon as you try to put up a national boycott of something, people are going to flock to see what the big deal is.  It seems that the scene in the movie Hounddog is not exactly explicit, but the audience knows what’s going on.  The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for the boycott of the film before it showed.  Now that people have seen it, most seem to be shrugging.  Is that right?  Probably not.  But Saving Private Ryan got high marks for its realistic battle scenes, and few protested that.  Where do we draw the line?  Well, I would probably draw it before you get to the movie Zoo, a documentary about a man who died having sex with a horse.  Supposedly, the movie explores universal human emotions, like loneliness.  The sex is barely mentioned.  Instead, it focuses on the dead man's background and those who were with him that night.  Riveting!

 

Movie stars galore!  A whole bunch showed up so they could either establish that they are “in” or just keep up their “in” status.  Short list:

 

Tara Reid has bee around all freakin’ week

Eddie Murphy was walking around at night with sunglasses.  Looks like he’s dating Tracey Edmonds (who?)

Antonio Banderas is here looking like a puss in boots

Zooey Deschanel – I don’t know who she is, I just like the name Zooey

Nelly performed at a concert for an invite-only party – so you know he’s “in”

Mandy Moore was around – not sure why

Danny Masterson was making an appearance for his movie – and he must be a Park City regular because I saw him over the summer at a concert

Anthony Hopkins – always cool

Laura Linney and co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman, who looks like Kaptain Kangaroo right now

Roger Clemens, ya know, because he doesn’t have to pitch until August

Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart both looking dreamy

Dustin Diamond with a beard – looking like he’s looking for Dakota Fanning

Natasha Henstridge – hot hot hot, but not much of an actress

Heather Graham – see Natasha Henstridge

Dick Gephardt – ya know, because he has nothing else to do

Dennis Hopper – lifetime membership to “in”

Sienna Miller and costar Steve Buscemi – guess who has the nicer smile

Picabo Street – oh wait, she lives here

Emile Hirsch – looking pensive

Jake Busey – starship trooper all the way

Ryan Reynolds and Matt Leinart – ya know, because they have nothing else to do

Famke Janssen – very hot

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick – just finding 5 other people that know Kevin

Alan Alda – Hawkeye isn’t looking too good these days

Jamie Kennedy – and no one really cared

Molly Shannon – superstar!

Winona Ryder – but she wasn’t allowed in most of the shops on Main Street

 

They start voting for the best films soon.  But in the end, aren’t we all winners?

 

I haven’t been keeping up on the Sundance beet.  Probably because I have better things to do with my time.  Also, I was up in Park City yesterday walking around with Kim just to people gawk.  I think we saw P-Diddy, or Puffy, or whatever Sean Combs calls himself these days.  There were numerous places where crowds would gather with cameras out, but when you looked around, it was just a false alarm.  After a few of these, it just became humorous to watch the camera crowds shuffling around. 

 

I realized something important while we were walking around – I didn’t belong there.  Not so much because I didn’t fit in (I already knew that I didn’t) but more because I do not appreciate the lifestyle of having to be “in” all the time.  All these people walking around with the big bug-eye sunglasses (it was cloudy and trying to snow), the huge furry boots, the perfect skin tones with the spray on shake-n-bake tans.  I couldn’t handle a steady diet of that.  We walked by countless people dressed as if they were about to go skiing, but to look at them you knew right away they had no intention of going skiing.  Then there were the pair of earmuffs that were very larger, very furry, and, well, made the gal look like a Star Wars princess kissed a light socket.

 

Sundance officially opened Thursday night, with Uncle Bobby leading a bashing of the presidential administration and the “war” that was currently going on.  Why are people calling this a war?  What army are we fighting?  It is an occupation, much like our occupation of the Philippines in 1903 after the Spanish-American War.  How quickly we forget the past.  Nick Nolte was there, looking much better than his mug shot.  Gary Coleman was walking around Main Street in Park City, but most people didn’t see him.  Gina Gershon was also walking around, sort of.  It was mostly like take a few steps, sign autographs, take a few steps, pose for a picture, take a few steps, repeat sequence.  Same could be said for Teri Hatcher, but not for Tom Arnold and William Baldwin.  Those two were asked by security to stop asking people if they wanted their authographs.

 

As for the movies showing this year, I have no clue.  I saw The Departed the other night – not a Sundance film, but most likely better than anything showing.  But what I do know is that the Catholic League is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the makers of the controversial 2007 Sundance Film Festival entry "Hounddog" - in which a character played by 12-year-old actress Dakota Fanning is raped - violated federal child-pornography laws.  Classy!  Don’t those silly Catholics know that this is art and should not be criticized?

Purdue almost beat Wisconsin in basketball last night.  Almost.  Give coach Painter some credit, he figured out how to defend those badgers, but the talent level was a little too much for the Boilers.  Painter basically said after the game that moral victories are for chumps (I’m paraphrasing here, work with me), which is good because on the road, Purdue could be considered chumps.  Why?  Well, this almost victory was the team’s 28^th road loss in a row.  Purdue hasn't won a road game since a 65-47 victory at Iowa on Feb. 21, 2004.  That’s just sad.  I know they will break that skid this year, but one reaches a point where almosts are more frustrating than blowouts.

I debated with myself whether or not to do this, but since this site is supposed to be about Utah and I was debating with myself and thus should be able to win, I decided to take some time this year and cover Sundance.

 

Pretentious snobs unite…around the caviar tray!  Uncle Bobby is throwing a party and if you think you are an A list celebrity, you too can bask in the glow.  So, all of you who want to see stars, you can hang around the theaters in the biting cold, try to sneak into a VIP party, or just watch Entertainment Tonight and watch your brain cells commit suicide by jumping out of your ears.  Here are a few of the people you may see:

 

Whoopi Goldberg: at Sundance in If I Had Known I Was a Genius (and annoying)
Frank Langella: Starting Out in the Evening
Tara Reid: If I Had Known I Was a Genius (and smoking hot)
Lindsay Lohan: Chapter 27 (didn’t know she could count that high)
Michael Douglas: King of California (and chins)
Sharon Stone: If I Had Known I Was a Genius (she might not have given us that shot)
Christian Slater: Slipstream (if this movie isn’t about being a pothead, then he’s miscast)
Winona Ryder: The Ten (things she shoplifted)
John Cusack: Grace is Gone (I want my 2 dollars!)
Kate Beckinsale: Snow Angels (hot, hot, hot!)
MC Hammer: Finishing the Game (and a box of donuts)
Buzz Aldrin: In the Shadow of the Moon (I’m thinking he’s not really acting)
Steve Buscemi: Interview – directed and Delirious – stars (worst teeth at the dance)
Roy Scheider: Chicago 10 (I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat)
Mariel Hemingway: Nanking (watch out for those cheekbones!)
Griffin Dunne: Broken English (claim to fame: Amazon Women on the Moon)
Teri Garr: Expired (roll in the hay...)
Andy Griffith: Waitress (…why am I here?)

 

Additional hotties that may or may not show up, but are staring in some of the films:
Jessica Alba, Penelope Cruz, Mandy Moore, Christina Ricci and Keri Russell.

Okay, I made a little mistake in the last post.  The Slamdance folks that pulled the game Super Columbine Massacre RPG did not do it for purely altruistic purposes.  Quoting Slamdance president Peter Baxter "Given the legal advice I have received about the 'Super Columbine Massacre role playing game,' Slamdance does not have the resources to defend any civil action that can easily arise from showing the game or . . . from an extremely well-known Nirvana song that the game maker has no current right to use.”  The game has Nirvana songs and others playing in the background.  So, sort of a CYA move on the organizers’ part.

 

Due to pulling of the game, one of the sponsors for the event has now pulled out.  Was it a video game maker, a came console company, or some other big corporate partner?  No, no, no.  It was the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division, the protesting sponsor of Slamdance's Guerrilla Gamemakers Competition.  "It's about freedom of expression and creativity and what we believe the contest stands for," said Tracy Fullerton, an assistant professor at the school.  That’s just lovely.  A place where young minds go to learn, this is what they get to learn: it is okay to create a video game recreating one of the saddest and most gut wrenching events in this country’s recent history because it is art.  Would they say that if the game was a flight simulator on how to plow a airliner into a skyscraper? 

 

If you are going to make a political or social statement, don’t do it with a video game.  To quote Homer Simpson, “Less artsy, more fartsy!”

 

http://www.slamdance.com

We got 6+ inches of snow today, with more on the way.  Not a big deal, SLC is used to a little snow.  As I was heading home I noticed a few things.  I saw two guys up on ladders trying to get the snow off their satellite dishes.  I’ll bet that picture wasn’t in the brochure when they bought their dishes.  I saw two people riding bicycles on the way home.  They were not in the street riding in the slush.  These two were on the sidewalks riding through 6+ inches of snow.  Sure, they were riding mountain bikes, but really now.  Sometimes it is actually okay to take the bus.

 

I’ve been seeing in the news that this will be the warmest year on record because of the freakish weather the East has been getting.  Well, it has been cold here since the first part of December, and we’ve been getting snow at least every other week.  Tell the people in Denver how warm it is.

 

I noticed that Purdue got their butts spanked by IU yesterday in basketball.  I believe that is the team’s 23^rd straight loss on the road.  I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’m thinking that indicates the team still has a lot of work to do.  I know their pre-Big 10 schedule wasn’t a killer, but I didn’t think it was that soft.

 

Following up on yesterday’s post, there is a little side festival that happens at the same time as Sundance.  It is called the SlamDance Film Festival.  Think of it as the alt-rock, ADHD version of Sundance.  This little festival takes films and video games.  Well, a first happened: a game was pulled from the competition.  Why?  Maybe because the game is based on the Columbine High School massacre of 1999.  I remember watching that unfold while I was in New Hampshire, the day after I ran the Boston Marathon. 

 

Well, to protest the removal of the game from the competition, six other game makers pulled out of the “Guerilla Gamemaker Competition” in protest.  Many did this because they think of their games as art, not toys or games.  Sure, a first-person shooter game in which you can run around a high school with a shotgun shooting at people is art.  No, it is just sick.  Maybe video games have gotten a little too far into senseless violence when something like this is thought of as art.  The designer of the game, Danny Ledonne, is quoted as saying, “This game asks more of its audience than rudimentary button-pushing and map navigation; it implores introspection.  I present to you one of the darkest days in modern history and ask, 'Are we willing to look in the mirror?”  Obviously someone hasn’t been looking in the mirror while working on his video game idea.  What crap!  If people want to look in the mirror, they will go talk to their kids, be part of their lives, and be able to pick up on whether or not something is so incredibly wrong that a massacre might happen.  No one is going to learn a deep moral lesson by playing a video game. 

 

Slamdance: Columbine video game kicked out of festival

Okay, so I haven’t written in a while.  Been busy.  Kitchen isn’t done yet.  Went to a Jazz game (and just about slept through it).  You know, important stuff.  But I forgot that part of the point of this site was to talk about Utah.  And what’s more Utah than the Sundance Film Festival.  It will be here from January 18 through the 28.  Right now, I have no plans on going to any of the films.  Why?  Because for every gem that comes out of here you have to root through a pile of dung.  I have yet to see a movie during Sundance that I liked.  On top of that, it is probably the largest gathering of pompous, self absorbed, attention seeking prima donnas outside of LA and New York.  But I'm getting into another issue.

 

Here’s what’s going on before Sundance starts: The Park City police force is cracking down on prostitution.  What, and take away all the fun for all those people coming in from out of town with all their money?  It just does not make sense.  Lord knows its hard to be a pimp in Utah with the majority population here being so, well, prudish.  So how are they fighting this?  Why, the Park City Council has amended its ordinance for sexually oriented businesses by requiring all escort service employees to obtain business licenses.  For $47, you too can get an escort license.  The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that as of January 5, no one has applied for the licenses.  There are currently 21 escort services in the area.  I know, I was shocked as well.  See, Utah is not as backwoods as you all think.  And with Sundance quickly approaching, you know those services have been recruiting. 

 

So the next time you come to Utah, think of the world-class skiing, think of Robert Redford (uncle Bobby to the locals), think of independent films, and know that if you get the itch, there are people here willing to scratch it, if the price is right.  Ask to see a license first.

…there is a Santa Clause, and he doesn’t like Notre Dame either, because he left them a big lump o’ coal.  LSU thumped a team that shouldn’t have been there – big shock.  This BCS system encourages the selection of teams that will have a larger enough following to fill a stadium, not the teams that should be there.  Rutgers would have put up a better fight.  It doesn’t matter, because until a tournament of some time is set up, these arguments will continue.  Well, there will continue to be arguments about who should be in the tournament, but there would be little argument about who ends up #1 at the end.

 

Speaking of good vs. bad teams, I think Purdue’s athletic director needs to take a look at the football programs at Boise State and Louisville.  These are smaller schools that are able to recruit good players and have good coaches.  They have been able to put up double digit win seasons in consecutive years and they are smaller than Purdue.  Sure, they don’t play in the Big 10, but they play ranked teams during the year.  If these schools can break into the next level, Purdue should be able to do that as well.

 

We got more snow today.  Nothing close to what Denver has, but more than the East has.  I should probably go skiing this year…

 

The Blighting Irish

I missed the Rose Parade the other day.  I almost wish I hadn't.  Why?  Because I missed the '501st Legion' from 22 different countries and 26 U.S. states.  That's right, one of the strongest concentration of geeks you will ever see on TV.  Sweet merciful Yoda.

 

 

A few ramblings for the New Year:

 

Purdue Men’s Basketball – on the rise but a long way to go.  Need to win a good road game sometime this year.  They will finish in the middle of the Big 11 and probably make the NIT tournament.  Expect bigger things next year.

 

Purdue Football – this season has been like watching the movie “Little Nicky” with Adam Sandler.  They won enough to keep you watching, just like the movie threw in enough high powered talent to keep you there.  Winning eight games was analogous to having Reese Witherspoon in the movie and looking very hot.  If not for that, I would have never made it to the end of that movie, but even then, when the ending credits started rolling, I wanted that hour and 30 minutes of my life back.  Pretty much the same with the bowl game.  Someone forgot to tell Tiller and his staff that they were in Orlando for more than just a vacation.

 

Why is Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl?  As soon as I say LSU will most definitely win, ND will pull a last second win out of their butts like they did twice this year (MSU – not a good team.  UCLA – just an OK team).  Wisconsin or Wisconsin deserves to be in this bowl than ND does. 

 

Speaking of stupid bowl systems, I count 23 bowls.  There may be more, I’m not sure.  The MPC Computers Bowl was played last night on the “Smurf Turf” of the Boise State Broncos.  Why?  Why a bowl game in Boise?  Boise State wasn’t playing in the game.  The Miami Hurricanes were.  I find it humorous that most teams head south for a game in the warmth, while Miami headed north for a game in the cold. 

 

I was blessed in 2006.  Even though I currently don’t have much of a kitchen, I still have a home with a roof and heat.  How many others, even in our own rich nation, do not?  I have family and friends that I love and who love me.  I have a very special woman in my life that loves me and calls me friend.  I have a job with some security.  I have my health.  I have so many things that I could easily take it all for granted.  So, along with some other minor things, my resolution for this year is to take none of these things for granted.