Weekly Random Thoughts On The Yankees
The Yankees went 6-1 this week and now find themselves leading Boston by a half game in the AL East.Fun fact: In thirteen games this year, Randy Johnson has given up eighteen first-inning runs, for a sparkling ERA of 12.46. From the second inning on in those eighteen games, he has an ERA of 3.72. Maybe he needs to warm up longer?
Mariano Rivera injured his back while putting on his cleats before Thursday night's game. Couple this with the injuries to Sheffield and Matsui and the stomach bug that hit Jason Giambi and A-Rod this weekend, and I'm really beginning to believe that some Red Sox fan somewhere has voodoo dolls of all the key Yankees.
Chien-Ming Wang earned the save on Saturday night. That's how bad off the Yankees are right now. Seriously, they have no business in first place.
The Yankees start a four-game series at home with Boston on Monday night. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday's games are on ESPN.
Father's Day Gift Guide
One of my favorite horror movies is finally making its way to DVD on June 13. Dellamorte Dellamore (known as Cemetery Man in the United States) is a 1996 Italian zombie flick that stars Rupert Everett (yes, that Rupert Everett) as a cemetery guard who must keep the dead inside the cemetery's gates when they rise from their graves during the night. It's a cool gory dark comedy. Ella calls it "an artsy-fartsy horror porno." But her taste is suspect. She married me, after all.Sunday Morning Hangover
Here are some of the more interesting/entertaining posts I've come across this week:- Emily completes the transformation from Goth to Mom.
- Kristen enjoys a day at the zoo with her boys.
- Lucinda admits she's a technofrump.
- Mom-101 learns her ice cream main isn't just pushing popsicles.
- Patrick chronicles his douchebaggery through the ages.
- Sarcastic Journalist wants respect (this is a great post).
Stuff Only You Care About
Hey! Remember when I said I was going to start answering questions from you guys? I did a few a while back, but I kind of forgot about the whole thing until I received the following question in my Inbox:Why did you refer to James Van Der Beek as your archenemy? -- Allison
Ok. My answer will hopefully not only satisfy Allison's question but also those I received when I wrote about my failed screenwriting career in an earlier meme.
As I mentioned in my answer to the death threats question, I used to have an online magazine. One day, I received an email from a Hollywood producer that basically said he liked my stuff and wondered if I had ever tried writing a screenplay. As a cynical pessimist, I assumed the email was a fake, despite the fact that it had a movie studio email address. So I spent the weekend IMDBing him and digging up dirt on the guy. Look, I was as far away from Hollywood, both geographically and mentally, as one could get. Turned out he was real.
So I started writing my spec screenplay. Despite the fact that I had never written anything longer than a term paper, I banged out a 106-page screenplay (it was a political/media satire with a touch of romantic comedy for those of you who may care) in three months. The producer loved it.
Except...
I needed to make some changes before he could shop it around. The main problem, according to him, was that my story did not have a
So he shopped it around. After another month, he phoned me and said that Mr. Van Der Beek's people really loved the script. Dawson? I thought. Ugh.
Nothing against James Van Der Beek, but when I was writing the script, I had only one person in mind for the lead character: Jason Lee. I had loved him in Mallrats and had seen Chasing Amy four times in the theater while writing the script (DVDs were made for people like me), so I couldn't picture anyone else in the role.
But like I said before, I was starry-eyed.
"His people?" I asked. "What does that mean?"
"It means his agent read it and loved it. James is supposed to read it tonight."
So there I was, constantly checking my email and waiting impatiently by the phone for a call from the producer. Finally, after a week, I couldn't take it anymore so I called the producer.
"He passed on it."
The producer shopped it around for a few more months, but nothing ever came of it. Other than giving me something to write about tonight.
If only he had made my movie, both Mr. Van Der Beek and I might have careers in Hollywood today.
You asked.
If you have a question you'd like to see me answer, drop me a line or leave a comment. Make it funny, serious, whatever. I'll try to answer at least one every weekend.
