Conversation With Myself

Welcome back.

2010-09-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

Last concert of the summer.

2010-07-24T14:37:00.003-05:00

Yeah, this is happening.

New look to the ol' blog

2010-05-05T23:44:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know I rarely ever update this between Facebook & Twitter, but I dig this new template.

It's cool, like the other side of the pillow.

I'm With Coco

2010-01-13T12:16:00.009-06:00

NBC is getting it right with 30 Rock, The Office, & now Community. Why can't they just purge themselves of this decades-old Jay Leno situation and just embrace and move forward with Conan O'Brien?

No one really thinks Leno is that funny or even a good host (even Johnny Carson said he wanted David Letterman as his successor) & his current crappy show (not to mention crappy attitude during interviews) is evidence of that. People didn't tune in to see Leno, they tuned in b/c it was The Tonight Show - a staple of programming.

I mean, Judge Ito & O.J. jokes almost 10 years after the fact? And 'Jaywalking' is the most popular part of his program? Funny, it was called Small Town News when Letterman did it years earlier.

Move forward, NBC. Evolve.

Are they seriously going to give The Tonight Show back to Leno so he can ruin it?...AGAIN?

There's a movie that was on HBO years ago called The Late Shift that chronicled the behind-the-scenes antics during the Carson/Leno/Letterman debacle NBC went through at the time. Not surprisingly, it's getting really hard to find right now as its content has become relevant once again, but it's worth seeing sometime.

It also stars (a pre-Christopher Guest films) John Michael Higgins as Letterman.

...and history repeats itself.

9-9-09

2009-09-10T14:32:00.004-05:00

Having been a fan of The Beatles since infancy, The Beatles: Rock Band is is such a cool concept and the game does not disappoint at all. Even if you are a moderate fan of videogames, this is such a cool experience and not to be missed.

I can't get over how awesome and accurate the character models are and how believably they age as you jump from venue to venue following the career of the Fab Four. Granted, there are some liberties taken and some minor historical changes needed to adapt their story to a videogame, but there's nothing that doesn't make justifiable sense. And the way they handle the Abbey Road recordings are something to be seen to be believed. In addition to the 45 songs on the disc, there are also full album downloads to come.

Plus, it's the freakin' BEATLES!

Farewell, old friend [UPDATED]

2009-05-08T12:55:00.016-05:00

UPDATED 5.30.09: So apparently ABC has resigned Scrubs to a 9th season despite the amazing finale, which is mentioned at length below. As of now, Zach Braff & Sarah Chalke have signed on for 6 episodes and it's rumored that the show will be treated as a "Frasier" to Scrubs' "Cheers," by either focusing on a different character than J.D. or by being solely about the new interns introduced over the past season.

Personally, I'm not too sure how I feel about this because, as a fan, I'll watch the new show at the beginning for the curiousity of what they're going to do with it, but am very nervous for them as they'll have a LONG way to go to match the pay-off of the 8th season/series finale.
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Thank you, Scrubs.

I didn't really enjoy this show the first few times I watched, but it eventually started to creep into my regular viewing thanks to syndication. The rapid-fire cutaways, the obnoxious situations, the relatable characters, & the emotional sentiment that subtly reverberated through each episode was hard not to feel connected to. The series finale saw characters from the past make cameos, long-forgotten story references, and the use of Peter Gabriel's "The Book of Love" in the final moments was an amazingly placed gracenote.

There's talk that the show went a season or two too long & I can see that point, but the finale this week was really well done & a fitting way to send the beloved series out. There's also talk of them trying to work out a Season 9 since ABC was treating them so well, but I think that would be a mistake. It ended in such a great way that anything more would be taking away from what creator Bill Lawrence (who finally had a cameo this season & shared the very last scene of the series with Zach Braff) & the rest of the cast & crew has accomplished.

The Boston Red Sox set an MLB record by scoring 12 runs in one inning before recording a single out. They're really hitting on all cylinders right now.

Walking In Memphis....Literally

2009-05-01T11:03:00.019-05:00

Returned from a trip to Nashville & Memphis to see Jason Mraz open for Dave Matthews Band.

On the way down, we made a brief pit stop in Metropolis, IL, to see the infamous Superman statue. It was as advertised & not so ironically placed in front of city hall & the police station. There was a tribute comic store next door that we didn't have time to go into, but it looked massive. I've been past Metropolis several times on various ComedySportz trips and always wanted to stop here, but never have so this was really cool.

Nashville was such an awesome town & well worth the 9 hour drive! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed being down there. Obviously, the weather helped a ton, but the attitude & feel of the place was just really cool. The concert itself was awesome as Mraz played highlights & then DMB played for 3 hours & the set list was tight. They played 3 songs off the new album & just made me more jacked to pick it up in early June.

Our 2nd day down there, we toured the Grand Ole Opry. Granted, I am not a country music fan in the slightest, but it felt like it was one of those do-it-once-&-you-never-have-to-do-it-again things. I'm so glad we went though because the history of the Opry was fascinating and the tour itself was really cool because we got to go on the actual stage. Even if you're not a country fan, I can't recommend the tour enough. That evening, we went to eat at a place called Amerigo & I had the greatest chicken parmesan ever.

Following that "do-it-once" mentality, we traveled to Memphis the next day and took in the grandeur & spectacle that is Graceland. Again, the tour itself was cool and I recommend doing it once, but there's no real reason to ever go back. The Jungle Room is intense, the car collection is massive, and being able to walk through the King's private jets was really cool. It's easy to get wrapped up in the ambiance, but just let yourself go for a few hours and you'll enjoy it. That night, we crashed at my step-brothers house & treated him to his favorite restaurant, Amerigo - where I had the 2nd greatest chicken parmesan ever.

The next day we stopped by the legendary Sun Records and the place just reaked of old school cool. This is the studio that Elvis recorded his first record and Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis (collectively known as the "Million Dollar Quartet"), and many others followed suit. Again, you get to go through the actual studio & stand where they stood, and the tour guide was very personable. Although the tour is brief, it's more than worth it.

We wrapped up our time in Memphis with a visit to the Rock N' Soul Museum which was in the FedEx Forum - home to the Memphis Grizzlies. It was so worth the price of admission. Not counting Graceland, this was the longest tour & was absolutely loaded with memorabilia. There was history dripping off the walls and since it was self-guided, you could really take everything in at your own pace.

On the trek back to the Quad Cities, we ended up stopping at the infamous Lambert's Cafe: Home of the Throwed Rolls. The portions were family-sized and the ambiance was great...and yes, they tossed rolls all over the dining room. People just raised their hands and a surprisingly accurate waiter would chuck a roll clear across the room. It was really fun & the food was great - can't ask for more than that.

Every tour we went on was well worth it. We missed out on the Gibson Guitar Factory Tour, The Pyramid, & Beale Street, unfortunately, but that just gives me more reason to head back down there sometime.

Caved and went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night with some friends of mine. I thought it was a solid popcorn summer action flick - and it's not being advertised as anything different. The fan boys are all in an up-roar because they now expect every film to be The Dark Knight or Iron Man, but the X-Men franchise has never been 100% accurate to the comic - and I don't know how it ever could be. Hugh Jackman was great, but Liev Schriever really impressed me as Sabretooth. There's a lot left to be desired in character development, but the over-the-top action makes up for most of it. Go see it.

Later.

So good

2009-04-23T12:30:00.005-05:00

Best new show on TV. Period.

If you're not watching this, you're a dummy-head.

Funny The Way It Is

2009-04-18T13:56:00.008-05:00

Lying in the park on a beautiful day
Sunshine in the grass
And the children play
Sirens pass and fire engine red
Someone's house is burning down
On a day like this

The evening comes and we're hangin' out
On a front step and a car goes by
With the windows rolled down
And that War song is playing
"Why Can't We Be Friends?"
Someone is screaming and crying
In the apartment upstairs

Funny the way it is
Makes you think about it
Somebody's going hungry
And someone else is eatin' out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
Somebody's heart is broken
And it becomes your favorite song

The way your mouth feels in your lover's kiss
Like a pretty bird on the breeze
Or water to a fish
The bomb blast brings the building crashing to the floor
Hear the laughter
While the children play war

Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
Another's droppin' out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
On a soldier's last breath
His baby's being born

Standing on a bridge
Watch the water passing underneath
It must have been much harder
When there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small
Compared to how it used to be
With mountains and oceans
And winters and rivers and stars

Watch the sky
A jet plane so far out of my reach
Is there someone up there
Looking down on me?
A boy chase a bird
So close but every time
He never catch her
But he can't stop tryin'

Funny the way it is
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
Another's droppin' out
Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
On a soldier's last breath
His baby's being born

Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
Somebody's broken heart
Becomes your favorite song
Funny the way it is (Funny the way it is)
Make you think about it
One kid walks ten miles to school
Another's droppin' out

Standing on a bridge
Watch the water passing underneath
It must have been much harder
When there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small
Compared to how it use to be
With mountains and oceans
And winters and rivers and stars
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Funny The Way It Is
Dave Matthews Band
Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King

iSick [UPDATED]

2009-04-01T14:56:00.006-05:00

UPDATE (April 5, 09): Turns out I've been diagnosed with having acute bronchitis. Some friends had been sick & I'm guessing I either contracted it from them or from high-fiving folks at CSz. Never had bronchitis before...not a good time.
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Sick as a dog. Haven't been this bad in a long time & for such a lengthy period of time. Trying to avoid going to the doctors, but am out of options.

Finished filming, editing, and have the Chicago cut of our new pilot, The Adventures of Brad & Chet. It's funny, but definitely appeals to a certain demographic and is not as accessible as Reality Check was. Curious to see how it's received...

Did you see the 3.0 upgrade for the iPhone, by the way? Rumors are the iPhone 3G Pro is coming in June alongside the upgrade and will have video capabilities, etc. I'm content with the 3G and am not planning on getting a new device until my contract expires, but this 3.0 update is really awesome - some stuff is long overdue, but as a complete upgrade, it's pretty sweet.

And I think this is the greatest DVD packaging I've seen all year:

Who Broke The Mirror?

2009-03-15T15:30:00.008-05:00

On Friday, at CSz we had:

our ref get into a car accident and miss the show (he's o.k.)
our bartender go to the hospital with heart flutters
a cast member simply just not show up
our cash register break after completing the first transaction
our judging paddles break
someone almost get fired
our sister theatres' computers freeze up
our rear access door magically unlock itself
and a toilet back up

I'm not that superstitious, but it was Friday the 13th.Oooooo!

I Want To Go To There

2009-03-06T16:23:00.012-06:00

from TheChicagoTheatre.com

Actors/Directors/Musicians and comedy icons Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are doing something they have never done before; performing a six week, 30 city multi-media acoustic tour without wigs and electric instruments.

UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED are the guys behind Spinal Tap and The Folksmen (from A Mighty Wind) coming out from behind the hair, the facial hair, and the absence of hair, to perform as themselves songs from both films, and more, in a rare acoustic setting. You'll never hear Tap songs less loud!

UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED will feature songs from the original soundtrack This Is Spinal Tap (1984), the studio album Break Like The Wind (1992), and A Mighty Wind (2003) along with some special surprises and rarities thrown in.

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Just got tickets for that concert. SO pumped as This Is Spinal Tap is my favorite film of all time! Between DMB, Jason Mraz, & The Travoltas, it's going to be a busy summer of shows this year...and I'm not complaining.

Saw Watchmen last night at the midnight screening.

Believe the hype. It's really well done.

Now they're naturally going to be haters out there (regardless of if they actually enjoyed any part of it or not) as I'm sure it'll be the cool thing to bash the film because it's popular right now. To this vain attempt to gain some sort of 'cred' in between getting another piercing or tattoo so that you can stand out and be so different - just like everyone else - I offer the following: it's a popcorn blockbuster film & doesn't runaway or try to hide from that. Enjoy it for what it is or don't pay the money to go see it because you should know by now what you're getting into.

I'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, but those people that are already going in with the mindset that they're going to hate it and have already passed judgement (graphic novel purists and film snobs alike), your pre-bias is unwarranted and not needed.

What Watch Would A Watchmen Watch If A Watchmens' Watch Wouldn't Work?

2009-02-28T11:31:00.013-06:00

The Jason Mraz concert @ NIU was surprisingly short, but very fun - & it was great to get a chance to reconnect with B-Lo.

The real surprise was the opening act called Vedera. They were AWESOME & I can't recommend them enough. They're based out of Kansas City so I'm wondering if Pete and rest of the K.C. crew has ever heard of them before. You can find them on MySpace and on iTunes.

Religulous is out on DVD. Buy/Rent it. Watch it. Discuss.

We finished principal photography on The Adventures of Brad & Chet, our follow-up pilot to Reality Check, last weekend & now it's off to editing. It was great to be a part of the filming this time and getting to meet and hang out the cast. We're hoping to duplicate and exceed the success from last year as promoting and traveling cross-country with the pilot was a blast.

Now, I tried to steer clear of the Watchmen craze, but also admit that the graphic novel has been sitting unread on my bookshelf for about 4 years. One of those things I always was going to get to, but never did. So I pulled it down, dusted it off, and proceeded to read it cover-to-cover a day or so ago & now I get what all the hub-bub is about. It's an amazing read and really was one of the forefront "anti-hero" comics. It presents super-heros with human flaws and I couldn't put it down.

Who watches the Watchmen? Well, I can tell you it will be myself and millions more when it drops this Friday (midnight showing on Thursday, if you're a hardcore fan).

Knight rides again

2009-02-11T13:57:00.008-06:00

Whole. Lee. Crap.

Through some friends of mine, I was able to get comped tickets to see The Dark Knight at our local IMAX Theatre.

Granted, I already own it on Blu-ray, it was like a whole different experience and I can't recommend seeing it in this format enough. Almost vertigo inducing at times, the performances seem even more intense and I was actually more impressed with it than I was on previous viewings.

Just stop reading & go see it.

You're welcome.

Going to see Jason Mraz (for the 6th time) in concert next week at Northern Illinois University, and also got tickets to see Dave Matthews Band (for the 35th time) in Nashville, TN, with Mraz opening for them. Woot!

Now get off my lawn, you crazy kids.

The real MVP wasn't on NBC

2009-02-02T21:59:00.009-06:00

Sorry, Santonio Holmes.

You all may have won the Super Bowl, but the action was equally exciting over at Puppy Bowl V on Animal Planet, where Madeline the beagle whooped up on everyone with 3 touchdowns ON ONE PLAY finishing with 4 on the day. You had, what, 1 touchdown on Sunday there, Santonio?

It's clear who the real winner was on Sunday.

Better luck next time, Holmes.

P.S. - I can't believe FU, Penguin hasn't had a field day with the Puppy Bowl's yet...

Arriving a little late to this party, but...

2009-01-30T11:35:00.003-06:00

This might be the greatest blog ever.

Enjoy.

P.S. - Seeing certain people finally reap what they've been sowing is cathartic.

An Apple A Day...

2009-01-24T13:37:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday, Mac.

5 Best Movies of 08

2009-01-06T20:08:00.022-06:00

1) The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger's take on The Joker is absolutely incredible. Yes, he deserves an Oscar nod for it - I'm not saying a win, I'm just saying a nomination. It's pretty amazing that a "super-hero" movie is the strongest outing from Hollywood this year, but the script is so solid, it's set in a believable world, and the supporting cast is stellar. You can't help but get sucked in to The Joker's schemes and can't wait for him to be back on the screen. Add to that the introduction of Two-Face, and this is the most solid rogue's gallery in any Batman film. This film makes the loss of Ledger even harder to take, but stands as a lingering testiment to his talent.

2) Wall E
This is the best Pixar film ever made. Better than Toy Story. Better than Toy Story 2. Even better than Ratatouille. The titular character is one of only three characters on screen for about the first hour or so and I could've just watched them together the whole film. Granted, there was a not-to-subtle message about the Earth and the environment, but the rest of the story is great and the character animation is flawless. As a friend pointed out, it's really a shame that this film can't get a Best Picture nod (it has it's own catagory for Animated Feature) as it's much more enjoyable then The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

3) Iron Man
What a role for Robert Downey, Jr. to make a return with. Reportedly having to fight very hard to land the role, it's now hard to imagine any one else in it. With a sequel already announced, it's going to be exciting to see where director Jon Faverau decides to take the franchise as he and the leads are committed through a trilogy. (Don Cheadale is replacing Terrance Howard, but the rest of the cast remains in place) The effects were fantastic too. It's pretty amazing that two "super-hero" movies have cracked the top 5 in the same year.

4) Marley & Me
Every pet owner should see this movie - regardless if you're a dog person or not. Based off the best-selling book by John Grogan, the adaptation takes some liberties, but doesn't stray too far from the source material. The cast works as Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are a believable couple, plus the welcome addition of Alan Arkin as John's boss was a nice surprise. The multiple dogs playing Marley steal the show as the casting of them were perfectly done showing how the lab aged as the family grew and relocated. The story itself is really about a new family coming together and the dog is a nice device to accentuate it.

5) Religulous
To say Bill Maher is outspoken is like saying J-Lo has a ridiculous ego: it's an obvious fact thrown into our faces every week. (Maher via his TV show; J-Lo via US Weekly, InTouch, etc.) However, Maher tends to reel it in a bit - until the very end of the film - as he takes an honest ...and sometimes uncomfortable look at religion, but this film is also something that is well overdue. And while most people wouldn't tag Maher as the one they wanted to hear from on the issue, he's also one of the few to finally stand up and bring the issue of religion to life and does so in a comedic yet meaningful way. Everyone should see this film at least once as it's guaranteed to create a discussion.

Honorable Mention (tie): Wanted
I honestly had no clue who James McAvoy was until the credits rolled on this film. His earnest take on patsy-turned-hitman Wesley Gibson was very believable and I was pleased to hear that a sequel is reportedly in the works. (I'm also curious to see if the clever introduction of bending bullets makes it's way into every action film moving forward) Angelina Jolie is the cover girl for the film and does a good job as a femme fatale, but Morgan Freeman was the biggest casting surprise as the deceptive brains behind the whole operation. After reading the graphic novel it's based on, I was glad to see that they took the story in a more realistic way and I'm looking forward to where the franchise goes in the future.

Honorable Mention (tie): Hamlet 2
While not a box office success, I think anyone that has ever been in or appreciates theatre should see this hysterical film. It's done by the producers of South Park so expect the style of humor going in, but all the tolerant folk out there will love this absolute gem...and I defy you to get "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" out of your head after seeing it. Steve Coogan (also in Tropic Thunder) shines as a failing drama teacher who puts all his struggles into a musical that is a sequel to Hamlet - and the rest pretty much speaks for itself. Elisabeth Shue cameos as herself and I'm convinced the movie world is a better place with more Elisaberth Shue in it. I saw this in an unfortunately empty theater the night that I went, but I laughed until my sides hurt and was inspired when I walked out. You can't really ask for much more than that out of a theatrical experience.

5 Best TV Shows of 08

2009-01-06T19:04:00.014-06:00

1) LOST

Whatever mojo the series lost with its much maligned second and third seasons, it certainly dug in and went back to what worked because this season was as compelling and intriguing as the first - when none of us knew what was going on or what a Dharma was. Perhaps it was the strike shortened season that caused the writers to hunker down and really give us meaty episodes, but whatever it was worked as a lot of the side stories were all cast away and secondary characters back stories were quickly established rather than drawn out over multiple episodes. Plus, the Oceanic 6 storyline was the best story on TV this year as everyone was guessing, theories abounded, and the element that made the show so great initially had finally returned. Anyone else already have their DVR's set for January 21st?

2) Mad Men
I finally started watching this show based on a friends' recommendation and what an amazing series to get caught up in. Reaching back to an era when smoking was the norm, women's roles were clearly defined, and decadence ruled. The world of Don Draper is a fascinating place to observe. The writing in the second season was so solid and the only frustration that crept in was having to wait another week to find out what would happen next. The acting and character development is astounding and the show is more than deserving of it's Emmy and Golden Globe nods.

3) 30 Rock
It's a little disconcerting that it took Tina Fey's dead-on portrayal of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live to draw viewers over to the funniest show on television. Once people tuned in, they were hooked into the crazy world of Liz Lemon, but those viewers should've already been there as the first two seasons of this show are hysterical - and, not surprisingly, those seasons are now the most requested/downloaded comedy series online. I'm glad that they are now getting the respect they deserve as the Emmy wins yet low viewership had an eerie echo to another incredible show that suffered a similar fate, but was canceled well ahead of its time. (*ahem* Arrested Development *ahem*) Alec Baldwin shines, Tina Fey is the "Elaine May of our time," and Tracy Morgan just makes everything funnier.

4) Extras
While it didn't technically have a full season this year, the tail end of season 2 and the Extra Special Series Finale both aired this year - the latter of which is arguably Ricky Gervais best acting performance to date. Still the master of the awkward moment, Gervais actually took the series in a much more dramatic direction as we grew frustrated with Andy's ever-increasing ego, annoyed with yet sympathetic to Stephen Merchant's Darren Lamb, and our hearts broke for Ashley Jensen's Maggie as she came to grips with her place in show business and her steadfast friendship to Andy despite his treatment of her. The last 20 minutes of the finale are just amazing to watch.

5) The Office

While the writer's strike was unfortunate yet very warranted, it sure seemed to bring out the best in some of these shows. It was like the writers said, "Oh yeah?! Well, here's some awesome scripts right before we go on strike so that everyone will miss us." Which then begs the question - why aren't the rest of the episodes during the season as strong as the ones in the strike-shortened season of The Office? That's not to say that the writing is generally poor or anything like that, but all of a sudden the relationships all started to finally pay off (Jim & Pam, Michael & Jan, etc.), great characters started to shine (Andrew Bernard), and the oddities just grew more odd (Dwight Schrute). I hope that the writers can keep that momentum going - and that the creators of the show pull whatever strings necessary to bring Amy Ryan's Holly back into Michael's love life.

Honorable Mention: Flight of the Conchords

Our favorite kiwis made their debut on HBO this year and the world was finally introduced to the musical stylings of Bret and Jemaine. I was fortunate enough to have received a copy of their album, Folk The World, as well as purchase their audiobook on iTunes (that no one seemed to know about) a year or so ago and I was ecstatic to find out they were filming their own show. Initially branded as a folk version of Tenacious D, Bret & Jemaine proved themselves to be much more as their wit, humbleness, and approachability endeared them to everyone. With a best selling album and another season premiering in February, here's hoping 2009 will be an even better year for the breakout duo.

5 Best Videogames of 08

2009-01-06T18:20:00.014-06:00

1) Fallout 3

Running hot off of past Game of the Year honoree Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda earned the rights to bring back the long dormant Fallout franchise and did not disappoint. Using the solid gameplay elements introduced in their previous titles alongside honoring the established mythology of the world of Fallout, but feeling free to take us in a whole new direction, the game more than met expectations of loyalists and new players alike. With immersive environements, a compelling story, and a unique take on combat (including reintroducing the VATS system), Fallout 3 hit on every level and won many Game of the Year awards - making Bethesda even hotter than it ever has been.

2) Metal Gear Solid 4
One main reason that this is not in the 3rd position is that, if creator Hideo Kojima is not misleading us, this is the final chapter in the Solid Snake era of MGS - a storyline that reaches all the way back to the original 8-bit Nintendo system. Many MGS titles that followed were Gane of the Year winners and fans clamored to find out where Snake was going next. While criticized that his products had become more movies than games, Kojima Productions more than answered that charge with a lengthy game that had it's beautifully rendered cinematic moments for sure, but also solid hours of gameplay to back it up. If this is truly Snake's final bow, then he's gone out in style.

3) Grand Theft Auto 4
You could playfully call GTA IV, 'caffine free.' That's because Rockstar Games has seemed to do away with the childishness of it's previous GTA title (Google "Hot Coffee" to see what I mean) and created a very dramatic story that some have even compared to The Departed. Inside jokes and puns are to be found for sure, but they're not as blantant or comical as in the past. Saddle that gritty story with a very believable rendering of Liberty City (a blatant recreation of New York City), tighter mechanics, and the best voice acting in any game ever and it's easy to see that pulling the reigns in a bit on their flagship title has Rockstar heading in the right direction again.

4) Rock Band 2
Harmonix took the music gaming business by storm the past two years and this year especially showed perrenial rival Guitar Hero who's boss. While not all the instrument upgrades were worth it (drums = good, guitar = not so much), the fact that at launch there were already over 300 songs available for the game is a feat unmatched. Add to that the option to port 98% of your favorite songs from the original Rock Band into the sequel and you've got an incredible set list just out of the box with nothing downloaded. Giving the Wii a run for its money as the best party game available, Harmonix also recently announced that they'll be bring a long awaited Beatles title in the next year or so - which only further cements them as the best music game in town.

5) Fable II
This was the game that Peter Molyneaux wanted to make with the original Fable as that game fell WAY short of it's lofty expectations. Does Fable II fall short as well? Yes, but not to the extreme of its predecessor. Mr. Molyneaux could sell ice to an eskimo with his genuine enthusiasm for what his Lionhead Studios produces and what they try to achieve, but they're also getting the unfortunate tag of not coming through on promises. The introduction of the dog sidekick was a novel one, but not as riveting as it was billed. However, the storyline is great, the gameplay and combat are so much easier to handle now, and the . I'm not knocking the game for what's there because what is there is solid, but what was promised to be there and fails to make an appearance is annoying and a dangerous pattern for Lionhead to fall into.

Honorable Mention: Gears of War 2
In what was truly the year of the sequel, GOW2 did not disappoint as it retook the title of best first person shooter. Advancing the storyline established in the first Gears, this story saw Marcus Fenix take the fight to the Locust in a very offensive minded strategy rather than the defend your turf mentality of the original. The cover aspect of the game continues to impress as it evolves and the new weapons and continued innovation of gameplay should make Gears a front runner in the future. Plus, you get to ride a brumak - how cool is that?

5 Pleasant Surprises in Entertainment 08

2009-01-06T17:22:00.011-06:00

1) Official Announcement of an 'Arrested Development' Film
I'm what some parents would call a 'late bloomer' to this series as all of my friends that knew of this show kept telling me that I would love it. Finally discovering it on Hulu, I actually was angry at myself for not getting in to this show earlier & have since obtained the entire series on DVD thanks to Amazon. I've also turned many a friend onto it since then. A few months back, I was so excited to hear that a film version was formally going into pre-production despite a potential actor holding out (the consistently over-estimating his sense of worth, Michael Cera) and am overjoyed at seeing what the Bluth Family has been up to since last being seen on the Queen Mary.

2) The Triumphant Return of Robert Downey, Jr.
With Iron Man receiving film of the year mentions due to his take on Tony Stark and now a potential Oscar nomination to alongside his Golden Globe nomination for his role in Tropic Thunder, you could say that Robert Downey, Jr. has had himself a pretty good year. His well documented run-ins with the law and drug addiction while coming up through the Brat Pack days often trump any accolades that came along with his great performances (see Chaplin), but it appears that he's gotten his life back together and is now reaping the benefits of his natural talent.

3) Mystery Science Theater 3000 Celebrates 20th Anniversary
The "cowtown puppet show" that went on to enjoy a 10 year run over two networks and whose cult following is still growing celebrated it's 20th anniversary in style. A featured sold out event at ComicCon 2008 featured the entire cast - past and present - on a panel answering fan questions hosted by admitted MSTie Patton Oswalt. It was also announced that Shout! Factory would now release their shows on DVD (taking over a former partnership with Rhino) and to herald the event, there was a 20th Anniversay Collector's Edition featuring a maquette of Crow and four classic movies bundled together. In an afterlife that has spawned two off-shoots of the format (RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic), the show continues to receive the love it so richly deserves.

4) "Angels & Demons" Trailer
Being one of seven people in the U.S. that actually enjoyed the film adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller The DaVinci Code, I was so excited to see an unexpected trailer for the follow up film, Angels & Demons. In my opinion, ithe story lends itself better to being a film and, in an artistic choice, Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment has made this a film sequel to DaVinci whereas in the novels, DaVinci comes second chronologically. Already causing concerns and outrage in the Catholic church over the films content and location shoots in both Rome and Vatican City, this much anticipated film should cause some waves in 2009.

5) J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" Trailer Debuts
I am not a Trekkie, by any stretch of the the imagination. I enjoyed Wrath of Kahn and even liked First Contact, but I've never invested myself in the Trek mythos nor ever really cared to. However, I must say I am very intrigued following viewing the first theatrical trailer of J.J. Abrams update of the franchise. It's looking to usher in a whole new breed of Trekkies (or "Trekkers," as some die hards refer to themselves as) while still paying an homage to the established fan base. With a very public mud slinging spectacle of William Shatner's frustration not being included in the flim where some of the original cast is (Leonard Nimoy supposedly cameos as an older Spock), the franchise definitely has the attention of the public - here's hoping J.J. delivers with a more solid effort than on Cloverfield.

Honorable Mention: EA Announces Release of The Sims 3
The greatest selling PC franchise of all time returns in 2009 with the third iteration of The Sims series. Every Sims game generates multiple spin-off titles and extra chapters, but when the series itself is overhauled and the next one is released, there's often so much more than just graphical upgrades as new gameplay elements, themes, and concepts are introduced. Here's to many upcoming hours lost in the wonderful world of The Sims.

5 Underwhelming Happenings in Entertainment 08

2009-01-06T16:25:00.018-06:00

1) Cloverfield

As Pete wisely mentioned over a year ago in reference to this film: "Save your money." Proof that not everything J.J. Abrams touches turns to gold, this is a prime example of not living up to the hype. With an amazing marketing campaign and solid concept to create a, "Godzilla movie for the U.S.," as well as the unique decision to film everything in first-person, the overall execution just wasn't there. Inconsistent acting and strange editing made it seem like the filmmakers were trying too hard to cram easter eggs and secret messages for fans to hunt for in the Blu-ray/DVD release rather than actually focusing on telling a compelling story for theater goers. Here's hoping the recently announced sequel gets it right.

2) NBC's Horrible Mismanagment of Scrubs

With a built-in audience & loyal fan base, NBC never really got behind nor advertised, the "final" season of 'Srcubs,' so naturally viewership numbers began to drop. But their decision to not only cancel the show, but then air the final few episodes out of order bringing zero closure to the show amidst the writer's strike showed a severe lack of loyalty and disrespect to a series that was in it's 8th season. Now comfortably resting in it's new home on ABC (for one season, at least), not to mention receiving prime advertising slots, the best revenge would be viewer numbers that shows NBC what a horrible mistake they made.

3) Kath & Kim
How is this show still on the air? Seriously? When your secondary characters are stronger and more endearing than your two leads (here's looking at you, John Michael Higgins), you've made a horrible mistake. Sandwiching it between your two strongest shows will naturally generate misleading numbers, but the nano-second it moves to another slot, it's dead. Not every U.S. remake of a BBC show is going the be gold (for every "The Office," there's about 10 "Couplings") & Molly Shannon deserves a much better vehicle than this.

4) Lack of Solid Titles for the Wii
Wii Fit. That's it. That's the only game in a whole year that is worth playing on the Nintendo Wii, with maybe a small nod to No More Heroes. The hottest gaming system out (and still in high demand) is losing steam at an alarming rate - especially when the most popular game in the system is still the one that shipped with it - Wii Sports. With an announced sequel to Wii Sports (entitled Wii Sports Resort) to come at some point in 2009, here's hoping that it will lead a charge of acutal good titles for the system.

5) Pending Lawsuit by FOX to Hold the Release of "Watchmen"
One of the most anticipated graphic novel to movie release of all time is now in danger of being delayed for an undetermined amount of time. FOX apparently still owns distribution rights to the franchise despite Warner Bros. owning rights to actually make the film. There's an excellent overview laid out by the Los Angeles times here that goes into much more detail about it than I will here, but needless to say, it would be a travesty for this film not to hit the big screen in 2009. (and as a friend pointed out, the original date was to be 03.06.09 - all marker points on a watch or clock)
UPDATE: Looks like everything has been settled as of January 15, 2008.

Honorable Mention: The PlayStation Beta Release of Home
Talk about not living up to the hype. The much-anticipated release of the social networking "game" from PlayStation that was to fuse The Sims style gameplay with the online power of the PS3 roared onto the platform with a meek whimper. With areas only accessed by secret codes, a theater that looped an annoying trailer for Twilight (which is the exact movie to appeal to the the male 16-35 demographic that owns the system), bland and severly limited furniture to place around your cyber-apartment, and weak animations for your avatars, Home has a LONG way to go if the PS3 hopes to make a dent in the dominating online presence of the Xbox360.

List time!

2009-01-06T16:19:00.003-06:00

End of the year means time for more lists!

I've toned down quite a bit from last year and am only posting Top 5's rather than Top 10's. As always, I'm pulling from my frame of reference on these as I didn't see every movie out there or play every game, etc.

Enjoy.

Uber Happy Hollandaise

2008-12-22T10:36:00.014-06:00

These are images from the new Claus advertising campaign promoting the Palm Centro.

I think the campaign is hysterical and very well done, but it doesn't make me want the product.

However, you have to give props to the company that came up with this clever take on updating Santa by having him embrace his German/Euro-centricities.

The energy-efficient sleigh, the weight loss, the new do, dropping "Santa" & just going as "Claus" (complete with an umlaut over the "u"), moonlighting as a rooftop DJ...

Well played, land of commerce.

Anyone else notice (at least in the Midwest) that this season we didn't have the traditional snowfall...then it melts and we have weather in the 50's....then it snows again and gets icy....then it melts again....then we finally get the last snowfall and it sticks? Well, not this year. It just went from 50's sweatshirt weather straight to sub-zero/crazy cold temperatures literally overnight. No respite. No chance to enjoy one last decent day. Mother Nature is not messing around this year, apparently. It was -26 with the windchill yesterday and it's supposed to get colder later this week. Insane.

Have a great Christmafestikwanzisoltstukkah (or whatever it is you celebrate) & travel safely over the holidays!

Photos courtesy Palm.com/Claus

"I got the Dynamo of Volition..."

2008-12-01T00:17:00.018-06:00

Headed up to see Jason Mraz at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago prior to Thanksgiving and they put on yet another awesome show. (The photos are from my iPhone that unfortunately doesn't take too great of pics unless you're up close. Sorry.)

As Corey, Mo, & myself can unfortunately attest to first-hand, the Aragon does not provide the best acoustics for performing, as was further evidenced by the opening act & our inability to understand her lyrics. However, the Mraz crew had two walls of speakers that seemed to make up for it & his set was great. He played a ton from We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things and also pulled some old stuff out of the catalog. And he even paid tribute to Barack Obama in a very cool moment. It was a fun set and I even ended up talking the sound guy (who I remembered from Mraz's gig at the Metro a few months back - the guy looks amazingly like Rod Stewart) - into giving me the set list sheet after the show ended. We grabbed 2 a.m. burritos and decompressed from the show with a little Arrested Development, which is thankfully going to be making it's way to the silver screen in the next few years. (finally!)

We got to spend Sunday with friends & family - including Oscar - and spent time at a cool bar called Kirkwood, which you should totally check out if you're in Chicago. It was nice being up in the big city again and I find myself wrestling with the idea of moving back up there everytime I come back...

Also hit up my first Quad City Flames game with some friends as I had yet to see a game since their re-branding from being the Q.C. Mallards in the IHL (the Flames are part of the AHL). Wow - what a difference a league change makes! Despite coming back by scoring 3 goals in the 3rd period, the Flames lost :27 into overtime 3-4, but it still ended up as a pretty exciting game. I'll definitely be going to more in the future.

We've been selling out CSz shows consistently for the past 3 weeks and are hoping that momentum continues. It's amazing what happens when high school football season wraps up...

Wanted to end by mentioning that if you're in the Chicago area, please head over to the Annoyance Theater & Bar to check out Corey & Mo's show entitled The Union: Ward & June Are Dead. It's been getting good reviews so far & not only will you be supporting friends, you'll also laugh your ass off in the process.

iHappy

2008-11-19T17:02:00.011-06:00

So thanks to planets aligning or hell freezing over or some other anomaly, I'm FINALLY out of my Verizon contract and was able to pick up an iPhone today from a friend of mine at AT&T for an insane discount. Verizon did the whole sweet talk/up the ante schpiel, but it's actually cheaper for me to go with AT&T than to stay with them. Only issue is the texting plan for the iPhone, but otherwise it's great. As a recent Apple convert, I'm incredibly happy with it so far and the App Store is a thing of genius. All it needs is a solid GPS system and you couldn't really ask for much more out of a phone.

Saw Quantum of Solace last night and it was great - not as solid as Casino Royale, but still really good. It was like the writer's strike affected the story not being very fleshed out, so they just cranked the action up 20 notches to make up for it. What story is there is good and advances the plot and characters we've met thus far, but it would've been nice for some more narrative. I've seen every Bond film and am really happy with the way that they've relaunched the franchise.

We also got to view the teaser trailer for the upcoming Angels & Demons film, which I am ecstatic about seeing. The film is an adaptation of Dan Brown's book, which was superior to The DaVinci Code, in my opinion, and lends itself better to being a film so I'm excited to see what the studio will put out there. I'm curious to see if Brown's newest work, The Solomon Key, will make it out sometime in 2009 as well.

I'm guessing Twittering is officially the new cool thing to do. I've just gotten into it and it's kind of nice because it's like a mini-up-to-date blog for those of us you can't regularly update their own blogs (as Pete so consistently points out). Between that and Facebook, it may just be easier to drop this blog and maintain the other two. We'll see.

As always, CSz is starting to get really busy as we enter the Holiday season - which is good news for me (I'm curious if Corey & Mo are going to be able to join us for some shows this year as their own show, The Union, has landed dates for a run in Chicago @ The Annoynace - be sure to check it out if you're up there!). In addition to that, I've gotten some recent offers to audition for a couple films and commercials coming up before New Years, so I'm hoping that will lead to something fun.

Over at Dogsbreath Productions, we've got a couple of first drafts floating around for some new pilot ideas and are hammering out a realistic filming schedule for it as well - hopefully we can get something committed to film before 2009.

Hope you're all staying warm. It's about to start snowing here....allegedly.

Boo? Yeah!

2008-11-15T10:59:00.024-06:00

When I was in high school, there was a group of us that went to pretty much every haunted house in the Q.C. & surrounding area our junior & senior year. We got these little punch cards for all the Jaycee's houses and even went an hour out of town just to hit them all. Needless to say, I got a touch worn out on them and have not stepped foot in one since.

Halloween night rolls around and we're debating what to do, and end up agreeing to go to at least one haunted house and then maybe a party or two. We popped online to do some crash-course research and found this place in Orion, IL, that was getting some favorable reviews called Torment at Twelve Hundred. I'll be honest, I was not that enthused to go, but I also didn't want to do nothing on Halloween. Plus, this place was ranked in the top 10 on HauntedIllinois.com, so I figured it must be doing something right.

The night got off to an inauspicious start as we met up with some friends and promptly got lost while making the long & somewhat more-confusing-than-it-needed-to-be drive. (which was really our fault, in the end) We passed many barns & cornfields, but eventually discovered the plot of land at 1200 about 45 minutes before it was closing. It also had a Doggie Styles hot dog kiosk right next to it. (yes, I like the name too)

As we're making our way to the entrance, one of the security guards spies that someone in our group is wearing flip-flops, which is an apparent (and very understandable) no-no in the world of haunted houses, as are any open-heeled or open-toed footwear. The two of us that drove proceed to ransack our vehicles in search of any footwear we may have that would pass inspection, but to no avail. Incidentally, I found one shoe in the junkyard I call my trunk - which makes me very curious where his partner ended up. As the scavenging continued, our friend ended fashioning her own pair of shoes using a combination of duct tape and socks, but alas, this did not pass inspection either. We had made almost an hour drive & I'll be damned if we weren't getting into this haunt now.

So we came up with a potentially useful solution: we went to the Doggie Styes kiosk and asked if we could swap shoes with an employee for the next hour so that we could go through and then swap back when we were finished. Luckily, the great people there were more than accommodating and we had to perform minor surgery getting the duct tape shoes off of our friend. So with feet firmly crammed into shoes that were two sizes too small, we finally made it past inspection and gained access onto the grounds. This was to be my first haunted house experience in over 14 years & after everything we had gone through in the last hour & a half, I would be remissed to say that I didn't think it was going to be very exciting.

Holy crap.

That place was AWESOME! Haunted houses have come a LONG way since my memories of them back in the mid-90's. It was such an immersive experience and it started even before you paid the admission fee. As we weaved our way towards the entrance, we were abruptly greeted by Kirby - a portly, unshaven man-child wearing a hospital smock with blood stains, a bicycle helmet with the his name scratched across the front, and eating the nastiest looking Oreos I've ever seen. He also only communicated using four phrases: "What?" "Mama!" "Want some?" & "O.k." It was amazing how just those four phrases ended up being so hysterical as we attempted to communicate with him.

We were then treated to a video (which was more comical than creepy...and I don't think that was the desired effect) that set up the storyline for the haunt, and eventually made our way outside through a forest maze containing a multitude of zombies, creatures, and gravediggers popping out at random times causing the women in our group to scream ad nauseam. Next, we went back inside through the creepiest, yet frighteningly accurate looking trailer I'd ever seen which belonged to what can only be described as a knock-off Buffalo Bill from Silence Of The Lambs.

Unfortunately, this awesome ambiance led to our least favorite part of the haunt, which was also one of the main plot points of the established storyline...I think. We entered into a doctors quarters which, I feel, was just used in the wrong way. The over-the-top/community theatre performance of the doctor really took us out of the moment and we just hurried our way through the section and back outside to another maze. I think this area could be better utilized in the future - for instance, having the doctor irate that we interrupted his work and then just staring us down as we pass through while his nurse and caged "experiment" do their things. Anything more along those lines would be better than the Svengoolie act we were given.

Following a second outdoor experience, we went through the final part of the haunt, which was the sanitarium - & it was VERY well put together. Body bags, psycho clowns, spitting toilets, and creepy people the followed you around just long enough to be uncomfortable. It culminated with a spinning, black hole walk that created a sense of vertigo before dropping you off right back at the Doggie Styles kiosk.

With our adventure complete, shoes returned, and my faith in haunted houses restored, we headed back to the Q.C. and encouraged everyone that we could to go check the place out - which I am also doing here. Obviously, it's closed for the season, but if you're anywhere in the area, you should definitely check the place out next Halloween. I know we will.

Yes We Did

2008-11-05T17:10:00.003-06:00

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States.

Not much else to say right now as I'm having a hangover from the rally.

Later.

Swing.

2008-10-20T13:45:00.023-05:00

That's what you're supposed to do when you're in the batters box.

And you're being paid an inordinate amount of money to do so.

And you've just come back from a 1-3 overall deficit.

And it's Game 7 of the 2008 American League Championship Series.

And you're playing shortstop for the Boston Red Sox.

Granted, there's plenty of blame to pass around for last night's loss, but there was a glaring weakness in the armor last night. If Alex Cora is still a member of the Sox next season, I'm not the only one that will be shocked and extremely unhappy. Struck out looking, only reached base on an error, and cost them 2 outs on the defensive side of the ball. Bush league.

It was a great run, but it was like they played to lose last night. Too many hittable pitches that they just let go right past them. Would've been interesting to see a healthy Mike Lowell in the line-up & if that may have made a difference...

I'm not psychic, but I'm betting this will be one of the least watched Series' in history.

So congrats to the 2003 Florida Marlins...er...2008 Tampa Bay Rays, and I look forward to seeing how many current roster members are actually still there next year - staying loyal to all those "great" (read: fair-weather) Rays fans that couldn't even bother to sell out their own stadium the night their team clinched the League.

And while I'm ranting, does anyone else out there realize that that annoying "NFL Rocks on NBC" song by Faith Hill is an obvious complete rip-off of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself For Loving You"? Like, note-for-note. I hope she's getting residuals or something...

Photos courtesy of RedSox.MLB.com

Re-discoveries

2008-09-25T11:27:00.014-05:00

After being poked by the proverbial stick (thanks Pete), here's another post. And thanks to the great feedback concerning the vlog post (especially on Facebook), it will make a return in the near future.

Streetcar wrapped and sold out pretty much every show... granted the seating capacity was small, so that helped. It was a fun albeit rushed experience and sharing the stage with some of the most talented people I've ever worked with was great and something I'll not soon forget. The reviews were solid as well, despite the set not being ideal and the production side of things being a bit tardy.

While I did have fun with the show, I've decided to take a theatrical sabatical for a bit. I'm sure I'll be in another Prenzie show soon enough, but for now it's kind of nice to not have to be frantically memorizing lines. I've been doing a good amount of freelance design work for multiple theatre companies as well as a restuarant, so that's exciting. Plus, CSz is starting to pick up as we enter the heavy remote season so it's nice to have as much free time open as possible for that.

Dogsbreath Productions has gotten our schedule laid out a bit and will be finishing up the Reality Check DVD soon. We've got a potential project with the American Theatre Company in the pipeline, a film adaptation of a play that's coming along, and we're in pre-production for another pilot as we head in to the new year.

I'm in this weird re-discovery/nostalgic phase for some reason. I'm slowly finding these things that I enjoyed years ago and am reincorporating them into my life.

The first of these re-discoveries is a wonderful show that not too many people have heard of, unfortunately. My friend had burned me a copy of the entire Channel 4 series called Black Books, starring the Irish comedian Dylan Moran. I had watched the entire first season and 80% of the second season, and then got away from it for some reason with the end of season 2 and all of season 3 yet to go. I loved the series, but never had the burning desire to go back and finish it for some reason. Recently, I've been doing some writing and have found these shows to be a comedic inspiration. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely pick it up. Dylan Moran's performance alone as an angry, intoxicated book shop owner is something to behold. I have a DVD of his stand-up called Monster and also got to see him live in London when I was there a few years back.

I'll share more rediscoveries in future posts. Until then, take care.

Streetcar publicity

2008-08-27T12:27:00.013-05:00

A Streetcar Named Desire
Harrison Hilltop Theatre
Thursday, August 28, through Saturday, September 6

What's Happening?
Mike Schulz, River Cities' Reader - August 27, 2008

On August 28, Davenport's Harrison Hilltop Theatre debuts its presentation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

It's being directed by the Green Room Theatre's executive director - and recent Assassins helmer - Derek Bertelsen.

And it stars Kimberly Furness as Blanche DuBois, Eddie Staver III as Stanley Kowalski, Jeff De Leon as Mitch, and River Cities' Reader employee Stephanie Burrough as Stella.

So permit me a question: Why on earth are you still reading this?

For tickets to A Streetcar Named Desire - and seriously, drop the paper and reserve 'em now - call (309) 235-1654 or visit HarrisonHilltop.com.

webisode one

2008-08-25T13:24:00.001-05:00

LeRoi Moore 1961-2008

2008-08-20T13:41:00.025-05:00

Sax player in Dave Matthews Band has died

LeRoi Moore, 46, died from complications of June ATV crash

LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, died Tuesday of complications from injuries he suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident, the band said. He was 46.

Moore died at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was admitted with complications that arose weeks after the June 30 wreck, according to a statement on the band’s Web site. It did not specify what led to his death, and nursing supervisor Galina Shinder said the hospital could not release details.

On June 30, Moore crashed his ATV on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va., but was discharged and returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical therapy. Complications forced him back to the hospital on July 17, the band said.

The band went on with its show Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where lead singer Dave Matthews acknowledged Moore’s death to the crowd after the first song.

“It’s always easier to leave than be left,” Matthews told the crowd, according to Ambrosia Healy, the band’s publicist. “We appreciate you all being here.”

Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, had been sitting in for Moore during the band’s summer tour.

Moore, who wore dark sunglasses at the bands’ many live concerts, had classical training but said jazz was his main musical influence, according to a biography on the band’s Web site.

“But at this stage I don’t really consider myself a jazz musician,” Moore said in the biography. Playing with the Dave Matthews Band was “almost better than a jazz gig,” he said. “I have plenty of space to improvise, to try new ideas.”

Lead singer Dave Matthews credited Moore with arranging many of his songs, which combine Cajun fiddle-playing, African-influenced rhythms and Matthews’ playful but haunting voice.

The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, Va., when Matthews was working as a bartender. He gave a demo tape of his songs to Moore, who liked what he heard and recruited his friend and fellow jazzman Carter Beauford to play drums, and other musicians.

The group broke out of the local music scene with the album “Under the Table and Dreaming.” The band won a Grammy Award in 1997 for its hit song “So Much to Say” off its second album “Crash.” Other hits include “What Would You Say,” “Crash Into Me” and “Satellite.”

*Story appears courtesy of the 2008 Associated Press*

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I'm working on a 'Los Angeles update' blog post, but this kind of takes precedence for me right now.

I know the "cool thing" is to bash the band & just write them off as hippie college rock, but I obviously am a huge fan and have been for a very long time.

No, I'm not wearing black for a week or taking the day off of work or over-blowing anything out of proportion & going all crazy fan-boy - I'm just genuinely sad that a really talented musician is gone.

This sucks.

I Love L.A.?

2008-07-30T08:59:00.008-05:00

Heading to Chicago today for a company pow-wow, and then leaving for L.A. tomorrow to promote/pitch Reality Check at the 3rd Annual ITVFest. I'm not even fully packed yet as I don't think I'm going to be able to cram 10 days of clothing into a carry-on, so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay to check luggage. (boo!)

We finally got our website up and going too. (click here)

Interesting thing happened at CSz this weekend - we were short players both nights (for whatever reasons) and the teams broke down to being 2-on-2 w/a DJ as opposed to it normally being 3-on-3 or 4-on-4. They were the best shows we've had in months. Seriously. I don't know if everyone's adrenaline kicked on or what, but being short-staffed actually helped make the shows even better. Our manager was there both nights to witness this and, with a new months schedule looming, I wonder if we may see some format changes...

Later.

The Dells, Chi-town CSz, and The Dark Knight

2008-07-23T16:27:00.024-05:00

Back from Wisconsin Dells & Chicago and waiting to hear the results from the Chicago Comedy TV Pilot Competition, but also focusing on the eminent trip to Los Angeles in support of Reality Check, and still waiting to hear if we made it into the New York competition - so keep those fingers crossed!

The CSz trip to the Dells for the WELS Youth Rally was fun, as always, but it was shocking to see Lake Denton completely drained due to the Midwest flooding. The famed Ducks had no water to drive through and it was a little sad. The weather was very overcast and we were unable to hit any of the many water parks. However, we did make it to what has become a CSz tradition - breakfast at Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty. If you've never been there, they serve family style and just keep bringing food to the table until you can't move...for only $10! It's awesome! We got to initiate Corey & Mo into our little tradition this year and they were pretty happy, as evidenced below:

Keeping the tradition alive of refusing to pay outrageous prices for movies, I saw The Dark Knight and snuck (is that the past-tense of 'sneak'?) into Wanted last night.

The Dark Knight was an awesome film, but I thought it got a touch to 'super-heroey' at the end after pounding home a very realistic feel throughout 98% of the film. There's an old graphic novel called Batman: The Killing Joke that I purchased when I was little and it always stuck with me in the way that it presented the Joker as a normal person that was driven to the madman he'd become, and I thought this film really hit on that - whether intending to or not.

Yes, Heath Ledger was amazing - there's enough glowing reviews out there that I'm not going to turn this into another one. Not to be overlooked, however, should be Aaron Eckhardt as an awesome Harvey Dent/Two Face.

Wanted was a nice surprise as I knew very little about it except it was about assassins and had Angelina Jolie in it - I'm sold. It's also based on a graphic novel, which I actually purchased at Borders after seeing the movie. It's definitely not a movie for everyone & quite a departure from the Mark Millar book, but reminded me a lot of Shoot 'Em Up from last year with it's fantastic action sequences and graphic dialogue. There's a cool story twist in the film that I won't ruin, but it's definitely worth a NetFlix rental. at the very least.

Next post should come from L.A. Take care!

Wow.

2008-07-19T03:21:00.003-05:00

Thank you to everyone that attended the Chicago competition. We could not have asked for a better turn out and seeing our work up there on the big screen was intimidating to say the least. The ovation the pilot received at the end the screening was humbling.

On behalf of Dogsbreath, thank you all so much again for the support. We'll let you know how we do in the Chicago competition and how things go in L.A.

Wow. Just wow.

"Check" it out.

2008-07-08T21:46:00.010-05:00

My friend, his brother, and myself decided to do a little project this summer as we wrote and produced a pilot based on an idea about spoofing a reality show. This summer, we wrote it, cast it, filmed it, and edited it in the DePaul digital media center in a night that seemed like it could've fallen out of any script from the 80's (contact me in person and I'll regale you with it sometime) as we had to get it completed that night. We entitled it Reality Check.

Our need for that expediency was because our plan was to enter it into the Chicago Comedy Pilot Competition and it was due the next day. My friend's brother also turned it in for a grade and his professor was so impressed with not just the concept, but the editing as well that he told him we should enter it in as many festivals and competitions as we could. About a month later, we found out we were an official selection to the competition and were ecstatic. We're hoping for a solid turnout, so if you're in Chicago, please feel free to attend our public screening:
* The Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave.)
* Friday, July 18th @ 8:45 p.m.
* Admission: $10

With the apparent success of the show doing so well, we discussed it & decided to test the waters by submitting it to the Independent Television Festival (ITVFest) in Los Angeles. It was a wild shot in the dark, but we figured it couldn't hurt to at least try. And we found out last week that we are an official selection. Needless to say, we're pretty happy about that too. So we're heading out to L.A. in early August for the festival (which includes getting to hear Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk speak) & should you find yourself in L.A., please feel free to attend either (or both) screenings as well:
* Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theater (8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood)
* Saturday, August 2nd @ 9 p.m. & Tuesday, August 5th @ 6 p.m.
* Admission: $10

So now, riding an obvious natural high, we're going for the big bad trifecta and have submitted it to the New York Television Festival - so keep those fingers crossed! We're hunting for any more festivals or competitions that may be out there that we aren't aware of yet & just enjoying this amazing experience as it unfolds.

It's pretty mind-blowing how our little, "thing we'll do for fun," has turned into something bigger than any of us had ever anticipated.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

32

2008-06-18T00:25:00.016-05:00

Headed back to Chicago for the ol' birthday weekend and got second row seats to see my 32nd Dave Matthews Band show (ironic?), but also lucked into seats to the JTS Brown reunion show - literally, at the last minute - at the 5th Annual Chicago Improv Festival thanks to one of the generous cast members, and my friend, Jen Bills.

JTS Brown was a legendary long-form improv troupe formed at IO (formally Improv Olympic) who's alumni have gone on to many successful things: SNL, Mad TV, 30 Rock, The Colbert Report, & the two guys in those Sonic commercials to name a few. The form they created is still being taught today, and it was actually the first long form show I ever saw. I still have vivid memories of that and all the subsequent shows I attended and can even still quote lines back.

I met up with Corey who promptly informed me that the Lakeshore Theater's air conditioning broke so the theater had turned into a sweatbox. Despite the setback, the opening act, Children Of A Lesser God, took the stage. This female foursome (featuring Kate Duffy, who is the director of Corey & Mo's show, The Union) attacked the stage with body-mics so they could be heard over the multiple blowing fans that were attempting to alleviate some of the heat, and while that appeared a bit cumbersome, the ladies soon found their form and had a solid show. The distracting ambiance of the fans did have a bit of a hampering effect on the performance, but it was still a great show.

An announcement was then made after a 10 minute intermission that JTS was turning the fans off and going with no mics, which was met with thunderous applause. The cast hit the stage and it looked like they hadn't missed a beat despite being apart for 10 years. Everything from the Sesame Street song "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12" to third graders performing A Christmas Carol to the song from the Car-X commercial made an appearance. It was very apparent that the cast was having a ton of fun while sweating up a storm. We went to the after-party at IO and I got a chance to briefly pay homage to all the cast members, and also got to catch up with Jen and her husband, Bumper.

There's a great review of the show over at The Bastion.

The weekend wrapped up with a tumultuous drive through the suburbs that had us finally end up at the Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook to see my bud Casey in The Buddy Holly Story. He's been riding a wave of theatrical success of late and I'm really proud of him. The show ended with a very Mama Mia'esque number that had the whole crowd clapping and dancing - and I was afraid one of the many elderly people in the audience was going to have a heart attack.

We stopped at a great sandwich place called Portillo's on the way out of town, and it was a great gracenote to the weekend (also Corey's got me addicted to The Wreck at Potbelly's now too).

We debuted a new game form called Improv Dodgeball for CSzQC 18th Birthday Show as a late show, and it was very successful. I think we're going to have a dodgeball match at least once a month from here on out. If you're looking for something new and have already been to a bunch of CSz shows, it's definitely worth checking out.

I'd be remissed not to mention the flooding that's hitting Iowa right now, as there are friends in the Q.C., Iowa City, and Des Moines that have all been affected by it. It looks like we're having some more moderate weather coming up this week, which will help alleviate the situation some, but the weeks that follow are forecasted to have even more storms. I assisted sandbagging back when the horrible flood of 93 hit and am most likely going to do the same in the next week, as every little bit can help at this point.

Celtics won and The Incredible Hulk was awesome. Nuff said.

"You have given me 100 kisses."

2008-06-03T17:36:00.012-05:00

The quote above is from The Professor in what was probably one of my favorite sketches from this past Thursday's The Kids In The Hall: As Live As We'll Ever Be reunion show. I was able to attend the show with my friends Corey and Gabe and we all had a great time reminiscing before the show about our favorite past KITH sketches and characters, and speculated on which of them would make appearances at the show. Happily, all of the show was entirely new material with some familar characters popping up here and there in all new situations. It was an awesome show and the cast looked like they were enjoying themselves even more than we were. Corey is a longtime fan of the troupe and he was grinning from ear-to-ear following the show.

Oh, but then the weekend took a drastic turn...

On Friday night, we were to do a CSz gig with Corey & Mo (who had just finished another show earlier in the night) for an after-prom at the Aragon Ballroom. If you've never been there before, it's beautiful on the inside (as you can see from the photos), but an incredible pain acoustically to try to perform in. We were informed that The Rolling Stones among others had played the venue at one point, but whatever luster that may've had was completely worn off by the time we had our mic check. We couldn't even hear ourselves, let alone each other, as the sound traveled from the 1' high speakers up into the domed ceilings and then...just.....disappeared. Seriously. It was incredibly frustrating as we could see the writing on the wall that this show was going to be an effort in futility trying to keep the kids attention.

We retired to the green room and it just felt like waiting on death row as each of us were playing out in our heads just how awkward this performance was going to be. At the same time, we bonded as a quartet knowing that we were marching into a dire situation, so that was cool.

We did all that we could to fight through it, but the kids simply could not hear us past the first two rows and we had lost 80% of them by the third game. It was brutal. At least Corey and I found a way to entertain ourselves by taking random photos of the place, and then photos of each other taking random photos of the place.

That left kind of a sour note to the night, but Sunday was fun as I hung out with Casey and got to hear about his new show, Buddy, which I'll hopefully be seeing this weekend. We made some final touches to Reality Check and are excited to get it entered into some more competitions.

And congratulations to Senator Barack Obama for securing the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

These guys still rule.

2008-05-29T11:59:00.003-05:00

If you have yet to take part in the time honored tradition of heading to The District and seeing The Travolta's play, you are a sad wreck of a human being. They're awesome musicians and even better people, but they're also not going to be touring too much longer. So drop your prejudices, get off your butt, and actually enjoy yourselves the next weekend they're in town.

Live High

2008-05-24T12:53:00.031-05:00

We wrapped up Prenzie's Sixth Season last weekend with our final performances of Life's A Dream. Despite easily being the most controversial show in our history (let alone the Q.C. in quite some time) it was really well reviewed and I was surprised to hear some people state after the show that it was their favorite Prenzie show we've done. Personally, I'm excited to be doing a modern (not to mention a musical) script for my next show as well as working with a new theatre company. (Actually, there are a lot of Prenzie's working with all new theatre companies this summer so get out there and support them all!)

My best friend, his brother, and myself started a production company back in February with the intent of finally getting our ideas out there - be it through skits on YouTube, writing shows, or whatever medium we could use. On a whim, we wrote, produced, filmed, and edited a pilot called Reality Check & submitted it to the Chicago Comedy Pilot Competition. We found out last week that out of 3,000 submissions, we qualified in the top 10 and will have our pilot screened at a theater in Chicago along with 9 other finalists. Copies were also submitted to NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and other stations for voting. If you find yourself in the Chicago area, have $10 burning a hole in your pocket, and have nothing else to do, feel free to stop by the Music Box Theater on Friday, July 18, we'd love to see you there. More information can be found here. (if you're friends with me on Facebook, you can find the trailer over there) We're not expecting a miracle or anything, but are pretty pumped to have placed in the top 10.

And Jon Lester came back from cancer and threw a no-hitter for the Red Sox. So it's been a pretty good week.

In the wonderful world of film...

Steph & I saw Iron Man and, I know fans of Sam Raimi's Spider-man will hate me for saying this, but I think it's the best Marvel film released so far. I don't know if that has to do with the fact that this is the first film released under the Marvel Studios banner, but it just was a great example of things falling into place at the same time: Favereau as the director/screenwriter, Downey Jr. jumping through hoops to prove that he was the right man for the role, the effects team knocking many of those scenes out of the park - it was just a fun movie that will please the general popcorn crowd as well as the die-hard fans of the comic (plus, you need to sit through the credits for a pleasant surprise).

We also saw my most-anticipated movie of the summer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on opening night. It was a great gracenote to a very popular franchise and the first 20 minutes do a wonderful job of getting you in a 1940's mindset - not to mention giving us some intense action moments right off the bat. It still maintains it's serial movie feel and there are enough subtle (and not so subtle) nods to the previous three films throughout to make even a casual fan of the series smile. Harrison Ford felt like he was actually getting younger as the film progressed and Kate Blanchett was a really good foil for him to play opposite of. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Jason Mraz's new album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things dropped last week and it's a nice return to form for him after taking a year off to tour abroad. He also released three EP's in the weeks leading up to the album coming out which have acoustic versions of the songs on the album. I honestly can't say which versions I like better... (my buddy B-Lo is in the same boat as he picked up the same set I did)

I also have another article up over at SSNN.com.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a challenge date with Mario Kart Wii that I have to cowboy up for and then get to The Travolta's show. Take care & I hope you all have an awesome Memorial Day weekend!

Life's A Dream

2008-05-13T02:08:00.002-05:00

Come see it, if you're around. It's a good show.

Great article & the good shows have returned.

2008-05-01T20:18:00.014-05:00

Here is an awesome article on ComedySportz from the Quad-City Times. The interviewer attended last weekend's show completely unannounced (what better way to interview an improv troupe) and there's supposedly a couple video interviews online and some show footage as well. With this, the successful gig with Darrell Hammond, and the awesome All-Star Show a few weekends ago with Chicago and Kansas City, we're getting some great media coverage - and are very appreciative for that!

***
A final note to Anonymous: I know who you are now...and the tracking software a friend of mine installed on my computer a week ago has confirmed it. I never have claimed to be without flaws and have made many, many choices in my life - some good and some bad. But I've also atoned for my bad choices, apologized to those affected by them, was forgiven, and have moved on. This is the last time I'm acknowledging your comments - some of which may have had merit at one time, but when you decided to make an offensive comment regarding the passing of my grandmother, they kind of lost whatever impact that was desired.

At any rate, I sincerely hope you find whatever it is you're searching for out there.
***

As for the pace of these posts that Pete mentioned, I don't know if I can keep it up as we're entering hell week for Life's A Dream & we've also got a surprisingly busy May for CSz.

It snowed here on Tuesday. It was very brief, but it was still snow.

In April.

Yeah...that's not good. Now the Mississippi is flooding downtown Davenport and, while not quite to the extreme yet of the flood of '93, LeClaire Park is entirely underwater and the newly refurbished John O'Donn.....er.....Modern Woodman Park, home of The Swi.....er....The River Bandits, has waters rising on it's sides as well. (that's a local joke. just smile and nod) I may try to take some photos and post them on here, if I've got the time.

Like Star Wars? Then check this out (thanks to Shawn for the link).

Is anyone else enjoying season four of LOST so far? It's been really good and firing away at a blistering pace as well. It's nice seeing 30 Rock and The Office back to form as well. Personally, I'm glad to see Hell's Kitchen is back too. Not too many people enjoy Gordon Ramsey being so mean, but I think it's entertaining television & they keep renewing it so it must be doing something right.

Then again, they keep renewing The Hills too, so take that for what it's worth.

I hope you all are doing well!

Fun weekend

2008-04-21T22:07:00.005-05:00

Gilda's Weekend of Laughter has passed and it was quite successful as CSzQC raised approximately $4,000 - matching our previous years contributions as well. Look Who's Laughing with Darrell Hammond was a fun set despite some vocal audience members screwing up the set-ups for some of his jokes. He was very to us cordial backstage before our set, but obviously kept to himself prior to going on stage for his run.

The All-Star Show on Saturday night went really well too. Pete, Josh, and Nikki took the stage for Kansas City, Corey & Mo, and Sarah were in from Chicago, and Patrick & Big G represented the Q.C. It was so fun seeing all of those different playing styles and energies on stage and the audience went home very happy.

Following the regular show, Corey and Monique caught their breaths and then hit the stage for their two-person sketch show, The Union. They had some very funny pieces which often had the audience applauding as each sketch or call-back ended. There was a slight problem with the scene change light - which couldn't really be avoided as they'd never performed a skecth show on our stage before - but I hope once they lock down their set that they'll come back for a second run at the space as I think it suits them well. Kudos must also go to Sarah for doing an excellent job dealing with a light-board and sound system at a theatre she'd never even stepped foot in before.

All-in-all, it was a great weekend and I hope the visiting players had as much fun performing as we did hosting them.

Gilda's Weekend is here, Mraz gig, and a thank you

2008-04-18T09:32:00.043-05:00

This weekend is the big Gilda's Weekend of Laughter shows at ComedySportz Quad Cities, and we're excited to have teams joining us from both Kansas City and Chicago. It will be great to see players from other cities get up and do their thing on Saturday night, but personally, I'm excited to get to see Pete, Corey, & Mo getting to play on the same stage again. I also hope to see some familiar faces brought up from K.C. as well.

The festivities start tonight as Guys In Ties (formally Off The Cuff) are opening for Darrell Hammond from Saturday Night Live at the Adler Theatre in Davenport. So far, we've been fortunate enough to hang out with the previous years' comedians before the show, and we're hoping that this year will be the same. I've heard Hammond is a very down to earth guy and I'm excited to see his set. Tickets have been selling really well, from what I've heard, which is great news as the majority of the proceeds all go to Gilda's Club.

Saturday's shows start with the Pizza and Puns Show in the afternoon and the previously mentioned All-Star Show that night, the former I get to play in and the latter I get to ref. If history is any indicator, then the show should be a blast with a ton of new games and, hopefully, a sold out crowd. Following those is Corey & Monique's two-person show, The Union (formally known as At The End of the Day). They've been getting solid feedback from their workshopping and gigs in Chicago thus far and I'm excited to see the fruits of their labor. It should be a great and funny weekend!

By the way, if you don't have the guts to own the comment you post, then don't bother posting it.

Last week on Wednesday, Steph and I trekked to Chicago and got to see Jason Mraz in the Music, Magic and Make Peace Tour. A magician with the unfortunate stage name of Justin Kredible acted as host and opened the show as well as entertaining the crowd in between the music acts. While I was initially thinking this would be lame, it actually turned out to be a pretty fun act....the guy just needs a less cheesy handle. The other musical acts were the Makepeace Brothers and Bushwalla, both of whom are independent artists - which makes it extremely difficult for them to get on a tour with a signed artist, but Mraz had arranged it so that his friends could tour with him rather than his record label saddling him with some newly signed artist that needs the rub and may or may not gel well with Mraz's style in the first place. Every artist should be allowed to do this as the energy was infectious during the show and brought an entire new level to that artist-crowd relationship as it was clear that they were all having fun up there.

Having not been to the Metro in years, I had completely forgot that you're allowed to take photos inside and I had brought my camera for the weekend, but left it in the car. So my cell phone served as a forced substitute. We were in the center about 8 rows deep on the standing-room-only floor.

It was obvious from the beginning that these guys all know each other very well and they just looked like they were genuinely enjoying what they were doing as they would randomly join each other during sets. While it was easy to label Mraz the "star" of the tour, his humble and inclusive attitude really made his tour mates shine and it was cool to be a part of. The show started late as the buses were delayed in getting to the theatre and the bands actually ended up taking the stage with no sound check and not even all of their instruments on stage. You wouldn't have known that, however, as they all sounded great and I think that improvised, "O.k., that worked - now what are we going to do?," feeling really connected them to the audience. They even sent their entire horn section up to the balcony to play because there was no room on stage at the beginning. It was really organic and I'm not doing the experience justice on here. This tour was in promotion of Mraz's upcoming release, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, and his set was dominated by all new material. What's cool is that he's releasing three EP's prior to the album - aptly named We Sing EP, the second being We Dance EP, & the third being....wait for it....We Steal Things EP - and they are all acoustic versions of the songs that will be on the studio album, and are great.

The Prenzie Players final show of our Sixth Season, Life's A Dream, goes up in about 3 weeks and it's exciting because it's our first non-Shakespeare show. It definitely has a couple controversial moments and it will be interesting to see how the community reacts to aspects of theatre that aren't very common to this area. In other theatre news, I was cast in my first musical in over 11 years! The Green Room Theatre is presenting the Steven Sondheim musical Assassins in August and after being in the ensemble in a college production, I fell in love with the show and promised myself that I'd audition for it if it ever came back to the area. I was cast as Samuel Byck, who has two great monologues and doesn't have to sing very much - which will be a huge benefit to those in attendance while I'm on stage. While I was upset to find out a friend of mine was not cast, it still looks like a really solid group and I think it wil be a good show. Byck was the only role I auditioned for so it was kind of an all-or-nothing thing as I know my strengths don't lie in singing. Luckily, the director is giving me the opportunity so I hope not to let him down.

The Boston Red Sox certainly are off to a great start this season. Despite one bad loss to the Yankees, they looked really good in their two series with them - Manny Ramirez particularly. With David Ortiz in a slump, Manny has really stepped it up and will quickly reach 600 home runs...provided Kyle Farnsworth doesn't keep throwing behind Manny's head.

On a personal note, I just wanted to thank those that posted on here and also those that sent the multitude of supportive e-mails concerning the passing of my grandmother this past weekend. While it was an expected loss, it's still an extremely jarring event when it occurs and had a significantly higher emotional impact on our family than I thought it would. At any rate, I just wanted to say thank you for all your good thoughts during this time.

Lois N. De Leon, 1916 - 2008

2008-04-14T10:37:00.001-05:00

I will miss you grandma...

Rock Chalk Championship!

2008-04-07T22:51:00.014-05:00

Congratulations to Corey, Mo, Pete, Jason, Josh, Nikki, and all my other Kansas friends on the incredible Kansas Jayhawks winning the 2008 NCAA National Championship in an AMAZING basketball game. That 3 at the end of regulation was the definition of the word "clutch."

I wasn't paying that much attention to the tournament this year as none of my teams were in it, but one weekend at the Madrid/Rittmaster residence quickly got me re-invested and I'm so glad it did as Kansas played some amazing ball to get to the title - especially those last two games.

Congrats again to all you Kansas'ians!

Going for broke...literally.

2008-03-25T01:12:00.022-05:00

*This post is an add-on (or an expansion pack, if you will) to the post below, so please make sure you read that one as well.*

In the aftermath of the craziness that was this weekend, it was brought to my attention that many great events were happening in the next few months and tickets to those events were being snatched up at a rather rapid pace.

So always one to throw caution to the wind, I decided to pony up, max out my bank account, and secure tickets to these events and worry about how to pay for them later (man, I hope my parents don't read this post). That being said, if you are attending any of the events below, let me know so we can meet up before, during, or after.

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Jason Mraz @ The Metro - April 9

Finally returning from a year-long hiatus , Mr. A-Z is back touring to promote his upcoming album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. He's releasing three EP's in advance of the album, which I've yet to get my hands on, but I heard some of the demos on iTunes and it sounds awesome. It also includes Steph's and my song, "I'm Yours." I surprised her with tickets the last time he came to Chicago and almost surprised her again with tickets to this show, but she eventually got it out of me.

--------------------------------------------

Kids In The Hall: As Live As We'll Ever Be @ Chicago Theatre - May 19

It's truly rare anymore that these legendary comedians go out on tour together as they each have so many individual projects going on. I was lucky enough to get tickets to their last Chicago show, Tour of Duty (which also produced a DVD), back in 2002 and it was this great mix of comedy, nostalgia, and a surprising amount of new material. That gets me excited to see what they'll unleash after six years. There are always rumors about an as yet untitled movie project that they're working on (according to the documentary Kids In The Hall: Same Guys, Different Dresses, was going to be titled, Not Brain Candy - a self-depricating reference to their cult classic, Brain Candy, which did poor at the box office, but found new life on VHS/DVD), but that project has yet to surface after all these years. So right now, it looks like seeing them live is the only way to relive getting your head crushed, seeing Gavin paint, and being taken away in one of those....oh, what are they called? .....With the flashing lights and the sirens? ....No, not an ambulance....

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Dave Matthews Band @ Toyota Park - June 6

I was extremely excited to see that my favorite band was going to be in Chicago the day before my birthday this year and, ironically enough, it will be my 32nd DMB show the day before my 32nd birthday. I'm not even going to begin to explain the connection I have to this band and their music as I'm sure you all have bands that you connect with on different levels as well, and I'm not going to bore you with my story. Needless to say, every concert of theirs I've been to is a re-energizing experience and I've always taken - and continue to get - something different from every show I've been to. It's been the posh thing to bash this band over the past few years and just write them off as "college rock," but they put on one of the best concerts you'll ever see and I can think of no other group that personifies the term "band" more than them.

--------------------------------------------

Boston Red Sox VS. Chicago White Sox
@ U.S. Celluar Field - August 10

After 22 years, I'm finally going to get to see the Red Sox play live. I can't tell you how excited that makes me. Steph said recently that she's always wanted to go to a MLB game and I couldn't think of a better way than to see my favorite team (and the best team in baseball right now) only a few hours away at The Cell. Granted, I like the Cubs and have seen them play numerous times and could've taken her to see a game at Wrigley Field (which I guarantee you we will do some day), but the timing just worked out perfectly to finally get to a Red Sox game. There weren't that many seats left and the ones that were weren't anything stellar, but it was just a matter of committing to it and finally having the time to get up there and see them. I went on a pilgrimage of sorts this summer with a good friend of mine to Boston (see earlier post) as he had a job interview and didn't want to fly, and I had always wanted to visit the town. While there, I took a tour of Fenway Park that was just incredible and it lit a fire in me to really make an effort to see them play. It just timed out so well in August that I couldn't pass it up. Now watch it get rained out...

--------------------------------------------

So that's the update as to where and what I'll be doing this summer. As I mentioned, let me know if any of you are attending any of these so we can meet up. I'm just trying to find something to go to in July now so I can do something every month (if that happens, I'll update this post). :-)

Take care of yourselves and each other.

What a weekend...

2008-03-24T23:27:00.040-05:00

Just got back from what could easily be described as one of the best weekends I've had in Chicago in a very long time.

(*This is a rather long update - one that even Pete would be proud of - so run and get a blanky and some cocoa)

The weekend began with Steph accompanying me to Chicago where we crashed with our most gracious hosts, Corey & Mo (as enthusiastically seen above). The weekend began with game night at some friend's of Corey & Mo's, and many inside jokes were the result of a raucous game of Catch Phrase followed by the new game sweeping the nation, Corey Rittmaster's Celebrity! (name pending). Needless to say, the phrase, "I felt myself go poo," will be forever embedded in our minds. We wound the night down by relaxing at their condo watching all of the late scores from the NCAA tournament trickle in over SportsCenter.

Saturday began with the exciting news that Corey & Mo's show, entitled corey & mo: at the end of the day, was being considered for a big improv show coming up and they needed to throw a press kit together pronto. So we all fired up our respective laptops and got to work - they creating the bios sheet and myself whipping up a flier for their show, the results of which you can see to the right. Corey & Mo workshopped some of their material at The Playground Theater and are working the second half at the same venue very soon. They're also going to be performing their show as part of ComedySportz Quad Cities presents Gilda's Weekend of Laughter in a few weeks, so be sure to check it out if you're in the area. So after much proofing and re-editing, the press kit was finished and Steph and I wandered off to Skewers for lunch.

Next up was the reason we had made the journey in the first place and that was to take part in CSz Chicago's March Madness tournament as the representatives of CSzQC. Before the show, we headed to the Goose Island Pub, a place I used to frequent when I lived in Wrigleyville. We watched the Kansas Jayhawk game, as Corey & Mo are from Kansas City and rabid fans, and I enjoyed a long awaited Goose Island Root Beer (which is phenomenal if you have never had one before). We met up there with our manager, Jeff A., and his wife, April, had a quick dinner, and then headed to the brand new CSz Chicago theatre.

It was Corey, Mo, Jeff A., and myself against a Chicago team that had won the most matches during their tournament. Out of the four CSz shows I have done in Chicago in my 14 years of doing this stuff, this was easily the best experience of them all. Not just because we had a solid show, but also because this was the best reception I think we have ever had as a visiting team to this city that is known for being a bit stiff when it comes to improv because it's the town where it started so expectations are at a constant high. However, we just felt embraced from the moment we walked in the door until the moment we left. As for the show itself, we opened with a surprisingly brief round of What Are You Doing?, then followed up with a Director's Cut that was admittedly shaky as I don't think Corey & Mo had ever played it, and it had been quite awhile since I had done it was well. Our next round was Styles Replay and it was my favorite scene of the entire match. The styles we got to replay were fear, Charles Dickens, and film noir and...well...you just had to be there. The scene rocked and it was really fun to share the stage with my team. The Chicago team then rocked a great round of 5 Things - and even guessed the Baldwin Brothers correctly in the process (again, you had to be there). The second half was a fun round of Out of Gas and our final game was a clap-along ID Symphony that had the audience singing along by the end. We ended the night with Foot In Mouth/World's Worst and it was a nice finish to an outstanding show. Of course, we came in second as it wasn't our tournament to win, but winning isn't the point of a show anyway - it's giving the audience a show they'll talk about after they leave - and I think we gave them that and more. So the night is over, right? Not so fast...

Back when we hosted the CSz National Tournament in 2002, the Chicago team performed their infamously foul and amazingly funny no-holds barred show, The Hot Karl (Google it if you don't know what that means and you'll get the idea of what the show entails). They invited a few people to guest with them, including me, and it was the first time I had done long form in years. It's definitely not a show for the easily offended and also something I've never gotten to do before - just take the filter off and say or do whatever hits you in the moment - and I actually loved every vulgar minute of it. The host and co-founder of the show, Tim Chidester, told me after the show that I had an open invite if I was ever in Chicago to guest with them...and it just so happened that they were doing The Hot Karl right after our March Madness show. I caught up briefly with Tim and the cast backstage and they very graciously invited me to do the show with them despite my lack of giving them notice I would be in town. It was SO fun! It honestly was an experience I always wanted to have on a Chicago stage, but never had, so my thanks go out to them again for letting me sit in. And Tim reminded me that the door is always open to me whenever I'm back in town...

Following the show, we went across the street to Clarke's for a quick bite to eat and then, similar to the night before, chilled out at Corey & Mo's place and watched the rest of the NCAA scores get posted.

As Sunday was Easter...which was before Passover (now, I'm not really religious so someone please explain that one to me), our plan was to hit downtown, but also came to the realization that most every place would be closed due to the holiday. However, after a brief venture online, we found that there were still quite a few places that were still open and we could easily make a day out of it. So Steph and I packed up, thanked and said goodbye to Corey & Mo (thanks again, you two!) and headed to the Mag Mile. We popped into some stores that surprisingly had holiday hours (Banana Republic) and frustratingly passed by stores that were closed and that we don't have in the Q.C. (the Apple Store), but found some cool places that I had never been to. We perused the Art Institute, Millennium Park (took the trademark tourist photo in the silver, galactic jellybean thing), and the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum - where we left an abrupt yet funny message on the video board. We hopped back in the car and took our time coming home and luckily avoided the random snowstorm that decided to hit the Midwest in the process.

So it was a great weekend and is really inspiring me to want to move back up to the Windy City and give it a second chance. I've got a lot more friends up there now and I think it would be something that it wasn't the first time I was up there: fun.

One step closer...

2008-03-11T19:54:00.005-05:00

He got another two states after a rough week last week. Got some valuable momentum back...

And can anyone else believe what Geraldine Ferraro said?

Wow.

Somewhere that's green...

2008-03-02T14:44:00.016-06:00

Isn't it strange how seemingly random things can reconnect you to people or places that you've long forgotten?

I'm interning at The River Cities' Reader, and last week one of the reporters did a profile on a young woman who is living on a boat with her husband in Chicago, documenting the entire experience on her blog, and is eventually planning on turning it into a book. I saw her photo and thought she looked really familiar, but couldn't quite place where or how I knew this person.

After reading the article I realized that it was Felicia (Jones) Schneiderhan, who was Audrey to my Seymour in our high school production of Little Shop Of Horrors. She was also one of my main inspirations for pursuing theatre as she is an extremely talented actress. I was in a show with her back in junior high (what you youngin's call "middle school" nowadays) in which she was the lead and I was a lowly extra. However, I made a promise to myself that I would get a role opposite her when I got to high school, and Little Shop ended up being that amazing opportunity. We ended up being in at least 6 or 7 shows together overall and she was so incredibly fun to share the stage with.

The last time I saw her was in 1993 after her class graduated (she was a year ahead of me and heading to Northwestern), but I attempted to reconnect with her many years later after I had moved to Chicago, but to no avail. One of my friends at ComedySportz was in her class and I'd ask if he'd seen her or some other friends that I'd lost touch with at any of their reunions, but that also proved as another dead end. I just resolved to make peace with the fact that I would probably never get to meet up with her again, which made me sad as she was a part of the process that lead me to still doing theatre today, but how many friends from high school do any of us really keep in touch with anymore? Life continually evolves for each of us as people come into our lives, make an impact (whether for good or bad), and then move on with their lives. And that is what happened here...

...until I saw that article in the Reader and found out that she'd be in town the next two weekends to teach a writers workshop.

I went to the end of the workshop on Saturday night right before ComedySportz and, after only about 5 seconds, Felicia remembered me and we shared a hug and had a nice little reunion. It was amazing to hear where life had taken her following college and the unique journey that she's been on ever since. I also invited her and her family to check out a CSz show her last weekend in town and hope she takes me up on the offer. I still go to Chicago quite a bit and I'm excited to take some time when I'm up there to meet her husband, Mark, and see the infamous Mazurka that she now calls home.

I added a link to her blog, entitled Life Aboard Mazurka, and it really is a great read. Check it out if you get the chance!

HD DVD, April 18, 2006 - February 19, 2008

2008-02-19T19:58:00.019-06:00

(Story courtesy of WALL STREET JOURNAL)

Toshiba announced on Tuesday (Feb. 19) that it is halting production on its HD DVD players and recorders, ceding the market to Sony's Blu-Ray high definition format. Toshiba said there was no longer any chance of HD DVD winning out between the two formats, especially after Time Warner announced last month that it would side with Blu-ray and Best Buy and Wal-Mart's recent decisions to only sell Sony's format. Toshiba said it sold about one million HD DVD players, including players that can be attached to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, compared to Blu-ray's 6.3 million sold, including Sony's PlayStation 3 units, which can play the format. Sony's victory can help the company erase memories of its loss in the videocassette war of the 1980s, when its Betamax format lost out to VHS.

(Visit the Wall Street Journal here)

And it sure is nice getting to post these little updates as well:
He's won 10 states consecutively, but there's a big test coming with Ohio & Texas. If he wins just one, it's pretty much over, but he doesn't even have to win them if he can make it close and cut into Clinton's delegate take. Keep those fingers crossed!

Quick update

2008-02-19T01:06:00.007-06:00

Just a quick update - I've got two new articles up at Serious Sports News Network. There's one about Ryan Newman winning the Daytona 500 and another one about Superman being spotted at the NBA All-Star Weekend while world conflicts continue. Hope you enjoy them!

I've been crazy busy with ComedySportz remotes this past week and just found out that we're going on our first official "tour" next month as we'll be performing shows at approximately 15 or more high schools over a three day period in the mid-Illinois and Southern Illinois area. In addition to those shows, we're also doing a couple more full days of shows as well, so it will be a tiring week once all the semantics are ironed out. I'll definitely be posting updates from the road (provided we stay at hotels with Wi-Fi) as the tour progresses.

I also want to extend my sympathies out to the students and faculty at Northern Illinois University in the wake of the tragedy there. I have two friends currently enrolled there and they both are safe, but I know there a lot of people affected both on and off campus by what happened. It's disturbing to think that this is the second school shooting in a year, not to mention the Von Maur shooting among others this year. I certainly hope this disturbing trend has run its course.

Take care of yourselves.

Be Very Wary the 10th of February & somebody had a good weekend...

2008-02-10T10:35:00.003-06:00

Clean sweep for Obama - 8 for 8 this week!

And has anyone else heard of or been paying attention to the on-going war between Anonymous and Scientology? Apparently, there were a number of protests that happened today along with a continuing internet happening called the Chanology Project. Now I tend to shy away from all things religious - and will continue to do so - but the story behind this movement and its similarity to the film V For Vendetta is very intriguing to me. I loved that movie and seeing tons of people donning Guy Fawkes masks today across the world and taking to the streets was quite a sight to see...

A Bowl game for the ages...no Giants involved.

2008-02-03T22:49:00.000-06:00

Has anyone heard of this before?:

Because it was arguably more entertaining than the first three quarters of the Super Bowl on Sunday night.

If you're a dog lover, I'm guessing you already know about this, but I found out about it an hour or so before kick-off and totally TiVo'd it out of curiousity. It's on Animal Planet (in HD) and it's pretty much 3 hours of puppies playing around with chew toys (and each other) in a make shift football stadium. The commentator for the show is that guy who does all of those great voiceovers for NFL Films on ESPN and he, along with a cheesy referee, make horrible puns throughout.

And there's even a half-time show featuring kittens for all you weird cat people out there.

A wee bit re-"pet"-tative for 3 hours? Yes.
Freaking adorable? Yes.

The main purpose of the show is listed as an "alternative" to the Super Bowl, but it also brings much needed attention to pet adoption and taking care of your animals. For more information on Puppy Bowls past, present, and future, check out the Animal Planet website.

(Oh, and congrats to the New York Football Giants for an amazing fourth quarter ruining the New England Patriots perfect season, and making Plaxico Burress look like a damn psychic in the process.)

I think Steph and I must've had dogs on the brain this weekend or something because we also ended up TiVo'ing and enjoying the AKC/Eukanuba 2007 National Championship as well.

As thoughts of Christopher Guest's brilliant film Best in Show ricocheted throughout my brain, I found myself picking favorites and criticizing dogs and handlers alike as if I were auditioning for the lead role in Mean Girls. A Sealyham Terrier won Best in Show and as I'm not a rich elderly woman with poor fashion sense and therefore do not possess the capabilities to judge a dog show, we both thought this judge made a mistake as there were much better looking dogs in the competition. All in all, it was actually a pretty fun time, but we both agreed that it is much more enjoyable watching it on TV than it would be attending it live. I find myself actually looking forward to the next big show - The 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 11th & 12th, for those of you that are interested.

Then again, if you are interested in that stuff, then you probably already knew all that as I tend to arrive late to these little pop culture parties.

For anyone out there still clinging to the idea that HD-DVD is going to win the format war, I hate to tell you, but it's over. According to this article at Hi-Def Digest, the death knell has pretty much been sounded for the format as Warner Bros. will drop its HD-DVD support in May and produce only Blu-ray after that - making it 5-2 for Blu-ray in terms of major studio support (plus, the porn industry announced that they're going Blu-ray exclusive as well). So I'd give it until the end of 2008 and the prices of Blu-ray players will be cut dramatically as they become the industry standard and HD-DVD will officially go the way of Betamax. Plus, all of us PlayStation 3 owners can breathe a little easier as we've been enjoying the Blu-ray capabilities for about a year or so now and don't have to worry about ponying up for another hi-def machine.

I still say that the PS3 is a good buy for anyone out there that has even a passing interest in video games and also wants a hi-definition movie player. They're around $400, but you're getting essentially 3 game systems in one (it's backwards compatible with a majority of PSOne and PS2 games), a DVD player, an internet browser, access to on-line gaming, and a Blu-ray player all packaged into one system. Stand-alone Blu-ray players are $400 and up.

So yes, we all looked like idiots when we lined up and bought PS3's when they launched, but it was also the right decision in terms of landing the right choice for a hi-def machine. So all one of you out there that have that kind of money burning a hole in your pocket, get on out there and grab yourself one!

I caught the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards this year and was so pleased to see that the most under-rated show on television right now, that would be 30 Rock, netted both Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin Best Actress & Actor (respectively) in a Comedy Series. Also leaving with an award, and deservedly so, was the cast of The Office. Although Ricky Gervais went home empty handed for Extras this year, I was glad to see he took home a trophy as a repeat winner when the Golden Globes were announced a few weeks back (Tina Fey was a winner there as well).

As I mentioned above, I was also very late to the pop culture party for a great little show that has (unfortunately) been canceled for quite some time called Firefly and its follow-up film, Serenity. Accurately described as a "space western," this show is extremely well written, acted, and so much more than I was expecting from the creator of Buffy and Angel, Joss Whedon. While this scribes former outings were definitely geared towards a teenage/young adult crowd, his most recent offering is very much more adult oriented and character driven. After listening to the commentary tracks on just how badly the FOX network mishandled the airing of episodes and essentially gave up on the show just as it was finding its audience, it's easy to sympathize with the cast & crew.

I have yet to see Serenity, but it's on my short list. From what I've gathered, it's got some pretty big moments that shake up the mythology of the characters quite a bit and I can't wait to check it out.

I'd be re-missed not to mention that the season four premiere of LOST was excellent. This episode was the much-anticipated follow up to the amazing finale of season three, which was symbolic of the series finding its footing again following an admittedly scattered second season. In what looks to be a much more violent tilt than in seasons past, my little LOST viewing party group has theories abound right now as to what's going to happen. The difficult thing personally is that I've only ever watched this series on DVD, so I've always had the luxury of just popping in a DVD and watching as many episodes as I wanted to get my fix and find out whatever it is that I was curious about. But now, I've got to go week-to-week and wrestle with why Thursday doesn't ever seem to come around fast enough.

At the behest of Steph, we also added another show into our little rotation (yes, American Idol is one of them) called Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on The Travel Channel. At first, I wasn't sure that I would enjoy this show as I've seen Bourdain as a guest judge on Top Chef numerous times and always found him a bit pompous and not very engaging (then again, I somehow find Gordon Ramsey on Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen NIghtmares to be must-see television). The show is actually very well done as we follow Anthony to a random country and follow his exploits and sometimes harrowing experiences.

And yes, I did find him much more engaging in this show than in his brief appearances on Top Chef.

And finally, my friend Nathan has now got me hooked on yet another brilliant British series called Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It's on Cartoon Network at midnight (appropriately). This canceled series is best described as Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital if it was done as a comedy in the early 80's. Filled to the brim with British wit, this self-effacing, intentionally poorly produced and poorly acted series is absolutely hysterical and presented as a mockumentary look back on the "award winning" series. It's definitely worth a look - especially if you enjoy British humor.

Wow. That was a long-ass post. Hope you're still awake. Take care!

A big win that was really needed.

2008-01-26T21:14:00.002-06:00

More lists...

2008-01-08T03:08:00.001-06:00

Perhaps it's just the New Years hangover (or the fact that the BCS Championship was over after the 2nd quarter), but I've got a little time and, like my friend Mike, I enjoy making lists at the end/beginning of a new year.

So below, I'm offering up the 10 movies that I'm most excited to see in 2008 (that have been announced thus far).

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TOP 10 MOVIES TO SEE IN 2008:

10. Wall-E - The next Disney/Pixar film that I'm hoping will be stellar after the disappointment that was Cars. The allusion to 'Short Circuit' is undeniable and the trailers that have been released thus far look great. Plus it seems that the titular character doesn't even speak, so that would be quite a feat to pull off (the trailer says the name, "Wall-E," near the end, but it's unclear as to who or what utters it). Keep your fingers crossed...

9. 21 - After watching a special on the MIT Blackjack Team (of whom this film is based on) and also discovering the World Series of Poker and NBC's Poker After Dark, I'm all in for seeing this film as soon as it's out. I've never been to Vegas before, but am itching to go sometime, and am also sure this film will do it's fair share of encouraging (and discouraging) that.

8. Get Smart - Steve Carell is in dangerous territory of becoming the next Jim Carrey in that he made some successful comedies and then just kind of dropped off the radar (Eternal Sunshine and....uhm....what else has he done?.....besides Jenny McCarthy?), so I'm hoping that this franchise will keep him in popular public opinion. Following the poor showing Evan Almighty had and yet to hit something as solid as 40 Year Old Virgin, Carell is in desperate need of a hit here.

7. Untitled X-Files Sequel - It's been awhile since Mulder and Scully graced a screen of any kind, but this long-awaited sequel is trying to re-discover an audience that has been engrossed in LOST and similar fare for awhile now. Can tales of the black ooze and aliens recapture our imagination? We'll all find out in July.

6. Semi-Pro - Similar to the situation mentioned above with Steve Carell, Will Ferrell definitely has his built-in fraternity-minded audience that will make his films do respectively at the box office. But after trying films like Stranger Than Fiction, will he ever rediscover the cult status of an Anchorman? Another strong trailer makes this film look good, but trailers are built to make any Hollywood schlock look good (hello The Day After Tomorrow).

5. The Incredible Hulk - Following Ang Lee's way-too-cerebral and critically panned outing with the big green guy, an interesting casting choice was made that had many a jaw hit the floor. Edward Norton steps into the role of Dr. Bruce Banner and, rumor has it, that the storyline established in the previous Hulk film will be acknowledged. So, if that's true, it will be an interesting justification for the screenwriters to make. Sadly, Jennifer Connelly was also lost in casting this updated version.

4. Iron Man - Speaking of shocking casting moves, who ever saw Robert Downey, Jr., stepping into Tony Stark's shoes in the big screen adaptation of one of Marvel's most popular characters? There is an excellent animated Iron Man film out there that explains his origin story and this film looks to follow that template pretty closely. Meaning, we'll get to see many incarnations of the Iron Man suit and see it develop as Stark starts to figure out little nuances and tricks to make it more effective and streamlined. I'm hoping this one will be good...

3. Cloverfield - This one is on its way in just a few short weeks and, pretty much anything with the name, "J.J. Abrams," attached to it seems to be gold right now. Any fan of LOST will undoubtedly be there opening weekend for this film, whose production team spent no money on high-tech cameras or on actors (using all unknowns, thus amping its believability factor - anyone see The Blair Witch Project?) and blew the entire budget on amazing special effects and editing to make this film the most talked about film in a long time. It's also got the momentum to be labeled the 'blockbuster of the season,' unseating current favorite, I Am Legend, which was strong, but the lame final half-hour really hurt it.

2. The Dark Knight - With the long-awaited screen debut of the new more 'realistic' Joker, people have been salivating for a sequel to the very strong Batman Begins for some time now (whom some state was even a better Batman film than Tim Burton's). Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes, but no one seems to be up in arms about that at all. And has everyone out there seen the new trailer where we get to hear and finally see Heath Ledger's take on the sadistic Joker with that insane laugh? C R E E P Y....and I can't wait to see it.

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - The long, long, LONG awaited sequel that no one thought was going to come - especially when you're following a film titled, "The Last Crusade." But at long last and after rumors galore, the stars aligned, Harrison Ford approved, a script was finished, and filming finally began on what will be the final film in the Ford-era Jones movies. Rumors abound as to what role current Hollywood "it" actor Shia LeBouf will play in the film, and the great wonder is if there will be a passing of the fedora to a new generation or if this is the real feather in the cap on one of the strongest film series ever made. At any rate, while not having quite the mystique as the Star Wars releases, this franchise will hopefully fair better critically and in popular opinion than Lucas' last three outings.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Rambo - The ONLY reason this is on here is because I'm curious to see if Sylvester Stallone can do it again or if this is going to the well one too many times. I have this gut feeling that Sly was able to reconnect with his creative side as well as his audience with the great Rocky Balboa film from last year - and I think he should've made that his swan song and been done with it. It left a great impression with everyone and with its subtle weaving of the original Rocky story in there really made us respect the fact that Sly created this character that also earned him the Oscar for Best Film. Now.....we've got Rambo again. I'm just not sure that it's going to resonate as well as his other franchise did and I'm afraid instead of walking away from this film with a nostalgic smile, people will be rolling their eyes.

10,000 B.C. - From the crew that brought you the patriotic Independence Day and the debacle that was The Day After Tomorrow comes the story of how our great, great, great, great ancestors survived mammoths, large reptiles, and each other. Expect spectacular effects for the graphics-whore in all of us (me included), but also expect a weak story, an alphabetical checklist of emotions, a predictable ending, and so-so acting by talents trying to pull out decent performances from a scattered script.

Star Trek - This is in the honorable mentions because I've never really been a big fan of this franchise as, when I was little, there was a Star Wars camp and a Star Trek camp - and the two never mixed. I found myself in the former. But this update to the franchise is actually a prequel and with J.J. Abrams attached, it's already got a ton of positive buzz surrounding it and it's the only real holiday movie I've heard about that coming out near 2009.
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There are some other films out there that piqued my interest, but couldn't put on this list as I'm just not that sold on them. For example, Speed Racer. It's made by The Wachowski Brothers, of The Matrix Trilogy fame, but it's clearly geared towards children - as evidenced by its almost seizure inducing trailer (plus LOST's Matthew Fox is Racer X? What's up with that?). There's also the Will Smith film, Hancock, whose trailer makes it look like a cross between My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Men In Black 2 - and its just not clicking with me yet. It's got potential, however.

And finally, there's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I barely enjoyed the first movie and it's blatant Christian overtones, but couldn't stand any of the actors chosen as the four children. Not one. And I'm the type of person that tries to find something redeeming or enjoyable in every film that I see. The trailer for this next film is taking a nod from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by showing us nothing but big battles and action scenes, so I imagine I'll go see it......but only with a group.....and with an extremely critical eye. I have this itchy feeling that this franchise will go through a major overhaul - be it casting or something - before it makes it through all of its stories. Something the Harry Potter franchise has thankfully avoided so far (which, I believe, has Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince coming in 2008 - which would, subsequently, add it to my list - but there's been nothing to confirm that yet).

As I said earlier, these are all the movies that have been announced thus far and, looking at the calendar, there was nothing yet advertised for the 2008 X-mas season. However, I'm sure there will be many great films on the way by then and we'll readdress and alter this list at that time.

Hope you all are doing well!

Here we go a-caucusing...

2008-01-03T23:55:00.001-06:00

O.k., I've never been one to push politics onto someone nor voice my opinion on them as I've been blissfully politically ignorant for many, many years and wasn't even a registered voter until the last election. Also, I don't want others' views to be pushed on me as I don't push mine onto them and have always viewed the topic as one of the "big three" that you don't discuss with people. I'm going to briefly amend that rule now, however will not let this turn into a political debate on here and, should you choose to post your feelings and beliefs on the comments page, they will not be edited.

At the behest of some friends of mine and as a resident of Iowa, I went to the local caucus tonight to participate in something I've never done before. It was pretty exciting, even for the small farm town where I currently reside. Not knowing much about the democratic candidates, I perused their respective websites prior to attending the caucus to see their viewpoints and stances on various issues.

I got to the venue as an independent, but then made the choice to stand for Barack Obama.

It was an interesting experience as the initial votes came in and then the woo'ing began as the smaller parties had to choose which larger party to be absorbed into. It went from a simple discussion into an eventual argument between a Clinton rep and a young Edwards rep trying to each bad-mouth and put the other candidate down, while the Obama rep would calmly and quietly interject at varying points (this display is one of a multitude of reasons that I've avoided politics like the plague until now).

I also noticed that as the Obama side of the room continued to slowly grow, the Clinton side of the room looked almost shell-shocked and dumb-founded as to what to do. As each group gave their updated numbers, only the Obama side had changed as we gained two independents as well as absorbing the entire Richardson group and the Dodd group. When asked for the Clinton update, there was just silence for awhile before the representative finally repeated the same number she had given a half hour earlier. A cheer erupted from our side of the room as that result meant Obama would receive two of the delegate votes and the other candidates would each receive only one. There was even a reporter there from Washington D.C. who was doing a live blog (how she drew covering a small farm town, I'll never know) and there were quite a cast of characters there for her to go on about.

80% of the Clinton party were all at least 60 or over and it was revealed later that many of them had to be bussed in to participate or else they wouldn't even have been there. The Obama and Edwards groups were a mix with many of the youth on the Obama side.

Upon returning home, I quickly flipped on the various news stations and watched as Obama won the state in an upset and the favorite Clinton dropped to a shocking third place finish overall. When Obama gave his victory speech, I actually got goosebumps as I was very impressed, but at the same time am so personally soured on politics in general that there's also a genuine fear in me that he's simply saying what needs to be said so that he'll win.

Obviously, I hope that's not the case, but I am thinking it and it would be a lie not to acknowledge it. I'm doing something I haven't done in a very, very long time - putting my trust and faith behind a candidate that I want to believe in and feel can actually make a change if he were given the opportunity to do so. I hope he won't let me down.

Our state did its part for that to be a reality, so I can only hope New Hampshire will answer the call as well.

I also found it interesting that Obama was the only candidate to acknowledge and applaud his wife in his speech.

I'm also a bit relieved as I just realized that we'll be without political advertising airing every five minutes.....at least, for a little while. :-)

Moving forward, I will not be pushing my political views any further on here (with the possible exception of when the elections actually arrive should Obama hopefully be the Democratic nominee) because I don't want to be judged for what, I think, is a topic that is so vast and has so many different viewpoints that people can believe whatever they wish and should not be judged for it. If I see any of you in person, I will respect your privacy on this issue and not bring it up, but will also accept whatever your views are should the topic come up.

Vote for whomever you want to vote for, but just make sure that you get out there and vote.

Game Reviews for the Year

2007-12-24T02:01:00.000-06:00

At the behest of two different friends of mine that are also loyal blog readers, I was asked to rank my favorite video games from this past year.

Since it is the end of the year and lists seem like the thing to do, I thought I'd give it a shot and offer some brief thoughts on these rankings and why I placed them where I did. If you like video games or need to waste a few minutes, enjoy.

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TOP 10 GAMES OF THE YEAR

10. Wii Sports (Nintendo Wii) - The sole reason I purchased the Wii. I wouldn't say that I've been anti-Nintendo for the past few years, but by their own admission, their games are geared towards a much younger audience in general and I found myself pulled towards Sony's and Microsoft's systems. However, one hour with this addictive game was enough to make me go out and track down one of these hard-to-get systems that anybody can simply pick-up and play.

9. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - Microsoft's flagship game comes to its conclusion....for now. The tale of Master Chief has come to a close and anyone that watched a television, turned on a computer, or drank a Mountain Dew in the past few months was made aware of that fact. While things were made more clear between the Arbiter, Cortana, Keyes, and others, the gameplay seemed identical to previous titles and, while being a solid title, it did have a sense of been there - done that about it. Despite the recent move from Bungie Studios to leave parent company Microsoft, I doubt this is the last we see of Master Chief.

8. Bioshock (Xbox 360) - Did for "Under The Sea" what "Stuck in the Middle With You" did for Reservoir Dogs. A game I defy you to play with the lights off and not get scared or creeped out a little bit. Andrew Ryan's underwater utopia leaves a lasting impression and it's still amazing how the images of Big Daddy's and Little Sister's inspire fear and awe at the same time.

7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Multi) - Leaving WWII behind and immersing players in an all too photo-realistic view of today. Graphically redefining the first-person shooter (that's why it's ranked ahead of Halo 3), Infinity Ward has raised the bar very high in their follow up to Call of Duty 2. Even the opening training mission had me emotionally involved and gripping my controller for a white knuckle ride.

6. Rock Band (Multi) - Letting players live the rock n' roll dream, with or without compatible guitars. After creating the Guitar Hero franchise, Harmonix split from Red Octane and joined with MTV Games and Activision with the idea that players would adapt to more than just being a guitar controller god - they also wanted to rock out on the drums and sing too. That innovation proved to be very true and that places it above its counterpart. However, faulty guitar controllers at launch and no new controllers coming until February 2008 prevent this from being ranked higher (what good is new downloadable content each week if you have no instrument to play it with?)

5. God of War II (PS2) - The last great game on the PS2 is a rare sequel that surpasses the original. The compelling story of Kratos continues and manages to improve on its predecessor by not changing much control-wise, but fleshing out characters with great storytelling and adding innovations to the gameplay. With the franchise facing the reality of having its third game director with the release of the third game in the trilogy when it hits the PS3 (if series creator David Jaffe does not reclaim the story), then time will tell if the jump to next-gen will hurt or harm the series.

4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (Xbox 360) - The amazing follow-up to Morrowind offered endless hours of immersion and was imitated, but hardly duplicated. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than Bethesda should feel like the prettiest girl in the room and the makers of Two Worlds need to go back home and find a new outfit. Oblivion allowed players to experience their entire world in first or third person, offered more engaging quests than any game before it, and had Patrick Stewart voicing a king - it doesn't get much better than that for an RPG. Plus, the GOTY Edition included much of the downloadable content only available from Xbox Live and the entire Shimmering Isles expansion pack.

3. Assassins Creed (PS3) - Living up to the hype with one of the most beautiful and scenic games to date. Jade Raymond and the folks at Ubisoft created high expectations with their game footage from Creed and, despite some repetitive gameplay, delivered a compelling game and has fans salivating at the knowledge of two more game in the series to come. The innovative control scheme works perfectly and the stalking and eliminating of prey simply never gets old. Some more mission variety would've ranked this higher, but it's great conspiracy-laden story makes it an easy choice for one of the best games of the year.

2. Mass Effect (Xbox 360) - BioWare's long awaited follow-up to the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series redefines RPG's. Commander Sheppard is literally what you make of him...or her. You define the main character - including gender, their past, and even their morals - and traverse the universe chasing an intimidating figure that you're unsure whether you should apprehend or align with. The dialogue tree offers expressions instead of words and has to be experienced to truly be appreciated. Solid voice acting, an epic story, and an easy to grasp combat system make this a must-play for anyone looking for the future of the RPG genre.

1. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3) - Take equal parts Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, memorable characters, and throw in a good conspiracy theory and you've got my favorite game of the year. This was just a fun game to play. Plain and simple. Some of the best voiceover work I've ever heard, truly cinematic cutscenes and gameplay (which is further explained in many of the bonuses and behind the scenes gems unlocked as you progress), very responsive controls, and lifelike animations create an immersive atmosphere that had me staying up later and later so I could complete "just one more level" before heading to bed. I can't wait for a follow-up adventure for Nathan Drake and his crew and hope that Naughty Dog will take the time, effort, care, and love they put into this title (and it really shows) to make this a lasting franchise. (I was not surprised to learn that Amy Henning was the game director, as she also helmed the Legacy of Kain mythos for a time - creating one of my all-time favorite series in the process.)
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Biggest Disappointment of the Year (tie)

Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (Multi) - An outdated roster, awkward controls, and a promise unfulfilled topple this once dominant franchise. Following up a cancellation on the PS3, the effort that THQ and the WWE put forth this year claims, as you can see, "Featuring ECW!" But that needed a disclaimer on it as well that would read something to the effect, "Oh, but we're not going to let you play as any of them in the storyline of the game....and there's only one match that's considered an 'ECW style match' that the company pretty much doesn't even use anymore.....and we're just going to stick them in there more as an after-thought because we let go or fired three of the four ECW mainstays that made ECW the hottest commodity out there - enough of a property for us to dedicate two of our highest selling pay-per-views to it, three DVD releases, and re-launch the brand.....but we're going to purge it of its originality and dilute it down to being another carbon copy of all our other programming. ENJOY!" WWE botched this game just as badly as they've botched the ECW brand, and it's not surprising that gamers are now flocking to the new 2D PS2 release Fire Pro Wrestling Returns in droves. On top of that, an awkward new grappling system fails to improve this game that's turned into nothing more than people playing solely to watch the entrances of their favorite wrestlers and then use the create-a-player feature to create their favorite TNA stars.

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Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Multi) - If you put, "From the creators of 'Hitman'," on the front of your box, you're either setting yourself up to fail or you better deliver - big time. It's odd that this title is here because there are many things that work in this game, but there are SO many other things that COULD have worked so much better - and that's what makes this so disappointing. The two main characters are awesome, from their interactions to their quirks, a lot of texture was given to them and it shows. However, the lack of cutscenes to flesh out the stories of these two as well as the PS2 looking graphics really dampen the experience. The squad command controls are poor recollections of IO Interactive's first squad-based title, Freedom Fighters. In an age where the Tom Clancy franchise dictates how squad games are run, this looks and acts like an ugly step-child. There is so much that can be great about this title and it ends (as most games do) with a cliffhanger ending, so a sequel should be inevitable. I just hope that IO goes back to the drawing board and finds where this franchise got off track and can right the ship because they've got a potential blockbuster on their hands here.

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Most anticipated game for 2008...

Grand Theft Auto 4 (Multi) - After missing its scheduled October launch, Rockstar Games pushes its flagship title to 2008. Many people were already labeling this title a game of the year candidate as October drew closer, Rockstar decided it needed some more polish and bumped it into early next year. Giving the quality and high-production levels for GTA titles in the past, that can only mean a good thing for fans of the franchise. Following the under-achieving Manhunt 2, look for Rockstar to return to form when this series returns to store shelves in early 2008.

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Now everyone has opinions and yours are more than welcome here, but please keep in mind that although I try to play a lot of games, there are many that I don't get the opportunity to experience. (read: not enough cash to play them all) One of those games is the highly touted (and highly rated) Orange Box, so if any of you have played it, please include your thoughts on it. Or if you have other games that feel need mentioning, feel free to do so as well.

So there you go. That was either a waste of 6 minutes or you got something out of it. Either way, Happy Hollandaise!

A contributing member of society...or SSNN, at least.

2007-12-14T22:07:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Corey & Mo, I discovered this great comedy site called Serious Sports News Network. It's like The Onion, but dedicated solely to sports. And unlike The Onion, they take submissions and, as any loyal reader of Blog Schmog knows (which you all very well should be by now), Corey is a regular contributor to their site.

After some discussions with them this past week, I submitted a few articles and ended up getting this one pictured below as a featured article and was asked to be a regular contributor for them like Corey is.

So I wanted to thank Corey & Mo for introducing me to the site and hope that everyone gets a chance to head over there and read some pretty funny stuff.

Livin' the dream....kind of.

2007-11-28T18:32:00.001-06:00

Damn shame there's only so many hours in a day...

Conchords, Big Scores, & Mac Pros

2007-11-08T13:52:00.000-06:00

My new Macbook Pro arrived yesterday and I've spent pretty much all my free-time familiarizing myself with it and finding all sorts of free software I can use. A buddy of mine said that after using the Mac for a month I'll wonder why I ever had a PC in the first place, so I'm interested to see if it will really be THAT easy to use. Although, so far, it's a pretty nice beast of a machine. I bottomed out my savings to pick it up and have already started doing some freelance graphic design stuff on it and it really motors. So far, I'm happy with it....granted it's been all of a day.

I was SO excited to see that the new (& much anticipated) Futurama DVD movie is on it's way in just a few weeks. Entitled, Bender's BIg Score, the entire original voice cast is back - which is a feat in itself - and the storyline is definitely a sci-fi set-up to appease the masses (I won't spoil it here). It should be fun seeing how the talented writers justify the fact that they've been gone for so long (like Family Guy did on their return), and I'm sure the commentary track will offer insights into that as well. Needless to say, I can't wait to check it out once it streets on November 27th.

Plus, the first season of the smash HBO series Flight of the Conchords was released on DVD this week as well. I have been praising this comedy duo for quite awhile now as a folk answer to Tenacious D and am glad to see that they've found so much success over here (and making the term, "Ginger Balls," a household phrase). If you've not seen this yet on YouTube or wherever, this is definitely a solid holiday purchase for yourself or someone you knew that has a quirky sense of humor.

We're getting into CSz remote-time so I'll be doing a ton of shows, I'm sure, but I'm hoping that I can do blog updates while on those trips with the new laptop and that may make posting on here easier and, subsequently, more frequent. I wish all of you well and hope you have wonderful Thanksgiving's if I don't post again before then.

2007 Boston Red Sox - How Sweep It Is!

2007-10-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

In similar fashion, the Boston Red Sox repeated the feat they accomplished in 2004 and swept their World Series opponent in 4 games claiming the title of world champions for the 2nd time in 4 years. A group of us have been following the Sox all season (going so far as to start an Official Red Sox Nation of the Quad Cities page on Facebook) and are so happy to see them win it all (again) in such convincing fashion.

It was a drama-filled season going all the way back to when the Red Sox had a 16 game lead in their division culminating in a mid-season moment versus the rival New York Yankees that saw back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. However, the early success made them relax and, in their complacency, saw their lead dwindle and eventually ended up winning the pennant by a mere two games. Then the Sox found themselves down 1-3 in the American League Championship Series against a hot Cleveland Indians team.

They never lost another game.

8 wins later and they are the world champions.

It was eerily similar to what they did back in 2004, finding themselves down 0-3 in the ALCS to the New York Yankees, and then winning 8 games in a row and knocking off the St. Louis Cardinals in route to their first world championship since 1918. The Colorado Rockies, winners of 21 of their last 22 games heading into the fall classic, had the unfortunate task of sharing the Cardinals fate.

On a personal note, here's also a bit of interesting karma for you: last year I took a tour of the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis and the Cardinals subsequently won the 2006 World Series. As mentioned in an earlier post of mine, I drove a friend out to Boston for a job interview a few months back and ended up taking a tour of Fenway Park while there.......and now Boston has won the World Series.

Coincidence?

Yes. Very much so.

But if you are superstitious, (for the right price) I will happily make arrangements to come to your town and tour a professional stadium in hopes that the good karma will follow your team there as well (I'm looking at you, various Seattle pro sports franchises).

In the meantime, let's go Red Sox!

By the way, I've totally been listening to "Tessie" on repeat as I've been entering this post (if you're a Sox fan, you'll get that reference).

(all photos appear courtesy of MLB.com)

Othello wraps & a Red Sox'tober

2007-10-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

Othello is officially in the rearview mirror and was quite a success as we sold out every show our final weekend. It was a fun experience, but taught us that matinee's aren't always a good idea. Plus our venue was double-booked with a Scott County Wrestling event on Friday and a potentially disasterous situation was, due do some last minute conversations with the venue, avoided as the wrestlers were moved to a later date. We received really strong reviews (again) and are looking forward to bringing The Taming Of The Shrew to the stage in March of 2008.

Another positive is that the marketing pieces I did for the show were really well received and I may end up with a few freelance gigs out of it, so keep those fingers crossed.

I did see a few more movies...

The Brad Pitt/Casey Affleck western, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, was a pleasant surprise as I haven't seen a solid western film since Tombstone. While it was a bit drawn out at times as we are firmly following Robert Ford's side of things, the suspense and great acting tends to even out the slow pacing. Knowing little about James' story (or Ford's, for that matter), I was captivated to find out what really happened as well as the fallout for Ford's actions on that fateful afternoon. Was James really the folk hero history has made him out to be? The film does take a look at that and does show that Ford was, technically, the 'good' guy in this scenario as he was taking out a wanted criminal, but the way in which he did it is what makes this story legend. I would definitely say rent this one as it needs to be viewed while you can take a break, but is definitely worth a viewing nonetheless.

The other film I caught was Shoot Em Up, starring Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti returning to the bad guy role he does so well (see Howard Stern's Private Parts). You pretty much have to check your reality at the door the minute the opening credits begin as this film gives Speed a run for its money in terms of action per minute. It's an action film that's self-aware that it's an action film and proudly takes liberties and makes fun of that fact. Clive Owen's delivery is spot-on...and, dare I say, has a twinge of, "I could've been James Bond, y'know..." feel to it (taking nothing away from Daniel Craig's amazing take on that franchise despite Owen being the fan favorite for the coveted role). I can honestly say, I had a lot of fun watching the insanity that is this film as did the group I saw it with. As I said, you need to be in a loose, care-free mood before viewing it - or in that angry, "I want to hurt something," mode. Plus, you'll never look at carrots the same again.

Let's see......what else?

Oh yeah....

THE RED SOX ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES! What an amazing ALCS for them to come back against the Cleveland Indians in similar fashion to the way the did against the rival New York Yankees in 2004. While admittedly not following the Sox as well as I could've been during the 2005 & 06 seasons, this year I was able to visit Boston and tour the legendary Fenway Park and have been following them like a hawk ever since. I remember being in a friend's dorm room watching back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in a game against the Yanks and knew that this season would be special. Granted, we need four more wins for another title and that the Colorado Rockies are a formidable opponent (winning 21 of 22 games), but I feel we've got the momentum and hope for another well-earned championship will make it's way to Beantown that doesn't have the words "Patriots" attached to it.

My best bud Casey (Jeff Award nominee from a previous post) is now an engaged man now as he proposed to his girlfriend at Disney in Orlando, FL, this past week. I've been informed that I'll be splitting best man duties with another friend of mine and we couldn't be happier for them.

And finally, since it is Halloween, I thought I'd close out by mentioning a fun thing that our local theater is doing. They're showing old horror movies as double features for only $5 - and some of the ones they've got slated are classics....in that Boris Karloff kind of way. Many of them have been spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3000, but it was just as fun to see them in their original formats and the joking and laughter was made by pretty much everyone in attendance. It's a great idea and I can't believe that more theaters in the area aren't doing this as well.

Last week, a group of us got to see The Terror, starring Karloff and a very young Jack Nicholson, and the second feature was the original House On Haunted Hill (not the crappy Taye Diggs remake). They were both very campy, but great reminders as to why I enjoy this time of year so much. Halloween is that one time of year where it's acceptable to dress up as something you are not or something that you've always wanted to be, but obviously can't - and yet our imaginations all let go for one night and allow us to just be whatever we want, and I think that's really cool (and maybe why I enjoy theatre as well...?).

Plus, women just look all hot and stuff dressed up in costumes.

That's about all that's exciting from this neck of the woods. What's up with you?

Othello & a Tuxedo

2007-10-02T16:11:00.001-05:00

So in the completely random department, I bumped into some pledge/fraternity brothers on my way to a ComedySportz show Saturday and it turns out the one of my pledge brothers was getting married and a bachelor party was underway. Having not seen said fraternity brothers in nigh on 6 or so years, I decided to meet up with them afterwards, but it timed out that the only place I could find them was at a strip club....a place I had never been before in 31 years. So I cave & I went and, much like your first time at a Hooters, it's very surprising for about the first 3 minutes and then it's just kind of....eh. I guess I made a bigger deal out of not going to these places in the past, but having finally cracked the preverbial cherry and finally going into one, I didn't really feel like I was missing out on much.

It was great catching up with those guys and I was also able to reconnect with my closest friend in that group, Troy, who's blog has moved to a new address (see link to the right - I've had a bad link for the past 6 months). He's doing well, is now a father, and I genuinely hope to stay in touch with him more in the coming months.

Besides that, Othello is right around the corner and I will leave you with a couple of marketing images from the show (done by yours truly) as I need to get to practice.

So excited for this...

2007-09-07T15:59:00.001-05:00

That should be hilarious.

I went to my 32nd Dave Matthews Band concert in Alpine Valley, WI, and it was the best seats I've ever had - 8th row (even better than on my birthday in Chicago when I had 10th row)! He played a great set and debuted a lot of new stuff, including my new addiction, "Cornbread." That song is GREAT & is also on the new "Live at Radio City" Dave & Tim CD that just came out. Plus, there's a very bizarre DMB video for "Eh Hee" available on iTunes right now that's just.....out there. If you watch the DVD of the concert, you'll get it though.

I was cast as Cassio in the Prenzie's upcoming "Othello" this October, which should be fun. I'm debating doing the second show of the season ("Taming of the Shrew") b/c I've already been in it before at Genesius Guild and think maybe I'll try out for a New Ground show or something instead.

What else? Let's see...

My buddy Hannon & I went to Chicago for a CSz tournament and got to play with and stay with Corey & Mo, which was a blast. And now, thanks to Cory, I own Tiger Woods 08 for the Wii. The show was fun, but their temporary stage is VERY tiny & it was crowded with 8 players and a ref up there. Plus, the show felt very theatrical and not so much as a 'sports' show, which is the facade I thought we were trying to present. Maybe that's a Chicago thing, I guess...

AND my friend Casey was nominated for a Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor in Chicago for his performance in "Oklahoma"! So send good thoughts his way next month when the awards are handed out.

courtesy JeffAwards.org

Plus how cool is the recently announced iPod Touch? I've been itching to upgrade mine for some time (I've got a 2nd generation) & it seems like a good time to do so - especially with the low price for the holidays.

That's about it from here. Hope you're well!

The Tounament Ultimatum

2007-08-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

So the 2007 CSz World Championship has come and gone and CSz-QC is standing tall as we captured our 4th title overall, but 1st world championship. I got to Mr. Voice the championship match (as well as the one preceeding it) and it was a blast. It's so much fun seeing what the other cities bring to the table, whether it be new games or variations of games we already play or simply just their passion for improv - tournament is a very unique experience. Plus fellow blogger Corey ran a great workshop at the tournament as well, so it was nice to catch up with him. Plus I'm headed to Chicago this weekend to team up with Corey and Mo representin' the Q.C. (we officially adopted them some time ago) for a CSz midwest tournament. So that should be fun.

I bore witness to two of the finest movies of the summer as well. We'll begin with the completion of one of my all-time favorite trilogies as The Bourne Ultimatum made it's way to the cineplexes. While the second film had an admittedly convoluted plot, this film was very to the point - we're going to find out where he came from and David Webb came to be Jason Bourne.....and the trip is SO much fun. Like the previous film, Paul Greengrass choose to film this like a documentary where you just happen to be running alongside everyone as everything goes down. The action is incredible and the story never slows for a second, yet you're able to easily follow it as well. Granted, I'm a touch biased as I've seen all of these films multiple times (yes, I've seen Ultimatum more than once already), I think anyone can follow what's happening even if they have no familiarity with the series. Dare I say, I believe this is my favorite film of the summer, just ahead of the new Die Hard.

The other film I just saw was the long-awaited The Simpsons Movie. Now the major complaint I've heard so far is that, "oh, it just feels like another episode of The Simpsons."

Right. And the problem is...?

It's a freakin' one and half hour episode of THE SIMPSONS! Come on! I thought it was hysterical and the creators said they put every character in the film in some way, and if you've seen the mob scene yet, you know that to be true. The story is a great jab at the whole issue of Global Warming and the environment, but also has some really strong messages about that subject, marital problems, father/son relationships, and self discovery. All of that with the wit of the talented writers and voice actors of the most successful animated series of all time. How can you go wrong? If you're even remotely a fan of The Simpsons and you haven't seen this yet, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Besides that, I'm working on a side project with a buddy of mine for a company out of Chicago that I don't want to talk about or potentially jinx, but it is eating up a lot of my time right now. I'm still job hunting as well. Good times.

This weekend is the CSz Chicago tournament and the week following we're going to Wichita and Topeka, Kansas for a couple of shows. The weekend following, I'm of to Alpine Valley for my 32nd Dave Matthews Band concert.

Speaking of my favorite band, they announced the release of an upcoming Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds acoustic album which I am SO jazzed about. The first one was recorded the night before I saw them on tour and was entitled Live At Luther College. This one is at a little bit bigger venue called Madison Square Garden. They're also releasing a DVD/Blu Ray of it as well so you can have the visual experience as well as the audio one.

That's it from here. Hope you all had a great July and will have a rainy August. (we need rain)

Watch this show.

2007-07-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

This is a band I was made privy to almost a year ago and they've been on my iPod ever since. They currently have a show on HBO that's hysterical and a 2-part audiobook called 'Folk the World' on iTunes which the show is loosely based around. I added links to the right so click away and enjoy.

Boston and back & movies galore

2007-07-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

My buddy Matt and I have returned from our jaunt out East and it was a blast, albeit a long drive. We went through the U.S. on the way there and came back through Canada. We had a brief stop in Chicago on the way out to see my friend Casey in a show at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater as well as seeing Stephen Ouimette in the show too (he's from the hilarious Shakespeare show on the Sundance Channel called 'Sling & Arrows'). Luckily, we did not have to provide passports yet at the border to Canada, but everyone will in 2008 - you have been warned.

(**I'm putting just a few photos on here, but I've also set up a Kodak Gallery so send me your e-mail if you're interested in seeing the rest.**)

In our two days in Boston, we did the Freedom Trail tour and I also took a tour of Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. I was shocked at how easily it was to navigate and how walkable the city really is. I went from Brookline to downtown Boston in 45 minutes. I really liked it out there, but it was really chilly, which was an apparent anomaly as the summers there are supposed to be REALLY hot. We stayed with a friend of Matt's from the Peace Corps and their hospitality was very appreciated.

As I mentioned, we wrapped our trip up by coming back through Canada and made another stop at Niagra Falls to enjoy nature in all it's majesty. They hadn't changed since the last time I saw them, but we saw them from the Canadian side last time so we saw them from the U.S. this time. All in all, it was a nice week traveling and we had no real weather problems at all. Boston was fantastic and I could totally see myself living out there some day.

Upon returning, a couple of friends of mine decided to give the middle finger to 'the man' and do something I've always wanted to do - sneak into movies for free. But not just "a" movie, mind you, but make a day out of it and sneak into a couple of movies. We used free passes to the first film so technically the only money we spent was on overpriced pop & candy (hence, sticking it to the aforementioned 'man').

First on the agenda was Live Free or Die Hard. I am so pleased to tell you that this was a nice return to form for a franchise that I think was starting to get away from itself with it's last outing - which was not lost on the producers as well since it had been 11 years since hearing a peep from anything having to with another Die Hard movie. Bruce Willis is "on" again as an older, wiser John McClane and just seems to glide right back into where we left off with him. The backstory was a touch confusing at the beginning, but it soon gave way to the amazing action and crazy scenarios that he undoubtedly finds himself stuck in. Len Wiseman helmed this outing and following the gunplay and obvious grasp of the action genre he displayed in the equally praised & panned Underworld movies, I thought they nailed the nostalgic feel yet were able to bring the franchise up to date at the same time.

Next we found ourselves sitting in the Judd Apatow comedy Knocked Up. Seth Rogan stars opposite Kathryn Heigl as a stoner nobody that beds an amazing hottie after a drunken night at a club and, as the movie hints at, gets her pregnant. It's very much a story that's been told before about one person being out of the other person's class, but they fall for each other and find a way to make it work, but Apatow is able to put in language (albeit highly vulgar) that seems to relate to people today. Dare I say, these Apatow & Adam McKay films - Old School, Anchorman, Talledgea Nights are perhaps the younger generations Stripes, Meatballs, Ghostbusters, etc.? I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did Apatow's previous offerings.

After a jaunt to el restroom (and killing a half an hour in Oceans Thirteen...which I REALLY want to see the rest of now), we found ourselves giving comedy a second try and ending our escapade with Dreamworks Shrek 3. Unfortunately, we should've just stayed in Oceans Thirteen. I would actually say that this is my least favorite of the trilogy. Something just seemed off, whether it be the story or maybe a sense of "we've been through this before." Plus, without giving much away, the ad campaign and storyline of Shrek being a father throughout the film is very misleading. The regular cast is all still back and do well, but I found myself really only laughing out loud at the Gingerbread Man parts. The addition of new characters failed to create a sense of excitement as I just felt very disengaged. I think it's safely time for this troupe to step aside for awhile to either generate more interest for a later film or just let Dreamworks create a new franchise.

So that was it for Sunday's movie excursion, but were we finished? Oh no. They were doing a preview special the following night for easily the most anticipated film of the summer and we bought our tickets as soon as we saw the ad for it.

With the Great Escape Cinema's quickly becoming our second home, we joined a sold out crowd to see a preview of Transformers. I will admit, hearing Optimus Prime speak on the big screen (for technically, the second time) and having it be not only live action, but the same actor that did the cartoon AND hearing that trademark 'transformers' noise as the robots change into their respective vehicles (and a sound that everyone has their own interpretation of) created a smile on my face the had vaulted itself forward from my inner-child stuck somewhere in the 80's. Just hearing that voice saying things as simple as "eBay" was just awesome. This was very much a Michael Bay movie with tons of action and things blowing up, but the fact that Spielberg was the producer actually set my heart at ease that this franchise was in good hands. I read on Best Week Ever that the fight scenes were akin to, "putting two Transformers in a blender and turning it on," and that is fairly accurate to a point. It was a bit confusing at times watching the Autobots and Decepticons spar and trying to figure out who just clocked who as they tumble down the side of a building, but it wasn't enough to take me out of the moment. The understated star in this blockbuster was the performance of Shia LeBouf, as he did fantastic and has great comic timing (if you haven't seen his SNL appearance yet, YouTube it - it's worth it). The rumor mill is that he'll play Indiana Jones' son in the forthcoming Indy movie and after seeing this performance, he's easily gets my approval.

So there you have it. That's all I've been up to besides prepping for the CSz World Championships and (still) trying to find a job. I hope all is well with you and drop me a line if you want to see more Bostonian pics.

Oh, and if you haven't checked out Will Ferrell & Adam McKay's new website, Funny or Die, do yourself a favor and click on the link to the right. It's awesome - especially the Landlord sketch.

Eldridge to Moline via Boston - The Long Way Round

2007-06-19T10:32:00.001-05:00

Any of you that know anything about me (which is pretty little given recent events) know that I love road trips and just love getting away to places I haven't been before. Well, as fate would have it, a buddy of mine needs to go to Boston for a completion of grad school and a job interview and yours truly is now officially tagging along for the drive.

What's really cool is that this is the buddy that road tripped to Toronto with me back when I graduated college, so this is something like a long-awaited part two trip we never got to take. The really cool thing is, like before, this was just kind of thrown together at the last minute (as was the Toronto excursion), but I think we've got housing arrangements and everything set up. The plan is to stop over in Chicago to see a friend of mine's show at Chicago Shakes, and then back on the road to the East Coast. I'm planning on blowing what's left of my meager savings on the trip to cover gas, food, etc., but it will be so worth it to really get to explore Boston and the New England area. I've been to New York before, but my friends all rave about Boston so I'm excited to see what's there.

I NetFlixed both Casino Royale and Children of Men this past week and loved them both. Interesting enough, the latter starred Clive Owen, who was a front runner to be the new Bond before Daniel Craig popped up.

Children of Men is set in the not-too distant future (2027) where women have become sterile and unable to bear children and the human race faces its existence. Without giving anything away, the story is very compelling and the majority of the movie is shot in these long takes with minimal editing. This gives the story a very documentary feel and must've been taxing on the cast to have to film it that way, but it pays off in an amazing film. Julianne Moore and Michael Caine also play roles and are just as compelling as the Owen. This is definitely not a feel-good film nor is it as action-oriented as I was anticipating, but it's a great film.

Granted, I know I'm VERY late to the party on this one, but Casino Royale was awesome. Any question anyone had about Daniel Craig being the new Bond are all answered in the first 10 minutes. This more realistic, harder-edged Bond is awesome to see as I grew up on watching Bond films with my father (as blasphemous as it is to say, my first Bond was Roger Moore, so I am still trying to work-out the whole Sean Connery thing) and noticed even then how gadget-heavy everything was. This story seems to focus more on Bond's cleverness to get him out of situations rather than so doo-dad Q whips up that just happens to fit Bond's situation perfectly. Judi Dench reprises her role as M and I was sad to see no John Cleese as Q b/c I thought that was a great bit of casting in the past films. At any rate, I am jazzed to see whether they'll do an all-new Bond story or remake another as this version of the franchise should be around for awhile.

The other little thing I've started to get into is the series LOST. It was something I always wanted to check out as I love character-driven stories, but with doing shows and rehearsing, I just never had the time to invest in it. So this past weekend, I got the first two seasons, sat my ass down and watched as much as I could. I'm through season one and halfway through season two and, needless to say, I love it and can't wait for season three to finally makes its way to DVD. If you already watch it, nothing I can say will match your connection to it. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. It's got this eerie Twin Peaks feel to it and is one of those great shows where as soon as it's over, you're already primed to watch the next one. The ensemble cast meshes beautifully and I like the fact that there's no real one 'lead' character we have to follow as each individual has an incredible back-story.

For those of you that asked, Henry V wrapped and did extremely well. Being one of the leads, I was very emotionally invested in the show and was glad to hear that we ended up breaking some Prenzie records: 6 consecutive standing ovations, 2 encore bows, and it was also the highest grossing show in the troupe's history despite it not being the show with the most available seats. Personally, I am glad that it's over as I pretty much left everything I had on stage as this was easily the most challenging role I ever had to play. My thanks to everyone that saw it, whether you enjoyed it or not.

Well, that's about it from here. I need to get packing and will post a very photo-laden rant as soon as I return from my jaunt out East. Take care of yourselves.

How I've spent every waking moment the past 2 weeks...

2007-05-24T14:11:00.000-05:00

My life is this show right now. It got good reviews so if you're in the area, come see it.