WGOM Videos

Fountains Of Wayne – Troubled Times

Video 9 Comments

When Fountains of Wayne released their self titled album I remember hearing "Radiation Vibe" on the New Music show on CFNY. I was in 8th grade and fell in love with the band. Sadly, with it being high school, most people were listening to terrible music like Creed instead. I was in 10th grade when FOW released Utopia Parkway. The album itself wasn't as good as their first effort but man, this tune really spoke to a 16 year old Hitman.  1998 was still the sort of early days of the internet and I e-mailed Fountains of Wayne telling them how much this song ruled and how it should be a number one hit.  A couple of days later I got a response telling me how their label released their record the same week as Creed released their album and the Creed disc got all the promotion while their album got no push. I was devestated and vowed to myself to hate Creed forever.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECUrVVybwQ

It was a pretty easy promise to make to myself.

7 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 107 votes, average: 7.71 out of 10 (7 votes, average: 7.71 out of 10)
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Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 9/5

1 Comment

Pawtucket 7, Rochester 3 in Pawtucket.  The Red Sox scored four in the second and three in the fifth to take the victory.  Aaron Bates and Toby Gardenhire each hit a home run.  Eric Hacker surrendered all seven runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings.

Trenton 5, New Britain 3 in New Britain (11 innings).  The Rock Cats scored two in the eighth to tie the score, but the Thunder scored two in the eleventh to win.  Brian Dozier doubled and tripled to close out the season at .318.  Chris Herrmann singled and tripled.  Mike Hollimon had two hits.  Spencer Steedley allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks in 5.1 innings.  Blake Martin took the loss, giving up the eleventh-inning runs in his second inning of work.  The loss knocked the Rock Cats out of the playoffs, but Reading won, so the Rock Cats would not have made the playoffs anyway.

Wisconsin 11, Beloit 0 in Beloit.  It was 1-0 after six, but the Timber Rattlers scored eight runs in the seventh.  The Snappers had only two hits.  A. J. Achter struck out five in five innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk.

WGOM Videos

The Smashing Pumpkins – Thru the Eyes of Ruby

Video 33 Comments

high school week, eh? where to begin? my musical awakening began probably back in 6th grade (by awakening, i'm basically referring to when i jumped off the assembly line of manufactured crap feed by the top 40 dispensers), and it was not a moment too soon. there were a few bands that, if not immediately responsible, at least helped ease the ride. the pumpkins were one of them. the sonic, fuzzy wonderland that was siamese dream helped immensely. but we're not talking about junior high, we're talkin' high school. mellon collie and the infinite sadness was released about a month and a half after the beginning of my freshman year, and it really was the perfect soundtrack for it: sprawling, moody, unrequited, self-absorbed, pretentious; it fit the year like a glove. the fact that the pumpkins themselves basically acted like a bunch of freshmen didn't hurt. here's one of the album's opuses:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxhSp3qumH4

i didn't want to play the pumpkins, but i can't deny the role they played. and if i was going for a pumpkins vid alone, i probably would've picked something else, but, oh well. i never really bothered with anything after mellon collie, but that and that before it was pretty awesome. chamberlain is hands down one of the best drummers of his era, if not beyond. billy, despite being an insufferable prick, is also underrated in his chops, but i was underrated in my time too. 😉

6 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 106 votes, average: 7.83 out of 10 (6 votes, average: 7.83 out of 10)
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First Monday Book Day

First Monday Book Day: A Dickens of a Time

60 Comments

Drood: A Novel
I have been a big fan of Dan Simmons's work since I first ran across his Hyperion. The Hyperion Cantos, as the four-volume set is known, is a big-canvas space opera work, but one that is particularly literate, drawing liberally on the spirit of Keats as well as the structure and feel of the Canterbury Tales.

The first book in that group, Hyperion deservedly won both the Hugo and the Locus for best sci-fi novel in 1990.

I likewise devoured his Ilium and Olympos cycle, big on Homer, but also drawing on Shakespeare and Proust, of all people.

Simmons also is a renowned horror author. I thought it time to delve into that side of his work when I picked up a copy of this book some months ago.

Well, I'm not sure that "horror" is quite the right word for this book. But, wow, it has been engaging. Simmons has fictionalized the backstory to Dickens' last, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, telling the tale through the perspective of Dickens' longtime friend and frequent collaborator, the now-mostly forgotten Wilkie Collins.

The book is a fascinating study in upper(ish)-class Victorian England. Simmons appears to have thoroughly researched Dickens and Collins (although I admit that I know little of either, so mebbe not?), such that he weaves an intimate portrait of Dickens as seen through a close collaborator's eyes. That collaborator happens to be a laudanum addict and, by mid-book, an opium addict, which adds its own mysterious fog to the veracity of the narrator's perspective. The detail -- of London, of daily life, of the lives and careers of Dickens and Collins -- is rich and believable.

I'm "only" 400+ pages in to this dense, twisting, 775-page tale. But I'm thoroughly entertained and engaged. (and, sorry, but even though I know that knowing the ending won't ruin a good story, I haven't peeked ahead).

What are you reading?

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 141: Night of the Living Dead

89 Comments

Zach Stewart vs. Scott f'ing Diamond. Since we got our Run already today, I may be utilizing the Boy's Netflix subscription tonight.

For your dining pleasure: MLB ballparks ranked by most food safety violations.

Oh, and here is a recent feel-good story from another ball sport. Do you suppose Jeter will ask NYC press not to push for his immediate enshrinement in the baseball HOF when HE retires ascends to heaven on the wings of doves?

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 140: Day of the Living Dead

93 Comments

Humber Humber at Snapplesocks. Game one of two today (thanks, jobu, for the reminder).

is there anything more exciting than a split double-header between two teams out of the running in early September?

today, my focus will be on (1) getting my First Monday book post written; and (2) grillin' (Andouille sausages and Tofurkey kielbasa sausages, pasilla peppers), making pinto beans, and chillin'.

so, how about a win against th' hated??

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.