Hello,
Tonight is the finale of "The Killing", I'm predicting a less than satisfying conclusion. The show started out strongly, but has deteriorated as the season has gone on. If this season hadn't been coming to an end tonight, I'd seriously think about giving up on it. I'm afraid that the finale will be stupid. There will be some of a shock at to who the killer is, I just hope it's not someone whose character hasn't been on the show at all. Of course, it will be raining through at least half of the show. I get that it rains a lot in Seattle, but so much rain literally dampens the plot. I'm hoping for a lot more sun in Season Two. I would also like a lot less stray plot lines.
All I know about tonight's episode is that Darren Richmond isn't the killer, we knew that when at the end of episode 12 it seemed that Richmond is the killer. Detective shows rarely show their cards who the killer is until at least the absolute last minute. We also know Belko isn't the killer, the show's show runner said it isn't. Many people think that either Jamie or Gwen, Richmond's main campaign staff, is the killer. I could see either one of those goof balls being the killer. It would be doubly shocking if they were complicit in the murder and clean up. Although clues have been pointing against either being the killer. I will stick with my original prediction that I made after seeing the first episode. That is that Rosie's Dad, Stan, is the killer. With his beating Bennet and some other suspicious activities it seems the show may be leading to that conclusion. Are those clues or is this a typical police drama misdirection?
My Top 4 favorite AMC series of all-time:
1) "Mad Men", fifth season starting sometime in this winter
2) "Rubicon", unfortunately cancelled after one season
3) "The Walking Dead", second season this fall
4) "The Killing", will also have a second season
"Breaking Bad" is not on this list because I can't quite get over the ick factor of what the show is about.
Then coming this fall from AMC is "Hell on Wheels":
Then in something very sad, one of the most famous sidemen in the history of rock and roll has passed away. That's the legendary sax player Clarence Clemons. He played for many years with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Springsteen affectionately referred to him as bad man. His influence in the E Street Band was bigger than it seemed.
Bruce Springsteen's thoughts on the loss of Clemons:
Clarence's solo in "Jungleland":
Clarence Clemons sax solo on Jackson Browne's "You're A Friend of Mine".
Clemons also performed the sax solo on Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory".
R.I.P. Big Man!
This song doesn't have a lot to do with Clarence Clemons, but I think the feeling of this song is perfectly in sync with the death of Clemons. Unfortunately this isn't the full 11:38 version that's on his "Live 1975-1985" CD.
themusicaddict
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Good Baseball Day, NBA Draft
Hello,
Yesterday was a good day for me in the MLB. All 4 of my teams that played won. Thankfully the McCourt Fiascos didn't play to ruin the streak. (I'm really hoping the rumors are true that the McCourts have finally have reached a divorce settlement. If that's true then Frank and Jamie McCourt and their kids can finally get on with their lives. Less importantly maybe the Dodgers can get on with being a well run team.) Boston and Atlanta strengthened their playoff chances, both teams have been playing very well. Pittsburgh is looking to have their first above .500 season record in about 17 years. I'm so excited that the Pirates are going in the right direction. And Chicago? Well they are the Cubs, one can only expect so much.
There are going to be more inter league games for everybody but Dodgers-Astros. The Pirates go to play the Indians in Cleveland. Strangely enough the Pirates have a better road record than home record. They are 20-15 on the road, whereas they are 15-18 at home. Cleveland is a good team, but they have been struggling. The Indians are only 3-7 over their last 10 games. Milwaukee plays Boston at Fenway Park, two first teams playing each other. Texas plays the Braves in Atlanta, which will be a good test for the Braves. The Yankees travel to Chicago to play the Cubs. Chicago is at home which is good as they need every break they can get. Game 3 of their series will be ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball game.
Thursday night is the NBA Draft. Mostly everyone agrees that Kyrie Irving will go first to Cleveland. After that though the draft seems to be wide open. The Jazz own the #3 and #12 first round picks. As a Jazz fan I hope Arizona's Derrick Williams falls to the Jazz at #3. He seems to be ready to play in the NBA but still hasn't reached his full potential. I also don't think he fits with the Timberwolves, owners of the # 2 pick, with Kevin Love playing essentially the same position.
Many NBA experts are projecting the Jazz to draft Enes Kanter at #3. I'm fearful about that pick as he's a European player. Most European players have been failures in the NBA. For every Dirk Nowitski, there are several busts. The Jazz have had some success with European/ foreign players. They've had Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, who certainly have had their share of highlights. However those two have been injured way too often, that could be the lasting legacy of both players.
I'm very worried about what the Jazz are going to do with their #12 pick. If Jimmer Fredette is still there at #12, I expect the Jazz to take him. Honestly I don't think they have a choice. He performed well at the Jazz's tryout of him this past week. Maybe if his workout had been a disaster, possibly the pressure wouldn't be so great. However I think the pressure is just too great from fans for the Jazz not to pick Fredette. I'm just very afraid that he's going to be a partial bust. The Jazz have already had too many draft busts.
Of course the wild card is there might be a trade, actually I expect at least one major trade. That of course would throw everything up into the air. Following the draft there may be a NBA lockout which might make a lot of these things irrelevant for awhile anyway.
themusicaddict
Yesterday was a good day for me in the MLB. All 4 of my teams that played won. Thankfully the McCourt Fiascos didn't play to ruin the streak. (I'm really hoping the rumors are true that the McCourts have finally have reached a divorce settlement. If that's true then Frank and Jamie McCourt and their kids can finally get on with their lives. Less importantly maybe the Dodgers can get on with being a well run team.) Boston and Atlanta strengthened their playoff chances, both teams have been playing very well. Pittsburgh is looking to have their first above .500 season record in about 17 years. I'm so excited that the Pirates are going in the right direction. And Chicago? Well they are the Cubs, one can only expect so much.
There are going to be more inter league games for everybody but Dodgers-Astros. The Pirates go to play the Indians in Cleveland. Strangely enough the Pirates have a better road record than home record. They are 20-15 on the road, whereas they are 15-18 at home. Cleveland is a good team, but they have been struggling. The Indians are only 3-7 over their last 10 games. Milwaukee plays Boston at Fenway Park, two first teams playing each other. Texas plays the Braves in Atlanta, which will be a good test for the Braves. The Yankees travel to Chicago to play the Cubs. Chicago is at home which is good as they need every break they can get. Game 3 of their series will be ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball game.
Thursday night is the NBA Draft. Mostly everyone agrees that Kyrie Irving will go first to Cleveland. After that though the draft seems to be wide open. The Jazz own the #3 and #12 first round picks. As a Jazz fan I hope Arizona's Derrick Williams falls to the Jazz at #3. He seems to be ready to play in the NBA but still hasn't reached his full potential. I also don't think he fits with the Timberwolves, owners of the # 2 pick, with Kevin Love playing essentially the same position.
Many NBA experts are projecting the Jazz to draft Enes Kanter at #3. I'm fearful about that pick as he's a European player. Most European players have been failures in the NBA. For every Dirk Nowitski, there are several busts. The Jazz have had some success with European/ foreign players. They've had Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, who certainly have had their share of highlights. However those two have been injured way too often, that could be the lasting legacy of both players.
I'm very worried about what the Jazz are going to do with their #12 pick. If Jimmer Fredette is still there at #12, I expect the Jazz to take him. Honestly I don't think they have a choice. He performed well at the Jazz's tryout of him this past week. Maybe if his workout had been a disaster, possibly the pressure wouldn't be so great. However I think the pressure is just too great from fans for the Jazz not to pick Fredette. I'm just very afraid that he's going to be a partial bust. The Jazz have already had too many draft busts.
Of course the wild card is there might be a trade, actually I expect at least one major trade. That of course would throw everything up into the air. Following the draft there may be a NBA lockout which might make a lot of these things irrelevant for awhile anyway.
themusicaddict
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Gonnabees love Britney Spears, Run-D.M.C.
Hello,
Congratulations to the Boston Bruins for winning their first Stanley Cup since 1972. The Bruins completely shut down the Canucks in this match, winning 4-0. They won the series 4-3. I watched the first period and from that it seemed like it was going to be a boring hockey match. Instead of watching the last two periods I went to Comcast On Demand and watched two episodes of "Bones". I can't say that was much better. That's a show that certainly doesn't live up to it's reputation. Although I agree with what one of "Bones" characters said "Jimmy Page is always relevant".
I hope this run of success continues for Boston teams through October. (I also hope Dallas's run of success continues through the Super Bowl. Jerry Jones did you notice how Mark Cuban was silent during the Mavs run? Perhaps that would be a good idea for you?) I'm a fan of 5 different teams in MLB. Of those 5 teams Boston has the best chance of winning the World Series. My 4 other teams are in the National League, who would have to get past the Phillies to get to the World Series. I see any team hard pressed to do that.
Frank McCourt had the money to meet Dodgers payroll yesterday, that's too bad. The Dodger players were so happy they went out and were blasted by the Reds 7-2. MLB and Bud Selig, please help us! Orel Hershiser we need you!
A good article from espn.com about Hershiser:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=6666979
While the Dodgers continue to flounder, thankfully 3 of my teams are playing well. The Boston Red Sox are on a roll, winning 9 of their last 10 games. Josh Beckett threw his first one hitter in his career yesterday. For being such a dominant pitcher, can you believe that's his first career one hitter? (That was actually so unbelievable to me that I double checked.) Beckett is now 6-2 for the 40-27 Red Sox. Boston leads the despised Yankees by 1.5 games.
Atlanta is 38-31 and in second place in the NL East, they trail the very tough Phillies by 5 games. Atlanta isn't probably going to win the NL East, but they have a good chance to win the Wild Card. They'll be battling with St Louis, among other teams, all season long.
However my team I'm probably most excited about is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yesterday they beat the Astros 4-3 to improve to 34-33 on the season. This is the latest in the season the Pirates have been above .500 since Aug 15th, 1999. As I writing this they were playing again at Houston to wrap up that series. In the top of the first inning, Pittsburgh threatened. Garrett Jones hit his 7th home run of the season as the Pirates took a 3-0 lead. Pittsburgh then barely held on to win 5-4 today, to move two games above .500. With 3 pitching studs drafted in the last two years and a young and hungry team I predict big things in the near future for the Pirates. The near future probably being in two or three years.
The Pirates can't be considered legitimate playoff threats until they upgrade their average pitching. Obviously through the draft they've got some potential studs. Although even if these young pitchers are good, they are probably still a year or two away from helping the Pirates.
Right now there pitching staff is highlighted by Kevin Correia, he's 8-5. Following him is Charlie Morton, 7-3, Jeff Karstens 4-4, James McDonald 4-4 and Paul Maholm is 3-7. James McDonald won today's game to improve to 5-4. With the early 3 run lead he had enough to go above .500 on the season. Go Pirates.
As I was exercising this morning I was watching Sports Center as I always do. Instead of showing mainly baseball and Stanley Cup highlights, ESPN was mostly showing people talking about golf and the U.S. Open. That was very irritating and as boring as you would think it would be. Watching Mike Tirico and Paul Azinger talk, golfers lining up shots and multiple practice swings is no substitute for watching highlights of real athletes. At one point the camera was on the backs of a group of men for at least 2 minutes. I didn't have the sound up so I'm not sure what was going on. However no matter what they were talking about, it couldn't have been that interesting. At least two-thirds of today's Sports Center I actually watched was dedicated to golf. Please don't do that anymore ESPN.
A really funny but brutal song about Britney Spears. Warning this video is full of foul language and rude opinions about Britney Spears and others.
I've talked a bit about my love of Run-D.M.C. but I realized I haven't featured very many of their songs yet, so here goes. This is probably my favorite Run-D.M.C. song. This video features Penn and Teller. Warning you are about to see some really bad acting:
"Rock Box":
"King of Rock":
Run-D.M.C. on "Reading Rainbow", this is hilarious:
"Mary, Mary":
"You Talk Too Much":
"You Be Illin":
"Perfection":
On to other amazing songs. This is my favorite Bob Marley song "Iron Lion Zion":
I'd like to dedicate this song to the whole Auburn and Ohio St. football programs, especially Gene Chizik. Chizik has written a book. Oh yeah, I'm sure it will sell 10's of copies... in Alabama. Everything about Auburn winning the BCS Championship feels corrupt to me. I just think Chizik is tempting fate and karma with his constant need to be in the spotlight. This is what he said about Scam Newton, "We knew we had done nothing wrong during the recruiting process." I just don't believe him.
I'm not a big Radiohead fan, but I love this song. However I'm a humongous Nelly Furtado fan, this is one of my favorite songs of hers. This is "Shit on the Radio (Remember The Days)". This song is so correct, one of the many reasons I rarely listen to the radio. This great song one wouldn't hear on the radio.
I love this song, this is "Execution Song" by Johnossi:
This is an amazing musical score from the brilliant mind of Peter Gabriel. "Running To The Rain" is from the movie "Long Walk Home":
And yes this song again, this is such a great song.
themusicaddict
Congratulations to the Boston Bruins for winning their first Stanley Cup since 1972. The Bruins completely shut down the Canucks in this match, winning 4-0. They won the series 4-3. I watched the first period and from that it seemed like it was going to be a boring hockey match. Instead of watching the last two periods I went to Comcast On Demand and watched two episodes of "Bones". I can't say that was much better. That's a show that certainly doesn't live up to it's reputation. Although I agree with what one of "Bones" characters said "Jimmy Page is always relevant".
I hope this run of success continues for Boston teams through October. (I also hope Dallas's run of success continues through the Super Bowl. Jerry Jones did you notice how Mark Cuban was silent during the Mavs run? Perhaps that would be a good idea for you?) I'm a fan of 5 different teams in MLB. Of those 5 teams Boston has the best chance of winning the World Series. My 4 other teams are in the National League, who would have to get past the Phillies to get to the World Series. I see any team hard pressed to do that.
Frank McCourt had the money to meet Dodgers payroll yesterday, that's too bad. The Dodger players were so happy they went out and were blasted by the Reds 7-2. MLB and Bud Selig, please help us! Orel Hershiser we need you!
A good article from espn.com about Hershiser:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=6666979
While the Dodgers continue to flounder, thankfully 3 of my teams are playing well. The Boston Red Sox are on a roll, winning 9 of their last 10 games. Josh Beckett threw his first one hitter in his career yesterday. For being such a dominant pitcher, can you believe that's his first career one hitter? (That was actually so unbelievable to me that I double checked.) Beckett is now 6-2 for the 40-27 Red Sox. Boston leads the despised Yankees by 1.5 games.
Atlanta is 38-31 and in second place in the NL East, they trail the very tough Phillies by 5 games. Atlanta isn't probably going to win the NL East, but they have a good chance to win the Wild Card. They'll be battling with St Louis, among other teams, all season long.
However my team I'm probably most excited about is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yesterday they beat the Astros 4-3 to improve to 34-33 on the season. This is the latest in the season the Pirates have been above .500 since Aug 15th, 1999. As I writing this they were playing again at Houston to wrap up that series. In the top of the first inning, Pittsburgh threatened. Garrett Jones hit his 7th home run of the season as the Pirates took a 3-0 lead. Pittsburgh then barely held on to win 5-4 today, to move two games above .500. With 3 pitching studs drafted in the last two years and a young and hungry team I predict big things in the near future for the Pirates. The near future probably being in two or three years.
The Pirates can't be considered legitimate playoff threats until they upgrade their average pitching. Obviously through the draft they've got some potential studs. Although even if these young pitchers are good, they are probably still a year or two away from helping the Pirates.
Right now there pitching staff is highlighted by Kevin Correia, he's 8-5. Following him is Charlie Morton, 7-3, Jeff Karstens 4-4, James McDonald 4-4 and Paul Maholm is 3-7. James McDonald won today's game to improve to 5-4. With the early 3 run lead he had enough to go above .500 on the season. Go Pirates.
As I was exercising this morning I was watching Sports Center as I always do. Instead of showing mainly baseball and Stanley Cup highlights, ESPN was mostly showing people talking about golf and the U.S. Open. That was very irritating and as boring as you would think it would be. Watching Mike Tirico and Paul Azinger talk, golfers lining up shots and multiple practice swings is no substitute for watching highlights of real athletes. At one point the camera was on the backs of a group of men for at least 2 minutes. I didn't have the sound up so I'm not sure what was going on. However no matter what they were talking about, it couldn't have been that interesting. At least two-thirds of today's Sports Center I actually watched was dedicated to golf. Please don't do that anymore ESPN.
A really funny but brutal song about Britney Spears. Warning this video is full of foul language and rude opinions about Britney Spears and others.
I've talked a bit about my love of Run-D.M.C. but I realized I haven't featured very many of their songs yet, so here goes. This is probably my favorite Run-D.M.C. song. This video features Penn and Teller. Warning you are about to see some really bad acting:
"Rock Box":
"King of Rock":
Run-D.M.C. on "Reading Rainbow", this is hilarious:
"Mary, Mary":
"You Talk Too Much":
"You Be Illin":
"Perfection":
On to other amazing songs. This is my favorite Bob Marley song "Iron Lion Zion":
I'd like to dedicate this song to the whole Auburn and Ohio St. football programs, especially Gene Chizik. Chizik has written a book. Oh yeah, I'm sure it will sell 10's of copies... in Alabama. Everything about Auburn winning the BCS Championship feels corrupt to me. I just think Chizik is tempting fate and karma with his constant need to be in the spotlight. This is what he said about Scam Newton, "We knew we had done nothing wrong during the recruiting process." I just don't believe him.
I'm not a big Radiohead fan, but I love this song. However I'm a humongous Nelly Furtado fan, this is one of my favorite songs of hers. This is "Shit on the Radio (Remember The Days)". This song is so correct, one of the many reasons I rarely listen to the radio. This great song one wouldn't hear on the radio.
I love this song, this is "Execution Song" by Johnossi:
This is an amazing musical score from the brilliant mind of Peter Gabriel. "Running To The Rain" is from the movie "Long Walk Home":
And yes this song again, this is such a great song.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup, Will you be watching?, Dodgers Troubles, Phillies are Tough!
Hello,
Tonight is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Will you be watching it? I plan on watching a bit of hockey's finale. I don't have a rooting interest yet, but one will probably develop as I watch it. Vancouver-Boston Game 7 tonight. It doesn't look good for the Bruins as the home team has won the first 6 games in the series and tonight's game is in Vancouver.
I watched Season 1, Episode 3 of "Rizzoli and Isles" last night, this episode is titled "Sympathy for the Devil". (For some reason Comcast On Demand, skipped the second episode "Boston Strangler Redux".) Anyway this is an enjoyable show. I like the Rizzoli and Isles friendship at the center of the show, they have an interesting chemistry. I loved Donnie Wahlberg making a special guest appearance. His character in this episode is the kind of bureaucrat that his character, Danny Reagan, would hate in "Blue Bloods". I plan on finishing watching the first season On Demand. Season Two then starts on July 11th. If you are a television network and don't have all of your shows on On Demand you are clueless.
If you were wondering what their theme song is, here it is.
It's Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "Paris (Ooh La La)":
For the "Almost Alice" soundtrack, they also took on this classic:
If you are a television network and don't have all of your shows on On Demand you are an idiot. I doubtfully would have ever started watching "Rubicon", "Mad Men", "Rizzoli and Isles", "Friday Night Lights", "4th and Forever" if it wasn't for Comcast On Demand. I'm so glad I didn't miss out especially on "Mad Men" and "Friday Night Lights".
After that I watched "Bones", which I wasn't very impressed with. I liked how this episode featured the amazing Adele song though. Is Bones character suppose to be so opaque, blank and with virtually no affect? Most of this episode Bones character was just there. Booth's character is great, he's very charming and funny. In last night's episode he dressed up as a mullet wearing bowler. He played that part with great hilarity. I've only seen a couple of episodes of this show. But from what I've seen I don't understand how those two characters ever got together. I will probably watch a couple more episodes at least.
This is the amazing Adele's "To Make You Feel My Love". I love her voice!
Frank McCourt apparently was able to make Dodgers payroll again today. So that's two more weeks at least that we have to deal with his inept, greedy ownership. However that may change soon for a couple of different reasons. At a hearing on June 22nd Jamie McCourt is asking a judge to force her ex-husband Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers. McCourt will also be asking for judgments in his favor. "McCourt is expected to ask a judge to approve the club's multibillion dollar television extension with Fox that would inject much needed cash into the organization." (Thanks to espn.com.)
The second reason we may be seeing McCourt's last days of Dodgers ownership is that along with the normal payroll on June 30th, the Dodgers also owe Manny Ramirez $8.33 million. Those are the first of 3 deferred payments for the contract that he signed a couple of years. ESPN The Magazine columnist Buster Olney says that may be "the tipping point" in McCourt losing ownership of the Dodgers.
McCourt has been more worried about him owning the Dodgers than the overall financial health of the Dodgers. From espn.com "Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had to draw advances against the team's corporate sponsorship deals to meet his June 1 payroll obligations." This really worries me, How much is McCourt leveraging the Dodgers future to make deals now? This leveraging the Dodgers future is obviously a bad idea. We see that in the ridiculous Manny Ramirez contract situation. Not only do the Dodgers owe Ramirez 8.33 million this June 30th, they also owe him that exact amount in 2012 and 2013. It's only a matter of time, why can't the MLB just step in and take over the Dodgers now?
Speaking of baseball and things that are scary: the starting pitching of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies currently have a Mt. Rushmore of pitching, 4 fantastic pitchers. For those of you who don't follow baseball. From dictionary.com ERA is: "A statistic used to measure a pitcher's effectiveness, obtained by calculating the average number of earned runs scored against the pitcher in every nine innings pitched".
Those amazing pitchers include Roy Halladay 9-3 with a 2.39 ERA. Cole Hamels is 9-2 with a 2.49 ERA. Cliff Lee is 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA. Roy Oswalt is 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA. Overall as a team they have an ERA of 3.12. Obviously the better ERA a pitcher has the more wins he's likely to have. A team is going to win a lot of games when they are only giving up a little more than 3 runs.
If the Phillies pitching can continue to perform as well as they have in the past, how is anyone going to beat this team? Many people said that same exact thing about the Miami Heat. They wondered how can the Heat not win the NBA Finals with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade? Well the answer is a disappearing LeBron James. However the Phillies have so many pitchers, if one is injured or ineffective they still have a very solid pitching staff. For instance, Oswalt and Lee are pitching very mediocre right now, but I doubt they'll pitch like that all season. If the Phillies ever get all four of their big guns pitching near the top of their game at the same time it seems that they will be unstoppable.
With a solid batting core in Placido Polanco (79 hits, 3.05 Avg.), Jimmy Rollins (66 hits, 2.59 Avg), Ryan Howard (62 hits, 14 home runs and 55 RBIs), Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino. The Phillies are 41-26, the best record in baseball, without Chase Utley playing to his usual high standard.
Other great songs:
I realize Lauren Alaina only finished second on "American Idol" this season. But when this song came on my iPod this morning I realized again how polished she is already. If she keeps on getting songs as good as this, she's going to be a big star. (Other than a brief burst of fame, I don't think Scotty McDreery will ever make much of an impact.)
I love strong, raspy voiced female singers. I was simply blown away when I heard Gin Wigmore's song this morning.
Of their many amazing songs, this is probably my favorite White Stripes song, "7 Nation Army":
I know I'll be mocked for this but Michael Jackson has always been one of my favorites. Sure he had creepy behaviors, but the man earned the music legend tag.
"They Don't Care About Us". Warning there are some very disturbing images in this video.
and another one of his lesser appreciated songs:
Last but not least, karma can come quickly or slowly. Seriously I couldn't make up things like the following two items. DeShawn Stevenson, who mainly talked trash in the NBA Finals, was arrested for public intoxication. Be careful when you call a team "classless", that came back to haunt him within just a couple of days. I do wonder if he pulled the "Do you know who I am?" card.
Then in a hilarious example of how karma may be slow, but it always comes is this little nugget. How guilty is the Auburn college football team and their head coach Gene Chizik? Chizik has signed a new contract with Auburn with some very special language. Again from espn.com: "Auburn coach Gene Chizik's new contract allows him to be paid if there is an NCAA investigation into possible major rules violations, a departure from his previous deal." Yes, I realize that innocent people can be investigated. However what does it tell you when a coach includes that kind of stipulation into their contract? Would someone that is innocent even think to include that kind of language?
Like Ohio St. is mostly doing, they still need to get rid of Gene Smith, Auburn needs to clean house. They need to own up to all the corruption in their athletic program, give back the national title and the Heisman. Scam Newton wisely left, now it's time to get rid of all the taint he leaves behind.
As a USC Trojan fan, I'm glad they hired Pat Haden and met all their issues head on. They will be better for it in the future.
themusicaddict
Tonight is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Will you be watching it? I plan on watching a bit of hockey's finale. I don't have a rooting interest yet, but one will probably develop as I watch it. Vancouver-Boston Game 7 tonight. It doesn't look good for the Bruins as the home team has won the first 6 games in the series and tonight's game is in Vancouver.
I watched Season 1, Episode 3 of "Rizzoli and Isles" last night, this episode is titled "Sympathy for the Devil". (For some reason Comcast On Demand, skipped the second episode "Boston Strangler Redux".) Anyway this is an enjoyable show. I like the Rizzoli and Isles friendship at the center of the show, they have an interesting chemistry. I loved Donnie Wahlberg making a special guest appearance. His character in this episode is the kind of bureaucrat that his character, Danny Reagan, would hate in "Blue Bloods". I plan on finishing watching the first season On Demand. Season Two then starts on July 11th. If you are a television network and don't have all of your shows on On Demand you are clueless.
If you were wondering what their theme song is, here it is.
It's Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "Paris (Ooh La La)":
For the "Almost Alice" soundtrack, they also took on this classic:
If you are a television network and don't have all of your shows on On Demand you are an idiot. I doubtfully would have ever started watching "Rubicon", "Mad Men", "Rizzoli and Isles", "Friday Night Lights", "4th and Forever" if it wasn't for Comcast On Demand. I'm so glad I didn't miss out especially on "Mad Men" and "Friday Night Lights".
After that I watched "Bones", which I wasn't very impressed with. I liked how this episode featured the amazing Adele song though. Is Bones character suppose to be so opaque, blank and with virtually no affect? Most of this episode Bones character was just there. Booth's character is great, he's very charming and funny. In last night's episode he dressed up as a mullet wearing bowler. He played that part with great hilarity. I've only seen a couple of episodes of this show. But from what I've seen I don't understand how those two characters ever got together. I will probably watch a couple more episodes at least.
This is the amazing Adele's "To Make You Feel My Love". I love her voice!
Frank McCourt apparently was able to make Dodgers payroll again today. So that's two more weeks at least that we have to deal with his inept, greedy ownership. However that may change soon for a couple of different reasons. At a hearing on June 22nd Jamie McCourt is asking a judge to force her ex-husband Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers. McCourt will also be asking for judgments in his favor. "McCourt is expected to ask a judge to approve the club's multibillion dollar television extension with Fox that would inject much needed cash into the organization." (Thanks to espn.com.)
The second reason we may be seeing McCourt's last days of Dodgers ownership is that along with the normal payroll on June 30th, the Dodgers also owe Manny Ramirez $8.33 million. Those are the first of 3 deferred payments for the contract that he signed a couple of years. ESPN The Magazine columnist Buster Olney says that may be "the tipping point" in McCourt losing ownership of the Dodgers.
McCourt has been more worried about him owning the Dodgers than the overall financial health of the Dodgers. From espn.com "Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had to draw advances against the team's corporate sponsorship deals to meet his June 1 payroll obligations." This really worries me, How much is McCourt leveraging the Dodgers future to make deals now? This leveraging the Dodgers future is obviously a bad idea. We see that in the ridiculous Manny Ramirez contract situation. Not only do the Dodgers owe Ramirez 8.33 million this June 30th, they also owe him that exact amount in 2012 and 2013. It's only a matter of time, why can't the MLB just step in and take over the Dodgers now?
Speaking of baseball and things that are scary: the starting pitching of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies currently have a Mt. Rushmore of pitching, 4 fantastic pitchers. For those of you who don't follow baseball. From dictionary.com ERA is: "A statistic used to measure a pitcher's effectiveness, obtained by calculating the average number of earned runs scored against the pitcher in every nine innings pitched".
Those amazing pitchers include Roy Halladay 9-3 with a 2.39 ERA. Cole Hamels is 9-2 with a 2.49 ERA. Cliff Lee is 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA. Roy Oswalt is 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA. Overall as a team they have an ERA of 3.12. Obviously the better ERA a pitcher has the more wins he's likely to have. A team is going to win a lot of games when they are only giving up a little more than 3 runs.
If the Phillies pitching can continue to perform as well as they have in the past, how is anyone going to beat this team? Many people said that same exact thing about the Miami Heat. They wondered how can the Heat not win the NBA Finals with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade? Well the answer is a disappearing LeBron James. However the Phillies have so many pitchers, if one is injured or ineffective they still have a very solid pitching staff. For instance, Oswalt and Lee are pitching very mediocre right now, but I doubt they'll pitch like that all season. If the Phillies ever get all four of their big guns pitching near the top of their game at the same time it seems that they will be unstoppable.
With a solid batting core in Placido Polanco (79 hits, 3.05 Avg.), Jimmy Rollins (66 hits, 2.59 Avg), Ryan Howard (62 hits, 14 home runs and 55 RBIs), Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino. The Phillies are 41-26, the best record in baseball, without Chase Utley playing to his usual high standard.
Other great songs:
I realize Lauren Alaina only finished second on "American Idol" this season. But when this song came on my iPod this morning I realized again how polished she is already. If she keeps on getting songs as good as this, she's going to be a big star. (Other than a brief burst of fame, I don't think Scotty McDreery will ever make much of an impact.)
I love strong, raspy voiced female singers. I was simply blown away when I heard Gin Wigmore's song this morning.
Of their many amazing songs, this is probably my favorite White Stripes song, "7 Nation Army":
I know I'll be mocked for this but Michael Jackson has always been one of my favorites. Sure he had creepy behaviors, but the man earned the music legend tag.
"They Don't Care About Us". Warning there are some very disturbing images in this video.
and another one of his lesser appreciated songs:
Last but not least, karma can come quickly or slowly. Seriously I couldn't make up things like the following two items. DeShawn Stevenson, who mainly talked trash in the NBA Finals, was arrested for public intoxication. Be careful when you call a team "classless", that came back to haunt him within just a couple of days. I do wonder if he pulled the "Do you know who I am?" card.
Then in a hilarious example of how karma may be slow, but it always comes is this little nugget. How guilty is the Auburn college football team and their head coach Gene Chizik? Chizik has signed a new contract with Auburn with some very special language. Again from espn.com: "Auburn coach Gene Chizik's new contract allows him to be paid if there is an NCAA investigation into possible major rules violations, a departure from his previous deal." Yes, I realize that innocent people can be investigated. However what does it tell you when a coach includes that kind of stipulation into their contract? Would someone that is innocent even think to include that kind of language?
Like Ohio St. is mostly doing, they still need to get rid of Gene Smith, Auburn needs to clean house. They need to own up to all the corruption in their athletic program, give back the national title and the Heisman. Scam Newton wisely left, now it's time to get rid of all the taint he leaves behind.
As a USC Trojan fan, I'm glad they hired Pat Haden and met all their issues head on. They will be better for it in the future.
themusicaddict
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
themusicaddict's Book Club for June, 2011 is Robert Matheson's "I Am Legend" (Updated 12/23/12)
Hello,
Hopefully this doesn't come off as too ridiculous but I've decided to start a book club. Since I like to fly off on a whim, I'm not going to announce each selection too far ahead. For June, the first book club selection is Robert Matheson's "I Am Legend". Yes, the same book that was turned into the 2007 Will Smith movie.
I've only read to page 117, but here are some questions for you to think about. I don't really expect to get any responses, but one of my favorite things to do is to talk with others about books etc. I would like to at least start a bit of a reading interest.
7 quick questions.
1) Robert Neville thinks he's the only person left in the world. What would you do if that was you? If you were being stalked by vampires or anything would you want to live or to die?
2) After 10 months of isolation he finds a dog that hasn't been infected. Over several weeks he gets the dog to trust him. Then something happens to the dog, what would this do to your morale?
3) Neville is in isolation and is lonely for female companionship. He has desire for the female vampires, who would kill them if he ever got near them. Do you find that believable or logical?
4) The author is still alive. If there were any questions you could ask him, what would they be?
5) "I Am Legend" was released in 1954. It seems safe to say that Matheson was writing this book in the early 50s. Some of the world events going on at that time include recovering from World War 2. Also the Korean War occurred between 1950-1953. Matheson's vampires don't resemble the traditional vampires of Stoker etc, why did he choose different characteristics for vampires from Stoker's model? (Should we call them Stokerian vampires?) Also the early 50's was the beginning of the end for polio. Neville is searching for a cure for vampires. What of these things mentioned above, do you think influenced his writing? Were there any other events that may have influenced his writing?
6) There are several differences between the 1954 book and the 2007 movie. Do you like the changes the movie made? What's better the book or the movie?
7) Is Bookclub one word or two words?
themusicaddict
Hopefully this doesn't come off as too ridiculous but I've decided to start a book club. Since I like to fly off on a whim, I'm not going to announce each selection too far ahead. For June, the first book club selection is Robert Matheson's "I Am Legend". Yes, the same book that was turned into the 2007 Will Smith movie.
I've only read to page 117, but here are some questions for you to think about. I don't really expect to get any responses, but one of my favorite things to do is to talk with others about books etc. I would like to at least start a bit of a reading interest.
7 quick questions.
1) Robert Neville thinks he's the only person left in the world. What would you do if that was you? If you were being stalked by vampires or anything would you want to live or to die?
2) After 10 months of isolation he finds a dog that hasn't been infected. Over several weeks he gets the dog to trust him. Then something happens to the dog, what would this do to your morale?
3) Neville is in isolation and is lonely for female companionship. He has desire for the female vampires, who would kill them if he ever got near them. Do you find that believable or logical?
4) The author is still alive. If there were any questions you could ask him, what would they be?
5) "I Am Legend" was released in 1954. It seems safe to say that Matheson was writing this book in the early 50s. Some of the world events going on at that time include recovering from World War 2. Also the Korean War occurred between 1950-1953. Matheson's vampires don't resemble the traditional vampires of Stoker etc, why did he choose different characteristics for vampires from Stoker's model? (Should we call them Stokerian vampires?) Also the early 50's was the beginning of the end for polio. Neville is searching for a cure for vampires. What of these things mentioned above, do you think influenced his writing? Were there any other events that may have influenced his writing?
6) There are several differences between the 1954 book and the 2007 movie. Do you like the changes the movie made? What's better the book or the movie?
7) Is Bookclub one word or two words?
themusicaddict
KSL says "No" to "The Playboy Club", Flag Day, Quick reviews (Updated 4/8/13)
Hello,
Today is Flag Day, fly your American flags proudly. I'm so grateful for being able to live in this great country. Thanks again to all the veterans and their families for keeping us free.
It was announced yesterday that NBC Salt Lake City affiliate KSL won't be showing "The Playboy Club" when the new season starts. KSL is owned by the LDS Church, which is opposed to the lifestyle Playboy espouses. On moral grounds, and as a member of the LDS Church, I completely agree with KSL's decision. Thank you KSL for making a stand and for putting one's beliefs above money. Some people have referred to this as censorship. Censorship would be completely blocking people from seeing this show. KSL has stated they will help another local channel show this. This is KSL making what they feel is a moral stand. And I completely agree.
Many people have used this as a chance to rip on the LDS Church. They've pointed out things they find inconsistent with this specific stance. However like any other religion the LDS Church is made of people and people have many weaknesses. So please criticize KSL's decision or me all you want, but don't rip on the LDS Church or it's members.
(Update April 8th, 2013: After two years someone looked at this blog entry. I saw the title and I noticed that I had called it "The Playoff Club" instead of "The Playboy Club". I knew that would bug me, so I decided to fix it. The funny thing about this matter is when "The Playboy Club" debuted it received terrible reviews. Many people hated it and it was quickly off the air, which had become a financial decision with the brutal reviews.)
U2's new CD, uh I mean the "Turn Off The Dark" Broadway soundtrack, was released today. "Turn Off The Dark" is the Spider-Man play that has had all sorts of problems and delays. I can't comment on the actual play itself, all I can comment on is the soundtrack. It's quite simple whether you will like the music or not. Ask yourself this question. Are you a U2 fan? If the answer is yes, you'll like this music. If the answer is no, then don't waste your time listening to it. I'm a big U2 fan, my 6th favorite band, thus I'm enjoying it.
I was surprised there are only 14 songs on "Turn Off The Dark". Most Broadway soundtracks have at least 25 songs. "Sunset Boulevard" has 32 songs and "Les Miserables" has 45 songs. I think eventually "Turn Off The Dark" will be considered all-time great Broadway soundtracks.
Last night was my first time watching "Rizzoli & Isles" and it's an okay show. Although I'm very glad to see the gorgeous Angie Harmon back on TV. IMHO, she has the sexiest voice on any TV show now.
I also watched the first two episodes of "4th and Forever". It's about the football program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School (Cal Poly). They are the high school that has sent the most players to the NFL. Many people are calling this show similar to "Friday Night Lights", I agree with that to a point. One big difference is when the cameras leave Cal Poly, the students of Cal Poly remain behind. While it may be a TV show to us, this is their life. Due to that there's a lot more urgency and desperation for these football players.
Happy Birthday to Don Newcombe. From his wikipedia.org page: "Newcombe is the only baseball player to have won the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards in his career. In 1949, he became the first black pitcher to start a World Series game. In 1955, Newcombe was the first black pitcher to win twenty games in one season.[1] In 1956, he was the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same season."
Happy 85th birthday Don. Although he played for many teams, when I think of him I think of his Dodger years. One of the all-time great Dodgers. He currently works with the Dodgers now, hopefully his influence will rub off on everyone else in the organization. A team that's in desperate need of his positive influence.
Day 91 of the NFL Lockout, negotiations are continuing. It seems that both sides are in "deal making mode". No indication on which side is cracking, maybe it's both sides that are cracking. Sarcasm alert: I know how hard it is to share 9.3 billion dollars annually. If an agreement could be reached soon, there would be no games lost. The season could go ahead like normal.
Yesterday news came out that 7 teams were furloughing their employees or making other cuts. According to espn.com: "Miami, Buffalo, the New York Jets, Kansas City, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Arizona are the teams known to have slashed payroll". I wanted to include the guilty teams here to shame them. I don't feel sorry for the millionaires or the billionaires in this labor nonsense. But the fact that these billionaires are cutting payroll to these employees to save relatively a few dollars is ridiculous.
Atlanta and San Francisco refused to respond to the AP on this question, citing privacy issues. In other words they are also making cuts as well.
Also it's official "The Killing" is coming back for a second season. A few weeks ago I would have been excited with that news. However with the sliding quality of the show I'm meh. I will probably watch it next season, but it won't be appointment television. Unlike true AMC classics like "Walking Dead" and "Mad Men", I will do what I need to watch those. R.I.P. "Rubicon".
The Seekers "Red Rubber Ball":
A lesser known Pat Benatar song, but I think this is my favorite of hers:
Frida's "I Know There's Something Going On":
Nena's "99 Luftballoons":
Speaking of songs from musicals, this is from "Chess". It's Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok":
Also from "Chess", this is a song I always thought of as a Whitney Houston song. It's on her 1987 CD "Whitney".
themusicaddict
Monday, June 13, 2011
LeBron James is the man!........during the regular season, The diminishing returns of "The Killing"
Hello,
Looking at LeBron James stats last night, you would think he had a great game. Watching him play in the first half only you would think he had a good game. Watching him disappear in the 4th quarter, you would wonder why was he even on the floor. There didn't seem to be any urgency to get James back on the floor in the 4th quarter and when he came on I could see why. While the commentators were talking about Wade's game face, James face betrayed the face of a man who didn't want to be there.
Dwayne Wade is the man, but he couldn't do it alone. Chris Bosh had a pretty good game, hitting many early shots. He took advantage of the limited opportunities he had. He was 7 for 9 from the field and 5 for 7 from the free throw line. Bosh scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds. Chris Bosh didn't get a lot of love during the season, but he was pretty darn good in the post season. In the Finals he should have had more touches than James. He plays within the offense and doesn't force shots. Unlike a certain superstar, he's not afraid to shoot the big shot. I don't know how many times James passed the ball with the shot clock running down. Maybe passing the ball with 5 seconds on the shot clock isn't the smartest idea LeBron.
Two people that need to shut the hell up, Dan Gilbert and DeShawn Stevenson. Gilbert, the majority owner of the Cavaliers, was openly cheering for Dallas to beat Miami. That's because LeBron James signed with the Heat in the off season. He's been whining about it ever since "The Decision". Gilbert actually predicted the Cavaliers would win a NBA title before the Heat. Yes Dan that's true, if it's the title for whiniest owner. The Cavaliers are perhaps the worst team in the NBA post LBJ. In fact they should start Cavaliers with a lower case c, yes that's how bad they are. How bad Cleveland was this season tells you how good LBJ is. Last year's Cavs had a pretty good season, this years Cavs didn't even get a sniff of the playoffs. Please shut the hell up Dan Gilbert.
Some players are never was players, that applies to our friend DeShawn Stevenson. Mr. never was' biggest impact was with his mouth. Also when he made a 3 pointer, he put 3 fingers up. His elementary teachers must be so proud. He's one of those marginal players that wouldn't get any attention if he didn't say something stupid. Stevenson has become the master of saying something stupid. I'd be surprised if he's on the Mavericks next season. The scenario I'd most like to see is that the Heat would be the only team to sign him, but at the last minute they don't. Of course, he's such a marginal player, very few people will be paying attention to him. Please shut the hell up DeShawn.
I've often criticized Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey for his outrageously expensive contract, especially with the results he has been putting up. I just read a good article over at Grantland.com (Bill Simmons' new website) about John Lackey. It seems Lackey's wife, Krista, is fighting breast cancer. I'll now be laying off Lackey. Performing poorly when one's spouse is fighting cancer is very understandable at the very least. Lackey and his wife will be in my prayers. Lackey is 4-5 with a 7.41 era and pitched a decent game for the Red Sox in his first game back from the DL.
Last night was an okay episode of "The Killing", however this show has diminishing returns. Again way too many stray plot lines. In episode 12, we meet Linden's ex. Why? That follows the 11th episode where Linden and Holder spend most of the episode trying to find Jack. The 11th episode was a snooze fest. Episode 11 and the whole Linden's ex story at this point is just lazy story telling. That will probably be the last we hear about him and Jack. In episode 13 are we going to meet all of Holder's family? This show tends to have characters come up briefly and then completely disappear. The first 2/3rds of the season we heard about Bennet was the leading suspect. He then was found to be innocent, got beaten up pretty bad by Stan Larson and now he has completely disappeared.
Other head scratching plot points. Rosie was a member of Beau Soleil, she was an escort? She was mysteriously putting her money into her Aunt Terry's account? Terry then was the one that bailed Stan out of jail, why? Holder and Linden got the e-mail account for the creepy person who liked to talk about drowning people. Linden sent him e-mails and we found out those e-mails were going to Darren Richmond's computer? I'm very disappointed by that, because he obviously isn't the killer. The killer is probably going to be kept under wraps until the final few minutes of the season finale. I'm also afraid the killer will be someone that we haven't heard about or have heard very little about.
I will watch the season finale, but at this point I could care less if there's a second season. This show started out hot, I thought another example of AMC's fantastic programming choices. But as the season has gone on, there have been more and more plot points that make little sense.
Coming later I have some suggestions about making this show better if there's a second season. I'd prefer a second season of "Rubicon" however.
themusicaddict
Looking at LeBron James stats last night, you would think he had a great game. Watching him play in the first half only you would think he had a good game. Watching him disappear in the 4th quarter, you would wonder why was he even on the floor. There didn't seem to be any urgency to get James back on the floor in the 4th quarter and when he came on I could see why. While the commentators were talking about Wade's game face, James face betrayed the face of a man who didn't want to be there.
Dwayne Wade is the man, but he couldn't do it alone. Chris Bosh had a pretty good game, hitting many early shots. He took advantage of the limited opportunities he had. He was 7 for 9 from the field and 5 for 7 from the free throw line. Bosh scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds. Chris Bosh didn't get a lot of love during the season, but he was pretty darn good in the post season. In the Finals he should have had more touches than James. He plays within the offense and doesn't force shots. Unlike a certain superstar, he's not afraid to shoot the big shot. I don't know how many times James passed the ball with the shot clock running down. Maybe passing the ball with 5 seconds on the shot clock isn't the smartest idea LeBron.
Two people that need to shut the hell up, Dan Gilbert and DeShawn Stevenson. Gilbert, the majority owner of the Cavaliers, was openly cheering for Dallas to beat Miami. That's because LeBron James signed with the Heat in the off season. He's been whining about it ever since "The Decision". Gilbert actually predicted the Cavaliers would win a NBA title before the Heat. Yes Dan that's true, if it's the title for whiniest owner. The Cavaliers are perhaps the worst team in the NBA post LBJ. In fact they should start Cavaliers with a lower case c, yes that's how bad they are. How bad Cleveland was this season tells you how good LBJ is. Last year's Cavs had a pretty good season, this years Cavs didn't even get a sniff of the playoffs. Please shut the hell up Dan Gilbert.
Some players are never was players, that applies to our friend DeShawn Stevenson. Mr. never was' biggest impact was with his mouth. Also when he made a 3 pointer, he put 3 fingers up. His elementary teachers must be so proud. He's one of those marginal players that wouldn't get any attention if he didn't say something stupid. Stevenson has become the master of saying something stupid. I'd be surprised if he's on the Mavericks next season. The scenario I'd most like to see is that the Heat would be the only team to sign him, but at the last minute they don't. Of course, he's such a marginal player, very few people will be paying attention to him. Please shut the hell up DeShawn.
I've often criticized Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey for his outrageously expensive contract, especially with the results he has been putting up. I just read a good article over at Grantland.com (Bill Simmons' new website) about John Lackey. It seems Lackey's wife, Krista, is fighting breast cancer. I'll now be laying off Lackey. Performing poorly when one's spouse is fighting cancer is very understandable at the very least. Lackey and his wife will be in my prayers. Lackey is 4-5 with a 7.41 era and pitched a decent game for the Red Sox in his first game back from the DL.
Last night was an okay episode of "The Killing", however this show has diminishing returns. Again way too many stray plot lines. In episode 12, we meet Linden's ex. Why? That follows the 11th episode where Linden and Holder spend most of the episode trying to find Jack. The 11th episode was a snooze fest. Episode 11 and the whole Linden's ex story at this point is just lazy story telling. That will probably be the last we hear about him and Jack. In episode 13 are we going to meet all of Holder's family? This show tends to have characters come up briefly and then completely disappear. The first 2/3rds of the season we heard about Bennet was the leading suspect. He then was found to be innocent, got beaten up pretty bad by Stan Larson and now he has completely disappeared.
Other head scratching plot points. Rosie was a member of Beau Soleil, she was an escort? She was mysteriously putting her money into her Aunt Terry's account? Terry then was the one that bailed Stan out of jail, why? Holder and Linden got the e-mail account for the creepy person who liked to talk about drowning people. Linden sent him e-mails and we found out those e-mails were going to Darren Richmond's computer? I'm very disappointed by that, because he obviously isn't the killer. The killer is probably going to be kept under wraps until the final few minutes of the season finale. I'm also afraid the killer will be someone that we haven't heard about or have heard very little about.
I will watch the season finale, but at this point I could care less if there's a second season. This show started out hot, I thought another example of AMC's fantastic programming choices. But as the season has gone on, there have been more and more plot points that make little sense.
Coming later I have some suggestions about making this show better if there's a second season. I'd prefer a second season of "Rubicon" however.
themusicaddict
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