Friday, November 9, 2012

Boycott The Dallas Cowboys Until Jerry Jones Steps Down As GM!

Hello,

Boycott the Cowboys until Jerry steps down as GM and then gets a real GM, which wouldn't be any relative of his or a yes man. (This is a comment I wrote on ESPN Dallas message boards.)

When I say boycott I mean a complete and total boycott. This means don't watch their games, don't listen to them play on the radio and for heaven's sake don't buy any of their merchandise. Also I urge all Cowboys fans to not attend their home games, that starts with next week's game against Cleveland. Jerry Jones has given everyone a blueprint for how not to run a professional sports team. It's time for all true Cowboys fans to exercise our limited power to force Jerry to make a change.

This is this is something I'm doing. Of course I've had a hard time recently watching the Cowboys because they are so creative in finding ways to lose.

Also the Lakers fired Mike Brown, 5 games into his second season. Was that a bit premature, probably.  But you know Kobe was behind that decision and probably had been complaining to the Buss family. But this is a team that takes winning seriously. In LA it's win or get fired. Everything in their organization is pointed to winning, anything less is unacceptable.

Meanwhile in Dallas the sole focus is supporting Jerry Jones ego. He'll stick with a coach that he claims to have discovered. He's doing everything he can to make sure Jason Garrett is successful. Ultimately Jones hopes when Garrett is successful that people will praise Jones football smarts. Unfortunately what's happening is the Cowboys are a .500 team while Garrett learns on the job. The Cowboys have only won 4 of their last 13 games. That last stat is the true measurement of Jones football "smarts".

And the more I hear about what Jones did to get Jimmy Johnson to leave the Cowboys makes me even angrier. The harder Jones pushes to be considered a football genius, the more he's proving that he's not.

themusicaddict

Thursday, November 8, 2012

"The Walking Dead" and "Nashville" (Updated 11/9/12)

Hello,

These two shows admittedly are a mismatched pair. However the reason I'm including them together is because they are my two favorite shows each week. "The Walking Dead", in it's third season, is easily having it's best season ever. "Nashville" is having a decent first season, although it certainly has some weaknesses.

This last episode of "The Walking Dead" was "The Killer Within". Obviously the biggest storyline this episode was the birth of Lori and the unknown's father baby. Is the father Shane or Rick? Is the baby a boy or a girl? Who's going to take care of the baby? Do they even have supplies for a baby? Anyway I was pleasantly surprised that Lori Grimes finally died. She was perhaps this show's weakest links. She's one of the worst characters ever and played by an absolutely terrible actress Sarah Wayne Cailles. What did I hate about Lori? I hated all her stupid speeches, the writers really gave her some dumb things to say. She was irrational, was always doing stupid things and was dumber than a stump. I also hate how preachy she was and always seemed to be on Rick's case about something. Rick is doing the best he can in a world that no one could have been prepared for. Lori's intentions were good, but her lack of common sense was her biggest weakness.

The scene where Lori dies, I couldn't help but think die already. Lori's life ended with one of her boring speeches. Cailles acting was simply terrible in her death scene. I hope this character is gone forever, in other words please no more flashbacks. Also the actor who plays Rick Grimes, Andrew Lincoln, isn't the best actor ever. What was that flip out that he did when he found out that Lori had died? It seems his character will be dealing with the death of his wife in the next episode. He should be jumping in the air and celebrating.

Just an aside: since Jerry Jones is already a zombie, can we drop him into the world of "The Walking Dead". He's been an incredibly destructive zombie to the Cowboys and their fans.

The best character development this season has been with Carl Grimes, he has grown into a 100% bad ass. His becoming physically bigger in between the filming of Season 2 and Season 3 helped this process a lot. He's become a confident zombie killer. It was a bittersweet moment when he "killed" his Mom before she could "turn". He also had a very complicated relationship with Lori. He left the room with a grown up look on his face. Ever since he killed Shane, he's become a force to reckon with.

I also have to laugh that T-Dog finally became useful. So much good that did for him as he was then killed off. However he went out in a blaze of glory. He sacrificed his life to seemingly save Carol's life. Although we hadn't seen her at the end of the episode. What's going to happen with her? She might be in trouble too as she has also become useful this season. She has come a long way from her simpering self of Season 1. Even Lori was finally becoming useful. Watch out Emily Kinney, who plays Beth,  if your character becomes useful. Don't worry you have a ways to go, I can't even remember the name of your character. Also keep your hands and lustful eyes off of Carl.

Just a question why are the zombies suddenly able to move faster?

Honestly to me this show has killed enough characters for awhile. The show is now halfway through the first of it's two parts this season. The first part will culminate on December 2nd and then resume again sometime after the first of the year. I'm not exactly a big fan of splitting the season in two halves, but it's okay. I'm just glad this first half of the season isn't as boring as the first half of Season 2. The hunt for Sophia was sleep inducing and I hated all the speeches. However Season 2 ended with one of the best episodes of a TV show ever. That episode "Beside the Dying Fire" was an instant classic.

Now on to "Nashville", how would it be to be Deacon and have two beautiful women want to be with you? Either having Rayna or Juliet after me would be enough for me. Deacon continues to be the moral conscience of this show.

Nashville has it's own Lori Grimes, that would be Jolene Barnes. She's a terrible actress. Also her storyline brings nothing interesting to this show.

I love this show so much. But I do wonder when they have time to do anything as they are always sleeping with each other? I wish this show would drop some of it's subplots. Unfortunately it seems the storyline of Teddy running for mayor isn't going anywhere so can we get rid of Jolene at least. She can have a miracle recovery, meet someone in rehab and go away forever.

What do I want the show to focus on? Music, which is the reason most of us fans are watching. We are so much more interested in all the great songs that come out of Nashville. We want to see some of the behind the scenes details. We want to follow Scarlett to come from a waitress to a worldwide superstar. We want to see Rayna regain her country music throne and we also want to see how Juliette's career will go.

We don't care about the dirty underbelly of Nashville politics. We really don't care about Teddy Conrad, why is he such a weak character? We don't care if he has an affair with Peggy. We want to see Rayna and Deacon finally get together.

themusicaddict

"Castle" or "Revolution"? "Castle" please

Hello,

Each week the two shows I want to watch the most are "The Walking Dead" and "Nashville". I'm also a big fan of "Castle" and "The Good Wife", both of those shows have a great mix of drama and humor. Also "Blue Bloods" isn't going to win any awards for being the best show. However I do faithfully watch it every week. I love it's mix of family and police work. I hope that Jennifer Esposito can join the cast again soon.

Meanwhile shows that I've stopped looking forward to include "Revolution" and "The Last Resort". Every Monday "Castle" and "Revolution" are on at the same time. I choose one to watch then and then I catch the other one on my DVR later. Previously this season I always had picked "Revolution" to watch first. However this past Monday, I just wasn't up for watching the ridiculous "Revolution". I just couldn't tolerate the horrible acting, the effeminate villain and this show's several flaws. I still haven't watched that episode of "Revolution" and I honestly don't know if I will.

At the end of every episode of "Revolution" we see the J.J. Abrams Bad Robot cartoon. I'm starting to wonder is JJ Abrams overrated? Although I joined the "Lost" bandwagon a few years after most people, I still absolutely loved it's first two seasons. That was some of the most captivating storytelling and coolest characters I've ever seen in a television series. However after those amazing two seasons the show started going downhill. I still haven't completed the whole series. I got to "Lost's" fifth season and the show at that point is virtually unwatchable.

Also last season from Bad Robot came "Alcatraz", a show that never hit it's stride. I watched the first 11 episodes hoping the show would become at least good. However it never did. Then I couldn't even watch the two part finale, I just didn't care what the so-called secrets were. Then with "Revolution", a show that wasn't created by Abrams, but by Eric Kripke. However Abrams fingers are all over it. That's both a good and bad thing. "Revolution" is a lot like the 2012 Dallas Cowboys. Both have a lot of potential, but have yet to live up to that potential. And at this point I don't think either will.

And "The Last Resort" seems to have become the same story each week. I'm glad they landed on San Marino, that does give them some flexibility in expanding the potential story lines. Although I still am not sure if I'm going to watch tonight's episode. After an amazing first episode it has been steadily going downhill. I love all the main actors, but the stories haven't been strong.

Instead this past Monday I went with "Castle", a show that's always delivers entertaining. If nothing else the show also features Stana Katic, one of the most beautiful women in the world. Nathan Fillion is also great as Richard Castle. But it's just not those two actors. All the ensemble cast are great. I love Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito and Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan. Esposito and Ryan play off each other so well, they also keep Castle in line. I love how respectful of Castle and Beckett's relationship they are. I also like Castle's family: Molly Quinn as his daughter Alexis and Susan Sullivan as his mother Martha Rogers. Overall it's just a great cast.

The producers and writers do a great job of keeping the stories fairly fresh, although many times the cases are similar. But I don't watch the show for the cases. The cases are just the basic premise for all the other stories going on. So far I've been a big fan of Castle and Beckett FINALLY getting together. Will the producers commit to keeping this winning couple together or is this just another stop on their love journey? What I watch the show for is because I like to laugh and the great chemistry of the cast.

This past week's "Castle" was a bit over the top, but still had many hilarious moments. The episode is titled "The Final Frontier". The case is about a super fan who's working to create a fan experience for other fans at a Comic Con like convention. She was trying to create a fan experience for a show that only lasted 12 episodes. She was a hard core fan and bought the actual rights to the show when those rights weren't worth much. The super fan was killed by someone because she wouldn't sell the rights to the series. Through her hard work, she had made the series potentially profitable. Which one of the stars from the series was the killer?

The humor came from Castle being a sci-fi geek and mocking this show. Beckett also showed that she was a big fan of the original show. She even dressed up like one of the characters, Chloe. That gave the show many chances with in jokes. This episode gently mocked and parodied classic sci-fi like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek". Fillion even got a reference to the television show he starred in, "Firefly". To top off the unique sci-fi theme the director of this episode was none other than Jonathan Frakes. He portrayed William T. Riker, or #1, on "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I loved the classic corniness of the original "Star Trek" but "TNG" was overall probably the best of the "Star Trek" series.

Anyway so going forward what I'm saying is that I'm watching "Castle" first. Although there's no guarantees that I'll be watching "Revolution".

themusicaddict

Electric Light Orchestra

Hello,

My three favorite bands growing up were Blondie, Cheap Trick and ELO. ELO had a rock foundation, but added many other elements to that foundation.

Jeff Lynne, the singer and one of the main contributers for ELO, recently released a solo CD. The title of the CD is "Long Wave". It's on Spotify and I'll listen to it soon. I'll let you know what I think.

Here are some of ELO's Greatest Hits/ my favorite of their songs.

"Telephone Line":



"Mr. Blue Sky":



"Twilight":



"Last Train To London":



"Livin' Thing":



"Do Ya":



"Confusion":



"Turn To Stone":



ELO In Concert:



themusicaddict

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Whoever You Voted For, America Is Still A Great Country

Hello,



I'm not what you would call a political junkie. Honestly I pay very little attention to politics 90% of the time. However when it comes time to elect the President, I pay a lot more attention. This election I was hoping for Obama to win and was glad when he won. As an American I'm proud to say President Obama is my President!

However Mitt Romney also has some views that I agree with. Like Romney, I'm a fully active member of the the LDS aka Mormon Church. Although in terms of our religion we agree on many things, our politiical ideology is different enough that I wasn't going to vote for him.



Because of all the other great countries out there, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Many people continue to come to America. In fact, if it wasn't for all the immigrants that have come to America, this country wouldn't be as great as it is. Besides Native Americans, we all owe a debt to those who had the courage to come to America and have left their ancestors this great country.

Immigration and taxmageddon seem to be two of the main issues coming in President Obama's second term. I'm hoping that Obama has a better second term than Dubya, Richard Nixon and others.

I continue to pray that God will continue to bless America:



With this Presidential election over I see America's biggest challenge being to unite and work together to continue to strengthen this great country. There's got to be a way we can all come together and not because of a national tragedy. We need to eliminate the country of those people and things that cause so much division. For instance Karl Rove, lobbyists, but companies that control more than they should etc. Also Fox News has got to go away, it's a disgrace. No more partisan politics. A politician should be defined by his true beliefs not what political party he belongs to.



If you don't like living in America, then for Heaven's sake do what you can to make it better. As James Brown sings "You might not be looking for a promised land, but you might find it anyway."



themusicaddict

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Lil Wayne (Little Brain?) Makes A Fool of Himself

Hello,

What happens when you have too much money and time. And why is he threatening a lawyer who simply is asking him questions? I'm posting this with little commentary, the video and the attitude speak for themselves.



From ew.com: Looks like Lil Wayne’s unorthodox deposition didn’t quite do the trick. The rapper has lost his lawsuit against Quincy Jones III regarding the documentary film The Carter and has been court-ordered to fork over a cool $2.2 million to the producer as a result, TMZ reports. The suit accused Wayne of blocking the release of the movie, thus aversely affecting its profit potential. So next time you listen to his 2008 single “A Milli,” make sure to mentally edit out the line, “A million here, a million there”

themusicaddict

November 6th, 2012: The Cowboys Lose Yet Again

Hello,

On this day in America when we are allowed to vote for whoever we want to lead our country. The person who will hopefully lead our country for the next 4 years. Meanwhile in Dallas we see what happens when a dictator is in charge. Of course, I'm talking about the egomaniacal Jerry Jones. Although his team has been mediocre since 1997, he stated today that he'll continue to run the team.

The following is from an article Calvin Watkins wrote today on ESPN.com. I agree with everything Watkins says. Comments in italics are my thoughts.

"We are not structured that way," Jones told KRLD-FM on Tuesday morning. "We didn't structure it that way with my ownership. There's no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That's never been anybody's misunderstanding. It's been a debated thing, but it's just not going to happen." (For being in the public eye for so long, it's amazing that Jones still hasn't learned how to speak clearly. He's college educated and a very successful businessman, but he still doesn't know how to frame a thought?)
Jones the general manager has a team that's 3-5 overall heading into a game at Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. (Although this team has a relatively easy schedule down the stretch I doubt they will finish with a winning record.)
Jones the owner and Jones the general manager have won three Super Bowls together.  But recently, the general manager has struggled. ("Struggled" is being generous.)
The Cowboys have won just two playoff games since their last Super Bowl appearance, in the 1995 season when they beat Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX, and haven't drafted well on a consistent basis. Only five players remain from the 2009 and 2010 drafts combined." (Just more proof that Jones is an idiot GM.)
The Cowboys are 123-124 since 1997. (And only one playoff win.)
The above are the words of a very sick man. This is the final straw Jerry, I give up on your Cowboys. You have very little GM skills and it's clear you being the man is more important than the Cowboys winning. I'll be cheering for the Cowboys to lose this week to the Eagles. I also will be hoping Dallas loses as many games as possible until you fire the GM or he dies.

I also urge again all Cowboys fans who have tickets to the Cowboys-Browns game a week from Sunday to boycott the game. All Cowboys fans please don't buy their merchandise, watch them on TV or anything else that may put money into Jerry's pocket. We fans must unite to put an end to Jerry's insanity.

I have been a Cowboys fan for so long, that I just can't stop paying attention to them completely. I will start cheering for them once again when Jones is no longer the key decision maker.

I fully throw my support behind the San Francisco 49ers. Go 49ers! I'll also continue to cheer for a young and improving Tampa Bay Bucs team.

themusicaddict

Favorites