My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 2

First cap-only edition!

I think these speak for themselves. Official replicas of the locker room editions (at least the 2008 ones).

Left: a giveaway the San Diego Padres' triple-A team in Las Vegas (a different team is there now) held at a game I attended in 1999. Right: the bucket hat. Given away at the Phils-Padres game I attended in 2005.

I'm pretty sure I bought this at the old Warner Bros. Studio Store which was at the Shops at Liberty Place. That was once a tremendous store for everything Looney Tunes. Then corporate mergers (such as Time Warner/Turner) happened and the store became watered down with Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, etc. and it was never the same. The whole chain went under and the Liberty Place spot has largely been unoccupied. After many years, there are now plans for a new store: a Bloomingdale's outlet.

While I've always been a Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes fans, I was in a phase for a while there where I was buying a number of t-shirts and other memorabilia. Why? This...



Originally airing during Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, this led to a followup during SB XXVII. Like many sequels, it was longer and inferior. And, of course, it eventually begat Space Jam. (Note: in none of these projects did Michael Jordan show even an ounce of acting talent. If LeBron James does star in Space Jam 2, it can't help but be better.)

Oh, and it also led to what is very close to the oldest cap I own...

A Little More On My Christmas Music

I just thought it would be fun to share how many versions of various Christmas songs are in my iTunes (out of the total of 468 holiday tracks), and the most notable performers of each...

Angels We Have Heard On High - 6; Aretha Franklin, "Glee" cast
Auld Lang Syne  - 5; Barenaked Ladies, Chris Isaak (and why is New Year's music played on Christmas?)
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting...) - 8; Nat King Cole (duh), two versions by Ella Fitzgerald
The First Noel - 4; Annie Lennox, David Archuleta (I think these two names back to back form some sort of musical oxymoron)
Frosty the Snowman - 5; the Ronettes, two versions (again) by Ella Fitzgerald
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - 5; Annie Lennox, Rascal Flatts, Barenaked Ladies feat. Sarah McLachlan
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - 6; Pretenders, Kermit the Frog
I'll Be Home For Christmas - 4; Fats Domino, Kristin Chenoweth
Jingle Bells - 8 (if you include "Jingle Bells?" by Barbra Streisand and the medley "Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock" by the Muppets)
Joy To The World - 5; Lee Greenwood, the Supremes
The Little Drummer Boy - 8; two up-tempo versions by Alexander O'Neal and the Salsoul Orchestra
O Holy Night - 7; Neil Sedaka, and a very funky cover by Musiq Soulchild
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - 9; Gene Autry, Meredith Brooks, and only one version by Ella Fitzgerald
Santa Baby - 4; Eartha Kitt, Madonna, Everclear (male vocal, changed lyrics because heaven knows the band had to butch it up) and Miss Piggy
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - 8; the Four Seasons, the Supremes, the Looney Tunes (I own the CD "Have Yourself A Looney Tunes Christmas" -- not the greatest Bugs Bunny & Company work Warner Bros. has put out there, although it's mildly amusing at times)
Silent Night - 13 (this looks like the winner); Wynonna, Mahalia Jackson, the Salsoul Orchestra (non-discofied!)
Sleigh Ride - 9 (including the Kristin Chenoweth/John Pizzarelli duet medley of "Sleigh Ride/Marshmallow World" but not including the Alexander O'Neal song with the same title but different lyrics; I also have a version by the Spice Girls
White Christmas - 7; besides the obvious Bing Crosby, there's Darlene Love, the Supremes...and there goes that Ella Fitzgerald again with two versions...
Winter Wonderland - 6; of course, my favorite is by Eurythmics, though you can't go wrong with Johnny Mathis
We Wish You A Merry Christmas - 4, including Weezer

And with that, I wish you a Merry Christmas as well, if you celebrate it. Or, just follow Krusty the Clown's advice: "So, have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, kwazy Kwanzaa, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified Ramadan. Now a word from MY god: our sponsor!"

My Week In Comics 10-6-10

About a week ago in this space I teased about picking up just one comic book for the week, "unless I get the second printing of something recent that I somehow missed." As it turned out, it wasn't in the comic book store I frequented (although perhaps I just missed it somehow on the shelves). However, I went into the Borders in Center City after that and, lo and behold, they have one of those spinning magazine racks full of comics. Double lo and behold, they had the issue I was looking for. Triple lo and behold, it wasn't from the second printing but from the first run that sold out. Then I had a really stupid dilemma. But first...

Who is this guy, and why was he such a problem for me?

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton 3 (of 3): I think I mentioned before -- sorry, but I don't feel like going back through my prior posts and confirming this -- that although the Elseworlds books DC has put out may take characters and put them in wildly different circumstances, eventually the status quo often wins out. Superman is still a hero. Villains are still villains. So it is with this series, which started with Jor-El and Lara coming to Earth along with baby Kal-El. This issue starts with the premise that the others destined to become Earth's greatest heroes never did so because of the Kryptonians' influence, and there are consequences for the El family as a result. But by the end of the series, a familiar character who started out good shows his true colors (and as a result, a prediction I made at the start turns out to be partially true), and his evil plans are thwarted by...well, you know...

That brings us to my strange problem...

My iTunes Fits This Definition

In lieu of an iTunes shuffle baker's dozen, I give you a word of the day!

ca·coph·o·ny / kəˈkäfənē / Noun: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: "a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"; "a cacophony of architectural styles"

Being a bit frustrated by the lack of variety that the iTunes shuffle comes up with, I tried something different. I made a playlist of all the tracks that I haven't played this year (since I reset the count at the beginning of 2010). While I am listening to songs that haven't played before, within that playlist there still is a lack of variety -- songs from the same album or artist are still being played fairly close together. Right now, on a whim, instead of the shuffle mode I'm playing them in order of track length, from shortest to longest.

So basically it's things such as sound bites from cartoons (Bugs Bunny asking the immortal question, "What's Up, Doc?"), various spoken interludes from Janet Jackson albums (and others), quotes from "The Osbournes" TV show that were included on the "Osbournes Family Album" CD -- who can forget Ozzy saying "I love you all, I love you more than life itself, but you're all f--king mad!"), very short instrumentals in a handful of cases, some comedy bits from Joe Conklin...I ask you, is this not a cacophony?

I'm almost up to the tracks that are at least a minute long now. Eventually, if I continue to play the tracks in this order, it will be just a bunch of short songs. Somehow, that's a little sad.

Comic Book Flashback: A Couple Of Funny Books

A while back I mentioned that I wanted to write about some older comic books I had recently re-read. Luckily for you, the time is now! Both of these were released in 2000 and, while falling generally into the superhero genre, are far from serious. Both involve Superman and Batman as well as a certain imp from the Fifth Dimension. And one of the stories, when I first heard of it, made me giddy as a schoolgirl. I think I literally squealed. But first...

Superman and Batman: World's Funnest: Actually, our heroes aren't the subject of this one. Instead, it stars their strange little magical nemeses, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. It starts with a scene in a typical Silver Age story, where Superman, Batman and Robin have captured Lex Luthor and the Joker. It's typical right down to Lois Lane, in her pink outfit with the pillbox hat, pining away for her Man of Steel: "Sigh! If only I could trick Superman into a loving, honest marriage..." Then weird things begin happening, and Mxy and Bat-Mite both appear. They begin fighting, and in doing so their magical attacks end up killing Superman, Batman, Robin, Lois...well, the entire universe. Then they move on to the next universe, and repeat the process. Before long we see the two destroy all kinds of universes -- the DC Animated universe (as in the Superman/Batman/Justice League cartoons from the 1990s on), the "Batman: Dark Knight Returns" universe, the "Kingdom Come" universe, even that strange little place that spawned the Super Friends. Eventually, nothing is left but Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite, who collapse into laughter. On the final page everything is back to where we started. "Same time next Tuesday?" "You're on!"

Superman & Bugs Bunny: Yes, you read that correctly! Two of my favorite characters in a four-issue miniseries. This one begins with two parallel stories: in Metropolis, a typical day of investigation for Daily Planet reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent is turned upside down by the arrival of Mr. Mxyzptlk and his mischief. Mxy is easily tricked by Clark into saying his name backwards, which sends him back to the Fifth Dimension. Meanwhile, in the world occupied by the Looney Tunes, the usual Elmer Fudd-hunting-wabbits routine is interrupted by the Do-Do, fresh from Wackyland, lamenting the fact that everyone in the Looneyverse is weirder than he is, thus making his trickery a waste of time. The Do-Do has a dimensional transporter but it's not working. Bugs gets an idea, and picks up a Superman comic book, telling the Do-Do it's from "Od-Od comics" -- Do-Do backwards. Do-Do repeats the phrase and his transporter works. En route to their dimensional destinations, Mxy and Do-Do collide and compare notes. Mxy decides he wants to go to a place without superheroes, and they create a new device. Mxy travels to the Looneyverse. It doesn't go well for him.

Mxy: How can I cause mischief in a world full of Tasmanian Devils and ducks who drop anvils on people?
Do-Do: That's why I left there!
Mxy: Now I know how Superman feels when I'm around! I wonder how he'd fare against a Tasmanian Devil? If he thinks I'm bad, he oughta --THAT’S IT! The most fiendish, devious, rotten, sneaky and malicious evil notion EVER!
Do-Do: I think someone already invented talk radio!

Using their device, they move all of the Looney Tunes into Superman's world. Hilarity ensues. Then Mxy has another idea, and uses the machine to cross a couple of characters. This results in...Super-Fudd. Then Do-Do does the same and we meet Bat-Duck. The entire Justice League of America gets involved, and eventually the JLA and the Looney Tunes team up, stopping a plot by the Toyman. As Mxy is about to merge the two universes together permanently, Bugs tricks Mxy into going on the Internet to brag about his brilliant plan -- at www.kltpzyxm.com. Buh-bye, Mxy. Do-Do reprograms the machine to send everyone back where they belong...except for a certain singing frog.

Random Stuff About My iTunes Library

I stole this idea from my friend Walt, who stole it from someone else, who undoubtedly stole it from yet another someone else, and so on, and so on, and so on. So, here's what I've got in iTunes...

How many total songs?

9,352. They're not all songs. I have a few sound bites and bits of dialogue from cartoons and TV shows; some artists (I'm looking at you, Janet Jackson) like to put these spoken "interludes" between songs on an album; and I have a podcast or two. At any rate, the total is 9,352 tracks. That's a total of 27.7 days' listening, amounting to 37.09 GB. (Walt puts me to shame with his 57,043 items.)

Sort by song title – first and last…

"A.B.C." - The Jackson Five
"99.9 F°" - Suzanne Vega (all the numbered items follow items beginning with a Z)

Sort by time – shortest and longest…

0:03 - This Means War - Bugs Bunny (one of those cartoon bits)
1:11:50 - Christmas 2004 - Nice (another friend, Gregg, compiled "Naughty" and "Nice" mixes of holiday music in 2004 that are very creative)

Sort by Album – first and last…

Abraxas - Santana
99.9 F° - Suzanne Vega

(See above re: song titles; in addition, I should note that the track from "Abraxas" is the only song I have from that album. That's because I have many downloads of individual songs or, for CDs I own, I may have only copied certain songs into iTunes. Also, I have songs that don't have an album title in the notes -- these are strictly downloads, and I haven't bothered to update the info in the library. I was doing that for a while, and even copying the album cover, but I've gotten off track there and now I can't be bothered.)

Sort by Artist – first and last…

a-Ha
95 North

Top five played songs

"When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland - 222 plays
"Let It Rock" - Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil' Wayne - 176 plays
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga - 144 plays
"Shining Light" - Annie Lennox - 133 plays
"If I Never See Your Face Again (Paul Oakenfold Remix)" - Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna - 126 plays

I reset the total at the beginning of every year, so this is only 2009's most played.

Find the following words. How many songs show up?

Sex: 38 (the search function in iTunes, however, brought up every variation on the word, including titles like "Sexual Healing"
Death: 5
Love: 829 (again, variations, including "lover" and "lovely"
You: 1170
Home: 57
Boy: 79
Girl: 124

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle...

I don't seem to have "Party Shuffle" any more, not that I ever used it. I just used the regular shuffle mode. Anyhoo, it seems to be called "iTunes DJ" now. And because I hit a button by mistake, I refreshed the list it brought up. So this isn't exactly the first five, but let's pretend:

"Cemeteries Of London" - Coldplay
"Orange Crush" - R.E.M.
"River Deep, Mountain High (Live Unplugged)" - Annie Lennox
"Believe Somebody" (mashup) - Madonna/Cher/Whitney Houston
"If I Could Only Win Your Love" - Emmylou Harris

iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen - 2009 World Series Edition!

Okay, it has nothing to do with the World Series whatsoever. Only one of the songs is even remotely sports-related, and that's only because it's from the soundtrack to a rather disappointing movie in which Bugs Bunny and the other Looney Tunes slummed it with some former basketball player.

Love Is A Matter Of Distance - Will Young
Downhill Racer (Kenny Dope Remix) - Everything But The Girl
All At Once - Whitney Houston
Party Girl (Turn Me Loose)(Satoshi Tomiie Interpretation) - Ultra Naté
Space Jam - Quad City DJ's
A Big Hunk O' Love - Elvis Presley
Love Is A Stranger (Coldcut Remix) - Eurythmics
Move Your Feet - Junior Senior
Someday We'll Know - New Radicals
Heaven Knows - Donna Summer
Echo - Cyndi Lauper
Where Did My Heart Go? - James Ingram
Just Like Noah's Ark - Elton John

This is no way to bring back Futurama!

It seems that none of the actors who did the voices for "Futurama" are going to return when production on the series resumes. They want more money than the producers, Twentieth Century Fox, are willing to pay.

The success of reruns on Cartoon Network, and then Comedy Central, led to the making of some made-for-DVD movies (which later aired on Comedy Central as individual episodes), which then led to Comedy Central buying new episodes. But without the actors, why bother? You can get almost anyone to do voices, but when a talented actor establishes a particular voice, you lose something when he or she is replaced. No one's ever really been able to duplicate the late Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and so many others, and there's no one who can replace anyone on "The Simpsons."

This annoucement could be a negotiating tactic. Let's hope so, because otherwise the future looks bleak for "Futurama."

Where do I begin?

Begin at the beginning, they say. Okay.

First, I was born, which goes without saying. But even in the hospital, the day I arrived, I knew I was different from the other kids. I couldn't figure out why, at first. Then, suddenly it came to me! I was a rabbit in a human world...no, wait. That was Bugs Bunny.


Watch What's Up Doc? in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

As for me, well, I am different from the other kids. I mean, do you know any other 47-year-old guys who have, among other things: never learned to drive a car; taken an early retirement (with a sharply reduced annuity) after 25-plus years with the federal government and haven't worked in the four years since; played softball in their local gay softball league for two years, quit, then went back 21 years later; made 19,867 posts in the last eight years on the Outsports.com discussion board, over 9,000 more than anyone else?

That's where the "Joe In Philly" comes from, by the way. I consider it my brand name at this point. That's also sort of part of the reason I've started this blog. Despite the large number of posts on that board there's a whole lot more that I want to say, but I feel I need an appropriate centralized venue. I had my own blog before but I wasn't really happy with it and didn't work very hard, and it eventually died of neglect. I'm now ready to try again, and this time I intend to really work to make it worthwhile. (And, perhaps, if things go well, maybe someday I'll be able to make some money from it. So when you start seeing ads, if you clicked on one every once in a while it might help. Plus, if you tell everyone you know to take a look at this blog, I'd really appreciate it. Also, I have a PayPal account under my e-mail address. I'm just saying.)

So, where do I begin? Stay tuned...