Catching Up

Okay, I realize I haven't posted anything in a while. This is largely because of two things:
1) The Red Sox kicking the Yankees' butts after the Yanks had a 3 game lead
2) The election.

Frankly, I don't have much to say about either. The Yankees catastrophic collapse was just too depressing to talk about here, and the subsequent World Series was a drag. The Cardinals sucked and the Red Sox finally won. No whining, no excuses...well done, Boston.

As for #2, I don't have much to say about that either. Well, I guess I do, but I don't have any interest in running yet another political blog. Most political blogs are written by either hardcore Dems or hardcore Repubs, and I don't really fit into either. Even when they're well-written, I find major holes in both persuasion's thinking. Okay, I guess I could write from the disaffected center, who think a) Bush is a crummy President and b) Kerry was a crummy candidate, but it's just not as exciting as reading some wild-eyed ideologue's rants.

In other news...finally picked up Brian Wilson's "SMiLE" and despite my skepticism, I like it quite a bit. Yeah, I wish those harmonies were by Carl, Dennis, Al & Mike (hell, even Bruce Johnston), but what can you do, it's simply not possible. Musically, I thought Wilson & co. have done a great job maintaining the musical fabric of those '66-'67 recordings. Despite Brian's voice being pretty shot, it feels of a piece with the older stuff and really works. It's definitely a must for fans of Brian, the Beach Boys or just great weirdo rock in general. I'm glad the finished product is something for Brian to be proud of, not something you have to excuse or hold your fingers in front of your face when you see on the shelf.

And I can't get Bill Cosby's "Chicken Heart" routine out of my head. HE'S ON YOUR STREET!

ALCS Haiku, Pt II

It's extra innings
these games simply have no end
Whoops! Ortiz wins it.

I did not think that
Esteban Loiaza would
pitch well, still he lost

Red Sox fans jump up
"we are not dead yet" they scream
head back to the Bronx

No timely hitting
Mussina could have pitched more
Yankees have gone cold

ALCS Haiku, Part I

Jon Lieber is hot:
"Strike one!" is the umpire's cry.
Boston falls behind.

Boston hates Jeter;
fans find him overrated.
Derek smiles and wins the game

Matsui does not
dance or glare or run his mouth
-- respect for the game.

Red Sox fans are sad
"The Yankees always win!" they
cry into their beans.

Brush With Celebrity in a Bookstore

Okay folks, I know I haven't been blogging much the last couple weeks, and there's a very good reason for that: the Yankees are in the playoffs. Yeah, I know I could blog about the Yankee games, but frankly, a lot of people already do that better than I. So, if you want to read about the ALCS, I would heartily recommend Alex Belth's Bronx Banter, Larry Mahnken's Replacement Level Yankee Weblog, and Clifford's Big Red Blog among others. You'll find some good links there to some excellent Red Sox and neutral sites.

Beyond the baseball, not much is new - still pounding the pavement looking for work. Oh, I had an interesting occurence yesterday in the Union Square Barnes & Noble. First, while in the CD/DVD section, I realized I was standing next to Amanda Peet and another actress I kinda recognized. I then realized she'd co-starred with Peet on that Jack & Jill WB show. In fact, I remember thinking she was quite good on it, too. However, I did have to look up her name: Sarah Paulson. Anyway, nothing remarkable happened, I just always find it intriguing to be standing next to a movie actress whose naked boobs you've admired on the silver screen. Heck, let's be honest, it's interesting to be standing next to an actress whose naked boobs you've admired on your friggin' PC thanks to vidcaps and nude celebrity sites and usenet groups. They're always shorter than you expect (except John Cusack). Also, she knows Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton - people I've wanted to have dinner with since I was about 11. So, I walk out of the music & movies area and I'm walking around the new books and then I realize I'm about to walk into Todd Solondz, the movie director (Storytelling, Welcome to the Dollhouse, et al). Then I proceeded to run into him again a couple minutes later. In retrospect, I should have spoken to him - how often do indie filmmakers get stopped by people? I could have asked him when his new one, Palindromes, is hitting the theatres. I once introduced myself to Hal Hartley at a Yo La Tengo show and he couldn't have been nicer. (Well, okay, he could have bought me a drink, hired me a limo, done my taxes, given me cash - I guess he could have been nicer. Still, he was cool.) He probably would have been happy to have me say hello. Of course, I think if I'd tried to talk to Amanda Peet, she'd have pepper-sprayed me. Man, I had no idea what an "in" place Barnes & Noble is.

Oh, I should add that I've never admired John Cusack's boobs in any medium...he's just taller than you realize.

Something to think about in the shower

I woke up to the news that Janet Leigh had died. For movie nuts like me, it's a bummer. She appeared in dozens of movies, from 1947 until recently, and she'll of course be remembered by most for the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), but she also starred in at least two other great films, Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958) and John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate (1962). A very good case can be made for Anthony Mann's terrific James Stewart western The Naked Spur belonging to the realm of the greats, too. Leigh was famously married to fellow star Tony Curtis in the 1950s, with whom she had two daughters, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
Leigh fit a certain type, one Hitchcock always employed brilliantly: the classy, smart, beautiful blonde (blondes may have been icy in Hitchcock's films, but they were never dumb bimbos). It was this aura that made her demise in Psycho all the more shocking. Not only had Hitch killed off a major movie star only a third of the way into the movie, but it remains completely jarring to see the composed, gorgeous Leigh so viciously murdered. (Seeing her in a bra and slip with John Gavin in the film's opening shots was equally galling to 1960 movie audiences.) She later claimed she was never able to take a shower after Psycho, which seems improbable, but perfect.
So Janet Leigh is gone, and now we've got Hillary Duff movies. Wonderful.

Things You Didn't Know About...The Montreal Expos

Expos great Andre Dawson changed his first name from Bobby to trick fans into thinking he was French

Played on ice in the Montreal Forum for 2 seasons in the early 70s

Rusty Staub insisted on eating crepes between innings during every game of the 1970 season

Low attendance partially due to team name: in French, "Expos" means "Canadian baseball sucks"

Although they moved on to other cities, Montreal developed superstars Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero and William Shatner

Classic Expos logo is neither an M or the initials "E-L-B." It is, in fact, an abstract drawing of manager Gene Mauch

Canadiens' Hall-of-fame superstar Guy Lafleur played third base for 74 games in 1978

Had record crowd in 1985 for "Tim Raines Beret Night" promotion

Haiku time!

New York pounds Pedro
he calls the Yankees "daddy"
who is his mommy?

Bonds keeps on walking
he has over two hundred
MVP again

Kevin Brown hits wall
Red Sox hit Kevin harder
this guy is a tool

Johan Santana
Twin will be some real trouble
face him twice? No thanks.