George Lucas's First Failure

The Star Wars Holiday Special.
Campy, horrible, and just plain ugly.

Enjoy.

Brilliant Marketing

Showing that people are really idiots when drunk, a young woman who happens to be a Boston Bruins fans kicks in a column in the bathroom (seen here).

Now regardless of the fact that my mind slightly melts at the fact that they would upload a video with their faces which is them performing vandalism on public property, the Boston Bruins really impressed me.

You see, they have this bear (known as The Bear) who gives the rules of right and wrong for hockey fans.

The Bear posted his response to these women today.

Absolutely brilliant. It also makes me want to go and look at other Bear videos (I did).

Keep up the good work, Bear. And defend that Garden. And that's coming from a Rangers fan....

Namaste.

Have We Met?

Hi.

So, dear reader (and at this point I'm assuming there's only one left), I've been writing for five years now.

And I'm not sure what to write about now. See this is what's happening in my head:

Hey, you could write about work .

No, I can't. See, I'm a teacher, and while there would be wonderful stories about the frustrations of the job, the kids, and more, the issue is that my colleagues would get wind of it, read it, and then come after me. It's happened before...so, while I would love to vent, I can't.

Ok, how about your life?

In truth, my life isn't that interesting anymore. When I started this blog, I was looking to use the things that had happened in my life as a way of creating moralistic stories (hence the title). I did a great deal of stupid stuff and there was fallout. The problem is that I have become just another person. I'm married, have kids, and work. As such, I don't go out and do crazy stuff anymore. I can't. I need to be a better role model for my kids. Which is ironic as I suck as a human being, but that's only what two bosses, a few exs, and some other people have told me.

So what do you want to write about now?

Well that’s the issue, isn’t it? I’m not sure. I don’t want to be one of those bloggers who just writes about his kids, and I can’t write about work (even though people would love to hear about how crazy I, the kids, and my colleagues are).

I’ve been thinking about micro-fiction, but Michele did that really well and I feel like I’d just be copying. Seriously, go read her stuff. She’s really good. I’ll wait….See? Awesome.

I want to keep writing, so I’m not sure yet what it will be, but the blog will be here until Blogspot starts removing people it doesn’t like, and I am tossed aside.

Anyway, dear reader, there you go. That’s what’s been happening. I’ll try to get better as I was (for some reason) Blogger’s blog of note for a day. I’ll need to try and live up to that.

Namaste.

Winds of Change

It was a gorgeous day today, and Little Leab (as opposed to Leab 2.0) had a birthday party to attend. This is the neighbor's tree saying, "Hello," as we headed out.

Fall is most definitely here. Isn't it wonderful?

Toes on the Edge

This is always how I feel right before school starts. This year will be interesting. I have a full Freshman schedule and a student teacher. The issue won't be the material; it will be if my brain explodes or withers from the possible boredom of teaching the same thing all day.

However, I am grateful to have a job. So, with toes on the edge, I will leap off.

Good luck on 2010-2011, my fellow teachers.

My Hero

In many ways, he is.

Safe

Quick, what store in downtown Minneapolis has a bank vault in the back? A random bank vault, which has nothing to do with the store itself?

Modern Playtime

I'm an adult...and this is how I play now. You can say it...NERD!

2814

Quietly protecting my daughter from intergalactic bad guys while she sleeps.

A Little Cooking Insight

The lovely Sopheava has started a new cooking site for those of us who need a little...help.

Not everyone is a master chef, so it's always nice to hear stories from others who like to cook.

No, I'm not just mentioning the site because I just happen to be a contributor as well. There are many folks who have some wonderful ideas on there.

Go and enjoy.

Namaste.

Watch Your Step Out There

Originally uploaded by alecks(zander)kwin

Because you just might step on a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur.

How great would this be to stumble across. Pokemon out in the real world.

Peek-a-boo

While the storm was hellacious, the only real damage was to my neighbor's roof. This is the edge of one of the branches sitting on their roof after breaking off their tree and falling down.

Close Them Up?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/17/2010-07-17_arizona_gov_jan_brewers_immigration_law_copied_by_five_states_mi_sc_mn_pa_ri.html

As a person living in Minnesota, a state that prides itself as more progressive than most, this is quite shocking to me.

I will wait to reserve judgement until more is said...but still....

Old Guard

Can Someone Please Explain Inception to Me? | The New York Observer

Look, I can make this really easy.

My mother used to say, "If you don't understand what's going on, don't comment on it."

She used to say that to my father all the time. Rex Reed needs to heed this advice. If you don't understand or like the film, that's fine, but to critique a film not based on the artistic aspects but instead say, "I don't understand the movie, therefore it is bad," is lazy.

This is almost as ill-conceived a commentary as Roger Ebert's piece on video games.

However, both of these men show something important about the 21st century: Critics are no longer really necessary or appreciated. There was a time when Roger Ebert's words on a film could make it or break it. A time when Rex Reed was the authority on film. A time when we really cared what Owen Gleiberman had to say about a film.

Now, however, the in-depth ideas of the artistic cinema are dead to the audience. The modern audience wants the Facebook status or Tweet about the film. Instead of an in-depth look at how Eclipse makes the world look fresh and new as though Lewis and Clark had just discovered it (thanks, Roger Ebert), the people who go to the movie theatre want:

Film is worth the time, RPatz hot, TLaut hotter!

If you ask the main theatre going audience with money (the 18-34 year olds), they don't read the lengthy reviews anymore. No, they look and see what their friends say. Just recently one of the recent grads of the high school I work at said this about Despicable Me:
"Awesome. Minions are so cute. "It's so fluffy!" Go see this now."
I saw this and thought, "What kind of review is that?" Yet, several people went to see the film solely based upon what she said.

Soon all reviews of video games, films, books, etc will have to be able to fit into 140 characters. It saddens me to see that all of the wonders of the world now have to be boiled down to quick snippets, but it also means that everyone truly will become a critic.

And if you don't like what I'm saying here...write about it...politely.

Namaste.

God Don't Smite the Nerds, Foo!

Via

Yeah...no. God loves nerds.

Without nerds, geeks, and dweebs, who would pray to God?

Without nerds, who would come up with all of those stories based upon the story of Jesus (here's a hint: Superman is a Jesus figure...sssshhhhhh).

Come on. Get working on real issues. You know like ruining military funerals and hating all gay people for being happy.

Namaste.

The Little Things (Leab and 2.0)

You can have the worst day in the world, but if you remember the whimsy of childhood and what makes things fun... it no longer matters.









































My children have great senses of humor which makes my life that much easier.

Namaste.

The Boss Is Out

George Steinbrenner died today, and even though I am a Mets fan, I actually found Steinbrenner fascinating (and a major part of New York culture). Yes, this is a man who created the free agency issues of today (so if you're a Pirates fan...you hate him), who tried to convince the city that a new Yankees ballpark at Ground Zero would be best of the city, and who didn't like Dave Winfield so much that he hired a guy to smear him...and got banned from baseball for life (or three years), but he did do good things as well.

He created a way of life for the New York Yankees. They had to dress well and look professional. This meant no long hair or beards. He brought them back from the brink of nothingness after they had been so great.




Yes, he was a tough son-of-a-gun, but he also wanted to win...and to win, you have to be tough.

No one really remembers, however, that Steinbrenner had a sense of humor and pretty good heart.

For example, he kept bringing Billy Martin back. Yes, he fired him, but he kept him on the payroll and kept bringing him back. And you could tell they had somewhat of a fondness for each other as was evident from this commercial:





And this extended to other players as well. If you listen to the different pundits out there, you'll hear about how Steinbrenner kept fired staff members on payroll. You'll hear how he helped out kids in Tampa who needed help going to school or needed lights for their baseball fields. This leads to my George Steinbrenner story. Mind you, much of this was relayed to me by my parents.

In the summer of 1986 (the year the New York Mets won the World Series), my parents had setup a house in a small town in Northwestern Connecticut. The town sold raffle tickets to certain items to raise money (sort of like how many Minnesota towns sell pull-tabs to pay for things like Whiz Bang or Duk Duk Days). I, being a charming and precocious child, was drafted to sell said tickets at a carnival held near the Congregational Church. With a sandwich board and a reel of tickets, I set out to charm as many of the people as I could. There was also a prize for the top seller ( I don't remember what it was, and I didn't win as I didn't have a bajillion family members to sell my tickets to like the other kids).

I was focused, and I wanted to win. I spied a group of older men who all looked to have money and figured I could get them to buy from me...but I wasn't sure who they were. I found my mother and asked her to tell me quickly. "That balding man," she told me, "is Mayor Ed Koch. I'm not sure who's with him."

So, I marched up to Mayor Ed Koch in the circle of these men and said, "You are Mayor Ed Koch, and I am Marcus Leab, and YOU are going to buy some raffle tickets from me." The Mayor of New York looked amused. Here was a kid telling the mayor of the greatest city on Earth what to do. And to his credit, Mayor Koch bought ten dollars worth of raffle tickets off of me. Once our transaction was completed, I started working on the rest of the men in his circle. Almost everyone said no, but I started talking to they guy closest to me.

"Please," I said, "do it for this town. There's so much history here...."
"Sorry, kid, but that's a nice try," he responded.
"But did you see Mayor Koch? He bought some."
This would continue for another minute before Mayor Koch would turn to the man and say:
"Come on, George. Help the kid out. Maybe he's a Yankees fan."
At that, George Steinbrenner turned to me and said, "Kid, what's your name?"
"Marcus," I said.
"Well, Marcus, you're quite good at this," he said. "If you stay out of trouble, you might have a future as a salesman. I'll match the Mayor's purchase and take ten."
I started to pull the tickets off the reel for him. Then he said, "I'll tell you what. Give me ten more than the mayor." Then he smiled.
As he and the Mayor walked off, Mayor Koch said, "See George...I told you you had a heart."

I sold George Steinbrenner those twenty tickets. He never complained, and he was never rude to me (unlike Dick Ebersol, who told me not only to go away, but called me a parasite...but that's another story). He didn't have to buy those tickets, but he did because he wanted to help a kid out.

Of course, as good of a guy as he was, he was shrewd. Steinbrenner is probably up in Heaven now trying to replace God. Then he'll install Thurmon Munson as head angel, force Jesus to get a haircut ("No long-haired hippies on my team," he'll say), and then trade Billy Martin to Hell for Adolph Hitler and a soul to be named later. When asked why Hitler, Steinbrenner will say, "Because I needed a leader...regardless of his past."

Namaste.

Any Way the Wind Blows

Diving horses anyone?

Where Do Muppets Come From?

In case you thought Muppets...you know...do it.

Twi-night

Fun never looked so...empty.