Jeff Cannata

I've just started rehearsals on a new play opening at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank in March.  It is a world premiere comedy by Sam Bobrick called The Psychic.  You can get all the details and buy tickets by going here.

The fantastic cast & director:

I did a few interviews recently that have just hit the web.  Check them out:

The first is for Bite My Review, and the questions are a ton of fun.  I really had a good time doing this one.

The second is for a podcast called Q's House.  Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication when we set this one up.  When he told me he'd call me at 11am I didn't realize he was based in Florida - he assumed I knew he meant 11am East Coast Time.  Then, when he woke me up with the call at 8am my time (I know, I get to sleep in, poor me) he decided to just keep recording and do the interview anyway.  So if you want to hear me totally incoherent as I try to put a sentence together and wake up at the same time, give that one a listen.

Also, I was lucky enough to be asked back by the awesome film nuts at the /filmcast to talk about Zombieland and The Invention of Lying.  It is a long show, but great.

Hope you enjoy these - I'd love to hear your feedback below.

I didn't fare too well with my week 1 picks.  I was particularly wrong about the two Monday night games, which turned out to be competitive and exciting, rather than blowouts.

The two happy takeaways for me, though, are that my beloved Niners won their first game (against the division champs, no less!), and my fantasy team absolutely crushed.  Helps to have Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, and Payton Manning all on the team, but I came away with the most points of the week, easily winning my match-up.

Bring on week 2!

I'm going to discuss something I never get a chance to talk about on TRS: sports!  Or, more specifically, the NFL.  I'm a huge football fan, in addition to all my nerdlier pursuits, and have been brimming with anticipation over the new season starting.  Now, my beloved 49ers still aren't exactly Super Bowl contenders (although, in a weak division you never know... <crosses fingers>), but the last few years I've livened my Sundays by participating in a friendly pick 'em competition with some friends.  We pick all the games of the week against the spread, and in a completely unrelated matter also independently decide to give a few dollars to the gentlemen with the most accurate record.  It is a ton of fun and makes my Sundays all the more thrilling, so I thought I'd open up the process a bit, here on the blog, and welcome comments, criticisms, and general discussion.

Right off the bat, I should admit that I've got more enthusiasm than sense, and often just go with my gut, so you may see me make some bone-head moves.  Feel free to call me out, but let's try to keep this all in good fun.  Ok, here's what I'm feeling for week one (tomorrow):

ATLANTA -4 over Miami

I like Atlanta at home, so I'm gonna give the points.  I think Atlanta could be a top tier team this year

BALTIMORE -10 1/2 over Kansas City

I think KC is going to be pretty terrible and this feels like a blowout to me.

CINCINNATI -4 1/2 over Denver

Yes, three home favorites in a row, but I'm betting the Bengals will do much better this year, and Denver just looks sad.

CLEVELAND +3 1/2 over Minnesota

Well, hello, here is my first crazy-town gut pick.  Yes, Brett Favre, AP, a Vikings team with a lot to prove.  But there has to be one home 'dog that surprises people - I think it'll be the Browns.

Jacksonville +7 over INDIANAPOLIS

I think this'll be a close game - I'm just taking the points.

Detroit +13 1/2 over NEW ORLEANS

They can't get beat by 2 touchdowns... right?  They've gotta get back SOME dignity...

Dallas -5 1/2 over TAMPA BAY

Marion Barber has a huge game on the road.

NY Jets +4 1/2 over HOUSTON

Texans looked terrible in preseason - I'll take the points.

CAROLINA +1 1/2 over Philadelphia

Even as I type this I feel like it is wrong, but I'm going with the gut.

San Francisco +6 1/2 over ARIZONA

Yes, I'm picking with my heart.  Go niners.

SEATTLE -7 1/2 over St. Louis

I'll give the points here, the Rams get blown out.

NY GIANTS -6 1/2 over Washington

Yes, I think the Giants are a touchdown better than the 'skins.

Chicago +3 1/2 over GREEN BAY

I think the Bears have a lot to prove.  The Pack is strong.  This could go either way.

NEW ENGLAND -10 1/2 over Buffalo  and  San Diego -8 1/2 over OAKLAND

Two games Monday night, both blowouts in favor of the favorite. :)

Ok, there you go.  We'll see how well I do...

I've also, for the first time, entered a Fantasy League, so you can watch me flounder through that as well.  I was lucky enough to get the help of twitter follower, NFL Fantasy badass, and all-around good guy, Doug Zuba in drafting my team, so any potential glory belongs more to him than to me.  Thanks, Doug!  I'll update my progress there in a future blog.

I just finished reading George R R Martin's first novel in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, the other night - and I'm about 6 chapters into Book 2, A Clash of Kings, as I write this.  Wow, what spectacular, exciting fantasy writing.  Vivid, compelling characters (is anyone cooler than Tyrion Lannister?), intriguing, edge-of-your-seat plotting, and best of all, superb use of language.  I feel a tinge of regret at not having read these novels earlier (especially since the announcement of the HBO series adaptation makes it feel a bit bandwagon-jumpy of me).  I remember when I re-read the Lord of the Rings before the first Peter Jackson film was released, I wanted to go right to another epic fantasy story, and a friend told me about Martin's Song and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.  I went with WoT and was pretty disappointed with it, which ended my epic fantasy lust fairly quickly (Jordan fans take heart, my girlfriend at the time picked up The Eye of the World when I set it down and promptly consumed the entire series with gusto.  One reader lost, but another gained).  No doubt if I had made the other choice I would be one of the numerous impatient throng, clammering for the completion of A Dance with Dragons.

But this blog post isn't about A Song of Ice and Fire.

I also read the last half of A Game of Thrones on my brand new Kindle, a delightful birthday gift from my buddies and co-hosts over at the Totally Rad Show (thanks, fellas!) - and really grew to love the experience.  I always thought the Kindle was a solution in search of a problem (what's wrong with books?), but having one now has made me a believer.  I feel I'm reading quicker, easier, and - let's face it - cooler than I used to.

But this blog post isn't about the Kindle, either.

No, this blog post is about reading.  Reading in general.  As someone who happily makes his living talking about movies, tv, video games, and comics, I am struck once again by the narrative advantages of the novel.  As much as I love those other artforms, no other medium can match the thrill, richness, or depth I experience while reading a great book. 

I've come to the conclusion that I tend to be a cyclical guy by nature.  I can get into something very heavily for a while, leave it for a time, and return to it later with as much (more?) enthusiasm, causing the cycle to repeat.  Reading is a great example.  I'll find myself an excellent book, fall in love with it, and spend hours on Amazon, planning out my next few reads.  I'll actually take a break from the book I'm reading to get lost for a time in the (wonderfully) infinite loop of Amazon lists and recommendation pages, based on that book, to see all of the cool, previously undiscovered experiences that await me when I finish it.  It is as if the joy in reading the current book creates a line-up of promises that I then use as incentive to finish it.  "So excited to read Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind," I'm saying to myself right now, "but not until I've gotten through the four Song books."

Yet somewhere, somehow along the line, life seems to conspire to steal me away from the reading experience.  I'll find myself not reading - worse, not wanting to read.  One step in my chain of promises might be less than thrilling, and I fall out of the habit of reading.

But when the inevitable return happens - when I move along the cycle to the point (as I am now), where I rediscover the unmatched joys of losing myself in a great writer's words - I wonder why the hell it took me so long to get back into reading!

So... here, at long last, is really what this blog post is about:  This blog post is a reminder to myself to pick up a book.  Hopefully, when that down-cycle in my reading pattern inevitably comes to pass, I'll find myself editing this blog page, and I'll glance down a bit and see what I wrote here, and maybe, just maybe, I'll make some time to pick up a book, and cut that "not-reading" part of the cycle a bit shorter.

And maybe you're in your down-cycle, too.  Maybe you haven't read anything great in a while.  Maybe seeing this post can have the same effect on you.  I'd love to see some great recommendations of excellent reads down in the comment section, something to inspire me or another reader to try something new.  To grab a book.  Because, damn, there really is nothing better.

Oh, and no spoilers for Song, please!!  I'm reading as fast as I can!