Nephew in the Yellow Hat

Halloween 2008

Brief histories of many things from the last few months that I never got to write about (part 1)

Wilco with Andrew Bird, 

Tanglewood, 8.12.08
In Attendance: Fletch, Bob, Jeremy, and Niki

Wilco is my favorite band on the planet, and dare I say, the best live band on the planet? Maybe the best band on the planet? Every time I see them my opinion on this matter gets stronger. Sure, the absolutely gorgeous surroundings and perfect outdoor-summer night atmosphere didn't hurt. But that should take nothing away from Wilco's excellent set- maybe a bit too heavy on the Summerteeth for me but I'm not complaining. Wildly enthusiastic crowd, excellent seats- a near perfect concert experience. 

Andrew Bird's opening set was lovely as always but got a bit lost in the then-empty shed- Not much of a crowd for a 6:30 opening set. Had to laugh when my friend who was out on the lawn and couldn't see the stage asked me how many violin players were playing. 

The two hour drive home at midnight was not fun but I would absolutely go back to Tanglewood for a show like this.

Sox vs. Rangers

8.13.08
Sox 8 Rangers 4
In attendance: Kristen

Not much notable about this game aside from the fact that we sat among what might have been the geekiest drunk crowd I've ever encountered. Lots of loud talk about cell phones and computers and in the 8th inning, an impromptu acapella singing of the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego theme song. No joke.

Bill Frisell
Cambridge YMCA Theater, 8.16.08
In Attendance: Brian

Brian Blade Fellowship Band
Scullers Jazz Club, 11.6.08
In attendance: Anna

I have found live jazz in Boston to be challenging for one reason- the crowds. Maybe this isn't limited to Boston but I find them to be the most smug, self- important crowds in all of the live music that I see. Lots of over-excessive nodding and grunts/laughs of acknowledgement during solos, as if they are in on some joke with the musicians (and making sure EVERYONE knows it). It always makes me think of the David Sedaris story where he recounts the terrifying experience of attending jazz shows with his father, who would obnoxiously tap his foot and shout out "Blue Rondo a la Turk!" requests at Dave Brubeck concerts. I can deal with drunk guys talking and bumping into me at rock shows. For some reason I have a harder time dealing with jazz snobs.

Anyway, these 2 shows were notable exceptions and made me wonder if I've been too harsh and missing out as a result. The completely under-publicized Bill Frisell show was a truly unique experience. Last time I saw him was at a sold out Berklee Performance Center, this time was in an old, run down, sweltering theater with 100 or so people in attendance. Frisell played solo with his trusty loop pedals, with which he continues to do amazing things despite the current ubiquity of that technology. Like everything Frisell does, this show was completely different than every other time I had seen him. A hypnotizing performance.

I first saw Brian Blade when he played drums for Bill Frisell in 1999. I was completely knocked out by his drumming and had always hoped to see him again, and for some reason, it took me another 9 years. In the standard jazz club setting of Scullers, he played to a packed and very enthusiastic house. I'm not sure how to describe him without sounding corny, but this is one of the most soulful musicians I have ever seen. And by soulful I don't mean soul music- I mean he seems to be pouring his soul into every second of his drumming. He is coming back for a big Wayne Shorter birthday concert at Berklee soon, which I was thinking of going to despite the fact that it is sure to be a jazz elitist explosion. Then again, I think I might just keep the memory of this spectacular show fresh in my mind instead. 

Wow (revisited)

11/4/08, Copley Square

Wow.

The Sox were down 7-0 into the bottom of the 7th, at which point they scored 4 runs. Then 3 more in the 8th. And a walk off in the 9th to win it and stay alive against the Rays in the ALCS. 

Never been to anything like it. 

Quiet, please.

I've watched a lot of cartoons throughout my life. Like most kids I was on a steady diet of Looney Tunes throughout my childhood (and beyond- I still usually make it over for a night or two of the annual Bugs Bunny Film Festival at the Brattle). But one particular cartoon has always stuck out in my mind, and I have never been able to find it. For years I have been looking around, hoping I would come across it on TV, but I never did. It occurred to me recently to look around the internet for it and of course, about 2 minutes of searching yielded success on You Tube. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it before. In any case, I present Tex Avery's cartoon short from 1955, "Sh-h-h-h-h-h".

Watching this years later, it is easy to know why this particular cartoon stands out for me- safe to say I can identify with the main character a bit more than I'm comfortable with. I remember finding this whole thing hilarious, and it still holds up for me. The slapstick section is fairly standard, but I love the reaction of the hotel clerk when Mr. Twiddle asks for the room, and the little sound signs are brilliant.

But the thing that really struck me after watching this now is just how completely odd, and very dark, this short is. It is easy as an adult to pick up on themes in cartoons that we would have missed as kids, and there are often the intentional "wink-wink" jokes in children's shows and movies that are intended only for the adults who are watching. But it is hard to tell exactly what is going on in a cartoon where we have an anxiety-ridden protagonist who ends up exploding in a fit of rage.

Weirder still is our trombone playing doctor. Why exactly is he at the Hush Hush Lodge playing trombone? Why is he playing this sad song? And why on earth is it making him and his wife laugh so hard? I suppose the point isn't to understand why, it's just supposed to be funny on its own. And it is. But I couldn't help but think that there was more going on here- was Avery making some kind of a statement with one of his final shorts?

Unfortunately some research didn't reveal too many answers about this in particular, but it did give some insight into the trombone and laughing. Turns out it is from an old novelty 78 called "The Okeh Laughing Record", recorded in 1922. It's basically three minutes of what you hear in the short- a slow, maudlin performance interrupted by uncontrolled laughing. Apparently this kind of thing was a big hit back then- you would gather the family in the parlor, crank up the victrola and put this on, and laugh, laugh, laugh. And we all wondered what we did before video games.

Anyway, here's the original recording. Kind of creepy when removed from the already strange context of the cartoon.

Boomp3.com

Well put

Many, many more of these here. 

Three sides of Lucy Vincent beach

September 28, 2008

We're the one!

What a lineup! So crazy that this is from 1978- I remember all of these shows so clearly, but considering that I was 2 at the time I guess I was watching them all years later in reruns. But I never knew that they were all on the same network in the same year.



Some other observations:

- I miss cross-TV show guest appearances. The fact that Mork's world would somehow intersect Fonzie's is awesome.

- What is that weird depression era show? I have no memory of that at all. Also, the grandfather on it seems to be the exact inspiration for Mr. Stokes on Extras.

- I forgot how big of a deal it was for a movie to be on TV. Think about it- Pre video, when a movie finished a run in theaters, there was basically no way to see it again until they showed it on TV. I completely remember having big dinners around the TV and staying up late when something like Star Wars was on.

- Only 30 years ago, that insane ending song was allowed to happen. Let us never let it happen again.

This old house

2 weeks, tons of dust, and lots of money later, our new paint job is done. 

Before:

During:

After:

Clinched!

Red Sox vs Indians, 9/23/08

Sox 5 Indians 4

In attendance: Chris

An excellent game on a cold night, at which the Red Sox reminded us that the wild card is better than nothing at all (and by nothing at all, I am referring to the freshly sealed fate of the 2008 Yankees). 

Here's some of the celebration. Jonathan Papelbon mercifully did not strip down to his underwear this year- he opted instead for handing out the bases to the fans. 

Weddings, therapy, scenery

Writing is therapeutic. Maybe not as much as, say, a martini (the many qualities of which I have thankfully rediscovered lately), but therapeutic nonetheless. So, to those of you who read here, thank you for reading and assisting in my therapy. 

On to more interesting topics. 

I went to a wedding back where I grew up in CT this past weekend, and it was surreal on several levels. Always odd to see someone you have known for decades getting married, especially when you barely know the person they are marrying. But even weirder was that for the second time, without my prior knowledge, I was called out in a wedding speech. I should say from the outset that I am not someone who enjoys having any type of public attention put on them, so the idea of being singled out in front of hundreds of people is generally mortifying to me. 

This ended up being an amusing surprise, however, as the bride's father took the time to acknowledge my longtime friendship with the bride. I'm not entirely sure how thrilled the groom was that I got quite so many minutes in the speech, but it was nice nonetheless, even if it did completely catch me off guard. 

It was nothing like the great Nantucket wedding speech debacle of 2005, in which I was singled out as the idiot who turned down the bride when she asked me out a few years earlier (thus leading to the genesis of the relationship of said bride and her groom). I believe there were about 200 people at that wedding, all of whom laughed as I was forced to stand up and wave. If I could have swam off the island at that moment, I would have. 

Anyway, the weather this past weekend was absolutely perfect. As much as I love living in Cambridge, a day like that in Guilford makes me want to move back tomorrow. That won't be happening of course, but here's a few pictures from some of my favorite places there. 

Grass Island

Chaffinch Island

Jacob's Beach

Rambling

Another week, another trip to Texas behind me. This was my seventh trip there since last August, and it is safe to say that I am not too eager to get back again anytime soon. As far as these trips go, this one was fairly standard- ridiculously busy days, and lots of eating. In my normal life I eat well- cook for myself, bring lunch to work, etc. On business trips, I eat 3 meals out every day, and after 5 days of that I'm ready for some sort of crash diet/detox/hunger strike. This trip included lots of bar food, some Tex-Mex that I thoroughly regretted the next day, cajun food, and a lot of Jimmy Johns, a damn good sandwich chain that hasn't made its way up north yet.





Anyway, I stayed at the lovely yet poorly named Gaylord Texan once again. It's always my first pick, despite the complete over the top nature of the place. As I mentioned earlier it's a bit like a big bio-dome- a gargantuan enclosed resort, complete with restaurants, bars, shopping, without ever having to step outside.














We tend to spend the most time at Texan Station, which is the big sports bar here. Not sure if this picture does it too much justice, but the square footage of the screen is bigger than that of my condo.




But even better than potentially watching 5 baseball games simultaneously (I did it, it is amazing) is the people watching in this place. Besides being a hotel and resort for regular people, the Gaylord operates as a major convention center. Which basically results in hordes of people moving in and out every day for some sales conference or convention. If there was any question that the business world remains male-dominated, look no further than late night at Texan Station. The place is crawling with, well, men, many of whom clearly don't have too many opportunities to go out drinkin' with the boys. Picture lots of loud and awkward drunkenness by guys in lanyards and matching polos with the company logo embroidered on the front.


Then there's the interactions with the very few women who actually are there, or even better, the local cougars who hang out at the bar waiting to get free drinks from the convention guys. And let me just say this- you have not seen a cougar until you have seen a Dallas cougar on the prowl. Frightening and fascinating.


To follow up on my earlier post, I was very disappointed in the Whataburger crowd- they started off strong with a weird rally outside the window of my room, but I didn't see much of them again. Besides them, we had a jet-ski conference, an elevator conference, and some group having to do with surety bonds (no idea).


What else? Listened to the Steve Harvey show every morning (awesome), drank lots of Shiner Bock (wish I could get that up here), tried something called Spudzilla, which is sort of a cross between a potato chip and a french fry (artery clogging but delicious), and realized that one of my Texas co-workers is a die hard democrat (didn't know we had any down there). She told me this is the first year that she could come out of the closet about it to other people. I felt so proud. She gave me this pin:





Maybe I could get to like Texas...

Is anyone else freaked out by this thing?

Fascinating photos of this supercollider that gets fired up for the first time tomorrow. Should be pretty cool as long as it doesn't create black holes that swallow up the earth. 

Day 3

I'm staying once again at the Gaylord Texan (stop laughing), which is a giant hotel/resort/convention center/bio dome in North Dallas. I'll post some photos but in short, if the bomb gets dropped some day, i'm pretty sure civilization will live on in this place for awhile. It is huge.

The funny thing about it is that there seems to be a different convention rolling through every day, which packs the place with middle aged sales guys with bad facial hair who are away from their families for a few days and getting wasted. It's an odd scene. Monday night was a Jet Ski sales meeting, and last night I was walking to the gym and the lobby was packed with people for the Whataburger convention. What happens at a Whataburger convention? I hope to find out. They seem like a rowdy bunch...

Dallas, revisited

(Big Tex, once again)

Another week, another trip to the exotic world of suburban Dallas. 

Posts from the road to follow. 

Thank you, internet

Sunday in Cambridge

To say that this summer has had its share of weird weather would be an understatement. Incredibly hot and humid weather in June gave way to what seemed like daily thunderstorms and rain in July and August. So as summer quickly and sadly is coming to an end, I had no other plan for this weekend other than to get out and try to enjoy the (finally) perfect weather. After an excellent Figgs show on Saturday night (not to mention an equally kick ass set on Fri night), I pulled out the new camera and took a walk into Central Square on Sunday morning to meet up with the family for some breakfast at Miracle of Science. As a side note I should mention how thoroughly happy I am to have discovered breakfast here- it's always been a great bar but somehow I never realized they had such a good, cheap breakfast menu. I'm not sure what this says about the rest of my personal life, but this is one of the most exciting discoveries I've made in a long time.

Anyway, while sitting at breakfast we quickly realized that something different was going on when a 90% naked woman wearing a headdress walked by the restaurant. A quick walk up Mass Ave after breakfast confirmed that we were not hallucinating, but it was Caribbean Carnival Day in Cambridge. Or, better put, the complete and utter insanity that is Caribbean Carnival Day in Cambridge. Barely controlled chaos is probably the best description I can think of. Here's a few pics from the parade.

One thing to point out here is that the "floats" are basically rolling speaker rigs. I go to a lot of concerts at venues of all varieties, and I can honestly say that I have never experienced something as loud as one of these trucks. This pic shows about 3/4 of the length of one truck, and the back and total length of the other side are lined with speakers as well. My ears are still ringing.

The family had enough at this point, so they headed out and I stuck around for a little while longer before needing to get away myself. In search of some serenity after the ear shattering music, I walked up Mass Ave towards MIT to see the chapel there. It's one of those places that I knew of but in 9 years have never seen, and it is an amazing building. Built in the 50s and designed by Eero Saarinen, it's a bit like stepping into another world- not only because of the surreal design, but also because of how quiet it is despite the noise and traffic outside. Hard to do justice with photos- this is definitely a place to be experienced. Here's a few anyway.

After stepping out of the peaceful confines of the chapel, I made my way a bit further up to the Mass Ave bridge for a few more pictures- not the most original, but no less of an amazing view on a day like yesterday.

The older I get the more I think about moving out of the city, but it’s days like these that make me wonder why I would ever leave. 

Top O' the morning to ya!

This week, during my 6th trip to Dallas, I finally found the tribute to Mr. O'boma that I was looking for.

Red Sox vs Angels

7/30/08

Sox 2 Angels 9

In Attendance: Dan

One of the great things about baseball is that the season is so long, and over the course of 162 games, you get a huge range of experiences. Blowouts, shutouts, walk offs, maybe even a no hitter, to name a few. But that also means that you're bound to see some very boring games. The same applies to seeing games in person- if you go to enough, you're going to see all varieties. And after seeing some great games this season, number six fell driectly into the boring, even depressing, category. 

Listmaker managed to get some last minute seats online which put us in a brand new section for this season, directly under the new Coca-Cola sign in left field. We were basically in the last two seats of the top row in left field. These are upper deck seats, but being that it is Fenway, they are probably the equivilent of the mezzanine at most ballparks, and had an excellent view.

(Cell phone camera strikes again)

After a long walk around the entire ballpark trying to figure out just how to get to our seats, we settled in for what we hoped would be a good matchup between the Sox and Angels, who were at that point cementing their status as the hottest team in baseball. This quickly proved to not be the case, as Josh Beckett turned in a lackluster performance and the Red Sox played like little leaguers. By the time the fourth error was committed, the crowd was booing as loudly and angrily as any I've heard in 8 years of going to Fenway. 

Of course the big drama surrounding this game was Manny Ramirez's antics regarding his contract. This is old news now of course- Manny is happily settled in LA and pissing off a new manager. But at the time this was huge news in Boston and clearly had an effect on the team, and within 24 hours, he was gone. So while it may have been a lousy game, it was definitely notable to see Manny's last game in a Sox uniform. 

People who aren't from Boston are always shocked by the fact that we were all so ready to give up one of the best hitters in Sox history. But anyone who follows this team year to year had seen this whole charade before, and by the time he pulled himself out of a key Yankee game in July, we all knew it was time to go. But instead of dwelling on that, i'll post my favorite Manny moment in Boston- Manny's walkoff in Game 2 of the ALDS last year.  

Back in Business

Been an unusually long break (even by the standards of this often neglected blog) as a result of an unusually busy summer.  But all good stuff and much to report on, including 4 or so concerts, 2 baseball games, a few movies, and on and on. Of course i'll try to do this as I embark on yet another trip to Texas this week, not to mention just starting season 5 of The Wire, but I'm hoping to get at least a few entires in soon. Until then, thanks to everyone (anyone?) who still stops by despite the lack of new material...

Gone fishin'

Around the horn

A few quick things to catch up on, much of which deserves it's own post, but in the interest of actually getting something up here, here goes:

- There is a new Crooked Fingers album coming out soon, which is very exciting news. Yet another band that I was introduced to by Gamera- this one through an ambitious 2-disc retrospective which includes an absolutely perfect first disc of all Archers of Loaf. I've grown into a huge Eric Bachmann fan over the past few years, and while I wasn't there for the Archers days I've been lucky to see several excellent live shows, both with Crooked Fingers, and especially solo. Apparently he has decided to leave Merge, which I was sorry to hear about, but it's hard to argue with his reasons. Makes you wonder why any indies really bother with labels at this point (at least the ones selling 10k per album). Anyway, hopefully this works out for him and he can move out of the van.

- Fleet Foxes. If I wrote this last week my review would be lukewarm, but as I'm getting past the Jim James voice similarity (imitation?) I'm really enjoying this more and more. Beautiful music, despite the distraction.

- Operation Filmmaker. Excellent documentary about an Iraqi film student invited to work on an American film production, and the general disaster that ensues. The amazing thing about this film is just how completely poorly just about everyone in the film comes off (director included). When the problems became clear in the first 10 minutes of the film I really wondered where it would go for another 90 minutes, but the snowballing mess is quite compelling. Only complaint was the end- it seemed too abrupt, and I really wanted to know what happened to these people. Maybe in part 2?

- Wolf Parade- At Mount Zoomer. Not bad but I'm feeling let down. On it's own it's a decent album but compared to Apologies to the Queen Mary it's not holding up for me. Soldier's Grin is an excellent opener but where are the epics? 11 minute songs don't count- I want more Dinner Bells! I managed to snag tickets to this immediately sold out show in Boston in August and just realized that I can't go. Not at all pleased about this.

- I did, however, just get tickets to go see this guy at the end of the month. I'm hoping he wears more clothes in Cambridge. 

- Red Sox vs Orioles, 7/12/08. Sox 12, Orioles 1. In Attendance: Irene

Not a lot to report from this one except that the Sox completely embarrassed the O's. In the 8th we moved down to field level seats, where I remarked that I've never caught a foul ball, and on the next pitch had a towering foul fall 2 feet to the right of me. Never had one come that close and there was no way I was putting my hands anywhere near it. 

Finally, per a recent discussion with Gamera, here's Geddy Lee with rotisserie chickens roasting live on stage. Anyone know why?

I want royalties.

or at least something for free....

Rangers vs Angels

7/8/08

Rangers 3 Angels 2

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

In attendance: lots of co-workers

My hotel in Texas has a bar with a 52 foot screen (everything is bigger in Texas) which shows 5 different baseball games at the same time every night. Needless to say I am grateful for such amenities. Of course the biggest part of the screen (and the audio) is reserved for the Rangers, so I got to watch quite a bit of this team which I otherwise don't pay too much attention to. It may have just been a good week for them but this was a fun team to watch- hanging in games, come from behind victories, walkoffs, etc.

Luckily this was the case for the game that we went to as well. This was my first experience at this ballpark, and the mere feat of driving to the stadium and parking in a lot was something I haven't experienced in a long time. The temperature was a steady 103 when we pulled in, which was causing some concern among attendees, but a look to the sky showed some very ominous clouds rolling in. We decided to try to beat the rain and make our way to the park, which resulted in us being trapped in a full on downpour for the entire walk. We finally made it in thoroughly soaked, but by the time the game started (1 hour late), the temperature had dropped to a much more manageable 80 degrees.

I have to say I liked this ballpark a lot- big place but had a very cozy and friendly feel to it. Lots of between inning activities and even a big "Deep in the Heart of Texas" singalong, which I was very excited for. Surprisingly good fans as well- good sized crowd who all stuck around until the end (as they should have- Rangers went into the 9th protecting a one run lead). We sat in the centerfield bleachers, which gave us a nice view of the park, as well as a close view of the home bullpen to the left, and the batter's eye grass (no idea what that is really called) to the right. Best of all the tickets cost $15 and we bought them the day of the game, certainly a luxury I'm not used to in Boston. 

Y'all? Hi.

A belated howdy from Texas. 

Back in Boston this weekend, blogging to follow.

Put on your sunday shoes

A few miscellaneous items before leaving the steamy city for the long weekend. 

- I've been seeing this floating around for awhile, but just got around to checking it out today and enjoyed what I heard. Had I known that it was the entire Footloose soundtrack I may have just written the whole thing off as boring ironic covers, but as the heart wrenching story behind the whole project suggests, there is a lot more going on here. Also, I love free CDs that come with ready made cover art. Worth a listen. 

- Nuking the fridge is the new jumping the shark. 

- Speaking of Indiana Jones, here's a funny review/commentary by someone who really hates this movie. I never wrote about this but I should say that I actually mostly enjoyed this movie, but found a few things unforgivable. 

1. The ending. I realize that all of the Indy movies dabbled in the supernatural, but this was ridiculous. Plus, the only other one that really went over the top with the supernatural was Temple of Doom with the whole weird voodoo thing, and that was always the weakest of the three.

2. The swinging with the monkeys scene. My fear for Crystal Skull was that George Lucas would get his paws on it and include some of that Jar-Jar type kids stuff (that I don't even think kids really like and everyone else hates) that he seems to be so into. Luckily there wassn't too much of that, but this was just weak. I'd be more inclined to believe that Indy would survive the damn nuclear bomb in the fridge than accept what happened this scene. 

- The Corner. In anticipation of season 5 of The Wire coming out on August 12, I wanted to take a look at this mini-series that was the launching point for it. I'm halfway through, and man, this is some depressing stuff. Really strong performances by about half of the cast that would later make up The Wire, but it paints such a dire and hopeless picture of Baltimore.  3 more episodes to go and I'm not confident that it's going to end happily. 

- Finally, in honor of the Footloose covers, my favorite moment from Flight of the Conchords. 

(and after that watch this to see how true to the original this is. Does anyone remember taking this movie seriously?)

The Edge of Heaven

6/29/08

Kendall Square Cinema

I'm not really up on Turkish filmmakers, so Fatih Akin is another director that I might not have ever been exposed to had it not been for my ticket taking days at the Brattle. But Head On happened to be showing one night a few years ago when I was working, and I was floored by it- completely loud, violent, intense, and surprisingly affecting.

So I have been eagerly awaiting the follow up, The Edge of Heaven, which opened locally this weekend. The over the top and bombastic tone of Head On is replaced with a much more contemplative and slower moving story here. Like in Head On, the issue of Turks living in Germany serves as a backdrop. And again I wish I knew more about this, as well as the greater political situation in Turkey, since it seems to impact so much of what is happening in the film.

This is a tough movie to write about without spoiling things (though Akin does inform us of the impending deaths of characters in the titles of two "chapters" of the movie). As always I am so grateful that I walked into this without having read a thing about it, so i'll leave out details here. I can say that there are multiple linking storylines that indirectly or directly impact each other, but this is not a Turkish version of Crash (though I would wager that some reviewers will lazily compare the two solely because of this similarity in structure). In fact, my only real criticism of the film is that these coincidences and near misses feel a bit forced and predictable at times, which is frustrating since that really wasn't what the movie was about. For me, at its heart this was a film about redemption and forgiveness between families, strangers, and cultures, and the emotional weight of these issues is stronger than anything I've seen recently.

The closing shot of this film is absolutely beautiful and left a crowded and otherwise chatty theater (old snooty Cambridge people and foreign movies are not a good mix) absolutely silent. This was easily one of my favorite films so far this year. 

Fon To Due

I'm not a big South Park fan- casual at best, as in when I happen upon it, I might stick around to watch the episode (or flip back and forth to it from something else). Like other shows that have been on forever, it's too inconsistent to really pay steady attention to. 

But oh my, was last night's episode amazing- cat pee induced acid trips that take people to the bizarre world of...Heavy Metal?

But this begs an important question for me- how is it possible that I was completely unaware of this movie? Maybe I was too young when it came out? I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to watch it when I was younger, and apparently it was out of print for a long time. But bad animation, ridiculously overt "boobage", characters named Taarna, Sammy Hagar songs- how did this escape me during college? I feel like I have failed. I must watch this film.

Red Sox vs Diamondbacks

(crappy picture of a beautiful sunset courtesy of my cell phone)

6/24/08

Sox 5 Diamondbacks 4 

In attendance: Paul

Forget about 1918 or any other curse- the Jimbama Red Sox losing streak has finally ended! As previously reported the Sox had a dismal record when I attend games- 2-8 since the beginning of the 2007 season. This looked like it was going to be more of the same, but the Sox managed to come back in dramatic fashion. 

I didn't even think this game was going to be played considering the bizarre weather that rolled through earlier in the night. I left work at 5:00 to somewhat dark skies but nothing too ominous. By the time the red line came above ground over the Longfellow Bridge, it was like armageddon- black skies and wild wind and rain. It basically looked like someone was spraying a hose against the side of the subway car. But as quickly as it moved in it made its way out, so Paul and I dodged some downed trees and started our walk over to Fenway where the game was only delayed by 45 minutes. 

From the beginning this looked like the Sox lineup that I had resigned myself to witnessing in person- limp and lifeless, scratching out a few hits with nothing else coming of it. Masterson pitched well for the Red Sox, but gave up 2 home runs which led to the 5-0 Dback lead going into the 8th. And out of nowhere, the Sox picked up steam and started putting together hits- Lugo, Ellsbury, Pedroia, my long lost brother Mike Lowell, and even Varitek, who was previously in a miserable slump. By this time it had gotten very cold up on our rooftop seats, so we moved down to the grandstand, where it was slightly warmer. The view from the rear grandstand may be lousy (poles blocking your view and an overhang that blocks the view of any ball hit more than 10 feet in the air), but it is a fun and incredibly loud place to be for a Sox rally. 

So we're looking at a 5-4 lead, and Jonathan Papelbon coming in to close out the 9th. Papelbon enters to "I'm Shipping up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys, which you may recognize as an excellent music cue at the beginning of  "The Departed", or if you're from Boston, the song that you heard a million times during the 2007 Red Sox postseason and are completely sick of. But I have to say, when Papelbon comes out in the 9th to protect a 1 run lead and that song is blasting through Fenway, you would have to be unconscious to not get fired up. Anyway, Papelbon closed out the game, Sox got the win, and my streak was broken. 3-8 is nothing to get too excited about but i'm happy for now.