Saturday, November 03, 2012
Stars Of David
A few weeks ago the Celtics sent out an e-mail saying extra tickets were released. I checked for Opening Night knowing full well that A. I wasn't gonna spring for anything more expensive than the $12 seats because it skyrockets from there, and B. they probably wouldn't have any of the few $12 seats left anyway. But they had four left. So tonight, Kim and I settled into our usual last row balcony behind-the-basket seats. And just as I thought, Boy is this gonna make for a bad blog entry, they showed two familiar Davids on the scoreboard: Larry David and David Ortiz! So now I had to find them. After a quick scan of the front row from my perch, I spotted both.
This vid shows Papi reacting to the scoreboard, then I pan over to Larry:
Having some fun with Larry:
Papi in his seat:
Larry in his seat:
Larry on his way out:
Papi on his way out:
Truth be told, I'd seen a Papi-looking guy earlier getting filmed and figured it might be him:
Weird, a few months ago I was at a Red Sox game taking pictures of Larry David and David Ortiz, and here I was at a Celtics game taking pictures of the same two awesome Davids.
Also, female referee:
The Celtics got their asses kicked by The Good Land Bucks, if you were wondering.
Trivia fun: Did you know the TD in TD Garden stands for Toronto Dominion?
This vid shows Papi reacting to the scoreboard, then I pan over to Larry:
Having some fun with Larry:
Papi in his seat:
Larry in his seat:
Larry on his way out:
Papi on his way out:
Truth be told, I'd seen a Papi-looking guy earlier getting filmed and figured it might be him:
Weird, a few months ago I was at a Red Sox game taking pictures of Larry David and David Ortiz, and here I was at a Celtics game taking pictures of the same two awesome Davids.
Also, female referee:
The Celtics got their asses kicked by The Good Land Bucks, if you were wondering.
Trivia fun: Did you know the TD in TD Garden stands for Toronto Dominion?
Friday, November 02, 2012
My Cup Of Coke Zero
Have you heard of this site PopSpots? This guy has been doing detective work and finding the exact locations (usually in New York) of pictures from album covers. Like me with my baseball detective work, he walks you through how he arrived at his conclusion.
Some are easier than others, like when you've got a street name in the title of the album so you figure the musician or band is on that street. But for some, there are almost no clues. The Billy Joel "An Innocent Man" one is amazing. All you see is a stoop. It could have been anywhere, but the guy figured it out, even showing you some dead ends he encountered on his way to the answer. (I thought at the moment he finds the stoop and peeks into the adjacent restaurant, Billy himself would be eating there. But no such luck. Or good luck for those of us who prefer to keep our distance from Billy Joel. Okay fine, I like that one song.)
And some of those British bands--I wouldn't have even guessed those covers were from the U.S. But it makes sense that so many of these bands would have taken their photos in NYC, as they would have been recording there. Hell I don't even think I knew the Zeppelin cover for Physical Graffiti was from New York. I've walked by that building plenty of times without knowing! (The fact that there's a store right there which uses the album title as its name should have tipped me off.)
Thanks to Lys G. for the link.
Some are easier than others, like when you've got a street name in the title of the album so you figure the musician or band is on that street. But for some, there are almost no clues. The Billy Joel "An Innocent Man" one is amazing. All you see is a stoop. It could have been anywhere, but the guy figured it out, even showing you some dead ends he encountered on his way to the answer. (I thought at the moment he finds the stoop and peeks into the adjacent restaurant, Billy himself would be eating there. But no such luck. Or good luck for those of us who prefer to keep our distance from Billy Joel. Okay fine, I like that one song.)
And some of those British bands--I wouldn't have even guessed those covers were from the U.S. But it makes sense that so many of these bands would have taken their photos in NYC, as they would have been recording there. Hell I don't even think I knew the Zeppelin cover for Physical Graffiti was from New York. I've walked by that building plenty of times without knowing! (The fact that there's a store right there which uses the album title as its name should have tipped me off.)
Thanks to Lys G. for the link.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
FT FT Cinch Sak
I don't even remember what started me on the trail that led to this, but check out this video about the "Freedom Tunnel."
'Ween
Not too much trick/treat action on our street last night, but enough to justify buying candy. All the classic elements were there: The pre-nightfall tiny kids with their parents, the late-night teens who didn't even bother to dress up.... There was also the "what are you supposed to be?" person. This girl was in normal clothes, but with "BOOK" written across her forehead. "I'm facebook."
We also noticed at about 5 minutes to 8:00 that Charlie Brown was coming on, so we got to hear the gang talk about "tricks or treats." There was an ad for the Thanksgiving special, which I always seem to miss. Gotta see if I can remember to tune in this year.
We also noticed at about 5 minutes to 8:00 that Charlie Brown was coming on, so we got to hear the gang talk about "tricks or treats." There was an ad for the Thanksgiving special, which I always seem to miss. Gotta see if I can remember to tune in this year.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Myth-ter Oc-D'oh!-ber
In an AP story from October 14, 1977, between Games 3 and 4 of the World Series, Munson quips, "I guess Billy just doesn't realize Reggie is Mr. October." Six days and five Reggie dongs later, Mike Torrez was saying, "Now I know why he calls himself Mr. October."
So the hot dog that no amount of mustard could contain did live up to the nickname, hitting almost .500 over the rest of '77 and the next year's post-season. But my point is that it was there before his clutch performance in Game 6. Before Game 3 at the latest. Let's take a look at his post-season numbers before Game 3, going back to his days with the A's:
Games: 39
At bats: 140
Hits: 35
Batting Average: .250
Slugging: .421
Dongs: 5
Strikeouts: 31
So he had been a fairly shitty post-season player by the time he or Munson or whoever decided to name him after the month in which it's played. The three-dong game, in other words, did not turn him into Mr. October--he was gonna call himself that regardless.
*Where are they now?*
When not promoting proper uniform button/fly alignment to the children of The Baseball Bunch, forgetting who Trot Nixon is, and ripping off famous speeches, ol' Reg-gie spends his time beneath Reggies Bush, Watts, Miller, Wayne, Lewis, and White on Google Suggestions.
Thurman Munson remains dead, no longer able to call black people "coon" and "nigger."
Pictured: Dan Shaughnessy doing his best Napolean Dynamite impression as he celebrates with his favorite team in the Yankee locker room with Reggie after the '77 Series. In the video this is from (@3:26), you'll note Dan smile when he hears the name Babe Ruth. What a dick.
Focus On The Orange Leaves
Day before Sandy:
Day after Sandy:
This shows you what the 'cane was like in Providence. Which is to say it wasn't that bad. A tree that was losing leaves lost them faster, while other trees didn't even lose that many. We've had a few worse storms since we moved here in 2008. And one wasn't even a storm, it was apparently a microburst because all of a sudden 50 giant trees were uprooted for no apparent reason.
Day after Sandy:
This shows you what the 'cane was like in Providence. Which is to say it wasn't that bad. A tree that was losing leaves lost them faster, while other trees didn't even lose that many. We've had a few worse storms since we moved here in 2008. And one wasn't even a storm, it was apparently a microburst because all of a sudden 50 giant trees were uprooted for no apparent reason.
Rich Or Treat
Go trick-or-treating at Fenway tonight! Meet Gedman too! Seems like a thing you're supposed to take your kids to. So if you have those things, take 'em, and secretly enjoy walking on the warning track while pretending it's all for them! Event runs 4-8 p.m.
The Off-Season Is All About Off-Topic
Ian MacKaye on the bullshit connection between alcohol and music:
You know what a medicine show is? Medicine shows were these touring things in the 19th century. Musicians and acrobats would go town to town, they would perform, and people would gather. And then, between the acts, the *doctor* guy would come out and sell various tinctures and, you know, snake oil, essentially booze. They'd say "this is good for arthritis, and this is good for whatever. Whatever ails you, we have these different kinds of lotions, potions, tinctures." That was called a medicine show. The music created the audience. The salesmen made that audience into a clientele. That's still what happens today. That's a rock club. The bands bring the people in. Between the bands, the snake oil's for sale. [...] Let's make the music the reason for the gathering, let's remove the snake oil[....]
That about sums it up. Like Ian I've always thought 21+ shows are ridiculous. If all you want to do is hear live music and you don't care about drinking, you should be allowed to do that regardless of your age. Bars should be set up like Toad's Place, where you've got a bar area for 21+, and a music area for anyone. And the bar people can still see the show. (I haven't been there in 10 years so I don't know if they still do it like this....)
The incredibly long video I transcribed the quote from a few years ago and is here.
You know what a medicine show is? Medicine shows were these touring things in the 19th century. Musicians and acrobats would go town to town, they would perform, and people would gather. And then, between the acts, the *doctor* guy would come out and sell various tinctures and, you know, snake oil, essentially booze. They'd say "this is good for arthritis, and this is good for whatever. Whatever ails you, we have these different kinds of lotions, potions, tinctures." That was called a medicine show. The music created the audience. The salesmen made that audience into a clientele. That's still what happens today. That's a rock club. The bands bring the people in. Between the bands, the snake oil's for sale. [...] Let's make the music the reason for the gathering, let's remove the snake oil[....]
That about sums it up. Like Ian I've always thought 21+ shows are ridiculous. If all you want to do is hear live music and you don't care about drinking, you should be allowed to do that regardless of your age. Bars should be set up like Toad's Place, where you've got a bar area for 21+, and a music area for anyone. And the bar people can still see the show. (I haven't been there in 10 years so I don't know if they still do it like this....)
The incredibly long video I transcribed the quote from a few years ago and is here.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Bridging The Gap
From Yaz' last game, 1983, via NESN:
If you're a cheap-seat regular like me, you know how much work this takes. This is the gap between the bleachers and the grandstand/RF boxes. These people would have had to meet up just behind the right field fence, each grabbed one side, and then each walked up--over seats, not on stairs--to their spot. Actually, they might have just wound up the sheet into a rope-shape and swung it across. But did the two holders even know each other? How would they have just happened to get seats right on the end and right even with each other? Or maybe it started at the bottom and people just kept passing it up to get it to the desired height.
Also note, if you've only been to Fenway in the past decade or so, the bleachers used to be cut off from the rest of the park. In fact, that's my favorite "Fenway improvement," but nobody ever talks about it. So this maneuver would have been even harder to plan back in 1983, assuming the two people knew each other, as they wouldn't have even entered the same gate. Anyway, in that same shot today, in the background inside the gap, you'd see fans walking around and food stands and that wide staircase, but in that pic you see a bunch of nothing, as it was just "the laundry" back there, in an area where fans weren't allowed.
Also note, if you've only been to Fenway in the past decade or so, the bleachers used to be cut off from the rest of the park. In fact, that's my favorite "Fenway improvement," but nobody ever talks about it. So this maneuver would have been even harder to plan back in 1983, assuming the two people knew each other, as they wouldn't have even entered the same gate. Anyway, in that same shot today, in the background inside the gap, you'd see fans walking around and food stands and that wide staircase, but in that pic you see a bunch of nothing, as it was just "the laundry" back there, in an area where fans weren't allowed.
Ry, Count
So they've added a second concert at Fenway for that country guy. Don't you find that disappointing, that there are that many people who live kinda near us that like modern country music? What else is going on in all these houses I see all over the place? I feel like if you can get 70,000 into a northern city for a country show, they're probably getting way more than that at Klan rallies. Am I comparing country music to the Klan? Only in the fact that I wish they'd both just disappear.
[Mandatory hipster disclaimer of how I like "cool" country music like Johnny Cash and shit.]
[Mandatory hipster disclaimer of how I like "cool" country music like Johnny Cash and shit.]
Monday, October 29, 2012
Ho Ho Ho...So You're Finally Gonna Meet Sandy Tonight...
What a weird day. Kim and I just watched the hurricane on TV all day and ate very unstructured meals. It got pretty windy here in Providence, but nothin' to get in a twist over. My favorite parts of the day were the crane and Bloomberg's sign language dancer. Oh and the guy in Atlantic City who stood in that same spot all day. I also found a bunch of awesome misspellings:
I don't expect people to know how to spell 'gansett, but you have to know my state's abbreviation....
Kind of a crucial place to not know the spelling of.
This is supposed to be Stonington. Too bad I didn't get a shot of "East Heaven, CT."
Note: Post title comes from a late-80s Head & Shoulders commercial. I just realized I uploaded it a few years ago (along with the "when he shot, it was money in the bank" ad). I was slightly off with the line, but I will leave it as it was in my memory.)
[Update: Now Manhattan is completely dark below 30th Street, and I see Letterman taped a show with no audience.]
Note: Post title comes from a late-80s Head & Shoulders commercial. I just realized I uploaded it a few years ago (along with the "when he shot, it was money in the bank" ad). I was slightly off with the line, but I will leave it as it was in my memory.)
[Update: Now Manhattan is completely dark below 30th Street, and I see Letterman taped a show with no audience.]
EstiMcCarver
[Note: this was schedule to post automatically Monday morning. It didn't work.]
I understand that as you get older, you perceive time differently. Sometimes I think of various years in the 90s as being "about ten years ago." But Tim McCarver is just senile. In last night's broadcast, he brought up the helmet that catchers wear in the field, under their masks. His line was something like, "catchers have only worn those for the last 20 years, before that, they wore the soft cap." Hmmm, 20 years. That puts us in 1992, Tim. I don't ever remember catchers not having that helmet, so that takes us back to the late 70s right there. A quick check of some baseball cards shows some catchers wearing a helmet (whether the brimless kind or just a backwards regular earflapless one) in the early 70s. I also found pics of Johnny Bench wearing a helmet in the field in 1968. So we're talking 40-45 years. I hope I never get to the point where I confuse 20 years ago with 40 years ago.
And check this out. Here's McCarver himself wearing a helmet while catching...in 1977. (That's 35 years ago.) Best part is, he signed this card! So you know he's seen this picture....
Corbis also has a nice shot of him with the helmet in '76.
Anyway, final thoughts on the WS: I'm happy for Mad Dog, Scutaro, and Lopez that the Giants won, and I'm also happy that Yank-ified cheater Melky Cabrera wasn't a part of it.
I understand that as you get older, you perceive time differently. Sometimes I think of various years in the 90s as being "about ten years ago." But Tim McCarver is just senile. In last night's broadcast, he brought up the helmet that catchers wear in the field, under their masks. His line was something like, "catchers have only worn those for the last 20 years, before that, they wore the soft cap." Hmmm, 20 years. That puts us in 1992, Tim. I don't ever remember catchers not having that helmet, so that takes us back to the late 70s right there. A quick check of some baseball cards shows some catchers wearing a helmet (whether the brimless kind or just a backwards regular earflapless one) in the early 70s. I also found pics of Johnny Bench wearing a helmet in the field in 1968. So we're talking 40-45 years. I hope I never get to the point where I confuse 20 years ago with 40 years ago.
And check this out. Here's McCarver himself wearing a helmet while catching...in 1977. (That's 35 years ago.) Best part is, he signed this card! So you know he's seen this picture....
Corbis also has a nice shot of him with the helmet in '76.
Anyway, final thoughts on the WS: I'm happy for Mad Dog, Scutaro, and Lopez that the Giants won, and I'm also happy that Yank-ified cheater Melky Cabrera wasn't a part of it.
Contest/Series Over!
Giants sweep series with 4-3 win. Let's put those 7 runs up on the contest board....
Final total (4 games): 22
Dewey & Co.: 28
Kara: 31
Tom Cunningham: 35
Section 36: 36
Patrick: 38
The Omnipotent Q: 40
Charlie: 42
Bosox Fan in Wichita: 43
Liam: 43
Allan: 49
mark uk: 51
MillersTime: 54
Mom: 63
Dewey & Co. wins! Had I done the patented Price is Right "without going over" method, nobody would have won. But Dewey wins it nice and legal, coming within 6 runs of the total. Great job. (In case you're looking for proof, their guess actually appeared in the comments of the post showing the prize as opposed to the first entry about the contest, but was still well ahead of the deadline.) Funny, "Dewey" was the only person/people who entered who isn't a regular contest-enterer on this site. Welcome aboard, and nice win in your debut, Dewey. E-mail me and I'll send your prize out.
Final total (4 games): 22
Dewey & Co.: 28
Kara: 31
Tom Cunningham: 35
Section 36: 36
Patrick: 38
The Omnipotent Q: 40
Charlie: 42
Bosox Fan in Wichita: 43
Liam: 43
Allan: 49
mark uk: 51
MillersTime: 54
Mom: 63
Dewey & Co. wins! Had I done the patented Price is Right "without going over" method, nobody would have won. But Dewey wins it nice and legal, coming within 6 runs of the total. Great job. (In case you're looking for proof, their guess actually appeared in the comments of the post showing the prize as opposed to the first entry about the contest, but was still well ahead of the deadline.) Funny, "Dewey" was the only person/people who entered who isn't a regular contest-enterer on this site. Welcome aboard, and nice win in your debut, Dewey. E-mail me and I'll send your prize out.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Contest Update Through 3
Almost forgot about this, since of course I watched Nebraska-Michigan last night instead of the non-Yanks-or-Sox World Series game. But the Giants went up 3 to zip with a 2-0 win, so let's look at the contest standings:
Current total through three games: 15
Dewey & Co.: 28
Kara: 31
Tom Cunningham: 35
Section 36: 36
Patrick: 38
The Omnipotent Q: 40
Charlie: 42
Bosox Fan in Wichita: 43
Liam: 43
Allan: 49
mark uk: 51
MillersTime: 54
Mom: 63
As you can see, the actual number hasn't even come close to our lowest guess, and a Giants win tonight featuring 14 or fewer total runs means the series is over and Dewey & Co wins. I kinda hope the series goes one more game so we can get a little drama in the contest at least....
Game four is, I would assume, tonight at some point. I should be watching, provided my house is still standing.
Current total through three games: 15
Dewey & Co.: 28
Kara: 31
Tom Cunningham: 35
Section 36: 36
Patrick: 38
The Omnipotent Q: 40
Charlie: 42
Bosox Fan in Wichita: 43
Liam: 43
Allan: 49
mark uk: 51
MillersTime: 54
Mom: 63
As you can see, the actual number hasn't even come close to our lowest guess, and a Giants win tonight featuring 14 or fewer total runs means the series is over and Dewey & Co wins. I kinda hope the series goes one more game so we can get a little drama in the contest at least....
Game four is, I would assume, tonight at some point. I should be watching, provided my house is still standing.
