Wednesday, November 07, 2007

stuff from all over

Gaming: I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Assassin's Creed. You get to play as a Muslim assassin who terrorizes the Catholic Church. That won't be awkward at all.

Technology: My not-that-old Creative Zen MicroPhoto mp3 player suddenly died, so I got a new toy. Props to Amazon and UPS for delivering it to me a mere 50 hours after I ordered it.

Baseball: The Red Sox might have quite a boring off-season. Schilling already re-upped to an extremely reasonable deal, and progress is being made on Lowell. The only thing left is trading Coco (to make room for Ellsbury) and sorting out the back end of the bullpen. Still, I'll always take "boring" over a reality-altering signing of you-know-who.

Word is Boston is thinking about a six man rotation. This actually makes some sense. Forty-somethings Schilling and Wakefield could use the lighter schedule, Daiskue obviously wore out at the end of last season, and Lester and Buchholz would have an easier transition to full-time starting duty. The biggest downside would be less Beckett, but there's no rule saying he couldn't be used on four days rest while everyone else gets five/six days.

The Strike: It's only been three days and the writer's strike is already taking a toll. The Office only has two completed episodes left to air, Fox won't start airing 24 unless they know they can film the "full day," and Heroes re-shot some scenes to work as an early season finale. At least Scrubs said they've already shot 12 of the 18 ordered episodes.

Even though I generally dislike unions, and strikes even more, I actually agree with some of the writers' complaints. As I understand it, they don't get any residuals for online revenue (iTunes downloads, ads shown during episodes streamed online, etc.) whereas producers, directors and actors do. Supposedly they're also getting shafted on DVD residuals, but I don't know enough to have a stand on that. Irregardless, picketing will always be stupid and pointless. Woo hoo, you put a sign on a stick and rhymed something with "1, 2, 3, 4."

I couldn't help but think of some ways for shows like Late Night to work around the strike. Obviously the interviews and musical guests could be done without writers. As for the monologues and "desk segments," they could try user-generated content. Get people to submit jokes over You Tube or something, and use the best ones on-air. Also, Conan has often said he wanted to do a show where it was just him dancing with the audience for an hour. What better time then now? The problem is, even if these ideas are feasible, a lot of actors and directors are supporting their writer buddies by "declining to come into work." Grrr.

Wake Forest: On Monday the Deacons had their first game since Skip passed, an exhibition win over Mars Hill. Get used to the name of James Johnson. He might be pretty special. Plus, my parents got "lower bowl" season tickets this year!

6 comments:

Bear said...

I'm glad to hear the Sox probably won't acquire a certain player; if they did, I might stop pulling for them. I dislike A-Rod almost as much as 'irregardless.' Honestly, it took a great deal of effort to calm myself down while reading your linked article and remind myself that he's just joking. And retarded.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... killing Catholic leaders... sounds like fun. It's all part of that sympathy-for-the-terrorists movement.

Sorry your Zen died. Mine has been quite reliable.

Honestly, the more the Red Sox win, the less I like them. I enjoyed the whole underdog bit but the growing salary and mini-dynasty are turnoffs. I'll always pick the Sox over the Yanks, but I'm now leaning more towards like the Twins and Indians.

I thought Dice-K could throw 300 innings and whatnot?

There goes Wake's season. Why do we always have problems with Clemson? Oh well. We'll make a bowl (probably).

I'm gonna miss 24. The rest I can deal without, but I need 24. In the spring I have no football or baseball, college b-ball here sucks and pro b-ball always sucks.

Tom said...

I completely understand what you're saying about the Red Sox. The two biggest reasons I became a fan was Trot and the "cursed" angle. So for someone such as yourself who likes/liked the Sox but isn't a fan per se, the appeal might get lost.

Actually, considering my dislike for the pro teams that "won too much" when I was younger (Bulls, Cowboys, Yankees) then I might hate my two favorite teams (Spurs and Red Sox) if I was still a kid. :-0

Anonymous said...

Exceptions can be made to the "dynasty rule" when 1) it's the hometown team or 2) the team represents "the right way" to win (i.e. budget-conscious, fundamental, good sportsmanship, etc.). In my book the Spurs fall under the 2nd exception. The Red Sox don't really.

I just thought of something related to unions. What's the most powerful union in the country? The auto workers. Which American industry is currently in the most trouble? Car manufacturers. See a connection?

Anonymous said...

Mariano Rivera's ERA more than doubled in '07 from '06 and the Yanks are offering him $15 million a year. That's insane. At least the BoSox are semi-responsible with their money...

Bear said...

You know, you could write a book/entry called, "Zen and the Art of Digital Music," or something like that.