Eddie Kunz Is A Met

Congratulations to the Oregon State's Eddie Kunz for being selected by my favourite Major League Baseball team in the first round of the 2007 MLB draft, with the 42nd pick. I could be like a few knuckleheads I know and wish that any athlete from the rival school fails miserably (or winds up in Tampa Bay, possibly the same thing)....but I won't, hoping that the Mets see something that they, or some other team, could use in the not-too distant future.


Only time will tell in that aspect, I recall watching a very young Mike Piazza with the Salem Dodgers thinking that he might possibly end up with nothing more than maybe a couple of cups of coffee with the parent club. (Of course, everyone was drooling over a Bellingham Mariners outfielder by the name of Griffey, Jr. about the same time).


My father, a Cardinals and OSU fan, called me up to congratulate me for the Mets having such good taste.


Also, even though Oregon has not fielded a college baseball team for about 20 years, according to Baseball Reference.com, they have still placed more players in the big league than OSU. For what that's worth.





NY METS STORY



BASEBALL REFERENCE







LIVE UPDATE: Against the Phillies Cole Hamels, Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul LoDuca have hit three consecutive home runs to give the Mets a 3-2 lead after six innings. Gary Cohen tells us it's the seventh time in Mets history, the last time being in April 1989, also against the Phillies, with Darryl Strawberry, Kevin McReynolds, and Keith Hernanadez getting the hits.

Thank You Editor: Sex Pistols Debuted Thirteen Years Ago?

This is probably an interesting article about the Sex Pistols from the Rolling Stone site, but the pedantic part of my nature is still taken aback by the title. Thirteen years ago, huh? No wonder I still get carded.




2:20 p.m. edit: finally edited to thirty years, I did not make a screen grab of the original.......just one of those things.




8:50 p.m. edit: the first story, with the misheard title, was still on the Rolling Stone feed, over 12 hours later. Story in that link was changed to "thirty" though, a screen grab can be found HERE.




THIRTEEN YEARS

Guardian's Top Ten Premiership moments

Not that I watch every single EPL religiously, to the exclusion of everything else (just when Spurs are on, really....), it's nice to see a couple of items from Tottenham matches, even if the number one moment was a goal against, by West Ham.


That'd be the goal that Carlos Tevez got in the derby at Upton Park, on a wonderful free kick, whereupon he celebrated by removing his shirt and celebrating with the Hammer faithful. After all the drama he'd undergone up until that point of the season, I did not begrudge him his moment at all. Best part of all, of course, was Paul Stalteri's late breakaway at the death of time to cement a Spurs victory.



The other moment with Spurs was, of course, the goal that goalie Paul Robinson made against Watford, against the man, Ben Foster, who's keenly pushing Robinson in a fight for England's number one goalie.


Rio Ferdinand's own goal against Portsmouth was lovely, especially with Rio looking like he wanted to blame somebody but himself for the faux pas with Edwin van der Sar.


The rest of their best are HERE

Oregon State 7 Virginia 3

After the Mother's Day loss to Washington State, recounted HERE, whose game-ending double play seemed to have typified the Beavers season up to that point, it is very nice to see how they've recovered to host the Super Regional against Michigan this weekend. Winning those three games in just two days was no easy task, but it is certainly gratifying to all Oregonians (yes, I am an Oregon fan, though my parents have had baseball season tickets for the last few seasons), though I'm still happiest for a coworker who played OSU baseball in the 90's, I know for sure what this has meant to lots of people.


There are several stories on the web about the game, which I'm sure all Beaver fans already know about (couldn't listen to the game as 1240 doesn't come in very well driving around Eugene for work), so the ESPN recap will suffice me for now.....



Once again, congrats to the Beavers, I'm sure Coach Casey will remind the team that there is still a long way to go.


ESPN

Note To Self: Never Double-Park In Greece

Maybe all of the Greek police force has been on edge ever since all of those Liverpool fans left last week.. Maybe the weekend announcement of a nationwide crackdown on unruly drivers has added to that stress. At any rate, a Salonican policeman has been arrested after allegedly shooting a man who wasn't moving his car fast enough after being caught double-parking. Yikes.

Irresistible Force Vs. Immovable Object

Having driven vehicles that are over 10 feet tall for work, one of the most important rules is to be aware of areas of low clearance. We've had some close calls, along with a couple of accidents in that regard, one involving the parking structure at Salem City Hall and one, involving yours truly, with the drive thru at the Taco Time in Sweet Home. For the record, the facts in my accident are that I had enough clearance at the top to drive through, with inches to spare; what I failed to take into consideration was how wide the span at the place was, the result being that I knocked down several tiles on either side of the arches. Nothing ever came of that incident, as there really wasn't much damage.



The incident in Salem peeled back a few inches of the box, before the driver realized what was going on and backed out. This accident required some major restoration work on the truck, whereas the result from mine was a couple of minor indentations at the top of the box unit on both sides.


Anyway, I've always kinda wondered what would happen if a too-tall truck went through a low clearance area.........completely? . No need to wonder anymore, as the story in today's New York Times tells the tale of a Texas trucker and the Lincoln Tunnel. The NYT photo by Oscar Hidalgo shows the "after" result from the clash alluded to in the title of this post.



STORY

California Gray Whale On The Beach

It's not that I'm a shill for the National Geographic television channel, but the KATU NEWS report that a dead California gray whale had washed upon the beach just south of Newport this weekend coincided with the airing of a 2007 documentary concerning gray whales and its predator, orcas, or killer whales.


The episode, about the 2004 Mother's Day attack in Monterey Bay by orcas on a gray whale cow and its one offspring, is the typical well-done affair we've come to expect from the NG, mixing eyewitness interviews with taped footage of both actual and recreated scenes, the presence of a number of boats witnessing the event naturally increased the coverage of something no one had ever seen before.


The KATU report tells of finding the tongue of the beached whale intact, which means orcas had no role apparently in the death of this whale, an issue that is addressed in the documentary as to why orcas go for the tongue.


I found myself, watching the show, much like the whale watchers on board that day did, at first intrigued and then riveted to the spot as the orcas battered both of the whales for hours.


As for removal of the creature on the coast, we surely have come a long way from the days of using dynamite.......right?


SITE WITH EXCELLENT PICTURES FROM 2004



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VIDEO

3 Little Pigs In A House

Not much to do with the traditional fairy tale, except perhaps for the fact that a Clackamas County man might consider the company who forced him into foreclosure on his house his version of the "big bad wolf". The man's response? Letting three pigs live in and roam around the house, without food or water, for a few days. Story and some pics from inside the house are at the NWCN site HERE.



Hope it doesn't give my dad any more ideas, the most he's come up with to express his displeasure for the expanding city limits is to start raising pigs before any annexation, so he'll get to keep the pigs while developments go up in the area.

Dishwashing Your Way Acros The U.S.A.

Memories of one of my first jobs have come back to me a bit while reading the story of Pete Jordan, who had a goal of sorts to wash dishes in all 50 states of the United States, and then write a book about his story. Even though in the New York Times book review he says "I obviously would prefer not to work", he managed to accomplish the task of getting to 33 states throughout the 90's before stopping, a symbolic act for a profession where it is all too easy, as Jordan admits to doing in the interview, to roll over, go back to sleep, and go look for another job later.



Thankfully I never had to wash dishes for long when I was starting out in restaurants, and the dishwashers I knew of were either young kids just starting out, or older guys who couldn't, or wouldn't, get any other type of work, the latter type presumably mixed in between bouts of being otherwise unemployed or being in jail.



The rest of Jordan's story can be found in the Times book section HERE.




JUNE 12TH EDIT: NPR story of Pete, with audio of the author reading, is HERE.

Never Did Like Ranch (Or Chunky Blue Cheese) Dressing

Now I know why......a shocking STORY from Wheaton, Illinois. I'll stick with the french dressing, please and thank you.

AC Milan 2 Liverpool 1

So this match couldn't possibly live up to the breath-taking standard of the 2005 Champions League final meeting, could it? I didn't think so either, at least in terms of a big deficit and a big comeback by either side. What we got was a match in which Liverpool had the better first half, but failed to really mount any serious offensive challenges. At the death of the first half, AC Milan got on the scoreboard with a free kick from Filippo Inzaghi to give them the lead.


Though I was rooting for the Reds, I honestly didn't think they could get the lead after their performance in the first half, I was hoping that maybe they could take it to penalties again. Alas, Inzaghi scored a simple, but beautiful goal in the 82nd minute to seem to seal Liverpool's fate. Surely, with so little time left, there wasn't much chance again for a repeat of two years ago? Things got a little more tense in the 89th, when Dirk Kuyt headed one home in the 89th, and suddenly that repeat seemed possible again. However, some time wasting by Milan, and an announced 3 minutes of stoppage time that seemed to end at 2:45 put the finish on the match, not that the "extra" seconds would've mattered too much. All I know is that the Liverpool fans I sat with wanted Peter Crouch on earlier, and were quite happy when midfielder Boudewijn Zenden was subbed for in the second half.



At any rate, a lively crowd (and packed) crowd gathered at Rennie's to watch the proceedings, I grabbed a seat by the Liverpool contingent, where a flag and two scarves were on display (one of them was for the 2005 CL title); just before the match, a tape of You'll Never Walk Alone was played to get everybody going, most everybody in this end knew all of the words. A very nice touch. Even met again the Spurs fan watching the season ending game versus Charlton, he remembered me and pointed out a couple of other Spurs fans in the house. I was also happy not to have received a parking ticket, I parked on Alder by Cy's in a one hour space at 11:20, expecting to either plug the meter later. By the time 12:20 rolled around, there was no way I was gonna leave my seat in the crowded place for anything, I just said "to heck with it, a ticket can't be that much". Getting back to my car at nearly 2:00, I was more than a bit shocked to find that there was no paper of any kind placed between the windshield wipers. Yeah to that.....




UEFA RECAP

Blazers Get #1 Pick In NBA Draft

No links to any stories here, they'll be easy to find tonight.....but I'm still a bit stunned by the news. Thank you to the friends from Corvallis who texted me immediately , I actually forgot about the lottery pick show. Scratch that, I was trying to forget about a lot of things as I was watching the Mets being crushed by the Braves 8-1. Thanks also to my brother in Santa Barbara, a long time Blazer fan who was truly excited by the news, calling in moments later. Some of the best Blazer news I've heard in a long while. Hmmm, Greg Oden....... or........Kevin Durant?


Scratch the "no links to stories here", I just recalled hearing Steve and Nate on KPNW's SportsTalk talking about a page on the ESPN website on the odds of the various teams in the lottery getting that first pick with some analogous situations, the Blazers chances were the same as "drawing two pairs in a five card draw", the rest of the teams odds are HERE.

Recycle Used Computers And Peripherals At Staples

Good news for people like me who've, in the past, been "bequeathed" old computer equipment such as scanners and printers that are on the aged side in terms of the lifespan of the equipment. I know that there are periodical efforts by recycling companies to gather such products so that they don't end up in a landfill, but those dates always seem to slip in and out of my mind, mostly because I tend to hear the radio ads rather than the print ones.


The news is that Staples will apparently now have a permanent policy of accepting those products to be recycled, for a fee of $10. Now I don't have to scramble to remember dates I've heard, the fee will well be worth it to free my household of another large paperweight. More information, and some back story to the Staples idea, can be found on the CNet Story.

You're adopting who?

A lovely point of view from parents who adopted an autistic child, one that they had formed a relationship with before the adoption. From today's Los Angeles Times opinion section, the story is HERE.

The Joy (And Cost) Of Text

6,807 text messages in one month, an average of well over 200 per day. As the song by William Shatner and Henry Rollins goes, "I can't get behind that", especially when the total bill comes to over $1,100.



Texting is useful in situations where a phone call may not be appropriate, but even I have to say that much of what I, or others I know, have texted in the past could've easily waited a few minutes, or a couple of hours, or until the next day, for "normal" face to face communication.


It has affected some of my coworkers at times, the younger ones especially, when I feel they are more interested in the messages rather than the job at hand, which can be annoying. Not quite sure how the schools deal with the situation of text messages these days, and the whole texting-while-driving scenario is a truly dangerous distraction that's a post unto itself.



The story behind the big text numbers cited at the beginng, from a Washington, D.C. teenager, from today's WASHINGTON POST.

Mets 10 Yankees 7

I can't really ever feel sorry for professional athletes, especially when one is compensated monetarily as most of the players on the New York Yankees are. Saturday's Yankee debacle at Shea Stadium, then, even had me shaking my head a bit at the action on the field, between the bad luck and the bad baseball.


Some of the former was exhibited when Yankee starting pitcher Darrell Rasner was struck on his pitching hand just nine pitches into the game, subsequently leaving the game after some practice throws. The second bit was David Wright's second two-run home run, the ball of which hit the bottom of center fielder Johnny Damon's glove as he was reaching over the fence for it, bouncing out and over the fence to his dismay.



The bad baseball came in the way of three errors by Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano, who's lucky he wasn't charged with four when he couldn't turn what appeared to be a sure double play. His third error, when he tried to throw the ball to first base after slipping in the rain-soaked grass, but hit his foot instead, is one that's gotta be filed in the "What are you doing??? category.



The best news was that the Mets won though, with starter Tom Glavine getting career win number 295 despite not being his sharpest, though good enough to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out first inning jam allowing just one run. It was then that the Mets took over, with Endy Chavez getting four hits, along with Wright's two home runs the biggest offensive factors in the game.


The Mets got three hits, I think, that weren't hit especially hard, but landed where the defense wasn't, and also were aggressive on the basepaths, steatling five in six attempts to keep the Yankees thinking about more than just the batter, in fact I think Yankee pitcher Mike Myers, who replaced Rasner in the first, was more preoccupied with keeping Chavez at first than pitching to Wright, who blasted a 3-1 pitch into left field to give the Mets the lead that they would not relinquish.





STORY









YANKEE LUCK

Control: Critical Plaudits At Cannes

A good sign for the upcoming film by Anton Corbijn titled Control with THIS story about the films reception at Cannes. Also in the article is a short interview with Sam Riley, who portrays Curtis in the movie.


Another good sign for the movie is the final quote from the director, who was worked with Joy Division and New Order many times over the years, which tells me everything I need to know....They hardly ever agree on anything together, but they have agreed that they all love the film."




Another story on the reaction to the film, along with some more information about some of the principals, is HERE, from today's Guardian.

Bobblehead!

Good job by the Portland Beavers for literally carrying things out to the letter (phonetically speaking); a promotion for one of three Bob L. Heads across the nation to be immortalized as a promotional toy at a game later this year. Sounds like the kinda thing Bing Russell and the Portland Mavericks might've done.



STORY

Beat On The Bat: The Life Of A Baseball Bat With The Twins

Much as I enjoyed watching the Beavers on Sunday, the ping of a metal bat as a ball is hit is still a distraction in my mind. Call me a purist, hearkening back to the days as a kid learning the game, but the solid crack of a wooden bat on a ball brings me a moment where I where I sit up and take notice of where the ball is heading. That's not to say I don't follow the ball, once hit, in college baseball, it's just the preference for the wooden type of bat is so deeply rooted that I don't think it will ever be changed. Of course, in conversations with others on the subject, the cost factor of metal vs. wood has to be a big consideration for schools, especially when the total life span of a wooden bat is regarded. Today's StarTribune ran a story on the life of a bat in the major leagues, as well as some of the thoughts and practices that the players on the home town Twins make when choosing one before they head out to the batter's box. The story is HERE.

Tottenham 2 Man City 1

Followed this one again via GameTracker, as I had no particular interest in Man U/West Ham . Still haven't seen any of the highlights, as Sky Sports didn't show any in the show I caught, and Fox Soccer place the match into the "also-played" category section of all scores and no highlights as they focused on the battle of relegation to open their show.


Spurs scored twice early on behind Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, and were playing the better football, when City's Emile Mpenza knocked one in just before the first half ended to cut the lead in half and give the visitors some hope. Once again, with a lead, I watched the tracker show the time of possession give way from the advantage of the home side to that of the visitors, with the final tally giving the Blues a 56% percent lead in that stat. A couple of fine Paul Robinson saves (that's why he's England's number one, blah blah blah,) kept Spurs in the lead, and Jermaine Defoe missed a late penalty kick that might've eased the minds of the Spurs faithful a bit earlier, but once again nothing comes easy with this team, does it?



All I know is that Spurs finish fifth, for the second year in a row, and qualify once again for the UEFA Cup. I feel extremely confident Berbatov will be staying put (not so sure if the defense continues to be as leaky next year and Spurs slip down the table while the rest of the league fixates on Berbatov); it was indeed a roller coaster of emotion with this team this year, alternating the exhilarating with the aggravating, often within ten minutes of each other, but damn it, it sure was exciting to watch, and gave all of us something to think and write about. COYS!!!!



BBC



SPURS REPORT

Mother's Day At Goss: Washington State 5 Oregon State 3

Wound up celebrating part of Mother's Day this year at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, as my parents, OSU baseball season ticket holders for the last few years, wound up with the tickets from their neighbors who couldn't attend today, and most of our family today was in attendance together, which pleased them no end.


My first time at Goss, a nice place to watch a game, with some prime seats behind home plate (square behind home plate, a couple of rows in front of Mike Parker in the broadcast booth, luckily I could only hear him when it was really quiet).



The Cougars struck in their half of the first, behind designated hitter Travis Coulter hitting the ball in the gap between center and right for a triple; I wasn't sure Coulter was going to make it to third but his aggressive base running set the tone for the game, and he wound up scoring on the next batter's sacrifice fly. Coulter wound up with three hits, adding two doubles to the triple, for an impressive outing.


Jayson Miller, a left hander for the Cougs, pitched very well, allowing just four hits in his eight innings, and was hardly challenged at all by the Beavers. The home side could only manage one run, in the bottom of the second, against Miller with Jason Ogata, who had doubled, scoring on a single by Braden Wells.


It was when the relief pitcher for the Cougars in the ninth took over that the Beavers rallied, scoring twice, started once again on a double by Ogata, and then a two-run homer by Mike Lissman to cut the lead in half. The Beavers had two more runners on at first and second, but Lonnie Lechelt hit into an unusual double play to end the game (the Beaver fans behind me thought the second basemen had trapped the ball, but apparently he did not, and he doubled off the lead Beaver runner who tried to take third base).


It was a good time regardless, as I had no horse in this race, I didn't particularly care who won, all I wanted was a good, close game, which I got, and no one gave me crap for wearing my Oregon sweater. It was also nice to see an old childhood friend working the security detail, he remembered all of us, as well as a Beaver co-worker, who has long implored me to "educate" myself watching the Beavers baseball team. Well John, I still don't like the metal bats at all, but it was nice to see the effort taken to provide a lovely home field advantage, and my hat's off to you for being part of that; now all you have to do is show up at any place showing the Champions League final on the 23rd between AC Milan and Liverpool and then we'll be even.


Some of the rest of the details from the game can be found HERE.

Young Marble Giants: Reunion Show And U.S. Reissue

More good news on the domestic reissue front of a quality album that is long overdue, this item being the sole album by Welsh artists Young Marble Giants and the album Colossal Youth. The album will be part of a three-disc set, put out by the great people at Domino Records, who've done a superb job in their handling of seminal stuff from Josef K, The Triffids, and Orange Juice. Not sure if Colossal Youth has ever had a US release on CD before, I seem to recall seeing a CD, probably a EU copy, years ago at a Circuit City , but it had no extra tracks on it, the new one will satisfy the hunger of fans who want their collected works in one place.


So the reunion show is in Wales, I never thought that a US tour would materialize from a group who hadn't played together for over 25 years, the LIVE AT HURRAH DVD is a good enough encapsulation of their minimalist pop live as I expect we should get.




STORY

Know Before You Go: A Guide To Bikini Styles

I must admit a sense of failure in acknowledging that all of those years of perusing the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue have left me with a less than satisfactory knowledge of some of the names of the various bikini styles. (I thought somebody had told me they had descriptive words in those issues........but for the life of me I can't recall any of 'em). Glad that someone at Digg found the following site to help unfortunate people like me in educating ourselves, and for that I am eternally grateful. Cheers....




FIELD GUIDE TO BIKINIS

Underwear Bandits On The Loose In Colombia

This week's run of more inexplicably weird and disturbing news continues......a BBC report from Pereira, Colombia about a gang stealing women's underwear while the ladies are out in public.




STORY

The Camera Adds Ten Pounds.....At Least

Obviously the belief of some female lacrosse fans at Framingham State College in Massachusetts, some of whom took matters into their own hands by liberating hundreds of copies of their school newspaper that featured a front cover photo of the girls, with bared midriffs, cheering on their team. The papers were taken because they felt the picture made them "look fat".








STORY

Charlton 0 Tottenham 2

Dimitar Berbatov opened the book on the possible relegation of Charlton today with a wonderful goal created with some of his skill in the seventh minute of the game, and Jermain Defoe slammed it shut with an added time goal at the finish to seal the fate of the Addicks for next season.


Did not watch it live, but a clean sheet is still nice, even against a woeful team, though Darren Bent is a quality player and finisher.


Berbatov took a pass from Ledley King and totally confounded Charlton defender Talal El Karkouri with a deft move, and then finishing it in glorious style as both El Karkouri and goalie Scott Carson nearly collided in trying to prevent the goal.



Was fortunate enough to stop at Rennie's, on a break in my work route today, to see if they would have the game on, as they do with the Champions League matches, where quite a crowd shows up to cheer their team on. I got there at the half time break today. Well, there were two people interested in the match.........although one, to my delight, was sporting a Robbie Keane shirt. Finally....another Spurs fan in the state of Oregon. We had a nice conversation about Berbatov and the transfer rumour mill, but work was calling me back, so I had to check the score via my phone for the next hour.


The win puts Spurs up to sixth, one point behind Everton with a game in hand. Another UEFA Cup berth appears within reach.....COYS!!!


RECAP

"Life's Short. Get A Divorce"

Just an ad campaign, on a large downtown billboard, for a Chicago lawyer. An obvious success because people are already talking about it, any publicity has to be good publicity, right?


I honestly can't believe that people would look at a billboard, and then have a light bulb go off in their head to file for a divorce as soon as possible after that. Can't even believe that later they would even remember the law firm responsible for that ad........but I will doubtless be proven wrong by some well-meaning group or person.




STORY



MAY 9TH UPDATE....well, the billboard didn't stay up LONG

Mind Your P's And Q's...

......when dining with others. An ex-spouse to be specific, with alcohol involved. Don't eat off of their plate, especially when steak knives are involved. Yikes.



STORY

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1

"Mourinho are you listening, you'd better keep our trophy glistening, coz we'll be back in May to take it away, walking in a Fergie Wonderland!".




Don't care much for Man U, even less for Chelsea, and nothing at all for the Arse. Still had to tune in this morning to see what kind of drama would unfold at the Emirates, and what might possibly be the background for the match between Man U and Chelsea later this week at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had to win to keep their faint Premiereship hopes alive. Alas, it was not to be, as Arsenal fashioned a 1-1 draw from this encounter, which sent the title back to Old Trafford. The Gunners' Gilberto Silva scored on a penalty kick, thanks to a straight red card to the Blues' Khalid Boulahrouz, who upended Julio Baptista in the box just before the first half ended, for the only goal between the two teams.


Chelsea played well in the second half with only ten men, and finally broke through midway through the second half on a diving header from Micheal Essien. Can't recall the exact moment, but a bit later on Frank Lampard widely missed a ball that looked as if it had a real chance to hit the back of the net, and Salomon Kalou had a certain goal knocked away on a great save from Jens Lehmann.



Can't say for sure that I thought Chelsea would win with a lineup that didn't include Drogba, Cole, Ballack, and Shevchenko, but it was a good effort to the final whistle all the same.



Hope you're happy Don and Jack......a :beer: to the both of you gents.




RECAP

Share A Free Drink, Lose Your Job

How do we know that it's not allowed if it's not in the manual? Even though the Subway Sandwich employee handbook allows free soda and water to employees, it's apparently against the law to share that benefit as part of a consolation process with a friend. The police had been called, the scofflaw employee was arrested and briefly jailed, all for some product with a total value of four dollars. The article, from New Zealand, is HERE.


There was also a site entitled subwayuncovered.com, detailing some other unpleasantness dealing with the Subway corporate offices, but it has now been taken offline.

Hogzilla The Movie

I've always enjoyed watching the Hogzilla documentary, which gets to the bottom of the issue concerning the size of the legendary Georgian beast, that the National Geographic television channel has aired from time to time, it certainly beats watching American Idol in terms of watching creatures on the tube.



Looks like a film is due to be made on the porcine king, in a horror-movie style with attacks on humans. Some more details HERE

AC Milan 3 Man United 0 (Agg 5-3)

Not much of a contest as AC Milan advanced to the Champions League final, and a rematch of the instant classic with Liverpool from 2005, with a 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United.


AC was on the attack from the start, which included a steady rain at the beginning of the match, and Man U looked a bit uncertain in both attacking and defending, and it was in the latter aspect which took its toll. Not sure if even the presence of Rio Ferdinand, still out with a groin injury, would have made a difference in the game. Kaka's opening goal in the 11th minute was a well-executed finish off of a header that left the Man U defenders flat footed, but it was the second goal, by Clarence Seedorf in the 30th, which left no doubt about the outcome of this match, and of who would advance to the finals. It was on this goal where some sloppy defending had to have left even the most ardent Man U fan with a queasy feeling in their stomach, coupled with the fact that by this point Man U had yet to really offer a serious attack on AC goalie Dida.



AC was a bit physical with Cristiano Ronaldo, though I believe the referee was correct in not calling a foul every time Ronaldo hit the grass, and about the only good chance that Man U had for the match was when Darren Fletcher booted a wide open shot, from in front of the goal, over the crossbar in the second half.



Special mention to AC's bulldog-like Gennaro Gattuso, who raised an extended middle finger to somebody from the vistors after a heated tackle, caught on camera for millions to see world wide.



Well done to AC Milan, the rematch of that classic title bout from just two years ago is just as irresistible a fixture as having an all-English final between two bitter rivals would've been. Can LFC handle the blitz that AC Milan produced, both today and two years ago? Can Rafa and the fans urge their heroes onward again if they do, and will AC's coach Carlo Ancelotti let that happen again? That's why they play the games, and at first, I'd have to go with the Italian club, they'll be too eager to show that 2005 was an accident, but Liverpool will certainly have the mental fortitude not to let what happened in that first half occur again. Should be another classic on the 23rd of May in Athens.


RECAP

Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Agg 1-1) LFC 4-1 Pen

Sucks that I had to work today and miss one of the semifinals of the Champions League, this one between Liverpool and Chelsea, who've clashed again in one Cup format or another for what seems like the 100th time in the last three years. Well, I did manage to catch a few minutes of second half action when I was able to, but it wasn't the same as watching the match with a group of other fans. At least I'll be able to see tomorrow's match.


I did catch the highlights on FSC, a deceptive corner from Steven Gerrard to Daniel Agger halfway through the first half that curved wonderfully past the seemingly stunned Chelsea defense and a diving Petr Cech for the only goal of the game. That home goal equaled the home goal that Chelsea got last week, and so after a couple of extra periods that produced no result, penalty kicks were to be the deciding factor in this one.


Liverpool goalie Pepe Reina made two nice saves on Chelsea attempts, of their three total, whilst Liverpool sank their first four, the last from Dirk Kuyt, to seize the victory and send LFC en route to Athens on a chance to win their sixth European title, one that might possibly be a rematch of their classic 2005 battle against AC Milan, if the Italians can hold off Manchester United tomorrow at the San Siro.



Lots of Liverpool shirts at Rennie's today, it's always fun to watch these things with other football fans, I will probably be watching the CL final their this year. And of course, hearing the words, being sung en masse, Walk on...........walk on........with hope in your heart.......and you'll never walk alone.....you'll never walk alone still elicits an emotion from yours truly. Lovely stuff you Reds, even if Jose says the better team did not GO THROUGH.



RECAP

SportsCenter Promos

Top ten lists are usually fun to discuss with your friends and family, dependant on the subject of course. What some may love other may dismiss, but I have to say that the folks at SPORTABLE have compiled a very fine list of their favourite ESPN SportsCenter promo ads, you know, the ones that feature various athletes and anchors in situations that are often ludicrous, but are a nice twist on perceptions and reality (i.e. Steve Irwin wrestling with the mascot from the University Of Florida Gators, which I'd never seen before, oddly enough). The image of Charley Steiner bellowing Follow Me! Follow Me To Freedom! in the Y2K clip remains a personal fave of mine.










STORY

Dimitar Berbatov (Sung To The Tune Of La donna e mobile): Boro 2 Tottenham 3

Okay, not just Berbs, but a couple of Robbie Keane goals, the presence of Ledley King in the defense, and a couple of fantastic saves by Paul Robinson were enough to give Spurs a much needed away win at the Riverside today.


Berbatov did set up the first Tottenham goal with Keane at the 12th minute, the only goal of the first half. He then drilled the ball past Mark Schwarzer just a little bit into the start of the second, and with the fairly disorganized Boro attack (up until that point, at least), things looked secure. However, as we all know, Spurs never make anything easy, especially on the road.


Mark Viduka scored for Boro in the 65th minute, on a nice header, as the Boro offense began to click, and was denied the equalizer just a couple of minutes later on a brilliant instinctive save by Robinson that left the home crowd stunned, being sure of a goal at such a point blank range.


The third Spurs goal, by Keane, was set up by some excellent controlled passing in the 83rd minute, when the Boro crowd was getting a bit antsy because they couldn't contain those passes. Aaron Lennon then crossed the ball into the box to an open Keane, making it 3-1 for the visitors, but the danger was not yet passed.


Emanuel Pogatetz drew the home side within a goal in the 89th minute, and the crowd jumped back behind them, the ones who left after Keane's second notwithstanding. The announced 4 minutes of extra time gave the impression that Boro would indeed most likely net an equalizer, but thankfully it was not to be, as no real chances were to be found, leaving all of the Spurs (and their fans) savouring a hard fought victory on the road. COYS! Europe is still within your reach.

Control To Be Screened At Cannes

Being a long time Joy Division fan (no, loving the band and its music has never made me wear black, or consider killing myself), the news that famed photographer/video director Anton Corbijn was to direct a film based on the book by his wife Deborah has intrigued me. The good news is that his eagerly awaited film will be shown at Cannes next month, with wide release apparently sometime in the fall.


I still cannot underestimate the importance of hearing Joy Division as a teenager though; after the fury of punk had died down, the intensely personal music of JD hit me in a palpable way, my introduction to the band being that a friend of mine, late in 1979, had bought the Transmission single, based solely on it cover. Hearing that incredible opening (the throbbing bass of Peter Hook, the clattering drums of Stephen Morris, the stinging guitar of Bernard Sumner, and then the vocals of Ian Curtis, all blended superbly by Martin Hannett)left me wanting more.....immediately. Of course, the band was not to exist for much longer, there wasn't much information to be had in this area in the pre-internet era, and when I finally was able to track down a copy of the New Musical Express, in June of 1980, the cover featured Corbijn's iconic photo of the band in the subway, the band facing forward, with Curtis looking back toward the photographer, and the headline announcing the suicide of Curtis to those in the world who weren't in the area where JD had made their rounds.


Deborah's book showed the all-too human side of Ian, something that was not quite in step with the darkly imaginative lyrics he would pen, especially as JD developed their sound and style. As mentioned before, my love of JD didn't make me go and harm myself or anybody (honestly, I have no reason to really complain about anything...), but that book, entitled Touching From A Distance gave me an insight on how the demands of fame could place on the artist and their respective families, things I'd never considered before. Sure, I love my favourite artists a lot, but not at the expense of them harming themselves or anybody else for that matter. Touching gave me an idea on how to relate to people whose work I admire, hopefully this film will give a wider audience that same feeling.



STORY

Ed Husain: The Islamist

Listened to the BBC's World Have Your Say program on NPR this morning, they featured a short segment on the British-born Muslim Ed Husain, who has documented his journey from the more fundamentalist version of Islam that threatens those who do not share their narrow views of society, to the compassionate religion that teaches tolerance and understanding with those who may not share the same exact religious ideals.


The book, entitled The Islamist, is soon to be published worldwide, but Ed said on air there was no U.S. publisher (at this moment, though I would imagine that to be rectified soon).



Ed told his story, and then callers were selected to ask questions, and the first called, a lady from Oslo I think, got into a heated debate about the true nature of Islam. Ed had made the comment that this was not the place for such a debate, and continued expounding his views based on his experiences at various places in the world.


Ed was a well-spoken, thoughtful interview, which has made me decide to look for his book. There was an interview with Ed in last Saturday's London TIMES.




EDIT ON APRIL 30TH: Still no word about the book being published in the U.S., so I ordered my copy from the institution on books in this state, POWELL'S



EDIT ON MAY 16TH: Received an a-mail from Powell's today telling me the book had shipped today. Two weeks earlier than the original date they'd guesstimated. Nice one.


EDIT ON MAY 21ST: Received the book in the mail, will be reading it this coming week.


EDIT ON JUNE 13TH: A very good read so far, about half the way through, reading with one arm in a sling isn't that conducive to the act. The book moves along at a quick pace, in an easy to read style much like listening to a lecture in person. The core belief behind Ed in those days, perhaps symptomatic of headstrong youth, of the absolute certainty of what they were doing and believed in being the correct path for humanity has already sparked a renewed clash of ideas, though in rather more mundane and local ways for the time being. The backdrop for future battles, on a more global scale, is already being sharply drawn at this point, their idea of changing others by first changing oneself is a powerful one indeed.

Found this bit on Ed and some of the places he was at various places in his life in this feature from London's TimeOut. The story is HERE.

Because We Don't Get To 11 Often Enough These Days

Good news for fans of everyone's favourite tragicomedy/heavy metal lunkheads Spinal Tap, who have reunited for the upcoming Live Earth concert in London on the 7th of July.


There is also a new short film about the Tap, once again from director Marty DiBergi, which explains what they've been up to in the 15 years since their last album. A Billboard Magazine article, typical of the Tap approach to everything, is HERE. Long may you rock Nigel, David and Derek!

Riley Gets Contract Extension Through 2012

Congratulations to Oregon State's Mike Riley for successfully salvaging the football season in Corvallis last season, and for being rewarded for that job by being awarded a contract extension through the year 2012, with the usual incentive clauses, etc. Well done Mike, it was certainly a wonderful turnaround after a dismal start, one that tried the patience of even my stout-hearted Beaver coworkers (not pictured above, mind you!).



It's always a nice thing when people are allowed to change their minds, isn't it?




FULL STORY

Rockies 11 Mets 5: Taking The Crunchy With The Smooth

Got off work in time to catch the opener of the series finale with Colorado (10 a.m. PST). What I saw didn't thrill me much, what with the Rockies bats exploding with a pent up force to bury the Mets 11-0 midway through the game, a deficit much too large to overcome today despite a couple of late rallies.


Mets starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey had a rough start, giving up six earned runs in just three innings, while his Colorado counterpart, Josh Fogg, left the Mets hitless through four innings and scoreless until the sixth. The Mets had their chances to score more once they broke through, but when the total number of runners left on base are compared, the Rockies trumped the Mets with a total of 21 to 18, doubling the impression that the Mets were trying to dig themselves out of a deep hole the entire afternoon, and I will admit that I turned over to the Chelsea/Liverpool Champions League match rather than finish watching the game.


The big questions are what to do with Pelfrey and his place in the rotation, and the overall lack of big production numbers of Carlos Delgado and David Wright (not that this is entirely their fault, but Delgado is hitting .193, though with 12 RBI's, and Wright is down to .263, has yet to hit a homer, and has just 4 RBI's.)



RECAP

Mets 2 Rockies 1: Call Of The Reserves

A pitcher's duel that wound up going to extra innings, and eventually a Mets win, thanks to key plays by Mets who usually spend most of their time on the bench.


The efforts between Colorado's Aaron Cook and the Mets' Orlando Hernandez produced a scoreless effort through the seven innings that both starters pitched, while the bullpen of each team gave up critical runs by the main relievers of both staffs, Brian Fuentes of Colorado and New York's Billy Wagner.


The hero for tonight's Mets win were reserve infielder Damion Easley, who hit a two-out, two-strike pitch off of Fuentes in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, and outfielder Endy Chavez, who executed an amazing drag bunt between the pitcher's mound and first base, which allowed Shawn Green to score from third, to the utter amazement of just about everybody who was watching. Easley said in the post game interview that he was caught off guard, I know I just about fell off of the chair when I saw that the play was perfectly executed, the futile attempt of Rockies pitcher Ryan Speier to scoop the ball to first base just a tad too late in their attempt to stave off the loss. Helluva game Rockies, sorry you had to lose that one.


RECAP

David Halberstam, R.I.P.

Shocking to see that Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam has passed away earlier today, the result from a tragic auto accident in the Bay Area. Of course, his book The Breaks Of The Game concerns the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA, but he also wrote books concerning topics such as the Vietnam War in The Best And The Brightest.




ESPN STORY

Grand Ole Opry Age Discrimination?

A story that's been brewing for a couple of months, raising the ire of some members of my family. Veteran country singer Stonewall Jackson has filed suit against the Grand Ole Opry with several allegations about reduced appearances at the music shrine based on age, and the artist was also told by Opry management about wanting "no gray hairs on stage or in the audience" and my personal favourite "you're too old and too country" (!!!!)



The bottom line is that the Opry needs to find a balance between the old and the new, both in terms of the artists and also the audience members, but that scenario doesn't seem likely if Opry management is as crass as alleged in the exchanges with Jackson. Count me as one who can't really stand "modern" country music (there are some exceptions to that, Dwight Yoakam especially, but he also was told he was too "old-fashioned" before he got signed), so it seems as if the Opry is finally falling in line with much of the music being produced in Nashville in its aim for a much younger audience. (Didn't we go through this same kind of crappy dilemma with the Urban Cowboy craze?)


Would've been nice to visit the place when I would have more time when I was older, but since that doesn't seem likely to happen now, I guess it's off to CBGB's in Las Vegas for me. Heh.


At any rate, some links for further reading:


BRIEF SUMMARY, CHECK THE EXCELLENT DEKERIVERS COMMENTS ON APRIL 23RD



A BALANCED ARTICLE


THE AP/WASHINGTON TIMES STORY



SOME COMMENTS TO THE AP STORY ON ANOTHER SITE

MLB.Com: Behind The Scenes

An interesting overview of the daily operations of the crew working for MLB.com. Article on CNET.


I appreciate the statistical work done on the site (as well as for each team site as well), so a tip of my hat to them for keeping us informed as quickly as possible. Still probably won't ever subscribe to mlbtv.com though, about the last thing I want to do is sit in front of my computer for three hours after having done the same thing for eight hours at work. I'll stick with the ExtraInnings package, which does a fine job in terms of coverage, though I was a bit miffed to find out that yesterday's Mets/Braves game wasn't available (wasn't on TBS either).



STORY

Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2

Once again, not on FSC, so it was tracking it down via GameCast again (aided by the commentary on the BigSoccer boards).


Spurs grab a late equalizer to tie the Arse-holes with a lovely goal from Jermaine Jenas that sliced through the Arsenal defense into the right corner beyond a diving Jens Lehmann seconds before the final whistle. Once again, as with the classic West Ham match, the play continued a bit past the announced stoppage time, to the dismay of many Arsenal fans.


Spurs grab the lead with Robbie Keane midway through the first half, but the visitors struck back in the second half with a pair from Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, sending most everyone at White Hart Lane (and yours truly here) into a state of depression. There won't be anybody really thrilled with the draw, especially the Arse, but I've always heard that you gotta keep playing until the final whistle. Fact. :)


I can already hear Arsene Wenger bemoaning the fact that "Zee better team did not win today. We created more chances, and were more dangerous on zee offensive side", or words to that effect. What a wanker.


REPORT




ARSENAL

Red Light Red Light....Run It

"......there ain't nobody watching........run it!". Thank you to Paul Westerberg for that lyrical gem over twenty years ago, but that won't be the case in Albany any more, what with the location of the first red-light camera being announced today.


Said intersection to have cameras installed will be the eastbound Ninth and Geary route as well as northbound Geary at Ninth. Apparently there are lots of scofflaws who routinely make a California roll through a red light, without a full stop, so a plan has been implemented for the safety of us all. As one who drives for a living in a commercial vehicle, it's a nice to see such a help, all too often I watch these cars making improper turns and it drives me nuts, I know for damn well that someone would call our boss and tell him about our driving. For the record, such a thing did happen at that intersection, but it was on the first day of the new intersection, east bound, when people could either continue left on Pacific in the far left, or right and go to the Santiam Highway. I was in the second lane from the left, by Walgreens, when a lady in the lane to my right, bound for the Santiam road, decided that the Pacific lane was where she should be, and how rude of me to be in her way. It was only a couple of minutes later when I got the phone call, and everybody had a good laugh when I told them exactly what had happened, they were almost expecting such a thing. Luckily, things have quieted down on that particular road. However, it's the westbound traffic where Pacific and Santiam meet that need some more attention.......



In the article, it doesn't mention any cameras for the southbound Geary lanes, the ones coming from downtown, even though I've seen lots of people running that one. A bit odd, but I guess the numbers from the test show that there aren't enough of those to justify one.


RED LIGHT

He Said This, He Said That: Moyes Sues Rooney

Not much of an Everton fan, even less of a Wayne Rooney fan, especially since he signed with Man U in 2004, but it is interesting to note that Rooney's coach at Everton, David Moyes, will be suing his former striker for libelous statement in Rooney's ghostwritten, err, autobiography My Story So Far. At the base of the argument is Rooney's view on the coaching style of Moyes, and Rooney's apparent belief that it was his former head coach who revealed details of Rooney's patronage of prostitutes while at Everton. This really oughta keep the tabloids humming for a long while.



SUE YOU

Endless Cycle

Strange and horrifying story from Plymouth, England about a mother and her three daughters who encouraged, on video, two of their kids, a three year old girl and a two year old boy, to fight each other while they encouraged the kids. Their court case was settled, but as the judge noted, there seemed to some shades of grey in what might first appear to be a black and white case.


STORY

Blazers Championship Year 30 Years Passed

Damn, has it really been that long? Seems like just a couple of years ago that Bill Walton was swatting the missed George McGinnis shot, which would've potentially tied the sixth game of the 1977 NBA Finals, out to Johnny Davis.


That team was honored in Portland today, story HERE, and the time passed since has not lessened my view, or thrill, of that championship, especially being a hometown fan (it's one thing to enjoy a championship or big victory by a team you follow out of area, i.e. my relationship with the New York Mets or Tottenham Hotspur, from North London), but the emotional relationship with a home team is something special that will always linger.


I can still recall getting home from church that Sunday, June 5th, with the game tied at 40. The Blazers then scored ten points in a row to seemingly take charge, but the talented 76ers showed no quit in their challenge to claim the NBA title.


Everybody knows the story of the 77 Blazers team, so I won't recount too much of that, but the euphoria of clutch playoff performances such as Maurice Lucas's turnaround jumper against Denver to win a crucial road game, or Herm Gilliam (RIP) single-handedly taking the Lakers in another vital encounter en route to a four game sweep in the Conference finals (also lest we forget Brent Musberger's continuing references to Bill Walton as the "mountain Man").


A shout out to two of my favourite Blazers ever........Lloyd Neal and Larry Steele, players who truly understood the team concept and gave everything they had, as well as Maurice Lucas and Dave Twardzik, ABA survivors who also enhanced the quality of play by that year's team. Okay, so Oregon wasn't exactly on the national radar in terms of getting total information on that late, lamented league, but I knew enough from reading The Sporting News and Basketball Digest, as well as collecting basketball cards, to know enough that the acquisition of those two players were a tremendous asset to an up and coming franchise. (Only thing that still makes me shake my head though, the fact that we also had Moses Malone in training camp that year; I still have my basketball card with Malone as a Blazer).


Always great to revisit those years, all of those close calls in the Drexler era are almost as fine, especially in terms of relating to the players as a community, and the Blazers honored that special team in a ceremony against the season finale against the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, the injury-plagued Blazers are facing a team that has to win if they want to make the playoffs, and are currently trailing 79-55. Yikes.



RALLY

Mets 9 Marlins 2

Didn't know what to expect tonight really, given the Mets terrible record against Dontrelle Willis and the team having played in Philly the night before. Turned out the Marlins were in worse shape from the get-go, having played in Houston the night before in an extra innings affair, but the Mets jumped all over Willis in the first to take a 4-0 lead. There were also two woeful Marlin errors as well which aided the Mets in that inning, but it's not like New York needed help to hit the ball and score, given the 17 hits for the game, but once again, if you give a team like the Mets more chances.....


John Maine pitched an excellent game, having a no-hitter going into the seventh inning before Miguel Cabrera singled to open the home half, and Joe Borchard hit a two-out, two run home run in the same inning to end the shut-out attempt.


All of the Mets starters got a hit, except for Maine and catcher Paul LoDuca, Jose Reyes got four, Jose Valentin with three, awith David Wright also extending his hitting streak to 25 games over two seasons.


Did not get the SportsNewYork telecast for the game, rather I was treated to the Fox Florida one, always nice to get the opposition viewpoint from time to time.


Phillies are losing to Washington, Braves are winning though, as long as the Mets take care of their own, they'll be hard to beat.


RECAP

One Small Nod To Those At VaTech

Sports can always help play a part in the healing process following a tragedy, as Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick talked about on the latter's ESPN radio show today. Specifically referring to what happened in Blacksburg yesterday, put me in the category that this could've happened anywhere, it would certainly never deter me from visiting or living in that part of the country. Still don't feel that much better from yesterday, so I couldn't even begin to fathom the pain of the those whose loved ones are no more. One small tribute to the grief-stricken campus came via the Washington Nationals tonight in their game against the Atlanta Braves.


STORY

Black Day In Blacksburg

Deepest sympathies to the victims and the families of the senseless tragedy on the Virginia Tech campus today. R.I.P.

A Big Convoy Is On The Way

In honesty, I really never thought much about the effect that the trucking industry had on my day to day life.....until I started work, about ten years ago, in a wholesale business that is dependent on that distribution system. It wasn't that I thought that the items in the various stores would magically appear by themselves, I just never really discerned the absolute value of the work that these people do, and how it is the linchpin of our economy.


Being involved in a wholesale business has really opened my eyes, and clearly defined this role for me. No longer am I in the haze concerning the shipment of goods to all corners of the globe, and that while there are always the inevitable delays that cause back orders of any number of things for timely shipments, I have to say that the system works very well.


Back to the here and now, it seems that a blockade of the nation's, indeed, all capitol buildings is on the cards for next week as a response to some legislature designed to have truckers from Mexico haul loads all across this country. There are loud calls in the trucking industry that this will be the ruin for many an independent trucking firm, and a decrease of trucking safety standards across the board, not to mention the lower wages for those left. Are these truckers being unnecessarily paranoid? My first inclination is to say "no, they're not", look at the outsourcing of other jobs to other countries.


Anyway, expect some traffic delays in all of the capitals next week, April 23rd through the 25th, and probably up and down the highways and interstates as well, as these gentlemen are in agreement that a point has to be made to the powers that be in Washington.



STORY



WEBSITE


WEBSITE

Wigan 3 Tottenham 3

Okay, so I was able to take a bit of time off of work on Thursday to catch the last half hour of the UEFA match between Sevilla and Spurs at White Hart Lane, and got to see the two Spurs goals in the span of a couple of minutes that had the crowd roaring and the defending Cup holders on their heels, those two goals drawing level at 2 but trailing 3-4 on the aggregate tally. The rest of the match was the same story as has been for much of the year; excellent chances that just aren't taken advantage of. Odd to think that Steed Malbranque's own goal early on is the difference from advancement, but I refuse to blame him for that, there were other things that could have gone differently.


Today's EPL match was on Setanta today, so I had to make do with the trusty ol' gamecast again. It was a battle with the relegation threatened Latics, whilst Spurs are still battling for a position in one of the European cups next year, so there was much to play for.


Not surprisingly, there were more road woes for Spurs, giving away goals on set pieces that have really proven to be a thorn in our side, and battling from behind all of the game to salvage a point. Dimitar Berbatov scored one, and Robbie Keane got two, one from a penalty, for the Spurs goals, but the constant back and forth nature of the match (not to mention this season) had me on the edge of my seat and shaking my head.


At the end of the day though, I'm still fairly pleased with the point on the road given the calamitous start to the game, but when thinking about what else could've been.........



SPURS REPORT



MATCH REPORT


WIGAN VIEW

Virgin Territory

Is virginity a real condition or was it invented to control women and their sexuality? So goes the sub-header in the Washington Post's review of Hanne Blank's look at the ideas of virginity, with respect to its place in our religious and social views of women. The review, by Marina Warner, winds up to say this is a thought-provoking book on history, aspects of which may not be entirely well-known to a wide populace. Exactly the kind of thing I like in a book.




TERRITORY

Electrelane To Open For Arcade Fire At The Schnitz

Always nice to see an intriguing double bill in a live venue, the British band from Brighton should fit in well with the Arcade Fire's audience at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on the 27th of May. Just noticed the announcement on the NME site, good news to start the weekend.




NME

Bees Make Honey (And Do Other Beneficial Things)

A short article from the US News & World Report that outlines some of the things, besides honey, that bees pollinate, in relation to recent news reports on the disappearance of hives nationwide, and that affect on food prices.



UW NEWS



However, the national concern is apparently not shared with those who would know, as written about in an article earlier this week from the Eugene Register-Guard, with various postulations about the periodical disappearances of bees and their hives. After reading that article, I'm not quite ready to join the funeral wake for the humble bee just yet.


REGISTER GUARD

Mets 5 Phillies 3; Jimmy Rollins Is The Man To Beat, Not So Much The Rest Of The Team

Tom Glavine overcame a rocky start, mostly in his first two appearances with Jimmy Rollins, who homered twice to account for all of the Phillies' runs, to shut down the Mets division rivals 5-3 and win the first season series 2 games to 1.


Glavine also walked three batters in the first inning but had some defensive help to allow any other runs to score. Glavine pitched six innings en route to his 292nd career victory, but the rest of the Phillies lineup could manage only six hits between them, and compounded their effort to get back in the game by hitting into three double plays.


Rollins started the game off with a lead off home run on the fifth pitch, and then followed that with a two-run blast in the second as the visitors took a 3-1 lead; the Mets had scored a run in the bottom of the first with a Carlos Beltran single, scoring Jose Reyes.


Glavine helped himself with a key bunt in the second, which lead to a throwing error by Phillie third basemen Wes Helms and allowed the tying run to score, and then followed that up with another great bunt that moved the runners ahead in the fourth.


Triples have been described as perhaps the most exciting play in baseball, and it was a lovely sight to have seen David Wright hit a ball into deep right field and slide into third base with one in the seventh inning. He would score on a Moises Alou single, providing a needed insurance run what with the shaky save situation that closer Billy Wagner created in the ninth.


All in all, a nice victory, the rough start aside, with some timely hitting and defense once again helping the Mets to a victory.



RECAP

"The Rich Are Very Different From You And Me"

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that early in the last century, and there have always been constant reminders of that difference since (not that there was any mistaking between classes before that aphorism was coined, mind you).


The obvious goal of any business is to make money, but a bank in England has apparently decided that they don't make enough money off of the ordinary, middle-class strugglers that are the bulk of English citizenry, and has decided to limit access to its employed staff only to those who have a certain amount of savings in the bank, a certain level of income, or a big mortgage. Even though this is happening in a rich area of England (Canford Cliffs, Dorset), there has been the predictable backlash against the new policy, especially from the elderly and the church.


I'm sure stuff like this is already happening at some level in the world already, this is just another big example of class difference. Full story from today's Guardian is HERE.

Kurt Vonnegut, R.I.P.

Some of the things I had to read in high school I either didn't enjoy at the time, nor have I revisited since. The two Kurt Vonnegut books I read then, Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five, most definitely do not fit in either category. Mr. Vonnegut has passed away at the age of 84, and the link below is a much more worthy summary of his life than I could ever manage. Suffice to say though that reading those two books were rewarding experiences that bring a smile to me at their memory. Thank you Kurt.




OBIT

Rating The State Quarters: Ours Is Better Than Yours

An article in today's Seattle P-I rating the artistic achievements of the quarters that the U.S. Mint has issued to honor every state in this union. Always great to see local homerism shining through, but I do believe that in this case, the critic is right, generally. (Washington over Oregon.....NEVER!).


One thing I noticed is that the best designs on this list do NOT have a graphic of the relevant state, which I agree with. Looking at her Out Of The Running section, there are a couple of quarters I'd have trouble associating with the image if not for the state graphic in the background somewhere, Pennsylvania for one. Also, I don't think that New York or Illinois needed more than the Statue Of Liberty or Abraham Lincoln to enhance their design.......but then I live west of the Mississippi, so what do I know? I'm sure a lot of people back east have no concept of Crater Lake.


Anyway, the rest of the artistic critique is HERE

Colin Cowherdapalooza

Okay, so Colin is from the northwest, but we're not all like that. Seems that CC has been getting, how shall we say, a ton of grief from the blogging world for being an insufferable loon on his ESPN radio show in general, for his recent efforts for not attributing the works, cited on his show, of some hard working gentlemen, the people at The M Zone specifically , and for having his listeners take a blog offline by urging them to all log on at the same time and crash their servers (that'd be The Big Lead).


He was an okay sportscaster here in OR, and that's about all I can say for him, his radio show on KFXX was always on when I wasn't able to listen to it much. I will say that I do like his Spanning The Globe bit, talking to a number of correspondents about any number of things, quickly and in one segment, it's one way to gauge what people are saying and feeling about a particular subject, athlete or game.


I can only manage to catch, if I want to, about an hour of his ESPN show, due to the facts that I'm not on the road yet, and our warehouse has lousy radio reception, so I don't know exactly how or when this rift became so exacerbated without having listened to him,, but that grief has now reached giant proportions. What follows are some accounts of CC and his relationship with the "internet world", there's some mighty good reading in these posts........



THIS'LL KEEP YA BUSY FOR AWHILE

Ann Magnuson Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories CD

Back when Option magazine, an excellent chronicler of music off the popular path, was still in publication, and also being a fan of the band Bongwater, well those were the reasons why I bought Ann Magnuson's solo album The Luv Show, a tale of a young woman's search for fame in the big city. The music was all over the place musically, from straight ahead rockers to a mambo as well as an uptempo jazzy/lounge number, all of it giving the storyline an extra boost, making the whole thing a blast to listen to.

That was released well over a decade ago, and I'd lost track to see if she'd kept making records; I know she is a truly creative person who has her finger in a lot of proverbial pies, among them being an actress, with her IMDB listing HERE.


Very glad to report then that a new record of her stage show from recent years, Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories is out now, and from all accounts I've come across, such as THIS one, is highly rewarding listening, once again covering several musical styles. Might as well get an autographed copy from the artist herself, so her WEB SITE is the place to get it. Can't wait to hear this one.


The BOING BOING story from today.

I Jinxed 'Em: Braves 5 Mets 3

Well, maybe not literally, but yesterday, after I had praised the defense of the Mets this year for killing rallies and snuffing out runs, it all comes falling down to the ground like a dropped baseball. Two Met errors, their first of the season, and both dropped balls, one by first baseman Carlos Delgado and the second by right fielder Shawn Green, led to three unearned Brave runs that proved to be the difference. (I thought I was gonna be able to watch this one, but instead we got stuck with the Dodgers and Giants for the game of the week).


If this "jinx" thing of my ideas works, then I'll go boldly out on a limb and declare that this year's Met team has absolutely no chance to win anything at all, and will wind up losing 110 games, and we'll all be wondering if it might be Lima-time once again come September.


Actually, the Mets, who trailed for most of the game, another first in this season, kept battling to stay in the game the entire way, and in fact had runners on second and third with two out in the top of the ninth when Green had a rifle shot snagged by Braves first baseman Craig Wilson, robbing Green of the RBI's and thus ending the game.


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Do The Right Thing On Sesame Street

Dunno how I missed this, an excellent miniaturization of Spike Lee's classic film, Do The Right Thing, given a twist with characters and sets from some Sesame Street toys. A caveat, there are some coarse words uttered, but there is no toy nudity at all, a relief as I don't know if I can handle that concept.



FIGHT THE POWER!!!

"The Mets Are On Pace To Allow 162 Runs All Year"

A quote that TBS/Braves announcer Chip Caray made at the end of the 8th inning in tonight's 11-1 blowout of division rivals Atlanta Braves. The Mets continued to get stellar starting pitching, this time from Oliver Perez, and exploded for 6 runs in the 8th inning to send most of the Atlanta home crowd opener scurrying for the exits in the unusually cold Georgia night.


Yes......I am an ardent Mets fan......and yes.....only four games have been played.....but.....after the beatdown of the team that denied them a World Series spot last year, this opening game against a rival that had plans on challenging the Mets for first place was still highly gratifying to watch. The fact that the pitching was excelled while the offense has exploded is a lovely thing to witness (don't forget the defense, the Mets have done very well so far, while they also tallied three more unearned runs in this game). Thank you TBS for showing the stat that the Mets haven't trailed all year.......a jinx for Saturday's nationally televised game, though doubtless to soon be corrected.



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Tim Buckley Dolphins

Count me as a person whose purchases of music magazines is mostly limited to Mojo (there are a number of others I buy from time to time, but those all depend on the content of the issue: these include The Wire, Big Takeover, Harp, Uncut, etc.). A selling point of a lot of magazines these days include a CD of various styles. Some are monthly compendiums of new releases, others are themes, and some are compilations chosen by an artist.


Even though it was issued with the November 2003 issue of Uncut, I'd rarely given R.E.M.'s compilation steady listening time. I may have grown a bit bored with the band's music of late, but it's hard to disagree with their varied taste in music, I don't wanna hear the same stuff over and over. So it was that I grabbed the disc out of the stand for listening to whilst driving, lingering on some songs, fast forwarding others............til I came upon the live version of Dolphins by Tim Buckley, a cover written by Fred Neil. A bit of irony here in that there are some people who were introduced to Tim's music through a cover of one of his songs: Song To The Siren as done by This Mortal Coil. (Not going into the aspect of being Jeff's dad).


Anyway, I was stunned by the tone of the voice and the exquisite music that was swirling around the melancholic lyrics........and I kept hitting the 'repeat' button. (Being stuck in traffic, sitting still, also helped me to focus on the song). At any rate, here's a live clip of Tim singing Dolphins on YouTube, posted by one pincfloit; I thank him many times over for this gem, though this version is a couple of minutes shorter than the one on the R.E.M. disc.

I Didn't Want That Bike Anyway......

Using StumbleUpon, I came across this page with a couple of group photos of this close knit group (this pic is not from that lot). Check out the page at Frogview.com. HERE.......

Sevilla 2 Tottenham 1

Work schedule prevented me from checking in on this one, but it seems that an evenly played match between two teams wound up being the wrong result for the visitors from North London.

A dubious penalty kick was awarded to the home side after what has been described as a perfect goalkeeping interception by goalie Paul Robinson, only to be waved off by the referee, who then converted on the attempt by former Spurs player Fredi Kanoute. That goal evened up the match, as Spurs captain Robbie Keane scored in the first 90 seconds to secure a vital away goal, which could be the difference after the rematch at White Hart Lane next Thursday. Sevilla's Aleksandr Kerzhakov tallied a few minutes before the half to give the home side the lead, and ultimately the victory, though, once again, it seems that Spurs had their share of chances, yet failed to convert them.


As with yesterday's CL match of AS Roma and Man United, so too was there crowd violence between the sets of supporters in the stands before the first half was over, there was a claim of Spanish police hitting a wheelchair-bound Spurs fan aired on Sky Sports a few minutes ago. I've yet to see any action from the match itself, hopefully the memories from today will propel Spurs to a sensational rematch next week.



ACCOUNT

One Small Sweep For Mets Fans: Mets 10 Cardinals 0

John Maine helped to answer more of the questions concerning the Mets pitching staff this year with a sterling one hit effort over seven innings, and Carlos Beltran hit two home runs to lead the rout of the defending world champions and complete the sweep by outscoring them 20-2. The Mets got all of their runs in the last half of the game, and truth be told, ex-Met Brandon Looper, making his first major league start, pitched well for the most part, being tagged for the first three Met runs, but then watched the bullpen totally fall apart as the Mets put an emphatic explanation point on the season opening sweep. Combine this news with the previous announcement of MLB/iN Demand contract agreement, and it was a pretty swell day here.


METS RECAP

Sanity Restored: Extra Innings Back On iN Demand

I sincerely hope MLB & Bud Selig are happy now: an out-of-market fan will be able to watch the team of his choice (in this case, the New York Mets) just about every day. (The closest MLB franchise, the Seattle Mariners, is a four hour drive away, on a good day, forget about post game traffic on the way back; we won't even get into the Selig taking the Pilots from Seattle and keeping them in Milwaukee in this post).


The official announcement from just a bit earlier today is HERE.




Gotta thank the Mets blog It's Mets For Me for giving me the first bit of hope on Sunday, which is where I first came across this breaking story. Yeah......my cable company is gonna get a call from me later this week. IT'S METS FOR ME STORY

Roma 2 Man United 1: No Love Lost Between Fans

Not much has really changed with the Italian 'ultra' fans since the death of a policeman earlier this year, has it? Doubtless the arrival of the biggest football club in the world was a red flag for the home fans to heap as much abuse, in all of its forms, for the visitors.


At any rate, the violence between the sets of fans overshadowed a strong Roma performance against the Red Devils, who were down to 10 men after a couple of rather stupid yellow cards were issued to Paul Scholes midway through the first half.


Wayne Rooney did score his first goal in a Champions League match in a long, long while, and that away goal may well prove to be vital next week when the rematch is scheduled at Old Trafford.


Some of the violent crowd scenes can be seen HERE , with the emphasis of this view on the Italian police smacking the Man U fans like fallen pinatas.



Damnit Don, I wore my Man U t-shirt just for you today....:( go get 'em next Tuesday.



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CROWD STORY

Sign Joke Goes Awry; Go Team Evil !!!!

Imagine what kind of reaction a sign like this would get in the deep South? As it is, this sign is raising eyebrows in normally unflappable Portland. The full story from the Portland Mercury is HERE

Alanis Covers My Humps

The video is funny, though not in an overly-Weird Al kinda way, and the music is just Alanis and a piano track, at a slow tempo. The purpose of the cover? To shine a light for closer inspection of those sensitive lyrics? For Alanis to promote her own "lady lumps"? For the listener to ponder his/her relationship with said lumps? Who knows, I was just kinda floored Alanis got a cover out this soon, I figured it would be done first by some aging Vegas lounge singer.



MY HUMPS

The Price Of Unflitered Public Computer Access: Porn And Public Masturbation

Ay carumba! Latest episode of that happening was down at the Knight Library at the University Of Oregon Sunday night. An eyebrow raising statement, for me at least, is that "similar incidents happen two or three times each year". Never thought some people couldn't wait for that until a better time and place came along.



BETTER CLEAN THAT MOUSE, KEYBOARD AND SCREEN

Defending Their NL East Title: Mets 6 Cardinals 1

Yeah, losing to the Cardinals in the NLCS last year still kinda stings, especially when viewed over the performance that the Detroit Tigers exhibited in the World Series. That being said, Sunday night's victory over the Cardinals was a gratifying first step in correcting that situation.



Though every starting Met player got a hit, including pitcher Tom Glavine, who threw six innings on his way to his 291st career victory, it was the defense that killed all of the Cardinal chances after the Mets scored 5 of their runs in the third and fourth innings. Even though the Cardinals got their sole run in the sixth, two great plays thwarted the home side: a sliding catch by Moises Alou in left, and then a great assist from Carlos Beltran in shallow left center throwing out David Eckstein at the plate, which I think caught the Cardinals by surprise. That was the second out of the inning, with the heart of the Cardinal line up coming up, but the play killed the modest rally.


It's only one game, there's lots more to play, but if the Mets plan to repeat as NL East champions (and beyond), the game plan of lots of offense coupled with a great defense while the pitching staff finds out what it's made of in these first couple of months, should bear a lot of positive results down the line.



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Tottenham 1 Reading 0

Robbie Keane's penalty kick on a Greg Halford handball just before half time was the only goal of the match as Spurs won at White Hart Lane today.


It was the usual, as of late anyway, start for Spurs, attacking from the start, missing on a couple of good chances in the first five minutes, with Steed Malbranque hitting the left post in the second minute the closest to being a goal.



Reading goalie Marcus Hahnemann made a couple of excellent, reflexive saves in the first halt to further stave off the Spurs attack, and his teammate Leroy Lita, in the 12th minute, came as close as Malbranque did for Spurs in getting the first goal, on a shot that Paul Robinson had no chance on; luckily, the woodwork got the save on that one.


Hahnemann left the goal at the half time, with Adam Federici replacing him, and Federici made even more great saves as Spurs continued to press on. The rest of the match was a run of missed shots and offside calls that disallowed goals for Spurs. The Spurs defense had their lapses of concentration in the first half, but did much better in the second (yes, Ledley King is still sorely missed).



Spurs won the shots battle, 19 to 7, having the ball 57% of the match, but were clearly undone by the 11 offsides call. Have to say that Reading really didn't have much going for it on the offensive side of the ball, their chances seemed to have come off careless Spurs passes, but a win is a win and is also three more vital points in their effort to secure another European cup slot. Honestly, this is a match I'll not replay in my mind probably ever again; now it is time for Sevilla. COYS!



REPORT