Monday, April 27, 2009

Today's Nude News To Use: Ultimate Frisbee & Hiking Ban

A choice between two stories that feature some nudity with unusual twists: the first being the University of Oregon's club ultimate frisbee team having their season canceled for a number of incidents, the latest being the two squads that form the team playing each other WITH ONE TEAM SANS SHIRTS, THE OTHER WITHOUT PANTS OR UNDERWEAR.


I'd certainly rather be playing that sport in that manner rather than hiking in the nude through the Swiss countryside, where startled citizens of a tiny canton have now started fining GERMAN NUDISTS as they ramble free as a bird over hill and dale.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Man U 5 Spurs 2: Second Half Poleaxe To The Solar Plexus

A tale of two completely different halves for both sets of teams and supporters as Spurs let a good effort in the first half go to waste under a savage second half assault from the challenged leaders of the EPL.


Spurs had some good movement around the pitch offensively in the first half, and goalie Heurelho Gomes made some excellent saves to pace a defense that kept the Red Devils scoreless. Two goals around the half hour mark for Spurs were a just reward for the efforts, the first was from Darren Bent, who had earlier slightly misfired on a shot from the left, and the second was from Luka Modrić; the feeling of having a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford was a spectacular feeling for all Spurs fans.


MODRIĆ'S GOAL





Unfortunately, a dodgy penalty call on Gomes led to a second half avalanche of Man U goals, 5 of them in 22 minutes, as the home side responded to their predicament with fury.


For this Spurs fan, the first half was a continued sign of progress the team has generally made under Harry Redknap, and while the half-time result may have been a dream to even the most optimistic fans, there was still a feeling base upon that showing that a fair result would at least have garnered one point.


The speed of Spurs demise after the penalty kick was astonishing, with the team reeling in their defensive end of the pitch, with no organization to get the ball moving toward the other goal. Defensive lapses and a poorer show of form from Gomes sealed the deal in those critical minutes, leaving the team still seeking its first win at Old Trafford in league competition since 1989.



The gory details about the match from the GUARDIAN

Friday, April 24, 2009

What If God Was A Bum Like One Of Us?


Okay, I know the proper lyric to the song is slob, but the main deity apparently isn't welcome at this Eugene restaurant, with a wag replacing bums with God, with added editorial comment afterward.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Another Reason To Love The Internet: Conway Twitty With The Residents

Very nice to discover this classic bit of incongruity from Night Music. I'd seen a couple of episodes of the show when it was on (I got chills hearing David Sanborn intone about "going from one classic American song to another", a segue from a country lament into a SONIC YOUTH-LED CAST JAM of I Wanna Be Your Dog); I had no idea that The Residents and Conway Twitty had appeared on the same show. A match made in heaven, no doubt, except perhaps to the more conservative elements of Twitty's fan base who were probably confused as hell as to what was happening on stage. A big thank you to the internet for letting me catch up on this, and to scmm42 for providing this clip. Nice work!






Cleveland 22 New York Yankees 4: Nelson Part Deux


Much better laugh today at the new Yankee Stadium than what happened on Thursday, and the Julie Jacobson/AP Photo of Mariano Rivera walking off the field at the end of the game is a better pic than another pic of the bully from The Simpsons would have been. Sorry I wasn't able to watch the game on Faux today though, I was out enjoying the sun on Record Store Day.






ESPN RECAP

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

UB40 In Portland

Can't say that I've closely followed the saga between former UB40 singer Ali Campbell (and subsequently, keyboardist Mickey Virtue) with their band-mates over management issues. This split, which occurred just over a year ago, has sadly degenerated into a mud-slinging match between brothers and long time childhood friends as well as fans of the band. Reading the message board forums between the two camps about the problems tonight was frustrating to this long-time fan; the fact that this has happened to such a long-running band that was based on the equality of all members of the band has made this situation worse. Here's to hoping that time will eventually heal all wounds; in the long run, maybe the realization that the shortness of our time here on earth might bring about some reconciliation.



At any rate, the six remaining members of the band enlisted Duncan Campbell (brother of Ali and Robin, just to add another twist in the current controversy) as vocalist, starting their 2009 world tour here in the upper left hand corner of the U.S.



Given the relative low commercial profile of the band in the U.S. over the last decade, I'm sure that there were quite a few people who showed up at the Crystal Ballroom on Monday who had no idea about the events of the past year. The good news is that Duncan did an excellent job in the spotlight, and as always in past performances, vocal performances from Astro, Earl and Norman helped to show that this collective is indeed a band , one that is at its best when working together.



Can't recall the exact set list, but there was a nice selection of tracks from their career, starting with the opener One In Ten. Other tracks played were Tyler, King, Rat In Mi Kitchen, Wear You To The Ball, Homely Girl, Impossible Love, Higher Ground, Sing Our Own Song, Reggae Music, Baby, Don't Break Me Heart, The Way You Do The Things You Do, Can't Help Falling In Love, Johnny Too Bad, Cherry Oh Baby, Many Rivers To Cross, Red Red Wine, Kingston Town, and Sweet Sensation, along with a couple of others I can't quite recall at the moment. They also performed a decent selection of new material from the album 24/7, all of it sounding excellent.



The band certainly seemed to be in excellent spirits, there certainly was an energy and appreciation that the audience seemed to sense, and which was hopefully returned to the band, from my vantage point, that certainly was the case as everybody was singing and dancing along with their particular favourites (tip of the cap to the gal next to me who was delirious over hearing the opening to Higher Ground. That was a highlight for me as well, along with a stellar Kingston Town and their glowing, almost religious, take of Many Rivers To Cross. The trio of horn players, led as always by Brian Travers, were swinging and swaying with the beat, singing along with the songs when they weren't playing; it's that kind of enthusiasm that has endured the band to its fans over the years, one that I've been able to appreciate over the years (this was the fourth time I've seen the band, the last time being the wonderful gig at the Rose Gardens back in 1993).



I took a couple of pictures, most of them not that good, but I do like this one of Robin.


I've also joined the crowd in adding my own craptastic videos taken at the gig, the first of them being Kingston Town, the second being Red Red Wine, the latter song being cut short about two thirds of the way through as I ran out of digital space, but at least we get to hear most of Astro's toasting. As always, one should go out and support the artists in question, in this case, that means going out and seeing the band on their tour and buying the latest CD. As for me, I'm one for hoping that the nasty legal concerns of the band will resolve itself in a logical and relatively painless manner, this bitter division is not something that lends itself to a band founded on unity. One love to all.



EDIT: videos not cooperating at the moment, I'll try again tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 3: The Reds Are Roadkill For The Blues At Home

Who saw this one coming? In a general u-turn from recent Champions League match-ups between the two teams, Chelsea overcame an early 1-0 deficit to hammer Liverpool at Anfield 3-1. Branislav Ivanovic headed home a couple of headers on either side of the halftime break to stun the home crowd, and Didier Drogba knocked one in at the 67th minute to cement the unlikely win, unlikely in the aspect that Liverpool had been playing football in exceptional form of late and that they might have been concentrating more on the European end in their chase for silverware this season.


Fernando Torres finished off some great play early on for the Liverpool goal in just the sixth minute, but the Liverpool defense did not hold up under the Chelsea attack that developed soon after, even as Liverpool goalie Pepe Reina did his best to deflect that pressure.


An entertaining match to watch, but it's hard to imagine how Liverpool can respond from such a devastating defeat to the upcoming rematch at Stamford Bridge. Stranger things have happened though, just AC Milan what happened in Turkey back in 2005. As some other people have reported, that's why they play these things to the end.





GUARDIAN REPORT