There should be only one

In his "notebook" on the Chicago Tribune website, Eric Zorn mentioned that he and his son had read the sequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". He thought that it was horrible and requested other stories of bad sequels. Today, he used part of an email that I sent him about a bad sequel. My full email:

I'm reminded of the sequel "rules" that were discussed, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, in Scream 3. Mostly, and unfortunately, my mind went to The Highlander sequel(s). The gist of the first Highlander story was that "there can be only one", and the story follows "the one". My main problem with the second of the Highlander movies is that it seemed to reinvent the wheel, while also attempting to extend the story line. A completely new back-story is created, none of which was mentioned in the first. Oh, they're not just immortal, they're aliens living amongst us. It was all very silly, and I finally felt silly for watching it. To make matters worse, they went on to make another sequel with more characters, and then a television series based on another new character. What happened to "there can be only one"? Definitely, there should have been only one.

My sister is a huge Sci-Fi fan, and told me that considering the second movie outside the story line of the first film, the second works just fine. My response was something like: "why would you EVER consider a sequel outside the structure of the original story?" Since Hollywood loves franchises, and Sci-Fi particularly so, I'm sure this story would be altered today to allow for all the sorts of expansions that followed.

You can see Zorn's notebook here.

There's Something about Brett

Seven straight. Brett Favre and the Packers have beaten the Bears seven straight times. It's very frustrating. They only meet two times a year, which means the Bears haven't beaten the Packers in THREE years!! I'm starting to feel old when I remember the late 80s and early 90s. Back then, the Bears were in the midst of winning 12 of 14 meetings between the two teams. "Before the dark times...before the Empire." Let's face it Brett Favre is like Darth Vader: "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil". What other explanation is there? How can a quarterback with a broken throwing thumb still start games? How can he have started every freakin' game for, what, 10 years?!?

Help us Lovie Smith, you're our only hope.

Go Bears!!

Cheap Speakers

A friend, Rory Johnson, sent me a link about a Japanese Company that has created an invention that turns flowers into speakers. Imagine hooking up some Hip Hop to a couple of sunflowers. Obviously, a very useful device.

America's Mission Statement

Lately, I've been thinking about the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, and I'm beginning to think that it's America's mission statement (as cheesy as that may be). What I mean is that the Preamble succinctly states the overriding purpose of the Constitution, and reflects a bit of the founders' hope for the future of the country:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Preamble may not serve much of a purpose outside of the opening flourish, but it easily provides a simple guide for everyday questions of America's policies.

What do YOU think?

The following, from the So-Called "Austin Mayor" pretty much sums up my thoughts about listening to uninformed opinions:

...I don't listen to talk radio. This is why, although I hate Tavis Smiley's show, I don't miss "Talk of the Nation." I just don't care what "Joe six-pack" thinks.

Every day I commute with hundreds of examples of "the man on the street." If I cared what they thought, I would ask them. I don't ask because I don't care.

Regardless of the subject, I want to hear from people who either, 1) know more about the subject than I do, 2) have thought more about the subject than I have, or 3) are just smarter than I am. I guess I just don't see much value in non-expert opinions.

We seem to encourage every blowhard to speak their mind, when little substance exists behind their opinions. I even have a hard time listening to morning FM radio shows because of this. Can you play some more music? Thanks.

Already missing Booker

Ho hum, as the NFL season is set to begin, the Bears chances of making the playoffs is on my mind. The defense should be fine, especially when you consider that Lovie Smith's Rams defense last year ranked just two spots behind the Bears D at the end of the season. Hmmm. Unfortunately, you STILL can't be sure about the offense. With a young, unproven QB, a bunch of young receivers, and a running back who was a wash with two other teams, I'm really concerned about the loss of Marty Booker. I'm more interested this year, though. The White Sox have been maddening since the last week of July, when I may have witnessed the turning point as they lost to the Twins. They haven't been mathematically eliminated yet, which is like a passenger on the Titanic feeling good to have a life vest.

Well, we'll see.

London Bridge is fine

Despite the consistent attempts by the fourth grade propaganda machine to convince me that London Bridge was deteriorating, I never believed it. Now, I have proof. I may even post a picture. My wife and I split 10 days between London and Paris during August, and a wonderful time was had by...well, both of us. We did lots of touristy stuff, and, unfortunately spent a few hundred dollars on souvenirs. It's probably a good sign, though. We have lots of family and friends to spend on.

Now, don't go thinking that we have lots of money to spend. We returned with gifts, yes, but also the credit card bills that went with them. In fact, the trip was a prize my wife won by being an avid listener to Chicago's Country Music radio station, US99. I have become somewhat enamored of country music as a result.