Here are a few stories

For all my friendies out there:

First, is a story that Nick C & the McClung Bros and folks as old or older will especially appreciate.  It involves our kid Rock Star again, Dylan Fox.  I asked him aboot the deal w/ iTunes, how much does it cost to get yor product on there, how much do you get from the "sales"/downloads?, etc, ...

Dylan Fox and the Wave put some tracks in the can.

He told me that stuff and then I asked him how many songs he had in the can.

He had no idea what I was talking about.  He had never heard that expression before.

He is sooooo cute.

************

Jess Jackson died a couple of days ago.  He was a true titan of the No California Wine Emperors.   Perhaps you could say, Jackson was the Mondavi of Sonoma.  Say what you will about the ubiquitous K-J Chard (I actually like it) there is a reason it is the best selling Chard in the world.  He found the formula, like Coke or Pepsi, I suppose, and stuck with it for three decades running now.

He owns near every last parcel of Sonoma county.  He started out as a lawyer.  He was born in San Francisco.  He passed away on 4/21.  He was eighty-one.

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Heard a great baseball story yesterday, listening to the Rangers' radio crew.  I am sure the story is as old as baseball but this version was attributed to Jim Kern and his minor-league Manager at the time.  Kern was the Rangers' Closer back in the days when they were not even using the term Closer yet.

So, Kern is pitching in the Minor Leagues.  He has started the game and he is getting rocked hard.  The Manager comes out to talk to him in the second inning.  Kern says, "Hey, Skip, I know I am getting rocked, but I'll sort it out.  I'm not tired, at all."

The Skip says, "I know you're not tired.  I'm worried about those outfielders, they're exhausted!"

************

More baseball:  This was a beautiful little AP wrap above the Rangers/Royals box score today in the SFChron.

Rangers 11, Royals 6

ARLINGTON, Texas - Five Rangers - Mike Napoli, Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland - homered on a windy night.



Lovely little poem, that.



Mwah, ...


Love and kisses.

That is a shock,

Yup, that is where Larry "Wide Stance" Craig was busted.

Ensign resigning.  Because as you probably know GOP "public" servants never resign.  See "Diaper" David Vitter or Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, for instance.

Anyhoo, the CW is that the GOP Gov will appoint a US Rep named Heller to take Ensign's place until the election next year.  But why would not the Gov appoint "2nd Amendment Remedies" Sharron Angle to the post? My gosh, it would be a travesty, but the GOP really does not care anymore.  They want to please their Overlords, keep the checks coming in, keep their jobs, and above all, see (and help) Obama to fail, in spite of the nation's well-being and health.

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Hilarious to see four GOP Govs (incl Gubner "Secession" Haircut from Texas) scream bloody murder about federal money but then do some crafty bookkeeping and plead for the money, after all.  Pathetic.

************

My buddy, Nick C, does this game sometimes where he asks all his co-workers a "Question For the Day."

Today's question was, "Knowing the Desperado guy in Seinfeld, what is your personal Desperado Song in your life?" Nick's was In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel, Yvonne's was Fanfare for the Common Man, and mine is a tie between two Cheater Slicks songs:  Dignity and Grace and Refried Dreams.

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No need to panic but the Rangers are scuffling a bit after their fantastic 6-0 start.  Bullpen is a problem, Colby has not looked sharp, at all, and a large portion of the lineup is slumping.  Like I said, no reason to panic.  We got a long way to go.  Props to Matty Harrison, he looks like he has finally figured it out.  He's going to be a solid 3-4-5 rotation kind of guy.

Speaking of Colby Lewis, Colby was the first MLB player in history to take the newly instituted three day Paternity Leave.  Of course, there was some yahoo, redneck Texas idiot sportscaster who took umbrage with this, stating that Colby should either plan his wife's pregnancies better or just pitch anyway.  Some things never change in that part of the world.

************

Treme Season Two starts on Sunday.  Renee and I are psyched.  I'll keep you up-to-date without spoiling anything and refer to the excellent Back of Town NOLA/Treme Series blog when needed.

************

Cheater Slicks, Mystery Ship

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We have a v cute little Rock Star working with us right now.  You can buy his songs on the iTunes, even! (Dylan Fox and the Wave.)  Anyhoo, he worships the White Stripes and he is a Facebook friendie and so I pointed out the posting I did of that Rep scolding the GOP during the recent budget debate, quoting the White Stripes.  He thought it was pretty cool.

Then today he said that I was ahead of the curve cause now, a couple of weeks later that same posting is showing up on all the indie-music blogs.  

I said, Those kids just do not read political blogs.  

Kids, hunh?

************

Mwah, ... 

Never seen

Stage Door before, directed by Gregory LaCava.

"Make me pretty, loser!"

It is fantastic.  Rapid fire, smartass dialogue is always good for film, comedy or otherwise.

It has an amazing cast:  Ginger Rogers, Hepburn, Gail Patrick (humma-na-nummana), Pangborn, Lucille Ball (who I cannot stand normally but she is great in this), Eve Arden (w/ a cat around her neck most of her scenes), Adolphe Menjou, a young frickin, accent showin' Ann Miller, etc, ...

Sure the whole "Kay business" is a bunch of melodramatic malarkey but all that great banter between Hepburn and Rogers and the Footlights Club ladies' scenes are pure gold.

It ain't My Man Godfrey, LaCava's masterpiece, but it's damn, frickin' good,

The current rating

For Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 as I write this is seven per cent.  That will change some, I am sure.  And it is a higher rating than for Troll 2, so it does have that going for it, I suppose.

(But we all know it is just part of the Giant Lamestream Media Conspiracy.)

Who is John Galt?

Will you be standing in line tomorrow to watch a bunch of d-list Canadian (no offense, Canada, ... ) LMN actors in Atlas Shrugged Part 1?

I will not.  Go Galt already. 

"Is it too late/To do it again/

The Feelies feel it in Jersey

Or should we wait/Another ten?"

That is the opening couplet from The Feelies' fifth long-player, Here Before, officially released yesterday.  More on that later.

************

I would love to play poker against Dems.  Time and again immemorial Dems refuse to call the evil GOP's bluff.  Time and again immemorial Dems concede half the pot before the betting begins.

The GOP know the debt ceiling has to be raised.  Their Wall Street/Koch Bros. Overlords have way too much to lose.  Still, here comes the White House, speaking of concessions, suddenly listening to the Cat Food Commission's heinous suggestions, and just overall saying all the wrong things about the deficit and programs that must be cut.

I'd be a millionaire playing poker against these fools.

************

A couple more political quick-hitters before I get on to funner things.  (And yes, I know, funner is not a word.)

First, lately, I have been distressed to see some of my blogosphere/facebook friendies politely applauding David Brooks.  Perhaps it is because he has a new book out or perhaps it is because he writes for the venerable, majestic NYT.

My friends, David Brooks, is not a force for good, much less even a moderate.  Read driftglass.  Remember that Brooks wrote a whole fucking awful series of articles in the Atlantic and other magazines just after Bush 43 was elected, calling all those that live in Blue States a bunch of intellectual, snobby show-offs who instead should be reverent, respectful, god-fearing WalMart shoppers.  Us in the Blue States just do not understand the real (Red State) Americans who love to eat at the Applebee's salad bar.  Also, do not forget that Mr Brooks was one of the biggest Iraq War cheerleaders, writing then for the fucking Weekly Standard.  Then you should read more driftglass.  David Brooks is an evil GOP hack asshat.  Do not pay attention to a frickin' word he says.

Next:  some more of my friendies on the interwebs are lamenting the recent budget deal, upset enough to stamp their tootsies that the government is not shutting down and all government programs must be abolished herewith!

What a load of crap.  Uh, these Randian, deficit/tax/regulation hating folks had nary a word to say when Bush 43 got us in to two fucking wars (occupations, really) and lowered taxes, thus, along with banks acting like casino majordomos, wrecking the economy.  Why is it with these Randites that when a serious discussion of the deficit crops up they always want to discuss term-limits; abolishing Planned Parenthood, ACORN, the NEA, NPR, PBS, the EPA, OSHA, the Dept of Education, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security; lowering US Reps and Senators salaries but yet, never once do they mention that large corporations like GE and Exxon/Mobil should pay fucking income taxes, or that we should fucking reduce military spending, which is by far the largest piece of the discretionary spending pie.

Bush 43 inherited a surplus, folks.  He promptly read My Pet Goat as the Trade Center collapsed and burned, went on vacation a lot, let the banks do whatever they fucking pleased, fiddled as the economy crashed, fired US attorneys that did not pursue nonexistent Democratic Vote Fraudsters, installed the PATRIOT act, and made a few Barney Xmas videos.

Enough.  It is okay to run a deficit in times like these.  In fact, the economy would be in much better shape today and the deficit would be larger if we had done a bigger, better stimulus package.  But Dems are cowards.  What else is new?

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The new Feelies album is splendid.  It is not radical or different in any way.  I would not expect that from them, besides.  The song titles are like haikus or koans, seemingly wise despite their vacant plainness, to wit:  Again Today, When You Know, Morning Comes, Here Before, Change Your Mind, Time Is Right, etc, ... There are guitar solos on every track, drum cymbals are almost never used and when they are it is strictly for punctuation.  My favorite track right now is When You Know.  It is a motorik monster with one of the most stunning guitar solos I have ever heard.  Million somehow makes his guitar sound like a backmasked recorder before unleashing a brief Neu-worthy panning airplane takeoff topper.

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Well, the masterful Todd Haynes' Mildred Pierce has wrapped up.  I do not want to spoil anything for those who might watch it in replay or on dvd but the series really began to take off for me in episode three.  By the beginning of episode four, however, each scene in sequence became better and better, more gripping, more addictive and intoxicating.  The slow pace of the series really does build up to a stunning, sweaty palms climax.  Phenomenal.  Ms Winslett has done it again.  Is she the finest movie actress alive right now? I think so.  Kudos also go out to Evan Rachel Wood, as well.

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Bouchon and Market were wonderful.  (Yes, I suppose I am one of those wussy, snobby, Blue State toffs that love to eat at fancy restaurants, much to Mr Brooks' chagrin.)

Here are numerous pictures:

Daddy at Bouchon

Daddy's salad

Pnut's pork belly "salad"

Daddy's roasted lamb

Daddy at Bouchon (Part Deux)

Pnut's beet salad at Market

While we were at Bouchon I noticed there was a small wait table where servers would let bottles "breathe."  One of the bottles was a 1993 Lafite Rothschild.  Well, actually, I just knew it was a Lafite.  I actually stood up and peered at the label to discover the vintage.  We tried to "follow" the bottle and see which table it ended up at but it vanished before we could discover that.  Then, just as suddenly, as we left, we saw it back in a server's hands being poured in to a small decanter.  I asked him where it was going.  He said, the customer left the rest of the bottle for the kitchen staff.  I said, was not it too young? He said the kitchen staff would appreciate it plenty, no matter.  

Good for them!

Love you all so much, Mwah, ... 

Thanks to my wonderful

Parents, Renee and I are off to Bouchon in Yountville tonight for my birthday.  We will also stop at a couple of wineries too, I believe.  And coming back to the Crick on Sunday, I would like to stop at Market, too.

Woo-hoo!

Last time I was at Bouchon.

Love you all!

P.S. Rangers play a doubleheader today, rained out yesterday.

Congresswoman Donna Edwards: "A Lesson for My Republican Colleagues Cour...

There is a lot I would like

To talk about today but I also do not want to bury the lede.  So, here goes:

Black Swan stinks.  Black Swan is one of the worst films I have seen in ages.  Renee made me sit down and watch it with her and I found it mostly laughable, obvious in its' influences but nowhere near reaching those predecessors' dizzy heights.  I do not care about the awards and the nominations.  The Academy recognizes crappy films all the time.  Big deal.  But I would like to say that Ms Portman's performance was nothing special to this writer.  And it certainly comes nowhere near to Catherine Deneuve's performance in Repulsion, that is for sure.  In fact, I did not really like any performance in this film.  And, good grief, Ms Ryder's performance was particularly awful, not hysterical in a good way, just hysterical and phony.

Mr Aronofsky's influences for Black Swan were laid plain for all to see.  The biggest debt is owed to Polanski's twisted Swinging London psycho-horror masterpiece, Repulsion.  The female protagonists for both films are arrested-development, practically infantile, sexual repressives.  Ms Deneuve in Repulsion, I suspect, has Daddy issues and she responds by killing men.  Ms Portman oh-so-obviously has Mommy issues and she resolves them by destroying herself by suicide.  Both are repulsed by men and sex in general.  One (Ms Portman) "dabbles" with gay sex in a completely gratuitous, insulting "madness/fantasy of the id" scene.  Because we all know that hot, straight-identified ballerinas would rather fuck each other.

The other two influences are Kubrick and Nic Roeg, both of whom have made horror masterpieces, themselves.  The Shining and Don't Look Now, respectively.  Kubrick's stock, to me, has fallen probably just as much as Roeg's has risen, lately.  Having said that, let us not kid ourselves, even Roeg's best work (and much of Kubrick's, too) is manifestly uneven; even in the same picture much less his entire career.  But even in a flawed Roeg or Kubrick film you will still be left with moments in their films that will stay with you forever.  There are no such moments in Black Swan.

I liked exactly two sequences in Black Swan.  The first is the subway scene in which Ms Portman is wearing a stunning pinkish pea-coat.  The first shot of this sequence appears to reveal Ms Portman sitting on a subway train by herself seen as through a bevelled mirror.  The next shot is of an older gentleman making kissy-faces at her, lewdly, whereupon he begins to "masturbate", much to Ms Portman's obvious disgust.  The other sequence I liked was the very short sequence after Ms Portman has taken ecstasy.  I thought Mr Aronofsky did a very fine job of depicting what it feels like right when that drug hits you for the first time.  (I also liked Ms Portman trying feebly to get her "date" and his buddy excited about ballet, "I can comp you for the show!")

Unfortunately for me the credits ran after the film concluded.  Unfortunate because my Mum and I have come up with a near foolproof rule for determining whether a film is going to be a stinker before the film even starts.  The rule is thus:  if there are more than two credited screenwriters for the film it is most likely going to be a dud.  There are three screenwriters for Black Swan and one of those writers also gets another credit for "story".

Finally, here are three questions/issues I have for Black Swan:

• What top-notch NYC ballet company would rehearse in a subterranean concrete jungle like that?
• We see exactly one ballerina smoke a cigarette, Ms Portman, and she is "stressed."  Ballerinas are notorious chain-smokers.
• Why do we not see one single gay man in this film?

Okay, I am half-joking with the last one.

Black Swan is a stinker.  See Repulsion instead.  And Polanski did Repulsion with probably a hundredth of the amount money spent on producing Black Swan.

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Last night when Chris Day was driving me home after inventory (on my birthday! yuk!) we saw a baby coyote ever so politely cross the street before we turned.

Since I have moved here last year I have seen deer, dead and alive but mostly dead; lizards; possums; ducks; and turkeys.  The turkeys crossed  Ygnacio, as well, during daylight hours, three of them, with the light, and they all stayed in the crosswalk the entire time.

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Here is a quote from some joker on the best Texas Rangers website/blog, BBTiA:

fauxluxe

Okay, here is the deal. I know it is early, yada yada yada, BUT, even if the Rangers do not make it to the postseason this year, i.e. injuries, rotation meltdown, JD making a colossal boneaded move at the deadline, etc, ... Doesn't it seem like this organization has turned the corner? Ever since the sweep at home of the damn Yankees in September? The Rangers are winning games now (like they did today, in the late innings right before your closer would stroll out of the bullpen and EVERYONE would know the game was over) like I used to see tons of teams since I have been a Ranger fan BEAT the Rangers. Like the Royals used to, or the Twins used to, or the A's used to, or the Angels used to. Since Nolan and Wash (and Maddux) have come aboard things are DIFFERENT in Arlington.

Like I said, even if the Rangers melt down this year they'll be a force to be reckoned w/ for years to come in the AL West and the AL, in general.

It is so great now. I love that I've stuck it out since 1976. The Rangers have effing arrived, at last.

I am loving this version of the Rangers.  Despite carrying thirteen pitchers until May and having the shortest bench in MLB they are proving to be the deepest lineup in baseball.  Only one player, Adrian Beltre, has played every game at one position, third base.  "Face" has played first, second, and DH.  Moreland has played first and right.  Hamilton has played left and center.  Kinsler has played second and DH.  Cruz, right and DH.  Napoli has caught, played first and DH.  It is like Wash is managing a National League team, except with a DH. Brill.

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Gosh, I have really been getting in to The Feelies these days.  I just bought their new record today.  The Feelies have been around since 1976.  This is their fifth album.  Awesome.  I love how they have two drummers; one of the guitarists is named Bill Million; they cover bands they sound nothing like; their influences are blatantly obvious but they carve out their own turf, they're from New Jersey, etc, ... 

So great.

Mwah, ... 

Love you all, 

xxxx oooo

The Feelies 3-19-10 "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My ...

Tuesday appears to be a

Banner day for Teabaggers, Randians, and our humble GOP.  


Paul Ryan and his hateful hordes have decided they want to abolish Medicare.


Fox News and the rest of GOP flacks and losers will tell you that this is just reform or that they are actually saving Medicare.  


They are lying.  Because that is how they work.  If you are 55 or older now then, according to your wonderful GOP, you had better start saving your pennies now because you will have to go through the Private Insurers ten years from now.


Do not fall for this shit again.  

"Old? Pre-existing condition? I don't care! Jeez, get away from me."

I will now pass you on to the amazing digby's take.  

More history today.

Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz became the first teammates in MLB to hit Home Runs in each of their first three games to start a season.

The lefty's line yesterday:  7/1/1/5/2/8/0

The Rangers swept the Red Sox, outscoring them 26-11 in the three game set.

Matt Harrison looked crazy-sick-good out there yesterday and if he is the real deal this year then the rest of the AL better watch out.  Harrison was acquired in the Mark Teixiera fleecing, along w/ our Closer, Neftali Feliz, and our starting Shortstop, Elvis Andrus.  Harrison has always had good stuff but was a nibbler and lacked confidence, the killer instinct.  This Spring, Harrison swore up and down that he had turned the corner and deserved to be in the rotation.  (Harrison apparently did a lot of reading this offseason; philosophy and baseball and philosophy of baseball books, apparently.)  This kind of transformation happened last year with another Ranger lefty, CJ Wilson.  Like I said, Watch out if Maddux and Wash have done it again.

Keep on reading Harry.  We all want to see more games like yesterday's.

The Rangers (and Mariners) Magic Number is 159!

Did you know that the distinctive New York Yankees cap logo, one of the most well-known team logos in history, was designed by Tiffany and Co.  I did not know that until recently.

Anyhoo, enough about the Damn Yankees.  Let us talk about the defending AL champs, the Texas Rangers.

It is early but life is good.  Ian Kinsler made history yesterday when he led off the game with a Home Run.  That is history because he did the same exact thing on Friday, making him the first Major Leaguer to ever hit lead-off Homers in the first two games of a season.  Not even Rickey Henderson ever did that.

Plus, our Tiffany and Co. free agent, Adrian Beltre, cracked a Grand Slam off of John Lackey yesterday.  I cannot stand John Lackey.  A couple of years ago when Lackey was still with the Angels he was thrown out of a game for throwing behind Ian Kinsler and then plunking him with the very next pitch.  He and his Angel manager, Mike Scioscia, did that kind of stuff all the time back then, still do, I am sure.  Yesterday, the Rangers chased Lackey the old fashioned way, they pounded holy hell out of him.  Lackey's line from Saturday:  3.2 IP 10 H 9 R (all earned) 2 BB 3 K 2 HR.  It took him 86 pitches to record eleven outs.

Meanwhile, Colby Lewis was like Houdini out there.  He escaped with a Win, a Quality Start, and calmed down enough to get his pitch/out average down to a modest six.  He looked rusty out there for sure but it is another win.

Rangers go for the sweep in about a half hour from now.

Baseball is back.  I am loving life.