Monday, July 30, 2007

O Death

The deaths of those who help us forget about the more mundane aspects of life are usually more noted and remembered by the world at large than, say, Korean Christian missionaries in Afghanistan sadly, at least in the short term. Still, a note to think about those whose work has affected me somewhat directly in my life so far, the fate of those Koreans may yet be related to me in ways I cannot comprehend at this moment.


Thank you INGMAR BERGMAN, BILL WALSH, and TOM SNYDER.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Crispin Glover On Letterman: 20 Years Ago Saturday

Can't believe that it's been 20 years since the infamous Crispin Glover appearance on Late Night With David Letterman. Don't watch Dave as much as I used to back then, seeing as I had a job that started in the mid-afternoon, but my roomates and I would always end the day watching Letterman. This is the one clip that always sticks in my mind from those days, mostly because we were wondering what the hell kind of drugs, if any, was Glover on, and if he wasn't, then he was obviously the perfect choice for McFly in Back To The Future. (Have to mention his role in River's Edge in that sense as well). Slightly truncated version, the first bit of the interview, before it all unravels, is absent; sorrily I haven't gotten round to getting the best of my VHS tapes digitized yet.



Tuesday, July 24, 2007

It's Official: Eddie Kunz Signs With Mets

More good news, and congratulations, to ex-Beaver Eddie Kunz on signing a contract with the New York Mets today. No terms were announced on the teams website, but Mets General Manager Oman Minaya has said, in the same article, that Kunz could follow the steps of fellow Met reliever Joe Smith and make it to the parent club in one year. (Not to say that he would be deemed a failure if he didn't make it by then, many unrelated and unforeseen things could happen in the interim.)


Kunz was in attendance at the Mets/Pirates game tonight, unfortunately I could not get home in time to see if any airtime was devoted to the signing of the Mets top draft pick, but good luck once again Eddie; solid relief pitching is always a welcome commodity.



NEW YORK METS SITE STORY

Sunday, July 22, 2007

MST3K Partial Video Repository

Various episodes and opening shorts ready to view. While some of the acknowledged "classics" may not be here (e.g. Manos, Teenagers From Outer Space, or Daddy-O from the former, the Junior Rodeo short, which I've always loved, from the latter), there's still enough stuff to whet your appetite for more. Which is the point of this site, hosted by YouTube, I'd presume. Works for me.


Thankfully, the Mr. B Natural short is here, in all its technicolored and gender confusion glory.




MST3K

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

My Daily Bit Of Sunshine: Go-Betweens "Clouds"

This was the song running through my mind this morning during the hectic morning commute in Portland this morning, made a bit worse by the sudden rainfall. A lovely song, the acoustic set that Robert and Grant played at Jackpot all of those years ago (on the 16 Lovers Lane tour) is still a wonderful memory that will never fade, this song included in that set. I can still hear the audible sighs after this one and Dive For Your Memory were played. Still can't quite believe that Grant's gone, RIP sir, thank you for the music.



Monday, July 16, 2007

Clever Marketing For The Simpsons Movie In England

Can't say that I would've thought about making a land painting of an underwear-clad Homer next to an ancient mountain side fertility symbol from the 17th century, but hey, when in the U.K.....

The Homer figure, with donut in hand, will wash away with some rain, which is the aim of some pagans in Dorset, who plan on some "magic" to accomplish the feat. Wait a second, I thought England had been having a lot of rainfall this summer, why the need for this action? Ah well, still a lovely marketing move Fox.



BBC STORY

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Up And At Them, Peter!

Way to represent Congressman DeFazio. This is for keeping the whole SIMPSONS MOVIE PREMIERE IN VERMONT WHEN IT SHOULD BE IN OREGON question in the proper perspective by adding a certain amount of ridiculousness in his humorous letter of protestation over the curious result. The story in today's Albany paper is HERE.




Of course, the movie could be a total dog, with the same quality that recent seasons of the television series have exhibited, in which case we might not have anything to complain about. I did catch the two gents from KFLY's Donkey Show calling in on KPNW's SportsTalk this week, urging a boycott of the movie and of products from Vermont. That latter request seemed easy enough to do (maple syrup? just buy Canadian) but then it was pointed out the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream would be on that list as well, at which point both Steve and Nate paused and realized what they would have to give up, a tough decision to make indeed. Have to say that it would be hard for me, I am rather attracted to the Phish Food, though I am happy to admit that I am in no way a fan of the Vermont band.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Oregon Adds Baseball

The news, not altogether unexpected, was officially announced today, along with something called "competitive cheer" for the females in order to make Oregon more Title IX compliant. The bad news in this is that men's wrestling has been dropped in this shuffle.



All of the issues and contentions about why the Ducks have added baseball won't be addressed here, as everybody's gonna have their own ideas and contentions about the nature of these machinations. On a personal level though, this news affects me, as a Duck fan, very little. Some of this is down to traveling, I'd have to drive about an hour to get to the games, and some of this pertains to my tastes, which include the metal bats and the use of a designated hitter.


About the only games I might attend would be the games in Corvallis against the Beavers, or those games that would fall on a Saturday or a Sunday.



I'm sure to hear an earful at work about most of this in the coming days, weeks, and months, so I guess I can be thankful to help fill in some of the dead time until the football practices and games start again this fall.





GODUCKS.COM ARTICLE

Monday, July 09, 2007

Needs More Bass: Spinal Tap At Live Earth

I had other things to do this weekend, some of which left no carbon print on this earth. Bottom line is that I didn't watch much of this concert, as I had no idea about who was playing where and at what time. After hearing Harry Shearer on NPR on Friday talking about how they were gonna play 3 songs, two classics and one new tune entitled Warmer Than Hell, they jumped, in my mind, to the band I wanted most to see, but when Saturday rolled around, I plum forgot about 'em being on board to help us save us from ourselves. Here's the one song I was most looking forward to, glad to see it got played, with the combined forces of the Tap and an Army of bassists, it's Big Bottom, via MetaFilter.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Mets 5 Astros 3 (17 Innings)

Extra innings special today in baseball in the games I've had on today: Angels/Yankees played 13 earlier. Currently, in addition to the Mets game, the Red Sox/Tigers are in the bottom of the 13th.


As one might expect, a lot of runners left on base in the game in Houston, with the Mets coming back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game on home runs by Carlos Delgado and David Wright by the seventh, with the pitchers on both sides taking charge from that point on.



Special mention for ex-Astro Carlos Beltran, being booed at every at bat in this series, with his tumbling catch of a drive from Luke Scott on the mound at MinuteMaid Park. The two out effort, with runners on the corners, seemed to be a certain hit for the Astros fans still remaining in attendance, I'm sure they didn't think that Beltran could back up fast enough while going up the hill to catch the ball. Stunned is the word that would best sum up the fans reaction to the catch, which Beltran made nicely by sticking his glove out from his body while falling down and away from the ball. Certainly makes up for going 0 for 6 so far.



9:20 EDIT: Mets won in 17 innings, scoring two runs on rbi singles from Beltran and David Wright. As the Astro announcers noted, Beltran may not have had the best stats in the game, but he made the crucial plays that counted the most. Let's go Mets! More good news: Braves and Phillies lost as well, the latter blowing a 3-0 lead in Colorado. Yes, I guess those Rockies batters can hit.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Haven't Seen Any Of This Stuff Back Of The House

Did not notice this story last year, but it just resurfaced on Reddit today, regarding the kitchen practices of Chinese kitchens on the mainland. Did not know before I read the story that the Epoch Times was affiliated with Falun Gong either, but that's another issue altogether.


If this story is true, which wouldn't surprise me giving the supposed link between WILD-FLAVOR CUISINE AND SARS scenario, but as my work takes me into the back of many restaurants, I'm glad to say that nothing I've seen in my rounds resembles the incidents in this story. The worst thing I have seen is some of the cooks in a couple of places smoking cigarettes while working. Mmmmmm.............ashes.




STORY

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

BBC'S Alan Johnston Freed

Much relief now in many parts of the world seeing that the BBC's Alan Johnston has been released by his Palestinian kidnappers the Army of Islam after 114 days in captivity, a much happier ending than the fate that has befallen other journalists in dangerous territories. The latest reports that Hamas was closing in on the place where the journalist was being held had led to some worries that in desperation they might kill him, for they had once filmed him in a vest wired with explosives that he said they might detontate if he were to be freed by force, but none of those fears came to pass. Doubtless more details about the conditions surrounding his release will be known as the hours and days pass in the near future, but it is a good sign when people recognize the short-sightedness of the actions of some of their, ostensibly, political allies. With this news, the button of Alan on this blog will now be removed, as was the intent of the campaign of those on his behalf.



STORY


THE ORDEAL IN JOHNSON'S WORDS

Monday, July 02, 2007

Jacoby Ellsbury Game Number Three

Definitely not going to run a game by game rundown of former Oregon State baseball player Jacoby Ellsbury, but while killing some time before the Mets start at Colorado, I've got to note the fantastic speed that Ellsbury has displayed so far in his stint. (Texas at Boston is a more appealing match-up than Cubs/Washington, Milwaukee/Pittsburgh, or Tampa Bay/Cleveland, for sure).



His first major league hit was that infield single on Saturday, as was his second hit, which he got in his first at bat tonight, after going 0 for 4 on Sunday. In tonight's second at bat, he lined a solid single to right field, used some of that speed to steal his first base tonight, and then scored his second run of the game.........by blazing home from second on a passed ball by Texas catcher Gerald Laird, which bounced away from him and wound up near third base. Very impressive exhibition on that run, much appreciated by the Red Sox faithful.


I'll tune in from time to time during the Mets game, but for now....way to go Jacoby!