Author / admin

by admin

Book 37 (of 52) – Expert Witness

Expert Witness – Rebecca Forster

In the fourth entry of Rebecca Forster’s Josie Bates saga, an old case comes back to haunt Josie, as she and a local reporter are kidnapped.  Archer works with the local police to find out what happened while also taking legal responsibility for Hannah until Josie can be found.  When an accident with their main suspect and Archer taken out by a train accident, it’s up to the police to figure out who is truly responsible and find Josie before time runs out.

Expert Witness took a different track of sidelining the main character for the entire tale, focusing instead on Archer, Hannah, and local cop Liz Driscoll as they work to find out what happened to Josie.  While this was a bit of a bounce back from the last outing, it was also completely outside the established genre of the series.  Considering I still have three books left in the “complete” set plus one additional released more recently, I truly have no idea what to expect next from this series.  Maybe that’s a good thing?

by admin

Playoffs?

The Cubs, effectively tied for the third and final wild card spot after last night’s victory against the White Sox, have sent out post-season invoices to their season ticket holders for the first time since 2019.  Thanks to a randomly selected combination assignment, I would end up with tickets to two games in each potential round, a slight downgrade from years past.  I would maintain my normal seats through the NLCS but would end up relocated to the right field side should the team advance to the World Series.

The Cubs still have some work to do on the field to make sure all this preparation isn’t for naught.  They have been one of the hottest teams in the second half, but injuries to Marcus Stroman and inexperience may haunt them down the stretch.

by admin

Fitbit IX – Week 29

Despite the return of baseball, we still wound up the wrong side of 30,000 steps for the second week in a row.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday as I finished with just 3900 steps.  Monday was up a bit, finishing just 17 steps shy of 4200.  Tuesday fell off just a bit, coming in just over 4000 steps.  My worst day of the week was Wednesday, where I needed 14 additional steps just to get to 2900.  Thursday saw a nice increase, although I was still 5 steps shy of 3900.  A trip to the ballpark on Friday for Elvis Night led to my best day of the week, with 5600 steps.  Saturday saw another fall off, finishing just 5 steps higher than Wednesday’s total.

Total steps: 27,452

Daily average: 3921.7

by admin

You Ought To Be In (16) Pictures

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.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the five actors that have starred in exactly 16 movies that I have seen, an increase of three from 3 years ago.

Drew Barrymore

One of the most prolific actors on my radar in the 1990s and 2000s, she has disappeared since, with the most recent of her films that I’ve seen, Music And Lyrics, coming in 2008.

Cameron Diaz

I first encountered Cameron Diaz back in 1996, when I saw her in a little indie film called The Last Supper.  She managed to get two films on my list in four different years, most recently in 2010.  She has mostly retired from acting, which explains why 2010’s Knight and Day, which I saw in 2019, remains the last film of hers I’ve seen.

Brad Pitt

In 1994, I saw a little film called Kalifornia, which introduced me to Brad Pitt.  While he would become a mega-star over the next few years, I was a bit of a late comer to his films.  Other than watching A River Runs Through It in 1997 during the Sports in Literature class I took during my last semester of college, it was 2000 before I saw another Pitt film.  Making up for lost time, I plowed through three films in 2000.  He had a four-year streak between in 2010 and 2013, then entered a dry spell that ended in 2020, when he reappeared with two films.  His most recent appearance was in 2022, thanks to that year’s Bullet Train.

Natalie Portman

The first starring roles of Natalie Portman’s that I saw were in 2001, when I watched a double feature of Where The Heart Is and Anywhere But Here.  Her appearances in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the Thor franchise have accounted for over 31% of her overall total.  2011 was a big Portman year for me, as I saw a whopping four of her films.  My last experience with her work came in 2022, when she returned to the MCU with Thor: Love and Thunder.

Will Smith

Will Smith’s transition from rapper to TV star to movie star began with 1995’s Bad Boys.  The following two year, he cemented himself as a huge star with the double feature of Independence Day and Men In Black.  The Bad Boys and Men In Black franchises have made up over 37% of his total movies that I’ve seen.  My most recent exposure to his work came in 2020, when I saw both 2019’s Gemini Man and 2020’s Bad Boys For Life.

by admin

Book 36 (of 52) – The Case Of The Howling Dog

The Case of the Howling Dog – Erle Stanley Gardner

When a man visits Perry Mason to help with both a will and a howling dog, it turns in to a murder trial, with a wife accused of murdering her husband, who had run off with the original man’s wife.  Perry skirts the line of legality while trying to determine what actually happened but uses the results to try and get vindication for his client.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Howling Dog, originally published in 1934, is just the fourth entry in his Perry Mason series.  Being that early, the characters of Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake are a little rougher around the edges than they would eventually become.  This case, though heavily modified, was featured as the 23rd episode of season two in the Raymond Burr version of the show.  With the HBO version of the show cancelled, there’s no push to continue to re-publish these old novels, so they will continue to become hard to come across, but when I do, I’ll be sure to add them to my collection.

by admin

Fitbit IX – Week 28

A week without baseball saw me on the wrong side of 30,000 steps for the first time in two weeks.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday as I finished with just 3900 steps.  Monday saw a decent decrease, going down to 3600 steps.  Things cratered on Tuesday, as I just managed to squeak by 2800.  Dinner guests of Wednesday helped push me back up over 4000 steps for the first time all week.  Thursday was even better, netting 4200 steps.  A trip out for dinner on Friday put me just over 4000 steps.  A visit from the cable guy to swap out all of my DVRs on Saturday left me just 11 steps short of 4400, my highest output for the week.

Total steps: 27,071

Daily average: 3867.3

by admin

Book 35 (of 52) – Rated X

Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me From Hollywood – Maitland Ward

Raised in a religious household in Long Beach, California, Maitland Ward had dreams of becoming a big star.  After getting her big break on The Bold and the Beautiful, she was added to the cast of Boy Meets World for the final two seasons.  She then starred in the Wayans Brothers hit White Chicks in 2004, and that was it.  For whatever reason, Hollywood was done with her.  Years later, she made her way back to the public eye as an internet model and cosplayer.  From there, she advanced to nude photos and videos to full on porn.

In her memoir Rated X, Ward explains her unconventional journey, finding herself and what she wanted and needed out of life.  She seems to have a photographic memory of the sexual escapades in her life, either from her personal life or, later in her career, her professional life.  Where she goes from here, as an aging starlet in both the mainstream and porn worlds, remains to be seen.

 

by admin

You Ought To Be In (15) Pictures

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.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the twelve actors that have starred in exactly 15 movies that I have seen, an increase of three from 3 years ago.

Amy Adams

Amy Adams made her first appearance on my screen in 2001, when I watched the repurposed television pilot that became Cruel Intentions 2.  She returned in 2008, starting a run of eight films in four years.  After a five-year absence, she returned in 2022 with the previous year’s The Woman In The Window.

Jamie Lee Curtis

My first experience with the former teenage scream queen was likely one of the first two Halloween films, the franchise that is responsible for nearly 47% of the films on this list.  After a seven-year lull, she returned with the latest reboot/continuation of the Halloween franchise, culminating in 2022’s Halloween Ends.

Will Ferrell

The SNL alum first streaked on to the list of film actors I’ve seen in 2003 with Old School.  Since then, his appearances have been pretty consistent, with 2012-2013 being the longest streak of him not appearing on my screen.  The most recent film of his I’ve seen was 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which I finally saw last year.

Anne Hathaway

Like most of America, I first saw Anne Hathaway on the silver screen back in 2003 in The Princess Diaries.  In the intervening years, she had been a steadfast presence on my movie (or television) screen, including three films in 2005 and four in 2009.  Things have slowed a bit this decade, with her latest appearance being 2019’s The Hustle, which I saw in 2020.

Angelina Jolie

Her last appearance on my screen is still in 2012, when I saw her in Changeling.

Steve Martin

The last starring role of his that I saw remains 2005’s Shopgirl, which I saw in 2009.

Julia Stiles Continue reading →

by admin

The Big 18

Not even two months since the Big Ten announced their “Flex Protect Plus” model, which incorporated UCLA and USC into the football schedule for 2024 and beyond, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.  The conference grew again yesterday when Oregon and Washington, formerly of the PAC-12, would join the conference starting with the fall 2024 semester.  The move further extends the reach of the Big Ten on the West Coast.
On the field, the move gives the Big Ten additional content to sell to their media rights providers and an additional footprint in the west to help cut down on the travel requirements for student athletes.  Off the field, the Big Ten Network will get the opportunity to expand into multiple markets in the Pacific Northwest.  Meanwhile, the PAC-12, who also lost Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to the Big 12 this week, looks to be on the verge of collapse, with only four schools remaining as of now for the 2024-2025 school year.

With the 2023 college football season about to start in about a month, the schedule-makers will need to revamp their approach to account for the new schools.  Do they simply add Oregon and Washington into the mix?  Split the 18 schools into three divisions of six teams each?  Two divisions of nine?  I imagine we will find out sooner rather than later while waiting for the next pair of dominos to drop.

by admin

A Bad Year Keeps Getting Worse

The hits keep on coming for Liam Hendriks, who underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, ending his season and potentially his time with the White Sox.  After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins’s lymphoma this offseason, Hendriks went through treatments and was declared cancer free.  He made his season debut in May for the White Sox, but appeared in just five games before elbow inflammation caused him to be shut down.  Surgery and rehab would likely keep him out of commission through the 2024 season.

The White Sox hold a $15 million option on Hendriks for 2024, with a $15 million buyout to be paid out at $1.5 million per year for ten years.  Given what he has meant to the franchise and the fan base during his tenure on the south side, especially this year during the cancer battle, I would be surprised if Jerry Reinsdorf and company decide not to pick up the option.