This was originally published on Epinions.com.

I won’t admit to listening to everything, so my list is going to be missing some albums that others found fantastic but simply didn’t find my iPod.

But from what I’ve heard this year, this is the best of it, and because there are so many good writers in the Epinions.com Music Category, I went out and got a little help.

10. Fishscale – Ghostface Killah

To me, Ghostface is the only guy on the Wu still relevant in today’s music scene. Sure, all of those guys could still put out records that people might buy, but there’s something about longevity and staying in the game. For some reason, GZA, RZA, and Deck are nowhere to be found today, but Tony Starks keeps the albums coming. I can’t say I jumped on the Ghostface bandwagon early, or even at all because I just listened to this early 2006 release not too long ago. But he’s still making credible records in this day and age when most of his other homies are living on their rep from the 90’s.

Let Poeticone16 tell you better.

Even though there were too many skits featured on here and there were ideas that could have been extended (the soulful “Barbershop” where Ghost talks stuff to his barber for cutting his hair too short – something I can definitely sympathize with), Fishscale is a near-perfect album from the Deini..

9. Back To Basics – Christina Aguilera

This overly ambitious double disc showed me one thing. Christina Aguilera really cares about her music. Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Gwen, and Fergie all mailed it in this year. Yes, they had hot singles (ok, maybe not Jessica and Gwen), but as far as overall care for their music, it wasn’t there. They threw a bunch of songs without real cohesiveness and called it a record. While Christina may have not made that career defining album yet, after listening to how much effort she put into this one, you know it’s coming.

Here’s what Monnie1976 had to say.

Overall, I do think that Christina delivers for the price of admission. Her voice is amazing, many of her songs are very enjoyable and she definitely has some ambition and drive in her career. Maybe it equals overdrive on occasion but that’s ok.

8. St. Elsewhere – Gnarls Barkley

No, the duo of Gnarls Barkley didn’t play power forward in the NBA. Danger Mouse and Cee-lo Green put together one of the more creative records of the year in a day and age when not being creative and playing it safe is the norm. After Crazy hit, they were just able to stare in their rear view.

Stairway2Drew said it best.

The first thing you need to know about St. Elsewhere is that, for an album created by two men who’s careers are generally defined by their contributions to hip-hop, there is precious little rapping to be found. The second thing you need to know about St. Elsewhere – but probably the first thing you’ll notice after listening to it – is that, truthfully, it kicks all kind of a**.

7. Kingdom Come – Jay-Z

I just don’t buy the idea that this album isn’t good. I don’t. I’ve listened to it time and time again and can see some of the examples of where Jay-Z maybe came off a bit soft, but if you look at this album as an evolution point in his career, it’s a complete success. This album came out exactly like he wanted it to and it’s more than likely only a prelude of things to come. When you don’t sell drugs anymore, you shouldn’t be rapping about selling drugs.

Let Snik1 tell you.

Overall, everyone had expectations for this thing. They varied. And that’s why there were so many that felt this album was unfulfilling. Still, Hov’s on-target lyricism and topics make this a very noteworthy effort, and in my opinion it’s definitely solidified a spot in my Top 15 of 2006, no matter the standards so many others have made him try to reach. Don’t be too stubborn to check it out.

6. Food and Liquor – Lupe Fiasco

I loved the inspired style by Lupe Fiasco. He’s got that up and coming/eye of the tiger like attitude. While I worry that he may have shot his wad on his ambitious debut, the “nerdy” rapper has proved that you don’t have to be a veteran with tons of sales in your history, to make an album the way you want to.

Listen to MadTheory.

Lupe Fiasco is a promising artist who has a solid artistic voice and a talented cast of producers backing him. He may not have established himself as the next big thing, but the potential shown on this effort is undeniable.

5. Hip Hop Is Dead – Nas

I loved the community metaphor in Nas’ newest album. The idea is that hip hop is a community and it lives together and dies together. What this album also does well is show a sign of maturity from Nas. He throws odes to the old school and tells the newcomers that they are a part of his community from the first line out of their mouth, but learn from the people who got hip hop here and respect their games.

Enter the Balogun.

And Nas admirably rises to the occasion, delivering his best album post-Illmatic. Months or years from now, I would not be surprised at all if Hip Hop Is Dead is universally acclaimed as a classic.

4. The Evolution of Robin Thicke – Robin Thicke

Robin Thicke might have the greatest voice of all the new jacks in R&B music today. There I said it. Throughout this entire album, the voice just mesmerizes you. Though he didn’t sing the theme song to Growing Pains as an extra track like I wished, or maybe even a duet of the Diff’rent Strokes theme song with papa Alan, Robin shows that R&B can still be romantic and you don’t have to get rappers on your CD to be heard, save for Lil’ Wayne.

Read more from Whisperscream.

Though the mainstream – and record store – classification is &#147R&B/Soul&#148, it&#146d be a hard find in the mainstream to locate an &#147R&B/Soul&#148 album that effortlessly cruises through so many genres – bending and melding in the process – as Evolution does. And even if you were to find one, it&#146s safe to say that it still wouldn&#146t have been executed as well.

3. Game Theory – The Roots

I believe we should try get a new definition in the dictionary for the word “roots”. Everytime I listen to a new Roots album, I come out with the same conclusion; same consistently great album. Maybe Webster add a definition for the word “roots” with the definition being, “consitently great”. And if you need to use it for a sentence, it can be, “Every time mom cooks, it’s always roots.”

Check out what Speeddemon531 has to say.

In 43 minutes, you hear echoes of everything from indie rock to old-school soul to funk to jazz, and they perform it all with ease and flair. It’s this adaptability to myriad musical genres that has made The Roots (along with possibly OutKast) the most consistent hip-hop group of recent times.

2. Continuum – John Mayer

John Mayer has a magnificent talent of making music that touches people and makes them say, “He wrote that for how I was feeling.” Throughout this album, I found so many references, vibes, sounds, and feelings where I was just thinking that this dude feels how I feel. I haven’t been a Mayer fanatic in the past, but he sold me this time.

Speak on it Cletta1201.

In an age of music that is all smoke and mirrors, Mayer is an artist&#146s artist. He is all substance without the pomp and circumstance. And not that every artist needs to try to be the voice of a generation, but it&#146s nice when someone can do it as beautifully as it&#146s been done here.

1. Once Again – John Legend

Simply the most flawlessly put together record that I’ve heard this year, Once Again is “by far” my favorite record of the year. He didn’t make it for the radio. He didn’t make it for MTV. He made it for music’s sake. Oh yes, and for Maxine. Just a beautiful album.

Plorentz gushes about this much better than I can.

I might be gushing a little too much to say that Once Again is one of those albums that changes our expectations of what music can and/or should do for us – one big, seductive attitude adjustment. Maybe I’ve gone too far … I just don’t care, I just don’t care, I just don’t care.

I just don’t care either.

That’s my list and my thanks to the writers in the Music Category. You should read them. They are all roots.

Thanks D and D for hosting yet again.

3.5 miles. I can’t believe I ran 3.5 miles in one shot. I’ve done a lot of running in my time, but I’m not sure I’ve ever done 3.5 miles at one time. I remember running until I cramped up in high school at basketball practice. I’d be so tired that I would just come home from practice and go right to bed. No dinner. No homework. In baseball, our conditioning was more before the season started. We’d do some long distance running, but nothing big.

3.5 miles. To think, this is only just over half of what I’m training for. Also, I didn’t run it fast. I didn’t try to. It was all about surviving. I was running with the Gilroy High School wrestling team. Now those kids can run. They were running all kinds of drills. One lap. Rest. Then sprint. Then rest. Then sprint a lap. Then rest. Then 10 sprints. Then rest. I was getting tired just watching them. To be 16 again.

3.5 miles. As I got to around 10 laps, I was pretty much in that mode of thought where you give yourself so many props for doing that much, that you wouldn’t be upset if you quit at that moment. And I was there. I was ready to stop. But I figured out a way to get through it. I wasn’t going to let my head trick me. And also, the music from the Rocky soundtrack helped. Once I hear those horns, I can’t not be inspired. Don’t you just love tricking yourself with things that don’t even matter to anyone but you?

One month of training done and the holidays behind me (well almost) means that the diet will shape up as well. That’s the next step.

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When I heard that the Giants were in the running to sign Barry Zito, I didn’t even bother getting excited. The Giants never pay big for pitchers. It really doesn’t make sense to anyway. Unless you’re going to sign a definite stud like Roger Clemens in his prime. It’s much more productive to sign position players to the big contract rather than pitchers. You’d rather pay someone who plays 150 games than someone who only plays 35.

Early this morning I heard that the Giants actually signed him. And I still waited to hear that the Yankees scooped them and picked up Zito at the last minute. It didn’t happen. The Giants got him. And they had to pay him well. I figured that in order to get him, you’d have to pay over 100 million. And they did. But I didn’t think they’d have to pay the reported 126 million.

I do believe they overpaid him. They probably overpaid him by at least 10% than some of the other teams would’ve. But it’s all speculation because what’s done is done. I’m happy they got him, but if you’re going to try and find out his value, you really can’t. You can’t do that until the end of his contract. In my opinion, Barry Bonds is probably worth double any contract he’s ever signed with the Giants because he’s a true box office draw. I don’t think Zito will draw anyone out of the ordinary other than maybe a few hardcore Zito fans from across the bay. So his true value will be in making the team better. And we won’t be able to find that out for a while.

I looked up at Zito’s stats and I wasn’t too impressed, but I wasn’t disappointed in them. What’s most impressive is that he’s guaranteed to give you 35 starts every year. And he doesn’t give up a lot of hits. On the other side, he hasn’t had a really good season since his Cy Young season, pitching as the third guy in the rotation. In 2004 he had a bad year but bounced back with 30 wins over the last two seasons combined.

Because of how high contracts are skyrocketing, this deal will probably not end up being all that bad. The Zito signing gives the Giants two strong left handers in their rotation (along with Noah Lowery) and actually makes their rotation even younger. Throw in Matt Morris, Matt Cain, and probably another young pitcher and it’s a strong rotation. It’s not going to strike much fear into the better teams, but they will be consistent. Zito’s numbers should automatically get better as well just by coming over to the National League where the offenses aren’t as gaudy as they are in the American League. And he gets to pitch in a pitcher’s ball park as well. If I were to guess, I’d say he’ll win 16 games with an ERA under 3.00. Is that worth 18 million a year? Who knows. But what I do know is that if your child is athletic, push him towards baseball. These guys are making a killing.

Happiness is in reunions.

Merry Christmas from the luchadors.

I woke up Monday morning feeling a bit sick. I’m rarely sick as I’m the type to always load up on vitamin C. And even in being sick, I wasn’t as sick as I probably could’ve been for the same reason. But it did set me back a bit in my running as a metaphor for world domination. Ok, it’s not that big of a deal. But my running program has taken a step back this week. I was supposed to run 2.5 miles, 2.0 miles, and 3.5 miles this week. On Wednesday, I loaded up my iPod shuffle to try to run and all of a sudden, the shuffle didn’t respond. It was dead to me much like Uncle Sato was to Chozen from Karate Kid II. There was no way I was going to be able to run with a stuffed up head and no music. So I went to Best Buy immediately and bought the new tiny iPod shuffle. But because I was going to see the new Rocky at lunch time, entitled Rocky Balboa, I now didn’t have a chance to run. It was probably for the better as I might’ve not made it a few steps on the treadmill before quitting.

Thursday came along and I gave it a go. I got to about 1 mile before I couldn’t breath and had to stop. Then on Friday, I tried again. I knew I wasn’t going to last long, so I decided to run 1 mile at an increased pace. I did it in fine fashion and might’ve been able to go a little longer but with Christmas around the corner I decided to play it safe so I wouldn’t get really ill. Saturday I lifted weights, hit the heavy bag for a couple rounds, and skipped rope, and knew on Sunday (today) that I would try to run the streets of Gilroy.

Much like Rocky in Rocky II, I ran the streets, waving at everyone who I crossed paths with. Some didn’t wave back, but I wasn’t deterred. I decided to run from my apartment to the house. I was going to kiss the kids and then run back to the apartment. It didn’t exactly work that way. I was on my way over feeling pretty good, but about halfway through I could tell my stamina was a bit weaker than I thought it was going to be. The house is about 2 miles away from the apartment, so I still had a mile to go. I had also hurt my right hamstring doing dead leg lifts but I wore compression shorts to keep the hammy warm and it didn’t really affect me. I was able to get to the house, but I wasn’t about the run back. Those same people I waved to might’ve seen me walking, or worse, passed out on the road and then they’d never wave again. I picked up the kids, took Carol’s car, and came back to the apartment.

I won’t run tomorrow on Christmas day, but I’ll start again Tuesday. Hopefully my immune system will bounce back, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work with all the chocolate chip cookies still in my system.

Even in my training thus far, one thing is still very clear to me. Running is for dummies.

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This review was originally published on Epinions.com.

Let’s do something here. Let’s pretend that Rocky V didn’t even happen. It doesn’t even exist. Because if that were the case, Rocky Balboa is the perfect way to end the Rocky franchise. Even with the fifth movie being a blunted reality, it’s still a great way to end the franchise. There was only one really great film and that was the first one. The second film was more about telling this long drawn out story and giving the Rocky character something of value (his family, his son, his pride, his championship). And the third and fourth films were just about conquering the unconquerable and not giving into fear. What the heck was Rocky V about? Well, it’s the same idea as what Rocky Balboa is about. It’s just that at the time in 1990, Sly didn’t have the testicular fortitude that he has today, to pull off what he did with this film. They are similar in what they are trying to prove, which is that it’s not about how many times you get knocked down. What really matters is how many times you get back up. Where Rocky V lacked the most was in Rocky actually getting back in the ring. In storyline, he lost his house and some money and had to go back to the streets of Philadelphia to live with the common folk. But he still had his family. He still had his friends. What did he really lose? In Rocky Balboa, he loses the one thing that literally drops him like a Mike Tyson right hand. He loses Adrian.

Talia Shire’s Adrian isn’t in the movie except in pictures and flashbacks, but the movie is entirely about her. It’s about her death, and how learning to deal with it will make Rocky complete. He tried to move on, even opening up a restaurant in her name, but he didn’t understand how to emote for her. He didn’t understand why he had all the unkempt feelings about her inside of him. He was a boxer, used to emoting through his fists and his body. And in order for him to become complete with Adrian’s death, he had to do it through the only way he knew. Fighters fight.

Stallone seemed to have forgotten how to play Balboa by the fourth and fifth movies. He played him like an idiot really. Here, he goes back to how he played him in the original Rocky. Stallone has mentioned recently that if the original Rocky never had any sequels, this could be the second movie and it’s so complete, that you don’t even need the ones in between. To an extent, he’s right. But only if we pretend Rocky V never happened.

Rocky Balboa is created as if Rocky V was never created. Stallone has gone on record saying how disappointed he was in that film and how he wasn’t mature enough to give Rocky the proper send off in 1990. In the fifth film, the back story is that Rocky can’t fight anymore. He has major head trauma and couldn’t get sanctioned because of it. In Rocky Balboa, the boxing commission decides to give him a license after he lobbies for one and this even after his 50th birthday. It’s a slap in the face to fans, but after the Rocky V debacle, Stallone had to get this one finished in the ring. He also replaces the actor who played his son in Rocky V, being his real life son, Sage Stallone with Milo Ventimiglia. It’s definitely an upgrade as Sage helped ruin Rocky V, but Robert (Rocky Jr.) Balboa pretty much stays in the background, though is needed for a few of the scenes in which Rocky declares his need to get back in the ring and also helps him get finality.

Paulie, played by Burt Young is back and he’s the same old wise cracking Paulie that you know and love. Geraldine Hughes plays Lil’ Marie who was a character from the first film. Rocky at the time saw her hanging with a bad group of kids and told her that she needed to worry about her reputation and hang with good people, or else she’d turn into the people she hangs with. After seemingly understanding, she turns to Rocky and says, “Screw you creepo!” It was a defining scene in the film because even when Rocky did good, it wasn’t good enough and he felt like a nobody, which was the basis for the original film.

(In a weird twist of fate, the Lil’ Marie character was actually brought back in Rocky V, played by the original actress. But she was left on the cutting room floor and was never seen in the theatrical cut of the film. If she was left in, Rocky Balboa couldn’t happen the way Stallone wrote it.)

Hughes gives you a watered down version of Adrian. She’s not there to be Adrian, but to just give Rocky a little nudge while people are telling him he’s crazy for getting back in the ring. Hughes plays the role subtle enough to where she doesn’t step on the role Shire created and works as a really solid secondary character. In an odd storyline sequence, Rocky sees her son as a way to help her, almost as if he has to repay her for not getting through to her in the first film when she was a kid.

The actual reasoning for him getting the chance to get back in the ring is a bit hokey and probably not the best thing that could’ve been written. But back when Muhammed Ali was suspended from boxing because of his stance on not joining the war, he did something with Rocky Marciano which was a computer simulation of what would’ve happened if they both fought in their primes. It didn’t work when they did it, but according to boxing lore, Ali needed the money. Stallone uses that boxing trivia fact to get Rocky back in the ring. Mason “The Line” Dixon played by real life championship fighter Antonio Tarver Jr. (who probably lost his championship directly based on this film because he had to diet down so quickly for his fight with Bernard Hopkins as his character in Rocky had him about 20 pounds over his fighting weight) loses a computer simulated fight against Balboa’s character and is dogged by the media as being a paper champion. His managers try to get him some good will by getting him to box in an exhibition (and we remember how exhibitions can turn out, Apollo died in one) with Balboa. Oddly, this is actually agreed to and happens. In 2006, you could say this would never happen, but Mike Tyson actually held a session recently on PPV, but no one saw it. That’s the premise for holding the fight, but really, it’s secondary.

What’s crazy about standing toe to toe and saying, “I am”?

In order for Rocky to come to grips with his life and to stop trying to live in the past, he has to show it to himself for one last time that he can say, “I am”.

One last thing that actually helps this movie drive home the feeling that you got from the first film is that Bill Conti’s score is excellent. His music is given such importance in the film and it’s near deja vu because of how important his score was to the first film.

There are many things in this film that make you shake your head, but in the end, you are still able to suspend disbelief. Stallone throws in some goodies that fans of all the movies will enjoy. This is the second best film of the six and finally, you can get the bad taste out of your mouth that was Rocky V, and remember the series fondly.

This review was originally posted on Epinions.com.

This film is very much what the title says it is. Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, whose life is all about balancing survival with his own pursuit of happiness. He’s an intelligent man who is either making all the wrong decisions, or just has some of the worst luck in the world. Actually, it’s probably a little bit of both. But when his wife leaves him and their child because of their financial pressure, it becomes more about survival than ever. Gardner faces unbelievable pressure of trying to make rent and putting food on the table while not being able to sell bone density scanners that he and his wife put their entire savings into and that put them initially into the hole. He narrates the movie, talking about how happiness (the intentional misspelling is explained) might not even be there, and the pursuit is never ending.

Smith’s Gardner has to decide on whether to take an internship at Dean Witter which doesn’t pay, while still trying to put a roof over the head of his child and himself. It’s really Will Smith as you’ve never seen him. He’s done pretty well for himself in roles that take him out of the wise cracking action and comedy hero, but never like this before. It’s the best thing he’s ever done as far as acting is concerned and it’s something that you’d expect to be out of his element. Gardner’s character is an aging man probably in his early 40’s and is a picture of struggle, determination, and humility. Will’s real life son, Jaden, plays Chris Jr. and much like really good child actors, he steals the show. Smith has said in interviews that having his real life son there helped him really dig deep on some of the more emotional scenes. Thandie Newton plays the run away mom and ever since seeing her in Gridlock’d with Tupac Shakur, I can’t see her as anything but someone who is strung out (that movie was all about detoxing off drugs). But she’s a solid actress in her own right and played her role of the struggling mom in fine fashion. While there are other supporting actors, they don’t provide much as it’s the Will and Jaden Smith show. The movie really doesn’t provide any support for any of the other fringe characters to make any mark because it would take away what the movie is about, which is Chris Gardner’s dedication to creating a new life for his son.

What makes this movie really interesting is that it is a true story. There is a real Chris Gardner. And while I haven’t read the book on his life, just by the way the movie is made, I can’t think that they put too many Hollywood tricks in it to make it more interesting. It’s directed by Gabriele Muccino and he directs it in a way that makes it feel almost documentary-like. It’s shot with the focus on Gardner from really in your face like angles. There are many scenes in which Gardner is running for something like Forrest Gump (he doesn’t own an automobile), and the camera work is magical during those scenes as if to show the viewer that every step in his run is life or death. Running is a metaphor for his hustle and every step forward is a step gained.

What the movie tries to show is that Gardner wouldn’t take no for an answer and he wasn’t going to allow himself to be unsuccessful, especially for his son. It was a long pursuit toward happiness and it was because he didn’t accept failure. He created the possibility for success and the pursuit was just about paying his dues. Smith is well on his way to growing as an actor and being more than just a big blockbuster movie type actor. This role further shapes his career and I am almost sure that he’ll have an Oscar for “Best Actor” in his future.

The way this film is framed isn’t like most successful box office films as far as the way the story is told. It is a long and laborious pursuit. While there are a few arcs, the big bang doesn’t come until very late in the film and you’re left with a sort of incomplete feeling. But even then, there’s nothing left to tell. The story becomes complete and though the ending might be a bit anticlimactic, it’s the only way it could’ve ended.

This was originally published on Epinions.com.

When Rocky V came out in 1990, almost no one was interested except for Rocky fans. It had been five years since Rocky IV, and I think most people thought Rocky IV was the last one. But Sylvester Stallone wanted to finish off his series by going back home. And because of IV’s plain oddness, I guess we should’ve expected that Stallone would finish off the series. That meant the series would take a step backward, back to the roots of the first two movies. Stallone got John Avildsen to direct this fifth film, giving fans a hopeful outlook on what it could be. But there were three things holding this film back that Avildsen couldn’t stop.

First, Stallone’s son Sage scored the role of Rocky Jr. in the film. Of course, Sly himself said the kid Stallone went on the audition without his help and won the part with no help from papa Stallone. After watching Sage make this film the most unwatchable of them all, I’d disagree. If the part asked for whining and annoying Rocky Jr., then I’m wrong and he did a great job. But if the part asked for a solid child actor to support the film, then he did a horrible job. Whenever he and the elder Stallone have scenes together, the movie stops and seems to take forever to get through. It’s also humorous to note that at the end of Rocky IV, when Rocky dedicates his fight to his son, he’s maybe 8 years old. And when Rocky gets off the plane from Russia, he magically becomes 13 years of age. Odd how that happens. (Stallone has recently said that this part of the movie is just horrible in reflection.)

The second thing wrong with this film is papa Stallone’s portrayal of the character he created. In Rocky III, Rocky was all of a sudden a smart business man. A corporate Rocky if you will. In Rocky IV, he was back to being slightly punchy, but he was determined. But in Rocky V, Stallone’s portrayal is that of the dumbest human being alive with the worst accent imaginable. It was like he didn’t watch the first two films to see how to replay the character. In a specific scene where Rocky takes his new protege to see Father Carmine, he requests two things from the father. Instead of asking for things one and two, he asks for things one and B. It’s like he wanted to make Rocky so dumb that people would feel sorry for him. But all it did was make me hate the character that I loved so much.

The last thing really wrong about the movie is in Tommy “The Duke” Morrison’s character of Tommy Gunn. Morrison at the time was an up and coming boxer; the next great white hope. But he also had something else going for him. He was the grandnephew of John Wayne, hence the nickname. He was a legit heavyweight contender in a time when heavyweights were great in boxing. He was still an up and comer when chosen for the role as Tommy Gunn and this helped him get noticed. Morrison’s acting early on in the film is fine. But it’s when he has to change his happy go lucky outlook and show aggression and actually play a character when it just doesn’t work. The fight scenes are actually quite realistic because Morrison punches like a boxer should, but he has too much screen time acting and is Rocky’s worst foil out of all the five movies. You don’t really hate him and he’s overshadowed by George Washington Duke played by Richard Grant. Duke is the real heel of the movie as he plays a Don King-like promoter who doesn’t care that Rocky’s retired, or that he has shown some signs of brain damage, and only wants to get him in the ring to fight again because it’d be the biggest money fight in boxing. Grant plays Don King pretty much to the tee, but it’s the first time a boxing promoter has been portrayed in a Rocky film and it’s awkward. We’re used to Rocky’s biggest opponent being someone he has to topple in the ring, and in this one, it’s an evil promoter.

There are a few good things about the film. It’s very much reminiscent of the first two films. Most of it is shot in the same areas. Though in mostly small roles, Burgess Meredith (whose Mickey dies in Rocky III but shows up in flashback), Talia Shire, and Burt Young all continue their roles, but just in a lesser fashion. They all shine in a movie that’s not hard to considering what they were put up against. Meredith had aged some 8 years since we saw him last and he looked eerily thin. But he still delivers the gravelly voiced Mick like only he can. Shire and Young both seem bored with the roles, and after Shire’s horrendous over the top overprotective role in the fourth film, she redeems herself here. As I said already, the fight scenes are well put together and excellently choreographed. Since Rocky’s big fight scene isn’t in the ring, the street fight element works. Pro wrestler Terry Funk was brought in to choreograph those scenes.

It’s a little hard for the hardcore fans to get into it because there’s so much inconsistency to the story. In the flashbacks with Mickey, Rocky and Mick talk about slippin’ the jab and fighting until the bell rings, and while it’s all regular boxing talk, they never mentioned either of those things in the other movies. Mick is also shown giving Rocky a cuff link on a gold chain as a token of his love for Rocky. Again, there weren’t any mentions in any of the films of this token that Rocky adores. They were simply created to give the Mickey character something to do.

Maybe the one thing that’s done most right is the fact that Rocky comes out with possible brain damage. By fighting Drago in Rocky IV, he was subjected to taking punches from someone so much bigger than him, and the effects were disastrous. It’s a small point of continuity that I’m glad they stuck to since they screwed up just about everything else. Though there’s still no mention of that bad eye from Rocky II.

They try to bring a lot of the humor missing from the previous two Rocky films, but except for one or two jokes, that fails as well. The one joke that does work is when Tommy Gunn finally turns on Rocky and challenges Rocky to a fight. Rocky says that his ring is outside and when some of his friends from the local tavern ask him if he needs any help, he says, “This ain’t no pie eating contest.” That’s the best you’re gonna get with this film.

Even though the continuity is bad, the jokes are bad, the new villain is bad, the thing that destroys the film most is the lack of chemistry between Stallone and his own son. You’d think that father and son could just be fatherly and sonly (?) together and everything would be great. But it’s like they’ve never talked to each other before. The scenes in which they are supposed to be close, it’s uncomfortable. In the scenes when they are arguing, it’s uncomfortable. And even in the end, in the last scene that closes out the film, it’s just horrible. Thankfully, my lasting memory of the Rocky series won’t be Sage and Sly exchanging the worst father and son dialogue in the history of film since there is a 6th and final film. Maybe that’s the best thing about this one. It was so bad, Sly had to do another.

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After being in class all last weekend from sun up to sun down, I was really tired early this week. My current schedule is to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. On Tuesday and Wednesday I do weights and Thursday and Saturday is a second cardio day except that I don’t run. I bike it. But I was so tired early this week that my Monday actually started on Wednesday. On Wednesday I ran 2.5 miles and on Friday I ran 2 miles. On Thursday and Saturday I rode the exercise bike and tonight, in the late evening, I ran 3 miles. Everything was fine, except for tonight. I was actually going to run yesterday, but I got caught up with chores and then went to the movies. So I decided that I would do it this morning. Except I got home late and woke up just in time to go to church. So after putting the kids to bed tonight, I reluctantly jumped on the treadmill around 9:15PM. Then I almost died.

I was running while watching today’s football highlights on the NFL Network and listening to the new Nas CD Hip Hop Is Dead on my shuffle when all of a sudden everything went pitch black. Once I saw the lights go, I immediately knew that I had to stop running or else I might’ve fallen off. And I haven’t had great success with treadmills. I still have a scar from falling on my knee on a small treadmill and not being able to get up. Thus, the belt was spinning and it was rubbing against my knee for about 10 seconds until I could figure out a way to get off. And yes, I was watching TV while on this small treadmill. And yes, I was watching 90210 when it happened. Sue me.

I guess what happened is that the circuit breaker clicked off and all the lights went out only in the one room. I thought that maybe I was running so fast that I short circuited the entire house. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. I took about a half an hour break and decided to run again. I had only run .5 mile so I had to get back on the treadmill and run another 2.5 miles. And thankfully, my speed didn’t short circuit the room again.

One small little detail that is probably a good thing. I forgot my knee brace in my apartment and when I got to the house, I was ready to give myself the excuse to not run. But I ran and the knee was fine. It wasn’t without any pain, but it was light pain and life was good.

I have less than 4 months to go and I think I’m the one person out of my group that is training hardcore right now. I know my parents are going to do the 5k walk and they’ve been walking for awhile now so they are comfortable unless they decide to run. And Tomiko let me know that she hasn’t opened my e-mail that I sent out with a possible training plan. And Eddy Zucko better get on the ball because he doesn’t want me to pass him twice.

I’m so far ahead of my time, I’m bout to start another life
Look behind you, I’m bout to pass you twice