Hey guys,
I am finally back on line on a consistent basis, and dammit it feels good. I haven't talked to either one of you in awhile and that I have missed. OH and Mike; sorry about the 4th I was out of town. I don't even know what to talk about in the middle of the summer, but why not baseball and movies.

BASEBALL
The allstar game was an exciting game, and Chris, I have to back you up on actually getting the best players on the team whether or not Tampa Bay is going to be represented or not. Especially if it's going to count. But here's a noble idea. Why not have the team with the best record going into the series have home field advantage. I know that must sound crazy, but I think it just might work. Please note a lot of sarcasm there.
In a perfect world, the world series would be between the Cubs and the A's. Can you imagine those pitching matchups. Wood/Zito, Prior/Mulder, and so on. The Sosa homerun that wins game one, the Mark Mulder one hitter that gets the A's game two. My mouth waters at the thought.
I'm not surprised the Braves have the best record in baseball yet again; this is a franchise that simply knows how to win, and Bobby Cox has to be arguably one of the top five managers in baseball. What gets me is the lack of press coverage this team gets. It's as if the papers are saying; The Braves are winning again; go figure." It's kind of sad that the Orioles latest win streak that means jack shit gets more notice than a team having an absolutely spectacular year. It's not like they're not playing tough teams. In their division alone they've got Marlins, Expos, and Phillies to deal with. And overall despite the Allstar outcome, the National League is clearly the better league in terms of pitching and hitting. The Braves are simply getting the job done and good for them.
Tony Pena for manager of the year in the AL. Anyone want to argue with that? The Royals are a blast to watch this year.
My midseason prediction is that the Yankees will beat the Giants in the world series; Carlos Delgado and Jose Vidro will win the MVP awards, and the Cubs will find a way with that pitching to win their division. Don't laugh. It could happen.

THE MOVIES
Man, I hate to admit it but in a summer overblown with more sequels than I can remember in recent years, it's not half bad. The Hollywood films are proving to be quite enjoyable. X2, The Matrix, T3, Down With Love, Hollywood Homicide, Finding Nemo, Sinbad, and The Itallian Job are all movies I would definately watch again. There are also a lot of smaller films that are proving to be very worthwhile: The Swimming Pool, 28 Days Later, Whale Rider, and Dirty Pretty Things, just to name a few. Not to mention the onslaught of awesome documentaries: Winged Migration, Capturing the Friedmans, and Spellbound. Yes, there are clunkers to be had. While Charlie's Angels:Full Throttle is better than the first one, that's not saying a damn thing. And why are The Hulk and Bad Boys II 2 hours and 20 minute movies? Is that really necessary. However the good is outweighing the bad for the most part, and that's a welcome relief in the summer. My main problem is that I still haven't really been blown away this year by anything. My favorite two films this year so far are probably Dark Blue and The Swimming Pool, and neither one of these movies would have been anywhere close to my top ten list the past few years. Watching Phone Booth again, I realize I probably gave it more credit than it deserved because I had watched weeks of clunkers leading up to it. Maybe that movie will be Seabiscuit or Freddy vs. Jason. Who the hell knows this year. My bet's on Kill Bill, and if it isn't that great, I think I'll put the preview to it as my favorite film of the year. Why not?