The washington nationals suck.

I think they are now 38 and 70.... but the bottom line is they suck.. last year we kept hearing all this stuff about how they were bulding for the new stadium.. well boys the new stadium is here and the TEAM IS WAY WORSE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN! and that includes the montreal expos! what are we waiting for???? Karsten and Lerners what are you waiting for? Washington DC is not a big baseball as evidenced by the fact that its lost at least two major league clubs (one left and became the Minnesota Twins and another left and became the Texas Rangers which has the ignominous distinction of having given George W. Bush his shot at redemption and the big time).. basically DC is not a baseball town and when you put a completely loser team on the field you're not giving people much of a reason to come back.. There has been a big miscalculation by the team brass: they think that people in DC are so hungry for baseball they will go watch the games no matter what product is on the field.. this just ain't going to fly.. people are getting seriously turned off! the team ownership and management should be trying to win over and woo the residents of DC many of whom are pretty mad that they even had to fork over $600 million for a new stadium to lure the historically sorry Expos......

 

Washington DC like all towns has its own characteristics.. I think many of us think of ourselves- rightly- as the political center of the world.. a power capital of sorts.. its a competitive town and many of us come here from all over drawn by politics, multilateral and non governmental organizations... many others originally based in other big cities in the northeast such as New York and Philly come here to study and stay for a while.. these people all share one thing in common: being from places that are used to being taken seriously... moreover, the greater DC area is an important economic center home to many IT industries - for example along the Dulles corridor, etc.- very important law firms, consulting firms, defense contractors, etc... We are a  powerful town- like it or not rest of America and the world- and yet the current ownership of the team is running it as if we're- no disrespect meant- Winnetka, Kansas or Podunk, Indiana.. come on!!!!! you can't have your cake and it eat too here Nationals: you have very expensive tickets and concessions (tickets behind home plate here are three to six times more expensive than in Baltimore at the lovely Camden Yards) and at the same time beg poverty as a reason for not being able to make any acquisitions..

 

Basically Karsten, Lerner and company run the team as if we are a small market team and thats just not accord with the facts.. we've heard the endless stories that the team is going to be built from the ground up but eventually you do have to add a few proven veterans on the free agency market or through trades..  right now the team acts as if its the Pittsburgh Pirates trading all its proven players for unproven could be major leaguers in a few years.. meanwhile the team stinks! Now we're told to be patient and wait a few years but a few years ago we were told to be patient and wait for the new stadium...

 

Also, I'm sorry but Manny Acta is not impressing me...last night he left Redding in too long and it resulted in him giving up a three run homer that proved to be game set and match...And somebody has to take responsibility for having a major league team with players that wouldn't start anywhere else: Austin Kearns? the guy is hitting 214!!!!!!!! He is just not major league material...But as follows from above what I really don't understand is why our front office can't spend any money to improve the team?? I mean tickets are expensive..attendance isn't bad (and would be great with a better product on the field)... its all very shortsighted...

Huge news: NEW AC DC TOUR CONFIRMED!

Finally!!!!!!!!! From Billboard magazine..

 

Save    Email    Print    Most Popular    RSS    Reprints   Extensive AC/DC Tour To Begin In October AC/DC Report: New AC/DC Album To Be Wal-Mart Exclusive Similar Stories | Topics STORIES Report: New AC/DC Album To Be Wal-Mart Exclusive AC/DC Recording With Brendan O'Brien World Tour To Follow New AC/DC Album? New Guns N' Roses Song Heads To 'Rock Band' Girl Talk's 'Animals' Run Wild Online TOPICS Alternative and Contemporary Rock | Celebrity News | Entertainment | Music | Music Stars | Pop Music | Pop and Rock Music July 28, 2008 , 8:05 PM ET Mitchell Peters, Anaheim, Calif. As expected, AC/DC will embark on an 18-month world tour beginning this October. Creative Artists Agency managing partner Rob Light confirmed the news during a touring panel today (July 28) at the 83rd annual IAAM conference and trade show in Anaheim, Calif. Light didn't reveal further details about the trek, which will come in support of AC/DC's upcoming Wal-Mart exclusive release. A single is expected to hit radio in August.

Ziggy Marley Lively Up Yourself (live video)- July 26 2008 Pier 6 Pavilion Baltimore Maryland

Ziggy Marley live video snippet- Pier Six Pavilion Baltimore July 26 2008 Redemption Song

Roots Rock Reggae at Pier Six Pavilion July 26, 2008 Ziggy Stephen Damien Marley Live Review and photographs

Great show last night at the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore Maryland with the Roots Rock Reggae Festival. Basically a Bob Marley lovefest with Ziggy, Stephen and Damian. Really seeing three of Bob's talented sons performing together is just about as good as it gets! Barrington Levy played a great set a bit earlier in the evening. Local State Theatre reggae band Soja helped provide a bit of local flavor and were strongly supported by the crowd. For me the highlight was Ziggy Marley as I guess over and beyond my deep love for Bob I have really found a lot to enjoy in his music. He played an acoustic set- shorter than it should have been by about two songs- which opened up with an absolutely killer Redemption Song just him on acoustic... He also did a mean Lively up Yourself...Not playing Tomorrow People- I think- is a lost opportunity. After the set break which was a bit shorter than necessary Stephen Marley came out and played a long set which included much contribution from special guest Damian Marley who has great stage presence and charisma. Ziggy also came out and there was a even a little kid - probably a Bob Marley grandson- dancing around the stage...But there's just nothing like thousands of people singing Three Little Birds, Buffalo Soldier, Roots Rock Reggae or Could You Be Loved with the Marleys... A great night for lovers of reggae and in particular the music and legacy (in song and in the flesh) of the great Robert "Tuff Gong" Nesta Marley.

 

(Thanks to Ziggy Marley crew for link from his page... if you're coming from there be sure to check the main page of this blog for a brief video snippet from last night!)

quote of the week...

of course its Robert "Bob" Novak...

 

best journalist working in dc currently.. NO ONE gets as many people as high up to tell him as many secrets and let him publish them.. if thats not being a great journalist in washington dc i don't know what is

 

people have all kinds of reasons for telling secrets...when its NEWS its news.. regardless of themotive...if anyone is using anyone its novak using the politicians..he's still around and plenty that spilled their secrets long since left washington

and its not just republicans that talk to the guy... he's a huge journalistic presence in this town and repeatedly drives the political agenda..

you want a bitch? read some david broder.. thats your bitch.

 

novak:

"I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

 

More initial reactions on Obama speech

really as an american i felt and feel quite proud that we essentially US were able to send this man out there to represent us.....

wow!

just finished watching barack obama's speech in berlin.

 

i have to say this speech is the moment when all the talk, hoopla and hype about obama and john F. Kennedy met reality...

 

goosebumpage causing for all but the biggest cynics/most jaded among us

 

Mark Knopfler Vienna Wolftrap July 22 2008 live video

Mark Knopfler Wolftrap July 22 2008 Vienna, Virginia

First time seeing Mark Knopfler last night.. lived up to the hype.... Fortunately for me it was at Wolftrap which is a national park with essentially low subsidized ticket prices..with perks like the fact you can bring food and drink in....Wonderful venue...this is no Nissan/Merriweather!.. the acoustics to my ears ring truer... In any case per his latest set lists he played mainly songs from his "solo" albums since breaking up dire straits but the reality is that his "solo" albums are no more nor less "solo" than his work has ever been.. anyways he's got a crack band he's visibly very proud of which includes at least two musicians (including the drummer) that played with dire straits probably towards the end of that group.... in any case he has a violin and on some tracks a wonderful accordeon which gave it a bit a of a new orleans sound and essentially that points to the fundamental- in my mind- difference between dire straits and "mark knopfler".. he is now just a bit more rooted in the sounds of americana.... knopfler gave each of his musicians a long and laudatory intro.. basically said these all guys trying to become better jazzmen or some such.... at times knopfler's voice came in crystal clear while at other times - to me who admittedly was not familiar with the new material- a bit more on the cool mumble side.. the new material held up very well but of course it could not, nothing could, hold up against knopfler's twin classics: romeo and juliet and sultans of swing which have to be two of the greatest songs ever written.. romeo and juliet diverged at the end from the studio version with an unsatisfying climactic solo which rewrote the original... while the latter provided that wonderful solo, finally after teasing in another direction, at the end of the song...to hear knopfler sing classic lines as "check out guitar george he knows all the chords.." was pretty special... Knopfler also gave long time fans "telegraph road", "brothers in arms" and "so far away".... the wolftrap crowd traditionally known for extreme politeness and mellowness lived up to the latter even largely sitting down after initially standing for the familiar strains of "so far away" but there were a few scattered hooters, catcallers, and out of tune and time clappers...i suppose my main impression was that i had not realized what an amazing guitarist mark knopfler is...his guitar playing is just so crystal clear and soulfully sweet..he closed the show with the instrumental "theme from local hero" which I guess he does not perform all that much pushing past the 10:45 mark which was the expected end of show....also, his singing reminded me quite a bit of bob dylan... in sum: guy puts on a good show... oh yah one more: i think i saw mark knopfler before the show by the bus in yellow shorts and black shirt... it was in the back and very private picnic area of wolftrap and he seemed surprised to observe someone gawking at him..

viewer feedback!

hi MSNBC.. i like you guys.. you do allright

 

listen lets not fall to the level of preschool morons ok? general wesley clark merely stated a FACT ..an obvious fact.. as much as well love and do we ever love and respect the greatest american ever mccain..well i think its a fact that his judgment on the irak war ie. debacle kinda stunk up the joint no? so ok we respect him but we kinda would like our next presidente to have a little better judgment .. .the wild west/cojones/idiocy combo is a little bit dangerous n'est pas?

 

so lets report the wesley clark comments straight ok amigo: mccain war hero we respect/mccain poor judgment but no experience that can be translated to being commander in chief

 

in the words of casey kasem until next time keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for those stars

 

serge magnacca in washington dc

Los Autenticos Decadentes- "La Guitarra" June 19 2008 Falls Church Virginia State Theatre (DC)

SO who says the DC area can't get a good crowd? Check this out! Sorry for shaky camera work but I was having too much fun...

Oops here is the shot of Cucho in his element after the show!

Los Autenticos Decadentes concert June 19 2008 pictures (Falls Church, Virginia [DC})

What a fun show and it must be said that Cucho adn the rest of the guys really transmit a great sense of fun..

howie epstein

wow learn something new every day...

 

what is so very interesting and sad is that in the liner notes for johnny cash's album unchained from 1995/6- which i reread today as it had been so very long since i'd looked at them- cash talks about howie epstein and his dog and how usually cash and recording artists had a rule about no pets in the studio but epstein brought him to the studio and said "oh he always comes when i record" and how howie talked about the trouble he had with people giving his dog leftovers they shouldnt..cash goes on to say how he gave him some of his veggie burger...well check out the wikipedia section on epstein's death:

 

Death

Epstein died of complications due to drug use; but not an overdose as has been reported. Investigators were told Epstein had been using heroin. Howie was driven to St. Vincent Hospital by his girlfriend, who described him as "under distress."

Epstein was taking antibiotics for an illness, and he had recently suffered from flu, stomach problems and an abscess on his leg, friends said.

"Apparently he passed out in the bathroom, and (his girlfriend) drove him to the hospital," Madrid said.

He died on February 23, 2003 at the age of 47. Reportedly he was extremely despondent over the death of his 16 year-old German Shepherd a few days earlier. In recent interviews, Tom Petty admitted that Epstein's behavior had become unpredictable: "He was just degenerating on us to the point where we thought keeping Howie in the band was actually doing him more harm than getting rid of him. His personal problems were vast and serious." He was interred at Second Home Cemetery in Greenfield, WI.

----------------------------------

also its fascinating and must be a unique case that ron blair who was the original heartbreakers bassist from 1976 to 1982 replaced his replacement- howie epstein- in 2002 when the heartbreakers felt he could no longer continue..blair is the guy who is currently their bassist.... you read alot of crap about how the heartbreakers are not the same without epstein and the original drummer...but blair IS the original bassist......

A few words about life...

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is
tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of
it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all
backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live
in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get
a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young
enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you
get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid,
you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you
go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating …and
you finish off as an orgasm.
—
George Carlin (1937-2008)

Los Autenticos Decadentes June 19 2008 Falls Church Virginia

THis is absolutely one of my favorite bands and their concert this past Thursday was probably the most fun I've had at a concert in eons....I'll be posting more but I wanted to put up the final video I took by which point I'd gotten real close.. I managed to use Windows Maker to rotate it too which is something...

The man who makes people laugh laughs no more

i had the privilege of seeing george carlin a few years ago at the warner theatre and the man was sharper than a tack, more lucid than the aurora borealis, and saltier than a whorehouse full of sailors on leave during wartime...

the picture is a shot of part of the front of the cover of George Carlin's debut LP from 1967.

Eyewitness video- outrage as Thomas Jefferson hip checks Teddy Roosevelt at Washington Nationals Presidents race June 22 2008

Iron Maiden June 18 2008 Concert Review

This really was the show that had it all......... thats how I will remember it anyways.... from the minute we stepped into Merriweather- a venue Iron Maiden has been hitting since the early 1980s- (early for once) you could tell there was a certain electricity in the air that I've rarely seen at shows in the Washington DC area... it had that feeling of excitement and expectation that you get at an arena show during the break before the Rolling Stones take the stage... we walked in and people were gobbling up 45$ iron maiden black t-shirts like skittles... the opener- Lauren Harris- (Maiden bassmaster and head song honcho Steve Harris' progeny/daugther) in a way was a little over the top but on another level gave the metal crowd what they wanted..a  loud rock out performance.. and when you think about it thats the only type of opener that would work for Maiden....certainly John Hiatt folkies would not work.. in any case we made our way to the pit and started to worry - needlessly as it would turn out- about a pit that seemed overpacked..the seats in the first rows behind us began to look tantalizingly comfortable and safe.... after Lauren was finished with what I thought was a pretty good set of balls out rock I made my way to the restrooms where I noticed for the first time that the crowd at the show did seem a little scruffy, long haired and maybe even worse for the wear..  this weren't trust fund kids thats for sure....made it back to the pit and proceeded to count down the 14 minutes or so until Maiden would take the stage....the sun was just about to go down as they did so at 8:40.... we heard the strains of winston churchill's "we shall never surrender" speech and the band came out firing on all cylinders with Aces High.... the first thing you noticed was the frenetic stage presence of Bruce Dickinson.. not having seen them before I had not realized Dickinson was sort of a metal jagger or metal mick who acted as if the show was a workout between some of his fencing matches... also although aware I would see  a triple guitar attack (plus harris triplet bass style) I had not realized just how racuous and frenetic it would prove to have four guitar gunslingers running around on stage.... at the beginning i focused on Steve Harris who was the classic picture of a metaler.... these guys delivered the poses and metal looks in pardon the redundancy spades.... behind the drum kit- nikko- was completely unvisible as he would remain during the entire show save for when he came out for the introduction towards the end of the show... dickinson underwent costume change after costume change as he moved around the stage like a tiger.... the stage itself featured some great scenography or "sets" .. the trooper for example was performed with dickinson largely singing- costumed as a british military officer/recruit- right in front ot a large magnificent Eddie the Trooper backdrop while holding and waving the union jack... what became noticeable from the first strains of aces high following through two minutes to midnight/revelations and the rest of the "hits" laden set list was that this crowd was HUNGRY for maiden, was lapping it up and was giving Dickinson and company a reception the likes of which you simply do not see in this part of the country.. the crowd was screaming, yelling and taking pictures like they had front row seats on the apollo landing on the moon... usually crowds in what i like to call the mid-atlantic region (DC area) are fairly introverted and shall i say "lame"? but this was not the case here... Dickinson sounded wonderful just like on the records with that trademark operatic wail of his mixed in with the more traditional gruff metal overtones.... he gave us a great rant about telling european MTV what they could do with their offer to have madien re-launch their european headbangers ball: "they never did anything for us.. we told them to stick it up their ass!"... of course i must also add there is something to be said for hearing Dickinson yell to you and thousands of other maiden fanatics "SCREAM FOR ME BALTIMORE!!!!!!!!" although I will never know why he picked to call us baltimore...anyways we screamed.. a lot....songs went by and set changes accompanied them... through egypt... then appropriately for the show's highlight some sort of ship for the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.. the guitarists alternated their locations on the stage and gave us more guitar hero poses than a heavy duty rock fan has a right to....the newer guitarist Janek or some such in particular added a lot the stage show....Eddie made two appearances first as a mummy and then as the gun toting character on the cover of the somewhere in time album.. powerslave was a highlight with dickinson wearing some crazy monster-ish outfit.... the set's one lowpoint in my mind was "Can I play with madness" which sounded flat and semed to be missing the songmaking guitar riff.... But basicaly this was an incredibly solid meat and potatoes metal show that gave you pretty much everything you could have asked for including pyrotechnic effects...these guys earned their money..

 

extraneous thoughts: and they did give evidence of a certain "we do it on our own"..Bruce highlighted the fact that they were now getting young fans that had never before seen them perform these hits which were being reprised from their 1980s glory days....Bruce also made a point to give a shout out of deep appreciation to their fans on the lawn who could not afford to be up front like the "fat cats"....certainly iron maiden seemed to make a point to identify with their more working class roots... . well this review has not veered off any sort of organization but I think have summarized it.. for me watching Steve Harris play that tan ta ra tan ta ran tan bass triplets was quite the treat....