Vacation

I am finally in my home state of Michigan. I drove with my grandfather, it was the first long roadtrip I have done in years. It was not that bad of a drive but almost three solid days in the car can drive anyone crazy. Thank God for Howard Stern on my iPhone. It was cool driving through places I have never been like Oklahoma City or Tulsa. And it was nice seeing sites I have not seen in years like the Arch in St. Louis. Now it’s time to relax and see friends and family for a few days then my high school reunion this weekend!

Mojo Movie Review of Ted

I had heard so many great things about “Ted”, I was excited to see it and convinced I’d love it. Bababooey from the Howard Stern show said it was one of the funniest movies he had ever seen. My buddy Coach said he couldn’t stop laughing. On and on it went, all my friends saw it and they all raved about how funny it was. I was pumped up and then I was let down.


Don’t get me wrong, Ted is not a horrible movie. It’s enjoyable and there are quite a few parts that made me laugh. The plot is too predictable though and the acting is not great. It is also very disctracting to have Seth MacFarlane (who wrote and directed the movie) voice Ted since all I kept thinking of was Peter Griffin. They even make light of that in one scene where Ted says he does not sound that much like Peter.


Ted is a coming of age story about an eight year old boy who is not popular and makes a wish that his teddy bear will be his best friend forever. Through some magic the teddy bear comes to life and is Ted. John and Ted are best friends for 27 years before the events of the film. The film handles the idea of a magically alive teddy bear pretty well, showing Ted on covers of many 80′s magazines and a hilarious appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.


Grown up John is played by Mark Wahlberg who is one of my favorite actors. This is not his best role however. John’s girlfriend of four years, Lori, is played by Mila Kunis. They have a seemingly happy relationship living with Ted until Lori’s co-workers put doubts in her head. The happy household falls apart when John and Lori get home to find Ted partying with hookers, one of whom shit on the floor.


From here it is as predictable as can be. Happy couple loves each other, happy couple fights, guy does something stupid and happy couple breaks up. Ted’s side plot is even worse involving a very creepy father (Giovanni Ribisi) and son who want to buy Ted for their own and will stop at nothing to own Ted.


There are many funny moments in the film. And how can you not laugh at a pot smoking teddy bear who bangs hot chicks at the grocery store? But quite a few of the jokes are only funny because they are coming from a teddy bear. Ted became a crutch where the writers could give it bad jokes and still get a laugh. I loved all the pop culture and 80′s references that Seth MacFarlane is so good at. Also the nice retro touches like the Darth Vader carrying case that little John had for his Star Wars figures. Sam J. Jones, star of Buck Rogers, plays a coked out version of himself that I didn’t find funny but many other people loved.


Overall, I would give Ted a 6.5 out of 10. I had much higher hopes for it. MacFarlane can write better than this. The storyline was cheap and predictable. With huge stars like Wahlberg and Kunis and someone as funny as MacFarlane at the helm this movie should have been a solid 9. You will enjoy watching it but in a year or two if you see it on HBO you will keep flipping to the next channel.

Links from the web

Some cool links I've found while surfing the intrawebs.....

Daily links for Friday, July 20…

The Big 10 will not get “emergency powers” to fire college coaches. Like they would have known about Paterno any sooner?


NBA is turning into NASCAR, player jerseys will start featuring ads on them.


100 of the greatest guitar riffs of all time in 12 minutes video.


Dark Knight star Anne Hathaway has been proclaimed the queen of sideboob!


Jerry Seinfeld has a new web show. Great first episode with Seinfeld co-creator Larry David.


“Gangster Squad” movie trailer pulled after the very sad shootings last night in Colorado.


DirectTV subscribers will be happy to hear that Viacom and DirectTV have finally settled their differences.


11 funny incorrect tests answers by kids from Funny or Die.


Cameron Diaz decided she wanted Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane but he shot her down!


Wack Packer Captain Janks had the balls (and bad taste) to prank call a news station during last night’s shooting coverage.


Epic things to do at a funeral.


Want to convince people you are nuts? Here are some crazy things you can do in public.


35 coolest Game of Thrones items for sale on Etsy. I have no clue what Etsy is but some of these are pretty cool.


This is welcome news to anyone who suffered through the new HBO show Newsroom. Aaron Sorkin has fired most of the writing staff.


I will be on vacation next week so daily links will return when I get back!

Big Brother recap - Live Eviction show

It’s the first live edition of Big Brother 14 and somebody is going home tonight. Will it be the lovely Kara Monaco or Frank, the popular, unemployed player from Florida? It’s been a contentious week in the house and Julie Chen promises a lively show.

We open with the Chenbot, Julie Chen, and then go into a two minute recap of what has happened so far. We get back to Julie and she sums it up one more time in case you fast forward through the recap like I do. I’m not a big fan of the live show since it seem to be very heavy on clips we’ve already seen before. Okay, I think Julie has made sure we are all on the same page now so let’s get on with the show.


After the POV ceremony Frank heads to the HOH room to talk to Willie. It’s uncanny how Willie sounds so much like his brother Russell Hantz here. Frank wants to make sure he is safe and likes Willie. Willie gets his alliance together to discuss their strategy. Wil says Frank is the better ally for them. Britney thinks Dan has magic powers so Kara is a threat. Willie says the biggest difference between the two is that Kara is playing Dan’s game and would nominate some of them if she has the power next week.


Then we see Janelle talking to Dan. She says “these people are stupid” and they want to keep Frank in the game. Britney observes Dan and Janelle talking closely. Cut to one of the blondes (Ashley?) explaining her theory to Willie that the coaches will soon enter the game. Willie says if the coaches come back in the game then they won’t be out for their player’s interests. Well duh, if they are playing the game then they’ll be after their own interests! I think it’s very likely, although somewhat obvious, that the coaches are going to be playing the game at some point. I consider it a bullshit twist since they will have received a free pass for the first few weeks. I like the coach concept but only if they actually stay coaches.


Willie goes outside and announces a house meeting for players only. Janelle stands up and he tells her sorry but no coaches. He goes back in the house and gathers everyone else and they all go to the HOH room. Outside Dan tells Britney that if it was one of his players he would have nixed this meeting. I’m not sure how Dan would have done this. The coaches have no real power of course.


In the HOH room, Willie tells the houseguests that the coaches are pitting them against each other. They are playing for $500,000 for themselves yet they are letting the coaches make all the decisions. They should play the game like the coaches don’t exist. Next Willie advances the theory that the coaches will be allowed into the game at some point. Joe interrupts that he thinks Willie is playing too fast and thinking too far ahead. I mean it’s not like they are playing for half a million dollars or anything! Wil says he is taking a 24 hour break from game talk, I’m shocked because I didn’t realize Wil had any game talk in him.


The meeting is over and Frank says he felt better about his chances before the town meeting. He meets with Willie and is told nothing has changed, they just need to stay strong and stick together. Britney busts into the room and Willie tells her about Wil’s 24 hour break. We are shown a clip in case we forgot what just happened. I thought nothing of this at all but evidently it was a big deal that Willie raised his voice slightly when imitating Wil.


Frank meets with Joe and the tattoo girl. Joe can’t keep his mouth shut and tells how they are supposed to split their vote so it doesn’t look like they are all aligned. Now Frank is getting mad. Says first Willie tells him he won’t be on the block and he is. Then Willie says he will get Frank the votes to stay and now they are splitting them. Well duh, he is a Hantz after all! Frank tells them how Willie mocked Wil in a gay voice and for some reason this really upsets Joe. He is so upset that he takes Wil into the storeroom and tells him that he was being mocked. Wil is outraged. Are they men? I mean, guys break balls. He mocked his voice that’s it. He didn’t do anything else or even say anything negative. Joe was one of my early favorites and has been sliding down ever since.


Ashley (or is it Kara?) defends Willie and says he is a good person. I guess she never saw his big brother on Survivor. She goes and tells Willie what Frank is doing and that he is turning the entire house against him. Willie heads outside and confronts Frank. Tells him that all week long he has been trying to save him. Frank gets defensive and Willie starts getting very angry and shouting. Frank again says that he was told he wouldn’t be nominated then he’s on the block. The arguing goes back and forth and finally Willie blows up yelling, “I hope you go home this week! I hope everyone changes their goddamn votes and you go home cuz you are a shady ****!” (note: I’m not censoring, I really wasn’t sure what was said)


The arguments is getting more heated and now Mike Boogie gets in on it. Boogie wants to know if Willie thinks he is the boss of everyone else. Boogie mocks him and asks the house if they are going to get bullied by Willie Hantz. The whole situation blew up from nowhere, I don’t think Willie is guilty of anything but he let his temper get the best of him. He was running a great game til this point.


Back from commercial and Julie checks in live with the house. The houseguests are gathered in the living room and Julie makes awkward conversation with them. Chenbot asks JoJo about the mood in the house. JoJo says it has been a “little weird and a little tension”. Julie asks Ian if this has lived up to his expectations as a superfan. He says absolutely and somehow resists the urge to kick himself in the face. Now Chenbot asks the guests for some word word answers to describe the last 13 days. Wil says “oh goodness” while Ashley’s one word is “loosey goosey”. Willie Hantz says the one word to describe his reign as HOH is “pressure”. Boogie says it is harder being a coach that a houseguest since you are taking care of three players plus yourself. I don’t agree since it isn’t like the coaches have any real responsibility or power, they can merely give advice and try to influence events.


It’s the nominees last chance to plead their case. Frank gives a good speech and says “nobody should let a bully dictate how they play this game or how you vote. Cuz bullying is not okay outside this house or inside this house.” Kara’s speech is about how she was a honest player. She should say, “I’m a damn Playmate of the Year, keep me in for ratings!”


Chenbot stumbles over the voting instructions and it is time to kick someone out! Danielle votes for Frank, as does Shane. Joe the chef votes for Kara Monaco. Julie points out that Ian is coached by Boogie the same as Frank and Ian casts his vote for the “lovely Kara”. We are tied at 2-2 and it is time for a commercial break. When we come back Chenbot recaps the voting that we literally just watched live. Voting continues with JoJo who Chen points out is strongly aligned with Willie. Sure enough, JoJo votes to evict Frank. It is 3-2 in favor of the Playmate. Jenn the tattoo girl is up and votes Kara, Wil votes Kara and Ashley can create a tiebreaker situation. Instead she votes to evict Kara. Julie breaks the news, 5-3 and Kara Monaco has been evicted from the Big Brother house. She doesn’t look to surprised by the result as she hugs everyone and leaves.


Julie interviews Kara and asks, “you seemed to avoid all the drama this week but here you sit evicted, why do you think?” Kara says people were scared of her coach Dan and the alliance felt threatened by him. She also says being quiet didn’t help her game and she should have talked to everyone sooner. Chenbot plays clips from the houseguests saying goodbye to Kara and everyone is nice except Joe who is a real ass. Julie even mentions that Hugh Hefner tweeted “go Kara”, that is the closest they came to revealing that she is a former Playmate of the Year. I wonder if the houseguests knew at all. I don’t watch the live feeds so I truly don’t know. I know Jodi, the first evicted, said in later interviews that she had no idea but Jodi was only in the house for six hours.


Time for HOH competition, all night long the houseguests were woken up by a breaking news alarm and played clips of a burglar loose in the house. The burglar was doing dumb things like shaving his leg in the bathtub or drinking milk from the container. Outside in the backyard it’s a quiz contest where they have to remember what was shown in the clips. They will be asked a question and have to say whether the burglar was guilty or not guilty to the charge. First the burglar is accused of stealing a carpet tile, he was guilty and everyone got it right. Shane is eliminated on the second question and on the third everyone gets it wrong except Frank and Wil. Fourth question both players are wrong so neither is eliminated. Willie is on the sidelines looking devastated, nothing can be worse for him than having Frank win HOH. Sixth question and Wil is wrong, Frank is the new Head of Household! Willie is on the sidelines looking sicker than Russell Hantz when Natalie White was named sole Survivor. Everyone is celebrating except Willie, he goes back inside the house by himself.


Back from commercial and the houseguests are live inside the house again. Frank says it feels great to win. Willie looks like he may vomit. Boogie is “super elated” that his player is HOH. Julie has some news for the house, stakes are being raised this week and the coach that wins the coaches competition can either keep one of their players safe or trade a player for another coaches player. Everyone is eligible to be traded except Frank since he is HOH.


Interesting night, I don’t see the strategic benefit in keeping Frank over Kara since he is a very strong player and she seemed very weak. Willie is in a very bad spot right now since most of the house is mad at him. I still think that was blown out of proportion but it doesn’t matter what I think since I’m not in the house. It could work in his favor since he is such an obvious target that it actually makes sense to keep him around. Willie could end up playing the Russell game, playing strong but alienating everyone so he cannot win at the end.


Eventually I will do odds for each player to win but it’s still a little too early for that. I like JoJo a lot. Shane has the best shot to win right now. Frank is another huge favorite, they should have gotten him out this week. Wil has no chance to win. Ian and Jenn are big long shots, I can’t see either of them pulling it off. Danielle could be a dark horse, I like her and she seems to be playing under the radar but is likable to the rest of the house. Ashley also has good chances on making it. Joe’s stock is falling with me every time he opens his mouth. I think Willie Hantz will go deep in the game, he may get nominated this week but it’s doubtful he will be evicted. However I see him as having really bad odds on getting the win.

Win a million bucks with potato chips!

Lay’s potato chips will be giving away a million dollars to whoever comes up with the best new flavor of potato chip. Starting tomorrow you can suggest your ideas on Lay’s Facebook page. It is their “Do Us a Flavor” promotion and it will make someone very rich. The winner gets their choice of $1,000,000 OR 1% of their flavor’s net sales in 2013.

The concept is called crowd-sourcing and has cropped up recently as social media becomes more and more prevalent. Samuel Adams, McDonald’s and Arizona Iced Tea have all had promotions where customers have created new flavors and products. A million dollars for first place makes this a huge event. It is the largest promotion in the 75 year history of Lay’s.

Currently Lay’s sells their classic flavored chips along with BBQ, cheddar & sour cream, chile limon, BLT, deli style, dill pickle, honey mustard, honey barbecue, flamin hot, lightly salted, limon flavored, sour cream & onion, garden tomato & basil, salt & vinegar, tangy Carolina BBQ and sweet southern heat barbecue. And that’s just regular chips! They also have Kettle chips, wavy and baked!

Lay’s will select three finalists from all entries. All three of these will be developed and sold in 2013. People will vote on Facebook for their favorite of the three and the winner gets a cool million bucks! Click here for Lay’s Facebook page and good luck!

Links from the web

Some cool links I've found while surfing the intrawebs.....

Emmy nominations came out today. Check out CNN for a complete list of nominees.

How Twitter has been good for porn stars.

Fred Willard was arrested for public masturbation and now PBS has fired him.

Pete Rose and his girlfriend are getting a reality show. I wonder if one of the episodes will feature a road trip to Cooperstown?

Nelson Mandela has a fashion line? He is 94 years old! But I guess it is good to be fashionable at any age.

Maybe Mandela isn’t too old, afterall this is a story about a 82 year old “supermodel”.

Here is a whole article about why Kristen Stewart’s boobs doubled in size overnight.

American Idol is looking for new judges and Charlie Sheen is interested. Winning!

The Dark Knight Rises is finally in theaters, here is your Batman 101 primer.

Egotastic gives us a photo gallery of the hottest Batman actresses.

Big Brother Recap

When we left the Big Brother house Janelle and Britney’s teams had aligned with each other. Willie Hantz (brother of the infamous Russell Hantz of Survivor) was Head of Household and had nominated Frank from Boogie’s team and Kara from Dan’s team. Personally I wasn’t thrilled with the nominations since Kara and Frank are two houseguests that I would like to see more of. Frank is the son of former pro wrestler Sid Vicious (later Sid Justice) and Kara is former Playmate of the Year Kara Monaco. I thought both were intriguing and would like to see them last a few weeks. Unless they are saved in tonight’s veto ceremony then one of them is going home. Find out what happened tonight after the jump…

After a solid three and a half minute recap and opening the show finally starts. Thank God for being able to skip ahead. Not to get on a tangent but that is one of the things that annoys me most about reality TV, the constant recapping everything that was already seen. The show opens with Willie explaining why he nominated Frank and Kara. He believes that Dan and Boogie are gunning for him so he put up their toughest players. Maybe it’s just me but wouldn’t it be smarter to put up two players from one coach so that coach is weakened no matter what? Dan only has two players left, why wouldn’t you want to nominate both of his players?

Cut to Dan explaining to Kara how Frank is the real target in his opinion. He is the threat and she is just a pawn. Kara sometimes looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Dan tells her she is popular with the other houseguests. Maybe she’d be more popular if she showed off what got her Playmate of the Year and laid out topless or something.

Boogie is huddled with Frank and tells him not to panic. Getting nominated is part of the game and it happens. Boogie says hopefully Kara falls apart now and goes into a shell. Frank leaves to sit down and bond with Willie. He wants to know why he was put on the block. Willie says it is Boogie that bothers him, he likes Frank personally. Frank agrees that coaches might be influencing players too much and this worries him also. Frank points out that he is in this to win it for himself. He’s not worried about Boogie making money, he wants to make his own money. Frank hopes he and Willie can work together and Willie agrees.

Britney and Janelle are talking strategy. Janelle has a very tiny bikini on. I never saw any of the previous seasons that she was on but wow, what a body! Britney seems kinda clueless. Again I never saw her previous season so my impression is solely based on what they have shown this year. I’m not too impressed and it seems like there are better all-stars they could have brought back as a coach instead of her.

Dan and Boogie get together. Not as much a strategy session as it is whining about being up against each other. They are both in the same boat and unless one of their players wins veto then there is nothing they can do about it. It has finally dawned on Dan that “Team Blonde” is a reality. I think I like that name for Britney and Janelle more than Boogie’s “Blonde Ambition”.

Next they cut to Ian. This kid is such a spaz. Last week they showed him creeping around the house, farting and being just weird in general. This time the entire house is outside and he shows off his “talent”. What is said talent? Why kicking himself in the face of course! Ian thinks if he shows them his “fun side” it will help him stay around longer. Sure, everyone is laughing but they are laughing at him not with him. I was hoping Ian would be sort of a Cochrane type character but instead he is just a weirdo.

Time to pick players for the veto competition. Six people will compete, HOH Willie and the two nominees Frank and Kara. Each of them will randomly draw a name to fill out the six. The randomly drawn players are Danielle, Shane and Wil. Boogie is not happy with the draw and he shouldn’t be. It’s not favorable for his boy Frank at all.

Time to lobby! It’s pretty much decided that if Danielle wins she will use the veto on Kara. Nobody really mentions Wil. Instead Shane is the target of all the lobbying shown. First Kara gets him alone. She says she is willing to make deals. To me Kara doesn’t sound too persuasive. Frank then gets his chance and lobbies Shane in the storeroom. Shane is playing this up for everything that he can. He seems to be a smart player and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The coaches get into the lobbying game and Boogie sits down with Britney. She says from confessional that it’s day six and this is the first time Boogie has sat down to talk to her. Mike Boogie asks her point blank if Janelle’s people are off limits to Britney’s team. Britney says no, she is in this game for herself. Then Boogie makes a big mistake and says he is drawing a line in the sand and if POV is used then one of Janelle’s players needs to be nominated. Britney is having none of this and says later in confessional that she thought Boogie was a smarter player than this. I did too. Next Boogie tried to pitch Janelle on knocking out Kara thus decimating Dan’s team. This is a smart plan if Boogie wasn’t aligned with Dan already.

Janelle goes to Dan right away and informs him that Boogie is suggesting they all vote out Kara. Dan doesn’t like hearing this at all. Janelle correctly points out that this is week one and if Boogie is already selling Dan out then how can he work with him in the future. Very true, it is way too early in the game to stab someone in the back

On to the Power of Veto competition. It is outside and the yard has been done up like a giant laundrymat. It has washing machines, laundry baskets and lots of water and of course suds everywhere. They have to race thru the laundry machines into the suds and find large coins. The coins are in 5 cent, 25 cent and one dollar denominations. Once they have one coin in hand they need to race back and toss the coin over the baskets and into the coin slot. First person who gets to $1.30 wins.

Kara is the first to score with a nickle. Shane follows up with a quarter and Frank does the same. Danielle seems lost in the bubbles. Wil does not seem to good at this either. Willie Hantz tosses a nickle through the slot and Shane follows with another quarter. Lots of misses follow. This is harder than it looks. Frank has a stack of dollar coins hidden but can’t get any through the slot. Shane is killing it with quarters and is up to $1.00. Willie is at $1.05. Shane makes another one then Frank. Both are tied at $1.25 and it’s a race to see who can win. Shane wins it and has the Power of Veto!

Team Blonde gathers and celebrates. Willie and Wil jumping up and down like schoolgirls. The coaches try to give Shane advice on how to handle the pressure. The pressure starts in the have-not room with Dan and Kara. ”You know I’m willing to make a deal”, Kara says. Now there are a million deals I could come up with but Shane isn’t thinking as dirty as me evidently. Back to the storeroom with Frank. Frank indicates he’d be willing to switch sides, he just doesn’t want to go home. Shane needs to think this all through. Boogie lobbies Shane a little and tells him that he is in complete control of his team and he doesn’t see Shane as a target.

Shane ponders his options and then it’s time for the veto meeting. Both nominees give speeches on why they should be saved. Shane then announces that it’s the first week and he does not want blood on his hands so it’s in his best interest not to use the POV. Show ends with clips from the relevant players and we have to tune in tomorrow to see who goes home.

In my opinion, as much as I like him, the best strategy is to get rid of Frank. He is very likable and popular in the house and is an obvious physical threat. Not to mention the fact that his coach, Mike Boogie, is the most devious player out there. I don’t see where it makes any sense to get rid of Kara. She doesn’t really seem to be playing the game well and even though it’s early I don’t see her as a threat to win the game. The only thing that is gained by voting Kara out is weakening Dan since he will be down to one player.

Links from the web

Some cool links I've found while surfing the intrawebs.....

FoxNews has a list of the hottest girls Mick Jagger has been with. I guess he has moves like Mick Jagger!

Larry Fitzgerald says to take Calvin Johnson ahead of him in fantasy drafts since Megatron's QB is better!

Can't get enough Chick-fil-a and want to copy their chicken sandwich at home? Here is the recipe.

It's a wonder Jason Kidd survived his wreck, check out the pictures.

Looks like Pixar may be planning Toy Story 4!

Largest natural breasts in the world. Size 102 ZZZ!

Links from the web

Some cool links I've found while surfing the intrawebs.....

Mandatory.com breaks down the original Dream Team vs the current one position by position.

Rush Limbaugh found a conspiracy in the new Dark Knight film.  The villain is Bane, is this an attempt to confuse voters about Mitt Romney's Bain?

Will shock jock Howard Stern be back for a new season of America's Got Talent?

Did this ballplayer actually catch the ball?  Or was it a second ball hidden in his pocket?

Comic-Con 2012 is over, 31 things learned this year.

Sara Jean Underwood was at Comic-Con dressed sexily as Daenerys Targaryen.

Three crazy Gronk stories from the Espy's as told by Bill Simmons.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will be a rapist in his new movie.

Guy dies and his final wish is for his family to leave a $500 tip for a waitress.  Really?!?

True Blood

What is going on with True Blood? It seems like they have lost complete control of the show. Too many characters, the inability to kill of any major characters and wackier and wackier plots have made his show almost unwatchable. Originally a show about vampires coming out publicly in today's world, other "supes" were slowly introduced. First shapeshifters (or shifters, a person who can shape shift into any animal) then weres (people who change into wolves only) then maenads, witches, ghosts, fairies and now a fire demon. It's getting to be too much. Remember when Vampire Bill was a novelty because Bon Temps had never seen a supernatural being before? Now everyone and everything is supernatural in some way.

Do we really need to devote large plots to minor characters like Terry Bellefluer? He was enjoyable as a supporting character but now we are forced to explore what happened to him in Iraq, how his platoon was cursed and why a fire demon is pursuing them now. Like there isn't enough other things going on? Really?

Or what about Lafayette? One of the most popular characters in the first season now he's just annoying. He somehow has some sort of demonic power or maybe being living inside of him that manifests itself when he gets mad. He killed his witch/shaman boyfriend and now can't control his spiritual powers. This is just another plot that is distracting from the main storyline.

True Blood needs to focus more on Pam, Eric and Bill. Let's explore more of Deborah Ann Woll's Jessica. And if they want to get into side plots with secondary characters then stick with Jason and Andy, they are fun and amusing and I never feel the need to check Twitter or read email while they are onscreen.

Alan Ball is leaving the show after this season and I'm hopeful that the new show runners will bring this back to earth slightly. True Blood is HBO's most popular show and it can be made good again. Producers just need to pare down on some of the characters and tighten up the story lines.