we won't let them take you, we won't let you die

Just saw the trailer for the new Superman film, starring Kevin Spacey as Lex, Kate Bosworth as Lois, and newcomer Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent. After four or five aborted projects, including one done by Kevin Smith, Oliver Stone, Tim Burton, and for a long time it looked like McG, also having every actor between the ages of 20-40 casted as Superman, we finally get some news and even a trailer. Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X2, is at the helm of the new Superman movie. He did an excellent job on X-Men films, and from the looks of his video blog , it looks like the new film might not be half bad. Of course, I know everyone will be happy knowing, Kal Penn, is in the movie. Who's Kal Penn, you ask? Well, he's best known for Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. A fine, fine, movie.

I read the other day that the Rutgers football team has become eligible to play in a bowl game. Oddly enough, the team finds itself at 7-4 after winning their final game against Cincinnati 44-9. I don't think we won seven games the entire time I attended Rutgers. I went to one game, against West Virginia and Amos Zereoue ran for something like 200 yards against them. Needless to say, while the Rutgers program has been improving steadily over the past few years, their record without doubt, has also improved due to the watered down competition in the Big East. Over the past two years alone, they've lost, Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College, all the while gaining powerhouses in University of South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville (actually, that's no joke, they are a top 25 team). So at 7-4, the Scarlet Night should play in their first bowl game since 1978's Garden State Bowl. And lets not forget, that New Brunswick, is the Birthplace of Intercollegiate Football, as Rutgers played Princeton in the very first intercollegiate game. Winning that contest, a whopping, 6-4? I can't even begin to comprehend how a team scored 4 points, two safeties? At least, the Big East still has a killer basketball reputation.

At least we know Russell Crowe can get a good laugh from throwing a phone at someone. Apparently during the Australian Oscars, Crowe came on stage with a chunky, old-fashioned, Bakelite telephone. And said, "If there are any problems and you do get up here and go on too long," "Then 'hello' to my little friend." Crowe pleaded guilty earlier this month to third-degree assault, admitting to a judge that he threw a phone that hit a concierge in June. The bad news for us, had Crowe been convicted of the more serious charges initially filed against him — assault and criminal possession of a weapon, the telephone!!! — he could have lost his right to work in the US and could've faced seven years in the slammer. I bet we would have gotten a killer movie out of that. You think Gladiator was good, how about Crowe trying not to get his ass pounded in the shower by Pookie or Ray Ray for a damn good movie.

While beginning to compile my list of top records from 2005, I started wondering what my top discs from 1995 would have been. I actually never started keeping a top ten until I began working in music, back as a college radio music director in 1999. Anyhow, thinking back to that year, instantaneously, I thought of the Hum album, You'd Prefer An Astronaut . Released in April of that year, it is best remembered by it's hit single, "Stars". But for those of us that bought that album and fell in love with it's space and dreamy, progressive rock, know it's more than just "Stars". Songs like "The Pod", "I like your Hair Long" and "Little Dipper", with singer Matt Talbot's reserved and reflective vocals, creating a soundtrack for my sophomore and junior years of high school. Unfortunately, this band never got the credit or commercial success it deserved, during the hey day of Alternative rock, along contemporaries such as Helmet, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Thinking back to 1995, I give you my top ten of that year.

1. Radiohead - The Bends - Capitol
2. Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut - RCA
3. Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters - Roswell/Capitol
4. Deftones - Adrenaline - Maverick
5. Quicksand - Manic Compression - Island
6. Seaweed - Spanaway - Hollywood
7. Oasis - What's The Story (Morning Glory) - Sony
8. Smashing Pumpkins - Melon Collie And the Infinite Sadness - Virgin
9. Sunny Day Real Estate - LP2 - Sub Pop
10. Faith No More - King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime - Slash/Reprise