Talent Show
Let me say thanks to all of you who emailed and told me that the Replacements Sire catalog is now available via Rhino reissue. That's none of you. Did I not email in excitement when I discovered the first two available as Rhino deluxe reissue? But I had to find out on Wikipedia!
I guess this is what we're getting instead of the box set we heard about - what, 2 years ago?
Anyway, it's a festival of music not seen at my house since finding the Faces box [Five Guys Walk Into A Bar...] half off at the closing of the Dallas Virgin Megastore. I must admit here, though, that I am not head over heels for the whole 'Mats catalog. Tim I don't think I'll be getting. Yeah, I know for a lot of people that was an important album - but not for me. It wasn't my first and when I got back to it, it just didn't move me like some of the others. My first was the masterpiece of Pleased to Meet Me. Me as a fresh eared kid working in a record store and this is one of my first discoveries [along with R.E.M.'s Life's Rich Pageant] and I rushed to Best Buy on my lunch hour to pick it up immediately. And what a ratty, nasty mess it remains, buoyed by the last two gems - the much anthologized Skyway and Can't Hardly Wait. "Jesus rides beside me / He never buys any smokes..." Genius.
I ordered 88's Don't Tell A Soul and 90's All Shook Down used promos on Ebay - who sells their Replacements promos? Some people [Dunnigan] claim that these aren't 'real Replacements records.' I disagree. I see that some people like the sloppy, hard, fast earlier stuff - I can get into Hootenany and Let It Be - and think ther band tried making more popular records. Okay, guilty. But what's the point if you're not going to expand your audience, try and get on MTV or the radio? R.E.M. made that leap, the Replacements, like Wyle E. Coyote didn't.
Anyway, I think there's a lot of beautiful songs on those two - Sadly Beautiful, Achin' to Be, They're Blind, Darlin' One, Rock N Roll Ghost - and enough rock and roll and off kilter weirdness for all. I love the progression of the band over the three final albums. They connected with me. "The things you hold dearly / Are scoffed at and yearly / Judged once and then left aside..." Genius. Call me a girly man, but it moves me.
And just like the X catalog, the Elvis Costello 2nd reissues and the reissue of Television's Marquee Moon, they got real writers from the scenes to add essays and fill in some of the blanks. This is why I really, really, really want Rhino to do a reissue of the Cars catalog - give me some background, some of the back story!
Yes, 1988's Inconcerated promo EP remains unissued. Why it was not put on the back of the ultra-short Stink! I don't know. Those takes of Here Comes A Regular and Answering Machine remain some of my favorites.
Go forth and buy! No burns!
Okay, we haven't done HAWKEY TAWK for a while, so....
Trade Marty Turco - NOW!
The Dallas Stars have stumbled out of the gate here to an un-Stars-like 3 - 4 - 2. And don't kid yourself, that this is just 'slow out of the gate.' The falter that's been predicted in Big D for the last two seasons may have finally come home to roost. Which is fine, unless you watched them improbably ride into the Western Conference finals, where they really had no business being except that Marty Turco really stood on his head behind a depleted defense. Did I think Mattias Norstrom was the glue holding the D together? No, but it certainly appears this is the case, because they suck without him. Trevor Daley, like Brian Campbell in Chi-town, remains a one way player - good on the rush, clueless in his own zone. All flash, no pan. And Marty Turco has been just terrible. And apparently coach Tippett has no confidence in Tobias Stephan, the backup acquired in the Brad Richards - Mike Smith deal last season. [UPDATE: I wrote this Tuesday evening - Wednesday evening the Stars started Stephan and he held Minnesota to 2 for his first NHL win.] Yes, Sergei [My Sergei!] Zubov will be back in a couple weeks and his smooth skating and absolutely ice water demeanor should help calm things for the sophomores Nik Grossman, Mark Fistric and Matt Niskanen. But if I was GMs Jackson and Hull, I might begin looking at the L.A. Kings pile of goalies for someone to bring in - or bringing in a guy like Dan Cloutier who can capably back Marty up. Turco is not Martin Brodeur - he will not thrive playing 75 games a year.
Speaking of Goalies...
Although they're boring as watching paint dry, all eyes should be turned toward Newark as Martin Brodeur begins his final climb to the top of the goaltending heap. He may be the best goaltender to ever lace 'em up in the books, but I still prefer the fiery Patrick Roy. Roy's emotional outbursts and sense of humor make him seem more human than Brodeur, Brodeur just goes about his business like a machine. Of course as of this writing he is only 8 wins shy of St. Patrick's 551 and 5 shutouts short of Terry Sawchuck's record 103. Still, I'd rather have Roy in net - he's my choice as best money goaltender ever - Gretzky's claims for Grant Fuhr notwithstanding.
Hot and Not and Others
The Philadelphia Flyers looked pathetic going 0 - 3 - 3 before taking a home and home from the Devils and drubbing Atlanta 7-0. Injuries to the defense again - Derian Hatcher likely being forced to retire his aching knees, Rich Parent - the stud acquired in the Forsberg deal two years back - and Randy Jones out. And now Daniel Briere out for a month.
Who would have though Vancouver would be able to score enough to go 4 - 4 to start the season? Not me. But now the oft injured Pavol Demitra is on the shelf with busted ribs. Let's see if they can get Mats Sundin there now.
The Minnesota Wild are without their oft injured superstud Marian Gaborik, but they keep rolling on anyway behing Mikko Koivu [12 assists] and ex-Star Antti Miettinen [yes, I checked those spellings] becoming a scorer with some ice time [6 goals in 8 games].
Oft injured Chicago Blawkhawks supersniper Martin Havlat has made it 9 whole games without hurting himself - yet. He tweaked a groin last year in Dallas and the Hawks are here Friday evening. If he makes it though this, he might finally have a 60 - 65 game season, something he hasn't done since the lockout. If he can stay healthy, the Hawks will have two really threatening scoring lines and the defense to challenge for a playoff spot and actually make some noise.
The Anaheim Ducks limped out of the gate [1 - 5] before a 4 game road sweep and taking the Red Wings out in OT tonight. Still, San Jose and Detroit look to get so far out early that they have their divisions wrapped up by Valentines Day. Of course Detroit is in the Central with Chicago, Nashville and St, Louis, so they might accomplish it.
Where the hell did the Buffalo Sabres come from? Who plays for them now? It's still early, but a 6 - 1 - 2 start to keep even with Montreal puts the pressure on the Habs in their 100th year.
The surprise in the East though, has to be the New York hockey Rangers. If you told me that they'd lose Jaromir Jagr [locker room cancer or not], Brendan Shannahan and Martin Straka and be all right, I'd have taken $ 10 of that action. But the guys brought in to replace those men - Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev and Wade Redden - have all performed as expected. And the youngsters on the team - defenseman Daniel Girardi and Mark Stall and center Brandon Dubinsky- have continued to show growth and the upside they showed last year. This is a team no one wants to play right now.
Pittsburgh and Washington seem to be doing okay in spite of the fact that their name superstars - Sidney Crosby [ 1 goal - 7 assist before adding 2 - 2 in his last 5] and Alexander Ovechkin [2 / 3 in 8 games] - being slow out of the gate. Of course, The Pens have Evgeni Malkin's 3 - 12 in 10 games] and Washington has Alex Semin [8 - 8 in 9 games] to pick up the slack some. And how about Marc Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh? 2.17 goals against? Whatever he learned in the minors after last year's ankle injury took root!
And for all the pre-season concern about their defense, who would have guessed that with all the pickups at forward [Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Radim Vrbata and 1st overall Steven Stamkos] that the Lightning would have trouble scoring goals? Anyone who had them 7th in the league with a 2.36 goals against, but dead last [30th] in scoring with 1.5 goals for, please raise your hand? Sit down, Mr. Bowman. For comparison, Dallas was tied for 13 [with the L.A. Kings???] in goals for with 3.07, but had an abysmal 4.17 goals against.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Why Not Inaction?
I, like everyone else who watches the news, have been watching this "economic bailout" situation before Congress with bemused dread. We're talking about the Federal government taking a bunch of loans from deadbeats off the books of privately held corporations and putting them in their back pocket and saying "We'll hold these, you go back to the business of making loans. Try not to make as many bad decisions next time."
Now I rightly blame the Federal Reserve for this mess. Alan Greenspan had this mystical aura about him, but he spoke some magic doublespeak that never let anyone know what he was thinking. The Fed has left interest rates incredibly low, causing a free flow of cash, when maybe when they should have pulled the reins and tightened the supply of money when inflation began to drag the economy a couple of years ago. Instead, they lowered interest rates again and let loose more money into the economy, thus boosting inflation! [High availability of cash = more cash needed to buy goods = inflation]
I was surprised that the House of Representatives showed some stones in defeating this monstrosity on Monday. The honest Reps who voted no let people know it was because "We The People" told them we weren't interested in this rescue plan. Wall Street reacted to "We the People" pulling away their parachute with a drop, then a rally and another rally on Tuesday as the smart people bought up what had fallen on Monday.
I understand that right now that the credit market is tighter than Dick's hatband. They should be wary! They, though some urging by the government, made a bunch of bad loans to people who could not afford what they were getting into and those people's financial reality bit them in the butt. Especially when inflation kicked in. So now, the credit is hard to come by because all that paper is tied up in people who can't pay. Okay. Why is the Federal government, the largest borrower and slowest payer of all, wanting to create an immediate $ 250 billion dollars out of thin air to buy up a bunch of loans that are not being paid? How well did the $150 billion they poofed out of thin air earlier this year as "Economic Stimulus" work? [Poorly - you/we paid bills with that money instead of going out and buying things.]
I know the President is being told this is a necessity to free up the credit market and allow things to get moving in our economy again, but it's a bad political move and it's the wrong message to send to anybody. I was about ready to come unglued when there was a $ 25 billion idea floated to loan to automakers - those same folks who were betting that gas would stay cheap and you'd keep buying gas guzzler status symbols you could barely afford. But this just send a message that any time you screw up, you can get the government to help you out.
And what does the taxpayer who's tightened the belt and sacrificed and is making his house payments get? Really, another huge "Welfare State." Yes, those people who paid no money down and had balloon payments in 2 years played by the rules, but they and the banks should have known they could not afford this. The banks did and they packaged the bad loans into "Mortgage Backed Securities" and got them off their books. It's a shitty idea, but again, within the rules. Well now the note is due. And the Federal Government wants to buy up this "bad paper" and what? Refinace those and try to get their money back over time? The Federal Government is not going to make money or break even on this. Washington D.C. is a vaccuum of the highest order and nothing comes out once it goes in. Look at the national highways if you need an idea.
Congressman Mike Pence [R - Indiana] released this statment and I agree 110%. I quote in part [full statement at humanevents.com, or this direct link] to Congressman Pence's statement:
“...this legislation remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector and passes the cost along to the American people.
“I did not come to Washington to expand the size and scope of government.
“I did not come to Washington to ask working Americans to subsidize the bad decisions of corporate America.
“Therefore, I cannot support the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
“While this bill promises to bring near-term stability to our financial turmoil, I ask my countrymen, at what price?
“The decision to give the federal government the ability to nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America interrupts a basic truth of our free market economy.
“Government cannot control outcomes in the economy without eroding the independence and integrity of our free market system. When the government chooses winners and losers in the market, every American loses.
“This Congress will choose whether we will confront this crisis by elevating the individual and personal responsibility or by elevating the role of the state in our financial markets and our daily lives.
“Some say that this crisis is too acute to rely on antiquated notions about the role of government in the private sector, but I disagree. I believe the principles of limited government, free enterprise and representative democracy are as relevant today as they were in 1776.
“In another October -- 1964 -- Ronald Reagan addressed the American people about a 'time for choosing' not much different than today. He said their choice was ‘whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.’
“There are no easy answers, but the American people deserve to know there were alternatives to massive federal spending."
PS: I just emailed my Congressman [R- Mike Burgess, TX 26th] and told him to fight for these principles; I urge you to do the same: Representatives email site:
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
I, like everyone else who watches the news, have been watching this "economic bailout" situation before Congress with bemused dread. We're talking about the Federal government taking a bunch of loans from deadbeats off the books of privately held corporations and putting them in their back pocket and saying "We'll hold these, you go back to the business of making loans. Try not to make as many bad decisions next time."
Now I rightly blame the Federal Reserve for this mess. Alan Greenspan had this mystical aura about him, but he spoke some magic doublespeak that never let anyone know what he was thinking. The Fed has left interest rates incredibly low, causing a free flow of cash, when maybe when they should have pulled the reins and tightened the supply of money when inflation began to drag the economy a couple of years ago. Instead, they lowered interest rates again and let loose more money into the economy, thus boosting inflation! [High availability of cash = more cash needed to buy goods = inflation]
I was surprised that the House of Representatives showed some stones in defeating this monstrosity on Monday. The honest Reps who voted no let people know it was because "We The People" told them we weren't interested in this rescue plan. Wall Street reacted to "We the People" pulling away their parachute with a drop, then a rally and another rally on Tuesday as the smart people bought up what had fallen on Monday.
I understand that right now that the credit market is tighter than Dick's hatband. They should be wary! They, though some urging by the government, made a bunch of bad loans to people who could not afford what they were getting into and those people's financial reality bit them in the butt. Especially when inflation kicked in. So now, the credit is hard to come by because all that paper is tied up in people who can't pay. Okay. Why is the Federal government, the largest borrower and slowest payer of all, wanting to create an immediate $ 250 billion dollars out of thin air to buy up a bunch of loans that are not being paid? How well did the $150 billion they poofed out of thin air earlier this year as "Economic Stimulus" work? [Poorly - you/we paid bills with that money instead of going out and buying things.]
I know the President is being told this is a necessity to free up the credit market and allow things to get moving in our economy again, but it's a bad political move and it's the wrong message to send to anybody. I was about ready to come unglued when there was a $ 25 billion idea floated to loan to automakers - those same folks who were betting that gas would stay cheap and you'd keep buying gas guzzler status symbols you could barely afford. But this just send a message that any time you screw up, you can get the government to help you out.
And what does the taxpayer who's tightened the belt and sacrificed and is making his house payments get? Really, another huge "Welfare State." Yes, those people who paid no money down and had balloon payments in 2 years played by the rules, but they and the banks should have known they could not afford this. The banks did and they packaged the bad loans into "Mortgage Backed Securities" and got them off their books. It's a shitty idea, but again, within the rules. Well now the note is due. And the Federal Government wants to buy up this "bad paper" and what? Refinace those and try to get their money back over time? The Federal Government is not going to make money or break even on this. Washington D.C. is a vaccuum of the highest order and nothing comes out once it goes in. Look at the national highways if you need an idea.
Congressman Mike Pence [R - Indiana] released this statment and I agree 110%. I quote in part [full statement at humanevents.com, or this direct link] to Congressman Pence's statement:
“...this legislation remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector and passes the cost along to the American people.
“I did not come to Washington to expand the size and scope of government.
“I did not come to Washington to ask working Americans to subsidize the bad decisions of corporate America.
“Therefore, I cannot support the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
“While this bill promises to bring near-term stability to our financial turmoil, I ask my countrymen, at what price?
“The decision to give the federal government the ability to nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America interrupts a basic truth of our free market economy.
“Government cannot control outcomes in the economy without eroding the independence and integrity of our free market system. When the government chooses winners and losers in the market, every American loses.
“This Congress will choose whether we will confront this crisis by elevating the individual and personal responsibility or by elevating the role of the state in our financial markets and our daily lives.
“Some say that this crisis is too acute to rely on antiquated notions about the role of government in the private sector, but I disagree. I believe the principles of limited government, free enterprise and representative democracy are as relevant today as they were in 1776.
“In another October -- 1964 -- Ronald Reagan addressed the American people about a 'time for choosing' not much different than today. He said their choice was ‘whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.’
“There are no easy answers, but the American people deserve to know there were alternatives to massive federal spending."
PS: I just emailed my Congressman [R- Mike Burgess, TX 26th] and told him to fight for these principles; I urge you to do the same: Representatives email site:
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
