From yesterday's Sox-Rangers game in Arlington. Thanks to Tex for taking all of these! Check out her blog.

Please click these to enlarge. Can you find two shots featuring Joe Castiglione? (And I didn't even ask! Nice shootin', Tex.)











Remember, these pics are Tex's. Give her credit if you use any of these. Don't mess with Tex.

Yanks lose, despite Miguel Tejada's usual choke artist routine. On a grounder to him, I thought, Heeere we go. But I only worried about him making one error on the play. He would make two. It led to a Yankee run, but thanks in part to some A-Rod A-Roddery, the Yanks couldn't capitalize on enough scoring chances. Jeter was hobbling around like Johnny Damon, after hiting a ball off his foot, finally leaving the game. We'll keep our eye on that.

Looks like Pavano's been the Yanks' most efficient starter so far.

I think Ken Singleton is a pathological liar. I know, I said yesterday that his incorrect tale of yesteryear was just a common mistake, no harm no foul. But after watching the whole game tonight, I've realized he has a problem. I don't know why I never noticed this before. Maybe because tonight it was a two-man booth, so he had more time to spout inaccuracies. (Joe Girardi had the night off--I've noticed his job is to make excuses for everything a Yankee does wrong.)

Here are some Singleton Jon Lovitz imitations from tonight:

Singleton: Brian Roberts injured his...right arm, yeah, that's the ticket, the right one. That's why he stopped hitting well from the right side, because you need that bottom hand for power. Yeah. [later...] Actually, Roberts injured his left arm...

Kay: I was talking to some people from Japan and they say it gets cold over there, but never in Tokyo. Singleton: I've been over there a few times, and, actually, it does get cold in Tokyo. Trust me. I've been there, like, three times. These people that are actually from there don't know shit.

Singleton: Brian Cashman was down at the triple-A game tonight watching Phil Hughes. [cut to live shot of Cashman standing in Yankee Stadium] Kay: He woulda had to motor to make it here that fast...

Then you had this exchange, which blew my mind:

Kay: New Yorkers will recognize this name--Chad Bradford comes in for Baltimore. He pitched with the Mets last season. Sigleton: Yankee fans will also know him, as he pitched for [Jere says, Whew, were they actually gonna ignore his time in Boston] the Oakland A's. [Okay....anybody else? Singleton goes on to talk about Bradford some more, then reiterates:] But, yes, the Yankees do indeed know him, from his time with the Oakland Athletics.

Every Yankee fan at home must remember that Bradford was on the Red Sox. I honestly can't believe they wouldn't have mentioned that. They talked about it so nonchalantly, like they were telling the whole story, and there was nothing else to tell. (The Royals announcers, speaking of this, didn't seem to know we had David Riske once.)

Funny how Millar is still loudly booed at the Stadium. Almost as loud as the ones for A-Rod....

I still can't believe they have Bob Shepherd instruct the crowd to say a silent prayer. Can I be ejected from the Dunbar Shack for refusing to pray?

So us and the Yanks lost to 0-3 teams tonight. Tomorrow the Yanks pitch Igawa, and the next day, Rasner. I hope they both STB, but if one does well, I've got dibs on "[That one] and Pavano and pray for a mono (outbreak)."

Got a call from the Mets today. I thought maybe I'd won their Opening Day tickets contest. Nope. Turns o they were just trying to push multi-game plans on me. Weird. The dude even said, "It's not every day you get a call from us, huh?" Now I'm trying to figure out how the Mets had my work number....

Game was over before ya proverbially knew it today. Too bad we continued our trend of not scoring for Wake.

The Moose has given up 5 runs on 6 hits through three. 5-2 O-Bags.

A rare compliment for the Hell No Network: Last night, Doug Malpha-traior got his arm whacked by an oncoming runner, as he had to reach across the baseline to field a throw. Dunbah-nnouncers immediately brought up the similar play at the Stadium which put Brian Roberts on the DL a while back. Within seconds, they actually had the replay of the Roberts play ready. It was really quick. Do you think they just keep that one close by in case similar plays occur? Or is the technology that good now, that they can just type in "Roberts" and all of his highlights pop up, ready to roll?

I think this article should've been called "Dear Yankee fans, Aging outfielder who was face of Red Sox team that beat you in biggest comeback of all-time who you got in hopes he'd continue Ruth/Clemens/Boggs tradition even though that made NO sense because Johnny did the opposite and won with Sox and went to Yanks to become a loser now can't even walk, and, no, your beloved palyer he replaced is NOT coming back by any means. Sorry!"

Too wordy, or no?

Also, I love the new bumbling-style of the Yanks' infield. Min-cave-in is having lots of fun fielding those thows at first. I also was trying to figure out what was different about him--and realized it was his lack of off-kilter goatee. (Not allowed in Yankee-town. You know, because facial hair prevents them from failing six years in a row. Oh, wait...)

Dice-K's first pitch as a Red Sox! In Kansas City, today, Apil 5th, 2007. (please click these for big-ification.)

I am so happy Iget to have this pic on my blog. Many thanks go out to Wayne Klick (that's like an ice cream man named... forget it.) for getting these photos for me. Please check out his blog for more of his work. And if you absolutely must lift any of these pics from here, please give the credit to Wayne. A few more from today:


Note: I could've had that first photo from earlier up if I'd only thought to log in to Flickr at the time. That was my problem.

If you want to get some Sox photos in your city, please read this.

Update, 10:54 PM: We move into first, as the Rays beat the Yanks! What a crazy game--snow did fall, and the Rays held on, despite their Rayish ways. ARod with a key popout with the bases loaded, down one, two outs in the eighth. Boos followed.

I also forgot to mention this: JS aka Baseball Heavy pointed out that Jim Rice acted a little insane at a PawSox luncheon. I only founf two newspaper articles about this, but JS' account is better, and contains more pictures of people who have nothing to do with the topic. Ostensibly, that is.

I've said this before--any time a former ballplayer tells a wacky anecdote, you can pretty much count on it not being true.

Just now, Yanks' announcer Ken Singleon told a tale involving Earl Weaver, ending with "...and we (Baltimore) went out and lost to Boston on Opening Day."

I checked retrosheeet, knowing for certain--just based on my theory--that this didn't really take place. Sure enough, the O's only played the Sox once on Opening Day while Singleton was on the team--and won (1976). This is by no means a shot at Singleton or the Yankees, I'm just proving my point, and it happened to be a Yankee announcer who was the latest to help me do so.

But it brings up again what I said before about how your memory differs from reality. And that's cool--it's just that when your job is something that's documented so meticulously, you might want to throw an "if I recall correctly" in there. The rest of us don't need to--until scoresheets of the 1982 Ridgebury Elementary School 3rd grade kickball season surface. (By the way, I'm still waiting for the arrival of that DVD with the concerts I went to on it...)

Also note: It snowed today. Crazy. Snow on the day of Dice's first game--I should've saved some!

Today, a new section of Fenway Park was introduced, with tickets for it going immediately on sale. It's a set of bleachers pered atop the right field roof boxes, named after Tony C. Look at the message they give you while you're in the virtual waiting room:

To ensure that the families who purchase the tickets in Conigliaro’s Corner actually use them, the Red Sox will not allow tickets to be mailed in advance or delivered via print@home technology. Tickets must be picked up by the purchaser of record on the day of the game when the gates open. Fans picking up the tickets will be required to enter directly into Fenway Park.

I have a theory. This isn't about the new section. They coud've thrown bleachers up anywhere. No, this is a test. The Red Sox have finally come up with a viable anti-scalping idea, and I love it. No one who buys these seats can sell them. Beautiful. I think they're seeing how this goes, and maybe, if it's feasible, they'll start doing this for the rest of the seats in the park at some future date. I wonder how they'll go about "requiring" you to enter the park. That's the key. It shouldn't be too hard for a few hundred, but can you take care of 35,000 that way?

If the wait in the virtual waiting room is any indication, people are still willing to buy under this system. Personally, I finally got through, but decided I don't need any more tickets this season, and--here's the downside to this new method--I don't like to feel "locked in" to a date, and I can't give these to friends, because I'd have to be there to pick up the tickets. However, I could deal with this problem if it meant no more scalping.

How has no one thought of this idea before? Don't want scalping? Will call only. This could lead to a quick dismantling of the entire sleazy online ticket agencies. I'd love to send camera people in with the repo folks who go into the homes of the Girls Gone Wild-watchin', 20-something-er-than-thou "CEO"s of those companies just to see the looks on their "still playing poker until the next fad dictates our lifestyle"-y faces when the Entourage DVDs go bye-bye.

Photo here. (I can't seem to get it to appear here...maybe because it's only showing up as being 1 x 1 pixels...I don't get it.)

From photographer Wayne Klick, (that's like an ice cream man named Cone!) who is in KC right now, I give you Dice at the K. I will add more photos later. He told me he has a zoom, so maybe we'll get some close-ups. But I'm just happy he agreed to do some shooting for me. Thanks, Wayne! (Sox up 1-0 in the third.)

Update 5:15 PM: We win, 4-1. A perfect day. Dice: 7 innings, a run, 10 Ks. Pap with the save. When Wayne gives me the photos from today, I'll get 'em up here. I guess that one above is unobtainable from flickr. I don't know much abou flickr, except that its set-up is awkward to me, and it's not letting me get that pic. Oh well.

It's sinking in now how awesome it's going to be when Dice walks out to and in from the bullpen next Wednesday. And if it's rained out, I'll be there Thursday. If that's rained out, I'll be there Friday. Etc, etc. This was the plan...

Coco to wear 42 for a day...

Today I start training my replacement here at work. I wasn't too happy about having to completely ignore the 2:05 Dice start. But this morning, I got acquainted with the new guy, and it turns out he's a big baseball fan. So, at 2:00, I will train him on how to watch mlb.tv at work! [Note to boss, should she ever read this: This blog is a work of fiction. Anything written here is the opposite of true. Also, I'm not even the same Jere. Are you calling me on a cellular phone? Do I know you? Prank caller! Prank caller!]

I've also got a correspondent in KC, who'll be providing us with some pics from the park. I'll post those either during the game, if I get a chance and if he can get them to me then, or tonight. So watch for that.

Empy sent me this:

Hastings chatted with the boy for two hours on March 27, describing several sexual acts, the criminal complaint says.

During a chat on March 28, Hastings wrote to the boy: “We’ll play it by ear as will need to be cautious no need to raise suspicion or alert cops (be)cause I can go to jail.”

Hastings agreed to meet the boy near the mall’s food court at about 9 p.m. Saturday. He told the boy he would be driving the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees van.

Hastings showed up driving a brown car, and was arrested when he approached the police decoy.

After his arrest, Hastings told police he had access to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees van because he is the Grump and attends special appearances mainly at functions involving children.

Ouch! (The "Grump" is the name of their mascot.) Terrible job as usual, Yankees organization.

I feel like Beckett secretly hates Dice-K. I never hear him say anything about the whole thig. I wonder if he's feeling the pressure, knowing Dice is one spot below him in the rotation, and could easily start climbing that ladder. Regardless, that should be enough motivation for Josh do excel this year. He's done well for the most part tonight.

When we get back to Fenway, Drew needs to just blend in, I think. Don't make any egregious mistakes. Don't go 0 for 4. A bonus for him, though, would be to have a great Opening Day. This is a good idea for any new player, but would be really good for a guy everyone has a suspicious eye on. If we're winning after a few homestands, and he's playing fairly well, he should be okay. If he starts with the bed-shitting or sits out with a minor injury or does something that people construe as, you know, anti-hustle, he's gonna be in trouble. From what I've seen of him, I have a good feeling, though.

Speaking of minor injuries, Damon may be out for a while. We shall see.

Odalis Perez threw the most ridiculous knuckleball tonight. No spin, no movement. The Royals announcers (whom I'm stuck with, in my last month of mlb.tv before finally moving to NESN territory) couldn't believe what they were seeing. Did NESN catch this?

Quiz update: The quiz season was supposed to end when the baseball season started. Didn't work out. We'll just let it run over, until we reach the 24 mark. Good luck to everyone in the home stretch.

4-1 us in the sixth.

Update: We win, 7-1. Nice job all around. A run on three hits given up by our arms, and seven runs by our arms that hold bats means we avoid a Pap usage. (But did I just see Mike Lowell make three errors?) And Extra Innings will be on cable after all. I should be able to catch the free preview up for a week, then I go to a bunch of April games, then I'm livin' in Boston and I won't have to worry about this nonsense any more.

Matty's down in DC right now at the Marlins-Nats game. Here's Anibal Sanchez from a few minutes ago.

Below: Hanley.

Matty's doing his best with just a camera-phone, but it's funny how if you click to enlarge, it turns into a pastel-drawing. Especially interesting looking at the players in the backgruond. I think Matty could easily pretend he's invented some new technoolgy that immediately converts regular pics into crazy brush-stroke drawings.

Dunbar rained out today, people who had tickets to Pettitte's return now sad, with rain hiding their tears. Now I'll walk over in that same rain to Lenny's for the self-proclaimed best sandwich in New York.

Freeze warning for the mighty K.C. tonight, but game-time temp should be around 40.

So we'll still trail in the AILC after tonight, but we can pull even in the NAIWC if Beckett pitches like he didn't last year.

[Key: AILC = All-Important Loss Column. NAIWC = Not-As-Important Win Column.]

Manhattanhenge is still two months away, but down in the West Village, where the grid slants, they're already getting some longer-than-soul shadows. Check out this six-boxer. As in, my shadow is touching at least six sidewalk squares.

My friend Chan's school has now won the last two college basketball championships, as well as the last football one. My friend Jim's teams have been in the last college basketball final, college football championship, and Super Bowl, but have lost all three. I really am Even Steven. In fact, I was supposed to be named Steven, but I ended up with Jere.

Today, a guy standing on the sidewalk saw my Red Sox hat and said "Boooo, Red Sox." The catch? He was also wearing a Red Sox hat! His was the kind that's black with a black "B." My theory is that he wears it for fashion purposes, and instinctively booed the Red Sox, not remembering which hat he chose to go with his outfit this morning. Regardless of what might have been going through his head, let's all join e-hands (or whatever) and say it together: "Terrible Job."

Oh crap, I just realized I should have put the camera on the ground and shot a pic of its shadow. Maybe tomorrow.

You know how when you hear that song "What a Wonderful World," you're usually watching a montage and saying "Oh God, this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen"? Oh, it's just me? Well, anyway, I finally found an instance of someone using that song that works for me. It's in this awesome post by the Sitting Still lady. (I knew she had a photo site, but Joy of Sox pointed out she does a blog now.)

Must be the fact that the Red Sox are involved, with a twist of "I didn't actually have to hear the tune." Okay, not a bad song at all, but, again, I equate it with cheesy montages. So... Bonus Alert! As I was about to post this, Sitting Still answered me about helping me with my photo correspondent project! Sweet! (Note: Our first correspondent pics should be up Thursday from Dice's start in KC.)

In Fancy Nancy news, Fancy Nancy has a blog now. I wrote about her once before here--to the delight of zero commenters! She does a public access TV show here in Manhattan, which cracks me pretty consistently up. She's finally getting some press, and has done some standup shows. I hope she does another one before I leave NYC so I can witness the FN show in all its live, fancy glory. Through some sitting still and moving only my fingers, aka research, I've figured out that her boyfriend, who appears on her show, does this wacky web talk show, which is also funny. Check it out.

The good news is: At least Schilling schitt the bed on a day when we weren't winning anyway. Great job by Porno Gil Meche, and by our baserunners for giving him a few extra outs.

AJM said it in the comments, and he certainly has a point, that if Schill acts like the gym coach he acted like today all season, we'd be better off with Pap in the rotation. But it's only one game. He's still Curt Schilling. (Or a guy who ate Curt Schilling. This isn't what we meant by an "El Guapo comeback," Curt.)

I got to see this one on ESPN. Joe Morgan wasn't too offensive except when he nonchalantly called Pena safe at third on a replay which was far from definitive. Miller wasn't bad, either, except when describing a ball Coco caught shy of the track, just to the right of dead center. He said the ball would've been in the bleachers at Fenway. Uh, Jon? A ball that doesn't reach the warning track in front of the 410 mark at one park would not be out of a park whose wall, at the equivolent spot, sits 420 feet from home, and is 18 feet high to boot. The George Brett conversation was pretty entertaining, too.

I just watched as the Yanks took a two-run lead in the bottom of the eighth. A-Rod came up. It was guaranteed. This is when he shines, when it doesn't matter. Of course, he gets the home run. And what do te fans do? Curtain call. It's amazing. Can't wait to watch that team NOT win the World Series yet again in 2007. Will be sweet. Year seven of their well-deserved drought.

I kid you not, people: I just saw this on the Gameday--A-Rod dropped a foul pop in the first inning, in game one, at home. Of course, I don't know what the play looked like, but still. I can't even imagine the reaction he'll get when he comes up to the plate--which is right now. Too bad I can't watch on mlb.tv at work because it's blacked out.

But I'm already pissed at the D-Rays. Crawford gets on, steals second. Does the next guy bunt him over? No. So then Baldelli hits one nearly out of the park, and Crawford gets to third, but he should've been home if they'd sacrificed. Then A-Rod dropd the foul pop, but they still don't take advantage. We're one-half inning into the season, and not even the Red Sox season, and I'm ready to throw chairs and stuff. I never know how I last 162 games with this sport.

Here comes A-Rod, two on (nice freakn' job, Kazmir), one out. 2-2 now... 3-2. Come on, quit being afraid, Kazmir, ya bum... strike three! Swinging! Again, I can't even imagine. I should go outside and see if I can hear the boos from Manhattan.

Update: There was a double-steal on the K. So Steroids was up with second and third, two outs. Kazmir goes 3-1 on him, and I'm thinking, Good, just walk him and pitch to Matsui, lefty-righty matchup be damned. First base is open. But he fucking throws him a strike, and Steroids hits knocks in both runners. Stupid Devil Rays. Turn into a bunch of scared Little Leaguers when you play us, assholes!

And then he walks Matsui anyway! And only then does the pitching coach come out. At least he finally got out of it. 2-0 Dunbar after one.

Update: Now Jeter makes a throwing error! All the parents who turned to their kid after the A-Rod play and said "Jeta would neva do dat" are now blushing. (Granted, I'm still assuming the A-Rod thing was an incredibly easy play that he botched. I'm watching on Gameday, in case you missed it.) Hey, they got a run. 2-1 Yanks after one and a half.

I'm just gonna add to this, at least while I'm on lunch, without putting the word "update" every time. Kazmir, when you see a guy named Phelps come up, in the Yankee lineup, do anything but walk him. Terrible job. Looks like we're gonna have to rely on the Yanks' pitching being shitty this year. Which it will be. Oh Jay-zus. He gets Damon, then hits Jeter with 0-2 pitch. (Why do I get the feeling he leaned out over the plate? That's how Jetes gets things going. Deception and chicanery. Uh, Kazmir, o-2, you should be trying to make him chase with a pitch way outside, not hitting the dude.) Abreu grounds out, out of inning.

Kazmir settling down. 21- Dunnies after 3. Total hits by A-Rod & Jeter: 0. Total errors by A-Rod & Jeter: 2.

Hey! A D-Rays rally, and it's 4-3, our side. Did I read this right? Did the Rays try to bunt Crawford to third, like they should've done before, and they got the guy at first, but Crawford didn't advance to third? How the hell did they pull that off? Now Brian Bruney's in for the Yanks. Note to Rays: Get a bigger lead. You'll need it. And now they get another run on Delmon Young's single, but he gets caught stealing to end the top of the fifth.

The tough-as-nails Johnny Damon appears to have left the game. (I'm not about to go to a Yanks message board to find out why.) And the Rays go down in the sixth. 5-3, mid-sixth.

The Red Sox don't sell tickets to the "special" games in the normal way. Those are lottery-only. Said days--Opening Day and Yankee games--are also special to bloggers. We may try to hide it, but we know there's a little extra traffic on those days, so we have to come up with something new and different.

This Opening Day, I've decided to pull this obvious cop-out where instead of coming up with something new and different, I describe how I'm supposed to be coming up with something new and different.

Whoops, better post a visual, as I can just feel some of the casual fans slipping away, the ones who heard on the news that baseball starts today and searched Google Blogs for "Red Sox" or "Papi" or, what's that guy's name...with the hair...oh, right, Manny. The guy who be's Manny. Here you go:

That's Kevin Millar. Remember him? This is the type of thing you'll get here at RSF/PT. A video still of Millar on the street in New York. Or sometimes I'll actually shoot players on the field:

That's Lefty, Righty, and Adam Stern. Another video still. Don't click those to enlarge, they only get fuzzier. But fear not, I just got a better still camera, so the photos will be higher-quality in 2007. Closer to something like this, which I took as Trot Nixon walked off the field for the last time as a Red Sock or Sox, depending which you prefer:

That's with the old still camera. The new one, like I said, will provide better quality. I mean, Jesus, can this squirrel get any more resolute? Click this baby and take a giant step backwards:

I snapped this lady in Central Park a few months ago with the new camera. (I use the female default here at RSF/PT. Although I do see a protuberance in the crotch-al area. I suppose it could be a nipple. Does anyone know anything about nipple placement on squirrels? You see, these are the types of things discussed here. It's not just about the Red Sox. You can get that anywhere else.)

But I'll definitely spend many hours discussing the team I have loved since nine months before I was born.

Sometimes I'll even show some of my Sox past, like me at Fenway, above, in 1989. That's Rich Gedman, number 10, behind the young Jere.

Sometimes I'll show you entire vides as opposed to stills, so long as my GooTube account is taken down for showing one freakin' second of a copyrighted image, while other people sell drugs and porn to children and get away with it. Go figure. Here's a movie I made from footage I shot at the World Series Victory Parade, which was actually a "rolling rally," which is a lame name for the best party in the history of the world:


Sometimes I'll talk about music and crap like that. I used to be in a punk band called The Pac-Men, which should've been called The Ms. Pac-Men, due to it being the superior of the two basic Pac-Man games. But since we were all dudes, we thought we'd make it less confusing. Our singer used to be in The Pist, and here's a video I made from footage of their reunion show in Connecticut, the state I grew up in, a few years back:


So, yeah, I'll do stuff like that. Gotta love the sound quality on GooTube.

This blog doesn't shill for seedy internet ticket agencies. So if you're from one, note that the sign on the right that says "ad-free blog" doesn't mean "send me a shitty form letter asking me to put up a text link so you can continue to steal all the good seats and drive up the prices for the rest of us." I'd rather rip out my stomach and eat it, and then watch it come out the hole where the stomach used to be, than advertise for your cash cow. If I'm gonna do an ad, it's gonna look like this one I made:



Also, this blog is not the newspaper. When I want to voice my opinion about, say, the Yankees--the bane of my existence since '75--I will do it. I won't say "Gotta respect that Derek Jeter," but rather, I'll go ahead with what I really feel, something more like, "How can anybody like that cheater? Screw him. I hope he trips and falls. Twice." You know, stuff you'd say about your rival in real life.

I do lots of other stuff, so try to keep up, and watch me for the changes. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't eat meat, don't like coffee or dogs or reality shows, don't salute the flag if I don't want to, but I have more fun than a millionaire ever could. If you're a right-winger, you won't like my politics, but you still should be able to enjoy my blog. You, and Yankee fans, are always welcome to, hopefully politely, comment on anything you read or see here.

So I guess this turned out to be the new "about this blog." One more thing: If you're reading this before May 1st, 2007, you should know that I'm moving in with my girlfriend in the greater Boston area, and this blog will become "A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory." If you're reading this after May 1st, 2007, you should know that this blog was formerly "A Red Sox Fan In Pinstripe Territory," as I lived in Manhattan for two years, after spending the first 29 years of my life in Fairfield County, Connecticut, which is part of New England, yet is still considered outside of New England Sports Network's viewing area, meaning I grew up listening to my team on the radio, while watching and rooting against the Yanks, and getting to know my enemy more than most front-running, bandwagoning Yankee fans knew their own team. [Update, December 2008: I'm currently in Providence, RI.]

Thanks to everybody who has ever come here in the last three years. Anti-terrible job! And thanks to Dana Carvey for the title of this post.

Previous "About This Blog"s:

October 2006
April 2006
April 2005

Oh, and if you'll be seeing the Red Sox in any city besides Boston in 2007, and you have a camera, click here if you want to help me with a project. Thanks.

From yesterday's Sox-Phils exhibition game!

I apologize if this has already been posted somewhere else and college kids everywhere are coming up with funny slogans about it and everyone's sick of the whole thing already. (If not, enjoy!) I saw it live yesterday and I just now went to the archived game and grabbed this.

What are the odds your crowded subway pulls into a station, you get out to let people off, and tapping you on the shoulder when you step onto the platform is your friend, who's on his way to meet you in a completely different place in the city? Apparently one in one tonight. I mean, arriving at the same station is possible, but him and his grirlfriend standing at the spot where your door lands? On a six-car train, each car having three doors? It happened.

We were on our way to see Sebadoh at Webster Hall. They hadn't played as their original line-up in about 15 years. They played well, considering all the technical difficulties they had. The crowd was a dud, though. I'd guess the reason everyone was so subdued is that they all didn't really know the band and had just heard that they better go see them from their friends who also live in Brooklyn and have the same haircuts they do, or they did know the band, but were so happy to be seeing this legendary group that they just wanted to stand and stare.

Lou Barlow was funny and friendly as usual. Always good to see him, in any band.

The opening act was The Bent Moustache. We didn't expect much from them, but they were really good. I wouldn't say it was "knocked my socks off"-level (does anyone besides my dad acyually use that phrase?), but it was pretty damn close. And that's saying something coming from a dude like me who's cynical when it comes to bands in general. They had lots of energy, they rocked without pretention, and their drummer was awesome, which is the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast. Best of all, they made fun of the dead crowd. At one point, the bass player/leader guy mentioned that some band he liked was playing tonight in the city, and was met with blank stares and silence. He said, "Ooh, I guess I'm talking to an indie-schmindie crowd here..." Ha! Preach on, brother Beavis! He later tried again to get the crowd to do something other than the New York stare, with no results. At the end, he said, and not in a sour grapes-ish way, "Come on, we played our asses off. I'm sweating!" Still nothing from this holier-than-Manhattan crowd. I loved that the guy stood up to them. He was gonna have fun whether anyone else was or not. And the crowd proved it was the them, not the bands, that were dead, when they were almost as non-responsive for Sebadoh, the band they came to see.

So check out those two bands. (Sebadoh's album for this tour is called Wade Through the Boggs!)

Before the show, we ate at El Cantinero, on University and 12th. Go there in the summer for their roof deck, and their mainly good food. Pat presented me with a keychain my parents got me for my 16th birthday, which I'd left in his car over a decade ago. (Robin asked if I still had "that blog." I said yes, and she said she'd go to it to see if I mentioned the keychain... She also doesn't believe me that horse races go clockwise in Europe. I just looked it up and found that it's not always, but definitely sometimes, whereas over here it's always counter-clockwise.)

After the show I finally tried this chocolate restaurant by Union Square. The thing I got was overpriced and not that good, but I'll try the place again. They actually serve every meal there. I want to try breakfast. They've got a bagel with a chocolate bar melted inside.

Also, I killed four people tonight.

April Fools!

Okay, got that out of the way early.

39 hours 'til Red Sox action!