Author: whodeanny

Cry Me A River

Okay, here’s the link. The Sports Guy on ESPN.com writes about Cry Me A River as “the most destructively vengeful song of all-time”. My wife and I have been talking about this for a couple years now. It’s hard for me to remember sometimes (or maybe I just want to forget) but Britney was the first White Aailyah.

{Eventually I ‘ll work through why NKOTV was the Black New Edition but it seems so obvious I haven’t bothered.}

When Aaliyah died it was national mourning for Black America; I suppose what we’re seeing now is the possibible slow death of Britney.

In Freakonomics, there’s a great line from Stephen Dubner about Britney Spears being ‘an effect not a cause’ (of her given name not anything more, uh, public). I like to think of her that way sometimes, ‘an effect not a cause’.

Apparently, vengeance hath no fury like a Justin scorned.

TP

kid music

Okay, this isn’t about me as much as it is my son. He’s 9 (and a half) and listens to Radio Disney and enjoys artists like Vanessa Hudgens. But he also loves James Brown and Michael Jackson and in the last few weeks has pushed George Benson to all his classmates. Now most of the 3rd graders in his school listen to George Benson. How fun is that?!?

TP

Amy Winehouse

Another fun new musical find has been Amy Winehouse. Even though she’s better known for her antics than her music she’s a tremendous singer. I’ve listened to Back in Black a few times now and I still can’t decide who she sounds like. But wow, she’s so good. Really talented, self-aware (Rehab?!?) and just plain fun.

Good stuff.

TP

more on Bonds

A couple months ago, before the baseball season began, I suggested that we should celebrate Barry Bonds as the best current athlete in a team sport. Despite getting a bit of grief over those sentiments I hold to them steadfastly. A couple folks have asked why I didn’t mention the MVPs more urgently. Part of that is simply because I assumed everyone familiar with the arguments would already be fairly aware however I should mention a couple things. One- Bonds has won 7 of them. No one in else in major team sports has that many. Two- He clearly earned at least one more of them (1991). Tery Pendleton owes Bonds and it was almost immediately apparent that he was jobbed that season.

Beyond the formal achievements are any number of unique or nearly unique elements to his career (intentional walk with bases loaded, more times on base than official at bats, higher than .600 OBP for a season). He’s the best we have. Warts and all.

TP

Rising Stars

Like many I have been watching Heroes intensely. It’s a great show and I still think it’s probably the best show on TV. At the same time, I’ve wondered about how familiar some elements of it seem. I don’t mean in the sense of archtypes or the comic book conventions to which it so often pays homage. Rather that many of the characters seemed pre-built.

However you want to conceive of it, it is clear that Heroes owes a tremendous debt to Rising Stars, a comic series by J. Michael Straczynski. It is an absolutely amazing series. The characters and stories in it are amazingly rich, full and complex. All the things people like about Heroes are realized in Rising Stars.

Simply awesome stuff!

TP

Shields and Brooks

One of the few TV shows I try to watch weekly is the Lehrer newshour. Actually, I want to make a point of watching a single segment. It’s David Brooks and Mark Shields on Friday evenings. They usually get a nice chunk of time and have fascinating, wide ranging conversations like yesterday’s. It’s this kind of political conversation that makes me sad for the folks for whom Fox News and Air America are the sole providers of information. Well, among other things.

TP

So Into You

Definitely not punk music. I’ve been discovering Atlanta Rhythm Section lately. This is a 70s ‘Southern Rock’ group that sounds like an interesting cross between Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, England Dan/John Ford Coley and Steely Dan with a dash of Eagle thrown in.

The song ‘So Into You’ is an adult contemporary sort of track that rarely gets played on those stations but really should be a staple. They had a few top 40 songs, including So Into You and Spooky but never hit it big. My guess is that because ARS was so comfortable doing rootsy stuff with very little California spin they fell between the cracks a bit, perhaps in the same way that the Indigo Girls don’t really fit the formats of radio stations. (I’d be interested to know what other bands you think have that same problem.)

Regardless, ARS has numerous hidden gems on this 20th century collection I’ve been listening to. A brilliant singer, two versatile guitarists and 70s perfect polish production. Great combo.

TP

Disco Nap

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’d need disco naps during the NBA playoffs. Well, I took that advice to heart Thursday. I DVRd the Mavs-Warriors Game 6 from Oaktown and watched it during the small numbers of the clock. So worth it.

The Warriors have the kind of fun openness that characterize the best of pickup basketball. Playing with people you know and like who want to win but want to have a great time even more. The Warriors have so much fun and play like it. The Mavs on the other hand seemed incredibly nervous. Despite playing in the Finals last year (or maybe because of it) they were never able to utilize their strengths in Game 6. When they played well it was only in spurts and spurts that began with offense. In 2003 that would have been the plan but since Avery took over from Nellie he’s continually force fed them the defense wins mantra. Thursday their only chance was to ride an extraordinary Jerry Stackhouse through the first half storm and then hope that the Warriors self destructed.

Thanks in large part to Baron Davis’ offensive aggressiveness, Nellie’s confidence (in the whole rotation not named Al Harrington) and Stephen Jackson’s Redemption Game, the Warriors are moving to Round 2 in yes, the biggest upset in NBA playoff history. With lots of confidence. In fact, even before the Rocket-Jazz finale later today, I want to go out on a limb and predict a Suns-Warriors Western Conference final. That final will also be the most exciting two weeks of basketball since the original Dream Team used the Barcelona Olympics to spark the global explosion of basketball.

Finally, just imagine how much the Warriors win helps the Heat. After an unsettling season and a ridiculously bad loss to the Bulls in their first round series Miami is already off the hook. How many offseason stories about the Heat’s debacle will include some caveat about how much worse the Mavs loss was? Pat Riley may soon enter my Ringo all-Starr band. (The luckiest people on Earth.)

TP

Strokin’ Aces

Last night, I saw an excellent new punk band called Strokin’ Aces. They’re just starting to gig consistently but they’re already really good. Punk isn’t my standard cup of tea but their musicality was obvious. I kept hoping that they’d chill on the in between song guitar tones because people wanted to clap and cheer but there wasn’t quite enough space between songs to do that. That’s a minor bitch of course. Strokin’ Aces played some fun, interesting music really well. I’m definitely planning to show up to watch them at a Battle of the Bands in Indy in a few weeks at Birdy’s (the site of an incredibly tight Prince aftershow a few years ago).

Their myspace page is here Strokin’ Aces

TP