Broncos Pick Josh McDaniel?
Hmmm...I thought Denver's main problem was it's porous defense? I guess time will tell if owner Pat Bowlen's hiring of the precocious McDaniel is a stroke of genius or not, but from my point of view I really hope the ownership group was blown away by McDaniel's presentation and confidence. Because if you WEREN'T blown away and you know that a serviceable defense is all that is keeping your team from the playoff, bringing in four defensive minded interviews (three of which happened to be African-American by the way) and then going with the youngest and most inexperienced coach of the bunch could really blow up in the team's face. I guess we'll see.
By the way, and I say this next part with love as a Broncos fan, I don't know that the Denver Broncos will ever hire an African-American coach and give him close to as much control as either Mike Shanahan or Dan Reeves had. Patrick Bowlen has certainly shown that he is not a racist or an NFL traditionalist, but there's just something about that franchise (and a lot of franchises in the NFL) that isn't yet ready to turn the reins over to a person of color, for whatever reason.
Good luck Broncos...the Mountain time zone puts it's faith in you.
How 'Bout Them Golden Globes (and I'm Not Talking About Salma Hayek)
Here's what I think about the Golden Globes every year - meh. They just don't do a lot for me, especially since I know exactly how random and ridiculous the whole Hollywood Foreign Press Association is (rent the DVD documentary THE GOLDEN GLOBES: HOLLYWOOD'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET if you want to see just what I mean).
That being said, I am of course fully aware that this time of the year is Hollywood's annual onanistic fest of self-celebration, sartorial flourish and overblown self-importance and that many of the awards shows have a logic to their selections that it at best tortured and at worst as non-existent as the plot to an Adam Sandler movie. But year after year the orgy of bombast persists because a) it's good for the movie business in terms of drumming up business and generating publicity and b) these are actors, directors, writers and producers after all and their egos need more stroking than you and I.
But I digress: the big winners are Kate Winslet (one of the prettiest and classiest actresses in the world who may finally, after four previous nominations, earn her first Oscar this year), SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (which will have a prominent place on my upcoming "Best of '08" post) and Mickey Rourke, who seems to have quite literally arisen from the dead like Lazarus. Or John Travolta a few years back. I have no problem with any of these selections in principle, although I have yet to see either of Winslet's performances or THE WRESTLER, which is Rourke's comeback vehicle. Undoubtedly, all of them will do well at the Academy Awards which will be held on February 22nd.
24
I've watched the first four hours of the new season of 24, the first new episodes since 2007. Critics have hailed this season as a return to form while a few naysayers have proclaimed that the second half of "Day 6" permanently jumped the show over you know what. The truth is that you can't tell a whole lot about any season of 24 from the first few episodes (that is both one of the show's strengths as well as one of it's more maddening characteristics), but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I like some of the new cast additions--Jeneane Garofalo is the requisite techie in over her head, the new female FBI agent who has some steel in her spine, Broadway-vet Cherry Jones as our Nation's New President Allison Turner--and the potential is there for plenty of headspinning action and mindblowing plot twists (a couple were introduced in the first four hours). On the downside, is anyone else tired of the whole "there is a traitor/mole in CTU/the FBI/the White House" gambit or is it just me? Also, while the writers have finally addressed head on their use of torture as a plot tool that hasn't dissuaded them from using it to move things a lot and provide the requisite adrenaline jolt. Having your cake and eating it too is not a principle to live by.
Still, I've seen enough to follow the show through at least the first 12 hours or so and Kiefer Sutherland remains as solid as usual--I've started to believe no one else could play Jack Bauer and if they ever kill him off the producers should just kill the show with him. Later on in the season I'll revisit 24 to see if it is still worth it's lofty position on the DVR.
Stay warm out there and don't worry too much about where you're going. Just remember to enjoy the ride as much as you can.
Peace.
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