NHL Season Recap*

* - when I say last year, I mean last season hockey was played

Well, it's all over but the shouting and the pride for some teams. With tonights games, the NHL wraps up the 2005/06 regular season. The only thing left to be determined is the seeding in the lower half of the East bracket. It's been a season of surprises and a few disappointments but a fairly exciting regular season to watch. A few thoughts:

Shootout - Thumbs UP!
Of the two NHL games I got to see live and in person this year, I got to see one shootout [and one where a goalie scored a goal - Chris Mason was credited with a goal when Phoenix missed a hard shot and it went into their net on a delayed penalty; Mason being the last Predator to touch the puck was credited with the goal] and it was as exciting in person as it was on the little screen. There's a real sense of drama watching the shooters and goal tenders duke it out one on one, mano a mano. The rules for stick measurements will need to be tweaked in the off season, but overal, big thumbs up.

Return to Splendor!
It's nice to see some big name players return to the lofty heights we remember them for. Steve Yzerman's late season streak of ten points in eleven games, Jaromir Jagr playing to the level of talent he has and seeming to enjoy himself again [I heard he has announced his retirement in two years, at the end of this contract; I hope he means to do as Peter Forsberg did and return to the Czech Republic to play for a year or two], Luc Robataille quietly passing Marcell Dionne for the most oints by a King and retiring the highest scoring left wing ever, Mike Modano returning to respectability after a nosedive last year...

Disappointed
The Pittsburgh Penguins, for all the bluster of offense threatened by Mario, Sidney [the Whiner] Crosby, Ziggy Palfy, Sergei Gonchar, Mark Recchi, John LeClair, et al end the season in dead last place. Sure Palfy's nagging shoulder and Mario's irregular heartbeat forced mid season retirements, Jocelyn Thibault, oft injured in Chicago, continued his bad luck streak and missed most of the season with a bad hip AGAIN forcing the Pens to start two young, inexperienced goalies with NO defense in front of them and the dreadful play allowed the Pens to ship Recchi to the Carolina Hurricanes at the deadline; still, why couldn't the Pens have also grabbed a big two-way defender ala Chris Pronger, Ed Jovanovski, Adam Foote?

The St Louis Blues at least have an ownership issue to blame their woes on... oh, but Pittsburgh is also for sale and doesn't have a home areana after next year... Chicago sees their acquisitions [Martin Lapointe, Adrian Acouin, Nik Khababulin] also go bust and Eric Daze missed the whole year and they continue to stink up the NHL -- would continuing injuries to goalies there be an indication of poor defense of crappy ice? Boston, also signers of big ticket free agents [Alexei Zhamnov, Brian Leetch, who did mamange a good year,] go bust and trade their youngsters just coming into their prime [Joe Thornton, Sergei Samsonov] and then ownership decides it's the GM's fault and cans him... sorry guys, no takebacks on those trades! The Vancouver Canucks big line [Naslund - Morrison - Bertuzzi] never gets on track and the Sedin twins with Anson Carter can't carry the team into the playoffs. This is another team with huge injuries to goalies, [the oft injured Dan Cloutier,whom no doubt Pittsburgh will now sign] and defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Sami Salo. The Tampa Bay Lightning look ordinary and appear to have tuned out John Tortarella and his defensinve scheme all ready and limp their way into the playoffs; off season money issues appear to have everyone gripping their stick tighter.

Say WHAT?!? They Traded WHO?!?
Joe Thornton obviously was not the probelm in Boston as he single handedly leads San Jose from 12th place in December to the 5 seed in the West - that is NOT a team anyone wants to play right now. Boston? Oh, they're out of the playoffs. Colorado trades David Aebisher [though ESPN doesn't know that - they gave Abesheir's record Vs Edmonton on the crawler last night] to Montreal for an INJURED Jose Theodore, who played for the Avs in last night's loss... Aebisher had problems early in the year, but recovered after Christmas and player the games of his life in the Olympics; this may be Pierre Lacroix's next big gaffe after letting Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote get away at the start of the year. Look for the Avs to get beat quickly in the playoffs.

So Long [Into the Sunset]
Steve Yzerman, Luc Robataille, Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux [again], Ed Belfour;
MAYBE: Brian Leetch, Curtis Joseph, Jeremy Roenick, John Leclair, Eric Weinrich

Remembering Way Back When

In preparation for my trip to Nashville this weekend, I had to put some different vinyl on the front burner for loading so I can get Thompson & Co. some good old 80s flashback music. I spent most of the time watching the west coast hockey games [and I am about to go to Wal Mart for supplies - 2am shopping, gotta love it!] but I've been spending a gift certificate for Barnes and Noble on on line [I don't think I'll get them before I leave, but Chris Whitley's live album and a solo acoustic (with mostly different tracks - I checked), the new Loose Fur and the remastered Blues Brothers Briefcase Full of Blues -- I rediscovered it when I cut the vinyl over but it's such a damn FUN record!] and listening to Lone Justice. DAMN, what two great but different records they are. The first has al that fire and energy of a first record, staring off with east of Eden and rolling right through Soap, Soup and Salvation; the closer, You Are the Light is a nice quiet baland hinting at the direction that would be taken on Shelter. Shelter is a darker, more soulful record. Maria McKee could have been the Lucinda Williams of the 80s, but I guess she got real tired of [to quote Zappa] 'Record Company Pricks' real quick. I may have to put them on one CD and blast that for a couple hours.

I have a promo poster for the Shelter album, just a head shot of Maria. It's still one of the best photographs I have ever seen [of which I also include the Linda McCartney shot for the cover of Press to Play] and Maria is truly one of the most beautiful women ever in it. Quite a contrast to the army boot and Laura Ashley wearin' down home girl she presents on the album covers.

Marty and I used to be really big on producers and LJ was produced by Jimmy Iovine [Shelter also with 'Miami Steve/Little Steven' Van Zandt. Jimmy also did Tom Petty's run of glory - Torpedoes, Hard Promises, Long After Dark and Southern Accents. He got a decent sound without washing the band away. I found I like Daniel Lanois sound a lot. [Peter Gabriel's So and Us, Robbie Robertson's 87 solo record, of course his work with Eno on U2's Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby [Iovine did the Rattle and Hum] and Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, Ambient 2: The Pearl and Ambient 4: On Land , the Neville Brothers Yellow Moon, Bob Dylan's masterful Oh Mercy. and later Time Out of Mind, Willie Nelson's Teatro and Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball] Lanois gets an atmospheric, eerie sound then adds some swampy New Orleans second line rhythyms to a lot of things. The Willie record is a reall progressive record [for Willie] and Emmylou chips in on it. And of course his own solo work, though I was a bit put off by Shine, the last Belladona sounds like [the music part, not the samples] KLF's Chill Out.

One other thing I have found in my collection is that Geffen records had a lot of the groups I liked back then [Lone Justice, Long Ryders, XTC]. The Warner's imprint Slash had quite a few [Bo Dean, Del Fuegos, X]. Including R.E.M. in that group and there seems to be a lot of leftist political statements being made, and a lot of yearning for a simpler time. Long Ryders and Lone Justice [and Jason & the Scorchers on A&M] seem to have a country tinge to them, precursors to the Alt-Country/ No Depression movement.

Anyway, I was just thinking about the hours spent in my room listening to things like Lone Justice and how they moved me and shook me, both highs and lows. Just 'flashing back into my pan' as it were.

Speaking of flashing back into my pan, word on the street and the Replacements fan site is that Paul, Tommy and Chris [Mars didn't play drums, just did some background vocals, Jsoh Freese did the drum work.. aparently they wanted to keep it to the original Replacements because neither Steve Foley nor Slim Dunlap was included] went into the studio to cut two new Westerberg tracks for an upcoming, FULL career [Twin/Tone & Sire] Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements due out June 13th. Guess which re-issue label is doing the 'Mats up right this time? Oh, yeah, Rhino again.

This will be a single disc best of, BUT the 'Mats fansite Skyway reports

a recent Rhino podcast revealed details of a Replacements box set tentatively due out
next year. Featuring a new interview with founding member and current Guns n' Roses
bassist) Tommy Stinson, the podcast unveiled plans for a multi-disc package
that will draw from the band's entire back catalog, including a host of previously
unreleased material, as well as a DVD of live performances.

"It's been going on for awhile," Stinson said. "It's going to include all the
Twin/Tone records, all of the Warner Bros. records, bonus tracks, some stuff
that's been in the vault for awhile, as well as a DVD part. Our role is
basically to listen to the outtakes, some stuff that's been sitting there for
awhile, and find out what might be worth having and what might not be worth
having. [We'll] probably have to mix a little bit, some of the stuff's been
sitting in vaults for so long, it just kind of needs to be fixed."

Photo: Chris, Tommy, Josh & Paul

Reading Is Fundamental

I've started reading again during the slow hours of the late night, early AM on the job. Just finished Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys ... didn't make me want to see the movie though. Don't think Michael Douglas can pull off the character as written. Too old. Maybe a return to splendor for Judd Nelson. Charlie Sheen, maybe... not Michael Douglas.

Reading always makes me think about words again. Movies are too easy, they just wash around you in the dark, but they don't challenge the way a good book can. Not much work in watching a movie. Which is fine if you're looking for total escapism. And they did manage to take all of the tedious writing of JRR Tolkien and cram it into only nine hours. But even that had those computer animated battle scenes that are just so unbelievable like a man and a dwarf surrounded by orcs and they don't get ripped to shreds... where's the backlash against unbelievable stuff like that?

So I picked up something light before reading the biographies of Omar Bradley and George Marshall and finishing up Harry Truman... Bukowski! Now there's a writer. He paints a picture with simple language, same way Hemingway did/does.

It just strikes me as I sit back after about fifty pages or so of Bukowski how reading forces the reader to associate and imagine and work! The descriptions in Wonder Boys of the family and guests all sitting down for the Passover Rites springs to mind, just describing the scene and the characters, lighthearted, but not to skimpy on details, enough to let the reader fill in the blank spots.

And I guess that's what's intriguing me tonight: filling in the blank spots, interpretation! Because everyone who reads the same words doesn't see the same thing. That's what makes reading personal. Reading Chabon's description of a building in downtown Pittsburgh, maybe one I all ready know only shows it from his perspective and then I have to reconstruct it from what I am reading and knowing the layout and tendencies in the area I can probably piece it together pretty well, but someone not from that area would see something completely different in their minds eye, maybe closer to a style where they grew up or went to college or whatever. But the neat thing is that I can describe the same building and I may use the same words but place them in a different order that I think describes it better... or maybe use another word he hadn't thought of [or edited out].

The storyteller has a power in editing that can challenge one to fill in the blanks [Chabon] or can go on for pages trying to give you the whole picture and history of what you're supposed to be seeing [Tolkien]. But even the person who gives the most details is still open to the interpretation of his reader.

Just a thought.

Speaking of reading, in my little ‘Book Trading Club’ with Kat and Amanda, I recently received and have been poring over Our Band May Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. If you’re not familiar, it’s basically a series of bios on the original ‘Alternative/ Indie’ bands of the late 70s and early 80s who started the little labels and produced the influential records which led to the ‘Alternative/ Grunge Explosion.’ Bands like Black Flag, Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Husker Du, Minor Threat, Fugazi and labels like Dischord and SST.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is reading about Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller having to quit the business because of tinnitus. [I know Pete Townshend of the Who has also had it for years.] I’ve had tinnitus as long as I can remember. Whether that’s a trick of memory or exposure to it for so long it is just second nature, I don’t know. I mean, I can’t recall if I really had it as a teenager, though I suspect the beginnings were there, it’s just gotten more noticeable as time goes on. Sometimes it is hardly noticeable, but sometimes when it’s very quiet like it is in the office right now [Thursday around midnight], it’s almost distracting, like someone setting a beeper off beside my ear. My right ear seems to be the louder of the two, higher pitched by about a fifth [say a B at the 17^th fret on the 1^st string of a guitar compared to a slightly sharp E at the 12^th fret of the same].

All the hours spent with car radio blasting the find of the week, nights in the Main Bar and Double Wide mere feet from amps at nearly full blast, years of listening to music on headphones so loud it could be heard in the next room… it’s all catching up with me. I’m only about 60-70% of what my hearing should be. I’m all ready finding it hard to follow conversations in bars and restraints and other crowded rooms; sometimes I don’t hear too well on the phone at home [headphones help on the job]. It’s worse when I am at the end of the day, laying down or turning everything off to go to bed. Sometimes it’s like the ‘hum of the universe’ I can concentrate on and wind down to the Land of Nod… sometimes it drives me nuts like someone with a leaf blower outside the window when I am trying to sleep… sometimes the ambient noise like fans and traffic keep it at bay, sometimes not. I’m trying to take it easy on the volume with the radio in the car and the TV, but I know it’s only going to get worse.

Strangely, I am not worried about missing the music. I can honestly say I can hear the music in my head, the things I love just imprinted in my memory with full orchestration like so many CDs. That’s why I often burst out with manic drumming on the desk or an air guitar lick for no apparent reason. [Currently Wilco’s She’s A Jar and Pot Kettle Black throttle through; that great lazy harmonica riff from Jar and the lyric ‘Every song is a comeback/ Every moment a little bit later’ from Pot.] Will I miss some future band that will reunite the splintered, sub-genera and indexed ‘____ Rock’ into ‘Rock and Roll’ again? Maybe. But I may be missing that now. Unlike the Nashvegas Gang [Thompson and Hertzberg], I do not dive into the new and unexplored section of the pool. Those guys search out college radio on line, Garageband.com, My Space, etc, while I prefer to fill in the holes in my past; the forgotten, the ‘Maybe I heard and liked but never bought,’ the ‘These guys are supposed to sound like those guys.’

There was a recent discussion about New Music between us. Marty said he has to keep ahead of the curve to keep ahead of his kids, which is not a bad argument. Marty always seemed a step ahead when our senior year he bought ‘Weird Music’ like Depeche Mode’s People Are People, Tears for Fears The Hurting, U2 War, Scritti Politti Cupid and Psyche 85, Thompson Twins Into the Gap… Burleson is a hick Lynyrd Skynyrd/ Led Zeppelin / Van Halen / Def Leppard kind of town. The English band of early MTV explosion didn’t make much of a dent on our high school, not the Cyndi Laupers nor Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Billy Idol [Rebel Yell, not Hot In the City] was okay, but Judas Priest was better. ZZ Top, Rush, Journey, VH and ‘Hagar Kicks Ass’ jerseys ruled at Burleson. AND, I repeat, everyone liked the Cars. Now some of those records Marty bought became some of my favorites from the period, but at the time, it seemed a step out of touch, out of time.

Kendall and I seem more locked into our musical past, our comfort zone. As much as I moan about Michael Leone and his Monkees, Paul Revere, Vanilla Fudge and Rare Earth fixation, I guess I am no better, though my period is later than his. There is some overlap, which causes great friction sometimes discussing say the Diamond Dogs versus the Thin White Duke / Station to Station Bowie. Michael can still enjoy listening to the Allman Brothers spend twenty minutes trying to ‘Hit the Note’ doing Whipping Post and I spend twenty minutes poring over a side of the best of Split Enz trying to make the connection to whatever else was happening at that time. Different strokes for different folks, eh?

It's the same with books. Kat and Amanda were so after me to read the American Splendor [comic] book by Harvey Pekar. I read it. I wasn't very impressed. Stories about a guy hating his job, trying to make ends meet and doing the comic book writing gig on the side. It was okay, but it didn't knock me for a loop. I'm sure there are things I recommend [Superchunk albums] that some people don't get either. But we're trying to help each other find something enjoyable, and that's what it's really all about.