These are the best nights of the summer ...
And I'm not talking about sweating it out because our air-conditioner is on the fritz again ...
Heading into tonight, Barry Bonds was sitting on homerun No. 754, Alex Rodriguez was sitting on homerun No. 499, and Tom Glavine was sitting on win No. 299 ...
And thanks to the revolution of cable television and DVR technology, I've had the chance to watch all three games -- and see none of the milestones being reached ...
I caught most of the Yankess-White Sox game and got to see everyone but Alex Rodriguez hit a homerun -- talk about a slugfest -- and then flipped over to watch Glavine take a 2-1 lead on the Brewers, only to have the Brewers tie the game at 2 ...
... And just now! as I'm writing this! Geoff Jenkins won it in the 13th inning with a two-run homerun to right. Imagine, I'm sitting here at the kitchen table and I looked up at the TV just in time to see Jenkins swing the bat. Seeing he caked it and there was no doubt about where it was heading, I shot up from my seat and walked into the living room with my hands raised, joining Kates in celebration as the ball fell into the left field bleachers ... What a game!
Oh yeah, and in between innings of the Brewers game, I was catching parts of the Dodgers-Giants game, seeing Bonds walk twice, strike out and then get a single on a botched fly ball in the seventh inning before promptly being pulled for a pinch runner.
Sigh.
When it comes to Barry Bonds, there's not a lot more I can think of saying other than the whole situation just makes me sad. I'm not sure how I'll react when and if he breaks the record, but I'm sad for Hank Aaron and the lack of respect he's recieved over the years. For all the fans and players that have been cheated by Bonds. And for the game of baseball, that the people who should've known better let it get to this point ...
I hate talking about it as much as Bond himself ... but for different reasons.
And yet, I still watch, with a deep interest in all of it. When you factor all the pending accomplishments, along with Frank Thomas's 500th homerun earlier this season, Craig Biggio's 3,000 hit, Justin Verlander's and Mark Buerhle's no-hitters -- not to mention the excitement of the Brewers and the pennant races that are simmering -- I can't help but compare this season to that glorious '98 season when we had McGwire and Sosa (for better or worse) trading homeruns, Kerry Wood tearing up the National League, Cal Ripken breaking his streak, the Yankees winning 114 games and all the other feats of that season ...
It has all the makings to be quite a ride the rest of the way ...
So what are my predictions?
For one, I'm rooting for the Brewers to to take the NL Central. The Cubs have been there over the years, and they bought their team. The Brewers haven't tasted it since '82, they've developed their team, and they're a bunch of kids that still play the game like they did in high school ...The Cubs can have the NL Wild Card.
I'm rooting for the Dodgers, of course, in the NL west. And the Braves to get back atop the NL East.
In the American League, I'll take the Angels in the West, the Tigers in the Central and the Red Sox in the East. If you know me, you're not seeing any surprises there either. Give the Indians the AL Wild Card.
How about a Tigers-Brewers Great Lakes series?
7.31.2007
7.30.2007
The Boys are back
So Kates and I eagerly caught the premiere of "My Boys" tonight ...And it was as good as any of last season's episodes, its inagural season. I laughed out loud constantly ...
It was good to see PJ and Brendan make up after their awkward moment that ended last season (but I'm not counting on Brendan's new girl to stick around for long ... ) ... and the whole bit with Kenny's new girlfriend (Hello! Nicole Sullivan!!) who turned a blind eye to her pregnancy was excellent as well ...
I was lukewarm at best on the show when it started last fall, yet Kates and I tuned in for every episode. Besides, its loaded with references to Chicago and baseball, and it's got Jim Gaffigan -- what more do you need, right !? Still, with last night's premiere, aptly titled "The Promise of a New Season," the show, is clearly showing signs of maturity ...
Kevin McDonough couldn't have put it any better:
Some shows excite viewers and others repel them. In the end, some are created for comfort — something to slip into like a favorite shoe. The comedy “My Boys” (9 p.m., TBS) is just entering its sophomore season, and it already has that old-sneaker feeling. And that is precisely its charm and its limitation.
For the uninitiated, “Boys” stars Jordana Spiro as the pretty Chicago-based sportswriter P.J. Franklin. Most of her pals are guys and all of her habits — creating fantasy-baseball rosters, playing poker and hanging out at dive bars — make her just like one of the boys. At the end of last season, we catch P.J. and her longtime roommate and platonic pal Brendan (Reid Scott) locked in a romantic embrace. Will this change everything? I’ll never tell.
P.J.’s miserably married brother (the affable everyman Jim Gaffigan) has moved to the suburbs, so now he can add commuting to his list of complaints. Her sportswriting rival, Bobby, has been “promoted” to covering NASCAR, but nobody seems to consider it a promotion or NASCAR a sport. Mike (Jamie Kaler) has settled too comfortably into unemployment and the furtive Kenny (Michael Bunin)seems to have found himself a girl (Nicole Sullivan).
OK, the sports-metaphor voiceover is laid on a tad thick. The Chicago tourist attractions seem pretty obvious. And must Brendan wear a Ramones T-shirt in every scene? He’s a rock DJ. We get it!
Much like P.J.’s circle of friends, you’d think you’d want to outgrow “My Boys” and move on to something more sophisticated. But at a time when new sitcoms are so rare and so few are worth watching (if you don’t believe me, check out the excruciating “House of Payne” and the mystifyingly lame “Bill Engvall Show”), “My Boys” stands out. Besides, who wants to get rid of an old shoe when it’s so darned comfortable?
7.29.2007
Sunday reading
... some of the stories and headlines that caught my eyes this past week ...
TV ...
a With 'Back to You,' the multi-camera sitcom gets a fighting chance
a Kevin Reilly reflects on move to Fox
a A Dramatic Transition: Legal Thriller Broadens Ted Danson's Acting Chops
a Carey talks 'Price Is Right'
Music ...
a Bands and brands going hand in hand
a Tegan & Sara ready to face the future
Baseball & sports
a Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn still awestruck about Hall of Fame
a The Iron Horse and Ripken
a Chances Are Three Times as Unlikely
a Ripken Enters The Hall: The Man, the Myth
a Schilling: Lack of denials implies guilt
a Jenkins enjoying that winning feeling
a Costas not upset about Bonds's 'midget man' shot
a Donovan: Brewers getting antsy
a HR record about to fall, but there are plenty more out there
a Top 11 tainted sports achievements
a Bike track spurs cycle of nostalgia
Other stuff ...
a Google's View of D.C. Melds New and Sharp, Old and Fuzzy
a Getting discovered online
a Bill attempts to protect dead stars' images
a The Meat Shall Inherit the Fridge
a Seeing past the sugarcoating: If not cereal companies, from where will kids learn to pick apart cartoonish marketing?
a For the 'I Like Turtles' Boy, 17 Seconds Of Fame
And after a rough week in the sports world, some good Onion reads always cheer me up ...
TV ...
a With 'Back to You,' the multi-camera sitcom gets a fighting chance
a Kevin Reilly reflects on move to Fox
a A Dramatic Transition: Legal Thriller Broadens Ted Danson's Acting Chops
a Carey talks 'Price Is Right'
Music ...
a Bands and brands going hand in hand
a Tegan & Sara ready to face the future
Baseball & sports
a Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn still awestruck about Hall of Fame
a The Iron Horse and Ripken
a Chances Are Three Times as Unlikely
a Ripken Enters The Hall: The Man, the Myth
a Schilling: Lack of denials implies guilt
a Jenkins enjoying that winning feeling
a Costas not upset about Bonds's 'midget man' shot
a Donovan: Brewers getting antsy
a HR record about to fall, but there are plenty more out there
a Top 11 tainted sports achievements
a Bike track spurs cycle of nostalgia
Other stuff ...
a Google's View of D.C. Melds New and Sharp, Old and Fuzzy
a Getting discovered online
a Bill attempts to protect dead stars' images
a The Meat Shall Inherit the Fridge
a Seeing past the sugarcoating: If not cereal companies, from where will kids learn to pick apart cartoonish marketing?
a For the 'I Like Turtles' Boy, 17 Seconds Of Fame
And after a rough week in the sports world, some good Onion reads always cheer me up ...
Game #10
... I was crazy for wanting to come back and play baseball this morning after a long weekend of camping.
But I did it.
Kates and I were up at 7:30 this morning. We packed up our camp and were on the road about two hours later ...
Got home at about 11:40 a.m. Changed into my uniform and ate a leftover brat for lunch. By 12:15, I was at the ball field and lacing up my spikes ...
Let's cut to the chase. For today's game, we were up against the only remaining undefeated team. We lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to them earlier this season, and we've known all along that we could beat them ...
We three three pitchers at them today, including our ace Jimmy, who's still rehabbing that torn ACL of his and yet he and the other two guys three brilliantly, keeping the other team's batters swinging at lots of junk and off speed stuff ...
We got one in the bottom of the first and they tied it in the third. Then they added two more in the fourth, and we tied it at three in the bottom of the sixth. The score stayed that way until the ninth when they got two runs in to go up 5-3. We went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, and that was the game ...
My dissappointment and exhaustion was only made worse by the fact that I couldn't get anything going ... Playing left field today, I made the first out of the game, catching a deep fly ball, and then I caught up with another one in the sixth that tailed to my right.
But at the plate I was awful. Batting in the sixth spot, I got lucky during my first at-bat in the second, watching two strikes and then getting a walk. Then, I had two great jumps in consecutive attempts to steal second but had to return to first when the batter fouled off the first pitch and then struck out on the second attempt ...
In the fifth I struck out on a nasty curve (dang curve!). And in the eighth, I watched ball one and then fouled off the next two pitches to go down 1-2. The next pitch was another curve that had me ducking away from the plate. Ball two. Then as I'm stepping back to the plate, the catcher mutters, "Watch out for in your ear." I'm thinking he's remarking on the previous pitch -- but it turned out it was genuine warning. The next pitch was a fastball high and inside ... And I couldn't hold the bat back. Strike three I was out ... I made the walk of shame back to the dugout and sat down without a word. I was emotionally drained.
My line for the season …
.360 average, 9 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts, .500 on-base %, 4 stolen bases, 8 runs, 2 RBI
As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
Game eight: We lost, 12-4
Game nine: We lost, 14-9
But I did it.
Kates and I were up at 7:30 this morning. We packed up our camp and were on the road about two hours later ...
Got home at about 11:40 a.m. Changed into my uniform and ate a leftover brat for lunch. By 12:15, I was at the ball field and lacing up my spikes ...
Let's cut to the chase. For today's game, we were up against the only remaining undefeated team. We lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to them earlier this season, and we've known all along that we could beat them ...
We three three pitchers at them today, including our ace Jimmy, who's still rehabbing that torn ACL of his and yet he and the other two guys three brilliantly, keeping the other team's batters swinging at lots of junk and off speed stuff ...
We got one in the bottom of the first and they tied it in the third. Then they added two more in the fourth, and we tied it at three in the bottom of the sixth. The score stayed that way until the ninth when they got two runs in to go up 5-3. We went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, and that was the game ...
My dissappointment and exhaustion was only made worse by the fact that I couldn't get anything going ... Playing left field today, I made the first out of the game, catching a deep fly ball, and then I caught up with another one in the sixth that tailed to my right.
But at the plate I was awful. Batting in the sixth spot, I got lucky during my first at-bat in the second, watching two strikes and then getting a walk. Then, I had two great jumps in consecutive attempts to steal second but had to return to first when the batter fouled off the first pitch and then struck out on the second attempt ...
In the fifth I struck out on a nasty curve (dang curve!). And in the eighth, I watched ball one and then fouled off the next two pitches to go down 1-2. The next pitch was another curve that had me ducking away from the plate. Ball two. Then as I'm stepping back to the plate, the catcher mutters, "Watch out for in your ear." I'm thinking he's remarking on the previous pitch -- but it turned out it was genuine warning. The next pitch was a fastball high and inside ... And I couldn't hold the bat back. Strike three I was out ... I made the walk of shame back to the dugout and sat down without a word. I was emotionally drained.
My line for the season …
.360 average, 9 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts, .500 on-base %, 4 stolen bases, 8 runs, 2 RBI
As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
Game eight: We lost, 12-4
Game nine: We lost, 14-9
Sunrises and sunsets
This is the way I started my Saturday. At about 5:30 a.m ...
... Later, as the morning turned to afternoon, we toured the nature center. I took a bike ride. Started reading a book. Napped in the tent. Kates and I took a hike. Dad made some of the best grilled chicken you've ever had for dinner. And I started our campfire for the night ...
Then Kates and I went to the beach and watched the moon rise. And this is how I ended my Saturday ...
... We walked along the beach and stopped at the concession stand for ice cream sandwiches before heading back to our site for the night ...
It wasn't easy leaving this morning. But we'll be back, and this time it won't take us 17 years to get there.
... Later, as the morning turned to afternoon, we toured the nature center. I took a bike ride. Started reading a book. Napped in the tent. Kates and I took a hike. Dad made some of the best grilled chicken you've ever had for dinner. And I started our campfire for the night ...Then Kates and I went to the beach and watched the moon rise. And this is how I ended my Saturday ...
... We walked along the beach and stopped at the concession stand for ice cream sandwiches before heading back to our site for the night ...It wasn't easy leaving this morning. But we'll be back, and this time it won't take us 17 years to get there.
7.27.2007
Summer vacation in time: Part I
Kates is reading her new Harry Potter book while I decided to do some writing. We're sitting beside a glowing campfire and under a canopy of trees as the stars are starting to appear against a clear sky. My parents are here too, but they've gone to take Grandma -- who spent the day with us -- back home ...
We're at Terry Andrae State Park just outside Sheboygan. And it's the end of what has been a gorgeous, memorable day that included scrambled eggs for breakfast, a morning bike ride and hike along the lake, and an afternoon with Grandma, highlighted by me making another miraculous comeback to win a game of Phase 10 ...
Let me brag for a little bit. Now, I'm a virtual pro at the ol' Phase 10 game. I love the strategy of it, thinking about what cards to play at the right times, trying to out-think the other players, and finding ways to tally the lowest possible score. I'll bet I win four out of five games I play ... But this weekend, Kates called for a change. She had purchased the dice version of Phase 10 and she was determined to make us play it, no matter how much I griped. Whereas the card version is a cross between Uno and Rummy, the dice version is like Yahtzee. And I'm not a fan of Yahtzee ...
With each phase, Dad kept finding ways to advance. Everybody else kept pace. And I fell two, three phases behind. But when Dad stumbled on a couple of the final phases, the rest of us caught up. And he did reach Phase 10 first, but unlike the card game, there's a clause in the dice version that states the remaining players can stay in the game if they can continue to get their phases. If they fail, they're out. But if they succeed, the winner is determined by the final point totals ...
Suddenly, the dice started rolling my way. Once I got my 7 of one color, I got my set of 5/set of 2 on the first try and then did a Carlos Zambrano point to the sky and somehow nailed the final phase -- set of 5/set of 3 -- on my final make-it-or-break-it roll of the dice. I jumped off the picnic table, started to do a little dance and began singing "The Price Is Right" theme ... Adding up the points was hardly needed because I'd scored below 40 points on just one of the 10 phases, and I was the only player to earn the five-phase bonus midway through the game. Sure enough, I won it with 490 points over Dad's 461. Grandma took 407, Kates had 384 and Mom had 370 ...
* * *
So this is Part I of our summer vacation. Part II will come in a couple weeks when I go back to Kansas City for my 10-year reunion ...
This part of the trip has been a year in the making. We booked this camp site a year ago, and I'm not sure there was anything I've looked forward to more this summer -- well, maybe Summerfest -- than this camping trip ...
See, I grew up camping at this park with my family. Of all the campgrounds we toured each summer, this one always was my favorite. Some of my fondest childhood memories were born at this park; the images remain engraved in my mind. So you can understand why, after 17 years away, I'd be so happy to return ...
Kates and I arrived here at about 5:30 last night, checked in at the ranger's office and found our camp site. A deep hollow sits behind the driveway, and the site backs up to a meadow that's just steps away from Lake Michigan. Sitting here and being able to hear the waves crashing on the beach is the best part of it all ...
Kates and I set up our tent and unpacked in record time -- seven or eight minutes tops -- and then we were off on our bikes for a ride through the camp ...
Everything was almost exactly the way I remembered it. Even the smells ...
Site No. 2 just inside the main road where I remember roasting marshmellows with Patrick, or dancing to my first mix tape playing on my first Walkman, or sitting at a picnic table with a coloring book, or playing on the hill behind the site with Joel ...
I remember almost all of the sites circling the loop closest to the bathhouse where we played and camped with Uncle David, Aunt Mary, Kyle and Ryan ...
Kates and I rode past the outdoor amphitheater where we’d gone for Sunday morning worship services. And a little further down the road at the bottom of the hill was the parking lot where I can remember watching a moon rise with Mom when Joel and I were little ...
The beach house hasn’t changed from the way it looked 20 years ago either. Except for the concession stand where Joel and I used to beg Mom and Dad to buy us push pops and candy necklaces. Now all that stands behind the counter is a couple vending machines with soda and ice cream sandwiches …
And there's the shelter, and the hill that Joel and me -- and sometimes my cousins when they came to visit -- would tear down on our way for a day of swimming at the beach …
And oh the beach. Though grasses and small trees have overtaken much of it now, the sand is just as white and soft as I remember it. The dunes have barely moved. Even a picnic table still sits under the birch tree where we probably ate dozens of cheese sandwiches and guzzled juice boxes in our breaks from swimming ...
I wanna be 7 years old again ...
* * *
... What Kates and I pretty much ignored last night during our setup and bike ride were the dark clouds swirling above us. Actually, we were just finishing our bike ride around the camp and returning to our site when the rain started to fall. Quickly, we propped our bikes against a picnic table and dove inside our tent ...
Which is where we stayed for the remainder of the night. The rain was relentless, continuing to fall for hours. Even when it slowed, the pause lasted for barely a couple minutes and then the deluge came again.
Mom and Dad arrived shortly after 7:30. Dad appeared under an umbrella outside our tent, saying he and Mom actually had been parked in the parking lot for the last half hour waiting for the rain to cease so they could set up their part of the camp. But it wasn’t happening they'd decided, and they were set to spend the night at the Comfort Inn out by the highway … And they returned not much later, deciding that for $140 a night, they could afford to get a little wet.
In the meantime (Kates and I would joke about this later), I put on my shoes and made a courageous run to the car, enduring the torrential rains. I crawled into the car, grabbed the bag of food and ran it back to the tent so that Kates and I would have something to eat and ensure our chances of surviving the night …
The rain was coming so hard, so fast ... little streams of water had formed and were beginning to flow under our tent. We could actually feel the water running under our tent and when we patted the floor of our tent, it felt like we were sitting on a water bed. But the good news was our water bed, er tent, wasn’t leaking.
And then almost as suddenly as the rain started, it stopped at about 10 p.m.
We're at Terry Andrae State Park just outside Sheboygan. And it's the end of what has been a gorgeous, memorable day that included scrambled eggs for breakfast, a morning bike ride and hike along the lake, and an afternoon with Grandma, highlighted by me making another miraculous comeback to win a game of Phase 10 ...
Let me brag for a little bit. Now, I'm a virtual pro at the ol' Phase 10 game. I love the strategy of it, thinking about what cards to play at the right times, trying to out-think the other players, and finding ways to tally the lowest possible score. I'll bet I win four out of five games I play ... But this weekend, Kates called for a change. She had purchased the dice version of Phase 10 and she was determined to make us play it, no matter how much I griped. Whereas the card version is a cross between Uno and Rummy, the dice version is like Yahtzee. And I'm not a fan of Yahtzee ...
With each phase, Dad kept finding ways to advance. Everybody else kept pace. And I fell two, three phases behind. But when Dad stumbled on a couple of the final phases, the rest of us caught up. And he did reach Phase 10 first, but unlike the card game, there's a clause in the dice version that states the remaining players can stay in the game if they can continue to get their phases. If they fail, they're out. But if they succeed, the winner is determined by the final point totals ...
Suddenly, the dice started rolling my way. Once I got my 7 of one color, I got my set of 5/set of 2 on the first try and then did a Carlos Zambrano point to the sky and somehow nailed the final phase -- set of 5/set of 3 -- on my final make-it-or-break-it roll of the dice. I jumped off the picnic table, started to do a little dance and began singing "The Price Is Right" theme ... Adding up the points was hardly needed because I'd scored below 40 points on just one of the 10 phases, and I was the only player to earn the five-phase bonus midway through the game. Sure enough, I won it with 490 points over Dad's 461. Grandma took 407, Kates had 384 and Mom had 370 ...* * *
So this is Part I of our summer vacation. Part II will come in a couple weeks when I go back to Kansas City for my 10-year reunion ...
This part of the trip has been a year in the making. We booked this camp site a year ago, and I'm not sure there was anything I've looked forward to more this summer -- well, maybe Summerfest -- than this camping trip ...
See, I grew up camping at this park with my family. Of all the campgrounds we toured each summer, this one always was my favorite. Some of my fondest childhood memories were born at this park; the images remain engraved in my mind. So you can understand why, after 17 years away, I'd be so happy to return ...
Kates and I arrived here at about 5:30 last night, checked in at the ranger's office and found our camp site. A deep hollow sits behind the driveway, and the site backs up to a meadow that's just steps away from Lake Michigan. Sitting here and being able to hear the waves crashing on the beach is the best part of it all ...
Kates and I set up our tent and unpacked in record time -- seven or eight minutes tops -- and then we were off on our bikes for a ride through the camp ...
Everything was almost exactly the way I remembered it. Even the smells ...
Site No. 2 just inside the main road where I remember roasting marshmellows with Patrick, or dancing to my first mix tape playing on my first Walkman, or sitting at a picnic table with a coloring book, or playing on the hill behind the site with Joel ...
I remember almost all of the sites circling the loop closest to the bathhouse where we played and camped with Uncle David, Aunt Mary, Kyle and Ryan ...
Kates and I rode past the outdoor amphitheater where we’d gone for Sunday morning worship services. And a little further down the road at the bottom of the hill was the parking lot where I can remember watching a moon rise with Mom when Joel and I were little ...
The beach house hasn’t changed from the way it looked 20 years ago either. Except for the concession stand where Joel and I used to beg Mom and Dad to buy us push pops and candy necklaces. Now all that stands behind the counter is a couple vending machines with soda and ice cream sandwiches …
And there's the shelter, and the hill that Joel and me -- and sometimes my cousins when they came to visit -- would tear down on our way for a day of swimming at the beach …
And oh the beach. Though grasses and small trees have overtaken much of it now, the sand is just as white and soft as I remember it. The dunes have barely moved. Even a picnic table still sits under the birch tree where we probably ate dozens of cheese sandwiches and guzzled juice boxes in our breaks from swimming ...
I wanna be 7 years old again ...
* * *... What Kates and I pretty much ignored last night during our setup and bike ride were the dark clouds swirling above us. Actually, we were just finishing our bike ride around the camp and returning to our site when the rain started to fall. Quickly, we propped our bikes against a picnic table and dove inside our tent ...
Which is where we stayed for the remainder of the night. The rain was relentless, continuing to fall for hours. Even when it slowed, the pause lasted for barely a couple minutes and then the deluge came again.
Mom and Dad arrived shortly after 7:30. Dad appeared under an umbrella outside our tent, saying he and Mom actually had been parked in the parking lot for the last half hour waiting for the rain to cease so they could set up their part of the camp. But it wasn’t happening they'd decided, and they were set to spend the night at the Comfort Inn out by the highway … And they returned not much later, deciding that for $140 a night, they could afford to get a little wet.
In the meantime (Kates and I would joke about this later), I put on my shoes and made a courageous run to the car, enduring the torrential rains. I crawled into the car, grabbed the bag of food and ran it back to the tent so that Kates and I would have something to eat and ensure our chances of surviving the night …
The rain was coming so hard, so fast ... little streams of water had formed and were beginning to flow under our tent. We could actually feel the water running under our tent and when we patted the floor of our tent, it felt like we were sitting on a water bed. But the good news was our water bed, er tent, wasn’t leaking.
And then almost as suddenly as the rain started, it stopped at about 10 p.m.
7.23.2007
Game #9
... Ok. I'm still having fun. Really ...But this whole losing thing is starting to wear on me ...
Tonight, we had a 5-1 lead and blew it. We lost 14-9.
... Granted we were playing one of the better teams in the league, but we're capable of beating any team in the league.
It also doesn't help that half our team is injured. Jimmy's rehabbing the ACL he tore earlier this season. Tommy badly sprained his ankle during practice on Saturday. J.D. did something to his ankle too. And Garrett did something to his arm ...
Ay yay yay.
I started in left field again tonight and got moved down to fifth in the order ... Both teams went scoreless in the first, and then we blew it open in the second. I led off the inning with a single to the left side, stole second and then scored on a fly that dropped in the outfield. When the inning was over we had a 5-0 lead ...
After they came back with one in the bottom of the second, I came up again in the third inning, this time with one out and a runner on first. I grounded the ball to the left side, they got the lead runner at second and I beat the throw to first ... When the next batter hit a long fly to center, I took off running. But as I'm rounding second, I see the third base coach giving me the stop sign to tag up. What!? I thought there were two outs!? The ball dropped, and I gunned it again and headed home to score -- a few moments before the runner was thrown out at second for the final out of the inning. I immediately went to the third base coach, threw my helmet in the air and shouted, There were two outs!
Oh, there were!? he says with a laugh.
Yeah! I said as we embraced in a playful hug.
That's all right, you scored anyway, he says.
... The laughter didn't last long though. The other team came back with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning and tied the score at six. And one run in the fourth. And four in the fifth. And three in the sixth.
We were so desperate the last couple innings we actually stuck Jimmy on the mound, even though he couldn't cover homeplate on any of his passed balls. And Tommy tried playing a couple innings at first, but notched a couple errors when he failed to glove two pick-off throws ...
... I had my share of action in left field, including a laser line drive that was hit my way and I gloved midway through the game. On the flip side, I let a deep ball get over my head -- if only I had one more step on it, or I tried to dive for it, I think I would have had it. And when a foul ball drifted to the deepest corner of left field, I gave it a good chase but tumbled over the bullpen pitcher's mound -- had I played it better, I would've had that ball too ...
I was moved to play second base for the final inning ...
And I did get to the plate once more, drawing a walk that I was pretty proud of. During that at-bat, I took the first pitch for strike one and then whiffed on a curve for the second pitch, quickly putting me down 0-2. But I guessed right on the next two pitches -- the pitcher tried getting me on some more junk, and I didn't take the bait, getting the count even at 2-2. That seemed to rattle him enough that his next two fastballs were way off the plate and I took the walk ... Then I took second on what should have been a hit-and-run play, but the batter missed the sign. I got to third on a ground ball that the first baseman botched, and then scored as the first baseman picked up the ball but failed to pay any attention to me ...
So, 1-for-2, a walk, two stolen bases, three runs. Not a bad night for me ... A win would've been nice too, though.
My line for the season …
.391 average, 9 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, .519 on-base %, 4 stolen bases, 8 runs, 2 RBI
As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
Game eight: We lost 12-4
Minor league coach dies after being hit
CRA-zy ...
Minor league coach dies after being hit -- Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game.
Minor league coach dies after being hit -- Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game.
7.22.2007
Harry Potter arrives
... So Kates got her copy of the seventh and final Harry Potter book tonight ...
... In what's sort of become a tradition of mine, I ordered it a couple weeks ago as a late birthday present for her. And as tough as it was, I never led on or gave her any hints that it was on its way ... She had no idea.
And all the while, as she's done leading up to every new Harry Potter book, she shrugs when someone asks her if she's excited for the new book. She says she doesn't care that much about it, and figures she'll get around to reading it sooner or later ...
But I know better.
So every year I surprise her with the newest book and then she has a completely different attitude ...
Tonight was no different. We'd just arrived home after our weekend on the road, and I immediately checked the mailbox, knowing it would be there. Amazon had even dressed it up in a Harry Potter-themed box -- something Kates didn't even see as I sang and danced and handed it to her in a mini-ceremony ...
When she realized she was the proud owner of the new, final Harry Potter book, her mouth and eyes got wide as the ocean, she held the book tight to her chest and thanked me repeatedly. Like a kid in a candy store. Minutes later, after we'd finished unpacking, she was settling in the chair, and delicately turning the first pages like they were crystal; she looked over the chapter titles and got set to begin the latest journey ...
Now I haven't read any of the books -- maybe I will someday -- but knowing how much Kates enjoys the books (We do own all the movies on DVD, which I have watched with her and enjoyed ...), it's been easy for me to get caught up in all the hype surrounding this last book...
Even I got excited just reading this review in the Baltimore Sun: An inevitable ending to Harry Potter series ...
More stories
a Harry Potter and the Resurgence of Story Telling
a The secret of Harry Potter’s appeal
a Who’s who in the world of Harry Potter
a Under the Spell of Harry Potter
a All Things 'Harry Potter'
About the book
a The story so far — Harry Potter 1 through 6
a Questions remain to be answered in final Harry Potter book
a Spoilers could be the least of some Potter fans’ worries
a The Complications of Killing Off Fictional Characters
a The Wizardly Editor Who Caught the Golden Snitch
a Catching up with ’Harry Potter’ audio-book narrator Jim Dale
a Harry Potter and the Diminished Returns
a A Young Wiz Nurtured by Literary Forebears
a Potter Mania Knows No Age Limit
a Would-be Harry Potter spoilers spread on the Internet
a The Harry Potter Phenomenon: Not Quite a Miracle
About the film
a Latest Potter Film Is Thick and Heavy
a Harry Potter film features the same old magic
a Harry Potter and his army of witches discuss the making of their latest Hogwarts adventure
Harry Potter links
a harrypotter.warnerbros.com
a http://www.jkrowling.com/
a mugglenet.com
a http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
a www.fuuko.com/hpquiz.html
... In what's sort of become a tradition of mine, I ordered it a couple weeks ago as a late birthday present for her. And as tough as it was, I never led on or gave her any hints that it was on its way ... She had no idea.
And all the while, as she's done leading up to every new Harry Potter book, she shrugs when someone asks her if she's excited for the new book. She says she doesn't care that much about it, and figures she'll get around to reading it sooner or later ...
But I know better.
So every year I surprise her with the newest book and then she has a completely different attitude ...
Tonight was no different. We'd just arrived home after our weekend on the road, and I immediately checked the mailbox, knowing it would be there. Amazon had even dressed it up in a Harry Potter-themed box -- something Kates didn't even see as I sang and danced and handed it to her in a mini-ceremony ...
When she realized she was the proud owner of the new, final Harry Potter book, her mouth and eyes got wide as the ocean, she held the book tight to her chest and thanked me repeatedly. Like a kid in a candy store. Minutes later, after we'd finished unpacking, she was settling in the chair, and delicately turning the first pages like they were crystal; she looked over the chapter titles and got set to begin the latest journey ...
Now I haven't read any of the books -- maybe I will someday -- but knowing how much Kates enjoys the books (We do own all the movies on DVD, which I have watched with her and enjoyed ...), it's been easy for me to get caught up in all the hype surrounding this last book...
Even I got excited just reading this review in the Baltimore Sun: An inevitable ending to Harry Potter series ...
More stories
a Harry Potter and the Resurgence of Story Telling
a The secret of Harry Potter’s appeal
a Who’s who in the world of Harry Potter
a Under the Spell of Harry Potter
a All Things 'Harry Potter'
About the book
a The story so far — Harry Potter 1 through 6
a Questions remain to be answered in final Harry Potter book
a Spoilers could be the least of some Potter fans’ worries
a The Complications of Killing Off Fictional Characters
a The Wizardly Editor Who Caught the Golden Snitch
a Catching up with ’Harry Potter’ audio-book narrator Jim Dale
a Harry Potter and the Diminished Returns
a A Young Wiz Nurtured by Literary Forebears
a Potter Mania Knows No Age Limit
a Would-be Harry Potter spoilers spread on the Internet
a The Harry Potter Phenomenon: Not Quite a Miracle
About the film
a Latest Potter Film Is Thick and Heavy
a Harry Potter film features the same old magic
a Harry Potter and his army of witches discuss the making of their latest Hogwarts adventure
Harry Potter links
a harrypotter.warnerbros.com
a http://www.jkrowling.com/
a mugglenet.com
a http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
a www.fuuko.com/hpquiz.html
There goes the weekend
Spontaneity is fun. Things are always more exciting that way ...
For the second weekend in a row, Kates and I blew off any plans we had -- which weren't much -- and went with the flow ...
On Friday night, we were in Chicago with Steve & Emily. Having dinner and drinks in their backyard. We could hear the symphony playing in the park down the street. And little six-week-old Ellie, who Kates and I were meeting for the first time, slept beside us in her stroller ... Afterward we took a walk downtown where Harry-Potter mania had taken over. Dozens of kids dressed in their wizard garb and gold and brown Hogwarts scarves were strolling the streets with their parents. Dozens more had already lined up outside the book store to get their copies of first of the new Harry Potter books to come out of the box. And almost all the storefronts had changed their names to play with the Harry Potter theme, in addition to offering deals. A sight to see, we mused more than once about how one book, especially in these times, could stir such interest and hype ...
On Saturday evening Kates and I went to my parents, and settled in with them to watch The Princess Diaries as it was just beginning on TV -- Cute movie. I liked it. Anne Hathaway was charming. Julie Andrews is an icon in an all-star cast that also features Hector Elizondo, Mandy Moore, Sandra Oh, and the girl that played Hathaway's sidekick friend was HA-larious ... And on Sunday we were joining the big family for my cousin's wedding shower in my uncle's breath-taking, botanical backyard (Yeah. We're talking rainbows of colors, waterfalls and a school of real live fish in the pond ...) We ate lots of good food, played ladder ball -- the game that seems to be sweeping through backyards everywhere this summer -- and a good time was had by all ...
Still, the sweet spot of the weekend was being at Miller Park on Saturday afternoon. Brewers-Giants. Barry Bonds. A chance at seeing history, perhaps ... whether we like it or not.
After Bonds came out of nowhere on Thursday and hit #752 and #753 at Wrigley, I started plugging for tickets. And on Friday night, I got lucky -- our friend Tiffany called and had one extra ticket to Saturday's game. I didn't hesitate; I seized it.
Since it was nationally-televised game, start time was an odd 3:05 p.m. Kates dropped me off and headed to her parents for the rest of the afternoon; I got inside the stadium, got my polish sausage with a souvenir Mountain Dew and found Tiffany and my seat just as the first pitch was being thrown ...
The stadium was packed. The press box was as full as I'd ever seen it. And the increase in security was noticeable ... T-shirts and signs were plentiful too. Among my favorites: "The Hunt for Ned's October" and "Aaron Forever, Bonds Never." Our seats were on the third base side of the second deck; we had the perfect balance of sun during the game's first half and shade for the final innings. The atmosphere in the stadium was, well, electric ...
To no one's surprise, Bonds was booed every time he stepped to the plate. He struck out his first time in the first inning, grounded out to the pitcher in the fourth, walked in the sixth and was intentionally walked in the eighth before he was pulled from the game. The funny thing about that intentional walk: the fans booed that one too. They're not happy when comes to the plate; they're not happy when teams walk him.
Yet, while it wasn't Bonds' day, it certainly wasn't the Brewers' either. The Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-run bomb by Pedro Feliz. And then wheels fell off in the top of the ninth when Chris Spurling could got just one out and loaded up the bases. Derrick Turnbow relieved him and promptly gave up a base-clearing double ... And the Brewers buried themselves, 8-0.
On one other note, I lost my bet during the sausage races. Turned out, Tiffany and the other ticket holders in her group place $1 bets during each game's race. This was a new concept to me, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I was assigned the hot dog, which actually is leading this year's sausage race standings. So my odds were good ... but the Italian Sausage won, and my $1 went to Tiffany.
For the second weekend in a row, Kates and I blew off any plans we had -- which weren't much -- and went with the flow ...
On Friday night, we were in Chicago with Steve & Emily. Having dinner and drinks in their backyard. We could hear the symphony playing in the park down the street. And little six-week-old Ellie, who Kates and I were meeting for the first time, slept beside us in her stroller ... Afterward we took a walk downtown where Harry-Potter mania had taken over. Dozens of kids dressed in their wizard garb and gold and brown Hogwarts scarves were strolling the streets with their parents. Dozens more had already lined up outside the book store to get their copies of first of the new Harry Potter books to come out of the box. And almost all the storefronts had changed their names to play with the Harry Potter theme, in addition to offering deals. A sight to see, we mused more than once about how one book, especially in these times, could stir such interest and hype ...
On Saturday evening Kates and I went to my parents, and settled in with them to watch The Princess Diaries as it was just beginning on TV -- Cute movie. I liked it. Anne Hathaway was charming. Julie Andrews is an icon in an all-star cast that also features Hector Elizondo, Mandy Moore, Sandra Oh, and the girl that played Hathaway's sidekick friend was HA-larious ... And on Sunday we were joining the big family for my cousin's wedding shower in my uncle's breath-taking, botanical backyard (Yeah. We're talking rainbows of colors, waterfalls and a school of real live fish in the pond ...) We ate lots of good food, played ladder ball -- the game that seems to be sweeping through backyards everywhere this summer -- and a good time was had by all ...
Still, the sweet spot of the weekend was being at Miller Park on Saturday afternoon. Brewers-Giants. Barry Bonds. A chance at seeing history, perhaps ... whether we like it or not.
After Bonds came out of nowhere on Thursday and hit #752 and #753 at Wrigley, I started plugging for tickets. And on Friday night, I got lucky -- our friend Tiffany called and had one extra ticket to Saturday's game. I didn't hesitate; I seized it.
Since it was nationally-televised game, start time was an odd 3:05 p.m. Kates dropped me off and headed to her parents for the rest of the afternoon; I got inside the stadium, got my polish sausage with a souvenir Mountain Dew and found Tiffany and my seat just as the first pitch was being thrown ...
The stadium was packed. The press box was as full as I'd ever seen it. And the increase in security was noticeable ... T-shirts and signs were plentiful too. Among my favorites: "The Hunt for Ned's October" and "Aaron Forever, Bonds Never." Our seats were on the third base side of the second deck; we had the perfect balance of sun during the game's first half and shade for the final innings. The atmosphere in the stadium was, well, electric ...To no one's surprise, Bonds was booed every time he stepped to the plate. He struck out his first time in the first inning, grounded out to the pitcher in the fourth, walked in the sixth and was intentionally walked in the eighth before he was pulled from the game. The funny thing about that intentional walk: the fans booed that one too. They're not happy when comes to the plate; they're not happy when teams walk him.Yet, while it wasn't Bonds' day, it certainly wasn't the Brewers' either. The Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-run bomb by Pedro Feliz. And then wheels fell off in the top of the ninth when Chris Spurling could got just one out and loaded up the bases. Derrick Turnbow relieved him and promptly gave up a base-clearing double ... And the Brewers buried themselves, 8-0.
On one other note, I lost my bet during the sausage races. Turned out, Tiffany and the other ticket holders in her group place $1 bets during each game's race. This was a new concept to me, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I was assigned the hot dog, which actually is leading this year's sausage race standings. So my odds were good ... but the Italian Sausage won, and my $1 went to Tiffany.
Sunday reading
... Some of the stories and headlines that caught my eyes this last week ...
Music ...
a 20 albums that defined an era
a Unknowns' commercial tune
a Talks on Internet radio royalties continue
a Lavigne clash widens
Baseball ...
a Awe* for Barry Bonds
a We know about Giambi; what about Bud?
a They didn't just monkey around
a A squad that can hit, run, throw and irritate
Politics, media, entertainment ...
a The Debates' New Face: YouTube Users Will Quiz the Candidates
a Obama Faces the Test Dean Failed: Broadening Support
a 'Hairspray' Is an Aerosol Version of the Real Baltimore
a An inevitable ending to Harry Potter series
a Gibson gives ABC's spirits and ratings a boost
Other stuff ...
a Sprint to 1,000 customers: You're fired
a By popular vote, the world's 'New 7 Wonders' named
Music ...
a 20 albums that defined an era
a Unknowns' commercial tune
a Talks on Internet radio royalties continue
a Lavigne clash widens
Baseball ...
a Awe* for Barry Bonds
a We know about Giambi; what about Bud?
a They didn't just monkey around
a A squad that can hit, run, throw and irritate
Politics, media, entertainment ...
a The Debates' New Face: YouTube Users Will Quiz the Candidates
a Obama Faces the Test Dean Failed: Broadening Support
a 'Hairspray' Is an Aerosol Version of the Real Baltimore
a An inevitable ending to Harry Potter series
a Gibson gives ABC's spirits and ratings a boost
Other stuff ...
a Sprint to 1,000 customers: You're fired
a By popular vote, the world's 'New 7 Wonders' named
7.19.2007
Going with Harold & Kumar
So I finished watching "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" tonight ...
I recorded it on our DVR a couple weeks ago, thinking it was one of those culturally-relevant movies I'd better see at least once ...
Yeah. I was ready to write a post all about how horrible I thought the acting was, and what a lame premise it had, and how it was absolutely one of the ill-humored, dumbest, worst films I'd ever seen ...
Until ...
The guys stole those bad guys' car, sped away and started whaling to Wilson Phillips. For the first time during the movie, I was laughing out loud.
The last half-hour of the film and the whole happily-ever-after ending wasn't so bad ...
I recorded it on our DVR a couple weeks ago, thinking it was one of those culturally-relevant movies I'd better see at least once ...
Yeah. I was ready to write a post all about how horrible I thought the acting was, and what a lame premise it had, and how it was absolutely one of the ill-humored, dumbest, worst films I'd ever seen ...
Until ...
The guys stole those bad guys' car, sped away and started whaling to Wilson Phillips. For the first time during the movie, I was laughing out loud.
The last half-hour of the film and the whole happily-ever-after ending wasn't so bad ...
7.18.2007
7.15.2007
Game #8
It was one of those days again …
Today we lost 12-4 to a mediocre team that we should have beaten. After all, we won our last game, and the last time we played these guys we led for most of the game before giving up the go-ahead runs late in the game …
Grrrr.
We played tight defense in the top of the first to shut them down and then put the first run on the board in our half of the first. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of that mix though -- batting in my usual leadoff spot, I slapped the second pitch I saw back at the pitcher. It was a hot shot that glanced off his stomach area and stunned him for a few moments, but he recovered nicely and threw me out at first…
Then disaster struck. These guys started hitting everything to right field, which, frankly, is where our weakest player was playing. It’s bad enough you need x-ray vision to pick up the ball at this field, even worse that our right fielder’s knees are worse off than Kirk Gibson’s during the ‘88 postseason … After awhile it was pretty clear these guys were aiming for him.
And the balls that weren’t hit to right, it seemed, were being hit to our third baseman, whose arm was so sore, he couldn’t make the throws to first base …
The other team scored four in the second inning, and did it again in the third, scoring seven … Oh yeah, and we pulled our right fielder and moved our third baseman to first base …
We weren’t having much luck hitting the other pitcher either. The pitcher they threw at us today was probably the best pitcher we’ve seen all year. He threw hard and he threw some nasty stuff …
… I struck out twice today -- something I‘m proud to say I don‘t do often -- both on some awful sliders. But the good news is I kept my hitting streak going with a single in the sixth inning. As I strode to the plate in the sixth, we had a runner on first and the third base coach gave me the hit-and-run sign. Um, ok, I thought, and I was set to swing at the first pitch I saw. It was high, but I threw my bat at it and blooped the ball into shallow center field …
I didn’t do too bad in the field today either. I played left field for the first six innings and caught two flies, including one ball hit to shallow left-center that I had to run a little to get to … Then in the seventh, I moved to third base, but had no plays there …
And there’s not much more to say than that …
My line for the season …
.381 average, 8 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, .458 on-base %, 2 stolen bases, 5 runs, 2 RBI
As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
Today we lost 12-4 to a mediocre team that we should have beaten. After all, we won our last game, and the last time we played these guys we led for most of the game before giving up the go-ahead runs late in the game …
Grrrr.
We played tight defense in the top of the first to shut them down and then put the first run on the board in our half of the first. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of that mix though -- batting in my usual leadoff spot, I slapped the second pitch I saw back at the pitcher. It was a hot shot that glanced off his stomach area and stunned him for a few moments, but he recovered nicely and threw me out at first…
Then disaster struck. These guys started hitting everything to right field, which, frankly, is where our weakest player was playing. It’s bad enough you need x-ray vision to pick up the ball at this field, even worse that our right fielder’s knees are worse off than Kirk Gibson’s during the ‘88 postseason … After awhile it was pretty clear these guys were aiming for him.
And the balls that weren’t hit to right, it seemed, were being hit to our third baseman, whose arm was so sore, he couldn’t make the throws to first base …
The other team scored four in the second inning, and did it again in the third, scoring seven … Oh yeah, and we pulled our right fielder and moved our third baseman to first base …
We weren’t having much luck hitting the other pitcher either. The pitcher they threw at us today was probably the best pitcher we’ve seen all year. He threw hard and he threw some nasty stuff …
… I struck out twice today -- something I‘m proud to say I don‘t do often -- both on some awful sliders. But the good news is I kept my hitting streak going with a single in the sixth inning. As I strode to the plate in the sixth, we had a runner on first and the third base coach gave me the hit-and-run sign. Um, ok, I thought, and I was set to swing at the first pitch I saw. It was high, but I threw my bat at it and blooped the ball into shallow center field …
I didn’t do too bad in the field today either. I played left field for the first six innings and caught two flies, including one ball hit to shallow left-center that I had to run a little to get to … Then in the seventh, I moved to third base, but had no plays there …
And there’s not much more to say than that …
My line for the season …
.381 average, 8 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, .458 on-base %, 2 stolen bases, 5 runs, 2 RBI
As for our other games …
Game one: We lost, 16-4
Game two: We lost, 13-2
Game three: We lost, I was off for the weekend
Game four: We lost, 5-4
Game five: We lost, 20-9
Game six: We lost, 5-4 (with pictures!)
Game seven: We won, 7-5
7.14.2007
Back to the Renaissance
... Kates and I had a full slate of plans today. I was going to work in the yard, take my car in for an oil change, take her bike in for some repairs. Kates was going to do some cleaning around the house. And then we hoped to get in a movie or something tonight ...
Yeah, all that was blown apart about 9 this morning when her cousin Jessi and Aunt Ruth called to say they were on their way down to the Renaissance Faire and they were inviting us to come along ...
What the heck, I said. Kates and I already had tickets; we just hadn't set a weekend to use them ...
So off we went ... to enjoy lots of good food (turkey legs!), jousting, sword fights, people on stilts, comedy, shopping, and good-old fashioned fun ... We bantered with crazy sheriff and watched the Angels of the Forest. We saw Moonie the Magnificent, Dick & Guido: The Swordsmen!, Barely Balanced Acrobats (funny and amazing!, my favorite of the day), and of course, the mud show ...
Here are some of my images from the Faire ...
Yeah, all that was blown apart about 9 this morning when her cousin Jessi and Aunt Ruth called to say they were on their way down to the Renaissance Faire and they were inviting us to come along ...
What the heck, I said. Kates and I already had tickets; we just hadn't set a weekend to use them ...
So off we went ... to enjoy lots of good food (turkey legs!), jousting, sword fights, people on stilts, comedy, shopping, and good-old fashioned fun ... We bantered with crazy sheriff and watched the Angels of the Forest. We saw Moonie the Magnificent, Dick & Guido: The Swordsmen!, Barely Balanced Acrobats (funny and amazing!, my favorite of the day), and of course, the mud show ...
Here are some of my images from the Faire ...
7.11.2007
All-star snoozer
So I fell asleep during the homerun derby ... And it didn't help that our DVR was being finicky, either. I started watching the derby about an hour behind real-time, then the DVR cutout and I missed about an hour chunk in the middle ... But hey, glad to see Vladimir take the crown.
And I can't say the all-star game was any more exciting -- aside from Ichiro's inside-the-park home run and the whole supposed feud thing between Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols ...
Seriously. What was La Russa thinking not batting Pujols for a chance to turn the tables in the ninth!? Alfonso Soriano has just hit a two-run home run. You've got the bases loaded. And you've got one of the best hitters in baseball sitting on the bench ... and you go with Aaron Rowand with the bases loaded!?! Aaron Rowand!?!
And seriously. The National League is better than to let the American League stay unbeaten in 11 consecutive all-star games ...
Ugh.
More baseball reads ...
a Strong-arm tactics prevail in first half of season
a Ringolsby: Phillies lords of futile system
a All-Star Game still too World Serious
a It's Easy to Snub Bonds
And I can't say the all-star game was any more exciting -- aside from Ichiro's inside-the-park home run and the whole supposed feud thing between Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols ...
Seriously. What was La Russa thinking not batting Pujols for a chance to turn the tables in the ninth!? Alfonso Soriano has just hit a two-run home run. You've got the bases loaded. And you've got one of the best hitters in baseball sitting on the bench ... and you go with Aaron Rowand with the bases loaded!?! Aaron Rowand!?!
And seriously. The National League is better than to let the American League stay unbeaten in 11 consecutive all-star games ...
Ugh.
More baseball reads ...
a Strong-arm tactics prevail in first half of season
a Ringolsby: Phillies lords of futile system
a All-Star Game still too World Serious
a It's Easy to Snub Bonds
7.10.2007
Video Shows Jet Ski Going Over Spillway
I just heard about this story on the radio ...
Check it out.
Video Shows Jet Ski Going Over Spillway in Texas Lake
Check it out.
Video Shows Jet Ski Going Over Spillway in Texas Lake
7.08.2007
Sunday reading
Some of the stories and headlines that have caught my eyes the last couple weeks ...
Music & entertainment ...
a Kelly Clarkson's dispute with Clive Davis has made her music hard to hear
a The Baby is Back on Ferrell's Funnyordie
a Chuckles, Guffaws and Some Yucks: Potty-Mouthed Toddler Got Will Ferrell's Comedy Web Site Up and Running
a Bringing Out the Worst In Celebrity Coverage? Esquire Chided for Jolie Cover Story
a What were they thinking? Good actors' bad choices
a Blunt's shaking his hit
a Watching Films or TV Together Is a Rite of Coupledom, Until A Scarlet Temptress Beckons
a TV cancellation hidden in a cloud of euphemism
a Paris fans are so Paris
a Rowling's spell, not a wizard, is behind the magic of 'Potter'
a When bad roles happen to good actors
a What will Ben Silverman think of next for NBC?
Sports ...
a Once the dirtiest player in the NFL, Conrad Dobler is now fighting for guys he tried to dismember ... My friend Mike is responsible for many of the photos you see with this one ...
a 'Bronx' revisits boys of summer 1977
a With Old-School Sluggers, A 'Derby' Done Right
The Internet ...
a Blogging Vs. Broadcast Rights: Free Press Or Freeloading?
a Calling In Pros to Refine Your Google Image
a Nanoseconds Of Happiness: You're Going to Love Your iPhone, Until the Next Gizmo Calls a Candidates learning that YouTube and other Web sites are potent portals
Other stuff ...
a A Roto-Rooter rescue
a A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease
a For 50 years, Milwaukee's been on a freeway ride
a Robotic cars could take pressure off nation's highways
a Travelers to the Grand Canyon have always had a killer view. Now they can take a step in a new direction
a Two Little Letters, Addressed to Everyone, That Speak Volumes
a Big blasts at harbor rock out near Big Gig
Music & entertainment ...
a Kelly Clarkson's dispute with Clive Davis has made her music hard to hear
a The Baby is Back on Ferrell's Funnyordie
a Chuckles, Guffaws and Some Yucks: Potty-Mouthed Toddler Got Will Ferrell's Comedy Web Site Up and Running
a Bringing Out the Worst In Celebrity Coverage? Esquire Chided for Jolie Cover Story
a What were they thinking? Good actors' bad choices
a Blunt's shaking his hit
a Watching Films or TV Together Is a Rite of Coupledom, Until A Scarlet Temptress Beckons
a TV cancellation hidden in a cloud of euphemism
a Paris fans are so Paris
a Rowling's spell, not a wizard, is behind the magic of 'Potter'
a When bad roles happen to good actors
a What will Ben Silverman think of next for NBC?
Sports ...
a Once the dirtiest player in the NFL, Conrad Dobler is now fighting for guys he tried to dismember ... My friend Mike is responsible for many of the photos you see with this one ...
a 'Bronx' revisits boys of summer 1977
a With Old-School Sluggers, A 'Derby' Done Right
The Internet ...
a Blogging Vs. Broadcast Rights: Free Press Or Freeloading?
a Calling In Pros to Refine Your Google Image
a Nanoseconds Of Happiness: You're Going to Love Your iPhone, Until the Next Gizmo Calls a Candidates learning that YouTube and other Web sites are potent portals
Other stuff ...
a A Roto-Rooter rescue
a A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease
a For 50 years, Milwaukee's been on a freeway ride
a Robotic cars could take pressure off nation's highways
a Travelers to the Grand Canyon have always had a killer view. Now they can take a step in a new direction
a Two Little Letters, Addressed to Everyone, That Speak Volumes
a Big blasts at harbor rock out near Big Gig
Summerfest '07: The End
All of my Summerfest '07 posts...
a Day 1
a Day 2
a Day 3
a Day 4
a Day 5
... No Summerfest tonight.
... Kates and I were up at 6:30 this morning and on the road by 7:30, trekking to join my extended family for 'lil Owen's baptism ... Wonderful service. Owen was cute and did well. We celebrated at the house afterward. Caught up on life. And it was good ...
We were on our way home by 2 ... and thoughts of sneaking in one more night of Summerfest were filling my mind ...
I still had a couple tickets left over, and I thought it would be cool to be there once more on closing night. Blue October was playing at the U.S. Cellular stage at 10 and I was interested in seeing them ...
I think more than anything I just wanted one more giant Summerfest cup of Mountain Dew and the perfect amount of ice ...
On the other side, it was really hot. And having to drive up to the Park N' Ride and catch yet another bus to Summerfest didn't really excite me. Same for the crowds and for the notion of another night of minimal sleep ...
(I am really dragging after all. I tried driving home this afternoon, but a third of the way into the drive I had to pull over and switch with Kates out of fear I was going to crash the car. She took over driving and I slept the rest of the ride home ...)
... I was still trying to decide whether I wanted to go right up until 7 p.m., and for a time Kates was going to go with me ... but we stepped back to reality and decided to stay home instead, cooking a pizza and watching Friends DVDs, thus easing the soul with some good laughs ...
And so it ends. Summerfest 2007, the 40th Anniversary celebration turns into a memory now. And a fine memory it will be ...
So too ends, the best 11 days I've had in a long, long, long time. Easily the best 11 days to start a new year of birth ... Lots of Summerfest, with Nostalgia Fest, a good night of baseball and Fourth of July on the beach mixed in -- nice.
My mourning period will last a few days. But don't worry I'll be OK ...
... This year, I made it to five of the 11 nights and saw a total of 17 bands -- give or take one or two, it was hard to keep track ... and from Headlights last Friday night to Scythian on Saturday, there hasn't been a year where I've had such a good time seeing the no-name/up-and-coming/pre-headliner bands ... Every night was better than the one before ...
... Above all, if you asked me to name my top four bands/musicians right now -- I’d give you Ben Folds, The Shins, Fleetwood Mac and Guster. And here I sit, having seen three of them (Lindsey Buckingham, of course, representing the Fleetwood Mac aspect) in a week's span -- I think that’s pretty darn special …
(For the record, I tried to come up with an even five for my top bands, but among the next bands I thought of -- Beach Boys, Chicago, Matchbox Twenty, Mute Math -- it was too hard to pick just one, and even then, none of them have garnered the consistent play over the last several months as my top four … )
... Actually the reminiscing began a few days ago already as I started searching YouTube for some videos from this year's Summerfest ... So here I give you some of my findings, representing a few of my favorite moments from this year's Summerfest ...
The first is a video of Lindsey Buckingham performing "Big Love" last Saturday night. The visual on it sucks, but the audio does the job ...
This one, although not from Summerfest, is of Lindsey doing "Never Going Back Again." According to the tag, this video was actually shot a few months ago in New York. But his performance at Summerfest was almost identical to this one, so here you go ...
Here's a short clip of Ben Folds doing the "Such Great Heights" cover ... man, I wish the whole thing was here! ...
... And here's a clip of the A-MAZ-ing synthesizer solo that he played at the end of "Such Great Heights" ...
Thankfully, there's a lot more of John Mayer's show. Like my favorite of the night, "Waiting On The World To Change" ...
... "Bigger Than My Body."
And "Your Body Is A Wonderland" (yeah, the crowd was this loud almost all night ...)
And of course, it wouldn't be worth remembering Summerfest without people dancing on picnic tables. This video apparently was taken last night as me and a few hundred others were waiting to see Guster ...
Summerfest reads ... cleaning out my Google alerts about all things Summerfest ...
a Heat doesn't stop the beat
a Keeping a clean smile
a Milwaukee Talks: Summerfest Chairman Howard Schnoll
a Trains, planes and guided missiles at the lake
a Summerfest grounds may get makeover
a Is this Summerfest or Oktoberfest?
a Carlin's naughty words still ring in officer's ears
a Roads traveled: 40 years of Summerfest
a Summerfest TV documentary blends history with reminiscences ... I watched this documentary. I didn't think it was that good; it didn't tell me a whole lot I didn't already know and the production quality was lacking, if not cheesy ...
a Festival shook off dust, mud to put smile on summer
a jsonline's Summerfest page
a Day 1
a Day 2
a Day 3
a Day 4
a Day 5
... No Summerfest tonight.
... Kates and I were up at 6:30 this morning and on the road by 7:30, trekking to join my extended family for 'lil Owen's baptism ... Wonderful service. Owen was cute and did well. We celebrated at the house afterward. Caught up on life. And it was good ...
We were on our way home by 2 ... and thoughts of sneaking in one more night of Summerfest were filling my mind ...
I still had a couple tickets left over, and I thought it would be cool to be there once more on closing night. Blue October was playing at the U.S. Cellular stage at 10 and I was interested in seeing them ...
I think more than anything I just wanted one more giant Summerfest cup of Mountain Dew and the perfect amount of ice ...
On the other side, it was really hot. And having to drive up to the Park N' Ride and catch yet another bus to Summerfest didn't really excite me. Same for the crowds and for the notion of another night of minimal sleep ...
(I am really dragging after all. I tried driving home this afternoon, but a third of the way into the drive I had to pull over and switch with Kates out of fear I was going to crash the car. She took over driving and I slept the rest of the ride home ...)
... I was still trying to decide whether I wanted to go right up until 7 p.m., and for a time Kates was going to go with me ... but we stepped back to reality and decided to stay home instead, cooking a pizza and watching Friends DVDs, thus easing the soul with some good laughs ...
And so it ends. Summerfest 2007, the 40th Anniversary celebration turns into a memory now. And a fine memory it will be ...
So too ends, the best 11 days I've had in a long, long, long time. Easily the best 11 days to start a new year of birth ... Lots of Summerfest, with Nostalgia Fest, a good night of baseball and Fourth of July on the beach mixed in -- nice.
My mourning period will last a few days. But don't worry I'll be OK ...
... This year, I made it to five of the 11 nights and saw a total of 17 bands -- give or take one or two, it was hard to keep track ... and from Headlights last Friday night to Scythian on Saturday, there hasn't been a year where I've had such a good time seeing the no-name/up-and-coming/pre-headliner bands ... Every night was better than the one before ...
... Above all, if you asked me to name my top four bands/musicians right now -- I’d give you Ben Folds, The Shins, Fleetwood Mac and Guster. And here I sit, having seen three of them (Lindsey Buckingham, of course, representing the Fleetwood Mac aspect) in a week's span -- I think that’s pretty darn special …
(For the record, I tried to come up with an even five for my top bands, but among the next bands I thought of -- Beach Boys, Chicago, Matchbox Twenty, Mute Math -- it was too hard to pick just one, and even then, none of them have garnered the consistent play over the last several months as my top four … )
... Actually the reminiscing began a few days ago already as I started searching YouTube for some videos from this year's Summerfest ... So here I give you some of my findings, representing a few of my favorite moments from this year's Summerfest ...
The first is a video of Lindsey Buckingham performing "Big Love" last Saturday night. The visual on it sucks, but the audio does the job ...
This one, although not from Summerfest, is of Lindsey doing "Never Going Back Again." According to the tag, this video was actually shot a few months ago in New York. But his performance at Summerfest was almost identical to this one, so here you go ...
Here's a short clip of Ben Folds doing the "Such Great Heights" cover ... man, I wish the whole thing was here! ...
... And here's a clip of the A-MAZ-ing synthesizer solo that he played at the end of "Such Great Heights" ...
Thankfully, there's a lot more of John Mayer's show. Like my favorite of the night, "Waiting On The World To Change" ...
... "Bigger Than My Body."
And "Your Body Is A Wonderland" (yeah, the crowd was this loud almost all night ...)
And of course, it wouldn't be worth remembering Summerfest without people dancing on picnic tables. This video apparently was taken last night as me and a few hundred others were waiting to see Guster ...
Summerfest reads ... cleaning out my Google alerts about all things Summerfest ...
a Heat doesn't stop the beat
a Keeping a clean smile
a Milwaukee Talks: Summerfest Chairman Howard Schnoll
a Trains, planes and guided missiles at the lake
a Summerfest grounds may get makeover
a Is this Summerfest or Oktoberfest?
a Carlin's naughty words still ring in officer's ears
a Roads traveled: 40 years of Summerfest
a Summerfest TV documentary blends history with reminiscences ... I watched this documentary. I didn't think it was that good; it didn't tell me a whole lot I didn't already know and the production quality was lacking, if not cheesy ...
a Festival shook off dust, mud to put smile on summer
a jsonline's Summerfest page
Summerfest '07: Day 5
… Keeping with my routine this week, I wasn’t in bed until after 2 last night, and I was back up at 7 to finish some work I’d left undone … By 9 I was at the batting cages for an hour of practice and then I went off to buy some new shoes (I still had my gift certificate from winning the Corporate Cup … and I exchanged it for a new pair of Teva sandals and some sweet retro tennis shoes -- all for 25 bucks on clearance -- and $25 cash back …).
… And after that, I was meeting Cubs great Billy Williams ... He was about 10 minutes late getting to the signing, but his jovial personality lit up the room when he passed through the door. “Hey everybody!” he said as he made is way to a table at the front of the shop. “I want everybody pulling for Lily to get a win today …”
Then, as myself and a few other guys got closer to Williams in the line, the longtime Cub says, “So tell me what do you want me to take back and tell some of the guys.” The questions started coming …
“What’s going on with Felix Pie,” a man asked. “
Williams answered, “Well, I think he’s got his hands up to high. He needs to lower them. He’s hitting everything to right.”
“What’s wrong with Derek Lee’s power? Do you think his wrists are still bothering him?” another man asked.
Williams answered, “Nah. I think it’s just pitchers are pitching him outside. And then Aramis Ramirez being out of the lineup. They just aren’t giving him anything to hit.”
When it was my turn to meet and greet Williams, he signed a photo for me. We shook hands and he says, “Hey, you look like Al Shapiro! Anybody ever told you that?”
“No,” I said.
“He plays third base for L.A. You look just like him.”
I've never heard of the guy and an Internet search didn't turn up anything ... But sure thing, Billy. Whatever you say.
* * *
… By 5, I was off to catch the Freeway Flyer for another night of Summerfest …
… The heat in Kenosha was retched, but somehow the weather was cooler further north at the Park N’ Ride lot, and there was a cool breeze sweeping through …Perhaps the heat might have deterred some people from going to the Fest; there were a surprising amount of empty parking spaces left in the lot. Even on the bus, Saturday night was the first night I’d taken the bus with no one standing in the aisles …
I arrived at the grounds about 6 p.m., and promptly headed for the Briggs & Stratton stage. Tonight’s plan was to see Guster, and I was not having a repeat of last year's Guster show (not getting a good spot, being surrounded by idiots, having a horrible time and being so disappointed I left the show …) …
I stopped at Major Goolsby’s to pick up a bacon cheeseburger (Seriously! BACON cheeseburger. There were pounds of bacon on this thing! After eating it, I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack before Guster had even taken the stage), and then found a spot on one of the last few benches lined up with the center of the stage. Cerfus Project was wrapping up their set, I had a good seat, and I was pleased.
I finished my burger and invited an older couple about my parents' age who had been looking for seats to fill the two spots I was holding to my right. To my left I had a charming group of high school-aged girls and boys (clearly Guster fans, four or five of the girls were wearing matching T-shirts) and in front of me I had a couple of girls who were my age that chatted with me and the other couple, in addition to exchanging high fives throughout the rest of the evening. It became one of those sweet nights at Summerfest when you and the strangers around you form your own little community and camaraderie …
By about 6:30 p.m., a band by the name of Scythian was coming on the stage. They had already got my attention when I watched their stagehands setting up violins and an accordion, in addition to drums and guitars …Then the guy who came on stage to introduce them mentioned the Washington Post has called them “one of Washington's most energetic and eclectic bands.”
Well, they played well all right … In fact, they were quite possibly the best non-headlining band I have ever seen at Summerfest.
Not one person was left sitting even one song into their set, and that’s a rarity for non-headlining bands. Without knowing the schedule or the bands, anyone walking past the Briggs stage while Scythian was playing could have easily mistaken them for tonight’s headliner given the crowd’s reaction.
Comprised of a couple guys on fiddles, a guitar player who doubles as the lead vocalist and the drummer, Scythian is a little bit country, a little bluegrass, a little bit rock, but mostly they were like “an Irish drinking band on speed.”
Vocalist Alex Fedoryka even introduced one song as “trashy Europe disco polka” and added “Everyone always asks what genre we play. But the truth is we don’t have a genre. We play music from all over the world.”
If “Fiddler on the Roof” were remade into a rock opera, these are the guys I’d want to have in the orchestra pit ... Then again, I’m not sure an orchestra pit would contain them. Aside from the drummer who was planted behind his set, the boys refused to stay in one place, constantly bopping around the stage. They repeatedly met each other around the center of the mic for jams. They played while squatting down; they played while jumping five feet in the air and doing the splits.
Seriously, did anyone have a video camera at the show!? I’m wanting the “Live from Summerfest” concert DVD. Scythian went on at 7:15 and led off their set with a quick jam and challenged the audience to get on their feet. Needless to say the crowd listened. The group mixed originals like with fiddle folk classics such as “Cotton-Eyed Joe.”
Midway through the show, the energy level was so high, the violinist shouted to the crowd, “You guys better pace yourself! Guster’s still coming out!”
To wrap up the show they actually did perform a jam that started with the main theme from “Fiddler,” and that led to the band members doing a kick line, which led to the audience joining in. In seconds, the entire crowd, from one side to the other was kicking in unison from their posts on the benches... The benches! At Summerfest! And anyone who's watched a show while standing on those rickety things, knows what I'm talking about.
By 8 p.m., the band was leaving the stage. Like air being let out of balloon, the crowd promptly took their seats on the benches again. But when Scythian reappeared on the stage to begin cleaning up their equipment and instruments, the crowd rose to its feet again and began chanting “One more song.”
Unfortunately for the crowd, the band was out of time and the next band was getting on... In the meantime, I just sat in awe, breathless and hoping they come back to Summerfest next year ...
* * *
The next band to take the stage was De Novo Dahl ...
Obviously they had a tough act to follow with Scynthia and they didn't reach near the energy level. But their loud, bouncy rock songs seemed to keep a decent section of the crowd entertained, including me. It also helped that the band -- which featured four guys and a girl who played keyboard and sang harmonies -- dressed in brightly colored outfits with sequins.
… And after that, I was meeting Cubs great Billy Williams ... He was about 10 minutes late getting to the signing, but his jovial personality lit up the room when he passed through the door. “Hey everybody!” he said as he made is way to a table at the front of the shop. “I want everybody pulling for Lily to get a win today …”Then, as myself and a few other guys got closer to Williams in the line, the longtime Cub says, “So tell me what do you want me to take back and tell some of the guys.” The questions started coming …
“What’s going on with Felix Pie,” a man asked. “
Williams answered, “Well, I think he’s got his hands up to high. He needs to lower them. He’s hitting everything to right.”
“What’s wrong with Derek Lee’s power? Do you think his wrists are still bothering him?” another man asked.
Williams answered, “Nah. I think it’s just pitchers are pitching him outside. And then Aramis Ramirez being out of the lineup. They just aren’t giving him anything to hit.”
When it was my turn to meet and greet Williams, he signed a photo for me. We shook hands and he says, “Hey, you look like Al Shapiro! Anybody ever told you that?”
“No,” I said.
“He plays third base for L.A. You look just like him.”
I've never heard of the guy and an Internet search didn't turn up anything ... But sure thing, Billy. Whatever you say.
* * *
… By 5, I was off to catch the Freeway Flyer for another night of Summerfest …
… The heat in Kenosha was retched, but somehow the weather was cooler further north at the Park N’ Ride lot, and there was a cool breeze sweeping through …Perhaps the heat might have deterred some people from going to the Fest; there were a surprising amount of empty parking spaces left in the lot. Even on the bus, Saturday night was the first night I’d taken the bus with no one standing in the aisles …
I arrived at the grounds about 6 p.m., and promptly headed for the Briggs & Stratton stage. Tonight’s plan was to see Guster, and I was not having a repeat of last year's Guster show (not getting a good spot, being surrounded by idiots, having a horrible time and being so disappointed I left the show …) …
I stopped at Major Goolsby’s to pick up a bacon cheeseburger (Seriously! BACON cheeseburger. There were pounds of bacon on this thing! After eating it, I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack before Guster had even taken the stage), and then found a spot on one of the last few benches lined up with the center of the stage. Cerfus Project was wrapping up their set, I had a good seat, and I was pleased.
I finished my burger and invited an older couple about my parents' age who had been looking for seats to fill the two spots I was holding to my right. To my left I had a charming group of high school-aged girls and boys (clearly Guster fans, four or five of the girls were wearing matching T-shirts) and in front of me I had a couple of girls who were my age that chatted with me and the other couple, in addition to exchanging high fives throughout the rest of the evening. It became one of those sweet nights at Summerfest when you and the strangers around you form your own little community and camaraderie …
By about 6:30 p.m., a band by the name of Scythian was coming on the stage. They had already got my attention when I watched their stagehands setting up violins and an accordion, in addition to drums and guitars …Then the guy who came on stage to introduce them mentioned the Washington Post has called them “one of Washington's most energetic and eclectic bands.”
Well, they played well all right … In fact, they were quite possibly the best non-headlining band I have ever seen at Summerfest.
Not one person was left sitting even one song into their set, and that’s a rarity for non-headlining bands. Without knowing the schedule or the bands, anyone walking past the Briggs stage while Scythian was playing could have easily mistaken them for tonight’s headliner given the crowd’s reaction.
Comprised of a couple guys on fiddles, a guitar player who doubles as the lead vocalist and the drummer, Scythian is a little bit country, a little bluegrass, a little bit rock, but mostly they were like “an Irish drinking band on speed.”Vocalist Alex Fedoryka even introduced one song as “trashy Europe disco polka” and added “Everyone always asks what genre we play. But the truth is we don’t have a genre. We play music from all over the world.”
If “Fiddler on the Roof” were remade into a rock opera, these are the guys I’d want to have in the orchestra pit ... Then again, I’m not sure an orchestra pit would contain them. Aside from the drummer who was planted behind his set, the boys refused to stay in one place, constantly bopping around the stage. They repeatedly met each other around the center of the mic for jams. They played while squatting down; they played while jumping five feet in the air and doing the splits.
Seriously, did anyone have a video camera at the show!? I’m wanting the “Live from Summerfest” concert DVD. Scythian went on at 7:15 and led off their set with a quick jam and challenged the audience to get on their feet. Needless to say the crowd listened. The group mixed originals like with fiddle folk classics such as “Cotton-Eyed Joe.”
Midway through the show, the energy level was so high, the violinist shouted to the crowd, “You guys better pace yourself! Guster’s still coming out!”
To wrap up the show they actually did perform a jam that started with the main theme from “Fiddler,” and that led to the band members doing a kick line, which led to the audience joining in. In seconds, the entire crowd, from one side to the other was kicking in unison from their posts on the benches... The benches! At Summerfest! And anyone who's watched a show while standing on those rickety things, knows what I'm talking about.
By 8 p.m., the band was leaving the stage. Like air being let out of balloon, the crowd promptly took their seats on the benches again. But when Scythian reappeared on the stage to begin cleaning up their equipment and instruments, the crowd rose to its feet again and began chanting “One more song.”
Unfortunately for the crowd, the band was out of time and the next band was getting on... In the meantime, I just sat in awe, breathless and hoping they come back to Summerfest next year ...
* * *
The next band to take the stage was De Novo Dahl ...
Obviously they had a tough act to follow with Scynthia and they didn't reach near the energy level. But their loud, bouncy rock songs seemed to keep a decent section of the crowd entertained, including me. It also helped that the band -- which featured four guys and a girl who played keyboard and sang harmonies -- dressed in brightly colored outfits with sequins.
With songs like "Shout" and their last song, "Be Your Man," (how can you not love a song with a catchy chorus of "uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, owww!") that made it hard to keep from singing along, I'll have to keep up with these guys ... as well as Scynthia, of course.
* * *
And finally, at 10 ...
(cue angel chorus)
Guster was taking the stage ...
I’m still wondering if this was planned or not (It was too good, I’d like to think it wasn’t planned... ), but typically, the recorded music that plays between the acts at each stage is turned off a few seconds before the oncoming band is about to appear. But tonight, just as Guster was stepping on to the stage, Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” began to play. The band took their positions on the stage and then they just stood there, gazing at the crowd, which had begun waving its arms in the air and serenading the band. Finally, lead singer Ryan Miller stepped into the mic and did his best Joe Cocker imitation, singing the falsetto “to me” that ends the song.
The crowd went wild and then the band burst into “What You Wish For,” which they followed with one of my favorites, “Manifest Destiny.”
Now, there’s a few things you can expect from a Guster show ...
A large, youth-oriented crowd. A solid pop-rock performance featuring the band’s catchy guitar licks and sunny harmonies. Some good laughs. And drummer Brian Rosenworcel practically beating his hands to pulp slapping bongos, cymbals and other percussive instruments ... All were there tonight.
Throughout the night, Guster mentioned more than once how much it enjoys playing Summerfest year after year -- which was music to my ears; I'd go see them again and again. They packed the Miller Lite Oasis last year and they very well could have done it again this year, but instead were cast off to the Briggs & Stratton stage while the alternative band Live had the Miller stage. And given the terrible acoustics at the Briggs stage, I was a little nervous about how Guster would sound, but it was OK ...
“We say it every time, but it’s so amazing to be playing here again,” Miller said early in the show. Later, he told the crowd the band already was planning a return for next year’s festival and promised some new surprises. Miller told the crowd Guster would play the ‘Fest every year if they’re invited.
Guster pleased the crowd with a flood of songs from their two most popular albums, 2003’s “Keep It Together” and “Ganging Up On the Sun,” which was arguably one of the best albums of last year ...
After “Manifest Destiny,” the set list went like this ...
“G Major”
“Amsterdam”
“Ramona”
“Satellite”
“The Beginning of the End”
“Come Downstairs And Say Hello”
“Demons”
“Barrel Of A Gun”
“Ruby Falls” (another one of my true faves, complete with Adam Gardner putting down his guitar to play the song’s muted trumpet section ... )
“C’mon”
“Careful”
Then, Miller told the crowd the next song would be the last before their encore and gave instructions to the crowd for how to act ... “We’ll walk off the stage and you guys pretend like you’re at a Toby Keith concert and cheer for more songs about patriotism,” he said. Then, after the group finished off “The Captain,” Miller shouted facetiously, “Thank you Milwaukee! We can’t wait for the next time we play here!” HA-larious!
... The crowd played along, and cheered at the top of their lungs. Then, came the chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and Guster had been off the stage barely 10 seconds before they were coming back again. It was was easily the most scripted and amusing encores I’ve ever witnessed. To top it off, Miller returned to the mic, shouting “Thank you, America!”
The band filled the encore set with “Brazil,” “Happier” and then “Keep It Together” as their final number ...
There were a bundle of dedications throughout the show too. Miller dedicated one song to a guy in the front row with a cowbell (a memento he’d caught earlier tonight after Cerfus Project finished their set and tossed it from the stage). And before the last song, Miller thanked the Major Goolsby’s stand for having “the best corn dogs in the world.” Then he added “We want to thank the bands you didn’t get to see tonight. Live …” before doing his best Ed Kowalczyk imitation, with a line of “Lightning Crashes -- “the placenta falls to the floor” ... HA-larious!
Miller continued, “And Collective Soul. They’re playing over there,” he said, pointing to the north end of the grounds “and Panic! At the disco” (which was playing at the Marcus). “Someday we’re going to go on a big tour with those guys. Guster and Panic! At the Disco!” Miller said with enthusiasm -- which was hilarious in its irony because given the two bands’ styles and fan bases, it’s unlikely to happen.
At almost exactly 11:30, Guster was leaving the stage to a similar disappointment that enveloped the end of Scynthia’s exit earlier tonight. The crowd clearly had enjoyed the performance and they were desperate to hear more. Instead the recorded music immediately switched on and -- waddaya know -- the first song to come on was Queen’s “We Are The Champions.” Singing at the top of their lungs and pumping their fists to the chorus, the crowd didn’t budge, hoping for Guster to come out once more ... I caught a sound guy on the side of the stage smiling back at the crowd and shaking his head as if to say, “Sorry guys, they’re done.”
Eventually, “We Are the Champions” ended. The crowd did begin to filter away. And I headed for the buses once more ...
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