5/14/08

I'm giving up my morning Smash Brothers time to post, so you'd all beter read and enjoy. That being said, I want to start by talking about something that is of no interest to anyone but myself.

If you follow sports, particularly baseball, you may have heard that Jim Edmonds was recently cut by the Padres, and has now signed with the Chicago Cubs. If you follow baseball enough to have heard this, you undoubtedly also realize that Edmonds played many great years in St. Louis, the Cubs' most heated rival. As much as it pains me, because I greatly admire and appreciate everything he gave to the Cardinals during his time there, I am now turning my back on Jim Edmonds, for his decision to sign with the Chicago Cubs, my most hated franchise in all of sports (followed closely by the Dallas Cowboys, then the New Boston Yanksox). I realize he's not the first player to play on both sides of a rivalry, but that doesn't make it okay. If I were a Red Sox fan, I would have hated Johnny Damon with all my heart after he signed with the Yankees. There is an important diference though- Damon hit free agency at the right time, and was coming off of his best years. He needed to sign with a team that could give him the best situation. Jim Edmonds is at the end of his career, and is basically trying to cling to his last few breaths. The Padres cut him for a reason- he's had a lot of significant injuries, and he ust can't hit anymore. I'm not saying that I wanted him to retire, but I think the longer he goes, the more he will end up tarnishing his great career- especially if he's playing for the Cubs, the pit-stain of Major League Baseball. Enjoy your swan song Jim. You're dead to me now.

Incidentally, a lot of people ask me why I hate the Cubs so much. I'll probably explain in a future blog, but watch how much attention they get for signing an aging, one-foot-out-the-door player, and it may make more sense to you.

Quick thoughts on TV- Lost is getting really good, I'm looking forward to tonight's episode. I'm predicting that Keamy dies (no idea if that's how you spell his name), and I think someone else will kick the bucket too- I hope it's Miles, but I'm calling Frank, just because then they'll have the whole "who can fly the helicopter now" problem. I'm expecting the season finale of the Office to be really good too. It's pretty obvious from the trailers that Jim will propose to Pam, but I'm predicting Andy proposing to Angela too, just because it'll be funny.

I was pretty disappointd in the Scrubs series finale. It wasn't a bad episode, but it was a terrible send-off. The only closure we get to JD and Elliot's relationship is a footnote at the end of Dr. Cox's story that they decided their kiss didn't mean anything because they were both idiots? And we were promised that we'd learn the Janitor's name in the last episode. Now that I'm thinking through the people who read this blog, I don't think any of you watch Scrubs, so again, this all probably means nothing to you.

Quick notes on the CDs I've been listening to in the great library reduction project-

• The Ramones, "Brain Drain"- Not one of ther better known albums, and for good reason. We get to hear what it sounds like when the Ramones try to write actual songs, instead of blowing through them in 2 minutes with 3 chords. They should (and thankfully later did) stick to the formula. Best track: Palisades Park
• De La Soul, "3 Feet High and Rising"- I bought this back when I decided that I wanted to listen to more "classic" albums, including classic hip-hop. If anyone else is interested in hearing classic hip-hop, this is where you need to start. To hear groove-based samples and lyrics written more for flow than content, it makes me wish more rap/hip=hop artists followed this formula today. Best track: Plug Tunin' (Original 12" version)
• Rocket From the Crypt, "Scream, Dracula, Scream"- A punk band with a horn section- not a ska-punk band. Depending on who you talk to, they're pretty underrated, although some put them up there with the Ramones and Bad Religion in the punk history books. A lot catchier than I expected. Best track: Young Livers
• Pantera, "Vulgar Display of Power"- I remember when I first heard Pantera (Alexis gave me "Far Beyond Driven" on cassette for by birthday, along with "In Utero" by Nirvana) I thought they were the hardest band I had ever heard. Listening to them now, it's still harder than most of the stuff I normally listen to, but it's tamer than I remember. Still has a great punch, and makes you really angry when you listen to it. Best track: F***ing Hostile
• Peter Erskine and Richard Torres, "From Kenton to Now"- It makes me so happy that I can listen to a metal CD one day, then pop in jazz the next, and completely appreciate them both. Peter Erskine does not get nearly the press he deserves, unless you talk to people who are waaaay into jazz, drums or both. This is a small combo recording, with Torres on tenor sax, Alan Pasqua on piano and Dave Carpenter on bass. I was disappointed that there was only one Stan Kenton tune on there- the title led me to believe that there would be more. Still good, and worth hearing for anyone who likes good jazz or great drumming. Best track: Modern Drummer Blues

Now it's time to hope I'm not too late for work.

5/8/08

Yeah, I suck. I know that the minimum requirement to having a blog is to occasionally update it, and I've been dropping the ball. You can blame work for it if you want (since I've been moved to a position where I can no longer post at work- you know, like a real job), but you can just as easily blame it on the start of the babseball season, and the release of Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Speakig of baseball, I was planning to post a while back about how good the Orioles were doing, but it seems like they've come back down to earth for the time being. People just can't let the good start make them forget that we weren't supposed to win this year- that's what "rebuilding" is.

Don't have too much time, since I'm posting in the morning before I go to work (which may become normal practice now), but I do want to hit on a few things.

• Kathy and I got new carpet installed on our stairs and entire upstairs, including our bedroom. It looks really good, but Empire Today hosed us, and their mistake caused us to sleep in the basement over the weekend. Fortunately, it's done now, and we got a $500 deduction, since I'm such a hard-ass on the phone (they originally offered us $50).
• Final episode of Scrubs airs tonight. I'm excited, sad and worried all at the same time. I just have to keep in mind that it's pretty much impossible for a final episode to have everything you want.
• Haven't posted about American Idol in a while, but I'm so glad that Jason Castro is FINALLY gone. I really thought he would go in the first wave, back when the top 24 first started performing. As bad as his performances were this week, they weren't that much worse than they've been all season. So glad he's gone, wish it had been sooner.
• As I mentioned, I'm in a new position at work. No new pay, just kind of a lateral move, but I'm still enjoying it. I spend more time at the office, rather than being out in the field, which is good because it makes me feel more like a part of the company to be around more often.
• Lost is still awesome. I still want them to kill off Miles.
• Kathy's birthday was last Monday. We celebrated by staying up late moving furniture back into our bedroom after the carpet, which was supposed to have been installed Saturday, was finally finished being installed.
• I'm still going full-bore on my CD library clean-out. I keep telling myself I'm going to put short reviews here of what I'm listening to, which I might still do, but I wouldn't be surprised if I don't post again for another month, so who knows?

Okay, that's all for now. Time for a quick shower, and then a game of Smash Brothers before work!