My nephew thought the shirt should read "Free Seop Choi".

I understand the Nicolas Cage hate for he has done some awful, awful things. However, my own opinion is that, apologies to Fonzie, he is the person for whom the phrase "jump the shark" was coined.

You all seriously didn't like "Valley Girl?"

-Hee Sop Choi/H.I. McDunnough

Now, Costner -- there is an actor that can ruin a great movie.

For example, JFK. You can't take that movie's politics seriously, but that aside, it might be the best movie ever made about why people believe weird things...

...might be, that is, except that Costner isn't any good in it. Or anything.

[6] The mention of Richard Gere will keep me away.

But, please, do not rent it and REVIEW it on "The Griddle."

I scoured the MLB transaction wires and could not find when exactly Seattle acquired Tyler Houston and/or Robin Ventura.

I still hated it.

Yeah, Richard Gere works as well as Tylenol PM for me.

Where's Bob's wood chipper?

The early stuff is pretty good -- even minor movies like "Birdy" and (the rather wild) "Vampire's Kiss" feature strong Cage performances. But "Raising Arizona" and "Moonstruck" are his most intriguing performances in those early years, I think. I have no idea why he decided to sell out and become a mediocre action star. I don't know if I can think of a stronger case of someone who sold out his talent with such blazing intensity. (Well, beyond the obvious reason.)

The triumvirate of ROBIN HOOD, WATERWORLD, and THE POSTMAN kinda ruined his name as a top-of-the-line actor... but in lower-key roles he's usually solid: FIELD OF DREAMS, NO WAY OUT, TIN CUP, etc etc.

It reads:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN

Any ideas?

Anyway, that's the right empire, but the wrong king.

The taggers in my neighborhood aren't very knowledgeable of Aramaic or ancient history.

Perhaps the worst scene in "For Love of the Game" takes place at Bob's place of employment.

I went to Yahoo Sports, and when I click on sortable team stats, the default team category is batting average. Shouldn't the default team category be runs scored? Isn't that the point of offense?

Just about every Sunday newspaper still publishes MLB stats, and also ranks the teams by batting average instead of runs. Am I the only one who is perturbed by this?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_2005.shtml

I have the same shirt, and I've always thought the same thing.

Cool. Leaving Las Vegas was a great movie.

my older sister liked valley girls.

It's hard to go wrong with a movie that features:

Costner reciting Shakespeare

A scene in which Costner apparently uses spidey-sense to determine that a young boy is holding a letter for delivery, even though costner is half-a-mile away, galloping furiously in the other direction

An appearance by tom petty, AS TOM PETTY, in which he fluffs Kev-o by saying, "Yeah, I'm famous, but not as famous as you"

An ending in which everyone gathers around a statue of ... Kevin Costner

An end credits theme song written AND sung by ... Kevin Costner

I have to say I was disappointed by Open Range, it was actually ok and remarkably understated. I was really hoping for another Postman style train wreck.

Wow, a new favorite screen name.

That could have been the inspiration.

I have to say my current personal fav is whoever is "Mein Niedenfuer, I can valk!" over at BTF

Anyone who can combine a fairly obscure name reference with a great line from one of my favorite films ever, is a winner in my book

As for Nicolas Cage, he is to me as Tom Cruise is to LAT. I remember being really excited about Raising Arizona when it came out because I had just loved Blood Simple. But Cage was so monumentally bad in a character that almost anyone else could have pulled off, I couldn't enjoy any thing about it. I didn't laugh once and was angry when I left the theater. Every movie I've seen him in has never failed to disapoint me. He was even bad in Moonstruck, an otherwise terrific movie.

Since I respect Jon and his taste in everything else, I'll not speak of Cage again :)

The Dodgers, the hottest team in baseball, have vaulted to the top of the NL West. And just as important, they've jumped into the top 10 in our Power Rankings.

Yes, getting into the ESPN Top 10 Power Rankings is just as important as being on top of the division. I thought I saw Saito mouth to Martin after last night, "Yes! We're in the ESPN Top 10. Oh yeah, and we're at the top of the division also!"

He knows more English than he lets on.

Good Lord, that's brilliant.

Costner on the other hand, made me enjoy Thirteen Days on a humorous level that wasn't intended, and I thank him for that.

Cage I have always liked. I first saw him in this film where he went crazy and thought he was a vampire. I found that movie very funny. Raising Arizona is one of my top 20s - or at least sometimes it is - when listing movies. He has been in a lot of films and since he often overacts I think he is not particularly good at serious drama. Wierd stuff and comedies I think he does quite well. Of his recent stuff, Adaptation I loved. I expect (if I am ever forced to see it) I will hate World Trade Center and part (though only a small part) will be his acting.

Why, "Hansen and Grittle," of course.

Costner I can see as being a beacon of hatred. His voice is just so monotone that it's hard for his lines to have much impact. Bull Durham is great because the dialogue is usually excellent, but even then his character isn't quite what it could be because of the monotone. Overall I've enjoyed the movies I've seen him in (even For the Love of the Game), though I've avoided busts like Waterworld and The Postman like the plague.

Top 5th:
- S. Ponson relieved C. Lidle

Bob you're not having trouble with Dodgers on Demand? I have the channel but my t.v. blocks it??

Remember tonight's permutations:
If the Dodgers and Reds win, the playoff slots remain the same as they are now.

Other permutations:
Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks win, Reds lose - LA leads West, San Diego and Arizona tie for wild card
Dodgers, Padres win, Diamondbacks and Reds lose - LA leads West, San Diego is the wild card
Padres, Diamondbacks, and Reds win, Dodgers lose - San Diego and Arizona tie for West lead, Cincinnati is wild card
Padres and Diamondbacks win, Reds and Dodgers lose - San Diego and Arizona would share West lead and wild card lead. Arizona leads the season series 5-1.
Padres win, Diamondbacks, Reds, and Dodgers lose - San Diego leads West, LA and Cincinnati are tied for wild card.
Diamondbacks win, Padres, Dodgers, and Reds lose - Arizona leads West, LA and Cincinnati are tied for wild card.
All four teams lose - You do the math.

Why not roll the dice with Mota?

I knew I was in for a "special" experience when the movie opened with a scene featuring Kevin Costner drinking his own filtered urine.

I also dug the Sandy Koufax perfect game snippet (though it was way too short) -- mainly because of the film footage of Koufax pitching. Man, that curveball looked nasty.

I nominate Olmedo Saenz to be tonight's Enemy of the Site.

Another game without Bob? I prefer it when he scores at home...

Mene, mene, tekel, parsin. Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel: You are weighed in the balance and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. And on that note, my proposed new Dodger motto, re any and all who might be so bold as to oppose them: Who are these uncirumcised Philistines, that they should defy the army of the Living God?

And last word on favorite word from a movie, from Empire of the Sun:

Jim...didn't I teach you anything?

Yes! You taught me that people will do anything for a potato.

Check your cache, I wrote a thumbnail for Bubba Crosby and Bobo Newsom.

ps I love you Vinnie.

Probably not.

I'm gonna guess you meant "A Perfect World," which Costner starred in back in 1993, but which was actually directed by costar Clint Eastwood. I saw it on its initial release, and I agree that it was interesting -- in a shaggy kind of way. Two of the people with whom I saw the film absolutely HATED it -- but my then-roommate and I (in our first semester of USC grad film school) secretly confided to each other when we got home that it had some good stuff. And Costner was quite good in it, as I recall.

But Costner himself is a lousy director. I DESPISED "Dances with Wolves" -- three hours of featherheaded martyr-complex egomania. Grrr.

Does Hendrickson pitches location is looking as good as Gameday is showing?

It's keeping me awake at night

yeah, the last location was really good.

That and the alternative that is Lugo tends to frustrate me more than anything else.

Betemit's defense at third reminds me of Beltre's. in fact, alot of his play reminds me of Beltre. At least the non-frustrating element of Beltre as a ball player.

Just thought I'd share, and give Willy some kudos he's clearly earned.

Apparently Majeski had a cortizone shot the day before he was traded, and Wayne didn't know about it. So not only did Wayne trade Kearns and Lopez for middle relief, but damaged middle relievers.

Almost makes Brian Sabean look like a genius.

I've been listening to him since 1958 and can't recall any.

Maybe it's not quite sacrilege.

I still hate Fox.

socalcardfan!!!

how dare you!! :o)

Anyone has some ideas what Honeycutt is telling our pitchers when he visits the mount that is synonimouos of getting out of the jam?

Hendy threw a terrible pitch, high 75 mph change up to the pitcher, that's why he got a hit.

Interesting scoring choice there, btw. I would have thought Durham would not have been credited with a hit since Bonds did not reach second. I think that should be recorded as a FC, by rule.

Everything is going the Dodgers' way right now, just like nothing was going their way prior to the big winning streak. Things will stop going their way sooner or later, 'cause that's just the way it goes.

Tonight and last night are starters getting lucky, not pitching well. Hendrickson gave up 4 walks and the Giants got 10 hits. Some bad baserunning and good luck limited the damage to 2 runs. Last night Billingsly walked 7 (ish - I don't remember - but it was a lot).

Penny and Loew are pitching very well and Maddux, in limited time, has well too. Hendrickson and Billingsly have not.

I hope we can just win tonight.