I have to admit that I did not expect to blog today from a hospital.

I'm fine, don't freak out. No postgame suicide attempt.

My grandma is suffering from Alzheimer's and had some kind of attack a
few days ago that has landed her in the hospital so here I am.

It really is an odd and scary disease. It's hard to see someone
devolve so quickly to an almost unrecognizable person. A year ago,
she was at my wedding dancing, laughing, and having a good time. Now
she's in a hospital bed barely coherent.

My mom thinks it's almost over but the doctors disagree. Now my
family is faced with the impossible choice to either take her home
which would be almost a certain disaster since she apparently has lost
the ability to walk OR put her in a nursing home which is
heartbreaking as well. This is the choice presented to my family by
her HMO - oh, and we have to decide today. Heartless fucks. Remember
that when you visit the polls in a couple weeks.

Anyways, I'm stalling because she was asleep when I got here and my
family hasn't arrived yet. I just wanted to vent a little.

Obviously, I expected to write about a much different topic today but
well, life sometimes has an odd way of adjusting your priorities.

Take care of yourselves today, guys.

Sent from my iPhone

Fine! I'll Talk About It!

Alright, I guess I should say something about it.

Game 4 was a heartbreaking, thrilling game to watch - let alone be at. I had so many moments where I was overjoyed and just as many where my heart was ripped out of my chest like Mola Ram and that poor Thuggee dude in Temple of Doom.

But in the end, the bullpen couldn't hold the lead and the Dodgers find themselves on the brink of elimination after a roller coaster ride of a season.

So, now what?

Chad Billingsley needs to shake off the effects of Game 2 and ignore the media who wants to put his entire career at stake in one game. It's one game, kid. Win or lose, you had a hell of a year and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

For the rest of the team? Suck it up and remember, you've got to play them one game at a time. You only need to win one...

...for now.

I'll be at work during the game unfortunately so I won't get to live and die with every pitch like Dodger fans around the world. But I'll be with them in spirit - right there at Chavez Ravine like I was on Monday night, cheering my heart out and waving my rally towel.

When I was discussing the playoffs with someone at work, they said that they were an Angels fan but that they really didn't care if they won or not. Or to quote, "My life doesn't change one bit if they win or lose."

I'd say that I wish I could be the same way but I really don't, you cold, heartless, soulless fuck!

It starts with one game. Hamels vs Billingsley. Let's get it on.

Oh, and of course...

You've gotta believe.

A Change Of Subject

I'm not going to talk about it.

But, I did stumble upon something yesterday that I thought would be fun to take a look at. Gamer website ugo.com did an article of the Top 50 WTF? moments in comic book history. I thought it might be entertaining to take a look at the list and comment on a few of them.



Number 49 was the resurrection of X-Man Colossus. Personally, I found this one to be a WTF? moment because I thought it was a horrible idea and really ruined a prior story - something most comic writers don't care about at all, I realize. But with Joss Whedon penning it, I had higher expectations. For those unaware, here's the story. Colossus died years ago saving the mutant world from an AIDS-like virus called the Legacy Virus. It was quite the heroic farewell - but in my opinion, it was ruined by the revival of Colossus by Whedon who revealed that Colossus hadn't actually died but was being held captive by an evil villain who was using Colossus to figure out a way to "cure" mutants of their powers. The X-Men universe is full of deaths/revivals but this one came across particularly bad to me.



#39 finds Lex Luthor as the President of the United States in the DC Universe. Now THAT is a WTF? moment. I read very little of that story arc but I remember being more than just a little WTF? when I heard about it. But... well, considering the world we live in today where we've seen elections stolen, civil rights snatched, and bold face lies told to the public to engineer a war... is a super villain as President really that far fetched?



#30 finds the Breaking of the Bat. Ahhh. This is the story that got me back into comics back in the late 90's after years of being out of them. I was always more of a Batman guy than a Superman guy. It's probably something to do with the "normal guy does extraordinary things" theme. So, when on the heels of the Death of Superman story that drove most people into comic stores back then, DC announced the breaking of Batman - I was hooked. I spent an entire summer driving all over Southern California with my friend Danny trying to find every issue of the "Knightfall" story. It was a beautiful idea. Arkham Asylum broken into and all of Batman's worst enemies freed. That made Batman have to work extra hard to put them all back in jail so when he finally met the man who was responsible for the breakout, Bane, he was physically and mentally wrecked and easy prey for the steroid-cooked supervillain. The stories that followed with Bruce Wayne getting back into shape and retaking the Bat mantle from the man who he had picked to hold it in his place were lots of fun and remain one of my favorite arcs in comic history.



Checking in at #25 is another one of my favorite stories ever and another one that makes me remember fondly those days when I used to drive to the comic store once a week after school and grab the latest and greatest. Fatal Attractions was an X-story that crossed all the books [big shock, I know] that all built up to a big showdown between the X-Men and Magneto. In the climax, Wolverine finally gets a shot at Magneto - and gets his adamantium skeleton ripped out of his body by the Master of Magnetism THROUGH EVERY PORE IN HIS BODY! It was amazingly cool - and was only helped by an issue or two later when Wolvie tries to pop his claws and has bone claws rip through his flesh. Simply awesome.



At #23 [and making me wonder what the hell is in the Top 20], Superman dies. Well, not really. Everyone knew Superman wasn't going to die permanently but SUPERMAN WAS GOING TO DIE! I remember going into comic stores with friends searching for that black bagged comic that they would never open. Me? I bought the TPB years later. It was a hell of a story actually but it was all pissed away with the Return of the Supermen story. Ah well.



#21 is the death of Captain America - which I can't imagine how that ranks above the death of Superman or the breaking of Batman but whatever. It was a big one. I remember hearing about this one on CNN and having to race to the comic store on my lunch break to see what the hell had happened. It was another well done death story which is really the last major comic story I read before my current hiatus from comics [which may be ending soon as I'm intrigued by the Ultimatum storyline.]



Let's skip all the way ahead to #8 with the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Jason Todd was a fucking prick. He was a punk little bitch and the fanboys hated him. So, in true American fashion, DC gave the fans the choice - should we kill Jason Todd? The voting was clear - Robin must die! And in truly awesome fashion, The Joker got to deliver the fatal blow, just turning up the heat in the never-ending war between The Joker and Batman.

There were lots of other WTF? moments mentioned throughout the story that deserved mention but I didn't want to make this post any longer than it already is. If you want to check out some of the others, hit up the article for the rest.

"...the fuck?"

Simply awesome.

I May Not Always Love You...

On my day off as I sit here "preparing" to go to Game 4 tonight, I've been digging through some mp3 blogs to add some stuff to my collection and I uncovered a real gem.

I'm a firm believer that most people end up getting a large chunk of their musical tastes from the people directly around them.  Example - I'm a huge Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band fan but I can't imagine I would have become that on my own if I hadn't spent a huge chunk of my childhood with my aunts listening to Bruce at every turn.  Same thing goes for Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, and so on... yes, even Barry Manilow.  Likewise, I can pick individual bands out from my musical tastes and point out who influenced them.  I still remember the first time I heard Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine" was on a crappy boombox shoved under the front seat of my friend Brian's car back in the day.  You get the idea.

But oddly, for the most part, I barely remember my Mom listening to any music growing up.  I knew that my aunts teased her for having "Lay Lady Lay" as her favorite Dylan song.  I knew she liked Elvis and a lot of the 50's and 60's bubblegum pop but I never really heard her play it around the house.

The only band I can recall my Mom listening to or talking about a lot was The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys don't get a lot of love from your typical rock music fan because they're treated as the aforementioned bubblegum pop but I defy one and all to not crack a big ol' smile when you hear the music.  Back in '06 when the Missus and I attended Bridge School Benefit for the first time, Brian Wilson was on the bill and in a crowd filled with people there to see Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band take the stage, Brian Wilson stole the show by rockin' the night away with the old Beach Boys songs that had that entire crowd up on their feet singing along.

Now THAT'S what I call music.

The good folks over at Aquarium Drunkard posted an amazing set of Beach Boys studio rehearsals  from back in 1967 that the writer claims is his favorite Beach Boys recording ever.  After a quick initial listen-through this morning, I can't deny he may have a very legitimate argument.  If you're the slightest Beach Boys fan at all - or even just want to give ol' Blue a chance at being right, take the time to listen to the songs on that post and tell me I'm wrong.

I defy you!

You Win! Flawless Victory

Early Morning Politics

I saw something on CNN last night before I went to sleep that made me regain a little bit of respect for John McCain. It's puzzling to me that during the early part of the campaign, McCain was the guy that seemed the most reasonable of the Republican noms and someone who carried themselves with dignity and honor - but after he was clearly the nom, all hell broke loose. This scene gained a little bit of that back for me:



I think John McCain down deep is a good person who has served his country proudly and with dignity over the years that has just kinda... lost his way... over the past few months. He's devolved into the typical mudslinging politician that turns people off on politics all the time. But with the clip above, I have hope that he's returning to form.

MANNY!

I picked the right time for lunch. It's not over yet. Let's go Blue!
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AHHHHHH

THIS is what happens when I go to work on a game day! Down six fucking runs after three?!?

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Spending Money On Science? Perish The Thought!

Look, I know that science isn't exactly the favored... well, science... of your average Republican but even I knew this one would cause McCain some problems. When he cracked on a planetarium overhead projector during the debate, two things came to mind...

1] "Well, there goes all his votes in the scientific community - if he had any to begin with."

2] "Science is a hell of a thing, John. You might want to look into it some time."

So, when I saw this story a few moments ago, I thought I'd share it with the class.

If there's one rule in election-year politics, it's this: Don't mess with the science crowd. OK, labor unions and the NRA matter too, but John McCain may want to brush up on his stars and planets after Tuesday night's debate.

In the debate, McCain portrayed Barack Obama as an excessive spender, and he punctuated his attack (twice) with this example:

"[Obama] voted for nearly a billion dollars in pork barrel earmark projects, including, by the way, $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"

Turns out, a lot of people think we do. This is no ordinary overhead projector from your 5th grade classroom. The blog Cosmic Variance sums it up:

"If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting the Adler Planetarium, you'd probably guess that the 'overhead projector' he's talking about is the spectacular 'Sky Theater' -- one of the most engrossing, gorgeous venues for displaying visuals about space."

The science community is notoriously tight-knit, especially when rallying to a cause, and boy are they are rallying to this one. Alan Boyle's Cosmic Log has a great summary of the uproar:

-"For McCain to use this as a political zinger is insulting..." (Bad Astronomy)

-"Planetariums are Bridges to the Future, and America would be a much better place if all the congressional earmarks went to projects like them." (The Perfect Silence)

-"The logo for Senator John McCain's campaign has a star in the middle. I wonder what his guide star is? It can't be the same one that ten million children have seen at the Adler Planetarium. Why should anyone want their star to dim?" (Discovery Space)

The Adler Planetarium even issued a statement, noting that the request, ironically, was not even funded:

"To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support -- which was not funded -- to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere.... To remain competitive and ensure national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math."

Linking a planetarium to national security may be a bit of a stretch, but the point is clear: McCain probably shouldn't count on the "science vote" this year

Gotta love it. Election year craziness is better than ever this year.

Random Thoughts On Random Stuff

I'm a little under the weather so I'm enlisting the assistance of my Google Reader for some stuff to write about tonight.

NEWS: Guillermo Del Toro To Fly Solo On 'Hobbit' Directing Duties
REACTION: Wow. The article goes on to state that GDT actually has turned down an offer from Peter Jackson to assist as director or even to man a second unit himself. That's nutty stuff. I can't decide if it's incredibly ballsy on the part of GDT or if it's just a slap in the face to the man who actually managed to make Tolkien's work an amazing visual reality.

NEWS: Palin Porn On The Rise [no pun intended]
REACTION: Earlier this week, I Shared a story from my Reader that involved details on Larry Flynt's planned Palin-a-like porn including a three way with a Hillary-a-like and a Condy-a-like. High quality faire right there. But in case you were concerned that this was an isolated feature, check out this listing from Craigslist I found on one of the LA blogs I visit: "NEED SARAH PALIN LOOKALIKE ASAP FOR ADULT FILM (LA). Looking for a Sarah Palin lookalike for an adult film to be shot in next 10 days. Major adult studio. Please send pix, stats etc. ASAP. Pay: $2000-3000. No anal required."

Well, I don't know about you but I'm very happy to hear that there's no anal required because after hearing some of her beliefs on gay marriage, foreign policy, and Joe Sixpacks among other things, I'm quite convinced she has a nice, big stick already lodged up her ass.

NEWS: Lamar Odom Doesn't Get Points For Performance
REACTION: I missed the Lakers' first televised preseason game this week but apparently Lamar Odom played pretty poorly or to quote Phil Jackson, "He looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball." Wow. Did he really look that bad? Or was this just another typical Lamar game? Combine this with his early training camp bitching about coming off the bench, I expect his expiring contract will be danged early and often to every team in the league soon.

I couldn't find a headline for this one but how about the news that broke this week from a couple of Seth Petruzelli interviews where he heavily implied that EXC paid him to stay standing with Kimbo rather than try to take him down. Granted, that's not an out and out "fixing" of the fight but it's not far off. Paying a fighter to take one stylistic approach to a fight is a very dangerous road to walk. Some will view it as EXC trying to make it a "more exciting fight" but some will, very accurately in my opinion, assume that they were trying to get him to fight a gameplan that would play into Kimbo's hands. Interesting, no?

And I guess that'll do... oh wait... there's one other exciting piece of news, huh?

NLCS STARTS TOMORROW! GO DODGERS!

MannyMania Is Running Wild

Is there such a thing as "music to my eyes?"

Sorta Liveblog: Monday Night Raw (10-6-08)

Eh... what the hell? I can't think of anything else to write about and I haven't actually watched Raw in a while.

My DVR was taping something else so it starts a little late. Jericho is in the ring, mouth all busted up from his ladder match with Shawn Michaels last night. No Mercy sounds like it was a hell of a show and I should probably check it out at some point. Apparently, Jericho is playing the role of GM for the night as he announces HBK vs Lance Cade in an "anything goes" match [I think that's what he said at least.] He says he's done with HBK and has nothing left to prove to him. Cue Batista.

You know, for someone who is presumably a pretty tough guy, Batista looks quite metrosexual in his tank top. Oh, but he's got a wallet chain. Back to the tough guy status for sure. He'll kick anyone's ass. The crowd goes wild for Batista's entrance but really seem like they couldn't give a shit after he gets to the ring. Batista's challenging Jericho for the title since he won the #1 contender match last night. I like Jericho as the champ but I don't know if I care about Batista as his challenger.

Oh, and Batista's sunglasses don't do him any favors either.

This promo is awful. Jericho holds up his end but when Batista speaks, my hand creeps towards the remote. Oh god. He spinebustered Jericho and yelled, "You mess with the bull, you get the horns." Wow.

Matt Hardy/Rey Rey vs Mark Henry/Kane is hyped for later in the show. I really have no desire to see that.

Recap of the Batista spinebuster. I never understood why they show so many "moments ago" recaps. So, during the commercial, Jericho announced that Batista will defend his #1 contendership against JBL. Alllllright. That makes zero sense. JBL lost the first time in five minutes. Jericho hates JBL and wouldn't want him to be the #1 contender either so... oh, Jericho's going to ref. Well, that'll suck.

Regal's at ringside. Cue Jamie Noble and Mickie James for a mixed tag match. I'm super-stoked that Noble is getting so much TV time lately And in a feud with Regal no less. YES! This mixed tag is against Glamarella. This just became worlds better. Santino's got a mic so the segment just got a thumbs up in my book. Santino apparently has been criticized for being "too ethnic" so he has adopted a new favorite NBA team - the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'm guessing they're in Seattle from the boos. Not my favorite Santino promo but still worlds better than most of what we'll get on this show.

Santino's wearing the OKC Thunder t-shirt under his singlet - awesome. Glamarella wins with a Santino schoolboy when Noble was distracted by Beth. Didn't get enough time to be worth a damn unfortunately. That could've been a lot of fun, I think. Regal/Noble brawl at ringside. Awesome. It kinda reminds me of that really cool Val Venis/Rikishi feud a few years ago that really came out of nowhere but just rocked the midcard for a month or so.

HBK promo with Todd Grisham. Uh oh. It's serious HBK. He's got his silly cowboy hat in his locker that says HBK on it. Tee hee. Clenched teeth promo - that's when you know HBK means business. He says he's going to show everyone he still has gas left in the tank. That's good but unless Cade's getting a huge push, I'm not sure what's next for HBK.

Kofi Kingson out next. He has been kinda stuck in a rut since losing the IC Title. Here comes Priceless. So, apparently even though Cole said it's a tag match, it's going to be Dibiase vs Kofi. I really like the second generation stable but they really could use something to make them stand out a little more and not make them look like mini-Ortons. Here comes CM Punk... I guess he's going to be in Kofi's corner. Whatever.

Kofi always looks like he's having so much fun in the ring. You would think that with the popularity of Punk, Bourne, and Kofi, the WWE might get the idea that the fans don't want everyone's wrestling style to be the same. Heeeey! Dibiase with a double stomp off the middle rope. Nice. Anyone else think Kofi could be a Tito Santana for this generation? Occasional IC champ, maybe a tag champ once in a while. Can pretty much always lose and never lose heat. Dibiase wins with the Million Dollar Legsweep which I kinda enjoy. I'm not sure about Manu yet. I don't even know if I've seen him wrestle. He can't play the Wild Samoan thing though which hurts him, I think.

ECW Main Event: Punk/Kofi/Bourne/Ortiz vs Rhodes/Dibiase/Morrison/Miz. Holy crap. That might be the best thing I've heard in ages. That could be a ton of fun.

Jericho backstage with Orton. Did Orton get more ink done during his injury? Jericho says he's going to "put Orton to work." Ooooh - mysterious.

John Cena health update. They're making the Cena/Batista match from Summerslam look like some kind of epic war. I don't remember if it was any good or not. Batista's putting over that he fucked up Cena's neck with the powerbomb but that Cena was still able to get up. Cena's doctor! I love these. They always remind me of that nutty looking guy they had do Steamboat's injury updates during the Savage angle. Showing Cena in rehab. 3-4 months the doctor says. So, that means Cena will be back next week, right?

Kane! Mark Henry! TONY ATLAS! WHO GOT A CELLA PHONE? Dolph Zigler might. He introduces himself but no one cares - probably no one at home either.

Rey Rey on his way to the ring. Here comes that tag match that I really think might blow ass. And I'm going to predict that it'll be Kane who fucks it up. Cause Mark Henry throwing Rey Rey around? Golden. Mark Henry bitchbeating Matt Hardy? Amazing. I don't really get the Kane/Rey feud - I guess it's the mask but... eh, whatever. Matt Hardy comes out. Man, Mark Henry has come a long way from fucking around with Mae Young and Chyna. Plus, he's got Tony Atlas with him. TONY ATLAS! Here comes Kane with quasi-new music. I'm guessing he's had that for a while and I just never noticed. Rey adjusts his mask while Kane stalks down the aisle. I wonder if that was intentional because it's kinda cool psychology.

Oh! Enzugiri seemed to catch Kane in the cheek. Matt Hardy in there with Kane and I feel safe in betting no one will mention their prior feud. Sekshul Choklit in the ring. Double dropkick on Kane makes me wish Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson were still around.

Awesome. We came back from commercial in a chinlock. That'll put asses in the seats. Crowd's pretty hot for this one. Some nice legwork on Henry. Beautiful clothesline by Henry. He really has settled into the big man bully offense so well. Rey Rey with a weird springboard legdrop on Henry. Tony Atlas has a shirt with no sleeves and a tie. I think they may be bringing back the Right To Censor. Yeah, Kane's in the ring and this match just went downhill in a hurry. Okay, Henry's headbutt just looked so much better than Kane's. How is that possible? The crowd stayed hot but Kane and Henry won when Kane pinned Matt Hardy. I have no idea how that makes any sense at all. Okay match, I guess.

Pete Rose getting Tombstoned is your 24/7 moment.

HBK vs Cade is next. It's odd how Cade and Kendrick started getting pushes at the same time. How pissed do you think Paul London is? I always thought Lance Cade had potential but even with this recent push, I haven't seen it. Spinebuster through a table in about two minutes. I'm hoping this ends soon or that was just silly. Cade's got a chair. This would be a good time for Paul London to save HBK and defend his honor against Cade for a couple months. Nope. HBK fighting back. Chairshot on Cade. Chair beatdown on Cade. Way to sell that table spot, Shawn. And that's that. Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Shawn beats him down some more with the chair after the match. He's got a mean look on his face. HBK heel turn? The fans are going batshit for him though. The announcers are still hyping a Jericho/Michaels feud. Really? The ladder match isn't the end of it?

They announce that Smackdown last week was the highest rated show in the history of MyNetworkTV. Well, that's really not saying much, is it? HHH vs Show for the gold on Friday. Might be cool.

Lawler in the ring announcing that Santino is going to be defending the IC Title at Cyber Sunday against a fan-picked opponent. Roddy Piper, Goldust, HONKY TONK MAN~! are your choices. Personally, I'm going for HTM. Goldust might be a better match but I'm still waiting for Dustin to come back and feud with Cody over the way he talks about Dusty.

Great Khali is here. Announcers talking about Johnny Knoxville. Is that one of the Jackass guys? Khali promo time. The crowd yelling, "WHAT?" which actually is accurate for the first time probably ever. They're showing the Knoxville clip now. So, Khali got pissed because Knoxville implied Khali's junk is small. Wow. This better be leading to a feud with Val Venis. More Khali promo. Where's a "HELLLLLLO LADIES" when you need it? Aw christ. Khali wants Knoxville to come to Raw next week. Okay... Khali is hosting the Kiss Cam. That's kinda funny. The camera showed Lilian who then got one laid on her by Khali. Man, I hope she gets paid well. First, the world's greatest love machine Viscera and now Khali.

Miz and Morrison sitting in on commentary. Awesome. Jillian singing Kurt Cobain. Not so awesome. Miz says he's losing the will to live - and cue Kelly Kelly. Kelly is looking more and more like Trish every week. Probably the goal. Cryme Time coming out too - they're going to be on commentary too. This is fantastic. Morrison yells, "I'm SORRY I have great abs!" They should let these four commentate on every match. This is the greatest segment in history. Morrison said, "Your dad is so nerdy, he wears his pants higher than HBK. Your mom is so fat, she has to borrow Mark Henry's belt extender." Morrison and Miz are owning this verbal showdown. I wonder how much of this is ad-libbed. I heard a "Vanilla Ice ain't got nothin' on me" in there too. Kelly won but the commentary saved a bowling shoe ugly match.

Batista's warming up. Yay.

Another video putting over Cena. What the hell? They've got HBK, Mickie, Batista, HHH, Maria all putting him over for going to the TV taping the same day as getting his surgery done. He must be coming back soon. This is a bit too much hype for weeks down the road.

Here comes Jericho. JBL's in. And cue the shenanigans. Regal is the guest timekeeper. Orton is a guest commentator - who actually gets a bit of a face pop when he's announced. And I hate to say it, but I think Orton's music is growing on me.

Typical guest ref booking. Jericho with slow counts for the face. Fast counts for the heel. Batista's going after the leg for some reason. Ric Flair mention for a Batista Figure Four. Orton hasn't said a word since he was asked a direct question early. Kinda cool. Regal works over Batista while Jericho "admonishes" JBL. Adamle sends in a new ref when Jericho gets bumped to the floor. Batista Bomb for the three count. Pretty solid match.

Adamle on the mic. Shane and Steph want things "shaken up." Adamle announces Jericho vs Batista for Cyber Sunday with the fans picking the guest ref. I'm guessing this is where Austin fits in. Choices are: Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, or Steve Austin. Another wasted Austin appearance, it sounds like.

Show's over. It was... okay. Nothing that I would've been bummed that I missed for sure. Oh well - it's just another manic Monday.

Kimbo Is The Real De- errr... Maybe Not

Well, that was a bust.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse for Elite XC, they have lightning strike them and totally fuck up their world.

The first bit of bad news came in the form of a text message informing me that Ken Shamrock had his head busted open while "warming up" for his fight with Kimbo. He required stitches to close the wound and no doctor would clear him to fight, effectively killing the highly-hyped showdown that EXC was counting on to save their collective asses. Now, why Shammy was having that kind of training on the day of the fight is another story altogether.

The second bit of bad news was the total scramble to fill the spot in the Main Event. Apparently Frank Shamrock was considered but the ultimate decision was made to promote former The Ultimate Fighter contestant Seth Petruzelli off the non-televised undercard into the Main Event - a decision apparently that did not sit well with Kimbo and his camp. This decision wasn't even announced to the arena crowd until ten minutes before they went on the air on CBS. That's just bad business no matter how you try to spin it.

The show itself was okay. A couple decent fights that failed to make absolutely any impact on me to the point where I can't even remember who was in them less than 24 hours later. The women's fight was fun. Gina had a decent showing and set herself up nicely for the big fight with Cyborg at some point in the future. Of course, the show also ran long again. Their time management is atrocious. They can't even manage to cut their video promos when they realize they're running long so of course, my DVR cut out before the Main Event which meant I had to catch all 14 seconds of it on YouTube.

Kimbo gets KTFO in absolutely no time flat.

Where does EXC go from there?

You have to book Kimbo vs Seth II and hype the shit out of it and pray that Kimbo dominates a rematch. There's money in a rematch but if Kimbo loses twice, his days as a cash cow are likely over.

Simple, huh?

My money's on the EXC fucking it up.

Game ON!

"When this postseason started, our magic number was eleven. Now we've got eight more to go."
-- Dodger Owner Frank McCourt

Need anything else be said?

I won't get to use my tickets tomorrow but hell, it was worth it.

Shamrock vs Slice + More From EXC

So, a lot is on the line for Elite XC tomorrow night with their latest CBS Prime Time special.

Obviously, their big meal tickets are Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano - so with both fighters in action tomorrow night, this show becomes very important - perhaps key - to their future as a company. There's been a lot of talk that they're bleeding money, big layoffs at the offices, and even some discussion of having to sell the company to save it. Showtime has been rumored as a possible suitor as has a merger with Affliction. But one thing is for sure, if they fail miserably tomorrow night, the offers may dry up completely.

The weigh-ins today seemed to have some excitement - sex and violence. First, the violence. Apparently, all hell broke loose when Kimbo turned his back on Shamrock instead of posing for the obligatory staredown. Shamrock reacted in typical Shamrock fashion, shoving Kimbo from behind and screaming, "Don't you turn your back on me!" or other such nonsense. I guess it serves the purpose of some last minute hype for the fight though. The sex was a lot more interesting though as Gina Carano failed to make weight yet again and was forced to strip down to not a stitch to eventually make the weight.


Awesome.

Anyways, the big deal is the Shamrock/Slice fight and it has obviously drawn some attention from casual fight fans. A few people who I would deem that have asked me about the fight in recent weeks. It's a freak show fight in all honesty that would surprise me if it's worth a damn. This isn't a fight designed to be a masterpiece - it's designed for some star power to collide and ultimately, they hope that it's a big name KO for Kimbo to make people forget the James Thompson debacle.

Hrm.

Shamrock is obviously not Shamrock from ten years ago but I can guarantee you that if Shamrock gets Kimbo down on the ground, he won't fail down there like James Thompson did. I don't think Shammy has what it takes anymore - and I think he'll make the big mistake of trying to stand and throw - so I'm pretty sure that Kimbo takes this one but... well, it may be more interesting than some people expect.

Oh, and Game 3 is on too.

Did someone say there was a fight happening tomorrow night? I suddenly lost interest.

Blue's Reviews: A Trio Of Musicals

Long-time readers of this blog have heard [read] it said before...

To quote my brother-in-law, I "have an affinity for musicals." I just can't help it. There's just something about an entire story presenting in the form of song that I just can't resist. I mean, you should have seen my face light up at the rumor yesterday that there may be a musical edition of Pushing Daisies down the road. Awesome.

Anyways, this is a long-delayed review so I decided to make it a super-sized one combining three separate reviews that I had intended on doing. I had planned on still doing them separately but then it occurred to me that since each was reviewing a musical - each in a different form - it would be kinda cool to mix them all into one. And thus, we arrive at this point in the road.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I talked a little bit about this in a post a couple of weeks ago but didn't even scratch the surface of how genius I thought this was. The backstory behind the creation of this is that Joss Whedon wrote it during the WGA Writer's Strike as a simple, inexpensive way to demonstrate that quality product could be made explicitly for the Internet - kinda a jab at the suits who didn't want to give the writers their due for Internet work because it was a "unproven field." It was initially released for free on the Internet and quickly gained a cult following - a Joss Whedon show gaining a cult following? Go figure! I knew I probably would love it because... well, I love Joss Whedon and his work... but somehow I kept managing to not get to see it. That finally changed a few weeks ago when the Missus and I both watched it on Hulu and were blown away.

You have to start with the cast because whether you want to admit it or not, the idea of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as opposing superheroes and villains is just so damn awesome, how can you not watch it? Add in Felicia Day who did just fine in her role as Penny, the unrequited love of Dr. Horrible's life, and you've got yourself a winning combination.


The plot is simple enough to follow but complex enough that after the 42 minutes of the "show," it leaves you wanting more. We've got Billy/Dr. Horrible shooting a video blog of himself and talking about wanting to join the Evil League of Evil - no, that's not a typo. He's been striving to join the League for a long time and is looking for the appropriate evil deed to gain entry. But Dr. Horrible is not your ordinary supervillain. He's in love. Penny is the apple of his eye - but she's never even noticed him despite their weekly visits to the same laundromat. Horrible is trying to make a freeze ray and hopes that his public theft of his final needed ingredient will gain the respect of Bad Horse, the leader of the League. From there, our story unfolds with the arrival of Horrible's arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer and hilarity ensues.

Until the end - which will likely knock the wind out of you and leave you cursing Joss Whedon a bit. But you'll have to admit the man knows how to rip a visceral emotional reaction out of you. And if you've seen the Buffy musical, you'll also have to admit he makes a damn fine, catchy-as-all-hell musical.

The best praise I can heap upon Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is that when it ends - you actually want a sequel. And as someone who has actually attended a "Once More With Feeling" [the Buffy musical] sing-along, I have to wonder if at some point, Dr. Horrible sing-alongs will become the norm.

From the land of Internet videos, we move on to the stage.

Wicked - Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California - September 17, 2008

For a long while now, the Missus and I have planned on going to see Wicked over at the Pantages before it wraps up its' run in a couple of months. So, when the opportunity presented itself to get some damn fine seats through Costco for her birthday, we decided to make the plunge. This was our second time seeing Wicked - the first being at the Orange County Performing Arts Center a couple of years ago. This version blew that one out of the water.

For those unaware, Wicked is the story of The Wizard Of Oz told through a slightly skewed point of view. As the marketing materials say, "A Lot Happened Before Dorothy Dropped In." The story actually leads up to that point and goes a little bit beyond it which creates a few plot conflicts for people who know The Wizard Of Oz - like those of us who remember it only being shown once a year on television on CBS as a child and waited every year for that showing - but if you can ignore the conflicts, you'll enjoy it just fine. The story is also loosely based on a novel - but in my opinion, this is one of the few instances where the movie/play/etc. FAR exceeds what the novel pulled off. In fact, the novel is high on my "Do Not Recommend" list. Don't read it thinking you'll like it because you liked the musical version.

Again, we'll start with the cast. There's three cast members in Wicked that need to not suck to successfully pull the show off. Glinda, Elphaba [the Wicked Witch... or is she?], and Fiyero. This particular cast hit two of those out of the park and... well, the other was okay. First, the bad. Derrick Williams just did not fly for me as Fiyero. The role of Fiyero is the spoiled rich kid who is used to having everything go his way as he "dances through life." But Williams just failed at expressing that to me. It also might have had something to do with the image of Fiyero in my mind. I always picture him as a long-haired, hippie type - something like "Sunshine" in Remember The Titans before he gets his hair cut. Derrick Williams was none of those things. It just didn't match up to what was in my head so that probably didn't help matters. His acting also seemed pretty shoddy to me.

The good? Teal Wicks as Elphaba was pretty good. Again, her acting didn't seem all that great at spots but her vocals were amazing. She constantly blew me away song after song - even songs that I don't particularly like in the show [of which there are several]. Her shining moment came at the end of the first act during Defying Gravity - which is, of course, the show's signature song. She was absolutely incredible during the song and during the last few seconds of the act when she's raised above the stage for the finale, she took it to a whole other level and really created a breathtaking moment. There were a sprinkling of wet eyes all around when the lights came up for intermission to be sure.

But the shining star by far in this production of Wicked is Erin Mackey as Glinda. And it wasn't the vocals - although those were nothing to sneeze at. But she had the character down pat. She WAS Glinda and really gave me a glimpse at how Kristin Chenowith must have been in that role. She had all the little things down so well. The hair toss-toss, the voice, the attitude - it was an incredible sight to see and she had the crowd in the palm of her hand every second that she was on stage. If you get a chance to see the show with her in it, do so - you will not be sorry.

As for the musical itself, Wicked is an interesting one for me. While there are songs in the show that I really love [Defying Gravity, For Good, Dancing Through Life] - the songs that I dislike, I STRONGLY dislike and won't even listen to when they come up on shuffle on my iPod. If you contrast that to Rent which has maybe one or two songs that I skip, Wicked comes up a bit short. I've never liked the start of the show as I think it builds too slowly and starts off flat with two numbers that don't do much. In fact, when I first saw the show, I thought I was going to hate it until Elphaba's "The Wizard And I" number. From there, they hit a strong patch from "What Is This Feeling" all the way through to the end of the first act with the exception of "Something Bad" and "A Sentimental Man" - although having Steve from Married With Children singing the latter seemed to add something to it that doesn't come across well on "tape." One of my other problems with Wicked is that it's top heavy. The second act only has two musical numbers that I really like which makes it come off flat. But it's paced faster so you really don't notice it too much.

All in all, this production of Wicked is very well done and with the amazing Pantages as its' home, you're doing yourself a disservice if you're a musical fan and you don't get down to Hollywood to check it out before the end of the run. Also, as a "sneak peek," the new season at the Pantages for 2009 looks awesome with runs of Phantom, Rent, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia, and Grease among others. Add to that OCPAC getting Avenue Q next year and it should be a fun year for musical fans in SoCal.

And speaking of Rent...

Rent Filmed Live On Broadway

Someone at work who knows I'm a huge Rent fan tipped me off about this. As some of you may be aware, my favorite stage musical just finished up its' Broadway run in September. In tribute to this, they taped the final two Rent performances and spliced the footage together to show the entire musical from start to finish. They also hyped that original Rent cast members would be involved as well. This was set up as a series of special screenings - $20 per ticket over a few nights. As a long time fan of Rent, I just had to check it out as I've always wished they would release all musicals in this fashion on DVD once they had hit the downslide of their run.

After seeing it, I was a little torn. On the plus side, they really did capture the feel of being in the building for the show. With the digital projection, the film was crystal clear and the sound was great. The editing was a little weird for me though. They opted to do a multi-camera shoot of it as opposed to just doing one stationary "wide shot" camera - which probably was the right decision as it allowed for zooming in on actors' expressions and the like but to someone who is used to the musical as it is, it was a little odd to see.

That being said - it was still Rent so I loved it. The music was great, the acting was solid. I thought the person playing Roger was one of the best I had seen in that role as most Rogers tend to get a little screamy at points but he always seemed in control of his voice. The rest of the cast was good enough - nothing super-impressive but it was good.

The biggest disappointment in this was the much-hyped appearance by the original cast who simply walked on stage and sang "Seasons Of Love" with the current cast. Nothing great at all. I guess it was kinda cool to see the old cast back on that stage but... eh, whatever. If you're going to see it for that reason, skip it. But if you've never seen Rent before, this is a decent way to get introduced to it. In the end though, I thought the experience fell a bit flat compared to seeing it on stage. It was better than nothing and I'm hopeful it gets released on DVD but given the choice, you should make an effort to see it on stage whenever the chance prevents itself.

Whew. Annnnnd I'm spent. Well, at least it'll get those rabid Blue fans who wanted this review to be done off my back.

Blue's Liveblog: NLDS Game One

The horrific economy yields its' first good news as I get sent home early from work because it's dead - just in time to watch the game. I paused it as soon as I walked through the door so I may be a little bit behind for the first few notes:

3:42 PM - Returned from the DL leadoff man Rafael Furcal is o-2 to start the game. That's a bad sign as I click pause once more to return to live action.

3:45 - Strike Three swinging. I'm not a believer in omens but - well, that one kind of speaks for itself if you believe in that kind of thing, no? Martin works a 3-2 count on a very close Ball 3.

3:47 - 1st Manny appearance draws boos from the Cubs fans. If he goes long with a runner on, he'll draw a lot more.

3:48 - Fuck. Cursed him. DP ball. I'll go shut up now.

3:53 - Jesus Christ, I love Tony Gwynn but he is shit on the mic. I'm sure he has tremendous insight to offer but his delivery is about as enthralling as listening to paint dry. It seems like Lowe is making a lot of pitches early but typical of modern sports announcers, they haven't mentioned it yet. He can't afford to make a lot of pitches while recovering from the flu. Just as I write that, he goes to 3-2 on the second straight hitter. That's not good.

3:58 - Walked the three hitter. Aramis Ramirez looking to make Lowe pay by drawing a 2-0 count early but Lowe induces the ground ball to get out of it safely. Still too many pitches for my liking but so far so good.

4:03 - Ethier draws a leadoff walk on another close call. Looks like the ump is calling a tight zone so far today. Loney up with a chance to get something going.

4:04 - Apparently Loney was 3rd in the league in GIDP this year. What a shitty stat. Between that and Kemp being close to [or setting?] the Dodger record for Ks, the young 'uns had some trying times this year. Loney pops up for the first out to bring up the aforementioned Kemp.

4:06 - Wow. The announcers just said it's "World Championship Or Bust" for the Cubs and their fans. Talk about getting looked over. I hope the Dodgers show a little more fire in their bellies for that kind of talk than the Lakers did in the Finals. Kemp flies out, Ethier still stuck at first. I talked last night about how the series might come down to taking advantage of situations when you had them. As Dewitt flies out, not budging someone who led off the inning with a walk is a perfect example of that.

4:11 - So, the NLDS is sponsored by Blackberry. With the tremendous MLB At Bat app for the iPhone, you would think they would've tried to get Apple to drop some coin. It'd make MLB look a little younger and hipper than the stodgy boring Blackberry does. It's one of those little things that keeps MLB behind the NFL and the NBA as the "cool" sports. Of course, the NBA had Hall And Oates perform at the All-Star Game in recent years so what the hell do I know? Linedrive single for Jim Edmonds with one out in the second for the first hit of the game. Fucking former Angels.

4:15 - Fuck me. Two-run shot by Mark DeRosa. Just barely fair but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as Jesse "The Body" Ventura used to say. Cubs up 2-0 in the second is not the way the Dodgers wanted to get this thing going early. Lowe needs to bear down and not get rattled.

4:17 - Grrr. Don't let the opposing pitcher get a hit!

4:19 - Good lord. Fukodome with a fluke catch on Casey Blake's foul ball. Talk about curses. He almost tweaked his knee though doing it on one of those stupid baseline bullpens. Hey! Lou Pinella manages the Cubs! Who knew?

4:21 - Lowe battles to a 2-2 count. At least someone's working the count. Check swing gets to a full count for D-Lowe. Ball four! D-Lowe draws the walk - Dempster's third walk of the game.
Raffy threatens a running bunt for Strike One. Might not be a bad idea with no outs but with one, I'm not sure I'd sacrifice an out at this point.

4:23 - Wooo! Up and in on Raffy. Another full count. Beautiful camera shot of Martin on deck with an amazing sky in the background. Ball four puts Raffy on to put two one with one out with Martin and Manny up next.

4:25 - LOOK OUT! Martin almost gets popped on a bunt attempt - and then misses a pitch outside. Manny gets the benefit of the awesome camera shot this time. It's one of those shots that probably wouldn't look all that great in standard def but is absolutely gorgeous in HD. Count draws even on a pitch that almost snuck past Soto. Dempster hits the 50 pitch mark which makes me wonder how the Cubs 'pen is.

4:28 - Martin takes him deep but just misses it. Soriano tracks it down on the warning track which prompts an obscenity from me. Manny gets another chance to make an offensive impact with runners on first and second with two outs.

4:29 - Two up and in pitches on Manny. Dempster's a bit wild this inning. Infield single for Manny loads 'em up for Ethier. Come on, Andre!

4:32 - Ethier works the count to 2-2. The announcers are talking about the big difference for Andre since Manny showed up. Of course, most of that was with Andre hitting in front of Manny, not behind him. Full count. Payoff pitch on the way.

4:33 - Strike 3 swinging. Missed opportunity #2. Hey! An iPhone commercial! This one is telling you how great the iPhone is as a gaming platform - whoops! It's actually an iPod Touch commercial. First time I've seen that one.

4:35 - Caught up with the live feed so this should be "right" the rest of the way. A hard ground ball by Fukudome is gobbled up by Dewitt for the first out. The Cubs sure aren't a soft hitting team. Almost every ball has been hit hard - even the outs. Now it's D-Lowe with some wildness, drawing a full count on Lee. Too many pitches.

4:38 - Lowe needs a quick groundball here to get out of the inning. He can't keep throwing this many pitches. Send Greg Maddux out there to talk to him!

4:39 - And there's my double play groundball. Nice job, D-Lowe.

4:40 - Blackberry commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's not. I just like the physical keyboard. Everything else falls way short of the iPhone in my oh-so-humble opinion. Viagra commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's- errr, I mean... uhhh... not that I... it's this guy that I know who... hey! Captain Morgan commercial!

4:42 - Time for a beer. Be right back.

4:43 - Thanks for waiting! With a Red Stripe in hand, I feel much more "off work." Loney flies out to Soriano for the first out. Soriano did some kind of a little hop when he caught the ball. Has he always done that? Kemp grounds out weakly on an 0-2 count. MLB Record: 3,852 Reg. Season Wins between Torre and Pinella for the biggest combined total ever for two opposing postseason managers. How 'bout that?

4:45 - Dewitt with a blooper for the Dodgers' second hit of the game. Casey Blake up with two outs to try and get something going. Dempster seems a little more on target in this inning. The announcers points out the Dodgers have 4 LOB already in the game. Thanks - I wasn't aware. Shit. Blake lines out to end the inning. I guess we'll call that a missed opportunity but with two outs, they probably weren't likely to do much.

4:48 - Kutcher commercial for the Nikon D60. I've been thinking about buying a digital SLR in the near future but I'd hate to tell people that I researched the camera because the guy from Punk'd used it to hit on bridesmaids.

4:49 - Another snazzy HD shot or two as they come back from commercial. I just can't tell people enough how much I love sports in HD. I talked to someone recently though who said that the over-the-air HD is even better. I find that hard to believe. At what point does the signal just get so good that our eyes can't tell the difference anymore? The announcers chat about the Angels/Sox series. Personally, I'll believe the Angels can beat the Sox in the postseason when I see it. Nothing has proven they can yet. Speaking of Angels, Edmonds goes down on strikes on a check swing third strike.

4:53 - Oh joy. Replay of the homerun. Awesome. They haven't mentioned how many pitches Lowe has made yet. I hate sports announcers not named Vin Scully anymore. DeRosa singles up the middle to give the Cubs a runner with two outs. Base hit to right by Theriot puts two on with two outs with Dempster at the plate.

4:55 - Dempster chases two out of the zone to get the Dodgers out of the inning. Thank god.

5:01 - 3-0 count to Raffy with one out. He takes a high strike - a very high strike. So much for squeezing the zone. Ball four on a pitch I thought was closer than the high strike. Oh well. It all evens out, I suppose. Raffy with a walk to give Martin and Manny a shot to get things going for the Blue Crew.

5:04: 3-0 count to Martin. They need to be careful here. This could be a very key at-bat. Another high strike to put the count at 3-1. Martin flies out. Sigh. Not deep enough to advance a runner again. That brings up Manny with two outs and a runner on again. I can't figure out why Manny wears a mouthpiece. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in baseball wear one before. Two strikes brings the crowd to their feet. High fastball - Manny doesn't go for it. Foul ball to keep the count 1-2.

5:07 - A lot of pressure on Manny. He's got to know that Dodger fans have a lot of their hopes riding on his shoulders. Another high fastball that he ignores. 2-2. Another high fastball to take the count full. Pinella apparently has told a "sideline reporter" that this is the worst control Dempster's had all year. Great. I hate hearing stats like that when the Dodgers aren't taking advantage of it. Ball four inside to put Manny on and put Ethier in the pressure spot again. Manny with a great at-bat to draw the walk.

5:09 - And if there's a lot of pressure on Manny, Ethier must be feeling it too. Two at-bats in a row, he's found himself in a tight spot. Dempster has thrown 99 pitches so far. The 100th pitch is inside for a ball. 2-1 count for Ethier. He carried the team through the late part of the year and they could use a little magic from him now. 3-1 count with Loney on deck. The announcers speculate that Dempster's pitching around Ethier to get to Loney. Ball four on three walks. That makes seven walks for the game for Dempster. Seven walks and the Dodgers don't have a run yet.

5:12 - Being at Wrigley Field always brings Harry Caray memories to mind and as Harry would say, "The sacks are bulging" as Loney steps up and misses the first pitch badly. Loney needs to do something badly here. 0-2 count. Just barely got a piece of a third pitch to stay alive. If Loney strikes out on three pitches, I bet Nomar gets the start in game 2.

5:14 - Very high fastball almost gets away. 1-2 count. DEEEEEEEEEEEEP! GRAND SLAM!!!
Holy shit! That's the beauty of the liveblog. One moment you're sending someone to the bench and the next you want to be there to hug the shit out of them. Thank god for the windy Wrigley sky! It's the 3rd grand slam in Dodgers postseason history. Kemp slaps one into the alley for a stand-up double. And here comes the hook. Dempster's night is over in the top of the fifth inning.

5:19 - Announcers talking about walks "tempting the baseball Gods." Sounds good to me. By the way, the salami was to center field too. It seemed to hang in the air forever. 2-2 count to Dewitt with two outs. He strikes out to end the inning but as Mr. Scully would say, "The damage has been done." A two run lead in the middle of the fifth. Now the pressure on the pitching staff becomes even greater. Oh, and I guess we'll find out how the Cubs' pen is.

5:24 - Torre being interviewed. Nothing really of note. He likes Lowe being out there with his experience, big at-bat for Manny, yadda. Casey Blake takes a liner off the body for an error. Bad scoring, IMO. Fukudome on first with one out and Lee at the plate. Lowe goes over the first a couple times to keep him close. This is a dangerous situation with Lee and Ramirez coming up. Pitchout but no activity.

5:26 - Lowe goes to first again. The announcers talk about the number of GIDPs for Lee. We could use another groundball here to get out of this inning and leave Aramis stranded on deck. 1-2 count to Lee as he takes a big cut. Another throw to first. Lowe's really worried about the runner apparently. Low and outside to take the count to two and two. Like I said, a dangerous situation.

5:28 - YES! DP hopper to short! Good job, D-Lowe! Earn that big contract coming your way in the winter, baby! Dodgers holding on to the 4-2 lead moving in to the Top of the Sixth.

5:30 - I was just checking my Google Reader during the commercial and saw some Laker news from training camp. I totally had forgotten that training camp was opening. It's interesting as a fan of both teams to see where your loyalties shift when the seasons collide. Obviously, my focus won't be on the Lakers as long as the Dodgers are in the postseason just as my focus is never really solely on the Dodgers until after May or June most seasons. But it is night to have the ability to say things like, "I can't wait for (insert team here) season to begin" as opposed to "Wait til next year."

5:33 - 3-0 count to Lowe draws some boos from the Cubbie faithful. Ball four puts Lowe on for the eighth walk by the Cubs' pitching staff of the night. Split-screen shot of Zambrano and Chad Billingsley. It's gonna be a big night for Chad tomorrow and I have every confidence he's going to show the talent that has made me root so hard for him every since his initial call up. Raffy almost gets plunked as the count moves to 2-0. Jason Marquis up in the 'pen. It's always interesting to see how a starter will do when coming out of the bullpen.

5:35 - Sarcastic cheer from the fans on Strike One. I wonder how long of a leash Raffy will have in this series. He hasn't played badly tonight but Angel Berroa was fantastic during the last month or so of the season. Also, with Nomar on the bench, Raffy has to feel the pressure a bit. He strikes out for the second out of the inning to bring up Martin with a runner on first.

5:38 - Martin hits the ball hard but right to Soriano for the third out. Bottom of the sixth coming up.

5:42 - A leadoff double by Aramis Ramirez off the ivy in center just shows how important that DP ball was in the last inning. But a man in scoring position with no outs puts Lowe in another dangerous situation. He'll need to work carefully. Cory Wade gets up to throw in the Dodgers' pen as Lowe falls to 2-0 to Soto. Martin and Honeycutt to the mound to try and settle Lowe - and probably to buy some time for Wade to get heated up in case they need him. Beautiful blimp shot during the mound conference of the stadium.

5:44 - Lowe looks a little tired as they show him settling back in on the mound. The flu might have sapped some stamina from him. Strike one to Soto with Edmonds on deck. Strike two with a low fastball. Strike three! Very big at-bat there for Lowe. He's still got to be on his game with the tying run at the plate with every hitter in this inning though. Jim Edmonds steps in 1 for 2 on the night looking to get the Cubs even in a hurry.

5:46 - Lowe calls Martin to the mound. That was interesting. The announcers are talking about Saito being the planned closer if they get to that point tonight with Broxton as the setup man. 2-0 count to Edmonds with DeRosa on deck. I don't like this at all. I'm very nervous right now. Lowe steps off the mound again. He and Martin are having trouble working together at the moment. Strike One to Edmonds on the outside corner. Grounder to second for the first out as Ramirez moves over to third on the play.

5:47 - DeRosa up as the tying run. 92 pitches for Lowe is finally shown as an on-screen graphic that the announcers ignore. Not horrible for the second. Whew. Ethier catches a fly ball to end the inning. Again, great pitching by D-Lowe to cling to that 4-2 lead and strand a runner a third.

5:49 - Wow. Commercial for Appaloosa with the quote "It's a classic in the vein of Unforgiven." That's damn high praise. Anyone seen it yet? I'm eager to check it out ASAP after that soundbite.

5:51 - With Manny, Ethier, and Loney coming up, I'd feel a lot better with some more runs on the board. Still a lot of baseball left to play in this game. Manny fouls one off his foot and walks it off. He's still not back in the box yet. Now, he settles in with an 0-2 count. Closeup of Manny's helmet which looks even more disgusting in HD. GONNNNNNE! MANNY SOLO SHOT! I was just about to comment on how there was an article in the Times that credited Manny with earning the Dodgers about 7.5 million dollars in revenue in his short stay. His negotiations are going to be very interesting. Hey, Manny - don't forget that guy who wanted his picture with you on his wedding day. Remember when he showed you the cufflinks made of Dodger Stadium seats? Yeah. We know that's why you want to stay. Give us the hometown discount for it!

5:55 - Ethier goes down quietly. Loney up with one out and an 0-2 count. And my beer is finally gone. Be right back!

5:56 - Red Stripe #2 is ready! Loney out as well. Kemp up with a 1-1 count and two outs. The announcers are still talking about Manny. It's hard not to. The guy is just amazing. From his performance on the field to the effect he's had off the field on the team's chemistry. Just amazing. Kemp Ks to end the inning. Well, I'll take the one run extra, I suppose!

6:01 - Cory Wade in to pitch to replace Lowe. Now I'm really nervous. There was a great story about Wade I saw in the past couple of days where he talked about how he never would have dreamed he'd be pitching in October this year. He was scheduled to start the season at Double A, I believe. You've gotta love a story like that. Kid, you're there now and it's VERY VERY important that you don't stink today! Have at it.

6:03 - Another replay of the Manny homer. How the fuck did he do that? He bent over and golfed that one. Amazing. Hard single to center for... some guy... he was pinch-hitting for the pitcher. That brings up Soriano with a runner on and one out. Wade would do well to channel some D-Lowe magic and get a groundball here. 0-2 count on Soriano. Broxton's throwing in the 'pen to presumably get ready for the eighth inning to follow the Torre plan of Broxton to Saito. Popup by Soriano for the second out.

6:06 - Fukudome up. Wade's making me nervous because a lot of his pitches are ending up in the zone. You make a mistake high with some guys in the Cubs lineup and you'll be searching the streets outside Wrigley for the ball. Wade nips the corner to get to a 2-2 count. Much better pitches there and he strikes him out with a low pitch. Heading into the eighth with a 5-2 lead.

6:08 - I fucking hate "Frank TV." I've never seen it - I don't want to ever see it. But I fucking hate it. I hated it when they showed tons of commercials for it during the NBA playoffs and I'm going to hate it even more if they're going to show them during the MLB playoffs too. Lots of financial broker ads right now. Have they missed the news that no one has any money to invest at the moment?

6:12 - Jeff Samardzija in for the Cubs - a great baseball Scrablle name by the way. He was throwing some heat until Dewitt bashed one off the ivy for a leadoff triple. Beautiful. More runs, guys. Add some more. Jeff "Mr. Personality" Kent on deck to bat for Cory Wade as Casey Blake looks to get the run home. Almost thrown away in a wild pitch. Soto's been awesome to keep the ball in front of him all night on some very tough pitches to handle. Closeup right there of the Wrigley lights - remember when they played all their games during the day? Good times. Another ball in the dirt that Soto has to save.

6:14 - Casey Blake grounds one up the middle to bring home Dewitt and make it 6-2 for the Boys In Blue. Nice piece of hitting. Kent comes up with the chance to add on to that. Kent grounds into a weird double play. Figures. Wasn't he involved in that stupid two guys tagged out at home against the Mets too? Raffy comes up 0 for 2. He needs a hit here to get himself on track. 2-2 count. Soriano catches a sailing fly ball on the warning track for the third out. Welp, here comes Johnny B. Goode.

6:22 - Johnny's in to bring the heat. Berroa in at second as a defensive replacement. Broxton hits 96 on the gun with his second pitch to take the count to 1-1. He tries to nibble and misses the black. 97 inside makes Lee swing through it. Berroa gobbles up a ground ball for the first out. The crowd is silent. Camera shot of the announcers. Ron Darling looks just like he always did. Tony Gwynn looks fat. Which means he looks just like he always did too.

6:25 - Johnny goes inside with a 99 mph fastball. That's enough to leave a puddle in the batters box. Rising fastball gets chased by Aramis. Flyball out for the second out. Broxton looks sharp so far as Soto comes up to the plate. Announcers are discussing how Saito is not an automatic lock to pitch the ninth since Torre doesn't know if he can use him in back-to-back games yet. Would Broxton get a chance to go two innings? That's a little scary since that makes him tough to use tomorrow if you need him too. No one else is warming or I would think maybe Kershaw or Maddux was a possibility to close. Broxton walks Soto. Raffy gets the signal to go in to talk to Broxton to buy Saito time to warm up. So much for that discussion.

6:28 - Edmonds at the plate with a runner on first and two outs. Wheeew. Very close foul ball in left field. Just barely missed the chalk. That would have scored one because Manny is... well, Manny. Probably would've left Edmonds at third too. 0-2 count annnnnnnnd... Edmonds sends one deeeeeeeep - CAUGHT! Kemp catches it on the track for the third out. That was too close. Broxton's been making me nervous for several weeks now. I wonder if the closing duties [and his fat ass] have worn him down a little bit late in the season. It could become a factor at some point.

6:34 - Marquis finally comes in to face Martin, Manny, and Ethier. Saito is heating up. Is it wrong that I still have butterflies? HOME RUN FOR MARTIN! Solo shot to lead off the inning and that's good to see as he's been struggling a bit.

6:35 - Second beer is gone! Be right back!

6:36 - Red Stripe #3 says hello! The announcers claim they've never heard Wrigley Field this quiet. Maddux joins Saito in the 'pen. Torre's reading my blog! Heeeeeey Joe! Where you goin' with that gun in yo' hand? Strike three to Manny gets some cheers from the Chicago crowd. Ethier steps in with no pressure on him. That's gotta be nice. This ump takes a long time to call the ball/strike. I wonder if it's the same guy Vinny was bitching about last week. Ethier unloads... but Edmonds pulls it in on the warning track for the second out.

6:39 - Loney up to the plate 1 for 4 - and of course, we know the 1. They showed a shot of the dugout during a grand slam replay and Martin did some crazy overjoyed leap that made me giggle just now. Loney grounds out for the third out and - here comes Maddux! This should be... interesting. Hang tight, Dodger fans!

6:41 - I just realized they didn't even mention who sang during the Seventh Inning Stretch. Ridiculous. That's one of those classic Wrigley moments that deserves to be seen and a commercial or two could (and should) be sacrificed for it.

6:43 - So, if Maddux does well in relief, he might be able to pitch until he's 60. Quick 0-2 count to DeRosa. Ron Darling sounds like he's watching his hero and makes the comment that when he pitched against the Professor, "I was playing checkers while he was playing chess." Awesome. Even as bad as Maddux has pitched with the Dodgers, you have to like your chances when Greg Maddux takes the mound for your squad. DeRosa is fighting off a few pitches though to stay alive. Maddux isn't going to overpower anyone. Close one called a ball to make it a full count. Grounder to Furcal for out #1.

6:46 - Maddux just looks so effortless out there. Loney leaps to knock down a line drive and they almost beat Theriot to first. Maddux missed the bag [according to the replay] and Theriot is safe at first with one out.

6:47 - Darryle Ward is hitting? DARRYLE WARD?! Where the hell did they find him? He grounds out to first. Theriot advances to third after stealing second. Saito back up to throw again - just in case. Soriano comes up with a runner on third and two outs. The Sox and Angels are up next. I'll probably watch some/most of that until the premiere of Pushing Daisies comes on.

6:49 - Loney catches a looper from Soriano - and the Cub fans boo. Ungrateful fucks. But the important thing is the Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS.

Did you catch that?

The Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS! WOOOOOOO!

It's Go Time

Welp, much to my dismay, I was unable to get anyone to cover my shift tomorrow at work so I'll be slaving away for "the man" when I should be at home, kicked back watching the game. I'm going to attempt to avoid hearing anything about the game - but I'm sure that'll be pretty much impossible since I work until 8:30... a full 2 and a half hours after the game will likely be over. But I'll be sending as many good vibrations as possible to my boys in Blue as they battle the Cubbies in Chi-Town.

The key to the series is pitching. Both teams have good pitching so it'll be important to take advantage of the chances you get on offense and to avoid big mistakes on defense.

Timingwise, the key is taking one of the games in Chicago. Losing both would put them in a deep hole to try and dig out of. You manage to "steal one" in Chicago, you put yourself in position to hold serve and win the series. That's gotta be the goal at minimum.

The odds are long. Almost every so-called expert out there is picking the Cubs to win and win handily. But I've heard that before.

20 years before to be exact.

I know this'll sound familiar to fans of this blog but... well, it's gotta be said.

You've gotta believe, baby. You've gotta believe.

"Wait, wait - I've got it. There's this cat, ya dig? And he's a ninja!"

I'm not a big cat person. It could be my Mom's obsession with them ever since my dog died. It could be my aunts having three cats that I actually liked die from feline leukemia when I was younger. Maybe it's that fucking beast that belonged to my friend Brian's mom that jumped on my arms and clawed the shit out of them years ago.

Anyways, I'm not a big cat person. But I'll be damned if this wasn't just too awesome not to share. I came across it on a podcast that I subscribe to but I can't remember which one.

Enjoy!

The Creative Process: Uh oh

The Creative Process went off track majorly this week. You may recall earlier in the week when I mentioned how I had two days off to write - well, I ended up working both days and as I approach my tenth consecutive day working, I've barely had time to write on here let alone work on the screenplay.

But here's a twist I didn't see coming - a two-part twist in fact.

First, I did actually manage to start the new screenplay before I was asked to cover for a sick co-worker. I was about three pages deep into it, writing a scene that I had played over and over in my head for weeks when I believe the following words came out of my mouth...

"Wow, this really sucks."

Not the idea, mind you, or the scene itself. But the dialogue was horrible. So much so in fact that I pondered making the opening sequence silent (an idea I still think might work.) So, Twist #1 saw me glaring painfully at the words I had written and thinking about restarting it from scratch.

And then the second twist occurred.

Annoyed, angry, irritated, upset, frustrated, sickened - all would be good words to toss in here about how I felt as I was driving to work and thinking about what I had written when something popped into my brain.

The novel idea I had mentioned previously. And I suddenly started wondering if I could turn that into a screenplay instead since I really liked the idea. And the more I started thinking about the idea, the more I liked it. And the more I liked it, the more I kept thinking about it and how I could evolve it.

And then I thought of something else I had seen recently which gave me a whole new way to tackle this idea.

And now?

Now, I sit here wondering if my decision between two screenplay ideas just got bushwhacked by a third - a dark horse if you weeeeeel - that might turn out better than either of the others at this particular moment in time.

I have two days off this week - maybe three if I make someone cover for me so I can watch Game One on Wednesday.

The plot, once more, thickens. Stay tuned.

Mets suck

Welp. So much for that. Bring on the Cubs!
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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.