All posts by freealonzo

Game 38 — Redbirds at Twins

St. Louis Cardinal time again. After dominating them last week in St. Louis the Twins are looking to pluck the Cardinals once again and put a stop to a 2-game slide. Jose Berrios on the mound for the Twins and it sure would be nice to have the April Berrios and not the May Berrios show up tonight. Jack Flahery for the Cardinals.

7:10p start and it looks like it will be absolutely gorgeous weather tonight.

Game 32 — Twins at Cardinals

Twins on a four game winning streak. Only 1.5 games behind the Clevelanders. Byron Buxton should be ready to play this week. All looking rosy for the Twins after a dreadful late April. Could be a nice pitcher's duel today with Jake Odorizzi up against Carlos Martinez, who's been pretty dang good this year. Perfect St. Louis weather for an afternoon game. If I worked in downtown St. Louis, probably a great day to play hooky and head over to the ballpark.

12:10p Start.

FMD — Live Albums

Live albums get some deserved and undeserved derision. Usually they are obligatory, just a one off to fulfill a contract obligation and they rarely capture what it's like "being there." In addition almost all live albums have the crowd noise artificially inserted, vocals are fixed, and sometimes guitars are augmented in studio. On the other hand, where else but a live album are you going to hear a 20 minute version of Cowgirl in the Sand?

Kiss Alive! is famous for probably being barely "live." The some reports are the only actual live parts are Peter Criss' drums.

I bring this up because this past weekend was the 40th anniversary of Cheap Trick playing at The Budokan theater in Japan. Cheap Trick Live at Budokan was originally suppose to be a Japanese only album but it sold many imports that it was eventually released stateside in February of 1979. The original album was only about 1/2 the concert and eventually Cheap Trick released the rest of the concert in a second album and then the whole show (actually it's from two different concerts two days apart). I have take both Budokan I and II and rearranged the songs according to the set list. I still love this album and listen to is every so often.

What other live albums to you like? Throw in your list.

Game 18 — Twins v. Yanks

It's young versus old, skinny versus fat, good versus evil. Berrios versus C.C. Sabbathia. Berrios for the most part has been lights out for the Twins this year, and they are going to need it given the 4 game losing streak the Twins are currently (not) enjoying. Berrios has some nice stats like a tidy 1.63 ERA but his most impressive is the 9.43 k/9 v. 0.33 bb/9 he's been tossing in April. More of that please.

C.C. Sabbathia still at it and has been pretty decent this year. It seems like a long time ago (because it was) since Batgirl referred to Sabbathia as Captain Cheeseburger.

Game is 5:35p Central time so eat early and be ready for a fun pitcher's duel.

Game 12(!) — Twins vs. Cleveland (In Puerto Rico)

Finally, more baseball. After a cold, wet, snowy homestand in Minnesota, the Twins go down to Puerto Rico to play to against the Cleveland [Redacted]. Besides being excited for baseball, it seems pretty cool that these two games are in San Juan. There are a number of Puerto Ricans on both teams (?? -- I didn't check Cleveland's roster) and after Hurricane Irma, any thing that brings positivity to that island is welcomed.

Jake Odorizzi versus Casey Kluber so it could very well be a pitcher's duel. Both have pitched well and have nice ERAs, Strikeouts/9 innings, etc. Couple with the fact that these two teams should be battling for the Central Division crown all year and we have a nice little series here.

Game time at 6:10p. Game on Fox Sports 1 so check your local provider for whatever channel that is.

Game 9 — Astros at Twins

Game two against the Astros and their murderer's row of pitchers. Dallas Keuchel has been decent this year with a 3.27 ERA and 0-1 record. He in fact responsible for half of Houston's losses this year. Jake Odorizzi on the mound for the Twins, and looking to add to his stellar opening day outing.

Game at 7:10. Will be a little warmer, but not much. Would be nice to get some hot bats to warm up the crowd.

Friday Music Day — EAB

The Series Vinyl on HBO was a bit a mess and got cancelled after one season, which is too bad because the music was bad ass and it was starting to find its feet in the last couple of episodes. The scene below was pretty good. Great representation on how most music follows a basic structure. Or you could just argue that every song is just a variation of Maybelline. Warning video below has some swears.

Drop your lists. Source Chuck Berry when you do.

FMD — Wither CDs?

There was an article this week that Best Buy will stop selling CDs sometime this summer. I'm sure Spooky has good insider info on this but its no surprise, the CD section in BB has been shrinking for years. Quite the switch from maybe 10 years ago when there were aisles of CDs. It was the place to go to get a wide variety of music.

http://www.startribune.com/billboard-report-says-best-buy-will-stop-selling-cds-this-summer/472797583/

The article also stated that Target is still selling CDs but increasingly asking the label companies to provide the discs on consignment so that they aren't holding unsold music.

Do you still buy CDs? If so from where? If not, do you just stream or download music from iTunes, etc. Or have you have gone all vinyl? I'm a mix of buying CDs, streaming, and downloading. If I stream something enough, I typically go and a acquire it. I also still get music from the library as well.

Drop your lists.