WHEW!
Okay, so the Pens can play with these guys. This was a lot more what I expected the series to be like from the get go. It's ot over by a long shot, but we won one, so it's not a total blowout now. And the flurry of back and forth and hard hitting in the third period? MOST EXCELLENT!
Wouldn't it be a shame if Tomas Holmstrom missed some time?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Off the Ledge, Still So Sad
Watching the Red Wings trap the Penguins all through
game 2, one has to wonder if they are not looking back
at the 94 - 95 Stanley Cup when the Wings were heavily
favored to win by virtue of great goal scoring and got
swept by Lou Lamarillo / Jacques Lemaire boring as
watching paint dry trapping New Jersey Devils.
Detroit has filled every passing lane with a stick,
skate or other body part to not allow the Pens to get
ANY speed through the neutral zone. I think I can
count on one hand the number of times the Pens
completed two passes that were not just D to D. But the
Pens, knowing this, keep trying those long bomb passes
from their defensive zone up the Wings blue line and
just giving away the puck and those 3 on 2s Valeri
Filippula is so good at generating.
But the most uncalled for thing I saw was Gary
Roberts' blind side sucker punch. Roberts is in there
to add some smash to the Pens line up, but to take the
route that even big Georges Laraque would not take is
not what the Pens needed. Roberts is supposed to be
the veteran showing the kids how this is done, but I
hope they turned away when they saw the tape of that.
And while the NHL is looking at tape, I hope they are
looking at the tape of Nikolas Kronwall and all those
'big hits' he's delivering because it's plain as day
that, while he is leading with the shoulder and not
the elbow [shades of Scott Stevens, Batman!], he IS
leaving his feet on four out of five of them. Meaning
his skates are not connected to the ice and he should
be getting a penalty assessed.
Don't get me wrong, I love a big hit. I love Scott
Stevens leveling anyone or Darius Kasparitus low
bridging people with a good clean [wellllll.....
maybe] hip check. But just like Bryan "Mush" Marchment
used to lead with his knee, Kronwall needs to be
magnetized to the ice.
Can the Pens come back? If they win two at home, they
can certainly make a series of this. Let's work on the
little things like even more boring dump and chase
hockey, getting a shot on net in the first ten minutes
and scoring a goal before we start talking about
comebacks.
And where, I ask, is Daryl Sydor? Another
cagey vet with LOTS of experience handling the Red
Wings and who make great passes out of his own zone...
and he's sitting so Kris Letang can play? Letang will
get his time, but now is the time for one more old guy
on the blue line. Just my two cents worth.
HA! ESPN.com resports [5/28]:
Watching the Red Wings trap the Penguins all through
game 2, one has to wonder if they are not looking back
at the 94 - 95 Stanley Cup when the Wings were heavily
favored to win by virtue of great goal scoring and got
swept by Lou Lamarillo / Jacques Lemaire boring as
watching paint dry trapping New Jersey Devils.
Detroit has filled every passing lane with a stick,
skate or other body part to not allow the Pens to get
ANY speed through the neutral zone. I think I can
count on one hand the number of times the Pens
completed two passes that were not just D to D. But the
Pens, knowing this, keep trying those long bomb passes
from their defensive zone up the Wings blue line and
just giving away the puck and those 3 on 2s Valeri
Filippula is so good at generating.
But the most uncalled for thing I saw was Gary
Roberts' blind side sucker punch. Roberts is in there
to add some smash to the Pens line up, but to take the
route that even big Georges Laraque would not take is
not what the Pens needed. Roberts is supposed to be
the veteran showing the kids how this is done, but I
hope they turned away when they saw the tape of that.
And while the NHL is looking at tape, I hope they are
looking at the tape of Nikolas Kronwall and all those
'big hits' he's delivering because it's plain as day
that, while he is leading with the shoulder and not
the elbow [shades of Scott Stevens, Batman!], he IS
leaving his feet on four out of five of them. Meaning
his skates are not connected to the ice and he should
be getting a penalty assessed.
Don't get me wrong, I love a big hit. I love Scott
Stevens leveling anyone or Darius Kasparitus low
bridging people with a good clean [wellllll.....
maybe] hip check. But just like Bryan "Mush" Marchment
used to lead with his knee, Kronwall needs to be
magnetized to the ice.
Can the Pens come back? If they win two at home, they
can certainly make a series of this. Let's work on the
little things like even more boring dump and chase
hockey, getting a shot on net in the first ten minutes
and scoring a goal before we start talking about
comebacks.
And where, I ask, is Daryl Sydor? Another
cagey vet with LOTS of experience handling the Red
Wings and who make great passes out of his own zone...
and he's sitting so Kris Letang can play? Letang will
get his time, but now is the time for one more old guy
on the blue line. Just my two cents worth.
HA! ESPN.com resports [5/28]:
PITTSBURGH -- The last time Darryl Sydor played in meaningful NHL action was March 31 against the New York Rangers, about a week before the start of the playoffs.
Sydor
On Wednesday night, after almost two months of practicing and waiting, Sydor will return to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup in what amounts to a must-win Game 3 for the Penguins, who trail the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 in the Stanley Cup finals.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman will come into the lineup in place of rookie blue-liner Kris Letang, who has struggled in the series. Letang was beaten by Valtteri Filppula on the third goal in Game 2 and Penguins coach Michel Therrien said Wednesday morning he wanted more experience in the lineup.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Yuck!
Well, game one of the Stanley Cup finals [Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings if you don't know] was last night and for 20 minutes it looked like a game. I think Detroit got robbed on the 'no goal' call on interference on Tomas Holmstrom, but in the end it didn't matter.
Whatever Wings coach Mike Babcock said between the 1st and 2nd periods got taken to heart as the Wings held Pittsburgh - with all that firepower - to just 7 shots over the final two frames [12 allowed in the 1st] and just TRAPPED the Hell out of the Pens. YEAH, I SAID IT! Call it "attacking the puck carrier" or "shutting down the passing zones in the neutral zone" if you like, I call it a fucking ugly neutral zone trap. The Pens couldn't get the puck over the Detroit blue line by carrying it or by chipping it in.
To be fair, that's Red Wing hockey when they get a lead and they showed the experience they have in just playing a mind numbingly deadly defensive game. Pittsburgh did have a couple of good looks at the open net, but the 'lively end boards' of Detroit foiled a couple and allowed a couple of good scoring plays for Detroit. But Pittsburgh also couldn't complete two passes in a row and looked a little bewildered and lost at times. And they looked lost in the faceoff circle. Someone need to work with those guys - FAST! Can we hire Joe Nieuwendyk or Guy Carbonneau or Yannic Perrault to school these guys? And where WAS Marc-Andre Fluery on that first wrap around?!?
I shouldn't complain. I didn't expect the Pens to get this far this year and they are a great young team who, with a little luck and creative manipulation under the salary cap, should be contenders for a few years to come. But they DID make it this far and I'd like to see them play much better than they did last night.
The comparison to the Edmonton Oilers of the 80s will be all over the place - how the 83-84 Oilers had to get pistol whipped by the New York Islanders to understand the sacrifice to win the Cup and went on to win 4 of the next 5. Will that apply? Only time will tell.
One quick side note - are the Pens grooming young Jordan Staal to be a Ronnie Francis or Rod Brind'Amour type? A center with a great deal of defensive responsibility, but who can put the puck in your net when you make a mistake?
Well, game one of the Stanley Cup finals [Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings if you don't know] was last night and for 20 minutes it looked like a game. I think Detroit got robbed on the 'no goal' call on interference on Tomas Holmstrom, but in the end it didn't matter.
Whatever Wings coach Mike Babcock said between the 1st and 2nd periods got taken to heart as the Wings held Pittsburgh - with all that firepower - to just 7 shots over the final two frames [12 allowed in the 1st] and just TRAPPED the Hell out of the Pens. YEAH, I SAID IT! Call it "attacking the puck carrier" or "shutting down the passing zones in the neutral zone" if you like, I call it a fucking ugly neutral zone trap. The Pens couldn't get the puck over the Detroit blue line by carrying it or by chipping it in.
To be fair, that's Red Wing hockey when they get a lead and they showed the experience they have in just playing a mind numbingly deadly defensive game. Pittsburgh did have a couple of good looks at the open net, but the 'lively end boards' of Detroit foiled a couple and allowed a couple of good scoring plays for Detroit. But Pittsburgh also couldn't complete two passes in a row and looked a little bewildered and lost at times. And they looked lost in the faceoff circle. Someone need to work with those guys - FAST! Can we hire Joe Nieuwendyk or Guy Carbonneau or Yannic Perrault to school these guys? And where WAS Marc-Andre Fluery on that first wrap around?!?
I shouldn't complain. I didn't expect the Pens to get this far this year and they are a great young team who, with a little luck and creative manipulation under the salary cap, should be contenders for a few years to come. But they DID make it this far and I'd like to see them play much better than they did last night.
The comparison to the Edmonton Oilers of the 80s will be all over the place - how the 83-84 Oilers had to get pistol whipped by the New York Islanders to understand the sacrifice to win the Cup and went on to win 4 of the next 5. Will that apply? Only time will tell.
One quick side note - are the Pens grooming young Jordan Staal to be a Ronnie Francis or Rod Brind'Amour type? A center with a great deal of defensive responsibility, but who can put the puck in your net when you make a mistake?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Random Musings # 1 - The Deluxe Edition CD Re-Issue
So I am driving home last night blasting some Who [Is Bargain just the greatest song they ever did?] and thinking about how proud I am the Elizabeth's son Mark asked for some Who after being knocked out by CSI using Won't Get Fooled Again or whatever [I don't watch the show]. That's how I got started on this stuff - I gave my friend David Herring two tapes and asked for some Who... then Led Zeppelin... then the Doors. David did a great job on the Doors and Zep tapes, taking live songs from 3 or 4 different sources and melding them into one really good and seemingly coherent 'live side.'
Anyway, so I started asking myself if I had given Mark The Who Sell Out - their brilliant salute to pirate radio with the Who doing fake commercials and bumpers taped right off the air of some of the stations. And I though "Well, if I did, Mark got the remastered / expanded re-issue." And I kind of felt sick or sorry for him.
In this, the ought year's of the 2000s, kids trying to go back and explore the roots of the music they probably grew up hearing are going to have this distorted version of what was going on. A kid picking up Who's Next today is going to get the original 9 songs [My Wife? Love Ain't for Keeping? Going Mobile! How great is this album?!?] PLUS 7 "Bonus Cuts." [Some B-sides, couple unreleased tracks, though I am sure Pure and Easy was on Odds and Sods - maybe this is a different version? And another mix / take of Behind Blue Eyes.]
But someone like me or the kid's Mum and Dad are only going to have been going on about the original 9 song album for the 22 years before this version was available [1995]. We were kind of glad to get the expanded / re-mastered version to fill out some stuff. But the Kid, who doesn't know any better and doesn't read liner notes, is going to always know this 16 track CD and has to judge the album as such. And on the weakness of Baby Don't You Do It [Marvin Gaye cover done SOOO much better by the Band] and Too Much of Anything, he might not understand how classic the original 9 song album really was / is.
Some re-issues are doing this right. The recent deluxe re-issue of U2's The Joshua Tree has the original album on one disc and the B-sides, out takes, etc. on the second disc, letting the original stand [still] on its own merit. But Columbia and their Legacy series re-issues also tack on tracks at the end of the "original" albums. This can be great, adding tracks to greatest hits packages like Donovan [adding Atlantis] and Mountain ...the tracks added to Mott the Hoople's Greatest - not so much. RCA has done the same on Jeferson Airplane, Guess Who and Hall and Oates packages.
Don't get me wrong, I like that it does extend the running time of what used to be a 18 - 20 minute per side to now 50 - 55 minute CD, adding value for the dollars spent. But I just wonder how it will affect the future understanding of what the "Album" was and why things were the way they were.
#2 - Checking Your Bags
I saw on the news last night that American Airlines is going to begin charging $ 15 for checking one bag, $ 25 for each additional bag [well, they had been charging $ 25 for checking a second bag for a while now].
This is why I hate flying now. Not just that it's a hassle with all the security now, but it's a cattle call on the plane itself as people want to bring their one carry one and try and find a place to stuff it. And there's no room for my wide ass or me long legs in those damn seats - yes, I can narrow my butt with exercise, but my knees will remain a certain distance from my body.
Since I usually travel by myself, I usually check my bag. I have time to wait for it and all I have to carry on is my MP3 player and a book - no hassle. But this shit has me even more set against AA.
Everyone in the industry is screaming about high fuel costs, high labor costs. Hey, I want someone trained AND happy flying the plane - I don't need someone grouchy about a poor paycheck suddenly flipping the "I don't give a fuck" button and getting lax up in the air! But the airlines seem reluctant to just push up the fare and say "THIS is what it costs to fly where you want to go - get over it!" I would appreciate that honesty - and drive where I need to get.
But this nickel and dime shit - $ 2 for curbside check in - which does not include the Skycap tip - and just what do they deserve a tip FOR? - now this check bag fee... you heard the Skycaps holler when they started charging for curbside, see how THIS affects their tips!
Do the airlines need to be smarter with their money, upgrade to more modern planes that are better on fuel? For sure. But there's a lot of other ways to cut costs - executive salaries and stock bonuses spring to mind. Like Southwest, the AA airline needs to focus on better service, not the bottom line.
God, we need more people like Herb Kelleher. Happy retirement, Herb!
So I am driving home last night blasting some Who [Is Bargain just the greatest song they ever did?] and thinking about how proud I am the Elizabeth's son Mark asked for some Who after being knocked out by CSI using Won't Get Fooled Again or whatever [I don't watch the show]. That's how I got started on this stuff - I gave my friend David Herring two tapes and asked for some Who... then Led Zeppelin... then the Doors. David did a great job on the Doors and Zep tapes, taking live songs from 3 or 4 different sources and melding them into one really good and seemingly coherent 'live side.'
Anyway, so I started asking myself if I had given Mark The Who Sell Out - their brilliant salute to pirate radio with the Who doing fake commercials and bumpers taped right off the air of some of the stations. And I though "Well, if I did, Mark got the remastered / expanded re-issue." And I kind of felt sick or sorry for him.
In this, the ought year's of the 2000s, kids trying to go back and explore the roots of the music they probably grew up hearing are going to have this distorted version of what was going on. A kid picking up Who's Next today is going to get the original 9 songs [My Wife? Love Ain't for Keeping? Going Mobile! How great is this album?!?] PLUS 7 "Bonus Cuts." [Some B-sides, couple unreleased tracks, though I am sure Pure and Easy was on Odds and Sods - maybe this is a different version? And another mix / take of Behind Blue Eyes.]
But someone like me or the kid's Mum and Dad are only going to have been going on about the original 9 song album for the 22 years before this version was available [1995]. We were kind of glad to get the expanded / re-mastered version to fill out some stuff. But the Kid, who doesn't know any better and doesn't read liner notes, is going to always know this 16 track CD and has to judge the album as such. And on the weakness of Baby Don't You Do It [Marvin Gaye cover done SOOO much better by the Band] and Too Much of Anything, he might not understand how classic the original 9 song album really was / is.
Some re-issues are doing this right. The recent deluxe re-issue of U2's The Joshua Tree has the original album on one disc and the B-sides, out takes, etc. on the second disc, letting the original stand [still] on its own merit. But Columbia and their Legacy series re-issues also tack on tracks at the end of the "original" albums. This can be great, adding tracks to greatest hits packages like Donovan [adding Atlantis] and Mountain ...the tracks added to Mott the Hoople's Greatest - not so much. RCA has done the same on Jeferson Airplane, Guess Who and Hall and Oates packages.
Don't get me wrong, I like that it does extend the running time of what used to be a 18 - 20 minute per side to now 50 - 55 minute CD, adding value for the dollars spent. But I just wonder how it will affect the future understanding of what the "Album" was and why things were the way they were.
#2 - Checking Your Bags
I saw on the news last night that American Airlines is going to begin charging $ 15 for checking one bag, $ 25 for each additional bag [well, they had been charging $ 25 for checking a second bag for a while now].
This is why I hate flying now. Not just that it's a hassle with all the security now, but it's a cattle call on the plane itself as people want to bring their one carry one and try and find a place to stuff it. And there's no room for my wide ass or me long legs in those damn seats - yes, I can narrow my butt with exercise, but my knees will remain a certain distance from my body.
Since I usually travel by myself, I usually check my bag. I have time to wait for it and all I have to carry on is my MP3 player and a book - no hassle. But this shit has me even more set against AA.
Everyone in the industry is screaming about high fuel costs, high labor costs. Hey, I want someone trained AND happy flying the plane - I don't need someone grouchy about a poor paycheck suddenly flipping the "I don't give a fuck" button and getting lax up in the air! But the airlines seem reluctant to just push up the fare and say "THIS is what it costs to fly where you want to go - get over it!" I would appreciate that honesty - and drive where I need to get.
But this nickel and dime shit - $ 2 for curbside check in - which does not include the Skycap tip - and just what do they deserve a tip FOR? - now this check bag fee... you heard the Skycaps holler when they started charging for curbside, see how THIS affects their tips!
Do the airlines need to be smarter with their money, upgrade to more modern planes that are better on fuel? For sure. But there's a lot of other ways to cut costs - executive salaries and stock bonuses spring to mind. Like Southwest, the AA airline needs to focus on better service, not the bottom line.
God, we need more people like Herb Kelleher. Happy retirement, Herb!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Shut Up!
The day ends
Unchained from a desk
Workstation or cubicle
Stream like ants out into parking lots
Cell phones and blue tooths glued to the ear
Antennae for the working class
Chatter filling air space
Are you talking to me?
Or someone unseen
On the other end of a digital call?
Etiquette blurred
By our need to feel connection
Instant communication
To the collective
If personal freedom ends
Where your fist connects to my nose
How about the personal info
You yell into a cell phone
In a break space at work
Or in line for a burger...
What do I do when your noise
Violates My Space?
A Question of Light
As I strode into the room
Budd says "The Room of Music
"And Internet"
Mighty moonbeams shone through the slats of blinds
Laying across the carpet and the wood of the floor
And I was astounded by the brilliance
First full moon of the new Spring
Shining bright as a street lamp
But purer
Through the still barren limbs of the pecan trees
That will protect my roof from the baking sun of the summer
And bomb my roof all through the fall with their craved seed
Squirrel sustenance
A question of light arises
Yellow lamplight with which I read and write
Pure, clean sunlight brilliantly reflecting the wavelengths of color
Impersonal, unforgiving fluorescent worst of all
And moonlight...
Only the reflection of light from the sun off the Earth
But tonight it seems to shine with a strength of its own...
The day ends
Unchained from a desk
Workstation or cubicle
Stream like ants out into parking lots
Cell phones and blue tooths glued to the ear
Antennae for the working class
Chatter filling air space
Are you talking to me?
Or someone unseen
On the other end of a digital call?
Etiquette blurred
By our need to feel connection
Instant communication
To the collective
If personal freedom ends
Where your fist connects to my nose
How about the personal info
You yell into a cell phone
In a break space at work
Or in line for a burger...
What do I do when your noise
Violates My Space?
A Question of Light
As I strode into the room
Budd says "The Room of Music
"And Internet"
Mighty moonbeams shone through the slats of blinds
Laying across the carpet and the wood of the floor
And I was astounded by the brilliance
First full moon of the new Spring
Shining bright as a street lamp
But purer
Through the still barren limbs of the pecan trees
That will protect my roof from the baking sun of the summer
And bomb my roof all through the fall with their craved seed
Squirrel sustenance
A question of light arises
Yellow lamplight with which I read and write
Pure, clean sunlight brilliantly reflecting the wavelengths of color
Impersonal, unforgiving fluorescent worst of all
And moonlight...
Only the reflection of light from the sun off the Earth
But tonight it seems to shine with a strength of its own...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Empire Records
It's 2a.m. and I am watching a movie. Then a song comes on - and it's me again at 21 confused and yearning for the perfect kiss. I sit in the dark, just me and the T.V. and a world silent and asleep for blocks around and I am suddenly aware of "It" again. What I have been separated from for a while now is suddenly back. The emptiness and sadness hits me square in the chest and I am just suddenly "Alone.' I mean, I am always alone, but now it's the bad and lonely alone.
I sigh and I begin composing composing a letter in my head, but I know it will never be answered. The person I wish I could talk to doesn't tell me anything. Doesn't she know how frustrating that can be?
I was working the lines last night: I am not one of the cool kids / Never one of the carefree rich boys...
I am just suddenly sad and missing what was and what will never be and I'm so tired of the unconnected and unconnecting days. Why does this all have to be so hard sometimes?
It's 2a.m. and I am watching a movie. Then a song comes on - and it's me again at 21 confused and yearning for the perfect kiss. I sit in the dark, just me and the T.V. and a world silent and asleep for blocks around and I am suddenly aware of "It" again. What I have been separated from for a while now is suddenly back. The emptiness and sadness hits me square in the chest and I am just suddenly "Alone.' I mean, I am always alone, but now it's the bad and lonely alone.
I sigh and I begin composing composing a letter in my head, but I know it will never be answered. The person I wish I could talk to doesn't tell me anything. Doesn't she know how frustrating that can be?
I was working the lines last night: I am not one of the cool kids / Never one of the carefree rich boys...
I am just suddenly sad and missing what was and what will never be and I'm so tired of the unconnected and unconnecting days. Why does this all have to be so hard sometimes?
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Crosby Vs. Malkin
After watching last nights game and the majority of the Pens -Rangers series, I might say Evgeni Malkin is better than Sidney Crosby right now. And I don't know if anyone - even the vaunted Red Wings defense - has an answer for him.
Now Crosby is usually drawing three people to him every time he touches the puck and Malkin is not - I don't know why when he has 18 points in 10 playoff games.
Is this just Malkin having the extra year for the body to fill out, one more year of high level play [Malkin is 21 to Crosby 'only' 20]? I read on ESPN.com Crosby's ankle may still not be 100 percent, although he's played great.
Don't get me wrong, I still think Alex Ovechkin was the M.V.P. of the league and deserves the Hart trophy, but if Malkin keeps putting up points like this, he's clearly the playoff M.V.P.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Germophobia Gone Haywire
Have you seen the latest commercials for the newest toilet bowl cleaner from the brand that rhymes with high ball [hey, I don't want to get sued for using a copyrighted name!]? Where they're trying to convince you how great their product is because it goes WAAAAYYY below the waterline and gets deep into the S-bend [trap] of your bowl?
It's bad enough we are creating "Super Viruses" because of our own overuse of anti - viral drugs and anti - bacterial soaps and the ever popular disinfecting counter wipes. But this is taking Mom's mysophobic [look it up!] fears of her children being anywhere withing five feet of a germ, bacteria or virus to the extreme.
I do not know, nor have I ever heard of anyone getting sick from the germs in the trap of their toilet. Gonorrhea from a toilet seat, maybe [HAR!]...
I know this is just an advertiser's way of trying to get you to gravitate to their brand, but this is too over the top for me. Microscopic things live in our air, air conditioning ducts, dirt around our house, dust bunnies under our beds and in the traps of sinks and toilets everywhere. And we as humans think we are going to eradicate them and live in that nice germ free world, we are looking to be hit with another worldwide pandemic that makes the influenza outbreaks of the 1910s and the plague look like a tea party. Get over yourselves!
Expectations In the Sports World
Just looking at the current playoffs going on in the NHL and the NBA [NOT that I watch the NBA, but I see Sportscenter], I have noticed that a lot of teams that had high expectations placed on them by "People Who Know These Things" are in trouble or got bounced early in the playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and now San Antonio Spurs in the NBA; the Anaheim Ducks [GUILTY!], San Jose Sharks [me - again!] and Montreal Canadiens in the NHL.
Now teams that weren't supposed to be "That Good" are certainly getting noticed: New Orleans Hornets in the NBA, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers [dead last in the league last season to Easter Conference finals this year] and - *sigh* - the Dallas Stars.
I think Dallas is going to make Detroit work for it, but this was the year many predicated Dallas falls back and takes a high draft pick and begins rebuilding. Well, maybe not.
But my point is this: it seems like all the teams that had the spotlight all year have crashed and burned to hungrier teams who don't understand that they're not supposed to be doing what they're doing. Hey, I love my Penguins, but I thought this year was another learning year, get to the second round and bow out to the Rangers or Devils and NEXT YEAR go for it all. But I'll have my Tivo burning overtime for the next month watching to see if it plays out for my boys.
Yes, I think Detroit is on a mission and can beat either Pittsburgh or Philly in the Cup finals. But I hedge my bet with a "That's what we thought in '95 when they ran into the Devils and got swept, too." Zelepukin was just too much for them!
Have you seen the latest commercials for the newest toilet bowl cleaner from the brand that rhymes with high ball [hey, I don't want to get sued for using a copyrighted name!]? Where they're trying to convince you how great their product is because it goes WAAAAYYY below the waterline and gets deep into the S-bend [trap] of your bowl?
It's bad enough we are creating "Super Viruses" because of our own overuse of anti - viral drugs and anti - bacterial soaps and the ever popular disinfecting counter wipes. But this is taking Mom's mysophobic [look it up!] fears of her children being anywhere withing five feet of a germ, bacteria or virus to the extreme.
I do not know, nor have I ever heard of anyone getting sick from the germs in the trap of their toilet. Gonorrhea from a toilet seat, maybe [HAR!]...
I know this is just an advertiser's way of trying to get you to gravitate to their brand, but this is too over the top for me. Microscopic things live in our air, air conditioning ducts, dirt around our house, dust bunnies under our beds and in the traps of sinks and toilets everywhere. And we as humans think we are going to eradicate them and live in that nice germ free world, we are looking to be hit with another worldwide pandemic that makes the influenza outbreaks of the 1910s and the plague look like a tea party. Get over yourselves!
Expectations In the Sports World
Just looking at the current playoffs going on in the NHL and the NBA [NOT that I watch the NBA, but I see Sportscenter], I have noticed that a lot of teams that had high expectations placed on them by "People Who Know These Things" are in trouble or got bounced early in the playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and now San Antonio Spurs in the NBA; the Anaheim Ducks [GUILTY!], San Jose Sharks [me - again!] and Montreal Canadiens in the NHL.
Now teams that weren't supposed to be "That Good" are certainly getting noticed: New Orleans Hornets in the NBA, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers [dead last in the league last season to Easter Conference finals this year] and - *sigh* - the Dallas Stars.
I think Dallas is going to make Detroit work for it, but this was the year many predicated Dallas falls back and takes a high draft pick and begins rebuilding. Well, maybe not.
But my point is this: it seems like all the teams that had the spotlight all year have crashed and burned to hungrier teams who don't understand that they're not supposed to be doing what they're doing. Hey, I love my Penguins, but I thought this year was another learning year, get to the second round and bow out to the Rangers or Devils and NEXT YEAR go for it all. But I'll have my Tivo burning overtime for the next month watching to see if it plays out for my boys.
Yes, I think Detroit is on a mission and can beat either Pittsburgh or Philly in the Cup finals. But I hedge my bet with a "That's what we thought in '95 when they ran into the Devils and got swept, too." Zelepukin was just too much for them!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Jangling Guitars For the Springtime
Why I get these weird urges, I do not know, but Thursday I just had in my head that I needed to hear some R.E.M. And when I say R.E.M. [last time with the dots dammit], I mean what I consider the real REM - the I.R.S. years REM. Well, plus Monster. Yeah, I am the O.N.E. who really really digs the wall of electric guitars of Monster. But I really really dig the Cars experimental and much maligned Panorama, too.
Anyway, I started off with two runs through Reckoning before sitting down and burning my REM for the car CD. Oddly, I do not dig their first album proper, Murmur, but I dig the shit out of the Chronic Town EP [spliced on the end of the CD of Dead Letter Office]. I wondered today if I had heard it when it came out back in, what 1981, if I would have dug it then. And I figured the same thing would apply, I would dig Chronic Town and not be so impressed with Murmur, then pick up again with Reckoning. For the record again, my first REM was 1986's Life's Rich Pageant, discovered that magical year I began my short stint at Sound Warehouse. I even dig Document, even though it had 'hits.' Green I can take or leave, then... I know I liked Out of Time when I got it. but it got overplayed by radio and just burned me out on the REM boys. Monster was my last really impressed with album. After that, they just seemed to be Adult Alternative / Contemporary radio mainstays REM. BLEH!
So I cut my for the car CD with a ton of the Rickenbacker strumming Peter Buck and still very vital Bill Berry in the band. And it just seemed to fit right in with the cool spring days - nothing to really bring you down, nothing too terribly heavy [well, as if anyone can understand what Michael Stipe is singing about on these records]. A couple faves didn't make the cut due to time limits - the cover of Superman with Mike Mills on lead vocals that ends LRP [oh! and Hyena!], Life and How to Live It from Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables, South Central Rain from Reckoning, Crush With Eyeliner from Monster, Stumble and Femme Fatale [V.U. cover] from Dead Letter / Chronic Town. One of the weird cuts I like that did make it is Tongue from Monster - Michael Stipe on high falsetto ala Barry Gibb over this weird organ led track. Of course, both the train songs from Fables [Driver 8 for Alexander Ovechkin and Auctioneer (Another Engine)]... here's the track list - I just did them in alphabetical order to keep from driving myself nuts over the running order and it seems to flow very well. I would have done them in oder of running time, but that would have meant leading off with the atypical White Tornado, and that just didn't seem right.
Anyway, I reccomend throwing in some REM this spring. I don't know about this new album sounding like the "old" REM crap. I think if they're trying to gouge you for full list [$ 14.99, 17.99, 18.99?] for a 36 minute CD, you should tell Warner Brothers where they can stick it. I am sure LtC. Downey will let the world know his opinion on that. But I SAY stick to the CLASSICS man!
1,000,000 / Auctioneer (Another Engine) / Begin the Begin [mmmm tasty!] / Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) / Cuyahoga [under rated!] / Driver 8 / Feeling Gravity's Pull / Harborcoat [yeah buddy!!!] / I Believe / I Don't Sleep I Dream / Let Me In / Lighnin' Hopkins / Little America ["The manager of course!"] / Oddfellows Local 151 / Pretty Persuasion / Swan Swan H. / What If We Give It Away? / White Tornado / Wolves, Lower / You
Why I get these weird urges, I do not know, but Thursday I just had in my head that I needed to hear some R.E.M. And when I say R.E.M. [last time with the dots dammit], I mean what I consider the real REM - the I.R.S. years REM. Well, plus Monster. Yeah, I am the O.N.E. who really really digs the wall of electric guitars of Monster. But I really really dig the Cars experimental and much maligned Panorama, too.
Anyway, I started off with two runs through Reckoning before sitting down and burning my REM for the car CD. Oddly, I do not dig their first album proper, Murmur, but I dig the shit out of the Chronic Town EP [spliced on the end of the CD of Dead Letter Office]. I wondered today if I had heard it when it came out back in, what 1981, if I would have dug it then. And I figured the same thing would apply, I would dig Chronic Town and not be so impressed with Murmur, then pick up again with Reckoning. For the record again, my first REM was 1986's Life's Rich Pageant, discovered that magical year I began my short stint at Sound Warehouse. I even dig Document, even though it had 'hits.' Green I can take or leave, then... I know I liked Out of Time when I got it. but it got overplayed by radio and just burned me out on the REM boys. Monster was my last really impressed with album. After that, they just seemed to be Adult Alternative / Contemporary radio mainstays REM. BLEH!
So I cut my for the car CD with a ton of the Rickenbacker strumming Peter Buck and still very vital Bill Berry in the band. And it just seemed to fit right in with the cool spring days - nothing to really bring you down, nothing too terribly heavy [well, as if anyone can understand what Michael Stipe is singing about on these records]. A couple faves didn't make the cut due to time limits - the cover of Superman with Mike Mills on lead vocals that ends LRP [oh! and Hyena!], Life and How to Live It from Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables, South Central Rain from Reckoning, Crush With Eyeliner from Monster, Stumble and Femme Fatale [V.U. cover] from Dead Letter / Chronic Town. One of the weird cuts I like that did make it is Tongue from Monster - Michael Stipe on high falsetto ala Barry Gibb over this weird organ led track. Of course, both the train songs from Fables [Driver 8 for Alexander Ovechkin and Auctioneer (Another Engine)]... here's the track list - I just did them in alphabetical order to keep from driving myself nuts over the running order and it seems to flow very well. I would have done them in oder of running time, but that would have meant leading off with the atypical White Tornado, and that just didn't seem right.
Anyway, I reccomend throwing in some REM this spring. I don't know about this new album sounding like the "old" REM crap. I think if they're trying to gouge you for full list [$ 14.99, 17.99, 18.99?] for a 36 minute CD, you should tell Warner Brothers where they can stick it. I am sure LtC. Downey will let the world know his opinion on that. But I SAY stick to the CLASSICS man!
1,000,000 / Auctioneer (Another Engine) / Begin the Begin [mmmm tasty!] / Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) / Cuyahoga [under rated!] / Driver 8 / Feeling Gravity's Pull / Harborcoat [yeah buddy!!!] / I Believe / I Don't Sleep I Dream / Let Me In / Lighnin' Hopkins / Little America ["The manager of course!"] / Oddfellows Local 151 / Pretty Persuasion / Swan Swan H. / What If We Give It Away? / White Tornado / Wolves, Lower / You