The Challenge: Rivals - Episode 1

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The Challenge: Rivals is a reality competition that airs on MTV Wednesday nights at 10 pm et. Below are my thoughts on the premiere episode which aired on Wednesday June 22, 2011

I decided to watch the first episode of The Challenge: Rivals because a very strong season of the real world (in Vegas) had just ended that I had a pleasure in watching (Real World seasons are very hit and miss, its either a very good season or its unwatchable, there’s no in between), Game of Thrones’ first season finished (can’t wait for season 2) and most importantly, I was bored. My history with this reality show is spotty at best so I am basically going into this with little to no knowledge about the show other than that TJ is the host, that his catchphrase is “you killed it” and that Kenny and Wes usually win. Here are my thoughts on the first episode.

The Setting: Costa Rica

The Premise:

28 people (14 men and 14 women) are paired into two person teams to compete for 100 000 dollars (runner-up gets 50k). The catch is that your partner is your rival or “your worst enemy” based on events that happened in previous seasons of the show or in shows related to this one such as The Real World: Las Vegas, Cancun, etc. (Btw, what would the worst city for a Real world season to be in? My vote is for Cleveland or Minneapolis). Each week, the men or the women are up for elimination while the others compete for cash and/or prizes. If this seems confusing, it is not. Watching the show makes it very easy to follow along with the rules.

The Teams:

Adam K & CT – From the first episode I gather that this is one of the presumed strong teams in the competition and that CT is somewhat of a loose cannon especially when he is on the losing end in a competition (the way that Adam was talking about being afraid to disappoint CT in competition makes me think of him as some sort of deranged Kevin Garnett, I think this team’s one to watch)

Laurel & Cara Maria – they weren’t in this episode much although Laurel wasted no time in throwing her teammate under the bus questioning her competitive nature as soon as they got paired up.

Marvel Gets It Does Sony? (Part 2)

Tweet In part one I mainly talked about the cancellation of the spectacular spider-man cartoon.  In part 2 I elaborate on why the movie series had to be re-booted.

No need for introductions, that was covered in part one.  In this part I will list what the problems were with the movies and throw in a suggestion about what could have been done differently.  Before I get into it, I would like to say that I am a fan of the first 2 movies, they were really good; but they worked better as stand-alone movies, not a series (which is why 3 sucked).  The criticisms you are about to read are directed towards how Sony screwed up basic concepts which would have enabled them to continue the story of spider-man, rather than re-boot it. Here we go.

*note: the order that I list the problems in does not matter.  you can flip the list and the basics will be the same.

Villain choice

The Green Goblin is Spidey's greatest villain.  He tormented him, turned his friends against him, blackmailed him, and killed his first love (Gwen Stacy).  If you want to make a spider-man trilogy (or whatever you call a series with more than three movies), the Green Goblin would have to be involved at one point.  The first movie should not be that point.  The Green Goblin should have been developed (as Norman Osborn) for at least one movie before assuming the green goblin role.  Saving the goblin for the second movie would have enabled more focus on the origin story, given us more scenes of Peter discovering his powers (who doesn't like these scenes?) and allowed for a lesser villain to be featured first.  Ideally, this villain would be someone like the lizard.  A character that can actually be developed in a movie due to his being Dr. Connors.  The Dark Knight (the best super hero movie ever made) was the second of the series.  The first focused on Batman's origin, and featured him fighting lesser villains, somehow I do not think that the series would have been as good overall if the Joker was the main villain of movie #1.  Its just too difficult to fit in such key details about a character (origin and greatest villain) in one movie; allowing each element to have its own movie to develop makes for a more polished story.  Just imagine that the first spider-man did not have the Green goblin as a villain.  Now imagine that the movie has ended and you read somewhere that there is a scene after the credits.  This scene turns out to be Norman Osborn donning the Goblin mask.  How cool would that have been?  But I digress.  A-list villains like the Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Dock-Ock, and Venom should not be featured with other villains in the same movie.  B-list guys (Vulture, Rhino, Mysterio, Chamelion etc.) can be featured two-at-a time. Ideally you want to build up villains so that they can join forces in later movies.  A classic example being the 'sinister six', where 6 of spidey's villains team up to take him down (this would sort of work like current Marvel movies building up to the Avengers).  Here is how I would have done the movie villains:

Movie 1: Origin Story + B-list Villain (for arguments sake lets use the Lizard)
Movie 2: Green Goblin
Movie 3: Vulture + Rhino
Movie 4: Scorpion + Mysterio
Movie 5: Sinister 6 (5 previous B-list guys with the 6th introduced in the movie-Electro?)

Marvel gets it does Sony? (Part 1)

Tweet This 2-part article looks at the direction of  Spider-man and the mistakes Sony has made with the character. I am by no means an authority on the topic, but I know enough to voice my opinion, especially when the future of my favorite hero is at stake.

Many of you who read this will have probably seen, or at least heard of the spider-man movies.  The movies that were put out were financially successful, and two out of the three were really good movies (the third being the odd one out).  Given this information you would assume that a fourth installment was well on its way.  However, Sony (the company with the rights to spider-man) announced that they will be re-booting the franchise in 2012 with a new director, new story, and a new cast.  Sony pictures has attributed this re-boot to the resignation of director Sam Raimi, who resigned because he felt that he could not meet the company's deadline without sacrificing artistic integrity.  So why did Sony simply not hire a director that could meet the deadline?  They had a full cast, writers, and producers yet, they decide to re-boot everything because the director resigned?  Surely a movie with such a famous character (in an era of great interest in super hero movies) would draw many good directors to the project.  More importantly, why did Sony decide to scrap what they've done so far and start over?  There are many answers to these questions, and many reasons for them, I choose to believe the one that makes the most sense to me as a devoted spider-man fan.  Sony screwed up. Badly.  They brought the films to a point where it did not make sense to continue the storyline.  Don't believe me?  Just look at the ideas they were coming up with:
(entry taken from Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_in_film )

"that Anne Hathaway would play Felicia Hardy, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat as in the comics. Instead, Raimi's Felicia was expected to become a brand-new superpowered figure called the Vulturess."

The Vultress? It's like they are trying to piss off the fans.

Furthermore, with Marvel Studios putting out great movie after great movie,the pressure was on Sony to make a truly classic spider-man film, something that they could not accomplish by continuing the mess they created.  In this mini series I will break down exactly why Sony could not continue the story they wove, where I think Sony made critical mistakes, how they can correct them, and what this ultimately means for spider-man.

I will preface my breakdown with a bit of my own background on the topic.  I am a big fan of super hero movies, super hero TV shows, and super hero comics. I do not particularly favor Marvel Comics over DC comics, I am just a sucker for cool heroes.  One of my favorite characters in the comics world is Spider-man.  I have read a fair amount of the comic (including the 'Amazing', 'Spectacular', 'Web of Spider-man', and 'friendly neighborhood' series).  I watched the much loved 90's cartoon, and all three of the movies.  In addition, I watched another (more recent) cartoon about spider-man titled: 'Spectacular Spider-man'.  I begin my critique of Sony's handling of spider-man with this particular television show, which will be part one of this series.

Lockouts and what they mean to sports this year

Tweet With the NBA's latest labor talks going nowhere and the NFL's ongoing lockout, it has become a very real possibility that we may have to wait a full year before we are able to watch football and basketball.  

For both NBA and NFL fans, the prospect of missing a season (particularly when we have had some awesome ones) is a disaster.  The even worst part about it is the fact that we as fans have no control in this, it is entirely up to the owners and the player's unions.  If you are not a devoted fan of baseball (like me) then this is an awful time in terms of following sports you like.  This article will not bore you with lockout news that is being reported everywhere constantly, instead it will examine the fact that for some, these lockouts present a golden opportunity.  Although the NBA and NFL are losing out; a lot of other sports may stand to benefit from these lockouts.  Let's examine each sport that can benefit by itself in order to get a better understanding of what may be at stake.

National Hockey League (NHL)

In my opinion, the NHL stands to gain the most if the NBA and NFL take a one year leave.  The sports void that will appear in a lot of sports fans must be filled, and in North America, the easiest way to fill it is with NHL.  I vow to jump right in and start watching hockey fully, and keeping a journal of my experience as a new fan (gotta write about something).  Odds are, there are many out there like me who will give hockey a chance, and chances are that a number of them will stick with it.  The fact that the NHL is coming off of a very strong season wont hurt it either.

Why Is This So Interesting?: A review of A&E's Storage Wars

Tweet recently I stumbled on to this show when flipping through channels one boring night.  At first I thought: "better than nothing ".  However, after 3 episodes I was hooked!  Here are my thoughts on the show.

The premise of 'Storage Wars' is very simple.  Companies that rent out storage lockers hire an auctioneer (Dan) to sell units that have been abandoned.  Once the units are bought, we see if the locker was worth the money or not.  Right off the bat I am going to say that this simple concept works really well.  There are no complicated rules, or a set competition (from what I have seen so far), and the focus is on only 4 buyers; Dave Hester, Darrel Sheets, Barry Weiss, and Jarrod Schulz.  Dave is the owner of a large thrift store and always carries 10K on him for auctions, Jarrod and his wife own a much smaller thrift store and are often outbid due to their lower finances, Darrell seems to make a living off finding other people's expensive stuff, and Barry only looks for collectible items.  Now that you have the general idea of the show let's get to the fun stuff.

Our buyers converge on a facility that is holding an auction, and Dan leads them from locker to locker.  When somebody sees a unit they like, they join the bidding process.  At this point Dan speaks so fast that I can only catch about 30% of what he is actually saying.  He raises the pacing of the show during these rapid fire auctions, it really makes the auctions feel more exciting.  The show focuses on auctions where the buyers we are following are actively competing against one another, the most interesting of these is when Dave and Darrell both want the same unit.  They go back and forth (in bids and in insults) until one of them relents; the dynamic between them is incredible, they genuinely do not like each other.  Often their battles end with the loser saying something to the tune of "at least I made him over-pay for it" or, more commonly "I hate that guy, I just wanted to beat him".  Following the auctions, the second phase begins: seeing what the hell these people bought.  Now, whether some of the show is set up or not, I do not know.  What I do know is that it is very fun watching a buyer find something very valuable among a pile of crap.  Without giving too much away, I will focus on one example.  Jarrod spent $500 on a locker because he "had a hunch" about some jeans (yes...jeans).  As it turns out, the pairs of jeans he found were apparently rare, and desired; so he got back well more than the $500 he initially put in to them.  The show is full of these successes and failures, and has so far not disappointed.

The only gripes I have with the show is that one: the buyers do not find out how well their competitors did.  I think that seeing these guys rub it in to their opponent when they've outbid them and found valuables in the locker would provide for some excellent television.  Two: the slightly repetitive episode structure.  There is always a hidden treasure in the worst of lockers, this is a small gripe because they probably go through tons of lockers per day, and A&E only shows us the best of the best.  These gripes do little to deter me from watching (or caring enough to write a review). It is much more entertaining to watch with a group of friends, just for the conversation you will have amongst yourselves.  If you are not watching this show, I suggest you give it a shot, odds are you will like it.  If you do watch the show, hopefully you will keep watching to keep it on the air.

Overall rating for the show: 7.5/10

Ratings structure:
0: quickly change the channel
1-3: if NOTHING else is on
4-7: entertaining or interesting enough to put the remote down
7-9: I plan to watch regularly and look into when its on.
9+:The cream of the television crop (The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Simpsons,etc)


Like the article? Leave us a comment or follow me on twitter: Daki_4

The Matrix's Revolution

Tweet How a change in attitude made a difference in the legacy of Shawn Marion.

 For those of you who have read 7 seconds or less, or are avid followers of Bill Simmons, what I am about to say will sound familiar.  Back when Shawn Marion was on Phoenix he had incredible athleticism and talent.  He was so explosive and quick that the nickname "matrix" almost didn't do him justice.  Despite all of the things he could do, there was one he could not.  That was the ability to lead a team.  earlier in his career Marion would often get jealous of the attention his teammates (especially Amar'e Stoudamire and Steve Nash) would get while he (in his mind) did not get enough credit.  In one interview he famously stated that he would not mind being a big fish in a small pond, something that the aforementioned Simmons ripped into him for.  It is of little surprise then, that the Suns did not win a title during their 4 year run; they did not have enough guys willing to sacrifice their own intentions for the greater good of winning a title.  If his career had ended then, he would have been remembered as an all stats no heart player, basically another Vince Carter.

But then he got traded to Miami, a truly awful Miami team, then he even had a stint in Toronto on another team that had no chance at making it to the playoffs before he arrived to Dallas.  Whether those 2 seasons on horrible squads taught him not to take his career for granted, or whether Rick Carlisle had an influence on him, I do not know.  What I do know is that the Shawn Marion that just won a title is a completely different player and person than his previous self.  I'm not just talking about how his athleticism and shooting touch disappeared, or how he reinvented himself as a great defender with an awkward yet solid post game.  I am talking about his attitude and approach.  In his time in Dallas, not once did I hear him complain about his role, or question whether he should be getting more looks.  He was happy with guarding the other teams best player, being the third option most times down the court, and playing the passing lanes.  In other words, Marion sacrificed the stats he could be getting, for the wins he was getting.  Now he was the best defensive player on a team that won a title, and was good enough on offense enough times to allow Nowitzki to work one on one.  In this post-season, when Marion played well Dallas won.

Now, Shawn Marion's legacy changes.  Bill Simmons (who in my opinion has an excellent insight in the world of the NBA) said that Marion could have cracked the top 100 all time NBA list.  Pretty good for a guy who couldn't lead a team.  I sincerely hope that more players do what the matrix did when he was faced with a choice: keep putting up good numbers on bad teams, or find a way to win at all costs.  if more player's are in Shawn Marion's position they need to realize that they can't be "the man", realize that despite that they can still help tremendously, and bust their ass to win. 

Dallas was very fortunate to discover a reinvented Matrix, somewhere out there Steve Nash may wonder what his legacy would be like if he had this Shawn Marion vs. the one he lost with. 

The Problem with Adjusting Movie Grosses and Ticket Prices for Inflation

Tweet The adjusted-for-inflation list of box office figures is always said to be the more correct list and the list that should be analyzed when determining the highest grossing movies of all time. To some extent, this is correct, but it also brings about another statistic, which is constantly being used to compare older movies with the newer ones. This statistic is the audience: the number of people who viewed the film during its theatrical release. Each time a new movie grosses a similar amount to its prequel, and today there are many sequels being made, it’s always mentioned that even though their amounts are similar, the sequel had lower attendance due to inflation, and it probably did. However, the numbers are getting more and more ridiculous and the gaps are widening more than they should be. In order to determine the audience figures, ticket prices are adjusted for inflation and divided into the movie’s total gross. According to inflationary statistics, since 2004, money has decreased in value by approximately 26%, and this is the figure they use to estimate the size of the audience. Yet, back in 2004, ticket prices at the nearest theatre to where I live were $13.50, and according to the way average ticket prices are measured, tickets should currently be priced at $17 each; however, they are actually $12.75 each. Instead of inflating by 26%, ticket prices deflated by about 6%. This theatre might be an exception, being the only theatre in North America to see a deflation in its ticket prices. In any case, it’s evident that inflation is rising faster than ticket prices and even though it’s the most reliable statistic to use in determining audiences, it is too flawed. The whole audience category should be disregarded because in the end, it serves little importance to the general public. Producers and studios are concerned about making money, and those figures are accurately reported every single day. The viewers bring in the money, so I understand the desire for studios to analyze the number of viewers, but when a category is as inconsistent as the audience category is, it needn’t be reported to the general public.

A Review of Hell: The Sequel by Bad Meets Evil

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How does one review an album/EP that's been anticipated for longer than Dr. Dre's Detox album which feels like its been in production forever (12 years to be exact but Dre, release the fucking album already). As unbelievable as that seems, it is the case with Hell: The Sequel, Bad Meets Evil's debut album, one which was originally talked about way back in 1997 even before Eminem's Slim Shady LP came out. Royce Da 5'9 (Bad) and Eminem (Evil) met in the late 90's and released their first single as Bad Meets Evil called Nuttin' to do. The duo would look to release a full length album together but before that happened, Eminem went to California to work with Dre on his critically acclaimed and commercially successful "debut" album (Infinite was first but no one calls it his debut for some reason) The Slim Shady LP. Em and Royce's relationship was still very strong at the time which led to Marshall calling Royce to Cali to work on Dre's sophomore album 2001 (Royce ended up writing the song "The Message" for Dre which ended up on the final cut of the CD.). After the release of 2001 Em and Royce still frequently collaborated, the most memorable being Rock City, a song off Royce's debut album of the same name.

Things all went downhill for the duo after the release of Rock City as Royce and the members of D12 got involved in a public falling out or in hip-hop terms: beef (does anyone know how that term started?) which led to several diss tracks made by both parties (Eminem was never involved with the diss tracks but people have speculated that he did address the issue in the song "How Come") and the end of Eminem and Royce's relationship for the time being. Eventually the two motor city rappers would reconcile their friendship; possibly due to the death of mutual longtime friend Proof who got killed in 2006, something that might have brought the two closer together. They would begin to make music together again shortly after Eminem and his label Shady Records signed Slaughterhouse (a hip-hop group that consists of Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da 5'9) which brings me to the point of this article in the first place (I felt that the history of the group was important in writing a review for their album so that is the reason for the first two paragraphs).

Will Smith's Absence from Acting

Tweet It’s been three years since Will Smith’s last movie, Seven Pounds, was released. It told the story of a man who changed the lives of seven strangers. It was not advertised much, and it did not receive very good critical reception, but it was a fine film, led by Will Smith’s dramatic and excellent performance. Earlier that summer, Hancock was released, a movie which was more than successful during its box office run. This was undeserving, as the movie had a poor story, the characters were not developed well, and the movie overall was just not entertaining enough for anyone to sit through a second viewing, ever again. Despite Hancock’s faults, the movie still grossed a significant amount of money, and this was due to the presence of Will Smith (the combination of Will Smith and Charlize Theron might have helped, but Will Smith was the main reason for the movie’s success). Prior to Seven Pounds, Will Smith was the running champion as the actor with the most consecutive domestic grosses of $100+ million, at eight. This number may not seem like an astounding figure, considering the increasing number of films crossing the $100 million mark nowadays (inflated prices are one of the main reasons), but every year has its share of disappointing films, not just in quality, but in box office gross, and even the some of the better actors tend have a lower grossing movie than had been estimated. An example is Matt Damon’s Green Zone, a film which cost approximately $100 million to make and produce, but only grossed a mere $35 million domestically, far lower than studio predictions before the film’s release. As another example, Johnny Depp recently starred in The Tourist with Angelina Jolie, and the movie’s performance was fairly underwhelming for the two actors. From time to time, even some of the better actors will choose to star in independent films (indies – films produced outside of a major studio) or low budget films that tend to focus more on attaining positive critical reception rather than high box office grosses.

Will Smith began acting in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and it was evident that his acting abilities were strong. He played himself in the show (to some extent – the stupidity he exhibits throughout the show is obviously not how he acted in everyday life), having moments of comedy, stupidity, and drama. In one episode when his father (who left his mother when Will Smith was a child) comes back to see him, only to leave him again in the end, Will Smith breaks down emotionally, and displays his ability to deliver an exceptional dramatic performance. In all of his movies, Will Smith has strong performances which not only make him stand out in comparison to his acting counterparts, but attract viewers and fans from all around, making even the most satisfactory films into blockbusters. This can be seen through Hancock, because it grossed a lot more than it was worth in terms of movie quality.

Here are Will Smith’s movies since he became a hit on the big screen (I have yet to see Made in America and Six Degrees of Separation): Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men in Black, Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Ali, Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot, Sharktale, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness (in which he delivered an outstanding performance - just watch the scene in the subway washroom), I Am Legend, Hancock, Seven Pounds. From this list, aside from Independence Day, there is not a movie which really stands out as a movie that will be remembered, yet the majority of the movies mentioned have crossed the $100 million domestic mark. The reason is that Will Smith has built up a reputation of creating entertaining movies that attract viewers from all sides. His performances are another reason. Will Smith began his career in comedy; it was what got him his initial reputation. With the exception of Hitch, and to some extent Men in Black, Will Smith has not acted in comedies since his Fresh Prince days. That’s not to say he’s lost his comedic touch, but he’s transformed as an actor, from a television star into a reliable movie star who delivers dramatic performances that gross millions at the box office. He’s been nominated for two Oscars, and if he can continue making good quality films, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that number increase. Demonstrating how one actor can lead a film singled-handedly, in I Am Legend, Will Smith is forced to act by himself for the majority of the movie, meaning that if an inexperienced or an average actor was chosen for the role, the movie would not have performed as well, and would not have been as good of a movie. Will Smith acts superbly throughout the movie and has a certain charisma about him, making you feel connected to him and sharing his emotions. He does this in all of his films; this is a reason why his movies are so successful. He is one of the best current actors in Hollywood; his performances are without a fault. This is a reason his asking price is $20 million per film, because he’s built a reputation of delivering excellent performances and making high grossing films.

Will Smith has been on a three year hiatus from the movie industry, and really needs to resume acting. He is too busy promoting his children’s careers in acting and in music, which I fully support, but the fact of the matter is that Will Smith is one of this generation’s most talented actors, and his fans desperately want to see him in another movie. He is currently filming Men in Black III, but the second film was a disappointment, and the hype surrounding the third is not that great. He needs to create an original non-sequel film, like most of his other movies, but is currently not signed to do anything else besides Men in Black III. For now, unfortunately, we must wait.

Jovan Atanackovic
@FunSocialJovan on Twitter

Why Eminem is the Greatest Rapper of All Time

Tweet It’s very hard to determine who the best artist is in a genre of music. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when music didn’t really have a specific genre, who was the best singer? Was it Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, or another well-known singer during that time? They all had major hits and you could make a case for any of them being better than the other (even though I take Elvis in that battle). This debate is even more difficult to figure out when it comes to the rap genre, because it is still fairly new and is still evolving. Some people say that Biggie is the best rapper; some claim it is Tupac; some people even believe it’s Lil’ Wayne (no....); in my opinion, Eminem stands above all others.

Most people who aren’t fans of Eminem seem to be avid listeners and supporters of Biggie and Tupac. Their reason? Because Biggie and Tupac rapped about ‘real stuff’. I have a question for those people. Where in the rapper’s handbook does it say that you will be deemed a better rapper if you rap about real life? Rap is a genre of music, and it can tell a story through its lyrics, but what you choose to rap about in your song isn’t the only thing that matters. Eminem would be nowhere if that was the case. In his earlier albums, Eminem raps about how much he hates his mother, calls women derogatory terms and constantly mentions how he dislikes homosexuals. If you ask me, that does not sound like a good resume. So why was Eminem so popular back when his music was concentrated on such controversial topics? One reason that most Eminem haters will automatically respond with is that he is white. I agree that this is an advantage to Eminem, being one of the sole white rappers in a predominantly black genre of music. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that people choose to listen to a rapper just because he’s different. Just like there’s an argument that more people listen to Eminem because he’s white, there’s an argument that some people choose not to listen to Eminem for that reason. I don’t care for the reasons, but it’s the truth. I have a friend myself who dislikes Eminem more than he should just for the fact that he’s white.

Lyrically speaking, as I mentioned, it doesn’t matter if you rap about your past, your neighbourhood, life’s challenges or about stupid stuff you do. I don’t care if Biggie had a tough life; I don’t care if Eminem hates his mother; I don’t care if Jay-Z has 99 problems; what I care about is how they deliver their message. In my opinion, Eminem’s music sounds the best. Maybe it’s because I’m a little softer myself and prefer R&B to rap. But there’s no denying that to an outside ear, Eminem’s music will catch on the easiest. That doesn’t mean that those people’s opinions should be disregarded; it just means that Eminem is better at attracting a wider audience, which is one reason he has a greater number of fans. And for lyric comparison, Eminem’s songs are not worse because he talks about more irrelevant stuff; he delivers it so strongly that he can make anything he raps about sound interesting. In ‘Criminal’ he raps about doing stupid things because he doesn’t care that/how people judge him. That’s sounds like a worse song than say, Hailie’s Song, which is stronger emotionally, yet I consider it to be a better one. Lyrical content is important, but not to the point where one topic is more important than another just because of its relevance to real life.

My opinion on this matter is somewhat biased as well. I began listening to Eminem when he was at his prime back in the early 2000s. Prior to listening to Eminem, I had not been a fan of the rap genre. I’ll admit this is a reason I like Eminem more than other rappers. But I am not talking about who I like the most; I am writing an unbiased article about who is the greatest rapper of all time. In order to determine the greatest rapper, it must be based on an unbiased statistic. The reasons people have for liking rappers may be biased and they probably are. However, if you ask the general public who they consider the best rapper, the number of people who say ‘Eminem’ or ‘Tupac’ will be unbiased. You don’t know if 30 out of 100 people will consider Eminem as the best rapper or 70; that number cannot be manipulated. But surveys aren’t conducted on random individuals in order to determine this figure; in my opinion, the best way to determine it is through sales figures. And guess who wins in that category? Honestly, the numbers speak for themselves. If he wasn’t as good as Biggie and Tupac, Eminem wouldn’t have been able to sell over 80 million albums worldwide. Here comes another argument: Biggie and Tupac were rapping when rap wasn’t yet mainstream, so they couldn’t build a reputation and recognition with the general public. What about Eminem though? When he released the Slim Shady LP back in 1999, are you honestly going to tell me that rap was popular enough for Eminem to get the recognition that he did? But wait, Biggie and Tupac had died by 1999, so their music wasn’t heard by everyone. You know what I think? I think their deaths increased their popularity, since they were the ‘big’ rappers at that time and their deaths were news. How do you think this debate would have gone if Eminem had died when he overdosed back in 2007? At that time, his last album was Encore (I’m not going to count Curtain Call as one of his albums, since it only included three new songs, one of which was terrible), which I’ll admit was a disappointing album. Regardless, had he died at that point in his career, there is not a chance in hell he would lose the best rapper debate. Relapse was an awful album, and Recovery was a pretty good effort at recovering his elite status, which he never lost. The Slim Shady LP, the Marshall Mathers LP and the Eminem Show are all better than anything he’s released since, and had those been some of his final albums, I don’t think there would be much of a discussion as to who was the greatest rapper of all time.

So as I was saying, in order to determine the best rapper, you need to observe the least biased statistic possible. And as I’ve pointed out, it’s measured through his album sales. I’m not talking about how much he’s sold in the first week or in the first year (Outkast’s double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below went diamond in its first year – who cares? Outkast has sold less than 30 million albums worldwide), I’m talking about its life. Eminem’s albums have longevity; their sales numbers didn’t drop off to zero like Outkast’s double album, which by the way sold only 5.5 million in its first year, but that figure was doubled because it was a double album, and then it sold almost nothing afterwards. If an album can keep selling and hit diamond status after ten years of release, that’s saying something.

In the end, it really doesn’t matter because supporters of Biggie and Tupac will continue to defend their favourite rappers. Fact is, there is more support for Eminem as the greatest rapper of all time than there is for Biggie and Tupac (or Nas, who I should have mentioned earlier). By the way, I haven’t really talked about Jay-Z because I don’t think he matches up with those three. He’s made way too many songs and for that reason, many of them are satisfactory, rather than being great, and the one song he did with Eminem (Renegade) didn’t make him look too good (even though he delivered a strong performance). He's been too focused on making a large quantity of songs, rather than good quality songs. Of his 15 or so albums, only three should be considered as good albums (Blueprint, the Black Album and Reasonable Doubt), and that's a fairly small percentage. You can argue for whoever you want, but bias will be involved no matter what. Eminem wins in the least biased category, and for that reason, he is the greatest rapper of all time.

Side note: You don’t have to be a devoted fan of the rap genre to have your opinion considered in this debate. If you listen to only rap and like every single artist, then congratulations to you. But if you listen to all types of music and prefer a pop artist over a rapper, it doesn’t mean your opinion should not matter. As long as you’ve had the chance to hear all sides of the rap genre, then you may contribute to the debate however you like.

Requiem for a Championship

Tweet Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks organization and fans of the Mavericks for winning the 2011 NBA title!  Let there be no questions; Dallas was the best team this year and fully deserved the title.  On a roster where no players had won a championship previously, its almost hard to believe that they were the best team in basketball this year.  Not the best collection of individuals, but the best TEAM.  NBA championship teams are often defined by qualities.  Detroit is associated with Defense, Lakers with showtime and flare, the Celtics with toughness.  For the 2011 Mavericks, the best quality I can think of is: teamwork. 

When you reflect on Dallas's run to the title, you will be able to point to everyone doing something (with apologies to Caron Butler, Beaubois and Jones, who were inactive for the playoffs). Whether it was Corey Brewer sparking a comeback in Staples center, Brendan Haywood playing excellent defense, or Jason Kidd hitting a dagger 3 against Portland, this team always gave their superstar the help he needed.  Big shots from Stojakovic against the Lakers, key minutes by Mahinmi and Cardinal in the finals, and Shawn Marion's willingness to guard Brandon Roy, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Lebron James in consecutive series.  Not to mention J.J. Barea's heart, Tyson Chandler's toughness throughout the playoffs, and De Shawn Stevenson and JET backing up their words against Wade and James.  It is truly remarkable for a team to have this many players contributing in big ways but coach Carlisle made it work.  As for Dirk Nowitzki, I'm sure everyone will have a different opinion on his best moment of these playoffs but for me, one stood out in particular: the last 30 seconds of game 6 against Miami. 

As Dirk Nowitzki took a pass from Jason Kidd on a beautiful cut to the hoop with thirty seconds remaining in game 6 and put the ball in to the hoop it began.  He raised his fist high in the air and took in the moment, he seemed to take it all in, relishing every moment of his first NBA title.  Then, after a stoppage in play, he put both hands on his head and seemed distraught.  Emotion overcoming him to the point where he did not want to be seen, he left the court as fast as he could once the buzzer sounded and headed in to the locker room crying.  If there is any question as to how much this title meant to him, those images should tell you how much it did.  In various post-game interviews he talked about how seeing all the hard work he put in over the years pay off caused him to break down.  Finally Dirk was able to get even with Wade after the latter had won a title at his expense in 2006.  Finally Dirk can forget about 12 seasons of disappointment.  Finally, his resume as an NBA player is complete.  No longer will anyone question his toughness, leadership, or ability in the clutch.  If there is one thing we learned tonight, its that Dirk Nowitzki is a true champion.

Super 8 Review

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There are certain movies that leave you with a warm feeling after you’ve watched them; Super 8 is one of them. Perhaps it affects my friends and me more than people from older generations because we can still relate ourselves to the kids from the movie. We more easily remember all those summers when we were twelve and all the time we spent outside hanging out with friends and enjoying life as a kid. It was a fun time; a time when you didn’t have to worry about going to work or taking summer school courses or planning ahead of time. We could relax and not have to worry about tomorrow. During the day we would be outside playing sports or inside playing video games; during the night we would always stay up later than our parents would let us; we would look forward to the cartoons on those early Saturday mornings. Life was a lot simpler as a kid and if I could, I would relive it. For this reason, it is nice to see a movie concentrated on kids, a movie that lets them take on the lead roles. It reminds you somewhat of what it was like being a kid, something I hope everyone wishes they could be again.

In my opinion, it’s been a long time since Steven Spielberg has made a memorable movie. I consider his most recent memorable movie to be War of the Worlds, but even that’s pushing it, since it wasn’t by any means spectacular. It’s a shame that a man who has made movies such as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, among numerous other great films, hasn’t really made a movie in the last 15 years that will be remembered by future generations as a great film. It’s a good thing he served as an executive producer on this project. His knowledge and experience in the science fiction genre definitely gave some direction to J.J. Abrams, whom I must also applaud. If you’ve seen Star Trek, then you know the man can direct. A scene which stood out in this film and you will agree with me when you see the film, is the train crash. Typically, if there is any sort of crash in a movie, whether it involves a car or a train or airplane, at one point during the scene, you will not be able to tell what happened. I don’t know if this is on purpose, but I would like to see the whole thing. In Super 8, the train is fully visible throughout the crash and it is filmed to perfection. Even though it is purely CGI, it’s still the best scene in the movie and you will be amazed when you watch it with your own eyes.

I mentioned that I am pleased with the way J.J. Abrams directed the film, but I haven’t yet talked about the style of directing. The movie takes place in the late 1970s, and it looks very similar to E.T. I personally do not mind the old style. It looks retro, but its beauty is that it feels retro. It has that nostalgic feel that is rarely seen in today’s movies.

Super 8 has similarities to Spielberg’s older films, and one I haven’t mentioned is The Goonies. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a movie about a group of kids embarking on a journey for a lost treasure. The movie really centers on the kids and demands of them to deliver strong performances, as was done in Super 8. However, in the Goonies, the direction was focused on all of the kids, and none of them were able to stand out as much as the two main characters in this movie, Joseph and Alice, played by Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning. Both actors have great charisma in their scenes together, completing drawing in the viewer whenever they’re on screen. Right before the train crash, the kids are filming a scene with Elle Fanning, a movie within a movie, making it even more difficult to act out. If there’s anything that proves that Elle Fanning will be a great actress in the future, it is that scene. I was amazed by the way she was able to completely draw me in, and I had goose bumps when she had finished. I’m telling you the truth when I say that the scenes with the kids were the best scenes in the movie.

The music is also excellent throughout the movie, but it would have been nice if they would have composed a single piece which stood out and would have been remembered. Spielberg always used to work with John Williams on his previous projects, but Michael Giacchino did a terrific job. In case you aren’t familiar with Williams, if you’ve watched Jaws, Indiana Jones, Superman, Star Wars, and even Harry Potter, then you know his music. He was involved with the composition of all of the incredible themes heard throughout those movies. It would have been nice to have him attached to another project, since it’s been a long time since he’s composed a memorable theme.

I haven’t even mentioned the 'mysterious creature 'yet. Hopefully you realized from the commercials that a creature was involved in this movie. Regardless, it doesn’t really give anything away. Throughout the movie, most people are waiting for the creature to be revealed, but the center of attention lies on the kids. You will see when you watch the movie that even though the main plot of the movie involves the alien, you are still focused on the kids and the relationships they deal with. It’s a movie with many different elements, all of which draw you in, and in the end, leave you with a warm feeling as you exit the theater.

8.5/10

Why Dallas must win

Tweet Lets examine this year in the NBA as a whole, starting of course with the decision.  Now, everything that needs to be written about the decision has been written, I will not waste your time by re-hashing it, I will simply skip right into the start of the regular season.  I found that with each night in the NBA, there was something compelling to watch, every game had some interesting sub-plot, or performance worth following.  We wanted to see how a team (Miami) with 2 out of the top 5 players (some may even argue 2 of the top 3) along with a top 25 player would co-exist.  We wanted to see if Phil Jackson could go for an impossible-seeming fourth 3-peat.  We wanted to watch young stars breaking out (Kevin Love 30-30 anyone?) Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Brandon Jennings, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Steph Curry, Monta Ellis and a slew of other exciting players were putting up ridiculous numbers, making every night mean something in the league.  It was the first time, in a long time that every team had something going for them (except Cleveland, which is a whole other story).  It was the first season in over 20 years that games such as Knicks-Celtics or Bulls-Knicks mattered again, all the big market teams were going to make the playoffs, and the league never seemed healthier.
By the time the NBA all-star weekend and trade deadline passed, the general thoughts were that the Bulls, Celtics, Lakers, Heat, Thunder, or Spurs were on the short list to win the NBA title.  Few disagreed with this view.  These were the best teams on paper, had the most stars (old and new) and were playing championship caliber basketball.  Fast-forward to the start of the playoffs. Miami suddenly looked invincible as teams discovered that Wade and James could destroy them as scorers, passers, or defenders.  The Miami team suddenly looked like the juggernaut that everyone expected them to become, and fans everywhere feared that title 1 of 7 was on the way.
If this were a movie the script would be brilliant, picture it:
                                               

***cue the star-wars introduction***

...It is a period of great despair to NBA fans outside Florida

The Evil heat Empire has conquered the Bulls and is on the cusp of greatness

Emperor Pat Riley sits on his throne counting his NBA rings

while loyal servant coach 'Spo' leads the mighty heat onwards

It seems as if nothing can stop this Miami team However,

In a not-so-distant conference, a scrappy challenger to the Heat throne rises

Dirk Nowitzki, leads a group of unlikely heroes into Florida

Though they know the mission is unlikely, they also know that NBA fans everywhere are counting on them...

                                                              ***end of introduction***

Kinda catchy isn't it?

And on that note we get to the Dallas Mavericks.  They have made a habit this year of shocking everyone. No Caron Butler? No problem.  Too old? That's OK. 
This resulted in the unlikeliest of re-matches: Heat Mavs II.  On one side: Lebron, Wade, Bosh and the 'Heatles'.  Throwing a champiionship celebration before a pre-season game was played, arrogantly proclaiming that they would win 7 titles, and carrying themselves as if someone already crowned them.  On the other side: Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks.  Few people remember that Dirk was a free agent last year, lost in the hoopla of the decision was his loyalty to his Mavericks, who (at that time) did not look like getting to the finals.  He understood this.  He knew that if he left, the slim chances Dallas had would be reduced to 0.
So he went to the gym, he worked on his game, and he gave it his all hoping for the best.  Then something happened, and though no one knows how or when it happened, there is no question it did.  Dallas was tough, Dallas played D, and Dallas, most importantly of all: believed.  You can see it in their team huddles, they are united, they play hard, and they never give up.  A group that seems like its going for a 5th title rather than a 1st, they exuberate a quiet confidence which spurs them on.  In the book 'When the Game was Ours' an account of Bird and Magics impact of the NBA, Magic lamented that guys in today's league take things for granted and do not work hard enough.  Reading between the lines, it seems that if players (not just stars but everyone) started to care and busted their asses every day, that the league could return to the glory of the 80's.  There is no better finals match-up to drive that point home.  Hard work, toughness, and the hard path vs. talent, fame, and the easy path.  This is why Dallas must win.  To encourage players to work harder in the future rather than latch on to a winner.  If Dallas wins, there will be proof that if you work hard enough, and believe in your team mates, you can beat anyone.  Best of all, it would be ultimate karmic justice for 06' and for the decision.

Thoughts on the Celebration of Failure in Sports

Tweet I, like many of you (hopefully) reading this article am at work right now and the constant repetitive tasks i am assigned to do bring with them a time to reflect on what is happening in the world today. As I am a die-hard NBA fan, only one thing comes to mind; the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. But more specifically the way that this great series is being discussed in the media, on twitter, Facebook, and among my friends. In today's world of information where immediacy is the most important thing when it comes to reporting on anything, one spin on the NBA Finals and sports in general seems to be the most popular, "Athlete Fails" instead of "Athlete Succeeds" has become the go to story for any sporting event in the last year. After game 4 of the Finals, one in which Dirk (battling a three digit fever and cough) willed his way to a good not great performance to win the game and even the series at 2 games apiece, little was written about Dirk channeling his inner Jordan in the 4th quarter or Dwyane Wade throwing up a 32 point, 6 rebound performance on disgusting ( in a good way) 13/20 shooting. No, rather all the conversation after the game was Lebron's "passive" (Since Wade was feeling it, he was getting most of the ball and therefore taking away from lebrons offensive output. Not making excuses for 'Bron but if Miami had won the game this wouldn't have been as big of a deal) game.

The aftermath of game 4 is just one example of how we as a public crave stories about how world-class athletes fail and not how they succeed. Recently, this is most evident in the team everyone loves to hate (due to a poorly thought out decision by a 26 year old and his childhood friends...if some people say that they've never made a bad decision growing up, they're just lying. Only difference with Lebron and the decision is that it was televised for the world to see) the Miami Heat. People have written about the Miami Heat's failures this year with an almost manic glee as if Chris Bosh shooting 1/17 somehow made their lives better. Although Miami has been the center of this trend to acknowledge the failures and not the accomplishments of athletes, it has not been the only one. To bring it back to the finals, after game 1 where the Heat turned up their much talked about defense in the fourth to shut down Dirk (not really) and the rest of the mavericks (absolutely) people chose to write and talk about the failings of the Mavs' supporting cast and not how the big 3 (or 2.5 depending on how you feel about CB4), Mike Miller (playing with no thumbs), Mike Bibby (he's still playing?!?!?), Juwan Howard (ditto) and the rest of the squad shut down a Mavs team that scored so easily and efficiently on the defending champs that Bynum and Gasol still probably have nightmares of a 5'8 man from Puerto Rico.

I guess what I am trying to figure out (and a better writer would have done it much more eloquently) is why we, as a society enjoy tearing down public figures ( in this case athletes) more than building them up. I won't pretend to tell you when this shift in mentality happened (maybe after the steroids scandal in baseball where we learned that our heroes weren't so squeaky clean as we had imagined them to be) but only that it isn't for the best. I'm not saying to blindly accept everything athletes do and not hold them accountable for the stupid things they do (Plaxico, why do you need a gun in a club, and better question, who wears sweatpants to a club?) but the level at which they are being scrutinized for every little thing they do doesn't feel right. Let me put it this way, when you see the words Michael Jordan you think winning, greatness, shoes, and an inability to keep ones tongue in ones mouth yet Jordan was a compulsive gambler, a terrible teammate (punched lovable announcer Steve Kerr in a practice, Scottie Pippen never really bonded with MJ even though they played and won most of their careers together as evident by his Lebron comments right before the Finals started), and by all accounts from people who've met him, an all-around asshole but because back in the 90's, sports coverage was different, we never hear of Jordan's failures, only of his successes.

In my opinion we do this to make ourselves feel better. After all, no one wants to see LBJ, D-Wade, and CB4 keep winning (side-note: how fast and far did Charlie Sheen drop off?) so easily in life so we try and celebrate their failures because we think that'll make ourselves feel better. But in reality, unless you're a Dallas Mavericks fan or anyone from Cleveland, you shouldn't be cheering for Lebron to fail because him failing at his job wont make yours any more entertaining or wont make that exam you're studying for that much easier or that girl you've been wheeling that more in to you so that's why on Sunday I won't be rooting for Lebron and the Heatles to fail, i'll be cheering for Dirk and the Mavs to succeed. After all, seeing someone win and feeling happy is much better than seeing someone lose and getting a kick out of it.

Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on twitter

The Custodian: An unsung hero

Tweet Think back of when you were in High School for a second.  Most likely you will be reminded of funny moments, terrible teachers, and boring classes.  Not for a second will anybody be reminded of the school custodians, or in more simple terms: the janitors, which is what the word custodian means.  There is a reason for this.  Although they are the first to arrive to the school and last to leave, they do not teach us, and generally are quiet about their business.  Without them however, the school would be a mess, it would be filthy and uncomfortable, and nobody would want to go there.  For this reason custodians are unsung heroes, willing to do stuff no one else will, in order to ensure that things keep moving forward.  Schools are not the only places custodians are found, meet: Brian Cardinal.

Now, if you are reading this blog,  I will assume you are (hopefully) enjoying it, and are a sports and entertainment (see what I did there?) fan.  No doubt you, the reader, knows exactly who Brian Cardinal is, and undoubtedly, a few of you know that his nickname is 'the custodian'.  So why am I comparing real custodians to an NBA player with merely a nickname?  Think about it, there is a reason he has stuck around in the NBA this long, despite never scoring more than 10 points per game, being barely more athletic than his tam's owner, and looking more like a guy who runs your local Burger King than an NBA player.  The reason he has lasted so long in the league is because he is willing to do things others are not (sound familiar?).  Now, he did not win game 5 last night for the Dallas Mavericks over the Miami Heat, but he enabled his team to do so.  His stat line is right out of House league: 10 minutes, 4 points, 1 steal, nothing else.  But in those 10 minutes he managed to cover admirably for the injured Brendan Haywood, although this may not seem significant, just re-watch the clinic Chris Bosh put on Ian Mahinmi. Not only did Cardinal do an acceptable job on covering one of Miami's big 3,but the fact that he was not hurting his team while on the floor meant that Dirk Nowitzki could get the rest he needed in order to close the game.  He set solid screens, drew fouls, and played position defense, none of those are recorded in the box score.  Brian Cardinal did not let himself lose conditioning, or get out of shape when he was playing limited minutes earlier in the playoffs, and now that he is being asked to play, he is showing no fear.  So just like custodians in high school, Cardinal understands that what he does is a necessity, and he is fine with you not noticing.

Thoughts on Thor

Tweet By no means am I a good critic. I am simply an avid moviegoer who is interested and willing to watch all genres of movies. I saw Thor last night (I know, a little late), and I would like to share some of my thoughts on the movie.

Of the two Marvel superhero movies being released this summer (Thor and Captain America), I have to say that my expectations for the former were not as high. I am not a huge fan of fantasy, which is why I didn't enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy as much as most other people. However, I still acknowledge the fact that those three films are excellent. Some may consider Thor to be a sci-fi movie, and I agree, but it does have make-belief elements that are absent in most sci-fi movies, such as Gods, which I personally do not believe in. Regardless, the movie is able to portray these elements and their environments in an artistic and encapturing way. The movie looks beautiful, and even though most critics dislike the 3D effects, I think they made the movie better and more realistic. The style of directing by Kenneth Branagh is very good for a less than experienced director in the superhero genre. The scenes on the worlds of Asgard and Jotunheim are lovely and the CGI is used to near perfection. In terms of the acting, I have to give it up to Chris Hemsworth for the job he did. He isn't very experienced, yet he was able to carry the lead role and deliver a riveting performance. Natalie Portman, in my opinion, was good, but this role was very different from any other role she previously had in her career. As a result, I don't believe her performance was as strong, but she was just as beautiful as ever. I'm kind of a sucker when it comes to Natalie Portman; she has a certain charm about her I can't really explain. The scenes between her and Hemsworth is where I think the movie lacked. It isn't that they did not act out those scenes well, but there was a certain connection missing between the two actors. I'm going to have to mention Spider-man here because it's another superhero movie that had many one on one scenes between Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, yet in those movies (and I'm excluding the third one because it sucked) you can see and feel a connection between those two. I'll admit, Spider-man is a different superhero movie than Thor, but the love scenes do exist in Thor as well. I love romantic intimate scenes by the way (especially when Natalie Portman is in them), but those scenes seemed to have had more meaning and were much stronger in Spider-man than they are in Thor. In comparing Thor to other superhero movies, it is most like Superman: a little bit less realistic and more fantastical. It isn't a bad thing, but I do admit that it makes the more intimate moments a bit harder to film, especially when the two people are from different worlds.

The screenplay was well written, but there were a few cheesy one liners that needn't have been in the movie (On the topic of cheesy one liners, make sure you check out Tron: Legacy if you haven't already; some of them will make you laugh). The supporting actors did their part and delivered solid performances as well. There honestly isn't much I can say negatively about this film; everything was done fairly well.

Thor is the second best film I have seen this year, behind X-Men Origins: First Class. I definitely suggest it for anyone who is a fan of the superhero genre, sci-fi fantasies, or Natalie Portman. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and I think you will too.

8/10

Eminem - Old and New

Tweet I've been listening to Eminem since the Marshall Mathers (MM) LP was released back in 2000. I think it's accurate to say that it was his peak. Even though critics seem to favor the Slim Shady LP over the MM LP, for the majority of Eminem fans, the battle is between the MM LP and the Eminem Show. There is a good argument for both sides, whether it is the quantity of good songs on each album, or the quality of the songs on the album. Regardless, those two albums set the bar so high that Eminem himself hasn't come near it, and probably never will. Encore was a disappointment, and Relapse was ruined by the accent he used throughout the album. Recovery was an attempt to regain credit among critics and his fans, and for the most part, it worked. The album was good, but it should not be compared to the albums which placed him so high up in the music industry. The first reason is that it really just does not measure up to the other albums. The album had numerous good songs, but if you compare it on a song by song basis with the other albums, MM LP and Eminem Show will be the winners. As someone who has listened to Eminem for 11 years, you can trust my opinion when I tell you the old albums are superior to his new one. The second reason that the album is not as good as Eminem's new style. I'm not implying that it is bad. However, if a rapper came into the game with one style and managed to earn the respect and consideration that he did with that style of rap, it may be difficult to argue and say he can create a style that will be better. In the Slim Shady LP and MM LP, Eminem showed through his music and lyrics that he really does not care what others think, and that he is not afraid to speak his mind about controversial topics. This is seen in songs such as Just (and Still) Don't Give a F***, Kill You, and Criminal, among other songs. He looked and acted very immaturely, but that was his charm; it was what made him an icon for his fans and for upcoming musical artists. Eminem's new style is, and this is a fact, somewhat angry. I respect him for pulling through when he overdosed and I am thankful he is alive so he can continue to satisfy his fans. He is a much more serious person for it, and it is shown through his style of rap. Lyrically, Eminem hasn't really fallen by much, but, in my opinion, he is making too many personal songs. Back in his prime, Eminem had many songs in which he expressed his opinions, but he is focusing more on telling people his story in his newer songs. If Eminem can somehow shift back into his old style, less angry, and focus less on personal topics and more on expressing himself, he might just be able to reach that bar he set so high back in 2000. I don't doubt that some people will disagree with some of my opinions about his new style of rap, but the majority of people should agree with me when I say that Eminem's old music was his best. I haven't mentioned Infinite because I personally do not like it as much. I consider some of the songs to be good, but I am not a repeated listener of them. Regardless, I still acknowledge the quality of the songs on that album, and for people who like that style, I am sure they would put that album among his best. For now, Eminem can continue making music in his current style, but I would like to see the old Eminem once again, though I know that it is unlikely, and therefore unfortunate.

I will continue writing posts about Eminem as he continues making music. There will also be a post about who should be considered the best rapper and the reasons for it. In my opinion, Eminem is the greatest, but that's for another time.

Paging: Mavs bench

Tweet I'm not a heat fan.  I'm a Sacramento Kings fan first, foremost, and always.  I should not be cheering for the Dallas Mavericks, but I am.  Partly because I worry that if this heat team tastes winning, that they will be un-stopabble in the future.  Partly because i do not like Miami's heralded big 3, and partly because of my favorite team Sacramento.  What do the Kings have to do with cheering against Miami? A lot.  In 2006 Mavs fans felt the sting of terrible officiating robbing them of a title, as Wade could do whatever he wanted, knowing he was going to get his calls.  Admittedly, from that day I wanted Dallas to win one, knowing that my beloved team was going to be mulling in NBA obscurity for a while, the Mavericks became a team I followed and supported.  The support stems mainly from the fact that in 2002 I watched my favorite team get robbed as well (if you disagree with this, you are either an ignorant Lakers fan, or a 12-year old who thinks Kobe is the best player ever).  Watching Dallas play some inspiring basketball, defying the odds, and reaching the finals with a collection of guys with no rings made me support them that much more.  And after 3 games of the finals, the Mavs bench (a key component in getting them this far) has yet to show up.  So this is a plea to them: SHOW UP!  I don't think I can deal with another year of disappointment, and another reminder of how tough it is (made worse by being robbed) to win an NBA title.

Welcome

Tweet Though I am not a good writer by any means, and this website will probably never see the light of day in terms of internet popularity, Its something Ive been meaning to do, essentially A couple of my friends and I will write about stuff that interests us, and hopefully you as well