Strangely, this post is exactly the same as September 2 of last year.
I will be doing a FanDuel league, if I can get enough people to join. This year they have made it easier, and we have “A League of Our Own”, which you can join right here:
https://www.fanduel.com/leagues/9683/invites/b38588a16382bc389fb196f23f32539ee89b6c67?cnl=la
If you haven’t signed up for FanDuel yet, please use the referral code: iAmAviG so that we both get some kickback from them đŸ™‚
Family Guy’s video game was released in April 2014, and for the last 29 months I’ve played one of the better “time-based” games.
The premise is simple: The evil Chicken has worked behind the scenes to cancel the Family Guy show and destroy Quahog. But with our help we can rebuild the town to the vibrant city it once was.
The game has expanded immensely, with many themed events in the past including Star Trek, Halloween, Comic-Con and most recently the Justice League. Throughout all of
Throughout all of these there have been almost 150 characters unlockable in the game, and if you can think of someone who has appeared in the show, they’ve likely popped up somewhere in the game. Ranging from our Griffins and friends to ghosts of dead characters and the Kool Aid Man, to cameos from American Dad and The Cleveland Show.
While you can “pay-to-play” and speed up gameplay (or unlock premium characters), it is entirely possible to play (and enjoy) this game without ever spending a dime.
This game is a solid 9 out of 10.
The 2016 iTunes Festival is continuing last year’s theme of a 10-day affair, instead of the full month of festivities that it used to feature.
The Roundhouse in London will once again be the site (for the 10th straight year) Â and can be watched on Apple Music.
Some highlights from previous years include Ellie Goulding last year:
and Paramore back in 2013
This year’s lineup features a lot of heavy hitters, and runs from Sunday, September 18 thru Friday the 30th:
This will be the first appearances for Britney, Michael Buble, Robbie Williams and Chance the Rapper.
It’ll also be the 2nd time headlining for Alicia Keys and Elton John, while The 1975 and OneRepublic have both appeared once before as “Lesser Names” on their previous days of performing (to Bastille and Matchbox Twenty, respectively).
Bastille is making their 3rd appearance, their 2nd headliner, with the third time sharing the day with Emeli Sande and Gabrielle Aplin.
Calvin Harris is on his fourth time around (and third time headlining), after one sub-performance to David Guetta.
Northlandz, in Flemington NJ, is a model train museum, with over 8 miles of track and great “scenic views” for the trains to run through.
The location also features hundreds of dolls from around the world, a 94-room dollhouse, and all different types of pianos/organs.
These trains were going across huge bridges, through mountains and rolling through towns. While enjoying the trains themselves it was equally impressive to see the amount of work that must have gone into putting this all together.
Behind the building they have a miniature train ride, that roams the backyard, including a train tunnel and some RailRoad Crossings. We got lucky and actually had deer along the tracks as well.
One complaint from my trip there: The place was filthy.
I understand that the vast track areas might be hard to keep from getting dusty, but the areas where people walk aren’t that large. The place had cobwebs, dead spiders in displays, and the bathrooms were downright filthy.
The museum experience was a 9 out of 10, the cleanliness was a 3 out of 10.
Fortunately for them, the experience is worth a lot more, and overall the Northlandz experience gets a 7.5 out of 10.
Prices and hours can be found here, and you could read a blurb on them in the current issue of Wired Magazine.
We’ve all watched many of them by now, but the focus of late night television needs to be on James Corden.
Corden, when he took over The Late Late Show knew that the way to grab market share was to make videos and segments that can be easily digested online and spread virally.
And he hit the golden jackpot with Carpool Karaoke.
Simply driving around town, with celebrities and artists in the car with James, singing their songs (and other popular songs), just like us regular people do on a daily basis.
Last night he had Britney (b**ch) on the eve of her new album release Glory, and they sang some of her old-time hits mixed with some new songs.
Previous great hits included Lin-Manuel Miranda (from Hamilton), Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Adele.
There has been recent talk of a spin-off show based on this segment (with a still unknown host), but if Lip Sync Battle taught us anything, doing this too frequently (and with B and C level celebrities) will cause it to burn out…let’s hope it doesn’t đŸ™‚
Monday is the official kickoff to the 2016 US Open, the 4th and Final Tennis Major of the year, held annually right here in NYC.
Tennis play begins this week with the qualifying rounds. Tens of players are trying to get into the remaining slots and while many of them may never have their names printed in a newspaper some winners have emerged from these rounds to take previous titles.
Admission is free all week, before the festivities next week, which include lots of free giveaways from the event sponsors, just by visiting their booths on the grounds or heading to their buildings for the week.
One of those examples is Chase Bank, who has a lounge open for RSVP’d card holders, where they can pick up refreshments in between matches.
The grounds are a great place to explore before/after you watch some tennis, with some great history points showing the greatest players in the sport, as well as lists of all previous winners.
This year also debuts the new retractable roof on Arthur Ashe stadium and center court for the tournament.
Another perk of this early week of play is that a lot of the matches are happening on the side courts, allowing you to get up close and personal with the players and the matches.
If you go to the US Open in the next few weeks be sure to let me know who you get to see!
A few years ago I had the pleasure of watching my favorite player Maria Sharapova face off against Victoria Azarenka.
And remember what Arthur Ashe said:
From what we get, we can make a living; What we give, however, makes a life.
Madden 17 came out yesterday, but after playing it for the weekend on Xbox One (with EA Access) I’m gonna say it’s better than last years and give it an 8.5 out of 10.
PRESENTATION
The graphics package this year is again top notch, and EA is about to launch a new engine with Frostbite for FIFA, that may kick Madden to an even higher level in upcoming seasons.
Announcing has taken an interesting turn this year, with a new combination of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis. Gaudin is the current announcer at Georgia Tech and does the play-by-play, while Davis is the NFL analyst currently working for FOX Sports and the NFL Network.
On-screen statistics have stepped up again, with a live ticker on the bottom of other scores in the league, including “Upset Alerts” and “Rival Games” being highlighted (so that you can see how your playoff spots are holding as you roll through Week 17).
MODES
They have added a new interesting way to play through Franchise mode, and it makes it really enjoyable, especially if you like to play some football but also run team operations over a long term (and long seasons slow that process down).
When you go into a game you can choose to play it straightforward like a typical game, or go with one of three new modes
GAMEPLAY
Special Teams defense has been boiled down a little clearer allowing better  chances at blocking kicks/punts.
The speed of the game also feels a lot faster from when the ball is snapped until the end of the play, but not too fast that you feel rushed and not able to see your options opening up on the field.
COIN TOSS
I was picky on this over the last few years, after they eliminated it a few years ago, but while it has disappeared from the game itself, you can still select in the settings for your “default choice” should you win the toss…which takes out conditions like “wind” or “opponent” from making your decision.
You do get to decide if your team wins the Overtime toss, as that one obviously plays a larger role in the game.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I have yet to run into any of the issues that I came across in Madden 16, and documented here, and hopefully the game will keep up the stellar play!
75 years ago Steve Rodgers was introduced as Captain America, and the Brooklyn-born hero has been given the homecoming he deserves.
Marvel built a 13′ tall statue and debuted it at San Diego Comic-Con before he made the cross-country trip to Brooklyn, where he was born.
Inscribed with “Hometown Pride” and “Est. 1941 – Celebrating 75 Heroic Years”, the statue also contains a quote of Rodgers’
I’m just a kid from Brooklyn
The statue is currently in Prospect Park (next to the Carousel) and will make it’s way to the Barclays Center (September) and Sunset Park (in front of BB&B in October) before they announce a permanent location somewhere in the Borough.
T-Mobile has been famous for their “Uncarrier” moves, which was supposed to be their separation from the other carriers.
It started with “No Contracts” and “Upgrades as wanted”. It then expanded to Global plans and buying out ETFs.
But then they went crazy, really offering great deals, such as Music Freedom and Binge On, which allowed users to stream music/videos without counting against their data.
But on Thursday they unveiled “Un-carrier 12”, which got rid of Plans. Yup, no more choosing what level of data you want, instead you pay $70/month and get unlimited talk/text/data ($50/line 2, $20/lines 3-8).
If anything this is the opposite of everything they’ve stood for all this time.It was always about being freer with your options, but this means if you want to go to T-Mobile, you have 0 choices.
To quote them:
Other wireless carriers just can’t let go of their lame rules. They say that’s the way it is. We say, not cool.
I’ve been looking for months at standalone Tablet Plans, which for $35/month you got 6GB of data + the aforementioned unlimited BingeOn and Freedom…now it’s $70 for unlimited data.
I’ve spoken in the past about going with unlocked phones, and now it seems like the best option is to not lock yourself into any plans, and go where the best offers are, as you need them.
BTW, Sprint also changed their plans up yesterday, so keep your eye on that.
For now, I’m staying on Verizon, and if I really need the movie streaming, I won’t be buying a tablet (~$230) and signing up for a plan that I can start/cancel as needed for $70/month.
Instead,I’ll throw that $70 to Verizon and enjoy my extra 26GB of data.
A regular part of this site, my song of the day posts. Strangely Summer 2016 has yet to have a “Song of the Summer”, but that doesn’t stop me from finding needles in a haystack.
What’s that? New Green Day album? Yes, please. Here’s the first single.
Bang Bang – Green Day
I want to be a celebrity martyr
The leading man in my own private drama
The hero of the hour
Daddy’s little psycho and Mommy’s little soldier
Recently discovered Lindsey Stirling due to her single to headline Pete’s Dragon, but while listening to her works, I came across this gem, with Lzzy Hale from Halestorm
Lindsey’s new album Brave Enough drops tomorrow, August 19th.
Shatter Me – Lindsey Stirling ft. Lzzy Hale
Somebody shine a light
I’m frozen by the fear in me
Somebody make me feel alive
And shatter me
So cut me from the line
Dizzy, spinning endlessly
Somebody make me feel alive
And shatter me
I Hate U, I Love U – Gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien
You ever wonder what we could have been?
You said you wouldn’t and you did
Lie to me, lie with me, get your fix
Now all my drinks and all my feelings are all mixed
Always missing people that I shouldn’t be missing
Once In A While – Timeflies
From Brooklyn to New York, then off to the West
In Cali, no Khaled, but fuck, we the best
My stripes, stay American, lemme express
And I keep it as live as a Total RequestBut once in a while, I catch myself
Once in a while, I ask myself
What am I doing?
Once in a while, I need your help
Aviously 