Too Much of a Good Thing

When LeBron James decided to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh by "taking his talents to South Beach," he changed the landscape of the NBA for better or for worse. Never before had two of the top three players in the NBA chosen to collaborate as free agents. Magic Johnson had an aging Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Larry Bird had Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman. They never tried to join forces with each other, or Karl Malone or Charles Barkley for that matter. The times they are a-changin'.

Then came the discussion of what to call this fantasy basketball team that was holding practices in Southern Florida. Some call them the Superfriends. The heat themselves have started calling themselves The Heatles. That is pretty bold to name yourself after the most influential, most important rock group of all time. Those guys came out with platinum record after platinum record. Their rhythm guitarist once said that they were more popular than Jesus, and most of the world was okay with that. They set the bar for what popular music could be. They changed their sound several times, but always managed to pull it off to keep up with the changing times. They broke up after a prolific run and each member went on to successful solo careers, proving that they were each talented enough to do it on their own.

What have these Heat done?

Dwayne Wade led the Heat to a championship five years ago, but has not done much since. Chris Bosh should not even be considered a superstar, but merely a guy who has always put up good numbers on a bad team. LeBron James took Cleveland to the Finals a few years ago, but got swept. With a better team around him the last few years, he has failed to get out of the Eastern Conference and quit on his team and his city to play with his star powered friends in Florida.

If anything these Miami Heat will be The Traveling Wilburys, the supergroup comprised of ex-Beatle George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. Some of the most successful artists in the history of rock collaborated for a couple of albums, but the combination of all their talents, egos, ideas, and personalities could never outshine their individual accomplishments. Too much of a good thing really can exist. Their second album, after Orbison's death, paled in comparison to the first and their ship had sailed. The Miami Heat might be able to win a championship or two, but they will never be the best team ever.

Spoiler Alert: Voldemort Cracks the Stone Table and Aslan and Dumbledore are the Same Person

I recently watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (this movie's promotional slogan should have been something like "Just when you think it's over...we'll see you this summer to take your money again.") and i was pleasantly surprised. As I have written before, I have not been the biggest fan of the Harry Potter movies when it comes to doing the books justice and including important details. In this one, a few characters that Harry should know very well since they have been important parts of previous books (Bill Weasley and Mundungus Fletcher) had to introduce themselves to Harry as if they had never met so the audience could figure it out.

One thing that really bothered me is that Harry has yet to wear his invisibility cloak in The Deathly Hallows WHEN HE IS THE MOST WANTED FUGITIVE IN THE WIZARDING WORLD. Are we supposed to think Harry Potter, The Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived, the best quiddich seeker of his generation, the kid who defeated a troll at age eleven, a basalisk at age twelve, a swarm of dementors at age thirteen, won the Tri-Wizard Tournament as the fourth seed at age fourteen, and has thwarted the most powerful dark wizard in fifty years time and time again, is stupid enough to walk through the streets of London in broad daylight when he has THE POWER OF INVISIBILITY literally in his back pocket? Please.

A few other moments of note from the movie:

When Xeno Lovegood began telling the story of the three brothers, a black feather floated around for a little bit and then landed in the water. It looks like computer generated feather technology has not progressed all that much since Forrest Gump came out in 1994.

Also during that story, Ron acts shocked and surprised when he hears the word "Twilight". Apparently Mrs. Weasley always told the story taking place at midnight and the time change caught him off guard, but it was funny that they threw in that subtle jab at their sparkling competition on the mainstream fantasy market (One of my biggest fear as a fan of the HP books is that the next generation who sees the movies but does not bother to read the books will think Twilight was better because some of the Harry Potter movies were so terrible).

DOBBY FINALLY PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN A MOVIE!!!! I have been waiting for this for a while. They neglected to put him in The Goblet of Fire when he essentially saves Harry, Ron, and Hermione from drowning. I was afraid they had forgotten all about him, but they did let him use his free elf powers to save the day (That's another thing I realized: the death eaters get to use spells that kill and torture and manipulate people while the good guys can only stun and disarm their opponents and hope for the power of magical loopholes to save them when they are outnumbered).

The thing I thought was most interesting about the movie was the very last scene when Voldemort goes to Dumbledore's tomb to retrieve the Elder Wand. Looking at the tomb, which I only saw once before since I did not particularly like the Half-Blood Prince movie, all I could think of was the Stone Table from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I always noticed the similarities that Harry Potter has to the Lord of the Rings books and the Narnia books. I read Narnia before I even knew about Harry and now I have to read them again because it has been so long. All of a sudden the arrogance of Voldemort seems eerily similar to that of the White Witch. The same can be said for Aslan and Albus Percival Wulfrick Brian Dumbledore (but with that many names, I could spell out any character). Little does Voldemort know that his action at the Stone Table will be his undoing come July.

"Walking Dead" Lives up to Expectations

When I first saw the promotions for The Walking Dead, a drama that premiered on AMC on Halloween night about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in the United States, I was excited. Zombie movies are cool. They tend to have similar themes (survival, trust issues, government conspiracy) but they are always entertaining and they all bring different things to the table. I was curious to see how they would expand a story that is usually told in two hours or less into a multi-season television series. I was curious to see if main characters would be protected for the sake of continuity (will season two have a completely new cast of characters like 28 Weeks Later did?) or is nobody safe (in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, a character shield cannot protect you from Roman rule). For now, I am not concerned with stuff like that. I am just enjoying the ride.

The pilot episode begins with deputy sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is shot in the line of duty and goes into a coma. When he wakes up, the state of Georgia (and presumably the rest of the country) is overrun with a virus that kills a person with a fever but causes their dead body to keep walking around and biting and infecting others. This start to the story is a lot like 28 Days Later except in that movie, Cillian Murphy's character is not a police officer trained to use firearms. Rick Grimes is later reunited with his family and a group of other survivors as they try to wait out the epidemic.

My favorite part about this show is their attention to detail. A lot of TV dramas since Lost have tried to get more of a cinematic feel while keeping the weekly cliffhanger effect that TV brings. Much like Mad Men, which airs on the same channel, The Walking Dead is very well written and the acting performances are not what you usually see on TV.

Wherever this zombie saga takes us, I cannot wait to see. It has already been picked up for a second season (consisting of thirteen episodes instead of six), and there is certain to be more twists along the way.

When Will People Learn?

I hope that someday, people figure it all out. I am not talking about the stuff about being nice to each other and accepting other people's religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation and stuff like that (not right now anyway); I am talking about the little disclaimers that get in our way on a daily basis. I realize there was once a time when not every car had a seatbelt, but in this day and age, I do not need to be told how to buckle up every time I go on an airplane. I get that companies do not want to get sued, but at this point, you have to be an idiot to be shocked that the cup of hot coffee you ordered is hot. I cannot wait for the day when Youtube and Hulu stop putting the "Press Esc to exit full screen mode" message right in the middle of the screen. Youtube videos have been a mainstay in American culture for a good five years now, and I think it is safe to say that if you can figure out how to put a video in full screen mode, you can figure out how to make it normal again. I do not want that stupid message blocking the picture I just made the to fit the full screen to see it better. I just want a world where we do not need disclaimers for things everybody knows how to do. Is that too much to ask?

How I Am Your Father

I have a new idea for a sitcom.

The name of the show is "How I Am Your Father". It is narrated by James Earl Jones (never seen on camera) playing the role of Darth Vader as he retells the story of the Star Wars prequels from his point of view and some of the funny stories that happened along the way that did not make it into the movie. It would be a combination of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Star Wars" with Neil Patrick Harris in the supporting role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan's Jedi bachelor pad would look something like this, with the armor of a storm trooper he killed up on display to impress guests.

I would also like to have guest appearances by Star Wars stars like Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams but have them not play their original characters for the sake of irony.

I am well aware that this show would make many a Star Wars fan angry, but I still think it would be funny and I would find it delightfully entertaining.

Who is the real Mr. October?

Once upon a time, there was a baseball player named Reggie Jackson who played his best baseball and made his best hits during the playoffs--in the month of October. Performing at a high level in the postseason for both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees during his Hall of Fame career, Jackson earned the nickname "Mr. October". Before and since Reggie Jackson, there have been many players who elevated their game to higher levels in the playoffs. Who else is deserving of the "Mr. October" title? Let's discuss.

Pedro Martinez- Pedro was my favorite player as a kid. Even now, he ranks right up there with Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe, and Trot Nixon as one of my all time favorite Red Sox players. The others on that list won me over with their work ethic and intense gamer mentality, but Pedro had much more than that. He was so good at what he did. Pedro was a freak of nature, a power pitcher with a small frame (I'm a little surprised that people have not been comparing Tim Lincecum to Pedro yet for that reason). He was so dominant that Red Sox Nation would have forgotten all about Roger Clemens completely if Clemens was not wearing pinstripes. In fact, the Sox only victory in the 1999 ALCS came when Pedro faced Clemens, a game Billy Crystal called "Cy Young vs. Cy Old", and Pedro was dominant. Pedro put up numbers in the height of the Steroid Era that pitchers in the Dead Ball Era or any era would envy. He faced Clemens again in 2003, this time in Game 7, but a certain boneheaded manager prevented Pedro from being the hero, prevented a juiced-up Clemens from ending the season (which he said at the time would be his last) in shame, and prevented The Curse from being wiped off the books a year early. In case you had not noticed, that game still makes my blood boil. A year later Pedro redeemed himself and asked the Evil Empire the rhetorical question, "Who's your daddy, now?" He has said numerous times that he would not trade his one World Series ring in Boston for three anywhere else. Last year at the age of 38, he pitched admirably for Philadelphia, but it was sad to see that his magic had run out. He might be the greatest pitcher of all time--he certainly was the best pitcher I ever watched when he was in his prime--but somehow he found a way to turn it up yet another level when the leaves started to change color.

Derek Jeter- I feel a little guilty putting Derek Jeter in this conversation, but I would be daft not to. As long as I have been following baseball religiously (in 1998 I started watching and listening to every Sox game I could and my dad would leave a note at breakfast with the score and highlights if it ran past my bedtime), Derek Jeter has been the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. I resented him for starting the All Star Game in 2000 even though Nomar Garciaparra got more votes (Joe Torre was managing the American League and he chose to start Jeter because Nomar had started the year before). My dislike turned into respect over the years, though. His hustle from short to foul territory to on the first base side to pick up an overthrown ball and flip to Jorge Posada to tag Jeremy Giambi who did not think to slide into home was one of the most frustratingly spectacular plays I have ever seen. With five World Series rings and seven World Series appearances, Jeter is one of the best clutch performers you will find in any sport.

Carlton Fisk- Eighty-six years is a long time. A really long time. It was a championship drought so long that Red Sox fans were willing to revel in whatever moral victories they could get. Carlton Fisk's walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series was the finest hour in Boston eighty-six year championship drought. After 2004 and 2007, it does not seem like much, but Red Sox fans for generations went to the grave thinking this was the greatest moment of their lives. It was the most memorable event of the Series, and you can make the case that Fisk should have been the World Series MVP instead of Pete Rose (that series certainly was not what defined Rose's career). Forcing a Game 7 against the Big Red Machine, with a homer off the left field foul pole in the bottom of the 12th inning was enough to legitimize Fisk wearing a Red Sox cap on his plaque in Cooperstown when he played more years with the White Sox. Moments like that today do not feel the same once you have experienced a championship. When a struggling Jason Varitek hit the game winning home run in Game 6 of the 2008 ALCS, it was largely forgotten when the Sox lost Game 7 the next day.

Jack Morris- One of the greatest Game 7s in baseball history occurred in the 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. Jack Morris took the mound for Minnesota and faced John Smoltz in one of the greatest pitchers duels of all time. Morris got the win, pitching all ten innings before Minnesota scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 10th. Morris was the one of the star pitchers of his generation, was a five time all star, and won four World Series with three different teams (the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and Toronto Blue Jays), and yet he has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame yet.

Kirk Gibson- Gibson holds the distinction of being the only National League MVP to never appear in an All-Star Game, but that is not what people think of when they hear his name. The current Arizona Diamondbacks interim manager could barely walk from the injuries he suffered getting to the 1988 World Series, but he could stand long enough in the batters box to pinch hit. His wrists worked just fine as he hit a home run off A's Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley. No matter if the D'Backs decide to keep him as manager or what he does with the rest of his life, Gibson will always be remembered for his pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series. It was his only at bat in the series, but he made the most of it.

Johnny Damon- Red Sox fans were wrong to boo him, even if he signed with New York. He did too much when he was with the Sox to deserve that. His long at bats, fouling off pitch after pitch until the pitcher finally caved and gave up a double is something the Red Sox have lacked consistently since he left. He went all out for the team. He nearly killed himself colliding with Damian Jackson in the 2003 ALDS against Oakland. His grand slam in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2004 was one of his greatest moments. In 2009, he showed us that he still has a knack for the heads up play in clutch situations. Stealing second and third in the same run because he noticed nobody was covering third because of the infield shift was the turning point in the World Series which caused Brad Lidge to lose his composure and the Phillies to lose their confidence. It was at that moment that everyone realized that the Yankees were going to win the World Series. He missed the playoffs playing for the Tigers this year, but perhaps he will get a chance to work his magic again next October.

Derek Lowe- Whenever the Sox needed to clinch a series, Lowe was there in 2003 and 2004. Here he is pictured with catcher Jason Varitek, whom he was traded to Boston from Seattle with in 1997. Getting those two, who were still in the minors at the time, in exchange for inconsistent closer Heathcliff Slocumb, was one of the best trades the Red Sox have ever made. Everyone remembers the bloody sock and the drama behind Curt Schiiling in the 2004 playoffs, but it was Lowe who was pushed out of the starting rotation in the ALDS, but ended up getting the win in Game 3 against the Angels, Game 7 against the Yankees, and Game 4 against the Cardinals. Derek Lowe went on to be the ace of the Dodgers rotation after that season, and is now the ace for the Braves. He may have lost to Tim "The Freak" Lincecum last night, but he pitched really well. As long as he has been in the big leagues, Derek Lowe has elevated his game when the season is on the line for whichever team is employing him.

Roy Halladay- Is it too soon to put him on the list? I think not. Roy Halladay has waited his entire career to pitch in the playoffs, and this week, he finally got his chance. In his first playoff game on Wednesday, Halladay pitched only the second no hitter in playoff history. As the Phillies pursue their third consecutive pennant, Halladay started them off in the right direction. Only time will tell if he will have a reputation of being a strong playoff performer, but so far, he has been unhittable in October.

Arcade Fire Rocks in "The Suburbs"

Arcade Fire has been one of my favorite bands the last few years, and their latest release did not disappoint. "The Suburbs", the Montreal based band's first album since 2007, has a different feel than their earlier work, but maintains the high quality standard that I have come to expect from them.

Like their previous albums, "The Suburbs" uses a good mix of conventional rock instruments like drums, piano, and guitar as well as violins and horns. This album has a more upbeat feel to it than "Funeral" or "Neon Bible" did. Wikipedia tells me that the lyrical content was inspired by front man Win Butler's growing up in a suburb of Houston. It is not meant to glorify or condemn suburban life, but rather be a "letter from the suburbs." They have been working on this album since 2008, but the wait was well worth it.

Arcade Fire never ceases to amaze me. I am still waiting for them to get the nod to perform at the Super Bowl, which would be a huge improvement to last year's halftime show (But then again, anything would have been better than last year's halftime show. For more information, read my review of the Super Bowl from February). This album for them, is just business as usual. Every album is different, and every time I listen to a specific Arcade Fire album, I think that one is the best, then I will listen to another and think that one was better than the last. This album only adds to that legacy.