baseball awesome

If you didn't watch the Phillies game, you missed a doozy of a pickle. You can read the recap here, because I'm too lazy to do it myself.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that when Jayson Werth got on base in the 9th inning representing the tying run, I immediately had a flashback to September 6, 2005, when the Astros won a game in the 9th inning by using a pinch runner, who stole both 2nd and 3rd off of Billy Wagner (then wearing a Phillies uniform), who ultimately took the loss, and gave up three stolen bases in a single inning. The Phillies lost the wild card spot by one game to the Astros (in other words, if Wagner could have held a baserunner, the Phillies might have made the playoffs).

Anyway, back to August 30, 2007, when Werth got on base, and Wagner (now in a Mets uniform) went into the stretch, and I jumped up and said, "Run, you fool! Wagner can't hold baserunners!" And off he went! Safe! "Go again! Take third!" I exclaimed at the TV set, and Werth bolted on first movement. Safe again!

Werth, of course, scored the tying run, and the Phillies won in probably the most exciting game they've played all year, but basically I just want to say that I communicated with Jayson Werth telepathically, and told him to steal those bases.

You're welcome, Philadelphia.

A stupid pointless post.

Here are my Top 5 Favorite Albums of 2007, as it stands today, for the one person who cares. The one person is me in January 2008 when I want to compare what I thought now to what I will think then.

1. St. Vincent - Marry Me
2. M.I.A. - Kala
3. Menomena - Friend and Foe
4. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
5. Gruff Rhys - Candylion

Exciting stuff, huh? Stay tuned for the full top 10, with runners up and favorite songs and maybe least favorite albums, sometime in December or Junuary. I will be posting a series of short stories based on art painted by my dog Riley until then, starting with tomorrow's story, "Blue Pawprint, Spilled Blue Paint."

Max Roach - 1924-2007

A few years ago, I went to the University of Pennsylvania's graduation ceremony, partly to see Bono, who was getting an honorary degree, but also to see Max Roach, who was also getting one. I figured in both cases that it might be the closest I would ever get to seeing them play live (since U2 tickets are $4000 each and since Max Roach was way freaking old). Max ended up not going because he was sick, and his wife accepted it for him. So I never did see him in person, which hits a little harder now that he's dead.

Max was, to say the least, an awesome drummer. A true master of polyrhythm. My first encounter with him was when I bought Duke Ellington's Money Jungle when I was still in high school, a collaboration of giants that I didn't even recognize at the time (Ellington on piano, Roach on drums, and Charles Mingus on bass, for Christ's sake). After getting more into jazz, and hearing Roach's playing for Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis, I came to appreciate Max's skill and diversity, but ultimately, I still go back to Money Jungle. His kinetic drumming propels Ellington's songs forward in a way that no swing drummer could ever accomplish, giving them a sense of urgency and an energy that they never had before. Max Roach damn near single-handedly reinvented "Caravan," for instance. But really, the mere fact that he could hang with Ellington and Mingus as they pushed hard bop to its limits without being overwhelmed is all anybody needs to know about him. If he could stand on equal footing with those two geniuses, he could stay with anybody.

Basically, what Max Roach did for jazz was to make drumming into an art form, instead of somebody just keeping time. He realized that since he was using four different limbs to play, he might as well make the most of them. Here is a particularly good example (although you don't get the effect that you get when he's thumping away with a group of musicians).

Anyway, the point is that he wasn't really a household name to most people, but Max Roach is a name that all jazz fans respect, and he'll be missed.

Lyin' in bed, just like Brian Wilson did

Here's something for me to be pretty happy about: new Brian Wilson music!

See, Brian's got a new project called "That Lucky Old Sun (A Narrative)" that is going to be premiered live in London on September 10. This is exciting because it's his first "real" work since he went back and finished Smile in 2004 (2005's Christmas album doesn't really count, even though it did have two very good new songs). I'm curious to see if the nearly unanimous love for Smile (not to mention his working with and finishing up the music) will influence his new music. He hasn't really had a consistently strong solo album yet, other than Smile.

The second reason it's exciting is because my second favorite person ever, Van Dyke Parks, worked with Brian on the narrative, something to do with thoughts about life and "the heartbeat of Los Angeles," with spoken word interludes, brand new songs, and a version of the old song "That Lucky Old Song" which apparently inspired the whole thing. So Van Dyke is on board! And he's got a pretty magic touch, as I've written about before.

And check it out: a new song! It's pretty damned beautiful.

And finally, Brian had a new song on the Arctic Tale soundtrack, but I can't get it anywhere without buying the whole damn CD. Somebody with a Windows computer get it from Soulseek and send it to me or something, I'm dyyyyyying to hear it.

Superbad, or You're Not Allowed to TRY to Make a Cult Film (Unless You're Mike Judge)

Hey, have you guys heard about this movie called Superbad that's coming out? I don't know if you've seen any commercials for it or not. It looks hilarious! This one guy is all like "I cried when I first looked into his eyes, it was like the first time I heard the Beatles." Haha! That's funny, plus I like the Beatles too! And I guess there's this kid named McLovin, and these cops are all like "sounds like a sexy hamburger." Haha! I can't wait to repeat that line 7,000 times with all of my college-age friends. I'll be able to stop same, "Tina, come get your ham" which is still funny though,

Crap. I shouldn't have thought about Napoleon Dynamite. Just thinking about it made me a little bored and irritated and now my sarcasm generator is busted.

Oh well. Anyway, Michael Cera is still funny. Just watch this instead of seeing Superbad. Careful, though, the site is littered with ads... ads for Superbad. *sigh*

fooooooooooo

I had the weirdest urge to listen to the Foo Fighters tonight, because they've come up a couple times in conversation lately. I reached for There is Nothing Left to Lose first, because, even though I listened to it a million times when it first came out (I even made my buddy Chris Vendrick buy it for me the day it came out because I didn't have my driver's license yet), it's the least familiar of the ones I own (I don't own anything they did since that one, because who cares about that crap?).

There is Nothing Left to Lose is surprisingly good. It's not a great album, but it's probably about as good as a band as unambitious and unabashedly poppy as the Foo Fighters were ever going to make. Lots of big hooks, lots of big guitars. A testament to its hooks is the way that I still could sing along to most of the songs despite the fact that I probably haven't heard them in well over half a decade. A testament to the rockingness is the fact that I had to drop what I was doing and play air drums a few times.

Also, give the Foos credit for attempting to jump on the 80s bandwagon a few years ahead of schedule with "Headwires."

Anyway, the weirdest part of this experience is that finding out that I still apparently have the little rub on tattoo that came with the album. Check it:



















I still wonder whose neck is on that cover photo, by the way.

Here's kind of a disturbing quote:

"Bush left no room for doubts or media opinion. He stated clearly that this war is a Crusader war. He said this in front of the whole world so as to emphasize this fact. … When Bush says that, they try to cover up for him, then he said he didn't mean it. He said, 'crusade.' Bush divided the world into two: 'either with us or with terrorism' … The odd thing about this is that he has taken the words right out of our mouths." - Osama Bin Laden, via The Al Qaeda Reader

Loyal readers may remember that I have visited this issue (albeit briefly) not once but twice (second to last paragraph). Also, if you remembered me writing that, I am shocked, because I didn't even remember me writing those without going to the search engine.

Anyway, just sayin'.

commercial radio is irritating

I spent most of today at work in an off road truck that actually has a radio and air conditioning (not a luxury afforded me by other trucks I've worked in so far). Skipping through the radio dial, I landed, and, for some reason, stayed, on 102.9, WMGK. Classic Rock. Ugh.

They played what I guess was a promo for whoever the morning guys are, and it was clip of them talking like this:

Guy 1: "Some politician in Florida wants the government to pardon Jim Morrison for urinating onstage 38 years ago."
Guy 2: "Somehow, I don't think Jim cares."
Guy 1: "They should put a referendum on the ballot in the fall, and let all the old people who live there try to figure out who Jim Morrison is."
Guys 1 and 2: "Hahaha, we are so funny, take that old people, etc. etc."

Hey, who are those old people living in Florida these days? Oh right, the people in the world who are actually old enough to have been there when the Doors were a band.

Nothing like a pair of 50 or 60 year old guys making fun of 70 or 80 year old people. I want to go off on a rant about how baby boomers are incredibly self-absorbed and self-congratulatory, but I decided that I need more and better examples (the stupid hoopla around the Sgt. Pepper's 40th anniversary was one), and I was somewhat restrained by the fact that 40 years from now, pompous jerks like me will be outraged at kids who don't know Radiohead. So for now, let's just be annoyed at those two guys, and I'll stick to NPR tomorrow.