Comic book fans have a double dose of good news this week. Today "Iron Man", the story of Tony Stark and his tranformation into Iron Man, comes on DVD and Blu-Ray (go here for some of the features). On Dec. 9, the movie event of the summer, "The Dark Knight," will come out on 2 disc standard and Blu-Ray dvd. Some of its features are described here.
As for this past weekend, "Eagle Eye" grabbed #1 spot at the box office with 29.2 million. There's a number of releases coming out this weekend -
1. Flash of Genius - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flash_of_genius/
2. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nick_and_norahs_infinite_playlist/
3. Appaloosa - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008785-appaloosa/
4. Blindness - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1188215-blindness/
And for the extremely passionate dog lover, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008587-beverly_hills_chihuahua/
The trailer for this week is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett
And The International, starring Clive Owen.
See you next week.
Josh
Movie Mania Tuesdays
Time to rehydrate with the Monday Sports Hangover
The Milwaukee Brewers - one of the most pathetic franchises in all of professional sports up until 2003 - have made the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.
The Milwaukee Brewers are in the playoffs. The Milwaukee Brewers are in the playoffs. The MILWAUKEE BREWERS are in the PLAYOFFS!!!!
(Yes, I did need to type that three times. Just to see it. I've never been able to type that in my entire life.)
I simply cannot believe this. One week ago, I was about to pack it in and accept failure for coming up short yet again. But through the awesome power of Ryan Braun, CC Sabathia and the rest of the unbelievable 2008 Milwaukee Brewers and all of their beleaguered fans throughout the state of Wisconsin, redemption doesn't even begin to describe how unbelievable it was to see the champagne flow and the players celebrate at Miller Park.
Here are some videos of the celebration.
ESPN's Recap of the Brewers' final regular season game of 2008.
Here is the video of the biggest home run in 26 years of Brewer baseball, courtesy of the Hebrew Hammer, Ryan Braun.
Also, here's another of the biggest homers in Brew Crew history, Braun's 9th inning, bases loaded WALK OFF GRAND SLAM to tie up the Wild Card race with the Mets.
What might just be the craziest part of the saga that was this past weekend, was the fact that former Brewer Wes Helms hit the go-ahead homerun for the Florida Marlins in Shea Stadium to clinch the playoffs for the Crew.
Now, I know there's an unbelievable amount of bandwagon Brewer fans, and I certainly can't blame them. There's nothing about this team that isn't fun to root for. They're incredible. But for those of us who weather the Wendy Selig-Prieb-era in the late '90s and early '00s, watching Wes Helms - one of the worst players in the history of the Brewers - help the Brewers clinch a playoff berth was just insane.
For the best updates on Brewer baseball, check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Brewers Blog (which has been simply phenomenal all year), and Right Field Bleachers, a Brewers fan blog run by former Advance-Titan editor Tyler Maas.
One more time....
THE BREWERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!! THE BREWERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!?!
I'm literally this excited.
(Also, I hear there was some football played this weekend, but that's not worth discussing right now.)
Weekend Events
Hello, I'm Felicia and I'll be updating you on upcoming weekend events around the Oshkosh/Appleton areas. Mostly these events will consist of live music, drink specials and activities with the arts! If anyone would like to add to any of my lists, please, leave a comment with your hometown's weekend activity and help us update the Fox Cities on other exciting events!
So ... are you looking for something to do this weekend? Don't forget about Appleton's Octoberfest down College Avenue! This free event started on Thursday, Sept. 25 and will continue through Saturday, Sept. 27. Octoberfest consists of three days of music, food and other entertainment, such as Family Fun, License to Cruise and five stages of live music. If you're going for the food, remember the booths open at 9 a.m. and close at about 6 p.m.
To check out photos from previous years, visit their Octoberfest photo galleries Web site!
Other events this weekend include:
- UW Oshkosh's Fredric March Theatre production of "True West" by Sam Shepard, directed by Merlaine Angwall. Show times are Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.
- City of Oshkosh's Grand Opera House presents comedian Tim Bedore on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $16-$28.
- At Appleton's Performing Arts Center, Time Warner Cable Concert Series will present the band America on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $24.95.
- Harmony Cafe, in Appleton off of College Avenue, will be hosting Chris Murray and his live acoustic guitar original and cover songs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. Then from 6 to 9 p.m. Harmony will have the Club Alternative event with music, games and more.
- New Moon Cafe, on Main Street in Oshkosh, is hosting musician Clinton Miller on Saturday, Sept. 27. No time indicated.
*~* Felicia *~*
New & Upcoming Releases
Let’s see.. we’ve covered sports, movies and food so far. What’s missing? Oh, that’s right – MUSIC!
"On the day Jack's Mannequin finished mastering their 2005 debut, Everything in Transit, frontman Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia. Already known for his intimate lyrics — Transit aired the details of his breakup with a long-term girlfriend — he addresses his illness head-on. The Glass Passenger is a candid portrait of survival that reunites McMahon with the piano rock of his old band Something Corporate. Album highlight "Caves" begins with a quiet reflection — just falsetto vocals against a piano melody — before the singer erupts over a fury of guitars..."
For you hip hop fans out there, T-Pain will release his third album Thr33 Ringz and T.I. is releasing is releasing his 10th album, Paper Trail. So be sure to be on the look out for these!
Speaking of hip hop, in an interview with Rolling Stone, 50 Cent discussed his upcoming album and film, both entitled Before I Self Destruct. The film is actually based on the music from the album!
The album and the film are due out December 9th.
Perhaps in response to this release date, Kanye West is pushing up the release of his new album from December to November. According to Kanye’s blog:
"I CHANGED MY ALBUM (release) TO NOVEMBER SOMETHING CAUSE I FINISHED THE ALBUM AND I FELT LIKE IT.. I WANT YALL TO HEAR IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."
And finally, Jason Mraz has released his second single off of his album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. The CD has some great singles with the potential to be big. The video for the current single, "Make It Mine" is here:
As this entry comes to an end, I just want to say that I will listen to pretty much anything. So if you guys, our loyal readers, want to leave a comment and suggest some music I, or anyone else reading this, should check out, I would love to hear from you!
~ j.
College cooking
Our lives are busy and our wallets are usually bare. So to help anyone who's looking for delicious, simple and cheap food recipes, this is the blog to read. I, Ainsley, will be your Wednesday food host. To kick off the first Wednesday feast, I thought I'd keep it simple. Here's a lunch favorite with some new additions. I found great suggestions for this recipe from www.foodnetwork.com. Enjoy!
Grilled Cheese Sandwich (could it be more cheap and simple?)
Depending on how many sandwiches you want to make, here's what you need to get started:
Ingredients:
4 slices of your favorite bread (obviously makes two sandwiches)
6 oz. of American, Cheddar, Swiss or Montery Jack cheese thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
Additions (choose 1):
4 slices of cooked bacon broken into 1-in. pieces
1 ripe tomato sliced and drained on a paper towel
4 slices of baked or deli ham
Directions:
Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Place two slices of bread on cutting board. Generously butter top sides of each piece.
Lay 2 slices of bread, buttered side down in skillet. Lay a few pieces of cheese on the bread. Then place the bacon, tomato or ham on top of the cheese. Place a few more pieces of cheese on top. Cover each piece of bread with the remaining two slices. Add a little butter to the skillet (about the size of a quarter) and flip the sandwich with the spatula. Cook slowly, adjusting the heat as needed. Cook until the cheese is completely melted and the bottoms are golden brown. Then serve!
Quick and easy, right?
How do you make your grilled cheese?
Want to see a particular recipe or have a suggestion? Let me know!
Movie Mania Tuesdays
Hello movie fans! Every Tuesday I (Josh Miller) will let you know what's big at the box office, new releases, and just about anything else interesting pertaining to the thing called the film industry.
But first, let me tell you that I have a wide range in movie genres. I like comedies, dramas, action, and even some foreign films (in fact one of my favorite films is the Italian film "Life is Beautiful").
What's big at the box office? Here's what's making the most last weekend, courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com:
1. Lakeview Terrace -------- $15.0 Million
2. Burn After Reading $11.0 Million
3. My Best Friend's Girl $8.3 Million
4. Igor $7.8 Million
5. Righteous Kill $7.4 Million
This weekend we have Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna" and D.J. Caruso's "Eagle Eye." Both films look like they have potential to be good, although it depends if you're into dramatic/thriller films.
I'll leave you with a trailer from the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace, possibly one of my most anticipated films this year:
Until next time,
Josh
Time to rehydrate with the Monday Sports Hangover
Welcome, sports fans, to the Monday Sports Hangover! Each Monday, I (Dan Shafer) will recap the weekend in sports. But first, I must admit something before you begin to take my insight seriously - I'm a total homer. So for today, I'll just be talking about Wisconsin sports, so fire up the tailgate and crack a Miller. You probably need it after this weekend.
Like anyone with a Y chromosome who was born in the state of Wisconsin during the 1980s, I am a huge Green Bay Packers fan and Brett Favre is my boyhood hero. I consider Super Bowl XXXI one of the top 5 greatest moments in my life and I think the Green Bay Packers are the greatest franchise in all of professional sports.
Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm one of the few fans of the Milwaukee Brewers who has been a fan since Molitor, Yount, and Gantner were rocking the old school logo way back when the Crew was a competitive American League team. When I was seven, my dad took me to see Robin Yount's 3,000th hit at now-demolished Milwaukee County Stadium. (I now own a grandstand seat from that stadium) I weathered the '90s with the Crew and watched as Bud Selig nearly destroyed baseball in Milwaukee forever. Watching the turnaround of these past 5 years has been liberating, but also unbelievably frustrating.
No loss was more frustrating than the 12-inning choke job against the Cubs last Thursday afternoon. With the devastating 7-6 loss, the Brewers basically killed any chance they could sneak back into the playoffs, gave the division to the North Side Losers (I mean, the Cubs), and crushed the soul of millions of Brewer fans who have long been waiting to return to the postseason. Following this epic collapse, the Brewers lost their next two games against the lowly Cincinnati Reds - at home - before finally winning on Sunday afternoon.
Me? I'm still in denial. I've invested so much of my life into this baseball team this year, I really can't believe that it could be ending in a week.
The past few weeks during this collapse, I've repeatedly had to say to myself, "Well, at least there's the Packers."
And then the Cowboys came to town.
The Packers got out-played and out-coached in front of a national audience on Football Night In America. On offense, the line couldn't block, receivers couldn't get open (except for Driver's 50-yarder), the running backs couldn't break free for any big runs, they couldn't control the clock and didn't seem to have any discernable gameplan whatsoever. On defense, they couldn't stop Marion Barber, their line was dominated by Dallas' enormous O-line, they couldn't stop Marion Barber, they allowed devastating big plays, they couldn't stop Marion Barber, they couldn't stop Jason Witten, and have I mentioned that they couldn't stop Marion Barber?
In 3 hours, I went from "well, at least there's the Packers" to...well, I don't think it can be posted, but it involves more than a few 4-letter words.
All I know now is that this may have been one of the worst Wisconsin sports weekends in a long, long time. But on the bright side,
...
(trying to look for a silver lining)
...
(still trying)
OK, there is no bright side. So, I'll leave you with this video of the greatest moment in the history of organized sports.
I still get chills every time I watch that play.
Until next week,
- Dan
Time for the Daily Dose!
Need a break from your studies and craving a dose of excitement? Look no further than the Daily Dose, your source for things we all enjoy doing - sports, movies, food, music, and weekend happenings. Become an expert so you know what to say when your friend says "I'm bored!"
Josh