Beneath The Outer Shell

my brother is a genius.  he predicts everything and most of the time, he's correct.  not only does he predict the ending to a movie, but he does so quite early in the movie.  yes, earlier than you and i.  his claim to fame in my book is when he predicted the story and ending to Shutter Island after just seeing the trailer!  it was the first time we had seen a preview for Shutter Island and he already had it figured out.  he does this all the time.  it's amazing.

now i have jumped on board with bold predictions of my own.  aside from predicting Miami would beat Oklahoma in the NBA Finals last year (i predicted it during the preseason), i tried my best to one-up my brother.  and i think i may have matched him.  after seeing Inglorious Basterds, my brother and i asked ourselves what type of movie will Tarantino do next?  i quickly predicted Tarantino's next movie would be a western.  not that big of a deal if you look at what Tarantino does...he puts his mark on different film genres.  aside from sci-fi and film noire, they're aren't that many genres Tarantino hasn't attempted.  well, Tarantino is about to release his next movie on Christmas Day...it's a "western", that takes place in the south...so he's technically calling it a "southern".  but hey, i was correct.  my brother was impressed.  score.

now my brother is back with some very interesting predictions about the next James Bond film, Skyfall.  a quick background story here - starting when i was in elementary school, our father got us interested in James Bond, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The French Connection, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock, and much more.  plus, on another note, the only music my parents listened to were The Beatles.  i couldn't have chosen a better set of influences.  as a result my brother and i know every James Bond movie backwards and forwards...my brother even knows who sings each theme song (WTF?) now my brother doesn't search the net for spoilers, plot details, or basic information about a film he hasn't seen.  based on the trailer for Skyfall, my brother has predicted that M will be outed as James Bond's mother and that Bond's father will be revealed as well (possibly related to Javier Bardem's character).  talk about a ballsy prediction...but it would make sense.  Bond is said to be an orphan and the film series sure could use some more background information on the lead character.

i already told him that if he's correct...i'll vomit on him...then congratulate him appropriately.

when i was a kid, for years my brother would joke to me about my favorite baseball player. a man with arms the size of my waist...a man by the name of Jose Canseco.

"he's on steroids! just look at him!" my brother said, so sure of his direct accusations. me, sitting there getting angry, trying to defend my top baseball role model, had nothing else do but exclaim back with a vengeance, "no he isn't...shut up!"

well, as it turned out he was right. just how did he know? think about it...this was back in the late 1980's. WAY before the internet, and WAY before ANY kind of hint of steroid use in the sport of baseball. my brother amazes me sometimes with the things he knows, or thinks he knows. most of the time, he's right. looking back, i guess it wasn't rocket science. the man clearly looked juiced.

today, we have a myriad of professional sport athletes breaking long lasting records on a regular basis. i'm talking about EVERY sport...from Cycling, to Soccer, to Basketball, to Tennis, to Hockey, to Badminton, to Football, to Wiffleball, to Ping Pong.

face it...there is a very wide use of steroids in EVERY sport on the planet. for some, this may be a hard pill to swallow, no pun intended. i have been trying to come to terms with the fact that there is a high likelihood my favorite players and favorites teams are involved somewhat in the current steroid scandal.

i mean, who wants to admit that their favorite player may feel the need to take drugs, that make their genitals smaller, just in order to compete. it's a sad sad realization..but if you think that your favorite player, sport, or team cannot be involved...think again.

today, Jose Canseco even said on a daytime talk show that Alex Rodriquez is "not who he says he is". i don't like A-Rod, but the man has been an avid spokesman against steroid use in baseball. Canseco has NOTHING to gain from lying, and yes...he has nothing to lose either...but why wouldn't A-Rod be taking steroids? people call him the best player in the world, even though baseball is mainly an American fascination.

remember Lance Armstrong failed at least one drug test. it's all the same with these guys...they all say one of 3 things in retaliation: 1) "i have never used steroids!", or 2) "the test was wrong!", and my personal favorite, 3) "i was set up!".

RIGHT!

i have lost ALL respect for EVERY professional athlete. now i'm a HUGE Boston Celtics fan, and this year...quite frankly, they are kicking ass in the NBA. this comes after an off season where an NBA referee was found guilty of gambling, cheating, and fixing the scores of NBA games he officiated. nice. ya know, my brother also always told me that the NBA referees were being paid off. bingo. man, you've really gotta hand it to my brother. he just KNOWS. uhh, Sylvia Browne who???

my point is...i don't know who to trust anymore. i'm still gonna watch the games and pay attention to every sport, out of habit. but nothing surprises me anymore regarding people who make millions of dollars. they are ALL scum. they ALL make too much money for very little "work". this also goes for actors and politicians too.

so, if you think that your favorite player or favorite team isn't involved or is NO WAY associated with unfair practices. think again. no one's perfect.