Haven't mentioned this, but I picked up the new Green Day album American Idiot last week. Who knew when I picked up Dookie ten years ago I'd still be following and enjoying the band? I can't believe how much Green Day I own--all seven proper albums, the Greatest Hits disc, the B-Sides collection, a bootleg from early '94, and the Angus soundtrack because it had J.A.R. on it.

Anyway, American Idiot was touted as a Who-esque rock opera, with two songs over 9 minutes, which sounds terrifying, but actually it works out quite well. The story's about Jesus of Suburbia, and the story isn't super clear, but that's besides the point. The structure allows Green Day to take their songs in a more interesting (and dare I say, mature) direction while allowing them to still rock. There are a few extra flourishes here and there--an organ, some chimes--but mostly its straightahead rock n' roll. Even the 9 minute songs are palatable, since they're basically five songs broken down into a suite. Highly recommended.

Here's an interesting story about a baseball strike...in Japan. The fans aren't reacting quite how you'd figure. I'll talk more about American basball later in the week.

Had a minor medical procedure done today. Nothing major at all, in fact, I got to watch a few movies while it was going on. It had to be on VHS and I didn't want anything really "adult" (i.e., rated R) so that limited my options a bit. I went with Say Anything... and Dirty Work.

If you haven't seen Say Anything... I don't know what to tell you. I think it's John Cusack's best performance and the rare movie that never gets remotely stale even though I've seen it a million times. Plus it's fun to yell "I'm incarcerated, Lloyd!"

Dirty Work was a Norm MacDonald vehicle from 1998 centering around Norm and Artie Lang opening a revenge for hire business to pay for a heart transplant for Artie's dad. That sounds like a complete slam dunk, but honestly, the movie has it's flaws (doesn't capitalize on its concept enough, plus a plot that makes minimal sense at times). And if you're not a fan of Norm MacDonald's brand of humor (ex: saying the word "whore" a lot), you won't like this. But it never fails to crack me up. Especially this exchange.

Token woman: Wait, you two are brothers?
Norm: It's a long story.
Artie: My dad boned his mom.
Norm: OK, I guess it's a short story.

Big TV night last night, with ABC debuting Lost and CBS countering with CSI: New York. I stuck with old standby Law and Order, mostly due to Dennis Farrina’s debut as Det. Joe Fontana. And whattayaknow, I thought his character was a welcome breath of fresh air. Look, I love Jerry Orbach to bits, and he’ll always be the best character ever on the show, but I think replacing him is going to revatilize the franchise.

I was really drawn to Fontana’s smart/sleazy detective, plus it looks like an interesting subplot about his mysterious wealth. He meshes really well with Ed Green too. Now if we get an upgrade when Elizabeth Rohm leaves (which shouldn’t be hard) we’ll really be in business.

Well, dropped my script for the Bravo contest off in the mail on Saturday. Final draft ended up at a whopping 32 pages. I like it. I cut out the sillier aspects, and also trimmed back on the mentions of vomit (there were about ten in the first draft).

A few details: it’s about college. The focus is on one character, but there’s a phalanx of supporting players. It’s loosely based on my experiences, namely the title character attends school in his hometown in Massachusetts. I think it’s an appealing concept to a network. After all, who didn’t love college? High schoolers headed to college would watch, college students would watch, and students a few years out of college would watch. That's a demographic murderer's row.

Why haven’t there been more shows about college? I remember Undeclared lasting a year on Fox. MTV had Undergrads and 3-South (both also short lived). I remember a show in the 80’s where a young guy roomed with a middle aged guy (name escapes me, but I still remember the episode where the young guy tried out for the wrestling team and lost to a girl because he was too polite to grab her).

To celebrate I went out and bought a Destroyer paperback. Remember the 80’s movie “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (which I’ve never seen, but I’ve heard it’s hit or miss compared to the books)?” Same character. A super quick summary: Remo is a super secret government assassin and master of the fighting style of Sinanju, who allows him to move faster than the human eye and all sorts of fun stuff. It’s very pulpy but with a good dose of social and political satire. The only one I could find was the most recent one, Political Pressure, and it’s a fun read (curiously, they mention of the author on the cover, just the creators). Not earth shattering but a fun two or three day read.

I thought I was going to get curbstomped in my football pool, but if Philly wins I’ll actually finish 11-5. Just some wacky shit going on. Whoever would’ve guessed the Bears would beat the Pack at home?

Patriots won a boring game against the Cardinals 23-12. The big story was Corey Dillon busting out for 158 yards. This is a rarity for the Patriots. We had Antwoin Smith for a few years, and believe me, I love the guy, always played hard and seemed to always get the crucial third down. But man, every week it seemed he got 20 carries for 40 yards. Did you ever know anyone who started ‘Twoin on their fantasy football team? And if they did, were they happy about it?

And this is a terrible thing to say, but here goes: it’s a shame Pat Tillman played for the shittiest franchise in the NFL. They should have posthumously traded him to the Packers or 49’ers.

Second draft of the script for the Bravo contest is finally done. My mind tells me I should spend another month fine tuning it, but really, it's probably as good as its going to get. I just have to give it the once over and fill out the contest paperwork, and then I can finally drop it in the mail tomorrow. I have no idea what the odds are of my idea getting picked--I think I may have handicapped myself with the concept (I'll explain more on Sunday). But it's done, and I'm glad I did it. Creating and populating your own little world, then writing a three act 22 minute story about it--not so easy. But even if I don't win, I did my best and I proved I could do it. But who knows, maybe you'll see me on Bravo at some point (and no, not getting made over by the Queer Eye gang).

Sometimes when I check the sitemeter to see the links people follow to get here, I get listings for other blogs that don't link to me in any shape or form. Anyone know why that is?

A new look for the fall here at YAB, as I was getting tired of the old white and orange thing. Amazingly, I managed to transfer all my links and site meter over with no hassle. I don't like the "staircase" setup for the links, but I don't think there's anything I can do about that.

My mom was so impressed she let me sleep in the house: Another splendid O'Grady aired this weekend. I think Kevin trying to communicate with the sign people may have been the greatest thing ever (edging out Beth debating her clone). There was even a blog joke!

Sports: Sorry, Colts fans, the Pats beat Indy yet again, thanks to Mike Vanderjadt missing his first field goal since 2002 in the waning moments of the game. The Pats just always find a way to win in the end. It would be easier if these wins came a little easier so my heart didn't explode, but a win's a win.

I went 10-5 (so far) this weekend in my football pool. Not a bad start, and I was really hurt by Detroit (first road win in 2000) and Cleveland (complete shocker over Baltimore). I figured those would've been in the bag. Of course, I had to listen to Johnny lecture me on the greatness of Mike Shanahan and the Denver Broncos all morning. Sheesh.

Sox split a four game series with the Mariners this weekend, ending their west coast road trip at 5-2. Can't complain about that. They really couldn't get anything done yesterday, but I attribute that to fatigue. They have the day off today and open a set against Tampa Bay at home before heading to NY to take on the Evil Empire this weekend. Oh my.

I'm not sure how to feel about the Red Sox right now. I mean, they're playing great. 8-1 againt the top three teams of the AL West, including sweeping Oakland in Oakland? That stuff never happens. West coast road trips always used to kill us. In fact, I'm sort of worried about Seattle. Going 12-1 or 11-2 just seems too good to be true.

But I have passed the point of no return: I think the Red Sox are going to win the World Series this year. And I'm going to be crushed if they don't.

Plus the Patriots are starting tonight, and again, I'm not sure how to feel. With the Red Sox playing as hot as they are, I feel like I'm neglecting the Pats. It's like a parent focusing on the underachiever and forgetting about their other child who happens to be the class valedictorian.

Not to mention that most people are picking the Pats to repeat as Super Bowl Champs this year. If they don't, should I be dissappointed? I've two Super Bowl victories in my lifetime--can I ever really complain? I guess we'll find out tonight.

Sports links have been updated on the side.

Well, I finished For Whom The Bell Tolls last week (it tolls for thee, by the way). Not an easy read, but rewarding if not depressing. But I still think of Metallica when I hear the title, sorry.

I started the Ric Flair autobiography last night, lent to me by my buddy Chris K, an absolute fanatic when it comes to Ric Flair. Oh, did I mention he let me borrow his autographed copy? I'm absolutely petrified when I'm reading. Remember that episode of the Simpsons where Bart, Milhouse, and Martin buy a copy of Radioactive Man #1, then read it using plastic gloves and a sterilized tweezer? That's how I feel right now.

Well, just finished my script for the Bravo contest. It needs some work, and maybe a little padding, but it's done and I'm proud of it. No details yet, due to my high level of paranoia, but if nothing comes of the contest I'll post it online.

Red Sox lost today. Oh well, we're still only 2.5 games back of the Yankees. BTW, find any Yankee messageboard online and read the comments--it's hysterical. Certainly the pinstripes haven't been playing well, but you'd think the Evil Empire hasn't won a game all year by some of these comments.

This week's O'Grady was okay. The show's best when Kevin plays off Abby, and there wasn't a whole lot of that this week. Only one episode left. And why didn't anyone tell me knew eps of MXC were airing?

I updated and sorted the links, seen directly to your right. I'll probably be adding some more in the coming days.

So I picked up B Is For B-Sides by Less Than Jake, probably my favorite band of the past decade. It's a strange album. As the name indicates, the album is made up of unreleased tracks, all from the sessions for their last album, Anthem . The weird thing is, Anthem didn't sell all that great (didn't even go gold, as far as I know), so I don't know why Warner Brothers would bother to release an addendum to a album that was far from a blockbuster. It's short too, 12 songs in 28 minutes. But it's good if you bear in mind this isn't a new album, but more of a bonus for fans of the band. You can tell why they cut a lot of these songs, except for "Portrait of a Cigarette Smoker at 19," which would have made a nice single. Anyway, if you're a fan and you bear in mind these are b-sides, I'd recommend it.

Back to script writing...