The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

- I will never understand the fascination with the Twilight movies. I decided to give the first installment a try to see what all the fuss was about, and to sum up my review in one phrase: A steaming, pile, of dogs***. There's nothing good about it: Bad acting, bad dialogue, bad special effects, subplots that go nowhere...I can never be a film producer because I have no idea what junk people will pay to see.

(By the way, what do you call the "00's"? I mean the 90's are the nineties, easy, so do we call the past decade the naughts? I don't know). Anyway, when a whole decade passes it's fun to reflect on the best and worst, and I like to reflect on the films that made a lasting impression on me.

It's hard to narrow it down to just ten, or put them in order, or pick my #1 favourite. But I tried. And maybe I'll change the list later depending on my mood. I'd like to hear about some of your favourites in the comments section:

10. Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: Say what you want about the first two episodes, this one delivered the goods that Star Wars fans expected. I loved the lightsaber battle finales with Kenobi & Anakin as well as Yoda & Darth Sidious. It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, the franchise isn't dead just yet.

9. The Departed: Yes I know, not as good as Goodfellas or Raging Bull. So what? Anyone would have a hard time trying to top two of the best movies ever made. Martin Scorsese's crime-gangster drama gets better with repeated viewings.

8. Traffic: A great ensemble cast and story gave director Steve Soderbergh a much deserved Oscar for this drama on the desperate war against drugs.

7. Star Trek: You know it's good when even non-fans talk about how much they enjoyed the franchise reboot with a group of twenty-somethings being put over by a 70 year-old Leonard Nimoy. It will be interesting to see if they can carry the momentum for the inevitable sequel.

6. The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger's Joker is perhaps one of the best movie villains in film history, in what I consider the best comic book movie ever made.

5. United 93: When people talk about director Paul Greenglass, it usually involves the Bourne films, but his real crown jewel is this powerful dramatic interpretation of the final moments of United Airlines Flight 93, whose passengers sacrificed their lives for the greater good of their country on 9/11. It's unfortunate audiences didn't give this one the chance it really deserved, but perhaps they weren't ready for it.

4. Bowling for Columbine: Michael Moore's best movie: hilarious at times, sad in others. His pleas to NRA President Charlton Heston while holding a picture of the four year old girl who was killed by a classmate who brought a gun to school, brings anyone with a heart to tears.

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: An ingenious idea with unconventional story telling to unravel the tale, Jim Carrey's quest to rekindle his love for his girlfriend who decided to have her memory erased of their romantic relationship, pushes all the right buttons.

2. Memento: A man tattoos himself with clues to avenge the death and rape of his wife. His amnesia does not give him the ability to create new memories, so we see the film in reverse chronological order, and experience Guy Pierce's uncertainty as the film unfolds in powerful fashion.

1. Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King: My favourite of the LOTR trilogy; what can I say except I have a weakness for big blockbusters with mythical themes and characters. Yes, the ending did drag on a bit, but everything else was superb.

Honourable mentions: The Wrestler, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Bourne Trilogy, Wall-E, Kill Bill, Fahrenheit 9/11, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring & The Two Towers, Superbad, City of God, Enron: The Smartest People in the Room, There Will be Blood, Borat, About Schmidt.

It's been one month since I tasted my last cookie and piece of cake. And by just implementing that one change, I managed to lose 10 pounds.

It's likely I've plateaued the weight loss from this one dietary change as there wasn't too much difference from last week, but still, I feel a little bit better all round for having the willpower to stick to my guns with my plan.

Now tonight I had my first piece of cake for my mom's birthday (a delicious M-C maple cake!), a sort of reward for this past month. Think now I'll change it up to maybe weekends and special occasions. There's no way I can go without dessert for the rest of my life, but if I can stick to moderation, I'll be better off.

He would fall but still smile. How can you not like it? Skating on the same rink as the Senators players certainly made their day. Thanks to the Bandit for handing us the passes to yesterday's event.

I decided to do it.

For something I thought was already a done deal about six months ago, it amazes me the plan to revitalize Lansdowne Park is still being dragged on but (what I think will be) a final vote will finally happen tonight as they decide the future of Ottawa sports & entertainment.

I should point out that fixing Lansdowne Park is much more than football & concerts though. A prime piece of real estate in the city I live in is being wasted because of incompetence and lack of vision. Did you know there was actually a design contest for Lansdowne 12 years ago? Got us far, didn't it? Now that four of Ottawa's most prominent real estate developers have come forward with a plan, people are running for the hills, shocked that a stadium that needs to be upgraded...might actually get upgraded.

My understanding is currently the city forks over $4 million a year for maintenance and to make sure the stadium doesn't collapse on itself. The plan proposed asks the city to maintain that yearly payment to pay for the loan to redevelop Lansdowne. No extra costs involved. Makes sense to me. Put $4 million into an investment instead of an eye sore that may need to be torn down if it's left the way it is. And what would you have to show for the $4 million a year you've been paying for so many years if this proposal is killed? Nothing.

Some say the retail development will kill Glebe businesses. I disagree. It's already been promised that no "big box" stores will be allowed to set up shop, so we won't have a big Wal-Mart to worry about. And wouldn't adding more retail selection increase business traffic to the Glebe overall? I don't know. Just talking out of my a** maybe.

Glebe residents complain that there will be increased traffic and such during events. Well, yeah! That will happen...for about an hour on Sunday. I don't recall anyone complaining about traffic when the Renegades were here and they still averaged 16-17,000 or so fans even though the team blew chunks. YOU LIVE BESIDE A FOOTBALL STADIUM! Remember when we hosted the u-20 FIFA World Cup a couple of years ago? Sold out, every night soccer was on. Crowds and traffic happened. So there is noise and some inconvenience for a little while. Do you want a hushed silence and no attendance when your city decides to host a few events? I live in a downtown apartment. Guess what? I understand the chances of hearing a police siren at three in the morning is slightly higher for me than someone who lives in suburbia. I expect bumper to bumper traffic every weekday while all the feds make their way to and from work. Yes it might make me delay my visit to Best Buy while I wait for the cars to clear out BUT I LIVE DOWNTOWN SO IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! Can you imagine me writing a letter asking what the city will do about all those buses and vehicles I have to deal with at 4 in the evening because I want it to be quiet for my walk to get a Subway sandwich? I don't see ANY difference for those residents who live beside a football stadium complaining as much as they do.

Some say the CFL is dead in this city. Even if that's the case, there's plans to have a soccer team ready to play. Don't think that will fly? How about when the Rolling Stones showed up here to perform? About 42,000 attended. How about the FIFA tournament I just talked about? Sold out. How about the 67s getting a better arena? Maybe the NHL would consider having their annual outdoor game in a revamped Lansdowne Park. My point is, to have these things, you need a stadium, something most major cities in the industrial world have. The whole idea behind this plan, from what I can gather, is for Lansdowne to become a year round attraction, not just for the CFL and nothing else.

It's more than the Glebeites who are affected by this decision; it affects the entire city. I understand that the councillor for the area, Mr. Doucet, hasn't even met with the development group to discuss his concerns which makes me think he's not interested in getting the true facts and doing what's right, but simply to appease those who continue to ruin the reputation of Ottawa stirring up lies, half-truths, and complaining about what I consider the realities of living downtown.

This should be an EXCITING time for Ottawa. A chance to re-energize the downtown core and turn it into something special.

I hope common sense will win this debate.

I was just a nine year old kid with a piece of paper that got a handful of autographs during the 1984 Canada Cup. Steve Yzerman was only 19 years old at the time and on his way to winning three Stanley Cups, while Mike Bossy had already won four Stanley Cup championships. At the time I couldn't understand how lucky I was to be face to face with these players but I somehow managed to keep this 25 year old foolscap in my possession. For some reason, I thought it would be appropriate to circle the name and autograph of each player since I thought I'd get confused or something and think Sittler's autograph was actually Goulet's.

That sounds like something a nine year old would think.

Hey, where did my insightful commentary go??? Oh well, long story short, Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace, most anticipated film trailer in film history IMHO.

- After two weeks of my no dessert rule, it's made a pretty big difference, as I dropped from 212 to 206 lbs in that time. It's still not the easiest thing for me, but this week is definitely going better than the last. We'll see what the final weigh in is on the 23rd.

- You know, I was warned about the on again/off again night of one Alexei Kovalev, but I had no idea he would be off THAT much. This guy floats, coasts, roasts and naps at his discretion. A couple of times he'd wake up with a nice pass, but this guy definitely isn't worth the $5 million he's making. I can only hope he may improve as the season wears on.

- And I'd love to be President of the Pascal "Choco" Leclaire fan club, but I'm having concerns. The last few games he's let in at least one soft goal and that is simply not good enough. In fairness to him, this is his first workload being a #1 goaltender since December of 2008 so he could still be finding his rhythm, but ultimately he has to be better.

- The latest game on the Xbox console is The Force Unleashed:Ultimate Sith Edition. It is really fun to run around with all your force powers, and simple things like tossing around storm troopers and throwing them into AT-STs is pretty fun. I sort of got into Star Wars mode lately, watching a couple of the movies and the Empire of Dreams documentary. When are we going to see another feature length film? Probably when Lucas dies.

- And speaking of movies, is it me or is there a lacking "must see" movie this Christmas season? Maybe there's a sleeper I haven't heard of yet that will be good, but right now the lineup seem a bit underwhelming.

This is a bunch of clips of a soccer player named Elizabeth Lambert playing perhaps one of the dirtiest games of soccer ever. The brutal thing about it is, as blatant as everything that she did (my personal favourite is the ponytail-pull) she only got one yellow card, and that was for arguing with the ref! Anyway, she got suspended by her soccer league and Lambert would later issued a statement to apologize for her actions.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is being released for the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, and these days it's not enough to release just the game. No, you need to include a pair of WORKING NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES to make sure the experience is complete! Yes, with a range of 50 feet, a power outage at 3am is no longer a problem. God bless the good people over at Activision for making this complete package available for just $159.99.

(And no I'm not buying it. It's already sold out!)

Rob, you are much too hard on yourself. Sure, it took longer than expected, but the results are fantastic! It may not look like anything special to the uninformed, but without question, a definite upgrade from what I had before. Thanks again Robert-o and also to Stan for coming in with some drywall relief duty!

The players are bigger, faster and stronger. The number of jobs available is finite and everyone is battling for a position on a team.