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.

Awwww Yeah!

Are you ready? I know I am, I can't wait for the premiere of AMC's new show The Walking Dead on Sunday Oct 31st. I just hope I am not let down. I am a huge fan of "Living dead" horror/comedy flicks. They creep me the F@$k out but I can't stop watching them. Almost as if to see unfortunate people fail miserably at surviving the oncoming hordes of the undead. Like I need to witness their failure in order to formulate for myself the best escape route, hiding spots, and survival techniques in case it ever happens. Looks pretty good though, here's the first five minutes if you are interested

Sucessfull marketing?

Releasing your next album free for all who want it via the Internet, is this a tactic that helps or hinders your cause? Does the artist really care if it helps or hinders their future cash intake? Case in point is one of my favorite artists, Nine Inch Nails. Trent Resnor thumbed his nose at the record label industry in the peak of a feud by releasing his album The Slip via the Internet as a free download. Granted if you are a super fan there were upgraded versions that you could purchase, myself, I took the free version. At the same time Ghosts I–IV was made available in a number of different formats and forms, ranging from a free download of the first volume, to a $300 Ultra-Deluxe limited edition package. I purchased the full version and have enjoyed both albums. These were as a result of entanglements with Universal Music Group about the distribution and pricing of his last album Year Zero. So any opinions on Reznors move? Was it smart, will it pay off, is he a "Martyr"? I think his revenue from live performances will be rewarding enough. Maybe he has already made enough money to be comfortable and it is the art that is important.

American Sports

Nice to see the NBA joining in on the globalization of American Sports. Not quite sure how long the NBA has been traveling abroad to start off their season but I like it. All the other kids on the block are doing it so it must be cool. No seriously MLB, NFL, and now more recently the NHL have all started their seasons off the continental US. I was however disappointed to see King James make the highlight reel on ESPN's Sportcenter for calling the bench cause he didn't want to play with the Russians anymore :(
I think it does wonders for all the leagues. It opens up a whole new market for audiences and breaks the monotony of seeing the same thing over and over.
One notable difference is that the MLB and NFL only hold their games abroad. The NBA and NHL invite foriegn teams to play their teams.

Hey Milkweed!

Had to do it, El Norte reminded me too much of Blood in Blood Out. I loved that movie. While graphic in many of the scenes and to some people I bet they would say that it was too long, I loved it. Clocking in at 180 minutes I thought it was just long enough. Great acting throughout and very powerful messages about the imoprtance of pride, honor and family. Anyone else out there ever heard of this?
Just a couple of actors who apeared in both films
El Norte                              Blood In Blood Out
Nacha     Lupe Ontiveros     Carmen
Jorge      Enrique Castillo     Montana

A genre to experience

On the topic of genre's I would like to go off course a little. One of my favorite genres is the war film. Now in this area we find different subdivisions like documentary or fiction or my favorite which is the adapted novel. Now I may have just coined this term but what I mean by these poorly chosen words is the books that have been written about specific experiences during wartime and then adapted to either television or film.
Topping my list are
1. Saving Private Ryan
2. Band of Brothers
3. The Pacific

Now I am only veering off topic in that I just celebrated a milestone birthday, which one I will not divulge, and went out to purchase myself a gift. I used the money won from scratch tickets. I was hoping to find The Pacific in a Blu-ray box set but was let down in finding that it is not available till Christmas I would imagine. It is based in part on three books entitled "Helmet for My Pillow", "With the Old Breed", "Red Blood, Black Sand", and "China Marine". These books were all written by Marines on the front lines of the battles in the pacific during World War 2. I think there are lessons to be had from experiencing these and other films like it. It can be very graphic and hard to watch at times but we need to learn from them. We must always remember what has happened because otherwise we are doomed to repeat these events.

So just out of curiosity anyone out there catch this series? Liked it or hated it?

Baseball

   Yes thats me, I am a Texas Rangers fan. I was stationed in west Texas for six years and it was my only opportunity to see the Red Sox. This is their first year in a while that they turned out to be pretty good. They have a comanding 10 game lead in their division and have all but secured their spot in this years playoffs.

   I love me some baseball, with that said I will never give up on the Red Sox. Like many of us avid Red Sox Nation members ever since the comeback in 2004 there is always a hope. Today the Sox are 6.5 games back of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the American League East Division title. They are also only 6 games from the Yankees for the wild card. The Sox have 16 games left in the regular season. Of those games they have 6 against the Yanks so the possibility of overcoming them in the wild card exists. As a Red Sox fan we are placed this late in the season with only one viable choice hope that one team either the Yanks or the Rays collapses over the next three weeks. I know, I know its not an easy thing to ask, but I ask of you remember six years ago? Many of you may have lost hope, there is always a chance. I believe in you Sox! Make me proud.

Ghost Adventures

Within the past five years or so there seems to be a surge in popularity for the paranormal. Both in semi reality programming IE. Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted etc. As well with shows like "Fringe"and the recently departed "Pushing Daisies" the popularity can be seen with these serially produced shows. I myself have never seen a ghost but am intrigued by the possibility of there existence. I find the feeling of being scared, the rush of adrenaline and excitement, whether provoked by actual events or make believe on the TV to be exhilarating. Ghost Adventures in particular is a show that I enjoy every minute of. It seems however in their third season that they are starting to run out of ideas, or evidence, and have had to elaborate the truth a little. The half or partial possessions I feel bring the quality of their program down. They spend so much time trying to explain to the viewer how scientific their devices are it just seems a step in the wrong direction. Other than the possessions I still will watch every episode and can't wait to see what else they are able to catch on film be it audio or images. Those of you out there reading, any likes or dislikes about the show?

OMG Brady is OK

I find the media frenzy around Toms car accident quite commical. I always catch about a half hour of ESPN's sportcenter prior to going to work everyday at 2:45pm. By then it had been made very clear that there was nothing wrong with the 3 time Superbowl Champ, he was just merely shaken.
It seemed that the news outlets were not satisfied with the fact that it was a minor accident and he wass fine. They had to dig and find another story somewhere. The on the scene reporter told the sportcenter anchor that "unfortunately" Brady would not be holding a press conference about the accident. She also stated that since it was thursday, and Brady keeps to a strict regimen of only speaking to the media on scheduled conferences on wednesdays, it wouldn't be till next week till they heard from him.
I applaud Mr. Brady for his composure and self preservation in keeping his job professional and not not taking an opportunity to focus the media spotlight on himself. Unlike many of his pro athlete counterparts who thrive in such a light.

First time follies

I'm hoping that I am not the only person out there that has zero experience with blogs.
That said, I am trembling with excitement at the opportunity to showcase my tremendous talent in taletelling. Ya, that is but a mere smidgeon, a morsel if you will of the stupendous scribblings that will be superimposed onto my blog this semester. I know, you're excited, you can't wait to see what is to come. I say be excited because you have now idea whats coming, well neither do I for that matter.