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Book 46 (of 52) – Caller Unknown

Caller Unknown – Gillian McAllister

A mother, travelling to Texas to reunite with her daughter for a vacation, finds her world crashing down when the daughter is kidnapped. Rather than going to the police, she follows the kidnapper’s instructions, travelling to Mexico to smuggle drugs back across the border, but a mix-up at the exchange leaves one man dead and mother and daughter on the run.  How far will a mother go to protect her daughter?  Will she give up the rest of her life if it means her daughter can go free?

Gillian McAllister returns with her latest, Caller Unknown.  She moves the action from the UK to Texas in this one, which I think may have led to some of my discontent.  Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but this was easily my least favorite of her works to date.  Here’s hoping it was just a temporary blip and that her next outing is back to where I expect.

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Fitbit 12 – Week 31

Yet another great week, as I surpassed my daily goal twice and finished above 40,000 steps for the reached my tenth straight week.  Things got off to a nice start on Sunday thanks to a morning walk, which left me 12 steps shy of 8100.  The return of Crosstown on Monday left me needing 40 more steps to hit 7900.  An abbreviated trip to Wrigley on Tuesday to see the White Sox battle the Cubs before the bad weather arrived left me just 16 steps shy of my daily goal of 7500.  Wednesday fell down quite a bit thanks to a trip into the office, ending with 4900 steps.  A day off and another visit to the south side for exciting White Sox baseball on Thursday pushed me back up to 7300 steps.  A doctor’s appointment on Friday followed by yet another trip to Rate Field got me up to 7100 steps.  Saturday wrapped up the week needing just 11 additional steps to reach 5800.

Total steps: 48,584

Daily average: 6940.6

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You Ought To Be In (12) 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 111 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of August 1.

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

Kevin Bacon

Our first newcomer of the week, Bacon first showed up on my screen prior to the start of my database, either with 1988’s She’s Having a Baby or 1991’s He Said, She Said.  After that, he showed up in spurts, with two films each in 1996, 1998, and 2001.  He laid fallow for 17 years before returning in 2018 with 2017’s Patriots Day.  His most recent appearance came in 2023 thanks to the prior year’s They/Them.

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig first appeared on my radar in a starring role in 2007, when I watched his initial outing as James Bond in Casino Royale.  I had two three-year mini-streaks, with films in 2007 through 2009 and 2011 through 2013.  His most recent appearance came earlier this year in 2025’s Wake Up Dead Man, his third go-around as Benoit Blanc in the Knives Out franchise.

Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio first appeared on my movie screen in 1996, with The Basketball Diaries.  After a three-year run to start, I had a gap of eight years between his films, from 2002-2009.  2011 was his most prolific year, with three different films.  The most recent film of his that I’ve seen was 2021’s Don’t Look Up.

Michael Douglas

I have not seen a Michael Douglas starring project since 2015’s Ant-Man.

Aaron Eckhart

Aaron Eckhart first showed up on the list of film actors I’ve seen way back in 1999 with Your Friends & Neighbors.  Since then, his appearances have been a little haphazard, with nothing more than three two-year streaks over the past 21 years.  The most recent film of his I’ve seen was 2014’s atrocious I, Frankenstein, which I unfortunately saw in 2020.

Chris Evans

Chris Evans first appeared on my screen in 2002 thanks to the previous year’s Not Another Teen Movie and has been a pretty steady presence ever since.  In 2011, he debuted as Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger and picked up an additional five films for the remainder of the decade, ending with his final appearance in Avengers: End Game in 2019.  His most recent appearance came in 2024 with Red One.

Hugh Grant

There haven’t been many years that I’ve seen a Hugh Grant film, but, when I do, they tend to come in spurts.  My first experience with him was likely 1994’s Sirens, which I am unsure of when I actually saw it.  He notched three films in 2000, and two apiece in 2005 and 2008.  After a twelve-year absence, he returned to my screen in 2020, thanks to 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason.  His most recent appearance came in 2024’s Heretic, which I saw in a theater in Boston with Angelina

Corey Haim Continue reading →

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Book 45 (of 52) – Big Fan

Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love – Michael Schur and Joe Posnanski

Two friends and podcast partners travel the globe to find out the meaning behind fandom.  What do we as a species get from investing our time and hearts into things that bring us immense joy and bitter upset.  Whether it is baseball, basketball, chess, darts, football, soccer, pickleball, the WWE, Taylor Swift, or Star Wars, they bring us to the very heart of what it means to love something so much it hurts.

Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love, by television comedy writer Michael Schur and sportswriter Joe Posnanski, looks at all of the things we love and tries to dig into why we love them.  Along the way, the experience new sports, music, and people, gaining a greater appreciation for what it means to be a fan and of the things for which we are fans.

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Gone Too Soon

Less than two months ago, after finishing her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, I said of Hayden Panettiere:

Hopefully, as she approaches her forties, she’s able to maintain her family relationships and her career.

Unfortunately, she will never get that chance.  Panettiere died Sunday just days shy of her 37th birthday.

Panettiere was a child star, making her first on-screen appearance in a Playskool commercial at eleven months old.  I first was introduced to her work in 2001 when, at the age of 12, she joined the cast of Ally McBeal for its final season.  From there, she would star on Heroes and Nashville on television and movies such as Scream 4 and I Love You, Beth Cooper.

Panettiere is survived by her daughter, who will turn 12 in December, and her parents, with whom she had a complicated relationship.  Her younger brother died in 2023.

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Fitbit 12 – Week 30

Another great week, as I reached my highest total of 10,000 step days in four years while also surpassing my total of the last two years combined.  The week got off to a nice start on Sunday thanks to a morning walk, which left me 13 steps shy of 6400.  Monday fell just short of surpassing my daily goal, needing just 12 steps to hit 7500.  Pope Hat night at Rate Field on Tuesday propelled me to 10,700 steps.  Wednesday fell down a bit, coming 27 steps away from 6400.  Despite a day off and another visit to the south side for exciting White Sox baseball on Thursday, it ended as the worst day of the week with just 5100 steps.  Things rebounded a bit on Friday, falling 8 steps away from 6600.  Another 3 steps on Saturday would have wrapped up the week with 7200.

Total steps: 49,893

Daily average: 7127.6

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Book 44 (of 52) – So Old, So Young

So Old, So Young – Grant Ginder

A group of six friends come together at five different events over 20 years.  As they grow older and their relationships shift and evolve, their connections with their old friends change.  Will the people you were closest to in your 20s remain your bestest of friends as you approach middle age?  And if not, is that ok?

Grant Ginder pops up on my radar for the first time with So Old, So Young.  It is a poignant tale about growing older and trying to maintain those relationships of your youth as priorities and availability changes as time marches on, with spouses and kids and, eventually, death.  The last part hit a little hard this week given some things going on in the real world, which probably led me to relate to it more than I may have otherwise.

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You Ought To Be In (11) 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 111 actors that have starred in at least ten films that I have seen, as of August 1.

We continue today with the eleven actors that have starred in exactly eleven movies that I have seen, down three from three years ago.

Halle Berry

Berry has racked up starring roles in four different decades now.  I first saw Berry in 1992’s Boomerang, which I saw in a screening at Stewart Center at school.  After notching five films during the 2000’s, she had a seven-year quiet period before returning to my screen in 2020 with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.  Her most recent film that I’ve seen was 2022’s Moonfall.

Gerard Butler

The Scottish actor first appeared on my screen thanks to 2003’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, which I saw in 2005.  The Has Fallen franchise gave him three additional appearances, in 2013, 2016, and 2020.  He made multiple appearances in 2010 and 2022 and appeared on my screen earlier this year with 2020’s Greenland.

Jim Carrey

There has been no change for Carrey since I last encountered him back in 2009, when I saw the previous year’s Yes Man.

Jennifer Connelly

As a 16-year-old in the spring of 1991, I fell in love with Jennifer Connelly thanks to the ads for Career Opportunities, which is very likely the first film of hers that I saw.  2000 was my most prolific Jennifer Connelly year, when I saw a whopping two movies starring her, followed by pretty consistent appearances throughout the decade.  After a thirteen-year absence, she returned to my screen in a starring role last year alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.

Carla Gugino

Gugino first showed up on my radar in the mid-90s, thanks to her role in the Pauly Shore classic Son-In-Law.  She appeared in two films that I saw in 2001, 2016, and, most recently, 2020, with 2011’s Hide and 2017’s Gerald’s Game.

Nicole Kidman

I first saw Nicole Kidman in 1993’s My Life.  Since then, she has appeared in bursts, with lengthy layoffs in between.  After a twelve-year dry spell, she graced my screen once again in 2020 thanks to 2005’s Bewitched.

James McAvoy

First appearing in 2008’s Wanted, McAvoy has been a surprisingly steady presence on my screen, thanks in part to the X-Men franchise.  He had a five-year streak, starting in 2016 with X-Men: Apocalypse and going through 2019’s It Chapter 2.  His most recent appearance came in 2024 thanks to Speak No Evil.

Bill Murray Continue reading →

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Return Of The Single Game Pitching Leaders

It’s now been eight years (to the day!) and well over 250 games since we last looked at the single game leaders in pitching categories for all the games I have identified and attended in person dating back to 1984.  There are some new names of the list that weren’t there when we first looked in 2012 and again in 2015 and 2018.  Keep in mind that, for pitchers, leading a category can be a bad thing in some cases.

Innings Pitched

Name Total Date
59 tied with 9 Most recently on 9/3/2022

Hits

Name Total Date
Homer Bailey 15 7/26/2008
Jose Lima 13 5/2/2000
Glendon Rusch 13 5/12/2003
Carlos Silva 13 4/23/2006
Mark Buehrle 13 7/2/2006
Carlos Zambrano 13 8/14/2007
Tommy Hanson 13 6/22/2010
Gavin Floyd 13 9/9/2010
Edwin Jackson 13 9/11/2010
Roy Oswalt 13 7/3/2012
Brad Keller 13 8/2/2022

Runs

Name Total Date
Mark Buehrle 11 7/2/2006
Jeff Suppan 11 4/30/2008
Roy Oswalt 11 7/3/2012
Jose Lima 10 5/2/2000
Clay Hensley 10 4/16/2007
Mitch Spence 10 6/26/2026

Earned Runs

Name Total Date
Mark Buehrle 10 7/2/2006
Continue reading →
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Ending The Streak

With their 9-5 victory over the Tigers last night, the White Sox won their 63rd game of the season, ensuring that their franchise-worst streak of three-straight 100-loss seasons would come to an end.  Less than two years removed from having the most losses in MLB history, the White Sox find themselves in first place in the middle of August, with a 3.5 game lead over their closest competitor with just 41 games to go.