Week Diez

“Never get out of bed before noon”
-Charles Bukowski

I let my friend J.P. pick the Thursday game because I wanted no part of it. He picked the Ravens because he likes Edgar Allen Poe.

J.P.'s Picks

0-1

Bartender's Picks

0-3

I plan on going to Atlantic City either Monday or Tuesday so I hopefully I won't miss the Skins vs. Eagles Monday Night Football game.

10-17-2

Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins Titans -2
Minnesota Vikings Chicago Bears OVER 40.5
St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers Rams +6

Watched: The Runaways

Week Nueve

“If you look at the U.S., you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read."
-Michael Bloomberg

I let the bartender make my picks last night so I'll probably go 3-0.

10-17-2

New York Jets vs. Detroit Lions Jets -5
Indianapolis Colts vs. Philadelphia Eagles Colts ML+130
New York Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks Seahawks +7

Watched: Giallo

Week Ocho

"The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself. "
-Wes Craven

0-3 again in the day games last week, hit the Pats in the afternoon and whiffed on the Sunday & Monday night games. After some missteps with the Celtics and The Rangers in game 5 of the ALCS, that leaves me at 3-11 for the last week.

8-16-2

Miami Dolphins vs. Cincinnati Bengals Dolphins +1
Carolina Panthers vs. St. Louis Rams Rams -2
Washington Redskins vs. Detroit Lions Redskins ML +120

Watched: Red (2008)

Week Siete

"I'd walk throught hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball."
-Pete Rose

Got killed last week in the early games. Made up for it with the Vikings in the afternoon and the Titans on Monday Night. This week I'm taking 4 away games.

7-11-2 (+8 units)

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Miami Dolphins Steelers -3 (1 unit)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Caroliona Panthers 49ers -3 (1 unit)
St. Louis Rams vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rams ML +125 (1 unit)
New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers Patriots ML +120 (2 units)

Watched: The Human Centipede

Week Seis

"This taught me a lesson, but I'm not quite sure what that is."
-John McEnroe

5-7-1 (+15 units)

Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots Ravens ML +120 (2 units)
Altanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles Falcons ML +120 (2 units)
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Browns +14 OVER 37.5 (PARLAY) (3 units)

Watched: Lost Season 6

Week Cinco

"I'm bad and I'm going to hell, and I don't care. I'd rather be in hell than anywhere you are."
-William Faulkner

4-7-1 (+5 units)

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills Jaguars -1 (10 units)

DAY GAME PICKS
St. Louis Rams vs. Detroit Lions Rams ML +130
Atlanta Falcons vs. Cleveland Browns Falcons -3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cincinatti Bengals Buccaneers ML +245

Watched: The Town

Week Quatro

"It's not that I'm so fast. Others are just slow"
-Jean Luc Godard

3-7-1 (-5 units)

After a terrible 2 weeks (1-5-1) and continuing my inability to pick Monday night games, the rest of the bankroll will be placed on a single game.

Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders Texans -3 (10 units)

If I am able to sell my camera before kickoff, I will try to place $100 on the Bears +3 1/2 against the Giants.

Watched: Fringe Season 1

Week Tres

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you had to put oil in the car?"
-Stu Ungar

2-5-1 (-3 units)

Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings Lions +11.5
Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans Cowboys ML +120
Cincinatti Bengals vs. Carolina Panthers OVER 38

Watched: Contempt

Week Dos

"Let's go eat a goddamn snack."
Rex Ryan

2-2 (+1 unit)
Minnesota Vikings vs. Miami Dolphins OVER 39 (2 units)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennesee Titans Titans-5 *
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions Eagles -6 (1 unit)
Houston Texans vs. Washington Redskins Texans -3 (1 unit)
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets Patriots -3 *
New York Giants vs. Indianappolis Colts Colts -5 **
New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers Saints -5 (1 unit)

* Alternate picks
** Pick if either the Patriots or Titans covers

Watched: Chloe

Monday Night

"Dude, you have no Qur'an."
-Jacob Isom

2-1 (+2 units)

San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs Chargers -4 (1 unit)

Watched: Salesman

Week Uno

"A man has always got to get it up, and love sometimes isn't enough."
-Norman Mailer

Picking against the spread last season, I went 29-20-2. The season starts tonight but I don't have any bets until Sunday.

Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles Packers -3 (2 units)
New England Patriots vs. Cincinatti Bengals OVER 45 (1 unit)
Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans -2.5 (1 unit)

Watched: Suspect

July

"My mother refused to give me coloring books as a child. She probably saved me, Because when you think about it, what a coloring book does is completely kill creativity."
-Davud Lynch

Aside from working on the shoot this past month, I found the time to got to the 9:30 club with superpodcaster Jerry Dennis to see She & Him, take my father out for Birthday drinks at O'Connells, catch up with Eddie about his sobriety and take a spin in his new car, get drinks at the Flying Fish with friend and producer Chris Kiros and talk about film sets and getting older, stay out all night drinking at a club where they check you for guns and then barely make it to set the next morning, smoked some good pot and drank a handle of vodka, got a tattoo on a dare, had a great dinner with my father and his girlfriend in Georgetown, rode on the back of a Vespa, watched the 4th Season of Lost, took advantage of Hard Times free billiards until 5PM, illegally transported cigarettes across state lines, called into the 4 Horsemen podcast to talk about the shoot, and lost hundreds of dollars on Street Fighter IV. All in all, it was a pretty good month.

Watched: Inception

Celtic Pride

"And I beseech you,
Wrest once the law to your authority,
To do a great right, do a little wrong,
And curb this cruel devil of his will."
-Merchant of Venice

Basketball season ended earlier tonight with the Lakers defeating the Celtics 83-79. The Celtics were kind enough to lose within the 7 point spread. Usually when I take the points on a team I secretly wish for them to lose or else I feel foolish that I didn't take them straight up with odds (almost 3-1 in this instance). But tonight I badly wanted them to trounce the Lakers. Just like I wanted the Phillies to trounce the Yankees in the World Series last year.

I rushed home to watch them lose a squeaker after seeing Al Pacino play Shylock in Merchant of Venice in Central Park.

With money in my sportsbook account and no football until September, I have resorted to betting on the USA - Slovenia soccer game in the morning.

Watched: Re-Animator

Game 82

"Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate."
-Being John Malkovich

Tonight is the final game of the NBA regular season.

NBA Picks

New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors Raptors -7.5
Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Bobcats Bulls -1.5
Utah Jazz vs. Phoenix Suns Suns +6

Watched: We Live In Public

The Long Good Friday

"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it, but now that dream is over and the insect is awake."
-The Fly

12 hours at the bar yesterday. Haven't made any picks since going 0-8 one weekend in February . I won't be watching the games tonight. Instead I'm going to make linguine with Amy and watch Zombieland on Bluray.

NCAA FINAL FOUR PICKS

Duke vs. West Virginia Duke -2.5
Michigan State vs. Butler Michigan State +1.5

Watched: Greenberg

6 Nonsmokers & February Madness

"It's a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die."
-Hunter S. Thompson

Below is the trailer to Francis Abbey's newest comedy "6 Nonsmokers". It is the follow up to the award winning feature film "Boxing Day" which I was fortunate enough to co-produce in 2008. Francis is a hard working man who has been vlogging every day for the past 2 years as well as producing the weekly podcast "Things I Didn't Learn In Film School". Give the trailer some love and join the 6 Nonsmokers facebook page for updates.

6 NONSMOKERS, starring Bridgetta Tomarchio from Francis Manuel Abbey on Vimeo.

Basketball picks (now that football season is over, I will be randomly posting NBA & NCAA picks. Sincstarting on January 21, I am 11-2 against the spread)

Valparaiso vs. Cleveland State. Valparaiso +8
Lousiville vs. St. Johns Louisville -6
Butler vs. Youngstown State Butler -13

Watched: The Fall

The Beaver Cup

"If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms."
-Mike Ditka

Super Bowl picks

New Orleans +5
UNDER 56.5
FINAL SCORE Indianapolis 17 New Orleans 24

Props
Reggie Wayne Receiving Yards UNDER 77.5
Peyton Manning 2nd Qt Touchdown Pass -130
Peyton Manning 4th Qt Touchdown Pass -110

Watched: Outrage

erFiq

"Goddamnit, lady, you don't throw oranges on an escalator!"
-California Split

"erFiq" NEW ALBUM IN STORES MARCH 1 2010

On an afternoon in 2006, my friend and coworker Chris Clover invited me to a practice session his band was having. I brought along my new camera, hoping to get a chance to test it. The band was auditioning a new drummer that day and although they were rusty, their energy was incredible and I shot about 40 minutes of footage. Tragically, it would be the last time they would ever play together and the only footage of them performing. 4 years later, the death of band mates Aaron Brown & Jeremiah Martin is being honored by the release of the selft titled album "erFiq" in stores March 1, 2010.

"erFiq was formerly known as "Death is Certain" in the early 2000's. In early 2005 the band went in to start recording there album and then took a break. During that time on February 25th, 2006 close friend and bassist Aaron "erFiq" Brown was shot and killed at an Alexandria, VA iHop by off duty police officer Carl Stow. This caused the hiatus to become indefinite as Aaron was and is still seen as irreplaceable. Just a short time later on April 21st, 2006 another close friend and our gear technician, Jeremiah "Great Bear" Martin passed away in his sleep from a combination of medication prescribed by his doctor that relaxed him to the point where he stopped breathing. The remaining members,Chris Clover - Vocals/Drums, Matt Neyland - Guitar and Chris Schoonover - Guitar drifted in separate ways causing the album to never be properly mixed/mastered or released. Matt Neyland went on to play guitar for the DC Funk Band "Knee Deep", Chris Schoonover joined the Army and is currently stationed in Hawaii, and Chris Clover is married and living in Florida where he recently was diagnosed with severe nerve damage in the neck, spinal chord, both arms, and both legs. We have now decided to finally release the album in honor of both Aaron and Jeremiah with all profits going to Chris Clovers medical fund. The album will feature completely re-mixed/re-mastered/and re-vamped versions of the original recording sessions with Aaron (with a guest solo on Overcome by Ed Corpse555 M.) as well as a re-mixed/re-mastered version of the Memorial Edition of "Kill The Plague" recorded in 2006 and 3 brand new never before heard songs with guest guitar appearances by Ed Corpse555 M from BD out of New York on the track "Medusa" inspired by the album art done by Glen "Foo" Brown, Omar Waqar of Diacritical/Sarmust for the dedication track "The Greatness of The Bear" and the dedication track "Stow Destroyed" from erFiq guitarist Chris Schoonover. Chris Clover has recorded the new drum tracks and will be recording vocals as they are completed. The original tracks have been consolidated by Ben at Nothing But Noise Studios and are being mixed and mastered by Chris Clover. Album Releases March 1st, 2010. Test Mixes posted exclusively here on Purevolume. Merchandise will be available soon. Help promote! Become a Fan on FaceBook and spread the word! You can also follow erFiq on twitter for test mix upload dates (also through FaceBook)."

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/erFiq-Album-Release-March-1st-2010/357678470726?ref=ts

http://www.myspace.com/erfiq

http://www.purevolume.com/erfiq

Watched: So Goes The Nation

The Spread (Or Movies are fake)

"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
-Network (1976) written by Paddy Chayefsky

Saints beat the Vikings in the NFC championship bur failed to cover the spread by 1 point. The local video store is going out of business and I picked up Taxi Driver, Network, and The Piano Teacher on VHS for a dollar. I should have bought a point with the Saints and pushed. Cut myself shaving. Real blood looks phony and movie blood looks real. Gunshots pop like firecrackers but in movies they sound like cannons. Actresses with bleached teeth pose in carefully choreographed pictures with anyone slightly higher then them in the food chain.

Watched: The New World

Football season is (almost) over.

"I can't sleep"
last words of J.M. Barrie

Haven't posted football picks since the postseason began. Here are some basketball picks instead.

Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards Heat -1.5
Portland Trailblazers vs. Boston Celtics Blazers +10
Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks Lakers -5
Golden State Warriors vs. new Jersey Nets Warriors -8

Watched: The Savages

Plasma

"When you left me, I left Earth"
-Watchmen

Videogame blood looks very fake lately. Too much like strawberry jam.


















Watched: In The Valley Of Ellah

Week 17

"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid"
-Aliens

27-20-1

Baltimore Ravens vs. Oakland Raiders Ravens -10.5
Washington Redskins vs. San Diego Chargers Chargers -3
Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs OVER 38

Watched: Freaks & Geeks (Disc 1)