Betty Blue, 37°2 le matin

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Cult film alert!

Where do I begin, this film is fantastic on so many levels!

Betty Blue, or 37°2 le matin by Director Jean-Jacques Beineix stars Jean-Hugues Anglade (Subway, La Femme Nikita, Killing Zoe, La Reine Margot, The Sopranos) and Béatrice Dalle, who was discovered in this film. 

Released in 1986, this film was nominated for best film, best actor, best actress, best director, best music, best editing, best supporting actor, and best supporting actress. 

Béatrice Dalle is brilliant as Betty, completely unhinged (is she playing herself, I wonder?), who meets up with Zorg the handyman, scoops him up, and catapults him into her life of surrealistic madness. Jean-Hugues Anglade, Zorg, loves her faithfully to the end. Ah, and what an end!

A masterpiece of sensual madness.

Gros bisous d'un chef-d'œuvre et a demain.

Love, Charley

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Rockie Trading Post #25 - Special Returning Guest Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Welcome to the landmark 25th episode of The Rockie Trading Post featuring a grand total of 0 Rockies.  Today's special returning guest is Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life.  As some of you may remember Bo is a big time set builder.  If you don't remember here is the recap of our first trade.  I pretty much wiped Bo out of Rockies last time, so I decided to go into my old set collecting self and make a dent in one of my many uncompleted sets.  I sent him the last 3 cards he needed for 1989 Fleer (bringing my dupe stack from that set down to 9,997) along with a stack of 1990 Score he needed.  In return Bo sent sent me a big chunk of my 1984 Topps needs.  Here are some of my favorites.

This is my favorite card that Bo sent.  It commemorates the 3 no hitters pitched during the 1983 season.  What stood out to me the most is the commentary on the back.  Seriously click the pic and read that.  It looks like it was written by the Geico caveman with the lack of several words.  My new favorite sentence is "He whitewashed Expos 3-0."

Look at all of the Hall of Famers in that group.  I count 5, plus Rogers and Zahn were pretty good pitchers in their day as well.  Tom Seaver is pictured in his second go around with the Mets, before they foolishly lost him again for literally nothing.

I really miss the colorful uniforms of the 70s and 80s.  Sure some of them looked awful, but nowadays just about every team looks the same with rare exceptions.  Back then, you knew that when the Pirates were playing you might lose a retina if you stared at the shirt, but they did look bad ass.  To me nothing says 1980s baseball more than the baby blue road uniforms.  At least half the league had them at some point.

Here we come to a trio of vastly underrated players.  Amos Otis is probably the most underrated of the three.  He was an excellent player as a Royal, but was overshadowed by George Brett.  Tim Raines was overshadowed as a leadoff hitter by Rickey Henderson.  If he had played during any other era, he would already be in the HOF.  Finally we come to Joe Morgan.  It is hard to call a Hall of Famer underrated but he was often overlooked on the Big Red Machine teams and after years of his bad announcing people have forgotten just how a great a player Morgan was.  Of course that picture makes him look like he is either playing with a baby or singing a nice soulful tune.

You might be asking yourself what these three players have in common.  Of course the right answer is these are three people that have never been in my kitchen.  Other than that they are just three random cards I wanted to show.  Porfirio Altamirano is just because of his name.  Bert Campaneris is because of his positions listed (wouldn't IF have been simpler?).  Campy had a bright career in the 1970s with the A's and is best remembered as the first person to play all 9 positions in a single game.  Tom Hume should be collected more, because he looks like a nerd and so do I and many other collectors.

The last two cards I couldn't resist putting together to take a shot at Dodger fans everywhere.  If only there was an Ozzie Smith in the packet as well.  Anyway, (with apologies to Night Owl) I remember Cey as a Cub more than a Dodger because I saw him play as a Cub his last few years on WGN.  I miss Harry Caray.  Ah, Tom Niedenfuer, my favorite Dodger ever.  Growing up I didn't really have a favorite team, but the Cardinals were near the top every year.  For those of you too young to remember, Niedenfuer gave up a home run to the massive power hitter, Ozzie Smith in the 1985 NLCS.  I think it was Ozzie first lefty home run ever, but if not he didn't hit many.


Thanks again Bo for the trade and I'm sure we will doing it again.  Make sure you visit his blog here because he really is one the most observant bloggers out there when it comes to cards.  Well that just about wraps up this edition of The "Rockie" Trading Post.  Tune in next time when I will bring the Rockies back to their rightful place here with a returning Cubs fan.  Until then, we are officially signed off.

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Les Noix or the cracking of the walnuts

The other day, mon fils brings home a gargantuan bag of shelled walnuts and says, "Mom, we need to bake something with these." 

"Why?" I ask. 

"For school," he replies, "we're going to sell the cookies we bake and buy a guinea pig for our class."

'Cool,' I think. Then I ask, "Where did you get all these and who the heck shelled them because that was a big job?"

So he explains:

Outside the Biology teacher's classroom at school, there are five walnut trees.

The biology teacher picks all the walnuts and makes kids shell them in detention, ha!

Whilst said errant students crack nuts, the biology teacher strolls nonchalantly around the classroom nibbling on them exclaiming, "Mmm, boy, these sure are good!"

I love how these kids are being taught so many things in one fell swoop. I love how they reap the benefits of their hard work in detention by transforming Mother Nature's bounty into salable goodies to eat into a cute pet to take care of in the classroom.

Bravo, biology teacher!

Gros bisous des noix et cobayes et a demain!

Love, Charley

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Predictions for the 2011 Baseball Season

A couple of other bloggers have put their prognostication skills to the test by predicting the 2011 season.  Since I did so, um well, picking March Madness (Hey I got 1 Final Four team right which is more than most), I decided to put my ideas down for scrutiny as well.  Here we go starting with the Senior Circuit.

NL East
1. Braves
2. Phillies - WC
3. Mets
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

I think what most people who assumed a Phillies/Red Sox World Series after free agency forgot is they have to play the games AND stay healthy.  Philadelphia has been cursed with injuries and Atlanta just seems to be young and hungry again.  It wouldn't surprise me to see the Mets really surprise a lot of people this year either.  The Marlins and Nats are probably just fodder this year, but the Nats do remind me a lot of the 1990s Devil Rays (Rays to you youngsters).  Losing year after year and collecting those high draft picks.

NL Central
1. Brewers
2. Cardinals
3. Reds
4. Cubs
5. Pirates
6. Astros

This is the toughest division to pick by far.  Honestly, other than the Pirates and Astros, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the other four took this division title.  I picked the Brewers simply because this is their last chance for a long time.  They mortgaged their future and will probably be among the worst teams in MLB for the late 2010s.  The wild card is probably not going to come from this division, because they will be beating each other up too much.  Other than Astros fans, can anyone else name 5 Astros off the top of their head and I'll even give you Hunter Pence?

NL West
1. Rockies
2. Dodgers
3. Giants
4. Diamondbacks
5. Padres

I hope this is how it works out.  The Rockies have made the playoffs as the wild card three times in their history, but have NEVER won the division crown.  I want this one, but I think the Rox season will ride on whether new hitting coach Carney Lansford can get Stewart, Iannetta, and Smith to hit like they did in the minors.  I just didn't want to pick the Giants in 2nd even though they will probably still make the playoffs.  The D-Backs suck, next.  The Padres replaced their star Adrian Gonzalez with Rockie castoff Brad Hawpe playing out of position...not exactly a recipe for success.

NL Playoffs

NLDS
Rockies over Phillies
Braves over Brewers

NLCS
Rockies over Braves

NL MVP - Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
NL Cy Young - Cole Hamels, Phillies
NL ROY - Freddie Freeman, Braves

Yeah a little bit of "homer-ness," but hey these ARE my picks.  Without missing a bunch of games due to injury, Tulo was MVP last year.  This year it will happen, and several idiots will wonder if he only good because of playing in Denver.  I picked Hamels because he will be matched up with #4 starters this year and will probably rack up a lot of wins.  Rookie of the Year predictions are crazy at best, because the winner might be in the minors right now.  Freeman has the best chance at taking it down as of right now.


AL East
1. Red Sox
2. Rays - WC
3. Orioles
4. Yankees
5. Blue Jays

Surprise, the Yankees were the worst team in the AL East from August on last year.  I think is the year that age will FINALLY catch up to them, at least until they spend $800 million on Pujols and other free agents for next year.  The Orioles are on the come and it wouldn't surprise me to see them ahead of the Rays as well.  I don't think anyone has the firepower to take down Boston though.  Toronto will be a candidate for the overall #1 draft pick next year.

AL Central
1. Twins
2. Tigers
3. White Sox
4. Royals
5. Indians

I think this might be the final year for the Twins on top, because the Royals are going to be tough in 2012.  But this is still 2011, and it wouldn't surprise me to see any of the top 3 win this division.  The Indians will probably be competing with the Jays and Astros for the worst record this year.

AL West
1. Rangers
2. Athletics
3. Mariners
4. Angels

This is the Rangers' division to lose.  No one else is that strong although the A's do good young pitching as usual.  The Mariners are a prognosticator's worst nightmare.  When you think they are good, they stink and vice versa.  I am picking them to be around a .500 team.  The Angels won't be a contender this year and I don't think they will be again for at least four years.

AL Playoffs

ALDS
Rangers over Rays
Red Sox over Twins

ALCS
Red Sox over Rangers

AL MVP - Joe Mauer, Twins
AL Cy Young - Jon Lester, Red Sox
AL ROY - Desmond Jennings - Rays Kyle Drabek - Blue Jays


I think Mauer will win this year and at least one more MVP before he retires.  Man I wish he was a Rockie.  Lester I chose basically by default.  It doesn't seem that there are that many great pitchers in the AL this year.  Jennings is taking Carl Crawford left field spot and seems to be relatively the same type of player.  Kyle Drabek could also get consideration for ROY. *UPDATE* Apparently I forgot that the Rays signed Johnny Damon to take Crawford's spot so I will adjust my prediction accordingly.


World Series

Rockies over Red Sox in 6

World Series MVP - Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies

Yeah it's a homer pick, but it's not all that far-fetched.  I would love to see the rematch of the 2007 season.  I think the NL will win the All Star Game and give home field in the Series to Colorado.

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Signes extérieurs de Printemps ...

Au détour des allées ...

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Toilettage du matin, un AVANT ...

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APRES nécessaire pour une remise en forme !

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Le laurier est en fleurs ! PÂQUES n'est pas loin ...

Quelques uns de ses rameaux seront bénis et disposés aux quatre coins de ma maison ...

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Un joyeux mélange de plantes et d'arbres ...

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Fleurs douces du cognassier ...

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Fleurs des champs, sans elles le Printemps n'aurait pas le même charme ...

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Fidèles et incontournables ...

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La myrte des Floralies 2010 est en fleurs ...

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Un jardin de curé ?

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Un peu désordonné certes, mais joyeux et vivant,

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il sait si bien me faire aimer le Printemps !

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Très belle journée à vous qui passez

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Rockie Trading Post #24 - Special Returning Guest Dennis from Too Many Grandersons

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Welcome to the latest episode of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tonight's special returning guest is Dennis from Too Many Grandersons.  Here is the recap of Dennis' first visit to TRTP.  He still collects the Tigers and former Michigan athletes of all sports and has a very enviable rookie card collection that you can see here.  This trade came about from a brilliantly simple idea from Dennis.  He was planning on going to a card show and asked everyone what they would want to trade for, in effect making a shopping list.  I sent him some Tiger autos from my 2008 Tristar Prospects Plus box breaks along with a few other random Lions and Tigers (including a new Granderson for him).  You can see his take on the trade here and you also get some cartoon buttocks free of charge.  You can see my take on the trade starting with the next sentence.

My contribution to Dennis' shopping lis was (surprise) Rockies relics and autos.  First up is my favorite of my three new "hits," a 2004 Cracker Jack Larry Walker jersey.  It is a bit smaller than a normal card, but the jersey piece appears to be normal sized.  If I am not mistaken this is my first horizontal pinstripe and my first gray pinstripe jersey pieces.

The other two "hits" that Dennis picked out were these Rockie pitching prospects autos.  Well, actually Morillo is a former Rockie that is now pitching in Japan, but I think this is my first card of him so it should knock another player off my One of Every Rockie list.  Greg Reynolds was the overall #2 draft pick in 2006 ahead of such players as Evan Longoria (#3), Clayton Kershaw (#7), and Tim Lincecum (#10) among others.  Can I request a do over?  However, he is still with the Rox and was one of the final cuts in Spring Training this year, but man he seems like a bust of Darkoian proportions.

As usual Dennis always throws in some extra cards in his trades.  These two are special because they finished out team sets for me.  The Tulowitzki is my final 2009 Bowman base card need and the Mejia finishes the 1994 Collector's Choice Series 1.  It does appear that Mejia just left a tough 7-10 split though, but he was bowling with a glove on so he gets a pass.

Our Todd Helton card of the day is this 2008 Topps Co Signers base card.  I wonder who he is paired with on the parallels.  The 1999 Skybox E/X Century Derrick Gibson card is great but the scan does not do it justice.  For those of you that haven't seen this set, get one.  They are clear acetate (I believe), everything white in the scan that isn't uniform or name is completely see through.

I am not going to discuss my personal politics here, because we are talking baseball cards and it should be light.  That being said, I do love the 2008 Topps political inserts.  As long as political are limited to every four or eight years I think they can work quite well.  This John McCain gold (bronze?) card leaves me 5 short of the parallel set.  I still need the base insert of McCain as well as Obama to have that complete.

My favorite political insert has to be the 2008 Historical Campaign Matchups (although First Couples is a close second).  Dennis added these four at my request and they feature some of the greatest Americans of all time (and J.Q. Adams).  Six presidents on those four cards.  I love Presidential history and could probably bore all of you for hours with random Presidential trivia, but I won't at least until I run out of post ideas a few months from now.


Thanks again Dennis for the trade and I am sure we will be doing it again.  Don't forget to check out his blog here and give him some Michigan guys, you better hurry before they are out of the league (zing).  Well that just about wraps up this edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tune in next time for another returning guest that brought a total of 0 Rockies and yet I am still happy.  Until then, we are officially signed off.

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Midnight In Paris

Monday, 28 March 2011

Woody Allen's new film, Midnight In Paris, soon to be released. Bien sur the famous cast is as long as a catwalk model's legs: Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, and Carla Bruni (Yes, Mrs. Sarkosy!) to name a few.

I'm loving the Van Gogh-inspired poster for the film.

Things seem to get a little surrealistic round about Midnight In Paris, fais gaffe, you too might one day be obliged to confront the illusion of a life different from your own!

Gros bisous de surréalisme et a demain!

Love, Charley

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Mailbag notes and finally my MCG cards have arrived

Hey all quick post today.  I owe several of you packages and haven't forgotten them.  The following people have packs that were mailed out today.

Jon from Community Gum
Daniel from It's Like Having my Own Card Shop
Julie from Things are Funner Here
Ryan from This Card is Cool
Ted from Crinkly Wrappers
AJ from The Lost Collector
Bo from Baseball Cards come to Life
Sam from The Daily Dimwit
Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard

I figured for being a little late with my mailing a quick link/plug might make up for it.  If anyone else should be getting cards from me, please let me know because other than one relic to Greg Z. my trade box is empty for now.

Onto my loot from the Million Card Giveaway.

I only bought one box of Series 1 from 2010 and originally got six codes, and that was it.  Then I took about six months off from the hobby, due to lack of funds and pretty much forgot about them.  Out of my original six, I didn't really want any of them (at least not for the shipping costs).  So I made 13 trades overall and ended up with two cards that I felt were worth shipping.  Here they are.

This 1968 Topps Tim Cullen is my first ever card from this set and it is in great shape.  I traded a 1969 Topps Tim Cullen straight up for it and was shocked that it got accepted.  The 69 was one of my original 6 code cards and I would've probably had it shipped if I couldn't trade it.  Either way this card is now my earliest Rookie Cup supplanting my 1970 Lou Piniella.

 

This is the card I got from my final trade, which was a trade everything I have left for 1 single Rookie Cup card from the 70s.  I offered the same 6 cards (a 1977 Wayne Garland and 5 from the 1990s and later) for every rookie I didn't have and this was the first to accept.  This is a 1976 Topps Larry Parrish which suffers from a common flaw with 1976 cards being badly off center, but overall much better than nothing.

I loved the MCG site just for the trading.  It was a fun time killer and I will hopefully enjoy the Diamond Giveaway (best card so far a 1977 Luis Tiant) once they get the trade function going on it.

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Kebab

I have to admit, there is nothing like a good, greasy old, yummy kebab every now and again. You can find a kebab place almost anywhere.

Zee meat

Sliced up

Getting a little saucy with some veggies in a wrap. Yum!

Must have a side of fries and a cold frosty coke or beer. The experience will stay with you ....

Bon, gros bisous de kebab et a demain!

Love, Charley

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