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Sunday, September 30 |
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 Unbelievable.
The New York Mets, my favorite baseball team since
childhood, were up 7 games in the National League East on
Sept. 17. Today, as the season ended, they were 1 game
behind the Philadelphia Phillies. That means no playoffs for
the Mets. This is a team that had led their division since
May 16, and is now eliminated from post-season play.
You know, a month ago,
I thought that I'd be excited about the Mets and the
Cardinals (University of Louisville football team). But the
Mets turn in an epic choke job, and the Cards are at an ugly
3-2 -- including a loss to the 107 ranked Syracuse
Orangemen.
 Instead,
the team I thought would be out of it this year, the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, have won 3 in a row with an improved defense
and finally a bit of offensive firepower. They are in first
place in the NFC South with a 3-1 record, and while the
season is very young, at least they're still in the hunt.
It's more than I can say for the Mets.
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Saturday, September 15 |
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As promised last month,
here are a few before and after pictures of the house.
Tricia gets the credit for the color scheme and the design
and pretty much anything worth noting. I might be biased,
but I think she did a wonderful job making this house a
place of our own. Click on each picture to enlarge and
enjoy!
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Friday, September 14 |
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 Drop
Shot •
Harlan Coben
BOOK
Release date: 02.05.96 / Reissued 08.27.07
310 pages
Now that Harlan Coben
has had a nice amount of success as a writer, Delacorte
Press has begun reissuing his paperback books (which they
still own the rights to) in hardcover editions to capitalize
on his appeal. Which is fine with me since I haven't read
many of Coben's earlier works, and I tend to only buy
hardbacks.
Many of Coben's early
novels centered around Myron Bolitar, a former athlete
turned sports agent with a strong hint of crime-solver on
the side. The cast of characters -- especially his friend
Win -- is memorable, and while the story isn't breaking any
new ground, it is a good showcase of Coben's talent, albeit
in a raw fashion.
Of course, Coben is
clearly a much better writer now than he was 11 years ago,
but that's to be expected with anyone who continues to
practice their craft and hone their skill. This book isn't
anywhere close to his best, but it does show the potential
for his success and remains an entertaining read.
C+
REVIEW ARCHIVE
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Thursday, September 13 |
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I had no reviews in August, so I'm trying to make up
for it with a double music review today! Enjoy...
 Amped •
116 Clique
MUSIC
Release date: 08.28.07
22 mins. / 6 tracks
The 116 Clique is a group of rappers
(including Lecrae, Tedashii, Trip Lee, and a few others)
that base their art around Romans 1:16, a verse that says we
are not to be ashamed of the gospel. Their work backs
up that claim, with bold statements that affirm the truth
about Jesus Christ and the authority of God's Word.
This disc, a six-track EP, features a slight
departure from their usual style to showcase a fusion of rap
and rock. The hip-hop is far more dominant, but there are
enough guitars to please rock fans as well.
Although the scarcity of tracks is a bit
hard to understand, the ones that made the cut do not fail
to impress. Even the remixes fit well, and on the heels of
the excellent 13 Letters CD, this is another huge
step in the right direction for the 116 Clique.
B+
 Live
Monsters •
Jars of Clay
MUSIC
Release date: 09.04.07
33 mins. / 7 tracks
Originally this latest Jars' EP was only
available at concerts, but is now on the shelves for the
masses. It features seven tracks as heard on their Good
Monsters tour. It's live and raw, so you won't hear any
of the slick production that you might be used to from their
studio albums.
On the one hand, it certainly allows you to
appreciate what talented musicians these guys are. They have
clearly honed their skill and grown as artists since their
self-titled debut. On the other hand, even the best bands
can have a few hiccups during a live show, and Haseltine's
voice -- while still very serviceable -- sounds like it's
put on a few miles.
That said, Jars of Clay remains one of the
most gifted and hard-working bands in music today. Even a
disc that fails to live up to their own standard, like this
one, is still better than most of the rest.
C-
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Tuesday, September 11 |
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Where were you?
I was shopping.
I worked
part-time (in the Communications department at UPS), so I
didn't have to be into work particularly early. The latest
CD from the band P.O.D. was set to release that morning, so I stopped by
a bookstore to pick up a copy.
I was paying for it when the
cashier said:
"Have you
heard what happened in New York?"
She went on to tell me
that someone had flown a plane into the World Trade Center.
She wasn't sure, but thought it might have been a small commuter plane
accident. By that time, the CD was paid
for, so I wished her a good day and drove to work.
When I walked in the
front door of Building 45 at the corner of Fern Valley Road
and the old Crittenden drive, I saw nearly the entire office
staff huddled around a grainy television. They were crying.
The first thing I saw was smoke rising from one of the Twin
Towers. The kind of damage that couldn't have been done by a
small plane.
And we would soon find
out that it was no accident.
Watching the footage of
the first plane strike the first tower was bad enough.
Seeing the second one happen was surreal. Even now, six
years later, I can remember the intense, simultaneous
feelings of confusion, shock, violation, and helplessness.
Six years.
I don't work for UPS
anymore. Neither do a lot of the people that were in that
conference room around the TV. Even the place we used to
work, Building 45, was later demolished as part of an
expansion project.
There's a lot about the
last six years I can't remember. The generations before ours
might not remember much about the last sixty years, but they
have no trouble recalling where they were when the bombs
fell on Pearl Harbor, or when Kennedy was assassinated.
In the same way, I'll
always remember where I was on September 11, 2001. I bet you
will, too. It's one of those moments that linger, frozen in
time. The memories of that day will continue to echo through
our lives.
Where were you?
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Monday, September 10 |
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 Illuminated •
Matt Bronleewe
BOOK
Release date: 08.07.07
314 pages
"A mystery 500
years in the making..." It's a pretty good concept, seeing as it's
worked well for the DaVinci Code, National
Treasure, and others. While this genre of "historical
fiction" usually sells well, most of it (this book included)
falls into the same trap:
the history ends up being much
more interesting than the fiction.
Steeped in the days of
Gutenberg (famed creator of the printing press) is a
conspiracy that reaches its way to the present day, and --
of course -- stretches throughout law enforcement, the
government, and every other profession/setting you might
find in this story. If this
is starting to sound familiar, then you can probably guess
what happens from there.
Bronleewe is
taking his first crack at the writing game, and he has some
skill when it comes to pacing. Sadly, the dialogue smacks of
plot-forwarding convenience and the lead character's powers
of intuition (after mere hours with the pieces of the
puzzle) make you wonder how something so seemingly obvious
could have remained a mystery for so many
centuries.
Overall it's a
decent first effort from an aspiring writer, but it doesn't
have the punch to deliver the action scenes or the crispness
to keep the story from bordering on absurdity. Even with
that, however, Bronleewe seems to have a sense of what makes
a good story, and I'd like to see him cultivate it in novels
to come. D+
REVIEW ARCHIVE
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Saturday, September 8 |
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 The Bourne Ultimatum
MOVIE
Release date: 08.03.07
111 mins. / PG-13
Who is Jason Bourne? That question drives the
title character, as well as the plot of this film, the third
(and final?) in the Bourne series. The tone is very
similar to the previous two outings, limiting Bourne to his
own instincts and skills instead of gadgetry or networks of
support teams.
While it does help to have a working
knowledge of the previous two films, it's not entirely
necessary, thanks to some key recap/flashback sequences. The
conclusion is satisfying enough to end the series, but the
door is open enough to return to this story again. With such
a high
quality film -- and box office receipts to match -- I expect they
might.
This movie works on just about every level
imaginable. The pacing is quick, the score melds perfectly
with the film (even going silent for one particularly
intense fight scene), and all the principal actors turn in
stellar performances. But frankly, it's what we've come to
expect from this group and these movies.
After all, the success of
the first two are (in my opinion) most directly responsible
for the reboot of the Bond franchise with last year's
stellar Casino Royale. If the people behind
Bourne want to keep making movies as good as this, they
might be able to give 007 a run for his money.
A-
REVIEW ARCHIVE
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SCALE |
A = Outstanding
B = Solid
C = Average
D = Lacking
F = Disappointing
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Hi. My name is
Mark
and this is my website.
I am very happily married to
my beautiful wife and long-time friend Tricia.
I was born way back in 1976, which
is where the name of this site comes from.
This
website is created and maintained with the use of:
all
original content is (c) 2003-2007
se7enty6ix
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