Philadelphia Phillies Champions of Baseball 2008

I'm at a loss right now.

I'll let it sink in and then I'll have something to say.

100 seasons

It has been 25 years since any of the 4 big teams have won the championship in Philadelphia.
that is 100 seasons of sports.
100 full seasons without winning it all.

The Phils are up 3 games to 1 on the Tampa Rays.

There will be those that say they Phils didn't play a real team, an established team.

I don't care.
It wouldn't matter to me if they played a team that stunk
and won a trip to the series in a raffle.

As I'm writing this it is the fifth inning in game 4 and Joe Blanton
just hit a Home run to give the Phils 6-2 lead.

The last time a pitcher homered in a Series game was 1974.

They still have to win this game and then 1 more so I'll stop here and
keep waiting for season One Hundred and One to be the Big One.

World Series 2008 Phillies vs. Rays

Well the Sox almost did perform another miracle.
they are one of 2 teams to come back from a 3-1 deficit.

The Sox have done it 3 times before and almost did it again.

So, here we go.
Phils vs. Rays.

Phils in 6.

Phillies are National league Champs 2008

I'm still not sure if it has sunk in yet.
The Phils are in the World Series.
The Fall Classic.

They have made it to the Series only 5 other times and were able to win it only one time in 1980.

Barring a miracle by the Red Sox it looks like they will be playing the
Tampa Bay Rays.

It's been 25 years since the last title
by Philadelphia team, so I'm always reluctant to give in to the excitement.

During my lifetime I've been witness to
The Phils, 76ers and the Flyers win it all.

The best one was when I watched the Phils win the Series
on the front porch of Charlie Mannings house on a little black and white tv with
a bunch of friends in our old neighborhood Kensington.

The first thing I did was jump off the porch and run up the street to were my best friend was and he came running down and he jumped right up into my arms.

I was 17 years old and this was the first time I was old enough to
understand the feeling of watching your favorite team win the big game.

The Sixers won it 3 years later and that has been it ever since.

I am not going to say that this going to be the Phils turn because
there have been too, too many disappointments.

So I'll just watch and if they lose then it's business as usual.

If they manage to beat the Rays then let the celebration begin.

BEST BUY saved my butt

It really is true, Best Buy saved me.

I had another iPhone situation this week.

At work my iphone was sitting on the counter
and it suddenly lost the signal
for making and placing calls.
No bars.

So a played around with it for a while, turned it on and off a bunch of times, still no service.

When I got home I used the restore option in iTunes but still no service.

Off to the apple store to speak with an apple "genius"

Just like my previous iphone they looked into
the connector with a microscope and told me
there has been water in the iphone and that's
why i'm having the trouble with the iphone.

Well guess what, there has never been any
water near my iphone at any time
in the 3 weeks I've had the iphone.

My insistence of this fact didn't matter to the "genius" or his boss the manager of the store.
She refused to budge and as before was kind enough to allowme to buy another iphone.

"No thanks" I told her that we need to elevate this to the next level.
All she would come up with was a phone number to Apple's "s.o.s." service line.

Ok so since i did buy the phone at Best Buy I thought i would give that a shot.
Lucky for me they either don't know aout the red dot indicator
or just overlooked it.
They said i could exchange my iPhone for a new one since it was under 30 days.

One half hour later and I had a new 16 gig Iphone.
Thank you Best Buy.

Say what you will about them and their
maligned customer service, it worked today for me.

REVIEW: The Sixth Sense

There is a spoiler in this review so only read if you have seen the movie.

The Sixth sense was just released on Blu-Ray so this has given me a perfect reason to
finally go and watch it again.
I've only been able to watch the 6th Sense fully through once since the day I saw it at the movies.

This is a compliment to the film.
I think the 6the Sense might be a more emotional film while watching it after having already seen it.

Once you have seen the movie and know what the out come is,
re-watching is a very satisfying and interesting experience.

Every single thing that shows you what has happened to Bruce Willis is right on the screen.
You can watch and see every single clue because they are all right there.
There is no cheat in this movie, everything works and it all adds up.
Right there in the movie Osmet tells you what is happening when he says right to Willis,
“I see dead people” and “they don't know there're dead”.
The 6th Sense is so casual in it's pacing that you just don't notice what is happening until the very end.

I feel sad for anybody who figured out the reveal before the end or anyone who claims they did
because it ruins the shock and the feeling of excitement
when you realize it out for the first time.

Also amazing is the performance of Haley Osmet.
It is rare that someone that young can pull off a great performance,
as this one, without looking silly.

Bruce Willis is subdued and almost whispers his entire role,
but it helps everything else around him become even more pronounced.

6th Sense is classified as horror, but there really isn't much in the film that's scary
as much as it is chilling. It's much more then a simple horror flick.

It's hard to say this isn't a perfect movie, I'll give this is 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Plus it is just as good if not better on successive viewings.


The 6th Sense is truly a modern classic.
Watch it once and carefully pay attention, then watch it again and see how it all plays out perfectly.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Wish I thought of it: Garfield edition

So I stumbled on a website that has taken Garfield to
an entirely new level.

Garfield minus Garfield.
From the site...

"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

This is the kind of dark, demented and surreal humor I
look for in Life every day.

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

This is the kind of dark, demented and surreal humor I
look for in Life every day.

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

Perks of the job

The only two good perks of my job at Blockbuster
are getting free movie rentals and the ability
to get new releases one or two weeks before they come out.

This week I have
Run Fat Boy, Run

This was my favorite of the three movies this week.
Simon Pegg is a riot.
I love his deadpan style of comedy.

His Dennis is always running from his problems
including his pregnant fiance' on their wedding day.

It's 5 years later and Dennis wants to win her back.
Problem is Libby has moved on to Whit.
Whit happens to be nearly perfect and runs in marathons for charity.

All Dennis has to do is register and run in the upcoming marathon
to prove that he has changed.
Accept, he is a bit over weight or as he calls himself, "I'm not fat I'm just unfit"
and he is a heavy smoker.
Oh and the race is only 3 weeks away.

So can Dennis run the race, win back Libby, and show his son
he is someone who doesn't run away from problems? We'll See.

This doesn't have the expected neat and tidy normal happy
ending these kind of movies usually get.
It does have an appropriate and very good ending.

4 stars out of 5
****

-------------------------------


Deception

This movie is a stinker
Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor
can't save this one from stinking.
There was nothing deceiving in the movie.
You can see the set up from a mile away.

Even the twist ending wasn't done right.

1 and a half stars out of 5

*1/2
-----------------------------------

Leatherhead

This was a fun movie, but that might what I didn't like about it.
The movie couldn't decide if i was straight drama or a slapstick comedy.
The funny parts were funny and the drama parts were well acted.
I just wanted it to be one or the other.
It just didn't mix.

There really wasn't enough about the history of early football.
Game play was a bit to unrealistic and most of the characters
were just too cartoony and more like caricatures then actual people.

The superstar player switches teams right in the middle of the season
and only because of a casual mention
do we know how he ended up on the other team.

Anyway, John Krasinski from The Office is really good.
He was really funny in License to Wed, can't wait to what he has next.

George Clooney is also in it and he is the director of the movie.
3 1/2 stars out of 5.
***1/2
-------------------------------

I've added a link to a list of every movie I have seen this
year on the Places to go area.

Movie Review: BABY MAMA

Tina Fey is Kate Holbrook.
Kate is 37, a very successful single, Philadelphian business woman and she wants a baby.

She is so desperate to have a baby that she starts to imagine
everyone she sees is a baby.
After many attempts and finding out she has a million to one
shot at getting pregnant due to her "T-shaped uterus"
she decides to hire a surrogate.

After Kate meets her wacky surrogate Angie Ostrowiski(Amy Poehler)

and her just as wacky common law husband(Dax Shepard), the fun starts.

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are a great match.

Kate is completely sarcastic and Angie is extremely obnoxious

but it works together perfectly.
They were a team for years co-anchoring SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's "Weekend Update" together and their
on screen chemistry is comedy gold.

Before you know it Angie moves in with Kate.
Soon Kate meats Greg Kennear who is Rob.
Rob runs a local healthy drink shop called Super Fruity.
Kate and Rob seem to have an instant connection.

Look for Steve Martin as Kate's boss.
He's some type of zen master who rewards people
by giving them as much as 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact.

This movie takes place in Philly and
There are many shots of the city throughout the film.
Baby Mama is a great showcase for how good Philly can look.
Philly scenery is always a plus for me because I grew
in Philly and love watching the city look
great on the big screen, especially my big screen TV.

Poehler and Fey are a great team and and a legitimate odd couple.

Baby Mama is actually a little touching and Angie,

despite her initial intentions, is a likable character.

Plenty of really good one-liners in the movie from everyone.

There aren't many if any female comedy teams

in the movies these days

so let's hope these two make more together.

I give this 4 stars out of 5.

****

Oh Don't forget to order the Yeast Ball.

Atlanta in October for a week.

Holly and I are going to Atlanta in October to visit her son and his family.

We always like going to the Varsity for hot dogs,
and we've been in Coke World.
This time we hope to get into the Aquarium and see the fishys.

What else in Atlanta should we see?

My 13 month old iPhone is shot, Apple guy says sorry for your luck.

---

I am not a person who will ever curse, use profanity,
but today the Apple store nearly changed all that.
Sunday night I started to notice that a
"this accessory is not for the iphone"
pop-up note, accept nothing was attached to the iphone.
The next morning I noticed the phone hadn't charged even though it was plugged in all night.
For whatever reason the phone wasn't being connected to the
cord to charge the battery.

All I was getting was a red bar that would blink 3 times and shut down the phone.
So I took it to an apple store.
After blowing air in the connector hole and using a microscope to look in the headphone jack he told me the phone was done.

He insinuated that I had gotten moisture inside the phone by telling me the inside of the headphone jack had some corrosion.
He also pointed out the obvious, being the connector on the phone was no good.
Plus He was kind enough to tell me I was eligible for the $199 new phone "upgrade".

"Right, you mean buy a new iphone."
"well, yes."
"I paid $600 for this phone, have only had it for 13 months
and that's it. I'm out of luck?"

"Yep sorry nothing I can do for you."
Up until tonight I have been preaching about how great this phone is.
Even in a few topics on Home theater Forum I questioned some of those who have complained about the iphone.
Now I'm just super ticked that I apparently have no recourse
on this broken iphone.
The apple store guy essentially just shrugged and said too bad, sorry for your luck.
So I suppose I could go back in and speak with a higher up, but I really don't expect it to make a difference.
I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

So I figure, since everyone and anyone gets to Blog I thought I would too.
More to come.