Most Anticipated Albums and Movies of 2011

We are now seven weeks into 2011 and there hasn't been a single film released that I've had any interest in seeing. Looking at the top films at the box office over the last couple of weeks has been like some sort of a sick joke and the top five films for this weekend had an average score of 32% on RottenTomatoes.com. Before the Mogwai and Radiohead albums that were released this week, things weren't much better on the music front. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Arcade Fire win Album of the Year at the Grammy's last week for The Suburbs. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and there are several albums and films that I'm eagerly anticipating. Here are the 11 albums and 11 films I'm most looking forward to in 2011:


Albums:


11) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light (April 12th)
10) Friendly Fires - Pala (No Release Date)
9) Bon Iver - TBA (No Release Date)
8) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (May 3rd)
7) This Will Destroy You - Tunnel Blanket (No Release Date)
6) Moving Mountains - TBA (No Release Date)
5) The Strokes - Angles (March 18th)
4) The Antlers - TBA (No Release Date)
3) M83 - TBA (No Release Date)
2) Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (April 26th)
1) Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math (May 10th)


Films:

11) Now (September 30th)

10) The Muppets (December 25th)

9) Your Highness (April 8th)

8) Red State (October 19th)

7) The Hangover Part II (May 26th)
6) Immortals (November 11th)
5) Sucker Punch (March 25th)
4) The Tree of Life (May 27th)
3) Moneyball (September 23rd)

2) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (December 21st)

1) Super 8 (June 10th)

The Senior Circuit

I should clarify before I start that I'm biased when it comes to discussions between the two leagues in Major League Baseball. I grew up as a fan of the Dodgers and even though I wasn't born until almost ten years after Major Baseball Rule 6.10 (the designated hitter rule) was enacted, I believe myself to be a baseball purist who enjoys the game the way it has been played for over 100 years.

Myself at age 2

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs more commonly referred to as just the National League, the NL or the Senior Circuit is the oldest existing professional sports league in the world. Founded in 1876, the National League started with eight teams and two of them, the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, are still playing today (however, they were using different names).


There are just a few minor differences between the Major League Baseball leagues; the American League and the National League. The most significant difference is the aforementioned designated hitter rule.


Now I will admit that there is a difference between fantasy baseball and the actual game itself but when reviewing the for quality of players that is one of the easiest ways to research the players. Of the top 40 starting pitchers ranked by Yahoo! Sports, 25 of them are from the National League and 8 of the top 10 pitchers are in the senior circuit. Of the last five American League Cy Young award winners, three of them are now pitching in the National League.

Zack Greinke in the Brewers clubhouse

Over this last offseason, there have been several transactions to improve the pitching in the National League: Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers and fellow Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee jumped ship from the Texas Rangers to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cliff Lee reintroduced as a Phillie by GM Ruben Amaro

Last season I offered to bet anyone who would take me on that Roy Halladay would win the Cy Young and that the National League would win the All-Star Game. As it turned out, I won both bets and was able to profit well over $100. Not only did the National League win the All-Star Game but the NL team also won the World Series. This year will likely be no different as the balance of power has swung decidedly in favor on the National League and unless Albert Pujols takes his talents to Anaheim next year we can expect the same for many years to come.

A Case for Twitter

I don't write this for the general public who has already embraced twitter as evidenced by the nearly 200 million users. I'm trying to reach out to my friends and family members who say "I don't care what anyone had to eat for lunch" as an example of some mundane tweets they believe to be commonplace. Well guess what, the postings I see on Facebook are much more boring and mundane than almost anything I read on twitter. If someone you are following starts sending out tweets about being stuck in traffic or bored at work, you can simply unfollow that person.

Kelly Oxford with her baby

Twitter is a true democracy in which if you have interesting things to say or share, then people will start to follow you. A perfect example is the Canadian stay-at-mom Kelly Oxford who now has thousands of followers. She had no background as a professional comedian but her constantly hilarious tweets gained her significant notoriety and now over 150,000 people are waiting for her latest quip. If Kelly or anyone else posts something humorous, profound or otherwise worth sharing, you can simply 'retweet' the message to your followers which helps people like Kelly gain their following.


Twitter has recently made Korean its seventh language as it continues to grow internationally. During the recent civil unrest in Egypt there were reporters and protesters who were communicating on the ground with twitter. At the end of the Super Bowl earlier this month there was an estimated 4,000 tweets per second.

CBS Promo with William Shatner

There are many different uses for twitter. You might be aware of the CBS sitcom $h*! My Dad Says which was spawned from a twitter account. In 2009, Justin Halpern had moved back to San Diego, CA to live with his parents after failing to find success as a screenwriter. He started a twitter account (@shitmydadsays) and began documenting advice, words of wisdom and jokes that his father would tell him. The twitter account took off and in less than four months he had agreed to a book deal and began developing the sitcom. His twitter account now has over 2,000,000 followers.


I personally have two accounts. I have my standard account (@nolan82) in which I post random statements, facts, jokes and observations but I also have another account (@LOLmisused) which is strictly used to mock those who misuse the acronym 'LOL'.


The number of different people, businesses, websites and fake accounts you can follow are endless. As for myself, I mostly follow for friends, comedy, sports, music, movies and news. But there are people who are tweeting about technology, politics, fashion, religion and just about any other interest you might have.


Here is a quick list of 25 random tweets I saved as favorites:

• What was the story, medically, with Sloth? - @robdelaney

• Craigslist Killer movie? I'll wait till it comes out on DVD, then wait a little longer and buy it on Craigslist, bring it all full circle. - @SklarBrothers

• I must admit after all these years I'm hurt that Hank Williams Jr still questions my preparedness for football #MNF - @EricStangel 

• There are 1,428 people living in the United States with the name Edward Edwards. In a related story, there are 2,856 extremely lazy parents. - @nolan82

• I heard you can get paid to tweet. Great news. You know what else is great news? "Old Dogs" is now available on DVD. - @KindlerAndy

• As a lifelong Patriots fan, I hope they win, and as a compulsive gambler, I hope it's by less than 3 1/2 points. - @ConanOBrien

• Just saw a cop with a face tattoo which means somewhere there is a dead naked cop. - @seanoconnz

• "post office" describes steve carrell's past and future. - @thegooddavis

• Don't you wish there was a "Previously on..." recap segment for when you run into some people? - @JimGaffigan

• If I'm in a hurry, slow drivers are idiots. If I'm taking my time, fast drivers are assholes. - @rainnwilson

• The Tea Party is to politics, what 'Jersey Shore' is to television. - @kellyoxford

• I bet a lot of people who partied at Studio 54 are now 54 and living in a studio apartment. - @morgan_murphy

• I have such low self-esteem that I'm not the main character in my diary. - @jordanrubin

• Don't know why we have a national holiday celebrating Chris Columbus. Sure, I like Home Alone & Mrs. Doubtfire but c'mon it's a little much - @paulscheer

• Going to open up a self serving Vietnamese restaurant called "Go Pho Yourself" #phokingawesome - @healthbledger

• If you have a parrot and you don't teach it to say, "Help, they've turned me into a parrot", you are wasting everybody's time. - @juliasegal

• Eating sushi alone and the couple next to me insists on feeding one another. Chef, I'll have the eye roll. - @klickitatstreet

• The hours Dolly Parton's boss expected her to keep were really quite reasonable. - @stephenfalk

• I bought a piece of furniture last night, but when I woke up it was gone. Who knew they made one night stands!? - @joselynhughes

• Just finished list of things I want to start to accomplish but then lose interest in and quit before I die. I call it my "Fuck-It" list. @mlynchtweets

• Fox's John Gibson is discussing whether Beck/Palin 2012 or Palin/Beck 2012 is the stronger ticket. #WellPlayedMayans - @clydetombaugh

• I wonder if Southern Belles say "I do declare" a lot when they're doing their taxes. - @thesulk

• If you've seen one child on a leash, you've seen the mall. - @TheJamieLee

• Just visited my old stomping grounds, where I used to rhythmically dance atop coffee beans. - @douggpound

• Larry King's wife is accusing him of cheating on her. "Yeah, get in line," said Death. - @Nicole1067

If you didn't laugh out loud at least a few times reading those, then I think you're beyond help but if you're looking to keep yourself entertained while staying apprised of current events, then twitter is probably for you.