Saturday, June 06, 2009

The Mets are messin' with my mind.

At the end of April, I was ready to give up on them. Then May brought good play and fortune, and I was beguiled. By the end of the month, the local baseball pundits were praising their resilience, noting their ability to beat good teams even with players like Delgado and Reyes sidelined by injuries. But June brought something that rhymes with it, and it ain't moon or tune. My wife, the Red Sox fan, knows all about it. The June swoon. It started with their getting swept in Pittsburgh by a below .500 team. Now they've moved on to Washington, to play the worst team in the National League. Last night, I checked in and saw a one-all tie going into the bottom of the ninth. I just knew what was going to happen: the Nats would score and bye-bye. So, I averted my eyes, and didn't check again for about twenty minutes. To my delight, I found that David Wright had scored two runs in the top of the tenth, and Rodriguez had notched another save. Tonight, however, the Mets have returned to swoonland, with Maine, who I now fear may be next to join a D.L. that looks like the aftermath of Chateau-Thierry, yielding seven earned runs.

I take some comfort in the Rays, who also have had a spate of injuries, having beaten the Yankees, and that the opening of the Brooklyn Cyclones' season is less than two weeks away

Update: Sunday brought a 7-0 win, and so a successful series against the floundering Nats. Next up, though, are arch-nemesis and division leading Phils, followed by the hated and now hot Yanks. Reasons for hope: Ryan Church is back in the lineup and got two hits last night, and Livian Hernandez has been awesome in his past two outings.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Goodbye, Koko Taylor

The drumbeat of losses from the music world continues with the death, at 80, of Koko Taylor, who reigned for many years as queen of Chicago blues. Thanks to Kevin of The Woodshed for alerting me to her passing.

I'm shocked, shocked!

Downright flabbergasted by the result of this Gallup poll.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Marshall Chapman, live in Louisville.


Marshall Chapman and I go back a ways. Our encounters have been few but fun, certainly for me and I hope for her. She gives great hug. So I've awaited eagerly a video of her in performance that I could share with, as Marshall would say, y'all. Now, through Facebook, she's provided me with the YouTube clip above, which shows her onstage with Tim Krekel at an event called Bobbie Watson's Dance or Die, at the Vernon Club in Louisville last Saturday.

This is a long clip that begins at a mild roar, but builds steadily in tempo and intensity. As Marshall says, "View to end or you'll miss some ass-shaking, kissing, and even a little poetry reading!" And, I'll add, how many rock songs feature a hot trombone solo?

P.S. Be sure to check out Marshall's website, and her articles in Garden & Gun magazine, of which she's a contributing editor.

Sad addendum: Less than a month after this event, Tim Krekel died.