Beauty and The Beads

Photo By Craig HlavatyRyan Gosling, current Hollywood it boy and probable Oscar nominee for this years Drive, is here in Austin with director Terence Malick filming scenes for the upcoming feature Lawless. You may remember that at Austin City Limits Festival in September that Christian Bale was also with Malick lensing with Malick for the same picture.

Thats Malick directing his cast and crew with Gosling in the middle of the action. Fans were clamoring for snapshots with Gosling as he was filming, mostly unaware that the cameras were rolling.

Social media jumped on the case, following Gosling along the way at FFFF. There is already a Tumblr account dedicated to him here, Ryan Gosling At Fun Fun Fun Fest, with pics of the actor in various places on the festival grounds. Faith Silva, who has shot some stuff for Rocks Off, managed to snag a pic with Gosling on Friday. No word yet on how dreamy he smelled or if you fall in love with him when his eyes look into yours.

Trying to watch both the Alabama/LSU game as well as the Kansas State/Oklahoma State was a frustrating but worth-while venture on Saturday night.

One game featured the most suffocating and choking defenses two teams could play.The other game featured no defense.

We can all fake it and say that the Alabama/LSU game that ended 9-6 in OT was a defensive beauty, but who are we kidding? It was the lowest scoring game between an AP No. 1 vs. No. 2 since 1946, and it was boring as hell.

Game of the Century? It wasnt even the best game of the day.

The game to watch was Bill Snyder Technical College vs. T. Boone State University. Okie State 52, Kansas State 45 in regulation. Cats had a shot to tie it on the final play from inside the OSU 5 yard line but threw an incomplete pass.

Im not so sure they should not have been watching our game, OSU coach Mike Gundy told ABC immediately after the game.

Hes right. It was by far the more entertaining option.

Look at these stats from the two games:

LSU/Alabama
* LSU 3 of 11 on 3rd downs; Alabama 5 of 13
* Neither LSU nor Alabama had 300 yards of offense
* LSU passed for 86 yards
* Alabama rushed 31 times for 96 yards.
* LSU averaged 3.6 yards per rush.
* There were 12 punts.
* Alabama missed four field goals.

Kansas State/Oklahoma State
* More than 1,000 yards of total offense.
* KSU rushed 51 times for 276 yards
* The Cowboys passed for 502 yards.
* OSU had the ball less than 20 minutes and scored six touchdowns.
* OSU WR Justin Blackmon had 13 receptions for 205 yards and 2 TDs.

When the new poll is released the Cowboys will be No. 2 behind No. 1 LSU. But should these teams meet in the fake national title game, we all know that LSU will win because boring beats fun every single time.

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TAMPA – You think driving your car in reverse is tough, try flying a helicopter backwards. Now thats a sight.

There will be plenty of sights and sounds during the MacDill Airfest.

The free annual event is expected to draw tens of thousands to the base.

Lt. Col. James Zirkel of MacDill AFB is excited about the airfest.  I think its a great opportunity for the people of Tampa and the surrounding communities to get a chance to get on the base. To be close to the men and women of the United States Air Force as well as some of their spectacular equipment we have to take car of the mission, said Zirkel.

There will be vintage aircraft like the WWII era P-51 Mustang, the legendary B-52 bomber and the sleeker looking B-One bomber.
those that want to see the inside of some of the aircraft – can take a peek for themselves.

But the highlight of each day will be the Air Force Thunderbirds.

Maj. Kristin Haley, of the Air Force ThunderbirdsTheyve got an awesome show. They will push that jet to its limits and show the maximum capabilites of the F-16. Its an amazing show and we hope that folks come out and see it this weekend, said Haley.

A special tribute will be aboard the lead Thunderbird jet both days. The name of Army 1st Lt. Dimitri del Castillo was painted on to honor the fallen soldier from Tampa who was killed this past June in Arghanistan.

Its just something that is near and dear to our heart. He was from Tampa; and we are out here representing Americas airmen, and representing those people that are on the front lines of freedom and arent here to represent themselves, said Haley.

Some of the things NOT to bring to the airfest are pets, coolers, alcohol, glass and obviously weapons of any type.

For a more enjoyable airfest, remember to bring:  Sunscreen, chairs, comfortable shoes and ear protection.

NEWPORT BEACH The more the Balboa Fun Zone goes away, the more people want to save it.

Thats how it seemed Saturday when 50 people, mostly teens, rallied to defend what remains of the historic waterfront amusement park, marking one of the most visible preservation efforts in the six years since the property was sold to the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.

The coming launch of Zyngas CastleVille is spurring new debate over whether social games are truly fun.

One side lets call them the Intrinsics says the ceaseless clicking that social games require is ultimately shallow. The opposite camp the Extrinsics says millions of people who play social games every day wouldnt be doing it if they werent having fun.

Whos right? We asked Nicole Lazzaro, a psychologist and an expert on what makes games fun to play. Lazzaro, who has spent years dissecting all manner of bestselling games to discover the essence of fun,  boiled it down to four ingredients.

Put simply, fun games engage players curiosity, allow players to socialize with friends, challenge players to overcome obstacles to achieve goals and somehow relate to peoples lives in a meaningful way. In her opinion, the vast majority of top games have three, if not four, of these elements.

So how do social games, including Zyngas FarmVille, CityVille and soon CastleVille, score on Lazarros fun meter?

On the first factor engaging players social games aced the test.

These games are highly engaging, Lazzaro said. They do this by providing over-the-top rewards.

HOMETOWN USA.: Dubuque, Iowa

Old funicular is quaint, fun and TSA-secure

Even federal inspectors had to chuckle as they poked about the 296-foot-long railway in search of security threats.

The argument is made every single time.If a card looks horrendous on paper, it will probably end up being amazing.

The argument has legs simply because more often than not, its true. Its not always the case (UFC 119, Im looking right at you) but theres just something about those cards that lack star power and are under promoted that brings out the fun of watching fights.

Maybe its the expectations of us, the fans, watching the event. Were so convinced that it will be horrible that even the slightest bit of entertainment seems momentous. We take off our mixed martial arts (MMA) crown and put on our fight cap and enjoy ourselves.

Maybe its the fighters who dont live in a bubble and cant help but realize theyre stuck on a lackluster card. Hoping to be the person to provide the the card was awful but did you happen to check out moment for all the post-fight recaps and discussion, they go all out.

Whatever the reason, UFC 138 was exactly that.

What it lacked in big names it made up for in fireworks.All five fights on the main card ended before the third round and the main event was a fun 10 minute war between winner Mark Muntilde;oz and his opponent Chris Leben.

The fights aired on tape delay several hours later on Spike. Due to the time difference between Birmingham, England and the US, the fights took places from mid- to late-afternoon here in the states.

But I ended up seeing The Crippler on my TV this afternoon. How, you ask? Because Spike was airing a special episode of UFC Unleashed with some of the heavy-handed fighters best bouts.

So the question should be asked: why wasnt UFC 138 aired live?

I can understand the argument that Spike wouldnt be keen on airing a card like tonights live.It was looked at like a card not fit to be numbered alongside great events like UFC 84, UFC 100, and UFC 116. It was a glorified Fight Night headlined by longtime Fight Night headliner Chris Leben. In fact, the only time The Crippler main evented a numbered event was during another jaunt across the Atlantic for UFC 89.

Mark Muntilde;oz had never headlined an event before and the only other big name on the card was that of Thiago Alves who had only won once in the past two years going into his fight with Papy Abedi.

But the channel was airing UFC programming anyway during the time Alves, Leben, and Muntilde;oz was were plying their trade inside the Octagon.Hour upon hour of UFC Unleashed dominated the afternoon programming for the channel leading up to its airing of the Birmingham event.

Why didnt they use three of those airs to air the show live? They would still be able to air it again that night as planned but would also satisfy the hardcore fans that wished to see it as it unfolded. Theres nothing quite like live sports and removing the watch it as it happens quality also removes some of the drama and intrigue.

I believe thats a big reason why Dana White and company have opted to air every single preliminary fight on Facebook.

Another reason a live showing would seem imperative is the college football game between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. For many fans, the national championship wont be decided in January, it was decided tonight in Tuscaloosa. It was a cant miss game and when presented with the prospect of watching either that or a tape delayed UFC with a weak card, its not hard to figure out what choice many 18-49-year old males made.

I know the relationship between the UFC and Spike has soured beyond repair by this point. There was little to no promotion for tonights card while Im pretty sure even my grandmother knows that Cain Velasquez is taking on Junior Dos Santos next week (Nov. 12) on Fox.

It reeks of contractual obligation but the treatment of the show does nothing for either company and only serves to hurt both.

Its 2011. If I want to watch my beloved Red Devils play live from Manchester, I can. If I wanted to check out the 2011 Cricket World Cup finals from all the way in Mumbai live as it happened, it was easily possible. Live sporting events from across the globe are available on any cable or satellite provider and also through several legitimate websites.

The term tape delay is archaic and shouldnt be uttered with the technology we have at our disposal.

MMA fans — some of the most passionate across the sports spectrum — deserve and should demand better.

Dan Yemin, lead singer for Philadelphia-based punk band Paint It Black, climbs into the crowd at Fun Fun Fun Fest on Saturday. Festgoers wore bandanas and other clothing to fight the blowing dust.

ORCHARD PARK ? A few weeks ago, following the Bills soul-cleansing victory over New England that snapped their embarrassing 15-game losing streak to the Patriots, I stopped by the Big Tree Inn down the street from Ralph Wilson Stadium.

It was more than five hours after Rian Lindells 28-yard field goal split the uprights and set off a party the likes of which Bills fans havent seen for quite some time, perhaps all the way back to the day in 1998 when Doug Flutie scampered into the end zone in the dying seconds to beat Jacksonville and launch Flutiemania.

A few of my fellow scribes decided this was as good a night as any to knock back a few celebratory adult beverages. After all, while its far worse for the players to lose 15 games in a row to a division opponent, its not much fun to cover the team that loses 15 games in a row to a division opponent, either.

As we arrived at the still-crowded Big Tree, standing at the bar kibitzing with the patrons was veteran Bills linebacker Chris Kelsay, whos about the last guy I would have expected to find there.

Kelsay is not the party type; hes a devout family man, husband to Natalie and father to daughters Harper and Avery and son Rhett. He was born and raised in Nebraska, dead smack in the middle of Americas heartland, and his idea of a good time is staying home and watching movies with the kids, or performing various acts of charity around the western New York region, usually involving children.

But on this night, a wonderful night to be a Buffalo Bill, Kelsay felt the urge to let loose a little, to be among the people, and to share his glee with others who he knew would appreciate it.

Ive been waiting a long time for this, and it feels great, Kelsay yelled into my ear over the din of the loud music playing in the background. And my response was: I know you have. And so have we.

Kelsay is one of only four players on the current roster who were with the team on opening day 2003, the last time the Bills had beaten Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. He endured every one of those 15 losses, so this was clearly an emotional night for him.

One-run fun

Commentary o First two games of Series have been a fan delight and
a managers nightmare.