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Blueprint: Persevere w/ Perspective

I planned to share my disbelief regarding what took place Friday in Paris, then I realized anything I wrote would be best served encompassing the issue as a whole.

That wasn’t going to happen. We just don’t have much time for that nowadays. But the magnitude of the tragedy, much like any other that’s happened during our existence, is a hard reality to digest when confronted with it.

I can’t imagine attempting to pick up and carry on from such tragedy. Or living with the imagery of horror that was witnessed firsthand.

Imagine having to persevere in search of a new perspective. It’s certainly something to think about. Allow Columbus, Ohio’s Blueprint to take you down that path…

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AC/DC released “Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap” at right time

I’m not much of an AC/DC fan. Don’t love them. Don’t hate them. But they did hold my ear at different parts in my life.

One album stands out among the rest.

I was introduced to Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap more than 20 years ago. And I believe it contains two of the band’s best songs.

Aside from the title track – a fitting classic in its own right – “Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)” and “Ride On” remain at the pinnacle for me.

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It’s been an eventful three months since we last met

My life changed drastically three months ago.

After years of grinding my way through freelance writing assignments and radio shows, I finally latched on full-time as a multimedia sports reporter at the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. There, the grind carries on.

I’ve been busy since the end of July on the high school and local sports beat at the Sentinel, which encompasses much more than you’d care to read about at this point.

The exciting part has been the high school football coverage we’ve been doing for the 76 area programs (yes, 76 high school football teams) through print and online video features.

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Mashup Music Monday: Pink Floyd & Bee Gees in “Stayin’ Alive in the Wall”

It’s unexplainable.

That’s really the only way to explain how “Another Brick on the Wall (Part 2)” by Pink Floyd and “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees can coexist into one fascinating song.

Just know that where there’s brain-washed kids marching in a single file line circa The Wall there’s gonna be John Travolta working the butterfly collar via Saturday Night Fever.

Brillant mashup from Wax Audio.

Brazilian icons Kaká and Oscar Schmidt share Orlando City moment

SANFORD, Fla. – When it comes to sports in Brazil there’s no bigger name in soccer than Ricardo Kaká and no bigger basketball icon than Oscar Schmidt.

On Tuesday at the Orlando City Soccer Club’s training facility the two friends took a moment to chat while Schmidt was in town with family just as Kaká was preparing to head out for a U.S. Open Cup match in Chicago.

Kaká presented the Naismith Memorial Basketball and FIBA hall of famer with a personalized No. 14 OCSC jersey before the two shared stories of how they met many years ago.

( – Click here for J.C.’s story on Orlando City SC for Orlando Sentinel – )

Kaká, a former FIFA World Player of the Year, is in his first season in Major League Soccer. He’ll captain the MLS All-Stars against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur next Wednesday.

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Ken Stabler one of six players to throw 7 interceptions in NFL game

The passing of former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler at the age of 69 is likely to revive old debates over The Snake’s Pro Football Hall of Fame worthiness.

There’s room for argument on both sides of the table. I mean, the Hall’s selection committee named Stabler a second-team member of its All-Decade Team of the 1970s, despite 24 interceptions thrown in 1975 and 30 in 1978. They were clearly impressed once upon a time.

Stabler finished his 15-year NFL career (11 as a starter with three teams) in the shadows of contemporaries such as Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese and Fran Tarkenton, each immortalized in Canton, Ohio.

But what about Kenny? He led Oakland to a 69-26-1 regular season record in the 1970s and finished with 96 wins in all after wrapping up a career with the Houston Oilers and lowly New Orleans Saints.

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Austin Dillon walks away from horrific NASCAR wreck at Daytona

More shocking than the footage below is that the driver on the wrong end of this wreck early Monday at Daytona International Speedway actually walked away in one piece.

Austin Dillon and his No. 3 stock car went airborne into the fencing just before 2:45 a.m. late Sunday along the final stretch of the Coke Zero 400.

Kevin Harvick clipped the back end of Denny Hamlin, spinning the No. 11 car around and into Dillon, who was then hit by Brad Keselowski upon returning to the track while upside down.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, which did not get underway until after 11 p.m. after being delayed by rain. But it’ll be how the race ended, with the No. 3 car caught up in a horrific wreck at Daytona, that’s going to have people talking about the sport this week.

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Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”

One of the best songs on one of the most creative albums of the year comes off even better in video form.

Kendrick Lamar released imagery for “Alright” earlier this week, a horn-infused and repenting track produced by Pharrell Williams and Sounwave. The black and white video, directed by Colin Tilley, pushes the same type of buttons the To Pimp a Butterfly album has already evoked from listeners.

It’s a refreshing seven minutes of cinema. You’ll want to run this one back a few times.

The Muppets mashup w/ Beastie Boys, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Biz Markie, Digital Underground & Naughty by Nature

Shout out to isthishowyougoviral on YouTube for giving the world 1990s hip-hop music video mashups featuring everyone’s childhood heroes The Muppets.

The footage below is synced perfectly with classic throwback tracks by the Beastie Boys, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Biz Markie, Digital Underground and Naughty by Nature.

The best part is how each clip has a different Muppet character featured in a lead role including Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, Rowlf the Dog, Animal, Dr. Teeth and others.

We can only hope Jim Henson is somewhere smiling as widely as we are at this very moment.

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The Evolution of Batman in Cinema

A new Batman hits the big screen next year featuring Ben Affleck in the leading role as the Caped Crusader. He’ll follow in the footsteps of a handful of others who’ve put their own unique spin on Bruce Wayne dating back to the 1940s.

Luckily for us there’s someone looming in the shadows who recently felt compelled enough to showcase Batman’s cinematic past in his own way. Jacob T. Swinney has pieced together old footage of all who has worn the cape in movies over the years, helping to bring some perspective to the franchise and the changes it’s endured.

“The Evolution of Batman in Cinema” features a look at the Batman (1943) and Batman and Robin (1949) serial shows that started it all and the Batman: The Movie (1966) release that put the character over the top.

Swinney also includes footage of the nearly three-decade run that followed more than 20 years later including Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and The Lego Movie (2014).

The Evolution of Batman in Cinema from Jacob T. Swinney on Vimeo.

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Golden State Warriors stirring up old memories of 40 years ago

The NBA didn’t matter the last time the Golden State Warriors played for a championship.

The National Basketball Association was still a decade away from garnering national interest amid the sports landscape when Rick Barry, Jamaal Wilkes, George Johnson, Butch Beard, Clifford Ray and Jeff Mullins last brought a title to the Bay Area.

It wasn’t until the mid-1980s, when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were reaching all corners of the country through a complex rivalry, that both media and fans started to truly pay attention. But before those theatrical days were plenty of other benchmarks being laid throughout the history of the league.

The Warriors claimed the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference during the 1974-75 season with a modest 48-34 record. They did so by leading the 18-team league in scoring, rebounds and steals before pulling an upset (assuming they were indeed the underdogs, of course) of the Washington Bullets (60-22) by way of a sweep in the NBA Finals.

That series has some historical significance aside from the result as Golden State’s Al Attles and Washington’s K.C. Jones became the first black head coaches to face off in a professional sports championship. Never mind that Attles was thrown out of Game 4 for attacking an opposing player during the game.

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Cleveland Cavaliers return to top of NBA’s Eastern Conference

So much changes over the course of eight years. Just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers, who last played for an NBA title back when they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs following the 2006-07 season.

Three years later the Cavs decided it was time to move on from head coach Mike Brown, while all-star LeBron James decided to move on from Cleveland following semifinal setbacks to the Boston Celtics (2008, 2010) and an Eastern Conference final loss to the Orlando Magic in 2009.

And now, mercifully, Cleveland gets another shot at breaking a pro sports title drought that dates back to 1964 when the Browns last finished on top.

This time the Cavs’ hopes won’t hinge on the likes of overachievers such as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, Daniel Gibson and, unfortunately, Anderson Varejao, who is one of two remaining players still on roster from 2007 but has been sidelined due to injury.

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B.B. King is dead, long live his blues

The longer we live the more people we’ll see moving on from this crazy world. It’s inevitable. Many will be famous, others closer to home.

Late Thursday word began to spread of the passing of blues guitarist B.B. King at the age of 89. Whether you dig the blues or not, you most certainly know that King ranks among the greatest guitar players of all time.

Born in Mississippi in 1925, his music was a reflection of his upbringing. It connected with people of all walks of life and backgrounds, such is evident in videos below featuring U2 and Big K.R.I.T., and it’ll continue to inspire and live on for countless generations to come. Just as it should.

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Four teams remain in Stanley Cup Playoffs and none are from Canada

I hardly have time to care too much about the National Hockey League. There’s just too many other things going on in the world of sports to consume my attention.

But now we’re down to the final four teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s reason enough to start paying attention, right?

What’s interesting about the upcoming matchups this weekend is that there’s no hard feelings stemming from previous postseason clashes to help get the excitement brewing. Instead we’ve got one team in the mist of a marginally lengthy Stanley Cup drought and, in comparison, three others still cleaning up confetti from recent triumphs.

On Saturday it’s the top-seeded New York Rangers and the No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning meeting in the Eastern Conference. Sunday it’ll be the No. 1 Anaheim Ducks hosting the No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference.

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Even fake beer is great beer

The beer connoisseur in me can’t get enough of sampling different styles of suds from all corners of the globe.

Unfortunately, there are some intriguing options we’ll never actually get a chance to taste, as they’re not even real beers in the first place.

Bennett Hawkins at UPROXX compiled a Top 20 list of fictional brews from movie and television shows last April.

I realized how little I paid attention to such details upon stumbling across the post. Now, I’m holding out hope that we’ll one day see some of these beers produced in my lifetime.

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