I'm sorry, but as happy as I am about the Reds doing well, I just can't see it keep up. I feel like I'm watching the stock market bubble, and now everyone is going to start talking about the Reds. But this in an AP article cannot be ignored:

"The bench is extremely thin and the bullpen is in transition, byproducts of their small payroll and their trading spree. The Reds rank near the bottom of the league in hitting and pitching, and in the bottom half in defense."

They've gotten very lucky, and they'll probably collapse in June, as they've done before. In 2000 they were in first place until they got swept by the White Sox in the second week in June. They did have something of a good start in 2001, their worst year in decades, at 15-10. In 2002, at one point they were 31-21, and in first place I believe, and only won 78 games. Only last year of the last six (including this year) did they not have a hot start. The question is, can it be 1999 again? I just don't think so with those stats. The Reds have always been a lucky team, but that only takes you so far. And, soon enough, the Front Office or the coaches will make mistakes that kill. I won't think too much of this until it's August. One winning streak does not a playoff team make.

TROY: Basic Hollywood summer claptrap, but since I haven't seen to many Hollywood films lately, I actually enjoyed it. It's fun to see the director pander to silly levels, melodramatic obvious scenes, the silly plotholes, the bad acting. All to make people want to go and have that big summer movie experience. I do wish it were a bit shorter, though. (And don't worry, I'm not becoming silly - I probably won't want to see another soon)

ROCKY: Yes, I've never seen it until now. I think this gets some of its due to being one of the first, if not the first, inspirational sports movies, that led the way to Hoosiers and the like. For that I'm grateful. And it was a really good movie. But, I'm afraid it's showing its age. Compared to other emotional sports flicks, and those movies where an underdog gets his chance, this didn't have quite the emotional pull. I think this is because it didn't get to study prior films, like later writers did. Still, happy to have finally seen it.

GOODBYE, LENIN!: A funny foreign film about a woman entering a coma in old East Germany, only to reawaken in after the Wall came down. The problem is, she was a die hard Communist, and a terrible shock, such as seeing Capitalism and Democracy had won, could possibly kill her. So, since she is bedridden, her son spearheads an idea to recreate Communist Germany in her living room, even going so far as to create fake TV news to trick her. A great idea for a movie, but it can be a bit silly like a European film can get (if you know what I mean). It was not too terribly emotional, and left you with no great feeling that you had been emotionally moved, although I did come to sympathise with people who falsely thought Communism could work. Overrated because it is a foreign film, and I wouldn't go too far out of my way to see it, but it is pretty good. But with that plot it could have been great.