It’s pretty simple:

Occupy Purdue(’s Endzone)

Go Badgers!

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Details on the new James Bond movie came out today.  (Wheeee! #23!)   A press release gave a brief plot outline, saying Bond’s loyalty to M is tested “as her past comes back to haunt her.  “As MI6 (British intelligence) comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.”

Here’s five cool things about the movie:

#5: Judi Dench returns at M.  She has proved in reversing the gender role of this character actually made them more intriguing.

#4: Sam Mendes is directing.  He’s got a unique style that he brought to two movies I really loved.  American Beauty and Away We Go.

#3: Skyfall – Way cool title. I’m guessing there’s a superweapon called sky fall that may threaten everyone.

#2: The release of Skyfall in 2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Bond brand.

#1: Javier Bardem is the bad guy.  He was sooooooo much a scary bad guy in the Coen Brothers ‘No Country For Old Men.”  If he says “friend-o” in this Bond movie, I may scream in happiness like a school girl.

Yes, I am a James Bond fanatic, so here’s another important Bond list:

Best movie James Bond actors:

#6 – George Lazenby – Mr. One and Done.  While On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had some cool skiing action sequences, you never really got the feel for Bond.

#5 – Daniel Craig - I really didn’t like the choice of Craig over Clive Owen, but Craig is growing on me.

#4 – Sean Connery – I know.  Purists will rake me over the coals for this low ranking.  The fact is Connery as James Bond was not so much a ladies man as he was a sexist.  I’m still a bit shocked watching Goldfinger and Dr. No these days.

#3 – Timothy Dalton – He’s an underrated James Bond, but I thought The Living Daylights and License To Kill were thrilling.

#2 – Roger Moore – Oh yeah.  The first James Bond I was introduced to.  He was smooth and satirical.  He also fought Jaws (Richard Kiel,) who I got to interview once.

#1 – Pierce Brosnan – He fit a tux better than the rest.   Brosnan was charming, calm, cool and collective on top of being silky and smooth.  Do I have a man crush on him?  Maybe.



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Ever hear the Bill Cosby routine about feeding chocolate cake to his kids for breakfast?

Here’s the delicious birthday breakfast that Scott & Heather provided for me this morning.  If my blood-sugar content wasn’t nearing 95% this morning, I would demand Heather deliver on the birthday cookies too.

Hmmm..I guess I can wait until tomorrow.

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I’m kind of a geek for statistics.  I love the details of a story, especially if it’s goofy or fun.  Here’s some of the fun facts about this spooky day:

-43.9% of Americans plan to dress up this year.

- 76% of all young adults plan to deck themselves out.

- On average, they’ll spend about $63 on their look.

-U.S. consumers spent more than $2.5 billion on costumes this year.

- The average household has shelled out $21.05 in Halloween candy alone.

- The average child collects an estimated 3,500 and 7,000 calories on Halloween night.

- A 100-pound child who eats 7,000 calories worth of candy would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours to burn those calories.

- Meanwhile, 14.7% of Americans will dress up their pets.

- Nearly half of American consumers (49.5%) are expected to decorate their front yard.

- Many (32.9%) will take their kids trick-or-treating.

- Most of us (73.5%) will hand out candy to them.

- Nearly half of Americans (47.8%) will carve a pumpkin.

- Some (22.9%) of us will visit a haunted house.

- 22% of consumers will spend an average of $59 to throw a party.

Thanks to The National Retail Federation and The Wall Street Journal for the data.

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Adam reviews the new Johnny Depp film/Hunter S. Thompson novel adaptation:

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Rated R – 1h59

Looking through glassy eyes, it’s hard to find focus, even if your intentions were to have a good time. It’s the same story for Johnny Depp’s toast to Hunter S. Thompson in The Rum Diary. The heart is in the right place, but this one stumbles around a little too much.

The film is based on the long lost novel of the same name that Thompson wrote in the 1960’s, but didn’t publish until 1998. Depp supposedly found the material amongst Thompson’s things and has since been key in getting the film produced.

The story involves journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) who takes a job at the San Juan Star in Puerto Rico. His sleazy editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) immediately sets the tone of the film by asking Kemp if he’s drunk and how much he drinks. Kemp replies in a Thompson-esque voice “The high end of social.”

From there, Kemp is wooed by Sanderson, (Aaron Eckhart) a developer who has plans to get rich by developing the lush island. It’s Sanderson’s attempt to control the media in his favor.

The film is somewhat autobiographical because Thompson did apply at the San Juan Star, but didn’t get the job. It’s completely autobiographical in regards to how Depp, for a second time, entertains by channeling Thompson. It’s a treat to hear the witty dialogue come rolling off his mumbling tongue.

Another standout is Sanderson’s fiancee’, played by the luscious Amber Heard. Her character Chenault is like a beautiful tidal wave. She’s literally the girl that talks you into speed racing the brand new car you’ve just been given by daddy.

If there was a main point, it’s how Kemp tries to use his righteous journalistic integrity to save the people of Puerto Rico from a greedy American developer. Still this is more of a rum fueled exercise in functional alcoholism. I feel like they touched on everything that Thompson was, but didn’t deliver that gonzo element.

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It’s just about Halloween, so for your eerie pleasure, I present my Top 10 Spooky Movies of All Time. I put a lot of thought into this and these are movies solely ranked by how much they made the hairs on my neck stand up straight.

10. Open Water – Two scuba divers left stranded in the ocean only to face a slow death by sharks. I’m already quivering. freaks me out.

9. Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In) (2008) – Nevermind the 2010 Americanized remake called “Let Me In.” The original is in Swedish, and is a freaky and sad story about vampires.

8.Rosemary’s Baby - Roman Polanski is creepy enough, but even after it’s 1968 release, this one still holds up. It’s not so much scary things that are happening in this one, but rather how freaky the characters act.

7. Jaws - The sharks again…freaking me out! Watching Robert Shaw slowly slide down the deck of his boat and into the shark’s mouth has damaged me for life.

6. Silence of the Lambs - It puts the lotion in the basket. Also, this movie makes me hungry for fava beans

5. Anything George Romero, but specifically Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – Romero is the king of the living dead. His movies always have a lot of dread and gloom in them. You also get a subtle message about society hidden in each one. Gore + social conscience. Fun!

4. Alien - It may seem like it’s an action movie, but really it’s more of a scare fest. I’m getting indigestion just thinking about it.

3. Misery – Steven King. Ouch, my ankles hurt just thinking about it.

2. Poltergeist – It’s time to sell the house when you slide into your unfinished swimming pool hole and skeletons pop up out of the water. That and having a big skeleton head jump out of your closet. They will certainly bring your property value down.

1. Psycho - Even with all the scary monsters out there, nothing is actually scarier than a real person who is off their rocker.

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Let the debate begin.  Time Magazine is out with a new Top 100 songs list.  How do you pick a favorite?

Here’s the rules for their list:

They are only English-Language pop tracks

They are from 1923-present

They are not ranked

Artists only get one song

2000s

Janelle Monae – “Tightrope”

Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”

Outkast – “Hey Ya!”

Arcade Fire – “Wake Up”

Kanye West – “Gold Digger”

Lil Wayne – “Georgia… Bush”

LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends”

Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”

Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”

1990s

Sinead O’Connor – “Nothing Compares 2 U”

Pet Shop Boys – “Being Boring”

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Richard Thompson – “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”

Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”

A Tribe Called Quest – “Scenario”

The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”

Tupac Shakur – “California Love (Remix)”

Pulp – “Common People”

Radiohead – “Paranoid Android”

1980s

Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

George Jones – “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”

New Order – “Blue Monday”

Prince – “Kiss”

Metallica – “Master of Puppets”

R.E.M. – “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”

Lucinda Williams – “Pineola”

Public Enemy – “Fight the Power”

Madonna – “Borderline”

1970s

The Melodians – “Rivers of Babylon”

James Brown – “Get Up (I Feel like Being a) Sex Machine”

Led Zeppelin – “Immigrant Song”

Black Sabbath – “Iron Man”

Joni Mitchell – “A Case of You”

The Who – “Baba O’Riley”

Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”

Dolly Parton – “Jolene”

Big Star – “September Gurls”

Bonnie Raitt – “Angel from Montgomery”

Fela Kuti – “Zombie”

Bruce Springsteen – “Thunder Road”

Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Donna Summer – “I Feel Love”

Bee Gees – “Stayin’ Alive”

David Bowie – “Heroes”

Ramones – “I Wanna Be Sedated”

Fleetwood Mac – “Dreams”

Peter Tosh – “Equal Rights”

Parliament – “One Nation Under a Groove”

Velvet Underground – “Rock & Roll”

Loretta Lynn – “Coal Miner’s Daughter”

1960s

Bob Dylan – “Subterranean Homesick Blues”

Patsy Cline – “Crazy”

Roy Orbison – “Crying”

The Ronettes – “Be My Baby”

The Beatles – “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”

Astrud Gilberto – “The Girl from Ipanema”

The Supremes – “Where Did Our Love Go?”

The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows”

Aretha Franklin – “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)”

Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

The Band – “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”

Big Mama Thornton – “Ball ‘n’ Chain”

Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back”

The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter”

Crosby, Stills and Nash – “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”

Otis Redding – “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)”

Johnny Cash – “Folsom Prison Blues”

1950s

Les Paul – “How High the Moon”

Kitty Wells – “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”

Elvis Presley – “Jailhouse Rock”

Odetta – “Take This Hammer”

Frank Sinatra – “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

Chuck Berry – “Johnny B. Goode”

Ray Charles – “What’d I Say”

1940s

Woody Guthrie – “This Land Is Your Land”

Lena Horne – “Stormy Weather”

The Andrews Sisters – “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”

Spike Jones – “Der Fuehrer’s Face”

Bing Crosby – “White Christmas”

Betty Hutton – “It Had to Be You”

Mahalia Jackson – “Move On Up a Little Higher”

Hank Williams – “Cold, Cold Heart”

Ella Fitzgerald – “Baby It’s Cold Outside”

Doris Day – “Sentimental Journey”

1930s

Ethel Merman – “I Got Rhythm”

Cab Calloway – “Minnie the Moocher”

Duke Ellington – “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”

Louie Armstrong – “Star Dust”

Fred Astaire – “Cheek to Cheek”

Ray Heatherton – “Where or When”

Judy Garland – “Over the Rainbow”

1920s

Al Jolson – “My Mammy”

Bessie Smith – “St. Louis Blues”

Paul Robeson – “Ol’ Man River”

The Carter Family – “Wildwood Flower”

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After the Food and Wine show over the weekend, I was really craving some desert.

Perhaps it was the wine talking, but I did have a good case of the munchies.

Good thing I didn’t run into the chef who says he’s created a $35,000 desert.  It includes layers of high-quality dark chocolate pudding, gold, champagne caviar, a 2-karat diamond, champagne jelly and biscuits laced with edible gold. The dish is served inside a golden edible Faberge egg replica.

I wonder what happens if you crunch down on the diamond or the gold?  I’m guessing you also get a $35,000 dentist bill.

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Adam reviews the new spooky movie Paranormal Activity 3.  How scary is it?

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