5 Things on a Friday: Friday Hair Metal Returns!

Happy Friday, folks.  Let’s get to it!

I read in the Times that the kids are all really
into unicorns.  I don't really get it, but whatever...

1. Mark Zuckerberg Sees Augmented Reality Ecosystem in Facebook (NY Times)

This is the future?  Fuck me.
I'll bet the Russians are terrified.

Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has long rued the day that Apple and Google beat him to building smartphones, which now underpin many people’s digital lives. Ever since, he has searched for the next frontier of modern computing and how to be a part of it from the start.

Now, Mr. Zuckerberg is betting he has found it: the real world.

On Tuesday, Mr. Zuckerberg introduced what he positioned as the first mainstream augmented reality platform, a way for people to view and digitally manipulate the physical world around them through the lens of their smartphone cameras.

*Groan*

I wouldn’t mind using a pair of sunglasses that had a built-in heads-up display for running or riding that showed pace, distance, and heart rate, but even that's dependent on my not having to wear a heart rate monitor strap around my chest.

2.  Friday Hair Metal: Don’t Mess with Jim

In 2011, Poison released Poison’d, an album of covers from their early 80s-era as a club band.  Who knew?  There were even a couple of singles released, but my favorite was the b-side cover of Jim Croce’s “Don’t Mess with Jim”.  If you’ve got some time, the following is highly recommended.

I couldn’t find a live version of that one, unfortunately, but on the same album they also did a cover of “Can’t You See?”  That one's badass, too, although in a completely different way.

If that’s not enough, there’s the full 90-minute video of this same concert.  It took me a couple of days, but I watched all of it, mostly with Sally while we were working in the kitchen over Easter weekend.  Needless to say, it’s been a pretty steady stream of rock hair metal in our house since the concert last week.

Damn, I really miss all that rock ‘n’ roll.

3. Like Cloaks? Love Daggers? The Trailer for Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger Asks, “Why Choose?” (Slate)

The new show, set in post-Katrina New Orleans, starrs Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt as Cloak and Dagger, two teenage superheroes in a romantic relationship…  Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger has a teenager who can throw daggers made of light, and another teenager who can drag bad guys to a dark dimension using his magic cloak.

Pretty close capture of what’s in the original comic books.  For what it’s worth, the original Cloak & Dagger comics were either excellent or forgettable by turns, which explains why two otherwise telegenic and memorable protagonists have never been able to carry their own ongoing series long-term.  The original four-issue 1980s-era mini-series hit with X-Men-like force back when I was in 6th grade, but subsequent storylines fizzled, and here we are.  Cloak & Dagger have wound up on Freeform, which is a big step down from both ABC and Netflix no matter how you think about it.

I’ll be looking for this one, though perhaps just to watch it with my kids.

4. Netflix Embraces a Nasty Gal, Based on the Real Deal (NY Times)

Ms. Cannon was told not to name the show after the title of Ms. Amoruso’s best-selling memoir, “#GIRLBOSS,” because the “girl” part could be a turnoff to audiences. So, too, could other elements of the show. Like the lead character’s personality.

“It always comes down to this idea of the female lead having to be incredibly likable,” Ms. Cannon said. “I wanted to tell the story of a flawed woman that is not a fairy tale.”

I have no idea if I’m going to like the show, but I loved the trailer.

I should maybe point out as well that the biggest complaint I get from readers of the Sneakatara books is that Sneax isn’t particularly likeable, either.  This was done on purpose.  Sneax is my daughter Hannah’s creation, and I tried to write her true to the way that Hannah plays her.  I will also admit that I wanted to put together a more roguish character, like something out of Huck Finn or the Calvin & Hobbes mold.  You can judge for yourself whether or not that worked, but the character type has definitely turned off at least a few potential readers.

5. Quick thoughts: 2017 Black & Gold Game blog (Army Football Insider)

Army’s Black & Gold Game was an offensive struggle for more than three quarters.

Ten points were on the board before Christian Poe scored a touchdown on a 40-yard reverse with 3:03 left in the game. Kell Walker broke off a 61-yard touchdown run 44 seconds later to cap the scoring.

Sloppy game by both offenses with too many false start and holding penalties.

The Gold team was stopped twice inside the 5-yard line.

On the bright side, the offense as a whole turned the ball over just once.

Sophomore fullback Calen Holt was a workhorse, carrying the ball close to 20 times for the Gold team.

Sophomore Chris Carter threw the ball the best among the three quarterbacks that played. Carter, Ahmad Bradshaw and Kelvin Hopkins had little time to pass on the few occasions Army put the ball in the air.

The game itself sounds like it was kind of a snooze.  I mean, I get that the defense is usually ahead of the offense at this time of the year, and I fully support Coach Monken’s decision to rest or limit most of his key starters.  I also understand why Army doesn’t run its typical smash-mouth style in a scrimmage.  Certainly, no one expected to see Bradshaw carry up the middle in the Black & Gold game, but as we’ve seen in actual play, that’s his best move.  Nevertheless, the vast majority of the scoring occurred in the game’s last five minutes, and though I didn’t personally go to this year’s game, I expect it was a little frustrating for fans in the stands.

The biggest issues for me coming out of the spring are as follows:

Team health.  Army has a lot of banged-up slotbacks right now and a few injuries at other positions as well.  I like Kell Walker, but man, he can’t be the whole offense.

Back-up Quarterback.  According to reports, rising cow Chris Carter is in a pretty fierce battle with rising yearling Kelvin Hopkins for the #2 spot at quarterback.  It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.

In other Army news, the Men’s Lax team has a very important game tonight against Loyola at 7 pm.  The winner will host the Patriot League championship tournament, whose winner in turn gets an automatic bid to the NCAA championship tournament.  With Army’s upset loss to Navy last week, the Black Knights now need some help to get into the Big Dance, notwithstanding that they’ve otherwise had an excellent season.  

From where we are right now, Army will need to either win the Patriot League or place very well and beat Notre Dame at home on May 6th.  Both are achievable, but Loyola has a good team, and Notre Dame is a perennial powerhouse.  Last week’s loss to Navy hurt, and now the Black Knights need to play better than ever.

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That’s all I’ve got.  I’ve been busy as all Hell this week, so this has become something of an important weekend.  Enjoy it!