More Plot Holes Than Meets The Eye

So thanks to HBO, I've seen Michael Bay's Transformers movie at least a dozen times. If there's nothing else on and Transformers is, I end up watching it. Don't know, its just one of those movies. I think Megan Fox has something to do with it. Anyway, I never really paid attention to the "plot" of the movie before because its Transformers and Michael Bay, so I figured it didn't matter. And it doesn't, but when I finally didn't pay attention, I found that the plot makes absolutely no sense. Sure, the movie's 18 months old, but I just now realized how ludicrous the story is.

According to the Autobots, Megatron's plan is to use the Allspark to transform Earth's technology into weapons to rebuild his army and destroy the world. But according to the guys at Sector 7, Megatron crash landed in the Artic Circle about 2,000 years ago while looking for the Allspark and has be in some form of frozen state since then. Also, all of Earth's technology was apparently reverse-engineered from Megatron himself. So if he's been frozen all these years, how could he possibly have a plan to usurp Earth's technologies when there wasn't even any technology for him to usurp before he got here? And how the hell does Megatron know anything about humans anyway? He's been out of commission since he crash landed, so what the fuck? There are plot holes and then there are plot holes; this is the latter. I mean, even Snakes On A Plane made an attempt to explain its ridiculous potential holes; Transformers didn't even try.

Clearly this is my fault for paying too much attention to the movie; I get that. But after enough viewings, some things are just inevitable. That said, I'm sure the sequel will be just as inane, and I'm sure I'll see it its opening weekend.

That's It, Done With The Snow

I like snow, I really do. I like living in an area where it snows (at least a little bit) every year. Its an important part of the season. It should be cold in the winter with snow and ice; it should be nice and mild in the spring with plenty of rain; the summer should be hot, humid, hazy, and muggy; and the leaves should turn color when its cool and crisp in the fall. Yes, it can all be a pain in the ass, but the changing of the seasons is important.

That being said, I'm done with the fucking snow for this year. Snow is good on the other side of the holiday season, as you're building up toward Christmas and New Years (and possibly even Thanksgiving). On this side, at the end of January? Not so much. Sure, it's supposed to be cold, I can live with that. But 4 inches of snow with more on the way? Please, pitchers and catchers report in a few weeks; I don't need anymore snow.

Now, some random Super Bowl thoughts on this frakkin' snow day:

-Big Arizona Cardinals fan right now. I've never even really like Kurt Warner, but I'm all for him now. Yes, it would be depressing to see the Cardinals win a Super Bowl before the Bengals, but it would be more depressing to see the Steelers win their sixth, and when given the choice, I always root against Pittsburgh.

-I don't think there's anyone in sports I hate more than Hines Ward. I've given this a lot of thought, and I can't think of anyone else. And its not just because he plays for the Steelers; I'm pretty sure I'd hate him if played for the Tampa Bay Storm of the AFL. One tool I use as a barometer in deciding things like this is I try to judge how I'd feel if I found out Player X had suddenly died. Would I feel sad, happy, or neutral? With Ward, I'm pretty sure I'd feel ecstatic. Completely overjoyed. Potentially moved to tears. Does that make me a bad person? Oh well. Fuck him.

-I love Super Bowl Prop bets. If you can think of it, you can bet on it. And I'm not talking about the little things like "which team will score first" or "how long will the first field goal attempt be"; that stuff's junk. I'm talking about manly man bets like "over/under number of food items mentioned by John Madden during the broadcast" and "color of Gatorade dumped on winning coach". Picking those winners takes real skill.

-The Mike Tomlin-Omar Epps thing never gets old. Never. Ever.

-Have to admit, I'm stoked for Bruce Springsteen's halftime performance. I'm a huge Springsteen fan, and I think he's a great choice for this gig. And speaking of The Boss, he's got a new album out today. Working On A Dream, that's just phenomenal (random aside- how the hell did The Wrestler not get nominated for an Academy Award? Insanity.). No, I didn't brave out into the snow today just to buy it; it leaked online about two weeks ago. And that brings me to this question- Springsteen's halftime setlist. I think the recent standard has been 4 songs, so with that in mind, and taking into account the release of the new album, my picks for the setlist (in order) are: Born To Run, Working On A Dream (off the new disc), My Lucky Day (another new track), The Rising. Given the shortness of the playlist, I think its possible he could opt out of playing the relatively mellow Working On A Dream and replace it with something like Radio Nowhere or even something older, like Glory Days. Either way, I think he stays away Born In The USA.

Last football game of the season; that's sad. But the end of football should mean the end of snow, so no more. Baseball's just around the corner, and hope springs eternal. Go Reds. Fuck the Steelers.

Weekly TV Thoughts: 01/18 - 01/24

I watched a lot of TV this week, which makes it absolutely no different than any other week.

-We Are One, Sunday: Interesting mix of speakers and performers. Weird set up, too, switching back and forth between celebrity speaker reciting lines from past presidents and musical performances. Some speakers made sense (Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Martin Luther King III); others not so much (Jack Black, Steve Carrell, Tiger Woods). Loved Jamie Foxx dropping some humor into the proceedings with his spot-on Obama impersonation. Enjoyed most of the music as well, though not the opening piece. I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, and I love The Rising, but that version was terrible. Acoustic version of The Rising, good. Gospel chior singing backup on The Rising, good. Acoustic version plus gospel chior, fail. At least Springsteen got a chance at redemption with the This Land Is Your Land perforamce with Pete Seeger. That was the highlight of the show.

-Steelers vs. Ravens, Sunday: I've read this elsewhere (Bill Simmons, Dan Patrick), and I'm glad I wasn't the only one that caught this: what the hell was the Heinz Field PA guy thinking when he let Creedence Clearwater Revival play over the stadium while Willis McGhee and Ryan Clark were laid out on the field? Monster helmet-to-helmet hit, medical staff on the field, players gathered around, stretcher rolled out.... sounds like a time for CCR! You stay classy, PA guy.

-24, Monday: Might be wrong about Agent Moss being the mole in the FBI. Now, I'm going with the blond chick that Hillinger (Rhys Coiro) apparently hooked up with. She's got the perfect setup to be a traitor- a seemingly incidental background character with ties to someone important that starts off with only a few throw away lines but is eventually exposed to be working for the bad guys. Its a twist I've seen waaaay too many times. Hopefully they're more creative than that. I don't care at all for the president's dead son storyline. I know it ties into the whole Sangala story, but they need to advance that story and get Jon Voight into the fold. I also don't know if I like evil Secret Services guys. I mean, they're the ones that have to jump infront of bullets; I don't know if I like villifying them. Another random thought- why was the silent clock used at the end of the episode? I thought that was only used when someone either dies or appears to have died (ie- it creates tension); what tension was there at the end of this episode? Jack didn't actually shoot Agent Walker, and Jack and Tony aren't going to bury her alive, so what gives?

-Inaguration Ceremonies, Tuesday: I'll just say, there was something fitting and seriously funny about Dick Cheney leaving office in a wheelchair. "MEIN FUHRER!! I CAN WALK!!" Dr. Strangelove indeed.

-Lost, Wednesday: Thank God this show is back. I wasn't sure what a "flash-present" was; know I know. So which moving through time, the people or the island? I think the people are the ones moving, Quantum Leap-style, but I'm not entirely certain it makes a difference. And what's up with Desmond? Why is he special, why can his past be changed? Was it because he was exposed to the island's energy when he turned the fail safe key? If so, what exactly does it mean? We've already seen Faraday interact with Desmond in the past to create a new "memory" for Desmond in the future. I wonder how often they can exploit that. So Desmond is now on a quest to find Faraday's mother at Oxford; could she potentially be Ms. Whitaker, a.k.a. the lady he meet in the jewelry store and the same lady Ben talked to in the church? I don't think so, but its a popular theory. And speaking of Faraday, what was he doing as a worker helping to build the Orchid station? I think its part of the time traveling being experienced by the survivors; at some point, they travel to the time of the Dharma Initiative, and Faraday, being knowledgable of the island's workings, infiltrates the work force to get a closer look. Why? No idea, but I'm sure it has something to do with stopping all the time travel. And a quick note about Hot Pockets. This was the second show this week where I saw a character pull a Hot Pocket of a microwave (the other being on TNT's Leverage). There, it was dropped because, hey, it was hot, and on Lost, Hurely turned and chucked it at Ben (to which he apparently said, "What a waste of a Hot Pocket", but the line got cut). My point is, in neither case was the Hot Pocket cooked in the crisping sleeve or on a plate; what's up with that? Does anyone else cook a Hot Pocket that way?

-Battlestar Galactica, Friday: So Gaeta and Zarek are going to start a revolution. Story-wise, its the next logical step. Without any outside conflict, you have to create it from within. Nothing does that like a little mutiny. I think it'll last until the Cavil-led Cylons return and force the fleet to reunite under Adama to survive. I like the ret-conning out of baby Nicky. When they made Tryol a Cylon, it instantly raised questions about his hybrid son. We already have an important hybrid child in Hera, so if she's special, why isn't Nicky? Well, that's because Tryol isn't actually the boy's father; that would be Hotdog. That does two things- not only does it eliminate any hybrid questions, it also frees Tryol up to be more involved in the story. Now he can do things without the spector of "gee, what about Nicky?" hanging over his head. Finally, I wonder how Baltar is going to figure into all of this. With discovery Earth and essentially debunking the prophecy, will more and more of the fleet turn away from the old religion and embrace Baltar's monotheistic message? If so, how would effect the fleet's mission of finding a new home? Don't know. I guess there are bigger issues to deal with right now, like mutiny.

Passing Of An Icon

First, it looked like it was in danger of closing.

Then, it got a last second reprive.

Now, it appears that Western Bowl will indeed be closing.

Damnit. Western Bowl is an iconic landmark on the West Side. I'm not even a Westsider and I think this sucks.

Weekly TV Thoughts: 01/11 - 01/17

I watch a lot of television. From scripted series and various live events, I willing to bet I watch more TV then you (the 5-6 readers of this blog) do. Some of these shows don't merit further discussion; others, I think, benefit from it. Those shows will be discussed here. And yes, spoilers will abound, so reader beware. This post will most likely go up Saturday or Sunday night, so you've got some time to hit the DVR and protect yourself from anything I might reveal here. So let's get started:

-Golden Globe Awards, Sunday: Yes, I watch award shows. I don't really know why, but I do. I don't even watch them all the way through; I just watch to see who wins, then I switch away during the acceptance speech, then switch back to see the winner of the next category (I'm pretty sure there was a college basketball game on ESPN I was going back to). But on occasion, if the right person wins, I will watch the acceptance speech. Such a person is Tina Fey, who told her Internet haters to suck it during her speech. Another was Mickey Rourke's speech after winner for The Wrestler. And speaking of The Wrestler, that's a movie I feel I need to go see. Along with Slumdog Millionaire. People I know who've seen these movies just rave about them, but since I don't get out to the theater too often, I'll probably have to wait until I can rent them. You can probably add Gran Torino to that list as well.

-24, Monday: I didn't watch the premiere of 24 on Sunday because I had gotten the 24 train in the middle of last season (which, due to the writer's strike, was in 2007). I followed 24 when it first aired, jumped off the wagon in the middle when it started to get ridiculous, gave it another go in Season 6, only to give up halfway through. So I didn't watch 24: Redemption when it aired last fall and I didn't have any interest in the new season, especially since they were bringing Tony Almeida back from the dead. But I read of a lot of favorable reviews of the first 2 hours of the season, so I decided to check them out (thank you, Hulu). And I have to say, I was mighty impressed. Resurrecting Tony wasn't as ridiculous as it could have been, and you could actually see some character development in Jack Bauer. I like the new characters they've introduced, in particular Janeane Garofalo and Rhys Coiro (aka Entourage's Billy Walsh), both playing against type. As for what's going on in the story, I think the biggest twists to be revealed (as is always the case on 24) will be who's a mole. So far, we know there's one in the FBI and another in the President's inner circle. Of who we've seen thus far, the leading candidate for to be a mole is the President's Chief of Staff (of course, that could be because its the same actor that played the Warden in The Shawshank Redemption). As for the FBI, my money's on the head agent, Agent Moss. Agent Walker (the cute red head) trusts him too much, which means he's ripe for betrayal. But we'll see. I also look forward to seeing more of Jon Voight's character (as one of the bad guys) and seeing how they re-introduce Kim Bauer (because she's back for some episodes, if you didn't know).

-College Basketball, UVA vs. UNC, Thursday: Virginia got blown out, which isn't all the surprising given how young and inexperienced the 'Hoos are. Our top players are either freshmen, redshirt freshmen, or sophomores, so I don't expect much out of this year, but definitely more out of the years to come (which is pretty much the same thing I've been saying even since I started at UVA). I think our main problem is that we have no low post presence. I mean, I like Mike Scott, but he make his living on offensive boards; he's not a threat posting up on the block, and neither is anyone else we've got playing the 4 or the 5. We're guard heavy, I get that, but when they go cold (aka every time I watch them), we've not no other reliable scoring options. I hope we've got a decent center lined up for next year.

-Battlestar Galactica, Friday: Holy shit, this was crazy. Who had Ellen Tigh as the final Cylon? Anyone? What about Starbuck finding her own corpse in the wreakage of her own Viper? No? And how about Earth being a (former) Cylon settlement? I think that trifecta paid out at 7,295 to 1. Needless to say, I don't think any BSG fans saw this coming. I mean, the answers just created more questions. So Ellen Tigh is the final Cylon; how? She's dead, so what does that mean? Clearly the Final Five Cylons have the ability to resurrect, but not in the same way as the other 7 models; how does their resurrection work? Why did these 5 "survive" the nuclear attack on Earth and no one else did? Why did they resurrect? Then again, maybe they aren't the only ones to have resurrected from Earth. If so, where are those models? And I have no idea what to think about Starbuck. She crashed her Viper on Earth, only to come back to the fleet in a brand new Viper that was able to detect a beacon no one else could, which directed them to Earth, where they found the beacon and discovered it was from Starbuck's original crashed Viper. Oh, and she found her own dead body in the cockpit of her blown up ship. Yeah, I got nothing for that. I love that Battlestar came back with so many answers; I just wish those answers didn't ask even more questions.

Next week- the return on Lost!

Great Sports Moments, Real and Fake

From Bill Simmons's column in the most recent issue of ESPN The Magazine:

Q: If you could have the best seats in the house for any sporting event of the past century, which would you choose?
-Max A., Cleveland
SG: The only answer can be "USA 4, USSR 3." A tougher question: Which sports-movie event would you choose? I'd pick the game in which Michael J. Fox first turns into Teen Wolf. Name me a more stunning sports-movie moment. Fans in the stands are frozen for, like, 45 seconds. You're not topping the experience of being in a sparsely attended high school hoops game in which one of the players turns into a monster, then dunks on everybody. I'm sorry.

I have to say, I think these are two really good questions. Its tough (hell, nearly impossible) to pick any event other than the Miracle on Ice in 1980; I'd be my choice as well. But I think there are some other worthy games that at least merit consideration:

-Duke v. Kentucky, 1992 East Regional Final: I'm pretty sure this would be my #2 choice. It was a phenomenal game (I remember watching it live) on top of Laettner's game-winning shot. One of the greatest college basketball games in history would definitely be worth seeing live.

-Boston College v. Miami, 1984: From one of the greatest college basketball games ever to one of the greatest college football games ever. This might be have jumped the '92 East Regional Final if it weren't for the weather at this game. And like the '92 East Regional Final, this game was so much more than just one play. In the rain, Kosar and Flutie put on a show, and it was clear early on that the last team with the ball would win the game. Knowing the outcome, knowing how it all plays out, I think it'd be worth braving the weather to see this one.

-Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay, 2008 Olympics: Too soon? I don't think so. This was the #1 moment from the 2008 Olympics and absolutely the one thing I would have wanted to see live. From Michael Phelps's quest for 8 golds to the smack talk from the choking dog French team, this race had it all.

That just about covers actual sporting events for me. So what about the second question, the fictional sports events? Again, its tough to argue against Teen Wolf; I mean, how many times would you be able to see a player literally turn into a monster on the court? It wasn't necessarily a great game, but it would surely be memorable. Others I'd throw in there:

-18th Hole, Tin Cup: There's something about watching a train wreak. Jean Van de Velde ain't got shit on Roy McAvoy. Van de Velde's collapse was just pathetic. McAvoy descended to that same level, but, because its the movies, he was able to rise back to the realm of the heroic. Would have been incredible to watch.

-Championship game, Hoosiers: I know, I know, the 1954 Milan team doesn't make the "real" sports list, but the dramatized Hoosiers version does. What can I say, I think the movie does it better. In the actual game, there's about 4 minutes of stall ball at the end that wouldn't have been fun to watch. But back to the movie- how are there not 3 guys covering Jimmy Chitwood on that last possession? He hadn't missed a shot all game (in fact, I think he only missed one shot in the entire movie- during the scene where Gene Hackman tries to convince him to join the team). You have to deny him the ball and force someone else to take that shot. Clearly, the two guys that stood behind Christian Laettner on the pass from Grant Hill never saw or didn't learn anything from Hoosiers.

-Slap Shot: When do you ever see a fight before the game starts? Never. And seeing the Hanson Brothers play has to be worth the price of admission anyway.

(Honorable mention goes to the final game in The Natural. I thought about being in the stand for this game, and I came to realize that as cool as it would be to see the sparks rain down on the field after Hobbs's game-winning home run, the moment is considerably lessened by the absence of the slow-motion effects and the background music. So without those post-production effects, the moment, while still great, wouldn't be as good live).

So those are my picks. Did I miss any worthwhile games, real or fictional?

Rethinking A Bad Movie

So The Wizard was on one of the HBO channels tonight. If you don't know (or don't remember, or have tried to forget), The Wizard was a 90-minute Nintendo commercial that masqueraded as a feature-length movie. I remember seeing it when it was first released back in 1989. In fact, its quite possible I saw it in the theaters (I'll look to BrotherofGiantAsianMan to confirm or deny that statement). I seem to recall having enjoyed the movie the first time I saw it, but I hadn't seen it in a while, and my opinion of the movie had dropped considerable. I used to think it was just a bad movie. And not bad in a "so bad its good" way, just... bad. But upon further review, I think I'm coming around on The Wizard. The level of unintentional comedy in this movie is just off the charts. And I'm not just talking about this scene (a.k.a. one of the greatest scenes in movie history):



In addition to this scene, there are a myriad of things that I love about this movie:

-I had forgotten that Christian Slater played the older brother, meaning that in between his career defining roles in Heathers and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he managed to squeeze in this gem.

-The horribly awkward sexual chemistry/puppy love story between 13 year olds Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis. Its just wrong. Seriously, they're 13.

-Speaking of Jenny Lewis, its possible you know her better as the lead singer of Rilo Kiley.

-Speaking of music, in an early scene, New Kids on the Block is playing in the background. I believe it was "You Got It (The Right Stuff)".

-Did you know that Tobey Maguire had a small, walk-on role in The Wizard? I didn't.

Yeah, that's Spiderman on the far left.

-The fact that the third finalist is a horribly stereotyped girl gamer with Coke-bottle glasses that could have easily been mistaken for a dude if it weren't for the pigtails. And even with the pigtails, its still a tough call.

-And finally, I love how everyone seems to know everything about Super Mario Bros. 3 when the finals was supposed to be the first time anyone had ever seen the game. The raccoon suit makes you fly? Sure, that one's obvious. Jimmy knows where the first Warp Whistle is hidden (which, aside from the unintentional comedy, is the only real thing gained from the movie)? Okay, maybe you can chalk that one up to him being a gaming prodigy, but how do the people in the crowd (ie- Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis) know that a)warping is that the whistle does and b)that there's even a hidden warp zone in Level One? I realize that Nintendo's trying to sell the game (like Mario 3 needed the help) by showing off parts of it, but couldn't they have had them react to the whistle ("Oh, the whistle takes you to the Warp World!") instead of having them already know what it does? Would've made more sense that way, but I'm guessing that "sense" wasn't a big priority on this flick.

So what does it all mean? It means that I've taken The Wizard off my "Worst Movies Ever" list (with the likes of Super Mario Bros., oddly enough, and The Core) and dropped it into the "Horribly Awesome" category (up there with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure). Too bad there isn't a deluxe special edition DVD for The Wizard; I think I'd buy that in a heartbeat. I still may have to own it anyway.

As Seen On TV!

If you can use a doorknob, you can read this post. Well, maybe not.

I admit, I have a weird fascination with "as seen on TV" products. I've never actually bought anything directly from TV (something Puddin' can't say- how'd The Perfect Pancake work out?), but I have purchased some products that I've found in other places (in a store or online). All the commercials make sensational claims, and I'm curious to know if they can do any or all of what they say they can do. Now, its easy to dismiss those claims outright (especially when they're being pitched by Billy Mays), but I figure that they all have to work on some level, and I just want to know that is.

So far, I've purchased 3 such "as seen on TV" products. One because I needed it, one because I thought it might work, and one out of sheer curiousity. How well do they work? Let's find out:

What: The Handy Switch
Purchased: Amazon.com
Does it work as advertised: Yes

I bought this one because I needed it. There aren't any convenient light switches in my basement, so a simple wireless switch seemed like a good idea. And it works perfectly. If I had had the need, I would have bought more, but I only needed the one. I'd recommend this for anyone looking to avoid any actual work in installing a light switch, like me.

What: ShamWow
Purchased: Target
Does it work as advertised: Yeah, for the most part

This one was just pure curiosity. How well does it actually work? How absorbent is it really? Well, I just had to find out. The best way for me to describe them is that they aren't really towels; at least, they don't really function like towels. They don't wipe well. In fact, they suck at wiping. Okay, that's not entirely true. When the ShamWow is dry, it'll soak up anything in any manner. But when its wet (or damp), it doesn't wipe up anything. It'll still soak up liquid when wet, but it won't dry anything when wet. Wring it out all you want, it'll leave a small film on whatever surface you're trying to dry. But that's not to say its not useful; as a sponge, its great. I also tried out some of the things they showed in the commerical, just to see if they're true. Drying wet clothes rolled up in a ShamWow? Doesn't work at all. Soaking up liquid from carpet? Seemed to work alright. Its not as effortless as they show, but it was effect enough. I don't know how well it would remove a stainable liquid like cola or wine, and unless Puddin' steps up and volunteers his carpet, I'm not going to find out. Also, when they're completely saturated, they do drip. Overall, they're just really good sponges.

What: Mighty Putty
Purchased: Bed, Bath & Beyond (I was buying my mom a Christmas present)
Does it work as advertised: I think so

First off, if you're keeping score, that's Billy Mays 2, that Vince guy 1. Now, I didn't try and pull a tractor trailer with a chainlink made of Mighty Putty, so I can't vouch for that. But I did use it to hold up some towel racks in my bathrooms, and that worked fine. Would it be able to hold something heavier than a bath towel? Sure. Would it be able to hold 350 pounds like they say in the commercial? I doubt it. I mean, I'm a big guy, and while I'm shy of 350 (thankfully), I don't think it could hold my weight. At least, I wouldn't trust it to. But for small things, its good. I also tired it on a leaking pipe, which seems to have worked. I think. The drip hasn't stopped, but it has slowed. It could be because the putty didn't seal the leak properly, but I think its more a factor of me not knowing exactly where the leak is. I'm going to add some more putty later to get complete coverage around the pipe and see if that does any better. And if not, I've got a ShamWow in place to catch all the drip.

There are probably some more TV products out there that I'll buy at a time later than now. ANd if so, I'll review those as well. But there are two products that I definitely won't be getting: the Snuggie and the Slanket. And I guess in reality, they're really one product. Either way, I hate it. If I ever saw someone "wearing" one of these, I would be forced to punch that person. "Can't use a blanket?" Are you serious? You've got to draw a line somewhere, and I draw it at a blanket with sleeves.

2009: Bold Predictions!

First off, happy belated new years. We're a mere five days into 2009, and I'm still wondering where 2004 went. Anyway, 'tis the season for bold, outlandish predictions that have a 38% chance of being true 72% of the time. Though, since I'm so good a predicting things on the blog, its probably a safe bet to take my predictions and go the other way. Never the less, onward to GiantAsianMan's Stone-Cold Locks for 2009*:

(*you know, unless they don't come true)

Sports

-The Reds will finish just over .500, somewhere around 82-80.
-Chad Johnson has played his last game in a Bengals uniform.
-The Big East will get 10 teams into the NCAA Tournament (and none of them will make the Final Four).
-The Yankees will miss the playoffs again. So will the Mets.
-Tiger Woods comes back from knee surgery and wins (at least) 2 majors.
-Brett Favre will be back AGAIN next season, but not with the Jets.
-If Tim Tebow comes back for his senior season, he'll win a second Heisman.
-The NBA finals will look a lot like they did last year, with the Celtics beating the Lakers.

TV & Film

-The top 3 grossing films of the year, in no particular order, will be Watchmen, Star Trek, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
-Heath Ledger does not win an Oscar for The Dark Knight (he does get nominated, though).
-The island went back in time (okay, that was an easy one).
-The final cylon? Tom Zarek.
-Or Dr. Cottle.
-Reaper won't get a third season when it deserves one.
-Private Practice will get a third season when it doesn't.
-Dollhouse will be a great show, but it won't get a chance to shine due to its Friday night time slot.
-Regardless of how good Nathan Fillion's new show Castle is, it won't last 4 episodes, just because.

Okay, I guess that's all I've got for now. Here's to 2009!