Trailer, Trailer!

In basketball, you yell trailer when you are behind the person bringing up the ball on a fastbreak, so that he/she knows that you are behind them and are another option.

In movies, though the trailer serves the movie, the former is usually way better than the latter. (See here and here.)

Those are my dream jobs. 

Scribble-Not

We've seen a lot of movies about the negative effects of our over reliance on modern technology. These stories focus mostly on our physical or psychological well-being. However, none have yet to tackle the worst side effect, the slow decay of our penmanship skills.

Let me tell you, my handwriting these days sucks. I had better handwriting when I was in third grade.

"Pen and Paper: What the F*@! Am I Gonna Do with This?" Directed by Peter Berg. Starring Jonah Hill, Dave Franco, Anna Kendrick, Danielle Panabaker and Jay Pharoah. Official entry in the Cannes Film Festival. 

(Yes, if you figured it out, the point of this post was to talk about my crappy handwriting. THAT'S how terrible it is.)

Pacers Leave Knicks in their Dust; Taking Talents to South Beach

Years from now, when we look back on the 2013 NBA Playoffs, on the Indiana Pacers' second round victory over their arch-rival, the New York Knicks, it won't be remembered for a single sequence (like '8 points in 9 seconds') or a single stellar game. No, when we're discussing this game five, ten, twenty years from now, the enduring moment of this series will be what came after-the-fact, after the Pacers' series-clinching game six victory when all five Indiana starters had a shared "podium game." 

As customary in these playoffs, the duties of speaking to the media after the game fall on the "star" of that particular game. In beating (and beating up, in some cases) the Knicks, the Pacers underscored what has come to be their calling card all year: defense, rebounding and a total team effort. Thus, after the final buzzer, when it came to that time of the night, it wasn't just going to be Roy Hibbert (21 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, including this*) or George Hill (made four straight free throws to ice it) or David West (17 points, some beautiful dimes in the fourth) or Paul George (23 points, stellar fourth quarter defense on a red-hot Carmelo Anthony) or even Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson (playoff career-high 25 points, 9 in the last five minutes**, 10 rebounds, some absolutely ferocious forays to the hoop). It was all of them up there, answering questions from the assembled media members about how they as a unit came together, grew together and succeeded together. All of them had a hand in leading the team to the next round.

After beginning the season without Danny Granger, the team's leading scorer the previous four years, the question of who would emerge to lead the team was a legitimate concern. Candidates were aplenty. There was rising star George, set to inherit most of Granger's responsibilities on the wing. There was the elder statesman, West. Then there were the two players whom the Pacers spent a lot of money on the past off-season, Hibbert and Hill. Which one of them would become the team's star?

Who would take the driver's seat and command the most attention and scrutiny? 

Who would step up?

"Pacers, who?"

Collectively, they answered: "We."

 

The Indiana Pacers are now in the Eastern Conference Finals. Awaiting them are the defending-champion Miami Heat, led by the best player in the game today, LeBron James. Last year, the Heat and the Pacers faced off in the Eastern Semifinals, with Miami eliminating the young and brash Indiana upstarts in six games. James in particular submitted an epic performance in that series, going for 40-18-9-2-2*** in a game four victory in Indianapolis. With a player like that, it truly will take a total team effort to overcome such greatness. Add to that the Heat's homecourt advantage, it is an uphill climb, but it is one challenge their coach, Frank Vogel, is eager to meet. 

Asked about the Heat, Vogel plainly said, "They are just the next team in our way." And should the Pacers continue to play their team-oriented game, who knows, we might just have another podium moment to look back fondly on. 

*Of course, if fans chose to associate this series with this image, I'm all for it.

**Notice a trend? Clutch performances all around.

***With numbers like that, do you really need to know which one is points, which one is rebounds, etc.?

12:45 A.M.

I begin this post because of of five words: "The night belongs to me."

It was what popped into my head when I checked the time and saw that it was 45 minutes past midnight. It ties-in to a previous post about the sanctity of the hours before you go to bed, but this is a different realization. This is clarity.

The night belongs to me. During the day, we live next to each other. The world is awake with us. But at 12:45 a.m., almost everyone is asleep. I should be asleep. But I stay up, typing.

Because the night belongs to me. 

P.S.
No, I am not a vampire.

True Love

For men, happiness really is tied into how well their favorite sports teams are doing.

We crazy sometimes.

Idle Time

In the hours before we go to sleep, those few precious moments where today is still crystallizing and tomorrow is just a possibility, we are truly in charge of our destinies. For in those moments, it is up to us, just us, what we do next. 

Do we call it a day, end the cycle and go to bed? Do we continue to pursue relaxation activities such as reading, watching TV or other such indulgences? Or do we do something else, something grander and more exciting?

I think, it's in those hours that we discover what truly makes us happy, and whether or not realizing such will be a source of contentment or discomfort.

What truths and lies do we tell ourselves before we end the day?

And when tomorrow comes, what do we continue to believe in, and what do we forget, lost forever in the space between the waking world and our slumber?

 

Avenge The Avengers

Reading about how Marvel Studios is low-balling its actors is so disheartening. Salary negotiations are always tricky, but come on. This is borderline ridiculous. 

Look, I'm a true True Believer. I love Marvel Comics. When they first announced The Avengers, I was excited as all get out. After watching the stinger after Captain America: The First Avenger, I violently avoided (not an exaggeration) all trailers and previews for the movie. I saw it twice on opening day, and four times in five days. I loved it. I love Marvel, Marvel's The Avengers and Marvel Comics. 

So much love went your way these past few years, Marvel Studios. All thanks to giving us a few spectacular, long-awaited movies.

Then I hear they don't want to pay to play. What gives? You're revenues are in the BILLIONS with these movies, you can't spare 1% to pay the actors who helped you get there in the first place? I mean, after the success and triumph, why must you do something so counter-productive as threatening to get rid of the actors who we've all fallen (mostly) in love with? It's sickening and uncomfortable to hear now as rumors. If they become facts, fact that.

Why-o-why must you do this to me, to us, to your loyal fans, Marvel Studios? Give us the carrot, then bash us with the whip while we're eating it.

I know it's early, and there's still time, but come on. There's frugality and there's greed. Guess which word your fans would use to describe what you're doing. There's still time to come to your senses. Give your actors all a raise. Make them feel appreciated. Make your fans feel like you're doing everything to give them what they want.

Come on, you aren't Warner Bros. Don't screw this up.

Difference of Silence

The state of being alone in a room, completely and utterly alone, is a peculiar one. In the right circumstances, I would go as far as to call it the perfect state of individual happiness.

Think about it for a moment. Picture a familiar setting but without all the people, the noise and the chaotic energy of  life. Subtract all signs of life. Can you see the stillness? The quiet? The perfection? At a certain point, there is nothing more beautiful and amazing in all the world.

I do not want to come across as overly emo (which I do on occasion, i.e. last post), but I want to draw more attention to this so that we can be more appreciative of those moments when they happen.

(Also, all this "subtract all signs of life" talk is not me practicing my villainous monologue -- I have another speech for that.)

When times get intense, whether they be good or bad, it's always a good idea to take a step back and take it all in. "It" being your life at a point in between moments. Taking stock of it from there can be sobering and wonderful and pleasant and relaxing. I highly recommend it.