Kris Carlson's Weblog

SoBe and South East Florida

I filed this under Health, Mental Health that is.  I just finished watching the Miami Vice movie with Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx, on video.  I saw it in the theater when it first came out, as well.  I don't think it's that good of a movie, but I love anything South Florida.  I lived in Miami for 7 years.  The scene that most brought back memories for me was the scene at the end of the movie when Sonny sends off Isabella.  The scene is set in the morning, just before sunrise.  The air is so rich at that time of day; and especially in The Keys near the water where the scene is filmed.  And the safe house they use in that scene, like the one from the original Miami Vice series, are so cool.  Now they're very expensive.

So I'm inspired to get my ass back there for good.  I'm in Michigan right now, and growing ever weary of the snow as the years increase.  The summers in Michigan are nice, but the Winters suck.  I would like to have a lake house in Michigan or Wisconsin for the summer, and my primary residence in South East Florida near Miami.  And if I have enough money, right smack in the heart of Miami.

I'll have to make a small fortune in the next couple of years.  I'm going to watch something on TV or watch an episode of Miami Vice or read something in a magazine or on the web about South Florida every day to keep me inspired.  I've grown complacent.  The last time I was there I vowed I would never leave, but here I am.  I let another person get inside my head and then I lost site of my goals.  So tonight I am rededicating myself to returning to South Florida permanently.  Every day I will review my goals and determine if I have made progress toward reaching them in a reasonable time.  Every day I will do something that brings me closer to a permanent move to Miami, and in style too, no bullshit.  Every day I will remind myself how, and under what circumstances I lost sight of my dream to take permanent residence in the Miami - South Florida area.  How I let someone get inside my head when I was living there.  Every single day!   

Yes, I'm angry.  I lived there for 7 years.  I loved it most of the time.  It's not perfect, like anywhere else.  But the weather is kick ass, in my opinion; and I like the latin flare.  When the occational hurricane threatens I can go to my lake house in Wisconsin or my Ranch in Montana.   So I'm going to make some obscene amount of money and be prepared for my move to SoBe when that day arrives.

StockPickr.com

I just watched a video (from 1/9/2007) of Jim Cramer and James Altucher discuss the website StockPickr.com. This video kind of confused me with the terminology they used as they talked. But I really liked their enthusiasm about the site. They compared it to Wikipedia, which gives some initial insight into how the site is structured. I did look at this site a couple weeks ago and thought it was pretty good.

Ahh, Cramer: Annotated Portfolio Guide, The Canon, Annotated Guide to the Stock Market. I was listening to it again as I typed. Botom line is that the site deserves some more investigation.

Review, review and review

Review, review and review some more, that's what my best teachers used to tell me in school. The reason I say they were the best is because I just remembered how important it is to review things. For example, your lecture notes and material you have already covered; and not just once or twice, but several times until the information becomes burned into your memory.

I mention this because I just read over some of my posts and said to myself, "you can write better than that." I know that because I have done better than that in the past. What it takes is practice, an effort to improve, and lots of review to help determine progress and improvement. OK, so I should be writing better than I have been.

What's kind of wierd is that it's 4:40 AM and I am sitting here typing and thinking about this stuff. I should be in bed sleeping. I'm going to bed.

I Eat My Crow Warm, Thank You

Well, Michigan lost the 2007 Rose Bowl. Or should I say USC won. Congratulations USC, you played very well today. You shut down Michigan's offense and you scored well against a very good defense.

From what I saw, it looked to me like 2 things were happening during that game. I didn't watch the first quarter, but I heard it was pretty good defensively. But I did watch the second quarter; and USC did play very well offensively. So firstly, USC played well all around, both defensively and offensively. John David Booty and Dwayne Garrett were on today. USC's passing game was great. Secondly, Michigan did not look good at all. They did not play the way they had played all season long. Chad Henne had a hard time completing passes and Mike Hart couldn't get any good runs. I noticed on a couple plays that the defensive ends were not going for the ball. Man, if you want to make interceptions and disrupt the wide receiver, you have to go for the ball and not the man. Also, Michigan was not blitzing enough. I think they were too afraid of Booty's passing success. Michigan did not play well today.

What is it about the Rose Bowl for Michigan? I remember when Bo used to go out there and lose. I couldn't understand why they seemed to play differently out there.

The sports casters were making a lot of comments about how Lloyd Carr's job was in jeopardy. Before this year I had been saying that Michigan needed to get ride of Lloyd Carr. But I can say this today: this loss in Pasadena is not Lloyd Carr's fault. There's a bad spirit out there for Michigan. Neither was their loss in Columbus Lloyd's fault. Ohio State is very good, Michigan played well, and OSU cheated by soaking the field and then practicing on it that way; and then they replaced the sod so the general public wouldn't know what they had done.

Now that Michigan has new defensive and offensive coordinators, they are playing better than ever. I've said for years that Michigan has some of the best players in the country, but they were poorly coached. Even under Bo, they just didn't seem to be able to put it together and play west coast style football, like we saw today: lots of passing. Lloyd Carr is a nice enough guy, but he is not charismatic enough to be the Championship coach. Guys like Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel has charisma; and that is what The University of Michigan needs to be a National Championship team.

Therefore, just because Michigan had a good season doesn't mean they should keep Lloyd Carr. Also, just because Michigan's season ended with 2 losses: one against arch rival OSU and then in the bowl game, doesn't mean Lloyd Carr should be replaced. He should be replaced because he lacks the necessary ingredients to be the coach that leads Michigan to consistent championships, in my opinion.

2007 Rose Bowl Prediction

Now that it's game day for Michigan, the rambling about why Florida leapfrogged Michigan for the #2 ranking and a shot at the National Championship. The BCS got it wrong this time; and the Coaches Poll screwed up. They say they didn't vote for Florida because the didn't want to see Michigan and Ohio State play again but that's just a lie. I just watched some of the pre-game show for the Rose Bowl and couldn't help but get upset by the comment that Craig Jones made regarding his vote for #2. He really didn't give a reason, except the "tough SEC schedule". Then Doug Flutie, my man, made things crystal clear: the Big Ten is spanking the SEC in the bowl games today.

OK, so here's my prediction. Michigan 58, USC 17. Nighty night USC and screw you Coaches Poll.