Mom Wieghs In; Aplogies to Dad; Music is a Family Thing
Well, in an interesting turn, my Mother, who refuses to have a computer in her house mind you, turns in some points for the BOLG. Apparently my Dad printed some of the pieces for her and she's turned in some more family history... she also says my grandfather has some points wrong, which I hope to correct and repost...
'Your Dad was into soul music when we met. He had the Sam and Dave album [Hold On, I'm Coming, which is the 8 track that is playing when Elwood gets pulled over by the cops afer picking up Jake ("The light was yellow officer.") in The Blues Brothers.] and the Sheppards album and was into BB King and others. BB King and Bo Diddley and a lot of groups came to Alliquippa. Your dad saw them there. Once when he was home on leave [from the Navy] he told me BB King had a new song out: Ain't Nobody Home. You don't hear it very much. It always reminds me of taking him to the bus station in Pittsburgh to go back to the base. [I told him when we divorced that our new BB King song was The Thrill Is Gone.]
"I Went to see James Brown and His Famous Flames at the Pittsburgh Civic Areana in 1966 with two women I worked with. There were very few white faces there."
I have mentioned before that my folks have a lot of old early 60s soul 45s. I ass/u/me-d a lot of them were my mothers, maybe I have been wrong the whole time. I never did ask the specifics. I DO know Mom loved Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Mary Wells and my folks had a record by Huey 'Piano' Smith called the Pop-Eye they did a terrible dance to. I remember finding that box of 45s when we lived in Charleston, WVa when I was about 7 and taking them all up into my room and playing a lot of them, just to hear what they were. Some inpressed [Please,Please,Please by JB,; Pop-Eye; Reach OUt I'll Be There and the B side I'll Turn to Stone by the Four Tops (and the Four is always spelled out; never are they the 4 Tops, unlike the 4 Seasons); the B side of Stevie Wonder's For Once In My Life called Angie Baby, a Jr Walker B side called Sweet Soul that had some of the best drumming I'd heard to that point (I wanted to be a drummer when I was younger), Joe Cocker's The Letter (arranged by Leon Russell) and B side Space Captain]... one night they were playing 45s over dinner and me or my sister sat on Little Anthony and the Imperials...
So maybe it was my Dad who brought Leon Russell's great Carney and Joe's With A Little Help from My Friends and Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits into the house. [I am pretty sure it was he who bought Jimi Hendrix, Richie Havens, Eddie Harris, Cal Tjader...] I remember Dad more for bringing in Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedos and the Police's Zenyatta Mondatta and buying my MY first Cars [and a fave still] Panorama. When we moved out to Burleson we'd catch albums off the late great KZEW's Seventh Day, when they would run 6 albums all the way through [basically: Here they are, tape away!] We got things like Jackson Browne's Lawyers In Love [still a great album], the Romantics In Heat, David Bowie's Let's Dance, Missing Persons Spring Session M, Dire Straits ...hmmm, maybe I have under-credited old Dad, he seemed to be on the edge of the curve. SORRY DAD! Anyway, we'd tape these albums, then I'd have to go through Wal Mart or Sound Warehouse and get the track listings, because I am just anal about such things...
I know Dad had a guitar, a nice Yamaha acoustic when we were in Arlington.. I really don't know here it came from or how long he had it; I never really even recall him playing it, though I would strum and bang on it on summer vacation listening to their 8 tracks. My uncle Bill [Dad's brother] would come over and whip out country songs once in a while and tune [and re-tune, and re-tune] it. I think he first played me Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett. His wife Marie also taught us how to play backgammon one summer, still a game I like. I got my first guitar for my 12th birthday and took those gawd awful Mel Bay lessons where you learm one string at a time for weeks on end... yuk. I played along with my records and learned chords out of the songbooks [Platinum 79 and the like...] and basically tought myself and devoured music magazines in my teens. I took a music theory class [my sister was in the same class, I think; I could be wrong on that] in college but I am still basically a play by ear guy.
I think Dad was also the one who could usually be hit up for a couple bucks when I'd find interesting albums in the cut out bins. I really don't remember if I just used my lunch money or what, but I was always bringing in things. In 1982 Safeway [yes, the grovery store] in Burleson had a record rack and I bought mt Creedence Clearwater albums from there, $ 5.98 for two Lp sets 1968/69 [with the first and Bayou Country] and 1969 [Green River and Willy and the Poorboys].. got the 1970 set with Cosomo's Factory and Pendulum for Christmas. I know I bought Jefferson Starship's Modern Times as a cut out [Phillipine pressing] and Cheap Trick at Budokahn [Greek pressing], maybe from that same rack.
Dad and I also liked to escape to the movies then. I remember going to see a matinees of Superman, Star Trek I [we saw Wrath of Kahn when it came to the little thater in Burleson] the Belushi/Ackroyd bomb Nieghbors, Flash Gordon... I know my parents took us to see Young Frankenstien, Meatballs... don't remember seeing Caddyshack, but it's possible. When Mom was on nights we used to go to the old Park Row theater in Arlington when we lived there and I know we saw some of the Disney Tim Conway-Don Knotts-Dean howlers like Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, the one where Tim Conway's uncle is the railroad baron and makes him go across country hobo-ing like he did..., The Cat from Outer Space, the Incredible Mr Limpett where Don Knots drowns and becomes a cartoon dolphin who save a Navy convoy...and just absolute crap like Roller Boogie... but it beat sitting at home. Later when we lived out in Burleson and Mom was on nights, we'd go to dollar nigt down at the Burleson theater. I KNOW we saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky's, ST II, ET, Footloose [which I saw about half a dozen times because I was just in love with the counter girl down there...], Return of the Jedi... now of course, we don't agree on anything, Dad like cheesy Z-Grade horror movies and I like Monty Python.
The King Is Dead! Long Live the King!
So I stopped by CD Warehouse [not Wherehouse, the overpriced chain, but CD Warehouse... support small local music resellers... I will rant on corporate greed killing the local music shop another time, it's too nice a day to waste on that now...] picking up my special ordered AC/DC High Voltage re-issue, when Joey there informs me that the Young Brothers [Malcom and Angus, what fine Aussie outlaw names] beat out Eddie Van Halen in a music magazine poll for most influential guitarists. You know, as late as 1990 such a thing might have been unthinkable. But what has Eddie done in the last 14 years besides fire Sammy Hagar, tease his fans by bringing ing David Lee Roth again, dip six Diamond Dave and hire Gary Cherone to front Van Halen Mk III [possible the worst hire since Jerry Jones replaces Jimmy Johnson with Barry Switzer]... I did not have time to stop and chat, but Joe added that is was a fucked poll anyway since the name Frank Zappa was not mentioned anywhere... I thought this would make Frank happy since he really felt he was a composor more than a player, but Joey did point out that despite that fact, Frank WAS a great guitar player.
Rainy Saturdays
Yesterday was the kind of day I used to LOVE working at Forever Young at the old cramped store... sunny days were wasted in there, but rainy days kept a lot of the casua shoppers down and allowed me to absorb what was being played and chat with the regulars a little more. Yesterday was a great day to sit on a balcony and watch the rain fall with someone nice close by or to laze and catch up on reading and recent CD purchases.. or as many of those things as could be crammed into one day.
Oh yeah: Jagr a Ranger; Welcome to the Underachieving Millionaire Club
Well it finally happened. The NY hockey Rangers, the only team that can afford him, took Jaromir Jagr for Anson Carter and a draft pick. Sure the Capitals are going to pick up a pile of Jagr's contract, but this is another bad move to try and silence the disgruntled hockey fans of NYC. And it's a bust for the Rangers all ready. The Rangers add another cast off from the Penguins who has not achieved ANYTHING since leaving the Igloo: Peter Nedved, Alexei Kovalev; Darius Kasparitus has played decently in his role, being an agitator and a hitter, but not a scorer. Now Jagr. Now the Rangers have two of the most selfish and crybaby whiners in the NHL [Jagr and Eric 'Big Baby' Lindross, who, to be fair, is having a decent but not star player year] nd they still have no farm system, no one holding players accountable [Messier and Bobby Holik, who knows systems and winning from playing across the river in Jersey can only do so much] and no TEAM effort. Why ANYONE goes to see this group is a mystery... unless you're a visitors fan. Should Slats keep his job there? *pfft* What's the difference? Only a true disciplinarian coach ala Jaques Lemair of Minnesota, Ken Hitchcock of Philly [who the NHL 2Night crew says should have been hired LONG before they thought about hiring Brian Trottier last year] could instill some sense of order to the chaos. The Rangers tried buying offense by the bucket, but you can't buy wins that way anymore; you HAVE to play defense and be able to captalize on turnovers in todays NHL. Sure the Devils are boring to watch, but they win. Maybe Colorado and Detroit have the best mix, but they still have great energy and checking lines to go with two great offensive lines and a wealth of two way defensemen and forwards who are not afraid of backchecking. I watched Steve Yzerman, coming off knee recontruction last year, chase someone back fron the slot in the offensive end to make a play as the player was closing in on the slot on the defensive end. THAT'S dedication, folks and you never see the Rangers do that. How's it going to look when Jagr and Lindross are hanging up near the red line awaiting the [rarely seen in Madison Square Garden] breakaway pass. I remember one Dallas Stars radio commercial talking about backchecking saying "It's not about hanging out Bure-like in the neutral zone." [Oh man, what if Bure comes back next year, so they can have THREE overpaid, underachieving right wingers?] If the Rangers TRAPPED or slowed someone down in the neutral zone, then maybe they could play decent hockey, but I asked my Banky Edwards' Magic 8 Ball, made famous in the film Chasing Amy and it said Not Fucking Likely.
Maybe it's something to do with the name Rangers. The baseball team here in Texas overpays and underachieves a lot, too.
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Not So Sunless Saturday
So I had good intentions of getting up early and taking care of a few errands and getting out to Mom’s. That went out the window when I got up at 1100 and got on line trying to figure out why I can’t get a damn + player and all my players can go cold at the same time… so I started late with a pile of sheets and blankets and towels. I got to the Laundromat about 215 and it was jammed. So I said ‘fuck it,’ grabbed a sandwich on the way back to the apartment and ate breakfast. Got out again about 3, rolled all the windows down and popped in my Elvis Costello road tape and got moving. Dropped off my ‘scrip, ran down to the Enchanted Forest for incense, stopped by the comic book store and CD Warehouse up here, where we discussed all the “Best of Bowie” collections. I bought Super Hits of the 70’s Vol. 12… yes, it has Terry Jacks Seasons in the Sun [I used to like it when I was a kid, but now I see how cheesy it is!], but it also has Jim Stafford’s Spiders and Snakes, Black Oak Arkansas - Jim Dandy, Rick Derringer - Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo [which he wrote for Johnny Winter And back in 1971], Rock On by David Essex, Come and Get Your Love by Redbone [a truly good one hit wonder] and the one I really really bought it for, the Ray Stevens classic The Streak! [“Pardon me sir, did you see what happened?” “Yea, I did…”] On the way back from the drugstore, I passed the ‘mat again and it was empty, went home and loaded my basket again and hotfooted it back over there and got that taken care of, too in an hour!
So I am loading clean laundry back in the car for the quick trip home and I got in just as the sun is turning down for the last time and it’s starting to cool off, almost like a nice spring evening. I got in and there was a descent song on the classic Texas rock that rocks and I felt like it WAS a nice spring evening. I succumbed to running around with the windows down and tunes blaring like I was 25 again. I got down towards the turn at Ash, but I hadn’t had enough. Hunter Thompson wrote in Hells Angels “The momentary freedom…was like the one unlucky drink that shoves a wavering alcoholic off the wagon.” And so I took off up 360 North, giving it a good honest carb/fuel injector cleaning blowing roll through the low gears, all horsepower winding it up to 4k and dropping it back… up to 65 in third gear and just dropping up through 4 and overdrive…trapped up between Euless-Grapevine and Glade, school bus in one lane and some slow driving grandma in the passing lane who wants to go 50. Finally the bus pulls up enough to let me zip by, drop down into third, and let the horses do their thing… It was just a quick zip run, U turned up on 121 at the West Freight area and zipped back down 360, just enough to remind myself how good it is to be alive, Came home and closed up the apartment for the cold front I knew was coming in tonight, take a nice long hot shower… all those sensations… thoughts of cooking spaghetti, smelling the peppers and onions and garlic sautéing filling the apartment and then the sauce slowly warming drained and I called Domino’s instead and flopped down to watch the Stars game. But I have the memory to take me through some of the long and cold days to some.
Today, by comparison, is chilly, wet and dreary and a good day to stay in and catch up on some housework and try and absorb some more of the Johnny Cash Unearthed box.
The moral? Take your moments of joy and freedom wherever you find them.
So I had good intentions of getting up early and taking care of a few errands and getting out to Mom’s. That went out the window when I got up at 1100 and got on line trying to figure out why I can’t get a damn + player and all my players can go cold at the same time… so I started late with a pile of sheets and blankets and towels. I got to the Laundromat about 215 and it was jammed. So I said ‘fuck it,’ grabbed a sandwich on the way back to the apartment and ate breakfast. Got out again about 3, rolled all the windows down and popped in my Elvis Costello road tape and got moving. Dropped off my ‘scrip, ran down to the Enchanted Forest for incense, stopped by the comic book store and CD Warehouse up here, where we discussed all the “Best of Bowie” collections. I bought Super Hits of the 70’s Vol. 12… yes, it has Terry Jacks Seasons in the Sun [I used to like it when I was a kid, but now I see how cheesy it is!], but it also has Jim Stafford’s Spiders and Snakes, Black Oak Arkansas - Jim Dandy, Rick Derringer - Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo [which he wrote for Johnny Winter And back in 1971], Rock On by David Essex, Come and Get Your Love by Redbone [a truly good one hit wonder] and the one I really really bought it for, the Ray Stevens classic The Streak! [“Pardon me sir, did you see what happened?” “Yea, I did…”] On the way back from the drugstore, I passed the ‘mat again and it was empty, went home and loaded my basket again and hotfooted it back over there and got that taken care of, too in an hour!
So I am loading clean laundry back in the car for the quick trip home and I got in just as the sun is turning down for the last time and it’s starting to cool off, almost like a nice spring evening. I got in and there was a descent song on the classic Texas rock that rocks and I felt like it WAS a nice spring evening. I succumbed to running around with the windows down and tunes blaring like I was 25 again. I got down towards the turn at Ash, but I hadn’t had enough. Hunter Thompson wrote in Hells Angels “The momentary freedom…was like the one unlucky drink that shoves a wavering alcoholic off the wagon.” And so I took off up 360 North, giving it a good honest carb/fuel injector cleaning blowing roll through the low gears, all horsepower winding it up to 4k and dropping it back… up to 65 in third gear and just dropping up through 4 and overdrive…trapped up between Euless-Grapevine and Glade, school bus in one lane and some slow driving grandma in the passing lane who wants to go 50. Finally the bus pulls up enough to let me zip by, drop down into third, and let the horses do their thing… It was just a quick zip run, U turned up on 121 at the West Freight area and zipped back down 360, just enough to remind myself how good it is to be alive, Came home and closed up the apartment for the cold front I knew was coming in tonight, take a nice long hot shower… all those sensations… thoughts of cooking spaghetti, smelling the peppers and onions and garlic sautéing filling the apartment and then the sauce slowly warming drained and I called Domino’s instead and flopped down to watch the Stars game. But I have the memory to take me through some of the long and cold days to some.
Today, by comparison, is chilly, wet and dreary and a good day to stay in and catch up on some housework and try and absorb some more of the Johnny Cash Unearthed box.
The moral? Take your moments of joy and freedom wherever you find them.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
In honor of fairness: Ed's Top 5
5) My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves. Good southern rockin', allotta guitar and alotta reberb. Lyrics are okay.
4) Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day. Whew... alotta guitar and alotta good damn songs. They lean abit on a familar formula for song structure, but their vivid storytelling is worth the price of admission.
3) Paul Westerberg- Come Feel Me Tremble. More and more I've gravatated to this disc. Seems more introspective that Mono (when he's not just giving us a throw away, off the cuff track... which they're a few.) "Crackle and Drag" is a St Paul classic.
2) Fountains Of Wayne- Welcome Interstate Managers. Pure, pop genius. Maybe 2 songs too long, but hey that's just fucking nit picking. This band has such smart and funny lyrics, and the boys got chops ta boot. A plus
1) Led Zepplin- How the West Was Won. I loved this DVD set, in fact I'm gonna stop typin' now and play it at "11." Hmmmm, now where did I put it...?
Love,
Ed
I told Ed I just do not get much new stuff, though I know Nate has played My Morning Jacket for me... apparently I have missed something on this new Foutains of Wayne, will make it a point to check it out... someone also mentioned Baptist Generals to me, anyone know anything about it?
For Eddie V
Ed's coming here looking for the Best of '03. Ed's going to be disappointed. Truthfully, I dod not get a whole lot of NEW music in '03 and what I did I found very mediocre: Westerberg, Ryan Adams... However, there were a few bright spots and some re-issues I'd STILL like to reccomend:
NEW STUFF
Nope - Gettin' Up the Rent - Local Dallas band, check www.nope.us
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore
Johnny Cash - Unearthed Box [make this a present to yourself, it kicks ass]
REISSUES
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
Television - Marquee Moon
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Get Happy [thitry songs on the bonus CD, twenty on the original, 50 songs for 15 bucks!]
5) My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves. Good southern rockin', allotta guitar and alotta reberb. Lyrics are okay.
4) Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day. Whew... alotta guitar and alotta good damn songs. They lean abit on a familar formula for song structure, but their vivid storytelling is worth the price of admission.
3) Paul Westerberg- Come Feel Me Tremble. More and more I've gravatated to this disc. Seems more introspective that Mono (when he's not just giving us a throw away, off the cuff track... which they're a few.) "Crackle and Drag" is a St Paul classic.
2) Fountains Of Wayne- Welcome Interstate Managers. Pure, pop genius. Maybe 2 songs too long, but hey that's just fucking nit picking. This band has such smart and funny lyrics, and the boys got chops ta boot. A plus
1) Led Zepplin- How the West Was Won. I loved this DVD set, in fact I'm gonna stop typin' now and play it at "11." Hmmmm, now where did I put it...?
Love,
Ed
I told Ed I just do not get much new stuff, though I know Nate has played My Morning Jacket for me... apparently I have missed something on this new Foutains of Wayne, will make it a point to check it out... someone also mentioned Baptist Generals to me, anyone know anything about it?
For Eddie V
Ed's coming here looking for the Best of '03. Ed's going to be disappointed. Truthfully, I dod not get a whole lot of NEW music in '03 and what I did I found very mediocre: Westerberg, Ryan Adams... However, there were a few bright spots and some re-issues I'd STILL like to reccomend:
NEW STUFF
Nope - Gettin' Up the Rent - Local Dallas band, check www.nope.us
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore
Johnny Cash - Unearthed Box [make this a present to yourself, it kicks ass]
REISSUES
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
Television - Marquee Moon
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Get Happy [thitry songs on the bonus CD, twenty on the original, 50 songs for 15 bucks!]
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Bah Humbug
Man am I glad the holidays are over. I know it’s blasphemy to suggest things like that in some quarters, but it’s true. This holiday season never got off the ground for me. Maybe it’s because I worked Thanksgiving, which is my holiday for obvious reasons [food and drink!]. Add the fact that it was in the 60s for most of December [and here on New Year’s Day], no really good cold snap to make it seem like winter, let alone Christmas. And the crass commercialism of Christmas gets worse every year. All over the news, “Retailers hurting from less consumer spending this season.” I hope that gets to be a trend, people not getting drawn into the spiral of gift giving.
Of course, Christmas is a funny holiday anyway. Loosely based [I say because there is a theory that the church fudged the date to draw the Pagan’s attention away from the celebration of the winter solstice] on the birth of the Holy, where did the idea of giving gift to others for someone else’s birthday come from? Now Santa Claus I kind of get from Saint Nicholas [say it real fast and with a thick accent] but still…
I was trying to remember as I was trying to go to sleep last night [since I had to be in at 700, I stayed home and had just a whiskey and diet Coke during the evening and a shot of Wild Turkey for New Year’s] what I did last year, and for the life of me I can NOT remember… 99-2000 I worked Y2K because I was “the Best Qualified” they told me every manager in Dalas was at the RIverbend building awaiting the end of humanity [remember that BS?] or whatever was going to happen and not getting looped… at least I wasn’t the only one. 00-01 was the year we got snowed in at Trevor’s in Hurst and played cards, 01-02 I was at Kat and Trevor’s in Carrolton and they Karaoke-d all night and I would up in a killer game of Monopoly until 430am… if anyone can remember, please tell me where I was…
To the best of my recollection I have only had one good kiss on New Year’s Eve and that was WAAAYYY back in 1985/86…
NHL Notes: Been a while, so let’s get caught up:
Dominik Hasek has been on the sidelines in Hockeytown with a ‘groin strain.’ Good thing they have an $ 8 million back-up in Curtis Joseph and the best back-up in the league in Manny Legace. Cujo has made the best of his showcase time and won some games, but I remain unimpressed, though I picked him up in my league. I still think he’s over-rated.
Speaking of Red Wings, what’s up with Pavel Datsyuk? Brett Hull said last year he was a great energizer playing with he and Heinrich Zetterberg [who just returned from injury and is also lighting things up] but holy cow! The goal he scored to put the exclamation point on the Stars 6-2 loss here was the prettiest goal I have seen by someone not named Mario or Jaromir in a while, but he’s doing is consistently! Maybe the best stick handler in a long long time…
Of all the surprises in the East this year, who would have picked Toronto to pull together and wind up in first, passing great runs by the Flyers and Devils. Word has it that former Flame, Star and Devil Joe Nieuwendyk has been that catalyst for this upswing, pulling the room together. Good for an overpaid bunch that was underachieving VERY BADLY at the start of the year… unfortunately I dropped Sundin earlier this year and picked up Gary Roberts as he went cold again, but I have Newy now! heh heh heh
How about Mark Savard in hot ‘Lanta? Comes back three weeks early from an ankle injury and spark pugs that team again! Looks like Pasi Nurminen is tiring though; could the Thrash have their sites on Roman Turek, due to come back from injury in Calgary, or maybe Tommy Salo who has fallen from grace in Edmonton? They have Jani Hurme and Byron Dafoe they can deal…
Speaking of teams on the rise, watch out for the New York Rangers. Yeah, it’s still the mid point, but Bobby Holik, Mark Messier and even Eric “Big Baby” Lindross have started playing like professionals again. Now if they could figure out a way to get the graceful skating, laser shooting Alexei Kovalev hot again, they could make a run…Oh, and Boston... jeez, what is it that makes them fall apart in the middle of every season? I had to drop all the Bruins because they're like -12 in December and not producing: not Murray, not Thornton, not Knuble...
How about the Calgary Flames turning some heads and the San Jose Sharks rising from the dead win the West? And the way the Nashville Predators have finally gelled behind Tomas Vokun [I say again YOU WERE RIGHT MARTY!!!!] and three rookie defensemen? With Dallas floundering for a while and LA finally succumbing to injuries, the West race has tightened up. Could be a fun January/February…
Can anyone explain why Sergei Gonchar of the Caps can put up such great scoring numbers and remain a minus player? What is it going to take to get him to play decent D?…Anaheim Mighty Ducks blue line takes a big hit losing Sandis Ozolinsh for 10-12 weeks… John Tortorella and star center Vinny LeCavalier are fighting again, but don’t look for either to be going anywhere soon… How about Brendan Morrow igniting a recently left for dead Dallas Stars power play unit? And the Stars have killed like 40 of their last 40 power plays against… Hitch has the Flyers playing like a team and the addition of Mike Comrie gives them three scary line that can slam a puck in on you at any given moment; kind of like the Stars team that won the Cup in 2000; Lou Lamorello in New Jersey will not react in any knee jerk fashion, but look for the Ducks to again add a sniper at the deadline. The Devils can still score by committee but that continues to pressure a red-hot Marty Brodeur to continue playing flawless hockey… Can Marty top Tony O’s 15 shutouts in one season? I’ll lay even money he can TIE it… go figure, their top marquee name, Alexi Yashin goes out with an injury and the Isles get back to gritty hockey in the Michael Peca mode and start winning. Is Alex the problem on Long Island or the solution?... Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa have woken the sleeping giant Ottawa Senators up and started playing back to the level they were at during last year’s playoffs. Took them a long time to shake off that game 7 loss… Hope the Blues get Chris Osgood back in a hurry and hope they aren’t peaking too soon AGAIN… The Penguins quietly dumped their last remaining player being paid any significant money by trading snakebit Marty Straka to LA; Straka responded by putting up goals early but has since leveled off again; still he’s another speedy forward and gives the Kings second line some bite… Paul Maurice didn’t deserve the axe for an underachieving Canes team, but they have responded to Peter Laviolette as the Thrash did last year when BobHartley came on board: by getting suddenly very competitive.
Man am I glad the holidays are over. I know it’s blasphemy to suggest things like that in some quarters, but it’s true. This holiday season never got off the ground for me. Maybe it’s because I worked Thanksgiving, which is my holiday for obvious reasons [food and drink!]. Add the fact that it was in the 60s for most of December [and here on New Year’s Day], no really good cold snap to make it seem like winter, let alone Christmas. And the crass commercialism of Christmas gets worse every year. All over the news, “Retailers hurting from less consumer spending this season.” I hope that gets to be a trend, people not getting drawn into the spiral of gift giving.
Of course, Christmas is a funny holiday anyway. Loosely based [I say because there is a theory that the church fudged the date to draw the Pagan’s attention away from the celebration of the winter solstice] on the birth of the Holy, where did the idea of giving gift to others for someone else’s birthday come from? Now Santa Claus I kind of get from Saint Nicholas [say it real fast and with a thick accent] but still…
I was trying to remember as I was trying to go to sleep last night [since I had to be in at 700, I stayed home and had just a whiskey and diet Coke during the evening and a shot of Wild Turkey for New Year’s] what I did last year, and for the life of me I can NOT remember… 99-2000 I worked Y2K because I was “the Best Qualified” they told me every manager in Dalas was at the RIverbend building awaiting the end of humanity [remember that BS?] or whatever was going to happen and not getting looped… at least I wasn’t the only one. 00-01 was the year we got snowed in at Trevor’s in Hurst and played cards, 01-02 I was at Kat and Trevor’s in Carrolton and they Karaoke-d all night and I would up in a killer game of Monopoly until 430am… if anyone can remember, please tell me where I was…
To the best of my recollection I have only had one good kiss on New Year’s Eve and that was WAAAYYY back in 1985/86…
NHL Notes: Been a while, so let’s get caught up:
Dominik Hasek has been on the sidelines in Hockeytown with a ‘groin strain.’ Good thing they have an $ 8 million back-up in Curtis Joseph and the best back-up in the league in Manny Legace. Cujo has made the best of his showcase time and won some games, but I remain unimpressed, though I picked him up in my league. I still think he’s over-rated.
Speaking of Red Wings, what’s up with Pavel Datsyuk? Brett Hull said last year he was a great energizer playing with he and Heinrich Zetterberg [who just returned from injury and is also lighting things up] but holy cow! The goal he scored to put the exclamation point on the Stars 6-2 loss here was the prettiest goal I have seen by someone not named Mario or Jaromir in a while, but he’s doing is consistently! Maybe the best stick handler in a long long time…
Of all the surprises in the East this year, who would have picked Toronto to pull together and wind up in first, passing great runs by the Flyers and Devils. Word has it that former Flame, Star and Devil Joe Nieuwendyk has been that catalyst for this upswing, pulling the room together. Good for an overpaid bunch that was underachieving VERY BADLY at the start of the year… unfortunately I dropped Sundin earlier this year and picked up Gary Roberts as he went cold again, but I have Newy now! heh heh heh
How about Mark Savard in hot ‘Lanta? Comes back three weeks early from an ankle injury and spark pugs that team again! Looks like Pasi Nurminen is tiring though; could the Thrash have their sites on Roman Turek, due to come back from injury in Calgary, or maybe Tommy Salo who has fallen from grace in Edmonton? They have Jani Hurme and Byron Dafoe they can deal…
Speaking of teams on the rise, watch out for the New York Rangers. Yeah, it’s still the mid point, but Bobby Holik, Mark Messier and even Eric “Big Baby” Lindross have started playing like professionals again. Now if they could figure out a way to get the graceful skating, laser shooting Alexei Kovalev hot again, they could make a run…Oh, and Boston... jeez, what is it that makes them fall apart in the middle of every season? I had to drop all the Bruins because they're like -12 in December and not producing: not Murray, not Thornton, not Knuble...
How about the Calgary Flames turning some heads and the San Jose Sharks rising from the dead win the West? And the way the Nashville Predators have finally gelled behind Tomas Vokun [I say again YOU WERE RIGHT MARTY!!!!] and three rookie defensemen? With Dallas floundering for a while and LA finally succumbing to injuries, the West race has tightened up. Could be a fun January/February…
Can anyone explain why Sergei Gonchar of the Caps can put up such great scoring numbers and remain a minus player? What is it going to take to get him to play decent D?…Anaheim Mighty Ducks blue line takes a big hit losing Sandis Ozolinsh for 10-12 weeks… John Tortorella and star center Vinny LeCavalier are fighting again, but don’t look for either to be going anywhere soon… How about Brendan Morrow igniting a recently left for dead Dallas Stars power play unit? And the Stars have killed like 40 of their last 40 power plays against… Hitch has the Flyers playing like a team and the addition of Mike Comrie gives them three scary line that can slam a puck in on you at any given moment; kind of like the Stars team that won the Cup in 2000; Lou Lamorello in New Jersey will not react in any knee jerk fashion, but look for the Ducks to again add a sniper at the deadline. The Devils can still score by committee but that continues to pressure a red-hot Marty Brodeur to continue playing flawless hockey… Can Marty top Tony O’s 15 shutouts in one season? I’ll lay even money he can TIE it… go figure, their top marquee name, Alexi Yashin goes out with an injury and the Isles get back to gritty hockey in the Michael Peca mode and start winning. Is Alex the problem on Long Island or the solution?... Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa have woken the sleeping giant Ottawa Senators up and started playing back to the level they were at during last year’s playoffs. Took them a long time to shake off that game 7 loss… Hope the Blues get Chris Osgood back in a hurry and hope they aren’t peaking too soon AGAIN… The Penguins quietly dumped their last remaining player being paid any significant money by trading snakebit Marty Straka to LA; Straka responded by putting up goals early but has since leveled off again; still he’s another speedy forward and gives the Kings second line some bite… Paul Maurice didn’t deserve the axe for an underachieving Canes team, but they have responded to Peter Laviolette as the Thrash did last year when BobHartley came on board: by getting suddenly very competitive.