Author / admin

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the official half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Arrow – After a stellar second season, Arrow returns for more angtsy fun.  On tap for this season are DC stalwarts Ra’s Al Ghul and Ray Palmer.

The Mysteries of Laura – Quite possibly the worst pilot I’ve seen ever.  What a waste of good talent.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its sixth season, is starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its tenth season with a new team member, the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Red Band Society – My initial instinct was to give this one a pass, but a few good reviews, plus an early premiere, made me decide to tune in.

9:00

Stalker – I’m not too sure about this one either, but Kevin Williamson has provided some excellent entertainment in the past.

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.

7:00

Selfie – I love Karen Gillan and am quite fond of John Cho, but put them together in this loose adaptation of Pygmalion and, at least based on the pilot, you get a steaming pile of something or other.  I will give this a chance to improve due to the talents involved, but I don’t hold out a great deal of hope.

The Flash – Spinning off from Arrow comes this latest forray from the CW in to the world of DC superheroes.  Hopefully it follows more from Arrow‘s example than Smallville‘s.

7:30

Manhattan Love Story – I’m not too sold on giving this new show, about the romance beteen two nuerotic New Yorkers, a shot.  But, I’m willing to try anything once.

8:00

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The show, which greatly improved following the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier, returns for a second season at a later timeslot and with a new status quo.

Supernatural – For some reason that nobody can particularly understand, the show returns for its 10th season.  The show has been adrift for quite some time now and last season really started to drag.  I’m willing to keep watching, but I don’t know for how much longer.

Marry Me – Casey Wilson reunites with the creator of Happy Endings, who also happens to be her husband, for this new comedy.  Happy Endings was a tremendous show that ended way too early, so I will give this a shot and hope that it rekindles some of that magic.

New Girl – The group returns for season 4, and less couples than we have seen in year’s past.  Hopefully, the funny keeps coming. Continue reading →

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Mondays

old-tv-set1Day 2 of our look at the new fall television season brings us to Mondays.

7:00

The Big Bang Theory – CBS spent $275 million to broadcast 8 Thursday night NFL games, so The Big Bang Theory moves back to Mondays until late October.  The show continues to be a ratings powerhouse, so hopefully the move doesn’t shake things up too much.

2 Broke Girls – Once The Big Bang Theory returns to its Thursday perch, 2 Broke Girls will return to the Monday slot it inherited last spring from How I Met Your Mother.  At this point, the show is what it is, so there is no point on hoping that the writers move away from their lowest common denominator form of comedy.  As long as Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings continue to charm, I will continue to watch.  But their charms only go so far.

Gotham – FOX gets in the superhero game with this Batman prequel, set in the days just after a young Bruce Wayne has witnessed the death of his parents.  The show has been sold as more of the Gotham police force dealing with the criminals that will one day become Batman’s fiercest foes.

8:00

Sleepy Hollow – I am going to be completely honest and say I don’t really remember much about the first season of this show, other than it was a little crazy and it didn’t exactly grab me as much as it seemigly did everyone else.  I guess I’ll stick around until/unless I find something to take its place.

Jane The Virgin – The first CW pilot in years to not feature either vampires or superheroes is an adaptation of a Venezuelen telenovela.  Early reports are that it is one of the better pilots of the fall, so I guess I can give it a shot.

9:00 Continue reading →

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicks into gear tonight. We start, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to. Continue reading →

by admin

#206 – Jerry Dybzinski

Jerry_Dybzinski_(White_Sox)_2

Name: Jerry Dybzinski

Rank: 206

Position: SS

Years With White Sox: 1983-1984

Jerry Dybzinski came to the White Sox in the trade that sent Pat Tabler to the Indians on April 1, 1983.  He split time with Scott Fletcher at shortstop for the eventual AL West champions, but came under fire for a base-running blunder in the 6th inning of game 4 of the ALCS against the Orioles.  With the game scoreless and Vance Law occupying third base, Dybzinski overran second, running the White Sox out of the inning and costing them the winning run that would have tied the series at 2 games a piece.  Instead, the Orioles scored 3 runs in the 10th inning to win the series and went on to win the World Series.

Dybzinski returned to the White Sox in 1984, backing up Fletcher and hitting a robust .235.  The following spring, 2 years to the day after he was acquired, he was released.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

#207 – Cory Snyder

30ebeb65e2762775597c9ab7e1ebe22eName: Cory Snyder

Rank: 207

Position: 1B/OF

Year With White Sox: 1991

Former Olympian Cory Snyder joined the White Sox on December 4, 1990 via a trade with the Indians in exchange for pitchers Shawn Hillegas and Eric King.  Things did not go smoothly for Snyder in Chicago, as he clashed with manager Jeff Torborg over playing time and with hitting coach Walt Hriniak over his approach at the plate.

“I was a power guy who had some strikeouts but I drove in runs,” Snyder would say years later.  “I wasn’t a line drive hitter. The Sox organization expected me to work with him. He was a lot different from Charlie Lau. Basically it was Walt’s way or the highway.”

On July 15, Snyder was hitting .188 and had only 3 home runs and 11 RBI.  Wi

by admin

Commuting Fun

A Tuesday night commute that took well over an hour and a half was spent, not with the iPhone on shuffle, but working my way through the Ws.

Weed Card Garfunkel and Oates All Over Your Face 9/16/2014 4:32 PM
Welcome Back (Kotter) John Sebastian The Best Of John Sebastian 9/16/2014 4:35 PM
Welcome To Paradise Green Day Dookie 9/16/2014 4:39 PM
Welcome To The Jungle Guns N’ Roses Appetite For Destruction 9/16/2014 4:44 PM
Were Not Gonna Take It Twisted Sister Stay Hungry 9/16/2014 4:49 PM
Werewolves Of London Warren Zevon Excitable Boy 9/16/2014 4:52 PM
What A Wonderful World Joey Ramone Music From Gilmore Girls 9/16/2014 4:55 PM
What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong’s All-Time Greatest Hits 9/16/2014 4:57 PM
What About Your Friends TLC Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip 9/16/2014 5:02 PM
What Do I Have To Do? Stabbing Westward Wither Blister Burn & Peel 9/16/2014 5:05 PM
What Happened To You? The Offspring Smash 9/16/2014 5:08 PM
What I Am Continue reading →
by admin

Top 200 Albums – #197 – 206

itunes_imageMy latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 3 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 200 albums whose songs I’ve listened to as of September 2014, according to iTunes. Today we start at the bottom of the list and begin our journey with the 10 albums tied for 197th with 21 listens.

#198: Great White – …Twice Shy
iTunes stats: 21 plays
The fourth album from Great White makes this list on the backs of one song, which was the band’s biggest hit.

#197: Weezer – Maladriot
iTunes stats: 21 plays
Weezer’s fourth offering, released in 2002, had 2 songs make up their total.

#197: Various Artists – The Beavis and Butt-head Experience
iTunes stats: 21 plays
Cashing in on the cultural phenomenon that was Beavis and Butt-head, this compilation makes this list thanks to the animated duo’s cover, with Cher, of I Got You Babe.

#197: Various Artists – Billboard Top Hits: 1987
iTunes stats: 21 plays
This compliation album of the top pop hits of 1987 by bands that were willing to be included on a random compilation album places on this list thanks to 4 different tracks, from U2, Belinda Carlisle, Chris de Burgh, and Crowded House.

#197: Various Artists – 8 Mile (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
iTunes stats: 21 plays
The soundtrack to Eminem’s first (and, to date, only) movie rode his smash hit Lose Yourself to this spot.

Continue reading →

by admin

Expos vs Marlins… In Chicago?

CellExposMarlins10 years ago, south Florida ran in to some problems with hurricanes, first with Hurricane Frances, which caused the Marlins to have to cancel an entire series against the Cubs, and then with Hurricane Ivan, just as the Expos were due to roll in to town.  Rather than cancel another series, the Marlins moved the first two games to, of all places, Chicago.  10 years ago today, I went to US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, to see the Marlins battle the Expos.

With general admission ticket prices set at $15, 5 of which went to a hurricane defense fund, I headed down to the second of the 2 games the teams played in town.  The Marlins, playing the part of the home team, brought their own public address announcer, their own mascot, and their own graphics to be used on the center field scoreboard.  Southpaw, the mascot of the host White Sox, palled around with Billy Marlin.  The games marked the first time that a National League game was played in an American League stadium since 1946, when the Braves had to play the Phillies at Fenway Park due to painted seats that hadn’t yet dried.

For the Expos, it was just another strange trip in a season full of them.  This was their last season in existence, when they played a portion of their home schedule in Puerto Rico.  The travel for this series should have been nothing, since the team was already in town to play the Cubs the weekend before.  However, a previously booked convention kicked them out of their hotel downtown, forcing them to move out to Arlington Heights, which is not an exactly convenient locale when playing on the South Side.

The Marlins managed to win both games of the series before they were able to head back to Florida and continue the season as planned.  The Expos played out the last 20 or so games of their existence before moving to Washington and becoming the Nationals.