Category: Media

Reflecting On 9/11 After 19 Years

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We normally try to keep it light here and give you something to laugh at, but we would be remiss if we didn’t briefly touch upon the awful day in American history that we are now somehow 19 years removed from: 9/11. There are only a handful of days in the history of this country that you can refer to in just two words and everyone immediately knows what you’re talking about. Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Nine Eleven etc.

Right now is a contentious time in this country as politicians continue to have a battle royale rather than work together, there are huge waves of protests aimed at racial injustice, and there is a virus that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans in less than a year. But if there is one thing that 9/11 revealed to us, it’s the power of unifying regardless of race, religion, orientation, creed, or color to become stronger together.

As anyone my age does, I vividly remember September 11th. I remember being in my 7th grade first period gym class when the planes crashed into the twin towers. My gym teacher Mr. O stopped class and wheeled out one of those old tube TVs on the cart and we all just stood there in the locker room and watched the news in silence. In our second period health class our teacher also wheeled out the TV and we just continued to watch the news in silence. Remember this is before everyone had smartphones and instant notifications so nobody knew what the hell was going on. The teachers had no idea what to do with a bunch of 12 year olds staring into the face of the worst terrorist attack in our country’s history. We were too old to just lie to so what were they supposed to do? So we all just watched together and had that moment burned into our collective brains.

So even though we are in incredibly troubling times with seemingly no end in sight, it’s important to remember what we learned in the wake of 9/11. Whether you’re a cop, a firefighter, an EMT, a construction worker, a student, a 9-5er, a liberal, a Republican, black, white, whatever you are just remember, we’re all Americans. Forget the politics and forget the differences that sometimes seem to drive a wedge between so many of us. We’re all Americans. We will never forget that horrible day and the nearly 3,000 lives lost, but we can use that as a reminder of how great this country can be when we are all staring into the dark void of despair, together.

I will leave you with a story you may be familiar with, but if you haven’t seen this video I implore you to take the 13 minutes out of your day and watch the story of Welles Crowther aka The Man in the Red Bandana.

Good Luck to Twins Fans Looking for Game 1 on Friday Night

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Bring Me The News – Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff series between the Twins and Yankees starts just after 6 p.m. [CDT] Friday, but some fans in Minnesota could have a hard time watching it at home.

MLB Network has the exclusive rights to the first game of the series, with Games 2, 3, 4 and 5 scheduled to be televised on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). If you don’t subscribe to a package on Comcast that includes MLB Network, you’re out of luck in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul market is not among the Comcast network that is included in MLB’s partnership with numerous cable/streaming providers to offer MLB Network for free as a bonus Oct. 1-11.

Another great move by Major League Baseball. As if it weren’t bad enough that the game was being televised exclusively on a premium channel, MLB is going to give that premium channel away for free that day to most of the country, but not to the home market of one of the teams in the game. Because that’s how you grow the game!

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This is worse than the NHL airing playoff games on Golf Channel. At least most people who have cable get the Golf Channel. Airing a playoff hockey game on Golf Channel, while ironic, is not much different then airing it on USA. MLB Network, though, is available in roughly 20 million fewer homes than USA Network.

When the NFL airs a game on cable, the home markets of the teams in the game get the game on free TV, too. But what the hell does the NFL know?

If there’s any justice in this world Twins fans will flock to alternatives like YouTube TV in droves for the free trial and then cut the cord for good, kicking Comcast in the teeth.

Godspeed Lynchie

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Boston.com – For someone so used to saying hello, it’s not easy saying goodbye.

Mike Lynch, the gracious and good-humored Channel 5 sports anchor known as “Lynchie’’ to just about anyone familiar with the Boston sports scene over the last thirty-something years, will anchor his final sportscast on the 11 p.m. news Thursday before transitioning into a correspondent role.

In case you haven’t read between the lines, which I don’t really blame you for, local sports media and your boy Joey B….don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. I don’t think they’re all that intelligent. They don’t have a ton to say. Mostly, I think they take it a bit too much to heart that their job is to troll enough to command ratings. Such palpable disengenuousness does absolutely nothing for me.

This relates mostly to sports radio, but local sports tv is not completely innocent. They are part of the wheel after all.

Mike Lynch is, and always has been, different. He’s been a fixture of my sports fandom for as long as I can remember. Literally the face I see when I think of who brought me highlights growing up in a house with no cable, so no Sports Center.

He comes into people’s home every night, with tonight being the last night, with a friendly, warm, charasmatic presence and brings them the latest in Boston sports. In recent days, he’s been jovial and exultant when we have another ring or parade either locked up or in sight. For my entire childhood, some dark times indeed for Boston sports, he was consoling and hopeful. Almost like a trusted Uncle, one of the ones who didn’t show up to Christmas shitfaced every year.

But time has passed. Maybe Mike Lynch sees twitter and the instant nature of news these days and realizes that sports fans don’t need him as much. I don’t think that is totally the case. I hope it’s just his time to move on to something else, while keeping that correspondent role on the side.

They’ll call him in from the pen if necessary.

-Joey B.

 

Good Humor Has Unofficially Put Me in Charge of Bringing Back Bubble Play

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There are few things I love more than America, Baseball, and Ice Cream. My family sure, but to be honest it’s kind of close. There’s nothing better than sitting at a game in the midst of summer, watching your favorite team take down a rival while you soak up the sun and snack on a delicious frozen treat. Years back, there existed something that encompassed all three of the key components I named above. I’m talking about Good Humor’s Bubble Play. 

I’ll pause to let you reflect as your taste buds take you back to a time of euphoric delights, a staple of the youth of every millennial child from sea to shining sea.

Bubble Play was the perfect summer treat, straight from the ice cream truck circling your neighborhood after you just got done running through the sprinkler. Unfortunately, it’s been years since it’s been available and the world was never the same. Some say the current political climate is due to the lack of Bubble Play, but that’s neither here nor there. 

But what if I told you, we had a chance to restore our summers to former greatness?

Good Humor has proposed to me that I come up with a plan to revive Bubble Play.

The only thing that millennials are better at than making great social media campaigns is reviving products of yesteryear. So I ask you, please use the hashtag #BringBackBubblePlay and show Good Humor just how much you love and miss Bubble Play, and maybe, just maybe, we can save the summers yet to come.

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Harry Potter Go Has Officially Launched. Also, Did You Know Pokemon Go Is Still A Thing? Did You Also Also Know I Haven’t Stopped Playing Since 2016?

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Pokémon Go creator Niantic Labs’ newest augmented reality game based on the Harry Potter universe is available now for both iOS and Android in the US, a day earlier than we anticipated it would launch in the region. The game, called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is similar in style to Pokémon Go, asking players to traverse a virtual map overlaid on the real world and collect magical artifacts.

Three years ago I was sitting in a hotel room in Burbank, California when I was reading an article that the creators of Pokemon teamed up with Niantic Labs, a software company from San Francisco, to launch Pokemon Go. The game brought a new angle to the franchise, giving the player the ability to physically go outside and catch Pokemon on a real map fed into the game via Google Maps. Naturally, I downloaded it and caught my first “real” Pokemon from bed, a Growlithe, just to give a middle finger to the system and the concept of “Go”.

After it’s release, I think we as a country were united for the first time since post 9/11. Every single person I knew was playing and having a blast while doing it. Kids were taking to the streets, finally getting off the couch and aimlessly walking with their head down in front of buses and into the middle of the street to catch endless Pikachus, Charmanders, and Squirtles. It was joyous. A few people even got stabbed because they were playing at 4 am in bad neighborhoods. What a rush.

Fast forward three years and I may be the only one still playing. Not only am I still playing, I have a complete Pokedex. I did exactly what the slogan said and I caught them all.

I even caught a Black Charizard, something I was not aware existed until I caught it.

Now how did I accomplish this amazing feat? By taking the “Go” out of the title and downloading a hacked version of the app that enabled a joystick and let me play from the comforts of my own living room. Sure, it kind of defeated the entire purpose. I could have just played the normal game. Alas, my OCD would not allow this.

So now we have Harry Potter Wizards Unite. I myself downloaded it moments ago and can say it’s already been deleted off my phone. Too confusing, don’t have the time. They did apparently pay Daniel Radcliffe to voice Harry Potter again though so that was neat. That’s about as much as I learned though.

So my hope is that in these trying times we collectively return to the streets and once again unite for the latest craze in mobile gaming. Fresh air, exercise, camaraderie. If you need me, i’ll be in bed playing Pokemon.

NJ Transit is in Shambles and It’s All Dunkin Donuts’ Fault

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If you ever have the opportunity to ride NJ Transit, my advice would be to just stay home. Notoriously shitty, delays out the ass, to call it unreliable would be an understatement.

So this morning I’m sitting here minding my own business scrolling through Twitter and I see this exchange between angry patrons and the poor schlub who has to field responses to these miserable people.

Pretty harmless, aside from mild rudeness. Here’s where it gets good.

Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me that Dunkin Donuts is responsible for this madness? Why on earth is Dunkin Fuckin Donuts responsible for opening a train station every day? Who thought this was smart business? You’re telling me that you’re entrusting the commutes of hundreds of thousands of people into the hands of some most likely 17 year old making minimum wage slinging coffee on his four hour shift before he goes home to play XBox and hot box his Mom’s basement while she’s at work? Insanity. And how about NJ Transit just completely deflecting blame. “Don’t look at us. It’s Dunkin’s fault you’ll never get anywhere on time.” What a wild world we live in. Also, majorly bad look for Dunkin considering their slogan is America Runs on Dunkin. Better add a 15-20 minute delay to that commute time.

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Avengers: Age of Ultron

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I have a hard time coming to terms with this movie. Avengers: Age of Ultron is a strange crossroads for the MCU. The film has some great moments and sets up a ton of what is to come in Phase 3, but just tends to stumble over itself constantly with some laughable choices and poor pacing. Even though it is the 11th movie in the MCU, it is the first direct sequel to The Avengers which obviously comes with built-in expectations. Here’s a quick re-cap for those that need a refresher.

Avengers: Age of Ultron suffers from the same problem as most of the Phase 2 films. They all sort of feel like filler. Phase 1 was able to build excitement from the promise that we were about to see all our heroes on the big screen together for the first time. Flash-forward to Phase 2 and we have more of a “been there, done that” mentality. I’ve seen them assemble, so now what? Phase 2 promised us a new direction, the lead up to the Infinity Stone plot line. So what do our heroes do in the meantime? The answer is, not much.

Ultron in itself is a plot device designed to stall. You have a self-made threat, created by Tony that is the newest danger to the existence of mankind. James Spader does fine with the character, but Ultron’s presence alone is just a stop-gap until Thanos shows up. The Infinity Stone plot line is at least front and center, with several references to the stones encountered so far and Thor claiming this all isn’t happening by chance and that there must be someone manipulating them from afar. Very astute observation, Thor.

The film does give us some new characters, most notably Vision and Scarlett Witch. Vision, who is essentially a demi-god, is a solid addition to the team. The character is played by Paul Bettany, who is best known in the MCU as the voice of Jarvis. It is kind of crazy to think just how well thought out things are behind the scenes at Marvel. Kudos.

There’s a ton that bothers me in this movie though. Thor’s lightning pool scene. Quicksilver dodging bullets all movie long to just get a shot a thousand times and die. Hawkeye having a wife and kids just hanging out at home. All things designed to distract us that this plot isn’t really advancing.

It’s tough to follow up one of the most successful movies of all time in The Avengers. Director Joss Whedon famously exited Marvel Studios after this film because it stressed him out too much. Luckily at this point we were only a year away from Captain America: Civil War, which is essentially Avengers 2.5 and feels like a more natural place to take these characters after the events of the first Avengers movie. Overall, Ultron is very meh.

Final Rating: 5.0 out of 10

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Guardians of the Galaxy

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Very rarely does something just appear out of the ethos the way Guardians of the Galaxy did back in 2014. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe really took off, I had major doubts that Iron Man could work as a film. At the time, it felt like we were reaching too far into the barrel and pulling out heroes that didn’t warrant their own movie. I mean, before knowing what we know now, the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and seeing the finished product, who the hell out there was clamoring for an Iron Man movie? I never in a million years thought we’d get beyond that surface level of superheroes, i.e. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man. Fast forward six years to the release of Guardians, which in my opinion was the exact moment comic book movies showed us what they could be if given the time and space to flourish.

Please take a look below if you’d like a bit of a refresher on the brilliance that is Guardians of the Galaxy.

So now that you’re caught up, where do I begin?

It is so rare for a virtually unheard of IP to come out of nowhere and become such a hit in pop culture. Guardians of the Galaxy did exactly that in the summer of 2014. I remember reading online years before it was released that Marvel was planning on bringing some of their lesser known heroes to the big screen. When Guardians was announced, I did some research into it because frankly I had no clue what it was even about. I remember seeing things that said the ensemble featured a talking Raccoon, a gigantic tree that only said it’s own name, and a human by the name of Peter Quill. Needless to say, I thought this movie was going to tank. “There’s absolutely no way this thing could work!” “They are getting so unbelievably desperate.” For those keeping score at home, I was completely wrong once again.

Guardians of the Galaxy felt immediate. It’s the first movie set in space since probably Star Wars where the world felt lived in and already established. The roles were brilliantly cast. I never suspected Chris Pratt could be a leading man and yet here we are several years removed and he’s one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Rocket Raccoon and Groot went from “sounds horrible on paper” to being plastered on every toy, action figure, and coffee mug inside your local Target. And how about that damn soundtrack? James Gunn took some of the best songs from the 70s and 80s and made them the backbone of a film set in a far off galaxy and they somehow all work perfectly. The soundtrack naturally shot to #1 on the Billboard charts for several weeks.

Guardians of the Galaxy was the first movie to come along in the MCU that made me completely forget about the MCU. I suddenly stopped caring about what The Avengers were up to and wanted to see the continuing adventures of Star-lord and Company. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Avengers, but Guardians showcased exactly what comic book movies could do if they tried something different. To this day it sits in my top three in the MCU.

Final rating: 9.5 out of 10

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released on April 4th, 2014. Coming off two of what I consider giant letdown films in the MCU, I was praying to god that this movie wouldn’t stink. The Avengers was wildly successful in teaming up all our favorite heroes, only for Phase Two to split them back up into individual roles and bringing us pretty much back to square one. After whatever the hell Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were, I was starting to become a bit skeptical that this series was finally starting to lose steam. Boy oh boy was I wrong.

The film starts off with Steve Rogers out for a brisk morning run in Washington, D.C. He’s constantly lapping Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) who can’t match Cap’s speed. After a brief rest, Wilson tells Cap he works at the VA and that he’s a former soldier himself and asks Cap to stop by at some point, which Cap agrees to. Black Widow pulls up in a car to tell Cap he’s needed for a mission and they take off.

Somewhere overseas, Cap and Black Widow are in a military jet and discuss the mission at hand. They need to board a freighter that is operated by SHIELD that has been taken over by pirates. The freighter contains key information that is critical to SHIELD that Black Widow is tasked with recovering, unbeknownst to Captain himself. A large fight ensues with Cap rescuing the hostages and them barely escaping alive.

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A little pissed that he wasn’t told about the true nature of the mission, Rogers returns to D.C. to confront Nick Fury at SHIELD headquarters. He’s still a bit untrusting after the events of The Avengers and doesn’t fully believe SHIELD has the right intentions, regardless of what they claim. Fury explains to Rogers that times have changed and he better get with the program if he is to remain apart of SHIELD. In a show of good faith, Fury let’s Rogers see what SHIELD is currently working on: Project Insight, which is essentially three massive Hellicarriers that are tasked with eliminating threats before they even happen.

After Rogers takes off, Fury tries to review the data obtained by Black Widow and is denied access. Questioning why he was overridden, he begins to suspect that something is going on behind that scenes at SHIELD and he becomes a bit suspicious. He brings his suspicions to Secretary Pierce, the political figurehead of SHIELD played by Robert Redford. Pierce tells him theres nothing to worry about (sure Redford, whatever you say).

We’re then given what is one of the best scenes in Marvel cinematic history. Watch and enjoy.

Fury’s escape is then stopped by The Winter Soldier himself and he barely escapes just in the nick of time.

We cut to Rogers entering his apartment, only to find Fury sitting there listening to some old records. He is badly injured, and warns Rogers that he shouldn’t trust anyone and that SHIELD has been compromised. Fury gives Rogers the data that Black Widow obtained. Just then, Fury is shot through the walls of Roger’s apartment by The Winter Soldier.

At the hospital, Fury is pronounced dead in front of Cap, Black Widow, and Maria Hill. Black Widow asks Rogers why Fury was in his apartment and he doesn’t truthfully answer. Cap is then summoned to SHIELD headquarters to speak with Secretary Pierce. Taking Fury’s advice, he hides the flash drive of information in a vending machine in the hospital before departing. At his meeting at SHIELD, Pierce not so subtly accuses Cap of knowing more than he is letting on, and labels him an enemy of SHIELD. On Rogers way out of SHIELD headquarters, he’s ambushed in yet another amazing scene from this film and the MCU as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUpvwMLHdUE

After his escape, Rogers returns to the hospital to retrieve the flash drive only to find it missing, but luckily taken by Black Widow. They then travel to an Apple Store together (groan) to try and unlock a bit more information. They uncover a secret military installation in New Jersey where Captain was originally trained. Underneath the base, they discover a hidden room that is filled with antique computers and technology which is revealed to be recreation of Zola from Cap 1’s brain? (Yeah, this is the one thing in this movie that has me a little confused) Computer Zola pretty much tells Cap and Black Widow that HYDRA has been infiltrating SHIELD for the last half a century. Just then a missile strikes the base, destroying it and nearly killing Cap and Black Widow.

After another run in with the The Winter Soldier, it is revealed that he is in fact Bucky Barnes, Steve’s long thought dead best friend. They are captured by HYDRA agents and taken to Pierce. In transit, Maria Hill is discovered to be posing as one of the HYRDA agents and busts them out of captivity. She brings them to a secret base, where we see Nick Fury, alive and well. He faked his own death because he wasn’t sure who he could trust (Sure, whatever, i’ll let it slide).

The World Security Council shows up to SHIELD headquarters for a demonstration of Project Insight. Captain America gets on the loudspeaker and announces to all SHIELD employees that HYDRA has taken over, with Pierce being their leader. Gunfire ensues as the employees quickly take sides. The Hellicarriers are launched and Cap and Black Widow attempt to take back control, with The Winter Soldier waiting for them on board. Cap is convinced Bucky remembers who he is, with Bucky trying his hardest to not let on that he’s right. The Hellicarriers are destroyed and as they are crashing, Bucky saves Cap and places him along the shoreline before he walks into the proverbial sunset.

SHIELD is disbanded after the dust settles. Fury burns his eye patch and heads to Europe to track down more HYDRA bases, Maria Hill takes a job with Stark Industries, and Cap and Wilson set out in search of Bucky.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the exact moment in the MCU for me that things went from good to great. It is living proof that the stand alone films still work, even after Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World pretty much stunk up the place. The film almost felt like a Bourne movie, as opposed to just another cookie cutter entry of a Marvel film. To this day it remains one of my favorite films in the series.

Final verdict: 9 out of 10

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Iron Man 3

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At this time I would like anyone who enjoys Iron Man 3 to vacate the premises because this film makes me physically ill. I’ve been dreading this movie in my re-watch from day one and lo and behold it’s just as terrible as I remember. Iron Man 3 was the first film to drop after The Avengers finally came to life on the big screen after years of teasing in the MCU. Yet, if Iron Man 3‘s job was to set the tone on what was to come in Phase Two, boy oh boy did it miss the mark. Let’s dive in.

Here’s a brief summary because I just can’t be bothered to relive this madness.

Iron Man 3 worried the hell out of me when I got out of the theatre. After all the hype surrounding The Avengers and us finally getting the amazing team up film we were all promised, we were back to individual movies and solo adventures for all our heroes. This was a brutal start. I honestly fully expected the MCU to fall apart after this movie, solely based on the reintroduction to stand alone films. My big problem with much of Phase Two was that it all feels like filler. We know at this point that Thanos is coming, and that the infinity stones will surely play a part in things to come. The problem is we were being set up for some complete waste of time films like Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and yes, even Avengers: Age of Ultron (I honestly couldn’t tell you a single thing that happens in Thor 2, so i’ll let Red tackle that next week).

Iron Man 3’s biggest flaw is that it does almost nothing to advance the plot of the MCU. It takes everything the first two Iron Man films did and turns it on it’s head. Remember how it was a big deal Tony had an arc reactor in his chest to keep the shrapnel in his body from entering his heart and killing him? Ah forget it, let’s just have surgery to remove it. Not necessary anymore. Wait, so why was that impossible the first two times around, but now it’s completely feasible? And don’t even get me started on The Mandarin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdVOdW7kQwk

You take one of the most badass villains in the Iron Man universe and you turn him into an actor pretending to be terrorist just so we the audience can look and say “ooooh” “aaaah” “classic bait and switch!” It totally nullifies the tension in the beginning of the film where for a second I thought we were about to get something totally insane from an MCU where good villains are tough to come by. Finally, how about Pepper turning into the Human Torch for a grand total of five minutes just to bypass the fact that she fell to her death. Oh, and they fixed her off screen by the way. Back to normal Pepper!

Honestly, Phase Two is incredibly hit or miss for me. I just thank my lucky stars that Iron Man 3 is behind me. Could have derailed the whole thing. At this point in time I would like to officially declare it to be the worst movie of the MCU.

Final Rating: 2.0 out of 10

And not to leave on a completely downer of a note, I present to you the one scene I enjoy in the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lid6feCW-DY