Cleaning out the inbox-Entertainment Style

Lots of items in the inbox and yet not enough time to post them, so I'm going to start with an entertainment cleaning with a little of everything considered entertainment!!

These lovely gentlemen on the right are Green Goblin, Electro, and Vulture from the classic 1967 Spiderman animated series, which was not only memorable to kids of the 1960's on ABC on Saturday mornings but the 1970's as well in syndication.
The site 13th Dimension takes a glance back at the first mainstream appearances to bring Spiderman outside of comic book racks with this series and picks 13 great things about the show!
I have the DVD set but haven't watched it in quite a while and apparently, it's one of the harder DVD sets to find to the point of being fairly expensive on eBay and Amazon, which is not something that I would have thought.

Staying with animated series, Beth Daniels for Smithsonian Magazine writes about the Rocky and Bullwinkle series from the Jay Ward studios in the early 1960's and how the show was not only entertaining children but teaching viewers about political satire.
Daniels writes about how Bullwinkle gently jabbed at the nuclear age at a time that was the peak of the Cold War and all of the talented voices that were used on the show that was able to appeal to adults as well.
I remember watching that show as a child and even then thinking that this stuff was way over the head of most kids and yet it was funny enough to still get a kid laughing without letting them in on the joke!
It also mentions such comedy from the time when comedy often was released on LP's, Do you remember those Long Playing records with comedians like Tom Lehrer (remember our post on Lehrer?) to name one from the era.
It's great stuff from Daniels, who seems to write about things that I'm interested in and I bet her work appears here in the future...

Rachel Thompson of SeriesFuse discusses how "Root" of  Person of Interest became one of her favorite characters after watching the show on DVD.
You've likely seen Amy Acker, who portrayed Root here often of late as this year's face of the PPM.
Acker's character along with "Shaw" played by Sarah Shahi were the variables in the show that drew a line from before they arrived (although Acker was an occasional guest star early on in the show's run) to after they were regulars.
Some fans loved the new additions, some preferred before they arrived (like Cherie and Rachel), so it was quite polarizing among the fan base.
My opinion?
I liked both versions of the show and respected the differences in them.
I loved Root and Acker, but the Shaw character seemed too much like another character and despite liking Shahi in "Life", her character here was not a favorite of mine.

Hot Press covers the "Wrecking Crew", the legendary group of studio musicians that included Glen Campbell, that played on just about every great record in the 1960's that you've ever heard of.
The Wrecking Crew were the backup band for so many terrific songs that might have been stars had they wanted to tour and spent time promoting records etc and would rather have spent their time playing music with the added advantage of having a regular home life.
Another note is that on the Beach Boys critically acclaimed album "Pet Sounds", the music portion is almost all the Wrecking Crew, not the Beach Boys because the Beach Boys (minus Brian Wilson) were on the road during most of the recording of that album....

We wrap up with another visit to the Smithsonian website for an article about good ol' SPAM, the Hormel mixed meat product that so many either love or hate.
Personally. about twice a year, I really get in the mood for SPAM and I'll grab a can from the grocery store.
I like it on bread (no rolls), yellow mustard, cheez whiz (Cheese perfected by science) and onion.
The article talks about how the products were developed, different countries love of the product and some recent variations of SPAM.
The funny thing about SPAM is that gross jell that always comes with it.
I always rinse SPAM off before using it because of the yucky film all over it!
Anyway, the really funny part is when you look at the knockoff SPAM products by competing companies such as Treet or Dak.
If you think SPAM looks or tastes bad, try Treet (which tastes like those awful Vienna Sausages, if you ground them up and then pressed them into shape) or Dak, which uses a different style of a can, but its taste is the worst of them all!!

Still plenty more from the inbox coming soon that needs to be freed from confinement!!

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for cleaning of the inbox as things built up even faster than usual this time!

We start with the passing of former Brown wide receiver Michael Jackson, who died in a motorcycle accident early Friday morning.
Jackson, who spent five years as a Brown before finishing his career with three years in Baltimore after the move, was traveling at a "high rate of speed" and hit a car that was backing out of a driveway.
Jackson and the driver of the car were both killed.
Jackson was a big play receiver for both teams with his career season being the first season in Baltimore with his only 1,000 yards receiving season to go with 14 touchdown catches...

Last year, Dan Parlegreco put out a draft preview that was available on Amazon, but this year he didn't have the time to do that, so instead, he's written this detailed review that grades each team and gives an undrafted free agent that has a chance to make the team.
Very well written and for those of you (like myself) that like draft reviews as much as previews, it is a great read...

Marty Mulcahey writes on boxing for UCN and he wrote a great article as part of that site's pre-fight buildup for the Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fight that ranked the top ten all-Mexican fights ever.
Great matchups such as Barrera-Morales, Barrera-Marquez, Zarate-Pintor, Zarate-Zamora, and more are all discussed.
Such an article for a Spanish language network would have such potential for a "Legendary Nights" type series.
Now if I could only speak and understand Spanish...

The SABR baseball card page is taking votes and ranking the Topps baseball card set of the 1960s.
I voted in the 1970's voting and that was much harder to vote on.
For the record, my top three votes went to in order-1965,1968 and 1963.

My friend, Dr.Lisa Alexander sent me this very interesting article on Ernest Hemingway's intrigue with boxing.
Hemingway has always been noted as a boxing fan, but I never knew just how much he enjoyed it or that he actually sparred with pros and thought he was a high-quality fighter!
There is a note in the article with former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey talking about why he avoided sparring with the famous author...

I've written and talked before about one of my favorite TV shows in Person of Interest and now with the show in the past, its stars are beginning to move to new roles.
Both Amy Acker (Root) and Sarah Shahi will be starring in the new series in the fall.
Acker will be starring in "The Gifted" on Fox, which is a show with two parents taking their two children on the run from the government to protect their children, who possess superpowers...
Shahi will star in an NBC vehicle entitled "Reverie" that will feature Shahi as a former hostage negotiator and expert of human behavior that now helps people trapped in a virtual reality program.
That series will also co-star Kathryn Morris, the former star of "Cold Case" which was another favorite of mine...

We wrap up this cleaning with a tip of the cap to NBC, who canceled the time travel series "Timeless" after one season and decided three days later to change their mind with a renewal for a second season.
Timeless had a little below-average rating, but not awful and with a solid fan base that went all out for renewal, deserved the nod, although they aren't doing the show too many favors in not returning it to the lineup until the summer of 2018.
I also liked another time travel series that I wish would have been renewed in "Time After Time", but ABC cut that show off after just five episodes.
I'll never understand why networks buy pilots for science fiction shows that will always need time to build up a "canon" along with growing an audience, only to cancel them after a season or two.
Time After Time had just an eight-episode run like it would have killed ABC to show the final three episodes at least?
Shows in this genre' always need time to nurture and if the networks are hesitant to sign at least a two-year deal to start (three would be better), I'd be hesitant to ship my show there. 

Podcast-Special Guest Kaily Russell on the end of Person of Interest

Kaily Russell returns to talk the end of Person of Interest.

Podcast:Guest Ramon Malpica on the NBA Finals

My friend and fellow Cleveland Sports sufferer Ramon Malpica talks NBA Finals and Cleveland Sports.
Also a thank you at the start and finish to our Person of Interest followers...

Podcast:Kaily Russell on POI 100

Kaily Russell returns to discuss Person of Interest 100 and the death of Root...

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!!

Podcast;Special Guest-Kaily Russell

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

Podcast-Solheim Cup,Person of Interest,etc

We talk about the Solheim Cup,Person of Interest,Ohio quarterback issues and more!!

Person Of Interest-13 enough?

CBS decided to renew my favorite show (Now that Justified has ended) Person of Interest,but did so for just a limited number of 13 episodes down from a full season order of 22.
This usually means that the show is getting a last half season to wrap things and would likely be canceled following next season.

Here's my problem-13 episodes isn't enough to continue the story,let alone continue it.
I've occasionally raved about the show here and despite my adoration for the addition of Amy Acker as "Root",the show has gotten away from what got them "there".
The storyline of the "Machine" vs "Samaritan" has been drawn out a little more than I'd like,but it still resulted in a fine season of viewing.

I love Amy Acker,but "Root" might be best used in half the episodes and despite my liking Sarah Shahi in "Life",her character of "Shaw" has always felt a bit like a character that was shoehorned into having a female lead to replace Taraji P.Henson when her character of "Joss Carter" was killed off to me.
The show was always at its best with the interplay and relationship between Jim Caviezel (Reese) and Michael Emerson (Finch) with saving regular everyday people and their "Numbers" and the show has gotten away from that a little with the Samaritan storyline to my dismay,but that's a mild quibble.
Although a similar problem occurred with the also Bad Robot produced "Revolution"where someone decided to stray away from the formula that hooked their fan base,POI may have wobbled a bit,but they certainly didn't go downhill.

The problem might be as simple as POI is not owned by CBS,while most of their shows are owned by the parent company.
When its time for the tough decision of what show to end or shorten,the call is easier when you don't own one of the choices-no matter its superiority over the homegrown option.
As with most other things,it often comes down to the dollar.

All things considered,Person of Interest is,in my opinion,the best network (non-cable)drama that I've seen in years and despite an occasional hiccup continues to develop in layers of writing and acting that are seldom seen in network television.
I'm generally a person that figures that decisions are generally final in television and squawking about it isn't going to change any minds.
In this case,I'm making an exception-Person of Interest is worth the fight.
If you are on Twitter,consider a tag of CBS with an hashtag of #PersonofInterest and #13isnotenough.
The 30 seconds that it would take would be appreciated by me and the loyal fans of a show that that has so much more to say and tell.....

Cleveland Browns Draft Preview-Players of Interest

The Cleveland Browns have the sixth pick in the first round and then do not pick again until the third round.
Many have written that the Browns are missing their second-rounder like they lost it in a bad deal.
I would take Josh Gordon over any wide receiver in this draft, so I look at the selection of Gordon as great value and not as a wasted choice.
I would not be against moving down a bit from six if they could add a second-rounder, but I would not want to down past 12 ideally and no further than 14 or 15 at all.

As we wrote earlier today, the position of need above all is cornerback.
The top corner is Alabama's Dee Milliner, but the bigger question is this-Is Dee Milliner at six so much better than Florida State's Xavier Rhodes, Houston's D.J. Hayden, or Washington's Desmond Trufant a few picks down?
That is the big question and one only the Browns can answer-Is Dee Milliner better than any of those three corners and a second-round pick?
I tend to say no, but if the Browns stay at 6 and select Dee Milliner, don't expect a ton of criticism from this scribe.
Of the three corners that I noted, I like Trufant the best, followed by Rhodes and Hayden, but would have problems with none of the trio...
If Cleveland decides to take a corner in the second round (after a possible trade), I like Jonathan Banks of Mississippi State or Boise State's Jamar Taylor in that spot...
 

Safety is also a need and if the Browns decide to go early, Kenny Vaccaro of Texas is the class of the bunch.
Vaccaro is the best safety prospect that I have seen in a while and is from a program that has sent several safeties to the league.
I would have no problems with the Browns tabbing Vaccaro after a trade down...
Florida International's Jonathan Cyprien or LSU's Eric Reed would be interesting day two picks...

If the Browns wanted a pass rusher early, there are plenty available and a trade down would still land a similar player as they would pick at six.
I like Georgia's Jarvis Jones, who did not work out as well at the combine or any of that stuff, but his play in the SEC was above the others in my opinion.
Jones has seen his stock fall because of that, so he may be available in the range that Cleveland could wind up in after a deal...

Most like Oregon's Dion Jordan more than I, looking at the tools and numbers.
I prefer production from players at the major college level and I cannot place my finger on why, but I have a gut feeling about Jordan being a disappointment after being picked high.

LSU's Barkevious Mingo might be a nice choice as well and I like him better than Jordan in many ways, but his college production was not what I would have liked it to be either.
Nabbing Mingo at 12 would be a bargain, at 6, mildly concerned.
Texas A&M's Damontre Moore has slid down the boards of late but can play DE or LB and I think Moore would be terrific in round two if a trade down occurs.

The inside linebacker spot also needs an addition and to me, the standout is not Notre Dame's Manti T'eo, it is Georgia's Alec Ogletree.
Ogletree is my top player at the position and if the Browns decide not to go there, round three might be time for LSU's Kevin Minter.

I don't think the D-line is a huge concern, but BYU's Ziggy Ansah has been a Browns rumor. Ansah brings stud tools, but is raw and makes me think of workout warrior.
I would have problems with that selection.
I would not be against Ohio State's John Simon and his high motor as a day three pick.

Offensively, I am not in favor of another quarterback, at least early.
This is less than great crop and I am more inclined to allow the Browns to give Brandon Weeden/Jason Campbell the year to see what happens.
I'm hoping these Geno Smith rumors are smokescreens to hope someone trades up.
I'm going to be very disappointed if that is the pick.



If the Browns take a day three flier, there are a few of interest.
Florida State's E.J. Manuel is interesting, but I bet he goes before I'd consider him and the same goes for Oklahoma's Landry Jones.
If the Browns could add an extra third through trades, I'd be interested in either.
Tennessee's Tyler Bray has the size and the best arm in the draft and that might appeal to Mike Lombardi.

I doubt the Browns pick a running back at all, but if so Texas A&M's Christine Michael has appeal as a later pick.
Michael was very productive when healthy and his injuries could cause him to fall further than he should...
A fullback might be a day three target as well...

Cleveland's wide receivers have improved, but I wouldn't be against any of these either.
West Virginia's Tavon Austin reminds me of Percy Harvin and USC's Robert Woods is going to be a standout for someone.
I also like Cal's Keenan Allen as well as two sleepers for day three.
Baylor's Lanear Sampson was overshadowed by Josh Gordon and Kendall Wright and will surprise some people and I love South Carolina's Ace Sanders as a third-down speedster and value as a kick and punt returner.

Jordan Cameron deserves a full chance to use his tools at tight end, but there are two terrific ones in this class as Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert and Stanford's Zach Ertz could go in round one.
I wouldn't be thrilled at six, but later in the round-both would offer excellent value.

I cannot see the Browns taking a tackle or center, but the guard spot could be addressed.
Of course, the standout is Alabama's Chance Warmack, who has been compared to Hall of Famer Will Shields, but guards rarely go in the upper half of the first round.
Jonathan Cooper of North Carolina could go in the first round, but two intrigue me for the Browns in the second and third days of the draft.
Brian Winters of Kent State can play tackle but might be better at guard and huge Travis Bond of North Carolina would be a road paver type that could plug in well...

I have concerns, no matter the player at six, so for once I am advocating a tradedown, but if I have to stay at six, here are my top five, if I were doing the drafting and considering who has a chance to be available.

1)  Dee Milliner CB Alabama-Breath held here.
2)  Jarvis Jones LB Georgia
3)  Kenny Vaccaro S Texas
4)  Barkevius Mingo LB LSU
5)  Chance Warmack G Alabama

Photo Credits
Browns:Cleveland.com
Milliner:Unknown
Jones:Jacksonville.com