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A Pause In The Season

This weekend’s series between the Cubs and the Cardinals in St. Louis has been cancelled after an additional two Cardinal players and a staff member have tested positive for COVID-19.  In total, nine Cardinals players have tested positive for the corona virus since last week and the team has not played since July 29th.  Assuming they can resume play on Monday, they will need to play 55 games in just 49 days in order to complete their 60 game schedule.

The Cubs will head back to Chicago tonight, and then likely hold work outs at Wrigley Field before resuming their schedule on Tuesday in Cleveland.  They aren’t scheduled to return to St. Louis this year, so making up these games will likely include some combination of double headers at Wrigley and mutual off days, if the games are made up at all.

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Post Mortem – Modern Family

After 11 seasons, Modern Family wrapped up its run in April, having won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards and 6 Writers Guild of America Awards.  Conceived by creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan while sharing stories of their own “modern families,” the show was presented in the mockumentary style that was all the rage in the late 2000s/early 2010s.

The ensemble cast, headed by television veteran Ed O’Neill, powered the show, with breakout performances by Sofia Vergara and Ty Burrell.  I’m sure we will be seeing this cast in numerous other projects for years to come.

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If You Build It, Nobody Will Come

The White Sox were scheduled to participate in next week’s “Field of Dreams” game in the cornfields of Iowa, first, against the Yankees pre-pandemic and then against the Cardinals once the schedules were re-jiggered.  Now, the game, slated for Dyersville, Iowa, near the filming location of Field of Dreams, has been called off due to logistical issues brought on by the corona virus.  Not directly blamed, but probably a contributing factor, is the outbreak of infections that the Cardinals suffered this past weekend, pausing their season.

The game, considered a home game for the White Sox, will likely be moved back to Guaranteed Rate Field, assuming the Cardinals are back in action.  The game in Iowa is expected to be pushed to 2021, with the White Sox playing an opponent to be determined.

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Fitbit 6: Week 27

Well, that’s more like it.  Week 20 of working from home due to the corona virus was my 5th consecutive week of increase and my first time surpassing my weekly goal in nearly a year, when I racked up 55,256 steps last August.  It also brought in my highest total since last August’s second week in San Francisco, when I scored 73,708 steps and the first time I met my goal every day of the week since last June’s trip to DC.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday, where a trip to Mariano’s helped me finish the day 20 steps shy of 8000.  Monday was the low point of the week, finishing just 91 steps over goal.  Tuesday came in 4 steps short of 7900.  Wednesday was in the same ballpark, coming in just over 7700 steps.  Thursday was the high point of the week, using an afternoon walk to finish with over 9400 steps.  Friday came in at 7600 steps, while Saturday managed to get up over 7700 again.

Total steps: 55,991

Daily average: 7998.7

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You Ought To Be In (11) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 10 actors that have starred in 11 movies that I have seen, the same number at this level as 3 years ago.

Jim Carrey

There has been no change for Carrey since I last encountered him back in 2009, when I saw the previous year’s Yes Man.

Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio first appeared on my movie screen in 1996, with The Basketball Diaries.  After a three year run to start, I had a gap of 8 years between his films, from 2002-2009.  2011 was his most prolific year, with 3 different films.  The most recent film of his that I’ve seen was last year’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, which I saw earlier this year.

Carla Gugino

A nice debut for Gugino, who first showed up on my radar in the mid-90s thanks to her role in the Pauly Shore classic Son-In-Law.  She appeared in 2 films that I saw in 2001, 2016, and 2020, with 2011’s Hide and 2017’s Gerald’s Game.

Helen Hunt

2006 remains the last time I saw a starring role from Helen Hunt.

Hugh Jackman

After replacing Dougray Scott as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, Hugh Jackman has been a steady presence on my movie screen.  7 of those appearances have been in the X-Men universe, including his last appearance, in 2017’s Logan.

Anna Kendrick

Continue reading →

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Post Mortem – Arrow

Say what you will about Arrow, but it certainly did not fail this network.  Premiering on The CW on October 10, 2012, the show ran for 8 seasons and spawned what would become known as the Arrowverse, which includes fellow DC-based programs The Flash, Supergirl, Legends Of Tomorrow, and Batwoman.  As of today, the Arrowverse has been responsible for 25 seasons of programming on The CW.

The abbreviated 8th, and final, season was a precursor to the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, which not only brought together the heroes from all of the Arrowverse series, but changed the footing underneath them moving forward.  Whatever the actors move on to next, they will always be able to say that, after years of floundering, they gave an identity to The CW.

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The Dog Days Of Summer

As we prepare to enter the dog days of summer, we have 4 shots of Angelina and Michael.  First, they pose in front of the Beverly Hills sign from New Year’s Eve 2018.  Next is a shot of them from the Capitol Building and then outside the White House from last June’s trip to DC.  Finally, from Warner Bros. Studio is a picture of them next to the Privet Drive street sign from Harry Potter.

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Post Mortem – Hawaii Five-0

After 10 seasons and 240 episodes, CBS announced that Hawaii Five-0 would wrap up its run in April.   The last remaining original stars, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan, both had expiring contracts at the end of the season and O’Loughlin, who suffered a serious back injury during the early seasons of the show, has been dealing with the after-effects ever since and felt he could not continue with the action scenes required of him.

While never a favorite, the show has been a nice popcorn show to wrap up the week for the past 7 years.  It took on a bit of a special place in my heart following my trip to Hawaii last February, as I started to recognize locations around Waikiki Beach.

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Post Mortem – The Good Place

The Good Place closed up shop in January after 4 years of delivering twists and turns, reboots, and surprises aplenty.  Quite possible the most philosophical sitcom of all time, the show tackled ethics and philosophy while trying to determine what makes someone a good person and thus deserving of eternal life in the “good place”.

Looking back, it’s hard to imagine how this could have gone wrong.  With an impressive pedigree from creator Mike Schur and stars Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, the show introduced me to amazing performances from William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto, and the amazing D’Arcy Carden.  I’m on board for whatever any of these fine actors do next.

Bortles!

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NBC Upfronts

Earlier this month, NBC presented their upfront presentation in the guise of a 30 Rock reunion episode.  Jack McBrayer’s Kenneth, who had been put in charge of NBC in the series finale, continues in that role in the special, putting together the fall lineup for the real NBC that will air… sometime.  The week will get off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by another season of Manifest.  Tuesday stays static, leading off with more of The Voice, followed by This Is Us and New Amsterdam.

Wednesday also stays the same, with Dick Wolf’s 3 Chicago series running back to back to back.  Thursday starts with a small comedy block, with Superstore followed by Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Law & Order: SVU moves up an hour for its 22nd season, followed by a new spin-off series, Law & Order: Organized Crime, bringing Christopher Meloni back to the L&O fold.  The Blacklist returns on Friday, followed by 2 hours of Dateline NBC.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

New shows on tap for midseason include The Keenan Show, a family comedy starring Kenan Thompson, Mr. Mayor, a comedy starring Ted Danson as a wealthy businessman who runs for mayor of Los Angeles for all the wrong reasons, and Young Rock, inspired by and starring Dwayne Johnson.