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You Ought To Be In (13) 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, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we continue with the 8 actors that have starred in 13 movies that I have seen, 3 more than what there were 3 years ago.

Amy Adams

A 3 spot jump for Adams, thanks to films in 2014, 2016, and earlier this year with 2016’s Arrival.

Morgan Freeman

2014’s Lucy, which I saw in 2015, enabled Freeman to move up one slot.

Anne Hathaway

A 2 spot jump for Hathaway, who added films in 2015 and 2016, where The Intern was her most recent starring role.

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt had a 4 year streak come to an end in 2013, when I saw World War Z.

Natalie Portman

My last experience with Portman’s work remains 2013’s Thor: The Dark World.

Julia Stiles Continue reading →

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Rocking Out 90s Style

The last two weeks have seen me revisiting the 90s with 2 concerts, Matthew Sweet and Garbage.  Things started last Thursday when I headed in to the city to see Matthew Sweet at the City Winery.  I was pleasantly surprised that I knew 3 of the songs Sweet performed, which was 2 more than I thought I would going in.  A good night, though poorly timed due to my trip to Disney World the following morning.

The second gig was last night, as I traipsed up to the northern suburbs for my first visit to Ravinia, as Garbage and Blondie had come to town for their Rage and Rapture Tour.  This was my 6th Garbage show, though the first outdoors.  Shirley Manson and the boys did not disappoint, putting together a strong set and overcoming a crowd that seemed more interested in sitting down and relaxing than rocking out.  We abandoned the pavilion for Blondie’s portion of the show, eventually heading back to the train for the ride back in to Chicago.

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#19 – Greg Luzinski

Name: Greg Luzinski

Rank: 19

Position: DH

Years With White Sox: 1981-1984

With a new ownership group in place and looking to make a splash, the White Sox purchased Greg Luzinski from the Phillies on March 30, 1981.  Coming off a disappointing season, the Chicago-area native responded well to the change, hitting .265 with 21 home runs in the strike-shortened season.  He earned Comeback Player of the Year honors, beating out teammate Bill Almon by 5 votes, and finished 23rd in MVP voting.

Luzinski had another strong year in 1982.  He raised his average to .292, his highest total since 1977, while hitting 18 home runs and driving in 102 runs.

In 1983, Luzinski was a powerful cog in leading the White Sox to their first division title.  He launched the 8th, 9th, and 10th rooftop home runs in Comiskey Park history between June 26 and August 28.  While his average dropped to .255, he hit 32 home runs and drove in 95, good enough to finish 17th in MVP voting.  Like the rest of his teammates, he struggled during the ALCS against the Orioles, hitting only .133 in the 4 game series.

Those struggles carried over in to 1984.  His average dropped again, to .238, and his power output fell as well.  He finished the year with only 13 home runs, his lowest total since 1974, and 58 RBIs, though he did manage to hit his fourth rooftop blast on July 3 against the Tigers.  He became a free agent following the year and decided to retire.

Luzinski’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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The Sell Off Continues

Rumors started flying during Tuesday night’s White Sox game about Todd Frazier and David Robertson being on the move, first to the Red Sox and, eventually, to the Yankees.  As the game went on, details started dripping out and, once the game was complete, the trade was officially announced.  The White Sox were sending Frazier, Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees for outfielder Blake Rutherford, starter Ian Clarkin, outfielder Tito Polo, and reliever Tyler Clippard.

Frazier, who seems like the nicest person in the world, has had trouble putting together sustained success since being acquired by the White Sox in 2016 and is a free agent at the end of the season.  Robertson has another year left on his deal and has done a tremendous job at the back end of the bullpen, but a highly paid closer is a luxury for a rebuilding team.  Kahnle looks to have finally put things together out of the pen this year, but the history of middle relievers flaming out after one good year is legend.

Rutherford becomes the 10th White Sox prospect in MLB’s top 100.  Clarkin is a former 1st round draft pick who has been bitten by the injury bug over the course of his career.  Clippard will slide in to the bullpen, taking one of the spots vacated by the outgoing pitchers.  Polo, aside from having the coolest name in the trade, looks to potentially be a fourth outfielder at some point.

There may be a few trades left between now and the deadline, but this looks to be the last of the big hauls coming back.  GM Rick Hahn has completely restocked the farm system and, now, the hard work begins.  Developing these prospects in to major league talent who can compete for a World Series title is the next step.

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Fitbit III: Week 24

A tremendous week, as I posted my best total since late March/early April.  The week got off to a great start on Sunday with a 10,000 step day, thanks to a morning walk to Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast.  Monday used an impromptu day-long meeting in North plaza to surpass 8000 steps.  Tuesday nearly made it to 7000 steps, in part due to a walk over to Willow for day 2 of the impromptu meeting.  Wednesday was my second 10,000 step day of the week, surpassing 11,000 steps thanks to an after work walk.  Thursday was back down to 7000 steps, in part due to a post-work trip to the City Winery to see Matthew Sweet.  My best day of the week (and year) came on Friday, as I flew down to Florida with Angelina for a day at Disney World.  The 20,208 steps I logged are currently the 4th highest total I’ve accumulated in the 7 years I’ve been tracking.  Saturday only managed just over 5000 steps as I recovered from the previous day lounging around the house before heading out to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch the White Sox lose to the Mariners.

Total steps: 68,650

Daily average: 9807.1

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Passing GlobalFit

In 3 years and 29+ weeks of the Global Fit program, I finished with 6,511,500 total steps.  On Sunday, in less than 2 years and 24 weeks, I surpassed that total while using the Fitbit.

There are many reasons why my time with the Fitbit has been more fruitful.  Chief among them is the number of 10,000 step days I’ve accumulated.  I managed 45 under the Global Fit program and 102 (to date) with the Fitbit.

This was the last major milestone I had to pass from the GlobalFit days, so I’m now in uncharted territory.  10,000,000 steps is the next large goal, and, if things continue on the pace they are, I should reach it sometime in December 2018.  Assuming I live that long.

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You Ought To Be In (12) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many 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, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we look at the 9 actors that have starred in 12 movies that I have seen, an increase of 1 from 3 years ago.

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman probably first appeared on my radar with 1987’s Teen Wolf Too.  After another film in 1992, he took the rest of the century off and didn’t reappear on my screen until 2010, when he started a streak of 5 films in 3 years, followed by another streak of 5 films in 3 years, culminating last year in both The Gift and The Longest Week.

Jamie Lee Curtis

My last experience with the former teenage scream queen remains 2011, when I saw 2010’s You Again.

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas moves up one spot, thanks to the addition of 2015’s Ant-Man.

Will Ferrell

The SNL vet moves up two spots, with films in 2015 and 2017, when I saw Get Hard.

Gene Hackman

Hackman has mostly retired at this point, so the odds are that the last film I saw of his, Runaway Jury in 2012, will continue to be his last.

Corey Haim

My final Haim film was 1993’s Just One Of The Girls, which I saw in 2004.  Haim passed away in 2010, so he is not likely to be moving up this list anytime soon.

Tommy Lee Jones

The most recent entry in the Jason Bourne series enables Tommy Lee Jones to move up one spot.

Gwyneth Paltrow Continue reading →

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Switching Sides

On Thursday, the White Sox pulled off the trade that many said couldn’t be done, sending Jose Quintana to the Cubs in exchange for Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, and Bryant Flete.  Jimenez, an outfielder, is the 8th ranked prospect in baseball and Cease, a pitcher, is the 63rd, giving the White Sox 9 out of the top 100 prospects.  Quintana, meanwhile, gives the Cubs starting rotation a boost as last year’s strength turned in to a question mark during the first half of the season.

Quintana originally signed with the White Sox as a minor league free agent on November 9, 2011.  He made his major league debut on May 7, 2012, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against the Indians at Progressive Field.  He quickly moved in to the rotation and became a steady, if unlucky, presence on the mound.  At the time of the trade, he had a career mark of 50-54 with an unbelievable 65 no decisions.  Last year, he made his first All Star team and finished 10th in Cy Young Award voting.

Quintana’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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#20 – Bobby Jenks

Name: Bobby Jenks

Rank: 20

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2005-2010

Bobby Jenks joined the White Sox organization on December 17, 2004, when he was selected off waivers from the Angels.  After starting the year in Double A Birmingham, he was called up to the big league club on July 5 and made his major league debut the following day, throwing a scoreless inning against the Devil Rays at US Cellular Field.  When Shingo Takatsu proved ineffective and Dustin Hermanson went down with a back injury, Jenks became the closer in September.  He finished the regular season with 6 saves, to go along with a 1-1 record and a 2.75 ERA.  In the ALDS against the Red Sox, he threw 3 scoreless innings and picked up 2 saves in the 3 game sweep.  Thanks to the 4 complete games in the ALCS against the Angels, Jenks was well rested for the World Series.  He appeared in all 4 games against the Astros, throwing 5 innings and earning the save in Games 1 and 4.

With a World Championship under his belt, Jenks became the full time closer in 2006.  He earned his first All Star nod, and became the first White Sox pitcher to notch a save in the Mid-Summer Classic.  Despite a 4.00 ERA, he finished the year with 41 saves in 45 chances while compiling a 3-4 record.

2007 was a down year for the White Sox, but a good one for Jenks.  He made his second straight All Star team and lowered his ERA to 2.77.  He tied a major league record on August 12, when he retired 41st consecutive batter, becoming the first reliever to achieve the feat.  He finished the year with 40 saves and a 3-5 record in 66 appearances.

Jenks continued his dominant ways in 2008, as the White Sox bounced back in to contention.  He finished with a winning record for the only time in his career and set a career low with a 2.63 ERA.  He notched 30 saves and helped the White Sox return to the post season for the first time since his rookie year.  He threw a scoreless inning in picking up the save in the only White Sox victory in the ALDS against the Rays.

In 2009, Jenks started to struggle, as his ERA and WHIP were up while his strikeouts were down.  Finishing the year with a 3-4 record, his ERA was 3.71 and his save total dropped to 29, his lowest full-season total to date.

2010 was Jenks’ worst year with the White Sox.  His ERA rose again, to 4.44, and his WHIP was up again as well.  Despite his highest strike out total since 2006, he ended the year with a 1-3 record and only 27 saves.  Following the season, the White Sox declined to tender him a contract for the 2011 season, making him a free agent.

Jenks’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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An Adventure

Earlier this morning, I got on a plane, with Angelina, to head to Disney World.  Later tonight, we will hop back on another plane and return home.  What would cause someone to something this, well, goofy?  A day of adventure!  Which, was my graduation gift to her.

Odds are good that it will turn out slightly better than my last trip to the house of the mouse.  How much can we fit in one day?  Time will tell.