randomness personified

Aural Randomness

I made a mix CD this evening. I like it. Yay! It occured to me that most of the songs I chose for it were ones that I've talked about here at some point. Weird. So, I've decided to follow Dean's lead and offer it up. There are 17 tracks and I'm not gonna list them here. It'll be a surprise. A familar one, though. It's mostly new stuff, all over the map style-wise and quite twangy. Want some? If so send me your address. I promise I won't send you anything else like pipe bombs or chain letters. I might sell all of your addresses to Fredrick's of Hollywood, though, because that would be a hoot.

Oh, I won't get them out until the middle of next week. I'm a busy guy!

Orrin & Dennis - I already owe you CDs that I promise are getting finished this weekend. Lemme know if you want me to toss this one in, too.

Sometimes crippin' it pays..

Twice today I got things for free just for the simple fact that I'm in a chair. While I used to go all out of my way not to get such perks, I've recently decided to just roll with it (baaaad pun completely intended). I went to the Angelika on Houston to see "Mostly Martha" because one of my fine readers had recommended it. The Angelika is a pain in the ass for me. I have to take an elevator from street level and go through the kitchen to get to the box office. I then have to go back through kitchen and go downstairs on the elevator to the theater. Well, I got up to the kitchen and a guy who I've seen there many times before recognized me and said "Man, just go downstairs." I gave him an inquisitive look at he said "I said get downstairs, my friend!" Cool! That's $8.50 saved.

After I got back to Grand Central I decided to buy my ticket on the train. Twice in the last couple of months the people at the ticket counter wouldn't sell me a disabled ticket without my "disabled i.d. card." Yeah, they caught me. I just stole this chair so that I could save a couple of bucks on the train. Anyhow, the train conductor recognized me, too. When I went to pay him he said "Get out of here with that!" and kept moving through the car! Sweet! He's done that for me several times.

It's raining. I'm home now.

darling remember when you come

darling remember when you come to me,
i'm a pretender; I’m not what i'm supposed to be
But who could know if I’m a traitor?
time’s the revelator.
they caught the katy and left me a mule to ride
the fortune lady came along, she walked beside
but every word seemed to date her
time’s the revelator
the revelator.
up in the morning, up and on the line
drive into corning, and all the spindles whine
and every day it's getting straighter,
time’s the revelator
the revelator.
leaving the valley, fucking out of sight
think i’ll go back to cali where i can sleep out every night
and watch the waves and move the faders
time’s the revelator
the revelator.
queen of fakes and imitators
time’s the revelator.

-gillian welch

Baseball and 9-11

''America needs this. Especially with Sept. 11 coming up,'' he said. ''You need to get peoples' minds off of it. And for something good to happen is great.''

Can someone please explain to me what baseball has to with the tragedy of September 11? Yes, baseball was interrupted by 9-11. Yes, baseball was one of the first sports back after 9-11. But are baseball labor issues and the remembrance on 9-11 connected in any way shape or form? I think not. Will September 11 be more comforting because we now know that baseball games will be played?

I know that no baseball game will take my focus away from remembrance on September 11, 2002.

Gifts

Hey! If I make a wish-list at Amazon like all those cam girls do (or so I hear...) you all would buy me everything my little heart desires, right? I mean, I provide you hours of entertainment, right?

Captions, etc. Meredith very correctly

Captions, etc. Meredith very correctly chastised me for not "picking" a winner for the Queen Liz caption. I'm sure she did this because she was one of two entries and also the winner. She wins. Whoo hoo!! I also have bungled up and somehow lost a couple of blog entries. Don't know what I did. It all happened about the time that I put that Michael and Britney photo up so I'm blaming it on MJ. Or maybe Bubbles...

Fashion don'ts

So what exactly do we have goin' on here, kids? Michael wearing some sort of chandelier hardware across his chest and Britney auditioning for the new female Village People?

As if I needed proof

I recognized three people in the front row of the Elvis show today. My life is so pathetic.

If you've got some spare time on your hands

Elvis Costello's life is much more interesting than mine. Read his journal.

Survey says...

I really detest these surveys. However my partners in blogging are doin' it so who am I not to jump on the bandwagon? You can play in the comments!

That Song Survey

Reminds you of an ex-friend: Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley

Reminds you of your childhood: How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths (I was a child still at 16, okay?)

Makes you cry: Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

Makes you laugh: The Roadette Song - Elvis Costello

Makes you wanna dance: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Spiritualized

Reminds you of the one you want: Sometimes (Lester Piggot) - James

Reminds you of an ex-love: Take My Breath Away - Berlin

Makes you very, very sleepy: Vie en Rose -Edith Piaf

You wish you wrote: Beyond Belief - Elvis Costello

You wish had been written for you: Natural Woman - Carole King

Fills you with complete joy: Gluefoot - Vic Chesnutt

You never want to hear again: (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Michael Bolton

You want to get married to: Woman - John Lennon

You want played at your funeral: Let the Train Blow the Whistle - Johnny Cash

Makes you want to mosh/slam dance: Breed - Steve Earle

Sums up your teenage years: Add It Up - Violent Femmes

You used to hate but now love: Me and Bobby McGee - Kris Kristofferson

You like to wake up to: Find The River - R.E.M.

You like out of your parents record collection: Dance To The Music - Sly and the Family Stone

Your parents like out of your collection: Long Black Veil - The Chieftains

You love that you wouldn't know about if it wasn't for a friend: Wild Wood - Paul Weller

You think of someone who died: Last Train Leaving - Elvis Costello

You love the video more than the tune: Video Killed The Radio Star - Buggles

Reminds you of your first crush: Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution

You love which is from one of your favourite movies: Bachianos Brazil Samba - Brazil s/t

Makes you think of the moon: I don't think about the moon, really. It's made of cheese, you know. Let's say Moonshadow - Cat Stevens

Makes you think of sex: Soft and Wet - Prince

Makes you think of being alone: Don't Go - Kasey Chambers

You love to hear at clubs: Venus as a Boy -Bjork

Wrong headed

I've done a 180 on the baseball strike. I really don't think it'll happen now. They're just too close on the major issues and the owners know they have too much to lose in a strike. This blurb from ESPN bothered me though...

On Tuesday, players said the sides agreed to a drug-testing plan. Los Angeles player representative Paul Lo Duca, who revealed the agreement, was scolded by players on the conference call for misstating it. Lo Duca said the deal covered mandatory random testing for steroids, marijuana and cocaine, but other players corrected him Wednesday.

"Cocaine and marijuana -- we're not testing for that. Just steroids," St. Louis player representative Steve Kline said.

Oh. I see. The completely illegal narcotics. No need to test for those. That'd be unreasonable. That sends such a good message.

I hope Elvis will forgive me

So I was planning on going into the city to see Elvis Costello on the Today Show tomorrow morning. This was distasteful on many levels. First, I'd have to get there really early. Like 6:30 a.m. That would mean catching a 5:45 train. I'm not a morning person. I'd then have to cram in with a billion tourists from Des Moines (not that there's anything wrong with Iowa, per se) in town for Labor Day. I'd also have to wait through all of the show just to hear EC sing a few songs. Now it's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow. Sorry, old chap, that's the clincher. Not gonna do it. They'll move them inside if (when) it rains. I'm going to see him twice at the Beacon Theatre in October and contemplating a return to Atlanta to see him in November. That'll just have to do.

Maybe they were right

Okay, I was just picturing a 88 jersey or something. These look a bit more menacing than that. Check it out.

Oh, please...

Read this. That's just dumb. I hate it when we let groups like that win, which is exactly what this does. I graduated from high school in '88. Does that mean we're the Nazi class. d u m b

All purtied up

Okay, per Patricia's request, the comment boxes are now a bit closer in tone. The drapes almost match the carpet, if you will. You like?

And you're trying to say what?

Kirsten sent me this tonight. Hope she doesn't mind me sharing it. Not sure why she immediately thought of me. Hmm... It is funny, though. Tomorrow I'll share a rant about how insane traffic in Connecticut is. This might lighten up the commute, at least.

NNS-Naked Driver:Woman Allegedly Drives Naked

Wednesday, August 28, 2002
DATE: 2002.08.28
SLUG: Naked Driver
DATELINE: Bainbridge, OH

INFORMATION:

Residents in Bainbridge, Ohio have reported a peculiar sighting to police
that may have tourists with cameras flocking to the area for a glimpse. Shelly
Cline has allegedly been driving her car without the appropriate attire. Her
neighbors claim she drives naked.
Cline was hauled into court last June on charges that stemmed from her nude
driving. The 49-year-old pled innocent to the charges, but according to law
enforcement officials, her first trip in front of the judge did not deter
her from hitting the road in the buff.
Cline was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, but elected not to
attend and is now a wanted woman.

VIDEO:

Courtroom CCTV of suspect approaching judge,

Judge: So you want to have a trial?

Woman: "I'd rather it all just went away but that's not going to happen,

Judge: So you want to have a pre-trial?

POV looking through moving car windshield as it pulls onto driveway naked lady
was seen in,

Manerino: "He just did not know what to do, he just felt bad that seeing
that and just went and called a neighbor; figure out what to do"

Judge Albert: "And that I would not have any problem with her doing this
type of conduct again and as soon as she left this facility she did the same thing
again apparently!"

Random violence

I watched a documentary tonight on the Long Island Railroad shooting in 1993. Remember that? I remembered the name of the gunman, Colin Ferguson, and remembered that he represented himself at trial but, at the time, it seemed like more random violence so far away. I was still in college in Michigan then. That's almost embarrassing to me, the fact that it didn't "register" very much with me. Anyhow, watching the documentary on A&E I was able to identify all of the locations. I don't take that train very often - only when I used to go see Maureen - but all of the locations were very familiar. Suddenly it didn't feel like it was so far away. Seemed like it was in my backyard and like it was all so recent. Don't know why I chose to share that. Weird. I need to sleep.

Welcome to the '90s, Bob and Carol!

My parents called me tonight from their vacation in Williamsburg, VA. They're so funny. They called from the cell phone that I helped my mother figure out how to get. She keeps calling it the "cordless phone" which, technically, it is. I always push my parents to adopt technology but they just don't get it, I'm afraid. I bought them a DVD player for Christmas last year and three DVDs (Three of their favorites - "The Wizard of Oz," "Some Like It Hot" and "The Bridge Over the River Kwai."). I even hooked it up for them before I left. I think they watched "Oz" when I was there but probably haven't turned it on since. Gotta love 'em.

How do ya like me now?

There. A bit bigger. Nice? I like it. It's all moody and gothic. Just like me. Okay, not really.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

I'm not going to keep changing the format here but I wanted some more flexibility that the last layout didn't provide. Whatcha think? Dean has already complained that the font's too small but, well, he's old. Kidding. Kidding. It's not too bad, is it? If you kids hate it I'll make it bigger but this gives me a lot more room. The margins will fill in the days ahead.

Also, it should be a bit faster which was also starting to annoy me.

Uncle Tupelo

is getting me through a major coding headache this afternoon...

Let me eat when I'm hungry
Let me drink when I'm dry
Two dollars when I'm hard up
Religion when I die
The whole world is a bottle
And life is but a dram
When the bottle gets empty
Lord, it sure ain't worth a damn

Fishy

Something about this just doesn't add up, does it? People wouldn't really try to get away with this, would they? Hollis is admittedly not the nicest neighborhood but I can't imagine that this could go unnoticed for years.

And before you peeps get all up in arms, no I do not read the Post. I just keep hearing about this and wanted you to see it. I thought to myself, "Self, where can I find sensationalistic reporting?" and, naturally, Self yelled out "The Post!"

Another thing wrong with baseball

Brace yourself. Dubya is on the Hall of Fame ballot. We've already seen Cooperstown elect some pretty marginal folks (Orlando Cepeda, Bill Mazerowski even Kirby Puckett). This would be a joke. Next up, Anthony Perkins.

Everything old is new again

So Volkswagen is bringing back the Microbus. That's what we need, another oversized vehicle on the road. However, the target audience is clearly the aging hippie turned family man. There are five (yes, five) video monitors in them. Is it just me? Doesn't that seem very un-VW Microbus?

What Trek character are you?

What Trek character are you? Well? I'm Kirk. Must be a balding thing. For the record, I hate almost all things Trek. Help me out here, Mark. I won't steal your line. Start the fire...

Visit our sponsors

There are now links to other blogs that I read in the margin. It's just a start. It'll grow. Check them out. They're pretty much all better than this crock.

Eno's best

When you own as many damn CDs as I do it's truly rare to pull out something that surprises you and ends up in constant rotation for a while. A revisit, if you will. Well, that happened this weekend. Let's stir things up...

Brian Eno has been involved in a lot of great things but I think that this CD is truly his finest work. Oh, what's that? Berlin-era Bowie. "Lodger," perhaps? Nope. Though I do love "Low." Okay, then. Maybe something huge like "Joshua Tree." An over-rated album, but that's a rant for a later day. Okay, how about some Talking Heads? Nope. Maybe some of that Harold Budd stuff that I never understood? Surely not. Perhaps early Roxy Music? Again, no. Okay, then it has to be his solo stuff. Either "Here Come The Warm Jets" or "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy." While I think "Baby's on Fire" is the best song of the whole glam era, that's not it.

Ready for this?

It's "Laid" by James. You probably only know the title track or perhaps the radio-friendly "Say Something." I'm telling you, this album stands the test of time. Tim Booth's lyrics are brooding but clever and thought provoking. Sort of like a Morrissey for the '90s. Eno's production truly shines. From the swirling chorus of the opener "Out To Get You" to the tense quiet of "Lullaby," he produces with a light hand and the sparse arrangement really allows the band to shine in all their alt-folk-pop-britrock grandeur. If you listen to their albums proceeding this one ("Seven," and "Gold Mother") you really hear what Eno brings to the recording. The others are oftentimes a muddled mess. Now, Eno did produce their next two albums (along with the glorious experiment from these sessions called "Wah Wah") with much less success. That, however, has much less to do with his production than Booth running out of steam.

You know you want to argue...

Blubber King

So, I had a BK Veggie for lunch. They suck, for the record. The McDonalds McVeggie is, unfortunately, much tastier. However how the hell does the Whopper BUN have more fat than a veggie patty? I find that very disturbing. Check it out. Warning: it's a PDF if you're opposed to that whole Acrobat thing.

Monday Media

Reading - "Girl In Landscape" by Jonathan Lethem. Bizarre. Don't know if I'd recommend it yet.
Listening - Coldplay - "A Rush of Blood to the Head" As good as "Parachutes" was this is immensely better
Watching - Tried to watch "Hysterical Blindness" last night on HBO but got impatient with it. Anybody see it?

Computers are evil

I've decided that I need much less computer time. Well, I say that like I made some sort of revelation. I've known that for some time. I sit in front of this machine at work all day now except for the days that I go to client sites. I then go home and turn on my PC there to either work on it, work on the blog, send e-mail, surf or play games. That's just wrong. So, I'm going to try to not turn on the computer at home when I work here all day. A fool's gambit, I'm sure, but I'm going to try. How much time you you spend in front of a computer?

Airline Food

Okay, I'm going to be a prat and send you to Dean's blog, Notes from Slipping Acres, for this link since I think it'd be rude to just copy him. However, I found this to be completely fascinating. The last billion flights I've taken have been on Delta. Whether its business or pleasure, its always coach and I'm always grateful if I get as much as a bag of Goldfish. People are actually being fed on planes regularly these days? Who knew. The best meal I remember recently was on Midwest Express while going to Milwaukee. I may have bored some of you with that story. Remember, I took the job and backed out? I'm an ass. Anyhow, go here to look at Dean's entry and follow the link. Check out his other stuff, too...

Jim Hanley's Universe

This is place I stumbled into. Check it out. There are photos. I wasn't exaggerating...

Geek strikes out

Does anybody here read comic books? Oh. I'm sorry. Does anyone here read graphic novels? I don't. I did, however, stop in the largest freakin' comic book shop I've ever seen in my entire life. It is the size of your average Barnes & Noble. I'm not exaggerating. Anyway, it was almost intimidating. I have no clue what I was looking at or what I should have read for hip quotient. I figured that getting caught reading the "wrong" thing would be a big no-no. So, anybody have any groovy suggestions?

Why I love indie record stores

1 - Dmmm told me that I had to.
2 - My favorite, Rebel Rebel in the Village, turned me onto the boondogs last time I visited a couple weeks ago.
3 - The same Rebel Rebel sold me the new Coldplay CD a few days early today. Mock if you must as a wanna-be Radiohead, Dmmm, but this album is pretty f'ing good.

Other things purchased today -
* One Mojo Magazine
* One used copy of "Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou Reed" at Housing Works Cafe for a paltry $3.50.
* Three various Japanese bowls at a street fair
* Three vegan chocolate chip cookies

Things spotted today -
* I believe that I saw Jim Jarmusch in the Village. Those of you (all three) who know what Jarmusch looks like are saying "how does one believe they spot Jim Jarmusch." I didn't get a good look. I dunno.
* The canine David Bowie. A beautiful Huskie with one brown eye and one blue eye.
* Someone of the train carring a Def Leppard mirror that they had apparently won at Rye Playland. I felt like I was at the Calhoun County Fair again. Joel - did we miss that already?

A smorgasbord

I'm just sitting back and watching various components of my life intermingle on the blog and, I gotta tell ya, it's pretty amusing from where I sit. I hope you're having fun with it, too. I used to have a holiday party where I'd invite work friends and non-work friends. Sometimes it'd go smoothly and sometimes my work friends would wonder why these people talk about Elvis Costello so much. Here, that's taken to a wacky extreme. I've got high school friends, college friends, Atlanta friends, New York friends, cyber friends and a few people who I don't even know playing along. I think it's pretty frickin' bizarre but, even more than that, it's the coolest thing ever. You wacky kids are the greatest.

Play nice, though, okay?

I'm going to the city tomorrow. I'm nominating Erika to babysit y'all. I'll tuck you in and tell you stories when I get home.

Movie theatres suck

Went to see "The Good Girl" tonight. Liked it a lot. Rachel, oops, Jennifer was actually quite good. A completely different character than you'd ever imagine she could pull off. Anyhow, the theatre was chock-full of geriatrics. Many people were talking in conversational voices like it was their living room or something. Grr... Only theatres in the East Village for me for now on.

Depressing

Shit. Watching one of those lame news magazines tonight ("20/20," I guess) and I find out that no one wants to date a really nice guy who's under 5'5". No one. Literally. What the hell am I up against then? Shit. Not looking for reassurance here, kids. Just looking for facts. Is crip boy completely off the chart?

Caption #3

Nobody won last week.

Attn - Dmmm

Mail to you is bouncing. 550 5.1.1 unknown or illegal alias: dmartucc@pacbell.net 550 5.1.1 ... User unknown Please advise. Stat...

We now return to your normal random programming.

One note, indeed

See Tarantino discussion here. Ignore the nipple ring bits. We digress. Anyhow, IMDB describes Tarantino's oft-troubled and long time production "Kill Bill" with the following...

"The Bride" was once part of a group of world class female assassins, until the group leader, "Bill" and the other assassins turn against her. Five years later "The Bride" awakens from the coma the assassins left her in and heads out to seek bloody revenge. Unlike conventional movies, Kill Bill is told in chapter format making the narrative flow more like a book than a film.

Wow. That sounds like total shite.

Trees = fire?

Read this... What the hell is wrong with the world? We're going to relax environmental regulations so that trees don't burn? WTF? We've begun to develop neighborhoods in the middle of what was recently old-growth forests. So in order to protect our wrong-headed suburban sprawl we should denude the entire country? Last time I checked, most of the fires this year were set by people, not those pesky sparking trees.

Come to think of it, we'd have a lot less traffic fatalities if we got rid of those pesky roads, W. Jackass.

A dirty, dirty question.

So, uh, who got booted off American Idol last nite? I feel very good not knowing but I feel as though I should at least keep up for pop culture references. Discuss...

Archives

Yes, yes. They're not fixed. I'll get on that. They work, though, it's just not pretty. So, if you joined us late and want to catch up you can use those links.

hmm...

Okay this is just weird. An underwater civilization off the coast of Cuba with buildings made of granite? Check it out. I find this stuff to be fascinating. Thanks to Bruce for passing it on.

It's a scary world out there...

Well, I went to a "listening party" last night for the new Steve Earle album. It was at a very, very cool bookstore in Soho. It's my new favorite place to read. Anyhow, I was getting a coffee and a woman from Jersey whom I met at the Knitting Factory show recognized me. Now, you know me (well, that's not entirely true here anymore but I like that a LOT. Welcome!), I can make small-talk with anyone. This woman insisted that I go sit with her and her friends. Argh. They are the worst kind of fans that I know. "I saw Steve's son once...," "Steve's roadie Buck told me..." You know the type. I just wanted to drink my coffee and listen to the album.

I did get to listen to the album. It's good but not as good as the last three. It tries way too hard to be uber-liberal. Don't get me wrong, I'm uber-liberal. I just think Steve comes off as preachy. Have you all heard the "John Walker Blues" slack? If not, I'll share it here.

I realized something very disturbing though. We music snobs come in two categories - hipsters and nerds. I think I fall in the middle.

Praise ye...

Barf

Gee, I'm sorry I missed this...

Monday Media

Reading - "Gotham" I'm getting a bit tired of this. May take a break and read something fun. Any suggestions?
Listening - Been on a Steve Earle jag this week. Lots of everything except "Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator" which still makes me cringe.
Watching - Baseball, while I still can.

Commentary Do you people read

Commentary Do you people read comments? I've been responding to things there but would you prefer that I respond in an entry? I know that it's sometimes hard to determine if there are new comments to look at. Discuss.

Yum

I'm currently imbibing in my favorite new drink concoction. Try this at home. Take one tumbler glass. Add two ice cubes. Add Cherry 7-Up (its hard to find but worth it). Add liberal amounts of Stoli Vanil. Stir. Enjoy!

Lame

Went and saw Sarah Silverman tonight. She's so damn hot. Not in the humid sense. She's playing this theatre in the SoHo for two weeks, two shows a night. The show was supposed to start at 8:00. Being New York, it didn't start until about 8:30. It started with a lame band called the Silver Men. Oh. That's clevvvver. They were bad Strokes wannabes. The played three songs and then Sarah came on. She was hot. Did I mention that already? She was also really funny. What was lame, though, is that the show was over and I was outside the theatre by 9:15. She did about a half hour of material. Huh? I paid $30 for that? Oh, and she yelled at me. I dropped my beer bottle.

I saw a really cute girl on the train. If it wasn't so late and she wasn't trying to sleep I woulda said something to her. Ladies, what's a good train pick-up line?

Swell

I just went for a walk. It's a very nice evening. I got bit by two mosquitoes. They've found birds with West Nile Virus in Stamford for three straight summers. Should I be concerned? Can't I just suck the venom out like a snake bite or somethin'? Help me out here, peeps.

Vanilla Sky

I watched this last night. I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I really wanted to like it, I can tell you that much. I like Cameron Crowe's films almost all the time. I kept sticking with it even when it kept getting more out of control. I stuck with it when it felt like it needed to hit the audience over the head just to make sure we understood everything that had happened. I stuck with it through the schmaltz at the end. In the end I dunno. It was silly. What do you think?

It's frickin' hot

I don't remember it ever being this hot in Atlanta. The heat index has been the 100's for the last week and it's not going to be any better this weekend. I want to go to the city on Sunday but it's going to be 94. Lord knows what the heat index will be. Has it been this hot in the South? Is my memory just amazingly short? It just seems a lot hotter here. Maybe it's the humidty. I dunno. Report in from around this crazy country of ours. Are you hot? I mean heat-wise. I know you're all "hot!"

T-Minus Fourteen Days and Counting...

As predicted.

An honest to goodness rant

Okay. Most of you know that I'm baseball obsessed, right? Most of you also know that I'm a die-hard Detroit Tiger fan, right? So, obviously, most of you know that I'm completely insane. I haven't mentioned baseball on the blog because I know that most of you don't give a ratzass about it. But I think it's now crossing the threshold into a permissible subject.

The Players' Union Executive Committee is meeting today and, by all accounts, is going to set a strike date. That strike date appears to be next Friday, August 30. If anybody believes that once the strike starts we'll see any more baseball this year you're out of your mind. It's much easier to stop the ball from rolling than to stop it when it's already chugging downhill. That said, they're not making any progress. The strike will happen. It's going to be long and it's going to be ugly. Word is that the owners would really like to break the union. In order to do that some are willing to sit out not only this year but the entirety of next year.

Usually it's easy to pick sides in a situation like this. In my mind, there aren't any good guys in this battle. The primary sticking point is a luxury tax on teams with payrolls above X amount. The players oppose this altogether as it would be an incentive to cut salaries. It would act as an artificial salary cap or so they think. It's awfully hard to sympathize with a group of guys who are making, on the average, almost 2.5 million dollars a year. On the AVERAGE. The minimum salary is nearly a quarter of a million. The MINIMUM, folks. In an economy where people are losing jobs and investments left and right they aren't going to get much sympathy. The owners, on the other hand, are just flat out liars. They claim that they're all losing their shirts. Riiiiight. Yes, players are overpaid. Yes, some teams aren't very profitable. However, there's no way that they aren't practicing voodoo economics. The public isn't going to let them get very far with that argument, either.

After the last strike (in 1994) people came back to the game. They were drawn in by the McGwire - Sosa homerun barrage. This time with the players acting like spoiled brats and the owners like fat cats I don't think they will. There's also the entire air of steroids clouding the game. So once the strike is over people will have a bad taste in their mouths regarding a game that they perceive as tainted. Not good...

Playing nice Okay. Let me

Playing nice Okay. Let me "publicly" apologize for making fun of other people's blogs. Meant no offense, Ezra. Hell, I'm beginning to wonder about this boring piece of shite.

Poor R.J. I can't believe

Poor R.J. I can't believe I just watched that. I feel so dirty. I've seen that show three times and each time it's all I can do not to get on a plane and find Paula Abdul and beat her to a bloody pulp. I leave you with her brilliant words. "In a business where most people fly coach, you go first class."

Stand And Deliver

Oh, my. Adam Ant really needs a designer and a new wardrobe. One would have thought that the whole New Romantic phase would have taught him a lesson. You have to be impressed that he was able to find such a suitable projectile so quickly. I love the charge, affray. Check it out...

Viva La Pornographer! Who needs

Viva La Pornographer! Who needs tanks? {click}

5 Gears in Reverse Anybody

5 Gears in Reverse Anybody care if I temper my enthusiasm for the new Allison Moorer album? Good. See, her first two were brilliant and different. They were recorded in Nashville but were what generally gets called neo-traditional. The new one's getting a LOT of good press for being different and "approachable." Apparently approachable means that it has been through the Nashville ringer. The tracks were great live. They had a lot of power and soul. On record, though, there's a lot of uncomfortable elements. I keep triple checking to see if Billy Sherrill produced it. Disappointing. She still wants me though...

Monday Media Reading - "Gotham"

Monday Media
Reading - "Gotham"
Listening - The Handsome Family - "Live at Schuba's". Damn if those two aren't the funniest people on the planet. Also still enjoying Jesse Sykes. Not enjoying the new Beth Orton.
Watching - extra features on "Amelie." Really. She must marry me.

Caption contest #2

Last week's winner was Cory. He wins whatever is behind door #18. Yasser, JP, kids... This one's ripe with possibilities.

General Tso's chicken is destroying the world...

Eek! This is scary. I do have to admit that I found it a bit amusing that one of the core causes is "emissions from millions of inefficient cookers." So who's inefficient? The stoves or the chefs? If it's the chefs that's one toxic cloud.

Again, no comment The comments

Again, no comment The comments seem to be working sporadically again today. Get off my back. I'll fix it! Part of the problem is that when I reworked the page this weekend I didn't put the FTP code back in for the comments. Straight HTML seems to be a lot slower. I'll fix it tonight.

Tower of power

I should never be allowed to go into Tower Records. First of all, they're expensive as hell. I usually only buy from Cheap-CDs.com. When I do I come out with more than I possibly need. Two of yesterday's purchases (of the six, mind you) were funny. I bought "21 Singles" by Jesus and Mary Chain. Nothing takes me back to the long, hot summer of 1986 when I was living in England like "Some Candy Talking." Remember that song? Didn't think so. Anyhow, the rest of the album (with the notable exception of "Head On") is just loud and discordant. The other was the mega re-release of the Violent Femmes eponymous first album. It's great. However, I can't hear "Add It Up" and not think of the first time I heard it. I was twelve and we were on a school field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The completely un-hip Ted Hayes had a copy of the album in his Walkman. He had to pass it around. "How can I get just one screw?" was so gloriously taboo to seventh graders.

I could do this!

This guy goes around the country winning those "keep your hands on the car" contests. He has no job and just keeps winning cars and selling them. I could do this! Like him, I'm vegetarian. Unlike him, I wouldn't have to stand the whole time. It's brilliant! Check it out.

Hmm... I learned a New

Hmm... I learned a New York adage today. At any time you're looking for a new relationship, a new job or a new apartment. What happens when you're looking for all three?

I'm nice people

Again, I'm trying to figure out how to meet new people. I've been somewhat successful but it's still hard. Who's got good ideas? No. Really. I'm open to suggestion.

New look

I got bored with the old flashing java page and made some changes. Whatcha think? Also, the archives sorta work now. It's still a bit messed up and the Archives Index is ugly at best. I don't fee like messing around with it any more today, though, so this is what yer gonna get for a bit.

I have heard Doc Watson play "Columbus Stockade Blues"

Went to to a free "roots music" festival at Lincoln Center yesterday. A couple of Irish music bands (I don't like Irish music. No offense to those who do. I went and ate while they were on) and a reunion of the legendary bluegrass band The Greenbrier Boys were the undercard. The 8,000 people who were in attendance where clearly there to see Doc Watson. For those of you who don't know who Doc Watson is, check this out. He didn't disappoint. It was a amazing show.

If anyone gets the titular reference of this entry let me know. I'll be very impressed.

Stop listening to me rant and go listen for yourselves!! {click}
If you really