Top 30 Characters from The Wire: Part 1 (30-21)

Yep it's about time. I mean I have had this stupid blog since the end of April and not one post about the greatest television drama ever. Bold statement but more or less true. What makes The Wire great besides everything is the characters. Anyway, I don't need to drag this intro longer than it needs to be. I will be counting down the top 30, characters, yep that's right, 30!

Just know that this was incredibly hard to do. How did I make this list? Sheeet I don't really know. My brother makes the point that the best characters are the ones that you never wanna miss a scene with them. This is true but it is not the only thing that goes into factoring the top 30. I looked at the character in their entirety. Their dialogue, what they stand for, their personality, story line, their legendary-ness, their interactions. Also their development as a character. While some characters are more or less the same throughout the season, other characters evolve, which is what I love about this show.

2 things to note

*There will be spoilers so read with caution. I will do my best but this is really for people who have seen the show.

*the use of the word "legendary" will be excessive

Enjoy!

30. Michael Lee- While Michael certainly doesn't grab you at first, in fact when we are first introduced to the 4 main kids, Michael was arguably the least interesting. But as Season 4 progresses, we see why Michael is a true legend. As Dookie said, Michael just grew up faster than everyone else. He immediately earns the respect of Bodie for his skills as a corner boy. He impresses Cutty with his talent as a boxer. Most important he impresses Chris and Marlo as a solider for the organization. He is one of the smarter characters in the show and also one of the more caring, demonstrated by the way he takes care of Bug and Dookie. He backed Randy when no one else did.

Some of my favorite Michael moments include

-Beating the shit out of Kenard

-Teaching Dookie how to shoot

-His aura of power after he sets up the murder of his father

-Robbing Vinson "Shit, you just a boy." "Yeah and that's just a knee"

29. The Greek- The head of his organization that provides that "good raw shit," as Prop Joe would say, in Season 2. His mysteriousness gives him that added quality that puts him on this list. One of the most powerful characters in the show, the Greek always provides great dialogue and I am always paying extra attention when he is in the scene. Also he has some of the best lines such as in the last episode of Season 2 "Port in a Storm", one of my favorite episodes in the show.

"Business, always business"

"And, of course, I'm not even Greek"

Also the last scene of episode 2 season 2 when he is talking to the Turkish guy who was responsible for the dead girls on the boat, legendary stuff and one of the most gruesome scenes in the series. He never gets caught by the authorities. Proof of his legendary status is when Nick points him out in that picture to Daniels that he is the boss man and Daniels looks at his team utterly clueless about who this guy is.

28. Butchie- True legend of Baltimore. Butchie is blind but is still a powerful figure in Baltimore. He is Omar's bank and his advisor and is known throughout Baltimore. One of the wisest characters, he has some classic lines that get him on this list.

Omar: What do you see, Butch?

Butchie: Too much. Too goddamn much.

David Simon calls the Wire a Greek Tragedy of sorts. Butchie plays the Tiresias of Baltimore. He seems to be all knowing of what is going on in the city. And like the great blind prophet, he is always right. "It's Baltimore...no one lives forever."

And you must give Butchie all the respect after being tortured by Chris and refusing to give up any information on Omar.

"Conscience do cost."

27. Tommy Carcetti- Would obviously be higher on this list if we just counted season 3 and most of season 4. As the up and coming great white hope of Baltimore, he is a magnetic character and a great counter to the despicable but funny Mayor Royce. From the time we are introduced to the guy up to his primary victory, Carcetti is one of my favorites. You really believe in this guy that he will fix Baltimore. But sadly like a lot of politicians, he is another hack who is looking for the next job on the ladder. His decision to not take the 50 million ends up decimating the city, leaving Baltimore in possibly worse shape when he leaves office. By season 5, I cant stand this guy which is why he is so low on this list. He also gets worked by Tony Gray on the racquetball court.

26. Spiros Vondas- The Greek: "You should have had a son". Spiros: "But then I would have had a wife. "

Vondas is the right hand man for the Greek and really does all the work. He is the one that deals with the Sobotka's and it is him that gets the attention from Daniels and the detail. Excellent work by Paul Ben-Victor with this character. I love the accent and the fact that he played Alan, head of the WB studio in Entourage. Always a legendary scene with him and Prop Joe involved. And when he slit the Turkish guys throat...wow legendary.

While Spiros is a powerful figure in the Greeks organization, he demonstrates compassion and takes a real liking to Nick. Nick was the son that Vondas always wanted and I like the fact that he sticks up for the Sobotka's until the last possible moment. He takes care of Nick and Frank and he tries to do what is right.

25. Frank Sobotka- Head of the stevedores at the docks. Frank is played by Chris Bauer, a fine actor who does some of his best work in The Wire. I have a lot of respect for Frank. He knows his union and the docks of Baltimore are dying and he does everything possible to save them and the jobs of many. He gets into bed with the Greeks but is outraged over the can full of dead girls. He tries to do what he thinks is best but as D'Angelo said, if you cant get real with the story, shit will catch up with you. Sobotka meets his fate after he agrees to come clean about everything. You gotta respect the way he went out, fighting for his life, not going out like a bitch.

I love his scenes with his Brother, some of the Wire's underrated stuff. Sobotka was one of the most respected characters in the Wire, evident by being re-elected as treasurer even after his death, leading to the death of the union office.

"You know what the problem is, Brucie? We used to make shit in this country… build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy’s pockets."

"I knew I was wrong, you know. But in my head, I thought I was wrong for the right reasons."

24. Deacon- A couple things that make The Deacon legendary. The first is that he is played by Melvin Williams, a former heroin trafficker in Baltimore in the 1970s. He was arrested by Ed Burns and David Simon wrote about it while working at the Baltimore Sun. Second is that he is friends with two of the most legendary characters in the show, Bunny Colvin and Cutty. Deacon is a true legend of the show and is very wise in his advice to Bunny and Cutty. Provides some of the best quotes in the show. I love when Bunny sees him playing pool and asks him, "Hustling?"
Deacon: "Educating"

"A good church man is always up in everybody’s shit. It’s how we do.”

23. D'Angelo Barksdale- I am already questioning this ranking. He should probably be a lot higher but D finds himself at 23. Some of the best acting in the show done by Larry Gilliard Jr., who is one of the more established actors in the series. Arguably the main character in season 1, D'Angelo is one of the most interesting and complex characters in the show. His main reason for being this low is as Avon said "D was just weak."

In reality, D was one of the smartest characters in the Wire, he understood certain parts of the game better than others, understanding that the game is rigged. D is apart of some of the greatest and deepest scenes in the series. Starting with the chess scene which is easily a top 5 scene in the show. (Notice that all 3 characters involved in this scene become victims of the game)

The Great Gatsby Scene in the prison is one of my favorites. His showdown with Stringer in Prison. "Where's Wallace!" The Mcnugget scene. Many more.

D'Angelo did get squeezed between the sides. He never belonged in the game and it was unfortunate for him that he was Avon's nephew. He schooled Poot and Wallace and while Bodie saw his weakness, he still had a certain amount of respect for him.

He demonstrated understanding and was against the violence that is apart of the drug game. Which makes me question him killing someone in the beginning of the show. I could go on for hours about D. But if I had to write an essay on one character, it would easily be D'Angelo. Once again, props to Larry Gilliard Jr.

"Now you think Ronald McDonald gonna go down to the basement and say, "Hey Mr. Nugget - you the bomb. We sellin' chicken faster than you can tear the bone out. So I'm gonna write my clowney ass name on this fat-ass check for you." Shit. Man, the nigga who invented them things? Still working in the basement for regular wage, thinking of some shit to make the fries taste better or some shit like that. Believe.

"Gatsby, he was who he was, and he did what he did. And cuz he wasn't willing to get real with the story, that shit caught up to him. That's what I think, anyway. "

And of course from D "The king stay the king."

22. Brother Mouzone- Where to begin! He definitely fits the bill of being a character that has his scenes be classified as must watch. He could be higher on the list but he has a rather short amount of screen time to justify putting him in the top 20. His exchange with Cheese is priceless but nothing beats the opening scene of episode 11 of season 3 with Mouzone and Omar. Truly a legendary scene in The Wire. His vocabulary is unconventional for his line of work and his character is unlike anything you will every see. The glasses and the bow tie just add to the aura of Mouzone. His methods are unmatched and when he teams up with Omar, lets just say I would not want to be the one they are after.

Prop Joe said it best about Mouzone, "Nigga has more bodies on him than a Chinese cemetery."

21. Jay Landsmen- Near the top of the list of funniest characters on The Wire. He is in charge of the Homicide Division under Rawls. Always up in McNulty's shit which pleases me. He is always eating in his office or looking at some porno magazine and ripping into the detectives. While he rips into them, he does respect them and the viewer can see this. His Eulogy to Jimmy at the end of the show is priceless and there are honestly too many quotes to write here. True legend of the show and easily one of the funniest characters. The only person on the police command that I like. (Rawls is a hack and Burrell is an ultimate dick)

"From everything we've given you, fire should be shooting out your ass. But no, there you sit like a genital wart."

Stay Tuned for the next installment. Feel free to hate

TV on the Radio in Prospect Park

On August 11th, 3 friends and I traveled to Brooklyn after work to see the much anticipated TV on the Radio concert in Prospect Park. A little history first. This would be my second time at Prospect Park and my second time seeing TV on the Radio. It was in October of last year when I first saw them at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia where they put on a fantastic show. And it was in the summer of 2008 when I first took part in the concert experience at Prospect Park seeing Spoon for the third time.

I had high hopes for this concert for multiple reasons. First and foremost, TV on the Radio is fucking awesome. They are one of the most unique bands out there today and they have released 3 kick ass albums and a couple legendary EP's. They also hail from Brooklyn so anytime you have a band playing in their hometown, you expect the show to be special. Think like No Doubt's "Live in the Tragic Kingdom" performance in their hometown of Anaheim. The concert should have a little extra juice. And finally there was my friend Jeff who had seen TV on the Radio play at Prospect Park in 2006 and described it as possibly one of the best shows he has seen (maybe only topped by Radiohead at All Points West last year.)

So now it is 2009 and the city is sweltering. Arriving at the venue, there were three things very noticeable. The amount of Brooklyn hipsters, the unbelievably shitty sound of the band playing before TV on the Radio (think like Animal Collective but worse), and the practically unbearable weather. We got pretty close to the stage and only had to wait about 30 minutes before they came out. But god it was hot. It was dark by the time the show started (8:50 pm) it was in the 80s with high humidity and no wind. So I will say the heat definitely drained me, but it didn't seem to stop TV on the Radio.

In what would be a performance dominated by their newish album "Dear Science" (2008), they opened with "Shout Me Out", which when I saw in Philly, stood out as one of their better songs in the concert. While this was their opener, it was a great start to the show and the jump off point for a performance full of unkempt energy and vigour. Definitely a good warm up.

They next moved backward to "The Wrong Way", their opener on their 2004 debut album Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes. Funny story about this album. Our school radio station had a poster of this album and for a year it nagged at me. Finally toward the end of the year, I decided that I had to be in possession of this and took it down from the wall, walking away like nothing was wrong. I am a better person because of this.

Anyway the show moved on. I was never really a fan of the song but you could tell the show was about to get serious. They came back hard with three in a row off their new album. Starting with the epic "Halfway Home" which is one of their most powerful sounding songs. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe puts it all together in this one and the song climaxes at the end with Tunde bobbing around and chanting with guitars blazing. They just hit their stride.

They followed this with "Golden Age", which might of been the best song in the show. The horn section in the concert really added to their sound and it definitely became noticeable in this funky number. Tunde probably sounded his best in this song as his vocals seemed to tire as the concert was winding down. "Crying" was next and I was very impressed with the horn section in this song which carried the song. One of the better songs of Dear Science, this was the first time I saw them perform the song live. They did not disappoint. Props to the sax guy for beasting the end of the song.

Now it was time for the big guns. No matter how many times I have heard it, "Wolf Like Me" might be the best song of the decade. Woah woah woah Ms. Lippy! Yea that's a serious claim but I could defend it. Plus you really cant say that about any song, but it truly is an ultimate legendary banger. I feel like they always play this song in the early parts of their shows because it must suck all the energy out of them to perform. The one thing about the show that was such a contrast from the Green Day concert was the lack of energy from the crowd. Now I understand that it was literally a sauna outside, but the only thing missing from this song is the crowd jumping around going completely nuts.

They came down from this uber high with "Red Dress." A song of the new album, I never really listened too much but was impressed with live. Then another knockout blow came. My friend Jeff and I agree that "Young Liars" is "not their best song but it really it." However you wanna interpret that, i dont really know but this one was mesmerizing. The song in itself is flawless. The slow and building intro, all the instruments coming together, Tunde softly howling into the mic. The sound just swells and comes together. The song possess some of TV on the Radio's best lyrics and the flow is awesome. Another highlight of the concert.

Now I am not completly sure about what followed but my guess is that "Staring at the Sun" was next which is probabaly one of their most well known songs. While it wasnt as memorable as the time they performed it in Philly, it was still the shit. Tunde put a little extra into this one, dancing all over the stage.

After a brief pause where some of the band members talked to the audience, "Blues From Down Here" was played. I don't really like this song and by this time, the heat was getting to me. They had been on for less then an hour but I was exahusted. I assumed that TV on the Radio wasnt gonna be on for too much longer. They dont usually play for very long and I could only imagine how hot they were on stage.

I did enjoy the end of the set where they played two bangers off of Dear Science. "Dancing Choose" was first which is just a really fun song. They followed with "DLZ" which was awesome. Probably my favorite song off the new album. Just a really cool song and even better live.

After about a 5 minute break and the crowd stupidly chanting one more song (Fuck you guys, they will definitely play more than one, don't settle! Concert rooks!), they came back on. The encore started with "Family Tree", a lackluster song from their new album. They made up for that waste of a song with "A Method" which my friend Eddie would say was the best of the concert. They brought out like 20 people, including kids to help them with the percussion in the song. Just a really cool scene for a cool song.

The concert closed with the classic banger "Satellite" which I was very happy they played. Tunde and the band revved it up one more time for this one.

So after about an hour and twenty minutes they were done. The last time I saw them I was kinda upset they didnt play for that long, but it was ok this time. They play with such high energy plus the heat was brutal. Overall a great concert minus a couple of things. I wasnt crazy about some of the songs they played. The last time I saw them, the set list was a lot stronger. There were a couple songs that they didnt play that I was really pissed about but what can you do. I think the count was 8 of 11 songs off the new album

Another thing I was a little picky about was the sound. Maybe the mics werent loud enough or all the other instruments were too loud but it seemed that Tunde's vocals were being swallowed by the sound. I'm not totally sure but his vocals werent as crisp or tight as I would of hoped.

Overall a great show. It doesn't top Green Day but I dont really know what can.

Top of the head TV on the Radio Lists:

Best Albums: 1. Return to Cookie Mountain 2. Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes 3. Dear Science

Best Songs at the Concert: 1. Young Liars 2. Golden Age 3. DLZ

Songs I Wish They Played: 1. Province 2. Dreams 3. Love Dog

Fellow concert friend and Blog contributer Jeff Feldman contributes his lists as well

Best Albums: 1. Return to Cookie Mountain 2. Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes 3. Dear Science

Best Songs at the Concert: 1. Golden Age 2. Young Liars 3. Satellite

Songs I Wish They Played: 1. New Health Rock 2. Tonight 3. Province

It's the Weekend!

(Props to Brooklyn Vegan for the Pics)

Rutgers Football Preview

*The following article was written by Dan Breslauer. Breslauer or D Bres/Bresnuts is the voice of Rutgers sports and can spit out any stat about Rutgers sports on command. He also bleeds scarlet. Bres will be going into his senior year at RU where he will be controlling all things WRSU. Bres is known for his Amir Vahedi like demeanor at the poker table, David Eckstein-esque defense at second base and his unhealthy consumption of tic tac's. He is also the MC of the HP Allstarz Fantasy Baseball Draft.*

Enjoy!

Well, the month of August is officially in full swing, so that must mean it’s time for a D-Bres prediction segment with the Rutgers football season about a month away from kickoff.
The Scarlet Knights program has made unheard of progress by a perception standpoint, since the days of 10-loss seasons and 50-point losses a little over seven years ago. Coach Greg Schiano has now taken RU to four straight bowl games, winning three of them and placing players in the NFL each of those years.
The graduation of Rutgers’ all-time leading passer, Mike Teel, and the early departure of all-world wide receiver Kenny Britt certainly temper expectations for a 2009 Scarlet Knights team looking to build on the 8-5 season of last year.
The Big East media isn’t convinced, ranking RU 5th out of eight teams in their yearly poll last week. However, No. 1 and No. 5 were separated by mere points, proving that there are two clear tiers in the conference this season.
Without further ado, we’ll break down RU’s season game-by-game, giving you nuggets about the schemes and players along the way. This is your Rutgers football fix…

Game 1: Rutgers vs. Cincinnati (Labor Day; Mon. Sept. 7, 4:00pm ESPN)

I said this last year, but there has never been a more anticipated opener in Rutgers football history. Not only is it on national television with only one other football game being played that day, but a few other factors make this an absurd opening day atmosphere.
Cincinnati has beaten Rutgers in three straight seasons, including snapping RU’s 9-0 start in 2006 and keeping them out of the Orange Bowl last season. The Bearcats are the defending Big East champs and the Scarlet Knights will be unveiling their new 52,000-seat stadium to the public on Labor Day.
The Bearcats graduate ten players from one of the best defenses in the country. They lose 13 of their top 15 tacklers, including the best six. Rutgers loses a four-year quarterback, two great receivers (Britt and Tiquan Underwood) and a few pieces on defense including safety Courtney Greene.
However, Rutgers returns all five guys on an offensive line that has ranked in the top ten in the nation in sacks allowed a few times in the last five years. Left tackle Anthony Davis is a top 20 draft pick in the 2010 draft if he leaves early and the running game for RU will be versatile with Joe Martinek, Jourdan Brooks and a hobbled Kordell Young.
The bottom line in this game is coaching—two-time Big East Coach of the Year Brian Kelly versus 2006 National Coach of the Year, Greg Schiano.
We will probably see fifth-year senior quarterback Domenic Natale start this game for RU unless freshman Tom Savage wins the job in camp, which I will be attending this week.
Emotion will play a huge part in this game. Cinci’s offense is explosive with quarterback Tony Pike and wide-out Mardy Gilyard. Rutgers counters with the best linebacker core in the conference with Ryan D’Imperio leading the way at the “mike” spot. It will be a sloppy game as all openers are, with defense winning it.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 20 Cincinnati 17

Game 2: Rutgers vs. Howard (Sept. 12)

I’m not going to spend as much time on these useless games, but I’ll add some thoughts in here. I wouldn’t be shocked to see packages for QB Jabu Lovelace in some of these early games with options and draws. Howard has a good band, but a bad football team.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 40 Howard 7

Game 3: Rutgers vs. FIU (Sept. 19)

A game on Rosh Hashana, which means no Bres in attendance, which stinks because the return of former RU assistant Mario Cristobal would have been fun to watch. FIU is terrible though, in the bottom 10 every year.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 37 FIU 3

Game 4: Rutgers @ Maryland (Sept. 26)

There is a big revenge factor in this game. Darius Heyward-Bey and Keon Lattimore led the Terps into Piscataway in 2007 and beat Rutgers up. Those two are gone now and Byrd Stadium will be rocking in late September.

This is going to be a tough test for RU—as a young secondary will certainly be thrown into the fire. Hopefully, CBs Logan Ryan and Darrell Givens (if he qualifies) are ready to play significant amounts of series by then because RU is going to need it.

Historically, ACC offensive lines have given RU fits and the Scarlet Knights have a slight out-of-conference letdown here.

Bres’ prediction: Maryland 24 Rutgers 21

Game 5: Rutgers vs. Texas Southern (Oct. 10)

If Tim Brown doesn’t catch four touchdowns in this game, yeah… they’re that bad. They lost to Arkansas State by 70 last year.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 45 TSU 7

Game 6: Rutgers vs. Pittsburgh (Fri, Oct. 16)

Wow, well a Friday niter in October against the preseason pick to win the Big East, Mr. Stache’s Pittsburgh Panthers.

LeSean McCoy is gone and so is LaRod Stephens-Howling. If RU is 1-0 in conference, the place will be absolutely nutty.

Watch for guys up front like George Johnson and Blair Bines to get to the quarterback regularly here and for Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry to get abused by Mohammed Sanu.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 31 Pittsburgh 17

Game 7: Rutgers @ Army (Fri. Oct. 23)

A trip to West Point in October is always beautiful. The Friday aspect takes a little away from it, but that’s fine.

Army is overmatched here and I expect some converted guys like Mason Robinson to have a big game here.

No more losses to service academies.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 30 Army 10

Game 8: Rutgers @ Connecticut (Oct. 31)

Halloween in East Hartford could be downright dangerous. The “Rent” is torturous and they hate Rutgers. HATE.

No more Donald Brown but this is a monstrous trap game that I’ve said could pose a problem since the schedule came out.

The Huskies get revenge as quarterback inconsistency shows for RU.

Bres’ prediction: Connecticut 21 Rutgers 20

Game 9: Rutgers vs. USF (Thurs. Nov. 12)

Ok, plain and simple… Rutgers doesn’t lose on Thursday night in Piscataway.

Matt Grothe has this date circled. He hasn’t beaten Rutgers in his career. When this game kicks off, it will be almost 25 months since a No. 2 USF team came into NJ and lost due to an insane performance from Ray Rice.

Here’s a dark horse for you in this one. Expect to see LB Damaso Munoz go crazy in this game. Going against some of his home state friends will fuel the fire that is inside this kid. He is ready to have a big year.

Grothe remains flustered against RU and Mike Ford still hasn’t lived up to the hype. Let’s hope Jim Leavitt chills with the Red Bull.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 30 USF 20

Game 10: Rutgers @ Syracuse (Nov. 21)

The Orange is the laughingstock of the Big East. How times have changed from the late 90’s.

Greg Paulus at QB won’t work and Joe Lefeged will let Doug Marrone know why Greg Robinson called him a headhunter.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 35 Syracuse 17

Game 11: Rutgers @ Louisville (Fri. Nov. 27)

The Cardinals are still very down. This is not the same program that came into Piscataway as the No. 3 team in the land on Nov. 9, 2006. And the rest is history at the birthplace of college football.

Without Hunter Cantwell at QB, the Cardinals are limited. Let’s not forget that RU put up 63 on them in 2008.

Bres’ prediction: Rutgers 30 Louisville 17

Game 12: Rutgers vs. West Virginia (Dec. 5)

The way it should be. Rutgers and West Virginia on a Saturday night in December in NJ tussling for the Big East title. RU has not defeated the Mountaineers since September of 1994 in the second game of the season.

While I don’t think the trend will change this year and Rutgers will fall just short of a BCS birth, this atmosphere would be beyond belief. I can only imagine the media coverage and hype leading up to this game on conference title weekend.

Noel Devine and Jarrett Brown are explosive as a duo. Brown has defeated RU twice in his career—in 3 OTs in 2006 and last season—both in Morgantown (filling in for an injured Pat White in each year).

At this point, you have to figure that either Natale or Savage will be experienced by some definition of the word. But no regular season snaps can prepare you for what Dec. 5 would be like if a conference championship is on the line.

RU falls short…

Bres’ prediction: WVU 27 Rutgers 20

Final Rutgers record: (9-3; 5-2 in Big East play)

Projected bowl game—Champs Sports Bowl OR Meineke Car Care Bowl:

Let’s hope for a packed house in P-way on Labor Day… the newly-expanded stadium deserves a proper welcome On the Banks. I think most Rutgers fans would be just fine with a 9-3 season… only time will tell what 2009 has in store for the Scarlet Knights. I never would have believed that Rutgers could ever go to five straight bowl games…

5 Movies You Can't Miss This Summer

*The following article was written by Jason Goldstein, fellow intern at the coolest place ever...MRI. Jason is a known coffee addict and is a lot smarter than me, I probably owe him half my salary here. He will be a senior at Missouri this fall and is majoring in Journalism, something I kinda wish I did. Also he makes movies! Another thing I kinda wish I could do.*

Enjoy!

Anticipating which movies will blow us out of the water is exciting, but it generally doesn't say much about what the must-sees are. After all, this blog - and more or less everyone else - thought Public Enemies was going to be epic.

Instead, director Michael Mann succeeded only in doing what no filmmaker had ever thought possible: put the audience to sleep in the middle of a fight between Dillinger's gang and the FBI. No less impressive was his innovative strategy for accomplishing this: film it in total darkness so all we can see is a black screen with occasional flashes of CGI gunfire.

My point is, it's that time of the summer for someone to look back and tip their hat to the movies that actually delivered on their promises, and then some.

This isn't that post.

For one, I'm not wearing a hat.

More importantly, and in the spirit of 500 Days of Summer, you should know upfront that this isn't an honest blog post. Rather, it's my whorish attempt to bury unsubtle promotions for my own movie, Salad Daze http://www.betheshoe.com/salad_daze.php, into a high quality, honest film/music/sports blog.

Speaking of 500 Days of Summer, that's first on my list.
500 Days had a great trailer that gives away absolutely everything, and doesn't hurt the movie at all by doing it.

Most filmmakers, myself included, go to great lengths to include their trailer doesn't give too much away. For example, the http://betheshoe.com/shoe_theater/theater-sdtrailer.php trailer for Salad Daze gives virtually nothing away.

So we walk into Summer knowing the entire plot: boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl doesn't, boy is sad and mopey. It's a familiar story that sounds a lot like a friend of mine from High School, which is exactly the point. The writing is dead on hilarious, and all the characters are eerily similar to people you've met. Your drunk friend who talks too much? Check. Cold hard bitch? Check. This is a movie that's made to resonate, and makes good on the promise.

Away We Go
It's not a movie for everyone, by any means. Away We Go is an awkwardly-funny, kind of touching (but in a guy-friendly manner) film about a couple trying to find their place in the world. They go from town to town and friend to friend in search of something that suits them.

And the great thing about Away We Go is that we're in the boat with them as they discover that more or less everyone they know is absolutely fucking crazy.

Speaking of fucking crazy, I actually got carded when I went to see this movie. Perhaps it was the fact that I have a full beard that made them think I was 16 or younger? Considering most bartenders don't bother asking me for ID, it leaves me to wonder what the theaters hope to accomplish by ensuring 22-year-old producers who make R-rated movies (well... Salad Daze http://www.betheshoe.com/salad_daze.php would be if we were MPAA rated) aren't just freakishly bearded and unusually tall 12-year-olds.

The Hurt Locker
If you like things that explode, intense things that explode, and really chill quasi-cowboy-esque guys who are addicted to things that explode, this movie is made of awesome.

Jeremy Renner plays the Jeff Tweedy of bomb technicians, with no regard for authority, remarkable talent, and a little recklessness. The only downside of this movie is a 20 minute digression, during which the film tries to bring a few more genre-esque elements in. Bad call on the director's part, since what makes the movie stand out is how it always feels so real.

Salad Daze has no things that explode. They're out of my budget. But exploding things don't really belong in a comedy about loss, relationships, and other things that certainly aren't funny.

Funny People, Funny Movie
If you haven't heard of director Judd Apatow, he's had a hand in every comedy that's crossed the screen in the past decade. Known for 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, Apatow has proven that the key to good comedy is great characters.

Funny People pushes his theory to its limit. The lengthy movie gets inside the lives of people who tell dick jokes for a living, and what it finds offstage isn't so light-hearted. It's morbid, sad, distressing, and... hilarious. While we still have no idea if the film is as box office friendly as Virgin, you can't leave the theatre without tremendous respect for Apatow's bold (and successful) attempt to create the world's first heavy comedy.

My own group, Be The Shoe Productions http://www.betheshoe.com/ agrees with Apatow's philosophy that movies shouldn't live in genre boxes. Our dramas are funny and our comedies have dramatic elements. As Mary-Louise Parker about her show, "I never treated [Weeds] as a comedy. I thought it was a drama. They’re the same thing; life is life, and you shouldn’t play things for tears or laughs."

Now, for the last slot
I almost have to leave this one open. After all, we still have to wait and see about Taking Woodstock, Inglourious Basterds, District 9 and Adam.

But that would force me to miss a chance to mention the underdog film of the summer...

Salad Daze
Created by independent filmmakers in St. Louis on a shoestring budget, Salad Daze tells the story of Alex Kaufman. He just got dumped, his grandfather just died, and he's about to witness the breakdown of his dysfunctional family.

Audiences are calling it Be The Shoe's best work to date, and reviews on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454538/ call the film "a glimpse into a promising future for comedic film-making."

It's available now from ProjectShoestring.com, which is our new state-of-the-art digital distribution platform.

In the meantime, I need to find a chance to go see Adam this week.

The New York Invite (August 1-2)

There is a lot to take from this weekend. Since my tenure on this team, this was definitely our best tournament and one of the most important for our team. It gave us some confidence and a glimpse at what we can accomplish. This is the first time that I am convinced that Pike 2009 can make a run and surprise some teams for a Nationals Bid.

Granted Pike is nowhere near that. The New York Invite was just a start to a long season that will be filled with hard work and Pike having to earn respect that we have not yet deserved. I finally saw it on Saturday when the D line rattled off 4 breaks in a row against Wiretap to close the game. I saw it when the D line came together for a couple runs of breaks against Phoenix on Sunday Morning. I saw it against Pony when the Pike O Line kept us in the game with some huge plays. I saw the anger on the Pony sideline when we went up 8-7 at half and led 10-9 in the second half. They couldn’t believe that we were beating them. Well get used to it!

Pike has yet to prove much but this weekend was a huge step any way you slice it. It was the first time I saw our confidence level equal to the teams we were playing against. We knew we could beat these teams. And come Chesapeake, it will happen.

Saturday Morning: Nothing better than a tournament within reasonable driving distances. As opposed to a 10 hour drive on Friday afternoon to North Carolina, I woke up a little before 6 AM, picked up Glenn and Frenchy in Brunswick and made the unpleasant but short hour and a half drive to Middletown.

I wasn’t as pumped coming into the tournament because of a shoulder injury that would keep me from playing. I felt out of shape and out of touch with the disc as I had taken a week off to rest my shoulder. But come Warm Ups, I felt too good to sit it out. So playing cautiously, I stood on the sidelines ready for our first game against the 3rd Seed in our Pool: Colt 45. It was a nice first game as Pike completely rolled over Colt. While Pike played well, Colt showed little of a fight. I played a few runs of points and remembered that it was incredibly easy to get open on cuts. It wasn’t our best game but we looked solid and won easily 15-3.

After this game I decided to Ice my shoulder and not play against Brooklyn. I wanted to be ready for the Wiretap game. I went with Leon to the grocery store to get Ice as well as Pickles and Beef Jerky (Best Ultimate Snack!) Went I got back to the field we were playing a rather tight game with Brooklyn which I was not happy about. We ended up taking half 8-5. I told Tim that I could play in the second half and got a few points. I caught a huck which felt good but really didn’t do much else. I half heartedly laid out for a disc that I couldn’t really get to because of my shoulder but I knew I would have had if not hurt.

This would definitely come back later in the tournament. While I was able to play, my shoulder prevented me from really laying out. Next was Wiretap which everyone on Pike was hungry to finally beat. We started strong with a quick 2-0 lead but ended up giving it back. The rest of the first half was a back and forth battle. I really don’t recall much but our offense was really starting to click and our Defense was coming close to some breaks but just couldn’t connect the dots. With the score tied at 10, the D came alive. I have to give the credit to everyone on the field. I have never seen such good team defense. There weren’t any spectacular layouts, just good hard marks, people shutting down the easy dump resets and downfield defenders shutting down the cutters. We were creating easy turnovers and converting. We ran off 4 breaks and eventually won the game 15-11. Everyone on Pike was excited but we all knew that was nothing. We washed some demons by beating Wiretap but this was just a small step on a long and winding staircase to our ultimate goal of making nationals. The real teams were playing in the elite brackets while we were taking care of business in the shit bracket.

I didn’t play in the last game against Wilmington. No point really. I let the shoulder rest and watched our team play a little lackluster but efficient to win easily and cap the day at 4-0 winning the pool.

Feeling good, CJ, Bo, Glenn, Frenchy and I went to Olive Garden for a nice post Saturday Tourney Dinner. Afterward we went to the hotel and were lucky to find Will Smith’s best movie on TV. (Men in Black, read about it!)

After some much needed sleep, Pike headed to the field ready to battle Phoenix in the pre-quarters. Pike has been in this situation all year. Advance to the pre quarters but fail to win and reach the top tier bracket. As we warmed up and the rain fell, I sensed a different feeling from this Pike team. This confident vibe that I knew was new to this team got me excited.

Personally I still think about a backhand throw to the end zone against SOL at Boston that if completed, had us playing against Truckstop in the quarters. There were to be no wasted opportunities in this game.

Like most games, our offense started off with some big plays and a big huck to CJ who gave us a jump start. Our D was then able to get a D (I think Kuger) which led to my first big test of the shoulder, a 35 yard flick to Fink in the end zone. I felt good on the release but realized that someone was poaching and was about to D it. The Phoenix guy jumped and tipped it in the air but Fink was able to stay with it and give us a 2-0 lead. A big sigh of relief. Phoenix came back on offense and scored rather quickly. Our offense kept strong and gave us a 3-1 lead. I came back in for D and tipped a disc that was thrown in the end zone. I was frustrated that I only tipped it, knowing that it should have been a D and that if I was healthy, I could have easily laid out for the block. Either way I figured it was Karma from my throw to Fink being caught.

While our offense was keeping us in it, our D was having trouble holding our marks. We got beat a couple times on some break hucks on the backhand side. We struggled at the end of the first half going down 8-6 and having to start on D coming out.

Pike 2009 had up to this point shown little promise and a lot of disappointment. The second half would change all that. We tried out our 1-3-3 for the first time this year and saw a lot of positive results. I finally started to get more involved in the action and caught the break goal to make it 8-7. The next point might have been my most memorable point of the tournament. With the disc close to the goaline, I was looking for a cut in the end zone and saw none. I looked for Tim as a dump but around stall 5 he was too close to me and not open. I looked back to the end zone and saw Baer get a little separation from his man and I unleashed the infamous push pass that landed perfectly in Baer’s hands. The reaction was mixed I would say haha but the results pleased everyone. With the game tied, we got another D and I caught the go ahead break goal which lead to me spiking the disc against my chest. Yea I was starting to get into a rhythm.

It was definitely my best game of the tournament mainly because of the matchups. The Phoenix O line was short and not especially fast which gave me a huge advantage on offense. I was able to get two bookends in the second half and the D line took control getting the game to 14-12. After the Pike offense screwed up once to make it 14-13, they went back to the bread and butter and Dusty unleashed an unreal backhand that hung in the air until CJ plucked it out of the air. Pike 15-13! Now this wasn’t like we just advanced to Nationals but everyone on this team understood the significance of this win. I think Fink said a best “A SUNDAY MORNING WIN, PIKE!”

It was true. Since my time on this team, we have not gotten past this point in a tournament, not being Sectionals of course. It was a lot of firsts for us and we were flying high, ready for a showdown with PonY.

The rain continued to fall as we started out on Offense. The magic of CJ continued as he caught the first point of the game. PonY answered back quickly on offense and I could instantly realize the difference between Phoenix and PonY. They were faster, smarter, always moving and just all out better. This game was mostly offense. Our D got a couple chances but we had trouble moving the disc upfield, getting it jammed on the sideline. I spent most of the day covering BVH who is a true legend of the sport (Also noting his spot on the Huddle Mock Draft) He was able to shut me down for the most part on offense and I got beat by him once that left me very unhappy. He also caught two hammers for goals which is hard to defend but showed that I was not close enough to my defender.

In the end we didn’t have enough to win. We threw away chances that you cannot do against elite teams like PonY. After being up 10-9 they ran 6 on us to win 15-10. It was very disappointing but also just as promising. Nick M said after the game that he would much rather lose to these kind of teams than beat up on dog shit like we did on the first day and we all agreed.

I played well all tournament considering my shoudler and definitely had one of my best games against Phoenix. It was a little upsetting to end on a bad note with me being ineffective against PonY. Still I learned a lot about myself as a player and where I am right now and where I need to be come the Fall. I still have tons of work to do and I am excited to get there. This really got me excited for the rest of our season which should be a lot better than my rookie year in 2008

We lost to a better team that day but I don’t believe that will be the case come later in the year. Pike showed a lot at the New York Invite and I think earned some respect from our peers. More importantly, our team gained a ton of confidence and the belief that we can make something happen this year.

Good Weekend Pike!