Football Monday on Tuesday: Season Predictions

Sorry this wasn't up yesterday, I was preoccupied with a few other things. Anywho, it's the last week of August and football season is just around the corner. We may have one game of preseason left, but that game is usually for the backups and third-stringers to fight to be on that list of 53. However, like everybody else, I'm anxious and excited. Also like everyone else, I'm going to make some predictions. Most of them will be based on what I have seen from each team so far, while others are mostly guesses.

For my predictions, I'll go through each division and predict how each team will finish, including playoff seeding. Then I'll predict individual awards such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, etc. Lastly, I'll predict the postseason from the wild card round to the Super Bowl. So, without further ado:

Commentary Friday: Let's Play Projects

If you are reading this blog, you may have found that I do let's plays on two different channels, SOS Hardline Productions and Fogarty Logic: The Legend of Rohn Storey. If you have not, check them out. 

Anyway, I am currently working on projects for both. For Fogarty Logic, BigFreakinJ and I are working on "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", and we've recorded up to a major plot point (take a guess, hint, hint), and recording will start up again in September. On the editing side, Episode 1 is in the works and will be out on Labor Day; I've also making a trailer for the project as well. So that's all I have on that front.

For SOS Hardline Productions, I am doing a solo project for Super Mario Bros 2 (All-Stars version). That project is recorded up to World 3, and I've taken a break since. You'll find out why when that episode is released. That's also why I haven't posted anything here until today. But, the show must go on. Hopefully, I don't rage out any further, but I'm only cautiously optimistic...(World 4...ice physics...). We'll have to see how everything goes.

I also have another solo project on hold, but it won't be started up until after Bros. 2 is finished. It will be a longer project, so more will need to be planned. I won't spoil the title here, but I'll give you a hint: it's a Wii game. That's all you get...for now;)

While that's all I have for now, I do have a few other projects planned. In addition to Rohn Storey and my solo runs, I am also planning some multiplayer ones as well. I'm not going to say anything else about them until I'm able to coordinate them with my fellow gaming buds.

That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless.

Family Lore Tuesday on Friday: "Kitchen Nightmare"

Sorry I was absent the last couple of days; I've been busy with work, recordings, and frustration during said recordings. Lots of frustration... I'll talk about that in a different post. Anyway, here's Tuesday's family lore.

My family is one that you could consider for the most part normal. That being said, we do have our share of funny stories and happenings. From siblings, to parents, and to grandparents and further back, we each have our own moments.

Today's lore is one of my own moments.

I'm considered a rather decent cook. But, that wasn't always the case. When I first cooked without help, it wasn't pretty. My mother had bought a pancake maker, an interesting appliance, but impractical. It was only able to make up to two pancakes at a time (whereas, a griddle, which I own, can make up to eight pancakes at once). Let's just say that I couldn't figure it out too well at first... Anywho, I made a mess;  some most of the pancakes were either burnt or all over the counter in the form of spilled batter. The result: Two edible pancakes. Only TWO! For three people, my mother, grandmother, and me. They were...amazed to say the least. That's not all, though; I then suggested sharing the two pancakes between the three of us. I think they were trying their hardest not to laugh while seeing that abomination, and after that suggestion, it became even more difficult. Afterwards, they helped out, or rather, took over, while I cleaned up.

I know it sounds boring, but it's all about the moment. Or rather, in this case the moments. This was my first time cooking and I made a ridiculous mess. Then, I suggested splitting up what food survived that comedy of errors. That's what its all about. That's how this event became family lore. On the plus side, I did get better at cooking afterward, albeit, I learned the hard way. So that's something to say the least.

Anyway, that's this weeks story. Until next time, God bless.

Nostalgia Monday: "Ed, Edd n' Eddy". Plus, Some Football Thoughts

Yes, yes, I know it's preseason and I should talk some football today; the only problem is, though, is that it's preseason. I don't watch all that much football until the regular season starts for a variety of reasons, the main one being that most preseason games are only locally televised. Because of this, I primarily watch the Packers, and I don't have much to say about them. They looked good against the Rams on Saturday; Eddie Lacy (Packers RB) looked very good for the offense, and the only surprise was on defense with Johnny Jolly (DT), who has returned to the NFL after a three-year absence, who made a few plays, including an interception. Those were the major pieces I picked up on. But, enough about that, let's talk about the Ed's.

For those who do not already know, "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" is a cartoon that premiered on Cartoon Network in 1999 and officially ended in 2009, with a couple of breaks in-between. While the show was a basic slapstick kids cartoon, it did have a more nostalgic feel to it than other cartoons back in the day. I don't know if it was the animation, which was wildly different than other cartoons at the time, with the squigly lines for the first few seasons along with cel-animation for the first four seasons; these alone already give it that nice nostalgic smell. But that's not all, the episodes of this series at least somewhat resemble those stories your parents and grandparents told you about their childhoods, albeit highly exaggerated; thus giving it the feel of the lives of children from those days, mainly the 1950's (as confirmed in an interview with series creator, Danny Antonucci). 

The show itself was episodic in nature, something very common in TV media, but there were some tie-ins with previous episodes, which does form a sort of continuity. Hell, this show also has (some) character development (actually, only one character, Edd, actually develops as a character over time), which is something you will almost never see with other cartoons of the time. The characters themselves, for the most part, though, fit a specific type and never really deviates. For example, Ed is almost (99% of the time) always the idiot of the group; Edd is the smart one, but very shy early on in the series, which does change over the course of the series; and Eddy, the greedy one, is always thinking up new ways to scam money from the other neighborhood kids. The other characters are also stuck in a specific character trope; you have the jock (Kevin, Eddy's next door neighbor and rival); the mean little sister (Sarah, Ed's sister) who is overprotective of her best friend, the so-called weakling (Jimmy, who has another aspect to his personality which was cultivated by Eddy); the girl next door (Nazz); the immigrant who is struggling to adapt to the local culture (Rolf); and the psycho not-really-girlfriends (the Kanker sisters- Lee, May, and Marie).

As I mentioned earlier, the plots are episodic, and usually follows one of two formulas- the first one being Ed and Edd minding their own business, Eddy comes along for an idea to make some money to buy jawbreakers, usually in the form of scamming the kids with some sort of weird contraption; a game; or service work. The scams almost always end in failure with the Eds (or at least Eddy) getting their comeuppance by either getting beaten up or captured by the Kankers. The second formula is the same as the first, the difference being that the kids themselves are minding their own business and then the Eds come along with a scam, which ends badly for them, something else comes along, Eddy comes up with some (usually terrible) ideas to obtain that something else (or in some cases, just finding different ways to scam), they also end badly and comeuppance occurs again. It's a rather basic formula, but is still (at least somewhat) funny in its own way.

One thing i did not notice as a kid that I did notice in rewatching "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" was subtlety; a child probably would not understand right away, but an adult would likely catch the joke rather quickly. One very subtle example is shown in the second episode (Nagged to Ed), where Eddy is messing around with the protective gear and appears to be flipping the bird. There is also a very obvious joke in the last episode of the TV series, "Look Before You Ed", in which Eddy tells Edd toward the end of the episode, "What's winter without a snow job, eh, Sockhead?" Take the "s" out of "snow" and replace it with another letter and that's the joke, and Edd's reaction is the punchline. There are other examples, but too many to list.

If I had to pick a favorite episode, it would be Season 2's "One+One=Ed". This one starts out as a general knowledge quest, but turns into breaking every physical law in not only real life (they're broken anyway, but that's beside the point) but the show's own parameters involving physics. The episode does end in traditional fashion, this time Ed carries a sewer pipe that Edd and Eddy fell into while being pursued by Sarah. It's the one episode in this entire series where I (and probably others) have asked, "How the hell can this get any weirder than it already is?" Then it becomes even weirder. This is also the one episode where I had to think about what was going to happen next and that fact is why this one is a favorite.

There is one last thing to talk about. Each episode title of "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" incorporates the word "Ed" into it, be it a phrase (e.g. "Gimme Gimme Never Ed" changed from 'gimme gimme never gets'), movies ("O-Ed Eleven" from Oceans Eleven), and even math problems (the aforementioned "One+One=Ed"). The way it was done for every episode was very interesting to me back when I first saw the show and even now.

With all that being said, "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" is/was one of Cartoon Networks finest programs. It is something that you can sit back, turn your brain off and enjoy the show and the nostalgia that comes along with it. Plus, if you can see the subtlety, that makes watching the Eds that much funnier.

Until next time, God bless.

Housekeeping: New Blogging Schedule

Alright, I know I haven't been posting as consistently as I said I would be, but I have been busier than expected. So, in order to hold my feet to the fire, I've decided to set up a schedule that I will try my best to adhere to. Will I be perfect in sticking with it? Honestly, no. I have other projects that I am working on (Fogarty Logic and SOS Hardline Productions on YouTube) and other things going on in general. Anywho, before I bore you with the details, here's the plan:

• Mondays: During football season, Packers and/or NFL commentary. Outside (and maybe during) football season, Nostalgia Reviews (normal reviews but from a slightly different perspective)
• Tuesdays: Odd Family Stories- My family has a ton of odd, yet funny, stories from their lives that have become family lore.
• Wednesdays: Normal SOS Review.
• Thursdays: Wild Card Day- If and when something comes to mind that I want to write about, I'll write it.
• Fridays: SOS Commentary- Mainly centered around video games. Mostly regarding my/our let's play projects; progress report on current work and thoughts on older ones.

I don't have anything planned for weekends. Nothing will be posted then unless I need to make up something missed from earlier in the week.

Anyway, that is the plan, and I'll do my best to stick with it.

Until next time, God bless.

Also, some School Rumble love. :)

Packers Training Camp and Family Night Thoughts

Alright, training camp is here, another offseason has passed, and injuries are popping up; so let's talk about it. As a football fan who lives in Wisconsin, most football news I catch regularly is about the Packers, they are also my favorite team, which means that I'll be talking about them more than any other team at least until the regular season starts. 

Packers Family Night was held last Saturday, and there were not any big surprises that occurred during the scrimmage. That does not mean, though, that nothing of interest occurred. The big things I noticed are: 

• Mason Crosby's kicking: He made three of eight field goals. 3 of 8! That's 37.5%. Six of those field goals were  part of a competition with Giorgio Tavecchio, who is competing for Crosby's job; Crosby made two out of those six, Tavecchio made five of his six, six of seven overall. That does not look good for Crosby. He has performed well in prior practices until Saturday, including a perfect five for five on Thursday. The good news for Crosby is that it's still early in camp, so anything is possible, but if this keeps up, I would be surprised if he is still the kicker come week 1.
• Aaron Rodgers is still Aaron Rodgers so far. But, who his backup will be is far less certain. As it stands now, Graham Harrell is the #2 QB. He does have competition in B.J. Coleman, though. I thought that Harrell looked like a decent backup, he led an 80-yard drive, including 69 yards passing, with five consecutive completions. Other than that drive, nothing else really stood out for him. For Coleman, it was a lot different. He did not play very well, throwing two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. On another drive, he led the offense to the 1-yard line and then threw four straight incompletions, the last one knocked away. Again, it's still early, so we'll see what happens.
• Rookie running back Eddie Lacy was very impressive. He had notable runs of 8, 16, and 19 yards among some others. He is still progressing, but I like his potential. I would like to see how he does against other teams. If he does well, then the Packers would have found their answer at running back, which has been lacking horribly for several years.
• On the defensive side of the ball, they seemed solid, but I did not see anything to convince me that they're better than last year, so we'll have to see how preseason plays out for them before I weigh in. That being said, there were a couple of highlights from a couple of defensive backs, James Nixon and Brandon Smith. Each one had an interception, and Nixon returned his for a touchdown. On the flipside for them, an interception or two does not necessarily mean much at this point, but it is a good start.

As of this writing, a couple of events have occurred. Brian Bulaga, starting left tackle, tore his ACL during Saturday's scrimmage, effectively ending his season. His injury worries me greatly, especially since the line was shifted around to (hopefully) provide Rodgers better protection than last year. Hopefully, someone else steps up and does well, maybe Marshall Newhouse, who was moved to right tackle, but may go back to the left side; or maybe even a certain first round pick from 2011 who has dealt with injury, Derrick Sherrod. This is definitely an area to be concerned about, but we'll see how this progresses.

Lastly, the Packers signed free agent QB Vince Young as a backup. I am not sure what to make of this currently. He might end up as the #2 QB, but it also seems likely that he could be used in practice to (potentially) replicate other NFL quarterbacks, namely Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, and Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins; the two teams the Packers open up the regular season against.

Overall, as I've been saying, it is way too early to say much of anything since it is early August yet. As we get closer to the end of the preseason, I'll be able to say more, then. I am very excited to see what happens this season, not just with the Packers, but the rest of the league as well!

Until next time, God bless!