Missing Mr. Torre

After the major letdown that was the Opening Day rainout, the Yankees opened up their season with a nice little victory over the Blue Jays and their ace, Roy Halliday. It's good to have baseball back.

Although for a Yankees fan that grew up with Joe Torre at the helm, it's a little disorienting to see him instead in Dodger blue, over in La La Land. But things seem to be off to a good start for him on the left coast, and there's a great article at ESPN.com about his trip with the Dodgers to China earlier this year. I have to agree with the piece's author: Torre just does seem to exude cool. As long as the Dodgers aren't playing the Yankees in interleague (or the World Series), I'll cheer for 'em.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I've just finished watching the first season of Dexter, which is a show I've wanted to get into for the longest time and just didn't, for various reasons. But happily, Showtime seems to be looking at Dexter as its flagship show and has the entire series available OnDemand. So I checked it out.

Holy shit. I am so in love with this show.

Dexter Morgan, our protagonist, is a forensic analyst for the Miami Police Department. In his free time, he's a serial killer. Moral relativism is the name of Dexter's game - yeah, he's a serial killer, but he only knocks off other serial killers. Traumatized as a young child, he lives by a code imparted to him by his foster father Harry which basically boils down to don't kill people unless they really deserve it. Season 1 follows the Miami PD as they attempt to track down the Ice Truck Killer, a serial killer who preys upon and dismembers prostitutes. The Ice Truck Killer plays a twisted game of cat and mouse with Dexter, ultimately revealing himself to be far more entangled in Dexter's life than Dexter ever could have imagined.

Dexter seems to be part of a growing trend on pay-cable shows where audiences are asked to sympathize with a seemingly despicable character - the most obvious being the mobster at the heart of The Sopranos, but the Travellers at the heart of The Riches (FX, which is kind of HBO/Showtime-lite) also fit the bill. Dexter does some nasty stuff, but the show never judges him. It lets you think what you want about him and his pastime, although I have to say that Dex is probably a bit more likable than Tony Soprano. Of course, your opinion may vary - which is kind of the beauty of it.

Oh, also, it's really pretty funny. Darkly funny, and ironic, not unlike the tone of a Coen Brothers movie. A huge part of what makes that work is Michael C. Hall, who does a bang-up job of being cold-bloodedly evil, immensely charming, and really funny. To say the role is different than the one he played on Six Feet Under is beyond an understatement. Other than a touch of OCD, Dexter Morgan and David Fisher have nothing in common. Including the fact that in five years of watching Six Feet Under, I never once found myself attracted to Hall but damn if I didn't want to jump Dexter's bones within the first ten minutes of the pilot. The tousled hair, sideburns (oh man am I a sucker for a nice set of sideburns), and perpetual stubble are a good look for him.

I'm just beginning season 2 of Dexter, and I was skeptical that the writers would be able to craft a season-long storyline that would be as engaging and revealing as the Ice Truck Killer. But as evidenced by the number of times I uttered "holy shit" and "fuck me, no way!" as I watched the first few episodes, I don't think it's going to disappoint. 

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack

It may be cold and rainy in New York, but the calendar doesn't lie: it's Opening Day 2008. So, baseball fans, may your starting pitchers go the distance, your sluggers stay healthy, and your closers retain their stellar stuff. 

Unless you're playing against the Yankees.

Baseball's back. Hell yeah.

Automatic (LA Riots Remix)

This right here is a link to a trailer for the PS3 game Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Do I care about Gran Turismo 5 Prologue? Not particularly. But OMFG NEW WEEZER SONG (even if it is just a :40 second snippet).

New Weezer song! New Weezer song! New Weezer song!

Cooler and/or more important bands may enter my life, but Weezer will always be my favorite.

Late Night Love Affair

Conan, I have a confession to make. You know I love you and your irreverent humor and awesome hair and willingness to do stuff like install a hang glider in your studio. It's just that you've been in reruns this week and... well, I've been watching Craig Ferguson. And he's kind of awesome too and DAMMIT CRAIG FERGUSON STOP MAKING ME LOVE YOU!

It's the accent. Gets me every time...

Mister state trooper, please don't stop me

Woman stabs partner to death after fight over Bruce Springsteen - CNN.com

Ok, I know this is just so wrong but I read this story and LAUGHED. And then I thought well, you know, she was justified. And THEN I thought this would be a good warning to any future boyfriends of mine. 'Cause, you know, you don't fuck around with the Boss.

Album 6!!

Wow, I write it, and happens. Weezer announced yesterday that the new album is due out in June. Now they need to go on tour and play NY/NJ in July to complete my goal of seeing every band I've ever loved during that month.

Concert-going

So the Foo Fighters just announced a new show this summer at the Meadowlands on July 29th, and I'm debating if it's worth it to go. I was admittedly a bit underwhelmed by their setlist at the Garden, but by July, there's a good chance they'll change it up, especially when hitting an area that they hit on the first leg. And also, I'm on a mission to make the month of July the most event-filled ever. So far I've got Ricky Gervais and Bruce, and I'm hoping for another Bruce show (yeah I know, greedy), a Yankees game on my birthday and now maybe the Foos. (I'm also hoping for Eddie Izzard at the end of June, the Police at the beginning of August and Radiohead at some point during the summer when they announce US shows that aren't the All Points West festival.)

Now when is Weezer going to announce the release date (and potential tour, please) for Album #6? That would make my summer pretty fucking perfect.  

The Keith Richards/Steve Van Zant Honorary Head Scarf

When I play Guitar Hero and am feeling in a silly mood (which is a given when alcohol is involved), I like to wear what I have dubbed the "Keith Richards/Steve Van Zant Honorary Head Scarf." It's a black and white striped silk scarf that I got from H&M a while ago and I tie it around my head like everyone's favorite pirate daddy/mob consigliere in an effort to boost my Guitar Hero skills. Because, as anyone who plays the guitar knows, it's all about how you look when you play.

Anyway, I decided to wear my scarf this weekend at what essentially turned out to be a Guitar Hero summit at a friend's place. It was a fucking blast, and I both kicked ass and partied like a rock star. I think I partied a little too hard, though. When I finally got a look at myself in the mirror, hungover, wearing the same clothes I wore last night, with my massively disheveled hair tied up in the scarf, I had to laugh. I walked into the spare bedroom where everyone was congregating and announced that maybe I had been channeling Keith Richards a bit too much. After all that fun, I was starting to look as haggard as him. Of course, the good news is that this means that maybe I can channel Keith Richards enough to make myself indestructible, as good old Keith is perceived to be. The bad news is that, of course, I would look like Keith Richards.

Not Cool!

http://jezebel.com/364337/jessica-simpson-probably-spent-3000-on-this-outfit

I have the shirt that she's wearing, a vintage Bruce Springsteen tour shirt from 1985. This makes me feel a little dead inside, because I spent so much time looking for a sweet vintage Bruce shirt on eBay and finally got this one right before I went to the show in Philly and then I had so many people at the concert tell me that my shirt was awesome and it was like the Bruce crazies in Philly accepted me as one of their own and it was sweeeeet. (And that may have been one of the worst sentences I've ever written.) And Jessica Simpson is wearing the same shirt. Ew.

And you know what, I don't care that she probably couldn't name three Bruce songs if you asked her (okay maybe I do a little); that's not what makes me really angry. What makes me angry is that she's wearing MY SHIRT.

Speaking of Foo...

WANT

You make me dizzy running circles in my head

I keep thinking about the crowd at the Foo Fighters concert and how it wasn't at all what I expected hoped. I mean, front row in the pit, and you've got a girl looking at pictures on her camera from meeting Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal after Rent, a couple that spent the entire show making out (much to my chagrin), two girls who couldn't stop talking about Fall Out Boy, a kid who said the only Queens of the Stone Age song he knew was the one in Guitar Hero, and a ten year old kid and his older brother. Ten! That means the kid WAS NOT EVEN ALIVE when The Colour and The Shape came out. I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my brain around that.

Actually, I didn't really have a problem with the ten year old so much as I did with the couple sucking face and the kid who didn't know anything about QOTSA. The ten year old just made me feel old, which, in turn made me think of the nerdy guys at the Bruce show back in October, and how my sister and I made them feel old. Circle of life, I guess. Or some shit like that.

Oh, I don't think my face is visible at all during the Fuse broadcast of the concert, which makes sense because the two times I remember looking at the cameras were during "This Is A Call" which didn't make it to air and another time when I was positive that the world's most irritating couple was making out and therefore completely blocking me out - and they did. But you can definitely see my arm raised in a salute to the rock* during "Breakout." I'm working on a screencap.

*I watched the Tenacious D movie twice while confined to the couch.

I'm finally not dying of pharangytis and what news is out there to celebrate this?

Season 2 of Flight of the Conchords won't be around until early 2009, thanks to the strike.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yankees vs. the media, always a battle

Yankees To Play Exhibition Game Against The Media

Funniest Onion story I've read in some time. My favorite part is about not letting Michael Kay on the team. Oh and Bill Simmons sustaining a head wound that required 45 stitches.

I came, I saw, I Foo'd

Last night was the Foo Fighters show at MSG. It was pretty good, but I'm still feeling some residual tired-ness, and I've got some battle scars. Oh, and I was in the second fucking row. A more thorough review to come.

On an unrelated note, how phenomenal is the live version of "Prove It All Night" from the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour? Bruce's guitar work is mind-blowing. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for his mad guitar skillz.

Yeah, I just typed skillz. Blame it on the concert-related injuries.

I totally saw this coming

I don't want to say that I'm predicting the future or anything, but I was watching Homicide the other night and thinking how cool it would be if Detective John Munch added another show to his roster of appearances and showed up on the last season of The Wire.

AND HE DID.

Want your mind blown even more? He was sitting at a bar a few seats down from a gentleman named Jay Landsman (Lt. Mello on the show)... who was featured prominently in David Simon's book Homicide and inspired the character of John Munch. 

Whoa.

Going off the rails on a crazy train

I've been taking the train to Manhattan for like 20 years now. Why does the NJTransit schedule decide to suddenly stop making sense? Also, I could be stranded in the city on Tuesday night.

Opening Day: 46 Days and Counting...

Can you feel that? That tingling sense of anticipation? Yes, today is a very important day, for pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring training complexes and baseball is officially underway!

It's also Valentine's Day, which, to be honest, I don't even have the energy to rant against this year. So instead, I'll combine the day's two events and declare my love for the youngsters on the Yankees pitching staff: Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes.

So... between the text messaging, the killer fastball, the bugs, the blog, the 7-inning no-hitter, the composure unheard of for a 21-year-old, and the t-shirt, it's official. You guys are kind of a big deal. Love ya, boys!

Let the countdown to Opening Day 2008 begin!

This is what it sounds like when doves cry

I stayed up tonight to watch Purple Rain which, surprisingly, I had never seen. My main thought, at the end of the film, is why doesn't weird shit like this get made today? I can totally see Fall Out Boy in a Purple Rain/Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey hybrid where faux punk rock saves the world from aliens or something. In fact, I might start writing that right now...

Woke up this morning...

How pathetically Jersey is this? When I was in LA, watching the opening credits of The Sopranos made me a bit homesick. 

I'm re-watching some episodes on demand, and now, of course, seeing the credits makes me think of being in LA being homesick for New Jersey, and all the warm weather and palm trees it entailed. I'm never satisfied...

Also, having Silvio aka Little Steven standing outside Madam Marie's on the Asbury Park boardwalk (season 2 finale) is pretty much one of the best pop culture references the show has done.