As I apply for jobs that I don’t really want yet need to take on because of a money flow vacancy, I take a break to unload quick hits on certain material that’s clogging my head. There are small advantages to being out of work and hanging with the kid and being able to write more freely and often are two of them. One of the shitty parts is having to fill out job applications that include 100 question assessments that basically ask questions over and over again. NO I have never used drugs or sold them to employees. NO I have never stolen money from my employer. There must have been a whole pack of worthless assholes who stole from their companies and set up these questions. There isn’t a day that goes by in my life where I feel sympathy for criminals or ex-cons. You fuck up, you pay a price and you live with the stigma for life. I could have taken an easy way out and stole or broke the law but I fucking didn’t and here I am filling out 2-5 apps a day for warehouse gigs that make me feel like a useless lifeless shit eating robot. Yeah, that’s my morning. Can you tell I have only had one cup of coffee? Let’s continue while I change out the magazines in my guns.
Rain sucks. Why? It delays me mowing my lawn and making it look short and pretty so I don’t have to worry about it for another 5-7 days. Rain sucks big time.
Raising a puppy is a lot of damn work. It’s the same as having a newborn kid. They are stupid, reckless, shit taking, pissing, crazy creatures that don’t listen and make you insane. BUT…it will be all better when they are properly trained and older, right? WRONG. I hate dogs and pets as a whole. No more.
My son Vinny is so independent he doesn’t have to participate in the kid activities at Gymboree or any other place where kids and parents get to play with shit and not worry about breaking anything. He goes every Tuesday and likes to do it but for the most part flirts with chicks, knocks other kids over, steals toys, plays by himself or with me or Rae and avoids the songs, dances and games that go along with the place. My son is self-motivated. He is above it. Yes, he will continue to go but I don’t look down on my kid because he doesn’t want to get in a circle with other kids and sing about making……circles. Not here. What did kids do 30 years ago? Back in the day and age where real men and women were made and forced to work their way through life and pick up skills and traits. ON THEIR OWN. I love my kid but he is part of a soft generation and fights that sometimes. My prodigy doesn’t need extra help.
The Cards play three games with the LA Angels aka Albert’s new team tonight at 9pm. I read a couple truly outstanding pieces by Bernie Miklasz about the Pujols situation and feel like adding my final bit before the games start tonight and all the announcers get on their knees and worship Albert and Cards fans hate on him. Let’s get a few things straight.
(5) Albert Pujols Thoughts
*He left. So what? When Pujols left STL, he gave us the opportunity to truly start over, play younger players, rebuild in a way and start a new regime. The Cards front office suits played Russian roulette with Pujols in December of 2011 and almost gave him 10 years and 200 million before Albert jumped the plane to LA and took their 10 year(plus 10 years of service off the field) offer for 250 million dollars. In the end, Albert helped the Cards by LEAVING. He stays and we are on the hook for a lot of money and would have gotten the declining shittier years of Pujols. He will NEVER be the player he was in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the Angels today. It just won’t happen. We got the best for 104 million over 11 years and the Angels will get the worst of Albert for 10 years and 250 million.
*The Cards got lucky here and saved serious cash. Instead of getting robbed with one player, they circulated the money throughout the whole team. They signed Carlos Beltran to a 2 year deal that is paying off wonderfully and more soundly than the 2 year Lance Berkman project. They signed young RBI machine Allen Craig to a 6 year deal worth 30 million. They signed both Adam Wainwright and Yadi Molina to long term extensions. If Albert stays, Waino walks and Craig doesn’t get signed. There also is no place for the slugging talents of Matt Adams.
*This crazy Italian bastard wanted the Cards to sign Albert no matter what. People on this mailing list battled me with a realistic baseball bat over and over and I wouldn’t wilt. I wanted AP to stay a Card for life. I also thought it made the most sense for Pujols to stay. He could have broken every record in the organization and been tied with Stan for #1. Instead, he left and I think we all know he resents his decision. Any man who still has bitterness towards a decision knows he made the wrong move. The Angels didn’t make the playoffs last year and the Cards were 1 win away from the World Series. This year, the Cards will be in until the end and the Angels may not make it. So who really won here?
*I am not bitter towards Albert. The man’s family keeps their home right here and Albert gives back to the community here in a ridiculous manner. He has helped so many families with kids affected by Downs Syndrome and helped so many people. He stays in touch with his Cardinal teammates and in my opinion, had a lot to do with Molina becoming a NL leading hitter. Pujols and Joddy were best friends and were highly competitive. Albert helped mold the catcher into a seriously dangerous hitter. He did that with Skip Schumacher and Allen Craig. He is as smart of a hitter as we will ever know. Why do people feel so much bitterness towards him? By leaving, he helped the team. He didn’t let the on field business affect his off field business. He is a good decent guy who let things get personal in a business negotiation and made a bad move that benefited the team that watched him go.
*Feeling hatred towards Pujols is downright childish and Cards fans are better than that. Anytime I hear a horrible word on Albert, I laugh when I hear the Best Fans in Baseball Bullshit routine. The BFIB wouldn’t say such heinous things about a player who delivered 11 seasons of magical baseball. Albert hit .330 in the regular season and in the playoffs over his career here. He was a fierce postseason producer and is underrated there. He helped us win 2 World Series and won 2 MVP. He is still, in my eyes, a Cardinal Legend. And he respects the hell out of fellow Cards legends like Stan, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock. Albert Pujols isn’t a bad man. He has bitterness towards the Cards front offense because he knows he made a bad choice and let FEELINGS get in the way of a business deal. That’s it. Cut and dry.
In conclusion, get over it and be happy with the team assembled Post Pujols but remember to cherish what he did here as a Cardinal and still does here off the field.
Moving on to more random shots….
*The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim look like huge piles of cinematic garbage dumps. Movie fans, unless possessed or told otherwise by better sources, please avoid these bombs. I can tell you from afar without even watching them that these two movies(with credible talent involved) are up to no good. The Lone Ranger could be fun but it’s Jerry Bruckheimer excess at 2.5 hours long and looks campy and tired. Johnny Depp is the bravest actor around but even he can’t save that turd. Rim looks like the Matrix Revolutions and Clash of the Titans met, had some sexy time and had a baby. And that’s not a good thing. Avoid these movies.
*Rent The Impossible and Not Fade Away on DVD. The Impossible is the true story of a family surviving the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand. You won’t see better acting than you see here from Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor(a real surprise for him and a sign of his better role choices). The movie is gut wrenching and delivers a visceral shock. Not Fade Away is Sopranos creator David Chase theatrical debut and its a juicy tale of a young group of musicians who get wooed by The British Invasion of the Stones and Beatles and attempt to make a band themselves. It has a killer soundtrack and an end of innocence vibe and stars several HBO character actors, including the late and truly great James Gandolfini.
*DO NOT WATCH Cold Light of Day with the new Superman, Henry Cavill. It may co-star Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver but man that movie is pure trash. Horrible CIA spy thriller crap. Henry must have been drugged to do that right before Man of Steel. Also proves his ass can’t carry a film unless he is wearing a suit.
*I am glad Christian Bale won’t return in the Justice League film as Batman. Him and Chris Nolan are old school creators. They say things and they back them up. Keep promises. When they said they were done with Batman, they meant it. They made a truly superb trilogy and are done. Bale is so talented he needs to do other things. His growl is retired.
*World War Z is still one of the biggest surprises to come out this year. That and After Earth(pretty sure I am the only one who liked Will Smith in Earth, but hey that’s a true critic for you). I stand alone there but Z was a well made thriller and a pleasant surprise. I liked Man of Steel a lot but it is very heavy and gets idiotic towards the end. World War Z is a tighter more entertaining movie and if I am asked what I would recommend right now to the average movie fan, it would be World War Z. Pitt’s gamble paid off.
*Once again, I would love to write for a living. People have certain talents and wants and desires in this world. The thing I am most proud of in this world after my wife and kid is my understanding of what I want to do in this life. I love sports and would love to play them but I know my talent lies in writing. Writing about anything. I just got a hot tip on a stay at home writing job from a friend and that would be my dream boat. Doing what I love for a living until Film-Addict takes off. It’s amazing what a little opportunity can do for your day. Coffee is a mood boost but an exciting career opportunity is the supreme face lift in this life.
*Talking with actors like Liev Schreiber and Antony Starr on Twitter never gets old. Stars of the cable series’ Ray Donovan and Banshee aren’t stupid and know that social media is the main source of connection in this day and age. They get on there, show some passion and care about their fanbase. These guys aren’t going to be Brad Pitt or Channing Tatum any time soon. They need this exposure. They are indie performers.
*True Blood is seriously running out of creative gas. The bloodsucking genre is tiring and this series is on fumes. Original showrunner Alan Ball left this series to start up Banshee on Cinemax and the replacement isn’t doing much to save the series. I was never a serious fan of this show. It was a campy guilty pleasure with lots of nudity. I still watch but can admit the proceedings are becoming an exercise in redundancy.
*Dexter is smartly closing out this season. The first episode of Season 8 was pretty solid and sets up an intriguing and unpredictable end for our heroic serial killer. It will have to end with him landing on someone else’s table and being killed or him going to prison. I would prefer him going to prison and for this reason. You could revisit the character in 3-5 years. An older Michael C. Hall looking more gray and weary, coming out of prison after a 5-10 or even 15 years(makeup included) and us finding out if he has seriously lost the urge to kill. You could set up a big bad that opposes him and the whole movie would determine if he jumps back in or stays away and clean. Killing for Dexter is a code and also a necessary drug. It’s part of him so this would be intriguing. This could work. I wonder what they will do.
*Ray Donovan is only going to get better so if the first episode doesn’t hook you(don’t see how, with the juicy father-son-siblings triangle of rage), stay in because my feeling is it will only get better. Liev and Eddie Marsan are aces and that blonde is extremely hot and will play a pivotal role in the rest of the season.
*Lance Lynn facing Albert Pujols and a fierce Angels lineup when he is “working on things” is downright scary.
*The Cardinals 14-14 month of June was bound to hit. An uneven month is always around the corner. Young rotation with injury issues and innings limits was going to start showing signs of wear. The bats and bullpen are doing fine, but the rotation may be the area where the Cards try to upgrade in a month. I don’t think we will see the preposterous signing of Cliff Lee but you may see a guy brought in. Pete Kozma worries me. He is hitting now at .246 and starting to trend down. His defense(2 errors) has been sharp but his bat can’t linger down around .220-.230. Ryan Jackson is hitting up a storm in AAA but no telling of it translating to the big leagues. Chris Carpenter is still an X-Factor. He is throwing and will face hitters this week. If he can make a comeback and Wacha and Carlos Martinez continue to build pitches and innings then you may not need a starter. You can then see what is out there at SS, but Stephen Drew isn’t an option. He is hitting .233 with stats worse than Kozma and is injury prone and making 9 million. Jackson may get a look soon if Kozma continues to drop. I would like to see him hit better and stay at SS because he offers you that steady presence. We’ll see.
*The ugly month of June coincided with The Pirates playing ridiculously good baseball. This year, they may keep it up because their pitching is so deep and talented. I can see them making a move for more offense at the deadline and overstepping the struggling Reds as our main competition. The Bucs lead the division by two games but they played very very good baseball in June. Seeing that continue against the rebound of the Cards and Reds is an interesting narrative for July. Who drops first?
*Death is a son of a bitch and always will be. The ultimate gut punch. Thoughts go out to Pierce Brosnan, whose daughter Charlotte died of ovarian cancer, the same disease that took her mother. Charlotte was 41 years old and had a husband and kids. Pierce is 60 and has definitely lived through some pain. Lost a wife and daughter to cancer. Just sad.
That’s it. Back to job applying and then getting the kid up. Maybe some yard work if it stops raining.
Thanks for reading and so long,
DLB
Dose of Buffa 