a happy morning

nice to see that CC understands it's always better to earn your money from the Yankees rather than just be an asshole and collect it. always nice when the big man goes 9 innings and gives the bullpen a rest before the next series, which starts tonight. hopefully the other bats that started to wake up, Ichiro, Granderson, Tex, can keep it up against Detroit. maybe a little revenge for last year. i do expect these games will have a much better chance of becoming slow pitch softball than the Baltimore series. a lot of Baltimore's players were playoff virgins. that's not the case with Detroit. anxiety has been replaced with experience. may the pitching continue to be great, may the bats come alive, and may all of Detroit's sluggers go cold.

welcome back to the US national team Eddie Johnson. a great, stunning 2 goals to save the team from disaster. now, advancing in World Cup qualifying is much closer to certain than before. and although this team frustrates the shit out of me, i'll give Jurgen Klinsmann credit for having the stones to leave Jozy off the roster and his replacement scores the 2 goals. hopefully they will take care of business next week and get the job done.

was nice to have baseball and soccer end right in time for my Friday addiction, Boss. great show, just not enough nudity this year. maybe the season finale next week will provide that fix.

a busy night tonight as the Yankees and Ohio State play at the same time. yet another night when i need that Elvis wall of televisions. i know my first purchase if i'm ever blessed with fuck you money.

music today:

Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Alyssa Sease - Lay Rest Your Soul EP
Escondido - Escondido EP
Humble Wolf - Paper Thin

"When deeds speak, words are nothing." - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

a foggy, rainy day

i suppose this is a great day to be a duck. no sun, off and on rain, fog, just a fucking blah day. so i settled down to watch Manchester United and hopefully see something good. 15 minutes in and i'm sitting in a ah, fuck me, why do i bother type of stance in my chair. really, i was just hoping for something. thankfully, it was another wake-up call. Rooney and RvP to the rescue. 1 lucky goal and another that was pure fucking brilliance from both of them. the best thing that came today other than the 3 points was Sir Alex may have found the replacement for Scholes. and that man is none other than Wayne Rooney. He was fucking great today. i'm hoping they play him in that role for the rest of the season so both he and RvP can play together all the time. notice i didn't bitch about the defense. it sucks. but, nothing will get better until the injured can come back. so, it's all about winning ugly and knowing the shit goal is going to happen. i hate it, but that's not going to change a fucking thing. i believe some people call that maturing. i call it blood pressure.

could be a good night for the Yankees. repeat the drubbing of Boston from last night and hopefully Baltimore slips up again and hello division title. i don't think the playoff mess will be decided until the last night of the season. and welcome back to Tex. please, stop getting injured.

nothing much else going on. always love when it's raining and the crops haven't been taken off. just piling on shit after a summer of fuck. hello insurance claim.

i highly recommend the 3 EP's that are listed in the music today section below. you can find all 3 of them at noisetrade.com.

tomorrow will be a typing day. hopefully tonight will be a writing night. or, tomorrow will be a short typing day.

music today:

Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight
Grant-Lee Phillips - Green Corn Songs: Live at McCabes
Escondido - Escondido EP
Matthew Sweet - Acoustic & Live NoiseTrade Sampler

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan

a productive tuesday

enjoyed watching men's volleyball and women's soccer early this afternoon. so jealous of the USA women to be playing at Old Trafford. one of those places i want to get to before i die. and looks like from the events some will watch on tape delay tonight, they will be happy. thanks to twitter, i'll be watching the Yankees and Deadliest Catch.

speaking of the Yankees, after another one run loss last night, the frustrated fan in me wanted a huge trade today. thankfully Cashman didn't do that. getting a nice role player from the Pirates for a guy who was going to be let go when Joba comes back (which may be tonight) is a nice stroke of genius. with A-Rod injured and now Tex injured, Casey McGehee can fill in at both spots and provide some right handed power. hopefully that works. a warm body that can drive in runs. please.

actually wrote and typed up (a rarity for me in the same day) 2 poems. not sure if they will go in the august submission pile or the later in the fall pile. time shall tell.

hopefully the USA men's basketball is boring enough (as in they are up by 50 20 minutes into the game) that i might get a nap in before some baseball tonight.

music today:

The Killers - Hot Fuss
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Everclear - Sparkle and Fade
Double Trouble - Been a Long Time
The Full Monty Soundtrack
Muddy Waters - Blues Legend

"Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience." - Paulo Coelho

wouldn't you know it

so i was writing this blog post in my head last night as i was watching the Yankees fail for something like the millionth time this season with a runner in scoring position. then a double, a walk and a hanging curve and i could simply imagine John Sterling going ape shit on the radio when Tex hit the 3 run homer to tie the game. then, someone commandeered Russell Martin's uniform and got what turned out to be the winning hit and threw out a runner in the top of the 9th with a perfect throw to second base for the final out. how i hope that's the Russell Martin that plays for the entire second half.

i have no clue how much longer the smoke and mirrors approach can last but i will enjoy it for the time being. of course, i kind of want them to hit home runs like this in the playoffs just so i can watch all these baseball "experts" bitch and moan endlessly that that's not how the game was meant to be played.

sweaty Freddy Garcia goes today. fingers are crossed.

in other news

stumbled upon a band yesterday that i really, really like. Delta Rae.

trying to figure out how i can keep this hot streak going with my writing. this is starting to remind me of my mid 20's again. oh, the glorious past. whiskey, strange women, the city of Chicago and wasted potential. guess we'll see if i have learned anything in this life.

enter your cliche about time here

music this morning:

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Delta Rae - Live at Lincoln Theater

"Admiration for a quality or an art can be so strong that it deters us from striving to possess it." - Friedrich Nietzsche

another morning in the 80's

always great when it's over 80 degrees before 8 am. looks like their forecast for about 2 weeks in the 90's is looking more and more correct. fuck.

i don't know what it is about that dump where the Rays play, but the Yankees have now lost 8 straight games there. quite a time for Tex to have his first error of the season. a house of fucking horrors. hopefully Nova can right the ship tonight as i don't want this week (2 more with the Rays, 4 with the Red Sox) to be the week where the Yankees shit away a 6 game lead before the all star break.

i had a cat that i thought for sure was dead suddenly reappear yesterday. Weezie Jefferson had been gone for over a month. came back rail fucking thin. if it makes it through this heat i'll be stunned. but welcome back my whiny friend. and yes, those small kittens are not toys.

as of 3 in the morning, the muse was back. always nice to hear her voice. best of luck with your big interview. you'll do great.

music this morning:

Gary Clark Jr. - The Bright Lights EP
Tracy Chapman - Collection

"Expect problems and eat them for breakfast." - Alfred A. Montapert