<< It’s only one game. So how come it already feels like the Red Sox are going to the World Series? … It just does. >>
Um, dude … weren’t you here in 2004 and in 2007?
You know the Yankees were dominant in the ALCS but didn’t win the series in ’04, and that the Sox won game one against Cleveland last year before they lost the next three and were on the verge of elimination.
Hell, Cleveland even printed up and was selling ALCS championship t-shirts. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves, alright? You don’t want to jinx anything.
On the one hand, this year we don’t have to sit through those endless Dane Cook “There’s Only One October” ads. But on the other hand, we do have to listen to Buck Martinez on TBS call our beloved designated hitter “David OR-tiz,” as opposed to “David or-TIZ.” I don’t know anyone who pronounces Papi’s name like he does. Say what you will about Fox Sports, but at least Joe Buck and Tim McCarver know who our players are. And they also dress a heck of a lot better than Craig Sager does. Jeeez, who picks out that guy’s blazers??!
I’m a couple days early, but I’m just so looking forward to the release of Ray LaMontagne’s new album, Gossip in the Grain, on Tuesday that I wanted to get something up here now so you could spend the weekend downloading some tracks and being just as excited as I am for it. Ray’s most recent album, Til the Sun Turns Black, was one of my favorite albums of 2006 (it still is a favorite). This new one sounds even better. I mean, check out “You Are the Best Thing,” which you can download here or just listen to here. There’s a music video up at Amazon.com that pretty much nails the sultry, romantic vibe of the song. There’s another track, “Meg White,” up for previewing at Stereogum. Those two are great, but for weeks now I’ve been hooked on another track, “Let It Be Me,” which you can download here or listen to here. If you ask me, songs don’t get much more beautiful than this one. I’ve posted the lyrics below so you can follow along while the song plays. Please, do yourself a favor and run to Best Buy or Newbury Comics (or whatever your favorite music retailer is) on Tuesday and buy this album. Or, just go right to iTunes right now and pre-order it. I haven’t heard all of GitG yet, but I will promise you that you won’t be disappointed.
“Let It Be Me” There may come a time, a time in everyone’s life where nothin’ seems to go your way, where nothing seems to turn out right. There may come a time, you just can’t seem to find your way. For every door you walk on to, seems like they get slammed in your face.
That’s when you need someone, someone that you can call. And when all your faith is gone, feels like you can’t go on, let it be me. Let it be me. If it’s a friend that you need, let it be me. Let it be me.
Feels like you’re always comin’ on home, pockets full of nothin and you got no cash. No matter where you turn you ain’t got no place to stand. Reach out for something and they slap your hand. Now I remember all too well just how it feels to be all alone. You feel like you’d give anything for just a little place you can call your own.
That’s when you need someone, someone that you can call. And when all your faith is gone, feels like you can’t go on, let it be me. Let it be me. If it’s a friend you need, let it be me. Let it be me.
It’s a place that’s practically empty on a Friday night, where there’s always a parking space right in front of clubs, and where high school kids can not only get into bars easily, but they can bypass the lines with ease and can be served alcohol — enough to get totally drunk.
This is the New York of Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist, where everything is seemingly just right so as to engineer the kind of “crazy” night that may lead to an unlikely and rather forced love connection between our leads Nick (Michael Cera) and Nora (Kat Dennings).
Infinite Playlist is that kind of movie, complete with a hip soundtrack, and made for a particular target audience that doesn’t really include me. Continue reading →
According to a survey by AnyBirthday.com, more Americans are celebrating their birthday today, October 5, than on any other day of the year.
How do we know this for sure? Well, AnyBirthday.com claims to have a database of more than 135 million people’s birthdays. And their survey asked 12,576 people — not a huge sampling, but big enough, I suppose.
(By the way, the least common birth date in the U.S. is May 22.)
If you think about it, it’s not sooo surprising that October 5 is a popular birthday. After all, what was nine months ago? That’s right, conception would have fallen on New Year’s Eve.
Oddly enough, I have more than 350 friends on Facebook, and not a single one of them is celebrating their birthday today.
But if you are, then allow me to wish you a very happy day.
And now, a message or two from Sarah Palin … courtesy of The Late Show with David Letterman. Jeez, I wonder which candidate he’s going to vote for next month.
God, Bill Maher, and the director of Borat walk into a church … No, that’s not the setup for a joke, it’s the basic premise of Religulous, a documentary in which Maher goes in search of answers to the question of Is religion good or bad for society? He travels to Israel, to a truckstop church in North Carolina, to Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, Amsterdam, and other places, and talks to members of most of the world’s more popular organized religions. Suffice it to say, everyone gets skewered. Maher pokes all the expected holes in the idea of faith, in the double-standard that says God loves but he hates gay people, in the sexism that is so common, in the obsessiveness of some people, and then some. Much of the movie is quite funny — dare I say it’s funny as hell? — and director Larry Charles makes great use of archival and related film clips to enhance the humor. Ultimately, though, Religulous is tainted by Maher’s negative attitude. Healthy skepticism is good, and some aspects of religion are certainly ripe for questioning. But Maher doesn’t really seem to have a point here, other than saying religion is bad, and the film’s last five minutes leave the viewer with such a bad taste that it corrupts the humor that previously was so engaging. I was tempted to give Religulous a higher grade, but ultimately I’m going to stick with a B. If you’re looking for a warmer look at religion’s place in modern society, may I highly recommend A.J. Jacobs’ The Year of Living Biblically.
Hasn’t Dan Shaughnessy learned anything in recent years?
Martin's Musings 