Paparazzo attacks Mike Tyson at LAX…Photographer gets KO’ed

You have to be pretty bold to take his tiger, or his picture

Just like in the movie, The Hangover,  it’s good to see that Mike still has it.

Eventually, people will get it in their head to leave this man alone.  Just because you are famous doesn’t mean that you can violate someone’s privacy.

LOS ANGELES — A scuffle erupted between Mike Tyson and a freelance photographer at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday, and both men were booked and released on suspicion of misdemeanor battery, police said.

The former heavyweight boxing champion and photographer Tony Echevarria, 50, both want to press charges of misdemeanor battery against each other, police said.

Mike Tyson was detained at LAX after an alleged altercation with a photographer.

Echevarria told police that Tyson struck him once, airport police spokesman Sgt. Jim Holcomb said. The photographer fell to the ground and was treated for a cut to his forehead at a hospital.

I wonder if it looked like any of these….

Tyson’s spokeswoman Tammy Brook said the boxer was passing through Los Angeles on his way from Europe to Las Vegas with his wife and 10-month-old child when he was attacked by an overly aggressive paparazzo. The 43-year-old acted in self-defense to protect his child, she said.

“There’s a lot of different versions to this story and that’s all going to come out later,” Holcomb said. “Some witness statements support Tyson’s version, others support the photographer’s.”

Paparazzi often camp out at Los Angeles’ largest airport to get shots of celebrities in transit.

“I’ve heard people were following him into the men’s room and trying to take his picture there,” said Tyson’s defense attorney, David Chesnoff. “My advice to him is going to be to vigorously press charges against what everyone agrees are ridiculously aggressive photographers.”

When you get out of pocket like that, then you should except consequences and repercussions for your actions.  Look how aggressive they are with Amy Winehouse and how they chase her around…

Tyson was cooperative as he waited in a holding cell at the airport police station, Holcomb said. Echevarria was booked and released after he was treated at a hospital, police said.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever in 1986 when he won his title as a 20-year-old. But his life since then has been marred by accusations of domestic violence, rape and cocaine use.

Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and served three years in prison. He was disqualified from a 1997 heavyweight title fight when he bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s right ear, and in 1999 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland.

In 2003, Tyson filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. He served 24 hours in an Arizona jail in 2007 after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Now, Mike has made a ton of mistakes.  We all make mistakes, maybe not a gory as biting someone in the ear, but we make them.  He deserves to just live his life, like everyone else.

Patrick Swayze is truly Dancing with the Stars…Rest in Peace. My TOP Patrick Swayze flicks you have to see

"You can bet that I'm going through hell," ... "And I've only seen the beginning of it..." Words of a tough dude...

You fought long and hard. People celebrate you for your role in Dirty Dancing, but it’s the movies that others won’t mention that are my favorites. The Buffalo News in the blog section talks about his passing.

Patrick Swayze has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, dying Monday with his family at his side. Battling the disease for 20 months, Swayze continued to work on his A&E show The Beast despite he grim prognosis. His Hollywood peers have begun to react. Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey reacted saying, “When I think of him, I think of being in his arms when we were kids, dancing, practicing the lift in the freezing lake, having a blast doing this tiny little movie we thought no one would ever see. … Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace.” Other co-stars, including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell reacted as well.

I definitely saw Dirty Dancing when it came out, but the other movies are ones that when they are on, they can get me caught up for 20-30 minutes easy.  So, to remember Patrick Swayze, I am going countdown my favorites.

1. Red Dawn

"WOLVERINES!!!!!"

The fight for America was serious business.  Governments spent their time attempting to scare us into thinking that the Cold War was going to kill us all.  This movie told us even if the Soviets were to invade, that we would still be able to persevere.

2) Roadhouse

Your place, or in my truck?

This movie was clearly underrated…Everyone knows someone to call when you have a problem.  In this case, Swayze is the ultimate bar consultant.  He will turn your spot into a mecca of rednecks and hot women…Plus, dude drops base in the movie and gets stitched up without meds…

Reuters goes in on the movie and SpikeTV shows why it’s the network for guys…

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Spike TV will celebrate the
work of the late  Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze in one of his
 cult-classic roles in the film "Road House" this Saturday,
September 19  (10:00 PM - 12:30 AM, ET/PT). 

This  special movie telecast will also include a special
tribute to the Golden Globe-nominated(R) actor who died
yesterday at age 57 due to pancreatic cancer.  

The 1989 action film "Road House" stars Patrick Swayze as
"Dalton," a bouncer with a philosophical side, who takes
 on the chore of cleaning up a rowdy Missouri honky-tonk
and runs into trouble with  a local corrupt businessman.
The  film also stars Ben Gazzara, Sam Elliott and Kelly Lynch. 

Spike's telecast of "Road House" will include a short  tribute
to the actor. Spike.com will feature its own tribute where
fans can post their own  messages or favorite Swayze movie
 moments at spike.com.

3) Next of Kin

Everyone should have someone that has their back when they get into trouble...especially a redneck with guns

Blood is thicker than water.

4) The Outsiders.

The break a bunch of stars needed to become part of the American Lexicon

Loved the S.E. Hinton book and the movie adaptation was right on.

May you continue to get A-list roles in the afterlife….

E’s song of the day

I watched the movie I Love You, Man a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was pretty freaking good.  I recommended it to one of my best friends and he hit me up spitting out all of these funny quotes from the film.  apart from it being pretty darned funny, there was some decent music in it as well.  I was happy to hear them use multiple tracks from “Vampire Weekend” – a group who i’ve already big-upped on this blog for having, what I think, one of the best albums of 2008.  Since I’ve already introduced you to that NYC rock crew, I thought I’d pick another jam from the film.  Today’s song: Matt Costa – Mr. Pitiful.  Enjoy….

E’s song of the day

Our boy Ronin recommended I see the movie In Bruges, so I’ve been watching it (really good film so far, I recommend it), and just heard a song from this female singer/song-writer whom I’ve had on my queue for a song of the day appearance for some time now.  Given the fortuitous timing of her music in the movie (just as I was pondering what song to drop on you today) it seems fitting that she finally make an appearance on this segment.  I got into her quirky singing style and smooth piano accompaniment about two years ago, and I was very excited to grab the new release of her latest album about a month ago.  It was difficult picking just one song today, but I keep telling myself that I’ll hit you off with another of her works later, so just one will have to do to whet your musical appetite for the time being.  Today’s jam: Regina Spektor – On the Radio.  Enjoy….(sorry no video.  I found a decent one of her performing this jam live, but I prefer the album version).

Regina Spektor – On the Radio

E’s song of the day

I’m back on the grind today (despite not actually being informed about that until 45 minutes before I was supposed to be out in Livermore; I need a new job desperately).  I’ve had this song stuck in my head for a couple of days now.  It is one of the feature songs in the movie “Hamlet 2.”  Once again, I don’t really recommend this film, although, in retrospect, the last 15-20 minutes are actually pretty good (shockingly, it’s those last 15 minutes that feature both today’s and yesterdays’ song of the day).  Either way, when they actually get to performing Hamlet 2 they bring in the Tucson Gay Men’s Chorus (actually the Ralph Sall Experience) to sing in the background during the final scenes of the play.  Their rendition of today’s jam is awesome.  I wish I could have found it, but my foray into the world wide web proved fruitless.  You’ll have to “settle” for the original.  Today’s jam: Elton John – Someone saved my life last night.  Enjoy….

E’s song of the day

I was watching this horrible movie last night called “Hamlet 2.”  I repeat: it was horrible.  Do not watch this movie.  I’s a comedy, but I’m pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of times I found myself laughing during this 90 minute yawn-fest.  It did, however, have some pretty decent music.  I’ve picked this fun 80’s rock/pop jam for you today.  Today’s jam: ABC – The Look of Love.  Enjoy….

E’s song of the day

I watched this amazng movie today that I randomly downloaded last night.  It stars Zooey Deschanel and Paul Dano (the kid from “there will be blood”) along with supportng roles by John Goodma and Ed Asner (among others).  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because I hadn’t seen any previews for it nor had I read any reviews.  I was, however, VERY pleasantly surprised.  Seriously, I strongly recommend this move.  It is a bit strange and some portions of the plot seem a little  random, but it was just really my kind of film.  Ithink I may be in love with Zooey Deschanel.  Either that or something appeals to me about the kind of character she usually portrays.  This film is fnnny, sad, srange, quirky and intelligent – just my kind of flick.  The movie opens with this dope hip hop beat, which I thought I might share with you.  Today’s jam: Masta Killa – Brooklyn King.  Enjoy….

The Way Of Christopher McQuarrie

Way Of The Gun is a favorite with the the TooOld Crew. A few excellent scenes that are on my top 250 list. But as an altogether the movie it  just lags despite a  great performance by Jimmy Caan. Take a look at the best opening scene ever…

As well as one of the best shootouts ever. Done in a slow pace I’ve never seen before nor since. Turns out the brother of the director is  an ex-Navy Seal and helped out a bit. Take a look…

So I decided to do some research. Del Toro, Phillippe, Caan, Diggs and Mcquarrie. Yes McQuarrie, Christopher. You might remember him from The Usual Suspects and well…that’s about it. B/c to date The Way Of The Gun is the only film he has ever directed. Wrote a few screenplays X-Men, Valkyrie, and TWOTG.  I couldn’t believe this was true. Was Way Of The Gun soooo bad? No one else wanted to give this guy a chance? If this is true Hollywood needs to take real good look inside.

Turns out it is true. Well a little. CM had a bit liitle to do with never directing again.

After winning an Academy Award for The Usual Suspects, Christopher McQuarrie assumed that he would have no problem making his next movie “and then you slowly start to realize no one in Hollywood is interested in making your film, they’re interested in making their films”.^[2] He spent years as a script doctor while trying to get financing for an epic biopic of Alexander the Great for Warner Brothers before finally realizing that he “had to make a film with some commercial success to be taken seriously”.

With that mindset like that you may not last long in Hollywood. Basically you go with the flow and kiss ass to get by in Hollywood. Very few buck the trend. I guess CM didn’t want to play hard-ball Hollywood style. That is admirable but it doesn’t put food on the table so I can not and cannot endorse. So I dug deeper.

Valkyrie Premiere Mcquarrie, Singer, and some alien freak

McQuarrie was born and raised in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, where he attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South with director Bryan Singer and actor Ethan Hawke.^[1] In lieu of college he took a job working as an assistant teacher at a boarding school in Perth, Western Australia, and later hitchhiked around the western half of the continent. Returning to the United States a year later, he went to work for a detective agency in New Jersey for the next four years. In 1992, he applied to the New York City Police Department and was on his way to the academy when former schoolmate Singer offered him the opportunity to write their first feature film, Public Access, winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival’s grand jury prize.

Bryan Singer? You know Singer from, guess where, X-Men, Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, basically see CM’s resume. Starting to make sense now. CM has talent as a screenwriter. But Singer is the talent behind the lens. Not to say CM can’t direct but I imagine the good parts of TWOTG were a Singer/McQuarrie collab and  the bad parts of TWOTG was all CM. That’s not to say CM is no good but only to say he just needs more time directing.  Chistopher, we here at TooOld believe you have what it takes to be a big time director. So play the Hollywood game, grab a script and get back behind the camera. Can’t wait.

Reno 911

You might be thinking that I am going to talk about the show.

Well, you would be wrong.  We went to Reno because we had an emergency all caused by the movie, The Hangover.  Run, don’t walk to see this movie, especially since it motivated us to get in the car after viewing and drive to Reno, since Vegas was a little to far to do with E having to work the next day. Ronin was unable to get off work, so he could not join us.

Who has not been here? If you have not, then you have not had enough alcohol...

The Reno portion of the trip was a good time had by all.  Since it was a quick trip, not a lot happened, but let’s break it down.

1) Reno road construction.  This sucked and caused us to lose a lot of time on the road.  Up near Truckee, there is a lot of road construction that forces the lines to merge into one lane.  The signs are not well designed, so you might miss them, especially since they are on the left hand side of the road.  This is why it pays to read this blog, or other blogs, like this one on Road Construction

Our main route over the Sierra Nevada, Interstate 80, is currently undergoing major work in several places between the Nevada state line and Colfax, CA. I just drove that stretch at night and it was not fun. In many places, work is going on 24/7, giving motorists no relief from delays and detours. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has set up a website specifically for these projects called GetAcross80.com. It’s a real good idea to have a look before leaving Reno on westbound I80. Truckers are especially advised to check this site for extra restrictions applying to big rigs.

The website is extremely helpful, and I didn’t find out about it until we were driving past an Amber Alert sign with the info.

2) Mid Week Gambling

Some of the best times to play poker.  The only advice that I would have for tournament players is to call the poker rooms early and find out if they are having their tournament.  You cannot count on the information that you find online or in pokerplayer or cardplayer magazine.  Love the publications, but the places are somewhat shady.  I went here first for the 7 o’clock tournament, only to find out that they were not going to have it today. 

Since we got into town about 615pm, that meant that all the other 6pm tournaments would be a non starter.  So, we went to SONIC for some food

We had accommodations here at the Atlantis

What the picture doesn't show is that the black marble is where there is a whirlpool tub, and there is a sitting room with a full sized bar and TV. The one thing is that they need to step their TV game up. It was a few 25 inch TV's.

3) Food in Reno: Sonic is a place that they REALLY need to have in the Bay Area.  I wonder what the franchising fees are for a SONIC, because most people that I know that have tried SONIC, would eat it here in the Bay if they had it.  So, this was a win, while we waited to play some cards some where.

4) Which led us to my favorite dive gambling spot, the Cal-Neva.

They had a 10pm small single table tournament that we played for fun.  The people there were among some of the worst players that I have seen sit down at a table and talk about poker ever.  They talked like thy had played a lot, but they were the loosest calling and raising stations I have ever seen.   One woman routinely played second and third pair to the river and sounded shocked every time you lost.  I can still hear her say, ” Oh you have that Ace again? Darn…” as she would fold her hand into the muck.  So, E and I must have crushed it out, right? Of course not. I finished fifth and E finished third.  The first hand, I got all my chips in with pocket aces preflop.  The guy who finished second called me with King Ten offsuit.  It was a sign of things to come.  I won that hand, but lost plenty others to random trash.  By the end of the rebuys, I was finally eliminated with pocket Kings preflop against Queen ten, and he hit a straight to finish me.  The people who finished 3,4, and 5 were the best players at the table.  Yet, we went home with nothing.  The other funny thing that happened was that the guy who won suggested a chop that would include third place getting their money back.  At first, the guy who finished second (who was the chip leader by a lot) agreed, and then he was like forget it.  E almost finished in the money attempting to hang on through big blinds hitting.  At one point they were all in with the D-bag who didn’t want the split and the eventual winner (lets call him Rube) showing down pre-flop and it was a monster hand for Rube that D-Bag chased him down and got him on the river to win the hand.  The next hand E had to go all in and was finished.

Too bad that it isnt like this artists redering...

5) Drunk Bowling.  It’s 12:30 am and too early to go back to the suite and not drunk enough for the strip club, we decide to go bowling, since there is an alley right on Virginia St, going back to the hotel.  Of course, they are closed, so we head out to the Grand Sierra to go bowling

We get two games of bowling in, where I bowl a 70 and then a 108 versus Erik who bowls a 135 and then a 138.  During this, we have a glass, then a pitcher of beer.  Around 2am, I tell Erik, that I am ready to go, since I am going to play in a few hours at Harrah’s and their morning poker tournament.  This is a tournament that has a place in my heart, since I have been playing there since 2005 and won a few tournaments there.  Erik decides that he needs one more drink for the road.  We stop at a bar in the Grand Sierra to get him a drink.  I am standing behind Erik, since I am not going to get anything to drink.  While I am waiting, this older black gentleman turns to me and says,

” Could you not stand behind me?  I have been stabbed in the back before.”

Now, I wasn’t standing behind him, but what do you say to that?  I just nodded and took another exaggerated step away from him and past Erik.  After a minute or so, he turns and apologizes to me.  I offer to buy him a drink and he will not hear of it and buys me a drink.

6) Harrah’s Tournaments for Poker.

Still have my 05 WSOP Harrah's shirt

You should play here.  I am going to play here for sure the next time that I am in town.  Two dealers in the tournament remembered who I was.  the crazy thing about that is that I have not been to Reno in at least a year to play cards.  But, they knew things about me that made me know that they remembered.  They knew/remembered where I lived and what my profession was.  One remembered my name, the other didn’t, but impressive nonetheless.

Trying to wake Erik up for this tournament was pointless, so I went and played by myself.  The tournament is fun, the dealers get out a lot of hands per level and the competition was decent.  I finished 5th again, and it paid out to four places.

Another reason to play is that they have satellite tournaments for WSOP seats.  Unfortunately for me, they were starting on the day that I left for home, continuing all this weekend.  They had a 33 dollar tournament, with the top two or three getting entry into the weekend 330 dollar tournament, with the top prize being a 10k seat at the main event.

7) Drive Home

Our third party member, Sandra drove us home.  I got to doze a little while she navagated us home safely.  All in all, it was a great use of 24 hours.  Plus, go see the movie.  Mike Tyson is great for his minimal screen time (5< minutes)

Inglourious Basterds shocks and rocks at the Cannes Film Festival

Quentin Tarantino has a vision.  While its true that everyone might not see the vision, he remains faithful to his creative side.  Even when that means that the flick is totally going to suck like…

Well, he is back and his latest vision has people recognizing…

Quentin Tarantino has turned the Festival Palais in Cannes into his very own “Cinema Paradiso”, daringly celebrating cinema’s ability to rewrite one of the most painful chapters in history. The title of his Second World War fantasy is inspired by Enzo Castellari’s little-watched 1978 film, Inglorious Bastards. The deliberate mispelling of Tarantino’s title is a mystery, but perhaps a tortured reference to the glorious clash of real and fictitious characters in the movie.

According to the Times article, the inspiration for the movie is a foreign film.  The urge just strikes and you are able to capture lightning in a bottle.

Quel maledetto treno blindato (literally translated as That damned armored train and released as Inglorious Bastards in the USA) is a 1978 Italian war movie directed by Enzo G. Castellari, written by Sandro Continenza, Sergio Grieco, Franco Marotta, Romano Migliorini, & Laura Toscano, and starring Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Michael Pergolani, and Jackie Basehart. It was released in 1977. The film score was written by Francesco De Masi.

Set in Europe during World War II, a group of American soldiers are in the process of being shipped off to military prison for a variety of infractions, ranging from desertion to murder. While they’re being transported, a German air attack hits the convoy, killing most of the MPs and enabling five of the prisoners to escape.

The group decides their best bet is to head to neutral Switzerland, where they can avoid the fighting and prison. As they make their way to what they think will be freedom, they end up volunteering for a commando mission to steal the new prototype gyroscope for the Nazi V2 with help of the French Underground. Somehow the team must sneak onto the most heavily guarded train in German territory, steal the Nazis’ most precious military hardware, and bring it back to the Allies without getting arrested again by their own side.

Plus, it has my man Fred “The Hammer” Williamson in this, so you know that the action scenes are on point. Finally, the man was a Raider, so Oakland Stand Up!

(Where is King Cobra Way in Oakland?  Some would say it’s 35th Ave…) back to QT and Basterds…

Tarantino’s film, which jumps like a needle on a scratchy vinyl record between three different languages — sometimes in mid-conversation — bears scant resemblance to Castellari’s Italian original. Here, a small group of blood-thirsty Jewish mercenaries from America, led by Brad Pitt’s red-neck, half-Apache Indian leader, land in France with the mission to put the fear of God into the Nazis. The director deploys his unrivalled army of B-movie tricks to light the way.

The first Bastards was like a Dirty Dozen remake and the second Basterds is a Tom Cruise Valkyrie “Get at the Nazis” type of movie.

The film starts off like a spaghetti western and then accelerates into an old-fashioned war-time thriller, complete with a sumptuous plot to blow a local cinema in Paris to smithereens — and with it most of Germany’s top military brass. Bullets and blood are never far from the screen. They never are in most Tarantino films, but the bursts of action — including lengthy scenes of slaughter on mocked-up newsreel — are deliberately grinding.

You had me at hello…for cinema fans, here is a little of what I see as inspiration for the movie