Thanks for stopping by; I'm not here and I won't return for at least 2 weeks. I'm sure I'll have much to tell you the 2nd week of September...
Cheers,
Brian
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Spent the majority of the weekend at Target Field giving the home fans mostly what they seem to expect: The New York Yankees coming to town and acting like they own it. It's a little sad because the Twins fans tend to be rather well spirited despite an clear inferiority complex; even the guy selling the "Yankees Suck" t-shirts out front as a little smirk on his face.
For our side, we really don't taunt the Twins and their fans as we would many other teams. I almost felt like it was overkill to employ mojos against the Twinkies, but old superstitions die hard and I wouldn't any loss other than the expected one to be my fault.
And mostly I had great conversations with the 612 fans. They know their team but it pains me to hear them so down on Mauer and Morneau and to boo them. They lustily boo Derek Jeter too, but I think that's because they really want to dip his pigtails in the inkwell.
Friday night was a nice, yet game-delaying tribute to Jim Thome in honor of recently hitting his 600th home-run on the road. The lone boos during the ceremony was when A-Rod came out to congratulate and hug Thome for joining the club. Outside of a reversal call on a HR that almost evens the score for getting ripped off in Kansas City, the game was in CC and the Yanks hands: 8-4 F
Saturday night Phil Hughes was lights out, gave up a solo shot in the 1st and then didn't allow another hit until the 7th, the Yankees hit and rolled to an 8-1F. Sunday was the game I told the crestfallen ushers and concession workers that they would win. AJ Burnett is the freaking kiss of death and acted the part, giving up 7 runs in an inning and 2/3rds toward an eventual 9-4 F.
Ivan Nova proved yet again why he must stay in the starting rotation. He was nothing short of phenomenal. When the Yankee outfield put him a 2nd and 3rd situation he notched it up further, stuck out the next two and then closed out the inning with a weak grounder to 1st. Granderson hits an inside-the-park homerun (which sent the 1 obnoxious Twins fan in my vicinity home; my withering look maybe helped him out of his seat) and Tex follows with a blast and the Yanks take the series 3 outta 4 with a 3 zip W.
It was great to overload my baseball before taking my 2-week hiatus from such things...
Cheers,
Brian
For our side, we really don't taunt the Twins and their fans as we would many other teams. I almost felt like it was overkill to employ mojos against the Twinkies, but old superstitions die hard and I wouldn't any loss other than the expected one to be my fault.
And mostly I had great conversations with the 612 fans. They know their team but it pains me to hear them so down on Mauer and Morneau and to boo them. They lustily boo Derek Jeter too, but I think that's because they really want to dip his pigtails in the inkwell.
Friday night was a nice, yet game-delaying tribute to Jim Thome in honor of recently hitting his 600th home-run on the road. The lone boos during the ceremony was when A-Rod came out to congratulate and hug Thome for joining the club. Outside of a reversal call on a HR that almost evens the score for getting ripped off in Kansas City, the game was in CC and the Yanks hands: 8-4 F
Saturday night Phil Hughes was lights out, gave up a solo shot in the 1st and then didn't allow another hit until the 7th, the Yankees hit and rolled to an 8-1F. Sunday was the game I told the crestfallen ushers and concession workers that they would win. AJ Burnett is the freaking kiss of death and acted the part, giving up 7 runs in an inning and 2/3rds toward an eventual 9-4 F.
Ivan Nova proved yet again why he must stay in the starting rotation. He was nothing short of phenomenal. When the Yankee outfield put him a 2nd and 3rd situation he notched it up further, stuck out the next two and then closed out the inning with a weak grounder to 1st. Granderson hits an inside-the-park homerun (which sent the 1 obnoxious Twins fan in my vicinity home; my withering look maybe helped him out of his seat) and Tex follows with a blast and the Yanks take the series 3 outta 4 with a 3 zip W.
It was great to overload my baseball before taking my 2-week hiatus from such things...
Cheers,
Brian
Friday, August 19, 2011
Of all the other major league parks in which I get to see Yankee road games, Target has become possibly my favorite. Yes, it's close by and I can even bike there; I didn't last night as my face is still recovering from some dude in a face mask cutting me open, gouging me out and stitching me back up-- unlike a mugger though, this time I didn't have to pay the oral surgeon and even got some lovely, take-home prizes. I will bike to at least 1 of the 4 game series this weekend, possibly even 2 or 3. And it's a gorgeous new park dab-smack in the middle of downtown Minneapolis (yes-- there IS a downtown Minneapolis and just because it's clean doesn't make it not a downtown, he said with a barely discernible wink) and yes, the Yankees tend to have their way with the Twinkies, although it is hard to sweep a 4-game series and no, that is not a concession. Speaking of concessions, last night in deference to my mouth it was just sub-standard cheese curds but a few nice Summit EPA's to wash 'em down with. Should step up to the chili from Loon's tonight and then be in shape for the brats from the local Polish place that I won't even attempt to spell, but it starts with a K and ends with one too, I think.
In the stands though, is where the Twins fans differentiate themselves. Actually, even before you get into the place, about the most hostile person you will see is the guy hawking "Yankees Suck" t-shirts and even he knows they don't actually mean it. I have never been given less crap as a visiting Yankee fan (and last night was 3 pieces of flair: hat, t-shirt and #31 jersey) at any park I have ever been to and that includes World Series games on the road too (hello San Diego. How are you today?). Twins fans expect to lose to the Yankees and they expect some good-natured ribbing from the horde who root for US Steel.
And after having a reviewed home-run call go against the Yankees in KC the night before (and erroneously I may add) last night a ball that was originally deemed out of the park was reviewed and benefited the Yankees. I could read Morneau's lips in the dugout when he said that the ball went over the foul-pole, but the umps saw it differently and after Morneau returned to the plate to strike out it was if most of the wind went out of the Twins sails as Gardenhire argued the review, which you're not permitted to do.
8-4 was the final, the Yankees showing how to actually hit home-runs in the spacious Target Field. Tonight is game 2- Hughes vs Slowey and I'm in my favorite seats: high up but directly behind home plate. Another beautiful night for baseball by early indications. Come buy me a beer now that you know where I will be sitting.
Cheers
Brian
In the stands though, is where the Twins fans differentiate themselves. Actually, even before you get into the place, about the most hostile person you will see is the guy hawking "Yankees Suck" t-shirts and even he knows they don't actually mean it. I have never been given less crap as a visiting Yankee fan (and last night was 3 pieces of flair: hat, t-shirt and #31 jersey) at any park I have ever been to and that includes World Series games on the road too (hello San Diego. How are you today?). Twins fans expect to lose to the Yankees and they expect some good-natured ribbing from the horde who root for US Steel.
And after having a reviewed home-run call go against the Yankees in KC the night before (and erroneously I may add) last night a ball that was originally deemed out of the park was reviewed and benefited the Yankees. I could read Morneau's lips in the dugout when he said that the ball went over the foul-pole, but the umps saw it differently and after Morneau returned to the plate to strike out it was if most of the wind went out of the Twins sails as Gardenhire argued the review, which you're not permitted to do.
8-4 was the final, the Yankees showing how to actually hit home-runs in the spacious Target Field. Tonight is game 2- Hughes vs Slowey and I'm in my favorite seats: high up but directly behind home plate. Another beautiful night for baseball by early indications. Come buy me a beer now that you know where I will be sitting.
Cheers
Brian
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
I have posted short-shrift blogs before but this one may take the cake -- as long as it's a soft cake. The ongoing trial that is the situation in my mouth garnered another chapter yesterday. Four months after having my wisdom teeth removed (yes, that could explain a lot) I was still having complications and pain, etc. So, yesterday after exhausting all other options, I got the gas and I got the local and I got cut open, gouged out and then stitched back up. I write this to you this morning on more antibiotics, pain-killers and with a near-Dizzie Gillespie chipmunk cheek.
Such be life...
But "doctor's orders" means I can be on the man-kave couch, watching day baseball, scribbling a little, icing my face more than that and eating squishy food ... again.
And fortunately the "for medicinal purposes only" Scotch last night was pretty much just that: usually I must drink when AJ Burnett pitches and in the 5th it looked like I may actually have to switch to doubles on the lovely Cragganmore, but Girardi had seen enough as well while still in the 6th and then pen and the bats did the job to make it a good, solid W - and one that put the Yankees back in a tie for first. Bosox game starts in about a half an hour and a L there puts the Yanks in sole possession of first. How about the Rays sweeping the Sox in their double-header today and a Pinstriped W and we have a breath of breathing room. That's my plan for the day.
Ok, that's all you get today. Sue me; you get what you pay for.
Cheers,
Brian
Such be life...
But "doctor's orders" means I can be on the man-kave couch, watching day baseball, scribbling a little, icing my face more than that and eating squishy food ... again.
And fortunately the "for medicinal purposes only" Scotch last night was pretty much just that: usually I must drink when AJ Burnett pitches and in the 5th it looked like I may actually have to switch to doubles on the lovely Cragganmore, but Girardi had seen enough as well while still in the 6th and then pen and the bats did the job to make it a good, solid W - and one that put the Yankees back in a tie for first. Bosox game starts in about a half an hour and a L there puts the Yanks in sole possession of first. How about the Rays sweeping the Sox in their double-header today and a Pinstriped W and we have a breath of breathing room. That's my plan for the day.
Ok, that's all you get today. Sue me; you get what you pay for.
Cheers,
Brian
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Well, the plan was to do a pretty big (but no where nearly as glutinous as what my friends had performed a couple months back) crawfish boil yesterday in celebration of my friend David's birthday. And after making what seemed like the safer bet: having the good, local seafood place order the live mudbugs for pick-up as opposed to having them shipped to me directly from New Orleans on dry ice -- I was rather saddened and disappointed when I received bad news from the seafood place: the 30 pounds of crawdadas were D.O.A.
So, we had to change the plan: it became a shrimp boil (8 pounds of pretty brown shrimp) with a few dozen oysters tossed in to sweeten the deal. But at least this was lucky: went to the same seafood place for the substitutes and ordered the shrimp (a bigger order than what was up front) and requested the oysters. They had about 8 different varieties (a few each from both coasts) and when asked which I wanted I told the guy serving me to give me a good variety. He told me he would pick out the best ones for me and it was then that I quipped, "well, good- you owe me a favor after my crawfish debacle."
The counter guy turns around and says, "that was you?" Luck was shining on me in that the guy who I had spoken to turned out to be the same guy who was helping me in person. He was very apologetic and seemed near as sad as I that the planned crawfish-boil wasn't going to happen. Additionally, he took 20% off our total which was pretty cool of him. The shrimp were fantastic and the oysters divine and buttery so I will give props here to Coastal Seafood and will return for the next crawdad-deserving bash and for Dungeness crabs come November.
I also picked up an oyster knife there and I shucked the first dozen oysters. I caught the most uneven of the mollusks but kind of got it down (first time I have shucked oysters properly) and the 2 friends who did the other 2 dozen had easier, more uniform ones to shuck and did an even better job that me.
Breaking in Paul's new stand-up, pretty intense double-burner outside cook stove (one 60K BTU burner, the other still a mighty 30K) the shrimp were boiled in a good heaping amount of Bay seasoning (I kept adding more for each round of shrimp; I lost count, but I would guess 5-6 rounds as I didn't have the biggest pot to cook in), some really fragrant and bright green young celery (leaves and all), a lemon or two halved and squeezed and some white vinegar which makes it easier to peel the shrimp when they're done.
The veggie pot also contained the Bay seasoning, but less early in the day, more as I was feeding only adults and not kid-palettes. Into the other (too-small) pot when about 3 dozen ears of fresh sweet corn, a nice mix of both new & pink potatoes and some more of the young celery. Toward the end of the night and after I had probably spent too much time in front of the dual burners, I forgot about the pot of simmering corn until it was too late. All the water had boiled away, the corn was starting to join the pot in being burned when I found them and rescued the ears. Now, the pot is going to take some work to salvage: it's a very nice All-Clad and it is now very burned on the bottom, but the corn? Amazing deliciously spicy! All the seasoning and everything else that had gone into pot #2 over the course of the day had reduced into something of a mole. The corn was great and I hope I remember it well as I am using up a day's worth of elbow-grease restoring the pot to its previous condition.
I've actually only caught highlights of the last 2 Yankee games and what I've read in the NY Papers. The salient stuff we missed? CC got rocked by the Rays on Friday night, but again like Mo, that is just a "blip" -- it's the new Yankee buzzword for the week. But Hughes righted the ship with 6 solid innings toward a 9-2 victory yesterday- the star of the show though was the previously-benched Jorge Posada who made a big show of it with 3 hits, 6 rbi's including a game-opening grand slam.
Girardi caught a little bit of a break with his decision-making progress in regard to re-reducing the 6-man starting rotation to a proper 5-man: although I think AJ Burnett has earned a demotion out of that starting core, apparently Freddy Garcia cut his finger in a kitchen mishap and will miss at least 1 start. AJ got spared; let's see if he, like Jorge, can shine when given an opportunity to redeem himself and perhaps his season.
Today's series finale vs the Rays was washed out so I can go to an art & music fair (Slim Dunlap, guitarist #2 from The Replacements is playing on his 60th birthday) with a clearer conscience.
Cheers,
Brian
So, we had to change the plan: it became a shrimp boil (8 pounds of pretty brown shrimp) with a few dozen oysters tossed in to sweeten the deal. But at least this was lucky: went to the same seafood place for the substitutes and ordered the shrimp (a bigger order than what was up front) and requested the oysters. They had about 8 different varieties (a few each from both coasts) and when asked which I wanted I told the guy serving me to give me a good variety. He told me he would pick out the best ones for me and it was then that I quipped, "well, good- you owe me a favor after my crawfish debacle."
The counter guy turns around and says, "that was you?" Luck was shining on me in that the guy who I had spoken to turned out to be the same guy who was helping me in person. He was very apologetic and seemed near as sad as I that the planned crawfish-boil wasn't going to happen. Additionally, he took 20% off our total which was pretty cool of him. The shrimp were fantastic and the oysters divine and buttery so I will give props here to Coastal Seafood and will return for the next crawdad-deserving bash and for Dungeness crabs come November.
I also picked up an oyster knife there and I shucked the first dozen oysters. I caught the most uneven of the mollusks but kind of got it down (first time I have shucked oysters properly) and the 2 friends who did the other 2 dozen had easier, more uniform ones to shuck and did an even better job that me.
Breaking in Paul's new stand-up, pretty intense double-burner outside cook stove (one 60K BTU burner, the other still a mighty 30K) the shrimp were boiled in a good heaping amount of Bay seasoning (I kept adding more for each round of shrimp; I lost count, but I would guess 5-6 rounds as I didn't have the biggest pot to cook in), some really fragrant and bright green young celery (leaves and all), a lemon or two halved and squeezed and some white vinegar which makes it easier to peel the shrimp when they're done.
The veggie pot also contained the Bay seasoning, but less early in the day, more as I was feeding only adults and not kid-palettes. Into the other (too-small) pot when about 3 dozen ears of fresh sweet corn, a nice mix of both new & pink potatoes and some more of the young celery. Toward the end of the night and after I had probably spent too much time in front of the dual burners, I forgot about the pot of simmering corn until it was too late. All the water had boiled away, the corn was starting to join the pot in being burned when I found them and rescued the ears. Now, the pot is going to take some work to salvage: it's a very nice All-Clad and it is now very burned on the bottom, but the corn? Amazing deliciously spicy! All the seasoning and everything else that had gone into pot #2 over the course of the day had reduced into something of a mole. The corn was great and I hope I remember it well as I am using up a day's worth of elbow-grease restoring the pot to its previous condition.
I've actually only caught highlights of the last 2 Yankee games and what I've read in the NY Papers. The salient stuff we missed? CC got rocked by the Rays on Friday night, but again like Mo, that is just a "blip" -- it's the new Yankee buzzword for the week. But Hughes righted the ship with 6 solid innings toward a 9-2 victory yesterday- the star of the show though was the previously-benched Jorge Posada who made a big show of it with 3 hits, 6 rbi's including a game-opening grand slam.
Girardi caught a little bit of a break with his decision-making progress in regard to re-reducing the 6-man starting rotation to a proper 5-man: although I think AJ Burnett has earned a demotion out of that starting core, apparently Freddy Garcia cut his finger in a kitchen mishap and will miss at least 1 start. AJ got spared; let's see if he, like Jorge, can shine when given an opportunity to redeem himself and perhaps his season.
Today's series finale vs the Rays was washed out so I can go to an art & music fair (Slim Dunlap, guitarist #2 from The Replacements is playing on his 60th birthday) with a clearer conscience.
Cheers,
Brian
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Ivan Nova has made the decision hard on Girardi or, maybe, it's easy: keep pitching the guy who looks poised and confident out there who keeps putting up wins or stay loyal to the higher-paid veteran who can't be trusted even with a 10 run lead? My campaign to dump AJ Burnett out of the starting rotation is hopefully starting to get some traction. But how can a guy who musters zero confidence be considered your #2 starter? I don't even want to see him riding the bullpen bench: designate him for assignment, put him on waivers and see if some other team thinks they can cure what ails him and pick up the remaining years on his $65M contract.
Speaking of sitting on the pine, it looks like that's where Jorge Posada is going to stay for awhile - if not the rest of his career. Posada is in the last year of his contract and although last winter he spoke openly about not being done and was even willing to entertain the notion of signing with another ballclub after this current contract expires. The way it appears now, Jorge is going to get to spend a whole lot of time with his family. I don't mean that disrespectfully; it is just what it is...
Maybe the Giants can trade Beltran (when he's healthy again) for someone who can hit.
Working on my piece for "Batting for Punto: A Salon" and hoping that we can still pull off the maiden voyage of that ship next month. I have a meeting tomorrow night with my partner in that project and hope that leads to pushing forward. I have one "applicant" already; a poetess friend of a friend and although I will mainly be the written-word lead, she has my vote already.
Working on the "Rose" cover also. Hopefully I have a pretty far along mock-up by the time I get back from TTITD in early September.
And somehow, rather inadvertently, I think I have become something of a fan of "mumblecore," a film splinter of small, quiet, contained films, through the work of actor/writer/director/etc. Joe Swanberg. His films only came across my radar in doing some of my watching/research for "Caving" my own movie and I don't know if I fully intend to play in that particular sandbox but I do know that I am considering it. Crap! I am even considering reaching out to Swanberg; I think our sensibilities may match up and I think he is venturing out into some genre fare that is even more up my alley.
And speaking of the whole screenwriting game, for the first time in months I have been getting some nibbles on some scripts, both spec' stuff as well as potential works-for-hire. Nibbles are just that and I don't get excited too much about any of the smoke until there is actual fire, but it's better than having every query ignored. Glad that someone is reading "Crawlspace Charlie" as I am pretty freakin' fond of that one and think it is a very viable project.
Ok- that is all...
Cheers,
Brian
Speaking of sitting on the pine, it looks like that's where Jorge Posada is going to stay for awhile - if not the rest of his career. Posada is in the last year of his contract and although last winter he spoke openly about not being done and was even willing to entertain the notion of signing with another ballclub after this current contract expires. The way it appears now, Jorge is going to get to spend a whole lot of time with his family. I don't mean that disrespectfully; it is just what it is...
Maybe the Giants can trade Beltran (when he's healthy again) for someone who can hit.
Working on my piece for "Batting for Punto: A Salon" and hoping that we can still pull off the maiden voyage of that ship next month. I have a meeting tomorrow night with my partner in that project and hope that leads to pushing forward. I have one "applicant" already; a poetess friend of a friend and although I will mainly be the written-word lead, she has my vote already.
Working on the "Rose" cover also. Hopefully I have a pretty far along mock-up by the time I get back from TTITD in early September.
And somehow, rather inadvertently, I think I have become something of a fan of "mumblecore," a film splinter of small, quiet, contained films, through the work of actor/writer/director/etc. Joe Swanberg. His films only came across my radar in doing some of my watching/research for "Caving" my own movie and I don't know if I fully intend to play in that particular sandbox but I do know that I am considering it. Crap! I am even considering reaching out to Swanberg; I think our sensibilities may match up and I think he is venturing out into some genre fare that is even more up my alley.
And speaking of the whole screenwriting game, for the first time in months I have been getting some nibbles on some scripts, both spec' stuff as well as potential works-for-hire. Nibbles are just that and I don't get excited too much about any of the smoke until there is actual fire, but it's better than having every query ignored. Glad that someone is reading "Crawlspace Charlie" as I am pretty freakin' fond of that one and think it is a very viable project.
Ok- that is all...
Cheers,
Brian
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
No Yankee game last night so I went to see Harry Potter 7, pt. 2 last night in all its whole imax 3D thing. And this is not a pan by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not really a rave; the whole question of imagination became very glaring to me during the course of the long movie. Although with the 5 mile power ride to the theatre and the refusal to but the 44oz coke to get me through it, I didn't have to leave my seat once.
But nor was I really transported to another world. I was struck about halfway through the movie with a kind of discouraging thought: now that all the books have been turned into movies, will people read the novels the way they have? I really do wonder if lazy parents will now just plop Junior or Sis down in front of the netflix box and let them just watch the whole thing unfold rather than reading them the seven, increasingly lengthy tomes chapter by revealing chapter? I have this fear that is exactly what is going to happen.
And whilst Miss Rowling got a lot of say as to how the screenwriters adapted her words for the screen, they're only that: adaptation. There is so much lost in that translation I find - and I don't really mean plot points; I don't care as much about that as I do the magic that is on the page.
Over the course of the years that the films have been made technology has added many tricks to a filmmaker's palette - none as obvious as the IMAX 3D with which I saw last night's edition. But here's the thing: for all the special f/x and optical enhancements, none of it is as good, as special, as magical as what we paint in our minds. I may be biased but still and all with all this technology, I can create something far more wonderful, enchanted and never before seen in my mind. How about you? Will you re-read the books or will you just watch the movies? Will you give the dvd or the collected novel collection to that special young friend or niece or nephew? It will be interesting to see which way the tide rolls...
Go read a book instead of watching the movie!
Thanks,
Brian
But nor was I really transported to another world. I was struck about halfway through the movie with a kind of discouraging thought: now that all the books have been turned into movies, will people read the novels the way they have? I really do wonder if lazy parents will now just plop Junior or Sis down in front of the netflix box and let them just watch the whole thing unfold rather than reading them the seven, increasingly lengthy tomes chapter by revealing chapter? I have this fear that is exactly what is going to happen.
And whilst Miss Rowling got a lot of say as to how the screenwriters adapted her words for the screen, they're only that: adaptation. There is so much lost in that translation I find - and I don't really mean plot points; I don't care as much about that as I do the magic that is on the page.
Over the course of the years that the films have been made technology has added many tricks to a filmmaker's palette - none as obvious as the IMAX 3D with which I saw last night's edition. But here's the thing: for all the special f/x and optical enhancements, none of it is as good, as special, as magical as what we paint in our minds. I may be biased but still and all with all this technology, I can create something far more wonderful, enchanted and never before seen in my mind. How about you? Will you re-read the books or will you just watch the movies? Will you give the dvd or the collected novel collection to that special young friend or niece or nephew? It will be interesting to see which way the tide rolls...
Go read a book instead of watching the movie!
Thanks,
Brian
Monday, August 8, 2011
File this one under: glass half full- The Yanks lose 2 outta 3 to the hated bosox and I force myself to think: they're saving their wins for the stretch drive. Beat them the first game behind Colon and the combined forces of the Yanks mighty bullpen. But Saturday behind CC was the game we were supposed to take especially against Lackey. And then last night, when it seemed like the Yanks were going to return the favor -- beating Beckett behind Freddy Garcia (clearly a pitching match-up that favored the home team) -- the Yankees took a 1-run lead into the 9th only to have Mo (the sox seem to have his number more than any other team in the league; a microcosm actually of this season's contests) blow it and then Hughes lose it in the 10th.
Still we're only a game back with 50 more to play so it's not the end of the world per se, or the season for that matter, but the Yanks need to step up and figure out how to beat their top rivals in 2011.\
In other related Yankee news, Jorge Posada has been benched. It's not like you couldn't see it coming- he hit for a while after the last incident- but he's been reduced to a bases-clogging singles hitter over the last 6 weeks or so. The timing - much like earlier - was odd though. Girardi, who does have an icy relationship with Jorge, informed the long-time catcher turned designated "hitter" of his benching before a nationally televised game against their biggest rivals. At the very least, it took some of the back page heat off the failures on the field and into the clubhouse.
Word is that clubhouse may soon have #1 prospect, Jesus Montero, up from AAA before the rosters expand on September 1. We do need another bat on the bench, been carrying 13 pitchers, so there is space for the maneuver. So we will see...
****
Had never really been blown away by a human beatbox (yeah, the guy who did those TV commercials years ago was entertaining, but more a joke to me than art) until this past Friday night. Caught 2 sets from local "super group" Saltee fronted by Karnage (it could be "Carnage" but for some reason, I suspect the intentional misspelling) and I have to change my mind there. Pretty amazing what this guy could do with his mouth and some tape loop.
The new pictures were sent to my graphic designer friend in NYC last week for the Rose book cover. Because I am apparently supposed to have more delays than a Delta airlines flight, the disc that was supposed to arrive by Friday, still has yet to show up. Strange, but true...
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Brian
Still we're only a game back with 50 more to play so it's not the end of the world per se, or the season for that matter, but the Yanks need to step up and figure out how to beat their top rivals in 2011.\
In other related Yankee news, Jorge Posada has been benched. It's not like you couldn't see it coming- he hit for a while after the last incident- but he's been reduced to a bases-clogging singles hitter over the last 6 weeks or so. The timing - much like earlier - was odd though. Girardi, who does have an icy relationship with Jorge, informed the long-time catcher turned designated "hitter" of his benching before a nationally televised game against their biggest rivals. At the very least, it took some of the back page heat off the failures on the field and into the clubhouse.
Word is that clubhouse may soon have #1 prospect, Jesus Montero, up from AAA before the rosters expand on September 1. We do need another bat on the bench, been carrying 13 pitchers, so there is space for the maneuver. So we will see...
****
Had never really been blown away by a human beatbox (yeah, the guy who did those TV commercials years ago was entertaining, but more a joke to me than art) until this past Friday night. Caught 2 sets from local "super group" Saltee fronted by Karnage (it could be "Carnage" but for some reason, I suspect the intentional misspelling) and I have to change my mind there. Pretty amazing what this guy could do with his mouth and some tape loop.
The new pictures were sent to my graphic designer friend in NYC last week for the Rose book cover. Because I am apparently supposed to have more delays than a Delta airlines flight, the disc that was supposed to arrive by Friday, still has yet to show up. Strange, but true...
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Brian
Thursday, August 4, 2011
So I usually get to blow off a lot of my more angry Yankee steam on my twitter account (@GeorgesGhost) but last night left estimable run-off and I just have to take this blog to expel some of it. I won't even deal with the latest A-Rod tale. He is something of a lightning rod - he is easy to dislike - and he seems none-too-bright and really insecure which under the bright microscope of the New York media is a rather volatile stew-pot. He's just not bright enough to keep things from the papers, or his ego doesn't permit him to do so. Either way, he winds up on the back of the paper these days for his off-field antics than his bashing of baseballs.
But what really got my ire up last in what should have just been a laugher against the Chisox was AJ Burnett. There is all this ongoing conversation about who should be in the rotation: Phil Hughes or Ivan Nova. Both of them are young guys with good stuff and great poise. Whether Hughes has come all the way back from the "dead arm" situation that landed him on the DL or not remains to be seen. Yes, his last start against the woeful hitting Sox was excellent. He was hitting mid-90's with his fastball in the 1st inning and still in the low-90's in the 6th. But that game got shortened and personally I would have like to see what he had in the 7th and/or 8th. But that said, I am looking forward to his next start to see if he can follow that up; you get the sense that he can.
But I never have that sense with AJ Burnett and it's a crying shame and it makes no real sense but he cannot be the Yankee game 2 starter in any series-- let alone a playoff one. Listen: he has great stuff, that can't be denied -- his fastball is in the low to mid 90's, he has one of the nastiest curveballs in the game and can sometimes get some off-speed stuff over the plate, making him harder for a batter to know what's coming and yet? Somehow he just can't put it together. Whether it starts or ends in his brain is beside the point now. The Yanks blamed the last pitching coach, Rothschild was brought in to make matters right and it's still the same old unreliable Burnett. He has fire and the stuff but he continues to get in his own way and the Yanks can no longer afford to have him messing up the rotation. I call for his immediate removal!
And at least while he was in the game last night, trying with all his might to cough up the 10+ run lead the Yanks handed him he distracted me from the blah blah blah that is Micheal Kay. Honestly-- I can't see how anyone can enjoy a game listening to him. He harps on stats and he repeats himself and he tries to prove his points even when they're wrong-- and he's wrong quite a bit. He takes me out of the game and he bugs the shit out of me. I am almost to the point where I may consider watching the opposing team's broadcast (unless it's against the Bosox because I will still rather tolerate Kay than Remy in the Boston booth- he's an idiot gamer with a grating New England accent) or listening to music.
I'd switch to the radio broadcast except Jon Sterling & Susan Waldman are even worse. But here's the thing: it took me a few years but I got Joe Bleeping Morgan fired from his Sunday night ESPN gig-- thank heavens! So now I have Kay in my cross-hairs. Consider this my first shot and it's not a warning-- I want Michael Kay out of the YES booth. He has a voice made for newsprint; let him return to that and I won't read.
Thanks,
Brian
But what really got my ire up last in what should have just been a laugher against the Chisox was AJ Burnett. There is all this ongoing conversation about who should be in the rotation: Phil Hughes or Ivan Nova. Both of them are young guys with good stuff and great poise. Whether Hughes has come all the way back from the "dead arm" situation that landed him on the DL or not remains to be seen. Yes, his last start against the woeful hitting Sox was excellent. He was hitting mid-90's with his fastball in the 1st inning and still in the low-90's in the 6th. But that game got shortened and personally I would have like to see what he had in the 7th and/or 8th. But that said, I am looking forward to his next start to see if he can follow that up; you get the sense that he can.
But I never have that sense with AJ Burnett and it's a crying shame and it makes no real sense but he cannot be the Yankee game 2 starter in any series-- let alone a playoff one. Listen: he has great stuff, that can't be denied -- his fastball is in the low to mid 90's, he has one of the nastiest curveballs in the game and can sometimes get some off-speed stuff over the plate, making him harder for a batter to know what's coming and yet? Somehow he just can't put it together. Whether it starts or ends in his brain is beside the point now. The Yanks blamed the last pitching coach, Rothschild was brought in to make matters right and it's still the same old unreliable Burnett. He has fire and the stuff but he continues to get in his own way and the Yanks can no longer afford to have him messing up the rotation. I call for his immediate removal!
And at least while he was in the game last night, trying with all his might to cough up the 10+ run lead the Yanks handed him he distracted me from the blah blah blah that is Micheal Kay. Honestly-- I can't see how anyone can enjoy a game listening to him. He harps on stats and he repeats himself and he tries to prove his points even when they're wrong-- and he's wrong quite a bit. He takes me out of the game and he bugs the shit out of me. I am almost to the point where I may consider watching the opposing team's broadcast (unless it's against the Bosox because I will still rather tolerate Kay than Remy in the Boston booth- he's an idiot gamer with a grating New England accent) or listening to music.
I'd switch to the radio broadcast except Jon Sterling & Susan Waldman are even worse. But here's the thing: it took me a few years but I got Joe Bleeping Morgan fired from his Sunday night ESPN gig-- thank heavens! So now I have Kay in my cross-hairs. Consider this my first shot and it's not a warning-- I want Michael Kay out of the YES booth. He has a voice made for newsprint; let him return to that and I won't read.
Thanks,
Brian
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Thirty-two years ago today, I had what I refer to as my "Bambi's mom moment": the sudden death of my childhood hero. And although I probably couldn't tell you what I was doing, thinking a fortnight ago without consulting my notebook, I oh-so clearly remember and recall August 2nd, 1979. I was playing wiffleball with my friend Charlie Hoock in his front yard when his neighbor came over with some news. We only played with Charlie Trimble, who was a year or so younger than us, if we needed a fourth for a game of 2 on 2. But on that fated day me and Charlie didn't need the younger Charlie -- and we sure as heck didn't need his news: Trimble informed us that the Yankee Captain and catcher -- Thurman Munson -- had died in a plane crash.
We refused to believe. What would the gruff Yankee star be doing flying in a plane to Ohio on his day off we jested. The truth was that Thurman had purchased the Cessna and was learning to fly it to be able to go home more often during the season to spend time with his wife and kids. This was unheard of in 1970's MLB.
But that night I was scheduled to stay for dinner at Charlie's house. We begged his parents to let us put the news on the TV during dinner. After they said grace (and I sat there awkwardly not knowing what the heck I was doing but silently praying my own prayer for Mr. Munson) the television came on and the news of the plane crash was heard. I can still see us at the kitchen table, looking back to the TV in the living room as I heard that my hero was dead.
Later I would learn that Munson was practicing take-offs and landings when he crashed. Apparently his last words - his dying thoughts - were to ask his companions if they were okay. They were, but Thurman was not: dead far before his time and sadly, a lesson I learned today 32 years back and I continue to learn it again and again. And yes, I did name my very beloved 2 year old cat Thurman. It started as a dark joke to me; I would name him Thurman so that I would never forget that he is going to die, but, really, aren't we all?
And I should have known better than to name a cat Thurman and then ask him - expect him - to get on an airplane. That was such a horrid experience for both of us that I do hope that I never have to make that request of him again, and, if I do he will get doped to the gills like a feline Mr. T!
RIP Thurman Munson: a great baseball player and an even better man...
***
This week is the 30th birthday of eMpTv and I, for one, don't think we should be celebrating that birth. I blame the music video channel for the erosion of attention spans, for hair-bands, boy-bands and lousy pop divas. Although 120' and "The Young Ones" (and okay, I will admit that I watched the entire Monkees marathon) MTV turned us into little lab rats, waiting impatiently for the next video, hoping that one, or maybe the next one would be cool. But just A-ha over and over and over again. It was all downhill after exploding onscreen with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." MTV did not invent the music video but seem like they think they did, like Al Gore and the internet.
But really -- the true crime against humanity perpertrated by MTV was and remains "reality TV." Yes, there had been the PBS documentary on the Loud family and television historians can point back to that well-done show as the beginning of reality TV, but it was the music video channel's foray into programming that did us all in-- "The Real World" ruined television and it may never recover. It was mostly cheapness that has lead us down this perturbing path and I don't know if we will ever recover. So frack you eMpTV! J'accuse! J'accuse!
There!
Brian
We refused to believe. What would the gruff Yankee star be doing flying in a plane to Ohio on his day off we jested. The truth was that Thurman had purchased the Cessna and was learning to fly it to be able to go home more often during the season to spend time with his wife and kids. This was unheard of in 1970's MLB.
But that night I was scheduled to stay for dinner at Charlie's house. We begged his parents to let us put the news on the TV during dinner. After they said grace (and I sat there awkwardly not knowing what the heck I was doing but silently praying my own prayer for Mr. Munson) the television came on and the news of the plane crash was heard. I can still see us at the kitchen table, looking back to the TV in the living room as I heard that my hero was dead.
Later I would learn that Munson was practicing take-offs and landings when he crashed. Apparently his last words - his dying thoughts - were to ask his companions if they were okay. They were, but Thurman was not: dead far before his time and sadly, a lesson I learned today 32 years back and I continue to learn it again and again. And yes, I did name my very beloved 2 year old cat Thurman. It started as a dark joke to me; I would name him Thurman so that I would never forget that he is going to die, but, really, aren't we all?
And I should have known better than to name a cat Thurman and then ask him - expect him - to get on an airplane. That was such a horrid experience for both of us that I do hope that I never have to make that request of him again, and, if I do he will get doped to the gills like a feline Mr. T!
RIP Thurman Munson: a great baseball player and an even better man...
***
This week is the 30th birthday of eMpTv and I, for one, don't think we should be celebrating that birth. I blame the music video channel for the erosion of attention spans, for hair-bands, boy-bands and lousy pop divas. Although 120' and "The Young Ones" (and okay, I will admit that I watched the entire Monkees marathon) MTV turned us into little lab rats, waiting impatiently for the next video, hoping that one, or maybe the next one would be cool. But just A-ha over and over and over again. It was all downhill after exploding onscreen with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." MTV did not invent the music video but seem like they think they did, like Al Gore and the internet.
But really -- the true crime against humanity perpertrated by MTV was and remains "reality TV." Yes, there had been the PBS documentary on the Loud family and television historians can point back to that well-done show as the beginning of reality TV, but it was the music video channel's foray into programming that did us all in-- "The Real World" ruined television and it may never recover. It was mostly cheapness that has lead us down this perturbing path and I don't know if we will ever recover. So frack you eMpTV! J'accuse! J'accuse!
There!
Brian
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