Season Preview, 66(6) edition
by Stop-n-Pop on Dec 14, 2011 10:29 PM CST
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This shouldn't hurt.
One of the main attractions at 600 First Avenue during the past 6 or 7 (who are we kidding: more) years has been the colossal awfulness of Our Beloved Puppies. For fans of the so-bad-its-good genre of human experience, the Wolves have been professional basketball's most top shelf product for quite some time. Say what you will about the competency of the people who have floated through Target Center's front office doors, but do not say you were not entertained by their devotion to the bit. The Wolves happened. On purpose.
Down the Mississippi in New Orleans, a new breed of Wiseauean basketball is attempting to enter the world. The pain of birth, the boobery-caused disbelief, the screams of agony. (It's going to be ok, Hornets fans, the few of you who will stick it out will be rewarded with valuable lessons about life, comedy, and the human condition.)
Back where the river began, the worn-down wolfpack of 1,707 are checking the backs of their credit cards for the security code on yet another year of...what...co-workers aren't asking what in the hell you're wasting money on? Friends are asking about that Rubio kid (and are doing so in an completely sincere and unironic way)? Your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend isn't cracking jokes about lighting your money on fire?
Where am I? Where are we? Who are all these new people?
Hello Canis Hoopus, I'm a bad-a-holic. It's how I coped with the post KG era. It's how I coped with the 1999 Draft. It's how I coped with the days at the Dome. It's why I own a copy of The Room.
I don't do this to be ironic or hipster or detached. I grew up as a fan of the Muppets (I'm listening to the John Denver Muppet Christmas album right now) and I value sincerity and heart-felt attempts at something truly special and meaningful. I have found that, more often than not, modern life delivers these authentic moments in little bundles of awkward awfulness instead of carefully calculated blasts of "Awesomeness!" (ironic quotes put forward with complete sincerity).
The Wolves are my awful. They are glorious in a way that is unrecognizable to the "Lovable Losers" (ironic quotes intended ironically) in north Chicago or the drunk inferiority-complex-ridden-punishment-gluttons of Viking Nation (sorry, Zygi World). The Wolves don't just drive their car into the ditch, they have the common decency to give a turn signal so no one else gets hurt. They approximate the feelings, thoughts, and actions of other more successful franchises--only ending up showing the world that they are truly one of a kind when their minor masterpiece ends up having very little to do with good professional basketball and everything to do with their complete inability to approximate competent human behavior.
This past off-season has been the best off-season in team history. There is no skirting this basic fact--95 or 03 be damned. The team will introduce its top draft pick of all time. They have a Spanish Cash Cow who may be the premier passing point guard of his generation. They have the best rebounder since Dennis Rodman. They're not the New Orleans Hornets.
This is going to be fun. This is going to (eventually) be good. This is going to be different. This is as much of a goodbye as it is a hello. This is awkward.
Your mind isn't a time machine. Live in the now. Meta doesn't live on a bandwagon. Confucius says hooray for fortune cookies.
Good lord, what are we going to do with competency?
Until later.
(Enjoy it now.)
((Sincerely.))
(((Seriously, this should work out.)))
((((...))))
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...and off we sail,
into the uncharted seas of warranted optimism.
Race you there.
...I've been drinking...
by losDelFuego on Dec 14, 2011 10:43 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
I think reading wolves fans is one of the few things I like more than watching basketball
Basketball and commenting on basketball, life, and hopefully fewer disheartened recipes ahoy! Thanks, SnP.
We live in an ironic age,
where earnestness is almost as scorned as self-conscious irony. It’s the rock’n’roll influence, which has only heightened through punk, hip-hop, and heavy metal (just to take music as shorthand for culture in general).
Isn’t “endearingly bad” how the counterculture movement started? Isn’t there room in our culture for Biz Markie? To bring counterculture full circle with pop culture, do people not embrace Jersey Shore while acknowledging its awfulness?
The Wolves are basketball counterculture, about to (hopefully) reenter some sort of earnest space in the sports world.
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 14, 2011 10:55 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
Looking forward
to Kahn’s final year of his contract.
Hey, Ricky, how do you say mooo in Spanish?
Dingus Kahn, it's over
I don't get that statement
but I don’t want to dwell on it. Kahn has gotten you here like him or not and I agree with SNP, this should be fun.
I’m pretty stoked about the roster, and what Adelman might do with it.
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:09 PM CST up reply actions
Agree 100%
I hope that the Kahn jokes stop for a while. There have been some stupefying moves along the way, but Kahn has managed to assemble a good young roster, purge all of our bad contracts, and hire an excellent coach. Let’s enjoy the show.
No joke
While I agree with 40% of your agreement, don’t you think the Adelman hire was a result of Papa Glen’s checkbook?
There really is no Kahn jokes. The reality is that he is Wile E. Coyote with a lit stick of dynamite whenever he opens his mouth. If he can stay in the back room and let Rick handle the media, he has a shot. Much will depend too on his ability to sign Kevin Love to a long term contract.
There is a great deal of raw talent on the roster but I agree with Adelman’s assessment about the need for playing defense and cutting the turnovers.
Dingus Kahn, it's over
I think
Kahn is being put out to pasture?
by Dr. Wolfenstein on Dec 15, 2011 12:45 AM CST up reply actions
Assuming the positivity surrounding the team continues into the season
How does Kahn not get extended?
People serve different purposes.
Coaches who teach young kids are not necessarily the ones who motivate All Stars for a championship run. Yes?
The GM who does X (whatever X may be) well? May not be the best choice when you move onto Y. Donnie Walsh may have cleared the Knicks’ cap from the Isiah hangover, but it can be a rational choice to move on at that point.
"Opinion ...a confession."
Stan Van to Riley with the '06 Heat
Dungy to Gruden with the ’03 Bucs.
Doesn’t always seem fair, but it does happen this way sometimes.
If anything, the sense that it's unfair is a sign that maybe an organization is thinking ahead a little.
"Opinion ...a confession."
The prose of Flagrant is so deft and refined
that it often leaves even the most educated Canis Hoopus members scratching their heads in befuddlement.
We have a coach with uptempo in his DNA.
by Facial on Dec 15, 2011 8:58 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I have faith in you
With the utmost of respect and courtesy, my faith in my fellow (and female) CHers holds no bounds.
Obviously there are many things that cause their head scratching and befuddlement, but I am here to service the needy.
Gawd bless!
Dingus Kahn, it's over
After reading Hollinger's Comment on
The CP3 Trade to the fact that as incompetent as the Wolves past few off-seasons have been- the Hornets needed more then the pick because the Wolves pick might up #11. I just remembering thinking if the Wolves are that good- First Avenue should be renamed after Adelman.
"Vote Ailuridae for Wolves GM"
My wife wants us to go to the new muppet movie. She said because she heard it was good.
I’m like, when have the muppets not been good, Jimmy Jim Jimmy Jim Jim Jim?
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:15 PM CST up reply actions
Why did you have to ruin my nght?
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:22 PM CST up reply actions
enjoy the man muppet/muppet man song
by Stop-n-Pop on Dec 14, 2011 11:24 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Ok I get the Statler and Waldorf thing (I always wondered)
But please don’t tell me kerm and Piggy are swingers.
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:31 PM CST up reply actions
they truly love one another...
…and the movie even sees kermit choose his relationship with piggy over his devotion to the group. this decision is reciprocated by piggy realizing what is important to kermit and putting her needs aside in devotion to the relationship. both choose to realize that a solid relationship includes both self sacrifice and acknowledgment of their partner’s selfish needs.
I thnk my wife should see this movie!
JK. Our neighbor is selling movie passes as a fund raiser so it will be #1 on our list.
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:42 PM CST up reply actions
What's funny
is that when I started reading this comment it was in a neutral voice. With every word, though, it sounded more like Fozzy Bear in my head,
I need to up my meds.
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 14, 2011 11:55 PM CST up reply actions
"bear left"......"right frog".
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:58 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Ha! Thought the cameo was fitting in that number
I did enjoy the movie (but the original was soooooo much better). Oh, and got a kick out of the gratuitous product placement – can’t forget that it was a Disney production, can we??
"Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously."
— Hunter S. Thompson
You mean Tebow is in the movie?
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 14, 2011 11:34 PM CST up reply actions
I KNEW he was a Muppet!
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 14, 2011 11:56 PM CST up reply actions
They wanted
too much money.
If they never play NBA basketball again, then I'll never watch it again.
How does the red pill taste SnP?
Pek apologist
by running with Twolves (and scissors) on Dec 14, 2011 11:19 PM CST reply actions
non meta
pretty soon i’ll have to refer to the actual team instead of the experience of being a fan of the team.
by Stop-n-Pop on Dec 14, 2011 11:22 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
After so many years, I'm always leery of Lucy and the football
but I am excited for this season. Nice write-up, I’m going to email this to my relatives as an explanation of my Wolves fandom.
I'm struck by just how large the sea of change was this offseason
Arguably the best three developments for the Timberwolves franchise in the past three seasons (1. Ricky Rubio fell to #5, 2. Wolves drew #2 in a two player draft, 3. Hiring a competent coach) are all coming to fruition at the same time, in the same bizarre off season. A month ago I was trying to remain emotionally detached from the team due to the very real possibility of a cancelled season. Instead we’re less than 12 days away from a season in which the Wolves are going to be playing more than every other day.
For this Wolves fan, this moment of universe alignment could be that moment of “awesomeness.” Two years of pondering Rubio and waiting are over. A lifetime of terrible lottery luck finally somewhat changed. Two years of obvious coaching failure will at least be different. Even if the win-loss column only marginally improves, this grand moment of hope, however brief or ill fitting, is something I will proudly admit to enjoying.
Derrick Williams was going to Bust...but then he was selected by the Timberwolves!
Don't worry
This team is going to be all helter-skelter the first 20 games by the sounds of it. Adelman needs more to figure who can be trusted to make the right reads and who needs more guidance/limitations. I want this team to start 6-2 so badly, but it’s more likely to be 2-6 with a lot of sloppy play.
by Dr. Wolfenstein on Dec 15, 2011 12:49 AM CST up reply actions
Unfortunately 2-6 is optomistic with their early schedule.
That thing is rough.
. . . and 2-6
works out to a .250 winning percentage, which would be 20 wins in a normal season, which would represent a substantial percentage improvement over the past two years.
If they never play NBA basketball again, then I'll never watch it again.
That's just depressing.
Lets leave statistics out of this argument. Just for once….
by Bad News Wolves on Dec 15, 2011 10:16 AM CST up reply actions
Nah, let's just pick and choose them.
For example, last year’s Timberwolves had these splits in terms of winning percentage:
.207 overall;
____________
.333 on 0 days’ rest (as a back-to-back)
.196 on 1 day’s rest
.100 on 2 days’ rest
.166 on 3+ days’ rest (in only 6 games)
Bring on the back-to-back-to-backs, NBA schedule. Our young legs play better with no rest.
"Opinion ...a confession."
Correct me if I'm wrong
but last season, every time we played a back to back, weren’t we playing another team that had played the night before?
It’s not, I think, that we play better the next night. It’s that we play less worse in back to backs than most teams.
"He was born pissed." - Poor Dick
Either way, the argument, um, stands?
Whether they themselves are just better on no rest period, or whether they’re relatively less-worse than other teams, the Wolves seem to benefit from their young legs. And in this season particularly, that may be something of a relative advantage.
"Opinion ...a confession."
I always thought this was evidence of terrible game planning.
If they don’t get better when given time to prep and prepare for a specific opponent I consider it pretty damning evidence.
600 N First Ave "like a Pirate's cove".
What are you saying?
That coaching was an issue last year? Psssht.
DerrickRickRicky
by BrettAhlgren on Dec 15, 2011 2:45 PM CST up reply actions
Geez
I just realized it’s less than two days until they start playing basketball again!
But a part of me is afraid David Stern is going to jump out from behind a bush to cancel the preseason because he doesn’t like Chauncey Billup’s ’tude.
"He was born pissed." - Poor Dick
by TMiss on Dec 14, 2011 11:29 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
David Stern has already invoked his amnesty clause
on the fans. I’m not sure he can eff up my expectations any further.
Rubio + DWilliams + Adelman = suck it Clippergeddon
Love the replete-with-irony post
I am still looking in the Analects concordance for where Confucius says “hooray for fortune cookies.” Please, help.
"Humor is reason gone mad." Marx (Groucho, for the reason-gone-mad impaired)
It's the one
translated by Cheech and Chong.
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 15, 2011 12:07 AM CST up reply actions
SnP consults Korean fortune cookies
most of which suggest you will fail or drink bitter tea.
"He was born pissed." - Poor Dick
Waley doesn't count?
Shit, only CJ and TMiss could assuage my textual angst. But I have just been informed that a position in the Midwest is low longer available. So, I shall still post here, CH bansai!
"Humor is reason gone mad." Marx (Groucho, for the reason-gone-mad impaired)
:(
Where will I get my recipes from now?
Loser? How many beers can YOU drink?
We're the less interesting Clippers
And I’ll take that. It’s a good place to be.
This is why I like reading SnP posts
This is going to be fun. This is going to (eventually) be good. This is going to be different. This is as much of a goodbye as it is a hello. This is awkward.
Living where I do seeing 5 games in person is an accomplishment
That said, I’m genuinely envious of my brother for his season tickets this year.
RUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBIOOOOOOOOO
I'm genuinely jealous of you seeing five games
I think this is the first time in history one man managed to destroy an entire city by himself. Even the Enola Gay had a flight crew.
Hope it is fun, good, awkward this time
Having Adelman in place really helps me think we won’t get burned this time. Rambis coaching would make my wary of any hope even with Rubio, Williams, and so on.
Adelman is actually emphasizing winning over down playing expectations. He’s focused on problem 1A (turnovers) and seems like he will make the players correct it. And so on.
This may be a real team now.
The turnovers thing might be the single biggest difference maker
Sure this team was bad defensively, but how many points would 10 less turnovers a game result in?
8-12 points a game less maybe I guess….I don’t know what we averaged but it seemed like we were always in the 20’s and an even normal NBA team generally gets around 12-15 I believe
I don't know what an art house is, I don't know what goes on in an art house, I have never been in an art house, and I can't imagine it's any place I ever want to be.
An analysis I did early in the summer
(here) estimated that the Wolves would have won about 5 more games last year if they’d had a league-average level of turnovers per game (pace adjusted).
The biggest problem for the Wolves was their low shooting percentage on two-pointers, which is kind of remarkable given how good Ridnour is at those. Being average at that would have improved us by about 9 wins. The second biggest problem was a low defensive rating (it’s hard to quantify defense, but this seems on the right track), which cost us about 7.5 wins relative to an average team.
by Madison Dan on Dec 15, 2011 9:52 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
The 2% is really weird...
….with Ridnour + Beasley on a team. Both shot over 40% from both 10-15 and 16-23. That’s no man’s land.
It's so weird
that I just re-checked it with team-level stats from BR. The Wolves were second-worst at 2PT FG% (to the Bucks) at 0.459. The league average was 0.487. Dallas was the best at 0.516.
by Madison Dan on Dec 15, 2011 10:07 AM CST up reply actions
Left handed hooks and a lack of lay-ups and dunks in transition?
600 N First Ave "like a Pirate's cove".
Pretty much.
We did a bad job of getting to the rim (and didn’t do well once we got there), and Darko swapped out a lot of over-60% shots at the rim for under-40% shots from 3-9 feet.
I just reread that tremendous piece, Dan
Fantastic. Man was the shot selection brutal last year.
The Wolves are like the worst meal you've ever had--terrible while you're eating it and even worse later.
by Eric in Madison on Dec 15, 2011 10:03 AM CST up reply actions
Thanks!
Yeah, if Beasley takes better shots, Darko stops shooting, and someone (JJ?) starts getting to the rim, things could get a lot better than we’ve seen.
by Madison Dan on Dec 15, 2011 10:08 AM CST up reply actions
Derrick Williams, your table is ready
He and Barea should help boost that considerably.
Interviewer: Can you understand why teams value potential ahead of experience and accomplishment in the draft? Wes Johnson: "Yeah. I understand. It’s the youngness of everything – older guys like young women, so it’s the same way."
by Xand1 on Dec 15, 2011 3:24 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
And, if you recall
there was a follow-up piece specifically on shooting location. A failure to get to the rim (or do well once there) was a big problem last year.
by Madison Dan on Dec 15, 2011 10:13 AM CST up reply actions
It's not hard to find this information
The Wolves averaged 17 TOs a game (tops in the league). The NBA average was 14.25 a game. The Wolves forced almost exactly that average from their opponents.
Some of this has to do with pace. More possessions means more TOs, both for and against. Nonetheless, the Wolves were turning it over more than 2.5 times more than their opponent on a nightly basis. That’s a huge number. Just the difference in TOs probably cost them 2 points a game net difference. That’s a lot.
The Wolves are like the worst meal you've ever had--terrible while you're eating it and even worse later.
by Eric in Madison on Dec 15, 2011 9:53 AM CST up reply actions
Yesterday Adelman was saying he was seeing the worst kind of turnover
The ones that lead to a wide open fast break dunk.
by fanslaststand on Dec 15, 2011 10:39 AM CST up reply actions
10 Less turnovers a game would be 6 better than the stingiest team in the league.
Teams last season in terms of TOV/G.
Worst in the NBA was Minnesota, at 17 a night.
Best was New Orleans, at 13 a night.
Using TOV% to correct for pace, the span is still only:
15.1% (Us and the Clippers) at the worst end;
and
12.3% (Philly, Houston, and the Lakers) at the best end.
A couple of things:
Notice Rick Adelman’s Rockets, keeping the turnovers down despite such influences as Aaron Brooks’s game falling apart on him. In terms of the TOV/G number, Houston was still 23rd in the league. Rick Adelman cares about this.
Also notice that the Clippers were actually as bad as us in the percentage. They’ve just gone out and acquired a great facilitating point guard. That wasn’t just a move for a star, it addressed their huge turnover problem playing all the kids together.
"Opinion ...a confession."
What if the best case scenario happens with this team?
Beasley becomes a less douchey version of Carmleo
Williams is a stronger/more athletic Danny Granger
Love becomes a better rebounding Dirk
Rubio is JKidd 2.0
Wes Johnson is the next Shawn Marion (with a more natural looking shot)
Anthony Randolph is some form of Marcus Camby
Darko is like nothing we’ve ever seen
Malcom Lee is the Spike Lee of defensive shooting guards
JJ Barea is JJ Barea from May- June 2011 for a whole season
Will Canis Hoopus implode out of not knowing what to do?
Will David Kahn run for president?
If the best case scenario happened I would love for Kahn to proclaim that this was the plan all along and part of the reason he drafted JFLy….cause he eventually wanted to make time for JJ Barea
I don't know what an art house is, I don't know what goes on in an art house, I have never been in an art house, and I can't imagine it's any place I ever want to be.
The Room is an amazing work of art btw
I don't know what an art house is, I don't know what goes on in an art house, I have never been in an art house, and I can't imagine it's any place I ever want to be.
Just to focus on Adelman for a second...
This is his quote in reference to potentially playing 2 point guards at once…
“I’m going to have to do that,” Adelman said. “I’ve done it before every place I’ve coached. … So we’re going to try it and we’re going to get hurt [by the lack of size], but that’s my plan. I’ve got to put the best players I have out on the floor and our three point guards are all good players.”
The Timberwolves employ the best coach in Minnesota. Any Sport. Think about that…
The artist formally known as Blakeley
by Shane Heal on Dec 15, 2011 9:42 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
(No sense writing a compare-and-contrast essay about Rambis's diametrically-opposite attitude.)
"Opinion ...a confession."
Regarding the new Muppets movie
I guess I’ll have to play the role of contrarian here.
I enjoyed the TV show as a kid, and I saw the movie got excellent reviews, so I took my family to it. Two youngish middle schoolers, my wife, and I.
Spoiler alert: Read no further if you don’t want to hear a bit about the movie.
I like Amy Adams and Jason Segel in general, but I disliked them here. They are supposed to be incredibly innocent rubes from a Midwest town. I’m not sure who they thought would enjoy these characters. Even kids found them unbelievable and fake. I disliked them because they seemed to be more of a Hollywood criticism/lampooning of small town life than anything else.
The “bad guy” was also so incredibly simple and plastic that only the youngest kids would find him interesting. A rich oil man from Texas called “Tex Richman”?
The new Muppet, one of the main characters in the movie, is frightfully boring other than one scene where he confronts an electric fence.
Kermit is still interesting but spends much of the movie in gloomy self-doubt. Miss Piggy is her normal arrogant self but only gets in one “Hi-Yah”. Fozzie Bear, a personal favorite, does not get many lines and his biggest “joke” is ‘fart shoes’. Really, Disney? The two old hecklers weren’t given much to say. Other favorites like Gonzo, the Swedish Chef, and Animal, do not get to do much.
IMO they should have minimized the amount of screen time and lines for real people – it just detracted from the movie. In the TV show the real people were “guests”, they were somewhat secondary, and they acted like regular people visiting a strange world. The movie was better when it focused on the Muppets themselves. It could have used a lot more Gonzo crazy stunts, Fozzie jokes, a Swedish Chef skit, and more biting lines from the hecklers.
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
Let me introduce you to...
During their journey, they are pursued by the villainous Doc Hopper (Charles Durning, speaking with a Southern accent and wearing an outfit similar to Colonel Sanders), owner of a struggling French-fried frog legs restaurant franchise, and his shy assistant, Max (Austin Pendleton). Doc Hopper wants Kermit to be the new spokesman for his restaurants, but when Kermit refuses, Hopper refuses to accept “No” for an answer and resorts to increasingly threatening means of persuasion.
Muppet bad guys have always been in the Tex Richman (Long John Silver, Nicky Holiday) vein.
The non cameo humans are, true to Muppet form, less “real” than the felt puppets. It’s part of the Muppet bit and one of the reasons why the film never crossed into ironic nostalgia (i.e. Kermit being superimposed on to modern cultural references that are jarring juxtapositions to the true character of the original show). Gary and Walter and Mary are even named out of some sort of bland 50s era stereotype. They dress in out of date clothes, wear matching pajamas, dance through town squares, and sleep separately. The stereotype was less geographic (stupid Midwesterner) than it was generational.
That being said, this is all arguing over colors and tastes and I can see where you’re coming from. I think the gay subtext (Walter’s moment of self-realization comes on stage with a whistling performance—-after he does a big performance number that frees both himself and Gary from the bonds of their stunted relationship) is not something for everybody and I thought Tex Richman story line could have been better written, but I guess where I’d really disagree is that the whole movie was a buildup to the actual show as a means to show people what authentic entertainment is/can be (and to let Walter come out on stage in front of the entire world with his unique talent). They set up modern qualms about TV production, reality TV, friends falling apart, hip-hopifying/Mountain Dewing everything, etc and they brought it home with an old-fashioned variety show. That was the payoff and I think it outweighed some of the slower/more poorly realized parts of the movie.
I haven't enjoyed the Muppets since Jim Henson died, sad to say.
His son, when they tried to resuscitate the Show, did things like have Kermit lusting after Michelle Pfieffer. God knows what would have happened if he’d ever been in charge of Ernie and Bert.
"Opinion ...a confession."
Thankfully....
….they handed the keys over to someone who seems to understand what made it originally work (Segal).
They definitely seemed to capture the right tone
with the muppets and the voices sounded right. I was just wishing they’d had more to do and say during the movie. Such as an Animal battle of the drums, the Swedish chef throwing stuff all over, etc.
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
by Wile E Coyote on Dec 15, 2011 11:28 AM CST up reply actions
Whoops... the didn't hand the keys over so much as he begged and pleaded and finally wrested the keys from their hands.
I love Segal and the unique place he seems to be beginning to occupy in American comedy/film/pop culture. I am glad he’s getting so much credit for The Muppets.
by PDGirl on Dec 15, 2011 11:36 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Jason Segal's finest moment for me is in Freaks and Geeks.
He has the quintessential awkward teenage boy moment, singing to his girlfriend in the basement. Let’s see….
When the girl wants to make out (“or something”) to end the awkwardness and oversincerity…. So right.
"Opinion ...a confession."
His rendition of Lady was good, but
Lady L, his original song, was my favorite. I love to harass my husband by singing that song over and over. For some reason he doesn’t find it as sweet and hilarious as I do.
Nick Andopolis will probably always be my favorite Segal character. God, I love Freaks and Geeks.
Somehow it catches the sweetness, and the crassness, of that age.
Why Judd Apatow’s movie career has gotten all the crassness and so little of the innocence is another question.
Nick’s disco loss to the guy who performs magic tricks put me on the floor with laughter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go don my Parisian night suit.
"Opinion ...a confession."
SNP
Just read a review.
Gary and Walter are brothers (how that happened conjures some bad images) and best friends. Gary has a girlfriend of 10? years.
Walters identity crisis is because he is made of felt and in a humans world. Was Elsa gay because she wanted to be with other lions instead of humans? I’m missing the connection.
I’ll have to see the movie but it sounds as if there may be a subtext or an underlying current that anyone feeling different can identify with (gay included). But it seems up for interpretation and not an overt theme.
Again, I won’t know til I see it.
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 15, 2011 11:17 AM CST up reply actions
It's a pretty obvious analogy to draw once you've seen the movie
Which I liked.
The Wolves are like the worst meal you've ever had--terrible while you're eating it and even worse later.
by Eric in Madison on Dec 15, 2011 11:24 AM CST up reply actions
Sounds like analogous is the right word
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 15, 2011 11:37 AM CST up reply actions
Yeah, I didn't want to argue
but that angle to the movie is not at all obvious if it is there at all.
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
by Wile E Coyote on Dec 15, 2011 11:26 AM CST up reply actions
Sorry - Eric & I posted at the same time
I guess obvious is in the eye of the beholder, or else I am just quite unobservant (which is very possible).
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
by Wile E Coyote on Dec 15, 2011 11:34 AM CST up reply actions
again....
…enjoy the man muppet/muppet man song. when walter fianlly accepts that he is different than gary, he goes off to be with the people (muppets, actually) he has always professed his true love to while gary is finally freed to marry mary. all of this is done with big musical set pieces that lead gary to come out as a muppet on stage in front of the entire world.
are there parts of the story other people can relate to? of course however, i think part of the reason people overlook the coming out bit is that walter’s actualization is presented as an unmitigated positive. you just dont see too many stories that portray the gay experience in a completely positive way…much less in a kids movie. walter lived alongside of gary having to maintain a dual identity. this caused confusion for both gary and walter. both were able to fully become themselves when they chose one world over the other and stop pretending to be something they were not. gary finally chose to be with a woman and walter finally got to be with who suspected he was all along.
also....
…it is not like you cant draw other valid lessons from the flick that portray the actions as less coming out in nature. it is just that….well, maybe you didnt know that freddie mercury (or george michael) was gay in real time, but looking back….
it’s all there, out in the great wide open.
"Yentl," the entire film, is basically the thing you're talking about.
There’s a reason gay men like Babs Streisand, I guess. Look at these lyrics and tell me it ain’t so.
"Opinion ...a confession."
...or Rob Halford
the lyrics to Living After Midnight and Grinder couldn’t possibly be more clear, but only in retrospect.
...I've been drinking...
by losDelFuego on Dec 15, 2011 12:59 PM CST up reply actions
That revelation
sure put a different spin on “You Got Another Thing Coming.”
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 15, 2011 1:26 PM CST up reply actions
Or "Breaking the Law"
"Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously."
— Hunter S. Thompson
To be honest
I probably would have missed the (as Kermit would croon) “rainbow” connection, but can see how it relates.
It may seem insensitive but I'm happy to hear of Rubio's passing.
by Tangerine dream on Dec 15, 2011 1:52 PM CST up reply actions
S-n-P: Just Curious
What’s with the 66(6) in the title? I must have missed the reference. Not a great number if you are a Bible reader.
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." -- Yogi Berra
I can't give you the rest of the number
but it’s his area code. That or his IQ, I forget which.
"He was born pissed." - Poor Dick
I started the season preview post...
….with a concept comparing the Wolves and the weirdness of a 66 game season and the lockout to Danzig albums. I just noticed I forgot to change the title after I scraped that stupid idea.
"a concept comparing the Wolves and the weirdness of a 66 game season and the lockout to Danzig albums"
Oh my god every body has done this concept already, haven’t they? I think Barbara Walters did a segment last night on the exact same theme.
If they never play NBA basketball again, then I'll never watch it again.
You will pay for that comment
(He and his kittens hear everything.)
Repent…because it’s a long way back from here:
sure,
you could use Lucifuge titles as a rough outline of what this season will bring:
1. Long Way Back From Hell
This doesn’t take a lot of explaining. The team has been in basketball hell for a long time now, and is starting to make its return.
3. Killer Wolf
Yeah, Killer Timberwolf.
4. Tired of Being Alive
This could be interpreted as a pre-this-offseason fan soliloquy, or as a Darko insight piece.
5. I’m the One
Like, the Chosen One? That’d be Ricky. Or Rick. Both Ricks, maybe.
6. Her Black Wings
Well, this song is about a demon. In this case, it’s about Stern, the lockout, the CBA — all the Powers That Be that are too big to do anything against, but loom over every aspect of the season.
9. Blood and Tears
This song deals with the depression that other teams feel after losing to the WünderWolves.
…and so forth.
...I've been drinking...
by losDelFuego on Dec 15, 2011 11:01 AM CST up reply actions
As crappy and cheesy as much of Danzig's work is,
there’s some quality mixed in. I’m fond of the fourth album for its quiet creepiness.
"Of what use is a philosopher who does not hurt anybody's feelings?" -Diogenes of Sinope
by Cynical Jason on Dec 15, 2011 11:15 AM CST up reply actions
The Misfits
Put out a lot of good music. The 70s and 80s rock scene was superb at many levels.
We have a coach with uptempo in his DNA.
Timberwolves are certainly looking better this year.
Now that we’ve traded your pick, Clipper fans are pulling for you. Just win, baby!
Clippers // Chargers // Rays // Boise State
"The Lakers do win games. But things can change." - Blake Griffin
After trying to stay away and live a normal life unentranced by the site...
…I check in for the season preview. Sure enough, the Muppets, Freaks and Geeks, and Danzig are woven into the season preview. Well done.
For the season, the Wolves have three point guards, five power forwards, and Wes Johnson. But we have Rick Adelman, and that’s good enough for me. Looking forward to the games!
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