I'm Still Alive and Blogging!

Old Business

Ducks Lose Best of Seven to Milwaukee

The Ducks ended up losing their best of seven series in the Calder Cup AHL playoffs to the Milwaukee Admirals, despite having a 3 games to 2 lead going into the last two games at Milwaukee. However, the Ducks did indeed go the distance, as this exciting and riveting series went a full seven games. Kudos to the boys in purple and jade for giving their all and I look forward to next year. Speaking of next year, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks announced that they would be continuing their affiliation with Anaheim. Next job: avoid a lockout and also Anaheim needs to re-sign Ilja Bryzgalov, our phenomenal goalie. Well, little Ducks talk until October for you readers out there, unless something comes up.

I Saw Bush!

Also at my beloved Gardens, I saw the President of the United States, George W. Bush! It was a great moment, and the President joins a massive list of people who have "played" at the Gardens, including other Presidents and even a King, Elvis! Read our coverage of the visit over at WMD.

New Business

Jersey Girl

Ben Affleck and George Carlin singing Sweeney Todd Broadway style? A girl crying in a porno section at a video store? No Jay and Silent Bob? What am I talking about? Jersey Girl, the latest film by Silent Bob himself, Kevin Smith.

This movie did not do very well when released earlier this spring. It did not even do as well as Smith's other flop at the box office (Mallrats, which is a video cult classic, and one of his best films, if I may say so). In this film, Affleck plays a music advertising executive. He has a great single life, but then he falls in love and gets married. He and his wife have a baby, but the mother dies in childbirth. Affleck's character makes a colossal mistake when, in a moment of weakness, he savages one of his own clients, Will Smith.

Over the following years, Ben's character becomes a father. He overcomes his bitterness at losing his wife and having to give things up for his child, and is actually enjoying his life in Jersey, when....he gets the Ad itch again. He has to decide what is important: his family and what he has or what he gave up.....

This is a different Kevin Smith movie. While it does have some of the usual players as in other Smith films (Jason Lee, Matt Damon, Affleck, Carlin, among others) it takes a different tone. There are no attempts at adolescent humor. There are no stoners walking around lightening things up. It is a family movie about loss, acceptance, and becoming a father. In many ways, I think it is Kevin Smith's love letter to his own father, who passed and to whom this film is dedicated.

Smith really went for a stretch in doing this type of movie, but Smith has said he wanted to move away from penis and fart jokes to some other film-making. While I missed Jay and Bob, this film is very touching. Mr. Affleck does a great job playing the father, and Smith did a great job in the writing and directing of this film. Sadly, fans of Jay and Bob will not like this movie because it is not overly outlandish or outrageously over the top. However, they are missing the point. Kevin Smith is growing, as a person and a filmmaker, and this represents more of his growth. While this film is not an Oscar winner, it deserved better than it got. If for nothing else than that Kevin finally made a movie he felt proud of showing to his daughter.

It was a very good movie, one that I would recommend. However, if you are looking for standard Kevin Smith humor only, this film may not be for you. I think it is a good one, even if my favorite stoner underachievers were absent.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

This weekend we commemorate those who have been lost, who have gone on from this world. God bless the brave men and women who have fought and died for this "great experiment" in democracy over the two and a half centuries of our existence.

Happily, we finally got a WWII memorial in DC. Sadly, many of the men and women who served have died not living to see the acknowledgement of their service. It was a great black mark that there was no memorial honoring the "greatest generation" until now. Thank goodness the movement was started and carried through. God bless our fallen soldiers, heroes then and now!

God bless our current heroes, serving to extend freedom and protect us here back home by fighting terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a great travesty of our times that we are repeating the mistakes of whiny hippy college elitist types from the 1960s by not giving respect and homage to the men and women serving. I was disgusted to see that the moniker 'baby killer' has already reared its head again in regards to soldiers in the wake of the Iraq War. This is shameful. We must honor our soldiers, willing to sign up and defend us from enemies, willing to take fire to defend freedom. It saddens me that the actions of a few sick people, coupled with generations that have no clue about real sacrifice and hardship (like the WWII generation) are b**ching and moaning about injustice and war crimes. DID YOU SEE THE CRIMES THAT MANIAC WE DEPOSED DID? I am sick of this blame America first mentality. Use Memorial Day to dedicate yourselves to fighting this insidious disease which demoralizes our men and women in uniform and makes more ignorant future generations to the ideals of sacrifice and noble patriotism of those who serve.

God bless our soldiers, living and dead, serving and retired.

God bless America!

This was Mark...thanks for reading.