06.28.07

Glory Days: Baseball In New York 1947-1957

How is it possible to be nostalgic for a time period twenty years before I was born? Seeing this exhibit at The Museum of New York made me want to relive those days I never lived. Three local teams; The Yankees (Bronx), The Giants (Manhattan) and The Dodgers (Brooklyn), all dominated the baseball world in that time period with intense rivalries and seven subway World Series. The color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, and ten years later, The Trolley Dodgers (also known as "Dem Bums") moved west to Los Angeles, followed four months later by The Giants' move to San Francisco, breaking up the power trio. The exhibit houses some great artifacts of a simpler time in baseball, from gloves and uniforms to contracts (for thousands of dollars!) and some great radio calls, including that of Russ Hodges' amazing call of Bobby Thompson's Shot Heard Round The World, a three run homer for The Giants to beat the Dodgers in the National League Pennant. There is also a telescope that was used to steal signs from opposing teams in the Giants' home Polo Grounds, which may or may not have been responsible for their incredible 37-7 record at the end of that season and culminating in the famous home run. We have phsical and financial steroids in the game today, but controversy is clearly a constant in the sport that defines our heritage better than any other.

06.22.07

Le Firm

Do you ever wonder what happens when Lawyers rock? Find out with Le Firm, featuring two members of the Bar. The band is rounded out with a great, if French, guitarist and one of the baddest drummers in NYC. They played their Mercury Lounge debut on Tuesday night and tore it up. This is a band worth checking out. But don't take my word for it... Listen to the show here. (Right- or control-click to download)

06.17.07

Father's Day

Dear Dad, Thank you. You have provided me with so much. Anything I ever wanted, I could have because of your work. You have always been so incredibly dedicated to raising the best family you could and we've always appreciated it. And you introduced me to sports! Little League, Soccer, Tennis and Golf. From that fateful 1986 Red Sox season to my first Super Bowl victory in 2002, you helped nurture my deep, if not insane, love of athletic competition. And in return, I introduced you to fantasy sports, a new realm for your devastatingly competitive fire.

I Love you Dad. And Mom. And Andrew and Caitlin. And Alaina and her family... And you.

06.14.07

Flag Day

Today is the five-year anniversary of the very first Supergood Reality, which occured on June 14, 2002 at the now defunct Arthur's Dress Shop on the Lower East Side. It was a party where I improvised music with Reason 1.0 and showed videos from West Africa. Greg Wright made a video piece and I played along to that with Eliot Wadsworth, now guitarist for The Head Set. I was planning on showing the Subway videos later, but there was some sort of chaos and my video camera fell off the step ladder and broke. Lessons were learned... There were two more Supergood Realities over the next year, but since Reality 3.0, there has been a hiatus, which is soon to be ended: July 7, 2007 at The Land. Supergood Reality IV. We will be partying at The Land in Warwick, NY. The Land is thirty acres of woods, meadows and ponds and you are all welcome, nay, required! to join us for the weekend. Please email me if you are interested.

06.13.07

Spamalot

Monty Python on Broadway! I so rarely see Broadway shows, but some friends gave Alaina and I tickets as a wedding present, so we went and were thoroughly entertained for two hours. This show stays very true to the original Python movie, "The Holy Grail" but with a meta-Broadway twist. Many of the original gags (The coconut horses! Not dead yet! Knights who say "Ni"!) are supplemented with some outrageous theatre mockery. It is a perfectly sequined big-Broadway spectacle seen through the absurdist lens of the legendary troupe. While the price of these tickets can be as ridiculous as the humour ($250?), I recommend standing room tickets for $20 or getting married and seeing it on your friends' generosity... Thank you M.A. crew!

Lily Allen

Lily Allen played Roseland last night and gave an endearing performance. She forgot words to her songs, acknowledged booze and exhaustion as reasons for cancelling her tour, and admitted heartbreak at being dumped (albeit by a dude with a small wang...) It is not the sort of persona you would expect this brash singer to have, yet it brings her closer to her audience by emphasizing her flaws and making celebrity worship seem silly. Her band, consisting of drums, bass keys and three horns, was tight and played the album songs as well as some covers, including "Heart of Glass" ("Sorry for all the covers, but we only have twelve songs, so we have to play other people's songs to give you your money's worth...") I feel like she needs to hear that she's doing a good job, so if you read this, Lily, please recognize that you made lots of people happy last night.

06.08.07

Awesome Music

Lee Sargent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has been telling me to get the new National CD for months now. I saw CYHSY open for The National a few years ago in Greenpoint at Warsaw, when CYHSY was just blowing up. The room emptied out after they played and The National played to half a room. A few weeks ago The National sold out 5 nights at Bowery and this new record, Boxer, is the reason why. It is beautiful, haunting music that creeps inside you. While comparisons to The Smiths and The Cure might serve as some navigational aid in placing their sound, it is unique and true to itself. Nice work, Brooklyn.

Wilco's Sky Blue Sky is another beautiful recording that defines itself. I hear The Beatles and The Grateful Dead in there, but the music is still pushing sonic frontiers. It has a bittersweet mood throughout its winding story and it feels good to experience it. And on June 26, Wilco will be playing at Warsaw! How absurd! This band could sell that place out every night for a year. I absolutely love it, and invite anyone to give me a ticket!

06.01.07

Blog Anniversary

Today is the first birthday of my blog. It is still in its infancy, but it is beginning to stand on its own legs. I hope it will be walking soon. It has been a fun project for me, and I really do enjoy writing it, as well as reading it. It is me as seen by me at a specific moment in time. I am starting to feel the acceleration of time that older people have always described to me. The past year has zipped along at unprecedented speed and I feel like time will only increase its velocity. These notes that I jot down in the blog are my timeline reminders; points on the map of my existential being, and proof that I lived.

Backstage

John Krasinski is famous. He is also a friend and has been since before he became "Jim" on NBC's "The Office". The great thing about famous friends is they have famous friends and can get total randoms like myself backstage at the Bright Eyes show at Town Hall (#4 of 7 consecutive sold out nights). He is friends with Ben Gibbard who sings in Death Cab For Cutie and Postal Service, who happens to be playing that night as a special guest. So we chill backstage with Ben and Bright Eyes then watch the show behind the soundboard, where I drooled over all the toys and rocked out to a great show (Highlight: Ben and full Bright Eyes band playing We Will Become Silhouettes When We Die.) But the thing about these famous people: they are so nice. I've known John for a long time and he has always been one of the friendliest faces around. While he acknowledges the bizarreness of his life's turn, he has not changed from the humble goofball I've always known. Within one second of walking out the stage door, he has people chasing him with cameras and pens and he obliges them all, making their day special. Celebrity is a strange phenomenon, but if we are going to celebrate someone, it should be a great guy like John.