Ouch

I watched this great show on ESPN2 tonight called "Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle" It was some pretty funny stuff. It is this show that is filmed over in Japan and it is a game show type of thing I guess. It is basically an obstacle course that people have to run in under 2 minutes and all the different obstacle stations are supposed to be like parts of a ship or something. (Hence the Viking reference) They are some pretty tough obstacles too; I don't think I could make it through the course even if I wasn't being timed. So it is all these little Japanese dudes running around killing themselves trying to climb a rotating "wheel" that was about 30 ft tall, swinging on ropes, or run on rotating balls (Cannonball Run) . I think there were 50 some contestants and only 6 made it past the first round. The best part of the show though is probably the wipe-outs. Some of these guys bit it really hard, especially on the Cannonball Run, they would slip on the 2 or 3 ball and smash their chest or head into the upcoming platform. It was pretty brutal a couple of times. It was some pretty intense stuff and the guys who finished were amazing.
You gotta see it to believe it.

Movie Review: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Sara and I watched "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" over the weekend. It was a really fun movie. It is one of those movies that kids can watch and love but so can adults. The clay animation is very well done, it is beautiful and smooth, just fantastic and it gives the eyes something new to look at if you are used to hand drawn, or computer animated films. The humor is mixed, with a lot the kids would understand but also quite a bit you would only catch if you are really paying attention. For example Wallace holds a box around his recently unclothed body to cover himself, this is funny for the kids. What you might not notice right away is that the box has a label on it that says "may contain nuts". Small stuff like that really cracked me up. Things like this, as well as the nod's Wallace and Gromit make to other movies such as King Kong, or the old Werewolf movies are what makes the movie really fun to watch. Best of all you feel like you got your moneys worth and you don't feel like you wasted your time or made yourself dumber by having watched the movie.
I give the movie 4 stars out of 5.
Check it out sometime.

The Final Bore

Ugh. After singing the praises of the NCAA Final Four Tournament just a couple weeks ago I fear I may now have to retract my statement. After a fascinating first two weekends filled with good matchups, down-to-the-wire games, and stunning upsets, the final weekend of the Tournament was the most dull and boring weekend of the Tournament that I can remember seeing. Cinderella was sent home early on Saturday night when George Mason was man-handled by Florida in what was actually the closer of the two games that night, in the later game UCLA put Glen "Big Baby" Davis and LSU to bed. Then Monday night the snore-fest continued when Florida dominated UCLA in a game that was so boring I had to turn in off before it was over for fear that I would gouge my own eyes out if I had to watch any more. Congratulations to the University of Florida and their fans but this was an incredibly disappointing end to what had been one of the most exciting Final Four tournaments that I can remember.