Two Pals in Dire Straits

I was saddened to read about JT Snow this morning. The article had a little blurb that indicated he might be traded, despite his desire to stay in San Francisco and retire a Giant. I really like JT and admire his defense at 1st base. I have to say its him and Kirk Reuter that I like most in that team and I really would like to see them both retire as Giants. I know its a business and I can only hope that Brian Sabean can find the flexibility to keep them both for at least one more year, which is I think enough time for them to retire on their own terms.

JT already hinted that he wanted to stay at least one more year and I don't see it a problem for him backing up Lance Niekro. I think Lance would really benefit from having JT as a mentor. It also works to have both a left-handed and right-handed batter at 1st base, so I see this is as possible. I'm really worried about Woody (Kirk). His desire is to continue to pitch in the rotation. I think it might be a stretch for Brian to allow him another year in the rotation (but I would be very thankful if he went that way) and I thought he would have been ok with the shift to the bullpen. But I guess in the baseball world, or at least in the pitcher's fraternity, a starter moving to the bullpen is a bad thing and that probably is eating at Kirk. I'd like to think that he probably just wants to retire a starter.

I would want nothing more than to see these guys retire as Giants. And perhaps, return to help the team in the future......JT could be a bench coach....Woody could replace Mark Gardner in the pen someday.

Run Lola Run!

The Giants lost to the Cubs in the 9th inning 3-2......

I just had to switch the channel to get distracted....and lo and behold I find Run Lola Run on IFC. It makes me smile to see this movie again simply because I saw it a long time ago when Franka Potente was still an unknown in the US (before she appeared in The Bourne Identity). The german film is Tarantino-like in that is fast and injects as much information as creatively possible (here Twyker uses flash photographs in rapid succession). Franka's scream in the bank is probably my favorite scene.

Yes, It's Bleeding Now.

I think it was a quarter to tweleve Sunday night. I had recorded a DirecTV Freeview event of Garbage's live act to promote their new album. The album came initially cold for me (see July8 blog entry), but I wanted to watch this event. I still loved Garbage, the band. All Shirley had to to do was sing the title track. By the end of the song I knew I was bleeding inside.

The transfusion is complete.

click.

Something to do with Death

Bronson, Morricone, Robards....Amen. I haven't been able to watch a lot of old movies and I'm sure glad I ran into this one. Once Upon a Time in the West is a gem. If you buy the DVD, watch the featurettes and you will have even more appreciation for this film.

Bits to Consider:

• Close-up shot of Bronson's face during the final showdown between him and Fonda
• Morricone's score: one piece for each key character; and brought together as the film reaches the end
• Fonda's turn this time as a villain (watch the featurette and listen to his interview!)
• Jason Robards as Cheyenne (nuff said).

The Good Girl

On Saturday night, I was at a friend's house and The Good Girl was on. Jennifer Aniston played the role well and if there was anything to keep anyone else from saying so, it maybe because of the stigma that she carries being Rachel from Friends. But she has had some good turns. I liked her portrayal in Office Space...though that probably was not much of a stretch compared to The Good Girl.

Its that blank face...or distraught face...that she can do so well. If anything, that's what fit really well in her scenes.

SOAD: Mezmerize

It started off really great!.....but then I got numb and stopped listening. It's really hard when you have measure anything against Toxicity.

PJ Harvey, Merci!

After discovering that Showtime Next was broadcastin PJ Harvey's concert in a festival in France, I made it an effort to record it. There are no commercially available recordings of PJ, and all of the ones I have are bootlegs...and my recording this wouldn't make any exception, of course...only that it is professionally recorded so it will absolutely have good Hi-Fi sound. Sad to say, Showtime Next wasn't available on the DirecTV lineup (my hookup at home), so I checked Comcast and luckily it had all the Showtime channels. So, I asked my dad if he could add Showtime to his subscription and I would just pay him for the cost of adding a premium channel lineup (I covered two months worth as a way of saying thanks, and giving him and mom more time to enjoy the movies).

The first and nearest showing was Monday, July 18th at 2am. I came to my parent's place and a stakeout going in front of the TV. Dad offered to record it for me but I said I wanted to watch it while recording.

The concert was awesome and I felt like it was 2004 again and I was at the Great American Music Hall watching the performance. The fun tidbit in this recording is that midway through Down by the Water, PJ couldn't contain herself and laughed, but continued to sing anyway. After the song ended, she had to say something about it and uttered "....I just learning something, never look at Rob Ellis when singing this song...." It was fun to watch and I'm glad they didn't cut it out of the recording.

The List: Movies - July 15, 2005

my, my, you start one list and then suddenly you're making a lot of lists! nuff said....

Favorite Movies

1. Leon (The Professional)
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Dolores Claiborne
4. Star Wars Trilogy
5. Once Upon a Time in the West
6. French Kiss
7. Office Space
8. Full Metal Jacket
9. Sneakers
10. The Limey
11. Kill Bill
12. Unforgiven
13. Death Hunt
14. The Ninth Gate
15. Platoon
16. Amores Perros

The List: Albums - July 15, 2005

What the hell....I put a list of favorite tracks...might as well do a list of favorite albums.

1. Is this Desire (PJ Harvey)
2. Songs from the Big Chair (Tears for Fears)
3. Dry (PJ Harvey)
4. Identity Crisis (Shelby Lynne)
5. Plumb (Jonatha Brooke)
6. Ten Summoners Tales (Sting)
7. Ok Computer (Radiohead)
8. Dummy (Portishead)
9. Live (Jonatha Brooke)
10. Little Earthquakes (Tori Amos)
11. From Venus and Back (Tori Amos)
12. Rid of Me (PJ Harvey)
13. Tidal (Fiona Apple)
14. When the Pawn (Fiona Apple)
15. Amnesiac (Radiohead)
16. Kid A (Radiohead)
17. EP+6 (Mogwai)
18. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (PJ Harvey)
19. Uh Huh Her (PJ Harvey)
20. Suit Yourself (Shelby Lynne)
21. Live (Alison Krauss and Union Station)
22. 10 Cent Wings (Jonatha Brooke)
23. Steady Pull (Jonatha Booke)
24. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Sarah McLachlan)
25. Tuesday Night Music Club (Sheryl Crow)
26. Sheryl Crow (Sheryl Crow)
27. The Globe Sessions (Sheryl Crow)
28. Shakira - MTV Unplugged (Shakira)

The List: Track Singles - July 15, 2005

My Favorite Tracks - July 15, 2005

This is the beginning of a series where I will state my favorite tracks and will probably continue to do so every now and then, as these lists do change over time. Given that this is the first one I am bound to dig back and that may explain why a lot of artists are from the 80's...I just have to give due credit for the ones from that generation who I still interest me to this day.
This list is not in any specific order....only by memory , I guess. I'll just fire away as the songs pop up in my head...so I guess it is in order....in order of appearance in my memory ;).

And so...here it is...

1. Woman in Chains (Tears for Fears) - Yes, this has to be first on the list simply because it is one of the oldest tracks that I can recall from memory that really makes the list 100% of the time. Its a song about a lingering personal struggle that doesn't seem to have an end in sight until the end, when a suggestion is put forward....and the rest is up to you. This track has a personal twist to it in that this song has been with me everytime I've had to deal with a relationship that appears to be ending. And so it leads me...it's under my skin, but out of my hands, I'd tear it apart, but I won't understand....
   
2. Why Should I Cry for You? (Sting) - This track has personal history behind it not too far from "Woman in Chains". There was a time when I would play it back-to-back all the time. WIC would be first wave, this would be the next...or if WIC was acceptance, this was probably denial.
   
3. Broken (Tears for Fears) - The unsung hero of Songs from the Big Chair. It appears in the album in two versions(studio and live), sandwiched around Head over Heels. The heavy bass and drum in the beginning, followed by Roland's electric guitar set the mood, and then the lyrics...between the searching and the need to work it out...I stop believing everything will be alright....broken.... It's a very short track, which makes you think if it was really meant to be that way, and whether breaking it up into two and putting Head over Heels in between the two versions was just a coincidence. Would you like another double to go with that corona?
   
4. The River (PJ Harvey) - How i wish PJ would perform this live one day...or probably not...for fear I'd probably melt like Belloch in Raider's of the Lost Ark's finale. It is a song of regret, of wanting to be normal, of feeling betrayed by one's self, or two people's desire to be like everyone else, yet yearning to be free of judgement.
   
5. Creep (Radiohead) - Scathing lyrics, screeching guitar riffs, and that monster howl...who would not want this song beside them when they're so close to the bottom of that downward spiral? These are words that a lot of people think more than they say...and now they have been released...thank you, Thom.
   
6. Elsewhere (Sarah McLachlan)
7. We Do What We Can (Sheryl Crow)
8. Do What You Have to Do (Sarah McLachlan)
9. Home (Sheryl Crow)
10. Diamond in the Rough (Shawn Colvin)
11. 32 Flavors (Ani Di Franco)
12. West Point (Jonatha Brooke)
13. You Learn (Alanis Morissette)
14. Bring Me Somewhere Nice (Mogwai)
15. Hunted by a Freak (Mogwai)
16. Mystereons (Portishead)
17. Why Should I Lie? (Luscious Jackson)
18. Glory Box (Portishead)
19. Never is a Promise (Fiona Apple)
20. Oh Well (Fiona Apple)
21. Precious Things (Tori Amos)
22. I'm Alive (Shelby Lynne)
23. Time (Alan Parsons Project)
24. Packt of Sardines (Radiohead)
25. Maybe (Alison Krauss and Union Station)
26. We Hide and Seek (Alison Krauss and Union Station)
27. Limp (Fiona Apple)
28. Medication (Garbage)
29. You Look So Fine (Garbage)
30. Nothing Sacred (Jonatha Brooke)

....ok I'll stop here for now.

Isabelle Mercier

I first saw Isabelle Mercier when she was the host/announcer for the World Poker Tour's Paris event at the Aviation Club. You could barely see her and if you don't watch the show exclusively you'd probably miss the quick glances the cameras had on her. But for some reason I just took notice.

When WPT came up with their Ladies Night poker event I wasn't too thrilled as I preferred to see women play alongside men (all is fair in love and poker ;) ). But......there she was! So I watched and was just taken aback at how fierce and interesting she was....and she won, to my delight!

Wahoo!

It's a conspiracy! Why do these gems pop up at midnight when I'm trying to find something to put me to sleep? Oh, it's my fault, I guess. I had the free will to flip the channel. But I couldn't. IQ was on. This movie reminds me of how much I miss Walter Mathau. He plays a really funny and convincing Einstein.

Interesting Concept!

Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins form a good comedic combination (though not as magical as Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline :) ).

The Grifters

Flame on! I just saw The Fantastic Four last night and upon arriving at my home, I was still wide awake....it was 12:40am...and as I tried to get myself to sleep I caught The Grifters on IFC. This film had outstanding performances by John Cusack and Angelica Huston. I've always liked John Cusack and I'm happy to see him transcend to really good roles over the years. I remember him as the dork in The Sure Thing and Better Off Dead. Those were fun movies....pretty much like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a spinoff of 80's themes, in a way.

Since then he's done really well, with performances in Fat Man Little Boy, Gross Pointe Blank, City Hall, and High Fidelity. He still is the dork...just the one who's grown a lot older, and has been through more in life (pretty much like a lot of us).

Angelica Huston will always be Morticia Addams to me :). I don't know of anyone else who could have played that role....as I can never think of anyone who can match Raul Julia's role as Gomez.

The Grifters is a story about con men (and women). They portray the story really well as they expose the fact that grifting isn't this high-society fantasy, mobster dominating lifestyle, but rather a cutthroat game of survival.

The ending is twisted and painful. A true grift 'till the end.

Hats Off to You Robb Nen

Robb Nen was honored by the Giants in today's game against the Cardinals. After two years of rehab and trying to get back to form, Robb sadly retired after his arm could no longer fire the devastating sliders he featured as the Giants' closer.

He sacrificed his arm in the world series game that was lost to the Angels in 2002. Pitching in bad shape through the last days of the season was hard and he paid the ultimate price and sacrificed his arm for the team.

You will always be in a place of honor in my book, good buddy.

V for Vendetta!!!!!

It Ain't Bleeding Yet

It's been about six weeks since I bought Bleed Like Me and it hasn't sinked in yet. I wonder if I am bothered by the fact that this group broke up and found a way to get back together to finish the album....and wonder if the strains affected the creativity of this album. But then I remember that this group was strained when they were recording their first album. Shirley was homesick and depressed (I guess Wisconsin does that to you).

It Might Snow Again Someday

Fathers and sons in baseball. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Bobby Bonds was Barry's pitching coach (now carried on by none other than his godfather, Willy Mays -- not bad, huh?). Felipe Alou was Moises' Coach. Joe Niekro was Lance's idol. I hope to see JT's son someday...if he chooses the baseball path.

I'll be around 50 by then...when I can say "I saw his father play a long time ago...."