I Need To Start Reevaluating My Life When....

David Beckham And His Traveling Roadshow Invade Foxboro. In A Related Story, The Revolution Beat The Galaxy

The chant echoing throughout the concourse of Gillette Stadium before kick off summed it all up. Sung to the tune of, 'If You're Happy And You Know It', it went something like this:

"If you came to see just Beckham, sucks for you *clap* *clap*"

Judging by the massive amounts of boos that cascaded down from the Gillette crowd when Beckham's benched mug popped up on the Jumbotron in the 87th minute, tonight might've sucked for a lot of people. But not for me, and definitely not for the MLS.

Anyone that doubted Becks' ridiculous contract is wrong. I did, myself, but it was impossible to gauge the marketing effects without seeing it first hand. I've been to a ton of Revolution games throughout the years. I'd say about a third of the crowd wears jerseys or soccer paraphernalia to games. The majority being club/international/youth/random jerseys with Revolution attire coming in a distant second. Tonight was like stepping into a different country. I'd say more than 3/4 of the crowd was wearing something soccer related. A staggering amount of people wore Beckham garb, be it Galaxy/England/Real/ManU jerseys or t shirts, and an impressive amount of people had Revs stuff on. It was pretty jarring.

Then, there's the crowd itself. "The Beckham Game" as it was being dubbed was a sellout, with a little help from Beckham, and Bob Kraft, who could be the shrewdest guy around based on what he pulled.

First, you couldn't buy a single ticket to tonight's game. Each ticket bought must be contained within a 4 game multi-pack.

Second, he limited capacity to the Lower Bowl and Club Level seats, making 32,000 available and eliminating the need to open up Upper Level concessions, bathrooms, security detail, etc.

So, Kraft managed to, roughly, cut in half his audience (Gillette holds about 68k) but quadruple the dollar value of every ticket sold. If he didn't wear mismatched collared dress shirts, I might think he's a genius.

---

Despite Beckham's absence the game was great and the crowd was on the precipice of being really good. The mainstays of Revolution games sit in a section called The Fort, in the end zone section right next to the lighthouse. These are the kinds of people who bring drums to games, create chants, wear masks and openly admit to liking The Dropkick Murphys. I always sit in their section at games, and I was hoping they'd sort of set the bar and get the rest of the stadium rocking. Instead, they seemed to resent the fact that more than 12,000 people showed up to the game.

When 'The Wave' made its way around the stadium (yeah, I know, The Wave at a soccer game, but it's still America) the stalwarts of The Fort acted like Brooklynites who just found out Arcade Fire was on TRL and flipped off the entire stadium. Way to build that fan base.

Overall, I think the Beckham project will be a success. I think he can even compete in the MLS despite his age and declining skills. Let us not forget this is the same league that Youri Djorkaeff dominated the past two years and I'm pretty sure he went to school with Maxamillian Robespierre.

Plus, him not playing in all of these cities, just boosted the intrigue for the next time he's in town. It's a vicious cycle.

I Bet You Thought I'd Call This Post 'Blog It Like Beckham'

Becks is in town to play the Revs (abbreviating is awesome!) and I'm headed there with some people. It should be a fun time, as I haven't been to a Revs game in more than a season. The place will be packed, they sold 32,000 seats and could've sold way more if they hadn't capped capacity at whatever the Lower Bowl holds.

Beckham might not even play which would be a shame (though could make the crowd even rowdier, and we're already sitting in The Fort, so it will be nutty).

More importantly on the Beckham related front: Beckham was dining at the Cheesecake Factory at the SouthShore Fucking Plaza in Braintree last night?!

What the fuck?

I've worked there for several years and have been going there forever an the occasional celebrity sighting is not rare at all (lots of Pats players live in nearby Marina Bay, etc). Hell I've even seen 3/4 of the members of New Kids On The Block at separate times at the SSP (thought it is debatable whether or not Danny Wood was working or shopping at Abercrombie). But, there's something bizarre about a $250m man shopping where you once tried (and failed, btw) to get numbers as a 15 year old on weekends.

Weird.

Links of Awesomeness!

Because I'm lazy, here's a link dump. My first one ever.


- First Stupid Questions Post: I need your help with this, so check it out and contribute.

- The Penultimate (second to last) Episode Of We Need Girlfriends this season, and possible ever!, is up and fucking fantastic.

- My second favorite web series. A must for Arrested Development fans.

-

The Simpsons Movie

Got an advanced screening pass to see The Simpsons Movie tonight, thanks to good ole' Uncle Rupert. Turns out WBCN gave out hundreds of passes to the same screening making it a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

Thankfully myself, and three of the biggest Simpson fans I know (Ryan, Chaves and Tino) headed into Fenway Theatres early enough to snag good seats. In fact, finding any seats, good or not, was lucky. Apparently there were a few hundred people who didn't get in. Oh well.

The movie kicks off with a bang but, expectedly gets a little slow towards the end. Some great in-jokes (the ticker, to be continued) and an amazing cameo (Tom Hanks) really keep it going. Seeing how the show is only good for one or two laughs per episode these days, the fact that they made a damn good feature length movie is impressive.

That's my spolier-less review. I give it a 7.5/10. Don't forget to stay through the credits.

The News Keeps On Rollin...

My publicist Josh (that's a complete lie, by the way, I have never really done anything worth publicizing, not including my turn as Aesop in Ms. Gaudette's 3rd grade production of Aesop's Fables) has been working the phones, manning the intrawebs ,tapping out the Morse codes all the way in England, trying to make this Bang Camaro challenge happen. And oh does he have some good news for us!

According to Bang Camaro's publicist (their actual publicist), the band will be back in our studios sometime in October for the challenge. This follows a photo shoot for Rolling Stone and a bunch of other shows. Holy shit.

Bring it on, motherfuckers!

New Project: Revealed

That new project I've been slaving over starting a new gmail and blogger account for is complete.

I present you with

There Is Such Thing As A Stupid Question

Enjoy, and please, for the love of god, help me out.

I haven't been around much as I've been getting to some super secret business, but expect some new goodness soon. How about a review of The Simpsons: Movie tomorrow? I've corralled some sneak peek passes, check out the tickets!

Harry Potter V

For all the reasons I disliked the book Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, I loved the movie.

It's easily the best movie of the series (in contention with Azkaban). Goblet Of Fire was OK, but the watered down plot was such copout bullshit it's not even funny.

I can't believe I'm blogging about Harry Potter and not my challenge with Bang Camaro/My super secret nwe project I'm working on/the strong possibility I may get a press pass for Austin City Limits Music Festival.

What a dork.

This 4 Minute Video Is Better Than The Entirety Of 'Transformers'

Mike came back from Wisconsin today and showed me this video. It's the greatest YouTube clip of all time (with apologies to We Need Girlfriends). Eject, Operation Beth Shut The Fuck Up!

Danny Ainge's Fascination With Robert Swift And His Shiny Red Hair Makes Much More Sense Now

Trying To Review 'Transformers'

I saw Transformers today with Katelyn and Steve. It was a big day, not just because my second favorite childhood toy (C'mon Teddy Ruxpin feature length!) became iconized on the big screen, but also, it was my first time at the AMC Premium Theatre and Grill.

For those out of the loop, this is the luxury theatre in Framingham that comes with leather seats, a fully catered menu, a stocked bar, and free popcorn and soda. Also, it's 21+ so there are no screaming kids or annoying tweens throwing shit and laughing at trailers for 'Delta Farce'. Basically it's heaven on Earth.

I guess that would quantify my review for the theatre. Pretty damn amazing, though, there were some projector problems that made for a barely noticeable light effect on the screen which ultimately resulted in the three of us getting free passes for next time.

The movie, well I don't really know where to start. Transformers were, like, THE toy I collected growing up. I love them. All this despite recent candid comments from my Mom who told me that I was too retarded to 'transform' them by myself and she had to help me. Whatever.

I can't tell if this movie was funny, or unintentionally funny. There were all these creepily weird parts. The WEIRDEST being the end when Shia Lebouf starts making out with brunette protagonist chick (I have no idea what her, or anyone aside from Lebouf's character names were) on top of BumbleBee. If the thought of this chick getting Lebouf'D on top of a car that comes to life and is a living, breathing, friend of theirs isn't weird enough, the camera pans off to show the rest of the Autobots watching them! All the while, Optimus Prime is delivering a monologue about how the Autobots will stay on Earth, protecting and 'watching you, even though you may not know it'. WHAT THE FUCK. Autobots are fucking pervs.

There are other weird parts, like the fact that they let a foreigner be an integral part of the U.S. Dept. of Defense (who Katelyn says wears a very unrealistic outfit), everything about John Turturro, and Shia 'Sam Witwicky' Lebouf being angered over brunette protagonist chick not telling him she had a juvenile record, despite them knowing eachother for a total of 2 days.

What a weird movie:

jEfFENIXtx6: i think michael bay movies are getting worse
jEfFENIXtx6: im not surprised
jEfFENIXtx6: but, they just are
jEfFENIXtx6: it's like noticing a heroin addict getting skinnier or something
Ryan: but are they getting louder--that's the better question
jEfFENIXtx6: not noticeably :(

Ryan: you know he started out with playboy videos?
jEfFENIXtx6: really? not surprising
Ryan : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471307/
Ryan: can't make that stuff up
jEfFENIXtx6: frankly, it explains alot
Ryan: indeed
jEfFENIXtx6: im seeing miss October '89 walking out of a fighter jet as a camera slow pans around the hatch
jEfFENIXtx6: THEN BLAM!
jEfFENIXtx6: Bruce Willis gives his life for her career

Exciting News On The Bang Camaro Front

Newer blog readers may be confused about what this proposed 'Bang Camaro' deal is all about. Here's the long and the short of it. Actually, it's just the short of it.

A month ago, I challenged Bang Camaro to come back on the FOX25 Morning News to play me in their own song on Guitar Hero 2. They accepted (the video's a few posts down somewhere). To my knowledge, and to anyone's knowledge really, this has never been done before (honestly, I think I'd remember if David Bowie played Ziggy Stardust on a fucking plastic Gibson SG with color coded buttons).

Anyway, I was getting kinda down on the whole thing because the band didn't seem to into it. Their publicist was, and some Boston area newspapers are just waiting for the whole thing to come to fruition, but I couldn't get the band to extrapolate on the thing (aka talk shit to me via the blog). It sort of soured my training, too.

You see, I'm fucking terrible at Push Push (Lady Lightning) on 'Hard'. It's REALLY hard. But I haven't been doing any training because I thought BC wasn't into the thing. Then I got encouraging news.

Bang Camaro was playing a show in Chicago tonight (7/1) and I had some spies attending. The following correspondence was from a buddy of mine at my favorite music dork message board on the intrawebs (that will remain nameless):

good news for you, Jeff!
your Guitar Hero challenge is still on
just got back from Bang Camaro
what a fun show, really enjoyed it
i spoke w/ McClain briefly afterwards
told him i had a question for him, from (you) at FoxNews in Boston
"is 'the Challenge' still on??"
he knew right away what i meant by that, smiled kinda sheepishly and said yes, it's still on
but they've been really busy
he said they're all really bad at that game but he's still looking forward to it

Fucking awesome! Training is back on, fully. I'm sure my girlfriend is enthused at the idea.

Meantime, thanks to everyone for digging through the archives following heads up from team We Need Girlfriends. I got an IM from my former resident Zoe who says, "everyone knows my blog". This is fucking astonishing considering I've neglected it more than wrote in it. Still knowing people read it is as good motivation as any. Well, not as good as knowing that I'm going to dominate Bang Camaro's collective faces off.

I feel like we should make a wager. I win, I'm in the band. They win, they get to work at Fox ........ well I don't have any suggestions. Maybe YOU do.

Leave some comments. Please. I'm lonely.

We Need Girlfriends: Episode 9 - The Morning After.

Enjoy, kiddos

We Now Welcome You Back to the Gripping Finale of the 'We Need Girlfriends' Interview Series

As you've probably guessed, today's finale is with no other than Brian Amyot, a man who wears so many (figurative) hats with We Need Girlfriends, that it's amazing his hair stays so great. Brian was one of the first friends I met in college, so it's either symbolic, or coincidental that he's the last person I interview. I haven't decided yet.

Because I Should Have Picked A Shorter Name For This Blog Didn't Want to Go To Grad School Interviews:

Brian Amyot!

Note: The font size is being screwy. Thanks, Blogger

Fun Facts: Like I said, Brian was one of my first friends, we met working at Hofstra's Athletic Communication's office, doing stats and press for all the sports games. Brian, too, lived in the attic of a Sorority house. Brian's directorial debut is called "The Next Day". I own it on VHS and will eBay it to the highest bidder. I've never been in a car driven by Brian. "Blazin' Movie Night" is one of the best collegiate programs ever organized by a human being and Brian was a big part of it. We had a semi-homicidal co-worker. Brian lived in the same exact dorm room for all 4 years of college. The man makes the most delicious party punch of all time. He's like Rachel Ray only if Rachel Ray were tall, blonde, a dude, not annoying, and the only ingredient she used was Devil's Spring 160 Proof Vodka.

The Interview!

Jeff: What's your typical role in an episode from beginning to end?

Brian: I am basically on the phone the whole time. I am the liaison to the cast. I always find out when the cast is available to shoot and work closely with Angel on scheduling the best date. I keep the cast up to date on what is going on, what our plans are, and try to deal with any concerns they have. I am also heavily involved in the auditioning/casting of any new actors. I also have the job of finding and securing the locations for every episode. Much of the show takes place in the guy's apartment, which is my apartment. But we make a conscious effort to get them out and at new locations in every episode. We like to put them "on location" to give the show a much more "real" feel. This usually involves calls, but also involves a lot of foot work. If we are looking for a restaurant, bar, or supermarket, I'll walk around town knocking on doors pitching the shoot to people until I can talk someone into letting us shoot at their establishment, apartment, etc. Then I have to convince them to let us do it for free.

I have, so far, directed 6 episodes. On the episodes I direct my duties extend to the typical directorial tasks. Working with the actors on set, determining the shots with the cinematographer, etc. Whoever is directing will be the person in charge of making the main creative decisions.

How our post-production typically works is one of the three of us will take the lead on editing the episode and due the majority of the cutting. After we have a rough cut, everyone will join in with there opinions and suggestions and we will work it down to a fine cut. When we are satisfied, I will do the sound mix. The three of us will then get together after the mix and take our "last looks" and decide if there are any changes to be made at the last minute.

Jeff: What's the biggest fire you've put out in a WNG production?

Brian: I guess I don't really have one good specific story, but honestly, every episode is kind of a fire to put out. We have a set deadline, the 1 st of the month, we have to have a new episode ready. We don't get paid, we all work full time jobs, and no actors, crew, or locations get paid. So just to put it all together and be ready each month for a new episode, coordinating schedules, getting locations, finding time to edit, it's like a fire every month.

Jeff: Webisodes are all the rage. Would you like to work more in this medium. What about TV or Film?

Brian: I have always loved feature films, and I wanted to work in that realm exclusively. However, the industry is changing and my opinions have changed with it. I think webseries are great. They are very good method to tell a story and have the ability for millions of people to easily access it. And you get to tell a story in small parts, making it easy for people to download and watch anywhere at anytime. Even a few years ago, this concept was not something that was even on my radar, but now someone can walk around with a whole season of my show on an iPod in their pocket. That is a very exciting possibility. Since doing a webseries, I have definitely become more interested in working in episodic television, it has been an enjoyable experience and would love the chance to expand upon it.

Jeff: Say I get fired from my job for "accidentally" writing "Go fuck yourself, Boston" in a script. What are the odds of me getting cast in WNG?

Brian: I'd say not bad. More than anything else, we look for characters, and you sir, are certainly a character. Plus, one of our strengths is writing for who we know.

Jeff: You guys might move to LA. Who would be who if you were in Entourage?

Brian: I think there is no question about it, I would be Eric. He's the glue that holds it all together, and he's smart, street smart and people smart. He is a bit of a pushover though; I wouldn't be such a pushover. Dare to dream…

Jeff: Angel and Steve sometimes mix like oil and water. How do you keep them in check?

Brian: I definitely have to play the moderator or mediator. They will kill me for saying this, but they are like an old married couple. They fight and argue all the time, but its usually out of love. They have almost completely different opinions on everything, but they both know how to make our show good, so its just about getting through the battle and finding what makes the show the best. One thing about me is, it takes a lot to get me truly mad, and it takes even more to make me yell. Steve and Angel are both pretty volatile, they are both probably somewhere right now yelling at each other. I'm very calm, and work hard being able to calm them both down, because in the end we all the want the same thing. Plus, because I know them so well, I find them very funny. I like to laugh, and I can just laugh about it, my life is like watching an episode of the show.

Jeff: Have you had any crazy fan interactions yet?

Brian: I hear that the actors get recognized on the street quite often, it has sort of happened to me once. However, running the MySpace pages gets pretty crazy. I run the Tom page, as well as, help keep the WNG main page up to date. What I find very funny is there are people who think the characters are real, and ask them for dating advice, but if you've seen the show, clearly the guys are not the experts. I love the fans!

Jeff: Do you have a dream guest star?

Brian: There really are so many. I'd love to have Jason Bateman on as Tom or Henry's fun Uncle. I'd also love to have Jeff Bridges as Tom's father. The list of blondes that I would like to have on the show as love interests for the guys is too long to type.

Jeff: Where do you see the guys in 10 years

Brian: Strangely enough, I see Rod as being married. I know what you might be thinking, "wouldn't he be the last get married?" He plays like he'll be the perennial bachelor, but I think he's gonna get himself in a situation where he has to marry a girl or she'll stop having sex with him, he'll choose marriage thinking its "till death" and he'll outlive everyone anyways.

Parting Words

So friends, I hope you've enjoyed your foray into the world of my blog and, more importantly, the world of We Need Girlfriends. Team Ragtag has been so generous to me. Short story, they got me a Super Troopers poster signed by every member of Broken Lizard even though I wasn't able to attend this signing. This was the first (and debatably only) thing my girlfriend liked about me. So, I'm forever indebted to Brian, Angel and Steve (or at least until Katelyn dumps me).

WNG is definitely going places and we should all be stoked that we are in on the ground floor and can watch this thing grow. We'll be like the people who saw U2 at their first US show at the Paradise in Boston, only not pretentious douchebags.

We Need Girlfriends: Episode 9, premieres on July 1st at 12:01AM EST. You can watch it on their website, MySpace, YouTube, iTunes. Fuck, they show this thing everywhere. Remember to be at the side of some random warehouse in Astoria at 12:01 where they'll project the latest episode of WNG. All jokes aside, watch it, laugh, come back here to talk about it and thanks for reading!

The We Need Girlfriends Interview Series Part 2!

You may remember yesterday I brought you an exclusive interview with We Need Girlfriends writer Steve Tsapelas. Well, tonight, I have an equally amazing interview with none other than WNG Editor, Cinematographer, mortal enemy to Steve and inspiration behind Rod:

Angel Acevedo!

Fun Facts: Angel is definitely the partier of the three. I'd say in roughly 58% of the drunken photos of me in college, Angel is next to me. The other 42% were taken by Angel. The most Delta thing Angel ever did involved a party in a Hofstra Tower and a select few Polaroid photographs. Angel lived in a Sorority house. Power Hour snack of choice: Wavy Lays. Angel somehow found the weird song playing in Super Troopers when the German couple is pulled over on Limewire. I played it way too often. The man's love for Michael Bay has in no way ever been exagerrated.

The Interview!

Jeff: You've done a bunch with WNG. What behind the scenes job do you enjoy the most?
Editors Note: Since Angel is Big Budget all the way, he answered this twice

Angel: 1) Throughout this season I've been the lead director of photography (DP) and editor. I guess my favorite has been DP'ing. Being on set is a rush, it's constant moving around, being creative, working with actors, experimenting, it's a lot of fun. I love looking through the lens and setting up shots. But I also love the flip side of editing. With editing it's just you, working alone in a room, it's all quiet and peaceful, there's no rush. I really enjoy that too. So fuck, I love 'em both.

2)My favorite behind the scenes job is eating lunch. I LOVE it. Every day it's different. Sometime we get Chinese, sometimes it's pizza (Dominos or Papa John's), other times it can be Subway. And since most of our budget goes to lunch, we go all out. If we get pizza, then we'll load up on 3 large pizzas, PLUS the extra goodies like buffalo wings, kickers, breadsticks, cheesesticks (my fav!), and a couple of times, sweet treats. Seriously, it's my favorite job to lunch.


Jeff: Loyal readers of my blog (read: my Mom) know that I have challenged the band Bang Camaro to their own song in Guitar Hero 2. I'd like to take the oppotunity to challenge both you and Rod (Evan Bass) to a GoldenEye battle. Proximity Mines, the Complex, 10 deaths. You game?


Angel: I hope you have your casket picked out because YOU ARE DEAD. Team Rod will dominate your ass.

Jeff: You guys might move to LA. Who would be who if you were in Entourage?

Angel: Brian and Steve say I would be Johnny "Drama" and I think I agree with them for once. I love Johnny "Drama." I like how passionate he is about things, like his cooking, his hating of Malibu, and having things big budget. He's definitely in his own world at times, and I can say that I am too.

Jeff: Have you had any cool fan interactions?


Angel: Not really. Well, we were spotted on the streets once while we were filming episode 10. A lady across the street yelled to us "I love you guys! You're the We Need Girlfriend guys right?" So that was cool. What I like most though is hearing about the actors getting spotted and their reactions. That's fun. I like to stay behind the scenes. Smooth.

Jeff: What's been the toughest part of making WNG?

Angel: I can write a 20 page dissertation here, but I'll keep it brief. I think the number one thing for me has been the mess. After a weekend shoot our apartment becomes a fuckin' dump. Pizza boxes, leftover food, equipment, drinks, everything. Our room is ripped apart. Our apartment is small, so when cram in three actors, a crew of 5 - 6 plus lights, equipment, shit gets messy. It's not fun. Also semi-related is my room. It's a constant diaster. I have 2 desks, with 3 computers, with 4 monitors. One of the computers is our Avid editing system, so since I have the biggest room, we have it in there, as well as all of our equipment. We need an office!

Jeff: Where do you see Tom, Rod and Henry in 10 years?

Angel: In 10 years the guys will be in their early 30's and probably settling down with some fine ladies. Tom will probably be married first, followed by Henry, and Rod will have a girlfriend and be rich after co-writing a book about "squirrel scamming" with Dennis and selling the film rights to National Lampoon's with Shia Lebouf set to star.

Jeff: I know you love action movies. Everyone knows this. What is the craziest action scenario you can dream up for the boys of We Need Girlfriends?

Angel: The craziest action scenario would involve Rod being the lead action junkie of course. There would be a damsel in distress, but he would also need to save Tom and Henry. There would be lots of slo-motion and high octane stunts. I already see a scene with a silohoutted Rod walking slowly through a billow smoke (a la Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Maybe even a rooftop battle against some Brooklynites. It would be badass and I would want Michael Bay to direct it.

By Process Of Elimination

For all of you slower (read: Canadian [just kidding, Canada, I love you]) We Need Girlfriends fans, tomorrow's interview finale will be with none other than Brian Amyot. Fear not, friends, for last is not least. Stay tuned for an answer to 2 of the following three questions:

1. What really goes on with the characters' MySpace pages?


2. How do you difuse Steve and Angel?


3. What is Tom's exit strategy in Iraq?

STAY TUNED