Tidbits, biatch.

ILL WIND: I've neglected to inform my loyal readers of Ill Wind developments. Last week, right before I went to see Ben Folds, we played another team that whose average height was over 6 feet. And it was another physical game. We led through most of the first half, I can't tell you why other than more of our shots seemed to go in than theirs did. But a couple of minutes before the end of the half, Winston twisted and sprained his ankle. It swelled up to disturbing proporations in a matter of moments. So there we are without our tallest player and top scorer for the rest of the game. Right after I subbed in for Winston at center, Jason was defending a player on the perimeter and gets an elbow to the chin. He goes down, in obvious pain, and needs to be subbed out (Note: somehow, Jason got called for the foul on the play.) Luckily, Mike was there that night and we managed the second half with only 5 unhurt players. The game was tight, it came down to gutsy plays and foul shots. I was able to get one coast to coast layup while getting fouled which made me pump my fist in the air. Of course I missed the foul shot but it didn't matter. We squeaked by and won by 2 despite the agonizing amount of fouls called in the last minute, both teams were well into double-bonus by that point. Winston had his foot elevated after the game and there was talk of hospitals. Jason also seemed to have punctured his lower lip with his tooth as a result of being hit in the face. I guess he got called for the foul because he headbutted the guy with his chin. Yeah, that makes sense. Ill Wind is now 2-2, but there has been no word if our players will survive to play tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next heart-breakingly exciting Ill Wind update.

STAND UP: I don't think I've ever mentioned it on here but I have been attempting to be a stand-up comic here in NYC. After taking a class with my mic-mate, the illustrious J-Date, I've performed at Caroline's twice. I've got another gig there coming up on May 25th, my first Wednesday show. J-Date and I are both going on at 7pm. Before that I have another gig at Gotham Comedy Club on the 13th of May, a FRIDAY! It's a 6:30pm show but whatever, it will be good. I really need to write some new stuff and go to some open-mics. The stand up scene here is all about stagetime. It's about getting as many minutes up there in front of people as is humanly possible so you test out what works and what doesn't. It's also about longevity. "I've been doing this for 15 years," demands instant respect over someone who is just starting out. But if you ask me, if you've been doing it for 15 years and you're going to the same open-mics as me, there might be a problem. You might not be funny. I don't have that problem. I know i'm not funny.

HHGTTG: Douglas Adams was a genius. The books/radio show he created are nothing short of hilarious, and even insightful. The recent movie, which I was very excited to see since I knew that Adams had written a version of the screenplay, bears little to no resemblance to the original. I realize that changes to story or character details need to happen in any adaptation, Adams himself was famous for changing his concept from radio script to books and so forth. But what we have in the film released on Friday is a complete change of tone. HHGTTG has a dry, sarcastic, British wit. The movie is an unfunny action sci-fi film about the importance of experiencing new things in order to impress women (I'm not joking.) Here's in short some good and points about the adaptation.

• I liked a short bit about how Arthur Dent met Ford Prefect by saving his life from a speeding car with which Ford was attempting to shake hands.
• I hated that no mention was made to Ford having a last name at all, probably because the joke of England having so many of a certain model of car in 1980 (the Ford Prefect) that he was so named to fit in with the dominant lifeform on Earth. In the movie, he is just called Ford, which seems like a cheap fix.
• I liked Slartibartfast played by Bill Nighy. He got the nervous Britishman who had the unfortunate name down. A rarely subtle performance in this movie.
• I hated that he ends the film (SPOILER) by finishing a newly constucted Earth and presenting it to Arthur Dent.
• I liked Zaphod Beeblebrox's costume.
• I hated Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox. Zaphod was supposed to be an egotistical asshole, but to play him as an American cowboy with no intelligence or wit was a bad choice. SPOILER(FOR THOSE WHO WOULD EVEN CARE) To make matters worse, Zaphod gets his 2nd head cut off and he must play half the movie as an imbecile. Which wasn't that much off from the performance to begin with. I like Rockwell in nearly everything i've seen him in, but either he or the directors totally screwed up with this one.

There is so much more that bothers me about the movie, perhaps I will post more but I'd rather just forget the whole thing if that's all right with you.

If you read the books or like Douglas Adams (who luckily died before this movie came out) at all, avoid this movie. If you like your intelligence or you like to laugh, avoid this movie. If you like agreeing with me wholeheartedly on this blog, see the film and post comments why you hated it too.