Batson's Blog

Last night the Charlotte Bobcats lost in a pre-season game against the Miami Heat. The game was held at the PNC Arena in Raleigh. Thanks to a drawing at work, I won a ticket to the game. Since it wasn’t held in Charlotte, the Bobcats were taking a a group of season ticket holders to Raleigh by bus so they could see the game. So, for a day, I was a Bobcats V.I.P. The entire experience was a lot of fun. We left Charlotte in the afternoon on two large buses. It was kind of like a field trip from grade school days, except this time we got to eat on the bus! Snacks, soda and a showing of The Hunger Games. Not a bad bus ride at all. Shortly before 5 pm, we arrived at the arena. We were taken through security and then to a private banquet room with a catered buffet. During dinner, Fred Whitfield (President, Chief Operating Officer, and Alternate Governor) and Rod Higgins (President of Basketball Operations) did a Q&A. Some of the fans hammered them pretty good, asking ...

When The Amazing Spider-Man was first released in the early part of July, it wasn't on my list of movies to see in the theatre. I'd just seen The Avengers in May and The Dark Knight Rises , which was on my must-see list, was going to be released just a couple of weeks later. Unfortunately, the new version of Spider-Man was the summer super hero flick that didn't fit into my checkbook. That changed last Tuesday though. I was trying to figure out what to do with my evening. I noticed that Cinemark 10 , in Matthews, was showing The Amazing Spider-Man. I'd never been to Cinemark 10, but it was the cheap theatre, from what I'd heard. I figured watching Spider-Man on the big screen would probably be more fun than watching the DVD on my 20" Vizio television at home. I got to the theatre and it was pretty much deserted. I was literally the only person in the lobby. I purchased my ticket from a machine. It took me a few minutes to get the ticket be...

I’m not the best chef – or baker – or cook. The kitchen appliances I use most are the microwave and the toaster. Even then, my meals can turn out kind of sketchy (if you pour the cheese mix on instant macaroni, you’d better mix it right away or else it chunks up). Pumpkin season is officially here though! That’s one of my favorite parts of Fall. Pumpkin pie was always the tastiest part of Thanksgiving. These days you can get just about anything in the flavor of pumpkin spice. Cappuccino, Hershey’s kisses, muffins. You name it, and you can get it. That’s why I had to get the pumpkin spice flavored Betty Crocker cookie mix. I was at the store to buy milk and eggs, but it was pumpkin spice cookie mix, so I didn’t even bother trying to fight it. In the basket it went. The baking directions weren’t too complicated. All I needed was one egg, some water and a stick of butter. Check, check and check. If only making it was as simple as the ingredients. It started off ea...

I decided to be brave. After the success that I had with Battleship last week, I figured I would check out Taylor Kitsch’s other box office bomb, John Carter . I never saw the film’s previews, but I remember seeing the cover sometime last year and thinking, “It could be good.” I thought John Carter was an odd name though. It seemed like the name of a movie about a piano teacher in a small town in the 1940s, or maybe the main character in a football movie. It just didn’t seem to fit with a movie about action and adventure. According to the description, it’s a film about a soldier who is transported to Mars and becomes embroiled in a clash between different social classes. Whichever group wins this battle could very well end up with the fate of the planet in their hands. It does sound like a storyline you’d find in a B-movie, but with Disney’s budget behind it, at least I didn’t have to worry about the production quality. I actually really like the idea though. A soldie...

Just like I normally do since I gave up cable earlier this year , each Monday night, after Raw is over, I’ll check out Lords of Pain to read the recap. Despite a lackluster product, it’s hard to kill the wrestling fan in me. To my surprise, WWE generated a lot of buzz around last night's Raw, but unfortunately it wasn't the kind of buzz they were probably hoping for. Lots of headlines about CM Punk and an incident with a fan. Mr. Tito published a column saying that punishment should be coming Punk’s way. ‘What the hell happened?!?,’ I wondered. Turns out, as Raw was going off the air, Punk rushed into the crowd, like many heels have done in the past. Vince McMahon, who evidently made a return, was telling Punk who his opponent would be for the upcoming pay-per-view, Hell In A Cell. That’s when the incident with the fan happened. Punk was evidently annoyed by a few of the fans, but the camera cut to Mr. McMahon, who was still in the ring. When it cut back to Pun...

Don’t you just hate those dry periods for movie releases? It seems like it happens a few times a year when there’s no movies you anxiously want to see. That’s how it was the other day when I made a stop by the Redbox . The Avengers DVD came out last week , but I already saw that in the theatres. I spent a few minutes browsing through the selection of movies, but was having trouble finding something. Some of them didn’t even sound that bad, but they were all on the same level, so it was tough making a choice. When you’re in the mood to see a good movie, you don’t want to spend two hours watching something, only to find out that it’s a dud. For lack of better options, I went with Battleship . I heard that it bombed in a big way at the theatres , but I remembered seeing previews and thinking it could be decent. I was surprised to see that Gambit was in the movie. I didn’t know the actor’s name, so I Googled him. Turns out his name is Taylor Kitsch – a Canadian model-t...