It's good not to be a Marlins fan

Creed front man Scott Stapp made a Marlins fight song called "Marlins Will Soar." This could not be overlooked.



[H/T Big League Stew]

There's nothing else like Opening Day

I love baseball. I love Opening Day. I've been jumping around from game to game, but this play that White Sox starting pitcher Mark "I tossed a perfect game last season" Buehrle made is one of the most incredible plays I've ever seen.



The Sox won 6-0, the Cubs just got underway and the Twins are playing in Anaheim later tonight. Baseball is back, and life is good.

Enjoy the games. Go Twins.

Reason No. 1452987983232 YouTube rules

Earlier today an awesome thread was created on Windy Citizen. The topic? The best Chicago commercials on YouTube. Or worst, depending on how you look at it.

This Chicago's pizza commercial has been one of my favorites for a long time. I'm not sure what's worse--their terrible accents or their hair.



But there were two other gems people shared in the comments that caught my eye.

This one features former Bear Mike Singletary pitching for Lenscrafters. Watch out for the close up at the very end.



And finally, we have Scottie Pippen dunking a Mr. Sub sandwich.



Thank you, YouTube. Thank you, hilarious local commercials.

New music and movies you should check out

Since I last wrote in this space, I've purchased two new albums and saw a few movies. Here are my thoughts about them, starting in three...two...one...


"Plastic Beach" by Gorillaz
It's hip, it's fresh and it's unlike anything else you'll listen to this week. I throughly enjoyed the Gorillaz newest techo-driven, otherworldly and funky album "Plastic Beach." I got the iTunes deluxe LP version, which is well worth the extra money. It includes videos, pictures and a bunch of extra stuff that enhances the listening experience. "Plastic Beach" is a beefy 18-track, one-hour aural extravaganza and includes guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Lou Reed and Bobby Womack. Standout tracks: "Stylo," "Superfast Jellyfish" and "Rhinestone Eyes."


"Broken Bells" by Broken Bells
Broken Bells is a collaboration between Shins singer James Mercer and producer Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton of Gnarls Barkley fame. The duo's first album is pretty solid. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's chill, mellow music that does the job for everyday listening. I'm a big fan of Mercer's voice, and the 10-track offering tops out at 37 minutes. Standout tracks: "The High Road," "October" and "Your Head is on Fire."

Hot Tub Time Machine lives up to the hype. I would have liked Paul Rudd instead of John Cusak in one of the lead roles, but it's really, really funny. Go see it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is Wes Anderson's spin on the Roald Dahl classic children's book. It's bright, funny and a fantastic adaptation. It's a cussin' good time.

I didn't plan on seeing The Blindside because it looked like just another bad sports movie. But I was wrong. The pacing is sluggish in some parts, but worth seeing because it's a true story.

Clearly I'm late to seeing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , but I loved it. Jack Nicholson is the man, and it was fascinating to see Christopher Lloyd and Danny Devito in the early stages of their career, too. Plus, I gained newfound appreciation for The Simpson's episode in which people think Homer went insane and met Michael Jackson in the mental hospital.

Enjoy listening and watching. I did.

Quick thoughts, links about "Lost"

I have some brief thoughts about last night's fantastic episode, "Ab Aeterno," and I'll pass along my favorite "Lost" links.

So we finally learned Richard (Ricardo) Alpert's story. And I liked it. I liked how different it was from standard island fare. The setting, the mood and the scope of the story were top notch. While Alpert's love story with his wife, Isabella, didn't have the same emotional pull as that of a Desmond-Penny episode, it was still pretty effective. I loved the light/dark imagery in the episode, particularly when the Man in Black smashed the bottle of wine on the rock after Jacob said "See ya soon."

If nothing else, this episode demonstrated once again that the show has forever been about choice and free will. Jacob brings people to the island because he believes they are inherently good, whereas the Man in Black wants to escape and spread his evil...or something like that.

Here's what I think I think learned.

The island may or may not be hell.
I think Hurley spoke the truest line of the episode. If Richard doesn't kill the man in black, then they're all going to Hell.

The Man in Black/Smokey/New Locke is the devil
This, I think, is true. We saw how he tried to deceive Richard, how he wants to kill Jacob and how Jacob said as long as he's alive, Smockey is not going anywhere. Whatever you want to call him, Smokey/Man in Black is evil, the opposite of Jacob and what he believes in.

Hurley is really, really important
Think about who was given a role in this Richard-centric episode. Richard, obviously: check. Man in Black: check. Jacob: check. Richard's wife: check. Hurley: check. That he can communicate with and see the dead, I believe, will continue to be important as we near the end of the series and the ultimate conflict between light/dark, good/bad. Hurley's great. He adds necessary comedic moments, but he's also a key player, and I'm glad the writers are including him in these

All right, here are the best links for recap/analysis about last night's episode.

• Mo Ryan, Chicago Tribune, Let's talk 'Lost': Live Forever

• Alan Sepinwall, The Star-Ledger, Lost, 'Ab Aeterno': The man behind the shackles

• Jeff Jensen, EW.com, "Lost" recap: uncorked

• Vozzek69 (a longtime writer of Lost recaps/analysis), DarkUFO, Wow, just #&@^ing WOW. Things I Noticed: "Ab Aeterno"

Also, Carlton Cuse just tweeted that he and Damon Lindelof recorded a podcast about the episode in which they will also reveal the title of the series finale.

Any guesses?

HP's "Let's Do Amazing" ads win the NCAA tournament

After a weekend of work, watching the NCAA men's basketball tournament and Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" (highly recommend it), I'm back on the blogging wagon--this time to offer my take on by far the most entertaining and least annoying ad campaign I've seen during the tournament.

It begins and ends with Rhys Darby. The New Zealand stand-up comic--most known for playing band manager Murray Hewitt in HBO's short-lived "Flight of the Conchords"--takes center stage as a character who visits people doing cool technological stuff in HP's "Let's Do Amazing" campaign. These ads are a bright spot on the tournament's otherwise uninspired, boring and unfunny ad landscape. Here's the introduction.



People might argue Darby is funny solely because his accent. It certainly makes him sound funnier than most people, but his timing and delivery are impeccable, too. And who cares? Funny is funny.

The 30-second spots are great, and thanks to the magic of YouTube, I put them all together in one place.

Darby's character visits The Venetian


Darby's character goes to UPS warehouse


Darby's character visits, who else, Dr. Dre


Darby's character visits HP Labs


So what does Darby think of the ads? He says the curious character is a lot like a kid.



Rock on, Darby. Hope to see you in a Murray-inspired TV show soon.

I will never get tired of this: the Gus Johnson soundboard

Earlier this week I declared that Gus Johnson gets me the most excited for March Madness, so when I found the following link on Deadspin, I was floored.

I give you the Gus Johnson soundboard.

The thoroughness of this thing is amazing. The person(s) who assembled these soundbites didn't stop at 10, 20 or even 30 different ones. There are more than 60.

So rock on with the "Rise and Fires," relive "the CAAAAAAATCH!!" over and over and have a nice "PUUUUURE" whenever you feel like it.

To the responsible parties, I say thank you. Thank you very much.