Here is why I am not voting this year or the next time while we are it…

We aren’t voting for people.  We are voting for a robot, put into a system and mixed up in a large group of people.   When did Presidents stop writing their speeches?  When did that bullshit start?  If I was the executive in chief for a country, I would write my own damn words.   That is the beginning of the madness.  The despair that currently fills the walls of Washington.  Stop blaming the men in office and start blaming the system in place.  The system changes every Presidential candidate the minute they step into office.  I read a story in GQ magazine a few years back that solidified my view on politics and how it is absolutely fucking useless at this current moment.  A small town guy in Pennsylvania wanted to run for office in the Senate.  He had ideals, some cash and a few backers.  He was sent a campaign manager who told him what he was going to represent and how he was going to run and speak during his campaign.  At first, the man just went with the plan and started putting his campaign together.  Before long, the man saw a campaign being put together that had little to do with what he wanted and a lot to do with an ideal set in place for him.   This is a true story and no I don’t have names.  Whether you believe it or not will depend on your idea of my honesty.  The problem with Barack Obama is the same problem with the last few Presidents.  We aren’t seeing their ideals and plans.  We are seeing a fraction of their ideals, shoved into a system, conformed for the current value of thought and transformed into a campaign that ends up taking money from our pockets and time from our lives.  They are robots and nothing more.  Same for Mitt Romney, who is a walking contradiction by the way.  For people who think he will change anything, get in the line of utterly retarded characters and vote for him.  Politicians aren’t worthy anymore.  They used to stand for something.  Now they are see through robots who have nothing new to say or give.  If you are currently deciding who to vote for, you are in a big predicament.  The hesitation shouldn’t be active.  One of them will provide this while taking something else away.  I am sure Obama wanted to do good and a lot of it.  Same for Bush in a way and Clinton.  I am sure they wanted to do some good and provide stability.  However, with the current system of greed and hatred in Washington, where the acts of war criminals puncture our heartland daily, the chance for stability is impossible.  Forget about changing anything.  Blow up the system first.  Do that and there could be a future.  So many people take shots at Obama and they are missing the point.   He is the latest robot thrown into office without a real smart map of how to fix a problem.  He did some good in his four years and made a decent amount of bad decisions.  The point is he has to go for some new blood to sink into the office, but the answer isn’t Mitt Romney so what do you do?  Vote for Obama because he is better than Mitt or because he is the real deal.  People say the debt was so bad and the situation was so dire for Obama when he took office and we need to give him a second term to make up for the previous inept decision making.   That’s a lot of hope in one statement.  Are you willing to bet four years on it?  There are a lot of people without jobs right now.  Obama got Bin Laden but that was set in motion by Bush and his administration.  I can’t give full credit to Obama’s party for that kill.  That was set in motion long before he came into office.  He just pushed the green button and good for him.  His health care bill gave comfort to some but left many out in the cold.  He tried to overlook a terrible Oil Spill.   Yes, he was on camera saying there was no oil spill when we had clear footage of tons of wild life dying, water being darkened and rotted to the core and a large body of water filling with waste.   He followed orders there.   Remember, he doesn’t even write his own speeches.  I am sorry but the man isn’t the answer.  He promised a lot of things and hasn’t came through.  Will he in the next four years?  Maybe.   As we welcome a film about Abraham Lincoln into the theaters, I can’t help but wish one of these leaders carried an inch of the resolve and strength of wise old Abe.  Sure, times have changed and economics are different.  Still, you can hope for better and someone to be as strong and diligent about change as Lincoln.   When we get that kind of leader again?  I don’t see one coming.  We are the party stuck in the middle of the ocean stranded and needing water.  We keep looking for a fucking light to give us hope.  There is none.  Politicians are robots.  You aren’t voting for the person.  You are putting your hard earned dollars into a machine.  A problematic system.  A system that kept soldiers in enemy territory getting killed like weak lamb for no reason at all for10 years.   You had a President who profited off of war and the blood that came with it.  He profited off the death of soldiers and framed it around a fake manhunt.   We had another who looks like he is being overwhelmed by duty but keeps handing out promises like its Halloween candy.   I just can’t invest in that.  I won’t be voting because I don’t see a fit candidate worth my vote.  Not that our votes actually count for something.  Electoral votes put bodies in the office and not the voice of the people.  We will continue to yell at our televisions and shake our heads for the next four years.  We will wait and wait for salvation.   I will keep on doing my thing and surviving.  Voting for one of these guys won’t change a thing.  I will keep working, paying my bills and keeping my family warm without the hope of help on the way.  If you respond, please give me data, facts and something that can really reverse what was said here.  If you have none, just read it again and make sure the download is complete.

*How many times do parents say to others, “Well, he’s only __ old?”  He’s only 14 months old.  He’s only 4 years old.  He’s only 16 years old.  We hear it every fucking day.  My kid is a little man these days.  He has shed the baby label.  Trust me.  He knows his way around the house.  He pays attention when his ass is being wiped.  He is taking 5-6 steps at a time.  He is figuring our how far his reach can stretch.  He is testing his boundaries and recognizing the layers of command above him.  When he is doing something  wrong, he looks at Rachel or I and tries to gauge our reaction.   He looks at you as he continues to do something wrong.  That’s right.  I’m breaking the law bitches.  What are you going to do about it?  He throws fits of rage that scare his grandparents but only receive a knowing shake of the head from the parent.  I will do my best to not say those words at the start of this paragraph.   “Well, Vincent is only 14 months old, how am I supposed to tell him NOT to pound the shit out of the kid holding the cool toy in daycare?”  What can I say, boys will be boys, right?

*I firmly believe Lance Berkman will sign a one year deal in Houston.  Former Cards scout now Houston GM Jeff Luhnow has already said he will make a huge push to bring Berkman home for his end.  There’s a lot for Berkman to play for still if you look at his stats.  He would need a huge year of 40 home runs to reach 400.  He needs a little less than 150 hits to reach 2,000.  He has 1200 RBI, a .296 batting average and a .409 on base percentage for his career.   Quietly, the man has put together HOF worthy numbers.  He put together a dominant stretch from 2000-2009, including monster seasons in 2002 and 2006.  He is one of the best Astros to ever play the game, joining Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Nolan Ryan.  He is clearly one of the top five switch hitters of all time, right up there with steroid addict Ken Caminiti.  Hopefully, Berkman gets his proper sendoff and slides right into the television booth, where I think he would kill as an analyst.

*Watching the Manning brothers today do their work and it’s impressive to watch?  Peyton is equipped with a horrid Broncos defense but continues to put up amazing numbers and cut down his mistakes.   For anybody wondering if he still has the juice to play QB in the NFL, look at these numbers.  He has thrown 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.  He has thrown for 2,113 yards in 8 games and connected for a 69 percent completion percentage.   He has led a comeback after being down 24-0 at the half.  He has surprised even his own fans.   Four neck surgeries and the man gets it done.  He compensates for a poor defense and a limited throwing strength.   He could have rolled over and called it quits.  He didn’t do that.  He wants another Super Bowl ring…or two.   Eli Manning is taking on the Steelers in 30 minutes.  He has only won two Super Bowls and has his Giants set up for another deep run in the NFC this season.   He out dueled the love saturated rookie Robert Griffin III two weeks ago.  He isn’t as polished as his brother(Eli has 12 TD-8 INT) but in the 4th quarter he gets it done.  He has taken down Tom Brady’s Patriots twice in the Super Bowl and twice in the regular season.  Think about what Eli has done to Tom Brady’s legacy.  Sure, Brady has 3 rings, two other appearances and an outstanding career.  However, imagine if he had won those 2 Super Bowls and not lost to Eli.  Eli outplayed Brady in those two Super Bowls, including last year’s contest.  In crunch time, Eli, bolstered by a good defense, picked the Patriots apart.  He has restricted Tom Brady’s dominance.  He has left the Patriots without a Super Bowl since Spygate.  He is heading towards the promised land again.

*The Colts seemed to have made the right choice in taking Andrew Luck.  They are rebuilding and doing things right.  Letting Peyton go wasn’t a bad move after all.  My section above wasn’t a shot at the Colts.  Andrew Luck has thrown for 433 yards today against a decent Miami defense.  He could lead his team to an opening 5-3 record.   He has helped reinvent the career of former Ram Donnie Avery.  He has brought Reggie Wayne’s great talents back to life.  Luck and Griffin III are proving their risk taking teams right…so far.  They are competing and winning.

*Good work for Wreck It Ralph, the new animated feature starring John C. Reilly for scoring the top box office spot with a 49.1 million take.   It’s an intelligent film for kids and adults and is a smart mind trip that takes you down memory lane.  A story about a celebrated video game character seeking a different life.  Take your kids to that one.  Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis’ powerful drama, Flight, earned 25 million in the #2 spot, a solid debut for a film dealing with heroism under the fire of addiction.  It will have legs to carry it towards Oscar calls.

*Hurricane Sandy proves that Mother Nature can still wreck a city, even one as powerful and layered as New York and New Jersey.  It is exactly the reason I don’t live on the coast.  Florida and New York are easy targets.  Missouri is a little harder to reach.  Geography plays a part when it comes to residence and weather limits.

For a real account of its destruction, here is actor Theo Rossi(Sons of Anarchy) and his detailed experience of the devastation to his hometown of Staten Island.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/02/sons-of-anarchy-irene-staten-island/

That’s really all I got.  Before  I go,  here is something new on Film-Addict that I put up last night.  One of my good friends and film-addict co-creators, Chris McHugh, works with a guy named Patrick Rooney who acted in and produced a film in 2009 called Streetballers.   It was written, directed and produced by his best friend Matt Krentz.  It scored the highest rating in any film at the STL Festival in 17 years, beating out Juno and Slumdog Millionaire.  Patrick gave us the opportunity to ask him questions about the experience of filmmaking, the schedule, the locations shot at(LeGrands, Tower Grove, O’Connells) and the idea of actually producing a movie is and he emailed me a 3 page answer sheet that I posted on my site yesterday.  Please check it out.  It’s a great detailed account of getting a movie made in your hometown.  Krentz and Rooney are making their next film soon.  I have had the pleasure to speak with and stay in communication with Patrick and the man is a first class individual.   Here is the link to my site.

http://www.film-addict.com/news-reviews/daily-dose/item/1010-working-class-hero-st-louis-actor-producer-patrick-rooney

Take care and have a good night.  The work week is upon us and there is a good chance I will have a job by the end of the week.  I am in the late stages with a potential employer and it’s all due to a close friend.  The unemployment life could be left behind soon and while it took a toll on my family, the time I got to spend at home with my son Vincent was invaluable.  Know that.

Thanks for reading,

D.L.B.

Here is the noise in my head at the moment….

When the Cardinals are done playing, I will be a calmer man.  I will breathe easier, roll through my nights smoother and keep a cooler head about the everyday lifestyle of a baseball maniac.   This team has a stranglehold on my heart and nerve and will never let go, no matter how many kids or incidents in life I have.   It’s a lifelong obsession.  This is why they get the biggest section of my blogs.  They are the lifeline to my sports soul and permanently corrupted it.  It’s not even fair to the Rams.  If I am a man on the edge of the ocean talking about the Rams and Blues, I am right next to the shark’s mouth when it comes to the Cardinals.  When they stop playing  the days are easier if not as much fun. There’s a thrill to gameday that can’t be put into words easily.  An anticipation that builds throughout the non playing hours up until the first pitch.  Will this day be a win, loss, or a season changing triumph or collapse?  The thrill of sports lies in it’s unpredictable natures and tendencies.  When I say the marriage with the Cards ends in October/November, I mean it.  The divorce is final and only rekindles in February.  We each off to our respective vacation homes recovering from the previous 7 months and setting up for another.  While lives end and many start, baseball always comes around on the calendar.   The reason I am rambling about this is my latest effort to explain the beast that is the St. Louis Cardinals.   My wife said they don’t have it this year.  She said this in the middle of Monday’s horrible defeat in San Diego.  I didn’t go as far as disagreeing with her, but I had to point out last year and the comeback.  This is a natural defense mechanism.  As a sports fan, it’s okay for you to call your team shitty.  If someone else, even a wife or close friend, says these things, it’s an attack on your internal submarine.  She had some sense in her corner, but I had to make a better point.  The point is this fucking team won’t go down so easy.  They will fight, struggle, plunge, rise again, surge and fall again until the end of September.  The Cardinals do this every year.  They keep your head up but aren’t afraid to slam it down.  Up until the Yankees decided to underestimate the Orioles, the Cards were one of the few teams in baseball that was guaranteed to be in the race for the division.  This year, they have gotten more than a shove out of the way by the Reds as the Brewers did in 2011.  If they chose to recover, get the wild card and surge into the playoffs is their own inner soul predicament and a lingering factor in our minds.   Will they do it again or just die off this time?  I can promise you this.  They won’t do it quickly.  They will cling to life, like the character in the movies who you figure would have bit the bullet by now but seems to annoyingly stay alive.  That is this team.  They are relentlessly infuriating, inconsistent and not bad enough to fit the doomed catalog.  Here are a few notes on them before I detonate the bomb in my head residing around their heart beat intact corpse.

*Carlos Beltran is still useless at the plate but a weapon in the field.

*If the Cardinals care about winning, they won’t let Jaime Garcia start a game on the road, much less the most important start of the year for the team, this Saturday in LA.

*The answer to the previous riddle.  Let Shelby Miller get a shot.  After Lance Lynn blows a huge fiery hole in the road trip this week, Miller can hopefully clean up his mess.

*Lynn shouldn’t be allowed to start a game.  His shoulder can’ t last more than an inning or two.  It’s burnt out.

*Chris Carpenter’s return, with Jake Westbrook’s injury and Jaime’s troubles, is ultra important at the moment. Get him on the mound because his right arm could save the season.

*The Cardinals are a bizarre exercise in self mutilation. Given an opportunity to escape an inning, the Cards starters give up 2 out RBI hits to the opposition.   On the cusp of an escape, they give up back breaking hits.  In tonight’s game, Kyle Lohse(who pitched a decent if not great game) gave up a two out base hit that allowed the winning run to score.  That can’t happen.  Lost in the shuffle of a horribly weak hitting lineup is a starting rotation that is going off the hinges.  The Cards ERA as a rotation is right around 8 runs per nine innings in September.  The entire machine in Cardinal nation is coming off the hinges.

*As I write this, the Cards just got swept by the San Diego Padres, one of the hottest teams in baseball since June 1st who happen to be 5 games under .500.    Going into the series with the West Coast secrets, I knew it was a tough matchup but failing to get one win while the Pirates waste away and the Dodgers fidget is bad business.  Now, the Phillies and Brewers are within 3-4 games of the second wild card spot while the Braves run off with the first spot.   If the Dodgers lose, the Cards miraculously could still cling to the second wild card spot.  In mid June, the Cards were eight games over .500.  Now, they are only seven games over .500.   What does that mean?  They have gone nowhere.  In three months, this team has stalled.  Blame it on a lack of situational hitting, an inconsistent rotation, worn down bullpen or a number of direct injuries, but remember this.  The Cardinals haven’t been able to produce big plays, hits and wins on a regular basis in 2012.  Their depth has been questioned and I think our offensive future is in question with the inbound disappointments of Pete Kozma, Shane Robinson, Steven Hill, Bryan Anderson and so on.   Neither of those players are future big players.  Garcia can’t pitch well on the road.  Is that young nerves or permanent mental sclerosis?  Berkman, Beltran and Furcal all wore down and came to a halt by August.  All these things make a fan wonder.   What does this team have to offer not only the next three weeks but the next few years?   Next year’s team won’t look that different.  Kyle Lohse may be gone from the rotation.   Berkman will be replaced by Allen Craig/Matt Carpenter.   Second base will feature a full time free agent or a platoon of utility guys.  The bullpen will look similar.   Why question a team with a wild card lead with just under three weeks to play?  We just got swept by the Padres in shutdown style.

The biggest problem with being a passionate Redbirds fan is a double edged sword.  You are happy to see they constantly contend but you are also confined to a success required franchise.   The Cards aren’t just expected to win divisions but win pennants and titles.   As opposed to the Blues and Rams, whose success is greeted with a fair measure of surprise.  Expectations change a team and their fans.   The Cards, with a 100 million dollar payroll and a decade of consistency, are expected to do great things.  A fanbase follows that notion to the tee.  Myself, seeing the Cards win the series a year ago, can give them a small hiatus but when the painful losses fall down it still stings.   In a way, sports is a “what have you done for me lately” business.  At least that is the way of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In other news-

*In NHL labor talks.  The players don’t want to take a drastic cut in salary and I see their reasons beyond the natural charge of greed.   The owners allowed all these ridiculously long contracts of 12-14 years and over 100 million to several players and now they want the players to take a paycut.  The owners started the madness and can’t all of a sudden cut their losses and ask the players to take a huge cut.  Lessen the percentage suits, because this crazy spending started by you.  The owners have buildings, employees and many costs, but why do they put themselves in this position.  The owners need to give.

*Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. takes on Sergio Martinez in a super middleweight match this weekend and I am pumped to see how this fight unfolds.   As I have mentioned before, Martinez is the cagey craftier veteran southpaw who has a belt that he won legitimately with impressive knockouts.   Chavez Jr. is the son of the a legend who was halfway handed a belt by beating a bunch of bums.  Now the kid has to face a legitimate champion and great fighter.   Chavez Jr. is in his early 20s.   Martinez is 37 years old.   The stakes are set and high enough to get a rise out of a boxing fan like me.  Martinez thinks Chavez Jr. is entitled and he is right.  Chavez Jr. wants to hand Martinez a cane and knock him out into retirement.  Both are wildly comically in disdain of each other and its for real.   The reasons are legit.  It’s easy for a fan to hate Chavez Jr.’s immature reckless style of training that disrespects his trainer, Hall of Famer Freddie Roach.   However, Roach sees something in him, a potential that could break out on Saturday and that is why he is training the kid.  Unlike his father, Junior has to work hard at his craft and brings a fiercer power to the ring than his father.  He is determined to convince people he not only deserves a title but he deserves respect.  That is impressive to hear and makes you hungry to see the kid pull off the impossible or fall on his face.  Forget the bookies and the odds in the betting race.  The Mexicans will flood the box and make the odds more even than they should be.   Look at the matchup instead.   Young gun versus smart veteran.  A belt holder against a legit champ.  Hunger versus Assurance.   JCCJ wants to prove he is a champion.  Martinez, a man who didn’t fight until he was 20(unheard of in boxing circles), still trying to completely win the respect of fans and experts.  Saturday night in Vegas will be explosive.   My appetite is wet.

*Looks like Manny Pacquiao is taking on Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time. In one case it is good because they always produce closely contested fights that are entertaining and good for boxing. The deal is being finalized right now.  When you fight in Vegas, you tend to get the odds thrown in your favor and in your face. If Pacquiao were to lose it could kill a fight between him and Floyd. Yes I know some have cooled on it but not me. In a sea of pretty good fights and duller bouts that is still the fight I want to see. Each man is to blame but the anticipation of that fight is too good to pass up. His loss to Bradley was meaningless because every boxing analyst and their dead aunt knew PAC won the fight. That’s also why he didn’t want a rematch. A fight with Marquez is good for boxing but possibly detrimental to Manny’s chances of reaching the ring with Floyd.

*Check out my website daily for movie news and every Friday for the freshest reviews and material about everything having to do with cinema.  If you have been under a rock since May, here is the website.   http://www.film-addict.com.  Call this my shameless plug of the week.

*Watching the Klitschko 2 hour special on HBO on the heavyweight champion Russian boxing brothers.  Riveting story, as it takes you back to their childhood in Kiev, where their father was military and dealt with the Chernobyl radiation while raising his sons to be fighters.   The knock against them is that no one in the heavyweight division is fit to take them down, but that can’t be a fault on their part.  They are a two man wrecking machine that many boxing insiders want to see take on each other.  They have sworn against fighting each other, telling me at their advanced age the possibility is dwindling.  My thoughts?   It’s their own option to fight each other and if they are happy destroying the competition and building their legend one knockout at a time, good for them.  They are tall, hard punching iron jawed Russian killers.   Vitali and Wladamir Klitschko will retire as legends one way or another whether had a Frazier, Foreman or Hagler to rival themselves against.  David Haye talked a fine game but got dominated by Wladamir in 2011.  No one since has challenged either one as Vitali destroyed Manny Chara on Saturday.   Their story is great television and it’s hard to not respect their careers.  Going from living with their uncle, mom, dad and aunt in one room of a broken down home in Kiev during a time of war to well known champions is good TV..

*9/11 came and went on the calendar again.  Every year, I feel a little down on the anniversary.  It’s something that climbs up into my soul and dares me to a fight.  Remembering a horrible day where so many people died for one man’s infinite plan of domination is hard to swallow.  Harder to swallow is the millions of souls who claimed conspiracy that day.  It’s a waste of time and a supreme act of denial.  One man defeated us that day and it was Osama Bin Laden.  He orchestrated an attack on our country that will never heal completely.  Get over it.  What we did was climb back off the ground, come together and help each other.  I advise people to treat that day as a lesson in life’s virtues.  Appreciate sacrifice.   I can’t stop thinking about the first responder’s who ran back into the buildings when they knew doom awaited them.  They were trying to save lives.  That is something you either have or don’t at birth.  Courage to give your life up and become truly selfless.  That sticks with me.  The video where the firemen run into the building and minutes later the whole thing hits the ground in a matter of seconds.   Chilling clings to 9/11 as much as courage.  Whatever you do, remember this and this only.  No bullshit included. Eleven years ago our country was attacked suddenly. Nearly 3,000 people died. Firemen and police ran into burning buildings. Strangers came together in the midst of torment, murder, discord and tragedy. It doesn’t matter what caused the massacre. Outside of a terrorist cell, i have no answers for you. It doesn’t matter. Those people aren’t coming back. Ever. What we can do is honor those who died in 9/11 by living a little today. Fight less with your spouse. Call your parents. Talk to your siblings. Hug your kids. Talk to a stranger because one day in the future you may lean on him or her for instant support.

*Covering a press junket for a TV Guide Network star tomorrow at the Four Seasons hotel downtown, which marks my first plunge into the true life of being a film critic and website creator.  While I am not a fan or viewer of Katie Cazorla’s Hollywood Nail Files show, I will cover it for a local publicist who may help me out in the future.   In this business, you have to reach out and help others if you want to survive.

*Movie Theaters tease for the Weekend?  Go see Arbitrage with Richard Gere about a hedge fund billionaire in deep trouble.  It may be his best work.

*Listening to The Black Keys latest album, El Camino.  The Track listing punch of Gold on The Ceiling and Little Black Submarines back to back is dynamite listening pleasure. Two of the best songs released in 2011 still leave a dent.

*Awaiting my deluxe album from the Dave Matthews Band in the mail.  The producer of their early work took over the reins on this one, Steve Lillywhite.  The result, through 2 songs I have heard over the past month, is a different sounding DMB while retaining a smooth hint of their instrumental brilliance.  Dave sounds more weary than ever and I can see the band is aging gracefully.   Their sound hasn’t diminished.  Just a fan comment.  Also, it’s good to see Dave keeping his monstrous fan base active.  For the video for their first single, Mercy, he used 14,000 inbound videos from around the world of his fans singing the song to comprise the video.  Pretty cool stuff, fan or not.

*Quick, very quick, political comment.  Obama had good intentions.  He tried to deliver on his promises.  With the shit pile he was handed coming into office, he simply didn’t get the job done.  He took a hefty swing at the issues debilitating our country and for the most part, missed.  His health care bill left millions without coverage, he didn’t want to acknowledge an horrible oil spill in the gulf and didn’t help unemployment.  He didn’t create jobs, which is what our country needs.  Fuck, it’s what I need.  Right now.  He did initiate the plan to kill Bin Laden, but that was set in motion before he stepped foot in office.  All in all, the office needs fresh blood.  Who?  I can’t tell you that.  May I nominate Henry Rollins for President without him running?  No, alright then.

That’s all for me.  If you want to reach me, send me a reply at dbuff36@hotmail.com or leave one here.  I love to tango with fellow writers or people who have an opinion and can withstand an argument defending it.

Thanks for reading and look for me to come back to dish here soon,

Dan L. Buffa

“The L is for Larry”

P.S.-The Rant posting #983 is a random selection.  I have no idea if that is my actual number of postings but it can’t be far off.

Greetings readers,

Let’s crank things up with a little show and tell.  Unlike most witnesses in physical interrogations, I will show you everything and tell you a few things as well.

Story time and complaint finished with a point

One of the perks of being a film critic is you get to see every movie before it comes out.  A week before or sometimes even a month before it arrives for the public to consume.  Another perk/challenge is watching the films with other critics.  Theaters are cafeterias for critical contempt.  You sit there, dish with them and try to make the best representation of your opinion on the movie.  Sometimes you get a nod and other times you get a kind eye roll and head shake.  Its all part of the game.  Every film critic wants to be the best source for the fans needs.  We want to put it just right and be the most witty and blunt read for film addicts.  It’s our goal and personal ambition.  Deep down, we all don’t like each other but we tolerate our presence at screenings.  It’s not personal.   The hardest part is making jokes around these groups.  Finding laughs in a group of critics can be like talking German history with a pack of Jewish elders.  Just stiff and quiet.  This is where I get irritated with certain known critics in the St. Louis area.  You start to wonder when you will reach the end of their ego and just have a conversation.  I’m not afraid of disagreeing with another critic.  I welcome it because I love conversation, critical or kind.  I just hate people who can’t get over themselves to a degree where they shut you out while they quietly think in their heads of different ways to sound more original than you.  What’s the point?  We are critics and not scientists.  We aren’t doctors.  We don’t save lives.  Taking ourselves too seriously is creeping up on insanity.  Sometimes a film critic needs to meet a lead pipe at warp speed.  I don’t need to name people here but let’s just say there are times where I feel like cutting my knuckles on another man’s jaw line and introducing a few real stunts inside of a screening for being the most stuck up bitch on the block.  To all future film critics, don’t take yourself too seriously.  You grade moving art for a living and need to keep your feet on the ground.  It’s not just a movie but it doesn’t need to be turned into a circus for free spirited genius.

Cardinals Notes and Thoughts-

*18-3 record at home since start of July.  12-4 in last 16 games.  Starting to pull it together but not gaining ground on the white hot Reds.  The Cards will be chasing a wild card again in 2012 and there’s nothing wrong with it.

*Don’t expect anything substantial from Lance Berkman in 2012.   The last two months, I mean.  After having a comeback year in 2011, Berkman has 2 home runs and 7 RBI in less than 30 games in 2012 due to a wrath of leg injuries, including a right knee about to give out.  I love hearing Berk talk about coming back, but to me his playing days are dead.  Enjoy that 12 million severance package pal.  Look for him to coach.

*The return of Wainwright in July.  Watch his 2nd complete game last night.  The big guy has his nasty pitching working and got stronger as the night went on.  After giving a run in the first, Waino didn’t allow 2 baserunners in a single inning the rest of the night.  Waino is 9-10 with an ERA around 4 but in the second half he has been money.  Without Carp in 2012, he will have to become Carp from 2011 in order for this team to survive.  Pack needs its biggest baddest wolf to shine bright in August.

*Allen Craig is your 2013 first baseman.  The kid can hit.  He averages nearly an RBI per game and comes up with all the big hits.  His value to this team is indescribable and can only be chalked up as a cheap clutch bat.  He can also play first and right field with ease.

*Look at David Freese’s quietly productive season.  He has played 97 games and produced.  That is why Zach Cox was traded.  He had zero future here.

*Daniel Descalso would win a gold glove every year if he played enough and played one position.  Kid’s the best infielder I’ve seen in years and continues to make plays.   His glove and arm is downright effective.  Hit a grounder to him in his sleep and you won’t be safe.  The greasy kid is also cranking since the All star break, having back to back 3 hit games against the Brewers and hitting .330 overall since the AS break filling in for Furcal at shortstop and getting reps at second base.   At this point, its imperative to keep hot hitters in the lineup and keep the older players on rest until the final few weeks have engaged.

*Finished off the Brewers, a lackluster collapse in 2012(predictable) and now get ready for the Giants.  No games to waste.  The Cardinals are playing better baseball than the 2011 club to this point, but bets are widely against another wild card leader like the Braves having an epic collapse that allows the comeback team to squeak into the playoffs.  That doesn’t happen twice, so the Cards can’t afford to lose any more 1 or 2 run games that we shouldn’t have.   Unless Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez is standing on the mound against you, there should be no close losses.  Since those two pitchers reside in the AL, that chance can’t come up.  The Cards have to maintain their level of play.  No time to skip.  Only games to play.  This is make or break time.  Get after teams and stop letting them go.

*This team is maddeningly inconsistent and for a fan that’s painful to watch.  They are in the hunt because after 2011 no single person can count this team out ever again.  However, the ground is cracking beneath their feet.  We were a couple pieces from having a clean flight to a comeback but Mozelaik stood pat because he believed in the players that were acquired before the season.   Trading deadline exists for one reason.  To fix a mistake or fill a leaking gap.  General manager have to put on their suits and go to work at the end of July and nobody plays the hand better lately than Mozelaik.  If he has it in his own deck, he doesn’t deal for someone else’s card.   He has confidence in this group, can rebound from a mistake and knows there is no more talent on this team than a 59-49 record.  He may be crazy and wrong, but from here on out the Cards are on their own.  Their inconsistency may doom them. I believe in clutch hitting over a period of time because I believe you have it or you don’t.  This team can’t ease themselves back into the race.  They need to kick the door in.  Play unbelievable baseball.  Can they?  They have the tools but I’m not sure they can pull off the comeback again.  The Cardinals are 10 games over .500 for the first time in 2012 need to keep moving.  They are 2.5 games behind Pittsburgh in the wild card and 7 games behind the Reds in the Central.  More notes.

*Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran are trading the NL leads in RBI this past week.  This is a good thing.

*Attention Holliday haters.  Watch him hustle in the 8th inning of Friday night’s blowout win.   Name another 17 million dollar body who does that.  You can’t.   Love it or hate it, the bald lumberjack has been hitting well since late April.  Check your MVP cards voters.   The man is all heart and hustle and skill.

*I like the Edward Mujica trade.  He is a strike zone pounding machine and will fit the needs of this bullpen.   If you want to see Salas get less chances and make Victor Marte a permanent fixture in Memphis, like the acquisition of Mujica, a righthander who can pitch a lot of innings and get outs.  His stuff isn’t fantastic.  He gives up a few home runs and won’t blow hitters away, but look at what he did in Florida last season.   Forget his stats this season.  Miami is a war zone and all stats with that chaotically laughable team need to be taken with an ounce of salt.  Zach Cox had zero future in St. Louis, so he was expendable.  He may turn out to be a good player, but he could also turn out to be a huge suck bomb so lets bet on that and move on.   Jonathan Broxton would have been better, but it would be foolish to mess with the Mitchell Boggs-Jason Motte combination right now that has nailed the comeback of the bullpen into the ground in the past month.  Broxton wants to close and will set up instead for Chapman in Cincinnati.   It wasn’t good news for the Cards but Walt can pay the big righthander close to 5 million to not close.

*By the way, let’s keep the Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs, and Jason Motte combo together.   If the Cards can get 6 inning from their starters, the rest is in the bag.  The 7th, 8th and 9th inning is sealed shut now.  That is what Mo did at the trading deadline.  Fixed the wretched 7th inning for the Cardinals.  Mujica throws strikes and gets outs in non pressure situations.  He doesn’t shock hitters.  He confronts them.  Boggs has been the best reliever in the pen all season.  He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 33 straight appearances.   The last time that was done people were mourning the sinking of the Titanic instead of the Twin Towers collapsing.  Motte has been lights out since the beginning of July.  He has 24 saves in 28 tries and hasn’t blown a save since June.  The Cards have 3 lefties to go with these guys.  Hopefully, the bullpen is finally fixed for good.   Well played Mo.  Now its Mike Matheny’s decision to blow up.

MLB News

*Let’s not act surprised by Albert Pujols’ explosive comeback.   Folks, we watched the man dominate, recover from slumps and destroy pitching for 11 years right here in St. Louis with a front row seat.  His 2012 start was downright horrible but betting against a recovery would have been foolish coming from a STL fan who knows better.  Pujols is a great player and will be for at least 4-5 more seasons.   I regretted seeing him decide to not come back to St. Louis, hated his style of exit(whining about being mistreated was as logical as whining about a four star hotel’s shower), but will always respect his talent and ability.  The man can hit with the best of them and we won’t face him unless the World Series hangs in the balance.  I get sick and tired of hearing local pundits bash the guy like he never did any good here.  He won 2 rings here, crafted a legend and did more for the community than any athlete in his time.  Then, he decided to go out west.  Hearing he has 24 home runs, 75 RBI and hitting close to .341 since  May 5th doesn’t surprise this man at all.  We are still kids at a candy store.  We can’t disregard the greatness of the candy bar simply because it has a new owner.  Come on.  You’re better than that.

Newsroom Is The Best on Television

Allow me to explain myself. I love this show very much and will state my case without wearing a suit and actually balancing a kid on my knee as a I type.  I will keep this short and potent.  I sincerely think creator head writer Aaron Sorkin writes so well because he writes all the things we wish we say or said and decide not to.   His scripts are blunt, cold, bullish and to the point.   Critics have slammed his new show because he covers real events from the past years with a “here is how it should have been done” whip of knowledge.   At times, its kindly coherent, others it feels overappropriately  perfect but I like the device.   We want to see the people who surely existed speak the caution, spin the news right and get it all done solid the second time around.   It makes us feel good but teaches a lesson in the long run.   Love it or hate it, Sorkin writes sensationally irresistible dialogue and the actors who speak it do it very well.   Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson, Emily Mortimer,  John Gallagher Jr., Alison Pill, the beautiful Olivia Munn, Thomas Matthews and Dev Patel.   If you don’t know half of these names, look them up because you will after you finish the pilot.  Sorkin speaks the quiet truth about the events.  The shooting of a senator, Rick Santorum’s thoughts on gays, the oil spill, the gun rules, the killing of Osama.  Name it and its covered or coming up.   I like this better than the news.   Consider it watching confirmed news.  Instead of watching MSNBC and hoping what they are reporting  is the truth and not fabricated nonsense, we get the right version told over with footnotes.  Take a scene in last night’s episode, which covered the May 1, 2011 shooting of Osama Bin Laden.  Part of the news team is stuck on an airplane landing at the airport in NYC.  The producer is going nuts, demanding the flight attendant to bend the rules and let him off the plane so he can get to the studio before Obama went live with the news at 1045 eastern time.  He is loud and obnoxious until the two pilots come out of the cockpit.  He pauses, looks at their uniforms and badges and slowly tells them that the big bad wolf has been caught.  It’s a powerful moment.  It’s not the Newsroom’s benefit.  It’s our benefit in reliving a moment that happened for sure that night on a plane.  Sorkin gets it.  Daniels’ renegade news anchor says over the closing credits.  You can’t bring people back when you catch the evil man.  You can honor them a little.  Sorkin knows this and nails it.  Don’t think too hard about the Newsroom.  Just sit there, enjoy the recaps and suck in that brilliant dialogue.   We only wish we were that fast to speak.

Update on My Son

Vinny is doing a lot of things.   He is wearing tank tops, getting fevers, learning to scream, hates getting his ass wiped, has his flirt face for the ladies, loves to cuddle when he is sick, can two hand a bottle like no other and eats real food.   He is nearly 11 months old and cruising towards 1 year old.  A finish line for the little man that in the first two months was up in the air.  He fought two monsters in the ring before he could get the chance to be afraid of them coming out of his closet in his sleep.   Vincent has gotten every bug, bad rap, shitty illness that a baby can get.  I never seen a baby smile so much.

Random Notes to be Written

*I won’t be voting this year because I don’t see a candidate worth voting for so I will leave it to the cheaters, money teams and electoral voters.

*While I am part Lebanese, part Italian, and a little this and that, I am labeled as American and a white Caucasian.   I knew this a long time ago.   I fought with my wife the other night but I have been filling out white american on my application for years.  It’s just a weird fact of life.  Who made these rules?

*Killer Joe, Total Recall, Ruby Sparks are all worth seeing.   Queen of Versailles and The Watch are not.  Go to film-addict.com for more thoughts.

*A crime drama called Fall From Grace starring Tim Roth is filming in St. Louis this fall.   It needs funding in order to get a wide release.  Unfortunately, it isn’t a remake, sequel, adaptation or musical.   Just an original screenplay inspired by a pair of murders of young girls in St. Louis in the 1990s.

*People might already know this, but it’s very fucking hot outside.

*I am not much for Rams training camp or non existent Blues offseason news so you won’t get anything from me.

*Gaslight Anthem’s music all sounds the same but they are still worth listening to.

*Florence Welch can challenge Adele for the best female voice in the music business.

*My feelings for the Olympics are the same as they are for soccer.   Respect without a lot of interest.

That’s it.  I am done.  My wireless keyboard has ceased to type correctly, thus bringing my blog to a close.

Thanks for reading and goodnight,

Dan L. Buffa

Hello ladies and gents,

Allow me to be blunt here and quick.  First, let me talk about the unfortunate, deadly, tragic and completely monstrous elephant sitting in the room.

The James Holmes story.   One 24 year old man walks into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado with three guns, 2 cans of tear gas and one goal.  Chaos.   He would later surrender to police and tell them he was the Joker.  Holmes also wired his house to explode if the police happened to crash his door.   He lined it with water bottles and a dangerously explosive liquid chemical.   Holmes opened fire in front of a movie screen at 1239 am while a packed house watched The Dark Knight Rises.   He killed 12 people.  He injured up to 71 people.  He officially wounded 40 people but ask the 6 hospitals in the area for the right count.   I don’t have it.  What I do have is a message.  It is that the world we live in is a mad one.   There are a lot of people like Holmes, who can walk into a room, kill strangers in cold blood and have no motive.   Unlike the Columbine shootings, he didn’t kill himself after he emptied his bullets.  He exited the theater, sat in his car and waited for the police to find him and arrest him.   When I think of Holmes, I think of John Doe from the movie Seven.   A man who is excited about the aftermath of his carnage.   Let’s get something straight.   The Dark Knight Rises doesn’t make   anybody pick up an assault rifle and kill people.   It just doesn’t work.  Movies don’t kill people.   People with trigger fingers complete the job.   Movies are meant to go deep inside us and leave a mark, but never drive us to kill.   Christopher Nolan, the cast and crew of DKR and Warner Brothers studios are appalled by this tragedy.   It was never their intention.   Nolan’s finale involves a masked terrorist, Bane, who plans to overthrow a city and burn it to the ground.  People will connect this to the shootings and its comically insane.   Holmes called himself the Joker, labeled “a agent of chaos” in The Dark Knight by Nolan and his writers, but that doesn’t work either.  Nolan’s work is fiction.  Holmes’ work is real.  I went to the Dark Knight marathon on Thursday night and enjoyed it.   I never carried an ounce of thought for a man walking into the theater at Chesterfield Galaxy and opening fire on us.   When I went to the gym in the wee hours of the morning, got on the Precor machine only to see the CNN headline, ‘The Dark Knight Massacre”, I was appalled and shocked.  I immediately thought about the people sitting in that theater, 20 minutes into the movie, comfortably lifted away in escape, carrying little thought that their life would be changed forever in seconds.   Bullet hole or not, James Holmes affected millions of lives Friday morning.   His acts changed things.   His work mirrors one of the villains in Batman’s world, but the chilling reality that Holmes work existed in the real world will make everyone weary from now on when they enter a theater.  Holmes wore a gas mask, bulletproof vest and all they could see were his eyes.   The kiss of death in their eyes.   When the planes hit the towers, I immediately thought about the people on the plane and the ones on the floor of the towers that were hit directly.   I try to put myself in their shoes and I visibly shake.  It’s that reality of relative thinking.   The thing that won’t be talked about the next few weeks are the fact that Holmes didn’t have a motive but had a plan.   He carefully planned this out over weeks.   He picked a crowded spot, full of kids, and with a movie carrying a theme of anarchy.  People will underestimate and fail to give Holmes enough credit because of what he did.   We will blame the movies, the mothers who took a 3 month old to the movie, the theaters security, and everything else instead of giving Holmes the credit of defeating our defense and taking lives.  People didn’t want to give Osama Bin Laden credit either.  They wanted to make up conspiracies, blame our own government and make up wild stories in order to avoid giving credit to the bad guy.   Remember, a great bad guy is one who succeeds.  Holmes is the ultimate bad guy.  He did something horribly memorable.   He won’t be forgotten.  He will be remembered for this crime long after the chemical injection takes the life out of his body after a guilty verdict puts him on the metal slab.  Give the man credit.  I will.   He will lose the battle but he will win the war.  The most chilling part about it. He isnt talking and clearly seeing his plan play out. He had response times, weaponry, the ability, and his calm cool collected demeanor only says one thing. He is enjoying the aftermath of chaotic murder. He didn’t kill himself like the columbine shooters did. He is enjoying this.  There are no good things about him but he isn’t a coward. He’s an evil man with an evil plan.  Any person who can take random lives without feeling anything is colder than most. He will stand trial, get the injection and exit this world.   You think this will make future murderers pause before committing a crime?  Get real.  Unfortunately, it will only give confidence to them. A lesser man would have been caught in the lobby or failed to fire at a person. James Holmes did the ultimate deed and he will pay. Any future followers won’t think twice. Security can be heightened but it won’t stop future tragedy. It’s a horrible reminder of our fragility.

One more thought on the Aurora shootings and I will shut up. Movies go deep into our minds but they don’t make us kill. We make the choice. Go watch Dark Knight Rises and enjoy it. It’s the best I have seen all year. Don’t be afraid to go to the movies.  The Colorado shootings remind me of my favorite Ernest Hemingway quote. A tragically bittersweet note. “The world is a beautiful place and worth fighting for.” I believe in the second part.

On to Lighter News…

The Dark Knight Rises deserves every dollar coming its way.  Christopher Nolan’s finishing touch to the trilogy is a brilliant caper to a serious reinvention.  It is the best I have seen this year.   For my full review, head right here.

http://www.film-addict.com/news-and-reviews/a-dose-of-buffa/item/518-the-dark-knight-rises\

The Cardinals beat a hot Cubs team 4-1 behind another great starting performance from Kyle Lohse and a monstrous home run by Matt Holliday, who continues to hit like a mad lumberjack.   Holliday hit the longest blast in Busch Stadium III’s history at 469 feet.  Lohse threw seven more solid innings, improving his record to 10-2 and his ERA dropping to 2.72.   Here is what Lohse has done in his last 10 starts.  He is 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 67.1 innings.    In 122 innings, Lohse has only allowed 4 home runs.  He deserves at least three more wins.  Lohse owes the Cardinals a solid final year in his 4 year deal because he choked up the first two.  People think he sucks or that he is overachieving.   I say he is cutting it even in a contract pursuit.   Make that money!  Lohse is getting it done and coupled with Lance Lynn, is making the absence of Chris Carpenter a non factor in 2012.  The starting pitching is doing the job in July.  The bats have let the team down and tonight platted 4 runs early and held on.  Jason Motte has 21 saves in 25 tries.  He hasn’t blown a save in a month.  He completed the 9th inning with only 6 pitches.   Tonight the Cards gained no ground on The Pirates or Reds, but they played a complete game and got contributions from the whole team.  Starting pitching, timely hitting, good defense and a solid job from the bullpen.   May I have another tomorrow night?

The hot temperatures aren’t going away.   The forecast for the rest of the month is VERY FUCKING HOT.   If you can’t handle it, stay home.  If you go out in it, stop bitching about it.  I worked in heated conditions for the last 10 years of my life.  At some point, you just tell yourself the heat has won and deal with it.   Argue about gas prices before the weather.

Writing this from my KC post.   I love coming out to the in law’s because it is so quiet out in the country.   Off the beaten path in DeSoto, Kansas, nobody knows me and there are no trains, cars, parking lots, noisy kids or much of anything going on.   If this is God’s country, I may just buy one of his books.  I like a departure every once in a while.  I call it upsetting the established order of a life.

St. Louis Rams 2011 1st round draft pick Robert Quinn was charged with a DWI this past week.   Athletes will never understand that when they join a national sports team, their behavior must be appropriate.  Whether they like it or not, they are role models and need to behave.   Think of it this way.  If I get a DWI, the damage is internal for the most part.  I get a fine, a slap, bad looks and a gray cloud over my head.  It blows over.  When a known athlete and sports figure like Quinn makes a big mistake, the headlines spread across the city and kids start rethinking why the men coming to their schools telling them to do right is drinking and driving.   They become hypocrites for believing in athletes.   Quinn’s mistake is downright pathetic.   Talk to Leonard Little and ask him about regret Mr. Quinn.   I have zero sympathy for people who drink and drive.  I did it once and swore to never do it again.  You could kill somebody if you drink and drive.   Quinn will learn a harsh lesson in privilege.

Also, don’t blame the guns for Colorado’s tragedy.    Guns are not responsible for killing people.   Once again, people are.  Unless I am mistaken, guns don’t go off unless they are triggered and aimed at a target.   The gun haters will run the gauntlet on this tragedy and they have no merit.   Remember, give credit and blame where it is due, and that is with James Holmes alone.  I know how to fire many guns.  9mm, 45 magnum, 12 gauge shotgun and an assault rifle.  That doesn’t mean I am going to walk into a theater and kill people.  I carry that choice because the world we live in is driven by choice and that alone explains the murders.

I am feeling my age and taking the toll.   One of the things I admired about The Dark Knight Rises was Nolan’s willingness to show Bruce Wayne/Batman in a crippling older state.   Fighting crime comes with pain and damage.  When we see Wayne 8 years after the events in The Dark Knight, he is using a cane and has become a full recluse.   He has no cartilage in his knees and carries tons of scar tissue, including some in his brain.  I admired that because in every other comic book adaptation, the heroes feel no pain and live on no matter what.  In Nolan’s world, Batman collects scars along with dealing them out.   I am beginning to feel the wear and tear on my body.  There is fluid in my left elbow which may require a cortisone shot or orthopedic surgery.  My knees can’t stand to bend down for more than 5 minutes.   My right shoulder sends shooting pains across my chest when I do the incline bench press.   I have been relegated to repetitions and that is fine.  Every body has a limit and I am hitting mine.   If I play a doubleheader in softball, my feet and back let me know it because I play it all out.   I haven’t been kind to my body for the last 14 years so I expect some pain but at 30 years old, I am becoming an old man.  I don’t think it is too soon but it sucks all the same.

I have hit my limit.  It’s time to shut it down.  My kid is getting up in 5 hours and I need to get a few hours of horizontal rest.  The road is calling my name tomorrow for a run so my legs need rest.   All together, I am going to start life all over again in a few hours so the writing will stop…for now.

Thanks for reading this and come back again.

-D. Buffa

Opening Round of Fire

Let me start things off by saying hello.   I am still around, alive, blood flowing, heart ticking, walking, talking, breathing and full of white hot rage.   At some point of every hour of our lives, we are angry about something.   A person, thing, ideal, or phrase that makes us homicidal or suicidal.  It’s part of living.  Being unhappy with some aspect of the way life is being lived so we quietly protest.  What do you think the difference is between you yelling inside your car with the windows up and the air on at the stupid ass driver who just cut you off as opposed to getting out of the car at the next stop light and ripping their head clean off?  It’s called quiet protest.   That’s our state of mind, or at least the portion of us that fight the good fight that includes staying out of jail.   I don’t like tight spaces in the middle of murderers, evil men, bad con men, and rapists.  It’s like a blind political war room mixed with Celebrity Jeopardy.  You go to jail and you get to pick the way you die.  At best, its by your own hands.  So instead of acting out and killing someone or coming close, we button down the hatch and stay civil.   Spit the words out of your mouth and feel good about pointing out retardation.  I sit here, one of the billions one earth who sat in their car or chair, contemplating the idea of murder before the sharp glaze of freedom brushed through their eyes and reminded them why they fake half their living minutes.   If you want to do something about it, you pay for it.   Ask the bodies in the ground at the local cemetery.  Ask their advice about fighting the good fight until the final and you will find a lot of regretful souls.   You know how you get the truth from people.  Ask the person they vent to about you.   Their face is a born again lie fest.  2012’s truth comes directly from the source and only from the source.   The only question is…do you trust it and are you ballsy enough to ask a person who doesn’t like you why?  Instead, I googled myself and found 27 other Dan Buffa’s who run around the planet Earth.  Go figure.   I am not even mad enough to act out on my rage.  I am also not even my own person.   Fuck!  And so I begin with what else….another rant about the Cardinals, my blood boiling baseball team that likes to play the underachieving acquaintance who always lures you into bed only to tell the next day when you are both sore from a night of rage infused free will chasing sweet haze of animal poses that they don’t want a relationship.   The Cardinals lead me on right and left, and manage to keep my spirits high by winning or appearing in World Series every 4-6 years.  Fuck!  Here it goes.  The latest mindfuck leg cramping fit rant about my baseball team.   Friends of mine bet me I would punch our doctor if he mentioned the Cubs in a happy light.  I told them they were crazy and that she was a woman whose humor was more dry than a piece of sandpaper.  They still put 20 dollars down on my rage overflowing at the OB doctor who would examine my wife.   I won the bet, held my rage in check, and she happened to not even utter a word of sports french inside the appointments.   In the 10 months since Vinny has been born, I have written, watched and followed my Cards but with a lower camouflaged form of obsession.  You can’t notice it as much unless you are close enough, sitting next to my plate of food as I grip it extra tight in late and close games.  I keep it at bay most nights, falling asleep in late one run games, allowing my dreams to sort out the victims.  I often serve the role of detective when I visit the crime scene the next morning.   The Cards are still my wishing well of infinite doom but their failure doesn’t scare me as much as it used to.  I wouldn’t jump off a tall high rise for them anymore.  These days its more like a small 4 story apartment complex that serves as my limit of danger within myself and this team’s flight or plight.   It’s not an easier way of observing them but my own idea of restraint.  I still envy people like my wife and father, who can politely yell at the television scream only to look at me with a straight face when I feel like kicking a three legged dog in the jar about the manager’s decision to leave a worn out arm in to give up the go ahead run.   Really, why does the hitter feel its a good idea to swing at a pitch that could have been a measuring stick aimed above their head for a height exam?  Answer that in less in 90 words and I will buy you lunch.  Why lunch?  It’s cheaper.  Anyway, baseball doesn’t rule my life anymore but it owns a fair measure of real estate on my soul.  The itch is always there and will never leave.  That ability to throw stats, wise knowledge, and a fairly un-bias take on the situation at hand in sports.   I did say un-bias, right?   Sure.  Allow me to finish my own sentences and write the rest of this blog.   Read it or not, my job is only to clear my head of infinite ideas and thoughts.  Think of a hoarder cramming newspapers into their shower.   Feeling the need to take up the space where you clean yourself in order to satisfy an urge.  So instead of doing that I come here and write.   Write nearly 1,000 word opening rants about our quiet rage, baseball and my own dealings with the two.   By the way, did I tell you that I just wrote a 1,000 word opening rant in this blog?  Well, I did. 1,015 words to be exact.  Let’s move on with the Cardinals complaint.   Filed now..

Cardinals Rant #2,919

The Cards are a hard team to watch the past couple years.   They find many different ways to lose and constantly fall on their heads.   They make errors that put a strain on a solid starting pitching staff.   They get a ton of hits but have no consistent clutch appearance.  They lose a ton of winnable games.  They lead the league in one run losses.   They lost 3 one run games on their just concluded horrific road trip, which included leaving around 49 runners on base.   They lost 5 out of 6 games against the Reds and Brewers, the teams surrounding them in the division.   Against their division since the end of May, the Cards are downright bad.  The Pirates defeated them easily at Busch.  The Reds swept them in Cincinnati.  The Brewers looked very average barely slipping by the Birds this past three game set.   The Cards don’t lose a lot of games by a wide margin.  They make it close and painful so it hurts.   The many teams they face will tell you it isn’t easy to finish them off, but their record is better than the Cardinals.   Look at the stats.  The Cards have done their part offensively over the course of the season as a whole, but in July, their bats have gone cold while the temperatures outside have risen.    It’s a troubling trend to witness.  Your team putting the tying and winning runners on base only to strand them infinitely and lose the game.  The Cardinals pulled off a comeback victory on Monday, getting the best of former Brewers closer John Axford for a three run rally for a 3-2 win.   The win could have served as a launching pad.  Instead, the Cards lost two straight and sit 4.5 games out of first place on July 18^th.  This team has been maddeningly inconsistent.  They played the part in 2011, and with the help of the Braves stormed back to win the World Series.   They pulled a fast one and stole the trophy.  In 2012, they are doing it again.  Playing inconsistent baseball, showing flickers of hope followed by an overflowing sense of dread.  Can they turn it around?  Time will tell….

One could say this team needs a starter, reliever and new set of bats or mind sets.   Mike Matheny needs to switch out his bible sessions with happy endings at home.  The poor guy is finding out that 162 games as a technical leader of a team is ten times tougher than being the mental leader of the team.   We need rotation help because Waino is throwing a lot of innings, Lance Lynn looks tired in the 1st inning, Kyle Lohse will come back to earth soon and Jake Westbrook has to start throwing flat fastballs soon.   Joe Kelly is the finest surprise of 2012 and he only has one win.   The kid has pitched great since he showed up in June and he hasn’t been given shit for run support.   Look at run support as a true sign of a starter’s worth and not quality starts.   It’s not if the pitcher is doing his end or not.  It’s the run support he is getting that holds his record high or low.  That’s not negotiable.  It’s sports politics.  Compare it to ratings.  There is no clear logic in them but they look nicer than real studies.  The Cardinals need another bullpen arm to shove a bad arm out.  They need a safe guard starter to be ready to swoop in just in case Waino or Lynn hits a wall or Jaime Garcia doesn’t come back until November.  They can also use a bat off the bench that knows how to get a hit with runners in scoring position and one out.  The Cardinals need a shot in the arm.  Any sort, any kind or flavor.  Give me Will Clark or Larry Walker.   At this point I will take a Jeff Weaver.  Something to mix things up because either Lance Berkman’s humor has worn off or the boys in the hall are too wound up and need to visit Roxy’s one more time this weekend.   Losing to the Reds and Brewers is unfortunate and disappointing.  Losing to the woeful Chicago Cubs at Busch this weekend would be downright sinister.  Think of Michael Bay directing a remake of Goodfellas.  Yeah, that bad!

I promise I will recite the rest of my blog in smaller doses.  I just took my meds.

The Other Guys

The Dark Knight Rises comes out Friday and I have already seen it.   I have to withhold my review(stupid critic/press embargo rules) until then but allow me to say this.  It didn’t suck.  For more, read my review on film-addict.com this Friday at midnight.   There’s my required plug for my movie website.  Stop telling me how nice it looks and just go there and tell about 20 people to do the same.  Websites are like babies.  They need nutrients and good care to grow.  And a lot of help.

The Blues resigned Jamie Langenbrunner and traded B.J. Crombeen as well as giving David Perron a solid four year deal.   All the deals serve purpose and worry me at the same time.   Langenbrunner is a grinder, veteran and a guy who will do anything but is he taking up a young player’s spot?  Crombeen wasn’t a good fighter and not a much better hockey player so Ryan Reaves(2 yr contract) gets his spot…finally!   Perron has a shaky head but tons of skill so we will see.  Does T.J. Oshie get a deal before Friday’s arbitration hearing?  I believe that is up to Oshie’s camp and not the Blues.  I think the Blues want to sign him but Oshie wants to acquire that restricted tag next year.  Who knows?

The Rams truly haven’t done much to warrant my attention, so who cares at this point?  If they win, fans will show up by Week 9.  If they lose the first 3 games, every home game will be blacked out.   All I am asking for is a pulse this season.  Good luck Fisher.

The Newsroom on HBO is a brilliant show because Aaron Sorkin pulls zero punches and goes for the jugular.   A creator and head writer should let the audience know how they feel about certain timely political events and he does.  Also, Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterson are wonderful in their roles.   Two actors we all know that are at the top of their game here.  Watch it or leave it.  Just forget about your political alliance and enjoy the war room battles.  This show isn’t about the right or left wing. It’s about the death of news and the rebirth of delivering it right.  The show delivers that self-righteous cooler than the other side of the pillow chill that few shows about real things can do.  I appreciate and look forward to that for at least 18 more episodes.  Other HBO products are coming right along.  True Blood is still a devilish guilty pleasure.   I can’t wait for the third season of Boardwalk Empire to begin.

Vincent continues to do things I can’t believe.   Spit out words, come to a standing position, show bits of sophistication and enjoy life.   He is a normal baby in many ways but a special little bastard in ways only a parent can notice.   The man knows how to flirt and has a special face for it.   It could be a fellow 10 month old girl or a grown 37 year old cougar.  Vinny loves the ladies and knows how to work it.   Man goes outside without pants on and gets more chicks.   Being a baby is great.  People love you for your chunkiness and don’t make of you for it.  All adults are envious of babies getting all the attention because they make it look so easy.

Boxing gets better each day after a scary May where we had one horrible injustice and two positive drug tests along with a popular champion losing his career to an accident.   Last weekend there were two fights that were solid battles without controversy.   Heavyweight Brit’s David Haye and Derick Chisora met in the ring and Haye kicked the shit out of him.   Later that night, Danny Garcia, undefeated but unknown all at the same time, knocked out title contender Amir Khan in the 4th round of a fight many picked for Khan.   This was a replacement fight, after Khan’s previous opponent failed a drug test and fell out.   This was the second replacement fight due to a positive drug test this past month.   Victor Ortiz was beaten by a replacement fighter as well.  Khan didn’t run and hide like Ortiz.   He was caught with a huge sweeping left hand on the side of the head and never recovered.   However, he fought to the end of his rope.   Ortiz had a broken jaw and sat in his corner, quitting for the second time in his career.   Khan knew he was doomed but went down swinging.  In boxing, brutality and doom are your friends and foes.  Khan is a good boxer but was caught with a good punch.  That’s boxing.  And that is why we love it.  A good clean solid beating.  Congrats to Garcia and Haye.

People, stop asking about the ending to the Dark Knight Rises.  Stop asking about the quality of Tom Hardy’s performance as Bane compared to Heath Ledger’s Joker.  Just go see for yourself.  It’s a helluva ride and worth taking.  If you want to brush up, re-watch Batman Begins, the first Nolan Batman film.  It ties directly to the plot of DKR and brings the theme and story full circle.  That’s all about that.

Watch it this for kicks. Call it a little Heath Ledger brilliance when he plays the Joker, “The Agent of Chaos”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ZRG1tWQN6e8&NR=1

Listen to anything Black Keys, Adele or Mumford and Sons.  You will be safe inside that fresh tube of great artistry.  Please feel good about the music you listen to.   Everybody has their own taste and needs.   Don’t feel ashamed for listening to something others frown on.   Dave Matthews has as many haters as lovers, but that doesn’t stop me from sweating under the lights watching him for 3 hours at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, a place I have grown to hate with a passion.  Listen to what makes you glide.

Keep in touch with your family for the bare bottom reason of getting the last word in before something bad happens.  All the other happier reasons too.  Whenever I talk to my dad, I try to leave every rock uncovered.  It never works out that way because it would get awkward but I have that ambition going in.   In this world, you never know.

Which friends can you trust?  The ones that are mean to you with honesty.  I tell my good friends that I am their best friend but not their nicest one.  You have to pay for those.

The filmmakers chose the right actor in Jeremy Renner to follow up Matt Damon in The Bourne Series but is the movie worth a shit?  We will find out on August 3rd.   Along with Damon’s great lead work, all three films were spectacularly tight morally ambiguous action films across the board.

What is it about people who say Y’all instead of “all of you” or “you all” that pisses me off?  I guess the idea that it sounds good.  Fuck with the dictionary all you want but makes sure the product isn’t annoying.  Paula Dean’s fat ass can’t stop saying “Y’all” wherever she goes.   She says it as many times as Ozzie Guillen says “fuck”.   I hate her show, cooking and presence with a passion and it all starts with that phrase.

Speaking of Guillen, Showtime’s new season of the Franchise is riveting television as usual.  Following Guillen’s troubled Miami Marlins as they take a big step in rebuilding a baseball team in a city that doesn’t give a shit about it and just watched the Heat win the championship, Showtime follows the mold of HBO.  Find a loud, ignorant profanity laced speaking manager and let it all hang out.   Following in the footsteps of Rex Ryan and Bruce Boudreau, Guillen makes you watch.   Also, MLB Productions does a great job of showcasing the action and giving us the inside track.

That is all.  Abrupt.  Finish.  Tonight, my end comes in this format.   Quick and to the point.   Reread the opening rant.  I’m proud of that part the most.

Thanks and goodnight,

D.L.B.

“Always, for what it’s worth”

I am here to tell you The Rum Diary is a very good fucking movie.  A concoction rarely made in Hollywood but quietly breeding on the hills outside the cage.  First, let me tell you what I am doing here.   I love the movies for very easy reasons.   The escape, the delightful mind game and the aftermath that leaves you in a wash of amazement.  When done right, movies can transport you the fuck out of a hot, exhausting summer that’s only get revved up.   The Rum Diary, adapted from Hunter S. Thompson’s story about a crusading journalist going up against real estate kingpins in Puerto Rico, is one of those ridiculously hypnotic experiences that reminds you of the imagination lacking in Hollywood on a full time basis.  While Christopher Nolan creates masterpieces, The Rum Diary tells a different story.   A tale of hard fought journalism.  Johnny Depp is the reason the movie was made.  He found it in Thompson’s home a little after Hunter committed suicide and brought it to his Hollywood suits.   He got it made and the story wasn’t changed in any way.   Thompson’s dirty rotten bastards story line is kept intact and for good reason.  If you can dig down deep into the plot full of rum, bad decisions, dangerous women and consequences followed by serious action, you will find a lesson with a slow pulse.  As Thompson’s muse in the Rum Diary, Depp’s Paul Kemp explains to his readers, “There will be ink, full of rage.”    When you like a movie, you walk the streets explaining how great it can be and try to convince people to see through the crazy subplots and recognize a moral.   Some movies need a little time and patience.   They don’t deliver the goods in the first half of the movie yet struggle to keep the stranglehold on the audience.  It’s not easy to do anymore.   Instead of dusting off fine old books and putting them in motion, Hollywood wants to dust off a franchise or do another remake.   Where’s the creativity gone?  People do their best work when they don’t seem to care as much what the entire world will think of their product.  We need more renegades in Hollywood.  Bruce Robinson and Johnny Depp take that leap of faith in this movie.   A mad man tale about taking your last shot at redemption.  How many armies can a single man build?

In the movie, Paul Kemp comes to Puerto Rico looking for work with a newspaper to mull his writers block on a novel.   Kemp is a drunk and a seeker.   He moves with the current of crazy addictions.   He gets involved with the wrong people, makes a bad friends, and finds himself being a hired writing gun for a real estate shark to steal an island for hotel construction.  Soon enough, full of booze, drugs and paranoid momentum, he finds himself coming out of his haze and realizing the story he must write.  Too bad the paper he works at is closing up shop due to a lack of creativity.  Kemp finds himself in a state of moral clarity yet sees his hands tied.   All the while, falling in love with a beautiful woman named Chenault(Amber Heard, classy and sexy as ever).   Depp is the perfect man to step into Thompson’s world of madness.   In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, he played a bumbling writer on a road trip to hell.   Here, he plays a man pulling everything together at the wrong time.  A man who wants to fight the good fight and only needs a barrel of ink, willing eyes and paper to make it happen.  Johnny Depp hasn’t aged a bit as he turns 49 this year and he is a uniquely versatile actor because he can play any role and seem convincing.   He can go on rants and sound profound while looking out of sorts.   He can do it all and isn’t afraid of any choices.   The man who plays a cutthroat pirate can also play a lawyer and an alcoholic writer.  I admire him as much as I like him, because he doesn’t fake anything.   He was a close friend of Hunter S. Thompson’s and got the movie made to honor his memory.    Thompson was a different kind of journalist.  A gonzo journalist.  A form of reporting where the reporter inserts himself into the story to make the idea seem more interesting and wild.   Thompson didn’t just write stories.  He lived them.  Every damn moment.  I like that.  Calling his work an acquired taste is like calling whiskey a muscle relaxer.  It doesn’t begin to explain the appeal or ultimate delight.

The Rum Diary is worth watching because it’s different, doesn’t answer all the questions, nor does it feature characters who we can nail down inside 5 minutes.   It’s original, fresh and quietly provocative.   At the heart of it is the battle for the soul of true journalism and the unfortunate state of the newspapers at the moment.  For a movie taking place in 1960, The Rum Diary tells a timely tale and asks a good question.  Do we still tell the news or merely print it?  Somewhere, Aaron Sorkin would appreciate this movie.

Watch the movie or buy the book.   Find the soundtrack as well.  They are all worth seeking out.

“Like most others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles – a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other – that kept me going.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary

-D.L.B.

This is the one you take right before you go to bed.   The quick dose of unfiltered opinion that doesn’t have an overall meaning but carries enough narrative strength to give off the impression something productive happened.  Ideas Up for Blogging Auction.

As I watch Robert Downey Jr. take me through Sherlock Holmes 2 scene by scene on this Blu-Ray feature, allow me to fire off a few things here.

• The Cardinals get a big series against a bad team.    Beating the horrible Rockies 3 games out of 4 doesn’t constitute a nation wide address, but in my eyes, the Cards are learning to win at home and beating this team down is what playoff teams do.   Win, win, and win again.   Losing a single game to the Rockies hurt enough, so the series had to be taken.   It’s a huge win for many reasons.  Lance Lynn reminded you why it’s okay to let Chris Carpenter(more on him in a few) go for the season and why he is a National League All Star.  He pitched 6 gutsy innings without his best stuff and stopped a nasty 3 game losing streak.  He has 11 wins before the All Star break.  Without his contributions alone, the Cards are a bad team.  He passed the test today.   The test of falling from grace and coming back to life again.  Lynn has hit an innings wall yet he can still pitch.  Carlos Beltran has 60 RBI and leads the National League.  Jason Motte has 19 saves(albeit theatrical ones) and finished the job tonight in an appearance that wasn’t entirely needed but I’m all for padding closer’s stats.   At the end of the night, the Cards were 5 games over .500 and close to the Pirates and Reds in the standings.   Let’s look closer.

*5 Cardinals are all stars.   Yes, it’s not right that the All Star Game decides home field advantage in the playoffs but that is the way it is at the moment and fighting over it only loses oxygen so let’s pass it up the fuck up.  The All Star is important because it gave the Cards the home advantage over the Rangers and played a huge part in our triumph in 2011.  The fact that David Freese sneaked in yesterday only makes our chances better.   The fan voting got Pablo Sandoval into the mix over David Wright and that is downright stupid.   However, fans decide one game a year and it will never change.   Freese has solid numbers and deserved a spot.   He is hitting .286 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI.  His numbers are second only to Wright.  I don’t need to hear anywhere that he doesn’t deserve it.   Freese is a hometown kid, a World Series hero and a solid third baseman.   Beltran, Lynn, Yadi Molina and Rafael Furcal join him in an excellent representation(all fan voting and no Tony La Russa selections) for the Birds.  Tuesday will be an exciting night to see TLR madness unfold one more time and hopefully see The NL bring it home.

*Chris Carpenter is done.   We all knew it.  Now it’s time to get over it.   Carpenter wasn’t going to pitch through a nerve injury in his shoulder.   No way.   Shut him down, get it fixed and have ready for 2013.  We can all whine how unfortunate it is and how Carp’s body is made out of parts these days, but that is the nature of the business.   We all know what he can do when healthy and if you forgot already, revisit September and October of 2011.  He threw 4 complete games in September, including the last game of the season to send us into the postseason.  He outdueled Roy Halladay to win the division series with a complete game dominating performance.   He pitched the Cards past the Brewers and Rangers in route to a World Series title.   Carpenter will be back and will be effective again.   After 6 surgeries, I can’t count the guy out.

*Speaking of persistent pitchers, Jason Isringhausen is still playing and he is doing it in LA with Albert Pujols as a member of the Angels.    Years after being cast out by Cardinals fans after a disastrous 2008 season, Izzy is getting paid to come out of the bullpen and pitch effectively.   He got his 300th save in New York last year and is in the American League this season and its a courageous body of work.   Izzy’s six surgeries(3 on his right arm) usually knock out baseball players.   Izzy plays on because he loves the game and not just because he wants a paycheck.  He is the exception to the rule and proof that a heart never stops ticking until the owner is ready.    Izzy is all heart and will.

*Allen Craig is officially the most underrated power hitter in baseball.   43 games, 13 home runs and 43 RBI to go with two stints on the disabled list.   Craig continues to hit, produce and convince me he can be a full time player.   His rise along with Jon Jay’s play in center are proof that the Cardinals farm system is able to produce talent that needs a few tweaks but can be highly productive.  Craig is the reason Lance Berkman’s 12 million dollar salary can go away in 2013.   That’s savings and wins at the same time.

*Kyle Lohse is having a helluva walk year.   8-2 with a decent ERA and a consistency lacking in the previous 3 years.   He has been pitching solid since the middle of 2011.   He  was the best pitcher in 2011 overall and is doing it again this season with a sharpened array of pitches and the intelligence to know when to throw them.  Good for him and us.    Do you keep him after the season if he keeps this up?  Sure, but not at 4 years.   You only walk down that road once.

*Matt Holliday deserved to be an All Star over Jay Bruce and all you have to do is look at the stats.   Since April 19th, Holliday has been on fire and I love to see his critics in St. Louis crawl under a fucking rock when he plays so damn well.   The 17 million dollar bargain(see Carl Crawford’s deal in Boston and Jayson Werth in Washington) continues to hit everything.   He collected 2 more hits last night and 2 RBI.   He now has 14 HR and 56 RBI to go with a .318 batting average.  In his last 10 games, he is hitting .459.   He hits everything hard, hustles like he is trying to stay on the team and has improved in the outfield.   Holliday is the hardest working guy on the team, and all you have to do is look at his jersey to see why.

*Tony La Russa can stir the pot without being the manager of any team.   His All Star omissions of “kicking impossible” Johnny Cueto irked Dusty Baker, even though Tony selected Bruce over Holliday.   Here is the deal.   La Russa is a sure fire Hall of Famer and Baker isn’t.   Dusty has never won the World Series because his teams simply weren’t good enough and he has no clue on how to push his team past limits.   Could Dusty juggle 14 starting pitchers and lose a player in 2002 and propel his team to the pennant?  No way.   Dusty is a jealous old hack who is envious of what La Russa has accomplished.  I hope Tony sent Dusty a fuck you card telling him the 10 reasons why he is managing the All Star game for the third time in Cardinal red and Dusty is on team #3 trying to get there for the first time.

*The Bullpen is the Achilles heel of this team.  Pure and simple.  The rotation has pitched well in the past month and over the course of the season.   The bullpen is the team giving up leads, allowing runs late and giving off an uncertainty that leaves a nasty after taste in a fan’s mind.   I feel safe with no one in the pen right now.  It doesn’t matter how the starters or offense do if a bullpen can’t hold a lead.  The Cardinals have lost a ton of one run games lately.   Ask me what the biggest need is and its bullpen help at the deadline.

*Whether or not the Cards need a starter is up to Jaime Garcia.   If his time table is positive for a return in August, then we don’t need a starter.   If it’s delayed or uncertain, find an arm.  Carpenter is down.   Lynn, Wainwright, Lohse, Westbrook and Joe Kelly are in.   They are doing a fine job and holding up well into the middle of the season.   However, Lynn and Waino’s work load might reach a questionable limit soon.   John Mozelaik needs to keep a look out for an arm.   I am not talking about Zach Greinke or Cole Hamels.  It will be a low hanging fruit probably, which explains my need to examine the area before acting quickly.  I have a bad feeling Jon Jay will be trade bait and not Shelby Miller.

*Right after the All Star break, we take on the Reds for three games in Cincinnati.  A huge series.  The Cardinals are 2.5 games behind the Pirates, who own a 2 game lead over the Reds.   We have 6 games against the Pirates in August, but here is what we need to do.   Be a better team at home.  We are only 21-19 at home and for a team classically strong on home turf, that number is downright atrocious.  Get it together at Busch.

Moving on while I can hold off my baseball addiction meds.

• The Blues signed David Perron to a four year deal worth 15 million, in a move that signifies hope and assurance.   Perron missed 90 games due to a head injury and the Blues showing the faith to lock him up for four years at nearly 4 million per season is a good risk for the franchise.  Perron scored 21 goals in only 50 games and is a difference maker on the ice.  This is his middle contract and a good shot to see what he brings now that he has security.  I always said the young three were going to have to show something new and Perron is easily the sharpest of the Berglund-Oshie-Perron combo.   Berglund got a 2 year deal before 2011-2012 and Oshie is up for a new deal at the moment.   My feeling is that The Blues will hand Oshie a 3 year deal worth 3.5 million annually.   He is still young, relatively cheap so its easier to keep him than lose him.  However, Oshie may resist a long term deal, reach for another 1 year deal only because he would be a restricted free agent after the 2012-2013 season and get the kind of contract Perron received or better elsewhere.

*The Blues also won’t be making any huge signings this offseason but will probably trade for help.   Bobby Ryan and Shane Doan are two creatively sound options for GM Doug Armstrong to reach for.   Ryan gives you the goal scorer that is needed and a young player with years ahead of him if the Ducks decide to dangle him out the window.   Doan is a proven scorer who can fit in well with this team.   A top line defenseman is also desirable but looking for one that works isn’t easy in this thin market.   After the 2012-2013 season, the Blues lose a ton of payroll and face a better market.    It’s interesting to imagine what is going on in the mind and mobile device of Armstrong, President John Davidson and Owner Tom Stillman.   The Blues can afford to lose Matt D’Agostini and Jamie Langenbrunner if it means acquiring some younger more talented help.   The Blues are almost there when it comes to being a legit Cup threat.

*Elsewhere in hockey, Sidney Crosby and The Penguins make a ridiculous wager of the bank and the soul with a 12 year deal, The Minnesota Wild make their Miami Heat move and sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and Martin Brodeur makes the right decision to end his career in New Jersey and stay away from The Blackhawks.  Who gives out 10-12 year deals in a contact sport?  I laugh at teams like the Penguins giving a concussion prone superstar a 12 year deal.   The Wild have to earn it now that they are paper threats.   Brodeur going to the Blackhawks would be like Pujols leaving the Cardinals, which is not classy at all.

• The Rams have absolutely nothing going on but offseason shop talk.   Bradford’s future is being stripped and remodeled every day on NFL prime time but what is the difference if you have nothing to go off.   Bradford enjoyed a decent if not great debut season, got banged up and looked horrible in his second season and now has his third offensive coordinator overseeing the operation.   What’s not to love?
• What needs to be watched in theaters?  After making another plug for my website, http://www.film-addict.com, I will tell you The Amazing Spider Man was a solid reboot and erases my hurtful memories of Tobey Maguire as Spider Man and gives Emma Stone another showcase.   Oliver Stone’s Savages is an intoxicating trip through the sweetness and bitter regret of the drug business.   Call Stone a risky attention hogging filmmaker, but isn’t that the point?   When he swings at something, he always has two hands on the bat.  Ted is the best comedy of the year because it handles a risky concept with the ease and skill of a pro.  Seeking A Friend At the End of the World is for the hopeless romantics who need a little breath of fresh air and works so well because Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are brilliant.
• The Dark Knight Rises gets closer and closer to my eyes.   I have a very evident and vocal boner for this movie.   Nolan’s Batman films are so well done and fascinating to watch because he injects a timely message into each of them and makes you think.  The fierce ideal that good and bad aren’t simply black and white sides in this world.   There’s a gray area in those labels that is harder to fit into a neat realm than people give it credit for.   Nolan isn’t afraid to shed lights on our darkest traits.   Greed, power, ability, responsibility, regret, revenge and the darkness in each of us that is noticeable if not always engaged.
• My son is a fighter.  Vinny beat the shit out of a kid in the gym daycare this week and I am part proud and part scared.   Is this the life a parent hates to foresee?  Being the parent who gets called about your son’s violence towards others and not the other way around.   Vinny is a monster for a 9 month old.  He is 24 pounds, all baby muscle, can stand on his own, crawl like a snake and do things other newbies simply can’t.   He didn’t just pounce on another 9 month old and throw some punches.  He had the tenacity to be separated, fake going for another toy and pounce on the kid again before being separated for good.   Vinny was up for a play and the kid wasn’t, and the result was clear.  My kid is a tough little bastard and not to be reckoned with.  Welcome to my new challenge.   Kids challenge your endurance in every way possible.
• TV Section 

*The Newsroom on HBO gets picked up for a second season and after 2 hours, I can easily see why.  The show works and is a timely series.  Aaron Sorkin writes dialogue and monologues for television like David Mamet does for films.   People don’t speak this clear, proud, real or fast in real life so we appreciate it on a screen.  The interactions between Jeff Daniels and Sam Waterson make the show for me.  An aging wolf talking to a seasoned pack leader.

*True Blood finally becomes “must watch” television for me in season 5.    Why?  Eric and Bill are finally teaming up instead of going head to head, which is stupid because Eric is so much older.   Alcide is finally getting his shot with Sookie, which needed to happen 2 seasons ago.   The show has a legit, entertaining bad guy in Christopher Merloni’s vampire instead of a lame witch, ferry or refugee.   Most of all, characters are evolving and showing new shades in it’s fifth round.  Count me in.

• Boxing Recommendation-The reason a fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Miguel Cotto could qualify as the fight of the year.   Young gun versus smart veteran.   Boxers turn into legends because they are smart fighters and know how to go about their business.  Canelo, the young Mexican champ with atom bombs for fists, needs a challenge and the proud Puerto Rican fighter Cotto can give it to him.   Cotto has a brilliant record and career of taking the tough fights and producing entertaining slug fests.   His only three losses came in tainted fashion against Antonio Margarito and losses to the two best pound for pound fighters in the sport in Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquaio.   Canelo has made a slow rise to more stiff competition, brushing off Shane Mosley in May and now needs a legit opponent.  Cotto could bring the fight to his doorstep in September now that the mentally unfit Victor Ortiz went down with a broken jaw.
• Music Area-Band of Skulls are the one band you haven’t heard about who have two brilliant albums.  Punk rock done right.  Check out their live version of “Lay My Head Down” from their latest album, Sweet Sour.

Story time…

The other night, I decided to go for a run at midnight.   Granted, the idea didn’t completely drop into my lap with a spur of the moment tea party, but I did suddenly look at my Ipod, the television, a couple friends and thought to myself, “lets get something done tonight”.   There I went, into my running gear(under armour shirt, shorts and blues cap), and out into the mildly warm night on a fresh Friday morning.   I never know how long I am going to run or where I am going.  I leave the house, run up the street and go from there.  Sure, I follow certain patterns and streets when its dark and stay away from the crack houses, but I am free spirit with the feet on my jogs(silent j).   Why am I running outside in the heat?For some reason, I hate running on the treadmill at the gym.   It sucks in every way.  There you are, trying to focus on a machine jammed into a line of 8 machines next to people flinging their sweat and attitudes your way as you try to do something that really isn’t fun at all. I avoid the treadmill like I avoid Chuck in an alley.   I prefer to run outside because I feel like I am going somewhere and not confined to a workout space.  For the people who have treads at home for their own personal use, I hate and envy you bastards.  Back to my running story.  I ended up running 6 miles that morning and when I was done, my body felt like it was ready to break down.   There isn’t a more grueling workout on this planet than running.   It engages the entire body, forces you to find any amount of energy stored in your system and challenges you to be stronger than you really are.  Anybody can go out and run 3 miles.  Get out there and run a little more.   Take it further.  Try to do a little more.    That’s the key to staying in good shape.  Pushing yourself past your own limit.    Guess what?  This isn’t a new theory.  People know this.  Everybody who is out of shape knows how to get into shape.   It’s not a fucking complex idea.   You cut down on your carbs, get on the cardio machines and alter your life a bit.   Do more, eat less.   I hate people who complain about their weight when the solution is so clear.  Stop smoking, stop eating bad food, get out there and run until you drop.   There is a clear reason why The United States’ current generation is one of the fattest, dumbest, naive packs of shitheads ever to walk on solid ground.   Now, on with the rest of my blog.

Now that I have installed a message here, let’s get to more random fare.   Sports, recreation, entertainment, personal thoughts and the usual suspects.

The 2012 Cardinals are a maddening pack of players.   Right when they begin to turn things around, the team subjects their fans to ridiculously ugly baseball.   Inconsistency mixed with inspired play making for a deadly concoction to swallow.   After completing a 6-3 road trip that included a sweep in a revengeful KC sweep and a series win in Miami, the team comes home with a chance to gain ground on the division foes ahead of them with a three game set against Pittsburgh.   They go down 2-0 early, and rally with 5 runs in the 3rd to make it 5-2 and Adam Wainwright is settling in.   He has 5 strikeouts, is cruising through the Bucs lineup and the night seems to obtain a jazzy tune.   Then, the fifth inning drops a grenade on the evening.  With 2 outs, Waino loads the bases with Pirates.   He gives up a 3 run double to tie the game.   The Pirates add two more runs in the 6th and four more runs in the 8th inning.    They end up winning 14-5 and the season long lesson comes to the forefront again.    How long will the Cardinals pitching betray their bats?   For the most part, 2012 has been a success at the plate for the Redbirds.   They have remained in the top 5 in nearly every hitting category.   They produce runs, get on base and give the starters and bullpen second and third lives on any given night.   Against the Marlins on Wednesday, they gave the starter a 2-0 lead in the first.   Joe Kelly blew it but rebounded to pitch 6 solid innings.   The Cards gave the bullpen a 3-2 lead, which Fernando Salas, Eduardo Sanchez and Sam Freeman went on to give right back.  Take out a series in New York against the Mets in early June and the offense on this team has done the work.   The starters endured a great April, a bumpy May and rebounded in June.   However, they are capable of giving up a lot of runs and their two best starters, Waino and Lynn, have collapsed this past week.   The bullpen doesn’t have an innocent arm, with closer Jason Motte having blown 4 saves already.   The bullpen is young and carries plenty of skill but doesn’t have an ounce of consistency.   The lineup’s production is impressive, especially when considering the lack of everyday players.   Lance Berkman has missed 6 weeks.  Skip Schumaker and Jon Jay have missed a lot of games.  Allen Craig, one of the most underrated young power hitters in baseball, has missed two separate chunks of time.  They still manage to produce while the pitching gives leads back.   So while it is easy to summarize that the Cards can’t put everything together at the same time, that doesn’t cover the entire playing field.  I can tell you simply that the bullpen is the weakest link on this team and overall, the pitching on this 2012 team needs immediate help.    Here’s some way to attack the area.

*Find out what is going on with Chris Carpenter.   He has a thoratic nerve disorder, which means he will need surgery at some point and the only question is when.   He threw a couple bullpen sessions this past week, shut it down for a few days, threw again yesterday and has announced he will try to pitch through the issue.  I just don’t see this happening.   How can he attempt to pitch through pain that has caused him to shut down 3 times this season?  He throws 35 bullpen pressure free tosses and can’t recover the next day and we expect him to throw 3 times that amount.   No way.   Look, I love Carpenter and what he brings to the table.   The man is an animal on the mound and a true ace.   We saw what he could still do with his arm in September and October of 2011.   However, his body is breaking down.   Is it really smart to push him so hard halfway into this season and risk losing him for a chunk of 2013, the final year of his contract?  I hate to hand him 10 million dollars to be a cheerleader this year, but I don’t want to give him two years in a row off.   He missed 2007 and 2008 after a spectacular 2004-2006 run.   I want Carp to pitch again, in some capacity for this team.   If John Mozelaik finds out what is going on with him, he can attack the other areas of this team.   There are starters out there, like Matt Garza of the Cubs, who can help this team.   Roy Oswalt was available way back when, and the Cards opted to avoid him while he practically begged to pitch for St. Louis.   Mozelaik didn’t know Jaime Garcia was going down as well, but grabbing Oswalt(who made his first start last week) would have been wise.  If we know Carpenter is out, the Cards can go after a starter at the deadline because the only way a bullpen can recover is if the rotation continues to give innings.   The 2012 Cards bullpen can’t be asked to get 12 outs in a game more than once a week.  That was the request made on Friday night and the result was a 9 run finishing deficit.

*Get bullpen help.   My, oh, my, this team needs bullpen help.    Sam Freeman is a talented young lefthander, but he is being overexposed and needs help.   Marc Rzepcynski has been horrible all season and may need a demotion or release.   Eduardo Sanchez can’t pitch with runners on base or in any pressure situations unless you care to see walks.   Fernando Salas’ pitches have flattened out.  Every time I want to heap praise on Mitchell Boggs, he relapses into a funk.   Jason Motte has 16 saves, yet is too scared of his second pitch in order to reach the next level and makes saves too interesting.  In the heat of 2011, Mozelaik reached into his farm system and made upgrades.   This time, he may have to go to the market because I am sure Makael Cleto and Charlie Fricke aren’t the solutions to our problems.   Antonio Bastardo is an effective lefty with the Phillies who need a new home in a few weeks.   The Cards need to get fresh talented arms into the bullpen and stop hoping all the young kids will play out.   A team can’t afford to lose so many one or two run games once you enter July and August.

*Play well against your division foes.   The race in the NL Central will be tight to the end, so the Cards need to nail down wins against the Pirates and Reds.    That includes playing better at home.   The Cardinals have a bad trend going at home, a place they have dominated over the past 5 seasons.   Playoff teams play great baseball at home.   Winning on the road and outside your division is one thing, but home dominance is key in any sport.   If teams upset you and embarrass you in your house, your life is ending.  If the Cards can’t get important games this weekend against the Pirates, what chance do they have in the latter parts of the season?  There’s no definite notion that the Pirates will stay in contention, but they are a tenacious bunch who didn’t die in 2011 until September.   The division won’t close up a gap until the final day folks.  The Cards need to get the division under their grasp because it’s their own to take.   All this time while we have struggled, the division has stayed in reach.

*As always, stay healthy.   Getting healthy is a pale wish, but maintaining health is more important while the injured heal.   Allen Craig and David Freese can play big roles if they stay on the field.   When Lance Berkman returns, Craig moves into a platoon there and forces Jay to maintain his stats.   Skip Schumaker keeps Daniel Descalso on his toes.   Healthy rosters only fuel the teams versatility.   It has been the goal since the start.   The 2012 Cardinals must stay healthy to win this division, but they need better pitching from their bullpen in order to stay in the race.

That’s all on the Birds.   Now a few words on the Blues and Rams.

The Blues are setting up for the free agent storm that will touch down on Sunday.    GM Doug Armstrong knows what he needs to do in order to make this team stronger.   Find a left handed defenseman to play with Alex Pietrangelo.   Find another legit goal scorer to roam the wings.    Keep Jason Arnott over Jamie Langenbrunner because of the production.   Decide if TJ Oshie or David Perron stay on your team, or keep both.   They are both young and relatively inexpensive, but does somebody need a real push?  The goaltending was the core of the teams strength in their amazing December-February run, so that doesn’t need any tampering.   We all know David Backes, Andy McDonald and Alex Steen are here.   Vladamir Tarasenko is on his way from Russia.   Patrik Berglund came alive and showed us more than ever in the playoffs.   He is ready to make a huge impact.   The Blues need to cut off the loose parts of their roster.  Get rid of the players who don’t belong, like Carlo Colaiacovo.  You can’t keep Barrett Jackman and Carlo.   Give Ian Cole a bigger role on defense if the free agent market brings no matches.  All I know is the Blues are 28 million dollars under the cap and have money to spend.   With new ownership in place and a foundation settling in, this team needs to upgrade.   Another good question.  Is John Davidson coming back?

The Rams are in training camp prep mode, which means there isn’t much to say.   Without further moves, the Rams will contend for a pulse in 2012.   Their wide receiving core is still a mystery, the linebackers around Lauranitis are suspect, and the offensive line is a huge question mark.  The Rams had a good draft, improved their secondary but other than that, didn’t do much to install a bigger sense of hope.   There isn’t much news on this team except for the fate of their stay in St. Louis, which is an issue that is less than 2 years away.

Boxing remains exciting, even with the horrible Pacquaio-Bradley decision(which was reviewed by 5 different judges, who ruled in Pac Man’s favor) and the absence of Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the circuit.   Victor Ortiz lost a chance for a shot at Canelo Alvarez in September when replacement fighter Josesito Lopez broke his jaw.   Cornelius Bundrage fights Cory Spinks tonight and will probably destroy him in the same manner he did in 2010.   Pacquiao has told his promoter Bob Arum that he wants to fight Mayweather Jr. soon and that fight will probably happen in early 2013 after Mayweather gets out of jail, gets a pickup fight in and Pacquiao either revisits Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez this November.   Finally, Arum was told what needs to happen.  That’s a good thing for boxing.   Take into account their ages and situations, and the mega fight needs to happen soon.  Boxing, along with the judging foolery, has taken a lot of shots this year.  Two mainstream fighters, Lamont Petersen and Andre Berto, tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, which resulted in two hyped rematches being cancelled.   Seeing two young good fighters cheat and deprive the world of a couple good matches is downright wrong.   Berto was set for a rematch with Ortiz after their thrilling 2011 fight, but that didn’t happen.  Petersen was set to face Amir Khan for a second time after their first battle included 4 knockdowns and a stoppage, but that didn’t happen.   This sport is already scraping its knees against the concrete in the pursuit of MMA events.  While there is plenty of decent fights out there, boxing needs the Pacquiao-Mayweather Jr. clash to not only happen but deliver on the promise in order for the sport to stay strong.    Until then, the fights to look forward to are  Sergio Martinez taking on young Mexican champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Chad Dawson taking on middleweight Andre Ward in September.

*My website, film-addict.com, is moving along well and growing in interest.  At least I hope it is.   My staff and I continue to pound out work on it daily and in my eyes and people I know, is a quality site.   Without giving too much away, here are some instant thoughts on a few films I have seen lately.

Magic Mike is entertaining at first, overly preachy and formulaic towards the end, and lacks a Soderbergh stamp.  DVD.

Ted is very funny, worth seeing twice and can even reach the non Family Guy fans.

People Like Us-Tough family drama that requires coincidences and a few cliches to make an experience worthwhile.  Pass.

The Amazing Spider Man(opening Tuesday) is a surprisingly solid summer action film that gives the best glimpse into the world of Peter Parker’s vigilante.  The performance of Andrew Garfield is the difference maker.

That’s it.  Visit the website, http://www.film-addict.com, for full reviews and stories.  Consider that a tease.

I need to raise the temperature in this blog before I bring it to a completion.  I won’t call this one of my best sources of outgoing mail, but it will exist as merely a “I’m still here” alert.

The Buffa Bullet Round begins-

• Glen Hansard’s new album is a must own.   The Swell Season/Frames front man is a rarity.  You see, there are certain musicians who sing because its a job and others who sing because THEY HAVE TO.   Glen wears his heart on his sleeve.   Hansard gets on that stage and belts tunes because it’s part of his DNA.  His story, life and passion fuel his music in the same way as most  singers but with him it just feels real.   More depth and honesty.   We all know him from the movie ONCE and his torrid love affair with his bandmate, Marketa Iglova.   What is missing is the brilliance shown on stage and in the studio.  His solo effort, Rhythm and Repose, is a set to seek out.  He will visit the Pageant in September.
• Henry Rollins returns to the road for a particularly interesting tour this summer and fall.   His tour is called Capitalism, and he will be doing shows in all 50 capitols of the United States.   Which means he is hitting Jefferson City for a show in Missouri, one I will be attending this October.  His final show will be in Washington DC on the eve of the election.   Rollins doesn’t sit with either political party, but unleashes his ideals on his audiences with ease and assurance.  He is the political animal who will give you his honest “take it or leave it” thought process on politics but won’t hamstring you with preachy knowledge.  He wants you to vote but doesn’t slam you over the head with a candidate.   He is a ranting maniac and to me that is fun to watch on stage every once in a while.   When in doubt, ask Henry.
• It means little to his future potential as a St. Louis Cardinal, but it’s good to know we still have intelligent young ballplayers out there.   Newly signed first round pick James Ramsey spoke to the media on Friday and hearing him talk, you felt good already about the deal.   Ramsey is an outfielder who will make a trip to High A ball on Monday, but he knows what has to be done in order to make it to the big leagues.   He hit very well in the Cape Cod league, prefers the wooden bat over the college issued aluminum and respects his elders.  He took some BP with the big league team and told the media he is a “do whatever it takes” kind of player and I happen to believe him.   In a few years, look for the name of James Ramsey to come into the news.
• While I can say I don’t know a lot about soccer or have a grasp over the teams and players, I can watch the Euro2012 tournament with ease.  Soccer is a sport I don’t have to fall in love with in order to enjoy.  I don’t stress over it, have a favorite team or go crazy about it.  I can merely sit and admire it.
• My son, Vincent, is getting big.   He weighed in at 23.6 pounds, and is 2.5 feet tall.  Those are the stats.  Here is the great part.   The little monster continues to show more life and ambition than I have seen in a baby.   He can almost stand up, crawls with ease, will be walking soon enough and also has curbed the gray area between knowing what pain feels like.   He also has his parents in the palm of his fat little hands.   The man doesn’t have to wear pants and and he is the king.   Every morning at 545 am, he launches up and demands a bottle.   He doesn’t like going back to sleep, wants to bounce and then demands a meal at 9am.   Babies want attention and space to move.  Vinny hates having his diaper changed, put into a small with no toys or left alone.   The kid is an attention hogging little maniac.   The more women, eyes, toys, food and things that weigh under 5 pounds in his grasp, the better.  The kid continues to keep me on my toes.
• It’s 105 degrees outside, and its a dry heat.   Deadly, but carrying little humidity.   This is the kind of heat you have to get used to, stay away from or avoid all together.    If you go outside, count on sweating.   People who complain about the weather are dinosaurs.    It’s going to get hot and stay hot.   The winter was weak, so the summer will be brutal.  This is dangerous heat and its bad because of the effect on the body.   It kills your appetite and soaks your clothes.   I can handle the winter because it simply requires an extra layer of clothing.  The heat strips you to your bones and can kill you unless you pound water all day and night.   Without complaining about it, I will say it is dangerous.  Stay thirsty out there.
• What else?  Reality television is retarded but apparently in my house, addicting.    My DVR is full of Real Housewives of New Jersey, Bachelorette and other house hunting programs.   The closest I get to reality TV is the food network and only because it showcases….wait for it…delicious looking food.  Reality TV is a waste of time.
• Charlie Sheen’s new show, Anger Management, is appealing only to fans of Charlie.  He is a funny guy, fun to watch, and can make even the most network gimmicks look good.  The only bad part is, for a FX show, Anger Management’ didn’t take any chances in it’s first two episodes.
• The Newsroom is the new “must watch” show on television for one simple reason.   It’s brilliantly done and gives a hopeful spin to the political nature of journalism.   Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer and Sam Waterson will all deserve Emmy awards this fall and the show, written and created by Aaron Sorkin, deserves to be watched.   A show about non-partisan cable news anchor Will McAvoy and his show’s drive to put real news on the viewers tables.  The show starts out with the rant of all rants, as McAvoy is forced into a debate at a college, where he finally unleashes his true thoughts on America.   The aftermath sends him on vacation and his staff out the door, but the show picks up when an old flame of his(Mortimer) is hired to be his producer and they attack the Oil spill in the Gulf.   Sorkin is a brilliant writer but he scores high here by putting an emphasis on real events.   McAvoy is the kind of news hungry grump who wants to say what he thinks but knows the ratings aren’t going to tag along.   Its his word against everybody else’s in the building as we get to watch the way a newsroom unfolds during production.  I have always been hungry for this kind of show.   Watching the mighty heart of journalism be fought over in a newsroom where true journalism still lives.   It’s invigorating.   Sorkin is the man to write it and Daniels is at the top of his game here.   The political parties will slice and dice the show up so it fits into their own agendas and ideals, but for an independent like me, it’s pure infatuation.  Just watch the opening scene of the show where McAvoy loses it at the college.  It’s one of those bravura moments that only come every so often on television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKklog0T9a4&feature=related

Ladies and gents, here are the latest things to keep a room in my head.   In sporadic format, allow me to unload a little here via the bullet points.

• Lance Lynn’s power.  While he lost last night in Detroit, the man knows how to pitch.  The Cardinals new found ace 25 year old hurler is 10-2 for a good reason.  He relies on the same tricks but is efficient in his ways.   Lynn has a methodical way of disposing of hitters.   It’s called “Here it is, hitters, now try and catch it”.   Throwing 75 percent 4 seam fastballs every start means one thing.   He’s an old school power arm.   If they hit it, he tips the cap.  That’s a welcome rarity in today’s game.  Lynn’s fastball moves in a manner Jason Motte would kill for.  It rises and sinks and contains a power at the end that consistently fools hitters a 2nd or 3rd time.
• Speaking of Motte, the kid has a second pitch but needs  to use it more often.  He has an effective 88 mph cutter that can fool hitters.  Why not throw it more often?  While a true offspeed pitch would be ideal, I will take the lower form of moving heat.   He just doesn’t throw it enough.  On Sunday, he blew his 4th save because he relied too heavily on his high octane fastball to get three hitters out.  WHY?  With 2 outs and an o-2 count on Royals power hitting bench hand Billy Butler, Motte fired a fastball STRAIGHT down the middle and Butler tattooed it towards South America.  Motte lowered his head, finished the inning, pitched a perfect 10th inning and told reporters after the game he is a fastball oriented pitcher.  He will continue to throw it.   Well, Mr. Motte, I have news for you my bald wolf like man.  Unless you feel like getting burned every 3rd save opportunity by a pitch major league hitters are taught to wait and feast on, make a change.   Unless you feel like going to arbitration this winter again, make a change.   I love Motte and think he can close for years to come.   I just know what he needs to do.  The question is…does he and is his ego too large to climb over in order to fix the struggles?
• Stop complaining about the frequency of no-hitters and perfect games.  In a modern style of play that favors the hitter and the home run, seeing a pitcher like Matt Cain strike out 14, walk no one and throw a perfect 27 outs in a game is always welcome.  I’ll take one a week.   I won’t sit here and say pitching is harder than hitting, but I will say baseball makes things harder for the man on the mound.
• Roger Clemens isn’t guilty but that doesn’t make him clean.  Similar to the case of Ryan Braun, Clemens’ team of lawyers found loop holes in the court system and got him off.   Clemens, in the eyes of evidence and witnesses seen and read, is as guilty as Barry Bonds and the rest of the cheaters.
• Attention, Mike Matheny.  Unless Matt Holliday is missing an appendage, he has to play more than 9 innings in Sunday’s debacle in the Busch finale against the Royals.   All of a sudden, Holliday is becoming this years David Freese.   Last year, Freese exited every game in the 8^th-9^th inning for defensive responsibilities, and to a certain degree(being that grease ball wizard Daniel Descalso replaced him) it was understandable but still regretted in games.  Seeing him Adron Chambers, who isn’t a defensive improvement over Holliday, take over in Sunday’s game directly pissed me off.  Chambers isn’t a major league talent and can’t hit or play good enough defense to exist as anything other than a late inning pinch runner.  I like Matheny and approve of most of his methods, but this reminds me too much of La Russa.  Every player goes through certain minor injuries and bruises as the 162 season wears on, so save me the precautionary explanation/excuse.  He needs to play through those injuries.   Let me break out the Scott Rolen salary breakdown for you with Mr. Holliday.   Matt Holliday makes 17 million per season before taxes.  He makes 104,000 per game.  He makes 26,000 per at bat.  In short, he makes in a couple at-bats what I make in a year at Senoret.  That is fine, in some form of logic, if he play the full game.  Case closed.
• As a Blues fan, I can argue both ways in the 3 year deal handed to Barrett Jackman today.   On one hand, he is a deeply flawed player who gives away more pucks than the mascot, but on the other hand he is a tough veteran defenseman who younger players see as the Lee Marvin of ice soldiers.  Jackman gets around 3 million per year and that is a little much, but it’s a done deal and one I can say has sweet and bitter notes to it.  Jackman is a player I like for 2 year, 4 million dollar deals but apparently, Doug Armstrong thought differently.  If he wasn’t retained, I wouldn’t be angry.  Now that I know he is staying, I am fine with it while wondering where that money may have went.
• The NBA Finals is heating up with the play of Lebron James going to a whole new level.  The man is averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds per game but is adding those points in the meaningful parts of the games.   Miami is up 3-1 off the play of James, especially with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh too hurt to make a huge impact.  He is one win away from silencing the critics who say he can’t do it by himself.  Without the consistent help of Wade or Bosh, Lebron has taken over the NBA Finals, stealing the chance at glory right from young upstart Oklahoma City’s grasp.   I neither love nor hate James.  I find him a fascinating figure to watch.  I root for his triumph and wait for his failure.  He made a choice to burn the bridge behind him when he left Cleveland.  Now we get to watch him make his mark on history.  In 2012, as opposed to the 2011 NBA Finals, he is making an impact and is a win away from a championship, his first as a player.  Lebron James learned from last year’s meltdown and is thriving.  Good for him.  That’s an honest answer.
• My screening schedule is heating up this week.  I had a pair last night, starting with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and after I have Safety Not Guaranteed.  A big release and an independent feature. I am very intrigued for Abe’s alternate story.   Based off a graphic novel of the same name, the story is a reimagining of the life of one of the greatest Presidents to ever grace the Oval Office.  What if Lincoln was a vampire killer and brought justice outside the office as well as inside it?  I find the theory fascinating because I find Lincoln to be fascinating beyond belief.    One of the most active presidents who actually made a difference getting an additional chapter casting him as the ultimate savior of mankind.  The director of Wanted is tackling it and completing the cast are newcomer Benjamin Walker as the young Abe, Rufus Sewell(with a face made to be evil) as the main bad guy, and Dominic Cooper(Devil’s Double) running around in the background.  A low key yet explosive cast, an action packed director and an intriguing subject.  I am in.   Safety Not Guaranteed is an indie film about time travel.   Yes, time travel.   An ad placed in a newspaper about the need for a time travelling buddy is answered and an adventure is born.  On Thursday, I am taking in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, which contains a man preparing himself for the end by meeting the woman of his dreams.  Imagine that in life.  Searching for 35 years for a soul mate and finding him or her right before a meteor hits earth.  That sucks but makes for an intriguing story as well.  Three delicious films that promise a better result than my three features last week, which involved 2 turds(Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy) and a decent yet not great animated film(Brave).
• Things I love right now.   HBO.   Namely, Christopher Meloni as the new baddie on True Blood.  A longtime guilty pleasure if overrated summer delight gets a decent drop of tough venom this season as Meloni’s Vampire leader attempts to put a lock down on Eric and Bill, our new heroic vampire duo.   Thankfully, Anna Paquin’s fine ass yet annoying character Sookie is pushed to the background.   Meloni played a noble cop on Law and Order: SVU for years.  All an actor wants to do after being good for so long is go completely bad.   His one scene on Sunday in the season’s 2nd episode told you all you needed to know about his sucker king.  He will kill lots of people, won’t die easily and leave a mark.  That’s all I want to go along with my side of righteous asskicking werewolf in Joe Manganiello’s Alcide.  I also love the new promos for Aaron Sorkin’s new drama on HBO, Newsroom.   Jeff Daniels as a cable news anchor who finally cuts his non partisan cloak off and deals his true feelings ON the air looks deliciously acceptable on Sunday nights with True Blood.  Daniels can’t make a bad call these days and his character looks to cut a hybrid of two or three real life cable talkers and make an honest to ink prime time renegade.  I love shows that thrive on juicy back and forth dialogue and this show promises a thrill ride.   I am loving my pandora selection of Jimi Hendrix on this slow hot day at work.  I am digging my new toy at home, a Keurig coffee maker.   A shotgun one cup coffee making machine that I now live by.  I…
• I don’t love changing light bulbs at 40 feet in the air.  Closing down my work means cleaning up and fixing things up in order for my old owner to get out of his lease to the owner of the building.   It’s all fun and games until you climb a boom lift and go 40 feet straight up in the air inside a shaky cage and change bulbs.  I changed around 175 and I can say I will never do that again unless I get paid lawyer money.   I am not afraid of heights but I am also not too fond of them at the same time.  You can cut that one up as you will.
• The rest of the week at work will hopefully my my last and it will consist of waiting for contractors to fix repairs and finishing out the mandatory hours at Senoret.   My time there will come to an end on June 22nd and I am glad.   I’ve emptied the warehouse, made repairs, followed their orders and now want my money and my freedom.   It’s going to be time to try something else as they say and no matter which manner you chose to say goodbye, the effect and result are all the same.  It’s time to get out.
• If you are still reading this blog, I am going to give a teaser for my reviews of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Safety Not Guaranteed before they go live on http://www.film-addict.com on Friday.
• Lincoln was a pure delight and something to recommend to all film fans because it has so many different skill sets.  It injects the real story of Lincoln into this fantasy myth that gives depth to the normal action film.  It’s hard to feel something when you are watching this film because of Lincoln’s overall message.   Carving your own place in this world, and taking a stand for a reason.  The entire production is impressive and Walker is a wonderful Lincoln, filling out the coat and personality.
• Safety is a movie that will come off as odd but the quirky nature is established very early.  The vibe of this movie is dealt early and the theme is an unique one about freedom.  This story pulls no punches in notifying you that this isn’t Twilight or Batman.   It’s a feel good film about being an outsider in this world and wondering if there is more to life than what you can see or touch.
• I am not going to lie to you about the Cardinals.  They are playing like absolute shit since mid May.   After starting 20-11 on May 11th before a home series with the Braves, they have gone 14-23 since and are swinging at everything.   Injuries can be a decent blame but Bernie Miklasz’s point about plate discipline carries depth to it.   In the past 2 months, the Cards rank last in the National League in pitches seen per at bat.   Meaning we are chasing, swinging too much at crap and wasting at bats.   Allen Craig chased a Justin Verlander slider with the bases loaded last night that Verlander called his best slider ever.   That’s fine against a Cy Young owner who has thrown 2 no hitter’s but if they come up short tonight against the very hittable Rich Porcello, something is wrong.  It is late June and we are hovering around .500.   It’s a problem that needs to be fixed first with renewing health and then more disciplined baseball.   The Cards need to draw more walks, steal more bases and generate more offense without leaning on the home run.   A little more democracy and less dictatorship.   The bullpen has to do their part if the rotation is giving innings.   This is the basic rehab talk every baseball team hears in the middle of a slump.   Soon enough, the Reds aren’t going to slow down and wait for us to get back in contention.   They will run off with the division.  Is it okay to be worried on June 20?  Yes.  Is it okay to panic?  No.   There is plenty of baseball left to play.  Keep an extra dose of meds handy.
• Enjoying Rolling Stone’s latest issue with stories on Charlie Sheen and John Mayer.  You know how I feel about Charlie but I happen to really like Mayer’s music, his sense of humor, honesty and story as well.  After racing to the top of the charts from 2001-2010, Mayer flamed out in 2010 after a RS article where he compared women to “sexual napalm” and uttered the “n word”.   It wasn’t good.  He went from being one of the most versatile musicians to the biggest dick in the west.   Did he deserve the flames?  Yes from a certain standpoint, but it was over the top.   This is where I hate the general public’s retarded take on gossip and celebrity news.  A huge reason why our country qualifies as the group lacking brilliance.  Blaming Mayer for dumping Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift is child’s play.   It takes a true dumbass to say, “Man, how could he mess it up with Jennifer Aniston?”   People always want to side with the woman no matter what and  it irritates me to my core.   Jennifer Aniston is pretty, but who the fuck knows how she is in real life with no cameras around.   Who are we to judge if she is worth spending a lot of time with?  Past the obvious roles she plays and the visual sensation, I could tell you she is a horrible actress with a fine body but past that I have no clue.  Why is it okay to blame Mayer for deciding he didn’t want that?   Mayer isn’t a bad guy but has a wicked mouth.   If you ask these guys questions and always expect a bland one note answer, the readers are bound to be surprised.    I like his honesty in the same way I like Sheen’s honesty.   He knows what he did and went away for 2 years.    He bought a house in Montana, built a studio and laid low.   Now he is back with a new album and it is pretty damn good.   The man is one of the most talented musicians out there.   A wicked guitarist and singer.  He just needed to get his personal life together.   Kudos to him.   Both the articles are available at http://www.rollingstone.com.
• What else?   I am a fan of Under Armour clothing.   I have slowly acquired pieces of their highly expensive clothing and have come to love the feeling of their material.   It’s a sweat resistant material, a combination of polyester and sheer cotton.   I work a physical job, work out, run and stay on the move most of my life.  I need a material to keep up with me because I happen to sweat a ton in anything I do.   Under Armour, unlike Nike or Reebok, has the kind material that when you sweat in the morning, the material dries quickly and you are ready for something else.   Cotton gets sweaty and the weight of the shirt triples and that’s not good.  When it comes to shirts, comfortable is the main need no matter what I am doing.   I will be acquiring more loose fit sporting shirts.   The compression shirts, where it sucks all the air from underneath your chest, are something I won’t be trying any time soon.  Those  require a physique I haven’t achieved yet.   I am in good shape but not freakish shape.   Not yet.
• While coffee is always my friend, Starbucks’ Iced Passion Tea Lemonade is my new crush.   Unsweetened, thirst quenching and absolutely tasty, this high priced yet deeply fulfilling beverage is your late afternoon recovery drink.

Alright, this is over.  My rule is once I start writing advertising statements for my blend of drink, it is time to bring this show to an end.   My run isn’t over yet, but the curtain is closing for a little while.   Thanks for reading and come back again when the thirst for news is alive.   That’s all I do here.   Cut my view out and throw it on the table as hard as I can.  If you made it to the end, the pleasure is all mine.

Goodnight and good luck,

Dan L. Buffa

A man asked me what I am doing after my time at Senoret and I told him I wasn’t sure yet.   I had options to think about, a resume tailor made by the wife and a list of opportunities.   When given the chance to rewrite your future, where would you plant your feet?  I am not mad at the person who asked me this question, nor am I mad at the owner who sold his company.  He built it from the ground up and deserved to sell it for all its worth.   In doing so, he changed my life but didn’t end it.   The course is open again and the ideas are wildly kicking.   There are money jobs, careers carved by your passions and the American Dream, which is doing both of those at the same time.   The  man pondered for a few seconds and told me, “I am sure you will figure something out”, flashed me a smile, turned and left to catch a plane to New York.  That man was my previous owner.   In short, I will do something, and it will be grand.   When in doubt, what would Red say…..get busy livin or get busy dying.

The End

Good evening friends,

The night is old and the news reel is ready so let’s get down to business.   These days, I have to write when I can find the time.  Now, I have the time.  Let’s go with the bullets entry here.  Expect font changes and inserts, but judge the material by the words alone.  Content is key here.

• The Boxing Debacle-Covering the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight that yielded a horrible, not just controversial, decision.  48 hours later, after talking it over with the Mang, I came to some new desirable conclusions. Ask Dan Rafael, Harold Lederman, Jim Lampley, Bradley’s manager or the average boxing fan and they will tell you Manny dominated the fight.   It’s not rocket science.  If I gave any round to Tim, it was Round 1 or 9.   That is it.   He didn’t hurt Manny, barely hit him clean and basically survived the fight.   This wasn’t a black eye for boxing.  It was an internal bleed.  An explosion in the chest.  A leaking kidney.   This will have an effect that goes on for months.  If it was fixed it was for more money to be made in the rematch.  This is the finality of a boxing decision.  We don’t want think it was a fixed decision(engineered for more cash) because we are boxing fans.   The facts are it was a horrible decision.   It gives Pacquiao an undeserved loss and sets up a useless rematch.  This also endangers a match I know you don’t care about(Floyd and Manny), but several million boxing fans do.  A fight to see who is the best.  What went wrong last night?  A lot and it had nothing to do with the action in the ring.  2 of the judges were 80 years old, Arum said.  Its quite pathetic, especially when you look at the punch stats.  Pac-Man landed 34 percent of his punches compared to 19 percent for Bradley.  He landed 90 more power shots.   Pacquiao landed 18 more jabs and “hurt” Bradley several times.  Pacquiao clearly won.  June 9th was a bad bad night for boxing.  While I’m not a big UFC guy, I see why that sport is thriving.  If there is a rematch, here is some advice for Manny.   Finish Bradley this time.   Don’t let the judges get involved.  To borrow a line from Lights Out, a one year boxing show on FX, let your fists be the judges. You can’t teach speed.   Pac Man had speed to spare on Bradley.  Next time don’t let up.  I like Manny despite his bad promoting choices, wild behavior and waiting games, because of what he does for his country(he is in it to help people and not just look good, like Floyd).   He pummeled Bradley, got a career flipping loss, and has to deal with horrible judging/rigged activity.   One judge said Bradley gave Pacquiao a boxing lesson.  Unless the lesson was setting up your face to get slammed, I am sure he is crazy.   Anyway, this puts bigger fights on hold and that sucks dearly.   We don’t get a Pacquiao-Marquez IV(which needed to happen to solidify who is really better) or a better fight in general.   It’s a stop gap situation and two old fossil fuck judges are to blame.   Or is that all there is to it?  The good news is Bob Arum is having the Nevada Boxing Commission review the decision and go back over the fight in order to see how mad the judges were.  Hopefully, they right a severe wrong and give the decision to Pacquaio.  No one could dispute the decision, including Bradley or his corner.  They looked like lottery winners on Saturday night, not true winners.   It doesn’t affect Pacquiao’s credibility but it helps his record and denies a rematch that is painfully unneeded.  The true judges need to step in here, look over the clear evidence, watch a lopsided fight and wipe the slate clean for the sport of boxing.   This extends beyond Pacquaio and Bradley’s reputation.  It pertains to boxing’s future.   Clean it up.  Just look at Bradley’s knees buckle not once, not twice but three times in the fight.   He was clearly beaten.  Fix it.   I applaud Arum this time only for trying to make this right.  Representing both fighters, he could very easily leave it alone and make a ton of money in the rematch.  He is doing the right thing.
• This has nothing to do with the potential for a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao fight.   That will happen on separate terms.  This is saving boxing so that megafight isn’t tarnished in any way.
• Are the Cardinals in severe trouble?  Yes and no.   Read along.  This team isn’t shipwrecked but merely being exposed for its current roster makeup.  You aren’t going to win 5 games in a row with Tyler Greene and Shane Robinson starting in your lineup more than twice a week.  It’s basic survival instincts right now.   You can’t fool anyone with AAA talent and bad pitching.  The Cards are trying to get by until they get healthy.   Nearly everything has missed some sort of time in the first 2 months.   Carp and Berk went down hard.   Carp Jr. was a decent fill in and then he went down.   Skip has been down and out twice.   Freese hasn’t been right since he hurt his hand 2 weeks ago.  Matt Holliday hurt his back last week.   Jaime Garcia got a soft shoulder and is out 2-3 months.   The rotation and lineup is being held together by glue and tape right now, so the bench and bullpen are getting exposed BAD.   Maybe they should have took Oswalt like we suggested, but who could have guessed STL would lose Carp as well as Pablo Escobar’s nephew.   Matheny is mixing and matching as good as any skipper could, playing his La Russa card in switching the lineup around and giving players the right bump when needed.   At this point, however, we just have to keep playing.   I won’t write off this year yet mang because our bats are too strong and when healthier, our pitching will improve.   I believe Carpenter will return and that there is salary to play with at the deadline.   It’s good to see Lynn and Waino stay strong as well as Lohse pitch his ass off on Saturday.   It’s good to see Beltran with 18 home runs on one good knee.   We didn’t sleep walk through May.  We got pushed around by pretty good teams.   April was nice because the opposition was soft.  However, as noted earlier, you can’t fool good teams with exposed players and bad pitching.   I will say Joe Kelly showed promise today in harnessing the Indians with his “Suppan” ball.  He had decent movement on a 94 fastball and changed speeds well.   He may do for a few weeks.  At some point, Shelby Miller will have to make an appearance.  When in need, bring up the best talent.  I don’t want to hear “it’s not his time or he needs to blossom at Memphis first”.  He is a first round pick and pitching well enough to get up here and sustain his MLB appetite.  It may be Miller’s time if Kelly softens early or the trade deadline doesn’t show a tasty treat.   Right now, the Cards have to play .500 or slightly better baseball and stay with the Reds.  Survival is the idea, but a call to Chuck Finley may not be far behind.  If we can hold the fort and stay in contention(5 gms over .500 and within 5 games of the Reds), we are in good shape.  No team is running off with the Central.  Trust me.  The Cards need to get healthy.  Taking it all into perspective, this team hasn’t played that bad.   The pitching and defense has been pretty bad in spots, but we are hanging in there with band aid equipment.   Not bad for a team missing its starting first baseman and two of the top starters in their rotation.   Step up work by Lohse and Molina can’t be forgotten either.   We need to take this series against the White Sox, a hot team, in order to get some confidence back.
• Matt Adams is going to be a major league first basemen in a few years but he will benefit from more time in Memphis.   I like that the injuries gave way for the fans to see what Biff Webster Country Fried Steak Adams had to offer.  It’s a bright future for the young man.  He has a big swing, plays a decent first, and can adjust to pitchers.   Good news for the team that young talent like Adams, Craig, Jay, Freese, Motte, and Eduardo Sanchez can hold a spot on this team for years to come.
• Jason Motte is still my closer of choice but the wolfman needs a genuine offspeed pitch.   Some kind of misdirection.  A 2 seamer is effective only when coupled with a true offspeed addition.  I think Motte has the mental makeup to be a solid closer for years to come, but watching former Cardinal Chris Perez notch his MLB leading 20th save on Sunday at Busch, a slight burn was felt.   Motte needs to get together with Waino and Carp and start working on a curve.  The Cards can’t afford to blow any saves the next 2 months.
• I will be out of a job on June 29th.   Details aren’t needed but my company was bought out and our warehouse is being cleared as we speak.   We were then given a choice to stay with the company during the transition and get a decent severance or cut and run.  I chose to stay because of the severance and the website starting up called for my job status to remain the same.   The goal is for Rachel and I to both be working, but the time could come with her working and me staying home with Vinny and feeding the site.  That’s fine, but there’s a need in me to earn money for the household.   Everything happens for a reason and this only ensures that I don’t spend the rest of my life on a forklift.   In the end, I will like the sale of Senoret waking me up to the opportunities that lie just over the hill of visibility.  I look at realistically.   That’s all I can do.   My main goal is to find a job with decent medical benefits, for Vin’s heart meds and checkups.  We had to take him into the hospital 3 weeks ago for a bad fever and elevated heart rate.  Into the ER cost us 200 dollars on the spot.   Rough work but…its our son so there is no choice.  Without benefits we would have paid a lot more.   I do see it as an opportunity for a new start.   My life has changed and I am taking my shot with Film Addict, so finding something to work with the screenings and writing for the site would be great…but we will have to see.  Main goal is to be realistic.
• Mad Men finished its fifth season in grand fashion last night.   A subtle end to a season after back to back powerful twist filled hours of television.   To me, Mad Men is the light overhand left that catches you at your weakest moment and buckles your knees.  It packs a punch but is silent up until the point of contact.   A Sopranos writer, Matthew Weiner, runs Mad Men and its main storyline, the trials and tribulations of Ad man master Don Draper is similar to Tony Soprano.   HBO passed on Mad Men and I can only wonder the possibilities of the series on a premium cable network.  You know my affection for Christina Hendricks runs bone deep, but I truly love the work of my St. Louis home talent Jon Hamm on Mad Men.   He fully embodies the dark heart and soul of Draper, playing a man who took another’s identity during World War II to forget about his rough upbringing.   Imagine a man so good at something(advertising) that is living a complete lie.   It’s quietly addicting to watch.   I can only hope when your time comes to find Mad Men, that you get it and give it the time to settle in your spine.  The show is brilliant.  Here is a clip to solidify my words.   Check it out.  It’s 70 seconds long.  Here’s the thing to remember about Mad Men.  Advertising is about so much more than simply selling a product.  It’s about ownership, comfort and confidence.   Back in the 1960s, these guys were like rock stars.  They turned a product into gold with just a few words.   Draper tells you how here.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgh3f6Ke3Lw
• Do the Blues have enough scoring help?  Does the addition of Vladamir Tarasenko help the cause or merely represent a soft surprise?  Here’s my take.  The Blues scoring troubles have been legit the past 3 seasons.   We have problems lighting the lamp on a consistent basis and in my opinion, the superb 2011-2012 comeback was due to great coaching and excellent goaltending.  The KHL is a highly fertile league for proven talent and hungry young players, and I was impressed with Vlady turning down serious Russian dollars to come overseas and play Blues hockey.  I don’t make a big deal with offseason team news either, but I report what I think is solid news and this was.   Tarasenko could be the cheapest impact player the Blues have gotten in the last 10 years.   He could be what this team is missing.  A dangerous goal scoring threat.
• More on the Rams Stadium issues and ultimate decision.  The Rams fate may be determined by their play.  It isn’t a good situation.   Your football team is shit, your hometown fans are bandwagon riders who are staying away and forcing blackouts, and your city doesn’t want to pay for improvements.    If you are in Stan’s spot, he may be thinking about moving this team and letting the city suck the glass clean on the way out.  However, he bought this team in order to keep them here and I believe that.   Then again, he is a businessman and needs to do what is best for the business.  Who knows?  Either the city ponies up the cash or decides to cut the funding off and let the Rams walk.  I went to 4 games the past 2 seasons and even when we are winning, it’s like watching the stock exchange in a large warehouse.  Nothing.  There are factors here.  This city needs to pay its cops more and get more uniforms on the street and fix the city in order to keep crime under order, but having a football team is profitable.  Ultimately, you can’t argue with either decision.
• The Los Angeles Kings finished off the New Jersey Devils tonight in six games to win the Stanley Cup.   I am not a fan of the Kings or Devils, but I love underdogs and admired the Kings run.   They got hot in April and never quit playing do or die hockey.    They were the more complete team, had the momentum, got the early lead and rode the shoulders of a rejuvenated lineup and the great play of goaltender Jonathan Quick.   I tip my cap to the Kings.  An 8th seed that never quit.
• The NBA Finals open tomorrow and I will be watching.    It’s the best against the best here.  Two young players, Durant and Lebron, on top of the world playing for the title.   There’s a lot to like here, and while I wished the Celtics magically found a way around the Heat, I like the idea of Lebron having to go through the best home team in the NBA for the prize.   He promised 6 rings, and will have to break down a serious wall to lock onto one of them.   Lebron is the most polarizing figure in pro sports, and Durant is the well liked young giant.   It’s the perfect good against bad matchup that networks, casual fans and diehard ballers can all appreciate.   Who gets their first ring?  The beloved superstar turned ultimate villain who left home to get a title or the young gun who has stayed at home to this point in order to bring his town their first championship?  They finished 1-2 in MVP votes and I have a feeling this series goes 7 games.
• My coffee urge starts in the morning.   I don’t find a way to avoid the morning temptation.  I head straight for the Starbucks in Kirkwood, making my way into the joint like a muscled zombie in need of fusion.   I get the morning bold pick and suck it down.   I usually head there after a workout in the evening for an iced coffee, usually coming in at over 30 ounces.   It is something I need and run on.  Without coffee, I am sure I would hurt small children at least once a day.   I will soon be a gold card member because I am loading my card up and spending on it at will.   There is something calming and assured about a cup of coffee.  For a little while, you can sit there with a simple cup of hot liquid and get a mood and body boost.  No vitamins or supplements required.  Just java bold.  I add a little sugar to my coffee but most of the time drink it bold and black.   It’s worth the breath and smell afterwards.   Smelling like coffee is like smelling like a man.   It must sting the nostrils or its too soft a blend. I also press my own cup at work when I miss the morning stop.  I have a press at home and at work.   I have come to love making up names for my bold concoctions.   Such as…

-Buffa’s Italian Chest Hair Blend

-Gorilla Pube Infusion

-Gunpowder Blend

-Lead Shots

-Biff Webster Delight

• Film Addict provides plenty of perks and one of them is movie screenings, which are now press screenings for the FA staff, such as myself.   We get invites and take our pick.   Tonight, I saw Rock of Ages and allow me to tell you it wasn’t good and fed my natural hatred for musicals.   A movie feature length version of Glee with a couple cool performances from Tom Cruise and Russell Brand.   Prometheus was very good because it presented interesting questions about the creation of mankind and didn’t need to answer all of them.   Read my Prometheus review now at http://www.film-addict.com/dose-of-buffa.   Get The Rock of Ages review on Friday at the same place.
• Tomorrow I screen Adam Sandler’s latest turd-to-be, That’s My Boy and Thursday it’s the Pixar creation Brave.  The slate is getting full but no movie tromps the anticipation that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter presents.   My favorite president getting the makeover action treatment.   That comes next week.
• One of the harshest parts of being a father while working 50 hours a week is finding time to be with him.  My current situation doesn’t allow me the time at home for Vinny to feel as comfortable with me as he does with Rachel.   She has unfortunately been out of work for 10 months and be with Vinny every day, so he clings to her more.   Clinging is fine, but when you try to give the kid medicine at 10pm without waking him up and he gets upset to a point to where you need to call in the wife for help, its helplessly demoralizing.  A night was upended an hour ago when I couldn’t get his heard meds down without pissing him off.  That prompted a fight between my wife and I, one of our first serious fights in a couple weeks.  When things go wrong with Vinny, I can get frustrated to a point to where it looks like I am being mean to the kid and that is not true.  It’s the unbearable tendency that you are playing catch up with your wife and in this department, it hurts down to the bone.  If I happen to be out of work, I can ride my severance for a couple weeks and get some makeup time with Vincent.  I love the kid more than anything and sometimes feel like I am arriving to the party late.  A incurable feeling.  That’s part of life.
• Here’s my lesson in life, derived from my current situation and overall frame of mind.    Take it or leave it.  I see life as a game of trying to stay in the middle.  Be yourself but surprise people.   If you’re too reserved, people say you are no fun.   If you’re too wild, people call you dangerous.    If you don’t gamble, you’re playing it safe.  If you gamble and you lose, you are a bad bet.  It doesn’t matter what people think in the end.  It matters what you think of yourself.   That’s life.  Changing events can happen any day.  Kids.  Death.  Work stoppages.  Stuffing hobbies, pauses and passion into the regular mix of life’s chores is the task we all face.

And with that last bit of deep prose and introspection, my time is up.  Thanks for reading and spending a little time here.   Hopefully it was worth the minutes.

Goodnight and Good Luck,

Dan L. Buffa