These are my favorite kind of Doses.  In the past year, I have tried to give more structure to this blog and not fire out random bullet rounds every time.  I scatter them around now and put together more direct one topic posts.

I am growing as a writer and while that is a scary concept to some I try to engage it as often as I can.  This morning, I come to you with both hands loaded and ready to fire out an old school random shot bullet round.  Unfiltered and blunt.

Here we go.  I am going to try and stop at 1,500 words but I make no promises.

• Look at those St. Louis Cardinals.   Within a month, John Mozelaik turned the defensive liability birds into a fine group of defenders.   He added speed to the lineup and a master class center fielder in Peter Bourjos.  He can track anything and doesn’t have a Jon Jay noodle arm.   Mark Ellis is your veteran better hitting Daniel Descalso.  He can play 2B and 3B and offer the veteran leadership out of the clubhouse as well as serve as a bench bat.  Mo added pop to shortstop by bringing in Jhonny Peralta, whose defensive abilities aren’t as bad as some suspect.   Sure, we lost Beltran, but we gained a hulk in Matt Adams playing more at first base with Allen Craig moving to right field until Oscar Taveras is officially ready.   We improved at 2 defensive positions and added firepower to another.  All before Thanksgiving.  Happy New Year Cardinals.  No spring training hot deals this time.
• While I like Shane Robinson more as a bench player than Jay, he is essentially the same type of player(less) than Bourjos.  Jay is a LH bat so he will stay.  If this is indeed the end, thanks Sugar Shane for being the scrappiest bitch on the lot.
• The St. Louis Blues are showing some real heart near the end of 2013.  Without their top scorer in Alex Steen and their big tough guy/4th line grinder Ryan Reaves as well as other parts, The Blues pulled off impressive wins over the Blackhawks and Stars this weekend.   Each game was up in the air and the Blues came back from a 3-1 deficit against Chicago and recovered from blowing a 2-0 lead in Dallas.  This is a big reason why I think we may not fuck this up come playoff time.  This team has serious resilience.
• I talked enough about the Rams yesterday but once again, 2014 looks exciting.  You’ve heard it before but don’t forget to notice the improvement.  14 wins in past 2 after 15 wins in the previous 5 seasons.    A fresh and healthy Sam Bradford, who has been on fire since Week 9 of the 2012 season.   A real deal running back in Zac Stacy.   Chris Givens and Brian Quick in their 3rd seasons.  Tavon Austin in his 2nd.  Alec Ogletree in his 2nd.  Jake Long and Roger Saffold are back.  Robert Quinn and Chris Long terrorizing opposing linemen, tight ends and quarterbacks.   Next year could be fun.
• The Wolf of Wall Street is very much worth your time.  It is a cinemac Quaalude and one wild experience.  And it’s true.  People are attacking the film for turning real life rise and fall stock broker Jordan Belfort(who made Gekko look like a patron Saint) into a not so horrible person for 3 hours.   HEY PEOPLE, it’s the fucking movies.  Get with it.  Stop thinking so much.   This is the same crowd who nitpicks other movies.  It’s a cinematic experience.  No one wanted to see a boring dreary stock broker flick.  We wanted Scorsese draped in dark humor and got it.  WHAMO!
• Don’t rent We’re The Millers on DVD.  Look up nude pictures of Jennifer Aniston instead.    Same pleasure.   That flick isn’t funny.
• Rent Elysium but don’t expect District 9.  Neil Blomkamp directed both films and creates more action adventure escapism here.  The Matt Damon as a bald badass science fiction flick isn’t first class filmmaking but involves some heavy duty action sequences and a decent ending.   I wasn’t floored by it but recommend it.
• Skip R.I.P.D. and keep in mind I didn’t even see it but the cover of the flick screams, “Bridges and Reynolds really want you to watch their turd of a film”.  It’s cinematic charity.   DON’T and say you didn’t.
• Rent Prisoners.  The film is on my top 10 list easy but beware.  This child kidnapping flick will drain you and stick with you for days.   Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal are phenomenal and deserve award recognition but the film is 2.5 hours and weary.   Great films take a loan out on your soul for a matter of days before returning you back to 100 percent.  Prisoners is one of those movies.  Spellbinding filmmaking.
• Rent Fast & Furious 6 if you want an exhilarating experience at the movies.   Turn off your realism levels and enjoy this smash mouth car flick and one of Paul Walker’s final rides. Enjoy The Rock and Diesel turning muscle heads into gods.  Enjoy Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez engage in the best girl fight of the past 10 years.  And stick around for the credits to see a tease of Fast 7 and here’s a hint.  It’s got one of my favorite action heroes going bad.
• Rent Drinking Buddies because it’s the most honest romantic comedy in years and features great work from a game cast in Olivia Wilde(more than a sexy face), Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston.   90 minutes and heartfelt.
• 24/7 on HBO is so good.  Hockey or boxing, it’s all good.  Don’t deny it.  Right now, it’s the NHL Winter Classic buildup between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.  The series that started as a boxing match only series is now doing hockey and forced Showtime into doing their own baseball series with The Franchise.  With Liev Schreiber narrating, this series takes you behind the scenes of players lives.
• Coincidentally, 24/7 Hockey is where I discovered my current music crush, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.   Three years ago, when the Caps were taking on the Penguins at Heinz Field, I heard BRMC perform “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” and “Weapon Of Choice” and was mesmerized by this bluesy style of rock.   I now own a ton of their tunes and add to the collection weekly.  Great band.  I will be writing a music spotlight on them for New Year’s Day.
• By the way, that could be one of my final pieces for at least a week.   Trying to do a cleanse(except for breaking news and occasional film-addict repost) of social media and overall writing for at least for a week.   Need to clear the head, read a book or two and focus on starting a new job hopefully.  So after I post about the BRMC on Wednesday,  I am probably stepping down for a week.  Closing the pharmacy for a mental reload.
• Stay at home dad work isn’t good, bad or ugly.  It’s tiring and satisfying in more ways than one.   While being out of work sucks, hanging with my little man has a ton of virtue.  Then there is just the overall routine of the day.   Cleaning, laundry, chaos, writing, applying for jobs and lots of coffee and working out.
• I have two films to see before I craft my top 10 movie list for 2013.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Her.
• Also, HBO Sports uses the absolute BEST music.  Diverse mix of tunes.  Check out their site for more selections.
• Banshee starts in 11 days.  I posted a spotlight on it on FA and will throw it up here Friday.  That does qualify as a REPOST.
• By the way, watch that show.  Like now.  10 hours.  One season.  GO!
• I am still part of the crowd that wants to see Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.  Sure, both promoters get in the way and each fighter has changed(Pac declined a little) but for fight fans this is still game.  Pac hasn’t lost a lot and has only changed.   He easily beat Brandon Rios and if he avenges Timothy Bradley in 2014, a Floyd fight makes sense.   You can disagree but these two fighter’s resumes look incomplete if they don’t clash.
• Miguel Cotto should leave Sergio Martinez alone and take that 10 million and go fight Canelo Alvarez in NYC.  Cotto is coming off a quick knockout, has a new trainer and looks fresh.   Sergio is game but I think Canelo is the better fight.
• More boxing notes.  Ruslan Provodnikov will kill Rios if that fight happens.  The Siberian Rocky is badass.   Think of Ivan Drago and Rocky Balboa put together and you have Ruslan Provodnikov.
• The job hunt isn’t bad until you get offered 10 dollar per hour jobs 40 minutes away from you home.  Then you start looking towards going back to certain places you didn’t want to return to.  That’s life.  As Frank Sinatra famously sang, when you are shot down in April and knocked down in May, you just got to change the tune.
• As I always do, I will root for Peyton Manning to get that 2nd ring this January.  He is my favorite player and a guy I think is 1 ring away from being the best QB of all time if not top 3.  If he wins, he’s there.   2 rings, 2 teams,  4 neck surgeries in between and a regular season resume that is electric.  Look at his work this year on one leg.  54 touchdown passes.  Suck it Brady.  Oh yeah, and Manning will do it clean.  No spygate.  Still, Peyton will have his work cut out for him.   NFL playoffs turn into a gladiator sport.  Go Broncos!
• Speaking of Denver, Ex-Bronco Tim Tebow is joining ESPN as an SEC analyst during the bowl games.  Good for him.  He has a lot to offer the sport as a voice alone and can keep his NFL dream alive while staying close to the game.  He is an easy guy to root for.
• What else?  Happy New Year!  Please don’t drink and drive.   Car insurance agencies are offering free tows and a ride home.  If you don’t have car insurance, some friend does.  Take it.  Don’t put your life at risk for a meaningless party because it’s a New Year.  It’s just another day.  Trust me.  Your own anniversary is your birthday.  Take it easy.  Have some fun.  Be safe.  You will need your upcoming doses to stay sane.

Thanks for reading and have a good day.

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Dan Buffa is the co-creator, administrator and writer for the movie website, film-addict.com. He also writes for the local blog United Cardinal Bloggers in addition to Arch City Sports and also writes for his personal blog, http://www.doseofbuffa.com.   He is a STL born and raised writer with a need to inform and the ability to pound out 1,000-1,500 word pieces with ease.  When he isn’t writing or drinking coffee, he is spending time with his wife and son in South City.  Follow him at @buffa82 on Twitter and reach him for thoughts, comments and general feedback at buffa82@gmail.com.