Tag / Adam Carolla

by admin

2015: The Year In Movies

Movie_Reel_22

2015 was a bit of a letdown after last year’s improvement in movie watching for me, with the vacation over the past 3 weeks of December helping to greatly boost my total.  I managed to watch 69 movies last year, 9 less than last year and my fourth consecutive year under 100.  Again, many things contributed to this, chiefly the insane amount of TV I’ve been watching, the greater effort made towards going out for walks, and the awful amount of time I spend either at work or getting to and from work.

Here’s a look back at the first 50 movies I did manage to watch last year and what recollection, if any, I have of them. The films are listed in the order I saw them.

Labor Day (2014)
A bit of a dud of a film and a poor way to start the year.

Bachelorette (2012)
This received nowhere near as much publicity as the similar themed Bridesmaids, but I enjoyed it much more.

The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)
Turns out I never saw the first one, which could explain why this made little sense to me.

The Factory (2012)
John Cusack and Jennifer Carpenter team up to do cop stuff.

Godzilla (2014)
A much better remake attempt than the Matthew Broderick endeavor in 1998.

Drinking Buddies (2013)
An interesting indie film about a Chicago brewery and the people that work there.

Life After Beth (2014)
The latest zombie rom-com.

Butter (2011)
Who knew butter carving could be so entertaining?

Devil’s Due (2014)
A newlywed becomes impregnated with a hellspawn.

Tusk (2014)
Kevin Smith’s latest makes me think it may be time for me to stop watching Kevin Smith films. Continue reading →

by jim

2014: The Year In Books

2014books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 23 books I read over the past year, an increase of 5 from last year. Of those 23, 7 were non-fiction and, of the 16 novels, 8 were TV show tie-ins. Only 5 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 8 were e-books.  I read a grand total of 9000 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992.

A majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 14 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Amy Poehler
James VanOsdol
John Passarella
Mary Karr
Thomas E. Sniegoski
William Lashner
Teresa Strasser
Adam Carolla
Bryan Bishop
John Green
Rob Thomas
Jennifer Graham
Brian Jay Jones
Gord Rollo

The ghost writer(s) for Richard Castle and David Mack were the only authors I read multiple times in 2014.

The six books that I read this year that were released this year were Richard Castle’s Wild Storm, Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, Greg Rucka’s Bravo, William Lashner’s The Barkeep, Adam Carolla’s President Me, and The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in April and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit.
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2014 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Monday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  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 Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mad Men

True Detective

Well, so much for having seen most of these.  True Detective was the only one of these nominees that I’ve seen.  This is a tough call, but I imagine that the final season of Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

This past season of The Good Wife was spectacular, and a lot of that was due to Julianne Margulies.  She should definitely take home the trophy, especially since Tatiana Maslany was overlooked again for her work in Orphan Black.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

My guess is that this is a person race, between Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey and Bryan Cranston.  I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night once again, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

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Book 11 (of 52) – Exploiting My Baby

Exploiting My Baby - Teresa Strasser

Exploiting My Baby – Teresa Strasser

After having gone the past 5 years without reading any of the books written by the cast of the Adam Carolla podcast, I’ve now gone through 3 in a row, the most recent being former sidekick Teresa Strasser’s pregnancy memoir Exploiting My Baby.  Like the others, I had no intention of reading this book, which was released 3 years ago, until Strasser tweeted that Amazon had the book on sale for the low, low price of $1.67.  At that price point, I will probably buy just about anything, so I figured why not give this whole pregnancy thing a whirl.

At the advanced age of 39, Strasser and her husband decided to try and have a baby and, surprisingly (to them), they conceived within two months, setting off an adventure of worry, worry, and, just for good measure, a little worry.  Despite convincing herself that she would miscarry, be a horrible mother, and was undeserving of a baby, she successfully navigated her way through pregnancy, eventually giving birth to a son.  The book covers the many problems she faced, many of which were simply imagined, and how she faced her fears despite herself.

This should be the end of my Carolla-related reading for the time being, unless I stumble across a good deal for Adam’s first two books or Teresa’s replacement, Alison Rosen, decides to put out something.

by jim

Book 10 (of 52) – President Me

President Me: The America That's In My Head - Adam Carolla

President Me: The America That’s In My Head – Adam Carolla

For months now, the Adam Carolla podcast has been plugging two books, Adam’s latest, President Me, and Bald Bryan’s cancer memoir Shrinkage.  I hadn’t really planned on getting either, just as I had skipped Carolla’s previous 2 offerings.  Obviously, I had already relented on Bald Bryan’s book, and a chance for a meet and greet with Adam made me pull the trigger on this one as well.

Anyone who listens to the podcast regularly won’t be surprised by anything is this book, which is basically a collection of rants on what is wrong with the country today and how to fix it.  In Carolla’s world, everything is black and white (pun somewhat intended, as race comes up a bit), and his cures for societies ills are just as nuanced.  In some scenarios, it makes for a humorous take on the absurdities of the world we now live in.  When he tries to get down to real issues, like education and the growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots, it is less so.  But, again, it is nothing I haven’t heard before.

And that, I guess, is my biggest beef with the book.  It mostly feels like a transcript of podcasts that I have already listened to, which is somewhat disappointing, and one of the reasons I had avoided Adam’s books to this point.  Having said that, given the amount of free entertainment I’ve gotten from the podcast over the years, the $30 I spent on this is a small price to pay.  So now I just have to wait for Allison Rosen to put out a book to hit the trifecta.

by admin

GlobalFit III: Week 46

Y3Week46Well, a good week was on the books from Monday through Friday, then the weekend kind of put the kibosh on things.  The work week all came in over the 6000 mark, with Friday coming in closer to 9000 thanks to the trip to Naperville for the Adam Carolla book signing.  Saturday and Sunday both involved trips down to the Cell for exciting baseball, but neither day was spectacular despite taking the ramps both days.

Total steps: 42,216

Weekly average: 6030.9

by jim

An Evening With The Aceman

BoXcGxEIUAASUD_Friday night, I headed out to Naperville for a book signing and Q&A for Adam Carolla’s new release, President Me.  Richard Roeper was on hand to moderate the evening’s festivities, which, for listeners of Carolla’s podcast, were mostly a rehash of things talked (or complained) about on the show.  The two went back and forth for about 45 minutes, before Carolla headed to the lobby to sign books.  He’s got this down to a science at this point, with a professional photographer on hand to take pictures of everyone and Adam signing each book standing up to keep the line moving.

This was my first experience with a signing run through Anderson’s Bookshop, which seems to hold something all of the time.  Other than paying full retail for the book, everything ran smoothly and was worth the effort of heading out to the western suburbs after work.  I’ll keep an eye out to see if they have anyone else interesting coming through town.

by jim

Book 9 (of 52) – Shrinkage

Shrinkage: Manhood, Marriage, and the Tumor That Tried to Kill Me - Bryan Bishop

Shrinkage: Manhood, Marriage, and the Tumor That Tried to Kill Me – Bryan Bishop

5 years ago, at the age of 30 and just months away from marriage, Bald Bryan, the sound guy from the just cancelled Adam Carolla radio show, found out he had a brain tumor and was told he had 6 months to a year to live.  Over the next year, he fought against bad doctors, arguing family members, and, oh yeah, a brain tumor determined to kill him, as he tried to battle back against cancer.  As you may have guessed, he ultimately survived, and he tells his story in this memoir.

As Carolla’s podcast was getting off the ground, Bryan was battling the debilitating disease, and this book covers that whole year, from his initial diagnosis, to his radiation and chemotherapy treatments that seemed to be making him worse, to his wedding and eventual recovery.  Anyone who has either had cancer or had a family member suffer from the disease (and really, who does that leave out) can relate to his story.

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Killer Commute

Nothing like a 2+hour commute to kick off a weekend.  After finishing off the last 20 minutes of an episode of the Adam Carolla podcast, it was time for some rock and roll to get me home.  Here is that rock and roll.

I Touch Myself Divinyls Austin Powers 4/26/2013 4:25 PM
Fringe – theme Michael Giacchino 4/26/2013 4:26 PM
Wake Up Little Susie The Everly Brothers Rock N’ Roll Era: 1957 4/26/2013 4:28 PM
All I Really Want Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill 4/26/2013 4:33 PM
Total Eclipse of the Heart Nicki French Secrets 4/26/2013 4:37 PM
Running With Chicken Garfunkel and Oates All Over Your Face 4/26/2013 4:40 PM
She Loves You [Mono] The Beatles Past Masters, Vol. 1 [2009 Stereo Remaster] 4/26/2013 4:42 PM
Born To Run Bruce Springsteen Born To Run 4/26/2013 4:47 PM
Only Happy When It Rains Garbage Garbage 4/26/2013 4:51 PM
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Saying Prayers In The Street Light

Friday night actually had a relatively decent 2 hour commute.  No Adam Carolla Podcast meant a steady stream of music.

Werewolves Of London Warren Zevon  Excitable Boy 10/22/2010 3:59 PM
Can’t Stop Fallin’ Into Love Cheap Trick The Greatest Hits 10/22/2010 4:03 PM
Back To Life Soul II Soul Volume I – Keep On Movin’ 10/22/2010 4:07 PM
We Didn’t Do It Tegan and Sara So Jealous 10/22/2010 4:11 PM
Something To Sing About The Cast Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Once More, With Feeling 10/22/2010 4:16 PM
I’ll Be There For You (Long Version) The Rembrandts Friends-Music From The T.V. Series 10/22/2010 4:19 PM
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) Mötley Crüe Motley Crue Greatest Hits 10/22/2010 4:24 PM
Unforgiven The Go-Go’s God Bless The Go-Go’s 10/22/2010 4:27 PM
Keep Ya Head Up 2Pac Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. 10/22/2010 4:32 PM
Silent Lucidity Queensrÿche Monster Madness (Disc 1) 10/22/2010 4:38 PM
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