Flash Tizzle

The movie Doomsday was spectacular. I couldn't help but enjoy it. I recorded it when UVerse offered free premium channels over the Thanksgiving weekend, and didn't have a chance to watch it until now. I may never delete it from my DVR. If you enjoyed Road Warrior, Dawn of the Dead, and 28 Days Later you'll appreciate this film.

For me, it'd all depend on what my wife and I could afford. I wouldn't want to live outside of our means, and as a result, have our children grow up with less opportunities available to them (i.e., such as which schools they attend). Ideally, I'd want two boys (to pass on the name, which isn't very common) and two girls. This is an interesting topic because both of my parents are from large families: my father 13, my mother 10. In our family, it's just the three of us and my brother; whom my dad already had from a previous relationship. I remember asking my parents sometime in the past why they didn't have more children, and both agreed that growing up with a large family was a tremendous burden on their parents. Having children was in itself a full-time job, in addition to their other full-time jobs. The oldest children in both families were often more of a parent than the actual parents. In my father's family, the difference between oldest and youngest was 24 years. Although, of all the siblings from both families, none had more than four children. I'd like to believe everyone learned their lesson. Neither grandparents were overly religious, either. Both families were probably the final remnants of the industrial revolution, "have 10 kids to support the family," mindset.

On next weeks episode of Jersey Shore: You just can't stop watching this clip.

Yesterday was my final day of graduate school. yayayayayayayayayaya

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 2, 2009 -> 03:14 PM)

Pratt, you'll have a blast interviewing the CLJ department if you haven't already. Due to budget cuts expected to take effect in 2011, they're letting go of several well liked administrative employees. There's also a whole host of other concerns that I'm sure someone would be willing to explain in detail.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 05:55 PM) I'm loving this thread. I'm actually wondering where the person who calls himself "Flash Tizzle" is. His post that includes the following is gold: "I knew Williams would f*** up any potential deal for a starting pitcher." If I find any other good ones, I may have to post. Good stuff. I'm still around, although now I save all knee-jerk reactions for Soxtalk's chatroom. I was obviously very wrong about Williams and the trade. I have no problem admitting that. Hell, you could make a day out of finding trades and other issues concerning this team I've been wrong about. I wouldn't say I've been one of Williams' biggest critics, as Iamshack suggested. However, I was definitely one of the most vocal critics when the discussion would turn to our once atrocious minor league system. My hope was Williams would deal Garcia for a collection of minor league players who could replenish our system. Basically, I expected him to trade-rape someone by taking advantage of an offseason where Gil Meche is receiving a 5 year deal, Dice-K 6 years, and Jeff Suppan 4 years. I know it wasn't reasonable to hold him to such standards, but I felt we needed some fortune to fall upon our system; because we sure as hell weren't drafting or developing anyone on our own. And really, look at the production from within from Aaron Rowand reaching the majors in 2001 until 2007. It was frustrating to follow. We couldn't even produce a 4th OF worth a damn. McCarthy and Fields were in a company all by themselves. But even then, their success was limited. I personally wouldn't consider Jenks a product of us if you were thinking about including him Recently, I haven't had much to complain about. Acquiring Danks, Floyd and (especially) Quentin were all deals where we gave up little and in return received cheap, productive players. Even the system has turned around with Bell in, Wilder gone, and a philosophical shift in searching for more high impact players. Not just the "safe" selections we've had to watch fail in the past.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 10:10 PM) I was in my teens in the late 80s/early 90s,long after the Beatles heyday yet they are my favorite band. You would think Pink Floyd,The Who,Led Zep,Beatles,etc. would be huge today considering that today's rock is the crappiest it's been since rock and roll music started. The method I use to validate your point is our local "rock and alternative" station Q101. On days when they have requests, most are from that grudge/alternative phase of the mid 90's. People don't listen in to hear new music, it would seem. I remember someone saying a few years ago Rock and Roll died at Woodstock 99'. Maybe, atleast symbolically, it did.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 06:56 PM) Still no Deep Purple, King Crimson, Yes, Moody Blues, MC5, Donovan, Jethro Tull....... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke. F***ing Abba?! Every year that passes without Chicago mentioned I vomit in rage. I don't believe there's any question the Red Hot Chili Peppers will make it. I wouldn't mind seeing The Hollies in, either.

Rock, I'm sure you can answer this. With the nutrition guide for P90x, are you supposed to change your 'levels' as you go along in the program? I'm 200 pounds and fall right at the bottom of level 2. Let's say in several weeks I'm down to 190, do I recalculate everything and eat according to level 1 now? I'm sure you do, but I think to myself, I'm in interested in staying around my weight (after losing fat and gaining muscle), shouldn't I just keep at level 2? Or for that matter, eat the portions at level 3 to gain more mass? I'm sure I'm missing some piece of wisdom that is listed in the nutrition guide that comes with the DVDs. I just found some of the key points about what to eat, portions, etc. on a website

QUOTE (Tex @ Nov 22, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) Another band I started to add, then dropped because I figured I'd be the only one to have them on my list. If the Moody Blues are on here later, or a few Southern Rock bands I thought of and dropped, I will be kicking myself even harder. And damn, did I forget ELO? I felt the same about Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Buckinghams. They would have been late on my list (15-20) anyways, and at that point it wouldn't matter.

QUOTE (Brian @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 11:01 AM) On Brad, I completely agree with his hatred towards Casey. I absolutely cannot stand watching her compete. It's just pathetic. The best thing for the challenger team to do would be win a challenge, send Casey into the ruins, and tell her to throw it. If I'm one of the guys I'd tell her, you throw it and if we win I'll pay you half of my earnings. There's no way in hell they're getting anywhere with her on the team.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 06:53 PM) That's a poor argument on behalf of the newspapers. Like newspapers, bloggers will suffer the same consequences when their readers realize that they're given bad information: they'll stop reading. As for the "all of the benefit with limited risk" part, bloggers tend to not get paid nearly as much money as professional journalists who work for major media conglomerates. Most bloggers have a separate full-time job as their primary source of income. When people stop reading newspapers, money is lost. When people stop reading blogs, what exactly is lost except someones (often) anonymous reputation? These consequences are not the same. And as for your second sentence, it's basically enforces what I stated earlier. If you're paid for your work, are you willing to throw out something in the chance that it's accurate? What risks do bloggers assume here? If they're right, awesome; if not, well, it was just a rumor and the blog exist to give fans everything as they hear it.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 06:50 PM) So this is an Angels source? Or did you just randomly name one of the teams? I assumed it was an Anaheim source. It probably is.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 06:46 PM) What form of accountability is there when newspapers have information and the event in question does not come to fruition? I can't recall any sort of accountability in Chicago sports journalism over the past 5 years, other than Rick Morrissey eating his column about Joakim Noah a few weeks ago... Well, there will probably be some degree of recourse within the circle of other journalists and colleagues. Even if it's nothing more than talking behind someone's back. This would most likely occur with those who believe in thoroughly checking sources and only going through with a story when there's corroboration. With readers, I don't believe many will care. CNN, Fox News and others sure as hell don't miss a beat when they race to pull up the "Breaking News" banner according to some rumor and it isn't accurate. There are a host examples from the 2000 election to more recently with Balloon boy. There's a difference between what happened on Soxtalk then what would have happened if Cowley had an exclusive that turned out false. We'd all rip him because, as we still believe (maybe naively) that there still exists some process newspapers follow for releasing stories.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 05:31 PM) Did Joe Cowley seriously try to say he has some higher level training that we dont have? I would bet way over 50% of the people on this site have a better education than Mr Cowley. Journalism is like most non-specialist professions where it's not so much that, if pulled off the street, we couldn't do anything they could do; but more of the idea that they've put in the time to reach their positions. With experience, they'll say, will come invaluable teachings of the profession that can't be taught within a classroom. Bloggers threaten not only their livelihoods, but (and I know I'm reaching quite a bit) their accomplishments. Someone in a basement with a keyboard can reach just as many people, and have just as much influence, as any big-city journalist. This can't feel good. With Cowley, I'm sure he's been in the business for 10+ years. There's that voice in his head which repeatedly asks, "When will the Sun-Times wake up and realize that someone can do my job for much cheaper?" It doesn't even have to be a blogger. If Cowley had a whole host of sources that made him invaluable I could see it, but I'm very doubtful of that. If I was him I'd begin to think about my family and their future. If being arrogant and overly argumentative is his angle, similar to Hineybird, perhaps he'll always find a home at some newspaper. But he has to wonder, what will happen 20 years from now? Far as this rumor, I hope nothing changes as a result of it. If this same Angels source calls Jason tomorrow I'd expect him to post another story without hesitation. I know one of the arguments made by newspapers against bloggers is that there's no accountability. That when a story falls through or is proven false, there's no recourse. Conversly, when a source proves accurate the blog receives all the praise. They're only upset because it's the perfect world -- all of the benefit with limited risk. And really, Jason made it quite clear that it was only a rumor. Nothing was certain. It isn't his fault news organization, fearful of being scooped, pick up on a story.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 5, 2009 -> 05:58 PM) why couldnt his name of been John Smith On Fox News a former employee has said "Hassan made comments that Muslims should rise up against their aggresors in Iraq." It's terrorism, regardless of his connection to some group. Jesus, you'll all love this. He had become more agitated with the government because he felt following Obama's election the president would remove troops from Iraq/Afghanistan, and he didn't follow up on that.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 4, 2009 -> 03:53 PM) That may be true, but I'm trying to concentrate the list down more so that we have some consensus. Really, R & B is just another categorical name for black led bands. A long time ago there was a distinct difference between black and white music. As the years went by, particularly in the 60s, the line was blurred. For example, R and B should be a label associated with bands such as The Yardbirds or Led Zeppelin. Their music is heavily influenced by blues, yet no one would immediately consider them R & B because they're not black. It's just rock and roll. I know what you mean though, these lists should be simple and not go into all the different subcategories of rock and roll. I don't believe it'll be an issue though.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 4, 2009 -> 01:40 PM) I dashed my list off very quickly to avoid agonizing over it. My only regret on reflection is that Led Zeppelin deserved to make the cut and I left them off. I did the same exact thing for whatever reason. I don't know how in the hell I remembered The Four Tops and Sam Cooke but forgot Zeppelin.

I've always enjoyed movies that rely more on psychological terrors than someone merely hacking people together one after another. My favorites would include: Suspiria, Full Circle (a VERY underrated movie and scary as hell), Don't Look Now, Session 9, In the Mouth of Madness

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Oct 31, 2009 -> 12:44 PM) On the subject of The Shining, I worked nights for fifteen years at a resort where a grisly murder had happened (not too many years before I worked there) and I could tell you some pretty creepy stories. I'm with Milk, I'd like to hear some of those. I've been in a similar situation and could definitely relate. Well, aside from the murder angle to the story. I've worked overnights before at Toyota Park (a 20,000+ seat stadium) in Bridgeview and it's an eerie experience. It's hard to explain until you're there, by yourself, at 2:00am, when it's pitch black out and there are no lights on in the stadium. You begin to think to yourself, "no one is within 500 ft of this stadium; what is something happens?" The overnight person's duty is simply to monitor the cameras and occasionally patrol certain areas of the stadium, but even then, there's that slight part of me that would expect something weird to appear on screen. And then when I attempt to look back on it (all video is continuously recorded) it wouldn't be there. Or I'd be walking through the stadium checking to see if all doors were shut and would come across a pale woman standing, starring at me at the other end of a long hallway. Even though I don't believe in ghosts, there's always that feeling of dread when you're by yourself.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) Finally watched the new Ruins episode. "How is this happening?" hahahahha This entire RW/RR challenge is the best I've seen in a long time. If for no other reason than the cast of characters and the goofy alliances/betrayals made on a weekly basis. Even though this is the theme of every challenge, this time, it was different with the hatred fellow champions felt towards Wes.

QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 10:16 PM) I got a very interesting perspective of UIC visiting it along with DePaul and Loyola on the same day for volunteer recruitment for my job, as the differences in atmosphere were much more transparent when visiting the campuses on the very same day, one after the other, within a few hours. I'll just say I do not blame the students for their hatred... If anyone is complaining about the UIC atmosphere they should have been there prior to 2007. There was no 10+million dollar, state of the art workout facility conveniently located at Harrison and Halsted. Neither was there a University Village or James Stukel Tower (new dorm rooms not unlike those at DePaul). Also, the East and West campuses may has well have been at separate areas of the country because the mini-ghetto located between it made travel by any means aside from car unlikely. Those were the complaints of students for quite awhile, that there was practically nothing to do near campus. Which is ridiculous in itself because the school is literally five blocks from downtown. But regardless, that sentiment has since changed. I don't know when you visited UIC or what you encountered (I'm guessing you, like many visitors, didn't like the schools architecture), but there are really no excuses anymore for people to complain.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 19, 2009 -> 11:19 AM) Pull up bar and weights will set you back about 50 bucks total. I wouldnt waste money on drinks unless you really think you need it. Go to beachbody.com and check the forums and people's success stories. Go on facebook and do the same. It works. I would also be in favor of burning the series for folks for a nominal fee as long as you dont get me sued. Let's talk business. I noticed I replied to this in May and you ignored it. I won't be ignored this time.

I was surprised with Four Brothers. Much better than I expected. Even Mark Walhberg was tolerable.