Ongoing 2009 Match Of The Year Blog

I've always been jealous of those pro wrestling writer/fans that seem to have total recall over every match they've seen in a year when it comes time to pick the Match of the Year. And last year, I saw a great idea where someone actually kept an ongoing post where they picked their top matches of the year in order as they saw them.

Thus, I shall attempt to do the same this year.

So, I watched the January 2nd Smackdown and saw nothing that was horribly offensive yet nothing that was really MOTY-worthy either. I started watching Raw from 1/5 a couple of days ago and set out to finish it this morning.

To me, to be considered for this list, it has to meet two requirements:
1] I have to feel immediately after the match is over like I would really want to watch the match again in the future. I have to feel the motivation to drag a blank DVD out and record the match for my future viewing.
2] I have to feel like I'll remember the match in a week.

I went into Raw with some high hopes as they had announced Punk vs Regal and Kofi/Rey vs Miz/Morrison. Punk/Regal turned into a screwjob for the angle's sake to set up a rematch next week - I'm cool with that. The tag match was a lot of fun with a great extended beatdown on Kofi's leg. Kofi played a great face in peril but the hot tag left a lot to be desired to me although I dug Rey's moonsault armdrag muchly. The finish was awesome even though it was botched a bit and had to have Morrison crawl across the ring to put himself in 619 position. But Rey Rey going for the springboard and getting hit with the move Morrison calls the "Chuck Norris?" Golden.

Unfortunately though, I think I'm likely to forget the match very quickly. And to be honest, I'm not sure I'd actually want to rewatch it at some point either. So, while a solid TV match that I enjoyed, it's not making the list.

The Main Event did absolutely nothing for me. The intrigue over what HBK would do tried to carry it but I just wasn't feeling it.

So, we're 0 for 2009 so far with viewings of ECW and TNA still on deck.

Writing For Writing's Sake

So, I foolishly gave in to the temptation to make a New Year's Resolution this year... sorta.  I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was pondering making one about writing every day for at least one hour per day. That mention kinda evolved into me actually doing it - then me modifying it to say that if I did something creative for one hour per day, I'd be happy.  That gave me a loophole in case I wanted to do some video editing or photography or what have you.  Last night, I got to work on the template for this page to fill my creative need.

It's a Resolution that is quite the double-edged sword.  On the one hand, it's a fantastic idea for an aspiring writer to set aside 1/24th of every day to their craft.  On the other, it really, really sucks because it's a bitch to try and find that hour.  Let's look at this from a realistic point of view...

We start with the 24 hours...

Let's take out 8 that hopefully is spent sleeping every day.  We're down to 16.

Now, we're going to consider this hypothetical day a work day since those days will be the hardest to live up to this lofty goal.  Assuming an eight hour shift with an hour for lunch... we're down to 7 potential hours to work with.

7 hours minus let's go with 90 minutes for getting ready for work, driving to work, and driving home from work - assuming I don't have to stop anywhere on the drive to and from work which is also quite the assumption to make.  We're down to 5.5 hours.

Knock out a half hour to an hour for dinner.  We'll split the difference.

4.75 hours remaining.

Damn.  You'd think I could find an hour out of nearly five hours a day.

This really didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.  I need some of that fuzzy math to work with.

No, no - what I really need is a new laptop so that I can multitask and write while watching TV.  That oughta produce some stellar work.  Yeah!  That's the ticket!

I actually did get pretty excited earlier this week about a new screenplay idea that I think I could actually self-produce.  One of the guys at work thinks I should not only shoot it myself - but act in it myself as well to see if I can actually put together a full feature length film on my own.  As someone who is "in the industry," he believes that if I can do it, I can sell it - and myself - to the highest bidder.  We shot some ideas back and forth for a few minutes the other night and it was as creatively alive as I've felt since I was in the middle of writing my first screenplay.

There's something that really is quite magical about working in a creative environment and being able to share that with other people who know what you're  going through.  People who understand the difficulties involved in every aspect of the creative process.

The world seems to be filled with two types of people at times - people who think screenwriting sounds almost impossible to do and are quite in awe of people who are actually able to do it and then there's the others who think it's simple and even if they can't do it, they think it should be absolutely a cinch for someone else to do so.  So, when you run across those rare few who can understand just how difficult it is to get your mind on paper at times... well, those are people to treasure a bit.

This week, I've been reading all of these various writing exercises that they encourage writers to do when they're stuck.  It's really some ridiculous stuff that - while probably useful in some situations - seems like a waste of time for the most part.  Here's some samples...

Try this challenge: pull out something you're been writing (a poem, a journal entry, a novel) and put an orange in it. Make the orange part of the thing you're writing, but keep in mind that the orange might appear in a painting or a dream. Remember a particular orange you once encountered-- saw squashed in a gutter or sitting perfect and fragrant on someone's dining room table.

Seriously? Can someone tell me the point of that? I guess it explores your creativity but... well, it's a fucking orange. I don't want to write about a fucking orange. I don't want to read about a fucking orange either.

I took a playwriting class in college once. The most awkward part of it was when they wanted us to read our work out loud to the class. I was terrified. The author is always their biggest critic but... in a way, that's a lot easier than having to see/hear someone else's reaction to your work. Because you can lie to yourself. Don't listen to those people who tell you that you can't because you absolutely can. I can convince myself that I wrote the greatest screenplay since INSERT CLASSIC SCREENPLAY I HAVEN'T READ HERE but if someone else reads it and thinks it's trash, well... I think I'd have a hard time dealing with that. It's one of those things you try not to take personally but I don't know if you really can ever be successful at that. I've had a few people ask to read my screenplay (not many lately thankfully) but most of them got ignored for that very reason. There seems to be very few good things that can result from that and a whole lot of bad things. The only good outcome would be someone thinking it was even better than aforementioned CLASSIC SCREENPLAY and that I'm the best writer since Shakespeare's heyday. But bad outcomes? Mockery? Ridicule? Boredom? The worst would be someone having to lie about how great they thought it was and you being able to read the real truth on their face. It's one of those things I know I have to get past at some point but for someone who has been at times a ruthlessly harsh critic to others, let's just say I'm a little nervous that karma's a bigger bitch than I imagined.

If you haven't been able to tell yet, this is a bit of a free write so I'm all over the place. "Harry In Winter" off the Goblet Of Fire soundtrack just popped up on Shuffle. Just managed to piss me off all over again that Half-Blood Prince got a PG rating. That movie is going to obliterate that movie franchise for me. There were things I didn't like about GOF and OOTP - which is my favorite of the books - but I stuck with it and thought they did a decent job. But Half-Blood Prince sounds like it's heading for worse and worse disaster every time I read news about it.

Speaking of sequels... I'm not sure why but there seems to be a lot of talk about what will happen to the Star Wars empire (no pun intended) after George Lucas lets it go lately. First off, I think you'll have to pry control of it out of his cold, dead hands but even then... I don't know. Will my grandkids be waiting in line someday wondering what's going to happen to Luke in Episode 7? And if so, will they hate the Ewoks? You read so many Lucas/Star Wars comments lately talking about how horrible the Ewoks were but I just can't remember people complaining about them back when Jedi came out. I mean, I guess I was just a kid so I thought they were funny but... I just don't remember it. Is it a case of something not aging well?

I'm only at about the forty minute mark, I think... but I'm running out of steam.  And I'm getting sleepy.

Oh well.  I must have done something creative for twenty minutes earlier today, right?  I have no idea what it would be... but I'm betting I did.

This was a really dumb idea.  How the hell did I talk myself into this?  I hate New Year's Resolutions.

And the Dodgers lost out on a free agent to the Brewers?  What kind of weird fucking world are we living in?

But I digress...

Under Construction

Sorry for the mess, kids. I've been a bit undecided over the past couple days about what template I wanted to use... and then I had problems with the template... and now I'm still having problems with the template... and.... yeah.

So, bear with me a few days please until I get all this worked out.

Thanks!

2008: TV Year End Awards!

I stumbled upon IGN's Year End Awards yesterday while doing mine and really liked the way they  broke down the categories for the TV section. 

So, I'm stealing them.

SPOILER ALERT!  I very well may discuss stuff that you haven't seen so be advised.

Best Drama
     The Shield
            How could I really pick anything else?  One of my favorite shows EVER went out in a big way with one of the best seasons of television that I've ever seen.  The final fates of Vic, Shane, Ronnie, and all the rest were some of the most gutwrenching and thrilling moments put on television in recent memory.
Honorable Mentions:  Lost, Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica, Gossip Girl

Best Comedy
     30 Rock
          I had a hard time picking one.  I could really go towards any of the five at any given moment but 30 Rock seemed like the right answer for right now.  Lots of quotable moments.  Lots of completely insane moments that were fantastic.
Honorable Mention:  The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Pushing Daisies, Flight Of The Conchords

Best Sci-Fi Series
     Lost
          It could have very easily been my pick for Best Drama if it wasn't for the amazing final season of The Shield so at very minimum, it should get this one. 

Honorable Mention:  Battlestar Galactica, Heroes

Best Show That Was Cancelled Too Soon
     Pushing Daisies
         Duh.  If you didn't know my answer to this one, you haven't been reading this site very long.

Biggest Shocker
     Vic Mackey betrays Ronnie
          I never really thought it would happen.  I thought Ronnie might turn on Vic - that crossed my mind.  But I never thought Vic would sell out the last friend he had left - no matter the reason.  This one action made the last couple episodes absolutely heartwrenching to watch at times.
Honorable Mention:  The Final 4 Cylons revealed - BSG, THE ISLAND MOVED! - Lost

Best Storyline
      The Search For Shane - The Shield
            Again, it can't be anything else.  Those episodes with Vic and Ronnie trying to hunt down Shane before Shane turned them in... man.  Compelling stuff.  That kind of stuff that makes you sad if you're a writer because you can't get yourself to produce the same thing.
Honorable Mention:  The Oceanic Six - Lost,  Pam/Jim - The Office

Couple I Rooted For The Most
      Pam/Jim - The Office
            Oh, come on.  How hard was this one?
Honorable Mention:  Jack/Kate - Lost, Sylar/Elle - Heroes, Ned/Chuck - Pushing Daisies, Chuck/Blair - Gossip Girl


And that's pretty much that!  Thanks for playing!

2008: You're My Boy, Blue! Year End Awards!

Hey, everyone else gets to do it, right? Since this is the first year doing it, I'm just going to hit the basics and hope I don't miss anything that I really, really wanted to write about.

So, let's just get right down to business!

Favorite Movie of 2008
     THE DARK KNIGHT
Duh.  Did you really expect something else to take the prize?  I saw some really great movies in '08 but none was I looking forward to more than this one.  From the incredible viral campaign they put together to get the positive buzz going to the first batch of trailers, this movie had the entire world waiting for it to arrive and it did not disappoint.  It truly redefined the term "comic book movie" to suddenly mean something that could actually be considered for an Oscar.  The acting was great, the action was outstanding, and despite the recent batch of backlash, the plot was dead-on.  While most people are chomping at the bit to see a third Batman flick, I'm not sure I do.  I might be happy with letting this one stand alone for a long time to come.  Now I know what it must have felt like when The Empire Strikes Back came out.
Honorable Mention:  Iron Man, Wall-E, Juno


Favorite Song Of 2008
      Foundations - Kate Nash
If I did this list a week from now, a month from now, or possibly even a day from now, I might have a completely different answer.  But for right now, I'm picking the lovely Ms. Nash and her song about a relationship horrifically broken and the two people too stubborn to give up on it.  Seeing this live earlier in the year was definitely one of my highlights of 2008.
Honorable Mention:  The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf, Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend, and many other Kate Nash songs




Favorite Album of 2008
     Made Of Bricks - Kate Nash
This was a pretty close category even though I didn't buy a ton of albums in '08.  I've been just as guilty as anyone of going for one or two songs at $1 each and missing out on the rest of the album but I'm hoping to change that in '09.  I bought Made Of Bricks in April and have been in love with the damn thing ever since.  It's rare that I make it out to a concert anymore - even more rare when it's to see someone with one album to their name.  But the lovely Ms. Nash made me do both in '08 - and she didn't disappoint at all at the show.
Honorable Mention:  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend, Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The Conchords, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog soundtrack, Dreamgirls soundtrack


Let's switch gears here for a second and look at the sporting world...

Favorite MMA Fight Of The Year
     Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir - UFC
I know, I know.  It's an odd pick.  It was exactly a back-and-forth action-packed war or some fantastic submission battle but it had atmosphere.  It had the "big match" feel that a lot of your standard FOTY candidates are lacking.  I missed a lot of MMA stuff this year and didn't see hardly anything outside of the UFC but Lesnar walking into the cage had that crowd electrified.  I was right there with them, living and dying with every big punch or near submission.  Personally, I can't wait for this rematch.
Honorable Mention:  Frank Shamrock/Cung Le - Strike Force, Forrest Griffin/Quinton Jackson - UFC

Favorite MMA Fighter Of The Year
     Anderson Silva
There's only one fighter in the game that has that Mike Tyson mystique around him - that you're paying to see him fuck up someone's world and look awesome while doing it.  Even in lopsided fights, Silva is easily the most entertaining fighter to watch.  If GSP gets past BJ Penn (and I wouldn't count on it), I hope a showdown with Silva is next because I'd pay very good money to see Silva kick Frenchy's nose down his throat.
Honorable Mention:  Wanderlei Silva. Quinton Jackson, Brock Lesnar

Favorite Laker Moment Of The Year
     The Pau Gasol Trade
Moreso than any on the court moment, I can remember this one very vividly.  I woke up in the morning to find some random chitchat about it online and I remember thinking how completely unlikely it was that it would happen.  A shower later and I emerged to find a text message telling me it was official.  And official it was.  That cemented the Lakers as a serious contender for the NBA Title - a title they came oh-so-close to winning.

Favorite Dodger Moment Of The Year
     Acquiring Angel Berroa... yeah, right.   Take a guess.
Ahhh, Mannymania.  I can't pick out a specific moment in the last portion of the season that stands above them all.  From the day it was first rumored to it becoming reality to his first game as a Dodger to my first home game witnessing Mannymania in person to the sweep of the Cubs to... okay, I take it back.  I'm going to pick Game 4 of the NLCS against the Phillies - and yes, you're correct.  The Dodgers lost that game.  However, the atmosphere was so electric - unlike anything I've ever seen in all my years of going to games.  Entire half innings with the crowd on their feet.  Deafening chants for Manny as rally towels created a blizzard over the top deck.  It was a magical night no matter the outcome.

Favorite Non-Laker/Dodger Sports Moment
     Michael F'n Phelps
How can you pick anything else?  The whole chase for the record was just so amazing to watch - the sheer number of times he had to swim, the near-loss in the relay race... it was all so dramatically perfect, it couldn't have been scripted any better.

I would drop in a Best Book here but I really failed miserably in the amount of reading I did last year so I'm going to skip that category.

To the world of professional wrestling...

Favorite Match of 2008
     Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels - Wrestlemania 24
Duh.  I didn't even have to think about this one which is probably a good thing because I can't really remember a lot of other matches that made an impact on my conscious in '08.  This one certainly did.  The drama, the action, the emotion - all played perfectly by two of the very best in the history of the game.  I really hope Flair never makes a comeback to the ring because there has never been an exit from the business as good as that one.

Favorite Wrestler Of 2008
     Chris Jericho
From the moment of Jericho's heel turn on, he was THE MAN in '08.  He carried his end of the Shawn Michaels' feud to perfection and was amazing as the World Champion until Cena returned to end it.  He says he was inspired for his character by No Country For Old Men.  Hey, if you're going to be inspired to be a cruel and evil villain, I guess that's a good place to draw your inspiration from.

Favorite Event Attended Of 2008
     Dodgers vs Phillies - NLCS Game 4
See above.
Honorable Mention:  R.E.M. at the Hollywood Bowl, Kate Nash at The Music Box, Wicked at Pantages, PWG: All Star Weekend Night 2

And lastly...

I was going to do a blanket "Best TV Show" right here but... well, something else came to mind.  I think I'll have a separate Year End Awards! for TV.  Stay tuned!

2008: The Year In Music

It wouldn't be a Year In Review without a countdown of the year's best music, right? Well, since I'm a horrible critic, I instead decided to present a countdown of the year's Most Played Music by the Missus and myself. It's essential that I include her in this since:

a] We share an iTunes library so the play counts are as much hers as mine

AND

b] It gives me someone convenient to blame if an embarrassing song makes the list.

I originally was writing this up as a Top 40 - Rick Dees style - but the Missus said that a Top 50 would be better. I decided to one-up here and in honor of the iTunes Music Store that gets at least $20 from me every month, I present:

The Blues' Top 100 Played Songs Of 2008
Qualifying statement: To make the list, the song had to be added to the iTunes library in 2008 which will explain if you see a song from 1960 or what have you that made the list.

Here we go...

100. Listen - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Ahhh - and so it begins. With my admitted love of musicals, you will soon notice a trend of songs from musicals being all over this list. However, don't blame me for the Mamma Mia stuff. That's all her. Side note: It took 16 plays throughout the year to make the #100 slot on the list. That really doesn't seem like much actually.

99. Dance With Me - Old 97s
98. Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
97. Home - Foo Fighters
96. Fake Your Way To The Top - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
95. A Bitchslap - Sebastian Bach feat. Axl Rose

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(Love Is) A Bitchslap (Featuring Axl Rose) - Sebastian Bach
I still really like this song but nowhere near as much as I did when I first bought it. I think there was a novelty involved of hearing Sebastian Bach belt out a serious hard rock song in 2008 - plus the awesomeness of having Axl on backing vocals. If you're a fan of either, check this one out.

94. I've Been High - R.E.M. (Live from the Hollywood Bowl)
I'm glad this one made the list since we were at the show. Still wishing I had a better mix of this though because the bass makes it absolutely unlistenable in my car.

93. Come Alive - Foo Fighters
92. Erase/Replace - Foo Fighters
91. The Fighter - Ferraby Lionheart
90. American Boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was added to my iTunes back in Feb. before any of you fuckers had heard it on your local pop radio yet so bite me.

89. The Score - Chris Walla
88. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
87. Nicest Thing - Kate Nash
86. Fallen - Bret Michaels
You've gotta love when your music library becomes littered with songs you heard on reality television - especially when it's trainwreck reality television. Rock Of Love was one of my guilty pleasures on television this year and Bret Michaels kickin' out the slow jam is one of my musical highlights of the year.

85. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
84. Ladies of Cambridge - Vampire Weekend
83. Time To Pretend - MGMT (Live)
82. Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash
81. Mariella - Kate Nash
80. Take A Chance On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
I told you! Blame her!

79. Beautiful Ride - Walk Hard soundtrack
78. I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson
High Fidelity rears it's beautiful, sweet head. One of my favorite movies delivers this one into the iTunes library which made one of my Mixtapes of the Month earlier in the year before they were discontinued due to time constraints.

77. Body MMMBoppin' - Hanson vs The Beastie Boys
I'm not a huge mash-up fan but every once in a while I find one that is just absolutely perfect together. This would be one of them. I mentioned this one at work a couple weeks ago and was met with stares of derision. Fuck the haters.

76. Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners - Foo Fighters
75. Not While I'm Around - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
74. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Mamma Mia soundtrack
73. Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
72. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
The lyrics have the Contra Code in them. 'Nuff said.

71. Leave The Memories Alone - Fuel
The farewell to Ric Flair promos were filled with this song and it stays among my favorites of the year. It's one of the few songs from earlier in the year that I'll still listen to almost every time it pops up on shuffle.

70. Stranger Things Have Happened - Foo Fighters
69. The Ballad Of Gus And Sam - Ferraby Lionheart
68. World Shut Your Mouth - Death Cab For Cutie
67. Does Your Mother Know - Mamma Mia soundtrack
66. Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
65. Three Wishes - The Pierces
64. Love Story - Katharine McPhee
63. Play - Kate Nash
62. Summer's End - Foo Fighters
61. Won't Be Long - Ferraby Lionheart
60. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
And yes, I had this before it was on all the Pineapple Express commercials too. Oooh! Sick burn!

59. Long Road To Ruin - Foo Fighters
58. The Pretender - Foo Fighters
57. A Kiss Is Not A Contract - Flight Of The Conchords

A Kiss Is Not A Contract (Album Version) - Flight of the Conchords
How this didn't end up higher, I don't understand. Conchords are the pre-eminent comedy musical act in the world - Weird Al be damned.

56. Something To Love - Ferraby Lionheart
55. Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
54. Atom - British Sea Power
53. Rich Girls - The Virgins
52. Coconut - The Sea And Cake
51. By The Sea - Sweeney Todd soundtrack

TOP 50!!!
50. Foux De Fafa - Flight Of The Conchords
49. Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists
48. Care Of Cell 44 - The Zombies
47. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
From one of my favorite new bands of the year, this song is actually my ringtone currently. The album also was cool enough to inspire me to buy my first album on vinyl in decades.

46. Accidents Can Happen - Sixx A.M.
45. Birds - Kate Nash
44. Tickets To Crickets - Ferraby Lionheart
43. Love Is A Battlefield - Brooke White (American Idol)
42. Believe - The Bravery
41. SOS - Mamma Mia soundtrack

TOP 40!!!!
40. Come Home - OneRepublic
39. Mamma Mia - Mamma Mia soundtrack
38. No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
37. Take Me To The Riot - Stars
36. Secret - The Pierces
Okay, it made it because it played on Gossip Girl. I'll admit it.

35. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
One of my favorite songs of the year. I'm disappointed it finished this low actually.

34. Dancing Queen - Mamma Mia soundtrack
33. Slipping Through My Fingers - Mamma Mia soundtrack
32. Think About It - Flight of the Conchords
31. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens
The end credits music on Extras. We got into an Extras obsession for a while leading up to the finale so that explains that. Also, since it's barely over a minute long, there's not much time for you to skip it before it's notched another mark in your musical bedpost.

30. The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind - Griffin House
29. Leggy Blonde - Flight of the Conchords
28. A Crack In Time - Ferraby Lionheart
27. When All Is Said And Done - Mamma Mia soundtrack
26. The Winner Takes It All - Mamma Mia soundtrack
25. I Have A Dream - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Sensing a pattern yet? And she didn't even see this til late in the year!

24. M79 - Vampire Weekend
23. Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
This might have stood a better chance if they didn't make it the first song on the playlist every morning at work. Hearing it seemingly every day from July 1st until November will sour you a bit on a song.

22. Super Trouper - Mamma Mia soundtrack
21. We Get On - Kate Nash

TOP 20!!!!!!!!

20. Bubbly - Colbie Callat
This is one of those songs that you really want to hate. It's just so sickly sugary sweet but it gets stuck in your head and it won't leave. It's like a musical version of genital warts... or something. This one made the playlist at work late in the year so it'll soon make me want to slit my wrists as well but for now, it makes the Top 20 by a hair.

19. My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget

My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget
Ugh! This one's so sugary sickly sweet too! Well, no - not really. But it is a love song about a boy and his dog. It's touching in a way. It'll tug at your heartstrings and beat the living fuck out of your funnybone.

18. Thank You For The Music - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Whatever. I'm not dignifying this with comments!

17. Pull Shapes - The Pipettes

Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
Aww yeah! I love this song too - another of my favorites from the year. It has a classic 50's/60's bubblegum pop type sound to it. You could easily imagine it on one of those Time Life "Songs Of Your Life" type commercials. Only $19.95 if you order now!

16. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Kate Nash (Black Kids live cover)
15. Tattoo - Jordin Sparks
14. I Wana Love You - The Maine (Akon cover)
One of my favorite covers of the year - the inspiration for the Cover Song Challenge mix from early '08.

13. All That I Want - The Weeples
12. The Name Of The Game - Mamma Mia soundtrack
11. Now That We're Done - Metro Station

And without further adieu... THE TOP TEN OF 2008!!

10. Our Last Summer - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Odds are high that the Missus is responsible for every single one of the plays of this song. I really can't stand it. From time to time, the beginning will stick in my head but never enough that I want to listen to it. And whoever decided to let Pierce Brosnan sing on camera and on recorded musical media should be dragged out into a field and shot.

9. How Many Words - Blake Lewis
I think most people that liked Blake on Idol were concerned that the record labels would destroy the guy who wanted to perform with Doug E. Fresh at the Idol finale. But there was just enough beatbox in this song to make it sound like Blake Lewis and just enough slick production to make it very cool. It's completely not the type of song that I usually like but dammit, American Idol tends to do that to me.

8. Break The Ice - Britney Spears
Sadly, this may be all me. When everyone was trashing Miss Britney before her big comeback, I was actually finding her music to be a bit better than it had been in a while. I haven't listened to anything from the "comeback" album but I'm betting I won't like it anywhere near as well.

7. This Woman's Work - Kate Bush
Oh my god. The scene in the Extras finale where they played this song was absolutely tear-your-soul-out-of-your-gut-and-stomp-on-it-with-golf-spikes levels of painful to watch. The song fit the scene perfectly for the one of the dramatic, emotional moments in what was often a show best known for Kate Winslet talking dirty. For shame. If you haven't seen it, now's a good time to blow through the entire Extras series on your media of choice.

6. Unbroken - Jessica Sierra
Remember what I said waaaaay back under Bret Michaels' name? That goes double here. A song heard from someone checked into Celebrity Rehab kicked the fucking door down into our Top Ten. We both just couldn't get enough of it.

5. I Was Made For You - Rivers Cuomo
2008 saw the lead singer of Weezer release an album of demos, rarities, and outtakes done in his garage. This was the absolute highlight of that album from what I heard.

4. Foundations - Kate Nash
Kate Nash was one of my favorite artists of the year - someone I liked enough to subject myself to going to a show where odds were very high that I was among the oldest people in the audience easily. You've seen her name littered up and down this list (with one more still to come.)

3. Honey Honey - Mamma Mia soundtrack
The ONLY song on the Mamma Mia soundtrack that you can partially blame me for appearing this high on the list. I liked this one... what can I say?

2. Apologize - OneRepublic & Timbaland
No idea how this ended up here. Absolutely no idea. There's no fucking possible way that I listened to this song that many times. It's an okay song but... yeah, not #2 on my list.

And the #1 song of 2008...

1. Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Now THAT I can live with. An absolutely fitting choice for the #1 most played song of 2008.

And now? We begin all over again. What will be the #1 song of 2009? Stay tuned!

i'm A Mac: Prepare To Die

On the eve of Macworld, this seems appropriate. Much thanks to Phil for the linkage.

Mac vs PC - Transformers @ Yahoo! Video

It's A Brand New Day

What do you think of the new digs?

In the spirit of New Years and new beginnings, I decided to do a little housecleaning around here. New format, new design, and I removed some of the features that weren't being used and were doing little but slow down load times. Hopefully you'll all like this one a little better. If there's something missing from the old format that you REALLY, REALLY want back, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do.

And no, I haven't forgotten about the You're My Boy, Blue! Year End Awards. They should be coming today or tomorrow so keep your shorts on, bucko!

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball

I saw this a few weeks ago and never posted it.

One And Done

So long, Mr. Jones.

Earlier today, the Dodgers announced that they had reached an agreement to restructure Andruw Jones contract in exchange for agreeing to either trade or release him before the
season starts.

Wow.

I guess he REALLY didn't want to come back for another year, huh?

With our luck, he'll get signed to the league minimum elsewhere, turn back to the player the Dodgers wanted him to be, and then the Dodgers will be paying for him to excel for another team.

But I guess I'm willing to risk it. Now let's hope that financial saving can be used to sign a certain power-hitting outfielder - and yes, I think the Giants report is a Boras bluff job.

Random New Year's Eve/Day Thoughts

It was a pretty uneventful New Year's Eve/Day around here. We stayed in for New Year's Eve and talked about how crazy it was last year when we had people here til the wee hours of the morning, needing to use the oh-so-helpful Tipsy Tow to get people home. The Missus actually fell asleep around nine or ten, blaming the Chinese food but woke up in time to (barely) help me drink a bottle of Prosecco at midnight. There's another bottle still in the fridge - hopefully there's something worth drinking it for soon.

This morning, we got up early to eat donuts and watch the Rose Parade. The Missus fell asleep during that too which was kinda funny since it was her idea to stay in last night so we could get up early to watch the Rose Parade. The Rose Parade was okay - there were a handful of really cool floats and it was awesome to hear Stephanie Edwards back in the booth. But I couldn't help shake the feeling that they were rushing things. The telecast was only two hours long and I could swear it used to be at least three. The whole pace was very frenetic and really not very relaxing and fun at all.

Watched the outdoor hockey game in HD which actually was a lot of fun and I'm glad I watched it. I'm not a big hockey fan but there's something about the game being played outdoors that made it cool enough to watch. It's also the first game I've watched in HD and when I had my glasses on, I had a much easier time following the game. I wonder if a non-outdoor game in HD would hold my interest. You know the biggest problem with hockey? At its very core, it's a chaotic game that is too hard to follow. Most shots on goal are these wild shots off rebounds and deflections where the puck is obscured by a bunch of attackers and defenders. It's the only sport I can think of where you have a really hard time seeing someone score most of the time. That... is why it fails.

The Rose Bowl was a bust. I couldn't decide if I wanted to root for USC since they're from SoCal or if I wanted to root for Penn State because SC fans seem to be the college football equivalent of Yankee fans. In the end, I decided I'd root for SC until they were blowing them out and then dancing like fucking jackasses on the sidelines. Then I was hoping for a miracle comeback to humble them Iron Shiek style. Shieky baby would humble the fuck out of USC.

We watched some movies for the rest of the night. I finally watched The Princess Bride and then she wanted to watch Mamma Mia. I decided that for 2009, I'm going to list EVERY movie I watch from start to finish on the sidebar and not just the ones I see in the movie theater. So, we can start that list with those two movies, I guess.

I have aspirations of writing a You're My Boy Blue Year End Awards one day this week so hopefully I get around to doing that. I also made a resolution that I'm going to attempt to write at least an hour a day. Be it on here, some screenplay stuff, or whatever else suits my fancy. We'll see how long that lasts. I wrote for a lot more than an hour today so I'm off to a good start, I suppose.

I hope everyone had a safe and sane New Year! Welcome to 2009 here at the B-Spot, people - enjoy the ride.

Happy New Year

You read it here first! (well, probably not but... whatever!)

Come Crawling Back, Bitches!

It's amazing what a well-placed news leak or two can accomplish. When word broke over the past couple of days that the Dodgers had reached out to the reps for both Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu, I was more than a little surprised and wondered if there was another motive.

And now, we know what it was.

The LA Times reported today that Scott Boras FINALLY reached out to the Dodgers to talk Manny. Apparently even the slightest rumor that Dunn or Abreu might be signed made Boras realize that Manny would be a man without a country in the event that that went down.

You've gotta love leverage.

Now, let's just hope the Dodgers allow Manny to sign with some dignity so we don't get three seasons of cranky Manny instead of happy, productive Manny.

VHS Is Dead

I have to say, I was a little surprised to even find out that someone was still making VHS tapes but alas, very recently, the final company still making and distributing VHS tapes has given up the goose.

I can't remember the first VHS tape I saw - nor the last. Oddly, I can remember the first Beta movie I saw. My aunts had bought a top-loading Beta player from (what I recall) a Broadway parking lot sale. They had gone to a generic "Video rental" store to pick something up - in this case, the player was to be broken in with Star Wars (duh - what else would it be?) Unfortunately, the rental store screwed the pooch and supplied a copy of First Blood instead. We watched about five minutes before I was sent out of the room. I suppose I got to watch Star Wars later in the day but I don't really remember that either.

I still have boxes and boxes of VHS tapes - mostly old wrestling shows I recorded over the past 20 years. I always think that someday I'll get the time, energy, and motivation to transfer all of those over to DVD but... well, how realistic is that?

It's odd to talk about the death of the VHS format when we seem to be inching ever closer to the death of the DVD format as well. The only question is if Blu-Ray will deliver the death blow or will it become another laser disc as all forms of physical media get passed by by the digital download. I know I'm a lot more tempted by an Apple TV than I am by a Blu-Ray player at the moment.

Farewell VHS - you served us well!

Happy Birthday To Me

As a birthday gift to myself, I choose not to write!

Sent from my iPhone

Just One Of Those Days

Yup, it was just one of those days where I just couldn't shake the bad mood. I didn't want to go anywhere, I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to sit here and alternate between staring at the TV and the computer. I really felt kinda depressed for some reason.

I always feel a little down after Christmas but I don't know if that was it today. Add that to a couple of other things going on and it just didn't click today. And damn it, today was my day off. I had plans for stuff but once the day came around, those plans just didn't work anymore.

Oh well... tomorrow is another day, right?

But I'm working on my birthday which is always crappy. Ah well.

Like The Back Of A Volkswagon?

Best. Running. Joke. Ever.

Thank God for HBO for making me rediscover my love of Mallrats.

Merry Christmas Part Two!

Merry Christmas Eve!

And that's all I have to say about that!

You Will Believe Brad Pitt Can Cough Up A Furball

The Rich Get Richer

The baseball fandom world is all up in arms tonight over the Yankees big signing today. Yes, it is another example of the Yankees trying to buy a World Championship. Yes, it really is a horrible thing for baseball. Yes, it really does point out the inequalities of the free agent market as it stands.

And yes, we've heard it all before.

At some point, don't you just have to shrug your shoulders and chalk it up to being a part of the status quo? How many times can you cry and moan and wail and tear out your hair over the need for a salary cap in baseball? It's just not likely to ever happen. The owners had their shot during the strike. They had already lost the World Series so it wasn't like they could make things worse in the eyes of the fans. They had their shot to finally make the union cave and they didn't do it.

Unless you're hungry for another work stoppage, don't expect your tears to pave the road to a salary capped system.

On the other hand, if you're a Manny-To-Dodgers fan, this has to be actually good news. There were a few ways that situation could have worked itself out and from what I can tell, this is the best possible result for the Boys In Blue.

We could've seen:

a] Tex re-signs with the Angels. This leaves the Yankees hungry to make an offensive splash to go with their pitching buffet and in this market, there would really only be one splashy bat left to sign. As seen today, when in a bidding war, the Yankees win every time - and even if they lost, no one wanted to see them drive up the price for the McCourts.

b] Tex signs with the Sox. See above with the potential of the Angels getting in on the action as well.

c] Tex signs with Cue bidding war frenzy.

But instead, we saw Tex sign with the Yankees as the Angels revealed they have no interest in Manny. With the Sox not about to go back down that road, does that leave any other options? The Nationals with a huge offer but no chance of winning? The Orioles trying to appease an angry fanbase?

From my seat down the left field line, it looks like the Dodgers are in the driver's seat here and could potentially even get the two year with a third year option deal they were looking for orginally.

This IS Christmas Music!

In honor of my attempts to play this in the store today and in sadness at being shut down every single time...

EEEEKS!

Do you trust newspapers in the Dominican Republic?

Apparently Impacto Deportivo, a newspaper in the DR with a somewhat spotty record when it comes to sports scoops, is claiming that the Yanks have presented a three year, 75 mil offer to Manny and that negotiations are advanced with a potential announcement of a deal coming Monday or Tuesday.

Couple that with the Texeira news today that the Angels were pulling out of the race for him and it's been an interesting day on the Hot Stove.

So, is it true?

My gut still tells me no. I'm going to stick to my guns and believe the Dodgers end up with Manny at a similar deal. 3 years, 75 mil with a mutual option for a fourth.

Until I see otherwise, I'm holding onto that hope that Santa McCourt drops Mr. Ramirez under the tree this week.

A Weird Yet Fun Evening

Tonight, the Missus and I presented our second annual Holiday Party so I'm very late in posting and with work mere hours away, I'm not overly eager to wax on and off for very long about my thoughts for the day.

But I will say this...

Over the years, I've seen many types of personalities emerge when alcohol is involved. Angry, sad, emotional, those that cry, those who get into fights, those who pass out in a corner, those who fall asleep and then vomit all over themselves, those who urinate freely wherever they feel the need... and many, many more.

Tonight, you can add one more to the list. The philosophical drunk.

I'll leave it at that to avoid offending anyone - for now at least. Enjoy your Sundays, folks.

The Rose Parade

I just wanted to drop in a quick note to praise the Powers That Be at
KTLA for their decision to put Stephanie Edwards back in the announce
booth on New Years Day. It was a rough couple of years without her
and even rougher when they had her streetside in the rain.

Kudos for the long overdue but still classy move.

Sent from my iPhone

Random Thoughts

-- After the relative failure of Crystal Skull, is anyone either a] looking forward to a fifth Indy movie or b] willing to even give it a shot? Personally, I kinda enjoyed some parts of Crystal Skull and would be willing to go in with lowered expectations to see what happens.

-- Jurassic Park 4? Anyone? Bueller?

-- I was listening to an interview recently about The King of Kong being made into an actual scripted movie. That just sounds like an awful idea to me. The doc was so spot-on fantastic, I don't think I have the slightest desire to see it dramatized.

-- Anyone see Appaloosa? What's the last great Western to hit the big screen? Unforgiven? The 3:10 To Yuma remake? What makes it so hard to make a good Western? Years of bad ones? Cliches that most of them fall into?

-- As a rabid TV viewer, man, am I looking forward to January. Return of 24. Return of Lost. That's really all I'd need but it seems like there's something else I'm forgetting.

Alright. My head hurts. Back tomorrow.

Another Year!

I just renewed my domain name for another year which means you can look forward to another 365 days of www.youremyboyblue.net existing!

I've got an early day tomorrow so... that's all I've got. Sorry!

Hot Stove Report

So, I kinda got interrupted during my Winter Meeting reports. I decided tonight would be a good time for a follow-up.

Starting pitching...
Still no movement here. A few options have been taken off the market but a lot of the (presumably) lower-priced options are still out there. There hasn't been much talk on this front lately which concerns me a little bit. With only three certain starters, I'd expect at least one decent signing to bolster the rotation.

Bullpen...
They non-tendered Saito after they couldn't reach a deal with him. It sounds like they're still hopeful to bring him back on a new contract but nothing seems close. The Hoffman rumors have cooled off a bit but I still think they should keep checking in with him to see how the price shakes out.

Infield...
This is where most of the news has been. A couple days ago, Rafael Furcal's agent said he expected to sign by Tuesday. This morning when I woke up, he seemed a lock to go to Atlanta for three guaranteed years and a vesting option for a fourth - a contract the Dodgers seemed unlikely to match. Sources inside the Braves organization seemed to think it was a done deal but sometime this afternoon, it leaked out that the agents were still talking to the Dodgers which appears to be Raffy's preferred destination. How will it all shake out? Furcal seems to be doing everything he can to give the Dodgers a chance to bring him back so he must really want to be here. Of course, some would argue if he really wants to be here, he'd take the lesser deal but we all know that's not going down. I would think the Dodgers would still resist the length of the deal and he'll end up a Brave but they ponied up the years for Casey Blake after I thought they wouldn't so who knows?

Outfield...
I saw somewhere today a post that said, "Tell Santa Frank that we want Manny for X-Mas!" That's the big name that everyone keeps waiting to see movement on. Personally, I don't expect Manny to sign until Texiera does with Boras pulling the strings. He really needs Tex in Boston so that the Yanks and Angels jump into the Manny chase. If the Angels land Tex, that puts the Dodgers and Yanks head-to-head but the Yanks are volatile and you never know when they'll pull out of a fight.

It's still a long winter to come but I expect when Tex signs, you'll see quite a few dominoes fall right after him.

Woo Hoo! Heroes Didn't Suck!

And in honor of that occurrence, I declare a battle of two supercool geektastic videos. You make the call!

Sick

I'm getting too old for this shit.

Sent from my iPhone

Sounds about right

Here's a sample of how today is going

10 Things iPod About You

It returns! I'm tired and can't think so once again, random commentary on the first ten tracks to come up on Party Shuffle on iTunes! Hopefully there will be something insightful or at minimum, witty, but I make no promises!

Message In A Bottle - The Police
Nowhere near my favorite Police song but it's cool. It's the kind of song that I probably wouldn't skip over if it came up. Oddly though, the song [right now anyways] reminded me of the punk cover of the song by a band called 22 Jacks. 22 Jacks always makes me giggle a bit because I highly offended their agent back in my glory days as Director of Concerts in college. At the time, 22 Jacks was getting a lot of pub since the band was made up of several members of more famous punk bands. When their agent suggested booking them, I made a remark something like, "Oh, the self-proclaimed punk supergroup" to which he replied, "I don't know about self-proclaimed but they're pretty fucking good, I'll tell you that!" I actually had a really bad habit of offending agents and managers in that job. It's probably a good thing I didn't pursue that field as a career. This would probably be a good time to tell the story about Slightly Stoopid threatening to kick my ass once but... well, that'd just be blatant namedropping since they're apparently becoming somewhat biggish now and I wouldn't want to do that! I'll save that story for another time, I guess.

Simple Man - Graham Nash
I stumbled upon this on an mp3 blog a few months back. I don't really have a lot to say about it since I may have listened to it once or twice since then. But I kinda dig the song really. If I was a pretentious piece of shit music reviewer, I'd talk about the harmony in the backup vocals and some kind of glowing praise about the haunting sound of his voice. But that's not me. My reviews typically consist of saying things are "cool" or "awesome." I just can't muster much more than that. It's one of the reasons I hate most album reviews. People tend to masturbate with their own words in that kind of writing. If it's cool, say it's cool. If it sucks donkey balls, say it sucks donkey balls. How hard is it?

Holiday - Madonna
Now we're talkin'! Holiday actually always reminds me of the Truth Or Dare documentary they did for Madonna back in the day - one of my favorite musician docs actually. Throughout the movie, there's a running theme of her calling together her backup dancers before the show and doing a prayer. At one point, as they're walking to the stage after the prayer, they cut loose on this a cappella version of Holiday that is a ton of fun. Madonna is one of those acts that I would love to see live if I thought she wouldn't be an "artist" and decide that she was too good for her old stuff. Fucking artists. They always want to ruin it for the fans. This may be the first time that I ever noticed the crazy percussion in the background on Holiday. What's up with that?

Waiting Room - No Doubt
Fuck me. I have to listen to this whole song? This is off the Rocksteady album that had a few bright spots and a lot of stuff that I was just kinda "okay" about. Rocksteady's a weird album because they worked with so many different artists and producers on it, it turned out a little mish mashy at points. This particular track is a collaboration with Prince which sounds really fucking amazing on paper but just turns out kinda "eh" once it's done. There are parts of the song that I really dig the hell out of but I can't stand the chorus which kills things a bit for me. The main riff sucks too. But it's Gwen and Prince so it can't be all that bad, right? I bet Prince and Britney could have a hell of a collaboration. I wonder what Prince thinks of Britney as an artist - not The Artist - just an artist. Okay... I can't take it anymore. I must skip.

Happy Days Theme!
Hell yes! Now that's how you clean your musical palate! Of course, it makes me a little sad because it reminds me of how fucked up modern television has become in their disrespect for opening theme songs. After fifty years of television, we're losing that great art and it'll never return as the networks look for more and more ways to get more ad time into 30 or 60 minutes.

Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
Ahhhh, my Manson phase. I actually own a Manson album although I haven't listened to it in years. I used to really dig that album and a few things he did after it. Now? Not so much. Even this song which I still think is pretty well done, I don't really enjoy it anymore. I guess I also have to admit here to owning the Marilyn Manson autobio book that I believe I never read because I was so stunned when he talked about his grandfather having vaseline encrusted suction cup mounted dildos in a workbench in the basement in the first chapter - which of course was the whole purpose of him writing it. Shock and awe, baby - shock and awe.

Tennessee - Arrested Development
I love this song. I even loved it years later when they did that One Hit Wonders TV show a few years ago and AD won it by performing this song. They still had it. I used to own this song as a cassette single. Most of my "urban music" was only cassette single actually. If you were to dig through that drawer of tapes right now, you'd find fine selections like this right alongside En Vogue, Father MC, The Cover Girls, Stereo MCs, and so, so, so many more. But this one actually holds up very well unlike a lot of others. It's kind of odd though that they never really had more than this song and Everyday People make it big. I guess Mr. Wendal sort of did but not to the same level of success. Mental note: Check iTunes to see how good the rest of their stuff is.

Diamonds On The Inside - Ben Harper
I was late on the Ben Harper bandwagon and I still don't really have a good seat on it. I own a few songs by him that I dig muchly but I've never taken the time to dig deeper to find more stuff that I like. I'm sure there's quite a bit of it because the stuff that I like I REALLY, REALLY like. Sadly, that's about all I can say.

Take It On The Run - REO Speedwagon
You can blame my aunts for this one. Speedwagon is definitely a remnant of me being exposed to their musical tastes in the 80s. This is probably actually my least favorite of the big Speedwagon hits but it's still amazingly awesome. It's cheesy, of course, but that doesn't take away from being amazingly awesome.

Anyone able to tell I'm running out of steam yet? Yeah, I thought so.

Nightswimming - Dashboard Confessional w/Michael Stipe
This is from that super cool Dashboard live album where they work with Michael Stipe doing both Dashboard and R.E.M. tunes. If you haven't checked that out and are a fan of either band, you're doing yourself a great disservice. Get your shit together!

Random Thoughts

The wife said that she was disappointed by my constant blogging about the Dodgers this week and we just can't have that, right? So, in the interest of marital tranquility, I will consult with the trustworthy Google Reader to provide a few topics of discussion.

Golden Globes
Well, that was shocking. After all the buzz last week about The Dark Knight possibly becoming a favorite to get an Oscar Best Picture nod, the film basically gets snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press [that's who does the GGs, right?] Heath Ledger got a Best Supporting Actor nod but nary a glance for anything else. I'm disappointed and now more than a little bit nervous that the Academy voters will follow suit. From my quick glance earlier, I believe The Wrestler was also snubbed with the exception of Mickey Rourke. I haven't seen it yet but the positive buzz leading in made me think it might stand a chance as well.

The World With Good Taste In Television's Loss Is Heroes Gain
After one of the best episodes of the season for Pushing Daisies aired this week as a reminder of just what a fantastic show we're losing [how did anyone not adore Kristin Chenowith singing "Eternal Flame?"] we do get some relative good news that Bryan Fuller is heading back to Heroes to save it. Pardon me for not giving a flying fuck about Heroes right now. As a comic book geek, I'm about to commit sacrilege but I'd gladly trade a Heroes cancellation for a saving of Pushing Daisies - oh, and if you can revive Wonderfalls too, I can trade a couple other shows I'm half-heartedly watching.

Globes On TV
Holy shit! I hadn't even seen the TV nominations for the Globes until now. What the fuck is going on here? No Lost, no Housewives, no Daisies? I appreciate the need for telling network television that their product is often times shit warmed over but come on... at least give credit where it's due. And nominations for Weeds and Entourage? I'm sorry but as much as I love both of those shows, both of them were pretty bad this season - Weeds was downright unwatchable IMO for most of the year.

I planned on doing more but my Google Reader just went fucky. I'm done. Blue out.

Winter Meetings: Day Three

Well, there goes that pipe dream. The lure of New York money once again proves too hard to resist and CC Sabathia has apparently signed with the Yankees. Oh, and in case you were thinking the Yanks were done there, they are apparently also getting close to a deal with Derek Lowe. Sabathia and Lowe side by side would seemingly lock the Yanks as the favorites in the division.

But what does this mean for everyone else?

The Angels now have no Plan B. If Texeira goes elsewhere, they may get desperate to make a splash in the free agency pool and yes, we just might see them make a run at Manny. By the way, this morning's rumors have the Red Sox leading in the hunt for Tex - should be interesting.

It also cranks up the price of all remaining FA pitchers. If Sabathia and Lowe are off the market, keep an eye on AJ Burnett among others. Even the pitchers a little further down the chain - RJ, Moyer, Benson, etc. The price goes up and so does the competition to land those guys. That one will affect the Dodgers directly.

However, with Sabathia off the market, you would expect a flood of people to sign quickly. Anyone who was holding out hope for the big fish should move on to their next choice and their next and the ones after that.

There's a rumor also being floated that the Yanks are mulling a run at Manny because Hank Steinbrenner wants to sign him. No word on whether or not this comes AFTER the Sabathia signing because you would think even the Yankees would have trouble with signing both of those guys. But even the rumor of that is enough to give Scott Boras morning wood. The Dodgers, the Angels, and the Yankees in a potential bidding war for Manny - the last big name FA left on the market after he engineers Tex to Boston? Yeah, he'd enjoy that.

One last thought - the last time Boras pulled one of those plays, sending JD Drew to Boston out from under the Dodgers' noses, we ended up signing Juan Pierre in desperation.

I'd hate to see what happens if the Dodgers get shut out on Manny.

Winter Meetings: Day Two

Backup infielder to replace Nomar? Mark Loretta!
Starting third baseman? Casey Blake!

Two signings down - who knows how many to go? I was a litle surprised to see the Dodgers go three years with a fourth year option for Blake. The rumor was that the Twins and Dodgers were squaring off over him with neither team wanting to give a third year. After the Twins backed out, I thought for sure they'd be able to get him for two years with a third year option. The deal looks okay right now but when Blake's about to hit 40 years old, they may regret going that long.

The Blake signing cements Dewitt going back to second base which should be a good thing for him. That means there's only one spot on the infield to be concerned about. The Dodgers are back in on Furcal but seem unwilling to give him four years - understandable, no? There's a decent-sized length list of teams in on Furcal so it's a long way from a done deal buuuuuuut... you'd have to think that a reopening of discussions with Raffy at all is a good thing. Rumors say they don't want to go over two years but three would seem almost a lock to be needed. This one is foggy and I can't really figure out which way it'll go.

There's some speculation today that the Dodgers hold all the cards in negotiations with Manny which I kinda implied last night. Coletti met with Boras and the result was the announcement that Manny is still interested in being a Dodger. Well, that's good news! But Coletti didn't really sound like he knew what was next. Nothing I've read has changed my gut feeling that he'll end up back as a Dodger but anything can happen.

The Saito thing picked up a notch as it appears that Friday is the deadline to tender contracts and the Dodgers just aren't sure if they want to make that offer apparently. If they don't, the bullpen situation gets pretty cloudy. Does Broxton get another shot to close? Is Hoffman a legit possibility? With K-Rod and Wood being snatched up, the options at closer are growing slim.

Now what about CC Sabathia?

Well, the Giants apparently think they're the odds-on favorite to land him - which makes me a little nervous. The Yankees are in full court press mode right now, visiting him yet again to try and land the big free agent fish. The Dodgers apparently remain players in this situation but only if they can fill their other holes in a financially conservative fashion. Obviously, that'd have to be pretty quick to make it happen. So far, so good. But I can't imagine if they get Manny back that they can afford CC too. And if they land CC, they definitely need to go on the cheap for the fifth starter - Stults, Kuo, Macdonald, Park. There was some Kris Benson talk this week which is a potential low-risk, high-reward move too. Continued talk on the Randy Johnson front today as well. All the California teams except for the rebuilding Padres are in on RJ.

Oh, and in a "well, that's interesting" note, apparently Kevin Towers was quoted as saying he hadn't talked to Coletti about Peavy in weeks. The pricetag must've scared our GM off - probably a good thing.

The plot thickens - stay tuned!

MLB Winter Meetings: Day One

The MLB Winter Meetings opened in Vegas today. This is a week usually filled with crazy rumors that never come anywhere close to going down but there's always a few grains of truth in there. The Dodgers obviously have a lot of holes to address in the roster so let's take a look all the way around the horn to see what rumors are out there today.

Catcher - Thankfully, all the Russell Martin trade rumors are gone. Of course, the Dodgers do need to find a reliable backup catcher still - preferably someone you can use at least once every five games to give Martin a breather. He remains one of the most overworked players in baseball so that needs to change in a hurry. There were still some rumblings that Ned Coletti might go after a starting catcher and slide Martin to 3B to solve that problem but those have seemed to die down. The word today is that the Dodgers aren't interested in Jason Varitek so I'm guessing Martin's safe behind the plate for now.

First Base - James Loney doesn't have to worry about his starting job after the fantastic season he had in 2008. There's still no word on if Nomar is retiring or not. If he's not, I'm open to bringing him back in a supersub role so he can spell Loney at 1B now and again.

Second Base - Everyone assumes that Blake Dewitt mostly likely will get to start here but there is a possibility that they'll go after a second baseman if they can't find a third baseman and move Dewitt to the third sack. The signing of Mark Loretta tonight muddies this situation a little bit but I'm guessing the Dodgers know something we don't and are using Loretta to replace Nomar.

Shortstop - A week ago, it seems obvious that the Dodgers were not going to be able to bring back Rafael Furcal. But Furcal's rejection of the A's offer this week and the news that we've reopened discussions with Raffy tonight provides a glimmer of hope. The Jack Wilson rumors continue to persist too as well as some talk today about Miguel Tejada. My vote is that if you can't re-sign Raffy at a decent deal - let Hu take his shot and see what happens.

Third Base - The Twins dropping out of the Casey Blake race seemed to set up the Dodgers in perfect position to bring back Blake which would be fine by me. Blake seemed like a hard worker and proved to be pretty popular with the players. He was a solid contributor so if he can be had at the right price, he's my top choice. Ken Gurnick reported tonight that the Dodgers "are close" to re-signing Blake.

Outfield - The Dodgers have a surplus of outfielders already (Pierre, Jones, Ethier, Kemp) but one big name still hangs out there. Manny. Coletti expressed disappointment today at how the Manny negotiations have gone so far. I still don't see a major competitor for Manny so I've gotta think eventually, they'll bring him back for an undetermined time period. I still think three years with a mutual option for a fourth would get it done. If they can't sign Manny, there's been some buzz about Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez, and a couple others. Personally, I might go with the horses in the stable if you can't sign Manny unless you can move Pierre or Jones which is unlikely.

Bullpen - The big news today was that while Takashi Saito's winter rehab is going well, he may not be ready for Opening Day. That obviously makes it decision time. How much do you trust Broxton? How effective do you think Saito will be when/if he comes back? If you answer in the negative to both, Trevor Hoffman seems to be a valid option. There has been a little buzz in that direction today. With Beimel seemingly gone, you have to expect some middle relief to be signed as well.

Starting Rotation - The Dodgers need a minimum of one starter - probably two unless McDonald is ready to take a spot. Obviously, the big prize is CC Sabathia, who Coletti made headlines talking about today when he claimed that Sabathia told him that he wants to be a Dodger. I really don't see the Dodgers dropping the dollars to make that happen. Derek Lowe is probably the next best option but most people assumed he'd be moving on. He made some news today saying that he wanted to stay. I suppose that's not entirely out of the question yet. Randy Johnson and Jamie Moyer are also on the radar it seems. The Pettite stuff seems to have already faded away.

And that's that! I may go ahead and do these until the Meetings are over to keep everyone up to date.

Apartment Living

Our neighbors below us just hit the floor with some type of object in a primitive attempt to let us know we were apparently walking too loudly in the living room for their liking. This is the first such warning since we've moved into this building unlike our last apartment where it was basically a nightly occurrence.

It bugs me tremendously - infuriates might be a better word. And I have several reasons why that seem like good bloggin' fodder for this late Sunday night.

1] If the noise is too much because they're trying to sleep, then why are they hitting the floor in the living room? You're trying to tell me that footsteps from multiple rooms away is keeping them up at night? Fuck that noise. They just want to be bitchy.

2] These particular neighbors are a running joke with us because they are constantly fighting, screaming, slamming doors and what have you. Every once in a while, we hear a loud bang downstairs and I nearly always quip that sooner or later, it's going to be a gunshot from them. Yet, through all their apparent lovers quarrels, I've never done a Mexican hat dance [and I've got the sombrero to do it!] in complaint. A little common courtesy might be appropriate here.

3] It's walking, dammit. It's not like we're up here rockin' the casbah at 3 AM. If we were running music or the TV as loud as possible on a weeknight, I might see a little more merit in their complaint. But I'm walking here! I should be allowed to walk, right? It's still not quite as bad as our old apartment where they'd hit the floor in the middle of the night if I rolled over in bed too loudly.

4] I love the savagery of the floor pound. It's like mankind as a society has given up all forms of verbal communications and we're slowly drifting to the point where we'll just mime everything. But until then, let's just slam a bodypart or object against another object repeatedly until someone gets the message. Of course, if they were the type to come up to complain, I'd probably not open the door to hear it because you never know if they'll be packing heat - gunshots, you know?

Annnnnyways... I'm going to go roll over now [hopefully not too loudly] and get some sleep. Hopefully the loving couple downstairs can sleep off the invasive feeling of whatever crawled up their ass and died by morning.

I'd better keep a broken bottle at the hip for our Christmas party in a couple weeks because as Cypress Hill once wisely and eloquently stated...

"When the shit goes down, ya better be ready."

Well, That Certainly Made Me Feel Old

One of the problems with working in retail is the amount of young 'uns you find yourself surrounded by every day. One of my best friends at the store (who actually transferred to a new store this week) is all of 18 years old. The Missus mocks me because I've always seemed to find a way to end up being friends with the youngest people at every place I've ever worked.

I thought it was bad enough at my last job when I was the one over 25 who could get the under 25 year olds into Dave and Busters but had to "be responsible for them." Talk about an impossible situation.

But today - today topped it all.

Fans of this space know that I'm a pro wrestling fan and have been so for 23 years or so. Earlier today, myself and another guy were giving one of our co-workers a hard time jokingly. In response, he said, "Did you guys watch wrestling when you were little kids?" Usually that comment precedes something about Hulk Hogan or Andre The Giant or the like.

And therein lies the problem.

His next sentence, "Remember that old tag team Degeneration X who used to run around and yell "Suck it!"?"

Right.

I didn't really think about it until I was sitting in the drive-thru tonight but then it really sunk in as to what he had said. I had to ponder it a bit but... well, DX started in late '07 - eleven years ago. That means that for some of these guys I work with, they WERE little kids! They were all of seven or eight or nine years old.

I was already legally able to drink and they were little kids sitting on the living room floor watching HHH and HBK crotch chop.

I think that made me feel older than anything ever has before.

Beat The Clock

What do you write about when you were about to fall asleep and the
Missus says, "What did you blog about today?"

Damn.

I had this idea the other day for a "where are they now?" post about
bands I listened to 10-15 years ago. There were so many fly by night
punk and ska bands that I used to dig that there's bound to be some
interesting stories there.

I can do one off something I stumbled upon a week or two back. I used
to listen to a ska band called Save Ferris - clever, huh? They had a
female lead singer that seemed to put them in line for superstardom
after No Doubt exploded but aside from an alt rock radio single or
two, they simply faded away. A few years later, I recall reading that
the band had split and Momique, the lead singer, was suing to prevent
the band from performing shows without her under the Save Ferris name.

Fast forward to now and I was looking at a bill for an upcoming local
show that had a band listed as "featuring Monique from Save Ferris.".
Turns out it's a soul/R&B act she fronts with a great sound.

It's a bit of a sad story because truth be told, she had/has a better
voice than Gwen but just never matched the charisma or songwriting.

Ah well. One mystery solved in the ongoing chase to discover "where
are they now?"

Sent from my iPhone

It's All About The Benjamins

I am Blue and I endorse this message:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

MyPhonies?! Brilliant!

Man, I haven't watched an episode of the Simpsons in years but judging from this amusing clip, they haven't lost much.

Mapple - The Simpsons
by aarplane

I Feel So Dirty

I mentioned it in my QoS review but... well, I kinda dug the Star Trek trailer. It's awkward for me because I grew up with the mindset that you only get to be a fan of either Star Wars or Star Trek - not both. So, you can imagine my discomfort at enjoying Deep Space Nine.

But... well... you be the judge.

Blue's Review: Quantum Of Solace

I was listening to the aforementioned /filmcast this morning for their review of Quantum Of Solace - a review that reminded me that I never actually did my review of the movie.

So, here goes.

It sucks.

Honestly, I could probably pretty much leave it at that and be happy with my analysis. But for your benefit, I'll say some more.

It really sucks.

Better?

The plot? Sucks. The acting? Sucks. The editing? Sucks. The action? Well, okay, the action's alright. So, if you're the kind of person who goes to a movie just for the action and effects, you should go see it.

But everything else blew and was majorly disappointing after the awesomeness that was Casino Royale.

I'm not going to give the "Oh, it doesn't feel like a Bond movie" argument because as a non-Bond fan, I really don't give a shit if he says, "Bond, James Bond" or order a martini "shaken not stirred" or if there's crazy gadgets that he uses. That's not what I care about as a non-Bond fan. It's much like I don't give a fuck if the bridge of the Enterprise in the new Star Trek movie looks like an Apple Store like so many people are bitching about. I'm not a Trekkie so I don't care.

What I do care about in Quantum of Solace is a plot that is at least mildly interesting and easy to follow. QoS fails on both accounts. It's complicated and has all the depth of Ridley Scott's Monopoly Thimble. There's no emotional investment in the plot and somehow they manage to piss away the emotional investment in the characters as well. The acting is... well, shoddy at best. Daniel Craig does an adequate job as Bond. Judi Dench is cool as M again - probably the only one I don't have a complaint with. But all the other characters are forgettable at best.

My biggest complaint though is the editing. I hate jumpcut editing. I hate the desire to make the action "feel fast." I blame the Bourne movies - which I really didn't like either. But it's one of the things that I really disliked about the Transformers movie too. There's just too many action sequences where you feel like you can't figure out what the fuck is going on and who is who and who is driving what vehicle and what have you. QoS just had too many action sequences where I had to struggle to understand who was doing what for me to enjoy it.

In the end, the worst thing about QoS is that it's completely forgettable. The day after we saw it, I could barely remember a thing about it. And even now, I can basically remember the big action sequence at the end and that's about it. There were a few moments they discussed in the /filmcast review that I had no recollection of at all honestly.

And if you can't remember a film a day [or week] after seeing it, you really can't say anything worse about it, can you?

It's a pass, guys. Catch it on DVD, maybe... HBO someday, sure... but don't waste your ten bucks to see it on the big screen.

Blade Runner. Gladiator. Monopoly?

Much thanks to a colleague at work who got me turned on to the /filmcast recently. I've only been able to listen to a couple of them so far but it's exactly what I look for in a film review - non-pretentious "normal" guys shooting the shit about a movie or TV show.

And yes, I do think I could probably do such a podcast as well. If only I had the cast to make it a group effort. A relaunch of the "You're My Boy, Blue!" podcast? Perhaps.

While listening to said podcast at lunch today, I heard something that managed to disturb and fascinate me - all at the same time.

A while back, I had heard that some board games had been optioned by a movie studio. The story made me roll my eyes and utter some diatribes about the pathetic state of Hollywood and their dependency on existing properties to save their collective financial asses.

But the plot thickened today when I heard that Ridley Scott had been inked to direct a Monopoly movie.

I'll let that sink in for a second.

Still with me?

Okay, so apparently Mr. Scott thinks there's something to be said for a story of someone going from nothing to riches and changing because of it. Some kind of humorous quality apparently.

Me? I'm just curious how many fucking dump trucks filled with cash it took to get him to sign on for this garbage.

I can see no value in a Monopoly movie. None. Zero. Zilch.

In fact, if this atrocity ever gets made (and that's a big if), I'd be willing to suggest that it probably should go straight to DVD. It should not pass go. It should not collect two hundred dollars.

But I am curious as to who they'll cast as the thimble.

Oh, That Frisky Snoopy!

A perfect storm of awesomeness on my phone yesterday.

Black Friday Recap

Black Friday is the day of terror for people who work in retail, right? The day the footsoldiers dread because of all the chaos and carnage?

So, would it surprise you to know that it was one of my favorite days working at the store?

Surprised the hell out of me.

It was just too much fun for words. The entire staff was there, working throughout the day. The manager was in the back, making breakfast and lunch for everyone. It was just really chill and a whole lot of goodness.

The customers weren't too bad either. Most of them seemed happy to be out Christmas shopping and getting into the holiday spirit. I ran across very few who were rude or cranky or all that jazz.

I'm really tired and I think I'm coming down with a cold - but that's another story. For now, I'm just going to remember how much fun I had today and hope it carries on throughout the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What? Like you really expected something more today.

I'm off to nice happy turkey sleep.

Fanboys Is Coming... Finally

At long last, it looks like Fanboys is going to finally hit the big screen in February of '09. I've been following this movie since they debuted footage of it a few years ago back at Comic-Con, dropping super awesome "I Brake For Wookies" bumperstickers on the masses.

The plot was simple. Back in the day, a group of friends set out to Skywalker Ranch in hopes that they can steal The Phantom Menace before it came out. But the key to the whole movie is that they're not just doing this because they want to see it first but rather because one of the friends is dying and they want to make sure he sees it before he dies.

Yeah, I can relate to that a little too much, I think. That's why it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear that they had taken the cancer storyline out of some of the cuts of the movie trying to "lighten it." Fucking Hollywood.

Anyways, I think they put it back in but you can't really tell from this trailer.

What you can tell is that it's going to soooooo rock our Galactic asses.

Dodger Day

I noticed a surplus of Dodgers news today so I thought it was worth checking out...

It started this morning with Ken Rosenthal's report on Fox Sports' website.

-- He spends some time discussing how Trevor Hoffman to the Dodgers would make sense - an idea I've been on board with since the negotiations with the Padres' broke down. With Saito old and injured and Broxton not quite there yet, I'd be perfectly happy with Hoffman taking closing duties for a year. Plus, he knows the NL West very well. I have no problem with this idea if the price is right.

-- Some chatter about the Sox trading Mike Lowell if they're able to land Tex. Rosenthal speculates that the Dodgers might be in on that. I can't see that one. Too much money for too little potential good.

-- The Times reports the Dodgers are in a bit of a holding pattern with no recent talks for Manny and no "movement" on Sabathia. I'd expect both of those situations to change in the next couple of weeks.

-- With each day, it looks less and less like the Dodgers will be players for Furcal. The 4 year deal is scaring them off and I can't really blame them for that. It's a ridiculous deal to put in place for someone who basically just missed an entire season due to injury. Would Dodger fans be happy with Hu at SS to see what happens? This one would. A dollar saved on Furcal is a dollar to spend on Manny or CC.

-- Speaking of Hu, apparently he [and others] were the asking price for Jack Wilson from the Pirates. This shows me that they're preparing for life without Rafael Furcal. It's a shame but... well, that's the baseball world we live in.

-- Finally, apparently Andy Pettite has reached out to Joe Torre to discuss the possibility of coming to LA to pitch next season. With Kuroda and Kershaw the only healthy members of the Dodgers' rotation at the moment, I'm very open to this idea as well.

SAG To Strike?

I really don't get it.

With an entertainment industry still trying to recover from the last labor dispute to hit it and with a global economy in tatters sending disposable income through the floor, how can anyone think it's a good time to strike again?

Sure, it's not a one-sided street and it could just be trying to establish leverage but if the situation actually devolves to that point, you have to figure there's something inherently wrong with the industry as a whole. Like people don't have a negative enough view about the spoiled, pampered celebrities who can't relate to the masses... let's go on strike and make everyone realize just how out of touch they are.

Of course, they've positioned this announcement right before awards season in hopes that someone will cave so that they don't lose the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and all the rest. It's just really ridiculous.

As someone who stuck with TV even after the Strike shortened seasons and has even lost shows I really liked almost directly because of the Strike [Daisies anyone?], I just can't imagine going through all that again. When does the line finally get crossed? Will the industry finally shoot themselves in the foot by being so completely blind and apathetic towards the fans that make them relevant?

Sadly, signs point to them doing whatever they want and us coming back time after time to take it.

Beat The Clock!

Too tired to write - just gotta beat the clock to keep the streak alive!