Friday, November 28, 2008

Whose Line is it Anyway - Sound Effects



James Bond



Two Jedi Attack The Death Star

Some Sox Thoughts From Tony Massarotti


Time for a baseball post!


The Joy of Sox (I am sorry to say I just "got" the title this morning!) summed up Tony Massarotti's most recent Boston Globe chat thusly: Mark Teixeira will be playing first base for the 2009 Red Sox (with Kevin Youklis returning to third), we'll be stuck with Julio Lugo (or at least stuck with his contract), the Papi noise is just that, the Sox will make a deal for either Ranger catcher Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Justin Masterson will stay in the bullpen.


And he mentioned Manny might fill the hole the Phillies have with Pat the Bat leaving town...

Monday, November 24, 2008

Ten Movies I Like....

As the title of this post would indicate, here are ten movies I like.
No order. No separating "Desert Island" from "Guilty Pleasures". No explanations.


"I've always wished for more artistic talent. Well, murder can be an art, too. The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create. "

"Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much, my wife is even gonna recognize me whenever it is I get back to her, and how I'll ever be able to tell about days like today. "


"The first thing you've got to learn about this ship is that she was designed by geniuses to be run by idiots."

"Sergeant, you got your men this far. You did it right today. Now you gotta start thinking about getting them out of here."



"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

"When I came home, there was a man in my house. I fought with this man. He had a mechanical arm. You find this man. You find this man."

"They all did it. But if you wanna know who killed Mr. Boddy, I did. In the hall. With the revolver. Okay, Chief, take 'em away. I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife."

"Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister."

"Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

"Am I in Spain? No I'm not in Spain, dear, I'm in agony, that's where I am!"

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia wins AL MVP


NEW YORK (AP)—Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

Pedroia got 16 of the 28 first-place votes and easily beat out Minnesota slugger Justin Morneau.

Pedroia became the first AL second baseman to win the award since Nellie Fox in 1959.

By prevailing in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting, Pedroia became the 10th Red Sox MVP winner and the first to cart home the coveted award since Mo Vaughn in 1995. The previous winners from Boston were Jimmie Foxx (1938), Ted Williams (1946 and 1949), Jackie Jensen (1958), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), Jim Rice (1978) and Roger Clemens (1986).

Since Vaughn's victory 13 years ago, three Red Sox players finished second in the voting: shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in 1998, pitcher Pedro Martinez in 1999 and designated hitter David Ortiz in 2005.

Upcoming episodes of "The Office"

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers.

"Frame Toby" (November 20, 2008)

A mysterious person in the office has made a huge mess in the microwave and will not clean it up. Meanwhile, Michael has to come to terms with the fact that there have been certain personnel changes in his staff without his knowing.

"The Surplus" (December 4, 2008)

Oscar informs Michael that the office must spend a $4300 surplus or lose it in next year’s budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Meanwhile, Dwight takes Angela and Andy to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans.

"Moroccan Christmas" (December 11,2008)

Phyllis’ Moroccan-themed holiday party goes up in flames when Meredith’s hair catches on fire and Michael is forced to deal with the accident. Meanwhile, Dwight corners the market on the hottest toy of the Christmas season.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Who Watches The Watchmen...

I haven't seen "Dark Knight" or "Iron Man"* or "Incredible Hulk"** but I might go see this.




*Edited 11-25-08...have now seen "Iron Man"...it was fun.
**Edited about 2 hours later...it had its moments but a bit of a let down after "Iron Man"

Friday, November 14, 2008

Pedroia adds Silver Slugger to his Gold Glove


from espn.com...


Dustin Pedroia, who recently won a Gold Glove, on Thursday also earned the Silver Slugger in voting by managers and coaches. The honor is given to the top offensive performers at their respective positions.


Pedroia became the first Red Sox second baseman to receive the honor after batting .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs. The 25-year-old led the majors with 54 doubles, tied Ichiro Suzuki for first with 213 hits, and ranked second with 118 runs and 61 multi-hit games, both AL highs.


Selections for the Louisville Silver Slugger Award were based on a combination of offensive statistics including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as well as the coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day*

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army


IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.




*The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day on calendars. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that no apostrophe rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Jonas Brothers News

So Kevin just turned 21. There seems to be a lot of hubub about this photo circulating of him driving around in a quarter of a million dollar Lamborghini.

He updated the Jonas Brothers Myspace page yesterday, letting fans in on his birthday and the Lamborghini he was driving isn't his! He borrowed it from a friend!

Read what he wrote below:

"Hey everyone! Kevin here. Still can't believe I just turned 21 years old. Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the comments, messages, etc. You helped make this one of the best days ever.

We were busy all day filming our new show so everyone showed up at the set and sang Happy Birthday. Then a friend let me use his car (a Lamborghini) for the day. It was so much fun to drive it.

Although it is great...I still love my Tahoe Hybrid! Had fun all day with friends and family. But one of the best things was reading all the comments you left. Thanks again."

KevJo is so P.C.!

***UPDATE: The papers were able to get some pictures of Kevin and his New Jersey hometown love, Danielle, enjoying the ‘friend’s’ Lamborghini on Thursday

Friday, November 7, 2008

Homage Covers

Here are 9 covers that have a similar composition.
As always, I own a copy of each of these.
Click on the title of this post to read more about this cover composition.
February 1968


May 1980


August 1980


October 1985

May 1987
December 1991

April 1992

August 1993


April 2005

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Pedroia wins Gold Glove


From mlb.com....

For all the attention that little Dustin Pedroia gets for his big bat, his emergence into an elite second baseman has too often been lost in the shuffle.But that changed in dramatic fashion on Thursday, when Pedroia, the sparkplug of the Boston Red Sox, was officially awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove for his defensive excellence.

Pedroia nabbed the honor for the first time in just his second Major League season.


In 157 games, Pedroia made just six errors and had a .992 fielding percentage.


His strengths on defense are numerous, from his agility to his sure hands to the way he hangs in there on double plays.

Read more HERE.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama

Wow
Whether you supported John McCain or Barack Obama...tonight history has been made.




Sunday, November 2, 2008

Bond...James Bond.

For you, Nan. Cut and pasted from various sources.

Originally meant as the first James Bond film, Thunderball was the center of legal disputes beginning in 1961. Former Ian Fleming collaborators Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued him shortly after the 1961 publication of the Thunderball novel, claiming he based it upon the screenplay the trio had earlier written in a failed cinematic translation of James Bond.

The lawsuit was settled out of court; McClory retained certain screen rights to the novel's story, plot, and characters. By then, "James Bond" was a box office success, and series producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman feared a rival McClory film beyond their control; they agreed to McClory's producer's credit of a cinematic Thunderball, with them as executive producers.

Later, in 1964, EON producers Broccoli and Saltzman agreed with McClory to cinematically adapt the novel; it was promoted as "Ian Fleming's Thunderball". Yet, along with the credit to screenwriters Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins, the screenplay is also identified as based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham and as based on the original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Ian Fleming.

To date, Thunderball has twice been adapted cinematically; the 1983, McClory-produced Never Say Never Again, features Sean Connery as James Bond, but is not an official EON production. (The title is based on a conversation between Sean Connery and his wife. After the film Diamonds Are Forever he told her he'd 'never' play James Bond again. Her response was for him to "Never say never again". She is credited at the end of the film for her contribution. As a result, it was the first Bond movie to use a non-Fleming originated title.)

The film For Your Eyes Only is noted for its pre-title sequence which sees the final comeuppance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond's enemy in five previous films. For this film, Blofeld is deliberately not named due to copyright restrictions with McClory, who owned the film rights to Thunderball which supposedly includes the character Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organization SPECTRE, and a number of other material associated with the development of Thunderball. The demise of Blofeld was added to show that the "James Bond" series did not need Blofeld.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Tom Fagan 1931-2008

Been meaning to post this for a few days now.

Anyone who was really into Marvel and DC Comics in the '70's might recognize Tom's name. Tom was the organizer and co-ordinator of the Rutland (Vermont) Halloween Parade. For several years, he hosted a Halloween party that got several comics creators to attend, including Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, Bernie Wrightson, Dennis O'Neil, Roy Thomas, Alan Weiss, Wendy and Richard Pini, Dave Cockrum and Len Wein.

These creators worked Tom and Rutland, VT into a bunch of comics, which led to what some consider the first inter-company crossover(Amazing Adventures #16 from Marvel led into a story in DC's Justice League of America #103 and concluded back at Marvel in Thor #207).

Tom passed away last week at the age of 77.

A couple of links you can check out (including the title of this entry):

The Wikipedia article on the Rutland Halloween Parade.

This site, all about the Marvel Universe, has an article on the Parade and Tom.

whos.amung.us

My Favorites