164th Edition - 12/21/07

• The Holidays are Coming

With the end of the year it's time to reflect ...

The Bears = Their record is 5-9 and there's no reason to believe they will beat the Packers or the Saints. The future doesn't look bright. But if they can just get a new QB, RB, offensive line, and safety we should be right back in it. It looks like 2-3 years until we can dream about getting back to the Super Bowl.

The Cubs = Fukudome is coming. He's a contact-hitting left hander. It's a nice addition, but nothing amazing. He seems to be the only main difference between last year's club and the one coming to us in 2008. Mark Prior is finally gone, and Kerry Wood might compete for the closer position. Even though the Cubs won their division, I never fell in love with the club.

The Blackhawks = I haven't watching a single second this sesason, but at least they are being talked about. If I ever accidentally stumble upon one of their newly televised home games, I'll set the remote down for a while. And if you happen to have an extra ticket to one of their games, if you pick me I promist to cheer loudly and act like I know what's going on.

The Bulls = Currently the Bulls are 9-14. No player has improved compared to last year. And they have the Celtics, Rockets and Spurs coming up. They did start the season 2-10, so they are 7-4 over their last 11 games. That's good enough to eventually get into the playoffs, but not to make a dent against the improving East.

Rich's bachelor party = $. In the entire history of bachelor parties, Rich's is the only one recorded where everyone won. 13 guys equaled $3000 at the casino playing craps. The worst winner walked away with $100. So let's just hope this is the first of many bachelor parties Rich will be having.

Iowa Hawkeyes Football = Well, my prediction of the Hawks winning the national championship next year has become a little more bold. No bowl game this year is exactly the kind of motivation these boys need to play with a chip on their shoulder the entire season.

• Stuff
  

I have 8 films reviews for 12/21 up on Stuff I Wrote. It's a record. I would pop champagne, but I'm only and don't want to be the first person in recorded history to have a champagne shower alone.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are coming back on January 7. If they have to, it will be without their striking writers. I really hope we can tell the difference and this helps get the writers back, but I worry we won't.

163rd Edition - 12/14/07

I have no idea how long this will last ... but let's get to it.

*I have nothing to talk about with the Iowa Hawkeye football or basketball team.

*The Mitchell Report came out yesterday. Clemens, Pettite, Tejada and Gagne are among those named. It's good for Bonds to finally have company. Of course it should be noted, there is no proof that anyone took anything. People just say they did, or a check shows they paid for it. I assume there are more people out there, some that will never be named. The only thing that should matter is future testing. Unless of course you have always hated Roger Clemens and now you finally feel like you have a good reason to continue the hatred.

*The writers' strike should start killing you. This is what will happen, you'll be busy with the holidays fast approaching. You'll forget about TV for a while. Then, after the Bowl Games are over you'll begin to realize you haven't seen a new episode of "The Office" for 2.5 months. It won't be a good feeling. Start managing your Netflix Queue. I recommend "Freak & Geeks," "Weeds," "The Wire," and "Rescue Me."

**I voted for the CFCA (Chicago Film Critics' Association) Awards for the first time this year.
Here is a list of the winners.
Of the winners, there were seven that also received my vote:
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Diablo Cody for" Juno"
BEST ACTRESS – Ellen Page for "Juno"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for "Once"
BEST DOCUMENTARY – "Sicko"
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER – Michael Cera for "Juno" and "Superbad"
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER – Ben Affleck for "Gone Baby Gone"

*The Golden Globe nominations are out. Here's the list ...
I will talk about who I think should win later.

And don't forget -- STUFF I WROTE -- lists all of my latest film reviews, articles and interviews. There should be much more coming soon.

162nd Edition - 8/30/07

162 - number of games the Cubs must play in a regular season before they head to the playoffs.

• I'm out

If you've stuck with me through the lazy times, thanks and I apologize. Once my schedule changed in the spring, this suddenly felt like work (that I wasn't getting paid for). With a wedding and honeymoon fast approaching, I'm not going to be making time for this blog. It's over for now.

If you were entertained in the slightest, thanks.

If the Cubs, Hawkeyes, Bears or Bulls with anything of extreme significance I will probably be writing about it here.

Here are some links to help you return to normalcy.

Most importantly, I'm still writing.
Stuff I Wrote: movie reviews and interviews

Sports
Bill Simmons: My favorite.
Jason Whitlock: My favorite controversial writer (was with ESPN, then AOL, and now FOX Sports).
The TMQ (Greg Easterbrook): The man does more research for a football column than anyone else.

Music
Next Music Online: Wanting to listen to the best new singles? Here you go.

Pop Culture
Pop Candy: Hands down, the best pop culture blog I have ever come across, nothing else comes close.

Movie News
Dark Horizons - Seems to know everything about upcoming movies.
I Watch Stuff - It says it has the best movie news ever, but I consider it second.

161st Edition - 8/21/07

• Fantasy: It's all over

My two fantasy football drafts are over. In one league I had the first pick, taking Tomlinson, and therefore winning the entire league. So that's nice.

• Vick: I've been thinking

I cannot walk in Vick's shoes. Apparently he grew up with different values than I did. He didn't find his actions towards dogs he owned awful. If it was cock fighting, society wouldn't have this problem with him. I'm not saying he should walk free, but the reason everyone has a problem with this is their love for dogs. I know people who feel torturing a dog is the same or worse than doing this horrible actions to a human. Please keep in mind Pacman Jones supposedly beat up a stripper. No one seems to be shedding a tear for the stripper.

• Cubs: It was a good run

We are back to being tied for first. After winning the first two games against the Cardinals, getting one canceled, and losing the last of the series ... I feel empty. The Cubs are tied with the Brewers and 3 games ahead of the Cardinals.

• Stuff

Funny, the only reason I felt like blogging today was because I discovered this clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Thanks to Mike D.

160th Edition - 8/15/07

• Cubs: games and inches

The Cubs were inches, or maybe a few feet, away from coming back last night against the Reds. Fontenot hit one to the warning tracks, but that's an out and the Cubs lost 6-5.

The division looks like this ...
Brewers = 62-57
Cubs = 60-58 (1.5)
Cardinals = 56-60 (4.5)

It has become a three-team race. The Cardinals have made it back in by going 6-4 in their last ten games. That is sad. This division is sad.

• Golf: Tiger, Tiger Woods

Sorry I didn't write sooner about this ... Tiger Woods is a great golfer. What I am about to say is not supposed to be mean. I am just insanely curious. After he won, Tiger talked about how this win is very special because his daughter is there to celebrate with him. His daughter is not six months old. She has no idea what the world is, let alone the world of golf. Yet, Tiger seemed totally genuine about how this win is more special because she is there with him. When I have children, will a promotion or victory of any kind be something more endearing because I have a child? I just don't see it. They are two separate things. It always kills me when a family runs up to a winner at the end of anything. It's not the family that the moment should be shared with. It's the caddy/teammate/coach.

• Stuff

I interviewed the cast of "Superbad." -- Read it, and go see the movie this weekend.