The Brawl at the Palace

I've seen a lot of wild things in the world of sports, but I have never seen anything as wild as what I saw on TV Friday night when the Pistons-Pacers basketball game turned into a flat out insane brawl involving players and fans in the stands.

After taking a few days to soak all of this in, here's my two cents on the matter.

First, Ron Artest of the Pacers is an idiot. Period. As far as I'm concerned, he lit the fuse to this whole mess by committing a stupid hard foul on the Pistons' Ben Wallace in the late stages of the fourth period. The Pacers were up by 15 with under a minute to go in the game. It was over and Indiana was going to win. There was no need for Artest to do something that stupid with the game already in the bag.

Then to add matters, he decided to sit on top of the scorer's table as the two teams milled about exchanging words and shoves. Best thing for him to do was walk away, but for him to sit on the table was akin to taunting and adding fuel to an already volatile situation.

But then, when that idiot of a fan tossed the cup on Artest, the Pacers player crossed the line.

Granted, the fan was a complete jerk and had no right whatsoever to do that, but what Artest did to get into the stands and confront the fan (the wrong fan, by the way) and exchange blows, that was light years worse. He had no business going to the stands. None. And I don't want to hear that talk about the heat of the moment and disrespect and all that macho crap, a professional athlete has no right to go into the stands and confront a fan. Period. A true professional would've went to security, pointed out the nutjob who tossed the cup and had him ejected. That should've been the end of it. But, Artest, being the bully that he is, didn't go that route. So, as I said before, he lit the fuse to all of this and he's damn lucky that he only got suspended for the entire season. Considering all the other incidents he's been involved in, he's lucky he wasn't banned for life. The guy needs help.

There are others to blame for this too. Artest's teammate, or thug, Stephen Jackson is just as guilty, for first trying to start a fight on the court when the Indiana and Detroit players were jawing at each other after the hard foul and then for going into the stands after Artest and not trying to pull him back to the court or be a peacemaker, but to join in the fisticuffs. Another idiot who should be lucky he got only a 30 game suspension. Jermaine O'Neal of the Pacers, who's been trading pot shots at the world champ Pistons for several months after Detroit beat them in the conference finals last summer is another idiot for fighting with the fans as well.

And then there's the stupid fans, pumped up on beer concentrate, adrenaline and some insane egomaniacal trip that makes them think that they're part of the Pistons squad. The ones who threw the cup and the chair and the ones who got on the floor are all a bunch of jerks who got what they deserved. If it was up to me, I'd ban each and every one of them for life for doing something so stupid. You're a fan, for crying out loud! You can cheer, you can boo, but that's it. Anything else is crossing the line. You guys are no worse than the players who crossed the line to go into the stands.

Lastly, I want to talk about how the national media got on their moral high horse to criticize Detroit and how this was expected of the city. First of all, the brawl happened in Auburn Hills, a suburb some 30 plus miles away from Detroit. Second, you're supposed to be a neutral party, not see this as an opportunity to get a cheap shot in. All those announcers who called Detroit fans a bunch of punks and sissies (yes, I'm talking to the guys at ESPN) ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Don't lump a handful of knuckleheads with the rest of us fans. Remember last summer when the NBA Finals was here, not one single incident happened with us fans. Not one.

That's my feelings on the matter. I hope we never see an incident as ugly as that ever again.

Sports Page Blog: Over and Out

Hey there.

Here's a question :Have you checked out my Sports Page blog?

No?

Yeah, same here.

I had high hopes for this blog when I started it last summer. Being a major sports fan, I would use it as my platform for writing everything involving sports.

But as my schedule got way too busy, and I got way too lazy to contribute to my site, much less my blog, the chances for me to write my regular blog and then do something for my Sports Page blog were becoming few and far between.

So today, after looking over the huge amount of blog entries for it (read: 3), I've decided to pull the plug. The Sports Page blog has been cut and now I'll only concentrate on this one as my sole blog.

Maybe one day, I'll revive it when I get more time and a chance to talk more on sports, but right now, I think it's best to let the old page retire in peace.

Blog at you later.

Back on the Blog

Hey there. I'm back again, after yet another self imposed hiatus from writing on the blogs. Sometimes there are days when you come in from work, or other stuff and the last thing you want to do is write something up on the blog. But I feel inspired enough to get back to it and catch up on a few things.

Among them:

-- The new TV season is well underway and out of all the new shows, there's 4 that I like and watch every chance I get. ABC's "Lost", "Desperate Housewives", and "Boston Legal" and CBS' "CSI:NY" The others I could care less about. "Lost" puts me in a dilemna cause it's on the same night and time as the WB's "Smallville". Thank goodness for the VCR, so I can tape one while watching the other and then seeing my taped show later on.

-- Went to yet another Comic Con last month. As opposed to the ones I've attended in the past, this time around there weren't any major celebs for me to meet up with. That's OK, cause this time I couldn't afford the autograph fees even if there were someone I wanted to meet. I did pick up some good stuff this time, including a good DVD of several superhero fan films, a Wolfman action figure playset, and a special edition DVD of the zombie flick "Shaun of the Dead", this one from England, so I don't have to wait several months for that to be released here.

-- Going to all these cons over the years has given me an idea. I want to go to San Diego next summer and attend the Comic Con International over there. We'll see if I can save up enough bucks to attempt that, but I'm certainly going to try.

-- Lastly, have to give a shoutout to several new online friends I've met over the past few months. To Ron, Kent, Robert, and Josh, good meeting you all and welcome to the club!

Well that's it for now. I'll do another entry real soon, I promise . :)

Goodbye, Superman

Christopher Reeve : 1952-2004

I cannot begin to describe how devastated and saddened I am to hear of Christopher Reeve's sudden death on Sunday. To me, and thousands of others, he was-and always will be- Superman.
I'm old enough to remember seeing the "Superman" movie when it first came out in the theaters. I recall me, my brother and a family friend seeing it on the big screen for the first time. I was in total and complete awe. Back then, it was OK enough to let us see it several times on one ticket, so I got to see the movie at the theater several times that day. To this day, in fact, this movie is the one film that I've seen the most, like over a hundred times in one form or another. After that, I truly believed that Reeve was the Man of Steel and that he could really fly.
Of course, over time, I grew up and eventually learned that it was a special effect, but I still had a respect for Reeve, not only for the way he played Superman but as Clark Kent as well. I enjoyed seeing him in the other sequels (yes, even the crappy third film and the even worse fourth.) I even enjoyed some of his other works, like "Somewhere in Time" and "Street Smart".
I was stunned when he suffered that horrible accident in 1995 that paralyzed him and was proud to see him recover from that, become an activist for spinal cord research, and return to acting. And when he appeared on the WB series "Smallville" two years ago to essentially pass the torch in the Superman mythos, I again had that feeling of awe I felt years ago when I first saw him on the big screen.
Last month, when the show returned for it's new season, me and my friend Rob had talked about how cool it would be to see Reeve return again on the series, now that Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the movies, had joined the show in a recurring role.
Sadly and tragically, that will never happen.
Lastly, I have an image of Christopher Reeve that I want to remember him by. It's from the final scene of Superman, where he's flying off into beyond with that trademark smile. That's what I hope he's doing now.
Goodbye, Superman. You'll always be a hero to me.

Good News

On my last post, I talked about two of my friends facing some tough decisions about their health. My best friend Rob had a bone marrow test and my online bud Grant had a test to see if he had a major illness or not.

Well good news on both fronts. Rob mentioned that he doesn't have leukemia or any major illness from his test. He still has to take another blood test in six months though. And Grant found out that the illness may have been caught early so he has an about 90% chance of living unaffected by the disease. He still has a chance to live under constant treatment though.

So even though both of them aren't officially out of the woods, the situation isn't as grave as it was a couple of weeks ago. As I told them before, just hope for the best. And that is what both of them have received. As a friend to them both, hearing that is very good news indeed.

A Show of Support

Normally on my blogs, I like to keep it light, telling interesting things that's happening with me or talking about stuff I've seen in the movies or on TV, but with this entry, I want to talk about something serious concerning two of my friends.

First, I hear that Rob, one of the closest friends I know (he's the "Pratt" of "The Pratt/Brown Discussions" blog that we work on) had a bone marrow exam taken last week to see if there was anything serious going on with his blood cells. He'll get his results Monday.

Then, recently I got some news from Grant, one of my online buds. He's been fighting headaches and other ailments for quite a while. After getting a checkup, he was told that he may have Wilson's disease, an condition that causes the body to be unable to remove copper from its tissue. This could lead to all kinds of problems, such as liver failure or brain damage, and if not medicated could be fatal. He won't know the test results for a while.

Hearing this bit of news about two of my friends flat out sucks. It makes the things that I talk about on the blog seem trivial and insignificant compared to the potentially life and death situations my friends are dealing with. As I've told both of them, I hope for the best results and that both of them will be in my prayers.

Guys, you have my total and complete support and I hope and pray that things will work out.

Movie Review: Spider-Man 2

OK, I've seen Spider-Man 2 opening night yesterday.

All I can say is this: If the first one was amazing, the second one is spectacular.

This sequel went the way that X2 did, in the fact that it improved on the original. And it improved on it in ways that I didn't think possible.

It's rare that a comic book movie can deliver action, drama, good character interaction and depth all at the same time. It's rarer still to do that again, and in a sequel of all things. That's what this film did.

Once again, Tobey Maguire hit it out of the park with his portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. This time, he not only handled playing his heroic alter-ego, but also in dealing with it. More so in this film, he made Parker feel like a real life guy, not just a character drawn up in the comics over forty years ago. Kirsten Dunst did a good job as Mary Jane, this time not just being the damsel in distress, but also standing on her own two feet. The scenes both actors did together in the movie showed that the chemistry hasn't left since the original film.

As opposed to the first film, where the Green Goblin was OK, but not a dynamic villian, Alfred Molina, as Doctor Octopus, was very good. We got to see both sides of his character, before he became Spidey's nemesis and afterwards, and he handled it quite well. The scene in the hospital where he awakens after having the tenacles fused to his spine was one of the most violent scenes I've seen for a comic book film. And he had some good one liners and interaction with Parker/Spider-Man.

The action sequences were incredible, with the two duking it out aboard a speeding train topping the list. It was one of those scenes that I wished lasted longer than it did. And even though I have my beef about CGI, this film came as close as it did to really showing how good CGI effects can look in a movie. I especially liked how the camera swayed back and forth as Spidey swung over New York, almost giving the effect that you were seeing it thru his eyes. That was a definite improvement from the first film.

What made the second film better than the first? More humor. I was really surprised with the balance of laughs along with the drama and pathos of the movie. Every scene that had J. Jonah Jamison in it was a laugh riot. And I do mean every scene he was in. And, one scene involved Parker leaping from the roof and landing hard to the ground was hilarious, especially if you know the story about how Maguire almost had to pull out of shooting because of a chronic back ailment.

And they were a few surprises thrown in as well, especially involving Peter's friend Harry Osborn. I won't give it away, but you can definitely see a set-up for the third movie (which is supposed to be out in May 2007).

I hand it to director Sam Raimi for putting it all together again, after what he did with the first film. I read that he had more freedom with this effort as compared with the first. He again knows how to make a comic book film right.

So, all in all, I would call Spider-Man 2 the best film I've seen this year, slightly below Kill Bill Volume 2. And I'd rank it up there as the best superhero sequel I've seen (topping X2) Can't wait to see what they'll do in another three years to top this one.

Spider Man 2: It's Finally Arrived!!

It's here! "Spider Man 2", one of the most anticipated film sequels in quite a while, finally opens in theaters Wednesday.

And I'm going to see it on opening night tomorrow.

Out of all the comic book characters, Spider Man is the one that I can closely relate. So in 2002, when this character made its big screen debut, I was dying to see what it looked like. I mean, would it suck or not? I had my doubts about it at first, until I saw the trailer. I was blown away. Then I saw the entire film. I was even more impressed. And a lot of people worldwide agreed with that assessment as it took in a lot of money making it a huge blockbuster.

Which brings us to 2004, and the upcoming sequel. Like the original I had the same doubts about whether it will suck or not. Superhero sequels are very hit(see X2: X-Men United) or miss (see Batman & Robin, a film that I don't want to talk about.) So will this be as good as the original or even better?

The buzz going around is that it will be a lot better. We've got a way cooler villian this time in Doctor Octopus (Now come on, who didn't think the Green Goblin's costume in the first one didn't look flat out stupid!) and the scenes they've shown for the trailer look incredibly awesome. So once again, my interest in it has again peaked. Even some of the reviews I've read in the paper have been good.

But all the reviews and trailers don't mean anything until tomorrow night, when I sit down at the theatre and see it for myself.

Is "Spider Man 2" the real deal? I'll let you know on my next entry.

New Stories, New Friends, New Look

Hey there.

I've been slowly getting my website in order. Getting rid of old, dead links and features and cleaning them up. I've also been adding new looks for each of the pages. They're in the test stages right now, but hopefully, if they all work, I'll have them all done in the next week or so.

I've finally gotten back into the writing game. Writing for stuff other than this blog. I've started on a new story, a request for my online bud Adam, about a man-to-cat transformation. I've never done a story like that before, but so far, slowly but surely, it's getting together. I'll let you know when it's done and up on the Stories page of my website.

I've also got a new idea I've been toying around with, thanks to a drawing my friend Lance showed me a while ago. It's still in the early stages, so I'll tell you more about it when I have it more together. I can say that it's another transformation story that I've never done before.

Got a new update to my "Mark of the Wolf" movie project page. Things are moving very well as I hope to get started on filming next year. I plan on a MAJOR announcement on the film's early development in the next week or two.

And finally, I want to give a shout out to my newest online friend, Grant. Met him through Lance's online chat room and we've gotten to know each other pretty well through our late night chats. It's good to know you Grant and welcome to the club!

That's it for now. Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day holiday and don't forget to remember the men and women who've served (and continue to serve) our nation's military.

Blog at you later.

Comic Con: The Post-Game

I've just came back from attending the comic book convention I'd told you about in my last blog, and it was, by far, the best experience I had in all the times I've gone there.

I met a ton of cool stars, among them: "Hellboy" himself, Ron Perlman; Dean Haglund (Lone Gunman Langley from "The X-Files"), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane from the "Superman" movies), Michael Dorn (Worf from "Star Trek: TNG") and novelist Peter David, who got to sign my copy of one of my favorite werewolf novels, "Howling Mad" which he wrote.

There were others there that I wanted to meet, but due to things outside my control, such as limited finances and long lines at their respective booths, I couldn't get them all.

But, all in all, I had a great time there and you'll be seeing some of the cool photos I took pretty soon. I can't wait to go to the next convention, which takes place on Halloween weekend.

Blog at you later.

Going to the Comic Con

I was asked a while back how do you meet all these celebrites and get those photos that wind up on your website. Well, I'm about to reveal my source.

Twice a year, in May and in October, I head off to a comic book convention about several miles away from my house. Sometimes I go alone, other times I go along with my friend Kevin. The convention has tons of comic books for sale, of course. But it also movies, action figures, and other cool items available. I've been able to snag some cool items, like t-shirts, caps, posters and the like. Plus, I've been able to acquire some nice additions to my comic book collection. But I have the most fun seeing the celebrities at the convention, getting to talk with them, sign their autograph and hopefully, take a photo with them.
Now these rare opportunities don't come cheap, costing about $20 to meet each star. But, it's well worth it.

The first time I went to the convention a few years back, I scored a major coup: I got to meet the Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno. It was awesome to not only meet one of my TV idols, but to have a picture taken with him as well. That was the first star photo I used on my webpage. I've gotten so much good buzz from that photo, I decided to make it a permanent part of the Network website, adding a new picture with a celebrity every few months or so.

Over the years, I've gotten to meet other cool celebs, including David Naughton of "An American Werewolf in London", Dee Wallace Stone of "The Howling", and recently, LeVar Burton of "Star Trek:The Next Generation". It's a great experience and I have a good time each time I check it out.

The spring edition of the convention will be happening this weekend and I'll be heading out there tomorrow. Now, I hear there will be a lot of stars coming to this one, so I'll have my digital camera loaded and ready to go. With any luck, the stars I see tomorrow at the comic con will wind up on the front page of my website in the coming months.

Movie Review: Van Helsing

Monday, I checked out "Van Helsing" at the theater. My opinion: It's not bad. It wasn't a film that I would rave about, like "Kill Bill Vol. 2, (which as of right now, is my top movie of the year) but it was OK. The one thing that got me about the film was the plot took too long to come together. A film shouldn't take like three quarters of the film to make you realize what was happening. Plus it got a bit crowded at times with all these characters, like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, as well as the title character and trying to weave their stories together.

The CGI effects were OK, but it's what would you expect from CGI. Now since there was a werewolf in this movie, I wanted to pay close attention to how they would do this. The transformation scenes were all right, but with the guy playing the Wolf Man in this one writhing and contorting about as he changed, it would've been a real cool scene if they did it the old fashioned effect as opposed to using the computer. I won't give the film away, but if you're a werewolf fan, you'll kind of like how werewolves play a key role in the climax.

So, all in all, it was OK. OK enough for me to say that when it comes out on DVD later in the year, I'll probably buy it. I can say that I really like the video game that's based on the movie. Hopefully, I'll get to play around with it some more when I get some free time.

Blog at you later.

Getting Caught Up

Um... hello?! Is this blog on?!

Wow, it's been a long while since I last posted on this blog. Over a month and a half in fact. I've had little time to do work on the blog or my website lately, mostly cause of work or lack of sleep or other things going on. But, finally I can be able to catch my breath and get caught up with what's been going on in the fifty-plus days since my last post.

-- Finally gotten back into writing again, working a little bit at a time on my various unfinished stories, episode guides for the Werewolf TV Series website, and also my script rewrite for my possible "Mark of the Wolf" movie project that I hope to start next summer. The process on all is slow and tedious, but I'm more closer to the end than I was a while back.

-- Finally got the chance to check out some movies this year. It took me until last month to finally go inside a theater to see a movie. First one I saw was "Hellboy", another of the films crafted out of the comic books. Now, going into this, I hardly was familiar with this character as compared to the other comic book films out there, so my expectations were very very low. But I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It was very good, funny when it needed to be, poignant when it had to be and had some kick-ass action sequences as well. Ron Perlman, who plays the title role, definitely nailed the character down. A perfect anti hero with a quick wit, a take no prisoners attitude when it comes to taking care of business and deftly providing emotion when necessary, even in all that makeup. I remember seeing him do the same thing as a kid when he was in that old TV show, "Beauty and the Beast" and he hit it out of the park again with this one. Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised with this one and I can see them making several sequels in the future.

The next one I checked out was "Kill Bill: Volume 2" I was eager to see the continuation to Quentin Tarantino's epic after seeing Volume 1 last fall and I wasn't disappointed. While Vol. 1 dealt with the madness and swordplay and fighting behind Uma Thurman's character and why she needed to, well, kill Bill, Vol. 2 gave you the reasons behind it and after seeing it all as a whole, I understood why she had to, well, kill Bill. I was impressed with Uma as the Bride and David "Kung Fu" Carradine as Bill and I was totally blown away with the overall film and how it all ended. Now, as tempted as I was about buying Volume 1 on DVD, I'll be patient and wait for the inevitable complete DVD set with both volumes together to come out.

The next film on my list: "Van Helsing". I report on that later in the week.

-- Other things to talk about: I got absolutely nothing out of my taxes, since most of it went to cover bills (taxes suck), and another of my job offers, this one to work at a TV station behind the scenes, fell through (that blows, but I'm still not giving up on my career goal).

Well that's it for now. I'll blog at you real soon, I promise.

Mark of the Wolf: Back Online

I've brought back my pet project on the website. "Mark of the Wolf" is something I'm proud of, writing a script for my own werewolf movie. When I originally wrote this several years ago, the goal was always that one day I can actually put this on film. Well in the past few months, a lot of things have fell into place that could make this possible. The plan, if things fall into place is to start filming this next summer and have it done by the fall of 2005. Of course, there's still some things that could delay it even further, but I'm pretty confident that it will happen next year.
So click on the link above, for my intro to the site, which will mainly focus on the planning of this project. I will continue to add more to that site in the coming days. Whenever I get some free time, I will work on the revamped movie script. The novel excerpts that I based my original script on have been put away for now, but I may bring it back on the site someday.

Updating the Site

Thanks to my online bud Adam, I've finally gotten around to doing a small update to the site. I've cleaned up the Links page, adding some new sites along with getting rid of some dead ones. I've also added some new photos to the album, mostly of my friends Frank and Adam.

As I predicted in the last blog, "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" did clean house at the Oscars last night, winning every award it was nominated for, taking eleven in all. I knew that movie would do well, if not just for that movie in general, but for the entire three year trilogy of films as a whole. Congrats to them all and I can't wait to pick up the DVD later this year.

That's it for now, blog at you later.

Getting Caught Up

Hey there. It's been a while since I updated the blog here. A lot of things have happened, so let me get you all caught up.

*First of all, I have to get a shout out to my newest online friend, Adam. I met him thru my good friend Lance's chatroom a couple weeks ago and he's become yet another cool guy to know. Welcome to the club, Adam!

*Next, the streak's over. I had gone thru the entire winter without getting sick. Until last Tuesday, when I got hit with a major head cold. It sucked big time. I had dealt with it fine Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday was when it had really got me. It took me until the weekend to finally get over it. Hopefully it'll be a long while before I get sick again.

*On Feb. 18th, I went out to a sports job fair. Mostly it was teams in the Michigan area and parts of the midwest, plus a few TV and radio stations. My hope is that something good will come out of attending the fair. I'll keep you informed.

*Earlier this month, I had raved about the 100th episode of "Angel" on the WB, calling it the best episode they did all season. Little did I know that several days later, the WB would announce that this season would be the show's last. Damn you, WB!! Just when it's getting really good and turning to a new chapter, you decide now to pull the plug?! I tell you, ever since it's predecessor "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" left for UPN three years ago, they have been giving that show nothing but grief. Hopefully, they'll follow through on their plan to do movies on the show, but part of me doubts that'll happen. I tell you, if it wasn't for "Smallville", I wouldn't be watching that network at all with the way they treat my favorite shows.

*I'm back working on stories and guides. I got a cool werewolf story that I'm almost ready to put on the site, and I'm working on a few more. The plan in the next week or so is to bring back a revamped "Arsenal" site and to post big news about another of my pet projects.

*And finally, tonight is Oscar night: My quick picks is for "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" to clean house, including winning both best film and director. I'm going to side with Bill Murray to edge out Johnny Depp for best actor and Charlize Theorn to win for best actress. All the other awards I could care less about.

Oh, one last thing. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and posts about my website's anniversary and the cool look front page with all the key photos and moments over the past five years. I'll be taking that page down on Monday. Thanks again for the kind word.

That's it for now. Blog at you later.

New Site is Up and Running!!!

Well, finally I'm done with the new look of the website. You can check it out. I still have some more stuff to add on to it in the coming days.

What's Up with the Site?

Hey there.

Just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about my site. It's been almost two weeks since my website turned five years old and the site hasn't been changed as I've promised.

Well, I've had some technical difficulties with both my ISP and Geocities as far as putting some of the stuff I wanted to put on there, causing the big day on January 23rd to come and go without any fanfare, except for my mention in this blog.

But I can say that last week, all the difficulties have been straightened out and I've been slowly and surely working on it. Kind of hard to do when you also have a life outside the Mark One Network, but it's coming together.

Still have a few more things to put in and test out, but now I'm shooting for this Friday, February 5 to be the big day for the relaunch. I hope you all like the changes. Stay tuned.

Blog at you later.

Talking about Angel

Wow, I just got thru seeing "Angel"'s landmark 100th episode on the WB. And all I can say is wow, what an episode! It was by far the best episode of the season.

A jam packed hour that was funny, filled with action and had an ending, that if you've watched the show since the beginning, that was sad and gut wrenching. Even I had to choke back a few tears after seeing that. I was reminded of the 100th episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" from which "Angel" was spun off from. It had the same type of deal of emotions, with humor, action and a powerfully sad ending.

As one of my can't miss shows on TV, "Angel" definitely hit it out of the park with this episode. An excellent job all around. A damn good show!!

WOW!! What a Super Bowl!! (And The Game Wasn't Bad Either!)

So what did you think of Super Bowl XXXVIII?

Not the game, mind you, but the halftime show!!

Normally, I don't watch the halftime show, I usually get something to eat or go to the bathroom or something, but this year I got to check it out and all I can say is...

WOW!

Now when I saw Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performing at the end, yeah it looked very sexual, but when Justin pulled on Janet's top and I saw, uh, what I saw, all I can say is...

WOW!!

At first, I didn't believe that what I saw was, well, what I saw. If anything I thought it was a costume that revealed, well too much. But when I saw it on tape (I was recording it along with the game) and I slowed the tape down and saw, uh, well, it, all I can say is....

WOW!!!!

Now, of course, I know it was planned, as did just about everyone else who saw it. And, everyone from CBS to MTV(who produced it) apologized to no end, and that's all fine and good, but come on, you have to admit, that was a damn good way to get some attention to what normally is a boring halftime on the biggest sports event of the year.

Of course, what was even funnier, was Justin's response to what happened, calling it a "wardrobe malfunction". Now that's hilarious. I didn't know showing one's breast in front of 180 some million viewers was labeled a malfunction. I'd call it "Must See TV", but not a "wardrobe malfunction". I hope Janet has plenty more "malfunctions" in the future. ;)

Anyway, it was a good way to get fired up for the rest of the game, which was not bad believe it or not. Congrats to the Patriots, who knocked off the Panthers by 3. I had the point margin right, and the correct team, so that should make up for my horrible football picks this year.

Well, that's it for now. I hope Super Bowl XXXIX next year, especially the halftime show, will be as just as, uh, well thrilling, as it was this year. And to Janet, I just want to say one more thing:

WOW!!!!!!

MY SUPER BOWL PICK

This is it. The big game of the year, Super Bowl XXXVIII takes place Sunday at Houston as New England takes on Carolina.

Now, if you had told me back in September that these two teams would be playing for it all, I would've laughed at you. In fact, going over my blog back then, I didn't even pick the Patriots or the Panthers to even make the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl.

Yeah, I'm a real expert when it comes to football.

Want proof of my expertise? My two picks for the Super Bowl was Tampa Bay and Tennessee. The Bucs didn't even make the playoffs while the Titans didn't even reach the AFC tite game. My other choices for teams to win their respective divisions: Minnesota(NFC North), San Francisco(NFC West), Tampa Bay(NFC South), Buffalo(AFC East), Pittsburgh(AFC North), and Oakland(AFC West), didn't even qualify for the postseason. The only things I had right was picking Philadelphia to win the NFC East and that Denver would get a wild card berth.

So with that track record, I'd be nuts to make a Super Bowl prediction, but hey what can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

Anyhow, here's my pick for Super Bowl XXXVIII: New England 24, Carolina 21.

I strongly suggest you don't put money down on that pick though. :)

Blog at you later.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY!!!

Tonight marks a milestone for the Mark One Network. For it was five years ago that this little website was launched.

Wow, has it been five years already!

I remember working late on January 22, 1999 when I was putting this thing together. It was very plain and not much to brag about at the time. I was still new to this thing called the World Wide Web and basically wanted a site since a couple of my friends had one and thought it was a good idea. Well, it took a lot of trial and error and testing and January 22nd soon turned into the 23rd and it was right around 4 in the morning when I finally put it out into cyberspace before crawling into bed.

I had no idea what was going to come from it. Heck, I was just hoping that my friends would see it. Looking back on it now, I can say a lot has come from ths site.

In the time since, I've gotten to comment on a lot of things that's happened to me and the world. I've made it a home for my stories and poetry, several of which will be returning here in the near future. I've become involved in a few grass roots efforts, in particular bringing back "Mystery Science Theater 3000". And I've even been bold enough to (gasp) show my mug online, along with some of my close friends as well as some famous figures I've met in person.

From the old Journal to the current Blog you're reading now, from "Save MST3K" to "The Brown/Pratt Discussions" , from the Photo Album to the soon-to-be-launched Sports Page, it's been quite a ride for the M1N. But the one thing I've been the most proud of is the friendships I've made and developed over the years because of this site.

And as I always do at this milestone, I want to give a shout out and thanks to each and every one of my friends who's played some role in this website being what it is today. To Sam, Rob, Kevin, Mike, Joey, Lucas, Jason, John, Brandon, Frank, Chris, Lance and Jay: my friends I've known in person or online for years, thanks for all of your support. The same calls for those I've met in the past year: Matt, Jon, Colin, Len and Key. You know who each of you are and what you mean to me and I'm proud to know each of you. I also want to extend my appreciation to those friends who I lost touch with recently, Larry, Justin and Scott(aka Zoogz). I hope you guys are doing well, wherever you are.
Finally I want to thank all those who visited this site over the five years it's been online. According to my stats, over 3000 visitors have checked at least one page of this site since Day One. I know it's not much compared to other sites, but hey coming from a guy who was hoping that a few friends would check it out back when I launched this site, that's a huge achievement. Thank you everyone.

Well, here's to five years of the M1N. I can only hope that the next five will be even better!

Writing, Writing, Writing

Today was yet another cold day in the big city, so it gave me a chance to get back into what I like to do best: write.

Now when I say write, I don't mean my brief entries into the old blog, but actual writing of stories, guides for the Werewolf TV Series website and other things for my website.

I've been working on a few original stories, including one inspired by a drawing that a friend of mine showed me. Once I get them finished up, I'll be putting it on my site, which is long overdue for some original stuff.

I've also been on the lookout for an old floppy disc that had some other story ideas that I typed out a while back that I'd like to get back on. It's not with my other floppy disks, so it might be buried underneath my junk in my bedroom. Hopefully I'll find those and get back to those stories as well.

Well that's enough for now. Blog at you later.

I HATE WINTER!!

So as you can tell by my title, I hate winter. A lot.

I live in Michigan, where the weather gets cold and bad this time of year. Today we got hit with almost six inches of snow. It was our first major snowstorm of the year and I can honestly say: it sucks.

I hate winter. I always have. I lived here my entire life and I can't remember one time when I liked the season. Dealing with the bitter cold, the endless amount of snow and all the other factors when it comes to the weather (clearing out the car, getting sick, etc.) just makes it hard for me to love wintertime.

One day, I would like to fly away to someplace warm and sunny for the winter and don't come back until the snow melts. And I mean, melts for good. I've been here when snow hits in April for cryino out loud. It's a pipe dream, yes, but that's what I'd like to see happen.

In the meantime, I guess I have to suck it up and deal with it.

Did I mention how much I hate winter?

Happy New Year!! I'm Back!!

Hey there.

It's been a while since my last blog. Last year in fact.

I've been too busy with work and other things and too tired to even jot down the simplest thing the past few months. But I'm back now and I'm back at jotting down whatever's going on.

I wish I could tell you a lot's happened to me since my last blog. But it hasn't. I'm still at my regular job and still aspiring to work in radio or something sports related. I did get some writing in here and there, but the few projects I've done are nowhere close to being finished.

As the new year is upon us, some of us have taken to doing the usual ritual of making resolutions for 2004. I don't believe in resolutions, however. Mainly because once you make a resolution, there's a 99% chance that it'll be broken about a day or two later. As my good friend Brandon told me, if you going to make a resolution, start it right away and not wait until any particular day when odds are you're not even going to do it.

In saying that, I do have a few goals in mind that I hope will happen before the year is out. Topping the list is getting a better job. As much as I want to get into radio, sports radio in particular, the harsh bitter reality that I've been through the past few years since I graduated from college has shown me that it's much harder to get into the business. So, even though I want to be a sports broadcaster, I'm more than ready to try something else, maybe work for a sports team or write for a paper or something like that. Regardless, my first goal to have a better paying profession by the end of this year.

My next goal is to work on my body. Now, I don't want to become like some body builder or anything like that, but I would like to put on a few pounds of muscle and add some more weight to my frame. So that is what I'd like to work on this year.

And my final goal is to travel a bit more this year. Maybe visit some of my online friends who live in other parts of the country and check out the sites. Of course, a lot of that depends on whether I can achieve my first goal, so we'll see what happens there.

Well that's it for now. It feels good blogging once again. I can assure you that my next blog won't be several months away.