Ananas

For the second time in 2 weeks, the Philadelphia Phillies have been RickRoll'd.

I really doubt that. The more likely result is that after the studios take the first 5 nods with their 20 million dollar Oscar campaigns, voters will actually have to think for themselves with deciding upon who to champion for Best Picture. And that could lead to some interesting results.

Source I don't mind this decision on the grounds that it allows for some more inventive films to creep into the category. You look at years like 2004 where Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind couldn't find a spot because of the agressive campaigns put on by the major studios and wonder if something like this would have made a difference.

From CBS Sports writer Danny Knobler's Twitter:

He was already a cheater when he got caught with a corked bat.

Okay, so now that the first rounds of he draft are over and Ben Sheets no longer costs a team a first rounder, any bets on how long before he signs? I really hope the Jays are in on him, they wanted to wait to see if they stay in it before they added anyone and I think a game and a half out of the division in the middle of June qualifies as "in it". EDIT: Scratch that, apparently he's headed to James Andrews this week hoping to get clearance to begin throwing and maybe back for the end of the season.

Source - Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily Awesome news. And for those unfamiliar with Finke, she sources everything incredibly well and is usually very reliable.

Spoiler: Click here to viewNot for nothing, but it would be a shame to not mention Seth Dikun's SICK flying triangle submission of Rolando Perez. There was some spectacular BJJ on display last night.

Both of the teams Halladay won 20 games on won 86 games. Those are good years.

Love the James Taylor performance though. So I guess thanks to Jay for that.

When Doc decides a slump is over, a slump is over. Now let's actually get some wins in the weekend series with the massholes, mmkay?

Dream 9: Spoiler: Click here to viewFun night of fights. The Hulk Grand Prix generally wasn't the train wreck I'd assumed it would be, and the featherweight tournament brought some really consistently good fights. Minowa def. Sapp: Sapp stupidly decided to work out of a half guard and try for a submission despite the 180 pound weight advantage and massive reach advantage. He tried to get Minowa's back, Minowa turned over and locked in a sick heel hook from the reverse mount. Hong-Man Choi def. Jose Canseco: Went about as expected, other than Canseco being able to stretch the fight over two minutes. He landed a few body shots early and was able to avoid Choi's attack, but as soon as he took a hard punch you knew it was basically over. Choi knocked him on his back, mounted him and worked some easy ground and pound for the victory. Sokoudjou def. Nortje: Instead of coming out like a bat out of hell and tiring after two minutes. Sokoudjou worked the outside with some leg kicks and came in looking for the takedown from the clinch. He eventually got the judo takedown and the KO from (I think, it was a while ago) side control. He looked good, the best he's looked since the last time he fought in Japan. Mousasi def. Hunt: Again, went about as expected. Mousasi used the considerable mobility advantage to get the takedown and eventually the kimura from half guard (?). Looked impressive here, definitely looked the favourite to win this tourney. Kawajiri def. Calvan: Calvan almost caught him with a guillotine early but couldn't lock it in. Kawajiri then ground and pounded out a victory over the quickly gassed Calvan. Not the most exciting fight on the card. No, that would have to go to... Tokoro def. Cullum: Awesome submission showcase. Cullum almost had him a couple times (a heel hook towards the end of round 1), but for the most part Tokoro was the better fighter in a really high paced fight. One of the better fights of 2009 so far. Takaya def. Maeda: Love Maeda, but Takaya won me over by using Cavalera Conspiracy as entrance music. Maeda dominated most of the fight until Takaya caught him with a right cross that floored Maeda, allowing him to finish the fight just before the first round ended. Fernandes def. Imanari: Not entirely unlike Anderson Silva vs. Thales Laites, Fernandes kept trying to finish the fight with strikes while Imanari dropped to the ground hoping to get a submission. Glad to see the one-dimensional fighter take the loss via unanimous decision. Also didn't realise until the end of the show that Fernandes fights out of Canada, so that's awesome. Joe Warren def. Kid Yamamoto: How about that Joe Warren? Deadly in the clinch, huge on the ground and with a granite jaw. If he keeps working his muay thai he's going to be one hell of a featherweight. Warren by UD. Mayhem Miller NC. Jacare: Disappointing finish, with Jacare taking an inadvertent illegal kick to the head on the ground and being opened up deep. Miller was really showing some poor sportsmanship, shit-talking Jacare all the way despite obviously being at fault for the stoppage. Maybe it's for the best; after Cullum/Tokoro there's no way the ME was going to top it. If you didn't catch the card I'd definitely catch the replay. Starmaking turn by Joe Warren and some great fights along the way.

If one were coming from the perspective of someone with no sentimental attachment to any existing team that's fine, but don't pretend that 80% of southern Ontario aren't Leafs fans. A few seasons out of the playoffs isn't going to make everyone clamor for new allegiances. Are you actually saying if the Flames sucked and some great team moved to Red Deer, you'd be excited to see their games instead of the Flames? Of course not, you'd want to keep watching while they pulled themselves out of it and became a contender again.

Lea Michele has always been the perfect crossover candidate for a jump to Hollywood. If anything I'm surprised it took two years.

So despite the rush to eulogize it last year, the television medium continues to be alive and kicking. The percentage of TV revenue derived the old fashioned way, from traditional ads, continued to be in the high 90s. And even though industry executives have not yet found out how to solve a problem like TiVo, live television viewership continues to be alive with an overwhelming majority of viewers choosing to watch shows as they air. Does that mean the industry isn't in flux? Certainly not, and some of the programming decisions made this year are indicating a recession trend towards new, more stable modes of thinking. This week marks the yearly "upfront presentations", where the TV networks will announce their fall schedules to ad-buyers and international networks. Are we ready to bitch about the short-sightedness of major networks for canceling our favourite low rated shows? Of course we are, this is the internet. Up first on May 18th is FOX. They had a pretty good year in 2008-09, launching two very successful new shows in Fringe and Lie to Me as well as the cult favourite Dollhouse. They also re-launched the partnership of House and 24, while creatively re-igniting the latter. American Idol continued to dominate, even as its ratings slipped slightly, and Bones gave the network a solid if unspectacular foundation on Thursdays. So what strategy would they come up with for this year? Well, here's their fall schedule, courtesy of The Futon Critic (new shows underlined): Pilot descriptions can be found here, and trailers here. Okay, so I think they've done a few things right here. Thursdays have been a barren wasteland for FOX ever since the network canceled The O.C. in 2007. For much of last season it was the graveyard for many-a bad reality series, but in the mid-season a trial run of Bones on Thursdays at 8pm provided some encouraging results. I'm impressed that they've taken a strong step forward to program aggressively on the night by pairing it with the freshman hit Fringe. Hopefully they'll also show enough patience to allow the pairing to grow. I'm not sure that So You Think You Can Dance is destined for success in the fall, but should it attract an audience it will be an ideal pairing for new series Glee. And the reality SYTYCD is an easy money maker anyway, so it's a small risk to take in a fall season where FOX is just happy to show up. Giving Lie to Me the House lead-in is probably a good move, the show trended downwards in the ratings from its mid-season debut and will require some help to establish a stable viewer base. And of course, the move to renew Dollhouse and manage for margins on Friday nights is one I can get behind as a fan of the show and even give them credit for a degree of prudent recession planning (and yes, that will make me a hypocrite when I rip NBC for it tomorrow). And the bad? Well I guess their placing on the schedule is based on their multi-camera discount budgets, but I don't see much opportunity for momentum between the FOX sitcoms Brothers and 'Til Death and the returning Dollhouse. Brothers seems suspiciously placed to perhaps capture some of the Everybody Hates Chris audience, but if you're trying to attract CW-level audiences then what exactly are you doing running a major network? The placement of Human Target is I guess an obvious one (let it catapult off of the AI lead-in since it's your most buzzed new show), but I do feel like it would be an outstanding pairing for Dollhouse. Perhaps if DH can get some kind of foothold on Fridays a pairing with HT could be possible next year. And as much as I understand that it's tough to schedule a sitcom like Sons of Tucson on a network where the live-action sitcoms are the laughingstock of the industry, did they really have to schedule it in the middle of Animation Domination? One of these things isn't like the others... All in all, I find myself interested in the new shows Glee, Human Target and Sons of Tucson. Past Life seems like it was Ghost Whisperer in its own past life, Brothers looks every sitcom that I don't need to see, and the Cleveland Show seems like the dilution of an already weakened brand. A more aggressive slate, if not as enticing as the slate that saw JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon brought on board. And now to angry fans of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, over to you...

In fact, Neil Flynn's pilot "The Middle" already has been picked up. That being said, the Hollywood Reporter article made mention of the fact that all three had signed deals to appear on the show even if their pilots go to series. I guess Scrubs will just schedule around their availability.

That sentence is so many kinds of stupid that a mathematical equation cannot be made to work out the exact amount. No it isn't. It's an honest statement made by someone who has precisely nothing to gain or lose from the show continuing on beyond it's best before date. Like, y'know, all of us. As for the people who actually DO have something to lose (like maybe reputation), Bill Lawrence supports the renewal. Why? Because, in the middle of a recession, making a deal that keeps the 150 odd people who work on Scrubs employed is a good thing. In the middle of a period in which sitcom work is almost impossible to get, keeping one of the few sitcoms left running is a great thing. And who knows, maybe with new people stepping up to run the show (Lawrence, along with EP's Garrett Donovan, Neil Goldman and Kevin Biegel have all lined up new gigs), the new life that the writing staff breathed into it in season 8 will allow the show to transition smoothly into something else that is different but just as interesting. Honestly, why shit on a decision to keep something going? If it sucks, don't watch it. It's not like it sucking will somehow diminish your life in anyway, nor should anyone else's enjoyment or anticipation of season 9 diminish your opinion of them. We've been able to enjoy 8 seasons of some of the most unique, endearing comedy to ever grace television. Honestly, with a track record like that I give this show a better chance than some new show that hasn't hooked us yet. He's not. As the article explains, it's a starring vehicle for him where he'll play the lead in a sitcom called Hank. So I'm kind of assuming he's playing a guy named Hank.

You misread what I told you. What we were told to tell people is the true story, that one of the motors is broken.

Doc was so awesome last night. Faced the minimum through 6 innings, got through 9 on 102 pitches. And the atmosphere at the Rogers Centre last night was off the hook. Boo's before every Burnett pitch, loud "AJ Sucks" chants throughout the building and huge pops for every out Halladay recorded. Melky Cabrera kind of egged the crowd on in the 8th when loud "Yankees suck" chants broke out and he started tugging on his jersey (I'm not sure how best to word that, but I'm sure you've all seen the sort of thing before). It only made them louder. Scott Rolen came in 0 for 17 against AJ and left 3 for 20. Hill continued his hot start with 2 hits including a solo home run that started the wheels falling off the Burnett train in the 8th. And in the end, to quote the Drunk Jays Fans, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

3 1/2 day estimates for Star Trek now up 3 million to 79 million. That's a very good sign, as a smaller than expected drop off indicates turnout well beyond the franchise's base. It's a $150 million film, so it needs to hold reasonably well and at least do that much domestically. Nonetheless, this is some really good news for people hoping that the financials take care of themselves and make a sequel happen.

Spoiler: Click here to viewI completely agree with you, although I'm coming from the other end of the spectrum as a non-fan of Star Trek. I don't really get into heavy sci-fi (probably why I always preferred the epic fantasy of Star Wars), but this is a really digestible futuristic action movie. It has relaunched the series in a way one could suggest lends itself to continued and sustainable success with this wonderful cast and JJ Abrams' outstanding creative team. And hey, what this definitely opens the door to for Trekkies is that a network decides to get in on the action and orders a new series. And since in this day and age no network can afford the kind of budget required for a big action film, the likely result is a more hardline science fiction series. Nonetheless, I definitely enjoyed this one and look forward to any prospective series with this cast.

k-os' "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman" is one of the best k-os songs I've heard in a long time and easily hip-hop track of the year so far. In fact, his whole new album is a lovely step back to his hip-hop roots.

From UFC.com: Some days it must suck to be an MMA promoter. Thus far, the talent booked for 98 who have been forced to pull out: Mir, Okami, Koshcheck, Irvin and Alexander.

Quite frankly I'm shocked a pillar of journalistic integrity like TMZ would stoop so low.

I love this show, so just realise it's saying something when I say that the last scene and the Mr Roboto shoot-out are 1-2 as my favorite scenes of this show's entire run. I've watched both like 3-4 times now.