Well, we’re back. Once again we’re going to try this blog thing. How many times is this? Five? Eight? I’ve lost count.As usual, we’ll mainly be focusing on the Raptors with commentary on a few other things like movies, music, video games, comic books and other nerdy things like Magic and Star Wars thrown in here and there.

Some quick notes to get us back in the swing of things:

Jermaine O’Neal

I’m not a huge Jermaine O’Neal fan, never have been; always thought he was a bit overrated. But I am a fan of this deal. Look, anytime you can trade an injury-prone 5′11″ guard for an injury-prone, 6′11″ forward-center, you have to make that deal. Especially if you’ve already got a replacement for the guard (and he doesn’t want to play backup here) and the forward-center is a former five-time all-star.

Hey, it might not work at all - it’s possible that Chris Bosh and O’Neal may not be able to play together, that O’Neal might get hurt, that Jose Calderon may not be as good a starter as we think, that Andrea Bargnani may continue to stink and that Sam Mitchell won’t be able to figure out how to get the best three-point shooter in the game open for more than 0.7 seconds per game. All these things and more are possible.

But, coming off a disappointing season in which rebounding and defense were the team’s biggest problems, getting Jermaine O’Neal is a risk worth taking. I think as long as he stays healthy, and as long as Mitchell decides on a rotation and doesn’t jerk the 2-3 positions around as much as he did last year, the team should win 45 games and be in the hunt in the middle of the east.

Team USA

First off, at this point, if you think there’s a chance the US won’t win the gold… you’re crazy. Look, like a lot of people, I had doubts about this team coming into the Olympics.

But I watched that first game against China, and there was no doubt after that. Zero. None. It wasn’t just the talent level - the US, even when it wasn’t winning tournaments, was always the most talented and athletic team. No, this time, it was the execution - they made all the right adjustments on defense, they moved the ball well on offense… they ran when the opportunities came, they didn’t force things… basically, they played like a real team. A well-coached team.

And that was the complaint about them the past few tournaments, right, they didn’t play like a team? And all the other countries did? Now that the US is playing together, playing the right way, no other team is close to them. Australia didn’t have a chance, and neither does Spain or Argentina.

I’m also, obviously, pleased with how well Bosh is playing. Especially his effort on defence. With O’Neal beside him, hopefully Bosh won’t take as much of a pounding and be forced to guard the rim as much - he’ll be able to use the quickness he’s showing in Beijing to help the perimeter guys a bit, leaving O’Neal as the last line of defense.

Also, for those that like to debate these things… this team would not beat the original (and one-and-only) Dream Team. That is the greatest basketball team ever assembled. I would say that, if those two teams played 10 times, the current team would MAYBE win one, but the Dream Team would win the other nine. Easily.

XBox 360

My beloved XBox 360 Elite succumbed to the dreaded Red Ring of Death recently. Thankfully, it was still covered by Microsoft’s extended “we’re losing billions on this, but WTF, we got the marketshare” three-year warranty. The service was fairly efficient, the only hiccup being Purolator A) making me drive to the Beaches to pick up my empty box; and B) claiming to have attempted to deliver my replacement this past Monday, even though no one ever rang my door. Whatever, it arrived Tuesday, and I’m back gaming after a month long vacation.

So the question is how to prevent the RRoD from happening again. The most rumoured cause of the RRoD is overheating; my XBox was in my entertainment unit, and although I believed there was enough airflow around it, perhaps there wasn’t. Or there was just enough to keep its lifespan at 14 months. So now I either have to find a new place for it (not easy) or buy a new, more open-concept entertainment unit (not cheap). Or perhaps suspend it on a wire from the ceiling with a fan blowing on it at all times…. Sigh. I’ll have to figure something out this weekend.

As for what I’m playing, well, I still have a few achievements left to capture for Lego Star Wars, and after that, I think I may play some Guitar Hero or Rock Band - I haven’t rocked out in far too long. I do need to pick up Civilization: Revolution at some point, and of course, The Force Unleashed comes out next month…

And for the record, I did not finish Grand Theft Auto IV. I could not beat the last mission. I’m not kidding. Final mission, I got stuck. Damn frustrating.

Music

Saw Counting Crows the other night, my favourite band of course. I am happy to report that even though they are old and haven’t done much of anything lately, they are still great live. The show was a nice acoustic set (although that version of Miami was a little TOO acoustic). Even though it was yet another in their seemingly endless string of co-headlining summer tours at shitty outdoor venues, and Maroon 5 was predictably terrible, I’m glad I went, as it could be the last time I see them; they’ve been so quiet, I wouldn’t be surprised if they quit any day now.

Of course at this point I’d pay just about anything to hear them indoors, at a nice venue, on their own for a full show. Massey Hall, anyone?

The Dark Knight

Dark Knight was not as good as the hype. Was it good? Yes. Was it THAT good? Not even close. Whose idea was it to shoe-horn the Harvey Dent story into this flick? HUGE mistake in not giving his transformation into Two-Face the time it deserves, and making him a secondary character in what should have been the Joker’s movie. The flick should have ended after the hospital confrontation, leaving Dent to descend into madness and take his revenge in the next flick. Mashing it all together did each villain (and Batman, who seemed to barely be on-screen) a disservice, and made the film way too long.

The acting, outside one notable exception, was fantastic. Enough has been said about Heath Ledger, of course, and Aaron Eckhardt made a great Harvey Dent. And would probably have made a good Two-Face, if, you know…

That exception? Maggie Gyllenhall. She’s not a bad actress, but she was practically unwatchable here. Look, can we please just get away from giving Batman a romantic foil? Please. Just take a look at your source material. Give me one good Batman comic with Bruce Wayne in love. Oh, look. There are none. Shocking. Her death may have sent Harvey over the edge, but did the audience really care? An utterly forgettable role

Anyway. It was still an enjoyable film even if it was 40 minutes too long. And obviously, I’m glad it’s doing well as it is; any superhero film making a ton of cash is good news for comic book fans, and a comic film that dark and “grown up” means that perhaps audiences really are ready to take the next step with…

Watchmen

Does it look cool? Hell yeah. Is it going to be good? Probably. Great? No way. Look, Watchmen is the best comic book ever made, but it’s great because it does things no other comic book ever did before, and none have done as well since. None of these things will translate to film. The story itself will translate fine, and the characters - if the acting and writing is any good - should also be solid on screen. Top it off with some nice effects and yeah, it should be a decent flick.

But I can imagine the universal reaction afterwards being, “that was good, but I really don’t see what makes that any better than any other comic book…” because the things that make a great comic book won’t be there: The symmetry in the panels. The subtle unraveling of history that just can’t happen in a two or even three hour film. The depth of the illustrations. The recurring motifs that you only notice after reading it three times. That perfect balance of art and writing.

Look, Citizen Kane is the greatest movie ever made, but you wouldn’t turn Citizen Kane into a comic book and expect it to have the same impact. Take away all the groundbreaking camera work, lighting, acting, innovative flashback structure, and editing - none of which had ever been done before in a movie… and you’re left with a biography of a rich guy.

So if you turn the Citizen Kane of comic books into a movie… removing all the things that make it a great comic… you’re left with a story of how super-heroes ended the cold war…

…

…which, on second thought… actually does sound pretty cool.

Star Wars Revisited

A Star Wars fan? Good. Google “Star Wars Revisited Adywan”. Just do it, just like that. I’ll wait.

…

OK, so now you know that Star Wars Revisited is one person’s masterpiece - a version of Star Wars edited to get rid of all the special edition nonsense, while keeping the good parts of it, and adding in a couple very subtle touches to tie the movie to its prequels. It’s also colour- and sound-corrected from the incredibly flawed 2004 DVD release.

Basically, it’s the greatest version of Star Wars ever made.

Find some way, anyway, to get your hands on it, watch it, and remember why you fell in love with it 30-odd years ago.

And hope you can find some way to “speed up the harvest” so that Adywan finishes up The Empire Strikes Back Revisited soon!

Tags: Chris Bosh, Counting Crows, Dark Knight, Jermaine O'Neal, Raptors, Star Wars Revisited, Team USA, Watchmen, XBox 360