The New Header

To honor the 60 Greatest Moments in Television History, I've made a new header that features the logo of every show that will be included. That's right, it's a bit of a sneak peek as to what's to come.

The EWwy Awards of 2013

The EWwy Awards are the awards of those snubbed. Unfortunately, The Office was snubbed from the snubs! I'll make picks nonetheless.

Best Comedy Series:

Enlightened
How I Met Your Mother
The Mindy Project
New Girl
Parks and Recreation

Best Actor, Comedy:

Adam DeVine, Workaholics
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
Jake Johnson, New Girl
Josh Gad, 1600 Penn
Neil Flynn, The Middle

Best Actress, Comedy:

Dakota Johnson, Ben and Kate
Lea Michele, Glee
Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project
Portia de Rossi, Arrested Development
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy:

Damon Wayans Jr., Happy Endings
Jordan Peele, Key and Peele
Keegan-Michael Key, Key and Peele
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Taran Killam, Saturday Night Live
Will Arnett, Arrested Development

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy:

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Casey Wilson, Happy Endings
Colbie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother
Jessica Walter, Arrested Development
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Zosia Mamet, Girls


Some were tough, but New Girl heavily prevailed. You can vote too.

The Opening Credits

A long time ago, in a movie studio far far away...

A picture surfaced of how the opening credits to The Empire Strikes Back was filmed. It makes sense for the 80's, I guess. They didn't have fancy Windows Movie Maker annotations and such, but it still doesn't seem like the easiest way to do it. Ah, well. Still neat.

The Radio City Ragin' Cajuns

I have drafted my 2013 fantasy team in search of my third straight title. I don't know about this year, the projections aren't the best for me, but those are just projections. Here's my very amazing team. (P.S. Flacco's probably on the move soon).

Quarterback - Drew Brees - New Orleans Saints
Quarterback - Tom Brady - New England Patriots *
Running Back - Ray Rice - Baltimore Ravens
Running Back - Reggie Bush - Detroit Lions
Wide Receiver - Vincent Jackson - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wide Receiver - Marques Colton - New Orleans Saints
Tight End - Vernon Davis - San Francisco 49ers
Defense - 49ers Defense *
Kicker - Adam Vinatieri - Indianapolis Colts
Flex - Dwyane Bowe - Kansas City Chiefs *
Flex - Cecil Shorts - Jacksonville Jaguars
Flex - T.Y. Hilton - Indianapolis Colts
Flex - Zach Sudfeld - New England Patriots
Bench - Shane Vereen - New England Patriots
Bench - Mark Ingram - New Orleans Saints
Bench - Golden Tate - Seattle Seahawks
Bench - Jermichael Finley - Green Bay Packers
Bench - Patriots Defense
Bench - Joe Flacco - Baltimore Ravens
Bench - Matt Bryant - Atlanta Falcons *
Bench - Andy Dalton - Cincinnati Bengals *
Bench - Jacoby Jones - Baltimore Ravens

* = Returning player.

The new two QB rule worked out awesomely for me. I say championship contender.

Sports Illustrated August 2013 Cover of the Month

Wrong Lever!

Not much I can say that's not in the picture except that if this ever happened to me, it would forever be the greatest moment of my life.

60 Best Television Moments: 54

There may never be a better television intro than that of The Simpsons. Even the new one is pretty good, but nothing can compare to the legendary original followed by a classic couch gag.

The 2013 D23 Expo

The 2013 D23 Expo was pretty wild. I wasn't there, but I followed Ricky Brigante (@InsideTheMagic) on Twitter in the nick of time. He brought some great play-by-play to his Twitter feed to help everyone find out what's happening when it happens without being there. Now, through the help of his tweets and videos, we will take you on a whimsical journey to break it all down. Unfortunately, there was no new mention of the Jon Favreau Magic Kingdom film, the Guillermo del Toro Haunted Mansion film or the Tim Allen/Tom Hanks Jungle Cruise film. But, hey. There's still some other things to look forward to!

First Day:

The Imagineering Pavillion only allowed select people in and there were some pretty neat revelations.

Captain America is the first Marvel character to be introduced by Disney.

Captain America costume character debuts with @Disney at #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/YiHq6VW7ui
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

Another big reveal was that of the Hatbox Ghost animatronic. It looks like that, after the holiday decor comes down, the Hatbox Ghost will be making a return to the Haunted Mansion. Nothing was confirmed, but that's what I'd bet on.

Holy HATBOX GHOST. Animatronic demo. #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/WA4rXOi1Ez
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

Two other major exhibits were shown in the Imagineering pavillion. A display on the progress of the new Avatar land in Animal Kingdom and also a teaser for upcoming Star Wars mania at Disney Parks due to the LucasFilm acquisition.



Second Day:

The animation presentation begin with an introduction from CEO Bob Iger. He said, "Believe me. There's a lot coming next." Not a whole lot of details. At the animation presentation, Pixar went first. Bill Hader came on stage to promote the upcoming film, The Good Dinosaur with Lucas Neff and Judy Greer.

The Good Dinosaur teaser proposes the question: "What if that asteroid missed Earth?" #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

The next Pixar film is...

"Inside Out" stars young girl Riley, who moves to San Francisco. The film takes place inside her mind. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith (she took the stage) will play Disgust, Anger, Fear, Joy, and Sadness, respectively.

Finding Dory takes place a year after the events of Finding Nemo. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

TOY STORY OF TERROR! #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

John Ratzenberger came out on stage as Pixar's Lucky Charm and it was on to DisneyToon Studios, the company behind the fairy films, Planes, and straight-to-DVD sequels. Tom Hiddleston and Christina Hendricks came to the stage to promote the origin story of Captain Hook in a fairy film.

Walt Disney Animation Studios came up next.

Hand drawn animation in Get a Horse combined with CG. Seamless. And Mickey voiced by Walt. Incredible. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

Big Hero 6 looks good! Lots of action and comedy. Fun characters. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

2016 film from Walt Disney Animation Studios: Zootopia. Original film. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 9, 2013

Complete highlights of the animation presentation, including Hiddleston singing Bare Necessities and Idina Menzel singing 'Let it Go' from Frozen.



D23 Expo Show Floor Tour, courtesy of Ricky Brigante.



Third Day:

A big event on the third day was the live action presentation.

Star Wars was a headliner.

"Look for Episode VII in the summer of 2015 and it's going to be great" - Alan Horn #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 10, 2013

Not much else was said for Star Wars, but there would be something for Marvel. Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston took the stage for Thor 2. Chris Evans was there for Captain America 2. Guardians of the Galaxy was teased, but that's about it.

Avengers: Age of Ultron teaser showed pretty much nothing. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 10, 2013

DisneyNature was there for a bit. Then, Angelina Jolie was introduced as Maleficent.

WOW. Jolie NAILS the role. Maleficent is spot on. Incredible. #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 10, 2013

Ty Burrell, Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Kermit the Frog, and Miss Piggy all made appearances for the sequel to The Muppets. Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Emily Blunt were all cast in 'Into the Woods.' Artwork from the live action upcoming Cinderella film was introduced.

A film that I'm quite excited about was up next. Tomorrowland. The 1952 box was opened, but nothing was explained. There was a hoax photo of Walt Disney and Amelia Earhart.

Teasing Tomorrowland with the "1952" box… no clear details.. yet… #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 10, 2013

Saving Mr. Banks, the closest live action film to release, was up next. Naturally, I was excited about this.

Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak are here! #D23Expo
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 10, 2013

The live action presentation then ended.


The Disney Legends were inducted including a heartfelt speech from John Lasseter to Steve Jobs which can be seen on the YouTube channel, I don't want to take up too much space here.

Later that night there was a Richard Sherman and Alan Menken Disney songbook concert that is also visible on the InsideTheMagic channel, it was very good and such great quality. Sherman is awesome.

Fourth Day:

The last day was really just about Disney Interactive and video games and such like that. Obviously, those are interesting to some people and then the info can be found on either the YouTube or Twitter profile of InsideTheMagic.

Definitely a GREAT #D23Expo! There may not have been any big announcements, but there was a LOT of fun. That's what it's all about.
— Ricky Brigante, Host (@InsideTheMagic) August 12, 2013

To conclude, I'll provide the overall recap podcast. Thanks to Ricky Brigante, great coverage.



Good expo, hope you all enjoyed what was provided!

Breaking Poll-tocol

Ok, that wasn't the best. I'm breaking protocol. Usually, the system is three quality posts per day. I'm upping it on this, August the 29th, for four posts, April 2012 style. The new poll was hard to decide. It's not close enough to fall for a fall poll, but too close to fall for another summer poll. I received suggestion about favorite foods. I thought about it and took it to a good place. Out of the most popular chain restaurants, what signature dish is the best? I obviously couldn't include legendary local classics because not everyone knows those dishes, despite how amazing a Meatloaf Dynamo or an Enchiladas Trio meal may be. Here are the choices that I selected from each restaurant I selected.

The Quesedilla Burger from Applebees.
The Mango Habanero from Buffalo Wild Wings.
The Big Mouth Bites from Chili's.
The Eggs-in-the-Basket from Cracker Barrel.
The New England Clam Chowder from Panera Bread.
The Tour of Italy from Olive Garden.
The Wild West Shrimp from Longhorn Steakhouse.
The Red Velvet Pancakes from IHOP.
The Super Melt from Friendly's.
The A.1. Peppercorn Burger from Red Robin.
The Tostado Nachos from T.G.I. Friday's.
The Prima Pepperoni Deep Dish Pizza from UNO Chicago Grill.
The Meatball Marinara from Subway.

This Week's Entertainment by David

60 Best Television Moments: 55

The greatest running gag in Family Guy's long history is the chicken fight. It only makes sense to show it, right?

Explaining Community

Dan Harmon fielded a fan's question on Tumblr where they asked him to explain a Community episode with a story circle in the simplest four quadrant version. After a long while of uncertainty, the structure and meaning of the Dungeons and Dragons episode. It's quite nice. It's on his Tumblr page.

Joey Bats Well

On August 4, nine-year-old Blue Jays and Jose Bautista fan, Derek Lendosky, died in a car accident. His father told Jose Bautista that he'd be buried in a Bautista jersey and Jose decided to dedicate his August 9 game to Derek. He came through on the promise, going three for five, including a monster home run. Touching.

60 Best Television Moments: 56

This very well could be the all-time greatest Elaine Benes moment. Hopped up on medication and tired after a long stint in Florida, she can't help, but scream...well, just watch.

The Ruggles Record

No, it's not how Scooby Doo pronounces The Wiggles. Josh Ruggles has set a basketball world record. Not only is he the Illinois three-point state champion, but he made 135 three-pointers in five minutes, making 92% of them. Check out the amazing clip below:

Patric v. Football

As you know, Patric Young is a Gator great. He plays for the basketball team and he's a pretty quality player. In this video, he takes his talents to the football field, to see if they'll translate. Joining him are Tyler Murphy and Trey Burton.

60 Best Television Moments: 57

You can't ask for much more from a series finale final scene than having it end the same way that it began. That's the beauty of the Lost finale.

Muscles Aren't Everything

As the famous workout motto goes, "Go for tone, not bulge." This guy went for bulge and look where it got him.



You've got huge muscles and you can't even open a water bottle. I bet Pimply Pete out in the bleachers has been drinking his water for a couple innings. And on local television too. A shame.

This Week's Sports by Davids

Colbert Gets Lucky

What luck for Stephen Colbert! Daft Punk was scheduled to appear on The Colbert Report to perform their summer hit, Get Lucky. However, they cancelled at the last second and Colbert had to scramble. Instead, a dancing montage was produced with Get Lucky playing and Colbert dancing with multiple people in multiple places such as Hugh Laurie, Jeff Bridges, the Rockettes, the crew of America's Got Talent, the cast of Breaking Bad, Jimmy Fallon, and Matt Damon. A greatly hilarious video. You could say that Colbert...got lucky.

Hyahhh!!!!!!!!

Marriage Proposal Gone Wrong

At a minor league baseball game, a guy brought his girlfriend out on the field and the crowd, the emcee, the mascot were all into it when he asked her to marry him. But then she said no. That's awkward.







It was later revealed by the team to be a hoax, luckily for the guy.

2004 All Over Again

Here it is. A crushing, disappointing season the year before. A walk-off in game seven after an avoidable error in 2003. A terrible experience in 2012. The next year. A new manager. A capable manager. A power-hitting slugger. A scrappy infielder. A hustling outfielder. A defensive, leading catcher. A leader of idiocy. A star outfielder. A veteran pitcher looking for redemption and a second chance. An ace of the staff. A down-and-out relief pitcher turned closer. The similarities are endless. But the 2013 group of Red Sox can be appropriately labeled the Idiots, just like in '04. Ortiz and Ortiz, Pedroia and Bill Mueller. Victorino and Trot Nixon. David Ross and Varitek. Jonny Gomes and Kevin Millar. Ellsbury and Manny. Lackey and Schilling. Lester and Pedro. Uehara and Foulke. Farrell and Francona. Even Don Orsillo agrees. He says they're having more fun with more chemistry and playing as a team. And I love it.

The Office Auditions

Imagine this. Adam Scott (or even John Cho) as Jim Halpert puts Seth Rogen as Dwight's stapler in Jell-O. Kathryn Hahn as Pam laughs out loud and Bob Odenkirk as Michael tries to make a desert pun. Meanwhile, in the background, Eric Stonestreet is going about his day in accounting. It's weird, right? You can see what an Office with Adam Scott, Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Bob Odenkirk and Eric Stonestreet would be like in this audition tape for The Office back in 2003 sneak peek. Interesting to say the least, but I prefer Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Brian Baumgartner.

I Would Sue

Here's the setup. This man is bowling a perfect game and only needs one more strike to complete it. He gets all ready and set. He rolls the ball. It's flying down the lane, ready to hit the pins and...



That just sucks. That really really sucks. I would be so distraught that my life would probably never be the same.

What Would You Like Next?

Okay, so the SNL poll didn't go too well. Only 6 votes were cast and Chevy, Radner, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Crystal, Short, Stiller, Spade, Sandler, McKean, Ferrell, Fallon, Fey, Poehler, Samberg and Kristen Wiig tied for first. Wasn't too successful, so I'll turn to you for suggestions again! What poll would you like to see next?

60 Best Television Moments: 58

The greatest quote that Chandler Bing ever delivered and it will soon become my go-to get-out-of-an-awkward-situation line. It seemed to work for Chandler. "Dear God. This parachute is a knapsack!"

The Better Mumford and Sons

Yeah, sure, Mumford and Sons is great and all, but you know what's even better? Mumford and Sons, but instead of Mumford and Sons, it's Will Forte, Ed Helms, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis. Forte (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock), Helms (The Office, The Hangover), Bateman (Arrested Development, Identity Thief), and Sudeikis (SNL and We're the Millers) collaborated in a musical parody video, Hopeless Wanderer. This is beautiful, funny, amazing and one of the best things ever. A great group of comedians and they all kind of work as the group and well together. Plus, Ed Helms is a musical genius so you can't go wrong there.

We're NASA and We Know It

Well, I'm not NASA, but that's the name of the video. It'd be weird to say, They're NASA and They Know It. Anyway, to celebrate the Curiosity touchdown anniversary, the NASA Mars Rover team made this pretty humorous video. A NASA music video. We've done all we can do as human beings.

60 Best Television Moments: 59

The funniest scene in New Girl history, in my opinion. Nick Miller's conversation's with Tran, the man on the park bench who doesn't talk, but yet, Nick seeks him out for advice and he solves his life problems.

This Week's Entertainment by David

12 Months. 2 Minutes.

Two very different periods of time. However, this awesome time lapse video about the new frontier and the age of exploration shows what the Curiosity's first year on Mars is like. Pretty interesting.

60 Best Television Moments: 60

Before I begin this countdown to assist through school, I want to let you know something. I know that, going into this list, it is NOT going to be the 60 greatest moments in television history. It absolutely will be completely inaccurate and wrong and you will definitely disagree. But, I haven't seen every show ever. I like what I like, so this is my personal list. That's why there will be Billy on the Street, but no M*A*S*H. Got that squared away? Great. So now this makes sense.



This scene is hilarious. One of How I Met Your Mother's all-time best. You have to love Slapsgiving! The Slap Bet culminates in the penultimate slap. There's still one more and this one is the fourth. Legend--wait for it--dary.

Pedroia on the Cover

Should be Sports Illustrated, but the Red Sox Mag will do. After the extension that ensured the fact that Dustin Pedroia will probably be in Boston for his whole career, he graced the cover of the monthly Red Sox Magazine. A great pose, player and place to take the photo!

Hollywood Game Night

Hosted by Jane Lynch, this show has quickly earned the right to be called awesome. The games are fun, but the best part are the great celebrities. Some of my favorites include, Angela Kinsey, Ellie Kemper, Max Greenfield, Nick Cannon, Josh Gad, Jason Alexander, Al Roker, Anthony Anderson, Jason Sudeikis, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rob Riggle, Yvette Nicole Brown, Matthew Perry, Daniel Dae Kim, Lisa Kudrow, Kristen Bell and Alison Hannigan. Quality program! It also just got a second season.

Summer 2013 is Over

That's one of the worst post titles I've ever had to write in the history of this blog. It's so sad because summer is great since there's no school and all, but I'll stop dreading about school and remember the great summer that was. The collage I created basically sums up this summer.

Maine was great. One of the most serene moments of my summer vacation was the walk I went all the way down Long Sands Beach. I also ate at some of the most fantastic restaurants in New England up in Maine. However, one of the best restaurants I ate at this summer was The Melting Pot in Framingham, MA. There's three courses, starting with the cheese fondue and ending with the chocolate, but the best part is the mojo cooking broth in the middle. I chose teriyaki sirloin, Italian sausage, and the chicken breast and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Another great decision was choosing Tina Fey's Bossypants as my summer reading book. It was insightful, hilarious and charming. Speaking of charming, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon once again led the summer television charge (more on that later) and continues to thrive as one of the best television shows on the air and will actually air in re-runs on the new Esquire network, unprecedented for talk shows to be on syndication. Jimmy continues to bring laughter to all. So did This Is the End, the comedy of the summer and Monsters University, the animated film of the summer. I'd have to say that they were two of the best movies I saw all summer. This may seem like promotion, but it's nothing like the promotion that was the reason for some guest celebrities on Match Game. Watching re-runs this summer was always a great way to start each day and there's some unique humor there. Another great way to start each day would be playing Fruit Ninja after a shower and I scored far over 500 on one of them for my best in a level. I was immediately hooked. I was also hooked on the Red Sox and I am loving their success this year. I even attended their game against the Rockies back in June, a game which they won. One of my favorite summer memories could be my ten-consecutive trips on my personal paradise, the lazy river. I love lazy rivers so very greatly and I ever start to miss summer, I'll think back to the serenity of the lazy river, the walk across the beach, the great taste of the sirloin, a Tina Fey punchline, maybe even a Charles Nelson Reilly punchline. The moment of childhood memories rushing back when I saw the Scare Floor or the simple things like playing Fruit Ninja after a shower. So many great moments in this great summer.

Rogen and Franco

The upcoming Comedy Central James Franco roast has tabbed a good host. Seth Rogen, one of Franco's best friends. They starred in Freaks and Geeks, Pineapple Express and This Is the End together. I'm very interested to see it and to one of this blog's avid readers, I bet there will be a couple digs about General Hospital in there. It will air on September 2 and it taped two days ago.

Jim Gaffigan Needs This

The single-camera in-development comedy on CBS starring Jim Gaffigan will be re-developed. When it wasn't picked up by CBS I was distraught, because I thought it could become the next great comedy starring a stand-up comedian. You know, Louie, Seinfeld...Gaffigan sounds like a good title. It'd be about Gaffigan, happily married, with five children in New York. I get the feeling that I'll probably hate at least one of the child actors, but it's impossible to hate Gaffigan! Hope it comes in time for 2014-15.

The Biebs is Disgraced

Justin Bieber is on a slippery slope. All this fame he got so young, so fast, can only end badly, if Macaulay Culkin is any example. He did something far more terrible than urinating in a bucket and making fun of Bill Clinton. He stood on an NHL locker room logo. Now, if you're a real sports fan and not a bandwagon fan like Bieber who sported an L.A. Kings hat during their matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks before posing with the Hawks' cup when they went on to win, you know that no one stands on the NHL team logo in the middle of the locker room because it's considered coveted and sacred. But Bieber did it. In response, the Bruins roped off their logo during his concert at the Garden. Then, Blackhawks fans proceeded to buy a Bieber fathead face and stand on it. Take that Biebs!

Ravens Caw for Ice Cream

People scream for ice cream as the old adage goes, but if you're a raven, you caw for it. That's what the Baltimore Ravens did. A surprise ice cream truck showed up to Ravens training camp and the players went absolutely crazy. It's good fun to see that even these huge, menacing men will melt for ice cream.

This Week's Sports by Davids

Jimmy + Robin + The Roots = Another Classic

This is probably my favorite segment of Jimmy Fallon's on Late Night. Thank You Notes and Slow Jam the News are up there, but these are always great. Call Me Maybe with Carly Rae Jepsen, All I Want For Christmas Is You with Mariah Carey and now Blurred Lines with Robin Thicke. Good song, good leaders in Fallon and Thicke, and the legendary band, The Roots, make for yet another great combo and a good listen.

Ellen and Oscar

Ellen DeGeneres hosted the Oscars back in 2007 and I think she did a stand-up (get it?) and very quality job. Granted I don't remember it all that well, but what I do remember from it, I liked. Since Ellen, Jon Stewart did it in 2008 and he did a respectable job, Hugh Jackman in 2009 was great, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in 2010 were underwhelming, but not bad, James Franco and Anne Hathaway in 2011 made people want to die, Billy Crystal in 2012 brought it back, Seth MacFarlane in 2013 brought what was expected. Now, Ellen will be back in 2014 and I think the show is in good hands with her at the helm. It was almost Jerry Seinfeld, I heard. A great day will be when it's bequeathed to Jimmy Fallon. We know it's coming.

Welcome, Peavy

The Red Sox went out and got themselves a Cy Young winner. That's right, back in 2007 with the Padres, the newly acquired Red Sox pitcher, Jake Peavy won the Cy Young award. The Red Sox have been widespread labeled as winners of the trade deadline and I have to agree. Not only did they boost their rotation with the Peavy addition, but they also managed to not give up Rubby de la Rosa or Xander Boaegarts. I will miss Jose Iglesias, sure, but everyone has been acting like he was Ozzie Smith and he wasn't. He's a good glove, but we needed Peavy and we got him. I like the trade.

Six Flags 2013

The Six Flags New England Facebook page posted that awesome bird's eye view of the park. It's pretty cool. This year's Six Flags trip was pretty awesome. We were able to ride The Mind Eraser and Bizarro twice, Batman four times, Flashback, Cyclone, New England Skyway and the Crime Wave once each, and the Lazy River 10+ times. I tell you, the Lazy River is awesome. Seriously, that is my idea of paradise. I could float on that forever continuously.

Another thing about Six Flags, remember this?

That is from way back in January. I said I'd post it again in the summer after visiting, showing that time really does fly. Well,

And in the summer:

The snow has cleared! That didn't take long. Ah, that's good fun.

The Gators Are Ranked!

Four polls were released to rank the Top 25 college football teams of the 2013-14 season. The Gators are pretty consistent throughout! In the AP, ESPN, USA Today, and Coach's Polls, the Gators are ranked tenth in each one. Last year, they were 22 and were so close to the title game, but finished tenth. I am so anxious for them to return and prove themselves again! Let's keep moving on up!

The Return of Balls in Your Mouth

That's right! The classic anti-oil spill song has returned! After stints with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, Fallon and Eddie Vedder and Fallon and Florence Welch, the song has returned and Brad Paisley convinces Jimmy to not give up the song, but instead to keep fighting to protest the BP Oil Spill! Classic!

Brian Wilson Relocates

The mystique of Brian Wilson continues.

1. Grow a Beard
2. Become a closer for the Giants
3. Win the World Series
4. Become an All-Star
5. Win an ESPY
6. Light Up the Sports World
7. Second World Series Win
8. Tommy John's Surgery
9. Released by San Francisco
10. Goes to Hawaii for a Year for Rehab
11. Signs with the Dodgers in 2013

What a tale! This guy is quite eclectic. Brian Wilson has finally recovered from his injury and he signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's even expected to get a call-up this weekend. He's a part of a winning team and I'm very intrigued to see where he goes from here. What a guy.

Pedroia v. Ortiz

There's no real beef between them. This is just funny to see. Well, it's not completely funny that David Ortiz obliterated a Baltimore dugout phone after disagreeing with a call made by an umpire. What is funny is how Pedroia is laughing with a teammate and he suddenly has to duck for cover. Then, the self-proclaimed, 5'9" Pedroia (more like 5'7", maybe even 5'5") gets in the face of 6'4", twice-his-size David Ortiz. Dustin is probably the only one that could tell Papi off and get away with it. Oh, the antics of this 2013 team is far better than that of the 2012 team.

Being Happy

What is happiness? That's what SoulPancake asked before it found 100 people to ask. These 100 people each have a difference age. Ages 1-100 tell the world what they believe happiness to be. Everyone from every age. It reminds me of the time that I had breakfast in a cafe and my then-four-month-old niece was with me and a 98 year-old great-great grandmother from a different time was interacting with her. Happiness is the same whether you're one to 100 and according to Rainn Wilson and his SoulPancake, it's what matters. But according to these people...

Imagination Renovation Innovation

According to the Disney Blog (full article here), the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT will be seeing some change. Apparently, the recently returned (but still weird) Captain EO will close permanently, while the rest of the pavilion, including Journey into Imagination with Figment, will close for one year starting on January 2, 2014 so that it can be revamped. I'm glad that Figment won't be gone! I don't entirely mind Captain EO, but Figment had to stay.

The Happiness of a Dog

This video is awesome. A dog's owner came back from a tour in the war and the pup cried with happiness. Worth a watch.

This Week's Entertainment by David

Red Sock For Life

Well, at least until 2021, but it'll probably be for a long while. Hopefully, Dustin Pedroia will be in Boston for the rest of his life, but 2021 works for now! Pedroia signed a seven-year, $110 million contract extension that he hopes will ensure that he never plays another Major League game for another team ever. Pedroia embodies everything that Boston, the Red Sox, baseball and sports is all about. It's rare that a guy is with a team for life, but I do not mind this case whatsoever. In the ceremony/announcement, David Ortiz gave Pedroia the Fenway second base. Pedroia also said this:

"The Red Sox drafted me. A lot of teams passed on me because of my size and stuff like that. It's pretty important. That's why I want to make sure that I work as hard as I can to make sure that they made the right choice in drafting me and me being here my whole career. I just want to make sure I'm playing my last game here. That's important. It's the only thing I know. I love putting on the Red Sox uniform every day. Every game is important to me and my teammates. It's pretty special."

Special indeed, the 29-year-old, .303 lifetime hitter, 2008 MVP sure found a great home.

Winnie Fallon

That's the name of Jimmy and Nancy Fallon's first child and newborn daughter. Winnie Rose Fallon! Jimmy posted a picture of her on Instagram and he sat down with Savannah Guthrie to answer questions about her. He also hosted an Ask Jimmy segment to field questions. His first words on Late Night as a father were, "I'm your host, Dada." Apparently the name Winnie came from Lake Winnipesaukee, where he proposed to his wife. He's so happy.

Persons Unknown Answers Finally Answered

FINALLY. After three years of not knowing, we know! Persons Unknown was a mini-series for the summer on NBC back in 2010. It was about a group of people trapped in a town that they couldn't get out of. It ended amazingly, but the final scene sucked because it didn't answer anything even though NBC said that all of our questions would be answered. Well, thanks to the now-awesome, Keith McDuffee, we know! He sat down with the creator, Remi Auchobon and Auchobon finally revealed how the show would have progressed. Closure!

Dealing with the School Year

Every year, I try to find something to help me get through the school year. In 2010, I had many. In 2012, I had the 100 arguments. For 2013, I am planning something gargantuan. But I need YOUR help. I was going to do the 100 best songs, TV shows, movies, TV characters, singers, movie characters. But I've done that before. What I thought of instead was three different things:

Best Movie Scenes

Best Television Scenes

Best Television Episodes


Now I have to ask your opinion. Should I combine them all to create a Top 60 of each for a complete 180? Should I add another category to have two movie things and two of TV? How should I set it up if I do do a Top 60 of each? Should I have it so that in the first three days, there'd be the #60 of each like, Day 1: 60th Best Movie Scene, Day 2: 60th TV Scene, Day 3: 60th TV Episode, Day 4: 59th Movie Scene, and so on? Or should I do it so I reveal all 60 of one over the course of 60 days and then begin the next one on the 61st day? What do you think?

Live Action

Now before I begin this post, let me clarify one thing. I never ever ever ever EVER want this to happen. I never want to see a live action Mickey Mouse short with live action, real-life Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Minnie. But, if they did make one, not only would it be one of the worst things ever, but I have the perfect cast.

Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) would be a PERFECT choice to play Goofy. He's, well, goofy. He's tall. He's odd. He's perfect!

Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder, Iron Man) would make a good Mickey Mouse. When my friend (whom I collaborated on with this) suggested Downey, I was very very skeptical. But he's grown on me. If he could do the voice, he'd be perfect.

Scott Caan (Ocean's Eleven, Hawaii Five-O) has very good traits to play Donald. His face is in the right shape, the blonde hair is best for Donald, he's a bit on the short side. He's the complete duck-like package! Plus, he's no stranger to water (Hawaii).

Angela Kinsey (Angela from The Office) would be a great companion to Caan's Donald. For some reason I think that blonde hair is best for the duck duo and Caan and Kinsey do both have blonde hair. Plus, Angela Kinsey is able to capture each end and everything in the middle of the personality spectrum.

Any golden retriever (Comet from Full House, Air Bud?) would be a good choice for Pluto.

One character I am having trouble with is Minnie Mouse. My friend suggested Lindsay Lohan, but I do not agree at all. Does anyone have any idea?

Again, I don't want this to happen and I probably shouldn't even publish it just in case Disney somehow sees it and goes "Hey!"

The 2012-13 Television Champion

It seems like you all agree with me for the most part! We both think that The Office was the best show of the past television year! There were obviously some differences (Modern Family at 2, Community at 12). But when it came down to Modern Family versus The Office, the Dunder Mifflin crew prevailed. Not a shabby bracket!

This Week's Sports by David

TV Bracket Championship

It's all boiled down to two. The Office and Modern Family have reached the championship of the best television show of the past year, with their ninth and fourth season, respectively. Now, in my opinion, their past year was at opposite ends of the quality spectrum, but this is not up to me. It is up to you. The one seed favorite versus the fourteen seed surprise. What's your call? Vote for the final!

The Office v. Modern Family

The Pixar Theory

Jon Negroni has blown my mind. I'm not going to post the whole thing here, but you can read his Pixar Theory on his website. He talks about how ever Pixar film from Toy Story to Monsters University is connected. His arguments are very quality and it all makes sense, but is also mind-bending. I'm betting that he's right, but I also wonder if he is. Very awesome!

You're Killing Me, Smalls!

The good news: the 20th anniversary of The Sandlot is in full swing with ceremonies at MLB ballparks, a mention in the Sports Illustrated 'Where Are They Now?' issue and a real, renovated sandlot that has been made to look like the one from the movie and the entire child cast (now adults) reunited on that field. That's right Benny, Smalls, Ham, Squints and the gang are all middle-aged, but together again.

The bad news: The actor who played Smalls was arrested for headbutting a police officer, prompting the outcry of the famous line uttered by Ham to Smalls, "you're killing me, Smalls!"

The Original Hatbox Ghost

After forty-four years of The Haunted Mansion, footage has apparently surfaced of the original Hatbox Ghost from the first year of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It was taken out of the ride because the effect didn't work and it has since become a part of the storied Haunted Mansion lore. Fans of the ride love the Hatbox Ghost so I imagine that they are even more interested by this video than I am!

Dan Harmon Talks Season Five

Nothing can keep Community down! Not even low ratings, an evil NBC, a fire and re-hire of Dan Harmon, a departure of Donald Glover and Chevy Chase. Nothing! Six seasons and a movie is destiny! At the San Diego Comic-Con 2013, Harmon talked about Community's fifth season. In this video, Harmon talks about Glover's departure and calls it "devastating." He talks about how Jeff Winger will come back into the picture, the attraction between Jeff and Annie and an upcoming 100% animated episode. Can't wait!

Grown Up Rugrats

No, it's not that very odd and vaguely unnecessary All Grown Up show. It's what the baby-ized Rugrats would sound like with adult voices. I have so many people to thank for the greatness of this clip. Jimmy Fallon, Higgins, Tommy Pickles, the black man who played Chuckie. That was great.

Human Wilfred

Or his name is just Jason Gann. I prefer Human Wilfred. At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, Gann attended for Wilfred promotion along with Wilfred costars. He did not wear his dog suit, however. It's kind of weird to see him out of it, but neat. He'll probably always be recognizable in the dog suit.

Ted's Kids Like You've Never Seen Them

By now, we've realized that this has to be the longest story in the history of Earth. It's not even about how Ted met his children's mother, it's about Barney's challenges and how Marshall met his children's mother. Luckily, How I Met Your Mother was able to poke fun at that.

Super Bat Man

It seems that DC is taking the Marvel route. The three Batman films, a Man of Steel, a planned Wonder Woman, and a forgettable Green Lantern could culminate in a Justice League film that adds Aquaman and The Flash, but for now, there will simply be a buddy cop hero film with Superman and Batman. There's not much about the plot yet, just the fact that Henry Cavill and Amy Adams will return as Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Some speculation has Ryan Gosling tabbed to take over for Christian Bale as Batman. I'd be on board with that. Sounds interesting!

New SNL Poll

After receiving valuable insight from Tina Fey in her memoir/autobiography, Bossypants, I realized that Saturday Night Live has produced so many of the comedians of the world that it'd be best to honor them. And honor them I will, in the means of a new poll! Which SNL alum is the funniest of the bunch? Here are the choices:

Chevy Chase
Dan Aykroyd
John Belushi
Jane Curtin
Garrett Morris
Laraine Newman
Gilda Radner
Bill Murray
Harry Shearer
Gilbert Gottfried
Eddie Murphy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Billy Crystal
Martin Short
Damon Wayans
Joan Cusack
Robert Downey Jr.
Randy Quaid
Jon Lovitz
Dana Carvey
Kevin Nealon
Mike Myers
Ben Stiller
Chris Rock
Chris Farley
David Spade
Adam Sandler
Norm Macdonald
Sarah Silverman
Michael McKean
Molly Shannon
David Koechner
Colin Quinn
Will Ferrell
Tracy Morgan
Jimmy Fallon
Maya Rudolph
Tina Fey
Amy Poehler
Seth Meyers
Fred Armisen
Rob Riggle
Jason Sudeikis
Andy Samberg
Bill Hader
Kristen Wiig


Tough choice!

June and July Sports Illustrated Covers of the Month

It dawned on me that I forgot to showcase Sports Illustrated's best covers from June and July 2013! Better late than never:

June:

July: