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And remember to check back with The Blot Says... in 2008 for some exciting things to come!
And remember to check back with The Blot Says... in 2008 for some exciting things to come!
Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who make up the core of Bishop Allen, are fantastic song writers and performers. They, along with a rotating cast of musicians, have made two unique indie pop albums (the first being 2003’s Charm School) that are extremely fun and catchy. Already Bishop Allen & The Broken String is making waves through the entertainment industry as their songs have been prominently featured on television shows (Ugly Betty, Aliens In America) and in a recent Sony camera ad, which has aired during NFL games this season. Feel free to check out two songs off of Bishop Allen & The Broken String and one song from Charm School below.
You can download Bishop Allen’s sophomore album Bishop Allen & The Broken String for free by signing up for eMusic's no risk trial offer for 25 free MP3s. Click here to sign up today.
Bishop Allen – Click Click Click Click {MP3}
Bishop Allen – Rain {MP3}
Bishop Allen – Things Are What You Make Of Them {MP3}
(from BA’s first Album Charm School)
Thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. Obviously as with any Disney movie there were some cheesy, unneeded moments, but overall it was everything you would want in a holiday adventure movie….it had great action scenes, an entertaining comedic sidekick (Justin Bartha reprising his role as Riley Poole), an on again/off again romance with Diane Kruger reprising her role as Abigail Chase and the requisite bad guy played by villain extraordinaire Ed Harris (Pollock, Stepmom, A History of Violence).
Probably the worst part of the movie was the Disney cartoon short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater starring Goofy showed before National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I have no idea why they felt the need to include thi,s but it was dreadfully awful and unnecessary. If I felt the need to watch a cartoon of Goofy clumsily putting together a home theater in the style of an old school Disney short I’d turn on the Disney Channel more often…that is if the Disney Channel ever showed those old Disney cartoons anymore instead of High School Musical 1 & 2 over and over again. But I digress…anyway, if you’re in the mood for some mindless fun this holiday weekend I recommend checking out National Treasure: Book of Secrets and you might even learn some fictitious history!
I heard this question mentioned during last weeks Broncos/Texans game. It was in reference to Mike Shanahan and the fact that he was one of three coaches who had coached a team 10 years and had more championships than losing seasons. (link) Too bad for Shanahan that his time in that illustrious group is about to come to an end. You see the Broncos are 6-9 and with only one game left in the season and no hope of making the playoffs, Denver is already a lock to have a losing record this year. Good thing I asked this question now and not in two weeks!
The second head coach that has coached a team 10 years and had more championships than losing seasons is the immortal John Madden. Madden won one Super Bowl as the coach of the Oakland Raiders and never had a losing season while their coach. It’s a wonder he didn't coach them for longer. Did you know this Hall of Fame coach's .759 winning percentage during the regular season ranks as highest ever among coaches with 100 career victories? (link) The guy was a coaching legend. It's a shame people my age only know him for his video games and his time in the broadcast booth, even though he very well could have gotten into the Hall of Fame for either of those contributions if he had never coached a game.
The third coach that no one was able to come up with was Hall of Fame member and coaching legend Paul Brown. While the Cincinnati Bengals’ stadium bares his name, Brown was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he ever coached for Cinci. Brown forged his coaching legacy while leading the Cleveland Browns to a 167-53-8 record, four AAFC titles and three NFL crowns in 17 years with only one losing season. (link)
The bonus question's answer is another Hall of Famer, Joe Gibbs. There was some confusion here, but the question said the head coach had to have coached a team 10 years, it did not say later non-consecutive seasons were not counted. The first time Gibbs coached the Washington Redskins he had 10 winning seasons, 1 losing season, one 8-8 season and 3 Super Bowl victories. But, Gibbs couldn’t stay away from the game he loved and came back to coach the Redskins in 2004. Since that time he's had one winning season and two losing seasons bringing his overall time with the Redskins to three championships and three losing seasons. Gibbs shouldn't fret too much because with one more victory this weekend he will be leading his 'skins back to the playoffs.
One coach that spent over 10 seasons with one team and definitely had more championships than losing seasons with that team is Curly Lambeau, founder of the Packers and its first head coach and playing captain. He won 6 championships while coaching the Packers and had only 1 losing season. I know Mark mentioned him in his answer, but everywhere I've looked they only list Brown, Shanahan and Madden in the answer. The only reason I can think of for his exclusion is that while he coached over 10 seasons with the packers and won 6 championships, he also had 6 losing seasons throughout his time as a head coach in the NFL. The question doesn’t say the losing seasons all have to be with the same team. I know this is a technicality and I can't find it explained anywhere, but this is the only rationale I can come up with for his exclusion from the answer.
Thanks to everyone who submitted an answer, and I'll try to come up with a non-sports related question for next time so others can participate!
The only bad news to all this is that Wolfman and Perez were not invited back to do the writing and art for the book. Once again DC has decided to jinx a popular title from the very beginning by allowing Real World: San Francisco reject and comic book scribe Judd Winick (Green Arrow, Outsiders) to write the series. While not being the worst writer in the world, Winick typically has a hard time finding a character's voice and his books often under deliver to fans' expectations. My major complaint with Winick's writing is that he seems to create characters out of thin air whenever they might suit a particular storyline he wants to write with no respect for the damage that might cause to other characters’ continuity. At least DC did one thing right, and that is putting artist extraordinaire Ian Churchill (Justice League, Supergirl) on pencils. This guy is pretty amazing and his art is just beautiful.
Here’s a promo piece DC released for the new book teasing who will be apart of this latest incarnation of the team. Any guesses on who these arms might belong to?
So it came out this week, first reported by EW.com, that Survivor: China contestant Denise Martin full out lied at the season finale/reunion show this past Sunday on CBS. You see, Denise the Lunch Lady claimed that when she returned from China the school district she worked for would not give her her old job in the school’s cafeteria back because they feared her new found celebrity status from competing on Survivor would be too much of a distraction for the students. Instead, Denise claimed she was given a demotion to janitor, forced to work nights cleaning toilets and is now missing out on her children’s lives. The Blot, like I’m sure most of America watching the Survivor: China season finale, felt horrible for Denise after hearing her plight. Survivor producer Mark Burnett felt so bad after hearing Denise's story he informed Survivor host Jeff Probst that he would give Denise $50,000 to help her get back on her feet since she lost her job to compete on Survivor. But there was one catch to this feel good story, Denise was flat out lying about her “demotion.” (link)
The Blot was in shock after finding out it was all a lie, but at the time of the final episode’s airing the person most in shock was Nancy T. Lane, the superintendent of the Douglas Public Schools in Douglas, Mass. and Denise’s boss. Lane claims “Denise Martin lied on Sunday’s live broadcast when she stated that she was not given her job back as a cafeteria worker upon her return from taping the reality show and instead was made to ‘clean the toilets’ as a janitor working night shifts.” (link) Lane explained that Denise “was actually promoted to the position as custodian – a promotion Lane claims Martin asked for herself.” Lane went on to state that the promotion had been applied for and granted before Martin even left for China and that she asked for the promotion because it came with additional benefits and a higher salary.
Obviously, this is a classic case of he said, she said…except Martin has already called Lane to apologize. Not only that, but Lane and Denise went on CBS’ The Early Show this morning and “apologized profusely for what she said, though she stopped short of admitting that she’d lied to get the money, and won’t give back the $50K.” (link) So not only has Denise slandered her employers and made her home city of Douglas, Mass. look horrible and heartless, she is also now ripping off Mark Burnett who only wanted to help her.I’ve watched Survivor since midway through the first season and this is the first time I can remember hearing someone come out and just lie at the reunion show for no apparent reason other than to try and get money out of viewers. Obviously the reality game show’s theme is Outwit, Outplay, Outlast and most contestants take that to mean they should lie and deceive each other, and maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. But what was the point in lying after the final votes had already be tallied and the winner of the audience popularity vote for an additional $100,000 had already been announced (it was awarded to James the Gravedigger a.k.a. James Clement)?
Before this I felt sympathetic towards Denise for not making the final three (she was the final contestant voted out before the series finale’s final vote) because she made a strong heartfelt case of why she should be awarded the show’s one million dollar prize. But after this, not only am I glad she didn’t win Survivor: China (Todd Herzog of Pleasant Grove, UT did), I hope Burnett gets his money back and Denise is ostracized from any future Survivor: China events.
You can download the trailer or view a larger version of it here.
You can still check out the first The Dark Knight teaser promo poster here, the two new Why So Serious? Joker posters here, and the new trailer being shown before I Am Legend can be found here.
I will admit the pick looked absolutely dreadful last year and I took a lot of flack because of my support of Williams. But the truth is the Texans’ defense was improving and the emergence of rookies Williams and linebacker DeMeco Ryans (University of Alabama) were huge reasons for this. Often times it takes time for a rookie to catch up to the speed of the NFL and it was no different for Mario. It didn’t help that Vince was already being selected to his first Pro Bowl while leading the Tennessee Titans to the playoffs and Reggie Bush was helping to turn around the New Orleans Saints while leading them to a division title and the NFC championship game. But now that Bush and the Saints have come down to earth and the Madden Jinx seems to be killing Vince’s ability to pass, Mario is able to shine all alone and show why he was worth the overall #1 pick two years ago.
With only two games left in the year the Texans are still in the playoff hunt and on the verge of possibly winning an 8th game, which would put the team at .500 for the year. This would be the highest win total in franchise history and the first time the Texans have ever ended a seasons at .500 or better. It seems Head Coach Gary Kubiak was the perfect choice for this team and has done a pretty good turnaround job after taking over a lowly 2-14 team just two seasons ago.
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