Fans to the End... and Beyond

A German football (soccer, to all you Americans) club is planning to set up a cemetery for fans who want to take their love for the game to the grave.

Hamburg SV chairman Christian Reichert said the cemetery would be built opposite the stadium and have room for more than 150 graves.

"It won't be full of colourful headstones and we don't want to turn the graveyard into a bazaar for fan merchandise, but it will be a place for true fans to find their final resting place," said Reichert.

He added that memorial stones to some of the club's greatest players would be erected in the cemetery - and a display of the club's emblem made from flower beds.

If the football club gets a grounds map like in this movie, they'll be set!

moreless

But who will protect SMART journalists?

First the article, my comments follow.

Journalist Groups Condemn Israeli Attack On Lebanon TV Stations

Two international journalists' organizations, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontières) and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have condemned Israel's attacks Wednesday on television stations operated in Lebanon by the al-Manar television network.

Al-Manar had been the first to report on the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the demand by Hezbollah terrorists that Israeli release Arab prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for the two captured men. Following the attacks on its stations by Israeli missiles, al-Manar called for international organizations to "protect the freedom of journalism." Geneva Conventions prohibit attacks on civilian targets.

The Israeli foreign ministry responded that the "station has for many years served as the main tool for propaganda and incitement by Hezbollah and has also helped the organization recruit people into its ranks."

But the Committee to Protect Journalists commented: "While al-Manar may serve a propaganda function for Hezbollah, it does not appear ... to be serving any discernible military function."

Okay. the Committee to Protect Journalists obviously doesn't have anyone smart enough in its ranks to either a) remember how a sentence started by the time they finished it, or b) to read and revise the comments they issue.

If al-Manar is serving a "propaganda funciton for Hezbollah, then IT IS serving a "discernible military functiont," YOU IDIOTS!

(Or maybe the Committee to Project Journalists believe that Hezbollah is a union of men who have a strange genetic defect that causes them to expel rockets from their asses at high velocity whenever they fart. Such a belief is almost as sensible as the statement "al-Manar may serve a propaganda function for Hezbollah, it does not appear ... to be serving any discernible military function.")

moreless

Another self-centered Hollywood star....

Earlier this year, Ashley Judd underwent a 47-day program at a treatment center in February to deal with issues of her past including depression and isolation. The 38-year-old endured a "chaotic" and "dysfunctional" childhood and slept to combat depression and exhibited a "compulsion to clean."

Oh, sure. Go to "rehab" and get your problems straightened out, Ashley. But did you stop to think about ME and MY needs?!

You could have stopped by my place first. My apartment is a total pig-sty, and I think everyone could have benefitted from someone with a "compulsion to clean" dropping in. I would have even let you sleep your depression off on my couch.

But now what will I do?!

moreless

Samy Naceri gets it backwards as far as 'debasing Islam' goes

I was looking for information on a supposedly respect-worthy French actor by the name of Sami Naceri. This was among what I found:

On October 22, 2005, on Thierry Ardisson's very popular program "Tout le Monde en Parle" (France 2 TV), Salman Rushdie was attacked by prominent French actor Sami Naceri.

Naceri, a self-professed Islamist, accused Rushdie of debasing Islam. He added that if an imam were to ask him to kill Rushdie, he would put a bullet in his head. He then pointed an imaginary gun at Rushdie's head. Rushdie took off his microphone and left, saying that this was the last time that he would appear on a French program. None of this was aired; Ardisson edited out the disturbing scene.

Last year, Naceri, shining example of a follower of the Relgion of Peace that he is, was imprisoned for cutting up a man's face with a glass ashtray because of a few minutes delay in a meeting (according to Wikipedia).

If there's someone who doesn't deserve a career, it's this jackass. I don't care how good his films supposedly are. I won't be looking for them, and I won't be posting about them here.

moreless

Aaron Spelling dead at 83

LOS ANGELES - Aaron Spelling, a onetime movie bit player who created a massive number of hit series and highly acclaimed television movies, from the vintage “Charlie’s Angels” and “Dynasty” to “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place,” died Friday, June 23, his publicist, Kevin Sasaki, said. He was 83.

Spelling died at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke on June 18.

moreless

'Nacho Libre' is comedic take on epic plot

Nacho Libre (2006)
Starring: Jack Black, Hector Jimenez, and Ana de la Reguera
Director: Jared Hess
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Nacho (Black) is a friar and cook at an impoverished Mexican monestary and orphanage... with secret dreams of being a professional wrestler. A chance encounter with an impoverished street thief (Jimenez) gives him the inspiraction to start a double-life and earn money to purchase better food for the children: The bum will become "The Skeleton" and Nacho will be a mysterious masked wreslter--together they will be a tag-team that will rise to the very top of the wrestling world!


This was not a movie that looked interesting to me until I saw Jack Black offering to kick Steven Seagal's ass with his fabulous wrestling moves. I still went in not knowing much more about the film than it featured Jack Black as a wanna-be professional Mexican wrestler.

I'm really surprised at the way critics are mostly panning this movie. Not only is "Nacho Libre" a hilarious comedy, but it's got a script that even the most snobbish intellectual (even well-read psuedo-intellectuals!) should be able to enjoy. Pay attention while watching, and you'll see that the storyline pretty much follows to exactly "The Hero's Journey" as outlined by Joseph Campbell. How can a well-read person NOT love a movie that takes a clownish figure through the entirety of archetypal hero's tale (even giving Black's character his own Enkidu?) in the context of bush-league Mexican wrestling and a run-down orphanage.

Jack Black once again appears as his standard loveable loser character, but most of his shtick is limited to his appearances in the wrestling ring, and a disastrous attempt to show off his fighting prowess to the lovely Sister Encarnacion (de la Reguera) without revealing his secret. Because it's in small doses, it becomes some of the most hilarious parts of the film.

Black is supported by an able cast, a well-paced script, and a story that's too subtly clever for the majority of American film critics. These elements all add up to a film that will end up standing as one of the best comedies of 2006.

I highly recommend this movie, especially if you're walking around with a B.A... and I recommend it even more highly if have any interest in seeing how "the hero's journey" is being used in yet another great bit of storytelling.

Oh, and I recommend it even if you're just looking for a damn funny comedy. It's been a while since a film had me laughing so hard my eyes were tearing.

moreless

Val Guest dead at 94

Science-fiction moviemaker Val Guest has lost his battle with prostate cancer in a Palm Desert, California hospital. He was 94.

moreless