In Eckleburg's Eyes - 6/19/2008

I spent my Wednesday night with a wide variety of friends and events.

I received a pleasant surprise when CAL called me to tell me she was in town and wanted to eat at the Silver Spoon Café. I think she is actually more addicted to the restaurant than I am as she loves the Asian Sesame Salad. She had a short day at the office, so after bankrupting a man (she filed the necessary paperwork, not spent all of his money), she came to Knoxville to run some errands at West Town Mall and Sam’s Club.

I had a great time catching up with one of my oldest and dearest friends. She insisted on paying for my meal and admitted her pleasure that I was not especially hungry and only ordered an appetizer. Her honesty is always refreshing.

After eating, I joined JTL, his wife JiL, and MPW at Bearden High School for the final game of that night’s Rocky Top Basketball League. We all wanted to see the marquee match up of Tyler Smith against freshman phenom Scotty Hopson. Many other people must have had the same idea as it was more crowded than even opening night. I am glad I went as it was the best game in the league’s short history. The game went to overtime on an amazing last second three-point basket and was won on an equally impressive last second hoop (from the same player) in overtime. My review is posted under a “View from 315A.”

Despite the great nightcap, the real drama came before we arrived when Tennessee forward Wayne Chism walked out of a game at halftime after being reprimanded for his lack of hustle. No word on whether or not he took his ball with him when he left. I decided only to attend the one game as I knew for my own sanity that I would not be able to stomach more than one game of the obnoxious p.a. announcer.

Afterwards, I met JTH and Mr. X at Mr. X’s home. We watched Strange Wilderness on DVD. It is a Happy Madison production (Adam Sandler’s company). The movie follows Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn)’s attempt to take over a wilderness show after the death of his father, who hosted the show successfully for years. It is certainly not a brilliant film, but it made us laugh often. We especially enjoyed the ridiculous voiceovers during footage of various scenes from nature. For example:

Bears are a proud people, although they're not people per-say. They're animals. Bears derive their name from a football team in Chicago. Bears have been known to attack man, although the fact is that fewer people have been killed by bears than in all of World World I and World War II combined. Brown bears bloves fishing. Brown... Brown bears bloves... God, why am I having so much trouble saying brown...

Though it was exceedingly late, we spent a great deal of time playing Grand Theft Auto IV on the PlayStation 3. We played online, marking the first time I have ever played any game online. There was absolutely no point to this, but it was amusing. Then again, the late hour could have contributed to our amusement.