The Yankees un-officially opened the new ballpark in Miami over the last two days, beating the Marlins and readying themselves for their season. The team barely has to travel as they play a couple more games against their home-town rivals, the Mets (@GeorgesGhost is probably the only one taking these exhibition games seriously) before leaving their Tampa spring facility and playing the Tampa Bay Rays in there's. The early season schedule favors the Yanks.

Despite the shoulder tendinitis setting back new righthander, Michael Pineda, the Yankees start the season reasonably healthy (the same can't be said for the Bosox) and the youngster going on the 15-day DL made manager, Joe Girardi's decision as to the starting rotation that much more simple. Simple that is, until Andy Pettitte is ready and Pineda comes back to the team. You can read my 2012 Redsox review here: http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/2012/04/previewing-the-2012-red-sox-or-somethings-foul-in-fenway/ and we're averaging over 7,000 hits per day over there.


I've been tweeting lines from "A Rose by Any Other Name" is a stride ever closer to publication this month. @26tales is where to find those, but in doing so, I have been occasionally slightly editing or tweaking lines and  have decided to make one last quick pass through the book. I don't see this as procrastination but, rather, some current improvements that I'd be negligent in not taking a few more hours - after so many - to take care of.

The second installment of "Turtle Power" should be in the Jerusalem Post Lite tomorrow. You can read my review of SubPop band, Poor Moon below or here on the site for which it was written: http://musicscenempls.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/poor-moon-the-cedar-april-2-2012/

I saw an odd little road-trip movie on Monday night; the destination: a beach outside of Seattle. And while I am well aware that there must be beaches there, somehow the concept seems illogical. Poor Moon, a SubPop band from Seattle, would be the perfect soundtrack for that gray stretch of sand and would be able to tie the two disparate senses in a sailor’s hitch. Walking in, having heard only the one song linked through The Cedar’s website, I was expecting what I was already deeming “melancholic folk,” and I heard that; what pleased my ears more so was this surfy, almost Beach Boys-esque joy to songs that still always seemed ready to drip some rain on you. Okay, there was some unintentional Jesus & Mary Chain feedback early on in their opening set last night, but that only added to the sensation.

Promising not to pander to the Minneapolis audience, we were told that mentioning Prince here is like “screaming Freebird” at the crowd, the 6-piece opened with a song that had not one, but two members whistling, winning me over. The second song was, of course, dedicated to Prince, winning over the rest of the crowd. Another song was obviously about the fine dining choice the band had made here upon their arrival in the Twin Cities: Applebees, and I thought people from Seattle weren’t funny.

Poor Moon, formed from members of Fleet Foxes (Christian Wargo & Casey Wescott) and brothers Ian & Peter Murray (from The Christmas Cards) make a sound that is wistful while holding out the promise that summer may just be around the corner. On a spring night in Minneapolis, Poor Moon pushed winter into a corner, but didn’t sweep it under the rug just yet.

And I know this isn't the Suicide Girls website, but if someone wants to give me a digital camera they just have laying about, I can take some pictures that are better than my cellphone and worthy of be used.

Thanks,

Brian