If this post doesn't send me to hell... I've got something that will coming up
Yesterday Marlon Brando passed away. Do not get me wrong, I rather enjoyed his performance in "The Godfather", and I think that it takes a special performance to create such an iconic character. Brandon didn't do it all himself, lest we forget the writing of Puzo and the directing of Coppala. However, I watched "On the Waterfront" in college as part of my actor's homework (I don't remember which play it was for, but I do remember having to watch it). Regarded as one of Brando's greatest three movies (along with "Streetcar named Desire" and "The Godfather"), "On the Waterfront" is a horrific performance. At times, you can quite literally watch Brando reading his lines from someplace off camera. His performance is broodish and raw, perhaps why everyone said it fit his character so well... but, in fact, it was simply a poor performance which matched the simplistic and one dimensional character, Terry Malloy.
Which brings me to a popular debate in the world of CrazyJohn: Nostalgia versus Fact. We see this in entertainment all the time: People who say that Cassablanca is still the greatest movie ever made obviously haven't seen a movie in over forty years. The acting, editing, and scripts have dramatically (no pun intended) improved even in the last fifteen years. This same debate somehow finds itself in the world of sports ALL THE TIME. Could the current Yankees beat Babe Ruth's Yankees? Who's better, Shaq's Lakers or Russell's Celtics? Could the Patriots beat the 85 Bears? I'm sorry, but this is a no brainer to me. The athletes are so much bigger, stronger, and faster that the Clippers could probably beat Russell's Celtics... last year's Tigers could be Ruth's Yankees... and the Columbus Blue Jackets could probably take the Montreal Canadians of late 1950s.
Does that mean that you can't like old movies? NO... I still love the original Star Wars movies, even though the special effects aren't that special and some of the acting is suspect. In addition, some of my favorite video games are old/original Nintendo games. But I like them because they're simple and they remind me of my youth... not because I'm under some false belief that Contra is a superior game to Halo.

Alright... enough of that... let's talk about how my company is run by crazy insane people. Not my High Focus company, Coldstone itself. You know how some people have signatures on their emails that say some neato quote and it makes everyone a better person? Well, Coldstone people include their favorite Originals on their signatures. What's more, Andrea told me that when she was down in Arizona for Ice Cream University, they used to get fifteen minute breaks during "classroom" time... and during these fifteen minute breaks, someone would come in and serve them all the pre-made Coldstone Ice Cream they could eat. And then they would TALK about their favorite creations, during the breaks... no wonder it drove Andrea nuts. It's like there's an entire sub-culture of people who just worship this ice cream. It's ridiculous... It's just ice cream. It's not like ice cream is something important like...
According to ESPN this morning, the Packers are 7/1 to win this year's Super Bowl, even though they did not even make the Top 10 NFL Power Rankings on ESPN. Unfortunately, I think the latter makes more sense. I can understand the Patriots, the Eagles, and the Colts being numbers one, two, and three in the power rankings... but I guess I don't understand the Seahawks being a higher ranking than the Packers. And I REALLY don't understand the Lions being 25 and the Bears at 21. The Jags and Raiders suck and everyone on Tampa Bay that was any good is gone. No, trust me... the Eagles will be good, but will have a hell of a time getting out of their own division. AND all the Packers, Bears, and Lions will have to worry about is each other.
Speaking of sports, this weekend is the cross-town rivalry between the White Sox and the Cubs up at Wrigley. (The games at US Cellular have been played... I think the Sox won). This is apparently a bigger deal than I understand. Even though the Sox and the Cubs are in completely different Leagues (which in Baseball is HUGE), everyone in this city seems to have ONE team and they stick with that team. >shrug< I think I'll probably just root for both >collective gasp from everyone around me<. Oh shut up... it's been a million years since a World Series came to Chicago... I would just love to see it. And why not root for both... they're in different leagues, you bastards! Whatever! Hope you're all having a great July 4th weekend. Take care and enjoy your fireworks.