4th.

So, Artest to the Lakeshow. It's gonna be interesting. It's a great signing, if the rumors are true about the years and money, but the Lakers still have some work to do. If I were Jerry Buss, I'd resign Lamar and go into the luxury tax as much as I have to. Because with that rotation, the Lakers are a matchup nightmare and even with all of the other moves that teams have made, they would be the team to beat.

Manny's back. I almost wrote a full post about how Baseball is FUBAR because they're in the middle of their season and they're getting jacked in the ratings by Soccer and basketball is stealing all of their press with the insane amount of free agent signings and trades. But Manny is a big story, Yankees failing, the Mets bouncing back and Derek Lee's seven RBI are pretty noteworthy. I just wish it wasn't five years until their playoffs started. Oh, and by that time, Football will have started. I wish I could time travel at about this time of year to about the end of September every year. That would be great.

I was sick for most of the weak* and I watched the following movies, all of which were awesomely bad and I highly recommend:

Ninja Cheerleaders. Yes, this is a real movie. Yes, it stars Trishelle from the Real World Vegas. Yes, George Takei is their sensi. Yes, it has terrible acting and laughable action sequences. Yes, it features a strip-off in a strip club where the three ninja cheerleaders participate despite the fact that they don't strip one article of clothing. And yes, all of that awesomeness combined makes this an excellent movie. Especially if you're bombed.

Robocop. I have seen this movie approximately 948 times, but I have not watched it in the last 15 years or so. I highly recommend catching it, I think it's on IFC's rotation right now. It stars the Dad from That 70's Show in a pretty big role for him at the time as the main villain. And I had completely forgotten about the most awesome scene in the movie and had to rewind it about five times when it got to the part where some dude lost an election and he takes the mayor hostage. While they're sending Robo in, he negotiates his demands with a Lieutenant. Somehow they start talking about a new car as part of his demands ("Something with reclining leather seats, that goes really fast, and gets really shitty gas mileage!") and they're going over the options ("Yeah! Okay! Sure! What about cruise control? Does it come with cruise control? ") when the guy realizes that the Lt. is jerking him off. So he pulls the Mayor up and threatens to kill him, but Robo pulls him through a wall and then punches him out of a two-story window. Awesome. Also awesome - the dude that turns into Toxic Avenger at the end of the movie and he gets run over by one of his fellow cronies. A++++++++++++++++

Breakin'. Again, hadn't seen this in a long time, but because it has aged terribly, it is pretty awesome. Of course it's all about the adventures of Turbo and Ozone, but it also features a young Shooter McGavin. His best line is ''Street dancing belong in the street!'' Thanks, Captain Obvious. It also features Iced T, but WOW is his rapping bad in this flick. If you're only going to subject yourself to one Breakin' movie, I suggest this one and not the highly inferior Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. I am still not over the disappointment that Breakin' 2 caused me, and it's been 24 years. Yes, I understand that makes me old.

Teen Wolf. Yeah, again, I haven't seen it in awhile, it's aged badly, and yet it is awesome. And I can see why Greg White wanted to change his name; Stiles was a pretty cool dude.

Have a great 4th. Drink beer, eat hamburgers, light off some fireworks. It's your job as an American.