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People’s Choice 2016

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December 8, 2015

Here are my favorites from each category as we wrap up 2015.
Movies, TV Shows, Music, and lastly Digital.

MOVIES

Movie – Avengers: Age of Ultron — As they gear up for the impending Civil War, this Avengers movie was top notch.

Movie Actor – Robert Downey Jr. — See above

Movie Actress – Scarlett Johansson

Action Movie – Avengers: Age of Ultron

Action Movie Actor – Robert Downey Jr. — Sometimes the categories seem a bit repetitive.

Action Movie Actress – Scarlett Johansson

Animated Movie Voice – Amy Poehler — Her role and joyousness in Inside Out was top notch.

Comedic Movie – Pitch Perfect 2 — Acca-awesome.

Comedic Movie Actor – Mark Wahlberg

Comedic Movie Actress – Anna Kendrick

Family Movie – Inside Out — I’ve talked about this movie in the past, and it’s a good choice given it’s in depth look at adult feelings…Minions is a close second though.

Thriller Movie – Taken 3 — Normally I wouldn’t like anything in this category, but to see a Liam Neeson movie here, it’s my natural pick.

Dramatic Movie – Dramatic Movie Actor – Dramatic Movie Actress ——- I didn’t see enough of these movies to have a say.

TV SHOWS

TV Show – The Big Bang Theory — Math, science, history, this choice is no mystery, it all started with a big bang. Bang!

Network TV Comedy – The Big Bang Theory

Comedic TV Actor – Andy Samberg — Nails it week after week.

Comedic TV Actress – Kaley Cuoco — This actress is sweetening up my TV (brownie points for anyone that gets that joke).

Network TV Drama – Gotham — Gordon rocks Gotham on a weekly basis.

Dramatic TV Actor – Terrence Howard

Dramatic TV Actress – Taraji P. Henson — Person of Interest will always hold a place in my votes, regardless that it isn’t what she is nominated for.

Cable TV Comedy – It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Cable TV Drama – Suits

Cable TV Actor – Adam Devine

Cable TV Actress – Hilary Duff — Because she’s still a thing.

TV Crime Drama – Person of Interest — Finch would change my vote if I choose anything else.

Crime Drama TV Actor – Jim Caviezel

Crime Drama TV Actress – Pauley Perrette

Competition TV Show – MasterChef — Gordon Ramsey will win almost anything he puts on TV.

Daytime TV Host – Ellen DeGeneres — Because who doesn’t like to dance?

Daytime TV Hosting Team – The Talk — Aisha Tyler

Late Night Talk Show Host – Jimmy Fallon — Fallon finally beats out my long time favorite of Conan O’Brien.

Streaming Series – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — Honestly the toughest category for me to choose from as all five are incredible, but this is the one that brings constant enjoyment episode after episode.

Actor In A New TV Series – Zachary Levi

Actress In A New TV Series – Emma Roberts

Animated TV Show – Family Guy — Giggity

New TV Comedy – All flops in my book…

New TV Drama – Supergirl — Melissa Benoist!

Premium Cable Show – Premium Cable TV Actor – Premium Cable TV Actress – Network Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show – Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show – Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor – Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress—– I didn’t see enough of these shows to have a say.

MUSIC

Male Artist – Luke Bryan — I’ll take country over Bieber and Jonas any day.

Female Artist – Demi Lovato — She’s cool for the winter too.

Group – Fall Out Boy

Breakout Artist – Halsey — Although Tori Kelly comes a close second (while The Weeknd will take this one)

Male Country Artist – Keith Urban

Female Country Artist – Carrie Underwood

Country Group – Lady Antebellum

Pop Artist – Kelly Clarkson

Hip-Hop Artist – Nicki Minaj — The Best of the worst

R&B Artist – Ciara

Album – Smoke + Mirrors by Imagine Dragons

Song – “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding — Ellie is always #1 in book.

Music Icon – Madonna

DIGITAL

Social Media Celebrity – Anna Kendrick — She’ll win Twitter every day. Easily the most relatable in the group as well.

Social Media Star – Sorry, I don’t know anyone…

Mobile Game – Despicable Me: Minion Rush

Video Game – Grand Theft Auto V — Batman: Arkham Knight is a close second.

YouTube Star – Tyler Oakley — Because of the 28th Season of The Amazing Race

The Dailymail.com Seriously Popular Award – Ruby Rose

Top Sports Moments of 2015

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December 7, 2015

Here are (what I consider) the top sports moments of 2015.

9. Malcolm Butler Steals a Super Bowl
With only 20 seconds left, and Seattle on the goal line, the Seahawks elect to pass instead of handing it off to running back Marshawn Lynch, leading to an interception for Malcolm Butler, giving Tom Brady and the New England Patriots their 4th Super Bowl.

8. Bautista Bat Flip – Royals Take the Crown
It was the bat flip heard around the world, as Jose Bautista launched a moon-shot and a bat flip that was talked about for days, leading the Blue Jays to the ALCS. But the Kansas City Royals stood in their way, as the Royals went to their second straight World Series, defeated the Mets, and broke their 30-year drought.

7. Ronda Rousey
Some may say she doesn’t belong on this list, but in a year in which sports was dominated by women she was one of the highest profile ones.
From dominating throughout the year, to her monumental fall against Holly Holm she is the face of women’s UFC. It wasn’t just that the Top Seed fell, it was the level to which she fell, getting thrashed throughout, that made it remarkable.
But Rousey will be back again, whether in the ring or in theaters (See: Expendables 3 (2014)).

6. Serena Misses Out
After winning four straight Championships, Serena Williams looked to complete the calendar Grand Slam at the US Open. But Italian Roberta Vinci had her say in the semi-finals, keeping Serena from playing for it all.
But don’t be mistaken, Serena’s grasp on #1 is secure as she’s now won 4 of the last 5 and is ready to try again in 2016, after winning her second ‘Serena Slam’.

5. One Legged Busch Takes The Cup
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Championship after an improbable season. Breaking his leg the day before the season was to begin, he came in late, winning three races in a row and qualifying for the playoffs with only one race left. NASCARs former bad-boy is now a Champion as Joey Logano slides into that new bad-boy role.

4. Warriors
Golden State Warriors are pushing it from both sides.
After falling behind in the Championships 2-1, the Warriors won three straight over Lebron’s Cavaliers to take the Championship.
But their fine play didn’t end there, as the Steph Curry led team started the 2015 campaign with the most wins ever by a team before losing a game (which as of posting hasn’t happened yet! 22-0).

3. Spieth
In a sport desperate for a new leader as the fall of Tiger Woods continues, Rory McIlroy stepped into his place…until 2015 that is.
22-year-old Jordan Spieth took the world by storm, winnings the Masters and the US Open before falling to 4th at the Open Championship, and wrapping the year up with a 2nd place finish at the PGA Championship.
He didn’t just win the Masters, he destroyed it, shooting a 270 (-18) tying Tigers record from 1997. He was the second youngest winner of the Masters (Woods) and youngest to win the US Open since 1923 (Bobby Jones).

2. USWNT
Captain Carli Lloyd led a dominant women’s team, scoring three goals in a 5-2 romping over Japan in the 2015 World Cup, during a rematch of the 2011 World Cup that Japan won in kicks.

1. American Pharoah’s Triple Crown
It had been 37 years between Triple Crown’s in horse racing, and the sport was starting to get desperate. The largest controversy: Fresh horses joining only for the third leg at Belmont.
But American Pharoah didn’t care about any of that, racing out to the lead early in most races, and keeping giant leads all the way through.
As large as it’s win was, it still came nowhere near Secretariat’s record speeds, but was impressive nonetheless.

NYPDs Lack of Communication

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December 3, 2015

The NYPD tries hard to do their jobs, they really do. But often faults and mistakes come down to the lack of communication between the officers and the public they serve.

For example this story from my Tuesday:

I was driving down 48th Street in Manhattan, and I was told that I couldn’t go thru past 6th Avenue further East towards 5th Avenue.
It’s not that traffic wasn’t allowed on the block…they were allowing cars to turn off 6th onto 48th, just no thru traffic.
So I pulled up next to the officer and asked: “Where can I go to thru to the East Side?”
The response? “Sir, you have to turn onto 6th.”
Regardless how I asked the question, he wouldn’t answer, forcing me to turn North on 6th.

So I proceeded to the next Eastward block, 50th Street, only to get stopped by a cop there too.
“Sir, you can’t turn off 6th onto 50th.” Apparently they weren’t allowing turns, only thru traffic.
When I asked her the same question: “Can you at least tell me how far up I have to go before I go East?”
I would only get the answer of “You have to keep moving, and you can’t turn here.”

I understand. You have a job to do, namely ‘control traffic on that block’.

But if you are creating a detour, someone needs to have instructions as to where the traffic is supposed to go.

You are dealing with a city that ALWAYS has too much traffic in it, at a time of year when there is an overabundance of unnecessary traffic, simply to see a tree. If you don’t want madness and mayhem, then you have to have a plan in place, and proper communication to keep traffic moving.
Rerouting and random turning points, with no set destination or plan being made public, just leads to added traffic, and confused drivers.

Giving Tuesday 2015

@iAmAviG

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December 1, 2015

Once again we’ve spent a weekend indulging and over spending. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and lastly Cyber Monday.

But now it is time to take all those savings and give back to those who are worse off than you are. And no matter how bad you think things are, there is always someone worse off.

GivingTuesday.org is the site geared towards getting the word out there, and lots of organizations are doing their own things to encourage you to donate.

Among them once again is Shot@Life, with Bloom & Grace triple matching donations all day. LINK

So take out of your charity funds today and make a difference! <And everyday…but that’s another story>

Ant Man – Review

@iAmAviG

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November 30, 2015

If this movie was made by some random company, it would be deemed one of the worst movies ever. But it isn’t made by a random company. It was made by Marvel, which gives it an automatic boost.

The concept is pretty cool (I know, it’s from the comics and not original, and blah blah blah) and the storyline is there, the movie itself just feels so weak…

However with the crossovers of the Avengers (Hi Anthony Mackie!) as well as the little snippet at the end credits + the new trailer for Civil War that came out last week, I’m interested to see how Ant Man plays into the new movie.

The movie focuses on burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his stealing of a suit that turns him into a tiny creature capable of lifting 50X his weight.
After being lured into a trap, Scott has to go chase down Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll; Peter Russo on House of Cards) and stop him from turning the world into tiny evil wasps.

Overall this movie, solely on the weight of the Marvel name alone gets a 5 out of 10.
But if you aren’t into Marvel, stay far away from this one.

Black Friday Loser

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November 27, 2015

I don’t even follow my advice from last year and I am OUT OF CONTROL this year.

I started yesterday afternoon, with a purchase I’ve actually been waiting for, finally went on a 31% off sale and I pounced.
Somehow I selected free shipping and it’s still supposed to arrive today…I don’t understand it sometimes.

But then this morning I bought one or two things that I didn’t need (Hello Nintendo DSi) but I plan on donating it to charity in one way or another, so it’s all for a good cause.

Thanksgiving Dinner For The Homeless @BCHillel

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November 25, 2015

Copied from last years post, and updated with some stats:

For the 8th straight year I will be spending the night before Thanksgiving helping to feed the homeless.

Tonight at 6PM at the Tanger Hillel at Brooklyn College will be hosting a Thanksgiving meal for the Homeless.

Joined by the fraternities, sororities, current students and alumni of Brooklyn College, their are usually as many volunteers as “eaters”.

More information on this event can be found here and here.

And if you can’t come, that doesn’t mean you can’t do your part.
Feel free to donate to Hillel and help support the cause.

Thanks!

Life Of A Morning Worker

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November 20, 2015

What’s that? You got to work at 7:30 this morning? That’s cute. I’ve been awake since before 3 and done work seen by more people by 7:30 then you will do in a day.

Oh, you feel bad for me that I have to wake up so early? Don’t feel bad. It’s my life and my issue.

And quite frankly I don’t see it as an issue.

While going to sleep at 8PM may not seem “normal” to you, how about you consider this..I don’t have to take off any time from work to make a Dr.s appointment. I can go to any store I want. I can go out for a run and not worry about it getting dark.
And the reason for those three things? Dr.s are always at work at noon. Stores tend to be open at 1:30. And I have yet to see sunset fall before 4PM!

Sure, dating is extremely tough with this schedule. But it’s doable if you try hard enough.
Whether you find overlapping free time (yup, I’ve done dates on someone’s lunch break), or keep first dates to Saturday night/Sunday mornings, it’s all realistic expectations if someone just wants to try.
And if you don’t want to try…than clearly you aren’t right for me.

Rage In NYC Taxis – #4K43

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November 19, 2015

A little while ago I posted a complaint about a taxi on Facebook, and faced backlash for it “not being fair to the cabby”.
The issue at the time was a “middle finger sticker” on the back window, where I thought it was inappropriate, others thought that it may have been stuck there without the drivers knowledge so it’s not his fault (despite the layer of dust over the sticker).

Well this time, the driver is 100% at fault for his actions, and situations of inexcusable rage. There are a few instances with the same driver within the same block period.

It started on 48th Street approaching 5th Avenue in Manhattan, where the left turn lane had a truck parked in it, so the thru lane became the turn lane.
The first car after the turning cars, a jeep, turned into the parking lane to go around them…the taxi behind him (Mr. 4K43) did that too, and was upset that there was a car now in front of him.

To show his anger at the other driver, he hopped half up on the sidewalk and pulled alongside the jeep, rolling down his window cursing him out.
And to prove his point that he deserved to go first, he proceeded to ignore the red light and moved through the crosswalk to cut off the jeep (half on the sidewalk, into the crosswalk) while people were trying to cross the street.
Once the light changed, he crossed Fifth Avenue, and the Jeep waited until the people finished crossing and then we kept going up 48th.

A few blocks later, at 48th and Lexington, the cabbie decided his need to turn, and instead of using the turn lane (and turn light) where cars were lining up, he went past them, and stopped in the thru lane, without his blinker on, and blocked thru traffic that had the green light, waiting for the red turn light to turn green.
When asked “Excuse me, does your blinker work” he proceeded to give the middle finger and say “Nope, it’s broken”.

For starters the action of driving on the sidewalk is a classic case of road rage. The flipping of the middle finger is a classic New Yorker move, but unacceptable for a New York City medallion driver. And lastly, the broken turn signal (which we all known wasn’t broken, right?) is not an option for a taxi, as the car needs to be in full working order.

Time For Mail – Continuing Failure @USPS

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November 18, 2015

We all get mail delivered to us at different times throughout the day. Mine used to come at reasonable hours, but has recently been coming after 6PM.

I guess that’s okay, since at least we are getting our mail…except that it comes a few days after it is supposed to. I know this thanks to magazines and the days I’m supposed to receive them.

Sports Illustrated used to come Wednesdays or Thursdays…and now comes Saturdays. Entertainment Weekly on Saturdays, now comes Monday or Tuesday.
On that note, I never even received some magazines from a couple of weeks ago…just plain never showed up.

I went to mail a letter the other day, and noticed the times inside the mailbox “picked up daily before 3PM”…Okay, I guess I know when my letter is supposed to go out. But I don’t think I’ve ever cared about when my letter goes out, as long as it arrives where it’s supposed to in a timely manner and in one piece.
The one thing that has to be especially timely every year (taxes) I take care of months in advance, and file on line, so I don’t even mail that any more!

For all the complaints that the USPS makes about funding and wanting more of it, you’d assume that after doing the same job since 1971 they’d have a better grasp on what they do.

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