Futurama is saved!

Good news, everybody! It now looks like the "Futurama" voice actors will return to the revived show after all. Clearly the powers that be at 20th Century Fox TV read this blog and saw the error of their ways.

Why I Hate Sexy Singles

Over on the Outsports blog I wrote about Eagles linebacker Stewart Bradley being selected by the Philadelphia Daily News as one of their 2009 Sexy Singles. It's the second year in a row an Eagle has been chosen. Last year they had a total of 30 single men and women. This year they've expanded to 37. Not surprisingly, a number of them fall into the genre of model/actor/personal trainer. Somewhat surprisingly, one was an openly gay man. (None are gay or bisexual this year, at least not openly, from what I could glean from their bios.)

What really bothered me last year was that six people -- or 1 out of every 5 -- worked for local TV or radio stations. Clearly it was a blatant grab for free publicity. And this year it's worse: I counted 10 Sexy Singles employed by TV or radio stations. That's 27 percent.

Even more ridiculous is the 63-year-old Sexy Single who has more than one residence, but spends part of his time at his horse farm in Beavertown, which is out in the central part of the state -- nowhere near Philadelphia. Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on 63-year-olds. But he's way too far from this area to qualify. The fact is, he was chosen because he could draw some extra attention to their paper (and yes, I know I'm falling right into their trap). How so? Because he's Davy Jones. Of the Monkees.

The paper promotes it as a "diverse group from all walks of life" and adds, "Who knows? This could be the year you meet that special someone. And you'll have the Daily News to thank." As if 99 percent of us would ever have a chance with these celebrities, pseudo-celebrities, pro athletes, models, etc. Anyway, here's a picture of Stewart Bradley:

Cleveland, Pittsburgh: great timing

Tomorrow the Cleveland Indians are scheduled to give away a Victor Martinez bobblehead doll to all fans attending their game against Detroit.

Today the Cleveland Indians traded Victor Martinez to Boston.

Get that bobblehead while it's hot!



Also, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a special offer. For the next week, if you buy tickets to any remaining game, you won't be charged any fees. Imagine that: buying a ticket online and paying face value without fees. Unfortunately, you're still paying major league ticket prices for a minor league team; this year, and especially since July 1st, the Pirates traded away just about every decent, experienced player they have for a bunch of prospects.

Quick Review: Orphan

Let's just stare at Peter Sarsgaard for a moment...mmmmm...

There we go. I can't quite figure out how, with so many smaller, independent (or indie-minded) films like "Kinsey" and "Garden State" and "Year Of The Dog" on his resume, he ended up in "Orphan," a sometimes-formulaic but over-the-top fun horror movie. Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga are a married couple who, after their third child is stillborn, decide to adopt. At the orphanage they see a 9-year-old girl by herself painting instead of running around playing like the other girls because, she says, she's "different." They decide to adopt her, and everyone finds out (some more quickly than others) just how different she is. It starts slowly but the trashy fun quotient really starts to click in a scene where the girl sees her new parents engaged in some sexual activity...in the kitchen...and her mother talks to her the next day about what she saw. When the girl utters a certain four-word sentence the theater erupted in laughter, and on it went. There's a twist near the end of the movie that I didn't see coming. The end seemed to drag on too long, but maybe that was because I had a large diet soda and really needed to get to the restroom. My grade: B

American Idol's Kara will be back! NOOOO!

Hasn't the show suffered enough? Four "American Idol" judges were too many last year. Since Kara DioGuardi, whose awful song was sung by the finalists last season, is returning for another season, this means one of two things: either they're going with four again, or Paula Abdul isn't returning. It'll be a mess either way. At least Paula's loopiness can be kind of entertaining. Kara adds absolutely nothing. I've only watched semi-steadily the last 3 years, and mainly because of the craptacular factor. With Kara, the "-tacular" part of the factor disappears.

Phillies Lee-ve Jays, Halladay behind

It's a shame, in a way, that the Phillies couldn't work out a deal to get Roy Halladay. I was going to write an awesome parody of Madonna's "Holiday" with Halladay/Phillies lyrics. Oh, well. Toronto wanted too much in their initial trade proposal and apparently weren't willing to compromise, so the Phillies essentially told the Blue Jays the same thing that Dick Cheney once told Senator Pat Leahy. They turned around and got starting pitcher Cliff Lee from Cleveland along with outfielder Ben Francisco, for 4 minor leaguers: pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald.

Pluses:

• none of these four were among the players the Blue Jays wanted for Halladay
• he's going to make about $6.75 million less than Halladay
• they got a right-handed bat off the bench in Francisco
• Lee is the 2008 Cy Young award winner and pitching well (though not quite as spectacular as last year), and now he'll be pitching with a team that has great offense and great defense
  

Minuses:

• Lee is lefthanded, which could leave the Phils with four lefty starters -- Lee, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ -- that could be a problem against teams with more big right-handed hitters (then again, if Pedro Martinez isn't sent to the bullpen once he's activated, either Moyer or Happ would be out of the rotation)
• Lee hasn't had the same kind of career-long brilliance as Halladay
• Lee is more of a fly ball pitcher; though he hasn't been giving up a lot of homers, he hasn't been pitching home games at cozy Citizens Bank Park

If we're not having a Halladay celebration, this is a fine backup plan. It keeps phenoms Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor (not to mention Happ) here and strengthens the rotation greatly. Between this deal and their 7-game NL East lead, the only worry the Phils have right now is the bullpen, due to the various injuries and Brad Lidge's continuing ineffectiveness.

All of my movie grades (for 2009)

These are the grades I've given to every movie I've seen in 2009. I've been listing them on Facebook but now when I update it there's a technical glitch. (Facebook and Twitter are both really a pain in the ass sometimes.) So I'm listing them here.

*Denotes 2009 films I didn't see until early 2010

A: I Love You, Man; Away We Go; Bruno; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Up In The Air; Precious*
A-: Star Trek; Outrage; Up; (500) Days Of Summer; Humpday; Julie & Julia; Paranormal Activity; It's Complicated
B+: Confessions Of A Shopaholic; Coraline; Duplicity; State Of Play; Drag Me To Hell; The Proposal; Make The Yuletide Gay; District 9; Adam; Zombieland; Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs; Where The Wild Things Are; Invictus; An Education*
B: Taken; Watchmen; Observe & Report; Obsessed; The Brothers Bloom; Orphan; Extract; Inglourious Basterds, Law Abiding Citizen; The Blind Side; Brothers
B-: New In Town; Paul Blart, Mall Cop; Yonkers Joe; Adventureland; Sunshine Cleaning; The Soloist; Angels & Demons; Dance Flick; Taking Woodstock; The Informant!; Whip It; Michael Jackson's This Is It; A Single Man; The Hurt Locker*; A Serious Man*
C+: The International; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Public Enemies; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Funny People; Fame; Surrogates; 2012; Avatar
C: Year One, Couples Retreat; Pirate Radio
C-: Bride Wars; He's Just Not That Into You; Terminator Salvation; I Love You, Beth Cooper; The Time Traveler's Wife; The Invention Of Lying; The Twilight Saga: New Moon; Everybody's Fine; Did You Hear About The Morgans?
D+: The Hangover; All About Steve; Jennifer's Body; Sherlock Holmes
D: The Ugly Truth
D-: The Men Who Stare At Goats

K-Fed more like K-Well-Fed

This is what not being married to Britney Spears does to you? I've seen some footage on TMZ of a bulked-up Kevin Federline but it seems to be getting worse. I guess he's not going back to ahis old career as a dancer any time soon. Before and after:

Quick Review: (500) Days Of Summer

While "The Ugly Truth" follows a standard formula, "(500) Days Of Summer" is all over the place. The "500 days" in the title is literal. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is the woman that Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has fallen in love with. Tom's problem is that Summer doesn't believe in true love. The movie skips back and forth in time to different points in their relationship, both good and bad times, which keeps you wondering if there's a chance that they'll stay together. (Disclaimer: not all 500 days are shown in the film. Otherwise it'd be really long, and boring at times as well.) Tom's best friends and his younger sister, one of those way-too-mature-for-their-age little girls who are way too prevalent in films, are there to support him through it all. Deschanel seems to be making a habit of playing these quirky characters, and she does it well. However, Gordon-Levitt's excellent performance is the key. You feel his exuberance and his pain. He's becoming one of my favorite actors...although I'm not sure if that will be enough to get me into the theater to see the upcoming "G.I. Joe" movie that he's in. My grade: A-minus.

Quick Review: The Ugly Truth

In the last few days I saw two movies that couldn't be less alike. My review of "(500) Days Of Summer" is forthcoming. For now, let's talk about "The Ugly Truth," which stars Katherine Heigl as a TV morning show producer who is such a control freak that her love life is virtually nonexistent. Her bosses hire an obnoxious, sexist late-night cable show host (Gerard Butler) to be part of the show in an effort to boost ratings. Needless to say, they clash at first but then each starts to see the other in a different light. You can connect the dots to see where things will lead. Heigl and Butler try their best and they do look pretty (although Mr. "300" doesn't show nearly enough skin, especially for an R-rated movie), but for me this was a non-starter.

I read an interesting commentary on Entertainment Weekly's site, in which one of their movie critics has an observation for why so many "chick flicks" like this, seemingly so inferior, still do well at the box office: apparently, it's because women flock to these movies expecting them to be cheesy but not caring. I guess that's why Hollywood keeps churning them out. My grade: D.

Phils keep winning while waiting on Roy

In the first 3 innings of tonight's game at Arizona, Jamie Moyer gave up 4 hits and 3 walks. Somehow he managed to keep the game scoreless, though. Ryan Howard then hit a 2-run homer in the 4th and the Phillies were on their way to an eventual 6-2 win, padding their NL East lead to 7 games. The Phils are now 30-15 on the road, best in the majors. After going 5-2 at Citizens Bank Park last week they've now got a winning record at home as well.

Yet just about every fan remains focused on Roy Halladay. With Friday's non-waiver trade deadline coming up fast, the latest report is that talks between the Phils and Blue Jays aren't going well. Both teams are pretty much posturing at this point. The rumors will continue to fly until the deadline. Some say the Phils are now considering making a bid for Cliff Lee of Cleveland or Jarrod Washburn of Seattle instead. If the Phils can't get Halladay at a reasonable price, I'd prefer they try and talk Arizona out of Dan Haren.

In a delightful twist, the Phillies are in San Francisco this weekend. The Blue Jays are in Oakland. The Phillies and Blue Jays are staying at the same hotel. A Halladay trade would be extremely convenient if it happens right at the deadline!

Blame Drew's Cancer

Now we know what's to blame for everything that's wrong in the universe. I read this article yesterday on the way to softball about a Philly native named Drew Olanoff who was diagnosed with cancer:

As he proceeded from concern to diagnosis to treatment, Olanoff began blaming his cancer for things. If cancer was responsible for the lump on his neck, he figured, why shouldn't it be to blame for the Phillies losing a game?

Soon, his cancer was responsible for his computer's slow response time and getting him stuck in traffic. Olanoff let his cancer take the fall for anything that ticked him off. Then, he did what came naturally. On June 3, he launched blamedrewscancer.com.

They've now partnered with Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG foundation to raise funds. You can go to the site and click on a link that allows you to blame Drew's cancer for anything you want via Twitter. There's also a Facebook page. It's a unique and clever response and I think it deserves support. It'll definitely get a Tweet from me.

Manscaping?

TMZ makes a big deal out of the amount of hair on "Entourage" star Adrian Grenier's back in the pictures shown here, and they also make it sound like he's fat: "Adrian Grenier showed off his unworked out body and hairy backside in Miami yesterday." Looks to me like he's in fine shape -- he may not have six-pack abs, but considering the angle at which the picture was taken and the way he's standing, perhaps that's just an unflattering photo -- and there's not that much back hair. The fact that he's wet makes the hair stand out.

Still, the caption-writer makes a good point about the "Hollywood gym & manscaping culture." The natural look is much, much better on a man.

Song of the summer!

David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland, "When Love Takes Over" -- you know you can't deny! Love this song!

Is this any way to act at a wedding?

Seriously? Is this a wedding or performance art? I don't know how I feel about this. And how...nice...that it's apparently helping Rihanna-beater Chris Brown sell records...

On the Eagles' new defensive chief...

This is my first Eagles post here, and it's about news that is all at once sad, strange and worrisome. The Eagles announced today that Sean McDermott has been named the new defensive coordinator. The move is understandable, as longtime coordinator Jim Johnson has been battling cancer since January after a tumor was discovered on his back.

What's odd is the way they announced it. They didn't say Johnson's decided to retire, although that seems likely. For a while he was continuing to work even while undergoing treatment; he even was at a minicamp in early May, using a cart to get around. Shortly after that it was announced that Johnson was taking a leave of absence. Is there some reason Johnson couldn't stay on that leave and maintain his title, with McDermott continuing to act as coordinator on an interim basis? I can't help but wonder, absent any specific statement from the team, whose decision this was. It would seem pretty classless to make this move if Johnson didn't consent to it. Then again, the Eagles occasionally have difficulty with public relations issues. I guess we'll see what happens when McDermott and head coach Andy Reid address the media.

The worrisome part of this, and considering Johnson's health status it's really a minor issue, is how this will affect the defense. Johnson's defensive playcalling -- keeping opposing quarterbacks off-balance with a dizzying array of blitzes -- has been as much a key to the team's success as the system itself. Now someone who's never been a coordinator is in charge. Is McDermott up to the challenge?

This Week's Comic Books 7-22-09

The "Blackest Night" event goes on, while a tie-in to "Final Crisis" ("Final" -- as if) finally ends, many months late. But wait, there's more...

Green Lantern 44: This picks up one of the plots begun last week in the first issue of "Blackest Night." While investigating the theft of Bruce Wayne's skull from his grave, Hal Jordan and Barry Allen (Green Lantern and the Flash), both of whom were once dead and now alive again, are attacked by the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter, who wants to return them to their prior non-living status. In the midst of the action, some great dialogue between Hal and Barry really added to my enjoyment.

Gotham City Sirens 2: Speaking of Bruce Wayne, he's back! Well, not really. It's the villain known as Hush, who had his face surgically remade to look like Bruce. "Bruce" is telling reporters of a plan to use "his" fortune to aid Gotham when he's kidnapped by some two-bit thugs, but escapes with the help of one of the stars of this series. So, technically speaking, a criminal is attacked by other criminals, but is rescued by yet another criminal, who doesn't realize the trouble she's getting into. I love this book so far.

Supergirl 43: Another book I've gotten to enjoy, although only recently. There was a recent iteration of Supergirl (the Matrix/Linda Danvers one) that I really enjoyed, but she wasn't popular because she wasn't Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El. So DC rebooted, sending Linda away and reintroducing Kara Zor-El as the one true Supergirl. At first the new series (with a new #1 issue -- gotta love reboots) was, frankly, awful. I stopped buying it pretty quickly. Recently, a combination of a new creative team, revamping Kara's personality to make her a lot more interesting, and a closer tie-in to events in the Superman books have won me back.

Final Crisis: Legion Of 3 Worlds 5 (of 5): This miniseries was tied in to the "Final Crisis" events, but there have been so many delays between issues that I hardly remember what happened in the first four, other than that DC managed to find a way to resurrect two more recently-dead heroes. There are also a whole bunch of members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (from the 31st Century, dontcha know) from different parts of the multiverse. They all finally find a way to win, and everyone lives happily ever after (until the next time they're killed) except the hero-turned villain known as Superboy-Prime. His final (for now) fate is most entertaining.

Futurama Comics 44: The voice actors may no longer work on the TV series, but they'll always be in my head when I read this book. After barely passing Spaceship Traffic School and regaining their licenses, Fry and Zapp Brannigan make a bet and race to the end of the universe. Always a few laughs in this book.

Phils next streak: 25 wins? Plus Halladay news

The Phillies hit their low point on July 2 in Atlanta. They then won 4 in a row before losing to the Reds, then followed that up with 10 wins in a row before losing yesterday to the Cubs.

So, that's 4 W's, L, 10 W's, L. Will a win tonight against the Padres (here for just one game, a makeup of an earlier rainout) be the beginning of a new streak? And which one of these numerical patterns will it follow?

Pattern 1: 4-10-4. Self-explanatory: repeating the 4- and 10-game streaks.
Pattern 2: 4-10-16. First win streak 4, next win streak 6 more than that, therefore the next one adds 6 more.
Pattern 3: 4-10-25 First win streak 4, next win streak 2.5 times that. 10 times 2.5 = 25.

I vote for Pattern 3!

Meanwhile, Roy Halladay says he plans to test the free-agent waters after the 2010 season. This means a team that trades for him won't be able to do so knowing that they'll have him for more than a year after this one. That might serve to reduce the compensation teams will be willing to give up in a trade. I hope this would make it easier for the Phillies to get him, but it actually might make it harder if the playing field is a little more even.

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7-22-09

An interesting shuffle today...

Trouble - Elvis Presley
Joy - Apollo 100
God Bless The Child (Lisa Simpson) - The Simpsons
La La Land - The Go-Go's
First Hand - Banderas
The Makeover (Superstar) - Jody Watley
One Big Mob - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Idioteque (Live) - Radiohead
Get Real Paid - Beck
Hurt So Bad - Linda Ronstadt
Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) (Fly Away Club Mix) - Mariah Carey
In The Navy - Village People
Hymn - Moby

Quick(?) review: Make The Yuletide Gay

"Make The Yuletide Gay" is probably destined to become a yearly holiday tradition on Logo, the gay cable network. (Pause for some enterprising TLA Releasing person to edit that into "'Destined to become a holiday tradition!' - Joe Guckin, The Joe In Philly Experience!" and put it on the DVD cover, or at least in print ads. There. My naked bid for attention is complete.)

This film screened at the Philadelphia QFest (which used to be called the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which led to the unfortunate acronym of PIGLFF) but I was unable to attend the two scheduled showings. Fortunately, the film was named a Festival Favorite and was shown again on the final night of QFest.

College sweethearts Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson and Nathan Stanford are headed to their respective family homes for the Christmas holiday. Nathan then finds out that his parents (including Gates McFadden of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame) won a trip to Israel and conveniently forgot to inform him until the day before his flight home. Rather than stay in an empty home, Nathan decides to make the trip to Wisconsin and surprise Gunn, only to be surprised himself: his boyfriend, out and proud on campus, isn't out to his family. Gunn's dad is a stoner and his mom is a Christmas freak, dontcha know (she talks like that); she's constantly spouting double-entendres and trying to fix her son up with Abby, a girl he dated in high school. (Abby's mom is played by Alison Arngrim -- Nellie Oleson from "Little House on the Prairie, and that fact is referenced in the movie.) It started a little slow for me, but got funnier as it went along. It plays out sort of as you'd expect, but with enough odd twists to keep it interesting. Nathan is played by Adamo Ruggiero. Adamo was Marco, a teenager who came out of the closet on "Degrassi: The Next Generation" -- what is it with the "Next Generation" trend? Now he's 23, utterly adorable (just look at that photo), out of the closet in real life also, and as of the time this profile appeared, still single. Call me, Adamo! I gave you a blurb for the DVD box, so you owe me! My grade: B-plus.

I'm not so good at multitasking

As I write this I'm listening to the latest podcast by sex-advice columnist Dan Savage. At least I'm trying to. I have found that I can listen to music while online, but if I try and listen to podcasts or sports-talk radio or something on the TV if I have it on, I can't do any online reading. I can't concentrate on both. I'll be listening to a podcast and have to stop because I have no idea what anyone's talking about and have to start it over. Or I listen closely to a podcast and I have to re-read the article I'm staring at. This is frustrating me to no end.

I've gotten about 7 minutes into the Savage podcast and have stopped and re-started it four times already, including twice while writing this. ARRRRRGH! Does anyone have any advice? I'd really like to be able to visit my favorite websites while listening to my favorite podcasts. Instead I have to sit here doing nothing or else play chess or solitaire on the computer. (Re-starting the Savage podcast for the fifth time now!)

ESPN reporter victim of hetero pervert

We constantly hear blathering from right-wing nuts and other assorted homophobes about the behavior of gays, but they and everyone else need to keep one thing in mind: most people are heterosexual, and quite a few of them are perverts.

For example: ESPN reporter Erin Andrews recently became the victim of one such sleazebag. Someone secretly videotaped her as she was naked in her hotel room. The video was posted to various websites, including YouTube. Her lawyer and ESPN got the sites to remove it, but hackers are using the hype to spread computer viruses and malware. The creep is now reportedly trying to sell the video. The worst part is that so far, no one even knows where or when the invasion of privacy took place.

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that the perpetrator of this crime is a heterosexual male? Come on. How many lesbians would drill a small hole into a hotel room from an adjoining room and use a spy cam to film a naked woman? Yet it's homosexuality that's immoral? Does anyone really think that preventing same-sex marriage would have stopped this particular act, or any of the many similar acts by other straight people?

Another lying politician

The Times Square fixture known as the "Naked Cowboy" is going to run for mayor of New York City. Since I don't have a direct vote, I can only speak out and hopefully influence a voter or two (million). Do NOT vote for this man. We have enough politicians who don't live up to their promises. Here's one that we already know doesn't tell the truth. How do we know this (besides the obvious "because his mouth is moving" answer)? Simple:

He is NOT naked. He's NEVER naked. Frankly, I doubt he's even a real cowboy. Please, New York City, heed my warning! If you elect this man mayor he will ruin you!

No stopping the Phils?

It's getting harder to believe that the Phillies won't win the NL East for the third year in a row. Despite everything that's happened so far, they find themselves 6 1/2 games up in the division after winning their 8th straight game today. A sweep of the Florida Marlins (only three games, due to the rainout last night) is a fine way to come out of the All-Star break. Today, J.A. Happ pitched seven shutout innings to go to 7-0 on the year. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs in the 6th, but Happ kept them from scoring. If he keeps this up there needs to be some Rookie of the Year consideration for him at some point. Jimmy Rollins continued his strong hitting of late with three more hits; his average is up to .236 now. Next up: the Chicago Cubs.

This Week's Comic Books 7-15-09

It's good that I finish this before Wednesday, or I'd have a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, as I mentioned in my post about last week's purchases, it's time for one of those Big Events. So we start with...

Blackest Night 1 (of 8): I wasn't sure I'd get this after reading the Green Lantern book I picked up last week, but I find myself more intrigued than I expected. We see a bunch of black power rings flying across the universe and reanimating a bunch of corpses into Black Lanterns. (Are they Zombie Lanterns or something more? The ones that speak in this book apparently are in character to an extent; they're not just moaning or growling. Are their own personalities brought back to life but in a corrupted form?) Mixed in with all of this there are a number of well-written small segments revolving around a day set aside to honor heroes who gave their lives in saving the world. Of course, at least some of them are going to get those black rings...I am most curious as to the significance of Black Hand digging up Bruce Wayne's body and taking his skull. Are there some special plans for the (once and future?) Batman?

Action Comics 879: This is the other Superman book that doesn't have Superman in it. It features Kryptonians who have taken up the names of Kryptonian legends, Nightwing and Flamebird. They've undertaken a mission to capture other Kryptonians on Earth acting as "sleeper agents" in a planned plot against Earth. The problem is, as a result of the "New Krypton" events, all Kryptonians (except Superman) are banned from Earth, and a secret government entity is after them. Also, two pages feature Lois Lane, who (with an assist from Mon-El, in a cameo) learns some important information about her father.

Superman/Batman 62: Here's a series where the continuity hasn't yet been updated to reflect current events elsewhere. Superman is still on Earth and Batman is still Bruce Wayne. So do we get the start of another story arc where the "World's Finest" (as their team-up book was called, back in the day) heroes stop some calamity or ruin some villain's monstrous plans? Nope. They're only seen briefly in a flashback. This issue stars Supergirl and Robin (not the current one, the previous one who became Red Robin after Bruce's "death," but since in this timeframe Bruce is still alive...well, you get the idea), who have lunch in their civilian guises and reminisce about a time not long after they met, when they ended a hostage drama at Arkham Asylum. Meh.

Simpsons Comics 156: A story called "The Simpsons Save The World." It's set in the year 2194 and a tour guide at the Simpsons Museum explains how the Simpsons, "the most important people in history," managed to cure all diseases, bring about world peace and the end of nuclear weapons, and save the planet from global warming. With disastrous results, as it turns out. D'oh!

Quick review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Having never read any of the Harry Potter books, I don't know everything that's left out of the films when they're made and, for the most part, I don't have any idea what's going to happen in the movies -- with one notable exception being an event that occurs near the end of the latest, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

The problem with this is, since I only see the movies once (rarely do I watch a movie on DVD or on TV broadcasts if I've seen it already), and the last HP movie came out two years ago, I couldn't remember much of anything from the last one, so I felt sort of lost. Between that and the fact that much of the film was spent on burgeoning romances of various kids, I wasn't nearly as enthralled as I have been in the past. It seemed like there was a lot more talking and a lot less action.

I will say that the three young stars of the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, are turning out to be pretty good young actors. I hope they can manage to keep their careers going post-Potter. I also hope that the last two movies (the final book is being made into two films instead of one) are more exciting than this one. My grade: C-plus.

I could be on ESPN someday!

Earlier today I turned on the TV to watch the baseball game of the week on Fox, but before I got to it I found something on ESPN called "The Border Battle." Apparently it was the first-ever game between teams of what the announcers described as "elite players" from the USA and Canada...in men's slow-pitch softball! I don't know how these players were determined to be elite, but now I have something to shoot for in my own softball career.

The game was played in Oklahoma City at the ASA (Amateur Softball Association) Hall of Fame Complex, in between games of an event called the World Cup of Softball, featuring some of the top women's fast-pitch teams. So the field they were playing on, unlike the adequate-at-best fields in Fairmount Park that the City of Brotherly Love Softball League uses, was pristine and had an outfield fence. Thus, in the men's game they had a rule that a team can hit no more than 10 home runs in a game. After that, any balls hit over the fence are considered outs.

When I turned on the game, Canada had a 16-8 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. The USA then sent 21 batters to the plate and scored 17 runs, to move ahead 25-16. However, by that point in the game they were already up to 9 homers, and the announcers were worried that too many of those home runs had one or no runner on base when they were hit. With the 10-homer limit it's considered wise to hit as many as 3-run bombs or grand slams as possible.

However, it turned out not to matter as Canada was retired in order in the 5th, and team USA scored some more, threatening to hit the 15-run lead required for the game to end under a mercy rule. The USA eventually got its 10th homer and one ball over the fence for an out after that, but were able to finish off a 30-23 win.

I was surprised to see slow-pitch softball on ESPN, but at least it's a sport, sort of, instead of yet another poker show.

This is no way to bring back Futurama!

It seems that none of the actors who did the voices for "Futurama" are going to return when production on the series resumes. They want more money than the producers, Twentieth Century Fox, are willing to pay.

The success of reruns on Cartoon Network, and then Comedy Central, led to the making of some made-for-DVD movies (which later aired on Comedy Central as individual episodes), which then led to Comedy Central buying new episodes. But without the actors, why bother? You can get almost anyone to do voices, but when a talented actor establishes a particular voice, you lose something when he or she is replaced. No one's ever really been able to duplicate the late Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and so many others, and there's no one who can replace anyone on "The Simpsons."

This annoucement could be a negotiating tactic. Let's hope so, because otherwise the future looks bleak for "Futurama."

Quick review: I Love You, Beth Cooper

The AMC movie theater nearest to my house has an interesting new pricing policy. Prior to this summer, on weekdays during the afternoon tickets were just $5.00. (Other AMC theaters charge $5.00 or $6.00, but only for showings held before noon. From noon on, they're $7.50 or $8.00, and higher at night.) Now, at the theater near me, if a movie has just opened, from the day it opens until the following Sunday, the weekday afternoon price is $7.50, but for older films it's still $5.00. So it's now possible for a family or a group of friends to hit this multiplex, split up if they're seeing different movies, and pay different ticket prices.

Since I didn't get up too early this morning, I couldn't get to the theater before noon to see the latest Harry Potter movie for five bucks. I still wanted to see a movie, though, so I chose "I Love You, Beth Cooper." At a high school graduation, the valedictorian passes on his prepared speech to declare his love for, yes, Beth Cooper, a cheerleader played by "Heroes" actress Hayden (Save the cheerleader, save the world) Panettiere, so she's not exactly stretching. The geeky valedictorian calls out a number of fellow graduates on various issues -- the bully who was abused as a child, his best friend who won't admit to being gay, etc. -- and angers Beth's boyfriend, which sets the predictable plot into motion. I loved the first season of "Heroes" even though Panettiere didn't display much acting range. In this movie she shows even less, though her character has some issues of her own to deal with. Her young co-stars aren't much better. While the movie isn't exactly dreadful, there's not much positive to say for it. Now and then there was a glimmer or two of an idea that, had it been fleshed out competently, might have made the movie better. Or they could have at least made it raunchy. At one point, in order to buy beer, the underage Beth offers to kiss the convenience store clerk "so hard you'll mess your underwear" or something like that. The movie doesn't even show the kiss. My grade: C-minus.

Phils done All-Star break, still on fire

The Phillies' lead in the NL East is up to 5 games now after winning their first game after the All-Star break, 4-0 at Florida. The runs all came on homers, two by Rauuuuuuuuuuuuul Ibanez and the career 200th from Ryan Howard. Howard is the fastest player (in terms of games played) in MLB history to reach the 200 mark. Jamie Moyer, the oldest man in the game (but still younger than me) gave up just one hit in 7 innings. Very satisfactory way to start the second half. I have my doubts about how much newly-signed Pedro Martinez will help when he's activated after some rehab starts, but it won't matter if Moyer can keep this up.

Flyers' 09-10 schedule includes Winter Classic

Every year there's one day when a team officially releases its schedule for the upcoming season. Today was that day for the Flyers and the rest of the National Hockey League. The biggest news of the day was the official announcement that the Flyers will play the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park (a baseball park, for those who may not know) in the 2010 Winter Classic, the league's new showcase event, on New Year's Day. This will be the third year that the NHL will take a game outdoors for January 1st; the first two were hugely successful.

I always like to look at the road schedule in particular, because if the Flyers are playing in a particular location and I have friends there (or just if it's not far away, such as Newark, NJ, where the New Jersey Devils play in a new arena that's right next to the Amtrak station) , I think about how fun it would be to visit them and see the game. (I do this for the Phillies and Eagles as well.) Of course, this is all a huge fantasy right now because of a lack of money.

So here's the list of road games I'll be seeing if I should win the Poweball lottery between now and October:

At Boston: Dec. 14, Jan. 1
At Buffalo: Nov. 6, Mar. 5
At Dallas: Mar. 18
At Minnesota: Feb. 6
At Nashville: Mar. 16
At New Jersey: Oct. 3, Dec. 12, Feb. 10
At Ottawa: Jan. 3, Mar. 23
At NY Islanders: Nov. 25, Dec. 27, Apr. 1
At NY Rangers: Dec. 30, Mar. 14, Apr. 9
At Phoenix: Nov. 21
At San Jose: Nov. 20
At Toronto: Jan. 14, Apr. 6
At Washington: Oct. 27, Jan. 17

In case I don't win a huge jackpot, the following are highly encouraged ;-) to send me plane tickets:

• anyone from a location listed above who knows me
  
• anyone from a location I didn't list because I've somehow forgotten you
• anyone living in any location who doesn't know me but would like to
• anyone else.

I think that covers everyone. ;-)

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7-15-09

Time for more random musical blandishment:

So Right - Dave Matthews Band
Room 101 - Eurythmics
Time (Clock Of The Heart) - Culture Club
X-Static Process - Madonna
Viagra... (Dialogue) - The Osbourne Family Album
Hey Ya - Will Young
The Little Things Give You Away - Linkin Park
Female Of The Species [Fembot Mix] - Space
Take Your Mama - Scissor Sisters
Theme from Valley of the Dolls - Dionne Warwick
Same Ole Love - Anita Baker
Two Divided By Zero - Pet Shop Boys
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Jimmy Somerville

MLB 2009 at the halfway point

Before the season started I previewed both the National and American Leagues on the Outsports blog. The All-Star break is the unofficial midpoint of the season, as teams have actually played a little more than half their games. The pointless (despite that crap about deciding which league gets home-field advantage for the World Series) exhibition game is now over and the season is about to resume. That got me wondering, how well have I done so far? Here's how I called each division, and how things have actually turned out so far:

AL East: Tampa Bay, Boston, NY Yankees, Toronto, Baltimore
The Red Sox and Yankees have the two best records in the AL, with Boston up by 3 games, thanks to a surplus of starting pitching and their 8-0 record against the Yanks. The defending AL champion Rays are in third, trying to recover from a poor start. The Blue Jays and Orioles are living up (down?) to my expectations, although the last-place O's are only 8 games under .500 -- probably because they gave up pretty quickly on Adam Eaton. Toronto is now contemplating trading ace pitcher Roy Halladay (to the Phillies, pleasepleasepleaseplease!).

AL Central: Minnesota, Cleveland, Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Kansas City
The Tigers are one of the AL's surprise teams and hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the White Sox and a 4-game bulge over the Twins. A win on May 7 gave the Royals an 18-11 record; since then they're 19-40. The Indians have been a big disappointment, falling to the cellar with the AL's worst record.

AL West: LA Angels, Oakland, Seattle, Texas
The Angels also got off to a slow start but now have a 1 1/2-game lead over the Rangers, who have unexpectedly gotten better pitching. Maybe even more of a surprise is that the Mariners are just 4 games out. The A's sit well out of the race, and presumably will trade Matt Holliday for prospects.

NL West: Arizona, LA Dodgers, Colorado, San Francisco, San Diego
Despite losing Manny Ramirez to a 50-game suspension because he was trying to get pregnant -- hey, why else would he take a women's fertility drug? -- the Dodgers have baseball's best record. However, the Giants (7 games back) and Rockies (9 out) have been better than expected and could make it a race if LA falters, or at least challenge for the Wild Card. The Diamondbacks have been the biggest flop, while the last-place Padres started well but quickly sank to the bottom of the division.

NL Central: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh
The top five teams in the division (Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Astros and Reds) are within 5 games of each other. The teams aren't very far over .500, if at all, with the Cubs seriously underachieving. The Pirates were in the pack for a while, but what may be the worst ownership in baseball doesn't seem to give a damn about trying to win, as they continue to make bizarre trades, sending away talented players just headed into their prime for even younger, more raw and undeveloped players.

NL East: Philadelphia, NY Mets, Florida, Atlanta, Washington
It's been a bizarre season in this division. The Phillies had a poor home record and a stellar road record, their starting rotation was hideous early and only somewhat improved since; they then hit interleague play and hit a wall, only to return home and get hot against weaker NL teams. The defending world champs have pulled 4 games ahead of...the Marlins, who have a poor bullpen and shaky defense but otherwise have been strong. The Braves have the best starting pitching in the division but their hitting is severly lacking. Still, it's been enough to put them ahead of the Mets. The Mets' injury woes, shoddy defense and lack of power are making New Yorkers miserable. As for the Nationals, the worst team in baseball, well...just read this post on Outsports.

Customer service from hell

My complaint here isn't actually about me, although I certainly have had my share of issues, but it bothers me nonetheless.

I used to have my bank accounts with a credit union that served Social Security employees and some other federal agencies. Most of their branches and ATM machines were in the Baltimore/Washington area, but some were located here. Over a year ago they began closing or cutting back hours at their Philadelphia branches, removing ATMs, etc. While it's now possible to do so much bank business online or by phone, if there's a problem extreme enough that I want to go into an office and speak to someone in person, I want an office available. Since they were moving away, I moved on. I opened accounts with a regular bank, in part because of their heavily-advertised no-fee ATM card (besides not charging a fee for using their own machines, they refunded any fees charged by other institutions' ATMs), but also because they did not charge fees should you not keep a minimum balance.

Not long after, they merged with another bank. Then, a couple of months ago, they sent me information about changes as a result of the merger. Among them: maintenance fees that would only be waived if you kept a minimum daily balance: $4 per month for savings, and $15 per month for checking. So I've switched again, this time to another credit union.

Thus I found myself at a bank branch yesterday, closing out my old accounts. There was one customer service rep at a desk speaking with a customer, and a few others speaking to tellers or waiting for a customer service rep. Two different people in the bank at the time were there regarding the same issue: they couldn't get their ATM card to process a transaction, and then the machine kept their card. One of the tellers said it had to do with their PIN number: if you enter an incorrect PIN three times, the machine keeps the card. The customers spoke broken English so there may have been a miscommunication.

I closed my accounts and left. When I got outside an elderly woman was at the ATM, and she stopped me. She said she put her card in, and the screen kept showing the usual ads for the bank instead of asking for her PIN. When she pushed the "cancel" button to try and get her card back, nothing happened. We pushed pretty much every button, to no avail. She was concerned about leaving the machine with her card still inside, so I offered to stand there and keep watch while she went inside to get some assistance.

A few minutes later she came back outside, alone. She said she was told there was no one who could get her card back, and she'd have to call her own bank (her card was from a different bank). I was really shocked that no one could open up the machine and get the card. Clearly the machine was malfunctioning -- three different people had their cards eaten in a matter of minutes!

There used to be a TV ad for a different bank in which a woman rushed in, saying she had to catch a flight in an hour and the machine ate her card. The scene then cut outside to the ATM, where the woman stood and her card came out of the machine. The woman is grateful, and you hear the voice of the man helping her (from inside the bank, his voice coming through the machine) saying, "You're welcome, have a nice day." At that moment an older man is coming up to the machine, so, because old people are depicted as feeble dolts on TV, he starts talking to the ATM: "I'd like to make a transfer...hello?"

So, unless the TV is lying to us, there seems to be no reason that someone at the bank could not have gotten that woman her card back yesterday. It just made me think that I closed my accounts there just in time.

Quick review: Bruno

Oh. My. God. I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time. "Bruno" is extremely raunchy, and not for the faint-of-heart, but it's brilliant. Bruno, the extremely gay fashionista, comes to America to become a major celebrity, and tries different roads to that status, with little success. It's a hysterical commentary on celebrities and their charitable activities, stars adopting children from Africa, and (of course) homosexuality and homophobia. My only minor quibble is that I can't help but think that some of the interaction between Bruno and non-celebrities just had to have been planned out in advance. I assume that at least some of the Bruno-and-celebrities interactions were staged; certainly the stars appearing at the end of the film were in on the joke.

I worry about Sacha Baron Cohen, though. He's used up his three characters. He needs to create someone new or do some other kind of movies (not counting his supporting roles in other people's movies, of course; I'm referring to his own productions). My grade: A.

Ryan Reynolds may play Green Lantern

He may play a comic book superhero. Yeah, whatever. I mainly just wanted to post this:

A couple days of Phils stuff

Interesting developments...

• Shane Victorino was the winner in the NL All-Star Final Vote. Apparently he came up with the idea for the Phillies to team up with the Detroit Tigers, whose Brandon Inge was the AL winner. The "Bran-Torino" campaign apparently worked...except since I voted hundreds of times, including non-stop in the 2 hours before voting closed, it really was me who put him over the top.
• Jayson Werth is also going to the All-Star game; he was named as a replacement for the Mets' Carlos Beltran, who is missing the game due to injury. This is surprising, because I would've expected that LA Dodger Matt Kemp, the only other outfielder on the Final Vote ballot. But clearly NL All-Star game Charlie Manuel is playing favorites and rewarding his players, between this choice and that of Ryan Howard at first base. Must be good to be the king. (With Victorino and Raul Ibanez, this is the first time since 1972 that one team has had three outfielders in an All-Star game.
  
• Ibanez has been activated from the disabled list; in a very surprising move, catcher and author Chris Coste was designated for assignment to make room for Ibanez, and Coste was claimed by Houston.
• The Phillies are interested in free-agent pitcher Pedro Martinez. He's struggled with age and injuries in recent years; this year he pitched in the World Baseball Classic and has sat waiting since then. I don't know that he'd be much of an upgrade over the starters they already have. I'd much rather they trade for Toronto's Roy Halladay now that the Blue Jays have intimated that they might try and trade him.
• Oh, and they've now won 7 of 8 on this homestand after tonight's 3-2 win over the Pirates, with me in attendance (and I'll be there tomorrow also), and now lead the NL East by 3 games.
  

This Week's Comic Books 7-8-09

Speaking of the date, yesterday at 34 minutes and 56 seconds past the noon hour, it was 12:34:56 7/8/9. Cosmic moment! Anyway, among my purchases this week are an exercise in nostalgia, a prologue to another big "event," and the Superman book that actually stars Superman...

Wednesday Comics 1 (of 12): This would be the DC Comics exercise in nostalgia. It's supposed to remind you of the Sunday comics section you find in newspapers, even going so far as to be on newsprint instead of the glossy paper stock normally used for their books. It's folded up to be the size of a comic book but when you unfold it, it turns into a 14-by-20 paper, 16 pages, all but the back page featuring a single strip starring different DC characters, with different writers and artists for each. That in itself makes it a mixed bag. Since the stories are just starting this week, they have one page to grab the reader. Some of the stories grabbed me, some didn't. Some of the artwork looks great, some of it is confusing and flat-out ugly. I don't think I'll buy this again. I may just open it up and read the pages that interest me and put it back down. ;-)

Superman: World Of New Krypton 5 (of 12): And this would be the Superman book featuring Superman. As previously explained, he's now living on New Krypton. He's serving as an army commander under none other than General Zod. As a result of events occurring in issue #4, Superman is on trial for treason, with the death penalty applicable if he's convicted. Superman's defense strategy is very Superman-like, so what happens is not much of a surprise. What happens after the trial, though...ooooooh.

Green Lantern 43: ...and this would be the prologue to the next big event, "Blackest Night." In previous books it came to be that, instead of just being Green Lanterns, there are all kinds of colorful ring-wielding corps, and each color is tied into what's referred to in this book as the "emotional spectrum" -- green is for willpower, red for rage, orange for avarice, yellow for fear, blue for hope, indigo for compassion (hey, if all the indigo ring-wearers were females they could be the Indigo Girls!), violet for love. I don't really understand it because I didn't buy any of the stories that introduced all of this. Anyway, now there will be the Black Lanterns, dead characters who are brought back to life with black power rings and, presumably corrupted by the Blackness, will cause all manner of mayhem. Not sure if I want to keep up with this.

Red Robin 2: This is another new series that was spawned from the events that apparently took the life of Bruce Wayne. Since there's a new Batman, I guess the laws required there be a new Robin as well. Thus, the most recent Robin -- Tim Wayne, formerly Tim Drake until Bruce Wayne adopted him after his father's death -- now stars in this book. Tim's on a quest to find Bruce because he thinks Bruce isn't dead. They haven't really explained why he thinks that. Maybe it's because so many other heroes have died and returned, even without black power rings. Or maybe it's because he's acting so dark and brooding and borderline obnoxious, so much unlike how he's always been, that he's acting just like Batman did in recent years. Again, not sure how long I'll keep going with this one.

Like I said...

One night after the Phillies buried the Cincinnati Reds 22-1, they waste numerous scoring opportunities after taking a 3-0 lead, and lose 4-3, ending their four-game winning streak. Such is baseball, especially this year. As I said before, we just have to let the 2009 baseball season play out without getting too high or too low, and enjoy the ride.

Quick review: Away We Go

In "Away We Go" John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are very sweet together as an expectant couple (she's six months pregnant but looks much further along). His parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) have sold their house and are moving to Belgium, and her parents are deceased. They feel that, with no other loved ones in their current hometown, they're no longer in the right place to raise their family, so they travel to various locales visiting friends and family members, hoping to find the right place to settle down. The movie is at times both heartwarming and heartbreaking, funny and touching. Highly recommended. My grade: A.

Poor Joyce DeWitt

The moral of the story: don't drink and drive, especially if you used to be somebody.

Quick review: Public Enemies

I remember seeing the trailer for "Public Enemies" a while back; based on that I expected a more lively, fast-paced and fun (not in a jokes-and-punchlines way) over-the-top film. I didn't get what I expected. Part of the reason for this is that Johnny Depp, as infamous bank robber John Dillinger, and Christian Bale, as FBI agent Melvin Purvis, are barely onscreen at the same time. They have one short scene together. While it's a competent crime drama, and not poorly acted, it lacks energy. Dillinger is supposed to be this legendary figure, a modern-day Robin Hood for many in the Depression-scarred nation, but you don't see that in this movie. It could've used some hammy "Pirates of the Caribbean"-style overacting by Depp. My grade: C-plus.

Sweep the Mets, sweep the Mets...

...always fun to sweep the Mets!

The way the season has gone, it's probably still premature to say the Phillies have finally righted the ship after today's 2-0 win to finish off a three-game sweep of the reeling, injury-riddled New York Mets. They've had good stretches before and then slipped, but once again a lot of things seem to be falling into place. They got three consecutive strong starts -- today it was Joe Blanton with 7 1/3 shutout innings. The bullpen didn't allow a run all weekend, with Brad Lidge getting two saves by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Jimmy Rollins homered to lead off the first today, also singled and walked; in the last 4 games he's batting .467 with a .556 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of .867, 5 runs batted in, 2 runs scored and 3 walks. And it's the first time the Phils have won a series at home against a team other than the pitiful Washington Nationals.

And while the Phils' defense was sparkling all weekend, the visitors' wretched sixth inning yesterday (two dropped foul pops and a horrendous throw from the outfield that wasn't cut off, allowing a run to score) tells you all you need to know about the New York Mess. Even their ace, Johan Santana, couldn't save them today.

Madonna's tribute to Michael

It might have been nice if she actually sang one of his songs, but this was a nice moment anyway. Madonna took her "Sticky And Sweet" tour to the same arena where Michael Jackson would have begun his comeback tour and, with the help of an impersonator, she paid tribute to him last night:

My fave t-shirt speaks to Mets fans!

After watching the Phillies beat the Mets 4-1 (for their second win in a row; Jimmy Rollins* had another hit, a key 2-run double, and walked twice -- can he keep it going?), I headed to center city Philadelphia to get a bite to eat and hang out before the July Fourth fireworks show on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

On my way to the Parkway I passed by the Westin Philadelphia Hotel on 17th Street, and a small group of Mets fans were outside. One of them noticed my 2008 World Champions cap and said, in a snide tone, "Oooh, champions, oooh..." So I stopped and said, "Well then, you'll really like the back of my t-shirt." I then turned around to show it to them:



They were not particularly amused as I walked away. I, on the other hand, was very amused.

*Edit to add: as a tribute, Rollins is using Michael Jackson songs, including "Billie Jean" and "Smooth Criminal," as his intro music before his at-bats.

Just sit back and enjoy the Phils' ride

After looking as bad as a team can look in the last three games, the Phillies returned home and rolled to a 7-0 third-inning lead over the hated New York Mets, and went on to a 7-2 win. Back from the dead (to be specific, the minor leagues), Rodrigo Lopez shut out the Mets until the 7th and got his first win since 2007 when he was with Colorado. He hasn't even pitched in the majors in two years after having Tommy John surgery in August of that year. Jimmy Rollins led off the first with a double, scored the first of three runs in that inning, then drove in two in the third with another double. Even Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless inning. The Phils regained a one-game lead in the division.

This team just makes no sense. It really didn't last year, either, until September and October. The Phils have been rather mediocre but in a lot of ways it's been just like last year. All the pondering and analysis is kind of useless (although it won't stop us from doing it). It would be a lot easier to just let the season play out. Whatever happens will happen. There's still a lot of potential for a repeat championship and a lot of fun along the way.

I have a free ticket for tomorrow's game. Woo-hoo!

This Week's Comic Books 7-1-09

A light week. I only would've bought one, but I took a chance on another title...

Justice League: Cry For Justice 1 (of 7): ...and boy, I won't make this mistake again. The writing is terrible. The dialogue is laughable, details of the plot (so far) are vague and the premise (some of the superheroes want to become more...shall we say, pro-active in going after villians before they cause further death and destruction) has been overdone recently. Some of those that will team up as part of this more aggressive hero grouping are obscure (Congorilla? Really?) while others (Supergirl, the new Batwoman) were barely in the book, if at all. Supposedly this miniseries will be important to some huge future events, but that's what they always say. Speaking of comic book events...

Simpsons Super Spectacular 9: "The Best Radioactive Man Event Ever!" concludes with more fun jabs at the comic book industry. The "new direction" for Radioactive Man comics is finally revealed, and Bart's response turns out to be more popular than the book itself. Some of the stories they come up with in the comics are better than those in new episodes of the TV show. This is one of them, especially if you're a comic book geek.

Phils almost phaded out of first

With tonight's 5-2 loss, finishing off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies have now lost 14 of 18 games and are in a virtual tie for first with the Florida Marlins. They wasted a good 7-inning start by J.A. Happ, with Ryan Madson giving up 3 in the 8th for the winning margin. Madson's been a mess recently, even after returning to his setup role when closer Brad Lidge returned from the disabled list.

While the hitting hasn't been good lately (but hey, Jimmy Rollins got 2 hits!) it's the pitching that's been poor night after night after night. Some nights it's a bad start, other nights (like tonight) it's a lousy bullpen, some nights it's both. No trades are on the horizon yet as very few teams consider themselves out of the playoff chase and, thus, willing to be a seller. Even when that happens, lots of teams need pitching. The bidding will presumably be high.

The Phillies have to somehow stay afloat until some team makes a quality pitcher available, and the way things are going, the only reason to think they can stay afloat is that most of the National League is as mediocre as they are. The Phils are back home starting tomorrow night. Of course, now that they're losing road games maybe they'll win home games. (For those who don't know, this paragraph is an example of "grasping at straws.") The Mets are in tomorrow; they're only a game out of first place, and the Braves are now just two back.

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7-2-09

Totally random (or as random as iTunes gets), 13 tracks from my library that I just listened to...

Found a Cure (Mood II Swing Extended Original Mix)-Ultra Naté
Another Postcard-Barenaked Ladies
Beautiful Love-Adeva
Piece of My Heart-Tara Kemp
Pure & Easy-The Dining Rooms
I Found My Smile Again-D'Angelo
Help Me Make It Through The Night-Sammi Smith
"Yokel Chords" Medley-The Simpsons
Promises, Promises-Dionne Warwick
Why'd You Lie To Me (Nu Soul DnB Mix)-Anastacia
Into Your Arms-The Lemonheads
Looking Through Patient Eyes-P.M. Dawn
I'm Falling In Love With You-Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross