It Gets Better: The Miracle Of Love

My thanks to a friend who is known on the Interwebs as LCM, Centre of the Known Universe, for posting this video earlier..."The Miracle of Love" by Eurythmics:



I'm posting it because it makes me feel better to hear it after all of the stuff that follows this sentence, and perhaps it will make you feel better as well.

Last week I wrote about the It Gets Better video project started by sex-advice columnist Dan Savage in response to the news of 15-year-old Billy Lucas of Greensburg, Indiana, who committed suicide after being bullied and harassed nonstop by anti-gay bigoted thugs in his high school. It's designed to get the message out to kids who are struggling -- because of bullies, "religious" people, bigoted school officials and parents and the like -- that suicide isn't the answer, that if they hang on and get through this time in their lives, they'll one day escape their circumstances by going to college or moving to a big city with a stronger gay presence, and their lives will be so much better.

Just since then there were two more young kids who killed themselves after being bullied.

My Week In Comics 9-22-10

Remember how I bought the first volume of the Scott Pilgrim series earlier this month? I figured that every so often I'd pick up a succeeding volume. Then Amazon had all six volumes on sale -- at more than half off the cover price. So I ended up buying the other five all at once. Yay for discounts! Now all I have to do is read them. And, of course, comment on them here as I finish each one. Meanwhile, back in my usual realm...

Supergirl 56: Supergirl has taken Bizarrogirl back to Bizarro World, under attack from something Bizarrogirl calls "the Godship." Of course, on Bizarro World Supergirl is called "Bizarro Bizarrogirl." So Bizarro Bizarrogirl meets Bizarro Lex Luthor, "Bizarro World's #1 Genius." And he answers the question, "Why don't all Bizarros speak in exact opposites?" And I think using the word "bizarro" so many times in this paragraph has given me a headache.

The book's quality is erratic, but the logo is way cool

Superman/Batman 76: Hey, it's not another flashback tale from when Bruce Wayne was still around! Instead, it's a flashback tale that focuses on the immediate aftermath of Bruce's "death" during Final Crisis, in particular the reactions of Clark Kent and Dick Grayson, and Clark's reaction when Dick takes over as Batman -- which, even if you want to allow for it being the reaction of a grief-stricken friend, rings extremely false.


The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror 16: The yearly dose of Halloween goodness with various writers putting their spin on the Simpsons, with varying results. One of the stories guest-stars Motörhead. Would you be surprised if I told you it was written by Motörhead's Lemmy? Probably not. The best thing was the insert in the middle: Marge Attacks! trading cards. No, not Mars -- Marge Attacks!

The X Factor: "Best Friends"

Simon Cowell is bringing "The X Factor" to the USA in 2011 to hopefully vanquish American Idol. (Okay, both shows will be on Fox so they can't air at the same time, but if X Factor turns out to be more popular...) Here's a video of two girls who talk about how close they are, but wait until the end of the audition...



I like the idea of auditions occurring in front of an audience, especially if they're really bad.

Phillies Win Win Win Win NL East!

Editor's Note: I've failed in my mission to complete a blog post while inebriated after the Phillies clinch the NL East title. Like the New York Mets in 2007, I came close and then collapsed. Like Donovan McNabb in the Super Bowl, I came close and then threw up. (And unlike McNabb, I candidly admit it.) The following was written last night during the night, however:

Okayyyyyyyy...here we are again. But first, let's reminisce. First, let's go back to 2007, when the New York Mets had a 7-game lead in the National League East with just 17 games left in the season. After a few near-misses from 2001 through 2006, it looked bleak for the Phillies once again. Yet, they kept winning, and the Mets collapsed. The Phils and Mets were tied going into the final day of the regular season, and then the Mets fell behind the Florida Marlins 7-0 in the first inning before the Phils even took the field for their game. The Phillies finally broke through and won the NL East title. I had a bottle of "champagne" that was sitting since 2001, and on that day I opened it and drank. All of it. And then I wrote this post on the Outsports blog.

Let's move a bit forward. 2008. The Phils had been knocked out in the 2007 playoffs, but went back to work. On the next-to-last day of the 2008 regular season, circumstances allowed me to get a ticket to the Phillies-Nationals game at Citizens Bank Park, and I was rewarded. A spectacular stop by Jimmy Rollins resulted in a game-ending double play, clinching the second straight NL East title for the Phils. I went home and drank. And posted this.

(Okay, I'm kinda getting woozy now from the alcohol...gotta fight on and finish this!)

D'oh!

Oh, Homer, how could you?

Phillies Clinch...Something; Also: Eagles/NFL Stuff

Even though the Phillies have lost two in a row (to the whiny New York Mets, no less) they still clinched a playoff berth today after the San Diego Padres lost. The explanation is here, if it's important to you. It's not important to me. I've decided to save my post-clinching drinking for when they reach their real goal for the regular season, the NL East title. They've clinched a tie for it thanks to Atlanta's loss today. Tomorrow the Phils are in Washington (weather permitting) and the Braves are home against Florida. A Phils win or a Braves loss and I start downing rum and diet cokes and writing up a blog post while under the influence. It's now a yearly tradition, with a bonus drunk post after another event of some significance, so be sure to read it!

Meanwhile, a 28-3 pounding of the Jacksonville Jaguars has the Eagles at 2-1, and all by themselves in first place in the NFC East. While the Eagles played quite well, I don't think Jacksonville is very good, so I'm still not entirely sold. And even with Donovan McNabb, Washington is 1-2 after they lost today. McNabb brings his new team to town next week, and then the Eagles go to San Francisco, a team that would have been better off getting McNabb from the Eagles instead of sticking with Alex Smith at QB, and a team with a coach, Mike Singletary, that I've come to believe to be highly incompetent. I think the Eagles will be 4-1 going into their game against Atlanta (currently 2-1, having won at New Orleans today) and we still won't know how good they really are. They lost to the only good team they've faced.

I think the league is mostly wide open this year. There are five unbeaten teams -- 3-0 Pittsburgh and Kansas City, 2-0 Miami (playing the Jets as I write this), 2-0 Chicago and Green Bay (they play each other tomorrow). Of those five, only Green Bay and, to a lesser extent, Pittsburgh seem to be for real at this point. Some highly touted teams -- Minnesota, NY Giants, Dallas, Cincinnati, New England -- have some issues. I think that, and the disaster zone that is the offensive line, is why Andy Reid decided to stick with Michael Vick at quarterback even after Kevin Kolb's concussion symptoms went away. That will work now, against weak competition. We'll see how Vick does when he has to face a real defense again.

By the way, I've been eliminated from that WIP Suicide Pool. I went with Washington this week. Thanks, Donovan.

Quick Review: Easy A

Movie trailers are interesting things. Sometimes they give away almost the entire plot of a film, or at least a few key spoilers. Now and then a trailer for a comedy includes all the good jokes so that when you see the movie you're bored because all the good stuff you've already seen. Occasionally there are things in a trailer that don't make it into the actual film. And then there's the case of "Easy A." If you've seen the trailer, you know that the plot has to do with a high school girl, Olive (Emma Stone), who pretends to have sex with a gay kid so that he doesn't get bullied any more, and this leads to her getting a reputation as the sluttiest girl in school, and she rebels by wearing a red "A" since in class they're reading "The Scarlet Letter," and so on. Well, the trailer is very misleading as to the order of events and Olive's initial motivation -- where the lying actually starts. It's a different issue entirely that sets things in motion. This isn't a criticism of the movie, just a comment on the nature of trailers. The film itself is funny, if not perfect. There's a group of Christian kids that take on Olive's apparent slutty nature as a cause to moralize about, and they're pretty much a caricature. Olive's parents (Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci), embodying the hippie liberal opposite of the Christian kids, are somewhat of a caricature as well. Emma Stone is fabulous, though after seeing her in "Superbad" and "The House Bunny" and "Zombieland," it's no surprise. My grade: B-plus.

P.S. Another thing on the trailer: the gay kid asks Olive for "just one good imaginary fling" -- though when he says "fling" the picture cuts to the back of his head. Naturally, since it's a PG-13 film, I assumed that's where the one F-bomb that PG-13 films are usually allowed gets dropped. Surprise -- the word used in the movie was "bonk."

Half The Price, Twice The Hassle

I found a half-price ticket offer for the B-52's concert this Friday at the Electric Factory at PhillyDealYo (I'm not crazy about that name), a site connected to Philly.com that has daily specials. Usually these deals are for restaurants or shops, not for concerts. "$50.00 ticket for $25.00" was the offer. I've wanted to see the B-52's in concert but $50.00 is out of my price range. So is $25.00, probably, but I bought one anyway.

So I signed up, and once the minimum number of purchases were made and the deal became official (if they don't reach that minimum they cancel the offer) I received an email with instructions on how to get my ticket. I had to print out a voucher and take it to the Electric Factory box office. The voucher said I could redeem it during normal hours, including the day of the show.

Yesterday, since I was downtown, not far from the Electric Factory, I decided to head over to the box office and get my ticket so I wouldn't have to wait in line the night of the show. At the window I handed the woman the voucher. She and another woman looked at it and told me I had to bring it back the night of the show. "That's not what it says," I explained, and repeated the instructions on the voucher. I then stood there, in the 90-degree late afternoon sun, for about 20 minutes while the two women tried to figure out what to do, sometimes entering info into the computers; I think one woman got on the phone with someone at one point. Apparently this was the first time they had to deal with such a promotion. Eventually they determined that it was a deal between the PhillyDealYo site and Ticketmaster, and Ticketmaster had to authorize the discount ticket, and one woman said "we put in the request to Ticketmaster but I don't know how long it's going to take." Or something like that. It was only a minute or two after that when the ticket finally printed out.

(In case you still want to go, I checked the Ticketmaster site and it seems the actual ticket price is $39.50, but their added fees are $10.20; apparently, if you go to the Electric Factory box office and pay cash you can avoid the Ticketbastard fees.)

I only hope that I don't get half the entertainment for the half-price ticket!

Poor, Pathetic New York Mets

Here's a little bit from this blog post by Todd Zolecki, who covers the Phillies for MLB.com:

The Phillies were upset with the Mets for calling time when Brad Lidge was in the stretch, ready to deliver a 0-1 pitch to Jesus Feliciano with runners at the corners and two outs in the ninth inning. The Mets were upset with Utley for a late slide into second baseman Ruben Tejada in the fifth inning.

"I think that was terrible," Manuel said of the timeout in the ninth.

Seconds before Lidge threw a pitch to Feliciano, the Mets got third base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt to call timeout because they wanted Luis Castillo to pinch-run for Josh Thole at first base. Why the Mets waited until Lidge had started his at-bat with Feliciano is unknown, but Manuel did not like it. He got into a heated conversation with first base umpire and crew chief Jerry Layne before returning to the dugout.

"Terrible it was allowed and when it was done," Manuel said. "He's in a stretch. He's in the process of throwing the ball. They're over there screaming time out."

Lidge eventually got Feliciano to strike out to end the game and pick up his 27th save.

"It's a little ridiculous, I think," Lidge said. "That's an interesting freeze-the-kicker type move, I guess. I actually haven't seen that done in baseball. Hopefully that won't be a trend. Hopefully that's a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of thing."

Utley slid late into second base trying to break up a double play in the fifth inning. He started his slide almost as he reached the bag.

Tejada was not upset afterward, but his teammates were angry.

"I think it's a little dirty because I think he slid right on top of the base," Jose Reyes said. "He doesn't need to do that there in that situation."

"If he wants guys sliding like that into him then it's perfectly fine," David Wright said. "He knows how to play the game and if doesn't mind guys coming in like that when he's trying to turn a double play, then we don't have any problem with it. ... He knows the difference between a good, clean slide and a slide that's late. That's a better question for him."

Here's some video of the Mets players' postgame interviews.

Message For LGBT Youth: It Gets Better

In response to a suicide by a gay teenager from Indiana who hung himself after relentless bullying at his high school, sex-advice columnist Dan Savage has started a YouTube page, the It Gets Better project. He explains the page in his column:

"My heart breaks for the pain and torment you went through, Billy Lucas," a reader wrote after I posted about Billy Lucas to my blog. "I wish I could have told you that things get better."

I had the same reaction: I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better.

But gay adults aren't allowed to talk to these kids. Schools and churches don't bring us in to talk to teenagers who are being bullied. Many of these kids have homophobic parents who believe that they can prevent their gay children from growing up to be gay—or from ever coming out—by depriving them of information, resources, and positive role models.

His idea: having adults make a video in which they talk about how they survived growing up despite abuse and hate and bullying, and now are living wonderful lives, passing on the message that no matter how bad things are, they'll get better. Dan and his husband filmed the first one. Watch it after the jump...

My Week In Comics 9-15-10

An interesting (well, probably only to me) quirk: I bought four books -- from four different publishers.

Batman Beyond 4 (of 5): From DC Comics, obviously. I found this issue to be a letdown. If the last-page reveal of the person behind the "Hush" getup who is killing the former enemies of the original Batman is to be believed, it rubs me the wrong way. The way the tale here is told, it's not quite logical unless the story isn't being told in chronological order.

Rawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven 4 (of 4): And this one's from Marvel Comics, and was also a letdown. Everything played out quite predictably, including the identity of the old man who was being held with the Earp brothers. In the end, like most sequels, this didn't quite live up to the first series featuring the gay cowboy.

This image unites two of the four books this week!

Simpsons Comics 170: From Bongo Comics -- did I mention they finally have a website? -- comes a story that isn't a letdown! Lisa discovers that a tune she plays on her sax-o-mo-phone makes everyone instantly go from mean and greedy to kind and generous. Of course, she decides to use it to make the world a better place, but things don't quite go as she planned.

CBGB 2: Finally, we have this: a comic book about the legendary nightclub, from a company called Boom! Studios. Is it an ongoing book? A miniseries? No idea. The only reason I even looked at it is because one of the stories in this issue was written by Ana Matronic of the fabulous Scissor Sisters. It's ostensibly about a writer and her writer's block, but it's really a love letter to the New York City of the 70s, before the Disney-ification of Times Square, the days when CBGB was entering its prime as the home of the punk and New Wave scene. I highly recommend this one just for Ana's story.

Become Michael Cera! And Another Movie Thing...

I don't know when this was made but I'm sad it didn't mention Scott Pilgrim...



Speaking of which, I was thinking about my movie grades. I gave "Toy Story 3" an A, while "Despicable Me" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" both got A-minus grades. Yet the latter two movies were the only ones I wanted to, and did, go back and see a second time. So should I reverse these grades, or at least downgrade "Toy Story 3" a little? I still sort of think it was the superior movie, but I didn't have the same pull to see it again as I did the other two. Thoughts?

My Pool's Alive, Eagles Alive, Kolb's Career On Life Support

Here's an update on my previous post regarding the Eagles and the 610WIP Suicide Pool: before Week 1, there were 26,100 contestants in the suicide pool. After two weeks, only 11,989 remain. More than half the contestants have been wiped out. The losses by Dallas and Minnesota that had me so ecstatic were the main cause this week. I, on the other hand, am still alive in the competition thanks to my pick of the Eagles.

The circus atmosphere that surrounds the Eagles took another twist. Tonight they suddenly announced that Michael Vick was their new starting quarterback even though Kevin Kolb has been cleared to play after the concussion he suffered in the first half of the opening game. This, despite Andy Reid repeating over the last week, after Vick replaced Kolb in Week 1 and gave the offense a lift and after an even stronger performance this past Sunday in beating the Detroit Lions, that nothing had changed and Kolb was still the starter.

The Eagles traded their 2007 first-round draft pick to Dallas for some lower picks. With their first pick in the 2nd round they unexpectedly drafted Kolb, essentially anointing him Donovan McNabb's successor. They ended up spending three seasons grooming Kolb for the job. Although some fools said that McNabb's benching in a 2008 game marked the end of McNabb's Eagles career, it actually didn't occur until the 2009 season ended in infamy at Dallas (and Kolb, substituting for an injured McNabb, became the first QB to throw for 300-plus yards in his first two career starts). The Eagles finally sent McNabb to Washington in April, then signed Kolb to an extension through 2011.

Eagles And...Sudden Death

I was going to be a bit snarky with the title of this post. Why? I entered the 610WIP Suicide Pool again this year. The concept of the suicide pool is that you pick one NFL team each week to win a game -- no point spreads, just to win. If they win, you get to keep playing. If they lose, you're out of the contest. Hence the "suicide" you commit by picking the wrong team. Once you pick a team, you can't pick them again the rest of the season. That makes it more difficult because you can't pick the same obvious winner every week.

Last week I went with Arizona to beat St. Louis, and they did, although it wasn't easy. However, over one-third of the 26,100 contestants who entered the contest are already gone. A lot of them went down in flames because they picked San Diego, who lost to Kansas City on Monday night.

So this week, I decided to go with the Eagles and get it out of the way. The snarkiness of a title such as "Will Eagles drive me to suicide?" would be based on the absurdity that once again surrounds this team, even though they've only played one game, and despite all the proclamations about how this was a fresh new era now that Donovan McNabb and his drama are down the road in Washington.

Tainted Love!

Here's a little history lesson on one of my favorite songs, "Tainted Love."

There's the smash version made famous by Soft Cell in 1981. Here's a link to a weird music video, but embedded below is the amazing nine-minute extended version that segues into their cover of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go":




But did you know that "Tainted Love" itself was also a remake? Here's the fabylla original by Gloria Jones from 1965:



Among other covers are those by Marilyn Manson and...if you must...the Pussycat Dolls.

Quick NON-Review: I'm Still Here

We all became familiar with the story of Joaquin Phoenix and his apparent meltdown -- saying he was quitting acting to pursue a career as a rapper, gaining weight, growing a scraggly beard, acting bizarrely on the Late Show with David Letterman, etc. Some suspected it was a hoax because Casey Affleck was following him around with a camera, documenting everything.

Then it was announced that a documentary called "I'm Still Here," telling the story of Phoenix's seeming descent into madness, with scenes of drug use and hookers included, would be released. Still, there were doubters who were sure that it was a put-on of some kind, but everyone involved kept insisting it was not a hoax.

Until they decided to tell us it was a hoax. With the film now in theaters, Affleck just came clean to the New York Times and Phoenix is slated to return to the Letterman show next week, in a presumably more coherent condition. (Oddly enough, it seems that one of Letterman's writers did an interview in August 2009 in which he said that it was all a hoax and that Dave was even in on the joke. Only now is anyone paying attention to that interview, it seems.)

Follow These Celebs On Twitter, Everyone!

Last weekend I blogged about the Gumpathon -- the British and American Marines running across America to raise funds for injured soldiers from both countries. After I wrote that post, I had an idea. I follow a number of famous people on Twitter -- some more famous than others, obviously -- and have seen times when they retweeted messages from their followers. Sometimes it's just a funny comment, sometimes they're congratulations on some accomplishment (hit record, movie, etc.), sometimes they're requests for birthday greetings, and of course, sometimes they're posts with a cause.

So I decided to tweet a number of these people I follow with this request: "Can you pls RT this link about @TheGumpathon? They're raising $$ for injured soldiers. Thanks!" I was going to do it with every celebrity I follow, but cut the list down somewhat. Some of the cuts were because either they haven't been active on Twitter lately, or at all. The few celebs that actually follow me back I also left off the list, since they would have had my link already in their timeline (although I have no expectations that they'd actually click on it). Other choices were just arbitrary. I ended up with a total of 50 Twitter accounts, and by late Sunday night I sent out all 50 tweets (and two or three others to non-celeb accounts as well).

My request upset John Mayer so much that he quit Twitter.

An Open Letter To Twitter

Dear Twitter,

Where's this new Twitter everyone's going on about? I still have the old one. Don't you know who I am? I must insist that you provide me with this new Twitter immediately. But only if you've got the bugs worked out of it. I don't want a Twitter that has problems. The current Twitter works reasonably well, when it's not "over capacity." So give me the new Twitter but, to quote the legendary RuPaul, "Don't f--k it up!"

Oh, and one other thing: you want me to follow these people? Oh, hell no!

Sincerely, Joe

Hot Dog!

On Monday, as my friend Kurt -- that singing fool :) -- was off getting ready to go onto the field to compete in a singing contest at the Camden Riversharks' Country Music Night, I was standing on the concourse at Campbell's Field with a couple of his friends when one of the team employees came up to us and asked if anyone would like to participate in a hot dog-eating contest.

Now, we've had the Wing Bowl here in Philly for almost 20 years now, and I've always wondered what it would be like to be part of something like that. We were laughing about it, and I hemmed and hawed, and she said, "You can just eat one or two and have a free meal," and finally I said, "What the hell, why not?" and signed up. I am a sucker for a free meal.

My Week In Comics 9-9-10

Just one book on my list again this week, and unlike last week, I didn't add to it with a bonus purchase (although at some point I will be buying the remaining Scott Pilgrim volumes).


Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book 3 (of 5): There's chaos on the streets of Springfield. The death of Comic Book Guy led to the Internet being shut down, and the nerds and geeks are running wild. Only one man is smart enough to figure out how to stop the rampage: Homer Simpson. Meanwhile, because of the changes the new owner made to the Android's Dungeon comic shop, Bart needs a new hobby, and takes up...well, I won't spoil it. I will say that one of my friends, Martha Thomases, who does an excellent job writing this column weekly, will heartily approve. And both Marge and Lisa have dreams in which they receive a message that could...change...everything!

Quick Review: Going The Distance

Surprise, surprise, surprise. The romantic comedy "Going the Distance" turned out to have both required elements: romance and comedy. Erin (Drew Barrymore) is an intern at a New York newspaper (an intern in her 30s? Really?) who is having no luck getting the paper to give her a job as a reporter. (No jobs in the newspaper business? Okay, this part makes sense.) She decides to move back to San Francisco to finish her degree. Garrett (Justin Long) works for a record company (he has to promote a boy band instead of the indie rock acts he loves? Really? Okay, this is actually believable too). Erin and Garrett meet at a pub, have a fun night that goes into the next morning, and decide to keep seeing each other but keep it casual because Erin's leaving for California in six weeks. Those six weeks, however, are magical, and they find themselves in a long-distance relationship -- lots of phone calls, texts, etc. and the occasional cross-country flight. I have no idea if Barrymore and Long are still together in real life, but they make a nice film couple. The obstacles they face are mostly realistic, and the humor is sometimes raunchy (it earns its R rating) but kept me laughing quite a bit. In supporting roles great work is done by Christina Applegate and Jim Gaffigan as Erin's sister and brother-in-law, and Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as Garrett's friends. This movie didn't do well at the box office but deserves a better fate. My grade: B-plus.

Savage Love

I'm a big fan of Dan Savage's sex advice column, "Savage Love." I definitely recommend his books: "Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America," "The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant" and "The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family" if you haven't read them already. (The image shown is from a compilation of letters from his column. Don't click to look inside from this photo -- you have to do that at Amazon.com.)

But this is about a letter in this week's column. I'm sure his sometimes caustic advice isn't everyone's cup of tea, but on the other hand, I'm sure he gets many letters that aren't possibly from people with real problems. There's a lot of...creativity...in them. Whether or not this particular writer is making it up, Dan's answer made me laugh...

My mistress wants to deny me the pleasure of regular food. We want to create a "slop" that I can eat four to five times daily that is highly nutritious but as bland-tasting as possible. Any ideas? Can you consult a nutritionist? -- Seeking Slave Food

Are there any vegan restaurants in your area?

A Milestone Post, A Worthy Cause, An Important Day

Yesterday I noticed on my Blogger dashboard that my next post on this blog would be post number 500. I thought that such a milestone ought to be about something really important instead of the mostly trivial stuff I normally write about. I asked for suggestions on a Twitter/Facebook update. I got none. Fortunately, (insert name/title of your preferred deity or deities, or chalk it up to fate) provided inspiration today.

I had just gotten on the bus that runs along Frankford Avenue near my house. There was a bit of a commotion. The driver commented to another passenger about being stuck in the outer lane. There were a few cars and vans driving along the other lane, moving more slowly than the rest of the traffic. As the bus driver finally managed to pass the clog, I noticed two vehicles in particular -- with a red, white and blue motif and a lot of text, with one word in the largest font standing out: GUMPATHON. In between them was a man in what seemed to be a wheelchair/bicycle hybrid. His legs were still -- it was his arms "pedaling" the handlebars that powered his ride. Curious, I jumped out of the bus a minute later, ahead of the caravan, and captured some video. (You don't hear sound because of the YouTube sound issue I previously ranted about, so you can't hear the man give me a shout in response to my thumbs-up gesture as he passed.)



So, what is the Gumpathon?

More Randomness: Phils, Birds, Softball...Yarn? Chicken?

Submitted for your approval...or not...

• The Phillies finally had a day off after 24 games in 23 days. In that stretch they went 15-9 and have regained the NL East lead for the first time since May. The lead is now a game over Atlanta. Still, with Brad Lidge having elbow issues and Jimmy Rollins leaving their last game with a hamstring problem (that Charlie Manuel says wasn't serious and was due to dehydration; of course, he also said Ryan Howard's ankle injury wouldn't cause him to miss any games just before Howard went on the disabled list for nearly three weeks), and Placido Polanco's saying his elbow is broken (though he continues to play), and the team's general inconsistent hitting all season, it won't be smooth sailing the rest of the season.

• Meanwhile, the NFL is back. The Eagles start on Sunday, and that day they're wearing 1960 throwback uniforms as part of the commemoration of their 1960 championship team. Yes, that was 50 years ago. And yes, that was the last time the Eagles won a championship. So if you wonder why Eagles fans get a little (a lot) crazy, wonder no more.
  
  
  
  

Hating The Phils -- On TV, That Is

Way back in that magical year of 2008 I did a series of posts on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog in which I reviewed a game broadcast of every major league team (thanks to my subscription to the MLB Extra Innings package that year) as well as nationally televised games on ESPN, TBS and Fox. A summary of my grades for every broadcast can be found here. For the Phillies, I assigned a C-plus grade to the Comcast Sportsnet broadcast of a Phils-Nationals game. One key quote from my writeup: "It’s impossible to imagine a Phillies broadcast without Harry Kalas. It’s unfortunate that the Phillies haven’t built a better broadcast around him."

Sadly, the "impossible to imagine" became the norm in April 2009 when Harry Kalas died. Since then, Tom McCarthy has exclusively done TV play-by-play. Chris Wheeler (1st-3rd innings, 7th inning on) and Gary "Sarge" Matthews (4th-6th innings) handle the "analysis." And the broadcasts have, of course, suffered. McCarthy continues to talk and talk and talk, especially rambling during his innings with Sarge. Matthews still hasn't met a cliche he doesn't like. Wheeler, unpopular as ever, now is even getting on my nerves at times.

Randomness: Celebs Make Out, Come Out, Comics

Here are some unrelated items that caught my eye today...

• This isn't going to get me to listen to a music station with commercials, but morning show DJ Elvis Duran, whose Z100 (New York City) show is syndicated and airs on Q102 here (where he used to work in the 1980s -- I vaguely remember him being on in the afternoon at one point) came out on his show today in a very matter-of-fact way.

• Speaking of coming out, if any more long-time closeted Republican officials want to come out now, and then whine about how hard it was to be gay and working in the GOP, read this. Then go have a really blunt chat with your remaining GOP friends -- I say "remaining" because I bet some of them drop you like a hot potato -- about how despicable you've all been for so many, many years and how it has to end now. If you can't do that, then go fuck yourself, because I (among others) surely won't.

• Did Adam Lambert really make out with Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears while Katy Perry looked on? Watch this and find out!

• Sometimes the scheduled release date of a comic book is delayed. When such a book is connected to other books/storylines, it can be a problem. So the news that a book I thought would be out a couple of weeks ago, issue 5 of the "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" miniseries, has now been pushed back to October, just makes me laugh. There are all of these special one-shot issues due in October that are tied into Bruce Wayne's return, not to mention the regular monthly Batman books and that horrendous "Time Masters: Vanishing Point" miniseries. Unless everything's getting pushed back, there will probably be plot points mentioned in these other books that spoil what happens in "B:TROBW." (Would that acronym would be pronounced "be-tro-bwoo" or "buh-tro-bweh" or...?)

• But there is good news in comic book land: after 17 years of publishing Simpsons Comics, Futurama Comics and a bunch of related titles, and even a couple that had nothing to do with either show, Bongo Comics...finally has a website!

Quick Review: The Switch

How fun would it have been if "The Switch" had its original title, "The Baster," and at the same time perhaps had a little more subversiveness that such a title would indicate? A single New York City woman named Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) decides she wants to have a baby and hires a married man in need of funds (Patrick Wilson) to be the sperm donor, to the consternation of her best friend Wally (Jason Bateman), who loves her but hasn't told her because she put him in the "friend zone." Instead of doing it properly, Kassie holds an "insemination party," a drunken Wally stumbles into a bathroom and finds the cup with the magic material, and accidentally spills it. He then replaces it, with the help of Diane Sawyer.

My Week In Comics 9-1-10

There was only one comic this week that I planned to pick up, but after seeing a certain movie recently I decided to check out the source material. (If you saw my Twitter feed you already saw my photo of that particular purchase...)

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton 2 (of 3): The Elseworlds mini picks up with a teenage Kal-El. So, as we see in a number of books where Superman's features are reminiscent of Christopher Reeve, here he's drawn to look very much like Tom Welling from TV's "Smallville." In this series, where Jor-El and Lara accompanied their son to Earth (and have now added twins to the family), the alternate takes on all of these characters are sometimes interesting, but for the most part there aren't many differences in personality from regular continuity. Even with the fact that the Els are all famous, Kal-El still takes on the Clark Kent secret identity, and takes a job as a reporter with the Daily Planet, and still falls for Lois Lane and so on. It's kind of a fun read, though.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life: Yeah, big surprise, I know. The picture gave it away. This is, of course, the first volume of the six upon which the movie is based. From what I can tell, other than a few minor things there isn't any difference yet between this and the movie. The only thing that's odd for me is the black-and-white artwork. It's like an old TV show or movie -- where's my color? Oh, and if you didn't see my Scott Pilgrim avatar, go here!

Friday At The Phillies: Life Is (Sort Of) Tweet

There I was, sitting on one of those metal benches, with a crappy view of the game and annoying people around me, and I had no way to complain to you all!

Despite a bout of insomnia Thursday night, with only about a 3-hour nap Friday morning, I got myself to Citizens Bank Park for Friday's Phillies game vs. Milwaukee. As part of the Social Media promotion I previously mentioned, I got my special t-shirt (see photo at left). I got my $10 food/merchandise credit that paid for my jumbo hot dog and large diet soda -- well, not quite since it actually cost $10.25 -- and made my way to the Rooftop Bleachers.

The view from there is not really good. I think it's the worst place of all to see a game at CBP (see photo at right). Sitting above and behind Ashburn Alley, beyond the outfield fences, not only can you not see the area of the outfield closest to the fences, but the brick wall batters' eye in center field (one edge of it is in the bottom right corner of the photo) blocks even more of the view. And where I was, there's a light pole obstructing a bit of the view as well. Plus there are metal benches instead of individual seats.

All of this I knew already, even having never sat there before. Just walking by the area it was pretty obvious that it's not a prime location. The Phils first tried to market the Rooftop Bleachers just to groups, but now they sell individual game tickets and run special promotions (the Social Media one, singles nights, etc.) as well. Sitting there just confirmed what I already knew.

I figured that, being Social Media night, I'd be sending regular updates on Twitter, including the photos you see on this page. I thought I'd do score updates, mention the annoying people sitting around me saying and doing dumb things, and generally having fun. I figured wrong.

Earl's Not Stopping Phils Or Me

Remember those Phanatic Around Town statues I went around photographing? They've all been moved from the spots they stood at this summer, and they're going to be auctioned off to raise money for charity. But until that happens, all 20 statues are on display at Citizens Bank Park starting Friday. This is good because I'll be at the first game of this weekend's series against Milwaukee, and I can finally get a picture of the statue that was at the airport -- the only one I couldn't get, since it was behind the security lines and off limits to anyone without a plane ticket.

As I mentioned here, I got my ticket through a "Social Media" promotion and am supposed to get a "Life is Tweet" Phillies t-shirt. So I'll probably take a picture of that as well and tweeting during the game. If anyone's going to be there and wants to hang out, get in touch with me through email or Twitter. Don't worry about Hurricane Earl -- it's passing well enough offshore that any serious wind and rain will stay down by the coast. In a way, that's sad. One of the most amazing games I ever saw in person had a hurricane involved in the outcome. Here's my post about it on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog.

Meanwhile, the roller coaster ride continues. The same Phillies team that looked to be edging towards a fall when they were swept by Houston last week managed to win 6 of 7 on their road trip -- sweeping 3 from San Diego, winning 2 of 3 in Los Angeles and taking a wild 12-11 win at Colorado.

Back To The Drawing Board

Here's something that amused me while reading my Twitter feed and watching the Phillies game tonight. Schmaps & Schnaps has a workable idea: authorize it to link to your Twitter account and it can add a map to your tweets showing the location of your business, event, etc. They have Twitter accounts such as this that retweet posts, presumably at random, and add their "schmap" to it in order to promote their service. Here's one such example:

When you click on the link they add, you get this:

Cool, right? Well, sometimes their retweets are a little...off...I happened to click on one of these posts, the one below, and found this:

The tweet in question is referring to the Phillies' radio broadcast. "LA" is Larry Andersen, and "Schneider" is Phillies' catcher Brian Schneider. How this information was extrapolated and turned into a map showing the location of Lawrence H. Schneider, MD, is a mystery. So it seems that if you're in control of when to add the "schmap" it's fine. If it's added to every one of your tweets automatically? Not so fine.

There's A New Housewife In Town!

Love this ABC promo...



I have a good feeling about this upcoming season...that hasn't happened in a while.