Tuesday, September 27
Yes We Did
In September of 1979, I was a skinny 11-year-old Angel fan following my team to its first division title. The mantra of that year was "Yes We Can." It was a hope and a belief in a team that had won absolutely nothing in its brief history. On the night the Angels clinched the division, I drew a picture of a big A with a halo and the words "Yes We Did" underneath. It was a great day. We fans celebrated our team as champions that year, even though we went quietly to Baltimore in the division series.
Then the team spent a few years in the desert before the 1982 team led us to another title. Again, we celebrated, but again we lost in the division series (this time blowing a two-games up lead to Milwakee).
Four years later, it was 1986...and we all know what happened that year. The only consolation Angels fans took was that Boston was crushed even harder by their game six debacle.
Sadly, from 1986 to 2002, it was nothing but grief and heartache for an Angels team that always seemed to jump into the abyss just when things were going well. 1995 was the worst. I think I smashed about 3 remotes watching my team implode in August and September. The rally in the season's final week was nice, but Randy Johnson erased any chance we had to go to the playoffs.
Then 2002... what can I say? Watching Erstad catch the final out was the single greatest moment in my life.
In 2003, everyone--and I mean everyone--got injured, so let's skip that.
Then 2004: a comeback against the A's in the final week, and the first division title in 18 years. Sure, they lost to Boston in the ALDS, but I was all right with that--I can't be angry at a team that had won a world series only two years earlier and had made it back to the playoffs after only a season in the desert. Heck, I even got to go to a playoff game that year--my first.
Now 2005, and we've won in convincing fashion, winning 10 of 11 and kicking Oakland's ass on their home turf. What comes next? Who knows? This bats need to step up, but they've got an awesome pitching staff, a stellar defense, and a lot of guts. Whatever happens, though, this season has been one to remember, if only because it marks the first time the Angels have been division winners in consecutive years.
So as a long-time Angels fan, let me say it clearly:
These are the golden days, Angel fans. Enjoy them now, and remember who is responsible: Mike Scoiscia, Arte Moreno, and Bill Stoneman.
You might criticize these guys and jump all over them, but if it wasn't for these three, the Angels would not be where they are today--perrennial winners.
Let's go Angels!
Then the team spent a few years in the desert before the 1982 team led us to another title. Again, we celebrated, but again we lost in the division series (this time blowing a two-games up lead to Milwakee).
Four years later, it was 1986...and we all know what happened that year. The only consolation Angels fans took was that Boston was crushed even harder by their game six debacle.
Sadly, from 1986 to 2002, it was nothing but grief and heartache for an Angels team that always seemed to jump into the abyss just when things were going well. 1995 was the worst. I think I smashed about 3 remotes watching my team implode in August and September. The rally in the season's final week was nice, but Randy Johnson erased any chance we had to go to the playoffs.
Then 2002... what can I say? Watching Erstad catch the final out was the single greatest moment in my life.
In 2003, everyone--and I mean everyone--got injured, so let's skip that.
Then 2004: a comeback against the A's in the final week, and the first division title in 18 years. Sure, they lost to Boston in the ALDS, but I was all right with that--I can't be angry at a team that had won a world series only two years earlier and had made it back to the playoffs after only a season in the desert. Heck, I even got to go to a playoff game that year--my first.
Now 2005, and we've won in convincing fashion, winning 10 of 11 and kicking Oakland's ass on their home turf. What comes next? Who knows? This bats need to step up, but they've got an awesome pitching staff, a stellar defense, and a lot of guts. Whatever happens, though, this season has been one to remember, if only because it marks the first time the Angels have been division winners in consecutive years.
So as a long-time Angels fan, let me say it clearly:
These are the golden days, Angel fans. Enjoy them now, and remember who is responsible: Mike Scoiscia, Arte Moreno, and Bill Stoneman.
You might criticize these guys and jump all over them, but if it wasn't for these three, the Angels would not be where they are today--perrennial winners.
Let's go Angels!
Monday, September 26
Angels...
are kicking ass. Way to go, fellows. One more win and we're in the playoffs!
Friday, September 16
Rock and Roll Hall of "Fame"
If Richard Thompson can't even make it onto the list to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and John Mellencamp can, then what's the point of even caring about that institution? It's a joke--as is nearly everything in the music industry right now. Let the big five die, folks. Buy your music online and through independent sellers; go to see concerts and support artists directly. Let the rest of the music world go the way of the Soviet Union.
Monday, September 12
This says it all...
Saturday, September 10
The Best Comedy of 2005
My wife and I have seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin twice so far. My wife bought the soundtrack, I put the wonderfully creepy poster on my desktop, and I've already gone to Amazon to sign up to receive notice when I can preorder my DVD copy of the film. It's the funniest film of 2005--and one of the best times I've ever had at the movies.
I've been a HUGE fan of The Daily Show for years and years (along with just about everyone else my age and disposition), and I thought Steve Carrell was the highlight of Anchorman (along with Paul Rudd's "Sex Panther"). So I was really excited about his first starring role. But I got even MORE excited when I learned that it was directed by Judd Apatow, the mind behind such amazingly good things as Freaks and Geeks, the woefully underrated Undeclared, and The Larry Sanders Show. Add to this the fact that the cast includes not only Paul Rudd, Catherine Keener, and Jane Lynch, but also Seth Rogen, perhaps the funniest guy in the group (example: "She's a grandma? Man. I wish my grandma looked like that. My grandma looks like Jack Palance. If Jack Palance looked like her I'd wanna fuck Jack Palance." Another example: "You've gotta wait till the seed grows into a plant. Then you've gotta fuck the plant").
But the great cast is just part of it. The script is first-rate--funny as hell yet with a warmth that is rare in a dick-joke film. Plus, wonder of wonders, there's a plot that has a beginning, middle, and end, each part logically following the next. How often does that happen in a comedy? Still, in my mind, a comedy is only as good as its jokes--and it's the jokes, the insanely funny jokes, that make this picture work. So I'll stop gushing and just say this film is incredibly worth seeing, so go now--NOW--and see it, and then go home and wait by your computer until it's available to preorder on Amazon.
NOW! GO!
Friday, September 9
Given everything that has happened in the world in the past few years, and especially what is happening in New Orleans and the gulf states right now, I can't help but think back to a Saturday Night Live skit from November of 2000 called...
A Glimpse Of Our Possible Future I
President George W. Bush.....Will Ferrell
Voice of Don Pardo: America, Election Day fast approaches, and with the Presidential Race still too close to call, "Saturday Night Live" would like to present "A Glimpse of our Possible Future".
[ open on Scenario I ]
Announcer: And now a Message From the President of the United States: George W. Bush.
[ open on the Oval Office - beer cans on desk, socks hung on the lamp, a barbecue grill burning on his desk ]
Voice of Advisor: Mr. President, get out there!
President George W. Bush: [ from under his desk ] No! No, you can't make me! You're gonna yell at me again!
Voice of Advisor: Mr. President!
President George W. Bush: [ peeks out from under his desk ] No! I don't want to go out, it's too hard!
Voice of Advisor: You're on, Sir!
President George W. Bush: Awww.. [ jumps up and takes his seat ] Hey, America! So, how we all doing out there, huh? Yeah, not so good. I broke the Hoover Dam.. we had that war thing happen. But I mean, who ever heard of a Civil War, anyway? What is that? [ grabs a pair of binoculars, unscrews the lens, then pours alcohol from it into his mouth ] I have missed you, ol' buddy! [ pours it into his barbecue grill ] Whoo! I think we can agree, Americans, that these have been a difficult first two years of my presidency..
Voice of Advisor: You've been President for two weeks!
President George W. Bush: Really? Oh, man! I told you, this is hard! Okay, listen.. I'm just gonna get this Address thing over with. As we assess the State of the American Union today, we have reason to hope, because.. [ takes out a map which shows California and Florida as islands, Texas in Communist Mexico, and the Great Lakes on fire ] Holy crap! When did all this happen?! Wow.. the Great Lakes are on fire - even I know that's not good. [ laughs ] Okay, America, we got a lot of problems. I ain't gonna lie to you. But with the help of Vice-President Dick Cheney..
Voice of Advisor: You killed him in a hunting accident!
George W. Bush: Okay, fine! Not a problem. 'Cause I've been working hard, I got a plan that's gonna solve all of it - from the deficit, to foreign relations, to that hole in the sun. Two words, America: Ostrich Meat.
Voice of Advisor: [ disgusted ] Oh, come on! [ exits Oval Office ]
President George W. Bush: No, no, wait, wait! Hear me out. You see, everyone gets an ostrich.. and then you eat the ostrich, then you raise the ostrich.. that way, no more ostriches! We are trying to get rid of all the ostriches, right? Anyone? [ ball of fire erupts outside ] Aw, screw! That big tit building is on fire again - damn! Alright, sorry, folks.. I gotta take care of this.. [ stands up ] Come on, Blue! Here, boy! [ an ostrich ambles forward ] You all go on ahwad without me. And, in the meantime, "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
[taken from SNL Transcripts]
A Glimpse Of Our Possible Future I
President George W. Bush.....Will Ferrell
Voice of Don Pardo: America, Election Day fast approaches, and with the Presidential Race still too close to call, "Saturday Night Live" would like to present "A Glimpse of our Possible Future".
[ open on Scenario I ]
Announcer: And now a Message From the President of the United States: George W. Bush.
[ open on the Oval Office - beer cans on desk, socks hung on the lamp, a barbecue grill burning on his desk ]
Voice of Advisor: Mr. President, get out there!
President George W. Bush: [ from under his desk ] No! No, you can't make me! You're gonna yell at me again!
Voice of Advisor: Mr. President!
President George W. Bush: [ peeks out from under his desk ] No! I don't want to go out, it's too hard!
Voice of Advisor: You're on, Sir!
President George W. Bush: Awww.. [ jumps up and takes his seat ] Hey, America! So, how we all doing out there, huh? Yeah, not so good. I broke the Hoover Dam.. we had that war thing happen. But I mean, who ever heard of a Civil War, anyway? What is that? [ grabs a pair of binoculars, unscrews the lens, then pours alcohol from it into his mouth ] I have missed you, ol' buddy! [ pours it into his barbecue grill ] Whoo! I think we can agree, Americans, that these have been a difficult first two years of my presidency..
Voice of Advisor: You've been President for two weeks!
President George W. Bush: Really? Oh, man! I told you, this is hard! Okay, listen.. I'm just gonna get this Address thing over with. As we assess the State of the American Union today, we have reason to hope, because.. [ takes out a map which shows California and Florida as islands, Texas in Communist Mexico, and the Great Lakes on fire ] Holy crap! When did all this happen?! Wow.. the Great Lakes are on fire - even I know that's not good. [ laughs ] Okay, America, we got a lot of problems. I ain't gonna lie to you. But with the help of Vice-President Dick Cheney..
Voice of Advisor: You killed him in a hunting accident!
George W. Bush: Okay, fine! Not a problem. 'Cause I've been working hard, I got a plan that's gonna solve all of it - from the deficit, to foreign relations, to that hole in the sun. Two words, America: Ostrich Meat.
Voice of Advisor: [ disgusted ] Oh, come on! [ exits Oval Office ]
President George W. Bush: No, no, wait, wait! Hear me out. You see, everyone gets an ostrich.. and then you eat the ostrich, then you raise the ostrich.. that way, no more ostriches! We are trying to get rid of all the ostriches, right? Anyone? [ ball of fire erupts outside ] Aw, screw! That big tit building is on fire again - damn! Alright, sorry, folks.. I gotta take care of this.. [ stands up ] Come on, Blue! Here, boy! [ an ostrich ambles forward ] You all go on ahwad without me. And, in the meantime, "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
[taken from SNL Transcripts]
