Ah Theo, you never let me down, well at least this year you didn't!

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A very productive December has brought two of the hottest free agents to Boston. The front office of the Red Sox organization has inked a deal with first baseman phenom Adrien Gonzalez and awaiting a physical on Friday will ink a contract with all-star gold glove outfielder Carl Crawford. WOW! I have to say I am surprised at how aggressive they have been this off season. Everyone was saying towards the end of the regular season that there would be lots of changes made, but I just didn't think they would actually be willing to spend the big bucks and bring the RIGHT big names to the club. In the last few seasons they've gone out and got some decent names but they have mostly fizzled. Big John Lackey was last years acquisition and his sub par production leaves little to be desired. I am very excited about how this coming 2011 season will turn out. They still have bullpen problems to figure out but I think they can make due with what they have in the starting rotation.

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Speed Thrills

Carl Crawford will become the first position player to sign a $100 million contract without ever having a 20-homer season.

Fewest HR Before Signing $100M Deal

	HR	Total Contract
Derek Jeter	78	$189M
Joe Mauer	81	$184M
Carl Crawford	104	$142M*
Albert Pujols	114	$100M
*Unofficial

"Walking Dead" tells their writers to take a walk

In a surprising move acclaimed director and driving force behind hit AMC show The Walking Dead has informed his writing staff that they would not be brought back. The show that my wife and I have enjoyed as a suitable replacement for the lost favorite that was Jericho was picked up for a thirteen episode second season. Frank Darabont has said that he wishes to leave the old writers in the dust and go with a different format, possibly entertaining a freelance staff to write individual episodes. Which leads me to believe that the discussions my wife and I had about how the great plot and character development that kind of fizzled out in the last couple episodes was occurring elsewhere too. I think the public fan forums are probably an insight into the decision to move to different writing talents. What do you think? Have you watched the show at all? Did you get the last couple episodes back and forth emotions especially the Sheriff's wife?

Black Friday!

Alas I have evaded the urge to venture out amongst the shopping hordes on this the holiest shopping day of the year. My wife and I try to make the majority of our Christmas purchases through online markets in the months leading up to Thanksgiving. This helps keep debt off of the credit cards and maintains a lower blood pressure as we don't have to fight to drive across towns and battle other customers over who was in what line or I had this toy first. Its almost as if for one day sensibility evaporates from our minds and we become driving by one thing SHOPPING!!! Ah it feels good to know that I can just veg out today and hear about the yahoos on the news cast later tonight. The other thing we do to avoid the frenzy is venture up to Kittery Maine to the outlets. If you go between Thanksgiving and Christmas the deals are much better than Black Friday and they have all the clothing outlets we are looking for to clothe our children and nieces and nephews. Do you brave the masses or avoid it all together?

This just in......

Writing short articles for the morning news program that I intern at is invigorating. Granted it sucks to have to get up at 4:20 in the morning and work between 4 and 7 hours a day three days a week for free but that's how most of the internships are out there. The new experience and being able to mess around with the equipment at my leisure is pretty cool. I enjoy doing the voice pieces just as much as writing them. The production board is next on my list of things to learn how to do and multitasking does not describe what the position entails. There is so much to monitor and work its mind boggling. Like anything though I know it will get easier with time and practice. Unfortunately I fear my days there are numbered due to the fact that I have to start working for money or I will begin to experience financial strain. I have developed a good relationship with the host of the program though and I'm pretty sure he'll let me come back whenever I want to do as much as I can. So to anyone out there that is considering finding something to get their hands dirty and doesn't mind workin for free, I highly encourage you to test the waters and get some experience. It will pay off trust me!

Bad Milk

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101110/ap_on_he_me/as_china_tainted_milk_trial

    That is the hyperlink to a yahoo news article about a father in China who was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for inciting social disorder. His son was one of 300,000 children sickened by melamine-tainted milk. Six children died from this poisoning which can cause kidney stones and Kidney failure.
    The charges brought against this father are atrocious, "That he organized a gathering of a dozen parents of sick children at a restaurant, held a paper sign in front of a court and factory involved in the scandal as a protest, and gave media interviews in a public place."
    It is odd that I closed the real player after watching The Corporation only to find this as the story buzzing on the yahoo news page. The desperate need for stiffer regulation of these corporations is ever present. Being a father myself I would have done the exact same thing if my son had been subject to such a criminal act. I would not stop until those responsible were held accountable for their actions.

DVD releases

Wooo!
Gonna have to shell out some cash for a couple Blu-ray releases. I am pumped though, I can't wait to catch these titles in all their high def glory on my couch. Inception was such a perfectly formed movie from the first all the way to the final frame. The Pacific was good, not as good as Band of Brothers but awesome none the less.

Wish me luck

Start my days on the airwaves Monday! Excited but not incredibly so, trying to keep myself grounded and focused.  I want to soak up everything that I can from this experience. The people working there are very friendly and seem very willing to talk about everything and anything. I am hoping to learn something new every day that I'm there. Anyone have any similar experiences? More to come on how my first few days went.