161 Down, 1 To Go

How bizarre is it when the entire baseball season comes down to one day?

So many seasons in April and May when teams suffer a tough loss or a string of them, the cliches come out in full force.

"It's still early."

"It's a marathon - not a sprint."

"You've got to take them one game at a time."

After a six month season where so many teams have battled so hard, for the fans of the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers, it all comes down to one game - or possibly two.

You see, the NL Wild Card has yet to be determined and if one of those two teams wins tomorrow while the other loses, the winning team makes the playoffs. If they both win, they play on Monday to determine who makes it in.

The Mets are far from my favorite team. I still recall the Gooden/Strawberry years with a bit too much disgust and that debacle from a few postseasons ago rings all too fresh in my mind. Hell, I bought my first HDTV to watch that series and got to see all three games in HD - even when two guys got tagged out at home on the same play, a play I still believe ripped the heart out of the team for the rest of the playoffs.

But I digress.

On an ordinary day, I'd root for Milwaukee to make the playoffs to show that you don't have to be the Yankees to succeed in MLB.

But... I really have no desire to play the Cubs in the NLDS. I'd much rather play the Phillies. So, unfortunately, I have to root for the Mets to win the Wild Card.

It makes me a little ill - not as ill as days when I have to root for the Giants but still...

Good luck, Mets. Try not to suck too badly tomorrow.

A Tribute To Ted Kennedy

On this night of the first Presidential debate [which I thoroughly enjoyed,] this seems like an appropriate post. I've been slowly working my way through all of the speeches from the Democratic convention on my iPod during my lunch breaks. Today, I got to the speech made by Caroline and Ted Kennedy but what struck me as more impactful was the tribute video they made for Ted and showed that night. I only heard the audio of it earlier but thought it was amazingly well done and since Ted is back in the hospital tonight, I thought I'd put this up tonight.

Enjoy.

How Sweet It Is - The Fruits Of Victory

Ahhhh. At long last, I can write freely about the Dodgers again without feeling like I am going to curse them.

The Dodgers are your NL West Champions.

Laugh all your want at the NL West. Mock them for being the Champions of the worst division in baseball. But the bottom line is that they are in the postseason - and when you're in the postseason, that means that anything is possible.

Oh, and I can also now reveal that last weekend, we were able to get tickets to Game 4 of the Division Series. I didn't want to mention that until I knew they were in the Division Series for sure. Of course, I will be very happy not to use those tickets if the Dodgers manage to pull off a sweep in the first round.

But all that is ahead of us.

For tonight, let's just smile at the images of the Dodgers and their fans celebrating another trip to play baseball in October.

Think Blue, baby.

The Office Strikes Back

With one day to go til the return of The Office, I thought this might be appropriate.

Blue's Reviews: Monday Night Television

Season premieres is usually a pretty exciting and fun time of year but thus far this year, I've been fairly underwhelmed. I talked previously about Entourage, Weeds, and some others that have failed to impress but I had high hopes last night as I settled in for the premieres of How I Met Your Mother and Heroes.

To kick things off, we watched a DVRd episode of Real Time With Bill Maher from last Friday night. It was a fun show as the Palin abuse-a-thon continued. The female guest - whose name I can't recall - seemed unfit to be on television as she had incredible trouble finding her train of thought over and again. Will.I.Am was the "celebrity" guest and really contributed very little to the show. I was hoping to hear more from him about his support of Obama. The "conservative" guest turned out to be one of my favorite conservative guests. He didn't blindly praise the Republicans, he didn't blast the Dems at every turn, and when the topic turned to religion, he actually had a viewpoint that was shockingly reasonable. Cheers to him! With the election drawing near, this show is definitely worth checking out when you can.

Next up was the premiere of How I Met Your Mother. This was probably my favorite show of the night - how could it not be when it focused on the story of whether or not Stella would like Star Wars when she finally saw it and if Ted would decide he couldn't marry her if she didn't. The show laid out the basic stories for the coming episodes - Marshall dealing with unemployment, Barney trying to tell Robin how he feels, Ted and Stella barely knowing each other and being engaged. I think the "slip-in" of Robin applying for the cable news job will become an issue at some point - my guess is the job is out of the area which'll lead to Barney finally having to tell her to try to get her to stay. Anyways, still one of the best comedies on television and if you're not watching it, you're a heartless, soulless beast of burden who I don't want to be friends with anymore.

The final show of the night was the two-hour premiere of Heroes - a show I was eagerly anticipating after hearing it had gotten a standing ovation when it screened at Comic-Con although my brain knows very well that it's easy to get your shit praised at Comic-Con if it's put together slick enough. The end result? It just was... well.... kinda okay. Nothing fantastic, nothing horrible. Just somewhere in the range of "eh." I don't think I can recall a show that has dropped in quality so much in so little time. Since the disappointing Season One Finale, it's been mostly downhill in quality. The premiere did little to make me feel otherwise. I don't really feel like analyzing why but suffice to say that if you missed this episode, you missed some big reveals but... well, it still felt like I didn't care when it was over.

The next batch of shows I'm looking forward to is The Office on Thursday and Pushing Daisies next week. The Amazing Race on Sunday is a favorite as well.

Everyone's A Critic!

Before I start my screenplay writing for the day (still not sure which one to write by the way), I thought I'd get today's post out of the way. I woke up and checked my e-mail to find a comment left by our good friend Poff Daddy...

"What's Happening Big Dog? Hey, I thought you were a baseball and wrestling fan? What? No comment on Yankee stadium closing? No comment on Mick Foley in TNA? Plus the Ultimate Fighter is back and no comment on that? Wow!!! I used to look up to you. You let me down my friend. Lets get back to basics and keep the game plan going when you first started as a young blogger pup. Later Poff Daddy"

God forbid I disappoint anyone with my random ramblings! Let's talk about the topics you want to talk about and forget all about anything that scratches beyond the surface and makes you think a little bit.

Yankee Stadium is closing and that's a horrible thing. It bums me out beyond belief that I wasn't able to get to New York this year to see the House That Ruth Built before it closed up shop for the last time. I understand the need for older stadiums to close for financial reasons but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You're telling me that the Yankees need a new stadium to make money? Nah. They're just greedy. I can't believe Yankee fans let that historic stadium go away without a fuss. I think I'd chain myself in front of the bulldozers if they ever came for my Blue Heaven On Earth. It's just another example of corporate America pissing all over the history that came before it in order to make a buck. God bless Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Dodger Stadium - the only stadiums left in baseball with true character.

Mick Foley in TNA? Does anyone really care? Let's look at this rationally. The rumors say he signed a six month contract to do two matches. He's coming in on the face side of this fucked up Millionaires Club vs New Blood Part 2 angle that Vince Russo has decided he should try again after it failed miserably in the dying days of WCW. An old, crippled former wrestler who retired years ago is part of the New Blood? I don't get it. They don't get it. And they likely never will. Jeff Jarrett is back on my TV and without having even watched a second of it, I already want him to go away again. TNA just won't be something worth watching every week until they figure out that they need to clean house creatively - and I mean everyone. You've got one of the greatest minds in the business in the employ of the company - and he's an on-air figurehead and nothing more? You've got another one of the greatest minds in the business as a free agent and you're throwing money at Kevin Nash instead of Mr. Heyman? Look, if TNA wants me to take them seriously, they should take themselves seriously. Throw money at Heyman and put him, Cornette, Foley, and hell, maybe even someone like Bill Watts in a room and see what they come up with. It'd be an explosive room to be in but it'd be a lot better than what they've got on TV right now. All that being said, I'm still thinking of checking out their live show when they're in Anaheim in November. It's been a long time since I've seen Styles and Joe live.

The Ultimate Fighter started up again - and I really think no one cared this time. This concept has been used so many times that what was once fresh, new, and exciting is just recycled crap. Mir and Noguiera as coaches just doesn't have the same fire as Tito and Shamrock or the like. The fighters all seem bland and personality-free. It's just a series of sometimes entertaining fights broken up by moronic frat boy type stunts where they get drunk and break apart the house they live in. Yawn. Dana needs to re-tool TUF and badly because at this stage, I couldn't even tell you who won last season - or the one before that or before that or before that. The Ultimate Fighter winner just doesn't have the same weight that it did before.

So, there you go, my friend.

My thoughts on your thoughts? Try to keep an open mind and think about stuff other than the same stuff you've always thought about. There's a whole new world out there - a dazzling place you never knew. Let me share this whole new world with you.

The Creative Process: Work Begins Anew

I have tomorrow off so I'm tentatively scheduled [in my mind] to start writing my second screenplay during the day. That is, I'm scheduled to start the actual "putting pen to paper" (or fingers to keyboard) tomorrow.

If you've been following my creative process, you know that I'm a bit torn on which of the two story ideas to work on first. You also know that the story that was a little less developed - okay, a lot less developed - was the one that had the religious overtones I expressed some concern about. I got some very helpful advice on that subject from a couple of you - much thanks for that. However, as of this writing, I don't actually know what script I intend to start tomorrow.

In an interesting twist, I stumbled upon an older idea for a novel I had a while back this morning while on the way to work and am thinking of starting that up at the same time. It's a burst of creative inspiration that is sometimes hard to come by so I almost think it's necessary to attempt to harness it in while it's out there.

I met another aspiring screenwriter at work today. It was interesting to take a few minutes and trade stories about the writing process - this guy actually spent a lot of time in Tijuana doing "research" for his screenplay. Interesting stuff. He also happens to be a professor at UCLA and pointed me in their direction for what he says are some pretty decent screenwriting classes. I don't know how I feel about things like classes and seminars for screenwriting. I almost think that writing should be somewhat of an intuitive, natural process and that a screenwriting class might stomp all over that process. I'll check out what they have to offer though - see if it changes my mind.

On a somewhat related note, a friend of mine asked me recently if it's too late for him to chase after his dreams and not sit in an office all day. He was dead serious and really seemed resigned to the fact that he just might sit in a cubicle every day for the rest of his life.

He's 25 years old.

Welcome to modern day America, my friends. The land of hopes and dreams that somehow manages to drill those hopes and dreams right out of most people while they're still in their twenties.