duh. but no one seems to be talking about the corked bat incident. so not only was sosa juicing, but he was also using a corked bat! wtf! it begs the question: how many other MLB players were using corked bats in the late '90s?
its really a shame. i remember where i was during the home run chase of 1998. i remember where i was when big mac hit #61 and #62. that home run chase saved baseball from the strike of '94.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Weird Al Can Still Rock
when historians sit down to write about rock and roll in the latter part of the 20th century, they would be remiss if one of the most enduring artists of the era was left out of the mix: weird al. weird al has been rocking in his weird al style for over 20 years at this point and he still hasn't lost a beat. here is his latest. its about craigslist and is a homage to the doors:
20 Years Ago This Year
the movie "major league" came out 20 years ago this year, and to acknowledge this moment in cinema history, last night the cleveland indians invited bob uecker to throw out the first pitch. uecker, the long tine milwaukee broadcaster, was a central character in the movie playing harry doyle the fictional indians broadcaster. it was harry doyle that gave this blog its namesake.
unfortunately, the online landscape has changed in the time that this blog has been published, so i am unable to find a video clip of the famous call but all fans of the movie know what i am talking about.
unfortunately, the online landscape has changed in the time that this blog has been published, so i am unable to find a video clip of the famous call but all fans of the movie know what i am talking about.
Friday, June 5, 2009
JB2
not as good as JB1, but still a good time. the weather is sure gonna be shitty tonight, which will either make for one hell of a show or one hell of a show!
i saw someone else comment on this over at mr. miner's page, but yes, i thought i heard a "jumpin' jack flash" jam in the middle of drowned. that would have taken the roof off the place (if there were a roof a JB).
i saw someone else comment on this over at mr. miner's page, but yes, i thought i heard a "jumpin' jack flash" jam in the middle of drowned. that would have taken the roof off the place (if there were a roof a JB).
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
JB1
jones beach really is a beautiful venue. situated right on the beach, it provides a wonderful setting to see a concert in. i also liked the setup with the grandstand rising in front of the stage instead of the traditional shed/hill setup of most outdoor amphitehaters. the increased elevation of the grandstand makes for a more intimate show.
the show itself was, IMO, MUCH better than fenway. the sound was certainly better and i was much closer to the action, which i think had a large part to do with it. but the music...the music was phenominal. a stand-alone, first set timber? are you kidding me? a cities (for the dude on the train who was singing it). reba. i thought possum would end the set...then i thought farmhouse would end it...but apparently, if i could was the closer! as great as it was to get if i could, i think they kinda lost the impact of the song, placing it where they did. the set was over, for all intents and purposes. if i could would have been much better placed before possum or somewhere else in the set where it could have fit the flow better, but whatever. im not complaining. i also wished they had done the more powerful "if i could i would" ending.
second set was great too. i thought the segue from wolfman>weekapaug was a little weird. for a moment i thought fishman was trying to get brother started, but it was weekapaug. harry was great. really went out there for a bit in the middle. the entire crowd actually stopped dancing and sat (stood) transfixed looking at the stage. it was a pretty cool moment. i would also have to say that fishman was really setting some great beats throughout the show. he created some really great grooves.
the two new songs were great. both have a great & approachable rock and roll vibe. and, as like some others have written, there is a new, more jerry-ish sound to some of these songs and trey's tone at points. my one criticism would be that the kill devil falls jam was a little too much like birds, and by that i mean the kill devil falls jam sounded EXACTLY like a birds jam. hopefully that will get worked out.
another thing about jones beach: best bathrooms ever. as great as the show was, the bathrooms were better. wide. clean. TONS of stalls. very well designed. really exceptional!
the show itself was, IMO, MUCH better than fenway. the sound was certainly better and i was much closer to the action, which i think had a large part to do with it. but the music...the music was phenominal. a stand-alone, first set timber? are you kidding me? a cities (for the dude on the train who was singing it). reba. i thought possum would end the set...then i thought farmhouse would end it...but apparently, if i could was the closer! as great as it was to get if i could, i think they kinda lost the impact of the song, placing it where they did. the set was over, for all intents and purposes. if i could would have been much better placed before possum or somewhere else in the set where it could have fit the flow better, but whatever. im not complaining. i also wished they had done the more powerful "if i could i would" ending.
second set was great too. i thought the segue from wolfman>weekapaug was a little weird. for a moment i thought fishman was trying to get brother started, but it was weekapaug. harry was great. really went out there for a bit in the middle. the entire crowd actually stopped dancing and sat (stood) transfixed looking at the stage. it was a pretty cool moment. i would also have to say that fishman was really setting some great beats throughout the show. he created some really great grooves.
the two new songs were great. both have a great & approachable rock and roll vibe. and, as like some others have written, there is a new, more jerry-ish sound to some of these songs and trey's tone at points. my one criticism would be that the kill devil falls jam was a little too much like birds, and by that i mean the kill devil falls jam sounded EXACTLY like a birds jam. hopefully that will get worked out.
another thing about jones beach: best bathrooms ever. as great as the show was, the bathrooms were better. wide. clean. TONS of stalls. very well designed. really exceptional!
Monday, June 1, 2009
My Boston Weekend
it was very nice to head to boston to see my friends and phriends. hanging out with jon, laura, thea, jess, doug, and all the related company in the beautiful weather was a nice treat. having an old-school bbq was a nice treat. walking around the city was a nice treat. and going to fenway was a nice treat.
going to fenway to see phish was also a nice treat. seeing phish at fenway was the confluence of two of my favorite things: phish and baseball. there was a huge baseball vibe going through the park on sunday night, because, duh, we were in fenway! but we weren't there to see a baseball game, we were there to see phish, but boston being boston there was more red sox gear to be seen than heady tye-dye. significant phillies gear too, as was the case in hampton. so the baseball theme was strong. just sitting in the seats of fenway sends the feeling of baseball up your ass (in a good way). oddly enough, the most prominent feature of fenway, the green monster, was not to be felt at all because the stage was placed in front of it. fenway is just so special. as is phish.
its interesting seeing phish these days. the crowd is different. the music is still great. super high-energy. in enjoyed the first set. it was a nice way to get things started. sample was a safe opener. moma was a way to get some dancing going. the new song, oscelot, was interesting. need to hear it a few more times. stash was great to get started, but as with some of the other songs the ending felt a bit contrived (see: bowie, david). poor heart was a great highlight. one of things that makes phish phish and not some second-rate "jamband". no other band can drop styles like that, from funk to psychedelic to hippy-dippy to sweet bluegrass. that is classic phish. the other highlight of the first set was OBVIOUSLY destiny unbound. so far i've seen both post-'91 destinies. very few people knew what it was. it was an interesting juxtaposition: for the most part the crowd knew all the songs, with the exception of the new songs when all the newbies would sit and us old heads would stand and listen, but it was obvious that no one knew the song, whereas for destiny 95% of the crowd had no idea what it was so assumed it was a new song but the other 5% knew how rare destiny is and went nuts. it was fun being in that 5%.
the second set had some great parts to it, but went astray in some others. as i called at setbreak the second set would open up with a new song or something awesome, and with tweezer we got something awesome. but i thought the jam drifted. i did, however, like the new song "light". it had a more of an indie-rock feel to it than your typical phish song, and it sounded good. bathtub was great. i like the bathtub jam, very straightforward and felt right. i was psyched for bowie. i picked up on the high-hat and had to play the "bowie or maze" game. short intro. the bowie jam was great, as always, but i felt the end didn't work right. i can't quite figure it out, but they jumped the gun somehow on the end. came in too soon and rushed it so the end release wasn't as good as it could have been. time turns elastic is kinda sucky. the sections don't make much sense together and the song doesn't go anywhere. the older compositions had disparate sections too, but the songs actually went somewhere. TTE is just a jumbled mess of sections with no real big finish. but oh, well. from free to the end of the show was dy-no-mite! free was well played rock, but the real, real, real highlight treat was curtis loew. hasn't been played since 8/2/93 (no, i did not know that at the show but i knew that it hadn't been played in a long, long time). such a sweet tune and such a great treat. i told the dude next to me that after curits they were going to play either YEM or hood. YEM it was. dude was impressed. and the sweet, sweet encore. dude was again impressed that i knew the tweeprise was coming. people always forget the tweeprise, but it is the greatest way to close out a show. love the tweeprise.
so it was good. phish is back. summer tour is on.
going to fenway to see phish was also a nice treat. seeing phish at fenway was the confluence of two of my favorite things: phish and baseball. there was a huge baseball vibe going through the park on sunday night, because, duh, we were in fenway! but we weren't there to see a baseball game, we were there to see phish, but boston being boston there was more red sox gear to be seen than heady tye-dye. significant phillies gear too, as was the case in hampton. so the baseball theme was strong. just sitting in the seats of fenway sends the feeling of baseball up your ass (in a good way). oddly enough, the most prominent feature of fenway, the green monster, was not to be felt at all because the stage was placed in front of it. fenway is just so special. as is phish.
its interesting seeing phish these days. the crowd is different. the music is still great. super high-energy. in enjoyed the first set. it was a nice way to get things started. sample was a safe opener. moma was a way to get some dancing going. the new song, oscelot, was interesting. need to hear it a few more times. stash was great to get started, but as with some of the other songs the ending felt a bit contrived (see: bowie, david). poor heart was a great highlight. one of things that makes phish phish and not some second-rate "jamband". no other band can drop styles like that, from funk to psychedelic to hippy-dippy to sweet bluegrass. that is classic phish. the other highlight of the first set was OBVIOUSLY destiny unbound. so far i've seen both post-'91 destinies. very few people knew what it was. it was an interesting juxtaposition: for the most part the crowd knew all the songs, with the exception of the new songs when all the newbies would sit and us old heads would stand and listen, but it was obvious that no one knew the song, whereas for destiny 95% of the crowd had no idea what it was so assumed it was a new song but the other 5% knew how rare destiny is and went nuts. it was fun being in that 5%.
the second set had some great parts to it, but went astray in some others. as i called at setbreak the second set would open up with a new song or something awesome, and with tweezer we got something awesome. but i thought the jam drifted. i did, however, like the new song "light". it had a more of an indie-rock feel to it than your typical phish song, and it sounded good. bathtub was great. i like the bathtub jam, very straightforward and felt right. i was psyched for bowie. i picked up on the high-hat and had to play the "bowie or maze" game. short intro. the bowie jam was great, as always, but i felt the end didn't work right. i can't quite figure it out, but they jumped the gun somehow on the end. came in too soon and rushed it so the end release wasn't as good as it could have been. time turns elastic is kinda sucky. the sections don't make much sense together and the song doesn't go anywhere. the older compositions had disparate sections too, but the songs actually went somewhere. TTE is just a jumbled mess of sections with no real big finish. but oh, well. from free to the end of the show was dy-no-mite! free was well played rock, but the real, real, real highlight treat was curtis loew. hasn't been played since 8/2/93 (no, i did not know that at the show but i knew that it hadn't been played in a long, long time). such a sweet tune and such a great treat. i told the dude next to me that after curits they were going to play either YEM or hood. YEM it was. dude was impressed. and the sweet, sweet encore. dude was again impressed that i knew the tweeprise was coming. people always forget the tweeprise, but it is the greatest way to close out a show. love the tweeprise.
so it was good. phish is back. summer tour is on.
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