A Few Quick Thoughts

Ok, since I have gone five days since posting, and some people have been complaining (well, ok, two people-- shout to Jake and Rosie!). But, I ask you, how would I know that anyone is reading if no one leaves any comments? Hmm? Hmm?

Anyway, I figured I'd just post a few quick thoughts on a few things right now, while I have some bigger and more substantial post ideas floating around my head, perculating.

- I've seen two movies the past two weekends: The Ring 2 and Be Cool. Let me say this: Be Cool got ragged on by alot of critics, but it sure was better than the second installment of The Ring (although that might not be saying much). Be Cool won't be confused with a great film, and it probably isn't better than Get Shorty. However, it's a fun movie to watch, it entertains you. Chili Palmer is a great character, and while he doesn't really change much from the first film to the second, it's still fun to visit with him. And hey, you can't really front on a movie with features Uma Thurman, Christina Milian, and Fergie from Black Eyed Peas all looking extremely sexy.

All of which is more than can be said for The Ring 2. I'll be honest-- the first one scared the Hell out of me. I can still vividly remember coming back to my girlfriend's apartment after seeing that in the theater and being afraid to turn on the TV. Me and her made a vow never to watch that movie again, because it definitely had us rattled. So I was a little apprehensive about seeing The Ring 2...

But it never scared me. Not even for a second. I don't know, maybe the magic from the first one disappeared, maybe since the first one and all it's imitations (especially with other Japanese horror flicks like The Grudge coming in mining much of the same tricks), I've grown accustomed to it (although I usually don't like horror flicks). But it just never ever hooked me. The whole movie I was waiting to be surprised, waiting to jump out of my seat, but it never happened. I even sat there and predicted it.

Hopefully, both of those movies will pale in comparison with Sin City. I don't think I've been this hype for a movie since the first Kill Bill dropped. Ever since I saw a Jessica Alba preview poster for the movie, I've been waiting for this. I used to read the comics (I even once got Frank Millers autograph-- I'm a dork), so I was already interested. Combine that with the cast they assembled, and now you see the trailer-- I'm hype. I'll be seeing it next Friday.

Well, there goes a longer than expected movie rant...

-- I've also been downloading a lot of dope ass music lately. Since Soulseek finally fixed their searching problems, I've been on a downloading spree. Some of it is stuff from last year I'm still getting around to checking out or bands I'm just discovering, some of it is stuff that is either just dropping or about to drop in the coming weeks. I haven't had time to digest it all yet, so complete indepth reviews will be forthcoming. However, I will say that right now I'm digging the dance rock grooves of VHS or Beta, the quirky rhythms of M.I.A., Chuck D's collaboration with Z-Trip, "Shock And Awe," chill out from Ivy and the Doves, and lots of other good stuff. As I said, further reviews should be forthcoming.

Speaking of forthcoming reviews, I'm planning on putting up my review of what I think might be the best album I've heard so early in 2005, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm.

So there ya go... gnash on that for a lil' while, and holler at the kid in the comments section.

Welcome To The Terror Dome

So, tonight I had my first fantasy baseball draft. At first, when I noticed the date of the draft, I thought that was kinda early in the year to be having a baseball draft. I mean, I guess I realized that baseball season was two weeks away-- Hell, I certainly knew the Mets home opener at Shea was in three weeks, as they open on my birthday and I will be in attendance-- but the "Oh my God, baseball is almost here, thank God!" feeling didn't hit me until tonight. It's funny when you consider that I've been looking forward to Shea Opening Day since my buddy told me he got me a ticket, but it's stranger when you consider that I've been really looking forward to this season since January 12.

See, that's the day that we got Carlos Beltran. That's the day Omar Minaya knocked me on my ass. He practically slapped me upside the head for even thinking the notion that being a Mets fan was bordering on hopeless, especially when compared with the Yankees and their godawful fans. With the signing of Beltran, Minaya began repaying the debt the Mets (and more specifically, Fred Wilpon) owed to their fans.

It wasn't just the losing. It wasn't dealing with seemingly millions of Yankee fans on a daily basis, complaining about A-Rod only hitting .230 with runners in scoring position while blissfully sailing towards another AL East crown while I watched John Franco, Mike Stanton, and other assorted "relief" pitchers blow game after game. It was the culture of ineptitude that had started to grow and multiply around the Mets as a franchise, something which frightened any true Met fan.

It was the bungling of the entire A-Rod negotiations, only to learn in Sports Illustrated that Texas didn't even make an offer to A-Rod until the Mets publicly declared themselves out of it, because everyone assumed that A-Rod wanted to be and was going to be a Met. It was reading in the same SI article that A-Rod himself figured he'd be a Met that November. But somehow, Steve Phillips couldn't get it done...

It was the half hearted courting of Vladimir Guerrero, which only served to get fans expectations up only to crush them once again. It was over paying for Tom Glavine. It was trading Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano (Rick Peterson, I love you, but when exactly are you on the clock for those '10 minutes' it'll take to fix good ol' Vic there?). It was the general feeling that no one in Flushing knew what the fuck they were doing.

Initially, I thought that Omar Minaya had just continued the trend. Initially, I didn't like the signing of Pedro Martinez. Too much money and too many guaranteed years, I said. But I didn't realize at the time that Minaya was just taking the first step toward s banishing that culture of ineptitude that had sprouted at Shea.

January 12 changed all that. When Beltran walked to the stage at that 11 o'clock press conference, Minaya firmly declared that the days of not knowing whos in charge or what the Hell is going on are over. And just to further ram that point home, Minaya deliberately scheduled the press conference three hours before the Yankees official introduction of Randy Johnson, seemingly only to pique Steinbrenner and Yankee fans. It didn't take a genius to realize that Minaya was jabbing at the long held assumption that Beltran's monsterous NLCS was simply a final audition before donning pinstripes. The premier free agent on the market was being introduced to New York. Yet it was in Queens, not the Bronx.

Think about that for a second. All throughout the year, when you heard about Beltran, where was he supposed to land? In the Bronx, replacing Bernie Williams. Aside from the Red Sox, where was Pedro going to land? In the Bronx as well. But that's not how it went down. The premier free agent position player and the premier free agent pitcher both signed with the Mets. Not only did the Mets come away with the two biggest prizes of free agency, but they went in and swiped them away from the Yankees.

I immediately went out and dropped $250 at the Mets clubhouse store on an authentic Beltran # 15 jersey. And it wasn't so much out of respect for Beltran as it was for Minaya. I will (hopefully) enjoy Beltran running down balls in the center field gap and blasting game winning home runs for the next seven years. Hopefully he will not turn out to be Bobby Bonilla, or Roberto Alomar. But in dropping that money, in wearing that jersey, I am more thanking Omar Minaya. For giving me hope.

Now, I'm not completely drinking the Kool-Aid. Do I think the Mets can win? Honestly, probably not. Trachsel's injury certainly doesn't help, although plugging Kaz Ishii in at the #5 spot is not that bad (especially at the low cost of Jason Phillips). But who knows what Kris Benson shows up (or what his wife will do). And who knows if Victor Zambrano will throw the ball in the strike zone, let alone win some ball games. Can the bullpen protect the leads that Beltran, Piazza, et al. hand to them, when Pedro leaves after six innings? Can Reyes stay healthy? Can Kaz make the adjustment to second and follow his countryman Hideki Matsui's path of rapid improvement in his second year in the majors? Can David Wright continue maturing into Scott Rolen?
That's too many questions, especially in the NL East. The Braves get Hudson and Smoltz in the rotation. The Phillies have a ton of talent on paper and no Larry Bowa being a psycho. The Marlins might mash people to death with the addition of Delgado. Even the Nationals have a little spunk.

But do I have hope? Yeah, I do. Maybe not to win the East or the Wild Card. But I do have hope in the way things are going. I do have hope in the kids-- Reyes, Wright. I would have enjoyed watching Scott Kazmir develop, but I'm very excited about Philip Humber. To play some meaningful games down the stretch in August. To get on a run in June and watch Pedro throw a gem at Shea. To see Beltan jump over the center field wall and steal a homerun, and hear Shea Stadium explode on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. To take the season series from the Yankees again.

I'm just happy that I honestly can be hopeful again. Let's play ball!


Shout out to my grandfather...

You Know Me, I Don't Need No Introduction And Shit... (Actually, I Probably Do)

Hi there! My name is Daniel Alper, and by some chance you have stumbled into my brain, a place where I hop to carve my own little niche within the cavernous Internet. The creation of this blog was inspired by the fact that, now that I am out of college, I have no place to put alot of my thoughts, however fully formed they may be. Hopefully, Mental Sword Fighting can be that place. Inspiration propers must also be handed out to my dear friend Maya, who finally inspired me to stop talking about making a blog and actually do it, when I wrote her a (rather hiliarious) email. She noted that she thought that I had some talent at this writing thing, and lamented that she didn't write anymore. I joined her in these lamentations, until the voice in the back of my mind cried out "Idiot, why don't you start that blog you're always talking about?" Thus, here I am, finally getting off my ass and doing something. And hey, you never know, maybe more people than just my parents and my friends will read my little ramblings, and my thoughts/ideas/insanity will spread around the Internet, and I can influence someone or something and maybe even get a job. Who knows, maybe some Rolling Stone editor will stumble on to this web site and scream "Eureka! I've found the next Hunter S. Thompson!" I doubt it, but ya never know with this Internet thing...

I hope to cover a little bit of everything-- you may get insights into my life, ramblings of my mind, reviews of CDs or movies, political diatribes... whatever happens to float through my head. I had hoped to start this blog, oh... four months ago, in time to post my list of the Best Albums of 2004, but obviously, that didn't happen. Nevertheless, I press on. I hope to soon learn a little bit more about web publishing, so that I can make this site nice and snazzy looking, with comments, blog roll where I can shout out my favorite sites, and other dope shit. All in due time, friends, all in due time...

So anyway, thanks for coming, and I hope that you bookmark my site and return. I can't promise anything, but I think you'll enjoy what tumbles forth from my mind. If anything, it should make you think for only a moment, and yes, perhaps even engage in a little mental sword fighting of your own, with whomever it is you do such things...