VeBusteraptor

By The Fillerbuster

The Cast 062818

INTRODUCTION:

Alert:

Westworld:  NO spoilers-promise

Jurassic World:  Fallen Kingdom:  Spoilers, and I will give you a heads up, but I am pretty sure you know that the plot is about dinosaurs staying alive and killing some people in the meantime.

Anyway, I have 90 minutes now.  No pre-writing done.  Mild organization of ideas but nothing else (once again).  Seinfeld on in background.  The wife is at some taco fest over at Stapleton.  I feel the need…the need for speed.

Let’s turn and burn.

EVERGREEN:

• I have said this before but will say it again since it is on my mind. I am firmly against super teams and joining up with other stars to make it impossible for the rest of the NBA.  I hate it.  But, I have done a 180 presently.  Now that KD has won two straight against LeBron, I say let’s do it.  The guy who always wished players would just stay on their chosen or draft team now wants madness.  I want the other players to beat the contract rules and wreck the Evil Empire.  So, whereas I typically would be SO over all of the articles on Kawhi, LeBron, Paul George, DeMarcus, etc., I am reading all of them…and enjoying them.  Let’s figure out a way, guys.  Play by NBA rules, text your buddies to take less money, find loopholes in the system, and take down KD and friends.  Whether it be a ground up formation in L.A., a plus one in Houston, or a plus one or two in Philly, do it.  As the trainer in Rocky IV said, “You know what you gotta do.  Do it.  DO it.”
• I LOVE the World Cup tourney format. Love it.  I love the groups, the point system, and just am partially against the whole fair play tie breaker.  Three points for a win, one point for a draw. And then they place you based on your 1 or 2 finish in strategic brackets. They do it in the fairest way possible, and I think more tournaments should operate like they do.   They know what they are doing.  It is the World’s game.  Now, for the interesting part.  THIS year, the way the cards fell, it did NOT work perfectly.  The balance is WAY off.  By chance, I get it.  But, still.  England’s loss today was brilliant.  I didn’t see the match, but who WOULDN’T want to get second place in the group and get “demoted” to where they are at?  Who?  In the top, Brazil and Mexico, Portugal and Uruguay, and France and Argentina play each other…in the FIRST games.  That is nuts.  You would not be too crazy in saying before the World Cup started that ANY of those teams could WIN it.  England gets all of the pretenders in the bottom half.  They are loving it.  Shame in a way as the final might be a Villanova vs. Michigan replay.  But, it sure makes for exciting early games.  For the record, I like Spain over England in the bottom half.  I like France over Belgium in the top half, although it is a gauntlet to say the least and a crap shoot to pick one of those teams.  I will take Spain over France.  It is kind of like the NBA this season.  The top is the Western Conference and the bottom is the Eastern Conference.  Spain is Cleveland and England is Boston.  But, no Warriors really in the top.  Just a bunch of Rockets.
• The NBA MVP was decided and this year, and the last 5 years, reminds me of when Shaq was in his prime. Shaq put up gaudy numbers and was unstoppable.  LeBron is the greatest player of our generation and maybe all time (not-MJ).  Anyway, Harden won the MVP even while LeBron actually put up better numbers in the non-points columns.  Anyway, here is my point.  Just like Shaq SHOULD have won like 8 MVP’s instead of going with whoever had the best year of the other guys, LeBron SHOULD win it pretty much every year.  When we talk about most valuable player, we all know who it is, but want fresh, new flavors and a rotation of guys who were stellar for a year or two.  Not discounting Harden or his stats at ALL.  Love Harden.  And this year isn’t the best example (as 30 pts a game is pretty darn good) but it reminded of this point.  LeBron IS the MVP every year and the votes just get distributed to others.  Kyrie might be wrong about the earth being flat, but he was right saying what he said today about LeBron being the more real MVP.

WEEK-FISH:

• It will take a while to perfect the system, but glad Serena at least got a number by her name for the US Open after her pregnancy.
• RJ Barrett and Nassir Little. Don’t know their names?  You will.  Duke and Carolina.  Dudes are STUDS.  Why am I telling you this?  Because the NBA Draft is over, so let’s starting mocking up the NEXT one.  I love mock drafts.
• Edwin Jackson is going to be a HELL of a trivia question someday. THIRTEEN teams is a lot to be on in MLB, and the dude is on that number as of this past week.
• I felt like whenever Egypt laced up during the World Cup, they were the Cleveland Cavaliers. And the other team was the Warriors.  If Salah scored the equivalent of 50 points, they might win.  If he only scored 30, they would probably lose.
• Very quietly, the Cavs picked up undrafted Billy Preston. I LOVE this pickup.  Preston was an All-American recruit to KU and never got going in college.  He has a VERY high ceiling and I love the pickup as a chance for summer league tryouts in full.
• Some other World Cup notes:
  • I said I love the World Cup format, but it was painful in seeing Japan advance on fair play tiebreaker points…having the least amount of yellow cards.
  • England’s draw: already discussed.
  • For those who aren’t paying attention because the U.S. isn’t in it, pay attention. The foreplay is over.  The round of 16 is where it is AT in World Cup play.  Take the maximum amount of passion you can dream about, and put some guys out there to represent your country in a one game take all format.  Awesome stuff.
  • The Argentina goal in the 87^th minute by a guy who had THREE international goals ALL TIME is what this tournament is all about. Crazy stuff.
  • And sometimes the format does eliminate contenders. Germany is out,and was my pick before this began to repeat.  They are OUT.  What is more nuts is that they had everything in THEIR power to advance.  All they had to do was beat a beatable team in the last game with Mexico losing.  Now, true, the games happened at the same time so they didn’t KNOW this, but handle your stuff if you are the defending champ.
  • I think the Mexico-Brazil match will be one of the most fun matches we have seen in a non-friendly in quite some time.
  • Sounded like a perfect, normal day. World Cup game.    Diego Maradona in attendance.  Middle fingers.  Paramedics.
• When Julius Edelman announced his “vigorous appeal,” anyone else immediately have a flashback to A Few Good Men when Demi Moore pulled a “strenuous objection??” No?  Just me?  Yeah I know I have issues.
• With DC getting Wayne Rooney, is the MLS just a dumping ground these days for international stars just mildly past their prime? Beckham, Ibrahimovic, and now Rooney just to name a couple of the big ones.
• I still can’t believe that the NBA Awards Coach of the Year immediately got canned during the playoffs after getting swept by the Cavs. It is not like Casey was coaching a team who had rings galore, and then they wouldn’t tolerate a playoff loss.  Should have let him stay.
• Well, as a Steelers fan losing hope on the Bell contract issue, I guess I should be glad when A) Bell proactive says something and B) it is a good thing and portrays hope of him not being the future RB version of Kirk Cousins.
• Paul George will opt out, but don’t think for a second he won’t consider still playing with Russell and The Black Hole one more year. If he finds the perfect situation though, he will bolt of course.
• The Black Hole is Melo because he doesn’t pass, and he will still make $27.9 million this year after averaging 16.2 and carrying less than a 13 PER around for the year.
• I think the Clippers helped themselves more than the Wizards with the Rivers-Gortat trade (how many guards does Washington NEED?), but at least we can stop with the playing time/dad jokes.
• I can’t believe how Magic Johnson set himself up. He somehow might get a star finally in LaLa Land, but also has talks about EVERYONE coming there.
• ESPN is pimping their Body Issue, which coincidentally makes their home page a lot more like si.com’s does ALL THE TIME.
• So, what life changing decision did Matt Kemp suddenly make to become relatively worth his contract finally? .306, 13, 47 is almost…good.

POP CULTURE/FILLERBUSTER THOUGHTS:

• In case you are thinking about other things to do as a career and are outdoors-y and mildly athletic, getting a tree removed from your lawn on a day’s notice costs $1500…I now know that fact. No wonder the guy was so pleasant.
• The housewarming party was fine (without the tree). It took me from 6am to 4pm that day to get the house even presentable.  Polite party to start out, and somehow went into the wee hours of the morning.  What I did realize was this.  I am a heck of a cornhole player, considering I play about once every year or so.  Three games, three wins, and about four toppings on a holed bag with pressure on.  I have decided though that I struggle when you have to get exactly 21 or go back in score.  It is like trying to miss a free throw for me.
• Our buddy, Nick, who stayed with us passed out for most of the party, but rallied at about 2am.
• I am not a cook. I had to grill for people.  Barring my flashbacks to fraternity days when I had to cook for about 50 people, I got it done.  Well, until a guy wandered up and started asking tough guy grilling questions and talking seasoning, juices, and time on grill, I acted dumb on purpose, and he took over voluntarily and I got to sit around again.  Smart of me.  He has no idea I played him as a way to get out of cooking.  Well, I didn’t play him.  I was just very receptive to someone coming up and A) thinking they were better than me and B) wanting to take over.
• Widespread Panic was great also. My buddy, Rob, and I went to “the tree” by the lower south lot again, and it rained and hailed.  So, whereas the last few times it was simply a home base for us, we used it for rain cover this time.  The songs?  Great show as always (all 100 of them shows for me).  I will say that they didn’t play any of my money songs this time around, but Ain’t Life Grand MADE my concert, and I jammed out accordingly.  Here is a listen.  Live version is always ten times more ridiculous…you know…because they are a jam band.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5PLuaymFs
• The Ain’t No Sunshine cover wasn’t too shabby either.
• And closing with Tom Petty was awesome of course. They always time covers brilliantly.
• No parking lot t-shirts these days. Man, I have about 40 of those things and miss the non-corporate obvious ones.  I like shirts that don’t even say Panic on them and people who notice my shirt just KNOW.
• After three shows in four weeks, I think I am all Red Rocks’d out for a bit.
• We are heading to the Springs this weekend for a work won prize for something or another I did last year. Anyway, bookending it with rafting before the water gets low, and doing that monster zipline down there.  I don’t prefer heights, but I also don’t let it stop me from doing anything ever either.  Let’s just say the kids might tease me while I am up there ready to go, but I still do it dammit.
• Let’s hope me ziplining adventure goes better than this person’s adventure up high. https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/parasail-crash-mexico-trnd/index.html
• We bookend all trips. I am going to see my parents in Vero Beach in two weeks.  Already on the calendar is Disney, beach hotel, drive to Key West, and stay in South Beach.  Water is involved, so I am excited.  And my parents of course!
• Sometimes we get a little carried away. We research EVERYTHING and look at all reviews.  We are staying in Miami for ONE night and the process led to me finally just say “just get something with a bed.”  It took like a full day to decide on just that.  If you care, we ended up with The Shore Club at a discounted rate.  Place looks dope.
• The Switch was just on for Seinfeld. Still one of my favorites.
• I don’t care about what you are supposed to do as a man. I always pick some silly “girl song’ to be addicted to for a month or two.  I jammed out to The Middle on my ride home from work tonight.  Love that song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj6Y6JCu-l4
• I have no idea how this song is suddenly being played all the time given it was released in fall of last year, but I love the song Sit Next To Me by Foster the People. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKLVpDTZOPQ
• I love Arnold calling out (as “The Terminator”) Trump on the coal issue. Not sure if people who didn’t love his 80’s movies love him like I do, but he is so awesome.  To think someone could do the bad movie Commando (but I still love it) and still be the governor of the largest state is madness.
• I seriously think I could Cheerios dry or in milk all the time. I once ate Cheerios in such bulk dry as a kid that I got one stuck up my nose.  I missed the WHOLE Inspector Gadget episode that day.  Caught the rest of He-Man though.
• Work thing. I think taking food into calls and meetings is fine, but someone brought in broccoli today into a very small conference room for an hour call, and I have to draw the line on that one.
• The KKFN Dream Job winner (sports radio station contest) was announced yesterday. Made me sad.  I was moving and didn’t audition.  I want to be a writer more anyway, but would have loved time to prep and show my chops.  I entered the Dream Job for ESPN years ago, and almost won it (top three and they didn’t take anyone from Denver).
• Glad to know our kids are getting raised right. Fisher Price has released a new toy called “My First Prison Camp” with a lifesize container for the kids.
• I watched my first Creed II preview. Drago’s SON??????????  What?  I didn’t know that I don’t think.  You can call it cheesy.  I call it awesome.
• Plan on knocking out Incredibles this weekend before we head to Springs on Saturday. Excited, and plan for some word play with Incredibles and blog or Fillerbuster or something.
• It is hot in Denver. Every time I walked out and felt uncomfortable, I just remembered we have great weather because we have no humidity nor bugs and just deal with he beautiful dry heat.
• I am responsible for getting cargo shorts ok’d at work at my job. Thing is, I only wear them on Fridays for some reason.  Why?  The reckoning I think.  I just wanted it to be ok.  And then oddly, I wear them less.  Kind of like Val Kilmer said in Tombstone:  “Make no mistake. It’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckoning.”
• I love basketball. I loved the Uncle Drew commercials.  But, that movie has to SUCK and there is no way I am partaking on any level.
• Westworld: No spoilers.  I need to make this quick as I am off my 90 minute pace.
  • The finale was satisfactory. Some revelations, some truths, and lots of deaths.  It did its job, as long as you hear me when I say it hasn’t exactly been doing its job all season.
  • If I hypothetically could follow the plot in more than some places, then I wouldn’t say this. Watching Westworld is mentally exhausting, and takes too much thought and logic to truly enjoy.  I might quit (I won’t-just trying to sound like it).  I feel like someone is making me watch the movie Inception over and over again.
  • The writers REALLY think they are clever with all of the time frame confusion.
  • I get that a lot of them are robots, but they made it through all of season 1 and 2 without truly getting me attached to one single character. That is bad.  Therefore, I just say kill them all!
  • Well, no spoilers, but I will say this. Lots of job openings (allegedly) on that cast after this season.
  • I don’t watch the show because I enjoy it. I watch it because I want closure on SOME stuff and understand things, and am simply a little curious.
  • I am not saying I split atoms here in Denver, and not saying I am wicked smart, but HOW are some of the masses following this show? I watch a show and immediately have to read a recap to understand what happened fully.  Glad I don’t drink these days, as GOT sometimes got me confused enough.
  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom:  Mild spoilers, but I think you know what will happen in the movie..  My quick thoughts:
  • They created a new super-dinosaur, but I counted the people this thing killed. I think it was five.  Not exactly gaining my respect.  And it couldn’t catch the kid for like 20 minutes in a house.
  • So, they mixed a raptor with a t-rex in the last one and got a new dinosaur. Now they made the new one by mixing a raptor and that new dinosaur.  So, the new one is basically the same thing with more raptor.  Got it.
  • At the end of the movie, when the dinosaurs are going out into the world, Blue and Chris Pratt have a tender goodbye moment. I think the movie would have been better if Blue would have bitten off his hand.    Whole hand just bitten OFF!  It would be a trivial moment foreshadowing the whole next movie and how dinosaurs are a more dominant species.  Brilliant.
  • By the way, about these raptors. It was pretty courageous to release a movie in 1993 where a dinosaur is recreated that is about triple the size if actually was, and without feathers.  It is a whole OTHER thing to, throughout ALL the movie releases, CONTINUE to make this oversized, incorrect dinosaur the FOCUS of the movie.    We will evidently watch anything.
  • The raptor was basically just a dinosaur turkey.
  • I wish the Jurassic World plot would have killed off some of the main characters like Westworld. We need a refresh…if any big names will do it.  No, Vince Vaughn.  You had your shot.
  • The movie sucked. Plot was bad, realness was bad, acting was not great, and the ending might as well put a big billboard up that said “YES.  We are doing at least one more, you fools.”
  • The effects were good though. Dinosaurs on the big screen ARE cool.
  • Didn’t they, during the previous movies, just prove they can make a dinosaur whenever they want? Not sure they need to SHIP these things.  Just grab their DNA or whatever.
  • The mansion in the movie has the BIGGEST basement you have ever dreamed of. Think of a dinosaur jail.
  • By the way, a dumb waiter door can stop the most dangerous dinosaur ever. Just a heads up if you are ever in that situation.

LINKS TO SAVE YOU TIME IN LIFE:

I think I am about done.  And let’s enjoy a moment together as today Sammy Sosa said once again he never did PED’s.  God Bless that guy-he is consistent in his stupidity.

Before I go, I Love this random tweet from the week.  Think about it.  It is crazy.  Or, maybe we just try and frame up things best we can to pick on Tim Tebow?

Eric Rosenthal‏ @ericsports Jun 26

More

Tim Tebow was teammates with Cam Newton, Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez, and Janoris Jenkins at Florida

That’s it for today, folks.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.  I am out of pocket this weekend and will chat with you next week sometime.  Peace.

The theme?  Yeah.  I will just combine me with the old new dinosuar and the new dinosaur.  T-Rex, Raptor, more Raptor, and me.  I can kick through a dumb waiter, I bet you.

And, in case you care, here is what I threw back in the pond: