Thanks yet again to Comingsoon.net for sharing the trailer with us. It’s beyond amazing and I can’t wait to see this film in theaters. I’ve also posted up the new movie poster which is equally snazzy.

Being a bit of a conspiracy theorist myself, I think I may have to see this.  I don’t buy it, but I haven’t seen a good horror, much less a good sci-fi horror, in a long time.

Sean Bean plays bad so well.  Even better, I think he’s perfect in the role of the protagonist who’s struggling with the tendency to be a dirtbag.  He walks the fine line like few other actors currently in the business.  And of course in films made in the the good ol’ US of A nothing enhances a bad guy’s schtick like a British accent.  Even Disney figured this one out. 

This movie looks good because it looks like there’s a lot of gray area as far as who deserves sympathy in this film.  I love a film that doesn’t lay it all out in black and white for the viewer.  I think I may have to see this one.

Click on the movie poster below to link to the trailer.  And as always, thanks AppleMovieTrailers.com.

Click on the image to jump to the trailer

As a history teacher, I appreciate new and innovative ways of presenting information.  And behold, you have Drunk History.  Please thank FunnyorDie.com for this great material.

I would like to start out this post by thanking all who support the amazing work we do on Derosby Brothers.com.  I hope that my comments do not anger you enough to avoid the work we do here on this site.

This morning I woke up to hear the news that Cliff Lee, the top free agent of this year’s baseball class, had signed a five year 120 dollar deal with the hated Philadelphia Philles.  Of all the teams out there, I despise them them most, for their obnoxious attitude and their winning of the NL East year after year.  They are successful and the results of their winning allow them to spend.  It is a current situation of spending money to make money.  They have built up a solid fan base and with each successful year, they bring in more money due to games, clothing, etc…  That is why it is sometimes important to step up to the plate and spend the money when it is called for.

That being said, I must admit that this rotation is downright nasty, but only for the 2011 season.  First of all, for those that know little about baseball, their rotation stands as

1.  Roy Halladay

2  Cliff Lee

3.  Cole Hammels

4.  Roy Oswalt

5.  Joe Blanton

That is a scary rotation as the top four can be an ace on almost all teams.  However there is reason to worry at 2012 and beyond.  First of all, the Phils rotation is expensive; very much so.  They have two starters in their rotation making over 20 million dollars.  And while Roy Halladay is a beast, he is still in his 30′s.  Lee will be 33 when his contract begins, and with his contract having a 6 year in there or a 13 million dollar pay out, he will be 39 when it ends.  Lee was ok this year, better in the postseason, He also struggled with back issues all year so I would be worried he would break down.  Does that mean I would not sign him?  Hell no, they were smart to do so.

The Phillies have an opportunity to have a rotation that rivals the 1990s Braves rotation of Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery, and Leibrandt.  They were downright dominant and have three Hall of Famers in the rotation.  Currently I would just say that Roy Halladay is a HOF, maybe Oswalt but I think the Astros team he was on will hurt his numbers.  Cliff Lee, while good, is not HOF worthy, especially if Jack Morris isn’t in.

The Phillies farm system is in tatters.  They have traded everyone away and have little left in the minors to bring up.  The current starting 9, while good, is getting older.  Utley has been dealing with injuries for the past year, Ibanez fought in the First World War, Rollins has slipped since is MVP season, and Ryan Howard will slowly make the Phils regret that contract.

Again, would I have signed Lee?  Yes.  Will they be hampered by huge contracts and an aging team in two or three years?  Definitely.  But they are built to win now.  The only thing I could give for advice is that one day you will be like the Mets, tearing down a team that was built purely on money.  The Mets are now having to stand pat as everyone, including the Phils get better.  They have set aside a 5 million dollar spending limit; though Sandy Alderson says there is no limit.  But after this year, they will drop almost $60 million dollars from their budget.  Maybe they will spend smarter than before.

Now on to the Boston Red Sox.  This winter they started by trading three prospects for Adrian Gonzalez.  I think this is a good move, except his surgery, he should be a monster in Fenway.  He is a great defensive infielder and a heavy hitter.  He will give the Sox the hitter they have missed since Manny Ramirez.  The major issue will be the length of the contract.  Rumors are that it will be 160 for 7 years.  That is a long contract and if he gets hurt or hits a downslide, like Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, and Carlos Beltran.  That is a large hit it he fails or does not respond how Red Sox nation demands.  But overall, this is a smart move.  They are a big market club and they showed it.

The other contract worries me more.  I like Carl Crawford and think he is a good player but is he worthy of being one of the highest paid players in the game?  I am not so sure.  He will make 142 over 6 years and play OF for the Sox.  Crawford is very athletic and young.  Those are two good components to have and  a major reason they were willing to give both Gonzalez and Crawford contracts like that.  However, Crawford is all about speed.  He has stated that he is moving away from that.  What happens if he has hamstring issues?  Jose Reyes has been plagued by it and has become a major issue.  I would be more concerned by this.

So in the end, I think they are all very smart moves, Crawford being the only suspect one.  I like the Lee move but hope his back doesn’t go out in the first few years of the deal.  In the fifth and six year, it does not matter.  I think they will be an old club by then looking to rebuild.  Sure they will have to sit on those deals until they run out, like Beltran, Perez, Castillo, but they will have a few more playoff appearances by then.  The Sox made some great moves and have a strong lineup, but how will the pitching staff support them.  Will Lackey, Beckett, and Dice-K make it back to form?  Will the Phillies have enough bullpen help to keep those wins.  The only thing I do not want to hear is that the Yankees only win championships by buying them.  The Red Sox and Phillies just did the same thing.  The Sox have bought or traded and paid for the following players:  Gonzalez, Scutaro, Saltamacchia, Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, Cameron, Crawford, JD Drew.  Their homegrown talent is good but they have definitely used their Red Sox money to trade then pay for guys.  The Phils whole rotation except Hammels is bought and paid for, including two 20 million dollar pitchers there.  They have a homegrown infield, counting Pollanco for second run as a Phil, but that rotation is the key.

The key to success is to build talent, then trade it for major league players.  Keeping minor leaguers, like the Royals, only equal to having great minor league teams.  All the while, their major league club sucks, big time.  So the Sox and Phils made some great moves, however no more crying when the Yankees sign the latest free agent by throwing money around.  There is more than one guilty party there.

Now what do the New York Yankees do considering they planned on signing Lee, and maybe even Crawford.  Crawford is an excellent Plan B, but his early signing hurt Brian Cashman’s chances of picking his second choice, if for some reason, Lee signed somewhere else.  I think this will truly show if the Yankees just buy their talent or if Brian Cashman really is a good general manager.  For years, I have said that one major attribute that few clubs had, except teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, was an ability to make their farm system look like the Garden of Eden.  Every minor league player in each organization is a future HOF player.  Teams are willing to trade with both clubs because they feel their lower, cheaper talent is better than in other organizations.  However, teams like the Royals have major talent at the low levels but are never buyers, always sellers in the market.

Some of the steps taken by the Yankees are interesting, yet necessary.  First of all, they signed Russel Martin to a one year deal. This ensures that Jorge Posada has likely seen his final days behind the plate, providing them with a power DH.  The problem the Yanks have is that they have several of those exact players, as age is catching up to them.

The next player they signed is the oft injured, arm of a God-body of an old woman, pitcher Mark Prior.

This exact scene has been witnessed multiple times throughout his career.  Just one look at the picture and  I already know that we have a Prior and a trainer.

This is a low risk, high reward signing if he even comes close to reaching the potential he had out of college.  Will he?  I would not draft him in any fantasy league but one never knows.

So what do they do?  I have heard the names Zack Greinke or Carlos Zambrano.  Can they really handle the NY spotlight?  I wouldn’t think so, quickly reviewing their past issues.

In the end, who really won here.  Well in the short term both the Phils and Red Sox won.  Teams like the Mets, while unhappy, are not as affected as one might think.  They were not going to contend this year, as they do not currently have one ace, much less four.  It hurts teams like the Tampa Bay Rays, who were torn apart by free agency and the lack of finances.  It hurts teams like the Yankees and Blue Jays, who watched the Red Sox virtually take the AL Title.  It hurts the Rangers, who now need a plan B in finding someone to replace the loss of Cliff Lee.  It will be an interesting year, seeing how these contracts play out.  But more importantly, it will be fun to look back, say four years from now, to see who really was most affected by these moves.

We were kicking back the Sunday after Thanksgiving, relaxing after 4 or 5 days of running around non-stop.  We were watching football and whatever game was on was getting a bit slow so Jenn started searching around for something else to keep us awake for a few more hours.  She lighted on A&E where they were in the midst of a Paranormal State marathon.  We quickly got sucked in and watched for hours.  Of course as soon as I walked away, I started mentally picking the show apart piece by piece, but while watching it, found it engrossing enough to keep me watching for hours. 

As our 4 or 5 fans may have deduced over the years, the Derosby Brothers (and many other members of our family) are fans of ghosts and the supernatural in general.  Alan’s even tossed around the idea of getting some equipment and going on road trips to bust or debunk.  I for one would love to put on the gray jumpsuit and strap on the EM goggles.  At any rate, the marathon got me thinking.  I started comparing Paranormal State to the other “ghostly” reality shows and here’s what I came up with.  Listed from best to worst, here’s my take on the Reality Ghostbuster genre of shows.

1.)  Ghost Hunters (Ghost Hunters Academy and Ghost Hunters International) – The SyFy Channel:  The benchmark for the genre.  Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, the founders of TAPS (The American Parnormal Society) from here in New England have the best trained and most professional staff, both experienced and likeable.  They have the best equipment and most importantly, the most success with it.  Not only are they extremely thourough in their placement of cameras, audio recorders, and even little flashlights, their attention to detail pays off as they tend to collect more actual evidence than any other show I’ve seen on TV. 

The thing I like the most about them though, is the fact that they are not so quick to jump to conclusions.  They are just as likely to debunk an event, especially in the earlier episodes.  They bring their EMF detectors and have discovered everything from poor wiring creating EM hotspots to ventillation systems transferring sounds from one room to the next and even put their plumbing experience to work on one episode.  They’ve even caught their clients trying to pull one over on them on more than one occasion.  All in all, not only is it the best of the “reality Ghostbuster” lot, it’s one of my favorite shows on TV today.

2.)  Ghost Lab – Discovery Channel, kind of like Ghost Hunters light.  The Klinge brothers (Brad and Barry) have all the enthusiasm of Jason and Grant and certainly have the equipment to back it up. 

But what they have in attitude, they sometimes lose in their short-sightedness.  They come across to me as more cowboys than scientists, and where they definitely embody the spirit of the Ghostbusters from the movie, they lose that credibility that comes from being able to look for a more rational explanation to what’s going on around them.  Still, it’s a great watch for a weekend afternoon.

 3.)  Ghost Adventures - The Travel Channel.  Take the three biggest idiots you find in a random frat house at any college campus around the US, get them drunk, lock them in a dark building at midnight, then scare the living shit out of them.  That pretty much covers what this show has to offer. 

It’s a riot.  Check out the episode where they go to Bobbie Mackie’s to get a good dose of what these guys are all about.  Zak Bagans, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin are great hosts and aa blast to watch and really entertain.  Few ghosts, little proof, but worth the watch nonetheless. 

 4.)  Paranormal State – A&E TV.  This show definitely takes itself more seriously than the others.  Ryan Buell and his crew are actually trying to save people from their demons.  His earnest desire to help is endearing, but is quickly overshadowed by his blind belief in everything they run into with no apparent desire for any scepticsm.  They’ve run into everything from poltergeists to natural spirits, and even a demon or two.  He’s convinced himself that one demon in particular has it out for him and occasionally runs into his arch-enemy from time to time. 

His crew never seems to be made up of the same people from one show to the next, the only constants being his longtime friend and cast member Sergei and resident “occult specialist” and team odd duck Eilfie.  The crew has all the equipment but rarely seems to be able to catch even the slightest bit of EVP or photographical evidence.  When they do, it’s automatically assumed to be of supernatural origin, no proof required.  It’s frustrating to watch and at times uncomfortable.  Buell and his team mean well though and where the show lacks all that is empirical,  they make up for it in heart.  And as an added plus, they got rid of that quack psychic Chip Coffey.  If you want to see a charlatan of Patric Jane stature (of the Mentalist), tune in to that show.  If you notice, it’s not on my list.

Does anyone else have a favorite?  Am I alone in my love of these shows?  What’s your take?

“THANK YOU JESUS”

That is what Carl Crawford is saying at this moment.  Just yesterday, Jayson “Jesus” Werth signed a 7 year 126 million dollar contract with the Washington Nationals.  He will be 32 when the season begins and goes from a bandbox known as CBP to a cavernous stadium in Washington.  In total, he has had only one and a half good season.  Seems like a lot of money .  This will soon be on the worst MLB contracts of all time list, if it isn’t already.

If Werth got that contract, what will Crawford get?  8-10 years, 180 million?  Stay tuned true believers.  The Nationals just screwed up the market…Big Time.

I am not one for the promotion of sacreligious material, ok maybe a little, but I could not ignore this as one of the greatest motivational posters I have seen.  Much like the “Hang in There” poster with the kitty holding himself up by his proverbial bootstraps, this one hits close to home.  This really rings true to all zombies out there, now knowing they can do anything they want to do.

For the past few years, I have been working on my first novel, Purgatory.  It was indeed a process of writing and rewriting, editing and then editing it once again.  A storyboard was created, used, scrapped, redone, then finally used to create a strong finished product.

I finally completed the product in the end of July, after having both Craig and Keith read and edit it.  I then fixed all my mistakes, which were many, and placed the final period on the story Purgatory.  It was one of my greatest accomplishments as most people talk of writing a book but few get around to it.

So I sat down and wrote, what is called, a query letter.  It was a one page letter which covered several topics.  I had to give a brief, and I mean brief, synopsis of my novel.  My 255 page book was reduced to one paragraph.  This was tougher than I thought.  I had trouble because my novel is really original and has many moving parts.  After that, I had to inform the reader of who I was, in a brief biography.  Who am I?  Well this was my first novel.  After that?  Hmmm, married, child, history, video games, Mets.  These aren’t exactly selling points; especially my love of the Mets.  Basically I spent one page selling my book.  And again, this is a tough tough process.  Everything has to be perfect.

Next came the process of finding a literary agent.  Once I finished my book, I thought, “no problem with this one.  I will just send it to the agent that interests me most and wait for the request to read my manuscript”.  Unfortunately, that was my first rejection.  I re-read the agent’s website and decided that maybe my genre just wasn’t “for him”.  So I found several more agents that specialized in both young adult lit, as well as historical fiction.  I knew, just knew, they would all say yes.  However, more rejections.

So here I am 14 rejections later.  I am a bit closer as an agent did ask to read my manuscript.  14:  No/ 1: Yes.  While that is considered a minor slump in baseball if a batter went 1 out of the last 14, it is considered a minor victory in the writing world.  Sure my hit was a bloop single.  If she shows more interest, then we can make it ground rule double.

The reason I write this is because it was an eye opening and humble experience; one which I am still stuck in.  I currently have 50 query letters out, with only one yes.  I am sure a lot of the agents haven’t got around to reading my letter, some never will.  One agent sent me a rejection letter just minutes after I sent my query.  In his rejection response, he apologized for it taking so long to get back to me and said this project may not be for him.  Hmmm, a long time in responding?  It was minutes.  It MAY NOT be for him?  It either is or isn’t.

I am not worried that eventually someone will pick up on my novel and they will be happy they did.  It is original and not the typical vampire/wizard book that young adults normally read.  I have had four people read it and heard great responses from them.

So I won’t give up and I will keep plugging away.  Maybe this agent that asked to read my book will be excited enough to want to work with me.  Maybe she won’t and I will move on.  I might be surprised and have several of those 50 agents ask for my manuscript.  They could also all turn it down and I will continue my search.  Either way, I have to be patience.  I don’t really have a choice.

PURGATORY: coming soon

This one might be a bit biased.  I went with characters that I enjoyed as a child or still enjoy today.  This isn’t an official poll so you won’t see 60s and 70s characters on the list because they stood the “test of time”.

5 BEST CARTOON CHARACTERS

5.  He Man:  This is a sentimental favorite.  I loved He Man and the Masters of the Universe as a child and myself, Keith, and Joe Dyer would watch it every morning before going to school (of course one of the worst on the list was also watched before school).  He Man was just one cool cat; and speaking of cat what about Battle Cat.  Now I know that Prince Adam wore pink and it did knock him down a few points but as He Man, he was 100% professional ass kicker.

4.  Starscream:  One of the original Transformers, Starscream was the ultimate villain.  HE was physically weak and generally ineffective, yet was willing to stab anyone in the back for his own benefit, including Megatron.  While the first Transformers movie only passed over his issues with Megatron, the second movie (and you can read my review of Transformers 2 below), the second movie actually did a good job of showing Starscream as he was.

3.  Peter Griffin:  This show has slowly become a classic after its initial cancellation by Fox.  Since its comeback, it has becuase a cult hit and millions watch it each week.  What makes it fresh is the wittiness and randomness of it all.  Peter is, by far, one of the best characters on tv today.

2.  Mr Burns:  The Simpsons has been on so long that I was in high school when we first got Fox and was introduced to all of the great characters in the Simpsons universe.  Now yes, it has become stale but it has been on for 20 years now.  This could have gone to any of the characters but I decided to put one of the men who run the town.

1.  Voltron:  This was probably one of the best cartoon shows in the 80s. Watching them now, not so much but back then, it was the bees knees.  This inspired many other Japanese shows and one day this will be made into a feature film.  (by the way, it must be the Lions and not the cars)…..”I’ll form the head”

5 WORST CARTOON CHARACTERS

There is no real order for these as they can be interchanged

5.  Gleep and Gloop.  These will offend Craig as the Herculoids were on his list of great toys but these two were…LAME.  “Oh oh, someone is falling off a bridge, Gleep…Gloop, turn into a blanket and catch them.

4.  Boo Boo.  I just don’t like sidekicks, especially one that has no actual use like Boo Boo.  Stop cleaning the dingleberries off of Yogi’s backside and get a life.

3.  Wonder Twins.  Watch the Family Guy episode where Peter forms a tampon.  It says it all.  Why create a set of superheroes without any use.  Didn’t they have Aquaman for that already?

2.  Hoot Kloot.  This show was so bad it only lasted 17 epidoses.  Joe and Keith used to watch this before school and loved it.  If you check Wikipedia, you will see that the plot is really deep.

“A lawman named Mr. Kloot and his horse (both voiced by actor Bob Holt) end up in a series of mayhem in the old west     when going after bad guys.”

1.  Smurfette:  She isn’t the worst character on cartoons but she was definitely the unluckiest.  I mean one girl and a lot of boy Smurfs…sausage party.  I wasn’t a big fan of this show, as it was quite annoying that the Smurfs switch every other word with “smurfy” or “smurftastic”.

Thanks for reading this and please feel free to post who you think belongs on these lists.