Atonement: A Movie Review

Having read the novel Atonement by Ian McEwan last year, I was eager to drag my poor hubby to the movie, though Keira Knightly was in it, so at least he had some eye candy (although she's suddenly skinny as a pencil, which is kind of unattractive to my hubby - much to my advantage).

I'm quickly becoming a pseudo connoisseur of books turned to movies (just because of my frequent reading/watching of them) and was pleasantly surprised by how well the movie followed the book (this rarely happens). The actors were well picked for the characters and the plot followed the book to a T. I felt that movie was extremely well done and the acting was great. I was impressed by the way the director, Joe Wright, incorporated a historical relevance into the movie because although the book didn't necessary give a historical relevance to the book specifically, the setting of the novel during WWI was a huge part of the novel and I felt that the historical relevance was naturally incorporated into the novel. Wright does so in the movie with class and in a manner fitting to the feel and theme of the movie. The movie was moving and powerful with a good pace and absolutely perfect editing. It's been a while since a book turned to movie (or just any movie out in the theaters recently) has been this satisfying and impressive to me.

Hopefully the Coen Brothers do as well with No Country for Old Men, which I'm planning on watching next weekend - as long as my hubby finishes the book by then...

No Country for Old Men: A Review

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy was my first McCarthy experience. I actually own All the Pretty Horses but had never gotten around to reading it. With the movie out for No Country for Old Men I was finally motivated enough to read my first McCarthy novel and finally found out what all the fuss was about!

No Country for Old Men is a modern day western story. Partly told from the point of view of an aging Sheriff, the book is not only about the actions of the story, but about how it relates to the direction our world is going. The Sheriff seems to waiver between having hope and being hopeless about our world, and his narrative sprinkled through out the book add a deeper context to the story.

McCarthy's writing is to die for, literally (at least in the novel, literally!) He brings simplistic writing to a whole new level. His writing is amazingly descriptive, but the truly amazing part about it is that he barely goes into detail about anything at all! He's a master of describing a scene or a situation by the way a character says something or by their body movement. His subtly is extremely well calculated and well thought out, and something that I personally strive for as a writer. Of course I tend to over-describe (if you couldn't tell). His writing is so articulate and well thought out that I read somewhere that the action in the movie is literally taken from the book, word-for-word, which is usually very difficult to do when turning a book into a movie because of how much descriptions of action is left out or glassed over. McCarthy not only describes nearly every action, he does so with simplicity and clarity. The book is fast paced, suspenseful and an extremely satisfying read. And at the same time it goes much deeper than that, it is a well written literary novel that ultimately connects the story to a much larger and meaningful picture. In every way that I believe McCarthy could strive for, I believe that this novel was a success. I'm pushing my husband to finish the book by the end of this week so we can see the movie this weekend!

5*

The Sandman - The Doll's House: A Review

The second TPB for The Sandman by Neil Gaiman series is called The Doll's House. The story centers around a woman named Rose who also happens to be a "vortex." The book is as dark and twisted as the first one, and illuminates many sides of humanity both truthful and horrifying. The art in this series is more vivid and brighter than in the first TPB, but still carries that horrifying feeling with it. As I said with the first book, this is not a book I'd like to read before going to bed! It was absolutely thrilling and once again a master plot written by Neil Gaiman. A must read for anyone who liked the first TPB or for anyone who loves a twisted, horror story. Gaiman's not afraid to lay it all out there for the readers and this series is not for the weak stomached.

5*

Snow and Stuff.

Today was the first snow fall at my new home of Raleigh, NC! My hubby, having grown up in the Midwest and thinking this snow is no big deal, is out braving the crazy roads in order to run some errands. Let's hope the roads aren't as crazy bad as all the North Carolinians make them out to be!! Especially because I was dead set on watching Atonement tonight...

Today feels like a lazy, stay in cuddly day, and that's pretty much what I've been doing all day. I'm about to clean up a little around here, but I also hope to finish (or at least nearly finish) No Country for Old Men so that my hubby can read it next and then we can see the movie next weekend. No Country for Old Men is definitely a "guys" book, but as I am, as are many cool ass women, a tomboy at heart, I love it. It's written with amazing simplicity that I'm insanely jealous over and the action is so well written that I've heard the movie pretty much takes the action scenes word for word straight from the book, which is extremely rare and hard to do when turning a book to movie!! I really think my hubby will love the book, I'm excited for him to read it...

A couple of links for those feeling the adventurous bug. This is the non-profit that I traveled to Africa with. They are a really great non-profit that are good at making the relationships and equal interactions between Americans and the Ugandans the lynch pin of their program. Please share these links with anyone whom you think would be interested:

International Art Academy Immersion
More Than A Game! Sports for Social Change Immersion

Snuggles, everyone!

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: A Review

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a great novel for anybody working in the mental health field to read. It takes place during the 60s mental health era, where shock treatments and lobotomies were generally accepted practices. In a book that was extremely well written and creative, it was disturbing for a mental health worker (like myself) to read. The mental health field is constantly changing and growing, and the newest perspective has moved from the "Case Management" perspective to what is called "Community Support." The emphasis on people learning to help themselves rather than having workers take care of people like they're helpless children. And inflicting shock treatments and lobotomies against people's wills is just flat out creepy.

I felt that the plot was a little slow as the plot wasn't necessarily the point of the novel, but rather the vehicle to illuminate the mental hospital and the characters involved. But it picked up near the end and the ending was inevitable. The characters, especially the narrator, Chief, were unforgettable and the story is sad on many different levels.

I also watched the movie. I liked it but felt that the book was much more powerful and effective in describing the feel of the mental institution. The way that Chief described the fog (of being on medication) and the Combine (the machinery of the government and society trying to control you) was brilliant in the book and definitely was lost in the movie. But it did pretty well overall reproducing the book, and it's unfortunate that over a legal dispute Kesey never watched the film. As if writers don't get screwed enough, stupid companies screwing them out of the movie earnings!! I mean, don't they know 95% of writers are poor as shit? At least if all they do is write and don't have another job too (which most now-a-days have to).

4*

Phew?

So I'm tentatively releasing some of the that breath I've been holding in this past month as I'm easing out of the busiest Holiday Season of my life. Work was just crazy, and again I'll have to work this weekend on paperwork (I'm hoping that this will be the last weekend I'll have to do this for a while) and of course family coming and going from my house and driving down the Charlotte to see some family has taken its toll on me. This weekend is the first weekend with no family at my home and no traveling for me! Phew!

Things I learned this Holiday Season, Rock Band on XBox 360 brings the family together, which quickly leads me to the highlight of my Holiday Season, which was getting my mom to play Rock Band and her actually enjoying it! I also learned that sometimes it's just easier to accept an HD DVD player even when you don't have an HD TV from my mom rather than stirring up the pot of controversy by thinking of returning it (eesh, that was just a headache conversation with Mom). I also learned that some of my family members read my blog and take some things I write too literally (Don't worry folks, I'm not broke! Just one month of a paycheck mix up!) and also spread it like wild fire amongst my loving family members. No wonder my aunt was constantly asking if I was okay. She's a sweetie.

It was great to see my family and I really loved it, especially my cousin whom I rarely see since he's out in California. I also really love my job even though it's been crazy busy, it should be getting better since we've got a new girl on my team now (a big Phew there) and I'm just completely in love with some of my kids. It's so hard to not take some of them home with me!! Especially the ones that I feel like I have connected with and who I feel like I can actually make an impact with. Did I mention one of my younger kids gave me a big hug (totally initiated by him) right before the holidays because we wouldn't be seeing each other for about a week? Yeah, I almost cried, it was the sweetest thing!

Glad to be back.

Read in 2007

Alright, so here's my master list of the books I read in 2007. All should be reviewed except for Stardust, which I really enjoyed and found a nice light airy kind of fairy tale for adults (there, that counts as my review, sorry, life's been crazy busy as of late!) I wish I had read more books, I definitely got caught up in the craziness that is life and slacked in the reading recently, but things are calmed down and I have substantially added to my ridiculous TBR pile with books from Christmas so I'm diving back into the wonderful world of the written word!

In 2007 I read 29 books which is roughly 2.41 books per month. That's pathetic! I'll blame moving and starting a new job for that. I'll aim for at the very least 3 books per month this year (which is about 36 books) but I want to hit a total of 40 books this year. I got my reading cut out for me, no more vegging in front of the TV! Well, except for Project Runway of course!

Stardust : Neil Gaiman : 4*

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Long Way Home : Joss Whedon & Georges Jeanty : 5*

30 Days of Night : Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith : 4*

Fray : Joss Whedon : 5*

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven : Sherman Alexie : 5*

Atonement : Ian McEwan : 4*

The Collected Short Stories of Amy Hempel : Amy Hempel : 4*

The Sandman - Preludes & Nocturnes : Neil Gaiman : 5*

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh : Michael Chabon : 5*

Reread : The Last Vampire : Christopher Pike : 3*

Tales of the Slayers : Joss Whedon : 5*

The Amber Spyglass : Philip Pullman : 5*

The Subtle Knife : Philip Pullman : 5*

The Golden Compass : Philip Pullman : 5*

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows : J.K. Rowling : 4*

Watchmen : Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons : 5*

Then We Came to the End : Joshua Ferris : 5*

Reread : The Shipping News : E Annie Proulx : 4*

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns : Frank Miller : 5*

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer : Patrick Suskind : 2*

Hotel World : Ali Smith : 4*

The Night Watch : Sarah Waters : 4*

Schindler's List : Thomas Keneally : 4*

Girl With a Pearl Earring : Tracy Chevalier : 5*

The Sportswriter : Richard Ford : 3*

Suite Francaise : Irene Nemirovsky : 5*

Notes on a Scandal : Zoe Heller : 5*

The Cleaner : Brett Battles : 4*

Crime and Punishment : Dostoevsky : 5*

That's My Boy!

I'm mostly posting this for the last two/three minutes of the video where my boy does a rap for the environment, but it actually is a really great and educational video and well worth your time:

I'm so proud of my boy Abramz, he's saving the world in just Sooo many ways! He rocks! He's currently tops on my list for living heroes.

Women And Peace.

Involving women in the peace building process of any country recovering from war has been an interest of mine for a couple of years now, since I started to more seriously research the psychological effects of war on children. This interest was further explored by me during my trip to Uganda, where it was often a topic of discussion as the Juba Peace Talks were beginning their long journey to which the finish is still not in sight. This is a topic that I would like to further explore eventually through my work and definitely through keeping up on readings, which brought this speech to my attention. Presented by Donald Steinberg, Vice President, International Crisis Group, to UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Townhall Meeting on December 6, 2007, this speech is called "Beyond Victimhood: Involving Women in Peace Operations."

The first sentence that caught my attention was: It took me only a few weeks after my arrival in Luanda to realise that a peace agreement that is “gender-neutral” is, by definition, discriminatory against women. This sentence struck me because it just highlights how patriarchal most countries and cultures still are. Steinberg goes on to discuss how he discovered this fact when councils and meetings that were open to both sexes ended up being attended only by men. The reasons why this was so were not explicitly explored by Steinberg, but it's easy to give the reasons if you've have any knowledge on cultural structures in Africa. Most women are expected to care for the children and run the family. Leaving the home for any reason is often strictly forbidden, as in many countries women are not even allowed to work. To leave the family to attend a meeting is completely out of the question for many women, and so in making the peace agreement what Steinberg considered "gender-neutral" (because there were no genders identified in the document) was actually not gender-neutral because it was written by men and in the context of a man's world. Men attend meetings away from home, at least in the cultures we're speaking of, not often women. In order to be completely inclusive of both sexes, keeping women's lifestyles and responsibilities in mind mind is essential. Instead of having a town-hall-type-meeting, could they instead go into the villages and take the effort to walk from home to home to discuss the issues with the women? Maybe even have small gatherings at a couple of different homes where the women can bring their children. These are the considerations necessary in a world that is still rigidly defined by gender roles.

The next sentence that I was jumping out of my chair saying, "Yes! Yes! Why didn't I think of putting it that way?" was: Given the prominence of sexual abuse during the conflict, including rape as a weapon of war, amnesties meant that men with guns forgave other men with guns for crimes committed against women. I seriously got goosebumps with that sentence because it's something that happens in so many post-conflict situations and is a serious injustice to the Actual victims of the wars. Women and children are used as weapons in many wars, through rape or use of child soldiers, and yet they are ignored in the peace building processes. It's infuriating at the very least and completely unjust.

Steinberg outlines the current challenges facing women in the peace building process as:

• Courageous and talented women trying to help build peace around the world still face discrimination in legal, cultural and traditional practices.
• We have been unable to expand the scale of outstanding conflict resolution done by women’s organisations at local levels and extend them writ large throughout their countries.
• Sexual violence and threats against women in power impose a stigma of victimisation and a real danger that makes even the most impressive and courageous women think twice before stepping forward.
• Men leading peace conferences still exclude women or shunt them off to ante-rooms while “real” negotiations take place.

Steinberg outlines some good issues that are keeping women sidelined in many peace building processes, and he continues the article by offering some proposals on how to further correct this problem. Some of the proposals are more vague than others, but I particularly liked the one about rebuilding social structures of particular importance to women, because if you know anything about women in many high conflict areas is that they do not care about social change if they can't feed and take care of their children. Helping women meet their basic needs gives them the freedom to join the more social causes and the peace building process.

Overall I felt that Steinberg made some strong points about involving women in the peace building process. I wished the article went more in depth, but any focus or discussion on this topic is strongly encouraged and appreciated by me! Focusing on women's special needs in post-conflict nations is still a fairly young concept that is gaining more traction as of late and something that someday I hope to contribute to.

I'll leave you with a quote that one of my co-workers shared with me today... now she shared it with me verbally so she wasn't even sure she got it right and she couldn't remember who said it, so it might be slightly off, but you'll get the point (by the way, if you know the complete quote or who said it, please leave a comment with the info):

If we raised our children we wouldn't have to heal our adults.

Asian Fun's Favorite Christmas Gift.

ENVIROSAX - reusable shopping bags that are spreading the environmental message with style. Driven by a desire for freedom, the designers at Envirosax® will have you considering, pondering and re-thinking shopping as you know it.

Basically, these are cute reusable shopping bags! Before all you could find were those canvas, rough looking hippy dippy reusable shopping bags. Now you can be environmentally sound and stylish! I'm all about reusable shopping bags and these were just too cute to pass up. You can buy the bags separately or buy a set in the graphic series (pictured here), or you can go even more environmental and buy bamboo, hemp or linen bags (all with adorable designs as well) in the organic series!

I think these bags are the perfect gift not only because you're encouraging a friend, family member or co-worker to be environmentally sound, but also they're pretty cute and kick ass. They have styles for everyone and are seriously cool. I gifted myself with some while I was buying some for my friend and cousin! Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, after all, I'm saving the Earth, right?

The Golden Compass: A Movie Review

The day it opened, I grabbed my trusty hubby and dragged him to The Golden Compass. I was so excited for this movie, I was twittering the whole day to see it. I settled into my movie theater seat with my snuck in candy and anticipated the Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter book turned to movie, thrilling big fantasy experience. And then I waited. And kept waiting.

While the acting was great, the movie fell flat. And it wasn't just me, who had read and adored the books, but my hubby too, who usually loves the fantasy kid book movies. The flow of the movie was rough, almost like the editing for the movie wasn't finished, and the story seemed to be sped through with little development. The characters also weren't developed in a natural way, and in the end I was just left with disappointment at what the movie could have been... an epic movie of huge proportions much like The Lord of the Rings trilogy had been. Instead it ended up being no better than the cartoon recreation of The Lord of the Rings that I had watched as a child. Recreating the story in a very linear and flat fashion without adding anything to it, and in fact even detracting from it.

And don't even get me started on the corny Disney-ish fairytale music. The book was edgy and harsh, shining light on the ugly sides of human nature and the dangers of an Authoritarian entity running people's lives. The Disney-ish fairytale music completely contrasted the plot and the tone of the book, as if attempting to make the story something it's not. There never was this huge sense of foreboding that the book had, and I really disliked the narrator explaining dust at the beginning of the movie. Part of the enjoyment of reading the book was learning about it as Lyra did and trying to figure it out almost like a mystery. Why did the movie just ruin that for the viewers?

Overall, the movie was a huge disappointment and while I'll probably watch the next one to see if it's any better, I'll go in with much lower expectations then I went to The Golden Compass with.

Everything Rests On This...

...Oh wait, no it doesn't! Hype hype hype. I won't deny that this is a big game for the Steelers, it was a big game on our schedule from Week 1 because the Patriots are always a tough team for us to play not matter how either of our seasons are going, just like the Jags are (who we're facing next week). But if we lose, I'm pretty confident we'll still win our division and get to the Playoffs. And isn't that the whole point? When we last won the Super Bowl we had an embarrassing loss to the Colts during regular season and then proceeded to dominate them (despite the close/crazy ending of the game) in the Playoffs. So a loss today does not crown the Patriots as the Super Bowl winners of the 2007 season at all, like the media and the bandwagoners would surely do if the Patriots win. And I definitely would not go so far as to say that if the Patriots win today that they will for sure go undefeated this season. After all, wasn't it the 1-6 Miami Dolphins who beat the at the time unbeaten Chicago Bears in Week 9 last year? You never know who's going to pop up and bite you in the butt in this league and I wouldn't be surprised if the lowly Jets or the other New York team... or even those sneaky Dolphins come up and surprise us all. Sure, it's a long shot, but isn't the sixth seed of the Playoffs winning the Super Bowl a long shot too?

That being said, I want to kick the crap out of the New England Patriots. But if we lose, my life isn't over and neither is the Steelers' season. I'd rather lose to an undefeated Patriots to than to the lowly N.Y. Jets after all...

On the other side of the league it's actually true that everything rests on the game today for the Minnesota Vikings, but that's just because every game for the Vikes is now essential for us to make the Playoffs. There's a possibility that if we lose one game that we could still make it, but we'd need a lot of help from other teams in order to do so. But if we win out, we're in. Our destiny's in our own hands and everybody's calling us to make the Playoffs with the sixth seed. So what do the Vikings usually do when our destiny's in our own hands? Fumble it. Let's hope this is a different Vikings team this year and that we pull it out in the end and make the Playoffs for the first time since 2004. I'm tentatively excited about the Vikings right now...

Quotes of the Day.

We Americans live in a nation where the medical-care system is second to none in the world, unless you count maybe 25 or 30 little scuzzball countries like Scotland that we could vaporize in seconds if we felt like it.
- Dave Barry

If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known.
- George C. Marshall

Turkey Break!

I will be taking a short (week long) break from blogging due to mass amounts of turkey consumption...

...and I'm still recovering from the depression of the Purple Jesus injury and the Steelers losing to the Jets.

The JETS?!?!? Really, guys?? WTF?

But I'm not a completely bad blogger, here for your entertainment while I'm away is the best Big Ben video game Ever... actually, it might be the only Big Ben video game, but yeah, it rocks. Thanks to Mondesi's House for the link and thanks to Doubt About It for making the video game. Hours of entertainment right here baby!

Cross Country Girls Are Tough Cookies!

I mean, just look at me! Yes, I ran cross country in high school, couldn't you tell by my hardiness?

Thanks to The Big Lead for this vid:

This is rather tremendous, and the unidentified girl may have a chance to enjoy 15 minutes of fame once her name becomes public: at about the 1:39 mark of this clip, you’ll notice a blonde Berkshire (Ohio) high school runner approaching the finish line at the State cross country meet recently. She takes a bad step and, according to the person who sent us this clip, broke her tibia and fibula. She crumbles to a heap on the ground, crawls for a bit and then pops back up in an attempt to reach the finish line. Only she collapses again (that fall is particularly cringe-worthy). At this point, she decides to crawl on her hands and knees for about the final eight yards to the finish line. Spectacular work, unidentified female. And kudos to our tipster for video.

Update: Through the power of the internet … we have more information. Fanhouse dug around and found out the girl’s name is Claire Markwardt (she’ll be getting a call from Matt Lauer any minute now), and she was supposed to be the maid of honor at her sister’s wedding that night.

The Vagina Monologues.

So I randomly bought the October issue of SELF magazine right before I went to Denver. I say randomly because I don't buy magazines ever and I've never read SELF. But this SELF issue had a huge piece on Breast Cancer, which I was really interested in, and had an article on Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy so of course I was all about that.

Now I don't read magazines much and so I'm just getting to the end of this issue when I find an article on women having cosmetic surgery on their genitals!! From injecting the mythical (and unproven) G-Spot with liquid similar to the lip injections (collagen) to make it more "plump" and sensitive (for about $1,850) to cosmetic labia reshaping, vaginal tightening, liposuction of the mons pubis and reduction of the skin around the clitoris, apparently this is all the rage now.

Here's a testimony from the article on the G-Spot injection:

"It's like having a mini-heartbeat in my crotch," she explains, a sensation that arouses her even during yoga and Spinning classes, or when she drives along bumpy roads. During sex, Staltare says, she has volcanic, multiple orgasms "like huge waves that keep lifting me higher and higher."

When confronted about the fact that it has not been scientifically proven that the "G-Spot" has any sexual powers, Dr. Matlock (from the E! channel show Dr. 90210 who routinely performs these sorts of procedures) asks "Does God exist?" You can hear the sound, scientific reasoning behind that response...

I can understand why a women would do the G-Spot injection if she was struggling to have an orgasm, I've known girls who have gotten their clitoris pierced for the same reason, but the price tag for the inject (which usually wears off in about four months) is a little steep to me, especially since you know insurance would never cover it.

But it's the vagina reshaping surgery that really baffles me. One young college student who had labia reshaping surgery states:

"I've never wanted my boobs done or any kind of plastic surgery, but my labia made me very uncomfortable."

The self-consciousness started, she says, when she noticed that her labia minora was longer than those of other girls. And then, of course, a boyfriend of hers made her aware of the labia reshaping surgery when she confided her labia insecurities to him. First of all, how the heck did she notice other girls' labia? I played a sport in high school (well, ran cross country), gone to the gym, changed in front of numerous girlfriends, even showered with a girlfriend once in a time pinch (and in a rather large shower, so don't get any ideas!), and I have not Once seen another girl's vagina or noticed her labia. The surgery for this girl deformed her labia more since they just sliced it and she was left with a whole lot of bleeding and with the labia unevenly cut at an angle. She ended up having to pay for more surgery to reconstruct her labia totaling her costs to nearly $14,000 out of pocket.

I'm completely aghast at this obsession for the "perfect vagina." I'm already quite disdained at the country's obsession with perfection and beauty, but this is literally taking it too far. Who decides what a "sexy" vagina looks like? The article states that doctors have treated patients for labia reshaping from the ages of 14 to 60! I personally think it should be consider neglect for parents to let their child get this surgery. A doctor states that he is helping these people because they're so self conscious that they won't wear a bathing suit at the beach. While I'm completely confused as to how a large labia would be obvious enough in a bathing suit to cause embarrassment, I'm extremely annoyed that young girls can just walk in and get this surgery with little difficulty. Even for Gastric Bypass there is an extensive psychological work done beforehand to make sure that it is a medical necessity and not just for looks or because someone doesn't feel like working the weight off. Now I know GB is a lot more intrusive than labia surgery, but labia surgery can definitely go wrong and can actually be so painful that sex is not possible or even desensitize the area so the woman has little to no sexual feeling left afterwards. Overall, there has been very little proof that these surgeries lead to long-term happiness in women or that there aren't any complications down the road, and mostly this proof has not been gathered because the doctors who are providing these procedures are unwilling to share their client list in order to conduct research on their effectiveness. Their reluctance is proof enough to me that this surgery is completely unnecessary and useless and the doctors know it.

I mean what else can women be made to be insecure about? I wouldn't say that I'm always happy with my body and I'm definitely not perfect. Hell, my boobs are completely different cup sizes! But has that ever bothered me or my husband? Other than bra shopping, not at all. And hey, if my husband had to pick my breasts out of a boob line-up, he'd know mine right away. Plus, I think he likes the variety. So why not take your "imperfections" and view them as unique special things about yourself instead of things that need to be fixed? Because frankly, once these women get their vagina surgery done I guarantee you they will find something else they hate about themselves in no time...

Gimme Some Of That PJ Action...

So on 11.05.2007 I blogged about the cool Purple Jesus tee from 289 except that they didn't have them in women's styles. Yesterday I received a comment on my blog for that post from the guys at 289 saying that they heard my request and have added women styles for the PJ tee (they are now at the bottom of the page). How freaking cool is that? I promptly ordered one and you should too. Right now. Come on, all the cool kids are doing it.

Seriously though, that is the best customer service EVER!

So Let's Talk Patriots.

Now that New England beat Indy and My Steelers had such a strong showing against Baltimore, the discussion has moved to the only team left on the schedule that even has a chance of beating the Patriots, according to the media at least. But even though the Steelers are in the discussion as the only team that could beat the Patriots, truthfully nobody's giving them a chance. New England is the "Golden" team (puke puke puke), infallible and unbeatable (well, except for the cheating and all that, but that's been quickly brushed aside by their crushing of every team in their path). Has anybody mentioned their fairly easy schedule with their incredibly easy division? The Patriots have squeezed into the playoffs many times due to their awful division and now they continue to benefit from it. But besides all that, the Steelers are already out of the picture as far as the playoff goes to the all-knowing sports experts since they are already talking about the Indy-New England rematch for the AFC Title. Well, all I can say is that Nobody, except for Steelers fans, thought that Pittsburgh would make it as the sixth seed to Super Bowl XL, and so I'm content with letting Pittsburgh fly under the radar again but boy will I be doing the biggest "I told you so" dance when they do make it to the Super Bowl... or at least when they beat the Patriots in Week 14.

Obviously this is a game Pittsburgh could lose, but it's also a game they could win and I'll tell you why. First of all, let's compare and contrast the Steelers to the Colts since they are the only team that has come close to beating the Patriots. Granted the Colts have a better offense than the Steelers when completely healthy, but their offense was minus Marvin Harrison and that brings their offense down a notch and considering that we've put up 222 points this year, I think it puts us close to the level of the Colts offensively (at least when they played New England). And our offense is more balanced then it has ever been. When Willie can't run, Ben puts up the TDs. Ben is second in the league with TDs (behind Brady) with 20 TDs and has three games in which he's scored 4 TDs. And when Willie can run, you know the boy can run! We're playing smart football with only 6 interceptions this year and have been clicking well offensively. So in the context of the Colts game against the Patriots this past week, let's call it close to even, you can even give the edge to the Colts just because of Peyton, though Ben's actually having a better year than Peyton.

Now here's where we can beat the Patriots, our Defense. Our Defense has been on fire this year and is unequivocally better than the Colts' D. Historically Brady doesn't play as well against 3-4 defenses. Why? Because he's a pocket passer. Yeah yeah, him and Peyton are the best QBs in the league, but only in the pocket. I'm not saying that they Never make plays outside of the pocket, but rarely and even when they do often it's by design and not forced (for example a Sprint Right play call). Brady can move vertically in the pocket, but not horizontally well and this is where Blitzburgh comes in. Playing the Ravens our Blitz got to McNair multiple times and resulted in four sacs and a couple fumbles. This was a healthy O-Line that is supposed to be one of the better Lines in the league. The Patriots' O-Line is top notch, no doubt, but we can get to Brady. And if we get to Brady he will throw interceptions, I can guarantee that. Our Run D's pretty good too - 4th in the league for rushing yards allowed.

Now let's talk about the guy I consider the best QB in the league outside of the pocket. Big Ben's escape abilities are become mythic and historically incredible. But even more incredible is his accuracy outside of the pocket. This is not a new thing with him. Ben had a better passer rating outside of the pocket than in it his rookie year and I think one of his problems last year was that due to his multiple injuries and health issues he was a lot more tentative to roll out of the pocket and scramble around. But now Ben Is Back. I will say that the Brady-Moss connection is far superior than anything we could offer, but our running game is stronger and our D matches up well against Brady and his offense. I will definitely give the edge to the Patriots on special teams, though Sepulveda has been a great punter for us this year, our returns and return coverage are average at best.

A couple of Steelers stats I pulled from Dave's Football Blog who in turn pulled them from MJD:

• 2nd in the league in rushing yards per game (behind only Minnesota, who received a sizable boost this weekend, courtesy of the San Diego Chargers)
• 1st in time of possession per game
• 1st in 3rd down conversion percentage
• 1st in the league in passing yards per game allowed
• 4th in rushing yards per game allowed
• T-2nd in the NFL in sacks
• 4th in the NFL in opposing QB passer rating

I won't say that it's a lock that we'll win this game because the Patriots are tough and have always been a tough competition for us, but I will say that we can definitely win this game and I personally believe we will.

Too bad we have to wait until Week 14 to find out!

Actually I'm more worried about the Jags game we have right after the Patriots because of how we match up against them...

The Otti Files.

So is he dead or isn't he? The controversy continues as Joseph Kony and the LRA adamantly deny that former deputy to Kony, Vincent Otti, is dead. Instead, they say that he has cholera, but I say former deputy because Kony has appointed a new deputy. Hmm, why appoint a new deputy if the current one is still alive? And the new deputy? The honorable Okot Odhiambo who is said to have commanded the LRA massacre in Barlonyo IDP camp in Lira district in February 2004, where over 300 people were burnt, shot and hacked to death. He also reportedly coordinated raids on civilians in Kitgum in March 2005. The New Vision

And why does this sound like a really bad idea to me? 450 people are to visit Kony in his secret hideout to consult with him and share their point of view. Yeah, okay, so this could turn out to be a good thing, no doubt, but I give a lot of props to those people who have been terrorized by the LRA for all these years to go into his secret camp to talk to him in order to build the trust for the peace talks. Me, personally? That'd scare the shit out of me.

And this is never good to hear... actually, I'm glad my mom doesn't read my blog much (if at all) because if she read this she'd never let me go out of the country for humanitarian work again. When I told her I wanted to goto Africa last year she hung up the phone on me. I can't even imagine what she'd have done if she'd read this article first. Lock me in her basement?

"I hate losing to the Steelers."

Okay, I Know I've posted this video on my blog before, but considering Deebo's recent coming out party, I just thought I'd post it again as a reminder of his badass tackle on one retarded/drunk Browns fan.

I think the Browns better get used to losing to us because I don't see that changing Anytime soon.

Thanks to Mondesi's House for bringing this vid back to my attention and for a great post on the Steelers!