Julie Kendall talks to Chad Hartigan

Many of you remember actress Julie Kendall from her appearances on the podcast and
her contributions covering the Atlanta Film Festival for us.
Well,Julie and Adriana Martinez covered the festival again this year for us and we are thrilled to have them in the TRS family.
Here,Julie talks to director Chad Hartigan for his film "Morris in America".
I'll let Julie's work speak for itself!!!




Adriana Martinez then offers her thoughts in the written form..
The 40th annual Atlanta Film Festival closing night featured Morris from America

from Writer/director Chad Hartigan. Hartigan’s love for film began when he was a

kid, “messing around” with a camera and reenacting Mortal Kombat scenes using

ketchup packets for special effects.

True to the spirit of independent film making, his first film Luke and Brie Are on a

First Date was experiential. In his words “I was young and trying to figure things

out.” After proving to himself that he and his team could make a movie, they then

set out to prove to that they could make a “really great movie,” and the efforts paid

off with This is Martin Bonner, which won the 2013 Sundance Best of Audience

Award and the 2014 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.

Hartigan is back on the independent film circuit with Morris from America,

bringing us a unique coming-of- age story. The movie does rely upon some of the

formulas of your usual coming-of- age story: conflict with parents, unrequited love,

road trip, experimentation, single parenthood; the unique angle to the story is

founded in the main character’s being an African American teenage boy finding

his place in a foreign country, Germany, where he struggles to adjust to not only

the typical growing pain of adolescence, but a difference in language, age, and

race. Morris is played by breakout star Markees Christmas. The father is played by

Craig Robinson, in his first dramatic role. The anchor to the story is the bond

between father and son, who in their own worlds are both facing the alienation of

cultural dislocation.

Cleaning out the inbox-Sports version

Time to dump the inbox with a sports version.

Goodbye to former Giant third baseman Jim Ray Hart,who passed at the age of 74.
Hart,who was part of those talent loaded Giants teams of the 1960's that never seemed to win it all.
Hart hit 31 homers as a rookie in 1964 and never hit fewer than 23 bombs over the next four seasons in San Francisco.
Hart's decline came fast though as he would as only play more than 100 games once after 1968.
Bruce Markusen of Hardball Times has an excellent take on the career of Jim Ray Hart.

ESPN has an interview with Rob Wicall,who has been the San Antonio Spurs coyote mascot for twenty plus years and has just retired from being inside the suit.
I found it interesting just what goes into being the mascot in major league sports.

ESPN continues to have a turnover in talent after a recent drop in viewers as people "cut the cable cord".
Mike Tirico left Monday Night Football for NBC,which as I find Tirico rather bland,wasn't a big deal,but Heather Cox leaving college football for NBC?
A bigger deal as she is my favorite sideline reporter (with Olivia Harlan gaining ground by the yard) and her replacement would be Sam Ponder on Saturday night games,which I don't look at as an upgrade.
I've noted in the past that that job in general is superflous,but Heather Cox does the job better than the rest,so NBC has themselves a real pro...

I've also noted that I surprisingly liked Katie Nolan's show Garbage Time on FS1,which I didn't expect to do.
From the old school Nintendo style graphics to open the show,to the irreverent behavior and the charm of the host,Nolan has become the one breakout star of FS1.
Awful Announcing catches up with Nolan after Garbage Time pulled an upset and won a sports emmy award.
Now,if we could just get Nolan to tone down the Boston homerism just a tick....

We wrap up with Golf Channel's article on Inbee Park of the LPGA tour,who has to make starts and then withdraw from tournaments in order to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The HOF has incredibly stringent requirements in which Park has covered all them but one-make 10 starts for 10 years.
Park needs one more now,but has been staggering through injuries and a struggling game and is starting to just to hit the level before a possible retirement.
I'd rather see things lightened a hair than make a great champion look like a has-been.

Inbox cleaned!
I'll be back over the next few days with one or two (!) podcasts and a recap of my trip to Akron,Lake County and Erie!!!

Eastern Conference Champion-Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers won their second Eastern Conference title in a row as they closed out their series with the Toronto Raptors with a 113-87 win in game six of the series.
LeBron James finished with 33 points with help from Kyrie Irving's 30 and Kevin Love's 20 more.
Cleveland will either host Oklahoma City or travel to Golden State on Thursday for game one of the finals..

Swashbucklings

1) LeBron James was massive in this one-Attacking the basket early and often,James set the tone with 14 first quarter points.
The crowd was taken out of the game and they never seemed to return.

2) Cleveland might have caught a break with Tristan Thompson's elbow didn't get a flagrant foul in the first quarter.
Especially when Bismack Biyombo was called for one on a similar play later...

3) Shutdown defense-Cleveland held Toronto to just 16 points in the second quarter and then put the game away in the third with a spurt of offense that pushed the lead to 26.

4) So now what?
The six days off and the only two games more than the minimum played is going to help against either Golden State or Oklahoma City as far as wear on the wheels go,but both teams have reasons to me to like to see them against Cleveland.

5) Golden State would bring the revenge factor for last year into play against a healthy Cavalier team and a Warrior series win would push the series to seven for more wear and tear.

6) Oklahoma City would play less (I'm assuming they would win a game six at home,unlikely but could win game seven in Oakland),but would give the Cavaliers home court.

7) Look for an NBA Finals podcast with Ramon Malpica to preview those finals.
I'm hoping that this is finally our year.

Cleaning out the inbox-Non-Sports Version

Time to get on the ball here and get working on the inbox cleaning!
We have built up so much that we have enough to do a non-sports version!

Goodbye to Alan Young at the age of 96.
Young was best known as the befuddled owner of the talking horse, Mister Ed on the show of the same name.
Young had made his name earlier with his hosting of a variety show on CBS "The Alan Young Show in the early days of television but was best known as Wilbur Post in Mister Ed, the lovable and bewildered owner of the world's only talking horse.
Mister Ed was a show that I laugh at to this day because it is just plain funny.
I like silly shows like that, but Young looked younger than he really was as he was in his mid 40's doing Mister Ed and looked a good decade younger.
Post was also noted for his voice work in his later days including a stint as "Scrooge McDuck" in Disney's DuckTales, which I used to see a lot of when Ryan was little as he was a big fan of the Disney cartoons of that time.

My podcast on Person of Interest with Kaily Russell smashed all of our records for blog hits and podcast downloads.
Now that's more Kaily's popularity and the show more than anything I did, but I'd like to thank the POI fans for such a great response.
Buzzfeed offers a look at the show and its struggles over the last year with the CBS network despite better-than-average ratings.

Joe Plum posted a Facebook link from Atlas Obscura that looks at the hobby of collecting ready-to-eat meals from various militaries.
Oftentimes, many people post their reviews of eating these things on YouTube and there appears to be a decent trading community growing.
Technically, the buying and selling of these items are illegal, but it appears pretty harmless and fun and I would doubt that many if any would go through the hassles of prosecuting.
Looked pretty interesting to me.

My favorite chips in the world (Other than Gibble's Red Hot) will be making a change mandated by the government.
The Jones company in Mansfield, Ohio is changing the oils that made their chips so good as the government is eliminating the use of partially-hydrogenated oil and the company has to shift to corn oil.
My dad brought me a bag of the new version (I favor Salt and Vinegar) and they are good, but missing that thickness that held the excess flavoring in.
I'll miss those chips, the new ones are about as close as one can expect, but it'll never be the same.
Another childhood love goes down hard...

Are you familiar with the phrase "Smoke Filled Room" in political talk?
Time magazine writes about the origin of the term from the 1920 Republican convention in Chicago.
The article discusses the term, the decision-making, and the eventual nomination of Warren G,Harding.

When you hear about invasive species taking over an area, the poster child for this is the Burmese Python establishing a foothold in Florida, but there could be an even more dangerous species entering Florida and this one could be a potentially dangerous animal to man.
DNA testing showed that three Nile Crocodiles have been found in Florida over the last decade and that makes some (including me) wonder if they are in the wild.
The Nile Croc. is known to be a larger more aggressive competitor than the American version and has been known to attack and kill man.
The Nile Crocodile has the biggest bite force in the entire animal kingdom-In other words, he's a pretty bad dude.
National Geographic looks at the Nile, compares it to the American Crocodile and Alligator
Imagine the damage that this animal can do to the ecosystem, other species, and the safety of humans.
I hope that this is a situation that does not get worse...

That's all for now, Back later with hopefully a podcast!!

Rollin',Rollin,Rollin-Cavs stampede Raptors in game five!

After much hand wringing from the media (and me) after two less than stellar efforts in Toronto,the Cleveland Cavaliers just needed a trip home to turn things around as the Cavaliers ran up,down and over the Toronto Raptors 116-78 in Cleveland.
The big three of Kevin Love,LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 71 points in the brutal beating.
Cleveland leads the series three games to two and can clinch the series with a win Friday in Toronto...

Swashbucklings

1) I was critical of the play of Kevin Love in Toronto and you cannot deny that,but he was a different player tonight at home.
Love was eight of ten from the floor with three from beyond the line and attacked the basket instead roaming around the perimeter jacking up three's.

2) And as far as a fellow named LeBron James goes,he looked like a man loaded for bear.
His numbers (23,6 and 8) might not have reached triple double country.but he drove the lane and showed an intensity that you knew minutes into this game that it would be Cleveland leading this series when the border was crossed for game six.

3) It was nice to see Tristan Thompson arrive with ten rebounds too.
Points that you can get from Thompson are a bonus,but for the cash you are paying him,you have to get plenty of boards,an inside defensive presence and energy.
They didn't get that in Toronto,they did in game five.

4) The defense stepped up its game as well.
DeMar DeRosian and Kyle Lowry were so effective in Canada and finish with just 27 points combined for the game.
Lowry truly has been two different players in each arena...

5) So,can the Cavaliers clinch in Toronto?
The place will be rocking and loud with the Raptors back against the wall,the environment will be difficult.
However,after watching tonight and the late rally in game four,I like the Cavaliers to pull out a tough game.
Biggest key? Ball movement.
Don't be afraid to keep the ball moving,create open shots and I have a feeling that will be enough...

Podcast;Special Guest-Kaily Russell

Special Guest Kaily Russell discusses Person of Interest,fandom and various issues.

Cavaliers drop game four in Toronto

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't play up to par for three quarters,before making a huge move in the fourth to erase a two-digit deficit to take the lead for a short time.
It wasn't enough though as the Toronto Raptors escaped with a 105-99 win in Toronto.
The win ties the series at two with game five later this week in Cleveland.
LeBron James finished with 29 points with Kyrie Irving adding 26,but the Cavaliers received little help from anyone else other than Channing Frye in the defeat..

Swashbucklings

1) Let's accentuate the positive -the Cavaliers were down 16 at the half,didn't roll over and played hard until the end.
Were there flaws? Yes,but unlike in game three-I didn't think that they were due to lack of hustle...

2) The Cavaliers were an anemic 13/31 from three point range (31 percent),but considering it was around 15 percent at the half,the number could have been far worse.
I'm beginning to fear that the Cavaliers have fallen into the trap of just jacking up threes..

3) Finally,Channing Frye was a positive as his four three pointers were awfully large in the comeback.
It was nice seeing one of the "4's" being able to stretch the floor a bit and that was exactly why Frye was brought to Cleveland....

4) Kevin Love was just awful for the second game in a row.
After a 1 for 9 clunker in game three,he threw up (literally) a 4 for 14 stinker in this one.
Just cannot dispute the stat sheet....

5) Kyrie Irving rebounded offensively with 26 points,but for the second game in a row was torched on the defensive end by Kyle Lowry,who finished with 35.
Irving is almost to the point of being a defensive liability after these last two games...

6) Tristan Thompson is being paid for defense and rebounds,but isn't 80+ million a lot for a guy with 2 points in 2 games?

7) I wrote in game three's recap that I wasn't worried,but I'd review that after game four.
I know it's a loss,but I think the late charge is going to go a long way in game five.
Cleveland still has home court and almost pulled tonight's game out.
I think they are OK.
At least I hope....