UFC 119 Results

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I’m sorry to say that with just one exception, it was a pretty lackluster night of fights.  Let’s cut right to my predictions and the results:

  • C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen
    • Prediction: Dollaway winning by decision.
      Result: Dollaway won by 1st round submission making me 1-0
  • Joey Beltran vs. Matt Mitrione
    • Prediction: Mitrione winning via TKO.
      Result: Mitrione won by decision making me 2-0
  • Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

    • Prediction: Stephens for a 3rd round stoppage or submission win.
      Result: Guillard by decision making me 2-1
  • Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra
    • Prediction: Serra for the win.
      Result: Lytle won by decision making me 2-2
  • Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk
    • Prediction: Dunham for the win in a tough battle.
      Result: In a tough battle, Sherk won a split decision making me 2-3
  • Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira:

    • Prediction: Bader via a decision.
      Result: Bader won via a decision making me 3-3
  • Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Frank Mir

    • Prediction: Mir for the win.
      Result: Mir won by 3rd round KO making me 4-3

CB Dollaway earned the “Submission of the Night” bonus of $70,000.  Two bonuses for “Fight of the Night” were awarded.  The Sherk vs Dunham and Mitrione vs Beltran fights both brought each of the fighters another $70 grand.  No “KO of the Night” award was given despite the fact that Mir knocked out Cro Cop.  Sure, it was a boring fight right up until the KO, but shouldn’t Mir still get the bonus?  I believe he should since he did score the lone knockout of the evening.

Ben Affleck’s Town

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The Town is one of my all-time favorite crime movies.  Ben Affleck, as director and star, surrounded himself with a great cast [Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper] and terrific story [and adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s Prince of Thieves].

Part of the reason that I love The Town so much is that it feels real.  This was Affleck’s goal in both casting the roles and filming.  When casting the female lead, Affleck said it was really important…

…that she feel like a real person. If you dropped a very recognisable Hollywood whoever-it-is or starlet that everyone knows into that role, somebody who depends on a certain kind of acting that was sort of “recognizable”, the immediately the audience would know “Okay, it will be hard for her, but then she’ll come back and she’ll be winning and we’ll all go home happy” and it would allow the audience to feel comfortable…

Affleck believes that his decision to use security camera footage also helped with the feel that the robberies were real…

…The security camera footage, I wanted to use so that the audience would subconsciously feel as if it were more realistic. I think we’re actually used to seeing crime and violence through that prism, that 15 frames per second, no sound, black and white security stuff. So when you see that happen, “this feels real” and then you cut into the 35 stuff and maybe at some level in your mind you’re feeling like it’s more kind of authentic.

You can read more about Ben Aflleck’s contributions to the success of The Town at Bleeding Cool’s post.

UFC 119 Predictions

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UFC 119 is tonight so let’s go right to my predictions:

  • C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen: Although I’m not a fan, I see Dollaway winning by decision.
  • Joey Beltran vs. Matt Mitrione: Both guys will be swinging for the fences.  I think Mitrione can take whatever Beltron lands and I see Mitrione winning via TKO.
  • Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens: I’m not big on Guillard.  He’s talented and might be coming into his own now, but I’ve seen him fold and am not too sure it won’t happen again.  I’m going with Stephens for a 3rd round stoppage or submission win.
  • Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra: This has fight of the night potential.  Both guys need a big win to insure a spot in the UFC.  I think that Serra has the better punching power and ground game so I’m going with Serra for the win.
  • Evan Dunham vs. Sean Sherk: This should be a great fight.  I’m a fan of both guys.  I think this will go the distance and I’m going with Dunham for the win in a tough battle.
  • Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: If Serra vs Lytle doesn’t win fight of the night, then Bader vs Little Nog should.  This should be an exciting war.  Nog has trained and is ready for Bader and all he brings to the cage [superior wrestling skills, strength, brutal punching power and an undefeated record].  If Bader doesn’t gas out and doesn’t make a stupid mistake he could launch himself into title contention.  My prediction is Bader via a decision.
  • Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Frank Mir: It’s no secret that I’m a huge Frank Mir fan. I believe Mir is going to be able to avoid Cro Cops brutal leg kicks and punches to submit him, possibly early in the fight.  With that said, Mir has done more than his share of trash talking for this fight and that never bodes well.  Added to the mix is that Cro Cop needs the win to show that he’s not over the hill in regard to a legitimate run at the title.  If Cro Cop tags Mir early or is able to take this fight into the later rounds, Mir will find himself in deeper, more dangerous waters.  I’m hoping for a solid, if not devastating performance from Mir, so of course I’m going with Mir for the win.

Fringe Twofer

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Fringe, which is now entering it’s third season is going to make a bold change.  The show, which deals with alternate universes and X-Files-like investigations is going to…

…give fans a healthy dose of both universes in which the show now takes place (the producers call them “over here” and “over there”), episodes will alternate between them for the entire third season…

How cool [and daring] is that?  Since the alternate universe characters and their motivations are very different from our universe, we’re in for some interesting stories.  I can’t wait.  [I wonder if my doppelganger  feels the same].

John Beatty’s Headsketches

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Remember when I posted that last Friday I was going to be co-hosting as my best bud, John Beatty did headsketches on demand?  Well, the event went off without a hitch and we had a blast.  We went from about 7:30pm to almost 2:30am the next morning. In addition to John sketching we had give-aways, trivia contests for prizes and a whole lot of fun.

Those are six of the 12 sketches John completed that night.  John broadcasts on U-Stream regularly and we’re planning another session with me as co-host in the near future.  Hopefully, you can join us next time!

Ryan Cody: Sly is the Demolition Man

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That’s Ryan Cody’s take on Sly from Demolition Man. I’d been wanting to get a sketch from Ryan for a while now, but since he doesn’t make it to east coast shows and I don’t get west, it didn’t look good. Not long ago, Ryan was going to a show and offered fans some discounted sketch opportunities and even extended the offer to me through the mail.

I jumped on board for two pieces and the Demolition Man is the first. You’ll see the second in the coming weeks. Until then check out Ryan’s blog and his DA site.

Thanks to Ryan! Hopefully we can do it again sometime. – Craig

The Long Climb to the Top

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I’m not afraid of heights.  Watching this video of a worker climbing a radio tower [and most of the time free-climbing, without a safety harness] could make me change my opinion of high places.  It’s insane to not only think that some poor worker [and I don’t care how much he/she gets paid] has to climb higher than the Sears Tower to make a repair, but it’s even more insane to think that there are folks out there who want the job. [via Neatorama]

The video has been pulled.  You can learn why here.

William Shatner’s Up Till Now

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As I write this I’m a little less than half way through William Shatner’s autobiography, Up Till Now and I’m already hating that it will end.  Shatner’s stories, observations and asides are entertaining and written as if he was chatting with the reader over a McDonald’s Mocca Frappe.  [Stay thirsty, my friends!]

Growing up, I was a HUGE Star Trek fan [although Spock was my favorite character] and I did enjoy Shatner in Boston Legal and The Twilight Zone episodes [that he headlined], but I wasn’t a TJ Hooker fan.  And except for the Star Trek movies starring Shatner and the original crew, there are no other William Shatner films in my movie collection.  That had led me to believe that I might enjoy only a small part of Shatner’s autobiography.  Boy, was I wrong.  Ever page has either made me smile or given me some interesting insight.  And sometimes both.  For example, Shatner discusses being flown to France with his co-stars for the premiere of an animated film…

In the animated film, Over the Hedge I played Ozzie the Opossum, whose primary survival technique is playing dead, but truly dramatically dead.  Shatnerian playing dead.  Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of DreamWorks, sent the cast, including Bruce Willis and myself to the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of the film.  As we were walking up the red carpet, surrounded by photographers, we were introduced to the French actors who had played our characters in the French version.  Wait a second, I wondered, we’re the stars of the film, right?  I knew we were the stars, our names were in big letters on the lobby cards and credits.  But as this is an animated film our faces weren’t on the screen, and now our voices were replaced by French actors.  So we were the stars of a film in which we didn’t even appear.  What were we doing there?

Think about it.  Pay big bucks to an actor who will never appear on screen and then replace his voice too! It’s gotta make you simply shake your head and smile.