The Jets taketh and the Jets giveth away
With very little time left in the fourth quarter, the Jets looked as if they were going to use special teams and defense to literally PRY the victory from the "more deserving/better" Steelers. But I have tasted the pain of the Jets fans. Mike, from Mankind and Mockupations, is a huge Jets fan so, even though I like the Steelers more, I wouldn't have hated a Jets win. I was basically rooting for both teams. Anyway, even though it looked like the Steelers were the better team, the Jets were going to win. And then, it what seems like typical Jets fashion, the Jets gave the game right back, missing two long, but make-able field goals. The Steelers then used a very good run game to pound the ball down the field and take the win. I LOVE strong run games. Passing teams are for sissies... give me a fifteen-play drive of four-yard runs any day. That's smash-mouth football... old school, baby! WOOO!

Hey! Did you see that Family Guy is back on FOX. If I was the creators of Family Guy, there's no way I'd go back to FOX after they cancelled me. I'd be too petty... because I'm a petty person. While I'm excited about seeing the Family Guy back on FOX... there is a part of me that says "FOX had their shot at this show and they cancelled it..." you know?I just hope they let the show do what the show can do. Because everyone behind that show (especially Seth MacFarlane) is brilliant.

Hey! Speaking of TV, have you seen the Elektra commercial that says "In Daredevil, she fought to the death". What it should say is: "In Daredevil, she died like a bitch" I mean, did you see that movie? I saw it because it was on HBO. First of all, being able to "see" what Daredevil hears is so stupid. That was someone's lame artistic decision... "hey! we should do something visual so that everyone can see what Daredevil sees!" While I understand that decision, it's not necessary. We all understand that he's blind... he doesn't need to "see" his environment. Whatever. Regardless, Elektra dies like a little bitch in that movie. It's not even a really good fight scene... she's just, like, standing around and "oops! I'm dead!" I hope Elektra is as critically bashed as Basically Awesome was.

I taped the Falcons/Rams game so that I could watch it later. And, after watching it... I have to say that I really like the Falcons chances this year. And it doesn't have a lot to do with Michael Vick, either (although he doesn't hurt). The year the Packers won the Super Bowl, these are the little things that I remember being important: being able to create a pass rush with the front four defensive lineman; being able to stop the run; winning the turnover differencial; being able to run the football and control the time of possession; having a great kick/punt return team. And all those things I saw from the Falcons in the Rams game. Unfortunately for the Falcons, it looks like Michael Vick would rather run the ball than throw it. On almost every play, if there's a pass rush he's looking to run. Even though Vick is BY FAR the greatest athlete in the league, he's not the best Quarterback. If the Falcons lose, it will be because they get behind in a game and are forced to have Vick throw to get back in the game. But those little things I mentioned can/will allow a team to beat any other team in the league. And the amount of yard they got in the run game was unbelievable! Remember Warrick Dunn? He's still good. BTW Thanks Green Bay for firing Ed Donatell. What a great move that was. *sarcasm*

Finally, tonight, I should mention that it was Mockupations' Opening Night. I originally put an exclamation point at the end of that sentence, but I have to be honest with you: I wasn't all that excited about the show. As we were warming up and stuff, I just felt tired. And, as we were about to go on... when I'm normally so nervous I want to throw up, tonight I felt absolutely nothing. Even the fact that we pre-sold 85 tickets... basically pre-selling out the show, couldn't get me excited to perform this show. It's so blue... and the humor is so base... it's hard for me to wrap my head around it being worth it to perform. Who's mind am I expanding during "fart closet"? What lessons are we teaching with bowling balls = testicle puns? I mean, why am I even doing this? The good news was that the show went pretty well. The bad news is that the audience wasn't as "into" it as they should have been, given that there were SO MANY people in the audience. I felt so numb about it. And, I've talked to Keith about it, there are two things I learned from this specific performance: 1) The audience needs blackouts. Even if the actors don't, the audience needs to know they can clap... and needs to feel like they can take a breath and relax for a second. Believe it or not, an audience is easily overwhelmed during a comedy show... they feel like they're laughing hard (if you do it right) and they need to take a break for a second to catch their breath. 2) If I feel like what I'm doing isn't important... if I feel like there's nothing intellectual in the show... it's hard for me to invest something emotionally in the show. That's it! I have nothing emotionally invested in this show... so I can't get nervous about it or, frankly, even care if it goes well, because this show isn't connected to any of my emotions. Whoops... sorry Joe and everyone who wrote for this show. Maybe, if I think about it, I can invest something in that I like the writers and want the show to go well because I want them to be happy. We'll see.

#6 Worst of 2004 - Whiny Bitchwork OR Opening Coldstone on North Avenue Ah... now we start getting into the Coldstone stuff, huh? Yep. And here we go... When I was put in charge of some of the more subtle, yet "important" things relating to the opening of North Avenue (like getting someone to put in the phone lines, and sitting around all day for inspectors), I hated it, but I at least understood why it was me and not anyone else who was supposed to be there to make those decisions. BUT, when it became clear that I was making all the decisions--helping with the training of all the new employees; having the architect and the area developers ask my opinion; making sure the store was well stocked with IC, mix-ins, and all the utensils, office supplies and equipment, and tools we needed--I got pretty pissed. That should NOT have been my responsibility. "Hey you, kid who has a shitty job title (Assistant)... make all the decisions to open a store!" Um... no! Give me a better job title, give me a raise, or someone else make all these damn decisions. I would have taken any of those three (yes, even the better title without the raise). But after a solid month of 14-16 hour days, most days of the week, with little to no help or even communication from my "superiors", I had seriously had it with the way that company was using me. My only regret in what happened after this is the WAY it all ended... but not THAT it ended. But I'll get to that more later, won't I?