Miabi Films » sports

Dock Ellis on LSD

Greg — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:43:42 +0000

Watch the true and animated story of MLB pitcher Dock Ellis‘ 1970 no-no on LSD.

Geocitiesizer

Donate Your Brain

Greg — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:18:32 +0000

In the elevator yesterday, a headline on the video screen caught my eye. Football players are being encouraged to donate their brains to science when they die. In an effort to study head trauma more seriously, Boston University researchers will get an influx of frozen heads in the coming years. The applications for this go far beyond Ochocinco of course. I support this and I’m glad the NFL is doing it, but the bluntness of the headline really made me chuckle. It just conjures up a visual in my mind that you don’t often get from the regular news. Or the elevator for that matter. I dunno.

“Hey guys, when you’re done with it, can you please donate your brain?”

Maybe while they’re researching concussions they can look into what makes football players scream and spaz all the time?

NFL Asks Players to Donate Their Brains For Study

Once, Just Once 4

Greg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:05:12 +0000

Once, just once… I want to be at Yankee Stadium when The Yankees win the World Series. Congratulations boys. What a great season. You deserved this one. Number 27.

The Hall of Fame. Sick of it.

Greg — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:26:02 +0000

I’m sick and tired of all the steroids talk, records talk, Hall of Fame talk. The A-Rod doping story quickly reached critical mass and baseball season is still a month and a half away. Interminable debate on talk radio and the interwebs regarding validity of records or A-Rod’s true Hall of Fame credentials is nauseating and distracting.

The Hall of Fame should lionize Baseball, not statistics. While it represents the Great Ones that statistics have already weeded out, it should also pay homage to those that have greatly impacted the game. It should not be a tomb to morality, but a celebration of a game that people love. Cheaters never prosper. I don’t need sports to tell me that. My mother did when I was very little.

Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, Mark McGwire. These guys deserve to be in the Hall because of how they impacted the game.

Joe Jackson was the finest pure hitter of his generation, possibly all-time. A Pre-Babe superstar. Pete Rose played his guts out day after night and managed to scrounge out more hits than anyone who’s ever played the game. Mark McGwire electrified an entire country during one magical summer and brought Baseball back to prominence.

These guys deserve to be honored by The Hall of Fame because of what they did for the game’s fans. The game’s real estate in our hearts. Yes they have flaws and we should acknowledge those flaws. But let history shower scorn on those that damaged the integrity of the game. Hell, give it its own section on the Wikipedia page. We still loved them when they played Baseball. We were still awed by their skill. I think its important to not forget them.

There are several others I feel belong in the Hall and among those is A-Rod. Shit, If A-Rod were to retire tomorrow he should be in the Hall of Fame.

How To Do a Flea-Flicker

Greg — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:55:06 +0000

Lespants recently asked me if I’d like to collaborate on a “How To” video for the Emerging Filmmaker Program at Howcast.com. I was kinda blah about it at first- until he suggested putting my new After Effects skills to work. Seeking any opportunity to use my favorite game for good, I jumped on it.

Howcast is a pretty cool How To site which has hundreds of neat video tutorials. Things like How To Pick up a Flight Attendant and How To Look Hot While Playing “Rock Band”. This is not your father’s How To website.

It all gets wrapped up in their standardized packaging. They provide a basic script, a VO track, graphics, and access to a music library. Leaving us to shoot it any way we want.

We downloaded How To Do a Flea-Flicker. (Grammatically incorrect title. Should be: How to RUN a Flea-Flicker) Christian shot it in front of a green screen on HD with our friend Noah Starr filling in as the entire team. Then I edited it and ran it through After Effects; adding backgrounds and motion graphics work. It was fun to see it all come together and it helped me perfect my FCP to AE to FCP workflow.

Have a looksie… Hopefully you’ll dominate this year’s family pigskin pickup game.

The Bronx Zoo

Greg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:58:38 +0000

Ok, the baseball season is officially over for the New York Yankees. They’ve missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, blah blah blah. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. The Bronx Bombers haven’t been the same since October 2004. We all know what happened then.

I submit that we need to bring back The Bronx Zoo. The Joe Torre era is over. It’s time to put some fire into these overpaid ding-dongs. Joe Girardi tried to do that this year with little success. His demeanor with the Marlins two years ago was staunchly different than it was with the Yankees this year. He’s managing for a storied franchise. Replacing the phlegmatic Torre. He’s trying to manage people who in some cases are older than him. In other cases are ex-teammates. Where in Florida he had the young players’ ears… Here he’s got a bunch of gigantic egos to coordinate.

I don’t know how Jeter acts in the clubhouse. His personality in interviews however doesn’t lead me to believe he’s stirring anything up in there. He was brought up by Joe Torre. That’s not how he acts. I’m sure they all believe that they’re all highly paid professionals and that they should be able to self-motivate at will. But it just hasn’t happened in the past 4 years. Do you ever watch A-Rod in post-game interviews? It’s like he’s channeling Torre. Same exact mannerisms and all. A-Rod was at his best last year when he stopped caring what people said or thought about him and started playing baseball again.

Hank, you want to stay older? Bring back Sheffield. He’ll help create a zoo atmosphere. Re-sign Giambi. He and Captain Caveman are the only two people on the team that seem to make the clubhouse fun. I know Giambino likes to play the field, but he’s proven to be a liability. He’d make a terrific DH when you sign Teixeira this winter. I’m sure you’re gonna go after CC this offseason as well. It looks like he’s got some fire in him. And he wears his hat just like Joba! Go for it. Here’s another idea… Sign Milton Bradley. He’s coming off of a terrific season, and no one creates tension like Mr. Bradley. As much as I truly love Matsui, he’s getting old. Trade him and put Bradley in right.

Hank, you need to let Girardi know it’s time to get pissed. Get in the players’ faces. Your father was a master at doing this through the sports media. You have failed miserably this year. You need to study baseball this offseason my man. Maybe hire a writer for your personal staff. Your comments to the media have only made YOU look bad. Really bad. The Yankees are all about drama and the only drama we had this year was Giambi’s leopard underwear and your dumb comments.

This team needs to get angry.

Roooooarrrr!

Larry David as George Steinbrenner

Greg — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:27:34 +0000

In honor of the final game being played tonight at the old Yankee Stadium, I present to you every single time Larry David appeared on Seinfeld as the voice of George Steinbrenner. As compiled by me.

Hurry up and watch it before someone takes it down. That is, if you’ve got 20 minutes to spare.

Golfin’ 2

Greg — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:09:55 +0000

2007 (1:13) – This is a sequel I did last year to the Golfin’ series. The song is Take A Bow by Muse. More fun with special effects!

| Right click to download the iPod-ready version. 4.8 mb (QT7 required)

No related posts.

Hank got Hammered

Greg — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:08:09 +0000

Watching the 2008 All-Star pregame spectacle at Yankee Stadium was something else. If you’re anything like me, you find these kinds of moments both exciting and cringe-worthy. It was amazing to see all of these baseball legends together in one place. It was even great to see Big Stein roll in on his golf cart. It looks like The Boss had a stroke, but I don’t know what the going story actually is. I’ve always liked Steinbrenner for his devotion to the Yankees and this was a fitting send-off.

But with all those different team affiliations, decrepit old men, and giant egos in one place under the hot Bronx lights, you get the feeling something might go wrong.

Luckily, aside from the general pacing of this thing, (the damn game didn’t get started until 9pm-ish) it pretty much went off without any problem. Nothing really viral-worthy. Except for the mistreatment of Hank Aaron.

For anyone who didn’t watch this parade, here’s how the ceremony went:
They went around the diamond with Joe Buck announcing every still breathing hall-of-famer at each position, as only Joe Buck can. There were a couple of huge names and the well-educated Yankees crowd gave them their due.

When Joe Buck got to center field they went through the names and then he said something to the effect of this….

“And now… (dramatic pause)….. one of the true giants of the game. (It’s a pun!) Willy………………(dramatic pause)….. Mays!”
The crowd goes wild
cut to CU of The Say Hey Kid
cut to crowd going bananas
cut to CU of The Say Hey Kid
and so on.

This goes on for a minute or two.

Then, Joe Buck begins to announce the right fielders. As he’s going down the list it goes something like this…..

“Tony Gwynn…”
“Al Kaline…”
“Hank Aaron…”
“Reggie….. Jackson…”
cut to crowd chanting “Reg-gie” “Reg-gie”
cut to CU of Reggie’s ego
cut to crowd cheering
cut to CU of Mr. October

Ok, I understand that we’re in Yankee Stadium, and they want to leverage the crowd by throwing a Yankee great out there at the end. But how about something special for Hammerin’ Hank? I mean come on. They just went right by him! This man is another one of the true giants of the game. Could they not come up with a clever pun or something? Let me try…

“And now….. (dramatic pause)…. one of the bravest men to pick up the lumber……. (dramatic pause)…. Henry…..”Hank”….. Aaron.”

For goodness sake… he was the home run king for 33 years. And many people believe he still is! I grew up believing he was some sort of god. I didn’t think he was real. It’s Hank Aaron. Give the man a little more respect than that. Is it because we’re in the house that Ruth built and we are still bitter that he broke Babe’s record? That simply can’t be.

I don’t know if MLB produced this thing or if it was solely done by FOX, but someone needs to apologize to Mr. Aaron. I’ve got a feeling it’s FOX because I don’t think Major League Baseball would suddenly forget one of it’s greatest living legends. Someone should be ashamed. How soon we forget the man. And I’m sure, somewhere, Barry Bonds is pissed too.

Stepping off soapbox now.

It’s not a word. He’s a Baseball Player

Greg — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:44:10 +0000

A few years ago I was waiting tables in Short Hills, New Jersey. One afternoon I had the pleasure of serving Phil Rizzuto and his wife Cora. He lived in the area and I’d heard he’d come in before. All he wanted was a burger and ice cream. He explained to me that he loved our burgers. And prepared me way in advance that he’d be asking for the ice cream. I managed to get over being star struck long enough to tell him I was Italian and he asked where my family was from. We talked about it for a few moments, but as always in those situations, I had nothing good to say and managed to run and hide. He loved the hamburger and ice cream. When he asked for seconds on the ice cream I laughed and told him it was on the house. He was a handsome fella and Cora was very beautiful. A real gentleman.

Scooter passed away yesterday. It was a sad day as a Yankee fan, baseball fan, Italian, and human. But it was tough to really get upset about it. This guy was always enjoying himself and had an incredible sense of humor. He kept everything light. And he had one hell of a life.

This is as sentimental as Miabi Films will get. RIP Scooter.

If you have a half hour, you should really check out his Hall of Fame induction speech. It’s great.

The Hall of Fame. Sick of it.