Weekly Random Thoughts: 5/21/10

1. Rumor has it the Sex and the City 2 premiere in New York City will be on Monday, May 24th at Radio City Music Hall. All the stars will be there and everyone will be dressed in their finest Manolo’s, Jimmy Choo’s, and Louboutins. But good luck trying to get a ticket - looks like it is open to industry insiders only.

2. More LeBron follow-up:

My buddy, Danny, make the excellent parallel that if LeBron leaves Cleveland then he’ll become the NBA version of A-rod. A supremely talented athlete, that could go down as arguably one of the best 5-10 players ever, yet is seen as more of a villain than a beloved icon. Throw in the possibility that both jump to the biggest market (NY) to get their championship title(s). I’m not saying they are exactly the same, but it’s an interesting parallel.

3. Pursuing the dream:

A co-worker of mine told me about a friend who was screening a movie ("lbs") he worked on. You could call it a decade long passion project. One that was started in 2002, finished after 27 months of filming, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival - where it won one of the prizes, only to not get any distributors, and find itself still trying to find an interested movie studio eight years later. It’s a sad story that so many hopeful artists live through. I wish these people could catch a break and see their dreams come true, but I’m probably more sympathetic to these dreamers. It’s a hard life to try to live when you want to accomplish something only 1% of the population and I have so much respect and admiration for those who continue to pursue despite all the negativity and roadblocks in their way.

I have another friend who has been trying his hand at acting for almost ten years now, and a guy who quit his job to pursue his dream of being a comedian. Both are struggling. But both are also happy doing what they do. If only they could make a decent living off that.

4. How to fix the Mets:

In a span of three weeks, the Mets have gone from first place to last place. You know things are bad as a Mets fan when you wish you were as good as the Washington Nationals. It’s been tough to watch. And based on attendance and ticket sales, it seems it’s been so tough that people don’t even bother watching anymore. The new stadium is not even two years old…that’s a bit early to start having empty seats. Seriously, the team has way too much talent (not to mention a ridiculously high payroll) to be a last place team floundering two games below .500. But it can be salvaged. Here’s how:

Settle on a lineup Jerry! Every freakin day Jerry Manuel has a new lineup in there. The guy can’t even stay with a single cleanup hitter, going with the likes of Mike Jacobs and Chris Carter. And what a bad idea it was to hit Jose Reyes third…Reyes is not Hanley Ramirez. It’s really not rocket science Jerry. Here’s your lineup: Reyes, Castillo/Cora, Wright, Bay, Ike Davis, Pagan, Francouer, Barajas, Pitcher.

Injuries aside, the pitching staff should be: Santana, Pelfrey, Niese, Dickey, and Maine. Niese is currently on the DL, so you can have Takahashi hold down the fort until he gets back. Valdez was halfway decent filling in for Maine, so he can hold it down too for now. Problem with Takahashi and Valdez is they probably can’t go longer than 5 innings, since they were used to pitching out of the bullpen. But we’ll just have to scrape something together and tax the bullpen even more. The rumored plan is for young stud, Jennry Meija, to extend his pitch count so he can start (that could take up to a month or two). I think that’s a horrible idea, because it will most certainly ruin his young arm. At this point, I wouldn’t hold out hope for Maine to figure out his stuff either. But whatever we do, do not start Oliver Perez. He is the win streak stopper, the losing streak prolonger. He sucks!!!!!!

What happened to Bobby Parnell? He was our 8th inning guy last year…he can’t possibly be worse than Manny Acosta (true, he sucked in spring training and the minors). Bring him up to fill in the bullpen spots opened up by Takahashi and/or Meija/Valdez starting. The bullpen will need all the available arms it can get. Good thing Igarashi is returning soon.

Cut Gary Matthews Jr. He’s not a good pinch hitter and I’d rather have Pagan start every day.

Get a sports psychologist for David Wright and Jose Reyes. Something’s not right with either guy.

Find a heart and soul of the team. The Mets play without any sense of urgency, understanding of the moment, or resiliency. They press way too much. They are the anti-Phillies. This is not something easily done obviously, it’ll require new players and management…but the players on the roster need to look hard in the mirror and rediscover the magic.

5. Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter opens this weekend

Reviews seem to be in line with Shrek the Third. Not sure what to expect. It’ll open at #1, but will it break $100m? With 3D prices and little competition for family audiences, probably…It’s sad though, because the first two were very good movies. I guess this is what would happen if Pixar ever milked a franchise to death (which could very well happen with Toy Story 3). Guess that’s the biggest difference between Pixar and Dreamworks Animation.

6. NBA Playoffs:

Are we looking at another set of sweeps? What a bunch of crappy playoff rounds. So far Orlando has been outmatched by Rondo and the big 3 and Phoenix can’t guard the Lakers big men (Gasol is killing them). As stated in my podcast interview (which can be found on this blog), I still hope for the Suns to make a comeback and win in 7. Orlando will win one game, but Boston looks to be in complete control. Guess we’re all headed for Boston vs. LA.

Magic is already giving interviews and offering to do another montage filled halftime special with Larry Bird.

7. BBQ’s:

It’s almost that time of the year - Summer BBQ season…and I can’t wait. There’s nothing better than some chicken wings, hot dogs, burgers, and if you’re high class…ribs and a little bul-go-ki.

Question – anybody know how to bbq chicken wings without burning them? I always end up charcoaling the skin and then ripping it off.

8. Congrats to Navid and Emily on their engagement. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the party. But I saw the video tape. Amazing job on the camera Scotty Watts.

Why I Created A Blog

The world needs many things. One of them is not another blog to take up space and your time. I've always felt that way and been reluctant to start writing a blog. I never considered it a true writing artform. You want to write something - go write a play, or a book, or a screenplay. So that's what I did.

To give you a little history, I figured out I wanted to write about ten years ago. It started out as a daily journal. That grew into my first completed screenplay (admittedly, a poorly written one). One screenplay led to the start of another. And dreams of being a writer led to me quitting my job to pursue it full time. As reality hit, I rejoined the working world and slowly stopped writing. Somewhere along the way, I began writing a column for 13 friends in a fantasy football league. But I only did that for three months out of the year. The rest of the time, I stopped writing. My second attempt at a screenplay was left unfinished. And writing became something I told people I enjoyed doing, but didn't actually do. Because a passion for something that is not your job, becomes a hobby. And a hobby becomes something that you do when you can. But life will always give you excuses. You're too tired, too lazy, or it's too late (Marc, I got this one for you..."That's what she said"). So you don't write anymore and you just complain about not being able to write. For me, the person I complained to the most was my girlfriend. And so, for Christmas she bought me a netbook. The card attached said simply, "Now you don't have an excuse why you can't write".

And for quite some time, friends and loved ones have been encouraging me to write a blog. But fear and uncertainty took over.

"What do I name it?"

"Who would even read it?"

"What am I writing about?"

After four months of not using the netbook for its intended purpose, while trying to answer those questions, I finally decided to take the leap and "throw myself into the fire". Ultimately, I decided the answer to those questions is "Whatever I want", "Write good stuff and people will read", and "Whatever I want". So I simply started writing and hoped I'd figure things out along the way.

Will this blog lead to anything? I don't know. Will people read it and enjoy it? So far, only a select few. But I know that I've rediscovered the reason why I enjoyed writing so much in the first place. I think about my blog constantly. And it provides some fulfillment in my life that I can't get from work or anywhere else. So for that; I want to thank my wonderful girlfriend (I love you), my friends for their support, and you out there in cyberspace for reading.

In retrospect, this would have probably been a good idea for my first blog entry. But if I had any clue about what I'm doing, then I wouldn't have taken two months to think of a blog name...