Batson's Blog

Lotus is Christina Aguilera’s best album to date. Granted, I never listened to a complete Christina Aguilera album before. In fact, just about the only songs of hers I’ve heard in their entirety are the singles she’s had on the radio. The past few years that hasn’t been too many. Christina can sing. I’ll give her that. My problem with her has always been that she adds too many unneeded “aahhhs” in most of her performances. She always likes to showcase her vocal abilities by adding extra syllables in places where they don't belong. Sometimes simpler is better. She always rubbed me the wrong way too. Christina seemed conceited – someone you wouldn’t want to hang out with unless you absolutely had to. Kind of like those girls at school who thought they were too awesome to associate with anyone. On Lotus Christina seems more mature and more comfortable with herself. She seems less worried about everyone thinking she’s the best. As a result, all of her tracks have...

Disney announced a few weeks back, after buying Lucasfilm Ltd. from George Lucas , that there are plans to release new Star Wars movies and Indiana Jones films. The earliest could apparently come in the form of Star Wars VII in 2015. I’m sure hardcore fans will turn out for that film. I may even be one of them. However, I think it’s a bad call. Sometimes it’s best to just leave an untarnished legacy alone (well, mostly untarnished – let’s not forget Jar Jar Binks ). The film would need the original actors and an innovative new story line to truly live up to the original trilogy. Even with the original actors, what can be done? The actors themselves are all old. Is Harrison Ford really capable of providing an awesome action sequence with a light saber at his age? Does anyone want to see Carrie Fisher in a metal bikini anymore? Meanwhile, after Indiana Jones 4 atomic-ly bombed (who can forget that horrible refrigerator scene ?), they still feel a need to revisit that fr...

All I knew about Prometheus was that it was some kind of space adventure movie – most likely involving alien life forms of some kind. I didn’t know, until the last scene, that it was a prequel, of sorts, to the Alien movies. Maybe if I’d known that ahead of time I would have enjoyed Prometheus better than I did. Or, maybe not. I’d put a spoiler alert here, but there’s really nothing worth spoiling, so I won’t bother. It peaked my interest at the start, when an albino human-like being is shown next to a large waterfall. While a ship seems to be taking off into the atmosphere, he takes a sip of something out of a canister and it changes his molecular structure. He falls into the waterfall and then decomposes in the water. All right, so who’s the guy? What did he drink? Why did he decompose? I’m interested in finding out what happened. We go to a scene in Ireland, as two scientists find a cave marking – the same as what are apparently in several other places on Eart...

It’s been a while since I’ve been in the blogosphere. That’s because I’ve been busy watching the greatest sitcom since Seinfeld . I’m talking about The Big Bang Theory . Yes, I’m just realizing the awesomeness that is Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Wallowitz, and Penny (knock-knock, Penny, knock-knock, Penny). I’m usually a few years behind when it comes to TV shows. When a show hits syndication and starts airing on TBS, FX or some other cable channel is when I start watching it. With the exception of Lost, I’ve never really watched a television show as it was airing. It was always too much work to remember to watch it each week. Being able to set recordings on VCRs and DVRs made it easier, but, even then, I’d forget to set the VCR or my DVR would be too full to record. Anyway, I got The Big Bang Theory on DVD. Several people were telling me what a good show it was, so I decided it was time to catch up to speed. I caught up through the fourth season and now I’m thoroughly add...

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...