Skinned Lion: February 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Pitched

I'm sure some of you have seen this video, or heard the story. But if you have not seen this video, it actually has Dock Ellis giving his account of what happened. Nothing else left to say but...enjoy

Much Love,
Lion

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Look and Sound Don't Match

First off, I have to give Sherrod the nod on this one...thanks for sharing. If there ever was a more confusing video when it comes to the appearance of a guy and then the voice...I'm not sure I have seen one. His name is Dallas Green and he originally started is a punk/metal band called Alexisonfire out of Canada. Then a few years later started his solo stuff called City and Colour which is what I am showing you all now. A lot of you have probably heard one of his songs and never really have seen him. He sings the song called "The Girl", but that is not what I am showing you all, I am sharing a video called "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"... Hope you enjoy...

Much Love,
Lion

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Oscars...2011

I am not sure how many of you all take the time to watch the Oscars, but typically you get roped in somehow. Whether it is your wife, girlfriend, sister or mom...you end up watching it. I personally don't mind it, but like most people I usually only care about the best picture category. Looking back in the past 5 years, I am not entirely sure the "academy" has gotten in right. Some people talk about them being paid off and a lot of behind the scenes wheeling and dealings going on to select the best picture, but whether it happens or not....they typically do not get it right (in my opinion anyways).

Let's start in 2006 shall we...
- Crash (winner)
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote (should have won)
- Goodnight, Good Luck
- Munich

Now personally, I think Capote should have won. Crash was good, don't get we wrong, but it didn't have that best picture quality we all look for. I am pretty sure everyone thought that Brokeback Mountain should have won (and yes I saw it, just like every other movie that were selected) but I didn't think it should have won Best Picture just because it was so racy and put everyone up in arms. Capote was just a great movie all around and Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a fantastic job and sold the movie as a whole to me. The other two, didn't really stand a chance in my opinion. Munich was way to slow, and Goodnight, Good Luck was good, but I just don't think it did it for everyone.

2007
- The Departed (winner)
- Babel
- Letters From Iwo Jima
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Queen

I actually have no problem with this selection. The Departed was a fantastic movie, had everything you looked for in a great movie. It seems like, typically, best picture usually ends up being some huge, blockbuster, epic movie like The Queen. Since Helen Mirren one Best Actress for her role in The Queen it seems like that movie really was destined to win Best Picture. But luckily, they got this one right. I don't really have anything else to say about Babel or Letters From Iwo Jima...they were both good movies I suppose, just not my style. I absolutely loved Little Miss Sunshine, if that had won, I would have been perfectly OK with it. I thought Steve Carrel as a gay uncle/brother that was on suicide watch from a crazy/typical family taking a girl across a few states in a busted out VW Van was hysterical...not to mention Alan Arkin is one of the funniest people ever in that movie. Best all in all...2006 got it right I think.

2008
- No Country For Old Men (winner)
- Atonement
- Juno
- Michael Clayton
- There Will Be Blood (should have won)

This really bothered me a lot for some reason. I really like No Country For Old Men, but There Will Be Blood was just a completely better movie in my opinion. Better acting, a better story, better ending...I just see zero flaws in it. I don't even want to talk about the other movies from '07 because they don't hold a candle to the other two that were nominated. It really only came down to those two to begin with in my opinion...but they swung and missed it I think. There Will Be Blood was hands down the better movie.

2009
- Slumdog Millionaire (winner)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- (should have won) The Wrestler or The Dark Knight - neither were nominated for Best Picture

First off...2008 can suck it, because the two best movies from 2008 were not even put up for Best Picture in my opinion. How can you leave out The Dark Knight and The Wrestler?? 2008 was a huge disappointment and I don't care to dwell on this pathetic cast of movies...I fell asleep to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk is another movie about the uprising of gay rights, Frost/Nixon was alright, I never actually saw The Reader (but based on the name, it should have remained a book) and Slumdog Millionaire was good, but give me a damn break.

2010
- Hurt Locker (winner)
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- Inglorious Basterds (should have won)
- Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air

Hurt Locker was by all means a fantastic movie, and I can see why it won Best Picture. But let's be honest, it was just another take on a typical war movie. Avatar was the biggest blockbuster success in recent memory and was a fantastic movie also and could have easily won. The Blind Side was a cheese-puff movie about a white family taking in a black kid from the streets and him making it to college and eventually the NFL (let's be honest, if Rudy wasn't even nominated, Blind Side wasn't gonna win). District 9, absolutely loved the movie, not sure what else I can say. An Education (didn't see it, nor did I care too). Precious was also a very good movie, could have easily won and if it had...it wouldn't have bothered me to much. A Serious Man was alright, movie dragged out to long and the ending was one of the worsts ever. Up...what can I say about Up...possibly the most depressing first 15-20 minutes of an animated movie I have ever seen and all in all...I really wasn't a fan of this movie (sorry to my girlfriend, because this is her favorite movie). Up in the Air was good, not great or unbelievable.....but OK. But the movie Inglorious Basterds was unreal...the acting, the story, cinematography, setting, plot....I seriously could not get enough of this movie (maybe I am partial b/c Brad Pitt was from Maynardville, TN). Either way, I think it should have won Best Picture.

2011
- 127 Hours
- Black Swan
- The Fighter (should win)
- Inception
- The Kid's Are Alright
- The King's Speech (will probably win)
- The Social Network
- Toy Story 3
- True Grit
- Winter's Bone

Now I am going to be honest...I have not see all of these movies, so I can't say with 100% what movie I think should win....(haven't seen Black Swan, The Kid's Are Alright, The King's Speech or Winter's Bone yet). Good luck to whomever has to pick The Best Picture out of that group of movies, because out of the six I have seen, it is really hard to say which one I liked the best....but it was probably The Fighter. I am not going to go into to much detail about any of the other movies until the award is announced....but I am pulling for either The Fighter or True Grit. I loved 127 Hours, Inception, The Social Network and Toy Story 3 and it was hard for me to pick The Fighter out of just those, much less four more movies I haven't seen yet. Here is to hoping they get it right for a change...but I guess in the grand scheme of things...everyone have an opinion....and unfortunately mine does not matter when it comes to the Oscars.

Much Love,
Lion

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Debate To Come.....Justin Bieber

Yes, that is right. Skinned Lion will debate Justin Bieber in next weeks showdown. Stay tuned...

Radiohead To Release New Album

Out of nowhere and without much hype surrounding them as of late, Radiohead is releasing their 8th album. It is available for pre-order right now and it will be released as a download on February 19th (tomorrow).

Much Love,
Lion

Thursday, February 17, 2011

What Should Skinned Lion Debate?

Both of us at Skinned Lion have a vast knowledge on a lot of stuff. We are wanting to hear from you all on what we should discuss next. So far we have taken on The Greatest Villain of All-Time as well as the American League vs. the National League. Next up, well, it's up to you all.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Cake releases new album

I am not entirely sure how this slipped passed me, but nevertheless I found out about it. The new album titled Showroom of Compassion released in mid-January. I picked out one of my top two songs from the album and posted it here for you all to listen to. I am a Cake fan and I highly recommend this to you all.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

American League vs. National League.....the showdown

The debate for what division is better is very simple and won’t take to much time for me to complete. The American League has been far and away the better division since divisions came into existence. I know what everyone will say about the AL having the DH, but I don’t know how many people know that a NL coach actually suggested it and it was backed by NL coaches before any AL coach ever made a push for it starting in 1906 and then again in the 1920’s. So that should put the notion to bed about the AL and the DH. But if it doesn’t, it still has no barring on the outcome of games between the two divisions. During inter-league play if it is in an AL park then both teams get the DH and if a game is played in a NL park, then both teams go without the DH. Same goes for the World Series, if the home team is NL then there is no DH for either team and if the home team is AL then there is a DH for both teams. Now, here are the reasons that the AL is more dominant and just a better division all around; out of the 106 World Series that have been played, the American League has won 62 of them compared to the NL’s 44. That alone should supplant the AL’s overall dominance. The American League also has the best rivalry in all of baseball between the Yankees and Red Sox (even though I hate both of these teams) and not to mention some of the most storied franchises ever. I am not here to harp on one particular team like I know the other person will do with the Atlanta Braves, but one team doesn’t make a league good, they can make it more interesting for you as a fan, but they don’t make the league better. I love the Tigers, but I honestly believe that the AL is a better league in all aspects except maybe pitching...overall our everyday players are far more talented than the AL. These are the points that I stand behind.

Much Love,

Lion

The MLB debate between the NL and AL will forever be linked to the designated hitter. It is fascinating that a billion dollar professional sports company would basically give the fans two different products. Simply put the DH has split the sport of baseball into two separate entities each vying for the same goal to be World Series Champions. The DH first hit the stage on April 6, 1973, Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became major league's first designated hitter. He walked against Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox with the bases loaded. The AL has since used the DH to replace the pitcher/worst hitter in your lineup for every game played under AL baseball rules. It is not baseball at its truest form. The NL on the other hand is played traditionally with the pitchers batting because they are on the field and in the lineup. I like the idea of both but there needs to be unity in the sport with or without the DH. As for the debate the NL may not be as flashy with all the hitting but its the little stuff in where the NL succeeds. The pinch hitting, base-running and management of the game is much more intricate and important. The NL is Americas Pastime.

Enough about the DH, it has been thought for many years that the AL is better than the NL. There were stretches of AL dominance but for the past few years the shift of power has swayed. In the past few years the interleague splint has shown the NL steadily closing in on taking over and this year may be the time it happens. For years the AL had the upper hand on pitching , but with the addition of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Zach Grienke along with the already stellar pitchers and rising stars the NL has taken over. It is difficult to compare stats of batters in the opposing leagues due to the DH spot giving the AL batters more opportunities for success. So you have to look at which league has the best players which is a near wash. For debate purposes here is my list of the top players by position.

NL / AL

1st Base - NL > AL Miguel Cabrera had a statistically better year than Pujols but he is thought of as the best player in baseball and with Joey Votto, Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder the NL is superior

OF - NL < AL Overall the AL simply has a better crop of OF

2nd Base - NL> AL This is NL destruction Robinson Cano is the best 2nd baseman in baseball but he is the only one of the top 10 in baseball that resides in the AL

SS - NL > AL Once Again not even close Jeter is old Hanley and Tulo are the best and so is the NL.

3rd Base - NL < AL Chipper Jones is my favorite player all-time but the AL has more talent no question.

C - NL = AL This is kind of a cop out but if Buster Posey has another big year i don't see much separation in the leagues.

Overall all NL > AL

NL is Best

Go Braves,

R. Duke

New Mumford and Sons Song....

I just found this and couldn't wait to share it with everyone. Apparently they played an "Untitled" song before their performance on the Grammy's. Below is the video for their new song....(some of you might have to give the video a minute to pop up, just fyi)

Much Love,
Lion

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I'm A Fan Of This Guy

Much Love,
Lion

Friday, February 11, 2011

Knoxville, TN is back at it...

Just when I thought Knoxville couldn't get anymore redneck....this happens. Also, it is impossible to find the original video now since Youtube has taken it down.

Much Love,
Lion

Thursday, February 10, 2011

This Guy is a Backup Quarterback??? Really??

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Votes Are In...

It appears that Skinned Lions next debate will be between the National League and the American League. Stay tuned this week to read our arguments. Also, sorry for the delay, I have been under the weather since Monday and I haven't had the necessary motivation to get this debate under way.

Much Love,
Lion

Monday, February 7, 2011

Who Is Ready For Some Movies?

Below you will find a list of movies that are scheduled to be released this year and in 2012 by their release dates. If there was as trailer available, then I posted it, if not I gave you a link to IMDB to get more information of the movie itself. Now I did not post every single movie that is coming out, but instead, movies that I thought the majority of our readers would take an interest in. I am sure I probably left some good ones out that I am not aware of, but I hope I pinpointed some of the better ones. Hope you all enjoy the list.

Much Love,
Lion

2011

Cedar Rapids - February 11th