Monday, January 31, 2011

...I'm still waiting for "The Rite" movie to scare me at the theatre!

Five.

Only five movies have ever truly scared me during and after watching them (and while Anthony Hopkin's "The Rite" wasn't one of them, it still was a highly entertaining horror flic, primarily for all the wonderful Silence of the Lambs moments it stirred up---Chianti and fava beans anyone?). 

And I'm not talking about the jump scare, the screamer scare or the gore scare... I mean the CORE scare--the one that sends shivers up your spine throughout; the one that keeps your arms glued on the rest, to your date, to your lap and so darn tight you lose circulation; the one that even when it's over and you're laughing about your experience watching it (and in the daylight, no less), it still makes you go cold.  

Yes, these are the factors of fear that get my heart pumping...these are the tenements of terror that send my adrenaline rushing...these are the high-mark horror hits that make my eyes widen with excitement.  And it's a crying shame we just don't get them anymore in theatres.

As inferred from above, I recently saw "The Rite".  While it didn't, in my opinion, scare me to the level I wanted and hoped for, it was still a thematically freaky and suspenseful film (Mr. Hannibal the Cannibal himself gets all the credit, though, as the devilishly deceptive Father Lucas).  But it got me thinking... when was the last time I was indeed scared stiff from/at a movie?

It wasn't the latest re-incarnations of Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street--those were more root-out-loud-for-all-the-throwback-references type horror movies.  It wasn't any of the Saw films--I'd categorize those as plain bloody entertainment (both for Brits and American horror hounds).  "And it certainly wasn't Jack the Ripper," to quote a brilliant line from one of my fav five aforementioned films of fearful fandom (yes, I'm dragging out the names of all those films just like a horror movie's plot).

I'd have to say the last time I was genuinely spooked from head to toe at the theatre was "Drag Me to Hell," preceded by "The Ring."  These films represent 2/5 of my list, with the other three being classics I saw on TV as a youngster.*

*Note: some of these films no longer scare me the way they did, but I love watching them nevertheless, especially with people who've never watched them before :-D

Rounding things out: JAWS, The Exorcist and The Omen, in no particular order (with Stephen King's "It" an honorable mention).  I still remember the first time I watched all of these movies and being frozen to the couch as a result.  I even had a few nachtmares that got them banned by the 'rents until the teen years.  But, that's what I get for watching horror movies at age Nein!

However, I'll end my horror-scope, if you will, by saying none of the aforementioned flics could have ever achieved their superscare status without one key element: a chilling score. Yes, listening to a horror movie brings equal "music to my ears" as watching it (and I mean that literally and figuratively). What would Jaws have been without "dum dum, dum dum dum dum"?  What would The Omen have been without "Ave Satani"?  You name me a favorite horror film of yours, and I guarantee the music is morbidly moody, if not memorably macabre.  If you don't agree, try playing that said movie on mute.

Then again, how do you watch a horror movie "The Rite" way?

Monday, January 24, 2011

...a Romp at Stomp, a B-ball free-4-all and Good Vibration Sensations.

What a weekend!

Friday night -- STOMP at the Wharton Center;
Saturday night -- Hoops with the Globetrotters.
Sunday afternoon -- an amazing workshop on the Law of Attraction.

I haven't been so exhaustively fulfilled on a Monday morning like this since 'Nam (as I exaggeratedly make a historical reference to a pre-birth event for a dramatic gramatic effect--I find these fun in writing)!

Let's start with STOMP.  No exaggerating here... it's one of the most entertaining and enjoyable stage performances I've ever seen.  As George Gershwin so eloquently put it, when you've got rhythm and you've got music, who could ask for anything more?  Well, how about a broom, a mop, a lighter, a dustpan and everything else around the house, including the kitchen sink (no figurative allusions meant with this reference, I'm literally impressed).

That's right, those were the "musical instruments" of the cast and when paired with tap shoes, it made for quite the eye-popping combination.  STOMP, as I told a friend, is the most ingenious blend of humor, dance, music and showmanship since the glory days of Vaudeville and Slapstick. 

I caught references/homages/tributes to Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the 3 Stooges, Peter Sellers and Mr. Bean; I saw moves right out of Kung-Fu movies, Fred Astaire numbers, Riverdance, heck even Dancing with the Stars!  It was a spectacle that swept you away, gave you a bang, lit-up your theatre-going experience and made you want to drum up support so others could see it, too.  You even got to be a part of the performance by trying to clap in rhythm with the cast and their tools (yes, my arms were sore after keeping up with the beat for a good 10 minutes... but a fun sore).

Speaking of sore... diving into the stands to save a basketball from going out-of-bounds is usually reserved for star players hustling during a big game.  Well, this news anchor turned 2-on-2 basketball cohort pulled out the infamous move during half-time of the Globetrotter's game at the Breslin Center on Saturday. 

As part of a local publicity partnership, TV-6 took on Q106 for an epic radio vs. television hardwood throw down well worth all the hoopla. Myself and Darren Cunningham shut out Mojo and Andy with two buckets and solid defense in our 3-minutes of on-the-court chaos, lol.  We walked away (perhaps limped away in my case) with cheers from the fans and Globetrotters, maybe more out of sympathy than impressiveness, but it didn't matter to us.  Not many people can say they shared the parquet with some of MSU's biggest basketball stars, and in terms of the GT's, some of the world's most recognizable trick-shot artists.  It was a memorable experience I won't soon forget (especially since we had about a dozen friends with cameras and video recorders documenting all our "travels").

But where my travels took me Sunday made the biggest impact on my weekend (and quite possibly my life).  My esteemed colleague at TV-6 Jane Aldrich is a life coach and inspirational speaker on the Law of Attraction.  She holds a work-shop a few times a year about how you can improve all aspects of your life by following LOA.  Though lasting a couple of hours, I knew within the first 10 minutes that I was hooked on her message:  the more good vibes we give out, the more we'll get back (from ourselves, from others, from the Universe). 

And what a way to live, if you think about it.  If you could stay positive and CHOOSE to be happy and optimistic at every chance allowed... then OMG (as Jane would say)!  Life would open up some amazing new opportunities for you, ones perhaps you never thought about or dreamed of or expected to discover.  I'm excited to be "on the right track" right now... and I don't plan on sitting still and getting run over, either.  Actions do speak louder than words... but it all starts with asking yourself one simple question: are you happy?

If not, perhaps you need to STOMP, go for a Globetrot and make a few new good vibrations.

I did. :-D

Monday, January 17, 2011

...Is Monday the Saddest Day of the Year?

How's this for a top story (the capital letters represent 'prompter lingo'): IF YOU'RE FEELING THE BLUES TODAY... BLAME IT ON THE CALENDAR.  JANUARY 17TH IS CONSIDERED THE SADDEST DAY OF THE YEAR. 

Yup, that's how I started my Monday morning, MLK Day no less, reading this immaculately cheerful and awe-inspiring story.  Forget honoring civil rights and activism, we should be celebrating BLUE MONDAY... a day where we realize we didn't stick to our New Year's resolutions, truly spent too much over the holidays because the paychecks don't catch up with the bills, and can't stand to go outside because it's too fricken cold.  "How does it feel... to treat me like you do," a *Blue Monday indeed.

*note: incorporating 80's musical lyrics and references into everyday writing and lingo is a daily goal of mine.  Dare I say, a New Order I plan to use often in the years ahead (especially my political-speech-giving days: you can vote if you want to, you can leave your friends behind...).

But wait a minute.  Stop the presses... hold the scripts... roll back that prompter!  Here's what I say to anyone feeling the woes of a Blue Monday: just hang in there 'Til Tuesday.  Because no matter how blue you may feel now, know Mondays never last or linger.  And they certainly won't Phil Conner's you and keep you waking up to them perpetually.

So a raise a glass to the calendar, don't "BLAME IT" as my script all-capsed me earlier.  It always moves forward and pushes on and we should do the same, making the most out of our Mondays and the start of our work week.  For, if we do that...if we stay positive, upbeat, filled with hope... Come Monday next, we shouldn't be feeling that blue at all.

Unless of course you oversleep, get to work in a frantic state, miss proof reading a certain calendar-inclined story and "Bangle" up in a bench of stress at your computer.  That, my friends, makes for one Manic Monday. 

;-)

Friday, January 14, 2011

...My "travels" may never bring me to Harlem.

Or trotting around the globe for that matter.

But they did show me the way to work yesterday for what turned out to be the equivalent of a court-side seat at the most entertaining basketball game of all time.

That's right, the legendary Buckets Blakes bounced by the TV-6 studios to promote the Harlem Globetrotter's "4 Times the Fun" tour that's shooting into East Lansing's Breslin Center on campus.  Complete with his red, white and blue uniform and matching basketball, Buckets literally and figuratively took a spin through the station, dropping jaws and openings eyes with his talented tricks of the b-ball entertainment trade.

"People love basketball here... MSU is a sports town and Coach Izzo is a great coach," he told me during an interview while rolling his basketball around his shoulders, neck and head (talk about hand-eye-camera coordination).  "But I'm not gonna give any of his players my tips or tricks if they come see us play.  I don't need Buckets being blamed if they try them in a game."

A sense of humor can go a long way in life, but it also works wonders on the hardwood against anybody wearing a Washington Generals jersey (the ill-fated, oft-defeated opponents of the Globetrotters).  I found out in a shot-clock's time that I'd be better off wearing the former, as opposed to the latter, namely for my lack of coordination when Buckets tried to teach me how to spin the ball on my finger and later dribble through my legs (I knocked over our coffee set-up in the kitchen during the ball spinning and proceeded to dribble into the conference room door during lesson two...the ball kept moving, I didn't).

"Practice, practice, practice, my man," Buckets told me smiling.

And that's what I'll need to do big-time to be ready for half-time of the Globetrotters game next weekend.  I'm playing in a special 2-on-2 challenge between halves with a colleague, as we take on the personalities from a local rock station. TV vs. Radio in an epic battle of basketball ineptness on the court of the Breslin Center.  First there was Magic Johnson, then Scot Skiles, most recently Draymond Green and now Evan Pinsonnault.  Yes, my name will forever live on with the basketball greats who played on that famed parquet.

"But only if you make the 4-point shot," Buckets reminded me.  "None of those guys ever hit the 4-pointer.  You could be the first, Ev."

Now that would be a shot heard round the worl...scratch that.  Globe!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

...James Bond Will Return.

00Evan in is 007 heaven today.

FINALLY...the 23rd film in my favorite movie series of all time is coming to the big screen (Dear MGM: thanks for taking so long to get out of bankruptcy. Please contact President Obama first next time to get your debt paid off quicker).

The Broccoli bunch announced James Bond 23 (or as the title will soon be, give or take an adjective/verb/word, "Serving For Her Majesty with a Golden Gun Makes Dying Tomorrow More Livable Today...Octopussy 2) will open up at a theatre near you in November of 2012.

Note: my British spelling of "theatre"... I'm trying to shake things up a bit, as opposed to stirring them :-D

While I'd prefer the movie to open a lot sooner, just the fact that things are now moving forward is enough to excite The Living Daylights out of me.  Daniel Craig is back.  Dame Judy Dench is back.  Oscar winner Sam Mendes is on board to direct.  And David Arnold says he's set to score Bond one more time.  This is good news.  This is two thumbs up, as well as one Goldfinger.  This is what 007 fans have been wanting to hear since the credits rolled on the forgettable Quantum of Solace experiment.

So, if Bond really is "back" as the producers say... here's hoping he'll have his familiar cohorts surrounding him for the first time since the early aughts: namely Q and Moneypenny.  Enough of the "origins" plot-line.  We saw Bond develop ala Christopher's Nolan's Batman in the previous two films, now we want to see him kick some double-0 behind.  We want to see him shooting up the bad guy during the famous gun barrel sequence at the beginning of the movie.  We want to see him stealing some awesome vehicle and blowing up some huge villainous lair all while "his" theme is blasting loudly in the background.  In other words, we want to see Craig as classic Bond now that we know and trust him as a modern-day 007.

"You must be joking!?"

I never joke about my work.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

...When it comes to entertainment, I "Spare" no expense.

It certainly wasn't a split decision last night.

The TV-6 bowling team "The Big Erns" (named in tribute after Bill Murray's hilarious character in Kingpin) hit the hardwood at Marvel Lanes for three strings of epic MNB--Monday Night Bowling--and came away with a striking victory.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TENPIN! I can almost hear the jingle...

Yes, I'm a member of the team, dare I say the "Anchorman", and a proud Michigan league bowler for the second year in a row.  Every now again on the approach, I hearken back to my days growing up in the Berkshires as a candlepin bowler (think rolling a softball three times at a triangle of broomsticks--bank shots and caroms allowed) and later tournament tenpin tapper.  I'm pretty sure I'll always enjoy bowling.

But the bowling crowd in this current league is one for the ages: you've got lefty leaners, shoe sliders, ball droppers, rabid high-fivers, split sulkers, strike smilers, loose lobbers, wrist whippers,  high hookers, soft curlers, gutter chuckers... the descriptive list goes on and on and on!  And everybody claims they "got lucky" when they throw two turkeys and a clean game (see: Bowling with my Dicktionary by Richard Webber for more on the aforementioned terminology).  Talk about wanting to hit the reset button---but all worth a laugh, at least.

Yet, perhaps the most entertaining aspect of our weekly ball-rolling, pin-knocking excursion has to be our team's crosstalk.  From catching up on work to observing the tendencies of the "athletes" bowling about us, there's never a dull convo or sharing of words.  Just like good alley advice, we hit our mark when it comes to comical chit chat.  And that, in this would-be PBAer's opinion, always gives us--no matter what we throw--a "perfect game."*

*I wasn't named Evan PINSonnault for nothing ;-)!

Monday, January 10, 2011

...I can "Cook Up" quite a storm in the kitchen, I discovered!

Chicken Piri Piri became Chicken Pinsonnault Pinsonnault last night.

That's right, this "never-have-time-to-cook" newsguy found time to cook.  And even though I had to borrow (or as my favorite lawyer would tease(ly) me... "burrough... that's what it sounds like it when you say it.") some ingredients and utensils, the end product measured up to my expectations and more.

It's a simple enough recipe: mince up a jalapeno and throw it into a marinade of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, crushed red pepper and garlic, and salt.  Then dip your chicken breasts in so both sides get covered and grill it for about 10 minutes.  Or as I prefer the verb to be: Foreman it.   Place the cooked and marinaded and seasoned chicken on a bed of asparagus (or other grilled vegetables), pair with a side of wild African rice, drizzle some of the remaining peppery mixture on and voila!  You've got a restaurant-style meal for your consumption.

The only thing spicier was perhaps the Folie a Deux Napa Valley 2006 Cabernet I paired it with.  A perfect blend of flavors, with hints of berry, that accentuated the zest of the meal.  Throw in a dash of amazing company, and you could say it was a dinner I didn't want done for days, no doubt ;-)!

I'm now immensely looking forward to what's next on Chef Pinsonnault's, or as a friend suggested Chef Pinch-of-Salt's, menu. And for the first time in a long time, it won't be limited to cereal, mac n' cheese and pizza (though my recipes are top notch).

Bon Appetit!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

...Sleeping in for extra slumber isn't just "Pillow Talk."

More Z's = better R&R.  Especially if you subtract the 7&7's from the night previous.  ;-)

Yes, only two days a week getting 8 hours or more of sleep is rather ridiculous, but many people say the same about the life of a morning anchor: up at 2am M-F, work 'til 1:00pm--sometimes much longer, maybe a nap in the afternoon squeezed between workouts (see my previous blog post for more on this exhaustively exercisic topic), then either a community appearance or a theatrical production at night.

Note: the former and the latter in the sentence above are not mandatory by any means, but rather necessary in my opinion so that I can have an actual "life" outside of work--in fact, I think this may be a topic for a future blog~!

And in order to keep up with the demanding schedule I just mentioned, sleep gets cut short unfortunately.  Oh, I've heard the criticisms.  Been given the requisite amount of advice.  Seen the looks of disapproval and sometimes insanity on the faces of those to whom I impart the knowledge of my non-stop lifestyle. 

But for a guy in his late 20's who's about to get into the best shape he's been in since his ill-fated high school swimming days (I retired my Speedo sophomore year after nearly drowning in a meet when I dove in crooked and got tangled coming up in the lane divider--oh, the joys of the pool), I'm managing just fine on the 3-4 hours I go to dreamland each weekday, and then the 10-12+ make-up hours I stay lazily in bed for on Saturdays and Sundays.

In fact, I'm writing this post after just waking up!

But, I may need a nap soon :-D

Friday, January 7, 2011

...Working out how to work out is a workout.

My New Year's resolution this year was to resolve last year's resolution which had no resolution since I wasn't resolute enough to stick with going to the gym--i.e. I'm now working out 5-6 times a week, with plenty of cardio. Not that I'm not in shape. I just prefer to be more "shapely," if you will ("I WILL NOT," as my friend Mr. Tuckman would retort back).

So, I arrive at the downtown Y raring to go, complete with my brand new sneakers, socks and running pants. I at least looked the part of frequent gym-goer guy, even if I couldn't pull it off while on the equipment.  Speaking of which, you know you're a bit lacking in the physically fit department when it's a struggle to adjust the equipment, let alone use it.  As a result, my favorite machine was, and will remain, the water fountain.  Though I may have jammed my thumb on it in a hurried attempt at imbibing it's wonderfully cool and comforting contents.  No hitch-hiking for this newsman anytime soon.

My plan, or routine, as it were ("AS IT WERE NOT!"): 30 minutes every other day on the good ole mill o' treads and exercise excite bike (I've got no chance at ever being a master of "the stairs" or illustriously elliptical), coupled with a weakishly manageable strength-training routine that consists of the bench press---scratch that, bar press; the leg cramp--I mean, leg press; and the ab-bench aka I'm benched.  If nothing else, my feeble attempts at consistency with this make for outstanding eavesdrop humor for all other worker outers. 

But then again, laughter is considered a great way to stay in shape :-D

Thursday, January 6, 2011

...I'm starting a blog.

Catchy, isn't it?  A TV journalist borrowing a popular breaking news mantra for his Believable and Laughable Online Gesticulations (BLOG...see what I did there, hehe).

Grammatical tomfoolery aside, I'm starting this blog because I enjoy writing and hope my observations of news, sports, entertainment and life in general might help put a smile (and in turn produce a chuckle, dare I say a guffaw, how 'bout even a snicker) on the faces of any and all who stumble upon it, or to whom I plead and annoy to check it daily and weekly!

So, "stay tuned" for my first official entry and of course, subsequent blog postings.  Or, as a colleague of mine suggested I call them, the frequent ramblings and ruminations of a creatively eccentric anchorman.  No matter what the name though, I think you'll enjoy each read.  And if not, you can take solace in the fact that at least I will :-)