Again, using the "iTunes DJ" feature because I can copy and paste the song titles so easily. Unfortunately, it doesn't prevent songs by the same artist/from the same album from being shuffled in so close together, as you can see from the two Erasure songs (from the same "greatest hits" album). But hey, today's date is 8/9/10. That's got to be worth something...
Platinum Blonde Life - No Doubt
Hold Me - Fleetwood Mac
She Is A Diamond - Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton (Evita/Broadway Cast)
You Ought To Be Dancing - People's Choice
Dirty Ol' Man - Faithless
Tangled - Maroon 5
I Get Around (Mick’s String Edit) - 2Pac
You Surround Me - Erasure
867-5309 - Mark Weigle
Mickey - Toni Basil
In The Name Of Love - Rick Astley
Sometimes - Erasure
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Monday, August 9, 2010
To All The Parks I've Loved Before...
Apologies to Willie and Julio for the title...
I thought I'd dig up something from the archives of the Outsports discussion board. A thread was started in 2002 about favorite major league ballparks. At the time, I had only been to six. I ranked them thusly: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Veterans Stadium (I made a note that the Vet ranked ahead of the others because of good memories as much as anything else), Qualcomm Stadium and Candlestick Park.
From 2003 through 2008 (during those happy years when I still had spending money) I managed to get to a lot more parks, and updated the list each time. So I thought I'd share my current rankings here on the blog. Ballparks listed in italics have been vacated by the teams that once called them home. Some have been torn down and replaced, others still stand.
I thought I'd dig up something from the archives of the Outsports discussion board. A thread was started in 2002 about favorite major league ballparks. At the time, I had only been to six. I ranked them thusly: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Veterans Stadium (I made a note that the Vet ranked ahead of the others because of good memories as much as anything else), Qualcomm Stadium and Candlestick Park.
From 2003 through 2008 (during those happy years when I still had spending money) I managed to get to a lot more parks, and updated the list each time. So I thought I'd share my current rankings here on the blog. Ballparks listed in italics have been vacated by the teams that once called them home. Some have been torn down and replaced, others still stand.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
I Think I'm Right About Brad Lidge
Let's look at what's happened since then. In the 6 days from July 25-31 Lidge pitched 4 times, struggling to get two saves vs. Colorado, pitching a scoreless inning against Arizona in a tie game in extra innings (after Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero combined to blow a 9th-inning lead), and giving up the walkoff 3-run homer to Washington's Ryan Zimmerman to lose a game in the 9th. His totals: 3 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts.
However, after that walkoff homer, Lidge got to pitch again the very next day, and three more times in the next 5 days (including tonight's game). Look at the difference in the numbers: 3 1/3 innings, 1 hit, no runs, no walks, 4 strikeouts, 3 saves in 3 opportunities.
It seems pretty clear to me now: as long as Lidge is healthy, if he gets regular work he'll have the command of his pitches he needs to be successful. I hope Charlie Manuel realizes this, because no one else on the roster except Brad Lidge has the ability to be a consistent closer right now.
Just one note on the offense: they're doing a nice job manufacturing runs without Ryan Howard, especially during tonight's 8th-inning rally to beat the Mets (and move to within a game of Atlanta for the NL East lead): seven singles (one on a bunt), a walk and a sacrifice fly produced six runs. This bodes well, and anything they get from the just-acquired Mike Sweeney will be a bonus (Sweeney got the first and last singles in the 8th, scoring a run and driving in another).
Friday, August 6, 2010
My Week In Comics 8-4-10
Hey, it's just one book this week. If I can't knock this post out instead of procrastinating, shame on me. Besides, there's something special about this...
Superman: The Last Family of Krypton 1 (of 3): DC has brought back the "Elseworlds" label for the first time in a few years. The concept of "Elsewords" according to their tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. The result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow." For example, in one such Superman/Elseworlds miniseries, "Superman: Red Son," baby Kal-El's rocket landed in the Soviet Union instead of in Kansas, and became the champion of the USSR. Here, the story is that Jor-El and Lara arrive on Earth along with their son. They immediately begin averting catastrophes and endearing themselves to the people of the world. Using Kryptonian technology Jor-El builds a futuristic tower in Metropolis for the family, and establishes a corporation that will apply Kryptonian science to Earth's technology to make the world a better place; Lara writes a best-selling self-help book based on ancient Kryptonian religious beliefs. Everything seems to be great except there's a bit of tension in the Els' marriage, in part over how to raise young Kal-El. And I'm sure there will be trouble related to the artificial intelligence system referred to as "B." I suspect that "B" will become some version of...well, you can guess at that.
Superman: The Last Family of Krypton 1 (of 3): DC has brought back the "Elseworlds" label for the first time in a few years. The concept of "Elsewords" according to their tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. The result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow." For example, in one such Superman/Elseworlds miniseries, "Superman: Red Son," baby Kal-El's rocket landed in the Soviet Union instead of in Kansas, and became the champion of the USSR. Here, the story is that Jor-El and Lara arrive on Earth along with their son. They immediately begin averting catastrophes and endearing themselves to the people of the world. Using Kryptonian technology Jor-El builds a futuristic tower in Metropolis for the family, and establishes a corporation that will apply Kryptonian science to Earth's technology to make the world a better place; Lara writes a best-selling self-help book based on ancient Kryptonian religious beliefs. Everything seems to be great except there's a bit of tension in the Els' marriage, in part over how to raise young Kal-El. And I'm sure there will be trouble related to the artificial intelligence system referred to as "B." I suspect that "B" will become some version of...well, you can guess at that.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
God Bless America
On the same day that California's Proposition 8 was declared unconstitutional and equality won, it's entirely appropriate and fabulous that my friend Kurt got to sing "God Bless America" at the Camden Riversharks game. Enjoy! And celebrate -- for now, because the bigots and teabaggers and other assorted scumbags will keep fighting against same-sex marriage, so we'll have to keep fighting all the harder.
(YouTube is having issues, so I had to post it to Facebook. Also, that's me screaming "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" at the end.)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
My Week In Comics 7-28-10
We start with the bad, and work our way up...
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 4 (of 6): I alluded to this last week in my comment on the first issue of "Time Masters: Vanishing Point." This series has turned into a train wreck. Bruce Wayne has gone from prehistoric-era Gotham to witch trial-era Gotham to high seas pirate-era Gotham, and now he's jumped through time again and is in the Wild Wild West-era Gotham. And this story involves Jonah Hex. You may remember there was a Jonah Hex movie earlier this summer. It was a huge bomb. So is this book. In the first issue Bruce was incoherent, then was able to speak normally (for the era he was in). In this issue he doesn't say a word. I barely have any idea what's going on and I'm not sure I care.
Gotham City Sirens 14: This book is losing me as well, although more slowly. The last few issues have been tightly focused on one or two of its three stars, meaning the interplay between the three that was so entertaining is mostly missing. Here, Poison Ivy is checking out something interesting at her job at S.T.A.R. Labs, something that turns out to be dangerous. Meanwhile, back at the home they share, Catwoman and Harley Quinn haven't heard from Ivy in a while. They decide to give her a little more time. Then, separately, they get into costume and go looking for her at S.T.A.R. So at least they're all in the same place...
Action Comics 891: We get a look at a few of Lex Luthor's dreams...contrived as they are, as they've been placed into his mind by Mister Mind, an alien telepathic bug. So it's sort of like "Inception" without the different dream levels and Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There's even a cameo by Superman, sort of. It's nice to see some version of Superman in his own book. Suffice to say, Luthor is still on his quest for the power of the Black Lantern rings, and his robotic substitute for Lois Lane is by his side.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 4 (of 6): I alluded to this last week in my comment on the first issue of "Time Masters: Vanishing Point." This series has turned into a train wreck. Bruce Wayne has gone from prehistoric-era Gotham to witch trial-era Gotham to high seas pirate-era Gotham, and now he's jumped through time again and is in the Wild Wild West-era Gotham. And this story involves Jonah Hex. You may remember there was a Jonah Hex movie earlier this summer. It was a huge bomb. So is this book. In the first issue Bruce was incoherent, then was able to speak normally (for the era he was in). In this issue he doesn't say a word. I barely have any idea what's going on and I'm not sure I care.
Gotham City Sirens 14: This book is losing me as well, although more slowly. The last few issues have been tightly focused on one or two of its three stars, meaning the interplay between the three that was so entertaining is mostly missing. Here, Poison Ivy is checking out something interesting at her job at S.T.A.R. Labs, something that turns out to be dangerous. Meanwhile, back at the home they share, Catwoman and Harley Quinn haven't heard from Ivy in a while. They decide to give her a little more time. Then, separately, they get into costume and go looking for her at S.T.A.R. So at least they're all in the same place...
Action Comics 891: We get a look at a few of Lex Luthor's dreams...contrived as they are, as they've been placed into his mind by Mister Mind, an alien telepathic bug. So it's sort of like "Inception" without the different dream levels and Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There's even a cameo by Superman, sort of. It's nice to see some version of Superman in his own book. Suffice to say, Luthor is still on his quest for the power of the Black Lantern rings, and his robotic substitute for Lois Lane is by his side.
Phillies Causing Mood Swings
Once again the Phils have three members of their starting lineup currently on the DL -- Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and now Howard. And Howard has probably been the most consistent hitter of the three, and probably the most important. Besides those three, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Brian Schneider, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ (traded in the Oswalt deal), Jamie Moyer, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, Antonio Bastardo and Lidge have all spent time on the DL.With all the inconsistency and underachieving and slumps and these injuries, after tonight's win at Florida (behind Roy Halladay) the Phils are just 2 games out of first place. How is that possible?
The thing I like about tonight's game: of their 13 hits, nine came from Ben Francisco, Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez. They still need Jimmy Rollins to get back to his form of the opening week of the season and for Raul Ibanez to keep up his recent resurgence. But they need as much offense as they can get from these other guys as well, especially with Howard out.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Yarn Bomb!
While I was doing the Mural Mile tour last month, I happened upon an example of yarn bombing. I'd never heard of it before I read some posts about it on the Philthy Blog, which focuses on the local scenes in art, music, fashion, etc. Yarn bombing is like graffiti or street art, except instead of paint, the artists use yarn. There are a number of examples of local yarn bombs in these archived Philthy Blog posts.
I took these photos on South Street. That is quite a way up that pole. I wonder how the artist managed to do this without being stopped by the police or someone else? I would think a ladder would be needed. I also wonder how well these yarn bombs can last, between the rain and the hot sun and idiots who can't resist yanking at it. This one's been up since at least mid-May, when it was featured on a Philthy Blog post. Hmmmm...maybe I should make a return trip and check it out?
I took these photos on South Street. That is quite a way up that pole. I wonder how the artist managed to do this without being stopped by the police or someone else? I would think a ladder would be needed. I also wonder how well these yarn bombs can last, between the rain and the hot sun and idiots who can't resist yanking at it. This one's been up since at least mid-May, when it was featured on a Philthy Blog post. Hmmmm...maybe I should make a return trip and check it out?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Philly's Mural Mile
During all of the Independence Day weekend festivities, I went downtown on the 2nd of July and actually participated in one of the events. That is, if you consider getting a free hot dog as participation. My actual purpose on this trip was to take the Mural Mile walking tour. We have a great thing here, the Mural Arts Program, through which local artists create murals on the walls of buildings with input from the community. They've now put together a walking tour of 17 of the murals in center city as the Mural Mile. It's actually 2.5 miles if you walk the entire length of the tour, but there's an abridged one-mile version including 12 of the 17 murals.
I downloaded podcasts to my iPod and listened to descriptions of the program, the individual murals, some of the creative processes and commentary from some of the artists and others. It was very interesting, particularly the story of the mural that wraps around Dirty Frank's bar. There's also a LGBT mural called "Pride & Progress."
I took a bunch of photos and have put them into a Flickr set. You can go here to see it. I've added a few photos below as a sample.
I downloaded podcasts to my iPod and listened to descriptions of the program, the individual murals, some of the creative processes and commentary from some of the artists and others. It was very interesting, particularly the story of the mural that wraps around Dirty Frank's bar. There's also a LGBT mural called "Pride & Progress."
I took a bunch of photos and have put them into a Flickr set. You can go here to see it. I've added a few photos below as a sample.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A Letter To Batman
Dear Batman,
I need to tell you something very important. Please don't get mad, okay? Here goes: you need to do a better job hiding the Philly entrance to the tunnel leading to the Batcave.
I won't even go into where you've located it -- right around the corner from Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on South Street. Do you know how many tourists head for South Street? If I could find it, I can't help but think that sooner or later one of them will stumble upon it.
I tell you this for your own good.
Love, Joe
(P.S. You can read about the artist who created the mosaic seen on this wall, and in many other locations, here.)
I need to tell you something very important. Please don't get mad, okay? Here goes: you need to do a better job hiding the Philly entrance to the tunnel leading to the Batcave.
I won't even go into where you've located it -- right around the corner from Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on South Street. Do you know how many tourists head for South Street? If I could find it, I can't help but think that sooner or later one of them will stumble upon it.
I tell you this for your own good.
Love, Joe
(P.S. You can read about the artist who created the mosaic seen on this wall, and in many other locations, here.)
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