Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

When you record a podcast about Boston sports, watching the Yankees on the brink of their 234546th World Champion is something you don’t want to do. At least it provided some fodder.

4 Sporton Boston: Casting Pods and the “Checking Facebook Statuses Game”

Tags: blog

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

This is the post that will finish any hopes I have for running for any kind of public office. As we know if you want to be President of the United States you have to dress up like a middle-aged parent.

I did not do that for Halloween.

While some people dressed up like trashy ice skaters, sexy genies, or clever puns; I did something a little more unorthodox. I’m not talking about forming a tracksuit mafia, changing my religion, or going back home.

I spent my Halloween putting on a midnight performance of the Rocky Horror Show (still going on for two more weekends!) I knew that Halloween, midnight, and Rocky Horror meant a big crowd and lots of costumes. Most of my cast arrived to the stage in costume, only to take them off and put on their show costumes. The director showed up looking like the belle of the ball. I was dressed in grey dress pants and a grey T-shirt.

But I had an ace up my sleeve.

First I had to get some make-up on, so I went downstairs and got the cast to put make-up on my face, citing I had no costume for Halloween. The cast was glad to help and I sat down and each cast member took some of their make-up and put it on a different part of my face:

Step One: Make-Up on Face

Next was the more nerve wracking part, earlier in the week I asked our costumer if she had any extra costume pieces I could wear for Halloween. She agreed to help me out and would pass by the stage before the show. I nervously waited in the upstairs loft for her to arrive. 20 minutes til curtain and no sign of her yet. Finally she arrived with a large bag full of pieces. The heels barely fit and the corset was way too small. But like Tim Gunn I made it work.

My sound guy and light board operator walked in on me getting undressed with the costumer, they wanted to take a photo of me in my boxers but I convinced them they would get a better photo if they waited 10 minutes. After I put on the fishnet stockings I got at Hot Topic earlier that day they got their photo:

Step Two: Hot Tranny Mess.

I was so hot. It was also very breezy, never wore anything that short before.

So I put on a long coat I brought from home and went downstairs to the dressing room. I was about to call the five minute warning and a few people noticed my legs and knew something was up.

I strut into the dressing room and yell, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your five minute warning!”

And with those lines I take off my coat to the roar of the cast.

I called the entire show in costume, walking in heels wasn’t too bad except for a few moments I almost took a spill. During every intermission I walk out on stage to sweep up the stage, that night I got a few calls from the audience.

There’s a reason I’m not a performer: I can’t act, sing, or dance. But I will tell you- I didn’t mind being on stage at all in that moment. Dressing up is part of the Rocky Horror Culture and I totally enjoyed being a part of it for a night.

Tags: blog, holidays, rocky horror show, theatre

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Best thing to tell a woman at the end of the night? I have to go record a podcast with my friends.

Oh yes this is probably why I’m still single.

So forget about fixing me up with your friend, just go ahead and listen to the latest podcast, or perhaps subscribe to us on iTunes!

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Aw man scoring all those touchdowns must make a top draft pick hungry. The rookie quarterback for The Jets found himself in some lukewarm water as he was caught eating a hot dog in the final seconds of this past Sunday’s game against the Raiders:

I hope that was a good frankfurter, Sanchez’s snack attack became the fodder for quite a few blogs. He made amends today by donating 1,000 hot dogs and hamburgers to a local soup kitchen. Now that hot-dog gate is over on to Week 7.

Patriots Pride

Heading into last weekend people looked at the International match-up of the Patriots and the Buccaneers and predicted blow-out. They were right as the Pats took it to the Bucs 35-7. Tom Brady is continuing to look more and more like the Tom Brady we all know and love with his 308 yards and 3 touchdowns; however the 2 interceptions were a surprise for a QB who only threw eight picks in 2007. I’d write it off as a fluke and move on.

With Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor out of the Patriots running back stable, we looked to Laurence Maroney once again to hopefully produce some points for our fantasy teams. Given his spotty hit-or-miss history, you had to pick him up knowing there was a good chance he’d still do nothing despite getting the majority of the carries. 13 carries for 43 yards sounds like an L-Mo bust but luckily he found the end zone to minimize the usual disappointment owners get when they start Maroney. I picked him up for a team this week and stuck him in my flex spot- and I dusted off my Patriots jersey (a Laurence Maroney one) to wear this past Sunday. I’m happy for the 10 points he scored me but the 3.3 yds/carry tells me I should start shopping for another jersey.

It’s no surprise that the Patriots surprised everyone a previously undisclosed injury, Bill Belichick will do that for you. With the emergence of Julian Edelman put on hold with a forearm injury, names like Brandon Tate and Terrance Nunn were thrown around as possible candidates to become 3rd in line to Moss and Welker. The ball was instead thrown to Sam Aiken and he caught it (twice ) for a total 66 yards and a touchdown. However before you go rushing to pick him up, realize he only had three total targets and with two stars ahead of him- I’d write it off as a fluke unless we see something more.

Reading The Box Scores & Watching The Highlights

• Ryan Grant looked good and has consistent in the points he scores but maybe now is the time to sell high looking at his schedule down the road.
• Donald Driver continues to look better over Greg Jennings. Jennings is still getting the targets, but does that mean you should buy low on Jennings or sell high on Driver?
• Mohamed Massaquoi maybe young, talented, and the team’s #1 target; but it doesn’t make Derek Anderson a better quarterback. I’d let him be somebody else’s problem
• It’s funny that Michael Crabtree (5 receptions/1 game) already surpassed Darius Heyward-Bey (4 receptions/7 games), I’m not ready to say Crabtree is ready to be the top pick he was drafted to be- I always have a bad feeling on holdouts.
• I’m getting tired of the Shaun Hill or Alex Smith debate, at least fantasy owners can stay away from both. Too bad Mike Singletary has to pick one.
• Vernon Davis already has a career high in TDs and is close to racking up more receiving yards than last year. However how much of his 3 TD game part of Alex Smith? He’s looked respectable in his last four games and could be worth a pick-up.
• Why did Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson look so good last weekend? Because of the fantasy death of LT.
• LJ needs to stop tweeting. It won’t be long before Charles is in charge.
• Steven Jackson continues to be a beast. You may look at him and complain about the lack of TDs but I blame it all on the terrible Rams offense.
• Favre looked good in the passing game but it his turnovers that cost him the game, now this is the gunslinger Minnesota needs to watch out for.
• Sydney Rice stepped up in Berrian’s absence and looked great. I love him as a pickup this week.
• Mike Wallace is another name that looks like a hot pick-up but he’s still 3rd on the depth charts, maybe for deeper leagues but it all depends on who you already have.
• Last week I employed a new strategy: pickup the defense that plays Jake Delhomme. So far so good.
• A typical TO stat line this season: 3 rec for 27 yards- wasn’t this the same way Torry Holt died?
• Today was a day of QB switches, Gradkowski came in and showed why he’s Bruce Gradkowski.
• When I hear Fibula poking through leg, I think your season is over. Shonn Greene was a big sleeper because we thought Thomas Jones was done this year (he isn’t yet) but Greene is now going to get some time with Washington done for the year.
• Carson Palmer flashed some leather against a weakened Chicago secondary, he threw TDs to Ochocinco, Coles, Henry, Foschi, and I believe the ball boy.
• Cedric Benson also took it to his former team, I can’t believe he already has a league leading 720 yards and 5 TDs.
• In other news Matt Forte is having quite the sophomore slump.
• Despite what I wrote, it looks like Miles Austin is for real.
• Felix Jones looks like he’s ready to eat more time away from Barber and to make Tashard Choice irrelevant.
• Eli finally came back to earth- just in time for his annual 2nd half collapse.
• Hakeem Nicks is quickly making people wonder if he’s the guy you want after Steve Smith.
• In a shootout, the Saints look like they could seriously run the table, which makes me afraid for the Pats.
• Ricky Williams is still a viable RB2 compared to his fantasy season last year, as long as he’s playing in the Wildcat he will always have a good chance to score.
• Mike Bell got a lot of mop up time in the 2nd half of the game so I’m not going to say he’s the guy you want, but will he end up being the goal-line back?
• As someone that lives in DC, I can tell you that we all think that the Redskins are a mess, but it doesn’t mean they are totally fantasy irrelevant.
• Remember in previous years when Brian Westbrook would get injured and people would scramble for Correll Buckhalter? Well it’s the same thing but replace Correll Buckhalter with LeSean McCoy.

I Rock At Fantasy Football

After Week 7 I went 3-2 in my leagues.

4 Sport Boston League: W (4-3)

DC-Boston League: W (4-3)

Couch League: W (5-2)

James Bond League: L (5-2)

Fantasy Football Librarian League: L (4-3)

Tags: fantasy football

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Tonight is a very exciting night for me, but it’s also a very scary one.

After a week long hell of technical rehearsals, tonight I make my debut as a production stage manager in Kensington Arts Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. For the past three months I’ve lived a life of 14 hour days between Virgina and Maryland, and while there were fun times and memories during the rehearsal process- those feelings of fun were replaced with high tension and sensitive feelings coupled with a few nights of sleeplessness. It’s the kind of stress that makes you question why you signed up for this thing in the first place.

For me it’s been very stressful because it’s my first tech run (and now performance run) as a stage manager. I’m no stranger to theatre, the best moments of my high school career was producing over seven plays in my last two years at CHS; however producing and stage managing are two totally different beasts.

I really tried my best not to seem totally inept at the position. I read books, made tons of lists, and tried to go above and beyond every-time I could. It was helpful that I knew what to do during the rehearsal period since I had some experience on a show that shall not be named. Despite this, the past week has been very tough on me- because I’m not used to failing. As much as I tried to not act like a complete rookie, I blew cues, mismanaged actor calls, and got in the way of the tech designers I’m trying to help. A stage manager needs to be cool at all times- and I was boiling over as I couldn’t handle everything that was being thrown at me.

But that’s ok.

The great Matthew Berry once said that, “If you are trying to do something and you haven’t failed at it yet, you aren’t trying hard enough.” After dress rehearsal last night where my video projector malfunctioned and communications headset died and I was finishing last minute videos until five minutes before places; I drove home thinking what a terrible job I’ve done this week. I wanted things to go perfect this week and I’m learning that things never go perfect on a tech week.

Why d0 I want things to be perfect? Because I want everything in my life to go well. Generation Y has been brought up as overachievers that believe we can do anything we want, and if we don’t get it right immediately we panic. Everybody gets a blue ribbon and everybody is coddled to think they can succeed- which is good but it needs to be grounded in values of hard work and the occasional failure along the way. I want to be a good stage manager, I want to earn the praise, respect, and acceptance from my peers. When you were in school it wasn’t that hard, except in the real world, you don’t always get that the TLC you were fed as children. As a result it takes me a longer to not take criticism personally, I can’t help but feel that I’ve become more incompetent when I work my ass off just to get new note on my performance.

In the end however I stop and realize why I care so much? It’s because I want to be good- I want to be a great stage manager that people can count on. That means I need to make mistakes and I need to learn from them. I can’t help but imagine there’s a whole generation of people that will graduate college and quickly realize that real life isn’t as coddling as it once was. There are going to be moments where you fail, sometimes terribly. In that case you have to ask yourself how bad do you want it?

Because if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough.

Tags: blog, rants

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

In the latest episode of the 4 Sport Boston podcast, we discuss the Patriots shutout of the Titans and what to-do when it comes to catching Boston sports away from New England.

4 Sport Boston: Podcast Episode 7

Tags: blog

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Since I’m well into tech for Rocky Horror, I haven’t had a whole lot of social plans- however Saturday night I battled the endless rain when tech ended so I could attend the blogger event of the year. Pretty much every blogger I knew or heard of (and some real life friends) was in attendance at Stentson’s last night and with all the tweets about the event, it was like my timelime came to life last night.

I was really overwhelmed the minute I walked in, I sent a tweet that I got out of the cab and when I walked up to the bar Maxie and others were waiting for me. I haven’t seen so many people in the our bloggy circle at one place at the same time. It took me 20 minutes to get to the other side of the bar just to say hello to the LiLu, who was clearly excited that she pulled off yet another stellar event.

It was a very memorable night out, and I could try and list all the twerps that were there but it would be a very valiant, yet incomplete effort. Check out Lilu’s “guestbook” for complete details.

After seeing all my blog favs I swung by Ben’s Chili Bowl to say hi to Ms. Chanelle was also in the neighborhood celebrating her birthday as well. I’ve never really stepped into Ben’s before and it was the mess I expected it to be. I didn’t have time to sit down for a half-smoke however, I’ll have to save that for another time.

I’d like to say that I then ended my night with a traditional trek back home and passing out in a mess, but I actually had some work to do (it is tech week after all.) I proceeded to edit videos til 6:30 AM. I was pretty tired and sober at the end, and three hours later I was up and back on stage for another tech.

Because sometimes you have to play hard then work hard.

P.S. It looks like I wasn’t the only one playing hard- is it just coincidence that now every blogger is now massively sick? Did they all get swine flu or something?

Tags: blog, debauchery, fun times with friends, rocky horror show, theatre, u-street

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

It’s been a long time since I’ve put a show through tech week. Earlier this year, when Cat On A Hot Tin Roof went into tech it meant long hours but I haven’t felt so much stress and pressure since I was producing shows in high school. My first tech week as a stage manager is going to be a really interesting experience.

That being said you probably won’t hear from me for a week (or two), I’ll still be on Twitter sending out my regular Rocky photos of the day.

And if you are in the area, I hope you do come out to support my show- it’s going to be a truly special event and I think its going to be tons of fun once its up.

Tags: blog, cat on a hot tin roof, rocky horror show, stress, theatre

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

As you know I’m always a fan of celebrity iPhone apps, and when my co-worker tweeted about Chad Ocho Cinco’s new iPhone app I just had to see what it was all about.

The app costs $4.99 and  apparently, “gives you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the life of the most interesting football player, Chad Ochocinco, aka Esteban Ochoccinco, aka Chad Johnson.”

I mean just look at some of the features the program touts:

• The Ochocinco Soundboard in English and in Spanish. (Good thing because we all know he’s into the Hispanic heritage.)
• Exclusive videos & pictures of Ocho.
• Pictures of Ochocinco fans around the world. If you have a nice tailgate in Cincinnati, we will find you and upload select pictures on the app.
• What would Ocho do? Submit questions to Chad and he will select a few and answer them within the app.
• Ocho’s Family. See pictures of Chad with his family & closest friends. (And by closest friends they mean his entire entourage.)
• News feed on Ocho, NFL, Bengals and everything else that Ocho loves.
• Follow Ocho’s Twitter timeline and see what he is up to.
• In the bio section, see things you never knew about Ocho.
• Follow Ocho Cinco on a map. (Screw GPS, all I really need to know is where Ocho is at all times.)
• See Ocho’s music on his iPod in Ocho’s Jams. The same music in the locker room, his car and when he works out.
• Cincinnati Benglas 2009 – 2010 schedule.
• Ocho’s stats for the 2009 – 2010 NFL season

While it doesn’t surprise me that he’d have his own iPhone app, I am surprise he’d go ahead and make one. Who will be the next celebrity to demand their own iPhone app?

Tags: blog, chad johnson, ipod

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Unlike Andre, I'm not celebrating this post-season

It’s a sad week as we see the Yankees roll through the playoffs and the Sox swept out in the first round.

Baseball has been long over for me, fantasy baseball ended with the regular season- here’s how I did this year:

DC-Boston League

Beltway Bandits (258-190-146)

3rd place in the playoffs

The playoffs fell pretty much in line with regular season standings. After finishing in 3rd I ended up placing third in the playoffs.

Best Draft Pick: My last round pick? Andre Ethier. W huge bargain for 31 HRs, 106 RBIs, and an average that didn’t kill you.

Worst Draft Pick: It’s a tie between my second round pick of Alfonso Soriano and third round pick B.J. Upton. I expected strike outs but not a .240 average. You both suck.

Best Waiver Wire Pick-Up: Mark Reynolds and Kendry Morales became every day starts for me after the Chris Davis experiment crashed and burned.

Ami League

A-Roid’s Cousin (141-98-25)

4th place in the playoffs

Oddly enough the same thing happened in this league too, an uneventful playoffs as mostly everything went chalk.

Best Draft Pick: While my team always had starting pitching problems, Wandy Rodriguez really came out to be a top starting pitcher this year. Good thing I grabbed him in the late rounds.

Worst Draft Pick: This one is hard to tell but I think I paid too high for Alexei Ramirez in the 5th round.

Best Waiver Wire Pick-Up: He isn’t a big waiver wire name but Miguel Montero quickly replaced Chris Iannetta, now I have to think if I am going to up Iannetta for next year.

Well that’s it for baseball this year, maybe next year the Sox (and I) will do better.

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Just before I spoke at the WWPR Media Roundtable a couple of weeks ago, there was a considerable amount of buzz surrounding the new Social Media Guidelines put out by the Washington Post. These guidelines were pretty stern in limited what a Post Journalist can say in fear of expressing bias on a topic or issue:

Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything—including photographs or video—that could be perceived as reflecting political, racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility. This same caution should be used when joining, following or friending any person or organization online. Post journalists should not be involved in any social networks related to advocacy or a special interest regarding topics they cover, unless specifically permitted by a supervising editor for reporting and so long as other standards of transparency are maintained while doing any such reporting.

I understand the point that Journalists for The Post represent a bigger name at all times, in fact it’s a point I mention in my earlier post on the new FTC guidelines for bloggers. However Stephen Baker brings up a great point that such actions also prevents writers from developing their own personal brands:

It seems that the Post wants all the good stuff from blogs and social networks—extension of their brand, traffic to their site—but without any of the problems that come from losing control. Yet the power of these social tools grows from the very freedom of expression that the Post editors are trying to rein in.

Here’s the way I see it: Social Media allows us to develop personal relationships with the people behind the stories, which in turns gives us more interest to identify people we want to read. Think of the fans of Tony Kornheiser and Micheal Wilbon that read The Post, half the reason I’ll read a Bill Simmons article on ESPN is because I’m a fan of his podcast. Writers today need to find different platforms to expose themselves so they don’t become another faceless name on a by-line. Not everyone can have a TV show or a radio show, but they can interact on Twitter.

The Washington Post has to admit that the news has an inherent bias, haven’t you watched Fox News? Limiting writer’s expression on Social Media negates the benefits that it brings in developing your brand as well as a writer’s brand.

So lighten up, opinions aren’t just for the Editorial pages.

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Recorded another podcast with Craig and Jaws, and our good friend Sean joins us for a bit as well. Besides getting buzzered along the rundown, I’m happy to say we are well under an hour for this one- soon we’ll just have 30 minute bytes for you to digest!

4 Sport Boston: Episode 6

Tags: blog

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

OkCupid recently started a blog where they took all the data it’s collected as an online dating site and analyzed it. I was particularly interested in their most recent post on race. They took a look at whether a person’s race played a factor in getting a message back from someone they wrote to.

Their conclusion: yes it does- by a lot.

Here’s a graph from that post that shows reply rates between different races:

As you can see being an Asian male isn’t as great as being an White male.

Another chart from the post shows results of a poll question on the site:

As you can see White people, and White women, mostly prefer to date within their race.

A very interesting post, one that makes me very disappointed.

I’ve occasionally joked about my preference for White women over Asian women, much to the surprise of some less-than-open-minded friends, and I’ve hinted at it on this blog. I don’t think my taste is earth shattering, in fact it’s apparently something Asian guys like. My reasoning for this was explained quite clearly in their post:

On the contrary, white girls are many times the secret fantasy of any Twinkie. No, this is not a partially-hydrogenated pastry, but the Asian guy who has a bunch of white friends and does the things white guys do. There’s one problem: He’s stuck in an Asian body. Twinkies can be compared to a single kitten growing up in the midst of puppies. Twinkies feel like they are puppies because they are enculturated and they like what other puppies like, including the female dogs. Due to this immersion, Asians end up adopting white beauty standards. (but the same isn’t reciprocated by white girls.)

They are YouTube videos about it and apparently how-to manuals for it. But that doesn’t change the way I feel about this.

Honestly I think it sucks.

I will be the first to admit that I am a full fledged Twinkie. I do feel like that kitten that grew up in a world full of puppies. I like what White guys like: White girls.

What sucks is that White girls don’t like Asian guys.

I know I’m a smart, funny, outgoing, and caring individual; its just that sometimes I feel that I am trapped in this body, this shell that I actually like (I don’t think I’m that bad looking) but it’s a shell that’s not on the top of the list of the women I go after.

Sometimes I joke that I want to be white.

What I don’t tell you is that I want to be white so white girls would actually like me.

In today’s world we are changing the way we think about race in the workplace and life- but I can’t help but think there’s still a lot of hardwired racism I have to fight when it comes to physical attraction. I could have the best personality in the world but I doubt that’s going to make that brunette across the way like me any more if she’s into white guys.

Because I’m not a white guy, but sometimes I want to be.

If you have something to say about this post, feel free to leave me a comment or send me a tweet.  Also, if you’re not subscribed you can read this and all my other thoughts and rants, just subscribe via RSS or E-mail.

Tags: blog, favorites, feelings/reflections, girls, rants

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

Out with a rib injury, Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams sat out this past Sunday and Austin Miles stepped up to take his place in the starting line-up.

And boy did he step up.

The 4th year backup from Monmouth caught 10 balls for a team record 250 yards. He also caught two touchdowns, one being the game winner. In 2008 Austin only totaled 278 yards an almost caught that many in one game. He will be clearly the most sought after pick-up in leagues that still have him on the waiver wire; however the Cowboys are off next week an come back from the bye facing the Pittsburgh Steelers who are currently 5th in NFL in total defense but are only 14th against the pass. Roy Williams is likely to return after the bye and we have clearly seen Austin’s career game. But will he have value going forward? With the departure of T.O., Tony Romo is free to pass the ball amongst many targets including Jason Witten, Tashard Choice, Roy Williams, and Patrick Crayton.

Remember last year when Donnie Avery caught six passes for 163 yars and a touchdown against the Pats? The performance ended up being a one hit wonder for his season as he went back to lackluster numbers. Now Austin has a better passer in Tony Romo but the situation doesn’t look good for him becoming a breakout fantasy stud after the bye. It is a situation worth looking at, just don’t pay too much for him.

Patriots Pride

I always get nervous went a game goes into overtime. I feel that there’s a bit too much luck involved when a coin flip determines who goes first in a sudden death situation. That’s what happened last year when Brett Favre dealt a loss to Matt Cassel.

I mentioned in the last 4 Sport Boston podcast I recorded that Tom Brady looks like Peyton Manning last year: a stud quarterback trying to get back into his rhythm after injury. I think Tom is slowly but surely getting better every game and I hope that down the stretch he’ll be back in his groove. I’m not hoping he returns to 2007 Brady, I don’t think we’re seeing that again, but it certainly possible for him to get back into 2004 form- the year we last won the Super Bowl.

The Patriots jersey in my closet right now happens to be Laurence Maroney’s and I’m beginning to think I need to find a replacement soon. With Fragile Freddy off getting ankle surgery, Sammy Morris is back in the top RB slot. He didn’t look too bad with his 68 yards over 17 carries. It’s good to see Wes Welker getting back into the thick of things and Julian Edelman is becoming an interest name in the WR corp. Joey Galloway was inactive again for the second week in the row- I hope he’s enjoying the dog house along with Maroney. Galloway is to the Patriots as John Smoltz is to the Red Sox.

Reading The Box Scores & Watching The Highlights

• When I started playing Carson Palmer and Marc Bulger were top tier Quarterbacks. Now  Bulger is a shell of his peak years but Palmer isn’t that bad as a QB2to
• Cedric Benson maybe for real- not as a RB1 but if you have him as a flex
• I can’t wait for Chad Ohocinco to pull off another crazy TD celebration, and with the way he’s performing I think he will.
• Ray Rice & Willis McGahee are the new Chris Johnson and LenDale White. Ray Rice runs between the 20s and is involved in the passing game, McGahee is the short yardage battering ram.
• You see 117 yards from Jamal Lewis, I see 31 attempts which equals 3.7 per carry- his average in 2008 was 3.6.
• Sell high on Clinton Portis after his 2 TD game? Well the schedule ahead looks a little challenging, the question is- how much do you trust the Redskins this year?
• Ben Roethlisberger has more touchdowns this season than Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner and Tony Romo. I wouldn’t say a repeat of 2007 is out of the picture.
• We saw how turf toe bothered Darren McFadden all last year, how will it affect Willie Parker and will he get his job back with Rashard Mendenhall playing so well?
• Just a gut feeling but Matt Cassel could be heating up for the Chiefs.
• Ahmad Bradshaw isn’t that bad as a flex going forward, he tore up the Raiders like nobodies business, now if Brandon Jacobs could get in on the fun…
• Rib injury? What rib injury. McNabb looked totally fine as he threw, ran, and dove all over the field.
• People maybe talking about Jeremy Maclin’s big game, but I think Brent Celek deserves some credit for that awesome leap over Ronde Barber’s head!
• You know who’s the number one rusher is in Minnesota, but do we really know who’s the number one receiver? Both Rice and Harvin caught some passes but along with Berrian they all have similar stats to date.
• Stephen Jackson didn’t do too bad against the Vikings D, now if he was only on a better team…
• Welcome back to fantasy football Michael Turner and Roddy White.
• When Gore is out, Glen Coffee is going to get all the touches but he hasn’t convinced me he’s anything more than a RB2 when he starts.
• Larry Fitzgerald had a good game this week but both him and Anquan Boldin have yet to have a 100 yard recieving game.
• Matt Hasselbeck returned from injury with a vengeance, 2 of his 4 TDs went to Nate Burleson who will no longer be ignored in fantasy this week.
• The Colts are very much like The Saints, they are both high powered passing attacks which will always make fantasy owners wonder which reciever will have the big game .
• I didn’t get back from rehearsal til late last night and I only saw the last quarter of the Jets-Dolphins game. However it appears that all I needed to see- Chad Henne looked good, and the Wildcat was exciting to watch.
• All the talk last night was about Braylon Edwards resurgence after being traded, I do want to note that Thomas Jones needs to thank Braylon for the two penalties that gave TJ all those goal line runs.

I Rock At Fantasy Football

After Week 5 I went 4-1 in my leagues.

4 Sport Boston League: L (2-3)

DC-Boston League: W (3-2)

Couch League: W (3-2)

James Bond League: W (4-1)

Fantasy Football Librarian League: W (3-2)

Tags: blog

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

I looked up "blog swag" and this is what I got (courtesy Flickr user Gwen)

Waves were made in the blogosphere last week as the FTC released new advertising guidelines. The updated rules caught up to the 21st century by dictating guidelines for blogs and websites. The latest news caused a number of blogs I read to quickly disclose their relationships with PR folks.

One of the blogs mentioned above happens to be my co-worker/book blogger Gayle, who posted a link to a PC Mag article that explains the new rules:

Specifically, the new rules would require bloggers to clearly disclose what type of results they should expect to receive from a product. Currently, advertisers only have to display a small “results not typical” tagline if they feature an endorser who had an unusual level of success with their product. Now, they have to disclose what the average consumer should expect.

Meanwhile, bloggers must disclose material connections with advertisers: were they hired by the company’s ad agency? Are they receiving payment or free products? Do they have a relationship with the company? Decisions about violations will be made on a case-by-case basis, but if someone receives cash or an in-kind payment to review a product, it’s considered an endorsement.

So if I was to write something, anything on a product (good or bad) that I  received for free I could be held liable if I don’t disclose that I got said item for free. It makes sense that the FTC wants the consumer to know if a positive review may have been influenced by a free product, but if I wrote up an honest review slamming a product, I could be held liable if I forget to mention it was sent to me for free? I think the guideline is a tad harsh, not to mention a completely higher standard than what traditional media is held to.

While for most bloggers this only means a vigilant effort to constantly drop legal disclaimers and disclosures; I think the guidelines could discourage some to write anything in the first place for fear of litigation. The LA Times agrees with me:

But the commission’s examples of what constitutes sponsorship set an unreasonably low threshold for blog posts to be treated as ads, potentially turning ethical lapses into violations of federal law. Merely receiving review copies of games, gadgets or discs for free — as critics in traditional media routinely do — could bring bloggers under the FTC’s purview. The commission argues that the guidelines probably wouldn’t apply to professional journalists, and that amateur bloggers would just have to disclose the freebies. Yet the risk of $11,000 penalties could easily discourage some would-be reviewers and harm sites that rely on amateurs to rate products and services.

The Wall Street Journal also makes the point that traditional media is lavished with freebies all the time yet hardly ever mention it:

And yet even newspapers with the strictest of ethics rules accept free copies of books for review. Movie, music and theater reviewers get their tickets comped. The scribblers covering sports aren’t in the habit of paying skybox rates for their privileged perches at the stadium. While newspapers make no secret of these common practices, they don’t plaster warnings on every book review or description of a football game. But that’s exactly what the FTC is requiring of bloggers.

Take my friends who were given free Nintendo DSis as part of a blogger outreach campaign. The campaign did its job and they wrote about the party and their freebies. They all mentioned that they got them for free and thus covered their asses. But what about future comments and posts that mention their toys? Imagine this post on October 13, 2010:

I was bored to tears waiting for my flight at Reagan, good thing I brought my Nintendo DSi with the latest Mario Kart game. It really made my plane ride enjoyable- in fact I  wouldn’t fly without it. (Legal disclaimer: I got my Nintendo for free last year at a party thrown by Nintendo, your results may vary.)

If I had to write that every time I mention anything about my DSi I might just save myself the trouble and not mention it ever again.

And how about reviews on websites like Amazon? When I’m shopping online I find those reviews helpful, but will people write a review if they could all be investigated for potential fraud? The Wall Street Journal writes, “when a lousy book gets an effusive five-star rave from an anonymous Amazon poster, do we need the feds to warn us that it just might be the author’s mother typing away?”

The answer is no, I hope we have become savvy enough to realize not to trust one review or rating, that’s why sites like Amazon allow us to rate reviewers and gives metrics on how many top ratings a product receives.

When I heard about the release of the new guidelines I instantly recalled a post written back in May by Penelope Trunk. She was ahead of the curve on this and made a really good point that conflict of interest is different for bloggers than traditional media- we have much more to lose by recklessly selling out:

So we don’t need stupid rules about conflict of interest for people who are putting themselves on the line. That rule is for old media, where writers were putting only the brand of the newspaper on the line. In old media most journalists were no-names, writing under big (newspaper) names. So if they wrote something moronic, so that they could increase the value of a stock they held, or, maybe, get more oral sex, they would put only the newspaper brand at risk. Not their own.

As the City Captain for DC Metblogs I receive pitches and products all the time, in fact a few weeks ago I happy to see I got a free book and dvd in the mail. Am I going to review both? Yes. Will I disclose that I got both for free? Of course. But if I didn’t and I wrote a bad post that wasn’t what I truly felt about the film, it would be more than just “fraud.” That kind of cheap writing is transparent to readers and would probably result in me losing readers. If you read a poorly written review in the Washington Post, it wouldn’t exactly cause you to stop reading the paper- you know that it was just some no-name writer writing one small piece of an entire newspaper. As for me, my entire reputation is at stake with every post I write- that’s my face and name on the banner.

The bottom line is this: It makes sense that the FTC wants to make sure the consumer is protected now that people are turning to the Internet for information and reviews. However at the same time, the consumer is already demanding of transparency and won’t trust someone that isn’t. What I’m most afraid of is the possible step backwards this will be for some bloggers and businesses. The web has democratized so much and the actions by the FTC can be seen as a way to reel it back in.

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

I forgot to post this earlier  but last week Craig and I recorded our 5th podcast with the help of Jaws (who’s much better at recording than I am!) He even gave us a long awaited theme song we were desperately missing.

If you want to listen to our high hopes for yesterday’s sports actions be sure to listen:

Patriots / ALDS Podcast

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

V not for Vendetta- but for Virgin.

It’s true. I was a virgin on Friday night but no longer.

Of course I am referring to my Rocky Horror Show virginity.

The E Street Cinema was holding a midnight screening of the show I happen to be working on and members of the cast thought it would be cool to go out and check it out. I’ve only watched the movie once (after I accepted the stage manager job) so I was excited to see it would be like live in a theatre with fans cheering and jeering.

We met at a cast member’s place at Thomas Circle for a little pre-game, and I know it was only two days ago that I said how much I really love my cast but being able to hang out with this group of people really makes everything I do for the show worth it. I pre-gamed with the skittles vodka that I had left from the summer.

At the theatre, we found out that the show was going to be shadow-cast by a local group called the Sonic Transducers. Members of the group were walking up and down the line looking for “virgins.”

A cast member pulled my hand up and someone rushed over to give me the mark of shame: a lipstick V on my forehead.

Live performances are typically known for rookie hazing, luckily we didn’t have to do anything too embarrassing.

The screening was really fun, it was one of the only times I could openly sing the numbers and not look stupid. Good thing I had a drink or two beforehand- because I can’t really sing, I leave that job to the cast.

People the audience were shouting callbacks to the screen during the screening, some were good, others were long, ridiculous, and basically lame attempts to attract attention. I know that callbacks are part of the culture and tradition but I think that they should be left short and simple. Too many people tried to recite an entire paragraph into the space of a pause in dialogue and I have to say it was bordering on obnoxious.

Yikes does that mean my show will be like that? I hope the run doesn’t get too obnoxious- I think most of the bad callbacks were coming from the front row who were full of friends of the shadow-cast.

Well regardless it was a fun night out and I am even more excited to put on our own version of the show. I hope to see you guys there on the 23rd!

Tags: blog, debauchery, fun times with friends, rocky horror show

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

When starters get hurt, back-ups suddenly become more valuable.

It’s heard to believe that the football season is already a quarter over, it felt like it was only last night that I ran into my living room to yell at the TV when Tom Brady came back from behind to win their first game.

Well the football season is well underway and with it comes the injuries that result of big guys running into each other for 60 minutes. My starting lineups last week looked completely different from the teams I drafted. As my players got hurt I was left scrambling to the waiver wire for their replacements. Frank Gore? Got hurt. Hello Glen Coffee. Fast Willie Parker? More like Turf-Toe Willie Parker. Hello Rashard Mendenhall.

Good fantasy football players know NFL rosters top to bottom and know who to plug in when their star player gets hurt. You can go ahead and quiz me- I could probably name all the NFL starting running backs and their backups- a sign that I’ve become a full fledged fantasy football geek.

Well thanks to my backups I managed to go 4-1 last week in my games:

4 Sport Boston League

Insert pun on Glen Coffee's name

Donte’s 17 Games Off (2-2)

Glen Coffee scored me a modest 10 points to help me demolish my opponent.

Who did it for me last week: I couldn’t believe I own IDP stud Patrick Willis after screwing up the rest of my IDP draft choices. He was my highest scorer last week.

Who let me down last week: My wide receivers suck. My best WR is Dwayne Bowe, who only managed 1 point against the Giants last week.

Looking ahead: This is going to be an extremely close game this week, Yahoo! puts the game at a virtually tie. Let’s hope Glen Coffee can pull it out for me this week.

DC-Boston League

Beltway Bandits (2-2)

Big loss here against Mike, I thought I was going to have a big game but all my players pretty much let me down last week.

Who did it for me last week: Chris Cooley was my only starter to score double digit points.

Who let me down last week: Everyone. Tony Romo? 3 points. Darren McFadden? 0 points and an injury.

Looking ahead: I’m playing Craig this week and I hope that I can bounce back to give him his first loss.

The Couch League

Pho 75 (2-2)

Oh Mario.

How did I know I was going to win this match? I played a guy who chose not to play a kicker. Never leave points on the table like that, even if it’s only a kicker.

Who did it for me last week: Antonio Gates? 25 points. This is why you are a stud.

Who let me down last week: Mario Manningham? 3 points. Steve Smith is clearly the number 1 target in NY, not you.

Looking ahead: I’m playing the guy who owns both Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson. Ya I’m going to lose this game.

The James Bond League

Thunderballz (3-1)

My team: 227 points. My opponent: 130 points.

Who did it for me last week: That Steve Smith pickup paid off big last week with 36 points.

Who let me down last week: Pretty much nobody, everybody contributed to my beat down performance.

Looking ahead: My opponent is plagued with players on bye, hard to see if he’ll find the replacements to compete this week.

The Fantasy Football Librarian League

Beltway Bandits (2-2)

I managed a win in the FFL league to bring yet another team to 2-2.

Who did it for me last week: Thank you Rashard Mendenhall. I’ll take 33 points from you anyday.

Who let me down last week: Devin Hester? Thanks for getting hurt.

Looking ahead: Hmm my opponent has bad QBs, but stud WRs. Hmm.

I know that I wrote weekly Fantasy Football posts last year but I’m thinking about changing it up next week, I’m thinking you guys really don’t wanna hear about me talking about my own teams…

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

As I’ve written before, working on Rocky Horror this Fall has made my life a non-stop express train of stress and exhaustion, but it’s been worth it to work on this show so closely. Thinking back, I think that the combanation of show and cast has made working on this show the closest thing since doing productions with the CHS Theatre Guild. I really think that everybody on the cast has been great and they have been really sociable. We’ve been out for drinks and tonight a bunch of us are going to the E-Street Cinema for a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

By the way if anybody wants to come with- just send me a message.

Rehearsals have been nothing but hard work but we often find moments of levity, if you follow me on Twitter, I’ve started to post a Rocky Horror Rehearsal Photo of the day.

This past weekend we filmed some cut scenes that will be featured in the show, including some steamy shots that left us hot, bothered, and feeling awkward. All I’ll say is I’ll never hear a Dr. Seuss story the same way again.

So much like the way I wrote up The Shiz My Family Says, I’d like to show you how rehearsals roll LiLu style, with The Shiz My Cast Says.

Upon finding out she needs to be felt up by Rocky in a number

Amy: “I’m sorry my breasts aren’t fabulous tonight.”

Which leads to..

Mike: “So how long do I keep my hands on her breasts?”

While trying to correct a mistake in the dancing:

Darnell: “You just fucked his hip!”

John: “I’m too short!”

Darnell: “I’m too short and I got in it!”

Let’s say the choreography of our show concentrates on certain body parts:

Amy: “My boobs are having a lot of fun in this show.”

Again while giving notes to the dance numbers…

Darnell: “This is really hurting you Frank, I mean Ryan’s coming from your hole.”

To see what all the fuss is about come see Kensington Arts Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show- opening October 23rd! Click here for ticket info!

Tags: blog, chs, friends, rocky horror show, theatre

Originally published at The Definitive Dmbosstone. Please leave any comments there.

I ran across this Perez Hilton post on Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s 2010 Great American Conservative Women Calendar. Perez was pretty enthused by the product, “you can usher in a soul-sucking fall as you glare at the face of hate-monger Ann Coulter in September or ignorant dumb bitch Carrie Prejean in October!”

Of course I didn’t expect a calendar of conservative women to be very racy, and the photos feature women in button up shirts and jeans.

While flipping through the lucky right winged females, I came across a name that I wasn’t too familiar with, but caught my eye: S.E. Cupp. Now I don’t know if it was the popped collar or the glasses she sometime wears, but I think I found another Conservative Hotte.

Like I’ve written before, I don’t look at political views too much when it comes to my taste in beautiful women.

So S.E. Cupp, I don’t know what the S.E. stands for but I think you’re hot.