25 Deep: The Blue Jays’ Abnormal August

In this monthly feature (an homage to the great Jonah Keri), intrepid Blue Jays fan Dan Grant takes a look at the current team roster and ranks what he finds within. An important distinction to make is that this set of rankings is not one designed to judge overall talent, current skill, potential upside or even strength of character. It is one simply designed to reflect how important the performance of the ranked players are to the success of the team, both in the recent past and near future. From top to bottom, who’s hot, and who’s not? And more importantly still, who needs to be?

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SP Mix: Clams Casino Stakes Territory on His Own Sound

Trap was still sprouting at this time, an offshoot of late 90’s trip hop, which was being molded and changed by west coast producers like Flying Lotus. The next direction of trap was popularized by Lil B’s music, where the kick drums and hi-hats were buried in ambience, bass and reverb. The most prolific creator of this “cloud rap” sound was New Jersey producer Michael Volpe, better known as Clams Casino.

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What to Watch: Film Picks for August

August is a strange month for film. It’s when the few remaining “big” movies get released, some just pushed out the door in the hope that enough people will be bored. These are the films their parent studios are just a little unsure about. They could be good! They could be bad! They could be Suicide Squad (which is bad). But still, as always, we make the picks.

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H.G. Well’s “The Time Machine” is Forever, Even at the End of Time

You are presented with the full edition of Wells’ The Time Machine. The tale now reads like a genteel odyssey, one man’s wanderings through time for no other reason than to see what’s there. The book’s monsters don’t scare you anymore — they seem almost quaint, like desperate little nocturnal apes — but something else does. Time continues to pass.

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The Grant Rant: Aaron Sanchez is (and Must Remain) a Starting Pitcher

The newly minted All-Star has become more than the Blue Jays and their fans could have hoped for this season, exceeding all expectations by harnessing his devastating natural ability, and pairing it with a combination of strength and mechanical consistency that was lacking during his first stint in the starting rotation in 2015. So why are we still worried about Aaron Sanchez and his role?

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“The Night Of” Wants You to Look At Everything

HBO’s latest mini-series The Night Of does something rather rare in the annals of TV drama, and particularly in police procedurals. It makes time for all of it, all of the little cogs in the wheel that get a person from one place (a crime scene) to another (the courtroom) to yet another (jail). There is drama here; a gruesomely murdered woman and a mystery at the core of things. But the effectiveness of the story is not in theatrics, but in the minutia, the little details.

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