Doctor Millionaire

I really slacked off this week, so here are the quick picks. Year to date results will be forthcoming.

Colts (-5.5) vs. Saints

Andrew: Saints
Eric: Sleep
Travis: Colts
Dan: Colts
Adam: Saints
Doug: Colts
Meredith: Colts

There you have it.

It's almost time for one of the greatest days of the year: Championship Sunday.

New York Jets at Indianapolis (-7 1/2)

Andrew: Colts
Eric: Colts
Travis: Colts
Dan:Colts
Adam: J! E! T! S!
Meredith: Colts
Doug: Colts

Andrew: Vikings
Eric: Vikings
Travis: Saints
Dan: Saints
Adam: Vikings
Meredith: Saints
Doug: Vikings

We all know that the Jets are at least going to cover now, right?
Travis

Let's get right to it before the games start:

Dallas at Minnesota (-2 1/2)

Andrew: Vikings
Eric: Vikings
Travis: Vikings
Dan: Cowboys
Adam: Vikings
Doug: Vikings
Meredith: Vikings

(Well...we all know how that turned out last week.)

JETS at San Diego (-7 1/2)

Andrew: Jets
Eric: Jets
Travis: Chargers
Dan: Jets
Adam: Jets
Doug: Chargers
Meredith: Jets

Have fun!
Travis

Here are our picks, so far.

Arizona at New Orleans -7 1/2

Andrew: Cardinals
Eric: Saints
Travis: Cardinals
Dan: Saints
Adam: Saints
Meredith: Saints
Doug: Cardinals

Baltimore at Indianapolis -6 1/2

Andrew: Ravens
Eric: Ravens
Travis: Colts
Dan: Colts
Adam: Ravens
Meredith: Colts
Doug: Colts

A much better range of picks this week, gentlemen. We all know Meredith's going to win anyway, right?
Travis

Well, we all sure suck at picks. Except Meredith, who takes a commanding 2-0 lead. Stupid Bengals. Anyway!

Baltimore at New England (-4)
Andrew: Patriots
Eric: Ravens
Travis: Ravens
Dan: Ravens
Adam: Ravens
Meredith: Patriots

Green Bay at Arizona (-2 1/2)
Andrew: Cardinals
Eric: Packers
Travis: Cardinals
Dan: Packers
Adam: Packers
Meredith: Cardinals

My head says "Green Bay" but my heart says "Kurt Warner will turn into 1999 Warner today."
Travis

Woooo! Playoffs!

Down to business.

The regular season breakdown follows:

Andrew - 138
Eric - 136
Travis - 134
Dan - 131
Adam - 114
Meredith - 106
Doug - 102

And I earlier mentioned that the playoff counted, but Andrew reminded me that they didn't count until last year, when we had a tie at the top. I had forgotten that we had changed it. I do like the playoffs counting, but it's up to you guys. Doesn't matter too much, today, at least.

Jets at Bengals (-2 1/2)

Andrew: Bengals
Eric: Bengals
Travis: Bengals
Dan: Bengals
Adam: Bengals
Meredith: JETS

Eagles at Cowboys (-4)

Andrew: Eagles
Eric: Eagles
Travis: Eagles
Dan: Eagles
Adam: Eagles
Meredith: Cowboys

Come on, guys. Let's try for a little originality for tomorrow.
Travis

...this is my worst nightmare:

Man in Coma Hears Everything for 23 Years

This is what I'm afraid death is like...except instead of 23 years, it's forever. I'm pretty sure I would go irrevocably insane in about three hours, but would keep enough consciousness to be painfully tortured for the rest of eternity.

So, yeah, a pretty big nightmare.
Travis

All my life, I've been a huge fan of fall.  Even though the season fills me with a strange dread where I am keenly aware of the passage of time, I enjoy it.  I love when the weather takes a turn and a chill enters the air.  But mostly I love the Halloween Movie Marathon. 

This year will actually be the TENTH Annual Halloween Movie Marathon.  Yes, it is a storied tradition that goes all the way back to 1999 at Hong Hall in PLU.  Matt Agee came up with the brilliant idea and I've been doing my best to continue the tradition ever since. 

My memories of the first marathon are sketchy, at best.  Probably because we made the mistake of starting at 6PM...after a full day of classes.  As I remember it, we started with The Frighteners, which I don't think I'd seen before.  Naturally, I loved it immediately.  That's really where my Peter Jackson fanboy started.  Well, that and Dead Alive.  We cracked a lot of jokes at Candyman's expense, but not nearly as many as the legendary Serpent and the Rainbow.  If you ever wanted to see Bill Pullman's testicles nailed to a chair, then, brother, have I got the movie for you.  Army of Darkness was a must, but it happened to be right around the time I started to nod off.  I missed huge chunks of Dawn of the Dead at dawn, but recovered for Re-Animator.  At this point, it's about 11AM the next day and my buddy  Brad and I decide to start watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  After roughly 40 minutes of nothing happening, we gave up and switched over to Sleepaway Camp 2, which was the perfect movie at the perfect time.  After that, we decide to give up at around the 21 and a half hour mark.  I head over to my dorm room for a good night's sleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I hear a knock at the door and the question I'll remember forever.

"Want to go see Fight Club?"

It was an offer I could not refuse.  We piled into a car and headed over to the nearest theater for a 4:00 screening.  By the time it was over, I had three primary thoughts: 1) that was a great movie, 2) I made it all 24 hours and 3) I have the biggest headache in the world.  

This blog post sure took a wrong turn.  I was originally just going to post the lists I'd compiled of all the films I've watched over these last few years.  But there have been a lot of fantastic memories over the years.  OK...a few more, but I really need to get to bed.  I have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow to physically prepare myself for this year's marathon. 

In 2000, I missed the first two movies because I had a date.  It was totally worth it AND I made it back in time for House 2.  This was a really fun year.  Here's the list:

Missed: The Frighteners and Killer Klowns from Outer Space

House 2
Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors (theme song by Dokken!)
It (the ENTIRE miniseries...really took a bite out of the marathon.)
Parents (fun, fun movie that gets very strange at the end.)
Dawn of the Dead (at dawn...missed the same part two years in a row)
Dana Carvey on SNL (after Donny and Suzanne woke up to find me still mostly awake)
Troll 2 (the one, the only.)
Silent Night, Deadly Night (by myself, back in my dorm room...yeah, I know.)

2001: The DVD Store opens, but everybody abandons me to head to Portland for the night.  I end up watching a bunch of stuff, but the highlights were easily Night of the Lepus and the Wicker Man.  

2002: Everbody's back at the DVD store.  Possibly the greatest marathon:  

An episode of The Real Ghostbusters
Braindead

Halloween 3

Jason X

Student Bodies

Zombie

The heart stabbing scene from Suspira

Ravenous (a hidden treasure)

Near Dark

Pirahna

The Faculty

Simpsons – Treehouse of Terror

Idle Hands

The Howling

Final Destination highlights (Just the DEATHS)

Sleepaway Camp highlights

The Monster Squad

Jack Frost

2003: the 12 hour special.  We all had real jobs, I was visiting from Bellingham, and I was dating Meredith.  

Halloween

Dawn of the Dead

Student Bodies

Scanners

Martin highlights (lots of fast-forwarding through some boring, boring scenes.)

Versus highlights

Crispin Glover “Ben” music video (w/ commentary!)

Fearless Vampire Killers (Oh, Roman Polanski.)  

2004: The first weekend long extravaganza where school requirements (and a lack of a real living room) kept me from doing the whole 24 hours in sequential order.  Still found time for some gems.  

 

Halloween audio commentary

Maximum Overdrive

The Lost Boys

Finished Sleepaway Camp II commentary

Fiend Without a Face

House

House 2 audio commentary

Sleepaway Camp IV footage

Day of the Dead documentary

Friday the 13^th

American Werewolf in London interview

Donnie Darko

The Hunger

Tenebre

Braindead

2005: the three day special at the Nerd Apartment.  
 

Saturday, October 29, 2005

The Real Ghostbusters: Marvin the Mantis

From Dusk Till Dawn

Dawn of the Dead short documentaries

Dawn of the Dead remake

House audio commentary

X-Files episode: Space

Halloween documentary

A Nightmare on Elm St.

Sunday, October 30

A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy’s Revenge

A Nightmare on Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors

The rest of the Halloween documentaries

Bubba Ho-Tep

Braindead

Monday, October31st

Evil Dead

Evil Dead II

The Monster Squad

2006: Mostly Eric and I at the Nerd House.  Highlights included a brief appearance by a girl Eric met on myspace and for Phantoms being easily five times better than we expected.  
 

The Real Ghostbusters: Drool the Dog Faced Goblin

Ernest Scared Stupid

Dead Will Rise documentary

God Told Me To

Battlestar Galactica: Kobol’s Last Gleaming Part II

Trick or Treat

Roseanne: Boo

The Frighteners

Ghostbusters

Manos: the Hands of Fate MST3K

Roseanne

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

Phantoms

Lost: The Other 48 Days

Dawn…abbreviated

X-Files: Blood

Roseanne: 

2007, sadly, was the lost year.  I had just moved, Meredith wasn't here for Halloween, and I just wasn't feeling it.  But, thankfully, we came roaring back last year.  It was another three day special, like the previous years, but the wonders of the DVR really heightened the experience.  

Friday, October 31st

MST3K: Laserblast

Urban Legends 

Saturday, November 1

Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

The Office Halloween

Häxan

The X-Files: Soft Light

It’s Alive

Screamers (So good!)

The Soup

Cat People

Army of Darkness

Roseanne: Boo and Trick or Treat

The Shining

Sunday, November 2

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Terror V: The Shinning (I had to)

Freaks

Maniac Cop

Fringe: The Arrival

I Walked With a Zombie (LAST NIGHT!)

MST3K: Horror of Party Beach

This year, I'm doing my best to bring it all the way back.  I'm starting at 6AM, Halloween morning, I've invited all my friends to join in, and I'm going to do my damndest to get through all 24 hours in one sitting.  I have a two-liter of Cherry Pepsi, salami and crackers, and some Safeway ribs for lunch.  

I love this holiday.

Yeah...ballsy, I know.  This is what happens when Doug, Andrew and I get together after Monday Night Football.

T-bone: 

NFC Title Game: Saints over Vikings
AFC Title Game: Colts over Ravens

Super Bowl: Colts over Saints

Andrew:

NFC: Vikings over...Giants?  I've forgotten
AFC: Patriots over Colts

Super Bowl: Patriots over Vikings

Doug: 

NFC: Giants over Saints (I think)
AFC: Patriots over (somebody...?)

Super Bowl: Patriots over Giants

Wow...I can't remember at all now.  Hey, guys, e-mail me or put it in the comments!

I made some predictions last year, but I have no idea where they went.  So, I'm just going to have to start my predictions over from scratch.  

Super Bowl: XLIV - Eagles 24, Chargers 21.  

AFC Playoff Picture:
West: Chargers
South: Colts
North: Steelers 
East: Patriots
Wild Cards: Texans, Bengals

NFC Playoff Picture
West: Cardinals
South: Saints
North: Bears
East: Eagles
Wild Cards: Redskins, Cardinals

Record Predictions for our favorite teams:
Seahawks: 7-9
Raiders: 7-9
Rams: 4-12
Patriots: 14-2

Random Record Predictions:
Steelers: 13-3
Cardinals: 9-7
Lions: 3-13
Eagles: 10-6

As an extra bonus, here are the predictions that were posted on this very blog last January.

First, Mr. Gomez

For next year:
Super Bowl: Titans over Falcons

AFC West: Chiefs (great googily-moogily!)
AFC South: Titans
AFC North: Steelers
AFC East: Jets (as long as Favre retires, if not, then Dolphins)
AFC Wildcards: Dolphins, Ravens

NFC West: Cardinals
NFC South: Falcons
NFC North: Packers
NFC East: Eagles
NFC Wildcards: Giants, Bears

Favorite Teams:
Seahawks: 7-9
Raiders: 5-11
Rams: 3-13
Pats: 9-7

Random Teams:
Steelers: 12-4
Cardinals: 10-6
Lions: 3-13
Eagles: 12-4

Here's what Papa Roemer had to say:


AFC Playoff Picture:
West: RAIDERS!
South: Titans
North: Ravens
East: Miami
Wild Cards: Colts, Bills

NFC Playoff Picture
West: Cardinals
South: Panthers
North: Vikings
East: Giants
Wild Cards: Seahawks, Bears

Record Predictions for our favorite teams:
Seahawks: 11-5
Raiders: 13-3
Rams: 6-10
Patriots: 7-9

Random Record Predictions:
Steelers: 8-8
Cardinals: 12-4
Lions: 2-14
Eagles: 11-5 

And, finally, the grand champion, Andrew

AFC Playoff Picture:
West: chargers
South: texans
North: steelers
East: patriots
Wild Cards: indy, denver

NFC Playoff Picture
West: niners
South: falcons
North: vikings
East: dallas
Wild Cards: giants, cardinals

Record Predictions for our favorite teams:
Seahawks: 8-8
Raiders:8-8
Rams: 6-10
Patriots: 13-3

Random Record Predictions:
Steelers: 13-3
Cardinals: 10-6
Lions:-5-11
eagles: 10-6

There you have it.  Anybody else want to make a prediction?

Hey, everybody!  Here's my fantasty football team!

QB - Drew Brees
RB - Chris Johnson
RB - Kevin Smith
WR - Dwayne Bowe
WR - Antonio Bryant
WR - Donnie Avery
TE - Owen Daniels
K - John Carney
D - Miami

On the bench: 
RB - Ryan Grant
RB - Felix Jones
QB - Joe Flacco
WR - Deion Branch
WR - Michael Jenkins
RB - Justin "Huggy Bear's Baby" Fargas

After all, what else is a blog for?

Listen to the Human Torch, folks.  It's football season.  Which, as always, means one thing.  The Pick'em league is up and running.  Just let me know if you want to join.  

Also...I'm thinking about starting a fantasy football league.  Anybody interested?  In the world?

Image courtesy of Fantastic Four 323.  Yes, they are fighting living parking meters.  

 This is America, to me, summed up in one picture:


Yes, that is a hot dog topped by a piece of cake.  Taken at last year's Fourth of July celebration.  If only there were fireworks in the background.  

We are about two weeks away from the Seattle International Film Festival, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the year.  The schedule went up on Thursday and I've been scouring the website for the must-see films.  Here is what I've found so far.  

The Admiral - Miraculously, SIFF is actually coming to West Seattle this year, with a week's worth of films playing at the Admiral Theater, which is practically walking distance from my house.  I am not familiar with most the films that they have chosen to show at the Admiral, but this film appears to be a worthy choice for two reasons: 1) who doesn't love Russian historical epics and 2) it looks like the programmers chose it because it shares a name with the theater.  I will gladly support that sort of arbitrary scheduling.  

Small Crime - Now, here's a movie that I probably wouldn't give a second glance if it wasn't playing six blocks from my job.  However, the recap does sound pretty adorable and I think I might be able to talk Meredith into coming to this one with me.  

Every Little Step - Yeah, that's right, the Chorus Line documentary.  It's about casting the broadway revival of a show about casting a broadway show.  Meredith and I are so excited.  Sure, we could probably wait until it comes back to Seattle, but we never have time to see movies during the school year.  SIFF gives us an excuse to see movies that we will be too lazy to check out if and when they come back to town.  

Sunset Boulevard - Every year, I end up going to two or three of the archival presentations at SIFF and I always end up feeling a little bit bad about it.  After all, the primary focus of SIFF is seeing new and original works, not movies that I've already seen on DVD.  But then those programmers go and decide to include Sunset Boulevard and I'm lost.  I'll probably end up seeing either Adventures of Robin Hood and/or The Third Man as well.  I can't resist.  

Once Upon a Time in the West - Case in point.  

The Square - I have already admitted that I am not an expert in contemporary world cinema and I don't pretend to have any insight into this movie in particular.  The SIFF website just makes it so easy to find the particular genres you want.  Australian neo-noir?  Sold.  

The Red Race - I always end up getting the most excited about the documentary section of the festival.  Lots of the entries sort of fall into stereotypical film festival categories (coming of age, family drama, "world cinema," etc), but the documentaries all seem to be unique.  Like my favorite discovery King of Kong.  Anyway, this one's about the twelve year old girls in the Chinese gymnastics program.  It sounds pretty great.  
talhotblond - While this sounds like it could just be a long episode of Dateline, the premise is intriguing and the scheduling is even better.  This is the perfect follow-up to Once Upon a Time in the West.  I've seen a bunch of movies purely for scheduling purposes.  Some have been good, others...not so much.  

Art & Copy - This one's about the advertising game and I've watched enough Mad Men to be into it.  

Pop Star on Ice - OK, I probably won't get around to seeing this, but it's a documentary about Johnny Weir, the bad boy of figure skating.  This is the reason I love SIFF.  

Now, this is just a preliminary overview.  When the Stranger's SIFF guide comes out, with their actual reviews of the films coming to town, I will get out the schedule and make an actual viewing plan.  And I will probably post that, too.  

Meredith is busy finishing up some Spring Break grading leftovers and I'm listening to Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs of All Time.  I figure this is as good a time as any to take a closer look at what I spent my money on at the Emerald City Comicon.  My favorite part of Comicon: I discovered that there's a comic book store opening on the same block as my job.  Goodbye paycheck!

A quick word of warning: I am a giant nerd.  As proof, I've organized this list into a few separate categories.  

Dollar Comics:

Teen Titans #32: I took a break from serious comic collecting while I was at PLU, with just a few trade paperback purchases to tide me over.  I got back into things while going to grad school at Western.  I either made the mistake or had the good fortune to pick up Identity Crisis #1, which led into Infinite Crisis, which all got me hooked on DC in a major way.  This issue is an Infinite Crisis crossover that I've been looking for since about 2006.  In brief, Superboy beats up the Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol for 25 pages.  

Villains United 3-6: A lead-in to the aforementioned Infinite Crisis.  I realized, after buying the first two issues of this mini-series, that following all of the storylines I'd started was getting a little expensive.  Four years later, I'm finishing it off for less than half the price.  

Legends 1, 5, 6: I picked up issues 2, 3, and 4 of DC's big follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths back in '05, figuring that I'd pick up the remaining issues on the cheap down the road.  And it only took me four years to finish it off.  I have no idea what happens in this mini-series, but 1) Darkseid is involved, so it's probably the 80s version of Final Crisis and 2) it can't possibly be worse than Marvel's follow up to a massively successful mini-series, Secret Wars II.  

Suicide Squad 2-8: In case you don't know, here's the premise of this series: a number of DC's super villains are recruited by a secret government agency to perform secret missions.  I had heard good things about it on the internets and picked up the first issue at last year's West Seattle Street Fair from a guy selling...you guessed it...dollar comics.  What I did not know is that the first issue is a cliffhanger, which required me to fill in the holes in my run.  And since DC has delayed the Showcase version of the series, this is my best shot to jump on board.  

Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1: I've never heard of this comic before, but it combines two of my favorite teams of all time, it was only a dollar and the cover is mindblowing.  

Justice League International: 2, 3, 10, 19-30, Annual 1-2: Same deal as the Suicide Squad - a critically acclaimed series from DC in the 80s where I picked up a bunch of random issues from a random dude selling dollar comics.  My original plan was to fill in a couple of gaps in my collection, just up to issue #22.  But the cover to #23 had the Injustice League and I was sunk.  At least in this case, I've read through the issues I have already and they are absolutely wonderful.  They just recently came out with hardcover editions of these very issues, but this route is actually cheaper.  

Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes 1-3: I've been on a massive Legion of Super-Heroes kick lately and I've heard of this '81 mini-series on various Legion blogs.  It's essentially the origin of every single member of the Legion wrapped around a thin story and reading it has made me love the Legion even more than I already do.  

Legion of Super-Heroes #38 and The Legion 25-30: Blame this article.  I thought, for just a second, about getting the whole run of the former, but I figured I'd start with the issue where they blow up the earth and move backwards.  

Legionnaires Annual #1: I actually was looking for #2, but this one is an Elseworlds.  I couldn't resist a comic that combines alternate history with the Legion.  

Fantastic Four Roast and Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe: After reading the story behind these comics, I really couldn't resist when I stumbled across them in the dollar stacks.  They are unrepentantly silly.  I respect that.

The Tick: The Pseudo Edition #13: Ben Edlund only ever wrote 12 issues of The Tick and that twelfth issue ends with quite a few loose ends.  Thankfully, his company realized that there was money to be made and got some other dudes to make a fantasy issue #13 for the hardcore nerds.  I am now one of those nerds.   

50 Cent Comics:

Justice League of America #135: Yep, it's just a random issue from 1976.  I really only picked it up because it was part one of the 14th annual Crisis crossover between the Earth-One, Earth-Two and, in this case, Earth-S.  I love the idea of multiple universes so much that I will always pick up any comic I see with that storyline...especially if they're only fifty cents.  When I opened up the issue, I discovered that Ernie Chan drew the cover...and he was at Comicon, too!  Too bad I'm too intimidated to approach anybody I don't actually already know or I could have had him sign it.  

The Flash #223: I went through a Flash phase for a while there in 2005 as well.  When I moved to Seattle, there wasn't any nearby comic book store and I was broke.  Now, I'm slightly less broke and there's a comic book store five minutes from my house.  Gaps will be filled, my friends, starting here.  Also, I love the Reverse-Flash, whose powers and evilness are really self-explanatory.  

Full Price Comics: 

Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil #3: Picked up #1 after reading a review online and fell in love.  Pure comics wonderment on every page. It's designed for kids, but I think anyone who loves Marvel comics will love this.  Issue #1 had the Sinister Six tricking Iron Man into fighting a bear with a mop.  I shouldn't need to say anymore.

The Muppet Show #1: Once I heard that this existed, I knew that I was buying it for Meredith.  I picked it up straight from the source, the Boom! Studios booth, where I also picked up....

Irredeemable#1 and The Incredibles #1: I read reviews of these two at my favorite comics blog, and, since I was already at the booth, I decided to give them a shot.  I mean, they are both written by Mark Waid, who has done some fantastic work.  

Trade Paperbacks: 

Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold: Batman Team-Ups: I love the Showcase series.  500 pages of comics for about 12 bucks.  Sure, they keep it cheap by printing the comics in black and white, but it's a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.  True, I was skeptical at first, but the Justice League Showcase showed me the error of my ways.  I'm not super into this one, but it was half price and I could not leave Comicon without 500 pages of comics for only six dollars.  

Y: The Last Man Vol. 3 and 4: Meredith deserved a present for allowing me to spend all day at a comic book convention while she stayed at home and graded papers.  I think she might love Brian K. Vaughn more than she loves me.  Which is fair, because I've never created anything as awesome as Lost or this series.  

Free Stuff: 

The X-Files #2: I didn't even know they were making X-Files comic books anymore, especially ones written by actual X-Files writers like Frank Spotnitz.  Thankfully, the DC booth opened my eyes to this phenomenon.  I can't decide what I enjoy more: the computer graphic version of David Duchovny on the cover that is so lifelike, I didn't even realize it was computer generated until I got home or the first six panels of the comic re-creating the opening titles of the TV show.  That's dedication.  

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21: The DC booth was a free stuff bonanza, highlighted by piles and piles of comics with the catchy slogan, "After Watchmen...What's Next?"  Sure, it may be a callous attempt to cash in on the Watchmen movie, but it enabled me to grab a hold of a classic Alan Moore Swamp Thing issue.  Thank you, corporate synergy!

Planetary #1: Same thing here.  My reaction was basically, "Hey...I've vaguely heard some good things about this series.  I'll gladly pick up an issue for free!"  

And, yes, to answer the question you may be asking, I am not expecting anybody to read this except myself.  And maybe the author of Bullshot Crummond.  He's a frequent guest at my blog, you know.  

Travis

I apologize to anyone that's checked this blog in the last few months looking for an update.  Ever since the Super Bowl, I've been too busy living to update my blog.  Not much free time between work, marriage, the play, Anna Karenina, and beating Dan at another fantasy sports tournament.  But once my favorite long dormant blog has started posting again, I knew I had to return.  

(Which reminds me...if you're curious, I won the bet with Dan.  He picked Pittsburgh -7, I picked Arizona +7 and while we both had to suffer through ANOTHER Steelers championship, at least I got the pick right.  I have been a little burned out with football after all that, which is why I didn't even bother with my 2009 predictions.  I'll do that this week.)

I was going to write a long post summarizing The Underpants and Comicon, but I'll save that for later.  The play ends tonight and my blogging resumes.

At least until The Music Man starts up in a couple of weeks.
Travis 

Super Bowl Prediction: Pittsburgh 20 Arizona 14

Springsteen's Playlist: Radio Nowhere, Born to Run, The Rising, Working on a Dream, Badlands

My Dream Playlist: Tenth Avenue Freezeout, Glory Days, Girls In Their Summer Clothes, Prove It All Night, Rosalita

My Dream Depressing Playlist: The River, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Reason to Believe, The Wrestler

...for this brief message:



WHAT?!? 

This message brought to you by Tom DeFalco and Dazzler #4

All right.  Here we go. 

Our winner from last weekend is, of course, ADAM, the only guy to correctly pick the Super Bowl matchup.  Everybody else got at least one right.  Except Eric.  Poor Eric.  Here, for posterity, are the results. 

Andrew: 8
Adam: 6
Chad: 5
Eric: 5
Doug (who e-mailed me his picks after the fact and I'm believing him): 4
Travis: 3
Dan: 2

This means that our penultimate standings are as follows:

Andrew: 135
Eric: 130
Dan: 126
Travis: 126
Dave: 122
Adam: 120
Chad: 105
Doug: 85

That's right, Dan and I are STILL TIED!!  Now it all comes down to one game, the Super Bowl, with your Arizona Cardinals vs. the the hated Steelers.  Last I heard, the spread was 7 so I'm officially going with a 7 1/2 point spread.  The rest of you can feel free to make your Super Bowl picks, but it really just matters what Gomez and I pick.  And...just in case we pick the same team...

SPECIAL TIEBREAKER SECTION:

Bruce Springsteen is playing the halftime show this year.  What songs will he play?  I believe Tom Petty played five songs last year, so make a top 5 list of what you think he's going to play. 

(And, if you want to be extra nerdy about it, and I know I do, pick the five songs he should play.  Or at least the most unexpected ones.  Like Atlantic City.  If only the Eagles had won, he could have played Streets of Philadelphia.)

I'd love to hear Springsteen picks from everybody.  We had a good old time arguing about what Petty would play last year. 

One last thing...get your picks in for next year.  I'll post a few basic categories, but let me know if you have any additional predictions you want to make and match up against your peers. 

2009-10 Season Predictions:

Super Bowl: XLIV

AFC Playoff Picture:
West:
South: 
North:
East:
Wild Cards:

NFC Playoff Picture
West: 
South:
North:
East:
Wild Cards:

Record Predictions for our favorite teams:
Seahawks:
Raiders:
Rams:
Patriots:

Random Record Predictions:
Steelers: 
Cardinals:
Lions:
Eagles (so Andrew can nail the prediction again):

I'll post the results Sunday night, hopefully.

Q: What do Krist Novoselic and my uncle Terry have in common?

A: They're both featured in this wonderful article in The Daily News about Cowlitz County residents going to the inauguration.  

Although my uncle is pretty awesome with his, “I’m looking just as forward to seeing the helicopter fly off with the outgoing president,” quote, Mr. Novoselic barely beats him out with this gem.  In response to a question about the price of his hotel room, he says:

"“Good thing people are buying Guitar Hero and Rock Band,” he joked, referring to two popular video games for which Nirvana provided music. “Grunge dollars at work.”"

The best part, as always, is the commenters

" What a puff piece!!! This is supposed to be news? It was so sickly I wanted to gag. Nice to see where the sympathies of your "news" team is. "

(Really?  You're criticizing the Daily News for a puff piece?  It's the LOCAL NEWS section, for God's sake.)

" I too will have tears in my eyes on Tues, however mine won't be tears of joy, they will be tears of sorrow as I lower my flag to half staff, memorializing the end a 232 year era. All the America haters will rejoice on tuesday as socialism begins... "

Oh, how I miss  my hometown.
Travis