Now this is great. Seems there's a crew of people down there in New York City called Improv Everywhere and thier latest "performance" was at The Mercury Lounge, a somewhat legendary rock club in NYC, and next to Katz's Deli, which I stop at each time I'm there. What Improv Everywhere did was essentially give a hard-luck, touring band the night of their life! Click on the link above, then click on "Best Gig Ever" at the top left. Great story - you won't be sorry. Tip of the hat to Rosemary, from the ND board at Yahoo Groups.

One thing I really enjoy doing after a major news or sports event is exploring headlines from other cities newspapers. As horrible as the September 11th attacks were, one my favorite out-of-town headlines of all time was in the San Francisco Examiner. There was a picture of the towers and in black big letters across the top was "BASTARDS!" I'm sure it can be easily found out there on the web. Wait - let me look around. Yep, you can see it by clicking here. A classic, unforgettable headline.


Naturally, I was very anxious to see how the New York newspapers would react to the Red Sox World Series victory. Hold on a second - did I just say that? The Red Sox won the World Series! Anyway, the 'ol New Yorkers didn't disappoint, as the image here would indicate. Very inventive and clever stuff from The Daily News. There's been much speculation on the attitude of us Red Sox fans now that we've won. Will we care as much? What will we have to bitch about? Nobody knows the answer to that. I suspect we'll be equally attached and devoted, but it's going to be different now. For the next few days, though, we'll just wallow in it.

Another one of my favorite sites recently is Shut Up Tim McCarver. Gosh, I couldn't agree more. Sometimes it's just plain painful to listen to some of the dreck that comes out of that guy's mouth. The problem is that I think Joe Buck is one of the absolute best play-by-play guys out there. So in order to get Joe Buck, you have to accept McCarver with him, which is just painful. It's kind of like watching WWF pro wrestling in the early '80s when I was a kid - all of the big names would wrestle, but they would always kick some scrawny, new dude's ass (anyone remember Steve Balboni?). You just accepted it.

Item Five is not dead, by the way. I just took a little vacation during the baseball playoffs. There will be more coming soon.....

File this one under "as soon as you get to the top, they try harder to take you down." I could think of another couple of things to file this under, but I'm playing nice today, courtesy of a little World Series victory.

Song now playing: NOT "We Are The Champions"

So there you have it. As efficiently and as workmanlike as you'll ever see, the Red Sox dispatched the Cardinals last night with remarkable ease, and the entire New England region collectively exhaled. It is over. Of course, there was a never a curse to begin with - through these years there was only weakness on certain teams and simple bad luck on the part of some others. The curse was just a label, a marginally evil marketing ploy, meant to sell books. Albeit, a compelling theory.

I find it especially sweet that when the Red Sox hoist their championship banner next April at Fenway Park, the team watching from the third base dugout will be the New York Yankees. It's not enough for me that our comeback against them was one of historic proportions. It's not enough for me that we got to pig-pile on their turf. I want them to watch us hang the banner as we cheer.

Throughout the years I had always vowed that if the Red Sox win the World Series, I would be in the city to experience it and take it all in. For reasons I don't need to get into here, I ended up doing what I've done for each game so far in these playoffs - sitting at home watching it in HD on the big screen, with Steph co-piloting. Even she gets into the playoffs. How can you not?

I can't really put into words what it all means. When Renteria hit that comebacker to Keith Foulke, the strangest feeling came over me. Warmth. Elation. Pride. I mean, at one point I was hugging Stephanie, actually laughing out loud and getting misty-eyed at the same time. I thought back to the heartbreak of 1986 and then felt even more elation and relief for the generation above me - the ones who remember not only 1986, but also 1975. 1967. 1946. This win covers us all. The Red Sox are one of the larger threads that ties our region and our families together. No matter what, if you find a Red Sox fan, you've found common ground - an understanding. It's been said so many times that it's become passe, but the truth rings even louder today: you really can't understand what this means unless you were brought up here.

So minutes after the victory I thought about the people closest to me who weren't able to see this. My grandfather on my dad's side. A dedicated, fervent Red Sox fan. He died at the age of 93 back in 1994. It was he who secured four tickets to a Red Sox/Twins game back in 1979 and took me, my dad and my cousin to the game. My first in Fenway Park, and we sat about 15 rows behind home plate. It's strange how clearly I remember walking into that place for the first time. My very first thought - nine years old - was that the wall was so grand that it didn't look real. It looked like a cartoon. I'll never forget it. Red Sox won 5-3. My grandfather would have reveled in this. He's got a slightly used, fitted Red Sox cap from 1994 in his coffin right now. Courtesy of me, I put it there during his wake. Along with a beer. With any luck, that hat is on his head right now and the beer is empty. A strange sidenote: my dad (not a baseball fan) just emailed me that he fell asleep last night, but woke up to see the very last pitch. I don't know why, but there's something to that......

I think about my grandmother on my mom's side. She was such a Red Sox fan right to the end! We had many conversations over the years, wondering if "this was the year" and I know she watched a heck of a lot of their games, because she knew things about the players and their stats that most people don't. To think that she missed this by a mere 22 months is tough to take. If there was ever a time for me to try and firmly believe in the afterlife, that people can look down on us and see what's going on, this is that time.

I think about my Uncle Donny. A grand human being in all aspects and another dedicated member of Red Sox Nation. Larger than life, funny, giving, strong and just a good person. Dammit, he should have been here to see this. He died in his early 30's from a brain anerysm, back in 1986, just one month after the Mets/Red Sox debacle. To this day, he is the only person to ever literally pick me up and throw me. He was getting me out of the way when a tree he was cutting down didn't fall the way he thought it would. To this day, I still see his face on nearly every person who drives a motorcycle on the road, hoping (yes, eighteen years later) that his death was a cruel hoax. I know it wasn't. If he were to fake his death, he would have only done it for a couple of hours or something. Heh. He had that kind of personality. He was in my mind and heart last night in a major way.

There were others on my mind, of course. The thread. There's so many other stories like this across our entire region that have been told today and over the last couple of days and that is what makes this so special. Myself, my friends, my family, old roommates, college friends - we'll all have this now. Forever.

I'm not sure how it's possible that the Cardinals have pretty much rolled over and played dead this series, but I hope before it's all over that we get one nail-biting, competitive game. My gut tells me we will. The Cardinals have too good an offense to go this silently. That is what the World Series is all about, after all - good, nerve-wracking baseball. We haven't seen it this series.

That said, am I disappointed the Red Sox are where they are? Hell no! If the Red Sox win any one of the next four games, it will be a moment in history for this city like no other and a moment that, many times, I never thought I would ever see. To try and comprehend that we're on the doorstep is downright surreal, especially since it's happened with almost robotic ease. I'm not even sure how I will react if/when they win it, but happiness and elation will factor in heavily. We're in unchartered water here, folks. On the ESPN post-game last night, someone said "most people in New England won't be sleeping well tonight." Count me as one of them - the anticipation here is just too much.

IPodding: more details on the U2-Universal Music-ITunes experiment. With any luck, the "Universal Music" part of that equation will be removed from the algorhythm in the next couple of years. The dominoes continue to fall, though. U2 is probably too established at this point to do anything without a label, but bands who are on the cusp (Modest Mouse? Franz Ferdinand?) could really knock 'em dead if they forego a label relationship and go direct with ITunes or Rhapsody or whoever wins the game (ITunes winning the game now, but so was Netscape at one point). Anyway, bottom line: people don't give a rat's ass what record label is printed on the back of a CD. They give even less of a crap when it's bought online. Please, somebody, do a deal direct and get the ball rolling - I need to see the major labels start to crumble.

What cracks me up, though, are the rumblings from fans that U2 are selling out. Hah! What is this, 1989? Did anyone see "Rattle and Hum?" U2 sold out well over a decade ago, people! The band will be the first to tell you that they have both exploited and embraced the idea of commercialism. They based an entire, satircal tour around the ridiculousness of selling out! If anything, this whole ITunes thing is actually the antithesis of selling out. I admire U2 in so many ways - they're never afraid to try something new and that's more than we can say for the hundreds of lilly-white, play-it-down-the-middle bands. U2 could have easily mailed in 5 more versions of "The Joshua Tree" and made gazillions, but instead they tried "Zooropa." Not exactly a winning experiment, but I give them all the credit in the world for not buckling to trend.

So the Red Sox are now two games from winning the World Series. Watching the games this weekend, the whole thing hasn't really sunk in for me yet. It could be because both games have been more reminiscent of spring training games than two teams who are playing at the end of a season for a world championship. The Red Sox defense has been deplorable and the Cardinals pitching has been embarassing. Or it might be because the Sox have already hit their emotional peak when the Yankees series ended. Call it whatever you want, but nobody can deny that the Yankees series carried more weight and meant more (so far) than this one has.

In the ALCS, especially with the Yankees batting, I was throwing tantrums, yelling at the TV, standing up, sitting down, hand over my mouth, my stomach in knots. So far in the World Series I have an eerie sense of calmness. The Cardinals have 2 on and nobody out? I'm sitting back and saying "oh well." Even when St. Louis came from five runs behind in game one to tie it, I wasn't freaking out. The World Series is supposed to mean more, but suddenly I feel kind of robotic while watching this. It really is like 1980, with the U.S. hockey team playing Finland after beating the Russians - still a good matchup, but nothing like slaying the beast. Maybe the intensity (and the quality of play) will increase over the next couple of games. It most likely will, as the Red Sox head into a National League park - different rules and certainly a different game. Remember - the Red Sox won the first two games in 1986, too.

Of all the albums I've mentioned coming out soon (U2, REM, Earlimart, etc) the one that snuck up on me and has kicked my ass has been the new Anders Parker album, "Tell It To The Dust." There's a good chance you haven't heard of this guy and that is really a shame. He's the former lead singer for the great '90s band Varnaline and the guy has got one of those voices. The new album, I kid you not, is nearly as good and sounds a lot like John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band." It's not much of a departure from the old Varnaline albums, but Parker just keeps getting better, adding small touches like a couple of amazing piano ballads and a song here and there that dips a toe into the blues. I cannot recommend this guy enough - his output over the past few years (solo and Varnaline) makes him a complete heavyweight.

Do yourself a favor and sample a couple of his songs (these are 30-second Quicktime samples)

Feel The Same
Goodbye Friend

Finally, a quick follow-up regarding my post last week about the elderly woman who choked and Stephanie's reaction: the woman sent Steph a thank you note over the weekend with a few words about the experience. A very kind thing to do on her part. I can't quite post verbatim, but one of the things the woman wrote was that she wasn't sure she'd be around to write it if it wasn't for her quick reaction in getting help. Very kind. She also mentioned that she doesn't remember too much about the experience because she was on the verge of losing consciousness. Goodness.....

Lots of other professional writers will wax poetic about what the Red Sox have done over the past week much better than I will, but I don't think I've ever experienced such exhaustion, nerves, elation, amazement and excitement around this team as I have experienced during these playoffs. I couldn't have possible imagined a sweeter ending to this series that what we witnessed last night - to see that group of Red Sox in a smiling, celebretory pile - right there on the pitchers mound at Yankee Stadium - the exact same spot where Mariano Rivera fell to the ground in exhaustion and prayer last year after Aaron Boone's HR did in the Sox.

As if that wasn't sweet enough, though, to do it the way they did it is another matter altogether. Forget that no team in the history of baseball has ever come back like this. Forget that everyone (including yours truly) had written them off. I mean, that kind of stuff just doesn't happen here and I've never been so glad to have been proven wrong.

Look beyond the obvious heros - David Ortiz clearly came up big. Curt Schilling was on another planet to do what he did in game 6. The real heros of this series are on the fringes - Dave Roberts stealing second in Game 4 - maybe the single most important moment in the past week. Keith Foulke pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Bill Mueller's single up the middle to tie the game. Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly. Doug Mentkiewzeiizixiouxzzzzz, who only played a few innings, making some very difficult plays look routine. Bronson Arroyo. Mike Timlin! So many of these guys contributed in ways that might be forgotten in a few months, but they would have never, ever gotten to this point without those guys. They wouldn't have had a chance. For years and years, beyond my lifetime, these players, past and present, have never stopped hearing the whispers about the Yankees. Finally, they can brush those aside. Finally, they can breath. Finally.

Last night's game, though, despite the score, was a real exercise in nail-biting. I suspect that everyone from New England who was watching that game last night didn't even feel one celebratory pang until that final out. I certainly didn't. I didn't think for one single, solitary second that the game was won until Pokey Reese threw it to first. Each time the Yankees came up to bat, that biting anxiousness bubbled right up. Even though it was 6-0 or 8-2 or 10-3, I felt like a New York solo home run would have tied the game. I spent the whole night feeling like it was 1-0, knowing how quickly the Yankees can strike. I don't even want to talk about the 7th inning when Terry Francona must have done some crystal meth when he decided to bring in Pedro Martinez. I mean, what was he thinking there? Lowe's got a 1-hitter going, the crowd is literally asleep and the Yankees are befuddled. 'Ol Terry's basically invited 55,000 people back into the game (and boy, did those fans respond). I could only sit there, my eyes wide in fear, repeating the same phrase over and over and over again: "get him out of there NOW." But even Pedro reached back and zipped some 95-96 MPH bullets and got out of the inning. The Red Sox answered. Finally.

To think that this is just step 2 out of the 3 steps needed to win a World Series is something I need to come to grips with in the next couple of days. I'm not even sure me or my stomach can handle another series. But I'll be ready when the bell rings. For now, I can't think of a sports moment more sweet than seeing that team celebrating as American League Champions on the grass of the place where ghosts have haunted them for decades. It's over. Finally.

Quite a surreal evening last night. From the "Tivo's don't kill people, people kill people" department: last night I attended a dinner and therefore had to Tivo the Red Sox-Yankees game, which started at 5pm. It was a miracle in and of itself that I got through the dinner and back home without hearing the score of the game, so I was psyched to settle in and watch......and watch......and watch. I set the Tivo to record for 5 hours, which in almost all occasions is more than enough time for a ballgame. Hoo-boy, was I wrong. Naturally, the game went 14 innings and the Tivo popped up a "this program is finished recording" in the top of the 13th inning. Nothing like investing a few hours of your time to watch a classic baseball game and not getting to see the end. I found out the outcome last night on Boston.com a little after midnight. Cripes.

On a more serious note, the dinner we attended last night was the 92nd birthday of Stephanie's grandmother. She and her husband live in quite a nice retirement home in Concord, MA and we go there from time to time to have dinner. Last night, just as we all sat down to order food, we heard a coughing-choking noise behind us and looking back, discovered that an elderly woman was pointing to her throat and barely breathing. The look of horror in her eyes was something I will never, ever forget and it froze my brain. A few of us yelled "help!" while Stephanie's mother tried to administer the Heimlich Manuever (sp?) and many of the other (mostly elderly) diners casually cocked their heads up and looked around as if it were just another day, which is absolutely mystifying.

Stephanie ran (literally) into the kitchen and yelled for help. Luckily, the person who runs the kitchen sprinted over and took over from Stephanie's mother. At this time, I was probably 100 feet away, not sure what to do or how to help, but all I saw was this guy administering the manuever with so much force that he was literally picking her up off the ground and slamming her down. After about a minute, things seemed to calm down and the lady, shaken, sat back down.

I have no idea how we sat back down and were able to eat and enjoy dinner, but somehow we did. The woman behind us continued her dinner (can you believe this?) and also continued her coughing, which, every time I heard it, made me spin around quickly to make sure she was okay. She even apologized a couple of times for "ruining our party." Can you imagine? She thought it was her fault! More bizarre, though, was when I got back to our table after all the commotion, I noticed there was no food on her table. Later on she casually mentioned that she was drinking water, felt her throat close and that this was the 4th or 5th time its happened to her. After all that she didn't even need the Heimlich, but how is someone supposed to know? Stephanie really put it best on the ride home when she said "it was like watching a movie," in reference to the sheer nonchalance of almost all of the diners in the dining room. There was a human being choking (we thought she was going to die, really) and many of them were just looking up from their dinners and peering over in casual interest, not moving a muscle. A horrifying, morbid, but socially fascinating evening.

I don't think I've ever been more proud of my wife, either. Her assertive and quick reaction got people to that woman's table in a flash. Had she been choking on food, it might have even saved that woman's life. It might have saved her life anyway. In reality, that she wasn't choking on food doesn't matter - when confronted in an instant - and it was an instant, nobody knew what she was choking on, action was necessary and Steph's reaction was amazing. I have no idea how we were able to eat after that, because the look on that woman's face is still freaking me out. I've never been that close to someone (five feet, probably) who wasn't sure if they were going to live another five minutes. I don't recommend it.

In media news, word has it that U2 is teaming up with Apple to deliver a U2 IPod, complete with their upcoming new album and other various tracks. Initially, this may come off as a marketing ploy to plug their new album, but its importance should not be overlooked. It's another small step towards the eradication (or major shifting) of the functionality of a record label. I suspect in ten years we'll be telling kids about how record labels "used to be." I've told a couple of close friends that it's only a matter of time before a huge artist signs exclusively with Apple/ITunes, completely cuts out the physical product part of things and therefore has no need for a traditional label. In fact, I look forward to the day. The record labels have it coming to them after years and years of activity that can only be described as borderline criminal and flat-out gross. I think this U2 news is the first small and welcome step towards that brave new world. I welcome it.

Song now playing: Pete Krebs & The Gossamer Wings - "Dressed to the 9's"

Here's an amusing pattern of songs from the IPod the other day:

Nick Drake - "Place To Be"
The Price Is Right Theme Song
Pearl Jam - "Dissident"

How funny. I mean, how can you not laugh when you're driving home from work in the car and you hear a Nick Drake song, then suddenly the Price Is Right song comes on? I love it. There's a CD that contains a whole bunch of old-school game show themes, naturally I had to have that and it had to go onto the IPod, no question about it.

The sixth inning of last night's Red Sox game pretty much epitomized the Red Sox as we've known them throughout the years. Up until the 6th, it seemed every player on the Sox was in a total catatonic state - their eyes were glazed over as if they'd just seen ALL of the Friday The 13th movies right in a row and each player seemed genuinely stunned that they were down in the series 3-0, had lost the previous night 19-8, and were down 2-0 in this game, having managed to only eek out 3 hits. Even Terry Francona, their weenie-head manager, was rocking back and forth even more than he usually does.

But suddenly they came to life and put up three runs in the sixth! 3-2 Red Sox! Even that didn't fool me, though, it was way too early to think victory. Like a pack of robots, the Yankees came out in the next half-inning and went right back ahead 4-3 on three infield dribblers, the final one a ball in which Mark Bellhorn, oops, forgot to pick up off the ground. Unbelieveable.

But the Red Sox defied their typical logic last night - they ended up tying the game in the bottom of the ninth and sent 'em home happy in the 12th with a David Ortiz homerun into the right field bullpen. Typically, getting there wasn't easy. I mean, I just about threw up when I saw that Francona summoned Mike Myers to come in and throw to Matsui, who could hit a molecule right now if you threw it at him. Of course, the vomit reached up to the top of my throat when Myers threw four consecutive balls about two feet off the plate to walk him and I swear Francona was rocking himself so hard he might have fallen off the bench and down the dugout stairs. Somehow, someway, they weaseled out of it, though, and pulled one out.

I'm sure George Bush has already vowed to get the terrorists who did this.

The new REM album sounds pretty damn good to me, by the way. Best one since Automatic for the People, for certain.

Song now playing: Bob Dylan - "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat"

On average, I visit coffee/doughnut shops twice per year. This would include the small mom-and-pop ones right up to Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. I just don't go to those kind of places for two reasons: a) because I can count on one hand the amount of cups of coffee I've had in my lifetime and b) because I restrict my doughnut intake to one doughnut per year.

There is one exception per the doughnut quota, though. Bolton Spring Farm in Bolton, Mass. does not count towards the one doughnut per year quota. Why? Because I said so. They make a mean sugar doughnut, so that's the rule.

This morning, due to the devastation currently going on in my kitchen, I decided to stop at Dunkin Donuts on my way to work to pick up a bagel (onion bagel, lite veggie cream cheese, uh-huh). So I approach the register and place what I believe to be a pretty simple order and I see the woman, a short, stout, loud woman, go over and grab a berry bagel instead of an onion bagel. I politely inquired "I think that's a berry bagel? I had actually asked for onion, please." She turned around and grunted as if I'd just asked her to singlehandedly solve the war on drugs and says "I don't know what it is. Whatever." She stomps back over to the bagels and grabs an onion one, huffs and puffs some more and puts in the bag. I should have apologized, really, for making her take the extra 5 steps to get the correct bagel. It is, after all, a lot to ask for someone to get my order right. But I smiled, said thank you and took off.

Red Sox = in trouble.

Song now playing: Sloan - "Keep On Thinkin'"

You cannot go anywhere in our house right now without being touched by the kitchen. You see, we're spot-on in the middle of completely gutting the kitchen and doing a total redesign (slideshow will be posted at some point); Over the last couple of days, we've had to move almost everything from the kitchen into another part of the house. There are glasses, dishes, toaster, microwave and pots/pans in the living room. There are wine glasses, glass pitchers and vases upstairs in our reading area. There are mixers, mugs, coffee cups and utensils in our basement. There is a cast iron sink and some lighting sitting in our enclosed front porch. All told - it's war here. War.

You can smell it, too. 50-plus years of dust, recently awakened from a deep slumber and now being kicked around by hammers, saws and pry bars. Our kitchen walls are gone, the skeleton of the room exposed, basically a series of wood "bones" which have exposed us to many hidden facts about the house we would have never otherwise known. The good news - we won't have to strip the wallpaper! Anyway, this is just day 2 of what will most likely be around 1-2 weeks of total, utter destruction. It's actually amazing to watch how quickly a room can be gutted and I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product, which seems like a lifetime away at this point.

Speaking of a lifetime away, for many Red Sox fans of the elderly variety, this must almost feel like a last chance. Tonight our beloved Red Sox kick off another ALCS with the New York Yankees and many people around here are feeling like this is finally the year the Sox prevail. So much so that a lot of folks in these parts actually wanted the Yankees. I say be careful what you wish for. Admittedly, though, I feel the same twinge - if we're going to make the World Series, it sure would be nice to plow through that wall to get there. But I would have readily accepted the Twins.

Elliot Smith's new album is due out soon, can't wait to hear that - it will be a bittersweet moment - a new album of songs from one of my favorite musicians, but also knowing its his last. I also keep reading bad reviews of the new R.E.M. album, but what I've heard so far sounds pretty damn good to me. This might be the first complete album I buy on ITunes. I'm also digging the new U2 song quite a bit - sounds like a War or Boy era rawk song!

Song now playing: Sweet - "Love Is Like Oxygen"

Around the web:

Pretty solid interview with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco at the Filter magazine website. I've made a few attempts to contact Wilco for some Item Five treatment, but they never respond. I did mean to write-up the Wilco show I attended here in Boston last weekend, but I ended up not having time to write my expanded thoughts on it. At a high level, it was quite a good show. From bookend to bookend, the change in this band from 1995 to 2004 has obviously been a dramatic one, but an effective argument could be made that their live show has improved greatly over the years. Sometimes they're a challenge, though. They'll build up a significant amount of momentum, then just kill it with a song or two that never leaves first gear. They're not necessarily bad songs, quite the contrary, it just delivers a brutal left hook to the vibe of the show - and I think that's their intention, actually.

So, Martha's now in jail. It's like beating a dead horse, really, but every time I see this in the paper or TV, I can't help but imagine a totally "done-up" cell, complete with tealights, burgendy curtains and soft carpeting. You know? It keeps making me laugh.

Allow me to geek for a minute. I'm jealous that I'm not attending The Web 2.0 Conference out in SF - that is quite a collection of brainpower over there. For those of you interested in the new economy, Jeff Jarvis has some great coverage from the conference.

For at least ten years now, I've shrugged off Rolling Stone as a magazine which had no redeeming value anymore as a music publication. It seemed to have turned into more of a fashion show, really. But work trips can do funny things to you. The last two times I've traveled, I've picked it up and stood at the newsstands and leafed through it and saw articles about music. Like - good music. Yesterday, I actually purchased it for the first time since who knows when. Color me impressed. Some solid writing on Johnny Ramone and two good interviews with John Edwards and Elvis Costello. I'm not subscibing just yet, but they're on watch for me now for the first time in many many moons. I'm still way on board with Harp. Hard to beat them right now.

Monday kicks off the peak of our kitchen demolition. If anyone's looking for a really cool, retro, clean, working old-school stove, let me know.

Song now playing: Kings Of Leon - "Happy Alone"

Just back from a work trip to Montreal, where I went out to dinner last night with clients who have actually become more like friends to us. A client who you've become friends with makes things that much easier and pleasant.

Anyway, I've been feeling a little under the weather lately, trying to bounce back from a virus over the weekend. I returned to my hotel room last night around 11pm, eager to tune into the Red Sox-Angels playoff game on ESPN. I flipped on the TV and started scanning channels, and much to my horror, discovered that the hotel didn't carry ESPN. Cripes! Are you kidding me? A hotel in North America that doesn't carry ESPN? That, in itself, should result in punishment by death. I didn't have much time to curse the hotel, though, I needed instant access to that baseball game.

My solution, in retrospect, was a great combination of old and new school. I ended up with the lights off, laying in bed, listening to Joe and Jerry on WEEI in Boston via MLB.com's Gameday Audio package. Similar to the stories you hear of little boys in the 1950s with their radio turned down low listening to the ballgame late at night, there I was, same situation, the only differece the slight blue-green glow of my laptop monitor, saving me from not knowing what was going on.

I tell you what, listening to Jason Varitek's home run in the sixth inning last night was not only exciting for its impactful moment in that game, but made me feel like a little kid growing up in the '40s or '50s - hushed hope, picture in my mind and innocent elation.

Not necessarily earth-rattling news, but it's still noteworthy that one of the founders of the Blogger service, EvHead, is leaving Blogger/Google (Bloogle? Gogger?). There doesn't seem to be any animosity or hard feelings, Ev just wants to try something new, which is not to be unexpected when you've sold your company and also been a part of one of the largest and/or most publicized IPO's in history. Methinks he probably did alright in last couple of years in the moolah department, so much like all the other dot.com richie-rich's, he's off to meditate, chant, hum and chill. Good for him.

In other tech news, Microsoft grand poo-bah Steve Ballmer made some, uh, rather pointed remarks about IPod users. Specifically, he called us a bunch of thieves. Now, I cannot speak for every user of the IPod, but I can tell you that I now have 3,212 songs on mine and not a single one is stolen. Every friend I know who uses the Pod swears that ITunes is so addictive that it's killing their wallet. Best of all was the post on Scoble's blog yesterday, which you should definitely read. Remember, Scoble is an employee of Microsoft and one of the people I pointed out a couple of weeks ago for writing a damn fine blog. My opinion remains the same: I give all the credit in the world to Microsoft for letting him do this thang. But Ballmer deserves a boot to the ass for that little outburst.

The Red Sox start their journey into the postseason this afternoon with Game 1 at Anaheim. I don't really know how to approach this postseason, personally. Last year is still a festering wound, so I'm having a hard time really hitching the kaboose to the train or getting too attached. But I know that all it's gonna take is one or two postseason wins and I'll get sucked right back in. This is more than I can say for the Cubs, who really blew it this season. Yikes. I mean YIKES.

Song now playing: Mission Orange - "Up On Blocks"

Maybe one of the reasons so many Americans are apathetic about voting and feel so completely helpless is because of stories like these. It's a long piece, but I implore you to read it. The Boston Globe has never exactly been a fair and just newspaper when it comes to politics and they do manage to throw a little mud at the Democrats in this piece, but the bottom line is that both parties are willing participants in what seems to be less and less of a true democracy. It's quite sad.

Jay Farrar's management sent out their newsletter today and mentioned the interview I did from two weeks ago (quite nice of them!). However, they only put the main page URL, so it's not on this page. Fear not, though! For those of you coming over from the newsletter, you can click here to see the interview with Jay. You can also read a bunch of other interviews by clicking here. Enjoy.

Last year I included The Tyde's "Twice" on my Top Ten Albums of 2003 list. This Los Angeles-based band's first two albums, titled "Once" and Twice are both fabulous slices of, for lack of a better term, "stoner california pop." Now, I am not insinuating at all that this band participates in the use of class-D substances, it's just simply a label I've given them because I want to. More importantly, their sweet pop sound and indie-rock-meets-buffalo-springfield vibe is so crazy-ass catchy that it'll drive you berserk.

I'm happy to offer up The Tyde's frontman and guitarist Brent Rademaker for today's installment of Item Five. Brent also fronted another interesting SoCal cosmic country band called Beachwood Sparks at one point. Here goes....

1. Wile E. Coyote was always shown as the bad guy, but I think he might have been a softie. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he just wanted to go out on a date with the Roadrunner? That maybe, just maybe, passion burned deep in his fur and all he wanted was what we all want - love?

What are you implying about these wonderful cartoon characters, sir? I actually prefer Wile to the Roadrunner, gay or not.

2. What can you tell us about the new album coming out soon from The Tyde? Will it be called "Three Times A Lady?"

That title has been suggested by so many people, there's no way that I could use that. If everybody who suggested that title to me actually bought a copy of the record, we might have a hit on our hands. But seriously, I do have a title and it does have something to do with "three" but it's a secret. The new album is currently in the works, look for it in Spring 2005.

3. Do you like it when people say that The Tyde have "that California sound?" Are you really that influenced by The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, etc?

The ultimate is to be called a California sounding band. I've listened to The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Burritos, etc. and studied them to death to a point that I rarely listen to them anymore. It's sort of something that we always seem to fall back on but it's actually a minimal part of our sound these days. There is an endless supply of musical caverns to mine elsewhere, but we definitely love representing California worldwide.

4. You toured last year with one of my favorites, Joe Pernice, which is a somewhat unlikely pairing. Did you enjoy the tour? Was it something either one of you
sought out or was it just a random pairing?

The Pernice Brothers actually asked us on for that leg of the tour. Although at the time, I was only casually familiar with Joe's work, I feel that we definitely have common ground. He and the boys in the band were fantastic gentlemen and amazing musicians. Joe literally gave me the shirt off his back at the last show which will definitely show you the kind of guy he is. I think he thought as well as I do, that we both made sort of 80s inspired records this time around.

5. Which gum do you like better: Fruit Stripe or Blackjack?

I was always a teaberry man myself. But don't chew gum these days, I hear it bloats you.

6. Who is the most underrated band of all time?

Felt or Denim hands down.

7. Why don't you ask me a question?

How are the waves where you live dude?

Answer: Ever seen Emmanuel Lewis?

8. What was the last thing you laughed really hard at?

Went to see a screening of the latest Vincent Gallo film, The Brown Bunny, Friday night. He gave a Q&A with the audience afterwards and ended with a videotape of Roger Ebert dissing him and his film which was hilarious.

9. Any idea who you'll vote for in the upcoming election?

Sir, the American way is to not disclose that but it's not Bush and it ain't Nader. Apparently it's the Vietnamese way too because my mother-in-law won't disclose whom she is voting for.

10. Who would you rather be (and why): Sandra Bullock, Jim J Bullock, or Tina Turner (whose real name is Ana May Bullock)?

Sandra Bullock disgusts me. I love Jim J. Bullock on that show with Ted Knight but Ted Knight is the ruler there. But I have to say Tina Turner because of the voice and the hot legs but wouldn't that make me Rod Stewart?

Thanks to The Tyde!