I made some pumpkin muffins with cinnamon cream cheese last night and they were delicious. Outside of that (and my new godsend renter) there isn't much to report. Except for the little MMA party I had last night.
I'm not a big fan of martial arts competition and certainly not boxing anymore (I haven't watched a fight since Lewis retired) but I have to admit I get pretty geared up for the new CBS showings of MMA. There have been two so far with the highlight of the first one being the much celebrated exploding cauliflower ear which I've posted about ad nauseum. So needless to say I was more than ready to go for the second showing last night which was to feature Kimbo Slice (street brawler turned pro/flavour of the month) vs Ken Shamrock (shitkicking badass legend) in a no-love-lost showdown in the octagon. The undercard was perhaps even more inviting with undefeated Gina Carano (ahh...my Gina) taking on Kelly Kobold (hapless, unsuspecting victim). Well the whole thing stared out terrific with a shoving match at the weigh-in (Slice turned his back on Shamrock which he did not take kindly to) so I immediately knew that these two boys were not going to hold back. And then, two minutes later, the bomb drops when it's reported that Ken Shamrock opened up an old head would in warm up and was not being permitted to fight. This, of course, was bull*** and I'm convinced that someone out there has it in for me knowing that I wanted to see Kimbo Slice get his ass handed to him. But hold on... they brought someone else in to fight! Who was this poor bugger that was going to have to jump in there and take a pounding for the ages? Well that poor bugger was Seth Petruzelli, and indeed there was a pounding that took place. On Slice. This lil' guy dropped Slice in just over 14 seconds (see it here).
As for the Carano/Kobold fight, it pretty much went down as expected. It was exciting as all get out, it went the full three rounds and Carano won by unanimous decision (see the fight - part one, part two). OK... here's the thing about these Carano fights. Before the fight starts, both woman looked prepped and focused, and by the end of the fight, Carano looks like she just stepped off a stairmaster while her opponent looks like she's been put through a meat grinder. It's just fantastic. Another wonderful thing about Carano is this; if you've ever watched women's boxing or MMA you'll often see the fighters, after tired and beaten, resort to fighting like girls with flailing arms and any and all strategy thrown to the curb. This never happens with Carano. She's fights like a man fights and never comes apart. It really is a thing of beauty to see her fight. Plus Muay Thai (her style) is entertaining as hell.
5) Meatballs was on yesterday so of course I sat down to watch it. I've always felt that Meatballs had one of the great underappreciated film soundtracks of all time (right up there with Xanadu - don't laugh... I'm serious). You can get it here for free if you want to try it out.
8) If I was still in University (and not a big, fancy, mature adult) I would probably buy this. I think it's funny.
9) I've really been unclear as to why so many people seem to support Super Sexy Sarah Palin, but this Palin backer managed to articulate it masterfully. I get it now...
10) Remember the laughable Vote or Die! campaign from eight years ago in which Sugar Puffs Daddy tried to scare today's youth into voting? Well celebrities are once again encouraging the young 'uns to register and vote, but at least this time they're doing it with a sense of humour. It may be ineffective (don't know yet), but I think it's that's pretty good way to approach it.
That's it for now, friends and neighbours. Have a listen to Makin' It by David Naughton (from the Meatballs soundtrack).
AB
P.S. For some reason I thought of this the other day.
GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war? PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote. GIBSON: Exact words. PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s words when he said — first, he suggested never presume to know what God’s will is, and I would never presume to know God’s will or to speak God’s words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that’s a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side. That’s what that comment was all about, Charlie.