| Councilman MikeK Recalls Knievel Action Figure
Top: Young MikeK playing with Evel Knievel action figure; bottom: MikeK receives inspiration from his childhood friends before leaving for a Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting. I had a classic Evel Knievel motorcycle riding action figure when I was a kid. The stunts my brothers and I would stage for that motorcycle toy were legendary (riding out a second story window, chasing the dog around the house without getting chewed to ribbons, you name it). RIP Evel. I wonder what happened to Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man who played the role of Evel's arch-nemesis in the boyhood action figure wars?/Councilman MikeK. Question: What was your favorite action figure/doll when you were little? .
Jeff Thelen's Blog
Hi everybody. I'm back from really slacking off from the blog over the holidays. This week, it's just a few random thoughts. How many people are sick at your home, office or school? Seems like everyone in this newsroom is fighting some sort of bug right now. My symptoms are a sore throat, tiredness and aches and pains. I have no congestion, but my nose only runs at night. Wierd, isn't it? Alison Struve blows her nose so much she sounds like a foghorn. Stephanie Luisier and chief photographer Randy Bise both have that "sick sound" when they talk. Was it just me or did the Badgers seem a little unfocused and unprepared for their bowl game? Perhaps it's the long layoff between their last regular season game and the contest on January 1. It was a sort of a fun game to watch, even if it was rather sloppily played.
NFC, AFC games will be bitter
But as far as the NFL is concerned, the storm that blew across the Dakotas and into the Great Lakes region Friday night should provide Championship Game Sunday with plenty of rollercoaster-like thrills and spills.
And even more chills. Unforgiving ones.
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Ponderings from PapaBear
I see that there are already many great blogs posted on last nights BCS Title Game and another recap is not needed. However, I have a few final thoughts on this game and the Buckeye season. First, congratulations to Les Miles and his LSU Tigers. They were the dominate team on both sides of the ball for the final three quarters of this game and are deserving Champions. For the past month I was slowly able to convince myself that the Buckeyes had a shot at a victory in this game. In order for them to pull off the upset they would of had to play the perfect game. Their overall team effort was certainly better than the one the they put forth in last years game against Flordia, but perfect they were not. Turnovers and really stupid penalties kept this game from being close and the final result was much the same as last year...A sizeable loss.
New Get a Mac ad interrupts football, doesn't need replay
Was it because I was in a football state of mind? Maybe I was just bitter about the commercial break that airs after the ensuing kick-off, which comes after the commercial break aired after an extra point. It could just be that the New York Giants didn't show up for their first quarter in Tampa Bay this weekend. But Apple's new Get a Mac ad that aired yesterday afternoon during the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs, Referee, was pretty terrible for me. The ad, which featured Mac, PC, and a supposed NFL referee, tied into the games taking place yesterday. The PC brought the referee to the commercial to make sure Mac "plays fair," citing his boasts that Leopard is "better and faster than Vista." (Mac points out that those were the Wall Street Journal's claims, not his.) The referee then inexplicably starts the clock and then heads back to the video camera to review the claims.
Critics peek inside Oscar
If the past few years (or the past few decades) are any indication, trying to predict who will get a nod is like trying to predict Kevin Federline's musical career.So this year, Fresno Bee movie critics Donald Munro and Rick Bentley are taking a different approach. Their lists are the actors and films that they would honor if they were selecting those to get the Oscar nods. Here's how they would hand out the 2008 Academy Award nominations.Donald Munro's picksBest picture"Hairspray": The feel-good movie of the year, perfectly pitched and so giddy in its forward momentum and cheery social message that you'll be dancing out of the theater."No Country for Old Men": It captures the Wild West tinge of underlying violence that boosted the United States in its early days and to an extent still forms the framework of our society: a country of wide-open spaces, boundless opportunities and a chilling tendency toward taking what you can get."Once": A perfect little musical love story about a struggling Irish songwriter, this low-budget charmer has the best soundtrack of the year."Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street": This pared-down version of the Broadway musical is so bloody economical that the film achieves an amazing double whammy: It gives you the chills and makes you sing at the same time."Into the Wild": Sean Penn's adaptation of the Jon Krakauer book about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who naively challenges the Alaska wilderness is a taut, superbly told and ferociously filmed adventure.Best actorJohnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd": He's a cut above, no doubt about it.Chris Cooper, "Breach": A clenched and compelling performance as a traitorous FBI officer who shrouds much of himself -- motivations, back story, moral center -- and yet keeps offering intimate glimpses.Don Cheadle, "Talk to Me": An endearing and moving performance from an actor who captures the charisma of a born entertainer.Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood": Among the most chilling personifications of evil ever portrayed on the big screen.
TheStar.com | News | Watts up with dark, eerie tunnel for city walkers ...
Her 11-year-old son participates in after-school activities that sometimes keep him from walking home until 5 p.m. or so, she said, which worries her since his route takes him beneath the darkened train trestle. We checked it out and noticed that none of the thick glass covers over the lights were broken, which would have been a sign of vandalism, meaning that the fix needed may be as simple as changing some bulbs. STATUS: Toronto Hydro is in charge of most street lighting, but responsibility for lighting in some parks and underpasses is somewhat murkier. So we called both Steve Johnston, who deals with media for the works department, and Tanya Bruckmueller, who does the same thing for Hydro. Bruckmueller called back to say she'd determined Hydro is responsible for lights in the Brock St.
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