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2014 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Monday night, here’s my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Comedy

The Big Bang Theory

Louie

Modern Family

Orange Is The New Black

Silicon Valley

Veep

Modern Family would be the obvious choice here, since the voters seem to love it.  But Veep is certainly my dark horse candidate, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Lena Dunham, Girls

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Taylor Schilling, Orange Is The New Black

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award last year, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Ricky Gervais, Derek

William H. Macy, Shameless

Louis CK, Louie

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Once again, I am predicting a repeat of last year’s winner, with Jim Parsons bringing home the award again for his role as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.

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GF4 – Week 6

Y4Week6Another decent week, with an outlier on Wednesday thanks to a trip to the local bowling establishment with our visitors from ANI.  Friday barely missed out on the 5000 step mark, thanks to a busy day at work and a tremendously long commute.  The weekend was actually better than most, but still somewhat disappointing.

Total steps: 45,392

Daily average: 6484.6

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You Ought To Be In (21) 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 May 30th.

Today, we look at the 1 actor that has starred in 21 movies that I have seen.

Harrison Ford

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Harrison Ford entered the national consciousness as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy.  Those 3 films, along with the second entry in the Indiana Jones series, form the basis of Ford’s place on this list.  I have seen 2 of his films in three different years, 1996, 2000, and 2012, which were the last of his films that I’ve seen, thanks to Cowboys & Aliens and Morning Glory.

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#215 – Chuck McElroy

Chuck_McElroy_(1997_White_Sox)_3

Name: Chuck McElroy

Rank: 215

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1997

Looking to shore up the bullpen a month and a half in to the 1997 season, general manager Ron Schueler turned to his frequent partner, the Angels, and sent Tony Phillips and Chad Krueter out west in exchange for Jorge Fabergas and Chuck McElroy, a proven left handed reliever.  He appeared in 48 games for a disappointing White Sox team that finished in second place despite being one game under .500.

Following the season, McElroy was left unprotected by the White Sox in the expansion draft and he was selected by the brand new Arizona Diamondbacks.

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

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#216 – Russ Morman

russmormanName: Russ Morman

Rank: 216

Position: 1B

Years With White Sox: 1986, 1988-1989

With their second selection in the first round of the 1983 draft, the White Sox selected Russ Morman out of Wichita State.  He made his major league debut on August 3, 1986 in a White Sox blowout against the Tigers, where he became the second player in major league history to get two hits in the same inning during his first game.  Morman finished out the year in the big leagues, appearing in 49 games and hitting .252.

1987 saw Morman back in Tripe A for the entire season.  He managed to have multiple stints with the White Sox in 1988, appearing in 40 games, but seeing his average and power numbers drop.

1989 was more of the same for Morman.  He again split time between Triple A and the big leagues, and his games played and average both continued to drop.  Following the season, he was released.

Morman’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#217 – Kirk McCaskill

mccaskill175

Name: Kirk McCaskill

Rank: 217

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1992-1996

Kirk McCaskill signed with the White Sox as a free agent heading in to the 1992 season.  He entered the starting rotation and put up a respectable 12-13 record with a 4.18 ERA.

While things went better for the White Sox in 1993, as they finally broke through and won their first division title in a decade, the same could not be said for McCaskill.  He lost his spot in the starting rotation in June after going winless in 7 starts.  “I like to think Kirk can get it back together as a starter, but I’d like to say it won’t happen this year because if it does, that means something happened to our rotation,” manager Gene Lamont said.  McCaskill finished the year in the bullpen, even recording his first save.  During the post-season, he made 3 appearances in the 6 game ALCS against the eventual World Champion Blue Jays, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

In 1994, McCaskill posted his best season as a member of the White Sox, working entirely out of the bullpen.  He appeared in 40 games, racked up a career high 3 saves, and posted a 3.42 ERA.  Unfortunately for McCaskill and the White Sox, the season came to a premature end thanks to the players strike that wiped out the last month and a half of the season and the post-season.

When the work stoppage finally ended and the 1995 season got underway, things went south, for both McCaskill and the White Sox.  His ERA jumped by nearly a run and a half as the White Sox fell to third place.

1996 did not go any better.  McCaskill appeared in 29 games through the end of July and saw his ERA jump to nearly 7.00.  After giving up 4 hits and 2 runs in 1 inning of work against the Royals on July 20th, McCaskill was released by the White Sox.  “I don’t think you’re ever prepared for it,” McCaskill said.  “I’ve had a long career and it happens to a lot of people.”  Manager Terry Bevington said “It’s always tough to let someone go.  You don’t like seeing someone lose his job.  Kirk has had a good career with the White Sox.”  Thus endeth the major league career of Kirk McCaskill.

McCaskill’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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Book 13 (of 52) – Bravo

Bravo - Greg Rucka

Bravo – Greg Rucka

2 years ago, Greg Rucka introduced us to Jad Bell and his team of Delta Force operatives in Alpha.  His follow-up, Bravo, picks up a few weeks later, with Bell and his team hot on the trail on the people behind the attack at the Wilsonville amusement park.

Rucka gives us a more straight-laced military thriller than last time, something more akin to his Queen & Country works.  He picks up the threads from his last book and weaves them into a satisfying follow up, while still leaving room for the series to continue.  Will there be a Charlie in our future? I, for one, am looking forward to it.

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You Ought To Be In (20) 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 May 30th.

Today, we continue with the 2 actors that have starred in 20 movies that I have seen.

Robert Downey Jr.

My first experience with Robert Downey Jr. was likely 1987’s The Pick Up Artist.  Things were a little slow after that, as I racked up only 7 films through the mid-2000s, likely in part due to Downey’s notorious partying.  Things picked up in starting in 2007, thanks to his taking on 2 classic roles in literature adaptations, Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.  Those 2 franchises have contributed 6 films to his total.  His greatest output in one year was 2008, when I saw 4 of his films.  My most recent experience with Downey’s work was last year, when I saw both Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows and Iron Man 3.

Tom Hanks

In 1984, Tom Hanks splashed on to the movie scene in the aptly titled Splash.  My biggest Tom Hanks year was 1988, when I saw at least 3 of his films, and there were 3 other years where I saw 2 of his films.  2011 was the last time I saw one of his films, 2002’s Catch Me If You Can.

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Back To The 80s

fauxbackThe Cubs celebrated the 1980s this weekend in their season long salute to Wrigley Field’s 100th birthday.  There was just one small problem: their opponent, the Tampa Bay Rays, didn’t come in to existence until 1997.

A few years ago, the Rays held a flashback night of their own, looking back to the 1970s.  To mark the occassion, the team created a fake throwback, or fauxback, of what the might have worn had they been around in the 70s.

When the Rays took the field today, they were decked out in uniforms that would appear to be the road set for the fauxback uniforms they wore for their own throwback night.  While not necessarily something any team would have worn in the late 80s, it was much more of a departure from their current set than what the Cubs wore, which was basically their current uniform minus the buttons and leather belt.

These uniforms were ridiculous, but its ok to remember that this a kids game every once in a while and be ridiculous.  While I have cut back on Cubs games dramatically the last few years, I’m glad I attended this one, if only so, years from now when someone brings up these uniforms, I can say that I was there.