My Football Fantasy: Steve Gregory

College League: lost, 97.81-81.23 (6-6 overall, 8th place out of 12 teams)
Vermont League: won, 116.02-109.50 (6-6, 6th of 12)
My Player of the Week: Steve Gregory (Safety, Patriots)

Photo via New England Patriots

Once again, the New England defense carried the day for me in the Vermont league: 17 points allowed, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 4 fumble recoveries and 2 touchdowns.  Gregory was the star this week.  The interception, 2 of the fumble recoveries and 1 of the touchdowns were all his.

My teams come to the final regular season week with exactly the same record, though they reached it from decidedly different directions.  My Vermont team is hot: five-week winning streak.  My College team, on the other hand, has lost three straight.  In both leagues, it's entirely possible that I could finish with a winning record and still miss the playoffs.

Family Movie Night: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Director: Tim Burton
Original Release: 2005
Choice: Our Girl's
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Image via Wikipedia

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is on a very short list of my favorite books, all-time.  I read it not long ago as part of my 12 Books in 12 Months project: see post here.  As I noted in that post, I prefer this version to the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder.  In my opinion, this later movie is far more faithful to the original story.  The Dahl estate had much broader artistic control this time. 



Even beyond the strong adaptation, Burton's movie is a great piece of work in its own right.  Major selling points for me:

• I love Johnny Depp's interpretation of Willy Wonka - so much more than merely zany.  Depp brings a detachment that lends a darker edge to the proceedings.  The back story, entirely new, is vintage Burton.
• The casting of Deep Roy as all of the Oompa-Loompas is a stroke of genius.
• The squirrels in the nut room are very satisfying.  I can appreciate how the same scene would have been difficult to accomplish with 1971 technology but the golden egg in the Wilder version is a wholly inadequate substitute.
• All of the children are well-cast - no small feat in the film industry.  All but Charlie are delightfully wretched.  Pressed to pick a favorite, I'd go with AnnaSophia Robb as Violet Bearegarde.  I'm half-convinced that Dahl wrote the book just for the sake of the "Violet, you're turning violet" line.

Multi-generational considerations:

• We watched with My Mother during our Thanksgiving visit to Washington, DC.   I was amazed to learn that she'd never even read the book before, let alone seen either of the film adaptations.  Published in 1964, the book missed her own childhood.  By the time it came into my life and my sister's, we were old enough to read it by ourselves.  She has read some of Dahl's works for adults, though.

*****

My Rating System:

5 = The best of the best.  These are the films by which I judge other films.
4 = High quality films which I feel could hold up well in repeated viewings.
3 = The vast majority of films.  They're fine.  Once was enough.
2 = I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish it.  It's not a 1 because I'm not prepared to say it's a terrible film - just not my cup of tea.
1 = A terrible film.  An insult to the art form.

I'm with the Band: Florida State

Band: Marching Chiefs
University: Florida State University
Founded: 1939
Current Director: Patrick Dunnigan
Fight Song: "FSU Fight Song"
Today's Home Game: Florida, 3:30 p.m.

Photo via Twitter

I won't pretend that I'm entirely comfortable with all of the Native American imagery and symbolism used in American sports and the Tomahawk Chop - made famous by the Atlanta Braves but originated at Florida State - is certainly among the more problematic.  That said, from a purely musical/theatrical standpoint, "Seminole Uprising" is awesome:



A well-established theme in this series, I love it when a band sings.  The song "Hymn of the Garnet and Gold" has a nice story.  The university solicited submissions for a school alma mater and "The Hymn" was among those not accepted.  The marching band, though, has claimed it as its own.  The following clip, with band and fans singing together, is truly lovely:

My Football Fantasy: Aqib Talib

College League: lost, 89.53-66.02 (6-5 overall, 7th place out of 12 teams)
Vermont League: won, 104.02-65.26 (5-6, 8th out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Aqib Talib (Cornerback, Patriots)

Photo via Tampa Bay Times

New England is my team defense in the Vermont league and they had a very big week: 24 points allowed, 1 sack, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery, 2 defensive touchdowns and 1 return touchdown.  Talib was the star with one of the interceptions and one of the touchdowns.  This was his first game with the Patriots, having been acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay.

Family Movie Night: Coraline

Title: Coraline
Director: Henry Selick
Original Release: 2009
Choice: My Wife's
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Image via Wikipedia

This week presented a rare instance in which Our Girl had the advantage: she had read the book Caroline whereas neither of her parents had.  We had to remind her not to give away too much of the story as we were watching.  She waited until afterward to tell us about the differences between book and movie.

I have mixed feelings about Neil Gaiman, the book's author.  On the one hand, he is the screenwriter for one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes: "The Doctor's Wife," a deserving Hugo winner.  On the other hand, he first made his name in the comic book world, especially The Sandman series.  I tried the first collected volume of Sandman, entitled Preludes & Nocturnes.  While I certainly appreciated the novelty and invention, the story is, frankly, a bit gross at times.  I'm alright with creepy or even scary.  I really don't go in for gross.



Coraline is far from gross.  Instead, it is a dark but ultimately sweet and redeeming tale with a very believable title character.  Coraline, a young, I'd say pre-teen, girl moves to a new house with her parents.  She's bored.  She feels unappreciated.  She finds a portal to an alternate world with a seemingly better family.  Choices must be made but not all is as it seems.

The stop-action animation is lovely, my favorite a Van Gogh Starry Night-inspired sequence towards the end.  The pacing is interesting with a relatively slow initial development for a children's movie - not necessarily a bad thing but unusual.  I am genuinely curious about the book now.  Our Girl enjoyed both.

Multi-generational considerations:

• A strong female-lead - a definite plus at our house.
• A relatively sophisticated story for a children's film but still more formulaic than the average Miyazaki offering.

*****

My Rating System:

5 = The best of the best.  These are the films by which I judge other films.
4 = High quality films which I feel could hold up well in repeated viewings.
3 = The vast majority of films.  They're fine.  Once was enough.
2 = I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish it.  It's not a 1 because I'm not prepared to say it's a terrible film - just not my cup of tea.
1 = A terrible film.  An insult to the art form.

I'm with the Band: Penn State

Band: Penn State Blue Band
University: Pennsylvania State University
Founded: 1899
Current Director: O. Richard Bundy
Fight Song: "Fight On, State"
Today's Home Game: Indiana, 12 p.m.

There's no getting around the fact that it's been a horrible year in State College.  I won't dwell on it too much because this post really is about the band.  State College is near and dear to my heart as my family has spent a decent portion of the summer months in the area for over 30 years.  Without question, football has reached a dangerous level of importance in that community.  The same can be said in plenty of other American college towns: Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Lincoln, Nebraska; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Austin, Texas; Gainesville, Florida and so forth.  What happened at Penn State is the most terrifying example of what can transpire in such a state of affairs. 

Thank goodness, there is life beyond football.  There are students, faculty, staff and town residents who are not fans of the team.  Many people associated with the community are every bit as disgusted by what has happened as the rest of the country at-large. They know all too well that the entire institution has been painted with the same brush.  It will take a long time for the university to recover.  Let it be a meaningful cautionary tale to the rest of the nation as well.

Penn State loves the Blue Band.  As the university community recovers from the trauma of the Sandusky crimes and their fallout, highlighting the more positive aspects of college football culture will be important.

Image via Penn State Blue Band

The tailgate show:



"Defying Gravity":

My Football Fantasy: Rivers Again

College League: lost, 91.95-56.64 (6-4 overall, 4th place out of 12 teams)
Vermont League: won, 81.18 (4-6, 9th out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Philip Rivers (Quarterback, Chargers) with 337 yards passing, 2 interceptions, 3 touchdowns and 5 yards rushing

Photo via Angels Foster Family Network