tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43500280133836120762024-03-14T20:06:00.705-04:00The Spector SectorYou're entering the Spector Sector! A place where you'll find whatever you need to know about sports, movies and current events of the day. The opinions expressed are the sole property of me and any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this, without the express written consent of the man behind the curtain is prohibited. Unless I'm grossly bribed.The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-18455055101619728152024-03-14T20:05:00.000-04:002024-03-14T20:05:27.672-04:00Somewhere In Time<p><span style="font-size: medium;">What we leave behind, is not as important as how we lived. Or so they say. I have always been a private person, yet here I am putting words to paper (screen) on my blog, about this of all things. Talk about a living, breathing embodiment of an oxymoron. Some might even drop the oxy part when talking about me, God knows I have earned it over the years. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Tomorrow will be a month to the day that my mom passed away after fighting a brief battle against what is medically termed, interstitial lung disease, accelerated by Covid. I still have a tough time believing it happened, even now as I write this. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the day would eventually come. She was 79 years old and had several health issues. But for it to happen like this, and in less than a month, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully wrap my mind around it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Mom was a tough New “Yawk” broad, right from the old neighborhood in Little Italy. If you have ever seen the movie Donnie Brasco, that was the literal neighborhood and atmosphere she was raised in, and me to a small extent. I have so many emotions coursing through my veins right now it is almost impossible to lock down which one is taking the lead, be it grief, melancholy, remorse, regret, or gratefulness. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All I know is, there is an emptiness that I’m all too familiar with, since I lost my dad when I was just seventeen. It is an emptiness that I know will subside over time, as losing my dad did. It is not like I have gotten over it; nobody really get’s over losing anyone, you just learn to adapt. Paul Rudd in an interview recently said it best when talking about when he lost his dad to Cancer and he said, “When you lose a parent, the world is off its axis and never rights itself…you adapt or perish..”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I too would have so many questions if I could ask her. If Rudd could talk to his dad, he knows exactly what he would say. "I'd go back to that conversation. 'So, what is there after? Does God exist? Is it super kickass after you die, and can you go anywhere you want? And can you go to the farthest reaches of space, and, like, look around the bottom of the ocean and be everywhere, and check in on all of us?' “When you died, did you float above and see everything down? And did you just feel all your dead relatives coming around? And if so, how far back did that go? Did you stop at the grandparents, or did you have great-great-grandparents that you never knew that were like, 'Mike, finally. Great to see you.' Wait till you see what this whole thing's about. Get ready for your mind to be blown.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Towards the end of her life, around 2020 when Covid hit, mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Just as it did to her mother and her mother’s sister, the insidiousness of that disease was slowly taking her away from us. I am grateful that it did not progress as far as it did with her mom which was truly heartbreaking. I don’t know how my daughter would’ve managed seeing her Nanny like that, even as bad as her disease was towards the end. Of all the diseases known to man, even Covid which accelerated her interstitial lung disease, Alzheimer’s is truly evil that it destroys the person without their awareness. Perhaps it’s for the best considering. It’s always the caregivers that feel the brunt of it the most.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I am thankful for having my mother as long as I did. I’m also thankful that she knew who we all were right up to the end. She was surrounded by most of all her favorite people. I know in my heart that she is in a far better place now. Part of me is jealous because she has all the answers that we try so desperately to answer in this world, knowing full well the futility in that. I will leave you with my eulogy that I will give for her tomorrow. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">“Good afternoon, everyone. Barbara, Emma, my family, and I thank you all for being here today to say goodbye to MaryAnn, my mom. I want to especially thank Assemblyman Robert Clifton and the honorable Kenneth Smith, Superintendent of Brigadier General William C. Doyle cemetery for all they and their staff have done. I also want to thank the nurses and doctors at CenterState hospital for doing everything they could to help my mother. You all have our everlasting gratitude. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">MaryAnn was a mother, a wife, a daughter, a big sister to, as she would always say, her “baby brother” Johnny. She was Nanny, a grandma to her best friend in the world, Emma, and she was a friend to so many. If you were in her circle, you were loved beyond words, and if you were not in her circle, also in her words, fuhgeddaboudit. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">I once heard a saying that time was a predator that stalks us all our lives. I would rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because they will never come again. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">MaryAnn Aldana Spector was born August the 6th 1944. She was a chip off the Aldana block without question. She was raised on the tough streets in the lower east side of New York City. She was a Hester Street kid. Some of the earliest and let us just say colorful memories of her childhood that she told me was how she had met her dad, Charlie, for the first time. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">You see, Charlie was serving in the United States Army and was deployed to France during WWII. He took part in the Invasion of Normandy and through the grace of God, he made it back home a few years later to his loving wife Clara and his baby girl MaryAnn. The first time she saw her father she said, and I did confirm this, I quote, she asked him, “Who the fuck are you?” </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The stories I was raised on, about her life growing up in New York City, was something right out of a Hollywood movie. Granted the movie was more like The Godfather than something wholesome like Miracle on 34th Street, but she was never one to sugar coat anything. She told me stories of how gangsters would visit the family on occasion and how her Grandpa John would make wine in the cellar and “gift” it to those “certain” people in “the neighborhood.” She even told me how she was caught sampling that wine with a loaf of Italian bread at half the age my daughter is right now. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">She loved her little baby brother more than words could ever do justice. She would always look out for him when they were growing up and protect him. She would buy him candy and his comic books but as with most brother/sister relationships, there were some occasional moments of blackmail. When her brother would do something bad, such as lighting firecrackers inside the cracks of the walls of their house, he would tell his sister not to squeal on him or he would tell mommy and daddy that she was smoking. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Many years later she met my father, Hal Spector and they married and did the greatest thing ever, they had me. I wasn’t the first, although I am the one and only child they had, mom had a few miscarriages before me. She would always say how if they had survived, she would have named us all Joseph, Jason, and Jeremy. My mom was officially the first Kardashian and didn’t even know it. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A few months after I was born, my dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Their marriage, like most marriages, was not some idealistic Norman Rockwell portrait. My father had issues along with his disease, but mom loved him dearly and cared for him as his disease progressed. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps he didn’t deserve that unconditional love; mom never really spoke too much of it, but I could see that as I got older, how strained life was for them and how MS didn’t just ruin one physically but emotionally as well. Still, she remained by his side up to the day he passed in 1993. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Their love for each other, even in its most challenging times, defined itself at my dad’s funeral. I had never seen my mother more heart broken. While a part of her may have died that day, out of that pain rose a woman beyond determined. As time passed, she would go on to care for her aging parents. She was always the one caring for someone else; she was always the caregiver. It was something ingrained in her, almost spiritually. She would tell me when she was younger that she always wanted to become a nurse, and I could see why. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">She had tremendous pride in the fact that her father had served in World War II. Her knowledge of military history was almost encyclopedic. This was a woman more comfortable sitting down and watching a movie like The Dirty Dozen than a romantic comedy. How many of you here under the age of fifty know who Audie Murphy was? Well, I do, because of her. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">When I was in high school, I had the distinct honor of having written a play for the Alumni of Rollins College in Florida. Looking back, it was quite intimidating for a 16-year-old to be thrown into the spotlight like that and what made it even more daunting was the fact that a personal hero of mine, a man by the name of Fred Rogers was in the audience judging the plays. We all know him better as Mr. Rogers. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">I remember how proud that moment made my mother and years later, when Fred Rogers was fighting his last battle against Cancer, being the man that he was, he made it a priority to prepare children for his eventual death. When he died his website had posted a link to help children cope and understand what happened. The post simply read, “Remember that feelings are natural and normal, and that happy times and sad times are a part of everyone’s life.” He went on to say, “The connections we make in the course of a life, maybe that's what Heaven is.” </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">You see, we are not given a great deal of time in these physical bodies of ours. As I have grown older my views on life after death have evolved. While my faith has been strained and tested over the years, my belief in science tells me that your soul, your life force, your chi, whichever word you choose, is an energy that at the time of death moves from this 3 dimensional existence into one that is still a mystery to us all, and probably always will be. Perhaps even by design. As the law states, energy is neither created nor destroyed. It is eternal. It does not disappear. We simply change. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">However, we often spend our time here living wastefully, as if we have been magically granted immortality. You know it’s funny, here I am almost 50 years old and still deciding what kind of person I want to be. Nobody tells you when you lose a parent or parents, that it feels like that kid who had his training wheels finally taken off his bike. Sure, you have been an adult. You have married. Had a kid and all of that but are you happy with the person you have become that your parents raised? Think about that. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Death has a sneaky way of making you re-evaluate life. It is never too late to change. It is never too late to forgive. It’s never too late to ask for forgiveness. None of this is going to last exceptionally long. It will be gone before we even realize it. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">We should be grateful for the people, the connections, everything that is dear in our lives right now. Seize this time. Live for now. Make now always the most precious time. Because now will never come again. So, spend your time doing good things. True, do no harm, but also do your best to be of value to others. Wake up and live a meaningful life. Live a life of love. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">When we lose a parent, no matter their age or even our age, we feel lost, even orphaned. But you must keep breathing. Because tomorrow, the sun will rise. Wouldn't it be amazing if our time here, living in this world, has been preparing us for the true meaning of our existence once we're gone? Maybe all this time, we’ve just been waiting for those training wheels to finally fall off.”</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Love you always mom. I will see you again. Somewhere in Time. </span></b></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLw91gyPtSMxKbU5EWMzTrkT0Q3vwh6FFT1xYi1BDFR5psywUR3CPNZGzy2vIjUiF9OsNXARpydR9luVamDHuN8pLB3rs6PMPyIC52PvrxiF-K19BtyNtMeYadG9UqF_3sEe30kORnX5xEaO7SdxUNfZip7JWyc1xiTf6QXwGWaROfxbx_fVTKlfJ3760/s1431/Screenshot_20240124_145812_Gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1401" data-original-width="1431" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLw91gyPtSMxKbU5EWMzTrkT0Q3vwh6FFT1xYi1BDFR5psywUR3CPNZGzy2vIjUiF9OsNXARpydR9luVamDHuN8pLB3rs6PMPyIC52PvrxiF-K19BtyNtMeYadG9UqF_3sEe30kORnX5xEaO7SdxUNfZip7JWyc1xiTf6QXwGWaROfxbx_fVTKlfJ3760/s320/Screenshot_20240124_145812_Gallery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Meow Script; font-size: large;">Mary Ann Spector</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Meow Script; font-size: large;">August 6th, 1944 - February 15th, 2024</span></p><div><br /></div>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-91422870114715775132023-08-06T15:12:00.003-04:002023-08-06T19:30:40.841-04:00We Were On A Break!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrr8QXlqOGtwJxNr1kkh3SZVHP8DhT0Bj2RVfjLI7et6RI8UMLRGViQ5Uw30S6asyl7p0UHhpWoDef1mrJzD27RJ9QU31IPcogJYaFoUbFnJBBQeuFgAEkJvbLG4cg7ixXlmC3zt5Xn8Vp_bSTdBgi5ulqeEBMCR4_7rr9OT31zbcMFXdVxhE4HZLRD5w/s1280/ee9db5bf-e8c9-48d3-ae6d-7ba4c8513214-AP22244046864958.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrr8QXlqOGtwJxNr1kkh3SZVHP8DhT0Bj2RVfjLI7et6RI8UMLRGViQ5Uw30S6asyl7p0UHhpWoDef1mrJzD27RJ9QU31IPcogJYaFoUbFnJBBQeuFgAEkJvbLG4cg7ixXlmC3zt5Xn8Vp_bSTdBgi5ulqeEBMCR4_7rr9OT31zbcMFXdVxhE4HZLRD5w/s320/ee9db5bf-e8c9-48d3-ae6d-7ba4c8513214-AP22244046864958.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />When Steve Cohen went from being a minority 8% stakeholder in the New York Mets back in 2020, to the majority owner, he ended what many fans of the orange and blue viewed as a dark period of time where the team was essentially held hostage by then owner, Fred Wilpon, whose death grip on the franchise was viewed by many fans as an eternal damnation. Due to years of poor organizational decision making along with the eventual collapse of the Wilpon finances at the hands of Bernard Madoff, the loyal fanbase was pushed to the very edge of despair. The team was headed down a tunnel without the hope of a redeeming light at the end. They were well on their way towards becoming a joke in the sports world and nobody in the MLB hierarchy seemed inclined to put this abuse to an end. </span></span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-47911c03-7fff-6b21-f7f9-2f2dd7cda346"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The team operated like a small market club - no longer financially able to attract or afford high end talent - in ironically, the largest entertainment market the world over. Steve Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund guru, bought out the Wilpons and Saul Katz and became the proverbial knight in shining armor practically overnight. He was their last best hope that someday, this relatively young team born in 1962, would take its rightful place next to their older, more polished and historically revered rival and brother in the Bronx. It’s often said that sometimes wishes really do come true, even if they come with a few caveats. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It’s been a tough week for the New York Mets and their fans. Yes, that's quite purposely an understatement. After winning 101 games last year and making the playoffs, the Mets have been slogging through a woeful 2023 season with a record well under .500. With a record high payroll of $364 million dollars, Billy Eppler, the General Manager of the team, under the direction of Cohen, realized the current situation was mathematically untenable, with the odds of making the playoffs somewhere around 12%, decided it was time to sell high. His aging veterans were still relatively healthy and had value - so he traded away two of its most talented, expensive and oldest players in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, and a few others, for prospects. To put all of this in a better perspective, let me try to explain the last 3 years in Metville. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When Cohen became majority owner in 2020, he made a bold prediction and said that his plan was to have a world championship within 5 years. Anything less than that, he would view as a failure. This is apparently not a man who takes failure lightly or who it seems will accept anything short of a championship as a win. He didn’t regurgitate the tired trope we hear so often from sports execs and owners who like to say it’s just about getting into the playoffs blah blah blah. No, this was straight up balls to the walls Steinbrenner talk. No frills. No bullshit. And he was very willing to spend a king's ransom to get there. Whoa.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We all know how 2020 went down. Covid hit and turned the professional sports world upside down just as it did to the rest of the world. It seemed drama was organically attached to the Mets when Carlos Beltran was named their new manager but within days he was forced to resign after being tied to the infamous Houston Astros cheating scandal. The 2020 joke of a season was cut down to a mere 60 games and I dare anyone if they can remember who was crowned “champion” that year. It was a year we’d all love to forget for so many reasons, baseball being the least important of all. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The 2021 season was something of a transitional year for Cohen as the team was slowly divesting itself from the Wilpon regime. Many holdovers remained, including the former general manager and team president in Sandy Alderson, but little was done in the offseason to bolster the team in any meaningful way. One of the main deficiencies from the Wilpon era was the lack of talent within the organization at all levels. The minor league system was devoid of prospects and considered one of the league's worst, having ranked near the very bottom in MLB. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Steve Cohen knew he would have to spend to get this team right, and not just on the superstar free agents to fill the backpages of the New York tabloids. The big marquee names, that was the easy part, much like feeding red meat to the ravenous animals in the zoo, and he didn’t disappoint. On December 1st, 2021, the New York Mets signed future Hall of Fame pitcher, 37 year old Max Scherzer to a 3 year $130 million dollar contract, giving him the highest AAV of any player in the history of MLB. Steve Cohen ladies and gentlemen, had arrived. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzv3sw0JAgWHQuZE6aBXXt5DjLMozDt5uE1K4YUXsrLKxxof3ZkZ3G_cqHXc2Nnp_HxPSY-ls-vn-tVOgDPdyhNfrrucFBrSnG_CRz0m9e_FjQnQNU3ejheVdYEyc-4faHECiNCTbOgxKZNr698QLFBb-k1YaHrLo7-Z6_rC_HXo-F5ik5UafF2dTFmCo/s620/maxscherzerstart.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="620" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzv3sw0JAgWHQuZE6aBXXt5DjLMozDt5uE1K4YUXsrLKxxof3ZkZ3G_cqHXc2Nnp_HxPSY-ls-vn-tVOgDPdyhNfrrucFBrSnG_CRz0m9e_FjQnQNU3ejheVdYEyc-4faHECiNCTbOgxKZNr698QLFBb-k1YaHrLo7-Z6_rC_HXo-F5ik5UafF2dTFmCo/s320/maxscherzerstart.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was probably one of the most exhilarating feelings I’ve ever had as a Met fan when I heard what Cohen had done. His decision to give Scherzer that much money, even if it was for just 3 years, forever changed free agency in MLB, and I’m sure the other 29 owners weren’t exactly jumping for joy. This was Cohen’s Waterloo; his Alamo. He was Gandalf, slamming his wooden staff into the ground, proclaiming it was a brand new day in Queens. Scherzer would be paired with Jacob deGrom, a one-two pitching punch the likes of which haven’t been seen in quite some time and certainly at least not at Citifield. Then wouldn’t you know it, fate once again reared its ugly head. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Jacob deGrom was shut down early in Spring Training with shoulder trouble, and it lasted for the majority of the 2022 season. Earlier in the year he made it known that at the end of the season he was going to opt out of his current contract and elect free agency. As a Met fan, it’s hard not to feel as if this team is perpetually snakebitten. Would we ever get to see deGrom healthy again? If one believes in karma, you would think having shed the bad juju of the Wilpons would have afforded this team some respice. But, here we were, in August and finally watching deGrom make his season debut, smack dab in the middle of a heated pennant race against the Atlanta Braves. The best writers in Hollywood wish they could pen a drama this intense, and it was just the beginning. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Having already experienced a season ending collapse in 2007, you’d think something like that would be tough to repeat but, as much as I love them, we are talking about the New York Mets here. On June 1st, of 2022, the Mets had a 10.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves. They maintained their first place status right up to the last weekend of the season when they lost three straight games to the Braves. Those last ten days of the season and that sweep, meant the Mets gifted themselves a second place finish with a spot as one of the National League’s three Wild Card teams. Maybe this wasn’t an official collapse but ask a Met fan and they’ll tell you it sure felt like one. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Needless to say, the team that won 101 games during the regular season, lost 2 out of 3 games to the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card. Essentially in a 2 to 3 week span of time the Mets went from being the cream of the crop in the National League Eastern Division, to being creamed. Like Yogi would say, “It was deja-vu all over again.” Fans were in shock. The players were in shock. I can only imagine the thought process of Steve Cohen at the time. It was a surreal feeling. Not quite the debacle of 2007 but a hybrid amalgam of it and to top it off, Jacob deGrom to his word, opted out of his contract with the Mets. It was at that moment I knew this chapter in Queens was about to close. End scene.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On December 2nd, 2023, a little over one year from when the Mets made Max Scherzer the richest player (AAV) in MLB, Jacob deGrom signed a 5 year $185 million dollar contract with a 6th year team option, to play for the Texas Rangers. Man this hurt. Losing deGrom felt like losing Seaver all over again but this time, it was the player doing the massacre. What was even more shocking, deGrom never gave the Mets an opportunity to counter the Ranger’s offer. At the time I didn’t understand why but like all wounds that need time to heal, this was no different. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Being a fan means we can think irrationally about our players, especially those that are possibly looking to move on to greener ($) pastures. We toss around crazy numbers in our minds, as if we were in Cohen’s shoes, hoping beyond hope that our favorite player will say yes to coming back but being a Met fan tempers our irrationality, which can be a blessing and very annoying at the same time. Five years with a sixth year team option for $185 million dollars, for a team that plays in a state with no state income tax, in a place deGrom actually prefers to raise his young family in, for a pitcher with his health history - well, what can you say other than best of luck and thank you for the memories, right? No team, not the Mets, not the Yankees, not even the Dodgers would take such a risk giving deGrom a contract like that knowing his health history and I’m sure deGrom knew it and would have been a fool to not have taken it. Asking for a counter offer from the Mets would have been not just silly but downright disrespectful. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfI5oq6rSQln8f-OBAXl3NzpkxnkPdtTHFyoRwqS3FWO-F0CNSSatFj0cjXzPcgWR-m9RoHZ2cg1nuGVTOQb70nTYO6MfTsLqHUMHtb39JFeqgeam7N541bC5IIHLModXXYP5HXI1rw87z8EWS-YUTOFyt5T1XyubpZu1g9vnD7n8YMDPt20HKQ2MbHU/s1200/justinverlander.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfI5oq6rSQln8f-OBAXl3NzpkxnkPdtTHFyoRwqS3FWO-F0CNSSatFj0cjXzPcgWR-m9RoHZ2cg1nuGVTOQb70nTYO6MfTsLqHUMHtb39JFeqgeam7N541bC5IIHLModXXYP5HXI1rw87z8EWS-YUTOFyt5T1XyubpZu1g9vnD7n8YMDPt20HKQ2MbHU/s320/justinverlander.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />So once again here we were, kicked in the groin with how the season ended, all self-inflicted by the way, and now we were down arguably our best pitcher since Dwight Gooden. Now what? How the hell do you replace Jacob deGrom? How can you really? Well, maybe. Billy Eppler and Cohen wasted no time and within a few days of losing Jake the team signed future Hall of Famer, the 39 year old Justin Verlander, to a two year contract worth $86.7 million with a vesting option for a third year at $35 million. It would reunite Verlander with his former teammate Max Scherzer, who both played for the Detroit Tigers from 2010 to 2014. Steve Cohen ladies and gents, strikes again.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So as the realization of losing Jacob deGrom set in and while we were licking our collective wounds, Uncle Stevie pulled a shocker once again out of his hat. The fact that no team was really willing to give Verlander a contract quite like that speaks volumes. Yes, he was coming off a spectacular rebound season that earned him his 3rd career Cy Young award. Astonishing considering his age and that he was one year removed from having Tommy John surgery. The Mets rolled the dice but left themselves with ample wiggle room, wiggle room that for better or worse, came into play in 2023. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Now that you’re caught up, we can all see why both Scherzer and Verlander were offered massive yet short term contracts. It wasn’t as if Eppler and Cohen were hoping for either to regress or for the team to fail, it was quite the opposite. They were looking for that lightning in a bottle and unfortunately, it simply didn’t work out for a number of reasons. The offense wasn’t what it was last year. Sure, you can argue that the team needed to bolster that and almost did by signing Carlos Correa. But look at what Correa is doing back in Minnesota. He’s barely hitting over his weight with little power and yes, with the same wonky ankle that spooked the Mets and a few other suitors this past offseason. Imagine if the Mets were under that contract as well right now. They dodged the baseball gods on that one for sure. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Another thing missing was the lack of cohesion in the clubhouse as SNY’s Steve Gelbs pointed out during a broadcast. Last year during games you’d see the pitching staff hold impromptu analysis meetings, in game, after each start, sharing insights and details of what they faced. That was nowhere to be seen this year. Whether that was because Scherzer and Verlander weren’t the chummiest to begin with or the language barrier of Senga, it was noticeable. Small things like that can absolutely make a difference on a team especially at this level.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">All in all, nothing has really gone the right way for the Mets in 2023. So tell me this, what exactly is a master hedge fund guru known for? He knows when to fish and cut bait. Don’t get me wrong, nobody has a crystal ball and can predict the future but Cohen does have an uncanny ability to see the landscape not for what he’d like it to be, but for what it is, and then to make a decisive move. Half measures obviously haven’t worked. Dipping hard into the free agent pool without having a sustainable minor league system is like getting your car detailed but with a transmission that’s about to go. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">New York sports talk has been eviscerating Steve Cohen saying he’s no different from the Wilpons and that he should have given the team a chance being only 6 games out of the Wild Card. A chance? They’ve had their chance and it just didn’t work out, should we compound it by wasting an opportunity that’s staring the team right in the face? Trading Scherzer, Verlander, Canha and Pham, took brass balls the likes of which Brian Cashman wishes he had. I shouldn't be so hard on him because once again the X factor is Steve Cohen. If it weren’t for Cohen’s ability to absorb the money owed to those players, the Mets would have never been able to acquire the talent they did. What Eppler did in a few days, normally takes teams many years of losing and hopefully drafting well at the same time. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Mets luxury tax penalty for 2023 is now at $101 million. They gave the Astros $54 million to offset Verlander’s salary, $36 million went to the Rangers for Max. If you include the contracts for Brian McCann, Tommy Pham and Mark Canha, the Mets have close to $210 million dollars in dead money, money for players no longer on this team. Think about that the next time Bobby Bonilla day comes around and you want to bitch about that. That’s what the Wilpons gave us. What Cohen did by opening his checkbook, literally no professional sports owner has ever done, in the history of planet Earth.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There’s no guarantee the players the Mets acquired will become the next stud(s) of the game. In fact there’s probably a 2 to 3% percent chance that they will make the upper echelons of a franchise. Why? Because baseball...is…hard. It’s also expensive and the players need to be developed. Having a diamond in the rough is nice but if you don’t have a good jeweler to cut it properly, then all it is is a very expensive rock. If there is anything we all should have learned by now when it comes to Steve Cohen, he doesn’t waste his time or his money and he’s very willing to change the course when needed. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The next two months are going to be hard. Honestly, I’m not going to watch the games as religiously the remainder of this year. Some might say that’s very fairweather of me, and that’s fine. You do you. I do have hope for this team but the wise words of Peter Cetera once said, “Everybody needs a little time away, just for a day, from each other…” and I need it. I expect Cohen to be very active in the free agent market next year in spite of some of the contradictory statements. Will he be in on Ohtani? Maybe. But the word is that Ohtani prefers the west coast. But I wouldn’t be the least shocked he goes after one or two free agent pitchers, including Urias from the Dodgers. We’ll see. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’ll leave you with this. It’s ok to take a break from this team. We all need time to regroup and recharge and to quote another wise prognosticator,</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlCxHWRrsdnEfWFBvIJKvK8_mXu_A5EXtdEaTlvdjesRnpiO6LHyYGlB3ugS92mbCfshhOccFvcsuD6y6MiC-jXdUaeOH81VI-hi8OL96FJE_jYjQaH1X-wWGHLiqs9CsYMSwJ4XrSpujGcX1pCYT56WNe1usBODWwUmpjILCllMjY9v0kZCXBBCfSBE/s1440/ZomboMeme%209464.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1440" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlCxHWRrsdnEfWFBvIJKvK8_mXu_A5EXtdEaTlvdjesRnpiO6LHyYGlB3ugS92mbCfshhOccFvcsuD6y6MiC-jXdUaeOH81VI-hi8OL96FJE_jYjQaH1X-wWGHLiqs9CsYMSwJ4XrSpujGcX1pCYT56WNe1usBODWwUmpjILCllMjY9v0kZCXBBCfSBE/w402-h228/ZomboMeme%209464.jpg" width="402" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 108pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-50637842306813419872023-04-14T12:10:00.006-04:002023-04-14T16:25:29.848-04:00<br /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxW461uvjh9dGPIVZF7PAcnC5WSbt3NIVc1p_fRBAuWnGr9JAnDq0rlmiDugV0dVUkQFKnBRCQjFNA3nHOy_5rJywI-4B6J3Pee7ULz1mFDlM12STFxfq_JpgmjNNzm9XYH26GhHCEDJ5IZiMTWdM4owUwWYm3tRvxWWWUn2d7h7nbebp4vMt7vfy/s1920/STP-S3-KeyArt-1920x1080.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxW461uvjh9dGPIVZF7PAcnC5WSbt3NIVc1p_fRBAuWnGr9JAnDq0rlmiDugV0dVUkQFKnBRCQjFNA3nHOy_5rJywI-4B6J3Pee7ULz1mFDlM12STFxfq_JpgmjNNzm9XYH26GhHCEDJ5IZiMTWdM4owUwWYm3tRvxWWWUn2d7h7nbebp4vMt7vfy/s320/STP-S3-KeyArt-1920x1080.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">I sometimes wonder if I’m more of a Star Trek or Star Wars fan. I’m a 48 year old self-admitted nerd who was raised mostly on Star Wars but in the mid eighties was re-introduced to the world of Star Trek through the Next Generation which first aired on CBS on September 28th, 1987. Kirk, Spock and Bones were replaced by Picard, Riker and Data. It was a shaky start to the rebirth of Star Trek on television. The first season, while ushering in new groundbreaking visual effects for prime time television, lacked in script quality and didn’t quite match the overall wonder the original series had. It took about three years for the Next Gen to get its footing and boy did it get its footing. <br /><br /><br />For me, Star Wars was always about mythical fantasy. The Force. The Jedi. The Sith. It was almost symmetrically akin to religion whereas Trek was deeply rooted in the future of our reality and the world we live in and what we could aspire to if we had the desire to do so. Starfleet was the Navy. The Federation was the embodiment of what some would believe to be a perfect government, if that is even possible. Both franchises were similar in some respects but immeasurably different in others and I loved them both for those reasons. <br /><br /><br />I’ve been watching on Paramount Plus the 3rd and final season of Picard, the vehicle that was created to be centered around Patrick Stewart’s character of Jean-Luc Picard from the Next Generation. The first two seasons of the show practically ignored the rest of the Next Generation crew minus Data, who came back but was once again, sent off to the big scrapheap in the sky. So many changes were made including when Picard himself “died” and was remade by a relative of Dr. Noonian Soong ( the creator of Data) into a “new” human/android variant yet just as old as hell as the original Picard. The first two seasons lacked the heart of what made Star Trek so loved; it lacked family, Picard’s family.<br /><br /><br />For Picard, his “family” was his crew and to have them all together on screen doing what they do best together for one monumental final send off, a proper send off might I add, has been an incredibly emotional ride. I always wondered what was lacking in the first two seasons of Picard and I understand what it was now. <br /><br /><br />Hollywood loves to milk franchises, going for the endless cash grab, until we grow to absolutely despise what they’ve morphed into. There are so many examples out there from the Walking Dead to the Fast and the Furious to yes even Star Trek and Star Wars to a degree. Sometimes, oftentimes, Hollywood simply can’t just say no and let what was once great, be. It’s the reason why I hope Marvel (Disney) doesn’t try to lure Robert Downey Jr. back to the role of Iron Man to resurrect their brand. To do so would essentially destroy what was one of the most emotionally satisfying ends to a character in cinema history. <br /><br /><br />For Picard to be successful, not just his character but the series, has always been that he needs his “family” around him. To ignore them was a mistake that luckily the showrunner for season three, Terry Matalas, decided to remedy with a little, dare I say it, fan service. I can’t tell you how much it annoys me when I hear a Hollywood exec talk about fan-service and how it’s so beneath them. The air of self-absorption permeates the air when they opine on how they refuse to “give the people what they want’. Why? Because they’re the “artistes” and know better. You’re just a living embodiment of a wallet to them. Their arrogance sickens me. <br /><br /><br />One would think having the luxury and privilege to make these whimsical, cinematic ballads of the imagination are made specifically for us, the fan. If this was for the ego of the filmmaker then go run off with your iPhone and grab a few of your like minded buddies and make a film. No one is stopping you. Leave the work of entertaining the living wallets to those who give a shit about them. <br /><br /><br />But that is Hollywood. The land of maniacal egos, bullshit personalities and occasionally wondrous works that make you feel emotions with subtle aplomb. If you were a fan of Star Trek The Next Generation, Picard season 3 will make you feel young once again and will properly close the chapter on the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise 1701-D. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Live long and prosper indeed.</span><br /></div>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-81878960606546615062023-03-27T17:34:00.006-04:002023-03-27T17:43:44.609-04:00The Great Awakening<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">As I grow older, and hopefully somewhat wiser, I realize the cynic in me has been as much of a passenger if not at times the pilot, in this experience called life. I remember being a green 17 year old in 1992 and seeing a commercial for then Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, who was running to unseat the once very popular President George H.W. Bush. Call this number and the Clinton campaign would send you his “blueprint” for “Putting People First”. This was all new and exciting for me and it would be my first time voting. So the little I knew about politics and life in general, coaxed me to eat this up hook, line, and sinker. <br /><br /><br />Bush was riding high coming off the “success” of the first Iraq war. As some of you might remember, the first war was magnified, televised and glorified by the mainstream media. I would be in my classroom at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando and we’d have the tv turned to CNN, watching bomb camera footage as they were plowing into buildings in and around Baghdad like a souped up video game. It's amazing when the entire mainstream media approves of something how quickly dissent evaporates into the ether. Hell, we were winning (at least that’s what they were telling us) and the media was sanitizing it, banking on unprecedented ratings. Who were we? The United States? The Coalition? The U.N.? I had no clue. But hey, we were winning as Bernie Shaw, John Holliman and Peter Arnett kept us riveted non-stop. <br /><br /><br />It was intensely surreal. All that was missing was the popcorn as we were all in awe and cheering on the soldiers, looking to free that tiny little known nation of Kuwait from the scourge of our time, the new Hitler in Saddam Hussein. What the hell was happening? Reality was becoming a movie. The script was written. The locations were set. It was showtime and just a few weeks later, like magic, the President declared victory. Hussien was out of Kuwait. The oil, I mean the people of Kuwait were safe and we were having parades for the soldiers and all seemed good in the world again. President Bush was in all intents, untouchable politically and almost a lock for re-election. <br /><br /><br />Bill Clinton by comparison was a newbie to national politics, an outsider, as opposed to recent candidates for the White House. He appealed to me in a way that no other politician did. And it seemed like all of that good will President Bush earned after the Gulf War was squandered. The economy was tanking and Bush seemed out of touch with the people. Granted I was starting to form my own political thoughts, most of which were not based on policy and not closely aligned with my parents, so I wasn’t exactly an expert in politics.<br /><br /><br />I came from a family that was conservative but my dad always wanted me to find my own way and not copy his or anyone else’s ideology. To him, that would be laziness on my part, and if there was one thing he instilled in me was to never be a lemming; to think for myself. Unlike many who’d rather indoctrinate, he wanted me to be an individual more than being a member of a party. <br /><br /><br />So here I was all in for Bill Clinton and dad just looked at me and asked me to explain why. I didn’t have a cogent answer other than that he was young and on MTV and seemed cool. Dad was unimpressed with my reasoning and in retrospect it was kind of a lame answer. In my defense, I was a kid and this was going to be my first time voting so, what did I know?. He told me to call that 800 number from the Clinton campaign and get them to send me his booklet for “Putting People First”. He told me when I get it, read it and then come back with a better answer.<br /><br /><br />Now you have to understand this was 1992. This is way before the woke revolution. Way before MAGA. Way before cancel culture. Democrats were generally in favor of personal freedom and Republicans were proselytizing on how to live your life. It's amazing how the tables have turned in just 30 years. <br /><br /><br />So I couldn't stop thinking about tomorrow; that song was burned into my brain like a red hot branding iron to a cow's ass. Looking back, being young, impressionable and naive pretty much described me to a tee. As time passed, I saw and admitted that Bubba was far from the knight in shining armor I thought he was. However politically, in comparison to today’s Democrats, Bill Clinton was a practical right winger let alone a moderate. But his darker side was just as magnanimous as his public persona.<br /><br /><br />His private life, if there really is a private life for a politician, was a symphonic hot mess that went far beyond what his opposition labeled him at the time. It wasn’t until years later that the real Bill Clinton was finally exposed as being the wretch he was/is, especially to women. But by that time I jumped ship, made a conversion and welcomed with open arms, Junior Bush who campaigned and sounded more like Ronald Reagan than his own father. <br /><br /><br />Fast forward to the September 11th attacks in 2001. We had a new enemy in Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. The same Bin Laden that the US relied heavily on to thwart the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980’s. The chickens have come home to roost and here we were, in a battle of good versus evil, this time with Frankenstein’s monster. However, considering Bin Laden took responsibility for the 9/11 attack, going after him and the Taliban that protected him in Afghanistan, was a no-brainer and easily justified. Time to unleash holy hell on him and once again, the American people were completely behind another President Bush. That is until he turned his sights on, you guessed it, good ole’ Saddam. <br /><br /><br />Yes, Saddam was still kicking rocks, but not bloviating as he used to about his grand army, nuclear weapons program and his stockpiles of chemical weapons. His government would tell U.N. inspectors that no such programs still existed in his country. Apparently he turned a new leaf. It was hard to believe at the time but the U.N. inspectors kept confirming it. Just not the CIA. During that span, Saddam went full Corleone and put out a hit on old man Bush, which you have to admit would piss the ever loving shit out of a son who had at his fingertips the greatest military the world has ever known. I know if I were in W’s shoes, I’d be tempted. <br /><br /><br />Bin Laden was apparently harder to find than Waldo but in the minds of the powers that be, they simply couldn’t justify blowing up tents and caves with multi-million dollar munitions just to get one guy. Unless of course that guy was Saddam. The fight in Iraq this time didn’t sell like the first Gulf War sold itself to the American people. It was a video game war, part II. I bought into it as so many did. Then in one fell swoop, all rationale took a collective dump in the Euphrates. <br /><br /><br />So what started off as retaliation to the worst terrorist attack on American soil, turned into what would become one of the costliest, deadliest and divisive wars America ever took part in. Why? We were told since Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and the means to make more and he would use them like he did on his own people when he gassed the Kurds. The intel community theorized he absolutely could hand over a mini nuke or a chemical weapon over to a member of Al Qaeda and wham, there goes New York. Post 9/11 world here we come. <br /><br /><br />They even sent the stoic Colin Powell, media darling of the first Gulf War to the U.N. to make the case that Saddam was going to partner with Bin Laden, a dream team of jihadi’s, to destroy the world as we knew it. At the time it made pretty decent sense, especially since the intel communities of many nations agreed it was true. Psychologically as a nation, we were on the ropes from 9/11, having failed to “connect the dots” on how that was brewing under our noses for all that time. We were itching for retribution and were willing to get it from anywhere we could and in any way. <br /><br /><br />The intel, we were told, was airtight, solid. Backed up by MI6, the Mossad and a host of other international intel organizations. He had the weapons and the means to make more. I remember Powell held up a small vial of poison showing how easily it could be done. This was the new narrative. Saddam, who was a Sunni Muslim and Bin Laden was a Shiite, historically two sides of the Muslim faith that never saw eye to eye but for some reason our intel community figured, the enemy of my enemy could have a kumbaya moment and agree to break bread and come after us. Add to that a mainstream media that once again rolled over and the rest we know is history. <br /><br /><br />So here I am. Stuck between a Democrat and a Republican and now after years of seeing the bullshit that is tossed around by both parties, a nomad of sorts. My political rebirth as a libertarian with no real home in either party, was complete. It’s for the best because I can honestly say that I’m no longer a true believer politically. <br /><br /><br />When you think you’ve found your hill that you’re willing to die on, you find out quickly how political winds change and you're standing there, alone asking yourself how did your “team” abandon you? When you look behind the curtain and find out it’s the same person with different clothes on you begin to feel like you’ve been had, like you’ve been snookered and finally been shown the light. I also started to realize that the things I worried most about were inconsequential in comparison to what I believe will shake our reality to its core. Something that neither party or any party will ever really acknowledge. Gotta keep the lemmings occupied.<br /><br /><br />It’s that reality which is the most important story ever in human history and it’s unfolding right in front of our eyes and most of us don’t even realize it. At least not yet. We were never meant to recognize it by the very same powers that would rather you worry about a spy balloon flying over the country or why we need to give more money to Ukraine, which was listed as one of the most <a at="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Ukraine#:~:text=According%20to%20Transparency%20International" most="" russia="" s="" the="">corrupt nations</a> in the world, to fight another corrupt country in Russia. It’s been a massive shell game where we’ve been groomed to pick sides - whether it’s Republican or Democrat never really mattered - and it’s been 70 plus years in the making. Keeping the masses distracted and at each other’s throats to ward them off the real scent, the real issue, that is their true modus operandi.<br /><br /><br />What is this monumental story I’m talking about? It’s the story of UAPs. Also known as unidentified aerial phenomenon. I’m talking about the realization that we are not and never have been alone in this universe. I know when some people read that they assume I’m ready for a straightjacket. It’s a woo subject and it’s been purposely designed that way to foster a stigma that attaches to those who dare to even discuss it. <br /><br /><br /><br />If and when they do bring up the subject there’s always an air of silliness that permeates the reporting. You’ll hear the reporters start to snicker. Suddenly the producers play the theme of the X-Files ever so softly in the background, making a joke of what’s about to be said. It’s a defense mechanism when confronted with uncomfortable facts and possibilities. It’s been a process of ridicule that has been meticulously cultivated and ingrained into our society since the mid 1940s and continues on today. Just listen to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBI216HIEKY">White House press secretary</a> and the reaction from the White House press corps recently. The stigma has essentially silenced the media. But why, you ask yourself? Because of access. The fear of losing access or the fear of not being invited to a cushy dinner gathering or worse being outrightly ostracized, that’s why. The press in America and around the world, is hostage to its own need to access the very people controlling the narrative. The puppeteers and the marionettes in a symbiotic sickening dance covered in the illusion of a free press. <br /><br /><br /><br />The story that’s unfolding is being told to us in a reverse chronological way of sorts. Well they’re not about to come out and say they’ve lied all these years to the American people, to the world, so they have to start at square one. Everything unfolding has to look as if it was just discovered for that shock value to work as a blanket of deniability. To come straight out at this point and say, surprise, aliens are real and we've been lying to protect you for the last 70 years, just won't fly. Especially if you consider the fact that the information has been kept from legislative oversight, making it a criminal offense. To say they're treading lightly is understating it. Unless Congress issues a blank check of amnesty to those with this knowledge, people could absolutely face prison. However, I’d love to find the prosecutor willing to go there. He or she would need more protection than Ghislaine Maxwell otherwise they too may end up like her boss Mr. Epstein. <br /><br /><br />The phenomenon has been noted throughout history. <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/photos/ufos-discovered-historical-paintings-114905870/"> Paintings</a>, <a href="https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2018/summer/statement/thousands-years-ago-artists-painted-other-worldly-beings-canyon-rock-walls">pictographs</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinwalker_Ranch">Native American lore</a> have recorded it. To point out when all of this was initially held from us you could look back to the world's first nuclear explosion that occurred on July 16, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, known as the Jornada del Muerto. The code name for the test was "Trinity." You could say that when we split the atom, we garnered far more than just national and international attention. <br /><br /><br />From that point on, there was a spike in ufo <a href="https://www.cs.odu.edu/~salam/wsdl/inforet/wikihtml/List_of_UFO_sightings_a967.html">reporting</a> all around the world, not just in the United States. But the greater question I’ve always asked myself is, why? Why would this information be kept hidden from us? What is their rationale? Who are they? Is it just our government? This is the unfortunate side of the enigma; the rabbit hole. It’s where charlatans lay in wait trying to persuade you or in some cases dissuade you. Confusion and disillusion is their ally then finally, we surrender and return to mundane life as the lemmings they ultimately count on and rarely do we disappoint. <br /><br /><br />I’ve always tried to use the scientific method when it comes to the phenomenon. <br /><br /><br />Make an observation.<br /><br /><br />Ask a question.<br /><br /><br />Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation.<br /><br /><br />Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.<br /><br /><br />Test the prediction.<br /><br /><br />Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.<br /><br /><br />Taking the first question, “why would this information be hidden from us?”, led me to this conclusion. If there is another form of life that exists other than human beings, and they are capable of traveling the way they do through these physical machines that have been observed traveling tens of thousands of miles per hour in space, inside of our atmosphere and under water, then simply put, we are no longer the most advanced species, period. We're no longer at the top of the food chain. <br /><br /><br />Why would our government withhold this information? It’s straightforward if you think about it. If our government can’t stop or control these machines from violating our airspace at will, do you really think they would want to admit that they exist? Look at what we just went through with the Chinese spy balloon and the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64620064">other 3 mysterious objects</a> that were shot down. We were later told that those other 3 objects were not going to be recovered and the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-search-remnants-aerial-objects-shot-alaska-lake-huron-ends-no-resul-rcna71303">search</a> for their wreckage was called off. This was on February 18th and there hasn’t been nary a word from the mainstream media regarding this since. Nothing. They took what the Pentagon said and went on to the next story. Remember, it’s the shell game and we the people have more important things to do like see what Kanye tweeted about today. <br /><br /><br />Supposedly in the wake of the China spy balloon, NORAD <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/norad-increases-radar-sensors/">changed the settings on their radar systems</a> so now they can “see” more objects in the sky. I personally think that’s a load of crap. I doubt the sensitivity of our radar systems were ever in question. Perhaps it’s better to convey a (false) message that we’ve tightened the screws so to speak, on our radar systems. Better to admit we’ve been caught with our pants down (and look like idiots on the worldstage) versus having to explain what all those “other” objects are should tell you where on the importance scale the phenomenon rates. <br /><br /><br />Those objects have always been there, only to have been overlooked for some reason by the military. It's just that the balloon got the attention of the media in a grand way but the government need not worry. Their lackey’s in the media locked down the narrative. They ended any queries or debate and the toddler-esque attention span of American people gave up on this story as fast as it came upon us. Done and done. Move along, move along.<br /><br /><br />We were told that the other 3 objects that were “shot” down, could have been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/joe-biden-addresses-nation-ufos-chinese-spy-balloon-watch-live-stream-today-2023-02-16/">weather balloons from a private company or recreational groups</a>. The government has options that provide cover here. One, they don’t want to admit by showing cockpit video footage of a takedown of a weather balloon, having to then account for the cost of the action. A few million to shoot down some balloons from private companies with multiple sidewinder missiles would be a tough one to swallow. It would also admit that politics alone was the reason and the Biden administration needs that like a hole in the head. <br /><br /><br />But at the same time, if they weren’t balloons, as some of the pilots have reported that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/objects-shot-down-over-alaska-canada-ufo-interfered-f22-sensors-2023-2">objects interfered with their sensors</a>, it makes sense that the government hasn’t released the footage of those takedowns - nullifying their supposed benign nature. Either way, they gain cover by feigning stupidity, thanks to political pressure, again taking one on the chin for the greater good of keeping this subject matter out of the public sphere. Done and done.<br /><br /><br />When you delve further into the rabbit hole you come up to who “they” are. Are “they” us, from the future as some have <a href="https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a42959541/are-ufos-time-traveling-humans/">suggested</a>? Are “they” from another planet in a distant part of the universe? Are “they” from a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/jacques-vallee-still-doesnt-know-what-ufos-are/">different dimension</a> as Jacques Vallee has opined? Could “they” be here, on Earth, and have lived amongst us in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShX-WM5TiXc">shadow biome</a> or better, the deep seas as postulated by Drs. Hal Puthoff and Gary Nolan? Are “they” benevolent, malevolent or just neutrally observing? Let's start with the hypothesis that “they” are us from the future. <br /><br /><br />In 1994, in Ruwa Zimbabwe, children from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_School_UFO_incident">Ariel school claimed</a> they saw ufo’s land and interacted with their occupants on a field adjacent to the school. More than 60 children had the same story when describing what they saw, right down to what “they” looked like; no taller than the kids themselves with large heads and large black eyes. Some of the children said “they” spoke to them telepathically, with the beings saying that we must “not be too technical” and to care for our planet better. <br /><br /><br />I interpret the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TukvVnadRic">not to be too technical</a>” message as a warning that we are going down a dangerous path with AI. To the minds of children, I could understand how they would interpret that message in the way they did. Perhaps “they” were us, from the future, trying to warn ourselves for being too smart for our own good. Always attempting to do the impossible without asking if we should be doing it in the first place. Knowledge without the governance of humility, could that be our downfall? Are we acquiescing our very humanity to the artificial for what we currently believe is for the improvement of mankind? <br /><br /><br />Could “they” be from a distant part of the galaxy, perhaps the Zeta Reticuli system as was told to Betty Hill in what became known as the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_and_Betty_Hill_incident"> Barney and Betty Hill incident</a>. The incident which took place on September 19th, 1961, where both Barney and Betty Hill claimed they were abducted by extraterrestrials in rural New Hampshire. When Betty was interviewed regarding the incident she recalled being shown a star map by the aliens. She didn’t realize it at the time but apparently the stars lined up with the Zeta Reticuli star system, some 39 light years away from Earth. Ironically as years passed, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lazar">George Knapp of KLAS tv in Las Vegas interviewed Bob Lazar</a>, who claimed he worked out of a secret military base in Nevada which became known as Area 51, was reverse engineering alien spacecraft which supposedly also came from Zeta Reticuli. <br /><br /><br />All of this leads us back to the origin point, at least what I believe is the official, unofficial origin point where the United States government was introduced to the Phenomenon, and that is in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_incident">Roswell, New Mexico</a>. The year was 1947 and on July 8th the Roswell Army Airfield issued a press release stating that they have recovered a “flying disk” of alien origin. Of course they quickly retracted that statement, coming up with the weather balloon story that has been the official accounting up to most recently in 1994. Then, a new “investigation” by the Air Force, stated that it was debris from Project Mogul, a military surveillance program using balloons. It’s ironic how some things just come full circle don’t they?<br /><br /><br />According to the late<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_J._Corso"> Colonel Philip J. Corso</a>, in his book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After_Roswell">The Day After Roswell</a>, the debris from the crash at Roswell was split up and sent to various military bases including what is now Wright Patterson, to be studied and eventually integrated with private defense contractors in order to keep the research on this matter out of public view. As we’ve come to realize over time, materials in the hands of private contractors are not subjected to public scrutiny using FOIA (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States)">freedom of information act</a>). It’s ingenious when you think about it. If these materials were in the sole custody of the US Government, they would be subject to review. In private hands however, there were no such requirements. Move along. Move along. <br /><br /><br />All of this is pure speculation and I’m sure would be categorized as a conspiracy theory. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen more and more conspiracy theories metamorph into conspiracy facts. Be it the JFK assassination or the origin of COVID and how our government conspired with big tech to censor anyone on social media challenging the status quo, it seems conspiracies can only last so long. It’s been said that the sanitizing light of day will eventually bring forth the truth, even if it’s taken over 70 years. Eventually truth finds its way. The Great Awakening is right around the corner. The only question remains is, will we be ready to accept the truth no matter what dogma it may question?</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_JfaKIpA24quvhF1TZ_h4_23PUQ1LjxKFDuVFAg_GQOwwUMb1AeSC9WvsdJw-DGbR-oKrj7Ny1L5rF3FAk1qXsKTOcLve9odlzGWcWgoEXK5OK61--x_WxeQaAdhrTkTj7S2KVjcTUeffYhweqUwB1Dqwwfv7YBrZuw2gb1VpSBwZY3-Jnkq_8nn/s1920/ufo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_JfaKIpA24quvhF1TZ_h4_23PUQ1LjxKFDuVFAg_GQOwwUMb1AeSC9WvsdJw-DGbR-oKrj7Ny1L5rF3FAk1qXsKTOcLve9odlzGWcWgoEXK5OK61--x_WxeQaAdhrTkTj7S2KVjcTUeffYhweqUwB1Dqwwfv7YBrZuw2gb1VpSBwZY3-Jnkq_8nn/s320/ufo.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-72715157091783187722020-10-27T21:36:00.002-04:002020-11-05T09:16:37.494-05:00The Phenomenon<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oFsoKLQQQsw/X5jJaoJV_5I/AAAAAAAAGY8/Xg7sVt5aLYovOMTVznJ1IflLUgDkPEyNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/20201010_201635.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oFsoKLQQQsw/X5jJaoJV_5I/AAAAAAAAGY8/Xg7sVt5aLYovOMTVznJ1IflLUgDkPEyNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201010_201635.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I happen to love reading biographies and watching documentaries. I get that partly from my mother who would always have a celebrity biography at the ready everywhere around the house growing up. I remember reading the life stories of Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Natalie Wood to Albert Einstein. In between the biographies, my grandfather would find just about anything and everything on TV that was related to World War II and record it. This was way before the History channel and others like it even existed. </span></span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1d2537df-7fff-a2f6-fb3c-f095c206e9d8"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I could swear that my grandfather’s VHS collection could rival that of the National Archives; it was so rich with historical documentaries. I knew more about Generals Rommel and George S. Patton than most adults let alone preteens. While my friends were fancying themselves as characters in the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breakfast Club</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I was learning how General MacArthur and Field Marshall Montgomery were bringing the Axis to its knees. I know, I know. If I wasn’t </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cool kid then who was, right?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well I was raised in a conservative Catholic household. Did the whole Catholic school bit right up to but not including high school. I broke free at that point. I had all my sacraments, minus the obvious exceptions. I was an alternate alter-boy which as I look back I realize I was like a utility player on a baseball team; only go to him when you have nobody else left on the bench. But that was fine. It got me out of class even if I didn’t have a clue with what I was doing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I say this to preface that years ago, and by years I’m 46 now, when I was at least 15 years old, I saw an interview on TV of a mysterious man whose identity was kept secret but later was revealed to be physicist Bob Lazar. He claimed to work at this super secret government base known as S4 which was part of this larger secret military base he called Area 51, out in Nevada, reverse engineering - wait for it- EXTRATERRESTRIAL spacecraft. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok so to a 15-year-old who was raised on films like </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Close Encounters of the Third Kind</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E.T</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Star Wars</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this was absolutely mind-blowing. A legitimate news report of us, the U.S. Government, in possession of an alien spacecraft, holy shit! Of course nobody in their right mind thought it was true other than the interviewing journalist <a href="https://youtu.be/qbbhbUiCdIY" target="_blank">George Knapp of KLAS-TV</a> in Las Vegas. Most thought that Lazar was probably some crackpot who was just looking for his 15 minutes of fame. But I believed him. Maybe it was my naïveté but I did and little did that 15-year-old starry eyed boy know that some 30 plus years later, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEWz4SXfyCQ&t=2380s" target="_blank">Bob Lazar’s story</a> was far more truthful than most of what our nation’s government has ever voluntarily revealed to the public regarding unidentified flying objects.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the years I would read the works of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vall%C3%A9e" target="_blank">Drs. Jaques Vallee </a>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Allen_Hynek" target="_blank">J. Allen Hynek</a>. Vallee, a French born astronomer and computer scientist credited with creating a network information center known as ARPANET, essentially a precursor to the modern day internet, later became one of the most prevailing researchers on unidentified flying objects. Hynek, a professor of Astronomy who assisted the U.S. Air Force research bodies such as Project Sign, Project Grudge and the most infamous, Project Blue Book, which cataloged thousands of unexplained phenomena dubbed UFOs at the time. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hynek was originally tasked by his military superiors/handlers to be the scientific advisor to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book" target="_blank">Project Blue Book</a>, but he became more like the resident de-bunker of the UFO myth, using his stellar credentials as a vehicle to downplay the validity of most of the Bluebook cases and of the UFO subject as a whole. To a point it actually worked but even Dr. Hynek would later realize that there were far too many credible accounts that couldn’t be easily written off as swamp gas or a drunk country bumpkin on a Saturday night staring up and seeing Venus, mistaking it for a UFO. Thus, in 1969, the U.S. Air Force closed Project Bluebook and deemed that we were quite alone in the universe and those few unexplained cases were just that, unexplained, but not UFOs and certainly nothing extraterrestrial. Move along. Move along. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/10RgsuetO4uDkY/giphy.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="290" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/10RgsuetO4uDkY/giphy.gif" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So as I devoured everything on this topic I realized that when I decided to jump down the rabbit hole of ufology, there was a good chance I’d find a ton of whack jobs and bullshit artists. Needless to say I did and there are. I was always focused on the works of Vallee with his seminal book written in 1969, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Passport to Magonia</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, being the holy grail of the subject of ufology. But still, the stigma attached to the study always outweighed ever broaching the subject with anyone, at least for me. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My family knew I always had my head in the clouds and practically into the stars. Hell one day on a summer night my grandfather and I saw what we thought was a UFO. So what did we do and by we I mean what did I do? I grabbed dad’s car keys and gramps and I drove after it, literally. As we got closer, our “UFO” turned out to be just a blimp using new LED tech on its outer skin. Yeah, so here was this 16-year-old and a 60-something year-old pulling a Roy Neary and driving off to catch a UFO. Good times. Damn you Spielberg!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never told many people that story but when I have you can imagine the looks I get. Hey, I don’t blame them. Let’s face it, the government, the media, Hollywood, and academia have had a hand in marginalizing this subject so much so that anyone with a legitimate story, not an overeager kid chasing a Goodyear blimp with his grandpa, but legitimate unexplained sightings and encounters, have been lumped in with the crackpots and kooks and charlatans. Even today, 31 years after Bob Lazar made his controversial, revolutionary admission cloaked in the Nevada desert, those who “believe” no longer refer to unidentified flying objects as UFOs, now they’re referred to as UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomenons. But that wasn’t done at the hands of the UFO community, no, that was the United States government that made that new distinction. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around 2010 to 2011, the nomenclature of UFOs suddenly took on a new moniker, the UAP, the unidentified aerial phenomenon. Veteran journalist<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Kean" target="_blank"> Leslie Kean</a> wrote a book in 2010 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Suddenly the ufology movement had what some might call a legitimate mainstream journalist advocating that what people were seeing were in fact, real. Kean asks her readers to consider that such sightings represent “a solid, physical phenomenon that appears to be under intelligent control and is capable of speeds, maneuverability, and luminosity beyond current known technology,” that the “government routinely ignores UFOs and, when pressed, issues false explanations,” and that the “hypothesis that UFOs are of extraterrestrial or interdimensional origin is a rational one and must be taken into account.” HOLY SHIT INDEED. Leslie Kean, investigative journalist who writes for the New York Times. Now I couldn't care less what you may think of the New York Times. It’s not without its faults to say the least but for a writer whose byline is found at the Times, this validation is historic. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast-forward to April 27th 2020, the year of COVID-19, has also turned out to be the year that the <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/" target="_blank">United States Defense Department</a> openly admitted and released videos showing American military pilots encountering UAPs. Granted one took place in 2004 and the other two took place in 2015. Some videos were circulating around the internet as far back as 2007 and 2017. Yet the U.S. government finally admitted that what people saw, what our soldiers saw, was and is still unexplained. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If this doesn’t peak your curiosity then I don’t think anything will, well perhaps except for a documentary that was released October 6th of this year, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://thephenomenonfilm.com/" target="_blank">The Phenomenon </a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://thephenomenonfilm.com/" target="_blank">by filmmaker James Fox</a>. First I have to say to those of you who have been knee-deep in this world of the Phenomenon, this film, as glorious as it is, was not meant for you, for us. This is a masterfully crafted film designed to bring what is clearly the most important story in the history of mankind to those who are clueless or who have been conditioned to have no clue regarding the Phenomenon. James Fox takes you on a detailed chronological history of it and does so without trying to browbeat the audience into submission. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I reflect on the absolute craziness of 2020, I’m being gentle by calling it merely crazy. To say that our government practically admitted to a possible alien presence on this Earth and for it to NOT have made front page news, shows you what a year 2020 has been and to think we still have two more months to go. This topic has finally come out of the shadows and into the light. It can be spoken about far more freely and without abject ridicule. It poses many questions, some that are deeply personal. It questions our view of the world, science, our government, our place in the hierarchy of this world. It makes you question religion and for someone like myself raised and still a practicing Catholic, it can be profound when you begin to look down that rabbit hole. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My advice, go watch </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Phenomenon</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by James Fox. If you've ever thought about this subject but were afraid to ask questions or find yourself suddenly seen as ready for the Cuckoo's Nest, let this film be your jumping off point. There are many branches to the Phenomenon tree out there. Some are thought inspiring and some are unsettling and some are downright ridiculous. Always judge the material by the source, it's vital. You have to leave your personal dogma (religious and political) at the door if you want to be open to what the possibilities are. I won’t delve into all of them here, I’ll leave that for another time. Be unafraid, but trust me, you will never see the world around you quite the same ever again. James Fox has given you the option of taking the blue pill. It’s up to you to take it, or not. </span></p><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Spector Sector gives </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Phenomenon by James Fox</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 5 out of 5 stars.</span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-77392834731970689802020-10-18T21:13:00.002-04:002020-10-18T21:13:15.387-04:00Season's Change<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mk0UbRroJVM/X4zl8gBNEZI/AAAAAAAAGXo/DtBAPnEDtI0kA72tPfjEchAW6PGHRbEeACLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h400/Everybody_Loves_Raymond_.jpg" width="266" /></div> <span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve always been somewhat of a pessimist. I was channel surfing the other day and <i>“Everybody Loves Raymond”</i> was on. It was the <i>Recovering Pessimist</i> episode. In it Ray is awarded the sportswriter of the year. He was reluctant to go to the dinner because he didn’t want to be disappointed if he lost. When he gets home, even though he won, Ray is totally depressed thinking that for something so good to happen to him something equally terrible must be around the corner ready to strike. Well yeah, that can be me and like Ray, I’m a product of my parents who were just the same. Don’t get me wrong I love my parents and I'm thankful of the man they've made me today but my dad’s favorite quote was, “If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have none at all.” Well if that doesn’t brighten your day what will? </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyway, the reason for my rant is that for the first time in almost 20 years, on Monday I will be working for someone other than Optimum. Between utterly changing philosophies (not for the better) when the French company Altice bought Optimum from James Dolan in 2015, to the absolute shit sandwich that this year has been, it’s going to be quite the welcome change for me. I’m going from a corporate billion dollar behemoth whose wheels are sadly coming off to a family run business where we have a shared focus on what I do best which is to help people and I couldn’t be happier. It’s been a while since I’ve been this happy so forgive me if I look over my shoulder and wonder if there’s a catch to this. Like Ray said, “Alright, I’m a little pessimistic, but I got it under control ok? I can be optimistic any time I want to.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On a side note, I feel so optimistic, I think you'll be seeing more of the Spector Sector from here on out. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> I'M BACK BABY!!</span></b></p>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-52634497954302218112014-06-17T19:02:00.000-04:002014-06-17T19:02:33.323-04:00Tony Gwynn - The Passing of a Legend<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmZNEksA0vY/U6DIFBz12uI/AAAAAAAACW4/3Su_RKnbatI/s1600/10449504_10152265638223337_8651746469951687209_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmZNEksA0vY/U6DIFBz12uI/AAAAAAAACW4/3Su_RKnbatI/s1600/10449504_10152265638223337_8651746469951687209_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Joe Petruccio</td></tr>
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One of my most cherished memories I have of my dad was how
his influence helped form my love for the game of Baseball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was one day in particular when we went
to purchase my very own, “professional” baseball glove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wasn’t going to be a cheap, garden
variety type you would get at Kmart, this was the big leagues son, and this was
going to be a Rawlings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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For fathers and sons, buying your first glove, is as
important as any rite of passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dad
didn’t care for other gloves out there other than Rawlings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like he always told me, “They hand out the
Gold Gloves, why would you want something else?” I was using his rare,
left-handed, Rawlings “Clete Boyer” model and it was starting to show its
age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The leather was dried out and cracking
and since being left handed, I was preordained for either a first baseman’s
mitt or an outfielder’s glove. It was pretty clear what I’d be getting that
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Dad took me to the Rawlings store – yes they had a sporting
goods store – and the minute we walked in we could smell the aroma of the
leather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were expensive as all hell
even back then. We were far from rich so to get this gift was something I knew
neither of us would ever forget and I would be forever grateful for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I was a kid, I knew this had much
more meaning than simply replacing my (his) old beat up glove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Of course I went straight for the catcher’s mitt – I took a
shot, what can I say? Dad smiled but had to remind me that being left handed
meant you either played first, the outfield or pitched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “fun” positions were a no-go for the both
of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept looking until he saw a
special section of gloves called signature series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the majority of them were all right
handed except for one in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vkcpPXkWCMY/U6DH8piTGQI/AAAAAAAACWw/I_SyxvSXCr0/s1600/20140616_211903_Richtone(HDR).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vkcpPXkWCMY/U6DH8piTGQI/AAAAAAAACWw/I_SyxvSXCr0/s1600/20140616_211903_Richtone(HDR).jpeg" height="180" width="320" /></a>The glove was signed along the thumb and read “Tony
Gwynn”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mind you this was the beginning
of the1984 season, so I had no clue who Tony Gwynn was at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even my dad couldn’t imagine what an
incredible player and career Gwynn would have but he knew he was a stud in the
making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s amazing when you look back
to moments in your life that leave indelible memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tony Gwynn did that for me.</div>
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When I heard that Tony Gwynn passed away from a long battle
with Cancer yesterday, I felt a part of my childhood had died as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was only 54 years old, only 4 years older
then when my dad passed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both were far
too young to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gwynn was as close to
being a pure hitter that there ever was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mentioning him, you could easily bring up the names of Cobb, Speaker, or
Williams and not feel as if you’re out of touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gwynn was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that
</i>good. </div>
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He hit over .300 for 19 seasons – in a row, winning 8
batting titles with a career average of .338.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He won seven Silver Slugger awards, 5 gold gloves, and was named an
All-Star 15 out of 16 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He almost
hit .400 when in the strike shortened season of 1994, he batted .394.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, having garnered over 97% of the vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to wrap your brain around it all,
isn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He aspired to be the very best
and he was of his generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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His downfall, and it would wrong not to mention, was his
self-admitted demon, chewing tobacco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
2010, he was diagnosed with Cancer of the salivary gland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was never the same after that original
diagnosis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to remember Tony Gwynn
for the person and player he was and the role – no matter how minute – he
played in my lifelong love affair with the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll never forget the memories he was
indirectly a part of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My one hope and if
I were a betting man, I bet it would have also been Tony’s hope, is that for Major
League Baseball and the Players Union to do the right thing and finally ban
chewing tobacco in any Major League stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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be a legacy Major League Baseball should aspire to</span><br />
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The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-92117145260344682202014-04-11T10:30:00.001-04:002014-04-11T21:36:24.613-04:00Getting Hammered<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m6yLZAdFhmk/U0fzAmfEMbI/AAAAAAAACV8/xKTuKTHxbWw/s1600/hank-aaron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m6yLZAdFhmk/U0fzAmfEMbI/AAAAAAAACV8/xKTuKTHxbWw/s1600/hank-aaron.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve always made it a point not to take political advice
from celebrities, be it of the Hollywood kind
or those on the field of sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
just something wrong about making personal political choices based on what Tom
Cruise or LeBron James has to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
guess I’ve always been a marketer’s nightmare in that regard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when a sports icon and hero, no less,
says that those who disagree with President Obama <a href="http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/04/09/hank-aaron-compares-republicans-that-oppose-obama-to-kkk/">are comparable to the KKK</a>, I
take offense and I’m not even a Republican.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Aaron was interviewed for the 40<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of his record setting 715<sup>th</sup> homerun when he decided to
compare the political climate 40 years ago and what he dealt with to today’s
political climate and how it’s impacted the President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow he’s decided that the reason the President
is failing – with 51% disapproving of his job performance according to Gallup – is because of
rampant racism especially from Republicans.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Sure, this country has a black president but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated. - Hank Aaron</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Aaron continued: “The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”</blockquote>
<br />
So it's not the President's fault it's everyone who doesn't agree with the President who's at fault for his falling numbers? That's like saying a hitter batting a buck fifty isn't at fault for stinking it up, it's the fans who are complaining about it. Last time I checked we lived in a Democracy where we didn't have to agree with <i>everything </i>our leaders say. Nor should anyone be branded a racist for not agreeing with him. But that seems to be the way it is today. Attack those who disagree with the president as being racist bumpkin boobs - because their arguments are as thin as their bloodline. <br />
<br />
I revere what Hank Aaron accomplished and earned in the game. Hell I applaud him when he''s referred to as the <i>true </i>home run king and not Barry Bonds. If Bonds were white would my decision be based on the assumption that I hated white people? I'm not trying to beat up on Aaron but I'm sick of hearing this type of stupidity and the media not calling people out on it. If you're in the spotlight and you make a statement like that, be prepared to defend it.<br />
<br />
We're now six years into the Obama Presidency and <i> </i>people are <i>still </i>accused of racism when they disagree with him. Even Hillary Clinton during her primary run against him was accused of such. Crying racism every time someone disagrees with the president does nothing but give cover to those who are truly racist. For example, former KKK member and former Democratic Senator from the state of West Virginia, Robert Byrd. Oh but I suppose he found religion and <i>poof, </i>away went those racist beliefs.<br />
<br />
I would never deny or denigrate anything Hank Aaron experienced during his life. I'm well aware that people can be immeasurably good and evil to one another with the latter making their shallow choice based on skin color or the sexual orientation or the religion of their target. But to paint people with a broad brush as being racist simply because they disagree with the person, delegitimizes not just the true racists but makes the accuser nothing more than a pawn. <br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-55965694441293379942014-04-10T10:31:00.000-04:002014-04-10T10:46:40.113-04:00Summer Movie Review - Captain America: The Winter Soldier<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oB4NQeq4q3s/U0annSH4gLI/AAAAAAAACVo/XDSZcYDksOE/s1600/Capt2-Payoff-1-Sht-v8-Lg-c563d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oB4NQeq4q3s/U0annSH4gLI/AAAAAAAACVo/XDSZcYDksOE/s1600/Capt2-Payoff-1-Sht-v8-Lg-c563d.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It looks like Marvel Studios is growing up right in front of
our very eyes; finally coming into it’s own with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems like the summer movie season starts
earlier every year with this film premiering April 4<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if this is a prelude to crop of films
coming this summer, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier</i>
set quite a high bar to match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the original Captain America film being a World War II
period piece, sprinkled with sci-fi fantasy with its introduction of the
Tesseract, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier </i>takes
Cap right into the modern world as he’s an agent of the C.I.A. type spy agency,
S.H.I.E.L.D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a far more reality
based film, far more then even last summer’s blockbuster, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What really sets this Marvel film apart from any other is
the fact that this is a complex political thriller, in the vein of some of the
most classic political thrillers of the 1970’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Films such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Days of the
Condor </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jackal</i> came to
mind while I was watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter
Soldier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Brothers and co-director’s
Anthony and Joe Russo channeled their inner William Friedkin, pitting the
Captain against everything he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thought </i>he
knew was right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A great deal of the film is an allegory of our own post 9-11
world as Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is hell bent on preventing
another disaster similar to what took place during <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film
clearly takes a blow at President Obama’s kill list and the overreaching of the
N.S.A. In fact I could see Edward Snowden putting his seal of approval on this
film for sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The idea of targeted killing is a major theme in this film
and it forces you to think about how that’s used in today’s war on
terrorism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fury’s Project Insight, does
exactly that as they’re able to target tens of thousands if not millions of
perceived threats and eliminating them in one fell swoop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point it makes you wonder does killing
a hundred people make us safer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
about a thousand or a million?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When is
enough enough?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is legal and what is
acceptable according to our Constitution, are both asked in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art imitating life at its best I
believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The acting in this film in truly top notch (major tip of the
hat to Robert Redford) as the screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen
McFeely weaves some of the best dialogue of any “comic book” film made to
date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without giving too much away let’s
just say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America: The Winter
Soldier</i>, sets the Marvel Universe in a whole new direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly Marvel Studios has its collective act
together and is running like a well oiled machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Sector gives <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain
America:
The Winter Soldier </i>3.5 out of 4</div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-7143884498557995612014-04-04T09:43:00.001-04:002014-04-04T09:48:07.935-04:00To Leave Or Not To Leave...That Is The Question<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6LfrCLyv4NI/Uz6000r7TQI/AAAAAAAACVU/UPVH4PYUSuM/s1600/2ce50610-bac4-11e3-8870-25aa33085553_murphyfran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6LfrCLyv4NI/Uz6000r7TQI/AAAAAAAACVU/UPVH4PYUSuM/s1600/2ce50610-bac4-11e3-8870-25aa33085553_murphyfran.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>A furor is raging over the New York sports wire regarding of all
things, paternity leave and its effect on Major League Baseball and its
players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not making this stuff up I
swear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fire began when New York Mets
second baseman, Daniel Murphy, was excused from the first two games of the
season so he could be at his wife’s side for the birth of their son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not everyone apparently thinks a father,
especially one that’s a professional athlete, should be taking time off for
such inconsequential things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Longtime radio personality and notorious thorn in Mets fans
side, Mike Francesa, went on an anti-paternity leave rant the other day on his
WFAN radio show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calling the situation a
“scam” and a “gimmick” it leaves one to wonder what life in the Francesa home
was like in his or his kid’s formative years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since he’s gone on record calling what Murphy did as being a “scam” and
a “gimmick”, I would be remised <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>to
point out that Francesa’s own father abandoned his family when Mike was just 8
years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I guess being a cold
hearted prick must be one of those passed down family traditions, kind of like
Sunday gravy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even Boomer Esiason on his radio show, “Boomer and Carton”
weighed in on the situation with this sage nugget of wisdom while acknowledging
that Murphy has a legal right to miss work:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Co3nG_qfnmw/Uz603BD-53I/AAAAAAAACVc/fbriF9yPYYo/s1600/2D274905533485-today-murphy-boomer-140403-02.blocks_today_desktop_tease.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Co3nG_qfnmw/Uz603BD-53I/AAAAAAAACVc/fbriF9yPYYo/s1600/2D274905533485-today-murphy-boomer-140403-02.blocks_today_desktop_tease.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>"Bottom line, that's not me. I wouldn't do that."<br />
<br />
"Quite frankly I woulda said C-section before the season starts, I need to
be at Opening Day. </div>
I'm sorry."</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black;"><br />
Eat your heart out Marcus Welby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well
there you have it ladies, and from the mouth of the guy who’s put more thought
into this than anything he did in all the years he was quarterbacking the Jets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, Dr. Esaison continued:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
"This is what makes our money, this is how we're gonna
live our life. This is gonna give my child every opportunity to be a success in
life. I'll be able to afford any college I wanna send my kid to because I'm a
baseball player." </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes so true Boomer because you know that taking 2 precious days
to see an event that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should </i>be more
important than anything you’ve ever accomplished on the gridiron is simply
pushing the envelope of rationale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What’s next? Are we going to give NFL players who are convicted felons
the right to keep earning millions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop
the madness!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know you would think that Esaison would have a bit more
empathy considering the great work he’s done with his Foundation that funds
research for cystic fibrosis, a disease of the respiratory and digestive
systems that affects his own son, Gunnar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could see if Murphy was asking for 6 weeks leave, as is
normally the case with maternity leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the team policy is 3 days max for paternity leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of this outrage coming from a sport where
players miss weeks and months on end when they pull a muscle – 2 days for the
birth of your child – heracy!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
This phony machismo attitude by these radio personalities
and ex-athletes doesn’t play well in this day and age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could almost hear Francesa say that Mickey
Mantle wouldn’t ever do something like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course not but then again I wouldn’t put Mantle up as a father of the
year candidate either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look I get the
locker room, testosterone driven mentality where you rub dirt on an injury and
you keep your mouth shut even if you probably shouldn’t be on the field
playing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Some people get drunk with success - wink wink –
Franseca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why don’t you do us a favor
and take a few days off yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
could all use a break from this stupidity</span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-14518697689666020002014-04-02T10:30:00.000-04:002014-04-02T10:30:01.676-04:00What Being A Mets Fan Means To Me<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s like clockwork you know, hell I could even set my watch
to it. Every year and almost exactly around this time, nostalgia rushes over me
in a wave of mixed emotions. I feel the
cold rattle my aching bones yet I know somewhere warm and far away, my team is
getting ready for a new beginning. Unless
you’re a fan of this team, it’s hard to describe the passion we share for it,
at least not without sounding as if we’re completely insane.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
As much as it is a time of rebirth
it’s a time where my memories pull me in equally powerful yet opposite
directions. It’s hard to let go of those
I’ve lost, my father and grandfather especially. I long for the days when we would travel to <st1:city>Kissimmee</st1:city> to see the Mets play the Astros during
Spring Training. It was the closest we
could get to opening day at Shea, listening to Ralph Kiner – now also a part of
our collective memories – and soaking it all in. Full of hope; high on expectations and yet
cognizant of reality, that’s the life of a Mets fan. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in
the combative and sometimes negative banter, especially when you’re a part of
such a diverse and passionate fan base.
Most of the time it’s exhilarating, as defending your opinion should be. On rare occasions it brings out the worst in
us, but like I said, that’s rare. But
there should be no doubt that hope, really does spring eternal every year
around this time.<o:p></o:p><br />
It’s going to be exciting to see
how the future is going to play out with regards to the Mets pitching. It’s difficult to not compare the arms of
Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard to the icons of the past whether
they be, Seaver, Koosman and Ryan or Gooden, Darling and Cone. We’ve been teased before with Generation K,
so we’re battle tested and always prepared to be disappointed. But perhaps that pendulum has finally begun
to swing our way. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Questions remain, as they always do.
Who’s playing first? What about
shortstop? Does Alderson have money to
spend? If he does, do you believe
him? Do you believe the Wilpons? Does that matter? We always seem to be skeptical no matter
who’s running the show, and that’s not entirely a bad thing. We have to admit that progress has been made.
Granted in a perfect world, it would have happened sooner then again in a
perfect world Carlos Beltran would have swung at that curveball and Bernie
Madoff would have never existed. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“[Baseball] breaks your heart. It’s
designed to break your heart. The game
begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the
summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and as soon as the chill rains
come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, you rely on it to buffer the
passage of time, to keep memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just
when the days are all twilight, when you need it the most, it stops.”<br />
~ A. Bartlett Giamatti, <i>Take Time For </i><st1:place><i>Paradise</i></st1:place><i>: Americans And Their Games<o:p></o:p></i></blockquote>
<br />
Even though a part of me would give anything to relive the past, I’m
beginning to realize the true gift of what the past has given me. What good is it to wish for days long gone
with those we cared for sharing our love of this game and this team if it
simply ends there? Every thread of this
game becomes a tapestry when passed down to those we love. The whole point is
to continue our tradition. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3vydlEiY3Yk/UzjjIMgfJwI/AAAAAAAACVA/Wy2S7sK-dE4/s1600/Adrienne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3vydlEiY3Yk/UzjjIMgfJwI/AAAAAAAACVA/Wy2S7sK-dE4/s1600/Adrienne.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adrienne Djaha<br />
1933-2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just recently the mother of a good friend and co-worker of mine passed away.
As true a fan of this team I have ever
known. Adrienne would call to speak to
her daughter and I knew when they were done speaking – it was time for us to
talk shop. She was 80 years old and
sharp as a tack and she knew <i>everything </i>that
was going on with this team from who was playing to who was hurt, down to her
“boyfriend” Keith Hernandez’ personal life.
She made it a point to mention that he was “available” now and that he
lived not too far from her. I think the
Mex would’ve met his match though. <br />
<br />
<br />
This is what matters most about our love for this team. I may not write with the aplomb of a Greg
Prince or with the uncanny wit of Metstradamus or with the statistical
dexterity of Eric Simon. But like
Forrest Gump, I too know what love is and my greatest hope for anyone who reads
this is to find that someone in your life and pass this love down. I know, you might think it’s a curse but deep
down, beyond the issues, beyond the controversies, we’re all one big family and
I’ve been lucky to know and learn from a few of them.The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-89101194464627800762014-03-24T09:00:00.000-04:002014-03-24T09:06:37.587-04:00ENTITLED A(ME)RICA<div class="MsoNormal">
Not to come across as an 80 year old curmudgeon, but I’m
absolutely sick of seeing and hearing and dealing with people who feel so
immeasurably entitled. Very few things
can get under my skin with this being a huge exception. I work with the public and I see this disease
of uber self-importance in the raw. The
effects seem to be indiscriminate. Young,
old, rich, or poor, the entitled seem to be outnumbering the humble, the
grateful, en mass. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ogjRQOMTlxc/Uyzq-MC4m5I/AAAAAAAACUU/JwI6VKfi8kM/s1600/Rachel-Canning_1-620x412.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ogjRQOMTlxc/Uyzq-MC4m5I/AAAAAAAACUU/JwI6VKfi8kM/s1600/Rachel-Canning_1-620x412.jpeg" height="212" width="320" /></a>Case in point, here you have this <st1:state>New
Jersey</st1:state> high school student, Rachel Canning. It seems the 18 year old has decided to sue
her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning of <st1:city>Lincoln Park</st1:city>,
why – to force them to pay her private high school and college tuition
fees. Fee’s that her parents decided that
they wouldn’t pay because of their daughter’s lack of adhering to house rules
such as curfews and chores. I know what
you’re thinking – oh, the oppression.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To add insult it seems that Miss Canning according to court
documents said, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"My parents simply will not help me any longer. They
want nothing to do with me and refuse to even help me financially outside the
home although they certainly have the ability to do so…I am unable to support
myself and provide for my food, shelter, clothing, transportation and
education." </blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If my grandmother were alive today she would say this girl
has more nerve than veal cutlet.
Remember, she <i>chose</i> to leave home
and still has the gaul to think that it’s normal to sue her parents because you
know, that’s what the cool kids do today.
Sure I would love to reach out and slap this spoiled, entitled little
snot but that would be wrong; utterly satisfying, but wrong. Besides I’d rather slap her parents so I
really don’t blame her. I blame her
parents mostly because they raised this gem but given the climate kids are
raised in today, what chance do they have?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve become a bloated entitlement nation. Everyone wants something for nothing and if
they can’t get it, they demand it, they sue for it, they vote for the one who’s
willing to give it to them for free.
Hell, people used to just blame their parents for their woes and bitch
about it to a therapist and later turn it into a book or a crappy Lifetime TV
movie. But it seems bitching and
complaining just isn’t enough, now it’s time to level the playing field or
right the wrongs the haves have placed on the downtrodden have-nots. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story keeps evolving with a report that the teen set up
a Facebook page excoriating baby boomers saying, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I have been stunned by the financial greed of modern
parents who are more concerned with retiring into some fantasy world rather
than provide for their children’s college and young adult years,”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHJRNOpUtRo/UyzrNch9_uI/AAAAAAAACUc/5w7yNWH_M9Y/s1600/MjAxMy1hODBmMDkwZWVlM2IyNTg2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHJRNOpUtRo/UyzrNch9_uI/AAAAAAAACUc/5w7yNWH_M9Y/s1600/MjAxMy1hODBmMDkwZWVlM2IyNTg2.png" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You gotta give this girl credit for having a pair of steel
cojones that’s for sure. But I’m
surprised at the backlash she’s getting since she’s only representing the embodiment
of the repressed, no? I mean where’s
Sandra Fluke? She should be all over this
not to mention the media should be lapping this story up as it fits in directly
with their agenda of exposing those greedy, mean and rich suburbanites. Of course I say that tongue in cheek since I
bet the media views this as a “dog eats dog” story thus the reason why they've pretty much sat this one out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So tell me, is any of this starting to sound familiar? How about this, “We live in a time of a tale
of two cities.” Does that ring a
bell? If you're living in the tri-state area it should. Try then <st1:state>New
York</st1:state> mayoral candidate, Bill DeBlasio’s campaign
theme. It was a classic “us versus them”
class warfare campaign and the funny part was he acted as if New Yorkers were
living under the radical thumb of some far right wing dictator. Michael Bloomberg’s policies were to the far
right as to what Kim Kardashian’s high school transcripts were to Mensa. Sorry I don’t know who should be more
offended, Kim Kardashian or Mensa. Let’s
call it a draw.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course DeBlasio isn’t the only pol pretending to be Robin
Hood. President Obama and his administration
pretty much embody the Robin Hood persona especially having sold affordable
health care reform as just that, affordable. Given what we know now it’s hardly
affordable, but hey like the president says, <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/20/obama-to-hispanics-to-pay-for-obamacare-mandates-cut-your-cable-and-cell-phones/">cut the iPhone and cable bills or spoil the children. </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As someone who sees’s on a daily basis the foolish spending
habits of the greater public, I can kind of relate to what the Prez is saying.
However apparently unlike the President, I understand I have no business
telling someone how they should spend their own money. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It kill’s me to hear the President lecture <i>us</i> about having fiscal self-control in
order to fund <i>his</i> bloated fiscally out
of control mess that is Obamacare. It’s like a junkie being lectured to by
Lindsay Lohan on the virtues of sobriety.
I guess it’s fine to pick and choose when you want to demean the entitlement
culture, especially if you’re still trying to sell your pet entitlement project
and need all the help you can get. I
assume he’s never heard of the saying, “If you’re [still] explaining, you’re
losing.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1URJkMMoDro/UyzteA8QlLI/AAAAAAAACUo/FPPpJcKF01s/s1600/c9ef6c2fd53913eaf039d593ed2557bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1URJkMMoDro/UyzteA8QlLI/AAAAAAAACUo/FPPpJcKF01s/s1600/c9ef6c2fd53913eaf039d593ed2557bb.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a>You have to know that things are pretty bad when Ashton
Kutcher sounds more inspiring than our elected officials. Yes, <i>that
</i>Ashton Kutcher who <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXwKGZHmDc">gave a speech at the Teen Choice Awards</a> where he was
given a lifetime achievement award.
First off I know what you’re thinking, a lifetime achievement award..........for
Ashton Kutcher? I’m sure Keith Richards
has old joint wrappers lying around older than Kutcher. Be that as it may it was his acceptance speech
that really made national headlines. He
spoke on the importance of hard work, perseverance and how the entitlement mentality
is holding back an entire generation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work. When I was 13, I had my first job with my dad
carrying shingles up to the roof, and then I got a job washing dishes at a
restaurant, and then I got a job in a grocery store deli, and then I got a job
at a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground. And I’ve never had a job in my life that I
was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was
a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next
job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kutcher a few months later was a guest on the Ellen
DeGeneres show and said this:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“There’s an entitlement that’s starting to emerge that I think is unhealthy
for people and unhealthy for a country.
I talked to some of my friends and they don’t want to get a job at
Starbucks ... because they feel like it’s below them. Well, I think the only
thing that can be below you is to not have a job. Go work until you can go get the job that you
want to have. I’m really lucky I get to work with a lot of entrepreneurs that
are building some of the coolest new stuff in the world. And you know these
guys and girls work really hard and put in the hours and they are generous and
care about other people and it’s what led to their success.”</blockquote>
<br />
Another anomaly out of Hollywood is Rob Lowe, who coming off his portrayal
of President John F. Kennedy in the NatGeo film adaptation of the Bill O’Reilly
book <i>Killing Kennedy</i> said this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“My own worldview is that the individual needs to be more responsible for
their own lives, and that’s not the conversation we’re having right now, for
whatever reason.”</blockquote>
<br />
Lowe is right but it’s the “for whatever reason” that we need to be focusing
on but I guess it takes baby steps. Granted
those are just two extremely rare faces in a sea of pretty but mostly surgically
enhanced faces in La La Land. But who
would have thought that this kind of rationale exists in that world? Hope springs eternal. <br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
I’m going to leave you with this video. It pretty much encapsulates everything about
our culture today. The video was taken
at an exhibition baseball game in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> when a young boy was eagerly waiting for the ball boy
to toss him a foul ball. Instead he
tossed it to another child. Here’s the
result and when you start feeling remorse after you have a primal urge to slap the shiznet
out of this kid, take a deep breath...wait about ten seconds... and stick with your gut.<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/T0hyHCXIhVM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-56873480450819117912013-11-30T21:42:00.000-05:002013-11-30T21:43:51.328-05:00The JFK Assassination - 50 Years Later<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IzQaO8Ki8M8/UplzDj272hI/AAAAAAAACTY/xYLGFsk8dmc/s1600/JFK2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IzQaO8Ki8M8/UplzDj272hI/AAAAAAAACTY/xYLGFsk8dmc/s320/JFK2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Growing up I was always fascinated with the events
surrounding the John F. Kennedy assassination.
I remember being in grade school and while my classmates were writing
about where they went on vacation the previous summer, I was writing about the
Kennedy Assassination and the conspiracy theories it spurred. I suppose when you’re in the 8<sup>th</sup>
grade the chances someone, especially a teacher branding you a nut, whacko, conspiracist isn’t quite as likely as when you’re an adult. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Be that as it may, I like the majority of Americans –
sixty-two percent in a recent <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/11/20/poll-62-percent-believe-broader-plot-killed-kennedy/">Washington Post-ABC News Poll</a> – never believed
the story we were told; that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Author and all-around anti-establishment
guru and author Greg Gutfeld, says this about conspiracies:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“That's the joy of conspiracy:
It's an endless bag of Doritos, except instead of chips you get comebacks like
"that's what they want you to think," and "open your eyes,
dude."</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I get what Greg is saying even
though I don’t agree with it. Sure, depending
on your point of view, anything can be a conspiracy if you choose not to
believe something. Not to pee in Greg’s
Fruity Pebbles a bit, he did say to Chuck Todd of NBC once when referring to
Todd’s belief that there isn’t a bias in the media that “denying bias in the
media is like denying science”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN">Greg continued:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="EN">“But I guess if you believe in an objective media, you’ll believe in
anything: like a whistle is better than a gun; redistribution beats
opportunity; black conservatives are Uncle Toms and female conservatives are
scolds; that being born white is racist; that tolerance requires calling terror
‘workplace violence’; that our country’s energy can be found in griffin lint;
that the tea party is more harmful than drug lords; that Occupy Wall Streeters
were cuddly Muppets; that choice matters before birth, not after; that a border
is selfish; that every tenet of the left hasn’t saddled most young Americans
with a toxic notion of entitlement without achievement, drowning in disposable
culture as China rifles our wallets and our hard drives. But it’s easy to miss
media bias. To quote Madge from Palmolive [commercials], ‘You don’t see it my
dear, because you’re soaking in it.’”</span></blockquote>
<div align="center" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span lang="EN">I couldn’t agree more with Greg on this which is why I wonder why he feels that
anyone who believes in a conspiracy is a nutball. The very argument he made to Chuck Todd was a
total affirmation that yes, there’s a friggin conspiracy in the media against
fairness. It also begs the question:
would Greg consider the events earlier this year in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Benghazi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Libya</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
a conspiracy? Obviously the official
report that a flash mob, fueled by some moronic YouTube video mocking Mohammed,
just so happened to attack the US Embassy in Libya killing Ambassador Chris Stevens, was
far from the truth yet the administration for two weeks reported it as
such. Come on Gutfeld, brush back the
Unicorn hair covering your eyes my man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Michael Kelly, a <i>Washington Post</i> journalist
and critic of anti-war movements on both the left and right, coined the term
"fusion paranoia" to refer to a political convergence of left-wing
and right-wing activists around anti-war issues and civil liberties, which he
said were motivated by a shared belief in conspiracism or shared anti-government
views. He may be onto something there
because when referring to the Kennedy Assassination, people of all political
stripes don’t believe the official story.
But to go so far as to say it’s paranoia is a stretch. Besides, haven’t we seen enough
government/corporate corruption to assume that anything is possible? The real question becomes what is provable?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
I suppose it’s easier to dismiss someone as a conspiracy
nut then try to analyze their point of view.
It always annoyed me that those who believed Oswald acted alone would
take what the Warren Commission reported as Gospel in spite of one particularly
glaring piece of evidence that seemed to disappear among the sea of evidence
and conjecture in the Kennedy Assassination.
While everyone was focused on whether or not Oswald fired the shots and
from where, whether there was a shooter on the grassy knoll, or if the CIA or
the Mafia played a role, I always focused on what was the most telling evidence
of all – the body of the president.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
A crime scene analyst worth his or her salt will
tell you that the most important evidence in solving a crime, especially a
murder, isn’t the weapon, it’s the body of the victim. The nature of the body can tell a forensic
scientist everything from the time of death to what means were used. The nature of victim’s body is irrefutable
evidence. In the Kennedy Assassination however, the handling of the President’s
body was as frenetic and unorthodox as the nature of the situation itself. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
The Secret Service understandably and ironically went
into a hyper protective mode after the fact.
When the President’s body arrived at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Parkland</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Memorial</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place> he was taken
into one of the emergency operating rooms.
It was there that ANY possibility of conspiracy could have been
extinguished. The law as it is written
in <st1:state w:st="on">Texas</st1:state>
states that the autopsy of a homicide victim must be preformed within the
jurisdiction of the crime. The Secret
Service however, most likely under orders from the new Commander-in-Chief,
Lyndon Johnson, wanted the autopsy done under the auspices of the Federal Government. Therefore, after the President was pronounced
dead at Parkland, plans were made to fly President Kennedy’s body to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Bethesda</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Naval</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
It was perhaps the key moment of the Assassination
that could have either squashed every conspiracy theory imaginable – then again
– it could have also been the watershed moment that could have proved, that two
shooters, at the very least, fired at the Presidential motorcade. It was during the time where the doctors at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Parkland</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place>, in particular Drs. Malcolm
Perry and Kemp Clark, both of whom worked on President Kennedy, spoke at a
press conference, just over an hour after they pronounced him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZIa2adGBkg/UplzpLdlgKI/AAAAAAAACTg/P7b7yRB3aXI/s1600/6a00d8341c7c7d53ef0120a6ea2519970b-450wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZIa2adGBkg/UplzpLdlgKI/AAAAAAAACTg/P7b7yRB3aXI/s320/6a00d8341c7c7d53ef0120a6ea2519970b-450wi.jpg" width="320" /></a>Dr. Perry stated not once but three times that that
he considered the wound in Kennedy’s throat to be one of entrance, not exit. Dr
Perry, who was experienced in interpreting bullet wounds, had inspected the
wound before he performed a tracheotomy on the president. A shot in the throat
from the front would, of course, both invalidate the single-bullet theory and,
when combined with certain uncontroversial items of evidence, prove that at
least two gunmen took part in the assassination. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
The evidence contained in the press conference was
willfully ignored by the Warren Commission, which made only a token effort to
locate a recording or transcript of the conference. Because it had been widely
reported in the media that Dr Perry had made remarks unhelpful to the
Commission’s preconceived conclusion, Arlen Specter, the future Senator from
the state of <st1:state w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:state>,
and one of the Commission’s leading attorneys, worked hard to get Perry to
renounce his initial opinion about the throat wound. Why would he do that? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
In the absence of a corrective record, Perry agreed
with Specter that the news reports were inaccurate and that he had not made the
remarks attributed to him. Now why Dr.
Perry had changed his mind on what he saw is a mystery as are the less than
thorough efforts of the Warren Commission and the Secret Service in not managing
to track down a recording or transcript of the press conference. The typed
transcript had been sitting in the White House press office shortly after the
assassination since both Drs. Perry and Clark were joined at their press
conference by Wayne Hawks, a member of the White House staff. It was as if the Warren Commission simply willed Dr. Perry's initial opinion invalid and deleted (hopefully?) from the minds of the public.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-We3mY9yIWWU/UplzqfMNfhI/AAAAAAAACTs/P4X_tmAUS68/s1600/6a00d8341c7c7d53ef0120a6ea2757970b-450wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-We3mY9yIWWU/UplzqfMNfhI/AAAAAAAACTs/P4X_tmAUS68/s320/6a00d8341c7c7d53ef0120a6ea2757970b-450wi.jpg" width="320" /></a>When the President’s body was flown to Bethesda and
examined by Naval Physicians, the small bullet hole in the front of the
President’s throat suddenly became a wide gaping, lacerated wound; a wound that
is generally referred to as an exit wound.
Because of that observation, over time it was suggested that the body of
the President was altered in some way.
Again I go back to what the Doctors in <st1:city w:st="on">Dallas</st1:city> originally stated when they said that
the wound they saw was an entry wound in the President’s throat. It was only AFTER they were spoken to by Arlen
Specter that Doctor Perry recanted his statement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Dr. Perry’s complete testimony to the Warren
Commission can be read here: <i><a href="http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0187b.htm">The <st1:city w:st="on">Warren</st1:city> Commission Hearings, Vol. 3, pp 336-389</a> </i>& <i><a href="http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0009a.htm">The Warren Commission Hearings, Vol. 6, pp 7-17</a>. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
This past week marked the 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of President Kennedy’s death.
I doubt we will ever know the full truth of what happened that day in <st1:city w:st="on">Dallas</st1:city> nor will we ever
be fully satisfied being told by those in power that the official account is the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. While
most conspiracy theorist's focus on the peripheries of this case, I’ve always
believed that the key that would have opened the door of truth in this case was
the body of the slain President himself.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
The chaos that embroiled that day can only be
accepted as explanation for so much. At some point you have to ask yourself why
trained trauma doctors initially said the wound to the President’s throat was
an entrance wound only later to recount that when pressured by an attorney for
the Warren Commission. At some point you
have to wonder why it is that President Johnson insisted that the autopsy be
performed at <st1:placename w:st="on">Bethesda</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Naval</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype>,
where the physicians were naval officers, officers who are sworn to follow
orders.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
At some point you have to ask yourself with
everything we’ve experienced recently, from the realization that the NSA spies boldly and blatantly on
American’s in every way imaginable to the lies told about the tragedy in
Benghazi, are we really going to continue the ignorant notion that we are by and large, told the truth by those in power? Are we going to continue to be this
incredibly naïve? The only reason those
in power continue to act this brazen is precisely because of our collective naiveté.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">So we can continue to ridicule those who are
skeptical. Nobody want’s to be
associated with “those” people, right? When you break it down isn’t
that what it’s all about anyway, peer pressure? The psychological reasoning given to those who believe a conspiracy exists here is because it's almost impossible for those to accept that a lone, deranged soul could change the course of history. True, it is difficult to imagine that a person could buy a mail order rifle for $13.95 and kill the President of the United States. Sure it's safer and easier to lay blame at one nut and be done with it. We have to heal, no? Well, that's what we're always told. Move on, move on, nothing to see here. What did Hillary Clinton say during her Benghazi testimony when pressed as to who was responsible for the attack and death of Ambassador Stevens...<a href="http://www.ijreview.com/2013/01/32060-hillary-clintons-benghazi-meltdown-what-difference-does-it-make/">"At this point...what difference does it make?"</a> The difference is the truth matters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just keep in mind, with each anniversary of the assassination, the focus is always on who was the shooter - if it wasn't Oswald - and where did he shoot from? It's become a parlor game at this point with every imaginable explanation muddying the waters. Don’t get me wrong, I don't believe that there’s a conspiracy around every corner. Sometimes horrible things happen, often without the need of some nefarious machination being responsible. At the same time I wouldn’t pretend
that we’re always told the truth. That
would be expecting too much out of those in power and I'm not that naive - at least not anymore. Neither should you.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Jn5CyQxDq0/UpqiUHjDx9I/AAAAAAAACUA/l_MRZEkFNTY/s1600/Photo_sp1_wc_fullcommission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Jn5CyQxDq0/UpqiUHjDx9I/AAAAAAAACUA/l_MRZEkFNTY/s400/Photo_sp1_wc_fullcommission.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-2290110732769785822013-11-13T21:41:00.001-05:002013-11-13T21:41:15.847-05:00Sandycare<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pLkLnUS3ak/UoQ1wCoe7CI/AAAAAAAACLc/8L7M3oVnR8Y/s1600/sandy-alderson.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pLkLnUS3ak/UoQ1wCoe7CI/AAAAAAAACLc/8L7M3oVnR8Y/s320/sandy-alderson.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trust me. I'm a lawyer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or on Thorazine for
the past few weeks, you’re probably aware of how the President’s health care
plan, the Affordable Care Act a.k.a Obamacare, has been the finest roll out of
a government program since the Kim family started rolling out grey one piece
jumpsuits to the masses in North Korea. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of his many mantras over the course of his campaign, the
President kept repeating the line “If you like your doctor, you can keep your
doctor.” He said it so often and focused
on it with such dramatic attention that it had to be true, right? Well, with the verbal deftness of a typical
ambulance chasing lawyer, the President was proved to have lied or should I use
Washingtonian speak and say he misled or was just being vague? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately we’re lied to everyday by so many people that
we’re becoming practically numb and accustomed to it. Granted what the President did to sell his
health care plan ranks among the more ballsy of lies we’ve been told and its
ramifications are just now beginning to unravel as is arguably his Presidency
now hovering in the George W. Bush poll territory. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I wonder if the virus that causes “misleading” or
“obfuscation” has infected none other than Sandy Alderson, General Manager of
the New York Mets? There was a time
where I was completely and totally on board with Alderson’s plan which was to
rely more on home grown talent versus the actions of his predecessor which
relied on buying talent. I still think that’s how you build self-sustaining, long
term winning franchise, through developing your own players. It’s just this doublespeak that’s starting to
sound like outright lies that’s bothering me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve also finally have come to the conclusion that Sandy
Alderson is just a transitional figure – moving this team from the days of spending
money and getting little on the return for an owner that was almost financially
destroyed by his relationship with a Ponzi scheme artist, Bernard Madoff. Now it seems the pendulum may have swung too
far in the opposite direction where every decision is dissected to the nth
degree; paralysis by analysis followed by an unwillingness to make improvements
that don't require a trip to the flea market. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In one breath we’re told that with money from albatross
contracts coming off the books (Santana, Bay) there will be far more financial
flexibility to bring in better talent.
Hints at signing players to $100 million dollar contracts are floated
out to the masses by saying the team has “interest” in players like Shin Shoo
Choo or Jacoby Ellsbury, both who will command contract’s somewhere in that
range. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were told that the team would be interested in acquiring
perhaps at least two if not three outfielders, either through free agency or
trades or a mix of both. We were told
that the shackles were coming off after a long exodus in baseball purgatory. So what do we get this week from the annual
Winter Meetings held in Orlando? We’re
suddenly told there will be no $100 million dollar signings. Probably one outfielder will be acquired, at
best, and it won’t be the aforementioned Choo, Ellsbury or ex-Yankee Curtis
Granderson. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look, I’m not pining for the Mets to suddenly offer a
hundred million to Joe Schmo just for the sake of it. In fact, I think this is one of the weakest
free agent crops in quite some time.
That said, you don’t send mixed messages to the fan base especially when
it comes off as being a lie…err I mean disingenuous, I mean misleading. Cut the crap.
Either you’re willing to spend the money or you’re not. And seriously, enough
with the money (lack of) jokes already. If perception truly is reality, you're
doing a great job of making the Mets look broke...of course unless they
practically are then you're just lying...I mean misleading. There I go again, thinking I'm being lied to. Silly me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this point, who the hell knows. Like the old saying goes, shit or get off the
pot. Stop acting like a politician
trying to please everyone because the truth isn’t what you (or the Wilpons) would
like people to hear. In the end, you’ll end up looking like a slimy fool with
something to hide Mr. President, err I mean Mr. Alderson.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do the fans the honor of being honest with them. We can handle it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-5733946484847495852013-08-08T17:05:00.002-04:002013-08-10T13:35:30.811-04:00The Curious Case Of PED's<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-orX9bvWt0s8/UgQBh5YMXUI/AAAAAAAACKw/UCXAkeW1BaY/s1600/baseball-steroids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-orX9bvWt0s8/UgQBh5YMXUI/AAAAAAAACKw/UCXAkeW1BaY/s320/baseball-steroids.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the revelations of the Biogenesis investigation by MLB
coming to the forefront this week, just about every sportswriter has put in his
or her two cents regarding this story and how performance enhancing drugs plays
into professional sports in general.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even broadcasters are getting into the mix now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other night during the Mets/Rockies game,
Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez touched on the issue in a way that really hasn’t
been by most sportswriters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t
come as a shock to me since SNY’s Emmy winning team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez
and Ron Darling are arguably one of the finer broadcasting teams in
professional sports today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gary,
playing devil’s advocate, described how both sides see the issue of PED’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One side taking the majority stance that
there’s no place for PED’s in Major League Baseball. The prevalent idea is that
if players are found to have used them, heavy consequences should follow, with
the ultimate penalty being banishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
other side, which I found interesting in how Gary described it, was how some take a more
“Libertarian” approach regarding PED’s, stating that if a player is willing to
risk his health then it’s on the player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was a brief pause when Keith Hernandez, in a rare moment seemed
totally engaged in the conversation, chimed in and said as I paraphrase, “You
can’t say it’s a matter of being Libertarian if what you’re doing affects
others negatively”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After listening to Hernandez huff and haw all season long
when the team would head into extra innings or deal with an unfortunate rain
delay, it was nice to see Keith the curmudgeon not chomping on the bit to tell
everyone to get off his lawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
brief moment but one that made me smile and I’m a Libertarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funny thing about Libertarians is that we
usually get attacked from all ends of the political spectrum for being what others
claim to think we all are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying Gary Cohen was attacking Libertarians so much
as he was simply trying to state a point, albeit a bit awkwardly. Not all Libertarians
are cut from the same cloth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most teeter
on the political spectrum depending on the issue – but in the end we all share the
same edicts of individual liberty and freedom but, with respect to the law. Libertarians
are not Anarchists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therein lays the
difference between those who say PED’s should be allowed in professional sports
and those who disagree, and no it’s not because of arbitrary drug laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about fairness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes laws are in place that we all don’t
agree with but, that’s life in a democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The idea of simply taking a drug that could, with the
emphasis on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i>, make you better at
what you do for a living is a tempting idea in spite of being morally suspect
not to mention with the potential of being physically damaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In professional sports, especially Major
League Baseball, it’s a misnomer to think that sticking a needle in one’s ass
will turn a Felix Millan into a Ted Williams. With stringent drug testing now
in place, including testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Major League
Baseball is now one of the better examples of a professional sport trying to
keep itself as clean and legitimate as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can the quest for legitimacy be a bad
thing is beyond me?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it comes to the use of PED’s in professional sports,
many Libertarians, some of which I have a great deal of respect for, have said
that PED’s, like other illegal drugs, shouldn’t be banned from professional
sports no more than cocaine should be illegal for you or I. Nick Gillespie, the
editor-in-chief of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reason</i> magazine
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reason.com</i>, seems to think most
sports writers are hyper moralistic on the issue of PED’s as he stated in a
recent article regarding Ryan Braun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have a feeling that he’s not much of a sports fan especially based on how he
views the majority of sports writers. Not well if you read <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2013/07/30/the-great-steroid-freakout-part-xxvii">his article</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But with all due respect to Nick Gillespie or even the great
Greg Gutfeld, whom I’m told was very disappointed to find out that purple
unicorn’s weren’t<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>allowed at Churchill
Downs; PED’s affect not just the players that take them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also take away jobs from those trying to
do it clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take this which was tweeted
by former major league pitcher Dan Meyer:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> "Hey Antonio Bastardo, remember when we competed for a job in 2011. Thx alot. #ahole"</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bastardo was one of the 13 players suspended by MLB in lieu of the Biogenesis investigation. So, does this mean Dan Meyer should just shut the hell up,
have a Coke and a smile? Should he just tip his cap to Bastardo (yes, that’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>his last name) shake hands and
let bygones be bygones?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d be just as
pissed as Meyer if I were in his shoes. I understand, but not totally agree
with the logic that if PED’s and drugs in general weren’t illegal, the stigma
which draws people to them in the first place would decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure in an academic hypothetical arena that may be possible
but do I really want my daughter to be able to one day to walk into a 7-11 to
buy a Slurpee and have an HGH power bar sitting next to the Twizzlers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we’re at it, put the cocaine pixy
sticks next to the Sweet Tarts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry
but the old curmudgeon in me says no to such a grand experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I’m not a real Libertarian huh?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The blasé attitude some have regarding allowing PED’s into
professional sports stems from the idea that they believe that fans don’t
really care how the players do the sometimes incredible feats that they
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I disagree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a perfect world, I don’t even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want </i>to have this discussion with my
daughter but when and if I do, I want to tell her that her favorite player(s)
did it clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let there be a level
playing field and then let individual talent take over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look at it this way, would you be fine with
allowing kids to take their iPads with them while taking their SAT exams?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fair or unfair; you decide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People often forget during this whole controversy with these
players being caught taking PED’s, that PED’s are illegal unless prescribed by
a physician for an actual medical condition, you know like dwarfism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last time I checked Eddie Gadell hasn’t
suited up in a few years and if he did I have a feeling Brian Cashman would’ve
tendered him a contract by now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now get off my lawn!</div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-63808469409328744202013-06-20T18:34:00.001-04:002013-06-20T22:46:12.333-04:00Summer Movie Review - Man of Steel<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MEPzrwCL7Vo/UcOBEIyDKPI/AAAAAAAAB-0/Fp30Jvhb_JE/s1600/Henry-Cavill-in-Man-of-Steel-2013-Movie-Poster-e1369110902289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MEPzrwCL7Vo/UcOBEIyDKPI/AAAAAAAAB-0/Fp30Jvhb_JE/s400/Henry-Cavill-in-Man-of-Steel-2013-Movie-Poster-e1369110902289.jpg" width="273" /></a>There’s something we all experience during childhood that we
hold onto for the rest of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be
it a moment shared with a loved one, especially when they’re no longer with us
or something as simple as hearing a song or a seeing a movie, where just the
thoughts of them spark memories like dancing lightning bugs on a warm summer
night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It brings us back to a far simpler
time; it comforts us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reminds us of
who we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often times - it helps to
define us. For me, that something was when I first saw the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman </i>starring Christopher
Reeve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was only three at the time; you have to be pretty
impressed that my memory can vividly go back that far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just don’t ask me what I had for breakfast
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember seeing it and being
awestruck seeing a man fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure,
Superman flew in cartoons but this was, well, real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course as I grew older the story of
Superman started to evolve for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wasn’t just another childhood fantasy about a superhero and comic books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It started having a far deeper meaning for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Since the story of Superman is very father/son centric, it
began to foreshadow my relationship with my own father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad’s father passed away when my dad was
just a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had very few memories
of his father and I think it had a great effect on how he raised me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I look back at my childhood and think of
my dad it was as if he was trying to beat the clock, knowing somehow our time
together would be short. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was 17 when
he passed but he tried to instill in me ideals and values. And now that I’m older
and wiser and more appreciative, I’m proud to say those values are awfully
similar to those throughout Superman’s story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Superman’s story may not be as slick and sexy as some in his
shared genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He probably doesn’t resonate
with today’s young emo and angst filled demographic. He isn’t torn between
standing for justice or succumbing to raw vengeance as it was shown in
Christopher Nolan’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman </i>films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superman for all intents and purposes, was
just not cool anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at least
that’s what popular culture constantly would remind us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he wasn’t as edgy as the Dark Knight
but that wasn’t what Superman was ever about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Superman is about what we all should aspire to. Superman is about hope. </div>
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Zack Snyder (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">300,
Sucker Punch, The Watchmen</i>) is the latest in a line of directors given the
task to reboot a major studio franchise with this year’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of </i>Steel, with the screenplay written by David S. Goyer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark
Knight Rises).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Warner Brothers thought
their Bryan Singer film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman Returns</i>,
would have set the character back on track but with lukewarm reviews and box
office receipts, the studio decided to shelve the Superman franchise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, Christopher Nolan and his Batman
Trilogy was making its way into our collective minds – taking the first of DC’s
iconic characters and thrusting him into the modern world in a realistic way.</div>
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Nolan’s influence is seen throughout <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>As a producer
of the film you would imagine so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be
that as it may this was entirely Zack Snyder’s project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film starts off with the birth of Kal-El,
introducing the audience to Russell Crowe’s Jor-El and Ayelet Zurer’s
Lara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the moment you see Krypton
you realize this is unlike any version of Krypton you’ve ever seen on screen
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t find any Waterford crystals this
time around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Krypton looks more
like something out of James Cameron’s Avatar than anything Richard Donner
imagined.</div>
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Krypton is shown as an ancient yet highly advanced society
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, despite their obvious advancements in
technology, for some reason, Kryptonians are not naturally conceived but grown
– an almost blatant hat-tip to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Matrix
</i>trilogy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are they grown but
apparently their roles in society are already planned out for them and what I
thought was even more striking, those who are chosen to protect Krypton such as
Zod, happen to be born without a sense of morality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Explain to me how exactly does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that </i>demonstrate an evolved society?</div>
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Snyder does maintain the canon when it comes to Krypton’s
demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time around, Krypton is in
peril because its ‘advanced” citizens are over mining the planet’s core due to
a worldwide energy shortage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that’s
two strikes against the so-called advanced people of Krypton. Zack Snyder
deserves a great deal of credit in this film for his use of irony and some
tried and true tricks of great storytelling; but more on that later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Russell Crowe play’s the role of Jor-El to perfection and
let’s face it, when Gladiator starts a movie, that’s not even about him, riding
a fictional flying beast, you know this is going to be special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You totally forget Brando’s performance the
moment Crowe speaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This part of the
film seemed a bit rushed for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To go
from Lara having Kal to almost immediately rocketing him off to earth left
little time to reflect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Not to mention it was while they were trying to send Kal to
earth that Zod and his minions attack Jor-El (with Zod eventually killing him).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow after Zod is captured by Kryptonian
police, they find time to put Zod and his followers on trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did we suddenly forget the planet is on the
brink of imploding?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll chalk this up
to poor editing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A transitional scene
showing some time had passed would’ve made more sense.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR3Npghmdfs/UcOBMmAwnmI/AAAAAAAAB-8/iUWCX7UgiP8/s1600/general+zod+man+of+steel-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR3Npghmdfs/UcOBMmAwnmI/AAAAAAAAB-8/iUWCX7UgiP8/s400/general+zod+man+of+steel-1.png" width="400" /></a>Of course Krypton explodes and Kal is rocketed to earth, to
land in a corn field owned by Jonathan and Martha Kent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the better aspects of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of </i>Steel, even though it’s a reboot
of Superman, is it doesn’t try to retell every aspect of the canon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fast forward to present time and Kal
(Clark) is around 33 years old and still hasn’t discovered his true
lineage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t know his purpose in
life and is constantly trying to keep a low profile – something his earth
father Jonathan stressed throughout his raising of Clark
fearing the world wasn’t ready to discover that we’re not alone in the
universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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There’s a fantastic father/son dynamic shown between Kevin
Costner, who plays Jonathan Kent and both the young and older versions of Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scene
where he finally shows young Clark the ship that brought him to earth and
hearing his son ask him “can I still pretend to be your son?” was as
gut-wrenching as anything I’ve seen or read regarding Superman and when
Jonathan replies, “you ARE my son”, it’s hard not to get choked up for
Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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How Snyder deals with Jonathan’s death is causing many fans
to lash out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I for one understood the
reason and context he chose completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The audience has to understand where Jonathan is coming from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a father who priority isn’t for his son
to be a savior but to protect him, at all costs, even if it means sacrificing
his own safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is something only a
parent understands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the same reason
Jor-El placed baby Kal in the ship to begin with and remained on Krypton with
Lara. In the scene where Jonathan dies, Clark
learns that sometimes there are no good choices and that he will never save
everyone all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was cold and
stark and yes, Snyder adds more meaning to Jonathan Kent’s death than anything
we’ve previously been shown.</div>
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Snyder does an amazing job showing Clark
trying to cope with these emerging powers as he becomes so overwhelmed by
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine being a child and out of
nowhere being able to hear every sound miles away or see the organs of the kid
sitting next to you in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d freak out and I’m close to 40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a sensory overload that plays a huge part later in the film when
Zod reaches earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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One of the themes I caught on with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MoS </i>that Zack Snyder expresses so well is the idea that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone </i>can be a hero, not just someone
like Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The scene with Clark on the fishing vessel stands out when the fishing
cage almost falls on Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before it hits him, one of his fellow
fishermen pushes him out of the way, saving Clark
but placing himself in danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see
this type of bravery throughout the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a nice touch by Snyder and made a great point without being heavy
handed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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One of the main criticisms of Bryan Singer’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman Returns </i>was that it was lacking
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With CGI technology as advanced
as it is – even more so now – Warner Brothers and Snyder knew that to get this
version of Superman right, they had to take the action to an entirely different
level, and that they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The action
comes to a nexus when Zod makes his way to earth and goes toe-to-toe with
Superman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Entire buildings in Metropolis are leveled to the point that
it brought to memory the 9/11 attacks but on an even more horrific level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say that Metropolis lost millions of
citizens in this attack would be an understatement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did have an issue with some of the
hand-to-hand combat scenes as they were so frenetic that you could barely tell
who was doing what to whom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it was
all said and done, I had a sense of relief having felt almost a part of the
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I enjoyed the way Lois
Lane’s character was used in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time I can remember she wasn’t
portrayed as some ditzy, doe-eyed love bitten chick swooning over some guy in
tights even though she’s ironically a Pulitzer Prize winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nice not to see her as being unaware
that the guy she’s pining for is Superman because he’s wearing glasses. They
say love is blind but Amy Adams played Lois the way she should be played, as a
smart no-nonsense woman who is really, really good at what she does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, she has a heart and falls in love with Clark because of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what
</i>he does versus who he is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although his
body wasn’t hard to look at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife
made me put that in by the way. </div>
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Perry White is played by Lawrence Fishburn and he, like the
rest of the co-stars of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MoS, </i>adds
gravitas to an already solid story. He is used sparingly but he owns the scenes
he’s in and will definitely be more of an impact player in the sequel(s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very good choice by Snyder even though some were
questioning, in my opinion foolishly, that Perry White was always a Caucasian
and should have stayed according to canon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Give me a break people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Zack Snyder captures the essence of Superman without
re-treading the same story we’ve all come to know, and some of us love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All great story tellers learn early on the
trick to good story telling is to show rather than tell your audience what is
happening around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Superman Returns </i>how big of an issue it
was that the writers didn’t want to use the line that Superman stands for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Truth, Justice and the American Way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>In fact Perry White in that film
mockingly says, “Does he still stand for truth, justice, and all
that…stuff?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel</i>, towards the end of the film when the General Swanwick
of the US Army asks where Superman’s loyalties lie, Clark answers him,
“General, I grew up in Kansas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I t doesn’t get more American than
that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nuff said. </div>
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The ending will forever be debated amongst fans for years to
come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while I won’t give it away I
can say without a doubt that I totally agreed with what Clark
did, for he had no choice but to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some have said that it breaks his moral code.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say that it makes his moral code have
meaning so that in future films we’ll understand the choices he makes and
why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel </i>was a
solid return to the big screen for the granddaddy of super heroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No film is perfect and this is no
exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There wasn’t enough Clark
Kent at The Daily Planet but this really wasn’t a “Clark”
film; this was Superman’s coming out party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The score by Hans Zimmer was meh and even though it would have confused
the audience, I was hoping to hear John Williams’ familiar theme played at the
end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some things should be universal and
Superman’s theme should be one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I understand Snyder not wanting to use it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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For me, the story of Superman makes me think of my own
father and the values he tried to instill in me in the short time I was able to
have him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know some might think it
corny or even haughty of me to compare the two, that’s fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have a God complex, really!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do believe that we’ve finally been given
the chance to see the Man of Steel the way he deserves to be seen – in total
kick-ass form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t wait to see what
Zack Snyder has in store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice League
anyone?</div>
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The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-36114762554185860122013-05-19T22:29:00.001-04:002013-05-19T22:29:57.082-04:00Summer Movie Review - Star Trek Into Darkness<br />
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When J.J. Abrams was offered the reigns to the Star Trek
franchise I remember feeling a genuine sense of relief. After seeing that former
frontrunner Rick Berman had pretty much run the franchise into the ground with
its various incarnations on TV, Star Trek was dangerously wearing thin on its
audience, despite their rabid devotion. The
iconic American staple was on life support.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Toiling in mediocrity, Star Trek was resurrected by <st1:place w:st="on">Paramount</st1:place> in 2009,
effectively hiring J.J. Abrams as its savior. Finally, the studio was willing
to give it its just due. Gone would be the penny pinching days of the past as <st1:place w:st="on">Paramount</st1:place> poured over $150
million into Abram’s project. Star Trek
was back, and bigger than Gene Rodenberry ever could’ve imagined.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I liked the premise Abrams offered in his Trek reboot. Introduce a force that changes the timeline
which would alter the path that the iconic characters would eventually take,
the path we’ve all come to know, resulting in a completely unknown outcome. All
bets were off as Abrams and crew could take the franchise in any direction they
wanted – without destroying the rich history that came before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I know it’s a bit convoluted and you may need to dust off
your understanding of how time travel and alternate universes are hypothetically
supposed to work. Or you could just rent
another of Abram’s work, the television show <i>Fringe</i>, and get your temporary doctorate in Quantum Mechanics.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course there were some die hard fans up in arms. How could Abrams change the sacred canon? But the 500 pound caveat in the room was that
Abrams really wasn’t<i> </i>changing canon;
this was an entirely new history being made here. I could live with the idea of multiple universes
existing. It was dare I say, <i>fascinating.
</i>Abrams spoke about how having an alternate timeline would open up
new ideas and take the characters to places never before taken– something he’d
be able to tackle after the initial reboot in 2009. So here we are, four years later, and J.J.
Abrams has made good on that promise. Well...sort
of.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not going to try and keep this spoiler free so if you
haven’t seen <i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i>
then you better stop reading now. What
we have here with this film is an Abrams-verse quasi mash-up of the original <i>Star Trek </i>episode <i>Space Seed </i>and <i>Star Trek II –
The Wrath of Khan. </i>Yes, Benedict
Cumberbatch really is playing Khan Noonien Singh, the character made famous by
Ricardo Montalban. The sad part is his
character in <i>Into Darkness</i> is hardly
the real focus at all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After months of denying that this was the case it turns out
that Abrams was just toying with the fans as he usually does in the spirit of
secrecy. He played the same coy game
while he was filming <i>Cloverfield</i>. At the time, everyone thought that <i>Cloverfield </i>was just the code name for
the actual film Abrams was working on, Voltron.
Yeah, not so much; and to many a fan’s dismay it was about an alien
under <st1:city w:st="on">New York City</st1:city>
who began wreaking havoc. Kind of like a
really big version of Mike Bloomberg stuck in the subway searching for people
carrying Big Gulps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Into Darkness </i>begins
with the crew of the <st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city>
on a developing planet whose indigenous population is at its earliest stage of
evolution. The natives are in danger of
extinction, as a nearby volcano is about to erupt. Kirk orders Spock to enter the volcano and
use a cold fusion device to render it inert.
Meanwhile, the shuttle used to lower Spock into the volcano becomes
damaged and needs to return to the <st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city>,
leaving Spock moments from certain death.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kirk, realizing his first office and friend is about to die,
orders his crew to move the <st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city> (under
water no less) into transporter range – which also reveals the <st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city> to the primitive natives –
breaking the major rule in Starfleet, the Prime Directive. Of course Spock reminds Kirk that “the needs
of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”, a clear homage to <i>Wrath of Khan</i>, one of many in this
film. He pleads with Kirk to let him die
rather than expose the ship to the inhabitants of the planet. Of course Kirk wouldn’t allow that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The crew heads back to earth with Kirk having to face the
wrath of his mentor as he’s scolded and once again demoted to first officer by
Admiral Pike. Regardless of Kirk’s
actions you would think by now, Pike and Starfleet would have a bit more faith
in him. Instead we see a retread where
he gets demoted, alliterating to the original films. After his demotion we’re introduced to the
two main antagonists of the film, first the head of Starfleet, Admiral Alexander
Marcus played by Peter Weller and later on we are introduced to John Harrison,
a.k.a. Khan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Because of what happened in the previous film – more
importantly the destruction of Vulcan by Nero – Admiral Marcus in his
desperation to protect the Federation, decides to thaw Khan and utilize his
advanced intellect to build even more deadly weapons to keep Starfleet ahead of
the curve, starting with the USS Vengeance; just think a REALLY big version of
the Enterprise. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In exchange for his help Marcus offered Khan and his crew
their freedom. The audience has no idea
that any of this subterfuge is taking place. Khan attacks London and Starfleet headquarters,
killing Kirk’s mentor Admiral Pike and begins Marcus’ plot to draw the
Federation into an all-out war against the Klingons.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Marcus reinstates Kirk to captain of the <st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city>
and sends him on a mission to kill <st1:place w:st="on">Harrison</st1:place>. The film touches on a few relevant and
current issues (drone strikes anyone?) when Marcus gives Kirk new long range
photon torpedoes to kill Harrison who’s taken refuge on the Klingon home world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tensions rise on the Enterprise as no one is comfortable
with the idea of executing Khan without bringing him to justice to answer for
his crimes. Scotty issues his
displeasure with the weaponry being considered and resigns his commission. Spock pleads with Kirk to reconsider assassinating
Khan and in the moment where Kirk addresses the crew of the Enterprise we see
Kirk’s true nature, as he states that they’re on a mission to capture
Harrison. Among the crew we have a
stowaway in Doctor Carol Marcus. Yes,
that Carol Marcus. Those of you unaware
she was Kirk’s love interest whom he fathered a child with who was killed by
Klingons. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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What ensues is a film filled with constant action beats;
almost too many since I thought it sacrificed some character growth. The core of what made Star Trek so great was
the interrelationships created by each of the characters and unfortunately,
this crew just doesn’t have the luxury of having spent that much time
together. And because Abrams decided to
use moments from <i>Wrath of Khan</i>, many
scenes that are meant to spur great emotion come off as forced. And yes…someone screams KHANNNNNN! And it isn’t
who you’d think. Et tu Spock?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The more I think of this film the more I think of the
criticism William Shatner made to Abrams regarding his films when he said they
lacked “heart”. At first I just took it
as sour grapes on Shatner’s part but I can see what he means by his criticism –
even if it is slightly unfair. Like I
said these particular actors haven’t spent decades in the consciousness of
moviegoers therefore you can’t expect to feel exactly the same for them as you
would the original cast – no matter how inventive the script is.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The reveal of Harrison as Khan came across to me as a bit of
a letdown. First, Cumberbatch physically
looks nothing like the history of the character which was essentially supposed
to be of Indian heritage. Cumberbatch’s
thick English accent even led many fans to believe him to be an alternate
timeline version of Jean-Luc Picard. Ironically
the role of Harrison/Khan was originally offered to Benecio del Toro. Then there was the months of denying from
Abrams that Khan would even make it into the film at all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Star Trek Into
Darkness </i>wasn’t a bad movie, far from it.
It had a very moralistic message that resonates with the world we live
in today. Maybe it was a bit too naïve for
my tastes. Do we go down the same road Marcus does, trading long held values
for the comfort of being secure? It’s
interesting that Abrams and his team used the idea of long range photon
torpedoes for Kirk to just kill Harrison – no questions, no trial – just a push
of a button. Was it a condemnation of
what we’ve become as a nation post 9/11? During the credits you see that the film is dedicated to the post 9/11 veterans with an iconic scene showing
a Starfleet Honor Guard folding the Federation flag towards the end of the
film.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Abrams makes Kirk question his purpose and his values and
the film does the same to the viewers as well.
Like last week’s <i>Iron Man 3, Into
Darkness </i>is far from a perfect film.
I had issues with the rehash of Khan and the ending – which I was almost
not going to talk about here but decided I had to. When the Enterprise is falling to earth
powerless, it is Kirk who realizes his purpose, and saves the Enterprise and
her crew. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It was the death scene in <i>Wrath of Khan</i>, only flipped and it was a powerful scene and would’ve
remained a powerful scene if Kirk would have been allowed to pay that ultimate
price. Unfortunately Abrams played it
safe as Bones discovered that Khan’s blood had Lazarus like abilities. So after Kirk “dies”, and after Spock takes on the final (unecessary?) battle to capture Khan (didn't Khan's crew <i>also </i>have the same type of life giving blood?), bringing him and his blood back to Bones,
Kirk is injected and yes…lives again. In
my opinion the worst part of the film as it downplayed the emotional impact of
Kirk’s sacrifice and the original scene from <i>Wrath of Khan</i>, where Spock does the very same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All Abrams had to do was allow Kirk to die, at least in the
interim. An ending scene showing a
distraught Carol Marcus in front of a computer screen with tears in her eyes, as
she works on her “Genesis formula” would’ve set up the next film perfectly and
even though it would have taken it’s clues yet again from the canon, it wouldn’t
have lessened Kirk’s sacrifice. Not to
mention it would’ve done exactly what Abrams always said he wanted to do –
which is to put these characters in NEW situations we haven’t seen before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If only…<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Sector gives <i>Star
Trek Into Darkness </i>3 out of 4.<o:p></o:p></div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-81264237298073657872013-05-09T18:33:00.002-04:002013-05-09T19:04:14.794-04:00Summer Movie Review - Iron Man 3<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">~ WARNING THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED, STOP! ~<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><b>~ LAST WARNING! ~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">~ REALLY THIS IS IT! ~</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I heard
that Shane Black was hired to replace Jon Favreau as the director for Iron Man
3, I wasn’t too sure of what to make of it.
Black’s directorial resume isn’t exactly robust. His first and only time taking the helm was
in 2005 when Black directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a film which co-starred Tony
Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr. Sure it
was a pretty damn good flick but was it really all that wise to hand the reigns
of a billion dollar franchise over to someone with such little directorial
experience? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, when I
dove further into Black’s career I discovered that he was part of the writing
team that gave us the Lethal Weapon franchise, The Monster Squad, and The Last
Boy Scout. Ok, so his writing history
makes up for his lack of directorial experience, even if he was ultimately
responsible for the screenplay to the grand disaster that was The Last Action
Hero. Well what do ya want, nobody’s
perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I review
films in two ways, the first being my initial gut reaction while I’m seeing the
movie and the other is usually a day or two later, when I’m tearing the story a
new a-hole. Knowing that Shane Black’s
filmmaking background is more heavily weighted on the writing side makes me
both intrigued but also very discerning of his work on Iron Man 3. And after I researched his film history, I
could see how he uses certain themes throughout his writing career. I’ll get to that later on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Iron Man 3
takes place not too far removed from the events of last summer’s, The Avengers,
as we find Tony Stark suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from what
he experienced in New York. He ends up
suffering from insomnia and fills his time building a massive army of Iron Man
suits for just about every possible threat – simultaneously alienating his
love, Pepper Potts, again played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Tony begins to struggle with the question,
“is he just a man in a tin suit” in a world with dangers far more deadly than
he could ever imagine or handle?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Early on
we’re introduced to main baddie in the film, The Mandarin, played by Academy
Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley. In Shane
Black’s world he’s essentially an amalgam of every enemy the United States has
ever faced – be it Al Qaeda or the North Koreans. It’s a total deviation from the canon of the
comics which had him more as an Asian mystical sorcerer; not exactly something
that can be easily translated onto the big screen at least not with today’s
savvy audience. Therein lay one of the
really outstanding issues I had with this film and that too I’ll explain later
on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Mandarin
is threatening the world with an undetectable type of IED essentially. The technology known as Extremis, earned rave
reviews when it was first introduced in the iron Man comics back in 2005. It’s a bio-weapon of the super soldier variety
that makes whoever is injected with it invulnerable and apparently a mini human
microwave oven set to overload and explode if let uncontrolled. The plot device wouldn’t exist without the
secondary(?) baddie in the film, Aldrich Killian, played by Guy Pearce. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the film
starts it takes us back to 1999, and shows us that if anything, Tony Stark has
consistently been a social SOB. In fact
he runs into Killian at a Y2K New Years Eve party, who tries to sell Tony his
idea of Extremis only to be dismissed by Tony as a kook. You begin to see the web that is being weaved
here if you’re keen enough to notice that in one scene at the party is the man
who was a prisoner with Tony in Afghanistan.
If you remember from the first film, it was this man, Yinsen, who saved
Tony’s life by constructing an electro-magnet keeping shrapnel from entering
his heart. It seems Tony has been set up
by the Mandarin all along.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Everyone,
from Downey to Kingsley, Cheadle and even Paltrow all give excellent
performances here. I single out Kingsley
because Black took an absolutely HUGE chance with his character that has upset
the die-hards to no end. I warned you
there would be spoilers so; stop reading RIGHT NOW if you don’t want to
know. Too late… the Mandarin in Shane
Black’s world is a total manufactured fraud.
He’s an actor hired by Killian to be used as a pawn fueling everyone’s
fear but essentially he’s a straw man. I
found it hilarious when and how it was revealed in the film. It was pretty damn witty. Kingsley is just such a great actor and I can
see why they wanted him to play the Mandarin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now even
though I found it a funny use of misdirection to have the Mandarin portrayed as
a drunken English actor, I can totally relate to the hardcore fans of Iron Man
who find this to be absolutely sacrilegious.
To explain it better, how would fans of Christopher Nolan’s Batman
trilogy feel if he gave Heath Ledger’s treatment of the Joker the same
(in)justice, and turned him into a useful fool?
Initially I chuckled but later on I found it disrespectful of the canon.
I hope Zach Snyder doesn’t have any smart ass ideas up his sleeve regarding Lex
Luthor in Man of Steel. The Sector WILL
have issues if he does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What I liked
about Iron Man 3 was how it dealt with Tony Stark’s past and how he’s basically
been the same person even prior becoming Iron Man, basically a douche, but
fortunately a likeable one at that.
Shane Black shows how Tony Stark has always kept everyone at arms
length. But the thing is he’s not aloof
in fact he actually remembers everything and everyone; he uses his faux
aloofness as a cover. It’s interesting
because Shane Black uses many repeating themes throughout the films he’s been a
part of. The alliterations to the Lethal
Weapon series are incredibly obvious and while it made me roll my eyes when I
dissected Iron Man 3, I admit while watching it, I was totally buying it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only
other main issue I had with Iron Man 3 was literally the final few minutes of
the film. After finally coming to grips
with his humanity, Tony acknowledges both his limitations but that HE is Iron
Man, not the tech, not the armor. Here’s
where it went south for me. So with that
realization Tony decides to have heart surgery to remove the shrapnel
surrounding his heart. You know the
shrapnel that could NOT be removed without causing him a cardiac arrest and
that annoying thing known as DEATH.
Really Shane? Really?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tony had a
key line from The Avengers, when he spoke of having this “terrible privilege”
that his injury had given him. Literally
in a matter of probably 3 screen minutes, by downplaying Tony’s need for the
ARC reactor to keep him alive, Shane Black pretty much took a royal crap on the
canon of Iron Man. And Marvel allowed
it. There are a few other nit-picky things
I could bring up such as when the Mandarin sent choppers to destroy Tony’s home
and why THEN he didn’t unleash his army of armored suits to take them out. But I won’t.
You have to come at these movies with an open mind and you have to be
able to suspend disbelief to some degree, otherwise you’ll go crazy with the
minutia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I enjoyed
Iron Man 3. It wasn’t perfect and like I
said I think it had two really HUGE flaws but it’s impossible to say that the
slate isn’t clean for just about any possibility now. I’m interested to see where Marvel takes
this. The Sector gives Iron Man 3, three
out of four.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-67454877238593536862013-04-29T22:31:00.002-04:002013-04-29T22:31:24.828-04:00The Hail Mary Or As Jets Fans Call It - The Tebow Year<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mzWaf5X8lkA/UX8qK8EZFiI/AAAAAAAAA9k/4xxZstVnJRk/s1600/JetsFootball075950--300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mzWaf5X8lkA/UX8qK8EZFiI/AAAAAAAAA9k/4xxZstVnJRk/s1600/JetsFootball075950--300x300.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cue the ending theme song from "The Incredible Hulk"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So a little over a year ago, your humble blogger
extraordinaire introduced the world to The
Spector Sector and with that initial foray into the world of online opinion
spewing came the story of the day, which was that the New York Jets traded their
4<sup>th</sup> round draft pick to the Denver Broncos for quarterback Tim
Tebow. Fast forward to present day and
we can see how the <s>mighty</s>, err I mean how the weak have continued to dig
their shithole further into the ground as the New York Jets announced today
that they have released Tim Tebow. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a story that would even make Hunter S. Thompson do a
double and perhaps a triple take but nevertheless it’s the truth. They say that truth is stranger than fiction
and the very same could be said of this man made drama, and yes that’s pretty
much what it was. What else could it
have been? Tebow, cost the Jets a 4<sup>th</sup> round pick,
$1.5 million clams, plus the $2.5 million clams they sent John Elway to just
pry his death grip off Tebow’s contract.
And what pray tell did the Jets get out of this deal you ask? Tebow took about 70 snaps on offense. He was 6 for 8 in passing for 39 yards. He ran the ball 32 times for 102 yards. No touchdowns. No bended knee glory shots post touchdowns. No glory whatsoever. All in all, just a shit bang of a deal. Thanks Tannenbaum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t blame Tebow, he is what he is. The thing is, I wish I friggin knew what he is or was. He could very well be just another really
good college football quarterback that earned the spotlight during his
collegiate years; he did win the Heisman.
That’s no easy task but not one that always translates into NFL
readiness. He was never really given a
fair chance though whether the excuse was his inability or the fact that Mark
Sanchez earns about 50 gillion a year and still finds it necessary to shove his
head up his centers ass. We can’t have
talent like that riding the pine can we?</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--9N4_8lSi64/UX8qdSJUyzI/AAAAAAAAA9s/NgXJSOsCnw8/s1600/11923946-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--9N4_8lSi64/UX8qdSJUyzI/AAAAAAAAA9s/NgXJSOsCnw8/s320/11923946-large.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanchez: "I'm looking for my talent. <br />Brandon Moore: "MY PANCREAS!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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So what was the point of bringing Tebow here in the first
place? Was it to light a fire under
Sanchez with the primal fear that he could lose his job to Tebow at any given
moment? Yeah, that didn’t happen. Perhaps it was the conspiratorial idea that
Tebow was here to give the team some buzz?
Yeah because nothing spells great buzz like having a born-again, who
lives a clean, religious and pious life.
How the tabloids didn’t salivate at having that as their icon of attention
I’ll never know. And by no means do I
fault the man for his lifestyle, just the boobs who think he was here to sell
something beyond playing the game. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Jets released a statement today with a quote from head
coach Rex “Tinactin Toes” Ryan saying: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow,” Ryan said
in the statement. “Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had
hoped. Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in
this offseason. We wish him the best moving forward.”</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Well there you have it, everything <s>explained </s>in one
succinct statement from the guy who’s deep in the know. Don’t you feel so much more hopeful for the
future of the Jets now? I sure know I
do!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Jets trading for Tim Tebow makes about as
much sense as this video. You’re welcome
by the way Rex.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/78Z0C5eSV7s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-23008764231616715232013-04-05T20:16:00.002-04:002013-04-06T09:35:22.786-04:00Dog's Best Friend<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #fbfbfb; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/graham_greene.html"><span style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Graham Greene </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">British author Graham Greene – who suffered from bi-polar disorder – spoke of the therapeutic need most writers have to utilize their own life experiences and incorporate it into their writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I for one can’t imagine not having this as my own private pressure valve. I know for a fact that I would lose it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people turn to friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some turn to family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some even turn to vices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, I turn to all the above but always, without fail, I turn to writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having this blog - as open a place as I make it to the public - has afforded me the opportunities to do just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And to you the reader, I want you to know that your interest in what interests me and everything I write about here, is humbling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I recently had to make one of the toughest decisions anyone has to make in life - when is the right time to end the life of your pet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off, I never thought of Pesci, our 10 year old Lhasa Aspo, as a “pet”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most animal trainers are quick to point out that we shouldn’t bestow too much humanity onto our pets especially if they’re to be properly trained – because after all, they’re animals. Well, color me improper then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pesci wasn’t just the family pet, he was family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should I have treated him more like a pet, perhaps, but I was never interested in having a circus sideshow entertainer for a pet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides other than being spoiled (tell me a family dog that isn’t), Pesci was as good a companion as you could ever ask for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The Lhasa Apso have quite a rich history dating back over 4000 years having originated in Tibet and carries the Tibetan name Apso Seng Kyi, which translates into “Bearded Lion Dog”. They are considered the 14<sup>th</sup> most ancient dog breed in the world and were bred as the interior sentinels guarding the Buddhist monasteries alerting the monks to any danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you ever get a chance, check out the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seven Years in Tibet </i>starring Brad Pitt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lhasa’s are prominent throughout the film and according to Buddhist’s the bodies of the Lhasa’s could be entered by the souls of the departed lamas while they await reincarnation into a new body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep that thought in mind – you’ll see what I mean later on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Pesci filled a void in our lives when my grandmother passed away. He became very attached to my mother, who became his de-facto master.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lhasa’s have a reputation for being loyal to their owners and a bit temperamental to outsiders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s just say Pesci lived up to his name quite well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first he was a handful, as most puppies are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we were patient and consistent with him and eventually he began to mellow – a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">He wasn’t destructive and he got along with other dogs quite well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even strangers didn’t faze him very much as his breed is generally known to be wary of outsiders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Pesci wasn’t a lap dog; unlike their close cousins, the Shih Tzu, which are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pesci definitely had an independent streak. He was the active duty Marine to the Shih Zhu’s Reservist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">For some reason, Pesci had it in for my grandfather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was absolutely comical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For whatever reason he just couldn’t seem to get along with him, to the point that just being in his presence set him off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The running joke in my family became that Pesci must have had my grandmother’s soul in him and this was simply 50 + years of marital payback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically enough when my grandfather was in Hospice and in the final stages of his life, Pesci wouldn’t leave his side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">On the evening before he passed Pesci began acting erratic as did my grandfather who began hallucinating and pointing to a corner in the room where he said he saw his wife calling him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the very same spot that Pesci sat eerily still, staring at the very same wall, barking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe like children, animals can see things that the rest of us are unable to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it’s their common innocence that allows it, but I believe it to be true. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, it seemed to us, that Pesci, ever the guardian, helped guide my grandfather into his final journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Time passed and like any of us as we age we start losing our edge and eventually begin to break down. For Lhasa’s, it’s generally their spines that becomes susceptible to early arthritis and eventual paralysis or their eyes, in which a genetic disorder called progressive retinal atrophy occurs, causing blindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Pesci, he fell into the latter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was originally thought to be simple conjunctivitis was in actuality something that was neither preventable nor curable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As his blindness progressed there were noticeable changes in his entire demeanor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone were the days of playing fetch or his 3 o’clock mad dash running circles around the coffee table until he puttered out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He definitely had his quirks; I’m not going to sugar coat it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was loveable but at times he could be one ornery little fuzz ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He became easily frightened, which only exacerbated the aggressiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pesci we all knew would never be the same. Then the day came when my 2 ½ year old daughter, while playing, accidentally stepped on his tail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pesci snapped at her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily since he couldn’t see, he snapped in the opposite direction she was standing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My heart went to my throat and I knew at that moment, I couldn’t procrastinate any longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something had to be done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My wife and I started reaching out to shelters to see if we could find one that would adopt Pesci.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began our search locally and eventually tried out of state shelters through the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically each shelter would be more than willing to take in any animal with just about any ailment; be it a dog with three legs, blind, deaf, and barking in Aramaic, but when we mentioned the aggression, it sparked the same result.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No shelter would be willing to take in a blind dog that could potentially harm someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a heartbreaking and utterly defeating moment for all of us because we knew what the only other option was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last thing I would’ve wanted was for another family to be placed in a similar position as this but knowing that still didn’t make our decision any easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The drive to our veterinarian’s office was surreal and heartbreaking. Tears were running down our face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pesci was never a huge fan of car rides as he’d always whimper as he lay in the backseat. This time he was silent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if that made it worse or better but it definitely made us unsure of what we were doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Vet, a tall and slender gray haired man, had a pained look on his face as he was well aware of why we were here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew of these moments all too well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here I was in all of my 38 years – in this position for the very first time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Every day I wrestle with the decision we had to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it the right thing to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could I have done more?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each time those thoughts enter my mind I see my daughter, and I’m thankful that her last memories of Pesci weren’t tragic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know for a fact if they were, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes in life we’re faced with having to make absolutely impossible choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was definitely one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our hearts are emptier today without Pesci and I know we’ll never forget the fun and unconditional love he gave to us for the time we were lucky enough to call him family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: white;">Goodbye my little buddy.</span><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3wuhC794BM0/UV9oNkzOStI/AAAAAAAAA9I/wMyPQcjU9ZQ/s1600/100_3688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3wuhC794BM0/UV9oNkzOStI/AAAAAAAAA9I/wMyPQcjU9ZQ/s400/100_3688.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">R.I.P. Pesci</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-49481133065808478442013-03-23T19:21:00.000-04:002013-03-23T19:21:05.000-04:00Hola Nueva Yorkers, Mi Llamo es Miguel Bloombito<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PYPVazSVXfo/UU4ovZcVVII/AAAAAAAAA8g/9cGX52o8XL4/s1600/o-BLOOMBERG-NANNY-570-341x6202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PYPVazSVXfo/UU4ovZcVVII/AAAAAAAAA8g/9cGX52o8XL4/s400/o-BLOOMBERG-NANNY-570-341x6202.jpg" width="220" /></a>You know I’m beginning to think that maybe those Mayan’s
were just really bad at record keeping. When actual news stories start to read as if they
were hatched over at <i>The Onion</i>, you
start to wonder if the Mayan they left in charge of their calendar had one too
many the night before he sent it to print. <i> </i>My reasoning behind that: Take a look at the
Mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg. It seems that the self-made billionaire financier,
turned politician, turned defender of all New Yorker’s with elevated blood
pressure, has been waging war on a massive scale for the last few years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Waging war against what you ask? Could it be unemployment, which is at 8.8% in
<st1:city w:st="on">New York City</st1:city>
and higher than the national average?
Not a chance slick don’t you know, we’re in a recovery. The media says so. Is it against Al-Qaeda? Don’t be silly, we have them on the run. The President says so. Hell we can even bring knives on airplanes
again. Besides, Al-Qaeda only cares
about overseas diplomatic posts now. Oh
wait, wasn’t it a silly YouTube video that caused that tragedy? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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No my friends, you see the Honorable Hizzoner <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Euphegenia Doubtfire, </span>finally found his political niche; he’s
fighting the Jihad of all Jihads’: an intifada on soda, salt and just about any
other vice that makes it into his crosshairs.
He’s even taking on excess earbud volume (really I swear I’m not making
this up) and–wait for it—the evil incarnate that is BABY FORMULA. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now before you try to Google any of that, please, allow a
few minutes for it to marinate in your brain if anything just to remind you of
the fools we the people elect to public office.
Even though there’s a strong likelihood that Andy Warhol will be
reincarnated and ooze from your eardrum, take this moment to reflect. Ok you can breathe easy now; you’re not
really crazy, just a bit misguided and occasionally fooled, kind of like a Taylor
Swift ex. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here we have the elected mayor of the largest city in
America with over 8 million residents, with a legislative plate that <i>should </i>be quite full of real issues,
working tirelessly to get his constituents to eat and drink and behave exactly how
he would like them to. And to boot, he’s more than willing to use whatever executive
powers he has as Mayor to force them to relent—no matter the ancillary effects. Effects like those silly separation of powers
doctrines politicians are supposed to adhere to by you know that other silly
thing called THE LAW. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But what’s having a little nuisance like the law that’s ever
stopped this mayor? New York City had
firm term limits in place until he convinced the City Council to allow him to
run for a third term—how’s that working out for you New Yorker’s? He like so many politicians who prefer we do
as they say --like good little lemmings--versus as they do themselves; but that
doesn’t even scratch the surface of my indignation with this elected uber-nanny—and
I’m not even a resident of New York. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He’s been fairly predictable Mayor Bloomberg. He started with a city wide initiative to
reduce trans-fats in food served in city restaurants. After that his many targets became smoking in
public –banning it in public parks and in city restaurants and bars. His assault continued when he focused his ire
against salt-part of an overall initiative to combat high blood
pressure in 2010- which took center stage at Gracie Mansion. So insane his rationale that he's instituted a ban on food that is donated to homeless shelters that cannot have their salt,fat and fiber content assessed. Of course we’re all aware of his desire to
ban large sugary drinks, which was recently struck down in court as being an
overreach of his executive powers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1WAU7GMqeV4/UU4qBfeaV0I/AAAAAAAAA8w/xVVhgmHPJSs/s1600/bloomberg-pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1WAU7GMqeV4/UU4qBfeaV0I/AAAAAAAAA8w/xVVhgmHPJSs/s320/bloomberg-pizza.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somebody pass the salt, oh wait, damn. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And just when you thought he’s had his fill of social
tinkering, Major Bloombito (as his <a href="https://twitter.com/ElBloombito">FAKE Twitter account </a>parodying his less than eloquent use of the Spanish language would say)
is becoming “loco en la cabeza”, deciding that excessive earbud noise is
becoming a chronic danger to all human life within the 5 boroughs. I find
myself constantly trying to remind you that I’m not making any of this up. With that said, I give you the piece de
resistance – Mayor Mike has decided in his infinite wisdom—that he would like
to <i>STRESS
</i>to new mothers the benefits of breast feeding their children versus using
baby formula. This man is a gift to
comedians, political and social pundits alike.
In fact he brings new meaning to the term “the gift that keeps on
giving”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The problem I have with this ninny nanny of a Mayor is how
he’s using his position as an elected official, to micromanage people’s lives—all
the while thumbing his nose at the legislative process and at the very same people
he <i>claims </i>to be so concerned over. Somehow I find it hard to believe that when
Jefferson and the boys sat down in Philly to hash out this whole concept of a
free nation, that they envisioned anything remotely close to this. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m in favor of people
binging on Big Gulp’s until they’re blood registers as a natural sweetener or
seeing people gorge themselves on Big Mac’s until the secret sauce oozes out of
their pores. Although I've heard Nancy Pelosi can't say enough about it's anti-oxidant benefits. I’m just, as most people
are, sick of elected officials trying to control every aspect of our lives and
force us to behave in ways <i>they believe </i>is
acceptable. That is not what
government—at least ours- was ever designed to do.
If anything it was that type of encroachment into people lives (not to
mention those pesky little things like taxation without representation) that
formed this nation in the first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Imagine if Mayor McNumbnutt decided that he wanted to lower
the rates of abortions in New York City and pushed some half-baked idea using
the city’s Department of Health as his vehicle.
Some of the very same people who’ve been silent on the mayor’s mini-rampages
would suddenly find their collective voices to protest. And I’m quite sure the media would find a way
to highlight their anger on a daily basis.
What are you saying Spector, that the media picks and chooses who and what they
prefer in the national debate, skewing it just enough to frame the issue? Of course that <i>never </i>happens. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S7sW4AwzNc8/UU4o9EP6kWI/AAAAAAAAA8o/cfQWsrelbMU/s1600/mike-bloomberg-eats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S7sW4AwzNc8/UU4o9EP6kWI/AAAAAAAAA8o/cfQWsrelbMU/s320/mike-bloomberg-eats.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let them eat cake, or pastrami on rye.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Remember this, anytime a politician tries to micro-manage your life, a
founding father loses his wings. Whether
it’s the social engineering of the left or that of the right neither should be
excused. Society isn’t some Petri dish used
for a politician’s grand experiment nor is it government’s responsibility to
tell us how to live. That’s where freedom
and responsibility kick in. Remember the
old saying, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. With so many greater issues that are at play
you have to wonder if people like Michael Bloomberg are simply bored with their
jobs. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I guess when you become a billionaire and want to kill a
little time you either run for mayor and try to force people to do what you’d
like them to do or you create a reality TV show pitting celebrities against one
another for their favorite charity.
Maybe Mayor Mike can hire Dennis Rodman as his public relations director
when he gets back from negotiating peace with North Korea. I’ll take my liberty with a side order of
stay the hell out of my life you nitwit politicians and a large Coke. Damn you Mayan record keepers. Damn you.<o:p></o:p></div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-8048717138107173662013-02-20T19:56:00.003-05:002013-02-20T19:56:46.950-05:00Stopping by CitiField on a Snowy Evening<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rmfy6u8YM1A/USVwCsIfUeI/AAAAAAAAA8E/bT3dmJzDXYQ/s1600/9780805069860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rmfy6u8YM1A/USVwCsIfUeI/AAAAAAAAA8E/bT3dmJzDXYQ/s320/9780805069860.jpg" width="211" /></a>Every now and again something occurs in my life that makes
me either shake my head or want to shake someone else’s head—often violently --
with the fleeting hope that doing so would magically scramble and reset their questionable
thought process without causing any long term damage. Sometimes I even resort to utilizing Mr.
Tyzik’s tactic, gleefully taking out my frustration on those “flatheads”. Using forced perspective to pinch the heads off
of your adversaries may get you some odd looks my friends but don’t knock it
‘till you try it. Its inherent cathartic
qualities can do wonders. Don’t get me
wrong, I’m not really ready for anger management classes, yet. I’m
lucky enough to say that just being with my 2 ½ year old daughter has done more
to put my life into perspective than anything <i>The Kids in the Hall </i>ever had to offer. She has the light switch to my heart this little
kid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now that she’s getting older and more aware of the world
around her, I’m able to share more of what I enjoy with her and see how she
reacts to understanding it. This is her
second season watching, rooting and generally hanging out with me as I go
through the emotional roller coaster that is being a Met fan. Of course this is something I always imagined
doing ever since I could remember watching the Mets with my father as a
child. It’s more than just a rite of
passage or bonding. To me, I’m
imprinting memories of our time together that I hope she’ll keep with her for all
the days of her life. I guess the older
I become, the more cognizant I am that this gift that is life isn’t guaranteed
by age. My father wasn’t even 50 when he
passed. There’s just so much that I want
to show her, teach her, and experience with my daughter that sometimes I have
to be mindful not to overcompensate, she is just a 2 ½ year old and I do plan
on sticking around for a while, God willing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the characteristics she seems to share with me is a
love of reading. Granted she goes from
Elmo to Mickey to Dora the Explorer in a matter of minutes – her attention span
is fickle-- then again so is mine and I’m old so who am I to complain. I’m trying to get into the habit of reading to
her. In fact I’ve already lined up the
books that I want to read to her as she gets older. Of course there will have to be the classics
but I wouldn’t be a proper parent to a young and becoming Met fan if I didn’t
find a way to sneak in <i>Faith and Fear in
Flushing</i> or <i>Total Mets </i>in there,
maybe even <i>The Bad Guys Won</i> just to
keep it fresh and edgy. Don’t worry I’d
censor anything that came out of Dykstra’s mouth—including the chaw. But there’s one genre of literature that I’m
going to introduce to her not because it was one of my favorites. In fact it was my <i>least </i>favorite form of writing because I found it so difficult to
interpret – the world of poetry was never kind to me. But there were always exceptions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was never really attracted to poetry growing up. It wasn’t until I was in college and was
lucky enough to have a professor, Mr. Chauncey G. Parker, who taught English
Literature. Mr. Parker was quite the
interesting cat. For one, he worked in
the Lyndon Johnson administration and if I recall, he did some work for the United
Nations as well. We would get into some
really interesting arguments regarding policy and politics in general. We really didn’t agree on a lot but he was an
amazing professor; never trying to indoctrinate as so many do in academia these
days. He was a bona fide Renaissance
Man. He wrote a novel, <i>The Visitor</i>, a crazy psychological horror
about a man who becomes obsessed with a rodent that has overrun his upscale New
York brownstone. His novel was later
turned into a film starring Peter Weller, Robocop himself. Hey don’t laugh; I’m pretty sure there aren’t
many of us that can boast that on our resumes.
But Mr. Parker in his best Northeastern, Hyannis Port, Bostonian voice,
explained to me the amazing talent that was Robert Frost. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Robert Frost is one of America’s most popular and storied
poets of the 20<sup>th</sup> century.
His works have been studied over by students and scholars alike. Some of his classic works include The Pasture
(1913), Mountain Interval (1916) and the beginnings of New Hampshire: A poem
with Notes and Grace Notes (1923), which contained “Fire and Ice”, and my
favorite, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, his masterwork. It was that poem which reminded me of why I’m
a Met fan. I know what you’re thinking, how
in God’s name does a Frost poem translate into something relatable to a Met
fan? Well first off here’s the poem:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>Stopping By
Woods on a Snowy Evening<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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Whose woods these are
I think I know.<br />
His house is in the village though; <br />
He will not see me stopping here<br />
To watch his woods fill up with snow.<br />
<br />
My little horse must think it queer<br />
To stop without a farmhouse near<br />
Between the woods and frozen lake<br />
The darkest evening of the year.<br />
<br />
He gives his harness bells a shake<br />
To ask if there is some mistake.<br />
The only other sound's the sweep<br />
Of easy wind and downy flake.<br />
<br />
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.<br />
But I have promises to keep, <br />
And miles to go before I sleep, <br />
And miles to go before I sleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Frost wrote this poem supposedly in an evening sitting and during
a time of great personal frustration—something Met fans can easily sympathize
with. Practically our entire history has
been wrought with frustration on some level.
Like all poetry, it’s subject to one’s own interpretation; Frost’s <i>Snowy Evening </i>is no exception. The woods, to some, describe the edge of
civilization. To me the Met fan it
describes the team. They are equally
irrational and yet garner consistent support.
It’s those qualities that attract us as fans and what attracts readers
to the woods. They are restful,
seductive, lovely and dark…like oblivion.
Also like our team, at times. The
woods can represent madness, the looming irrational and of course also
beauty. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The owner of the woods (us and not Wilpon) –lives in this
village – and travels there on the darkest day of the year. Perhaps this an alliteration of how we’ve
stuck by this team even during their most dire and desperate times? It’s the basic conflict in the poem, which is
resolved in the last stanza. What
attracts us to the woods and what force (responsibility, frustration, and
exacerbation?) pushes us away from the woods occasionally? This is the division between the village (the
fans) and the woods (the Mets). It’s not
as if the woods are particularly frightening or wicked, yet they still posses
the seeds of the irrational, just waiting to prey on our emotions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The woods, as much as it draws us in, consistently finds
ways to repel us, drawing us away.
“Society” in baseball terms could be translated into “the experts” –always
pointing out the negative and condemning us from staying here in the dark, in
the snow—why would we care for such a flawed team? With the last two lines, “And miles to go
before I sleep” being repeated. Is it a
forewarning? Are we masochists for this
team of ours; do we have some sort of death wish? Or do we take it as Frost did that he had
many good years of poetry still left in him and that we still have many more
years of torture…I mean love for our team?
Damn, poetry can be annoying. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike the majority who see the darkness in this poem, I take
the positive from it. I don’t try to
dwell on the flaws this team of ours have.
We know it as well as a geneticist knows what composes DNA. The Mets are in our DNA, it’s who we are, for
better or worse and as long as there’s a hope for the future –and there almost
always is even in our team’s darkest days—we stand true. We argue we root, we hem and haw. We sometimes take it too far and retract,
remembering our roots. But we come. Every Spring, we come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Somewhere, I hope Chauncey G. Parker III Is smiling. Smiling that I’m willingly passing down to a
new generation – a new set of tortures—and enjoying every bit of it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V9eWrAmDd_4/USVwQ05TxJI/AAAAAAAAA8M/MuAnQm0yd5Q/s1600/emma+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V9eWrAmDd_4/USVwQ05TxJI/AAAAAAAAA8M/MuAnQm0yd5Q/s400/emma+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-88660199028095877382013-01-23T19:28:00.002-05:002013-01-23T19:28:45.015-05:00Sector Movie Review - Zero Dark Thirty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ECmTOfJIg-4/UQB-sMnbspI/AAAAAAAAA68/G-kKmJwRVt0/s1600/zero_dark_thirty_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ECmTOfJIg-4/UQB-sMnbspI/AAAAAAAAA68/G-kKmJwRVt0/s400/zero_dark_thirty_ver2.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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Last last year the National Geographic Channel aired a
docu-drama based on the Navy Seal raid that killed the Al-Qaeda terrorist
leader and mastermind of the September 11<sup>th</sup> attacks, Osama bin
Laden. The film was told from the
perspective of the soldiers who initiated the raid, Seal Team Six. It aired just two days before the
Presidential election and was produced by Harvey Weinstein, a major supporter
of the President’s. Naturally it created
a furor as some assumed it would be a late-inning puff piece intended to
influence undecided voters towards the President. Well, needless to say, it’s doubtful that the
docu-drama did anything to sway voters in any direction, even though it did
accentuate the President’s leadership. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two months later, the big budget <st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place>
version depicting the raid in <i>Zero Dark
Thirty</i> has hit theaters. Kathryn
Bigelow and Mark Boal, the director and writer of <i>The Hurt Locker</i>, take on bin Laden and the mythos encompassing the
CIA, two Presidencies and the military – and may have scored another critical
hit. The big difference between <i>ZDT </i>and its Nat Geo little brother is
that Bigelow focuses all her attention on the decade-plus long investigation
spearheaded at the CIA by Maya, (played by Jessica Chastain who has been
nominated for best actress) a young woman who was recruited right out of
college who’s only task has been to hunt down the world’s most wanted man. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The film is based on obvious true events and producers were
given incredible access to certain information by the Obama administration,
however Bigelow had the daunting task of keeping viewers riveted even though
the outcome and ending was a given. By
presenting the story to the audience through the eyes of Chastain, Bigelow was
able to do what all great filmmakers are able to do—she created a film that
made you emotionally invest in the main character. Early in the film we are shown a scene where
Chastain and the CIA field agent Dan (played by Jason Clarke), are in the
process of interrogating a man with information on a courier that worked for
bin Laden. What ensues is probably the
most controversial part of the film as it portrays “enhanced interrogation”
including waterboarding scenes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Personally I’ve always been on the fence regarding “enhanced
interrogations” and much of what the post 9-11 world that President Bush both
dealt with and helped to initiate under his watch. While some tactics are a necessary evil in
the end, we do have to remain vigilant in not relishing them (see Abu
Gharib). Regardless your opinion of the
man, it’s hard to say that the tactics that he pushed through including the
“enhanced interrogations” didn’t provide the intel our clandestine services
needed to finally capture bin Laden.
That’s not to say that “enhanced interrogations” alone were the reason
he was finally captured – no endeavor of this magnitude can lend its success to
one practice. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Is it morally
ambiguous not to afford Geneva Convention rights to enemy combatants because
they aren’t fighting for a particular sovereign nation? Perhaps it is. Then again is waterboarding torture? Is playing Gwar at 200 decibels around the
clock? These are part of the
psychological games the CIA used to weaken the resolve of some detainees. Some tactics may have played fast and loose
constitutionally but one could argue if they weren’t done, would bin Laden have
ever been caught? And to Bigelow’s credit, she didn’t try to paint President
Obama as some Christ-like deity as compared to his predecessor’s Satan. The world is a far more complicated place
than that and Bigelow is clearly aware of that throughout the film even if some
of President Obama’s most strident supporters aren’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M9rj5CcVds0/UQB__-Z8akI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/CmxY9mweXTU/s1600/zdt_essay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M9rj5CcVds0/UQB__-Z8akI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/CmxY9mweXTU/s320/zdt_essay.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bigelow takes a very straightforward systematic approach to
the hunt for bin Laden in <i>ZDT</i>. At times it seemed a bit too procedural bordering
on banal but given the length of the actual investigation and the stakes that
were at risk, I’m sure those involved were anything but banal. Unfortunately that’s how it translated on
film. Not to mention that much of Maya’s
yeoman’s work is treated as commonplace as your typical office employee. That in itself lends to the view that much of
the work done to capture bin Laden was tedious and often times unproductive—prompting
her superiors to question her tactics--so Bigelow’s answer to that was to jump
ahead a few years into the investigation.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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To offset the rigidity of the pace of the film, Bigelow and
Boal take advantage of the character of Maya to its fullest. Shining a light on her solitude as she’s so
alone-- consumed by the hunt—Chastain owns this role without question. Even as she’s consistently beaten down by
both her superiors lack of faith in her to struggles in the investigation, it’s
her resolve that keeps the audience hooked and if you’ve ever seen the Showtime
series <i>Homeland</i>, which is also led by
a strong female protagonist, you’ll appreciate Chastain’s character even more
as she actually represents someone who does exist—albeit without the neuroses
of the character from <i>Homeland.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The best example of her resolve comes when one of her
colleagues was blown up by a suicide car bomber at the Camp Chapman base in
Afghanistan in 2009, killing 7 CIA agents.
Because Maya was spared, she believes it to be an omen that she’s meant
to finish the job. She tells the Seals
at the camp, wary of her and the CIA’s presence, “I’m gonna smoke everybody
involved in this op,” speaking about the attack. “And then I’m gonna kill bin Laden”, prompting
a few raised eyebrows from the Seal unit, not accustomed to such steeliness
from a CIA field agent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The supporting cast is stocked. You have the Deputy Director played by Mark
Strong (<i>Green Lantern</i>, <i>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i>) shouting at
his agents in a conference room, “I want targets! Bring me people to kill! Do your fucking jobs!” James Gandolfini plays Leon Panetta, the CIA
Director (now the outgoing Secretary of Defense) and along with them were Kyle
Chandler as Maya’s cautious station chief, Edgar Ramirez as a CIA operative who
tracks bin Laden’s courier, and Jennifer Ehle as a fellow veteran CIA agent. Each one did an amazing job with what they
were given. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7K9TIamAbFE/UQB_9P5uA4I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/kFTVVqgYExc/s1600/Zero-Dark-Thirty-Trailer.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7K9TIamAbFE/UQB_9P5uA4I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/kFTVVqgYExc/s320/Zero-Dark-Thirty-Trailer.jpeg" width="320" /></a>We finally head into the last 45 minutes of the film, introducing
Seal Team 6 and the raid itself. What
was a methodical investigative quickly grabs it’s war footing and takes us into
what it must have been like to finally achieve one of the greatest battlefield
victories in modern history. The raid
itself, while bereft with its own problems (the hard landing of the stealth
Blackhawk which later had to be destroyed) changes the viewers point of view,
taking on the perspective of the Seal team.
I found it interesting that even though I knew the outcome, I was still
riveted and at times unsure of what was to come. It was ironic because it was that feeling of
helplessness that Maya conveyed for the first time in the film, when everything
was out of her control. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Zero Dark Thirty </i>will
certainly cement itself in cinematic history if anything for its subject matter
and what it means to each viewer on a personal level. Is it flawed? Yes. Bigelow actually received little help
logistically if any as she had zero access to weaponry or aircraft. Did Kathryn Bigelow use whatever access she
was given to fall in suit with 90% of Hollywood and use this film as a
political statement, no. This was
neither a film that carried a torch for the President nor one that drove a stake
in the heart of his predecessor. She
created a drama akin to an episode of Law and Order but one that transitioned,
at the pivotal moment, into the most significant on-screen adaptation of the
most important military action of recent time.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the end, after the Seal team successfully completes the
mission, we see an emotionally spent Maya, unsure of what to feel—completely lost
in the moment. She’s given the task of
confirming the identity of bin Laden’s corpse—confirming that it was him and
confirming for the audience that the long struggle to bring the world’s most
wanted man to justice was accomplished.
And Kathryn Bigelow has accomplished an excellent look into history in
the process. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The
Sector gives <i>Zero Dark Thirty </i>8 out
of 10.</span>The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-36660229890633085772013-01-17T19:50:00.003-05:002013-01-17T19:57:52.246-05:00Tour de Farce<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hl-Ot9AIxAA/UPia9_1Zw5I/AAAAAAAAA6o/x-Ng2-RwXJM/s1600/546Lance.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hl-Ot9AIxAA/UPia9_1Zw5I/AAAAAAAAA6o/x-Ng2-RwXJM/s320/546Lance.png" width="240" /></a>Apparently there is no lack of public humiliation
encompassing the sports world these days.
Everything from the fake dead cyber-girlfriend of Notre Dame’s Manti
Te’o to the recent MLB Hall of Fame vote which resulted in zero inductees, the
first time that’s happened since 1996 and only the 8th time ever, thanks mostly
to the stigma left in the wake of the PED era.
Now we have former cycling champion Lance Armstrong doing the latest PED
mea culpa in an interview with that hard hitting, take-no-prisoners journalist, the Edward R. Murrow of our day, Oprah Winfrey. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Doing the proverbial interview with Oprah has become the
staple of many a celeb looking to rehabilitate their often times self-destroyed
public image. She’s basically the female
Larry King minus the goofy suspenders; never really trying to pry the total truth out
of their guests as much as wanting to be “the first” to air whatever the
celebrity has to say – all of which has been vetted by their public relations
handlers of course. I call it milktoast Entertainment
Tonight journalism as it’s all about the fluff and little about the substance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For many years Armstrong was accused of taking PED’s and
always vehemently denied it both in the public arena and even during
depositions while under oath – which could ultimately be his real undoing. Armstrong won a record breaking 7 consecutive
Tour De France titles from 1999 to 2005.
It amazes me how these celebrity/sports types have this complete
disconnect with reality and believe that they can sustain charades like these
indefinitely. In Armstrong’s case, I’m
not even that upset over the fact that he used PED’s – I’ve become numb
regarding PED use and athletes at this point.
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It’s that Armstrong used his celebrity as a bludgeon to
destroy the lives of friends, colleagues and business partners and anyone else who
came along and questioned his veracity.
Armstrong was no better than a typical mafia thug. But this mafioso was perfectly created, born
from a media cauldron and clothed in cloak of infallibility – yellow bracelets
included. Those yellow bracelets that
everyone from politicians to movie stars to school teachers wore happened to be all
the rage a few years ago were the creation of Armstrong’s Cancer research
foundation, Livestrong and were designed as a way to accumulate donations for
cancer research. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Even the name -- Livestrong -- has an air of invincibility to
it and along with the people whose lives Armstrong’s destroyed, it’s the real damage
that he’s done to the honest and good work of Livestrong that will test that
invincibility over time. This was from
an article on Yahoo Sports by Dan Wetzel and it’s so spot on I had to give him
a hat tip. He has 9 questions that he
hopes Oprah will ask:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1. Why now, Lance? Is it because in one potential perjury
case the statute of limitations has passed? Is it because you've already lost
almost all your sponsors, had to step back from your foundation and are no
longer getting the attention you once earned?<br />
Did you have to lose nearly everything until you sought the
only possible out? And at this point, why are you worth listening to at all?<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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2. Why are you doing this with me, Oprah Winfrey? I'm not
known for my cycling knowledge or for pointed follow-up questions or my
investigative journalistic skills. In fact, it's the opposite.<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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Wouldn't sitting down with Scott Pelley at "60
Minutes" have been a more legitimate forum? How about the Sunday Times of
London, which you sued for libel for printing the truth? Or any of the French
or American media that you bashed all along when in fact they weren't wrong at
all?<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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You always fashioned yourself as a tough guy, Lance. You
beat cancer for crying out loud, why go soft now?<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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3. Let's talk Betsy Andreu, the wife of one your former
teammates, Frankie. Both Andreus testified under oath that they were in a
hospital room in 1996 when you admitted to a doctor to using EPO, HGH and
steroids. You responded by calling them "vindictive, bitter, vengeful and
jealous." And that's the stuff we can say on TV.<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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Would you now label them as "honest"?<br />
And what would you say directly to Betsy, who dealt with a
voicemail from one of your henchmen that included, she's testified, this:<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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"I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head.
I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and you have some type
of tragedy that will … definitely make an impact on you."<br />
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></blockquote>
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When you heard about that voicemail, why didn't you call
Betsy and apologize then?</blockquote>
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You can read the 6 other questions that Wetzel would like Oprah
to ask Armstrong <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/questions-oprah-should-ask-lance-armstrong-230849439.html">here</a>. The questions
have the reader feeling exactly what it would be like looking up at a predator
drone strike right before a hellfire missle is launched. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Look I’m not some holier than thou righteous preacher here
trying to cast Armstrong and the rest of the PED users off onto some sort of
moralistic island where they are mandated to do penance and compete in weird games
of skill against Jeff Kent. In fact when
it comes to PED use I’m more upset on how we, the public treat these fools
after we discover their indiscretions.
Instead of shunning them we find them fascinating. Hell even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/melky-cabrera-signs-16-million-contract-just-months-after-being-busted-for-steroids-2012-11">Melky Cabrera</a> who was suspended by
MLB last year for 50 games because he tested positive for PED’s, was signed by
the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent to a 2 year $16 million dollar contract mere
months after getting caught. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I take back anything and everything I’ve said about
Armstrong or any of these guys, they’re geniuses. We’re the dopes.<o:p></o:p></div>
The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350028013383612076.post-82123036892490613912013-01-14T14:52:00.003-05:002013-01-14T14:52:59.689-05:00Reign Delay?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dHy6lbIrvrc/UPRepwqofoI/AAAAAAAAA6E/7SV7dM1NgLs/s1600/barry-bonds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dHy6lbIrvrc/UPRepwqofoI/AAAAAAAAA6E/7SV7dM1NgLs/s400/barry-bonds.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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As I was driving home the other night, I was listening to
Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on the MLB Network Radio channel on XM. They were discussing with Jill Painter, the L.A.
Daily News sports columnist, the Baseball Hall of Fame vote which took place
Wednesday. This is the same <a href="https://twitter.com/jillpainter">Jill Painter</a>, member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who thought it
made perfect sense to cast one of her Hall of Fame votes for the former Blue
Jay, Dodger, Diamondback and Met, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/greensh01.shtml">Shawn Green</a>.
As she was engaging in verbal kabuki, explaining her vote, I could
almost feel the indignation boiling over from the two hosts. Big kudos goes out to both Bowden and Stern for
having the combined patience of a saint.
That interview alone should earn them a few Marconi votes in my view.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s a good thing I don’t do radio; I wouldn’t have been
nearly as diplomatic as they were. As if
there wasn’t enough preordained controversy with this year’s crop of
candidates, we get this nonsense and I’m not even going to enrage you with her supposed
rationale. I have too much respect for
you to even try. It’s almost as bad as
the one vote that someone gave Aaron Sele.
Again, not going to enrage you with the facts, you can look up Sele’s pathetic
career statistics <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seleaa01.shtml">here</a> if you wish. Then
you have my permission to curse uncontrollably - - and yes you can practice reading
that line in your best Bane voice. Or
Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery as I believe they’re one in the same. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Call me naïve but I was always under the impression that
those having been afforded the privilege of a Hall of Fame vote would show just
a modicum of respect towards it. I’m
not the only one who thinks this way as does the great <a href="http://www.metstradamusblog.com/2013-articles/january/abusing-the-privilege.html">Metstradamus</a>. But this is unfortunately the year that common
sense, fairness and respect for the game clearly went over the edge of the
train tracks faster than a New York City subway commuter. Ouch. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now I’ve been very sympathetic to the plight the writers
have when it comes to wading through the waters that PED’s have polluted in
Major League Baseball. But like
Metstradamus, when voters use their privilege to make some grand statement (i.e.
voting no one in), peppered with some who find it – I don’t know – comical, to
vote for the likes of Sele and Green, it simply demonstrates to me that
stupidity isn’t determined by who you write for or what and if you get paid for
writing it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V21Us0-4PYw/UPRe5o0RXWI/AAAAAAAAA6M/L2qLbq1tG4o/s1600/piazza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V21Us0-4PYw/UPRe5o0RXWI/AAAAAAAAA6M/L2qLbq1tG4o/s320/piazza.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least I didn't Nair for short shorts Marty.</td></tr>
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When the likes of Marty Noble, someone I’ve always had
tremendous respect for, thinks that because Mike Piazza had an abundance
of—wait for it—back hair, during his time as a Dodger and decides to connect
the follicles and assume that it meant Piazza used. It shows me just how far we’ve fallen as a
people more than anything. We’ll believe
the very worst of each other just to protect our own vanity because God forbid
a player is later found to have juiced. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We can’t have writers dealing with pangs of remorse now can
we? To top it off, Noble then ironically
said that as a Met, Piazza had a hairless back, which is ALSO a symptom of
steroid use. So if Piazza essentially played
with Robin William’s back he’s using yet if he’s smoother than an Abercrombie
model he’s also using? Absolutely pathetic,
especially that never, not once, has Piazza been accused or named in any report
or tested positive for any performance enhancing drugs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I always believed that MLB needs to be far more proactive of
a guide for the BBWAA when it comes to Hall of Fame voting and steroids. I wrote a piece for <a href="http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/01/mlb-needs-to-finally-solve-the-ped-issue.html">Metsmerized</a> in early 2011
calling for Bud Selig to commission a panel exploring the effects that PED’s
have on actual playing performance. Of
course Selig and MLB want absolutely nothing further to do with this issue—at least
not what happened in the past. One
bright spot happened a few days ago when the MLB Players Association and MLB
agreed to year round drug testing for Human Growth Hormone and
Testosterone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4FM1nEFTq0/UPRfPjoZkKI/AAAAAAAAA6U/XFRxHh7wuT0/s1600/craig-biggio-what.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4FM1nEFTq0/UPRfPjoZkKI/AAAAAAAAA6U/XFRxHh7wuT0/s320/craig-biggio-what.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I guess 3000 hits just ain't what they used to be huh?</td></tr>
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The BBWAA and their writers refused to vote for some players
and based it on innuendo and unproven allegations; and that is shameful itself. In part I can understand their fear of
enshrining someone who later is proven to have used PED’s as players elected cannot
be removed from the Hall of Fame. My
question is why is that? Hypothetically
if a Hall of Famer does something illegal, whether during or after their
playing career, why are they not immediately open to removal? That, in my opinion, would allow the writers
to choose players based on their careers and not on speculation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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George Orwell was quoted as saying: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved
innocent.”</blockquote>
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Now the real question remains, who was Orwell talking about;
the players or the writers?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Spector Sectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874350952722174182noreply@blogger.com0