And on the cool check in. Center stage on the mic. And we're puttin' it on wax. It's the new style.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--Aw sonuvabitch! It’s official. Starz is cancelling Party Down. Terrible, just terrible. If you’ve never watched do yourself a favor and check it out On Demand or on Netflix Watch Instantly.
How does a show get cancelled after it parties with Steve Guttenberg, introduces the F*** Room, and makes a Cody Carlson reference all in the same season?


--Eminem must want some tough guy street cred because he’s going on Entourage and clearly Entourage is the destination for real men after Vince did his own stunt last week. OMFG!

--The Office has been more miss than hit the last couple of seasons, but it’s going to soldier on despite the loss of Steve Carell after next season. The Office is a great ensemble, but Michael Scott is the head of that ensemble and it makes more sense to me to give this show a proper send off with a season the writers, actors and audience will all be motivated for and NBC can promo the hell out of. But no. And I feel sorry for whoever they bring in because it’s not going to be easy. The lone positive is that maybe this will get the writers out of whatever funk they’ve been in.
The most brilliant, frustrating thing series in the UK do is end after two or three seasons. Thankfully our draw against England wasn’t decided on the which-country-has-the-better-Office tiebreaker.

--I can’t remember where I heard, but never thought I’d see Hakeem Olajuwon in Pros vs. Joes. He’ll be teaming up with Kenny Smith and Eliza Dushku’s man Rick something or other. They’ll face Donovan McNabb, T.O. and Antonio Gates in a game of basketball. Comes our way July 14th.

--I like smoked salmon. I like vodka. Thankfully Alaska Distillery is rolling out smoked salmon vodka because clearly those two things need to be combined.


--Somehow I’ve gotten sucked into watching Last Comic Standing. I haven’t seen everyone because Sunny is on at the same time and has a higher priority. Anyway, these people are making me laugh...Jonathan Thymius, Mike DiStefano, Adrienne Iapalucci and Chip Pope. When Jonathan makes contact on a joke that joke is going a long, long way...


--The South shall rise again…just a little more slowly and maybe with the aid of a friend, perhaps taking a break halfway up, or you know what let’s just sit a little longer and rethink this whole “rise” thing. Ten of the eleven most obese states in the U.S. are not surprisingly in the Paula Deen region of the world. As for Texas…We’re #13! We’re #13! This despite always having several cities make that fattest list so I was thinking top 5 for sure. Colorado is the skinniest state which is odd considering its amount of marijuana use. Mississippi remains the most obese state in both the adult and children categories. So sad that 38 states have adult obesity rates of over 25% considering zero states were that big-boned back in 1991. If you would like to be further depressed by our blubber statistics here ya go.

--Ummm, that was a little much True Blood. Just waiting for the story from some failed attempt by idiots at the whole neck turning 180 degrees a.k.a. the ol’ twisteroo as someone tweeted the other day.
In the meantime we have a woman in Colorado who crashed into a canal. Why? Because a vampire was in the middle of the dirt road of course. Oddly enough police ruled out drugs or alcohol.

--Why does Esquire UK get all the good covers?


--Finally we get Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin this weekend. I like both guys and I wouldn’t pick either guy to lose to another heavyweight including Fedor before Fedor was Fabricio’d. Surely Brock has some rust and Shane just needs an opening to knock all of that rust off and then some. Yet I’m gonna go with Brock to take down Shane and control him on the ground on the way to a TKO.
I’ll take Yoshiro Akiyama to beat Chris Leben who I assume is going to be on the Juan Diaz/JMM PPV later this month as well.
I always like watching Matt Brown and I’ll take that tough SOB to beat Chris Lytle.
Really looking forward to seeing George Sotiropoulos again after that huge win over Joe Stevenson several months ago. George tangles with Kurt Pellegrino and I’ll take George.

--Kobayashi not in the hot dog eating contest this year?! WTF do I wake up early on the 4th for now?

--Apparently the Kardashians will have a guest spot as themselves on 90210 next season. In other news Party Down was cancelled and there’s a “next” season of 90210.

--If you were wondering of course Spike has you covered on the 4th with a Band of Brothers marathon. And miracle of miracles I believe History Channel is going to show all the episodes of America The Story Of Us.

--Larissa Riquelme is going to run through the streets nekkid if Paraguay wins the World Cup?! This just got a lot more interesting.

Luckiest cell phone ever.

--It’s the Summer of Erin. Where will she end up? Oh geez, I don’t know. If I had to guess I’d say ESPN, but there are so many choices for her like, well like ESPN and then there’s ESPN. She could always go to ESPN. You know who’d offer her big money? Yeah, ESPN.

--Who knew that nearly 20 years ago David Silver would go from Donna to marrying one of the hottest chicks period in Megan Fox. Quite a leap who has only had two good roles in that time frame (Domino, Sarah Connor Chronicles).

--Finally caught up on Burn Notice and it’s been the pleasantly entertaining summer fill-in television it is. Always like seeing who they bring in week to week and loved seeing Frank Whaley. He had a nice run in the late 80’s early 90’s with Field of Dreams, Pulp Fiction, Career Opportunities, and my two personal favorites Swimming with Sharks and The Doors.


--I’m about midway through Firefly and really enjoying it. A couple episodes ago was when Christina Hendricks was introduced and trying to seduce everyone from Mal to Inara with the latter of those seductions being some damn fine television.

Also weird seeing Zac Efron as young Simon in his first role.
I wasn’t sure I’d like the whole wild west in outer space thing, but I didn’t need to worry. If you’re bored this summer you could do a helluva lot worse than checking out this entirely too short series on Netflix Watch Instantly.

--I was hoping I would find amusement somewhere in The Kilborn File. Not yet. Of course it might be different if I was watching a continuous show on television and not clips online.

--I hope you’re sitting down because the next sentence will shock you.
FDA: Airline food nationwide fails to meet health standards.

--Pau Gasol and Silvia Lopez Castro?! The Silvia Lopez Castro of Dream Cheers?! Yeah, I don’t know who she is either, but I’m guessing she’s hot.

Lucky guess.

--I don’t know whether I’m liking forward to or dreading watching The Tillman Story.

--How sorry are the Cubs? 2-4 against the Astros and 3-8 against the Pirates through Tuesday so make it 3-9 with another Chicago loss Wednesday. Pittsburgh is a special kind of suck. Through Tuesday’s games it had been outscored by 182 runs. Houston, Chicago and Milwaukee have combined to only be outscored by 177 runs. Pirates are also 2-13 in interleague play and I know what you’re thinking. How the hell did they win two?

--It’s July and the Padres have the 2nd biggest division lead in baseball just like we all predicted.

--Jimmy Garvin and Sunny as David Von Erich's personal valets. Nothing brings a tear to an eye like thinking about the Von Erich family.


--Whoa, they’re renting white guys out in China?! Apparently a foreigner’s face impresses a lot of people so yeah, rentals. Gotta love the names they’ve given this practice from “White Guy Window Dressing” to “The Token White Guy Gig.” Sounds like a great deal. You get paid, you get to work on your acting and as one guy can attest you may be able to hang with Russian models.

--In World Cup or Die news…Nigeria managed only a point in group play so the government has suspended the team from international competition for two years, which doesn’t seem like a good way to improve. And Japanese media managed to make a mother apologize for her son’s PK miss in Japan’s loss to Paraguay.

Questions, comments or if you’re starting to think about looking at some fantasy football rankings for the upcoming season…

One for all and all for one. Taking out M.C.'s with a big shotgun.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--Since I posted last Tuesday the U.S. team took us from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. I guess that’s why we love and hate sports. In a split second worries give way to incredible joy or incredible nervousness gives way to utter disappointment. Usually it’s somewhere in between, but this hurt more than the usual loss for the team you root for. Landon Donovan’s miraculous goal against Algeria in the 91st minute was one of the most unbelievable sports moments I’ve ever witnessed. It was just surreal. An indescribable feeling on a did-that-just-really-happen goal. A feeling that I was hoping would be duplicated in the games to come. No such luck despite the fact I hit up Lucky’s to watch the U.S./Ghana game. I was there nearly 3 hours before gametime and the place was already packed and buzzing. By the time I saw Bob Bradley’s head-scratcher starting lineup I was buzzing myself. I mean really Bob? Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley?! Huh?! Ghana pressed and we could hardly handle it. The second half was one frustrating minute after another until Clint Dempsey was taken down in the box leading to Landon Donovan’s PK. When he got it to go the place erupted into high-fives, hugs and beer showers. Crazy. First overtime a long clear by Ghana inexplicably led to its 2nd goal and that was that. Damn. It was a sometimes thrilling, sometimes excruciating, always unpredictable ride that I wish had lasted a little longer. Oh well only four more years until Brazil!


--Can’t hardly wait for Netherlands/Brazil and Germany/Argentina. I’m looking forward to those more than even Brock/Shane.

--The UFC would have trouble topping the top two fights in this Syfy movie. First Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Second we have Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. I’ll parlay Gatoroid and Tiffany.


--Writing of fights, ummm…Fedor…ummm, that wasn’t supposed to happen. I was surprised the usually patient Fedor was so aggressive in jumping on Fabricio Werdum when Werdum went down. Seems like he would have been more cautious than going to the mat with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy the likes of Fabricio no matter how hurt you think he might be. Credit to Werdum and I can’t wait to see the fallout for Strikeforce, Fedor and Fabricio.
No miracle for Scott Smith this time against Cung Le.
And can’t we just start putting Cyborg up against men because she has nothing left to prove against women.

--Good news is we have a date on when the next season of Breaking Bad will air. Bad news is that date isn’t until July 2011. So yeah, Sunday nights next July I guess we’ll be getting Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Other stations should just cancel themselves that night. I think I linked to these before or maybe I just tweeted. Either way Funny or Die put together some what-if promos for Breaking Bad on ABC.

Breaking Bad is now on ABC - watch more funny videos

--If you were wondering how much the Lost: The Complete Collection was going to set you back, well the short answer is a lot. $280 for Blu-ray which is $50 more than the regular DVD set. 37 discs. I can’t wait to see that 12-minute epilogue with Hurley and Ben running the island. It comes out August 24th.

--Of course Patrick Duffy declared his undying love for Constance/Jane Lynch on Party Down. Hilarious. All the Constance/Lydia interplay stuff was great as was Alex Rocco’s performance as Constance’s brief husband. His heart attack was awesome. The only thing better was watching Roman trip with Kirby from Arliss.
“Either I’m going to die any instant, or I’ve been dead a while. If there’s anything that could be done to help me… you could put me in a life machine.”

Two really good couples.

--Patrick Patterson? Works for me. No trade up, no trade down, just a solid selection in the middle of the first round. Now let’s see what opens come July 1st. My guess is not a whole heckuva lot in terms of earth shattering moves for our boys.

--The Two Escobars surpassed The U and Run Ricky Run as my favorite 30 for 30. I was worried the drugs and guns craziness of Pablo Escobar’s life would overpower the Andres Escobar part of the documentary, but that wasn’t the case at all. Andres and the story of Colombia’s national team was riveting, particularly their play. Holy crap those were some great highlights they put in, but none better than the scorpion kick from Rene Higuita.

Maybe I’m remembering it wrong, but the film seemed to infer Higuita went to jail before the 1994 World Cup because he visited Escobar like so many others on the team had already done. I mean Pablo wasn’t even in a real “jail” just a place he said he’d stay. But looking elsewhere apparently Higuita helped broker the return of a kidnapped child and received money for it, but it’s illegal in Colombia for anyone to profit from a kidnapping. The film showed the good Pablo did and how much he did to help those faced with the hardships of the times. It also told the stories of how ruthless and maniacal he was. Andres was faceless to me all these years, but the doc gave us Andres’ story and gave that own goal so much weight that it can never be viewed the same once you’ve seen his back story. Here was a guy who had apparently done things the right way. A guy who had his whole life ahead of him. A guy who had offers from overseas including AC Milan. A guy who made a mistake on a soccer field. A guy who got into an argument with the wrong people. A tragic end for a guy who only wanted to help his country during an insane and wild time in Colombia’s history.

--C’mon America, macaroni and cheese is a reason to celebrate and come closer together with one another. Sadly mac ‘n’ cheese is tearing apart a family in Waterville, Washington. A 17-year-old girl was making mac ‘n’ cheese when her 21-year-old brother offered his advice. I have been conditioned to know better than to question a female about an ingredient or method while she is over the stove. The letters STFU come to mind. Anyway the brother asked her if she was using real butter or margarine. Aww hell, you know it’s on now! A furious butter vs. margarine debate ensued and only ended when the sister gave her brother the business end of a serrated barbecue spatula. Yeah, 4th degree assault charge for her. No word on how the mac ended up.

--I didn’t exactly build my Sunday night around Hung and Entourage’s premieres, but I did watch them. I won’t make those mistakes again. Entourage is about 3 or 4 seasons past its expiration date. And really all it does is prove the College Humor take on it still rings true. I’ve seen a couple reviews talk about how it’s a good thing that Vincent Chase is going to be more fully developed this season. Yeah, it’s the 7th freakin’ season!
Hung just has never done anything for me and I gave it multiple chances. It might just be that I hate his kids so much.

--Drunk of the Week comes to us from New Zealand. ‘Twas there Paul Sneddon went on a little bender after losing his job. So he mixed his bender with driving which was a bad idea. A corner screwed him up and he flipped his car onto its roof trapping himself inside. His lawyer with this money quote, “He had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer.” Sneddon was pretty honest to the cops too when he was asked how much he had to drink. Sneddon replied, “Plenty. I’ve been drinking for four days straight.” Yeah, he’s not allowed to drive for a while.

--Look Jason Bateman, just because you starred in Teen Wolf Too (Electric Boogaloo) and It’s Your Move doesn’t mean you’re better than those of us plebeians who have to actually stand in line to get things like the iPhone 4. Not all Jason’s bad though as he was in a line of about 2,000 people when an Apple employee noticed him and let him in before the madness began. I mean even if you consider your famous self a man of the people, when someone offers you a chance to cut in an Apple line you’re practically obligated to take it, right?

--Show I thought I might watch until I started hearing bad things about: Memphis Beat.

--Nothing like non-stop promos to get you in the mood to really hate a movie. Of course you already know I’m talking about Grown Ups. Let’s look around Rotten Tomatoes where Grown Ups is pulling a strong 8% rating:
Dallas Morning News: “Ever been around a group of friends who crack themselves up while you stand to the side and scratch your head?”
New York Post: “When Grown Up star and co-writer Adam Sandler repeatedly slapped Rob Schneider with a dehydrated banana, I was jealous of Schneider, who suffered less than I did getting slapped upside the head by this rotting fruit of a comedy.”
Brandon Fibbs: “Unless restrained, by another far superior creative force (P.T. Anderson, Judd Apatow), Sandler’s recent career is a cautionary tale in self-mutiliation.”
AP: “Shockingly inept even by the standards we’ve come to expect from a Happy Madison production.”
Chicago Tribune: “It’s a tiny bit better than Couples Retreat so that’s good.”
I’m sure Adam Sandler cut that last one out and put it on his fridge which I presume is made of gold.

--Jonny Lee Miller/Eli Stone added to Dexter? Works for me.

--Girls Busching Girls. Sounds promising sure, but then you see the Busch-y pictures and oh well. I’ll never get this little icing/busching phenomenon and I’m quite happy I won’t. I was witness to it a few times at Lucky’s. All I did was just shake my head and wonder where we went so wrong.

--Showtime is talking to Stephen A. Smith about his own show?!

--If for some reason you've yet to check out Eric Winston filling in for Peter King, here ya go. My favorite thing he’d change about the NFL is playing the Super Bowl on a Saturday. Hell yeah, though I’m always looking for another holiday so I’d just say make Monday our national football season is over day of mourning. But whichever.

--Looking forward to Louie Tuesday night at 10 on FX.

--In Seems Like It Shouldn’t Have Come To This news…(from Chronicle):
“A Travis County judge ruled today that Texas public schools are required to give students truthful grades on class assignments and on their report cards under a 2009 state law that 11 school districts were challenging in court.”
Apparently these school districts had policies that forbade teachers from awarding any grade lower than a 50 so kids wouldn’t get discouraged and drop out. Poor kids. Teachers making them do work and get a corresponding grade. What the hell kind of schooling is that?

Questions, comments or if you got engaged last weekend and now you realize setting a date that doesn’t conflict with a major sporting event or coincide with 95 degree hot is harder than you thought…

And Now I'd Like To Introduce what's up? I'll Pass The Mic To D. For A Fist Full Of Truth.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--How insane was that U.S./Slovenia game last Friday? I’ve seen a lot of people say don’t blame the ref, blame the U.S.’s piss poor first half play. Why can’t we blame both? The U.S. crapped its pants the first 15 minutes and gave up an early goal as usual. The rest of the half they looked uncomfortable running around with loads in their shorts. Thankfully the half came so they could change shorts. Second half was a different story with everything clicking and great finishes from Donovan, Bradley and Edu of which two of those finishes actually counted. Oh well, can’t ask for much more than beat Algeria and you’re in.

--Another strong Party Down this week with the most randomly awesome shout out ever. Did not expect to hear the name of one Cody Carlson. Outstanding. A Deadspin reference to boot. More ejaculate talk than I usually like when I’m eating. I would have assumed that was an RDD (Ron Donald Don’t).
Can’t wait to see Jane Lynch back in the finale this week.


--Lighten up National Pork Board. Firstly there’s no such thing as unicorn (sorry Raheel) meat. Secondly no one was going to confuse your “The Other White Meat” trademark with “Unicorn: The New White Meat.” ThinkGeek.com reacted as well as you can after receiving a cease-and-desist letter stating:
“We’d like to publicly apologize to the N.P.B. for the confusion over unicorn and pork — and for their awkward extended pause on the phone after we had explained our unicorn meat doesn’t actually exist.”

--Finally caught up on True Blood and was pretty bored anytime we weren’t dealing with Eric/Bill/Sookeh. So awesome when Sookie said she expected Bill to come in anytime and say “Sookeh.” Early on though it looks like too many storylines in play.
How much longer until we can kill off Tara and her mother? Seriously I can’t deal with another season like last from those two. If there’s a more annoying character than Tara on television I don’t know who it’d be (oh wait E from Entourage). Worst of all she brings down Lafayette.
I like Sam, but his family reunion needs to wrap up quickly.
Always liked Andy and Jason, but they’re not clicking yet or maybe it’s because I don’t think anyone in that town not named Tara gives a F exactly who shot Eggs.
I think Evan Rachel Wood should play Kristin Bauer von Straten’s character, Pam,and vice versa. Kristin has always been strong and seems to display more characteristics you’d think The Queen would have than Evan Rachel Wood does. Although she was pretty strong when she shut Eric up in the first episode.
I did like the dinner Bill had that included cruelty-free blood and blood bisque with flower petals.
Oh and big shock the show was already given a fourth season.

--So the Rockets are eyeing Demarcus Cousins, eh? Works for me in a big way. Let’s see if Morey can make it happen and if so what he’ll give up. Or if he doesn’t and Detroit or someone else swoops in what all that team gives up. Should be an interesting Thursday night.

--I’m sure one day I’ll watch the Treme finale or I won’t. One of those. I did, however, read Alan Sepinwall's interview with David Simon in which he sounds like a guy who is tired of hearing that Treme doesn’t have a plot and is nowhere close to as good as The Wire or Generation Kill.

--Remember that convicted killer in Utah who wanted to be executed via firing squad? Yeah, he got his wish last week. Although pinning a target on his chest seems a little odd. Umm, aim for the heart not a good enough instruction?

--Eric Roberts didn’t want to be left out of the fun so he’s going to Young and the Restless.

--Zack Morris/Mark-Paul Gosselaar on Weeds next season?! I really hopes Weeds can return to its glory and then end itself properly.

Best Fallon moment yet.

--Like pretty pictures of pretty food? You gotta check out Alison Cook’s photos from her 4-hour lunch at the newly ranked #1 restaurant in the world, Noma. Some insane presentations.

--Baseball players need to stop screwing with J.R. Richard’s records. First we have Stephen Strasburg taking these strikeout marks from J.R. Now Josh Johnson is getting in on it. The Marlin has now gone 8 straight games working at least 6 innings while not allowing more than a single run. J.R. Richard was the last pitcher to put a string like that together and he did that in 1979. Richard also did that as part of a stretch of 9 straight complete games. Ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Bruce Sutter winning the Cy Young Award over Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard.

I mean really? Did something really weird happen that season because here’s what I see. Sutter closed for a Cubs team that finished below .500 while J.R. and Joe pitched for an Astros team that finished 1.5 games out of first. Sutter saved 37 games which led the league, but it’s not like he set a record. 6-6 with a 2.22 ERA is okay for a reliever and 110 Ks in just over 103 IP is strong. Also strong is a major league-leading 313 freakin’ strikeouts in 292.1 innings to go with an 18-13 record and a league-leading 2.71 ERA. J.R. also had the best H/9, K/9 and K/BB ratio and was 2nd in shutouts and complete games with a mind-boggling 19 of the latter. And like I said the Astros were actually good while the Cubs were the Cubs. Joe led the league in wins (21) and shutouts (5), but none of his other numbers come close to J.R. who should have been the winner of the 1979 Cy Young Award.

--I can probably go the rest of my life without seeing or hearing Miley Cyrus and Bret Michaels duet “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”

--Congratulations to Rachel Bilson for finally wising up and kicking Hayden Christensen to the curb. Well almost, they’re taking a month off. Finish him Rachel!


--What I didn’t understand most after watching Top Chef last week was how the hell Real Housewives of New York had a reunion show that had reached three parts?! How many parts can you have to a freakin’ reunion show before it’s just a whole other season?!

--Watching The U.S. Open made me feel a lot better about the hacking I’m about to do in Show Me Your Tents on Wednesday.

--Got around to watching Shutter Island which was aight though about 30 minutes or so too long. Not Scorsese or Dicaprio’s best work and their worst collaboration, but it made me laugh so it’s all good. It was a comedy right?

--Two words you never want to see together: counterfeit condoms. Apparently there was a big bust of a counterfeit condom ring in New York recently and it’s big business in China as well. In New York half a million condoms passed off as Trojans didn’t have spermicide as advertised and failed water leakage tests. The fake condoms in China were lubricated with vegetable oil. Yeah, that might be a problem.

--Esquire says Brooklyn Decker is the sexiest woman alive and who am I to disagree?


--Love me some Leonard Cohen so word of him working on a new album is good word.

--I’m going to miss Dzintra’s insanity on Food Network Star plus she’s from Austin so we lose a Texan on the show. Hilarious when she “sshhed” Aria.

--You knew a minor league baseball team was going to get in on the LeBron free agency stuff. The Lake County Captains is an affiliate of Cleveland or maybe the other way around considering the Indians these days. Anyway they’re having a “Stay LeBron” night on the first day of free agency. They’re renaming themselves LeLake LeCounty LeCaptains. Gotta love minor league baseball.

--Because I’m slow I’m just now finding out Katey Sagal is married to Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter.


--Since sports cards are only growing in popularity it makes sense the WNBA has its own set. It also makes sense to only charge what the market can bear. So how the fu** did the WNBA come to the conclusion $84 is a price people would be willing to pay for its 2010 set?

--There’s a Michael Jackson & Bubbles: The Untold Story on Animal Planet?!

--Because this is true change that’s needed: American Idol lowering age minimum to 15.

--We finally have a date on Kenny Powers’ return to the mound. September 26th. That’ll mark the next time I actually watch baseball.

Yes please.

--Chris Klein going to rehab?! But his career hasn’t been this hot since American Pie? Obviously everyone knows he should have been in Mamma Mia and I’m pretty sure Facebook groups are trying to get him on Glee.

--Josh Koscheck and Holly Madison?!

--Congratulations to Court McGee on becoming the next Ultimate Fighter. The guy lived one helluva hard life that included being legally dead before turning his life around. And to win this competition after starting out as an after-thought, well, great stuff. Weird season of TUF with all the injuries, Tito’s firing, lack of multiple alcoholics and did I mention injuries?
Good night of fights all around and holy crap how about Chris Leben’s 2nd round destruction of the previously undefeated Aaron Simpson?
Is there a better 1st round fighter than Jamie Yager? Too bad fights sometimes last longer than five minutes.

--Wanna see Helen Mirren nekkid?

--Oh Harold & Kumar will you two ever stop making movies? Numero tres started shooting and it’ll include Patton Oswalt. That allows me to remind you to check out Big Fan which I believe is still on Watch Instantly. A good portion of sports talk callers are summed up in Patton Oswalt’s character who hates the Cowboys, but really hates the Eagles. And hey, it’s got Michael Rappaport.

--Acting is quitting Amanda Bynes or vice versa.


--If you're so inclined (and you should be) this is the week Stephen Colbert is airing the segments from his astronaut training here in Houston.

--Can we please put a moratorium on Lady Gaga?

--Family of the Week comes to us from Florida. May I present the Eckards. 19-year-old Sean disappeared Friday. Saturday at 3AM Momma Eckard saw her 21-year-old son Stanley in her yard burying something. What? Stanley told Moms he was burying some of his old girlfriend’s belongings. Apparently Sister Eckard is the only logical Eckard and she told her dad to find out what Stanley really buried. Probably not easy for a father to dig up a son, but that’s what happened. Stanley admitted to strangling his brother and burying him with the intent of moving the body in a couple of weeks when his parents were going out of town. This would have been an awesome Family Ties.

--Over by Warehouse Live and across from my go-to Vietnamese restaurant, Huynh, sits the Oh My Pocket Pies truck every weekday. That’s where we’re shooting this Food Network Canada thing with Brian Boitano (maybe? no? okay). I finally made it out there with veggie pot pie on the brain, sadly no more veggies by the time I got there so I went with the pie of the month, margherita, and the twice baked potato pie which had veggie bacon bits. Oh hell yeah. The margherita didn’t need the ranch or sriracha dipping sauces, but they both complimented the twice baked potato pie. Damn good stuff. I like hitting this place and Melange Creperie for lunch. I just don’t like going back to the office dripping with sweat. How many more days of summer? It just started Monday? Crap.

--I’m not a big Ohio State fan, but I’ll never question the toughness of Buckeye recruit Jamel Turner. The 18-year-old appears to be stuck in Final Destination. He was shot in a drive-by back in April and over the weekend he was shot multiple times leaving him in critical condition. He was inside a house when someone shot it up. A girl was inside with him and sadly she was killed.

--I’m not sure who Jake and Vienna are, but apparently they broke up.

--RIP Manute Bol.

Questions, comments or if you are indeed El Chico del Apartamento 512…

And This Is Me Y'All, I M.C. Y'All. My Name Is M.C.A. And I Still Do What I Please.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--One more day until we go America all over Slovenia’s ass.


--Usually it doesn’t take me three weeks to watch the season finale of a show I like, but that was the case with Justified.
Side note: I still have never seen the series finale of Deadwood. Ridiculous I know.

It was a good finale that was great whenever Boyd Crowder/Walton Goggins was on the screen. He crushed it this year with his bible conversion. Other than that it seemed like a typical episode. Raylan flirts with ex-wife, kills bad guys, deals with daddy issues, saves someone, kills more bad guys. Can’t wait to see what they do with Boyd next season. I’d love to see him as the bad guy, but he was so good as the religious nut that maybe they’ll just combine the two and he can balance the good and evil angels on his shoulders.

--Back to things it’s amazing I never watched – Toy Story. However, if it’s anything like what I see here I’m down…


--Slim pickings in television land these days and yet I haven’t watched True Blood or Treme yet this week. For shame.

--Popcrunch with a rundown of movies and their original endings. Interesting stuff about some movies I hadn’t heard the original endings for like Heathers and Army of Darkness and some movies that I had like Pretty Woman and Blade Runner and some movies I could give two sh*** about like Dear John. I never had a problem with the ending of Heathers, but f*** me gently with a chainsaw, the thought of a prom in heaven sounds awesome.


--Jack White and Conan O’Brien’s album is out for pre-order.

--Robert Downey Jr. is going to play the Wizard of Oz in a 3-D prequel? Sam Raimi to direct? Eh.

--Looking forward to checking out Youth in Revolt since I’ve finally knocked out The Box. For the first 30-45 minutes I was thinking, “Ya know this movie isn’t nearly as bad as everyone says.” And then I continued to watch and then I just had to turn it off with about 30 or so minutes to go. Yeah, Richard Kelly, WTF was that? It did have Gillian Jacobs/Britta in it which I wasn’t expecting. Also the dad from Donnie Darko.

--Cameron Diaz told Playboy she’s not dating Alex Rodriguez. The world told Cameron Diaz, “we don’t give a sh**.”

--Gotta get Flash (ah ah he saved every one of us!) Gordon on Blu-ray. Hell yeah. Loved that movie.


--This Top Chef review brought to you by Dove Nutriskin Body Wash. We have our typical characters like Stephen the one who just had a kid or in this case kids, Jacqueline the caterer, Arnold the one who enjoys facials, Kenny the cocky one, Tracey the one from Atlanta, Timothy the one who lost his spouse, John the one who has no chance, Angelo the one who works in a Michelin star restaurant. Wait, dude works in a Michelin star restaurant?! Isn’t he already a Top Chef then because they don’t exactly give out Michelin stars like a little league coach gives out stars to put in your ball cap (they still do that right?). This quote from the Washington Post sums it up well:
"Not only does the food always look the same, but to a person, every cheftestant is already gainfully employed. One has a Michelin star. The words 'James' and 'Beard' are thrown around so much, I've ceased to know what they even mean. There's no element of youthful striving (or, in fact, youth); it's become a show in which older chefs seek validation and buzzy PR."

--I don’t like cats. Never have, never will. Though I don’t think I’d ever be so upset at one as to throw it off a second-floor balcony. Timothy Baggett did just that the other day to a kitten. As I wrote, I don’t like cats, but dude, I’m not a robot. Kittens are freakin’ adorable with their wittle kitten paws and wittle kitten whiskers. So Timothy tossed this wittle kitten an estimated 40 feet through the air and the kitten who we’ll call Toonces smacked into a car’s windshield which shattered upon impact. Toonces shook it off and no, didn’t get in the car and start driving. Instead Toonces ran away, but was found a little later with only a bloody nose and some bruising because cats are pretty much indestructible.

--Congratulations to the lovely Tiffani-Amber Thiessen on the birth of her first child, Harper Renn.

Joey thinks this spin off sucked.

--Another solid effort from 30 for 30. This one tackling the surreal day of June 17, 1994. It was weird seeing all of the OJ Bronco stuff because except for brief clips I’d never seen it like that before. Like a lot of people here I was more concerned about that lil ol’ basketball game than whether OJ was going to off himself. So all I remember that night is cursing NBC whenever it would switch or split screen and trying to get my radio to work so I could listen to Gene and Jim call the game. It was pretty funny to hear media types and OJ acquaintances acknowledge that OJ was guilty since he was, ya know, on the run which is not something most innocent people do. How’d that trial ever work out anyway?


--Writing of former football players who may or may not have blood on their hands. Marvin Harrison was stopped in Philly for driving the wrong way down a one way street. Marvin showed the cops a permit to carry a firearm, but neglected to tell them he actually had a gun in the car which is an RDD (Ronnie don’t, dammit watch Party Down if you don’t get that!).

--Marissa Miller – lingerie – Guitar Hero. What’s not to like?

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--How insane and sex crazy is The World Cup in South Africa? Jemele Hill was hit on by a team’s coach.

--Cupcake Wars = eh. Ice Cream Truck Wars = oh hell yeah! We head to Marysville, Washington for the fun. As I’m sure you well know ice cream trucks follow an unwritten code. The code being stay the hell out of another ice cream truck’s area. A woman driving her truck and hawking her icy wares thought she wasn’t violating anyone’s area. The ice cream truck driver who threatened her at knife point thought otherwise. Yeah he was arrested.

--Getting an offer from Michael Symon is one thing, but when Mario Batali offers a dinner every two weeks for up to twenty people if LeBron signs in New York, well that’s tough to turn down.


--Larry David gave Cheryl a conscience about the environment that mirrored his own ex-wife’s feelings though she took it to the next step and produced An Inconvenient Truth. That inconvenient truth may be Laurie David’s affair with Al Gore. Not sure how Larry can work all that into a Curb, but maybe Leon can help somehow. Seems like it’s been far too long since we’ve seen Larry and crew on HBO. They’re denying the affair, but I saw it online so I’m pretty sure it’s 100% true.
A.V. Club has an interview with Leon/JB Smoove.

--Sounds like the weak half of Jersey Shore could be shown the door. I don’t know how Vinny ever got on the show in the first place and Sammi, Ronnie and Angelina are all pretty boring as well. The Jersey Four Horsemen of Snooki, The Situation, JWOWW and Pauly D. will ride again.

--Watch out Texas State Fair, the Wisconsin State Fair has a Deep-Fried Cheese Steak on a Stick.

--Gabe from The Office, Zach Woods, has been made an Office regular, so yay?

--Comedy Central could not have picked a better night than Monday to run its block of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There is nothing else on with the slight except of Last Comic Standing which I actually watched last week as they had the auditions to set the cast. Not bad and c’mon Craig Robinson!

--Watched the "Mac is Banging the Waitress" episode last night where Mac shows off his bad ass-edness. Jonathan Metz is our Bad Ass of the Week from Hartford, Connecticut. Seems Jonathan was doing some cleaning when his arm got stuck in the fins of his furnace. Whoops. Twelve hours pass and, “I thought there must be some other way, so I kind of started looking around my surroundings again. Maybe there was something I missed. You know, what would MacGyver do if he were here?” Yeah, Jonathan decided MacGyver would try to saw off his stuck arm. His tool box was close enough to reach so he sawed away before meeting his match in a bundle of nerves in his arm. Eventually his fellow employees got worried about him and called the cops who found him still alive and presumably muttering, thanks a lot MacGyver.

--Holy crap, it’s not officially even Summer until Monday?!

--Some people have waaay too much time on their hands. Jonah Adkins is one of those people and I'm very thankful for that.


--Sweet a place down by my old stomping grounds made Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes List. At #20 the pork chop at Perry’s on Scarsdale.

--I can’t hear you Bobby Flay and January Jones rumors…(covers ears)LALALALALALALA!!!!!


--Miles Austin saved my fantasy season last year and even though he’s a Cowboy good for him for being Kim Kardashian’s flavor of the week. Apparently Kim can’t get enough of chocolate.

--Coming up on Southbound Food this week (Saturday 11AM) we talk to Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelsson and Rick Moonen. If you hit Vegas you’re crazy not to hit RM Seafood in the back of Mandalay Bay. Tremendous food at very reasonable prices. We also talk to this guy named Bryan Caswell. I understand he’s a chef around here somewhere. Next week is a “Best of” because we’ll be taping a segment on food trucks for Food Network Canada. That’s right Canada bitches!

Questions, comments or if you can’t wait to see what that Traeger grill is capable of this weekend…

What's Running Through My Mind Comes Through In My Walk. True Feelings Are Shown From The Way That I Talk.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--A win is a win is a win…except when it’s a draw. I’ll take it though. Things normally don’t go all that well if you give up a goal to a more talented team within the first four minutes of the game. But the U.S. has Tim Howard and England has Robert Green. Now it’s gonna be on Friday when the U.S. takes on Slovenia which was gifted a win courtesy of Algeria. Push forward boys and come back with a 2-0 victory.

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World Cup 2010: Into Africa - US Ties England
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--There is no better show on television right now than Breaking Bad. That is how you do a finale. Pitch perfect from beginning to end. No messing around with the subplots of the season. Straight forward Gus vs. Walt vs. Mike vs. Jesse and unfortunately vs. Gale.

Great pacing, great writing, great directing and, as usual, great acting. It’d be easier to list the cast or creative parts that don’t deserve Emmy nominations than the ones who do. Aaron Paul/Jesse didn’t win last year, but he deserves it this year. Incredible. It’s strange hearing the guy who wanted to be the bad guy he felt he was try to talk Walt out of killing Gale.

And then when push came to shove, with tears in his eyes, with a gun in his trembling hand, boom. Wow. I didn’t really care for how those last seconds were shot because it did make it seem like Jesse pointed the gun away from Gale, but that wasn’t the case. The man behind Breaking Bad’s curtain, Vince Gilligan, explained as much in an interview with Alan Sepinwall and other interviews he’s done since. Walt played Mike like a fiddle although I was slightly unsure whether he was actually selling Jesse out, but shoulda known he was two steps ahead of everyone else. I could watch Walt and Gus play chess all day. Your move Gus. The cartel is on your ass and the only chemist you have is the man, the myth, the Heisenberg. RIP Gale, I hope they play “Crapa Pelada” at your funeral.
Check out that interview because there are lots of interesting bits discussed including the writing process and a lot on The Cousins. AV Club has an interview with Vince Gilligan as well that’s worth checking out. Now I’m gonna leave the room and go get myself a Nescafe.

--Oh hell yeah, Ricky Gervais is going to be in a Curb this season.

--Now let’s go HBO trailer happy with the latest one from Boardwalk Empire (Omar!) and one from the second season of Bored to Death which is gold anytime Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson share the stage…




--Damn Vince you’re not actually blaming a friend for your trip to the strip club are you?

--Our Packer of the Week comes to us from Wenatchee, Washington. ‘Twas there that an unnamed man was arrested for disorderly conduct. Nothing was found in the strip search, but a bit later a jailer noticed a plastic bag and duct tape in a toilet. Hmmm. So they asked the guy what was up and the guy confessed to rectally smuggling in a couple of items. You know the usual rolling papers, baggie of tobacco, baggie of marijuana, 1-inch smoking pipe, a lighter and that’s about it, oh wait almost forgot the bottle of tattoo ink and 8 tattoo needles. Say what you will about where he packs, but there’s no denying if you’re going to Vegas for a week and just want to take one carry-on that’s the guy you want packing it for you.

--Hitting three parked cars?! For shame Betty Draper, for shame. Remember when Betty lit a cigarette and started blasting birds out of the sky with a shotgun. Yeah, that was fun.


--So Jay Rayner went after Rick Moonen for using that New Zealand venison which apparently is not sustainable. Jay dogged Rick for always touting that sustainable philosophy and serving something that didn’t conform to his philosophy. Rick’s response: “Dude, it’s not like I’m serving you sea bass with clubbed seal sauce.”
Nice. Padma’s show begins this week. I think it’s called Top Chef.

--Jimmy Dean died, but thankfully sausage links wrapped in chocolate chip pancakes live on. How have I never heard this awesome complaint call before?


--The only thing more disgusting than the above is the Bob Evans Sausage Gravy machine. Just wow.


--A Miss Universe Canada contestant was kicked to the curb after it was discovered she filmed a nude ad for the infidelity site Ashley Madison. Interesting that she lied on her, wait… AshleyMadison.com has nude ads?!

--Good to see my man Bubbles on Party Down last week. Paul Scheer from The League was also strong as you’d expect. Apparently Scheer’s wife is the woman from the company picnic, Danielle, who Ron got with. The only thing better than Kyle’s Shakespearean references was when Henry asked Kyle if he knew how to pop a lock. Hell yeah Kyle knew how to pop and lock.
Kyle: “Revenge is a dish best served. …You know… Shakespeare? Waiters?”

Roman: “Iago. From Othello?”
Kyle: “The board game?”

Just two more episodes left this season and I’m guessing in this series. Such a shame. I think Megan Mulally/Lydia has been okay, but Jane Lynch/Constance crushed it every time. Constance comes back for the final episode which will be nice and probably bittersweet.

--After watching a lot of old wrestling videos on YouTube I think I need to include some here every once in a while. First off Jim Cornette shooting on WCW, nWo and Bischoff. Syxx’s contribution? Cornette: “The only reason he’s employed is because the other guys think it’s funny when he gets drunk and throws up on himself.”

Oh and Syxx/1-2-3 Kid/Sean Waltman tried to hang himself a couple of years ago. Ain’t wrestling great!

--If Sage Rosenfels isn’t happy in Minnesota and is 4th or 5th on the depth chart can’t you just be cool Vikings and let him go so the Texans can pick him back up? I mean we gave you Ryan Moats already this week. Be cool.

--Finally I’m at the point in Friday Night Lights where I stopped watching online and can resume watching on NBC. I’m glad it’s getting one more season and I’m even gladder that Matt, Street, Tim and Tyra are coming back in that season for one or more episodes.


--If you want to see the two unaired Better Off Ted episodes on ABC then you’re cheering for the Celtics in Game 6. Boston wins and ABC airs. Boston loses we get Game 7.

--There’s no running in bullfighting….well unless you’re Christian Hernandez. The 22-year-old was making a comeback to the ring several months after a bull got the best of his leg. The leg is apparently fully healed because he used both his legs to run his ass out of the ring as soon as the comeback bull entered. The most honest quote you’ll see this week comes from Mr. Hernandez, "There are some things you must be aware of about yourself. I didn't have the ability, I didn't have the balls, this is not my thing."

--Whitesnake has its own wine?! Sure, why not?


--Best part about the NBA Finals ending this week? No more f’n Grown Ups promos where they sit around and talk about basketball. Terrible.

--I wrote last week about those sad people staging a blackout at ABC offices to protest Flash Forward’s demise. Now in all its video glory…


--You took away my Astroworld, don’t you dare demolish my Dome. David Barron with a state of the Dome address.

--Wired has compiled 10 trailers for E3’s hottest video games. None of them contain the words NCAA Football or FIFA so I’m not likely to buy.

--Gabrielle Union is going to join an Army Wives spinoff? I was under the impression Army Wives was a reality show, but apparently not. She'd be better on Basketball Wives so make an honest woman out of her already Dwyane.

--Craig Ferguson hosting Shark Week is a very good thing. Shark Week comes at us on August 1st.

--Let’s see…Robb Walsh, Bill Floyd and Bryan Caswell opening a Tex-Mex restaurant in Tower Theater. Yeah, that might be a good thing. Finally a reason to make it to 2011.

--About damn time (July 1st to be exact) Starbucks started offering free, one-click wifi at its stores.

Questions, comments or if all you want this weekend is a green falafel sandwich from Zabak’s (#23 on Robb Walsh’s 100 Favorite Houston Dishes)…

If You Can Feel What I'm Feeling Then It's A Musical Masterpiece. If You Can Hear What I'm Dealing With Then That's Cool At Least.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--Heisenberg FTMFW! Ain’t no half-measures. Typical Breaking Bad with powerful scenes left and right. You knew we were in for a good one when “Windy” opened up the show. Nice little days in the life of a crack whore and oh what a glamorous life Wendy leads. Loved when Mike (Jonathan Banks) and Walt had their little sit down and Mike played story time. More on him in a second. Jesse and Walt had a beer and Jesse came up with the most thought out, clear headed revenge idea he’s ever had come out of that half-fried brain of his. He was even able to justify it, just not to Walt’s liking. This show is so good at presenting both sides of the conflict and leaving it up to you to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. Anytime Gus and Walt are in a scene it’s going to be good and adding Jesse in the trailer made it great. Jesse/Aaron Paul is so damn good in this role. There’s no way they kill him off right? Right? No series is more effective in the two-minute drill than Breaking Bad in its final two minutes every week. Outstanding! The finale on Sunday will be followed by a sneak peek of Rubicon, but I have a feeling I’ll have to watch that the next day because I’ll need to decompress for a bit after watching the season finale.

One of my favorite 80’s television series was Wiseguy with Ken Wahl and Jonathan Banks. First of all how can you come up with a better undercover name than Vinnie Terranova?! Second of all, Sonny Steelgrave. The first season of this show with Ray Sharkey/Sonny was some damn television. Jonathan Banks/Frank McPike was Vinnie’s handler and played that role as perfectly as he’s playing this one. For me this was one of the first shows that showed a lot of gray characters instead of starkly good or bad. Good stuff and I definitely need to revisit that 1987 first season sometime and see how it stands up.


--Two more episodes of Treme left in this season and it’s still just kinda there for me. I don’t particularly like it a lot. I don’t dislike it. I just don’t get much out of it, but there’s sure as sh** not much else on right now so I’ll make it the rest of the way. I do enjoy reading Dave Walker’s “Treme Explained” though.

--What would be the greatest paintball tournament to ever be involved in? If you answered one where you’re playing with the cast of The Wire then you’re right. Apparently Jamie Hector/Marlo is organizing a tournament for a charity. Signed up so far is the likes of Kima, Bodie, Snoop, Slim and a little someone named Omar. Holy sh**! Play paintball with Omar?! Are you f’n serious?! Is he going to whistle the whole time?!


--As someone who has Voltron in their Netflix Watch Instantly queue I’m not terribly excited about Voltron Force starting up on Nicktoons next year. And oh yay! “new recruits” are going to join Team Voltron.

--Because apparently it’s the thing to do now, Vanessa Marcil is going back to General Hospital.

Who gets Antonio Sabato Jr.?

--There are roundtables and then there’s the Hollywood Reporter’s recent roundtable with Neil Patrick Harris, Ed Helms, Ty Burrell, Ted Danson, Jim Parsons and Aziz Ansari. Love Ted Danson’s answer to what is his biggest criticism of his work:
“I need a seven-year space where I can genuinely look at it again. First time, I see my nose, my hair, my age, my something -- pure physical -- and I'm depressed. Second time, I go, ‘Hmm, I guess I'm not that bad.’ Third time, I notice there are other actors in the scene! (Laughs.)”

--If I had to wish a slow, painful, torture on anyone this week I’d go with Joran van der Sloot in a heartbeat. I’d let Jack Bauer do the torture and let him take van der Sloot to death’s door time and time again without ever letting him in.

--I thought I wouldn’t feel older than when Ken Griffey Jr. retired last week and then the Astros go and draft Delino Deshields Jr.

--Ummm, why is Real World still trying?
And even I think Jersey Shore is starting to get overexposed and I watched every last greasy minute of that trainwreck.


--Whoa, whoa, whoa there’s a Vanilla Cookies ‘n’ Cream from Blue Bell now?!

--Kim K. as the next Lara Croft?! Sure, why not?

Whatever happened to that guy?

--Who dares try to unmask La Parka?! This guy. We all know it’s Juventud Guerrera in there anyway. If Wikipedia has this correct, and I’m sure it does, once upon a time Konnan dropped a Najeh Davenport in Juventud’s gym bag. Sounds about right. But to do it just last year?! I mean Konnan was 45 years old, don’t you outgrow that sort of thing? And apparently once upon a time Konnan had hair because he once wrestled Jake the Snake Roberts in a hair vs. hair match. He actually won that. I need to find some Max Moon on YouTube because I don’t remember that gimmick he used in the WWF before he moved to WCW.

I do remember seeing him at the Dome before a show one time. He was just walking along the concourse and apparently I was the only guy who recognized him and no I didn’t ask to touch his hat or ask him to let me speak on this. I think it was the forgettable Nitro that Bam Bam Bigelow and maybe Tank Abbot, anyway, they took their fight to the outside and rolled in those grass embankments. Al Davis thinks WCW ran itself into the ground.


--Entertainment Weekly lists Glee’s Top 10 Performances this season. Pretty crappy list with "Safety Dance" at 6 and "Bad Romance" at 2. Predictably "Don’t Stop Believin'" is #1. I agree whole heartedly with everything Ken Tucker writes about Glee’s main problems – themes, lessons learned, and the female characters. Most accurate description of the second half of this season: “Glee has also become, I’m sorry to say, a bit strained, a tad self-congratulatory.”
Now having said all that, damn that was an outstanding finale along the lines of what we saw the first half of this season. The second half of the season suffered from the above-mentioned problems, but that finale was spot on. New Directions killed the Journey medley. Even Puck and Santana got a verse in the medley. Vocal Adrenaline killed "Bohemian Rhapsody." Hell, I was even down with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I’m glad New Directions didn’t win because the episode didn’t really need that it had so much of everything else in all its sappy, cheesy glory. As always lots of good Sue moments, but my personal favorite: "Your hair looks like briar patch. I keep expecting racist animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing songs about livin' on the bayou."
Oh and that dentist Emma is dating is going to be John Stamos.


--So how do you get to be one of the contestants on Next Food Network Star and you’re not able to semi-comfortably look at a camera and speak? I’m not even looking for coherent thought behind your words, just noise. Oh by the way this competition is over after only one week. Congratulations Aria.

--Now that Firefly is on Netflix Watch Instantly I can zip through it this summer. It’s also one of the retro shows that Alan Sepinwall is going to be going back and reviewing on a weekly basis. I’ve only watched the first two-hour pilot, but I’m liking where this is going and who isn’t in it? Nathan Fillion, Morena Baccarin (Diana in V, Roger Dodger), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, Platoon), Alan Tudyk (V and a helluva lot of other small roles), Gina Torres (24, The Shield), Ron Glass (Barney Miller), Summer Glau and the lovely and talented Christina Hendricks. So when this originally aired Fox didn’t air the pilot until the first season was over and the show was cancelled?! Um, shouldn’t pilots, oh I don’t know, air first? Man, Fox, I expect that crap from NBC, but you?


--I’m no baseball expert, but I think this Stephen Strasburg kid might be one to watch. Best part? Game was only 2 hours and 19 minutes. Stupidest part? A Nationals fan throwing Delwyn Young’s HR ball back on the field. Are you nuts? That’s the first and likely only home run Strasburg will ever give up!
Back to a real pitcher…Kenny F’n Powers comes back with Eastbound & Down on September 26th.

--Our Bad Timing Award of the Week goes to Mother Nature for being a bitch ass in North Carolina the other day. Richard Butler and his girl Bethany Lott were hiking up a mountain and Richard’s plan was to propose once they reached the top. Nice. However, Mother Nature decided to conjure up a lightning storm and yeah, hit the happy couple with a bolt. They were both knocked down, but only Richard got up. He tried CPR and eventually he found some help, but sadly Bethany passed away. Why you gotta be like that Mother Nature?

--I think I went once in New York and didn’t really care for it, but ESPN Zone restaurants are closing down.
/tear

--TV Squad had a nice interview with Walton Goggins including some talk about Shane’s final terribly sad scene on The Shield. Between Stanley Cup and NBA Finals I still haven’t watched Justified’s finale.

--A David Hasselhoff roast on Comedy Central?! What a layup? Please let K.I.T.T. get a turn.

--In New York Conan did some stuff with Colbert, Stewart and played with Vampire Weekend. Now in Nashville he’s doing something with Jack White. Somebody should give this guy a show.

--Another day, another set of ideas for what to do with the Dome. If you tear down the Dome the only thing that should go up in its place is Astroworld.

--Trump looking to add Lindsay Lohan to Celebrity Apprentice? I’d rather watch Bethenny Getting Married? Okay, not really I’d actually turn off the TV if those were my only two options and believe me turning off the TV is saying something.

--If I’m Michigan I’m not turning down any possible source of revenue so if some ecologist wants PINUS on their personalized license plate to honor the pinus strobus (white pine for my non-Latin speaking friends), which is the state’s tree, then take the money and run. Oh and it’s pronounced pie-nus, but you knew that already.

--Apparently Jimmy Fallon’s ratings have dropped 20% over the last year and NBC is freaking out. Example 1 of NBC’s stupidity is this quote from the NY Post:
“The Peacock Network is trying to boost Fallon's audience by booking appearances on his show by NBC and CNBC personalities, including Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow and Meredith Vieira.”
Yes because nothing draws ratings like CNBC “personalities.” Maybe it’s just me, but having an old, unfunny man who anyone under 40 thinks is a tool host the lead-in show for Fallon who is the complete opposite has something to do with this?

--Best part about Marcus Samuelsson winning Top Chef Masters? It means the next season of Top Chef begins next week.

--Congratulations to Oliver Luck who is on his way to his alma mater, West Virginia, to become the new AD there. I’m sure Mountaineers fans wish he was bringing Andrew with him. Thanks Oliver for everything you’ve done for the Dynamo. You put so much work into establishing a great organization and I thank you for your efforts. You were always quick to come on the air, make the players accessible and make the fans feel they’re a part of something special and the organization you’re leaving behind is a special one because of the hard work you put in.

--Anyone seen this Glenn Martin DDS show?

Questions, comments or if you already started drinking in preparation for U.S.A./England…