Do You Believe in Magic?

Bruce Springsteen is reuniting with the E Street Band to kick off a big tour to promote his new studio album, Magic. This is outstanding news, as Bruce promotes many of the prominent stain club philosophies, including going huge, and the big play action stick, terms which may only be familiar to the Stain Club faithful, but are up for explanation here.

Bruce Springsteen live shoes are like no other, as they are absolutely explosive in energy. Bruce also has one of the deeper cannons of songs to draw on in popular music, and he does so, drastically changing his set list every night.

I can only hope that when October 5th roles around (the night of his first of hopefully multiple shows in Philly) I will be basked in the concert glory, and also seeing Phillies postseason victory scores as well. That’s a lot to ask for, but hey, you gotta believe in magic.

The Phillies might be trying to catch some of that in a bottle, as they handily take game one from the Mets in Chase’s triumphant return to the roster. Imagine if Jayson Werth keeps clubbing the ball like he has been? There’s not a more dangerous offense in baseball (with the possible exception of the Yankees) with the additions of a potent Werth and Burrell to the Phillies.

Game Two tonight, with Eaton’s first start off the DL. A season still hangs on the brink. But hey, you gotta believe in magic.

Such a Sad Time Together

In Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (now, as if from the Dead Sea itself, in scroll form), narrator Sal Paradise says “Boys and girls in America, they have such a sad time together.” The dude from the band The Hold Steady happens to agree with him. The Hold Steady are also incredible, given their penchant for going huge, albeit over such mundane things as underage drinking. In any case, reporting from the front of "boy-no-longer," I will say that being a kid is probably about the best thing life throws your way, because after that, it’s going to work. Work, while notable for taking the best part of your day, also makes it hard to post, as has been evidenced by our blogging team’s hardships with getting it done on a daily basis.

I believe Plumpy’s Ghost will speak more on this whole work thing (which we have affectionately dubbed “The Struggle”) at some later point.

Meanwhile, The Phillies are also having such a sad time together, as their bullpen has hit the wall. Butter Jose Mesa up, not because you think he’s good, but because he’s toast. Gordon ruined everything yesterday. Half the team is on the DL. I wouldn’t be surprised to read in the paper tomorrow that the Phanatic is out till late September with a strained quad muscle. And now, with no Cole and no Chase, we play two huge series against the Padres and Mets. This is big. A season is on the brink.

The Philadelphia faithful might still be having a hard time, be they boys and girls or men and women, but two strong series could make things a little easier.

To the Lighthouse

What do you do when you’re the front man of a heavy metal band and you want a bite to eat? You say fuck that and you go hang out around a lighthouse with your band mates and play your instruments which are not plugged in. That’s how you go huge all over hunger.

By the way, someone’s been listening to my ramblings, as today I received the Chinese fortune cookie fortune “You will receive a large sum of money from an unlikely source.” See, that’s a fortune. And, I think it means that somebody is getting ready to start paying us to live. Don’t be shy. Someone’s gotta be the first. There’s worse ways to spend money.

Yellow Ledbetter Lyrics Found!

Pearl Jam is personally by far my favorite band of all time, and I know, as much as anyone else, that whenever Eddie Vedder sings a song from the old days like Yellow Ledbetter, his intentional mumbling makes it nigh impossible to ever know the true lyrics to such songs. Well, so when I realized that someone finally cracked Vedder’s mumble code (indulging in a bit of poetic licensing), I must say that the result is quite satisfying.

Weekend free-staining

In fifth grade, I played the violin. In sixth grade, I didn't. Impressive right? I'm not the world's finest musical talent, but I'd like to think I could recognize some truly quality music if I heard it. I like to go to classical concerts and read the performer bios. I never know what any of it means, but doesn't that just make it more impressive? Even though I don't understand the terminology in the program or know the other famous musicians the current performer has studied under. I at least know that those things exist thanks to the program. It lets me know I should enjoy and appreciate this before the first note hits my ears. I'd like to think I would recognize that note for its pure technical and aesthetic beauty, but according to the Washington Post, that seems unlikely.

Another, very different, piece of news that I found particularly compelling deals with the Westboro Baptist Church. Best known for their "God Hates Fags" signs and their distasteful presence at the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq, Louis Theroux does a great spot for the BBC about them. He embeds himself within the Church and the family that makes up almost its entire membership. His insights and ability to draw out a real sense of both their jaw-dropping bigotry, but also their everyday humanity is well worth your time. Here's the link for the first part on YouTube. It's cut up into seven sections but the rest of the links are listed on the side.

To continue with my trend of posting links sent to me by a friend from high school (as the first two are also from him), we'll throw this out there as well. It's an interesting map from National Geographic about singleness and gender in America. The map convincingly validates my decision to move to the East Coast. I don't know exactly how much credibility I would give it. But it's something that's fun to talk about.

I had big plans to chime in on Iraq, political rhetoric, and everything else, but whenever I start to write about it, I become so disgusted with the issue du jour that I am left scouring ESPN.com for anything and everything that might distract me. That sort of willful apathy is all too common in an America where only those unlucky few who know soldiers fighting in the conflict pay the high price of the war. With that in mind, I sat down yesterday to read Newsweek's collection of letters from fallen soldiers. Perhaps, it's better to say I forced myself to read the article. I had seen it before and purposely avoided it. Much in the way that I have not seen United 93, though I own the DVD. Typical, I think of many people, I tell myself that I don't have the time or that when I have the time its not the right time to delve into that heavy sort of topic. But, this time it seemed important to read. Some soldiers, years younger than even me, were writing about the end of their lives. That's powerful stuff. Stuff that deserves to be read and remembered. I find it important to note that many of the soldiers spoke out strongly in favor of the war and the cause they ascribe to it. When they're the ones fighting, it's impossible to dismiss that moral and emotional force behind their argument. That's why I'm going to pass the buck to someone who said it far more succinctly and accurately than I am able to.

Although I had not planned to go huge on the Iraq discussion side of the post, apparently I thought I had it.

Even though this is tagged Not Sports, I have a small story that is loosely sports related. If you are one of our anti-sports readers, now would be a good stopping place

The other night I had a nightmare that I had dropped Chad Cordero from my fantasy baseball team because the Nats had decided they would not trade him under any circumstances. Then later, I found out this wasn't true and rushed home to grab him back up before he hit the waiver wire. I believed that this happened for at least the next 8 hours before I remembered it was a dream. That's not weird is it?

Rod Stewart was awesome

Say what you will about the man that asked us all if he thought he was sexy, but back in the day, Rod kept it real. In addition to being a hero on his early solo albums, Roddy sung on Jeff Beck's early albums, and also in a band called the Faces. The Faces are some of the unsung heroes of Classic Rock, their only "hits" being "Ooh La La" and "Stay With Me," but they made some awesome music. You don't need to take my word for it, just watch and listen.

Oh My God

"Don't Stop Believin' " + Tony Homo + Mr. Belding + Hair Metal Band named Metal Skool =
Greatest Music that 2007 has heard yet

Bob Dylan knew how to QFS

Bob Dylan, the most acclaimed songwriter of the popular music era, certainly knew the value of quitting to keep his strength up. Need proof? Check out the last verse of this song from his classic album Another Side of Bob Dylan. How do you think Dylan wrote so many classic songs? There was a lot of quitting on a lot of different things involved. Also, please be noted that when Bob wasn’t QFS-ing, he was utilizing the BPAS (as evidenced in “Tangled Up in Blue.”) Either way, Bob Dylan is a beast at living life. Just look at that face.

Got A Three On it!?!?!

In the classic Parliament song “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up), it is noted that some funk “has a three” on it. What does this mean? How does something “get a three” on it? I’m not sure, but Clinton notes Doobie Brothers music has a three on it. Thus, based on my critical reasoning skills and a potentially false assumption that having a three on it is bad, here are several other musicians that likely have a three on them.

Chicago – If only eternity could be spent on hold on the telephone whilst listening to “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”

The Carpenters – “We’ve Only Just Begun” to kick off the album “Close to You” just reinforces that you still have eleven songs of kitsch to go.

ABBA – If you didn’t give Mama Mia a standing ovation on Broadway, it was probably because you shot yourself somewhere in the middle of the first act.

All Hair Metal – All Hair Metal has a three on it, but the musicians know this and embrace it and still manage to look like girls while having copious amounts of sex with girls.

William Shatner – William Shatner is the definition of having a three on himself. He couldn’t get less funky if he tried. George Clinton has probably eaten hamburgers funkier than Captain Kirk. Just watch ole Will sing “Rocket Man” in his legendary video from an awards show. Not only does he have a three on him, but there’s three (or more!) of him, all equally unfunky, all equally Shat-tastic.

Top Ten Zeppelin Songs

Every so often, a person has to recgonize the fact that certain things must be ranked. I, for one, as a fan of music, always have trouble figuring out what songs are my favorite. This is more of a personal thing than a serious matter. This list would be consiberably different if it was acutally listing the top ten Led Zeppelin songs of all time. These songs, however, lend credence to the band's legacy because it shows how many quality songs that they have written. Some of these songs, such as number one and number four, may not be known to casual music lovers who only know "the hits." But if you ever get the chance, try to to explore this band's (or any other great band's for that matter) entire catalog rather than the songs that are merely played on the radio. Trust me. It's a great experience. And without further adieu...

1. The Rover
2. When the Levee Breaks
3. The Ocean
4. How Many More Times
5. Out on the Tiles
6. Black Dog
7. That's the Way
8. Thank You
9. Ten Years Gone
10. What is and What Should Never Be

The Seger Sessions

Bruce Springsteen’s most recent album is called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, and on it he plays standards of American folk music, many of which were originally popularized by Pete Seeger, one of the most prominent figures in American music history. But what if The Boss had gone a different way? What if, he had made The Seger Sessions: A Tribute to the work of Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band? Just picture Steven Van Zandt tearing through “Old Time Rock & Roll,” or Bruce asking the audience for a little quiet before tearing his heart out on “Night Moves.” The possibilities are truly endless.

Every Grain of Sand

Bob Dylan has written a couple songs in his time, and chances are you've heard one or two of them. He also put together quite a few good albums that most music critics would even consider masterpieces. Shot of Love was certainly not one of them. However, the final track of said album, “Every Grain of Sand,” is a truly magnificent and haunting piece that stands among his best. Below is a link to the lyrics, and a quick review of the song. For an interesting version of it, check out the home recorded one on the Dylan’s Bootleg Series Vol 1-3. You can hear his then wife singing, and also a dog barking in the background.

Lyrics

Allmusic.com review of the song