The Weekend Grab-Bag: The Backlot Version

Welcome to my backlot, ladies and gentlemen. And for the first time, you will be able to view it up close; like never before. Is this idea being used because I went to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD on Friday for their Halloween Horror Nights and I got to venture onto their backlot, which was something no guest had done ever, and I saw a neato comparison/parallel between my fave theme park and my own self???

Maybe. . .

So I've got a lot to get through, and not a whole lot of time. . . (and because I'm so envious of Cy and his ideas, here we go. . in an as always non-chronological fashion!)

[0040]

- If you don't really like sports, skip down until you get to the picture. . .

- I bought tickets for me and George (he needs to pay me back - ha ha) to go to the first NBA game of the season at Staples Center on October 31! The game is between my Phoenix Suns (natch) - o, by the by, "natch" is an abbreviated form of the word "naturally"; it does not rhyme with "watch", it rhymes with "catch" - and George's Los Angeles Lakers (boo that!). We are sitting in Section 301 (dead center court) Row 2 (actually just one row back from where we sat for Game 3 of their playoff series last year). We are both stoked and cannot wait!!!!! (The Suns are gonna win by the way!!!)

- Speaking of basketball, George talked me into joining a FREE (emphasis on the price) fantasy league. I have always heard of the wonders of fantasty leagues, but have never actually joined one. But today I had my first live draft, and I am a fantasy sports virgin no more! My team, you ask? Well, alright then:

THE RISING SUNS

(Guards)
- Chauncey Billups (Pistons)
- Jason Terry (Mavs)
- Leandro Barbosa (Suns)
- Ben Gordon (Bulls)
- Raja Bell (Suns)
- Sarunas Jasikevicius (Pacers)
- Bobby Jackson (Hornets)
- Marcus Banks (Suns)
- Steve Blake (Bucks)
- Rajon Rondo (Celtics)
- Francisco Garcia (Kings)

(Forwards/Centers)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Mavs)
- Boris Diaw (Suns)
- Tayshaun Prince (Pistons)
- Bruce Bowen (Spurs)
- Kurt Thomas (Suns)
- Channing Frye (Knicks)
- Wally Szczerbiak (Celtics)
- James Jones (Suns)
- Rodney Carney (76ers)

So I think I have a good team, but I'm not sure. We'll see. I think I picked too many SUNS (I couldn't help myself) so I'm trying to trade Marcus Banks to another guy in my league for Luke Walton. . . We'll see how that goes. I'm excited to see how this goes. I go head-to-head against George in weeks 2 and 14 I think, so expect bloodshed! And also expect occasional fantasy updates (but only if I'm doing well. . .)

- And continuing on the Sports trend, I have a quick note about the MLB Playoffs. Um, I was wrong! I picked the Twins to win the World Series, so of course they exited in the first round thanks to a sweep by the Oakland A's who immediately got swept by my bandwagon team, the Detroit Tigers (I'm rooting for them to win!). The Tigers are gonna win. That is for sure. I actually thought this thought before posting those previous predictions: "If the Tigers somehow beat the Yanks in the first round, they're going all the way." But I didn't post it, so you won't believe me. O well. . . Go Tigers!

- And on one final Sports note, I went 8-4 today in my pool with an assured victory tomorrow night (my Super Bowl Bears are gonna kill Matt Leinart and the Cardinals) putting me at 9-4 for the week. Meh. I can do better. However, six of the eight morning games were decided by 3 points or less. It was that close. Dangit!!!
















- Friday night was one of the most fun nights I've had. That's a picture of me and Heather (supposedly scared. . . I'm not that good of an actor) at the entrance into UNIVERSAL STUDIOS' Halloween Horror Nights. The picutred man behind us is Pavel Pranevsky, a fictional film director that is "running the event". It was really a lot of fun. Let me just say that Knott's Scary Farm (or Halloween Haunt) is better. HOWEVER, the first (and only, in my opinion) attraction we hit up was the "Terror Tram". The fun was that this was the first time that guests were going to be allowed off of the famous tram ride to tour the backlot. And because of fortunate circumstances, Cy, Heather, Chelsea, Joe, Melissa (the latter two are friends of Chels' who are really cool) and myself were on the first tram to depart! We were first!!! Essentially, they set it all up with a video giving us backstory (always a plus in my book) and then let us off at the Whoville Set from Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Instead of cute Whos, though, there were clowns running amok. Scary clows (which is very redundant!). Then it was on to the Bates Motel from the original Psycho where there was a "sorority party that had gone bad". Then we walked up the hill to the Psycho house (yes, the house!!!) and ran into the director, actually (crazy dude running around with a knife - always scary). We then finished the tour by walking through the new War of the Worlds plane crash set. The addition here were countless zombies limping around looking for food. . . us!!! I was so in awe of where I was ("Tom Cruise was here";" Hitchcock was there") that I wasn't scared at all - it was just cool. We did some more things, but I'll let you read Cy's account of it all here (and if you keep scrolling down you can see a bunch of, albeit blurry, pictures from the night!).

- I had a meeting on Thursday with Mr. Thomas about the basketball season and whatnot. It was really exciting! Essentially, I am going to be an Assistant Coach for the Girls Varsity team and a helper for the Boys Varsity team. I basically get to play with the Boys team at practice, and have all sorts of responsibility with the Girls. T (from now on, Coach Thomas will be referred to as T) said that the Girls Guards will basically be mine. No pressure!!! I'm excited, nervous, scared, and giddy about the season beginning on November 11 (tryouts).

- INSIGHTFUL INSIGHTS:
(This has been awhile - -) Um, so a few quick things. . .

1) Very sad story with Corey Lidle, the former Yankees pitcher, flying that plane into the apartment building in New York last week. Very sad. I can't help but wonder if it was intentional. . I would hope not, but you just never know.

2) Roger Ebert is getting better. See, he's kinda back. . . I'm glad that he is healthy. He will probably go down in history as the greatest film critic of all-time, and he appears to be a genuine man that just loves film. I love his work even more because I appeared on his website and I even received an e-mail from him once (no lie!!). Can't wait for you to be full strength Roger!

3) Youtube is amazible! (Yeah, I just created that word. . .) Cy has been putting up some random videos from our Senior year and other things tonight and I've been laughing at some old things. It's fun. We're gonna try to film the film (so to speak) of our performance in THE TOKNIGHT SHOW from senior year to get some of that on the internet. That'd be cool

4) I think teachers who think that their subject is the be-all and end-all of existence need to have a reality check. Sir, Psychology is not the most important thing in the world. Don't pretend like it is. It's just not right.

5) Thoughts on church today: Today was the first time I've been to church since August. I haven't missed it (terrible thing to say, but it's true). I feel so awkward and uncomfortable sitting there - what an indication of what I think of myself!!! I'm perfectly respectful to everyone who wants to listen, but it's difficult for me to get all rowdy about everything that goes on. I certainly believe everything I always have (and have been taught forever), it's just that I'm going through a spiritual dry spell right now. It's just the truth. I'm not gonna be fake and pretend like everything is hunky-dory like I believe so many people to be doing. Hey, sir, I've seen you at Johnny Carino's bitching about your meal being a little late or your plate having something on the underside of it. Don't say "God bless you" to me unless I sneeze. Ya got it? I just don't like fakers. I am who I am, and you don't get anything else. I have a couple good friends, many acquaintances, and more enemies than anything else. I'm cynical. (Quick note about this type of person: Pastor David said the following verbatim: "I'm not being cynical here. I'm being realistic." - I believe that cynicism and realism go hand-in-hand. Cynics have little faith in the people of this world to do the right thing (see: babies left in dumpsters, pedophiling congressmen, massive genocide across the globe) and realists see all that happening and believe that it won't stop because man is so arrogant. See? Very similar.) I'm loving (just ask my family - or Heather). I'm gracious (I could be working at UMEC and making some bank, but instead I'm gonna coach some girls about basketball). I'm a jerk (just ask Cy - he'll tell you). I don't know - - I just feel like I'm just a little too "bleh" for God's taste. I know I'm not (I know the verses, thanks) but it's how I feel right now. Give me time. I'll get over it. . .

- Wow, that was a long thought; it'll probably get me in trouble too. . .

- I finished the fourth season of Scrubs. Good stuff. I love that show!!!

- Thanks to all of you who have given me kudos on my articles from the first issue of THE EXAMINER. Second issue is supposed to hit the campus early in November. I'm working on something like four articles right now, so we'll see how that looks in a couple of weeks.

- O, yeah. I came to this conclusion on Friday night: Cy is my best guy friend (Heather's number one - come now!). Whether or not he feels the same way about me, I don't care. I realized that it's not about what you express to each other or what you know about each other (dark secrets and whatnot) but it's how you feel when you are around them. I had such a blast driving down to UNIVERSAL in Cy's Saturn Vue listening to late 90's pop ballads. We laughed like idiots and reminisced about HS and the like. It was great times all around. I love you bro!

Well if you read all that, then you are a star. Have a sticker. . .

[0140]

I'm spent for the night. That was one hour straight of typing. I'm tired. Goodnight now - - -

- - - "Do you know what (people) are mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard fillings. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naive bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine."
- - - Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) on SCRUBS

Justin